The Mane Six become Keyblade Masters in order to find Spike, who's been swallowed by darkness. Will their friendship be enough to save him from being swallowed completely? Girls w/ keyblades. No crossover, just awesome Humanized Action Adventure fun.
Can be read independently of that, however.
Six Years have passed for Twilight and her friends since the death of their home world as well as Spike's disappearance. Six years have passed since Master Luna took them under her wings in order to teach them how to use the one weapon that may help them save Spike: The Keyblade. Now, after those long years of training, these friends are ready to see new worlds, fight new enemies, and save old friends. Limits will be tested, and bonds will be broken.
Will their friendship be enough to bring Spike out of the Darkness?
Kingdom Hearts based MLP story, no Sora, and no need to have played the games. Characters are human, but those who were pegasi in the show still have magic wings, just as those who were earth and unicorns still have unnatural strength and magic, respectively.
Flames billowed around wildly as Twilight, only a child, rushed through the soot-filled air. “Spike? Spike! Where are you!?” she screamed, calling desperately for her nine-year-old adopted brother. Even as her hometown burned down around her, she continued to run exhausted, cold and alone. The place had long since been evacuated.
Stopping to catch her breath, as well as she could with air as stale and poisonous as it was, she contemplated her situation.
“Okay… alright…” she breathed as she struggled to calm herself. She tried to take a deep breath, but only ended up coughing harshly. Her disrupted breathing still managed to get the job done. “Dash and AJ are still fighting back with the other strong Mages and Earthans, and Rarity and Shy are safe at the shelter. We would all be at the shelter except that Pinkie’s disappeared again, and I can't find Spike!”
Then she felt it, a dark feeling of emptiness, like something was pulling at her heart, tearing it from her chest. “Oh no…” she gasped. Turning around, Twilight saw a dark shape rise from the ground. “They must have gotten away from the others!”
Soulless glowing yellow eyes formed amongst the darkness, staring right at the young child.
As its claws formed within the darkness, Twilight flinched back and bolted in the opposite direction, desperate to get as far away from the creatures as possible.
It was them. Today had just been an ordinary day until these wolf-like shadows appeared and began ravaging the land. Twilight herself had watched a dear acquaintance fall to one of them. Both to her amazement, and to her horror, she watched as the man's body faded away to nothingness, and from the fading body, she observed the small glowing red heart that floated out. The wolf eagerly absorbed it before turning on someone else.
After overcoming their fear, all of the strong magic users, the Mages, stood up and fought back, buying time for the weaker ones to get to safety.
While Twilight didn’t think of herself as weak, she was still too afraid to fight back.
Turning a corner, Twilight ran down the sidewalk, only to skid to a stop as another Shadow Wolf appeared from the ground. Panicking, Twilight ran down a nearby alleyway, only to run past a single dumpster towards a dead end.
Turning around, the girl’s eyes shrank as the monsters came ever closer. Knowing that giving into fear would only lead her to a gruesome end, Twilight knew that she only had one other option.
Closing her eyes and holding out her hands, she called upon the magic she knew lay inside her. Somewhere in her fear-ridden mind, she remembered her mother’s lesson and let it build just before coming out.
It built up inside of her, growing more and more, until Twilight could swear it began to burn. Then she knew. She opened her eyes, irises aglow with the magic native to the people of her world. “Fire!” she called out.
At once a burst of fire shot out from her hands, completely incinerating one of the shadow beasts. The other one watched its companion burn, decided that playing with its food wasn’t an option, and rushed Twilight. However, she was already building up her magic once again.
This time she held it in until she felt that she could see her own breath. “Blizzard!” she screamed. A froth of ice shot out from her hands and froze the beast solid. A mere second passed before the clump of ice shattered into a million shards.
Sighing, Twilight fell to her knees and panted in relief. “I… I guess,” she gasped, “Spike was right.” Twilight allowed herself a small smile at the thought of her brother bragging to her that he was right in that she could easily cast consecutive blasts of magic. “I suppose I’m not as inexperienced as I thought.”
After taking a second, Twilight got back to her feet. But before she could leave the alley she felt that all too familiar feeling. A dark shadow loomed over her, both figuratively and literally. She turned just in time to see a black claw slashing down at her. It was only her surprisingly quick reflexes that let her barely dodge roll out of the way.
As she did before, albeit with a bit more confidence than before, Twilight held out her hand.
"Twitchy Butt!!"
If the sudden exclamation didn’t throw off her concentration, the voice it came from did. Twilight lowered her hand and looked around. “Diane?! Is that you?”
Then, she heard a soft sizzling noise from above. She glanced up to see two large bombs falling towards the shadow.
The voice echoed out again. “Twilight, if you don’t move you’ll go boom!” she warned.
Following Pinkie’s direction, Twilight dove behind a nearby trashcan as a small explosion went off behind her. Looking out of her hiding place, she saw the shadows dissipate in the fading flames; looking up further she saw a familiar pink-haired girl drop from atop a nearby roof.
"Diane! It is you!" Twi called up at her friend as she watched her jumped down from her perch on the wall.
The younger pink-haired girl wasted no time in rushing Twilight, bringing her into a fiercely tight embrace. "Ugh, I keep telling both you and Rarity, ‘call me Pinkie Pie,’" she replied squeezing the life out of her friend.
The hug did not go unreturned or unappreciated as Twilight returned the hug. The two friends held each other in comfort for a few seconds more until Twilight broke the hug and asked the first things that came to her head.
"Where did you get those explosives?!" she inquired. As she did she fervently checked the girl for any injuries.
"Oh, I got these from my basement," Pinkie answered, holding up a pouch of similar round black explosives.
Twi just stared at her blankly before responding, "Your… basement?” she said, brow raised skeptically.
Pinkie nodded. “Yupperooni! I made them!” she said, a wide smile etched onto her face.
Confused, Twilight nevertheless nodded before continuing, “Well, how did you find me?”
She just giggled. “Silly, we can't have the main character die yet!”
Twilight only began to look more confused, she was about to ask more questions when another fire broke out, rocking the ground slightly. Shaking such thoughts off and saving them for later, Twilight gave Pinkie a hard look.
"Okay, good. Now go back to the others. I still have to find Spike. Have you seen—" Twilight said before looking around to see the shadows reforming back near the wall. Pinkie also noticed this before turning back to Twilight, her smile never wavering.
"I saw him running that way,” she said, pointing out of the alley and towards a path on the far left. Twilight recognized that particular road as the one that led to the edge of town. “I saw him talking to some weird guy I’d never seen before. I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a bad Pinkie feeling in the pit of my tummy!” She turned to face the shadows. “Go get him,” she said as she pointed towards the edge of town. “I'll stay here and deal with these guys."
Twilight looked down at her worriedly. “Pinkie are you sure, I can—”
Pinkie, back turned, held her arm up. “Twilight, no,” she said, her voice, to Twilight’s surprise, held almost no cheer. It was honestly the closest thing she had heard to the girl being serious. “You need to go and get Spike, I’ll meet back up with the others,” she said with finality.
Twilight stared at her curly head for a another few seconds. Hesitant, but trusting, she nodded. After all, Pinkie, like all the others of her race, wouldn’t dare go down without a fight.
Back in the alley, Pinkie glanced back at Twilight’s receding form. She gave a small grin before turning back to the wolves, frowning. There were two newly reformed shadows now. With their original positions reversed, Pinkie now stood by the entrance, while it looked to all the world that she was the one pushing their backs against the walls.
Pinkie’s hair slowly smoothed as her gaze grew progressively colder. The force of her look grew to the point where one of the wolves took a step back. "You tried to kill my friend," she muttered, her voice low. Slowly she reached into her satchel and pulled out four of the round bombs.
~~~
As Twilight turned a corner and ran down the road, she glanced behind her and muttered, “I really hope Pinkie’s okay back there.”
Just as the last word left her mouth, a large explosion rocked the ground under her. She stumbled to a stop and looked her her face aghast with fear as the alley, she just left filled with flames.
“Pinkie!” she screamed.
“Go!” a girl that sounded like Pinkie yelled back, her voice faint against a second explosion.
Twilight flinched and got back up. "Guess she’s alright then…” she chuckled nervously. Pinkie making bombs and acting serious, dark creatures absorbing people’s hearts, the sky turning almost pitch black: if Twilight didn’t know any better, she’d think it was all some terrible nightmare. Unfortunately, the twinge of pain in her left arm told her otherwise.
Shaking off her brief introspection, Twilight turned and continued down the path. As she came up to the treeline of the forest surrounding the town, she paused near the first tree and looked back at the smoking town, and at the large fire near the end of it.
A quiver evident in her voice, she muttered, “I swear she'll do more damage than the shadows at this rate."
She threw herself into the forest and ran straight forward. After running for a brief time she broke through the other side of the treeline and found her target. A short but sturdy looking dragon boy in a purple vest, standing at the edge of the grass and staring out. If Twilight were focused on anything else, she would’ve noticed that the grass ended where he was standing.
By this point, Twilight was breathing fairly heavily. Mages weren't the most athletic tribe after all. “Spike,” she gasped, teary-eyed and more than a little relieved, “where have you been?!”
She paused for a second, as more emotions welled up inside of ther. “Everything’s going wrong! There are these weird dark things killing people and destroying everything!” She waited for a reply, but Spike continued to stare out ahead.
Twilight took a step forward. “Spike… are you alright?” she asked. Usually the strong and confident boy would be the first to jump into a fight to protect others. To see him unresponsive was nothing but unnerving for the girl.
“Spike,” she said, tearing up. “You’re strong, you have to help us fight them! Please!” Twilight ran up to his back and wrapped him up in a hug. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as she poured her heart out. “Pinkie and the others can only do so much! Those... things keep appearing no matter how many are destroyed! Everyone left and I… you suddenly disappeared. Why… why did you leave us?” She finally let slip what had really been bothering her from the moment she set out to find him.
Several tense seconds passed before Spike gave any kind of reply.
“Come look at this,” he said.
Confused hesitation welled up inside Twilight as she debated whether or not to obey and follow. Eventually, curiosity won out, and she stepped beside him, only for what she saw to bring her to her knees in utter disbelief.
She saw nothing.
Or rather, what could only be described as an enormous expanse of nothing floating below them in a void of absolute darkness.
“Wh-where’s the rest of the town?!” she screamed out as the darkness surrounded them. She gazed up at Spike; and her next outburst died in her throat as she looked into his eyes. What were once bright emerald orbs of great strength and infinite confidence were now a dull facsimile of the same color. His normally diamond shaped pupils were round and empty. Twilight was speechless. Her body shook, a myriad of emotions trying to take full hold of her expression—fear and hopelessness chief among them. Underneath it all was just the smallest glimmer of hope. Hope that began to vanish at Spikes next words.
“It’s gone, Twi,” he whispered in an eerily calm voice.
“Gone?!” Twilight muttered, her words a quivering mess of syllables. “How can an entire town, no the entire world be just…” her already weak voice dwindled down to barely a whisper, “gone?”
Spike was silent as he looked out into the nothingness, as if in contemplation.
“When the heartless showed up...” he began. Twilight’s head shot back up to them.
“He know’s what they’re called?” she thought.
Spike continued. “...I ran into a person. I chased them here and then they told me what was going to happen.” For the first time, Spike’s eyes turned towards Twilight. Even so, Twilight felt no comfort, no relief. She only felt unease and concern as her brother continued his speech. “This world is going to die,” he finally said, “and the only way to survive is to accept it and follow them down."
Spike glanced over towards her and when he did Twilight snapped back to her feet instantly. She could feel something… something wrong. Without realizing it she began to cautiously move away from him. The air around Spike had suddenly shifted with that last line. Twilight could feel it clearly now, something was... off, different about him and her mind was racing trying to figure it out. “Spike… what are you talking about?” Twilight muttered.
Spike turned towards her completely. “Twilight,” he said, his tone finally something other than the formally eerie monotone, “if you want to live you need to come with me!” he ordered.
Twilight took another step back, her eyes flashing white as her magic reflexively built up. Spike saw this and his own eyes flashed as well, their original emerald sheen momentarily returning, only to be snuffed out once again when Spike suddenly fliched violently, a palm held to his forehead as he hissed in pain.
Twilight saw his obvious pain and her expression, which had become hard and defensive without her knowledge, softened. “Spike…”
Spike took a step back, then another. He paused, and took a breath, his hand lowering after a few seconds. “Stay safe… I was exaggerating before, you won’t die. You, Dash, and the others will be safe, she promised she’d save you all If I go with her.”
He took a sidestep towards the edge. Twilight reacted instantly. “Spike, be careful!” she said, reaching out towards him.
However, Spike had already tipped himself over the edge. “I’ll find you, I promise!” he said, falling over the edge. “I’ll come back and find you!”
Twilight fell to her knees, tears falling out over the edge as she called out after him.
“Spike!” Twilight screamed, waking up in a cold sweat. Bolting upright from her position she threw her covers off and frantically looked around her room. A few glances around proved that there was nothing out of the ordinary. All of her books were in place and every paper on her desk stood perfectly in the center of her table. Her breath slowing, Twilight calmed herself. She took note of the bags packed in the corner. Sparing a brief thought, she remembered when she packed it but couldn't for the life of her remember why.
“Ah take it ‘ya had that dream again, huh?”
Twilight snapped out of her daze to look at her bedroom door; standing in the doorway stood one of her best friends, already fully dressed in her signature baggy orange outfit, darker sleeveless over jacket and stetson classically placed atop of her head. Interestingly enough she wasn't wearing her gloves or her boxers boots yet.
“Um, yes. Sorry, AJ, did I wake you up?” Twi answered as she looked down at her hands; which were currently busy clenching her covers.
“Nah, ah've actually been up for ‘bout an hour training and workin’ out. Reckon ah broke my old liftin’ record this mornin.” AJ went over and sat down at the foot of Twilight’s bed. “Bet ya woke Rainbow up though, world knows she sleeps too much anyhow.”
Twilight didn’t even crack a smile, she only continued to look down at her hands in deep thought. Knowing that this is how she usually got whenever Spike was mentioned, AJ knew that she had to do something about this.
AJ gently sat a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Giving a small squeeze, she got Twilight’s attention. “Listen hun, we’ll find him, we all promised that when we first got here 8 years ago, an’ that ain’t changed one bit. Okay?”
Twilight looked up at her friend’s smiling face, tiny baubles of liquid glistening in the corners of her eyes. Giving a small smile, Twilight wiped them away. “I know that. Thank you, AJ. I just wonder why I had that dream again. It’s been almost four years since the last time I had it.
AJ seemed to think about it for a moment, putting her hand up to her chin and pursing her lips in mock thought. “Well, ah don’t know anythin’ about that, but do yah know what ah do know?” This seemed to grab Twilight’s attention as she locked eyes with her taller friend.
With a wink AJ looked back down at her with a cheeky grin. “Ah know that Pinkie’s down there cookin’ up a mess of food for today,” she finished. Standing up, she walked towards the door. “So hurry on up and get dressed or Dash’ll eat it all.”
Twilight’s grin faded and was soon replaced with a hesitant look of confusion.
AJ read her like a book. “Yah don’t remember what today is, do ya?” she deadpanned.
Twilight’s eyes darted back and forth nervously. “Yes… maybe… no,” she admitted, fiddling around with her fingers.
AJ decided to introduce her hand to her shaking head. “Oh Twi, you’re supposed to be the smart one. Today’s the day when we finally get to see new worlds. You know, our Mark of Mastery Exam?”
As the final remnants of sleep’s mental fog cleared away from her, Twilight's eyes grew wide with realization. Her mouth followed suit as she began to remember every daydream that she'd had for this day. But before she could express her excitement, she was yanked out of the bed, to the doorway, by a pink-nailed pair of hands.
Pinkie swung the still-groggy girl around gleefully before hugging her close. “That’s right! Today’s the day where we can meet new friends, visit new worlds, fight new enemies, gain new skills, and create new abilities!” Thrusting her hand into the air dramatically she continued listing off her hopes.
“We’ll meet new monsters that’ll try to kill us as we valiantly search for the truth. We’ll have tons of fun as we discover dark secrets about ourselves and each other that’ll test our friendships and change our fates forever. We might even—” She stopped only when AJ forcefully pinched her lips shut and told her to stop.
“We get it hun, it’ll be a right swell time,” she said.
Twilight shook herself free of the sudden whiplash that she felt, and looked over at her energetic, enigmatic friend’s smiling face. She could never help but to smile when near her. She thought back to all the times where her pink friend brought her out of her depression in the early years of her training.
The lovely scene of reminiscence ended abruptly as a more pressing thought pushed itself to the forefront of her mind, something that AJ said earlier.
“Pinkie, AJ said you were cooking breakfast, right. You didn’t leave the stoves on did you?!” she asked, her paranoia causing her bed-tangled hair to start sticking up at odd angles. Despite Pinkie being a remarkable cook and technician in her eyes, Pinkie was also very spontaneous and forgetful.
Pinkie stopped talking through pursed lips just long enough to fully register what Twilight said. “Oh, no silly,” she chuckled. “I’ve already finished all of the cooking and I made stuff for everyone,” she said, throwing her hands into the air and waving them like she just didn't care.
Which she did not.
Twilight stared at her with wide eyes, and she briefly wondered if she’d ever stop doing that when it came to her odd, pink friend. Probably not, she thought.
“All of it?” she said aloud. “How long have you been up?”
“Same time as Jackie,” she answered nonchalantly, her bright smile never wavering.
Twilight looked over at AJ only to get a shrug in return. In the end she simply pinched the bridge of her nose and wondered.
Maybe getting up early is just an earthen thing, she thought.
“Well let’s go wake up the others then..." Looking between her friend she began to formulate a plan of attack. "Pinkie you get Rarity, AJ you get Dash, and I’ll get Shy.”
“Right.”
“Okie-Doky, Lokey!”~~~
Rachelle “Rainbow” Dash groggily punched at the air. “Can’t beat me,” she sleepily cheered. Smirking, she turned over in her bed, her dream still seeping into reality. “Mugh woo… first place, take that, Gilda,” RD muttered as she lie haphazardly across her bed. Standing in the doorway, AJ worked had to suppress her giggles at her thoughts of how she would go about waking her rainbow-haired friend. She settled on the classic name tease joke.
“Come on! Time to wake up there, Rainbow,” she said as she started to shake the girl’s bed back and forth. Not getting an immediate response, AJ simply resorted to yanking off what remained of her covers and knocking her onto the cold, unforgiving ground.
One thump later, Dash’s eyes slowly opened and locked onto AJ’s for a brief moment before closing once again. “Don’t call me Rainbow,” was her only response as she lie flat on the floor, face-first.
AJ only chose to roll her eyes before responding. “Well why not, I’ve been callin' ya Rainbow since we were kids,” she said, wearing a full on smirk.
Dash opened her eyes once again, this time hardened into a glare. “And I've been telling you since we were kids,” she stated plainly, “either call me Dash or Rach. I’ll kill you if you call me Rach so what’s your choice?” She then flopped back down, still enjoying the cold, somewhat comfortable wooden floor.
AJ started to wonder if she could roll her eyes out of her head. “Your full name is Rachelle Ashley Dash, but ya want me to call you ‘Dash’, why?”
“‘Cuz ‘Rainbow’ sounds weird.”
“And?”
Dash looked up at her tall friend once more, this time with a smirk on her face. “Your full name is Jacquelyn Ball Apple, but you want us to call you ‘AJ’?”
AJ stood there for a few seconds, glaring at her floor-dwelling friend. After a few seconds she threw her head up and sighed, defeated. “Fine, point taken, now get up so we can go eat breakfast before…” She stopped as she heard soft snoring coming from her feet. She looked down to see Dash once again in deep sleep. Sighing she took this opportunity to look around Dash’s room.
She looked over the thrown-about floor full of comics, and “action figures”, and eventually she took notice of the various workout tools and weights. Jeez, she works out almost as much as ah do but she still sleeps like a rock, how she’s still so slim? Does she sleep it all off or was it that “condensed muscle, fast metabolism” stuff that Twi talked about? She smirked at a random memory of Rarity getting upset at the fact that Dash could eat anything and stay slim.
Eventually, she’d had her fill of the messy sight and half-naked girl, and decided to simply drag her sleeping friend into the bathroom and dunk her head into the cold water.
“Every day, Rainbow… every day,” she muttered.
“Mmgh... don’t… Rainbow…” RD muttered as AJ dragged her to her bathroom.
“Pinkie,” AJ began, finally breaking out of her stupor to look over at her fellow earthan.
The girl in question gleefully continued to excitedly bounce in place, despite the look she was getting from AJ. “Yes.”
“Ah get that your excited and all,” she droned, leaning back against the entrance to the kitchen.
Pinkie chuckled. “Uhuh.”
AJ just raised a brow a her. “And that this’ll be our last meal here”
“True, true,” Pinkie agreed, nodding.
“But dont'cha think this is a bit much?” she exclaimed, gesturing back to the three tables full, corner to corner, with various foods, desserts, drinks and beverages.
Pinkie took a moment to contemplate what AJ said. She looked over the tables, then back toward Dash and Twilight, both jaws currently dislocated and the former drooling. “Nope, not at all,” she giggled.
She quickly dashed over to the first table and began to point and identify each and every dish present on the table. “Over here, at the breakfast table, we have pancakes, waffles, flapjacks, pop tarts, cereal, toast, hash browns, bacon, eggs, ham, pork, sausage, pot pies, grits, oatmeal of all kinds, milk, coffee, milk coffee, tea, grape juice, orange juice, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, whole milk, soy milk, and finally...” she held up a small glass, ”water”.
There was a pregnant silence among the group. Afer a second AJ scoffed and crossed her arms. “What no apple juice?” she muttered.
“Uhhh, Pinkie...” Twi started.
“Over here,” she continued, moving over to the next table. “At what I call the nature table, we have salads, greens, tomatoes, carrots, sprouts, spinach, cabbage, those little green and white tree thingies that I like to play giants with, leeks, radishesheshe….”
“Radishes,” Flutters provided as she stepped into the room, Angel perched comfortably upon her shoulder.
“Right, radishes, onions, bananas, fruits of all kinds,” she glanced over at AJ who nodded approvingly, “and finally…” she held up another glass, “water”
“Oh goodie, now Angel and the others can celebrate with us too,” Shy cheered softly. She looked over at the white bunny sitting atop her left shoulder. As he looked over the table his mouth twisted and eyes began twitching, forming into an expression that could only be communicated as ‘Seriously?!’
“I’ll take some apples,” AJ said as she reached for the apples. However, before she could grab one her hand was deftly slapped away by Pinkie.
“Let me finish,” she chided, moving on to the final table of the trio. This final table appeared to be filled to the brim desserts that were just waiting to be identified.
“Finally, over here we have my personal favorite, the dessert table. Complete with mouth watering delights that would make the makers themselves weep from the sheer sight and smell of it. Sweets that would tantalize and stimulate all five senses at once.” She began, speaking in soft, theatrical voice that people would normally use to tease and tempt others.
She began motioning to a silver iced, decorated cake that resembled a holy ivory tower of deliciousness. “Cakes that would cause the brain to shut down from even attempting to describe the taste.”
“Cookies so delectable that your taste buds would flee from your very mouth in order to never taste anything less.” She teased, gesturing over a plate of chocolate cookies so beautiful that the smell alone made Dash begin to salivate.
“Donuts so perfectly shaped, so completely stuffed, that your eyes would glaze over just from the sight alone.” She sniffed at the donuts that, true to her word, looked so glazed, and stuffed with flavor, that AJ seemed to be hypnotized at the sight of them.
She reared up and proclaimed to the sky, “Crackers SO COMPLETELY… wait crackers?” She looked down to see what she what she had pointed at, only to catch sight of some plain saltine crackers sitting in between the donuts and the pies.
“How did those get here?” she wondered, her voice going back to normal. She promptly threw them into the trash behind her. “Anyway…” She began again in her silky sweet temptress voice “Pies so heavenly, they….”
“PINKIE!”
“Yes, Twilight.”
Twilight, blushing, tried to regain her composure as she wiped her mouth. “I think… we get it.”
Pinkie looked around at the others, who were also drooling uncontrollably at her descriptions of the delectable delights. Even Rarity, whom had just entered halfway though, was trying to use her handkerchief to stop her watering mouth, but to no avail. Dash and AJ didn't even try to hide their lust, as they had already begun reaching for the food like zombies to flesh. Shy even had a demure little bit of lust in her eyes and Angel, had already helped himself to a carrot from the second table.
“Oh, well the water’s over there but otherwise…” She threw her hands in the air once again. “LETS EAT!”
At the sound of the pink bell, both Dash and AJ had grabbed plates and begun their attack on the buffet. While AJ made for the apples and ham, Dash’s speed allowed her to collect some donuts, some pork, a plateful of bacon, and some juice, in the same amount of time. Shy made a tiny plate full of items from the nature table along with some waffles. Rarity sat down and began to make herself a lady-like plateful of flapjacks with a perfectly cut butter square on the top, the entire thing was soon drenched in syrup. Twilight, after getting the last of her drool up, decided to stay back and ask Pinkie something that had been nagging at her.
“Why did you make so much for us? I mean, you must have used up everything in the fridge and then some. Even with all seven of us we wouldn't be able to eat it all before leaving.” She glanced over to the third table and frowned. “And why dessert with the breakfast?”
Pinkie looked around thoughtfully at her friends all having a good time enjoying the food she made, bringing a bright smile to her face. “Because, Twilight, we may go to worlds where we won't be able to eat like this naturally, so I want us to have something that we can fall back on. We’ll store whatever we don’t eat on the ship and eat it if we feel homesick or we need emergency rations.”
Pinkie’s eyes momentarily fell downcast, and her smile became somewhat more melancholy. “This may be the last time I get to cook for you all on this scale, so I want it to be memorable.” She said as she looked back up at Twi with bright hopeful eyes, eyes that Twilight saw every time she found herself in a dark place, eyes that she knew betrayed their owner’s deeper hidden thoughts. In the end she decided to take what Pinkie said at face value.
Smiling, Twilight nodded and gave the girl a tight hug.
“Twilight, Pinkie, darling,” called Rarity, lightly dabbing her face. “Hurry over here and eat something before these two eat up all of the food.”
“I’ll be right over” Twi chuckled as she looked over at Rarity and the two trash compactors that were known previously as Dash and AJ.
“Man those two can EAT,” she thought. “I’d say it was an earthen or avian thing but they’re both going at it like it’s a competition… must be an athlete thing then.”
Letting go, Twilight nodded towards Pinkie. Both turned to make their way towards the first stable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dash slumped back over her chair, grinning stupidly. “That… was… amazing,” she said, letting out a large belch
“Rachel darling! Watch your manners.” *burp* “Excuse me… like that, I suppose,” Rarity said, looking away in embarrassment.
“Shoot mah Grannie could burp louder than that, allow me to demonstrate.” AJ took in a long breath, but before she could release it, someone else belched a burp so loud that it shook the table they were all sitting at.
Instantly, locating the source of the burp, everyone looked toward Fluttershy. “WHOOOOWEE, shucks girl I didn't know you had it in yah,” cheered AJ. “Color me impressed.”
Dash gave her a thumbs up. “Nice one!”
Twilight could only stare at her. “Wow.”
“Shia!” Rarity gasped. “Darling I expected better, at least say excuse me next time.”
By this point Shy had buried her face so far into her long pink hair that one could only discern that she was blushing from her burning red ears. Eventually she managed a tiny whisper. “Thank you all, but that wasn't me,” she said as she almost imperceptibly noded towards the furry felony of the great belch.
Angel Bunny sat on the table in front of her, leaning against her arm and wearing the biggest smirk his bunny face could fit and then some. Everyone else at the table decided to imprint their jaw marks on the table as the gears started to turn in their heads. Dash was the first to respond.
“NICE little man, you're alright” She said as she reached over to pound fists with Angel.”
“Well I’ll be…” AJ muttered as she adjusted her hat.
“Oooookayyyy,” said Twilight, still staring.
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Well, anyway I must say, Diane has really outdone herself this time.” Rarity began, in an attempt to change the subject. “From what you all told me, those pastries were not exaggerated in quality, not one bit.” She looked around. “Where is Diane anyway?”
It was Twilight who answered this one. “I don’t know, she left after we ended that food fight. Maybe she already ate some beforehand.” She surmised.
“Maybe she went to go offer some food to Master Luna,” Shy squeaked, her face still cooling down from the earlier misdirected praise.
The five friends nodded in agreement and nestled into a comfortable silence to reflect on all the greedy awesomeness that just occurred due to their mutual Pink friends kindness.
Eventually, AJ was the first one to break the silence. “Ah reckon’ that we should all go and work this off, can’t leave home on a full stomach ya know.”
“Isn't it on an empty stomach?” questioned Dash
“Ya’ kno what ah mean, so yah all up for it” She said as she looked for confirmation from the others.
The others seemed to think about it for a second as they all read each other thoughts like only best friends could do. Wordlessly they all joined hand as Twilight chanted a quick spell.
In a bright purple flash of teleportation, they all vanished to the training field.
With a flash and a pop, 5 figures stood at the center of a large, circular, football field length clearing, surrounded by trees. The 5 recognized their training grounds that they’ve used for the past 7 years, taking a few moments to take in the fact that this may be the last time that they spar here, for a while anyway. Everyone took some time to wander through some memories of some of their greatest moments in this area.
How does Luna do it, how does she keep this place so beautiful with all that we do?
"Ah made mah first crater right over there..."
"I'll sure miss that forest and all the cute little animals......"
"I should design a dress around this wondrous nature, maybe i'll get Shia to help me.....
"Heh, this place should be crawling with scorch marks for every time I messed the weather up...."
One by one their attention snapped back to one another and, with a single nod, each jumped (or flew) back to a separate section of the clearing. Each gauging the others and picking out a target, or in Twilight’s case, forming a strategy.
Twilight was the first to summon her Keyblade, that she called “Magical Element”. A mid-length keyblade decorated with a handle guard that resembled a tiara. Its shaft bore the signature marks of her 5 friends, and surrounding that, were two metal tubes, filled with flowing purple and blue magic energy, swirling from the handle to the teeth, that was shaped like a purple, six pointed star. Twirling it around her she settled into her signature backhanded stance with the keyblade behind her, and her hand out front ready to cast at a moments notice.
Unlike other keyblades, hers didn't have any extra skill that complimented her natural magical power, serving rather as an aim assist, and as an amplifier.
Dash had been next to summon her weapon. Short, light, and slim, it was made for speedy strikes with a handle guard made of cloud, pictures of weather states along the shaft, and teeth shaped like lightning, Rainbow Thunder (as Dash so awesomely calls it) appeared in her hand in a flash of static electricity. As soon as her weapon appeared, Dash spread her wings and took to the sky in a burst of speed, never losing her trademark smirk. Fighting while in the air was her way of making use of both flight and fight options.
Dash’s keyblade allowed her to manipulate weather in all of its states, she could make it rain, thunder, storm, hail, or, if at her most powerful, she could control the elements of nature themselves. Twilight often called it the most powerful keyblade, in the most ignorant of hands, due to Dash rarely using any of these skills and preferring to attack directly. Dash promptly told her to stuff it.
As one would expect, Rarity chose to be more elegant in her summoning. Dancing for all the world to see she spun like a beautiful swan, pulling her short keyblade out as she spun in a shower of sparkles. Glittering like diamonds in the sun, Radiant Gem's handle guard had been decorated in gems and precious stones of all kinds with a single blue streak leading up the shaft to a large diamond tooth. After being summoned, Rarity let go of the handle and let it float of its own accord and crossed her arms in a very ladylike fashion. In the blink of an eye her single keyblade split into 4 identical blades that floated around her according to her will.
Rarity’s power lies in her mastery of telekinesis and detection, while her keyblade had the power of being able to multiply itself making it the most unique keyblade and giving rarity her unique fighting style of being able to attack with multiple weapons controlled by her mind. When Twilight asked about it she had simply stated “Well i don’t want to get my own hands dirty now can I” in a very Rarity way.
Not wanting to be outdone by the fashionista, AJ decided to summon her's by driving her fist into the ground and dragging out a keyblade who’s shaft looked like the trunk of a tree, guard resembling the outline of an apple, and a small tree acting as the tooth. Built for strength, Scarlet Apple stood strong like the mighty oak tree. Its length from the ground to the handle reached up to AJ waist, and stood wider than her arm. Not having a formal fight style, AJ settled for swinging it onto her shoulder letting the keychain of an apple swing freely. She lifted it as though it weighed as much as a balloon rather than the 200 lb piece of metal that was. AJ lowered the brim of her hat to cast a shadow over her eyes and smirking a dangerous smile in order to look intimidating. Applejack was ready.
AJs keyblade’s power lies in it's control over the earth coupled with AJ’s natural inhuman strength.
Finally, after some prodding from Angel, Shy had decided to call her keyblade: Nature's Call. A peaceful mid-sized keyblade, its shaft looked for all the world like the trunk of a sunflower, leaves and all. Its teeth resembled a large pink rose that could act as a spinning projectile boomerang (although Shy would never use it.).
It made up for its low strength, by having the ability to control plants automatically in order to protect it’s owner, (Think Gaara’s sand if you need a reference.) as well as having powerful healing powers. Similar to Dash, Shy also took to the air with Angel on her shoulder, looking as meek as can be.
Silently, the 5 competitive friends stood at a standstill, ready for whomever made the first move.
That person turned out to be none other than Applejack, who, in an act of characteristic speed, and characteristic strength. Slammed her blade into the ground, she sent 4 shockwaves in four different directions. The shockwaves broke the ground, creating a path aimed directly at the other 4 even though two of them were unaffected except for the resulting flying rocks.
Reacting swiftly the two magic users quickly dodged the shockwaves and aimed their attacks at their chosen targets. Deeming Dashes dangerous speed a threat, Rarity quickly sent 3 of her keyblades toward Dash’s airspace. Simultaneously, Twilight chose to send a fira spell at AJ in retaliation, figuring that key keyblade would most likely be stuck in the ground for some time.
Once more simultaneously, both Rarity’s and Twis attacks were parried, both by Dashes lightning fast reflexes and, more impressively, AJs decision to not try and pull her blade out, but rather, to drive it into the ground deeper. Raising a slag of earth to block the incoming midsize fireball. Acting quickly, AJ lifted both her blade, and the rock, out of the ground, and with one mighty swing, sent it barreling toward Twilight.
Seeing the incoming projectile, Twilight chose a more physical strategy, opting to jump onto the rock and launching off as it passed by her. While in the air she cloaked her keyblade in a thundera spell and threw it toward AJ with astonishing speed. “Thundera Strike Raid”
All AJ need to do was hold out her hand to catch the blade “That all ya go-” she couldn't complete her tease, when the spell that covered the keyblade jumped off of the blade, and started shocking AJ out of her hat. Her earthan resilience had caused the spell to be less effective than it normally would have been on someone like Rarity. By the time the spell finished shocking her Twi’s blade had shimmered and disappeared, reappearing back in Twilights grasp as she landed back on the grass
“Like it, I just came up with that move” Twi said, wearing a shining smirk of her own.
“Oh so ahm your test subject now eh” AJ asked in a teasing tone as she picked up her hat, sat it back on her head, and placed her keyblade back on her shoulder.
“Calm down, it was your idea to come out here wasn't it? You knew what this was!” She chastised as she settled back into her natural stance.
*sproing*
“Ah suppose ah did” As soon as the last word left her mouth, a slab of earth jutted from under her feet sending her soaring toward Twilight readying a down slash. Remembering too late that AJ was primarily a close ranged fighter, Twilight was slow to react but rather acted on instinct and raised a barrier. Also forgetting that she was up against the strongest physical member of her group, her hastily made shield didn't even slow AJ down as she broke through and hit the ground. Instinct acting to save her once again she blinked herself away at the last moment saving herself from the resulting earth shattering shock wave. Appearing a few yards away. Locking eyes with AJ as the dust cleared they both smiled a wide smile both knowing how much fun the other was having. They also know that the fight had only just begun.
*Sproing*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rarity have I ever told you that your powers are annoying?” Dash said as she skillfully maneuvered herself along the sky, effortlessly dodging Rarity’s 3 heat seeking missiles.
“You may have mentioned it once or twice, darling” She answered as she stood on the ground watching Dash fly along the sky dodging her every attempt to make contact.
“Well it is” Dash said before she suddenly speed up, disappearing from the sky and appearing behind Rarity to attack, only to be blocked the keyblade that Rarity had held behind. “You should get up close and personal like this”.
*SPROING*
Rarity turned her head back to look at Dash and smiled her sympathetically with a hand on her cheek. “Why, Rachelle, I didn't know you felt that way. Oh you must have been so frustrated to have tried to take me from behind like that.” Dashes face flared red at this remark but before she could respond Rarity continued. “But i'm not one to submit without a fight so ill give you a little more challenge.” on cue the other three keyblades appeared back in Rarity’s proximity and promptly, split into 6, making a grand total of 7 simultaneous floating weapons that Rarity could control individually.
Dash only had time to gulp before she bolted back to the sky to gain some room and fight off the incoming attacks. Some time had been spent working her speed to block seven simultaneous attacks before an idea struck her. She had realized whom she had been battling and did the one thing that would distract her opponent long enough to get a hit in. She broke away from the blades and raised her own to the sky and said “Don’t call me Rachel” before causing rain to fall.
As expected, Rarity, in order to protect her hair, dropped everything to get out of the oncoming downpour. Dash took the opportunity to come down and strike her opponent while she was distracted.
Re-gathering her wits, Rarity summoned a singular keyblade to block Dashes air strike, but Dash decided that she wanted to go for a combo. In order to block the additional strikes, Rarity had been forced to summon more and more blades to defend from the onslaught of speedy strikes. Eventually she’d reached her breaking point and let out an explosive wave of telekinetic energy, pushing Dash away. Staring at the sky that had been cleared by her outburst she started to get genuinely upset “Rachelle you ruined my hair, how could you.” She began to look genuinely upset briefly before returning to anger.
*SPROING*
Summoning as many blades as she could and been to shoot them at Dash like missiles, not bothering to keep control of them after they’d been dodged, but rather letting them disappear and shooting more. Dash maneuvered like the expert flier that she was, avoided each and every attack. Locking eyes with Rarity, and see the smallest hint of a smile, Dash knew that she’d been enjoying this, no matter how angry she tried to look.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to no one attacking her, Shy had ample time to create a small bush on some far end of the clearing for her to hide in…...
……..and BOYYYYYY was Angel pissed about that. He stood in front of her and sent his owner a volley of angry gestures and nose wiggles that roughly translated to <Why the hell are you behind this bush again? You do this EVERYTIME! IN THIS EXACT SPOT NO LESS! I’m surprised that it isn't a permanent part of this place>
“Oh, well it’s really scary, all of this fighting i mean. Oh and you shouldn't curse like that Angel.”. She stated, fully comprehending everything that the bunny had said. She flinched at the sound of more rocks being crushed and metal clashing.
*SPROING*
The bunny facepawed (which in honesty looked really adorable and made a cute puff sound) <This isnt fighting, they aren't out to hurt you. This is sparring, it’s more like a game, and don’t you have like one of the most powerful skills here?> he wiggled.
“Well we’re all pretty strong now, but-”
he somehow interrupted her with a nose wiggle and a gesture.<But nothing! You get out their and you show them what you can do! Your powers are beautiful and amazing and you should show it to them>
A pink tint came to Shy’s already pinkish peach colored face as she considered what he meant and responded.
“Oh...well if you really think so….then ok” she cheered softly but with conviction. She hesitantly emerged from her hidey hole to asses the current situation.
Rarity had resorted to launching keyblades at Dash like missiles but she had quickly adapted, knocking a few keyblades back toward Rarity who had to either consciously banished it to had to dodge out of the way. AJ had decided to do whatever she could to keep close to Twi so she couldn't use her more powerful long ranged spells. Resulting in Twi dodging around and occasionally striking back with either physical attacks, magically enhanced attacks, or close range spells..
*SPROING*
Taking a deep breath and mustering her courage, she decided to take advantage of everyone’s distractions and get a sneaky sort of hit off. She sent some vines tumbling under the ground toward her opponents . Everyone had been taken by surprise at Shy’s attack, but they each reacted as they normally would have. Twi cast flash shield to burn the vine, Dash simply dodged and cut the rope, Rarity stuck a keyblade into the ground to stop it from moving. AJ…..just wasent fast enough so she got caught.
*SPROING*
“CONSARN IT!” she yelled as she hung upside down by the vine created by Shy.
“Oh My are you okay? I didnt hurt you right?” Shy worried as she flew over to AJ and started to inspect her.
“No, no its good, It reminded me about how much faster i have to get, i'm the slowest one here besides Rarity.
“Wait” Twi interjected ”Do you guys hear that?”
“Hear what” Dash asked, wanting to get back to the spar.
“That boinging sound…..”
*SPROING*
“See, there, it just got louder.”
“Yeah, now that you mention, ah have been hearing this sound for a might second?
“What is that dreadful noise.” Rarity asked, slightly irritated.
“Um Twi…….” Dash began as she pointed towards a large figure approaching from the East side of the clearing.
*SPROING*
All Twi could do was face palm at this new sight. “Oh god Pinkie why, not him”
While the others expressed their excitement or unexcitement over the incoming figure, Twilight sat there face in hand, silently fuming. She yelled out in hopes that her voice would reach the pink haired girl. “I told you not to bring out that thing, it’s too dangerous”
“He’s not a thing twilight” Pinkie yelled back as she sproinged closer. “He’s a …..how do you spell your name again?” She asked down to the giant figure that she sat upon, sproinging ever closer to the group.
“Why little lady you spell it T-I-Double-Guh-Er, and that spells-”
“TIGGER” screamed shy as she flew at RD speeds to towering tiger named Tigger. Bouncing the final distance to meet her group He stood at the size of a 3 story building, his orange body colored with so many black stripes. He continued to bounce in place on his tail like a Pogo stick, his hands holding onto his feet.
“That's right, and you remember, the wonderful thing about Tiggers-” he began in a singsong.
“Is that you're the only one!” Pinkie and Shy finished, completing the tune for him. They both particularly enjoyed his company. Shy because he was an interesting sentient animal that could talk, and came from a peaceful world of other peaceful sentient animals. She viewed it to be something out of a children's book, and she would give anything to visit their world. Pinkie loved him because he was fun and silly and he bounced just like her. She considered him to be her favorite animal summon.
Pinkies keyblade gave her strange powers that not even Twilight could explain very well. At best, all she could figure was that Pinkie had the ability to make contracts with and summon strange beings from other worlds to assist her. It drove Twilight mad for 3 days trying to understand it. On the upside, it drove her to create 3 new spells during that time.
“Hey there Shy, how are you” Tigger asked after shy had reached, and sat down on, his nose.
“Oh i’m fine, thank you” the normally shy girl started. “How are Pooh bear and the others doing in the Hundred Acre Wood.”
` “Oh, same old same old, Poohs stuck in rabbits tree hole, and rabbits grouchy, about it.”
“Oh my, i hope he’s alright” she replied with genuine concern.
“Don't you worry your pretty pink hair about it, it happens almost once a week anyway. Roo’s coming along as a great little bouncer. Why, I bet he’s out and bouncin’ around right now.”
Shy gave Tigger a warm smile at her tiger friends big brother like relationship with the younger kangaroo. She always wished that she had a sister of her own. “The sounds wonderful, good for him.”
“Wait….!” Pinkie interjected as she narrowed her eyes, staring up at them from his shoulder. “Is he a better bouncer than me?” she asked in all seriousness.
Both Tigger and shy took a moments to give a gentle laugh at Pinkie;'s question, (Tigger’s was more of a guffaw though) although pinkies expression never changed, seriously waiting for an answer.
“No, you're still one of the best in my book Pinkie.” Tigger answered after his laugh had died down.
Pinkies expression faded into her usual candy coated smile, accepting that answer. “Good, because-”
“HEY LISTEN!!” Dash yelled as she flew up, close to Tiggers ear, making him wince.
Rubbing his sore eardrum Tigger looked over at Dash with a sour expression. “Hey that wasn't nice, you hurt my ear.”
“Yes that wasn't very nice Rainbow” Shy agreed.
“Yeah!”
“Whatever, I've been yelling for you guys for the past 5 minutes!” She said, seriously angry. She pointed down at Tiggers still bouncing tail “YOUR CRUSHING OUR FRIENDS!!!”
Both Pinkie and Shy looked down at the ground below Tigger's tail, they noted a small Purple glow that they recognized as Twilight barrier and realized that he’d been bouncing on them the whole time and only her barrier had been keeping them safe.
“So that’s what that was…...I thought i was bouncing on a pebble or something.” Tigger said, offering a sorry smile to ease the tension. Before Dash could lunge at him he shrunk himself down to his normal height of about 3 feet. Feet hitting the ground, Pinkie looked over to see all of her friends inside Twilight's severely cracked shield, and the caster herself panting in exhaustion. All of them wearing expressions of fear and anger, and all of them directed at her and her summon.
Twilight dismissed her partially cracked barrier and stomped over to scold Pinkie.”Pinkamena Diane Pie” Pinkie twitched at hearing her full name. “How many times have i told you not to summon him just to traverse long distances. His bounces could cause earthquakes, not to mention you and Shy keep getting distracted, making idle conversation while those of us who can't fly out of the way, get bounced on!”
“Why didn't you just blink your way out?” Pinkie asked curiously, referring to Twi’s short distance teleport spell.
Twilight gestured to her friends that were dusting themselves off. “Because without my spell they would be crushed!” She pointed toward the still bouncing tiger. “And You! Do you HAVE to be that big when you come here, I know you do that on purpose.” Referring to the fact that whatever Pinkie summons gains one extra power of some sort. Tigger's is size adjustment.
“Well I get more of a bounce if i'm taller” He answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world
“Yeah Twilight” she added in the same way.
Twi stood there, looking like she was about to burst into flame, she knew that when these two were together, they were both beyond reprimandation. Though it still made her angry enough to attempt to see if you could forcible banish the stuffed tiger back to where he came.
Pinkie apparently got the message and decided to save Twi the trouble. She turned back to Tigger, “Tigger I think you have to go back now OK BYE!” she said as she banished him back without waiting for a response, scared that anything that he would say would set of the bomb that was currently Twilight Sparkle.
“Sorry Twilight” Pinkie said in genuine feeling. Twis anger seemed to deflate a little at this. AJ sensing that it was safe to enter the conversation stepped over and put her arm around Twilight to lean on her, much to her annoyance.
“Shucks Twi, don’ let it bother ya none. She’s just training her powers like the rest of us, whatever they are."
“Yes, relax darling we are all fine, and i must admit, that Tigger is quite a nice tiger”
“Indeed Twilight Sparkle, twas just harmless fun”
Any anger that had, until then, evaporated from Twi, returned in full voice as she went back on her rant. “Harmless fun, she nearly crushed us AGAIN!” she all but screamed until she realized who that last voice belonged to. She turned around to see a tall winged woman, with an almost blue tint to her skin. She stood in front of her wearing her usual outfit complete with hair that seemed to flow in the breeze.
“Master Luna!!” Twilight exclaimed as she fell to one knee as did the others, except for Pinkie as she had to be pulled down on one knee by AJ.
“Please there is no need for formalities, on this most joyous of days.” She signaled for them to rise to their feet before she continued. “Today you all take the Mark of Mastery exams, 'tis a day for celebration, and we have seen that you all have already partaken in a feast. We must commend the chef,” she said, gesturing over to Pinkie who beamed in response.
Dash quickly caught on to what she had implied. “Wait, did you eat the rest of the food?”
“Indeed we have.” Luna answered, glad that someone had reacted.
Dash began to tear up as she floated into the air absentmindedly. “Even the Zap Apple waffles?”
“Those were the most scrumptious.”
Dash fell back down to the ground in despair as Shy worked to comfort her.
After silently chuckling at the prismatic fliers plight, Luna turned back to the rest of the group. “So anyway. Art thou all ready for thy trip? She questioned.
AJ chose to take this moment to ask something that had been on her mind for awhile. “Ah have a question, how exactly do we travel from one world to the other?” This stopped everyone in their tracks, as no one have even questioned this possibility.
“Yeah are we gonna get awesome armor and cool bikes?” exclaimed dash as she leapt into the air and did a loop.
“Umm... no”
Disheartened once more Dash fell back to the ground “This day sucks” she muttered.
“However, we believe that our dear friend Pinkie may have a method.” She said motioning to the girl that everyone had realized had been pretty quiet. They realized why, she had her hands cupped over her mouth and had been vibrating furiously in place for the past few minutes. She looked like she was gonna burst.
“Hekz yea” she yelled as she bolted with Pinkie brand speed over to a random section of the area that they had been in.
To EVERYONE'S confusion Pinkie had reached out with both hands and had started to pull on thin air. to everyone's great fear and bafflement, the trees in front of her began to bend and sway in her direction. To their relief and further confusion they realized that she was pulling on a giant cloaking device like cover, hiding something even more implausible.
A large green ship that had been painted and designed to look like a toothless alligator. Deadpanning, Rarity decided to ask what had been on everyone's mind.
“Diane, darling, what in the world is that thing?” she asked stepping forward.
“It’s a ship, made for travel between worlds. I made it to look my old pet” She answered, referring to the toothless pet alligator that she had as a child. “I call it the Gummy ship!” she exclaimed with a wide grin.
Rarity gave no response aside from her previous deadpan stare “Riiiiigggghhttt, next question then-
Suddenly Twilight appeared next to rarity and shoved her aside like a rag doll.“HOW DID YOU EVEN BUILD THAT!” Twilight all but screamed.
“Well whenever we snuck out to explore-” Luna gave a suddenly very nervous Twilight a hard glare at this. “-I would find these blocky things, and this guy named Cid, who ran the doughnut shop with Joe, told me that they were parts to a ship! My eyes went all big and i gave a huge gasp like this: GAAAASSSSSPPPPP.” As pinkie so generously demonstrated for the group. “So i started collecting them, because I just knew that it would come in hand. So I asked Luna for help and she provided the magic for some parts of the ship. I kept it a secret because i wanted to surprise you all like right now so Surprise!” Pinkie finished, never stopping for a single breath nor missing a beat.
Complete silence was her only companion at this particular moment, not even the telltale sound of a facepalm or chirping cricket wanted to break this sweet silence.
Eventually Twilight chose to commit the sin first. “Huh, so that's where you keep disappearing to.” as if realizing the truth to some great mystery, which for her, it was.
“I left this morning to bring it here”
“Wait what!? How could you have known that we’d come here, and that we wouldn't accidentally hit it?” Twilight almost yelled.
Pinkie just shrugged off Twilights tone and answered as if it had been obvious from the beginning. “Pullleeaasee Twi I've known you all well enough that I know that” She began gesturing to each of her friends in turn. “Rarity would want to work off the pounds, AJ would want to train partially for the same reason, Dash’s always up for a fight, Shy loves coming here, and you love hanging out with us. So for one reason or another I knew you’d all come here at some point if you all ate what I made.” she replied in quick succession.
Twi stood dumbfounded at this revelation of exactly how well Pinkie knew her friends. The others looked on, impressed as well.
“Well she’s got me pegged like a wrangled cow” AJ admitted.
“She does have a point” Rarity offered, now feeling a little self conscious of her weight...was she that noticeable?
“No denying it here”
Shy nodded silently
Luna nodded sagely ”'Tis an amazing feat to know thy friends so well, should come in handy if thy should face the shape changers in thy journey” she said, almost to herself.
“The what?-” Twilight started before being interrupted once more, this time by AJ
“So that leaves the question, if Pinks didn't make that ship, how would we have traveled?” This one took Luna by surprise as she noticeably tensed up. Even Twi seemed interested in this hypothetical. Growing more watched Luna flashback to this conversation that she had with her sister.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 Years Ago
Celestia Eclipse peacefully sat on the balcony table in her castle along with her younger sister Luna Eclipse, both calmly drank their tea as they made small talk about what each other had been up to. Both sisters had decided to take on students of their own to teach the way of the keyblade. After Luna found her students first Tia had left her sister to her own methods, leaving for a new world to train her own proteges.
“So, how are they coming along Lulu?” Tia began the new topic after explaining why their other friend couldn't make this meeting.
“Oh wonderful, they progress exponentially, Twilight is very innovative, if a bit high strung. The one named ‘Pinkie Pie’ would be the opposite, silly but sharp, doing things in her own unique way.”
Tia took a sip of her tea before responding with a small but sad smile. “Sounds a lot like him”
Luna shared her sisters feelings but continued regardless. “The one named Jacqueline holds incredible physical strength, even by earthan standards. The same could be said for young Rainbow Dash, speed beyond normal avian measure. In fact they are all extremely special, the pink haired shy one even granted the gift of thought in a small animal. We see great things for them Tia, soon they will face other worlds, and we pray that they are ready.”
“I must admit” Tia started, wearing a full on smirk. “I was slightly worried that having teenage students, much less 6 of them, would be a bit too much of a challenge for you. I even made a bet with him on weather you’d come to one of us for help.” She teased, suppressing a small snicker at her sisters currently dumbfounded face and bright red cheeks.
Quickly composing herself, Luna cocked her gun and proceeded to return fire. Calmly sipping her tea she responded with the same smirk that her sister had.”Well that just shows that we art a much better caretaker than thou. Not needing to go looking for already semi grown students.
“Well played Luna” Celestia thought. “So when the time does come how do you plan on setting them off?”
“Ill come up with something, we may just teach the warp spell to young Twilight” Luna answered nonchalantly.
Tia seemed surprised at this, “Lulu do you even remember that spell, you haven't used it in years. You use your night and shadow powers to go everywhere now” Tia asked with a light hearted smile
Luna seemed to be offended, she stood up and spread her wings in defiance. “So says thou! We can use the spell as easily as the day we learned it! Behold...” Luna exclaimed as she summoned her keyblade and concentrated. Hard.
“WARP: LUNAR MOUNTAIN!” She called out as she released her built up energy.
…...and nothing happened. Luna continued to call out the warp spells for the next few hours, oblivious to her sisters increasing laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to the present the master of the lunar keyblade found herself at the end of 6 piercing gazes. “Think of something masterly…...Quickly!” she thought to herself.
Quickly before anyone present could react, she held out her right hand. In a wave of dark night sky energy, her keyblade appeared in her grasp. A long dark, two toned sky blue/dark blue keyblade. Pictures of the different phases of the moon going around the night blue half of the the guard, and swirls covering the other half. Both coming up the shaft to meet the crescent moon that acted as the blades teeth. The crescent moon keychain swung freely from the end. Luna rarely summoned her keyblade, all questions forgotten everyone quickly knelt down in respect.
Crescent Night pulsed with lunar power as she began:
“Pinkamena Diane Pie!” once again twitching at the mention of her full name.
“Shia Flutter” Shy noticeably hid behind her hair as per usual.
“Rarity Anne Bell” She curtsied in response.
“Jacqueline Apple!” She tipped her hat to her master.
“Rachelle Dash” Dash looked as if she was about to say something but stopped herself.
“-and finally Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight bowed. “Its time now for a new change to come, you’ve grown up, from those small children wandering the void between worlds, to the proud Keyblade wielders that you are now. I’ve watched you all from that very first day, to see what you might do, to see how you might grow, to see how you would all make me proud of you.”
“It’s time now for you all to create your own paths, find new worlds, meet friends both new and old, and seek out the ones who have wronged you and your world. Along the way you may meet those that may become powerful allies, or dangerous foes, but you must never forget this one truth: You have each other, believe in yourselves and the power of your friends and you will never be lost. For they, are your greatest assets. Your test is this: Locate the ones who have wronged you, and seek closure. Find Spike and save him, both from the darkness, or himself.” She banished her keyblade as she sat her arm back at her side “Go now, have fun and be safe.”
“Well that worked…smooth”
She looked out to all of her students who appeared to be filled with pride, some even had tears in their eyes, though Dash would later call them “Liquid Awesomeness”
“HAH, take that Tia” Luna thought with an inner smirk.
Twilight rose first to respond, she had been the most teary eyed of the group. “Thank you master” she said from the heart.
“Come on guys let’s go see Pinkies ship ”AJ urged the rest of the girls. As soon as they started to walk move, Luna called out for Twilight to hang back.
“Twilight, one last thing. We've heard from a friend that strange occurrences have been occurring on different worlds. If he thinks they are strange then we should be wary.” Seeing Twis confused expression, she continued. “What we mean is this: weird things are happening, and the one that you search for may be connected to it somehow. I fear for your safety, therefore i offer to you this:” Luna held out her keyblade and in a flash, a small glowing cube appeared, it glowed brilliantly with prismatic lights and darks of all colors, never staying the same for any period of time. It floated gently into Twilight's outstretched palm.
Twilight looked at in in wonder, millions of questions floating in her head as she examined it from all angles. Eventually she settle one one: “What is this?”
Luna smiled softly as she responded. “A gift from a friend, please keep it safe, it wasn't easy to get this so only use it in a dire situation. It is an extremely powerful artifact, if you can get him to cooperate he will do you a favor.” She explained.
“Yes my dear, this cube is sentient and alive, he can judge your request as well, or dare we say, better than we can. I call it a D.E.M, keep it safe.”
“Y-yes of course master!” Twi exclaimed as she held the wondrous object up to her face and stared at what kind of magic or mystics that could be contained within. Luna looked on at her student, wearing the exact same scholarly face that she had worn all those years ago when she first saw a keyblade, then again when she cast her first spell, and so many times since. Luna felt a sort of maternal pride at the young woman that she raised. Only one thing remained.
“Twilight listen I want you to know-” This caught Twilight's attention like as fish, as she heard her teacher drop her usual way of speaking that she thought was cool. “-that you and the other girls will always have a place here, for this will ALWAYS be your home, your haven for when things look rough out there. I will also be here if you ever need my assistance for anything-” Luna couldn't finish as she had suddenly been grabbed in a teary eyed hug. After a few seconds, she decided to return the embrace.
That was Spike's final response as he fell deeper into the void. He deeply regretted having to leave all of his friends, but it had been necessary, what she said had been too alarming, too sudden, and dangerous for him to ignore.
He felt it, he felt her power, wrapping around him, and leading him somewhere. As he relaxed and let his body ride the pathway that had been set, he thought….. thought about what he had chosen to leave behind. His home, his friends, his family........his sister. He thought about Twilight, and how she would have to live on without him. She promised to save the town for his cooperation, so he could only hope that Twi and the others were safe, safe and protected.
He chuckled a little bit, he remembered how much of a nerd she was, almost dying for him even. He remembered the first time they met, the hated outcast who wanted to leave……
..and the lonely orphan who just wanted a friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He thought back to a time that he had both hated and loved, back to the time of the sad little 6 year old half dragon hybrid that had no where to go. In their town, a hybrid of any kind was both extremely rare, and extremely feared and/or disliked. It didn't just end at glares or mean words, not even at bullying or mistrust. The town hated him, and they showed it. His every action had been met with a hostile response. Helping a lady meant a robbery attempt, playing on the sidewalk meant vandalism, even talking to others had been treated as if it were a hate crime of some sort.
Eventually, he gave up on trying to be nice, and fought back. He fought back when assaulted, and committed every crime he'd been accused of. He’d had enough of this place.
One day, a group of kids came up to him and decided that they wanted him out. He didn't care he wanted to go anyway, but since they wanted to give him a goodbye present, he'd have to take it. Being half dragon meant that he had better fighting ability and endurance than even an earthen and more agility than an avian, so up against a group of them mixed, he viewed as an even match…..
He was wrong.
The adult mages must have used some spell to strengthen them, and it added up, because they soon overtook him with their combined strength. He soon found himself on the ground, bloody, taking hit after hit after hit after hit until the hits stopped coming. Looking up, he saw a small girl wearing a purple one piece slightly patched dress and sandals, she had mid-length dark purple hair with a darker purple and bright pink stripe running through it. She was standing, arms outstretched in front of him, almost as if she were….protecting him?
She was saying something, yelling maybe, but it was blurry and fading, he realized that he was losing consciousness. He managed to make out a few words however, he picked out the words ‘monster’ and ‘friend’, but before he could decipher them, the world turned black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waking up an undetermined amount of time later, he felt something underneath him, something soft, something foreign, something that had no business being there. Instincts kicked in, and he jumped up off of whatever it was that was under him. Staring at it for a few seconds he mentally analyzed it. It was of rectangular shape, it had a white surface, and on it lie on a smaller, more plump looking, rectangle. Baffling the young dragon, he took a hesitant step forward to inspect it more closely, only to fall back to the ground in a crumpled heap. Groaning in pain he tried to get up until he heard small foot steps enter the room.
“Stop…..you’ll hurt yourself!” said a small shrill voice. Looking behind him he saw the same young girl from the time before he lost consciousness, but something was off. He looked at her face and saw that she held no fear, no hate or resentment. She almost looked….curious. He flinched as she suddenly took a step toward him, but not having the strength to do fight back, he offered no resistance as she helped to lift him back on to the white square.
Since she wasn't hitting him or berating him….. yet, he decided to voice his inner questions. “What is this? What am I laying on?” he asked weakly, throat dry and airy.
She looked surprised and ran off, watching her run he sighed in disappointment he actually began to think that she may actually be unafraid of him, but it seems that she was just like the rest. Being half dragon he healed very quickly so he decided to just lie there and wait, he would leave when he was well enough. Just as mental silence began to set his head he heard her return.
She came back into the room holding a small glass with both hands, filled with a clear liquid. “Water?” he thought. She handed it to him, and he hesitantly took it into his sharp nailed hands.
“Drink that, my books say that the injured must stay hydrated in order to heal quickly,” she said, sounding rather proud of herself for being able to put what she learned to use. Staring suspiciously at the water for a few seconds, he proceeded to down it in less than two seconds. Looking over to the purple head he noticed that she was staring at him rather intently, it was kind of unnerving. He held the glass back out, “More,” he demanded.
The girl flinched slightly at his tone, she quickly recovered, she narrowed her eyes and puffed out her cheeks in defiance. “Say please!” she demanded back.
He could only give her a questioning glance “What?” he asked.
“My books said that we should always say please when asking for something we want,” she replied, cheeks still puffed out.
He lie there, for several seconds, contemplating the words meaning, he had never heard it before so he could only take the strange girl’s word for it. Finally he relented and replied. “Please…...can I have some more,” he asked only for the world to feel weird falling out of his mouth, never having said it before.
Her cheeks stopped puffing as she nodded and took the glass back to wherever she got the liquid from. While she was gone, he decided to try and figure out where he was. Looking around he saw the wooden ceiling, wooden walls, wooden doom, there appeared to be a lot of wood, everything looking almost makeshift. “Jeez did they make this place themselves?” he thought. He realized that he still didn't know what he was laying on, and since his throat wasn't as dry anymore he could voice his thoughts better.
Eventually she returned and handed him the water, before drinking it he spoke out. “What am I laying on?” he questioned.
He got no response as she began to puff her cheeks out once more, a sign that he was beginning to realize, meant that he'd done something wrong. Rolling his slitted emerald eyes he asked “What now?”
“My books say that you always say thank you when receiving something, its only nice,” she lectured.
Once again the world sounded foreign to his ears as well as the sound of hit exiting his mouth. Skipping contemplation he just went ahead and said it. “Thank you…”
A smile replacing her puffs, the girl finally answered his question. “Your welcome, and its called a bed.” He suddenly got the feeling that he shouldn't have asked as the girl in front of him cleared her throat, though he couldn't figure out why…
“A bed is a piece of furniture used as a place to sleep or relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft mattress on a bed frame, I had to make due with a mattress that we found on the road, we cleaned it and now its my bed. With the mattress resting either on a solid base, often wooden slats, or a sprung base, we made a box that the mattress sits in. Most beds have a headboard for resting against, with others also having side rails and foot-boards, but I have neither because we couldn't find the right wood for it.” She gestured toward the soft white rectangle under his head. For greater head support, most people use a pillow, placed on the top of a mattress. Also used is some form of covering blanket to insulate the sleeper, often bed sheets, a quilt, or a duvet, collectively referred to as bedding. I haven't found enough fabric to make covers yet, but I will. Bedding is the removable non-furniture portion of a sleeping environment. A bed can be thought of as a body and the bedding its clothing,” She finished, taking in a long breath.
He figured out why….
It sounded to him that she had just read that straight out of a book, but all the books lie closed in clumps around the room. Either way the only thing he could catch from that was the first sentence explaining that a bed was a mattress meant for relaxation. He also noticed a lot of ‘we’s and ‘I’s but since he hadn't seen anyone else yet, he decided to factor that away for later. Taking that he nodded dumbly and drank his water.
A veil of silence few over the two for a time while he drank his water and she studied him with her eyes. She had a weird look on her face, as if she were pondering the mysteries of the world. He tried to ignore it as best she could, but after a time he snapped.
“Will you stop staring at me!” He all but yelled in frustration. She flinched greatly and threw her gaze toward the floor in embarrassment.
“Sorry!” she quickly apologized. “I’ve been told that I get that way when I find something interesting, and I've never seen a halfling in person before.” She looked up and he could swear that her eyes were literally sparkling. “I’ve read about them though, in my books,” she said as she ran over and grabbed a beat up old tome, looking over, he saw that her other books were equally or worsly beat up, as if she got them from a dump. “You look a little different from how they describe them but you match well enough. Oh my name’s, Twilight Sparkle by the way.” She finished as if introductions were no big deal.
“I'm no test subject to be experimented on!” he yelled aggressively leaning up from his position on his back. Holding up her book defensively she quickly replied.
“NO! No, I just wanted to ask you some questions, to see if what the book says is outdated,” she said with pleading and sorrowful eyes.
He narrowed his eyes and replied “Well I can't help you, I don't know anymore about myself than that book does.” His eyes traveled downward as he adopted a downtrodden almost sad expression. “In fact, that book might know more about me than I do.” Looking over at his arm he noted that most of the scars and cuts had begun to heal. “Looks like she was right about the water, either that or I've been asleep longer than I thought” looking up he saw the girl named Twilight try to wipe her watering eyes.
“Are you…..crying?” he asked surprisingly.
In response, she held the book up to him and demanded that he read it. “You need to know more about yourself,” she explained.
He looked at the girl in disbelief, then at the book, then back at her. “Didn't you say that this book was outdated?”
She held out the book so that it pressed against his small snout. “Doesn't matter, knowledge is knowledge so read,” she demanded, beginning to get her now trademarked puffy cheeks.
Knowing that their was no possible way out of this he grabbed the book and opened to the first page. After 5 minutes he sighed and figured that he'd have to admit it at some point. “I don’t know how to read…” he admitted with shame.
“I know” Twilight said nonchalantly
“How did you know?” he asked incredulously
“I watched your eyes, you just sat there for five minutes staring at random points on the page. I figured it out pretty quickly.
“Oh”
Silence reigned once again and he stared out in shame and she watched him with interest. Finally Twilight spoke up. “I could teach you to read….. if you want,” she said shyly.
Never having asked for help, he just sat there in further silence, not having any idea of what to say or even how to go about beginning. Twilight noticed this and began first. “Do you remember what I told you when you ask for something?”
Still feeling slightly weird he decided to say it anyway, he looked over at her with a face of annoyance. “Please?”
Seeing his face Twilight smiled brightly and took the book in her hands. Over the next few hours she would teach him the basics of linguistics that she herself learned through self teaching and constant observation of others. It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough for the both of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eventually, Twilight closed the book after reading most of it to him as part of her teaching. She had never taught anyone anything so she appeared to be really happy her accomplishment. Looking over his arm he noticed that all of his wounds were healed and he could feel his bones fully mended, overall he felt great mentally and physically. He quickly jumped to his feet, surprising Twilight. Standing up he realized that they were about the same height at little over 3 feet. Before he could stop it a question popped out of his mouth.
“How old are you?” this seemed to take Twilight by surprise, but to his own surprise she answered without hesitation.
“I just turned 8 about a month ago.” she answered with a touch of curiosity in her voice.
This information really surprised him, but it would explain why she had that kind of commanding effect on him, making him say please and thank you like that. Seeing her curious expression he decided to answer what he knew she was thinking, even though he knew where it would lead. “I'm only 6 if you must know…”
This threw a huge grin on the girls face, just like he suspected it would. “That means that i'm older than you by almost two years” she said proudly.
"Dragon's age slower than you humans. Even a half dragon like myself has the maturity of a 13 year old."
"Girls mature faster than guys in any species. So there!"
Rolling his eyes he started for the door. “Thanks-” there's that word again, it felt slightly less weird every time he said it “-for the help and teaching me to read but its time for me to go now.”
“Go? Go where?” she asked curiously.
“I'm leaving this town, there's no place for me here” he said in complete contempt. Twilight just stood and stared at him, her eyes almost begging him to stay as she held the book close to her chest. Ignoring it he opened the door to leave but before he could actually exit he felt his shirt being pulled.
“WAIT-I mean uh don’t go, you didn't even tell me your name….” she stammered out. trying hard to keep him here.
That's it, he had had enough. “CUT THE CRAP” He yelled, knocking her arm off and turning back to her. Seeing her stunned face he continued “I don't have a name, I'm just a beast and a monster. That’s all they've ever called me so that's what I am! I don’t know why you've taken care of me, or what you really want, but I don't care. I'm leaving town, no one wants me here and I don’t want to stay.” he said in a more calm but threatening voice.
The girl just stood there in silence. Not even waiting for her to speak, he ran out the door and into the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Running back to his hideout, he grabbed all the things he needed for his trip. He didn't know where he would go, and he didn't know how far, so he just decided to pack everything he had in a backpack that he ‘found’. Every stolen, borrowed, or foraged item. His thoughts kept going back to the strange girl that miraculously didn't hate or fear him, he couldn't figure out why, she said it was curiosity but he didn't believe it. He knew that she had some other motive, but he didn't know what, all he knew was that she appeared to be kind, a little strange, cute when puffed, and lonely……
Very lonely.
He stopped on this, and thought back to the house he had just left behind. It was a one story wide with what appeared to be at least 2 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. Then it hit him: Where was her family? She couldn't live alone, she wouldn't be able to afford that kind of place by herself. Making the excuse that they must have been out at the time he continued to pack and plan.
Eventually, he decided that he had enough stuff inside his stolen backpack. Leaving his hideout he went out toward the edge of town ready to leave. He found himself rooted to the edge of the city, however, his thoughts stuck on the orphan girl in the big house. Figuring that he wouldn't be able to leave he decided that he should at least back and use that word she taught him one more time, at least for teaching him to read. That's when he smelt it: burning wood. He quickly did a 180 and stared out at the town. Fire. There had been a fire going on near the edge of the town. Quickly realizing that that's where he ran from he made the connection that it was Twilight's house, dropping his things, he ran toward it without a second thought.
“TWILIGHT!!” he screamed as he bolted toward the older girls house. Growing up alone, and unloved one had to become observant of ones surroundings, even in a crisis. The meant that even in his frantic running, he didn't fail to notice the townspeople, their faces…. and their words. He managed to pick out a few key sentences with his keen dragon senses.
“Served her right......”
“.....Should Not have helped that thing”
“Didn't her parents die almost a year ago?”
“Did you use enough gasoline?”
“I hope they're both still in there, together, burning”
“She should have just kept her nose in those books, everyone knows that you don't help that beast!”
So that was it.
Anger boiled in his chest as he came to 3 different revelations. First he realized that she was in fact an orphan whose’ parents have died a year ago.
Secondly, the adults were the ones that set the fire.
Third and most alarmingly, it seemed that the entire town seemed to be in on it, because as he ran, he noted that no one else had run toward the fire, and that no one looked even the least bit worried about the young girl probably burning to death. That only made him run faster, because he knew…..
He knew that if he slowed down, even a little, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from beating them all down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to the books that Twilight read to him, he knew that even being only half dragon, he was almost completely immune to fire. If it had only been him he’d be fine, but the town just HAD to drag the girl along with him. He faltered for a second, wondering if it was his fault all this happened, he shook it off quickly though. Telling himself that it was her fault, that she brought thin on herself for helping him. He never stopped running to her though, not slowing even a little, even if he couldn't understand why.
Reaching the house, he didn't think twice before jumping through the fire heated windows. Landing on the carpet like a baws he called out to her. “Twilight!” he yelled, waiting for a response he scanned the room with his eyes and thought. “Maybe she got out, maybe I'm here for nothing” Hearing a crash, he quickly tossed that thought aside. Running to where he recognized as the room she had taken him to he saw her. Crawling on the ground trying to gather as many of the books as she could. It stunned him speechless, her entire house was ablaze, but even then she cared about the books.
Taking a split second to snap back to focus he leaped over a few fires to reach her near the corner of the room. “What are you doing, the house is on fire!” he yelled as she grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“You came back” she said with a stunned look, but quickly turned back to the bookshelf that luckily hadn't caught fire yet. Desperately she grabbed some books from the shelf, coughing all the while. She was quickly succumbing to the effects of the smoke, he knew he had to get her out of here. He tried to grab her but she resisted fiercely shoving him back in desperation.
“NO! The books *cough* we have to save them,” she tried to yell but ended up in a coughing fit. She was going to pass out soon….or die. He didn't have time for this, it didn't affect him, but he could tell that it was getting hotter in here by the amount of fire. He had to get her out, but she wouldn't leave the books, growling in frustration, he acted without thinking. Running over to the nearby window he quickly pushed it open. Running back to the girl who still tried in vain, he grabbed her already built pile, and tossed it out the window. Twilight watched in tears, but before she could protest she passed out. Acting quickly he grabbed the entire book case that held the remaining books. Even with his dragon strength, the weight of a large book shelf taxed his muscles, but he did it he tossed it out the window, safe from the roaring flames. Mustering up the last of his strength he grabbed the limp body of Twilight and jumped out himself.
Huffing and puffing and out of energy, he dragged himself and Twilight to a safe distance up the hill from the burning house, making sure to not be seen by any of the townspeople for obvious reasons. Setting her down on the grass just outside of town, he looked over Twi to make sure that she was ok. There were some scrapes and some burns, but no serious injuries, her hands looked like they suffered the most damage, probably from braving flames for those stupid books. Something caught his eye however, a symbol on her forehead, if she were standing it’d be hidden by her bangs but laying down like she was currently, it was plain for all to see. It looked like a purple star with 6 points. “So she’s a mage then.” he thought.
He knew from fighting mages that their symbol on their foreheads were the sign that they could harness their magic, while most could only cast small spells like levitation, some could cast advanced spells like teleportation.
He noticed her eyes slowly open and glance around, they saw the burning house, then landed on his face. She broke out in a large bright toothed smile. “You came back…..see you're not….…….a….. beast” she managed to mumble before succumbing to the hands of sleep
He could only sit and stare at her, then back to the burning house behind them. Finally, he just sighed and decided to lie down next to her. “Whatever….. nerd.” he mumbled before falling asleep himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fluttering her eyes open, Twilight instantly analyzed her surroundings, she saw the sky, so she wasn't in her house. Thinking hard she remembered fire…... books burning and..... “Dragon boy!” she sat up quickly and looked back and forth.
“What?” he called out from behind her, sounding annoyed at the nick name. Quickly turning around, she stared at him in disbelief then at the smoking house behind him. Many questions ran through her head, but only one made it through her mouth. “What happened to the books, I don’t remember anything after seeing you at the door.” she confessed.
“I threw them out the window.” he replied simply, still staring out at the sky.
“YOU WHAT!” she screeched. Quickly sitting up he spaced a hand over her mouth and the other held a finger to his lips.
“Shhhhh, look…” he said gesturing over to the house. “Closely” he whispered.
Following his arm, Twilight looked back to the now smoking house, looking closer she saw that people were just now gathering around the burnt place, inspecting the wreckage. Seeing only a few people but no firemen or police, Twilight, to her credit, put two and two together fairly quickly. “A...are they the ones who set the fire?” she turned and whispered to the boy next to her. He nodded slowly. “B..But w..why would they do that.?” she stammered, tears watering her eyes.
Turning, he met her violet eyes with his own slit emerald ones, wearing a very serious expression. “It’s because you helped me, stood up for me when I was attacked. I'm a beast and everyone knows it, you doomed yourself the moment you helped me.”
“Hahahahahaha…..” what started out as a small barely held snicker, turned into a laugh that had her rolling on the grass. He just sat there in stunned silence, why was she laughing, did she not understand the consequences, did she inhale too much smoke?
Finally calming down she tried to wipe her eyes a begin “Sorry, its just what you said sounded like it came from a really badly written story. You're not a monster, or a beast, you just saved me from my own burning house. You said you were going to leave tow, but you came back for me. You're a good guy. You even took the time to save……... my……. books” In that moment something seemed to click in her mind. She stood up and grabbed his shoulders.
“You said you threw all of the books out the window right, so that means that they were saved from the fire right? ALL OF THEM!?” Nodding dumbly he pointed toward the part of the house closest to them, towards the pile of mostly unburnt books and bookshelf.
“Yea….over-” he couldn't finish as Twilight instantly rushed off in the direction that he pointed. “Wait the adults will see you” he called out as he chased after her.
Reaching her just as she dove into the pile, he hastily looked from side to side, currently they thought that they were both dead, but if they saw them hear they would probably resort to more……. direct measures. Seeing that they were currently checking the front of the how it seemed that they were safe for the moment. “What are you doing?” he hissed.
“Looking…” she replied numbly. Eventually she surfaced with a book that she held in her arms so closely that he thought it might burst like a balloon. She turned to him with tears in her eyes, and before he could blink she grabbed him, instincts kicking in he almost flipped her in defense, before he realized that this wasn't a tackle, not even a push. She wrapped her arms around him and started crying into his shoulder.
“It’s called a hug,” she said, guessing that he never heard of that word either. She’d be right as no one had ever had the courage to hug him like this. It felt weird…...but nice, and warm like the bed she had him sleep in…. he liked it.
He wrapped her in his own arms in return. “Ok, but why?”
“Its another way of thanking someone…... so thank you!” she said, not lifting her head.
“Alright, but why are you thanking me.”
“You saved this?” she said, finally letting him go and holding up what looked like an old, tattered book.
“Your book? Man you really are a nerd aren't you?” he replied with a slight smirk.
She puffed out her cheeks in anger and stomped her foot. “I’m not a nerd, why does everyone call me that? Anyway, this is my family journal” she said, anger subsiding. She gazed down at the book with sad eyes. “Its the only thing i have left to remember them, all the pictures we took, all the spells they wanted me to learn, and even the songs and stories that the sang and read to me at night. They're all in this book.” She finished rubbing the cover.
“Was that what you were trying to save when I came in?” he asked curiously.
Looking back up she nodded. “Yes, when the fire started I panicked and decided to try and save all of the books, seems kind of stupid now I guess.” she said with a slight giggle.
“It’s ok, if I had something like that I would risk my life for it too.” he said with a comforting smile. This seemed to shock Twilight as she stared back up at him and took a step forward.
“Wait... you don't have ANY family? Anywhere?” she said some sadness and more than a little curiosity.
“I guess dragons….. or halflings mature quickly, because I've been caring for myself as long as I can remember.” he said, not trying to meet her eyes head on.
They stood there for a few minutes, Twilight looked like she was thinking hard about something, and he just wanted to get away from this location. He began to think about whether or not his backpack was where he left it. He did run off without any forethought, but then Twi suddenly spoke up.
“I’ll go with you….” she said with conviction.
This shocked him into meeting her eyes….. big mistake as seeing her determined eyes made it harder for him to deny her request? “No...no way, I won’t protect you the whole way, and even if i could I prefer to be alone!”
Twilight just stood there defiantly, so serious her cheeks didn't even puff out. “I can protect myself, my mom taught me defense spells, and the ones she didn't teach me are in this book.” she said as she once again held out her Family journal for him to see. I'm going with you and that's final. She said as she turned back to her pile of books to fish some more out.
He just stood there dumbstruck at this development. “What? Why do you want to come with me? You’d be leaving everything behind, you will never be able to come back here! We may even die out there!” he said after regaining his senses.
Twilight replied in a calm voice, not even turning around from her scavenging. Her voice was calm yes, but it also held great sadness. “Because I have the same reason as you now. I don't have any family, any friends, or even a house to stay in anymore. The entire town thinks that we’re dead so there’s no place for me here.” She looked back at him with a huge smile. “So ill go with you as your older sister.”
This one threw him for a loop as he managed to look even more dumbstruck than before. Almost forgetting himself he nearly yelled. “Since when are you my older sister!?”
Still smiling she jumped out with what looked like the dragon book from before. “Since just now, and to make it official I’ve decided to even give you a name.” Looking near the end of the book, Twilight picked out a specific word and showed it to him. “Says here that a common dragon name is Spike, so I’ll call you that from now one.
Despite himself he couldn't help but admit to himself that he rather liked that name…. Spike…. yeah that sounded tough. Kinda sounds like a dogs name, but he shrugged that one off. Looking back at Twilight he could see her eyes literally shining as she leaned low and stared up at him with it. He knew he was losing this fight, eventually after a fierce inner battle he gave in. Older sister indeed. Bowing his head low he just sighed. “Fine….do whatever you want….. thanks for the name though.”
Shrieking in glee she jumped up and down and grabbed him into a hug once more. Panicking Spike looked around to see if anyone heard them, and of course some kid peaked around the corner and screamed for the others.
“GUYS! THEY ARE ALIVE! OVER HERE!” the kid screamed at the top of his lungs, alerting the adults. Both of them head the large amounts of footsteps in coming.
Twilight released Spike and blushed in embarrassment. “Oops…..” Spike only proceeded to face palm fiercely as he groaned in annoyance.
“Lets go, sis.” he ordered. Grabbing Twilight's arm, and taking one of her two books in his other one, they ran to the edge of town towards where Spike left his pack. They had to run into and out of various streets and alleys in order to lose the mob behind them. Eventually they found it, his pack, lying on the ground at the city limits. Huffing and puffing they sat together for a few minutes to catch their breath.
“So…*huff* what did you…*puff* pack?” Twilight managed to get out.
“Mostly stolen food, most of the stalls were empty, guess we know why now.“ he attempted to joke, successfully getting a giggle out of her. “Some water and a tent with some blankets.” he finished, having caught his breath a bit before Twilight did.
Finally catching her breath she looked at him in relief. “Good then that means we have some supplies until the next town.” Getting up and patting down her dress, she grabbed her books, both the dragon book and the Family journal. Spike looked at her carrying the books and motioned for her to hand them over. She complied and he stuffed them into his bag.
“You ready?” He asked her as he turned back to the city that they both hated.
She did the same but her gaze lasted a bit longer, as unlike Spike she did have some happy memories, and some even worse than Spikes own. “Yes, I'm ready, lets go.” And at that, they took their first few steps into the new chapter of their lives. The lonely orphan, and the outcast halfling. They began the day as strangers, and now they left the town as brother and sister. The world’s a strange place like that.
Over time, the duo soon became a trio as eventually they came across a lost southern, earthan girl about the same age as themselves. She had been abandoned by her own parents during a stampede, so they decided to let her come with them. After passing through another town they heard from the townsfolk about a strange avian girl with rainbow hair. She wasn't hated like Spike, but she was even more shunned than himself. Feeling a kind of kinship with this strange girl Spike decided to beat up some kids that were making fun of her behind her back. Eventually they came back as a group, but this time Spike and the rainbow haired girl fought side by side much to Twilight's displeasure and the cowgirl’s amusement.
During the fight Spike became fast friends with the girl and asked her to come with them, she gladly accepted. Finishing the fight, they got themselves fixed up and left the town with one more person in tow. Twilight even tried to make a few jokes about how they seemed to have just about every race with them. Entering the forest, the group began to get more and more lost. Every tree looked the same and every animal looked equally dangerous.
Especially when they came across a large bear, easily three times the size of the group. Just as they got ready to fight, a timid looking, pink haired avian girl jumped from the bushes and stopped them from doing so. Easily calming the bear, and sending it away, she told the group that she lived in the forest with the animals for about 4 years now. Showing them her cottage, the group decided to stay for a while. Quickly becoming friends the girls all had a great time with one another. Only after 3 days, and constant signals from the girl, they realized that she wanted to go with them. She was just too shy and timid to say so properly.
At some point while traveling, a strange earthan pink haired, extremely energetic girl, wandered into their group with her own back pack. No one even noticed that she had integrated in with the group at first, until she broke out into song during the walk, dragging them all into it. Much to their confusion. They liked the girl, however, and because they enjoyed her company and personality, they allowed her to stay.
Finally coming across a small town, the group of 6 decided that this was a good place to stop and make a home. The first person they say was a well dressed young mage girl who gasped at Twilight's patched dress and disheveled hair. Quickly grabbing her, the group had been forced to chase them to the girls home where she quickly gave her a make up and new clothes. Grateful the two mages hit it off instantly, mostly due to the girl having many fashion related books to share.
So from then on the 7 of them became inseparable, always hanging out, and always smiling. Sometimes Spike would sit out at night and think. Think about his current life, he had friends, actual friends. But even more than that….he had family, he had a sister. This brought a large smile to his face every time he thought about it.
Even now as he reached his destination. A large black and white castle near the edge of the void, the space between worlds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8 Years later
“They’re on the move…” a strange figure cloaked in darkness spoke out to Spike who stood on one knee in respect. “They’ll be headed to their first world now. You know what you have to do.” They finished.
"Yes” Spike said monotonically as he stood up and left without another word. His black shirt with the green flame contrasting against the whitish gray that surrounded them.
Alone in the hallway the figure silently chuckled to themselves. “Yes, Spike, it’s time for a reunion. This may be the first time you've left this castle. Who knows what kind of effect it will have on you, however…
spending 8 full years in Castle Oblivion that is...”
“Rachelle, language please! If you drive then we will most likely crash into some horrid uncultured wasteland with a terrible name…….like philadelphia or something.” Rarity said, waving of some disgusting thought that she conjured.
“I don’t think you should drive…” Shy muttered from the corner seat.
“See even Shia don’t think that you should drive Rainbow” AJ argued gesturing over to the shy girl.
Dash leveled a glare at her before pointing dramatically “Traiter!!!”
“Eep”
“And you” She continued turning her glare and finger toward the hat wearer. “Don’t call me Rainbow!” She hollered as she pounced on her target, turning the argument into a cartoon style dustball rumble, rolling around the admittedly large cockpit of the ship.
It was also at this point that Twilight had entered the room, almost stumbling at the sight of her friends rolling around in an extremely immature manner. She turned her shocked face toward Rarity who shrugged and then to Shy who hid behind her hair in her natural ‘tree like’ state.
After standing dumbstruck for a few more minutes she decided that she had enough. Nodding over to Rarity she screamed out. “Stop!!” which signalled Rarity to telekinetically separate the two, stopping them mid-rumble.
“Now I know that you don’t hate each other’s guts…….yet, so why are you all fighting?”
“ONE!” Twilight yelled over the loud mixture of voices. “At a time please….” She finished with a palm over her face.
The two looked towards one another for a brief second before one began.
“I/AH WANNA DRIVE!!”......or both.
After thinking this over for a few seconds Twi responded. “Do either of you know how to drive this thing?”
Both of the floating friends acted simultaneously, both opening their mouths to respond, and both promptly closing them after actually thinking about it.
Hearing no answer Twilight continued. “Thought so, where’s Pinkie, it’s her ship so she’ll drive for us.” She motioned for Rarity to drop the duo.
“Ow,” Dash groaned as she rubbed her sore behind. Rarity’s release had been too sudden, and she had been too close to the floor to hover, so she fell on her butt. “She went to go stock the fridge with whatever Luna didn't eat, and then some.”
“Gift from Master Luna” Twilight answered quickly as she almost ran over to AJ and whispered into the taller girls ear. AJ gave a smirk and nodded in agreement.
“Pinkie!” Twilight called out, and in a matter of seconds, the Pink girl appeared in a flash next to her.
Twilight held out the artifact, her face becoming decidedly serious. “This is a precious artifact given to us by Master Luna. It can only be used in emergencies. I want to trust you to keep it safe. Ok?”
Pinkie’s eyes grew three sizes as her mouth fell open in awe. Someone trusted her with responsibility, truly it was a dream come true. “Really? Me?” Pinkie dashed over and gave Twilight a back breakingly tight hug that lasted all of 10 seconds.
Gingerly taking the object into her hands completely careful in every way. Extremely carefully, and extremely fast she stuffed the object down her shirt with no bulging to be seen.
“APPLEJACK! NOW!”
The moment Twilight called out, AJ dashed over and grabbed Pinkie and restrained her harms. Pinkie began to panic and giggle as Twilight proceeded to rummage through her shirt apparently looking for something. Pinkie’s bra became entirely visible as Twilight pulled her shirt up and looked fervently for the artifact.
“Woah…..hot...” muttered Dash as her face turned beet red.
“Oh…….my” Shy muttered, her face matching the color of her hair as she covered her eyes.
“I NEED AN ADULT!!” Pinkie screamed through her laughter.
“Darling, I would like to believe that we are adults, but Twilight, I didn't know that you thought of Diane in this particular way? Rarity declared even as her own face grew tinted.
Faltering in her search and blushing herself, Twilight quickly pulled her friends shirt down. “N-no it’s not like that! Don’t you always wonder where these things go? She always does this, stuffing things in weird places only for them to disappear and reappear later.”
Dash struggled to contain her laughter at the innuendo that clearly went over her friends head.
“Do you guys know that I have NEVER seen her summon her keyblade the same way as us, no flash, no nothing. It’s always her pulling it from her shirt or pants, out of thin air, or we blink and it’s like she had it from the beginning. It makes no sense.” Twilight said frantically.
Pinkie’s laughter had begun to die out by this point. “But *hahaaa* I thought I explained it to you.”
Twilight turned and leveled a finger at her “Your explanations are invalid!”
“Now now darling, please calm down, we’ve all discussed this. We agreed that it’s due to the power of her keyblade, like your magic or my telekinesis.” Rarity said in a calming tone.
But our keyblades only serve to amplify our natural powers, or give us new ones. Pinkie has been able to do this the exact same way as when we meet. No it’s something else that I can’t understand, and it’s driving me nuts.” Twilight looked over at AJ with pleading eyes.
AJ let Pinkie down as she walked over to Twilight and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hun, you, of all people should know that yah can’t hope to understand everything. If yah haven't figured it out in 18 years then yer not gonna figure it out now. Pinkie’s just one of those things that we don’t understand, just trust.”
Twilight's eye began to twitch. “That’s one explanation.”
“Can we go now?" Demanded Dash
Twilight looked back toward where she guessed the kitchen was. “Are we stocked up on supplies?”
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically.
“Then I guess we are. Everyone to your seats. Pinkie it’s your ship so you drive.” Twilight commanded with a small smile.
Pinkie beamed in excitement as she nodded and dashed over to the dashboard that Dash wanted so desperately to sit at. The moment she sat down a mark on the top of the screen began to bright pink. She began to push all sorts of random buttons, confirming Twilight's guess on the fact the only she could really fly it.
The action had been repeated when the other three sat down as well. When AJ sat down next to Pinkie as the co driver, a mark at the top of the screen glowed orange. When Dash sat at the weapons section, eagerly getting familiar with the many buttons and levers, her own mark glowing red. Shy, who had already been seated, turned back to the screen in front of her a small smile gracing her features as she sat Angel down on the console in front of her. Rarity sat gingerly at the navigators chair, flipping her hair and leaning back. Her mark glowed brilliantly as well. Twilight sat down in the commander's chair in the middle of the circle, failing to hide her own excitement. Her mark glowed as brightly as the ones next to it.
Twilight noticed an empty space next to her, as if there was meant to be a chair there as well, so looked at it for a second but didn't give it anymore thought as she turned back to her screen.
All of the marks glowing caused a voice to ring out. “6 wielders of harmony detected…..” It was a woman's voice, one which Twilight recognized as an old friend of Pinkie’s, one that the other 6 really couldn't become friends with due to her completely monotone personality and love of rocks. Twilight realized that Pinkie must have missed her a lot to set her voice as the computer.
“Wielders of Harmony?” Dash questioned.
“I thought it sounded cool.” Pinkie responded.
“Would you like to take off now?”
Twilight answered. “Yes please!”
“Affirmative, time to rock and roll!”
Before anyone could question that sentence, the ship shuddered as the lights from the 6 marks spread to other areas of the ship, powering it up completely. The ship began to hover into the air, preparing to blast toward a new world. As if all thinking the same thing, each of them glanced out of the window closest to them, now high enough to see the entire land including the house that they have all lived at for so long.
Dash thought back to the time that she challenged Luna to a fight when they had first arrived.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Fight me!” a young Rainbow dash yelled out across the clearing.
“Huh?” a befuddled Luna responded.
“You heard me! Fight me, you wanna be my teacher then you prove that you’re stronger than me…….like he did.” Dash ranted, the last part more of a whisper to herself.
“Dash what are you saying, she saved our lives-”
“It’s ok Twilight Sparkle it is fine.” Luna interrupted. Smirking she pulled out two bells. “I was hoping that i’d get to try this out.” she thought as she fangirled inside. “If you can either land a hit on us or take one or both of these bells, then you win, you have one hour, and all of you can participate. You can go when I say-”
“Nah, you guys stay back. I got this thing solo! Bring it!” Dash bragged. She quickly charged at the blue clad women in speeds that surprised even Luna. She sent out a combination of punches and kicks that were all dodged or blocked, but it was a distraction, because as soon as she thought she saw an opening Dash instantly reached out reached out for the bells that Luna had tied to her belt.
In a flash Dash felt her armed pinned against her back in a painful position on the ground, Luna’s face leaning over her, smirk and all. “Your speed is impressive”
“Yeah, I know that, so what?”
“However, speed isn't always what matters most in a fight, strategy and cunning are needed, as well as patience. You didnt even let us finish, we were going to say to wait until we said ‘go’”
Dash blushed as she realized what just happened, and at the realization that her friends had began to laugh at her.
“From now on you will refer to us as Master Luna, deal?”
“Yea sure fine” Dash muttered as Luna released her hold and she rubbed her sore arm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pinkie reminisced about her first night in that new world, the night she cried in her Masters arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It wasn't until nighttime that Pinkie could stop laughing at the mere thought of Dash’s farce of a fight. The mere look on her face as Luna pinned her sent her into hysterics. Eventually Pinkie managed to calm down enough to lie down on her bed and inspect her surroundings, looking around she noticed that the walls had a sort of drab color to it, slate gray she surmised.
“Gray…..just like her-”
No she couldn't think about it right now, she had to stay positive, she was on a whole other world now. New places, new people, new master,......new friends…..she liked new things...didn't she. Briefly she remembered a conversation that she had with her, how she said she had a fondness for old things.
“NO!” Pinkie said audibly. Realizing that lying on her back wasn't helping her, she jumped up and grabbed the pink paint that she had Luna bring her, and began to paint the walls. If she couldn't be alone with her thoughts than she would just work her body instead, thats what earthans were meant to do after all. They weren't creatures of profound thought like mages, nor beings of carfree flight like avians. Earthans were meant to work and labor, taking pleasure and satisfaction in a job well done. Of course Pinkie realized that she was a slight exception, leaning more toward the free spirited avian than the hard working earthan. Of course she did work hard, but that was only when she wanted to see her friends smile.
“....To make her smile…...She rarely smiles, but when she did…...”
Pinkie shook and bit her lip as she dropped the paint brush, not caring that it just made a stain on the ground.
“Hi i’m Pinkie Pie who are you?
“I’m Maud Pie…….why are you hanging out my window?”
“Ohhhhh we have the same last name!”
“I guess we do”
“We should have a party and invite our friends”
“.....I don’t have any friends….”
“Yes you do, i’m your friend now!”
“But we just met-
“Friend hug!”
“Ooof”
“So this is gravel? Its so gray! I Love it!”
“Your room…..is so colorful….I’m jealous”
“Please don’t tell anyone!!”
“Your secret's safe with me Pinkie”
“Even if my friends aren't your friends, you still have me!”
“Ohhh YOU SMILED I SAW IT!!”
“I never thought someone like me......could have a friend like you Pinkie.”
“Happy Birthday Maud!!”
“Hehee your mom calls us sisters!”
“I wouldn't mind it if you were my sister”
“Maud!! Where are you!! “There are monsters everywhere!”
“Maud!”
“MAUD!!!”
She snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a soft hand grasp her shoulder, turning she looked up at the face of her new teacher. Suddenly she realized that her eyes were watering, she turned around, quickly wiped them and slapped on a convincingly fake smile before turning back to her.
Luna was not convinced. “We need not have to enter your dreams to know that you are troubled, young Pinkamena Pie.” For once Pinkie didn't flinch at the use of her full name.
“Troubled, silly master…i’m not…….troubled.” Pinkie said as her mask began to break. Suddenly Luna leaned down on one knee and held her close.
“You recently lost someone very dear, and very close. While Twilight Sparkle’s brother may still be out there, you're world is gone, destroyed with it’s residents. You must hurt more than anyone here. It is ok young one, it is only you and me right now, so you don’t have to be laughter, you may let it out.
Let it out she did, for a long time she wailed and sobbed, confessing how much she misses her dear friend and sister. The strange girl who never went outside, always played with rocks, and almost never smiled. She was the only gray in her bright pink world…...and Pinkie loved her so much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity thought back to the first time she made dresses for her friends. She could also remember the embarrassment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I did it!” 13 year old Rarity cheered as she held up the finished product. A bright pink dress that she had sewed for her friends Pinkie. “Perfect for a night out on the town.”
Finally after a full year, Luna had decided to let the 6 of them leave their home and visit the town some distance away. Of course they had snuck out sometime before, but this was official, and they would dress as such.
“Now, Twilight likes the color purple so this bright purple scarf should go perfectly with these purple slippers.”
Rarity continued to talk to herself, oblivious to the 5 pairs of eyes watching her through the open doorway.
“Wooowee she’s really going at it.” AJ whispered.
“Their so ugly though”
“Dash please!” Twilight whispered harshly
“She’s working so hard though”
“But Shy look, would you wear that? Be honest!”
Shia stood for a second before meekly shaking her head.
“Why do they all look like footie pajamas?” Pinkie said narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “Ohhh Are having a sleepover afterwards??” Pinkie exclaimed only to have the others shush her and cover her mouth.
“She’s right though, it does look like she’s really excited.”
The 5 all glanced at each other and nodded in unsaid confirmation before retreating from the doorway.
The next day they all had the joy of seeing Rarity’s finished products. Each one of them flinched and Dash audibly gaged. Thank goodness that she had left to go talk to Luna.
In front of them stood 5 ensembles that looked more like what Pinkie called footie pajamas. One was a purple mish-mash of clothing all badly sewn together, two mismatched gloves, fluffy slippers, a tie, and a hat sewn on the back of the shirt.
The next one was fluffy beyond belief, pink feathers covered every inch of the suit, from head to toe complete with a pink version of the same slippers.
The one next to that had been an overstuffed yellow sweater that even if the boniest fingered nun poked, you it wouldn't bother ya none.
AJ’s looked like the most stereotypical southern outfit imaginable. Overalls, sewn to rainboots with a straw hat placed on the top, thankfully unsewn for a change. In the pockets Aj could make out a certain box, how Rarity got her hand on that was anyones guess.
Rainbow Dash’s was perhaps the worst. It almost looked like Rarity had forgotten exactly what colors the rainbow had been made of, because just about every color had been incorporated into the outfit, making it the largest despite Dash being the smallest of the group. A clown suit would have made for a better getup.
Rarity finally came back into the room along with Luna, who briefly looked at the suits and then at the girls, grinned and left out the same door. If one listened closely, or had ears, they could hear uncontrollable laughter come from the hallway.
“I wonder what she found so funny, but girls how do you like my first dresses ever! I was so excited I stayed up all night making them” Rarity exclaimed, her eyes glittering in excitement.
Twilight was the first to speak. “Rarity….umm wasn't your mother a famous designer? Didnt you take lessons?” She asked hesitantly.
“Why yes darling, but…...I must confess, this was my first time using an actual sewing machine. Personally I don’t think it shows. So? What do you think?”
The girls all nervously glanced at each other before giving various amounts of agreement. Complete with nods and half hearted cheers.
“Oh, thats wonderful! Please, get dressed so we can go!”
“Wheres yer clothes?”
“AJ…..darling, i’m already wearing it.” Rarity spun around to bring attention to her long white, one piece, strapped dress and flats. “Nothing wrong with the usual afterall.”
Everybody leveled righteous glares at her. Only Pinkie spoke out.
“Are you trolling us?”
The day on the town had proved……...interesting. Ok, everybody laughed, literally everybody. Some people threw money at them like they were some kind of street performers. Others simply laughed without restraint, much to Raritys confusion. She began to believe that they were laughing at her because she was the odd one out. Eventually the town’s fashion industry decided to make a personal appearance and personally berated every facet of every outfit before storming off fashionably. Needless to say, Rarity took it pretty hard.
“Why didn't they tell me that they hated theehehehemmmm” Rarity bawled into Luna’s chest.
“They probably saw how hard you worked, they did not want to let your efforts be in vain.
“Bu-but even so, they should have told me *sniff* that my designs were terrible, at least then we wouldn't have been a laughing stalk.
“They are your friends, they knew that your dresses were terrible but they wore them anyway regardless of their feelings. Your friends will always be there to stand by you, this serves as an example of their loyalty.” Luna said softly as she patted her students frazzled hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I guess that I was a little too eager, I didn't pay attention to the designs. Agh I can’t believe I used slippers back then!”
AJ smirked as she remembered what she considered to be one of her favorite memories, her and RDs drinking challenge when they were 13.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey Jack, have you ever heard of the milk challenge?”
“Yah mean the one where yah drink a gallon o’milk and hold it over your head?”
“Yeah, that one, you wanna race?”
AJ smirked. “Yah think yah can win?”
“Heck yeah I can, i’m awesome! Here lets go!” Dash said as she ran to the fridge and grabbed two gallons of milk. “Don’t throw up”
“Allrighty then”
“321GO!” Dash sped as she began to gulp down the milk. Aj also began to drink, the milk tasted good and reminded her of her time on the farm with her father. After a second or two, AJ began to slow down so that she wouldn't vomit. Releasing the jug she realized that she was already more than half way through. Looking over she realized that dash had stopped drinking. her jug at about the same volume. What attracted her attention, however, was the fact that Dash had begun to sway back and forth, hiccupping every few seconds. Her gaze vacant and out of focus.
“Uhh Rainbow, you alright?”
*Huhh awahh *hic*?” Dash said finally focusing on the girl in front of her.
She didn't complain about her name, somethin’s wrong here
“Doont call me raeignboww, you stupid apple…...pie” she slurred.
Nevermind, there it is. But somethin’s still very wrong, the way she said that was weird.
“Dash I think we should go see Luna, somethin’ musta been in that milk”
“OH HER! That arrogant….bluehair…*hic*....pinning me on my butt like a kid…..I don’t like her she’s too strong!”
AJ couldn't let this opportunity for a jib pass. “Spike was stronger than you, and you like him.” AJ smirked.
Dash blushed and swayed to the point where she fell out of her chair. After a second or two she hovered drunkenly into the air, wobbling like a bird with lopsided wings. “No I didnt! I rreeeespeecteed him, *hic* he was cool and he was a dragon…..and he defended me from those bullies…..THAT I COULD HAVE TAKEN MYSELF!” She almost screamed.
She lazily flopped her stomach onto the table burped in AJ face, much to her chargin. “I miss him *hic*”
“I know yah do dash, we all do”
“No! I missss himmm, what we used to do, the way that we used to sit on the roof and talk all night, I miss that.”
“I wondered what that noise was at night,” AJ eyes widened in surprise then narrowed in anger. “it was you two. YOU WERE THE ONES THAT KEPT PRANKING ME AT NIGHT!” AJ jumped to tackle her friend, who, even while drunk, had awesome reflexes and jumped lopsidedly into the air. Causing the table to clatter onto the ground.
“Heheehee, it wasn't just us, Pinkie and even Twilight helped a few times.” she slurred.
“EVERYONE CALLED ME A BEDWETTER FOR MONTHS BECAUSE OF YOU!!” AJ screamed and began to throw random items at the flying pest. Most of which were dodged as Dash lazily flopped around the air, laughing and hiccuping all the while.
“You guys painted pears all over my room. I HATE PEARS!!”
“*Hic* That one was Twiiillliiiiight” she sing-songed.
“What is going on here! I heard crashes....”
AJ stopped tossing plates and Dash fell from the sky as Luna entered the kitchen. As she fell on her butt Dash began to giggle in the most drunken way possible.
Luna’s eyes became pinpricks in her recognition of the symptoms of drunkenness.
Oh dear lord please tell me that they didn't find my stash, I know I should have moved it when I brought them here!!
“Master Luna! Somethin’s wrong with Rainbow-
“heheheheeee don’t call me dashhh you….pear*hic*”
“She’s actin all kinds of weird…..”
“H….how did this happen,” Luna asked nervously.
“We were drinking milk and she just started actin like this” AJ pointed toward the spilt milk where the table flipped.
Luna almost flew as she quickly ran over to the fallen milk cartons and began to sniff and taste it. Sighing in relief she got back to her feet. Thank the makers it’s just milk…. wait... what?”
“So...she got drunk off milk….. how is that even possible.” Luna exclaimed.
“Is that what this is? She’s drunk?”
"HIC-hey…….you”
Luna looked down to see the child weakly poking her legs. “Youuuu -HIC- suck.”
And then she passed out. And they laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJ giggled lightly as she remembered the months of payback that followed.
Shia scratched Angel behind his ear, to his immense enjoyment, as she smiled fondly at the time they first met.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Shy you got your keyblade!!”
"my god thats so coool” Dash mumbled
“I reckon that it suits yah”
“KEYBLADE PARTY!!”
“Nicely done darling”
“Congratulations, Shia Flutter” You are the first in your class you gain your blade”
Shy blushed and smiled at the constant praise directed at her. Even though it was subdued, she had been immensely excited about this. Her mood caused the surrounding flowers to grow rapidly, to the others amazement.
“So what can it do!!??” Pinkie exclaimed in bursting excitement.
“It looks like it can control flora.” Twilight surmised.
“Shia, in order to use the powers of your keyblade you must channel your energy through it, will it to activate.”
Shy nodded, and closed her eyes in concentration. Her keyblade began to glow more and more bright.
“Ummm, Shia-” Luna tried but before she could finish the world began to shake. Feeling out the direction AJ turned toward the adjacent forest. First a few bunnies, then some deer, then a myriad of other animals including wolves, dogs, horses, and elephants, all began to trample from the forest. Luna briefly wondered where most of the animals came from before snapping out of it and only now hearing the panicking screams of the 14 year olds behind her.
Oh right they don’t have keyblades yet.
Summoning her's, she erected a barrier wide enough to protect the group, causing some of the closer animals to crash into it, leading the others to stampede harmlessly around it. It took almost 5 minutes before it ended.
Well, I hope they don’t destroy the town…...I get most of my anime from there.
Making sure that all the animals had passed, Luna released the shield. Hearing a soft sniffle she turned back to see Shy sniffling.
“My powers almost got every one hurt,” she said as she wiped her eyes.
“Shia, your powers are strong, to call upon the loyalty of both flora and fauna. It isn't your fault you are raw and untrained, but that is why you are here. With experience you can use these skills to protect your friends….instead of hurt them.
Shy cleared her tears and nodded resolutely. Lifting her head slightly she noticed a small white lump some distance in front of her.
With speeds that impressed Dash she flew over to the white lump and knelt down to inspect it. “Oh noo” She beheld the small baby bunny that was barely alive. Its body had been riddled with cuts scratches and shy swore that she saw a bone jutting out. It dawned on her that it must have been caught in the stampede. Picking it up she began to cry softly.
Luna and the others walked over to her, ready to offer words of comfort before their open mouths dropped to the ground it amazement. Both Shy and the bunny had begun to glow a brilliant green. Everyone's noses instantly filled with the scent of mint, and bells could be heard.
“Th...that's cura….how can she learn such a high level healing spell so quickly.” Luna muttered to herself.
By the time the glow dimmed and everyone could open their eyes again, that saw a bouncing baby bunny snuggling up against Shy, no injuries or broken bones to be found.
“.....that's so cool”
The bunny glared at her.
For a few days they looked for the bunny’s family but coming up with nothing, Shy decided that she would take care of him herself, and they've been inseparable since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight looked down at her very first spell book and reminisced about her first few days on this new world. Days that spanned into weeks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So master Luna, what is a keyblade anyway?” a young 10 year old Twilight asks in curiosity.
Luna looked over to her new student and mentally slapped herself for not expecting this question. Damn I knew I should have taken Tia's offer for a refresher course…...what’s the keyblade's history again……….something about a war, a dog, a mouse, and a duck……..
Damn! Better wing it for now. Composing herself Luna dawned the face that she had seen her sister wear when she was teaching. “The history of the keyblade is long and vast, We could not explain it on one setting. Instead, how about we go to the archives, all of the answers lie there.”
Twilight's pupils took up the majority of her face in excitement. Her smile followed suit as she nodded hard enough to cause her become extremely dizzy. Luna chuckled lightly as she led the way.
Twilight almost fainted at the sight of the huge library. Almost.
Luna mentally thanked her sister for leaving this place here, she was never an avid reader of things that weren't in Japanese. Even so, she played it cool, she was still new to this teaching thing.
“In this room lies the answer to every question you may have.” Without another warning Twilight bolted into a room and quite literally, dived into a pile of books like they weren't hardback copies. She began to run around and set books into a pile, several piles actually.
“What are you doing?”
Twilight looked back with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. “I'm organizing!!”
Luna looked momentarily shocked before she shook her head and walked away.
~~~
“Master Luna!”
“Aghh” Luna almost fell off her bed in her attempt to hide what she had been reading. “Dash we thought we told you to knock when you enter my room!”
“Sorry but it’s been almost 3 weeks and we can’t find Twilight.”
“Twilight’s missing?”
“Yah, can’t find her anywhere!”
“Hmmm continue your search, we may have an idea as to where she is.”
~~~
“The second war between the 7 lights and 13 darknesses came to a head when lead wielder Master So-”
“Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight faulted in her reading as she turned her red blurry eyes toward are bluish shape that she barely recognized as her master. “Oh Hi Master, how are you.”
“I am not the subject of this intervention. Twilight, how long have you been in here”
“Ummmmm I don’t know…..”
“Twilight I understand your passion for learning, but as in everything else you must do it in moderation.”
“But I have to know! Knowing about the keyblade is the only way to get the keybladeandgettingthekeybladeistheonlywayIcansaveSpike!!”
Luna smiled warmly as she knelt down to come face to face with her student. “Twilight Sparkle, knowledge isn't everything. Just knowing about the keyblade won't make it easier to obtain, you have to earn it, then train with it until it’s a part of you. Only then can you possibly save him from whatever force took him.”
Twilight's face fell at this, so Luna decided to take a different approach. She looked over to a particular book that sat on the table, she recognized that as the book that Twilight had been clutching so tightly when she found her and her friends.
“That book…..it looks old. Please, if you would, could you tell me what it is?” She said kindly, genuinely curious.
Twilight reached the book that sat next to her current pile of reading material, speaking lightly, it had seen better days. “This is the last thing that I have of my parents, all the spells that they taught me or wanted me to learn. Eventually I filled some blank pages in with diary entries…….it was their idea actually.”
“Can I see it?”
Twilight hesitated, it was her one and only possession, but Master Luna had taken her in…….she gave up the book.
Luna gingerly gripped the book in her hand and inspected it from all sides. It was indeed old, at least 10 years. Even so it was well cared for, barely any pages were ripped or torn. The cover looks like it had been burned slightly as well as some of the pages, there seemed to be a very weak preservation spell lingering in the pages. Luna's interest grew as she realized that the spell must have been cast unconsciously by the girl next to her. She really did love this book.
Luna raised a hand to the cover and a green glow began to emanate from it. Twilight began to panic, what was she doing to it, was she going to destroy it? She wouldn't do that right? Right???
“Restore!”
Twilight stopped in her mental tracks as the words left Luna's mouth. The glowing ceased and Luna handed it back to Twilight. She gazed at the book in awe, it looked as good as new but the contents remained the same.
Without warning she lept up and hugged Luna tightly.
“I want you too keep adding to this book, everything you learn from now until Spike is found. Alright.”
She did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever since, Twilight constantly wrote in that same book, every story that happened, and every experience. Luna did something to it that made it so that the pages never ran out, so Twilight could keep writing. This way, when they find him, he won't feel bad for being left out of their lives for so many years.
“Ready for launch?”
Each of the girls looked at one another and, simultaneously cheered. “Lets go!”
“Affirmative. Pinkie?”
“Yeah?” replied to the familiar voiced interface.
“Please don’t crash the ship...”
And then they took off into the void between worlds.
“Alright, girls,” Rarity called out from her section of the ship. “where to first?”
“Someplace awesome!” exclaimed Dash.
“Someplace safe…” muttered Shy.
“Don’ matter to me non.”
“Anywhere’s good to me, as long as I learn something new.”
“Sound it out darling,” said Rarity.
“Oh-lym-pus. Olympus!” She beamed at successfully pronouncing the new word. “That’s it! He said that it holds tournaments for brave warriors.”
Twilight thought on it for a while before responding. “That does sound fun, but I think that we should explore some worlds that could give us information on Spike. It can’t be hard to find information on a half dragon, they are pretty rare, so people would remember if they’ve seen one.”
Shy shrank back into her seat. “If we do go, can I not enter the tournament.”
Dash flew over to her friend, and patted her on the back. “It’s cool shy you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I would probably win anyway.” She boasted.
“An’ iffin I were to enter?” said AJ with a challenging smirk.
Dash matched her face with one of her own. “Then I’d have a challenge.” If one looked closely, they could see actual sparks passing between the two friendly rivals. Twilight rolled her eyes, remembering how they’ve always been like this. Always competing to be the strongest.
Pinkie chose this moment to pop up in between the two. “Girls, girls, don’t fight here, we still need to pick a world first. I pick that one over there!” She exclaimed, pointing at a random world. It looked as though it had a volcano recently erupt, black smoke billowed around at least half the world’s surface. A hole could be seen at one of it’s poles where the smoke emitted from.
Dash stared at it for awhile. “Why that one, it looks creepy.”
AJ tipped her hat in agreement. “I’ll say….”
Pinkie only shrugged. “I don’t know. It looks important to the plot.”
AJ and Dash stared at her for a time, before deciding wordlessly to take what she said with a grain of salt. Like they usually did when she began to talk nonsense.
“Pinkie, if you’re over there, then who’s driving?” Twilight asked nervously. She didn't mean to sound cliche, but with the pink haired paradox, she needed to be cautious.
“Silly, Twilight," said Pinkie, "the autopilot’s driving it of course.” Apparently the ship decided to prove her wrong as it began to lurch and veer in random directions. Everyone who wasn't either sitting or flying, instantly felt the whiplash that the ship provided.
“Pinkie, you never installed autopilot on this ship,” The interface reminded. Pinkie quickly made her way back to her chair to take control, effectively restoring balance to everyone aboard. “Oopsie, silly me, I knew I forgot something that Saturday.”
Dash managed to keep her lunch in well enough to berate her friend. “How could you forget autopilot, it’s like, one of the most important, AND USEFUL, things in a ship. What were you even doing?”
Pinkie briefly thought back to that Saturday when she was out fixing the ship. She began to giggle a little at the memory. “Lets just say, that Genie shouldn't dare me to eat random things.”
The others stared at her, some in curiosity, others in bewilderment. They all came to an unspoken mutual understanding of ignorance. Pinkie looked back to the group and grinned. “So did you all pick a place to park?”
“That might be a tad difficult,” Rarity called out nervously. “we have a problem.”
Twilight began to panic slightly. She had just left home, and already they were running into problems left and right. If they had to return home so soon, Master Luna would definitely be disappointed in them. She wished greatly that Pinkie would have told her about the ship, so she could have helped. “What kind of problem, are we missing something else?”
“I would assume so,” said Rarity as she turned back to her screen. “This screen shows nearby worlds, but none of them have any information in their files. We are basically flying blind.”
Twilight turned back to their so-called pilot. “You didn't install proper navigation either!?”
Before Pinkie could answer, the interface spoke up once more. ‘She is not at fault. The navigation software in use is functioning properly. Current analysis suggests lack of data. Number of worlds visited: 0.’
Twilight visibly deflated, her face becoming one of understanding. “Oh yeah. I’m sorry for freaking out.”
Twilight giggled slightly at her friends understanding. “Pinkie, that’s not a word.”
“It is now!” She beamed.
“So, if we don’t have any info on the worlds we choose, how do we choose?” Dash asked as she finally sat back down in her chair. With Pinkie at the wheel, she didn't want to take anymore chances.
“Why don’ we choose at random?”
“B..but what if we pick a bad world by accident..” Angel simply facepawed at the nervous girl’s fears.
“Then we fix it of course!” Dash began to punch the air. “Kick the baddies asses, and move on! That’s what Luna sent us out here for. Right?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Technically yes, but-”
“Then I don’t think it matters what world we pick.” Dash forgot what she had learned moments before, and jumped out of her seat, to ran over to the nearby window. “I pick the one Pinkie chose. It does look kinda weird, but that might be a good thing.”
“Rachelle please!” Rarity flipped her hair in disgust “I will not have our first journey be of a world that’s covered in icky black smoke.”
“I don’ know, I kinda agree with Rainbow on this one. That world does look kinda interestin’.” AJ agreed as she looked out the window.
“Well, that’s three against one, I personally don’t mind either way. Shy, what do you think?” She turned to recieve the girls answer, but only received the sight of her also staring out the window.
Shy didn't even hear her, she was too busy gazing out at a small peaceful world that looked like it came right out of a story book. Mainly because the world looked like a open book, with pictures of trees and honey covering it’s pages. Angel looked over at Twilight, and shook his head, answering in her place.
“Riiiiggghhttt, even so, Pinkie’s group wins th-” The ship interrupted her as it lurched sharply to the right, throwing everyone who had been standing against the far wall.
“Icky Black smoky world it is! ALLONS-Y!” With that, Pinkie turned to nosedive towards the surface of the nearby world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Guys, …..can I stop standing here now?” Pinkie called out as she turned her head away from the tree that they ordered her to stand in front of.
“NO! You don’t nose dive straight down when entering a world’s atmosphere!” Twilight’s voice echoed out from inside the ship. “You could’ve killed us!”
The Gummy currently sat, smoking, at the end of a long trail that the ship formed as it crashed, ending in a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest.
“I’m sorry darling, but I must agree with Twilight, you simply haven't learned your lesson yet.” Rarity added. Twilight appointed her as warden, tasked with make sure Pinkie suffered the worst punishment imaginable…….standing still.
Pinkie’s eyes began to water. “It wasnt my fault…...I was gonna pull up, but some meanies shot us down.”
Rarity wasn't convinced. “Be that as it may, you made us an easy target to begin with.”
“But I-”
“Twilight!” Rarity called back toward the ship. “Are you done rerouting the controls,” she said, ignoring Pinkies complaints.
Twilight emerged from the entrance to the ship, exhausted from trying to change the pilot program. “Sorry, I couldn't do it.” She lowered her head in defeat. “Everything goes through the interface. Pinkie must have worked hard on it,” Twilight’s face turned into an annoyed scowl. “.....because, it’s just as stubborn as the person it’s based on, like a rock. It won’t allow me to change any settings without her ‘willing’ consent.”
She paused for a second as she looked back at the interior of the ship. “I do have to hand it to her though, having had some time to look around, I can see just how amazing this ship is. I have an automatic book shelf in my room!” She squealed.
Even though she was facing the tree, one could tell by her posture that Pinkie was really happy about the compliment.
Twilight looked over to the side of the ship and called out. “Dash, Jackie, how does it look?”
Two distinct voices called back, but Twilight could easily tell who was who,
“Pretty bad, but not as bad as we thought.” Rainbow called out. “There’s a huge blast mark on the side though.”
“Yea, lotsa dents, dangs an’ scratches.” added AJ. “The left engine’s also messed up a bit”
Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “Jeez, it’ll take days to fix the damage,” she sighed “we haven't even started exploring yet.”
“It’s fine, Twi.”
Twilight jumped in alarm as the pink haired girl appeared next to her. Rarity turned back to the tree, and sighed as she saw that Pinkie no longer stood there.
“Actually, Gummy will heal on it’s own, see watch.” Twilight looked down at the keyblade that was already in the girl‘s hand. It was slightly longer than Dash’s, with a single magenta streamer running around the length of the bright pink shaft. Running from the balloon shaped blue handguard, to the teeth that were shaped like a piece of cake. The chain ended in three small balloons.
Pinkie held up her keyblade, Laughter’s Sake, (That was it’s official name, but Pinkie calls it Candy Cane) and pointed it at the Gummy. Before Twilight could question her, a beam of light shot out from the tip, and struck a small lock shaped indent on the side of the ship. The entire thing began to glow before bursting into small shards of light, vanishing with the sound of a lock clicking. Cha-chink.
Dash and AJ, who were behind the ship, gawked in disbelief. Shy and Angel, who had been in the ship, plopped downonto the grass. Both looking very confused. Rarity looked on in amazement, and Twilight’s eyes sparkled in excitement.
“Pinkie……...did you just…...unsummon your ship?” asked Twilight in slight disbelief.
“Yup, Master Luna told me that my keyblade’s power is to-”
“You can take anything, mark it with your keyblade, and summon it to you! That’s how you summon things like Tigger!” Twilight exclaimed in realization. Now, after so long, she finally understood more about her friend’s strange abilities. This filled her with newfound hope and enthusiasm, completely erasing her earlier stress.
Pinkie giggled at Twilight’s, her-level of excitement. “Yup, It took awhile to learn but isn't it cool!” Practically hopping in place, herself.
“Hellz yeah it is.” Dash flew over and high fived the excited girl. “So can we finally check out this new world! I’m getting impatient.”
“Yea let’s go”
Pinkie almost literally jumped off the trees around her in excitement. Suddenly her face took on an expression of mock seriousness. She took out a brown pith helmet, and sat it on top of her curly hair. “Ok girls, this is our first adventure, so let’s get serious.” That sentence elicited eyerolls from some, and snickers from others. Including the small bush directly behind her.
Immediately, Dash and Twilight raised their keyblades in defence, causing the bush to let out a startled gasp. Despite warnings from Twilight, Pinkie bounced over to the bush and caught it fairly easily before it could escape. Pinkie wrestled around inside the bush for a while, before emerging with a small girl held in her arms.
“It’s ok guys, it’s just a girl!” Pinkie called out as she held said girl up. She had light brown, mid length hair. She wore a tattered, off gray dress that seemed to have been in constant need of repair, and she looked extremely frightened.
Everyone visibly relaxed and dismissed their weapons. Seeing the young girl in such a state sent Rarity into a frenzy. In speeds that dwarfed even Dash, Rarity bolted over, snatched the girl, and began taking measurements. Twilight was briefly reminded of the first time that they met, the situation being roughly the same. Knowing full well where this was going, Twilight stepped over to stop the frantic fashionista.
“Stop, Rarity, can’t you see that she’s scared to death.” Rarity snapped back to reality, and took in the sight of the girl in the clothes for the first time. She looked positively terrified, the mere fact that she was still conscious was a miracle in and of itself.
“Oh…...dear, I’m dreadfully sorry…...it’s just…….your attire….” She trailed off and backed away. Seeing that it was safe to proceed, Shy went into her own ‘caretaker mode’. She quickly flew over to the still frightened child, and gently soothed her over with soft words.
“I’m really sorry for startling you, someone shot our ship down and we crashed. My name is Shia.” She began in her soothingly motherly voice. The small girl looked up at her, and visibly relaxed. Shia took this a sign to continue. She gestured over to the other 5, introducing them, one by one.
The small girl looked over the 6 older females. Her gazy zeroed in on the one who had rainbow colored hair, and one looked like she was on a constant sugar rush. She began to smile softly, coming to the conclusion that these girls meant no harm. Wordlessly, she darted back to the edge of the forest. Before diving completely in, she motioned for the girls to follow her.
Most of the girls glanced at one another, shrugged, and followed her into the dense foliage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been about 20 minutes since Twilight and the gang decided to follow the small girl into the forest. Wherever she was taking them, it must have been pretty far away for them to have been walking this long. Twilight had been mentally developing a few hypotheses on their destination, when she began to realize something pretty important.
‘It’s pretty quiet.’ Twilight thought as she continued to trudge through the forest behind the, as-of-yet, unnamed girl. She briefly turned back to her friends, and saw that they were still safely following behind her. ‘Nope, they’re still there, …..but why are their mouths moving……..I can’t hear any- OH RIGHT!’ She mentally slapped herself for forgetting. ‘I set up a sound barrier about five minutes after we entered the forest. I wonder why……”
Against her better judgement, Twilight chose to dispel the silence that she had cast, only to be bombarded with various noises.
“TWIIIILLLLLLIIIIIGHTT STOP IGNORING MEEEEE,”cried Rarity, “how faaarrr is itt we’ve been walking foreeeevvveerrr.”
“Girl, ahm tellin ya, Zeus would totally not win in a fight with Odin!” shouted AJ, “it’s no contest!
“And I’m telling you!”, shouted Dash, “a dude on a horse, can’t beat, the god of gods.”
“YOU PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OOOTHERRR!” sand Pinkie.
“Oh dear, Mr. Bird, you’re just a few keys off. Please try again.” Shy instructed to a nearby bird that she had, apparently, been teaching to sing properly. Bird squawked once more, its sound grating against Twilight’s ears.
“Oh dear lord. Put it back up, put it back up!” Twilight’s magic obeyed her mind, and eventually, the offending noises ceased. The space around Twilight once more descended into peaceful silence, and he proceeded to retreat back into her thoughts in bliss.
Some undetermined amount of time later, Twilight’s mind came back to reality as she realized the the small girl had stopped, and instead began to pull on her shirt. Hesitantly she dropped the barrier once more, instead of annoying songs and grating noises, Twilight only heard the sounds of civilization. Looking up from the girl she could see a wooden gate, past it, however, she could see dozens of people moving back and forth, chatting, and going about their business. The other girls stopped beside her, and took in the sight as well.
Twilight’s chest filled with excitement as she took a single step forward, only for a large arrow to dig itself into the ground, right where she was going to step. A deep bellowing voice rang out.
“Who goes there!”
Twilight looked up to the top of the gate and caught sight of a large earthen man with short brown hair. He wore strange, kinda mismatched, armor, and had been flanked by a dozen or so others who all were currently aiming weapons directly at them. He looked down at them with a glare of suspicion, his eyes slowly lowered further to the smaller girl in front of them, before widening in surprise.
“Yuna,” he began, “who are these strangers, and why have you brought them here?”
The small girl, apparently named Yuna, answered not with words, but with arm gestures that the man seemed to understand.
“So, they are the ones who were shot down? I trust your judgement that they are not enemies.” The large man lifted his arm, and at his signal the others lifted their weapons. “You may enter.”
“Wooooo!” Pinkie cried as she dashed through the gate and into the town, Dash quickly copied her. Hesitantly the others walked through as well.
~~~
Inside, Twilight could make out three distinct details about the town: It was fairly small, everyone was an earthan, …….and everyone wore slightly tattered clothes. She watched in amusement, as Pinkie ran around attempting make friends with the townspeople. Dash wandered aimlessly, AJ and Shy walked over to the nearby animal shelter, and Rarity made polite conversation with a rather handsome guard.
Before she could find a place to wander off too, she caught sight of the man from before making his way over to her.
“Please forgive us,” said the man, “my name is Yukalai, and I am this camp’s chief of defense.”
“Camp?” said Twilight, “This isnt a small town?”
Yukalai looked mildly surprise before nodding in understanding. “Please, come with me, and I will explain the situation.” He began to walk off toward a tent that looked slightly larger than the ones around it. "Bring your friends as well.”
Twilight quickly rounded up her friends before heading off in the direction of the tent that the man entered.
Its interior actually looked rather spacious considering its relatively small size, even if it was big in comparison to the homes around it. Yukalai stood at the head of a round wooden table, and motioned for the group to gather around. Twilight briefly noted that Yuna was no long near her, and wondered where she went.
“So,” Dash began, “what’s with this place? It looks a kinda depressing.”
“The animals looked a little sad,” said Shy.
“I don’t like their clothes...” said Rarity.
The man held a hand up, silencing the girls. “Please let me explain. First; I know that you all are from other worlds.”
“How do you know about other worlds?” said Twilight, “I thought that knowledge was restricted.”
“Your sources are outdated. Several decades ago, a war forced the pathways between worlds open. Knowledge of other worlds are now common, as anyone with sufficient technology can travel between them freely.”
‘Why didn't Luna tell us this?’ thought Twilight. “Well if anyone can travel between them, who maintains world order?”
“Not many have sufficient technology for travel between worlds, nor the knowledge of its dangers.” Yukalai answered, “So currently everything is as it was.”
Twilight facepalmed at this new information. “This random stranger I just met, is giving me more information in 5 minutes, then Master Luna did in 8 years”
“Now that is rather interesting,” said Rarity, “but judging by your tone, I would guess that this world is an exception?”
Yukalai looked downcast as he nodded solemnly. “As you saw, the villagers do live in fear. This world has come under siege by a very evil man.”
“An who’s that?” asked AJ.
“He calls himself the ‘Dark King’. He and his forces appeared without warning, and attacked the inhabitants of this world. This isnt a town, it’s a refugee camp for those whose homes have been attacked. What you saw at the gate was only a meager defence, put together with random weapons and armor, a bluff if you will.” Yukalai actually began to look rather ashamed as he admitted this.
“Thats terrible,” said Shy
“Downright nasty if ya ask me!” exclaimed AJ
“Big meanies,” said Pinkie.
Yukalai looked up at the enraged faces of the girls and decided to get to the point. “You all come from another world, so you must have better technology. Will you help us stop him.”
Before any of the girls could answer, a large explosion rocked the earth beneath them. Dash and Shy took to the air by instinct, Rarity and Twilight fell to the ground, and AJ and Pinkie held their stance. Gunshots and screams began to ring out from outside the tent
“What in the world was that!” exclaimed Rarity.
“Someone is attacking!” Yukalai exclaimed as he ran out of the tent.
The others got back to their feet and followed him. Once outside, they were mortified to witness dozens soldiers, shooting, capturing, and assaulting people. Twilight looked further back and saw various vehicles letting more troops out.
“Those are the meanies who shot our ship down!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“They musta followed us here after we crashed.” said AJ
A single man in black stepped forward and projected his voice across the village. “Where are the trespassers who have broken his majestys law of travel! Come forth, or we we raze this miserable heap more than we already will.”
Looks of fury graced all of the girls faces as they simultaneously pulled out their keyblades and readied their stances. Yukalai looked on in amazement. He had heard tales of the legendary weapons used in the war, but never had he thought that he would see them in person, much less wielded by females.
Twilight stepped forward and pointed her key at the man, gaining his attention. She turned back to Yukalai and smiled.
“So, I take it that you six are the aliens that we shot down?” said the man. He wore an all black nearly skin tight uniform, with a black crystal painted on the front, his left hand gripped the sheathed blade tied to his side.
Pinkie shivered violently. “Ewww, don’t call us aliens, we don't have weird tentacles or fish heads or anything. We have normal human heads!”
Rarity scoffed. “Yes, we are the ones that you ruffians shot down. I would very much like an apology, thank you.”
The Black Commander gave a dark chuckle. A deep chuckle that was meant to intimidate lesser opponents. “Well, I won't give you an apology, but I will give you my name, only so that you know of the ones who are going to kill you.” He gestures to himself. “I, am Commander Black Shade, and this is the Black brigade, his Dark Lord’s personal army of oppressors.”
“What is with you all and the color black, it is slimming, and a nice color, but with so much use it will only serve to be tacky and depressing,” said Rarity.
“Oooooooohhhh buuuurrrnnnn!” exclaimed both Dash and Pinkie.
This actually made Black frown. “Well, if those are your last words, then I’ll take our uniforms under consideration.” He nodded toward them. “Kill them.”
The nearest dozen soldiers instantly charged at them, weapons raised and ready to strike.
Commander Black knew that this small amount of men wouldn't be enough, he only wanted to see what their skills were, for when he himself had to fight them. However, even he couldn't have predicted what happened next.
He watched as not a single one of the girls had moved a muscle to defend themselves against the oncoming assault of at least 12 men. They were all within striking distance before the one in front calmly raised her blade and slammed it into the ground.
“Stun Impact”
The instant that the tip hit the ground, a golden field of light surrounded the group and expanded out to encompass every soldier close to them. By the time that it faded, every man that Black had sent to attack had fallen to the ground, twitching and spasming in what seemed to be paralysis. Yukalai could only gape in awe, not fully understanding what just occurred in front of him.
“Common, is that all you got? You have like, a hundred men here, why did you only send 12?” exclaimed Dash in annoyance.
“Ah think he wanted to test us, Dash, like when Luna sent those packs of dogs after us.”
Dash shuddered in the same way that Pinkie did earlier. ”Man, I hated those things.”
“I thought that they were adorable,’ muttered Shy.
Dash rolled her eyes. “Of course you would.”
“Enough!” Black called out. “If you want a challenge, then you shall have one. Everyone attack!”
At his call, every soldier instantly ceased with what they were doing, and rushed the group. At least a hundred men all rushed forward to attack the group, all of them wielding swords, knives, or blunt weapons of some sort.
Dash began immediately by taking flight, charging into the oncoming mob, and striking down anyone who got in her way. AJ followed suit by doing the same thing, but on foot. After some prodding from angel, Shy muttered a quick ‘sorry’, before lightly tapping her keyblade to the ground, summoning forth dozens of vines and tendrils to entrap and strangle anyone who dared come near her. Rarity danced her way into the fight in her own unique way, summoning keyblade after keyblade to parry, block, and attack anyone to come near her. Never getting touched and never touching another, she stood her ground while still fighting in a wide radius.
Pinkie was the only odd one out, opting more to confuse and disorient by bouncing around and redirecting them, rather than actually attacking or defending. She sent some of them towards her friends instead, because, as they were focused on her, they didn't notice themselves ending up in the range of the other five’s attacks. Others, she had attack each other. Never once did she swing her keyblade, or attack directly.
Twilight herself had begun to unleash a multitude of spells while she fought, becoming a prime example of might and magic working in harmony. Combining physical attacks and magic blasts with each combo, she tore through the crowd in with calculated maneuvers. While moving through, she noticed something about the fallen enemies behind her, and called back to the others. “Girls, they really are made of shadows, don’t worry about hurting them!”
“Really?” exclaimed Rarity. She looked at an enemy near her, and shot a blade right through his chest, only for him to fizzle out, and fade away. “Interesting, well that explains their fashion sense.”
“Gotcha,” said AJ as she slammed her Keyblade into the ground.
“Quake!” Upon saying this, the ground began to shake violently until large spikes of earth began to jut up from the ground, easily impaling a fair number of shadow minions. Rarity took it to the next level by summoning a large number of keyblades into the sky and shooting them down to strike through a large number of foes. Dash continued to fly around, using her speed to increase the power of her attacks, she learned from Twilight that, the faster she went, the harder she’d hit.
Yukalai also had his weapon out and ready as well, but never actually got around to fighting. He was too busy watching these extraordinary girls systematically take out every single man, in almost no time at all. Some shadows did try to attack him at some point, but before he could strike, a rainbow colored blur swam by and dissipated them in an instant. It was then and there, did something rise in his chest, something that had been on the brink of extinction.
It was hope. It was hope that these ‘keyblade wielders’ would be their salvation.
In what Dash would later describe as ‘10 seconds flat’, all 100 men were defeated and dissipated, leaving only a distraught, and furious Commander Black by himself.
“I repeat, is that all ya got? The gang I fought when I was a kid put up a better fight than those losers,” provoked Dash.
Something snapped, In an instant, Black unsheathed his pitch dark blade, and dashed forward to attack the group in anger. As if by reflex almost everyone jumped backwards from his sudden attack. Only Dash stayed to block the larger man’s strike.
“I am the Commander of the Guard, I will not be defeated by children!” he exclaimed as he began to strike at her violently.
Dash only stared on in confusion as she effortlessly dodged each attack. “Wait….if you're the Captain, then, did his entire army only consist of like 100 men?” she asked incredulously.
This got a smirk out of the man. “We only needed 100 men to take this world. It was that easy. But no, we have several more divisions of guards, I just wanted to watch you all die!”
Dash had stopped listening after the first sentence. ‘Man, only 100 guys. This world must be weeeeeaaakkkkk.’ she thought before she disappeared, much to his surprise. With no one to aim his attacks at, he paused to look around. In that moment, Dash appeared behind him. In the blink of an eye, she delivered a swift, but decisive, punch to his back, not hard enough to knock him unconscious, but enough to render him incapable of any further resistance.
She glared down at him as he fell to the ground. “But, that only makes it worse, only cowards and douchebags pick on those weaker than themselves,” she spat.
“Great job there Rainbow,” teased AJ as she walked back up to her, and held out her hand.
“I keep telling you, don’t call me that!” she said as she slapped the hand in return. The two shared a smile while the others also caught back up to them.
Twilight looked down at the incapacitated man before nodding over to Rarity. The girl got the message as she used her telekinesis to lift the man to Twilights level. As a precaution Twilight cast a small paralysis spell to keep him from moving around too much.
“Why do you all do this? Why attack these poor people.”
“.....”
“Answer us!”
“Like I said, because it was easy.”
“If it was easy, then you’d have taken this village already, we were your target, weren't we?”
The man’s only response was a malevolent smile.
“You shot down the Gummy, but it almost seemed as if you were lying in wait for us, also, you all got here pretty fast considering the distance from the castle to this place.” Twilight gestured to the advanced looking tanks, then to a distant castle further back.
“We were on patrol!” he responded.
“AJ”
“The varmint’s lyin’ through his teeth,” spat AJ.
AJ could sniff out a lie a mile away when she wanted to, nothing was safe from her strange lie detecting ears.
“Why? Why were you waiting for us!”
The man let out a huge laugh before he actually answered. “Because we were told to, by the Dark Lord.”
“How did he know that we’d come here?”
“Ah, now that’s the question, isn't it. From what I hear, he was visited by a man who said that if we waited, then we could steal your ship, and use it’s parts to reach entirely new worlds. We would enslave them all!”
“Who was this man!”
“Hell if I know. But even If I did, thats all you’re gettin outta me kiddies.”
“Wha-”
In an instant, the man violently bit his tongue, and quickly burst into purple mist, just like the soldiers before him, leaving Rarity holding only the mist itself. Thinking quickly Twilight bottled the mist for later study. “This looks different from the others, maybe it's special,” she muttered.
“So, he was a shadowy thing too?” asked Shy
“I’m afraid so Shia. You’re right Dash, it is just like when Luna summoned the dogs. Their constructs made from someones power. We should-”
They were interrupted by the feelings of children gripping their legs. They each glanced down, and saw multiple children hugging each of their legs. Pinkie immediately fell to the ground to hug as many as she could. Hesitantly, Rarity, AJ and Shy also joined in on the hugging. Eventually Twilight gave in, and hugged a child as well. Leaving Dash to awkwardly pat their heads while looking away in embarrassment.
It wasn't until Yukalai come up to them, and bowed, did every citizen scream their name in thanks. Cries of thanks were loud and bountiful as they each received either a handshake or bow from an adult, and hug from a child. This went on for a while as everyone decided hold a celebration for freedom.
Eventually, they made it back into Yukalai’s tent to continue their discussion, well, everyone except Pinkie, Shia, AJ, Dash and Rarity. As they each stayed to either party, design clothes for the villagers, or sit quietly in the corner. So, Twilight, being the representation of everyone, stood with Yukalai in his tent.
“Please, from my very soul, I thank you for what you have done for us.”
“It’s no big deal, I said we would help you all, so we did, and we still are. We will stop this so called ‘Dark Lord’ and restore the peace.”
“I pray that you will.”
“Can you tell me anything more about this man who told him of us.”
“We don’t know much but maybe we can help. Yuna!” he called out. After a moment or two, the small girl from before ran into the room and stood next to Twilight, smiling brightly.
“You’ve already met, but this is my daughter, Yuna. She has a gift, you see, she can prophecize events to come. If you give her a topic, then she may have a vision about it. We don’t know how accurate it is, but it warned us about the Dark Lord, so maybe she can use it for you. The villagers actually refer to her as a prophet.” Yukalai began to laugh loudly. “The people sometimes call her Zecora, to them it means The Wise.”
“Incredible, do you know how it works?” said Twilight, getting excited as she leaned in close to the girl, staring deeply into her dark blue eyes.
“Ahh, that we do not, for she cannot speak unless she’s having a vision. Do you want to try anyway?”
Twilight stared down at the child hesitantly, trying to decide if she wanted to. She wanted to ask about Spike so badly, but her rigid priorities took over at the last second. She decided to ask about Spike next.
“Can you tell me about the man who tipped the Dark Lord off?”
Instantly, the child’s eyes lit up until they were fully white, wind found it’s way into the tent as she began to float a few feet off of the ground. When she spoke, her deep, cold voice carried with it, an ethereal echo that made Twilight slightly nervous.
The lone child who’s lost his days,
With two in hand, he will open the way.
Twisted, the past she’s misdirect,
will allow the seeker to complete the set.
Friends see him, Fakes he sees,
as the crying rainbow shall fall to it’s knees.
Against a false past will you must fend,
or at the end of his blade will she meet her end,
The only way to retrieve his mind,
is to find the keeper of space and time,
send him back with memories anew,
and with him, defeat the enemies two.
After finishing the last sentence, Yuna fell to the ground, unconscious and breathing deeply. Yukalai quickly rushed to her side and picked her up from the ground. “I am sorry, she always gets tired after using her gift, so we try not to do it very often. Did you get any useful information?
Twilight didn't even hear him, her mind was currently racing to decipher the mysterious riddle. ‘A lone child…... Crying Rainbow…… Keeper of space and time? What does any of that mean? I have to talk with the others about this.’
Twilight said nothing as she quickly strode off to find the rest of her friends.
“Well, the crying rainbow can’t be me, I never cry,” bragged Dash as she leaned back in a chair.
It took some searching, but Twilight finally found the last one of their group hiding in a small corner talking to some local animals. She brought them all back to a slightly longish tent that they had been allowed to use. Currently they were all sitting around a round table, not unlike the one that Yukalai had.
“Lies! I remember you cryin' plenty!”
“Yea remember that one time when you accidentally broke you're favorite game? You looked like you were about to burst into tears until we got a you a new one,” exclaimed Pinkie.
Dash could only blush, and turn away from the group as the other two laughed violently at their shared past.
“Well, what about the part about two in hand? What does that mean?” asked Rarity.
“I don’t know, Rarity, I can make a few assumptions on a few lines, but nothing concrete.”
“Well, I for one don’t think we should worry about that right now. We have Dark Lord butt to kick.”
“I have to agree with her, we can’t be wracking our pretty little heads over a puzzle when we could be devising a strategy to defeat this so called, ‘Dark Lord’ character.” said Rarity.
“I guess so, I just wish I had asked about Spike first, we might have gotten at least something useful from that one.”
“Well, we could always ask about it tomorrow!” exclaimed the ever optimistic Pinkie.
“After we take down this dark king guy,” said AJ.
“Oh, are we doing that tomorrow?” said Shia.
“Yeah, girl, I wanna get this done fast so we can move on!” exclaimed Dash as she punched the air. This got a giggle out of a few of them as the all nodded in agreement.
“Alright then, in order to save this world, we storm the castle tomorrow!” declared Twilight.
Everyone cheered in agreement, even the very reluctant Avian girl gave a small yay.
After announcing their decision to the rest of the people, the celebration got it’s second wind, and began anew. For hours, everyone danced, had fun, and fooled around. That was, until Twilight ordered all of the girls to get some sleep, ruining most of the fun like she always did.
They were thankful the next morning, however, when they all woke up bright and early for their mission.
“Are you all ready?” asked Twilight
“Yup/Yeah/Of course/Yes/Yuppers!”
“Are you all sure? You all went to the bathroom, right? ....Pinkie?”
“It was that one time!”
“Let’s go already!” groaned Dash.
“Can we please not go back through that dreadful forest.”
Twilight briefly remembered back to the first time that they went through it. Keeping up a sound barrier for that long had been really tiring. “No, I have a map from Yukalai, I know where the castle is so I can probably just teleport us there.”
“But, wouldn't that tire you out?” asked Shia with some concern.
“Normally, yes, but he also gave me this,” said Twilight as she held up a small vial of green liquid. “He calls it an ether, it’s supposed to cure magical fatigue. He only had the one, but he trusted us to use it well. It’s better than wearing all of us out trying to make our way up there.”
“That was very generous of him. We should thank him when we return.”
“It’s also a little too convenient…..are we sure that it’s gonna work?” asked Dash, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Rachelle, please!” exclaimed Rarity. “He came to us, begging for help, why would he deceive us?”
Dash could only shrug, eliciting facepalms and eye rolls from just about everyone.
“Everyone gather around me,” ordered Twilight.
Everyone did and when they gathered close enough, Twilight summoned Magical Element, and began to channel her energy. In a flash of light, all six girls disappeared, leaving only a blank patch of earth behind, surrounded by the tents of the still sleeping refugees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In with a flash, and a pop, 6 figures stood at the entrance to a large castle, surrounded by dark forests. They all looked up and took in the full sight of a dimly lit castle, standing at least 3 stories tall. The panting mage quickly took a swig of the ether, and perked up almost immediately, validating Yukalai’s claims.
“Not very imaginative, is it?” remarked Rarity.
“Kinda cliche if ya asked me,” said Dash.
“Kinda looks like something out of a book,” observed Twilight.
Shia’s eyes widened as she looked up at the foreboding, and frankly extremely terrifying black castle, she found herself quite literally attached to Dash’s waist, vibrating in fear.
“I..d-d-d-don't w-w-want to g-go in there…” said Shia, shivering, eyes clenched in fear.
Dash only deadpanned, having done this countless times, she knew that it was futile to try and convince the taller girl. She decided to simply fly straight into the open entrance, pulling her along as she went. The others followed suit, also used to the tall girls reluctance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Anyone else wonder why the front doors were open,” asked AJ as they walked/flew down the castle corridor.
“Plot convenience?” asked Pinkie as she bounced down the hallway.
‘’I have a better question…..why haven't we been attacked yet? Black said that their were, like, several more divisions of-”
Dash couldn't finish, because at that moment, several shadow soldiers emerged from the ground and walls. No longer did they stand like men, now they squirmed and twitched in odd stances and movements, similar to insects having a seizure.
“Oop! Spoke too soon,” said Dash as she summoned Rainbow Thunder, dislodged Shia from her waist, and quickly went on the attack. This went on for some time. As they traveled through the corridors, and through different rooms, they would meet various enemies, all made of shadow. By the time they reached the throne room, they hadn't even broke a sweat, and half of them didn't even have to bring out their weapons. They also found some useful things, though Twilight wouldn't let them take them, as that would be stealing…...the killjoy.
As they stood at the entrance to the throne room they took a moment to compose themselves. “Are you all ready?” asked Twilight.
Dash sent her a deadpan glare. before answering. “Twilight, you've said that at least 3 times so far. Let’s go!”
“Well excuse me for wanting to be prepared,” said a slightly blushing Twilight.
“Whatever!” said Dash as she impatiently pushed open the door.
“Dash wai-” Twilight couldn't finish, because as soon as she pushed the door open a dark beam of some sort struck out, nearly running Dash through. It was only thanks to Rarity’s quick telekinesis that Dash got out of the way in time.
“Teh...I missed…” said a deep bellowing voice. The girls looked inside to see a regal looking, admittedly huge room. At the far end of it, sat a lone man, lazily sitting on his throne, his right hand smoking lightly. He wore a regal looking, silver suit of armor that came up to his neck. From the symbol on his forehead, Twilight could tell that he was a mage, and from what she was sensing, a powerful one. His head rested on his hand in a universal sign of boredom as he regarded the six girls in front of him with utter disinterest.
“Hey! You almost hit me!” exclaimed the irritated rainbow haired girl.
The man rolled is deep red eyes. “Yes, girl, that was the point, apparently I have to kill you, I was trying to end it quickly.”
“I take it that you’re the Dark Lord? My, I must say, you're very handsome," said Rarity as she fanned herself, trying not to swoon at the sight of his alluring tan skin, and silky flowing jet black hair,
He sighed in exasperation. “Thank you, but I have no idea why they call me that. I prefer Sombra.”
“You don’t seem very bad,” said Shia as she peaked out from behind her friends.
“He almost killed me!!”
Twilight looked at him with a mixture of confusion and irritation. “Yes, about that, Why do you have to kill us?” asked Twilight, getting irritated at the fact that she had asked this question several times, but had not yet gotten a real answer. She hated not knowing something.
Sombra shrugged “No clue, I was sent here, someone told us to wait here until you show up, and to capture and/or kill you all. Very roundabout in my opinion, he could have got you himself.
“Who was this man!”
“Hell if I know,” Sombra paused as he gained a sly grin, showing off his sharp teeth, “but he was really interested in you, Twilight Sparkle.” he said as he pointed directly at the girl in question.
Said girl’s eyes went wide at the mention of her name “How, do you know my name?” she ordered.
Sombra smile got only wider. “I don’t know, but he seemed really adamant on getting rid of you. So, enough talk!” Sombra raised his hand and in an instant, a huge number of shadows appeared in just about every direction.
This out everyone on alert as they raised their blades in defense. AJ leaned over and spoke to her friend. “We’ll take on these guys, you go fight Sombra, Twilight”
“What?” exclaimed both Twilight and Dash.
“I agree, he does seem to know you by name, and he knows other things that we don’t. Someone is obviously out to get us, and we have to find out who,” agreed Rarity.
“Fiiiinnnneee,” groaned Dash. “More punching bags for me anyway.”
“We’ll clear y'all a path then.”
“Thank you girls.”
With that, all of the girls jumped into action, using their unique skills, they quickly decimated many of the closer shadow soldiers. But, by working together, they created a path that Twilight quickly ran through, straight toward Sombra himself. She leaped into the air to deliver a strong swing from her side.
“You know, I summoned those constructs so I wouldn't have to fight you directly.” said Sombra as he erected a barrier to block her attack.
“Too bad! I want answers,” yelled Twilight as she jumped backwards, her attack bouncing right off of his shield.
“Fine, If you want to fight me that badly,” said Sombra as he lethargically stood up from his throne. He stood only a few feet taller than Twilight. “then you will die by my hands instead.”
“Thundaga!” With a wave of his arm he summoned hundreds of lightning bolts that rained down around Twilight. Reacting quickly she called out Reflect, effectively raising a barrier that sent most of the bolts rocketing back towards Sombra.
Using the Thunder as a distraction, Sombra took the opportunity to teleport directly behind Twilight a deliver a strong kick to her back, sending her crashing hard against the throne.
“Twilight!” the other 5 called out as they rushed towards her, only to be stopped by rows of soldiers.
Sombra walked over to the fallen girl and raised his arm, his clenched fist crackling with dark energy. “Sorry about this, that dragon is a real slave driver, ya know.” He took another step forward, only for the floor under him to light up dangerously.
“Wha-” was all Sombra could get out before he was caught in the large explosion created by Twilight’s expertly placed explosives.
Acting quickly, Dash zoomed over to grab Twilight so she wouldn't get caught in her own attack. She flew back to her friends, who had just defeated the last of the soldiers. Shia immediately began to heal the arm that had gotten injured after bashing against the throne.
The other 5 covered her when they saw a form rise from the ground inside the smoke.
“You placed a Double Mine Shield around yourself the moment you hit the ground, ….. very clever Twilight Sparkle.” From out of the smoke, came a slightly injured Sombra, his armor dented, and blood leaking from his lip, but otherwise unfazed. He looked over the six girls, all ready to strike at a moments notice, and sighed.
“I really don’t want to fight you all,” he said exasperatedly as he rubbed the back of his head, “Look, if it’ll get me out of this fight I’ll tell you the name of the ones who sent me.”
“Ooooh, that would be helpful,” beamed Pinkie.
“I guess so,” said Twilight
“Alright then, first of all there are two of them, they want to bring someone back, I don’t know who, though. All I know is that they need you all out of they way, but don’t ask me why.”
Outside, Twilight remained stoic, but inside she was jumping in glee for having finally gotten some answers. However, everything came to a halt, when one specific memory came to the forefront of her mind.
‘Sorry about this, that dragon is a real slave driver, ya know’
“You said dragon, was one of your masters a tall half dragon!” she blurted out, gaining surprised glances from her friends.
“I don’t know about half dragon, but he was tall. about as tall as I am. There was also a strange women with a really weird name.”
“What was the dragon’s name!” screamed Twilight, causing sombra to flinch back.
“It was-”
“That’s enough!” interrupted a feminine voice from nowhere.
“Wha-” was all Sombra could say once more, before he was caught in a violent pillar of black flames.
“AGGGHHHGHHHH” screamed Sombra as he screamed in agony. Each girl flinched back in fear and horror, Shy covered her eyes and began to cry a little. After a few moments, the fire began to dissipate, and the charred body of Sombra fell to the ground unconscious. Healer’s instinct must have taken over, because Shia almost immediately rushed over to heal him, only to be knocked back by a black boot that had appeared from a ripple in the air. Attached to it was a half visible man wearing a jet black robe, a hood covering his face.
She did not fly far as Dash quickly caught her from the air, and gently lowered to the ground. Glaring daggers the entire time at the man currently bringing the rest of himself from the ripple. Behind him, came an equally tall women with dark green hair that made Rarity gag. She wore a similar coat to the man but with the hood down, revealing a face that made Twilight squirm uncomfortably.
She had extremely dark skin and wore dark purple lipstick and eyeshadow. Long story short, she looked absolutely stunning. He moved her emerald eyes down to the burnt body of Sombra, and tsked.
“What an absolute failure, looks like we do need them afterall.” she muttered.
“He was lazy, unmotivated, and weak. What did we need him for again?” the man asked.
“Don’t worry about that, my dear, I’ll take him back with me, you play with your little friends.”
“Don’t call them that, they are not my friends,” he replied as he turned back to her, everyone could hear the anger and resentment in his voice, and it made them all slightly nervous.
“Who the hell are you two!” screamed Dash.
This brought the two’s gaze back to them. The women answered first. “Why, me? Well, children, my name is Crysalis, my friend here, well he’s a complicated case.”
“Those impostors don’t deserve to know who I am,” replied the man, anger evident in his voice.
“Suit yourself,” she shrugged as she proceeded to bend down, and effortlessly lift the unconscious body of Sombra. She turned and winked back to the girls before walking back through the ripple, disappearing from sight.
“Hey, Get back here!” yelled Dash as she flew forward to stop her from leaving. She tried to strike out with a downward swing of her keyblade, but she was instantly blocked by the mysterious figure. Dash’s eyes grew wide in surprise, when she realized that this man had used only his arm to block her.
“Dash, move!”
Without thinking, she quickly did as she was told when AJ followed in her path, falling from the air in a downward swing. When her strike connected the very ground caved in and broke under the strength of her attack. Everyone stood, frozen in disbelief at the impossible sight before them. While the ground gave in, the man didn't even flinch or move a muscle, looking exactly the same as when he blocked Dash.
Taking advantage of her shock, the figure quickly summoned his weapon in his other hand, grabbed her by her neck, and raised it to strike her down.
“Applejack/Jackie!!” screamed the group. Panicking, Pinkie brought her keyblade up, and transported AJ back to them. Luckily, she was none worse for wear, Earthans were very resilient after all.
“Mah attack didn't even faze ‘im,” observed AJ. The others, however, were observing something else. AJ realized that they were staring at his weapon. It was a keyblade, and it was obviously centered around the concept of fire, but what caught their attention, however, was the fact that it was completely black. Twilight would later compare it to a keyblade that she had read about in a book, called Oblivion, except with billowing flames at the end as teeth.
“He has a keyblade….” Rarity pointed out.
“Yes, we can see that,” grumbled Dash.
“Is he one of Celestia’s students?” asked Pinkie. "Master Luna said that she had a sister that also taught keyblade masters. Do you think he's one of them?"
Twilight shook her head. “No, if she's anything like Master Luna, her students certainly wouldn't set a man on fire. He must be a rogue.”
“How’d he block AJ’s attack, she hits like a friggin tank!” exclaimed Dash.
“It must be his power, when you attacked him, I saw a black shimmer surround his arm right before you hit. He must be immune to physical attacks.”
“Very observant, you’re right, I am immune to your attacks. What will you do now, you can't hurt me at all.
“I'll just attack with magic of course!” yelled Twilight as she immediately stood to her full height, and raised Magical Element even higher. “Fission Firaga!!” she screamed as she generated a large fireball at the tip of her keyblade before tossing it at the mysterious man. The moment it struck a large explosion rang out, encompassing the entire space around him.
Eventually, the man became visible through the smoke, a white shimmer surrounding his body. “I told you, i’m immune to you’re att-” he paused when the smoke cleared, and what lie through it became visible.
“Oh, I knew that. I just wanted to distract you while we got this ready,” called Twilight as she stood next to Rarity. Both pointing their keyblades directly at the man, and both hovering slightly in the air, charging a large ball of swirling energy beams. “Let’s see you stop both magic and physical attacks at the same time!”
“Limit: Keys of Ragnarok” yelled both of them simultaneously as they released the blast. Hundreds of beams rocketed through their air towards their target, each one of them holding one of Rarity’s keyblades, making them increasingly dangerous.
Taken by surprise, the mysterious man attempted to dodge and block the hail of attacks, only to find that it was as futile as dodging rain when he was quickly consumed in the resulting explosions that rang out as the attacks struck home.
Rarity and Twilight fell back to the ground in exhaustion when the attack finally ended.
“That was…..so awesome!” squee’d Dash as she looked on at what her two friends had just done.
“Woowee, that was some fancy light show,” said AJ as she tipped her hat up in amazement.
“I hope that Mister Black Robe isn't hurt though,” said a slightly concerned Pinkie.
“I don’t, he knocked out Shia!” said Dash as she pointed to the still unconscious girl.
“He probably blocked either the magic behind the attack, or the attack itself, but either way, he should not be seriously hurt,” theorized Twilight.
“Even, so. That was incredible, Twi! You have got to show me that!” exclaimed Dash.
“Yes, that was rather impressive…..for a fake anyway.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to pinpricks as they slowly turned back to see the dark robed man standing directly behind them. He was covered in a shimmering gray field that quickly faded. What’s worse was that he now held two keyblades in his hands. The new one looked nearly identical to the second one, the only difference was that it was almost entirely white.
“What part of, ‘I’m immune to your attacks’, don’t you idiots understand!” No one could react in time before the man somehow managed to knock all of them halfway across the room, even Dash ended up sliding across the ground with the rest of them.
“I’m impressed,” the man began, “you put up slightly more of a fight then I thought, but I’m leaving now, and I’ll be taking this one with me.”
Groaning, Twilight struggled to lift her head but when she did her eyes shot open at what she saw. In his arms lay an unconscious girl with light pink hair.
“SHIA!” the group screamed. Twilight tried to throw her keyblade, only for it to bounce harmlessly off of him due to his power.
“Give her back you meanie!” yelled Pinkie.
Her words fell on deaf ears as he simply turned around and began to walk into a new ripple in space.
Moving at speeds that cracked the sound barrier, Dash appeared directly behind him and punched with all of her strength. “Give her back you bastard!!” she yelled.
Moving at equal speeds he turned around, blocked her with only a single palm. The force of the attack, however, was enough to generate shock wave that blow back the mans hood, revealing a face that none of them expected.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as Dash's eyes shrank to dots, and her brain tried to deny what they saw. She looked into his dull emerald eyes and violet skin, and immediately imagined the face of her best friend, smiling his usual, dumb, fanged smile. Hundreds of memories passed through her head in an instant, as she began to recognize the man before her.
“Sp…..Spike?”
The man gave no answer as time moved back at normal speeds. He swiftly slammed her back against a nearby wall, and continued to make his way through the ripple only to be stopped once more by another voice.
“Wait!” cried Twilight. “Spike….is that you?”
The man slowly turned back and glared at her with all the anger in the world, his draconic eyes only adding to the effect. His voice even sounded as if he wanted to murder all of them right then and there. In all, he was the personification of hatred, staring her in the eye.
“Don’t you dare call me that!” he spat, causing Twilight and the others to scoot back in fear. “You don’t have the right, not after what you've done, I should kill you where you sit. The only reason I’m leaving you alive, is because she wants me to for some reason. I will see you again, and I will kill you,” he said as he looked directly into her eyes, “Do you hear me, Twilight Sparkle.”
Without another word Spike disappeared into the void, leaving the others by themselves in the large, empty throne room. Two friends short.
The aftermath of what was supposed to be the final battle to save an enslaved world, had always been said to be a time of celebration and healing. A time to revel in newfound freedom, and forget any other hardships. But, after the sudden appearance of two new enemies, and the loss of a friend, it was anything but.
After returning to the camp, and informing the people of Sombra’s defeat, the entire populace decided almost instantly that they wanted to throw a party in their honor, cheering Pinkie up greatly. Unfortunately, Twilight declined for the group, and told them that they had to leave as soon as possible, much to Pinkie’s disappointment. Before leaving however, Yukalai gifted the group with several more items similar to the ethers from before, but with various effects. Offering a quick thanks, the group headed back to where they crashed.
After almost forcing Pinkie to summon the ship, the group of slightly depressed girls all piled into the cockpit, and sat into their respective seats. Their presence caused the interface to come online automatically.
“Only 5 of the six Wielders of Harmony detected,” said Maud.
Dash responded by growling under her breath. “Yeah...we know!”
‘Should I run a scan for the remaining members?’
Twilight’s head jerked up in surprise, and hope welled in her chest. “You can do that?” she whispered.
“Yes, Pinkie’s keyblade has Shia marked, I can locate her through that connection.”
“Then, if we can find her…...Pinkie can summon her back to us!”
“Ummm,” said Pinkie as she rose her hand nervously, “actually she has to be within a 1 mile range for that to work. Sorry”
This caused Twilight to deflate some. “Oh…..well we can still…..”
‘Search signal: Blocked. Location: Unknown.’ interrupted the monotone interface.
-SLAM- Everyone turned to the sound of Dash slamming her fist onto the console in frustration. “Well fat lot of good that did us. We wasted time, and we still don’t know where Shy is! Thanks for nothing!” she exclaimed.
“It’s not Maud’s fault…..” Pinkie muttered.
Silence is all that followed, tense silence filled with uncertainty and frustration. Each one reflected back on the same events trying to figure out what went wrong. Rarity was the first to voice almost everyones thoughts.
“What, happened back there?” she asked.
“SOME BASTARD TOOK SHIA!” snapped Dash, “He tossed us around like freaking ragdolls, and he took our friend!” Dash looked back down at her feet, her eyes full of hurt and self loathing. “It’s my fault. I should've been faster, I shoulda stopped him.”
“You tried your hardest, we all did,” said Twilight, trying to comfort her friend, even though she felt the exact same way.
“Our attacks didn't even hurt him none,” sulked AJ, leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
“OHH,” exclaimed Pinkie, “I bet he was like a super high level!” said Pinkie, characteristically trying to lighten the mood.
“Did you see the way he moved?” Rarity began “He stopped Jacqueline's attack cold, he reacted fast enough to block Rachelle’s strikes, and he wasn't even affected by our Limit. Not to mention that, but at the end, his face, it looked just like-”
“NO! Don’t say it! It couldn't have been him, there's no way,” interrupted Dash as she slammed her fist on the console a second time.
“We can’t deny what we all saw, Rachelle, he was there, clear as day,” argued Rarity.
“Yea. He even looked the exact same,” added AJ
“No! You shut up!” In the blink of an eye, she leaped over, grabbed AJ by the collar, and glared straight into her forest green eyes. “What kind of friend are you? You just see a random dragon, and say that it’s Spike?”
“What were you looking at, you were right in his face. Of course that was him. His voice, his eyes, it was all him,” she argued.
“Oh, so you’re saying that all half dragons look and act the same? Have you even seen another one? How can you be so racist?!” she yelled.
AJ gave looked at her dumbfounded. “You know that’s not what Ahm sayin!” she yelled back.
“Well it sounds like you think that our friend beat up and kidnapped Shia! Is that what you think!”
“Girls!” Both turned to face Rarity’s disapproving glare, then looked around to see a similar look on Twilight’s face and a sad looking one on Pinkie’s.
Twilight started first, “AJ, I don’t think that it’s Spike either, there’s no way that he would act that way. You should know, he would never kidnap a girl, and he would never attack his friends, ever!”
“I want to agree with Twilight, I really do,” Rarity began, “but something, deep inside, is telling me that it was our Spike. As much as I want to believe that it wasn't, I can’t help but side with Jacqueline.
Dash looked stunned for a second before bringing her anger back full force, this time directed at Rarity. “What? How could you even-”
“Personally, I've never met him, but I do wish to believe, by the way that you've all spoken of him, that he is a good person.”
Everyone froze in recognition of the new voice that came from nowhere. They turned just in time to see a holographic screen appear in the front of the ship, showing a visage of Master Luna herself, who actually looked slightly irritated.
“Master!” exclaimed Twilight. Looking down, she noticed that Pinkie had a slightly guilty looking face. “D-did you call Master Luna on us?”
“I don’t like it when my friends fight,” she muttered “I panicked okay!” cried Pinkie.
“Yes, she called me during my chess game with Tia, which I WAS WINNING!” she screamed out behind her.
From somewhere down the hall, a feminine voice replied, “In your dreams, Lulu!”
Luna growled, and muttered under her breath before she turned back, and stared down at her students. “So, you know what I was doing, how goes your trip,” she asked as she took a look around the room, and stopped on the empty seat. “Where is Shia Flutter?”
Everyone present either looked down in shame, or fidgeted nervously in their chairs. None of them wanting to admit that they had all been bested by one man. Twilight, as the de-facto leader, eventually stepped up to explain what went down.
~~~
“.......and then he left,” finished Twilight.
Luna stood motionless, eyes closed in deep thought for a time before she opened them, and announced her thoughts.
“From your physical descriptions of him in the past, we would say that it was indeed Spike who attacked you, but from his actions, we are hesitant to actually say that.”
Everyone’s expressions went through various stages, from relief to frustration, to downright anger. Luna, seeing this, decided to continue before another argument broke out.
“Therefore, we offer this advice, keep traveling, and keep gathering information, for we do not know why he has taken her, but we do not believe that she is in any mortal danger. If he truly meant what he said, then you will see this man again. Although, to be honest, we pray that you do not,” she finished, muttering the last part more to herself.
“If we do see him again, I’m gonna kick his ass, and make him tell us where Shy is!” exclaimed Dash.
“I would also like to know why Spike would attack us,” muttered Rarity, while AJ nodded in agreement.
Dash heard her, and turned back to the farm girl and fashionista. “What’s wrong with you two!?”
“Rachelle, they are entitled to their opinion, if they wish to believe that the man was Spike, then they can. The same way that you are allowed to believe that it wasn't. Do not be angry at them, because we have no proof of either possibility.
Dash only grumbled as she sat herself back into her proper seat.
“Now, let us not worry about such things at the moment, as there is nothing that we can do. Where do you all intend to head to next?”
“We don’t know, we have to arrive at a world first before the computer can even put a name to it. We actually chose this world at random,” answered Twilight.
“I see, well then, may I suggest a personal favorite of mine?”
“Oh, of course. Where is it? What’s it called?” exclaimed Twilight. Her mind ran wild with the possibilities. Her masters favorite world? It could be anything, and that made her very excited.
“Yes, it’s a very nice world, and it has some very interesting characters. Oh, and one of my best friends lives there!” she said excitedly, momentarily losing her mentor-like composure.
Twilight and Pinkie were both mirroring her excitement. Pinkie literally jumping in her seat, and Twilight’s eyes sparkling in curiosity. She always did want to know more about her Master, but she had always been too nervous to ask. She promised herself that she would ask her sister about it the very second that they met, but she supposed that asking her best friend would be the next best thing.
Luna gave the coordinates to Maud, and she quickly calculated their destination. According to Luna, Dash would absolutely love it, and Rarity would probably fall for the man who lived there. This captured both of their interests instantly. All arguments forgotten, everyone strapped themselves in, and prepared to leave.
“Girls, one more thing.” Everyone looked back up to meet the on-screen gaze of there master. She looked hesitant, and more than a little worried. “If you ever need my assistance, do not ever hesitate to call me in order to assist you in locating your friends. Your test continues for now, but if he captures another one of you, I WILL step in.”
“We will, we promise.”
“Of course”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find him, kick that bastards ass, and bring Spike and Shia home safely.”
“Don’t y’all worry nun, he got the drop on us the first time, but it won’t happen again, ya hear.”
Luna sent the group a gentle smile. “I hope so, be safe.” With that, her image vanished, and the screens light faded to nothing, signifying that the call had ended.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fire.
That was all Shia could see, was fire, erupting from the ground, enveloping the man whom she had only just met. He was so nice, why did he have to be so mean, and why did he have to live in a big creepy castle. He clearly didn't want to fight, he had even surrendered to them……. so why was he on fire?
His screams echoed throughout the room, causing Shia to shed tears for him as she looked away. She couldn't stand to hear any creature cry out in such pain, and it tore her up to not be able to do anything about it.
Finally, the fire ended, and Shia saw her chance. With surprising speed, she leapt toward the injured soul. Purposely ignoring her friend’s warnings. She was going to help him, she knew that he wasn't a bad person, no matter what her friends thought. I wasn't going to let him die!
Just as she got close to him, something attacked her, and the world went black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ugh…” Shy groaned. She could feel something soft, jabbing her cheek. Instantly, she knew that it was Angel Bunny, as that was how he had always woken her up. She slowly opened her eyes, and affirmed what she knew. As his blurry image solidified, she noticed that he looked different than usual, he looked scared. His eyes had tears in them, his fur was ruffled and unclean, and a few red patches spoiled his normally pure white appearance. This caused Shia to panic, what was wrong? Why did he look so hurt? Shia tried to move but found that she couldn't. Not because she was restrained, but rather, because she had absolutely no energy no move anything.
Looking around, she could see that she was in a bed, under a blanket, in a pure white room. Literally, everything was white, the door, the mirror, the walls, the dresser, even the bed that she was currently lying in. She found herself almost drawn toward the only source of non-white color. A black cloaked figure that leaned against the doorway, looking right at her. His black robe a clear contrast to the color around him, and his hood dark enough to completely hide his features.
She didn't know why, but she felt very scared.
Angel seemed to have noticed him as well, and hissed as if he were a cat. He moved toward Shia, as if to protect her from this unfamiliar foe.
“Looks like he still doesn't like me.” said the figure, “He attacked me, you know. The moment we arrived, he attacked me like a rabid dog.”
Shia managed to muster up a little of her strength to talk. “Wh-where are we? Wha-where are my friends.”
“They will join you here soon, I was just about to go collect another one. Wouldn't want you to be lonely here now would I.”
“Wha-what do you mean,” she said, her voice trembling in fear.
“Just as I said, when collecting toys, you always have to have a full set,” he replied with a voice filled with contempt.
This sparked a bit of anger in Shia. She disliked it when someone talked bad about her friends, and she could hate any meanie who would try and hurt them. “Why would you say something like that? Why would you call us toys?”
“Please,” he scoffed, “you’re all nothing but the playthings of some lonely witch. Made with stolen memories, and fake powers. I’m going to fix that, and take back what she’s stolen.”
This stunned Shy, why would he think that? How could he think that. None of her friends had ever stolen anything. Well, there were times when Pinkie or Dash would take an extra piece of food, but they would never steal anything importance. Shia began to tear up at the sheer hatred that this man radiated. “H-how could you say such things. We haven't done anything to you.”
“Is that what you think? Is that what she’s taught you to believe? Well even if you yourself don’t know, it won’t change what you’ve done to us.
Us? Who’s ‘Us’?
“Regardless, I’m going to find the rest of her toys, and take them one by one. Then, when she’s all alone, I’m going to kill Twilight Sparkle.”
This caused Shia’s eyes to widen in fear, then shrink in anger. She mustered all of her strength and directed it toward summoning her keyblade. Only to find that she couldn't. With all her effort, she couldn't get her weapon to respond.
The man only watched her struggle, and sighed. “Stop, you’ll only hurt yourself, this room was designed to debilitate and weaken the powers of the keyblade and its holder, you won’t be able to use it in here, or in any of the other rooms.”
Sensing that his words rang true, she decided to calmed down, and take a long look at the man before her. Now that she was calm, she could feel something, looking back at angel, she could tell what that something was.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m not affected. Well, I grew up in this room so-”
“You’re lying.”
This caught him by surprise. “Wha-what? You don’t believe-”
“No, not that.” Shy looked at him with her large, naturally sympathetic eyes. “I don’t believe that you would hurt Twilight.”
“And, why wouldn't I?”
“You said that Angel attacked you? Why didn't you kill him?”
“Why didn't I…….”
“You’re not a meanie, I don’t really understand it, but I just know that you wouldn't do such an evil thing.”
His head now lowered, the man began to mutter to himself. “You think I’m evil? I’m not evil. You’re the evil ones.”
Without warning, the man swiftly summoned his black keyblade, and slammed it into the wall next to him, breaking out a large chunk, and causing Shia to turn away in fear. “I’m just trying to take back what’s mine! She’s the evil one, not me, and I will make her pay for what she’s done to us!” he screamed before swiftly leaving the room and slamming the door.
After recovering from her fear, she looked back towards where the man once stood. Even as Angel tried to comfort her, Shy only continued to stare at where he stood. And, even against the complete whiteness of the room, she could see the tears drops on the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did you enjoy your little talk?” said the green haired women as her companion walked into the room. She wore the same coat as him, the only difference being that she had her hood down. Revealing her dark emerald eyes, and black skinned complexion. She stood in the center of the room next to a giant glass orb that held a foggy image.
“.......”
“She didn't make you cry did she?” she said, clearly teasing him.
“Sh-shut up!” he exclaimed, a hint of embarrassment seeping into his voice.
Suddenly, her mood turned serious. “So, did you get anything?”
“Only glimpses, and feelings, like fragments, but it’s working, we just need to get the rest of them. Do you know where they are?
She only shrugged and turned back to the orb, still foggy and unreadable. “No, I had them for a while, but then they took off, and I lost them somehow. It looks like they're going to a specific world, but something’s blocking my vision, something, or someone.”
“Dammit, Chrysalis, you had one job!”
“You have one job too y'know”
“Yea, but I can’t do that job until you do yours.”
“Hmm, true, so I’ll just get right on that. Why don’t you take a break for now, go to that world you like so much. Radiant Gardens, was it?”
The man crossed his arms, and took some time to think. Eventually, he nodded in agreement. “It has been awhile since I last saw the Crusaders, I hope they haven't hurt themselves again.”
He suddenly felt something wrap around him, it only took him a split-second before he realized that she was hugging him.
“Thats the spirit, go have fun! I promise that I’ll find them.”
“Uh….ok then, hurry up,” he said as he briefly hugged her back before tearing himself away, and walking back toward the door.
“Oh, and Spike!” she called out just as he reached the doorway. He turned back to see her looking at him with caring sympathetic eyes. “Be careful.”
“Yea, yea, I’m almost 17 now, you don’t have to keep looking after me.” he said as he walked through the doorway, and vanished into thin air.
“Well I have to,” she said as she turned back to the orb. The smile on her face turning from sympathetic to nefarious in an instant. “I am your big sister after all.”
“Sooooo, anybody know where we’re headed?” said a very bored tomboy.
“NOPE!” exclaimed a very perky pink haired girl.
“Master Luna said that it was a very fun, but dangerous world. I think that there might be monsters on it.”
“Heh she was right then, I will enjoy this place. I get to train by kicking monster butt.”
“Pinkie, darling, I’ve been meaning to ask, back then, Maud said something about markings. What did she mean?” asked Rarity with a slightly worried expression.
Pinkie turned around and beamed at the attention. “Well, like Twilight said, I can mark things and turn them into my summon. I just pointed my keyblade and summoned AJ back to me.
“Wait,” AJ interrupted “does that mean I have like a keyhole somewhere on my body?”
“Well, more like a tattoo actually,” she answered nervously.
Everyone went silent for a second before frantically searching their bodies for possible markings. Rarity freaked out when she felt something on her back and ran into the bathroom.
“Pinkie, why would you mark us without telling us, wait, no scratch that. When did you mark us?”
Pinkie’s smile never faltered. “Way back when we went to that bath house in town.”
“You mean that time when you kept grabbing and hugging us?” said Dash as she struggled to remember.
“Well, no. I just felt affectionate, it was actually when you guys went to take off your clothes.”
Everyone present could only stare at the pink haired girl in confusion, until an enraged violet haired girl came storming back into the room. “Pinkamena Diane Pie!”
Pinkie noticeably flinched, when her friend came rushing over to glare down at her. “How dare you sully my temple without my knowledge! I demand that you remove it this instant!” she said with an aggressive stomp of her boot.
“Now, Rarity, let’s not be hasty, she did use it to save AJ, so I don’t think-”
“I don’t care! No man would want someone like me, with a tattoo like that!”
Dash leaned over to AJ, and whispered into her ear “Probably a tramp stamp” she whispered as AJ nodded in agreement.
If Rarity heard them then the only sigh she showed was having her face increase in hue, turning her beet red. Though not from anger.
“Are you sure~” Pinkie sing-songed.
“Yes, I’m sure!”
“Okay~” she announced. Before Rarity could react, Pinkie lifted her arm and swung it over to slap just above Rarity’s behind. Twilight noted the slight sparkles that lifted from her palm as she removed it, signifying that the mark had indeed been removed.
“EEP!” Rarity squealed as she held her bottom in pain. Twilight looked away in slight embarrassment while Dash and AJ fell to the ground in laughter. After sending a death glare their way, Rarity quickly composed herself by coughing into her fist and gracefully sitting back into her seat.
“T-thank you, darling. Please warn me next time.”
“You want her to slap your ass again!!” Dash choked out, her laughter doubling, this time joined by a chuckling Twilight.
Rarity’s face lit back up instantly as she stammered out a response. “N-n-n-n-no, t-that’s not what I meant!”
Dash’s only response was more laughter, this time ringing in harmony with AJ, Pinkie and Twilight. Even Rarity let out a few giggles at her own expense.
Twilight was the first to calm down as she looked around at her laughing friends, and felt thankful that their arguments over had not damaged their friendship very much. She looked over to the one empty seat, and let her mind wandered back to recent memories.
~~~
“So, girls. I’ve been thinking about that prophecy that Yuna gave us.” began Twilight as everyone’s laughter finally died out.
“You mean that creepy rhyming fortune tell?” asked AJ.
Twilight had to facepalm at the farmgirls rather apt description of the complicated poem. “Yes, that one. Remember that second part?”
“No,” said Dash almost immediately, a blank look accompanying her answer.
Rarity sighed in response and answered for her. “ Friends see him, Fakes he sees, as the crying rainbow shall fall to it’s knees. Against a false past will you must fend, or at the end of his blade will she meet her end. Isn’t that right Twilight?
Twilight smiled back at her. “Perfect, thank you. Remember back in the throne room-”
“No,” Dash exclaimed with a hint of anger and frustration.
Twilight only rolled her eyes, she knew that she was treading a thin line bringing this up but she had to discuss this. “He kept calling us fakes, and imposters. But that’s not the part that confuses me, but rather, the parts about how we see him as a friend, and something about a false past.
“Well that one’s easy sug. Me an Rares see him as Spike, a friend,” she said, tossing a glare back to Dash, who only remained facing away from the group. “But, what does the part about a false past mean?”
“Well, I have a theory, if you’re willing to listen, Dash.”
Dash’s only response was a grunt. Twilight took that as a go ahead, and continued, albeit hesitantly. “If it was Spike, then he was probably brainwashed by someone to fight us. I don’t know who, and I don’t know why, but it is a possible explanation as to why he would..”
“That does sound reasonable-”
“I can’t believe this!” exclaimed Dash as she bolted upright in her seat, drawing everyone’s gazes toward her. “You guys are insane for thinking, even for a second, that Spike would ever attack us! Brainwashed or not, Spike’s not that kind of guy!”
“Come on Rainbow, you’re being stubborn, if his own sister if his own sister can see him, why can’t you!” AJ said as she too, also stood up and looked down at shorter girl.
Dash only narrowed her eyes at the taller girl, and turned to walk toward the corridor entrance. Only turning back to say one thing. “Then she’s a horrible sister for not trusting him like I do.”
“Wait, I never said-”
“She’s gone, Twilight” said Rarity with finality.
Twilight sighed and muttered to herself. “I knew this was a bad idea.” She looked down at Pinkie who, surprisingly, had not said a word this entire time. For once, just focusing on driving the ship. Twilight wished that, just this once she would do something weird or crazy to lighten the mood, like she always does.
~~~
The rest of the ride became fairly uneventful, Dash remained sulking in her room, and the rest of them retreated to their respective cool down zones. Twilight went to the onboard library, Rarity went back to her work station, and AJ also went back to her room. That’s the way it stayed, until Pinkie’s cheery voice rang throughout the intercoms, alerting everyone present.
“Were HEEEERRRREE~” she sang, causing everyone to rush to the console room to see where they were landing. As Twilight passed Dash’s room, she saw the girl lying on her bed, clearly still upset.
“Um, Dash, it’s almost time to-” she said hesitantly before she was abruptly cut of by a sudden glare from the shorter tomboy. Quickly she sat up, wordlessly shoved her way past Twilight, and headed toward the cockpit.
‘I guess that she’s still mad at us. I hope this world cheers her back up,’ she briefly paused her thought, ‘Or else I might have to get Pinkie to slap Rarity again,” she thought with a small sad grin gracing her face.
Everyone’s face contorted into ones of confusion as they gazed out the windows. Dash thought it looked kinda cool, but the rest of them thought it looked horrifying. It was small, decrepit and red, with a large tower poking out from one side and it’s surface looked almost deserted. Twilight looks over to the console to read out it’s name. Due to the fact that Luna gave specific coordinates, the computer had been able to identify the world below.
’Temen ni gru?’ she thought. “This is Master Luna’s favorite world?” asked Twilight in disbelief.
“This can’t be right, it’s all, ………...demonic, and icky. Pinkie, darling, are you sure that these coordinates are correct?”
Pinkie only shrugged and pointed towards the ceiling. “I’m not the one who picked this place, Maud’s the one who actually drove us here.”
“So there is an autopilot!” exclaimed Twilight, leveling an accusatory finger at Pinkie.
“Uh, oh look we’re here!” Pinkie said quickly as she jerked the steering wheel. Everyone on board paled as they realized what was about to happen and instantly strapped themselves in just as the ship lurched violently toward the nearby world.
~~~
Due to her reckless maneuver Pinkie wasn't able to regain control of her ship before it crashed onto the side of the large tower sticking up into the sky. Due to the sheer size of the structure, it was barely affected by the relatively small Gummi ship. Merely crashing into it’s side and crashing down multiple floors, shaking its drivers around as if they were peas in a can.
Eventually, the shaking stopped, and some of them threw up, but somehow, they were all still alive by the time that they all managed to stumble out of the ship. Still swirly eyed and dizzy beyond belief, they stumbled around aimlessly, that was, until Rarity bumped into something and fell back on her rump.
“Pinkie, I know that I’ve said this before, but this time I mean it We are not ever letting you drive again!” she exclaimed as she rubbed her sore bottom.
Pinkie, who was still stumbling around with a grin on her face only groaned out a reply. “It wahsjust a joke,” she said, before she too bumped into something. “Heym I was stumbling around here,” she complained to the figure above her. But what she saw drained the color from even her normally pink face.
Dash must have seen it too because somewhere behind her fear she could register her voice ringing out.
“What the hell is that!!”
Hearing her shocked Pinkie into action, and she quickly crawled backwards in fear. Evidently, the other 5 must have done the same thing because before you know it they were huddled together, back to back, all shivering in fear.
They realized that they were surrounded from all sides by 4 giant, floating grim reaper looking monsters. Their bleached while skeletons poked out of their pitch black robes and an eerie light shown in their otherwise empty eye sockets. In each of their hands they held a lethal looking, purple bladed scythe. Rarity made the dangerous decision of looking at one in the eye, and she swore that she could see the images of an entire population crying out for in pain and calling for help, nearly causing her to pass out then and there.
“Why the hell did Luna send us here! Does she want us dead?” screamed Dash as she huddled closer to the others, her anger momentarily forgotten.
“M-m-maybe w-we died from the crash, and it’s our time! stammered Twilight
“This is your fault Pinkie!” screamed Rarity.
“IMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRYIMSORRY” she cried out repeatedly.
“Man, ah never thought that I’d go out this way,” said AJ, surprisingly calm. “Honestly, I always hoped that I would die choking on an apple.” she said as she calmly reached into her hat and pulled out an apple. “Well if ahm goin out, I’m goin out mah way!”
The ghoul reapers edged ever closer, seeming to take pleasure in watching their prey panic, but they soon grew bored as they all simultaneously raised their scythes to strike, moaning in tandem. Each of the girls closed their eyes and prepared for the worst, too fear stricken to act.
“WOOHOHOHOOOO.” cried out a new voice. Recognizing that it came from above the girls looked up and some someone drop from the ceiling. Turning upside down in mid air the figure began to spin around, and before they knew it, bullets were raining down around them. Striking all four of the reapers instantly, but never once hitting any of them.
Screaming like banshees, all four monsters disappeared in wisps of smoke and ash as they were riddled with holes.
Opening their eyes in surprise, all of the girls watched as the man landed expertly on his feet directly in front of them. Each one of the girls stopped to stare at a particular trait of his.
Rarity’s eyes were locked onto his gorgeous but utterly messy silver hair. Dash couldn't take her eyes off of his sick crimson red trench coat covering his shirtless chest, not to mention the epic looking blade hanging from his back. AJ couldn't stop staring at the sweet set of guns that he just used to kill for monsters instantly. Twin black and white semi automatic pistols that looked like they could fire forever. Twilight had been the only one to look at his face, specifically his cocky smile that put Dash’s to shame in every way.
“Girls, I know that I’m hot but it’s rude to stare” he said, using that cocky grin of his to do it.
This broke each of them out of their stupor, and Twilight was the first to speak. “Who are you…” she asked hesitantly.
“Me? I’ll tell ya after we’re done. I hope you humans can do more than just sit on your asses.” With that, at least 20 other creatures appeared around them in red flashes. They weren't as large as the 4 from before, however. They were smaller and their scythes didn't look as deadly. But even so, they still looked like zombie reapers in the eyes of the group.
Luckily they weren't taken by surprise this time, and acted as they should. by pulling out their keyblades and assuming a battle stance.
The man looked back at them in slight surprise before readopting his usual look. “Woah, freaky weapons, you girls know a dark chick named Luna by any chance?”
“You know Master Luna?” Pinkie piped up. Momentarily distracted she almost got impaled by one of the reapers, bouncing over it just in time.
“Maybe this isn't the best time!” grunted AJ as she took out a few ghouls with a wide swing.
“What? You can’t multi-task?” said the man as he eagerly took out almost a dozen ghouls himself.
Dash looked back toward the man and marveled at his skill. The way he used his guns and sword in combination with each other was absolutely amazing. He would use his sword to stun or launch an enemy, then almost instantly pull his guns out to continuously shoot them, keeping them in the air by force of bullets alone. It was almost beautiful to watch him pull off such amazing combos.
At one point he even managed to completely disarm an enemy, pin it to the ground, ride around on it as if it were a skateboard, and shoot every other enemy with his guns alone. If she didn't know better, which she probably didn't, she’d think that he was actually having fun by the way he was wooping andd laughing.
‘Woah, I gotta learn that’
After about 30 seconds the monster well appeared to dry up, and no more enemies remained. Currently just about everyone was fussing over the dust on their clothes, apparently from the enemies. Oh course Rarity had been fussing the most until she turned to see the white haired man stare at her in confusion.
“What is it?”
“Why would you wear a skirt to a fight anyway?” he asked with genuine curiosity.
She flinched as she was taken aback by the mans rather odd question, but managed to recover quickly enough. She stood her ground, flipped her hair and replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “It’s a combat skirt, obviously”
Pinkie jumped up behind her agreeing with a cheery ‘Yeah’, before exchanging a quick low five with the stylish girl as she continued. “Why don’t you wear a shirt in a fight? That’s dangerous.”
“So I don’t get my clothes dirty, obviously,” he replied with heavy sarcasm.
Rarity only scoffed and turned away, clearly offended. ‘Is this the man Luna said that I’d fall for? Hardly, he’s just another ruffian.”
The man turned just in time to see a fairly short girl with odd colored hair zoom up to his face. It took him a second to realize that she was floating.
“That was soooo awesome how you were all like ‘hahhhh’ and ‘hyahh’ and ‘take that!’,” Dash exclaimed as she tried to mimic his moves during the fight. “How do you fight so awesomely?” she asked, her face scrunched up in sheer awe.
“What can I say, it’s in my blood, but if you really want to see something awesome check this-”
“Wait,” Twilight interrupted, “before you pull out some kind of…..electric guitar, or something, we asked you a question?” said Twilight, determined to get her answer.
The man only sighed and resigned himself to his fate, out of the corner of his eye he could see the other girl glaring at the other one, probably for butting in. Which was something he could honestly sympathize with. “I feel like there’s going to be a lot of those coming. Right?”
Twilight only nodded with a self satisfactory smile on her face, which quickly fell at his next words.
“No thanks, I’ll answer just one question.”
“Wait, but-”
“AH! One!”
“Huh, Why?”
“Is that your question?”
“N-no but-”
“Then ask your question already, I have to go stop some lunatic from turning everything into demonville.”
“But, how can I-” she stopped herself as she looked up at the mans irritating smile before realizing that he was probably messing around. Looking back she could see her friends behind her, watching, and trying not to laugh at her expense. She quickly chose her question, despite her frustration.
“How do you know Master Luna?”
“Is that your question?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, I don’t like that question, I’m gonna answer your first one.”
“What?”
Pointing at himself with his thumb he announced his name with a smile. “Name’s Dante, Professional Demon Hunter, and owner of the….ehh” he stopped as he began to mutter quietly to himself. “Dammit, I still haven't named my shop yet.”
“You’re a demon hunter?” deadpanned Twilight.
“That's right.”
“So, those were demons?”
“That's right.”
“And, you just answered two more questions.”
“Because, I felt like it”
“How do you know master Luna?”
“How about I start askin' some questions,” said Dante as he turned towards the remaining girls, ignoring the glare from Twilight. “Why do I keep finding girls in the Temen-ni-gru”
AJ answered first while leveling a glare at Pinkie. “We crashed.”
“Yea, I saw that, it was kinda funny, I could hear your screams from all the way out here, though that doesn't really answer my question. Well, at least you guys didn't shoot me in the head, maybe my luck’s changin’ after all,” he said, muttering the last parts more to himself
The others didn't hear the rest due to them all joining AJ in her glaring, causing the small pink girl to shrivel under their gaze in shame.
“Anyway,” said Twilight as she tore her gaze away, “we have no idea why we’re here, other than master Luna saying that this is a fun place, which, frankly, I don’t see. Even so, she must’ve had a reason, so can just we follow you for now? “
Hearing this, Dante turned and began to walk away nonchalantly. “Well you guys do whatever, I gotta go, or I’ll miss the party.”
Dash quickly zoomed over and floated alongside him talking ecstatically all the while. “That’s right, you said something about demonville, what’s that? What did you mean ‘you humans’? How’d you do all those sick moves? Where did you get that awesome sword? Who’s the lunatic you talked about.”
Dante only chuckled at the numerous questions directed at him, but characteristically he only answered the ones he felt like answering. “Easy there, Tweety bird, the sword was a gift from my father, I prefer stylish moves, and that lunatic, is my twin brother.”
This caused Dash to frown a bit as she looked back at the other girls following them a short ways behind. “So I guess you’re going to go kill him or something?”
“Now why the hell would I do that? He invited me to a party, so I’m gonna take his invite, and go beat some sense into him,” he said as they walked along the corridors of the tower.
“Wait, he’s trying to turn the world into hell, and you don't hate him?”
“Hell naw, he’s just power obsessed, nothing new.”
Dash immediately turned and yelled back to the unsuspecting group. “See, Twilight, that’s what a sibling should be like! Trusting!”
“Dash I do trust him! I’m just considering all the possibilities here.”
"Yeah, stop bein' a stubborn mule," added AJ
Dash only turned forward, and huffed as she flew ahead some. Causing Dante to wonder exactly what’s going on between them, and exactly why they were actually following him.
“Spiders,” Rarity began, almost cowering in fear behind Twilight, “why did it have to be spiders!”
She was, of course, referring to the pack of Arachne; demon spiders with blade-like forearms, that had ambushed the girls and Dante.
The group scattered to avoid being caught in their webs and lethal attacks. AJ and Dash had taken two opposite corners, Pinkie hopped around the area, serving more as a distraction to some of the extra Arachne. Rarity joined Twilight near the door, and Dante, like the showboat he was, took center stage.
“Don’t worry about it,” teased Dante, “just stomp on ‘em with your designer shoes.”
“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!” she screamed, head covering her head.
“Jeez, what’s up with her, they’re just spiders,” he said, casually knocking one back.
Dash answered first as she maneuvered herself over to Dante since she had finished off her end. “She once found a spider in her underwear drawer. She’s had a fear of em’ since. Heck, she wouldn't even wear underwear for 3 weeks,” she said, almost falling out laughing.
This lapse in defence almost got her head bitten off if it weren't for Dante’s experience in laughing while fighting. He turned on his heel and sliced down the spider that was rushing her.
“W-wait, doesn't she wear a skirt!?” he said, snickering as he turned and unleashed a hail of bullets at a few spiders.
“That’s the funny part!”
Rarity could only blush in embarrassment as she attempted to make herself even smaller.
Dante couldn't hold it in anymore, he ceased his firing and almost fell out laughing next to Dash, leaving them both wide open for two spiders to rush them. Only to be stopped by Twilight’s quick spellcasting.
“Guy’s focus, I can’t be protecting you guys and Rarity. Get up!” she ordered.
Dash and Dante complied, picking themselves up and continuing the fight.
“So, is this a regular thing for you?” asked Dash as she arced past, slaying 4 more Arachne.
“What, being a badass, having hot girls around me or slaying demons?” answered Dante, stylishly dispatching several demons with relative ease.
“I’ll let you guess which one I’m talking about”
“I wouldn't,” he smirked.
“Will you two quit flirtin’ and focus on killing the pack of varmint's that’s surrounding us!” said AJ, violently crushing several of the accursed hell spawn.
“I agree, they just keep coming,” added Twilight, expertly exploiting the enemies aversion to fire by setting dozens of them ablaze.
“Don’t worry, you’ll know when it ends, trust me,” said Dante
“I really don’t want to, but ok, when?” said Twilight setting fire to several more hell spawn.
“You see that door back there?” he said, pointing Ebony towards a brown door behind Twilight. On it, lie a red, green and blue wheel of some sort, but the entire thing was covered with a layer of flowing red plasma. If one looked closely they could see faces moving along it’s frame. “I would get away from it if I were you.”
“And why should-”
“AIEEEEEEE!”
Twilight was cut off by a shrill scream coming from behind her. Looking back her eyes widened as she witnessed a red ethereal hand emerging from the door, reaching out for them. In Rarity’s defense she had tried to fight against the oncoming hand by frantically throwing keyblades at it, but it seemed to have no effect. Twilight, determining that it was impervious to damage, quickly teleported them a few yards away, near AJ, just before it could grab them.
“What in the world was that?” screamed Rarity.
“No, clue, “Dante admitted, keeping a few spiders at bay with his gun shots. “One of the towers defenses, a demonic spell, or just some sick joke by a messed up clown. The only thing I know, is that it will go away if you do one thing.”
“What?”
“Shut up and kill everything in this room.” Dante exclaimed his point by using rushing forward and impaling the enemies that he was shooting.
Taking his advice, Rarity stood up beside Twilight and readied her weapon, she wanted to leave this dreadful room as soon as possible. However, she happened to glance over at the Arachne that AJ had just crushed, and before she could blanch in disgust, it suddenly faded into dozens of much smaller Arachne.
Rarity instantly fell back into her previous fetal posture.
“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, no, no, no, no, no, nononononono NO I will not fight such disgusting creatures. They’re nasty and creepy and ugly and-”
While Rarity continued to describe the reasons why she would not even let her keyblade touch them, the others only rolled their eyes as they eliminated the rest of the demons.
As the last Arachne faded into dust, the group looked toward the red clad door just in time to see the ethereal hand reach out as it cracked and faded away, leaving the entrance finally accessible. Twilight interrupted Rarity’s rant to tell her that everything was fine.
“Well done, friends. Let us continue,” she said as she gently made her way to the door, acting as if nothing had happened.
“Jeez, you could at least say thanks since you did nothing,” Dash grumbled.
Just as she she reached for the door to push it open a surviving Arachne took her by surprise and attempted to attack her, causing her to scream in fear.
“Rarity!” the group yelled rushing forward, but by the time they made it over to her, Rarity had already dispatched of the demon by flicking it to the ground and repeatedly bashing it with Gem Finder in a way that would’ve made Shia faint.
“Nevermind…..”
~~~
After a few more minutes, the group finally managed to pull Rarity away from her personal little crater. They left the room only to enter a larger room complete with the same drab brown color as before, except now with water falls!
The group looked around, taking in almost every detail. Rarity’s face fell as her eyes were immediately drawn to the only source of contrasting color, which happened to be a door on the wall a short distance away. Covering it was an ethereal wall similar to the previous one.
“Oh no, not again…” she despaired as she frantically searched for more spiders.
Dante calmed her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “Chill, look it’s blue, that means that there’s some sort of stupid puzzle that we have to solve.”
Rainbow deadpanned at the mention of a mental workout. “What is this, a video game? Why is there a puzzle in a demon tower anyway?”
“I don’t know,” said Twilight, “but it probably has something to do with those over there.” Twilight gestured to the center of the room that held a single beam of light that had been bounced off of various mirrors. In front of that, stood a large stone with writing engraved on it.
Seeing a chance to put her mental abilities to the test, Twilight excitedly ran toward the stone, leaving the others behind.
AJ, seeing her chance, decided to finally get the answers that her violet haired friend apparently had forgotten.
“So, Dante was it?” this got Dante’s, Pinkie’s and Rainbow’s attention, as they were bored while Twilight had gone to solve the puzzle and Rarity left to study the local architecture of the fairly large room.
“Sup?”
“So, who are you anyway, an’ whats goin on in this here tower?”
“Yeah, I’d like to know that too.”
Dante smirked as he took a seat on the ground, crossing his legs in front of him, his arms behind his head, and leaning his back against the wall. “Do you girls want to know the legend of Sparda?”
“The legend of the who now?”
“The legend goes like this: There was once a demon who hated being a demon, rebelled against the rest and sealed them and himself inside the demon world.”
Dash deadpanned. “That can’t be how it really goes, it’s supposed to be a legend right, it sounds like a history lesson.”
“Hold on, Skittles, that wasn't the legend. Let’s call that a prologue. Like I said, he sealed the gate to hell up tight…… well as tight as it can be with demons spilling through all the time. Anyway, before he sealed it away, he had two sons. The older son sided with demons while the other embraced his human side. The older son craves his father’s power for no other reason than to be the strongest. To do that, he needs to get 4 things.” Dante raised his fist and began to count off.
“Force Edge, the sword which is said to house all of Sparda’s power. This tower, which is the key to finding the gate to where the sword lies, and my half of our mother’s amulet which is the key to opening the gate itself.”
“What’s the fourth thing?” asked AJ.
“Oh that? Well he’ll need to get through me to get my amulet,” he said proudly.
Rainbow flew up and looked over the taller man. “Doesn't he already have it?”
Dante said nothing, but his proud posture seemed to sag a bit.
“That varmint already beat ya an’ took it didn’t he?” she smirked.
“N-no, he only borrowed it! I’m goin to get it back right now!” exclaimed Dante, crossing his arms.
Rainbow rolled around in her laughter, which in turn caused Pinkie to laugh as well. “You got your ass kicked by your big brother!”
“Whatever, he got in a lucky shot. My turn, who are you all anyway?”
Pinkie was the first to pop up and start speaking. “My name’s Pinkamena Diane Pie,” she began to point to each of her friends, “That’s Jackie Apple, we call her Applejack or AJ-”
She tipped her hat, “Howdy.”
“-that’s Twilight-”
Twilight didn't notice the gesture, still muttering to herself, “....the image sunken in….”
“-Rarity-”
Rarity didn't hear her, as she was still too focused on analyzing the structures around her. “......terribly horrid and too much gothic style. Was this tower built by the color-blind?”
“And that’s Rachelle but don’t call her that or she’ll get upset.” Pinkie leaned in and moved a hand to cover her mouth. “She’s mad with us right now,” she whispered.
Dante mimicked her action. “Why?”
“She’s in denial.”
“Over what?”
“Nothing!” Rainbow finished.
“Well, whatever, it’’s not my business-.”
“Phoowie, she’s just being butthurt and stubborn, and won’t accept what her own eyes’er tellin’ her.”
Dash put herself right in the cowgirls face. “Well, you’re just being a heartless jerk who doesn't believe in her friends!”
“Wha-heartless!? Why you-”
Before the fight could escalate any faster, Dante decided to end it by shooting his black gun Ebony into the air several times, causing everyone near him to hold the sides of their heads, or crouch down in alarm.
“Alright, that’s enough. I’m not here to babysit, so if you’re going to fight get away from me, and do it somewhere else,” he sighed.
“Babysit?” Dash began with an offended look, “You're not that much older than we-” Dash was cut off by the new feeling of cold black steel being sat on her forehead.
“True, but I’m the one with the gun, and I don’t like people who talk more than I do. So shut up, and calm down...... unless you want me to add more red to that hair of yours.”
Dash, having seen what the guns could do, backed down without protest. Grumbling to herself she decided to go see what Twilight was up to.
“Wow, that was scary,” mumbled Pinkie.
“Chill, I wasn't really gonna shoot her,” said Dante, re holstering him gun, “and I don’t know what’s going on here, but-”
“Oh, you want to know?” began Pinkie with a bright smile, “Well, it all started about 10 years ago when-”
Dante could only groan as Pinkie began rattling off about their past and AJ could only giggle at his frustration.
~~~
“Kay’ guys,” called Twilight, grabbing the attention of the rest of the group and interrupting Pinkie’s story, “I figured it out, we can move on now!”
“Finally,” Dante mumbled, picking himself off of his seat on the ground. While the mage decided to take her sweet time solving the puzzle, the pink one decided to gabber on about her life story. Truthfully, Dante couldn't make out half of what she said due to the speed at which she said it, and the fact that she only took a breath every 3 minutes, but he was confident that he could pick out a few key details.
“Took you long enough,” said Dash as she flew up next to her. “It can’t have been that hard.”
“Oh, it wasn't, all you have to do is move these two mirror and it’s solved. I just wanted to try out every combination first,” she admitted sheepishly, “I wanted to see if their was an extra passageway.”
“Was there?” asked AJ.
Taking a page from one of friends Twi hid her blush behind her hair. “No.”
………..
Twilight quickly lifted her head in an attempt to defend herself. “But, don’t you know that feeling of when something’s just too easy? I wanted to make sure that we weren't missing anything, like a secret item or something!
……-Chirp-…..this time there was a small chirping cricket interrupting the silence.
Twilight groaned. “Let’s just go.”
~~~
As the group walked down the passageway leading from the puzzle room, Twilight took this moment to hang back with Dante.
“So, I heard yelling and gunshots, what happened.”
“Skittles and Redneck were fighting again,” he answered in a bored tone.
Twilight let loose a guilty chuckle at the nicknames for her friends. “Don’t call them that, they have names. Anyway, they were probably arguing over Spike.”
“Who?” he said with the barest of attentions paid.
“My brother, who went missing several years ago.”
“Is that so.”
“Yeah, but he showed up recently, or at least someone that looked like him. He fought us, took our friend, and threatened to kill me.”
“Yeah, sounds about right.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“Well that’s what my brother just did to me,” he smirked. “Cept, I know it was him. He fought me, stabbed me, took our mothers amulet, and left me for dead…. and that was a few hours ago. Some party that was.”
Twilight was aghast. “That’s horrible, why are you so calm, he could have killed you!?”
Dante actually looked somewhat serious. “I don’t know, all I know is that I’m going to get my moms necklace back.”
“What does he need it for?”
“Open a demon gate to hell to take Sparda’s power.”
“What!”
“I know right? Talk about greedy.”
“You’re going to stop him right?”
“Nah, I’m just gonna take the amulet and leave.”
“But, he’s going to destroy the world, just to gain power!”
“Not my problem.”
Twilight stood in front of Dante with a determined frown on her face. She raised her hand in front of him and summoned Magical Element. “If you won’t stop him, then I will.”
Dante looked down at the blade in front of him, memories flashing through his head. He smirked, “Oh really? What are you going to do, make him sparkle in the sun?” he teased.
“Wha- you- I!” she fumed until Dante interrupted her by flicking her on the head as he walked past.
“You really are her student aren't you.” he mumbled.
“Wha-”
“Chill, I was joking. I am going to stop him.”
“Oh,” she said, slightly embarrassed. “Well…… good.”
“NO! Absolutely not!”
Both Dante and Twilight’s attention were directed at the white clad girl in front of them. Twilight rushed forward to meet the rest of the group.
“Rarity, what’s wrong?”
“Jacqueline says that we have to go back into that spider infested storage room for some stupid item.”
“We have to ta’ get past this here door! So calm your biscuits, and come on!”
“Absolutely not, I would rather stay here than go back in that horrid room!”
‘Alright let’s go,” said Dante turning to leave.
“Alright, I wanna fight something anyway.”
“Kay, don’t go gettin lost out here.”
“Okie dokie lokie!”
“Rarity, are you sure you want to stay out here?” asked a concerned Twilight
Rarity paused as she realized that they had actually decided to leave her behind without so much as an offer to stay with her. “O-of course, Darling, I shall be perfectly fine on my own.”
“Ok, then. We’ll be back as soon as possible, so don’t go anywhere and don’t talk to anyone!” she warned as she left with the others.
“I’ll be fine, there are no demons out here and I will stay right here. Go get the item.”
Twilight nodded as she looked back once before running to catch up with Dante and the others.
Rarity looked around, continuously studying the area around her. Needless to say it was partially in ruins. That was to be expected as it was probably centuries old and who knows how tall. But what mainly caught her attention, was the fact that this area in contrast to the areas before it was enormous. She knew that they were underground, but even so, she could see the subterranean lake below her stretching out for miles. Demonic magic? or some kind of underground passageway. Either way Rarity didn't know whether to be impressed or appalled.
Her viewing was interrupted by the sound of quiet laughter. She looked around, but was unable to find it’s source.
“Twilight,” she called out around her, “are you still here? I told you to go help the others.”
The laughter only grew louder after her message. Rarity realized that she didn't sound like any of her friends and readied her weapon. “Who, and where are you!”
“Woah there,” said the voice, still dripping with stray laughs. “Put your toy down, I’m not here to fight you.”
“Then come out and stop with the, frankly quite disturbing, laughter.”
“If it’s disturbing you then it’s working. But fine, have it your way, you usually do anyway from what I’m told.”
Just then, in front of Rarity, emerged the familiar image of the green haired, green eyed, black robed women from before. Her face reminded Rarity of burnt coal wearing cheap lipstick. Her voice oozed with nothing but condescension.
“Oh, look who’s all alone once again. Did you’re friends finally get tired of you after all this time?”
This brought Rarity’s attention off of the woman's utterly hideous hair. “Excuse you, Chrysalis, was it? My friends are merely away completing a task.”
Chrysalis flipped her hair, much to Rarity’s disgust. “Yes, without you, it seems.”
“Your point?”
“It just looks like to me, they all left without giving you a second thought.”
Rarity had a hard time denying that, it did seem like they were eager to leave. “So what,” she huffed, “they just wanted to go and defeat those horrid demons and retrieve the item we need.”
“Or just to get away from you,” she shot back immediately.
“Of course not! My friends love me.”
“That’s not what Spike told me.”
Rarity instantly pointed her keyblade directly at the women. “What have you done with him, you witch!”
“Oh put that thing away,” she whispered into Rarity’s ear, causing her to jump several feet forward in alarm. “Well, someone’s touchy. I’m sorry did I invade your personal space?”
"How did she get behind me!? She didn't teleport, Is she just that fast?" thought Rarity as she regained her composure and stance.
“Anyway, I’m in a hurry, do you know how hard it was to find you all here?”
“What? Have you come to take me like you did Shia?”
“Oh please,” she scoffed, “someone like you isn't worth my time, plus that’s not my role anyway.”
“Then, why are you here?”
“Nothing serious, just making sure that this doesn't happen again.”
“What-mghff” Her sentence was interrupted by a gloved hand reached out from behind her and covered her mouth. Rarity’s eyes widened when a lock of green hair floated into her field of vision, and she realized that the woman wasn't in front of her anymore.
“Shh, this will only hurt for a bit,” whispered Chrysalis in to her ear, her hand muffling all of Rarity’s screams.
~~~
“-ty” a small muffled voice rang out.
“rity!”
The voice seemed to be getting louder.
“Rarity!?”
Rarity’s eyes burst open at the sound of Twilight’s voice. Looking around, she could see all of her friends concerned faces, and the green sight of Twilights cure spell. She wasn't as good as Shy but she did have some practice on it.
“Thank the makers, you’re alright!”
“What happened,” asked an extremely worried, and uncharacteristically serious Pinkie Pie.
“Shucks, you had us goin there for a second, girl.”
“You look effed up!”
It was Dash’s comment that elicited a reaction from the injured girl as she bolted up and looked into the nearest mirror, which just happened to be in her pocket. Thankfully, what she said was mostly exaggeration, the only thing that looked different was a few strands of hair out of place, and some dirt and dust on her clothes from laying on the ground.
“I-I’m fine,” she said hesitantly still feeling slightly dazed.
“We know, but still, what happened?” asked Dash.
“I…… I don’t remember, I was out here, admiring the scenery…… and then nothing.”
Twilight sent a glare over to Dante. “Did your brother do this?”
“Chill, Twilly if she isn't cut to ribbons,then no, it wasn't him. Plus, Virgil wouldn't hurt someone unless they got in his way somehow.” he said, holding his hands up in defence. He did have an idea though. “Could it have been that annoying ass clown?” he wondered.
“Well, either way, are you sure you’re not hurt? I cast cure just in case.”
“I’m completely fine Twilight, thank you.”
“Alright then, let’s move on then.”
After helping the mage to her feet the group started down the path they were headed. On that path they walked under what looked like a second story to a building that used to be there, but only half remained after all of the centuries. On a whim, Dash decided to fly over it to see if there was anything interesting. What she found was way more than what she expected.
“Holy crap! Guys, check this out!”
“Everyone looked up to see Dash descending back down with what looked like a large Rifle, it had a shortened barrel, a wood handguard where they bipod usually is, and a carry handle in front of the magazine housing for easy mobility while shooting. The word Spiral was etched onto the side.
“Whooowee, that looks like one heck of a gun ya got there!”
Dash waved the large gun in front of Dante’s face. “Look, now I have a gun!”
Dante responded by pulling out a silver arm cannon with a dragons head in front of the mouth, it’s entire frame radiated demonic energy. “I have a laser gun. You’re point?”
Dash once again backed down as Dante put Artemis away and took the gun from the grumbling rainbow headed girl. “Looks like a minor devil arm. It’s got infinite ammo, and high penetration bullets,” he smirked, “just like me”.
“Don’t get any Ideas, I found it, so it’s mine!” said Dash, jumping to eye level with him.
“Here,” he said, giving it to the girl. “I’m not a sniping guy, I want my targets to know when I’m coming,” he said, winking to the girls who all either groaned or facepalmed. Pinkie seemed to be the only one who didn't get the joke, and Dash was too busy aiming her new weapon around.
The group moved on after Pinkie made it so that Rainbow could summon Spiral whenever she wanted by setting it as a summon mark on the back of her hand. The group moved on to the sealed door from before. Twilight inserted the key item that they had to backtrack for, causing the door to open for them. Feeling a strong demonic presence Dante choose to enter first.
Inside, the group entered what could likely be called an large old stage or opera room. Along the sides of the room were dozens of candles and drapes, and in front was a large stage complete with scarlet curtains. Their sightseeing was interrupted by hundreds of bats flying past them as they gathered together to form a figure. After a few seconds, a woman emerged from the clump of darkness. She wore what seemed like half of a black ball gown, completely covering her lower section but leaving everything up top exposed. Her bright crimson hair fell down to just barely cover her chest.
She looked around at her many visitors. “Hmm, welcome, to Nevan’s playroom,” she said, her voice and tone not unlike that of a succubus; smooth and alluringly seductive.
Most of the girls took a step back and readied their weapons. Rarity was about to say something when Dante smirked and strode right up to this woman.
“Dante stop, what are you doing?” warned Twilight.
Dante ignored her as Nevan decided to meet him halfway. Being the same height, she was able to look him right in the eye. “I take it that this is your first time here?” she asked her voice still soothingly seductive.
“Yeah, it is,” he said looking her up and down.
“Dante, you can bang her later, let’s just kill her and go!” yelled Dash as she and the others readied their keyblades.
“Hold on, you never know, she could be nice,” he said before turning back to the free chested beauty. “You’ll be nice to us, won’t you?”
She merely smiled and sat her hand on his chest. “Of course, I’ll treat you and your friends so nicely, you’ll never ever want to leave.”
Dante pulled up his pants, increased his swag level, and pulled out his sword for all to see. “Now that’s, what I’m talking about!”
Nevan smiled, turned, and strut back up to the stage at the front of the room. “Then,” she said breathily turning to face the group, Twilight noted that; A. she could see her breath, and B, there was electricity running through it. “let’s get started shall we?”
Nevan summoned hundreds of bats to surround her as she prepared to fight. Twilight was proved right in her observation when she saw how much purple lightning coursed through the bats that surrounded her. Something that Pinkie Pie must have missed when she instantly rushed forward to give the first swing.
“Pinkie, wait!” she called out.
“First-aggghhhhgh!” she screamed as her keyblade connected and lightning coursed through her, flinging her backwards.
“The bats surrounding her act as an electrified shield, you won’t be able to touch her like that!”
Nevan smiled. “Clever girl, you are correct, I control lightning and thunder. I am Nevan the Lightning Witch. I shall help you, if you can defeat me,” she said as she sent numerous bats out in the open to attack and distract her foes.
“Why the hell not. I knew some rubber would come in handy today, just wish I brought some!” Dante said as he began to shoot some of the bats in the air.
“Dash, use your en-lightning to help Rarity and I break her shield. Dante, you and AJ wait until she’s defenseless, but until then help Pinkie keep the bats away from us!” said Twilight taking the lead and yelling out orders.
“Whatever you say, Twilly,” answered Dante as he hung back, still shooting bats out of the air. He didn't see any flaws in her plan so he didnt complain.
The others also followed through. Twilight was the first to act by beginning to cast several water and fire spells in her direction, making sure not to use any lightning based spells. Rarity also acted by shooting several summoned keyblades at her to chip at her defences. Nevan took all of the damage in stride as her shield held fast. What she didn't expect, was for someone to attack her head on like Dash did.
She turned as she felt her bat shield take a hit to the side, catching sight of a slightly short flying rainbow haired girl giving strike after strike to her now rapidly dissipating defense.
“What? How are you not affected?” she screamed.
“You’re not the only one who can control lightning!” she answered, preparing to deliver a downward strike. Nevan deftly moved out of the way when she realized that her weapon was, in fact, infused with lightning as well.
“Well then, take this.” she said as she sent a large number of electrified clumps of energy at her opponent. Rainbow either bated them aside or dodged them entirely. Twilight merely blocked with a magic shield.
What they did not block was the large columns of lightning that bore down around them. The bats were only a distraction as they were all electrocuted by the sudden bolts of lightning from above. Twilight was able to adapt by turning her shield into a dome before it could strike a second time, and Dash recovered by adjusting her flight to dodge both the bats, and the thunderbolts. Nevan decided that she had underestimated these children, it was time to get creative.
"Fine, let’s see you block this!” Lifting her dress to expose a pale leg, she stomped on the ground in order to run electricity throughout the entire floor, shocking everyone except Dash, who instead, had briefly distracted by the attack, and as a consequence, got struck by lightning from above.
Nevan laughed crazily as she watched them squirm against the lightning coursing through them. “Awww, is that all you’ve all got? I thought you would at least last longer than- wait, what are you doing?” she stopped when she noticed Dante smiling at her.
“Why was he smiling, he should be in pain,” she thought as she looked around. The others were also recovering. She looked down, and saw that she was still spreading the lightning around. Then she saw it, on the wall next to Dante, was his sword, stuck into it, attracting all the lightning to it like an impromptu rod, even the bolt that struck Dash was attracted to it.
She looked down and her eyes widened when she noticed the one with wings coming right at her, she raised her shield only to realize that there was only a small amount left. Dash swung her blade from below and knocked out the last bit of her electric defence.
“NOW!” yelled Twilight.
“Right!” answered AJ.
Dante, seeing as his weapon was as of right now out of reach, decided to work with something else. In a flash of wind in flame, a red and blue pair of uniquely shaped scimitars appeared in Dante's hands.
“Hello, master!” said the red one.
“It’s been some time!” said the blue one.
“Silence!” yelled Dante and he ran forward to join AJ in the final attack.
“Dante!” yelled AJ. Jumping into the air she slammed her keyblade down onto the ground in front of Nevan, causing a pillar of earth the slam into her from below, pushing her into the air.
“Right!” he answered as he met Nevan in the air. He ferociously swung Agni and Rudra, striking and slashing Nevan multiple times before pulling them over his head, and spinning them like a wheel all the way to the ground in a torrent of wind and fire, with Nevan falling to the ground just behind him, ending the battle.
Injured, Nevan tried to stand, only to fall back into Dante’s waiting arms.
Nevan looked up the dashing man in red. “My, you’re sweet,” she said before lunging for his throat.
“Dante!” the girls yelled.
Nevan didn't get very far as Dante immediately shot her in the stomach, causing her to fall backwards once more. “You’d think so, wouldn't ya?” he said as he admired his silver gun, checking the barrel for any blood.
Nevan chuckled weakly as she gave a smile to her murderer. “Fine, I’ll help you and your little friends,” she said looking him over. Her voice once again dripping with seductive charm. “Your father was a handsome devil you know.”
Dante began to roll his eyes, only to be stopped as she pulled his gaze back to her. “But, you’re no slouch yourself handsome.” With that, she fell limp, and began to emit a bright light that caused everyone to shield their eyes.
When everyone opened their eyes, they widened at the sight of what was in Dante’s arms now. A bright purple, literally electric guitar that radiated demonic energy. It’s very strings were charged with the lightning that coursed through it.
Dante looked over his new weapon, then out toward the girls off stage in front of him. He smirked, jumped, and swung his hand down to play a chord on his new toy. Pillars of fireworks somehow exploded behind him as he pointed out at his crowd. “Welcome Yall!"
Most of the girls started cheering as Dante began to rock out stylishly on Nevan. Playing chord after chord of heavy rock, and singing the lyrics to go with it.
The flinch in your eye calls your bluff! Feel free to die when you've had enough! Useless cause is breaking your back! Your life will end when you attack!
Dante rocked even harder, kicking his legs out, flinging his jacket, spinning, and even playing behind his head.
Make your move! Make your stand! Make the win! (Ha..) Like you can!
To everyone’s surprise, Dante flung the guitar out in front of him, causing it to transform into a wicked scythe that he swung around like a master while still singing the whole time. Everyone was in awe of his skill with a weapon that he had literally just got.
See the war! See me rule! See the mirror! You’ll see a fool!
As he sung these last lyrics, Dante transformed Nevan back into a guitar, playing his final chord before running forward and sliding on his knees to the edge of the stage. And, as the final notes rang out, and the fireworks faded, he fell backwards, laughing the entire time.
“I’m simply reaffirming the situation, it helps me come up with a solution.”
Right now, as Twilight helpfully summarized, the group stood on a suspended iron bridge in a large connecting corridor. All around them lie similar bridges or varying length each going in a different direction, toward a different door, connecting to different sections of the tower.
Twilight had sent Dash to scout out the hallway to see if there were any open passageways, on the off chance that they had taken the wrong one.
“Well, you don’t have to do that out loud.”
“Don’t worry,” Rarity interjected, “You get used to it. But, the question for right now, is what to do with this garish thing.” Rarity held up the fairly large light blue orb that they had picked up awhile after beating Nevan.
AJ stopped looking around to turn and scrutinize the orb. “Well, you wanted tah bring it. You said it matched your eyes.”
“Well at first, but seeing it in this light, I find that it’s actually light blue, more Pinkie’s color.”
Pinkie popped up in front of her, and stared deeply into the ball. “Ohhhh, pretty. I wonder if I could use this to predict the future. Can I Twilight?.” she asked, eagerly looking over at her.
“I doubt it,” said Twilight, still looking around for some kind of switch, “but I’m still glad she brought it with her. With every locked door so far, we’ve needed some item from another part of the castle.” Twilight looked down and began to furrow her brow in deep thought. “I'm not sure whether to compliment or berate the architects for such a design method.”
“Seems needlessly complicated if you ask me,” said Rarity, looking down at the potential key.
“I like it, makes things fun and all puzzily,” beamed Pinkie as she pretended to see the future by waving her arms over the ball mystically.
Dante turned and smiled at the girls. “You’d be surprised at just how many towers are built like this. Some even have stupid block puzzles that make you move a large boulder of a rock to a specific place to open some door. We should really count ourselves lucky.”
All of the girls looked at him with equal mix of astonishment and confusion.
AJ put her hand to her forehead in an attempt to make sense of what she just heard. “Now, why in sam hill would someone do somethin’ like that. Ah mean, to reset the puzzle, wouldn't they have to move the rock back? An iffin they did, how would they get further in?
“Maybe they know some secret passage that goes past the puzzles all together?” Twilight guessed.
“Maybe it’s some kind of puzzle party?” Pinkie wondered.
“Pinkie, darling, no one want’s to solve puzzles at a party.”
“Well what if it’s a party for egg heads like Twilight?”
“I am not an egg head!”
Dante just stood and watched his stalkers engage in a fierce debate about the purpose of puzzles and eggs, already beginning to regret bringing up the topic. To his relief, the debate was soon dropped by the return of the prismatic flier.
“What the hell are you all arguing about, I could hear you all the way on the other side of the room, and trust me, this room is huge!”
“Oh, we were just talking about-”
Pinkie couldn't finish due to Dante covering her mouth. “Don’t worry about it, you find anything?”
“Yeah, there’s a weird looking skull over there with it’s mouth wide open. Other than that, nothing.”
Twilight’s eye began to twitch when she saw the mirrored grins on both Dante’s and Dash’s faces. “So…… what you’re saying is…”
Dante was the first to say it. “That we gotta stick our ball, in it’s mouth?”
Rainbow nearly fell out of the sky laughing. Rarity blushed slightly while Twilight and AJ could only facepalm. Pinkie merely scrunched her face in concentration, eagerly trying to find the joke so she could laugh too.
Rainbow finally managed to stop rolling around in the air long enough to hold her arms out. “Here, gimme the ball, I'll toss it over there.”
Before Rarity could do so, it was snatched out of her hands by none other than Dante, who began lightly tossing it up and down. “Nah, I’ll do it. It’ll be more stylish this way anyway.”
“Oh really? Is that a challenge.”
“Ohh, are we gonna play catch, toss it here!”
“Guys, this isnt a game,” Twilight interjected, gesturing toward the ball that Dante was now twirling on his finger. “Dante be careful, if you break that, we won’t be able to get through.”
Dante began spinning the orb from one finger, across his back, over to the other. “Another astute observation, Captain Obvious.”
“Twilight, chill out, he’s got this.”
"Skittles, point me toward the skull.”
Ignoring the nickname, Dash smirked, and pointed toward the wall behind her where the skull lay waiting. Twilight and the others looked over as well, only growing more nervous when they saw how far away it was.
“Dante….. seriously, I think we should let Rachelle carry it over there,” Rarity warned.
Dante sighed dramatically while he went back to gently tossing the ball gradually higher into the air. “Your lack of faith disturbs me, did you all not just see me- whoops,” said Dante as he missed catching the ball after a particularly high toss.
Just about everyone began to lunge forward at the rapidly falling sphere, only for Dante to quickly catch it with his foot, and continue bouncing it.
Twilight glared at him. “Dante that wasn't funny.”
“I agree. I swear, my heart skipped a beat at the thought of being stuck here.”
“Alright, alright, enough messing around.” With that, Dante kicked the ball high into the air, Rarity prepared to catch it with her levitation should he miss, and Dash floated a little higher into the air to catch it if he were to undershoot shot.
Jumping after it, Dante quickly spun into a successful roundhouse kick, slamming the ball directly into the skull, which lit up as it activated.
Everyone relaxed at the sound of the doors unlocking. Rarity let go of her built up magic, and Dash lowered herself to the ground. Dante only smirked, shrugged, and left through the newly opened doorway. The others following after him.
~~~
Inside the room, every girl gasped at the sight of a bloodied and battered figure of a man lying near the next door, a small red book lying next to him. Hesitantly, Twilight made her way over to the man, and instantly began trying to heal him. Dante also began to walk forward, but stopped when he had to dodge a bullet to the head from behind. All of the girls turned to see a woman with separately colored eyes holding a gun to Dante’s head. She wore a white blouse with black skin tight shorts, covered by a skirt that seemed to be entirely composed of pouches, satchels and compartments. Slung over her back was a large rocket launcher with a large serrated bayonet attached. And at first glance, seemed to be almost covered in weaponry.
Dante turned around to face his attacker. Rainbow noticed that at some point he had pulled out his guns, and took a few steps back as a result.
“Well, that was fast, really didn't expect you to catch up that quick there, Lady.”
“Really wasn't hard when you all stop to have random conversations every five minutes.” The lady took a few steps forward, gun still aimed at Dante’s head. Looking at Twilight, she seemed surprised to see her use magic. Turning, she began aiming her gun at the other girls.
“Are you all demons as well? I thought only demons could use magic!” she accused.
“Will you put that thing away!” yelled AJ.
“I agree, the only demon here is that one,” she said, pointing to Dante who only smiled and shrugged, “and maybe that one, but we aren't entirely sure exactly what she is,” she said, pointing her finger toward Pinkie who only giggled and rubbed behind her head.
“Awww, you.”
Not sensing any other types of demonic energy, the woman trained her gun back toward the only source of energy in the room, causing him to roll his eyes. “Can you heal him?” she asked, turning back to Twilight.
Twilight sadly shook her head as the green energy around her hands began to fade. “No, I’m afraid that he’s gone, whoever did this made sure of that.
Lady quickly turned back to Dante. “That man, did you kill him?”
“Hold on, Lady, if that is your real name, we just got here!” screeched Pinkie.
Dante shrugged, his smile never leaving his face. “So what if I did? Who was he to you?”
Immediately, the woman took a shot at Dante, who merely dodged. Pulling out her other gun she quickly tried her hardest to shoot him in just about every way she could. But every time, Dante would either dodge them entirely, or knock her guns off course with his own. It almost looked like they were dancing, due to Dante laughing and obviously having fun. Aiming her machine gun, she tried to shoot at his face, only for Dante to direct her gun toward the ceiling, and arching it over their heads. The bullets destroying most of the lights as the gun continued to fire.
The others, however, quickly huddled together under Twilights dome in order to save themselves from bullets, falling glass, and Dante’s fun.
“Ohh, I love a fast woman,” he said when he finally pinned the woman’s gun to her side. Turning, he quickly winking at Dash, who in return stuck both her tongue, and her middle finger out at him, causing him to laugh.
“Shut up!” she yelled, spinning her arm out of his way. As soon as she got one arm free, she eagerly tried shooting at him once more. Dante easily whooped and spun out of the way behind Lady. Still having the time of his life, Dante butt bumped her forward. Causing her to nearly smack into the girls’ shield.
Growling, she immediately recovered, and the two resumed their bullet dance. Twilight was about to yell for them to stop, but paused when the lady began talking.
“That man was obsessed with becoming a devil!" she said, still trying her damndest to hit him. "For that purpose, he even killed his wife, as well as hundreds of innocent people.”
Still toying with her, Dante locked both of her guns once more, this time by pushing them to her chest.
“That man was the most vial kind of creature!”
Lady violently pushed Dante, to which he responded by pushing back, sending them both flying backward. While Dante focused on spinning through the air and landing like a boss, Lady focused on shooting at Dante, and subsequently slammed against the wall.
Landing, Dante held up his jacket, only to see that several bullets had pierced through it. Rarity cringed at the sight, while Dante only sighed.
“Dante watch out!” yelled Dash.
Dante looked up to see the woman charging at him, guns blazing once more. Dante met her charge head on by jumping clear over her. Reacting quickly, she threw herself into a knee slide, aiming her guns directly above her. Unable to dodge in the air, Dante merely decided to block her bullets with his own. The second he landed, she turned and aimed her gun only to find that Dante had done the exact same, and he had done so while still wearing that same wide grin.
“To top it all off, that man, that filthy scum….. was my father,” she said, slowly rising to her feet. The girls gasped at that revelation, Twilight turned toward the dead body behind them and felt a new sense of empathy for the would be assassin.
“Well, join the club,” he said gesturing towards the girls, “looks like we all have something in common. I have a dysfunctional family too.”
“What would a demon know!” she screamed, pointing the gun closer to his face. “What would you know about family!”
“Even if he doesn't, we do,” Twilight said, dropping the shield.
Lady turned her glare toward the violet haired girl. “And what do you know? Why are you even here, with this demon?”
“We’re looking for my brother-”
Lady scoffed. “Whatever, unless your ‘brother’ killed your parents, don’t talk like you understand. You all just don’t get it. This was my problem, my family, this was supposed to end by MY hand!”
“Wahh wahh, Sucks to be you-OW!,” Dash muttered, only to quickly receive a slap to the back of the head from AJ.
If Lady heard, she didn't react. All she did was slowly lower her gun. Twilight looked into her mismatched red and blue eyes, watching her determined, revenge filled glare, slowly dim down into something that resembled sorrow, and disappointment. Lady began to walk toward her fathers deceased body. The girls moving out of the way as she did so.
“What’s wrong? You done shooting?”
“Dante!” Twilight chided.
Lady didn't even turn around. Her voice was subdued, almost sad. “Just go, I don’t care anymore…”
At that, Pinkie almost immediately leaped forward to comfort the woman, only to be held back. Turning around, she noticed AJ’s hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, she turned toward the door and left with Dash and AJ. Dante soon followed after, muttering something about family.
Twilight remained behind, and instead, walked up next to her.
“Why are you still here, I said go.”
“…….....are you sad that he’s dead, or that you weren't the one to kill him?”
“What are you talking about, why would I be sad over this filth.”
“Because he’s your father.”
Lady scoffed. “What kind of father kills his wife right in front of his daughter?”
“I don’t know, maybe he was misguided, or possessed.”
“Sure, like your brother was?” she said sarcastically, “No, I don’t believe that, both of them are monsters and they deserved to die.”
“Now hold on-”
“In fact, you know what? You’re half right. I am mad that I wasn't the one to kill him! It was my right! It was my entire reason for being here!”
Twilight was taken aback by the woman’s volume. “But he was your dad-”
“Like I said, you wouldn't understand, you haven't lost anyone.”
“Yes I-”
“No, you havent. I can see it in your eyes, you haven't seen the ones you love die right in front of you……. Not yet anyway. So just go, keep following that demon,” she said with finality.
Twilight honestly thought that she could talk to her, maybe calm her down a bit, but now, it seemed like she really wasn't in the mood to listen. Without another word, Twilight turned and headed for the exit, only looking back once before exiting completely.
~~~
Afterwards, Twilight quickly caught up with the others and they moved on. Everyone asked where she had been, but Twilight simply waved the questions off. Shrugging they continued forward. Everything continued as normal for the most part. More talking, some arguments, and more of Dante threatening to shoot someone if they didn't shut up. Eventually, after riding some sort of train, and fighting off the demons that tried to hijack it, they came to a wide open chamber-like area, the sides were flowing lava that poured down to create a river around the raised central floor.
“Ugghhh,” Dash groaned, “Not another freaking orb! What is this, like, the third one so far!” Like she said, on the complete opposite side of the room lie a small glowing purple orb, sitting on pedestal.
“This does seem to be getting repetitive,” Rarity agreed.
“Don’t be down,” Pinkie cheered, “maybe it’s a different one this time. Maybe this one has some kind of magic orb that changes hair color and shoe size!”
Rarity looked utterly disgusted at such a power. “Dear maker, who would want that kind of power. I, for one, like my natural colors just the way they are, thank you very much.”
Dante scoffed. “Those are your natural colors?”
Rarity turned and glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
While Dante and Rarity sorted out their issues, Twilight and AJ had already began to make their way over to the orb.
“So whatcha think, Twi?”
“Rainbow might be right, it could be another key. We should-”
“SPARDA!” screamed a voice from above. Suddenly, the entire room began to shake and crumble. Pieces of rock began to fall from above, and one aimed itself directly at Twilight.
“Twi, watch out,” AJ screamed. Seeing that Twilight would not have enough time to react, she quickly pushed her out of the way, and slammed her fist into the oncoming rock, shattering it to pieces.
“Owwwww,” she said rubbing her behind, “if you were just going to punch the rock, why’d you push me away?”
AJ didn't respond, only continuing to watch the sky. Twilight turned and saw that the others had stopped arguing, and were also glancing upward. Just as she began to look up, whatever was up there, jumped down. In front of the group stood a enormous silver beast with glowing eyes and very sharp claws. It stood on two legs but seemed like it could easily get around with four. Roaring, it flared out the 4 wings attached to it’s back.
“Oh, you poor thing.”
“Didn't your mommy teach you how to use a door!?”
Dante, Dash! Stop teasing the enemy, it doesn't help! Twilight scolded.
Pinkie bounded to their defense. “But Twilight, it’s so funny. I get to tease the next one kay?” she said, turning to Dante and Dash, who either nodded, or gave a thumbs up.
While Twilight gave her face a palm print, the behemoth began sniffing the air.
“That odor…. I know it!”
Dash backed away from Dante. “Aint me man, today was my weekly shower so I’m good.”
Dante took a few sniffs then glanced at Rarity.
Rarity began to nervously avoid eye contact. “Well, I didn't want to say anything….”
“Give me a break, tell you what, how about next time I try and wear some cologne, kay?”
“This stench…… it is the stench of betrayal, the odor of that accursed Sparda!” he yelled. “I am Beowulf! I will annihilate every last blood relation to Sparda….”
AJ turned and began walking in the other direction, patting Dante on the shoulder as she did. “Guess this is your ride pardner, come on girls lets-”
“….and those who side with them!” Beowulf finished.
AJ’s shoulders sagged while Dante patted her on the head, squishing her hat in the process. “Oh come on, help a son clean up his dad’s mess, it’ll be fun!”
AJ reluctantly turned back around and summoned Scarlet Apple, taking her place with the others who had already summoned their keyblades. “Ugh, where’ve I heard this story before?” she groaned.
At the sight of their weapons, Beowulf fell down to all fours and roared ferociously. With speed that surprised everyone, Beowulf darted forward and swiped with his claw. Luckily, due to their honed reflexes, everyone made it out of the way. Dante then proceeded to charge in head first while Dash lifted AJ into the air.
Taking a few swipes, Dante found that he couldn't do very much damage to the beast, and was quickly knocked away. At that moment, Dash had reached enough of a height to drop AJ like a bomb at his blind side. “Bombs away!” she shouted.
AJ pulled her keyblade back to give a devastatingly overhead strike, thinking that Beowulf couldn't see her coming. Surprisingly, Beowulf did a complete 180 turn and blocked her attack, the force of which sent them both back aways.
Landing on her feet AJ regarded the beast with something resembling respect. “Yall’re faster than ya look, ain't ya?” Beowulf only roared and charged at her, swinging his arm into a punch. AJ smiled, and countered with a punch of her own. Their fists collided, creating a shockwave that threatened to break the stone floor under them. Mildly surprised, Beowulf continued to push his fist forward, in hopes of tossing her into the river a lava behind her. AJ, seeing his plan decided to do the same thing. Putting more strength into her punch, she slowly began to take a step forward. Beowulf's eyes began to widen when he felt his feet sliding backwards.
“T-this cannot be, am I being overpowered by a mere human!”
Twilight and Dash instantly appeared in the air behind him, both charging thunder strikes.
“You mad bro?” Dash yelled.
Just before they could release their attacks, Beowulf roared loudly, flaring his wings and releasing a cascade of bright energy, violently shoving everyone away from him. Dash caught Twilight once she recovered, while AJ flew directly toward the lava river.”
“Jackie!” Pinkie yelled, aiming her keyblade at the falling girl, Pinkie successfully transported her to where she was, causing her to land her butt on the harsh stone floor.
“Ahh, that’s smarts,” she groaned rubbing her behind.
AJ found herself telekinetically moved out of the way of a now berserk Beowulf. Now, his attacks were faster and even more devastating, leaving no room for anything other than defense. Every time someone thought that they had found an opening to strike, Beowulf would turn, block, and just as quickly, counterattack. Somehow, he had gotten them all on the defensive.
What was worse was that he seemed to be immune to most of Twilight’s higher tier spells. She had tried, firaga, thundaga, Firaga Burst and even some experimental spells or spells that she had not fully mastered, nothing seemed to work.
Eventually, she dropped back and let the others fight so she could come up with some kind of strategy. “Think, Twilight, think. He isn't like Spike, he isn't immune to attacks only highly resistant due to his massively think skin. So think, what doesn't his skin cover….. of course!”
Twilight teleported over to Rarity, who was busy trying to rain down a hail of keyblades, most of which bounced harmlessly off of his back. “Rarity, aim for his eyes!”
Rarity looked over at her friend in surprise. “Twilight, that’s cruel and dishonorable sword play. Master Luna said-”
“I know…. but trust me, this is the ONLY way to beat him.”
Rarity regarded her friend for a few seconds before nodding resolutely. Switching tactics, Rarity aimed a singular keyblade at Beowulfs eye just as he turned around from trying to swat away Dash for the 50th time. Instantly, Beowulf raised an arm to block the blade.
Dante saw this, and came up with is own plan. “Look at the big puppy dog getting beat by humans,” he taunted.
Beowulf instantly turned his attention to Dante who was leaning over and clapping his hands, mocking him. Roaring in rage, Beowulf launched a furious punch at the demon hunter. Just before the punch connected, Dante grabbed his sword and tossed it, directly at Beowulf’s right eye.
“Dante!” the girls yelled as the punch connected.
Dante was smashed into the ground, and Beowulf’s eye was sliced and unusable. Screaming in pain, Beowulf began to thrash around, swiping at anything and everything.
“Great, that just made things worse!”
Beowulf’s thrashing began to cease as he began to once more speak the language of man. “The odious blood that pumps through the son of Sparda. Though my sight is gone, I shall remember your scent, as well as those who side with you!” he said as Dante pulled himself out of his crater.
“I told you, next time I’ll wear some cologne or something!”
“I shall hunt you down through eternity if I must, until I rid this earth of your foul smell!” With that, Beowulf spread his wings and jumped toward the ceiling, making his way out through the hole that he had created.
“Jeez louise, stalker much?” said Pinkie, whispering over to Twilight.
“Man, what hell did your dad do to piss everyone off like that?”
Dante answered by shrugging his shoulders, and cracking his neck. “I don’t know, but cut me some slack, he’s after you too now.”
“Maybe for now, but once we leave this dreary place, he’s all yours,” Rarity reminded.
“Hahaaa, sucks to be you,” Dash said as she flew past him toward the small orb. “Now, lets get this thing and-AGGHHGHHHGGHHH!”
“Dash/Rainbow/Dashie!” all of the girls screamed. The second that Dash had grabbed the orb, she fell to the ground in intense, agonizing pain. Purple, demonic energy coursed throughout her body, causing every part of her to spasm and twitch. Her screams echoed off of the walls and tears began to flow down her cheeks. Everybody ran over to help her, only to be stopped by Dante.
“If you touch her, you’ll fall out too!” Dante warned, “We should-”
“Ohooho, this just too hilarious! I was hoping that the devil boy would grab it, but this is even better! The primatic pretty bird sounds like she’s getting her wings chopped off!”
Everybody turned toward the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Right behind them stood what looked like a clown wearing a violet body suit, in his hands he held a small golden yellow scepter topped with dull gem. His wide smile and extremely pale face made Rarity squirm uncomfortably.
Pinkie’s eyes grew wide, her smile growing to match. “Oh my cupcakes, it’s a clown!!”
He began to laugh, his volume matching that of Dash’s screams. “Oh, dear girl, I am a Jester, not a clown-WOAH!” Jesters laughing was soon interrupted by Dante grabbing his color and sticking a gun to his face, bending down his long nose.
“Woahwoahwoahwoah you’re not just going to let him shoot me are you?” he asked as he glanced toward Twilight and the others.
“I might consider it, unless you start tellin’ me what’s wrong with her!” AJ threatened.
“Don’t act so rashly, my dears, I’ve got a doozy of a story for you. And I can’t tell it if I’m dead, you know,” he pleaded, a wide smile still pasted on his face.
AJ took a few steps forward, fury growing on her face. “Unless that story’ll explain why mah friend on on the ground screamin’ for her life-”
Jester squirmed himself from Dante’s grip, and began to frantically distance himself from the tall blonde girl. “It will, it will I swear, just don’t kill me!”
AJ ceased her advance. Seeing her stop, Jestor quickly got to his feet and began fanning himself with his scepter.
“Whew, thought I was a goner for a sec. Oh yes, you all saw it when you came here, didnt you? The huge tower jutting out from the ground?” he began to eccentrically motion his words. “That thick shaft that cause women to shudder-” Instantly, he appeared behind Rarity, sliding his finger along her face, causing her to shudder violently. Before any of them could take a swing, he appeared back in front of them, continuing his story without missing a beat. “-is actually a tunnel, you see. Linking the demonic domain, to the human world!”
Applejack began to crack her knuckles as Dash’s screams began to grate on her ears.
Not paying her any mind, Jester motioned over to Dante. “And of course, your brother, Virgil is the one who controls it using your mommy’s amulet,” he said, patting his chest where the necklace once laid.”
“So that’s what he’s using it for,” Dante mumbled.
“He’s headed for the control room in the basement,” Jester sang, taking a few dance steps. Afterwards, he began to hop like a bunny, causing Pinkie to giggle. “If you don’t don’t hope down there, quick like a bunny, he’ll open the gates to hell. Thus unleashing every baddie that dear old daddy worked so hard to lock away!” he exclaimed with a flourish. “Isnt that a scary thought?”
“Ahm still not hearing anythin about that ball that’s killin mah friend….” AJ said in an eerily calm tone.
“Oops, yes, you are correct. That gizmo that tweety bird has- by the way could someone please shut her up? No? Alright.- is the key to getting down to the basement. The tricky thing is that it sucks the life out of those who hold it,” he pointed directly at Rarity. “And don’t even think about lifting it with magic, or it’ll suck you dry instantly, and I’m sure your wittle Master Woona told you all about what happens then.”
“Hold on, how do you-”
“So you’d better huuurryyy~” he said, dancing around. Eventually, he hopped on top of a nearby hook that rose him into the air. “However, in return, it’ll give you power. Why, I bet if that little girl could move, she’d be able to beat that overgrown lizard in the coat all~ by~ herself.”
If the Luna crack didn’t peak Twilight’s interest the lizard one did. Before she could call out to him, he began laughing at his loudest as he spun on the hook out of the room. Eventually his laughs faded, and the only sound that remained were Dash’s pained whimpers.
“He’s gone… but he didn't tell us how to save her!” AJ yelled, stomping her foot and creating a small crack. She clenched her fist when glanced back at Dash, still writhing and spasming on the ground. Her once loud screams soon became pained whimpers.
Her hands unclenched when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, being angry won’t help anything. We have to think of a way for use to get that orb from her without touching it.”
“We can’t use magic, you heard him, if I were to pick it up via magic, it would suck me dry,” Rarity added.
“Personally, ah don’t trust that joker worth a hill’ o beans.”
“Not a joker, a Jester,” Pinkie helpfully added.
“Either way, we need a way to- Dante, what are you doing?”
The others glanced over and saw Dante making his way over to the writhing girl. Without saying anything he reached down and pried the orb out of her hands. Instantly, Dash ceased her pained whimpers, and faded into blissful unconsciousness. Instead, Dante took on the pain, gasping and falling to one knee as he felt the horrible pain that his friend must have felt.
“Dante, what did you do, doesn't that hurt?!”
“N-nah,” he got out, it took some effort but he managed to stand up despite the pain he felt. “Unlike you guys, I’m not a wimp…… I can take it. J-just go fix her up, I….. I’ll take this to the basement. Before anyone could say anything else, Dante’s form exploded with demonic energy, transforming into his demon form. Not wasting any time, Dante ran out of the room at breakneck speed.
Twilight quickly got to work healing Dash. “We have to hurry, he could hurt himself or fall out any second!”
“He took the orb, so she wouldn't have to suffer. Heh, looks like he does have a soft side.” AJ muttered. “Twilight, don’t worry about her right now.”
“What? What are you saying, I need to-”
“She’s tough, she’ll heal on her own. If Dante’s runnin back the way he came-”
“Then he’s going to take the train, we'll be stuck here.”
“I see, we’ll need you to teleport us back. If you use up your magic healing her, we’ll have to wait even longer,” Rarity summarized.
Twilight never wished more in her life that Shia was here, if she were, than she could heal Dash while Twilight teleported them. Reluctantly, she ceased her healing spell and transferred the energy into a teleport spell. AJ moved over and picked up the short girl, lifting her over her shoulder.
With a chant, and a pop, Twilight teleported them all to the location of the entrance to the train ride. Seeing as it had already pulled in, Twilight made the obvious observation. “I think that he’s already been through here. Let’s keep going.”
Another pop, and the girls appeared in the girls appeared on top of what looked like a room filled with broken statues and deceased demons. Some demons writhed on the ground and the life slowly drained from their bodies.
“Jeez, how fast can that guy run!?” Pinkie wondered.
“I’m starting to get tired, if we don’t reach him with this next one, we’ll have to hoof it.”
Twilight casted her backtrack spell once more, appearing on a bridge similar to the one they were stuck on before. This time, however, the bridge had a gigantic hole in the middle of it. They were about to ignore it and move on, until they heard loud whinnies emanate from the hole.
Pinkie, AJ and Rarity, quickly ran over to the hole. As soon as they glanced down, they heard Dante’s voice echo from it. “Too bad there's nobody here to enjoy the show!”
Pinkie’s eye’s began to narrow and she yelled back down in response. “Hey! I was supposed to get to tease the bad guy this time!” she yelled as she dropped down.
“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled, jumping down after here.
“Consarnit!”
Dante glanced up and smiled when he heard a shrill girly voice reply to his taunt. Dropping down, Pinkie somehow landed with neither a sound, nor any sign of pain from falling such a great distance, almost as if she weighed no more than a feather. Once she landed, she quickly put her finger up to Dante’s face. “You’re just lucky that I didn't make you Pinkie promise, or I……. would…..
OHMIGURT IT’S A PONY!” she said when she finally noticed the horse in the room. Said horse was a taller than average stallion with a mane composed of blue flames. His legs were also coated in the same blue flames. Attached to him was a small coach with spiked wheels.
Soon, AJ also landed with a crash, causing a few cracks to appear in the ground, Dash still slung over her shoulder. Twilight eventually followed suit when she floated down on a barrier that she erected under her feet. Both looked concerned at Pinkie who was now trying to pet the horse, only to be continuously burned by the flame.
“Good pony-OW” she said rubbing her hand for the 5th time. “Oh what if I-owww.” She tried to hop on it’s back, only to be bucked to the ground. Pinkie puffed out her cheeks and fumed, almost literally. “I will ride that pony!” she screamed. Reaching into her hair, Pinkie pulled out Laughter's Sake and charged at the horse, who gratefully took on the challenge by charging as well.
Meanwhile, the other’s stood by and watched Pinkie’s conquest.
“Crazy girl just jacked my fight…..” Dante mumbled.
“Well you did say technically that she could.”
“No I don't, hold on,” Dante began to count the heads that were present. “Are we missing someone?”
“Hold on, where’s Rarity,” said AJ
“Up here~”
Looking up, the group saw the white clad girl gently floating down in her own sea blue magical aura. “I’ll only be a second.”
Twilight’s eye’s lit up like she had just discovered what Luna kept in her locked closet. “You’ve learned how to lift yourself with your magic?” she exclaimed.
“Not completely, it’s still very taxing, but I needed to find away down somehow,” she said as her feet finally touched down on the hard cobblestone floor. “Since everyone decided to go on without me,” she muttered inaudibly, slightly down trodden. She recovered quickly when she took a good look at her surroundings. All of it pretty, much resembled a large roman coliseum, complete with audience stands.
“Early roman architecture…. it’s a step up I suppose. What is Diane doing?” she gestured over to the Pink haired girl still fighting the horse.
The girl in question was currently somehow in the air, gently falling while frantically chucking confetti bombs at the horse who had somehow managed to dodge all of them. “Let me ride on your back! Let me pet your mane!! LET ME LOVE YOU!! she screamed.
“I really don’t know….” Twilight admitted,” but from what I can tell, I think that the horse has power over time and space. If I’m right, Pinkie will never be able hit it.”
The group continued to watch the crazy pinkette as she tried a dozen or so different tactics to catch her steed. Ranging from confetti bombs, to even summoning giant jaw breakers. Nothing seemed to work, as the horse would simply either run into a portal in space, or mysteriously dodge it instantly. As soon as she finished her latest attack, the horse did something that nobody expected, it fired missiles from the coach behind it. Surprised, Pinkie took the brunt of the attack, causing her to slide on her back, legs in the air, over too the others.
The others, Dante included, looked down at the girl in concern, she had a few scorch marks and some of her hair was still on fire. She looked like she was having the time of her life.
“Do you, uhh-”
“No!” pinkie screeched. Licking her hand, she quickly put out the small lick of fire in her hair before getting up. Raising her keyblade, it began to glow with an extraordinary amount of power. The girls, knowing what was about to happen, quickly made their way over to the stands far behind them. AJ quickly came back and grabbed a confused Dante.
Pinkie’s keyblade began to glow brighter before almost completely transforming itself.
~3 years ago~
Pinkie lie exhausted on the training grounds of Master Luna’s world. All around her lie dozens of enormous craters that spread themselves around the field. Some distance away, sat the sacred forms of all of Pinkie’s friends, each of them looked like they had just escaped with their lives, with the way they were breathing hard, and how they were covered in dirt and mud.
Pinkie smiled nervously when she noticed the shadowy figure of Master Luna standing at the edge of the largest crater. Her face stoic, and her expression unreadable. She briefly glanced down at Pinkie, then up at the destruction that she caused. Pinkie began to sweat at what she must have been thinking right now.
"Ho….ly…..shit… what the hell have I gotten myself into!?” Luna screamed inside her head. “How the hell did I manage to get students that can use forbidden magic, break the sound barrier, control all of nature, AND use ancient lost techniques. Not to mention that one of them's a complete psychopath! Ok…. take a breath, and calm down… remember what Tia said, I can handle this, just stay calm.” Finally after getting her mind under control, Luna gently floated down to talk to Pinkie, who had, by then, sat up.
“Pinka-I mean, Pinkie Pie….. we really don’t know what to say other than, we are surprised that you would be able to use such a move.”
Pinkie tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean?”
“Well, such a move has been lost to time for generations. Only the old master’s knew of it’s use. Even we cannot do it.”
Pinkie somehow went from sitting on the ground, to cheering in the air. “Wheee, I know a move that you don’t~” she sang. Eventually, her dancing was stopped when Luna bent down to her level and put both of her hands on her shoulders.
“While that is true, it is still a very powerful and dangerous technique. One that we do not know the full capabilities of. I warn you, use it wisely.”
She saluted and Pinkie promised. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! I promise not to use it without reason.”
~Present~
“This is MY little pony, and he’s going to LOVE ME!” she screamed once her keyblade finished transforming. On her shoulder, was a gigantic pink canon with multiple barrels jutting out from the central cannon, each one filling up with magenta energy. Several sights and scopes jutted from the side over Pinkies eye. The sheer weight of it forced pinkie down on one knee as she took aim. Once the horse was in her sights, the screens that Pinkie gazed through instantly began locking onto it repeatedly. Eventually, the total reached 20. Once it did, each of the barrels began spinning around the central cannon.
“Shotlock: Party Cannon!” she said as her finger pulled the trigger. As soon as she did, all manner of ridiculous things fired from the cannon’s barrels. Ranging from high speed confetti, to pizza slices, to disco balls, to even pink pony plushies. What was worse, was that each one, no matter what it was, completely exploded on contact with anything. Pinkie fired it a total of twenty times, each time shooting out another group of ridiculous items. For example, one shot sent out a bowling ball, a fedora, a tv remote, and giant pencil. Another round shot out a bunch of paper, while another load shot out plates, a ceramic foot, a dozen glass beads a miniature mountain, a small man with a beard, panties, and a speaker.
Needless to say, by the time that all 20 shots had been fired, the entire arena had become so littered in craters, that there might not have been any flat piece of ground anywhere. Eventually, the smoke cleared and Pinkie deconstructed her cannon. Standing in the center of the largest crater stood the horse, breathing heavily.
Twilight and the others slowly peaked their heads out from behind the walls of the audience stands. “Hot damn, that chick is freaking insane…” Dante muttered.
“What the hell! How did that thing survive Pinkie’s cannon!”
Twilight turned to see the rainbow hair of her friend sticking up right next to hers. “Dash, when did you wake up!”
“How can I sleep, and miss what minaswell be the apocalypse. I love it when Pinkie nukes the field!”
AJ smiled and laughed. “Told ya she’d heal, she’s more stubborn than most earthans are!”
“Hold on girls, what’s she doing now.”
Everyone’s eyes turned back to Pinkie who began simply walking up to the stallion. Reaching him, Pinkie slowly reached pet to pet his face, the stallion lowered his head and offered no resistance. Smiling, Pinkie reached up to pat his mane, she initially cringed, but relaxed when she felt no heat coming from it. Through the fire, she could feel his real mane, it was silky soft and amazing to rub her fingers through.
“Well done…”
Pinkie jumped back when a voice pierced through her mind. “Woah, that was weird, I could like, hear you in my head or something. Maybe I’ve finally eaten too many strawberry chocolate chip oatmeal sandwiches…… nahhh,” she giggled.
“You have bested me in combat, my loyalty now lies with you, and you alone.”
“Does that mean that I can ride you now?” exclaimed Pinkie as she began hopping up and down.
“If that is your desire, than I shall grant it.”
Instantly, Pinkie appeared on his back. “Onwards and Upwards, Horsey!”
The horse lifted up it’s front legs and whinnied as he began to gallop around the stadium. “Know this, young one, my name is Geryon, the Timesteed.”
Pinkie put a finger to her chin in thought. “Seems hard to say, I’ll call you Berry Punch… Ohh no, Bonbon, NO WAIT! Black Snootie, Black Snootie!” Pinkie let out a large gasp when an idea struck her upside her poofy head. “Time Turner for sure!”
Geryon sighed. “As you wish.”
After completing a full lap around the large stadium, Time Turner began to glow brilliantly, Pinkie fell to the ground as Time Turner morphed into a small glowing orb that faded into Pinkies body, momentarily giving her a blueish glow.
“From now on, me any my power shall be at your beck and call.” his voice echoed in her mind.
Pinkie cheered, “Yay, now Tigger has a friend!”
Eventually Pinkie decided to skip her way over to her friends once that climbed back over the wall. In her glee, Pinkie didn't notice the falling part of the ceiling that got hit with her cannon, fall right down toward her. Rainbow, however, with her keen eyesight, saw it coming, although, she was still in massive pain from holding the orb before. Even a single twitch from her wings sent pain down her back. It was all she could do to try to alert the others of danger.
“Pinkie Pie!” The others saw her, then saw the rocks, and also screamed out her name. but it was too late, the rocks had fallen right on top of her. Dash pushed through the pain and lopsidedly made her way over to the large pile of rocks. The others, even Dante also ran over to the pile, each of them trying desperately to move the rocks.
“Wow, a rock party, I haven't had one of those in years!” Everyone turned in the direction of the bubbly voice. They gaped at the sight of the Pink girl, then glomped her when they saw that she was unharmed. Even Dante let out a relieved sigh.
“Pinkie, how did you do that!?” Twilight exclaimed
“Do what?”
“Avoid the rocks!” Dash added.
“The what-ohh right. I can stop time now!” she beamed.
“How… -huff- huge… -huff- is this freaking tower!” Dash yelled as they turned down another corridor
“No clue, actually,” answered Dante.
“How're you even tired, you’ve been in the air this whole time. Nice to see that you’re all healed up by the way.” she said exasperatedly.
“Because, Applejack,” she said, teasing her with AJ’s own unwanted nickname, “We’ve been climbing this thing for like, ever. We haven't even reached the top yet!”
Twilight looked over at her, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “Dash, we are heading down, remember? Toward the basement.”
Instantly, Pinkie materialized in front of her, startling her into crashing to the ground. AJ bent over laughing. “Didnt you grab that thing before Mr. Jester showed up?” she asked.
Dash picked herself off the ground and glared at the pink haired time lager. “Looks like you’re really enjoying that power, aren't you,” she growled. “This is the 5th time that I told not to do that! Next time, I’m gonna electrocute you!”
Pinkie merely giggled and patted Rainbows multicolored hair before disappearing altogether, reappearing mid bounce about 20 feet away. “You’ll have to catch me first~” she teased.
Now thoroughly pissed, Dash jumped to her feet and charged at Pinkie, fists covered in sparks. Over and over she tried to catch or grab her, but each time, Pinkie would just use Quicksilver to move out of the way, teasing her and laughing the entire time. While everyone else moved forward, those two would chase each other backwards, forwards and even sometimes into the air.
Dante watched the scene with somewhat detached interest while Twilight sighed. “Wasn't she just complaining a second ago about being tired?”
AJ laughed “Didnt she also just get her life sucked out?”
Rarity smiled. “I’m just glad that there doesn't seem to be any lasting damage.”
Twilight looked back at here too friends, still chasing after one another, and smiled brightly. “I really am glad that she’s okay though, I was really worried about her.”
Dante threw a glance over his shoulder at the girls following behind them, They all seem so concerned about each others well being, the blondie looked like she would bring the entire tower down if her friend had died back there. In fact, Lady scaled this huge tower just to take revenge for her mother, on her father no less. Even Luna went so far as to- Dante’s thoughts screeched to a halt as a feeling flew down his spine. It was familiar, and it caused a smirk to spread across his face.
Twilight stopped when she noticed that Dante had stopped walking. “Dante, what’s up?”
“We’re here,” he said pointing next to him.
The others looked at where he was pointing, and noticed a large out of the way door surrounded by lights that Twilight and the others somehow passed without noticing.
AJ lifted up her hat to get a better look. “Now how in the hay did we miss that?”
“Probably cuz he didnt want us to find it, but he can’t hide from me. Grab the rugrats, and hang back, I need to have a little chat.”
“With who??” asked Rarity.
Ignoring her, Dante went ahead and opened the door.
Stepping into the hallway, the girls began to hear an agitated voice echo out. “Come on!” as well as the tell tale sounds of someone pacing back and forth. Dash noticed that the further in they got, the larger Dante’s smile grew.
“He’s freaking excited..” she thought
Finally, all of them came out of the hallway into a large circular, metallic room. Pacing around the center faced away from them, was a tall man a wearing a blue long coat with three tails, a snake like pattern tracing up the right side of the jacket. In his left hand, he held a long black sheathed katana with a white handle.
Dante held his arm out, and motioned for them not to move, he himself then began to walk forward.
“Why isnt this working!” the man growled. “Is there something missing? Must more blood be shed?”
“So he was the one who killed Lady’s father….” thought Twilight.
“You seem to be in a bad mood, big brother,” said Dante, strutting out into the open.
Virgil turned and faced his brother, his hand going straight to the handle of his blade. “Dante!”
“So, my mother’s amulet was actually the key to opening the door to the Demon World…” he chuckled a bit. “Good plan, Pop.”
Just the opposite actually,” the man began. “Originally, it was the key to the Demon World, but was given to the humans as a gift.”
“That sounds incredibly stupid,” Dash whispered, only to get a slap to the back of her head, and a shush, from AJ.
Dante scoffed and shrugged. “It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, more importantly, I’ve come all this way,” Dante pulled his sword from his back, and pointed it directly at his brother. “I’m sure that you have time for one more game, right, Virgil?”
Virgil unsheathed part of his blade, before simply resheathing it. “Why not, but what about your friends? Won’t they join in as well?” he said, glancing back where Dante had entered from. Seeing that he knew that they were already there, all five girls came out into the open.
Dash was glaring daggers at Virgil, but was otherwise silent. AJ was more focused on watching Dash to make sure that she didn't do anything stupid. Pinkie looked between Dante and Virgil with a nervous smile, and Rarity’s jaw instantly dug itself into the floor, hearts taking the place of her eyes.
Twilight took this chance to ask something that was on her mind. “Virgil, you two are brothers by blood right.”
Virgil’s eyes locked on to the violet haired girl. “Indeed, we are, and I intend to use more of his to undo daddy’s little spell. Will you also stand in my way?”
“If so then why do you too instantly resort to fighting one another.”
“Hey, he started it!” Dante called out.
“If Dante had simply relinquished his half of the amulet, then there would be no fighting. Instead, he chose to stand in my way.”
“But why do you need it? If you could beat Dante and take his anyway, why do you need to become any stronger?”
“I do not need to explain myself to you, child.”
“Hey, who said you could talk to Twilight like that!”
Virgil simply turned back to Dante “I see that you’ve taken up babysitting, fitting,” he said coldly.
“Don’t ignore me!”
“I can’t help it if the ladies just can’t leave me alone,” he said, gazing at the reflection in his sword. “Too bad you just can’t say the same.”
“If I remember correctly, there was another woman with blue hair that followed us around 10 years ago. I must know, did you end up killing her after all?”
Dante seemed slightly taken back by this coment, anger flashed across his face. “Maybe if you had actually stuck around, you would know.”
“Sorry, but after what happened, I needed to research a few things. It is thanks to that girl that we stand here today,” he said. As he moved into a fighting position, a white shimmer began to shroud both his arms and legs.
Twilight had a bad feeling. “Dante… who’s he talking about?”
“Don’t blame this all on her.”
“Blaming her? Were you not listening? I was thanking her,” he said calmly. As he fully took his fighting stance, the white shimmers flashed to reveal twin silver gauntlets that covered both his arms and his legs.
“Now, you never answered my question, Is this game of yours two player?”
“Of course, we lost our third player, remember.” grunted Dante. Rushing forward, he stabbed at Virgil at a high speed. Virgil easily dodged the stab attack, and countered with a roundhouse kick. Dodging, Dante jumped backwards to put some distance between them. Pulling out his guns, he unleashed a hail of bullets at his brother.
In the blink of an eye Virgil avoided the bullets, and closed the distance. With Dante wide open, Virgil quickly delivered a series of harsh punches that sent Dante slamming several inches into the wall.
“Is that it, Dante? Did you lose your skill in the short time since we last met?” he glanced over to the girls, Twilight had erected another barrier just incase some straw attacks came their way. “Or are you holding back because of them?”
Dante dug himself out of the wall, a smile wide on his face. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, I was just checkin’ out your new gear. I would love to know where you got it?” Dante rushed forward, and delivered another few swipes with his sword with improved speed.
Virgil, now finding himself unable to break away from his brothers onslaught of sword strikes, simply resorted to parrying his attacks and countering when he could. “Well, some blind demon broke into the room, and spouted some nonsense about telling me something earlier,” he said, aiming a punch at his brothers face,
Dante blocked the punch with his face with the side of his blade. “So you killed it and took it’s demon arm,” he said, pulling a gun out and shooting a few rounds.
Virgil quickly jumped into air, avoiding the shots, and flipped before bringing his leg down in an a falling axe kick. “You should learn how to finish the job, and stop leaving me your leftovers.”
Dante dodged the kick as it proceeded the severely dent the metal in the floor. “Maybe you should start doing your part in cleaning up our dads mess, instead of trying to make it worse.”
On the far side of the room, the girls continued to watch the fight in stunned silence. None of them could comprehend the level and speed at which those two were fighting, what was worse, was that it seemed that neither of them had even begun to take the fight seriously.
“Those two are goin at it like two starvin hoboes over a piece of apple pie, but their talkin like they’re just sittin around havin tea.”
“How can they just have a casual conversation while trying to kill each other?” Dash complained.
Pinkie placed a small machine over her left eye and ear. Facing the two demon brothers, Pinkie clicked the button on the side of the odd machine causing numbers to appear over the pink screen in front of her eye. Once the numbers stopped changing, she gasped loudly. Leaning over to Dash, she stage whispered in her ear. “Dashie, Dashie! Guess what their power levels are!”
Rarity simply continued to gaze at Virgil with hearts in her eye.
Twilight was currently trying her hardest to sort out the various conflicting topics in her head, while still trying to analyze the brothers individual fighting styles. “Who were they talking about earlier…..…Virgil’s style seems to differ from Dante’s by...… is this what it’s like to see two masters fighting…… Virgils using a brand new weapon, and Dante hasn't used any of his others yet, why……….how can they just casually talk while…..… Why can’t they just talk it out… well I guess they're already talking it out but-”
Twilight’s thoughts came to a halt when both Dante and Virgil suddenly stopped fighting.
“You know what, for once you’ve got the right idea,” said Virgil as he examined his gauntlets.
“What about?”
“Don’t think that I haven't noticed that you haven't used any of the other demon arms that you have. And here I am using these. If we’re going to fight over dads power, we should at least honor him by using his weapons.” Virgil banished his gauntlets and gripped his katana handle.
“Well look who’s finally taking that poll out. Although,” he said examining his sword. “You’re the only one fighting for power, I only want my amulet back.”
“Then enough with the warm up, it’s time to break the seal,” Instantly Virgil became shrouded in a sphere of dark blue energy. His figure completely covered. When it disappeared, Virgil’s form was completely replaced with a demonic version of himself. His voice carried with it, an eerie fear inducing echo. “with your blood!”
Dante only scoffed and released his own devil trigger. Even through the shield, the girls could feel the demonic energy coming off of them in waves. Dante told them earlier exactly what a devil trigger was. It was essentially an unleashed state, where he would give in to his demon blood, and become more powerful, and much more savage. Even though Dante had only recently gained access to his, it still made him made him more powerful than all 5 girls combined.
Now there were two of them, and she shuddered to think how much more powerful it would make the one who had more experience in using it.
In an instant, Virgil disappeared and reappeared behind Dante, slowly sheathing his blade. When it clicked shut, dozens of small slashes appeared all over Dante’s body causing him to grunt in pain, blood spilling forth in large volumes. Dante dug his sword into the ground to keep upright.
“Dante!” the girls screamed.
“Pathe-UGH!” Suddenly Virgil bent forward when a large vertical slash made itself apparent on his front. Reaching from his shoulder, across his chest, and to his hip. Blood spilled forth in volumes similar to Dante. Looking over his shoulder, Virgil saw Dante stand back up, his wounds completely healed. Dante growled as he readied his blade.
“I see, so you haven't yet learned to speak, how ironic since you normally never shut up,” he grunted. Standing up, he revealed that his wound had already healed as well. Both Dante and Virgil proceeded to engage each other in furious combat, both trying to inflict as much damage on the other as they could, and both sent strike after strike at each other, causing sparks to fly off each of their blades whenever they clashed, and blood fly to out in all directions. Each wound inflicted by the other healed instantly, however, the brothers knew that the damage wasn't the point…..
It was about who’s devil form would release first.
From their girls point of view, Dante and Virgil had simply disappeared from their respective spots, and after a few shockwaves, instantly reappeared in the middle of the room, fighting furiously in a blur of motion, sparks, and blood. No one, even Dash with her sharp eyes, could make out any of their individual swings. All they knew was that with each clag of their weapons, a shockwave got sent out that tore a crack in Twilight shield. Twilight, AJ, and Dash were worried about what would happen if the shield broke, Rarity was worried about how to get the blood stains out of her dress should the shield break. Pinkie was worried about whether or not she could end the fighting by stopping time and switching their weapons with rubber chickens.
The fighting continued for a full thirty minutes before Dante’s trigger wore out first, Virgil got a few hits in before his also wore out, causing Twilight to let out a sigh of relief. Both of them were breathing heavily, but neither let up in their attacks despite being unable to instantly heal. Now, any damage dealt could make or break the fight.
“We have to stop this, they're going to kill each other if this keep up!” Twilight yelled.
“But how, if we go in there, who knows what might happen.”
Twilight re-enforced the shield when three stray gunshots tore into it. “I know but I can’t hold this up much longer. Rarity, do you think that you can stop them with your telekinesis?”
Rarity continued to stare at Virgil.
“Rarity!?”
~Currently inside Rarity’s head~
Rarity stood side by side, under the moonlight, next to a dashing man with glorious slicked back silver hair. Under them, sat a balcony of the purest crystal. Attached to the balcony sat a several story tall crystal castle. Glittering and sparkling in the moonlight, it’s spires were angled just right so as to reflect a spotlight upon the couple it supported. The castle overlooked a beautiful garden, filled to the brim with every kind of flower known to man, and several known to others. Everything existed to be perfect for the two gazing out on it. The man turned to Rarity and began speaking.
“We’ve done it my dear. We have defeated the seaweed haired witch, and rescued your friends. We have taken back this crystal world from their corrupted god, and have been named their king and queen, and, we are finally alone. Everything is perfect, and the worlds are at peace.”
“Please, Virgil, I couldn't have done it without you. You make me complete in a way that no man has,” she declared.
“Nonsense, you are perfection incarnate,” he replied.
“How about we agree that we both are… together,” she suggested.
“Agreed my love.”
“Please, now that everything’s perfect, I only have one thing to ask of you.”
“Anything!”
Virgil reached a hand into his coat pocket. “Will you,” Rarity’s excitement grew more and more with each millisecond as he slowly took his hand out.
Only to slap her clean across her face. “PLEASE WAKE UP!”
Snapping back to reality, Rarity quickly looked around trying to try and figure out what happened. There was Dante and sexybuns Virgil. There was a missile lying on the ground in four pieces. There was Twilight and the rest, there was Lady, and in front of her stood Dash, glaring fiercely at her.
“What the hell was wrong with you, we were calling your name!”
“I…. uhhhh.”
Dash sighed. “Forget it, just pay attention, stuffs about to get interesting,” she smirked pointing toward Lady who held her still smoking missile launcher aimed at the two devils.
“Stay back, this isn't your fight Lady!” Dante called out.
“Shut up!” Lady aimed directly at Dante and shot out another missile. Dante merely dodged, and continued his fight with Virgil. Lady, not content to stay behind and watch like the other girls, ran up to them only to get knocked to the ground by a strike from Virgil.
Moving her weapon out in front of her, Lady managed to block Virgil's secondary attack. “Twilight was right! You forced him into this!”
“Is that what you think?” Virgil lightly shook his head. “Foolish girl.” Moving his blade to the side Virgil blocked an attack from Dante and the two resumed fighting. Lady quickly got back up and aimed her missile at the two. Only for Virgil’s words to echo in her mind.
Dante’s and Virgil's fight came to a head when they ended up striking a mutual blow on each other. Dante slashed right across Virgil's chest, while Virgil used the momentum to swing around and do the same. Both of them fell to their knees completely out of breath. The rare seconds of silence were broken by the sounds of someone clapping. Dante turned to the girls, only to see that they weren't the cause.
Seemingly appearing from nowhere, Jester stepped into the center of the room. “Bravo, Bravo!” he exclaimed, clapping with each syllable. “I never dreamed that things would go this smoothly, don’t get me wrong, the key-wielding kiddies threw me for a loop, but in the end, Well done everyone. Well Done!”
Virgil looked from Jester over to the girls. “Keys? as in Keyblades?” he muttered to himself.
The girls themselves were currently glaring daggers at the clown, AJ and Dash even clenched their fists, preparing to summon their weapons in the event of a fight. Twilight, however, tried to figure out how he sneaked past them, they were standing right at the entrance of the room.
Ignoring them, Jester quickly made his way over to Lady and gripped the barrel of her launcher. Before she could respond or attack, Jester shoved her to the ground, and took the weapon for himself. “Now don’t be a bad girl, Mary.” he muttered darkly before returning to his normal clowny voice. “Or you can expect a spanking from daddy later!” Jester began doing a small dance with the launcher still over his shoulder. “Jester’s gonna spank your butt, spank you on da bu~ut!”
“Insane buffoon!” Virgil interrupted. Jester turned to see that Virgil had stood up and that his katana was pointed right at him. “I don’t know where you came from, but you don’t belong here.” Virgil dashed toward Jester, swinging his sword in a downward slash. “Now Leave!”
Jester easily caught his blade between his hands mid slash, stunning Virgil and rendering him unable to move his blade. “Zowie, that was close. But you taken quite a trouncing today, haven't you Virgil. All worn out from that little spat with baby brother. You could have chopped me into confetti by now 12 ways to Sunday if you were in tip-top condition.” He slowly began to lower Virgil's blade against his will.
Pinkie held up both her hands in order to try and figure out all 12 ways.
“Damn you!”
Jester violently pushed Virgil away. “You have lost…..”
Everybody watched to make sure that virgil didn't fall off the edge of the platform when they looked back, in Jesters place, stood a tall man in a black suit with burns going up the side of his face. “....because you underestimated humans."
“That’s not possible, he was dead. I was sure of it!”
“What the hell man, how are you still alive!”
“I’ve got it! I found out 12 different ways to get to Sunday!”
Lady’s eyes shrank when she looked up to see the figure of her father, standing alive and healthy. “W-what’s going on…”
Arkham turned to Lady. “Good girl, pure and innocent….. just like your mother.”
“You basta-” Lady quickly pulled out a gun and aimed it only for Jester to appear behind and tightly gripped her head.
“It’s time for your spanking, my dear!” Jestor harshly slammed Lady’s head into the ground, knocking her unconscious. Jester turned to face Virgil
“Lady!” Twilight screamed, she tried to get to her, but found that something was holding her back.
“You want to know why the spell didn't break?” he stood up and began to walk around. “You had two amulets, and Sparda’s blood. You had everything you needed to unleash the evil!”
“I know that I’ve said it before, I don’t like anybody, who talks more than me!” Dante began shooting both guns at Jester, who merely zipped around, laughing and teasing him the entire time. Gravity seemed to have no effect when Jester started zipping around and avoiding bullets on the walls and ceiling.
“You are wounded and weak! You risked your life for the girl, and fought you brother to a standstill. Even I can do, this!” From the ceiling, Jester jumped down and landed feet first on Dante’s face, driving his entire head into the ground.
That was it, now it was time to step in. Dash prepared to rush forward, only to find that she couldn’t leave the ground. The other found out that they were in similar positions. “T-Twilight, I can’t move!” Dash grunted, struggling against the unseen force.
“Not only that, but I can’t seem to summon my keyblades,” added Rarity.
“Consarnit!”
Twilight looked down, and under all of their feet, glowed a giant magic circle. In the middle, was Jesters smiling face. “He’s locked us down with magic!”
“That jackass can use magic!?”
“That’s right kiddies, so don’t go anywhere! Things are about to get fun!”
The girls looked up to see the stoic face of Arkham. “Two amulets, a set of Sparda’s blood.” he began walking toward Lady, who herself, had regained consciousness. “I need one more key.” Bending down, Arkham picked up the forgotten missile launcher that Jester had dropped when avoiding Dante.
“Sparda sacrificed two things to seal the tremendous power, his own devil’s blood, and a mortal priestess. Therefore, to unlock the seal, I need the blood of that priestess.” Arkham viciously stabbed Lady’s leg with the bayonet at the edge of the launcher. Lady screamed out in pain. “I needed you, my daughter, because in your body flows the blood of the sacrificed woman. His spell cannot be undone without your blood!”
Lady’s blood spilled forth, and as if beckoned by some strange force, flowed directly toward the middle of the room, mixing with the blood of the two brothers.
Jester removed the blade from her leg and chuckled a bit. “It was such a hassle, you know. If any of you had died before getting here, my little plan would have gone to waste. Therefore, my job was to make you battle each other in order to weaken you! I even had to spend some effort setting up that little trap for the keybrats, so they wouldn't interfere. But at the same time, I had to guide you here, and make sure that you were kept alive.”
“You liar, I almost died over that stupid ball!” Dash grunted.
“Oh boo hoo, I didn't care if any of you died, I needed these three.” he said, pointing to Virgil, Dante, and Lady. “I even went so far as to dress like a complete idiot.” Jester began laughing profusely, not bothering to notice Virgil and Dante stand up, or Twilight muttering a counterspell.
Lady quickly kicked the launcher into the air and out of his hands. Immediatlly standing up, she caught it and aimed it directly at Jester, who stopped laughing long enough to see two swords and 5 keyblades pointed directly at him. He found himself surrounded by Dante, Virgil, Lady, and all 5 girls.
“It’s time for the clown to bow out, Arkham,” Virgil stated.
“Dude the show’s over.”
“Give up,” Twilight added.
“This joke isn't funny anymore!” Pinkie puffed.
“This circus is over!”
Arkham looked around, but otherwise showed no sign of worry or concern. “Impressive, I expected no less from sparda’s descendents, or the wielders of the legendary keyblade.”
Rarity flipped her hair. “You didn't seriously think that a spell of that level would contain someone like Twilight, did you?”
Arkham looked directly at Twilight looking her up and down he quickly noted the connection. “Ahh I see, you were taught by the Night Walker.”
“I don’t know who that is!”
“Why don’t you ask your friend then,” he said, glancing directly at Dante before turning to Virgil. “Aren't you forgetting something? The spell is broken now. What do you think will happen next?
What did happen next surprised everyone. The circle containing the blood at the center of the room rose out of the ground. Immediately after that, the entire tower began shaking horribly, and the whole room began to rise up, causing everyone to stumble in order to keep their balance.
“Let’s welcome chaos!”
Using their distraction, Arkham dropped to the ground and leg swept everyone into the air, before anyone could recover, he continued his spin, kicking everyone off of the edge of the now ascending room. Dash quickly recovered and charged back up to attack him, only for Jester to blow her back down with an exploding party ball with his face on it.
Everyone harshly crashed to the ground below, but most of them quickly picked themselves up when they saw Arkham walk toward the edge.
“Just sit and wait…….. wait for the birth of a new God! I shall take over the power…. of SPARDA!”
With that, the room rose out of sight, with Arkham laughing like the power hungry villain that he was. The shaking only become worse, as if the entire tower was shifting form. Rocks fell from the walls and ceiling as the basement, the bottom of the tower, continued to rise toward the top, forcing everyone to move and protect themselves from falling debris. Stepping onto a loose rock, Lady nearly fell further, only to be caught by Twilight just in time.
Eventually, the shaking stopped and silence reigned. Twilight pulled Lady up to stable ground and began breathing deeply. Slowly, Twilight got Lady to stay still so that she could heal and bandage her leg up. “I hope the others are okay…” she thought
“Do you see what I mean now?” Lady muttered.
Twilight looked up at her, seeing only anger on her face. “Wha-”
“I actually believed him,” she said, punching the ground, “and he tricked me. I thought, that, for once, everything I knew was wrong. Well it was, I was wrong about him.”
“Lady…..”
“Twilight, you said that you were looking for your brother?”
“Yes….”
“Well here’s some advice, the next time that you see him, kill him. If he’s out to kill you, then that’s it, kill or be killed. Got that!”
“Lady, I won’t-”
“You don’t have a choice!”
“Yes I do, I’m not going to kill Spike, I won’t do it!”
“So you’re just going to sit and wait until he kills your friends off one by one? From what I’ve heard, he’s already taken one of them-”
Twilight flinched. “He didn't kill her…..”
Lady slowly got up, wrapping bandages around her leg herself. Picking up her launcher she turned back to face Twilight. “You sure about that? Do you have any proof that she’s even still alive?”
Any further protests died in her throat, it was true, she had no idea what happened to Shia after Spike took her. She could be dead for all she knew. She had no possible way of knowing what he did with her, and she wouldn't know until she saw Spike again. But what then?
“It’s no use, just hunt him down and kill him, before he can kill any more of your family. Don’t be like me, don’t wait till it’s too late-”
“Well screw you!”
Both girls turned toward the new voice, climbing out of a pile of rocks was none other than Rachelle Dash, even though she looked slightly battered, she quickly strode over to Lady with a enraged expression. Poking her in her chest and looking her straight in the eye, Dash began ranting furiously.
“You have no right to tell Twilight not to be like you when you’re just making her exactly like you when you tell her to kill her own brother, a revenge seeking, emo bitch! Just because your dad is messed up, doesn't mean that Spike is, if you want to go on a blood rage, keep it to yourself, in your family, on your hands!”
“How can you still trust him after he-”
“ I don’t believe for a second that he killed Shia!”
“You don’t have any-”
“I don’t need any goddamned proof! I know for a fact, right here,” she yelled, pointing to her heart. “that Spike, evil or not, would never ever harm his friends. Shia is alive and safe somewhere, and when we’re done here, we are going to find her, got that!”
Lady stared down the smaller girl before sucking her teeth and turning away toward the large column jutting out of the floor the lifted up the room. “Whatever, if you want to delude yourself, go ahead. I for one, won’t make the same mistake twice, this time, I’m going to finish him off.”
Aiming her launcher toward the tower, she shot out a grappling hook from the underside of the cannon. Hooking on to something high up, she gave a few tugs to test the stability of the hook.
“No matter what you think, the simple fact is that he’s out to kill you now. If you don’t want to see everyone you love die, you’ll follow my advice.” With that, she retracted the cable and flew up the begin her ascent on the tower.
With Lady gone, Dash huffed in annoyance and turned toward Twilight, who continued to stare at her with wide eyes. “How can you have so much blind faith in Spike. Lady had a point, we don’t even know what he did after he took Shia.”
Dash lent a hand and helped Twilight stand. “Because, I’m not a dork. Seriously, weren't you listening. I don’t need proof and neither should you. In fact, how can you not have faith in him, you’re his sister after all.”
“I just….”
“Come on, let’s go find the others, we got separated after all the shaking.”
Rarity magically lifted a rock off of her, and gently massaged the back of her head. “Uhhh,” she groaned, ”I really hope that rock didn't leave a mar-ACK”
“RARITYYYYYYY!” The second that she sat up, Rarity was bowled over and rolled up into a bone crushing hug by Pinkie, who had begun crying fountains of water. “I’m sooooo glad you're alive!” she cried, her volume bursting Rarity’s eardrum.
“Di-ack-Diane, darling I’m fine, please let me go or I won’t be!”
“But I’m sooo~oo~oo happy that I found you!” she cried, increasing the strength of the hug.
Rarity somehow managed to lightly pat her on the back, cringing when she felt her dress becoming damp. “Well, what ab-”
“Oh, no!” Pinkie all but threw Rarity to the ground when she quickly realized something else. “Where are the others!” Pinkie began frantically searching the wreckage around them, zooming from place to place, calling out each of her friends names. “Jackie! Dashie! Twilie! DanDan!”
Rarity simply took this as a reprieve from her friends harsh affection. Picking herself up, and using a special spell that Luna taught her, she quickly fixed her appearance. A few seconds later, every bit of grime and dirt instantly disappeared. Just as she began to admire the piece of art that was her body, she picked up the quiet sounds of groaning. Tuning out Pinkie, who was still yelling everyone’s name, she tuned in to the familiar sound.
Turning around, she saw two familiar looking orange cowgirl boots sticking out from under a few rocks. Rarity recognized those fashion offenders instantly and called Pinkie over to her. Once Pinkie turned to her and saw what she was pointed to, she instantly dashed over to rescue AJ.
“Jackie don’t die yet, we can still save you.” she began to try and lift the rocks, straining herself, just to lift one. “Just….. gotta dig you out!”
Rarity rolled her eyes and lifted the one rock that covered her. Pinkie cheerily smiled up at her. “Thanks Rares!”
Rarity smiled back, before turning her eyes to AJ, other than a few scratches, a slight lack of consciousness, and what seemed like troubled breathing, AJ was unharmed. Rarity noted that her hat, although slightly squashed, still clung tightly to her head. She wondered briefly if it was enchanted somehow. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed her Pink haired friend straddle herself on AJ’s stomach.
“Diane, sweetie…. what are you doing?”
“We have to wake her up and find the others.”
“Yes, I know that, but still-”
“It’s cool, I got this,” she smiled, proudly pointing at herself. “Look, she’s having a hard time breathing! She needs CPR,” she said determinedly.
Rarity just stood there, mouth hanging open, dumbfounded. “Diane, you can’t be serious.”
Pinkie narrowed her eyes and spoke seriously. “As serious as a melted show cone in winter.” Having proved her resolve, Pinkie took a deep breath, and leaned forward. Rarity tried to cover her eyes but ended up looking through them anyway, a blush evident on her face.
Pinkie edged her face close enough that their noses almost touched before she released the breath that she was holding.
“JACKIE!!!!!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Immediately, she leaned back up and began slapping AJ repeatedly in the face.
“My word, what are you doing!”
“CPR!” she yelled still slapping her silly.
Rarity used her magic to seize Pinkie’s hand and cease her slapping. “That is NOT what CPR is!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really! Who even told you that?”
“Tigger,” she said plainly.
Rarity deadpanned. “Of course….. Listen, sweetie, that may work for him, but this isn't a cartoon, you could seriously hurt her.”
Pinkie looked back down at the still unconscious cowgirl. “She looks fine to me. I really thought it was working though,” she pouted.
Rarity examined her downed friend. Other than slightly reddish cheeks, it didn't look like Pinkie’s slaps had any sort of effect. “I will admit, she is very…… resilient, but that still isn't the proper way to wake her. Not to mention, she’s probably having trouble breathing due to you sitting on her chest.”
“But if CPR didn't work, how will we get her to wake up?” she whimpered, huge tears forming in her eyes.
“Allow me.” Rarity carefully crouched down near her unfashionable friend’s head, and gently tilted her hat to one side.
“AH!” AJ instantly sat up and flung Pinkie off of her. The very first thing that she did, was move her hat back into place. Only afterwards, did she remove it to brush the dust off and unsquish it, before sitting it back on her head in the exact same place.
She turned and glared at Rarity, who desperately covered her mouth to hide her snickering. “What’s goin’ on, an why do mah cheeks hurt?”
Rarity finally finished giggling and sat up. “Well Diane-”
“JACKIE!!!!” she screamed as she jumped AJ and wrapped herself around her, crying another fountain of tears. Her hugs had less of an effect on AJ than it did on Rarity, but it was still enough to knock the breath out of her. “IthoughtyouweragonersoItriedCPRbutitdidntworkbutthenRaritytoldmethatitwasentCPRand thatTiggerliedtomeandthenIgotscaredthatyouwouldentwakeupbutthenRaritymessedwithyourhatandnowyou’reawakeandI’MSOHAPPPYYYYYY~”
Frankly AJ couldn't make heads or tails of most what her friend just said. “Rarity did what to mah hat?”
“Oh calm down, I merely tilted it.”
“You sure that’s all yah did?”
Rarity scoffed. “Puh-lease, I decorate your hat ONE time!”
“Uhuh,” she said, getting up and moving pinkie off of her, “you said that you wanted to clean it, but when ah get it back, ah see nothin’ but rhinestones coverin’ the whole gosh darned thing!”
Pinkie giggled. “I remember that, your head shined like a disco ball when I pointed a flashlight at it!”
“I was young….. and gaudy. It wasn't my fault! Stop holding a grudge at everything!”
“Well-”
“How long are you three going to continue your useless prattering?”
Turning, all of them caught sight of Virgil entering the area. He looked no more injured than when he fought Dante, only angrier. When their gaze met his he reached for the handle of his blade.
By instinct, AJ summoned her keyblade, and Pinkie pulled hers from her shirt. Rarity just gazed lovingly at the man in blue.
Virgil released his hold on his weapon. “So those are the legendary keyblades.”
“What of it?”
Ignoring her, Virgil continued to analyze the weapons. “It seems that they tailor themselves to the personality of the user. Legends say that they can open any lock or seal…. I wonder….”
“Oh, ah get it now, you think that you can use our keyblades to open up yer daddy’s seal. Well it aint gonna happen!”
“You can have mi~ine,” drooled Rarity.
“I see. In that case, I’ll just have to take it then. I’m curious, If I can defeat it’s chosen wielder...“ he paused and with a flick of his thumb he partially unsheathed his blade. “Will it reconsider?”
“Fat chance!”AJ strode forward and delivered a crushing downward strike.
Re-sheathing his Yamato, Virgil simply dodged. Afterwards, observed as the ground that was struck. He noticed that it had suffered considerable damage. “Interesting, is that the power of the Keyblade, or the wielder?”
“You’ll never find out!” Pulling her blade out of the ground, she swung at Virgil. He merely dodged and struck her with his scabbard.
“That all you got?” she taunted, completely unfazed by the attack.
Just as Virgil was about to ready his Judgement cut, Pinkie popped up behind him. It was only due to his incredible reflexes that he dodged her attack.
How did she get behind me? I must be extremely injured….. he thought. Moving in a blue blur, he dashed forward in a counter attack and took a swing at Pinkie. AJ quickly stepped in front of her to block the attack. She easily forced him back.
“Hmm.” Deciding to switch tactics, Virgil holstered Yamato on his side and summoned Beowulf on his arms and legs. He moved at even faster speeds to throw a punch at AJ. Barely having time to block, AJ raised her keyblade once more in defense. She was surprised to see that Virgil had actually forced her back some.
Seeing her friend in danger, Rarity snapped out of her new daydream. “Sorry, my love, the wedding will have to wait!” Instantly, Rarity shot out a few dozen keyblades at Virgil like missiles.
Seeing the attack, Virgil managed to easily parry or punch all of them out of the way. “I see that we have something in common, but let me show you how it’s done.”
“Wha-” Without warning, several transparent blue blades begun circling around her frame. Before she could react, they shot forward and pierced through her from all angles, shattering afterwards. Even though were no internal or external wounds, the pain was still very real. Rarity immediately succumbed to it and passed out.
“Hey! That was uncalled for!” screamed Pinkie from right behind Virgil.
Once again taken by surprise, Virgil turned and struck her in the gut. “I do not know what allows you to believe that you can sneak up on me, but it will not be tolerated,” he said simply.
Pinkie hunched over in pain. “You’re…… such a killjoy….” she grunted before she lost consciousness.
“Pinkie!” AJ was in a rage now. She rushed at Virgil like a freight train, putting her all into her next attack. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Virgil moved under her and delivered a strong left hook to her gut, AJ grunted in pain but did not stop her attack. Before it could connect, however, Virgil delivered an even stronger right hook to her face, AJ still wouldn't go down. Combing, Virgil connected the punch with a small spin in the air, before sending a devastating kick to the same spot on her face, sending AJ barreling into the far wall. Her Keyblade spinning into the ground where she once stood.
The match over, Virgil moved to pick up her Keyblade, it was rather heavy, but not enough to give him any sort of trouble. He completed a few test swings with it, but eventually it disappeared in a mess of light. Not surprised, Virgil began to walk away. He stopped in his tracks when Beowulf began glowing unnaturally.
“What is this?”
Beowulf, pulsated a few times before leaving his body and transferring themselves over to AJ, and appearing on her limp limbs.
“I see, she’s more compatible then... I can’t say that I disagree. Consider it compensation for the trouble,” he said to the unconscious girls. He began to walk away, intent to reach the top of the tower. “I need only my Yamato and the power of Sparda, anyhow.”
~~~
Eventually, Twilight and Dash found Dante chilling on some rocks. They then made their way around the base of the newly risen tower until they found three knocked out girls.
“Woah.”
Dante whistled, obviously impressed.
“Oh my goodness!” Running over to each of them, she desperately tried to wake them up, but to no avail. At her command, Dash and Dante quickly rounded them together. After which, Twilight tried to cast a large scale curaga, only for her to fail and break down coughing.
“Twilight don’t push yourself, now isn't the time!” Dash warned.
Twilight gave her a weak smile. “I know… Shia was better at this anyway,” she said sadly. “She once healed all 6 of us at once.” Taking a breath, Twilight cast three small cure spells, healing them just enough for them to regain consciousness. Rarity and Pinkie immediately clutched their stomachs, coughing harshly, and AJ moved her head back and forth, attempting to work out some cracks.
“Ahhh, what hit me?”
Dash moved closer to her. “That’s what we want to know! Don’t tell me that tiny rock slide did you guys in?”
“Twasn't no rock-slide, it was that one’s big brother.” she said, pointing a finger directly at Dante.
Before he could retaliate, AJ’s arms and legs began to glow with an ethereal bright light. Appearing on her hands and feet were none other than the Beowulf gauntlets and greaves. Everyone gasped at her new gear.
“Where the heck did you get those!” Dash exclaimed.
“A-ah don’t know.”
“Aren't those the same one’s that Virgil wore?” Twilight asked.
AJ looked over her silver clad arms. “Ah think so….”
“Dante, what’s goin on!?”
“Well it sorta goes like this,” he sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “You know how your keys choose their owners.” When he got nods, he continued. “Devil arms are almost the same, strong demons become weapons after being killed and usually become the tools of the killer, like Nevan. But sometimes they’ll change owners if they feel that another is more worthy, or more compatible, or whatever. Seeing as how you still have your arms and legs firmly attached to you, I’d say that old Virg didn't care much.”
“Ahm not cursed or anythin… am I?”
“No, you're cool, just be careful if it starts talking. Trust me, they can get pretty annoying.”
Dash groaned. “Aww man, she gets awesome gloves?”
“Don’t be sad Dashie, you still got that awesome gun!” Pinkie cheered, patting her on the back.
“Anyway, are you all okay, what he do to you?”
Rarity finally got the pain to subside in her midsection and sat up. “I don’t know, one second, I’m fighting, the next he copied my move and I felt like my sides were somehow bursting.”
“He didn't like jokes.”
“He was strong, tried to take our Keyblades, ah guess,” she said, banishing Beowulf.
“Tried to- that’s impossible.”
“Yeah, that won’t stop him from trying though. Seems he got his answer,” Dante reasoned.
“He didn't injure any of you seriously did he?” asked Dash, her fist clenched. Each of them looked over their bodies, but other than a few bruise marks, nothing serious.
Twilight let out a small relieved sigh. “Lets just wait here for a bit and rest.”
Everyone readily agreed.
Dante craned his head to look upwards as the stable looking, but still cracking tower above them. “Fine, but we have to hurry, every minute we waste, Jester's getting that much closer to my old man’s power.”
“We won’t be long,” Rarity answered, “but you should rest too, you must be more tired than all of us.”
Not able to deny that fact, Dante moved over to a nearby wall and began to sit down and relax.
It would be a good 45 minutes before they decided to move on.
~~~
“Amazing,” grinned Dash.
“Uncouth!” scoffed Rarity.
“Epic!”
“Rowdy!”
“Jaw droppingly awesome!”
“Unnecessarily show offish!”
Dash and Rarity had been arguing back and forth like that ever since they had to climb the the tower directly. While the others did it normally, Dante chose to do it by riding Lady’s abandoned motorcycle directly up the side, completely defying gravity and shattering Twilight’s mind. If that weren't enough, he then went on to fight multiple sets demons mid-air, using only the motorcycle as a singular nunchuck. Shattering everyone else’s minds in the process.
Normally, Dante would've stopped them by now, but he was enjoying the constant praise given to him by one half of the argument.
“Twilight, AJ, Pinks, back me up on this!”
“As far as I’m concerned that entire scene did not exist.”
“Don’t be hatin’,” Dante chided.
AJ let out a soft chuckle. “You gotta admit, sugarcube, what he did back there was somethin’.”
“Something?" said Dash, aghast. "It was the most incredible thing, I’ve ever seen!”
“See, Rarity, everyone else agrees with me! Seriously, the last time I saw something that awesome, was when I watched Spike beat up a whole gang with nothing but a ‘how to fight’ book!”
Everyone went quiet. It seemed that to everyone except her and Dante, Spike was still a touchy subject. AJ didn't want to start another argument, and Twilight still wasn't completely sure about her feelings on the subject.
Eventually, the group came to a large elevator-like device. Twilight went up and carefully read it.
“It says that we need three pieces of orihalcon to activate the device. Look, there’s even a map here.”
“Fat load of good that’ll do us. This entire place is all topsy-turvy now. We’ll never find our way around if we follow that thing.”
“We have to try at least. There are three, so let’s split into three groups. Be very careful, we’re all still injured, don’t try to fight anything if you can run. Dash, you go with AJ. Pinkie, with Rarity, and I’ll go with Dante. ”
“Oh, my,” Rarity smirked.
“What?”
“Nothing, we get it, you’ll want some alone time with Dante.”
“What, no I just-”
“I’m not surprised, I knew this was coming.” Dante shrugged.
“Wait, hold on!”
“Ohh, have fun you lovebirds you!” Pinkie cheered as she bounced off. AJ and Dash also shared a chuckle at their friends expense before leaving as well.
Everyone left in their respective directions, leaving Twilight and Dante alone. Eventually, they too left to go find their piece.
Twilight sighed exasperatedly as she walked.
“Hey, those are your friends.”
“They’re your’s now too you know.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“Anyway, I really did have something to ask you.”
“I charge 20 to see it, 50 to ride it.”
“What!?”
“Nothing, what’s up?”
Twilight ran and stood in front of Dante, blocking his path. Her face looked extremely determined to get her answers this time around.
Rainbow and AJ slowly made their way through the confusing hallways and twisting corridors of the activated Temen-Ni-Gru tower. Without any enemies to fight, they traveled in complete silence. Even after everything that happened so far, they still weren't on very good speaking terms. Even when enemies showed up they proceeded to fight them separately.
Every so often one of them would begin to bring up something only to awkwardly drop the topic almost immediately. Truthfully, neither knew how to approach the other without worrying that she’d start an argument. Eventually, AJ broke braved the void and began a conversation.
“I… uh… ahm glad your okay, an’ everything.”
“What do you mean?”
AJ purposefully avoided eye contact. “I was just saying….. that ahm glad that you're not dead from grabbin’ that ball earlier.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks, not like it wasn't my fault or anything.”
“Heh, yeah, even so ahm glad your alright.”
“Of course I’m alright, I’m awesome!”
“Yup, you’re fine alright,” she teased.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothin, just-AGH!” AJ found herself being shoved forward harshly. A stinging pain ran down the length of her back. Dash turned and saw a large cluster of Arachne sneaking up on them. Dash cursed silently for being distracted before immediately helping AJ to her feet. Both girls took their normal battle stances.
As per usual, Dash rushed forward to attack the first, while AJ decided to break in her new devil arm.
“You know, I was thinking...”
With surprising speed AJ sent a test punch that quickly dispatched a single Arachne. “That’s a mite bad for you doncha think?”
Dash dodged a rush attack. “Bite me.”
AJ chuckled as she continued fighting. “So, you were thinkin?”
“I’m actually a little glad that Shy isn't here, this place would seriously freak her out.”
AJ gave a particularly strong punch that devastated the Arachne in it’s path. “I do see what yah mean, Ah really do. But don’t you think that what you just said would be just the tiniest bit mean?”
“Huh?”
AJ frowned but continued fighting. “You’re actually happy, that our friend was kidnapped by Spike, just so she wouldn't be here?”
Dash quickly killed the few in front of her. “Hold on, that’s not what I said!”
AJ turned her head to face Dash’s. “Pig.. dung. That was exactly what you just said!”
“Well…” she murmured nervously, “that’s not what I meant by that.”
AJ backhanded the Arachne that snuck up behind her. “Then what did you mean!?”
Dash lowered herself to the ground. “I just wouldn't want her to be here, okay!”
AJ narrowed her eyes and strode right up to her face. “So you’d rather that she’d be kidnapped, and taken to who knows where, bein done who knows what to?”
“Jeez, chill I didnt mean it like that!”
“Well ya could’ve worded it better.!”
“Well you should stop taking everything so seriously!”
“Well you oughta be more-Aghhh”
During their argument, they failed to notice the remaining Arachne approaching them from AJ’s side. Rather than attacking them directly, it decided to immobilize them by shooting one of it’s webs. Taken by surprise, the web struck AJ on her back, and caused her to crash into Dash, causing both of them to topple over in a tangled sticky heap.
Seeing it’s chance, the Arachne dashed forward, intent on slicing them with it’s scythe-like pincers. Hearing it coming, both girls began to struggle to put up some kind of defence, but their efforts were useless due to the fact that most of their limbs were either stuck to the ground, or to each other. Fortunately, the web left at least one of Dash’s arms free. Unable to reach her keyblade that was in her other hand, she quickly she pointed her arm forward and summoned Spiral instead. Pulling the trigger, she quickly shot the Arachne dead before it could harm them. The Arachne fell, squirmed, and finally disintegrated into dust. One section of the wall slowly fell away to reveal a glowing blue orihalcon fragment.
Dash lowered her rifle, and let out a relieved breath. “Man, that was clo-oof!” Even though all of the demons were gone, the two girls still lie on the ground haphazardly stuck together. Both of them began frantically struggling to at least get loose. Eventually, AJ struggled in a way where she harshly kneed Dash in her stomach.
AJ quickly noticed what she did. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” she groaned.
“How’re we gonna get outta this?”
“You’re strong, just break out, or something.”
AJ nodded and quickly tried to flex and break through the strangling threads. What she didn't notice, was that she was also pushing against Dash.
“Owowowowstop, stop!” she screamed.
AJ ceased her struggling. “Well that won’t work. Now what?”
“No clue…..”
AJ sighed, deep inside she knew that this was her fault for distracting them both. Maybe she did overreact to what Dash had said. It was only a matter of time until Dash would call her on it.
“Hey AJ…..”
Here it comes, she thought. “Yeah?”
“Do you really hate Spike?”
This took her by surprise, she really didn't expect that sort of question, nor the resigned voice that she spoke it in. It took a moment for her to answer it. “No…... ah don’t hate him.”
“It seems like you do sometimes….”
“Ah just don’t like that he took one of mah friends, and then turned around threatened another one.”
“I still don’t think that it was really him speaking.”
“Every time ah try, I keep seeing Shia’s face, and ah remember that she’s not here with us.”
“Heh, you always did treat us like family.”
“You guys are mah family!” she said resolutely, “An’ I don’t tolerate mah family hurtin’ each other.”
“.........”
“Ah sorry Dash, but ah just don’t think that ah can’t trust Spike till we’re all back together again.”
Dash picked up on what she meant, and smiled. “Then I guess we have to find them then.”
AJ mirrored her expression. “Yeah, both of ‘em.”
~~~
“I'm just saying, candy bracelets would be a stroke of genius.”
“Diane, who would even wear them?”
“Travelers and kids would, duh! They would have something to eat while playing.”
“Even so, I don't believe that it's a large enough demographic to warrant a large scale production.”
“It doesn't have to be, you can make them for just a few people.”
"Like you," she giggled.
"Exactly!"
Both of them shared a good natured laugh. Whenever they were alone together, Pinkie would always try to convince Rarity to design some food related clothing product. Luckily for Rarity, it never got annoying for her, mainly because Pinkie’s ideas were usually so outlandish and creative. Because of this, they could usually have a semi-serious debate on the usefulness of whatever product she came up with. Right now, they were debating the innovativeness of candy jewelry.
Pinkie laughter quickly died down, and she immediately stopped in her tracks. Noticing the unnatural silence emanating from her friend, Rarity also stopped and turned back to her.
“What’s wr-”
Her voice lost all sense of cheery tone. “Are you sure that you’re alright?”
Rarity was taken back by her unusually serious tone. “What do you mean?”
“When Virgil attacked you.”
“No, I’m fine, I don’t think that he had any intention of actually killing us.”
Pinkie let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good.” Right as she said that she immediately disappeared from view in a pink blur.
“Dia-” Rarity barely had any time to call her friend’s name before said friend struck her from behind, susequently knocking her out. Pinkie caught her limp body and lifted her up gently. She carefully moved over to a nearby wall to sit her down, her hair growing more and more limp as she walked.
By the time she sat Rarity down, Pinkie’s hair had become completely straight. “Come on out, I know that you were waiting to ambush us,” she said, deathly serious.
Apparently discovered, nearly a dozen large black reapers fazed into existence. Their purple bladed scythes glowed with lethal energies. Pinkie barely paid them any mind as she moved to the center of the room, her keyblade already out. “Personally, I’d rather track down that bastard Virgil and pay him back for hurting my friends, but I guess she really couldn't hold it back anymore. So I guess you all will have to do.”
She held her keyblade out in front of her, and watched as it began shift and change. The slice of cake that acted as the teeth slowly began to melt away to reveal something more sinister; three short, knife-like blades. The entire keyblade gained a deep reddish color, and the balloon shaped keychain morphed itself into a small pink cupcake. When it finished changing, the flat haired girl smiled. A few of the reaper demons backed away instinctively. Some of the more steely nerved reapers, however, charged at her. About 5 scythes were swung in her direction. Without lifting her gaze, she quickly swung her keyblade to her side, releasing a shockwave that violently tore apart the 5 reapers that came close to her. They didn't even have time to scream before they were shredded into dust.
Startled, one reaper let out a panicked screech that immediately summoned smaller, lower ranked demons. Looking around, Pinkie counted the amount of demons in the room.
“22,” she counted before sighing and groaning audibly. “You could at least let me out during a boss fight or something,” she muttered quietly.
One of the reapers screeched and pointed at her, signaling the other demons to attack her all at at once, and her sharp toothed smile returned in full force.
Twilight stood directly in Dante’s face, staring him right in the eye. Her expression demanding an answer. “Seriously, I need to know how you three know each other. I get that she might know you if she’s been here before, but how does Virgil know her?”
“Well, obviously we were-” he began.
Twilight let out a huff. “No jokes! Tell me the truth.”
“Jeez, ok, just stop yelling," he chuckled. "You want to know? Fine, I’ll tell you my tragic backstory.”
“Thank you!” she said, crossing her arms and listening closely.
Dante sighed and began recounting his past. “Basically, the story goes back to about 10 years ago, I was about 14, Virgil and I were still on good terms, and I was still a babe magnet. Long story short, it was around the time when we found Rebellion and Yamato, the weapons that we carry. It was also when we found out that we weren't exactly normal children.
~~~
Dante thought back to a time long past, a time when he could still turn his back to his brother and trust him to watch it, and where Virgil was able to do the same. Both of them had just gotten over the death of their mother that happened just 2 years prior, and had just started out on their journey to discover who they really were. Virgil’s unnatural agility, and Dante’s unnatural endurance, were only the first indicators that they weren't normal children, but ever since they were younger they never thought anything of it.
That was until the demons attacked. Without warning, a band of demons broke into their house, and murdered their mother. Seeing her die broke something in them, they transformed into demons themselves and killed every demon around them in a wicked blood rage. By the time they came to afterwards, they found themselves covered in blood and only a single demon still alive. His final words were “Curse you, sons of Sparda.”
Searching their parent’s room, they found several pictures of a man they didn't recognize, and several mentions of the name Sparda. Deep in the closet they found two distinct weapons, a large broadsword, and a blue sheathed katana. When their individual amulets glowed in response to them, they immediately knew that they were meant for them to have.
Two years later, both brothers still traveled their world searching for clues about their origin, killing every demon along the way.
A silver haired, 14 year old boy, wearing a zipped up blue sweat jacket with black pants tucked into his boots, pulled his weapon from the corpse of the demon that he had just slain. He quickly wiped down his katana and re-sheathed it. Turning to look at his brother, he sighed. “Dante what are you doing, stop toying with that demon.”
A young silver haired 14 year old boy stylishly dodged an attack by the now pissed off marionette demon and slapped it on the back of it’s head. He looked almost identical to the first boy, except that his jacket was a bright red color, it was unzipped, and his hair was messier than his twin. He wore black jeans down to his untied black shoes.
“Come on, have a sense of humor, it’s funny to watch them fall over," the younger Dante said, his face stuck in a perpetual cocky grin.
“Your carefree attitude will be the death of you someday,” muttered Virgil, paying his brothers infuriating attitude no attention.
"Shut up," Dante groaned, tired of hearing his brothers constant nagging. "We're immortal"
Virgil leveled a glare at him. “I wish that were true, but that you know that it isn't. We can die, it’s just harder for us than others.”
Dante scoffed and sat the large weapon on his back. “Whatever, let’s go.”
Virgil held up his half of their mother’s amulet. He slowly turned in a circle holding his amulet in different directions. Eventually, the amulet began to give of a faint bluish glow, signalling that it was the correct way to go. “Come on.”
Dante lazily strode after his brother, even though they were both bent on discovering who their father was, Dante also thought that demon hunting was enjoyable. He loved to fight and show off whenever he got the chance.
Dante and Virgil made their way through an abandoned town that was, at one point demon infested. Until about an hour ago when the boys showed up. Dante finally broke the silence. “You know, I heard that like, 20 years ago, there actually used to be more demons running around.”
Virgil responded with an air of disinterest. “Is that so?”
“Yeah it’s weird, people say that all of them just up and disappeared one day,” he said.
Virgil tore his gaze off of the amulet to turn around, his attention actually caught this time. “I agree, it is curious.”
“You think it has something to do with our dad?” he asked, meeting his brothers gaze.
“Well it is reasonable to assume that it may have something to do with him, considering our demonic attributes,” Virgil turned back to the amulet and began walking again.
“I told you to stop calling us that, we’re not demons.”
Virgil glanced back at his brother. “If you say so.”
“I’m just saying, it’d be pret-ty badass if-oof!” Dante bumped into Virgil when he suddenly stopped walking, this time very suddenly.”
“You dick! Why’d you stop walking?” Dante walked up next to him and saw him staring up at the sky. Following his gaze, Dante looked up to see what seemed like a falling star. “What, you gonna make a wish now?”
“It’s coming right toward us.”
Dante flinched back. “Oh shit, why are we just standing here?!”
“I thought you were unkillable?” he snarked.
“Pain still hurts, dumbass!”
Dante and Virgil quickly ran out of the way of the large fireball that crashed on the spot where they had once stood. After the smoke from the crater cooled some, Dante and Virgil slowly made their way over to it.
Dante smirked. “Aliens?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Without warning, something jumped straight out of the crater and landed directly behind Dante and Virgil. Both of them quickly reached for their weapons. Standing in front of them was a hunched over figure completely cloaked in a pitch black aura with glowing blue eyes. It’s sharp teeth pulled themselves back in a sneer.
“What the hell is that!?”
“A new demon perhaps?” said Virgil, grabbing his blade.
“Never seen a demon like that!” Dante followed suit.
When the monster changed to a four legged stance, Virgil steeled his own. “It’s coming!”
When the unfamiliar creature dashed forward, something odd appeared in it’s hands but before they could get a good look at it, it too became covered in the same dark aura. It swung at Dante who easily blocked the attack. “You’re a freaky one, arent’ya.”
Virgil quickly maneuvered himself behind the the creature and took a swipe with Yamato. Before the attack could connect, the creature vanished, startling both Dante and Virgil. Reappearing just as suddenly as it disappeared, the creature knocked Virgil and Dante into nearby walls.
Virgil was slow to recover. “Ughh, this is no ordinary demon.”
“That bastard is fast, I’ll give it that!” said Dante, hopping back up.
Virgil picked himself up and readied his blade, “We have to subdue it, if it’s intelligent we can probably get some information from it.”
“Or we could kill it and move on!”
“Dante-” The creature gave them no time to argue when it zoomed forwards and attacked Virgil. With quick reflexes, Virgil dodged and began to attack with Yamato. Dante rushed forward with his signature stinger attack.
Landing between them had been a mistake, because now it was right between Virgil and Dante. Before they could strike it, however, the creature released a torrent of dark energy that manifested as spikes on all sides, not having any time to react, both boys got skewered in the attack. Dante got stabbed in the side and Virgil, in his arm.
Dante grunted. “God damn that stings. I told you pain hurts!”
The aura retracted and the creature readied another attack. Virgil and Dante put up their defenses but could only watch at the creature suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground. It’s aura of darkness fading. Cautiously, the two came closer to see what happened. Eventually, enough of the aura receded to allow them to see what they were really dealing with.
“It’s a babe!” said Dante. Both of them gazed at the figure lying between them she had long blue hair and dark blue-black clothing, on her forehead was the symbol of a crescent moon.
“She appears to be slightly human," observed Virgil.
“You think she’s like us?”
Virgil considered this. “Possibly, she may have just lost control. What’s most curious however, was that she fell from the sky,” he said, looking up into the air.
“You gotta admit, it was effin awesome though.”
“Hmm, yes. Let’s take her inside one of the nearby buildings, when she wakes we can question her properly.”
Dante looked back the way they came. "You mean the one with the dead guy in it?"
“That bartender had it coming! When I ask for earl gray tea, I EXPECT earl gray tea, there can be NO substitutes. He failed me and he paid the price.”
Dante grinned and rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, help me here.”
“You can carry her yourself, you would enjoy it more anyway.” Virgil began to walk away toward the building that they would bring her to.
Dante gave a mischievous smile. “Are you embarrassed to touch a girl?”
Virgil’s eyes shrank and a blush creeped up on his face. Luckily, he was turned away from Dante, but he had faltered in his stride, and that was enough for him to get a laugh going.
Eventually, they made it into the building and sat the strange girl down on a nearby seat. Now it was only a matter of time until she awoke.
~~~
A tall woman stood regally in front of two young girls and one boy, all three of whom are bowing before her in respect. Her bright red hair, and pure white dress flowed and swayed in a non-existent breeze, and her skin radiated power and authority. “Children,” she began, her voice a smooth and calming as silk. “You have all performed admirably on your mark of mastery exam. I am extremely proud of all of you. Celestia, you have shown wisdom beyond your years.”
The girl with beautiful pink hair smiled. “Thank you, master.”
She turned to the next child. “Discord, your creativity and resourcefulness have served to save your teammates in many a dire situation.”
The oddly dressed boy smirked a fanged tooth poking out. “It was nothing, really”
She smiled brightly, “It brings me enormous pride to name you both, honorary Keyblade masters!”
Discord immediately cheered while Celestia tried to keep her composure, only to quickly break down and join in on the party Discord had created for them. Balloons rained down from nowhere and an electric blue haired DJ had been summoned by him to kick the beat. Neither of them paid attention to the third girl who wore an extremely shocked face.
“Wait, what about me?” she asked.
Everything stopped when they remembered that she was there, all of the celebrations instantly disappeared. Both of their heads turned to their master who began to make her way over to them.
“Am I not strong enough? Do I not posses the necessary qualities? Is it because I am younger than the others!”
Leaning down, she placed her hand on the girls shoulder. “Dear Luna, believe me, you are more than strong enough, and your abilities are not in question here.”
“Then why have I not ascended like my brother and sister!?”
“Because you still choose to reject what is apart of you. You should not purposely stray from the path chosen from you, and instead make it your strength.”
Luna began to tear up, she pushed her masters arm off of her. “What does that even mean!” she screamed, “Nothing is wrong with me!”
“Luna, let me see your keyblade.”
Luna wiped away the tears forming in her eyes, and summoned her keyblade; Midnight Gaze. It was a long, greyish blue keyblade with no noticeable decoration except a full moon that acted as both the teeth, and as the keychain.
Her master took one look it, and sadly shook her head. “Luna-”
Luna saw her face, and broke away from her in a fit of tears and rage, and ran off. “NO! I don’t care anymore!”
Celestia and Discord immediately tried to go after her, but with a gesture from their master, they stopped. “Wait, don’t follow her. She needs to learn for herself.”
Celestia frowned. “But master…..”
Luna ran outside, tears in her eyes, her anger growing with every step. Jealously, irritation, resentment, and just pure anger poured into her heart from sources unknown. All she knew, was that she needed to leave. She would show her master that she was ready, even if it meant saving……. or destroying an entire world by herself. When she got outside the crescent moon mark on her head glowed and she donned deep blue armor that covered every inch of her body. She tossed her keyblade high into the air, once it reached a tall enough height, it transformed into what Dante would call “a badass flying motorbike”, its sleek blue design left an contrail of stars as it tore across the sky.
Turning around it flew right passed Luna who jumped into the air after it. Landing right on the seat, she drove it into the sky.
As she tore through the space between worlds, the image of her siblings ascending without her played through her mind relentlessly, only serving to fuel her anger. She didn't even notice her skin turning pitch black inside her armor. All she could think about was how badly she wanted to prove all of them wrong. Eventually, she started to see them laughing at her, waving their mastery marks in her face. They did nothing but declare how much better they were. That was when her anger broke, dark aura spew forth, destroying the armor from the inside out, causing the motorcycle to lose control and fall to the nearby world in a ball of dark fire.
All of these memories played out in Luna’s mind while she slept, and when it was over, she woke up screaming.
Dante and Virgil, who stood nearby, jumped back and readied their weapons in alarm.
“Don’t move!” Virgil ordered.
Luna began breathing heavily, a cold sweat running down the side of her face. Once she calmed slightly, she began to look around. The first thing that she noticed that she was lying on a black couch in what seemed like the foyer to a dilapidated, run down hotel. The next thing that she noticed, was the fact that two identical boys, both around the same age as her, were standing some distance away, hands already on their weapons.
“Where am I? Who are you people?”
Virgil stepped forward. “My name is Virgil, my brother, Dante. From this point on, we will ask the questions, understood.”
Luna didn't exactly take direct orders well, she sneered. “And if I don’t?”
Dante leveled his sword at her face. “Then we pay you back for the ass-kicking you just gave us!”
Luna’s expression turned into one of shock. “I…….. attacked you?”
“Hell yeah, you just fell outta the sky and went bat-shit crazy!”
Luna dropped her gaze.
“Now, are you willing to be civil?”
Luna nodded sadly.
“Good, Dante, stand down.” Dante frowned but obeyed. “Firstly, your name.”
“My name is Luna Eclipse. Keyblade master…...in training.”
“Damn….. that’s a cool name.” Dante admitted.
Luna smiled slightly at the compliment.
“Next, what sort of demon are you?”
Luna’s expression turned contorted into one of deep offense. “Demon? I am no such thing!”
Virgil pointed his sheathed weapon at her. “Don’t lie to me!”
“I do not lie! I am no demon!”
Dante stepped in. “Babe you're not fooling anyone. Wings, strange mark, fangs, pitch black skin? Sounds like a demon to me.”
“Fool, the wings and markings are a sign of- wait…. did you say black skin?”
Dante nodded, and they immediately heard a whooshing sound. Before they could even blink, Luna had made it across the room to the nearest mirror, turning around, they saw her frantically examining her skin. True to his word, her skin was no longer fair with a blue tinge. Now it was dark as a moonless night.
“What is this! What has happened to my body!” she screamed. Turning back to Dante and Virgil she glared and pointed her recently summoned keyblade at them. “What have you done to me!”
Dante stepped up to her. “What the hell, did you not hear me, you fell out of the sky like that!”
“A likely story, the last thing I remember is leaving my home world, now I find myself unconscious on yours!”
Virgil raised an eyebrow when she said, ‘home world’.
“Bullshit! You just came here covered in some pitch black whatever and bum-rushed us! We didn't do a goddamned thing!”
“Not possible! The darkness has no power over me!”
“Then what do you call that skin?”
“Silence!” In a rage, Luna attacked Dante and likewise Dante swung at Luna. Neither of them made contact as Virgil stepped between them, blocking Dante with Yamato, and stopping Luna by grabbing her arm.
“Enough, both of you stop this foolishness.”
“Bro, she’s starting to piss me off!”
“This fool would dare suggest that I would succumb to the darkness!”
“Because you did! we all saw it!”Dante argued.
“Shut up!” She demanded, dark mist escaped from her body forcing Dante and Virgil back through the nearby wall. She quickly followed them outside, breathing heavily. “I refuse to let darkness have any power over me!”
“Luna,” Virgil yelled. “Look at yourself, there’s darkness coming off you in waves!”
It was true, while she wasn't completely clothed in it like before, it still surrounded her body. “Shut up, Shut up, Shut up!” she screamed, she fell to her knees holding the sides of her head, waves of dark energy spewing out from her body as she continued to deny the truth.
Dante struggled to stand up against the waves of energy coming off the girl, when he did he quickly pulled out Rebellion. “It’s no use, we have to kill her before she turns again!”
“No!, We can learn much from her, we need to calm her down!”
“And how in the hell are we going to do that?!”
“Maybe we could…….. oh no…”
“Fuck!”
Looking around, the brothers noticed that all the energies that she was releasing began to attract demons of all types, small reapers, demon dogs, marionettes, and even fallen angels began to materialize. Virgil and Dante got ready to fight them, but before they could move, Luna’s eyes burst open and she savagely attacked the demons surrounding them. The more she fought, the more the darkness receded back into her. Eventually, the darkness was gone, and the demons stopped materializing. That was when Dante jumped in to helped her take out the remaining demons.
By the end, Luna broke down on her knees and began crying. Finally aware of the horrible truth. “It’s true… it’s all true. This is why I can’t be a master,” she sobbed.
Dante and Virgil put away their weapons and glanced at each other before making their way over to the sobbing girl. Once they reached her, they both held out a hand for her.
“Hey…. come on, stop crying,” Dante awkwardly demanded.
“Now do you see?” Virgil asked.
Luna looked up at them, nodded sadly, and slowly took they hands to stand up. “Thank you….”
“What was all that about being a master?” Dante began.
“Yes, you said you were in some sort of training stage.”
Luna looked around at the, quite frankly, depressing town. “Can we go back inside?”
All three of them made their way back inside the hotel that they were shot out of. Inside, Luna told them all about the existence of other worlds, and the mark of mastery exam that she and her siblings had to take, she also told them all about the keyblade and it’s powers. Dante sat in front of her, and constantly interrupted with compliments like ‘awesome’ ‘badass’ and ‘sweet’ Virgil just remained quiet and listened while leaning back against the nearest, undestroyed wall.
“I see, so your jealousy and resentment allowed the darkness to take hold of you.” Virgil reasoned.
“That is my guess. Secretly, I’ve always been jealous of Discord and Tia. Everyone always flocks to Celestia because of her beauty and insight, and everyone always listens to Discord because of how clever and charismatic he is. Nobody ever listens to my ideas, or comes to me for help. However, before now, I was always able to keep these feelings in me sealed, and kept away from the surface, but now…….”
“I think you should just accept it, you were pretty strong, kicked our asses anyway.”
“Never, it’s the keyblade wielders duty to fight the darkness and keep the balance. If I accept it then I’ll never be a true master.”
“I agree with Dante, power is power. As long as you can tame such might, it does not matter the source from which it comes.”
“You two just don’t understand,” she sighed. She decided that a change of topic was in order. “I’ve noticed that you two are the only ones here, why is that.”
“Oh no, we don’t live here.”
“We’re traveling to find our father, someone named Sparda.”
“Also, I wanna know who sealed away all the demons that used to roam around here. I think it might have something to do with him,” Dante added.
“Do you think whoever sealed the demons could seal my dark powers?”
Virgil thought about it. “I don’t recommend it… but if such a person or demon exists, then most likely.”
Luna stood tall. “Then let me travel with you, please.”
Dante and Virgil shared a glance. Dante answered first. “Sure, I don’t mind we could use a babe in our group.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Virgil asked as he made his way over to them. “Might controls everything, you have much of it, sealing it away would be a waste.”
“Even so, I don’t want to continue feeling this way. I’m angry all the time, I’m jealous of my siblings for invalid reasons, and I keep transforming into a being of pure rage. It’s all the darkness' fault, I need to rid myself of it.”
“I suppose, if you are so intent… you may travel with us.”
Beaming, Luna jumped up and hugged both Dante and Virgil, causing them both to blush furiously. “Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou!” she squealed.
“I-it’s nothing....” Virgil stuttered.
“N-no problem.”
~~~
Twilight listened intently to the story as they traversed the tower. Even though the story was entertaining and enlightening, the thing that impressed her the most, was the fact that Dante never skipped a beat when telling it. Even when demons attacked them, Dante fought while still talking, almost as if his mouth was running autopilot while the rest of him went on to fight, which, Twilight thought, actually sounded possible for him.
Dante sliced the last remaining demon in half. “And, long story short, we found who we were looking for, Virgil abandoned us after he found out about or father, Luna learned to accept the darkness as a part of her, and I took Luna’s advice and started my demon hunting business.”
“Wait, what?”
“Hm, what? you got the story?”
“You can’t just skip to the end like that, what happened in the middle? What kind of adventures did you two go on? I need to know.”
Dante chuckled and pointed in front of him. “Well sucks to be you, cuz we’re back.”
Twilight looked ahead, and found that they really were right back at the elevator where they split up from. Standing there were the two slightly scorched forms of AJ and Dash, a woozy looking Rarity, and sleeping Pinkie Pie. She quickly turned back to Dante.
“Hold on, that’s not possible we didn't even find our piece.”
Dante held up a piece of blue orihalcon. “Yeah we did, you just weren't paying attention.”
Twilight blushed as Dante walked forward and greeted the others.
“Sup’ you all look like crap,” he said bluntly.
Rarity lazily glared at him. “Thank you, Dante, that’s exactly what a woman wants to hear.”
“What happened to you all?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Diane told me that we got ambushed by a bunch of demons, and that they knocked me out from behind, the ruffians. When I woke up, they were all gone, and she didn't have a scratch on her.” she said, pointing at the girl peacefully sleeping the time away. “Honestly, it’s all very confusing.”
“As long as you're both ok.” Twilight turned to the AppleDash group. “What happened to you two? Did you set yourselves on fire?” she half-joked.
Both of them gave a nervously embarrassed glance at one another before turning back to her, and answering together. “We’d rather not talk about it.”
“You all wanna take a minute or can we move on?” Dante asked slightly impatiently.
“Wait, I want to hear what happens, not just how it ended!”
“Sorry girl, we don’t have time. We need to get up top and stop my brother and that idiot Jester.”
“But-”
“Ask Little Luna for the rest the next time you see her, hell it’s probably why she sent you all here.” Before he she could rebut, Dante moved forward and joined his piece with the other two pieces already in their slots, thus solving the puzzle and unlocking the elevator. He stepped inside and was soon followed by the rest after they had woken up Pinkie. Twilight slumped over and groaned before going in after them.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” Dash teased.
“Shut up,” Lady huffed.
After collecting all three pieces of the key stone, the group rode the newly unlocked elevator up a few dozen levels. While riding, the girls commented on some of the rooms that they hadn't seen before. Dante explained to them that they were now out of the basement and rising above ground level. He pointed out several areas that they passed where he fought strong demons and got his other devil arms. He basically recounted the story of what happened just before they met, all the way from him eating pizza in his shop, to fighting Cerberus, guardian of the gates to hell.
Exiting the elevator, the group moved on through several hallways until they came to the dungeon with several scattered waterfalls. With two wrecking balls hanging from the ceiling and no other way out, they were at a loss about what to do. Eventually, Twilight managed to decipher some text hidden on the walls. Basically, it said to knock the balls together. This sent Dash off on an angry rant about the sheer stupidity of that particular puzzle. All she could talk about for the next thirty minutes was something along the lines of:
“Who just builds an awesome tower like this, but right in the middle of it, decides to include puzzles in it! Not just regular puzzles, nooooo! Seriously, what kind of guy, demon or not, just up and says, ‘hey, let’s have the adventurer smack some balls against each other to get to the next room!”
Everyone else was saved from this rant due to the earplug spell that Twilight thankfully spread across the group. At some point, Dash tired herself out and the group made their way to the tower library. Before Twilight could have a bookgasm, Rainbow noticed the injured panting woman in the corner.
“Lady is that you? Oh my gosh you’re wound!”
Lady looked down to see blood seeping through the bandages that Twilight had given her. “Don’t worry about it.” Lady’s head fell and she once more began to try to catch her breath.
Smirking, Dante strode forward, ignoring Twilight’s protests. “What’s wrong, you tired? Take a load off, I’ll handle this.”
Lady stood up, and pointer her handgun at him. “No, you stay here!”
Dante quickly reached out and redirected her gun, causing it to shoot him in the stomach. Even though he was the one shot, he was the only one in the room not to flinch. For once, he was in no mood for games. “I told you, you can’t do it. You’re injured and hurt! Don’t you get it? This isn't a human’s job.”
“Wait, then what does that make us!?” Dash exclaimed.
“No, you’re the one who doesn't get it! It has nothing to do with being human or demon,” she yanked her gun out of his grip and began jabbing him in the chest with it. “It’s about fixing my mistake. I’m drivin by my inability to forgive him! My soul is screaming, demanding his death. That’s what keeps me going, this is my family matter.”
Lady turned around and grabbed her missile launcher. Strapping it to her back, she walked passed Dante and to the far exit. “You should stay out of it.”
“Hey, I’m in this too. My brother started this mess and I’m pretty pissed at him." Dante Pulled out his twin black and white pistols, aiming them both right at her. “So I’m not gonna just stand back and watch as a babe gets herself killed right in front of me. Now, either get outta my way, or they’ll be some consequences.”
“Dante, I thought you said you don’t shoot humans?” Pinkie asked curiously.
“Yeah, and rather than watching her get killed you would just do it yourself,” Rarity added.
AJ followed “Yeah that seems kinda messed up”
“Oh trust me, I won’t kill her, she just won’t be walking her way up the rest of this tower,” he snarked.
“Fine with me,” Lady began, aiming her launcher straight at Dante, “I wasn't planning on leaving any demons alive anyway. Not. Even. One.”
Lady shot her launcher directly at Dante, it exploded on contact, causing the girls to cover their heads from the scattered burnt books flying out. Almost instantly the smoke cleared and Twilight’s peaked out from behind a glowing purple field. She looked pissed.
“Twi, wha-”
“Dante, girls, go on ahead, I need to talk to Lady,” she demanded.
“Like hell we will, I’m not leavin’ you behind,” Dash replied.
“Darn tootin’” AJ said, brandishing her new gauntlets.
“Please, Twilight pleaded. “Just go. I got this. I promise.”
Rarity looked at her seriously, studying her resolve. “Alright, everyone, let us move on.”
Dante put away his handguns. “Fine with me, I’m not all that into shooting babes anyway.”
AJ hesitantly walked past her, patting her on her shoulder as she went by. “Twi, you sure bout this?”
Twilight nodded but said nothing. Reluctantly, everyone moved passed Lady on the way out. Some of them giving her the stink eye, but Lady easily shrugged it off.
As Dante passed Lady he whispered, “I’ll take care of him.” To which she just scoffed. Eventually, the only two left in the library were Lady and Twilight.
“I suppose this is alright," said Lady, readjusting her cannon. "I get to rest up while they wear themselves out. Then I’ll take all three of them down at once.”
“Don’t you realize who you sound like right now?” Twilight asked, her once fiery glare now turning into to one of pity.
Lady took a step forward in anger, “If you’re comparing me to that demon, Arkham, you’re wrong!”
“But you just repeated his lines, verbatim. How could anybody not?”
“Though his blood runs through my veins I refuse to acknowledge any resemblance to that monster. You should feel the same!”
Twilight continued to plead with her. “But, you’re acting just like him. You said it yourself, just now. You’re only mission is life is death-”
“His death!” Lady yelled.
“No, the death of every single demon. You were willing to kill Dante, and he was just trying to help you!”
Lady waved her arm dismissively, “Demons couldn't possibly understand what’s happening. In fact, why do you even hang out with him?”
“Because he’s my friend now, he saved us when we first got here.”
Lady scoffed and shook her head, “That’s right, I almost forgot. You’re just like me before everything. Your other friend is a demon, so you’re used to hanging around them.”
“Spike is NOT a demon." Twilight insisted. "He’s a kind soul who’s just fallen off-track.”
“That’s a laugh! Look at what he’s done." Lady moved and motioned around the ruined library as if it represented her point. "He leaves for dead on your dying world, he shows back up, kills your so called friend, and now he’s out for your head. How can you still call him a ‘kind soul’ much less your friend.”
“No,” She calmly shook her head, summoning Magical Element. “He’s not a friend. He’s my brother, and I won't let you distract me from that fact anymore.”
“You’re blind!” Lady yelled. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and shoot her cannon at Twilight.
“And you see nothing but red!” Twilight dodged the explosion and called forth her magic. She summoned several magic missiles behind her and shot them in retaliation.
“At least what I see is the truth!” Tethering herself to a nearby column, she yanked herself out of the way of Twilight’s attack. Once at a safe distance, she pulled out both of her hand guns and shot repeatedly. “How can you put so much faith in someone who’ll only bring you pain!”
Twilight blocked the bullets with a small shield. “Because I’m willing to believe in the good that I know still exists within him!”
Seeing that her bullets weren't doing anything, Lady continued shooting with one gun, while using her now free hand to pull the cord from a grenade before lobbing it directly at Twilight. “Then you’re even more stupid than I thought!”
Twilight contained the grenade in a bubble of magic, thus containing the explosion. Unfortunately, she failed to notice the other four that Lady had thrown the second she contained the first. Quickly, she teleported out of the way, but the second she reappeared, she saw lady lunging at her with the bayonet at the end of her launcher.
Twilight blocked the attack and they came face to face. “Who are you to tell me how to deal with my family?” Twilight growled.
“I’m someone who’s seen your future. " Lady hissed. "If you keep on this way, you’ll end up just like me. Lunging after his throat just as he did your’s.”
Twilight shook her head a pushed Lady back slightly. “That’s a future that will never come to pass. I will find Spike, and I’ll find out what’s been done to him.”
“You’re a fool. Nothing has been done. He’s probably just realized his true nature." Lady put all of her strength forward and forced Twilight back further and further. "A weak, mindless, creature, who knows nothing but death and destruction!”
Twilight grit her teeth and her eyes began to glow white with powerful magic. “You, Take, That, BACK!” She exploded with raw magical energy, completely shoving Lady away from her. A bright shimmering, wavy violet field began emanating from body, lighting up the entire library and spreading wind and books everywhere. Lady quickly picked herself up and gaped at the scene before her.
Regaining her composure Lady looked on with determined eyes. “Fine then. Prove it to me! Prove that you can make me understand you’re resolve!” Bayonet pointed downward, Lady shoved her launcher into the ground. On the launcher facing Twilight, was a large hatch. Lady pressed a button and the latch opened, scattering dozens of small heat seeking missiles, all aimed at Twilight.
Twilight didn't flinch as the missiles came at her. However, just as they came within explosion distance, they were shoved away by the sheer force of the energy coming from Twilight’s body. Sent directly back toward Lady. She managed to dodge some of them but the forces from the explosions caught her anyway, slamming her harshly back against the wall.
The fight was over.
Twilight’s magic died down and her eyes returned to normal. She fell to her knees, she felt emotionally exhausted, but physically empowered. She shook her head and looked down at her hands. New thoughts began racing through her mind. “What in the worlds was that? I’ve never done anything like that before, but it felt amazing! A new skill? Some powerful magic? Is this what Master Luna sent us here to learn?” The sound of Lady moaning brought her out her her thoughts. Slowly, she got up and walked over to the injured and beaten women.
“H-how can you have so much blind faith in him?” Lady coughed.
Twilight briefly thought back to the time when she asked those same words. “Because of you, I nearly forgot what having faith meant. But thanks to a certain stubborn friend of mine, I remembered before it was too late. I don’t know what’s happened to him, or even whether or not he even was the real Spike,” she smiled confidently. “But I am Twilight Sparkle, Spike Dracos’ older sister and only family. It’s my job to slap him around when he get’s in trouble, and trust in the good that I know he still has.”
Lady looked up at the kind smile that was on her opponent's face. The shimmering field from before was back, but this time, it was fainter, softer, and barely noticeable. Apparently, it was infectious, because soon she found herself smiling as well. “Whatever you say, just don’t come running back to me when you’re wrong about all that.”
Twilight held out her hand to help her up. “Don’t worry, I won’t be.”
Lady shook her head. “Just leave me here, Dante was right, I’m to injured to move on, even more so now. Go on ahead, tell Dante to kick my father’s ass when they meet,” she sighed, making herself comfortable on the ground.
Twilight nodded and turned to leave. As she left, Lady looked up at the sky, thinking of happier times when her father would take her out to the park and play, before he was tainted by demon influence.
“Family…. huh?”
~~~
Twilight barely made it out of the room before something barreled into her chest, causing her to stumble back a bit. Looking down she saw the familiar strands of her friend’s naturally multicolored hair.
“Dash? I thought I told you to-” she stopped when she heard the faint sniffing sounds coming from her. She also felt a particular wetness on her shirt where her friend’s head was parked.
“Took you long enough…” she whispered, the words slightly muffled by Twilight’s outfit.
Twilight smiled widely before returning the hug that her friend so rarely gave out. “Sorry.”
“What do you mean 'you don’t know where to go!” screamed Dash as she and Twilight bolted down the tower corridors.
“Well excuse ME if I had to stay behind to fight a demon murdering, gun happy psychopath! What’s your excuse?”
“I had to hang back and help you out. Like the loyal friend that I am,” she said proudly.
Twilight dodged another attack from a demon passerby. They were in a hurry, and the number of demons seemed to be increasing so much, fighting them all seemed impractical at this point. “You didn't think to ask them where they were going?”
“Not like any of us know where to go normally. We always just sorta… show up in the right place.”
“Dash that’s… actually kinda true now that I think about it. How do we know where to go?”
“See! All we’ve been doing so far is going places, and solving puzzles.”
“You know what? Forget it! This is giving me a headache. We need to find out where the others are.” Twilight suddenly stopped running, a brilliant idea popping into her head. “Pinkie! She could just summon us right to her!”
“Well, I kinda told them that we’d catch up on our own… and for Pinkie to not use her magic.”
Twilight had to resist an urge to slam her forehead into something. Luckily, another idea popped into her head. “Up… that’s it! We just need to head upwards, follow the way we were going before.”
Dash raised her eyebrow in disbelief, “Seriously? That’s it?”
“Do you have a better idea?” Twilight hissed.
Dash flashed her wings into existance and flaped them a few times, “No... but I can fly. So I could say the same thing you said and it would be better automatically.”
Twilight deadpanned and continued to move forward. “We need to find another elevator, or some stairs or…”
Twilight and Dash exited through a door into an open room with what seemed to be dozens floating cubes all moving in different patterns, and at different heights. Some spun, some circled the area, some stayed in place, and others moved to form stairs for a few seconds before separating.
Twilight moved to the center of the room, looking up she saw a door directly above the one they came in from, only it was at least 30 feet higher. “I… guess this works.”
Dash floated down next to her. “So… up huh? Hey Twi, remember what I said about flying.”
“No. Now are you gonna carry me up there or not?
She seemed to think about it for a second. Suddenly Dash closed her wings and fell to the ground. “Nah, you wanna have a race?”
“What? No, we’re in a hurry. We have to meet back up with the others.”
Ignoring her, Dash continued. “Obviously, the others had to have passed through here. Right? So these blocks must be some kind of platforming puzzle. Let’s see who can figure it out first.”
Twilight looked at her stupidly. “Rachelle, we do not have time-”
“ONETWOTHREEGO!” Dash zoomed off to what seemed to be the lowest flying block, this one had the simplest pattern of moving back and forth in short paths. Being the natural athlete that she was, she easily hopped up on top of the large block.
Twilight sighed once more, face in palm. “To think she was crying in my arms not 30 minutes ago,” she mumbled. “Hold on!” She too ran over and hopped up on the block.
“This won’t be much of a race if we both make it up there at the same time,” she groaned.
“I thought you were smart Twi, there’s probably more than one path of blocks leading to that door.”
Twilight looked around, realizing that the jock was right. With so many differently sized blocks moving around in so many different patterns and directions, there could be any number of different paths to reach the door. Calmly, Twilight climbed off the block she was on and sat cross legged in the back of the room, leaning against the wall.
“Twi?” Dash climbed off and walked over to her, “You alright there?”
“I’m okay, just keep going.”
“Pfft, I bet you’re probably just gonna follow me.” Dash ran back and began climbing some of the blocks.
12 minutes later, Twilight sat in the same crosslegged position, leaning against the exit, thirty feet above Dash who was just forced to jump down after taking the wrong path up.
“Oh come on!" Dash groaned, "There’s got to be at least a hundred ways up there! Why can’t I find one!”
“No clue, maybe you should fly up here,” Twilight teased.
“Shut up, how’d you get up there so easily anyway?”
“I sat back, watched how the blocks moved, and mapped out the easiest path.”
“That’s cheating!”
“How!?”
“You used your magic!” Dash accused.
“No, I didn't.”
“Yes you did! I saw you!”
Twilight flinched back, “Alright, I may have used a slight slow spell on the blocks.”
“And?”
“And, I MAAAAAAAY have used haste near the end. But in my defense, I thought you were catching up to me.”
“See, now get down here and try again, differently!”
Twilight groaned and dropped down to ground level. She groaned again when Dash smiled at her and patted the top of her head despite being shorter.
~~~
“Dash that took way too long,” Twilight yelled as she ran up the stairs circling the outside of the tower, it wouldn't be long now until they reached the top.
“Not my fault I won.”
“You did NOT! You followed the path I took and jumped past me at the last block! By the way, I thought you said that was against the rules.”
Dash flew past her, smirking the entire way, “I said that I bet that you would do it. It was never a rule against it, Twilight.”
Twilight glared at her fiercely, “That’s cheating.”
“Just admit it, I outsmarted you.”
“No you di-agh!” Due to their argument, neither girls realized that they were running right into a wall of darkness. Twilight squirmed, everything around her consisted of nothing but darkness, and thick shadow. Eventually, she emerged into a dome shaped, solid gray room.
“Dash?” she called out, seeing that her friend hadn't emerged with her. Turning around, she realized that there was neither an exit, nor and entrance to this room.
“Rachelle?” she called out.
“Rainbow?”
Still no response.
“Twilight?” Dash called out. She too had flown straight into the wall of darkness, and ended up in the dome of gray. “Yo, Twi, you in here? Are ya messing around with the invisible spell again, cuz this isn't funny.”
“Rachelle Dash, if you’re playing some kind of prank on me, it’s not funny!” Twilight yelled, hoping that calling out her friends full name would elicit some reaction.
“Damn,” cursed Dash. “Where the hell am I anyway?”
Such language does not befit a lady. Came an eerily familiar voice.
Dash instantly turned around, summoning Rainbow Thunder in her hand and going on the defensive. “Who’s there!”
Rachelle, darling…… I’m not here to fight you.
Dash scoffed, “Puleeze, obviously you are. Because you’re really pissing me off right now.
More foul language~ Maybe we should get some soap, for that dirty mouth of your’s.
Dash continued to wave her keyblade at nothing, “Cut the crap and show yourself.”
I suppose so. It would be a shame to hide a face like this anyway.
Like, you really need to chill out
Twilight pointed her keyblade toward where she thought the voice came from, only to see that she was still physically alone in the room. “I’d be more relaxed if I knew who I was talking too!” she shot back.
Hmm good point, I’d hate to hide a body like mine anyway.
For both Twilight and Dash, mounds of darkness began coalescing in the center of the room, soon the mounds began rising and slimming, taking on a more human like form. Eventually, they completed their transformation, throwing both Twilight and Dash into shock. Both of them would later describe it would say that it was like looking in a mirror that had been warped, twisted, broken in several places, had a sorry note pasted on the front, and wasn't a mirror.
The women admired her body and clothes, “Absolutely gorgeous! Right, darling?”
Dash could only stare at the figure in front of her, dumbstruck and confused. The figure in front of her had her face, but her hair was longer, silkier, and more styled, almost as if it had near perfect constant care. She had her body, but instead wore a long dazzling pink dress and high heels. Overall she looked beautiful, like something straight out of Rarity’s modeling magazine.
Twilight’s double was equally as different. Her’s had shorter hair that was styled differently, with longer bangs. A violet low cut tank top on that showed off her cleavage as well as cut off short jeans. Overall she looked like someone who knew how to show off her body.
“Wh-wh-wh-wh-What the hell!!” Dash screamed.
“Tsk tsk tsk, what have I told you about language, darling.” Now that Dash could hear it clearly, it sounded just like she did, except softer and less boyish.
“Forget that! Who are you?”
“Why can’t you see? I’m you,” she replied, giving Dash a shocked look.
“No you’re not!”
“Like, yes I am, Twilight,” Twilight’s clone said, sounding like a typical popular girl would.
Twilight didn't look convinced, “Explain to me, in what context, is that supposed to be me.”
The other Twilight smirked. “I’m you if you had friends.”
Dash took a small step back in response, “What?”
The other Dash giggled, “Oh, you really should do something about all that fuzz in your ears. I said, that I’m you if you acted like the proper lady that you are.”
“I think you got the wrong one, aren't you supposed to be haunting Rarity?”
“No, I’m who you wish you could be.”
Dash looked confused. “I want to be Rarity?”
“No, darling, I’m one who can freely express her feelings without restraint. One who’s not afraid to be beautiful.”
“So... Rarity?”
Other Dash sighed, “Yes, I’m the you who wishes she could be more like Rarity.”
“Ohhhhhh... Yeah no, I’m good.” Dash began walking in the other direction. “So can you point me outta here?”
“I’m also the one who knows how to grab Spike’s attention.” This caused Dash to stop in her tracks. “I actually like being called Rainbow by the way, it matches my hair after all. Rainbows darling, Rainbows!”
The fake Twilight flipped her hair, “Haven't you ever wondered what it would’ve been like, to have not found the keyblade, to have never met Spike, to have a real family and real friends?”
Twilight didn't miss a beat. “Never in my life.”
The other Twilight laughed loudly, “Don’t lie to yourself, it’s not cool.”
“I know I’m not lying. I couldn't have come this far if I was, I wouldn't have even got my keyblade if I wasn't completely sure that I love the life I have.”
“Even after having your world thrown upside down by Spike’s return?”
“It’s what I wished for,” said Twilight, her voice as solid as iron.
Both Twilight’s looked at one another before the clone nearly fell out laughing, “You're too much you know. Fine, you pass, I guess someone already got to you. Guess I’ll forget the third question, seeing as how there’s not a single thought of doubt in your mind right now.” She began to walk towards Twilight, who instinctively put up her guard. The clone turned misty for a second but solidified as a more identical copy of Twilight. Clothes, hair, and all.
The doppelganger continued to walk towards Twilight, literally phasing into her body as they met, causing it to flash golden for a split second. A single thought ran through her head.
You have tamed my power. But know this, untamed doppelgangers can be omens of death to anyone who’s seen them.
~~~
Rainbow hopped backwards from where she stood, “Please, calm down, I’m not here to fight you.
Dash slashed down on the spot where her own doppelganger jumped from. Everything about her clone was graceful, from the way she simply hopped out of the way of danger, to how she spoke calmly while doing it.
“Then stop talking in riddles!”
Rainbow landed softly at the other end of the room. “Darling, we really must get you a book or something.”
Dash pointed her keyblade directly at her, electricity crackling around the blade. “What the hell do you want?”
“I merely wanted to ask you a few questions,” she replied.
“If you’re supposed to be me then shouldn't you have the answers?”
“As the one asking the questions I’d knew the right answer even if I wasn't you.”
“Then what’s the point?”
“I wanted to test something. So, will you answer my questions?”
“Only if you answer mine.”
Rainbow began to pout playfully, “Oh well that’s unfair, I just answered three of yours.”
Dash began grinding her teeth and reluctantly threw her arm down. “Fine, ask me three questions.”
Rainbow smiled cheerfully, “Fine, question number one; What is the name of your keyblade.”
Dash smirked, holding up her weapon. “That’s easy! Rainbow Thunder. Awesome right? Came up with it myself.”
Rainbow shook her head, “I’m sorry darling, but that’s wrong.”
“What!? How do you know?”
The clone merely held up her hand. “It’s real name, is Spectrum Skies.” The moment Rainbow said the name, Dash’s keyblade was wrenched out of her hands and into Rainbow’s in a bright flash.
Dash could only look down at her empty palm. “What the... How did you do that!?”
“My dear, keyblades are intelligent. They can pick their owners, and they have their own names. You’ve been ignoring your’s all this time.”
“What, but Pinkie calls her’s Candy Cane and we all know that’s not it’s name!”
“True, it’s real name is Laughter’s Sake, but Pinkie already shares a strong bond with her keyblade, one that you have not yet gained.” Rainbow released the keyblade and let it shine back into Dash’s hands.
Before Dash could say anything, Rainbow continued her quiz, “Question Two! Where is your hometown?”
Dash looked slightly confused, and a little angry. “I’m a drifter, I don’t have a hometown.”
“But what about where Twilight and Spike found you?”
“I was just passing though, I wasn't gonna stay.”
“So you don’t have anywhere that you hold close to your heart?”
“Hey you fake, the only home I need is where my friends are!”
“Well, we’ll see about that when it’s just you and Twilight.”
“What was-
“Question Three!” she interrupted, getting on Dash’s nerves. She slowly began to walk forward. “When you were small you once made a certain promise to a certain someone. To this day, can you remember what it was, and have you kept it? Answer before I come too close or you fail~” she sang.
Dash mind raced with possibilities. “Wait hold on, that was two questions!” She got no response as Rainbow continued to walk forward. Dash began panicking internally, Damn, I though that would at least buy me some time. Well she at the other end of the room… Wait is she picking up speed? No no! Focus! I don’t normally make promises, so this should be easy… except I’ve broken most of them! “Was it when I promised not to prank Shia?”
Rainbow continued to walk forward at the same pace, her peaceful smile fell slightly.
“Uhhh, ummm. Not to burn any more of Twilights books?”
No response
“Don’t use dog poop instead of eggs on halloween! Always meet Spike to prank on AJ?”
Rainbow’s face fell further, she was almost half way at this point, and her original had not come any closer.
Dash began banging the side of her head. “C’mon C’mon! I know, I promised I would be responsible with my keyblade abilities.”
Rainbow began to look sad. The more she walked forward the more disappointed and sad she looked.
Dash soured her memories to find the promise she made. However, it was too late Rainbow’s face was now inches from hers. Dash didn't notice until now, but her eyes as red as she thought them to be, they had a pinkish tint to them, which meant her own eyes did as well. She also noticed that said eyes seemed to be on the verge of tears.
Rainbow dropped her head in complete disappointment. “You just aren't honest, Rachelle.”
“Honesty’s AJ’s thing!” Dash shot back.
Rainbow shook her head. “Not just others. You aren't honest with your keyblade, yourself, or your friends, and this saddens me greatly. I guess… in a way, you’ve kept your promise.”
“Wait, what how am I not honest, and what promise!”
She looked directly into her own eyes, now with singular tears flowing. “You didnt even get one answer correct. I-I’m sorry.” Without another word Rainbow phased into Dash’s body, causing it to shimmer darkly for a split second. The voice sounded out around her once more.
You’ve failed to tame me, therefore you will not gain new power. Beware, untamed doppelgangers are a source of great misfortune. We will meet again, and hopefully...
Dash’s hearing failed and her vision began to swim. She suddenly felt light headed and queasy; her sight suddenly flashed white as she fell to the ground, unconscious.
Dash moaned and fidgeted weakly. “Sh… shut up. Don’t call me that.” Opening an eye, she looked around tiredly before rolling over and falling back asleep.
AJ leaned up and wore a self satisfied smirk. “Ain't nothin wrong with her that ah can see.”
“Are you sure?” asked Twilight, nervously glancing between the two girls.
“Yeah she looks knocked out,” Pinkie giggled. “I know that I look that way when I eat too many desserts and pass out from overeating!”
Rarity took over and sat a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder. “Diane, I will tell you later about how incredibly bad that is for you. Although, for now we need to discover the reason as to why our rainbow haired friend is currently ‘knocked out’, as it were.
Dash mumbled something once more.
AJ just snorted. “A’hm tellin ya she’s fine. Now, you say that you two were in a strange room when you showed up, but from our perspective you two appeared from thin air. Care to explain?”
Twilight nodded. “Well, I remember fighting Lady in the library--”
“Did you kill her?” asked Dante, leaning up against a nearby pillar.
Twilight sent a glare toward Dante but continued nevertheless, “Then I met up with Dash and we ran to find you guys…. The rest is almost a blank spot in my memory. A room. A shadow? Bits and pieces but not much else. Next thing I know is that I’m up here on the roof with you guys.”
Pinkie appeared next to her. “Wei~rd… But don’t forget the big swirling beam of light over there.” True to her word there was indeed a large column of demonic looking crimson light. Ironically, it seemed to be directed upwards toward a large magic circle that covered half the city.
Twilight took the time to look around the rest of the area as well. Twelve fallen angel statues were spread in a complete circle at the edge of the rooftop. All of them floated ominously at separate distances from the ground.
“Darling, are you sure that you weren't just exhausted from running this far immediately after a fight?”
“I don’t think so…. Well nevertheless, something happened that I don’t remember. Although, I feel like it was important.”
Dante walked over and leaned down to examine Dash. “Man, which one of you hasn't been knocked out yet?”
Pinkie jumped up and down vigorously. “Oh. OHH! Twilight hasn't!” she said, sticking her finger against Twilight’s nose.
“Heh, give it time.” Dante stood up and looked toward the foreboding light. “Alright, we need to go. Jester probably already has my old man’s sword and we’re down a fighter.”
“That’s not a problem, I’ll just carry Dashie like this and protect her.” Pinkie effortlessly tossed Dash onto her back and hopped toward the light.
“Wait, Pinkie! Hold on--” called Twilight.
It was too late, Pinkie had already jumped into the light with Dash slumped on her back. She was giggling and waving down at the others the entire way up.
AJ walked up and placed a comforting arm over her friend’s shoulder. “S’alright filly. S’alright.”
Twilight mumbled through both both palms covering her face. “There's probably an ultra powerful psychotic demon with Dante’s legendary family heirloom on the other side… and she just jumps!”
“Well no time to lose then!” AJ practically shoved Twilight into the light. Twilight flailed for a bit after losing her balance, causing her to float upwards feet first, completely upside down. AJ chuckled before jumping in herself with Rarity right behind her.
Dante watched the girls ascend and gave a small smile. “Well then. Time to wrap up this party.” He then stepped into the light and floated upwards himself. “Gotta admit, it’s been a crazy ride with these babes.”
~~~
Opening her eyes, Shia slowly lifted her head from her pillow and stretched. Looking around, she found that everything around her still consisted of the same plain white color. She sighed upon realization that everything that happened recently wasn't a dream in the slightest.
She looked down and found Angel still standing at his post, guarding her as she slept. She reached over and pulled the loyal bunny into a loving hug.
“Oh, Angel. I told you before; you don’t have to stand guard. That man isn't going to come back and hurt us.”
Angel turned to her with a shocked expression and spoke to her in his usual way, with a combination of nose wiggles and telepathy. <How can you be so sure, he kidnapped you and now he’s even gone after the others!>
“That may be true… but I still don’t believe that he’s capable of--”
Angel made a series of angry gestures. <Did you not see how he just up and burnt that guy to a crisp!>
Shia flinched badly. Of course she did. It was the very last thing she remembered before she came to this place. Angel saw how badly she was shivering, probably recalling the memory right now, and gave her a few pokes. When she snapped out of it her gave her a small smile. <Hey, don’t worry about it right now. We need get out of here. Are you feeling better yet?>
Shia tilted her head in confusion. “Oh, I’m feeling much better, but I still can’t feel my keyblade or my powers. How are we going to escape?”
Angel pointed behind him and wiggled. <Using that!>
Shia followed his paw and noticed that the wall that the Black Robed Man smashed with his keyblade. With a large chunk of it broken out the wall appeared brittle and easy to break through.
“B-b-but,” she stammered, looking back and forth, “wouldn't it be safer just to stay here?”
Angel looked at her incredulously. <Well what if he comes back and does decide to hurt on us? Or worse!>
“Worse?” she repeated fearfully.
<What if he tries to seduce you?> he wiggled ominously.
Shia’s face turned beat red and she stammered hopelessly.
<What if he brought you here just to use you for your body. I mean… he did call you a toy after all.>
Unable to take anymore, Shia ignored the rooms nulling effect, grabbed Angel, and hopped out of bed. Still a deep shade of red she extended two of her fingers to their maximum length and swiftly jabbed the wall in several specific places. The wall crumbled to the ground without so much as a crash. While she ran out of the room, Angel looked back as the wall with a dumbfounded expression.
<How in the holy carrot did you do that?!>
Shia couldn't help but spew her answer out in one long sentence as fled down the hallway. “MasterLunataughtmeamartialartcalledthegentlefistformyownprotectionnowlet’sjustgetfarawayfromherePLEAAAASSEE!”
~~~
After calming down, Shia slowly made her way down the strange building’s hallways with Angel on her shoulder. Now that she wasn't freaking out, Shia once again felt the nulling effects of the place draining her strength. While it wasn't enough to stop her completely, it was enough to slow her down and prevent her from flying.
Angel looked around with a criticising glare. <Geez what’s with this place. Literally everything is white! The walls, the paint, the plants, even the freaking dust! It’s driving me crazy!>
“Personally, I think that it’s a little scary.”
<I know right. I mean this place is making me hate my own fur!>
Shia held Angel out in front of her. “N-no, don’t say that! Your fur is beautiful!” she said, nuzzling the furry critter. “Also, that’s not what I meant. What I meant was… where is everyone?”
<True. We’ve been walking for at least twenty minutes. Even with how slow you walk we still should have had to fight or hide somewhere by now. This place is weird.>
Shia nodded. So far, they've simply made their way down one long monotonous hallway. Every so often they would go through large open doorways or up stairs. After a few more minutes of walking, the duo stopped in front of another large door that, of course, was also pure white in color. However, this one felt different to her, as if something dangerous were behind it. Off to the side was a strange orb of some sort. It sat on a pedestal and dark colored energy swirled around inside.
<What… the hell is that?>
Shia gasped, offended. “Angel Bunny! Language!” Curious, she carefully walked over to it and peered into. She flinched when several images appeared in her mind.
<Holy Carrot! What’s happening?!> Angel’s connection with Shia allowed him to see it as well.
“I-I don’t know.… But they look like… the floors of a castle. It looks like we’re on… floor number 13. It’s weird though, next to it says Pleasant Isles...” Shia stared at that title, something about it rang a bell in her head. She continued to try and remember before she shrugged it off and continued, “but all of the spaces next to the other floors say ‘empty’.”
Angel pointed down below. <Wait no, look. Down here it at Floor number one. It reads: The… blank blank Burning. And up close to the top says> Angel struggled to read it through the mental haze. <looks like a bunch of letters, I can’t read it.>
“Oh my,” she gasped, “No wonder you can’t read it. It’s missing letters from the words.”
<I’m confused. Several floors are missing names entirely, but the ones who aren't all have missing words or letters. What kind of idiot designed this poor excuse for a map?>
“Well the one we’re on now has the full title. I wonder what it means.” Shia looked toward the pearly white doors and walked up to them. Strangely enough they were already cracked open slightly. “Do you think we should go inside?”
Angel deadpanned. <We’re trying to escape…. Why would we go up the place. Look, now we know which way to go. So let’s just turn around, and thank our bushy tails that we haven't been caught yet.>
Shia looked slightly disappointed for a second. “Oh… okay then.”
“You sleazy rats! Get your pranking butts back over here so I can kick it!”
Shia stopped dead in her tracks. She knew that voice anywhere. Angel looked around in confusion and scratched his fluffy head. <What the hay was tha-->
Shia instantly bolted back toward the door and pushed it open. A bright white light enveloped both of them completely.
Eventually, the light faded and Shia managed to open her eyes once more. Said eyes immediately shrank when she realized what was in front of her. No longer was there any monotonic shade of white. But brilliant blue skies, and an even bigger blue ocean. All around them were trees of all shapes and sizes. Shia was at a lost for words. Her hand covered her mouth and her eyes teared up slightly.
Angel looked on in confusion. <What? I admit that it’s a refreshing view. But even you shouldn't cry at this. Have some backbone for carrots sake!>
Shia slowly shook her head, a single tear rolled down her cheek. “N… no. I remember now.”
<Remember what?>
“Pleasant Isles is the beach that we kept coming to as children. Even after we met Rarity and stopped traveling, we came here every chance we got.” Shia looked down, her smile both nostalgic and sad. “Some of my most favorite memories of of us playing here together,” she mumbled.
Angel looked out in the distance. <Wait, who’s that?>
Shia looked up. Sure enough, out in the distance were four figures. She could hear faint angry yelling and laughing. Two of the figures seemed to be flying alongside the third one, and all three seemed to be running from the fourth. Although she couldn't make out who they were, Shia could still smiled as she remembered watching her friends run away just like that after a furious prank section on AJ.
<So this place looks just like your childhood hang out, huh?>
Shia twirled happily. “Oh yes! Other than the forest this was my most favorite place to be with my friends!”
<Alright… so why is it here? Werent we just in a white building 30 seconds ago?>
Shia stopped twirling in happy circles. “Oh that’s right! I thought I heard Jackie’s voice somewhere.”
<Oh is that what that was. I heard it too. I can still hear it actually.>
“Really? How?”
<Trust the rabbit ears, girl.>
“Oh… alright. Which way?”
<The kid over there is still yelling it at the ones she’s chasing. I head Spike’s name as well but also some I don’t recognize. Also cursing… lots of southern cursing. Definitely AJ alright. Looks a little bit like her too.>
“I’m sorry Angel but that’s not possible. Jackie isn't a child anymore.”
Angel glared at her fiercely. <Girl what did I just say about my ears!>
Shia flinched. “To trust them?” she said shamefully.
<That’s right! And right now I’m telling you, younger or not, that is AJ over there running down the two avians and the boy with green hair.>
“Wait? Green hair? Does he have light purple skin?!”
“Yeah, I know right. It’s friggin weird--agh!”
Shia grabbed Angel in a frantic grip and moved him to her face. “Can you see who he’s with?”
Angel struggled in her hold. <Sure. But why?>
Shia surprisingly put the pieces together fairly quickly. “Angel there’s a girl who sounds just like Jackie here and a boy that looks just like Spike! I don’t know what’s happening yet but before we go look I need to know what the avians look like. Please it’s important,” she begged with teary eyes.
Unable to say no to her face, Angel turned around and looked out to them. <Well, they're almost out of eyesight but I can at least describe her hair colors since they still stand out.>
“That’s fine. Please hurry!”
<One has yellow curly hair… almost like that pink weirdo. She also has, ugh, white wings. Theeeeeeee other one has plain blue hair and pink wings. Now they’re gone. Happy?>
Rather than being happy Shia was confused. Terribly confused. After a few seconds of internal debate Shia found that in this room the building’s effects did not affect her when she instinctively summoned her wings to take flight. Although, her mind was only on one thing at the moment.
“I need to go see for myself!” she declared. At fluttering speeds the normally shy girl raced off to meet up with the unfamiliar familiar kids. Angel stubbornly clung onto her shirt while she flew.
“Woah! Hold on there!”
Shia stopped dead for the second time when a mysterious women appeared from thin air in front of her. She had long moss green hair and wore the same coat that the other man did, only with the hood down.
Crysalis regarded the girl with both amusement and curiosity. “I go out for 5 minutes to take care of something and the captive escapes? What is this world coming too?” she sighed theatrically.
“Umm, hi. Excuse me but could you please move… I need to check something behind you.” Shia tried to politely move around the dark skinned women, but to no avail.
Chrysalis’ mood turned sour. “Yeah, yeah see that’s the thing. You aren't supposed to be here. And you sure as hell ain't supposed to be wandering around.”
As if on instinct Shia summoned Nature’s Guide and immediately beat a speedy retreat back the way she came. Unfortunately, the speed worked against her when she flew right into Chrysalis’ waiting fist. The force to her gut caused Shia to fling her head forward and Angel to be flung off onto the sand below.
Shia quickly recovered and lept back, her hand already healing her injury. However, before she could do anything else a gloved fist came from below and decked her in the chin, another gripped her neck before she could fly further up.
Spitting out blood, Shia looked down and looked into Chrysalis’ eyes. Her evil, soulless eyes. She spoke in a low dark voice. “You had a nice little room that was all to yourself thanks to Spike. But now, you’ll be treated like a true prisoner should!” Viciously, she threw Shia down to the ground below. The force for the throw created a crater in the sand that knocked her unconscious.
Chrysalis floated down and pulled her up by her long pink hair. Angel could only stare in horror at the sight as, in a flash of green flame, both of them disappeared.
Master Luna looked through the visual monitor of the Gummy Ship. The ship just left the Temen-Ni-Gru world, and now drifted without direction in the void between worlds.
Luna looked thoughtful for a second. “So, Virgil saved you all did he?”
“Yep, I do reckon that we would have lost that one without his fancy shield breakin’ sword of his.”
“Man! I still can’t believe I slept through the whole thing! SO NOT COOL!” Dash complained.
Pinkie jumped up next to her chair. “Oh my gosh, Dashie you would've loved it! There were explosions and magic and Twilight learned how to duplicate herself and everything!”
“I get it Pin--”
“Oh, and at the end there was this awesome Limit that Dante and Virgil did where they traded swords and wailed on the giant blob thing. Then Virgil took one of Dante’s guns and they shot both them together. They were like "Boooom! Jackpot!” Pinkie gushed.
Dash just leaned her head on her console and groaned loudly.
Luna chuckled a little. “It is good to see that he has still retained the good inside of him. Although, we must ask; what became of him after the fight?”
Twilight looked sad for a moment but then regained a hopeful look. “After both of them fell into Hell to grab the sword, Dante came back up and told up that Virgil had chosen to stay behind. Although, he did assure us that Virgil would find a way back.”
Luna also looked a little sad. “So, Twilight, have thou learned a new spell?” she asked, switching topics.
Twilight nodded vigorously. “I don’t remember where I learned it, but I can now make a second copy of myself! I was able to chain ga level spells with my own copy! It was amazing!”
“That is most joyous news, my student! Did you all gain new skills?” she asked looking over the others.
Dash raised her hand and summoned Spiral to her. “I got this sweet ass gun! Infinite ammo, high rate of fire, and high penetration bullets!”
AJ summoned Beowulf on her arms and legs. “Ah got these nifty Silver Gauntlets. Why, I bet that I could lift this entire ship with one hand now no sweat!” AJ gave a few test punches. Each one seemed to tap the sound barrier with it’s force.
“The stunning Virgil taught me how to use my summoned keyblades to entrap my foes and protect my friends. I can see why you thought I would like him. He was gorgeous! Oh, if only!”
Pinkie seemed to wink out of existence several times, each time appearing in a new place. Luna looked stunned, even scared. “Oh dear maker she can teleport now?”
Twilight quickly waved her arms to calm her down. “No! No! We learned that she now has the power to speed up or slow down time around her. She also has a new summon that seems to have complete control over time and space.”
Another face appeared on screen next to Luna’s. “Oh, that should indeed be extremely useful.”
“Master Celestia!” Twilight cheered. “How are you?”
“Very good Twilight. I see that Luna’s little vacation worked wonders for you all.”
Rarity stuck out her tongue in disgust. “You call that a vacation? That was an absolutely horrible experience if you ask me.”
Celestia shot a cheeky glance at Luna. “I completely agree. How about a real rest stop for once?”
Before Twilight could answer Rarity pushed her out of the way. “Does it have a spa!!” she screamed.
Celestia nodded and Rarity immediately turned to Pinkie. “Diane, you will fly this ship to wherever Master Celestia’s coordinates point. Or so help me I will fill your room up with bald flavorless cupcakes!”
Pinkie gasped loudly. “No frosting?”
“None! Whatsoever!”
Pinkie instantly sat in her seat and looked ready for takeoff. Twilight got up and looked back at the monitor. “Where are we headed.”
For what had to have been the first time since it’s creation, the colorful Gummy ship found itself, and its passengers, descending from the sky in a graceful fashion befitting a sky vessel such as itself. Landing expertly on the soft grass, the doors opened and a figure emerged.
That figure was Pinkie Pie, and she “emerged” by flipping out of the ship and dancing around wildly. “I did it!” she cheered. She began singing a small tune to go with her dance. I did it! I landed! Go Pinkie! Go Pinkie! Who’s the Captain? Who’s the Captain?”
After a few more seconds of that, the other wielders exited the ship, some rolling their eyes, and some giving the girl deadpan looks. “All right,” began Rachelle as she immediately floated out of the door. “We get it, you can fly the ship. Big whoop.” She began grumbling as she stretched her wings. “So could I if you guys just let me.”
Twilight exited soon after, gently hopping to the soft ground. Crossing her arms, she gave the excited girl a confused look. “Frankly, I’d be surprised if she really couldn't fly it. Considering that she created it in the first place.”
Twilight glanced up and stepped to the side just as Rarity gently levitated herself down next to her. Fixing her clothes, she said, “It’s called benefit of the doubt, dear. I knew she could get us here safely if she put her mind to--”
Jackie immediately cut Rarity off by dropping down harshly and knocking up a few clops of dirt onto the girl’s previously immaculate boots. Almost chuckling, AJ met the piercing glare that Rarity was giving her with a raised eyebrow. “Didn't help that ya went and threatened the poor girl.”
Rarity huffed and crossed her arms. “Well, she needed some encouragement.”
Pinkie hopped up and gave them both a hug. “And I thank you for it!” she giggled. “So where are we?” Pinkie glanced down at the lush garden that she had parked on. It was was filled to the brim with beautiful flowers of many different colors. Looking around, the group noticed that the garden they were standing in stood at the edge of an even larger area that sported several other, equally beautiful, gardens. In the center of the area sat a stone water fountain that shot out clear sparkling water.
Rarity’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she was the first to turn around and notice the large radiant castle behind them. It stood, tall and gleaming, like a tower of light and hope that could banish any darkness. Simply gazing upwards at it was enough to send away any negative feelings that one might have had, almost as if the light from the tower resonated with the light in peoples hearts. Truly it was a magnificent structure worthy of it’s name.
The group stared up at it for a time before Twilight finally glanced down and noticed the two figures standing next to the kingdom gates. One was a tall light skinned women with long multicolored hair. She wore a short sleeve blouse with various sun themed designs, as well as a sash wrapped around her waist that seemed to glow with magic. She was also waving at them with a kind smile on her face. Next to her, stood a shorter, younger looking, women who had familiar dark blue hair, who wore a night blue form fitting dress with various moon designs.
“Master Luna, Master Celestia!” Twilight immediately ran over and bowed her head to both of them. The others soon made their way over and did the same, though AJ had to remember to drag Dash out of the air.
“Please,” Luna urged. She motioned with her hands. “Rise, my students.” Following her order, the girls raised their heads to look up at Luna’s smiling face. “We are glad to see that you have all made it here safely.”
Twilight looked up at her nervously. “I-I wasn't expecting to meet you here,” she confessed. ”Especially not both of you together.”
Celestia gave her sister’s student a kind smile and gestured to herself, saying, “I told you that this was my favorite world. I live and raise my own students here, just as Luna did with you all in the Lunar Mountains world that she has adopted.”
Dash excitedly rose into the air and took a deep breath. “Yeah, but this place is so much cooler than the mountains.”
AJ quickly leapt up and grabbed the insensitive girl's leg, slamming her back down to earth. “Rainbow!” she hissed, leaning over the fallen girl.
Both Rarity and Twilight leaned over her with glares of their own. “Rachelle,” began Rarity, “Apologize! That was incredibly rude.”
“Fine, sorry,” Dash huffed.
Luna held up her arms to sooth them, “Girls, it’s fine. Even we have to admit that this world does have a certain charm to it.” Luna looked up at the shining kingdom behind her. “After all, it is where we were first trained.”
Twilight immediately turned back to her with a sparkle in her eye. “This is where you were trained, Master?” she squealed, glancing back up at the shining castle. “It’s everything I’ve ever imagined it would be,” she whispered in awe.
Celestia laughed and turned to her sister. “Lulu, I love your students!”
Luna’s eyes widened at the mention of her nickname. “Celestia!” she hissed.
“Lulu?” Pinkie snickered. Twilight wanted to lecture her on disrespect, but even she reluctantly found herself snickering over her mentors childish name. Rarity also tried to hold back her snickers when she saw her once proud master blush embarrassingly. AJ simply smiled and rolled her eyes.
Nodding from a job well done, Celestia patted her sister’s back and gestured to the kingdom behind them. “Welcome, children, to the Kingdom of Light, Radiant Gardens.” Just as she said that, the large doors opened and the girls rushed in after the sisters.
~~~
As Celestia and Luna made their way through the city, the girls nearly spun in circles looking at all of the ivy covered buildings and fountains. It was beautifully connected with nature as Twilight even saw a home built into a tree. The people moved around with a special energy about them, happily going about their day in peace, with some even responding to Pinkie’s frantic waves and greetings. Dash, as she flew high in the clean air, noticed the many people wearing what looked like military suits and carrying around interesting weapons. She eventually came to the conclusion that they must have been the guards of this kingdom.
Twilight also marveled at the many kinds of people present; from humans to anthropomorphic animals. While looking around, the group continued to listen to the sisters as they made their way through to the castle at the center of the city. Currently, Celestia was explaining the history of this world. “Radiant Gardens is a special world that attracts all kinds of people from many different worlds,” she explained, gesturing to the people. “Back when darkness ran rampant, and caused many worlds to disappear, this is where the survivors came to seek protection.”
At the end of that last sentence, Twilight’s head snapped back to Celestia. “Wait, does that mean…”
Luna quickly anticipated this question and spoke up to answer it. “Yes, dear Twilight. Look around you, there are indeed humans from the constellation of Equestria. You’ll find many Avians, Mages and Earthans in this world if you look closely.”
Hearing this, Twilight began to look around with even more fervor. She had learned soon after arriving on the Lunar Mountain world, that regular humans were nearly identical to Equestrian humans, save the fact that they didn't have marks or natural magic. The only way to tell them apart was to locate the mark on their body, or ask them directly. Twilight eventually found a few Mages by locating the individual symbols on their foreheads.
Realizing that she had fallen behind during her search, Twilight rushed to catch up with the group. Hopping up to Luna’s side, Pinkie gave her a curious look before asking, “Do you think that anyone we knew made it here...?”
Luna put a hand to her chin in thought, no doubt in her mind about who Pinkie was talking about. “Probably, though Radiant Gardens isn't the only place they could've ended up. There are many worlds that act as magnets for the lost, though to a lesser extent. It is also very possible that they could have been simply swallowed by the darkness.”
Rarity and AJ winced. Glancing over at Pinkie, they expected her to be looking sad. They definitely weren't expecting her to be bursting with excitement. “So there's a chance that Maud could be in a world we visit?” she squealed.
“If she isn't here, that is,” Luna answered. “I suggest that you take a look around when you are free.”
Pinkie leapt up and wrapped her Master up in a large hug. Luna squirmed before extracting herself. Refusing to acknowledge her sister’s wide grin, Luna continued to make her way towards the castle gates that were now coming into full view. “Pinkamena, I have told you about personal space,” she called out behind her.
“Personal what now?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head confusingly.
“Such a good Master you are,” Celestia cooed as they entered the castle.
Rarity ohh’d and ahh’d at the interior of the castle, as it had both nature and machines intertwined in it’s construction. The sight of this interesting design sent the wheels in Rarity’s head turning on possible designs for clothing. Everyone else also looked around with a curious awe.
It wasn't until Dash spoke up that everyone turned their attention from the interesting architecture. “So, what sort of ruler lives here anyway?”
Celestia had been expecting that question and turned around with a smile. “No one,” she answered simply. She took in the confused faces of her sisters students before continuing. “You see, this castle, it used to be one large laboratory for the research of hearts and other worlds. Keep in mind that this was before the relationship between worlds was fully understood. Dangerous experiments caused horrible events to occur here. And these events caused pain for many people and sent this world spiraling into ruin.”
Rarity but a hand to her mouth and gasped. “That’s horrible.”
Twilight nodded sadly, completely aware of this history lesson. “So this is the place where the ‘Era of Xehanort’ began?” she asked.
Celestia nodded. “That is correct, Twilight. Eventually though, the pain subsided, and the world rebuilt. This castle is no longer used for those experiments. Today, it is used for the community. Ansem's computer is used as the central information hub, and the people are free to use it if they need information.” Celestia gestured to herself and the area around her. “I train my students here as well, and while I may be in charge of this world, by no means am I it’s ruler. Think of this castle as the town hall.”
Pinkie hopped excitedly. “Does that make you it’s Mayor?!” she asked.
Celestia thought about it briefly before nodding happily. “I suppose I am.”
Dash flew up to meet her on eye level, and gave her a suspicious look. “You have students?” When Celestia nodded, Dash flew higher and began to look around. “Well where are they? I wanna test their mettle,” she declared confidently.
Celestia’s smile turned from a smile to a smirk as she turned to Luna. “Lulu, your student wishes to challenge mine,” she said in mock astonishment. Celestia leaned down to whisper slyly. “Are you sure that she’s ready?”
Luna rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to answer, but Dash immediately flew down between them and said, “Of course I’m ready. I’m already this close to finishing my Mastery exam. I even--”
“Rachelle!” Luna called, her voice reaching bold levels. Instantly, Dash submitted to her authority and lowered herself to the ground. Luna continued. “We can talk for ourself, thank you.” She turned to Celestia, who had an impressed look on her face. “Now, as much as we would love to see our student come out victorious over yours, we do believe that there are matters to discuss. The kidnapping of small Shia?”
At the mention of their lost friend, many gazes fell to the ground in sadness. Quietly, Dash gave voice to the very first thought that all of them had when they landed. “Shy would've loved this place.”
Twilight sighed and whispered, “I think so too.”
With the mood significantly downcast, Celestia sighed and supposed that it was finally time for them to fully inform her and her sister of the events that have transpired until this point. Leading them to the closest conference room, Celestia and Luna ushered them inside.
Once inside, Celestia and Luna sat on opposite ends of the large round table, and both of them adopted serious faces. Luna was the first to begin. “Alright, my students. Now that we are together again, this is the time to tell us everything.”
~~~
Despite some initial hesitation, Twilight and the others began to recount their tale to Celestia and Luna. Starting from the moment they left and detailing their rather interesting arrival on their first world. During which, Rarity pointed out the curious fact that they never did find out that world’s name. Twilight retold Yuna Zecora’s prophecy, and then, with a pained heart recalled Spike’s entrance and abduction.
During that part of the story, Luna noticed the odd looks that Dash and AJ were giving each other. Moving on, Twilight finished up by telling them about her adventure in the Temen-Ni-Gru, and what she learned.
As Twilight finished her tale an emotional silence fell over the table as Masters Luna and Celestia thought about Twilight’s story.
Luna muttered the first phrase of Yuna Zecora’s prophecy. "The lone child who’s lost his days. With two in hand, he will open the way. Twisted, the past she’s misdirect... will allow the seeker to complete the set? What does it mean?”
“I’m not sure, sister,” Celestia sighed. “I have a few theories, but I don’t want to draw any conclusions until I know more about this Chrysalis character. However, something else concerns me more at the moment.”
Luna turned to her with a curious look. “And what would that be?”
“Twilight,” she began, lifting her head she stared right into the young girls eyes. “You said that Spike wielded two keyblades. Are you absolutely sure.”
Twilight flinched back from the women’s powerful gaze, but nodded. “I’m sure, they were identical black and white keyblades that allowed him to become seemingly invulnerable.
Celestia took her gaze away and netted her fingers in thought. “I see. If they were identical, then the keyblade wasn't taken.”
Dash leaned back in her seat in surprise. “Woah, you can steal keyblades?”
Luna turned to answer her question. “In a way. You see, in special circumstances, keyblades can be… given, or borrowed.”
“Really, now?” said Rarity, astonished.
“That’s amazing,” breathed Twilight. “How?”
Luna and Celestia glanced at each other, mentally debating on whether they should tell them or not. Eventually, Luna shrugged. “Say that one of us is injured, and in order to assist you when we cannot, we hand you our keyblade to use. Normally, when removed from our possession, our keyblades return to us, but when given to another that we share a deep bond with, that person will be able to use it for a time. Keyblades can also be passed on to a successor in the event that it’s owner perishes.”
“As you know,” Celestia added, “keyblades choose their masters. They are connected with you on a deep level. Should you give your keyblade to someone that you do not trust with every bit of your heart, they will not be able to use it.”
Dash summoned her keyblade discretely under the table and glanced down at it. “Connected… huh.”
“The curious thing about this,” Celestia continued, “is that most, if not all, keyblade masters are unable to own more than one keyblade at a time. If they do, than the second keyblade was most likely given to them, or passed on from someone. If neither is the case, then powerful magic is usually involved. And in any of those cases, the keyblades that are wielded are always of two different designs. If Spike was wielding two identical keyblades, that makes him a natural dual wield. The amount of keyblade masters that have naturally owned two keyblades, without outside assistance, could be counted on a single hand.”
The entire table went completely silent for a time, all of the girls were giving stunned or surprised looks. They never imagined the importance of Spike’s situation. It was no longer a mystery as to why they lost like they did. If he had complete control over both of his weapons, his powers were no doubt, in a completely different league than theirs.
Twilight finally raised her head and asked, “What does this mean, Masters?”
Celestia nodded, happy that Twilight was asking the right questions. “The powers of a natural dual wield aren't fully understood. Normally, the powers of the second keyblade merge with the first, adding onto the wielders power. But this is only the case with borrowed keyblades. In Spike’s case, I suspect that one keyblade multiplies the powers of the other, and vice versa especially since they're the same. While not as creative, this would mean that whatever powers he has normally would pose an exponentially greater threat than normal.”
Dash clenched her fists at her last sentence.
Luna chimed in with her own thoughts. “My thoughts are that the two keyblades work both separately and together.” Luna held up both of her hands, one finger raised on each. “We think that Spike may have access to two different sets of abilities, one corresponding to each keyblade. But when used together...” Luna put her hands together, then raised a finger on her right one. Now she only held one hand up, but that hand now had two fingers raised. “Spike is able to use both sets. But either way, this means that he’s extremely dangerous.”
*Slam*
Everyone turned to Dash, who had slammed her clenched fists on the table and stood up. She gave a hostile look Luna’s way. “Stop talking about him like he’s the enemy,” she whispered through clenched teeth.
Rarity, who had been sitting next to Dash, reach out to calm her. “Rachelle, we aren't…”
Unfortunately, Luna cut Rarity off before she could continue. Wearing a stony expression, she said, “Spike has captured and endangered one of my students. What is worse, is that he has openly displayed lethal hostility to Twilight. He’s a threat now.”
“It’s not his fault!” Dash yelled. “He’s being tricked… or… or mind controlled or something. The Spike I knew wouldn't do this. Spike. Is not. A threat. If he really wanted us dead he would have done something in the castle.”
“If he’s captured young Shia for something, it’s reasonable to conclude that he will return for you all,” explained Luna.
“If he does then I’ll fight him myself,” she replied. “I’ll beat some sense into him and break whatever mind control Chrysalis has over him.”
Luna could sense no doubt in the girls words as she stared into her resolute eyes. She sighed, Rachelle Dash was always her most stubborn student and the first one to challenge her on her decisions. Some part of Luna admired that, for she had been the same way during her own training. In any case, Luna decided to give up the argument for now.
Luna closed her eyes and stood up in her seat. “Fine, but...” Opening her eyes she gave Dash such a fierce gaze that she instinctively fell back in her seat. Luna’s eyes were glowing with dark magic, and her voice was deadly serious, and everyone could feel it. Some like Rarity and even Pinkie trembled in their chairs as they looked at the terrifying visage of their Master. Low but commanding, Luna spoke. “If Spike purposely attacks or abducts another one of you without reason. I shall end this exam, send you all home, and track him down myself. I will find him, and I will end him if he does not return her. Am I understood?”
All of her students instantly began nodding, and none of them uttered a single word of protest. Calming down, Luna sat back in her chair and folded her arms. The effects of her presence gone, Dash gave Luna a dirty look, muttering something about not letting anything happen to Spike.
Laughing nervously, Celestia rose up from her seat and addressed the room. “A-alright then. To wrap up this little meeting, Luna and I will be investigating this Chrysalis character. Currently, she’s one of the biggest unknowns in this problem, and could be the key to solving it. Until we find something, you all will continue traveling the worlds.”
Luna sighed sadly, “We had initially wanted you all to have the genuine experience, but for your own safety, we will take the liberty of installing new navigational software in Pinkie Pie’s Gummy ship.”
Rarity sat up excitedly, her eyes sparkling in delight. Her voice was nearly a high pitched squeal of delight. “You mean that we’ll finally know where we’re going?”
Master Celestia nodded and smiled brightly. “Indeed, this new software will contain details about any world you come across, including what kind of world it is, it’s history, and the current problems that it faces. I’ve even taken the liberty of including a danger level!” she exclaimed.
Twilight’s eyes lit up in amazement while Pinkie Pie slumped sadly, “Well that’s boring…” she whined.
Twilight’s sparkle disappeared as she turned towards her with a shocked expression. “How? It’s everything we needed!”
“Makes choosin’ a new world a mite easier, that’s for sure,” AJ remarked.
Luna groaned and leaned back in her chair, much the same way that Pinkie did. “I agree with my student. I prefer the excitement of walking straight into the unknown.”
Celestia rolled her eyes at her suicidal sister. Once again addressing the table as a whole, she said, “Well then, meeting adjourned. I think that we could all use some time to relax.” Celestia turned and smiled at the Rarity. “Rarity, I think I promised you a spa, didn't I?”
“YES!” Rarity screamed instantly. Realizing what she did, she coughed awkwardly into her fist. “I-I mean, yes please.”
Celestia chuckled and called over one of her assistants. A few seconds later, Rarity had left with her to find the local spa in the city. “Now,” she said, turning toward Dash. Her face quickly returned to the mischievous one that it had been before the meeting began. “I also distinctly remember someone challenging my students.”
Dash looked confused for a second when she realized that Celestia was looking directly at her, but quickly remembered what she had said earlier. “Oh, oh yeah! Bring ‘em on!” she said, giving Celestia a challenging look.
Twilight raised her hand like a good student to ask a question. “How many students do you have, Master Celestia?”
“I have a few students, though not as many as Luna does,” she answered. “However, one is a little… free spirited, and tends to wander off without telling anyone.”
Luna chuckled and shook her head mockingly. “Tsk, tsk, Tia. Such a good Master you are. You don’t even know the whereabouts of your students.”
Celestia smiled through the twitch in her eye. “Twilight, would you like to learn about aura?”
Luna’s eyes opened wide in surprise. She was about to object, but one look at Twilight told her that she didn't have a chance at keeping her away now that the thought was in her head. Instead she turned to Pinkie with a frustrated look. Standing up, she more or less dragged the girl out of her chair and out the door. “Come, Pinkamena. Show me this new technique you have.”
“I have a new technique?” Pinkie asked as she left the room.
Even as Dash, AJ and Twilight looked on with confusion, Celestia chuckled and turned back to Dash. “Rainbow Dash, I think your name was.”
Dash groaned. “No, that’s a stupid nickname. My name is Rachelle. You can call me Dash though.”
“My mistake," she apologized. "Rachelle, you’ll be able to find my students in the training gym. It’s at the end of this hall behind double doors. You can’t miss it. Feel free to explain your situation and challenge them. They love sparring with others, so I bet they’ll love sparring with another wielder.”
Dash beamed and rose out of her seat on magical wings. “Sweet!” she exclaimed, rushed down the hall in an excited blur.
With only three people left in the room AJ rose up from her seat as well. “Got anything in this big ol city for me? Name’s Jackie Apple, by the way. But you can call me AJ.”
Celestia put a finger to her chin in thought. “I’m not sure what you would be into. You could look around and see if you can find something. Or just find somewhere to relax. We have a rather large courtyard that you could loiter in. Or you could revisit the garden just outside the city where you arrived.”
AJ also thought on it before nodding. “I gotcha. I think I’ll just go take a walk around. Twilight, don’t work to hard, an get some rest.” With that, AJ left Celestia and Twilight by themselves.
It took Dash less than ten seconds to find the gym that Celestia directed her to. In her typical showboating fashion, she slammed open the double doors, instantly gaining the attention of the four girls already inside. The first girl simply deadpanned at her entrance. “And… you are?”
Dash gave her a cocky grin as she stepped into the room. She took a quick second to examine each of the figures in front of her. One girl, the one who had addressed her, had long, silky looking, pitch black hair. She wore what looked like a marching bands uniform with yellow and brown epaulettes on her shoulders as well as a bright pink bow tie. Like Rarity, she also wore an elegant combat skirt secured by a black sash that was tied around her waist.
The second girl wore something much simpler by contrast. She had mid length mint green hair with white highlights and bright golden eyes. And she wore a simple mint colored hoodie that matched her hair, brown cargo shorts and dark green boots.
The third girl was by far the shortest of the group, nearly child size. Dash, who was the shortest of her own group, was only slightly taller than her. She had rather pale skin, and short greyish purple hair that looked like it was cut without looking in a mirror. Dash regrettably looked into her eyes, and found that they were almost disturbingly white. Her first guess was that she was blind. However, when her eyes moved to connect with the girl’s, they instantly widened before glancing away shyly.
Her choice of attire is a simple white shirt under a pair of blue denim overalls, a red scarf around her neck, and brown steel toed boots. She pretty much looked like she should be working on a train.
The fourth and final girl turned to Dash with misaligned golden eyes and blond hair. She wore a cute grey sweater with detached sleeves that left her shoulders bare. She also wore a skirt, but unlike the other girl she had on dark frilly thigh length socks, as well as grey boots that matched the rest of her cloathing. Around her waist hung a small round bag with a picture of a muffin on it.
After giving each of them the once over, Dash summoned her Keyblade, causing each of them to reel back in surprise. “Yup. I’m one of Master Luna’s students,” she bragged.
The girl with mind hair tilted her head in confusion. “Master Luna?”
The blond haired girl also looked confused for a second before her misaligned eyes lit up in realization. “Oh yea,” she exclaimed. “Master Celestia said that her sister and her students were coming today!”
The girl with black hair turned to her with a shocked and surprised look. “Wait what?” Her eyes then narrowed as she rigidly walked up to the girl and grabbed her by the shoulders. “When did she say this?”
The blond haired girl continued to smile blissfully as she answered the question. “Yesterday!”
“Wha… you… yesterday?!” Not knowing what else to do, the black haired girl simply muttered a few frustrations before simply giving up and sighing deeply. “Oh Ditzy, you forgot to tell us again.”
The mint haired girl walked up to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine, Tavi.”
“I tell her all the time, I tell Master Celestia to tell me the important things,” the girl grumbled. “I swear that she tells Ditzy on purpose just to spite me.”
“Sorry!” the blond haired girl said cheerfully. She rubbed that back of her hair, embarrassed. “ I thought I told you guys.”
“What? When?” the dark haired girl asked before suddenly recalling the event in question. She promptly slammed her palm to her face. “Ditzy,” she whined, “saying that we’re going to have visitors today doesn't count. We always have visitors.”
The girl, apparently named Ditzy, raised a finger, still smiling cheerfully. “But these are special visitors!”
“Then say that next time!”
Dash simply stood back at the door, still holding her Keyblade out. She promptly realized that she had been completely forgotten the moment she entered. This was something that she could not stand for. “Hey!” she yelled.
Attention now focused back on her, the four girls turned back to face their special visitor. The black haired girl seemed to realize what had happened first, and at least had the decency to look momentarily ashamed. “Oh. Sorry. Hello. My name is Octavia Melody, and I take it that you are one of Master Luna’s visiting students?”
“Hey,” shouted the mint haired girl stepping up in front of Octavia. “Don’t forget to introduce us!” She turned to Dash and gestured proudly to herself. “I’m Lyra Heartstrings.”
The blond haired girl hopped up in between the other two, hugging them both in the process. Her senselessly cheery attitude and never ending smile immediately reminded Dash of Pinkie Pie. “My name’s Ditzy Do! What’s your’s!” she asked. Before Dash could answer, Ditzy oh’d and reached over to grab the small girl and pulled her over into the hug. “And this is Whitney, she’s shy around new people, but isn't she just the cutest!?”
“Umm,” Dash muttered. Something about the small girl was putting her off. Though she couldn't figure out what it was. Shrugging it off, she continued to introduce herself. “Sure, whatever. My name’s Rachelle, but you can call me Dash. Master Celestia said that you guys love to fight, so I thought that I’d come see how good you guys were.”
Octavia detached herself from Ditzy’s hug and took a step forward. Obviously, she was the leader of the group and stood about a head taller than Dash. “We enjoy a good spar every now and then. Interesting Keyblade you have there. What’s it’s name?” she asked.
Dash opened her mouth to say Rainbow Thunder, but recent memories resurfaced, telling her otherwise. Frowning, she shook them off before continuing. “Rainbow Thunder,” she said proudly.
“Interesting,” Octavia breathed. “Well then, I suppose that I should introduce mine.” Moving her hand in front of her stomach, Octavia summoned her Keyblade. It surprised Dash in that it was probably the longest, and thinnest, Keyblade that she had seen so far. The handle guard consisted of two separate grey pieces that were separated in the middle, and topped by a musical note and a bow tie similar to the one Octavia herself wore. Rising from the bowtie was what seemed to be a cello bow that acted as the shaft, and a treble clef that sat as the teeth. Hanging from the end of the Keyblade by a short brown string, was a small cello keychain. “Please, say hello to Bow Light,” said Octavia. “She and I will be your first opponents.”
“Wait wait wait!” yelled Lyra, stepping in between them. “Why can’t I fight her?”
Derpy held Whitney close to her and pouted. “What about Whitey? I think she should get a chance to fight for once.”
Whitney held her palms out and waved them. “Oh no, please. I don’t mind going last.” She looked up at Ditzy with a small smile, “I’d actually prefer to see you fight again, Ditzy. It’s always so interesting to watch.”
“Awww thanks,” Ditzy gushed.
“Guys,” Dash yelled, once again grabbing their attention. “I can fight each of you one at a time.” Hell, I could take you all on at once.”
All four girls merely glanced at one another with blank looks before turning back to Dash. “We doubt that,” they all said. Octavia continued alone, saying, “But you can fight us one at a time,” she pointed to a corner of the gym where some magical looking equipment sat. “You can heal after each battle over there.”
Dash face palmed, even their healing station was cooler than Luna’s. Back on the mountains, the only way to heal after a fight was to have either the Master or Shia heal them, or just rest it off. With what these girls had they would never have to stop training. Nevertheless, at least this meant that Dash didn't have to go easy on them.
“Fine, I’ll fight Octavia first since she has her Keyblade out already,” Dash announced.
Octavia smirked over at Lyra, who slouched in disappointment. “A wise decision.”
Dash and Octavia met in the middle of the room and crossed Keyblades in typical respectful fashion. One smirking at the other, it was difficult to tell which one was more confident. Though Octavia had a calm exterior, it was also notable that she was just as excited as Dash was.
Turning simultaneously and walking to either end of the gym, both girls turned and, once again, show each other respect by bowing. Raising themselves up, Octavia raised an eyebrow before looking over at Ditzy, who was sitting with Whitney and Lyra over on the bleachers. “Before we start, you’re not an avian are you?”
Dash cocked her head before summoning her wings behind her. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“I see, would it be too much trouble to fight while on the ground?” Octavia smiled awkwardly. “I’m a normal human, and I’m still learning how to fight aerial enemies.” Octavia blushed slightly when Dash started chuckling.
Ending with a smile, Dash waved it off and dismissed her wings. “Yeah sure, no problem.”
Octavia smiled thankfully at her. “Thank you.” Donning a serious face, Octavia took her stance. Seeing Octavia take her’s knocked the rest of the laughter out of Dash as she took her own wide stance. Taking a small second, she analyzed Octavia’s stance. She stood with her body facing the side, with one hand behind her back and one foot forward. It was definitely a stance that none of her friends used. Her Keyblade was held from where she had summoned it originally, straight up in front of her face.
“Lyra, would you like to do the honors?” she asked, not taking her eyes off of Dash.
Lyra stood up and groaned in boredom. “Yeah sure. Keyblade spar number 1: Octavia vs Rachelle. Magic is allowed, flight is not.” Octavia readied herself by moving the Keyblades handle so that it was right next to the side of her face, then tilting it so that the tip of the Keyblade faced Dash. Lyra continued. “Let’s have a clean battle, blah blah blah, first to give up or land three hits wins. Begin!”
"En guard!" In an instant, Octavia flew from her starting position, stabbing her Keyblade directly towards her opponent. In less than a second Octavia was in Dash’s face, her Keyblade just barely deflected by Dash’s lightning fast reflexes.
“Wait, what the hell just happened?” Dash nearly yelled, not even realizing that she had blocked Octavias initial strike.
Ditzy and Lyra looked on impressed. “Wow, never seen anyone block Octi’s first strike like that,” Lyra whistled. “This might be an interesting match after all.”
Grunting, Octavia took a small leap back and rushed Dash with dozens of lightning fast blade thrusts. Each one, to her frustration, either missed, were parried, or only barely scratched her target.
Dash, however was barely aware of the situation. All that she knew was that she had to keep dodging. Her natural speed and reflexes were the only reason that she hadn't been stabbed shanked or pierced through. “Damn,” she thought, I can’t even fight back. What’s with her attacks, is she trying to poke my eye out? I need to get some distance, and fast!”
Acting on her thoughts, Dash jumped into the air and flipped around Octavia. Landing behind her and turning quickly, Dash unleashed a fast paced combo of swings, most of which were parried by Octavia’s thrusts. Now that she didn't have the first strike, Octavia and Dash were fighting on equal speeds. Both of them were able to attack, then block or dodge, then counterattack in what seemed to be a shared rhythm with the other.
This surprised Dash because she had rarely ever fought anyone who’s sword strikes were as fast as her’s. Normally, with her friends they would try and and get close to her only to swing a few times and back off, usually to cast magic or outmaneuver her. However, with Octavia it was just a straight up sword dance with neither one of them giving an inch. It was an exhilarating thing to experience.
From Lyra and the other girls point of view, Octavia and Dash were a blur of sword swings in the center of the gym. The individual strikes were almost too fast for any of them to see. “Woah,” gasped Lyra. “This kids got some serious speed to keep up with her attacks for this long. I can’t even keep up with her this long!”
“You gettin nervous Lyra,” Ditzy teased.
“Hell no! I’m getting excited!” Lyra cheered, standing up in her seat. “Go new kid!”
Octavia grinned, every bit as exhilarated as Dash was about her opponent. “Looks like you’ve made a fan.”
Dash returned her grin, “Yeah, better give her what she wants.” In a sudden move in between Octavia’s thrusts, Dash moved at even faster speeds and pushed herself closer to swing her Keyblade against Octavia’s stomach. Unable to react in time, Octavia braced herself and flew halfway across the gym.
“That’s one hit!” Lyra cheered.
Regaining her balance, Octavia landed and resumed her stance. “I suppose warm up is over then.” Not wasting any time, she once again sped back towards Dash in a forward thrust. “Phantom Thrust!”
Recognizing her attack, and this time, anticipating where it would land, Dash moved to the left so she could counter. To her surprise, however, even when she saw the girls Keyblade whiz my her, she still found herself being jabbed in the chest by Octavia’s attack. The following shock wave through her directly against the wall.
One hit for Octavia!” Lyra yelled.
Dash quickly picked herself up. “What the hell, I saw it this time,” she muttered angrily. Deciding that it was time to use magic, Dash began to channel lightning through her Keyblade, knowing full will that contact then would cause Octavia to become electrocuted. However, when she tried to channel the magic, her vision went blurry and she had to steady herself from falling over. Confused, she barely had time to register and block when Octavia came at her again.
“Quinstrike!” With Octavia’s Keyblade glowing, she stopped just one step short of Dash and struck her in five places simultaneously, once again slamming Dash against the wall. Lyra called that out as the second hit. Just as Octavia was about to deliver the final blow, Dash raised her defense and they locked blades.
While Octavia still had on her confident grin, Dash now had on a frustrated and confused frown. “Ready to admit defeat?” Octavia asked, pushing Dash back.
“In your dreams.” Switching up her tactics, Dash took her other hand and punched Octavia in her gut, knocking her back somewhat. Normally, Dash would then knock her into the air and call down a bolt of lightning, but since her magic wasn't working, she simply opted to spin around and kick her. Unfortunately, Octavia recovered and blocked her kick with her Keyblade.
“I’m fairly sure that we were supposed to be fighting with Keyblades,” grunted Octavia. For once her other hand was away from her back, bracing her Keyblade against Dash’s foot.
Dash smirked. “Hah, I was taught not to rely on weapons. And since you went took my magic somehow, I really don’t even need it,” she bragged.
“Master Luna must have an interesting training style then if she taught you not to rely on your own Keyblade.”
Dash’s smile only grew wider as she dismissed her Keyblade and took Octavia by surprise by lowering her body and leg sweeping her. Standing over Octavia, Dash re-summoned her Keyblade and put it to her neck. “I never said that Master Luna taught me that.”
“And that’s three hits! Dash wins!”
Octavia, seeing that she was clearly defeated, banished her Keyblade and relaxed on the ground. “Well then, you win I guess. Good show.” Octavia chuckled good naturedly and lifted her hand for help.
Being that graceful winner that she was, Dash gladly helped her up. “Yeah, I’m awesome!”
Lyra hopped over and brought Octavia into a one armed hug. “I told you that you need to do something with that other hand of yours. You got two of them for a reason!”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Yes, Lyra, I know. Although, we can’t all be as dexterous with their hands as you are.”
“Anyway, my turn! My turn!” Lyra pushed Octavia over to the bleachers. “You wanna heal up real quick,” she asked Dash. “You look like crap right now.”
Dash looked over herself. It was true, she definitely looked beat up. She had multiple injuries from where some of Octavia’s strikes barely missed, and full on bruises where her attacks had actually landed. Not to mention, she still thought that what ever strange effect Octavia’s Keyblade had was still causing her to feel slightly woozy and weak. “Yeah, I’m gonna go check out that healing booth.”
~~~
“Hmm, now this is terrifying…” Luna muttered.
She had brought Pinkie aside for a private meeting, and the first thing that she asked of her was to show off her new time slowing abilities. As it was currently, Pinkie was everywhere. She would appear in front of her, then less than a second later, she was somewhere else. In fact, Pinkie was moving from place to place so fast, it seemed like there were multiple copies of her, all chirping the same ‘Here I am!” when they appeared.
By this point the entire room that they were in was a chorus of high pitched call outs and giggles, and frankly, it was even starting to wear on Master Luna’s patience. With a final “Stop!” all movement ceased, and the number of Pinkie Pies returned to one. Luna rubbed her temple, praying that a headache did not form. “Thank you, Pinkie, for your demonstration. Have you learned anything else?”
“Nope?” Pinkie chirped happily.
Luna looked at her suspiciously. “Nothing? None at all. No lost ShotLock or transformation techniques.”
“Nope. Nuh-uh. Nopperooni! I was able to lock my ship like you said though. Does that count?”
Luna shook her head. “How is Pinkamena faring?”
Pinkie rattled her head back and forth playfully. “Oh she’s rattling around in there somewhere.”
“If it’s alright, may we speak to her?” Luna asked.
Pinkie Pie beamed and nodded excitedly. “It’s alright, she loves you!” Reaching up to her hair, she grabbed the hook of the front of her hair and pulled outward, stretching it like rubber. Letting go, it snapped back, slammed her forhead and threw her head back. Pinkie stayed like that for a seconds before slowly bringing her head forward.
Rubbing the sore spot on her forehead where her hair slapped, Pinkie began groaning in pain. “Damn, that hurt like a bitch!” she cursed. Now, her hair was entirely flat and her eyes had lost all light. Pinkie had completely switched over to her other self.
“Pinkamena, what have we told you about language!” Luna chided. To emphasize her point, Luna reached over and plucked the sore spot. Causing the girl to hiss in pain.
“Aghhh, bitch!”
*Pluck*
“Fuck you!”
*Slap*
“Ow! Fine! God. I hate you both!” Pinkamena groaned, now hunched over in agony. “What do you want anyway?”
“We see that you still lack restraint as usual,” Luna observed, lowering her hand.
Pinkamena rolled her eyes and scowled. “Yeah, yeah, and you’re still brimming with light. Now what do you want?”
“We just wanted to know whether or not you have recovered any new lost abilities yet. As you know, you are the--”
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Pinkamena groaned loudly. “Pinkie and I are one of the only remaining blah blah blahs and it’s our duty to blah-blah-blah. Shut the hell up about it. When I remember something new, I’ll tell you.”
“Pinkamena, this is an important responsibility,” Luna said, frustrated. “Those skills have been lost for centuries. They are very powerful, and very dangerous, both to those used on, and to those used by. We just want to make sure that you’re safe, and that you aren't just trying out anything that comes to your head.”
“I feel so protected,” Pinkamena droned sarcastically. “Anything else?”
Master Luna’s face turned into one of concern, as she asked, “Have you shown yourself to the others yet?”
Pinkamena crossed her arms and turned her head away. “Hell no. Plus, it’s not my decision anyway, it’s her’s.”
“So you’re fine with it then?” Luna asked.
Pinka went silent for a few seconds before answering in a low, almost apathetic tone. “It’s fine.”
Luna reached over and brought Pinkamena’s eyes to meet her own. “Pinkamena, since no one has asked you; what are your thoughts about the situation?”
“What? Spike? Whatever, my opinion doesn't matter.”
“Of course it does. From what Pinkie’s told me, he was as much your friend as he was to the others, perhaps more so.”
Pinkamena bared her teeth and growled. “Doesn't matter to me what he does. If he hurts Pinkie, or any of her friends, I’ll kill him. Same as always.”
Luna looked deep into the girl’s steely dark blue eyes. They were so unlike Pinkie’s, whose eyes were always bright and brimming with light and cheer. An uninformed person would never even consider the possibilities of those eyes willingly letting themselves be filled with such deep darkness. Yet, as Luna knew, even the deepest darkness held some form of light within them, and she knew full well where Pinkamena’s lie. “Would you though? We shall ask again. Be honest, what do you really think about Spike’s situation?”
Pinkamena said nothing, merely continuing to look into her Master’s eyes.
After leaving Celestia and Twilight alone, AJ left the castle fairly quickly with the help of one of the attendants. The first thing she did when she got outside, however, was take a deep breath. The fresh clean air in Radiant Garden was a welcome and appreciated change from the stale thin air in Dante’s world. So the first thing that AJ wanted to do when she got the chance to relax, was to take a few seconds to appreciate that. Only after taking a few more deep breaths, did she finally start wondering where she wanted to go.
Letting out one final exhale, AJ craned her head to look around. “Alright, now… what to do with myself.” It was then that she felt her stomach grumble. “Guess I could use something to snack on. I wonder if this place has any apples.” Deciding that she didn't want to didn't want to go right back into the castle she had just left, AJ walked out into the city.
~~~
“Now, Twilight,” began Celestia, still standing in the conference room. “I know that I’m not your normal Master, but I hope that you’ll still be able to learn something.”
Twilight was nearly vibrating with excitement. “Of course Master Celestia. I’m ecstatic to learn anything you can teach me, and I’ll treat you with the exact same respect that I give Master Luna.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Celestia chuckled quietly. “Poor Lulu’ll get jealous. Anyway, I’m going to go on a wild guess and say that you don’t actually know what aura is.”
Twilight thought about it for a second before shaking her head. Celestia, however, nodded in understanding. “I expected as much. Luna isn't really fond of this ability.”
Twilight cocked her head and confusion. She never knew of anything that her master was afraid of. In fact, even though most of the books that she read told Twilight to avoid and fight against the darkness, Master Luna was the one that taught her darkness was not something to fear, and that even accepting it would transform it from an enemy to an ally. Twilight was fully convinced that Master Luna was afraid of nothing. “Why would she not like it?”
“Well first,” Celestia said, raising a finger. “let me explain exactly what aura is in this case. Now pay attention.” All at once, Twilight watched as Celestia’s body started to glow brightly, almost like the shining sun. She found herself in a state of awe as she continued to stare, slack jawed, at what was probably the embodiment of all light. She suddenly found herself bowing to the glowing body in front of her, but soon after that, the light faded. With the sense of awe and wonder gone, Twilight stood back up, confused. “What was that?”
“Did you see what I just did?” she said, her finger still raised. “What did you feel just then?”
“I… I felt like I was in the presence of my mother. I felt like someone extremely powerful was in the room with me. Not that you aren't powerful though.”
Celestia lowered her finger in surprise at the way Twilight worded her sentence, but she shrugged it off. “Well, I guess that’s one way to put it. Aura is basically a rough display of power and intimidation. However, since the intimidation part is largely ignored by enemies, and as it has no offensive or defensive capabilities, auras are one of the most useless things to learn. Not many people know about it, and those who do, don’t care enough to teach it.”
Twilight opened her mouth, but Celestia raised her hand to stop her. “However, auras are also useful in conveying emotions between people who are capable of understanding one another. In my case, my aura conveys trust. I can also resonate with the light inside you. That’s what you felt. I feel like a mother to you, because that who you believed to be someone you can trust wholeheartedly.
“Now, the reason that Luna doesn't like this particular ability, aside from the fact that it’s useless in most instances, is that her particular aura inspires fear and obedience via overwhelming power.”
Twilight’s face contorted in a shocked expression. “What?”
“Indeed,” Celestia’s smile dropped and her expression followed. “Before, when Luna talked down to Rachelle, her emotions caused some of her aura to leak out, causing you all to go silent and complacent. Has anything like that happened before?”
Twilight folded her arms and thought about it. “When she was training us, sometimes when we wouldn't calm down and listen, she’d yell extremely loud to get out attention. I remember freezing up completely whenever she did.”
“That was probably how you all, as children perceived it. An adult yelling at you to be quiet. I know for a fact that Luna can yell loudly, but not loud enough to cause all six of you to freeze up. However, how did you feel today?”
Twilight lowered her head sadly, and muttered, “I-I think I remember feeling really afraid of what would happen when she said that she’d hunt down Spike.”
“Exactly. As adults, you are seeing her aura for what it is naturally. She inspires fear. Luna is extremely powerful, and she’s scared of throwing that power around because of her emotions.” Celestia cracked a smile. “She actually very rarely gets upset like that. She must care about you girls very much.”
Twilight thought back to when they left the mountains, and what Luna told her before they took off. A small happy smile appeared on her face.
Celestia acknowledged the smile as her own grew wider. “Well, moving on with the lesson. You said in your story that while you were fighting Lady, something similar happened?”
Twilight nodded and recalled the final moments in her fight with Lady, and how she began glowing. “That’s right. From what Dash told me, my eyes were all white and and I was surrounded by a shimmering purple field.”
“I see. That’s another property of aura. It’s appearance and effects varies from person to person. Mine appears as a shining light, and Luna’s appears as a hazy shadow. From your description of how Lady acted afterwards, I would assume that your aura inspires people to believe in you. Could you summon your aura now?”
“I don’t know how...” Twilight muttered. Blushing slightly. To her, it was embarrassing to know that she could do something, but also not know how to do it. Embarrassing and slightly humiliating.
Oh my gosh, she so cute when she doesn't know something. I wish she was my student so I could mess with her! Celestia gushed internally. “It’s alright, you don’t have to know how to do it. Like I said, it’s probably a useless skill unless you’re dealing with certain types of people.”
Twilight ran up to the taller women with wide sparkling eyes. “But I want to learn it! Please teach me?”
Celestia flinched back from the girls powerful gaze. So that’s what Luna was talking about… “Alright, for the sake of completion. Usually, you need to channel a powerful emotion…”
~~~
Finally, after so long. After so many hardships, trials and, icky tribulations… bliss. Truly, it was nirvana. These are the thoughts that went through Rarity’s mind as she sank herself into large spa tub. As soon as she sank her first toe into the steaming waters, she knew that everything had been leading up to this moment. All of the filth and grime from Dante’s world was about to be washed away. Sure, the Gummy ship had a rather extensive bathroom and shower, but it only contained the bare essentials; and not Rarity’s definition of essentials that were complete with several kinds of shampoo, finishers and conditioners, and a dozen or so different hair styling products and materials. As well as various make up kits, emergency make up kits, backup kits, and especially her prized original dress robes. She was allowed to bring some of them, but the majority of her collections were left home.
“Well, lets not think of such negative things for now shall we,” Rarity muttered, slipping deeper and deeper into the blissful bathtub. With lack of better things to do while relaxing, she reflected back on her experiences in the demon tower. She soon found that she didn't actually remember much from her time there. Almost as if she slept through most of it.
“Oh… I suppose I did miss out on a lot. How many times did I fall unconscious?” Rarity began to think back to the times that she blanked out. There was that time when Virgil defeated her with nary an effort. There was the time that she and Pinkie were attacked by demons. She remembered fainting the very first time that I saw the Arachne. However, there was a strange hole in her memory almost directly after that point, where she was found unconscious outside in the tower hall.
“What was I doing out there by myself anyway?” Rarity wondered. It just looks like to me, they all left without giving you a second thought. Rarity grimaced.“Oh right, they left back into that… ugh, icky spider room to find a missing puzzle piece.” her face relaxing slightly, she began to pout. They were all more eager to fight the enemy then to make sure you were safe. “They sure were eager to leave me behind. What were they thinking, leaving poor defenseless… me…” What started out as a dramatic expression, soon trailed off into actual concern. “Am… am I really that weak that I couldn't fend for myself for ten minutes?”
Rarity thought back to the fights that they encountered in the last two worlds they visited. “When Spike showed up, Jacquline and Rachelle did all they could until the end. When Virgil attacked, I stupidly sat there daydreaming instead of helping until it was too late.”
Rarity lifted her arm out of the water and summoned her keyblade. Radiant Gem stood strong and beautiful like it had always been. As far as Rarity knew, her keyblade had one of the most unique powers available. Being able to summon more than one of it and use it without lifting a finger. She briefly even wondered if that made her an exception to Master Celestia’s rule about dual wielding. For if she duplicated her keyblade, and held each in both of her hands, would that make her a dual wield?
“Of course not.” Rarity chuckled half heartedly and sat the keyblade in the water, and watched as it floated in front of her. Never once did it float too far away in the jet current. She stared at it for a few seconds. “But… that doesn't mean that I can’t become stronger. A lady sometimes needs to be able to carry her own bags. I can’t let myself drag down my friends by being weak and defenseless.”
With new resolve, Rarity quickly decided that she had relaxed enough today. Master Celestia said that her students were here, perhaps she would pay them a visit. Grabbing her keyblade, Rarity got out of the spa and headed back towards the castle.
~~~
It was a well known fact that, out of the six of her friends, including Spike, AJ had the calmest head on her when it came to most situations. Shia was to averse when it came to problem solving, Rarity was too dramatic, Dash didn't think things through, Twilight thought too much, Pinkie usually didn't think at all, and Spike would take the quickest route and damn the consequences. Only AJ had the patience to come to the best logical conclusion.
However, when it came to apples, all of that clear thought went out the windows. This was the reason why AJ was stomping through the city leaving small craters and destroyed buildings in her wake.
It all started when AJ decided not to go back into the castle. It didn't take long before she found a shop to get something to eat, run by an old duck of all people. She was disappointed to find that the only thing he sold was some kind of ice cream bar that she had never heard of before. Sea… something. However, when AJ asked about the nearest place to get anything apple flavored, the poor guy had the bad humor to act like he didn't know what apples were.
Of course AJ played along, laughing out of courtesy, but the longer the ice cream guy denied knowing, the more annoyed AJ got. Finally, she simply left. Everything spun downward from there when the next two places she went to all said the same thing. “What in the world is an apple?” Now, AJ had no problem describing the gloriousness that was her namesake. In fact, she even seemed happy to enlighten them… until one of them responded by saying, “Ehh, sounds gross.”
That person didn't have a shop anymore.
It got to the point where AJ started running around random shops ransacking the place and trying to prove that it was all a bad dream. Then to the point where she was simply running around in a frenzy looking for the stuff. Unfortunately, the worst came to pass and she came to the realization the this world was the representation of her worst nightmare.
A world without apples.
AJ’s fierce stomps soon dwindled into sluggish wanderings as all hope faded from her eyes. She found herself wandering aimlessly until she tripped and fell onto a bed of flower. She vaguely realized that she was back out in the garden where they had first arrived.
A small girl stepped up and stood over her. “Um, excuse me? Are you alright.” A low mumble was all AJ made in response.
“Is she dead?” asked another voice.
There was a slapping sound, a grunt of pain, and an irritated. “No, you dodo! Look she’s breathing just fine!”
“Don’t call me a dodo!”
There was a small scuffling noise, until a loud screech shut everyone up. “Stop fighting! We should help her!”
Ears now hurting, AJ turned her head to see what the source of the noise was. She saw three small girls, no more than 10 years old. One was a pale girl with light lavender hair styled in swirls. Another was a red haired girl that spoke with a slight southern accent. And the final one was a tallish girl with short purple hair.
AJ frowned sadly. “Poor kids, forced to live their lives like that, never knowing the joy of apples.” Sulking, AJ turned her head back so that she was faced down on the ground. She fully intended to just stay where she lie, praying that when she woke up, it would be time to leave. Unfortunately, the three girls were still around.
“Jeez, Sweetie why do you have to scream all the time!” asked the purple haired girl, still covering her ears.
The girl in question fidgeted and clung to the bottom of her dress nervously. “It’s the only way to get you two to stop fighting.”
“Girls, what’s going on?” another voice called out, this time from AJ’s other side.
The red haired girl looked up, and waved him over. “There’s an injured person here. We don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Let me see.” AJ heard someone lean down next to her. He shook her slightly, asking, “Are you all right?”
AJ didn't turn to face him, instead she mumbled through the grass. “Leave me alone…”
All three girls glanced at each other nervously before turning back to the guy, who looked back at them and shrugged. The red haired girl spoke up, saying, “Ah don’t know, Spike... maybe there’s nothin’ wrong with her after all.”
The violet haired girl relaxed her arms behind her back, “Yeah, maybe she’s just taking a nap.”
“I guess,” said the guy. He took one last look at the girl in front of him, but flinched back when he found himself staring right into her bright green eyes, both of which were wide in shock. In the corner of his vision he spied a familiar old brown stetson, and his own eyes widened in recognition when he realized who this girl was.
Spike and AJ were speechless and still as stone in each others presence.
“What the hell is wrong with this girl!” Dash screamed inside her head as she jumped back to the far back wall. After beating Octavia, Dash took a few minutes to refresh herself in the healing corner. That thing was no joke, she felt like she had just slept for several hours and eaten a full breakfast. She was fully ready to throw down with Lyra.
What she didn't expect was that she wasn't about to throw down with Lyra, but rather some freak show that called herself Lyra. However, it wasn't Lyra herself that Dash considered freakish, but rather how she fought.
Lyra made it apparent very early on that she could handle her keyblade expertly with pretty much any part of her body. In fact, the first thing she did was sit down and take her shoes off. This confused Dash momentarily before the weird monkey girl came running at her bare foot. Her second move was when she came in with a basic downward strike, something Dash thought would be easy to block. But when Dash expected to lock blades or prepare for a counterattack, Lyra simply let her keyblade go flinging back behind her as soon as Dash blocked it.
In another surprise move, Lyra caught it behind her with her left hand and sent it in a wide spinning swing from the side. Seeing what she did, Dash decided that she was going to slam it to the ground with a harsh downward swing to avoid her switching hands again. However, she realized that she was too late when an empty hand whized past her keyblade. Lyra continued to spin, catching the keyblade as it fell with her right hand, slamming it into the side of Dash’s face and earning her a point.
The fight continued from there, with no end of surprises coming from Lyra’s side. At one point, she even threw her keyblade high into the air and rushed Dash in hand to hand combat. During which, what Dash thought was an upward kick that she dodged, came down on her head when Lyra had caught her keyblade with her foot and brought it down.
The worst part, was that Dash had figured out what her keyblades power was. Any hit that the keyblade landed was repeated some time later. When she got hit in the face the first time, she felt the exact same hit a few minutes later when she was finally pushing Lyra back, knocking her off balance and letting Lyra regain the upper hand. The second hit had not resurfaced yet though, and she was afraid of when it would happen.
This all happened in the first ten minutes of the match. Now, Dash was woozy for what amounted to four attacks to the head, and losing two to one. She also found that Lyra could bend her body at extremely weird angles to dodge attacks, making her almost unhittable unless Dash moved faster than her.
Lyra, still holding her keyblade with a raised foot, flung it into the air and caught it with her hands. “Like my sweet moves?” Lyra chuckled. “You’ve probably figured it out by now, but my keyblade, Secondhand, has an ability called ‘Double Finisher’.”
“Yeah,” Dash groaned, “I figured that out. You got a really weird fighting style you know that?”
Lyra smiled and shrugged, taking it as a compliment. “It’s a gift. Plus, I’m still getting warmed up, I also know something called Capoeira. Wanna see?”
Without waiting for an answer Lyra removed her hoodie and tossed it away, revealing a loose fitting white undershirt. Before Dash could ask what she was doing, Lyra banished her keyblade, and began somersaulting and flipping toward her. At the end of her vault she came down with what looked like drop kick, but instead of her foot hitting the ground and ending, she immediately rolled on the ground and kicked out with her other leg. When Dash dodged that, Lyra kicked out with both feet, causing Dash to back up even more as Lyra back flipped off the ground and landed on her feet and got into her stance. She rhythmically moved from side to side, switching her her front and back arms and legs, almost as if she was dancing.
Not knowing what else to do, Dash rushed forward and attacked Lyra, who, in another bout of dance, dropped completely to the ground in a handstand underneath her. Dash barely had time to block when Lyra shot both her legs upward, slamming into her keyblade defense and pushing her into the air.
Since the no wings rule was still in place, Dash decided instead to use wind magic in the air, maybe then she could throw Lyra off balance and get a hit in. However, she once again found that her magic was unresponsive. Dash immediately fell over when she landed, unable to keep her own balance this time around. “What is wrong with me?” she wondered. Distracted, Dash barely noticed Lyra close in on her.
Unwilling to give up, Dash got up and met her head on. Unfortunately, a few dance moves later, Lyra was behind her, landing one last strike with her keyblade and ending the match.
“Match point, Lyra!” Octavia announced from where she sat.
Lyra instantly relaxed as she and Dash fell to the ground next to each other, both of them were exhausted, but for very different reasons. Lyra let out a huge breath. “Phew, good thing that’s over. Capoeira’s fun and all but it’s really exhausting to use sometimes.”
Dash didn't respond, still laying on the ground, wondering why her strength disappeared every time she tried to use her keyblades powers.
That, however, snapped Dash out of her daydream. She sat up and gave her a weird look. “What 10 munny?”
“You know, the 10 munny that you bet at the start of the match.”
“I didn't bet any--”
~15 minutes earlier~
Dash finally returned to the middle of the gym to fight Lyra, who was almost bouncing from excitement. “Come on, I’m ready,” Lyra urged.
“Then bring it one, you saw how I tool down your friend,” Dash bragged. “I’ll take you down too, Minty.”
Lyra summoned her keyblade and pointed it at her, smirking wildly. “Betcha 10 munny that you wont.”
“Betcha 10 munny that I will!”
Right after that, Lyra sat down and took her shoes off and rushed at Dash.
~~~
Dash lowered her head in defeat. “...Oh.”
“See, you do remember.” Lyra held out her hand. “Now gimmie!”
Grumbling inappropriate words under her breath, Dash reached into her back pocket and took out 10 munny from the group wallet. Twilight would be angry with her later for this but… you know… whatever.
“Sweet,” Lyra cheered. However, her cheer didn't last long as the money was deftly snatched away by Octavia, who had made her way over to the two while they were talking.
Octavia held the money tightly in her hand as she glared down at Lyra, “I’ll take that.” Turning she held it out toward Whitney. “That’s 10 munny off your tab, though you still owe the poor girl hundreds.”
Whitney glanced down at the money before backing away. “No, no please. Lyra can have it. She needs it more than I do anyway.”
Octavia leaned down and gave the girl a small smile. “Whitney, it’s alright. Lyra only spends it on junk food and action figures anyway.”
“Hey!”
Whitney waved her arms, dismissively pushing Octavia’s hand away. “That’s more than what I need it for. Plus, I’m not allowed to have any money anyway.”
“Woah what?” Dash asked, finally standing up. “Why aren't you allowed to have money? Isn't it important in this world.”
Ditzy appeared next to the group with her usual bubbly smile. “Yup, it’s super important, but Whitney’s too nice for it. So the mean guys should thank her.”
Dash gave the girls a confused look, causing Octavia to remember that she didn't speak Ditzy. “What she means, is that there are lots of pickpockets in Radiant Garden. However, just about all of them target Whitney specifically.”
Dash nearly fell over in surprise. “What? Why!”
Octavia sighed and put a hand to her shaking head. “Because, Whitney is too nice for her own good. Anytime we give her money to have. She purposefully walks into a district where she’ll most likely get robbed... and lets them have it!”
“But they need it more than me!” she defended. “I don’t have anything I need it for, but who knows what they could do, they could feed their family, or buy a toy for a child, or fix something important,” she said, rattling off more uses.
Octavia groaned and turned back to her, a clear sign that this was a recurring topic. “Whitney Mane!” she called out, cutting her off. “We have had this conversation before. They money we give you, belongs to you, not to anyone else. You cook, you clean, you train with us, you take care of the pets, you clean Lyra’s room! Maker knows how you accomplish that one.”
Whitney smiled brightly. “Oh, well it’s actually fairly easy, all you need to do is--”
Lyra hopped up and covered her mouth completely. “Whitie no! You mustn't tell her the secret!” she hissed, glaring at Octavia.
Octavia rolled her eyes. “What I mean, is that you do everything around here, you’ve earned it. And even if you don’t use it, you might need it in the future. So save it… please?”
Octavia looked into Whitney’s eyes with deep concern. Eventually, the small girl broke eye contact and nodded. “Alright, I’ll try.” Reluctantly, she took the money from Octavia.
Dash, meanwhile was listening to the conversation with interest. “Anyway, who’s up next?”
Lyra instantly raised her hand. “I’ll fight you again!”
Dash took a step back, leveling a half lidded grimace of “I don’t want to deal with you right now” at her. “Nah, I’ve had enough of your freaky dance fighting today. I really don’t like that you won, but I wanna fight someone else now.” Dash looked at the two remaining girls. The one with the mismatched eyes, or the kid, honestly it was a tough choice. “I choose her,” she said, pointing at Whitney.
Almost all of the other girls flinched and grimaced awkwardly. “Are you sure?” asked Ditzy, smiling an awkward, worried smile.
“Yeah,” added Lyra, “Don’t you wanna fight Ditzy first?”
Octavia frantically looked around the gym. “Oh, how about Clockwork, where is he right now?” she asked, looking at Ditzy who shrugged.
“Nah, nah, said Rainbow, shrugging their questions off. “I wanna see how good this kid is. how old is she anyway? 12, 13?”
All four girls gave Dash equally blank expressions. Whitney cocked her head in confusion. “I’m 24.” she said as a matter-of-factually. Dash’s jaw fell to the ground at this new information.
~~~
Moving on, after hopping into the healing booth for the third time, Dash came back to see that Lyra, Octavia, and Ditzy had all left the room. “Hey, where’d everybody go?” she asked, looking around.
The small adult, as Dash had discovered, now had her keyblade out. It was by far one of the shortest ones that she’s seen. It looked like one large chess piece with the white rook acting as the tower thick shaft that thinned town towards the bottom to also act as the handle. and what seemed to be two connecting fans that acted at the guard. At the top of the keyblade, acting as the teeth, there was a shield with a picture of the keychain on it. At the end of the keyblade, swung a small black keychain in the shape of the chess queen piece.
She shrugged and fidgeted. “The other girls are always told to leave the room when I fight.”
There was the sound of a door opening and both girls looked over to see Ditzy sticking her head through. “It’s alright! We’re over here.”
“Why are you guys over there?” Dash asked, giving them all suspicious stares.
Lyra stuck her head through next to Ditzy’s. “Because we don’t want to die! In fact, you’re the insane one for wanting to fight her.” She looked down at Ditzy. “Are we doing three points, or no points like usual?”
Ditzy shrugged. “Personally, I don’t think three points is fair for Whitney. It should be until one of them gives up.”
Whitney looked panicked for a second, glancing every so often at her opponent. “Please, can’t we just do one point? I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Octavia stuck her head in as well. “It’s challenger’s decision…” she informed them.
Dash, to her credit, kept her cool despite her confusion. Hands behind her head, she shrugged lazily. “We can do the second one I guess. I’m cool with anything.”
“Oh you poor fool,” Octavia muttered, looking at her with sad, concerned eyes. Raising her voice, Octavia addressed both fighters. “The rules are set, flight is still not allowed, first to concede wins.” While Octavia listed the rules, Dash took her stance, ready to take this girl out in one shot. Whitney took her own stance, holding her keyblade out in front of her with two hands. “Fight!”
A few seconds passed and neither opponent moved. Then, Whitney smiled at her opponent and lowered her keyblade. “You can have the first move if you want.”
Confused, Dash shrugged. Like the others, she was willing to wait and see what her opponent would do, letting them have the first attack. In fact, the only time she would ever let others have the first attack was during practice matches where winning didn't matter… as much.
Deciding to take up her offer, Dash promptly leaned forward and zoomed forward in a polychromatic blur, stunning the girls behind the door. Whitney’s eyes widened when she realized that Dash was already behind her. With barely any time to even turn her head, Whitney was defenseless as Dash slammed her blade into her back.
Taking the full brunt of the attack, Whitney fell forward and slammed into the ground. Dash actually looked concerned for a bit until Whitney picked herself up and retook her stance as if nothing happened. “I’m ready!” she announced.
Dash’s concern turned back to confusion. Moving fast once again, she went straight forward and slammed her keyblade into the girl several more times. Whitney, during the onslaught, never once tried to dodge or block. She simply took each and every hit. By the time Dash backed off, Whitney still returned to her normal stance, as if none of her opponents hits had done anything. She was completely unfazed.
Dash, on the other hand, wasn't faring nearly as well. She was playing it off and not showing it, but she could swear that her right arm felt like it was nearly broken. Each swing, when it connected, felt like it slammed against an iron wall. Whatever this girl was, she had a body made out of the stuff. It almost felt like when she was fighting Spike when her attacks were completely powerless, Except, in this case, her attacks were hitting, but they just didn't seem to be hitting hard enough.
Dash thought about trying magic, but recent experiences told her otherwise. She didn't need to lose the battle because she passed out or something this time. “You can fight back you know?”
This actually seemed to surprise the short girl. “I can?”
That in turn, surprised Dash. “Duh! It wouldn't be a fight with me just beating on you. Come on, don’t hold back either!”
Whitney gave her a nervous and concerned look. After some hesitation, she nodded. “O-okay. I’m going to fight back now. I’m going to run forward with a downward swing, alright?”
“Is she trying to psyche me out or something? Who would just tell their opponent what moves they use?” Dash thought. “There’s no way that she’s actually coming from up top.”
“Here I come!” she announced. Raising her keyblade above her head, Whitney ran toward Dash with a full intention of telegraphing her attack.
“Oh man, she’s actually coming at me like that.” Raising her keyblade, Dash got ready to block her attack and counter. This time she was going to give it everything she had.
“Don’t block her attack! Don’t block!” Dash recognized Octavia’s panicked voice from somewhere off to the side. “Dodge it!” Even though she was confused, Dash had long since come to the realization that sometimes she needed to follow others advice. So, despite her confusion, she lazily stepped to the side.
For Dash, everything seemed to happen slow motion, and not the kind of slow motion that she would experience when she was moving really fast. But rather, the kind where she saw what was happening, but couldn't do a thing about it.
Right after hearing Octavia’s warning, she lazily moved to the side and watched Whitney’s swing whoosh past her. However, the second it touched the ground, the keyblade didn't stop. Without losing any momentum, it dug into the ground, causing the ground around it to explode with great force. Pieces of earth shot out in every direction as Whitney’s keyblade continued to make a larger and larger crater in the ground. The force of her attack was even enough to cause the shock wave that slammed Dash back against the wall.
Everything flashed back into normal motion when the poor girl’s back hit the wall and her breath was knocked out of her.
When the rumbling finally stopped, Whitney hesitantly opened her eyes and beheld the destruction around her. She stood in the center a crater that nearly encompassed the entirety of the gym. Even when the edges of it began healing itself, Whitney still covered her mouth. She was completely aghast at what she had done. Although this was nothing new, she still hated when it happened.
Before she could cry about it though, she heard an impressed whistle from behind her. Turning around, she noticed that there were more people by the door that there were before. Master Luna stood with a shocked expression, with Master Celestia right next to her, trying hard to hide her smug look. Around them stood Octavia, Ditzy, Lyra, and a few other girls that Whitney did not recognize.
Whitney started on at the group before realizing the situation. With a horrified expression, she threw her head down. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! She told me not to hold back and I thought it was fine so I didn't and now the gym is destroyed and it’s all my fault. I’m so sorry I promise not to do it again please don’t kick me out,” she blurted out, bowing as low as she could.
While Whitney still blubbered out apologies, Luna turned to her sister with a blank look. “Have you taught her no self control, sister?” Without waiting for answer from Celestia’s shocked face, Luna went to go check on her own student.
Rarity looked on in horror. “On second thought… maybe I’ll train tomorrow.”
Pinkie threw an arm around her friend and gave one of her bright reassuring smiles. “It’s alright Rares, we can play with them.” She explained her point by grabbing the other three students and holding them close. “I’m Pinkie Pie, what’re your names?”
Over by the Dash shaped hole in the wall Luna looked over the limp form of her once proud student. “We would say that this qualifies as a loss,” she said.
“I think… that I’ve fought enough today,” Dash said in a dazed tone. “I’m gonna take a nap.” With that, she passed out.
~~~
A few days passed from that point on. Eventually, Dash woke back up and demanded a rematch. Whitney tried to refuse, but after constant urging, she relented. Now understanding what she was up against, Dash was prepared for the girls unrestrained earth shattering attacks. Making use of her flight this time Dash struggled to figure out exactly how to damage the girl. Her attacks didn't hit hard enough, and she was afraid to use her magic. She thought about simply letting the girl wear herself out, but it seemed that Whitney was trying to do the same thing, as she rarely attacked.
Without any other choices, Dash simply decided to go out on a limb and use her magic. If it didn't work then she would simply have to declare the match a tie. As much as she hated ties she hated losing more, practice match or not. So, increasing in speed, Dash zoomed behind Whitney to use a technique that she knew worked wonders on AJ. She placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. Almost like a miracle, her magic flowed and allowed her to use her Lightning Palm to electrify Whitney. She beamed when it appeared that Whitney was actually taking damage from it as well.
Several more, similar magic attacks later, Whitney ended up waving the white flag of defeat. After some cheering, Dash turned to face her final opponent.
While they were fighting however, Rarity received fence training from Octavia, and Pinkie learned how to use her wild personality as a fighting style from Lyra. In exchange, Pinkie and Rarity taught those two what they knew. Twilight continued to work on her aura, and AJ, after coming back to the castle, mostly kept to herself.
The final day was mostly spent partying together in a “this is the part where we meet new friends” celebration thrown by Pinkie Pie. Dash, Pinkie, and Lyra told funny and embarrassing stories about their friends while Twilight and Octavia made small talk amongst themselves. Rarity, after seeing Whitney’s poor hair care, wasted not a single moment in snatching up the poor girl and dragging her away.
Luna and Celestia also took this time to catch up on recent events. However, once Master Luna noticed one of her students acting strange, she politely excused herself from the conversation.
AJ sat away from the main groups, drinking some juice and leaning back in her chair. She stared up at the ceiling with a blank contemplative expression on her face. She didn't even notice Luna take a seat next to her.
“Something on your mind, Jacqueline?” she asked.
AJ’s eyes lazily glanced over to meet Luna’s before suddenly widening in surprise. Fumbling with her drink, she accidently inhaled some of it and fell into a coughing fit. Patiently, Luna leaned back and waited it out. Finally, AJ was able to breath normally as she turned back to Luna and crossed her arms. “Yeesh, don’t sneak up on a gal like that.”
“Jacqueline, we remember teaching you to always be aware of your surroundings. Something must be troubling you greatly for you to forget that. Care to tell us?”
AJ broke eye contact as her eyes darted around the room. “Nothin’s wrong,” she lied. Ah just… I was daydreamin.’”
Luna stared at her with a deep unmoving gaze. Finally, she smiled and stood up. “Of course, Honest Applejack,” she said, referring back to the girls old childish nickname. “If that’s your honest answer, I suppose that I’ll simply take your word for it.” Luna began to walk away from the table, leaving AJ shaking nervously in her chair. “You’ve never lied before, so I do not see why you would lie or hide any thing now.”
“Wait!” AJ nearly yelled. She froze in place when every eyes momentarily turned to her. Luckily, everybody soon went back to their own conversations, forgetting her outburst.
Luna sat back down as AJ breathed a sigh of relief. Smirking on the inside, Luna turned back to her student with an impassive look. AJ still glanced around nervously. “C… can we go somewhere else?” she asked. Luna raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway.
Luna and AJ silently made their way out of the party hall and back to the conference room from before. There, AJ turned back to Luna with a nervously conflicted look. “Ah saw Spike the other day,” she finally admitted.
Luna’s eyes went wide in shock then narrowed in anger as she leaned forward in her seat, but before she could open her mouth AJ continued. “Ah know what yer about to ask, and no. He ain’t here anymore, and ah don’t know where Shy is. He didn't hurt me neither, so ya don’t have to go out huntin’ for him.”
Luna leaned back into her seat and motioned for her to tell her story.
~~~
Spike and AJ were speechless and still as stone in each others presence. One could say that the moment their eyes connected, time stopped altogether. Then, all at once, time restarted as AJ rolled over and slammed her fist into his face. While he stumbled back, holding his nose in pain, AJ tackled him to the ground. Grabbing him by his shirt, she raised her fist. She stopped when she felt the three girls feebly trying to hold her back.
“What are you doing!?” one of the girls squealed. Her voice was so high, it could crack glass. She was holding onto AJ’s waist.
“Why’d you go an attack our friend!” the southern accented girl said, holding onto her arm.
The third girl had jumped onto her back and weakly tried to put her in a headlock. “Hey, lay off! What’d he do you anyway?”
“What’d he… I...” AJ stuttered, shocked that these young girls would defend him. Not wanting to seem like the bad guy, she slowly climbed off of Spike. Eventually, he too got up. As soon as he did, however, the three girls hopped off of her and clamored to his side. All three of them glared at AJ while spreading their arms out in front of him defensively.
“Who’re you?” the girl in front demanded.
AJ honestly didn't know what to say to them, all she could do was turn her gaze back to Spike, who was still rubbing his nose in pain. Finally able to breath through his nostril again, Spike sat his hand on top of the red haired girls head. Turning she looked up at him in concern. “Are you alright, Spike?”
The purple haired girl never took her eyes off of AJ, “She didn't hurt you, did she?”
Spike rolled his eyes, leaned down, and turned all of them to face him. “I’m fine. More importantly, what did I tell you about enemies you know you can’t beat?” he said sternly.
“To take ‘em out with force in numbers!” the purple haired girl answered with a confidently smug look.
Spike chopped her on her head in response. While she grabbed her head in pain he continued to lecture her. “Yes, Scoots, but I said enemies that you know you can’t beat.”
The girl in the dress raised her hand. “To be smart and keep our distance until we can find a way to get away from them.”
“Exactly, Sweetie,” he nodded. ”When you saw her attack me what should you have done? Bloom?”
Finally the red haired girl looked down sadly. “Go find someone to help.”
“Scoots” crossed her arms angrily, still convinced that she could’ve taken out Spike’s attacker.
Spike nodded and brought them all close. “But still, thanks for the back up,” he said, giving them all a huge bright smile. The girls gave one in return before remembering that his attacker was still around.
Spike glanced up at her. In the brief glance he sent her way, AJ could’ve sworn she saw something strange in his eyes. Not anger, but something else. “She’s fine. I know her,” he said, turning back to the three girls. “In fact, I have to go talk to her, you three go back to training.”
The girls looked back to AJ and hesitantly followed his orders. While they ran off, Spike walked past AJ, silently motioning for her to follow him.
~~~
AJ glanced over at Spike for what had to have been the fourth time. He had led her over to a nearby tree where they both sat with a fair distance between them. He wasn't wearing the black coat and gloves he wore when they had last met. Instead, he wore something, that AJ had to admit, she would have expected him to normally wear; blue loose fitting jeans held up by a few cross worn belts. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with a white X stripe across his chest. In the center of the cross was a picture of a bright emerald flame.
She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she couldn't find the right words. Over in the distance, the three girls were each doing some form of training. Eventually, she managed to get something out of her mouth. “You… you are Spike right? That one ah know?”
Spike stayed silent for a time before answering. “Your friend’s fine,” he said, ignoring her question. AJ opened her mouth, but Spike continued. “I’m not telling you where she is. Let’s just say that she’s safe as long as she stays where I put her?”
AJ growled in anger, but quickly stifled it. Breathing out slowly, she turned back to him. “Give her back,” she said calmly. “Why’d you take her away anyway?”
Spike scoffed. “Like I’d tell you, hayseed. Anyway, I suppose that Twilight’s here as well--”
AJ immediately reached over and grabbed his shirt. “Ah swear to the maker, if you even think about--”
Spike calmly stopped her. “Chill, I’m not here to do anything. I’m just checking up on them.” He glanced over to the three girls.
AJ let him go and sat back down. She glanced back over to where he was looking. “Who are they?”
“Curious girls who just want to find their homes,” Spike answered. His expression softened. “When I found them they were stranded on a desolate world. All three of them were passed out with keyblades next to them. I took them here and told them to talk to the master in this world. I came back a few years later and found out that Celestia had rejected them. They were too young and unable to prove that they had the power to use the keyblade.”
“Ahhh, I get it,” AJ breathed. “Yer teachin’ them to summon their keyblades again so they can get some actual training.”
Spike shrugged. “More or less. They figured that if they have them they’ll be able to learn about their home... By the way, if you hurt any of them I’ll roast you right here. If we’re throwing threats around.”
AJ leaned back against the tree. Honestly, she was still confused about the entire situation she was in. Here she was, sitting against a tree, with the one person all of her friends were looking for. It felt wrong, almost like she was betraying them. “Spike?”
“What?”
AJ took a few seconds to get her words right in her head. “You don’t seem like a bad guy. So I’m just gonna ask it. You know Twi and the other’s are here. Why don’t you go an’ talk to them. Work everything out and tell us why you left.”
Spike scoffed and clenched his fist. “Hell no! Being around any of them makes my flame blaze. I doubt there’d be any talking.”
“Then why are ya talkin to me like nothin’s wrong?” she asked with a cheeky smirk.
Spike lifted his gaze back up towards her. His expression softened again and his fist unclenched. AJ saw that look in his eye again. She finally recognized it. It was the same on that she herself would get when she looked at her hat, or what Twilight would get when she looked at her old book. The look of longing over something lost.
She stared directly into his soft eyes, their shade not all that darker than her own. “Because,” he began, holding his gaze for a while longer. “You’re the closest to....” suddenly, he averted his gaze and and stood up. “Don’t worry about it.
AJ reached up after him, “Spike… who...”
Spike turned his head back. She flinched back when she saw that his eyes were back to their normal burning dark emerald. Don’t get me wrong though, even though she did a good job with you, you’re still my enemy. So the next time we meet, I won’t hesitate to defeat you and kill Twilight. Then you’ll join your friend.”
Spike began to walk away, but AJ stood up and grabbed his shoulder. “Spike, like ah said. Ah don’t think you’re a bad guy, not anymore. But you took my friend, and whether she’s safe with you or not, ah can’t forgive you till you return her to us.”
Spike turned his head to look at her. “Your point?”
“Ah don’t know what lies you were told,” she continued, giving him a pleading look, “but you know that I can’t lie to save my hide. So trust me when ah say that we’re still your friends.”
Spike gave her one last look before scoffing and turning his head back. “If that’s what you were made to think. Sure, I trust you.” While he said that there was a small sizzle. AJ snatched her hand back in pain when she felt a harsh burning sensation on her palm. She watched balefully as Spike walked back towards the girls.
~~~
AJ leaned back in her chair and finished recounting her tale. “He left soon after that. Just up and walked out of the garden with a bag on his shoulder.
Luna, however, leaned forward on tented hands, calmly taking in everything she had been told. After AJ stopped talking the air was still with a charged silence. Despite her outwardly calm appearance AJ was sweating bullets.
Finally, Luna glanced up at AJ, her expression unreadable. “What are your feelings on the matter?”
The cowgirl sighed wearily. She leaned forward and sat her head and arms down on the table. “Ah don’t know what to feel. I told ya that ah don’t think Spike’s a bad guy. He saved those girls and he’s even trying to teach them.”
“And from what you’ve told me, he’s teaching them well,” Luna added.
AJ nodded and continued. “But he doesn't trust me and he’s still out to get us.”
Luna stayed silent for a time before lowering her hands and sighing. “Well, we regret this possibility, but there is a chance that he was lying about the girls. And the fact that he didn't fight you here was because he was outmatched with all of us present.
AJ looked at her with a shocked expression before looking down guiltily. “Nah, ah thought about that for a while. So ah talked to the girls after he left. Turns out he was actually here before we even showed up.”
Luna scowled deeply. She silently berated herself for not noticing that her enemy was right under their noses this whole time. If she had known she could’ve ended this by capturing him. But now he’s gone, and there was no telling which world he was on now. Sudden realization surged through her. “He has a way of traversing the worlds without help. Jacqueline, do you remember how he appeared when you first saw him?”
AJ thought back to when she and her friends fought Sombra. “He just appeared out of thin air, ah think.”
“Thin air,” Luna repeated. She turned away and began muttering to herself. “So he isn't using the dark corridors. If he was, I’d know. And there wasn't anything flying through the air… How is he getting around?” After a few more seconds, Luna turned back to her student. “Jacqueline, come here,” she ordered.
AJ obeyed and made her way around the table. By the time she reached Master Luna, she was standing up. Now, face to face, AJ remembered that they were almost the same size. While AJ was taller than the rest of her friends, she was still barely pushing six feet. While Luna herself was still a few inches taller.
Standing in front of her, Luna removed AJ’s hat. The former cow girl was about to say something before Luna raised a calm hand. “Hold still,” she ordered. Closing her hand, Luna re-raised one finger and gently placed it against her students forehead. Slowly, a small glow grew from her fingertip to encompass both of them.
When it finally faded, AJ opened her eyes just in time to feel Luna sitting her hat back on her head. Feeling her forehead, she felt nothing out of the ordinary. “What was that?”
“We need to know how Spike is traveling between worlds. Therefore, we have placed a spell on you that’ll react to strong spatial magic. Please discourage Twilight from teleporting unless truly necessary. If my haunch is correct, Spike will try to appear before you next. When he does, that spell will protect you.”
AJ, understanding most of that, nodded. “You ain’t actually gonna hurt him, are you?”
Luna ignored her question and moved past her. “Come, we must return to the party before we are missed. Also… we don’t think it wise to tell your friends about this.”
“What? Why not?” AJ asked.
Luna did not answer, instead she simply exited the room.
~~~
Pinkie sniffled a little before once again noisily blowing her nose. “I dun wanna goooo!” she cried.
Rarity gently pulled her into a gentle hug. “But, daring, we must complete our exam.”
Twilight shook hands with Octavia. “Don’t worry,” she assured. “We can come back anytime we want. This world’s on our navigation now.”
Lyra gave Dash a high five and pouted. “Man, I wish I was out there traveling the worlds. Lucky.”
Dash gave her a smug grin. “Well, when you get to be as awesome as us, then maybe you’ll get the chance.”
“Sure, and maybe you’ll actually be able to beat me someday,” teased Lyra, returning the grin.
Hesitantly, Whitney came up to Rarity with a wide, thankful smile. “Miss Rarity?”
Rarity immediately let go of Pinkie and turned to hug the girl. “Whitney! Are you liking your new style?”
“O-of course I love it,” she answered. “Usually, I do my own hair so I don’t trouble anyone. Sometimes Ditzy does it… but she usually get’s a little carried away.”
Ditzy hopped into the hug with a cheerful grin. “I just don’t know what goes wrong every time I do it. I’m usually so good with scissors.”
“Hmm, yes.” Rarity hummed. When Whitney got dragged away, Ditzy eagerly followed after her. The end resulted in both of the girls getting a complete makeover from Rarity. Ditzy’s normally messy blond hair was now shining and soft, like flowing silk. Whitney’s normally lopsided and miscut hair was now even and completely rejuvenated. Rarity’s only regret was that she couldn't get the girl to abandon her train attendant’s hat and uniform, but she let it slide. As she too knew the value of sentimentality. “Please from now on promise that you’ll keep it that way. Allow Master Celestia or Octavia to cut your hair when needed as well.”
Both Ditzy and Whitney nodded, “Yes, Rarity.”
While the others also expressed their goodbyes and farewells Luna made her way up to Twilight, who was talking to Octavia. “Twilight? Do you still have the thing we gave you?”
Twilight cocked her head in confusion for a second before straightening in realization. “Pinkie Pie!”
Pinkie appeared next to Twilight. “Right here!” She reached into her hair and pulled out the cube that Luna gave her when Twilight first left home. “Here ya go!” she said, handing it to her.
Luna looked momentarily confused but shrugged it off. “Good, keep holding onto it. I fear that it may become necessary to use it soon.”
Twilight gave her a nervous look. “Are we in danger?”
The normally stoic master shook her head despite not being entirely sure. “We hope not, Twilight Sparkle. But just in case, keep that cube close.”
Twilight held the cube close, “Will, do, Master!”
Soon after that, the rest of the group said their goodbyes and piled into to the Gummy Ship. It wasn't long before they were once again off into the space between worlds.
Whitney smiled one of her usual smiles while Luna's students said their goodbyes. She had detached herself from Rarity as soon as she could and made her way to the back, closest to the city gates where she could kindly wait until they left. All the while she continued to wear her usual fake smile. Most of her smiles were fakes, that much was true. But this one was noticeably faker than most.
Even though Rarity had thought she was doing something good, her actions had very harsh consequences that she didn't realize. It wasn't her fault though, she didn’t know. She couldn’t have known.
Nevertheless, Whitney had lied to her face as she stumbled over her own words in an attempt to hide how she really felt. By all means, Whitney should have been better at lying since she did it all the time.
Whitney and the others continued to say their goodbyes until all of Master Luna’s group had entered into their strange alligator like machine… Or was it a crocodile? Whitney never could understand the difference.
Once they were gone, Whitney quickly went back inside the palace and quietly separated herself from the rest of the group. Her once calm walk slowly evolved into a full blown dash for her room. She made sure to avoid any mirrors as she rushed through the halls.
She didn't want to look, she didn't want to remember…
*****************
Whitney's earliest memory is her mother hitting her. Hard. "You ungrateful, stupid thing,” her mother would yell. “Can't you handle anything without breaking it? You're costing me a lot of money! You damage anything else and I'll beat you black and blue!"
Whitney, age three, fell to the ground and began crying her eyes out, not understanding why her mommy was yelling at her. In her hands was a stuffed toy, one of its arms accidentally ripped open. Whitney hadn't even noticed or cared, she loved the thing anyway.
Perhaps that love is the reason her mother threw it out anyway several days later. "You idiot,” she hissed. Sometimes the way she talked put snakes to shame. “It's broken and useless. You get rid of things like that, not hug them. Imbecile"
It would be years before Whitney ever made the connection as to why her mother never hugged her.
****************
Whitney arrived in her private room and opened a desk drawer to pull out a worn pair of barbers sheers. Her room is very sparse. An old wooden bed with simple cotton sheets. Lime green of course, as they were the cheapest. She lied and said she liked the color. A low quality dun throw rug sat in the middle of the room. Again, she lied about the color because it was so cheap. Her desk and chair were worn and came with the room. She had said they didn't need replacing with new furniture. She told them that they worked fine and that she liked the style. That at least, hadn't been a lie.
If one were to look around her room, they would notice that something was absent that should’ve been common in any girls room. There were absolutely no mirrors of any kind. That one she had just said no to. Whitney absolutely hated mirrors. Her mother loved them, though. So it was without reflection or aid that Whitney took the scissors to her hair with the desperation of a person about to be hung.
****************
Her mother preened in front of the mirror, checking her makeup, dress, jewelry, and hair for the twentieth time that hour. Finally, she ceased her preening and held Whitney by her shoulders, leaning down so that they were face to face. With the hiss of a venomous snake, she whispered, "Now remember, all you have going for you is that you're not completely ugly. If you want to trick any guy into marrying you, you'll have to do your best to look pretty and keep your stupid mouth shut.” Whitney suppressed a groan of pain when her mothers claws squeezed her shoulders. She knew that any sign of protest would make the squeezing worse. “One conversation, and any man of decent breeding will know you're broken. Now come over here, I want to make sure I did a good job making you look at least a tiny bit attractive."
Whitney was dragged in front of the mirror and forced to look at herself while her mother circled her like a rabid wolf, looking for any sort of imperfection to attack. Her hair came down past her shoulders. It was smooth, voluminous, and expertly styled. Her dress was exquisite, the sort of thing a high class girl such as herself was expected to wear. Her necklace was a simple golden chain adorned with a simple golden heart charm. Her eyes were a striking blue thanks to the contact lenses, though they itched like crazy. Her mother had done a masterful job with the makeup.
You couldn't see any of the bruises.
****************
"She has been swinging her blade at thin air for a good long while now," Octavia explained as she led Celestia into the gym. "It's been… how long, Lyra?"
"At least an hour and a half since we found her," Lyra answered as she leaned against the back wall while keeping an eye on her fellow student. "Before that, who knows? It'd been a couple hours since we last saw her."
"I think she's mad because she lied and cut her hair that the nice lady styled," Ditzy suggested, nodding at her own suggestion.
Indeed, Whitney's hair was even shorter and, if anything, more uneven and unkempt than before Rarity's ministrations. There was no way it could have been anything but deliberate on the part of the furiously training girl. As for Whitney herself, the training was good. As it helped her avoid thinking about other things.
****************
Her mother was drunk. Again. She drank a lot when dealing with Whitney. "Don't even know how you got born kid,” she slurred. “I don't even have any filthy earthens in my family. Your father probably hid some dirt blood somewhere.” Her mother grunted, took and swig and turned to yell directly at Whitney. “Why couldn't you have been something useful?! You're mentally retarded, you break everything, and you can't even get a guy to look at you twice. You're useless, worse than useless, you're a burden."
Whitney said nothing. She simply stood there in case her mother wanted something, or in the unlikely event her mother had something new to say.
Finishing up her mini rant, her mother slumped back down on her couch and looked down at her bottle with a soft expression. She wore a smile that Whitney knew would never be directed at her. "Now your sister... your sister is good blood. A fine mage. She’s smart, brilliant even. Good with money, gorgeous. Her hair is gold while yours is what? Dusty grapes? She should have been the first kid I had. Then I could have stopped and never had to deal with you." She leveled one final glare at her first born before finally passing out.
Whitney, expecting something like this, picked her mother up and carried her upstairs to the master bedroom. She then tucked her into bed. It was a typical night, except for one thing. Whitney’s eyes lazily lingered over a pillow that leaned halfway off of the bed near her. The temptation to just grab a pillow and shove it in her mother's face.
Whitney hesitantly grabbed the pillow and held it in her hands for a good long while, just staring at it. She glanced over to her mother. She was too drunk to wake up, and even if by some miracle she did, she would never be strong enough to counter Whitney's strength. Five minutes... and it would all be over.
Her hands moved of their own accord, hovering the pillow over her mother’s face. Her soft breaths became ragged and uneven. Her eyes were wide and manic as something rose from deep inside of her. This was her chance. This was her moment of freedom. She could end the nightmare once and for all.
But she still hesitated. Her hands were shaking like a leaf in a storm. Finally, she gave up and dropped the pillow back where she found it. Once again, she couldn’t do it.
Whitney exited the room and headed over to her own room, a converted closet. She'd need her rest if she was going to prepare breakfast for everyone in the morning.
****************
Celestia stood next to her clearly frustrated student. "Do you want to talk about it?" Celestia asked, already knowing the answer.
"No," Whitney barked. She swung her keyblade once more only to find her arms stopped. Turning, she saw that Master Celestia had caught her arm and held it still without struggle.
Lowering herself to look Whitney in the eye, Celestia shook her head. "Be that as it may, I think that this is something you need to talk about. Rarity did a very nice thing for you. Why did you cut your hair after you promised not to do it again?" Celestia flared her aura just a bit, trying to open the quiet girl up. She always felt a little guilty doing this but Whitney was clearly upset about something, and it was the only way to ensure that Whitney didn’t lie. She was far too kind for her own good.
Whitney, just stood there, looking uncertain how to respond. "I… I don't like my hair being styled. It reminds me of my mom. She was always fussing over how my hair looked. It used to be a lot longer."
Celestia nodded, Whitney's past was an open wound, and in the two years that she had known her, Celestia saw very few signs that it was healing. Something like this would be quite painful for any young girl… woman. Even Celestia had trouble on occasion remembering how old the tiny, emotionally vulnerable person in front of her really was. "You could have just told Rarity."
"I had trouble telling you," was Whitney's pointed rebuttal. "Anyway I—oh my goodness! It's already that late?" she exclaimed, noticing the clock on the gym wall. "I forgot to get groceries a-and it's almost dinnertime.” Whitney began to panic, her keyblade disappearing entirely. Celestia usually tried to say something to calm her down, but she knew how the girl would get during these kinds of situations.
“I'm going to need to shower, get to the store. Where did I put that list? Wait I should shower then check the list. Maybe I should just grab what I'm cooking tonight and get the rest of the groceries tomorrow? No wait, we're low on breakfast cereal I need to pick that up before tomorrow, and then I—"
"I'll get the food!" Ditzy suddenly volunteered. "You take a shower, you're too tired from being angry to cook-shop. I don't want angry food."
Whitney was relieved… mostly. "I'm sorry, it's my fault for being so late."
"Nah. Angry food doesn't taste as good. Even in you weren't late I'd still not taste good anyway. Besides, I never get to cook." Ditzy said.
"Okay then, I guess. The list is in the kitchen," Whitney said. "I guess I'll take that shower now." She walked off, feeling slightly bad for giving Ditzy extra work, but knowing that the girl really didn't mind.
"You know," Celestia called after her student, "like Luna said, there is a chance that your family did survive on some other world. I know the chances are slim and I haven't found anything, but it is still possible."
"They're dead," was Whitney's response as she left the gym, ending the conversation.
As such, she did not hear Celestia's quiet lament. "You are much too young to give up hope so completely."
What the Keyblade Master failed to understand was that Whitney's hope was that her family was dead. Anything else was too awful to imagine.
****************
Whitney was going to die. Her mother was beating her to death with an empty bottle. It had started off as a typical beating. Her sister, Gloria, had purposefully bent a piece of silverware and blamed it on Whitney so that he could watch their mother berate the earthen girl. Except this time, her mother didn't stop after a hit or two. Or even twenty. She just kept raining blows and showed no signs of slowing down. Things had been going bad in the family business, and they were rapidly losing their money and status. Who did they all blame? The black sheep of course. When things went wrong Whitney’s mother would always blame her. The family curse. The unwanted child. The white eyed freak of nature.
Drunk and angry, her mother finally snapped. And this time, her father wasn't there to protect her.
When the waves of darkness washed over everything, she thought she had finally died. It wasn't until she came to by a campfire in the middle of a desert that she realized she was still alive. Looking around, she noticed a few things. She was under a very ragged old green blanket, and her dress was torn to shreds. The blanket was as much for warmth as for modesty. She couldn't feel her hair on her back anymore. A quick check with her hands showed she still had hair, it was just short. Very short.
Whitney had been so intent on checking herself she had failed to notice she wasn't alone. "Ah good, ah see you're awake," an elder man's voice sounded from the darkness. Seeing Whitney's shocked and scared reaction, he spoke calmly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you none. Was off gettin' firewood." With that, the figure stepped into the light. He was a big man, with an oversized dusty coat over a worn gray sweatshirt. He had on black sweatpants, old heavy boots, a red knit wool hat with ear flaps, and fingerless blue wool gloves. He also had a large, scraggly looking beard that had been graying heavily but with some black still mixed in. It was a clear match for the tangled mess of hair on his head.
"Found ya out in the middle of the desert. You're lucky I was happenin' by." Dropping a load of what looked like sticks next to the fire, he sat himself down and fed a few sticks to the flames. "So, how are ya feelin'?"
"Better," Whitney said... and realized it was true. Touching her arms and face, she found not even an impression of a bruise. "H-how?"
The old man nudged the fire with a long stick, moving the wood around nonchalantly. "Yeah, you looked pretty bad when I found ya in the ravine. Looked like you'd hit every rock on the way down to landing in that briar patch. Sorry 'bout your hair, had ta cut you free." the man explained, nodding. "As for the how of you being better? Well, you can thank me ‘fer that." He smirked and waggled some of his fingers, causing green glowing sparks fell from them. "Did a little bit of healing I picked up, nice and clean. Gotta learn at least that much out in these parts. So, you got a name?"
"Whitney. Whitney… Mane. That's… my name," she supplied, coughing a bit. "Sorry, my throat..."
"Here," was the man’s reply, handing her a canteen. He chuckled a bit as she gulped it down. He gave her an odd look. "Bit trusting ain't ya?"
"Not really," Whitney admitted, pausing in her drinking. "It's just that if you wanted to hurt me you already would have. And not fixed my injuries earlier."
"Smart girl." the man replied, before pulling out a pot and setting it to heat up some water. "Hope you don't mind supper taking a bit. I'm makin' watcha' got stew."
Whitney tilted her head in confusion and glanced at the the ingredients that he began removing from his bags. "Watcha' got stew?"
"Yeah. Cause it's made with watcha' got," he said, cracking a smile. That got a laugh from Whitney. "So, we're you headed too young lady?"
Whitney stopped laughing and her smile slowly followed her eyes to the ground. "I...I honestly don't know. I don't even know where in Equestria I am."
The old man stopped stirring the pot and looked at her in surprise. "Equestria? The Constellation? Three close worlds?" Seeing the girl's nod he hesitated. "Oh boy. Kid, you are as lost as can be. This ain't the Constellation. In fact," he looked up to the night sky, “ah don’t even see it out tonight.” Seeing she was clearly upset, he smiled to reassure her. "Hey, don't worry kid. We're only a day or two from Dust City. We can work on getting you home from there. I heard they got them fancy world traveling devices."
"Thank you...um… uh...."
The man laughed. "Oh dear, where are my manners." Holding his hand out, he introduced himself. "Names Joe. People call me Boxcar Joe. The Magic Hobo."
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Joe." Whitney replied, shaking his hand. After a couple minutes sitting in silence as he cooked she realized something. "Hey Joe, what's a hobo?"
*****************
Whitney got out of the shower and toweling off quickly. That was one of the perks of shorter hair, it was so quick to dry. She left the mirror fogged over so she wouldn't have to look into it as she applied some deodorant and the like at the sink.
Fogging over the mirror was just a bonus when it came to long hot showers. It was really the only luxury she let herself have. They just felt so good, and she had so little opportunity to have one before she came to Radiant Gardens.
Going to her closet, she decided it was late enough that it didn't make sense to go through another uniform. Instead, she debated between wearing some of the day cloths that had been bought for her, or just getting into sleepwear. In the end, she settled on a plain white tee and a pair of black sweatpants. She wasn't planning on going anywhere after all. Half of her closet was filled with her old work uniforms. The other half was filled with casual shirts and pants. All of her clothes were a bit loose. She preferred the comfort and ease of motion it granted, as well as it being generally cooler. A habit in clothes shopping she had picked up from years in the desert. It was also why her shirts tending towards light pastels. The fact that they went with her pale skin that simply refused to tan was simply a coincidence.
The only other piece of clothing in her closet was a pale blue dress her fellow students had bought her as a welcoming gift. Whitney had thanked them, put it in her closet, and never took it out again. Her mother and sister had loved dresses. Gloria never wore anything else if she could help it.
****************
When they had learned that the Constellation was gone completely, Whitney didn't know how to feel one way or the other. Her main concern had eventually become how to survive now that she didn't have a home to go to.
Joe's solution had been to get her work with the train company. Now, the manager in Dust Town considered Joe a good person, so he was willing to give Whitney a try. However, any of the easy jobs like shoveling coal into a furnace, sorting parcels, even ticket tilling was quickly proving to be beyond her. It was clear that Whitney lacked the education to handle money and could barely read. And proper soaking technique was too complex for her to easily grasp. It soon began to seem that she was unemployable.
The manager was just about ready to send her on her way before a crate fell on one of the workers when a pulley snapped. It continued to pin him to the ground and slowly crushing him. The dozen men there tried to lift it off, but without the mechanical advantage of the pulley they had little chance of budging it.
Whitney had wasted no time in running up and casually tossing the crate aside. All the while worrying and asking the guy if he was okay. Meanwhile everyone else stared at her in shock. The crate had contained over two tons of iron.
Thus began Whitney's career as a cargo hauler for the rail line. Since she was literally doing jobs that would require entire teams by herself, the owner payed her double wages. It was a good deal in Whitney's mind since her jobs didn't require a lot of effort. Plus, she honestly didn't need that much. She was always traveling on the rail line to load and unload large bulk shipments, so she didn't stay anywhere for very long. Not having a house, but instead, sleeping in the train, saves one a lot of money. Whitney didn't eat any big fancy meals either. In fact, she actually put on weight, reaching a more healthy look. Before that, he nickname had been "Boney", due to one actually being able to see her bones.
With her health improving, Whitney soon found that her strength was also increasing. She could, after a couple years of work and decent food, lift full cargo cars themselves without having to deal with loading and unloading. This became obvious to the company when a train she was riding slipped the tracks and spilled onto its side. Everybody was fine, thankfully, but the train was considered lost. Then Whitney had calmly decoupled all of the cars and, from caboose to engine, flipped them back onto the tracks. Wanting to see what she could do, the company gave her an old, retired engine and told her "Impress us." They were quite impressed when she proceeded to suplex the train. Whitney now got two and a half times pay.
****************
Whitney entered the dining area, pleased to see that the others were there and waiting for Ditzy to finish cooking. Looking into the kitchen, she could see the girl stirring a pot. "Why is she using a pot? Chicken marsala is cooked in a pan," she asked, stepping closer.
"She's not cooking that,“ Celestia explained. ”Though she did buy the ingredients to cook it tomorrow. She was serious about cooking something to make you feel better, and said that she knew just the thing to make if you've been having a bad day."
"Which I still don't believe!" Lyra interjected. "No offense, Whitney, but I have no idea what your favorite foods are. When I cook, everything is just 'fine'. You don't even seem to like the stuff you cook all that much."
"Really Lyra, what part of that wasn't supposed to be offensive?" Octavia asked, a glare in her eyes.
Whitney decided to diffuse the situation. "No, really, it's fine."
"No it is not fine Whitney." Octavia countered. "Just because Lyra is too thick to learn anything about you, she assumes everyone else must be just as bad."
Lyra took the challenge head on. "Oh yeah? If you're so sensitive, then what does she like?" Smirking at the silence that greeted her, we flippantly added "Betcha fifty munny Ditzy got it wrong."
"Deal." Octavia, Celestia and, surprisingly, Whitney all said at the same time. Noticing the stares, Whitney shrugged. "I trust Ditzy. Plus, if I'm smelling what I think I'm smelling, it's in the bag."
"Smelling?" Lyra asked, taking a good whiff of the air. Her eyes immediately started to water. "Oh jeez, it's like somebody shoved fire up my nose! What is that?"
"It's done." Ditzy answered, bringing the pot over to the table along with several bowls and spoons. She then began to dish out what she had made. "The Doo family three alarm chili. Oh, also, we need more paprika, horseradish, tabasco, and cumin."
"Gah, I can feel my mouth burning just smelling this stuff," Lyra noted, her eyes waterfalls at this point.
"While I do appreciate you sharing a family…eh tradition with us, I feel you may have overdone it a bit in your enthusiasm," Octavia hedged. "Wouldn't you agree Whitney…? Whitney?"
"This is pretty good." Whitney admitted. Her mouth was full as she was already helping herself to a second bowl already. "But back home on the rails, this was two alarm. You're going to have to try harder if you want to hit three." Seeing the others incredulous looks, she just shrugged her shoulders. "I like spicy food. Anyway Lyra can give my winnings to Ditzy. She's earned it."
"Yay! I won! What did I win?" Ditzy asked, her lack of knowledge not dampening her enthusiasm at all.
"So anyway, Whitney, I've been thinking," Lyra started, desperately trying to change the subject. "As strong as you are, you should consider mixing some martial arts into your fighting style. Punches and kicks and grapples and stuff."
Whitney rolled her eyes, a rare enough sight that it truly showed how ridiculous the idea was. "There aren't many martial arts designed for people that can suplex trains. It's more meant for people that are faster than they are strong anyway."
As Celestia ate a spoonful of her own, and briefly wondered if she had accidentally ingested the sun. While she contemplated the possibility, she realized something else. Whitney had called the rail lines "home". Not the Constellation where she had grown up.
If she didn't consider her birth world home anymore after its destruction, Celestia would have figured she would have picked the place she was happiest. Was that not Radiant Gardens? Or was it simply that the two years here didn't replace the nostalgia of her old life? But if she was that sentimental, Celestia would expect her to cling to the idea of the Constellation as her home. She was missing something here, something that would put the pieces in place. Until she had the missing piece however, all she could do was mentally shrug her shoulders and eat another spoonful of sun while her mind drifted back two years...
****************
Celestia was enjoying a stroll through town. Her students were back at the castle, going through some training routines she had set up for them that morning. All things considered, she was in a rather good mood when she went shopping for groceries, it being her turn on the duty roster and all.
As such, her good mood turned sour when a familiar face walked up to her from out of the crowd. "Joe? What are you doing here in Radiant Gardens?" She was quite wary, though not hostile. While Joe wasn't truly malicious, he was also a known meddler and things had a tendency to get complicated when he got involved.
While the "Magical Hobo" did posses some talent in the mystic arts, for a regular human anyway, it was his smooth tongue and rough charm that let him more easily get his way. It also didn't help that he tended to have good arguments, and he always seemed to be working to make thing better for everyone involved. Even if that wasn't always the end result. While more than a few of his plans worked out for everyone, enough had "unforeseen consequences" or "didn't go as planned" that Celestia felt that either Joe wasn't as clever as he thought, or wasn't as nice as he acted. Either option meant trusting him fully was a foolish move.
"Woah, easy Master Celestia. I'm here on business." Seeing her raise an eyebrow at the use of her title, Joe nodded and cracked out a huge grin. "Yeah, that sort of business. Come on over, Whitney."
A small, pale girl dressed like a train worker with the messiest hair Celestia had seen in a while stepped forward out of the crowd. She looked nervous, agitated, and confused. She also had a keyblade in her hands. A small one, true, but Celestia could feel power coming from it. There could be no doubt that it was the real deal. "You found a keyblade wielder and brought her to me?"
"Yep. Whitney, this is the Keyblade Master I was telling you about, Celestia. Celestia, this is Whitney Mane, recently manifested Keyblade wielder and a friend of mine for several years.” Joe turned and pulled out a small sack and handed it over to the girl. “Whitney, here's some munny. Why don't you go over and buy the three of us some hot dogs for lunch while I discuss a few things?" Seeing Whitney nod, he smiled. "Great. Could you get mine with mustard and relish?"
"Of course," Whitney replied, smiling. "And what would you like for yours Master Celestia?"
"Hmmm... Onions, ketchup, and relish," Celestia decided. As the girl rushed off, Celestia turned to face Joe with her neutral expression. "Okay, explain. Now."
Holding his hands up in a placating motion, Joe began his story. "Relax, ah was going to. Just also got some things to say ah don't think Whitney should hear. Alright then, as ah said I've been a friend to her for years. She's an Equestrian Constellation survivor.” He beheld Celestia’s shocked face. He knew that this would be what got the women’s attention, as it had been one of her top priorities to research it’s disappearance.
“Yep, she's an earthen. Anyway, she got stranded out there with no money of any kind, no place to go. I talked to a few people, helped her life get on track. A bit literally in her case with the rail line. Anyway I'd stop by every few months, see how things are going. Only this time, she sought me out see, cause she had a glowing magical thingy appear in her hand, and even when she threw it away in fear it kept popping back to her. As the only magic person she knew, she spent three days tracking me down. Well soon as ah saw the keyblade ah knew she’d need some training. So ah took her to you."
"I see. And why to me exactly? My sister Luna is training a whole batch of Equestrian survivors, she would probably be more comfortable there. And if not with her, there are still a few other masters out there."
"Ahh, yeah, ‘bout that. See, first off ah only know of three great Masters. The ones taught by the one true descendant. Luna's got others from there, yeah, but they've been training together for years. Since they got spit out by the darkness together as I hear it, ah figure that they're all really close in terms of friendship and training.
Whitney would be an outsider playing catch up to a whole group. You grab your students as they come, and you have more experience teaching students at different levels. Both things make you better suited than yer sister. As for the last guy… well he's a hard case. Very odd. Even ah don’t know much about ‘em. Only thing ah know is that he’s got some strange methods. I wouldn’t want her to get too confused and burn out or quit half way.
Heck, girl's half scared of her mind just being ‘round so many people in a market. You noticed her keyblade bein’ out? She has trouble dismissing it ‘cause it tends to come on out whenever its owner feels scared or threatened. It's named Save the Queen, so as you can tell it's really protective of its owner. Also, ah..." Taking a quick look around to make sure nobody overheard and that Whitney wasn't around, he leaned in and whispered "Look, it's a bit rude to say this but you need to know. Whitney ain't that bright. She can't do much in math past addin' and subtractin', she can barely read, and those are some of her strong suits when it comes to book learning.
Now, I ain't saying she's got problems. From what I can tell she don't. It's more like she never got a chance to learn. Well… either that or no body cared to teach her." Leaning back he resumed speaking normally. "Poor girl don’t talk much about her time before the rails. Actually seemed better off. But anyway. Yeah, I figure you're more patient and gentle approach would be a great fit for her."
Celestia sighed. This was always the problem with dealing with Joe. His rock solid arguments. "Alright, I agree I am the best fit. But do you honestly think the girl is master material?"
"No." Joe said, startling Celestia. "Honestly, I don't expect her to become a master. But I do expect this to be a good thing for her. She needs a place to learn, to grow, and, most important of all, she needs a place where she can heal. She does her best to hide it, but her emotions are kinda torn to shreds. She needs a place where she can move on and become a whole person. An’ who knows, in the process she just might become a candidate to be a master. Because in all honesty, I see her lack of learning and her emotional wounds as the biggest hurdles. Masters are mind, body, and heart after all if I recall correctly."
Celestia sighed, "Alright fine, I'll take her in for now. If she is physically fit like you say, the mind probably is the biggest issue. Also, you seem to overestimate how big an impact emotional scars have on one's chance at mastery."
Joe just shook his head. "I didn't say scars, I said wounds. I don't think she's been healing the way she was and… ah there she is!” He turned to the sound of Whitney’s footsteps and greeted her with a smile. “You didn't get lost did you?"
Jogging up, hot dogs in hand, Whitney shook her head. "There was a line. Anyway, here you go Joe. And this is yours Master Celestia." Whitney then tore into her own hotdog, which seemed to be loaded with everything.
Taking her hotdog, Celestia noticed two things. One, Whitney was on the skinny side. And two, her hotdog order was not only correct, but Whitney had actually put the toppings on in the order she had listed them, from bottom to top. Clearly, the girl could pay attention and learn, even if she did have the difficulties Joe claimed. "Whitney Mane." Upon hearing her name the girl snapped to attention. "Joe has been explaining to me why I should train you, but I want to know one thing: do you want to go through with training? I will be honest. It will be a lot of hard work. It will probably take years of your life to complete. I will have to push you to your limits, and then make you break them. Knowing how much you will have to work and sacrifice, are you still willing to train?"
Whitney stood there and thought about it for almost a full minute before replying "Yes. I want to do it. I...I want to be useful. To be worth something."
That tugged at Celestia's heart. Emotional wounds indeed. "Very well then. I do nearby accept you as my student. Come with me to the castle and we'll get you settled in." Thinking for a moment, she added, "I almost forgot to ask. How old are you? Around ten?"
This seemed to confuse the girl. And for good reason as it turned out. "I'm twenty two."
Jaw dropped, Celestia turned to Joe who was laughing his ass off. "You never asked my dear. You never asked."
****************
Whitney had decided to go to bed in her cloths, as they were comfortable and fresh enough that it made no sense to break out the pajamas. As she was getting ready however, there was a knock on the door. "Come in."
Ditzy entered the room, arms behind her back. "Hi Whitney! Are you feeling less sad-angry now."
Thinking about it, Whitney nodded. "Yeah, I really am. Thanks Ditzy. How did you know I loved chile?"
"You keep adding spice to your food when we aren't looking. I figured if you liked spicy, you liked chile as its the best add spice food," was the walleyed girl's reply.
Whitney had to admit, Ditzy was the best part of being here. She always knew just what to say or do to help brighten her days. "So, Bright Eyes, what do you have behind your back?" she asked, using her personal nickname for Ditzy.
"Well alright then White Eyes," Ditzy responded with her own nickname of choice, as they were comfortable enough with their looks to point out their looks to each other as silly nicknames. Not to mention, the fact that they both had odd eyes seriously helped make it work. "Do you remember that bet you won at dinner? Well I know that you gave the cash to me, but since I'm always winning from Lyra I decided it was your money. But!" she added, cutting off Whitney's already forthcoming protest. "But... I knew you were too nice for money and would lose it, so instead I spent it on a gift. Tada!" At her exclamation, she pulled out her surprise.
Whitney was struck dumb by the familiar toy that sat in her best friends arms. "H…h-how?" she stuttered
"I saw you looking at it every time you passed the store. If you weren't too nice for money, you could have gotten it yourself. Merry feel better day, but now I need to be sleepy. Better night!" Ditzy exclaimed as she left her present on the bed, leaving for her own room.
Whitney stood there for a bit, before crawling into bed. "Hello there, Sir Lucky Bunny, Knight of Hoppity Hop. It's nice to see you again!"
"Yes it is, Princess Sunshine," the plush white rabbit toy "replied". "It has been many years since the Wicked Queen banished me to the Land of Trash."
"I'm glad to see you again. We'll talk more in the morning, we have a lot of catching up to do." Whitney said, turning off the light and plunging the room into shadows. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, see you in the morning," Sir Lucky Bunny replied.
If one were to watch the shadows in the room that night, one would almost swear they were slightly smaller and less dark than they had been the night before. Darkness had just a little bit less of a foothold here, held at bay by the brave Knight of Hoppity Hop.
****************
"This is the place." Joe muttered as he knocked on the door. It was a large log house located in deep woods. It was surprisingly hard to find, given how famous its occupant was.
The door opened, revealing a very large, buff man with a blond mullet and ponytail. He was dressed in a blue silk shirt and pants, a black belt tied at his waist. "Yes, can I help you, Mr?"
"Call me Joe. And if I'm not mistaken, you're Sabian Figgaro, master of the martial arts? I hear you're looking for an apprentice."
"Um, no offense intended, but I don't think you'll qualify sir. My style relies on the practitioner being very strong," Sabian explained, clearly used to having to turn people down.
"No no, not me. A friend of mine might be a good candidate though, Joe explained. "She's really quite strong, and I'm sure your style would be a good match for her."
"Oh, she's strong huh? Do you think she could work her way up to pile driving a train?" Sabian played his trump card. The thought of trying to perform one of his famous feats always scared any persistent beggars off. Nobody felt that confident just starting off.
Joe just smiled. "She's already suplexes them, I don't see why she couldn't work her way up."
Sabian’s face lit up in surprise."Is your friend here?"
"Ah, not at the moment," Joe admitted. "Actually, there are a few things we'd need to discuss. If I could come in and sit down, tell you the details?"
"Sounds fine, come on in. I'll start up some tea." He graciously opened the door and gestured for Joe to come in.
"Ah good. Well, it's a bit of a story you see. It starts when I was walking along in the desert, I was traveling you see, when I spot this poor girl lying in a briar bush in a ditch..."
Taking a bite of her lunch, a rather specifically constructed sandwich, Twilight entered her room. Pinkie had gone all out in customizing everyone’s room within the Gummy ship. Needless to say, it looked nearly identical to her room in the Lunar Mountains. Lavender colored walls, two fully stocked bookcases, a bed with custom designed sheets, several decorative posters of owls (nature's scholars), and her Keyblade, Magical Element, that sat in the corner. Curiously, the Keyblade did not disappear despite having not being in Twilight’s presence.
Sitting down at her desk, Twilight picked up her pen and continued to writing: After Jackie left, Master Luna’s older sister, Master Celestia (See Character Link section: Masters) she was gracious enough to instruct me on the ways of “Aura” (See skill list section: Misc). She described it as a useless skill, but I know better than to pass anything off as useless. She was even kind enough to give me a demonstration. While my output is still relatively low, Master Celestia promised that it will grow over time now that I’m aware of it.
While I was training with Aura, Rarity received training from one of Master Celestia’s students in a style of fighting called “Fencing” (See skill list section: Styles) Rarity boasts that such a refined and graceful style suits her perfectly. I’ll have to ask her to show me what she learned sometime so that I can accurately detail it for--
“Twilight?”
Twilight sat down her pen and turned towards her doorway. Dash stood, leaning on the frame giving her a questioning look. “Whatcha doing?” she asked, stepping inside.
Twilight smiled at her. “I’m chronicling everything that happens to us in my journal.” She gestured down to the old beaten up brown book sitting open on her desk. “See?”
Dash came over and took a passing glance at the recent passage. She instantly recognized the the familiar yellowed pages. “Isn’t this your mom’s book?”
Twilight nodded nostalgically. “I feel like my mother would’ve wanted it to be used this way. Master Luna even cast a few spells on it to help me protect it.” She counted on her fingers. “Preservation, Physical Resistance, Magical Resistance, and even a spell that makes it so that there’s more pages on the inside then at first glance. I won’t be running out of space anytime soon,” she smiled.
“Woah!” Twilight realized that, during her explanation, Dash had made her way over to her Keyblade. Picking it up, Dash examined the keychain, or lack thereof. “Where’s your keychain at?” she asked, pointing to the end of the amber colored ribbon.
Twilight held up her closed journal. “Right here. My journal is my keychain. It’s where it’s safest.” Twilight stood up and gently took her keyblade from her friend. Touching the corner of the book to the edge of the ribbon produced a bright flash, and suddenly the book had shrunk down to a fraction of its former size and attacked itself firmly at the end of the ribbon, where it swung freely. “Remember, Master Luna told us that our keychains symbolize something that we hold dear. It just so happens that my journal is removable.”
Rainbow furrowed her brow in thought. “I think I was asleep that day,” she chuckled nervously.
Twilight raised her eyebrow. Turning her Keyblade upside down, she dangled the keychain in between them. “You mean you haven’t once thought about the meaning of your keychain?”
Rainbow smiled shamelessly. “Nope!”
Twilight sighed and motioned with her free hand for Dash to summon her weapon. She complied, summoned her Keyblade and holding it out in front of her. Twilight reached out and held up Dash’s keychain. Sitting at the end of a white cord was a large emerald in the shape of a dark green flame with a red lightning shaped ruby in the center.
Twilight examined her keychain as she explained. “It’s pretty easy for us to see what the others are. AJ has an apple, Rarity has a sewing needle, Shia has a rabbit, and Pinkie has a blue and red balloon.” She glanced up at Dash before turning back to take a closer look at it. “Although, now that I think about it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen yours up close yet.”
She peered at the jewel with a burning intensity for a few seconds more. Finally, she smiled and turned it to over. “When you see this what’s the first thing that pops into your head?” she asked, figuring that it was the quickest way towards understanding.
Dash looked at her questioningly before shrugging and peering at the keychain herself. “Something we hold dear right?” she confirmed. Twilight nodded and her face deadpanned. “I personally thought it’d be my wings if that’s the case.
Twilight deadpanned as well. “Seriously, what does this keychain remind you of?”
Dash looked back down to the emerald, seriously this time. The more she looked at it the more an image formed in her head. It was definitely a familiar symbol but the ruby was something that threw her off. One definitely reminded her of Spike and that shirt he always wore when they were kids. But the two together reminded her of something else completely.
Her eyes widened when images suddenly flashed through her head. Two figures, tears and blood, bodies lying on the ground, a glowing emerald and a shining ruby. However, just as the images began to stabilize, something knocked her out of her stupor.
“Guys come on!” Pinkie yelled from the doorway. She was clearly really excited. “It’s time to choose the next world!”
Twilight smiled at her friends classic enthusiasm. “Don’t worry we’re coming.” She watched as Pinkie dashed away. Probably to tell the others. “Anyway, Rachelle, did you--” her smile fell when she turned to her Dash holding her head, face contorted in pain. “Oh my gosh! Are you alright?!”
Dash waved her off and shook her head. “N-no… it’s cool. Just got a wicked headache there for a second.” Taking a deep breath, the pain subsided and she dismissed her Keyblade. “Anyway, it doesn't matter all that much.” Twilight opened her mouth to protest Dash quickly ran towards her door. “Come on let’s go check that new world out!”
Twilight frowned and followed after her reluctantly. While she had her own theories about what her friends keychain symbolized, to be absolutely sure she’d need to get Dash to tell her. It was essential information for the journal after all.
~~~
Spike stepped out of thin air, utilizing a unique method of world travel to cross from Radiant Garden into Castle Oblivion almost instantaneously. He never did quite understand the method completely, but was apparently skilled in its use. Having been taught alongside Chrysalis, he always figured that she understood it better than him. Though it didn’t matter to Spike either way. To him, the only important thing was that it worked.
Stepping into the grand hall of the 12th floor, he met with a familiar face. Walking down the hallway opposite of himself Spike recognized his as one of the fellow residents of the castle; Dark Shadow, the artificially created Human-Dragon hybrid. He had black spiky hair with blue eyes and pale cream, scale patterned, skin. He wore a dark blue shirt and jeans. Unlike Spike and Chrysalis, he was allowed to wear a pitch black tattered cloak of his own choosing. It floated just above the ground, swaying in a non existent wind while ethereal white strands flowed through the fabric itself.
Spike stopped in his gait and leveled a curious stare at him. “Shadow? What are you doing here?”
Dark Shadow responded by glaring at him. “Trying to correct a mistake,” he scoffed, his voice deep and frustrated. He closed his eyes and visibly calmed. Without opening them, he passed by Spike and continued down the hall. “But it seems that this one is one that Mephisto is hell bent on making.” Spike watched as Shadow disappeared in his namesake, dissolving into darkness.
Spike rarely ever saw Dark Shadow in the castle, but even so it seemed that he had some sort of grudge against him. It had actually gotten worse since Spike had recently surpassed him in both skill and power.
He was a curious sort as well, apparently only really disliking Spike while being courteous and friendly towards Chrysalis and the others. Shadow was also mysterious, as Spike knew next to nothing about him except that he was here long before Spike was.
“Don’t worry about him.“ Spike turned around to see Chrysalis appear in a column of dark green and black flame. Unfortunately, this was something that Spike was jealous of since he hadn't learned to perform flame teleportation yet. “He’s just salty that he’s not the one rounding up your little friends.”
Spike raised an eyebrow, but before he could linger on that thought, something caught the corner of his eye. A few strands of pink hair floated over from Chrysalis. Snatching it out of the air, he quickly recognized the source. “This is that girl’s hair... Shia, I think?” he mumbled.
Chrysalis also noticed the strands of evidence in Spike’s hand and flinched slightly in response. “So... you’re back early,” she said, innocently trying to change the subject.
Spike saw right through her innocence. “Something happened and I had to cut my visit short,” he stated plainly. “Did something happen?”
Chrysalis pouted. “You’re too perceptive you know that?” She shrugged. “Yeah, our little friend decided to get a little nosey. I caught her walking around where she wasn’t supposed to.” Spike opened his mouth but Chrysalis, already knowing what he was going to ask, smiled proudly and continued. “Don’t worry, I took care of it! I took the initiative and put her in her place,” her smile turned into a slight smirk at her own joke, “and then I put her in the unit,” she finished.
Spike’s eyes shrank and he yelled across the hall. “Y-You did what!?”
Chrysalis held up her arms in defense. “Hey, I thought you warned her.” Chrysalis snapped her fingers and a column of dark green darkness appeared in the corner of the room. “I may have roughed her up a bit though.”
Once the darkness receded Spike beheld a large mechanical pod holding none other than the beaten and battered form of Shia. Her hair was a mess and blood dripped down from the several cuts and bruises that were visible on her face. Several dozen wires connected to almost every point on her body. Natures Guide sat in a separate compartment above her, glowing faintly.
Spike walked up the the pod with shock evident across his features. That shock slowly turned into anger. “I can’t believe this! That freaking idiot!” Spike had almost literally begun fuming.
Chrysalis burst out in a fit of laughter. “Hey now! Don’t tell me that you care about her.”
Spike leveled a furious glare at the girl. “Hell no! But we still need her! We can’t resurrect my friends if she’s dead from that pod. Get her out!”
After calming her laughter, Chrysalis sucked in a hiss of breath through her teeth. “Yeaahhhh no. Once she’s in there we can’t take her out.”
“Then what--”
Chrysalis walked over to him with a serious look on her face. “Then you need to hurry and gather the other girls to join her.” Without waiting for a response she shooed him off. “I’d hurry if i were you. She isn’t getting any healthier in there.”
Spike growled and leveled one last baleful glare. “I don’t even know where they are!”
Chrysalis took the look without flinching. “Just follow the new vessel and they’ll come to you.” Chrysalis examined him closely. Since he had just come from his time off, he was still wearing his normal clothes; A dark green and black sleeveless hoodie and blue jeans. A bright flame emblem was blazed on his chest, crossed by two black straps. “You should probably get your coat first, though.” Spike rolled his eyes in response and left.
~~~
Once Spike had left, Chrysalis made her way to the back of the hall and up to the 13th floor. It was a secret floor that very few people in the castle were even aware of. Spike was not one of them.
Initially pitch black, the second Chrysalis stepped into the room it lit up completely. An enormous orb, easily a hundred times the size of the one Shia found, came into view. Said orb stood upon an equally large pedestal with 10 strangely shaped keyholes spread around its base.
Dark and light energies appeared inside. Colors ranging from pitch black, and dark brown, to bright oranges, and blinding yellows, danced around inside the globe for a few seconds before flaring outwards to escape. Bouncing against the walls, they swam rampantly around their limited area. They merged and separated, rose and fell. Every so often they would come together and solidified onto the semi-stable silhouette of a man before separating once again.
Chrysalis gazed up at the enormous globe and let out a small chuckle as she gently touched its surface. “Don’t worry, Spike. We’ll get your friends and your memories back. Just as soon as we get something of mine first.”
In the corner and out of sight, a small bunny shuddered in fear. Even he could feel the sheer amount of wrongness emanating from the orb. Without alerting Chrysalis, Angel hurriedly hopped his way out of the room.
~~~
“Come on! Come on! come on!” urged Pinkie, nearly vibrating from excitement.
AJ finally made her way into the room. “Hold yer horses Pinks, I’m comin’ already!” Last to arrive, AJ made herself comfortable in her seat. Seeing that Pinkie was still staring at her, AJ made a motion for her to go ahead.
Blurring into her own chair, and spinning around several times from the momentum, Pinkie slammed her fingers across the dashboard. Several screens appeared in a hologram above them. Various expressions of ohh’s and ahh’s left the group as they gazed upon the effects of their masters enhancements. Each of the separate screens displayed a different world, five in total.
One world consisted of a large town with two swords crossed in front of it. every so often a line of ones and zeros would orbit around it. Another consisted of a large pixelated cube of what was apparently dirt and a large pick-ax that stuck out of the top. A third world appeared to be a burnt world that had recently been hit by a massive fire. The fourth seemed to resemble a golden Colosseum with two statues crossing swords above it. Finally, the last world had apparently been hidden from view, as Pinkie was unable to select it.
After looking through the worlds Pinkie turned towards her friends. “Ohhh, they all look so cool!” she yelled excitedly. “Where do you guys wanna go?”
Rainbow stared longingly at the Colosseum while AJ peered curiously at the pixel dirt world. Twilight, however had begun reading the bios for each of them. Finally, Rarity broke the silence. “Well I don’t know about you four, but I--”
“Random it is then!” Spinning around Pinkie pressed a large blue button, causing all of the holograms to disappear. Before anyone could question what she did, the ship instantly began spinning in place, forcing everyone to lean one side.
“Pi-i-i-ikie!” warbled AJ. “Wha-at in tar-ar-arnation did you do-o!”
“Wheee!” Pinkie cheered, enjoying the roller coaster like g forces of the spin. “Randomly spinning! We’ll blast off in the direction that we end up facing!” she explained.
“I’m gonna be sick!” Dash groaned. She turned to Rarity with a green complexion, causing the prim and proper girl to reel back in abject horror.
Luckily enough, the spinning stopped, but true to Pinkie’s word, the ship continued to move straight forward in that direction. However, it moved at a slow enough speed that it allowed the others to drag themselves back into their seats. Twilight leveled a glare at the back of pinkie’s head but realized that she should’ve expected something like that.
“So, Pinkie, where are we going?” she asked.
Pinkie turned to her with an ecstatic smile. “I have no idea! Let’s ask Mau--” Suddenly, the entire cockpit began flashing red, complete with a customarily loud klaxon alarm. Both of which were accompanied by a fierce bout of shaking and rocking. It seemed like the entire ship was being bombarded from all sides, though one look out of the window told them that no such thing was happening.
“That’s it! screamed Twilight, holding onto her console for dear life. I don’t care how but if we survive this I’m relieving you of your command!”
Pinkie shook her head rapidly. “Wait, Twilight. It’s not me! Pinkie Promise.” Pinkie turned back to the AI on her console. “Maud, what’s happening to us!”
A large screen appeared and displayed the outside of the ship, though what appeared on it was different than what they could see on their own. As they grew closer to the next world, a large digital green net attempted to block their passage. The rocking was the result of the ship pushing against it.
“It seems that we’re having a bit of trouble entering into the next world,” answered Maud, as stony and deadpan as always. “But don’t worry. This type of firewall is nothing. Though you should prepare for a rocky landing… If you want.”
“But where in the worlds are we headed?!” screeched Rarity.
Sitting on his favorite couch, in his lakeside home, next to his loving wife, Kirito steepled his fingers and let out a sigh of unease. Next to him sat his soul mate and best friend. Asuna rubbed his arm reassuringly. “It’s alright. Everything will be fine,” she tried to assure.
Kirito, the legendary Beater, also known as the Black Swordsman and one of the most powerful characters in Sword Art Online, gave his wife a long weary gaze. “No it wont. We’ve got no more options and we can’t do it by ourselves.”
Lightning Flash Asuna, the one who tamed the famed soloer and the former leader of the head guild, gave her husband a determined gaze. “We can recruit others. Surely there has to be some people left?”
Frustrated, Kirito replied, “There aren't any... And even if there were none of them have the motivation to fight seriously. It’d just be a suicide mission for them.” He sighed once again as he fell back and slumped down into his couch. “Which turns it into a suicide mission for us.” Yawning, he rubbed his eyes. “I’m just… tired. Maybe we should--”
“No!” Asuna threw her face into his, forcing her to look into her light hazel eyes. “You’re not going to give up. I won’t let you.” Grabbing his shirt collar, she pulled him up from his slump to look deeper into her eyes. “You made a promise to us that day when you fought Heathcliff that you would reach the 100th floor and get us all out of here. Are you really going to give up on that?”
Kirito looked at her, completely baffled. Smiling nervously, he said, “I-I just meant that we should give it a rest for today. We’ve been out trying to recruit since the sun came up and… I’m tired.”
Asuna simply stared at him for a few seconds, blushing slightly, before narrowing her eyes in a glare. She released her grip, letting him fall back onto the couch while she got up to walk away. “I’m done with you. Sleep here tonight.”
Kirito bounced back up and reached out for her from the edge of the couch. “Wait what did I do? You were the one that jumped to conclusions!” he protested.
She turned and pointed at him. “It’s your fault for acting all moody and saying stuff like,” she lowered her voice in a poor imitation of his, “we’ve got no more options” What was I supposed to think?”
Kirito chuckled nervously and opened his mouth to defend himself, however, a different voice cut him off before he could say anything.
“Mama! Papa!” The couple turned to see little Yui run into the living room with an ecstatic smile spread across her face.
“What is it, Yui?” asked Asuna, curious about what could get her daughter so excited.
Yui looked between her parents, waiting for just the right time to reveal her discovery. “I saw a shooting star!”
Both Asuna’s and Kirito’s eyes went wide with surprise. “What?!” they exclaimed.
~~~
The familly quickly equipped their armor and equipment and followed Yui down to the 10th floor of Aincrad, the floating castle world that they were trapped on. When Yui asked why they were concerned and surprised they responded that Sword Art Online had no such program for falling stars so such a thing should have been either a glitch or impossible.
Arriving in a pillar of blueish light, the couple both gave looked on in awe at the large crowd that had gathered around a large green machine that had crashed into the middle of the city courtyard. The machine itself had apparently crashed into the ground, fracturing the stone and spreading the shards of data around. The crowd was abuzz with curiosity and wonder.
“Did they add new features?” asked one girl, wearing a dark cloak around her shoulders.
“Is this some kind of scripted event? wondered a boy wearing a soldier's cap. Curious, he flicked his wrist down to check his menu. "I don't see anything in my log." Closing his menu, he then turned to his friend and asked, “Are we being invaded by aliens?”
The taller man put a finger to his chin and hummed in thought. “No, that’s impossible, unless Kayaba’s gotten bored. It’s more likely either a new event or...” his eyes went wide, “it’s from the outside!”
Everyone turned to the man, some with shocked faces and others of disbelief. They turned back towards the ship, only when they began hearing several voices from inside. Kirito and Asuna slowly entered into the crowd in an attempt to get a closer look. Asuna gently held Yui by her shoulders, intent on keeping her close should the worst happen.
*Cough* *Cough* “Woo wee, that was some rocky landin.”
“Oh geez… my head!”
“I think I broke a nail! Oh sweet Sora I did!”
“Jeez, Rarity will you calm down. Pinkie, open the door already.”
“Oh my gosh guys, do you think we made it?”
Everyone in the crown began to chatter amongst themselves for a time before finally the door to the machine started to open outwards. Some of the more cautioned, battle hardened fighters, reached for their weapons. While some cowered away nervously. Kirito and Asuna, however, seemed more interested than worried.
The side door slowly opened, briefly releasing a cloud of smoke before allowing a bright smiling face to poke out and look around. She sucked in a large gasp and yelled back into the ship. “Guys we did make it. Good job, Maud!” She then took another look around. “And they brought us a welcome party!”
Another head poked itself out above the first, this one sporting just about every color of the rainbow. “They aren't demons or anything are they? Our last two welcome parties weren't all that fun,” she grumbled, examining her surroundings.
The pink haired one smiled up at the other one. “Well, I wouldn’t say that Dashie, We met little Yuna remember. And then there was Radiant Gardens.”
“What are you two talking about? Get out of the doorway!” Pinkie and Dash quickly exited the ship and made way for three other girls. Soon enough all five of them were standing in front of their ship, staring curiously at the people surrounding them.
“Well these guys look like they're ready to pick a fight,” Dash observed, slamming a fist into her palm.
“Rachelle!” hissed Twilight. “They’re clearly just startled.” She pointed at the sky. “I would be too if a ship just fell from the sky! We should--”
“E-Excuse me!” The five girls turned to look at a young looking girl that was wearing a brown cloak and a brown turban. She hesitated once she had their attention, but continued nonetheless. “A-are you people from the outside?”
“Well duh!” Pinkie grinned and gestured grandly to her ship. “We have a ship. Of course we’re from the outside.” The girl stared at her for a few more seconds. Slowly, her face changed into a wide smile and tears formed in her eyes. Instantly, the crowd broke out in an array of frantic cheers and celebration.
Even Asuna herself struggled to comprehend the idea of someone coming to save them. “C-could it really be true? Have they really come to save us?” she asked, staring in wide eyed shock. Never in her dreams would she have expected people to somehow break into the game to save them. It seemed almost like a dream.
Pinkie shared a glance at the others and shrugged. “Speaking of which...“ Tongue in cheek, Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out her Keyblade, snapping a few tangled strands in the process. Kirito let out a small gasp at the appearance of her unique weapon.
After gently rubbing her head in pain, she turned on her head and shot a beam of pinkish light into the keyhole shaped indent on the side, banishing the machine. Oddly enough, instead of disappearing in a flash of light, it burst into thousands of tiny shimmering fragments. “Ohhh, pretty!” she giggled.
Every single cheer simultaneously ended. The girls all watched as the crowds merry faces dissolved while they watched the particles fall to the ground. After a few seconds of anxious silence, a random person with brown spiked hair shot out and grabbed Pinkie by the shoulders. He turned her around and glared at her with wide, crazed eyes that were wet with budding tears. “What’s wrong with you? Why would you do that?! Now you're stuck here with us!”
Dash moved to Pinkie’s side and shoved the boy off. “Back off!”
Finally coming to their senses the crowd screamed in a chorus of angry protests. A complete reversal from their previous cheers of support. Asuna’s head slumped forward. “I knew that it was too good to be true.”
Feeling her mother's grip on her shoulders tighten, Yui turned her head up and gave Asuna a comforting smile. She then turned to her father, only to see him staring at the group of girls intently, his mouth stuck in a straight line.
Taking a step back, Dash and the others flinched at the sound of the noise. “What are they mad about?” she yelled, trying to reach the others’ ears over the noise.
“Ah don’t know,” answered AJ, “but they seemed really happy ‘bout the Gummy. Pinkie can’t ya bring it back out?”
Pinkie nodded. “Guys it’s alright! I can bring it back out!” back around Pinkie shot another beam onto the ground. The light coalesced into an orb that soon grew to increasingly large levels. Reaching its apex, the orb exploded outwards, revealing nothing. Confused, the Pink haired girl tried once more. However, this time the orb failed to even grow twice a large is before.
Chuckling nervously, Pinkie turned to meet not only the glares from the enraged mob, but also the annoyed and angry faces of her best friends. She opened her mouth to say something, but a loud ring cut her off.
*Ring*Buzz*Ring*Buzz*
Pinkie lifted her arm to see that her keyblade was vibrating and ringing. “One sec, I gotta take this.” She turned back around and held the handle of the weapon up to her ear while holding the keychain to her mouth. “Hello? Oh Hi Maud! Wait, what? Really… Only once, huh? Okie-Doki then. Oh my gosh! Hi! No... no, Tigger… no I gotta… I gotta go alright. Yes I promise, Pinkie Promise. Alright byebye!”
Pinkie stuffed the weapon back into her hair and turned around in a smile. “So… I’ve got good news and bad news.” The girls and the people all stared at her with identical looks of confusion, though the girls had a touch of nervousness with them as well. Taking their silence as permission to proceed, she said, “Well the bad news is that Maud says that the ship came under attack by some unknown force when we landed and to only call it back when it’s time to leave.”
“What?!” screamed the girls.
“She also said that the unknown force deleted a lot of the ships data and that most of the data on various worlds were lost. Not the ones that we were planning on going to, but pretty much everything else.”
“What?!” screamed Twilight.
“But!” she stopped. “But… the good news is that I just found a new power for my Keyblade… Yay?” Pinkie waved her arms, cheering weakly.
Rarity pushed past Twilight and stomped up to Pinkie, wearing a clearly forced smile. “Diane… darling… If I’m hearing you correctly, you’re saying that we can only summon the Gummy once?”
Pinkie smiled. “Yup, and only when we’re ready to leave.”
Dash scratched the back of her head lazily. “Well that’s not really much of a problem. We don’t really use the ship until we need to go anyway.”
Rarity turned her glare on her, causing Dash to flinch slightly. Rarity’s already forced looking smile turned into one that made her look manic and disturbed. “No. Nononono, Rachelle you don’t understand! All of our stuff is on the ship. We came out without it. All of our supplies and money. My spare clothes and beauty supplies. If we are to stay here for any length of time we’re going to need those items.”
AJ thought on it. “Ah gotta agree with Rares on this one. Unless we find someplace tah crash,” she shrugged, “we’re pretty much up a creek without a paddle on this one.”
“I’ll let you stay with me!” a voice screamed out from the crowd. The girls turned to see a tall dark skinned man wearing samurai armour. “I’ll let you stay with me if you use that ship to get me outta here!”
“What?” another voice yelled. “No way! Why do you get to leave? Take us instead!”
“No, please!” another woman yelled. She stood over several of the children whom had gathered to see the commotion. “If you can only make one trip please take these children with you! They don’t deserve to be here.”
“I want to see my wife again!”
“I want to see my family!”
“I’m sick of living like this!”
The crowd erupted in comments and pleas, all of them begging for their release. The girls looked around nervously, completely in the dark about the situation. Twilight regretted not reading up on this world before Pinkie hit the randomizer, while Dash and AJ were worried that they would have to fight someone and were getting ready to summon their own weapons, and Rarity was still reeling over the loss of her supplies.
“Guys!” Everyone quieted down and turned to one lone man standing at the head of the group. Twilight recognized it as the one who started the panic by grabbing Pinkie. “We can all fit in their ship so we shouldn’t fight one another.” He turned to the girls. “What we need to do it get that key she had! It has the skill we need to summon it!”
The girls reeled back at his declaration. Dash tried to speak up, “Hey! Hold on!” But she was cut off by screams of agreement from the crowd.
“He’s right!”
“We need to get it away from her before she wastes it!”
A woman stepped up. “Are you sure?”
The man turned to her and nodded. “Plus, you saw her. She was talking to someone in the real world. That key is our ticket out of here!” His words seemed to have the desired effect on the crowd as they all began to rally behind him. Some of them dared to even pull out their own weapons. Desperate for salvation, the people began to close in on the girls.
“Give us the key and we’ll let you go!”
“Just surrender. I don’t want to become a red player!”
“Screw that! Just hire Laughing Coffin to take care of them!”
Frightened, the girls backed into one another, forming a tight circle. On instinct they each pulled out their own Keyblades.
Asuna looked on in horror, shocked that this is was what became of the people of SAO. They were so desperate for escape that each one of them would be willing to harm innocent girls. “Kirito we have to--” she turned to see that the swordsman was no longer standing next to her. She looked down to Yui and asked, “Where did he go?”
Yui pointed towards the crowd. as the enraged players marched on them the girls grew more and more nervous. They weren't sure what to do at this point. Twilight had told them not to attack at first, but they were getting too close. Unable to hold herself back, Dash flared her glowing wings in an instinctive show of aggression. The sight of them caused everyone in the crowd to back off slightly, cautious over this new element.
Their hesitance lasted just long enough for Kirito to act. Jumping from the crowd into the center of the girls, he lifted a large crystalline sphere into the air and called out; “Group Teleport: Home Point!”
In a bright flash of light all six of them vanished completely, leaving behind an empty area surrounded by several dozen irate players. Unnoticed by them, there was another smaller flash behind them as two other players disappeared.
Kirito entered his home, fresh from an entire day of trying to convince people to join him on the front line. “Honey, I’m hooome!” He patiently waited for the canned cheers in his head to calm down before he stepped into the living room and fell backwards on his couch.
Asuna poked her head out of the kitchen and frowned. “Well if it isn’t the crowned King of Douchebag himself.” She walked into the room to join him on the couch. “So how did it go? Did you find new members?”
“Well, my queen, I believe that today was very productive. I got a lot done and it was a very relaxing experience.”
“Oh my god who did you kill?!”
Kirito turned to face her in mock shock. “Asuna! What would ever make you think that?”
Asuna stood up. “Dammit Kirito now we’re gonna have to move again!” She yelled up the stairs. “Yui, don’t unpack yet!”
“Goddamn it, Asuna I didn’t kill anyone. Plus, all my enemies are dead anyway.”
Asuna gave him a blank deadpan look. “Oh really now? Forgive me if your track record convinces me otherwise.”
“Asuna please. Track records are for people who get caught.”
“I distinctly remember you killing several men point blank in the middle of town surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.”
“It doesn't count if it’s self defense. If they struck the first blow I am well within my murderous rights. Know the law, Asuna.”
“THEY WERE COMPLETELY UNARMED. BUT YOU STILL USED BOTH OF YOUR SWORDS TO KILL THEM!”
“I’m sorry, I’m lost. What point were you trying to make again?.”
Asuna sat a hand on her face. “Fine, Mr. Innocent. What did you do today?”
“Finally something worth talking about!” Kirito thought back to earlier that day.
Down in Lisbeth's basement.
Silica sat her hands down. “I fold… again.”
Both Klein and Tiffany put some chips forward, signalling their raise.
Slamming his hand on the table, Kirito revealed his cards. “Royal Flush bitches!”
Klein(Also known game wide as BallsDeep69) groaned in annoyance and revealed his full house. “Oh my god, dude. I swear you're cheating!”
“BallsDeep, please. I am a professional. I would never do something so low as cheat.”
“Oh really, because I don’t remember you having bright glowing yellow eyes.”
Kirito scoffed. “Shows how much you know about me. “I’ll have you know that this is my natural eye color.”
“I’ll have you know that you’re a terrible liar.”
“I’ll have you know that I wasn’t really trying.”
“I’ll have you know that you’re an asshole.”
“I’ll have you know that I know that we both already know that.” Klein simply stared at him in response. “Heh. Game set and match.” He reached for the chips. “Now I’ll just go ahead and--”
“Not so fast there, Kirito.” Across the table Tiffany(Also known as Thunder Lion, also known as Chocolate Axe) smirked as he set down his royal straight flush. “I think that I’ll just go ahead and take those.” He reached out and moved the chips out of Kirito’s reach.
“What the hell! I was looking right through your cards! Where’d you get a royal straight from?”
Tiffany picked up a single card and peeled off the back, revealing that he had a card stuck to the backs of each one of them. Kirito realized that he could only see the topmost card.
“...You cheecky dickwaffle, that’s cheating!”
“Ya don’t say. By the way, yer eyes’re smoking right about now.”
True to Tiffany’s word there were billows of smoke floating up from both of Kirito’s eyes. Klein reeled back in horror. “Dude, doesn't that hurt?”
“Ehh, I’ve been using this skill for so long I don’t even feel it anymore.” He sniffed at the air. “Actually smells pretty delicious.”
There was a beat of silence, all three of the other players stared at Kirito with equal parts disgust and confusion. Finally, Klein broke the silence. “Kirito you’re a creepy motherfucker you know that?”
“Is it wrong to want to enjoy the succulent tastes of ones own flesh. If nothing else, your own body might just be the food most fit for your own tastebuds.”
“Tiffany I’m scared right now.”
Tiffany gathered up the cards and began shuffling.“So Kirito when are you gonna tackle these last five floors huh?”
“When I’m goddamn ready, Tiffany. No one wants to go with us and be meat shields.”
“But didn’t that Kayaba Heathcliff person say that he’d be waitin?” Tiffany passed out the cards.
“That bastard? He can sit there and rot on his throne for all I care. At this point we’re all just waiting to die.”
Klein grimaced. “Dude don’t say that--”
“But he’s right, Balls.” Everyone turned to look at the slumped forward and depressed form of Silica. Her eyes were glazed over and her voice was dark and monotone. “We’re all going to die eventually. They can’t keep us alive in the real world forever. And our families can’t afford to keep paying for the equipment. In fact there are so few of us now that we’re probably all locked up together in a warehouse hospital somewhere as comatose patients, completely forgotten by the whole of society. I bet that nobody even remembers us, that they’ve just moved on with life. They’re probably developing the new VRMMOs and using us as examples of what not to do and who not to trust.
It’s only a matter of time before some of our parents and doctors give up and pull the plug as if we were brain dead vegetables that are just waiting for someone to put us out of our misery. In the end… we’re all fated to shatter and die.” Silica glanced down at her cards. Pushing a few chips forward she added, “I’ll raise.”
There was another beat of silence as the other three players stared at her in horror and fear.
“Tiffany I’m scared right now.”
“Sweet merciful dickpunch Silica! What the fuck?! All I meant was that we’re all going to die by some random boss. You’re worse than I am.”
“Yeah,” sighed Tiffany. “Hasn't quite been the same since she lost her little dragon friend.”
“Well no she was fine the first time. It was after she lost her 4th best friend-little hamster-pet thing that she got like this.” Kirito checked the clock on his HUD. Standing up, he said, “Alright guys, I gotta go. If I don’t at least ask someone to help, Asuna’s gonna bitch at me.”
“I still can’t believe that you got her to marry you,” sulked Klein.
“It’s called charisma, Balls. Someday you might just understand.”
“MY CHARISMA LEVEL IS WAY HIGHER THAN YOURS!”
“But your alchemy level isn’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say that when your alchemy level is high enough, you can synthesize anything.”
“Anything?”
Kirito pulled out a jar of pills from his coat and shook them. “Any-thing.”
Back at the log cabin.
“And then I came straight home!” finished Kirito.
“Alright so was all that just a stupid way of telling me that you did absolutely nothing all day?”
“Pfft, no! I won a few card games and got us this months rent money.”
“Wait you haven't payed the rent yet?!”
“Mama! Swordsman-kun!” Both of them turned to see Yui running into the room, excited.
“Yui, who let you out of your cage? And why do you keep calling me that?”
Yui fidgeted. “Mama told me not to associate myself with you outside of the house... or inside if i could help it.”
Kirito turned to glare at Asuna. “Smart move. I personally wouldn’t want people to know that I was an adopted sentient NPC with no real power or usefulness. But being related to me is so much worse apparently.”
“Yeah,” said Asuna, “it is.” She smiled at Yui. “So what’s got you so excited today?”
“I saw a falling star!”
Asuna cocked her head in confusion, but before she could say anything, she heard Kirito sigh. “So the time has come then,” he muttered, his voice low and serious. “The prophesied star of Amneiothep has completed its sacred rotation, and has come to bestow it’s glorious power upon us.”
Asuna and Yui deadpanned at the classic Kirito gag. “Are you done?”
Kirito scoffed. “Of course not. For you see, the star’s grand legend perfluates through the centuries, never once staying the same once told. It is my solemn duty to spread the correct version. The one true--”
Down on the 10th floor.
There was a column of light and the family appeared in the middle of town. Kirito took a look around. “And here we are in the slums of Aincrad. Complete with resident vultures, murderers, thieves, prostitutes, orange players and level ones.”
Asuna sighed. “Alright. We get it, Ki--”
Kirito let out a deranged chuckle. “I mean, despite being in the SAME game for over FIVE years, these worthless imbeciles are STILL level goddamn ONE!” His right eye began twitching. "It's frigging amazing actually. How does one go for--"
Asuna had enough. “WE GET IT! SHUT UP!”
Yui turned to Kirito and gave her a sad look. “I’m technically still level one… does that make me worthless?”
Kirito gasped, “My god, Yui. No.” He leaned down to take Yui by the shoulders and look her in the eye. “Listen to me. You are an immortal object. Do you know what that means?”
“Umm--”
"Kirito..." Asuna warned.
“It means that you are the worlds greatest shield, and no one can ever take that away from you. I could toss you into the mouth of a dragon and it would choke trying to eat you. I could throw you into a pit of lava to grab a rare item untouchable by normal means.”
“KIRITO!”
“I could even strap a handle to your back and… I could…” His eyes went wide with realization. “Oh my god!”
“Kirito no!”
He turned to look back at his wife. “But, Asuna!”
“No!”
He stood up. “Wait, just hear me out and think about it. We could--”
“I SAID NO! FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, KIRITO! YOU ARE NOT USING OUR DAUGHTER AS AN IMMORTAL MEATSHIELD!”
“Well technically she wouldn’t be a meatshield per-say!”
Asuna reached for her blade and partially unsheathed it.
Kirito instantly turned around. “Hey what’s that over there?” The three turned to the downed green ship. "That doesn't look like the gracious star of Anei... Amni- Whatever the hell I said before."
Yui looked on in wide-eyed amazement. "I wonder what it is."
Normal stuff happened. Don’t feel like changing the crowds lines here. Just imagine rape jokes and wingboners.
Frantic and desperate, the crowd began to converge on the group, intent on stealing Pinkie’s Keyblade. Asuna looked on in terror. “Oh my god! What is wrong with everyone? We have to stop them?”
Kirito laughed at her. “Stop them?! This is awesome! We haven't had a public disembowelment since the gold thief of floor 40!” Flicking his wrist, he cracked open his inventory and materialized a chair and some beer. “I’m gonna sit back and check this out!”
“Kirito!”
“FINE! Fine. But you owe me!” Dematerializing the objects, he instead brought out a large crystalline globe. Clicking a different button he materialized a red and black cap on his head. Muttering angrily, he then ran into the crowd. “Stupid aliens. Stupid girls, making me waste my items and shit…”
Unable to hold herself back, Dash flared her glowing wings in an instinctive show of aggression. The sight of them caused everyone in the crowd to back off slightly, cautious over this new element.
Their hesitance lasted just long enough for Kirito to act. He jumped high into the air. Turning his hat backwards he tossed the crystal globe. “GO POKEBALL!” The globe slammed against Dash’s head and knocked her out cold. Laughing his head off, Kirito landed beside her and picked up the globe. “I’m just kidding. Seriously, could you imagine? Anyway,” he held the globe high into the air. “Teleport: Home!” All six of them disappeared in a bright flash.
Asuna lifted a smaller rectangular crystal with one hand while sighing deeply into the other. “Teleport: home,” she said wearily.”
With a flash and a shimmer, several figures appeared in front of a large log cabin in the woods of the 22nd floor of Aincrad Castle. Once they appeared fully, the large orb in Kirito’s outstretched grip cracked and disappeared in a flurry of shimmering broken glass, similar to Pinkie’s ship earlier.
“Who are you?!” a scratchy female voice demanded. Kirito turned around to see a short multi-haired girl glaring up at him. “Where did you take us?”
Kirito tried to back up but the girl continued to advance on her. He didn’t know why but something about her, or more specifically her hair, seemed familiar. “I… uh…”
Suddenly, the short girl was yanked out from in front of him. He looked up to see her being held back by a tall blonde haired girl in a stetson. He briefly wondered if stetsons were even in this game. Even so, he still had his doubts if what they said was true. They could be NPCs like Yui.
“Girl, hold your horses. He went an’ saved us after all,” the blonde chided. She held girl by her jacket, keeping her lifted slightly above the ground.
The rainbow haired girl simply struggled in her, apparently tight, grip. “But what if he just saved us because he wants the ship for himself?” she argued.
“Well I—”
Suddenly, another girl appeared hanging over Kirito’s shoulder, causing him to flinch away from her in response. Her hair looked like springy cotton candy, and she smelled like cake for some reason. “Well he does look a little bit like a delinquent,” she said as she examined his black coat. “What with the black clothes and all.”
Kirito raised an eyebrow at that comment. “What’s wrong with—”
A fourth girl walked up to him and, likewise, examined his clothing choice. This one was tall and, he had to admit, rather attractive. She had stylishly combed purple hair and a scrutinizing set of blue eyes. “Well I can’t say that I’m a fan of his choice of wardrobe, but compared with what everyone else was wearing I like how it fits in, yet still stands out. That makes it unique in its own way. I approve," she smiled.
Kirito returned her smile, albeit hesitantly. He wasn’t exactly sure if he was being complimented. “Thank—”
“Well we still don’t know if he’s just another one of them!” declared the rainbow girl, pointing in his direction.
The final girl, the one with long straight dark-purple hair, rolled her eyes. “Well why don’t we ask him.” She took a step forward and the other girl moved out of the way. “I suppose we should introduce ourselves. Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle.” She gestured to the other purple haired girl. “These are my friends, Rarity Belle,” towards the pink haired girl still standing behind him. “Pinkam— err sorry, Pinkie Pie, and—and finally towards the two girls standing the furthest away—Jackie Apple and Rachelle Dash. Before we ask any questions, what’s your name?”
Kirito smiled, finally glad to have made some progress and a chance to talk. “My name is—”
“Kirito!” Everyone turned and saw another flash near the front of the log cabin. Another girl appeared with a small child next to here. “Good thinking getting them out of there like that,” she said.
AJ smirked at Dash before finally releasing here. “See, he don’t mean any harm.”
Pinkie, meanwhile, squealed and rushed over to the little girl. She leaned down and threw her face in front of hers with a wide grin. “Hi! My name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?”
The girl shied away slightly and glanced up at her mother who nodded. From what she saw from before this pink girl seemed harmless. The girl hesitantly stepped forward. “Hello, my name is Yui… a-are you really from the outside world?”
Pinkie took that as permission to sweep the young girl up in a large hug, oblivious to the mother instinctively reaching for her rapier. She was still a mother after all. “Oh you are soo cute,” giggled Pinkie. “Yeah that's right. We’re not from here.”
Yui smiled brightly. “So you really can rescue us?”
“I knew it! They do want our ship!” growled Dash, but before she could say anything further and gloved fist slammed on the top of her head. “Dammit, AJ! she groaned rubbing the lump that was sure to form on her scalp.
Kirito nervously scratched the back of his own. “Yeah, sorry but I don’t really believe that your ship could get us out of here,” he admitted to the shock of the girls around them.
“What makes you say that?” asked Twilight.
Kirito turned to face her. “Well how do we not know you guys aren't just NPCs?”
“En Pi whosiwhats?” asked Pinkie, tilting her head.
“Excuse me, darling, but exactly what are NPCs?” asked Rarity, having never heard an acronym like that before.
Kirito put a finger to his chin in thought. He glanced back to Yui and wondered if they just didn’t know they were NCPs. He could try to explain what they were, but their programming would probably deny it. Still, in his mind, it was worth a try. “NPC stands for non-player character. Basically, if you aren’t a human playing the game you’re an NPC.”
Everyone turned to Twilight in hopes that she understood. She mirrored his thoughtful expression. “So from what I can understand you’re saying that NPCs are nonhuman entities, even though they can look and act like them?” Kirito nodded. “So why do you think we’re NPCs?”
“Well for one, you all came here in a falling star. Secondly you claim to be from the outside but you don’t seem to know what’s happening.”
Rarity spoke up. “Well that’s because we are from the outside, darling.”
AJ flicked her hat up and out of her eyes. “An’ we don’t kno’ what’s goin’ on. But that don’t make us less human.”
Kirito raised his brow in confusion. What they were saying made no sense to him. Unless... “But how can you be from the outside and not know about Sword Art Online…he asked. “Or have we been forgotten after all,”
Pinkie, still nuzzling Yui, piped up from behind them. “Well duhh, we’re not from this world in the first place. So of course we wouldn’t know about… whatever it is we’re supposed to know.”
Both Kirito and Asuna were shocked at this revelation. Twilight was shocked as well, but for a completely different reason. “Wait, if outside doesn't mean another world to you then what do you all mean by outside?”
There was a brief but tense silence before Asuna walked up and stood next to Kirito. They shared a look before Asuna spoke up “I think we should go inside. I feel like we all have a lot of explaining to do.” After a moment of silent deliberation, the girls followed Asuna and Kirito into the log cabin.
~~~
Asuna first decided to make some tea for their guests while Pinkie went off to play with Yui and her toys upstairs. Kirito and the rest of them gathered in the living room to ascertain the current situation. Twilight and the others sat on the couch while Kirito sat in one of the recliner seats across from them.
It was slow at first, since the girls, having never been all that technologically savvy—usually relying on Pinkie’s expertise in technology—first needed to understand exactly what a video game was. After that was cleared, things seemed to progress more smoothly. Twilight explained about the existence of other worlds and that they were travelers from one. Surprisingly, Kirito took the news well. And likewise, he explained his own situation.
After he was done, Twilight steepled her figures in contemplation. “So you and about 4500 others have been trapped in this life-like game for over 5 years now?”
Kirito nodded grimly. “Yes, by a madman named Heathcliff, also known as Kayaba Akihiko. Basically, we can’t get out until we defeat the bosses on each of the 100 floors of this tower.”
Dash leaned back and sat her feet on top of the glass table between them, much to Rarity’s horror. “Well if it’s been 5 years, why are you guys still here? Just take down the guy who trapped you all already.”
Kirito clenched his fist as a few choice memories resurfaced. He thought back to the time on the 75th floor where he revealed Heathcliff’s identity and had a chance to defeat him once and for all. Unfortunately, his reliance on the games registered combos lead to his downfall and Heathcliff’s escape. He couldn’t help but get riled up, it was a scene that haunted his nightmares; his greatest failure. “It’s not...” he sighed, clenching his teeth, “that easy.”
Dash noticed his dangerous expression and instantly regretted her statement. “Woah woah, sorry!”
“Rachelle!” chided Rarity, knocking the girl’s feet off the glass. “There was no need to be so insensitive. Obviously, they are trying their very best.” She turned back to Kirito. “What floor have you all made it to so far?”
Kirito took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He’d save his anger for another time, for another person. “We’re stuck on floor 95. We’ve tried taking it several times but we lose every time.”
It was at this point that Asuna returned with several drinks for the group. Having been listening the entire time, she continued where Kirito had left off. “It’s gotten to the point where most of the players have given up on trying,” she said sadly as she sat the drinks down and sat in the identical recliner next to Kirito’s.
“Golly,” AJ breathed, “that does sound a bit tough. Ah’m guessin’ you can’t do it by yerselves then?” Both of them nodded in response.
Dash leaned over the table and gave Kirito a winning smile. “Fine, then how about we help you kick his ass?”
Asuna gasped. “Really? But don’t you all have other responsibilities. Now that I think about it, why did you all choose to come… here…” Asuma looked on in confusion at the depressed looks of the four girls in front of her. “W-what? What’s wrong?”
“Sugarcube…,” AJ began, frowning, “we didn’t choose to come here…”
“Eeek!” Everyone turned to look at Rarity, whom had decided to take a drink of the tea before it got cold. However, as soon as she picked up the cup, it began glitching and fizzing out of existence. Entire sections of the cup inverted and turned into ones and zeros before the entire thing simply exploded altogether.
Everyone simply stared in shocked silence at the scene; everyone except Kirito who sighed dejectedly. “I thought so.” He slumped back in his chair. “Well at least that proves you all aren’t NPCs.”
“Kirito,” scolded Asuna, “You still thought they were lying?”
Kirito was quick to defend himself. “I didn’t say that. But the possibility that Kayaba’s messing with us is still there. I was just being cautious.” The last thing he needed was to be lectured by his wife.
Twilight reached out to touch another cup, only for nothing to happen. Hesitantly, she tried to pick it up, and that’s when it glitched and exploded. “Interesting.”
She tried again with a third cup; this time, however, she did not pick it up, but instead she nudged to the left. Nothing happened so she tried moving the cup across the platter it was on. Kirito admired Twilight’s inquisitive nature, choosing to study the phenomenon instead of asking directly. He watched as Twilight did the same with the other cups, moving them around and even knocking one over. “It it only glitches when picked up,” she observed. “Or more specifically, when it’s removed from the platter. What does this prove?”
“It’s an issue with the coding,” he answered. “It doesn't know how to deal with you. Normally, the cup is a public object that can be picked up by any player. It does so by becoming the property of said player and temporarily placing itself in their inventory when removed from the platter. It becomes equipment instead of a stationary object. That’s the basic explanation anyway.”
Rarity spoke up, piecing together where he was going with his explanation. “But since we aren’t players we don’t have any inventory. So when the cup is removed from it’s spot it has nowhere to go.”
“Causing the glitch to occur,” finished Twilight. She thought about it. “Then I suppose that wouldn’t work with NPCs then.”
Asuna shook her head. “No, even NPCs have their own inventory. Frankly, I’m not even sure how you all are even here. The Cardinal system should be doing something about it.”
“What in the hay is a cardinal system?” asked AJ.
“The CS,” began Asuna, ”the Cardinal System, is the chief problem solver of this world. It constantly watches over Sword Art Online and fixes any and all errors that the world experiences. For example…” she gestured to the table, and, as if on cue, the two cups that had previously exploded, reappeared back in their original positions. “The system finds a problem, removes it from the game, fixes it, then replaces it. I would say that the very presence of you all is one large error. You should be disappearing or something.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. “I have a theory. Excuse me.” Holding out her hand, Twilight called forth Magical Element into it, much to Asuna’s surprise.
“That’s the weapon from before,” she gasped, taking in the sight of the odd tool. It looked bore like a club or a key than any type of sword already existing in the game.
Twilight nodded. “You see, when traveling worlds, it’s not uncommon for a person to encounter different languages, or environments. Our weapons allow us to access a passive sort of magic that allows us to bypass things like that in order to keep us safe. However, when something tries to alter our body or physiology to fit the environment, we need something else.” Twilight pointed to the jacket she was wearing. “There is a strong magic in our clothes that protect us from being changed or affected. I theorize that one or both of these defenses are what’s keeping the Cardinal System from attacking us. Unfortunately, our ship had no such defense, which is why it banished itself.”
Dash checked out her own clothes. “Seriously? I didn’t know that…”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Rachelle, do you ever pay attention during lessons?”
“That actually reminds me…” Everyone turned to Kirito, who until that point had gone quiet. He was nervously staring at Dash. “You had one of those Keyblades too right?”
Dash nodded, though she was slightly unnerved by the boys intense look. “Yeah… wait, how did you know that’s what it was called?” she wondered. At least, she didn’t think anyone said what their weapons were called.
“Interesting…” muttered Kirito. His eyes darted from her to Twilight then back to Dash. Finally, he decided to voice his concerns. “Sorry if this sounds weird… but I’ve been wondering something since I’ve met you…”
“What?!” screamed the girls. The volume alone was enough to make Kirito flinch. But the ensuing questions and decreasing distance between their faces and his caused him to make full use of the reclining part of his seat.
“You’ve seen him?”
“Where is he now?”
“Are ya sure his name was Spike?”
By this point, three of the girls had leaned all of the way over the table and were each far too close to Kirito’s face. Asuna was just about to do something before each of their bodies lit up in a blue aura and they were forcibly stuffed back into their seats. Kirito turned to the only girl who hadn’t jumped the gun. For the first time he noticed the glowing mark on Rarity’s forehead; it was a light blue diamond. He caught it just in time to see the glow fade from it. Looking closely, he could see a purple mark peaking through Twilight’s hair. Though neither of the other girls appeared to have one from what he could see.
She flicked her hair. “Honestly girls. I know you are excited but please compose yourselves.”
Twilight blushed. “Sorry…”
Dash rolled her eyes. “I’m not.” She turned to Kirito and once again leaned forward in her seat. “Does the Spike you know have green hair and a stupid grin on his face?”
Kirito thought back on it. The Spike he knew did used to love to smile… for a while anyway. “I guess I’d call it stupid. He did have green hair though.”
Dash’s face lit up in excitement. But it faded when she felt two hands on both of her shoulders. AJ looked up at her with a serious look while Twilight was giving her a sad smile. It was almost as if they were trying to send her two different messages. One silently asking her to calm down, and the other silently warning that this could be dangerous. She dislike both of them. Reluctantly, she sat back down and reined in her excitement.
Twilight looked at her for a second more. While she would also love to believe in the best, she still had to be one hundred percent sure. “Sorry. We’re just a little… concerned,” she said to Kirito. “First of all… how do you know Spike? Did he visit this world too?”
Asuna furrowed her brow in thought. “Spike… that name sounds familiar. I think you’ve mentioned him before, haven't you?
Kirito nodded and prepared tell his story. “It started about 5 years ago. Just after I met you for the first time, Asuna.”
~~~
Slashing downward, a younger Kirito eliminated yet another low level Slythern lizard. A transparent white screen appeared before him and informed him of his newfound experience and treasure. Sliding his plain looking sword back into his sheath, he glanced around the area.
Currently, he was knee deep in the Forest of Sleep on the 4th floor. White leafed trees stood tall and dense, barely letting any natural sunlight through. Well... as natural as the sun could get in a virtual game.
This was a dangerous place to be at this moment in time, what with the lead team only recently defeating the 3nd floor’s boss. There was no telling what would show up in this level. Normally, the sensible thing to do would be to come here with at least a mid sized party or guild.
Unfortunately, Kirito wasn’t exactly someone who others wanted on their team. He sighed and looked down at his plain black coat. Known as the Coat of Midnight, it was a rare drop from the ogre that he had helped defeat with the help of the lead team guild and at the cost of a man’s life. Ever since he lied about his origins as the highest ranking beta tester and intentionally withholding vital information, most of the other high level guilds refused to work with him. They immediately dubbed him as a “beta testing cheater” or rather a “Beater” as he was commonly referred to these days.
Of course this wasn’t entirely a bad thing. His actions redirected all of the hatred and jealousy that regular players held towards the normal beta testers towards him instead. This allowed everyone to band together and work harder to clear the floors. In just a month the lead guild, a new one called Knights of the Blood Oath, cleared 2 floors by themselves.
Whatever the case, as long as this game got beaten, Kirito couldn’t care less about who disliked him. He decided he would be a solo player early on anyway; he would just need to be more careful about where he power leveled.
Kirito took one last look around and shrugged. “Guess I should heal up and move on to the next area then,” he muttered to himself. Deciding to find a nice spot where he could rest, he turned and walked through towards a forest clearing he had found earlier.
He ducked and made his way past the tall white leaved trees, making careful and deliberate steps. This place wasn't called the Forest of Sleep for nothing; the trucks of the Slumber Trees have the ability to put players to sleep if they touch them for too long. And falling asleep in the middle of a relatively unexplored place like this would be a death sentence.
Finally, Kirito broke through the treeline and winced back from the sudden beam of sunlight in his face. He moved towards the center of the circular forest clearing; if he was going to rest he wanted to have a 360 degree area of awareness so that nothing could sneak up on him.
*Fwoosh!*
Kirito stopped in his tracks partway toward the center. “What was… Woah!” He gasped loudly as he glanced up at the large plume of smoke raising from somewhere up ahead. “What the hell…” he mumbled.
“CrapCrapCrapCrapCrap!” Kirito’s gaze lowered from the smoke to see a figure dashing through the trees on the other side of the area. Finally, the figure broke through the tree line and ran towards him. From what Kirito could see it was a young boy. “Run!” the boy yelled.
The urgency in the boy’s voice nearly caused Kirito to obey out of fear. “W-what? Why?” he asked.
The boy was fast, clearing the entire length of the area and skidding to a stop near Kirito in a matter of seconds. He looked panicked, but also a bit excited. “Just trust me dude. We need to get the hell outta dodge!”
Now that he was up close. Kirito took a quick second to examine him. Like he noticed before, the boy was young, looking around 10 years old. Though the 14 year old Kirito couldn’t really say anything. He had spiky emerald green hair and wore a sleeveless dark red hoodie with a picture of a green flame on his back and black torn jeans with untied boots.
The oddest part, Kirito found, was that his skin had a slight violet tint to it, as well as slitted green eyes. Even if the game still allowed disguised avatars, Kirito was sure that green skin wasn’t allowed.
“Why?” he asked. “Does it have something to do with that smoke.” Kirito turned to look back at the smoke and his eyes widened at the sight of a billowing fire now flaring in the distance. Worse though, it appeared to be streaming towards him. Soon enough, a large tree burst through the others. The top of the tree was blazing and as the flames touched the other trees it set them on fire along with it. It was a living Slumber tree, and it was mad. The dark face on its truck opened its mouth wide to roar at them as burning white leaves fell from its branches.
“What the hell is that?!” exclaimed Kirito, turning towards the kid.
Said kid was nervously rubbing the back of his head and desperately avoiding eye contact. “Yeah...” he chuckled. “Turns out you can set these things on fire.”
“Why would you even try?!” he yelled, dumbstruck at the fact that the possibility of setting fire to wood was even in question.
“It was an accident!” the boy screamed back. “I honestly didn’t think it could catch fire!” He pointed towards the still roaring tree.
“It’s a tree, you dumbass!”
The boy nodded. “Exactly, which is why we need to get out of here!” The boy turned to run but Kirito caught him by the hood of his jacket. “What? Let go!”
Kirito shook his head, and with his other hand, unsheathed the sword from his back. “We can’t run. If we let this thing go it’ll set fire to the rest of the forest. Plus, I’m almost certain the smoke that results from the burning tree will gather and put us to sleep if we fight it anywhere other than out in the open.” The boy, seeing the truth in his logic, stopped struggling. Kirito let him go and readied his weapon. “Since you’re here, I’m guessing you can fight?”
The boy scoffed and smirked. “Of course!” A completely white object shimmered into existence in his palm. It appeared to be a long club or axe of some sort. Kirito, stunned by its design, traced it up and down with his eyes.
It was wide with a single chain going up the middle of the shaft and wrapping around a flame that stuck out of the side. The guard around the handle resembled a dragon’s folded wings. Finally, a six pointed star-shaped amethyst gem swung from a keychain at the end. A second later, an identical black weapon appeared in his other. Only this one had a red lightning bolt shaped ruby at the end. Oddly enough, the boy seemed excited by it.
“Sweet! I got the second one to show up!” he cheered.
Kirito glanced down at him in confusion. “What kind of weapon is--”
“Watch out!”
Kirito returned his gaze back towards the tree just as it shot out one of its branches towards them. Both of them reacted in time to dodge it. Now that it had attacked him, Kirito’s battle system activated and targeted the tree. Kirito finally saw its name. “Drasil the Spirit Tree” Kirito instantly noticed the large “B” next to its name and immediately halted in his advance.
The tree saw this as a chance and threw out another branch. Kirito hopped backwards to avoid it as it smashed into the ground. “Kid!” he called out. “Stop! It’s a boss! We can’t fight it on our own.”
“Don’t call me kid!” he yelled back. Unlike Kirito, he continued to zoom forward with surprising speed and agility, easily avoiding any ranged attacks. Once close enough, the boy pointed both of his weapons toward the monster.
“Duelcast: Fira!” Suddenly, two balls of fire burst forth from the tips of his weapons and engulfed the tree.
Kirito was stunned beyond words. That shouldn’t have been possible. What he just saw couldn’t have been anything except magic. He also noticed another thing just then. The kid’s two weapons were way too long to be knives; they were both almost as long as his own blade. He was dual wielding swords of some kind.
The kid hopped back over to Kirito. “How’s that? I’ll burn this thing to a crisp!” he grinned.
Kirito shook his head. He decided that he would ask some serious questions later; but questions could wait, they had to take care of this thing. He examined the tree. It was burning and one look at its health bar revealed that it was draining rapidly. Whether it was the fire or the magic doing it, he did not know.
“Whatever you did, it’s working. Let’s finish it off.”
“Right!” The boy and Kirito rushed forward together. The tree lashed out, this time with far more ferocity. Clearly it was the frantic strikes of a dying monster. Unfortunately, the boy was too fast and Kirito was experienced in parrying monster strikes.
Once they were close enough, Kirito’s blade began glowing a bright blue colour as he readied a sword skill. He briefly glanced over at the boy. The kid had a wide smile on his face as he joyfully hopped from here to there, dodging branches and flames all the while. He turned back and parried another attack.
Eventually, the two warriors reached the tree. Kirito ducked low and swung upwards, releasing the skill and attempting to split the tree in half from the bottom up. Unfortunately, his attack was just a bit too weak and the tree survived the move. The boy came up behind him and leaped into the air. Spinning his weapons for style points, the boy slashed the tree diagonally with one blade, then again with the other in the opposite diagonal. The attacks created an X slash to go with Kirito’s upward strike.
This was the final straw. The tree froze in place for a second before bursting into thousands of shimmering blue shards of glass.
The boy landed right next to Kirito and looked up with glimmering eyes at the shining shards raining down around them. A white screen appeared in front of Kirito. He looked at it curiously. It said that he got the finishing bonus. He was sure that it wasn’t him who got the last hit.
The boy looked down at the weapons in his hands and in an instant they shimmered out existence in the same way as they arrived. Afterwards, the kid turned to Kirito. “That was awesome!” he exclaimed. “Oh, my name’s Spike by the way. I guess I’ll see you around then.” Without another word, the boy turned away, took a running leap, and jumped high into the air.
“Wait! Hold on!” Kirito called out. It was too late, the boy landed back into the forest in the direction Kirito had originally arrived from. Frowning, he turned back around, frustrated that he didn't have a chance to ask any of the questions rolling around in his skull.
“What kind of weapon was that? How did he use magic? How did he jump that high? Is there really a dual wield skill or is just a perk of that weapon?”
Although, one question seemed more urgent than the rest as he looked up at the side of the forest he was on. “What am I going to do about the fire…?” he groaned, looking up at the still raging forest fires. While the fire didn’t look to be spreading, it also didn’t look like it was going away anytime soon.
Kirito smiled and rolled his eyes alongside AJ as Dash rolled along the ground busting a gut. Rarity and Asuna were also tittering demurely while Twilight had both of her palms pressed against her face. “And that’s how I met Spike,” he finished.
“Well that does sound like him,” chuckled Rarity.
“Haaahahahaha!” cackled Dash. “He set the whole place on fire?!”
“Yep!” His smile became a flat line. “The fire went out eventually but the smoke didn’t.”
Asuna stopped laughing. “Wait is that why the 4th floor has that thick sleeping fog covering it?”
Kirito nodded and he began chuckling. Twilight groaned and glanced back up at him. “But that does at least confirm a few things. It also raises a few questions. If Spike was that young, it must’ve only been a short time after leaving our world. What could he have been doing here?” And how did he get his keyblades before me?!
“He told me he was training.” Twilight gave Kirito a confused look. “I didn’t see him for a while after that. But we started to hang out when I saw him next. Even though he was one of the strongest characters I’d ever seen, he had no interest in joining the lead group. I was mad at him until he told me that he wasn’t even from this world.”
“So you knew what they were saying was true from the start?” asked Asuna.
Kirito shook his head and leaned back into his seat. “No, I was generally curious if they were like Yui. Spike never did tell me how he got here. All he said was that he was training so that he could find some people that were important to him. Of course I didn’t believe him at first.”
“Wait?” said Dash, hopping off of the ground. Kirito was forced back into his seat as she leaning over him once again. “He was looking for us? What did he say?”
“Well… um. He told me about a group of girls he was looking for. If I remember correctly, he said...”
~~~
“A stupid tomboy with rainbow hair, a freakishly strong hick, a nerd, a girl, a tree, and a weirdo,” Spike, now 12 years old, finished counting off on his fingers. Afterwards, he continued to lean back on the large oak tree behind him. Unlike the dense forest on the fourth floor this area was more of a plane that was sparsely populated by trees and bushes.
Kirito relaxed next to him, leaning on the same tree. Both of them had decided to relax instead of training today on. At first Kirito was adamantly against it, but he soon had to admit that Spike was right; today was a beautiful day on the 22rd floor. The nature setting was at it’s most comfortable where they were; the breeze was light and the sun was just warm enough to be nap inducing without being uncomfortable.
Kirito at this point had had on a black unbuttoned trench coat with a dark red lining going down the hem of the coat and straight down the back. He looked at Spike, who still had on the same clothes as he did several months earlier, with confusion. “Are you gonna tell me their names?”
Spike simply stared up at the sky with an unreadable look on his face. “That’s the thing… I can’t really remember their names. I know they’re important to me and I remember what they look like and who they are, and everything else. Just not their names.”
“And now you need to find them again?”
Spike nodded. “I have to. My master saved them from the darkness that swallowed our world.” His expression fell into a somber stare. “But now they’re out there somewhere, waiting for me to find them. I feel terrible about making them worry like this.”
“I know the feeling,” admitted Kirito. “I have a sister outside of the game who’s probably crying over me right now. For the past few years I’ve been avoiding her for stupid reasons. If I were to die here those would be her last memories of me.”
Spike chuckled darkly. “At least you remember her name.”
Kirito gave him a comforting smile. “Well you said you remember who they were. Tell me about them; maybe reliving those memories will unlock more.”
Spike glanced over and him and appeared to give the idea some thought. Finally, he nodded with a bright smile.
~~~
“Then he told me a few stories about you all. Pranks he pulled and fun times he used to have. His descriptions of you all are pretty spot on,” he glanced toward Dash, who had been pulled away from him once again. “Especially you. In fact, your attitude reminded me of him in the first place.”
Rarity cast a sly gaze over to Dash, whose face had gained a suspicious red tint. “Yes, that sounds about right.”
“But that doesn't make any sense…” muttered AJ.
Dash turned on her with a fierce look. “What doesn't make any sense? This proves that Spike remembers us.”
“That’s what ah mean,” she responded. “He remembered who we are and what we all look like. That still don’t explain why he’s been attackin’ us lately.”
“He attacked you?” gasped Asuna.
“You’ve seen him?” added Kirito.
Dash however, ignored their questions. “Then I was right. That dude in the black coat is an imposter; he only looks like Spike.”
AJ thought back to when she met him in Radiant Garden. There was no doubt in her mind that she had talked to the real Spike, and that it was the same one who took Shia and wanted to kill Twilight. She could argue that she knew that it was really Spike, but then she might have to break her promise to Luna.
Not to mention, Dash was still staring at her, waiting for an argument to start. The look in her eyes, they were so relieved and filled with hope from Kirito’s story. AJ couldn’t bring herself to argue at this moment. AJ gave her a soft smile. “You might be on to somethin’ there, sug’.”
Dash grinned victoriously. “Of course, I am!”
While Dash reveled in her victory, Twilight stared at AJ curiously. Being the stubborn realist that she knew her friend was, it wasn’t like her to just give up on an argument like this one. She could have easily pointed out that the Spike in the story and the so called imposter shared the same Keyblade design. Twilight wondered why she didn’t do it. Either way, she was relieved that another fight didn’t break out between them.
Rarity turned towards Asuna. “Excuse me, darling, but have you ever met Spike in person?”
Asuna craned her head and thought on it. Eventually, her eyes lit up in realization. “I have actually! Only once when…”
“Umm… girls…” Everyone turned towards the top of the stairs where Pinkie Pie was standing. By her hip was the young Yui. “We… might have a tiiinnyy problem on our hands.”
Everyone shared a inquisitive look as Pinkie nervously descended the stairs with an equally nervous girl behind her.
“Is something wrong?” asked Rarity.
“Weeeell, I have good news, bad news, good news aaaannd more bad news,” Pinkie admitted, twiddling her fingers.
Dash rolled her eyes. “Well nice to know there’s an equal amount of disappointment,” she snarked.
“If it’s really bad,” began Twilight, “start with that first so we can deal with it.”
Pinkie nodded. “Well you know how we can’t summon the ship until we absolutely need to leave?” Everyone nodded. “And you know how Rarity was upset that she can’t bring out her clothes or makeup.” Everyone nodded once again. Rarity frowned at the reminder. The group was still curious about where she was going with this. “And you probably figured out that we can’t really pick up anything in this world right…” Everyone nodded except Twilight, whose face contorted in horror.
Pinkie saw this and grimaced alongside her. Everyone else still seemed confused.
“I don’t get it, what’s the problem?” asked Dash.
Twilight slowly turned to face her. “We can’t interact with this world or get anything from the ship… w-we have no food or water,” she stammered. Suddenly, the reality of the situation dawned on everyone present.
Before they could panic Pinkie returned their attention to her. “Waitwaitwait! Here’s the good news.” She reached behind her back and pulled out her Keyblade. “I mar~ked the fo~od!” she sang, smiling brightly.
AJ, Rarity, and Dash let out a large sigh of relief. “Gosh darnit Pinkie. Don’t scare us like that!”
“What does that mean?” asked Asuna.
Rarity took the job of answering her question, feeling like she could do the best job of describing it. “As you probably know, our Keyblades each have one or two unique abilities. Pinkie’s here has the ability to “mark” things with it and summon them to her location. Basically speaking, she can bring food from the ship to us so we can eat it.”
Asuna still looked confused. “Why did she mark the food of all things?”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well in case of emergencies of course.” She gave them a smug grin. “And look who was right!”
“Wait a second,” muttered Kirito. “What’s the other bad news?”
“That’s what I was about to ask,” added Twilight, looking apprehensive.
Pinkie’s smug grin slowly fell into a shameful one. “W… well you know…” Her head slumped and she pointed her blade towards the table. “Just watch.”
A thin beam of light sparked from the tip of her weapon towards the table between the group. A small orb appeared on the table and grew as Pinkie poured more energy into it. Soon the orb grew into the shape of a small pastry. Pinkie cut of the energy and the light surrounding the new object exploded outwards, revealing a small piece of cake satting on a plate.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something but Pinkie held up her and and pointed back at the food. Within a few seconds the food began glitching in the same the cup did earlier, but to everyone’s surprise, it did not explode like before… at least until Pinkie tried to pick it up.
Everyone stared with depressed looks at the place where the food once sat. Pinkie herself was whimpering with teary eyes. Unlike when the tea exploded, the eradication of the cake was enough to force the girls to realize the true danger of the predicament they were in.
Yui, ever the hopeful character, tried to offer up a reassuring smile. “It’s not all bad. We figured out a way around it!”
“You did?!” asked Twilight. “How?”
“Oh yeah! That’s the other good news!” cheered Pinkie. “Hold out your hand please.”
Yui complied. Pinkie repeated the action, this time summoning what appeared to be a cupcake in Yui’s outstretched palm. After the initial summoning process was completed, Yui closed her eyes and appeared to be concentrating. Everyone stared at the treat with apprehensive looks, just waiting for something to happen. Yui opened her eyes and gave the group a smile. Then she held it out to Twilight who hesitantly lifted it into her own. Seeing nothing wrong with it Twilight took a bite and to her delight it tasted just as delicious as it should’ve.
“That’s amazing,” exclaimed Twilight, gulping down the bite. “What did you do?”
“I hid it from the system.” Yui closed her eyes, and when they reopened, her normally bright black eyes had changed into a light green color. Looking closely one could even see streams of binary data rolling down her iris’. “Normally, whatever the Cardinal System detects as ‘alien’ gets deleted immediately. All I have to do was prevent the system from detecting it.”
“That’s brilliant, Yui!” praised Asuna, hugging her daughter. Seeing the girls odd looks she decided to explain. “Oh, sorry, I haven’t introduced her. This is Yui, as you may have guessed this is our daughter.” Rarity seemed like she was about to object, but Asuna already knew what she was about to say and cut her off. “I know that we don’t seem that much older than you all, and you’d be right. Yui isn’t our daughter by blood. She’s sort of adopted. She was originally a part of the Cardinal System, charged with watching and correcting the psychological profiles of everyone playing.
Long story short she gained sentience and we found her alone in a forest. The system tried to get rid of her but Kirito saved her data.” Asuna rubbed the top of Yui’s head affectionately. “It took him a while but Kirito eventually hacked an admin account and gave Yui a new body. She still has a small connection to the system though.” Yui nodded affirmatively.
Rarity cooed in response. “That’s so sweet!” she gushed. After finishing her daww session she turned to Pinkie. “Well this is good then. I’m feeling a bit peckish. I had a small salad that I had made just yesterday. Pinkie would you mind terribly if I asked you to get it for me?”
Pinkie nervously scratched the bad of her head. “Well… you see. I don’t have that marked.”
“Oh, well that’s understandable. You can’t mark everything. How about the rest of the waffles from breakfast this morning?”
Pinkie began looking even more nervous. “That either...”
Rarity’s eye began twitching dangerously as she realized what was going on. “Pinkie… did you only mark the desserts on the ship?” Pinkie’s guilty look seemed to answer her question.
Rarity groaned into her palm even as Twilight gingerly rubbed her back. “Well at least we have food.”
“But I’ll get FAT!” whined Rarity.
“Well that’s not the only thing…” Everyone’s gaze locked back to Pinkie, who flinched from the steely gazes she was getting. “I… I only have about three days worth of food marked.
There was a collective silence in the room.
“So… you are telling me…” hissed Rarity as she stood up for the first time, “not only do I have to eat only fattening foods, but I have to eat it for three straight days?!” By this point she was bearing down on the poor frightened girl.
AJ quickly stood up and hopped to her defense. “Now now, it ain’t Pinkie’s fault. In fact, we should be thankin’ her. It’s thanks to her that we have any food at all.”
“But still this means we have to hurry and help Kirito and Asuna beat this game so we can leave,” mumbled Twilight.
Asuna beamed. “So you were serious about helping us?”
“Of course!” said Dash, proudly gesturing to herself. “We’ll kick this Heathcliff guy’s ass no sweat!”
Kirito stood up from his chair. “Well it’s not that easy. The last 5 levels are the hardest in the game. It took an army of high level players just to beat the 94th floor. I don’t think just the 7 of us can do it alone.”
“Well don’t forget we also have Klein and a few others who’ve offered to help,” voiced Asuna.
“So? That’s still only the 10 of us.”
“Whatever!” groaned Dash, standing up to face him. She summoned her Keyblade and sat it on her shoulder. “We’re Keyblade wielders, just one of us is like an army. Not to mention we can use magic and stuff. These monsters don’t stand a chance.” She gave him a challenging look and pointed the tip of her weapon towards him. “If you want I’ll show you how awesome I am.”
Kirito glanced down at her weapon then back up at her determined look. More past memories surfaced and he couldn’t help but smile fondly.
As Kirito and Spike made their way down the dirt path on their next mission, he and Spike had, at some point, entered into an argument. Kirito crossed his arms and gave Spike a look. “Oh really? You think you can take down the next floor boss all by yourself?”
Spike returned it with a scowl. “Really!”
Kirito responded with a playful eye roll. “I doubt it!”
“Well screw you! I took down the tree when we first met.”
“Well you keep saying that you can, but you keep saying you just don’t want to. Plus, all you did was use illegal fire magic on a tree. Yeah, I bet that took some serious skills.”
At that moment, Spike, tired of being challenged, stopped and pulled out his black Keyblade. Kirito, who had walked a bit further without realizing his friend had stopped, turned just in time to see Spike pointing it straight at him. “I can take of this floor boss no problem! Just you watch, I’ll show you how awesome I am!” he boasted, giving him a challenging look.
Kirito could see a younger Spike standing beside the girl in front of him with both of them boasting the same confident look on their face. He wasn't that Spike spoke so highly of her in his stories.
He returned her confident grin. “Fine then. I accept your challenge.”
After accepting her challenge, Kirito led Dash outside to the back of the cabin. The backyard of his home sat near the edge of a large lake. In between the lake and cabin sat a short by wide grassy plane where Kirito liked to relax in the sun. It was there that the fight would take place.
Everyone else decided to watch from the back porch of the home. None of them were all that surprised by the turn of events. Dash’s friends knew about her competitive nature and Asuna was confident in her husband’s abilities. In fact, Twilight was a bit excited to watch Kirito fight. If what they were said was true, Kirito must be an impressive fighter to have been stuck here five whole years and survived.
Kirito stood right in front of Dash. Flicking a wrist, he selected a few things from his menu. “Are you ready?” he asked, scrolling through a few things. “Just so you know, I’m currently the strongest player in SAO. Beating me won’t be easy.” Pushing a button, a black sheathed sword appeared on his back. “I know that you’re wondering, and yes, I have fought Spike. Just so it’s fair, I’ll impose the same restrictions that I put on Spike, on you. Only sword attacks, no guns, if you have them, no magic, and no flight.” Kirito smirked at Dash’s surprised look. “Spike told me all about your speed and flight ability. I can only assume that you’ve only gotten better since then.”
Dash frowned, she was planning on using her flight to her advantage and take him by surprise. No matter, AJ often imposed the same kind of rules on their fights so she had learned to be just as quick on her feet. “What about hand to hand combat?” she asked.
Kirito raised a brow. Of course he had a high CQC level, he just didn’t expect her to ask that. He’d need to be on his guard for quick and sudden strikes from her fists. “That’s fine. Now let’s see if this works.” He selected a few options on his menu and a small screen popped up. He pressed a button and glanced down at his shorter opponent.
Dash flinched at the sight of a small screen that appeared in front of her. She read the message that it displayed. “‘You have been challenged to a dual, do you accept?’ Do I hit yes?”
Kirito nodded. “It seems that in some ways the game sees you as an NPC. Normally, most are auto-programed to immediately press no. Either way this will make things a bit safer.”
“How so?”
“Well on the off chance you’re stronger than me it’ll stop the fight if my HP gets too low.” Kirito couldn’t help the smugness that crept into his tone.
Dash pressed the button and, to her surprise her Keyblade appeared in her hand without her calling it. It was as if it knew that she was about to fight. She turned back to look at Kirito only to find that he had already put some starting distance between them, and that he had taken his battle stance.
Dash took her own wide stance in response. “If Spike could beat you without magic then I sure as hell can!
Kirito’s stance involved him not immediately removing his sword from the sheath on his back. He had one foot far out front and another bent behind ready to push off. Like Dash, he had one hand out front and seemed to forgoing all defense in preparation for a speedy attack. “Who said he beat me,” he chuckled. “Though I will say that he taught me a few things though.”
Slowly his left hand gravitated to his back. There was a shimer and another blade appeared. Before Dash could react to a second weapon, Kirito cleared the distance between them in an instant and slammed both blades against hers. She grunted as she struggled against his strength. In addition to his black blade he also wielded a pure white single edged longsword.
Kirito didn’t even look to be exerting himself as he easily caused Dash to buckle down. “I’ll also be evaluating your skills while we fight. So far I can’t give your strength a passing grade,” he teased.
However this only served to make her angrier. “Don’t…” she struggled, slowly pushing him back, “underestimate... ME!” In a burst of strength she shoved Kirito back and went on the attack. Before he could recover, she slashed at him from the right side. Kirito quickly flipped his black blade so that it was held backhandedly.
He blocked the attack, but instead of pushing the blade away, he moved in close with his blade sliding along the length of hers. With one blade keeping Dash’s away from her body, she had no way to defend herself. “You’re wide open,” he whispered. Holding the tip of his white sword to her neck.
Dash panicked and quickly put a good length of distance between them. Kirito nodded approvingly. “Well at least your reaction time and speed seems up to par. But you need to learn how to fight dual wielding enemies. The key is to never leave any openings, and to be faster than your opponent. You might have speed on your side but you need to learn how to use it.”
Dash bit her lip in frustration. He was toying with her. She hated that more than anything else. “Shut up!” she yelled.
In a blur of motion, she moved from her spot to directly behind him at his back. There was a clang and she was shocked to see that he had blocked it with his black blade without even turning around. She moved once more to his front and continued to attack. When he blocked she moved once more, she growled furiously.
“Like I was saying, you need to--”
“Stop toying with me!” Moving faster, she attempted to attack from each and every direction. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work as Kirito effortlessly blocked each and every strike without so much as moving from his spot.
Over by the porch everyone’s jaws had long since hit the ground. To them it looked like Kirito was encased in a monochromatic blur of movement, and nothing but the striking of metal and Dash’s frustrated grunts reached their ears.
“H-how is he doing that?” Twilight gasped. She had never seen anyone take on Dash’s top speed with such ease. “It’s amazing.”
“He’s so cool!” cheered Pinkie.
Asuna nodded, not the least bit surprised. “He is, I guess… Though I suppose you could blame me for that one.” Everyone turned to look at her with confusion. “You see, with my rapier, I have the highest attack speed in the game. Kirito, on the other hand, has the fastest reaction time in the game. He took that skill and pushed it to it’s limit. Kirito continued to challenge me until he could he could react in time to block each and every one of my attacks. At this point it's simply not possible to hit him with speed alone. You have to have a good amount of strength behind your attacks, or a talent for misdirection.
Not only that but, like he said, he’s the strongest player in the game. He’s currently level 246 with the supposed level cap being 300. I would measure your friend at around level 200 on speed, agility and stamina alone, but factoring in her apparent strength and endurance, I could probably lower that to around 175.”
Yui, whom had been standing at Asuna’s side and holding her hand, cheered for him. “Daddy’s the strongest!”
AJ lifted her hat and whistled impressively. “An’ what level are you?”
“Level 205,” she answered. “Most of the other high level players are still around 180.”
“My word,” breathed Rarity. “Why is he so much higher than you.”
Asuna’s expression fell as she recalled the scare a few years ago. Yui glanced up at her when the grip on her palm tightened. “After we discovered Heathcliff’s identity, Kirito challenged him to a fight and lost. Heathcliff took pity on him and let him live so that they could fight again. Something in Kirito broke I think, and he disappeared for months. A game wide search went out, and when we he was finally located we found that he had cleared three whole floors by himself trying to get stronger. He was power leveling, having gained 30 levels in that time.
He was exhausted and nearly dead from a recent boss fight. But even when I spoke to him he didn’t want to stop leveling. Finally, we managed to talk some sense into him and calm him down.” She looked out at Kirito with a melancholy look. “Though, mysteriously, that level distance never went away.”
“He must really want to end this game,” muttered Twilight, turning back to the fight.
Asuna nodded. “He really does. He may act calm, but he’s more determined than any of us, and he’s probably really happy that you’ve all offered to help.”
After three straight minutes of attacking, Dash finally started to slow down, and the second she did Kirito’s leg kicked out and Dash went flying away from him. By this point she was breathing heavily after exerting herself.
“Damn you!” she growled, skidding to a stop. “I don’t care that you’re stronger! Just don’t toy with me like that. Fight me seriously!”
“Are you ready to listen to me?” he asked calmly.
Dash stood up and retook her stance. She began to rush forward in a rage. “Not until you--”
Dash stopped when she felt a palm on her shoulder. She turned to see that Twilight appeared behind her. She was shaking her head. “Don’t,” she advised. “Listen to him. He’s only trying to help you.”
“But he--”
“Rachelle!” ordered Twilight. She looked over at Kirito who hadn’t yet moved. “He’s had more practical fighting experience than all of us combined and then some. I doubt even if we teamed up to fight him we’d win.” She turned back to her frazzled friend. “It’s not that he won’t fight you seriously, it’s that he can’t. If he were to fight you seriously, he’d kill you.”
Dash flinched back. “But the game--”
“Rachelle, think about it. You don’t have a life gauge. If what he said is true, the game wouldn’t know when to stop the fight.”
“Well that’s not completely true.” Both girls turned just in time to see the tip of Kirito’s sword zooming straight towards Dash’s forehead in a speeding piercing attack. However, the weapon never made contact with her. Instead a red rectangle appeared in front of the blade, blocking the attack.
It read, “Immortal Object.”
“See, I noticed it when I kicked her. Apparently, even in a duel the game reads you as an NPC, an immortal object. I guess since it can’t get rid of you it’s trying to incorporate you into the game’s mechanics. Nothing in this game can harm you.” He took back his sword and lowered it to his side.
“Really?” asked Twilight, surprised.
“Then can you fight me seriously now?” asked Dash, though it was more of a demand than anything.
Kirito sighed. “Fine, I’ll fight you seriously... but afterwards you have to listen. “He turned to everyone. “I’m going to do my best to help all of you train. You all need to get stronger if we’re going to take on the final floors. Even if you can’t be hit you still need to be able to do damage. If Rachelle is anything to go off of. I would put you all at around a base average of level 160 on physical ability. You all have Keyblades so I’ll first be teaching all of you how to fight the same way you would in this game, without magic that is. Afterwards, I’ll fight you with magic. Asuna, you’ll help me right?” Asuna nodded determinedly.
Kirito turned back to Dash who was still glowering from her defeat. “Rachelle, I need to know your damage output so I’m going to let you hit me a few times. I’ll turn off my regeneration skills. Afterwards, you need to take a rest so we can have a real battle, alright?”
Dash frowned at him and nodded reluctantly. Standing up, she raised her weapon and prepared to attack.
“Lyra look out!” yelled Octavia, her voice echoing through the gym towards her partner.
Unfortunately, it was too late. The mint green haired girl couldn’t dodge fast enough to not be caught in the series of explosions that her teammate had warned of. To Octavia’s own surprise, said explosions had enough force to shove herself back a few feet, even from her distance from them.
Octavia slid to a stop while Lyra, like the monkey she was, flipped through the air and landed on the ground in a low crouch a short distance behind Octavia. Once again, she had removed her shoes and had chosen to fight barefoot. The explosions left her more than a little singed.
Whitney, sitting over on the bleachers, called out the score. “Point: Ditzy! The current score is 2-0 for Lyra and 1-0 for Octavia. ”
“Ugh,” groaned Lyra, panting heavily. “I told you *huff* we shouldn’t have let her fly!” Lyra glared up at the grey winged menace in the sky, smiling her usual ditzy smile. Surrounding her were dozens if not hundreds of variously sized, clear bubbles. Above them, completely covering the the ceiling of the gym were dark grey storm clouds. Despite the clear appearance of the bubbles, no one could tell exactly what was inside each one. Dangerous gasses, torrents of water, compressed air, Ditzy’s particular brand of avian weather magic could fill a bubble with just about anything and keep it hidden. Lyra furrowed her brow in frustration. “It’s had enough fighting the Bubble Queen without worrying about where she is in the sky.”
Ditzy frowned at her sadly. “Please, Lyra, I thought I asked you to stop calling me that. I’m not a queen. Queens are evil.” The sound of thunder boomed through the clouds and echoed throughout the gym. “I’m not evil,” she giggled innocently.
Octavia clenched her teeth and glanced back at Lyra. “Well I thought we’d at least be able to get at least one point on her by now. Maybe, if you listened to a once in a while!”
“Don’t blame me!” cried Lyra. She glared at the self proclaimed leader of their group.
There was a loud rumbling sound and both of their attentions turned back to Ditzy who was awkwardly rubbing her stomach. “I’m hungry…” she observed. Octavia and Lyra glanced at one another with horrified looks. Ditzy glanced over at whitney with an innocent looking smile. “I think we should wrap this up and get something to eat, don’t you think so?”
Whitney glanced over at Lyra and Octavia, both of whom were fiercely shaking their heads in protest. “Umm… Ditzy, I don’t think--”
It was too late, Ditzy had already raised her keyblade. It was an odd looking version with a soft looking grey shaft with 8 small bubbles acting as the teeth and a handle shaped like a muffin of all things. The keychain that dangled from the base of it consisted of two crossed arrows.
With Crossed Memories raised, a group of three particular bubbles began to circle around her. “Bubble Storm: Four of a Kind,” she announced. Immediately, the three bubbles converged on her and merged into one large orb. Lyra and Octavia recognized this move and were quick to get back as far as possible.
In a matter of seconds the bubble burst outward and 4 identical Ditzy Doo’s emerged. The only difference between them were that, unlike the original, the clones’ eyes were all normally aligned.
The instant they appeared each of them began the same preparation move the original Ditzy did near the start of the match. “Bubble Storm!” they announced, holding their keys up high. More white clouds formed along the ceiling and, in a matter of seconds, they too turned into dark grey storm clouds. More bubbles began floating down from them. None of them fell under Ditzy or her clones, but instead gathered around them. By this point her entire half of the gym was coated in potentially lethal orbs. All of them floating innocently behind the ditzy blond girl.
Even Whitney began to grow worried. “Umm… Ditzy I don’t know if this attack is necessary...”
One of the Ditzy’s turned to face Whitney, she looked confused. “Why not? Master Celestia told me that holding back defeats the purpose of training.” She turned back to her opponents and, if one were to look closely, they would find her smile to be just a bit more malicious. “I have to go all out!” With that she turned to her opponents and, once again in sync with her clones, pointed their Keyblades forward.
“Bubble Storm: Maelstrom!” they announced.
“I GIVE UP! screamed Lyra, falling to her knees. The second she did, every single bubble popped harmlessly, including the clones. Ditzy flew over to her and dismissed her wings. Lyra, meanwhile, was still shaking and whimpering on the ground. “I’ll be good! I swear! Just please don’t hurt us!”
Ditzy crouched down and tilted her head in confusion. “Umm… alright.” She looked over to Octavia who, until now, had also had her back against the wall, but still ready to fight back. Although now, she was down on one knee gasping for air. “A-are you two alright?” she asked, concerned.
Octavia weakly held her hand up. “N-no. It’s alright. We’ll just need a few seconds to get our breath back.”
Confused, Ditzy shrugged and flew over to Whitney, who had climbed down from her position on the bleachers. “Did I overdo it again…?” she asked.
Whitney hurriedly shook her head. “No! You were great as always. I just don’t think four of a kind was necessary. I think you could’ve won with the amount of bubbles you had.”
“But then they would think that I was going easy on them…”
While they were going on with their conversation, Luna watched them from the doorway. “Very good,” she announced, entering the room. Everyone turned their attention to her and bowed. Though Lyra, who was still whimpering, stayed whimpering until Luna told her to stand.
“Master Luna,” gasped Octavia. “I didn’t know you were still here.”
Luna nodded. “We were curious about you all after hearing about our student’s sparring match. We wanted to see for ourselves your strengths. Needless to say, we are impressed.” She beckoned for all of them to gather around her. She turned to Ditzy. “It appears that you fight not with strength or technique but with force of number and strategy. You fought well during the beginning when both of them advanced on you simultaneously.”
She turned to Lyra and Octavia. “And while you two were wise not to give her room to use any strong attacks, you began hesitating when she used her first technique. Though, as soon as you did, you fell into her trap and allowed her to use the original Bubble Storm magic that sealed your fates.”
“My personal advice for fighting her would be to not hesitate. Keep on her and do not let her cast Bubble Storm. I also noticed that you both backed away when you saw her raise her weapon to cast it. That’s a wrong action. If you see someone casting a spell then attack them, do not let them finish or you have lost.”
Octavia lowered her head in gratefully. “Understood. Thank you, Master Luna.”
Lyra groaned loudly. “Ugh! Why did we have to fight her in the first place?” Another loud rumble echoed out and once again, everyone turned to the blond one.
Said blond one was blushing shyly. “I’m still hungry can we get something to eat now?”
Whitney gently patted her on her back. “Sure, I’ll cook something nice to celebrate your victory.”
With that all four girls turned and made their way out of the gym. On their way out, one of the girls asked something that caught Luna’s attention.
On her way out the door, Lyra turned to Ditzy and asked. “Hey, speaking of food has anyone seen Clockwork lately?”
Luna glanced over at her in confusion. “Clockwork?” she muttered.
~~~
Kirito flew backwards through the air. Flipping to regain his balance, he landed feet-first against the wall of his training room and fell to the ground with a grunt. The room that he had moved his next opponent to wasn’t all that wide; it resembled a traditional kendo dojo from his real life home.
“Damn,” he muttered, retaking his stance. “You… you are different,” he grinned. “You don’t fight like the others. I just can’t figure how though.”
Pinkamena stepped forward, gave him a sly grin, and sat her Keyblade on her shoulder. "See, this is why you should listen once and a while."
"Kirito playfully spun his black blade a few times as he took a few steps to the side. "I still don't get why we needed to keep this fight a secret."
“Well you're the so called strongest player in this game. I guess I couldn't help my curiosity. As for the secrecy..." Pinkamena rocked her head back in forth, as if she were debating something. In the end she just threw her head back. "Weeell ya know. A girl’s gotta have her secrets.”
Kirito couldn't help but grin. “That’s cool, I’ll get it out of you eventually.” Rushing forward, Kirito launched into a double stinger with both swords pointed forwards in a stabbing motion. Pinkamena cartwheeled to the right while swiping her Keyblade to block the secondary swing that Kirito sent her way.
Kirito didn’t give her any further time to recover though as he quickly closed the distance with spinning swing from one of his blades. Pinka wisely dodged the first attack and parried the second. This went on for a while with both of them exchanging blows but unable to get a direct hit on each other.
To Kirito’s surprise, this girl, who he assumed to be a separate personality of the other girl, was fast. While she was not as fast as Rachelle, she appeared to be more reserved with her speed. It seemed that she prefered quick bursts of speed to outmaneuver her opponent and quickly strike at blind spots than Rachelle’s method of trying to completely overcome her opponent’s defense with sheer speed. While he prefered the latter way to fight, he respected the unpredictability of the former; he thought of it as a great test of his reaction times.
Pinkamena dodged one attack and crouched low. Leaning back she sent a kick aimed towards his gut. Kirito quickly crossed his swords and blocked the kick, falling right into her trap. Pinka pushed against the blades and flicked them upwards, arching her leg over her head and effectively leaving Kirito open. In a burst of speed, she spun her leg back to the ground and pushed off, aiming her Keyblade to his gut.
For Kirito, everything that happened next happened in slow motion. Seeing her attack coming , he immediately tried to regain his balance and pull a blade back to block. However, in the blink of an eye, a strange glow covered Pinkamena’s body and, in an instant, she disappeared. Pushing his reaction time to the limit, Kirito wasted no time trying to figure out where she was. He jumped into the air and backflipped just in time to see her Keyblade swipe through empty air. He landed and jumped back twice more to gain some distance. He returned to his stance just in time to see the faint glow fade completely from around Pinka’s body, and to watch turn to face him with a cheeky grin.
Kirito couldn’t help but return it. “You’re holding back arent you?” he asked.
Pinkamena let out a dark chuckle. “Please don’t say that as if you aren't. I’m just matching you right now.” She turned the Keyblade upside down and leaned on it like a cane. “So, chief, how do I rate?”
Kirito hummed for a while before responding. “Well I’m fighting at the level of someone at at around 200, without sword skills so let’s go with that for right now.”
“Let’s see, that puts me about 10 levels above Rainbrat and AJ.” She shrugged and dismissed her Keyblade in a dark red mist. Turning, she began walking away. “I can work with that. The goal was 200 right?”
Kirito looked on in confusion. “Where are you going?”
“Pinkie wants to take a shower,” she replied. “I can’t use magic like Twilight or Rainbrat so there’s no use testing me in that area. Plus, you’ve been fighting all day.” She sat her hand on the room’s doors before craning her head back to look at Kirito. “It'd be no fun kicking your ass right now. I think I’ll wait.” With that she left, leaving Kirito gaping.
~~~
After leaving the gym Luna made her way back to the library to talk to her sister. It didn’t take a genius to figure out where she was. In her early days as a master to the girls, she quickly realized how similar Twilight was to her sister. Luckily, this made Twilight easier to deal with.
Walking into the library, Luna looked around until she found a tuft of multi colored hair sticking up from a tower of books. Sister located, Luna walked over to her.
“Still searching, sister?” she asked, glancing down at the text.
Celestia shook her head, not looking away for a second. “No, not today. I’m trying to find information on this Chrysalis character. Her name sounds familiar but I cannot place it.”
Luna cocked her head in confusion. “You think that she has a prior history of mischief?”
“I’m curious to see if there’s any record of her, either as a wielder, or as someone of note. She’s the only unknown in this situation. Plus, something about the girls description of her rubs me the wrong way.”
“Her appearance?” asked Luna, trying to follow Celestia’s train of thought.
“Yes… well no. I’m not sure what, but it’s something. Perhaps she has something to do with the vanishing of the Constellation.”
Luna chuckled and leaned over her sister’s shoulder. “We thought so. You are still searching.”
Celestia sighed. “You know as well as I do that the Equestrian Constellation was not simply swallowed by darkness, not all three of them and not all at once.” She turned to face Luna with a determined expression. “It’s not possible. Something happened, and I made a promise to find out what.”
Luna stared at her and smiled. “Very well then. At least let us help you.” Pulling up a chair, Luna sat down and began going through a few tomes. “What are we searching for?”
“Anything on this Chrysalis character; her history, powers, native world? Something we can use to figure out what’s happened with Spike.”
Luna nodded and opened a particular book.
~~~
Rachelle Dash rubbed the soap out of her hair one last time before looking up at the shower head and letting the last bit of water flow down her body. After a few more seconds she reached down and turned off the water.
Rarity had already thanked the maker in a very dramatic presentation for the ability to use the showers in this world. Unfortunately, Rarity also cursed the maker for the fact that she would have to put on the same set of clothes. Nevertheless, with Yui’s help, the girls were able to make the towels tangible enough to use. Though she warned that too many hidden things in the same place would attract the attention of the system. So, once more to Rarity’s ire, they all had to share two towels.
Stepping out of the shower, Dash was quick to dry herself off and throw on some clothes. Twilight advised that they wear just the bare minimum of clothes for a while, so no jackets or gloves or anything. Though it’s not like she minded walking around in her bra and panties anyway. She briefly considered retying her long hair back, but eventually decided to leave it down.
After getting everything dry and together, Dash stepped out of the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen. It was dark, their training with Kirito and Asuna having gone long into the night. Since she had to have her final fight with Kirito, Dash decided to go into the shower last. In fact, even after having her fight, she was still sore that she lost so easily. Though she was glad that it seemed her magic was working again.
Entering the kitchen, Dash looked over the leftovers sitting on the counter. There were several things, a few cakes, some cookies, an entire plate of cupcakes and...
"Milk?" Dash muttered, picking up the jug. Honestly, she was surprised to see it. For some reason the others forbid her to drink it and kept it away from her at all times. Not that she cared, she never liked the taste of it anyway. She took another look around. Not seeing anything else to drink she simply shrugged, grabbed both the jug and a cupcake, and walked out the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Where's our room at again?" she wondered, still chewing the pastry. Turning down a corridor, she opened a door and found herself back in the dining room that held the sliding glass exit to the back yard. She was about to turn around when she noticed that the door was open and that someone was sitting on the steps outside.
She frowned when she recognized the black hair of the person sitting outside. Taking a gulp of milk, she stepped forward.
“What are you doing?” she asked, taking a seat next to him. Right now Kirito was wearing a simple white shirt and black sweat pants.
He opened his mouth to answer but one glance her way caused him to blush and avert his gaze. “What are you doing, put some clothes on!” he ordered.
Dash grinned and jabbed him with her elbow. “Oh come on, you have a wife. Why ya so nervous there, Kirito?” She laughed and took another gulp of milk.
Kirito kept looking the other way, refusing to look at the half naked girl next to him. “Should you be drinking straight from the carton like that?”
Dash shrugged. “Ehh, I don’t backwash so even if I don’t finish it should be fine.” ‘Is it just me or is everything going a bit fuzzy?’ she thought. Not only that but for face started to feel a bit warm.
*Hic* “So anyway, I thought I asked what you were doing out here? Doin’ some emo ssssoul searchin’ stuff?”
Still not looking at her Kirito turned his head back towards the lake outside his home. “Nah, I just like the view. The reflection of Aincrad’s moon off of the water, the ripple of it’s surface. All of that in real time. It all takes so much talent and skill. Everything in this game is just so amazing. Then to see it being used so maliciously. It gives me more drive to fix things I guess.”
Dash blinked. “So emo stuff? Gotcha. Here, I’ll watch it with you, that way you won’t look like you’re brooding over something.”
Kirito chuckled and let a soft silence fall over the two of them with nothing but the calm sounds of the water to listen to. Though Dash would hiccup every so often, Kirito didn’t pay it any mind until he felt a weight against his shoulder.
He turned to see her taking another gulp of milk while leaning against him. He hadn’t realized that she was this close until now, or that half of the milk was gone.
“I don’t like you…” she mumbled. *Hic*
Kirito raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”
She glared up at him. “I sssssaid I don’t *hic* like you. Stupid.” Her glare slowly turned into a sad, melancholy look. “You’re lucky… You got to train with Spike when he was still cool. Now he’sh all mean a-and... stupid.” she slurred.
“So it really was Spike that tried to hurt you?” he asked.
“NO! Well… maybe…? I don’t know!” Leaning forward, Dash hugged the half empty jug of milk to her chest. “Whe-when I fau… hit him. I looked right into his eyes. I don’t know but I could jusht tell it was him.” She lowered her head down further. “I don wanna believe it though, and hearin’ that he remembered us makes me feel… I dunno. I should be happy, and I was until I thought about it.”
Kirito honestly didn’t know what to do. In fact, he barely understood what was happening. Somehow, the girl next to him had gotten drunk, that much he understood. But how was he supposed to comfort her on a situation he didn’t fully understand?
“You kinda remind me of him actually,” she muttered looking up at him with shimmering eyes. Kirito flinched, unsure where this was going.
Dash burst out in a fit of drunken laughter, pushing him away and rocking side to side. “You- your face! Don’t worry, you’re way too emo to be like Spike. He was more of a… of a...” Her laughter died down and she returned her head to his shoulder, the milk jug still hugged to her chest. “Hey… what was Spike like when he was here? *Hic* What was he doing here anyway?”
Kirito looked down at her before giving a soft smile. “You’ll probably be asleep by the time I finish.”
Dash leaned away and weakly punched his arm. “Jusht tell me” *Hic* “Stupid.”
Kirito chuckled lightly. “Fine. I already told you how we met. I guess I’ll just talk to myself about everything else then.”
I suppose I could look back on better times. I guess I’ll start with the second time I met Spike. Luckily, he wasn't messing up the programming of the game this time.
I found him, I believe, on the 9th floor.
Kirito carefully made his way through the large area called the Garden of Severance. It was a seemingly endless area of tall grass. While the enemies, small axe-wielding gremlins known as Grasslings, were weak, they were very stealthy and very prone to uninitiated aggro. Knowing this, he always kept a hand near his weapon’s handle in case something jumped out on him. Even with the help of the system, Kirito only had a split second to react before getting hit at least once.
After a few more hesitant steps through the tall grass, Kirito unexpectedly found himself exiting into a small circular clearing. From his time here, he had found that openings like these, with mowed grass, were scattered around the area and were meant to be used as rest spots.
It was there when he noticed the other oddity. Across from him, on the other side of the clearing, was Spike, surround by at least 10 monsters. Kirito frowned and prepared to launch himself into the fray, but stopped when he realized something. The strange boy was taking on all of the monsters at the same time, and apparently having fun while doing it.
Spike apparently noticed him too because he suddenly stopped and waved. “Hey, man! Aghh!”
In his distraction, one of the Grasslings nicked him in his back. He hissed in pain and turned around. Kirito squinted his eyes and took a look at his back and noticed that he had indeed gotten injured like players do.
I had a talk with a friend earlier and he suggested that Spike was some sort of special event character that you accidentally stumble into. So I thought back then that he was some sort of special NPC that only acted like a player.
“Don’t get distracted,” he yelled. Kirito turned around and started to leave, convinced that Spike could take care of himself.
“Wait, hold on!” he heard Spike yell back.
Kirito turned around just in time to see him raise his white weapon and swing it in a wide arc. A blast of similarly white fire shot out and covered all of the monsters he swung at. “What the heck are you doing!” he screamed, running over to him. Kirito pulled out his sword and fought his way past a few Grasslings to reach him. “Are you trying to set fire to this floor too?!” he said to his face.
He just smirked at him. “Calm down I figured it out.” He pointed towards the fire. The monsters ran into the grass but only the monsters were still on fire. The grass didn’t light.
“See,” he grinned. His weapon disappeared and he threw an arm around Kirito’s neck. “So what’s up man!”
Kirito struggled in his grip. “What are you doing? There’s still more of them, you idiot!” he screamed swinging his sword at the approaching monsters.
After taking out the rest of the monsters we decided to hang out, or rather, he wouldn’t leave me alone. But then again, looking back, I was probably thankful for the company.
“So where’ve ya been?” said Spike, leisurely trailing behind Kirito.
Kirito, who held a tense, prepared position in front, glanced back at him. “What are you doing keep your guard up. We don’t know when something will jump out at us.”
Spike’s attitude didn’t change. “It’s cool, I’m prepared for anything,” he grinned.
Kirito, still keeping his guard up stopped in his track and turned around completely. “Where’s your weapon?” he asked, eyeing Spike’s seemingly defenceless form.
Spike shrugged. “Don’t need it.”
It was at that moment a large shadow fell over them. Both of them looked up to see six gremlins in the air.
Spike grinned. “Wow, they’re really trying to jump us.”
Kirito drew his weapon. “Get ready!” Lifting it up, he blocked one of the strikes from above while Spike backflipped out of the way, landing him away from Kirito and six monsters split evenly between them.
While Kirito blocked attacks with his sword and slashed through one on his side, Spike took his time dodging the enemy’s blunt weapons before beating down one with his own.
Kirito, slicing through another one on his end, finally looked over at Spike. “It’s called Sword Art Online why are you fighting unarmed?”
Spike roundhouse kicked one out of the area. “I know, smartass, but I still don’t need it,” he said, hopping over another attack and into the air.
“But that defeats the defeats the purpose of the game!” Kirito swung to decapitate one but it’s small stature allowed it to duck under his blade. Moving with the swing, he spun around to face it just in time to see Spike stomp down on it and kill it. While Kirito looked on in confused awe, Spike turned and threw a kick his way.
Kirito raised his sword to block, but it was too late, Spike’s foot swooshed past his face and slammed into the last gremlin behind him, breaking him to pieces just as it was about to strike. Spike lowered his foot and took a few steps back.
Kirito, wide eyed, looked behind him at the remains of the fallen enemy, then back to Spike who had on a smug grin. “It’s faster though.”
Kirito frowned and looked around to see if there were any more enemies after them. They were alone but by the time they finished the fight a good area of grass around them had been either cut down or flattened.
Taking this opportunity, Kirito spoke his mind. “What’s wrong with you? You act as if this is some sort of game, aren't you afraid of dying at all?” he asked calmly.
Spike gave him a flat look. “Well from what I understand this is a game.”
Kirito’s expression only worsened and he examined Spike once again. “What are you?”
Spike tilted his head. “What?”
“Are you some sort of NPC? A moderator? Or did you find out how to cheat the system.”
“NPC?” Spike questioned. Finally, he remembered. “Oh right, non-player character. No, I’m living. And no I’m not cheating,” he shrugged, “as If I even know how. I used to have a friend who was good with machines though.”
This only served to frustrate him more. “The how do you do it?”
“Do what?” Spike asked, confusion evident on his face.
“The two swords, the fire, all of it! None of it’s a part of the game programming.” Kirito observed Spike’s still confused look, and he sighed. “As in you shouldn’t be able to do it,” he simplified.
Spike thought about it for a few seconds before his face broke out into a competitive grin. “If you fight me, I’ll tell you,” he said, turning to the side and taking a fist-fighting stance.
This took Kirito by surprise. “What?”
Without a second thought, Spike dashed forward and decked Kirito in the face, knocking him down to the ground. “Come on, according to you, I shouldn’t be able to hurt you.”
Kirito slowly stood back up, holding a red, injured nose. “I said you shouldn’t be able to do it! I never said it didn’t hurt, you idiot!”
“Now that you know it hurts, don’t get hit again. That’s what I always say,” Spike smirked.
Kirito finally shook off the hit and took a sword fighting stance. “Well what about you, I have a sword.”
Spike held onto his cheeky smirk and shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.”
Kirito shook his head in frustration. “I’m not turning into an orange player over… wait a second…” Kirito finally realized something else about Spike that he hadn’t before. While most, if not all players had a green, orange or red markers over their heads, NPC’s had white ones. Spike had none. He had a health bar as well, but his lack of a visible level number was equally baffling.
Spike studied his face and his grin only grew. “I’m guessing you noticed that I don’t have that number by my name. You aren’t the first to notice, but, to be honest, I know next to nothing about this place. How about if I win you answer all of my questions?”
This only served to further baffle the black haired swordsman in front of him. In the end, Kirito could only smile. “Everything you say only raises more questions.” He raised his blade at him. “Fine, I’ll fight you but I gotta warn you, I’m a Beater.”
Spike tilted his head. “The hell is a beater?”
Now it was Kirito’s chance to smirk. “Beat me and find out.”
Spike rushed him and threw another punch. “That’s the spirit!”
“Wait, hold on!” said Kirito, blocking his attack with the flat of his blade. “Let me send you a duel request.”
Spike jumped and threw a kick towards his head. “Screw that!”
Kirito ducked and simply decided to go with it, the fight had apparently started in Spike’s eyes and he decided that whatever happens happens. While Spike was still in the air, Kirito swung his blade vertically from below.
To his surprise, Spike stepped on the blade and back flipped off. Undiscouraged, the second Spike landed, Kirito rushed at him in stabbing motion. Spike simply turned his body to the side and delivered two strong punches to Kirito’s stomach before knocking him away completely with a kick to the same spot.
“You beaters aren't very strong are you?” Spike teased.
Before Kirito could recover enough to get a response out, Spike hopped into the air and aimed a diving kick towards his foe.
Kirito, now angered, swung his blade. Spike, not one to enjoy getting his foot lopped off, lifted the appendage out of its path. He landed in a crouch in front of Kirito, who swung his blade down at him. Spike rolled to the side and tried to aim a kick at Kirito’s gut, however, expecting it, he turned his hand around on the handle and pulled his blade up in time to block the attack. Spike pushed against the flat of the weapon, forcing him back a step.
“Y-you’re really not going to use your sword huh?” he said, straining a grin.
Spike simply frowned. With shocking speed, Spike removed his foot, lowered himself to a crouch and kicked out Kirito’s feet. Before Kirito could stand up, he noticed a familiar white key shaped weapon placed close to his neck, with a victorious looking Spike standing over him.
“Hah!” she gloated. “I don’t need to rely on weapons to fight.”
Kirito stared at the weapon for a few more seconds before closing his eyes and admitted defeat. “You still pulled it out though… Why’s that?”
Spike moved his Keyblade away and held out a hand to help the boy up. “I don’t know, call it the loser’s award. Anyway, I win, so you wanna answer my questions.”
Kirito grinned and took his hand. “Fine, but you have to answer mine too.”
Spike give him an odd look. “What why?”
“You only said I have to fight you. You never said I have to win.”
Spike’s face went blank, as if he were recalling what he said earlier. Finally he cursed, “Damn. I should’ve said win.” Then he let loose a small chuckle. “I’m really not supposed to tell you, though.”
Kirito turned and began to walk away. “But you're going to anyway or I’m gonna call you a liar.”
Spike flinched back and reluctantly followed him. “I have a friend who wouldn’t like that…”
~~~
“And then that’s how I learned about other worlds,” Kirito finished. Glancing down, he noticed that Dash had already fallen asleep on his shoulder. His eyes slowly drifted down, past her chin and down the towel covering her chest before instantly turning his head away. “Man… I’m glad Asuna’s not here…”
Kirito?”
Kirito froze up completely, his head around to see who called him. Once he saw who it was, he visibly relaxed. “Oh it’s you, Twilight… thank god.”
Twilight who was standing by the entrance to the hallway in her white T-shirt and spats, gave him a confused look until she noticed the rainbow haired girl next to him. “Rachelle?”
“Shhh!” Twilight turned to see Kirito putting a finger to his lips she stopped when Kirito shushed her.
Quietly, Twilight made her way over to the two and found that her friend was fast asleep. “Ohh,” she whispered. then she noticed that her friend had almost no clothes on. Twilight’s face flushed immediately. “Wh-why is she…?”
Kirito shrugged. “She came out here like that acting weird, and asked me about Spike.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the milk jug that had rolled a ways away. Understanding dawned across her features.
“So why are you still up?” he asked.
“M-me?” Twilight, surprised by the question, flinched slightly. “I-I was actually looking for her,” she said, gesturing to the sleeping girl. Twilight took a seat next to her and, oddly enough, Dash shifted in her sleep and sat her head on Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight froze for a second then relaxed.
A small smile graced her face. “It’s a little embarrassing really, but It’s gotten to the point where I can’t get to sleep until I know that everyone is safe and near me. I think I’ve developed a slight fear of loss.”
Kirito nodded in understanding. “It makes sense. It wouldn’t be that far off to say that I feel the same."
Twilight shook her head. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve gone through far worse than we have. You have every right to feel scared for the ones you love.”
Kirito shrugged and leaned back, placing his hands on the deck and stared up at the sky. “Even so... It must be killing you to not know where your friend is then,” he said bluntly.
Twilight’s smile disappeared, replaced with a sad frown. Carefully, she reached up and sat her hand on Rachelle’s hair. “Yeah… it does. I’m worried sick, but I can’t let it show around her. I have to find them or I don’t think I’ll ever get a good night sleep.”
Kirito watched as Twilight gently rubbed the top of her friend’s hair. “I can hardly believe that Spike would hurt his friends like you said.” He glanced over to Dash, who was still sleeping peacefully.” I was going to tell her about Spike during his time here. Do you wanna hear about it?”
Twilight thought about it. “Maybe tomorrow after training. I’ll need a good night sleep if I’m going to learn anything.” Twilight stood up and hoisted the smaller girl onto her back. Despite being more athletic and muscled than herself, Twilight found that Dash was actually pretty light in terms of weight.
She stepped back up into the house and gave Kirito one last look. “You should sleep too, I can’t imagine that Asuna’s too happy with you being out here.” With that she turned and stepped into the hall leaving Kirito by himself.
Kirito took one last look at the nighttime moon, stood up, and followed her advice.
Leaning on the table in front of him, Spike continued to stare out the window at the perpetually full nighttime moon. He sighed, “I’m bored.”
Across from him, another figure in a black coat, hood raised, quietly reached over and moved her pawn. In between them sat a rather large chess board, with the game in progress nearly over. Both of them only had a few pieces left on the board. “Shouldn’t you be outside?” she asked, her tone even and uninterested.
Spike groaned and turned back to the game, rolling his eyes as he trailed them along the ceiling of the small white room they were playing in. “They’re in a world that I… can’t go to anymore.” The girl remained silent, and he frowned. “Plus, you’re such good company. Why don’t you go get them. I wouldn’t be opposed to it. After all…” Spike sluggishly reached over to move his bishop into place. “You probably have just as much a reason as I do, Rook.”
The girl’s continued silence would’ve begun to grate on his nerves, hadn’t Spike been so used to it. She simply moved to place her rook adjacent to his bishop, priming it to be captured.
Spike stared at her, the darkness of her hood continuing to mask her face. It was only by her feminine voice that Spike knew her gender. While he had seen her face once or twice over the last two years, it had never been for any sort of extended period of time.
Absentmindedly, Spike reached out to move his queen, before he could, Rook spoke up. “Pay attention,” she said.
Confused, Spike looked down at the bored. He noticed her previous move and smirked. Taking his queen anyway, he moved to take her rook. “Looks like you just lost your favorite piece,” he teased.
Rook shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.” Taking her final pawn, the one she had moved two turns ago, she placed it firmly on Spike’s edge of the board. She held out her hand until Spike scoffed and handed her the rook back. “I’m not mad because I have no reason to be.”
Annoyed, Spike moved his queen over several spaces so that it sat diagonal to the new rook. “Why not, you have no memories either.” What he didn’t notice, however, was what was in the other corner of the board.
Rook shook her head. “Being upset over something that’s not true is a waste of energy.”
Spike felt his fist clench. “What did you say?”
Rook, unaffected by Spike’s tone simply reached into the pocket of her coat. She pulled out a book, titled, The Chains of Memories. Spike remembered giving her that book himself, after he had researched his own problems extensively. “Memories, like hearts, are connected. As long as someone remembers another, those lost memories will still exist within both.”
She paused for a second and reached down to move one of pieces on the board. Despite this, Spike never took his eyes off of her shrouded face. “Memories cannot be stolen, not completely,” she continued. “They can be replaced, copied, or even suppressed. No matter which... one day, our loved one’s hearts will restore our own hearts true recollections.” Her piece placed and her turn complete, Rook placed her hand back on her lap. “It’s merely a matter of time.”
Spike was seething, teeth clenched. “But my loved ones are gone!” he fumed, not quite calmly, but not yelling either. “That’s the problem. There’s only one way to restore mine, and that’s to reverse what Twilight has done.”
Spike, once again, absentmindedly reached out to move a piece but looked down when Rook stopped his hand. He looked up at her, brow raised. She moved his hand and pointed down at the board. Spike finally noticed that his queen was no longer there, replaced by a bishop that he remembered she had placed on the other side of the board some time ago.
Directly in the diagonal path where he placed his queen last turn.
Spike also noticed that his king was also now in check by the same bishop. He looked around and saw that his only other remaining piece, his knight, was too far away to help. He resorted to simply deciding to move his king one space back from where—
“You can’t move there,” said Rook.
Spike quickly realized what she meant. His king was on the second row on his side, one space back would put it in the path of her rook. His only option was to move it to the side. He did so and glowered sullenly. “I’m not going to win this, am I?”
Rook moved her namesake piece up one, directly in the horizontal path of his king. “You would’ve won if you had payed attention.”
Spike lacklusterly moved his king out of harms way. “I doubt it. I suck at chess. It’s so boring.” He leaned back in his seat and sighed once more. “Why are you here, Rook?”
“You said you were bored,” she deadpanned. Lifting her hand to move her piece.
Spike shook his head. “No, why are you here, with us, in the castle. You’re not interested in Twilight, you’re not lost, and you’re more than powerful enough to traverse the worlds on your own.”
Her hand paused midair. After a few seconds she returned it to its previous position. “I’m curious…”
“About what?” asked Spike, more than a little interested now.
“About you, and about Chrysalis… and about what both of you have to do with me,” she said. “Whenever you’re nearby, I feel like I’m about to remember something. I feel like we have a connection.”
Spike leaned forward and placed his elbows back on the table. “Hmm, what’s that supposed to mean?”
Rook, to Spike’s surprise, simply reached out to knock her own king over, forfeiting the game. She stood up and began to walk away from the table. “When you finally sort your memories out, maybe I’ll finally be able to piece together my own.”
She stopped her exit when Spike slammed his hands on the table as he himself stood up. “Then help me!” he yelled. “Help me capture the rest of them and I’ll finally have the last bit of my memories back.”
A pregnant silence filled the room. After a few more seconds, Rook continued to walk away, leaving the silence to be Spike’s only companion.
~~~
Asuna moved her head to the right just in time to dodge Rarity’s powerful thrust. She repeated the action several more times for several other Keyblades also being thrust in her direction. Finally, the sheer number of Keyblades being stabbed at her began to overwhelm her speed and the fight ended with Rarity’s weapon against her neck.
The two stood still, battled hardened stares locked in each others grip. Over by the wall of the indoor gym, Twilight Pinkie, and AJ stood by in awe.
Asuna reached forward and grasped Rarity’s hand. “Amazing!” Asuna cheered, giving Rarity a sparkling smile.
Rarity followed suit and began dancing in a circle with Asuna as both of them celebrated Rarity’s vast improvement.
“I gotta admit,” began Asuna, ending the little dance,“you’ve gotten so much better at dealing with close combat. I’ve also gotta hand it to whoever taught you the basics of fencing. This would’ve taken much longer if you didn’t know those first.”
Pinkie bounced over and wrapped the two of them up in a large hug. “Nevermind that! Rarity that was awesome!”
Rarity accepted the hug and wearily patted Pinkie’s head. “Yes, I suppose it was a nice idea,” she said, trying to be as modest as possible. “But it’s far from perfected. There are many things I still need to improve on.”
“Even so,” Rarity turned to see Twilight and AJ also walk onto the field. “I’m astounded to see that you’ve figured out such new and creative ways to use your powers.”
AJ tipped her hat. “Gotta say, it’ll be hard to get up close and personal with you now. Dash’ll have a fit when she finds out,” she chuckled.
Rarity couldn't help but blush at the praise and turn away. Looking down at her Keyblade she smiled. “I suppose I have both Octavia and Virgil to thank for showing me how to use my weapon and powers After flipping her hair and regaining her composure, Rarity, turned back to Asuna with a determined look. Asuna nodded and opened her menu. Picking out a few options, Asuna’s own weapon, a shining white rapier known as Lambent Light, appeared in front of her. With the initial training sessions over, the girls stood ready for an actual spar.
Twilight, Pinkie, and AJ all got the message and headed for the door.
As they walked through the halls the trio decided to check up on their other friend outside. Meanwhile, they discussed what they learned over the past two days.
AJ sighed and crossed both arms behind her head. “Welp, Ah guess tomorrow we’re off then,” she said, her tone not nearly as upbeat as it could have been.
Pinkie gave her a big thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Jackie! It’ll be easy peasy breezie!”
Twilight grinned at her friend's confidence. “Don’t be so sure. From what Kirito and Yui told us, the last five levels is going to be a sort of enemy rush. We won’t be able to rest for long before we have to fight again. It’ll be a test of our endurance and stamina in addition to strength and ability.”
Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Well duh! After 95 floors you expect the final bosses to be really really strong! It’d be a letdown if they weren't.”
AJ stopped walking and gave Pinkie a suspicious look. “Ya know something? I don’t reckon that I’ve even seen you train with either of them. What have you been doing these last two days.”
Pinkie grinned widely. And lifted herself up to whisper in her tall friends ear. Twilight looked on curiously. She watched as AJ broke out into a skeptical looking smile. Once they were done AJ burst out laughing.
“What?” asked Twilight. “What’s so funny?”
AJ moved over to her and sat a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry none, Twi. You go on ahead and get you last spar in with Kirito. Pinkie just wanted to show me what she learned.”
AJ turned Twilight around and began to push her down the hall towards the exit, all the while Twilight protested and struggled. “Wait, but I want to see what Pinkie can do too!”
“Bye, Twilight!” said Pinkie, waving her away.
~~~
With the training room being used by Rarity and Asuna, and the back yard being used by Dash, Kirito, and, Twilight. Pinkie and AJ had no choice but to use the front yard that was surrounded on both sides by a thick forest.
AJ cracked her knuckles and stretched. “Alrighty then, you ready?”
Pinkie, standing a ways away bounced from foot to foot, her Keyblade already out and ready. “I’m ready!!” she cheered.
AJ gave her Keyblade a skeptical look. She almost looked worried. “Same rules as back home, got it,” she stressed.
Pinkie saluted. “Gotcha! No Party Cannon and no world destroying summons!”
AJ nodded as she crossing her arms into an X formation in front of her. They stayed there for a second until she brought them down in a flash of white. Beowulf shone brightly on her limbs even as the initial light of the summoning died off. With her body turned slightly to her side, AJ took on a classic wide fighting stance with her feet shoulder width apart and her weight resting slightly more on her back foot.
“Ohhh,” Pinkie gasped, not bothering to take any sort of stance. “Shiny!”
Knowing how Pinkie fights, AJ wasn't at all concerned about getting in the first hit. Leaning slightly back on her back leg she pushed off and, at a stunning speed, sent a strong left hook towards Pinkie’s face.
Pinkie, wide eyed from the sudden strike, barely had time to duck. Even when AJ missed her the gloves emitted a bright white light that momentarily blinded her. However, it didn’t last long as Pinkie recovered in time to find AJ’s right leg coming towards her. Being the weird springy athlete she was, Pinkie easily backflipped from her crouched position, dodging the kick and trying to get some distance between her and AJ.
Unfortunately, AJ knew well enough not to let that happen. She kept on her, refusing to let Pinkie have any room to cast magic or attack.
Pinkie dodged strike after strike, smiling wildly. Her friend was faster than Pinkie remembered. And even if she wasn't getting hit directly, Pinkie could tell that the force of the blows would hurt way worse than they would’ve before. In fact, she also realized that AJ was moving better too, almost if if she actually knew martial arts. “Wow,” she said, ducking under a wide haymaker, “AJ. Where’d you,” she flipped over a kick, “learn such awesome fighting moves!”
AJ, while a little frustrated at still not being able to hit Pinkie, grinned. She stopped attacking for a moment and gestured to the gauntlets and greaves. “It’s these weapons,” she said, slightly awed. “It’s like when ah get ready to fight they start movin’ my body into position then they start tellin’ me where to hit an’ such.” She threw two quick test punches.
Pinkie’s eyes grew wide. “Oh no! Jackie! You’re being possessed!” she screamed. She immediately rushed over and began pulling off the gauntlets. “We need to get them off!”
AJ rolled her eyes and chuckled. She took her arm back and gently pushed Pinkie away by her shoulder. “Don’ you worry none. Ah’m still me. Dante said that it’s just the weapon trying to help me out. Plus…” AJ’s grin turned mischievous and Pinkie noticed that her hand was still on her shoulder. Before she could move, Jackie’s grip increased, anchoring the girl in place.
AJ pulled her other fist back and a bright ball of light started to form around it even before she threw the punch. “Ah also got a few new moves!” He threw her fist forward and Pinkie instinctively flinched, bracing her gut for the hit.
However, AJ stopped her fist just before making contact, instead the light shot out and blew Pinkie away.
When the ball of light finally dissipated, Pinkie fell to her knees. “Oooowwwwwiiieeee!” she groaned. She looked up to see AJ charging another ball of light. Pinkie dodge-rolled away just in time to avoid a small explosion on the ground next to her. Stumbling to her feet, Pinkie ran, frantically avoiding the dangerous balls of light exploding behind her.
Suddenly, AJ dashed in her path, a high kick already aimed at her. Pinkie realized that it was coming at her even faster than before. Falling to her knees at the last second, Pinkie slid under the appendage, the flashing metal grazing against her chin as it passed.
Pulling out her Keyblade with one hand and pushing off the ground with another, Pinkie spun around and charged at her friend. “Guess it’s my turn!” she said, finally ready to counterattack.
“Bout time!” AJ spun around with a roundhouse kick that Pinkie ducked under. Lowering her Keyblade, Pinkie retaliated with an upper slash that, while passing harmlessly in front of her enemy, left a blinding amount of confetti in it’s wake. Used to her distraction techniques, AJ wasted no time in chopping through where she expected the girl to be.
She was surprised when her hand sliced through empty air.
Her confusion didn’t last long as AJ looked up just in time to raise one arm and block Pinkie’s strike from above. The two girls smiled at each other as their weapons clashed, but Pinkie’s smile faded when AJ moved the arm she blocked with and gripped her’s. Yanking down, AJ pulled Pinkie into the path of her next attack, a charged shining uppercut.
Pinkie’s eyes shrank in fear at the unavoidable incoming attack she knew would be painful.
Dash swung her Keyblade with swift determination. With magic coursing through the blade the sound of thunder echoed with each swing.
After figuring out that, upon contact, Dash’s Enthunder would shock him through his blades and momentarily paralyze him, Kirito had altered his strategy to hit and run tactics. Dodging what he could and trying to find an opening to strike. Unfortunately, thanks to his training, the girl wasn't merely swinging blindly anymore. Now she had far less openings to exploit, and the ones he could would be protected to a quick response time similar to his own.
That morning, Kirito had noticed a slight change in Dash’s attitude. Now with her actually listening to his advice, the two had finally begun to make some progress on her fighting style.
The two warriors had been going at it nearly the entire time after returning home from training in the field, refining and altering Dash’s fighting style. At some point, she had realized that her magic had started working again and they began experimenting with incorporating that. Even though Kirito was a novice where magic was concerned.
He quickly found that, with her magic enhancing her strikes, this brash girl was a far more dangerous opponent. He was forced to start using his basic sword skills to keep up with her now. He found that, whenever he parried or blocked while executing a sword skill, the effects of her enchantments didn’t effect him. Unfortunately, he only had so many separate skills to use before having to wait out the recast times for each.
His white sword glowing yellow, he swung and blocked one of her strikes. As the two clashed blades they gave each other a competitive grin. “You’re a fast learner, you know that?” he teased.
Dash smirked and spun on her heel, moving under his defense and trying to elbow him in the gut. Kirito was quick to respond by moving the flat of his other blade to block her attack. Unfortunately, that’s what she wanted. Grabbing his sword arm, Dash flipped him off of his feet and down on his back in front of her.
Recovering quickly, Kirito rolled out of the way as Dash brought her blade down point first, stabbing into where he was formally laying.
Hopping back to his feet, Kirito charged back at her. Dash made no attempt to move from her crouched position.
Cautious, but still willing to take the shot, Kirito slashed down at her with both swords. At the last second, Dash hopped out of the way, leaving her weapon stuck into the ground. Before he had time to realize what was going on, a large lightning bolt struck down on her Keyblade, catching Kirito in the crossfire.
The bolt lasted only a few seconds but for Kirito it was an excruciating experience. Even in virtual form, the electricity coursed through his body, following it was a white hot pain that he had never experienced before. Suddenly, it all ended and he fell to the ground face first with a thump. He could feel himself twitching and spasming for a few seconds afterwards.
When it finally stopped, Kirito slowly turned his head look at his health bar and he watched his health slowly drop from nearly full to just into the yellow. He needed no other proof as to how powerful magic, specifically lightning, was in this game.
As he lie on the ground, dazed and tingly, Dash poked her head into his view by lying down next to him. “Hey… a-are you dead?” she asked fearfully.
Kirito frowned. “No.” She moved away as he stabbed one blade into the ground and used it to pull himself into a sitting position.
“Don’t joke about that,” he groaned. He looked up at her but found that he was surprised as what he saw. He had expected her to be radiating with pride or smugness. Instead, she looked concerned and afraid.
“What?” he asked. He turned to see Twilight by the door, paused mid step down. Her gaze was also wide eyed and fearful. Before he could repeat his question, she ran down towards him and began inspecting him carefully. “Are you alright?! What just happened?”
Kirito blushed as she got behind him and lifted the back of his coat. “I got shocked.”
Dash started gesturing with her hands, slowly, as if she wasn't quite sure of what she was trying to explain. “You started… I don’t know… shifting all green and number-y.”
Twilight lifted his arm and began poking around. “I think the lightning bolt may have interfered with the code of the game somehow.”
“So you're saying I glitched,” he reasoned, taking his arm back from Twilight. “It may have been like Twilight said.” He patted himself down, making sure his body was once again stable.
“So I shouldn’t use Thunder anymore?” asked Dash, looking a bit peeved.
Kirito smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s good. It’s another advantage that we have against the bosses that we might come up against. Plus, magic or not, you did win just now,” he said grinning in her direction.
Just as he predicted, the corners of his mouth were turned up in one of her grins. There was so much pride radiating off of her, it was almost tangible. She’d finally got him, and he knew that he'd never hear the end of it.
Twilight gave Kirito one last worried look before turning to smile at her friend. “Rachelle that was genius,” she admitted. “Using your Keyblade as a lightning rod to catch him was an amazing idea. In fact, I can think of a few ways to improve that technique.”
The smug aura radiating off her nearly doubled. Kirito shook his head and got up to his feet. “I guess it was an interesting move. Though I still say using magic in this game is cheating,” he said, patting off the dirt from his clothes.
He nearly fell forward when he felt the shorted girl slam a palm onto his back. “Don’t get all pissy now that I beat you. I won fair and square.”
Kirito chuckled and rubbed the top of her head degradingly. “Yeah, and maybe next time I’ll go all out.” he teased, ruining her attitude. He chuckled when she slapped his arm away.
Opening his menu, Kirito brought out a small blue vial. After drinking it his various wounds shocks and signs of fatigue disappeared instantly. No matter how many times they see it happen, the effects never seem to look less interesting to the girls. Twilight herself was reminded of the ether she received on their first world.
Finishing off the elixir, Kirito took a deep breath he turned to Twilight. “Are you ready?”
~~~
“Are you sure you’re fine with me using magic?” asked Twilight, readying her Keyblade. “Mine are stronger and more versatile than hers,” she said, tilting her head over to her rainbow haired friend.
Said friend was relaxing on the porch, watching the fight go down and still surfing the waves of good feelings she felt knowing she had gotten stronger.
Kirito shook his head. “Nah, it’s alright. In fact this is great training for me too. I get to deal with the unexpected outcomes. I know now that lightning glitches the system and does triple damage.”
Twilight nodded dejectedly. “The results and powers of magic are wide and varied. I’m honestly afraid of what some of my spells would do side effect wise.”
Kirito moved his blades to his sides, tips pointed forward and rushed into combat. “Well then, I’d better not get hit!”
Twilight somersaulted out of the way and her magic flow into her Keyblade. “Blizzard!” she announced, shooting the ball of ice at her opponent.
Kirito sliced through the ice with one blade and slashed down at her with the other.
Raising her blade to block the attack calling out, “Reflect!” as she did. At the last second, a clear hexagonal dome formed between her and him. When his blade touched down onto it, the kinetic force of Kirito’s attack repelled his blade and shot his arm backward, leaving him wide open.
As he stumbled backward, Twilight pointed his blade towards his chest and called out, “Fire!”
As she the spell exited the blade, Kirito’s leg shot up and kicked her arm upwards, knocking her aim off and sending the fireball soaring into the sky. Moving with the momentum, the boy backflipped into a standing position and went back on the attack.
Twilight parried his attacks as best she could, all the while trying to gain distance. Although, she soon found that he was trying his hardest to keep as close to her as possible, not letting her fall back more than a few feet.
Kirito blocked a downward slash with both blades. “Come on,” he teased. You can do better than that.
He broke the clash and stabbed at her, forcing Twilight to gracefully moved to the side to avoid the attack. She couldn’t really argue, she had initially been all for coming out her to improve her magic ability. But having seen what a simple Thunder had done, she had become hesitant. If a small electric shock like that could nearly one shot him, and even worse, mess with his code, she couldn’t imagine what a full on Thundaga would do. Not to mention what spells that would physically alter his body would do.
Kirito read her expression like a book. “Stop holding back!” he ordered, pressing his attack. He began to move faster, forcing Twilight to do the same. Anything she couldn’t dodge she was forced to block or parry. Luckily this wasn't stressful as their earlier combat training had gotten them used to fighting two weapons at once. She was faster and stronger than she was yesterday and tomorrow she’ll be faster and stronger than she was today.
Twilight swung her blade in front of her. Instantly, several round yellow circles appeared in a row in front of her.
Unfortunately, Kirito was wise to the explosive properties of her mine shield. “Nice try!” Deftly hopping over the line, the black swordsmen brought down a hard swing from above. Twilight frowned and raised another reflect. Kirito’s signature black blade slammed into it as it did before, but instead of being shot off like it had previously, he continued to press against it. “Don’t worry about me, worry about figuring out what what you can do to win,” he told her.
Twilight scowled at him. “I know what I can do, I’m worried about what it’ll do to you.” Kirito pressed harder but Twilight held firm. “If anything happens to her husband, Asuna would never forgive me.”
Kirito gave her a kind smile while still pressing his blade against her shield. “I get it. I really do. But since we’ve covered basic fighting skills, in order for me to help you further, I need to know what your magic is capable of.”
“But I’m worried about the game’s code. What if something irreversible happened?” Suddenly, her shield exploded inward from a secondary impact. Rolling backwards, Twilight instantly got into a crouched position and raised her guard, quickly working out what had just happened.
She noticed that Kirito had brought his other blade down upon the shield and that it was glowing a bright red color.
Kirito stood up and sat one blade on his shoulder in a relaxed position, the red light having faded entirely. “Fine, how about this. Let’s see how strong your shields are. I just used a standard Guard Break skill. We’ll find another way to test your magic.”
Twilight’s expression softened and she stood up and nodded. Raising a hand she brought up another shield. This was was even larger and looked noticeably more thick. “Reflera!”
Kirito was already on her, swinging down with another sword skill from his other weapon. Unfortunately, this spell was stronger than the last. It burst outward in a flash of light. While the first reflect had felt like he had bounced off of something, this one felt like he was being shoved backwards completely. One quick glance at his health bar showed him that her spell had done an interesting amount of damage back to him.
He smiled. “Ohhh, so it reflects damage as well. I didn’t notice that before.”
“That’s right,” she nodded. “Reflera doubles the damage that I would’ve taken and sends it back at my opponent.”
“That’s cool,” he said, readying his swords. Clearly, he need to start using stronger attacks. This time both blades started glowing blue in anticipation. “What else you got?” he said charging at her once more.
With a wave of her hand an even larger dome appeared around her. Kirito eagerly took it as a challenge and readied something rather new he had come up with.
~~~
AJ’s uppercut threw took her off of the ground as she corkscrewed into the air. Bright light continued to emanate from her fist as she reached the apex of her attack. Only one thing was wrong.
Pinkie wasn't on the receiving end of it.
AJ landed and looked around, seeing the girl panting some distance away.
“That… was… so scary!” Pinkie gasped hunched over, hand gripping her knees.
AJ raised her brow in confusion. She knew that Pinkie could still slow time but she was positive she had the girl’s arm in a tight grip. While she wondered how Pinkie escaped, her eyes wondered down to the ground where a small sigil sat etched into the dirt between her legs. AJ leaned down and recognized the balloon shaped keyhole.
The pieces soon fell into place when she realized that Pinkie hadn’t moved herself, she moved her opponent. AJ scoffed and muttered, “Ah forgot she could do that.”
Pinkie popped from her position and pointed at AJ, cheeks puffed in annoyance. “That was really tricky, Jackie!” she chided. “That could’ve really hurt!”
AJ frowned at her. ‘Hey, ah didn’t trick ya!” she retorted. “Come on, lets have a straight up fight. No teleportin’ or summinin’ or any of that.”
Pinkie sighed and shrugged. “I guess so.” In that instant, Pinkie disappeared and reappeared in front of AJ, Keyblade at the ready.
It was only thanks to her quick reflexes, honed by training with Rachelle that, AJ was able to block the first strike from Pinkie. When she tried to retaliate, Pinkie disappeared, only to reappear behind her. To the cowgirl’s surprise, Pinkie’s attacks came fast, and from virtually every direction at once. She found herself spinning around in circles trying to keep up with the girl.
For some reason, whenever AJ threw a punch she felt herself slow somewhat while Pinkie seemed to go faster. Each time, the feeling only increased. Eventually, it got to the point that she was almost beginning to have trouble just keeping up with her.
Then, all at once the attacks stopped coming. She looked around. Pinkie had all but disappeared from sight. Odd, considering the fairly open area that they were sparring in.
Calmly looking around, AJ swore that every time she turned she could catch a glimpse of the one she was looking for, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t locate Pinkie directly.
Hearing a slight noise from behind, AJ turned just in time to see a Keyblade being flung in her direction. With deft reaction, she tried to backhand the weapon away, only for it to explode in a burst of multicolor confetti upon contact. Putting up her guard, AJ got ready for any number of surprise attacks from any direction.
What she didn’t expect was three small balls to roll underneath her, hidden by the cheerful slivers of paper. Each of the balls had a different color balloon painted on to it.
They exploded simultaneously, tossing the poor girl high into the air. It was then that AJ noticed that Pinkie had revealed herself directly under her. Somehow, her Keyblade had become a miniature cannon that she was aiming straight up. The handle had moved to the underside of the shaft and the shaft itself expanded to become the barrel. The three balloons that normally acted as the teeth were glowing wildly.
AJ pulled her fist back and quickly tried to fire her light based attack downward. Sadly, Pinkie was faster on the draw. “Shotlock: Jokes On You!”
There was a bright blue flash and AJ felt the blow edge deep into her stomach. It didn’t so much hurt, as it did make her feel nauseous. The blow nudged her back into the air, but not by much. Hitting the ground, it only took her a second before she shook it off and stood back up.
She quickly noticed that the explosion from the shotlock had released a thick blue fog that covered the area. AJ hesitated for a moment before remembering that her friend wouldn’t use anything poisonous.
Still, weary of any more tricks, AJ took a different martial arts stance that allowed her to keep her guard up while still being able to spin or attack in an instant. Something about her surroundings still seemed odd to her, but before she could analyze it, a shadow made itself known out of the corner of her eye.
Without waiting she went for it, bursting through the fog and tall grass towards the… increasingly large shadow.
Throwing a punch only resulted in AJ slamming her fist against the vastly taller looking Pinkie. She grimaced and looked upwards towards Pinkie’s large smiling face. Realizing what happened, all she could do was curse silently. “Dag nabbit.”
Pinkie reached down and plucked her, sending the once strong girl sliding across the grass. “I win,” she cheered, throwing her arms up into the air.
~~~
Kirito paced down the line of girls in front of him. Twilight and her friends, alongside Asuna, stood at attention in front of the couch in the living room. Each of them bore a face with with either a determined grin, confidant look, excited glee, or hesitant anticipation.
Meanwhile, Yui stood behind her dad, watching the pep rally in progress.
The swordsman paced a few more times, carefully wording his speech in his mind. After a few seconds, he came to a stop, centred in front of the group. He held his head down for a second before coming up with a bright and kind smile.
“I’m very proud of each of you,” he began. “In just three days you’ve managed to raise your levels exponentially, improve your already considerable skills, and even learn new and better ways to use said skills.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head dejectedly. “Honestly, I’m kind of jealous. All I have over you is experience and game enhanced strength and and a helpful variety of artificial skills.”
He looked at each of them, his eyes lingering on each one for only a second before moving on. “You all though, your strength is real. You can learn faster, fight longer, and you all have no limits to what you can do. Just being able to help you in some way is well…” Kirito blushed and lifted his gaze towards the ceiling.
Asuna chuckled and took his side, grabbing his arm and smiling towards the group. The girls themselves were smiling back at her, already sure of what he was trying to say.
Even so, Asuna decided to help out her husband. “What he’s trying to say, is that he feels like he wishes he could do more to help you for what you’re doing for us, especially when you all could’ve left the second you found out about your situation.”
Across the group, all of the girls responded in their own way.
AJ lifted her hat in a modest gesture. “Shucks, like we’d ever up an’ leave you guys,” she smirked.
Twilight blushed and waved them off. “It’s nothing,” she began. “It’s wrong to keep you stuck here like this. I promised that we would help you, and before we can leave, I have to make sure we do.”
Dash slammed a fist into an open palm, leveling a confident look at Kirito. “Yeah, I’m not gonna leave before I give this Kayaba prick a piece of my mind.”
Rarity proudly flipped her hair. “Well while I’d love to have done this under different circumstances… but no matter how this might have turned out, I would never have refused.”
Pinkie lightly bounced in place. “This place is fun!” she cheered, as if that was all the reason she needed.
Yui, unable to contain herself hopped up from her spot and glomped the girls in glee. “Thank you all so much!” she squealed. Pinkie, never one to resist a glomp, took the brunt of the hit while Dash quickly tried to separate herself from the hug fest.
Kirito looked on with a peaceful look and held Asuna just a bit closer. His eyes glistening slightly, he reached up with an arm and rubbed it away before anyone could see. Turning to look out the window, Kirito’s face instantly switched to one of righteous determination.
“Kayaba… I’m coming for you,” he whispered, his voice unheard under the gleeful cheers of the others.
Meanwhile, at the top most chamber of Aincrad tower, a single man stood tall, clad in nothing but a white lab coat and normal clothes. The holographic screen in front of him was his only light in the dark, empty room. On the screen was Kirito’s determined look, staring up at him. Smiling, he closed the window with a single flick of his index finger.
His only source of light gone, the room grew completely dark for a second. With another flick of his finger the room exploded with dim glows as a hundred or so holographic screens appeared around the room. Each one was filled with flowing data and digital codes. Slowly, the screens floated towards one another and formed groups.
Eventually the screens all grouped up into ten separate unequal teams. Five groups seemed to have a few screens solely dedicated to analyzing a single specific object shown on the centermost display. Every other display had gathered around the five main terminals hovering directly above the man. On each screen was a single girl.
Kayaba Akihiko’s smirk grew slightly wider as he beheld all the data he had gathered over the past three days. “Like I told you, Kirito… I’ll be waiting right here.”
As the bright blue gleam of the game’s teleport faded, Dash slowly opened her eyes. Slowly, her eyes trailed upwards at the enormous pale grey door in front of her. “Cool,” she muttered breathlessly.
AJ tipped her hat in awe. Not wanting to appear completely speechless, she drawled out the first thing that was on her mind. “That’s a… mighty big door ya have here.”
Twilight, acutely aware of how large the door was, instead turned and looked around at her surroundings. Doing a complete 360 examination, she found that she and the others had been teleported into a dark grey dome shaped room.
“Where are we?” she asked.
Pinkie looked around as well. “I guess we’re at a waiting room or something,” she said, wandering around.
Rarity crossed her arms. “Seems a bit large doesn't it.”
Just before Kirito could turn to correct the girls, a small chime alerted him to a new message in his inbox. Curious, he opened the interface in front of him and frowned as he read the boxed message.
Asuna leaned over to read it to herself, her expression becoming downcast as her eyes trailed the words.
She sent a small glance back at the girls, who were still beholding the room, before whispering to Kirito, “Are you sure?”
He smiled sadly and nodded. He closing the message without responding. “Klein does have some of the strongest sword skills in the game, and I know he wouldn’t hesitate to help. But if we…” He paused for a second before shaking his head and looking up at the imposing door in front of him. “Should we fail here, it falls to him and his guild to save everyone.”
He turned around and faced the girls. “We also don’t really have the time to wait for his guild to get themselves together.”
Asuna looked down for a second. “Kirito, are you sure we can all do this on our own?” she said, looking back up at him, her eyes glistening.
Kirito turned and met her eye. It was clear to him that she was still wavering, probably thinking back to the time he had fought Kayaba alone and almost died. Knowing this simple reassurance from his mouth probably wouldn’t work as much as before, he decided on a different tactic.
He simply smiled at her and called out, “Ok, girls I need your attention!”
At his word, everyone turned to face the duo. Asuna looked over each of the girls faces. She could see it plainly, the readiness in each of their eyes. She saw how they seamlessly transitioned from their previous curious attitudes, to more serious ones. Asuna silently chided herself for her own lapse in morale. Reaffirming her own resolve to win, she internally vowed that, even if it killed her, she would at least take Kayaba out with her.
“Once again,” she began, stepping forward, her voice louder and clearer than it had been mere seconds ago, “I want to thank each and every one of you. Here you all are, willing to risk your lives to save us. To the point where you could all be stuck here forever.” She began to tear up, “What’s worse is that even if we do win, we’ll all leave the game. We wouldn’t even be able to repay you.”
Twilight smiled and walked forward. Putting her arms around her she brought Asuna into a gentle embrace. “We’re Keyblade wielders, we don’t ask for payment. It’s our job to help you, and even if it weren't, we’d never leave you all to be stuck like this. It’s inhuman and wrong.”
“Yeah!” Dash cheered. “What kind of crazed nut case just up and decides to trap a thousand people in a video game just for his own enjoyment?”
Kirito actually let out a small chuckle at her wisecrack. “Well I won’t go into another thank you speech,” his mirthful expression turned serious, “but I do make sure you all know what we’re getting ourselves into.”
He threw a palm up and gestured to the grand entrance behind them. “Right now, we’re on the cusp of the boss room on Floor 96. Floors 96 through 100 are nothing but bosses. There are no regular enemies at all. We’ll likely not have any time to rest between them either. Asuna and I have a full stock of rejuvenation items so we don’t need to rest. But… I guess what I’m saying is that you all still have a way out. This is probably nothing like you five have been through. You don’t have to do this, and we aren't forcing you. So I ask you all once more, are you all sure you want to go through this?”
Each of the girls glanced at one another and shared a group nod. Simultaneously, they all brought out their Keyblades and raised them up towards the door. One by one a bright beam of light rose up from the tips of their weapons and shot towards the door.
Asuna and Kirito followed the lights as the five of them converged just in front of the door. At the intersection, an interface appeared. On it read, “Access Final Five Boss Rush?”
It only stayed up for a second before it shattered completely and the converged beam continued to hit the door. The crack of it began to glow and the beam faded. Slowly the door began to open.
The two players turned back to the five Keyblade wielders, each of them meeting their eyes with a confident smile. No words were said but an entire conversation was exchanged. Kirito gave them all one last genuine smile and nodded thankfully. Together, the group burst into the room.
As the light faded from the doorway, the group took a second to look around and realize that the new room looked eerily similar to the previous one, only slightly larger. Behind them, the door closed and sealed completely. Even so, the group took stances, ready for anything to jump out at them. However, the last thing they expected to see were two men already fighting in the room.
One man was clad in a plain blue kimono, one half removed and leaving that half of his chest exposed. Oddly enough, he wore armoured boots. His long black hair, even with part of it messily tied upwards in traditional samurai chonmage bun, flowed freely. In his hands he held two short katanas in his own wide stance dual wield style.
The other man looked almost like a player in the game, with his dark blue full body armor and dark red cape. Unlike the man opposite of him, he was cleanly groomed and his hair was properly styled into his bun. He firmly gripped his single katana with both hands, legs spread in traditional kendo stance.
Both men failed to register the new arrivals as they slashed at each other and continued dueling.
Dash simply stared in confusion, her guard lowering slightly. “What’s with them. A-aren't they the enemy?”
Twilight, still holding her guard, mirrored her expression, though less obviously. “I’m… not sure. Asuna, Kirito, what do you guys think?”
Asuna squinted at the duo’s fast paced movement. “I feel like I recognize them from somewhere but I’m not sure…” She shook her head. “We have to engage them to see their names. What do we do?”
Kirito glanced beyond them towards the large door. “Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe we can just bypass these two if they ignore us. No use in wasting items if we don’t need to.”
AJ lowered her Keyblade and nodded, not taking eyes off of the warring pair. “I reckin’ that’s a sound plan. Keep ‘yer guard up just in case though.” Dismissing her Keyblade, AJ switched out with her Beowulf armaments.
Twilight nodded. “I agree. We’ll move along the wall. I’ll stay the furthest out to make a shield if they turn on us. Rarity you stay close to me as a secondary defense.” Rarity nodded and took a few steps closer. “Like Jackie said, be ready for anything.”
As the two men continued to duel, Twilight and the group moved slowly along the wall. Kirito was at the front of the line with Asuna behind him, Dash behind her, then Twilight and Rarity, both facing towards the centre, and finally Pinkie and AJ. Kirito in particular was moving sideways, keeping both his blades outstretched towards them.
He watched as the man with two blades executed a spin attack towards his opponent, only for him to skillfully duck under both blades and swing his own sword upwards. The first man stopped his spin midway and leaned to the side just as the blade passed right next to his chin. just barely slicing a hair off. Without missing a beat, the second man flipped his blade and sliced back down diagonally. The duel wielder ducked further and rolled backwards. Jumping back to his feet, he stabbed at his enemy who dodged to the side and once more went for his head.
“Woah,” gasped Kirito, tracking each and every movement of the skilled fighter. Feeling felt a nudge to his side and tore his eyes off the fight looked over his shoulder see the group looking at him curiously. Realizing that he had stopped moving at some point, he continued. As he walked he continued to watched in awe as the two fought, even as the group made it to the other door he continued to watch.
Dash came up to him, grinning. “They look really tough huh?”
Kirito nodded. “It’s not just that, they’re blades barely even touch each other. It’s like neither of them even need to block the other’s attack.”
Twilight joined the two, having been observing the fight as well. “It almost feels as though it’s scripted, like they know what attack the other will do before they do it.”
Kirito put a finger to his chin in thought. “It could be that these two have just been programmed to fight each other endlessly. If we’re lucky, this might just be a secret boss that we need to actively flag.”
“Looks’ like we need to work on raising our luck level,” Asuna called out. The three of them turned to see AJ, Asuna, and Pinkie struggling to push open the door. “We might have to fight them,” she said giving up.
Pinkie turned and slumped against the door. “Aww poo!” she sulked, crossing her arms.
“Pinkie!” Rarity gasped, visibly disgusted. “Watch your language, please.”
AJ, who was the last to stop pushing, looked back at Twilight with a raised brow. “Think we can unlock it with our Keyblades again?”
“It’s worth a try,” she responded, looking up at the exit curiously. At her suggestion, the girls gathered once more and raised their mystical weapons. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
“It’s not working?” asked Kirito.
Twilight turned to him and shook her head. “If the Keyblade doesn't work it usually means that door isn’t locked.”
“What does that mean?” asked Dash, scratching her head.
AJ sighed and shook her head. Moving over to her, she gave Dash a light tap on the noggin which, coming from her and her magic gauntlets, was like a soft bludgeon. “Did you ever pay attention in class?!”
“Ohhh! I know! Pick me!” cheered Pinkie, hopping up and down excitedly. Ignoring Dash, who was huddled on the ground holding her head in pain, Pinkie pulled out a pair of fake glasses and began pacing around the group while reciting Luna’s lesson. “Under normal circumstances any lock, both conventional or magical can be unlocked by the power of the Keyblade. However, there are certain circumstances where this fundamental ability has limits. One such is that the magical seal on an object was cast by a magic user whose magical ability is far stronger than the one trying to break it.”
Pinkie lowered her glasses slightly and looked over at Twilight, who shook her head. “It definitely isn’t magical from what I can tell. Plus, like they said, this world has no magic.”
Pinkie nodded and continued her tutoring session. “Another circumstance is when the object is in fact, not actually locked. The Keyblade cannot force an object to open, likewise if something is being held closed by some other means it falls to the wielder to discern it.” Pinkie gave a wide grin and stowed her spectacles away.
Asuna frowned and turned to the two men who were still fighting. “I guess the game won’t allow us to pass until we defeat them,” she said, redrawing her rapier.”
Likewise, Kirito turned his blades back to the duo. “How do we get their attention?”
Rarity readied her weapon as well. “We need to be careful. We don’t want to jump right into their fight. Perhaps, a ranged preemptive strike with my ability, yes?”
Twilight closed her eyes and channeled her magic, not casting any spell just yet, but enough to make any manner of split second decisions. “That sounds like a good idea, on my count.”
Everyone held their breath as they waited. Even Pinkie’s smile became somewhat more nervous as it became apparent that even she wasn’t entirely prepared for what they may be starting. Small arcs of lightning began dancing around Dash’s handle. Three ethereal Keyblades appeared around Rarity, her eyes keeping them trained on the two fighters even as they moved around the room.
“Now!”
Two Keyblades shot out of the gathering, both trained on their targets like homing missiles.
As Twilight expected, they were both deftly knocked out of the air as the two men paused in their battle and turned to the group.
The first man of the two pointed the one of his blades at the group, fully evident in his eyes. His voice was gruff and deep, but powerful nonetheless. “What is the meaning of this? Have you no honour?”
The other man, his voice calm and smooth like a flowing river, scoffed. “This is not a war, when you see two warriors dueling you do not interfere,” he lectured, leering down at them like a king before a peasant.
“I’m sorry, but we need to get past this room,” announced Kirito, raising his voice to reach the two. “And to do that It seems that we need to defeat you.
The duo looked at one another before turning back to them. The unarmoured man responded first with an amused grin. “So you wish to challenge me as well. You are but children against my blades,” he chuckled.
Dash growled and ranted back at them. “Oh yeah! Well I bet we can beat the both of you!” she said, shaking a clenched fist.
The second man smiled at them mirthfully as well. “Really then,” he said, an amused tone slipping into his voice. “Customarily, when requesting a duel, the challenger gives their name first. A sign of respect between warriors.”
Kirito looked towards the group who all nodded in agreement. Lowering his blades, Kirito stepped forth. “My name is Kirito. I am known as The Black Swordsman. My party and I challenge the two of you to a duel. What are your names?”
Both men smirked and the in a grand display of swordsmanship, the first man flipped his weapons into the air. As they spun upwards, two sheaths manifested in each of his now empty palms. Holding his arms completely outstretched, the man waited as both swords slid into their respective holders.
“I am Miyamoto Musashi known as Niten Dōraku! I accept your foolish challenge!”he proclaimed, a wide intimidating grin on his face.
Unlike his counterpart, the second man simply sheathed his own blade at his hip, making no show of his hidden talent. “I am Lord Oda Nobunaga,” he announced simply. “I too accept your challenge.”
Asuna’s eyes shrank in shock and she quickly moved closer to Kirito who had no reaction. “I remember where I know them from now. I read about these two in school.”
Without taking his eyes off of them Kirito whispered back. “Who are they?”
Asuna regarded the two with trepidation as she revealed what they were up against. “From what I can recall Miyamoto Musashi is regarded as one of the greatest samurai warriors of all time. It’s said that he’s never lost a battle and has never been injured by another’s blade until his death. And Oda Nobunaga is exactly what he claims to be, a brutal warlord who very nearly conquered all of Japan. He’s a brilliant strategist at command and his cunning is second to none on the field of battle.”
On the outside, Kirito’s expression stayed as steeled as it had been, however on the inside he was beginning to feel a tinge of anxiousness.
Asuna tightened her grip on her weapon. “Maybe we should’ve brought Klein after all,” whispered Asuna, her own emotions showing on her face plain as day.
Kirito shook his head. “No use thinking bout it now,” he mumbled. “Twilight, come here.” She stepped forth and joined the two. “Now that we’ve engaged, we have a one to two minute window until the AI aggrovates to us automatically. We need a plan so listen to what Asuna has to say. She’ll be coordinating this battle since she has the most information on the enemy.”
Musashi growled, his earlier smirk now expressed as a frown of impatience. “Well, now that the pleasantries have been exchanged. Engage!”
Dash took a step forward, but a hand from AJ held her back. As they exchanged glances, AJ nodded up to Twilight and Asuna who were still hashing out a plan. Reluctantly, she hung back.
Twilight’s eyes locked with those of Nobunaga himself, neither blinking even as she conversed with Asuna. Twilight could feel the power and respect he commanded. It radiated from him, almost as he had an aura all his own. The same could be felt with the other one. Whomever this Kayaba was, to be able to create such an entity, even as a program, Twilight couldn’t help but become even more curious about him.
“You got it, Twilight?” asked Asuna.
Flinging his cape with a flourish, Nobunaga called out to the players. “Enough of this ceasefire. You will engage!”
Twilight nodded and backed towards her group. “Dash, you, AJ and Kirito will be taking on Musashi. The rest of us will be attacking Nobunaga.” The duo nodded and took a few steps closer to him. “Pinkie, you’ll be on point with Asuna while Rarity and I will be on range. We need to defeat him quickly. Asuna suspects that the longer we fight, the more he’ll learn how to counter our techniques.”
“Rodger dodger!” saluted Pinkie.
“Understood,” affirmed Rarity. Two more blades came into existence next to her.
“Enough stalling!” screamed Musashi. Their time limit up, the man dashed towards the group with surprising speed. To the group's confusion his weapons were still away. A few feet away, he jumped into the air and came back down with a fierce drop kick.
“Scatter and resume the plan!” Kirito yelled, rolling to the side.” Everyone moved just in time for Musashi’s armoured boot to come crashing down, shattering the area they were just gathered around. “Remember, samurai’s have a lot of instant kill moves, so be careful.”
Nodding, Asuna, Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie took off after Nobunaga, who similarly had not unsheathed his blade.
As per the plan the two groups grew distant from each other. One of them engaging Musashi by the exit and the other moving towards the middle of the room to fight Nobunaga.
Dash, whom had dodged the attack by flying into the air, came crashing back down with a fierce guillotine slash of her own. Unfortunately, Musashi was just as quick to side step. As she hit the ground, Kirito jumped over her and slashed down at him with his black blade.
In one swift motion, Musashi turned and blocked his strike.
“What the…” muttered Kirito. His eyes widened at the scene in front of him. His foe had managed to block him with a single long bamboo sword.
Over by the other door, Nobunaga carefully examined the people surrounding him. While Twilight and Rarity had taken position in front of the door behind him, Pinkie and Asuna stood out in front of him, ready to attack.
“Assaulting both the rear and the front with a combination of physical and ranged attacks. Not a bad opening stratagem,” critiqued Nobunaga, glancing directly at Asuna. The girl merely readied her blade in response. “But amateurish!”
Before she knew it, Nobunaga had dashed, sword unsheathed, towards her. With a quick backflip she deftly avoided his first attack. Upon landing, Asuna spun on her toe and stabbed her rapier towards him, only to be deflected and thrown past him. Spinning once more to face him, she continued stabbing at him. To her surprise, most of her attacks either were deflected by his blades or dodged entirely.
After a few seconds she jumped away. As soon as she did, Pinkie slashed at him from behind. With surprising reflex, Nobunaga turned and blocked her Keyblade with his katana.
As they stood there, weapons pushed against each other, Nobunaga quickly caught on to the fact that Pinkie wasn’t pushing back very hard. Knowing a distraction when he saw it, the samurai quickly caught on to what had happened. He looked down at his feet to see that both of his boots were covered in a sticky pink gum. One look back up confirmed that the pink haired girl had disappeared.
Glancing further up, he saw five Keyblades flying towards him. One swipe from his weapon easily knocked them out of the air.
A glow illuminated from below and he had just enough time to look down at the glowing orange-yellow circles before being engulfed in a large explosion.
Twilight watched the plums of smoke rise from the blast, though her eyes remained locked onto the centre, watching and waiting for the enemy that she knew was still alive to make his move.
The smoke faded and Nobunaga stood there, motionless. He didn’t seem injured to Twilight but since she couldn’t see his health bar, she could only guess as to how much health her attack dealt.
Slowly, he turned to face her directly, her body tensing in response. She rose an eyebrow when he actually re-sheathed his blade. His hand still on the handle, he turned to the side and crouched low. Sliding his foot out front and one foot back, he leaned his weight on his rear leg. Twilight could tell he was readying an attack, but what attack it was, she couldn’t fathom.
“Twilight look out!” screamed Pinkie.
There was a blur and Nobunaga disappeared. But before she could look around she heard a click and felt her breath forcibly exit her body. Frantically, she felt her gut for any injuries, but could feel or see nothing out of the ordinary. Twilight could’ve sworn she felt something thing just slam itself across her stomach. The Immortal Object sign flashed in front of her.
“You are most definitely a target of importance.” Twilight turned around and saw Nobunaga standing a few feet behind her, slowly bringing his sword back out of his sheath. Twilight shuddered and sat a hand on her stomach. Her analytical mind immediately figured out the implications of his attack.
“Twilight,” called Asuna, “be careful. Your attack did a lot of damage. It took away the first of his three health bars. But because of that you have aggro now.”
Twilight turned around and shook off her faux injury. She pointed the tip of her blade at him. “Fission Firaga!” she called, shooting out an enormous ball of fire.
Nobunaga dashed forward and effortlessly cut it in half. Unfortunately the blast exploded in his face upon contact. He stumbled backwards from the blast, once more taking serious magical damage.
Trying to continue the onslaught, Twilight shot out another explosive round. But as Asuna said he adapter to her move and avoided them and the resulting explosion entirely.
Switching tactics, Twilight rose her blade into the air and called down several bolts of lightning. Her eyes widened when he managed to dodge them all with ease as well. In a final attempt she laid down several rows of mines in his path, only for him to jump clear over them. Now in the air he swung down at her. In a violet flash she disappeared, leaving him to land his on open air.
Hearing footsteps, and without turning around, he crouched low and ducked under the shining blade of Asuna whom had been sneaking up behind him. His own blade glowing a violent red color, Nobunaga spun and slashed up at her unguarded stomach. “Assassin's Style: Disembowelment!”
Once again, he was surprised to find his blade slicing through empty space.
Asuna, arm and blade still outstretched in her previous stabbing motion, blinked. “Wha...?” Standing straight up she turned and found that she was now standing next to Pinkie. Seeing what happened she nodded gratefully. “Thanks, Pinkie. I need to be more careful.”
Once more, Nobunaga found himself surrounded in the same position he started out in, surrounded on both sides. Only this time with markedly less health on his end.
Nobunaga lowered his blade and took a deep breath. He calmed himself, visibly relaxing as he exhaled. Taking the handle of his blade in both hands he turned around until he was facing Twilight once more.
“Injured at the very start of the battle... how disgraceful,” he scowled. “You and your companions’ magics are extremely tiresome, young magician,” he said, looking directly at her. His blade began illuminating in a dangerous red glow. Taking a wider stand Nobunaga brought his blade to his side and twisted his upper body around.
“Careful, he’s readying another skill!” Asuna called out. At her warning, Twilight raised a shield while everyone else readied a form of defense.
“But you cannot rely on trickery forever!” Nobunaga spun around, swinging his sword along with him. A deathly red shockwave slashed out in every direction, catching all four of the girls in it’s path. Twilight’s reflect managed to hold off the strike, but the strike broke through everyone else's meager defense.
Asuna, had tried to block the attack with her blade, but found it to be easily broken by the attack. Before she could recover, Nobunaga had appeared in front of her with an attack at the ready. His blade was held at his side, glowing a bright silver color.
“Tachi Number Eight: Moonlight Slash.” With blinding speed, Nobunaga slashed upwards, going upwards across her chest and lifting him and Asuna both into the air in a spray of virtual blood. Afterwards, he slashed back down, slicing an “X” pattern on her chest and throwing her to the ground.
Asuna glanced at her status and watched as her health dropped considerably, going from green to yellow and just into red. She was astonished to see that even at her level that one attack had taken over 80% of her health.
“Asuna!” screamed Twilight.
Asuna struggled against the the paralysis that resulted of her broken guard. Unable to move Asuna managed a yell back at her. “Now! During his cool down! Attack him!”
Without another word, Twilight tried to called another Thundaga on him, however to both her and Asuna’s surprise, he once more dodged out of the way.
“What?” gasped Asuna, “No cool down?” She watched as Twilight called down more lightning attacks, not trying to him him but more attempting to move him away from the weakened Asuna.
Her guard break paralysis worn off, Asuna stood up and took out a potion and began drinking it. While she did she decided to check Oda Nobunaga’s health. “His second bar is about half gone… and that's only thanks to Twilight. We might have had a better chance if there were more of us to overwhelm him,” she muttered, finishing off the potion. She was satisfied to see that her health had regenerated completely.
Twilight clashed blades against Nobunaga and pushed against him as best she could. She found that he far outclassed her in terms of strength and before long he began slowly pushing her down. She momentarily thought about teleporting but out of the corner of her eye she noticed two of Rarity’s Keyblades flying towards them.
Hearing a faint whistling sound, Nobunaga came to the same conclusion and jumped into the air, hoping over the two spinning Keyblades as they flew over Twilight’s head.
Making a split second decision, Twilight once again called down Thundaga, this time striking Nobunaga in midair.
However, even as he took damage, he didn’t show it. Instead, he came back down on Twilight with a fierce downward slash. Thankfully, it slammed against her Immortal object shield. Twilight took the opportunity to teleport out of the way.
She reappeared next to Asuna, whom had retaken her defense. Asuna sent a smile her way. “We’re almost done here. He’s on his last bar. But all this means is that he’ll get harder to fight.”
Popping up next to her, Pinkie threw her hand into the air, bouncing in place as she did. “Ohh, Twilight! I have an idea!” Without waiting for a response, Pinkie grabbed Twilight and looked over at Asuna. “Distract him!” she ordered.
“Pinkie, hold on—” shouted Twilight. But it was fruitless. Pinkie she picked her up anyway and ran to gain some distance.
Asuna watched them with a confused look. “Wait, where are you—”
“Excuse me!”
Asuna turned to face the direction of the scream and gasped in horror when she saw that, during their little strategy meeting, Nobunaga had decided to go after Rarity. Even worse, was that he had cornered her by the door that the group had entered through.
Wielding two of her Keyblades, and with three others in her telekinetic control, Rarity did all she could to fend off Nobunaga even with her back very close to being literally against the wall.
Crossing them, she blocked a downward strike from his katana. Struggling under his strength, Rarity called out to her friends. “I would very much appreciate–” Rarity retaliated with a strike from behind but Nobunaga spun to the side, performing a spin attack that was blocked with another one of Rarity's blades “–some assistance.”
Releasing the one in her left hand, and letting her power resume control over it, Rarity repeatedly stabbed at him with all she had. With amazing speed and skill he managed to parry each one of her multiple strikes and even retaliate a few times. Rarity silently thanked the maker for her immortal object shielding.
Stopping his defense, Nobunaga sidestepped an attempted back-stab by Asuna.
“Rarity, together!” she ordered. From both sides, Rarity and Asuna tag teamed their high speed fencing. Slowly, they found that they were beginning to overwhelm him. It seemed that it was all he could do to defend.
A few yards away, at the centre of the room and at suitable distance from both fights, Twilight narrowed her eyes at Pinkie.
“That… may work, but are you sure you’re fast enough. From what you told me you can’t use both Geryon’s power and your Keyblade’s ability at the same moment. You’ll need split second timing for this.
Pinkie nodded and gave her a cheerful wink. “No problem, Twilight. I got this!”
Twilight smiled and closed her eyes. Holding out her Keyblade with both hands, she began to channel large amounts of magic. The weapon began glowing fervently.
Pinkie Pie, on the other hand looked down at her own Keyblade. There was a grey flash and everything around her began to slow considerably. As it did the world in her eyes became tinted in a silvery grey mist.
Looking over, Pinkie watched as Asuna and Rarity fought off Nobunaga; their movements looking incredibly slow.
“Alrighty then!” she cheered to herself. “Let’s end this!”
~~~
“Enough of this!” yelled Nobunaga. With one swift swing of his blade he unleashed a mighty shockwave that forced both Rarity and Asuna back some. However with another swing he broke their guard and knocked them both back even further.
Having taken a fair amount of damage, Asuna reached for another potion. But before she could, Nobunaga swung again and sent out yet another shockwave. Caught unprepared, she fell to the ground, defenseless. Once glance at her life bar showed that her health was similarly knocked into the red.
“Right… no cooldown,” she muttered.
“Asuna!”
One look towards him confirmed her worst fears. Nobunaga was crouched and readying the same move instant kill move he used on Twilight. Asuna frantically tried to get up but found that she couldn’t.
“Oh no,” she gasped, spying a flashing sign with a cracked shield blinked under her health bar. “I’m stunned from the guard break. I-I can’t move!”
She looked back up, eyes wide in fear. Nobunaga disappeared and in a blur of pink and a clang of metal both he and Pinkie appeared over her. “It’s not over yet, you big meanie!” said Pinkie, pushing him back. “Rarity!”
“Right!”
Asuna found herself being helped up by Rarity and nodded thankfully. The two quickly ran away to recover while Pinkie continued to push Nobunaga back. “Are you ready?” she asked him. She only grinned when he didn’t respond. “I may not be as uptight as Pinka, but even I can fight seriously sometimes.”
There was a blur and Nobunaga unceremoniously fell forward, no longer having anything to push against. Appearing behind him, Pinkie slashed at his back, disappearing again when Nobunaga spun around to retaliate.
Growling, Nobunaga spun around once more in an attempt to anticipate her next attack, only to receive a diagonal slash across his chest for his efforts. Afterwards, the attacks only came even faster, this time in every direction. His impressive reaction time and instincts did nothing to help him keep up with her.
Now furious, he charged his blade and spun on his heel sending out another shockwave slash in all directions. As his attack subsided he remained wary, unsure if it was effective.
His eyes narrowed, searching in all directions until, like a ghost Pinkie’s smiling face popped up in front of him. “And for my next trick! Super Poke Attack!”
She gently prodded him in his armoured chest. There was a beet of silence. Nobunaga looked between her finger, still on his chest, and her cheshire-like grin. “Cower in fear from the finger of death,” she whispered ominously.
His eye began twitching, a vain appearing just above it. “Wench!” he cursed, slashed at her. He missing entirely when she disappeared once more. “A Lord such as I will not be made a fool of!”
Infuriated, he growled and looked around for his enemy. A battle cry reached his ears and he jumped to the side just in time to avoid Asuna’s falling strike. White lightning flashed behind her, illuminating her dive path. Another jump to the side moved him out of the way from dozens of magical weapons that fell from the sky. Once again he found himself faced with Rarity and Asuna’s combined assault.
A ways away, Pinkie deactivated her Quicksilver and met back up with Twilight, who had finished charging her spell. Once she was within a few feet, Pinkie hunched over and began gasping for air.
“Pinkie, are you—” Pinkie held up a hand to cut her off. After a second, the girl stood back up and stretched. Twilight couldn’t help but flinch at the multiple audible cracks that she heard.
“Sorry,” Pinkie said, chuckling weakly. “It’s just that moving at ultra high speeds give you a bit of a work out.” After a bit of further stretching, she gave Twilight a thumbs up. “But I wanted to get a few hits in before I placed the mark on him.”
Sighing, Twilight shook her head. Her expression then took on a more serious air. Twilight held up her Keyblade and pointed her Keyblade’s tip at her friend’s chest.
Pinkie grinned at Twilight, even with the latter pointing an electrically charged weapon at her. Twilight, however, was still apprehensive. “Are you sure about this?”
Pinkie took a few steps back and nodded confidently. “Yup! Go ahead. In fact, this can be our new Limit attack.”
Twilight frowned and shook her head. “I don’t like this. You could get incredibly hurt.”
“Whaaaat, but you and Rarity get one!” she whined.
The two of them flinched back when Twilight’s weapon let out a small static discharge. “We’ll talk about this later. Charging a massive spell like this and holding on to it is not a good idea. Are you ready?!”
Pinkie nodded and Twilight took her charged blade in both hands and brought it up. Without further hesitation, She swung it down. “Thundaga!”
The second she called out the spell a massively charged thunder strike came crashing down.
Nobunaga, whom had been busy fighting Asuna, suddenly found himself in the path of the strike, right in between Twilight and Pinkie. With no time to react or even comprehend what had happened, he took the full brunt of the thunder attack, his health bar practically falling into the negatives.
When the light finally faded, he stood there, motionless. Though he had no health, the girls remained on their guard.
Slowly, Nobunaga took his sheath in one hand and slid his sword back into it. Afterwards he walked towards Twilight and held out the long sword. Hesitant, Twilight reached out and took the blade. The second she touched it the man fizzled and burst into a flurry of bright blue shards.
Once he was gone and the battle was won, Rarity let out a huge sigh of relief. Her legs failed her and she slid to the ground. “That was a close one,” she breathed.
Rarity walked up to her and leaned down to give her a comforting pat on her shoulder. “You were amazing, Rarity.”
Twilight remained staring at the blade, a black sheathed blade with a hilt wrapped in red and blue colored cloth. Pinkie soon joining her.
“That’s weird,” muttered Twilight, turning the blade this way and that.
Pinkie narrowed her eyes and squinted at it. “What is?”
“Well things from within the game are supposed to shatter when we hold it, but this one isn’t. See?” Twilight held it out for her to hold. Tentatively, Pinkie took it in her own hands.
“Ohh heavy,” she giggled. “Well let's hold onto it. It might be important.”
Twilight nodded, but before she could respond the ground under her shook ferociously, momentarily knocking her off-balance.
Over on the other side of the room, a large whirlwind of light was raging as a result of the other battle.
“I guess those three aren't done with the other one yet,” said Twilight fortifying herself against the gale force winds. “Let’s rest up and go help them.”
“Weak!” Seemingly without much effort on his part, Musashi shrugged off Kirito’s attack and shoved him back with the others.
Kirito, Dash and AJ all stood together, weapons at the ready.
“He’s strong,” said Kirito.
AJ grinned. “We’ll see about that.” Grieves still out, AJ rushed forward and threw a straight right at Musashi.
Smirking, Musashi simply threw up his bamboo blade, and blocked the full brunt of the attack. The instant her her fist collided with his weapon, the force of the blow sent out a shockwave that shattered the ground around it.
Even with him holding his guard as much as he could, Musashi still found himself skidding backwards from the blow, the floor crumbling underneath his feet and showing his path.
Kirito gasped at the sight. Not from the punch, but from the fact that Musashi’s health didn’t seem to drop at all.
Still holding up his guard, Musashi’s grin only grew wider in excitement. “Now that’s more like it!”
Rushing forward, Musashi swung at AJ with a downward strike that she easily dodged. Moving in close AJ countered with a jab to his gut that, with surprising reflex, he managed to block with his sword.
Going in for a combo, AJ threw two more attempted gut punches both of which were blocked, then finished with a haymaker that was dodged. Finally, spinning with the previous punch AJ threw a spinning kick that was similarly blocked with the bamboo blade.
However the force of the blow still sent Musashi skidding way from her.
Dash, still standing by Kirito growled angrily. “Why are we waiting? Let’s tag team him!”
Kirito continued to stare at the fight. “Wait a second, we have to come up with a plan first. We do that by studying the enemy. Your friend is acting as the advance team right now, making him reveal his abilities. Once we have a good grasp of what his first stage of attacks are then we can jump in.”
Dash scowled but nodded. “Fine, so what can you tell?”
“It’s weird. Even if you guard against an attack you still should take damage from it. But this guy’s health hasn’t dropped a single point from her attacks.”
“What? But it’s a stupid wooden stick?” Dash argued. How is he stopping her attacks with it?”
“No… he’s not stopping it,” he muttered. His eyes narrowed, his brain wracking to figure out what was going on. He watched as Musashi dodged an uppercut from the girl only to then block her subsequent dropkick. Ash she continued her rush of attacks Kirito couldn’t help but wonder why he blocked some attacks but outright dodged others.
“I have a theory,” he finally said, turning to Dash. “I think the sword must have some special armament or upgrade. When he blocks with it all of the damage is absorbed.”
Dash raised a brow at him, clearly skeptical. “You sure about that?”
Kirito shook his head and turned back to the fight. “Not completely, but it’s worth a try. The only way to know is to land a hit on him and see if I’m wrong.”
Dash smirked and pointed her Keyblade at Musashi. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. Can we tag team him now?”
Kirito crouched low and leaned got ready to push off. “Let’s go!”
While Kirito pushed off, Dash flared her wings and took to the air.
Flipping into the air, AJ used the Beowulf’s power to throw herself into a buzzsaw kick before slamming down on Musashi’s wooden weapon. The earth cratered under them, digging them both far into the ground.
Pushing off, AJ flipped back and landed a few feet. Before she could continue, Kirito shot past her and stabbed at Musashi.
After he dodged the first strike Kirito came down with his other blade, clashing it against his. Taking the blade he stabbed with, he slashed at Musashi from the side, only for the attack to fly right over his head. Spinning with the attempted attack Kirito came back around and slammed down with both of his blades.
Locking his blades with Musashi, Kirito grinned. “I saw you earlier,” said Kirito. “You were using two swords as well. Where’d they go?”
Musashi mirrored his expression. “If you’re worthy then they will return.”
Pushing off both of them jumped out of the way as Dash came down between them like a thunderbolt from the sky. Springing of the ground she rushed Musashi. His blade came up in defense reflexively. His eyes widened when Dash increased her speed and disappeared from sight.
Instinctively, Musashi jumped under the electrified blade that came from behind. Unfortunately, AJ took that opportunity to meet him in the air and knock him back down with a light-charged jump kick.
Though he crashed back to the ground, Musashi still managed to land on his feet having blocked the kick.
Trying to catch him before he could recover both Kirito and Dash came at him from both sides.
In one swift motion, Musashi pulled out a second bamboo blade and blocked both of their attacks.
“Damn!” cursed Kirito.
“Where’d he get a second one?!” added Dash.
Both of them pushed down on him with all of their strength, but it did no good. With amazing power Musashi shoved both of them back before crossing his blades to block AJ’s incoming strike.
“Together!” ordered Kirito.
All three of them rushed Musashi who just scoffed at the challenge. The warrior jumped back from AJ and ducked under Dash’s swipe at his head. Blocking Kirito with one blade, he parried AJ’s punch.
Musashi, in a continued display of his dueling prowess, successfully managed to fend off all three of the fighters without taking a single hit. It was clear that he focused the most on blocking Dash and Kirito while dodging AJ. Every so often, he would jump back to gain some distance, only for the three to continue their onslaught.
After parrying Dash’s downward swipe, Musashi spun under one of AJ’s roundhouse kicks. Moving with the spin, Musashi took the opportunity to send slash at Kirito who was coming in for a backstab.
Reflexively Kirito crossed his blades in defence. To his surprise even with his guard up, he found himself flying backwards from the force of the blow.
“This can’t go on,” he snarled, coming to a stop some distance away. Examining Musashi, he saw that his health still hadn’t dropped at all. Kirito glanced down at his black blade and gripped the handle tighter. “I have to get rid of those weapons.”
Opening his menu, Kirito reluctantly unequipped his white sword, leaving only the black one in his right hand. Sprinting off, Kirito called up to the girls. “Get out of the way!”
Dodging a slash from the samurai, Dash flew into the air. AJ threw a kick that was blocked, Scowling, she reluctantly back flipped away. Curious, Musashi looked over his shoulder to see Kirito rushing up to him from behind, his blade glowing a bright green.
Grinning, Musashi turned around and raised one of his wooden blades and brought it down at the black swordsman.
Kirito, likewise came up to meet it with a glowing green blade. The there was a slam of metal and, in an instant, they passed each other.
As Kirito’s blade dimmed in glow, a crack echoed throughout the room. The sound of wood hitting the ground followed soon afterwards.
The broken half of one of the bamboo blades shattered in Musashi’s hand alongside its other half. Looking down, his hand clenched the open air.
After a second, he turned around to face Kirito, who had brought back out his second blade. Holding out his final blade in both hands, Musashi grinned at his opponent. “Clevor, young swordsman; targeting the weak point of my blade.”
Kirito remained stoic briefly glancing upwards before reassuming eye contact. “It’s called ‘Arm Blast’.”
Musashi’s grin suddenly became more menacing. “Disgraceful indeed. Care to try it again?” he hissed.
Kirito smirked. “I don’t have to…”
Tilting his head at the remark, Musashi opened his mouth to respond but an earsplitting crackle of thunder echoed around him.
His head snapped around and panned up to the spinning ball of lightning in the air.
In the centre of the hurricane, Dash yelled above the magic charged lightning. “Are you sure you’re alright,” she said, spinning faster and faster.
Holding a tight grip on her arm, AJ, her hat long since fallen off and her hair practically standing on end from the static discharge running through her body, yelled back. “Just get ready to let go!”
Without hesitation, Dash threw the Earthen girl directly at Musashi. The result was nearly instantaneous. The power of her normal falling star attack charged with Dash’s magic sent her
smashing into him like a meteorite of thunder and light.
As the smoke calmed and the dirt finished falling. AJ stood at the centre of the crater. Her gaze locked on the hunched over form of Musashi. Her blond hair, now unbound, practically stood straight up. Lightning, what remained of it from Dash’s magic, continued cracking and discharging around her.
Between them stood the remains of the secondary bamboo blade. It only remained for a second before shattering to join its twin in oblivion.
Kirito and Dash both came over and stood by AJ.
“Nice combination,” said Kirito. He examined the man’s status. “But don’t get relaxed yet. Your attack did a lot of extra damage but he’s nowhere near defeated.”
AJ reached up and fruitlessly tried to calm her hair down. “Yeah, ah was gettin’ really sick of them sticks.”
“Disgraceful…” muttered Musashi, standing up. For once his roguish grin was absent, replaced with a normal frown.
Dash scoffed. “Told you we’d win!”
In a shimmer of blue mist, two normal katanas appeared in sheathes on Musashi’s sides. “Instead of out maneuvering me with speed, planning, or skill, you favored overwhelming strength and destroyed my weapons.” Musashi leaned forward and gripped the handles of his blades, each hand grabbing the opposite sided weapon.
All at once Kirito, AJ and Dash raised their weapons in preparation for an attack.
“How brutish.” In a blur of motion, he vanished.
Immediately, Dash flew into the air. Her head snapped around to see something no one else could. “Guys move!” she yelled.
Kirito, turned around to see what she was looking at. For only the briefest of moments he could see Musashi. Then, once again, he vanished. Pushing his level to its utmost limits Kirito managed to block the myriad of instant attacks. His arms seemingly moving at inhuman speeds that even surprised himself.
Unable to act as quickly as her counterparts, AJ had no choice but to throw her armored arms up and face the attack head on. Almost faster than she could track, Musashi dashed past her as well furiously swinging his blades. Whatever didn’t impact her weapons slammed against her immortal object shielding. Even so, the force of the onslaught threw her sent her skidding back.
Finally, Musashi reappeared in front of the three, both blades out and a deep scowl on his face. “The real duel begins now.”
Before Dash knew it, Musashi had jumped into the air and appeared in front of her. Having just enough time to throw up her Keyblade to block, he slashed down at her and sent her crashing to the ground.
Catching him as he fell, Kirito took a swing at the samurai. Musashi deftly parried the blow and engaged Kirito in a clash of blows, dodging and blocking as the boy rushed him.
Shaking her head, Dash picking herself up from the ground to see AJ standing over her. “You alright?” she asked, holding out a hand.
Taking it, Dash stood up completely. “I’m fine.” Noticing that her gauntlets were gone, she realized that the girl had switched back to her Keyblade. “Got any ideas?” she said, scowling over at the samurai.
“He’s fast so we gotta catch him off guard,” she answered. “I’m gonna use some earth magic to knock him off balance. You two take it from there!” She held out her hand.
Dash nodded and took her high into the air once again.
Kirito let out a fierce battle cry as he continued to attack his opponent. Even with his high level sword skills, every single one of his attacks were skillfully parried or dodged. During their close encounter, neither had been able to get a hit in on each other. Furious, Kirito jumped over one of Musashi’s attacks and came down with a due bladed downward swing. Musashi countered by moving in close and parrying with one blade. While not a full on defense it allowed him to successfully counter with a shallow slash across Kirito’s side.
Eyes wide from the pain, Kirito quickly distanced himself.
Musashi stood there, his expression no longer mirthful. It hadn’t been since he’d brought both of his actual weapons out. “You are skilled, boy, but undisciplined. You swing your swords wildly and rely too much on outside augmentations.” He closed the distance and took a quick swipe at his head.
“You lack proper training,” he said, the two began clashing the blades against each other once again. Only this time, Musashi started moving faster and began attacking in a more unorthodox manner.
Before he could land another hit however, there was an earthquake and Musashi felt the ground under him jut into the air, tossing him up along with it. “What in the world?”
Behind him, with her Keyblade dug deep into the ground, AJ yelled, “Now!”
Seeing his opportunity. Kirito jumped after him, aiming to hit him before he could recover.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough and Musashi recovered in time to cross his blades and block Kirito’s strike.
“Payback, asshole!” From above, Dash flew down and delivered a deep slash down his back. Flipping, she then drop kicked him down to the ground.
Landing beside AJ, Kirito examined Musashi once again. “He only has half a bar left. Let’s finish him off.”
“What about you?” asked AJ. “You took a few hits yourself.”
Kirito shook his head. “Don’t worry about me.”
Blade in the ground, Musashi stood back up on one knee. “Suffering a wound to my back,” he said, hissing through clenched teeth, “I am disgraced.” As he spoke, the blade planted in the ground began glowing a sharp silver color. “Your trickery is evident. I see that this is no longer an honorable duel.”
Kirito’s eyes widened in alarm. “Everybody get ready. He’s readying a desperation move.” Taking out a potion, Kirito quickly got to replenishing his health while the others went on guard.
Musashi, now standing up completely, sheathed both of his blades. Even so, the one that had been glowing previously now illuminated the scabbard itself.
Slowly, he placed one hand on the sheath and the other on the handle, completely forgoing the use of the second blade. Finally, he spread his feet and turned to the side, taking on a traditional draw and resheath stance.
Musashi stood there, still as a statue while the girls remained on guard.
“Is… is he gonna do anything?” asked Dash. “He’s not moving.”
“Maybe it’s a counter,” observed Kirito. “Somebody needs to trip it first.” Kirito opened his menu. “I’ll just--”
Dash tighten her grip on her Keyblade. “I got it!”
“Rainbow wait!”
“Hold on a sec!”
Before the other’s could protest, Dash flew straight towards the samurai, staying low and ready for anything.
Though her eyes were trained on the man, there was a white flash and she felt something slam into her shoulder.
The two watched in horror as she flew past them. Kirito clenched his teeth and ran towards his opponent instead. “She’s fine! Let’s get him while he--”
Before he could get any further than his ally did, several slash marks appeared on his body, arms, and legs. He too flew backwards, sliding across the ground past AJ.
Unable to let them be, AJ ran back to check on the two.
Dash was gripping her shoulders, groaning in pain. “What the hell just happened? He didn’t even move!”
Kirito was staring at his health bar, it having gone from full to 50 percent from the invisible onslaught. He wasted no time in grabbing a potion. “Is his sword still shining?” he asked weakly before chugging it.
AJ looked back at the man. “Yeah, still shinin’ alright. What’s happening?”
Shaking off the damage he and Dash picked themselves up. “I’m going to assume it’s some kind of perceptual skill. That’s new…”
“What do we do then?” asked Dash.
“Ah have an idea, you two stay here,” she ordered.
“Wait what are you going to do?”
Switching to Beowulf once again she put up both arms in front of her face and rushed forward. Once she entered his range, Musashi slashed at her, unsheathing and resheathing his blade in a flash.
The effect as instant when AJ felt something slam into her arms. Each strike let out an audible metallic clang as they struck her weapons.
Clenching her teeth and furrowing her brows, AJ braced herself against the blows and continued advancing.
Seeing that his attack didn’t stop her, he increased the rate of his attacks. His arm became a blur of motion as pale grey slash waves flew out in all directions.
“Jackie!” yelled Dash. Flaring her wings, she tried to rise into the air. Unfortunately, even the sky wasn’t out of Musashi’s range and she found herself falling back down.
Luckily, Kirito caught her. “Be careful!”
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, AJ took on the full brunt of the multiple attacks. She grunted in pain, feeling all of the attacks slam against her body and legs.
Even with her immortal object shielding preventing her from being physically injured, she could still feel the attacks slamming against her. It almost felt as if she was being pelted with sharp blasts of wind
When it was evident he wasn't going to stop for air, she moved forward once more, resolutely placing one foot in front of the other.
“Agh!” she groaned, feeling blow after blow slam against her legs and stomach. She realized that’s where he was aiming now. Even so, she kept her arms covering her face.
Wave after wave, the slashes grew worse. Step after step, she moved closer to the source. The immortal object sign, the only thing that prevented her from being cut to ribbons, blinked rapidly over different parts of her body.
Reaching out, AJ’s right hand clenched around his arm. Musashi’s eyes widened and the waves finally stopped. He pulled and tugged, but her grip was absolute. Breathing heavily, she clenched her left fist and brought it far back twisting her body around with it. Light energy began building around her fist until she pulled it around in an absolutely vicious left hook.
Light exploded in all directions as a wave of energy followed. The ground shook and winds whipped around as she delivered the mother of all punches. Blood red pixels of the man’s body flew off from the impact.
Dash and Kirito could feel the waves of energy even from where they were. Blinded, they were forced to cover their eyes from the luminescence and fierce winds.
After a few seconds, the light faded and the ground stopped shaking. AJ stood there in the epicentre, fist planted firmly against Musashi’s face.
Energy spent, Beowulf disappeared. AJ, though she was still trying to catch her breath, released her grip on Musashi’s arm and let him fall to the ground.
Fallen and defeated, the man coughed out several blood red pixels. “Disgraceful…” he chuckled weakly, “losing to a child… a woman.” With that, he shattered into thousands of shimmering blue shards of data.
Exhausted, AJ fell to her knees and back into the arms of her friend.
Kneeling behind her, Dash leaned over and stared down into her eyes with a wide grin and a sparkling gaze. “Jack that was awesome!” she cheered, holding out a fist.
AJ returned her grin, albeit weakly, and met her friends fist with her own.
Kirito walked up to them and sheathed both his blades. As the last of the shimmering pieces rose into the air, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. “That was a close one…”
“Kirito!”
He reopened them to see Asuna running towards him. She jumped into his embrace and the two fell to the ground in a heap, both chuckling and celebrating their survival.
As they did Rarity and Twilight came up to meet Dash and AJ who were still leaning up against each other on the ground. Pinkie herself, AJ’s forgotten hat upon her curly head, hopped up and landed next to them, joining in the circle.
“Well done everyone,” said Rarity, fanning herself gently.
“Let’s all take a nice rest and get ready for the next room,” said Twilight. She herself sat down with the three other girls. Soon enough, Rarity joined them and the girls all sat in a circle, backs propped up against one another.
As the group began to relax, the only sounds in the room were the soft rhythms of calm breathing.
“You know… I love loopholes and cheat codes as much as anyone…”
Kirito’s eyes snapped open, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “That voice…” he hissed.
Everyone’s head turned to face the door to the next room. Standing at the entrance was a tall man wearing bright red armor. He had light brown hair that, except for one lock, was swept back into one long ponytail. Both his hands were resting upon the hilt of his signature cross guard broadsword.
“But I think this is a bit much, don’t you?” he finished. Kayaba tilted his head curiously, his serine smile never leaving his face.
Kirito’s teeth clenched, his eyes flared with pent up rage at the sight of the man before him. It was only Asuna’s soft but firm touch that prevented him from losing himself completely.
The girls turned to face him as well, Dash herself could practically feel Kirito’s anger rubbing of on her. “So this is the jackass who’s causing all of this?”
Asuna nodded. “Yeah… that’s him. Former leader of the Knights of the Blood oath.”
“Kayaba… Akihiko!” muttered Kirito, venom seething though every syllable.
Kayaba simply chuckled in the face of everyone’s glares. “Well I would still be the leader of the guild if Kirito didn’t rat me out. Think of how many more people would be here now.”
“Think of how many people would be dead!” yelled Kirito, standing back up. “Dead because of their blind faith in you.” At his stance everyone else stood up and took their weapons in hand. AJ, instead of her Keyblade, brought her gauntlets back out.
Kayaba calmly raised his hand. “Let’s save the speeches for our final encounter, Kirito. I’m here on another matter.” Twilight and the others flinched when the man turned his iron gaze towards them. Twilight could feel the methodical analysis that he was giving her just with his eyes. It made her shiver.
“What?” she asked,readying her weapon.
Kayaba examined the weapon itself. “That weapon… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. I think the first time in person.”
Dash’s on her handle instinctively tightened. She quickly realized what he meant and she had no doubt that Twilight did too. “You mean since Spike was here.”
Kayaba nodded. “So you do know the boy. Since I was still preoccupied with building the guild back then, I only had the time to examine small sections of data. For the most part I watched the few documented errors that occurred within the game and events that I hadn’t accounted for that the cardinal system had to compromise on. Honestly, when it first come to my attention I was baffled. Especially when taking into account certain large scale changes that took place early on.”
Asuna’s eyes widened. “The forest?”
Kayaba nodded once more and closed his eyes. “Imagine it, magic appearing in a game not designed to handle it. Magic strong enough to alter the programming of an entire area. I very much wished to meet the person responsible. Unfortunately, he never came around.”
Opening his eyes he looked around at the five new girls. “But it seems that luck has graced me with a second chance.”
“So what?” yelled Dash. “Are you mad that we have the upperhand? News flash, every game has cheat codes, you know!”
“True, true,” he agreed. “And I’m not unfair. These things happen. However…” Lifting a hand, he flicked his wrist and opened his menu.
In that moment Kirito snapped and rushed at him, crossing the distance in less than a second. Both blades glowing he slammed them both down at Kayaba. To his dismay his blades passed right through him. Kayaba stared at him, still smiling peacefully and waiting out his onslaught. Only further angered, he swung his blades wildly tearing through the projection.
After a few more seconds he slowed and eventually stopped completely. “Damn you,” he hissed taking a few steps back.
“It’s alright, Kirito,” he whispered. “Our time will come. You’re so close already. Not to mention,” he glanced over at the girls and back to Kirito. “You have the tactical advantage. Certain magic attacks don’t correctly factor into damage algorithms, so the result is usually the highest amount a player can deal at one time.”
“Hell yeah!” cheered Dash.
“Plus we have these nifty shields!” added Pinkie.
“Yes… about that.” His menu still open, Kayaba began scrolling down a long list of options. “You see while I am alright with magic, preferring to treat them as cheat codes or special weapon abilities, there is something I quite can’t let go unfixed.” Pressing a button, notifications appeared in front of each of the girls. All of boxes said the same thing.
Rarity read her’s aloud. “‘Changed to mortal object?’ Whatever does that mean?”
She turned to see Asuna staring at them, eyes shrunk and hands covering her gaping mouth.
Twilight very quickly put the pieces together and gasped. “I think it means that we can be hurt now…” she muttered fearfully.
“Very astute,” nodded Kayaba. “I simply cannot allow that much of an advantage. Oh! But there is one more thing.”
With the press of another button, several dozen lines of code appeared around AJ’s gauntlets and began circling rapidly. “Wha- what’s happening?”
Hearing her cry of surprise Kirito spun to face her, only to reel in shock from the sight. Turning back to Kayaba he growled, teeth clenched in a rage. “What the hell are you doing?!”
Soon enough, the code vanished and both her gloves and greaves dimmed, becoming a slate grey instead of their normal glowing silver. She also found that they were lighter, almost featherweight, no longer could she feel the warmth of demon magic running through the mystic gauntlets, nor their usual weight.
She looked down at them, frozen in shock before turning a rock hard glare at Kayaba.
“Jackie,” called Twilight, a look of worry flashing across her face. “What just happened?”
“Ah… ah can’t feel Beowulf anymore,” she muttered. “I can’t feel any power from him! What the hell did you do?!” she screamed.
Kayaba’s grin grew wider. “You see, this game is called Sword Art Online, young miss. I can’t compromise the game's integrity by allowing such weapons like gauntlets and guns. Luckily, I’ve had ample time to observe your training and programme a way to negate your weapon’s otherworldly abilities. Your fists will do no damage while you wear them. I hope you can understand.”
Dash, seething in rage, briefly glanced down at her left hand.
“You... bastard!” cursed Kirito, his fist tightening around his blade. He wanted nothing more to swing them once again, even if he knew it would do no good. “They aren't players in this game, they don’t need to risk their lives.”
Kayaba closed his eyes and shook his head. “They made their choice when they entered this room. At this point the only thing that separates them and you is that they don’t have potions to instantly heal their wounds.”
Pinkie cheerfully began listing off on her fingers. “But we do have magic and flight and super strength and Keyblades and…”
Kayaba burst out laughing. “Semantics, my dear.” In a complete change of mood, Kayaba leveled a deadly glare at the entire group, his once peaceful smile became a smirk of malice that made everyone flinch back. “The point is, they’re as much involved now as you are. You seven here will either complete the game or die in these rooms. Either way, I wish you all the best of luck.”
“Oh… and Kirito,” his gaze locked back on to the boy in question, “I sincerely hope that sparing you back then was not a wasted investment.”
With that, his projection vanished, leaving the group staring at the space in stark silence.
As soon as it was clear he was gone, Dash turned to Twilight. “Hey, Twi do you think my Spi-”
“Shhh!” she hissed, cutting her off. Twilight glanced down at her friend’s hand and slowly shook her head. “Jackie, are you alright?” she called.
In a flash, AJ’s armour vanished from her body and sighed with a shrug. “Don’t you worry none. Ah’ll just use my natural weapons like ah was taught.”
“So what do we do now…?” asked Asuna, looking back at the girls.
Rarity frantically looked between her and Kirito, whose back was turned and his shoulders hunched over. “I… I don’t...”
“Look upward,” ordered Kirito. Everyone else’ head snapped to face him. ”Don’t tilt your heads and look upwards to the corner of your peripheral vision. See… see if you all have health stats.”
Hesitantly, the girls all angled their eyes upwards looking for what Kirito ordered them to look for.
Twilight answered first her eyes scanning the top of her vision. “I… I don’t see anything.”
“Tch! Damn,” he muttered. “That’s even worse.”
“Why?” asked Pinkie, grinning nervously. “We don’t have to worry about health bars.”
Kirito took a step, turning to them with a grim expression. “No, but it means that you’ll feel every blow.” Hearing this, Twilight’s hand instantly went to her stomach, and her mind went back to a distinct memory of almost being cut in half.
Kirito, still grimacing, began walking towards them. “From a physical standpoint, if we get hit, it’s only temporary, we’ll heal automatically. If we get limbs chopped off we’ll take blood damage, but it’s nothing a potion can’t heal. We won’t feel any of it. But… none of that goes the same for you all.”
Kirito stopped right in front of Twilight. “Call your ship,” he said, looking her straight in her eye.
His sudden order made Twilight pause, but she quickly recovered to give him her own determined look. “No.”
“Do it,” he repeated.
“No,” she replied. “We agreed to go with you and I wouldn’t be able to call myself a Keyblade wielder, none of us would, if we went back on our word.”
The corner of his eyes twitched and his gaze lowered, becoming more somber as he continued to stare her down. “But… you could die.”
“That may be true, darling, but so could you.” Kirito glanced over to see that Rarity and Dash had made their way over to them. Like Twilight, they were also staring at him resolutely.
“Yeah, man,” added Dash. “Plus, we go through this stuff all the time. It comes with the job,” she said, winking.
Pinkie popped up next to her and leaned on her shoulder. “Well if you think about it this would be the first time we really put our lives on the line.”
Dash frowned and shook her off. “Ignore her,” she said, walking closer and looking up at him. To his surprise she sternly prodded him in the chest. “Look, we practically ended a war in the first world we visited. So even if we leave you guys here to die, which we won’t, we’d still probably end up helping someone else and risking our lives then.”
She continued to prod him, forcing him to take a step back. “It’s just what we do! So don’t think you can go all protective of us. You wouldn’t tell Spike to leave… would you?” This got a flinch out of him. He opened his mouth to respond, but when nothing came out, he closed it and averted his gaze.
Dash nodded. “See then—”
“Yes.” Dash’s head stopped mid nod and she looked back up at him to see him still averting his gaze. “I would’ve told Spike to leave but... the thing is…” He locked eyes with Dash and, slowly, a smile grew on his face. She herself flinched when Kirito sat a hand on her head. “He wouldn’t listen either.”
There was a moment of silence as Dash’s face rapidly reddened before she quickly knocked his hand away and turned her back to him. “W-well then come on! We’re all rested now. Let’s get going.” As she walked away, Kirito glanced down at the black blade in his right hand.
~~~
Flipping through the air, Kirito tried his best to recover from the knockback he had just suffered. “Damn it!” he cursed, crashing into the ground, the snow doing nothing to prevent the fall damage.
Sitting up, he peered through the blizzard to see two figures in the distance, one vastly larger than the other. Stabbing his blue handled broadsword into the ground he brought himself to his feet. Feeling the chill he took a second to adjust his white furred black snow coat before he rushed back into the fray.
“You still kicking?” asked Spike, seeing Kirito re-enter the fight. Now age 13, the boy stood tall against the hidden boss.
“Spike, we can’t beat this on our own!” he called, looking up at the bear-like snow monster towering before them. It’s blue eyes pierced through the haze of the snow storm.
Spike scoffed. “No way! You said that he’s half dead. Let’s finish him off.”
The bear leaned down on all fours and took a wide swipe at the two with hands topped with diamond hard ice claws. Both boys hopped high into the air. While Kirito hopped backwards, Spike leapt forwards and delivered a two bladed slash to the monster’s neck. Letting out a scream, it knocked Spike further away.
“Spike, you’re being reckless,” lectured Kirito, standing over Spike’s fallen body. Holding out a hand, he helped him up. “Both of us are hurt and exhausted. Not to mention you aren't wearing any protection. I’m almost certain that you’re freezing.”
Standing up, Spike wiped the snow of of his bare arms and his sleeveless flame emblem shirt. “I’m fine. The snow doesn't really bother me for some reason. Probably something to do with being a half dragon.” Ignoring Kirito’s perplexed look, Spike dashed forward. “Come on!”
“Wait!” he replied, running after him. The monster, not keen on letting them get any closer, opened its maw, filled with razor sharp teeth, and let out a fierce breath of ice.
“Flare!” Pointing his Keyblades forward, Spike shot out a condensed ball of fire that exploded when it it the breath attack. The resulting shockwave blew both Spike and the beast backwards.
Digging his Keyblades into the ground Spike fell to one knee and struggled to catch his breath. “Switch!” he yelled to Kirito, huffing wearily.
Kirito ran up to him and looked down at his battered form. “Spike you’re doing too much. Let’s just go!”
“No!” he argued, his head still down. “I… I can’t run. If I do then I…” Spike shook his head and stared up at him. “Hurry up before it recovers!”
Kirito leered down at the boy then glanced up at where the monster would have been. Even if the snow shrouded it, the beast’s health bar was clear as day. Thanks to the last attack it was almost dead. One more attack should do it. Giving Spike one more glance, Kirito sucked his teeth and ran towards the monster.
Letting out a battle cry, his blade began glowing a bright blue. Then, tearing through the haze of evaporated ice, the bear slashed down at him with both of it’s claws. With split second timing, Kirito switched from attack to defence and blacked both strikes with his blade.
However, the attack was too much and his blade shattered completely. Kirito was sent flying back.
Watching Kirito soar past him, Spike growled at the beast and picked himself back up. “Damn it!” he cursed, rushing it. The bear swiped at him with one claw that he deftly hopped over. Using its arm as a stepping stone, Spike flipped onto it’s back. Channeling his magic, both of his blades caught fire as he stabbed both of them into the monster’s behind. With a cry of effort, Spike let his magic flare and an explosion of flames erupted from where he stabbed it.
Immediately, the beast shattered into a thousand shimmering bits and Spike fell into the snow. Huffing deep breaths, Spike continued to lie there until he heard the crunching sounds of Kirito walking up to him.
Spike, smirking, gave him a victorious thumbs up, but faltered when his gaze met Kirito’s stern expression.
Sighing, Kirito grabbed his hand and took out a square blue crystal. “We’re gonna talk about this. Teleport: 22nd floor.
In a flash of blue, both boys disappeared.
As the flash wore off, Spike opened his eyes to see a large tree looming over him. As he tried to sit up, he flinched from the pain. Working through it he sat up enough to lean against the base of the trunk. Kirito himself sat next to him. “I just lost a perfectly good blade because of you.”
“This tree…” he muttered.
Kirito opened his menu and scrolled to his equipment section. “Yeah it’s the one we used to hang out at before you disappeared.” Pressing a button, his snow coat shimmered out and was replaced with his current grey lined black trench coat. “Then you show up after almost a year and drag me to to a secret boss area on the 50th floor. What the hell man, we could’ve died.”
Spike’s gaze fell and the reality of his actions finally dawned on him. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I got called back.”
Kirito looked over at him, head tilted in curiosity. “Back? Back to your home world?”
He shrugged. “Just back, for more training I guess.”
“Yeah, you’ve gotten stronger,” said Kirito. “But you’ve also gotten more reckless. What’s wrong? You aren’t nearly as obnoxiously cheery as you used to be.”
Spike sighed and leaned his head on the trunk, his gaze now directed up at the leaves above him. “Nah, I haven’t changed at all and that’s the problem. Remember when I told you about my friends under this tree?” Kirito nodded. “Well good news, I finally remembered one of them. Bad news… I’m still too weak to do anything about it. They’re out there, I can feel it. Now the only thing I can think about is being strong enough to hold onto that one memory. I’m afraid I might lose it though. I know I need to be able to survive long enough to meet them again. But lately, I’m not so sure I’ll be able to with the power I have.”
Spike flinched when he felt Kirito sit a hand on his shoulder. He followed the arm back to Kirito himself who was giving him a patient and understanding smile. “I get it,” he said, nodding. Moving his hand, he too gazed up through the branches at at the sky. “I do. The need to stay alive to hold onto a memory. Though… I almost lost that need.” His smile fell until it became a melancholic expression. Coupled with the distant look in his eye, Spike could tell that something big happened.
Before he could ask, Kirito began again. “A little while after you left, I joined a guild. The Moonlit Black Cats. They were a low level guild that wanted my help to get stronger. There was one girl in particular. Her name was Sachi and she wanted nothing more than to become strong. But even so, she was fiercely afraid of dying. So, I promised to protect her. I promised not to let her die.”
“What happened to her?” asked Spike.
He let out a hollow chuckle. “What do you think?” he said simply. “In a trap room, there was an ambush and I watched them all shatter. Then I watched the leader committed suicide when I told him.”
Spike gasped, his eyes wide in shock. Kirito let out another hollow chuckle as his expression grew more and more grim. “I blamed myself. I failed. So I moped around a bit until I heard of a special item that could revive the dead. That turned out to be a bust. I remember thinking about killing myself until I found a message Sachi left telling me not to blame myself. She told me to survive.”
His face brightened and he turned to face Spike, meeting his eyes dead on. “After that I spent more time on the lower floors, training people to be stronger. I talked to others who also saw people die, and recorded their stories. I made a new promise, one I don’t intend to break. I’m gonna survive and leave this place, and I’m going to keep the memories of all those who died in this game. I’m going to remember their efforts and take them with me to the outside world.”
Kirito reached out and placed a fist on Spike’s chest, smiling widely as he did so. “You’re plenty strong right now, and I know that you’ll just get stronger. So don’t worry, memories aren't that hard to keep track of once you’ve got a hold of them. Just keep your heart strong and your sword sharp and you’ll see them again.”
Spike stared down at his arm for a few second before giving him a smirk on his own. Reaching out, he placed a fist against his chest. “Thanks man, sorry about your blade.”
Kirito leaned back on the tree and opened his menu. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I got the last hit bonus from that secret boss.”
Spike burst out laughing. “Probably something to do with the fact that I’m not actually a part of this game.” Spike leaned over and stuck his head over Kirito’s shoulder. “What is it?”
Only slightly uncomfortable with the boys spiky hair in his face, Kirito pressed the sword icon. In a blue shimmer, a long one handed pitch black blade appeared in his grip alongside a small screen. The sword had a black hilt connected to a bladed hand guard that drops down and jutted out on one side.
“So… awesome!” commented Spike with a starry eyed expression. Slowly his eyes trailed up the length of the weapon. He paused just under the tip of the blade and stared at the small silver cross placed there.
Kirito himself was also slack jawed as he checked screen in front of the blade. “This is amazing. Check out these stats. This is a rare demonic weapon.”
“Looks like you didn’t need that old sword after all,” said Spike, chuckling and nudging him playfully. “What’s this one called?”
Kirito looked to the top of the screen in front him. “It’s called... Elucidator.”
“Get up on the Hydra’s Back!” yelled Pinkie, jumping and dodging the various balls of fire being spat at her by her chosen head. Sweat trickled down her face as she finally began to tire of jumping around.
Kirito stabbed his black blade down on the beast's tail in an attempt to steady himself on the thrashing appendage. “Yeah, I know! I got it!” he huffed bracing himself.
In the large dome shaped room, an enormous serpent moved about in the centre of the rotunda, its body that of a great red salamander. As the Hydra Supreme, even without being cut, the creature sported an impressive seven heads to begin with. With an odd starting number, one for each enemy, Asuna feared what would have happened if they had brought an army.
Thus the group split up amongst the heads, eager to take them down before more sprouted up. However, the group found it to be much more difficult to fight. Its health never stayed down, the numerous bars replenishing each time a head regenerated. The fight seemed to go on forever, and the girls were growing tired after so long. Finally, after forming a plan, everyone began giving it their all to incapacitate each individual head instead of killing it completely.
Such a task was easier said than done.
Twilight, successfully blocking a gout of acid spit with her magical barrier, cast Blizzaga on her respective head. With a resounding crack the beast’s head froze solid. The unfrozen neck however began using this as an advantage.
With the grace of a morning star, the Hydra began slamming its block of a head around, trying to crush Twilight with her own magic.
One crash landed next to her, the force throwing her off balance. The beast dragged its head across the ground, sideswiping her knocking her away. Twilight grunted in pain, a sharp stabbing sensation flying up her right side.
With so much damage the ice around its head began cracking. Seeing this, Twilight stood back up and rose her weapon high. Two mighty flashes of thunder boomed across the room. The ice exploded outward and the head finally fell limp and crashed into the ground. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief before holding on to her side.
After taking a second to catch her breath, Twilight brought her Keyblade out in front of her and held it tightly in both hands. Reaching deep into her soul, Twilight began charging her weapon with every last drop of magic she had left. Once the charging began she glanced up into the sky.
“Mine is weakened!” she announced to the others. “Rachelle, how are you doing?!”
Rachelle sped through the sky, vigorously dodging the hydra head that seemed to be able to elongate enough to fly after her.
“Working on it,” she called back, looping around one of the other heads. After spending half the battle trying to fly in knots, Dash finally realized that this hydra was too smart to get tangled up in its own heads.
“Damn,” she cursed. “I was really hoping that would actually work.” Stopping on a dime, Dash spun around and dived down towards the head, her Keyblade crackling with fire magic. Gripping it with both hands she brought it to her side and flew around the head. Now coming up from below she swung her blade and batted the beast in the chin.
It was dazed for a second, the flames from her blade licking the underside of its head. Before it could shake it off, Dash quickly flew up and smashed her weapon down on its skull, the force of her swing sending it crashing into the ground.
Not done yet, the Hydra angled its head up and lashed out with a deadly razor-sharp tongue. Dash flew towards it, her Keyblade now crackling with lightning as well as fire. In a feat of impressive aerial dynamic, she dodged the tongue that had lashed out at her and slammed down on the head of the beast in an explosion of lightning and fire.
As the light cleared, Dash stood slumped over, leaning on her weapon, on top of an unconscious hydra head, in the middle of a large crater. Breathing heavily, she weakly gave Twilight a thumbs up.
Nodding, Twilight glanced over at AJ who had more or less crushed her respective head deep into the earth. She was sitting on an upturned rock by the head, her own skull slumped over in rest. She was also giving her a thumbs up.
Rarity, from her position near the entrance had successfully incapacitated her head as well. Using her power, she had summoned several ethereal weapons which she had used to pierce through the creature’s neck and kept it pinned to the ground. The beast thrashed wildly, constantly breaking the Keyblades keeping it nailed and forcing Rarity to summon new ones.
“Please hurry!” she yelled, brow creased in concentration.
Pinkie, to Dash’s envy, had somehow tied up both hers and Kirito’s heads in thick knots. “Get up on the Hydra’s back!” she cried gleefully.
“Why are you still yelling that?” shouted Asuna, still trying to fend off her head. As the head dived towards her she did a quick sidestep, spun and used a sword skill to deliver a powerful thrust to the side of its skull. “We all know the plan.”
Pinkie chuckled and hopped up to sit on top of her neck knot, ignoring the beast thrashing under her. “Because it’s fun to say!” she giggled. “Get up on the--”
“Pinkie Pie shut up!” groaned Kirito. One sword stabbed into its hide after another, he continued to climb the back of the beast. It proved to be increasingly difficult as he neared the par of the body where the necks divided. “Are you guys ready?”
“One sec’,” Asuna answered. Crouching, she leapt high into the air. Asuna flipped at the apex of her jump and charged her weapon with shining emerald energy. Once she was fully charged, she came down like a falling star on her head, driving her rapier through it’s head and smashing into the ground. The beast quickly lost consciousness.
“Now!” she yelled.
As Kirito found his footing on the semi struggling beast, he jumped into the air and slashed down on the base of the beast’s necks with both of his blades. His blades easily sliced through the huge chunks of digital meat as he brought them to the ground.
As Kirito landed five large trunks fell to the ground, and he came to a startling realization.
“Damn! I didn’t get them all!” Looking over at the Hydra’s health bar, he watched as the last red bar quickly started increasing, soon changing back into green as the necks he cut off began to regenerate.
“I got it!” Like a bullet, Dash flew in from the side and sliced off the final two heads.
And as the last two fell, a low hum began echoing throughout the room as deep red energies emanated from Twilight’s weapon. Smoke began rising from Twilight’s hands, burning them. he pain made her flinch slightly, causing her to falter. Her magic flared for a second and hot winds began whipping her hair around frantically. With her hands shaking, and the ground cracking around her, it seemed that even Twilight was having trouble holding onto the nuke that she herself had created.
“Everyone get back!” she yelled.
Seeing the deadly spell ready to be released, everyone immediately retreated back to Rarity’s position by the door. And with everyone safe, Twilight rose the blade above her head and swung it down, releasing the spell.
“MegaFlare!” As the magic exploded outwards, Twilight was sent flying back from the recoil of her own spell.
All at once, an enormous ball of fire exploded from tip of Twilight’s blade and blinded everyone present. The room itself began to shake as a burning heat filled the entire room and the magic expanded to encompass the Hydra Supreme. Even though it was angled away from them, the girls everyone couldn’t help but start sweating in response.
In the light of the explosion the beast’s body burned and seared, completely charring its hide and cauterizing the wounds that the girls and Kirito had inflicted. Everything that didn’t char instantly was set ablaze with deep purple flames, the color being the result of Twilight’s magic. The walls of the room behind it also found itself burning. Bits and pieces of the wall burned away to reveal the code hidden under it.
The light and heat soon faded and, one by one, the group opened their eyes and beheld the damage. The only thing left of the Hydra that they had spent so long fighting were the tiny blue crystals floating up into the air.
As silence reigned everyone finally began to relax, all of them slumping down to lean on the wall behind them. Each of them let out their own relieved sigh and chuckle.
Kirito was one of the few who chuckled at the situation. “I never thought that I’d fight something with higher regeneration abilities than mine,” he muttered, his own skills slowly healing his injuries and restoring his health. With the fight over, he made no attempt to open his inventory to grab a potion.
Dash followed suit, leaning on the wall next to him. “I know right? That thing just wouldn’t freaking die.” She let out a small laugh before flinching in pain. Tenderly, she touched one of the numerous scratches that she had accumulated in the fight. In addition to those, parts of her clothes had been singed from the droplets of acidic spit that hit her.
On the other side of the group, Rarity, despite having only a few injuries, had begun tending to Twilight who lied sprawled out on the ground instead of leaning up against the wall. “Darling, are you alright?” she asked, her tone ever so slightly panicked.
Twilight smiled up at her and nodded weakly. “I’m… I’m alright. T-that spell is pretty much a complete drain. Master Luna -” she took a deep breath, “- is surprised that I can even cast a small version like that. Sorry guys… you’ll have to wait a few minutes before I can cast a cure spell on your injuries.”
Asuna, who was looking over her next to Rarity, reeled back in shock. “A small version?!”
Twilight let out a strained giggle, coughing in the process. “Ye-yeah. MegaFlare is an incredibly powerful spell derived from a similar attack that Eidolons use. Eidolons… being god like spirits that only extremely powerful summoners can use.”
Pinkie popped up and began rubbing Twilight’s head softly. “Well that’s enough exposition, you need some rest so we can move on right?”
Twilight’s expression turned stern as she looked up at her. “Ngh,” she groaned. Stiffly, she struggled to sit up. Rarity and Asuna were quick to help her. They carefully sat her alongside the others with her back against the wall.
“N-no,” she continued. “We need to hurry up and regain our strength as fast as possible.” She turned to ace Asuna. “Do you think that whatever Kayaba did to us will let us hold things now?”
Asuna turned to Kirito who simply shrugged. “I don’t know. But I guess it’s worth a try,” he answered.
Nodding, Asuna delved into her inventory and brought out a small vial of bright liquid. “Here.”
Gingerly, Twilight took it into her hands. Her face, with her brow creased and mouth taut, scrunched up in an expression of nervous concentration.
She let out a small yelp of surprise and flinched as the potion exploded in a shower of tiny blue lights in her hands. Twilight sighed forlornly and her head dipped down.
Before she could get too sad, Pinkie popped up next to her and brought her into a hug. “Oh don’t worry Twilight, I still have something for us to drink!”
Twilight, too weak to remove herself from the hug even if she wanted to, leaned into her embrace. Pinkie’s skin was always soft to the touch. Even so, she gave the girl a questioning glance.
“What do you mean? I thought we ran out of the bottled water you had stored?” she asked, brow raised.
Pinkie smiled mischievously and put her hand on her chin, as if contemplation. “We~ll,” she sang. “I do still have my super secret energy drinks that I made myself. We could drink that.”
Dash stared at her, a single drop of sweat rolling down her head. “Um… Pinkie. I feel like if we drink whatever you drink normally, we’d explode.”
“Rachelle,” chided Rarity, “don’t be rude. I’m sure if we drink it in small doses we won’t run the risk of a sugar overdose.” She turned to Pinkie. “Though… you are sure it’s safe to drink, right?”
AJ, whom had been relaxing quietly until now on Kirito’s other side, rolled her eyes and groaned. “Oh for maker’s sake. Pinkie don’t pay them no attention. Ah’ll drink it. Hand it over,” she said, holding her hand out past Kirito.
Pinkie let out a small squee alongside her big grin. Pulling her keyblade out from behind her, she lightly tapped the tip of it onto the ground in front of her. A small sphere of light rose out from it and exploded outwards, revealing a small pink can.
AJ wasted no time in picking the can up and snapping the tab open. As soon as she did, a light glow began radiating from inside of it. AJ was starting to have second thoughts on drinking this. She glanced back to Pinkie, who was looking at her with huge, shining, hopeful eyes and a wide smile.
Taking a pre-emptive gulp, AJ resolved herself and threw her head back, downing the drink. Everyone, even Kirito and Asuna leaned in close, curious as to what exactly their friend was drinking. However, no one seemed to be more excited than Pinkie to be able to share her concoction.
After a few seconds, AJ removed the empty can and let out a cool sigh. Glancing up, AJ felt around her tongue, licking her lips and savoring the taste.
To her surprise, her skin began to start glowing brightly. Twilight’s eyes began to widen when she watched all of AJ’s wounds begin to heal rapidly. All of the scratches and burns seemingly floated up off of her skin and clothing. She let out a light gasp when she felt herself begin to float a few inches above the ground. Afterwards, twin ribbons of lights started streaming around her body the glow began to fade and AJ lowered back to the ground. The ribbons then met at the top of her head before popping off in a small firework.
When the effects of the drink fainted entirely, the group had been left speechless. AJ herself had begun frantically looking over her body for any injuries and tears. To her continued surprise, even her clothing had been fully repaired.
Pinkie leapt up to a standing position and let out a loud cheer. “See, isn’t it like the best thing ever?! You get a light show every time you drink one!”
“What the hell was that!” yelled Dash, wildly gesturing towards AJ. “Can I have some?!”
“Pinkie…” muttered Twilight, her eyes glued to AJ. “What in the worlds did you make?”
Pinkie, having already summoned another one, held it out towards Twilight. “You wanna see it?”
Twilight, with a bit of struggle, brought her hand up and looked at the bubblegum colored can. With a flick, she popped the tab and sniffed it.
“This…” she gasped, her eyes sparkling in recognition. “This smells familiar. Almost like the ether that Yukalai gave me in the first world.”
Pinkie nodded, and looked down at her and began scratching her head in confusion. “Yup, I thought it was really useful so I asked him about it, but he told me that he didn’t have a recipe. So I did a bit of mixing and a bit of throwing stuff together till I got this. It’s like a super energy drink that… apparently heals wounds and restores magic… I actually never noticed that.” Pinkie shrugged. “I just thought it was really good juice.”
Asuna brought a hand to her chin and humm’d in thought. “That sounds kind of like the kind of Elixir that the game uses to completely heal wounds.” She looked up to see Twilight staring at her.
Twilight, mouth agape, stared at the pinkie haired girl in front of her. “You had real Elixirs… and never told me?” In a fit of energy, unbecoming of someone as wiped out as her, Twilight stood up and grabbed Pinkie by her shoulders. “You made one of the most sought after alchemical concoctions... completely by accident?!”
Pinkie just tilted her head, an oblivious smile innocently stuck on her face. “By accident? But I was trying to make an energy drink. I call it a success.” Pinkie gave her a thumbs up.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly lost feeling in her legs. Luckily, Pinkie reacted in time to catch her as she fell. Gently, Pinkie placed the panting girl back against the wall.
“Twilight,” she said, worried. “Here. Hurry up and drink.” Holding the can for her, Pinkie helped Twilight drink the potion. As the last drop fell into her mouth, Twilight completely exploded in light, easily dwarfing AJ’s meager glow. Pinkie was forced to take a step back and, along with the others, had to cover their eyes for the second time.
Nearly a dozen ribbons of light began rushing around her body as she was lifted into the air, her form completely healing along with her magic. After a time, the light faded and Twilight fell back to the ground. After fading completely, Twilight’s head drooped and her body went limp for a few seconds, both actions elicited a worried glance from her friends.
Before anyone could do anything, Twilight’s eyes sprang open, her violet eyes growing brightly for a second. With a blink, that too faded and she eagerly looked around her body, her movements for far more fluid and easy than before and her clothes and skin were spotless.
Twilight stared at the can in Pinkie’s hand before looking up at her with a stern expression. “How many of those do you have?”
Pinkie nervously glanced around, her grin slightly forced. “I… uh, drank a few of these while training so I only have three. But… I guess only one now.”
Each of the girls gave each other a nervous glance. With Twilight and AJ already healed, the group silently wondered who should get the last one. Their maker, their aerial fighter, or their secondary spellcaster.
Dash was the first to pipe up. “I… I think Rarity should get it,” she stuttered, a small blush on her face. “She looks almost as drained as Twilight and she didn’t even knock out her head.”
Rarity flinched back, surprised by the humility but also slightly hurt by the unintentional poke at her fighting ability. “Rachelle, darling. I’m flattered, really, but I really think that Pinkie should have it. She did make it afterall.” Rarity looked her up and down examining her friends many, albeit mostly minor, scratches.
Pinkie was quick to wave her hands frantically. “Me, no I’m alright. I still have plenty of energy. It’s between you two.”
Dash waved it off. “Nah, I bet she drinks like three of them a day. Plus, I’m fine, barely broke a sweat in that fight.”
Twilight moved over and starting looking over Dash’s body as well. “Are you sure. I can heal your wounds with a cure spell, but I can’t restore your magic. I don’t want you falling out of the sky during the next fight.”
“Pfft,” she scoffed, waving Twilight away. “Please, Twilight. I can fly in my sleep if I wanted to. I barely need any magic to fly around.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes at her. “What about your Keyblade’s powers? Aside from me you’re the only one who can exploit the game's weakness of magic.”
Kirito cleared his throat to bring attention to himself. “From a strategic standpoint, both Rarity and Dash are equally important. Rarity has range while Dash has mobility and the aerial advantage. However, Twilight is right, you’re magic is really important in fighting the enemy. Either way, depending on what it is, I propose that whomever does not get healed take it easy next round,” he said, providing his opinion.
Dash looked between the group, her eyes wide in surprise. Her blush deepened and she groaned. “Ugh! Fine. This is what I get for trying to be generous. Guess that’s your thing, huh?” she said, leaning up against Rarity.
Rarity hesitated for a second, before bringing the shorter girl into a quick hug while Pinkie summoned the final drink. She watched Dash drink it, her smile slowly turning into a sad frown as she did.
When Dash drank the Elixir her magical burst had nearly been on Twilight’s level with how intense it was. a few rainbow lights streamed around her body and her wings instinctively flared from her back. The normally blue luminescent wings shone brightly with multicolored hues while the Elixir was effect, returning to normal when the light faded.
Immediately, the girl rocketed into the air and flew around, energy coming off of her in waves. “Hell yeah!” she cheered.
Meanwhile, Twilight was working her magic on Rarity’s wounds. “Are you feeling better. Sorry, I’m not as good as… well… you know,” she muttered, her words small and reluctant.
Rarity shook her head slowly, basking in the soothing green glow. The faint sound of bells and the relaxing smell of mint served to heal her mind as well as her body. "That’s perfectly fine, darling. As Master Luna once told us, ‘once our bodies are healed, our magic will recover faster.”
In the darkness of the control room, dimly lit only by the various glowing screens hovering around, an accented mechanical voice echoed out. “Brain scan... complete.”
Over by a small cluster of screens, Kayaba Akihiko smiled serenely. “Thank you, interface. Now let’s see here.”
With a wave of his hand, several screens floated over to him, completely lighting up his little corner of the abyss. Kayaba hummed to himself he examined the screens of data. His eyes flew across the screen as data streamed down it.
“Interesting,” he muttered to himself. “Kirito is about as I expected, but young Asuna appears to be harboring a few secrets here and there. But… it seems as if a few these new girls have some experience already. I’ll be sure to make use of that.”
The voice popped up once again. It’s voice echoing from almost every direction. “Sir, are you certain about this particular course of engagement? If I may express my meager opinion as your interface, I must pronounce that this is not your normal modus operandi.”
“Interface,” he grinned, turning away from the screen to look out into the darkness, “your opinion is noted, and it is correct. Normally, I wouldn’t need to be so... invasive. After all, I’ve had quite a few years to watch over Kirito’s mental state. However, because we have such unique guests, I feel as though they should receive a similar treatment. However we don’t have the time as of now. Ergo, this is the only efficient way to proceed.”
Kayaba lifted a finger and the screens all formed into one widescreen. On it sat several figures with various loading bars under them. “But please be sure that this remains a fair boss battle first and foremost. Like normal, they shall need to win to pass,” he finished.
The voice remained quiet for a time, before talking again. “What shall I do with the original floor 98 boss; the Cockatrice?”
Kayaba paused and glance upwards in thought. “Um…” he muttered, humming. Kayaba scratched the back of his head before shrugging and focusing back on his work. “Well, I guess we can delete it. We don’t really need it now.”
“I see. Are you certain we could not repurpose the monster as a hidden enemy on a lower floor? Perhaps we should hold onto it’s data as a replacement should this custom arrangement succeed in its intended task.”
Kayaba looked up at the figures on screen, the loading bars for each one almost complete. His grin widened just an inch. “Oh, interface… you sorely underestimate our adversaries.”
~~~
Twilight let out a light groan as she stood up, more from sitting down for so long than from being tired of healing. Stretching her back she, let out a heavenly sigh when she felt a few pops come from her spine. “How are you? Feel better, Rarity.”
Rarity stood up as well, fully healed and healthy. “Completely resplendent, darling,” she said, smiling over at the mage. However, when she then looked herself up and down she moaned sadly. Although her body was spotless once more, her clothes were still torn and dirty from the fight. “I am slightly miffed about my wardrobe,” she pouted, fixing up her hair where she could.
“You guys done yet? Come on!” The two turned when they head their friend’s voice calling them by the opposite of the entrance. Dash was hovering by the door while the others were currently making their way across the room.
Twilight and Rarity, the latter now fully healed, quickly made their way to the others. Once they reached then the group collectively opened the next door and ran up the stairs to the next floor.
Weapons at the ready, they stormed into Floor 98. Everyone immediately took stock of the new area, the entire floor looking like an ordinary square room of plane violet walls. Gazes flittered around the room, only to be surprised when they found that it was completely empty. Asuna and Kirito were quick to check the ceiling as well due to bad memories of a similar situation.
“Wha… where is the monster?” asked Dash, her Keyblade still held tightly.
“Maybe this is a big old restroom before the big boss?” wondered Pinkie.
Kirito shook his head, physically unwilling to let his guard down. “No, there are two more rooms, if there was going to be a restroom, it only makes sense to put it on Floor 99. Not to mention that we can rest before moving on in a room we’ve already beaten. Why would we even need a rest room?” he reasoned, stepping forward cautiously.
“Let’s all move around,” suggested Asuna. “But be careful, we don’t want to activate any traps.”
As Dash flew forward, Twilight called out to her. “Don’t soar too high! Kayaba knows that you can fly now. He might have changed something about the air.”
Kirito flinched and clenched his teeth. “That’s right. I don’t think aside from that dragon there have been many flying enemies. There could be traps.” He began scanning the sky vigorously.
Dash shrugged and flew a bit lower, not very high, but not at head level either.
In an extremely alertful manner, everyone spread out to cover the room. Together, their collective eyes scanned pretty much the entirety of the area.
Dash, feeling confident, flew a little bit higher and did a complete 360 examination of the floor. Not seeing anything, she just shrugged and descended to the ground.
“I don’t know guys,” she called out, her voice echoing faintly. “I don’t see or feel anything.”
Hearing no response she looked around again, this time for her friends. Upon seeing absolutely no one around her she quickly brandished her Keyblade and took a ready stance. To her surprise the Keyblade in her hand began glowing a soft pale red glow despite her not channeling any magic through it.
“Hello again,” said a sweet voice.
Eyes widening, Dash turned around to see none other than herself standing a few yards away from her. To her relief it really was herself this time, from her messy ponytailed hair to her normal clothes, it was a near mirror image of her body. The only difference that she could find had been the clones bright pink coloured eyes. “Who… are you?” she asked wearily.
The copy of her smiled and gestured along its body. “Oh, darling, please. Even with this… err, appearance, it is still the same Rainbow you met the last time your form was copied. You really seem to enjoy being cloned.”
Dash let out a loud groan and threw her arms down in anger. “But if Kayaba copied me why do you keep showing up? Hell why’d you show up last time.”
Rainbow let out a small giggle and winked. “Well... being you, I only know as much as your heart does, consciously or not. But if I had to take a guess I’d say that maybe it’s your Keyblade’s fault?” the clone wondered, cutely tilting its head and smiling at Dash.
Dash looked down her Keyblade and examined the now dim but constant glow of the weapon in her hand. She glanced back up at her counterpart, whom had also summoned her own Keyblade and was also glowing in a similar manner. The only difference was that she noticed that the entire copy’s body was glowing faintly with the same color.
Rainbow cheerfully wiggled the weapon in its hand. “You see? Clearly, it’s trying to tell you something… or well... maybe it wants to realize something.”
Dash began grinding her teeth in frustration. “Then tell me already!”
Rainbow shrugged and began to strut around the room. “Well I don’t think I’m allowed to. For one thing, this body I’m inhabiting is programed to fight you. I still retain that urge so guess you have to defeat me first,” it said, pointing its blade at its counterpart. Suddenly, bright rainbow coloured wings appeared on the clones back and it rose high into the air.
Glowering, Dash spread her sky blue ones and flew up to meet her.
~~~
As AJ rose her Keyblade in defense as her clone came down on her with the force of a rocket, completely cratering the ground underneath its original. Though her knees nearly buckled from the impact, AJ remained standing.
Even so, AJ gave her clone a small grin. “Well now… this ain’t really fair now is it?” she asked, examining the eerily black gauntlets and grieves that her counterpart was wearing.
The clone simply stared at her, its fist pushing down on the flat of her original’s blade. AJ’s knees bent even further until her clone was looking down at her with identical eyes. “Well, ya know...” it said, its voice monotone, “maybe ya should’ve played fair.”
Her grin bending down into a strained frown, AJ pushed back. Slowly she stood back up until the two stood on an even level once again.
With shocking speed, her clone slammed its other fist deep into AJ’s gut, completely knocking the wind out of her. In another swift motion the clone came around with a hook that connected with AJ’s cheek and, sent her rocketing deep into the wall. As AJ’s eyes cracked open they widened when she saw her clone charging a pitch black energy attack with its fist, an attack that looked exactly like her own light blast technique. With a swing the energy was sent hurling towards her.
Struggling to move, AJ found herself stuck in the rock her counterpart had punched her into. Just as the wall around her cracked from her efforts, AJ felt the blast hit her and explode outward.
Unlike the warm energies her Beowulf utilized, this attack was cold and empty. Sheer pain spread up and down her body for several tense seconds. Thankfully, she had thicker skin than most and was able to more or less tank the hit.
Although, when it ended she found herself falling to the ground, as the wall she was stuck in had been completely blown away.
Not wasting a second, she put her hands under her and tried to stand up, wincing as she did so. She looked up, expecting to see her clone charging at her, but rather she looked up to see it staring vacantly into the sky.
Taking deep breaths AJ reached up to brush some dirt from her cheek with her right hand, though as soon as it came close she was forced to flinch back when her Keyblade suddenly begin glowing with a bright orange illumination. “What in tarnation?” she muttered, going slack jawed at the sight.
Hearing a familiar metallic “shing” her eyes snapped up to see her clone now in possession of an identical Keyblade. She looked down at it in confusion and watched as the copy weapon began glowing as well. Immediately, it spread to the clone itself and encompassed its body. The glow faded after a few seconds, becoming a dim glow.
The clone blinked a few times, its eyes changing from AJ’s own bright green colour to a deep brown. It shook its head a few times before looking down at the gauntlets on its hands. To Jackie’s surprise the clone started furrowing its brow in anger.
In one swift motion the clone ripped off the gauntlets and grieves and tossed them away, where they exploded into bright blue shards.
“Terrible!” the clone scoffed, brandishing the Keyblade by itself.
By this time, AJ had stood up and recovered slightly. “You… alright there?” she asked hesitantly.
AJ flinched as the clone growled at her. “You know what,” it seethed, its voice oddly void of any of its originals accent. “I’m not!” Taking a running start, the clone jumped into the air and slammed its Keyblade down into the ground. “Quake!”
An enormous shockwave erupted from the ground in AJ’s direction completely tearing up the landscape, earth, metal, and all.
Frantic, AJ dug her blade into the ground and uplifted a boulder that she used to block the attack. However it was far more powerful than she expected and when it was destroyed and she was sent skidding back, her arms covering her face.
When the dust cleared, AJ saw her clone standing there, several of the games caution signs floating around her and along the ruined floor. However, what caught her eye was her clones blushed cheeks and pouting face.
“See what I can do?!” yelled the clone while stomping its feet. “I’m way better than some dumb old pair of gloves.” Bringing the Keyblade high into the air, a great brown light began shining from the tip of her weapon and the entire room started to shaking furiously. So much so that AJ found that she could barely keep her standing position.
Her jaw fell when several enormous chunks of earth started to tear themselves out of the ground.
~~~
As two identical fireballs clashed in the middle of the room, two figures dashed through the flames and clashed, their attacks forcing the smoke and embers to part.
Twilight scowled at the carbon copy of herself, its face expressionless in response. “Hello, Twilight,” the copy said. “This time there are no words, no acts. I merely wish to see how you handle my power.”
Twilight, meanwhile, examined the slight purple glow of their weapons before shoving her clone back, and calling down a bolt of thunder.
“Reflega!” the clone called. As the lightning struck her shield it split into several streams of lightning as they reflected off of the surface. All of them surged directly at Twilight.
Eyes wide, Twilight teleported out of the way, just barely avoiding the large explosion that rocked the room. Reappearing behind her clone, she pointed Magical Element forward, the shaft crackling with magic.
“Stop!”
Twilight’s eyes widened as everything froze for her. Her body, the flow of her magic, her breathing, even the small bolts of electricity flying around her Keyblade all completely ceased to move. She was aware, she could see directly ahead of her, but even her eyes refused to move.
Her mind exploded in a single word. How?!
She could only watch as her clone simply turned its head to glance back at her original. Twilight stared into its blank grey eyes. The clone cocked its head. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognize that spell? Surprising. But I guess it's to be expected, with the way you sling spells around. You seem to have only the barest amount of awareness to the area around you.
Twilight, try as she might still couldn’t move her body, even as an orange blow began filling her vision from below.
“Mine Square.” The clone sat the tip of her Keyblade onto the ground and large blast exploded from under Twilight.
~~~
Rarity and her counterpart tentatively circled one another. Both girls had their weapons out, but to Rarity’s confusion her clone held the weapon in its left hand even though Rarity herself was right handed. The girl eyed up an identical version of herself and, admittedly, admired it. Personally, she thought the facsimile’s bright golden eyes were especially gorgeous. However, she remained aware of the situation and kept a modicum of caution about her.
Her clone, however, eyed its original with a far more critical eye. It’s gaze as cold as steel and no hint of admiration anywhere on her face.
Suddenly, the clone stopped in its tracks. “I fear I may have chosen… incorrectly,” it muttered, scoffing. It’s voice was far more naturally accented than Rarity’s own.
Rarity, stopping as well, tilted her head curiously. “Excuse me?”
The clone turned to the side and held out its right hand, two fingers pointed directly at Rarity. “Perhaps a test then.”
Before Rarity could respond, she felt an eerily familiar stabbing sensation through her shoulder. One of her own ethereal weapons had stabbed right through it. Like normal, no wounds were present but the pain itself was real.
Not willing to repeat the Virgil incident, Rarity cartwheeled out of the way of three more weapons.
“Poor reflexes, but you do learn quickly,” the clone muttered. It lifted its two fingers and flicked it down. “Let us try something else.”
Understanding what was happening, Rarity deftly jumped to the side as three more blades rained down. Pointing her own blade forward, four blades appeared in front of her and shot out like bullets.
“Basic.” The clone made no effort to move from its position as the projectiles came flying at her. With another flick, the Keyblades that Rarity sent at her stopped dead before turning back to face it’s owner.
Rarity balked at the sight, her jaw falling open in a very unladylike fashion. She nervously took a step back, muttering, “H-how did…?” She flinched even more as the weapons were sent flying back at her.
Rarity crossed her arms and two more weapons appeared and blocked the attack. Not willing to let those be taken as well, Rarity immediately dismissed them and rushed forward. She decided that if her power was vulnerable, she decided instead to make use of Asuna and Octavia’s teachings.
Remaining still, arm and fingers still outstretched, the clone summoned a Keyblade in Rarity’s path, forcing her to clash against it and ruining her build up. “One such as us should never allow a singular enemy to come close. This is something you have clearly forgotten.”
Struggling against the ghostly weapon, Rarity began to sweat, her brow creasing in exertion. Sidestepping the blade, Rarity rushed her clone once again. However, the second she took another step, dozens of Keyblades shot up from the ground in rays of brilliant blue, all of them shooting through her and lifting her up into the air.
“Agh!” she screamed and pain seared through her body. Eventually the onslought ended and she finally fell to the ground.
The clone lowered its hand and watched. “Pitiful. You should have expected such a move, as it should have been what you should have done.”
Rarity groaned and stood back up, stumbling to her feet and breathing heavily. “I- I am not weak. What… gives you the right to lecture… to lecture me?”
The clone cocked its head curiously as Rarity glared at it. Letting out a battle cry, she once again rushed the facsimile. This time, it made no motion to stop Rarity by herself. Rather, when Rarity got close and stabbed at hit. Her eyes shrank in shock as the tip of her Keyblade slammed into one of her clones summoned blades. She began stabbing at her, only for her clone repeatedly summoned and dismissed weapons, blocking each and every one of her strikes with little to no effort. Rarity momentarily wanted to summon some extra blades but she immediately remember that her clone had already taken control of them once.
In lieu of doing that, she instead sped up her attack, only for the clone to speed up its own defense.
The clone scoffed and flipped its hair even as its original straggled to get past its defenses. “You train yourself and strive to learn proper swordsmanship, but in turn you abandon the one thing unique to you. You’re scared of being weak but do you not see the power we possess?”
Rarity finally backed off by taking a few large hops backward. Bt the time she had gotten a comfortable distance away, she had began breathing even more heavily than before. “The… the power that we have?”
The clone nodded and switched her Keyblade over to her right hand. Slowly, she lifted the blade and pointed it right at Rarity, who flinched back. “Our defense is also our greatest offense. This is how we should be fighting.”
Taking a step, the clone began rushing forward, its arm pulled across her shoulder and readying a diagonal slash. Rarity braced herself, ready to block it. Maybe I should try the same thing she did? she wondered.
“You should always strike your opponent's weak spot.”
To her confusion, after covering only half of the distance the clone slashed down and swung through the empty air. Without her noticing, a blade materialized from under Rarity and swung upwards, slamming into her chin. Despite feeling the blow, Rarity only staggered backwards a step. Unfortunately, her moment of unbalance was all her clone needed. Now right in front of her, the clone prepared a real strike.
“And strive to take advantage of their openings.”
The clone came at her with a swing from the left, and as she tried to block it, another blade slashed across her back. Rarity barely got through flinching when the real blade collided with her ribs and sent her skidding onto the ground.
The clone scoffed and arrogantly waved her hair once again. “You couldn’t even handle that predictable move? You definitely don’t deserve to wield me.”
~~~
“Sir!” said the voice, slightly panicked. “The integrity of the system has been compromised and the tower’s stability is rapidly failing.”
Kayaba, trying to ignore the viscous shaking going on around him nodded. Chunks of rock fell to the ground around him and hundreds of bright red caution and warning signs blared across every screen in the dark area. From behind him, the sounds of various things in the darkness fizzled and disappeared, leaving small blue glowing shards to float upwards.
The voice echoed out again, even louder. “Sir the preservation program is failing due to the immense amount of energy and resources being diverted to re-stabilizing the core code. I suggest abandoning this experiment immediately. Percentage of events coinciding with hypothesized parameters are approximately 26.9% and decreasing fervently. Frankly, it’s just not worth it.”
Kayaba continued to stare up at the screens in front of him. One screen displayed the main source of the disturbance, clearly indicated by it flashing red. On it was a live image of AJ and her clone, whom had basically uplifted nearly the entire floor in the form of large boulders and had started hurling them around in a jealous rage. The girl herself merely did what she could to survive and fend off the clone’s attacks while trying to get close. To her credit she was doing it well. Unfortunately every time she got close she would get tossed back again.
The next screen over, the second worse and remaining a constant red, were of Twilight and her clone. Twilight had survived the explosion and the two had been dueling it out with large scale spells. Their match was a pure chess game that Twilight was only barely keeping even, and even then it appeared that the clone was doing more teaching than actual fighting.
The third was of Dash and her clone. Unlike the others, Kayaba couldn’t really see into their fight. The screen itself had been completely clouded. The last thing Kayaba saw before the screen went clouded was the clone summoning an enormous hurricane.
The pink screen simply had the girl throwing a party and celebrating with her clone, the entire room completely decorated and the two were eating cake. Kayaba took one look at it and decidedly ignored that one for the most part.
The next, regular blue, screen was of Rarity whom had been knocked down by her clone. That one seemed to share the others strange occurrences, but it wasn’t nearly as literally game breaking as the others.
The last two screens were a bright blue and beheld the scenes of Kirito and Asuna fighting themselves. Kayaba waved those away, content with how those were proceeding. He smiled as he looked up at the five other screens.
“Such wonderful abilities. Magic? Flight? Terrakinesis? This ‘Keyblade’ sounds like something from a fairy tale. But… I suppose it was a mistake trying to completely duplicate the weapons and the girls. Despite my attempts, it seems that I’ve completely lost control over the constructs.” he let out a deep sigh. “Shame, really. But I suppose it’s too much for this virtual world to contain.”
Even he staggered when a particularly large earthquake proceeded to shake the room. With a wave of Kayaba’s hands, he brought all five screens together into one large screen. Reaching out he pressed his hand on the luminescent panel and the entire thing completely turned blank, disintegrating into tiny red shards soon after.”
~~~
Rarity let out a wheezing cough as pain surged through her body. Shaking she turned her Keyblade upside down and used it to pull herself to her knees. Her hand tightly clenched the blade and she took several deep breaths and ground her teeth furiously. Feeling completely worthless, her eyes began darkening even more.
The clone stared down at her. “You want to feel strong don’t you?” it said. “You fear that you are a burden on your friends?”
Rarity’s eyes widened and she turned her head to look at her clone.
The clone took a few steps forward. “You need to understand your own power. Utilize your talent and listen to your Keyblade, for we are capable of so much more.”
Letting out a grunt, Rarity put her weight on her Keyblade and brought herself to her feet. As she held it tightly she realized that she could feel something flowing through it and into her. She looked up at the clone and realization surged through her. “Th-then tell me! What am I supposed to do?” she asked, her eyes no longer clouded.
The clone smiled, however when it opened its mouth to answer, the Keyblade it held shattered. It too shattered along with it.
“Wait! Don’t go!” Rarity yelled, reaching out. She tried to move but her legs gave way and she fell back to the ground. Eyes going blurry, she could only watch as the image of herself floated away and her tears fall to the floor.
~~~
AJ swung her Keyblade with all her might, completely shattering the boulder that her clone had thrown at her. “What in tarnation is wrong with you?” she yelled over the tearing wind whipping around the room.
In the middle of the room stood her clone, effortlessly hoisting enormous chunks of earth around it. The clone was still pouting adorably. It stomped its foot, cracking the ground, and responded. “What's wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? I chose you so why do you still want to use those stupid gloves.”
AJ flinched, her brow knitted in confusion. “I… uh… what?”
The clone childishly stomped twice more. “Don’t think I can’t feel it! Even when you swing me around I can still feel that you’d rather be punching stuff.”
AJ looked down at the Keyblade in her hands. “Wait… are you… but how?” she stammered.
In an instant the clone shattered into a thousand pieces. The source of their control gone, the rocks plummeted back to earth. The shockwave threw AJ back against the wall once again.
~~~
Flipping through the air, the Twilight clone froze midway and cast a barrier just in time to block the flaming Keyblade that her original had thrown at her, sending it reeling back the way it came. “You’re learning,” it muttered glancing behind it.
There was a flash and Twilight appeared behind her clone just as the barrier dropped. Hands outstretched, Twilight let loose a fireball that slammed into the back of her clone and sent her rocketing to the ground a releasing a blast of smoke.
Twilight landed and summoned her weapon back to her. She stared at the smoke intently, waiting for the clone to emerge. Feeling a tingling sensation, Twilight teleported just in time to dodge a lightning strike from above.
Upon reappearing, Twilight threw up a shield and braced against another explosion from the mine squares that had been place around her the second she reappeared.
As the explosion subsided, a grey glow encompassed Twilight’s form and she let out a silent curse as she felt her arms becoming increasingly stiff and hard to move. When she tried to talk her mouth barely opened to let out her voice. It was as if her body had cursed to move at a fraction of its normal speed.
For her, this had happened several times in the past few minutes, strange spells that would slow her down, shrink her, and even spontaneously set her on fire. Each time, Twilight would have to cast remedy just to fight back. However, even Twilight could tell that she was sorely outmatched.
The clone finally stepped out of the smoke, unharmed and expressionless. As it made its way to Twilight it began speaking. “I must admit, you do seem to have mastered the basic spells and you use them well. You’ve also developed a good sense of spacial awareness just from this fight. However, I fear that is not enough.”
The clone held out its hand, Keyblade in its grip. “What do you think your skill is? You have the magic, use it effectively and stop relying on the same old combinations.”
There was a green glow from the tip of Twilight’s Keyblade and she felt her speed return to normal. She stumbled forward a step before regaining her stance. Through bared teeth and gasping breath she responded. “What.. what do you mean?”
The clone stared at her. “Think about your previous fight. What you could have done? Nothing in this world has any magic defense. You could’ve taken the entire beast by yourself with the simplest of status spells. Yet you've relied on elementals. Let the avian girl focus on that. You’ve yet to utilize your full potential, and that drags us both down. For example… a binding spell.”
With a flick of its weapon a yellow aura surrounded Twilight and she froze. Her body shook with effort but no matter how hard she tried she realized that unlike the other spell she could still look around and talk, but her motion had once again been completely restricted.
“Blackout.” The clone flicked her Keyblade again this time a black aura surrounded Twilight and she found her vision completely gone. Pitch black was all she could see. Try as she might to remain calm, Twilight began to panic, for she realized that she was now defenseless.
“Do not panic. Apply your magic and resist the spells,” the clone instructed her.
Twilight still panicked, finding it hard to relax when your enemy began acting as your teacher. But even so, she tried to calm herself and access her magic. Inside her body it remained, untouched by the afflictions. Feeling it well up inside her, she pushed it outwards and felt her body relax.
Stumbling to her knees she looked down at her hands and found that she could see and move once again. Her head snapped up to see that her clone was now crouched in front of her and was looking her in her eye. Its eyes were still blank and empty.
“Game over,” it said plainly. “Those kinds of spells, combined with well placed attacks from your friends would have served to utterly cripple the hydra beyond regeneration, if not then at least the battle would have been less trying. Experiment more, learn what you can do beyond your perceived limits.”
Twilight stared up at it, her eyes wide and her jaw stuttering. “Who… are you?” she asked.
The clone gave Twilight a small smile and glanced down to the still glowing Keyblade in her original’s hand. “I am what I’ve always been.”
Before Twilight could say anything else, the foux Keyblade in the clones hand shattered, taking the clone along with it.
“Wait!” the girl called out. As the blue fragments flew away and vanished, Twilight looked down at the Keyblade in front of her that she thought she knew so well.
~~~
Storm like winds raged furiously around in Dash’s area, completely spiraling into the massive hurricane that her clone had called down. Thunder and lightning flashed alongside the rain that had begun falling sideways from the gale force winds. After a few minutes, enough water had turned the hurricane into a full blown typhoon.
The colorful girl herself tried her best to fly around the perimeter of the room, struggling against the flow of wind in order to not to get sucked into the massive beast of nature that her clone created. Frankly, it was just like fighting an actual weather phenomenon. Dash had no idea how to even start.
Whilst trying to find an opening she had been forced to periodically duck down and dodge the seemingly random lightning bolts that flashed in her direction.
Her ponytail, flapping in the gales, had long since come undone and her clothes had become more than a bit tattered and beaten from the fight that she had been sorely overpowered in. The more she thought about it the more she seethed. Not only had her clone began using magic that she didn’t even know her Keyblade could use, Dash found that her own Keyblade had ceased to work entirely. Just like before, magic simply refused to flow through it, causing her to achieve no end of frustration. Being beaten by a fake had been bad enough, but knowing that the fake could use her own Keyblade better than her nearly had her tearing her own hair out.
It definitely didn’t help that she had her clone teasing her throughout the entire fight.
As she circled the typhoon, Dash’s face paled as a large chunk of ice whirled around the bend and suddenly crashed into her, sending her flying back and throwing her into the wall near the ceiling.
After a few seconds, Dash spat out a glob of blood as she climbed out of her mini hole in the wall. Growing increasingly irritated, she found herself grinding her teeth.
“You know…” Dash flinched as her clone’s sweet voice somehow reached her ears despite the fact that she knew that it was in the eye of that storm, “if I could give a bit of strategic advice… As an avian, you should be able to ride the flow of the wind to reach me. You should try that.”
Dash’s hand gripped tightly the wall and her fingers began cracking the stone. She let out an audible growl. There it was again, she thought, that stupid fake trying to trick her into screwing up.
“Shut up!” she screamed. “What do you know?!” Abandoning all strategy, Dash flared her ethereal wings and flew headlong into the tempest itself.
In the eye of the gale, hovering serenely amongst the surrounding magic, the clone sighed and sat a palm to her forehead. “Oh dear... I do have a stubborn wielder, don’t I?”
Slamming into the wall of the typhoon, Dash let out a scream of agony as she felt surges of lightning flare through her. All of her limbs instantly locked, the magic crackling around her even as she stopped being shocked. Completely dazed, she fell backwards to the ground. But before she could even fall, yet another boulder of ice slammed into her and threw her spiraling into the ground.
Now forced back to ground, Dash struggled to her feet and looked up at the hurricane. It was then that she had finally realized the full extent of the spell that her double had cast. Not only had the clone manipulated the storm clouds she had created to form a hurricane, but it had also somehow used a water spell to summon rain and turn it into a typhoon. Dash didn’t even know she could use water spells. If that wasn’t bad enough, Rainbow had even managed to throw lightning magic into the mix, turning it into a full blown electric storm. And at some point some of the water had frozen enough to create large hail that, while being whipped around by the winds, created a rotating ice shield.
It was then that she realized that she was looking at the apex of weather magic. Overcome with a sense of helplessness, Rachelle fell to her knees. Helplessness soon turned to anger, and anger into full on rage. Eyes clenched shut, she began pounding the ground with her fist and cursing repeatedly.
“Damn it! Damn it!” she screamed. After a few repetitions her eyes opened to see the Keyblade in her hand. “Arrgah! What the hell is wrong with you?!” In a fit of rage, Dash hurled her Keyblade down onto the ground and sent it skipping and skidding across the room.
Immediately, the wind that had been torrenting around vanished and the clone became visible once again. As the remaining water and ice clusters fell to the ground, it too gently floated down in front of its original.
When its feet touched down, its wings faded and vanished. Rainbow looked down at Dash, the girl still cursing at the ground, pounding her fist so hard that the ground had cracked from the impacts.
Rainbow glanced over at the discarded weapon behind her before leaning down and reaching out to touch her original, only to have her hand violently slapped away. Dash looked up at her, eyes glistening and jaw clenched. “What the hell even are you?!”
Rainbow tilted her head curiously, and poked her cheek with the tip of her Keyblade. “Well… I was exaggerating before, I’m not you… well not completely. I am a part of you though,” she said, smiling cheerfully.
Dash’s eyes narrowed further and her hand flew up and grabbed her other self by the collar of her jacket. In a swift motion she pulled her double close enough that their foreheads touched. “Bullshit,” she hissed.
The clone didn’t react to the sudden threatening motion, simply looking down at her original’s eyes. “I was just playing around in the other world but… do you really not recognize me? I chose you. I’m linked to your heart. I can feel everything that you are and you should be able to feel everything that I am. Can you truly not feel me?”
Dash’s grip tightened and she raised up her other fist ready to punch the girl in her grip. Rainbow looked dead into her own eyes. “I don’t know who the hell you are!”
Rainbow sighed and close its eyes. After a second, it opened them, now looking back at the discarded weapon sadly. “Then… perhaps I shall wait until your heart opens up before letting you into mine.”
To Dash’s surprise, the Keyblade held in her doubles hands began dissipating into minuscule blue fragments. The clone itself, however, gave no reaction, simply continuing to talk even as its body began dissipating as well.
“But… at least listen to this advice,” it said, meeting Dash’s eyes once more. “The more you deny what's in front of you the more your heart will close off. Memories, light, magic… with a closed heart, the connections that link you to the world around you will falter until none of them will be available. I believe in you so, please… don’t forget what it means to hold a Keyblade.”
And with that, the computer generated clone faded from Dash’s grip, leaving the girl sitting there, arm raised in a clenched fist and her head lowered.
In the empty room a scoff echoed, cutting through the silence. “A closed heart? What the hell does that mean?” she muttered.
Twilight blinked a few times and felt a rush of wind. Taking a look around, she realized that she was no longer alone. Placed around the room were the either alert or crouched forms of her friends. She gave a small gasp at the the sight of the group's collective sorry state.
AJ seemed to share her concerns as she too looked around the room from her spot up against a wall. “Ah take it ya’ll had some strange fights too?” she asked, her voice low and exhausted.
Pinkie, still in top shape, bounced around, oblivious to the heavy atmosphere.”Are you kidding me? I finally got to meet my Keyblade and it was awesome! We threw a huge party! Oh I wish you were all there. Tigger was there and he brought a bunch of his friends and we all road Geryon around and he was suuuuper annoyed.”
Like a clock finally hitting twelve, Pinkie’s face began to change, her smile slowly disappearing as she stopped to look around the group. “A-are you girls alright… What happened?”
Rarity, whom had turned away from the group to hide her slightly ruined make up, let out a mild sigh. Slowly, she reached into her satchel and pulled out a few cosmetic products. “I’m sorry Pinkie…” she began, trying to keep her voice even, “but I don’t think we all had as good as a meeting as you.”
“What… exactly happened?” began Dash, sitting away from the others and leaning up against a wall. After a few minutes to of silence and reflection, she finally found herself calming down. With her calmer state she began to think rationally as well. Frowning, she thought back on the events only a few minutes prior.
“Ain’t it obvious?” asked AJ. “Kayaba tried to pull a fast one and make us fight ourselves but some magic biz happened and we ended up fighting our Keyblades.” She turned to Twilight. “That sound about right to you?”
Twilight nodded and put a finger to her chin in thought. “It’s probably a bit more complicated than that but I think you have the jist of it. Honestly, I really would like to talk to Master Luna about this phenomenon when we leave. For Rachelle and I this may be the second time this has happened.” She looked around. “Where are Kirito and Asuna?”
Just then both of them appeared in bright blue lights. Kirito appeared first, his body appearing mid swing and let out a battle cry as he continued it.
“Bastard you... “ as his swing finished he paused and craned his head around. Upon seeing the girls and no one else, he scoffed and clenched his weapons in annoyance. “Damn it...” he muttered.
Asuna appeared in a similar fashion, her body mid dash. With a yelp of surprise she tripped and staggered forward. “Wh-what? Where?” she stammered, her head turning this way and that.
Upon seeing Kirito, she quickly ran towards him and embraced him tightly. “Oh thank god,” she sighed. “I was so worried. Are you alright?”
Kirito looked down at her with vacant stare, almost as if her were looking through her for a second. Hearing no response she looked up and locked eyes with his. Seeing the wavering and fear in his wife's eyes, Kirito’s widened and he immediately dropped his swords and hugged her back.
“S-sorry.. just… yeah. I’m fine. How are you?” After releasing Asuna he looked around at the other girls. “I’m guessing you all fought yourselves as well?”
Twilight crossed her arms and her brow furrowed slightly as she process the question. “In a sense we did, though our fights might have been different than yours. But… I have a question. Why did all of our opponents disappear suddenly?”
“Please, pick me, sensei.” Everyone’s heads snapped towards a tall man in bright red armor with an amused grin and a raised hand. Kirito’s face immediately contorted into a look of immense fury and he brought Asuna close once again. Immediately, everyone but Dash armed themselves.
Dash herself thought about summoning her weapon, but she immediately recalled what had happened before and scoffed. Instead her right hand began glowing with a soft pink light, the Spiral gun mark under her glove glowing.
“You see,” he started, lowering his hand to rest with the other one on the hilt of the blade stuck in the ground in front of him, “being in a position such as mine, having such unique personas available to me is something I rarely get to have. I’ve examined the mental state of everyone in this game a dozen times over the last few years. The young hybrid being a small exception as he had managed to escape my radar several times by vanishing. I will be the first to admit that, with Kirito here, I may not have much time left in this world. I wanted to conduct another experiment before the game ends.”
Twilight, whom had summoned her Keyblade already, listened with interest. “You copied us and made us fight ourselves in order to conduct a sort of research project?”
Kayaba’s grin grew. “Indeed. You seem very intelligent. Tell me young lady, when faced with new and promising results that you don’t quite understand, what course of action should a researcher take? You attempt to replicate those results and establish a source or explanation for those results. I was curious about magic so I attempted to copy you all as NPCs based on collected data.”
Kirito wasn’t the only one nearly growling, the fire of rage that had begun to dwindle in Dash rapidly began to burn brighter the more he talked. She was tempted to pull a Dante and summon Spiral to put a bullet in him, but held back nonetheless.
Kayaba hung his head in a mock display of shame. “Of course, I regret to say that my parameters were set to low… or perhaps… my expectations were too high. You all are clearly still young and fail to tap into the amount of power you truly possess. My copies were, as they were designed, able to bring out a projected amount of power that dwarfed yours and surpassed the scope of my small game. It began to grow too much and I cut the experiment and deleted the physical copies.”
Asuna, still held in Kirito’s grip turned to face him, a glare burning a hole through his head. “What about us? Psychological torture to weaken us before we defeat you.” Her gaze fell into a sad look and she began shaking slightly. “Reminding us of who we lost… who we couldn’t save? Was that necessary?!”
Kayaba lowered his head and closed his eyes. “Ahh yes, another good question. Simply put, I was curious about whether you two had the resolve to end this.”
Asuna tilted her head curiously. “What?”
“You see, so many people have adapted to this world, so many have given up on leaving. Some have even grown attached and, aside from you and several other groups, nobody is genuinely trying to escape anymore. Another error on my end is that I allowed this game to grow boring. In fact, I too have become slightly bored.”
Kirito bent down and gripped his weapon once more. “Then does that mean--”
Before he could say anything further, Kayaba held up his palm and continued. “Therefore, I really am glad you came here today, Kirito. Frankly, I’ve been waiting ever since that day on floor 75. You remember… don’t you; the day where you exposed me and we dueled.”
Opening his eyes he lifted his head and stared straight into Kirito’s. “You lost, and I still let you live.” His smirk growing, he projected his voice majestically. “So I ask you, Kirito, would you like to repeat that day? You and I, one dual, this time for the lives of the remaining 4976 people trapped in this game. If you lose I will delete the game without releasing anyone.”
Kirito’s grip tightened profusely as he lowered his head and hid his face. Everyone, including Asuna stared at him in concern.
“Well…?” asked Kayaba.
After almost of minute of silence, Kirito took in a deep breath and exhaled it. “You know what… there was a time where I would’ve taken you up on that offer without a second thought. For years I’ve waited for this moment because I knew you would offer it to me. I knew that in the end, no matter who I brought with me, I would have chosen to fight you alone.”
Asuna let out a sigh and her gaze fell sadly. However, Kirito’s next works caused them to snap back to him in surprise.
“But… I just… I can’t say yes.” Kirito lifted his head and turned back to the girls. “I can’t say yes, not when Asuna and these girls have so willingly risked their lives. To keep them from fighting would be to spit on their efforts. Honestly, I haven't changed at all these past few years, I’m still selfish and overconfident.” Kirito turned back to Kayaba, a determined smile on his face. “But I do learn, it just takes me a while.”
Kayaba’s smile only grew. “And what, pray tell, did you learn?”
Just as Kirito opened his mouth he felt a tough hand pat his back. “He learned to stop bein’ such a worry wort.” He turned to find AJ standing over his shoulder smirking. “Big tough knight here wanna hide us all behind a shield and keep us away from danger. Probably forgettin’ that we could trounce him too.”
Kirito could only give her a forced, awkward, and slightly pained smile. “Something like that, sure.”
Kayaba let out a small chuckle as he shook his head. “Kirito... this is a multiplayer game. But anyhow, I think we’ve had enough of my final boss monologue.”
With a snap of his fingers, a large ornate white cross shaped shield appeared in front of him. Unlike his original shield, this one lacked the inner red cross, the signature of the Knights of Blood Oath Guild he used to command.
Lightened mood short lived, the group all prepared themselves as Kayaba rose it with his left hand and took his sword in the other. Taking a defensive battle stance, Kayaba placed the shield in front of his body and held the sword next to his head, the blade outstretched past the shield.”
Pinkie, however, just raised her hand. “I have a question! There’s like…” she began counting, “five… like seven of us. Earlier you said that you like things to stay fair, isn’t this unfair?”
Dash growled and glared at Pinkie. “If this pompous asshole what’s to fight us on his own then let him.”
“I see your vocabulary is as vibrant as your messy hair, young girl,” retorted Kayaba narrowing his eyes.
While AJ couldn’t help but nearly burst out in a fit of chuckles, Rachelle’s face, and hair, began turning various shades of red.
Kayaba continued. “Now, Kirito, Asuna, Keyblade wielders. You do remember that you’re on Floor 98, correct. By the game's rules you have one more challenge to complete.”
Immediately after he finished, the room began to shift. Everyone stared at the ground as the distance between them and Kayaba lengthened considerably. None, however, could move from their spot as they found themselves growing further from their target.
Finally, the room settled, no longer the large open area it used to be. To everyone’s shock, the room had become an extremely long hallway, with Kayaba still standing where he was. As he watched the group's collective looks of confusion, his smirk grew.
“This last challenge could be viewed as one of attrition,” he called, his voice effortlessly carrying over to the group. “You must make it to me with enough energy and health to fight me.”
Dash held up her fist and yelled back at him. “What? You want us to run a freaking marathon?
“No, my dear. For each one you kill is another you save.” Before the girls or Kirito could question him a single glue-ish grey teleportation glow appeared before Kayaba. Out of the glow came a random soldier wearing generic grey armour. Then a second one appeared, this time it was a woman wearing a set of dark orange armor. Then another wearing a dark cloak clasped with brooch shaped like a coffin and decorated with a creepy looking face and dismembered skeleton arm.
Like that, more old characters continued to rapidly appear. With each new appearance both Kirito’s and Asuna’s faces grew steadily more horrified.
Twilight, seeing their expressions moved a bit closer and whispered. “Guys who are they? Do you know them?”
Asuna, her eyes now watering, simply brought and hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. Kirito, though equally in shock, gulped. “They are… they were players in this game. I recognize a few faces, some of them were our friends, our teammates.”
Kirito eyed the several players as they appeared. They were wearing bright white and red armour similar to Kayaba. “Asuna probably knows a lot more of them than I do. A lot of these people were either on the front lines or in her guild... In The Knights of Blood Oath.”
Soon enough the entire room was alight with constant glows until the entire hallway before them had filled completely with dead players. Each and everyone bared both their weapons, and their vacant, lightless eyes towards the characters.
Twilight studied them and, in her mind, recounted Kayaba’s earlier words. “Kill them to save them?’ We clearly have to fight through them but what good would that do?”
Rarity stepped forward and touched Asuna’s shoulder. Tears had begun falling down her face. “Asuna, darling. You once told me that those who die in this game have their minds… disposed of in the real world, correct.”
Asuna’s eyes snapped open as her mind connected the dots. “So… are you saying that-”
On the other side, Kayaba’s grin grew just a bit wider. “There used to be a bit more than this, you know. But, due to earlier errors, a few were probably lost. Either way, you have 30 minutes.” At his words a large timer appeared on the wall behind him in enormous red numbers. As it did the entire colour scheme of the room changed to match the dark and urgent red colour. “Thirty minutes is all the system can handle at this moment. Afterwards, the program keeping them alive will fail and their minds will be dumped, as per the emergency protocol.”
Kirito watched as the once thought dead characters in front of them slowly develop miniscule cracks on their faces and body.
Kirito’s shock and awe had long since become righteous fury and he quickly began rethinking his choice earlier. “He wants us to kill our friends to save them. Nobody had died yet, Kayaba’s been saving them all for this moment!”
“Wh-what do we do?” stammered Pinkie, her eyes glancing around. She was the first to notice that not a single one of the revived characters moved at all, and that their heads were lowered while staring vacantly at the grounds. "They look like zombies... Do we fight them or… or do we go after the bad guy?”
Asuna grit her teeth, her eyes wide and alert. “We can’t just leave them! But... if there’s any chance he’s lying though--”
Kayaba’s voice echoed from the end of the hall. “Oh, Asuna, dear, you really think I would lie at this stage of the game.” Lowering his head, Kayaba closed his eyes and let out a low chuckle. “Give me some credit as a game master. Each of these characters will vanish from one or two hits of your weapon. However, only from an intentional strike. Shoving past and indirect attacks will not work, I’m afraid.”
Lifting his head, he looked right down the middle of the room and locked eyes with Kirito. “Tick, tock, Kirito.The countdown will begin.”
With a snap everyone’s head snapped up to see that the clock had turned from 30:00 to 29:59. Immediately, all of the characters heads snapped up and focused at the group. With another tick all of them began running forward.
Twilight was the first to react by thrusting her Keyblade forward and channeling her magic. “Mine shield!” With a golden flash, four rows of bright orange circles appeared. The first row immediately detonated, knocking back the first wave of enemies and forcing the rest to hesitate.
Twilight looked at Kirito. “That’ll give us another minute. What’s the plan?!”
Kirito, seeing his companions, began gripping on his swords tighter than ever before. However, in an effort to control his anger, he quickly broke eye contact with them and turned to the group.
“Regardless of how mad he is,” he began, “we have to assume he’s telling the truth.” Slowly, Kirito sucked in a deep breath. And as his anger subsided, he resumed, “We need to spit up and… 'attack' as many of them as possible. Even if we go the entire thirty minutes, I’m confident that with all of us here we can take on Kayaba at the end.” He chanced one last look backwards and his steeled look softened into genuine empathy by the time he turned back to the group. “So… please… save them from this hell.”
With Kirito’s orders given, the group burst forth, spreading out in a single wide line.
As she dashed forward, Twilight watched as the last row of explosives detonated. As she expected, none of them were injured. Raising her Keyblade, she entered the fray and struck down two characters on the way. As soon as her attacks hit, the two characters vanished, shattering into brilliant golden light.
“Magic probably counts as indirect attacks… so I can’t use any,” she observed, holding back her instincts to use magic.
Dodging a dagger strike from a character in a black cloak, she quickly glanced around for the others. She found Rarity, rushing through the army, her body surrounded by multiple spinning blades and nearly a blizzard of golden shards. “Looks like Rarity can still use her ability. But…”
Jumping into the air, Twilight back flipped out of the way of a character who had been in the midst of swinging a large claymore at her. Coming down with her weapon she slashed him from behind and spun to take out the dagger user who tried again to stab her in the back. As Twilight struck the assassin down, she caught sight of Dash just as she delivered a sick right hook to a iron clad soldier twice her size. While impressed, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder why she wasn’t using her Keyblade.
Raising her own weapon up, Twilight nearly buckled under the weight of two blades clashing against hers. “I guess this probably isn’t the time to be worrying about the others.” Summoning more strength, she shoved the two off of her and spun around, arm outstretched. By the time her blade stopped moving, several characters who had surrounded her had been reduced to golden shards. “I need to concentrate!”
Asuna, tears welling in her eyes, backflipped several steps out of the crowd and took a moment to stare at the faces coming towards her. So many of them she knew, so many of them she could remember having her back. Biting her lip, she spread her legs and took a wide stance facing sideways.
Kicking off of her back foot, she shot forward and tore through multiple bodies with her rapier. However, as fast as she tore through them, in her eyes, she could only linger at each face she passed. Asuna bit her lip as her mind filled with memories.
Deep in a lizard filled cavern, a tall pale knight with crew cut hair stood back to back with Asuna. His curved sword held tight in his shaking hands. During a raid on a new dungeon he had been too nervous to leave her side. But though he was nervous, he would still give her a wide smile and a thumbs up.
A young girl whom had stormed into the guild hall and demanded to be put on the front lines. She was so confident and surprisingly strong. She had only just began to make a name for herself as a quick footed swordswomen. Asuna could still remember how she selfishly gave her life to save an innocent pacifist character from dying.
A cowardly swordsman who had never wanted to fight but had been forced by his party to participate. Asuna could remember him always hiding near the back of the guild during raids. She could remember how he had saved half the guild's life by alerting them to a surprise back attack by some clever mobs.
They were saved now… they would live.
Asuna’s snapped back to reality in a flash of golden shimmers. Turning her foot she skid to a stop in the middle of the army. Her straight path quickly filled back up as characters closed in on her once more. With glittering eyes she began muttering under her breath as her resumed her attack.
With each thrust, she saved another one, with each thrust Asuna recalled another name. “Kain, Charlie, Shinji, Michael, James, Kritical, Alice, Kryss, Rose…” Soon enough tears began to mix in with the falling golden shards.
Eventually, Asuna’s attacks slowed down and she frantically looked around. “I…” she stammered, head turning this way and that as people began to cautiously move closer to her. Finally, her head snapped up towards the large red clock the continued to count down. Breaking down, Asuna fell to her knees. “I can’t save them all!” she screamed.
“You don’t have to!” Kirito screamed back. Asuna’s head perked up and she struggled to locate the direction of his voice through the sound of the clanking of metal and steel.
Through the crowd, the area littered with golden shards and the sounds of metal clashing, Kirito’s voice sounded. “You don’t have to save everyone, because we can’t,” though she couldn’t see him, she could feel the somber emotion in his words. Under the anger at Kayaba, he was probably just as torn up as her. “But at the very least… save the ones you can, save the ones you care for most.”
Another voice cut through the din. “But how will you choose, Kirito, Asuna? Of all the friends allies and people you’ve met in this world, how will you choose who to let die.”
Suddenly, several flashes of light burst through the crowd and at least a dozen character were sent flying. In the middle of the suddenly clear area around him, Kirito stood, swords outstretched in either direction and both glowing brightly.
He let out a small sigh before gritting his teeth, almost as if he already regret what he was about to say. “I don’t have to choose who to let die… because everyone here is already dead. But that doesn't mean I can’t take up your offer and choose who to save!” The glowing from his swords fading Kirito kicked off and rushed back into the fray. Unlike everyone else who had chosen to kill as many as possible, Kirito flew through the crowd with little regard to spending energy except to kill anyone directly in his way.
As the black haired swordsman’s eyes dance around in their sockets, and his head swooped back in forth, it became increasingly apparent to Kayaba, who could only smirk while he watched, what Kirito was aiming for.
“Who are you looking for Kirito!” he called out. Kirito cringed but ignored him while he continued zig zagging up and down the hallway. “Who are you so obsessed with finding? Who are you so pressed to give a second chance to?”
Kirito’s eyes continued to pass by each and every face in the crowd. “Where are they?” he muttered. “Where is she?”
“See!” called Kayaba. “Even you have someone you’re looking for. But are you sure that she’s still here?”
Skidding to a stop, Kirito’s eyes went wide. “What?” he gasped.
Back by the far wall, Kayaba shook his head sadly. “Like I said earlier there were more people here, but my experiment forced me to discard a few hundred. So… if the person you’re looking for was one of them, your search might be for nothing.”
“Shut up!”
Kayaba’s head snapped up, his mirthful smirk gone for the first time. Deep in the crowd, Kirito stood, hunched over and growling. Slowly, his blades began glowing once more in a soft yellow colour. “You gave me this chance, don’t pretend that you’re so great to just take it away… just like that. I have 25 more minutes… and I’m going to use them… whether she’s here or not.”
Several more flashes erupted from Kirito’s position, and Kayaba, wide eyed in surprise looked on. After a few seconds his smile returned, this time more empathetic than before. He lowered his head and muttered. “So be it then. I’ll wait, just as I have been.”
Shattered Light and metal sparks, battle cries and laboured breaths, all of these continued to fly through the air as the time counted down and the team struggled to save as many as they could. With each swing they fought and saved another fallen character, but with each character saved another would appear, wordlessly begging to be saved as well.
It wasn’t too long before some of the less athletic members of the team began to feel themselves taking laboured breaths. Rarity, unused to such close combat and intense physical activity, started to slug first.
Groaning, Rarity brought a hand to her face and, feeling something wet, gasped. “Girls?!” she whined jumping out of the crowd. “My make up is starting to run, how much time is left?!” With a flick of her wrist three Keyblades appeared in front of her and began spinning like buzzsaws towards the characters rushing at her.
Twilight, the magic user that she was, was second to begin huffing a bit harder. Raising a shield to block three incoming sword strikes, she was sent skidding back some.
“There are ten minutes left I think. Reflect!”
At her call a shining dome appeared around her, just in time for several more enemies to try and bum rush her. Absorbing the impacts the shield exploded outwards, sending all of them flying back. However, the amount of the energy it required caused her to take a few deep breaths afterwards. “I think we might have underestimated this a bit though,” she said, her voice raspy and out of breath.
Grabbing the sword arm of a large man, AJ swung him around, bashing him into three smaller fighters before tossing him away. Unfortunately, her toss left her wide open from behind as an assassin like character got in a quick slice across her back. Though the cut was shallow, AJ seethed in pain before turning and cutting right through her with her Keyblade.
This wasn’t the first time either that her broad fighting style had left her open to sneak attacks. Luckily, with her earthan build and thick skin, most of the cuts, though numerous, were anything but lethal. Unfortunately, they did manage to slow her down and bloody her clothes.
“There are just so many of them,” she hissed through her teeth. “By the way, has anyone seen Pinkie anywhere? Ah thought I’d at least hear her during all this.”
Deep within the crowd and fairly far from the others, Pinkamena sidestepped a stab from a young girl and, taking advantage of her opening, brought her Keyblade down on her neck, beheading her easily. With a cruel smile, Pinkamena looked around the crowd and smirked. “Oh Pinkie and I are having a wonderful time,” she muttered.
Unlike the other girls who couldn’t get the fallen fighters to back off, the fighters around Pinkamena seemed to be just a bit more hesitant about rushing her, even those from behind didn’t seem keen on attacking her so called ‘blind spots’. Over the course of the battle whenever Pinkamena wasn’t on the attack, she had a pretty clean radius around her.
Of course this only amused her further. With shocking speed she closed the gap between her and the closest character to her left. Before he even knew what hit him, her Keyblade was through his chest.
As he faded away, he looked down at Pinkamena who was chuckling. “You know… this is a nice loophole isn’t it. Normally, Keyblades can’t be used to draw blood or kill. “ She effortlessly ripped her Keyblade out of his chest, shattering him. “But this isn’t really killing now is it?”
Over in a lesser dense part of the crowd Dash came down on a helmeted man from the sky with a fierce dropkick, completely knocking his helmet off. However, the man simply shook it off and swung at her with his blade.
Dropping to the ground, Rainbow sucked her teeth, knowing that a move like that had shattered tougher looking people earlier in the fight. Keeping low to the ground, Dash leg swept everyone around her and dragged them all to her level. To her dismay, even she was starting to feel a bit tired. While she knew that under normal circumstances it'd take far more than thirty minutes if straight combat to wear her out, she was also aware that she was putting in more effort, more strength into each punch, than she normally did.
Three characters from her right side exploded into golden light, revealing Kirito behind them. Dash couldn’t help but take in a sharp gasp of air when she saw him. He was breathing very heavily, his eyes were bagged and tired, and he looked as if he could barely hold onto the swords in his hands.
“Woah, Kirito are you alright,” she asked, standing up.
Hearing her voice, Kirito’s eyes focused on her and widened. “Watch out!”
At his cry, Dash spun around just in time to see a large axe wielder bearing down on her. Blade held over his head, he began to bring it right down on her. Cursing her tired state, Dash hopped the the left. Unfortunately, the axe wielder read her move and curved his strike, aiming right towards her.
“Rachelle!” Bursting through the crowd Asuna stabbed the man in the side and shoved him away causing the axe to just miss hitting its target. The man shattered after hitting the ground.
It was immediately apparent to her that Asuna, too, was tired. Though not as tired as Kirito, she still looked bedraggled and overtaxed. But before Dash could say anything, the man lifted his head and called out over the crowd. “Regroup!”
“Wha- why?” asked Dash, looking at Kirito. Wordlessly, he sprinted away. Asuna and Dash exchanged a short confused glance before following the leader out of the crowd and towards the front hall.
It wasn’t long before everyone else had broken away from the fight to meet the trio. Twilight, though, she was the second closest to the front, was the last to arrive. Somehow even Pinkie, back to her poofy haired self, showed up before her.
Twilight hunched over and began to catch her breath, while she did, Rarity, though tired as well, looked over worriedly at Pinkie.”D-darling are you alright?”
Pinkie just nodded taking short but deep breaths. While tired, compared to the others she seemed the most physically unharmed and unexhausted. However, she did seem to be sweating a bit more than the others. Even so she still gave the group a smile. “So what now? Everyone disappears in a few more minutes. Why’d we stop?”
Kirito quickly shook his head as if he were trying to physically shake off how exhaustion. “I was wrong. I thought we could fight the entire time and take Kayaba… but I was wrong.” Craning his head the man looked at each and every face around him, all of them out of breath and sweating. “We’re running out of stamina because we underestimated the skill level of our opponents. Even though they can be taken out in one hit and act like zombies, some of them are still smart enough to strategize and defend… at least a little bit.”
He looked directly at Twilight and Applejack who were arguably the most injured out of the group. “Isn’t that right?”
Reluctantly, Twilight nodded. “Y-yes. More than once one of them blocked my attacks or snuck up behind me with surprising silence.”
Kirito let out a small sigh. “So I have a plan. Two of us will stay behind and rest for five minutes while the others continue saving the players. Kayaba is fast and he knows the game inside out, so I’d like one of you girls to go with me.”
Dash smirked. “I guess that implies that you’re one of the two who will fight?” Kirito could only give a weak smile in response.
Asuna sat a hand on Kirito’s shoulder. “Did you find who you were looking for?” she asked quietly. When Kirito failed to answer, Asuna closed her eyes and continued. “I… I don’t like this plan, I want to fight with you… but I suppose you’re right. We need someone who can’t be predicted as easily.”
Twilight lifted a hand. “I nominate Pinkie Pie then.”
AJ nodded in agreement. “If we’re gonna take Kayaba out we’ll need someone who can catch him off guard. I think Pinkie should go too.”
“I disagree,” said Kirito. “While Pinkie is unpredictable. I might need someone with a similar fighting style as me to be able to coordinate with as well as match my speed. We’ll need to overcome both his reflexes and intelligence. Personally I’d like for Rachelle to fight with me.”
Dash flinched when everyone turned to face her. “Well, I… uhhh,” she stammered, glancing worriedly at her right hand. Clenching her teeth she shook her head and threw an arm around Pinkie Pie. “N-no, I agree with Twilight,” she said, putting a strained smile on her face. “Pinkie can turn brainiacs like Kayaba insane just by being normal. If there’s anyone who can take him down it’s her.”
Kirito frowned but nodded nonetheless. “Alright then if it’s decided you guys need to go, now.”
At his command the girls ran back into the group while Kirito and Pinkie took to their knees and began resting.
As they ran forward, Twilight arched her head too look at Dash who sped past her. Time slowed as her eyes took in Dash’s state. The girl’s head was lowered and her teeth were clenched, even worse was that her Keyblade was still nowhere to be seen.
Though soon enough a tall skinny soldier entered her vision and time resumed as normal for Twilight as she went on the attack.
Back by the two in waiting, Kirito continued to brief his teammate. “You understand right, what I just told you about Kayaba and how he fights?”
Pinkie nodded energetically. “Yep! Watch out for his shield and stick to the plan!”
Kirito continued to stare at Pinkie who was fidgeting in place. Raising a quizzical brow, he opened his mouth. “Pinkie you know we’re supposed to be resting right?”
Pinkie nodded frantically, a wide grin on her face. “I know! I’m just so excited. We’re about to fight the final boss! I know I can’t use my summons but I’m still suuuuper excited.”
Kirito, while equally as anxious, couldn’t help but smile at the girls energy. “Why can’t you use them?”
Pinkie twirled a finger around in the air. “I tried, nothing I try to summon can make it into this world. It’s like our ship all over again. I can summon people to me like I can normally, and I can use Garyon’s and Tigger’s powers to help me out, but nothing much more than that.”
Kirito hummed in thought. The two rested in silence for another few seconds before, he spoke once more. “So are you and Pinkamena going to fight or is it just you?”
Near instantly, Pinkie settled down and froze. Her smile faltered before disappearing entirely as her head lowered. “N-no. We were able to have fun in the crowd but I don’t think we’d get away with it in the open.”
Kirito tilted his head. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask, why did you show her to me but not to your friends?”
“Because, Pinka doesn't want to. She wanted to fight you because you’re strong and remind her of Spike.” Pinkie shook her head. “But… there are reasons that the others can’t know about her.”
Kirito, though not fully understanding, still nodded. Noticing Pinkie’s reluctance, he decided to change the subject. So, turning his head back to the crowd, he spoke once more. “Hey… did something happen to Rachelle?”
Pinkie perked up for a second before cutely putting a finger to her lip and tilting her head back and forth. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since we made it to this floor, I haven't seen her use her weapon. She’s been going fist to fist. I’m just wondering why.”
“Hmmm, I don’t really know,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “We all met with the spirits of our Keyblades, I think. I had a lot of fun… but the others…” her mood soured once more, “they seemed upset. I don’t think they had as much fun.”
Kirito arced his eyes along the crowd until they fell on the faint colourful movement. Through the crowd he could see Dash float in the the air and deliver a spinning kick to someone's face before dropping to the ground to aggressively flip someone else over.
“I think that something happened to her, something worse than the others,” he muttered before turning to Pinkie. “After this is all over could you please bring this up to Twilight?” As Pinkie nodded, Kirito looked back up to the clock and let out a deep slow sigh.
“One minutes left, get ready,” he told her.
Slowly, Kirito’s gaze fell from the counter and met with Kayaba’s own calm look. All sound faded for Kirito and the room went grey. Soon enough, there was nothing between them, nothing else in the room even. Silently, as his anger rose, Kirito spoke to himself, telling himself that anger will not win, that desperation will slow him down. This was something that he had been telling himself for years but never truly believed. Eventually, he calmed, and the two firmly held each other’s gaze. For the first time, Kirito was able to clear his mind and see his opponent as something more than the target of his rage.
Kayaba Akihiko, a man who was once his idol and goal. A Master Programmer, an idealist and paragon of imagination, and most importantly, the man who let Kirito live when he had his blade at Kirito’s throat. Finally, in this room, he was the final challenge, a challenge that Kirito had no other option but to meet. With a single blink, all of the sound returned and the clock hit zero.
With five minutes left on the clock, both he and Pinkie nearly vanished from their spot and tore through the crowd of players at top speed easily tearing through everyone in their path.
With a turret of golden fragments behind him, Kirito broke through the crowd first and lept at Kayaba, one sword raised to strike with the other one held horizontally in front of him.
Kayaba simply smirked and with equal speed, he drew his sword and shield, taking a battle stance with his shield held outwards to block the incoming attack.
To Kirito’s surprise, Kayaba retracted his shield at the last second and parried with a swing of his blade.
The force of their blades clashing knocked Kirito out of the air and sent him skidding back a few feet. Seeing Kirito’s shocked look, Kayaba spoke. “Don’t look so surprised, even I know to change how I fight. Plus, I feel like I going to need my shield for something else.”
Suddenly, Kayaba spun around and slammed his thick shield into Pinkie Pie whom had been sneaking up on him. As the air was forcibly knocked out of her lungs, Pinkie found herself flying backwards. “I’ve seen how you fight, young miss. From the time you entered, and every attack you’ve done.”
Coughing for a second, Pinkie rose her head with a mischievous smirk. “If you did then you probably would’ve moved by now.”
Realization coursed through Kayaba’s mind and he leapt out of the way before even looking down. In his wake, an explosion rang out.
Before he could even reassert his stance Kirito rushed him, swords swinging furiously. Unbalanced, Kayaba couldn’t help but continuously take steps back while struggling to maneuver his shield to block Kirito’s rapid attacks. Unlike before, Kirito didn’t have a face filled with rage, wide eyes and clenched teeth. This time his eyes were calm and cold. As Kayaba soon found, each of Kirito’s attacks, his left diagonal strikes, his horizontal attacks, sideswipes, roundhouse swings and even faints, all of them were deliberately aimed to make him maneuver his shield as much as possible.
Kayaba as he was being pushed back, couldn’t help but be impressed. However, impressed as he was, Kayaba wasn’t going to back down any further.
Stomping his back leg down firmly, Kayaba shot forward and body slammed Kirito with his shield, stopping the onslaught. With Kirito now the one unbalanced, his blades forced against his body, Kayaba rose his blade to stab the boy past his shield.
As Kayaba thrust forward, Kirito disappeared. Wasting no time in being surprised, Kayaba twisted his body around to put his shield between him and an attack by Pinkie Pie. As her strike skid harmlessly down his barrier, Kirito rushed his other side.
Kayaba crouched and hopped out from between them, leaving them to meet in the middle. Taking the opportunity, he counterattacked by trying to sweep his blade across both of their guts.
“Pinkie do it now!” Kirito called. Crossing his blade the man stopped Kayaba’s blade cold while Pinkie rushed him. However, as soon as her blade touched his shield, an explosion of confetti rang out. While the confetti itself was harmless, the force of the explosion did carry some weight.
The boss immediately backed away from the explosion and readied his defense. Turning to his left he reacted just in time to catch Pinkie’s blade. From its touch another, more dense explosion rang out, littering the area with such dense flighty pieces of square paper that Kayaba found himself comparing it to an effective smoke screen.
A shift of his shield to the right caught two of Kirito’s strikes, one half turn of his body let him block Pinkie, who provided another dose of confetti screen. A complete spin, a ninety degree sharp turn, a duck of his head. At this point, without being able to see or counterattack, it was all Kayaba could do to dodge the fast attacks. And while Kayaba was able to more or less track the duo’s movements through the paper his reaction times were slowly become less effective as the their attacks increased in both speed and occurance. Not mention the repeated explosions were slowly whittling his health away with indirect damage. With every turn he made, the gamemaster found himself taking more and more steps back… until…
*Clank*
To his immediate shock, Kayaba heard and felt his armour clang against the metal walls of the corridor. In his defence, the man had completely forgotten his spacial reasoning and lost track of himself in the room.
Out of the screen, low to the ground, Kirito came up at him with a diagonal slash. Just barely able to block it, Kayaba was sent skidding, right towards Pinkie who was coming down with an upwards slash.
Kirito watched as Kayaba looked upward at the incoming attack. He could see it in the man's eyes, he knew. With his back completely turned and lowered, he had no room to dodge, no time to move his shield. Kirito grinned victoriously. They had him.
The man grinned and, just before Pinkie’s Keyblade could connect with his skull, he tapped the bottom of his shield onto the ground. The object let out a shining light before letting out a shining explosion that dwarfed Pinkie’s.
Both the girl, the boy, and all the confetti were shoved backwards as an invisible wave coursed from the man’s shield in all directions with him the center. While Pinkie, light at she was, flew through the air, Kirito instead dug his blades into the ground to stop himself.
As the mysterious force subsided Kirito was left gaping. “What the hell was that?” he muttered.
Kayaba chuckled. “My first trump card and a little something that you all inspired. I’ve given my shield the ability to store the kinetic energy of your attacks and even release in all directions at my command. Thanks to your attacks I have quite a lot saved up actually, I’m sure you can see where this idea comes from.”
Pinkie, half a yard away, picked her face up off the floor and glowered at Kayaba. “You stole Twilight’s move?! That’s cheating!”
Kayaba went from a chuckle to nearly full blown laughter. “Y-young miss, please. If this is cheating than Kirito would have to lay down one of his weapons as well.”
Kirito glared at him. “What? Why?”
Kayaba nodded his head towards Kirito. “Where do you think your dual wield ability came from? Before your friend arrived I had never even considered letting a character wield two blades that aren't daggers, but after seeing… Spike, was it? After seeing him I was convinced. And who better to test it than the man with the fastest reaction time.”
Kirito opened his mouth to respond, but Kayaba continued. “But nevertheless that is irrelevant. You’ve managed to harm me somewhat and make me use my first trump card. So, let’s start the second round shall we.”
“Pinkie Pie come on!”
“Got it!”
Once again at his call the duo rushed forward, Pinkie going straight for him while Kirito arced around to the left. Being faster, Kirito closed in first, rushing at him with a quick swipe that Kayaba parried with his blade. On his other side, Pinkie came in with a similar attack, but just as he rose his shield to block, Pinkie vanished and a large gash appeared across his chest.
Reacting instantly, another kinetic blast shot out, knocking Kirito away and blasting Pinkie out of her quicksilver state and away from him as well.
Recovering fairly quickly, Kirito rushed him again. Kayaba, for his part, kept most of his sight on Pinkie as she recovered soon after and hung back. While she did, Kayaba focused his remaining attention on Kirito who was now trying his damndest to stay on his right side, away from his shield.
Then, Pinkie vanished and Kayaba’s shield activated sending Kirito skidding back. Pinkie was still nowhere to be seen, telling Kayaba that she was moving around outside of his shield’s range. His mind raced, wondering where she was and what she was up to.
Kirito rushed him once more, unfortunately, despite his efforts some of his attacks did bounce off of Kayaba’s shield, causing him to silently curse himself. Spinning around, Kirito lowered himself to try and get in a surprise leg sweep under the shield.
Kayaba, ever the genius simply braced his legs and stopped Kirito’s leg cold against his armour. With Kirito’s leg stopped, Kayaba rose his blade and stabbed down at his nearly prone form. Crossing his blades, Kirito blocked the tip of Kayaba’s even as he pushed him to the ground.
“Well this is precarious position,” muttered Kayaba, pushing further, “I wonder what the force of my reflect shield would do to you in this state.” At his words the shield began to glow more brightly than before, almost as if it was charging.
Kirito, sweating a little bit, called out. “Pinkie are you done yet?”
Pinkie blurred into the visible spectrum a few yards away huffing and puffing slightly. “Yeah, I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Now, now! Do it now!” Kirito screamed as the light reached blinding levels
“Jeeze,” scoffed Pinkie. Hey Keyblade began glowing with a faint pink colour just as Kayaba’s shield erupted, sending out the mother of all shockwaves that cratered the ground and staggered even the army and the girls still fighting on the other side of the room.
When the wave faded, Kayaba frowned at the sight of Kirito now standing by Pinkie Pie instead of smashed into the ground. However, in the span of an eye blink Kirito was gone and he was being lurched forward. Craneing his head, his eyes widened when he realised that Kirito had somehow gotten behind him and had slashed him across his armoured back.
In his shock, Kayaba released another large blast from his shield. Unfortunately, the action was repeated with Kirito somehow dodging the initial burst and reappearing by his side to get in a hit on his arm.
Kayaba’s mind raced until it finally found a conclusion. This time keeping an eye on Pinkie who was holding her Keyblade with both hands outright, the weapon glowing intently, Kayaba released another blast. Like he expected, Kirito vanished and reappeared next to Pinkie before disappearing again.
“What a troublesome ability,” he muttered before spinning around and raising his shield in anticipation. “But predictable,” he said, just as there was a small flash of light.
Kayaba found himself with a face full of strawberry cake, forcing him to stagger and allowing Kirito to reappear behind him once more, his blade raised to strike.
His mirthful and confident attitude now gone, Kayaba growled and the cake shattered. “Enough of these games!” Releasing another blast, Kirito vanished, however unlike before, Kayaba moved, darting towards Pinkie while continuing to release waves of force from his shield that had sent Kirito flying away when he tried to attack.
It was only a matter of seconds before he was on Pinkie, blade raised to strike her down.
He grinned once more as his broadsword clashed against her Keyblade. Almost effortlessly, he was able to start overpowering the already drained girl. ”I’ve studied you,” he hissed, “I know you can’t move yourself, only others. You are defenceless.”
Pinkie, though she strained under his weight, could still smile. “Yeah, I guess that’s about right, but I can be a smartypants too you know!”
And suddenly, she was gone, Kayaba’s sword smashed to the ground and the point of Kirito’s black blade tore through his chest from behind. Kayaba gaped until his gaze fell to the floor where a balloon shaped keyhole sat. His eyes then arced up to see Pinkie a ways away on her knees completely out of breath.
His eyes widening he frantically examined his armour to see a balloon shaped keyhole on his shoulder pad. Staring at it for a few seconds, Kayaba could only laugh.
Craning his head to look behind him his gaze met Kirito’s. “I see, I underestimated you two. And for that… I must apologize. I think you deserve a much better final boss than what I’ve provided here today. You’ll find the terminal to end the game behind that door behind me. As the victor, only you may enter.”
Kirito narrowed his eyes. “Kayaba… there’s more to life than just this game… you are a human, just like me. Don’t you remember? Remember what it’s like to not live your life in a video game?”
Kayaba smirked and closed his eyes. Slowly, his body began to dissipate in black and red digital fragments. “Unfortunately… I don’t.” And with that, his body shattered in a field of crystals and fragments.
A few seconds later the clock at the top of the room also hit zero. And, like Kayaba said, the army in it’s entirely exploded in a shower of crimson red fragments. With them gone, the group all darted towards Pinkie and Kirito.
The girls made their way to Pinkie Pie first, who was laying flat on the ground.
“Pinkie!” cried Twilight, Rarity right behind her. Falling to her knees, Twilight lent down and gently lifted Pinkie’s head and cradled it. “A-are you alright? You didn’t over tax your magic did you?”
Pinkie gave a weak smile and an even weaker thumbs up before falling asleep on the dot. For the first time in her life, Twilight was able to see a completely drained Pinkie Pie, and she could only give a relieved grin at the sight.
“Is she alright?” asked Rarity leaning over the two.
Twilight her eyes having began to water, nodded. “Yes, she’s fine. Just exhausted. How about Kirito?”
Rarity giggled into her hand, a wry smile on her face. “Jackie and Rachelle are going to him right now, but I think they’ll have to wait for a second.”
Blushing, Dash could only look away at the sight of Asuna tackling Kirito to the ground and giving him a deep kiss. When he finally broke free, Asuna then wrapped him in a tight embrace.
“Thank god, I was so worried!” she cried.
Kirito, also blushing, looked from her to a chuckling AJ to Dash whom had turned away before returning his gaze to Asuna who was silently shedding tears of relief. “I-it’s alright, Asuna, I’m right here. I’m fine unless you want to finish me off with hugs.”
Asuna let out a weak chuckle before lifting her head from his chest and looking up at him. “So, what do we do now?” she asked, wiping her eyes.
Kirito, standing up alongside her, gestured with a finger to the door behind them. “Kayaba said the master controls are in there and that once I go in and claim victory, everyone will be released.”
Asuna nodded and almost ran towards the door. However, to her surprise, the door refused to open. “W-what’s wrong with it?” she frowned.
Kirito, Twilight with Pinkie on her back and the others all walked up to the door. When Kirito came close a screen opened up in front of him. “It says, ‘Proceed to the end?’ I guess he was right, only I can go in.”
Asuna gaped and glowered. “What?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kirito grinned. “Once I go in and stop the game, I’ll come straight back here. Then, like I promised a long time ago, I’ll find you on the other side.”
Asuna prodded him in his chest. “You’d better. We probably look all malnourished in the other side,” she chuckled. “I want to see your face one more time over here. Also, drink a potion, you look like crap.”
AJ let out a sexy wolf whistle that sent the entire group into a fit of good natured laughter. Even Pinkie, completely knocked out, gave a few weak giggles.
Turning around, Kirito took out a sparkling potion and gave it a drink. Miraculously, his body shined and his health was entirely restored. Now feeling a bit better, Kirito pressed the button on the screen in front of him.
Immediately, the door opened showering the group with cool wind and golden light. Twisting his body, Kirito smiled at the girls. “I just want to thank all of you, one more time, nothing in the world could repay how much you all have helped me.”
AJ just scoffed, “Don’t worry about it! Hurry up and get everyone home.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “Just knowing that you and everyone else is safe is repayment enough for me personally.
Kirito nodded and stepped forward and through the door. The door silently began closing behind him as he did.
“Rachelle hold on a--”
Kirito turned around just in time to see the door shut completely. Raising a brow, he hesitantly turned back to see Dash hovering in front of him at eye level.
Surprised, Kirito staggered backwards. “W-what are you... How did you get in here?
Dash shrugged, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Hey I missed out on the final battle, I at least wanna see what the winner’s circle looks like. Consider that to be payment for my help.”
Kirito just rolled his eyes and moved forward. “Alright then, come on. I can’t exactly tell you to go back.”
Following Kirito down a hall the two came upon a large set of stairs.
“More stairs? Why?” asked Dash, crossing her arms in annoyance.
Kirito paid them no mind and began climbing them as normal. “Well we are still on floor ninety-nine. I guess it makes sense that the top of the tower is the winning point. Let’s go.”
As Dash gently floated up the stairs next to him, she looked at him curiously. “Why are you so serious? You won, shouldn’t you be excited?”
Kirito did smile, but the serious atmosphere remained. “I am happy, but I won’t be relaxed until I can feel like I’m in my own body again. The real question is what’s wrong with you?”
Dash flinched slightly. “Wha-what do you mean?”
“Pinkie told me how you guys met with your Keyblades,” he said, glancing at her. “Did something happen with your’s? You haven't used it at all.”
“W-well so what? I knew I could take those guys on with my hands. I-It was a challenge to myself alright.”
Kirito hummed. “If that’s what you say. If you wanna make yourself weaker, I’m not gonna stop you.”
“Shut up, I can take you on bare handed!” she growled putting herself in his face.
Kirito let out a low chuckle and moved past her. “You keep telling yourself that.” Before she could respond, Kirito stopped and stared at her with a serious look. “I don’t know what happened in your encounter, but it’s not my place to fix it. If something’s bothering you, please… talk to your friends.”
With that, Kirito continued up the stairs, leaving, dash to stare at the ground solemnly in thought. Lowering herself to the ground, she ran to catch up with him.
Soon enough, the two of them were able to make out a shining golden light at the end. Glancing at one another the two rushed towards the light and came out shielding their eyes with their arms.
Finally adjusted, the two gasped at the sight of beautiful clouds illuminated golden by the setting sun. Below them was a transparent floor showing the vast earth of Aincrad’s world beneath them. Rolling green fields and vibrant towns were all visible under the floor.
While Kirito was looking down, Dash was gaping at the wide open sky, her wings appearing nearly instinctively. “It’s amazing,” she muttered. “I wanna go out there and fly so badly!”
She nearly did until she felt a hand on her head and force her down. “Hold on there. I don’t want you getting lost.”
Dash slapped it away. “Whatever, I’m not a child. Where is this thing you’re here for.”
“Right here.”
At the sound of another voice, everything went dark, the sun faded and the clouds around them turned black. The two warriors fell to their knees when the entire platform began shaking fiercely. Under the floor the clouds closed, hiding away the towns and forests and shutting the two into what seems like a black abyss.
Near the other side of the platform and in the direction of the voice stood a single pedestal, the terminal hovering in a holographic screen above it. However, in the air above that the black and red fragments from before appeared and began gathering together.
“Kayaba!” Kirito yelled as the fragments formed into The red armoured mad man from before. “What are you doing! You lost!”
Kayaba, floating in the air, let out a mad laugh, completely unlike his usual calm chuckle. “And what kind of final boss would I be if I didn't have a final form, Kirito! Welcome to Floor 100, the final showdown.”
Kirito drew his blade while Dash stood up. “You’re insane! Let it go!”
Kayaba glared at him his smirk vanishing. “I’m not insane, Kirito, I’m dissatisfied. I’m dissatisfied with how things turned out. I wanted to duel you fairly. That’s what I’ve always wanted since the first time we crossed blades. But you had to rely on tricks and your friends. And while I commend your strategy, I simply can’t give up without one last try, so I told you to come alone.”
Kayaba pointed a rigid finger at Dash, who glared in response. “But here we are, and you still have one of them with you. Well that’s alright. She’ll enjoy what I have to showcase. Afterall…”
From his body exploded a luminous golden light, forcing the duo to cover theirs in order to see. By the time the light faded, their jaws fell and they gave a sharp gasp at the sight of Kayaba Akihiko’s final form.
The man hovered angelically as he once more donned his shield. Though this time his normal broadsword was replaced with a golden ornate longblade. Kirito could see the word Excalibur written along the side of it and realized that it was the legendary blade.
Unlike his earlier armour the one he wore now was pure white to match his shield, the armour itself even radiated a small amount of light as well. However, what had gotten the most attention from the two were the two angelic wings spread from his back. Unlike Dash’s wings these were completely physical.
“It’s her power that created this.”
“You bastard!” she cursed, glaring daggers at his new appendages.
“Rachelle summon your Keyblade!” ordered Kirito, his eyes wide and frantic.
She looked up at him hesitation written all over her features. “B-but I--”
He turned to face her and put his palm on her shoulder. She could feel his palms shaking even as he looked into his eyes. “I can’t do this without you, please!”
He gave a strained grin and continued, “I-I’ll be honest because there’s no time. I’m scared. I know you are too, not of him, but I can see it. But no matter what it is we can deal with it later. I need you at your best or we’ll both die here.”
Dash looked up at him eyes, speechless, then down at her right hand. Clenching it she shrugged Kirito off and took a deep breath. Holding her hand out, she concentrated and soon, light of all colours began began emitting from her palm. In a prismatic flash, her Keyblade appeared and she took her stance, a cocky grin on her face.
“You can be a scaredy cat later, Kir,” she called. “We can take him on our own!”
Seeing her cocky again allowed Kirito himself to smile as well. Taking his normal stance, he too got ready to fight. “You know, I keep ending up telling you and Spike the same thing. Don’t ever call me that again!”
Dash and Kirito both braced themselves for the final battle atop the platform in the sky.
“I hope you two are truly ready,” muttered Kayaba. His eyes began began glowing a violet colour as several blades identical to his his appeared above him and spread out, forming a fan of golden metal over his head. “Because I won’t underestimate you this time around!”
Metal clashed in mid air as Dash charged at Kayaba. He grinned as their weapons locked against each other in mid air.
His confident look only irritated her further.
Calling on her magic, Dash began channeling lightning into her weapon. Seeing what was happening, Kayaba broke off and ordered several of his floating swords to swing at her.
Gracefully circling around the blades, Dash quickly tried to close the distance between them. Unfortunately, one sudden pulse from his shield sent her spiraling backwards through the air.
Grinning victoriously as he watched her recover, Kayaba pointed the tip of his blade at her. “I know all about your particular brand of magic and the glitches they cause,” stated Kayaba. “And I watched your fight, so I know full well what you could be capable of. I will take no chances in this battle.”
Raising his shield, Kayaba deflected several small black daggers from below where Kirito stood.
“If that’s true. then you won’t forget you’re fighting two of us,” called Kirito, giving Kayaba a taunting smirk,
Floating backwards a bit to bring them both in his line of sight, Kayaba chuckled. “I had intended to have the height advantage in this fight. So forgive me if I need to adjust my initial strategy in this battle. But don’t worry, Kirito… I won’t leave you out of the fun.”
With a nod of his head, several large golden blades appeared behind him, tips pointed down towards Kirito and causing him to flinch back. Like bullets they sped towards him, more swards appearing in their place and following suit.
“Kirito!” yelled Dash.
Bracing themselves, Kirito immediately reacted, swiping each and every blade out of the air. Like he suspected, this was a copy of Rarity’s ability, the blades being thrown at him were fast agile but brittle and could be knocked away if fast enough.
And Kirito was certainly fast enough to slash at every single blade in front of him. However, in his distraction, he couldn’t have noticed the four or five weapons that divulged from the wave to arc around to strike at his back.
Flying down from the sky, a loud thunderous sound lightning trail following her decent, Dash crashed into the ground behind Kirito and released a wave of electricity with a swing of her blade. Electrified and short circuiting, the blades cracked and vanished.
Not finished yet, Dash raced around to Kirito’s front and swung again, her blade clashing with several of the ones aimed at Kirito. As they were knocked away, electricity coursed through the blades even as they touched others. Like a deadly virus, bolts of electricity began leaping from one to another, freezing them all in place. Before long, the entire onslaught shattered at once, showering the two in ethereal sparks of residual shimmering data.
Kayaba looked on curiously. “Interesting. So the glitch can travel by touch like a virus then. I’ll have to be on my guard.”
Twisting her body around, Dash held out her arm and called out. “Kirito!”
Hearing her, Kirito took hold of her hand. With a kneeling start, Dash bolted upwards into the air with the swordsman in tow. Utilizing the same maneuver that she and AJ were accustomed to, she spun in the air and chucked Kirito directly at Kayaba.
The man flew at staggering speed, clashing with Kayaba who barely had enough time to block the attack.
Glancing to the side, Kayaba willed several blades to guard his back just as Dash came at him from behind. Looking back and forth, Kayaba smirked and released a strong kinetic wave from his shield. Both warriors were sent stumbling and crashing to the ground.
Going on the attack, Kayaba dove towards where Dash had been sent tumbling. Slamming his shield into her gut and releasing another shockwave, the poor girl was sent rocketing into the distance.
Now with her gone, Kayaba turned to leer at Kirito before diving towards him at full speed. Holding out his blade, Kayaba slashed at him with a vicious arcing falcon dive that Kirito could only dodge within a hairs width. Soaring back into the air, he wasted no time in coming back down at the fighter.
Knowing he couldn’t possibly block an attack coming at him at that speed, Kirito could only dodge once again. However, this time he didn’t make it out of the attack unscathed. A second blade sliced down his back.
Grunting in pain, Kirito immediately shook off the attack and stood strong even as Kayaba hovered high above him.
With a flick of his head, blades appeared all around Kirito forming a veritable sphere of metal that hovered over Kirito’s head. In a flurry of motion and speed the blades shot at him like bullets. Blurred movements were barely visible under the hail of sparks shooting out as Kirito successfully parried each and every one of them. The exchange lasted only a few seconds but for Kayaba’s critical eye it lasted minutes as he analyzed Kirito’s amazing movements.
“You know… even now I’m in awe of your reaction time,” muttered Kayaba. “Being able to send signals from your brain to your limbs at an almost instantaneous rate is certainly something few people in this game can do even with the help of the NerveGear.”
Kirito let out a scream of pain as another golden blade shot out from the ground and tore itself up across his chest.
Taking this opportunity, Kayaba flew down and slammed Kirito to the ground, his sword to the man’s throat.
“But even you cannot dodge what you cannot see.”
Kirito could only glare at his foe, his eyes burning with rage and the will to fight even as he lay helpless on his back. “At least I fight with my own strength. You’re only winning because you’re stealing Rarity’s moves.”
Kayaba closed his eyes and shrugged. “That may be, but what kind of final boss would I be if I made it easy for you.” Done talking, Kayaba rose his blade to strike down.”
“You asshole!”
Taken by surprise, Kayaba leapt off of Kirito and swung his blade instead to knock away the electrified Keyblade that was flying at him. As the Keyblade flew off in a different direction, the man flinched as his sword glitched with electricity. He quickly released it, though not without losing a nice portion of his health.
Before he could summon another blade, Dash sped towards him and slammed her fist into his shield. To his surprise, the force of her blow sent them both skidding backwards through the air.
Coming to a stop, Dash retracted her fist and cocked it once more for a second blow, this time crackling with strong magic.
Frowning, Kayaba and released another blast to force her back. “You’re such a distraction!” he hissed as she tumbled away.
Now used to the force of the attack, Dash spun to a recovery right next to where Kirito was healing up with a potion.
“Welcome back,” he snarked, letting the empty bottle in his hand disappear. “So you got a plan?”
Dash merely smirked and flipped him the bird. “Shut up.”
Kayaba grinned and lowered himself closer to the ground just above head level. Holding out his arm he began summoning another blade to replace his. “Well this is a perfect example of me not able to go easy on you.”
Hearing a hissing noise, Kayaba’s own reflexes forced him to turn around, his shield aimed at the incoming attack. Unfortunately, that was his undoing as the previously thrown Keyblade slammed into his shield.
The man’s eyes went wide as he watched his own prized shield glitch and begin to crepitate. Gritting his teeth, he reluctantly let go of the shield and turned his gaze away as it exploded into a shower of date before hitting the floor.
Reaching out her arm, Dash snatched her weapon out of the air.
Kayaba, his grin gone now, glared at the duo. Silently, he summoned a second blade and, now dual wielding, dove at the two.
However, as the two readied their blades, Kayaba acred upwards at the last second and soared high above the heads of his enemies.
Upon reaching the apex of his accession, he spread his angelic wings wide.
“What’s wrong Kayaba!” yelled Dash. “Not having fun with your game anymore?”
While the girl was taunting, Kirito kept his eyes on the man above him, wondering what he was up to.
With a single sudden flap of his wings a wind chilling gust spread out from them. The sudden force shoved both fighters back some. Continuing to flap his wings, Kayaba quickly turned the area into a storm room complete with howling winds and gathering storm clouds.
“Oh hell no!” screamed Dash. Spreading her own wings, Dash pushed through the wind towards Kayaba only to be stopped by multiple blades appearing in front of her. Even when she tried to dodge them, more appeared wherever she flew. All of them would do nothing but constantly force her to cease her advance. Finally, enough swords appeared to create a full on mid air barricade between her and Kayaba.
Finally, fed up with the intrusions, Dash swung her blade and sent a wave of thunder along the flying swords, shattering all of them, Unfortunately, it was too late.
With one final flap, all of the winds gusting around the area began circling in the center. Within seconds, a full on hurricane formed in the middle of the room.
Kirito stabbed one of his blade into the ground in an attempt to keep himself from being dragged into the torrent of winds while Dash, however, could only grin.
“Ha! You think you can beat me with this weak ass breeze. I’m an Avian! You’ll need more tha- ack!” Trying to speed up to Kayaba past the winds, Dash could only stagger forwards in the air, her effort only serving to send a stiff dull pain up and down her body.
She cursed to herself, realizing that her fatigue and injuries were finally starting to catch up to her. While she hadn’t used any magic recently, she had been using a lot of physical energy since she arrived on the 98th floor. And even though normal flying at regular speeds for her took little to no real energy or magic, trying to force herself to speed against these raging winds served as a reminder of what physical energy she actually had left.
Needless to say, it took almost all she had to simply stay balanced against the winds.
Using this to his advantage, Kayaba cut through the gales like they weren’t even in there. Barely able to angle herself without losing her arial balance, Dash blocked Kayaba’s first incoming down swipe. Not done, Kayaba came at her with a myriad of slash attacks. All of which served only to make it more difficult for Dash to keep her balance in the air.
Down on the ground, Kirito could only glower at the sight of Kayaba attacking his friend and at his own helplessness. Stabbing his other blade into the ground and reaching into his jacket, Kirito took out a few black daggers. Activating a dagger skill the weapons began glowing.
Reeling back, Kirito shot them into the air. Like the skill was meant to do, all of the daggers honed in on Kayaba’s form. Sadly, like he feared, the winds were too strong and the daggers evidently fell into the raging hurricane.
Clenching his teeth, Kirito tightened his grip on his blades and tore one out of the ground. Activating another skill, Kirito let his blades glow a darkened magenta colour before tearing his other blade from the ground and jumping into the hurricane.
Up into the air, Dash continued to defend herself against Kayaba’s onslaught. Only now it could be seen that she had more than a few bruises and cuts where she couldn’t defend herself. Even worse was that since her attention was split between defense and balance, her attack speed also suffered. Several times she tried to fight back with either a normal attack or a magic infused one and Kayaba would read it easily.
“Damn it!” she cursed to herself as another attack slammed into the Keyblade guarding her side.
Coming at her with another downward swing with his blade, Kayaba finally smirked again. “You aren’t a very good flier are you? You can barely keep yourself steady.”
“Screw you!” Dash yelled, blocking the attack. “I’m the best flier you’ve ever seen. And you’d know it if you weren't cheating.” Taking a chance, Dash deflected the blow away and tried counterattacking with a strong downward swipe of her own.
“This is my game, young lady,” he snarked dodging the strike with a graceful spin through the air. Taking advantage of a successful taunt, Kayaba slammed his leg into the girl's gut. “You’re the one cheating!”
Letting out a gasp from the impact, Dash tumbled backwards completely unable to right herself before falling into the hurricane.
Kayaba’s grin grew. Now that both of them had been sucked in by the winds he would begin using his final trump card. With a snap of his fingers a several golden blades appeared behind her and with another snap, all of them shattered into several dozen razor sharp shards. However, before Kayaba could release them into the hurricane, a shockwave of black energy slammed into him from above. The force of the blow succeeded in shattering both a ton of his health and his concentration on the shards of metal, the latter returning to data from whence it came.
Head snapping upwards, he looked up just in time to see Kirito riding the winds near the top of the hurricane.
Blades glowing, Kirito spun around the outer section of the winds until he circled back towards Kayaba, as he passed by, the man swung his blades, letting loose another blade beam attack downwards.
Kayaba crossed his blades and blocked the attack. Though the force of it knocked him back some, his health remained the same.
Looking back up, Kayaba watching as Kirito finally built up enough momentum to escape from the hurricanes suction and fling himself towards Kayaba.
A warriors scream came from Kirito's throat as he slammed his blades into Kayaba's, forcing both to crash in to the ground.
With Kayaba down, the winds immediately vanished, leaving Dash tumbling to the floor as well.
Shaking her head, the girl tried to lift herself from the ground, but found it to be increasingly difficult. Arms shaking, she struggled to even push herself to her knees. Every inch off of the ground found her sucking in large gulps of air.
Looking down, Dash glared at the Keyblade still in her hands. “So what now? Are you gonna let me unlock some secret move to beat this guy?” She gave a small mirthful grin at her Keyblade before finally pushing herself to her feet.
Meanwhile, Kayaba’s eyes shrank into pinpricks at the man standing over him. To his sides, both of his wings were pinned to the ground by Kirito’s blades.
Above him, Kirito stood tall, his hair blown back as Kayaba’s wings exploded into radiant azure shards.
“Maybe now we can have a fair fight,” muttered Kirito, yanking out his blades and taking several steps back. “This game is called Sword Art Online, remember.”
Shaking his head, Kayaba turned over and brought himself to his knees. “You know,” he responded his voice low, “you’re all too right. I think we’ve strayed a bit too far from what I originally created this game to be. Honestly… I guess that’s my fault.” Sticking a sword into the ground Kayaba brought himself to his feet once more.
“But you know what?” Closing his eyes, Kayaba took a deep breath. Releasing it, he looked into the dark sky above them. “I guess it’s time to fix that.”
Behind him a few yards away from the two Dash’s eyes shrank at the sight of a blade silently materializing behind Kirito’s back. Seeing her friend in mortal danger, the girl dug deep into her soul and called on even more energy.
Adrenaline answered her call and before she knew it, she found herself flying down the path towards Kirito, injuries and fatigue forgotten.
Dash grit her teeth as the blade moved closer to Kirito’s neck. Acting on instinct, she chucked her Keyblade, surging with electrical energy towards the ominous blade. Upon knocking it out, she grinned, believing she had saved her friend.
However, her expression vanished when she noticed that Kayaba had also given a smirk of victory. Before her eyes another blade appeared directly in her path, mere inches from the center of her chest.
Kirito could only barely turn his head in time to watch as his dear friend and saviour impale herself on the golden blade that even she could not dodge at full speed.
“Rachelle!” he screamed running towards her as her body fell to the ground. He cringed at the sound of her body hitting the floor, limp and bloody. Fear in his wide eyes, he could just see her shattering into pieces like so many of his friends and allies have.
Snapping out of his daze, he skid to a stop in front of three more blades that appeared in front of him.
“Ah, ah, ahh, don’t make the same mistake,” Kayaba chuckled. Kirito slowly turned around, his eyes wide and twitching. Chewing his bottom lip, he struggled to contain the rage boiling within him.
Kayaba’s low chuckling began growing into loud uproarious laughter. “Finally. Ah yes now… NOW we can finally have our destined fight.” Behind Kirito, the blades blocking his path clattered to the ground and shattered.
Dropping his second blade, another, more plain looking long shield appeared in his grip. Kayaba pointed his blade’s tip towards Kirito. “The distractions are gone, the tricks have ceased. Now, it’s just you, me, and our blades, as it should have been.”
“You didn’t have to kill her!” Kirito shouted, the cork on his anger loosening rapidly.
Kayaba scoffed and shrugged. “No, I didn’t. They were interesting, I’ll admit. So much to learn and much more data to analyze. The girl over there is a particularly interesting player. So emotionally unstable, and with such confusion and self doubt hidden under that tough façade.”
He glanced over at her prone form, at the blood slowly pooling on the ground under her. “Her emotion levels in particular were marveling enough to study for hours. But there are others. And now that I think about it, if I capture that young one, Pinkie I believe, I can keep them here to study for as long as I please.”
“I thought you wanted the game to end!” Kirito screamed. His face scrunching in sheer fury.
“I thought you could give me an ending!” Kayaba screamed back. The room went silent, save for a single sigh from Kayaba. “I was bored, so very bored. You were the only thing I could look forwards to--THIS BATTLE was the only thing I looked forward to. But in the end, you didn’t give me an ending.”
Kayaba’s grin grew, no longer one of calm malice and confident outlook. His wide and unnatural grin gave him a new appearance. Now he appeared on the outside exactly as Kirito had seen him to be in his mind, insane.
“You’ve given me something new. It’s time for the big update, Kirito! I’m revitalizing this game!” he yelled, spreading his arms wide. “The people need a reason to keep fighting? I’ll give them a reason, I’ll give them--”
His words were cut short as a deafening sound pierced the area. A familiar sound to every human but not one heard in such a long time. Kayaba turned his head turned to see his left arm, from shoulder down, flying off in a shower of blood red pixels.
Both he and Kirito turned to see Dash on her knees, breathing heavily and one eye closed. Held out in front of her with both hands was her smoking rifle, Spiral.
“You… you talk too much, I was aiming for your head,” she coughed, blood dripping from her mouth.”
“A― a gun?” Kayaba gasped in fear. Immediately, a second shot slammed into and through his chest, sending him flying backwards onto his back.
Groaning from the pain of the recoils impact, Dash spat out a wad of blood. Her breath coming in short breathes she bent over and coughed once again. “And who the hell are you calling… emo… emotionally unsta… ble.” eyes glazing over, Dash fell to the ground and dropped the gun. Upon hitting the ground Spiral glowed and vanished much like her Keyblade.
His grip tightening, Kirito fought the urge to run towards her. Not letting the chance go to waste, he dropped his white blade and let out a pained fury filled scream as he ran towards Kayaba’s defenseless form.
Jumped into the air the angered man stabbed his black blade down onto Kayaba, completely erasing whatever health he had left.
Kayaba let out a silent yell as Kirito’s blade sunk into his body. He could do nothing but watch his health bar vanish from his sight.
Above him, Kirito’s grip loosened and his arm began trembling. “Please… this time stay gone… let the game end. Let this nightmare die.”
Hearing, Kirito’s pleading done, Kayaba’s eyes went wide. After a second of silence, Kayaba closed his eyes and relaxed on the ground. “Maybe I did slip a bit there… but there’s nothing to do now. The game will release everyone. Everyone down stairs will be transported here as well so you all can say your goodbyes. I’ve lost.” He cracked one more grin. “Even if you did cheat to beat me.”
And with that Kayaba shattered into millions of vibrant crimson shards. Shimmering, and gleaming, the shards of the final boss flittered up into the rapidly clearing skies before twinkling out of view entirely.
Before all of the shards could vanish, Kirito let go of his blade and rushed to Rachelle’s side. Gently, he turned her over and cradled her head on his lap. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her front nearly entirely covered in blood. However, upon picking her up, he let out a sigh at the feeling of her slow shallow breathing.
Taking out a dagger, Kirito didn’t hesitate on ripping open her shirt and revealing the sports bra beneath. He gave a weak smile at the smile of nothing but a large gash tearing through her upper right chest and shoulder, missing anything vital.
Reasoning she must have used her insane reflexes to shift to the left at the last moment to dodge, he quickly began applying pressure to the wound and ripping the shirt into a makeshift bandage. Knowing that simple first aid wouldn’t save her from blood loss his only thought was to slow it enough for Twilight and the others to arrive.
And arrive they did, just as he finished tying her wound up. Several blue glows from in front of them signaled that Kayaba’s words rang true.
Confused, Twilight and the others all began looking around. “What? Where are weーRACHELLE!” she screamed upon seeing her bloody friend. From her scream, everyone else turned to see them and each and every one of them let out a horrified gasp before running towards her.
Twilight however, teleported over to her immediately. “What happened!” she demanded, her eyes boring into Kirito’s.
“Oh dear, Maker!” Rarity gasped, coming to a kneel beside her.
AJ stood over the group, her clenched fists shaking and she looked over her best friend. Lip bit bloodied from anger, she muttered, “Who the hell did this.” Her words, to everyone present, carried all the severity and wrath of a raging earthquake within its quiet tone.
Away from the others, Pinkie hunched over, quietly struggling in her own way to keep her anger in check.
As Asuna sat down quietly next to Kirito, the man shook his head and explained. “Kayaba decided that he wasn’t satisfied. He adopted most of your powers and challenged us again.” He gave a pointed look at both Twilight and Rarity before letting his gaze fall to Dash once again.
“I won’t lie, there’s no possible way I would have won without her. But Kayaba got in a cheap shot, he caused this injury.”
Kirito and the others staggered as AJ stomped the ground in anger. Kirito continued with a small grin. “Don’t get me wrong, she got in two of her own in return. Can she be healed?”
Twilight, tears glittering in her eyes, nodded her head. “Damn it I wish Shy was here! Rarity help me!” she said wiping her eyes.
Rarity flinched back. “Me? But you know I’m no good at the Cure spell.”
Twilight glared at her, though unintentionally. “But you know it! Please, I don’t think I can completely cure a deep injury like this with a Cura spell by myself. We need at least a Curaga. But I can’t do that spell so a Cure and Cura together might work. Please.”
Rarity didn’t need to be told twice. Together the two called upon their magic and got to work fixing their friends injuries.
Meanwhile, Kirito was shrinking back from AJ’s fierce look. “You look fine,” she muttered.
Kirito could do nothing but avert his gaze. “I have potions to heal myself whenever I get the chan--”
He let out a small yelp as he was dragged upwards by the collar of his jacket. “So what? Did you use her as a distraction while you made yourself all fine and dandy?!” she yelled in his face.
“Jackie!” screamed Twilight, holding Dash in her arms after she fell from Kirito’s lap. “We knew what we signed up for. We all knew that we would be injured, in fact,” she looked up at AJ,” he’s the one who warned us that we’d get hurt.”
AJ closed her eyes, her brow twitching. Slowly, he let Kirito back down. “I… Ah’m sorry… It’s just… sorry.” Taking a deep breath she too sat on the ground around Dash. “Hell, I’m a bit more mad that I didn’t get to bash that man’s face in myself,” she muttered, punching the ground.
Kirito let out a small chuckle. “If it makes you feel better, Rachelle shot him while he was doing his final boss monologue.
AJ joined him in his giggling. “A bit more jealous, Ah think.”
Feeling the tension die, around her Pinkie finally made her way over to the group while wiping away the cold sweat that had began to flow down her forehead. A nervous smile on her face she sat down, completing the circle.
“So, what powers did the big meanie take?” she asked.
Asuna intently watched Twilight and Rarity heal their friend. “I’m also curious. I thought he wanted a fair fight.”
Kirito nodded and explained everything that happened from the time the two of them made it to this final floor. He recounted Kayaba’s reappearance, his transformation and the gists of the fight.
Finally, by the time he reached the end of his story, Twilight let out a sigh of relief. As the glow died down from her’s and Rarity’s hands everyone looked over their friend’s body.
“We’ve healed her injuries,” said Twilight. “And even though Cura helped, she did lose a lot of blood. We need to get her back to the ship and get one of my Hi-Potions to completely heal her.”
Gently, AJ picked up her friend and lifted her up onto her back. “Geeze, girl, how many times are you gonna be out of it when we leave a world,” she chuckled.
As everyone else also stood back up, Asuna craned her head to look around the area. Her eyes finally landed on the sight of Aincrad castle crumbling slowly. “Weren't we just in there?”
“I don’t know, but it’s over now.” Kirito patted down his clothes and walked over to Twilight. Looking her in the eye, he held his hand out. “Thank you… and I’m sorry I couldn’t protect your friend.”
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “It’s alright,” she said, gripping his hand tightly. “I was worried at first but Rachelle is strong. She’ll be fine. Heck, she’ll be bragging about it when she gets up.”
AJ scoffed. “Yeah and Ah’ll remind her of how she left that fight.”
A few feet away, Rarity and Asuna were hugging it out. “Thank you for everything,” sighed Asuna.
Tightening the hug, Rarity shook her head. “No thank you for your teachings.”
“Thank you for the fun times!” Pinkie shouted, popping up and hugging them both.
Twilight looked from Asuna to Kirito. “So what’ll happen to you now?”
Kirito opened his menu and scrolled down. To his surprise the logout button had returned to his menu. “We leave.”
Twilight frowned. “Kirito I have to tell you, I’m a bit worried. You’ve all been unconscious this whole time. How atrophied would your body be by now?”
Kirito shook his head and Asuna came up and gripped his hand. “We know. Honestly, I’m not even sure if we’re in any condition physically, but both of us and the people of this world have accepted that fact. All of us just want to leave and now we can.”
Twilight nodded, her mood brightened by their sincerity. “Then I hope you all get back safely.”
Pinkie hopped around her group with glistening energy. “So are we all ready to go?!”
“I hope so!” Rarity sighed. “I desperately want to change my clothes.”
“H-hold on!” AJ flinched as the girl on her back tiredly raised her head.
“Rach?” gasped AJ. “Hey, stop wigglin’ around.”
Dash shook her head. “I…. I gotta know before we go. What happened to Spike? Do you know where he went after you saw him last?”
Kirito’s eyes went wide for a moment and, reluctantly, he moved his gaze from her's. Memories flashed through his mind and his mood soured. Eventually, he shook his head. “I… don’t know where he went. But I do know the last world he went to before he left.”
All of the girl’s gazes locked onto him instantly, all of their interests piqued.
“He found his home world as far as I could gather. I don’t know the name but something happened there… something that definitely had a hand in changing him. I honestly don’t recommend going to it, but if you want to find out more about Spike… you may have to.”
Giving a few weak coughs, Dash’s eyes fluttered closed and she fell asleep once again.
AJ glanced back at her for a few more seconds before hitching her back up on her back and securing her. “Leave it to Rainbow to wake up just to ask a question.”
All of them waited for a few more seconds. When nothing happened all of the girls burst out in a fit of giggles, much to Asuna’s and Kirito’s confusion.
“Yeah she’s out of it,” observed Twilight. “We should really get back to the ship. Pinkie?”
“Yupperoonie!” she cheered. Keyblade already in hand, she threw her arm into the air and released a bright beam of light upwards. Upon reaching a few yards into the air the beam split and formed a bright dome over the girls.
As they began to vanish an unearthly wind blew around the area. Asuna, to her surprise, began shivering from the cold. She gasped and rose her hands to her face.
“I… I can feel that... “ she muttered. “I can feel the cool air?”
Kirito nodded, leaning into the wind. “Yeah… it’s been a while. Keyblades have a tendency to do that.
Asuna smiled and leaned her body into her husband’s. “So this was what you were talking about back then.”
Kirito’s relaxed grin slowly lowered into a frown. Memories from the past reformed in his head. His final memory of Spike was, sadly, something he wished could have been better.
~Three years ago~
Giving her husband a gentle kiss past the door frame, Asuna took a step back and grasped Yui’s hand in her own. With her other one, she opened her menu and summoned a cubic teleport crystal.
“See you later,” she said, waving him away. Yui also began waving at him wildly.
Kirito, standing inside his home, smiled and waved as Asuna activated the crystal.
“Have fun,” he cheered as his wife and daughter disappeared, engulfed in a bright white light.
The light fading into sparkles. Kirito reached up an arm and stretched, yawning as he did so. Angling his head out of the door, he looked up into the sky and gauged the sun’s position. Catching himself he frowned and immediately opened his menu to check the time.
“This is just a video game…” he muttered, citing his personal mantra. After spending such a long time in this world, a lot of people around him had began to accept this world as reality, they’d given up on leaving. Slowly, even he found himself losing his grip, just a little.
Walking outside completely, he shut the door behind him and sighed. Staying inside like he had previously planned would do nothing to help his situation.
Scratching his head, Kirito wondered what to do. Should he go farm some materials? Power level in one of the many cleared floor dungeons? Go visit Klein and maybe help out with his guild? There were plenty of choices, as there always were but none of them really appealed to him, none of it seemed challenging enough for the mood he was currently in.
Kirito let out a deeper longer sigh. “God, I wish Asuna hadn’t banned me from soloing in the uncleared dungeons… Maybe I should have gone with them to the orphanage.
Deciding that standing around was no good, Kirito took out his own teleport crystal and fondled it in his hands, moving it around in though. “I guess I’ll hang out with Klein then, maybe spar a bit.”
Kirito’s eyes widened as a sudden strong breeze picked up from nowhere. A familiar strange feeling washed over him, a feeling he dearly missed.
The wind that always blew in the game was simply that, wind. To any normal player it was just a force pushing against his avatar. However, this breeze, it always carried a feeling. It felt cool, calm, and relieving, like it was caressing his actual body in real life. He couldn’t explain how it was able to give him a real sensation, but it probably had to do with it’s cause.
As always, preceding the wind was a small pinprick of light that shined in place for a few seconds before expanding wildly into a grand portal of shining light as large as Kirito himself.
The breeze picked up. Kirito closed his eyes and leaned into it while still keeping a few feet from the shining door. He loved this, actually feeling the cool, cool wind. His only thought being that he wished Asuna was here to fell it as well.
After about a minute of silence, Kirito opened his eyes and tilted his head. “Spike?” he called. Hearing nothing but the soft hum of the magic in front of him, Kirito tentatively stepped forward towards the door.
“Spike!” he called once more. Reaching a hand out to touch the portal, he extended a finger into it. Like usual the world went green for him and his body froze. In his eyes, the world devolved into wireframe as the vast textures that made the game realistic melted into their base components. Bracing himself mentally, he prepared for part two of the glitch.
Kirito jerked away with a yelp of pain coursed through his head. Falling to one knee, he gripped his head and waited for the pain to subside.
Afterwards, Kirito looking upwards at the portal, his face downcast. A portal to the outside world… and he couldn’t use it. The man shook his head, wondering why he kept trying to cross whenever Spike visited.
Speaking of the dragon, Kirito stood back up and got as close as he could. “Spike!”
Eventually, he could make out a distant shape in the bright expanse. He smiled and backed up, waiting for his friend to come through.
Kirito opened his menu and summoned his blades. Last time Spike appeared before him, the wild boy jumped out and attacked Kirito in a surprise spar. The time before that when he first did it, the boy glomped him and dragged him to a boss fight. Kirito spread his legs and braced himself, not sure what to expect this time.
A figure came into view and Kirito’s steeled frame softened. He lowered his blade and the figure became clearer. It was definitely Spike, now about a year older than last time, a full on teenager of nearly the same height as himself.
The boy exited the portal and Kirito gasped as Spike fell over, face first, onto the ground, his Keyblades falling and disappearing alongside the portal behind him. Kirito rushed over to his friends aid, dropping his own weapons in the process.
Spike twitched on the ground and Kirito looked over his injuries. The boy was cut up and slashed in various places, his clothes were torn, his breathing was shallow and he was burned very badly. Kirito gasped at the sight of Spike’s body that was charred black in various places and burned in other places.
The supposedly fireproof warrior was actually suffering from burn injuries.
“Spike,” Kirito called frantically, “Spike are you alright what happened!”
“K-” Spike coughed out. Kirito leaned closer. “Kir? I… I figured it out.” Spike, using probably what remained of his strength griped his right hand into a fist, tearing the dirt in the process.
Kirito continued to look over the boy's body clearly unsure of what to do considering his interaction with Spike’s physical body could only go so far.
However, before Kirito could figure something out, Spike stirred.
“Spike what are you doing stay down, you’re hurt.” Kirito yelled, eyes wide in fear.
Spike, finally getting his arms and legs under him, shook his head. “N-no… I have to get back to the castle. I finally remember now!”
Kirito stood up. “Fine, if I can’t stop you let me at least help you.” Kirito reached down and tried to take hold of Spike’s arm.”
In a split second Kirito caught a flash of metal before a burning sensation spread across his body. Staggering back he groaned in pain and clawed at the fresh mark going across his body and the burning embers trailing along it.
“Sp… Spike?” he grunted, looking over at Spike and the smoking weapon in the boy’s hand.
Spike, finally climbing to his knees growled. “I know… I figured out who I am!”
Kirito shrugged off the otherworldly pain and quickly downed his most effective elixir. Slowly, the pain ebbed and his wounds healed. Glancing at his health bar he was shocked to see that just that one attack had thrown his health into the red.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Kirito glowed, re-summoning his blade.
Spike, still breathing heavily, struggled to his feet. While one arm, the burned one dangled uselessly, his other arm held his Keyblade outwards, tip pointed towards Kirito. Keeping his head lowered and eyes shut tight, he continued. “My home, I found it. And my memories… I got a few of those back too.”
Kirito rose a brow, but kept up his defense. “Then why are you acting like this. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Spike’s outstretched arm began shaking. “Not like this… I didn’t want to find out like this.”
Kirito ventured a step forward. “What’s wrong Spike… I don’t understand. Please, look me in the eyes and tell me, ‘Where did you go? What did you see?”
Spike took a step back and slowly opened his eyes. Kirito stared into Spike’s teary emerald orbs. As soon as they opened, tears began to stream down his face. “I killed them all… and burned the world to the ground… I don’t remember but I know I did.”
Kirito recoiled in shock but quickly regained his composure. He opened his mouth to continue but paused when Spike frantically wiped his eyes. “Spike,” he began, “I think--”
Spike shook his head rapidly. “They deserved it though, for what they did just to save themselves. But… but that’s not the point! I finally remember what happened to my friends.”
Kirito took another step forward, curious but cautious. Spike was clearly in hysterics. As far as Kirito could tell Spike had come across a recent world and did something to unlock a few memories, but those memories were hurting and confusing him. However, what Kirito was far more curious about, but was who Spike claimed he killed.
“What happened to your friends?” he asked.
Spike clenched his teeth and growled. Fire erupted from his Keyblade and with a cry of despair he swung it in a wide arc, spreading flames everywhere. Kirito immediately jumped far back, shielding himself with both his arms.
By the time Kirito had recovered, Spike was standing next to another portal like the one before. His Keyblade gone and the hand that was carrying it was now cradling his other, far more injured arm. The boy was visually more calm and more tears were now flowing, unrestrained from his eyes.
“My friends are gone and there’s nothing left for me to do anymore… I don’t know who killed them… but I hope they burns in hell.” And with that, Spike moved through the portal.
~~~
“And that was the last time I saw him…” Kirito muttered, letting out a sigh and staring out across the clouds towards the bright golden sunset.
Asuna, staring instead at the slowly crumbling Aincrad castle in the distance. “Why didn’t you tell Rachelle and the others that?”
Kirito’s gaze fell. “I couldn’t… with the way Rachelle is now, she’s close to acting the same way as Spike did. She’ll refuse to believe me but the doubt will kill her inside.”
Asuna snuggled closer to Kirito and gripped his hand. “So… I didn’t want to admit it… but I am a bit worried about what will happen to us on the other side.”
Kirito shook his head. “Who knows… Do you regret ending this game?”
Asuna smiled. “Of course not. And I guess it’s fine. Just promise me… that when you wake up, you find me… even if I don’t?”
Kirito gasped but gave a weak nod. “Of course.”
Asuna continued to watch the remnants of the game crumble. Her eyes widened at one particular sight. “Look is that our house?”
Kirito followed her gaze fast enough to watch as their shared home broke in two and fall into the endless data stream below it. Suddenly, a third voice rang out.
Hovering on screen above the cockpit in the Gummy Ship, Luna nodded and looked directly at Pinkie. “And she’s in the zero room I assume?” she asked, referring to her injured student.
Pinkie nodded happily. “Yes ma’am! I put her in there myself!”
Twilight, standing next to the girl tilted her head in confusion, a look that was shared by the other three members in line. “What’s the zero room?” Twilight asked.
“I thought she was in her room,” AJ added, putting a hand to her hip.
As Pinkie took a deep breath, preparing to go into a tangent, Luna held up her hand and spoke first. “I think I shall explain.”
Pinkie quickly deflated and turned with the rest of the girls to face their master. Once she confirmed that she had everyone’s attention, Luna began. “When we first heard of Pinkie’s plan to create a Gummi ship, we left the design and layout of the ship entirely up to her while offering help with construction. However, we did put forth a few requirements.” Luna smirked. “The first one was to not install any navigation gummis that she found.” Twilight frowned. “The second was to install something specific. The Zero gummi, which was created by our sister, is a marvelous room dedicated solely to healing the wounded.”
Pinkie quickly rose up a hand. “Hey, Maud can you show the camera from the Zero Room, pretty please?!”
Luna’s screen shrank and moved to the side as a second screen appeared next to her. The image immediately brightened to reveal a square all white room. In the middle of it was Dash, floating freely while suspended in zero gravity. Her bloodied clothes had been removed, leaving her wearing normal black shorts and grey bandages that were wrapped around her chest and left shoulder. In addition to that her hair band had been removed, leaving her naturally long hair to float with equal suspension. Every so often the room’s wall would glow a faint cerulean hue.
Luna nodded. “Thank you. As you can see the room is a blank zero gravity expanse that periodically casts small healing spells on the one inside. The room is mainly used to accelerate the healing process in cases of serious or nearly lethal injuries.”
Twilight stared up at the screen, her eyes wide and focused in fascination. However, after a second a dark thought occurred and her head snapped back to Luna’s screen. “Wait, does that mean her injuries were worse than we thought?! Were they so bad that she needs that room?”
Luna shook her head and smiled softly. “Nay, Twilight. From what you’ve told us her injuries weren’t very harsh and most of it had been healed by the efforts of yourself and Rarity. Putting her in the Zero room was just a safety precaution. Personally, we would like for you all to come back to Radiant Garden for-oof”
Suddenly, Luna found herself being shoved out of the way by none other than Celestia herself. A cheshire grin on her face, she addressed the students. “Now Luna don’t be such a worry wort. I, for one, am proud that this is the only injury they suffered. Let them continue their adventure!”
“M-Master Celestia?!” stammered Twilight.
Celestia waved as Luna shoved her way back on screen. “Ve-very well!” she huffed. “We shall look into this mysterious world young Kirito spoke of while we continue our investigations on this Chrysalis woman and her relationship with Spike. Please worry not, Twilight and have fun on your travels.”
Twilight blushed and nodded. “Thank you Master Luna, Master Celestia. I really hope you two find out something.”
Pinkie blew a loud raspberry and waved them off. “Of course they will!”
“We wish you well,” said Celestia.
Before the screen could close Rarity stepped forward, a determined look in her eye. “Excuse me, Master… but I simply must ask you, how do you explain our Keyblades actions in the previous world?”
Master’s Luna and Celestia each shared a look before Luna decided to answer. “That is… fairly complicated to discuss now. All I can say is that you would do well to reflect upon your time in the previous world and learn from what your Keyblades have told you. And do not mistake, those were the spirits of your weapons. Kayaba Akihiko’s actions have caused effects that he could never have foreseen, However, through them he has progressed all of you further towards true Mastery.”
Celestia nodded, her jovial look now a bit more subdued. “Thus proving that this journey is essential to your growth. Keep searching, but please, be careful.”
With her farewell both screens closed and the cockpit went silent as everyone made their way to their respective positions.
Falling back into her seat and crossing one leg over the other, AJ let out a loud sigh. “So what do we do now? Do we wait for Rainbow to recover or head on to the next world?”
Rarity daintily sat in her own seat. “I propose that we take some time to relax first. While I feel infinitely better after my shower and breakfast, I do still wish to take a bit more time to reflect.”
Twilight hummed in thought for a few seconds before putting forth her thoughts. “I agree. I would feel much better about going to the next world if we were all at one hundred percent.” Twilight smiled and summoned her Keyblade. Holding it up, she let the small brown book dangle in front of her face.
“Plus, I would like to take this time to update my journal.”
Immediately, everyone’s head snapped towards Pinkie in her captain's chair. All of their daggering glares froze the girl in place.
Pinkie glanced around the room, shrinking back into her seat before letting out a loud groan. “Fine! I won’t touch the controls. But can we at least plan where we’re going next first?”
The other girls each looked towards another and shared nods. Twilight stood up and moved closer to Pinkie. “I suppose that’s fine, as long as you don’t send us barrelling over to it.”
Throwing her hands up Pinkie cheered. “Yay! Now what’s it gonna be?”
With the press of a button, a large familiar hologram expanded above the. While the same worlds were shown, the one with two swords crossed above it had been greyed out, signifying its completion.
Twilight and the other three examined the worlds carefully, this time making sure to keep Pinkie away from the random button. Twilight pressed a switch and immediately, small square boxes appeared under each respective world.
Twilight smiled. “Alright then. Thanks to Master Celestia we can now tell what world we’re headed to beforehand. So what do you all think?”
Rarity glanced over the three current choices with a critical eye before stopping on the centermost one. “This looks extravagant,” she muttered, examining the twin golden statues. Leaning close she read out the details. “‘Olympus Colosseum The world of immortals. Run by the great hero Hercules, this colosseum hosts periodic ancient tournaments in order to find and train new heros.’ Controlled battles and a very low threat level.”
Rarity turned to Twilight whom had come closer to read alongside her. ”If I remember correctly, Rachelle wanted to come here before did she not? Perhaps we should reward her for her hard work?”
Twilight put a finger to her chin and lowered her head in thought. “Hmm. I don’t know. I really don’t want to reward her with more danger. Plus, fighting while she’s only just recovered could be more harmful than good.” Twilight turned to AJ. “What do you think?"
AJ, still reclining in her seat, shrugged. “I’m pretty alright with whichever world you guys choose.
“I think this one is still interesting because there’s nothing here!” Pinkie exclaimed, pointing to a particular world.
Twilight, eyes wide, ran over to the world and frantically examined it. It appeared to be the interesting world from before. It was a large charred looking world with a bright green flame billowing from the top. The detail box, like Pinkie said, was empty. There wasn’t even a name.
However, despite all of that, Twilight could only stare at it with her mouth agape. She couldn’t tell what it was, but a feeling began to bloom in her chest. It was a strange, tight feeling, almost akin to looming dread and curiosity combined. But deep within she also felt longing. Slowly, Twilight reached a hand out towards the image of the world, specifically the flame above it.
She quickly pulled her hand away. “I… I want to go here,” she muttered, her voice low.
As Twilight continued to stare hypnotically at the world. Rarity and the other two gathered around her.
Rarity tilted her head and raised a brow in curiosity. “Really, darling? This world?”
AJ leaned in closer towards the hologram. “Hmm I dunno, I’m gettin’ a bad feeling from it… but… I think I can see why Twi wants to go there. Just somethin’ about it, ya know?”
Rarity pursed her lips and hummed in thought. Her eyes trailed up and down the world, then up and down the other worlds before shaking her head. “I simply don’t see the appeal. How about you Pinkie,” she asked.
Pinkie blinked and gave the world a once over. Immediately upon looking at it she flinched violently before bending over and clutching her stomach. Afterwords, her hair flung out and spiked in all directions before flattening completely. However, when everyone turned to look at her she stood back up, her hair poofing out again as if nothing happened.
“So… I got a sorta kinda weird Pinkie Sense just now,” she said plainly, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head and averting her eyes. “We.. I... I think we should listen to Twilight.”
Putting a hand to her cheek, Rarity couldn’t help but grin and sigh. “Alright then, I can tell when I’m outvoted. Horrid… burning world it is. Oh dear I should pick out an outfit that won’t absorb the smell of smoke before we-”
Just then the ship violently rocked before jerking forward rapidly. Immediately, Twilight tried her best to send a glare towards Pinkie. Interestingly enough she found it to be fairly hard with her head pressed hard against the back wall.
“Pinkie!” she yelled, her voice warbling and vibrating. “What did you do?!”
Pinkie, her hair splayed all over the wall, yelled back. “I didn’t! I Pinkie promise it wasn’t me!”
AJ, frantically pushing against the forces, tried to reach out to the faraway controls. Her hand fell back against the wall, proving how fruitless her attempt was. “Then what ‘n tarnation is happening?!”
“Someone’s hijacked the ship!” Twilight observed!
Suddenly a feminine disembodied voice echoed throughout the heads of each of the girls.
“Celestia? Thank the gods you’re here! Please I need your help!”
It was then that the ship came to a smooth halt. Once paused, the group all slid down the walls and onto the ground. After a second, the voice echoed once more.
“Hurry! Pit’s in danger! His flight has run out and he’s tumbling through the void! You have to catch him before he dies! Celestia!”
Twilight, hearing the name, hurriedly struggled to stand. Wobbling, she put a hand to her head and shook it to clear the haze away. “Is… is that telepathy? Who are you?”
“Wait? You aren't Celestia? You don’t sound like Luna or Discord either… No matter. Please, open your hatch and catch my friend before he crashes!”
“Wait! How do you know--”
AJ also shaking her head, quickly cut off her friend. “Questions later, Twilight! Whoever this is she knows the Master and needs our help!”
Pinkie, already recovered, ran up to the controls and let her hands fly across them.
Directly above Twilight, a large door slid open, revealing a purple grey void of the outside. High above the door a bright star fell through the sky, barreling towards them.
“He’s coming in too hot!” the voice said, her semi-calm tone beginning to give way to panic. “Do any of you have a way to slow his descent?”
Pinkie grinned and saluted. “We sure do, mysterious voice!” Rushing over to the hatch, Pinkie shoved Rarity right next to Twilight. “Rarity can use her telekinesis to slow him down!”
Rarity fidgeted slightly. “Wait! Hold on, I don’t know if I--”
“Please!”
Groaning, Rarity closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds. Opening them with a bright azure glow, her head snapped up and she threw her also glowing hands into the air.
The falling red star became engulfed in a blue glow turning it into a purplish red comet. Rarity groaned of exertion as she spread her legs to brace herself. As her magic took hold of the falling object she pushed upwards, her glowing hands increased in brightness and intensity.
From what Twilight could see, Rarity had at the very least managed to stop the person from tumbling. It was now falling downwards normally.
Looking over at Rarity, Twilight could see that the girl was clenching her teeth, struggling in slowing her target down. While it didn’t seem like it was overwhelming her, it was clear she wasn’t going to be able to stop him from crashing directly into the ship.
Twilight lowered her head and frantically dove through her mental spellbook. Finally finding a relevant spell, she summoned her Keyblade and raised it into the air.
“Zero Gravira!” she yelled!
Suddenly, in addition to Rarity’s aura a black orb appeared around the falling boy. While his falling speed negated the majority of the spell’s effect, it still managed to do it’s job somewhat. One look upwards told her that the object was getting very near the ship. To the point where she could see what looked like a boy’s face through the effects of their spells.
“It’s working! His descent has slowed significantly! Now we just have to catch him safely!”
Now it was Jackie’s turn to step up in between the two other girls. “I got it,” she said, holding out her arms just as the boy crashed into the ship.
All three slammed to the ground. Even Pinkie was forced to brace herself on her seat when the ship tilted from the impact.
The dust cleared and Pinkie managed to pick herself back up. What she saw immediately put a grin on her face... not that it wasn't hard to do.
Groaning the boy flinched and groggily pushed himself up. Shaking his brown haired head to clear away the haze, his grey blue eyes fluttered open. “Wha… where am I? Where’s the Aurum?!” he yelled, his eyes narrowing in anger.
“Easy, Pit. Before all that you should probably stop groping your saviours,” the voice giggled.
Pit looked up in confusion before slowly looking down. His face immediately flushed a bright red as he noticed both of his hands gripping two different breasts.
Pinkie merely stood by, giggling at the entire site. Pit, a young boy wearing angelic looking white robes and sandals, complete with a golden laurel crown upon his head, had found himself laying across three of her friends, one hand pressed against Twilight’s breast and the other on AJ’s.
While Twilight was blushing profusely, AJ had more of an annoyed glare. However, Pinkie seemed to take the most enjoyment out of seeing Rarity gape in horror from the boy’s feet pressed against her cheek.
The room froze, the boy stammering to make a sound even resembling an apology. Eventually, Rarity ran out of patience and the boy found himself face planting the side of the ship.
Both Pinkie and the echoing voice burst out in righteous laughter, especially as Rarity immediately stood up, her face still flushed, and stormed out of the cockpit.
AJ and Twilight stood up as well, Twilight struggling to regain her composure by coughing into her fist.
“A-anyway! So, who are you two?” asked Twilight, looking upwards before glaring at the boy.
“I don’t know,” the voice giggled. “I think apologies and thanks are in order. Pit?”
At the woman's command, Pit stood to attention. “I-I I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean to do that. Thank you for catching me!”
AJ continued to glare at him before letting her expression soften into a small grin. Walking over to him, the taller girl chuckled and gripped the boy in a tight headlock. “Nah no harm done. I’m just glad you’re alright. Gotta admit that was one hell of a fall though.”
Feeling the boy struggle, AJ’s arm brushed up against something soft and feathery. Leaning the boy over, the three girls marveled at his pure white feathered wings sticking right out of his back. “What the? Are you an Avian?” asked AJ.
Pushing himself away, Pit looked up at them curiously while reaffixing his crown. “What’s that? Is it a kind of human?” Smirking, Pit stood tall and spread his wings proudly. “I’m much more than that. I’m the angel, Pit, servant of the Goddess of Light.”
Before the group could say anything, the voice from before echoed out once again. This time, however, an astral projection of a tall regally dressed woman with long emerald hair, appeared next to Pit. The projection walked forward and bowed slightly to Twilight.
“I suppose then I’m next. I am the Goddess of Light, Palutena. I apologize for taking control of your ship. I felt the magic of an old friend of mine and panicked.”
“And by that you mean Master Celestia?” asked Twilight.
Palutena's eyes opened wide and she clapped her hands jovially. “Oh, Master is it? Then I’m right. You all are students of Celestia, that makes you Keyblade wielders!” Her expression flattened immediately. “Wait… that makes me a grandmaster… I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Pinkie began giggling into her palms. “Well if it makes you feel better, we aren’t Master Celestia’s students. We’re her sister’s students.”
“Wait! Wait!” Twilight yelled, crossing her arms.”By grandmaster do you mean that--”
“That’s right! I used to be Celestia’s master!” Palutena said cheerfully.
“Hey!”
Everyone’s head snapped towards the cockpit just as the door slammed open, revealing a frazzled looking Rachelle glaring at the people inside. “People are trying to sleep! What’s with all this noise and telepathy!”
However, instead of getting an explanation, all Dash received were wide eyed looks and stunned expressions.
“What?” she asked. Finally, her eyes found their way over to Pit who had become completely red. “Who the hell are you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Feeling something touch her leg, she glanced down to see the rest of bandages that had been wrapped around her chest fall to the ground.
Palutena simply grinned on her end. “Well Pit, look’s like you’re one step closer to becoming a man.
Zipping up her blue jacket and flicking out her naturally long hair out from it, Dash let out a huff of annoyance. “There, I put on some clothes. Are you happy now?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and lifted a finger. “Well first off, I told you to go back to sleep and get some more rest.” Another finger went up. “Secondly, I told you just to put on a shirt, not your whole outfit.” A third finger. “Finally, I told you not to do that in here with the boy in the room!” she nearly yelled, jutting all three at Pinkie's chair.
Pit, the young angel warrior, sighed from his spot in the captain's seat, the chair facing away from the girls. “So does that mean I can turn around now?”
AJ, however, merely rolled her eyes and reached into her pocket. “Yeah you can turn around now. Come here, Rainbow.” Pulling out Dash’s familiar red hairband AJ moved to her friends backside and began tying up her rainbow hued hair into a low ponytail. “I’m glad you’re alright. I was a mite worried about you.”
Rachelle put up no effort to resist her hair being messed with. Though her natural aversion to it had less to do with the fact that she disliked excessive personal grooming, but rather the fact that she’d rather have Jackie do it than Rarity. Not to mention she inwardly smiled at the fact that her hair band was safe. It was special to her and only AJ knew why.
Attempting to shrugoff the sentiment, but blushing anyway, Dash turned to the kid and the astral projection once again. “So who’s the kid?” Then she noticed the wings and cringed as recent memories resurfaced. “We left Aincrad, right? He’s not…”
Twilight was quick to shake her head. “No! No, he’s not from that world. He’s an angel under the services of Master Celestia’s teacher!”
Dash’s eyes widened. “Woah.. so does that mean that you two are Keyblade wielders?”
Pit just scratched the back of his head, one eyebrow raised in confusion. “Keyblade? What’s a Keyblade? It kinda rings a bell...”
Palutena, however, chuckled with amusement and shook her head. “A Keyblade is an extremely powerful magical weapon.” To everyone's surprise, her voice had now become physical instead of being channeled directly into their minds.
Pit gave a loud snap and a huge grin grew on his face. “Oh yeah I remember now. Back in the old game a beautiful woman showed up with one of those.”
Palutena nodded. "No, Pit has not yet obtained his Keyblade.” Her jolly mood soured a small bit and her smile went from one of amusement to one of mischievousness. “Honestly, though I know Pit possesses all the qualities of a Keyblade wielder. I doubt he will ever be chosen to have one. Wrong series unfortunately, and not enough connections for a crossover either.”
The girls, aside from Pinkie, who nodded in complete understanding, immediately adopted a look similar to Pit’s. After a briefly shared glance, Twilight spoke up. “But I thought you were Celestia’s Keyblade Master? Are you yourself not able to wield a Keyblade?”
Palutena nodded. “Indeed. I share the same boundary that Pit does. I do not and will never own a Keyblade… "Her expression then soured and she turned her head away in a huff. "... you know… despite being the Goddess of everything a proper wielder of a Keyblade should embody… Nope.”
Pit chuckled nervously. “She’s still mad about that…”
Ignoring Pit’s snide comment, Palutena quickly recomposed herself and continued. “But yes, I think you might have the wrong idea. I call myself Celestia’s master but I really only taught her all of the light based magic spells that she knows. I’m not her Keyblade Master.”
Even knowing this, Twilight’s eyes began sparkling in the way they usually did when she was excited. “But still! You taught Master Celestia her famous light magic! Holy! Faith! Salvation!” Twilight let out a shudder. “Even the Seraphim technique?!”
Pit craned his head to look up at his Master, his brow raised in a skeptical manor. “Why don’t you use any of those attacks against Hades. They sound strong!”
Palutena, having been blushing from the praise, coughed lightly in her her fist. “Honestly, Pit. Think about it. We can’t have divine beings dueling it out in person. Just the aftershocks could topple worlds far from our own, Pit,” she said, lying through her teeth.
Pit, the goofball he is, soaked it up though. However, before he could respond, Twilight dashed up to the projection of Palutena. “Can you teach me?!” she asked eagerly, her eyes staring up at her like a wide eyed kitten.
Palutena let out a joyful giggle. “I would love to,” her expression turned grim and her gaze immediately shifted to the side, then upwards, “but I’m afraid we don’t have time at the moment. Something’s coming. I’m sorry but the time for introductions is over. Everyone please get to your stations,” she order, waving her hand out towards the girls seats.
There was a small moment of confusion as everyone processed the order. However, training soon kicked in and everyone, sans Pit, moved to their respective seats. Pit turned to Palutena with a determined glare.
“It’s the Aurem then?” he asked.
“What’s the Aurem?” asked Twilight, sitting her her copilots seat. Though she was unsure of what to do, having never been in a situation such as this, her hands hovered over the switches in front of her. Her fingers flexed in preparation to carry out any order that Pinkie would assign her.
Palutena walked over to Pinkie and directed her to fly upwards, though this time not at gum flapping speeds.
“You’ll see them soon," she responded. "The Aurem are inter-spacial aliens that have attacked my world, interrupting a war between the Underworld and Skyworld armies. Though we may have created a truce to fight them, a more serious event occurred since. One of Skyworlds own Guardians, Pyrrhon, the so called ‘God of the Sun’, betrayed us and took control of the Aurum brain."
Her teeth clenched and her head lowered slightly. “He even blocked out my abilities and left Pit to burn when his power of flight ran out.”
Despite the severity, Dash snorted and turned towards the kid. “You ‘run out’ of flight? What do you have, some kind of time limit?”
Pit blushed profusely and turned away. “Yeah… so what?” he muttered testily.
AJ quickly reached over and popped the girl on the back of the head, hissing. “Not the time!” Dash glared at her, but then turned to give a sorry look towards the kid.
Twilight, her eyes sharply focused on the view outside of the ship, gasped in surprise when an armada of the most odd looking creatures came zigging zagging into view. Twilight tilted her head upwards and strained her eyes to get a better look at the far away enemies. From what she could see, while the creature’s angular or spherical shapes gave off the impression that they were mechanical in nature. To her their movements were coordinated and sharp like machines but individualized and different, like organics.
However, Twilight found herself burrowing further into her own confusion as, soon enough, more interesting creatures came into view. Bright red monsters and small musclebound men in white robes were also flying around the battlefield. While it seemed at first like all three were fighting each other, it became apparent that, though there was some infighting, the monsters and humans that Twilight assumed were under Palutena were both fighting against the Aurem.
AJ, eyes wide actually struggled to take in the sight. “Woah… so this a war huh?” Applejack slowly reached up to adjust her hat, moving it up and out of her eyes.
Palutena, her expression stoic and calm, nodded grimly. “It’s our fault of course. The Aurem are driven towards anarchy. Our war, the one between Skyworld and the Underworld, brought them here. So it’s our job to--”
“It’s not our job to do anything!” a new voice sounded. Suddenly a new astral projection appeared next to Palutena, this one of a young girl, about the same height as Pit, with flowing golden hair that had been tied in a side ponytail by healthy looking branches and vines. She wore dress, the colours of which were that of the colours of autumn leaves .
Currently she bore a tired looking frown on her face. “It’s the human’s fault!" she declared. "They’ve been fighting each other for eons before our war started!”
Pit gave a large smile and stepped closer. “Viridi! You’re still fighting?”
Viridi turned to Pit and scowled deeper. “Of course I’m still fighting!" Throwing her arm out to the side she shoved her face closer to Pit's. "The Earth is my domain and like hell I’m going to let some so called ‘God’ use some so called ‘Alien race’ wipe it out!”
Palutena, her stoic expression now considerably lightened by the new arrival, turned to the shocked group and held a hand out towards Viridi. “Well I’m glad you think so because I brought in reinforcements. Everyone, this is the Goddess of Nature, Viridi. Her and her army, the Forces of Nature, are helping us fight. Currently, it’s only through her that we can still fight at this stage.”
Viridi couldn’t help but give a smug grin as she leaned back and crossed her arms. “Well it pays to have more than one competent member in your entire army.” She faked a swoon then gave a tired shrug. “‘Oh no, Pit’s out of battle!’ You do realize that the second that happened your entire army went haywire. No coordination whatsoever. I actually think they’re more useful that way though,” she finished, waving her hand dismissively.
Dash, always the grand stander, quickly spread her glowing wings and stood tall. “Well now you’ve got five Keyblade wielders to help you out. This war is as good as done!”
Viridi simply looked at her with a straight face. “Meh…” After a second her gaze moved over to AJ and her expression became more kind. “I like Earthans better,” she said simply. "They respect where they come from."
Despite the impending situation AJ couldn’t help but laugh as her friend froze and then deflated in her seat. She and Pinkie inevitably shared a high five as Viridi continued.
“I have nothing against the other Equestrian races though,” she shrugged, glancing at Twilight. “I just love their connection to the earth and their instinctual knowledge of how to treat the ground they walk on. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely glad to have you here, Equestrian’s in general are all far better than regular humans anyway. Sucks what happened to your worlds though.”
Twilight walked over to Viridi and bowed respectfully. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What makes you think that we’re any better than humans? I mean, aren’t all of us still human?”
Viridi gasped in shock but before she could offer a rebuttal, the ship careened sideways. Though not enough for anyone to be thrown off balance with the gyroscopes counteracting the shift, but enough to be noticed by the passengers.
“They see us!” yelled Pinkie her serious pilot cap placed upon her head. The cap literally was just a fez hat that said, “Serious Pilot”. “Everyone’s attacking so buckle up!” she ordered.
Following her orders, every normal member of the group immediately got to their seat and strapped in. Pinkie immediately began putting the machine into high gear as she nimbly maneuvered it around each and every attack. Unsure of what to do as the ship rocked back and forth, Pit chose an empty seat at random and strapped in as well.
Viridi sighed. “As much as I would love to stay and regale you of the horrors of humanity, I need to tell my army to back off. They, nor the other armies know who this shio belongs to so all four are attacking you.”
Dash’s head wheeled around in shock. “Four?! I thought there were only two sides!”
Viridi smirked and let her projection vanish. Immediately afterwards, one fourth of the attacks stopped and Palutena called her armies off as well. Apparently taking the hint, the Underworld army also gave them space. Soon enough, Pinkie’s attentions were focused solely on one section of attackers.
Palutena turned to Pit. “Are you ready?”
Pit unstrapped himself and jumped up from his seat. “Of course!” he exclaimed, flapping his wings for emphasis.
Palutena nodded and turned to the girls. “Will you all help as well? I will not force you to participate in this war.”
All the girls shared a brief glance of amusement before all of them turned to Dash.
“Are you feeling better?” asked Twilight, smirking since she knew the answer.
Dash just grinned.
“What in the world is going on in here?!” yelled Rarity, stumbling her way back into the cockpit.
Pinkie, wasting no time, turned around and yelled back to her. “We’re being attacked, go back to your room and get ready!”
Rarity just stared at her, a raised eyebrow being the only thing she wore to express her puzzlement. “What?”
Twilight craned her head towards her friend, her expression also marred with the raised eyebrow of confusion. AJ felt a little left out.
“Won’t we need her here for… whatever we need to--” Twilight let out a loud yelp as the ship once more jerked to the side.
Pinkie quickly brought her steering wheel back to its neutral pose. Her teeth clenched, she rose her fist to the air and yelled, “Hey, you alien meanies you almost scratched The Gummy’s paint!”
Afterwards, she turned back and pointed back to each of her friends. “I’m serious, all of you, go to your rooms!” she ordered.
Dash was the first to speak up. “But why though?”
A familiar toneless voice echoed through the cockpit. “Pinkie, it seems you were a bit slow. I’m detecting a streak going across our hull, no damage but the paint was indeed chipped from the blow. I am going to extend the shield around our ship above the minimum.”
Pinkie’s head dipped slightly from the news, reaching under her seat she picked up a bright red helmet and stuck it on her head, her bright pink hair seemingly being sucked up into the headware. Slowly, she turned back around and gripped the controls. As the girls behind her all gave each other confused looks, Pinkie lifted her head, her eyes narrowed and her mouth in a tight smirk. However, if anyone were to see her front they’d see the fire burning in her eyes.
Letting out a tired groan, Luna sat down her 15th book and slouched back in her seat. “Nothing… We cannot find anything on an entity called Chrysalis. How do you fair, sister?”
Across from her, Celestia shook her head sadly. “Unfortunately, I’ve also had little luck on this topic. However, I did discover something on the matter of the information that your pupil brought to us.” Reaching in a pile of books to her left, Celestia picked out two different volumes of a book called the “World Guide Anthology.”
Opening the book and flipping through it, Celestia began talking to her sister. “According to a newer volume, the world she describes fits the image of this world that I found.” Coming to a particular page, she spun the book around and handed it to her sister.
Giving the page a once over, Luna’s eyes shrank at the image presented. “This world… it’s been burned beyond reason… there’s no way it can be like this naturally. Even worlds of fire have structure or purpose,” she asked, looking up at her sister.
Celestia, already prepared for her querry, held open the older volume of the same guidebook. “Indeed, Luna, although the book states that this is a new world, I think that it’s not.” Spinning the old book to face Luna, Celestia pointed to a far more vibrant world than the one depicted in the new book. Although it had multiple vulcanos, the world was lush with greenery.
“In this older version there was a world in a nearby location to the one you’re looking at. However, it was apparently swallowed by darkness a few centuries ago. About five years back however, this world appeared nearby. I believe that they’re the same world.” Celestia pointed a finger at the page. “Read this paragraph about the world's inhabitants.”
Holding the second book Luna gave it a quick read. “We see, this world was once filled with Draconic beings. How rare. They certainly must have been a powerful race if Twilight’s tales of Spike’s strength as a child is any example.”
After finishing, Luna shook her head sadly. “We see what may appear interesting, and if we were on a different subject this may prove revelationary to what Twilight Sparkle is seeking. But what does this have to do with the matter at hand?”
Celestia frowned. “Think about it, my sister. If what Twilight relayed to us is true, something happened when Spike found the world he was born on. If this world that vanished is the same one that appeared five years ago, it would line up with the timeframe of when Spike might have been training with his Keyblade.”
Luna’s eyes widened. “Then this may be the world that Twilight is seeking.” Luna looked down at the books in front of her. Steepling her hands her brow furrowed in thought. “But… would it be safe? This world is unexplored and whatever happened here had a hand in changing Spike… Should we allow her and her friends to go knowing this?”
Closing her eyes, Celestia took a deep breath and stood up from her seat. To Luna’s surprise, she turned her back. “That decision is something for her teacher to decide, I’m afraid. You have to trust your student to be able to handle the danger. But you also need to be able to see when there may be too much danger. As a Master you need to be able to discern the line and tell when it is crossed.
For a long while, Luna was silent. Thoughts raging in her mind like a torrent, she debated within her self what the right choice was. Then, one thought emerged above all else.
Looking up, she saw her sister staring at her, waiting for a response. Luna sighed and stood from her seat. “I trust in Twilight Sparkle… we do not think there is anything she cannot handle.”
Celestia gave a kind smile and nodded. “If that is what you-”
“But…” Luna continued. Her expression still firm. “We have more than one student… and there are two that I’m not so confident will come out unscathed… if they learn the truth.”
Celestia rose and eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean? Are you talking about Rainbow?” Luna nodded gravely. “Who else?”
Luna turned away and looked upwards out a nearby window. As they had been searching, day had inevitably turned into night. The moon, high in the sky shone down and lit the book littered area in an ethereal glow.
Finally, Luna’s gaze fell to the ground before turning back to her sister. With worry evident in her eyes, she responded. “Depending on what they find there, and what caused Spike to turn on his friends… I’m worried about Pinkamena…”
~~~
“Oh, screw you!” screamed Rainbow as she yanked on her steering wheel and sent her ship into a barrel roll. Spinning around, she moved just in time time to avoid a large ring of fire that exploded out from the centre of the area.
Inside of the mechanical alien Aurem ship lie a massive open area. In the centre of the room sat a large fiery red sphere. Focusing their attacks on the sphere, the Gummy, now split into five smaller ships manned by each of the girls flew around erratically trying to destroy it. Meanwhile, Pit stood atop a large rock and used his own method of shooting to fight off surrounding robotic flaming enemies.
Looking down at a sensor on her screen, Twilight squinted her eyes to see something strange. “Guys... I think there’s a person stuck in that orb!”
Pit, jumping above an enemy that had rushed him, glanced over at the sphere just as a loud voice echoed throughout the area.
“I… WILL NOT BE CONTROLLED!” stammered a male voice. Immediately afterwards a more mechanical version of the same voice repeated the statement. “We… will not be controlled!” it said, is tone more even and less strained.
Pit cringed. “Oh boy, what’s he gotten himself into now?”
Up in her holy sanctuary, eyes closed as she observed the scene below, Palutena shook her head. “It’s just as you suspected. The Aurum Brain has overtaken Pyrrhon!”
As she said it, AJ in her section of the ship that had taken the shape of the Gummy’s Leg. Shot three of her missiles into the side of the orb. An explosion rang out and Pyrrhon spoke once again, this time with no hesitation or struggle in his voice.
“Intruders Must Be Purged!”
Pinkie, piloting the head, and the main portion of the ship, rolled her eyes. “I know you’re like a robot now, but you could be a bit more creative with that line.”
“We Must Consume All!”
Rarity’s pod, which was shaped like the Gummy’s arm, shook violently from an impact to the side. “Pinkie, darling... I understand the point of the ship splitting apart to increase our mobility and numbers, I do. But wouldn’t it increase our firepower and defence if we all rejoined.”
Dash, in her pod that was also shaped like an arm, could only scoff. “Hell no, this is like one of those video games they had in town. I’m loving this!” As she said that, she slammed a red button on her console and yanked on her wheel. Flying away from the ensuing explosion only served to further increase her excitement.
As she did so another voice chimed in, this time the telepathic voice of Hades, the edge lord god of Otherworld. “I agree with skittles on the ‘Hell no’ aspect of that plan. Like bugs, the Aurum are strong in number but not very bright. If you continue your tactic of flying around like idiots, they’ll have no way of fighting back effectively.”
“They’re like moths drawn the flame of battle,” added Palutena. “Pit, continue using the chaos of the girls to your advantage and attack the Core directly.”
In her pod, Twilight could only let out an aggressive sigh of annoyance. “If any of them would listen to me we would be coordinated…” she muttered.
Not realizing her com-link could still pick her up, she flinched when Rarity’s voice screamed into her ear. “Well it’s not my fault that we never had any practice with these ships we never knew existed in the first place now is it, Pinkie!”
“Less talky talky and more shooty shooty, girly girls!” sang Hades.
Rainbow could only cringe. “Can we please finish up here so I can get this flamboyant asshole out of my head!” she yelled over the intercom.
Her outburst only elicited a lighthearted chuckle from Palutena. “With your efforts combined I can feel that Pyrrhon’s been greatly weakened, all we need is one more push.”
Hades scoffed in response. “Maybe if you silly flies can muster enough coordination with Pit you can give one final combined attack.”
Pit, his floating platform now devoid of enemies to distract him, leveled his silver gun at the Core. As energy built within his barrel he called out. “You heard the demon! Are you guys ready?
One by one the ships that had been flying around the area turned their guns to face the Core. Each of them game a confirmation when they were in position.
Pit, acknowledging them began his countdown. “On my mark, fire! Three! Two!”
“WE WILL CONSUME ALL!” Before Pit could fire his attack, the Core, using Pyrrhon’s powers unleashed a wave of white hot fire in Pit’s direction, completely destroying the rock he had been standing on.”
Pit immediately began falling to the bottom of the ship below, his scream echoing all across the area. “Not again!”
“Pit!” screamed Palutena as she watched the angel once more. Reaching out her hand, Palutena tried anything she could do, from recalling him back to Skyworld with her magic, to activating his power of flight. However, just like earlier, should could feel as if she were hitting a wall. She cursed silently. Even though he was being controlled her telepathic powers were still being blocked by Pyrrhon’s.
Nearly snapping her steering wheel off, Rainbow sped down to where Pit was falling. While she did that everyone else released their ammunition onto the Core. Energy blast and lasers lit up the area in an array of colours as everyone unleashed everything they had against the barrier still up around their target.
Palutena, however kept her focus on the falling angel and the ship rapidly falling after him. Dash, in her pod grit her teeth in frustration. “I… I don’t think I’m fast enough. He’s gonna splat against the side of this ship!”
Twilight’s voice echoed through the side of her cockpit. “You have to, without both of you with us we don’t have enough firepower!”
Hades also chimed in. “Also you’ll all die alongside the splat stain… just putting that out there.”
Dash, the pressure building in her gut could only curse out her frustrations. “Goddamn it you stupid flightless angel!”
With no other options, Dash did the only thing she could think off. Taking a deep breath, she kicked open the hatch above her and spread her wings. With the ground closing in fast she immediately kicked it into high gear and almost effortlessly caught up with the spinning boy.
Seeing her catch up to him. Pit’s eyes shrank in fear. “Rainbow what in the world are you doing! There’s no air out here.”
Wasting no time, The girl grabbed the boy and quickly made a U turn back towards her ship. In her mind this was the easy part. The hard part was trying to get them back into the ship and turning it around in time before crashing into the wall.
Putting in as much strength as she could Rainbow spun the boy around and tossed Pit high above her just as she reached her ship. Hopping into the cockpit and closing the hatch, the girl pulled up on her wheel as much as physically possible. Turning just in time for the thrusters to fire red hot exhaust onto the wall, Rainbow’s ship shot back into the air.
Slamming into his gut, Pit landed on the windshield of the ship. His eyes spun from the confusion of the ordeal. Unfortunately, before he could take a second to compose himself, Both Palutena and Hades voices ringed in his head simultaneously.
“PIT SHOOT HIM!”
Pulling himself together and leaning back on the windshield, Pit pointed his gun upwards and shot it’s still charged grand laser from the barrel. Rainbow’s ship stopped almost in mid-air from the recoil of Pit’s attack.
Luckily, Pit’s attack proved to be the final thing that was needed for the barrier surrounding Pyrrhon and the Core to burst outward. With all the blasts now hitting the Core directly, Pyrrhon let out a deafening scream as the Core exploded in a violent blast of fire.
Twilight was the first to turn her ship around and fly away. “We need to get out of here before the whole place goes up!”
Following her instruction, three of the other girls all turned their ships around and began blazing a trail out of the corridor that they blew open to get in the enemy's base. After letting Pit inside of her ship so he wouldn’t fall off, Dash quickly followed suit.
Bearly making it out just in time, the group watched something interesting happen. Instead of the spherical stronghold exploding like they expected, a massive pillar of flame exploded out from the corridor they were just in. Acting like a thrust, the flame pushed the sphere out and away from the battlefield.
Pinkie stared, eyes wide with wonder. “Ohhh, it’s like a balloon with a hole in it,” she observed, giggling as she said so.
At her end Palutena nodded. “With any luck, Pyrrhon will push them to the other edge of the galaxy. Now we can refocus our efforts on the real enemy… The Underworld Army.”
Hades could only chuckle. “Is that right. Well good luck with that you two.”
To everyone’s relief they could actually feel Hades’ presence leave their minds.
Rarity herself let out a sigh of relief. “Thank the Maker that’s over. When this is done, Pinkie, we’re going to have a long, detailed chat about these little surprises!” A nervous giggle from Pinkie was the only response she received.
“Please, regroup you all,” said Palutena, “I would like to extend my deepest gratitudes for all of your efforts.”
With dramatic movements the separate pieces of the Gummy reformed into one grand green alligator looking ship.
Twilight looked behind her and with a loud click the glowing keyhole that was across her bedroom door vanished. Stepping out of the control area she flinched when the wall that was there reappeared and the same glowing lock that was on her door reappeared on her wall for a brief moment before vanishing as well.
Twilight continued to stare at the seemingly normal section of her room, now with the uneasy knowledge that Pinkie could detach her entire room should she ever feel like it.
She shook her head. “No of course not… she would never do that,” she muttered, trying to convince herself. “But she’s definitely gone too far with her secrets…”
Making her way into the main cockpit Twilight quickly met up with the others… only to see that someone beat her too what she wanted to do.
To her shock Rainbow was already holding the pink girl aloft by her collar and furiously shaking her around like a rag doll.
“WHY THE HELL ARE OUR ROOMS FREAKING EJECTOR SEATS? ARE YOU LITERALLY INSANE?!” screamed Rainbow Dash still swinging the girl back and forth.
Pinkie for hear part took it in stride, keeping a dopey looking grin on her face even as she was being screamed at. “I thought it would be convenient since your rooms are in the legs of the ship,” she said, the rapid movement warbling her voice like a robots.
Eventually, AJ had enough and forced Dash to stop. As Pinkie tried to get her footing back she dizzily moved to and fro.
Applejack shook her head sadly. “Sorry, hun, Ah’m more mad about ya not telling us these things beforehand. Ah get ya like surprises and secrets but ya gotta know there’s a limit.”
Shaking her head to literally shake the dizziness out, Pinkie looked up at AJ. “Oh…” she said sadly, finally speechless. “I’m… I’m sorry. I thought you would all enjoy it.”
This time Twilight chimed in. “Well Pinkie we aren't saying that we didn’t.”
“I am,” muttered Rarity. “I was in the middle of washing my face when it happened.”
Walking close to Pinkie, Twilight took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “I would find it a bit more comfortable if you told us… Since you not telling us everything is going to raise a few trust issues between us.” Pinkie nodded.
However, before she could respond, the group all heard Palutena give a soft cough. Everyone turned to see an Pit and an astral projection of Palutena standing to the side.
Palutena grinned and Pit tried his best to avoid eye contact with any of the girls. “While I would love to watch you all bicker, I’m afraid Pit and I have a few things to attend to with cleaning up the Aurum mess.”
“Yeah, with Pyrrhon gone I’m finally able to get back to Skyworld,” added Pit. “Thanks again Rainbow for saving me!”
Rainbow gave him a thumbs up and a grin. “Sure thing, just hurry and learn how to fly already you useless angel.”
“Anyway, for all of your efforts, I would be honored to reward you all.”
Twilight stepped forward. “No, not at all. We’re Keyblade wielders. We would never ask for a reward.”
Palutena’s grin quickly shifted into a smirk. Holding out her hands, she said. “Well it’s a good thing you didn’t ask then.” With a bright flash, each of the girls began glowing a bright glowing colour. The luminescence only lasted a few seconds before it faded, leaving the girls to examine themselves.
“What… what did you do?” asked Rarity… “And can you do it again… it was quite beautiful.”
“I have bestowed upon you all the gift of communication. This way even when you all are apart, your hearts will open a path between your minds and you may speak to one another.”
“Woah, woah, woah!!” blurted Rainbow. “I really don’t want these people reading my mind!”
“Ohhh!” smirked AJ. “Would that be meaning that you’ve got somethin’ to hide in there?” she teased poking the girl’s hair.
Palutena covered her grin with a hand and chuckled darkly. “Well if so then you’d better master your own mind. It’ll take a bit of practice but I hope that you’ll learn to keep your thoughts from leaking out… But,” she continued, losing her teasing tone, “in all honestly, this isn’t an ability to read minds or anything like that.”
It was then that Pit decided to chime in. Putting his hand on his chest he began. “Like my Goddess said, it’s more of a communications channel opened by your hearts. It will only work with others who you are deeply connected to. Even if you are far apart, if you believe in your friendship with them then you’ll be able to talk.”
Twilight and the other all shared a knowing look. Stepping forward Twilight proposed a question. “Lady Palutena… does the person we want to talk to… do they also need to have this ability awakened?”
Palutena, seeing the genuine intent in Twilight’s gaze, lost her playful facade and shook her head. “It works easier with those who have it awoken or have it budding within, such as other Keyblade wielders or those who are strong of heart. But you can connect with those who don’t have it or have not awakened it if the connection between your hearts is mutual and strong.
Twilight’s eyes went wide and she quickly turned to the rest of the girls. No words passed between them but one by one they all closed their eyes and concentrated. A singular goal in their hearts they all screamed out for one person.
“Fluttershy!”
~~~
“Impossible!” hissed Chrysalis. She looked up in shock as Fluttershy began moving inside of her pod. Her head tilting up, the girl's lips began moving. Though no sound came out, Chrysalis could read the words.
Without wasting a moment, the woman slammed her palms together and released a wave of dark violet energy. The wave quickly spanned the room. Once the wave reached Fluttershy’s body a spark shot out from her head and the girl's body sagged and returned to unresponsiveness once more.
Letting out a sigh, Chrysalis looked up at the pod jutting out from the wall. “What in the world just happened… did someone think to cast a telepathic spell?” She put a finger to her lip in pensive thought. “But for it to be so strong and come from nowhere… this is bad… we need to speed up our plan.”
~~~
One by one the girls let out a scream before all fell to the ground.
“Girls!” Pit yelled, reaching out to try to help one up.
“Are you all alright? What...” To Palutena’s surprise not a single one of the girls looked to be in pain, all of them had large smiles on their faces.
Pinkie was the first to bounce up. “Oh my gosh guys did you hear that!” she yelled.
AJ picked herself up next, helping Rarity in the process. “Aside from the shock hell yeah I heard it! That was definitely ‘Shy!”
Rarity herself wiped away a single tear before it could ruin her make up. “I… I will be the first to admit that I feared the worst. But if what Lady Palutena said is true then our friend is alive and well!”
Twilight turned to the Goddess with watery eyes. “Thank you so much. You can’t imagine what kind of hope this gives us. We were blocked and pushed out but we definitely made contact with our friend.”
Palutena gave a kind smile. “I see. I’m so happy and proud of you all for keeping your spirits up and hope alive with such uncertainty until now. However I’m afraid if the force holding your friend has enough power to not only block out your hearts reach but also repel you after making the connection, then you probably won’t be able to get so close next time.”
Twilight, undaunted, shook her head. “I understand. She’s being held somewhere we can’t reach but we know we’ll see her. I want to thank you anyway for everything anyway.”
While Twilight and Palutena continued to converse and the other talked about the experience, Rainbow stood to the side. Reaching up to touch her hair band, she closed her eyes and called out with her newfound power once more.
“Spike… please… can you hear me…”
Unlike with the connection to Fluttershy, Rainbow felt nothing, no connection. She could feel her heart reaching out, like it knew exactly where to direct her… but nothing connected back.
Opening her eyes, Rainbow lowered her arm to her side. To her side she could see that Pit had made his way over to her. As if he already knew what she was trying, he offered his advice.
“The power of communication, unfortunately, is something that only works if the hearts are connected… if one’s heart is closed or refuses… than you won’t find anyone…” he said somberly. “Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked giving him a sidelong glance.
Pit nodded. “A while back while I was fighting someone, I was accidentally cloned by an evil magic mirror. I call him Pittoo,” he said chuckling. “We fought each other at first but eventually he ended up helping me out. He’s me so I think there is some good. I try sometimes to contact him… but he never answered.”
Her frown turning into a smile, Rainbow shoved her hands into her pockets and looked away from the kid. “Well at least you know he’s still probably on your side.”
“Hey!” Stepping in front of her Pit forced her to look at him. Pointing a finger at his chest, he replied. “Don’t sound like you’re giving up. If you’re heart says he’s on your side then he is. That’s how the light works. It shines on those who are strong of heart, even if they try to cloud themselves in darkness. So don’t give up on your friend yet.”
“Pit… why are you pointing at that girl's breast?” asked Palutena from behind Rainbow.
Pit looked from her to the girl in front of him before blushing and quickly moving away. Blushing, he turned away from all the shady looks the others were giving him. “I-I-I was just giving her some advice alright!”
Palutena facepalmed. “I know I should have taught you how to talk to girls, but even you should know that pointing is rude to anyone!”
Just as Pit opened his mouth to respond the kid quickly found himself in a tight headlock by RD. “Jeez kid you think just cuz you’ve also got wings you can give me advice, “ she teased, ruffling his hair. “Learn how to fly first and maybe I’ll listen to you.”
This, luckily, elicited a bit of laughter from the girls instead of the disgusted looks from before. Pit, for his trouble, looked up to see the girl whose arm was around his head. He was about to complain when he noticed her looking back at him, a small smile on her face.
“Thanks…” she muttered, turning the headlock into more of a semi awkward head hug.
Pit sighed. “Sure, no problem. I hope you find your friend soon.”
“You’ve found what?!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle, her hands slapping the dashboard below Luna’s hologram. Her mouth lie agape, and her eyes twinkled brightly at the news.
Luna merely held up her right palm. At once Twilight leaned back from the console, seemingly regaining her composure.
“Indeed my students. After careful study, we feel as though this world is the one you described.” She gave a quick glance to the girl left of Twilight. “Pinkie, if you would?”
With a grin and a salute, Pinkie pushed a small button and brought up the local map of the area. On it the team could see their ship close to the world they had just left, surrounded by several other nearby worlds.
Luna nodded and, with a few more clicks, one world zoomed into focus. A few members of the team cringed at the sight if it. Just like the last time they looked at it, it was charred all around as lava poured out from the three volcanoes on its surface, and dark clouds surrounding the world.
Rarity could only stare at it, her face contorted in disgust. However, she was the first to speak. “Err… Master Luna… are you sure it’s this world.”
The girls turned back to their Master just in time to hear her response. “Indeed, my sister and I are fairly sure with our guess. This is the world that Spike must have talked about, however,” she looked at Rarity, “it did not always look like this. Pinkie, would you activate the code i gave to you”
A quick succession of clicks later, and the image transformed itself. No longer was it the black ball of soot it was a moment earlier, now the world was as green and full of life as the most sprawling of jungles. The volcanos, once active, now lie dormant with three white clouds circling each. On screen Twilight noticed that every so often she could make out small winged creatures flying around the world.
“Before, we suspect that this world was called Draconia, haven of the Dragon races,” Luna began. “Once upon a time it reigned as one of the most powerful races known to the Masters. But about five centuries ago, the world began to grow corrupt and dark.” At her words the world gradually grew darker. Tendrils of darkness began appearing and wrapping around the world. Finally, the world vanished in a black mist.
Luna continued her story as the kids turned back to her. “To the shock of many, the world fell into darkness. Many dragons became heartless, and the Masters of the time spent almost a century fighting back against irregularly powerful heartless and nobodies. However, no matter how hard they tried, they could not restore the world.” As she finished a small light emerged from where the world had disappeared and in a flash the world returned. “It was only recently that our Master and her team were able to recover it. But, five years ago something happened. A calamity befell the world, and it became as you see now. Nobody knows the cause, and nobody has been to the world since its return.”
Twilight immediately raised her hand. “Why has nobody been there?”
Luna shrugged. “Most of the Masters were busy around that time with students, and the ones who were free didn’t feel there was any urgency.” Her eyes fell to the floor, and her tone softened. “Had we known about the link to your brother, we may have made the trip personally. So now it falls to you, do you-”
“We’ll go!” answered Rainbow Dash without a second thought. “If it has to do with Spike, of course we’re gonna check it out.”
Luna’s expression remained downcast for a few more moments before leveling them at her eager student. “We must warn you, this could be very dangerous. On the off chance it has nothing to do with him, the danger that caused that event could still be there.”
Jackie simply tipped her hat and took a step closer, a confident smirk playing across her lips. “Well iffn’ it is some scary dragon or something, I’m sure we can take care of it if we work together.”
Pinkie popped up next to her. “Yeah and who knows, we may find something cool there!”
Luna couldn’t hold back a small smile. “And you, Rarity?” she asked, looking at the girl in question.
Rarity, whom had been looking away from the group, sighed. “If we go at least we’ll be able to get that dreadful image off of the map. Hopefully it looks better on the ground,” she said, her voice lowering to a mutter.
Twilight smiled at her friends and turned to face Luna’s hologram. “Then we’re decided. Thank you and Master Celestia so much.” As she said that she bowed. Her action was soon mirrored by the rest. With one wave from Luna the girls raised their heads.
“Well then, we wish you all the best. Exercise caution my students, I truly cannot say what awaits you. Maintain a clear mind, and you’ll find your way. May your heart be your hearts be your guiding keys.”
And with that, her image vanished, leaving the girls to prepare for their next adventure.
~~~
Dash leaned back in her seat and stretched. Around her the ship groaned and vibrated. Having just landed she could feel the engines settling.
Sighing in relief she spun her seat around to face the pilot's seat. “If you can land a ship like that, why do we need to crash into every world?” she asked, a single brow raised.
Pinkie blew a quick raspberry and leaned over onto her console. “Because it’s boring! That was too smooth.” Quickly, she pepped up and started moving the steering wheel back and forth, much to the nervousness of her companions. “A landing needs to be rocky and fun! Don’t you think”
“No,” said the rest of the girls, all glaring at her.
AJ stood up from her seat and moved towards the door. “Welp, no use in sitting around here. Let’s bite the bullet and see how bad this place is.”
Nodding, Twilight followed suit and, after a small groan, so did Rarity.
Pinkie, meanwhile started typing away on the keyboard, eliciting the attention of Rainbow.
Leaning over her shoulder, Dash spied on her friend’s screen.
Just as quick as she started Pinkie finished up and a voice flared to life around them.
“Parameters set,” said the AI interface.
“What did you do?” asked Dash, looking around. By the door, the rest of the group shared her curious look.
Pinkie smiled at her friends. “I just set the ship to teleport us here automatically if anything happens to us. Maud will have to stay summoned, but Master Luna wanted me to do this just in case.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s a good idea. We can never be too safe. Though I didn’t know the ship could do that.” She sighed and shook her head. “Never a dull day is it…”
And with that the door opened, allowing the group to leave. However, as Pinkie started to follow, she felt a pull on her arm. Behind her, Dash glared.
“You mean if Spike shows up right?” she asked, her voice low and even.
Her semi-serious mood immediately vanished as Pinkie readily took her head and smooshed it against her chest.
“Oh you’re too serious, Dashie,” she giggled. “No this isn’t just for Spike, it’s for anything. Who knows, we could be attacked by a giant lava monster for all I know,” she said, shrugging. With another chuckle she moved to touch her forehead with her friends.
Sparkling baby blue meeting magenta, their eyes locked with one another. “I just want to make sure my friends are safe, all of them,” she whispered.
The two stared at each other in silence, for a moment.
Then, at once, Pinkie’s look soured and she leered at her friend. “And lately you seem to keep trying to kill yourself. So… yeah…”
Dash’s eyes shrank under the accusation. Unable to keep eye contact, she had no choice but to avert them completely.
Then, at once Pinkie dropped Rainbow and skipped out the ship, leaving Dash alone to rub her cheek, eyes glued to the floor in shame, she slumped her way out of the ship.
Joining the team, outside, Dash took in the same scene as the rest.
Vast landscape met her eyes, however, just like the view outside the world, all she could see was shades of black. Black sticks that may once have resembled trees, black dirt, black mountains. And to wrap it up the entire world was covered in a thin dark mist.
The world’s only saving grace from the bleak colour was the glowing red magma flowing from a volcano in the distance.
Immediately, Dash had to cover her mouth as she let out a fit of coughing. Running up to her, Rarity offered a blue hankerchief that Dash readily took.
At the front of the group, Twilight leaned down and picked up some of the dirt. As she expected instead of sliding through her hands like sand and dirt should, the flakes she picked up either flittered to the ground or flew away on the breeze in broken pieces.
“Ash,” she identified, her speech muffled by a purple handkerchief. “All the grass here has been burnt to ash. What could have done this?”
AJ stepped up next to her and looked around. To her mouth was a orange handkerchief provided by Rarity. “The volcanoes might be a part of this but the lava hasn’t even reached here yet.
“So I guess we need to look around?” asked Dash. Smirking behind her handkerchief, she turned to the group and threw a thumb towards the mountain behind her. “You guys wanna check out the active volcano.”
~~~
“I was joking!” Dash yelled from behind the group, her one unoccupied arm held up to the sky.
In front of her, led by Twilight and AJ, the group strode towards the closest of the three volcanoes. As they walked, Pinkie spared no amount of glee in noticing their footsteps through the ask sounded just a bit like crunching snow.
“Yes,” sighed Rarity from just a few feet in front of her, “we heard you the first two times. And again, “I agree with her” she yelled.
Up at the front, Twilight could only roll her eyes before casting a glance over her shoulder. “For the last time,” she yelled back,” we’re not strolling right up the mountain, Jackie and I just want to try and find out if it was forced to erupt or is it erupting naturally.”
Dash let out a groan. “Fine, how much closer then. ‘Cuz fire and lava is cool and all, but I’d rather not burn to death.”
“Damn it,” cursed AJ. “We don’t have to have our faces pressed up against it, just a bit closer is fine for us to use our magic,” said AJ.
“Actually,” said Twilight, coming to a halt along with the group. Looking up she could see that the group was close enough to see volcano in its full glory, but just far enough that its flow of lava was a safe dozen or so yards to either side of them. “This should be good enough.”
She turned to the group. “Alright, I’ll scan it with magic to see if it was involved in some way…” she trailed off as AJ walked up next to her.
“And ah’ll check the earth to see if someone got a bit too worked up,” she finished.
Both summoned their Keyblades in their free hands. While Twilight held her’s up towards the mountain, AJ angled her’s down towards the earth. In a matter of seconds, their Keyblades lit up with their respective purple and orange colours.
Then, after about a minute of silence, both girls lowered their blades and glanced at each other in confusion.
Pinkie was the first thing besides the soft sound of blowing wind to make a noise.
And that noise was a sneeze. That sneeze was followed by a giggle at said sneeze.
“Sorry! I’m glad I’m already holding a tissue,” she said, accentuating the statement with a sniffle. “So what did you find?”
Twilight answered first. “Well there was definitely strong magic involved, with very negative emotions fueling it.”
AJ nodded in agreement. “And whatever it was, it set off some serious earthquakes, just enough to kick start the volcano.”
“I’d like to wager a guess it was a battle, but I can’t for the life of me determine any signs there was one.” Rarity observed.
“That’s a pretty good guess,” replied Twilight, still looking at her Keyblade. “The residual magic feels more like a burst, rather than a directed spell. It almost feels as though somebody set off some sort of explosion.”
“Well can’t you, like, figure out who’s magic it was?” asked Pinkie.
Twilight shook her head. “We’re too far away from where the burst started. At this point it was more like just a wave of regular fire and shockwaves.”
“So… like a domino effect,” reasoned Dash. “Somebody threw out some crazy ass spell and threw the whole world out of whack?”
Twilight finally looked back to the group, her eyes far more serious than they had before. “Not just that, there was real darkness involved. There are heartless still on this world,” her eyes narrowed, “and they’re strong.”
The group had collectively been taken aback by the statement before sharing glances between each other.
Noticing the fact that everyone, even Pinkie, had taken her message seriously, she continued. “Alright then, we have two options from this point. We could-”
Suddenly, a scream pierced through the winds and echoed through the area, tearing the group's attention away from Twilight and towards the mountain.
“Looks like you’d better narrow those down to one!” Immediately, Dash took to the air and led the charge towards the screams origin.
Without further comment the rest of the girls followed.
Rushing towards the sound of the screech, the group instinctually pulled out their weapons. Rounding a hill they came upon the sight of the ensuing battle. A large, dragon-shaped heartless, easily the size of three people, and with the apparent strength of ten, was surrounded by 4 warriors, each wearing a type of leather armour.
Dash, having led the charge with her flight, opted for the simplest option. Wrapping her keyblade in electrical magics, she slammed into the heartless, stunning it with lightning, and the warriors beneath it with her sudden appearance.
Trying not to face palm, Twilight and the rest of the group approached the warriors who, in turn, readied their weapons in her direction. Immediately, it was apparent that these warriors were not human. Their visible skin appeared to be clad in scales, and they clearly possessed fangs and claws. Even though some of the warriors used blades, some used metal claws as weapons over their own natural appendages.
“Wait!” Twilight called out, putting her surprise on the backburner. “We’re here to help fight that thing. We’re on your side.”
The warriors glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Before they could decide, however, the sound of thunder echoed across the charred landscape, demanding their attention.
Dash, who had all but body slammed the heartless, flew back and landed next to the team after delivering a follow up strike against it. The beast itself struggled to shake off the remaining bolts of static that had struck it.
“This is amazing,” Twilight whispered to the girls close to her, the ghost of a smile growing on her face. “Heartless are rare enough, but a dragonoid one?”
Said dragon heartless, after regaining its bearings it charged at the gathering of warriors.
As Rarity readied herself, summing a litany of magical weapons to use, a loud battle cry rang out across the area. And, in an instant, a tornado engulfed the heartless. Said tornado then caught fire.
From behind the flaming tornado came a figure that seemed to glide along the ground on skates of wind. With a manic grin on his face, he leapt directly into the tornado that he created.
From the girl's point of view, the tornado exploded outward in a torrent of flames and wind. Standing atop of the charred heartless as it slowly disintegrated into darkness, was a man no older than them standing atop the creature, their weapon stabbed into its head. What shocked the girls was the weapon itself. It was a silver keyblade. Its red handle is decorated with stylized flames that flew along the middle of its silver body. And the tip ending in a white circle with what seems to be two prongs of flame coming out of it.
The boy itself wore a tattered mask that covered the lower half of his face, his straight silver hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a white tight fitting shirt with black highlights on the shoulder areas, light blue jeans and black hiking boots.
As the creature vanished, he dropped to the ground and finally looked over his surroundings. His eyes widened at the sight of the girls. However, just as he took a step forward, one of the native warriors rushed towards him, claws at the ready.
Leaping into the air, the warrior slashed down at him, with the keyblade wielder dodging it easily. Several more swipes followed before the other warriors followed to aid him. After a small skirmish, the strange wielder swung his keyblade, releasing a small whirlwind, just enough to lift up a cloud of soot and dust to cover an attempted escape. Unfortunately for him, the warriors saw through his strategy and continued their assault.
~~~
Meanwhile, the girls stood, speechless as the events took place.
AJ spoke first. “What just happened?” she said, taking off her hat to give her head a scratch.
“I dunno but that fire tornado was kinda cool,” Rainbow scoffed. “So… are we going to stop them or…?”
Twilight, meanwhile, had her finger to her chin in thought. “Well, while I am concerned about that boy, we don't know if he’s malicious or not. I think we should--”
She was interrupted by a slight tap on her shoulder from Rarity, who in turn pointed at the sight of Pinkie standing in between the Keyblade wielder and the warriors. Twilight’s face fell when she realised what happened, and full on facepalmed, when Pinkie started dancing.
While Rainbow stifled a chuckle, AJ just shook her head and began to approach the gathering.
However, before they could get too close, the boy set off a small explosion, throwing Pinkie off her rhythm and escaping as she planted face first into the dust. It was then that AJs walk turned into a run.
“Pinkie, you alright?” she called, rushing over her fallen friend.
The girl in question sat, arms crossed and covered in dust from curly hair to toe. “I didn’t get to finish my friendship dance,” she muttered, spitting out some soot.
“You, outsiders!”
One of the warriors, the one with the claws, stepped forward, his voice a low gravelly hiss. While his weapons were not levelled at them, she still approached with caution.
“Are you allied with that human?” He finished?
Twilight carefully stepped forward, while not reading her weapon, she also did not dismiss it either.
“No, we just got here, and we just want to know what’s going on?” “she said. “And if we can, we’d like to help.”
The warrior nodded, finally lowering his guard. “Yes, I can tell as much from your subordinates… greeting,” he said, drawing out the final word.
“Subordinate?” “Rarity scoffed.
“Why were you guys trying to kill each other?” Dash yelled, stepping forward.
Another native stepped forward, “Excuse you, child!” he said, spitting out the last word as if it was an insult. “If we wanted to kill that traitor, his head would be in my hands!”
“Enough, Warrior Talos, we need no further engagements.” He turned to the girls and lowered his head slightly. “Apologies, if you are indeed here to learn our story, and perhaps assist, then there is much we must tell you. I am Warrior Trial of Clan Skrath.”
As he said his name, he slammed a fist into his chest. Turning, he approached his teammates and slammed a fist on their chests as he introduced them. “This loud one is Warrior Talos, of clan Thrall.”
Talos grunted, and glared at the girls, as if judging them. Trial moved onto the next, this one holding a large spear with a jagged edge. “This is my son, Warrior Tyros of Clan Skrath.”
And finally Trial moved towards the last one, however, instead of rapping his chest armour like the two before him, Trial simply held out a hand as if to gesture to him. This one held a simple long blade. Twilight noticed immediately that he had a deep scar that ran from his mouth, and down his neck. He regarded them with a stoic look. “And this is Soldier Areth, formerly of Clan Weld.”
Dash, also having noticed that particular feature, leaned in close to Pinkie. “Dude, that's such a cool scar,” she whispered before being nudged by AJ.
Twilight nodded respectfully before gesturing to herself and her team. “Thank you for the introductions, My name is Twilight Sparkle. My friends here are called Rarity, AJ, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and…” she trailed off, her smile faltering for a second before continuing. “We’re travellers doing research and helping out where we can.”
“Come with us to our village,” Trial replied, “we doubt you can do much to help us now, but we shall tell you our story.”
“Ay now before we go,” called AJ, “who was that guy you all were fightin’?”
Trial merely turned and began walking. “As mentioned, we will tell you when we reach our encampment.”
Pinkie crossed her arms and pouted. “Well you can just tell us on the way, can’t you?”
Trial let out a small grunt. “Your subordinates are untrained,” he said, addressing Twilight, who frowned at the insinuation. “Those creatures can appear at any time. We will remain silent, and on guard.”
Rainbow turned, and gave a rather confused look at her friends before following Trial and his band back to their base.
~~~
The walk was mercifully short and, although Twilight appreciated the silence, her thoughts continued to turn back to the boy she saw earlier, and this world in general. Having questions float through her mind was normal for her, as if questioning was all she thought about, but this time, more questions than usual filled her head and it was starting to get harder to figure out which one was more important.
“We’re here.”
Trial’s gruff voice cut her out of her own head and forced her to take in her surroundings for the first time since they began walking. Not that there was anything different about the burnt and sandy terrain. However, she did recognize the fact they were now standing in front of man-made wall. Dark, charcoal coloured bricks built up a wall with 4 similarly armoured warriors guarding the entrance which, strangely, had no doors or bridge, just an arch.
One of the defenders called out to them first.
“Brigade designation and report!” He ordered.
Trial once more slammed a fist into his chest. “Trial brigade. Reporting. The threat has been delt with. We’ve had another run in with the rogue. Five travellers discovered, non-hostile. Permission to enter under recommendation of Clan Skrath?
“Permission granted. Keep them under watch.” Another defender responded. And with that the four guards separated and allowed the group to pass.
Inside the village, The girls let out a small but stunned gasp. Their encampment was just as it sounded. There weren't more than a dozen tents laid out in ordered rows, with only the bare minimum of activity. However, like Twilight had guessed, only dragon-like people lived here both small and large, yet non of them looked older than the soldiers leading them.
Trial stopped and turned to his teammates. “Warrior Talos, inform your clan head of my arrival and that I am leading these visitors to the war room for a debriefing.”
Talos let out a snort, and Dash could make out the bare licks of flame exit his nose. “I AM, the clan head,” he said slowly, dangerously.
Trials, however, wasn't fazed. “Not… yet.” he returned, with the same intensity. “Now follow orders and inform your father.”
Talos glared at him before performing their fist to chest salute and stomping off.
“Warrior Tyros, you will follow me as back up.” Tyros nodded and saluted. “And Areth, go rest. I’m sure you must be tired from the battle.”
Areth’s eye went wide and he let out a low growl. However, just as he took a step forward to argue, Talos moved in front and addressed his father. “Actually, sir. I have made arrangements that I need to attend to, would you allow Areth to accompany you as your backup instead, sir?
Trials looked from Areth to Tyros and nodded. “If Areth is in good enough condition then he may, though I command you to take care of your business then meet me in the war room. Is that understood?”
Tyros snorted a lick of flame and made his way behind them, bringing up the rear that had previously been Rarity’s position. His piercing glare and nasty scar sent shivers down her spine. Grabbing AJ’s arm, the two switched positions,
Tyros saluted, turned on his heel, and marched away. Trial looked at the girls and gestured with his head the direction he was bout to lead them. “Once we get to the war room, I will answer all your questions, and discuss how you can be of help to us.”
As grand as the term war room was, the room in question was nothing more than another, slightly bigger tent. Inside sat a charcoal black table, made of the same brick material that the outer wal had been made of. Trials stood at the head and Areth stood near the entrance with the girls gathered around the table.
Once more, Trial addressed Twilight first. “Thank you for your patience, we can speak freely here. Once more I am Warrior Trial, of Clan Skrath and this is our encampment until we can obtain enough resources. I assume you and your subordinates want to know what happened to this world?”
Rarity spoke first. “While I appreciate you getting straight to the point, I cannot hold my tongue any longer. We are not her subordinates!”
“Yeah,” cheered Pinkie, “we’re her friends!”
Twilight held her hand up. “Girl’s please.” She then turned to Trial. “But they are correct, despite what you might think, there’s no hierarchy between us. I would appreciate it if you stopped calling them that.”
Trial shook his head. “Foolish. There must always be a leader. And from that display of command, even someone like Areth can see who is in charge of this group. But I will concede nevertheless.”
Twilight frowned, but nodded anyway. “Thank you, please continue. What happened to this world, it cant have always been like this.”
“Very well,” Talos began, steepleing his clawed hands atop of the table. “I will tell you the fate that befell this proud race of dragons…”
“It all began over several decades ago when a certain Keyblade wielder finally saved our world from darkness that we had been trapped in for centuries, Trial began. “A woman of immense power and authority. She and her team fought back the darkness imprisoning our hearts and released us from what kept us trapped.”
A young dragon child sat on his knees, surrounded by a scene of destruction following a great battle. Fire, destroyed buildings and unconscious bodies lay in heaps around him. Unconscious, but still alive. Before them all stood a tall woman with bright crimson hair and a flowing white dress. Both of which flowed in the non existent breeze. Behind her were three familiar teenagers. A relatively tall girl with pink hair, wide smile and a blazing sun themed keyblade, a boy wearing mismatched clothes, a cocky smirk, holding no keyblade, and a short girl with dark blue hair and moon themed keyblade, Unlike the previous two, this girl stared back at the monster behind them, a downcast look on her face.
Behind them, dwarfing their silhouette and laying motionless was the body of a massive dragon. Its dark form slowly fading away and thousands of hearts forming from its remains.
The young dragon gazed upwards, first at the woman, then at the hearts that floated up into the sky and out over the world.
A warm hand reached out to touch his cheek.
“The nightmare is over now, child,” she said, her voice a melody in his ears. He looked deeply into her almost glowing eyes. “With this your people will come back, safe and sound, and you’ll never have to worry about losing them again to the darkness.”
“B.. but,” the child stammered, his own eyes growing more and more wet with each word,” but what if it comes back? What if… what do we… how do…” he trailed off stammering his words as wet streaks began appearing on his cheeks.”
The woman gently took him into her arms, letting her warmth flow through her and into him. “Shh,” she cooed” it’ll be alright.”
There they sat, letting the child cry and sputter out his words. Soon, however, as his cries softened, the woman moved to look at him once more.
“If you ever find darkness invading your world, if you ever find your people losing hope once again, believe in both yourself and the strength of your people. And most of all,” she turned, and gestured towards her students, who simply beamed in response, “believe in the holders of the keyblade that will always come to your aid when you need it most.”
The child stared at the group, his eyes widening bit by bit.
“But she was wrong,” Trial continued, staring directly at Twilight. “I believed in her words that day so I grew strong and raised a strong clan to believe in,” he sighed.
Twilight placed a finger to her chin in thought. “From that description, it must have been the GrandMaster who trained Master Luna… But… several decades ago? How old are they, and why didn't she tell us that she helped recover this world?
While she was thinking, Dash spoke up. “So what was she wrong about then?” she asked, a single brow raised.
Trial glared at her, and slammed a fist onto the table. “We shouldn't have believed that a Keyblade wielder would save us,” he growled, surprising everyone.
“Now hold on there a second,” shot back AJ, “We just got here. I know we’re a mite late but-”
“I’m not referring to you!” interrupted Trial, matching her tone. “You're not the first wielders to come to this world, I hesitate to even call you the second.”
His fist, still pressed against the table, began shaking. “No… the first true keyblade wielder is the reason our world is like this at all,” he said, his voice low and rumbling.
Twilight opened her mouth to respond but paused when Trial held up his hand and took a deep breath. “My apologies, I've suffered a lapse in discipline. Let me continue so you may understand.”
Trial looked between the girls, each of them glancing at one another.
“There are certain things you need to know to understand the full story. This was the first, one of two legends we have, and the second begins around 5 or so years ago when a certain boy came to our flourishing world.
Dash immediately felt a sinking feeling in her gut as he began.
“This story begins when I was still in training.”
~~~
A young Trial, clad in leather armour, methodically marched through his village. As he did everyday, he took careful stock of his home. The market was as loud and bustling as his fellow dragons filled the paved dirt roads, moving back and forth in droves looking for things to buy.
Children could be seen playing, small dragonlings no taller than his leg running back and forth with balls and toys apleanty. The buildings were much to behold, bricked buildings and wooden stalls were the norm for this outdoor public market. Over near the field outside the market he could make sight of some of them trying to fly with their newfound wings. While adult dragons are able to retract their wings until they need them, younglings tend to keep them out because of the excitement.
Speaking of the children, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, one or two “borrowing” some food from a distracted stand owner. Trial shook his head in shame, shame that his world was still in a state where any child needed to steal to feed themselves. He could catch and stop them, but his role was not to keep pitiful thieves in line.
As he did everyday, Trial took careful stock of his home, not looking for anything that didn't belong in this town specifically, but rather, looking for anything that didn't belong in this world. Outsiders, visitors, heartless, anything that could threaten the stability that his heroes worked so hard for when he was a child.
But it wasn't just threats that he kept an eye out for.
Still watching, Trial kept his eyes locked onto that child as they ran from the stand. While difficult to see through the crowd, his time observing his home allowed him a certain foresight into where young children would flee to when running away with food.
While the child, clad in torn clothes and bruised body, dipped in and out of the crowd, running into adults and past them, Trial methodically altered his march to head off the child directly through the crowd. Unlike the child, Trial was the heir to one of the ruling clans, and a self appointed knight tasked with keeping them safe from darkness, they knew who he was, and they moved out of his way.
With trained precision, he predicted exactly which ally the child would turn into. As the child dipped into the alley, Trial placed himself at the corner and peered into it. Darkness could come from anywhere, even the smallest corner between bricked buildings.
If the child was just feeding a stray pet, or a younger sibling, he would leave them be, just as he always had. Perhaps he would leave them something to keep them fed for a while.
This was not one of those times.
Trial’s eye widened as the child that had stolen the food gestured to a robbed figure who was about the same size as he. This other being had clothes that were in even worse condition. Torn all across the body, even the hood just barely covered its face. Just from height alone the child couldn't have been more than 10 years old.
But it was when reached out for the food to take it that Trial knew that he needed to approach. The hand that had reached out was a pale colour, and lacked the characteristic scales and colouration a dragonborn should possess. Even more damning, was that Trial caught a glimpse of what was under the boy's hood as he reached out. It was the face of a normal human boy with pale skin.
Without even noticing, Trial inched forward towards the children. Like any dragonling with powerful hearing, the child heard him immediately and turned around with a hiss.
Time slowed to a crawl for the soldier, and Trial knew how this would go. This left him with two choices. He could come out and speak to them slowly to try to show them he meant no harm.
But that would have been too easy.
The dragonling, upon noticing that they were being watched, immediately spread his tiny wings and grabbed his friend. Cursing his failure, Trial unfolded his own wings and chased them into the sky.
Reaching above the alley they were in, Trial caught sight of the children wobbling along. The way he was flying, occasionally mistiming the flap of one wing, the constant ascend and descend. Trial knew at a glance that the child must have only just got his wings. And the non–dragon child was just hanging.
Trial gave one mighty flap and sped up to reach the kids. This wasn’t about catching them any more, it was to make sure they didn't crash into something.
“Stop!” he called out, easily reaching the boys. “Lower yourself before you drop your friend.”
Curiously, both children hissed at him, momentarily shocking Trial. Taking this slight pause, the child dipped lower in an attempt to escape. However, this was a mistake for a new flyer, as the dragonling didn't have much in the way of control over how fast or slow to descend, much less how to pull up or turn.
The child flapped wildly while pulling his friend closer. Buildings came into view and the child barely swerved around to avoid hitting one, but when the next one came, he did not move enough and smacked his friend against one of the taller wooden stalls. His friend being wrested from his grip stole what little control the dragonling still had and he too crashed into the stall next to it.
Trial’s face fell into a deep frown as he flew down to check on the boys.
Touching down he cleared away the smoke and debris. “Are you two alright?!” he called out, only to hear quiet coughing in response.
Even through the dust cloud, the sound was enough to track down where the boys landed. Moving some rocks out of the way, his eyes widened at what he saw.
He had expected the dragonling to be alright, these kinds of things tend to happen when one is learning to fly, but instead, he saw something he never expected to see. The human child had stood in front of his friend, shakingly holding his ground against Trial. In his hands was a weapon currently too large for him. A large key shaped object that he could barely even lift. Past him lay the dragon child, clutching his wing in pain.
Trial’s eyes narrowed, he had several questions, but they had to wait. Slowly, he took to one knee and held out a hand.
“Hello, young one,” he began.
The child merely hissed at him in response, a mere imitation of a dragon baring his fangs. With his robes hood lowered, Trial finally got a better look at the boy. As he thought, this child did not originate from his world. He has pale skin, messy and dirty short silver hair, a small scar under his left eye, and piercing red eyes.
“I'm not here to hurt you,” Trial said, slowly and carefully. “You’re both hurt, let me help.”
Just as he said that, the dragonling pulled himself to his knees and clutched the robes of the keybaring boy. “Please,” he said, tears running down his cheek and still supporting his one wing limp. “I know he’s different, but please don't take my friend!”
Trial waited a moment, carefully choosing his next words lest he frighten these children moreso. He closed his eyes and started. “I know what they say about us, specifically myself.” she mumbled, just loud enough for the two to hear.” But do not worry. I am not here to imprison a child. Nor will I separate you two.” He opened his eyes and made eye contact with both children. “I'm only here to ensure your protection.”
It was then that the human’s arms finally gave out, failing to support their large weapon any longer. However, even with the weapon lowered, his eyes remained focused on Trial’s. Intense, but not enough to give Trial’s any reason to think words were falling on deaf ears. So he continued.
“Do you know what that is you’re holding?” he asked, pointing at the keyblade.
This took the child by surprise, and he stared down at it, his arms still trembling from holding it up.
“He… I found him with it,” the dragonling started, looking up at Trial.
Trial nodded slowly. “That weapon is very special,” she said, pointing to the blade. After a second, he pointed to the boy himself. “And that makes you special, boy. Would you like to know how?”
The boy looked up at him, a fire still blazing in his eyes. He nodded, and as he did, the weapon vanished in a shower of wispy flickering flames that illuminated his face and shimmered off of his bright ruby red eyes.
As he was distracted by the flames, Trial carefully picked up the dragonling and held him under his arm. Gesturing to the other boy he began walking. “Come with me, we’ll get you two patched up and we’ll discover your origins.”
The human boy hesitated, looking down at his hands before rushing to catch up with the dragon.
~~~
Trial ended his story, looking down at the table, as he relayed his tale, his face expressed a story all its own, growing lighter and darker at points, until resting on a slight smile.
“We discovered that the boy's name was Jinkei Eroz, from a human world, not sure which one,” he continued. Tinting his head he gestured to the dragon currently standing guard, “The dragonling grew up to become none other than Areth, the… soldier behind you.”
The girls turned to him, but flinched when they saw his expression. A deep scowl adorned his features as he levied a harsh glare at Trial, one that he himself returned upon meeting his gaze.
The following silence was deafening as the pressure in the room grew with each passing second the two spent staring at each other.
Pinkie began to raise her hand, but was quickly stopped by Rarity. The same could not be said for stopping Dash though.
“So what?” she shot up in her chair “Is this kid the reason for all… this” she said, waving her arm out in the direction of the sky. “Is that why your men attacked him?”
Trial’s glare did not falter, but merely redirected towards Dash, who flinched back.
“Of course not… he…” he trailed off, his eyes softening. He let out a quiet sigh and continued. “ Our people revere the keyblade wielders, anyone with one is treated as great warriors. I raised him like my own son. Taught him how to fight and to be honourable. Our home was protected.”
He frowned and took a slow look around the area, stopping on each girl before continuing. “The story thus far is merely a prologue, as it involves Jinkei.” Triallenched his fist, a newfound emotion adorning his features and a low growl accompanied his words as he continued. “The true fall of this world happened when yet another wielder found himself here. A cursed child beyond all recognition.”
Dash and Twilight each exchanged glances, a deep pit forming in both of their stomachs.
Unable to hold himself back any longer, Trial lifted his claw and slammed it on the table before standing. “That cursed half-ling child, a poison upon our noble dragon heritage!”
A gout of fire spewed from his mouth and onto the table! The girls reeled back, shocked from the outburst, Dash even readied her hand to summon her weapon. However, just as he began, Trial calmed himself with a cough.
“I… I apologise for my outburst,” he muttered, wisps of flames still licking at his lips. “I bear a… personal grudge against him.”
Twilight took a deep breath, calming her own heartbeat and steeling herself for the question she knew she had to ask. “It’s alright,” she began, worriedly looking at Dash and AJ. “How about starting from here. Wh… who is this half-ling? What was his name?”
Trial took several deep and calming breaths before releasing his clenched fist and starting again. “As I mentioned before, there are certain things you need to know. In this world there are two legends, one speaks of the Keyblade wielders, of that you have been told. And yet, another speaks of something that should never exist. A half blood dragon. Dragons of this world cannot breed with other world dwellers,” he looked pointedly at the girls.
“So the coming of one has always been seen as heretical, impossible, and above all else, forbidden. That taboo came to this world over a decade ago, and his name… was Attor. And he nearly drove our race to extinction.”
“Attor was the name of the cursed half breed dragon that’s rampaged in our village, ruining our lives and turning our world into the ash lands you saw. Like most tragedies, it began on any normal day.”
“Jinkei!” Trial called as he entered the training hall, a staff held tightly in his grip. Looking around, the dragon could find no sign that his adopted son had been doing his daily training. Just as he was about to call again. The opposite door, leading out of the building, burst open.
Breathing heavily, a young human boy and a young dragonling ran into the hall and stood in front of Trial at attention. Jinkei wore light clothes that hugged his body tightly a black mask hanging around his neck and his silver hair reaching just down to his shoulders. Next to him was a dragonling dressed in thick leather armour, his sword sheathed to his side.
Trial allowed them a mere moment to catch their breath before beginning his interrogation. “Another ‘outdoor training session’?” he said suspiciously. “I’m sure you know how I feel about that.”
While Jinkei could not help but roll his eyes, the dragonling pipped up immediately. “Yes, sir. But we didn’t skip our training, we defeated several rock worms and lava wolves!” she said proudly.
Trial’s eyes widened slightly. “Several?” he asked incredulously. He looked over the boys once more. They looked no worse for wear if only tired and a bit singed in places. He hummed inquisitively.
“Very well then. Show me how you defeated these beats.” Trial moved back and assumed a defensive position with his staff.”
Jinkei and Areth immediately took their weapons in hand. While Arerth unsheathed his with practised precision, Jinkei summoned his keyblade.
The three stood there for a tense second until Areth let out a battle cry and stormed towards Trial. With a spin of his staff he deflected Areth’s impatient strike, however before he could counter attack, Jinkei came from his right with an attack to his blindspot. Clever, although not quick enough for Trial to miss parrying it as well.
The three of them carried on, with Areth swinging hard and trying to overpower Trial, and Jinkei swinging fast from odd angles. His attacks were precise and his movement was fluid, nearly forcing Trial into an almost circle-like defensive motion, however, his attacks were nearly always accompanied by the sound of flowing wind, which was easy to track with a dragons’ senses.
After a bit of time of staying on the defence and testing their strength, Trial flexed and swung outward, blowing both of the boys away with a single swing from his staff.
The second that they recovered he advanced on them, spinning his staff in a wide arc to catch both of them in the stomach. Areth stood his ground and blocked the attack while Jinkei jumped over the attack and came down with a swift swing towards Trial’s head.
Seeing the attack coming, Trial took a step back and, with a flourishing spin of his staff, stabbed at the spot where he knew the boy would land. However, his stab missed, piercing through thin air just below the boy and giving him just enough time to adjust his landing.
‘Had he miscalculated his attack?’ Trial wondered idly. Jinkei took advantage of his minor confusion and moved in for another hit with Areth close behind. The dance continued, with Trial constantly knocking them back and counter attacking.
It was only when he held his hand up that the spar came to a close. While Areth growled, he reluctantly sheathed his blade.
“Your training has certainly bore fruit. Your teamwork is commendable,” he said, giving another once over to the boys. He noticed that, though their appearance did match up to their tales, their injuries, or lack thereof, did not. “Though I would question if it was on the level of those who could easily best the Rock Worms.” He tilted his head slightly, levelling an inquisitive gaze towards the boys. “Are you training with the other children perhaps?”
The two boys shared a glance before shaking their heads and answering in a loud, “No sir! Strictly the two of us, as usual!”
A glance that, of course, did not escape the notice of their teacher.
“Hmm, very well, as long as you are progressing forward and you do not forget the honour and laws of a soldier of our people.”
As Jin was about to open his mouth, Areth eagerly spoke out. “Yes sir! Protect the people, Honour the people and Fight for the People!
Trial nodded, before looking at Jinkei. “Especially you, Jin, you may not be one of us, but we hold you to the same standards, if not higher because of the power you wield.”
“It's just a big key,” muttered Areth under his breath.
Trial continued, “ As expected of a Keyblade wielder, your control over the breeze and wind increases by the day,” he said, praising Jin who could only smirk over at Areth. “But you rely too much on your power. Though useful, it can become predictable if you rely too heavily.”
Just as Areth began to smirk back, Trial continued. “And you, youngling, you remain too brash and hard-handed in your attacks. They are simple… but they are stronger than others of your years.”
Both boys nodded simultaneously at the criticisms. Trial also nodded. “You are dismissed for the day, take tomorrow to rest and we will begin the next stage of your training.”
Areth’s smile instantly grew to at least twice its previous size. “Battle flight training!” he exclaimed!
“Indeed,” Trial acknowledged. “ And Jin, you will begin formal soldier regiment training with the other new recruits.”
Jin’s eyes grew wide and Areth’s massive smile vanished immediately. “What?” he muttered, confused.
Jin piped up. “But… but isn't it too early? I’m not ready,” he said.
“Yeah!” said Areth, “Why does he get to join the regiment! I’m the older one!”
“Because, you need more training,” Trial replied, calmly raising a hand to catch Areth’s further objections before they could come. “It isn't through a lack of your own skill, dragonling. You still need to be prepared for aerial combat and other forms of draconic fighting. These do not apply to Jinkei.” He looked over at Jin. “Though I trust you will still self-train your keyblade magics with the local Wise Ladies.”
Jin gave Areth a sidelong glance before nodding hesitantly. Areth, for his credit, simmered down and nodded, though both Jin and Trial noticed his slightly shaking fist.
Jin was the first to respond. “Do you think we can go train a bit more before nightfall?”
Trial nodded. “You are free to train as much as you wish, however, do take care to make use of tomorrow for rest. The Dragon regiment’s training to be a soldier is far more strict and daunting than my own.” He glared down at Jin.” Do not expect to have the same freedoms of exploration that you’ve become accustomed to.”
The two boys nodded, and ran off, out the door they came in through.
“If I had known what was waiting outside the village, I never would have let them leave”
~~~
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, leaning forward towards Trial.
Trial glanced over at Areth and sighed. “Areth can no longer speak of that day, due to his severe injuries, but I was told enough of the story to regale it to you.”
~~~
As the children left the large village, its surroundings were a unique combination of smooth sand and lush trees with maple brown leaves. Areth groaned and kicked a nearby rock. “I can’t believe this! I’ve been training since I could crawl.”
Jin rolled his eyes and stared forward. “You know the drill, train your frustrations away, my dude!” he said, smirking. However, this only earned him a sneer from his dragon brother.
“Whatever, let's just hurry up. We might be able to catch Spike before he leaves,” with that Areth broke into a run, with Jin following suit.
Within minutes, the two of them caught sight of a figure no taller than themselves wearing a dusty brown cloak. In front of him were several worm-like monsters made of rocks each with a head that sported a very sizable horn. One moved in and slammed its head down at the figure who nimbly jumped away.
Jin’s eyes widened in shock. “Rock worms shouldn't be out this time of day,” he muttered, grinning from the new chance to practice his powers. In an instant he summoned his Keyblade.
Opposite him, Areth’s eyes narrowed on his targets, unsheathing his blade in one swift motion. “Don’t get so excited! Spike, wait for us!” he yelled towards the figure.
The figure, hearing a familiar voice, turned and peaked an emerald eye out from his hood and, seeing his friends, Spike lowered his hood to reveal the rest of his smiling face.
“Hay! Over here! I found an entire-” mid statement, the tail of one of the other worms slammed into him, sending him tumbling over to a nearby boulder.
“SPIKE!” screamed Jin as he ran over to help. Areth, growled and charged forward at the rock worm.
Spreading his wings, he leapt high into the air and swung his sword down on the part of the creature that struck Spike. His sword sliced through the air but stopped dead on the rock hard surface of the Rock worm. With even less effort, the creature shook him off.
Areth flipped around, righting himself before coming back in for another attack. However, before he could get back at the worm that shook him off another Worm from the group struck him from behind with his horn, while not wholly piercing his dragon scaled hide, did knock him higher into the sky before crashing into the ground.
He coughed, once, twice, three times before getting to his knees to stand back up.
“Dude are you alright,” he looked up to see Jin staring down at him, offering a hand for him to grab, next to him was Spike, doing the same.
“I think you beat your height record with that one,” Spike snickered.
Areth growled, but took their hands anyway. He looked Spike up and down. “Didn’t you get blasted into a rock?”
Spike pushed his arm past his cloak, revealing his, rather dirty, sleeveless red hoodie that had been decorated with a flame emblem. He took a stance and flexed his bicep. “You guys aren't the only ones with high defence!
Jin put a finger to his mouth and shushed Spike. “Shh, don't even joke about that out loud.”
Spike shrugged. “You’re too cautious my dude, nobody’s out here. I checked. Now,” he muttered before summoning his black and white keyblades in a flurry of green and purple flames. “You wanna practice the thing and take them all out?”
Jin sighed and nodded. Areth tried to step forward, but was stopped by Jin’s arm. “I’m fine!” he asserted.
“Stay back, I just don't want you to get caught in the crossfire.” And without another word, Jin and Spike dashed forward keyblades in hand, leaving Areth to clench his fists in anger.
Before they could reach the enemy gathering, Jin skid to a halt and threw his keyblade. It spun through the air straight to the middle of the pack. As it picked up speed, the keyblade began glowing with power.
“Twister!” he yelled. The keyblade exploded outward in a waft of fierce winds. While not enough to create a full blown hurricane or tornado. It was enough to raise a cloud of dust, leaves and sand.
Spike continued his dash straight into the dust cloud, both of his keyblades glowing softly. Just as he reached the middle of the cloud, he slammed his black blade down and called out. “Firaga!”
The resulting explosion rocked the area, whipping up fierce winds and forcing Areth to cover himself with a wing in order to not get thrown away by the shockwave. By the time the dust settled and he could lower his wing, his eyes widened at the sight.
Moving inside of the flames were both Spike and Jin, jumping around striking the worms that were rocked and disoriented by the explosion. He also noticed that the explosion created several cracks in the stone worm's hide, and that the two of them were striking them precisely. While Jin glided along the battlefield attacking from below. Spike hopped between the monsters and struck from above.
Areth watched in awe before gritting his teeth, especially towards Spike who seemed to be doing even better in the air than he was. Growing ever more angry and unable to stay put, Areth sprinted forward to join the fight as the flames died down.
One of the worms, still flailing from the explosion, turned in his direction and dove at him. It swung its head down, bringing its full weight on him like a wrecking ball. Areth braced and blocked with his sword. As it came down, the ground cracked under the weight of the worm. His knees shook, and his muscles ached, but he did not let the worm crush him.
Instead, with gritted teeth he lifted and pushed it back before diving to the side. Running around, to the other side of the worm, Areth placed both of his hands on the hilt of his blade he prepared to strike at its neck, right where two of the rocks covering its skin met and created a small opening.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Jin glided past Areth on a ski of wind. Leaping from his cushion, the boy easily sliced right at the spot that Areth had previously been targeting. The rock worm's head separated cleanly from its body and fell to the ground.
Jin landed on a cushion of wind just as Spike caught up to them.
“That! Was! Awesome!” Spike cheered, rushing past Areth who simply stood there. “That was the best combo yet!”
Jinkei did a fierce fist pump before looking over at Spike with a wide smile! “Hell yeah! What was that move you used to break that one worm’s rock skin!.”
Areth could only stand there, staring at the two boys talking cheerfully in front of what was supposed to be his mark, his kill.
Spike smiled his own big dumb smile and snickered. “Just a skill I picked up from a certain Black Swordsman friend of mine. But hey, do you think that can be our move? That fire and wind move could be a really cool limit break combo.”
His sword clattered to the ground.
Jin shook his head and let out a dramatic sigh. “You know, you keep coming up with these so-called ‘combo attacks’ but they all end up with you self-destructing yourself.”
A vein popped into view near his head.
Spike shrugged, “Not my fault if I’m more dragon than you. I bet Areth could take it,” he said, finally turning around to face their third friend.
By this point however, Areth was shaking, his fists clenched hard enough to draw blood, and his head dipped low enough to see the veins popping out near the top of his head.
Jin looked at him, concerned before taking a step forward. “Areth?” he called out.
“Why you…”
Spike tilted his head and glanced at Jin, who shared his confused look. “Why… us what?”
“Why are you two so special!” Areth blurted looking up at both of them with tears in his eyes. Both of the boys took a step back. “I’m older than both of you. But, why are you both so much stronger!”
Spike nervously scratched the back of his head, while Jin tried to close the distance between the two of them. “I’m not at all stronger than you, Areth.” Jin moved in close and sat a hand on Areth’s arm. “You just need to train more, you keep trying to rush straight in and-”
Areth slapped it away, shocking Jin who cupped his hand defensively. “You’re just saying the same things that Trial said. I know I need to train, but I don't have magic to fall back on like you two,” he yelled, pointing directly at Jin “No explosions or wind attacks. You two just make up whatever you want while I have to learn strict techniques and discipline”
He pointed at Spike, his tone lowering into a hiss. “And you’re not even supposed to be here.”
“Dude, sorry,” said Spike, looking a little offended. “I know I'm an outsider, you don't have to compare yourself to me.”
“That’s not what I meant, you idiot. I know what you are! You’re not even supposed to exist!” Areth yelled, stepping up to Spike directly.
“Areth!” Jin yelled, stepping between the two of them.
Spike was taken aback, dumbfounded at the statement. “Wh… huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, pushing against Jin.
Areth pushed from the other side, ready to continue arguing, however, a deep rumbling noise echoed through the area.
The trio turned around to see one of the rock worms slowly growing in size. As it grew a dark purple aura began emanating from it, slowly at first, then in waves. Its normally char grey rock-like hide began turning almost pitch black.
Almost as if they were reacting to the creature's transformation, both outsiders’ keyblades appeared in their hands.
“Is that thing turning into a heartless?” yelled Spike, taking his normal fighting stance.
“What the hell is a heartless?” asked Jun, taking a step back.
“A creature without a heart, duh,” he smirked, rolling his eyes. “I remember my sister told me… I think.” Suddenly, Spike’s eyes went wide and he clutched his head, dropping his keys in the process. “Aggh,” he screamed, falling to his knees and surprising Jin and Areth in the process.
“Spike!” cried Jin, reaching down to help him.
“He’ll be fine,” said Areth, grabbing his blade and looking towards the monster. “In fact, both of you stay back. I’ll take care of this one.”
“Don’t! We don't know what’s happening to it!” “Jin warned, still holding onto Spike.
“I can handle it!”
Eventually the former rock worm turned fully black, as it did, two beady yellow dots appeared near the top of its head. It wasted no time in moving forward to attack the group. With speed it didn’t have prior, it slithered over and slammed its head down on the spot where Areth had been standing prior.
Jumping out of the way, Areth sprinted around the monster, slashing at its side. Seeing his attack have no effect, he spread his wings and took to the air.
Although it took no damage, Areth’s attacks did not go unnoticed. The creature turned to him, desperately trying to knock him out of the air. However, unlike last time, Areth maneuvered around the frantically flailing creature.
Spinning through the air, Areth positioned himself directly above the creature. Aiming carefully, Areth let out a war cry as he pointed his sword down and dove at its head.
The tip of his blade stabbed directly into the creature's ominous yellow eyes. The force of his strike brought both him and the creature down to the ground in a cloud of dust.
A spray of sand and smoke filled the area around Jin, who used his wind magic to keep it from getting in his eyes, and Spike who was still clutching his head and groaning. Slowly, however, he reached up to grab onto Jinkei.
Inside the cloud, standing on top of the creature, was Areth. His face beamed with pride looking down on his sword that had gone hilt deep into the creature's head.
“Hah! You see that!?” he announced, breathing heavily. As the dust cleared, Areth looked down at his game. Something was different. The formally nauseating waves of darkness that were flowing from the creature had ceased. Its hide had turned from pitch black, to mere charcoal grey.
Areth blinked, looking at nothing but a normal Rock Worm. Had it vanished as it died? Either way, a victory is a victory. However, a victory is never a victory while screams still rang out.
Areth’s head snapped over to where his friends were. His eyes widened at the sight of Jin doubled over onto the ground, one arm having been twisted behind him. Standing atop the boy, holding said arm, was none other than Spike.
One glance told Areth everything he needed to know. Spike’s skin had turned pitch black, his eyes became a golden yellow, and the stench of darkness flowed off of him in waves. Whatever had controlled or infected this creature had moved over to Spike.
Without a moment's hesitation, Areth spread his wings and charged at Spike. With a single kick, he easily knocked the darkness infected boy away from his friend. Jin, his arm now freed, collapsed onto the ground and clutched his arm.
Spike growled and leaned closer to the ground. His pale yellow irises locked onto Areth before dashing forward. Areth jumped backwards, dodging a swipe from Spike. He noticed something else odd about the boy, his hands had grown claws and fangs grew from his already noticeably sharp teeth.
“I knew it,” Areth mumbled. “I knew you were the one the wise ladies were talking about.”
Jin struggled to his feet, still holding his injured arm to his chest. “No he isn't,” he called out weakly. “He needs help, that… heartless thing got inside of him!”
Areth locked eyes with Spike, not even as much as a blink between the two of them. “Get back to the village Jinkei,” ordered Areth. Tell the Dragon Regiment that they need to be ready.” His fingers tightened around the grip of his blade. He could feel the aura coming off of Spike. Inky, black waves continued to slowly waft off of him, nearly making Areth puke from the smell.
"Tell them that Attor has returned to kill us all."
Trial’s eyes opened as he finished off his recounting. Momentarily, the slitted orbs drifted towards Areth who had long since turned his back to the group and chose to face the doorway itself. A back, Trial noticed, was much larger than he was those years ago. Whether it was a growth spurt or a rich dedication to training, Trial did not know. What he did know, though, was that as a soldier, Areth would never reach the level he was destined for due to the injuries from protecting Jin that day.
He let out a quiet sigh before turning back to the girls. “As he relayed, Areth fought bravely that day, suffering multiple injuries. However, he could not stop Attor. The boy came to the village with the bodies of both Jinkei and Areth in tow, and proceeded to wage a one man war upon finding his origins.”
The girls sat there, all of them nearly speechless. Dash had long since balled her hands into fists. There had been multiple times where she had tried to intervene, but was stopped by one girl or another. Eventually, at the request of Rarity, Twilight had cast Silence on her to keep her from interrupting.
“Spike… err… one boy did this much damage to this world?” asked Rarity.
Trial nodded. “Not just him. While his fire magic devastated our way of life, he also brought with him something we’d hoped would never return. He brought the heartless.” Trial looked upwards, as if glancing at something past the tent and into the sky. “The giant creatures of pitch black that are nearly immune to our attacks. Even at full strength we could do little more than hold them off. Now… they attack at will… steal hearts at will.”
The girls looked at one another, all of them trying to process what they were hearing in their own ways. Twilight, to her credit, was doing better than usual by doing what she did best… asking more questions.
“Ahem,” she said, clearing her throat. “The… the boy. Why do you call him Attor?”
Trial steepled his fingers and his gaze narrowed once more. “Attor was the name given to the first halfling who originally sent this world into the darkness. Henceforth all halflings who are born share this name. It’s a cursed name, a brand you might say, and one perfect for the bringers of darkness who should never have been born.”
A second passed in silence until a thought came to Trial’s head. “The colourful one,” he said, looking directly at Twilight, but referring to Dash. “She seemed very passionate whenever I mentioned Attor. And as I recall from Areth, the boy wielded two of your legendary Keyblades. If I may address your… friend, as you say,” he said, finally looking at Dash directly. “What is your knowledge of the boy? I’ve never seen one hold two legendary weapons. Is he a cursed child amongst your kind as well?”
His tone was soft, yet stern in what was his attempt to try to empathise with the females in front of him.
Dash immediately opened her mouth, yet no sound escaped. She glared at Twilight who could only glance over sheepishly before answering herself. “My friend is a bit… hot blooded about the situation. I can answer for her this one time.”
Trial nodded, allowing Twilight to continue.
Twilight took a deep breath before speaking. “We don't know anything about that boy specifically.” Dash reeled back, shocked from the statement. She slammed a fist on the counter, yet still no sound. Twilight, meanwhile, continued, her words coming slowly and deliberately. “And there’s not much in our legends about dual wielding keyblades. But… to hear of someone with a keyblade being corrupted by darkness… That’s the concerning part.”
The table grew quiet once more. Each of the girls' expressions told a story of their own. Rarity looked nervous, as if unsure exactly how to feel. Twilight, whose own hands were steepled, stared out into space pensively, as if replaying the story over again. AJ and RD looked furious, though, at a single glance one could easily tell that they were furious for different reasons. While Pinkie looked apprehensive at the prior three, trying to gauge their reactions herself before expressing her thoughts.
Thirty seconds,
A minute,
Two minutes passed until Trial broke the silence. “I… must say. I’m rather surprised,” he began, looking around the table. “When I decided to tell you our story, I did not expect you to take it with such severity. I’m impressed, keyblade wielders. If I may, I would like to ask you all for two favors,” he said, stopping on Twilight.
This snapped Twilight out of her own mind. She glanced at Dash, who’s eyes were shadowed under her bangs, before nodding at Trial who continued.
“Keyblade wielders, I need your help. We need to get the heartless under control before we can truly rebuild,” he said, holding a hand out.
Twilight leaned forward onto the table. “I would love to, but would you please allow me a moment to talk it over with my friends? I’m sure nobody had any complaints, but we would like to discuss what to do about the possibly rogue keyblade wielder.”
Trial’s eyes fell onto the table. “Ahh yes, the boy you met when you first arrived was Jinkei himself. During Attor’s attack, Jin found himself corrupted and began fighting against us alongside him. However, I believe that corruption is gone along with the half breed. My fellow soldiers don't think so. I know that he’s been out there, keeping the heartless at bay on his own, a true warrior to the end.” He looked back up at Twilight, a fire in his eyes. “I will not question his actions, but I at least want to ensure his safety as a soldier that I trained. My second favor, please… find him and report his well-being back to me.”
Trial stood up. “Please converse in this room, it is secure.” With that, he moved towards the door and, with a single to Areth, left the girls alone to talk.”
AJ immediately turned to Dash. “Alright now before we get into this, Rainbow you…” she trailed off. Looking around the girls noticed that Dash wasn't anywhere to be found. “CONSARN IT!” she cursed.
Rarity cautiously searched the tent, looking under the table and around the perimeter. “How did she slip past the guard!” she asked, looking at Pinkie, who just shrugged.
“Wasn’t me,” she said.
Twilight looked around, wide eyed before a look of sudden realisation came over her. “She still had the silent spell on her. We didn't hear a thing!” she said, facepalming.
“Yeah, I noticed,” grumbled AJ. “But where the hell did she go!?”
Twilight thought about it for a second before snapping her fingers. “Lady Palutena’s power! We can still reach wherever she is with telepathy.”
Rarity shuddered at the thought of someone entering her personal mind palace. “Do we have to?” she whined.
Twilight nodded gravely. “We need to know where she is in case Sp- in case SOMEONE tries to kidnap us again. Master Luna’s orders.”
And with that she reached out with her mind, calling on her connection with Dash. “Rachelle, can you hear me?”
There was a moment of silence.
“What the hell do you want? Am I finally allowed to talk?” Dash’s voice screamed through everyone’s head all at once, clear as day. It sounded, for lack of a better word… sarcastic.
“Dash, you know I only casted that spell to keep you from causing an outburst.” Twilight replied, keeping her mind’s voice a gentle even tone.
“Ya were being a mite annoying there during the story, RD,” added AJ, keeping no such restraint
“Whatever, I don't care. What do you want?”
“What do you mean what do I want? WHERE ARE YOU!?” she said, her composure faltering.
“I LEFT! I’m not gonna sit there while you guys let him call Spike all those horrible things! Cursed child? Corrupted by darkness? He’s clearly insane.”
Rarity put a finger to her chin in thought. “I don’t know, darling… from his description, that was certainly Spike. Same clothes and even the same age as when Kirito described him.”
“In any case!” Twilight thought, shaking her head. “We need to hear Trial out or we can’t help them.”
“Well maybe I don’t want to help them!” Rarity and Twilight let out an audible gasp. “I think they’re lying about something, Twilight. Destroying the world? Spike would never do anything like that, even if he was brainwashed!”
Twilight frowned and began slowly rubbing her temple. “Rachelle, you have a responsibility! Stop acting like a child and come back!”
“I’d rather be a child than turn my back on my friend to help the people that hurt him over a dumb superstition!”
“What do ya mean ‘hurt him’? From what ah can tell, they were hurt BY him! Super-institution or not, the fact is they saw him do it! ” AJ blurted out mentally.
“Think about it, hayseed! Spike is half dragon, they hate half dragons. They probably attacked him first then made up the story afterwards!”
“And burned down their whole world in the process?” AJ thought incredulously. “Use yer, brain, sugarcube. I can tell when someone’s lyin’ and Trial definitely aint the type to to be tellin’ no fib over somethin’ as serious as his people’s lives.” AJ let out a slow sigh. “Listen, ah’m not saying Spike really did cause everything, but he sure as hell was a part of it.
Twilight, still rubbing her temple in an attempt to keep a calm enough tone, continued. “As much as I would love to try to figure all this out now, it doesn't matter. Spike isn't here any more so there’s no point in deciding if he had a hand in it. Let’s put it to the side and deal with the heartless that are still here first.”
“I won’t help a world that would treat my friend like a monster just for existing.”
Twilight let out an audible groan. “That’s not the… Listen, Rachelle, sometimes we need to put our feelings aside to help those in need, bias shouldn't outweigh doing what’s right.”
“ Well Is that why you pretended that he wasn’t your brother!?”
As if there were a record scratch, all communication went quiet for a very, very tense second.
AJ regained her senses first, her fists balled tight enough to crush a boulder.
“For the love of- is THAT why you ran off?” AJ blurted, stomping her foot.
Twilight held up a hand, stopping AJ mid rant. Turning away from the group, Twilight took a deep inhale and held it for a second, and let it out in a slow shuddering breath before beginning.
“Do you have any idea how much it hurt me to say that, Rachelle? Of course he’s my brother, but right now I have a responsibility as a Keyblade wielder to help them get rid of the darkness. If I tell them about our relationship, who knows what they’d do.”
There was no response from Dash. They could tell she hadn’t cut the connection yet though, so they waited.
“Please don't get mad at me over this, Rachelle… I just want to do what’s right,” Twilight mumbled aloud, her shoulders shaking.
After another moment of silence, Dash finally responded.
“You guys help the dragons if you want to. I’m gonna find out the truth.”
And with that, she cut the connection.
Immediately, Rarity moved to pull Twilight close to her, only wincing a little as her blouse became just a little wet.
AJ turned away from the group, gritting her teeth and trying very hard not to break the dragon’s meeting room table.
Pinkie… was nowhere to be found, having also snuck away during the conversation.
“Fire” Dash yelled, as she dropped down from the sky in a blaze of glory.
Scorching under her feet laid the smoldering remains of the heartless she had just dive bombed. Around her, cautiously approaching, were three of the same fidgeting masses of darkness. They were small and weak, yet still in the shape of the dragon heartless she had battled before.
“Tch” she sucked her teeth while readying her blade. As her eyes fell from enemy to enemy she couldn’t help but feel as if something were wrong, something… incorrect about something. Was it something about this world? Something about these particular heartless? Or was there something wrong with her?
As much as she extended her senses, she could quite place what exactly this off feeling was.
So instead, she charged forth, swinging her keyblade down on the heartless in front of her, and continued her search.
Meanwhile, Twilight quietly led her group out of the settlement and into the plains. Following them were two dragon warriors, Talos, the loud fighter wielding a broadsword, and Areth, the stoic warrior who wielded only a set of razer sharp metal gauntlets.
As the group moved away from the settlement, Twilight slowed to a stop while AJ moved to stand next to her.
“You doin’ alright there, sugarcube?” she asked, concern written across her face.
Twilight shook her head. “No, but we have a job to do.” She held out her keyblade, both hands clutching the handle. “We can figure out our feelings later.”
A dim glow began to flow around her weapon, growing slowly and eerily.
“Scan!” Twilight called out At once the glow that had been building around her weapon shot out in all directions, creating a sphere that only grew and grew until it had reached the horizon. After a second, the glow died down.
“I found them,” said Twilight, turning to the group. “I found a powerful heartless nearby. I’m sure it’s surrounded by smaller ones as well. Let’s go!”
Talos turned to Areth and gave him a wry grin. “You ready? Don’t you dare die out there, weakling.”
Areth merely gave him a side eye, his frown only slightly deeper than normal. However, when he tried to walk, he found the broad end of a broad sword holding him back.
“Halt“, Talos said, all mirth gone from his tone. “I’m serious. How the hell did you convince Trial to let you come with us? He should have sent an ACTUAL warrior like his son.”
Talos turned to look at Areth, their eyes meeting before Areth’s own turned away. And his avoidance was all Talos needed.
Without a second thought, he shoved Areth back and stood over him. “I knew it!!” he yelled, getting the girls attention. “You’re a coward and a failure!” he bellowed, raising his blade.
Immediately, he was grappled from behind by a girl in orange. AJ wrapped her arms up under his and locked her grip behind his head. Chinlock in place, she pulled him, almost effortlessly, a few feet away.
“Now what the sam hell are you doin’!” she screamed.
Both Rarity and Twilight stood over Areth. While the former helped him up, the latter glared daggers at Talos who continued to struggle against AJ’s grapple.
“Why did you do that! Aren't you partners!” Twilight chided, trying to keep her voice neutral.
“Partners?” Talos spat. “With him? Hell no! He’s not supposed to be here! Tyros is!” As well as he could, he pointed at Areth with a rigid finger. “He probably begged him to switch places! A coward begs, a warrior would have challenged Tyros for the right!”
Areth growled and tried to take a step forward, only to be stopped by Rarity, who simply shook her head.
“Listen,” Twilight began. “It doesn't matter who came with you, we’re here to protect your people. Anyone who’s brave enough to come out is welcome to fight!”
Talos sneered at her, but ceased struggling nonetheless.
With a nod from Twilight, AJ let Talos down, who scoffed. “I bet he won't even be able to touch them.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and waved her Keyblade in a small arc in front of her. Both Areth’s claws and Talos’ sword gained a faint whitish glow.
“Neither would you without my magic,” she said.
Talos looked at his blade for a few seconds before scoffing and putting it back across his back. “I wasn’t talking about the weapons, keyblade user.”
As Talos turned to walk away, Rarity whispered to Areth. “Don’t listen to him,” she said, her voice soft and serene. She looked up, avoiding the scar and looking into his eyes. “If your friend Tyros allowed you to come, then he MUST believe in you as a warrior!”
Twilight nodded. “She’s right. I saw how they treat you. I know you can’t say it, but I’ve seen that look before.” Twilight stared him right in the eyes. “You want to prove yourself? Fight the heartless, not him!”
Areth’s stoic demeanor broke. For just a second, his brows unfurrowed and the small etchings of a smile formed at his lips. However, just as fleeting as the wind, it passed, and his normal expression returned.
Areth nodded, and moved forward.
~~~
Spinning through the air, Dash came down in a thunderous crash on a writhing mass of darkness. In a split second she turned and sliced through two more before flying into the air and raising her Keyblade into the sky, ready to use her signature spell.
“Thunder!” she called, her voice booming through the sky.
Silence ensued as the heartless she had been aiming at stared up at her. Cocking its head and observing her with its wide yellow eyes.
Dash’s mouth formed into a tight frown. With a deep growl, she threw her keyblade down, slicing through the heartless instead.
However, before she could call it back, a searing pain tore through her back, throwing her down to the ground.
A pitch black heartless flew above her, just outside her blind spot, taunting her just like the previous one.
Dash hissed through her teeth as she looked up at the heartless. Slowly, she got to her feet.
“Spiral!” she called, summoning the sterling silver rifle she received from her time on Dante’s world. Bracing herself on her back leg she let loose three shots in quick succession towards the enemy in the air.
However, to her shock, the heartless flew through the air with surprising speed, easily evading the shots as they whizzed by it.
“Damn,” Dash cursed under her breath. “Well at least I get to try my new move,” she said, a small smirk finally coming back onto her face.
Exhaling a deep breath, she allowed her magic to flow into the demonic weapon. Just like she suspected, it was receptive to her power, just her keyblade was… or at least how it had been before.
With her magic flowing through the gun, it began to emit a small glow.
Unfortunately, her channeling was cut short by the sound of wind rushing and the sight of the heartless rushing towards her at max speed. Breaking her concentration, Dash blocked the attack with the broad side of her rifle.
Locked in place she struggled, pushing against her enemy while trying not to fall backwards. If she fell backwards and allowed that monster to mount her, it would be all over.
And she could feel it, her back leg losing ground, if she let it keep pushing it would force her back before long. ‘Her mind raced, should she try to let go and roll back, would she be able to counterattack? Can she channel lightning through Spiral like she could her keyblade?’
As she held on, she shut her eyes and attempted to concentrate her magic into Spiral. But try as she might it wouldn't take, she needed more time to build the magic up.
“Oh my god you’re so damn useless on your own!” a voice rang out.
Before she could react to the insult, a sudden shock wave finally broke Dash’s guard and forced her backwards and onto her back.
By the time she had been able to lean up and see what happened, the heartless had already been sliced in two and were disappearing.
And behind the fading wisps of darkness, a silhouette stood. A short figure, almost her own height with seemingly straight hair and a very sharp looking weapon.
“Who’s there! Who said that!!!” Dash yelled, struggling to see through the fading mists.
Suddenly the figure leapt at Dash, who by that point, had managed to recover her keyblade. However, instead of a charge, she found herself wrapped up in a tight Pinkie Pie hug by none other than the girl herself!!
“P-Pinkie… I… you? Did you do that?” she asked, looking over at where the heartless just was. Her bewilderment immediately swapped back to anger as she looked back at the girl in her arms, “Did you SAY that!”
Pinkie pulled herself away from her friends and looked at her in the eyes, a small smile on her face. “Say what, Dashie?”
Dash also stared at her. Her voice sounded normal, nothing like what she heard through the mist, and her hair was just as poofy as it always was. She looked back again at where she was just fighting, a single brow raised in confusion.
“N-nothing,” she muttered.
The two separated, Pinkie hopping in place in front of Dash. “I’m so glad I found you! Are you alright? Why’d you run off? Are you on a secret mission?! Are you hungry!?” she asked, rapid firing several questions at once.
Dash, already used to this, simply brushed the dirt and soot off of her outfit and waited out the onslaught.
“Pinkie, what are you doing out here?” she asked simply. Completely ignoring all of the other girls' questions.
“Looking for you, silly!” she giggled.
Dash rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but did Twilight send you?” she said, leaning in close.
Pinkie simply shook her head. Said shaking had the hilarious side effect of hitting Dash in the face with her curly pink locks and causing the girl in question to laugh.
Dash sputtered and spat around before groaning. “Whatever. I’m looking for Jinkei.”
Pinkie tilted her head. “The keyblade user? What for?”
Dash opened her mouth to talk, but paused for a second before turning away. “Don’t worry about it, I just wanna talk to him. You should go back to Twilight.” she said sullenly.
“Don’t wanna!”
Dash turned around to see Pinkie standing staunchly with her arms crossed and brow furrowed. “Not till you tell me what you and Twilight were talking about!”
“You… weren’t listening to the telepathic link?” she asked, slowly.
“Nope!” Pinkie said proudly. “I’m not allowed to ‘cuz my thoughts are too loud!” She gave an excited thumbs up and a cute wink.
This just caused Dash to stare at her for a second, utterly unsure of how to respond. Eventually, she decided to just leave it alone and attempt to move on, both physically and metaphorically.
“Whatever, just go back to Twilight, she’s probably worried sick,” Dash tried to move past her, only to be teleported back to directly in front of Pinkie.
Challenge accepted, Dash furrowed her brow and, in the blink of an eye, took flight above and around Pinkie. She barely got a meter away before being transported back to Pinkie’s eye level.
This occurred several more times as Dash tried to escape Pinkie’s questioning gaze, each and every time not getting more than a few seconds away before being pulled back by Pinkie’s unique magical spell.
Eventually, after one attempt caused her to fall face first into the ground, she threw her hands up into the air and yelled. “Fine! You wanna know why I wanna find Jinkei so much!?”
Pinkie just threw her arms out, her eyes wide and mouth a straight line “Mmhm!!”
This took the wind out of Dash’s sails and she calmed down with a single deep breath. “I… I need to know,” she started, mumbling. “I need to know if Trial’s story was right. Jinkei was there. He’ll know the real story!”
“You think he’d lie?” Pinkie said softly.
“I don’t know,” Dash spat. Her fists locked in a tight grip, she stared at the ground. “Maybe… I mean, what if he is! What if he’s wrong and Areth lied, I…” she trailed off.
Dash fell to the ground in a squat, her face hidden near her legs. “I just want to believe in Spike.”
Carefully, Pinkie moved over to Dash’s side and sat next to her.
“Twilight and AJ think Spike’s gone off the deep end, that he’s out here destroying worlds and… and they might be right.”
Dash felt a soft hand on her back, and just as she looked up, Pinkie wrapped her up completely in a hug.
“Oh Dashie, I know how you feel!” Pinkie cried, holding her tight.
“You… you don’t think he did it?”
Pinkie continued to hold her friend. “I… can’t say I do completely. A part of me thinks he did, but another thinks he’s still our friend. It’s hard to think about.”
Dash began to feel a slight shaking, a single glance told her it was coming from Pinkie’s shoulders.
“But all I know is that it's tearing us apart. I hate seeing my friends fight!” she said, sniffling lightly. Her voice shaking, she continued. “I just want us all to be happy and laugh, but when we talk about Spike, everyone gets quiet and angry and then you three start arguing and I… I just don't know what to do. I feel like I can’t do anything.”
Dash hesitated for only the slightest moment before wrapping her own arms around her friend as she sobbed quietly.
Dash stared down, her cheeks a flush red as she watched in embarrassment at her friends actions.
Said actions were in fact, being done by none other than Pinkie Pie, and those actions… unfortunately included crawling around on the dirty ground with her ear pressed up against it. To all the world she seemed less like a weilder of one of the most mystical and powerful weapons in creation, and more like a dog sniffing for their next treat.
“Pinkie I-”
“SHHHHHHHHHH” she hissed, finally standing up, however, just as she finished the 3rd second of her hiss, her body suddenly began to shiver. Every hair on her poofy head stood straight, all pointing at a singular direction.
Honestly, if Dash hadn't grown up around this goofball’s weirdness, she’d be much more worried about what she was looking at. But that didn’t mean she ever got used to seeing it in action.
“Found him!!!” Pinkie sang! “I told you my Pinkie sense would tell you where he is.”
Dash simply let her face fall into her hands. “You didn’t say how embarrassing it would be to watch you,” she mumbled into her palms. “I’m so glad we’re alone.”
“Come on, Dashie!!!”
Slowly, Dash took to the air and began flying in the directions Pinkie bounced off in.
Pinkie, skipping gleefully below her, suddenly convulsed once more, the severity of it sending her to the ground. Ignoring her own body, she immediately looked upwards and yelled.
“Dashie dodge!” she screamed.
Having more than once been saved by the Pinkie sense, Dash didn't think twice before veering to the right, narrowly avoiding a divebomb from a heartless.
Another wyvern heartless, just like the previous one descended from the sky and crashed into the ground, barely missing its target.
Instead, it landed almost directly next to Pinkie who, by the time it reached her, readied her Keyblade as a striker would ready her bat.
“Batter UP!” she said, just as she whipped around her arms and SLAMMING her weapon right into the monster. If it could breathe it would have certainly had the wind knocked out of it as it went flying right back into the air. Like a soft snowball hurled by a child, it burst into a flurry of dark specs.
Meanwhile, as Pinkie evaporated her target, Dash, with her eye in the sky, saw a much bigger picture while she was dodging. Only a few meters away, just over the next hill and close to a large cave entrance, she could make out the sightings of a fight. Flames and wind blew around in storms with every strike. And multiple heartless, both of the wyvern kind, normal kind, and lizard kind, all swarming and trying to attack the fighter.
“Found you!” she muttered, before speeding over to him.
Jinkei, meanwhile, breathed a deep sigh after taking down a smaller skittering heartless. “Ya know, it'd be WAY easier for me if you’d just let me take down your boss. I know he’s back there!” he said, yelling that final part into the cave in front of him.
Just as he said that, a heartless lizard dove at him from the side. His keyblade flickered with licks of fire, ready to set it ablaze. However, before he could release his attack, the lizard found itself on the wrong end of Dash’s boot.
Jinkei’s eyes widened at the sight of Dash landing in front of him, sparks of electricity flowing around her figure as she stood back up. With a flick of her head, her rainbow hair, held back into a ponytail flew back behind her head.
“I… uh… hi?” he said, blushing slightly.
“Hi there!!” Pinkie said, appearing behind him.
Jinkei jumped back, Keyblade pointed directly at the pink girl. “Who are you??”
Pinkie looked at him, then at Dash who simply rolled her eyes. Shrugging she pulled out her Keyblade and waved it in front of him.
This caused his eyes to widen. “Wait, I remember you,” he said, looking at Dash, “You were next to the shade I beat.”
“Um, you mean the one that I almost beat before you showed up!” Dash said, grinning proudly.
“Yeah,” scoffed Jin. “Then why was it about to tackle you when I came by?”
“Ladies, ladies!” Pinkie said, interjecting between them. “You’re both dragon slayers.”
Jin rolled his eyes and looked around, the heartless that were swarming around them had vanished at the appearance of two more keyblade users.
“So…” Jin began, looking at the two girls in front of him, a slight tint to his cheeks. Each time he tried to look their way, he would automatically avert his eyes. “Do all of you girls have keyblades or something?”
“Eyyup!” Dash said, putting a fist to her chest proudly. “We’re going through our mark of mastery exam!”
Jin simply stared at her blankly. “What’s that?” he asked simply. Having grown up in this world, with no concept of a master, such a thing as a masters exam, completely flew over his head.
Dash deflated slightly, her shoulders slumping and face falling. Pinkie giggled.
“Whatever, that's not the point,” Dash said pointedly. Pointing at Jin, she continued. “I have some questions… about Spike.”
Jinkei’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking in tandem as a small gas escaped his lips.
“Yeah!” Pinkie added. “Trial told us what happened, but we don't think Spike did those things! He’s our friend!”
Jin looked between the girls, finally able to lock eyes with both for more than a second. Sighing, he gestured behind him to the hill that Dash had previously flown over.
“Come with me, it’s not safe to talk here.”
In no time, the three of them managed to scale the rather large hill to find a makeshift camp ground. There was a tent, a fireplace, several spots that were somehow free of the same soot and dust that covered the rest of the world they resided on.
Jin led them to the camp spot, a place which, Dash noticed, had a full view of the cave they stood by earlier.
“Normally this is where you would have found me,” he began, following her gaze to the cave. “But recently the damn heartless that have gathered in that cave have been getting cocky. They usually try to come out at night.”
“You can’t take ‘em all out?” Dash asked, raising a brow. While she hadn't seen him fighting extensively, she could tell that even without training, that he was fairly strong both physically and magically.
Jin smirked. “I’m pretty strong, but not strong enough to take all of the bugs in that hole, not on their terf. Not to mention, what's deep in that cave is way stronger than the dragon you saw me take out when I got here. Best i can do is keep it from running loose.”
“Ohhhhhhhhh!” Pinkie oh’d. “That’s why you’re out here?”
“No,” Jin said, snickering. He leaned back on the large rock that he led the group to sit on. “It’s just a hobby, I was kicked out of the village for helping Spike escape.”
Dash leaned forward, however before she could say anything, Jin continued.
“Hold your horses, weirdo. I’ll tell you what happened, but if you’re expecting good news… don’t.”
Dash narrowed her eyes and sat back in her seat. Pinkie, meanwhile, had pulled out some popcorn and made herself comfortable on her rock, eager to hear this retelling.
Staring up into the ash filled sky, a world that had not seen direct sunlight in years around him, Jin let out a small sigh and began his story.
~~~
“And I can’t believe she thinks that I,” Twilight ranted, gesturing to herself. “DON’T care about my own brother. Can you believe her!”
Twilight, almost out of pure anger, sliced a small bug heartless in two before shooting out several fire spells at nearby stragglers.
“I mean, that’s literally why we’re out here! Right, AJ?!”
“Uhuh, yup!” said AJ, absentmindedly slammed her Keyblade into the ground, summoning several boulders from the ground and completely destroying several lizard heartless.
With an audible slap, Twilight’s palm met her head. “And then she goes and leaves! She KNOWS that someone, maybe Spike, maybe not, is after us! And she does the MOST ILLOGICAL THING!” She turned towards Rarity, who had been standing on the sidelines, a single keyblade hovering in front of her.
“Yes, of course darling, very illogical,” she mumbled, not really listening. Her gaze, locked onto the summoned weapon, she let out a small hum. With a snap, the keyblade exploded into a shower of sterling silver slivers before vanishing. With another snap, another keyblade appeared.
Her gaze promptly fell upon a heartless that decided it would like to approach her, and like any well cautioned woman would do, she sent the keyblade directly at it. However, as she did before, with a snap of her fingers, the keyblade exploded into shards completely ripping apart the small enemy before her.
On the side, Talos’ broadsword tore through several heartless, his laughs echoing throughout the area.
Meanwhile, Areth leapt at a single wyvern heartless and swiped at it with its claws. With a single spin, the creature avoided his strike, and counterattacked with a swipe of its claws.
Lucky for him, the claws merely raked across his scales and armor. With a growl, Areth attacked with renewed vigor.
AJ looked around, having noticed that the amount of heartless had drastically decreased. “Alright, I think this area is clear. Let’s keep it movin’” she called.
Rarity looked over at Twilight. “Are you done, sweetie? Got it all out of your system?”
Twilight, stabbed her weapon into the ground and brought a hand to her chest. Slowly, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, bringing her hand away from her body each time she exhaled.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and looked over at Rarity with a small smile. “I am. Sorry about that.”
Rarity shook her head. “Absolutely not, darling. This is simply another one of Master Luna’s teachings. You can’t let such dark thoughts linger in your mind. Do let them out when you need to.”
AJ moseyed over to Twilight and threw her arm around the shorter girl. “Yeah girl, Ah’m glad ya got it out of your system. Ain’t healthy.”
“Useless!” they heard Talos call.
The girls immediately turned towards the direction of his voice, only to find him, stomping past the trio and calling out behind him.
“You can barely even destroy one of these disgusting creatures!” he said, vile disdain dripping from his tone.
AJ’s eyebrow twitched and she moved to grab Talos’ arm. “Alright then, chief. What’s yer deal? Why are you so hard on ‘em?”
Talos immediately pulled his arm away. “Hard? He shouldn’t even be here. Look at him!” he said, pointing to Areth who stood panting on one knee, the mere wisps of a recently defeated heartless fading around him.
“Winded and weakened from just the slightest confrontation.” Talos sneered, turning to look at AJ. “He is no longer fit, this is no insult, it is the truth,” he spat, looking directly into AJ’s eyes. “When he suffered his injury as a child, he crippled his fighting ability. And it is by the grace of his FORMER lineage, and connection to our chief and his son, that he may still grace the battlefield.”
“But if he wants to prove himself, why not let him?” asked Twilight, who walked up to the conversation.
Talos finally looked back towards Areth to find the dragon in question already staring in his direction. Eyes locked, Talos continued. “Clinging on to a glory you never had by begging it from another? He is no warrior, he is a handicap!” he yelled, turning away once more.
“Twilight!” Rarity called suddenly.
Twilight, AJ, and the two dragons turned from their argument towards Rarity who had taken it upon herself to check ahead. Frantically, she waved them over to her.
Upon reaching where she stood, the group realized that their path ended in a cliff. Said cliff overlooked a rather large crater and inside sat several dozen heartless surrounding a massive dragon heartless.
“It's a… nest?” Twilight muttered, unsure. Inside the crater were heartless of several different kinds. Some were the standard bug shape, others were lizards or wolves, and some were smaller versions of the same dragon. The dragon itself resembled a stronger, darker version of the one they had encountered when they had first arrived. Twilight could see the dark waves emanating off of its body, a sure sign that it was powerful.
“We need to regroup with Pinkie and Dash,” began Twilight. I don't know if we can handle this much on our own with the dragon.”
However, just as she finished her statement. Talos and Areth rushed forth, ignorant to the screams of the girls behind them.
Dash reached out and grabbed Jin by the shoulders and leaned in towards him. “He what!? Say it again!” she said, staring daggers, her arms digging into his shoulder.
Jin, unused to being this close to girls, rapidly began blushing and struggled to gain some distance, but Dash, having basically been AJs training partner for years, did NOT have a weak grip by any means.
“I- I said that Spike wasn’t the one who attacked us.” Jin sputtered out. “Actually, he saved my life.”
Dash’s face immediately lit up. With a wide grin she almost hugged him, and her sense of relief almost caused her knees to buckle. However, her jubilation was short lived as her expression turned from happiness and relief, to contention and suspicion.
After a second, she let him go and took a deep breath. “But… that's not the whole story is it?” she said in a low voice. “What happened?”
Pinkie reached out a hand and sat it on Dash's shoulder, giving her just a little bit of comfort in case she heard the worst news.
“Well you heard the first part correctly,” Jinkei began, finally glad to have some space to breathe. “Areth and I met up with Master Trial for our training report before meeting back up with Spike out in the field.”
~~~
“Areth was complaining about having to take more courses than me because he has wings. And by the time we got to Spike, he was already neck deep in training. So we called out to him.”
The figure, hearing a familiar voice, turned and peaked an emerald eye out from his hood and, seeing his friends, Spike lowered his hood to reveal the rest of his smiling face.
“Hay! Over here! I found an entire-” mid statement, the tail of one of the other worms slammed into him, sending him tumbling over to a nearby boulder.
“SPIKE!” screamed Jin as he ran over to help. Areth, growled and charged forward at the rock worm.
Spike, being a dumb ass, got distracted and tossed into the air. I went to check on the dumbass while Areth attacked the thing with the hide as tough as scales and ALSO got his ass rocked.
Spreading his wings, he leapt high into the air and swung his sword down on the part of the creature that struck Spike. His sword sliced through the air but stopped dead on the rock hard surface of the Rock worm. With even less effort, the creature shook him off.
Areth flipped around, righting himself before coming back in for another attack. However, before he could get back at the worm that shook him off another Worm from the group struck him from behind with his horn, while not wholly piercing his dragon scaled hide, did knock him higher into the sky before crashing into the ground.
He coughed, once, twice, three times before getting to his knees to stand back up.
“Dude are you alright,” he looked up to see Jin staring down at him, offering a hand for him to grab, next to him was Spike, doing the same.
“I think you beat your height record with that one,” Spike snickered.
Areth growled, but took their hands anyway. He looked Spike up and down. “Didn’t you get blasted into a rock?”
Spike pushed his arm past his cloak, revealing his, rather dirty, sleeveless red hoodie that had been decorated with a flame emblem. He took a stance and flexed his bicep. “You guys aren't the only ones with high defence!
Jin put a finger to his mouth and shushed Spike. “Shh, don't even joke about that out loud.”
Spike shrugged. “You’re too cautious my dude, nobody’s out here. I checked. Now,” he muttered before summoning his black and white keyblades in a flurry of green and purple flames. “You wanna practise the thing and take them all out?”
Jin sighed and nodded. Areth tried to step forward, but was stopped by Jin’s arm. “I’m fine!” he asserted.
“Stay back, I just don't want you to get caught in the crossfire.”
“I told him that because I really didn't want him to get hurt. But looking back, I think he might have taken offence to what I said. But either way, Spike and I did our cool as hell combo attack and took down the rock worm.”
Jin skid to a halt and threw his keyblade. It spun through the air straight to the middle of the pack. As it picked up speed, the keyblade began glowing with power.
“Twister!” he yelled. The keyblade exploded outward in a waft of fierce winds. While not enough to create a full blown hurricane or tornado. It was enough to raise a cloud of dust, leaves and sand.
Spike continued his dash straight into the dust cloud, both of his keyblades glowing softly. Just as he reached the middle of the cloud, he slammed his black blade down and called out. “Firaga!”
The resulting explosion rocked the area, whipping up fierce winds and forcing Areth to cover himself with a wing in order to not get thrown away by the shockwave. By the time the dust settled and he could lower his wing, his eyes widened at the sight.
Moving inside of the flames were both Spike and Jin, jumping around striking the worms that were rocked and disoriented by the explosion. He also noticed that the explosion created several cracks in the stone worm's hide, and that the two of them were striking them precisely. While Jin glided along the battlefield attacking from below. Spike hopped between the monsters and struck from above.
“While we took down the rock worms with magic. I think one escaped or fell out or something, and it went after Areth. When most of them were dead I noticed Areth having some trouble with it. I just wanted to help him. And honestly, I think that's when the story you know starts to change from what actually happened.
One of the worms, still flailing from the explosion, turned in his direction and dove at him. It swung its head down, bringing its full weight on him like a wrecking ball. Areth braced and blocked with his sword. As it came down, the ground cracked under the weight of the worm. His knees shook, and his muscles ached, but try as he might, he couldn't quite free himself from the weight of the worm.
Instead of throwing the worm off of him, Areth dove to the side, rolling into a sprint around the side of the worm. With a great swing, he sliced at the hide of the beast.
Unfortunately, just as before, his blade bounced off, this time flying clear of his grip. Areth took several steps back, clutching his wounded sword arm.
The worm lifted itself back up and bore down on him, however, at that moment, Jin glided past Areth on a ski of wind. Leaping from his cushion, the boy easily sliced right at the spot that Areth had previously been targeting. The rock worm's head separated cleanly from its body and fell to the ground.
Jin landed on a cushion of wind just as Spike caught up to them.
“That! Was! Awesome!” Spike cheered, rushing past Areth who simply stood there. “That was the best combo yet!”
Jinkei did a fierce fist pump before looking over at Spike with a wide smile! “Hell yeah! What was that move you used to break that one worm’s rock skin!.”
Areth could only stand there, staring at the two boys talking cheerfully in front of what was supposed to be his mark, his kill.
Spike smiled his own big dumb smile and snickered. “Just a skill I picked up from a certain Black Swordsman friend of mine. But hey, do you think that can be our move? That fire and wind move could be a really cool limit break combo.”
“I really wish instead of playing around with Spike, I’d payed attention to Areth. Maybe if I had seen the anger building within him, I’d have been able to stop what happened next.”
Areth clutched his fist, a sneer forming on his face as he began breathing heavily.
Jin shook his head and let out a dramatic sigh. “You know, you keep coming up with these so-called ‘combo attacks’ but they all end up with you self-destructing yourself.”
A vein popped into view near his head.
Spike shrugged, “Not my fault if I’m more dragon than you. I bet Areth could take it,” he said, finally turning around to face their third friend.
By this point however, Areth was shaking, his fists clenched hard enough to draw blood, and his head dipped low enough to see the veins popping out near the top of his head.
Jin looked at him, concerned before taking a step forward. “Areth?” he called out.
“Why you…”
Spike tilted his head and glanced at Jin, who shared his confused look. “Why… us what?”
“Why are you two so special!” Areth blurted looking up at both of them with tears in his eyes. Both of the boys took a step back. “I’m older than both of you. But, why are you both so much stronger!”
Spike nervously scratched the back of his head, while Jin tried to close the distance between the two of them. “I’m not at all stronger than you, Areth.” Jin moved in close and sat a hand on Areth’s arm. “You just need to train more, you keep trying to rush straight in and-”
Areth slapped it away, shocking Jin who cupped his hand defensively. “You’re just saying the same things that Trial said. I know I need to train, but I don't have magic to fall back on like you two,” he yelled, pointing directly at Jin “No explosions or wind attacks. You two just make up whatever you want while I have to learn strict techniques and discipline”
He pointed at Spike, his tone lowering into a hiss. “And you’re not even supposed to be here. Why don’t you just leave already!”
“Dude, sorry,” said Spike, looking a little offended. “I know I'm an outsider, you don't have to compare yourself to me.”
“That’s not what I meant, you idiot. I know what you are! You’re not even supposed to exist, you filthy half-breed!!” Areth yelled, stepping up to Spike directly.
“Areth!” Jin yelled, stepping between the two of them.
Spike was taken aback, dumbfounded at the statement. “Wh… huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, pushing against Jin.
“It means that we know about you! That you’re here to kill us all! We know the legends!” Areth continued.
Spike was taken aback. “What legends! You guys told me that this world just doesn't like outsiders!’
Jin struggled to keep the two apart. “It does, I mean, they do! Just listen! Areth calm down!” he screamed.
Areth broke away from his side, taking several steps back. “ No! You know what? I don’t care anymore. I’m tired of him making us look bad, making me look bad!”
“I really do blame myself for everything that happened after that point”
Jin’s eyes went wide.
“You wanna know the reason why Jin won’t take you to the city! It’s because you’re cur-”
Areth’s speech was cut short as he found himself on the ground, a sore spot on his cheek and surprise on his face.
Jin stood above him, leaning forward from the force of the punch he just threw. His eyes still wide, he looked down at his friend who stared back up at him in shock.
Spike stood back, staring at the two of them.
“I-”
However, a deep rumbling noise echoed through the area, startling all three of the children.
The trio turned around to see one of the rock worms slowly growing in size. As it grew a dark purple aura began emanating from it, slowly at first, then in waves. Its normally char grey rock-like hide began turning almost pitch black.
Almost as if they were reacting to the creature's transformation, both outsiders’ keyblades appeared in their hands.
“We’ll deal with this later!” yelled Spike, taking his normal fighting stance. “That worm is turning into a heartless!”
“What the hell is a heartless?” asked Jin, taking a step back.
“A creature without a heart, duh,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I remember my sister told me… I think.” Suddenly, Spike’s eyes went wide and he clutched his head, dropping his keys in the process. “Aggh,” he screamed, falling to his knees and surprising Jin and Areth in the process.
“Spike!” cried Jin, reaching down to help him.
“There you go again!” said Areth, grabbing his blade and looking towards the monster. “Spike, spike, Spike. He’s all you talk about! I’m tired of it. As soon as this thing is dead, I’m telling him everything.”
“Don’t! We don't know what’s happening to it!” “Jin warned, still holding onto Spike.
“I can handle it!” Areth hissed.
Eventually the former rock worm turned fully black, as it did, two beady yellow dots appeared near the top of its head. It wasted no time in moving forward to attack the group. With speed it didn’t have prior, it slithered over and slammed its head down on the spot where Areth had been standing prior.
Jumping out of the way, Areth sprinted around the monster, slashing at its side. Seeing his attack have no effect, he spread his wings and took to the air.
Although it took no damage, Areth’s attacks did not go unnoticed. The creature turned to him, desperately trying to knock him out of the air. However, unlike last time, Areth maneuvered around the frantically flailing creature.
Spinning through the air, Areth positioned himself directly above the creature. Aiming carefully, Areth let out a war cry as he pointed his sword down and dove at its head.
The tip of his blade stabbed directly into the creature's ominous yellow eyes. The force of his strike brought both him and the creature down to the ground in a cloud of dust.
“At the time, I thought Areth had beaten it, only now do I know that normal weapons can't even hurt a heartless. It wanted Areth to win.
A spray of sand and smoke filled the area around Jin, who used his wind magic to keep it from getting in his eyes, and Spike who was still clutching his head and groaning. Slowly, however, he reached up to grab onto Jinkei.
Inside the cloud, standing on top of the creature, was Areth. His face beamed with pride looking down on his sword that had gone hilt deep into the creature's head.
“Hah! You see that!?” he announced, breathing heavily. As the dust cleared, Areth looked over at his friends, his face falling at the sight of Jinkei still looking down at Spike instead of his victory. Staring at him, Areth grit his teeth and his grip nearly broke the handle of his sword.
Consumed by anger, he didn't even realise the darkness that had begun creeping up his blade.
Shaking himself of his stupor, Spike, still down on one knee, looked up at Jinkei. The boy in question held Spike by the shoulder, his face full of worry.
Noticing this, Spike smiled. “I’m good, man, I dunno what happened. Random headache or something.”
Jin looked over Spike, checking for any weakness and helping him up off the ground. “You sure. I feel like that’s happened whenever you mention your sister.”
Spike looked at him weirdly as he got to his feet and tried to dust himself off. “Sister? I don't have one, man. Just a friend I travel with sometimes. Spike looked out into the sky, his eyes glazing over slightly, “I don’t know why I keep calling her that,” he muttered.
With a quick shake from Jin, Spike snapped out of it and continued. “Sorry, anyway, it’s been weird lately… but I’ll be fine! How’s Areth and the heartless?”
Areth stepped away from his recently fallen prey, his blade dragging along the ground. “I’m fine,” he muttered.
Jin leaned to the side to see what Areth had beaten and let out an impressed whistle. “Hot damn, my dude! Nice one!”
Areth stopped his grip on his blade loosening, if only a small amount from the praise.
Spike, now fully on his feet, turned to look at the worm and smirked. “Nice! Now all you gotta do is catch up to the two of us and MAYBE we’ll have a competition,” he said, shrugging and shaking his head playfully.
It was then that Areth dashed forth, in less than a second he had reached the two of them, his sword high into the air and ready to slam down…
Directly onto and through Spike’s head.
~~~
(Present)
“Blizzaga!” Called out Twilight, raising her keyblade to the sky. In a flash of shimmering blue magic, several sharp icicles rained down from the sky, crushing several enemies in one go. Without wasting a beat for the spell to conclude, she dove forward, striking down enemies alongside her spell. Someone had long ago taught her not to rely on simply magic to do the work, that it was her body she should train more than anything. It was a lesson she still practised today.
Nearby, AJ did something similar, with a single slam of her keyblade to the ground, half a dozen spikes pierced nearby enemies, impaling them from below. Looking down, she glanced at her keyblade with a raised brow. More than a few recent memories from the previous world flashed through her mind. She let out a small mumble, imperceptible to anyone but herself, before rushing to crush more enemies.
Even Rarity, who had usually preferred to be further from the battle, had begun fighting deeper into the fray. Using the fencing and thrusting moves she had learned from her time training with Asuna she danced about the battlefield with thrusts and stabs that seemed almost too fast to catch. And the ones that COULD be seen were precise, practised, and deadly to any enemy they fell upon.
Areth watched on at the display of raw might and talent from behind the group. Even his fellow soldier, Talos, moved about the battle, ripping and tearing enemies apart with his broadsword and his own brute strength.
Areth could only grit his teeth, behind him lay only a few enemies, the most recent of which had been enough of a task that he had to stop to regain his breath. This was an action he soon regretted as it gave him enough time to survey the battlefield.
Rage welled up inside of the dragon, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the scar that laid above his flesh began to sting. Clenching his fists, he dove back into the fray, intent on making his mark even if it killed him.
~~~
(Years Ago)
Time slowed to a crawl for Jin, in one second Spike was throwing out some playful barbs, just like he always had. But then Areth started running.
“At him? No, the angle was off. He was running at Spike.
Why? A tackle? No, he wouldn't be raising his blade for a tackle…
HE’S RAISING HIS BLADE!”
Time rushed forward to meet him as Jin quickly pushed Spike out of the way with one hand, and summoned his keyblade to meet Areth's sword in another. The force of the clash nearly buckled Jin’s legs and almost forced him to his knees.
Spike, however, sat behind him back onto his butt staring up at the clash with wide eyes.
“I… huh,” he muttered, dumbfounded.
Areth stared down at him with bright yellow eyes. Spike knew those eyes anywhere, they were filled with darkness.
“Fight… me!” Areth ordered, struggling to push down Jin.
Jin, beginning to lose the battle of strength called upon his magic. In a quick burst, a dome of wind formed around him, shoving Areth back about a few feet.
Spike quickly got back to standing. “Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean whatever I said to make you mad!” He quickly apologised.
A long time ago, someone taught him that sometimes an apology can fix a problem where fists could not, and to use his words instead of his body. He couldn't remember who, but even now he still practises that rule.
Unfortunately, Areth simply took a step forward, readying his blade. “I don’t care. Fight me!”
Now it was Jin’s turn. “We’re not gonna fight! What happened to you?!”
Areth let out a deep growl. “What happened? You happened, you half breed monster!”
Jin and Spike’s eyes went wide. Spike turned to Jin. “Why does he keep calling me that! I know I’m half dragon, whats wrong with th-”
“Nothing!” Jin yelled.
“EVERYTHING” Areth yelled back. “You want to know why you’re really not allowed near the village!? Jin is lying to you!” he called, a sick crooked smirk forming on his face.
Spike leaned back, stunned by the news. “Lying? What-?”
Before he could question Jin. The boy raced forward and clashed against Areth once again, this time with the wind at his back, he pushed Areth back.
But only slightly.
“Stop it, Areth! What the hell is wrong with you!” he yelled, gritting his teeth. Jin looked deep into his friends eyes, searching for the familiar hazel eyes he’s so used to seeing. However, only yellow slitted pupils looked back at him now. “I’m tired of him! I’m sick and tired of him making me look bad! I’m sick of his stupid magic, and your stupid keyblades!” he yelled, darkness beginning to emanate from his body. As it did, Areth pushed back, evening the clash and ending Jin’s push.
Jin, sensing the sick and disgusting feel coming from him, jumped back to gain some distance. “You know what? Fine, I’ll fight you! And when I win, I'll kill whatever darkness got inside of you!”
Jin at once threw his keyblade at Areth, wind forming around the blade, it zipped right towards him at surprising speeds.
However, Areth knocked it away with the flat of his blade, smirking at the weak attack. Though at once he knew what Jin’s plan was when he jumped high into the air.
Meeting the keyblade in the air, Jin grabbed it. “Air Javelin!” he called out plummeting down towards Areth in a wind boosted downward strike.
As Jin came at him darkness formed around Areth’s feet, pooling into a dark pool of energy. Without even moving, a sharp tendril emerged from the pool and rose up to meet Jin’s attack head on.
A shockwave rippled out from where the two met, brushing up dirt and dust. The clash didn't even last a full few seconds before Jin was sent flying backwards.
Spike could only look on in bewilderment as his friends furiously attacked each other. Jin soared around the fight, attacking at whatever angle he could. But the darkness protected Areth from most of the attacks, and the ones that it couldn't, Areth blocked on his own with his considerable strength.
As they battled, memories sparked within Spike’s mind. Two… girls? Fighting in a similar way. One flying around the air and another standing her ground. Spike’s mind BURNED as he tried to remember more. With a pained scream, he fell back to the ground.
Clutching his head, wisps of purple flames, and sparks of green electricity danced around his body.
Jin, finally getting the idea that the darkness acted as some sort of barrier around Areth, quickly gave up on outmanoeuvring and outspeeding Areth, his usual tactics in battle, and rather worked on using his magic to enhance his strength.
As he fought he realised that, with a constant stream of magic into his keyblade, he could imbue his elements into his weapon. And with that tactic, he stood in front of Areth and slashed at him. No longer could the darkness block his strike, Areth himself found himself being pushed back again.
This enraged the boy, even with this new power he was still somehow losing. Drawing deeper from this strange power, he felt his chest burning as power began to flow through his body.
Unable to hold what he dragged out in, he let out a roar of dark purple and black flames. Standing so close, Jin took the attack point blank. In a split second he raised up a shield, but his sudden work gave a shoddy defence. The flame tore right through the barrier and sent Jin flying in a heap of smoke and flame.
Jin’s scream snapped Spike out of his stupor. Memories could wait, his friends needed him, both of them.
Laying a ways back, smoking from the attack, Jin groaned. A sinister chuckle came from Areth as the remains of his attack wisped away from his mouth. However, before he could step forward, Spike appeared in front of him, both keyblades already out.
“You know,” Spike began, taking a step forward. “Jin’s probably the only one on this world that’s NOT fireproof. Kinda a dick move if you ask me,” he said, giving a small smirk. Looking over at Areth, Spike couldn’t find a single hint of a reaction, only small beady yellow eyes. The more he looked the less Spike could tell if this was his friend, or a heartless taking his friends form. Even his scales were beginning to grow darker shades of the blue they once were.
“If you’ve got something to say, then say it,” he said simply, readying his blades.
Areth’s eyes went wide and a crazed smile nearly took up his entire face. Leaning forward, he spread his wings ready to attack. “Sure,” he hissed, letting the word out slowly. Flames still flicking around his mouth as he spoke. “I’ve been waiting for this for months,” he mumbled, just audible enough for Spike to hear.
With a powerful flap of his wing, Areth leapt into the air and raised his large broadsword. As the power of darkness aided him, his sword gained a darkish aura around it.
“Helm Splitter!” he yelled as he slammed down onto Spike with his massive sword.
Crossing his blades, Spike met him without flinching, even as the ground beneath the two split, Spike wouldn't so much as move an inch.
“You really are a monster,” Areth hissed into Spike's face, “you didn’t even flinch!”
“Say’s who?!” Spike yelled! Just as he was about to push Areth away, he felt a deep impact against his gut. Looking down, he noticed two pitch black tendrils jutting up from the ground. However, like the attack before it, it failed to breach his defence. WIth a loud grunt, he pushed Areth away and took a step back.
Undaunted, Areth dashed right back at him with a series of darkness empowered attacks. “Everyone! You’re a plague! Half dragons are destined to destroy the world, just like they did before!”
Spike, likewise, blocked and parried each of his attacks. “I’m not even from here! Why would I destroy your world?!”
The corrupted dragon could only smile harder. “You don’t know anything! We know you, we know a half dragon was born here 14 years ago!” Once more he clashed with Spike, who had begun to lose his traction in the fight while listening.
Areth whispered directly into his face. “That dragon had violet skin and emerald eyes. He had an unmistakable scent, and absolutely RADIATED magical power. Just… like… you.” Before Spike could respond, Areth let out another point blank fire blast from his mouth, completely engulfing Spike.
Contrary to his prior statement, Spike was only partially fireproof, especially to magical fire. With a large jump, Spike moved back while he activated his own magic. After a moment or two, he managed to wash out the dark fire with his own green ones.
Falling to his knees, he began coughing. “I… *cough* was born here?” he choked out, coughing out the rest of the smoke.
Areth didnt allow Spike a moment to recover and appeared right in front of him with his sword held near his shoulder, ready to take a swing. “And you know what we tried to do?” he mumbled? His sword once again flared with dark energy as he took a batters swing at Spike.
“We tried to KILL you!” he screamed. Spike could only just barely defend against the attack, knocking a keyblade out of his hand and sending him sliding back.
“You’re lying!!” Spike screamed, quickly getting back to his feet and preparing to block with a single black keyblade.
Areth swung wildly at Spike, who could only defend. “You’re a plague, our legends are true! Just like every halfling, you’ll try to destroy this world!”
Spike went quiet, simply listening to his rant.
Areth’s voice began to turn as wild as his swings. “And if I kill you here! I’ll be a hero! I’ll never be seen as weak again! I’ll be the strongest on this world! I’ll be-”
Spike looked up at him with fury in his eyes. With a great slash, Spike completely destroyed the blade that Areth had been attacking with, the ground cracked under the weight of his strike and Areth himself was sent sliding.
Bright green flames began floating around Spike not from his mouth, they seemed to come from his very body. As he took a step forward, he finally spoke.
“All my life, I've wanted to know where I came from,” he mumbled. “And just when I finally think I've found it… turns out I'm just something they didn't even want?”
He stopped in front of Areth, who could only try to back away, the power of darkness fading from his eyes.
Spike stood over him, the ground burning under his power. “Bullshit,” he muttered, his eyes glazing over, a dull white light replacing his eyes. “There’s no world where they would try to kill a kid that hasn't done anything! They wouldn't!” he yelled, his voice cracking and his hand beginning to shake His flames grew in intensity, glowing a bright emerald colour.
“ENBLAZE” he muttered, at once Spike rose his keyblade to the sky as the flames raced to his hand, lighting up the weapon into a brilliant flaming blade. “This is all just the darkness talking! And I'll BURN it out of you if I have to until you tell the truth!”
“STOP!!!!” Jin yelled, in a burst of wind, Jin stepped in between the two, one arm stretched outwards, and another sitting limp at his side with burn marks running up the side. “Stop…” he repeated, looking Spike in the eye.
“Listen, I’ll tell you the truth, the whole story. But if you hurt him, all you’ll do is prove them right!” Jin said, taking a step forward. “You’re not a monster or a plague! Even your parents believed it when they saved you!”
This caught Spike’s attention, his eyes faded back into view and the flames around his keyblade dyed down slightly. “My… my parents?” He lowered his hand. “You… you knew my-”
His next words caught in his throat as Jin lurched forward towards Spike, behind him stood Areth, his arm held upright holding his broken blood covered blade. His eyes once more bore the usual yellow glow of someone held by darkness.
As Areth fell forward, all he could see was Spike dropping his keyblade and tackling Areth. It was then that his world began to go dark. From then on all he could hear was a single paned roar, and an even more painful scream before passing out.
~~~
“When i woke up,” Jin continued, looking down at the ground as he spoke, “Spike was carrying both of us back to the village and Areth was covered in blood, but I could feel him breathing… albeit faintly.
Pinkie slammed a fist into her palm and her face lit up. “Ohhhhh so THAT'S where he got that cool scar from!”
Jin looked startled for a second. “A scar? Damn,” he muttered. “Well hopefully he’s doing alright and not causing trouble. I see him every so often when I have run-ins with them,” he said, looking up at the sky.
Dash raised a brow. “Yeah, he’s a soldier now, though I don't think the others like him a lot though.” She shook her head and smiled a huge jubilant smile. “Wait, no, forget about that. So you’re saying it was him that got corrupted, not Spike!”
Jinkei frowned, his face a mix of concern and shame. Unable to meet her eyes, he tried to interject. “Well… he-”
But before he could complete his thought, a loud rumbling ripped through the land. Snapping out of his conflicting emotional state, Jin immediately turned and jumped down from the cliff that oversaw the cave. Keyblade already in hand, he dashed towards it.
Dash herself also flew down, Pinkie quickly following.
“Yo what’s happening! What is that?!” she asked frantically.
Jin, reaching the bottom, took a stance a ways away from the cave. “That’s part of the story, and the reason I’ve been out here so long.”
Dozens of small heartless began emerging from the cave, and following them, came a slithering shapeless mass of dark energy. It bubbled and coalesced into a writhing blob, slowly taking shape outside of the cave.
“No way…” Pinkie muttered, watching as the mass eventually formed into the shape of the dragon they had fought before. However, having been probably the closest one of the girls to it the first time, noticed that it was a bit smaller than before.
She shrugged, thinking that maybe she and Jin had just done more damage than they thought. Meanwhile, Jin took a step forward.
“Actually,” he smirked. “With you guys here, we might actually be able to take this thing down now!”
“Hell yeah!” Dash cheered, bringing out Spiral. “Time to finish what I started! I’ll go high, you go low!”
She turned to Pinkie while Jin simply glanced down at her weapon curiously. “Pinkie, you take care of as many of the small fries as you can!
Pinkie gave a cheerful salute, before bouncing away.
“Hope, you’re a good shot,” Jin chided.
Dash smirked and rose into the air. “Just don’t get in the way!” With a quick charge, she let loose several bullets directly into the dragon.
~~~
The world shook around Twilight as her shield fell to pieces in front of her. The magical feedback of such an action raked her brain across the coals. She let out a pained grunt from both the mental and physical damage.
In front of her stood a dragon similar to the one they had seen when they first landed. However, this one was darker, and much more powerful. A dark aura wisped off it in waves, and its claw, or what was left of it returned to its side.
Behind Twilight, stood Areth, having been thrown back and targeted by the great beast. Pulling himself together, he readied his weapon. A single nod towards Twilight was all the thanks he gave.
Rarity, noticing that Twilight’s reflect spell had done some damage to it, raced to take advantage of the opening. With a wave of her keyblade, several identical weapons appeared around her.
“Twilight! I’ll distract it so take a moment to heal, darling!” she called out before shooting off the keyblades at maximum speed.
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, already applying a Cure spell to herself.
Rarity merely flipped her hair and smiled. “Don’t you worry about me, dearest. I’ve learned a few new tricks. Just watch!”
True to her word, as each keyblade reached the dragon, they exploded into hundreds of glittering shards. The dragon let out a roar as the explosions rocked against its body and hundreds of thousands of shards and shrapnel pierced its hide.
The attack, while flashy, was not enough to be lethal, but more than enough to be annoying. The dragon lunged at her with a newly reformed claw. Having aimed for this action from the start, it was a simple act simple to dodge.
Inching from behind Twilight, Areth moved to the Dragons blind spot and began a charge. However, before he could take a step forward, he was dragged back by Talos.
“YOU STAY THERE!” he screamed, point blank. “YOUR WEAKNESS NEARLY KILLED ONE OF THE LEGENDARY KEYBLADE WIELDERS!”
Without another word, Talos charged in Areth’s place. With a hearty battle cry he sheathed his blade, leapt onto the back of the dragon and began scaling it with his claws.
A deep growl escaped Areth’s lips as he fought the urge to ball his still armoured fists and dig the claws into his own palms.
“If only I still had that power,” he growled, his voice a hoarse guttural sound. He flinched, a pang of pain stabbing through his throat.
“Over here you overgrown blob!” Jinkei yelled towards the dragon in front of him. Riding the wind he flew around the legs of the monster.
With a wide swing, Jin let loose a wave of flame from his Keyblade destroying one of the Dragon’s legs. However, instead of losing its balance, the massive heartless immediately turned its head and prepared to let loose a blast of deep purple flames.
“Oh that’s not good…” Jin muttered, observing as the dragon’s leg easily regenerated while it was preparing its attack.
Just then, a loud crack sounded out across the battlefield and the dragon's head snapped wildly to the side, the flames spewing out along the ground far away from Jin. Several dozen heartless that had been surrounding the trio burned and fell to ashes.
Jin looked up to see Dash hanging out daily high in the sky, her weapon smoking from the charged shot she had just released.
“What’s wrong? Afraid of a little fire?” she taunted, looking down at him. “I thought you and Spike were friends?”
“Ughh,” Jin scoffed. “Whatever, I can use fire spells just as well as he could. “ Holding out his Keyblade with both hands, Jin closed his eyes and focused. Slowly, a breeze began whipping up the dust and soot around him as a fireball began growing in front of him.
Dash, seeing what he was doing, quickly flew down to provide back up. Shot after shot came from her rifle, each one slamming into the dragon’s head with enough force to knock it sideways. However, none of them were enough to do anything more than get it’s attention.
And get it she did as well as its apparent anger as it tried over and over again to swipe her out of the sky with its massive obsidian claws.
“Can’t catch me, lizard! Cooler things than you have tried!” she chided, sticking out her tongue as she continued to harass the creature. “Let me know when you’re ready, my dude!” she said, calling down to Jin. “Just to let you know, Spike probably would have had that thing ready by now.”
Jin frowned. “Yeah well Spike can’t use two elements at once!” he said, the ball of roaring flames growing in front of him. It grew and grew, and as it did, the wind around it began spinning, covering the flaming ball in rushing winds.
He took a moment to look up. The dragon hadn’t noticed his attack spell, much too busy trying to take down the fly shooting it in the face. He also caught sight of Dash, she was smiling as if she was enjoying being a complete and utter nuisance.
“I’m ready!” he shouted.
At once, Dash’s speed increased, immediately placing her self directly above the dragon’s head. Before it could react or move, Dash leveled Spiral and fired once again, this time directly downwards. While not as strong as her previous attack, this one still forced the dragon down on all fours.
All fours right in front of Jinkei’s readied spell.
With one last push of power, Jin shot the spell, its name echoing across the barren land. “AERO-FIRAGA!”
The attack rushed forth. The dragon, acting quickly, released a breath of its own flame to drown out the attack. However, it was no use, the flames collided and merged, making the spell thrown by Jin even more powerful.
An explosion ROCKED the area as a torrent of flame erupted from the attack. Sharp winds fast enough to reach up and throw Dash off balance filled the air.
Even Pinkie, who had been busy tearing apart all of the heartless in a 50ft radius could feel the winds that the attack had released.
She let out an impressed whistle as the pile of heartless under her feet slowly faded to darkness.
Dash herself had been forced to land due to the attack. Coming down next to Jin, Spike eagerly reached over and threw an arm around the boy in celebration.
“Dude, that was amazing!” he cheered, leaning in and giving Jin a sidelong look.
Jin’s eyes widened. In a blink, it wasn’t Spike, but Dash herself that had her arm around him. Instead of emerald eyes, magenta orbs stared at him…
A deep pit opened in his stomach, not the kind that resulted from him using that kind of magic, but a new feeling. Dash was beaming, she had been since he had finished his story. He briefly wondered why. Who was she and why was she so happy to think Spike didn't hurt anyone?
“Yo! That was the move you and Spike used to use right?” she asked. “Together? It’s so cool that you can do it solo now.”
Her praise quickly knocked Jinkei out of his head and he remembered that a girl was currently all by hugging him. With a blush he nudged her away and began scratching his head. “Uh, yeah! I figured it out while I was out here. Takes a lot of concentration. Something Spike definitely wouldn’t know about,” he said sheepishly, giving a small smirk.
Dash scoffed. “Yeah sure. I’ve seen Spike concentrate before. Usually when there’s food or a fight.”
Jin looked down at his feet. Wisps of wind still moved around as the torrent of fire encompassing the dragon died down, leaving a fading, nearly formless corpse of the enemy they had just defeated.
“Hay,” he began, glancing over to her. “Who are you? To Spike I mean? How long have you known him?”
Dash blushed and she also glanced away. “Oh yeah no… we’re just childhood friends. All of us are… the girls you saw me with I mean!” she quickly answered.
Jin looked at her a bit and chuckled. “Damn… what a popular guy. I wish I had that many girls around me,” he finished, looking up into the air. A wave of loneliness fell over him. This happened sometimes, staying away from his home fighting a one man battle did that to a person.
He was quickly brought back to the present again, by Dash elbowing him in the shoulder. “Chill out, we’re all not like that.”
Jin smirked. “Sure… So you knew him before… the incident,” he said, face dropping.
“You mean, that Areth dude attacking?” Pinkie answered, popping up from behind her bestie. “Yeah get this! I think that meanie guy lied to Trial! He said that Spike was the one who attacked and destroyed this world!”
Jin’s grip tightened on her keyblade, and he quickly averted his eyes.
Pinkie, however, continued by taking a massive gasp!
GASP
“Dashie! What if he’s still around Twilight and the others! What if he attacks them!”
“Oh Shit!!” Dash cursed. “You’re right! We need to tell the others the truth!” Spreading her wings, Dash began hovering a bit into the air before looking over at Jin. “Come with us, my dude!”
“Wait…” Jinkei said, refusing to look back at her.
Dash tilted her head questioningly, her smile slowly falling from her face. “Alright… but wh-”
“Because you didn’t hear the whole story…” Jin blurted. “About what happened after Spike brought us back.”
Dash’s face went dark, a frown deeper than any other grew on her face. Faster than she probably should have, she moved around and slammed down onto the ground in front of Jin. Standing almost an entire foot lower, she looked up at him.
"No... no no no," she hissed, trying to get their eyes to lock with each other. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't force their eyes to connect. This only made her even angrier.
Her fists tightened. “I… I’m tired of the stories…” she mumbled, her voice dripping with barely contained emotion. “Just answer my one question and stop JERKING ME AROUND!”
Pinkie tentatively reached out and touched her friend's shoulder.
“I don’t care who caused what and who insulted who! Did Spike Burn Down This World??!” she nearly yelled, staring daggers up at Jin.
Meanwhile, Jin, having been building up his courage to even start this conversation, deeply began to wish he had just left her as she was. He couldn't even bring himself to look her in the eye.
Several seconds passed. Pinkie, glancing between the two of them, opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“DID HE DO IT!” Dash screamed.
“YES!” Jin answered in response. “He’s the one who burned away most of this world's plant and animal life! He rampaged for days after he got back and killed hundreds of us! But I promise that there’s a reason why… the… he…” Jin finally turned to glance at Dash.
And what he saw broke his heart. She was staring up at him with tears freely flowing down her face, looking for all the world not as a strong keyblade warrior, but as a teenage girl.
“Wait, let me finish the story!” he tried. “I need to tell you what happened to cause him to lose control!”
For Dash, all sensory input had ceased. Her vision blurred, and sounds became muffled. Scenes and sights flashed into her mind of Spike losing control, spewing flames and attacking people. Spike holding Shia over his shoulder… and then… him as a kid. The two playing, fighting, and adventuring together, the times they spent talking and arguing and being together. Even him risking his life for her when their world collapsed. And just like that world, her mind also collapsed.
Pinkie, who had long since wrapped her arms around her friend, could feel the girl starting to shake.
Jin, who had been trying to explain, noticed fairly quickly that his words were falling on deaf ears. He stood there, wholly unsure of how to proceed or how to help at all at this point.
Just then, a low rumble echoed across the area. Before either Pinkie or Jin could react. The dragon they had previously thought dead, sprung to life and jumped into the air, zooming past the trio.
Jin looked up in horror. “Oh shit!” he cursed!
Pinkie, still holding onto Dash, who didn’t react at all. “I thought you guys beat that big old dragon thing!” she said, bracing the two of them against the wind that the dragon picked up as it flew.
“It’s going to attack the town again!” he yelled. “I’ve been keeping it pinned here for years!”
Pinkie narrowed her eyes and looked around. “Wait… no,” she mumbled. She pointed to the group’s right side. “The town is that way!”
Jin looked off to the left. Having been out here so long, with minimal travel back to the very place he was protecting, he only had a slight idea of the exact location. “Did they move it?” he asked incredulously.
Pinkie frowned and groaned. “No you dummy-dumb! It’s THAT way!”
Jinkei frowned and looked back to where the dragon flew. “Then where the hell is it going?”
Pinkie, still holding on to Dash, who’s still unresponsive, reached into her pocket and pulled out her keyblade. An action that had decidedly NOT gone unnoticed by Jin.
Before he could question the size issue of a two foot long weapon coming out a small girls pocket. Pinkie pointed the keyblade off in the same direction as the dragon. The tip of it gave off a soft glow and Pinkie let out another massive gasp.
“Twilight!” she screamed.
She quickly began shaking Rachelle. “Dashie! Dashie! The dragon is trying to attack our friends!” she screamed.
Dash gave a few blinks, her eyes slowly focusing back on Pinkie. “I… he…” she said, tearing up again.
Pinkie looked her dead in the eyes, her own beginning to water as she did so. “I know, but remember what we talked about. Regardless of what’s happening, we CAN’T let it tear us apart. Even if you’re mad, or sad, or glad about what we learn, we need to stay together!”
Pinkie grabbed Dash into a big hug and continued. “Right now that big dragon thingie is going to attack Twilight and Rarity, and Applejack and we need to get over there!”
Dash nodded once weakly, then after a sniffle or two, nodded again, this time with far more energy. Breaking off from the hug, she wiped her face and turned to Jinkei.
“We’re not done talking,” she said simply. Looking him up and down before turning back to Pinkie. “We need to hurry, I can catch up to it, but you two need to start running.”
Just as she spread her wings, Pinkie grabbed her hand. “Wait! I can send both of you directly to Twilight. They aren't too far for me to use my marks.”
Dash reeled back in surprise. “Seriously? Wait, you can’t move yourself right? What will you do?”
“Pffft!” Pinkie scoffed, blowing a raspberry right at her face. “I’ll just ride back on Time Turner or Tigger.” she chuckled. “They’ve been wanting to come out for a while now.”
Dash looked at her for a tense second, staring into her happy blue eyes. They were cool, kind, and soft. Similar to Shia’s but so much brighter and happier.
It was strange, she’s known these eyes for years, more than a decade almost, and everytime she looked into them, she always felt her mood brighten. It was almost like looking into them inspired a smile to just fall onto her face…
But sometimes… sometimes that smile just wasn’t there like it usually was. Dash could never place her finger on it, but occasionally, when she looked deep into Pinkie’s eyes, she could swear that something else looked back, something sharp. This was one of those times.
Dash shook her head. “Hell no! You just said we should stay together. Plus, we don’t know if… if someone might come try to get you if you’re alone.”
Jin shook his head. “If we’re gonna all go together, then I can bring her with me on the wind.” he said, stepping forward. “I might not be as fast as you, but it’s faster than running. Either way, we should get going now.”
Pinkie and Dash turned to him and nodded.
Pinkie, keyblade already in hand, gave the two a playful salute. “Right-o! I’ll see you guys soon!”
Dash’s eyes widened, “Wait, Pinkie-” She turned around just to see Pinkie vanish from sight completely.
“Rachelle??” Looking down, Dash’s eyes met Twilight’s, and looking further down, noticed that she was crouching over the body of a very heavily wounded dragonkin.
~~~
“Wait, Pink-” Dash’s voice vanished just as quickly as she did. With a wave of her Keyblade, both Jin and Dash disappeared from in front of Pinkie Pie.
Her arm holding out the keyblade began to shakingly return to her side. Her head also lowered.
“I… I don’t know what to do anymore…” she mumbled. After a second, her hair slowly began darkening to a much deeper, nearly reddish pink colour. Her normally curly hair fell one by one, ending in a limp straight mess on her head.
“I… I don’t really know either,” she began, a new voice answering. Much like her hair, her voice also came out deeper, raspier, and lacked the bubbly tone it usually did. “If Spike’s so far gone that he can torch a world, maybe there’s no use holding out for a fallen hero.”
A soft wind blew through the empty area, brushing her now limp hair away and revealing the “something sharp” that Dash saw before. Dark red eyes replaced Pinkie Pie’s bright blue orbs.
Pinkamena took a deep breath and let out a long weary sigh. “I’m sorry Pinkie, we might have to do something you really don’t wanna do if this gets any worse.”
As the wind died down, Pinkamena’s ears perked up at the sound of something moving about behind her.
She lifted her head back and tilted it back towards the cave that the dragon came from. One glance was all she needed to tell that the inside of it was still crawling with heartless. Hundreds of scurrying beady yellow dots poked out from the depths of darkness within.
And Pinkamena smiled, her teeth as sharp as any dragonkins.
“You know what? I know exactly what to do,” she hissed. Holding her keyblade up, she turned and began walking. Much like the rest of her aesthetic, her weapon, which was normally decorated with pink balloons and candy corn, were now blood red. Scythes poked out and popped the balloons and the candy was now sharpened to a point.
“Let’s practise for when we see our dear friend again…” she mumbled as she walked into the cave and vanished into the darkness within.
With the force of a meteor, AJ, boosted into the air with the help of Rarity, slammed down onto the head of the dark dragon with her Keyblade. Cracks from the attack spidered throughout the surrounding area under the creature.
“Now!” she yelled, jumping away.
Back on the ground, Twilight spun her keyblade around her, dancing as she built up magic. While she normally wasn't such a flashy fighter, however some criticisms of her fighting style, namely from Rarity, eventually rubbed off on her.
With a quick few spins and a single twirl, Twilight caught her weapon and aimed the tip of it right at the monster. The blade itself glowed fiercely with arcane magic and the words almost echoed across the battlefield.
“Ragnarok!” she yelled.
All at once dozens of beams of light erupted from her weapon, shining through the bleak gray sky and raining down on the heartless in front of her. The dark dragon let out a soundless scream as it was peppered with rays of light magic. Several dozen heartless also faded from the attack as they all disintegrated from the attack.
Soon enough the attack ended and the dragon lay nearly motionless, peppered with holes and fading slowly. Twilight let out a low sigh of relief while her keyblade’s glow faded. Taking a step forward, she moved to finish the job. As Master Luna had always taught her. Never let her guard down.
Before she could take that step forward, a tingle came down her spine and she spun on her heel and quickly threw up a barrier just in time for something to crash into it from behind.
To her complete surprise it was Areth who had fallen into her shield. Eyes wide, she lowered it and allowed him to gingerly fall to the ground.
Looking over she saw Talos facing down what seemed to be the final heartless. It lunged at him, but he dodged and dispatched it effortlessly.
“Oh my!” gasped Rarity, what happened here? She asked, walking up to Twilight.
AJ followed suit. “Ah saw the whole thing,” she scowled. “The two of them were fightin’ then that one over there decided to ‘miss’ his attack and sent the poor fella flyin,” she said, giving Talos a pointed look.
Talos simply gave them one back. “He was in the way,” he scoffed.
Twilight, seeing that Areth wasn’t very injured, carefully sat him down and stomped over to Talos, a frown deeply etched into her features.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked. “Why do you treat him like that?”
Talos snarled at her. “I’ve told him time and time again to stay back. He’s weak, he is injured, he cannot fight.” He looked directly into her eyes. “He. Is. A. Burden.”
This took Twilight aback. However, as she opened her mouth to return is vitriol. AJ stepped in, pushing her aside. “That don’t give you NO right to treat him like that. He’s out here, fighting the good fight and he’s your teammate. Burden or not he deserves respect.
Talos did not falter in his response. “And where should this respect come from? He has almost no victories to his name. He lost to a child. And worst of all, he was complicit in hiding the halfling from us!” he nearly screamed. “If he had simply turned over the cursed thing, so many of us would still have homes!
Hearing her brother called cursed ticked Twilight. She could feel a rage building in her chest. It was only due to her mental training that she didn’t verbally attack him. Instead, she took a breat and tried to rebut.
“Thats-” Twilight couldn't get the words out before Talos continued his rant.
“He should have died that day! And yet he’s still here playing at being a warrior! Disrespecting the rest of us who SHOULD be out here fighting!”
Twilight looked up at the taller Dragonkin, his eyes were clear and unblinking. His expression portrayed no mercy or falsehoods in his words. Her angry expression fell to disgust and sadness. “H-how could you say that?
Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and a chill down her spine a fraction afterwards. Time slowed to a crawl for her.
Slowly, a figure cloaked in darkness moved past her, and the others, as if also frozen in place, could do nothing to stop him. Before she even realized it, Twilight felt herself being lifted from the ground and not even a second later, she saw blood flying, Talos falling, and her friends calling her name.
Time resumed at normal speeds for everyone around.
“Twilight!” Rarity called. Reaching a hand out, she caught Twilight’s falling form in a telekinetic hold, saving her from a decent amount of fall damage.
AJ meanwhile, immediately leapt away from the figure, her brain trying to process what just happened.
“You’re right, you know…” the figure said, standing just as tall as Talos once did. However, now said soldier lay on the ground, a pool of blood quickly forming around him. “I was weak, and I paid the price for it. If I had more of this power back then, I wouldn't have lost to that child.”
AJ, already analyzing the situation, was the first to figure it out. She glanced over, and sure enough, both Areth and the previously fading dragon heartless were now gone… or rather, they had moved.
“So that’s what it is,” she mumbled to herself. Somewhere inside her, she let out a sigh of relief, unfortunately, that sigh would have to remain inside until the danger to her friends was gone. Switching out her keyblade for her gauntlets. AJ held out a hand, towards Areth.
“Sug, what in the sam hell are you doing?” she said slowly.
Areth turned to her. As he did the darkness took form around his body. No longer fully obscuring him, and instead becoming a deep purple aura around his body. Though AJ could already see the effects seeping into him. He was taller, now, more muscular, and his scar was almost glowing. And from what she heard, his voice was now a lot more clear.
A trait he also clearly noticed by the way he reached up and felt his throat. “Exactly what it looks like. Regaining the power that halfling knocked out of me.” His hand ran down the length of his scar. As he did his expression grew dark. “And when he gave me this scar.”
“Ya don’t need it, Areth.” AJ said calmly.
“AND WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME THAT!” Areth screamed, immediately rushing towards AJ. Luckily, she was already in defense so she took his attack head on.
Areth slashed down at her with claws now enhanced by the seething rage he felt. “Of course you would say that, another legendary keyblade wielder,” he hissed as they clashed.
“It, ain't about the weapon, hun,” AJ lectured, pushing him back. Even with the power of darkness, Areth was still not enough to overpower the group's tank. “They’re not what makes us special. It’s about the heart. And it’s not too late for you to save yours!”
“Jackie!” screamed Rarity. AJ felt her body forcibly moved backwards, just in time for a spear to shoot out from the ground behind her and almost skewering her.
Rarity let out a small exhale from the effort. “This would be much easier with Pinkie here,” she mumbled.
My heart is fine!” screamed Areth. “It’s you all!” He pointed a claw at them and gave a sideways smirk. “We don’t need you! With this power I’ll finally be the strongest. I’ll protect this world from now on.”
“Rachelle??” Both Rarity and AJ turned just in time to see Dash and another figure show up next to Twilight.
(The Present)
Twilight, now holding Talos' shaking body on her lap, looked up at Dash with wide eyes. Dash herself, holding her arm out to reach for Pinkie, now found herself locking eyes with Twilight instead.
Between the two of them sat a very gravely injured Talos. Twin scars ran down his chest as he struggled to breath. Twilight, momentarily distracted, nearly faltered in her healing spell, causing Talos to let out an agonized grunt of pain.
Twilight quickly turned back to him and refocused on her spell. “Wha… how did you…? Was it Pinkie?”
Dash quickly shook her head and looked out into the distance. “Y-yeah, she sent us here because there was a…” finally her mind caught up with the situation as her eyes fell on the dragonkin covered in darkness standing some ways away and the other one bleeding out in Twilight’s arm.
She immediately switched into battle mode. “Looks like we’re just in time.” She flared out her wings and immediately took flight.
Jinkai however, took a few more seconds to catch up to what was going on. However, there was one thing that he took note of immediately.
He and Areth locked eyes, and the latter audibly growled, frowning more than he had ever frowned before.
“You,” he hissed. Not a moment passed before Jinkei found Areth rushing towards him. In less than a second, he was almost on top of him. Unlike AJ, when they clashed, he was easily pushed back.
“You reject! You’ll be the first to die, then I’ll hunt down that halfling!” Areth yelled, swiping at Jinkei.
“Areth!” Jin grunted, dodging as best he could. While definitely stronger, he was no doubt faster than his old friend. “Why? Why are you so obsessed?”
“It’s your fault!” he screamed, lunging back and forth. His claws swiped cleanly through the air with each attack aimed at Jin. “I would have been the strongest if it weren’t for you two!”
Dash came to a hover near AJ.
AJ glanced up at her and nodded towards Jin. “You found him, huh?”
Dash nodded. “Yeah that’s the dude Trials’ asked us to find. AJ… he knew Spike and-”
AJ held up a hand to stop her. “You can hold off on the story, sugarcube. Ah more or less get the gist. We need to stop Areth before he falls too far. Come on!”
Rarity meanwhile, decided to stand guard near Twilight while she tried to heal Talos’ injuries.
“We need to stop him,” she called over to the others. “If he holds onto that power we won’t be able to bring him back!”
“There’s also a dragon flying this way!” Dash called out. “So we need to hurry!”
AJ punched her gloved hand into her palm and smirked. “Well since you’re finally here, I’m sure we can clean this all up in two shakes of a lamb's tail.”
Dash couldn't help but smile, secretly relieved that her friend wasn’t too mad at her flying off earlier… or maybe she was and was just waiting until after the fight to lecture her.
In any case, she turned her attention back to the matter at hand.
“Jin” Dash yelled, leveling her Rifle up towards Areth. “Move!” With a crack, two shots rang out across the battlefield, AJ dashing in right afterwards.
Following her instructions Jin, who had been keeping Areth at bay, leapt out of the way of a quick shot of Spiral. However, the timing was just a bit off as the shots missed their target by a hair.
AJ rushed forward and followed up on the missing shot with a quick punch to Areth’s gut. Although she felt it connect, the hit itself didn’t do nearly as much as she expected. Areth’s smirk cemented her feelings.
In fact, with a few quick tugs, she quickly realized she couldn't pull her arm away from his gut. Darkness began to pool around her and spikes shot out at her from all sides.
Before they could pierce her, AJ summoned the greaves that went with Beowulf and stomped on the ground. Her feet crushed the ground beneath the two of them, turning the ground around them into rubble from the small earthquake her attack caused.
Now it was her turn to smirk back at Areth. “Can’t trick me twice,” she said, rearing back to deliver an even stronger right hook.
Areth, now thrown wildly off balance had no choice but to take the punch head on by layering the darkness in front of him.
It wasn’t anywhere near enough to completely absorb the force of her attack. The next thing he knew he was flying through the air. Forming the dark energy into his claws to make them larger, he sank them into the ground to try to stop his momentum.
To his despair, just as he came skidding to a stop Dash had caught up to him from the side with her rifle charged somewhat with faint electric energy.
“Now let’s see if this works now!” she said, pulling the trigger. “Thunder Shot!”
‘AAAGGHHHHH!” Areth screamed as lightning pulsed through his body. The darkness granted a slight resistance to the magic, but he could still feel it shocking every muscle in his body. His vision grew faint.
“No,” he grunted. Pushing through the pain, he reached out and swung an enlarged claw at Dash. To no avail, due to her speed.
Areth slowly fell to his knees, panting and twitching from the attacks. “N… no,” he muttered. “M… more. I need… more power. If I had more, I could kill them. If I had more, I could’ve killed him back then!” Dark power began seeping out of his body in droves forming a cloud of inky black and purple wisps around his body.
This caught Twilight’s attention. “Back then…?” she muttered, the pieces slowly coming together for her.
“Stop him!” Jinkei yelled, breaking her thought process! “I can feel it, the other dragon is almost here! If they fuse together then-”
To their shock, just as he tried to warn them, Areth let out a blood curdling scream and the inky cloud that had been surrounding him shot into the air.
“No!” Twilight said. Still holding Talos with one hand, she reached out with the other and held her keyblade to shoot a spell. “Bind!”
Chains shot out from her weapon and zoomed towards Areth. Unfortunately, she didn’t quite make it in time. A dragon, not dissimilar to the one she had just defeated, appeared from the sky above and slammed down into Areth, absorbing his form completely.
An explosion of foul energy erupted from the impact, darkening the entire area around them. The same inky power that once covered Areth now encased him completely. An orb of spinning dark purple energy pulsed where he once was, and with each throb, grew even bigger.
It wasn’t long before it grew to double the size of either previous dragons the groups had fought and defeated. Standing nearly three stories the orb exploded outward, sending waves rushing across the land.
Two massive wings unfurled themselves, revealing a pitch black dragon with a dark violet underbelly and two sharp glowing yellow eyes.
While at first it had no mouth to speak of, a loud crack was heard followed by a slick tearing sound. With its new mouth wide open, the creature that used to be Areth let out a blood curdling roar that nearly deafened the entire group.
