> Fragmented Harmony
>  by Mares-a-Mares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

…Where…?

Where am I…?

Is this…a dream?

Blue eyes shook silently as the yellow and pink-maned pegasus took in her surroundings. 

The place looked like something out of a nightmare, or something maybe Discord made up. There were sweets, candies, and cakes all throughout the area, as far as the young mare could see. In fact, it looked like it could be a paradise for Pinkie Pie…

…That is, if it wasn’t for the ominous looking pills and medicine capsules laying around the creamy surface.   The pink-maned mare whimpered as she walked past what looked to be a creepy looking sharp…whatever that thing was. It kinda looked like what the doctors used to give ponies shots with…but something was different about it. 

The whole place felt off to her, somehow… 

“…You okay, Fluttershy?” A raspy feminine voice resounded behind the mare’s ears, and she let out a small yelp as she turned around to see a cyan rainbow-maned pegasus standing before her on all four hooves. 

“…R-Rainbow Dash…? Oh, thank goodness…” The mare known as Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief as she gave a small smile. “I’m not alone in here…”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Yeah…but where exactly IS ‘here’? You don’t think Discord did something funny behind our backs, do you?”

Fluttershy frowned as she looked back at the confusing landscape. “Rainbow, you mustn’t suddenly suspect our friend like that. Discord has been very good about keeping his promise, and it isn’t right of you to judge him like that.”

Her cyan friend narrowed her rose eyes towards her blue-eyed companion. “Oh yeah? Well, what about Tirek?” Fluttershy sighed as she shook her head.

“Tirek was…a different matter. Especially after Tirek, Discord’s been on his best behavior and even helping other ponies.” She defended. After all, he probably was hurt the most from what Tirek did…

Then again, Twilight also lost her library that day.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, we’ll settle that it wasn’t Discord. Who did this then?” Rose eyes scavenged for any sign of life. The place seemed to be still like the dead, or at least something creepy like it. Fluttershy sighed as she sat down, supporting her body weight on her hind legs. How long were they going to be stuck like this?

“Chii…” A high pitched squeak was heard behind the pink-maned mare. 

Fluttershy gasped as she turned around, her yellow ears following the source of the sound. “H-Hello…? Is there…anything…I can…?”

Rainbow Dash frowned as she also turned around to the noise. “We aren’t alone!” Seeing nothing but shadows, she clenched her teeth at the darkness. “Alright, come out and show yourself!”

More squeaking noises. Whatever it was, it kinda sounded like a…mouse? Fluttershy gulped as the shadows took form in the shape of what looked like a large mouse with…a candy head? And…a nurse hat? Like Nurse Redheart? Whatever it was, it looked…

It looked CUTE. 

Rainbow Dash stepped in front of her excited fillyhood friend, holding out a foreleg in front of her to block her way. “Sorry, Flutters…but I don’t think they’re the cuddly type.”

Fluttershy frowned at her friend until the two mares witnessed another creature approach them, dressed like a nurse, but it certainly was no pony, or even any creature she’d even recognized. However, the weird shape wasn’t the bad part.

This creature had a knife. And was ready to throw. 

“RUN!” Rainbow Dash leaned to her friend’s side, forcing her to turn away from the creatures as the two mares started off into a full out gallop through the valley of sweet nightmares. 

The nurse creature swung its um, whatever the long stick was towards them, a knife flying past Rainbow Dash’s head, slicing a few stray hairs in the process. Turning her head towards her friend, the cyan mare kept a good eye on her fillyhood friend. The last thing she wanted was for Fluttershy to get hurt. “Hang in there, Flutters! We haven’t lost it yet!”

Fluttershy whined in terror as another knife flew past her vision into the path ahead of them. Turning around the corner, she let out a gasp as more creature with knifes lowered down into her line of vision. Rainbow Dash led her from the creatures onto another path, this one being a bridge with falling pills all around. 

How long had they been running? 

Rainbow Dash grit her teeth as another knife flew and sliced a cut into her hind-leg. Not matter how many weird creatures chased them; she HAD to get Fluttershy to safety, even if it meant suffering a few blows herself! 

Eventually, their gallop came to an end as they came into a wide open space, green candy platforms surrounding the whole area. Of course, there were cakes too. Rainbow Dash panted as she slowed her pace down into a trot. Looking behind her, Fluttershy was also trying to catch her breath. Then again, neither of them expected a long workout like that to happen.

“Did…Did we lose…them?” Fluttershy squeaked out as she lowered her head. Rainbow Dash sighed as she approached her tired friend. “…Maybe. I don’t hear any squeaking, at least…” 

Looking around the wide area, Fluttershy then noticed a doll on top of one of the platforms, its eyes staring straight back at her. “R-Rainbow Dash…? Um, if you don’t mind me saying this…”

Rainbow Dash blinked as she turned to face her. “What is it, Flutters?”

“…Is that doll staring at…us?” She finished.

Rose eyes locking with the doll, Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “…Oh yeah.” Turning her focus back towards her friend, her voice dropped down to a whisper. “…Let’s try and…sneak past it. If we don’t pay attention to it, it should just leave us alone.”

Fluttershy nodded silently as her eyes followed the doll’s. Normally she would’ve thought it cute, but with the treatment of the other strange creatures fresh in her mind, she didn’t want to chance it. Slowly following her friend’s crawl towards another platform, she couldn’t help but gulp at the thought of something that just occurred to her.

…Why wasn’t Rainbow Dash flying at all?

“…Umm, Rainbow…maybe you should, um, well…” She whispered as she approached her cyan-colored friend. 

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her muzzle. “…Not right now, Flutters. Talk later.” She whispered as she began to travel to the next platform. 

According to where the doll was, they were almost halfway through the room and away from the doll. Fluttershy made it a note not to communicate with Rainbow unless it was absolutely necessary, so she usually just followed after her friend. 

In fact, that’s what often happens…Rainbow would lead, and she would follow. Ever since fillyhood, Rainbow Dash had always been the one defending her honor. 

Caught in her train of thoughts, she didn’t notice Rainbow calling her name. 

In fact, the last thing she remembered registering was the large pair of teeth that filled her vision.

> Chapter 1 - A Trip To Cloudsdale
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“AAHHHHH!!!!”

Blue eyes opened wide as the cotton blankets flew off the bed onto the floor. Panting, Fluttershy cautiously looked over her surroundings. N-Nothing even remotely r-resembling candy…or cakes…

She…she was in her cottage…in her bed…where she was safe and sound. 

To her side, a white cotton-tailed bunny frowned at the rude awakening. With a gasp, the young timid mare turned towards the annoyed creature before her on the bed. Normally Fluttershy was quiet in the mornings, but last night had just been…really frightening to her. 

It was…weird, to say the least.

Fluttershy sweat-dropped and gave a sigh of relief as she wrapped her hooves around her beloved pet and companion. “I’m sorry for all of that noise, Angel Bunny…I don’t know what came over me.” The young mare replied as she ran a hoof along Angel’s head. 

Angel Bunny huffed at her pathetic excuse, but dealt with the loving attention anyway.

‘I guess Angel Bunny knows me enough to know when I’m not being entirely truthful about things…’ She cringed inwardly. Looking into her companion’s eyes, she held Angel even closer. 

“You know, Angel Bunny? I…I had a scary nightmare last night…”

Angel Bunny rolled his eyes as soon as Fluttershy opened her mouth. It wasn’t uncommon for her to have nightmares, after all.

“…R-Rainbow Dash was in it. And we were running from candy mouse creatures until this…d-doll…” Fluttershy closed her eyes tightly and shuddered, as if she was reliving the same experience again. “And…I-I can’t remember much else…” She finished on a lame note. Looking back at her friend, she felt a wave of embarrassment fill her muzzle. 

‘If only I could’ve explained things a little better…’

Angel Bunny rolled his eyes at her dramatics and hopped from the bed. He ran towards the top of the stairs not far from the young mare’s doorway to her bedroom, stomping his foot impatiently once he reached his destination. 

Fluttershy blinked for a moment before she smiled softly and followed her sweet Angel down the steps of her cottage. Angel most likely was hungry, after all…

Downstairs, the layout of the cottage was not too big; there was just plenty enough room for both Fluttershy and the assortment of animals that cluttered her cottage. There were birds, butterflies, squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, and all kinds of adorable little critters that always caused Fluttershy to giggle.  

Smiling brightly as she reached the bottom of the steps, the mare approached a trio of birds already awake in the morning’s song. They twisted their bodies in a mid-flight pattern, dancing with the sun’s light that poured into the cottage from the open window. 

Vocalizing along with them, she also started to hover above the ground, spinning around and joining the birds in a dance as they joined her in a sweet harmonious melody that spread throughout the cottage, the other various animals swaying along with her voice in a soft and relaxing rhythm.

Music…it always soothed her mind, no matter what mood she was in beforehand. Even though she didn’t have the courage to perform publicly on stage, she always loved these morning sessions with her animals. In fact, if the word responsibility didn’t exist…she’d probably just dance with the birds and the critters forever.

That is, if it wasn’t for the hungry bunny skipping out on the dancing with a frown on his face.

Stopping short, Fluttershy blushed with a grin as she lowered herself to the ground. “Oh, um…right. You’re hungry…” Flying towards her petite kitchen, the mare pulled out a yellow bowl which she began to fill with various greens, making a fresh salad worthy for any hungry bunny.

“Alright, Angel…eat up.” Fluttershy smiled as she held the bowl towards her critter friend. 

Angel Bunny sniffed it and frowned. 

“Umm…is something the matter? It’s good for you.” The mare gave an inward sigh as she held the bowl even closer to Angel Bunny. “Please eat it, Angel Bunny…”

This time the bunny gave his own inward sigh and buried his head in the bowl, chewing vigorously on the various greens inside the bowl. Normally he’d kick the hideous healthy stuff away, but the mare had woken from a nightmare that morning… 

Fluttershy smiled and gave a sigh of relief. ‘At least Angel Bunny isn’t as picky as usual today…That makes everything a little easier.’

Just then, her ears perked to the sound of knocking at her door. She still needed to feed the rest of her animals, but she also couldn’t leave the visitor waiting like that.

‘I wasn’t expecting a visitor today…’ Fluttershy thought as she approached her door. ‘…Maybe it’s Discord? Then again, he uses anything but the door to come inside...’ 

Opening the door slightly, she blinked for a moment to see a cyan-colored pegasus with a rainbow mane in front of her door. “R-Rainbow Dash? Um, good morning…” The timid mare gave a small smile.

Rainbow Dash grinned. “Hey, Flutters. You busy at all today or anything?” 

Fluttershy shook her head at her cyan friend. “Umm…I still need to feed my other animals…but otherwise no. Is there something you need?” 

Rainbow blinked before hovering a little above the ground. “Well, it’s been a while since I’ve last been around Cloudsdale…and I was wondering if you’d like to tag along! You know, catch up with things back there?”

The yellow mare blinked. “Um, well…” The timid mare looked back towards the inside of her cottage. Normally she originally planned to just hang around her animals…but she didn’t want to disappoint her dear fillyhood friend…

Looking back towards her friend, Fluttershy gave a small grin. “…Alright. Just, um…give me enough time to feed and tend to my animals…if you don’t…mind waiting.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh, I can wait a bit, I guess…” The idea of waiting didn’t really appeal to the speedy rainbow-maned mare…but it probably wasn’t going to be worse than waiting for a Daring Do novel. 

With a grin, Fluttershy flew back into her cottage to ready all assortments of food for the lot of her animal friends. Usually she’d take her time and talk about how they were all doing, but she knew Rainbow Dash could only wait around for so long without needing some form of entertainment…and she’d rather her friend not crash into her cottage in the middle of doing a complicated trick for the Wonderbolts or something…

Outside, Rainbow Dash paced around in the air above the cottage, occasionally slipping in a few flips and turns as she desperately attempted to entertain herself. 

‘Flutters has a lot of animals, sheesh! I don’t wanna be here all day!’ The cyan-pegasus frowned as she then did a full circle turn upwards towards the clouds and back. The thought crossed her mind to just go on without her, but that’d be just wrong. She didn’t wanna leave her friend hanging, especially since she was the one who decided to invite her!

“Um, have you been waiting long?” A soft soothing voice caught the mare’s attention. Rainbow Dash grinned as she lowered towards the ground, but didn’t actually feel like landing.

With a sigh, the cyan-pegasus spread her hooves wide in the air. “Took you long enough! Come on; let’s get going before we lose daylight!” 

Fluttershy smiled at her short-tempered companion as she too started to hover, yellow wings fluttering at a soft rhythmic pace. “Yes.”

The two pegasi flew on through the skies as they flew over the town of Ponyville. The whole of Ponyville wasn’t that large, at least compared to large places such as Manehatten or Las Pegasus. Even so, Fluttershy loved her home for the ponies that inhabited the town. You could usually always find a friendly face or two that could help to lift your spirits if you ever needed it. 

In fact, in this very town were her other four friends who she always enjoyed spending time with. 

Looking over at her flight companion, Fluttershy smiled softly at the cyan-pegasus. “…So, all this time you’ve had kind of…photographic memory when you fly, huh?”

Rainbow Dash blinked as her eyes traveled in every direction including her friend’s. “…Yup. Didn’t really think about it before, but now that I am…It’s pretty awesome, don’t you think?” She grinned at her.

Despite her shy nature, Fluttershy couldn’t help but give a small roll of the eyes. “…Yes, it’s…pretty awesome.” The timid mare repeated. This wasn’t the first time her friend praised her own accomplishments, but she didn’t have any right to call on her otherwise. Even though it ended on a nice note, she still didn’t want to revisit trying to teach her friend a lesson in humility by upsetting her.

The cyan-pegasus gave an awkward smile. “So…how’re you and Discord doing? Don’t you guys do that…um…tea party thing pretty often?”

Fluttershy gave a confident smile. “Yes. Discord’s actually behaving quite nicely. After what happened with Tirek…he’s become more apologetic and sweeter than before.”

Rainbow gave a face. “…Discord? Sweeter? Blagh!” Even thinking about that no good prankster acting ‘sweet’...

…Well, then again...

“…Okay, I guess he’s a little cool…when he’s not trying to mess with me, that is!”

The timid mare sighed. “Well, you’re the only one he hasn’t actually gotten along with. You hardly…no…never do any activities with him willingly. Won’t you give him a better chance…? If you don’t mind, that is.”   

Rainbow gave a heavy sigh. “Okay, fine! I’ll try...and give him a better…chance.” Her voice lowered down to a mumble. “…Happy now?”

Fluttershy grinned. “Much.”

‘…Rainbow Dash always did have an issue when it came to apologies and acting sweet…It’s nice to see that she’ll at least be willing to help Discord.’ The timid mare thought as she continued to fly on beside her friend. 

The skies grew absent of birds as the rainbow-maned mare halted her flight. 

…Something was up. Looking around the skies, she frowned at the sight before her.

“…Get back.”

Fluttershy blinked. ‘Huh?’

Rainbow Dash faced her with a concerned expression. “…We gotta land, NOW!”

She didn’t have to tell the shy mare twice. 

Taken out of her thoughts, the mare saw a large hurricane in the distance…in great multitudes; the land was being torn and thrown into the air as the mare’s hearing was stolen by a drastic howling sound. 

In the distance, several pegasi were trying to cut through the violent wind currents, but so far none were able to get in. 

Rainbow Dash raced to catch a struggling pegasus. “What the hay happened here?!”

The pegasus groaned as his weight was being supported. “…I don’t know…The stupid thing just…appeared out of…nowhere. It’s like it came out of Tartarus…”

Fluttershy frowned. “It’s going to be alright, sir. We should get you somewhere safe.”

Rainbow Dash looked towards the hurricane as she handed the stallion to Fluttershy. “…I’m going in!”

The timid mare winced at the sudden weight as she faced her cyan friend. “…W-What?! You’ll get hurt!”

Rose eyes flared with determination. “…If that hurricane isn’t stopped, it’s going to hit Cloudsdale!” Without a second thought, the mare sped for the violent winds, going far beyond the timid mare’s line of sight.

Fluttershy whimpered. “W-Wait, Rainbow Dash…!”

The cyan mare didn’t hear her friend.

Approaching the hurricane at full speed, Rainbow Dash twisted herself into a drilling formation, adding more to the momentum as she was surrounded by a cone of rainbow light cutting through the winds. Usually something like this would be hard on a pegasus, but the cyan mare was no ordinary pegasus. She was the fastest in all of Equestria! If she couldn’t do it, than nopony could!

And besides, she always pushed herself beyond her limits.

The momentum was effective once she hit impact. It was just enough to cut through the violent currents outside, and allowed the cyan mare to slip in without being repelled. 

Outside, Fluttershy whined as the rainbow blur was no longer in the distance.    

If the outside wasn’t bad enough, the inside was a whole other matter. 

Every which way, the mare had to avoid some kind of debris or whatever as she kept her intense speed against the hurricane's. Rainbow grunted as she fought the violent currents surrounding her. If she lost this battle, than Cloudsdale was done for! 

But her wings were actually starting to get stressed, fast.

“Not yet, wings!!!!!” She grunted out. Her own voice was lost in the currents as she felt pain surrounding her body. Whatever this was, she had to take it down. She had to. She just HAD to…!!!!!

Outside the hurricane, Fluttershy looked at the tired stallion before her. He seemed alright for the time being, and the thought of her friend struggling all on her own didn’t really appeal to the timid mare. She had a job to do already, but…

She couldn’t let her friend take the entire burden on her shoulders.

“…I’m sorry!” Her voice was lost in the howling winds as she sped off as fast as she could towards the hurricane. 

Even if there wasn’t much of a chance she could do it, she just HAD to for the sake of her friend.

Approaching the hurricane at her own speeds, she was surprised to notice that the outside winds had gotten weaker than they were before. Almost as if…it was an unnatural occurrence…and it wanted ponies to enter in.

Either that or her friend already did some creditable damage.

“Rainbow Dash…!” She screamed as she cut through the currents surrounding her. If anything, that had probably been the fastest she had ever gone. Despite the outside being weaker, she could barely even keep her flight as soon as she entered the hurricane.

‘What was I thinking?’

Rainbow Dash felt the winds cutting into her coat. It hurt. A LOT…but she had to keep going for Cloudsdale, and any other pony it could hurt. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to increase in speeds as she fought the violent currents surrounding her. 

‘…Maybe I bit more than I could chew…!’ She thought as she started to lose focus in her speeds. 

“…..Dash….”

The cyan mare’s ears perked. A…voice…?

“Rainbow Dash…!”

There was a voice. Trying to keep focused, she grunted as she felt her teeth rattling as the winds started to cut into her gums, spreading more blood to be lost in the winds. If she kept fighting it…she’d die…

Fluttershy couldn’t keep a good speed. Already the violent winds were starting to tear into her wings.

She couldn’t give up, she just…couldn’t…

‘…I…can’t…’ The timid mare thought as she felt herself get swept into the wind currents as she lost control of her own direction. Getting tossed and turning all around, the mare felt herself lose consciousness as she felt herself slam into something with multiple colors, getting tangled up with a multi-colored cyan blur.

Rainbow Dash didn’t even know what hit her at full force. She thought she could’ve avoided it like all the rest...but it really HURT. Losing control of her speed, she couldn’t shake off the yellow blur that was stuck ramming into her side as she felt herself getting dragged by the currents.

‘N-No…!’

It was too much. Rainbow Dash felt herself being tossed around like a rag doll, a form of entertainment for the wind currents which mocked her every desire to save everypony. 

Failure wasn’t something Rainbow Dash wanted to feel.

In fact, she despised it.

Losing consciousness, rose eyes struggled to stay open as the last thing Rainbow saw was a bright light at the center of the hurricane. 

And they were headed straight for it.

> Chapter 2 - Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Where…where am I…?’

Silence.

‘…Am I…dead…?’

Nothing but darkness.

‘…Fluttershy…I…I…’

‘…I left her hanging…’

Rose eyes slowly opened as Rainbow Dash groaned loudly, shifting her body slightly as she tried to gather her surroundings. 

The area…looked nothing like Ponyville…or anything in Equestria for that matter.

“…Where…where AM I…?” The cyan pegasus whispered to herself as she got up, supporting herself on her hind hooves. Wait, what was she even sitting in? Felt kinda…sticky.

“…Eww, is this…cake?” She blinked for a moment as she then looked around the area. 

In fact, there was cake everywhere.

The mare gave an agitated sigh. “If this is something Discord did…” Checking her hooves, the cyan mare gave a rather uncharacteristic high-pitched scream.

Her hooves. What happened to them?

Staring at the…sticks where her hooves used to be, she gulped. Was the rest of her different?! Looking from side to side, she caught eye with a pink…stack of…

‘What is this, hair?’ The cyan…Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Leaning towards the thing on her fore…sticks…she cautiously peered at the creature before her. It was pink and peach…and…green…?

“O-Oh…” The creature grunted with a soft but stressed voice, causing Rainbow to jerk back in surprise. She wasn’t taking any chances with this thing.

The creature then turned to face her, her blue eyes growing wide from seeing the rainbow hair on Rainbow’s head. “R-Rainbow…Dash…?” It breathed out in surprise.

Rainbow Dash frowned as she saw the creature rise up. “H-Hey, how do you…” She then took another look at the creature. Sure it didn’t have a coat, but the hair looked just like her friend’s…and on the thing’s skirt was Fluttershy’s cutie mark. 

Rose eyes grew wide. “…Fluttershy…?” She breathed out. The creature gasped as it rose onto its hind legs. 

“Rainbow Dash, it is you…!” Fluttershy gave a sigh of relief as she raised a set of…five branches to her chest. 

Rainbow Dash grinned as she relaxed. ‘…So it was just Fluttershy…’ She gave an inward sigh of relief. At least she knew her friend was okay…Well, okay enough, that is…

Fluttershy frowned as she looked over her own form. “…What are we…?” She breathed out. 

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Nopony knows, that’s for sure…Anyway, I think we should focus less on what we look like, and focus more on where we are.” Rose eyes darted from side to side once more.

Fluttershy blinked. “W-Where we…are…?” 

Blue eyes widened at the sight. There were cakes, candies, and blue medicine bottles all throughout the area, littering the ground which looked rather dull and green. In the distance there were several doors in pink and blue, various symbols on the front. She didn’t really know what those symbols meant, or what any of it meant…

All she knew was that it was the same place from her nightmare.

“…R-Rainbow Dash…!” The timid mare (?) squeaked and trembled as she moved closer into the comfort of her friend’s hair.

Rainbow Dash frowned at her friend’s frightened behavior. “…What’s up, Flutters?” She gave a determined expression towards her to reassure her timid friend.

Fluttershy shook silently against her companion’s side. “…T-This place…I…I…I saw it in a…a dream o-once…”

The rainbow-haired mare (?) blinked in surprise. “W-What…? What do you mean by that, Flutters…?” Chuckling lightly, she tried to lower the tension that was building and starting to make her uneasy.

In the distance, figures rustled quietly, occasionally letting out a squeaking sound as they moved swiftly through the pastries and medicine around the area. Hearing the sweet sound of lost voices, the figures gathered together in a group to approach the new arrivals.

Fluttershy’s whole body froze as she saw several mouse candy creatures emerge from the shadows, their blue and white faces slowly making their approach towards the duo. 

Rainbow Dash had yet to notice them. Fluttershy moved her stick to turn her friend away from the direction of both her and the creatures, pushing her over in what she expected to be a gallop, but instead her friend’s body fell over, slowing down their escape.

Rainbow Dash was just caught off guard by what Fluttershy did, and the next thing she knew, she had a face caked in…well, cake. “Ooff, Flutters!” She protested into the cake as her timid friend did what she could to hoist her friend back on her four...sticks. For some strange reason, the hind legs were extra long on both of their bodies, and it was hard to gallop. Despite that, Fluttershy dragged the both of them clumsily along, her confused friend in tow.

“W-Wait…Flutters…Excuse…Wha…!?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t stop to catch her breath. Fluttershy was constantly dragging her along by linking her stick with her own and wasn’t stopping. Turning around to see what the commotion was about, she was rather surprised by the large amount of giant mice pursuing them. Or at least, she thought they looked like giant mice…with lollipop heads…?

Either way, Fluttershy was scared of them.

Letting her friend drag her along, Rainbow Dash kept an eye on the mice behind them; making sure none of them managed to get close enough to hurt Fluttershy. In the distance, she gulped to see another creature not so different from the mice candy weirdos, dressed in a white outfit worthy of Nurse Redheart. The creature approached the two, a shiny glimmer in its claws.

Rainbow Dash turned back towards her friend. “F-Flutters, it’s got a knife!” She warned, quickly maintaining her balance so she didn’t fall over into the moist surface again. 

“I know…!” Fluttershy breathed out as she quickly came to a pink door and opened it, pulling her companion in with her before she slammed the door behind them.

This area didn’t seem as busy…

The whole layout of the room gave a silver glow, but there were all kinds of medicine bottles and pills in various shapes and sizes littering the floors at the sides of the room, almost creating a path. Good thing was, there was less chattering in this room.

“Oww…” Rainbow Dash winced once she felt her fore…stick get dislodged from Fluttershy’s own. “Sheesh, you had a mean grip for a while there, Flutters!” 

Fluttershy panted as she finally sat back on her really long hind legs. “Phew…I…think it’s safe here. I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash…I…”

With the adrenaline out of the way, the rainbow-haired mare (?) frowned as she starting rubbing her sore fore-stick. “Mind telling me what that was all about? You saw those things in a DREAM?”

The timid mare (?) averted eye-contact. “W-Well…yes.” Thinking back on the nightmare she had that very morning, she winced at the memory that plagued her mind.

‘…Those sharp teeth…’

Making no indication she was going to talk, Rainbow Dash just kept the frown on her face. Blushing slightly from the intense staring her friend was giving her, Fluttershy then gave a deep sigh as she turned her whole body away from her friend.

“…This morning I had a dream…a dream where…we were in this strange place, but we were…ponies. Those creatures chased us just like they did now…but you got hurt by one of the knives in that dream.” 

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “…So, we were pegasi in this…nightmare?”

Fluttershy nodded as she continued. “But despite that, we never used…our…wings.” Her soft voice trailed off into the silence.

Turning back around towards her friend, her blue eyes widened to match the wide rose eyes her friend adorned as they both came to the same realization.

The rainbow mare (?) turned her head to look behind her back. Sure enough, no wings adorned her back. 

No wings. 

She couldn’t fly.

SHE COULDN’T FLY.

Fluttershy wrapped her fore-sticks around her friend. “…Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash…we’ll find a way to get our wings back…”

Well, it at least explained the reason they didn’t use them in the dream. If they did, could they have even flown in the dream?

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. This body mocked her, with its…peach not-a-coat and way too long hind legs…

The lack of wings…

“…What are we, anyway?” Her raspy confident voice was replaced with a squeaky voice full of uncertainty. Usually she was stronger than this…and she changed into another form before…but at least a Breezie had wings!

Fluttershy lowered her head as she attempted to comfort her distraught fillyhood friend. It wasn’t often she ended up in this position…and honestly she herself was too scared to know what to do about it…

‘…If only…’ The timid mare (?) closed her eyes tightly in frustration as she strengthened the hold she had on her fillyhood friend. 

‘If only somepony would know what to do…’

“Hello!” A cheerful higher-pitched male voice resounded throughout the room. 

Blue and rose eyes widened in surprise.

Rainbow Dash frowned as she moved in front of Fluttershy, taking the role of defender. “…Who’s there!? You better not be one of those creepy candy weirdos again!” 

Fluttershy shrunk back behind her friend’s shield of bravado.

“I assure you, I am not a familiar. My name is Kyuubey.” A figure appeared in the shadows, emulated by the silver glow adorning the room. 

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both gasped in unison.

The figure was a strange creature itself. The whole of the creature looked like a white cat with a bushy tail, but it also had…bunny ear with gold rings on it coming out of its…ears? Not to mention, the creature had red-pink-ish eyes that glowed in the shadows as the creature revealed itself. 

Rainbow Dash was the first to react with a puzzled expression. “…Who…the hay are you?”

Fluttershy’s approach was something else entirely. Leaping from behind her friend’s protection, the excited mare (?) wrapped the creature into her sticks and held it close to her. “Aww~! He’s sooooo cute!” She cooed, her animal-loving nature kicking in.

Of course, this warranted a face…claw. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she starting trying to pry her overly-eager friend off of the creature.

The creature paid no mind at all to the sudden attention. “When you are finished, I have something important I would like to discuss with you two about.” The creature kept a smile, its tail displaying that it was both patient and accommodating. 

Giving a sigh of relief after the rainbow-haired mare (?) managed to FINALLY pry the two away from each other, she then proceeded to sit in between the two so she wouldn’t have to intervene again. Fluttershy gave a sheepish smile as she relaxed herself, her blue eyes refusing to take their eyes off the adorable little critter.

Rainbow Dash sweat-dropped, gathering herself together. “Okay…if I remember right…” Rose eyes met the creature’s pink ones. “You said your name was…QB?”

QB blinked for a moment. “It is actually pronounced ‘Kyuubey’. However, a name does not bother me. You may call me as you wish, if you desire to.”

Fluttershy could hardly contain her excitement. It was cute…and it could talk!

“…Uh…’kay, then. I’ll just call you Cubes.” Rainbow Dash then sighed at her friend’s bottled up excitement. “Uh…calm down, Flutters.”

The timid mare (?) blushed with a sheepish grin. “Um…of course…”

The creature Kyuubey then closed its eyes before opening them again. “To get down to business, I must say and you and your friend are not safe here.”

That caught Rainbow’s attention. “…What? You know about this place, Cubes? Where the hay are we?!”

Fluttershy only whimpered as she recalled the doll.

Kyuubey gave an empty smile. In fact, that’s the only expression it ever did. “The place you currently are in is called a Witch’s Barrier. Many get pulled in during a corrupted state of mind, such as if they were affected by a Witch’s Kiss.”

The rainbow-haired mare (?) cocked her head to the side in utter confusion. “Wait, ‘Witch’s Barrier’? ‘Witch’s Kiss’? What kinda garbage are you spouting?”

“…If you choose not to believe such things, that is your own choice. However, you and your friend are currently at a great risk.” Kyuubey gave a flick of the tail from side to side, its cheery voice maintaining even through all the confusion. 

Fluttershy moved closer to it, her blue eyes filled with uncertainty. “…What…what do you…mean…?” She questioned.

“Unless there is a Magical Girl in this barrier to defeat the witch, you two will not be able to get out of here alive.”

That was enough. Rainbow Dash moved closer to it, blocking Fluttershy’s view. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re saying we’re gonna DIE in this place?!” 

Fluttershy’s eyes watered with built up tears. 

“There is a way to avoid this fate. You both have great magical potential to become Magical Girls. If you make a contract with me…”

“Uh, uh! Nopony’s doing ANY magical stuff, or doing…contracts!” The rainbow-haired mare (?) glared at Kyuubey, her protective side towards her friend displaying that she found him suspicious in some way. “We’ll find our OWN way outta here!”

“…I see. That is highly unfortunate, then. Our time spent was short, but it was pleasant. Do take care.” The white creature turned away from the duo and walked farther back into the shadow from whence it came. 

Fluttershy pouted as she faced her hot-headed friend. “You didn’t have to chase him away like that…” 

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Are you kidding? He shows up out of nowhere, knows all about this place, and offers some kind of contract? You don’t call that suspicious?!”

The timid mare (?) lowered her head. “W-Well…”

“…And besides, what the hay did he mean by ‘Magical Girl’? Sounds like some kind of frou-frou thing! Not doing it!” Meeting her friend’s eyes, her own rose eyes softened a little before they flared with determination. “…Let’s go, Flutters. We can’t stay in here forever.”

Fluttershy nodded and wrapped her fore-stick with Rainbow’s own. “...Yes…” Despite what Rainbow Dash thought, she’d love to stay in the glowing silver haven…but they still had their friends to return to, and she couldn’t let Rainbow go on her own…

Sometimes she needs somepony to look after her while she’s saving everypony.

Opening the blue door into another section of the…’Witch’s Barrier’, Rainbow Dash peeked out to check it out. Didn’t hear any squeaking…or see anything…Turning her head, she then caught eye of a pair of candy mice just down the hall on the left. 

‘So…right, then…Past that bridge.’ She thought as she then gestured her friend to come closer.

“Alright, we’re gonna go right, and cross that bridge over there.” Rainbow Dash whispered as she turned to her timid friend with a determined expression.

Fluttershy looked over the scene in front of her. In that nightmare they also crossed that bridge…but if there was no other path they could take…

Gulping, she followed her rainbow friend right and onto the bridge. 

‘I…I should tell her…’

The two slowly crept across the bridge, trying as hard as they could not to make a sound. Keeping close together, they managed to control their new forms with a much less clumsy attempt than before. Fluttershy gulped as she turned her head to meet her friend’s rose eyes.

‘…I never…told her about the doll…’

Biting her lip, the timid mare (?) looked back down towards the ground, away from her friend. 

“…Um…Rainbow Dash…” She started, before a fore-stick wrapped around her own fore-stick in a tight pull. 

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as she started going at a faster pace, her timid friend in tow. “They’ve seen us! RUN!” She exclaimed as she dragged her friend along, the two running once more in a wobbly gallop away from the candy creatures. Fluttershy turned to look behind her. It seemed that the creatures that were on the left had seen them and called reinforcements, because more of those knife creatures followed after, their sharp knives at the ready.

…Could they have avoided this if they listened to QB? 

Rushing along, Fluttershy whined as she felt her fore-stick getting sore. If they had to run from another group after this one…she most likely couldn’t be able to get away from them. 

‘…Best not to jinx it…’ She thought as she felt their fast pace slowing down into a stop. Looking ahead of Rainbow Dash, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. 

They hit a dead end.

Rainbow Dash looked behind them. “…Phew, looks like we lost the lot of them!” She grinned as she slowly dislodged her fore-stick from Fluttershy’s. Looking at her friend’s frozen figure, the grinned turned into a frown. “…Flutters…? Flutters, what’s wrong?” She asked.

Fluttershy didn’t hear her. In fact, she didn’t even hear her own breath seizing abruptly. 

Right in front of the duo, a small doll-like figure sat, a pink candy-like bonnet adorning the creature’s white simplistic head, polka-dots all along the creature’s fluffy neck-piece. The creature also had long sleeves and tiny feet. 

It looked completely harmless…

…And yet Rainbow Dash could feel bad vibes from it. “…Flutters, stay behind me.” She ordered as she lowered her head and stared down the doll with a glare.

It did nothing but…sit there.

Fluttershy couldn’t stop staring at it. Somehow, someway, that creature turned into something…scary…! It couldn’t be trusted.

The doll just sat there, doing nothing.

Rainbow Dash blinked, her glare long gone. “…It’s just…sitting there…” She mumbled. “Kinda…creepy, don’t you think?”

Fluttershy didn’t budge. 

“Oookay…” Locking eyes with the doll again, she slowly crept towards it. “…Maaaybe it’s…just a doll…” she mumbled as she got closer…and closer…

It certainly wasn’t doing anything, at least.

Fluttershy couldn’t speak.

Rainbow Dash got closer…and closer…until finally she was in front of the darn thing and was sitting right in front of it. It wasn’t doing anything…at all. 

That is, until she touched it. 

Everything felt like it was in slow motion. The doll rose in the air right in front of Rainbow Dash, a black polka-dot clown snake-thing shooting out of the doll’s face. Turning her head, Rainbow Dash could see that the creepy snake-thing was zooming towards…

…Fluttershy. 

And somehow, that stupid Cubes was in the area watching the whole thing happen. Its pink eyes met her rose eyes like somehow…it could read her entire mindset in that one…short…moment…

…Do you want to save her?

Fluttershy couldn’t close her eyes. The teeth…those teeth…! Filling her vision…! C-coming closer…!

…And then a rainbow blast sent the clown-snake flying across the room, far away from Fluttershy.

Stunned, the timid mare (?) blinked out of her shock as she then felt something warm press itself against her. 

“We must get to safety. Don’t worry; she’ll take care of the Witch.” The creature ran into the distance away from the chaos.

Fluttershy slowly nodded with a puzzled expression as she then rose onto her four legs and followed Kyuubey who took shelter behind a rather large piece of cake that littered the floor. 

‘S-she…? W-who…?’ The timid mare (?) thought, taking comfort in the moist squishy layers she was leaning against, the creature seeming comfortable sitting just out of view of the clown-snake.

From where Fluttershy could see, in front of the clown-snake in mid-air floated a warrior of black and rainbow armor, her long rainbow hair flowing from the momentum of her blast, magic sword in hand. 

The warrior glared down at the clown, flying upwards high in the air as she pulled her sword back behind her, preparing to take a blow. The clown-snake rose up in the air after the warrior, opening its mouth to reveal its razor-sharp teeth, which were lusting for a taste of the warrior.

The warrior swung her sword. An intense rainbow-colored blast shot right into the clown-snake’s mouth, the rainbow light tearing into the creature as the light then spread throughout the room, resembling a Sonic Rainboom. The blast then tore up the creature from the inside out, and the clown-snake was obliterated.

Fluttershy couldn’t believe her eyes. Suddenly the cake she was taking refuge behind started to fade, and instead she fell over onto a paved sidewalk. Looking at Kyuubey for a moment, she then turned behind her to see the rainbow warrior hover herself down. 

The rainbow warrior gave a sigh of relief. “Phew…that…was…phew…” The warrior breathed. 

Fluttershy slowly crept towards the rainbow warrior above her. That rainbow hair…that voice…those wings…

That neckline that resembled the element of Loyalty…!

The timid mare (?) gulped as she looked towards the rainbow warrior’s face.

“…R-Rainbow…Dash…?!”

The rainbow warrior blinked as she looked down towards Fluttershy, rose eyes meeting blue. 

Rainbow Dash gave an awkward chuckle. 

“…Hey…Flutters.”

> Chapter 3 - The Way of the Humans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fluttershy couldn’t believe her eyes. 

Rainbow Dash hovered down in front of her until her black armored boots touched the ground, but she didn’t lower down onto her fore-sticks. She stood there in front of her, wings folding in as she took a deep sigh of relief she didn’t realize she was holding in.

“T-That was a close one, eh, Flutters…?” The rainbow warrior breathed out. 

Blue eyes traveled up and down at her friend’s strange attire. 

She wore a black armored dress with rainbow linings on the shoulder-pieces and all along the middle of the base armor. On her sticks, she wore black half-gloves, with red…stick guards over them. The hind legs were covered in black leggings underneath a pair of red and gold armored boots. Around her neck she wore a neck-piece that resembled but was slightly different from the element of Loyalty, a red lighting-bolt jewel. She also held both a sword and a shield that adorned her cutie-mark in her…claws, portraying the perfect guardian warrior.  

On top of that, she had gotten her cyan wings back.

It wasn’t too often that Rainbow Dash found herself in an awkward position where she couldn’t really say a word. Hovering a foot off the ground, she felt the start of a blush coming on as she then started to turn away from her timid friend, refusing to meet her eyes. “…Ehh…” She grunted out. 

Oh, how lame was that?

Fluttershy got over her initial shock and gulped. “R-Rainbow Dash…what are you…?”

Rainbow Dash looked over herself with a blank expression as she turned back around to face her friend. “Uh…I really don’t know, actually…but at least it looks pretty awesome, right? It’s even got wings!” She grinned, her usual bravado building up. 

The timid mare (?) nodded meekly. “Oh, yes…but…what is it?” 

The bravado that entered the rainbow warrior faded as soon as it came. “Uhh…It’s…uhh…” She trailed off into a mumble as she turned away from her friend again. 

“In making a wish, she has formed a contract with me, and is now a Magical Girl. It is now her destiny to fight Witches, beings of despair.” The creature known as Kyuubey walked towards the rainbow warrior, tail swishing from side to side idly.  

Rainbow Dash blinked. She almost forgot the stupid thing was there. “Wait, whadda ya mean, wish? I didn’t-“ 

The creature’s pink eyes linked with her rose for a second; causing the rainbow warrior to stop in her tracks and take her mind back to what was just a moment ago. Fluttershy was in danger thanks to that stupid clown-snake, and then…that creature was there watching. She remembered…panicking…

‘…Do you want to save her?’ Somehow she heard that voice in her head, and then…she felt a surge of pain…and then…invincible. 

‘That time…that’s when it happened…’ Rainbow Dash thought. Rose eyes looked over to meet with her friend’s confused blue ones. ‘I wished…to save…’

Her eyes widened in realization. ‘…I wished to save Fluttershy.’

Fluttershy was confused. Why did Rainbow Dash stop talking? Did she know something she didn’t? Why did she suddenly start looking at her?

“Umm…Rainbow Dash…?” The timid mare (?) whispered. 

Retreating back to reality, Rainbow Dash shook her head to re-gather her bearings. “…Huh…?! W-What is it, Flutters? You…you need something?”

Shaking her head slowly, Fluttershy continued to sit there without a word. Honestly, she wasn’t sure of what to say after all that happened…

Those teeth suddenly appeared in front of her… 

“Oooookay then…” The rainbow warrior mumbled as she took her attention from her friend, thinking back to what was said recently. Something about Magical Girl responsibilities and…fighting? 

Linking eyes with Kyuubey again, her lips turned to a frown. “…So I’m a…’Magical Girl’, now? And I need to fight…what now? ‘Beings of despair’?” She recited. 

“Indeed. Since your wish has been granted and the contract has been formed, it is now your destiny to fight Witches. The Witches are known as beings of despair, while Magical Girls are the harbingers of hope. The creature that you just fought was a Witch.” The creature then relaxed its feline body against Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gave a small smile as she scooped up the creature into her sticks and faced Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash cringed. “So…that…was one of those ‘Witches’, huh?” Remembering how creepy that clown-snake looked, she wasn’t so sure if she was looking forward to taking on a whole bunch of them…Looking back at Fluttershy, her eyes flared with determination. ‘Yeah…it’s definitely worth it.’ She thought. 

Fluttershy gulped at the sudden eye contact her friend was giving again. In a nervous habit, her eyes looked over for the nearest fascinating thing to pay attention to. 

In this case, it happened to be the armor her friend now possessed. It certainly looked wonderful, but what did QB mean by ‘Rainbow’s wish was granted’? What did she wish for? Why? Could she even remove the armor, or was it a part of her now?

“Um, Rainbow Dash…not to be a bother about your new armor…but is it possible to remove it?” The timid mare (?) questioned.

Her voice caught the rainbow warrior’s attention. “…Why? You got a problem with it?” 

Her friend didn’t look defensive or offended, thank goodness for that…but the timid mare (?) shook her head anyway. “W-well, no…I’m just wondering if it’s possible since it’s made from…magic, I think.” 

Rainbow Dash blinked before she held a blank expression, looking over herself. Granted she was digging the armor…but it just kinda…appeared out of nowhere. Like Fluttershy guessed, it was probably made out of magic. 

In fact, everything from back in the…’Witch’s Barrier’…seemed like a blur to her now…She used some kinda blast, but everything just came on instinct. She hated when her loyal side kicked in and she could do things she normally was completely clueless about. She even did something crazy like using a sword! She never used a sword at all in her life, but…right now she was focused on something else. 

Looking back over at Kyuubey, she lowered her body towards the two, keeping her feet up in the air, stomach to the ground. “Hey, Cubes? This armor’s nice and all…but how do you take it off?” She poked the creature’s ear. 

In retrospect, she must’ve sounded so lame asking a feline…thing! 

Kyuubey’s ear twitched slightly from the rainbow warrior’s touch. “It is actually quite simple. It is a matter of will. Simply will yourself out of your transformation. The rest will come by instinct.” The feline replied.

“…A matter of will?” Rainbow Dash blinked. So…it was a matter of instinct regarding will? What was she gonna do, act like she had a horn like Twilight or…Rarity? Umm…yeah, how’s that going to work? ‘I wanna change out of my armor’ or something like that? Well, here goes nothing…

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a moment, a rainbow flash surrounding her very body, and hiding her from sight with its emulating light. The whole process took maybe two seconds tops, but the lasting feeling was a whole other thing entirely. It wasn’t really her thing to be surrounded by magic, or something even similar to it. The closest she got was the rainbow magic the pegasi used, the elements…or something Twilight did…

…So the feeling of what might’ve been her own magic, and not somepony else’s…was actually a little comforting, to say the least... 

...If she didn’t suddenly slam into the ground face first. 

“Oww…” She winced.

Fluttershy gasped as she saw the armor had gotten replaced by what her friend was wearing before at some point in the radiant rainbow lights. In fact, she didn’t actually have a chance to really look her friend over before… 

Rainbow Dash had a white shirt with her cutie mark on the front, a light-blue jacket, and a magenta shirt with white stripes along the sides. On her long hind legs instead of the armored boots, she had a pair of white and light blue boots with white strings on it on top of what looked like rainbow colored…under-boots? Just underneath her left claw, her friend had what might be a rainbow hoof-band. It was a rather…interesting look for her friend, and yet it didn’t look bad on her either. In fact…it looked pretty…cool, actually. 

…But what was she doing? Rainbow Dash got hurt!

Opening her eyes, Rainbow Dash grumbled as she picked herself back onto her long hind legs and looked to her back. “My wings…!” She gasped.

Fluttershy quickly moved closer to her friend to inspect any damage, keeping the feline in her hold. Luckily, no damage was noticeable.   

Ignoring Fluttershy’s attention, the hot-headed Magical Girl's eyes narrowed into a glare as she faced the white feline-thing. “Alright, Cubes…What did you do with my wings?” 

Kyuubey blinked as his pink eyes met her angry ones with an empty expression. “I have done nothing to your wings. You did not have wings before your contract, so it would make sense that you only have wings when you wear your armor. If you ask me, wings may be a convenience, but Magical Girls only have them through preference of their style of armor.”

Looking over across the area, the creature stepped out of Fluttershy’s hold. “Anyway, it would be best for you to pick up that item over there and to pick up the one on the floor beside you.” The creature advised.

Fluttershy blinked for a moment until she set her eyes on what looked like a red gem…with a golden frame. Leaning over on her fore-sticks, the curious mare (?) picked up the item with her…claws. “…What is this…? It’s beautiful…!” She exclaimed. 

Rainbow Dash blinked as she scooted closer to her friend. “What did’ya find, Flutters?”

Fluttershy held it out for the group to see. It was shaped like an egg, with a shape of a lightning bolt on the top of the frame, to resemble that one gem that looked like the element of loyalty. It wasn’t completely shiny though; some black cloudy stuff swirled inside the red gem. 

Kyuubey hopped on the back of Rainbow Dash’s neck to loom over her shoulder, causing the hot-headed Magical Girl to wince. “Ah. This was one of the items I instructed for you to pick up. This is called a Soul Gem. It is the source of your power Rainbow Dash, and you must take responsibility to care for it.”

Rainbow Dash stared at the gem. “Wait, so this thing is mine? Why’s it called a ‘Soul Gem’?”

“It is the core of your very being. If it is shattered, then you will die.” 

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sat in silence. Her life…depended on some…gem? Shaking her head out of dark places, Rainbow Dash gave a puzzled expression. “…So what’s the black stuff in the gem? Is it normally like that?”

Kyuubey shook his head. “The ‘black stuff’ so you call it, is corruption you receive from exploiting your magic around Witches. Since Witches are beings of despair, they expose this corruption to challenge your ‘hope’. The other item I told you to pick up, the Witch’s Grief Seed, can fix this problem.”

Fluttershy looked around until she spotted a ball with spikes on the top and bottom. The design on it was rather interesting, but simplistic. “…Is this it?” She asked the white creature, the item in her other claws. 

Kyuubey nodded. “Indeed. That is a Grief Seed. Place it against Rainbow Dash’s Soul Gem.”

Rainbow Dash took both items from Fluttershy. “So…like this?” She held the Grief Seed against the Soul Gem. Blinking out of astonishment, she witnessed the ‘corruption’ inside the Soul Gem slowly leave and seep into the Grief Seed instead. On top of that looking awesome, she suddenly felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off her shoulders. 

Was it due to being exposed to that Witch that did it?

“Always remember to cleanse your Soul Gem to keep your magic in good shape. If you do so, you do better fighting Witches and avoid the risk of wasting too much magic.” Kyuubey noted, keeping his balance on Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. 

Fluttershy nodded. “So as long as you keep it clean…you should be fine, Rainbow.” The timid mare (?) smiled at her friend. 

Rainbow Dash held the gem towards her face as she dropped her shoulders, briefly knocking Kyuubey off balance. “What? I gotta keep track of this thing like I’m foal-sitting some foal?”

Fluttershy gave a small giggle. “…You heard me.” 

Kyuubey blinked for a moment. “…Why did you use the term ‘foal’? Is ‘foal’ not the word to describe a baby horse?” 

Rainbow Dash cringed. “Uhh…” Was it safe to let Cubes know they were actually ponies? “…Let me get back to you on that.”

Huddling towards Fluttershy as she knocked Kyuubey off her shoulders, she dropped her voice to a whisper. “…What are we supposed to say?”

Fluttershy blinked as she moved closer to her friend. “…Maybe…we can tell him the truth?” 

Her friend dropped her mouth. “..Are you crazy?”

“…It’s better than leaving him out of it. Besides…QB might have an idea of what we are.” Fluttershy suggested. 

Rainbow gave a deep sigh as she broke the tight huddle. Fluttershy seemed to know what she was doing, and they were kinda grasping at straws here, so…

Kyuubey cocked his head to one side, maintaining his empty expression. “Is something the matter?”

Rainbow Dash gave a head motion to her friend. 

Fluttershy gulped. It was her idea to tell the adorable creature…Turning her head towards Kyuubey, she sighed. 

“…Umm, the truth is…we…don’t actually look like this…um…whatever we are.” She mumbled.

Kyuubey blinked for a long moment. “…Whatever do you mean?” He still kept the empty expression, but his voice held a curious tone.

“…We’re actually ponies. We don’t know what the hay we are.” Rainbow Dash finished, meeting the creature’s pink eyes. 

The creature sat for a moment before it finally nodded. “…I see. You two are not normally from this world. In that case, you know not of the human culture, is that correct?”

Both mares (?) held a puzzled expression.

“Human…” Rainbow Dash breathed out.

“…Culture?” Fluttershy finished as her head cocked to the side in confusion.

Kyuubey nodded once more. “Indeed. Your form is that of a human, and their anatomy is different from a pony’s anatomy. For starters, humans walk on two legs.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. ‘So…kinda like Discord does…?’ The mare…human…thought to herself. “So…what would you call a filly?”

“A filly is a female young horse. In this case, ‘filly’ would be replaced with the word ‘girl’. If you say ‘mare’, it would be ‘woman’.” The creature translated. 

Fluttershy looked at herself in her white sleeveless shirt with a green skirt that had her cutie mark on it. “…So…instead of a mare…we’re woman?” 

Rainbow Dash grinned inwardly. Finally, some questions were being answered! “So what would you call a stallion, then?” 

“A ‘stallion’ is a male horse. For a human, he would be called a ‘man’.”

The timid girl smiled. “What are these claws?” She held out the ten claws for the creature to see. 

“Those are called ‘hands’. The five points on there are called ‘fingers’. Humans use them to grab and lift items. It is certainly a convenient part of their anatomy. The section underneath the hand is called a ‘wrist’, so what Rainbow Dash is wearing is called a ‘wristband’.”

Rainbow Dash held up the sticks. “So, these aren’t fore-hooves. What the hay are these?” 

“…Those ‘fore-hooves’ are known as ‘arms’. They hold the advantage of wrapping around objects, adding insurance when humans use their hands." 

Looking back at the arms, Rainbow Dash felt her mouth dropping open. Suddenly everything was starting to make sense again! Maybe letting Cubes know wasn’t such a bad idea!

Fluttershy clasped her fingers together in silent fascination. “So…what did you mean before about humans walking on two legs?”

Kyuubey faced Rainbow Dash. “Do you remember how your posture was when you first landed after defeating the Witch? That is how a human is supposed to stand. To use a human’s definition, your form of standing is known as ‘on your knees’. The concept of ‘knees’ is allowing the human to bend their legs. This is convenient for wanting to get in a lower space, without actually sitting on the ground.”

The two girls looked at their knees for a moment. The idea of walking on two legs actually reminded Rainbow Dash of some of Pinkie’s weird quirks sometimes when she would stand up on her hind legs for a few moments. In this case, humans always walked like that…

Humans were tall.

Fluttershy gave a small awkward smile. “…Could we see how a human walks?” She asked the creature. “…T-That is, if…you don’t…mind.”

“…Certainly. There are plenty of humans in this world that would set a fine example.” Kyuubey started down the paved sidewalk, looking back to see if they would follow.

Rainbow Dash nodded towards Fluttershy until she frowned at her ‘hands’. They were both pretty full… “Is there a way I can put this in a small space or something? It’s gonna get annoying pretty quickly if I hafta carry it with me everywhere.”

Fluttershy blinked. “…Are there pockets?”

Kyuubey gave an empty smile. “As transforming out of your armor was by will, it also takes will to change your Soul Gem into a more compacted form.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “…Sweet! So there is a way!” Closing her eyes, the Soul Gem in her left hand glowed before the form swirled into a rainbow light before it gathered on the middle finger on her left hand, materializing into a form of metal, a red gem on the inside while symbols were on the outside. Looking at it with a puzzled expression, she held it out for Kyuubey to see. “So…what…the hay is this thing?”

“That ‘thing’ is known as a ‘ring’. It is an accessory that humans often wear as a sense of beauty. It is also used in weddings.”

Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding. She knew what it was now; they just didn’t go on horns. Instead, they put rings on fingers. “’Kay, I got it. Let’s get going and see some humans, then!” She grinned as she put the Grief Seed in a tiny pocket on the magenta skirt she wore.  

To be honest, she wasn’t THAT excited about seeing others that looked like what she was…but they both had to learn about these things, especially if she was going to be fighting Witches in a human form. 

If only she still had her wings though. That’d make this trip all the more easier. 

…Nope. 

Giving an inward sigh, she followed Fluttershy after Kyuubey as they made their way away from the white building they were behind. 

They’d eventually find a way back. And then this weird adventure would be all over. Fluttershy could tend to her animals, she’d be resting in the clouds, maybe see if the new Daring Do book was out yet…it’d be home sweet home. 

…Or would it? Did her making a contract for Fluttershy cause a difference?

…Would she have to stay behind? 

Shaking her head, her rose eyes locked onto her filly-hood friend. Best not talk about this with Flutters… 

No matter what, she had to make sure Fluttershy was okay. If Flutters was safe…then it’d be fine, no matter what outcome. Even if she had to be left behind, she wouldn’t mind. After all, she could take on those Witches any day! No problem!

…Right?

> Chapter 4 - Back In Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Books were scattered in frantic but neat piles, pages left open and put to the side for proper care in the future.

Normally they would receive better care and placed neatly on the shelves, but Ponyville’s librarian clearly wasn’t in the mood to pay any absolute attention to them. A pink aura surrounded the neat piles, the magic of levitation cradling the books as they were lifted and placed in a safer spot, farther from the lavender pony’s line of work. 

“No, no, no…this is all wrong!” The lavender pony frowned as she began to levitate another set of books, her concentration focused on the contents inside. “There should be something around here…ugh…!” 

A small purple dragon with light-green spikes entered the blue book-filled room. “…Twilight…? Did you find anything?”

Twilight clenched her teeth in frustration until she raised her hooves into the air. “NO!” 

The sudden explosion of emotions caused the lavender mare to scatter all of the books she once held in a spell of levitation, leaving them all over the floor in a disorganized manner. The glowing aura from her horn sputtered out into nothing as the alicorn panted.

The dragon blinked. “Oh, um…did…did you want anything to drink?” He walked towards the lavender mare, putting a claw against her in a comforting manner. “…’Cause no offense, Twilight…but you look pretty stressed.” 

‘It’s not the first time, either.’ He rolled his eyes inwardly. 

Twilight shook her head and stopped short as she took a deep breath. She let it out slowly as she raised her right fore-hoof into the air, a relaxing and calming posture, just like Cadance does. “…You’re right, Spike…I need to take a break, and…and relax…”

Spike nodded in approval as he turned away to head out of the library room until the lavender mare once again started levitating the books she threw, causing him to turn back around. “H-Hey, Twilight…” He started.

The lavender mare frowned as she allowed the books to surround her, the aura surrounding her horn rippling in a constant motion. “…How can I even think about relaxing when my friends could possibly be in jeopardy? I can’t take a break, Spike, not when I haven’t found a clue yet as to where they’ve gone!”

The dragon sighed deeply as he face-clawed in frustration. Sometimes Twilight just keeps pushing herself to the limit, doesn’t she? “Twilight…this is exactly why you should take a break! If you haven’t found a clue yet, what are the chances of you finding one in the time you should be calming down? You can’t think straight when you’re like this.” He challenged.

Twilight groaned as she slowly released her magical hold on the books in front of her. “…Alright…but just a small one, Spike…” The light from her horn faded, and the mare felt a rush of fatigue rush through her body. 

Spike smiled as he turned back to head out. “Alright, then! I’ll be in the kitchen making your drink.” Stopping for a moment, his smile grew smaller as he kept his gaze from the mare. “…You can wait here, if you want.” 

Twilight sighed softly. “…No, I-I’ll be heading over there. Just…just give me a moment.” She watched as her companion walked out of the room, claw-steps echoing outside through the blue hallways.

Twilight frowned as her purple eyes rested on a picture of several ponies in a picture together; her body slumped in a tired posture. 

She was in the center with a grin, her dark purple and pink mane clashing with the orange earth pony behind her with a brown Stetson on her head, blonde bangs spilling out in front of the mare’s astonished but amused face. Beside her next to Twilight was a white pristine unicorn pony, her lush purple mane restrained into tight fashionable curls while her mouth was opened wide with shock. Next to the white one was a pink earth pony with a crazy-curly mane, her muzzle wide in a huge grin as she hugged a yellow pegasus who looked completely surprised at the sudden contact, her pink mane covering one of her eyes from the audience’s view. 

Purple eyes lifted up towards the top of the photo as she gained strength in her hooves to stand in front of the framed memory. In the air just above her friends in the back was a rainbow-maned pegasus, clutching her sides in a desperate attempt to stop laughing. 

Twilight smiled as she let out a small giggle. She remembered that day. 

She took a picture with her friends after the Tirek incident in front of her new castle, and Pinkie Pie just threw a random glomp at Fluttershy to 'liven up the picture a little with some fun’. It wasn’t the first time they took a picture there, but it felt fun to do anyway. Rainbow Dash just couldn’t stop laughing after the shoot while Rarity scolded Pinkie for the lack of personal space. Twilight wanted to keep it because it showed more than just ponies sitting together…it was a group of ponies having a good time.    

…It did give life to the picture. The lavender mare frowned as she took her eyes away from it, letting herself slump back onto her hind legs. Thinking about her friends only reminded her of the ordeal she was trying to take a break from. 

The day had started out just fine, too. Everything was already organized from last night’s checklist of things to do, and she and Spike had re-shelved the library to get it done and over with so that they could possibly sleep in today since it was the weekend, then she’d have plenty of time to hang out with her friends.

…A mistake she never expected at the time. Apparently during her sleep, an unnatural disaster occurred near Cloudsdale that morning, and both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy managed to stop it…but they never showed up afterwards.

There were no traces of any bodies, or even any guarantee that they were dead. They were just…missing. 

When Twilight had gotten the news from a group of pegasi from Cloudsdale, she flew to the site where the hurricane occurred…but as far as she could tell, there were no traces of either of her friends. There was some kind of magical remnants…but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on what it was.

“…Spike, has Princess Celestia replied to my letter yet?” Twilight asked the small dragon as she walked into the kitchen. 

Ever since Tirek, her home had grown to be…an immensely larger space than she ever needed in a house. Despite her title and position, she was rather hesitant in accepting the perks and responsibility of being a Princess. She missed the days when she would live in her humble tree-house she used to call home, surrounded by her friends and her books. Now everything around her reminded her she was a princess… 

…Including her friends. 

Spike shook his head as he pulled out a white mug and started putting dark-brown powder it. “Sorry, Twilight…The Princess hasn’t replied, and I don’t feel one coming yet.”

Twilight lowered her head with a sigh. She had sent a letter to the Princess regarding the strange remnants of energy she felt…but so far it didn’t seem to make a difference. “…It’s alright. Usually she gives immediate replies, so…I…I guess I’m just impatient.” She gave a sheepish grin. “…Sorry you have to put up with me.”

Spike slowly poured hot water into the mug, stirring the contents for a moment until it was evenly mixed into a black hot liquid. “It’s not a problem…” He kept a tired smile. Walking over to the lavender mare, the dragon gave a huge grin as he held up the hot mug, steam blocking him somewhat out of her view. “Here, it’s piping hot and ready!”

Levitating the mug into her own magic hold, it lifted from the dragon’s claws to the mare’s mouth, gently making sure to tip ever so slightly as Twilight took a sip from her mug. Taking the mug from her lips, the mare gave a soft smile to her companion, purple eyes slightly watery from the emotional stress. “…Thank you, Spike.”

Spike grinned. “Like I said, not a problem! Your number one assistant is always ready to help when you need it!” 

Twilight felt her mouth form into grin. “…Then I’m really lucky to have you.”

> Chapter 5 - Awkward Interactions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turning around the corner, magenta eyes scanned the area in front of the trio. 

She wasn’t expecting what she saw. 

Legs…!

…So many legs….!

Rainbow Dash felt her mouth drop as she pulled herself back from around the corner towards her companions. “…That’s a LOT of humans!” She exclaimed with astonishment. 

Fluttershy blinked as she watched her friend’s reaction. “A-Are there…really that many…?” She squeaked out. If Rainbow Dash was freaked out, who knew how many were out there! Were they even friendly? Gulping, the pink-haired girl slowly balanced more weight on her arms as she peeked where her friend had looked.

She let out a gasp.

Rainbow Dash was right. There were humans everywhere, all walking on two legs, dressed in several types of clothing, and they all walked past each other by the droves. There were legs covered in all kinds of colors, stitching, and even some that wore short skirts in uniformed designs. There were some who did their hair in all sorts of different directions, heights, and lengths. Overall they didn’t look much different other than the fact that they all had peach or brownish skin, walked on two legs, and weren’t ponies. For a different type of animal, they were truly fascinating! If only she could learn more about them!

Her excited blue eyes caught sight of a small pink pigtailed girl, red ribbons in her hair, wearing a cream-colored blouse with a black skirt. This human looked like she was enjoying spending time with her blue-haired friend, but why were they wearing the same exact type of clothing? Was it a best friend thing? 

Rainbow Dash frowned as she watched her friend sitting in the same position. Was she just as freaked out as she was about the whole thing? 

‘Maybe…I should check on her…’ The Magical Girl thought.

Fluttershy let out a squeak as she felt something tap her shoulder. Turning back around, she was relived to discover that it was only her friend behind her and not some stranger. 

Rainbow Dash cringed. “Sheesh…! Flutters! Sorry…” Her tone became calmer. “…So, you seem to be staring out there a lot longer than I did…Anything interesting to note?”

Fluttershy gave a rather excited smile. “Oh, all of it is very interesting! So many of them on the move, wearing different clothing and caring about appearances, just like we ponies do! This is even better than seeing new dragons!” The excitement filling her up was more than enough to wipe away her shyness for a few moments. These humans weren’t exactly cute and cuddly like bunnies, but she could sense that they too had a sense of friendliness that she could scope out! If she could only befriend them, it’d be like the Breezies!

…Her companion gave a face-palm. Of course Fluttershy would get excited from seeing a new species. Normally she’d get a little excited too, but getting involved in the Witch’s Barrier and Cubes was more than enough to make her uneasy around this place. It just felt…weird, somehow. Nothing was the same anymore. 

Kyuubey jumped onto Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, its ears shifting slightly. “In order not to stand out in this world, it is essential that you learn how to walk like these humans do. Once you have practiced it enough, the rest should come by instinct.”

Fluttershy blinked as she gripped onto the corner, her eyes on the pink-eyed creature. “…Maybe we can…use this to prop ourselves up?” She suggested.  

Rainbow Dash frowned at it as she used a hand to push Kyuubey off her shoulders. It was worth a try…and they couldn’t really blend in walking on all fours. “…Alright…but let me try it first, Flutters. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

Fluttershy gave an inward sigh as she moved behind her friend. Rainbow Dash always tries to play the hero, leaving her in the back. Protection was nice, but sometimes it was a little frustrating when you couldn’t play the hero yourself. Despite this mindset, she always was willing to let her friend play the loyal role…even if it causes inner conflict. 

“…Okay. Be careful, Rainbow.” She mumbled softly as she sat up, picking up Kyuubey in her arms. 

Rainbow Dash nodded as she moved forward. The corner wasn’t very huge, but it gave enough grip that she was able to pull herself up onto her legs, knees slightly shaking and feeling numb from constantly keeping them bent. 

‘This, this just FEELS weird…’ She thought to herself as she focused on keeping her legs from bending on instinct, her hands gripping tightly to both sides of the corner. If standing on her hind-legs for a long time when she was a pony felt straining, this was a whole other matter. 

Humans walked like this?! 

Fluttershy blinked as she watched her friend stand on her two legs. “W-Wow…” Watching her friend stand only gave Fluttershy incentive to try and stand on her own as well. Gently putting Kyuubey down, she slowly moved towards the corner and gently pulled herself up onto her two legs, feeling balancing starting to leave her. Gripping the corner with her hands, she came face to face with Rainbow Dash, who's magenta eyes were wavering. 

Fluttershy wanted to beat herself in the head. ‘Oh, Rainbow was struggling as well…I knew she often bit off more than she could chew…’ 

Rainbow Dash gave a silent gulp as she looked towards her friend. “G-Great…we’re standing…” 

Fluttershy gave a nod. 

“...And clinging to the wall…” Rainbow Dash continued.

She gave another nod.

“…Where do we go from here?” Her rainbow friend finished with a questioning tone, her magenta eyes peering from side to side to see if there was another corner somewhere she could cling on.

Kyuubey walked in front of the two. “…Clearly the next step would be to walk.” This was the first time it’d contracted ponies, of all fascinating things…but it did not expect to be teaching them as if they were babies. 

…While they had magical potential, perhaps this was too much work to be worth the effort. Shaking its head, it faced the Magical Girl. “Simply place one foot in front of the other.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. ‘One foot in front of the other…This should be easy…’ She slowly released the wall, her arms flailing for any form of support before she shifted her legs to balance herself. ‘Phew…one foot…in front of the other….’ She thought as she shifted, her right foot in front of her; giving her body a slight tilt to the front. She moved the left foot next, meeting the right. However, this knocked her off balance, and she started flailing her arms again. “Y-Yeesh…!” She grunted as she tried to gain balance once more, but instead she felt gravity take her down.

“Gah…! Oww…” The Magical Girl grunted; her back against concrete. It really sucked not having her wings.

Fluttershy gasped. “R-Rainbow Dash…! A-are you…okay?” Somehow the wall seemed even more comfortable as she gripped onto it as tight as she could.

Kyuubey simply shook its head at the spectacle before it. This was going to take a while…

The world had taken an orange hue as the sun began to set. The crowd just around the corner had changed, somehow seeming even more crowded than before. It had taken a few more tries before Rainbow Dash figured out the whole ‘walking on two legs’ gig, but Fluttershy was a whole other matter. It took almost an hour just to get her off the wall! However, eventually they managed to convince her to try, and surprisingly enough it took less time to teach her than it took for Rainbow Dash to figure it out! It was probably because she kept assisting her in trying to keep balance, but Fluttershy was able to keep her own balance over time. 

Kyuubey blinked as it looked towards the sunset. “…Do you have accommodations for where you are going to rest?”

Fluttershy blinked as she brushed dust off her green skirt. “…H-Huh? Um…um…” Looking towards the sunset, she gasped. When did it get so late? Were they really learning how to walk that long?

Rainbow Dash held a puzzled expression. “Uhh…not…really…?” She gave a sheepish grin as she shrugged. Thinking about it, it really had only been a day…and now they needed to figure where to sleep! She couldn’t trust any random stranger though…especially not when she was with Fluttershy! 

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…” She started muttering under her breath as she turned away from her companions. How could she find a safe place for them to sleep in this place?

Kyuubey made a sound that resembled a sigh, but its mouth didn’t move out of that empty smile. “…In any case, perhaps it is best that you search for a witch. You still have the Grief Seed from this morning, but it will only take another cleansing before you can no longer use it.”

Fluttershy faced the pink-eyed creature. “…What do you mean? You…you can’t keep using the same one?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Aww, come on! Why not?!”

The creature shook its head once more. “A Grief Seed can only absorb so much corruption before it is filled up. If it’s filled up but then left alone, that same Witch will hatch from it, even stronger than before.” It explained.

Both blue and magenta eyes widened. If she didn’t get another Witch, they’d be stuck facing that creepy clown-snake Witch again…! Fluttershy shrunk back as she pulled both her arms towards her chest, making a shield around herself. Rainbow Dash noticed. She couldn't put Fluttershy through that again. Not again. 

Rainbow Dash stepped closer, her face in a frown. “…Where do you usually find these things?”

Kyuubey showed its empty smile as it looked up at the Magical Girl. “Witches are usually found in dark abandoned areas, places people tend to avoid. Being the main cause for mysterious disappearances and suicides, you tend to find them in the red light district.”

Fluttershy gave a small whimper. “S-Suicides…!?” Suicide wasn’t a common thing to deal with back in Ponyville…to be used so lightly…

Kyuubey nodded. “Indeed. This is due to the Witch casting a spell on a human in a weak-minded state. It is called a ‘Witch’s Kiss’, and causes the human to fall into their Barrier, where they can’t get out. If inside the Barrier, that human is most likely eaten and is declared missing outside of the Barrier.”

Rainbow Dash gave a quiet gulp. “…What do you mean 'outside the Barrier'? Is it like, another world? A…A pocket world or something?” Honestly, she didn’t wanna find out…but as a Magical Girl now, she needed to know these things…even if it made her sick on the inside. 

Kyuubey closed its eyes. “If a human or Magical Girl dies inside a Witch’s Barrier, and is not carried out by someone before the Witch is defeated…then that human or Magical Girl would disappear along with the Barrier, declaring them missing in this world as there wouldn’t be a body to retrieve.”

Fluttershy gave a quiet sob. Thanks to her always being useless and acting shy…her friend was in danger of meeting that fate. If only she could have the strength to protect her…

Rainbow Dash frowned. “…So if you find people with a Witch’s Kiss, it means there’d be a witch nearby…Got it.”

Looking back towards her frightened friend, Rainbow Dash gave a deep sigh and offered her hand towards her, refusing to make eye-contact. “…Here. Come on, Flutters. We can’t keep hanging around here…and I’m not leaving you hanging, either.”

Fluttershy watched her fillyhood friend. It was a little hard to understand exactly how her friend was feeling. She couldn't see her expression...but surely she was just as scared as she was. Nodding slowly, Fluttershy took her companion’s hand, allowing herself to be led along. The two started walking along down the sidewalk away from the strange tall white building, keeping a tight grip on the other’s hand.

‘No matter what, we’ll stick together. We’ll find a way back.’ Fluttershy nodded to herself, her long pink hair bouncing slightly with each step they took. 

…Behind them on top of the tall white building, they weren’t aware of a pair of royal-blue eyes staring. A young girl dressed in a cream-colored uniform frowned, her dark-grey hair flowing in the wind. 

“A rainbow-haired…Magical Girl…?” Her voice gave a tone of astonishment as she locked her eyes towards the trio. “…They woke the Witch up early…” 

She kept the same frown as she started to pursue the direction they went. “...Could this… make a difference…?”

Once they finally left that corner, the new world only got even larger to the rainbow-haired Magical Girl. Looking around, magenta eyes caught sight of several symbols she didn’t understand. It…it looked like writing…but none…none of it was equestrian…Pointing towards a sign with something that looked like a maze, she faced the creature. “Hey, Cubes…What does this say?”

Kyuubey jumped onto her shoulder. “Ah. This is a map showing where the various train stations are. You are aware of trains?”

Fluttershy nodded. “…We used to use them to…get to Canterlot whenever we…needed to.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Wait, so this is a map? What are all these…weird symbols for, then?”

Kyuubey looked closely at the ‘symbols’. “These are various forms of ‘kanji’, which is part of the Japanese language. This one that you are pointing to says ‘bathroom’.”

The rainbow Magical Girl held a puzzled expression. “…Japanese language…? Great, w-we’re not only in a foreign body, the…the language around here is foreign?!” She sputtered. 

Wait, weren’t they speaking equestrian? How could Cubes understand them? Rainbow Dash glanced back at the creature. “…Are you many languages or something?”

Fluttershy blinked. “U-um…-“

“The correct term is actually ‘multilingual’. The language you are currently speaking is known in this world as English. There are plenty of English foreigners in Japan, so you should be able to find someone who can understand you.” Kyuubey corrected her.

Rainbow Dash dropped her mouth. “So…we’re speaking ‘English’…and we’re in some place called…’Japan’?!” 

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “...H-How will we understand others…?” 

Kyuubey shifted slightly on Rainbow’s shoulder. “For the actual public, that is your own problem to figure out. However, as I am multilingual, so are Magical Girls, and those who are involved with the link they share.”

The rainbow Magical Girl blinked. “Wait, link? What kind of link?”

…This kind of link.

Both girls gasped. That voice…it was in both of their heads!

Do not panic. I have simply opened a connection between myself and the both of you. If I was not around, Fluttershy would not be able to hear us, but a Magical Girl is capable of creating telepathy amongst each other.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. 

So…kinda like this?

Fluttershy gave a small squeak. 

Rainbow Dash, you scared me!

Oops…Sorry, Flutters…

Indeed. This is precisely how you do it. Once you have met other Magical Girls, it is possible to use this as a form of contact. It does have a radius, but across from a large building is no trouble at all.

Wait, so we’re like, not talking at all right now?! That’s…awesome!!!!

I’m not so sure…I think I’ll opt out of the conversation…I prefer my thoughts stay private…

You know…me too, actually...

…If you both insist on doing so.

Rainbow Dash faced her friend. Not that she’d hide things from Flutters…just…things can get kinda complicated…

Fluttershy faced the map again. “So…um…where can we find the red light district from here…?” 

Kyuubey held a paw out. “There is a dark alleyway down that way. That will most likely take you there.”

Despite this whole Magical Girl thing, Rainbow Dash still didn’t like the idea of taking her friend with her to the red light district…but what choice did she have? She couldn’t leave her on her own…but she wasn’t going to leave her with Cubes, either! Despite his knowledge and how helpful he’s been…she still can’t trust him. Something about this whole thing feels…strange, somehow.

…Like a whole other kind of chaos. Shaking it from her head, she kept a hold on Fluttershy’s hand as they ran towards the dark alleyway. She couldn’t hesitate. She couldn’t show weakness. Not in front of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy frowned as she allowed herself to be led through the dark alleyway. The area just spoke creepy and frightening to her…but she didn’t want to be seen as weak. She didn’t want to burden Rainbow any more than she already had. Closing her eyes, she looked away from the foreign graffiti all over the walls, keeping close to her fillyhood friend. No matter what, they had to escape.

The question was, how?

And…there…there are no Witches in Equestria…So…would…

…Would Rainbow Dash have to stay behind…?!

> Chapter 6 - Kindness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darkness surrounded the world as the moon had risen. 

Fluttershy could feel the grip on her hand tighten. The streets around them were littered with garbage, and the quality of the buildings had begun to degrade a few moments ago. Before, they were surrounded with city lights from all the business buildings just like in Manehatten, but now their only source of light was from a tiny lamppost in the distance.

It didn’t really help much, but Fluttershy silently thanked it for the comfort it brought her. Facing in front of her, she kept an eye on her friend. She couldn’t really see her expression, but she could tell that she was tense. Neither of them were really used to wandering the streets at night…or fighting strange monsters called ‘Witches’…

Rainbow Dash kept a frown on her face. She didn’t like this place, or rather, any of these places…It just didn’t feel safe at all for anypony and certainly not for Fluttershy. She almost watched her friend get killed…And now she was going to risk it again, taking her in another Barrier… 

…Or at least, when she found one.

Kyuubey scanned the area from Rainbow’s shoulder until his pink eyes rested on an old factory building. Ah, it was a storage facility. “…Perhaps you should try that old building right there?”

Rainbow Dash slowed to a stop, gradually slowing Fluttershy’s pace as well. “…Hmm…I dunno…seems kinda abandoned, right?” Her eyes met her friend’s blue ones.

Fluttershy blinked. “Oh, um…I…suppose…? Is it…locked?” 

Kyuubey blinked. “There is an opened door in this facility.” It pointed its paw over to the left. “See? Over there, on the left.”

Sure enough, while the large door was shut and locked tight, a side door was opened ajar. If it wasn’t for the nearby street lamp, they probably wouldn’t have seen it. 

Rainbow Dash grinned. “…Hey, not bad!” She held up her hand to Kyuubey and curled it into a…what? What would you call it? It kinda looked like a hoof, now… “…Mind telling me what my hand is doing…?” Her expression became a little bit more sheepish. 

Fluttershy gave a quiet gasp as she watched her friend’s hand in fascination. 

Kyuubey gave a small sigh. “Your hand has curled into what is known as a ‘fist’.”

Rainbow Dash nodded in acknowledgement. “Ohhh…! Okay, fist-bump!”

Kyuubey blinked once more before curling his paw and tapping her fist. “…I hardly find why this is really necessary. Were we not going to check out that door?” 

Rainbow Dash frowned. “…Wow, you’re worse than Twilight in egg-head land. It’s like all you speak are facts.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Rainbow, that’s rude.”

Her friend cringed. “Fine, fine…Sorry, Cubes.”

Kyuubey simply blinked again. “…Again, I hardly find why this is necessary.”

Rainbow Dash gave a deep sigh. “…Whatever…I’ll…just take that as ‘apology accepted’, then.” She looked back over to her timid friend. “Happy now, Flutters?”

Fluttershy grinned. “Much.” Her grinned faltered into a small smile. “Let’s…check out that door.”

“R-Right…” Rainbow Dash stepped towards the door, stepping further into the shadows, away from where they could be easily seen. Looking back to make sure Fluttershy was following right behind her, she slowly opened the door enough for them to slip in. The door made a slight creaking noise, but it was more like a whine than anything.

‘I guess it’s old metal.’ Rainbow thought.

Slipping in, the room inside was lit up by moonlight pouring in through the windows, giving the area a blue-ish hue. It looked clean in there, but it also looked extremely empty of any furniture or products. Whatever this place was…it looked like it got shut down. 

Judging by the lack of dust, it probably happened fairly recently, actually…

A rainbow light pulsed from Rainbow Dash’s left hand. Fluttershy gasped. “Rainbow, your Soul Gem!”

Rainbow Dash held it up. “It’s…glowing? It’s a little faint…but it also isn’t? How the hay does that make any sense?”

Kyuubey jumped from her shoulder. “If the Witch’s presence is uncertain, it could most likely be a Witch’s Egg.” 

Fluttershy blinked. “’Witch’s…Egg’…? Is that the…um, Grief Seed about to hatch…like you said?” 

A rainbow light formed above Rainbow Dash’s left hand as she willed her Soul Gem into the main form. It landed gently in the palm of her hand, the rainbow light still pulsating from it. “…So it’s still hatching, huh? Let’s nip it in the bud, then!” She grinned. 

Kyuubey nodded as he jumped back onto Rainbow’s shoulder. “…Then you’d best hurry. Otherwise, another Magical Girl might come and take the Witch.”

Fluttershy cocked her head to the side as she pursued her eager friend. Kyuubey kept mentioning other Magical Girls…but how many are in this city? How many are friendly? Would Rainbow Dash have to fight them?

…Rainbow Dash just needs the Grief Seeds to keep her Soul Gem clean…but the other Magical Girls would need them, too…

…How many Witches are in this city?

The rainbow aura pulsated strongly once they arrived in front of what looked like a…box room? It looked like a bunch of screens, like the ones on the arcade boxes that a lot of the colts played with back in Ponyville. 

Fluttershy ran a finger against the walls. “…For a shut down facility, even here is…surprisingly clean.” She looked at the finger. As a pony, she wouldn’t have been able to do that. Looking back at the screens, she blinked. “…Are these…TVs?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “…TVs? Flutters, how do you know more about them than I do?” 

Her timid friend felt heat warming up her cheeks. “U-um, w-well…they were…used occasionally…at Las Pegasus…sometimes. I…used to live there…before flight camp.”

“Pfft, holding out on me this whole time? I’ve never even been to Las Pegasus!” She grinned. “So…TVs, huh…? Pretty cool…”

Kyuubey tapped her head. “It would certainly be fascinating to learn more of your culture, but the Grief Seed is here!”

Rainbow Dash gulped as she approached the spiky object. It was glowing as it was slowly planting itself into one of the TVs, a dark aura pulsating from it. Holding out her Soul Gem, Rainbow Dash willed herself to be surrounded in a rainbow light; magic pulsating from her every being as the strange but cool attire was replaced with the magical armor she wore when she protected Fluttershy. 

Ready for battle, magenta eyes narrowed into a determined expression as she willed for the Barrier of the Witch’s Egg to open for her. 

Fluttershy winced as she saw a space in front of them rip open and pulsate, waiting for them to enter in. Once they entered it…there was no going back. 

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Ready?”

Fluttershy nodded as she took Kyuubey from Rainbow’s shoulders. “…Ready…”

The rainbow warrior took her friend’s hand, and dashed into the barrier. 

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes as she felt the aura surrounding her. Last time they didn’t actually step into the Barrier, so this was a new experience for her. She gulped as her vision was filled with little lights and symbols, and something that looked like ponies moving around in a circle. 

It twisted around in a sea of blue and bouncing ponies until finally they were inside the Barrier. For a moment, she thought she was just standing in mid-air. Letting out a whine as she held Kyuubey and Rainbow’s hand tighter, she closed her eyes for a moment. 

Kyuubey nudged her head upwards. “It is alright. You are currently on a stable platform, Fluttershy. You don’t have to curl up so much. It is not necessary.”

Rainbow Dash huffed as she pulled out her sword from…wherever instinct told her to pull it from, I guess. She just needed to get the job done, focus, and keep Fluttershy safe. 

Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. All around them the world was going in its own circle, and it just kept repeating and repeating, and…

She felt dizzy. Looking towards her friend, she felt herself calm down. Maybe that was there to hypnotize somepony…

Rainbow Dash gave a deep breath and let it out before she let her instincts take over for her. In front of the trio, a duo of white dolls with angel wings and a halo appeared; huge smiles on their faces. If Fluttershy didn’t know any better, she’d think they were adorable, but not this time. She knew these creatures could…kill her at any moment…

The rainbow warrior sped towards them, sword at the ready. The angels swayed to the sides, causing her to spread her own wings and twist around them at top speeds. The angels flailed in the air as they were caught in a merciless hurricane, until Rainbow threw her sword at them, crushing them from the head up.

The angels disappeared. Looking back at Fluttershy, she nodded. “Let’s go find that witch!”

Fluttershy nodded, quickly pursuing her friend. The two ran along the clear platform until another group of creatures, angels with TVs for heads, appeared. 

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Get out of my way!” She ran towards the group, hacking and slashing at the TVs on their heads as she twisted her body to avoid their sparkling beams of electricity. It sucks being zapped, she knew. She was on the weather team for years and had been in a few accidents since the present.

But she had no time to think about that right now. She had to move! Taking a quick glance back at Fluttershy, the rainbow warrior allowed herself to move once more along the clear platform. 

More of the creatures came, three TV angels and two of the regular angels. 

Rainbow Dash crashed through them using momentum, sending the TV angels flying over into the wall of the Barrier, where they dissipated into nothing. Facing the other angels, she pulled off another twister which disoriented the angels, causing them to lose their speed and focus. Without a second thought, she drove her sword into the creatures, slashing them both in one blow. 

Wind and momentum: It didn’t really waste magic, so she was willing to take that tactic any day! Besides, she was too awesome for these idiots to catch!

Hearing a whimper, the rainbow warrior turned back around. 

“FLUTTERSHY!” She exclaimed, speeding over to her friend.

While she was distracted with those idiots at their front, some other angels had snuck behind her and grabbed her friend in mid-air! 

Growling, Rainbow Dash threw her sword into the left angel that held her friend, causing the other to lose its grip from the momentum. Fluttershy felt her support being knocked away, and she was about to scream until she felt her friend wrap around her, a protective gesture. 

However, in doing this action, Rainbow Dash had dropped her shield in order to leave her left hand empty. It wasn’t worth it compared to a life…A precious life.

Fluttershy panted as she leaned against her friend’s left shoulder. “R-Rainbow…T-Thank…thank you…” She breathed out.

Rainbow Dash frowned. She couldn’t just keep fighting all of the creatures like this. She needed to find the Witch. “…Cubes! I got wings, can’t I just fly over these bozos?!” 

Kyuubey nodded. “It is most certainly possible, though you would need the experience. The Witch is strong, and I doubt your Rainbow Blast can be done every Witch battle. It would waste too much magic.”

Rainbow Dash frowned as she hovered lower to collect Kyuubey. Soaring back into the air, she gave a deep sigh. “…I gotta risk it. I can’t let that happen to Fluttershy again.”

Fluttershy groaned softly. “…I…I’ll be…f-fine…just…fight…the witch.” 

Kyuubey gave a sigh. Since your wish involved saving, could you not form some sort of protective spell?

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. 

Yeah…oh, how could I have been so stupid?! I almost got Fluttershy killed!

Then it is best you do not waste any more time.

With a nod, Rainbow Dash flew past the creatures, holding her friend tightly beside her. There was a flight of stairs she remembered seeing when she was in the middle of fighting. 

…If she went up those…

Flying past, she turned upwards up the flight of stairs, finding that it led to another platform that greatly resembled the same one she was just on. 

Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration. “R-Really?! How many floors has this Witch GOT?!” 

Kyuubey shook his head. “Since it was woken early, I doubt this is an extremely powerful Witch…but still a relatively average Barrier. Judging through past experience, you may have three more floors to clear before you can face the Witch.”

Fluttershy gave a deep sigh. “R-Rainbow, please…you don’t have to…carry me the whole…way.” She mumbled. 

Rainbow Dash frowned as she spotted another set of creatures and readied her sword. 

“Sorry, Flutters…but it doesn’t look like I have a choice!” With that, Fluttershy felt herself be taken into the battle; involved with everything but protected from it all. 

…It felt frustrating...If only Rainbow would understand…she could take care of herself…she could make a choice…

…What would the consequences be if she made such a choice, though? Rainbow Dash did it…and now she has the power to protect others. 

…But…who would protect her?

Rainbow Dash grunted as she forced her way past the creatures, making sure to avoid their electricity. She couldn’t let Fluttershy get hit, no matter what. She had to make sure she was safe, no matter what!

She’d use the protective spell when they get to the witch. The rest she can just…muddle through somehow…some way…

…She’d make sure Flutters stays okay.

They went up another flight of clear stairs, the blue sea above and underneath them; the ponies in constant motion…Fluttershy averted her eyes. Just don’t pay any attention to them…and you won’t get hypnotized…

Rainbow Dash huffed. “Alright, that’s two more flights! Let’s keep going!” 

Kyuubey gave a sigh. 

You do remember what we discussed, yes?

I remember. I’ll use it when we reach the Witch. I won’t be able to protect her and fight at the same time in there!

I see. It does please me though that you are fighting more Familiars.

Oh, hay, they got a name. 

Rainbow Dash slashed past another set of TV angel familiars, causing the pieces to fly past them, every so often bumping a wing. It didn’t hurt; it was just annoying. Just two more flights to go. She rushed through, her eyes darting from the familiars to Fluttershy to the attacks she had to avoid.

…Guess the whole complete concentration in the air thing works awesomely in battle as well as studying and weather. The fact that she was now engaged in battle…it felt frightening, and yet amazing. She lived for making sure others were alright, even if it meant great sacrifice. 

‘…I suppose that’s my loyalty speaking to me.’ She thought. 

Fluttershy cringed as she felt herself get re-adjusted after almost slipping. Constant protection was certainly fine, yes…but she couldn’t let Rainbow Dash take this entire burden…it must hurt…

Kyuubey faced Fluttershy as she held it to her chest. “…This…isn’t right…” She whispered softly. 

Kyuubey lifted his empty smile. 

…You desire something. Something strong…

Fluttershy quickly broke eye-contact with the creature she was holding. She wasn’t ready. She…she couldn’t…

They flew up another flight of steps. Rainbow Dash grunted as she sped past the familiars on this platform. If she was going to be conserving enough energy to make that protection spell, she needed to get to the Witch soon…!

…The final flight of steps!

She grinned as she sped upwards, clearing all of the dumb familiars out of the way, sending them into the deep sea abyss below and above them. They didn’t even know what slammed into them!

She was going to face the Witch.

Fluttershy winced for a moment as she felt her friend stop short suddenly. Slowly, she opened her blue eyes to look at her friend. Rainbow Dash held a determined expression as she gently put her friend down.

Fluttershy blinked as her feet landed on the clear platform, trying to read her friend’s intentions. “R-Rainbow Dash…?!” 

A rainbow light surrounded Fluttershy suddenly, breaking her eye contact with her friend as she jumped into a panic, her eyes focused on the light that blinded her. The energy wrapped around her general area, creating a clear sphere with a rainbow aura emanating from it. The sphere formed into a solid shield, separating the timid girl from the rest of the Barrier.

It also separated her from her friend.

Fluttershy looked back at her friend with a look of betrayal. “R-Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?!” She squeaked out, still in a panicked state. 

Rainbow Dash turned away from her friend, her eyes focusing on the Barrier in front of her. “…I’m sorry, Flutters. This is what I gotta do.”

Fluttershy looked past her friend. In the air, a large TV with blue wings appeared; a blue silhouette of a young girl with pigtails on the screen. It lowered down along with four of the angel familiars, electricity surging through it. 

Rainbow Dash readied her sword and prepared to meet it, her wings slowly taking her up into the air. Wind and momentum: That was her tactic. It should work here as well. 

The TV Witch flew to the side, rather moving further away from the threatening Magical Girl, leaving the four angels to defend the fort. Rainbow Dash grinned as she slammed her sword into a couple of the angels bunched together, her eyes scanning on the activity from the Witch. It looked like it was just running…what kind of lame joke was this?

Fluttershy whimpered from inside her safe haven. She could only watch as Rainbow Dash risked her own life, making sure that she was safe…if she didn’t even freeze in the first place, Rainbow might not have had to do what she did…!

Closing her eyes, the timid girl held both of her arms up to her chest, clutching Kyuubey even tighter than she was before. It hurt…to watch your fillyhood friend fight for you like this…it hurt to know that you had the ability to help…

...She was just lacking the courage.

Rainbow Dash flew after the other two angels, slipping past one of their electricity beams as she slammed the sword into the face of one of the angels. Figuring it wouldn’t hurt; she grabbed the second one by the halo and used it to whack the first one upside the head, just in case the sword didn’t do enough damage. 

It worked. The two familiars dissipated into nothing, leaving no defense to get to the Witch. The rainbow warrior dove after the Witch which had already made its way across the room, and probably would’ve been difficult to reach.

However, this was the fastest flyer in Equestria here. In no time at all she arrived in front of the witch, causing it to sway once more as it found no escape. 

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes as she clenched her teeth, ready to strike. As she dove to strike the Witch and finish the battle, she didn’t really think about the sparkling screen in front of her. 

She didn’t see it coming. A large blast in the face came from the screen, causing her to be sent all the way back across the Barrier, creating an indent in the walls of the blue sea labyrinth. 

Rainbow Dash gasped in shock once she hit impact, a crushing sound could be heard behind her. It felt like she got slammed into the ground at the momentum of a Sonic Rainboom! She winced as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing the Witch in the distance. 

‘Dang it…I let my guard down…’ She grimaced as she slipped out from the indent back into the air. It wasn’t that bad…but it put a strain on her to fly. Diving back over, she kept a closer eye on the Witch. She wasn’t going to get blasted again!

Fluttershy screamed in terror when she saw her friend get slammed into the wall. It was too much…too much to see that happen…It was her fault she had to fight…! 

Kyuubey relaxed as it watched the events happen. Such things always happened to a Magical Girl, after all. Glancing up at Fluttershy, it shifted in her grip. “…Do you believe that she’ll make it?”

Fluttershy met his eyes. “…I…I have to…b-believe…” After all, what else could she do?

“Fluttershy, you could make a difference, you know. You can make things easier for Rainbow Dash.”

Fluttershy broke eye contact once more, facing the battle. “N-No…I have to…believe. I know she can do it…”

The TV Witch summoned six TV angels in front of it, creating new reinforcements. Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration as she dove to meet them. “Come on, I just got rid of those!” She grunted as she struck the sword into one of the familiars, the TV spewing electricity her direction.

Rainbow quickly ducked. It wasn’t dead, just hurt. This was a pain…A huge pain! Growling, she dove underneath the group and started to twist around the group of familiars, quickly making sure there were no sneak attacks.

The TV Witch dove further down to the ground, struggling in making sure it didn’t get caught in the growing hurricane that was affecting its familiars. From a distance, it started to charge up another blast, but it wasn’t aiming for the threat in the rainbow armor... 

...It was aiming for the prey in the protection spell. 

Rainbow Dash gasped as she took her attention away from the angels for a second to strike at the Witch. She slammed the Witch into the side, causing it to blast over to the side from where Fluttershy was. 

That was close. That was too close. Panting, Rainbow Dash focused on the Witch. She was going to take it down, no matter what. The Witch flew towards the disoriented familiars, taking refuge in its shield as the Magical Girl quickly pursued after it. She was gonna kill that Witch! No matter what!

Slamming past the familiars, she threw her sword into the front of Witch’s screen, stabbing through. The Witch let out an ear piercing scream as it flew away from her reach. 

Rainbow Dash glared at it. “Hey, get back here! I’m not finished with you!” She prepared to dive after the Witch, but felt her arms and wings being restrained as the TV angels held a tough grip on the rainbow warrior. 

Rainbow Dash grunted as she struggled. “H-Hey, let go!” She heard giggles by her ear as she felt the grip on her wings grow tighter, refusing to give any momentum. She tried forcing her body to sway, but more started to show up, grabbing onto her legs. 

She couldn’t move.

No. 

No…!

The TV Witch flew in front of the captivated warrior, readying another blast that was charging from the screen on its front. Rainbow Dash continued to struggle, trying to get some form of momentum…!

She had to get out of there, before…!

She couldn’t let…!

Fluttershy…!

The grip on her arms and legs loosened as she heard a crackling noise from behind that came with a motion that swayed her to the side, just out of reach of the blast that shot past her right afterwards, hitting the blue sea wall. 

Wait, what? 

…Wasn’t she…gonna die?

Shaking herself back into her senses, she noticed a figure with long pink hair, yellow wings, a green short dress with a brown grassy belt, and green vines wrapping around her feet to resemble sandals. 

This figure also had her friend’s face and something that looked like the Element of Kindness around her neck, where her own Soul Gem rested. 

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe her eyes. “F-F-Flutters…!?”

Fluttershy gave a determined look as she faced her fillyhood friend. “Are you alright, Rainbow Dash?”

“Wha…bah…y-you…!” The rainbow warrior found she couldn’t really speak at the moment. 

Fluttershy nodded and then turned away from her friend. 

“…Let’s take care of the Witch together. Then…then you can…well…”

Rainbow Dash gave a deep sigh. “…Alright, then…let’s go get that Witch.”

Her friend nodded as she held out a hand where a bright glow appeared, forming into what looked like a golden staff, a pink butterfly at the top. Looking away from her friend, Rainbow Dash gave a deep sigh. This time...they were going to do it together. This time…they were both fighting it.

Turning back to her friend, Rainbow Dash frowned. “I can’t get to the Witch with those stupid familiars flocking around it. Think you can get them out of my way, Flutters?”

Fluttershy never felt so…excited…amazing… “…Of course. Don’t worry about it. You just focus on the Witch.” She gave a confident smile as she materialized what looked like a vine whip in her other hand. 

With a nod, Rainbow Dash turned away. She wasn’t sure what to think about this…but there was no going back! Dashing forward, she slashed past the familiars with all the momentum she could muster, causing them to sway to the sides in a disoriented manner.

Fluttershy nodded as she held up her staff, a set of vines stretching out from the butterfly in a yellow aura. The vines stretched across her path, wrapping the familiars up in a tight grip, causing them to struggle in the vines’ grip in a violent manner.

They weren’t going to get to her friend again.

The TV Witch flew as fast as it could until a sword stabbed into its back, Rainbow pushed the Witch right into the wall and deepened the strike; causing the sword to push until it stabbed right through the other side, shattering the remains of the front screen from her last blows.

The ponies in the blue sea stopped and fell to the ground as the TV Witch started spewing what Rainbow assumed was blue blood. Hay, what do you know? ‘Blue blood’! Followed them all the way here!

She landed on the clear platform and took a deep sigh as she watched her friend hover down after her. As soon as Fluttershy landed, the area around them distorted as the Barrier started to collapse, slowly fading back into the room that they started in.

Once more, the place looked empty and…surprisingly clean. The sound of something hitting the ground caused Fluttershy to walk over and pick up the Witch’s Grief Seed. 

Rainbow Dash walked over to peek over her shoulder. “…So, I guess we…share it, huh?”

“Rainbow…” Fluttershy whispered before she turned her face away, refusing to make eye contact with her friend. “…Are you angry with me?”

Rainbow Dash held a puzzled expression for a moment until she gave a deep sigh. “…Look, um…” Thinking there was nothing else she could do, she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. 

Fluttershy winced at the touch. 

“…I’m not mad. Just…surprised…” Rainbow started as she turned away from her friend, keeping the hand on her shoulder. “...What I should be saying is…um…”

Ugh, she was so bad at this!

“…Thanks.”

Fluttershy turned to face her friend. “…You’re…not mad?”

Rainbow Dash turned to meet her blue eyes. “…Honestly, I’m a little freaked out. Just…let me make sure you stay safe. That’s…all I want.”

Fluttershy felt her eyes water as she wrapped her friend into a loose embrace. “…Okay…but, you shouldn’t…take the entire burden either. It…It’s scary when you…take more than you can…handle.”

Rainbow Dash blinked at the sudden hug, but took it anyway. “…Okay, okay...I'll be careful.” 

Fluttershy wanted her to stay safe, just like she wanted Fluttershy to stay safe…

Fluttershy contracted for her sake…

Rainbow gave a deep sigh. “You’re actually more assertive than you think; Miss ‘I’m all shy’!”

Fluttershy gave a small blush as she slowly pulled out of the embrace. “…Um…I’m sorry?”

Her friend face-palmed. “Pfft, same old Flutters…” She shook her head and chuckled, a sound that soon died in her throat.

An awkward silence built up with the lack of conversation.

Everything was just...overwhelming, really.  

It was Rainbow Dash that broke the silence. “…You know, Flutters…this whole Magical Girl thing…”

Fluttershy gave a deep sigh. “…We won’t be able to return, even if we find a way. I…already knew that, when I…”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “B-But that means…!? You gave up the chance of…going home f-for…for me?”

The timid Magical Girl narrowed her eyes and nodded, refusing to meet her friend’s gaze. “…I wouldn’t have gone without you, anyway…We’re friends…and friends stick together.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. Friends stick together, huh…?

If that truly was the case…she wouldn’t have contracted. 

But there was no other choice…

“…Flutters?” 

Fluttershy looked over. “Y-Yes, Rainbow…?”

“…Pinkie Promise not to die?”

“…Only if you will.”

The two faced each other. “Cross our hearts, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eyes!” They said in unison, matching the choreography that came with that promise. 

They’d stick together to the end.

…No matter what. 

> Chapter 7 - Friends or Enemies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two Magical Girl girls held hands as they exited the TV room. The place outside looked just as empty as before they fought the Witch, and just as clean, too. Fluttershy blinked as she spotted a single source of light in another area.

It was a small room with an empty desk and torn up paperwork scattered on the floor. Along with the papers, it seemed that there were several glass bottles littering the floor as Rainbow Dash walked further in to investigate. Before entering in, she turned back towards her timid friend.

“…We should probably change back, Flutters. I don’t know what’s in here. It could be a human, or something else weird.” The rainbow warrior placed her hand over her Soul Gem, her magenta eyes locked on her friend’s blue ones. 

Fluttershy nodded slowly as she let go of her friend’s hand and placed it against her own Soul Gem, a pink butterfly shaped gem. 

Not wasting any time, the room was filled with rainbow and pink lights, swirling around the two girls until they were out of sight, the aura dancing about the room, creating sparks in the air with its magical touch. This only lasted for a moment until the two girls were released from their magical barriers and their Soul Gems took on its natural form, landing safely in the palm of their hands.

Kyuubey watched the two Magical Girls with its empty smile. “With you both as Magical Girls, battles against Witches will be much easier than if Rainbow Dash fought alone.” It stated.

Rainbow Dash frowned as she formed her Soul Gem into a ball of light, surrounding her hand until it wrapped around her middle left finger; the light forming into a ring. She’d counter that statement another time. They had something more important to focus on right now. 

With a soft smile, Fluttershy held her Soul Gem out to do the same, fascinated by the light from her own magic wrapping around her finger. Looking at her palm, she blinked as she noticed a light-pink jewel with a little bit of corruption embedded into the metal ring around her finger.

Frowning slightly at the corruption, Fluttershy gave her fillyhood friend’s back a light tap. “…We should probably use the Grief Seed from the…clown-snake Witch…”

Rainbow Dash blinked before looking at her own Soul Gem. “Ugh…” It was a little over halfway corrupted. “Gotta watch how I fight next time…that was crazy!” She threw her hands to her sides for emphasis, and then held her Soul Gem up for Fluttershy to see. 

“We’ll just…have to be more careful.” Fluttershy nodded and supplied a grin as she held her Soul Gem in front of her friend’s. Rainbow Dash reached into her magenta skirt pocket and pulled out the Grief Seed from that clown-snake. Holding it closer to the two Soul Gems, she saw the corruption from each of their Soul Gems get absorbed by the Grief Seed in her hand, filling it until it halted with an eerie hiss; black menacing aura radiating from it in great multitudes. 

Fluttershy gasped. “…Does this mean we can’t…use it anymore?” 

Kyuubey hopped onto Rainbow Dash’s shoulder, peering over. “Indeed. If you force any more corruption into it, the Witch would surely hatch anew. Let me have it.”

Rainbow Dash blinked before tossing it over her shoulder. “Here, knock yourself out. Don’t know what you’d do with it, though…” She muttered as she felt Kyuubey’s weight leave her shoulder. 

Kyuubey ran towards where the Grief Seed had landed, and with a small adorable-like raise of its head, flipped the Grief Seed over itself until a mark much like a teardrop opened up, allowing the Grief Seed to fall inside. As soon as it did, the mark shut one more, and a pink glow radiated from the creature’s back. 

Fluttershy was stunned at the sight. “Um…did you just…eat it? Can you…do that?”

Rainbow Dash blinked before she turned around. “Huh? What’d you mean by ‘eat it’, Flutters?” Looking over, she saw Kyuubey there sitting innocently, no Grief Seed around to be found. “…Cubes, where’d you put the thing? I thought I gave it to you!” She exclaimed. 

If it got misplaced…!

Kyuubey gave a soft sigh as it closed its eyes. “I am merely performing one of my many duties. When a Grief Seed is filled, you must give it to me. Then it will no longer be a threat to you.” 

The rainbow haired girl blinked. “…So…you…ate it?” Of all the things to do to the thing, he ATE it? 

Fluttershy gulped silently. ‘I hope QB doesn’t get a stomach ache…’

The creature opened its pink eyes and stared at the two bewildered girls. Why did it matter if it ate it or not? It was simply performing its assigned duties as a contractor. “Indeed. If ever you fill up a Grief Seed, do not hesitate to give it to me. This will ensure that the Witch will not hatch again, and it would no longer be your problem.”

…Less responsibility to deal with? Rainbow was cool with that! Grinning, she faced Fluttershy, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Well, if Cubes’ got it covered, less for us to do, right?” Usually she’d be willing to pull extra weight, but this whole Witch thing was a different story completely. 

Fluttershy nodded with a smile. “…Thank you, QB. You…you’ve really helped us out.” With this, she wouldn’t ever have to face that horrible nightmare again…A sense of relief filled the timid girl, and her smile grew more confident.

Taking her hand off of her friend’s shoulder, Rainbow Dash gave a deep sigh. “…So, were we gonna check out that room over there?”

Fluttershy snapped back into her senses. “O-Oh, um…yes, of course.” She held out a hand shyly for her friend to take, which her friend took with confidence. Rainbow led the two towards the entrance of the small room, slipping through the already opened door. 

While the room was scattered in paperwork, a human sat with his hands over his face; his office chair facing the wall over to the right of the room. Blinking for a moment, Rainbow Dash let go her friend’s hand and slowly approached the human. The human muttered inaudibly as it sat. 

Scratch that, this human was a guy. The guy spoke in foreign tongues, his mouth moving in a constant and fluid manner as he clutched his head in what looked like extreme frustration. Rainbow Dash opened her mouth for a moment, but no words would escape her tongue. 

Honestly, she hadn’t run into this situation before. Always there’d be some way she knew what was going on…but this was a challenging case for the young mare. 

“U-Um…” She squeaked out, the sound quickly dying in her throat. It made enough noise to catch the foreigner’s attention, because he suddenly looked up, his despair-filled brown eyes meeting her uneasy magenta. 

The man shouted at the girl in foreign tongues, his voice sounding exasperated as he banged his fists against the paper-filled desk, standing up as a form of intimidation. Fluttershy squeaked and hid just outside the room, peeking back into it just enough to make sure her friend was alright.

Clearly this guy didn’t want to be disturbed…

Rainbow Dash winced as she took the brunt of the foreign man’s frustrations. W-What was he saying? Why was he yelling at her? What the hay was this guy’s problem?

Kyuubey blinked before hopping onto Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “…This man is showing signs of aggression. According to what he has been screaming, he used to own this facility. However, unwise decisions and betrayal of employees caused him to become bankrupt, without money.”

Rainbow Dash blinked as she watched the creature. 

…Why isn’t this guy freaking out about you?

I cannot be seen by those without potential. As far as this man knows, there is nothing on your shoulder. 

So…this guy is screaming at me, because he lost his company thing?

That does seem to be the case. He is venting his frustrations, and displaying an aggressive nature.

Sheesh, if I could talk to the guy, I’d try to give him a pep talk or something…

Giving a sigh, Rainbow Dash waited a moment until the man had slowed down in his venting. Since words wouldn’t do any good, she moved closer to the guy and did the only thing she could think of at that moment…

…She pat the guy on the back softly. Of course, this action probably could probably get her in trouble…but that wasn’t what was on her mind at the time. The man stopped in his tracks and slowly stared at the girl in complete silence, his despaired eyes wide in shock. 

Well, it shut the guy up, at least…

Rainbow Dash squeaked as she felt strong arms wrap around her in a tight hug as her face was buried in the man’s shirt. What, what…!? Her eyes darted as she tried to make sense of what was going on, until she heard quiet sobbing close by. 

Was the guy…crying? Well, this was an awkward situation if she’d ever been in one. Finding nothing else to do, she gave a deep sigh; slowly patting the guy’s back as a form of comfort.

It was strange, comforting something you couldn’t understand…but she took it anyway.

After the strange comfort she gave the man, he slowly let her go; the despair slowly dissipating from his eyes. The man said something along the line of…Arigatou? What the hay did that mean?

The man seemed troubled by her confused expression. Then, for a moment, the man stood in silence. He faced Rainbow again, this time with a friendlier face. 

“…You speak English?” The man spoke this time with a strange accent, as if the words were foreign to him, but to Rainbow it sounded like the guy had just spoken Equestrian. 

Rainbow Dash’s mouth dropped. “Y-You…you…can speak English?” The man laughed for a moment at her face as he nodded repeatedly.

“Yes. I learned it when I was in school. It was a requirement.” The man gave a deep sigh. “…I’m…sorry, for the way that I was acting.” 

Rainbow shook her head as she motioned her friend to come closer. It seemed safe, after all. “Naw, it’s cool. You were just having a hard time. No biggie, just…it’s not the end of the world, right?” She supplied a grin.

The man blinked for a moment before allowing his mouth to crease up into a small smile. “…No, no…I suppose it isn’t. Thank you for…for being there.” The man’s face looked up towards the doorway, where Fluttershy slowly stepped in. “…Your friend is very lucky.” 

Fluttershy gave a small smile as she faced her friend. “…Yes.”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Y-Yeah, um…I guess…” She shrugged for a moment before taking her friend’s hand. “Anyways, we gotta get going. Don’t give up yet, alright?” Fluttershy nodded as she allowed herself to be led back towards the doorway with her friend.

The man nodded, his eyes lit up anew with hope. “…I won’t.”

The two walked out of the room holding hands, feeling a little better than when they first came to this world. It had its ups and downs…but at least there were nice people around who could help them in a bind.

Like Cubes, for example…Rainbow may have not liked the dang creature…but at least it was really helpful in understanding things around here. And that guy was really helpful too; letting them know they could at least find someone they could speak to and understand.

…Things seemed to be finally looking up.

Footsteps echoed through the empty room in the facility in the direction of the entrance they took to get inside. Hearing it, Rainbow quickly halted; Fluttershy in tow. She looked around until her eyes caught sight of a figure, masked by the shadows. 

The rainbow haired girl’s eyes narrowed. “…Stay close, Flutters.” She whispered as she faced the approaching figure. “…Who’s there?! Show yourself!”

The figure continued to walk towards the two until Rainbow could see it was a girl with long dark-grey hair, wearing a cream-colored…blouse with a red ribbon. Her legs were completely covered in black; wearing brown shoes. Her eyes were royal blue, set in an apathetic expression. 

Kyuubey dug its claws deeper into Rainbow’s shoulder, giving a better grip. “…That’s…” The creature started.

Fluttershy blinked as she watched Kyuubey. “…Um…what’s wrong, QB…?” She whispered softly. Somehow things seemed to grow more…tense.

Rainbow Dash frowned as she stepped closer, making sure her friend was behind her. “…Who the hay are you and what do you want?” She clenched her teeth in an unwelcoming manner. 

The girl blinked for a small moment before she raised her right hand to flip her hair back, her royal blue eyes piercing into Rainbow’s magenta’s. Without another moment, the girl opened her mouth, her leveled monotone voice filled with foreign tongues. It sounded like she was asking questions…but…

The rainbow Magical Girl winced. Great, another foreigner… “…Uhh…sorry…I don’t speak Japanese.”

The girl blinked for what felt like an eternity. “…I…see.” Her dialect changed completely, the monotone voice slightly wavering. Seemed this girl wasn’t the best at speaking English. “…Who…are you?” 

Rainbow Dash gave a sigh of relief. “Phew, finally something I can understand. I’m Rainbow Dash. And this is my friend, Fluttershy.” She gestured behind her, the timid girl slowly waving. 

The girl’s eyes darted uncomfortably for a moment. “…I…see. I am…Homura Akemi.” Her dialect switched back once she said her name. 

Rainbow Dash blinked for a moment. “…Ho…mu…ra…?” The way the girl said it sounded weird on her tongue… “…Got a nickname or…something?” The rainbow Magical Girl grinned sheepishly.

The girl frowned. “…Homura means ‘Flame’. You…you may call me that.”

Fluttershy slowly stepped forward. “Um…nice to…meet you, Miss…Flame.”

Rainbow Dash nodded in acknowledgement. “Okay, then…Flame. So…why the hay did you approach us anyway, Flame?”

Homura gave an inward sigh. “…I…want to recruit you. F-fight together…” Usually her approaches gave drastically different results…but this was just…embarrassing. 

The rainbow Magical Girl blinked. “…You wanna…recruit me and Flutters? Okay…?”

Fluttershy gave a small smile. “…I don’t mind if we work together. Are you…a Magical Girl, too?” 

Homura held up her left hand, revealing her Soul Gem in its ring form. “…Yes. I am a Mahou Shoujo.”

Rainbow Dash scratched her head as she tilted it to the side. “Ma…mah…um, what..?” What the hay did she just say?

“…It is the Japanese term for ‘Magical Girl’.” The apathetic girl gave yet another inward sigh. “…I want you to fight with me. There is a…big Witch. …Can’t fight it…alone.” Her royal blue eyes looked away to the sides, anywhere but in Rainbow’s general direction. 

Perhaps she should’ve reminded herself to add ‘practice English’ on the list of things to do…

Fluttershy gasped. “…A…big Witch?”

The girl merely nodded. She didn’t trust herself to sound professional anymore.

Rainbow nodded. “Sure, we’ll help you kick this Witch’s flank.” She put both arms up behind her head in a casual position. 

Homura frowned. “…’Flank’? I…do not…understand.” Why did the rainbow Magical Girl have to be a foreigner…? She understood English by ear…but speaking it…

Kyuubey blinked at the spectacle from Rainbow’s shoulder. “…If there is an issue with language barriers, would it not be easier to speak through the mind? It is multilingual, and highly recommended for this situation.”

Homura felt like slapping herself. Of course the mind would be multilingual! Taking a deep breath inwardly, she linked her eyes onto Rainbow’s; this time with far more confidence.

…Can you understand me now?

Rainbow winced. She could. Somehow Flame seemed to have a whole different air about her this time…was she really okay? Her voice sounded…cold. Kinda...intimidating, actually…

…Yeah. I…I can understand you.

…You seem to lack confidence, it seems.

…So, ‘big Witch’. You need our help, right?

…I can give further details later. Right now is not the best time. However, I would like to leave you with a warning.

A…warning…? Excuse me? Huh?

The girl's lips tightened into a frown as her eyes narrowed.

…Don’t trust Kyuubey so much. It holds no real emotion. 

Rainbow‘s face turned into a scowl as she faced the now-weird Flame. 

Wait, what? You got a problem with Cubes?

…Cubes? 

Yeah, a…nickname I thought up.

Nicknames lead to attachments. It doesn’t deserve one.

…What the hay did Cubes do to get you angry?

Homura turned away, no longer facing the two.

…That’s none of your business.

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed into a glare.

…If you wanted me to trust you, you just pulled the wrong move. I don’t like secrets.

Homura bit her lip, still facing away from the group. 

…You remind me too much of another stubborn fool.

…And insulting me isn’t going to get me on your side, either. You’re doing good here, Flame.

…I prefer to be known as ‘Homura’.

Fine, ‘Home Run’! Do you want us to help you or not? ‘Cause this is seriously coming off to a bad start.

...I see. What about your friend? Fluttershy, wasn’t it?

Fluttershy winced. She hoped to stay out of the conversation…but…

Oh, um…if…if Rainbow’s willing to…I don’t mind…

Oh, I’m willing. I’m just not sure if I can trust the team. You tell us about there being a big Witch, but you tell nothing about it. You tell us steer clear of Cubes, but you don’t tell us why you don’t trust it. If you want help, you gotta put your two bits in.

…I see. You won’t fight, unless I explain things?

…If it’s dangerous, I’ll fight it. …But I gotta know what it is. 

…As I said before, I can explain things later. Tomorrow, if you insist.

Well, then I insist. Where to?

…We can rendezvous here. I’ll show you the way. 5 pm sharp.

Fluttershy gulped as she watched the two other Magical Girls cautiously.

Um…can we do that, Rainbow?

…How can we make it sharp?

Homura’s eyebrows rose.

…Eh? 

Me and Flutters judge the time by the skies…we don’t exactly have a clock.

…Hmm. Interesting…hobby you have. Do you have anywhere you’re staying?

U-Um…

The rainbow haired girl gave a sheepish grin as her eyes looked to the side, refusing to make contact.

Uhh…not…really…? Heh…?

Homura face-palmed. These two were homeless?

…You’re coming with me.

Rainbow Dash blinked as her mouth dropped. Wait, what? This girl was going to take them somewhere? That seems suspicious…but it’d at least give her friend a safe enough place to sleep…and it’d be better than nothing at this point…

…I still don’t trust you…but at least Fluttershy would be able to get some shut-eye. Where to?

…Follow me. I will show you and your friend the way.

Homura glared towards the creature on Rainbow’s shoulder. 

…That thing is not invited. 

Rainbow Dash glanced towards Kyuubey. Sheesh, if she only knew what was eating at the crazy girl to make her hate Cubes that much! Giving a deep sigh, her rose eyes met the creature’s pink eyes. “…We’re…gonna be going, Cubes. Sorry, but you can’t tag along.” She informed it. 

Kyuubey hopped off of the rainbow Magical Girl’s shoulder. “…That is alright. I have business with my other Magical Girls to tend to, anyway. It has been a pleasure spending time with you two."

Fluttershy simply nodded. “…I’m so sorry you can’t come with, QB. I don’t know why she has a problem with you…”

Kyuubey nodded. “It is fine. Do take care, Fluttershy.”

Homura raised an eyebrow at the spectacle before her. 

…We cannot keep communicating through the mind like this. Some things I prefer Kyuubey doesn’t hear. You two will have to learn the Japanese language, or forever be mute...Your choice.

Fluttershy's eyes widened while Rainbow Dash bared her teeth at the girl.

U-Um…mute?

Not cool. Doesn’t it take a while to learn a whole language? What a pain!

Homura watched as Kyuubey left into the shadows before facing the two foreign Magical Girls. 

…We’ll have to figure something out. This language barrier is frustratingly annoying to deal with. Anyway, shall we be going?

Rainbow Dash looked over towards her fillyhood friend. “…Let’s get going, Flutters.”

Fluttershy nodded as she started walking towards her. “…Okay.” She mumbled softly. She wasn’t sure what this new Magical Girl’s true motives were…but they really had no other options in front of them, and they just couldn’t stay on the streets without sleep.

Come to think of it…she hadn’t gotten any sleep since she had that nightmare that started it all…Was it a premonition? Is that why she had it? She never saw herself as psychic…

That was Pinkie’s job…wasn’t it?

…In fact, was following this Magical Girl okay? Fluttershy gave an inward sigh as she slipped her hand into her friend’s, putting them both at an even pace behind the stranger known as…Homura Akemi as she led them down another path. She wasn’t so sure about her methods…and she showed hate and resentment for QB…

...Why? Did QB do something wrong? 

Rainbow Dash frowned as she spied on the stranger with a watchful eye. She wasn’t sure what the hay this girl wanted…but she knew it’d be trouble. Was agreeing to fight a big Witch with her a good idea? Then again, she never knew when they could be easily backstabbed by this girl…

…For Fluttershy’s sake, she might have to come up with a back up…just in case this ‘Home Run’ plans to screw them both over in the end. 

If that really is gonna be the case…then this Homura Akemi was going to pay for messing with the wrong pegasi…!

…All they had was each other now, after all. 

> Chapter 8 - Alliance Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footsteps clattered through the shadows as the three Magical Girls walked throughout the night, a crescent moon in the sky. Rainbow Dash sighed inwardly as she looked at the old rundown buildings surrounding the trio. This area didn’t look very promising to the rainbow Magical Girl, but she really didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.

…Maybe she should’ve just ditched ‘Home Run’ and rushed outta there, fast. Things certainly didn’t seem to be looking up. She glanced behind towards her timid friend, her grip tightening as she held her hand firmly. They couldn’t risk losing each other, after all.

Fluttershy glanced from building to building as they walked along the worn out sidewalk. The area didn’t really look abandoned, but there wasn’t that much light illuminating the street in front of them. The streets glowed with a copper-colored hue as it was lit up by the old street lamps on the sides. Noticing her friend’s gaze on her, the timid Magical Girl gave a small approving grin, just enough to try and reassure her dear fillyhood friend.

It didn’t really help much; she knew better than to believe Rainbow could be fooled by that. 

Not feeling any better about the situation, Rainbow Dash slowly turned away from her friend, instead keeping an eye on their ‘accomplice’. 

Akemi Homura kept a steady pace as she walked, her gray-black hair swishing slightly with each movement she made. She made no effort to turn around or make eye-contact with the two girls, but she just continued on with perfect faith that they’d be following her.

Grudgingly, they really didn’t have any other option.

Homura stopped short in front of a large building; it was pretty dark to really look at some of the details in the place. It kinda looked like an apartment building, like one of those things you’d see in something like Manehatten, only make it super creepy and dark; dramatic effects in the works. 

A plate with strange Japanese symbols was embedded on the wall next to a door. Homura turned back towards the foreigners, her royal-blue eyes narrowed in a blank ‘hard to tell’ expression.

…We’re here.

Rainbow Dash winced for a moment while Fluttershy squeaked loudly behind her. She had GOT to get used to that! Randomly out of nowhere; no warning whatsoever! 

Y-Yeah, yeah, right…

The rainbow Magical Girl felt her friend’s grip on her hand tighten. Looking up at the place, she suppressed the urge to gulp at the sight. Was this place haunted by ghosts?

Fluttershy whimpered softly as she leaned closer to her friend’s back for any form of comfort. She missed QB’s company…It was nice, being able to cuddle something cute and soft when she was scared…

…But being a Magical Girl now, she couldn’t stay scared. She wasn’t going to let Rainbow take the burden for her. Steeling herself, Fluttershy gulped as she let go of her friend’s hand, walking up until she was right beside her.

Homura blinked at the two until she turned back towards the door, opening it without another thought while she allowed foreign tongues to fill the air. Rainbow Dash blinked as she quirked an eye-brow. 

The apathetic Magical Girl frowned. 

…That means ‘follow me’.

Nodding in unison, the two Magical Girls both stepped in through the door, stepping into what looked like a hallway lit up with a teal-ish hue. Footsteps echoing through the hallway, the three Magical Girls walked in silence until they came to yet another door out of many; another plate with strange Japanese symbols on it. 

Homura reached into a small pocket from her cream-colored blouse, pulling out a set of keys. Picking out one from several others, she promptly pushed the selected key into the keyhole on the doorknob; turning it to the left. The doorknob clicked as she twisted it with her other hand, causing the door to creak open as she slowly retracted the key from the keyhole. 

…Come in.

Rainbow Dash sighed before facing her timid friend. Fluttershy blinked for a moment before meeting her magenta eyes. 

“U-Umm…it should…be alright.” She mumbled as she slipped past her friend and slowly crept through the doorway, the inside being completely wrapped in darkness. Rainbow frowned as she followed her suddenly brave friend; keeping an eye to make sure nothing bad happens.

As she shut the door behind her, Rainbow frowned. She couldn’t see a thing…How could anypony walk around in this place? She almost resisted the urge to feel around in front of her, just to make sure the other two were still there.

…It was so silent here…

With a clicking sound, everything went blazing white as Rainbow Dash quickly covered her eyes. “Agh, that’s BRIGHT!” 

Fluttershy squeaked as her blinking irritated eyes searched for any sign of Homura, who was next to a strange plastic patch on the wall. 

The apathetic Magical Girl stared at the two for a moment, her hand against a plastic tap that pointed up. 

…It’s a light switch, if you didn’t know.

Rainbow Dash blinked. She knew what a light-switch was, just…it looked really different from what she was used to. No bugs in it or anything…and who puts it on the wall?! What the hay happened to lamps? Still, no point in arguing…

R-Right, okay…

Fluttershy looked around the room. It was a large area with endless white; an anchor-like object swinging back and forth. As if they were floating in mid-air, several pictures with inequine figures and diagrams hovered above the trio, all in a language the young mare couldn’t read. In fact, it looked like some of the symbols she didn’t really pay much attention to back in the Clown-Snake’s Barrier…or something similar, at least… 

Homura walked on until she stood in front of a circular-shaped seat that was curved around the table in the center, much like a crescent moon. “…Sit down.” She spoke in English, her voice once more changing dialect. 

‘Okay, this just got from weird to creepy-town…’ Rainbow Dash cringed as she complied, allowing herself to sit down on a similar cushioned seat from the opposite side of the table; made out of something she didn’t really feel back in Equestria. Probably shouldn’t question it…

“…Do you drink tea?” The apathetic Magical Girl sat down, allowing her muscles to relax as her royal-blue eyes gazed towards her guests. Fluttershy gave an inward sigh before she too sat down beside Rainbow Dash; keeping an eye on both Magical Girls in front of her, hoping to avoid a fight.

“…Nah…Tea’s pretty bland for me. You got cocoa?” The rainbow Magical Girl scratched her head nervously. Sheesh, when did she start to lose her cool?

Fluttershy smiled softly as she scooted closer to sit next to her friend. “U-Um…tea’s fine for me…that is, if…if you don’t mind…”

Homura nodded before standing back up. “…Very well,” she spoke in a clumsy attempt of English as her voice wavered slightly. “I will get your tea for you.” She walked into a doorway which led into another room filled with green squares. Before she fully left the room, she didn’t hesitate to glare at the rainbow-haired girl behind her.

You WILL learn Japanese, if it’s the last thing I do. 

Rainbow Dash cringed at the threat. “Sheesh…lay off a little, will ya? I get it, your English sucks!” 

Fluttershy gasped as she clicked her tongue in disapproval. “No, Dashie! That’s NOT how we speak to our host, who was so gracious to give us some place to stay!” She spoke in a firm voice as she glared at her companion. Rainbow always did struggle when it came to good manners…

Rainbow Dash blushed as she winced at her nick-name being used in such a tone. “R-right…uh…” The mare gulped as she contemplated her friend’s words. Fluttershy was always suddenly very assertive when it came to lecturing her or her stupid animals… 

“…Sorry, uh...” The rainbow Magical Girl mumbled to the air as she refused to make eye-contact with anyone else in her line of vision.

Fluttershy didn’t ease her glare. “…Say it properly in front of Miss…um…Ho-mu-ra.” Her voice faltered as she attempted to say the apathetic Magical Girl’s name. Maybe they really DID need to learn how to speak Japanese…if they were going to be staying here. Her current attempt to pronounce names here were embarrassing, to say the least…

Rainbow gave a sigh. “Fine, fine…just let me uh…go over there and say it.” The rainbow Magical Girl gave a sheepish grin as she stood up off of her seat, her eyes locked on the doorway. “You wait here. ‘Kay Flutters?” 

Fluttershy nodded with a smile. “…Alright.”

The rainbow Magical Girl crept away from the seat towards the doorway out of the spacious room, her rose eyes peering through. The place looked completely different from the weird white room she just left. 

Inside the room there were pots and pans hanging on hooks on the walls nearby a stove, along with a pale green counter beside it. 

No doubt about it. She was in a kitchen. 

Rainbow Dash was about to walk inside the kitchen until she saw a two-braided figure nearby one of the counters opposite from the stove, a lavender apron tied around her waist. 

…In fact, this figure looked PRETTY similar to a certain annoying apathetic Magical Girl she since recently…has been having to deal with… 

“…Home Run?” She blurted out.

The figure gasped loudly in a high pitch before she promptly turned around. Her royal blue eyes wavered as a blush formed on her normally empty apathetic face. The girl sputtered in high-pitched foreign tongues, clearly unable to recover from her embarrassment.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “…Hey, not a bad look for you! It makes you look less intimidating, at least.” She grinned as she relished in the other Magical Girl’s suffering. 

Homura bit her lip as she quickly turned away from the rainbow Magical Girl. “…Don’t…look at me. I…I did this t-to keep it out of the way.” She slurred in clumsy English. 

“Hey, nothing wrong with a new look,” She resisted from busting up into laughter. “Just…it looks cute.” 

The apathetic Magical Girl closed her eyes and slowly breathed in and out for a few moments. It seemed to be working as her muscles grew less tense as the blush faded from her face. When Rainbow Dash saw her open her eyes once more, they were the same cold eyes she had before; making the ‘cute’ look she had look intimidating. 

Rainbow Dash winced. “Uh…” Why was she here again? She could easily just walk right out of this place, but she had something she needed to do. If only she could remember what that was…

Homura frowned as her eyes narrowed into a glare, her hands quickly pulling out the lavender ribbons that held her hair, allowing it to flow freely behind her. 

…We never speak of this. Understand?

The rainbow Magical Girl rolled her eyes as she recovered from Homura’s overwhelming effect. 

Sure, sure, whatever. I came over here to talk to you.

Homura blinked as she worked to untie her apron and place it on a hook near the fridge. Whatever did she have to say to her?

…What is it?

Rainbow Dash sighed deeply before meeting her accomplice’s royal blue eyes. 

I guess…uh…What was I supposed to say again?

Homura frowned.

…If you don’t remember, quit wasting my time.

Oh wait! Now I remember!

Rainbow Dash glared back at the apathetic Magical Girl.

…But now I don’t think you deserve it.

…Excuse me?

With a sigh, Rainbow Dash relaxed her body against the kitchen counter. 

Well, I was going to say ‘sorry’ for dissing your bad English…but like I said, you don’t deserve it. Anyways, what the hay is wrong with you? Forcing us to learn Japanese? If you do that, you might as well work on your crappy English!

Homura frowned. She did have a point, and communication was essential.

…Fine then. We’ll make a deal. If I practice my English, you must learn how to speak, read, and write in Japanese.

Rainbow Dash blinked. Wait, write? How the hay could she learn how to WRITE in Japanese?

Uhh…do you do that for English? Best keep it fair, after all.

…Of course I do. I am educated in my school to do all of that. It is a requirement, and one that I am quite skilled at…if I wasn’t speaking.

Rainbow held back a snicker. 

Right, right, your speaking is the only thing you suck at, right?

The apathetic Magical Girl’s lips curved upwards into a smirk.

…I already know that you’ll struggle with Japanese. I can’t wait to see you fail miserably.

Rainbow Dash winced. 

Uhh…’kay…Anyways, I guess I indirectly apologized, so…that means I’m off the hook! Guess I’ll be heading back over with Flutters, then.

Homura gave an inward sigh as she lifted a serving plate with a mug of cocoa and four grey glass cups of green tea off the counter, walking over towards the other Magical Girl.

…That was hardly an apology. Anyway, since you’re here you may as well make yourself useful. Carry this over to the table.

Rainbow blinked as her hands took on the weight of the serving plate, balancing each cup carefully on top. “W-whoa…what’s the green stuff in the glasses?”

Homura rose up on her toes to reach up towards another serving plate. “…Green tea. Good drink we Japanese use. It is perfect for health.” Fragmented sentences were always frustrating…if only this idiot wasn’t foreign!

“…’GREEN’ tea…? That sounds kinda…gross.” The rainbow Magical Girl made a face as her grip on the serving plate tightened. Gross or not, she couldn’t drop the plate or anything. “So…what’s the other serving plate for?”

The apathetic Magical Girl gave a knowing look in her eye. 

I imagine we’ll be having cake soon.

Rainbow Dash blinked. 

…Cake?

…You’ll see. I actually invited another guest to be joining us tonight.

The rainbow Magical Girl frowned. 

Uh, WHY is this the first I’ve heard about this?

…Must’ve slipped my mind. I invited this guest before approaching you two. We have much to discuss.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. Of course Home Run invited a stranger beforehand. Now she was putting Fluttershy through stranger danger. What kind of loyal friend was she?

“…What kind of…human is this guest?”

Homura blinked. 

…Human? That’s an interesting use of the word. Would it be anything other?

…Whatever, just…just answer the question already.

…Very well. This guest is another Magical Girl in this city; the owner of this territory. She is usually quite hospitable…when she finds reason to trust you. I hope to gain that trust in tonight’s meeting.

The rainbow Magical Girl nodded in understanding. 

…So it’s another Magical Girl. Alright then…bring it on. 

Homura blinked. 

Your approach to everything is very American.

…Huh? Ameri…can? What’s American?

…Are you not from America? Where people speak English?

The rainbow-haired girl stepped back out of surprise.

…Uh…Yeah, see…I speak English, but I’m not a native there. I just have some uh…relations, yeah!

Homura smirked.

…I have a feeling I won’t be the only one talking.

…Y-Yeah? W-Why’s that?

Royal blue eyes burned into magenta orbs. 

…Where exactly do you come from, foreigner? I’d suspect America, but your current reactions are telling me otherwise. 

Rainbow Dash gulped as she tore her eyes away from the other Magical Girl’s. 

…That…that’s not your business.

The apathetic Magical Girl’s smirk grew wider.

The tables have turned, it seems. You were the one wanting to know my business. Why is it such a problem to know yours?

The rainbow Magical Girl cringed inwardly. She really dug herself into a deep hole this time…but she couldn’t tell this crazy freak the truth…! If she knew she came from a land full of ponies and magic, she’d think she was crazy!

…The door bell ringing felt like a sound from Celestia herself as both Magical Girls’ attentions were taken away from the subject.

Homura gave a quick glance back at the rainbow Magical Girl, her eyes ever so harsh. 

…We finish this in the strategy room.

Rainbow Dash felt like she was losing strength in her legs, but she refused to let them collapse. She was still carrying a tray, anyway. She watched as the apathetic Magical Girl walked out of the kitchen back into the large white room, her gaze then moving from the doorway down towards the cups on top of the tray.

Steam was still rising from all cups, but she couldn’t leave them sitting for too long. 

The rainbow Magical Girl gave a deep sigh as she felt anxiety rise up within her. 

…Guess she should…take them over, then.

--

As Rainbow Dash entered the room with a tray filled with green tea and a mug of cocoa, she saw another human standing near the seats, talking to Home Run in what she believed to be more foreign stuff. 

A girl with blonde hair curled into tight ringlets slowly settled herself down at the request of Homura, wearing the same uniform as their host but with white shoes. Closing her eyes, the blonde allowed herself to take a deep breath before facing the trio.

…Fluttershy blinked as she observed the new stranger. W-Were they really expecting guests? If so, h-how many…? Oh, she didn’t want to bear so many new strangers all at once!

…Then again, she’d…been through much worse with Photo Finish and…the Gala…. 

The blonde blinked before she flashed a friendly smile towards the shy pink-haired girl, a light silky foreign sound escaping her lips. “…Konnichiwa.”

Reading Fluttershy’s complete and utter confusion, Homura promptly sat down next to her. “…Konnichiwa means ‘Hello’.” Her dialect twisting as she spoke.

Fluttershy gasped. “Ohh…Um…Ko…konnichi…wa.” She mumbled. Oh, she was so bad at this!

The blonde girl blinked. “…E-Eh?” Her gold-yellow eyes darted back and forth from Homura’s to the pink-haired girl. 

Homura gave a deep sigh.

…Do forgive her lack of Japanese. She and the other one I have here are foreigners who speak English.

The stranger gasped as her mind was invaded with Akemi Homura’s voice. She didn’t notice the pink-haired girl wincing as well. 

…Foreigners, Akemi-san? Why did you bring foreigners here?

Homura’s eyes narrowed. 

…Surely you’ve sensed the recent contracts that have been made here in Mitakihara City. It is your territory, after all. Or have you been too involved with your potential students to pay attention to anything else?

The blonde girl sighed as she clasped her hands together, Fluttershy staring in complete fascination before stopping short.

…Students?

Yellow-gold eyes widened as she turned towards the pink-haired girl. 

…Y-You are…! 

Fluttershy winced until she noticed the shock was short-lived.

…Of course. At first I decided to ignore the strange auras I’ve been sensing thinking it was another of your tricks, Akemi-san…but you’ve been recruiting Magical Girls behind my back? And from what I’m sensing, newly contracted ones as well…

Homura frowned. 

…They were willing to assist. I have something I wish to ask of you as well, Tomoe Mami, if you are willing to listen.

The stranger known as Tomoe Mami glanced back to meet the other with cold eyes. 

…What is it? Surely you don’t plan to waste my time? I sacrificed my own leisure time to come here, you know.

Fluttershy was about to open her mouth to say something until she heard footsteps approaching the trio.

The three girls stared at Rainbow Dash as she placed the serving tray on the table, a frown on her face. 

Not to break the tension and all…but your tea’s gonna get cold. And that’d be lamer than tea in general in my opinion.

Fluttershy grinned for the mood-saver. “…Thank you, Rainbow Dash. Um…what kind of tea…is it?”

Homura nodded as she took a cup and handed it to Fluttershy. 

…Green tea. It’s a Japanese traditional drink that’s often drunk in the same amounts as water is in America. 

Mami blinked as she too was handed a cup, her lips curling up into a small smile. 

Oh…well, thank you…Akemi-san, for your hospitality. It’s not what I expected, to say the least…

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she took her mug. Sniffing at it, it didn’t really…smell like cocoa, now that she thought about it. It smelled kinda like…

Hey, this isn’t cocoa, this is coffee! 

Homura simply sipped at her own cup of tea. 

…I was out. I figured you could drink coffee instead, or are you just a picky guest to please?

The rainbow-haired girl grumbled. 

No, I’ll drink the icky stuff. Just…really don’t care for it. It’s bitter as all hay!

Mami blinked as she took a luxurious sip. 

…’Hay’…? I don’t remember hay being used in that context before…is it a new English slang?

Homura nodded as her royal-blue eyes hooked onto shaky rose eyes. 

I don’t recall it being used that way, either. And I’ve heard it being used several times, actually.

Fluttershy faced her friend as she placed her cup of tea down on the table and stood up. “…Rainbow Dash, it’s okay. I’m…I’m sure we can trust them.” She gave Rainbow a small but confident smile.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “Mmm…” Was it really okay? She certainly didn’t trust them, especially that Home Run! And the blonde one was pretty sneaky herself…

…But…Fluttershy was willing to trust them. They told Cubes when she didn’t trust him, and the world didn’t end then. Who’s to say it’ll end if they tell these humans?

Mami narrowed her eyes as she listened intently. The two foreigners seemed to be hiding something from her. Akemi Homura wasn’t the only one with secrets, it seems. Maybe she should just leave. She sacrificed precious homework time to come here, after all.

Homura kept her gaze. Almost…she almost had it. Where exactly did these two irregulars come from? What was their purpose for being here with nowhere to go?

Fluttershy walked over and took her friend’s hand. “…It’s okay. If you don’t want to…”

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she tightened her grip on Fluttershy’s hand. “…Fine, we’ll tell you, so shut up.”

Mami cleared her throat. This girl seemed to lack manners…Much like…she did. Refusing to think back, she focused her eyes on the two foreigners in the room.

Fluttershy sighed. “…We’re…not normally…humans.” Everything seemed heavy around her, almost suffocating…just like when she has stage fright…

Homura and Mami both blinked in unison.

Rainbow Dash gave a heavier sigh and pulled both herself and her friend to sit on the opposite seat together. “…Like she said, we’re not humans. We’re…we’re actually ponies.”

“…Eh?”

> Chapter 9 - Alliance Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The apathetic Magical Girl couldn’t believe her eyes.

These foreigners before her, these…irregulars to everything she predicted, to what she knew…were actually…PONIES? Real live PONIES?

…You’re lying.

Fluttershy shook her head as she squirmed in her seat. 

N-No…it’s true. We…actually didn’t even…know how to…walk before, we…we learned from QB…

Mami promptly put her teacup back on the table to prevent risk of dropping it. 

E-Ehhh….!? H-how are you…human, then?! You…you’re really ponies?

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Uh-huh.” Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. After all…if they were reacting just about the pony part, imagine if they told them all about Equestria! Then they’d really have something to sleep on.

Homura shook her head. 

No, you’re lying. If you’re truly ponies, then you wouldn’t even know how to write properly, would you? How do you write?

Rainbow Dash cringed. 

With our teeth….Can’t really grip on a quill with our hooves, right Flutters?

Fluttershy nodded. 

Oh, yes. It’d be extremely difficult for us.

Mami slowly placed a hand on her head to nurse the upcoming headache she was starting to feel. Ponies, turning into Magical Girls? …Of all the absurdity…

…You know nothing about writing with your hand? Perhaps these foreigners wouldn’t be of much use to you after all, Akemi-san…

The timid Magical Girl looked downcast in contrast to her friend, refusing to look Akemi Homura in the eyes. Homura bit her lip in a moment of silence. When she approached them, they seemed normal enough, didn’t they? Did Kyuubey really make such a big impact for them? If so, then things could be troubling…but she needed as many Magical Girls as she could to achieve her goal. 

…We’ll have to teach them.

Mami blinked. 

…Eh? Akemi-san, what are you saying?

Homura turned to face her, royal-blue eyes meeting yellow-gold. 

…We’ll have to teach them how our world works. They must learn to blend in, or they risk making a mistake that could potentially expose us all. After all, they are still Magical Girls, even if they may not be originally human.

…I suppose you have a point, but…’we’ll teach them’…?


…As much as I despise to say this…I need your help, Tomoe Mami. This isn’t something I can do alone, and we only have so much time.

...You mean till that ‘Big Witch’, right?

Both Magical Girls turned to face the prismatic girl. Mami’s eyes filled with confusion as her eyes darted from rose to royal-blue. 

…’Big Witch’, Akemi-san…? 

She gasped.

Surely you can’t possibly mean…!

Homura promptly stood up from her seat and walked to the front of the room, her eyes focused on the rest of the Magical Girls in front of her. She hoped to pull out any more information from the foreigners before beginning the meeting…but that idiot already forced the transition. 

…That is exactly what I mean, Tomoe Mami. At the end of this month, Walpurgisnacht will arrive here in Mitakihara City.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy blinked in confusion while the veteran Magical Girl’s eyes widened in terror. 

…This month…? Sure…surely it isn’t so soon?

…It is. I have asked you to come here…because I would like your help in fighting it.

Mami bit her lip in a nervous habit, keeping any outer emotions in control. 

…To fight Walpurgisnacht…it’s suicide, you know. No Magical Girl has survived and lived to tell the tale.

Fluttershy gasped. “R-Rainbow…” she breathed out. This Big Witch known as Walpurgisnacht…could possibly kill them? She remembered the sensation of being held by those scary familiars in the TV Witch’s Barrier…but never did she come close to death.

Rainbow Dash frowned.

So, it’s a big Witch, big deal. What’s so scary about it? Does it like, look like some fire-breathing dragon or something?

Homura shook her head as she lifted a remote from a shelf underneath the top of the table and pressed a button with a diamond shape on it. 

All of a sudden, the empty screens hovering above them were filled with pictures of something that looked like it came out of a Nightmare Night story. A figure floated in the midst of a storm as it hung upside down from a piece of clockwork, its blue and white grand looking dress fluttering rapidly in the vicious winds. It held a smile as it laughed to no end, wearing a blue double-pointed hat.

To Rainbow, it looked like a blue crazy Diamond Tiara in a pretty dress and a phony princess hat. And it TERRIFIED her, even though she couldn’t take her eyes away. This figure danced in the air, causing buildings to rise up and fly in every direction, spitting out flames whenever she pleased at innocent victims in the distance.

Fluttershy whimpered as she forced herself to look away from the screen, instead hiding in the comfort of her fillyhood friend’s shoulder. That thing…its creepy smile reminded her too much of that Clown-Witch…

Mami gulped as she took her eyes off the screen, instead noticing the look in Homura’s eye. Was she…trying not to…cry? With nothing else to do, she took it upon herself to reach for the remote in the mysterious Magical Girl’s hand, which wasn’t that hard to do. Homura had practically given it to her before turning away from the screen herself.

…The screen faded back to nothingness as Mami proceeded to put the remote back where she remembered it being pulled from. Perhaps that was enough for now…

Rainbow Dash sighed as she patted her friend’s head. “Okay, Flutters…It’s all over now.”

Fluttershy sniffed as she lifted her head from Rainbow’s shoulder, letting out a sigh of relief from the sight of the empty screens. Normally that’d be weird…considering they were just floating around…but this was so much better than the other…

“…I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash…I…I grew scared again.”

Rainbow shook her head. “Hey, don’t sweat it. That was actually freaky for me, too.”

Homura took a deep breath before slowly letting it out, allowing herself to face her guests once more. 

…Anyway…Walpurgisnacht. No Magical Girl can defeat it alone. That is why I ask for your help in fighting it…Tomoe Mami, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.

The trio looked at the apathetic Magical Girl in the eyes.

…I need you all to be able to work together and fight Walpurgisnacht with me.

Mami gave a small smile.

…I understand. There must be a reason for this, I suppose…but I will be willing to fight it with you. Before tonight I found no reason to trust you…but now you have given me enough proof to believe you. 

…And besides, Mitakihara is our beloved city. I can’t let everyone here get hurt. 

Homura gave a small smile in return. A small one, but a smile none the less. 

…Thank you, Tomoe Mami.

...You're welcome. Although...I would like an explanation as to why you have footage of Walpurgisnacht later on.    

Homura nodded before she turned towards the other two. 

…And what are your answers?

Rainbow Dash bit her lip before looking into her friend’s eyes. Normally they’d be happy to help someone in need…but this task endangered their lives, even more so than if they decided to jump ship and run.

…They never did run away from any problems….

Fluttershy gulped at her friend’s gaze. Were they really going to do this? Was she prepared to possibly throw her life away to protect the people of this city? This city, which she couldn’t even pronounce the name of?

…Then again, Homura did give them a warm place to stay. 

“…I think we should do it.” The timid Magical Girl gave a small smile towards her friend. Maybe she was being crazy…but Homura needed help, and she couldn’t just leave her like that…

Rainbow Dash gave a deep sigh as she gave in to her friend’s sparkling hopeful eyes. “Okay, you win…What else could we be doing anyway? It’s not like we can go back home…and so far this city seems to be where we’re staying. Don’t want it destroyed at the end of the month, right?”

Homura blinked at the two in surprise.

Does that mean…you’re in?

Rainbow Dash grinned at the apathetic Magical Girl. 

…You better believe it. Be grateful. You haven’t really been the best host, after all.

…Thank you. This makes our chances of defeating it greater.

Fluttershy smiled. 

Thank goodness. It’d be horrible if none of us survives through this…We should gather as many Magical Girls as possible to fight with us! That is, if you all don’t mind the…crowd.

Mami giggled as her curly golden blonde hair bounced at the sides. 

The more the merrier, is what I’d like to say…But we’d all have to ration our Grief Seeds together so that we’ll all be in tip-top shape! It’ll be a pleasure working with you, Rainbow-san, and Fluttershy-san.

Rainbow Dash blinked at the weird additions to their names. 

Uhh…just Rainbow or Dash is fine. Some even call me RD. Just…I don’t do…whatever it is you just did.

Homura sighed. They really did know nothing about their culture.

…We use ‘san’ at the end of a person’s name as a formality. Tomoe-san is no exception.

Mami sweat-dropped with nervous laughter at the comment. 

Please do forgive me…It’s a…habit of mine I haven’t put much effort into breaking. I’ll try to resist if I can…but I do like how ‘Rainbow-san’ sounds as opposed to an informal way of addressing you.

Fluttershy smiled.

It’s…It’s alright with me if you include ‘san’. Rainbow Dash just…avoids formality as much as possible usually, unless it involves royalty. 

Homura blinked. 

There is royalty where you…ponies come from? Where is this place?

The rainbow Magical Girl sighed as she relaxed in her seat and crossed her legs. Well, there goes any secrets. “Yeah, we got royalty where we come from. We actually come from the land called Equestria, where the two sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rule over and raise the sun and moon.”

Mami held a puzzled expression as she struggled to translate the rainbow-haired girl’s words. 

…Equestria…? It sounds very fantastical, almost. Are all the creatures there ponies?

Fluttershy shook her head. “…Oh, no! We have griffons, dragons, and many other creatures as well.”

Homura’s eyes filled with a childish wonder before she quickly dismissed it. The last thing they needed to hear about was a magical paradise that may or may not have existed. And why would it matter if it did? That meant nothing to her and her objective.

“…Either way, you are Magical Girls now. You live here from now on.” She spoke as she twisted her dialect, sitting back down in her seat as she picked up her cup. “Anyway, let us finish our tea and…coffee.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Yeah, icky SMELLY coffee…Thanks a lot, by the way.” She grumbled as she lifted the mug of coffee towards her lips. Without another thought, she allowed some of the black bitter liquid to enter her mouth with a small tip of her head. 

The taste was just as disgusting as the smell was. She remembered Twilight liking coffee, but this just didn’t do well for her taste-buds. She gagged as she forced herself to swallow the revolting stuff. How did Twilight even DRINK this stuff? Or anypony for that matter!

Homura held a small smile as she took comfort in her drink, watching another’s misery. Normally she’d probably be more courteous towards her guests, and she was, but this one reminded her too much of another Magical Girl she hated. 

Those eyes of justice…

Rainbow shuddered as the liquid passed through. Even though she wasn’t one for manners, she did know you finished a drink you were offered. Though really, that Home Run probably would’ve done better giving her poison than this!

“…You got any sugar, or creamer for this thing? ‘Cause Tartarus is it bitter!” The rainbow Magical Girl complained as she prepared herself for another gulp. 

Mami held back a giggle as Homura simply shook her head and took another sip of her tea. “…I prefer mine bitter. I don’t care much for creamer.”

“Nooo…!” Rainbow groaned as she forced yet another gulp down her throat. Almost done…She was almost done, and then she’d be free from the nasty drink ever invented called ‘coffee”!

Fluttershy sweat dropped at her friend’s suffering while she had a comfortable drink for herself to drink. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash…” Really, that’s all she could say…unless…

The timid girl reached over and took Rainbow’s mug; leaving the girl surprised as she promptly chugged the contents. As Rainbow Dash sat there speechless, Fluttershy simply gave a small sigh before she put the mug down onto the table. 

“…That wasn’t so bad…” She gave another sigh of satisfaction. 

Rainbow dropped her mouth. “…You liked coffee this entire time?” Well of all the things to discover in a foreign land!

Fluttershy nodded as a small blush formed in her cheeks. “…Yes…a little…more than tea, actually. I just gladly accepted when Miss Homura offered.”

It was just too much. Mami let out a small giggle which then formed into full out laughter as she held her sides. Certainly she didn’t want to be rude…but it was hard to resist just from Rainbow Dash’s complaining.

Homura held a small smirk. 

Perhaps I should just offer coffee, then?

Rainbow Dash growled in frustration as her face grew bright red. 

No! No more coffee! I’m mad at you all!

Even Homura couldn’t resist from laughing after that.

Mami eventually fell into a small giggle as she then pulled out a large white plastic bag. 

Well, then…shall we have some cake? 

Fluttershy stopped short in confusion. 

Umm…cake, Miss Mami?

Rainbow Dash groaned as she felt the heat in her cheeks settle down to an easier temperature. ‘Right…cake. Home Run warned me of that.’ She thought to herself. 

Homura could only give a deep sigh. It was just as she predicted…

---

A door creaked open slowly as Akemi Homura slowly stepped in, the two foreign Magical Girls following suit. Reaching for what she knew was the light switch; she flipped the plastic tap upwards as light illuminated the room. 

Inside this room was a single large bed covered with a brown blanket over white sheets, a couple large pillows completing the set. Over next to the wall on the left was a blue dresser, matching the colors of the walls in this room. The overall layout was rather simplistic, even though the room was actually…unnecessarily spacious. 

“…Guest room. Not used very often. You will sleep here tonight.” Homura explained in what sounded like an improvement to her last attempts at speaking in English. 

Rainbow Dash put a hand to her chin. “…Why’s there only one bed in here? Are me and Flutters gonna have to share?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, I’ll be fine. I can just take the floor, if it’s really a problem to you.”

“Nah, you don’t need to do that. The bed’s already big enough, and you don’t really take up much space.” Her friend replied, a sense of modesty kicking in. Why did these only happen when it involved her friends? Was it her loyalty doing that?

The timid girl smiled. “…Okay. Let’s…get some sleep, then.” She was actually very tired from not having a moment to relax since she had that nightmare before everything even began…So much had happened since then…

Rainbow Dash nodded as she watched Homura shut the light off and walk out of the room, the door being pushed shut behind her. Guess they wouldn’t hear from her again until tomorrow, then…

“…Yeah, let’s get some shuteye.” She threw herself onto the bed after her friend; the weight of the day’s stress finally crushing down on her as she laid down looking up at the ceiling. They hadn’t gotten any sleep since yesterday morning. The Clown-Witch, Cubes teaching them to walk and leading them to the TV Witch, Fluttershy’s contract, meeting Home Run, the meeting where they met Mami…it all happened in just the space of TWO days… 

…Two days away from their friends. Just how many days has it been back in Equestria? Was Twilight arranging a search party by now? And if so, was there any trace to lead them here?

The rainbow glint from her red Soul Gem silenced any more upcoming questions. 

…Right…Of course. Even if they did eventually find them, they wouldn’t be able to return to their friends. They had another commitment now…and one that couldn’t be put off for the rest of their lives. Like Home Run said…they were Magical Girls. They couldn’t return to Equestria, so why look back to it?

…She wouldn’t be a pegasus again, even if she was a pegasus by heart. With a deep sigh, the rainbow-haired girl slowly closed her eyes, allowing sleep to overtake her…

…overtake her…

…Sleep already…

…Why aren’t you sleeping…?

…Hurry up and go to sleep…

With a frown, she opened her eyes once more. Screw it, she’d just sit here and roll around a little. 

…Why wasn’t she sleepy? She was wide awake through the two days…

…Coffee. That’s what did it. Looking over at Fluttershy’s sleeping figure, she sighed when she saw that her friend actually wasn’t sleeping at all. Like her, she was sitting there wide awake, anxiety building up inside her.

“…Flutters…?” Rainbow whispered.

The figure in front of her shifted until she saw the glint in her companion’s eyes. 

“Yes, Dashie…?” Fluttershy held a small smile as she relaxed in her new position; the moonlight shining through the window making it easier for her to see in the darkness of their new room. 

“…Remind me never to drink coffee again. This has GOT to be unhealthy.” 

The timid girl just giggled. “…It feels like a sleepover, doesn’t it? Like…those ones we’d have in the past?”

Rose eyes glazed over as memories of Equestria played through the rainbow Magical Girl’s mind.

“…Yeah.”

A creaking sound was heard as a white light poured into the room, a grey-black haired figure filling it as the two Magical Girls blinked and groaned at the sudden visit, sitting up on their bed.

Rainbow Dash grumbled. “…What now, Home Run?” She REALLY didn’t feel like dealing with her right now…

Homura simply raised an eyebrow at the question. “…Be ready. You will be enrolled into school. Tomoe-san and I will take care of the formalities.”

Fluttershy blinked. “S-school…?”

The rainbow-haired Magical Girl groaned in displeasure. “Great, a foreign school…?! I loooove what you’re doing here, Home Run…We don’t even know Japanese.”

The apathetic Magical Girl simply smirked. “…Tomorrow, we begin your lessons…Until then, good night.”

The door shut once more, leaving the two foreign Magical Girls in the darkness of their room; stunned expressions painted clearly on their faces. 

“…She isn’t serious, is she?” Rainbow Dash slammed her body back against the bed as she squished her head deep into the pillows, her hands covering her face in complete frustration. “Do we really need to learn Japanese?”

Fluttershy sighed as she slowly relaxed her own body back into the covers; a complete contrast to her hot-headed companion. “…I think we should, Dashie. After all, we would be able to communicate with the other humans here…I’d very much appreciate being able to talk to them.”

“But…But we’d have to wear that stupid frou-frou uniform! I mean, can you even imagine me in a CREAMY colored frilly annoying THING?” Rainbow rolled onto her side to face her friend in frustration, her legs getting twisted with the blanket under the covers.

Fluttershy sighed again as she felt a sense of heaviness overtake her. “…I…thought they were…cute.” Her lips curled up into a satisfied smile. “…Would…I look good in one…?”

The rainbow Magical Girl groaned. Of course Fluttershy was getting sleepy first. “…Ugh…Just…We’ll talk about this tomorrow or something, ‘kay?”

“Mmm hmm…”

“…Don’t forget, alright?! We’re talking with Home Run about this! She can’t just make us…GO to SCHOOL!”

“Dashie…sleep.” The timid Magical Girl mumbled as she allowed her tired body to rest. 

Rainbow Dash sighed deeply as she turned onto her back again, her rose eyes staring up at the ceiling…again. 

…

…

…How long did coffee usually keep you up for?

> Chapter 10 - A Ray of Hope
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

...Without realizing it, a whole week had passed.  

Princess Twilight Sparkle breathed a deep sigh with her mane in a frazzled mess as she laid with her muzzle against the table next to her many bookshelves, stacks of books towering over her as her eye twitched with dark heavy bags underneath.

…She had yet to hear from Princess Celestia on her findings from the hurricane’s site…

…And according to what resources she had available, there was nothing else that assisted in finding Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy.

How long was she just going to keep sitting there sulking like she was? She tried whatever methods she had, and research wasn’t getting her anywhere.

…She was out of options.

…But how? How could she be out of options? She always had some sort of answer…! 

The lavender alicorn frowned, her purple eyes narrowed as she slowly lifted herself from the table, forcing herself to the direction of the library doors, a large distance to cover since the castle was so big. Why’d the elements give her such a large place to live in, anyway? It was actually pretty uncomfortable without her friends to help fill in the space…

…Ever since their disappearance though, nopony was the same.

Pinkie Pie, being so close to Rainbow Dash, was absolutely devastated with the news of her disappearance, and was lacking in cheer despite always willing to make other ponies happy. It didn’t interrupt with her work overall, she still made ponies happy…but she just wasn’t fully herself when away from other ponies. 

Applejack also took the news pretty hard. At the beginning she was all focused on finding clues, but when she ran out of ideas that could help, she dedicated her time to working even harder with the farm-work in the meantime. She’d always be willing to lend an ear if any more information was found about the incident, though…

…but Twilight just had nothing to give for her.

Rarity was impacted as well with Fluttershy’s absence, seeing as the two always enjoyed going to the spa every Tuesday, but this week she had to go alone. It wasn’t easy keeping her composure then, the lavender mare imagined.

And Discord…Twilight couldn’t imagine how hard Fluttershy’s disappearance had taken a toll on the Lord of Chaos. For some strange reason, he was hardly around, spending most of his time in Princess Celestia’s company. The lavender mare wondered if it was a sense of comfort or not…

…unless he was needed for something important regarding the search!

Without a second thought, a rush of adrenaline filled the alicorn as she pressed into a gallop down the halls away from the library and down towards the throne room where the Cutie Map sat in the center, currently inactive since there was no mission to tend to lately. With a shove, Twilight bursted the doors wide open, a booming sound echoing through the large empty space the castle provided her.

“Spike! Spike~!” Twilight called out, her voice bouncing through the halls. 

A figure ran towards her from the tiny throne he was relaxing on, a small comic book flying to the side as Spike swiftly came to the need of his mentor.

“Yeah, Twiligh---Gah!” The young dragon yelled in surprise.

Twilight blinked as she cocked her head to one side in a confused manner. “…What’s the matter, Spike?”

“…Well…” Spike started. 

To put it simply, Twilight looked absolutely terrible. The heavy bags under her eyes and her slumped posture showed that she had been relying a little too much on coffee to keep her awake. Her mane looked like a nightmare Rarity wouldn’t dare dream of having, with all the split ends going everywhere like they always did when the lavender mare got especially stressed. Like for the entirety of the week, in this case.

…Best to try and sugarcoat it. “…Don’t you think you should get some sleep?” The dragon finished with a sweatdrop as he scratched the back of his scales.

Twilight frowned. “What, sleep?! No! I wanted to know if you heard anything from Princess Celestia yet!” She hissed.

Spike cringed. “No, I haven’t gotten anything since you asked almost two hours ag---Mmmm! MmmmFFF!!!” His throat began to bulge suddenly as the dragon felt a sensation he couldn’t control without releasing, his back being forced back by the impact as he released a huge firey belch of green dancing flames, his mentor jumping back in surprise as a wrapped piece of parchment flew out, along with a large snake like figure that swam through the flames as if it was a dance partner.

In fact, this snake like figure was a hybrid of many creatures.

“D-Discord?!” Twilight sputtered as she stepped backwards onto her hind legs for a second, a sense of surprise overtaking her. 

“Well! Quite a trip, going by dragon fire! What fun!” The Lord of Chaos beamed as he flashed a wide grin at the dragon and alicorn present in the room.

Spike groaned as he cradled his tummy. “Gross…don’t…bleh…! Don’t do that again!”

The lavender alicorn shook herself out of her stupor. “Anyways, Discord, what are you doing here? Weren’t you with Princess Celestia?”

He shrugged. “Well, it took quite a while to put paw and claw together in order to find it, but those samples you sent the ol’ Sun Butt were actually something pretty special!” He clasped the parchment in his claws and held it in front of Twilight. “You’re all summoned to see Celestia in the Canterlot Castle immediately, because we’ve found where Rainbow Dash and dear Fluttershy have ended up!”

Spike frowned. “And you came along just to deliver that message…? Yuck…”

The Lord of Chaos frowned. “No, I’m here to personally pick you up. There’s no time to dilly dally when Fluttershy’s stranded in another dimension away from here!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “…Stranded…in another dimension?! Where are they, Discord?!”

Spike winced as he felt the chaotic presence wrapped around both him and his mentor, a snapping sound ringing through both of their ears as Twilight suddenly found herself in the middle of the Canterlot throne room, guards and alicorn Princesses all present and ready for something.

In fact, looking closer, the lavender alicorn could see that all alicorn Princesses were there, even Cadence who was normally looking after the Crystal Empire.

“C-Cadence…?!” Twilight blinked. 

“…What ‘n tarnation is goin’ on here?!” Turning around, Twilight could see that she and Spike weren’t the only ones transported to the throne room through Discord’s power.

…The rest of her friends were there as well.

Rarity faced her lavender friend with a puzzled expression. “…Whatever is going on, Twilight? Did they find something regarding Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, darling?”

“Dashie and Fluttershy?! Omigosh, where?!” Twilight smiled at the sight of her excited pink and poofy friend. Pinkie Pie could always find a way to be excited, and this was certainly something to be excited about!

Twilight turned towards her own mentor and long companion, her multicolored mane flowing with elegance as she stood with a soft but bold expression back at her. 

“…Princess Celestia…” Her voice waved with uncertainty. “Discord said himself…that you found out where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are…”

Applejack held the pink earth pony’s muzzle shut.

“…Is this true…?” Twilight finished, her eyes shaking as she faced what could be the truth. Did they really find out where they went? …A different dimension?

Celestia gave a frown. “…Yes, this is true…but this world they have ended up in is not a cheerful one, my little ponies, and it was not easy tracing back the remains of the portal coordinates you referred to me. I needed the help of Discord just to get started, and we had limited time before such remnants would eventually fade away.” 

The others faced the Lord of Chaos as he sat with a firm expression beside the other alicorns, more behaved than they had ever seen him. Fluttershy’s disappearance had certainly hit him hard.

“…But we have tracked it down, finally, to a world that thrives on disharmony and anarchy.” 

Twilight pursed her muzzle tightly together without a sound as the rest remained silent, hoping for a chance to see their dear friends again.
The older alicorn closed her eyes. “…Even we do not know what one would find within.”

All eyes were on Luna as she stepped forward beside her sister. “With all our strengths, we hath managed to open such a portal to this dimension, but it requires much concentration and dedication. We cannot manage Equestria if we are to maintain this portal, and Twilight…”

The lavender mare met her deep blue-green eyes.

“…You must keep Equestria safe while we remain with the portal.”

Applejack frowned as she approached the array of princesses. “Wait, if Twilight’s gonna take care of Equestria…then who’s going through this portal ya’ll maintainin’? Somepony’s gotta go.”

Twilight nodded, once more facing Celestia.

Princess Celestia opened her eyes, what was usually so wise were filled with complete uncertainty as she faced the rest of the group. “…Applejack, you will go on through this portal.”

The orange freckled earth pony blinked in surprise.

“…You will take Pinkie Pie and Rarity with you on your quest. You three must go through this portal, and retrieve Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy from the depths of this dark dimension.”

Spike faced the three mares, all tense and unsure of the tasks before them as they faced each of the royal members of Equestria. 

Wow, what a way to pressure a pony.

“…Before Twilight does anything involving work, we should make sure she gets some sleep.” The dragon suggested as he approached the white alicorn. “She’s kinda been beating herself up day and night since the beginning of the week.”

Twilight scowled at the thought. “Spike, I’m just fine! Don’t you see I have plenty of work to do?”

Celestia gave a small smile. “…Listen to him, Twilight. You have exhausted yourself. Rest up for now, and you can start your duties when you have rejuvenated yourself.”  

“B-But, Princess…! What about my friends…? Are they starting after, too?” The lavender mare frowned, her eyes filled with a sense of desperation.

Cadence shook her head, her mane swaying with her movement. “…No, Twilight. If they are to help Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy…they have to start now, and stop wasting any more time. Already a whole week has passed, after all…”

…There was nothing she could do. That sense of helplessness again…

…But she could do something. She needed to take care of Equestria. 

Twilight faced her mentor with a tired expression. “…I understand, Princess. I’ll rest for tonight, but…can I say goodbye to my friends before they go?”

Celestia smiled. “…Of course you can.”

Turning away from the other alicorns, purple eyes met blues and green, wavering and tearful. 

“…I know you girls will be alright. Be safe…” She breathed, her throat parched with exhaustion and worry. “…Bring the other two back.” She smiled.

Applejack nodded. “…Alright, Twilight. We won’t be gone long, just…good luck to you as well, sugarcube. Ah know you’ll be needin’ it.”

Pinkie gave a soft smile. “Don’t cry, Twilight. It’ll be okay…We’ll come back with Dashie and Fluttershy, and then we’ll all have a party together, just like old times!”

Rarity wrapped her hooves around the lavender alicorn. “…Do take care, darling, and don’t ever let your mane get like this ever again, please!” 

Twilight chuckled lightly. “Alright, I won’t, just…Pinkie Promise you’ll come back to me safely?”

The three mares smiled.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” They said in unison, each movement more ridiculous than the other in a way to try and outdo each other, Pinkie being the most of course.

…Nopony ever breaks a Pinkie Promise!

Spike stood by Twilight as he looked up at his mentor. Her purple eyes grew misty as she watched a swirling light appear in front of the three from all alicorns’ magic, their movements growing shaky as they each tried to make contact with the portal.

Applejack was supposed to go first. With a gulp, the orange pony felt a bead of sweat as she lifted a hoof towards the swirling magic in front of her, its greens and blues and pinks and blacks mixing into one big…hogmush, and she was supposed to step in that mess…Closing her green eyes, the mare allowed her body to fall forward into the pool of light, the magic surrounding her from her hooves all the way up to her ears as she felt her form beginning to reshape anew…

Rarity flinched as soon as the swanky farm-pony was out of sight. Next was…her turn, perhaps…unless…

“…Pinkie Pie, darling, did you want to…go in before I do?” It was probably rather rude to ask such a thing, but she couldn’t really help being nervous about going in something that would most likely swallow her whole.

Pinkie Pie gave a wide grin as she felt excitement fill through her. Through there was Dashie and Fluttershy, she’d be able to see them again!

“Don’t mind if I do~!” The pink earth pony jumped in a perfect dive through the portal, her body surrounded by ripples until there was nothing left for the fashionista to see except the remaining ripples that shifted from the momentum of her body shooting through. 

Now it was her turn, whether she liked it or not. 

Taking a deep breath, Rarity took a moment to look back at her studious friend and lovely friend Spike as she felt her body move forward, the force of the portal enveloping her as the last thing she saw before she was surrounded in a white light was the tears slowly falling down her Spikey-Wikey’s cheek.

…From now on, it was their responsibility to bring Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy back where they belonged.

Should be easy, right?      

> Chapter 11 - The First Day of School
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stacks of heavy foreign books littered the front of the bed by the hot-tempered Magical Girl’s feet, a list filled with checkmarks held in her peach colored hands as her skin was lit by the light pouring through the window just at the right of the bed. 

...They were given only a week to figure out the Japanese language before they were going to be thrown into that creamy-uniform trap of a school. Only a week since they started practicing their greetings and small phrases, hiragana and katakana characters… 

And Rainbow thought that Flight School was more than enough. This was egghead central. If it wasn’t for her ability of flight and being able to take things in, she’d surely be doomed. And even then, she could only have her wings when she was transformed, which was a huge letdown.

Why were they even being forced to go? They were done with school already!

…Or at least, that’s how it’d be if they were still in Equestria. With a deep sigh, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl threw herself back into the squishy comforts of the mattress their host so graciously donated when she offered her and Fluttershy a place to stay. The sensation only caused the girl to frown. 

…Certainly was no cloud, but it’d have to do.

It was just as Home Run said. They lost any chance of returning as soon as they entered a contract with Cubes. Now two days ago was just going to be a memory of how things used to be.

…Things had started awesome that day, too. 

Before she was thinking of making that trip to Cloudsdale, she had arranged with Pinkie to work together on a prank against Applejack while she was busy, and the two buddies had a blast painting their cutie marks on each of the farm-pony’s apples.

Ponies usually knew it was them, anyway.

Rainbow Dash chuckled at the distant memory. 

The door slowly swung open as the rainbow-haired girl saw another figure with a wave of pink hair and a white and green dress enter inside the room, her lips shaped into a soft smile.

The other just smiled back. “…Hey, Flutters. Konnichiwa, or something like that.” 

Fluttershy approached her as she walked in, a tray of what looked like a batch of cookies and a mug filled with a brown liquid. 

“Konnichiwa, Dashie. I actually went out today with Miss Homura to the supermarket today.” She grinned as she lifted the tray towards her companion’s direction. “I…actually convinced her to think of you a little since you’ve been so bummed with characters lately.”

Rainbow took a whiff as she quickly put the checklist down and took the tray with both hands. “Wow, thanks, Flutters! You actually managed to get cocoa for me, sweet!” She laughed, a wider grin forming on her face. 

The pink-haired Magical Girl giggled as she curled her fingers and put it to her lips. “Don’t thank me; it was Miss Homura’s yen that got it for you. I just gave a little push is all…”

The rainbow Magical Girl put the tray onto the bed. “So…” She looked back towards her friend. “…How did that go again, the whole ‘thank you for the food’ thing…?”

Fluttershy blinked. “O-Oh, um…I think it was…’Itadakimasu’…I think…”

She nodded. “R-Right, right…” An intake of breath as she put her hands together in a straight form in front of her. “…Itadakimasu!”

Fluttershy joined in as well. “Itadakimasu…” She whispered as she watched her friend reach over for a cookie. Well, actually it wasn’t a cookie; it was a rice cracker…according to Miss Homura, anyway. 

A crunching sound was heard as the rainbow haired Magical Girl sunk her teeth into the treat, her expression unchanging upon contact with cracker. The taste wasn’t overly sweet or spicy…In fact…it was a little bland for her taste buds. Why did Japanese stuff have no substance? 
Where was the surge of yummy juiciness? 

She rolled her eyes as she picked up the mug of cocoa and put the hot beverage to her eager lips. 

…Yes, that was it! That surge of chocolaty goodness, just flowing all throughout her throat. Thanks to the rice cracker having no taste or whatever, the chocolate dominated her mouth, and conquered her for a few seconds before she always made a comeback by swallowing it and taking it where it couldn’t fight back any longer.

The Dash always managed to beat her chocolate.

Fluttershy smiled as she swallowed the portion she took of her cracker. “…What do you think of the rice crackers, Dashie?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Meh, it’s almost like I’m eating nothing but crunchy. Practically tasteless, if you want my harsh opinion of it.”

…The other Magical Girl sweatdropped. “…I suppose…I actually kind of like them. They don’t really have a heavy taste, yes…but they’re crunchy and satisfying enough that I could eat them all day…But I’m not going to force you to like them if you don’t want to…That’s just your opinion, same with the coffee.”

“You got that right. I’ll eat ‘em, sure, but they’re kinda not my thing.” She nodded as she took another bite of her cracker, her body slouching across the bed beside the many foreign language books she unfortunately had to become acquainted with, her prismatic hair spilling down the pillows.

In fact, she had to get used to a lot of things lately. Home Run, for one, was an early bird, which meant that everypony had to be an early bird, whether they liked it or not. 

…Rainbow Dash was no early bird.

The rainbow-haired Magical Girl yawned as she brushed the crumbs that spilled onto her shirt from the cracker away, her magenta eyes sleepy and a little stressed. “…Did she really have to make us wake up this early, though…? I never even woke up this early unless I was taking care of a heavy weather load, snow or something…” She grumbled.

Fluttershy gave a short sigh. “Yes, Dashie…this morning we have to get our uniforms in order to be ready for tomorrow, and we just went over to pick them up today. Yours is in the other room, and…Miss Homura said for us to try them on, make sure everything fits…”

Rainbow made a face. “Guh, that creamy frou-frou thing’s already here? And we gotta try them on today? Come on, Home Run!” She whined as she rolled onto her stomach and wrapped her arms around the nearest pillow. “I’m not putting on that thing!”

The pink-haired Magical Girl frowned. “Dashie…” 

“No! You can’t make me!”

“Dashie…” She warned.

…

...The rainbow-haired Magical Girl gave a deep sigh into the soft pillows. “…I’ll…deal with it.” She grumbled into the fabric. “…Does that make you happy?”

Fluttershy grinned. “Yes.”

---

Birds chirped in the distance as the four Magical Girls stood together, their bodies shaded by the many trees that decorated the streets of Mitakihara City heading towards the school. Around them, a sea of cream colored and white and black uniforms walked by, each minding their own business and wanting to get to where they needed to be. 

In the many different arrays of hair colors that ranged from black to pink, blue to green, browns to whites, Rainbow Dash could do anything but blending in and not attracting a crowd as she sat there, her hand clenching the hem of the black plaid-patterned short skirt she wore as the rest of her was shut up in a trap of cream colored blouse with frills along the bottom and puffy sleeves. The red ribbon tied across the white undershirt into a bow almost felt like a straightjacket to the pegasus while she stood there uncomfortably at the center of everyone’s attention. It was kinda hard to show off when you could hardly understand what people were actually saying about you.

…She usually thrived in the spotlight.

Fluttershy smiled as she placed a hand against her friend’s shoulder, causing the rainbow-haired Magical Girl to wince. “…It’s okay, Dashie. We’ll be okay…” She whispered softly to her companion.

Akemi Homura cleared her throat before she faced the other three. “Are you ready?” She spoke in a foreign sound, the voice monotone yet still holding a chime to the ears. She was speaking Japanese now, a test she conceived for the other Magical Girl ponies to step up their game a little.

Fluttershy nodded. “…Hai…” Despite her previous moments, the timid pink-haired girl was actually getting better as she went along, though the apathetic Magical Girl wasn’t making things any easier for the both of them. They had to stay up all night remembering the Japanese characters for three days, and during the morning they were put through the task of writing the correct stroke orders onto a parchment of paper. 

…They really had no other option.

“…And you? Are you ready for this?” Homura turned to face the prismatic girl, her eyes calm and collective, unlike the Magical Girl addressed.

Avoiding eye contact, Rainbow could only grumble as she fidgeted in her uniform. “…Hai…” She mumbled, a small blush forming on her cheeks. This was straight out humiliation!

Tomoe Mami beamed as she placed her hands together. “Alright then, Fluttershy-san and Rainbow-san! Let us be going then!”

The four started towards the school without any further conversation, joining in the many hordes of uniforms as they grew closer to their destination…

…Mitakihara Middle School.

Rainbow blinked. In front of her, a trio of girls giggled and laughed as they walked together, but what really caught her attention was the white fluffy creature wrapped around the shoulder of a pink pigtailed girl with red ribbons. 

She grinned. “Hey, Fluttershy, it’s Cubes!” She faced her companion who also smiled brightly at the sight of the adorable creature.

Fluttershy gave a small squeak of delight at the sight of her fluffy furry friend. “I’m so glad to see that QB is still around.” The four stopped for a moment. “…I wonder who that girl he’s accompanying is? Is she also a Magical Girl?”

Mami shook her head. “Kaname-san certainly has the vast potential to become one, but she has yet to find a suitable enough wish for her contract.” 

Rainbow blinked. “Huh? Why not?”

The veteran gave a small smile. “It’s actually fine that she hasn’t done so yet. She should be able to take her sweet time in thinking about it. Our kind of life isn’t one that should be rushed into without second thoughts.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I suppose…but wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be companions? That way, we wouldn’t have to risk our lives so much because somepo-“ She stopped for a moment. “…Somebody…would be able to cover for you.”

Homura frowned at the thought. “…Someone with her personality shouldn’t even contract in the first place.” Rainbow could’ve sworn she saw her eyes were showing…pain? “Vast potential can be an advantage, but too much power would only make it harder to keep one’s Soul Gem clean.”

Fluttershy frowned in confusion. Advanced Japanese was being used somewhere in this conversation. “…Hai.” She agreed out of habit, hoping it was somehow the right answer to give.  

Mami pursed her lips. “Mmm…perhaps you may have a point, Akemi-san…With Walpurguisnacht approaching, we need to conserve the amount of Grief Seeds we use. In the meantime, we should be heading inside about now. The other students are most of the way inside, and we still need to drop by the office to give paperwork.”

Rainbow blinked. What the hay were these foreign Japanese eggheads even saying?   

Homura nodded. “Yes. I have everything ready. Do you remember what to explain to the teacher?”

The veteran gave a smirk. “Fluttershy-san is my cousin who has lived in America her whole life, but she's a year younger than me, correct?”

The other apathetic Magical Girl nodded. “And Rainbow Dash is my cousin who has never lived in Japan, but grew up in America. Her hair alone should give students the hint that she is, in fact, a foreigner who knows little Japanese.”

Mami frowned. “But still, where exactly did you learn how to forge legal papers, Akemi-san? Have you been involved in shady businesses without my knowledge?”

The other only narrowed her eyes. “…That’s my business. And it worked out in our favor, did it not, Tomoe-san?”

Fluttershy held onto her companion’s sleeve as the two were led through a building filled with glass windows as far as the eye could see. By looking left, she saw what looked like a full class, each either paying attention to the board in front of them as a teacher seemed to be shouting at the top of her lungs, or some were doing a couple sketches here and there, not paying attention at all. 

That pink pigtailed girl was one of the latter, QB relaxing rather contently on top of her dark blue uniformed school bag just beside her desk. 

Fluttershy gave a small smile.

…Hello, QB. It’s very nice to see you again after that stressing first day.

The creature opened its eyes, making contact with the figure just beyond the glass with her blue eyes. 

…A pleasure to see you again as well, Fluttershy. Will you be enrolling, by any chance? 

She smiled.

We are, as a matter of fact. Miss Homura has surprisingly been very gracious to us. Even now, though…I can’t understand why she would hate you so.

Kyuubey closed its eyes.

Akemi Homura does not agree with me contracting Kaname Madoka. Just before I met you two in that Sweet Witch’s barrier, she had acted violent towards me in the mall. Back then, Mami did not agree with her methods. It seems as if that has changed.

...Miss Homura showed her this big witch called Walpurgisnacht. She…she had footage of it.

It blinked.

Is that so? I do not know how she managed to retrieve such valuable information, but it is only natural that Mami would believe her if Akemi Homura presented such a piece of evidence.

Fluttershy pursed her lips as they were led to the door that was just outside of the same room QB was in.

…QB, why must Walpurgisnacht occur? Must we really risk our lives and everything we’ve achieved so far?

Kyuubey shook its head.

There must be an outlet for all the despair that plagues this world, Fluttershy. Walpurgisnacht is a combination of many beings of despair put together into a physical being. If you do not wish to lose what you have achieved…then perhaps Kaname Madoka could aid you in your battle. She would surely be strong enough to defeat Walpurgisnacht. If she contracts with me, that is…

Fluttershy shook the voice from her thoughts. Was contracting this Madoka really all that important to QB? She was a normal human who was trying to live her life…she most likely had a family…The timid Magical Girl couldn’t help but look in the direction of the pink pigtailed girl, uncertainty in her eyes.

…There really was no reason for her to pursue this life at all. Then again…if Rainbow was never in danger…would she have contracted as she did? She still had the desire to protect her, but would she have had the courage to go through with it? 

The four girls remained in silence as a voice, muffled as it was, could be heard through the door rather clearly.

“…Now,” It was fluent Japanese. “With that settled, we have two new transfer students today, relatives of a couple students of our school. As such, the staff has requested that these two students help the poor dears learn more about our school, so be nice when they come in, alright?”

…A chorus of acknowledgements. 

“…Right, now then! Akemi-san, Tomoe-san, we’re ready! Please come in!” The teacher’s cheerful voice rang through the classroom, her short brown hair bouncing with her every movement.

Homura nudged the two foreign ponies. “…It’s time.”

The door slid open slowly as the group of students eagerly awaited the arrival of these new students. From the opened doorway, the class could see a girl with beautiful prismatic hair, unlike anything they’d ever seen before, walk into the classroom, her posture rather stiff before she quickly shifted into a more slouched position, a firm expression on her face as she faced the multitudes in front of her.

It’s okay, she’d practiced this almost a million times before. She had it down!

“I’m Rainbow Dash! Pleased to meet you!” She grinned at her audience as the room was filled with fascinated eyes and whistles from a throng of guys as she did a quick bow before facing the crowd once more. 

Yup, totally had that down! She was speaking Japanese! And they loved her!

But she wasn’t the only one in the spotlight. With a smile, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl held out a hand towards the doorway, where another girl with dazzling pink wavy hair walked in, her posture being meek and rather uncomfortable. With an encouraging rub on the shoulder from her friend, the timid Magical Girl faced the crowd in front of her. All the stares, the whistles…the attention…!

“I-I-I’m…F-F-Fluttershy, p-p-please take care of me!” She bowed low, glad to no longer be staring at the students in front of her as they clapped and cheered for their arrival. She spoke the language okay, she was happy about that…but the crowd was just too much.

The teacher smiled at the two. “I am Kazuko-sensei. Your seats are over there.” She pointed towards the direction each of them were supposed to go in strong English. Without another word, Rainbow Dash watched her life-long fillyhood friend go in a separate direction from her to a vacant seat just next to a blue-haired girl that sat diagonally from Kaname Madoka just up front in the middle of the classroom. 

Rainbow Dash was sent to sit a little further up, closer to where she noticed Home Run was actively taking her own seat in the class. Being ahead of her friend felt a little weird, but she could roll with it…

…She just wished they didn’t have to wear such frou-frou uniforms.

Fluttershy blinked as the blue-haired girl leaned towards her direction. 

“…So…how do you like Japan?” She asked in a clumsy attempt at English, her face ending in an awkward smile.

The timid Magical Girl smiled. “…It’s…different.” She whispered. “…Nothing like America.”

She grinned. “Really? I’m Miki Sayaka. Nice to meet you!” She whispered back. 

…Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all…

The rest of the day turned out to be quite eventful. As soon as free period began, the two ponies were surrounded by multitudes of questions, each more difficult to answer than the first as boys and girls were eager to find out more about these foreign beauties that graced their school.

As the crowd got louder and Fluttershy felt more pressured, all went silent as a pink pigtailed girl made her way to the center of the circle. 
Kaname Madoka.

The girl sweatdropped as she faced the students. “Ano…don’t you think you’re scaring them? They don’t look so relaxed with you pressuring them like this…Please, let’s all give them some space?” She ended the sentence in what sounded like a question to the crowd.

Rainbow didn’t know what she said entirely, but eventually the crowd died down suddenly, and she found that she could breathe again without having to hear another Japanese question.

Madoka giggled. “Gomen, they really like transfer students…” She said, her dialect twisting into a strange accent as she attempted her own effort in speaking English to the two.

Rainbow nodded as she looked up at the girl. “Arigatou…they were actually starting to really bug me. Thanks for the breather.”

The pigtailed girl shook her head. “Iya, Iya, do not worry about it! You both just looked so troubled…I wanted to help.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Arigatou…” She said, her voice soft and a little meek.

Why didn’t Miss Homura want her contracting? She was such a sweet girl…but she had too much power to maintain a healthy Soul Gem? Why?

The blue-haired girl known as Sayaka walked over. “Madoka, did you wanna go eat lunch?” Noticing the two foreigners, she looked over with a grin. “Hello!” She spoke in English.

Rainbow blinked at the newcomer. “Uh, hey. How’s it going?” 

Madoka nodded. “Mmm, let’s go eat on the roof as usual, ne?” Looking back towards the two, she gave a bright smile. “Take care, ne?” 

Fluttershy nodded as she felt her face flush from embarrassment. “Oh, um…Arigatou!” 

Without another word, the pink and blue haired girls ran out of the room, eager to continue with their own lives. They most likely did have their agendas, after all.

…Fascinating that neither Miki Sayaka nor Kaname Madoka understood that you two are also Magical Girls.

Rainbow jumped at the sudden intrusion into her head. 

H-Hey, Cubes?! Really?! Ask a mare before you invade her head!

Fluttershy nodded as she also got over the initial shock.

It’s really…um, inconvenient, if you could ask…if you want to…Can that Sayaka girl also become a Magical Girl? Does she even know about it?

Kyuubey nodded. 

I had the opportunity to contact both girls in the mall shortly before I met you two. They are acquainted with Tomoe Mami, and are both in the process of finding their wishes.

Rainbow frowned. If things went Cubes’ way, there’d be a lot of Magical Girls to fight the big bad Witch…but if they also had to conserve Grief Seeds, wouldn’t too many be a bad thing for all of them?

If it put Fluttershy’s life on the line, then it definitely was.

…Those two girls shouldn’t make a contract if their lives weren't in danger. 

Yup, that’s what she was gonna roll with. And she’d try to keep it that way.

‘…For once, Home Run and I have a common goal.’ She thought to herself.

…Scary.

> Chapter 12 - Honesty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite their connected beliefs to reach their dear friends, Applejack felt uneasy as her every being was being twisted and stretched out of order, her mind swimming with uncertainty as she spun in various directions. Where used to be stability now felt like a constant tunnel of distorted lights, gravity taking no part in supporting her on her trip.

The farm pony narrowed her eyes as a wave of dizziness overtook her. 

….Is this what Rainbow and Fluttershy felt? Ah don’t like it, wha…what in tarnation is goin’ on…?

As she continued her journey, she felt a presence pass by her at a faster speed, a pink distorted blur being pulled into another direction different from the orange mare until it escaped her sights completely.

“…Pinkie Pie----!!!“ Her voice rung out in layers as it unraveled itself as soon as it left her mouth, instead sounding like an echo of garbles. Her party-pony friend wasn’t able to receive her call before she flew out of view.   

Looking at the opposite direction beside her, she saw what looked like a distorted white and purple blur being pulled into yet another separate current, away from the sight of the confused earth pony.

“Rarity---!!!” Applejack tried again, her voice again releasing through the currents as just a sea of garbles, making the trip through the portal that much more nauseating as well as frustrating.

She didn’t really understand what was going on, but she did know one thing for sure. Pinkie and Rarity were separated from her, most likely in another area in this new chaotic world. 

…She was on her own for now.

As her emerald green eyes slowly closed out of exhaustion, her body was engulfed in a pool of endless white as she felt the currents coming to a slower pace…

…Until she was suddenly assaulted by a large display of colors as her back slammed into the cold hard ground, letting out a huge yelp as she hit impact. “Gah!!!” Her blonde mane spilled out of her brown worn-out Stetson across the strangely green and hard floor as Applejack moaned out of discomfort as she slowly brought her right fore-hoof to her head…

…Wait. The mare’s eyes opened wide as she brought her fore-hoof away from her head and into view. 

“W-wha…Land sakes, what the hay happened to mah---?!” Applejack stammered as she stared more closely at what was supposed to be her fore-hoof. Where an orange hoof used to be now appeared to be a peach colored thing with five claw-like stubs, nothing like a hoof should be. Feeling a heavy sense of doubt, the mare quickly checked her other hoof. 

…It was also turned into the same claw-like thing. 

“Now if this was somethin’ Discord did as a prank…” She warned as she looked down from the claws to a fabric of green and white, the rest almost out of view except for what looked like cowboy boots just at the edge of her vision. Maybe things would be clearer if she wasn’t just laying on her back. 

Rolling over onto her stomach, the mare frowned at her predicament as the action only made looking at herself a little harder. She’d have to lift herself up with these claws. Slipping the peach claws underneath the stomach, Applejack took little effort in forcing herself up onto her rump, fore-claws in the air. 

She gulped. “…Whatever this is, it ain’t no pony, that’s for sure!” She declared as she began to take in her surroundings. 

The entirety of the place looked like some kind of children’s book with the crayon-like scribbled walls, and well, multiple kinds of crayons just stuck into the ground itself. Not to mention, the place was raining crayons from the sky even! Despite that, the place was mainly green and all kinds of weird. Something wasn’t right about it…and it sure was no Ponyville…

Despite that, maybe there was something okay about the place. Like, what if there were locals she could try and reason with? 

Oh, her hat was just beside where her head was earlier. Figures…

Shifting her body around to face the brown Stetson, the farm pony(?) bent over while reaching a claw out towards the hat, reaching as a dog would with its paws in order to grab onto the Stetson and placed it back on her head. Good thing she often watched Winona take care of stuff.  

Speaking of which, her ears weren’t exactly tickling the hat as it usually did…Definitely no pony. The mare shuddered at the realization.

But that wasn’t the big issue at the moment. First things first, the locals! Was this place always full of crayons and obscurity like it looked? How could anypony survive in this place? 

And first of all, how could she even move in whatever she was? She figured out how to turn around and grab and all, but that wasn’t gonna be enough if she was goin’ to get by somehow in this crayon place. She needed to move out of the area as soon as possible if she was gonna get anywhere.

“Umm…alright…” She muttered before taking a deep breath. “These claws can serve as mah fore-hooves…and uh…whatever Ah’m sitting on right now can be…” She lifted the back half of her body, sticking her rump up into the air as she lifted herself up from the ground. Looking behind her, she smiled with satisfaction at her work. “Right, like this ah can move like a regular pony!” She grinned as she slowly started to move forward as a pony should, albeit quite wobbly. Turns out her back hind-hooves were now extra longer than her fore-hooves, and that was knocking her off-balance. 

“…Ah think Ah need a reflection or somethin’…” Applejack muttered as she continued on her way, a large green path of crayons in her direction. “…Just what the hay am Ah…?” 

A sudden shift of movement in the distance caused the mare to stop short in her tracks. In front of her, the weirdest looking thing was just floating in the distance, sitting on some gray thing. It looked like the rest of the place, like some drawing made out of crayon, but this thing was moving around. 

Blinking, Applejack shrugged. …Maybe it’s friendly? After all, she didn’t really know what the locals here looked like, and it seemed to be harmless… 

The scribbled crayon creature caught eyes with the mare, its tongue constantly out in a playful expression as it phased in and out of view as it sat there, keeping a close eye on the farm pony.

In fact, it seemed to inch a little closer. 

The mare gave a small smile as she leaned forward to look closer at the creature. “Hey, there, sugarcube. Ya’ got any buddies ‘round here?” It seemed to be alright…

The creature said nothing as it phased in and out, constantly swaying until it began to let out some kind of laughter, weird and sickly to the pony. “DA DA DA DA DA!”

It happened. “WHOA, NELLY…!” Without a second thought, Applejack forced her body onto her side as she dodged what looked like several nuggets that shot out of the gray thing the creature sat on, causing her shoulder to sting as she once again hit impact with the cold hard green floor. “This thing’s crazy!” She shouted to nopony in particular, a sense of panic starting to rush through her as she slowly lifted herself up just to catch eyes with another scribbled drawing and a crazy weapon, her emerald green eyes slowly widening. 

…These locals weren’t very friendly. And there were more of them.

“GAH!!!” Applejack panicked as she turned towards the opposite direction of the creature, her claws and hind-whatevers taking her down another path full of green, scribbles pursuing right behind her all shouting “DA DA DA DA DA!”

“Ah get it, ya’ll are crazy!” The mare shouted as she rushed past an endless path of green, constantly having to take a turn at some point or another, each having yet another scribble crayon monster ready to ambush her. Maybe she could take ‘em on, if she had her rope like she usually did! But how would she match up to their gray weapon thing?! It was like a creepy version of Pinkie’s party cannon!

Pinkie and Rarity…were they dealing with these things, too?!

“DA DA DA DA DA!” Applejack swerved towards her left as she just barely dodged another string of nuggets, the sound of the evil cannon ringing in her ears, which she discovered were now at the side of her head instead of the top. 

What was she gonna do?! How many would she have to avoid if she can’t take ‘em on?! Where were Rarity and Pinkie?!

Applejack shook her head frantically as she pressed on, the chase clearly taking a toll on her body. “Ah…Ah don’t think the body’s supposed to move like this…!” She wheezed as she dodged yet another string of nuggets.

A flight of green stairs sat in the center of the hall just ahead, surrounded by another wave of ambushing scribble monsters, the light at the top of the stairs glowing and seeming welcoming to the exhausted earth pony. 

‘…If Ah can just get up there…Ah may be able to get out of here!’ Applejack bit her lip as she forced her body to wobbly move even faster as she made a mad dash in front of the incoming scribbles, causing each of them to follow her with their eyes as she sped past them, and towards the steps, leaving the flood of scribbles to wait down the stairs, not one of them making an effort to climb after the mare.

She whooped as she threw her head in a triumphant moment. “YEEHAW!!!”

…That is, until she halted her gallop when she just saw another room full of green and crayons. 

This room like pretty much about the same as the one before; only the arrangement of the walls were different as she saw various scribbles just wandering around and minding their own business as they phased in and out of the farm pony’s view. 

Applejack slumped. “Ah can’t believe it…! Another…floor…?!” She wheezed as she dropped her head. “Consarn it! How long does this thing go?!” 

Normally Applejack liked a little challenge. Give her a rodeo and she’d bring the house down. She was no less competitive than Rainbow Dash was, even. 

But this…this wasn’t competition…

…This was downright survival.

“DA DA DA DA DA!” The farm pony threw herself into the wall in order to dodge the attack, a wave of adrenaline surging through her as she readied her body for another run for her life. 

…It didn’t feel right…not at all. Just what were these things? Why was the place full of crayons like it was? It just…it didn’t feel…real. Not to her…

Dash. Jump. Dodge. Push. Shove past ‘em.

The scribbles pursued after their prey, each shooting out a set of nuggets as the cannons blasted in complete disarray, each aiming to hit their target. 

She couldn’t let that happen. She was sent here for a reason, after all.

She made a tight turn around the corner, causing several scribbles to slam their cannons right into the wall as she passed.

…When she eventually found a way out of this…! She’d go look for Rarity and Pinkie. They were supposed to find ‘em together.

‘I hope y’know just how much we’re all sacrificin’ for ya', sugarcubes…’ Applejack thought, her mind returning to the time they departed.

…The princesses gathered in the throne room. 

…Twilight with her eyes full of tears as she each begged for them to promise to return. 

“I ain’t gonna break that Pinkie Promise!” She shouted as she forced herself into the light as her body sped up another flight of stairs, leaving another set of scribbles behind her as she pressed forward through the green crayon like place. 

She’d return. And she’d bring the others, too.

Nothing but white…

When the farm pony could see again, there was a large void of nothingness just above, except for what looked like a purple and green eye in the sky. All around her, there was a ring of a foal’s play blocks, just scattered around the area, crayons in the ground by a set, making it look like a house. There were more scribble monsters here, too…

Applejack cringed. Seems like she just ran into even more trouble… “Just what in tarnation is this place…?” She whispered to herself. Maybe lack of movement would turn their eyes away from her…

…Until she saw it appear from the sky. 

A weird peach like figure appeared in the distance, its eyes black and hollow as night without a star in the sky as it was dressed in a blouse of red and a pair of purple overalls. It had a blonde mane pulled back into a pair of pigtails, poofy and with a lot of volume as it stood there with its orange and white boots. In fact, it kinda reminded the mare of how Pinkie’s mane looked, only not quite so creepy and foreboding. 

A shiver ran down Applejack’s spine as she looked deeply at the creature just only about maybe 30 feet from her, yet it felt like it was standing just in front of her, towering over her with those empty eyes it had…

…Those scribbles meant nothing to her now. This was something even worse…and yet the creature just sort of…sat there without a word, sometimes waving its rather rounded fore-hooves as it took in its surroundings.

“DA DA DA DA DA!” Applejack winced as she dodged another scribble’s attack, rolling away from the wall and closer to the opening, where the creature was.

…She didn’t mean to catch its attention.

…And yet it continued to stand there, just observing as the mare pulled herself back onto all fours just over to the side of it. Breathing a sigh of relief, she began to inch a little bit, each movement trying to get away from the creature…

It moved as the creature lifted its fore-hooves to its face, suddenly letting out an ear-splitting cry. “WHAAA!!! WHAAA!!! WHAAA!!!” A force stronger than anything the farm pony ever felt surged through the area, causing the mare to freeze up without a sound as her mind was overrun with each cry ringing in her ears.

…It wasn’t that she hadn’t dealt with a crying foal before…! But this cry wasn’t normal, she couldn’t think straight…! She couldn’t move right…! She couldn’t…!

The scribbles slowly approached her, each eager to take a piece of the apple pie. 

…She couldn’t get away like this…!!!

…She couldn’t even scream, let alone yell for help…!!!

The scribbles surrounded her as their leader continued her long-winded cry, causing the mare to fall over onto the floor as she lost strength in her fore and hind hooves, her eyes blinded by confusion.

…This…no…this wasn’t right…!

The bigger creature began to approach her along with the others, each filled with a deadly nature as they closed in on the farm pony.

…Somepony…anypony…

She glanced ahead of the mass around her…

There among the crayons…

…A shadow…?

Somepony…get me out of here…!

…The shadow shifted its tail.

…Is that what you want?

Applejack felt numb as her eyes grew watery. She couldn’t fight this herself…even if she wanted to…

…Get me outta here…! Please, Ah beg of ya’…!

A sudden surge of pain filled her body as the farm pony shut her eyes in terror as she felt the world twisting around her, the ground feeling weird, like if it was changing or something, she didn’t know…

…All she knew was that she had lost. That weird creature got to her, and now she was…

…Still…

…Still…breathing?

Applejack slowly dared to open her eyes. Where there used to be a sea of terrible monsters and crayons, now was an alleyway, just barely lit by the streetlight that sat just up a set of stairs leading to this alleyway. Otherwise…there seemed to be nothin’ ‘round here…nothin’ dangerous, anyway…

She pulled herself back onto her flank. “Just…wha…what happened back there?” She breathed; her heartbeat still unsettled from her encounter with the crayon-like creatures. “Was…was Ah saved…?”

“Your wish to ‘get out of here’ resulted in teleportation.” Applejack yelped at the sudden intrusion as she pulled herself away from the white thing that appeared before her. “Geh..!!!” She shouted, moving closer until she sat against the wall. “What in tarnation are ya’?!” 

The creature flicked its tail. “My name is Kyuubey. Through me granting your wish, a contract was made. You must now perform your duties as a Magical Girl.”

Applejack was flabbergasted. “Buh…? A-a what now…? Wait, w-what contract!? Ah never heard about no contract--!”

Kyuubey closed its eyes. “If I had to explain the full conditions, you may not have survived as you did. I gave you help through a wish, and in exchange, you must fight Witches as a Magical Girl.”

She paused for a moment. “…So it was you who helped me. Why?”

“I have the ability to grant anything you desire, but the condition is to become a Magical Girl and spend a lifetime fighting Witches.” It held an empty smile as it faced the farm pony. “As a Magical Girl, you now have the ability to go back into the barrier and take care of that Witch you faced.”

“…Wait, a lifetime…? I don’t have a lifetime! Ah need to find mah friends!” Applejack’s eyes narrowed into a glare as she faced the creature. “Ah promised Ah’d be back!”

Kyuubey shook its head. “As a Magical Girl, it is a requirement to remain in the vicinity of Witches, so that you may keep your Soul Gem clean.”

“Soul Gem?! What the hay are ‘ya talkin’ ‘bout now?!” She barred her teeth at the creature in defense. 

The white creature lifted a paw towards an orange jewel with a golden base just in front of the pair. “That over there is your Soul Gem. You must take good care of it, as it is the source of your power.”

Applejack reached a claw over to pick up the jewel, its orange color seeming bright to the mare as she looked over the base. Above the jewel, a crown was attached to the top with the shape of an apple, much like her own Element of Honesty. 

“…You’re sayin’ this is the source of mah power?” She held up the jewel for the creature to see. 

“Indeed.”

She pursed her lips. “…And you said before that Ah could go and take care of that…that crayon monster was a Witch?”

Kyuubey nodded. “It is one of the many Witches that plague this world with despair. If you take care of it, it will drop a Grief Seed, which will cleanse your Soul Gem if it is corrupted by the Witch’s impurities. Using magic will also cause corruption, so you must fight Witches and care for your Soul Gem.”

She nodded. “Ah still don’t like the idea…but it look like Ah don’t have a choice.” Facing Kyuubey, her green eyes burned with determination. “…How do ‘ya get back in that crayon-like place?”

“The barrier is still nearby. Simply seek for it using your Soul Gem.” The creature explained.

Applejack nodded. “Right, uh…Ah kinda need mah claws and all. Any way to make this jewel a little smaller for carryin’?”

It blinked. “…Your claws? Do you not have hands?”

…Hands. So that’s what they’re called. 

“You should not require your hands in order to walk…” Kyuubey looked further at her posture. It looked strikingly similar to another group of girls it had to instruct…

“…Are you perhaps truly a pony?"

Applejack gasped. “H-How’d ya’ know ‘bout that?”

It took everything in its power not to display emotions of frustration. Still, it shook its head. 

> Chapter 13 - Every Pony Has Their Bad Days
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A blue and green mechanical pencil rapped against the desk at a fast pace as its holder narrowed her tired magenta eyes at the electronic white board attached on the wall in the front of the room.

...So much kanji, and numbers, and…

Sighing, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl rested her soft and squishy cheek into her right hand, propped up by the stack of books on top of the table as prismatic locks dropped over a sheet of paper with random scribbles of Equestrian language at the side about clouds and previously set formations. 

…She hated math.

The teacher continued to ramble on in incoherent Japanese.

…Scratch that, she hated math with a passion when it didn’t involve flying or cool stuff. Otherwise it could get pretty boring real fast, like - get a life, people! Math was for finding out turbulence, and velocity, and all that other good stuff! Not crummy whatever Japanese stuff! That and she was pretty sure Home Run had neglected to teach them the kanji character for ‘yen’, when they were working with finding out currency in word problems. At least, that’s what she thought they were doing.

Ugh.

Going back to school didn’t sit well with the pegasus. Everything from the teacher in the front of the room to the uniformity shared among the students and the desk arrangements just served as even more reminders of Flight School, before she moved to Ponyville. The bullies who constantly mocked her by calling her a filly-fooler, the ‘no flying/running in the halls’ rule…

There was a reason she dropped out in the first place.

The short-haired teacher turned to the front of the classroom. “Now, can anyone come up and solve this problem?” A moment of silence filled the vicinity. “Dash-san, please try this problem out.” His room carried through the room in fluent Japanese.

Rainbow Dash blinked. Wait, Dash-san? Was he talking to her?!

The rainbow-haired Magical Girl stood up from her seat abruptly, startling various students around her. “Eh…ah…eto…ah…Hai?” She stammered as her eyes darted back and forth in a state of confusion.

Homura curled her lips into a small smile at the spectacle as cold royal blue eyes met wavering magenta orbs. 

He’s asking you to go to the front of the class and try to solve that problem written on the board. Can you do it?

Rainbow swallowed a huge lump in her throat as she was made the center of attention once more, her body starting to walk away from her assigned desk towards the front of the room, where the board and stupid math problem was waiting. 

…I-I can solve a dumb math problem! No biggie!

Her eyes scanned the screen for familiar sights. Before she could solve it, she had to understand what the problem was asking her to do, first…but…why did most of it have to be written in Japanese? Sweat dripping down her brow, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl continued to burn the problem into her mind, desperately searching for a solution…

In the back of the room, Fluttershy gave an apologetic look towards her fillyhood-friend’s predicament. It wasn’t very nice for the teacher to put her on the spot like this…but a selfish part of her was simply glad that it wasn’t herself in that situation…whether she wanted to admit it or not…

A hand rose up in the back of the class.

“Yes, Kaname-san? Do you need anything?” The teacher spoke towards the back. 

Madoka gave a nervous smile as she stood up from her desk. “Ano…sensei…I’m not sure if you were here to know this, but Dash-san has only recently come to Japan…if you were to translate the problem for her, maybe she’d be able to understand a little more, please?”

The teacher paused for a moment before nodding. “Mmm, maybe not a complete translation since she still needs to learn, but I can help define things a little more if she needs it.”

Rainbow frowned, oblivious to the foreign conversation as the teacher took an electric marker to the board, scribbling characters that helped define select kanji characters as he recreated the problem in a simpler format. 

“Ah, arigatou…” She mumbled as she looked over the modifications to the problems. Now that she knew what it was asking for, she could at least start on the problem…but…her hand held another electric marker suspended in mid-air, a sense of uncertainty coursing through the pegasus. 

It had nothing to do with flying, just…equation junk…stuff they didn’t cover back in flight school. At least, not while she was there…Curse herself for being a flight-school dropout…

Rainbow sighed in defeat as she stared at the problem for a moment longer until she faced the teacher, her head lowered by the weight of her embarrassment. “…Gomenasai (I’m sorry).”

The teacher gave a sigh as well. “…Daijoubu desu. (It’s alright).”

The rest of the class continued without interruptions after that, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl keeping her mouth shut as she attempted to bury her shameful face in the dumb school book they were currently working in. Fluttershy frowned in understanding at her poor friend’s reaction. Nopony would want to become an embarrassment…the idea sent shudders down the timid Magical Girl’s spine.      

As the bell rang to conclude the class, throngs of students began to rise from their seats as the gym teachers entered in the classroom, whistles around their necks. Fluttershy blinked as everyone started gathering with individual bags and starting to leave the classroom. Where was everyone going, if they usually sat around in the same homeroom?

Homura faced the two of them as she reached for her own bag. 

Next is P.E. Make sure you bring your gym clothes from your school bags and follow me to the girl’s locker room. Try to be quick about it.

Rainbow blinked out of her embarrassment. “…P.E? Sweet, this’ll be awesome!” A grin lifted her spirits as she began to quickly reach into the contents of her school bag just beside her feet.

Fluttershy squeaked for a second before starting to do the same, pulling out the bag that held the uniformed P.E. clothes. “O-Oh, um…right…P.E. it is…” A deep sigh escaped the timid pegasus’ lips as she hung her head. Just as Rainbow didn’t appreciate math class, she was almost certain she would find difficulties with P.E. class, especially in a brand new body.

…Although, would the fact that they already know how to fight make any difference? 

The timid Magical Girl wasn’t sure, but she hoped it would at least lift her fillyhood friend’s spirit…Without another word exchanged between the two, the two pegasi followed Homura out of the classroom and into the hallway, towards the rest of the class.

To the pegasi’s confusion, the humans dressed in white and masculine separated from the cream-bloused feminine skirted humans as they broke into two different directions. Homura seemed to be focused on following the cream-bloused line, so maybe that’s where they needed to go to get to the girl’s locker room. 

…So those in the skirts were absolutely female humans, they silently decided.

A pair of metal doors opened as the crowd of female students slipped through with a fit of giggles about some Japanese topic or whatever, the sudden scent of sweat and whatever frou-frou stuff assaulting the hot-tempered Magical Girl’s nose. 

She gagged. The sweat she could handle any day, but should she really smell strawberries and passionfruit in a metal box crowded with other students? The thought of it was frou-frou enough for any spa and Rarity combined; totally not her thing…The girl’s locker room was a nightmare of giggles and shirts being lifted as each of them chatted on about whatever they jabbered on about.

Fluttershy whimpered as she held herself in, trying not to be seen as well as not wanting to see the rest of the classmates in the process of getting changed. Wasn’t there a code of privacy here? Even back at the spa or Rarity’s Boutique, there were separate changing stalls…this was out in the open and she didn’t really see anything except what looked like shower stalls on one side of the wall.

Homura frowned at the two as she went through the process of getting changed. “You should get changed. You don’t want to be late.” Her cream-blouse was removed and underneath was a white-button-top, which she was in the process of fumbling with each individual button. The two Magical pegasi remained in their own space as they waited for the crowd to clear out a little more, Homura leaving the room immediately after she had her P.E uniform on.

Once the annoying crowd had dispersed, Rainbow Dash released a huge sigh of relief. “Sheesh, and we gotta deal with that every day? Come on…” She groaned as she leaned against one of the lockers left unused. “This is insane! There’s nowhere to get some privacy around here!”

Fluttershy frowned with a small nod as she started to tug and undo the red bow on her own uniform. “Um, if we can’t get away with separate stalls, then I’d be fine changing if it was just my fillyhood friend…unless you have a problem with it.” 

The prismatic pegasus sighed. “Well, it’s an improvement at least…why does every school gotta suck in some way or another? I mean, first the Math, now the locker rooms…” She quickly took off the ribbon and pulled off the straitjacket of a blouse, a sense of relief filling her as the stuffy feeling started to leave her. 

Fluttershy gulped as she slipped the white shirt off, her back being exposed to the hot and sweaty atmosphere of the locker room as she reached into the bag to pull out what looked like a white shirt and some other things inside. Glancing behind her to see how her fillyhood friend was doing, she couldn’t keep in a gasp as her eyes met a pair of blue cyan wings marked on Rainbow’s back. “R-Rainbow Dash, on…on your back!”

“W-what? What is it?” Rainbow Dash blinked before turning her head to look behind her. “F-Fluttershy, you’ve got a pair marked on your back, too! Your wings! It’s…they’re yellow!”      

Fluttershy adjusted slightly and tried to twist as she struggled to see the marks for herself, mouth agape at the sight. A pair of buttermilk wings was marked across her upper back, merged with the light cream color of her skin.  “Oh my…why didn’t we notice these before? They look just like our pegasus wings…is our Magical Girl form the only magic we have, or can you control the weather here?” 

Rainbow Dash frowned. “The moisture in the air is pretty stuffy here…but the fact that I can tell that in a beat means I can feel it…Besides that, these marks don’t let me fly, so what good are they? This is SO not awesome!” She pulled a white shirt out of her bag roughly. “…Why would our magic linger with us into here? The only magic I’ve seen so far in this place is from being Magical Girls.”

The timid pegasus sighed. “…How I wish I knew, Dashie…but were these always here and we just didn’t notice, or…is…is Equestrian Magic reaching here somehow?” Something like this was a sign. Maybe there was a chance they could go home? But they wouldn’t be able to thrive without Grief Seeds…and goodness knows she wasn’t going to lure the Witches home just so she could return!

…She knew Dashie felt the same about the matter. “...I’d like to think so, Flutters…but what’s the point if we do get a chance? We already anchored ourselves here, so whoop-dee-doo!” Fluttershy gave a deep sigh as she pulled the white shirt over her head, eyes growing downcast. Rainbow Dash was right. What good would it do for them? If anything, she silently wished that the others would never be able to find this place, and never have to deal with those horrible Witches…she certainly didn’t want to, if she didn’t have to…

“…But if the same events happened to us, Flutters…I wouldn’t choose any other way.” Rainbow Dash was mostly dressed in the P.E. uniform and was just gathering everything back into the bag, getting ready to go. “Well, better hurry up and get dressed, Fluttershy! I’m not going ahead without you, after all!”

Fluttershy gave a small grin. “…Um, okay, just…let me get changed…” She fretted as she turned away once more from her fillyhood friend, prompting the other to roll her eyes. Typical Flutters…

---   

POP!

The timid Magical Girl squeaked as she threw her hands to cover her ears as the starting gun was fired, the students dashing down the finely paved white track line as she refrained from letting her body go completely stiff. Just…a little shaky, instead…she let out a small whimper. As she thought, while she was okay during stretches and small increments of exercises, that start gun was a little too much for her to handle. 

After that set of laps was done, Fluttershy closed her eyes tightly and winced as she prepared herself for the next one that was to come…

POP!

The sound made her jump as the yellow pegasus proceeded to press her hands harder against her head as a wave of dizziness started to emerge, letting out a small whimper as she slowly crouched down to her feet, hoping the class would be over soon…She didn’t know how much more she could take… 

It seemed like Rainbow was having fun though; she lifted her head to look in the direction of the main source of noise. After she had topped Homura’s records on the track, the two were now in a contest urged by the other students to see who was the best at all of the other P.E. routines, and things were a little heated up because of it. 

Naturally Fluttershy cheered for Rainbow Dash from behind the rest of the noisy crowd albeit being crouched down with her hands to her ears. And while she didn’t cheer very loud, she knew that Rainbow would hear her, because she always was her personal cheerleader. Even in Mitakihara versus Ponyville or Cloudsdale, this part of their precious friendship never changed. 

The timid Magical Girl curled her mouth into a small grin. 

And as usual, Rainbow was winning.     

“…Aww yeah! Beat that, Home Run!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she stepped off of the padded platform that rested underneath a long metal bar that was held high in the air, a sense of victory flowing through her veins as she was surrounding by the adoring crowds of students. Now this was a better atmosphere for her!

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” A chorus of feminine and muscular voices rang through the air as the students twisted their tongues to sound foreign, the girl in the spotlight swimming in adoration as she grinned with glee. It didn’t really matter the language; Rainbow knew when the crowd was cheering her name in praise. It all matched with the voice waves of awesome. And after that corkscrew flip she did in midair, who wouldn’t?  

Homura held a small frown of nonchalance as she raised her right hand and whipped her hair. “…A constant competition is meaningless. You have already displayed your talent.” To say she was superior would’ve been a stab to the apathetic Magical Girl’s pride. Still, she had to commend her for her acrobatic skills. Flexibility such as that would only prove to be useful against Walpurgisnacht.

…Though speaking up didn’t really mean anything if the crowd was too loud for the prismatic Magical Girl to hear her.    

Fluttershy tip-toed closer to the defeated Magical Girl, her pink silky hair tied back into a tame fluffy ponytail. “Um…if it makes you feel better, I actually liked your tricks as well. They were…um…smooth and pretty.”

Royal blue eyes blinked as Homura faced the timid pegasus. “…Arigatou. Still, I’m surprised you can wear our P.E. uniforms without blushing.”

The timid Magical Girl grew pink in the face to match her hair. As well as tying her hair back into a high-ponytail with a red bow,  Fluttershy was wearing a white tee with red linings, and a pair of red bloomers that generously showed off her thighs, her smooth milky skin exposed and at the sun’s mercy if it wasn’t for the sneakers and socks she wore over her legs. “Oh, u-um…It’s…I’m…learning to bear with it…” She gave an effort to grin, but it really looked like a grimace.

Homura shrugged at the comment. “It allows for easy movement,” She replied in English tongue. “And the material…isn’t heavy enough to be a bother when we work up a sweat.”

Fluttershy gave a deep sigh.

“…As ponies, we didn’t even concern ourselves with clothes for exercising. Well, in some ways we did…a headband and maybe some hoofwarmers…” Her voiced trailed out until it merged with the obnoxious cheers of praise. She looked up towards the loud crowd to see the bright and excited grin on her fillyhood friend’s face. “...At least this way Rainbow’s day is better. I thought she had it a little rough during Math class…” She gave a soft smile as her fingers curled together, slightly fidgety.

The apathetic Magical Girl narrowed her eyes into a soft expression as she let out a small sigh. “Your gullible kindness is befitting of Madoka…always thinking of another’s happiness even if it means you end up suffering…” Her native tongue escaped her lips.

Fluttershy blinked. “…Um, what…?” Something about that Madoka, she managed to catch that…but the rest was a blank to her… “…What did you say, Miss Homura?”

Homura closed her eyes as she faced away from the timid Magical Girl. “…Nothing. Just…do not let that kindness cloud your judgement.” The last thing she wanted was for Fluttershy to act like her…to make the same stupid mistakes…

The pegasus cocked her head to the side. “Um…h-hai…?” She didn’t understand. What was it about that gentle and helpful Miss Madoka that bothered Miss Homura and attracted QB? Something about her having a great…power? But she seemed happy the way she was, and if she had family who cared for her…why did she need to risk her life? 

A sudden sensation grabbing onto her shoulder caused the timid Magical Girl to squeak out of her thoughts. “…Hey, Fluttershy! Did you see how awesome that was?!” She turned around to meet the magenta eyes of her companion. “…O-Oh, Rainbow! I-it was…um…” She managed a grin. “It was awesome.”

Rainbow Dash pumped a fist. “Aww, yeah! I sure showed up Home Run, didn’t I? This is totally WAY more awesome then some stupid Math class!” The crowd of students seemed to gather with the other teachers from their classes as pieces of workout equipment was being taken down for the day and put away in the storage room. “…Anyway, it looks like we’ll be heading back in soon. Best we get going, huh?” The prismatic Magical Girl smiled to her fillyhood friend. 

Fluttershy didn’t seem to be moving immediately. Rainbow Dash blinked. “…Hey, what’s up, Flutters? You seem sidetracked.” It wasn’t out of 
Fluttershy’s personality to be keeping something to herself…Something like that wasn’t cool to bottle up. “Is it about the wings?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh, um…it’s nothing, Rainbow, just…” She fell silent once more as she felt a warm yet firm touch clasp its fingers into hers. It wasn’t right of her to be keeping things from her friend, especially if they were going to trust each other with their lives in battle… 

“…It’s about Miss Madoka.” She breathed out.

The hot-headed Magical Girl blinked. “Huh? Why the hay are you thinking about her? I mean, she was helpful and all, but…why dwell on it?” It didn’t seem like such a big deal…but maybe it was to Fluttershy?

The timid Magical Girl frowned as they started their walk back to join the group, albeit slowly to Rainbow’s dismay. “…It has to do with something QB and Miss Homura said. Miss Homura seems to hate QB…but both of them seem to take a huge interest in Miss Madoka…above Miss Sayaka.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Weird…any reason why that is? I mean, I get she’s got the potential to become one of us, but maybe QB thinks that Madoka girl’s important in some way?”

Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed into a thoughtful expression. “…Mmm…QB mentioned that she’d have enough power to defeat Walpurgisnacht…if she contracted with him…and Miss Homura mentioned something about her in Japanese…I couldn’t really catch what she said.”

“W-Whoa, seriously…?!” Magenta eyes grew wide. “Being able to beat that Walpurgis thing is a pretty big deal, right?” Maybe it would be a good idea to have her on their side…but having more Magical Girls could threaten hers and Fluttershy’s survival if they struggled in getting enough Grief Seeds. What was she supposed to do with this information?

…But then again, that morning…Home Run seemed to have an expression of pain when they first saw Madoka with Cubes…

The timid Magical Girl nodded slowly. “…But even so, I don’t want her to have to contract unless she needs to. Unlike you and me…she has a home to return to, most likely. She has friends who she grew up with, in a world she grew up in…I couldn’t try to take that from her and risk her life…-”

“…Both of you, we’re getting dressed to leave. This was the last class for the day.” Fluttershy looked up to meet the royal-blue eyes of Homura, who seemed to have lingered at the door. Not really wanting to meet her gaze for too long, she lowered her head as she approached the doorway with her fillyhood friend, who also decided to remain silent for the time being.

Something like this needed to be discussed. Why was Miss Madoka so important to both Miss Homura and QB, if they were against each other? Why did Miss Homura hate QB so much to begin with? The pink-haired pegasus sighed softly, the grip wrapped around her fingers giving her comfort. Someday they’d find the answers…but at the moment she was happy enough that they both managed to survive their first day of school.

Rainbow Dash would have to brush up on her Math, and she’d have to get better at P.E…Oh, how she hated that starting gun…but at this point she’d probably just have to make do. She wouldn’t want to impose on the gym teacher to get rid of it for her sake alone. 

…She wasn’t really looking forward to stepping inside the girl’s locker room again…last time it was so noisy, and she really didn’t want to invade other people’s privacy, not to mention having to undress in front of them…! What if Miss Homura managed to see their marks? What if the other girls in the locker room managed to see it? 

Oh…was it really a good idea to enroll her and Rainbow into school? The timid Magical Girl whimpered as they walked through the halls with Homura in tow, all of them heading for that place…with all the…noise…and the lack of privacy…

…The girl’s locker room.

“…Hey, you both didn’t see Kyuubey at all during lunch, did you? …Or after?” Rainbow Dash blinked at the apathetic Magical Girl’s voice as she turned to face her in the hallway while the rest of the students continued on ahead.

…Come to think of it, where did Cubes go after lunchtime? The last time she saw the fluffball, he was hanging around that Madoka…but after lunch? He wasn’t even there. “…Actually, come to think of it…I didn’t see Cubes at all after lunch. Where the hay did he go?”
Fluttershy lifted her head. “Oh, um…I’m sure he’s alright…he just seems to follow his own agenda, that’s all…” She frowned at the sight of their mentor clenching her fists. “Umm…is everything alright, Miss Homura?” 

Homura closed her eyes. “…To bring this to the surface, I sensed strange energies yesterday around sunset. It seems that Kyuubey is acting on his own, and most likely contracting other Magical Girls…but it isn’t the ones Tomoe Mami is mentoring.”

Rainbow Dash gasped. “Y-You mean…there are other girls out there who have contracted? …In THIS very city?”

The timid Magical Girl put a hand to her mouth. “But…who?”

---

Footsteps echoed through the alleyway as a figure with a loose ponytail ran up and down the stairs at a steady pace, the occasional passerby not giving the person a second glance before they went on their way towards a more populated area, leaving the strange girl to her funny exercise. Perhaps she went to school, but was one of those delinquents who skipped from time to time…but she wasn’t even wearing a uniform… 

Once reaching the top of the stairs for the umpteenth time, the blonde-haired Magical Girl panted as she allowed herself to fall to her hands and knees in an effort to catch her breath, sweat pouring down her face and her well-toned arms. Beside her, a white-furred creature walked on before turning to face the tired earth-pony, her brown Stetson slipping from her hair and onto the concrete sidewalk. 

“Good work, Applejack. Your efforts to walk and even run have benefitted you greatly.” Kyuubey held an empty smile as he continued to observe the exhausted mare. As soon as they had both reached an understanding of what was needed in order to proceed with fighting the Witch, she had been absolutely determined to succeed in meeting her goals even when not being monitored the whole time. It seemed that despite her power of teleportation spawned by fear, Applejack was a hard-working individual, and nowhere was she clumsy.           

“Hah…Hah…Eyup…” Applejack rose up onto her flank, lifting her torso up. “Thanks a ton, uh…Fluff-tail. Sorry, I don’t know how to say yer name, sugarcube…but you helped me a bunch.” She let out another panting breath. “…Where the hay did ya run off to this morning, anyway?”      

Kyuubey closed its eyes. “You may call me what you wish. As for your question, I was overseeing my other Magical Girls and others who have potential.” Its tail swished from side to side as it opened its eyes once more. “Anyways, perhaps you have trained enough to locate the Witch? If you continue to remain stationary, many a victim will fall to it and the Witch will get stronger.”

The earth-pony frowned at the thought. “Ah suppose you’re right ‘bout that…Ah better get goin’.” Lifting herself from her knees, the blonde-haired Magical Girl reached over and picked up her Stetson, placing it on top of her head once more. “But Ah never knew there were others ‘round these parts…what kind of…uh…people are they anyways?” 

“Magical Girls can vary in personality. It would have to depend on the type of Magical Girl if you were to seek a comrade.” The creature replied without a change in expression and a swish of the tail.

Applejack sighed. “Well, Ah wasn’t looking for pardners to be exact…A-anyways; I gotta use the Soul Gem thing in order to find the Witch, right?

The creature nodded. “Indeed. Once you have found a signal, look for where the Gem pulsates at a quicker pace. The aura of the Witch should seem strong to you at that moment.”

Applejack nodded as she felt the creature land on top of her shoulder, small paws pressing into her green and white shirt. In a way, the creature reminded her of Opal, though she never really played with the feisty girl; she was more of a dog pony…and she had more heart to her, anyway. “Alright…let’s go get us a Witch.” Holding her orange egg-shaped Gem in front of her, the earth-pony took a large step by leaving the area where she had first appeared, her legs taking her into the greater masses of the city of Mitakihara, the soft breeze of the afternoon kissing the tips of her now weirdly round ears.

“…What in tarnation…?” Applejack breathed out. 

Just as much as the creepy crayon Familiars confused her, the weird symbols that dominated the area only served to frustrate the farm pony. In fact, the layout of the area kinda reminded her of the city of Manehatten, but somehow…bigger and even more confusing since she couldn’t understand a lick of what the signs around her were saying. It just wasn’t right by her.

Another aspect of the city that freaked her out was the large masses of people who didn’t speak her language. On the farm and in Equestria, Applejack was all about crowds and family gatherings, and all that good stuff you can just share with those you love, as well as the wonderful time a family can have working hard together. In this place, through her own eyes, there was no family connection or even any friendly connection…and she couldn’t understand what any of them were saying, so that also cut out finding things in common and making new friends…They all seemed reserved or kept in their own little groups saying something like ‘guykokujean’ while looking at her… (Gaikokujin: Foreigner). Was it weird to have a hat in this place or something?

The only kind of connection she had managed to make without it exploding in her face was Fluff-tail because he spoke her language. And that was just fine, but there was that funny business with the whole lifetime servitude of fighting Witches…somehow she had to work around that in order to get back with the others…To get back to Twilight and fulfill her promise…

…But how? 

A small orange pulsating light from the Soul Gem stopped the mare in her tracks as she gasped, the light reflecting her emerald green eyes. “…Ah think Ah found something. It looks like it’s coming somewhere down that darker area that seems kinda neglected…It almost feels like that doll Witch Ah faced before…” She pointed down towards the direction of an area of worn-down houses.

Kyuubey nodded. “I sense it is the same energies that were pulsating from the Witch you escaped from. It seems like it traveled a fair distance from the alleyway. Shall we proceed?”

Applejack felt a cold shudder down her spine before she nodded as her eyes narrowed. “You bet we will. Ah ain’t letting it get away this time.” Without another word, the two of them started their pursuit down the dimly-lit street, the orange light from her Soul Gem steadily growing brighter as they disappeared into the shadows of another alleyway, the farm pony’s loose ponytail bouncing from side to side in the chilly winds as they traveled farther from the security of daylight.

Even if she probably never found a way to come back herself, she’d at least be sure that all the rest came back to Equestria safely. After all, she made a Pinkie Promise…and even if she already broke it…she was determined to at least see what’s left of it through. She owed that much to Twilight.

And that alone was a promise. An Apple Family promise.

> Chapter 14 - Pride
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Drips of water echoed softly through the darkness as a strong hum rang through the air, the orange light from the farm pony’s Soul Gem pulsating strongly enough to cut through the shadows that hid from the day. It was nearby, she could feel it like an upcoming Cider Season line at the crack of dawn, just waiting for her to give it what for.

She didn’t really want to face that monster, Witch, whatever you call it…she didn’t wanna risk her life trying to get rid of it…but getting roped up in this contract business gave her no choice but to go after the darn thing. And now here she was, not even looking for Pinkie or Rarity…let alone Fluttershy or RD…why did things have to end up like this?

This was anything BUT her quest!

She reached a dead end down another flight of stairs before stopping short, the light keeping steady instead of pulsating as a haunting howl of wind softly brushed her legs. “…Ah think this is it. You feel that?”

The creature brushed by her leg before coming to a stop. “Indeed. It would be wise to transform now, before you enter inside the barrier. It is well established, after all, so at any second you could come across a Familiar.”

Applejack nodded. “…R-Right, uh…lemme figure that one out real quick…” A previous conversation they shared last night revealed that a lot of this Magical Girl doohickey thing had something to do with the mind, so…maybe she just needed to will herself to uh…transform? Letting out a small but silent gulp, the farm pony pulled the Soul Gem to her chest as she closed her eyes, a wave of energy coursing through her as she felt a strange power beyond what she knew of the earth consume her, bathing her in an orange light similar to the light from her Soul Gem.

She felt a weird sensation as she was covered in magic, the Soul Gem in her hand reshaping as the clothes she used to wear were now covered in lights as they reformed into something else, her green and white shirt becoming a brown vest with a V-cut light tan colored top, while the belt that was around her waist turned gold with a shining orange oval jewel embedded into it and a pair of gloves dressed her hands. Her boots lost its apple pattern as they grew a bit short and angled in the back with a small zipper, becoming a more vibrant and deep milk chocolate brown. She felt a warm feeling as an orange light wrapped around her neck as a similar golden piece to the Element of Honesty donned her neck and connected to the edge of her top, the orange colored apple shimmering as the dirt and grime from her Stetson cleared away, the smooth leather hat crowning her head as she felt a ball of light covering her right hand.

The ball of light cleared away into shimmering blades of grass as she slowly opened her emerald green eyes, the light being replaced by the steel shape of a pistol gun that rested in her hold, her blue jean skirt turning into a soft earthy brown and shifting with each movement as she felt the energies surrounding her until she suddenly felt a release, and she was exposed to the darkness of the alleyways once more, her head woozy from all the magic exposure.

“…What the hay…Ah gotta deal with that each time?” She took a moment to look herself over, her eyes traveling from her boots up to her skirt, then to the gloves that clung to her. The leather texture felt smooth and foreign to the farm pony. They had nothing like this back at the farm, that’s for sure.

Finally her eyes set on the strange weapon that rested in her right hand hold. “…Wha…What in tarnation is this thing? Ah’ve never even touched this before!” Her eyes widened as a wave of anxiety coursed through her. “..What ever happened to a good ‘ol fashioned buck to the face?”

Kyuubey shook his head. “That alone would not be effective against a Witch. Besides, against this Witch, you will need the distance the pistol will give you. The Witch’s cry should have a radius to it, so if you keep your distance, you will most likely be fine.”

Applejack frowned. “…Darn Fluff-tail. Why do ya gotta be right?” It didn’t feel right, leaving her traditional techniques…for some…thing she didn’t even know. It was called a ‘pistol’? What kind of weapon was a pistol? Why did she need range for it? Still, she couldn’t just be sitting here. “…If it manages to keep me safe enough…Ah guess Ah’d best give it a chance…but lemme try mah method first. Ah think Ah can take those dumb crayon familiars enough.”

The creature sighed. “That kind of reckless behavior would only take a toll on your Soul Gem. Are you willing to risk such a thing, no matter the consequences you would bring to yourself?”

She wouldn’t let the Apple Family way go so easily. “…Ah’m sure.” Her emerald eyes narrowed into a glare as she faced the wall. “…Ah ain’t gonna forsake my family’s methods for some pistol or whatever. And Ah ain’t gonna run away this time. Ah know what to expect from it.”

She was determined to keep a part of herself, no matter what. That’s not gonna change, and she WILL keep her promise to Twilight. Now dressed in her armor, the farm pony reached a hand to touch the wall, causing it to ripple from the exposure to magic. Warranting a gasp from the blonde-haired Magical Girl, the ripples began to pull the wall apart as she was greeted with a shining and distorted sight of the Barrier she had once nearly faced death in, the abundance of Familiars that chased her littering the pathways on top of their weirdly designed rides.

Applejack gulped. “…Let’s get ‘em.” She broke into a run through the portal as the same strange rippling sensations from the other portal clouded her vision and making her head feel dizzy. Or at least, it was supposed to, but she didn’t feel any kind of impact from going through the crazy Barrier entrance. What the hay? Was there some kinda endurance thing that came with the lifetime servitude package? She’d have to ask that Flufftail later on, she supposed. 

Right now she had a Witch to fight.

Her cowboy boots landed with a clack as she stood once more on that strange hard green surface, the crayons raining from the sky with small sparkles following its tail. Somehow the place seemed bigger the last time she was in here, but that probably had to do with trying to walk and run as a pony would, not as a human would, or whatever she was now. It certainly was no pony, and she felt taller than ever for some strange reason. Her emerald green eyes darted back towards the foreign object nestled in her grip for a moment, until she threw it to the side and it disappeared from her sight in a flash of orange light. She didn’t need some dumb ‘pistol’ to show these Familiars some hurt. 

The strange shape swayed its tongue this way and that as it stayed still on the cannon, letting out some really annoying sounds as the farm pony clenched her teeth and tightened her fists. “Blehhhbloorrrbleehhh!” It cried out, alerting several other Familiars to rush to its side in a series of grunts as Applejack crouched into a position to dash.

She did. Her legs took her to great speeds as she jumped into the air and twisted her body with a leg stretched out as she tackled the nearest Familiar with a roundhouse kick, before greeting it with another swift punch and sending it into the floor with a huge impact, causing the Familiar to squeal in pain before it dispersed into little black balls of light and fading away.

“DADADADADADA!” Another Familiar launched several explosive nuggets her way as the farm pony was quick to dodge. It was strange; she didn’t feel nearly as exhausted as she did before trying to escape from these demons from Tartarus. With a grunt, the blonde-haired Magical Girl ducked down underneath the Familiar’s ride before punching underneath and sending it flying into the wall with a squeal while another Familiar rushed to intercept her with another round of nuggets. “DADADADADA!”

“Ah heard ya the first time, you dumb varmint!” She quickly ducked in order to avoid the explosives before jumping up into the air and sending another roundhouse kick to the Familiar and shooting it into the wall with a loud crash. These dumb things took about two hits to finish, and there were several of them! If she was going to get anywhere, she had to go to the same place she first thought was an exit: The hard green stairs somewhere in the maze. If she could get up there, she only had one more set of stairs to find, and then she’d finally be able to show that Doll Witch what she was made of!

If only she could take the dumb Familiars down sooner. But she wouldn’t resort to using that strange object. She didn’t even know how to use it, for starters. Jumping right into the unknown would just end up slowing her down. Besides, her methods were working just fine for these things!

Maybe it’d also work on that Witch. Narrowing her eyes, Applejack threw a kick into a Familiar in front of her to help cut a pathway as she sent it slamming against the wall, more Familiars trying to block her way as she sent a punch their way, another kick there; she was determined to take this place down with her own power alone. She didn’t need any ‘pistol’ to help with that!

She didn’t even think about the fact that Flufftail didn’t follow her into the Barrier.

---

“…Another Magical Girl contract? Yes, I thought I sensed one…” Tomoe Mami put a hand to her chin in a thought manner as she walked along the pathway of trees, the other three Magical Girl trailing behind her in silence. “It was sunset, right, Akemi-san?”

Homura nodded. “You plan to patrol the territory around this time, Tomoe-san. Perhaps you may be able to discover something in your hunt. If you do manage to encounter this other Magical Girl…try to figure out their motives. If we’re lucky we may gain another comrade for Walpurgisnacht.” She spoke in native tongue to the pegasi’s dismay.

The gold-locked Magical Girl nodded. “Mmm…in the meantime, perhaps you should take Dash-san and Fluttershy-san hunting on the other side of the territory. I will be looking nearby the city suburbs, so perhaps you could look nearby the busy streets and major highways?” Her lips curled into a grim smile. “It’s important we take care of them before anything major happens.”

The apathetic Magical Girl raised her right hand to flip her hair. “…I’ll see what I can do. I would try to keep an eye on Kyuubey’s activities. We shouldn’t receive so many Magical Girls to one territory or otherwise things will get dangerous quickly. Already we have five in one territory. While Mitakihara is a big city, it can’t be stretched too much more.”

Rainbow Dash frowned as she crossed her arms, the blouse feeling tight and constricting once more. “Hey, how are you gonna involve us if you use way too advanced Japanese on us? Like, hello! We gotta know stuff, too!”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “If, um…you don’t mind, that is.”

Mami giggled at the two while Homura turned to face them with a tired sigh. “We are going hunting tonight nearby the busy streets and highways. Magical Girl numbers are increasing to dangerous levels. If it increases more, Mitakihara would not be able to handle all of us.” She twisted her dialect.

The prismatic Magical Girl winced while her fillyhood friend let out a whimper. “Sheesh, really…? How many do we have right now?”

Mami sighed. “…Currently…including our mystery Magical Girl…we have five. A city like Mitakihara…can probably handle six at the very most. Any more would risk our survival.”

Fluttershy lowered her head in uncertainty. “…Oh dear…what should we do? If we get even one more…”

A sudden wave of energy coursed through each of their minds as a foreign energy rang through, causing the four Magical Girls to wince in surprise. Homura held her head for a moment as her eyes slowly grew wide. It was sunset…and it was coming from the hospital…Her teeth clenched in frustration while the others girls shook out of their stupor.

Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “Ooookay, what the hay was THAT?” She took a quick glance at Fluttershy who was also rubbing her head. “Home Run, know what that was about?”

Mami’s eyes grew wide. “…You don’t think…that energy…Miki-san?”

Homura frowned as she closed her eyes in exhaustion. Too many things were going on at once; how could she control them all? “…Yes, Miki Sayaka has just contracted. I suppose she has finally found her wish.” Now all she had to worry about was Madoka finding hers…

The cyan pegasus gulped. “…Doesn’t this take us to the utmost city limit?” Her magenta eyes met the golden eyes of the veteran who frowned with a grim expression. 

“…Yes. Yes it does.” At this point, she could only hope that Kyuubey was willing to stop contracting enough for them to get things under control. With six Magical Girls in her territory, only strategy could help to preserve their survival if ever another Magical Girl appeared. “…I’ll be starting my patrol, now. Perhaps it is best to hold off on the hunt for one more day, Akemi-san. At the very least, we should try to avoid hunting at the same time.” The veteran started to walk down the path, widening the gap between her and her companions.

Homura frowned. “…Indeed…” While it was bothersome to have to alternate between shifts, it was probably the best course of action for them at the moment. None of the three had used their magic excessively, so they could wait one more day, but no more. They needed to hunt; otherwise their Souls Gems would corrupt over time. “…Let us return. Our Grief Seed supply is just fine for the evening.”

Fluttershy nodded as she started to follow the apathetic Magical Girl home, but stopped when she noticed her friend not right behind her. “Rainbow…are you coming?” Was something wrong? 

Rainbow Dash held a small frown. “…Why don’t you guys go on ahead; I’ll catch up. I just wanna take a little breather for a bit.” Her lips curled into a small grin. Homura looked back to meet her magenta eyes with her own royal-blue, the two having a silent conversation without word or gesture. Finally, after a time, she closed her eyes.

“…If you insist. We’ll leave the door unlocked, in case you get bored. Come, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy glanced between her fillyhood friend and her mentor several times before turning to follow Homura without a word. What was Dashie up to that she would separate from the group? 

“Um…Itarashyai (Have a good trip).” She whispered as they continued down the path, creating a bigger gap between her and her fillyhood friend.

The cyan pegasus watched them become specks in the shadows before taking a deep breath and turning to face the gradually approaching night sky. “…Princess Luna, what do I do? Fluttershy and I seem to be managing okay enough…but then all these crazy things keep happening!”

…The chilly breeze brushed through her prismatic hair as the skies brought nothing but light and silence.

“…I’m trying to stay strong…and I’m still loyal…but all this is just…the Japanese, the stupid uniform, the transformations, Cubes and his stupid antics…I’m even enrolled into school again, believe it or not!” She groaned.

The tree rustled with slight shifting movement in the silent night. 

She let out a bitter laugh. “…Yeah, I thought you couldn’t hear me. This isn’t even your night, anyway.” She frowned before raising her arms into a stretch, the cream-colored blouse making it hard to fully free herself from all the stress. 

“…Can’t even fly, because that’d waste magic…” She grumbled. “Well, guess I’d better catch up with the others. Not much else to do, right?”

The night sky remained still as the prismatic Magical Girl walked slowly, for once, down the path away from the trees that led to the school. 

---

Tomoe Mami walked down through the dark and dank suburbs of Mitakihara City, her eyes focused on any sort of change in the pulsating of her glowing gold-yellow Soul Gem as she patrolled the area. So far she hadn’t found anything…but it looked like she was reaching what looked like progress as the brightness of her Soul Gem increased as she slowly approached what looked like an alleyway, with a rippling wall. 

“…This is it.” Without a second thought, the veteran Magical Girl threw her Soul Gem to the air as a bright golden light surrounded her with flexible ribbons, causing her to be surrounded in an aura of radiating golden lights and dancing flowers at her feet. Where her shoes used to be now was replaced by brown and gold boots, and her tights replaced by gray striped stockings that clung to her thighs as she twirled, her cream-colored blouse being replaced by a white buttoned shirt and a golden skirt with brown lining, her red ribbon reforming into a gold-yellow ribbon that fastened around her neck and holding the collar of her shirt in place. 

Her sleeves were shaped into puffy white separate sleeves as her hands were dressed in black half-gloves, her head being crowned with a hat that was decorated by a fluffy feather that also nestled her Soul Gem, now encased in a flower pattern hair pin. Finally, her waist was wrapped in red ribbons as a dark-colored corset clung with a white ribbon tied around and dangling from behind her dress. With a pose, Mami was released from the aura in a flash of yellow-gold light and was now re-exposed to the darkness emanating from the alleyway.
As she was about to approach the Barrier, she suddenly stopped short as she noticed already visible ripples in the Barrier. 

“…Somone’s…already in this Barrier?” With a frown, the veteran slipped through the Barrier with ease as she was now exposed to the world of raining crayons and panicking Familiars.

Without another thought, the gold-locked Magical Girl held out a hand, where a pair of ribbons began to morph into a pastel grey musket with black designing and clenched it in her grip. Mami pulled the weapon towards her and swiftly shot the musket’s single round towards an approaching Familiar, sending it off course and flying haphazardly. She summoned another musket and shot the target once more, destroying it with practiced ease.

“Whoever managed to cause the Familiars to panic like this…they must be fighting recklessly if so many Familiars were left still alive. I need to hurry, before they’re finished by the Witch!” She cried out as she began to summon several muskets at a time to destroy at a faster pace.

---

“Gah!!!” Applejack cried out as she was hit by another round of nuggets before turning around and slamming her foot into the mischievous creature. “Stupid varmints!” While she may have felt just fine before, now fighting the Familiars were becoming a chore, and she still needed to find that stupid Witch!

Actually she did find the Witch – she was inside the dome with the black sky, and she had managed to attack most of the Familiars…but before she could tackle the Witch itself, the stupid monster decided it wanted to play Hide and Seek with her! Then while she was trying to find the dumb thing, each and every Familiar just had to step in her way!

The freckled Magical Girl panted out of exhaustion. “Ah…ain’t gonna use no…dumb…pistol!” Why was she suddenly feeling so weak? It was like the time she decided to buck the entire Apple Orchard of its apples without help that one time…! Each time she took a tree down, it felt easy at first, but now even throwing a kick felt like a chore too much…

At this rate…she’d end up running away again…but she couldn’t do that! She needed to take down that stupid Witch, no matter what! She needed to show she wasn’t a coward! If the stupid Familiars would stop getting in her way, she’d greatly appreciate it! She let out a grunt as she sent another Familiar into the wall with a strong kick, the Doll Witch continuing to hide itself behind a batch of blocks. It didn’t do that last time…maybe it knew she was a threat this time?

Applejack felt the exhaustion overtake her as she slumped to the ground, bruises and scrapes all over her body from her long and drawn out fight. “Ugh…maybe…maybe that Flufftail was right…” She couldn’t let herself be defeated now…not when she was so close…

The Familiars gave no mercy as another one appeared before her with its tongue sticking out. “Uuugggblehhbleehh!” It cried out in mockery as the farm pony struggled to pick herself up, a wave of frustration causing her to clench her teeth. “Ah’m…gettin’ sick…and tired…of you…” She groaned as she forced herself back up to her feet, legs rather wobbly. Ignoring the pain, she threw another powerful kick to crush it into the wall, causing the Familiar to disperse into nothing. 

With that out of the way, now she needed to take down that Witch. Looking around the other blocks, her emerald eyes narrowed in hatred at the empty doll-like eyes that watched her from its sanctuary of a bunch of foal’s building blocks. Without a second thought, Applejack threw a punch at the Witch through the gap in the stacked blocks causing it to jump back in surprise before disappearing from its hiding spot back into the open.

Turning back around to the center of the room, the farm pony clenched her teeth as she took in every detail of the monster that almost took her life. She could barely stand…how was she going to take down the Witch for good? If she stood around, eventually it’d go back into hiding, and she’d be at square one again…

As much as she hated to admit it, the Apple Family’s ways weren’t helping her to survive…but it was all she had left to herself…she wasn’t an earth pony anymore…and she ended up getting wrapped up in a lifetime servitude thing and breaking her promise…how could she still call herself Applejack?

The Doll Witch let out a heavy cry, causing the farm pony to wince as she took the blow, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as before, because she wasn’t in full range of the blast…but if she tried to kick or punch it, she’d be in range. That cry caused her to become extremely weak last time…she couldn’t even move…what kind of damage would it do to her as a Magical Girl? 

In the state she was in…She gasped as the Doll Witch began to approach her without a sound, slowly closing the gap between them and causing her to back into the wall of blocks. No good…at this rate…she groaned as she felt a wave of exhaustion force her to bend down as the Witch kept its approach.

If it cried now…she wouldn’t be able to escape it…Consarn it, why the hay was she feeling so weak all of a sudden?! She grunted to try and shift her body away from the impending doom, but the lack of strength was taking a huge toll on her. Why? She was feeling pretty powerful before!

She winced as she saw the Witch starting to put its hands to its eyes, a growing fear in her eyes. It was gonna---!

“…TIRO FINALE!” A bell-like voice cried out as a massive blast of golden light shot right in front of the farm pony and rammed into the Doll Witch, canceling its offensive cry as it was sent into another wall of blocks just to the side of the blonde-haired Magical Girl, her emerald eyes wide in shock as she tried to back-track what exactly just happened. “…H-Huh…? W-Wha…”

The bell-like voice cried out again in a strange sound rather similar to the city she was trapped in, sounding full of worry, and…was that concern? Applejack continued to sit there in a stupor as the Doll Witch shook itself and recovered from the blast as it sways forward back into a standing position. Several other golden lights started to attack the Witch as the same bell voice continued to cry at her to do something…something important…But no matter what, she couldn’t understand it…

Please, save yourself and come over this way!

Applejack gasped as she forced herself to follow the source of the defending lights without being hit by them, panting as she met the gold-yellow eyes of another strange human with some sort of ringlets in her hair, slowly but surely widening the gap between her and the Doll Witch that was forced back against the wall of blocks. 

The gold-yellow human gave another cry of concern as she pulled Applejack closer to her, pulling out what looked like a spiky black ball…It wasn’t anything she had ever seen before…but the human promptly put the spiky ball to her necklace, a mist of blackness traveling as she was pushed to the side and was now holding the spiky ball to herself while the same human pulled out several strange objects and faced the Doll Witch from a great distance.

Applejack groaned as she slowly started to feel her strength come back to her, her emerald eyes taking in the strange gold-yellow warrior as she shot several golden blasts with a bell-like cry, and eventually her eyesight started to become distorted as her eyes grew heavy, or was that just the area around her…? The crayon and the blocks started to disappear and the alleyway where she had entered in the nightmare from appeared once more. Either way, she wasn’t sure what to think…she was tired, and she guessed…that this strange human fought the Witch and saved her.

“Ah…Ah was…” She breathed as she slumped against one of the walls, the gold-yellow warrior picking up what looked like another black spiky ball. “…Thanks a bunch…sugarcube.”

Mami gave a deep sigh as she stared at the Grief Seed. She had to use up one for this poor Magical Girl…and even now it looked like she needed medical attention. Against her original plan, she may have to use her healing spell to help her…since it seemed like she didn’t regenerate very fast…Perhaps a result of her wish?

She turned around to meet the Magical Girl. Most likely this was the one they sensed at sunset the day before. “…I am Tomoe Mami, and you are?” She gave a soft smile towards the girl; she had an interesting hat.

Applejack frowned at the bell-like voice. “…Uh…say what now?” It looked like the human wanted to talk to her…but then why wasn’t it speaking Equestrian? It did so before, didn’t it?

The gold-yellow Magical Girl blinked. “E-Eh? Eegou (English)?” She blurted out. Why was there a sudden increase in English-speaking Magical Girls? Unless…

“…Let…me start over. I am Tomoe Mami. You may call me Mami.” She twisted her tongue to the Magical Girl’s surprise since she dropped her jaw. “…What is your name?”

Applejack shook her head before grinning in relief. “So you DO speak Equestrian! Land sakes, I thought Ah’d never get through to anyone here!” The gold-yellow Magical Girl blinked for a moment before giving a soft sigh. “…I am Mami. What is your name?”

The farm pony blinked. “…Mami? Like Mommy? Ah’m Applejack! Pleased to meet you!” She promptly took the other girl’s hand and shook it firmly, several times.

Mami gasped as she tried to shake some feeling into her hand. “…Applejack-san. I see.” A thought came to her mind. Didn't she say something akin to 'Equestrian'? “…If by chance, do you know Dash-san and Fluttershy-san?”

The blonde-haired Magical Girl couldn’t believe her eyes. “…You know where RD and Fluttershy are?!” She cried out, causing the other to yelp in surprise before settling down. “…Uh…sorry ‘bout that, sugarcube…Heh…um…” She looked to the side for a moment before regaining her composure. “…Can you take me to them?”

The gold-yellow Magical Girl blinked for a moment before nodding. “Mnn, I can do that. They are currently staying with Akemi-san, so…please follow me!” She held out a hand for the farm pony to take before she managed to help Applejack back to her feet. “…Applejack-san…your hands…are really strong.”

Applejack blinked before looking at her free hand. Strange…did some of her earth-pony strength stay with her? How about nurturing the earth? Could she do that here, too? “…Thanks…” She breathed out as they stepped up the stairs and away from where the Barrier used to be. “…What kind of weapon were you using, anyway?”

Mami blinked before smiling softly. “…I use ribbons, and form them into muskets. The muskets are good for stronger attacks.”

The pistol came to mind. “…See, Ah have a weapon…but Ah’m so used to just using mah legs to buck something…I don’t know how to use it.” In fact, if she tried using the pistol, she probably could’ve avoided half the injuries she suffered. “And Ah’ve never even touched a pistol before…”

Mami paused for a moment to try and translate. “…Mmm…I use a musket…so maybe I could help you with your pistol?” She didn’t mind taking on another Kouhai (Student or Underclassman)…if Applejack-san didn’t mind the idea. Besides, meeting her meant that they could better control the Witch levels…even if she was an extremely reckless fighter, and stubborn to boot…

And then there was Miki-san’s contract to worry about…she’ll need someone experienced to guide her, now that she found her wish…

…What did she get herself into?

---

Rainbow Dash slowly opened the door to Homura’s apartment as she dropped her school bag to the floor. The day turned out to be rather long, and now their survival was threatened by how many of them there were…just who was the Magical Girl who contracted at sunset the day before? And what kind of person were they? Why the hay was Equestrian magic leaking into the place to begin with? Or was it always leaking? Was that how she and Fluttershy managed to get wrapped up in this mess in the first place? It didn’t make any sense…

Her eyes looked up to meet the gaze of her fillyhood friend. “…Tadaima (I’m home), Flutters...Did Home Run get something to eat that wasn’t bland or meat today?”

Fluttershy gave a soft smile as she held up a bowl of steamed rice. “Actually, Miss Homura took her meal into her room; she said she had something to think over. Something about being a week late, I think…”

Magenta eyes blinked. “Wait, what’s late?”

> Chapter 15 - An Unexpected Encounter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door softly knocked with a few thumps as the ex-weather pegasus groaned at the notion that somepony would be rude enough to disturb her precious sleep. She buried herself deep into the blankets as the door was knocked on again, this time a little louder. Just who had the gall to bother her at such an hour?

…Wait, what time was it anyway?

Rainbow Dash glared at the door to their rented bedroom as she heard the soft and delicate breathing from her roommate and Magical Girl companion. It looked like Fluttershy wasn’t budging from whatever was beating on the door, and she didn’t hear any footsteps, so Home Run wasn’t going to get it anytime soon…probably asleep, like she should be.

Well, time to get some shuteye! The prismatic Magical Girl snuggled into the covers as she shifted into a more comfortable position, her eyes slowly closing as she let herself drift into a nice peaceful sleep…

A loud booming sound came in from the door three times, causing the pegasus to growl as she peeled herself away from the pillows and sat up in the bed. Sheesh, whoever was out there was being persistent! Ugh! 

The growling sound caused her fillyhood friend to groan groggily. “…Dashie…stop…” She mumbled as she turned to her side away from the other and plopped her face into the welcoming pillows, her sleep not easily shaken. Rainbow Dash could only wish she had as much an endurance to sound…but being a light-sleeper…she was pretty much screwed out of sleep for the rest of the night.

“Ugh, forget it! Fine, I just…I’m done!” The hot-tempered Magical Girl slipped out of the covers and exposed herself to the chilling feeling of Home Run’s air conditioner, yet she wasn’t really bothered by it. Her pegasus endurance to temperature must have lingered with her…she felt stupid for just now taking note of it. Anyways, she should probably see what annoying people are outside.

Who would bother Home Run at this hour, anyway? It was a little past midnight, on a school night! She didn’t even bother changing out of the spare lavender pajamas she was lent as she opened the door and slipped out without slamming it shut behind her. Best not to kill anypony else’s sleep if she could help it. The prismatic Magical Girl held a groggy frown as she walked over and made her way to the door, muttering foul Equestrian language under her breath.  

It took a bit of time to reach over above and undo the latch before she could open the door. As she started to rattle the chain, she could swear that she heard voices from just outside…

“…Oh, good! Akemi-san is awake!” She heard a smooth and silky voice in the Japanese language as she put her ear against the door. It actually sounded like something she heard before…Rainbow gave a deep sigh before thinking of what to say. “…Dare desuka?” She called out, twisting her dialect clumsily as she decided to practice her Japanese a little.

“…What in…did she speak?” The sounds were a little more muffled, but…English? There was an English speaker? Not only that…but the voice sounded familiar…with a little twang to it…

The silky voice spoke up again, this time sounding like she was trying to speak English to the English speaker. “Ah, that was Japanese. She was asking ‘Who is it’. Since it didn’t sound like Akemi-san or Fluttershy-san…Ah! Dash-san!” She called out through the door, causing the prismatic Magical Girl to pull her ear away. With a smile, she reached over and unlocked the door to turn it open.

“There’s only one Magical Girl with that voice who calls me ‘Dash-san’!” Rainbow Dash stood in front of the door, taking note of the company in front of her. Just as she thought, Mami was right out the door, and she had a friend behind her…with a…Stetson? …Freckles? …A belt and some boots that had apples on it? 

The prismatic Magical Girl’s mouth dropped. “No way…in Tartarus. A-Applejack?!” I-It looked like her, but how did she even get here? Was it even actually her? What if she just mixed her up with someone else?! 

“…You’ve been here this whole darn time, sugarcube?! Ya’ll been gone for a week now!” Oh my gosh, it WAS Applejack. She wasn’t wrong!
Applejack…was here in Mitakihara…with Mami…

Rainbow Dash quickly clenched the veteran’s shoulder’s, causing her to gasp. “Tell me she didn’t contract! Applejack CAN’T be the mysterious Magical Girl!” Tomoe Mami winced as she pried the prismatic Magical Girl off of her, a feeling of knowing in her eyes. “…Mmm…” She slowly nodded, refusing to look into her magenta eyes. “I encountered her inside a Witch’s Barrier in the suburbs.” She spoke in clumsy English.

Applejack nodded as her emerald eyes faced her very much changed pegasus friend. “…Eyup. Ah ended up getting involved in some lifetime servitude gig. Until Ah figure out a way around it, ya’ll are gonna have to go on without me. We came here to get you guys.”

The prismatic Magical Girl shook her head in disbelief. “Wait, ‘we’?! Who the hay did you bring with you?!” It wasn’t just Applejack, but she brought somepony else here?! What if they ended up contracting!?

The farm pony frowned as she lifted a hand in front of her to create a barrier of space to diffuse the situation. “If you calm down, sugarcube, Ah’ll tell you everything! Just stop looking like you’re gonna punch something!”

Rainbow Dash stepped back in front of the doorway and took a deep breath before letting it out. “…Before you explain anything more, did you wanna come in? Home Run and Flutters are asleep, but the kitchen’s still there and I can fix you up something.”

Mami shook her head. “As much as I love a gathering, I’m afraid I must refuse, given the current hour. If you can, would you be willing to heal Applejack-san while she’s here? With your power, I’m certain that you have the ability, but Applejack-san’s healing isn’t very effective, and I need to head home.” Applejack just stared blankly at the veteran as she slowly walked in through the doorway. 

The prismatic Magical Girl frowned as she translated Mami’s words. She couldn’t catch everything, but there were some key details she managed to catch. “Hai, odaijide kudasai. (Yes, take care of yourself.)” 

“…Huh?” The farm pony raised an eyebrow as she stared at Rainbow as if she was doing something weird.

“Arigatou.” The veteran smiled softly before turning to Applejack. “Applejack-san, please take care of yourself. I will see you tomorrow morning.” She twisted her tongue as she briefly bowed before waving and making her away back on the road to her own apartment. The blonde-haired Magical Girl blinked for a moment before waving back, sort of understanding that Mami needed to go, and she was stuck with RD and Fluttershy for the time being.

Good thing, too. She could fulfill what was left of the promise this way.

Rainbow Dash yawned as she faced her farm pony friend. “Well, AJ, come on in. You feeling thirsty at all?” She offered as Applejack slowly made her way inside the building, her eyes focused on the rather strange paintings that were just…uh…floating in the air. No magic or nothing, just…they were floating in the air, and they had weird symbols on them.

Her pegasus friend led her to what looked like a crescent red sofa, where she plopped her flank on the sofa just across the huge white table that sat in the middle of the room, littered in maps and grids and whatever was on there. It was downright messed up, but Rainbow seemed so accustomed to its weirdness, it was almost scary. “Go ahead, sit down. The sofa’s not gonna bite.”

Figuring there was nothing else to do, Applejack sat down opposite to her friend. “…So, you wanted to know who else came here and all…” She started, but the atmosphere felt a little surreal as her friend sat there listening. “…After…a week of searching around, a sample of whatever Twilight sent revealed that ya’ll were sent to a different dimension. Since all the Princesses and Discord were keeping a portal up and running…Twilight stayed behind to run Equestria. The rest of us were sent to look for you both.”

“So, Twilight’s in Equestria…so that’d be you, Rarity, and Pinkie…” The prismatic Magical Girl frowned as she crossed her arms and leaned backwards a little. “And you’re now contracted…so you can’t go back. Fluttershy and I are both currently in the same situation. We’re both Magical Girls, too.”

The farm pony’s eyes widened to pinpricks as she clenched her fists. “But…but that means you can’t go back to Equestria! All this effort has been for nothing!” She felt a flame of hope go out as Rainbow reformed her Soul Gem into the egg form, the red purified light from the gem emanating magical energies as she held it in her hand. “Land sakes….ya’ll really ARE stuck in this mess like Ah am!” It was like a horror story come to life!

The pegasus dropped her shoulders in resignation. “…More like you ended up stuck here because of the both of us. I’m…really sorry about all this, AJ…If it wasn’t for us disappearing like we did…you guys wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place.” Her mind drifted back to the veteran Magical Girl’s words. “…Anyways, since I’ve got my Soul Gem out…lie down on the sofa, will ya?” She held a small smile as she stood up from her seat.

“…Uh…why do Ah wanna lie down all of a sudden, sugarcube?” She didn’t know what was going on…but she was willing to trust RD, so…The blonde-haired Magical Girl shifted her position on the sofa horizontally, so that she could easily lean her back against the cushioned leather, but her eyes stayed locked to her friend’s magenta as Rainbow Dash knelt down in front of the sofa, holding out her Soul Gem.

“This might sting a little, so…try to bear with it.” She grinned sheepishly before closing her eyes and concentrating on strengthening the light coming from her Soul Gem. A vibrant rainbow light traveled from the hot-tempered Magical Girl’s hand and spilled down her fingers like a waterfall onto her farm friend’s back, causing the other to wince in pain before feeling a sense of peace as she moaned in approval.

“Mmph! …Eyup, Ah needed this…” She breathed out with her emerald eyes half-closed in comfort, letting the powerful rainbow light heal her foolish attempts at fighting the way she did as a pony. Especially with her strength and build…even if she brought some with her from Equestria, she didn’t have enough to beat up those Witches with. She realized that now, and if it wasn’t for that Flufftail and Mami, she’d most certainly be a goner. Her friend’s chuckle rang through her ears, and they probably would’ve twitched if they weren’t so darn round. “…You like that, huh? It’s pretty awesome.” The farm pony kept her mouth shut at the remark. 

The pegasus gave a deep sigh before lifting the vibrant red Soul Gem away, commanding the rainbow light to follow. “…Alright, I think you can manage from here. How’d you get so beat up in the first place, AJ?” Her head cocked to the side. The farm pony sighed in satisfaction as she felt no more pain, but she still felt a stab to her already wounded pride. “…Heh…don’t ask. Ah ain’t proud of it, that’s for sure.” Her eyes followed the outfit her friend was wearing. “Anyways, Ah didn’t think lavender was yer color.” She grinned as a blush worked up on the hot-tempered Magical Girl’s face.

“Oh, come on! It was lent to me by Home Run! YOU question her fashion if you wanna.” Rainbow crossed her arms and turned her head away. Applejack raised an eyebrow as she lifted herself off her back and sat up on the couch. “You keep talking ‘bout some ‘Home Run’, but who in the hay and where is this ’Home Run’?” The pegasus gave a deep sigh before pointing a finger towards a door that was decorated only by the two sets of candle-sticks that sat on the ledge on either side of it. “She’s in her room; probably sleeping like I should be right now.” She yawned involuntarily as she faced her farm friend.

The blonde-haired Magical Girl blinked. “…Y’know, Ah could always get a drink in the morning, if you really wanna sleep that much, sugarcube.” She adjusted her Stetson a bit; it started sitting a little funny on her head after she got up. 

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Eh, whatever floats your boat…I’m not sure if Home Run has anymore spare rooms right now…and our room is already full enough as it is…” Her voice trailed into silence as she took on a thoughtful expression, a screeching sound filling the air at a constant pace, never changing. In confusion, the farm pony looked up. “…Whoa nelly, what in tarnation’ IS that thing?!” 

The pegasus was forced out of her thoughts. “H-Huh? What?” Her eyes looked up for a bit before she looked back down, her expression rather calm despite all the strange decor. “Oh, that’s just the pendulum. Home Run’s always had it. It’s not gonna fall on us or crush us. It just swings around; I think she mainly has it for effect or something.” She shrugged. “Sometimes her antics are a little too weird to question, even though she’s as funny as Pinkie Pie is uncaring.”

Applejack shook her head in awe. “…Ah can’t believe this…a-anyways, why don’t Ah just sleep here for the night? Ah ain’t bugging nopony here, and Ah’m pretty sure Ah can sleep through this dumb pendulum.” Her lips curled into a smile.

The prismatic Magical Girl grinned. “Okay, I’ll see if we’ve got some spare blankets lying around in our room real quick.” She walked away from the table, making little sound with her feet as she went to another door that wasn’t Home Run’s room. Opening it slowly, she succeeded in letting light into the room without bothering her roommate, who wasn’t even facing the doorway to begin with. Fluttershy continued to breathe in a naturally relaxed motion while her fingers slightly clenched the tips of the pillowcase. 

Tip-toeing around the room, the pegasus reached into a box on one side of the bed, and managed to pull out a rather huge and soft blanket that was identical to the one already on their bed. Something like this should be more than enough for AJ to wrap herself in. Without a second thought, she slowly crept back out of the room, and carefully shut the door behind her.

It didn’t take long for her to walk back into the center of the room where the table and Applejack was. “Hey, I got your blanket.” Rainbow Dash smiled as she handed the blanket to her friend. The farm pony blinked but sighed in contentment as she grasped the soft fabric and felt the warmth hug her body. “…It’s mighty fine, sugarcube.” She smiled as she sank her chin into it. “…But won’t yer Home Run be mad if Ah stay here? Ah don’t want no trouble.”

The pegasus shook her head. “…Home Run will understand if I explain things in the morning. Seeing as I’m now WAY too active to get proper sleep, I’ll certainly be awake before she is.” She gave a light chuckle in reassurance. The farm pony held a frown for a little while more before giving a deep sigh, the exhaustion of her trip through the portal and everything with it weighing her down. “…Well…if you say so, sugarcube…Ah certainly hope Home Run does.” Her emerald eyes slowly closed as she sunk her head even deeper against the blanket, a shaky sigh escaping her lips.

She looked pretty much how she and Fluttershy were when Home Run offered them a place to stay. What kind of adventures did Applejack face in order to get here, and why did she contract in the first place? While she figured Home Run would understand her staying over for the night, they still had to figure something out that didn’t require her sleeping on the sofa all the time. Maybe Mami had room at her place? It wasn’t cool to be separated…but maybe Mami could help them figure things out. According to what she heard eavesdropping on that Sayaka and Madoka one time, she had a sweet pad and awesome cake. 

…Speaking of that Madoka kid…what WAS up with Home Run talking about and looking at her with those sad eyes? Why does Cubes seem so eager to contract her? It wasn’t because of great potential alone, was it? If he actually managed to…that’d bring the Magical Girl count up to seven, and they’d really be in trouble…some of them would have to move into other territories, and from what she heard from Home Run before…they weren’t actually peaceful towards visiting Magical Girls. She shuddered at the thought of having to fight others to the death if necessary.

Of all the Magical Girls she knew now…there was Home Run, her and Fluttershy, now Applejack…and Mami, and now that Sayaka that sat next to Fluttershy recently contracted. That brought them up to the limit. Rainbow Dash gave another deep sigh as she watched her friend’s breathing growing more relaxed, yet it was still burdened. Something was weighing down on her mind, the pegasus was certain. At least for now, though…it was best to just let her rest.

But if Applejack was now with her and Fluttershy…just where did Rarity and Pinkie Pie end up?

---

Sunlight generously poured through the windows of the bedroom, silver light glistening from her ammunition that rested on top of the desk against the wall as Akemi Homura was wrapped deep in her dark lavender covers. It didn’t take much effort for the apathetic Magical Girl to get up in the morning; she was naturally an early raiser and was usually the first one up. Once her alarm clock set off with a repetitious beeping sound, her royal blue eyes slowly opened as her mouth was shaped into a frown.

…Time to start another day. 

Her eyes immediately sought for the Soul Gem that hugged her left middle finger as she lifted her hand to her face. Letting out a small scowl, she sat up in the covers as she scorned the small amount of corruption that made its way into her source of power overnight. Once again, being plagued by nightmares managed to set off unwanted emotions; the apathetic Magical Girl bit her lip in frustration.

Without another thought, Homura stood up from her bed and quickly made her way to a drawer inside of her desk, where she kept her stock of Grief Seeds hidden. At the moment she was secured by the sight of 3 Grief Seeds, but even that would eventually run out soon enough. She needed to hunt, and was certain that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy also needed to. 

Above anything else…they needed to find a Witch today.

“…Hey, Home Run! Wake up!” Homura jumped at the constant banging, a booming sound that caused discomfort to her ears. That voice…that sounded like Rainbow Dash of all people, but she wasn’t an early bird…Why would she be up before she was? Such a thing was unpredictable, and only complicated things.

The apathetic Magical Girl frowned.

…How are you awake before I am?

She heard snickering just outside her door.

Pfft, surprised you, huh? I couldn’t get back to sleep after Mami dropped by last night. You and Flutters were asleep, so…I didn’t wanna bug ya.

Homura raised an eyebrow. 

…Strange. What was Tomoe Mami’s business for being here last night? Such a thing is unbecoming of her, considering her policy on respecting guests. 

She was certain she could sense a grin from the hot-headed Magical Girl. 

…Come out of the room and you’ll find out.

Letting out an already tired sigh, Homura took the effort to get dressed out of her lavender pajamas and lifted her freshly cleaned uniform off of the hanger she had sitting by her bed. Honestly, how did that idiot have so much energy in the morning? Not to mention the fact that it was a school day…she should be getting ready for school in about an hour. But besides that…what did Tomoe Mami come over last night for? She didn’t usually visit people at such a late hour…so why did she come over when she wasn’t able to keep an eye on what occurred? What sort of conversation was exchanged? Would it affect their partnership against Walpurgisnacht?

…If only that pesky pegasus woke her up.

She slowly opened the door as she kept a small frown, the light from her white walls and the shadows from her swinging pendulum leaving her unfazed. Such a thing was unimportant to what mattered. Rainbow Dash was hiding something from her, and she intended to find out just what happened the night before. Her royal blue eyes focused on the center of the room where she saw the hot-headed Magical Girl standing nearby the table with her shy companion, accompanying another…strange individual.

…A stranger was in her house without permission.

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “…Dare (Who)?” She spoke out in Japanese as Fluttershy let out a small yawn before quickly saying ‘excuse me’. Rainbow let out a grin as her magenta eyes met the apathetic Magical Girl’s eyes. “…Ah, Home Run! Kono hito wa Applejack (This person is Applejack)!”

The blonde-haired Magical raised an eyebrow as she scratched her head. “Uh…what the hay did she say, Fluttershy?” The timid Magical Girl blinked before giving a small smile. “Oh, um, she just introduced you to Miss Homura. She and Miss Mami have been teaching us Japanese, so we’ve been trying to find opportunities to practice. Eventually…if you don’t mind doing so…you’ll have to learn the language, too.”

Homura blinked. “…Applejack? ...Wait, is she the mysterious Magical Girl we sensed? Did Tomoe Mami find her?” She twisted her tongue to the farm pony’s relief. Rainbow Dash nodded as she crossed her arms behind her head. “…Yup. Applejack is also from Equestria, and a dear friend of mine and Fluttershy’s.”

The apathetic Magical Girl sweat-dropped. “…Ah…so she must also be a pony.” Really, the idea of ponies turning into humans was once one of the most ridiculous things she ever heard of, but after being in Rainbow and Fluttershy’s company for some time, it was a little bit...easier to grasp the concept. 

Applejack blinked. “Y’know, that Flufftail also guessed Ah was a pony as soon as the critter had to teach me to walk like a human. He must have learned from you two.” Fluttershy gave a small nod. “QB was very helpful to us starting out, but Miss Homura doesn’t like him, so I’m afraid we had to separate.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Eh, we see him from time to time anyway. Cubes has been hanging around that Madoka girl lately at school.” Applejack blinked as emerald eyes gazed into magenta. “…Since when did ya’ll start going to school here?”

The timid Magical Girl gave a sheepish grin. “Umm…we had our first day just recently…just right after Miss Homura sensed your contract.” Her feet shifted slightly as she relaxed on the sofa. Rainbow woke her up today with a lovely surprise, and yet it was also greatly concerning to think that the rest of her friends could also get caught up in this life she and Rainbow had chosen. 

Applejack blinked. “Wait, you’re sayin’ ‘Miss Homura’…but Dash is sayin’ ‘Home Run’. Which is it?” It seemed like they each had a separate name for that Flufftail, too…

The apathetic Magical Girl gave a short cough. “…My name is Akemi Homura. Akemi is my family name, so you may just call me Homura.” It was a pain having to constantly switch between languages…but it was risky to talk only through the mind where Kyuubey could detect them with ease.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Home Run’s way easier to pronounce. That and it’s funny.” It was amusing how the Japanese native would glare at her each time she used that nick-name. “…Hey, didn’t you say one time that your name meant ‘flame’?”

Her royal-blue eyes narrowed as her patience grew thin with the hot-headed pegasus idiot. “…I did. I’d rather just to be called Homura.”
The farm pony nodded. “…Alright. Homura. Ah’ll try to remember that. Ah don’t think Ah can stay here for life, so…know where Ah can find a permanent place to throw in the sack?”

Homura closed her eyes with a light shrug. “…Tomoe Mami should have plenty of room. If she came by last night…chances are she’ll be back not too long from now with cake.”

Fluttershy blinked. “I understand when she came for that meeting, but…she brings cake with her every time she visits?” It seemed akin to something Pinkie Pie would do…if she was around. According to Applejack, she WAS somewhere in this world, but nopony knew where. It was a scary yet almost refreshing thought to know that her friend was out there somewhere.

After all…if they were in this world…and if each of them had potential…they could end up stuck to this world as well. If all of them ended up being trapped in this world of Witches and Familiars, how could they represent the Elements of Harmony with Twilight? It would hurt their friend badly if she ended up losing all of her friends at once…

…But what could she do? She already made her wish. She couldn’t belong in Equestria ever again.

“…Perhaps not everytime. Either way, we’ll probably see her at school today. Applejack could do some Witch hunting in the morning, and we will all meet together in the afternoon.” Homura explained in English, a mental schedule of the day running through her head. “After all, you are not a student – we can’t take you to school with us.”

Applejack frowned as she nodded her head. “…Right.” She glanced towards her two friends before once again facing the apathetic Magical Girl. “…You sure Mami will let me stay at her place?”

The rainbow-haired Magical Girl brought her hands out in a shrug. “Well, what else is there? We still need to get in contact with that Sayaka now that she’s contracted, and if she’s got plenty of room and already knows you, Mami’s the best option as of right now.” 

Fluttershy nodded in agreement as she looked towards her farm pony friend. “…No matter what happens, we’ll still be together. And Mami’s actually really nice.”

The blonde-haired Magical Girl gave a deep sigh. “…Well, if ya’ll say so. Ah think I’ll try and look for Rarity and Pinkie Pie while you guys are at school. If Ah don’t find ‘em, Ah’ll see about taking down a Witch.”

Homura narrowed her eyes into a stern expression. “…When it comes to hunting Witches…above all else, conserve your energy to save on how much Grief Seeds you use. There are too many Magical Girls in the area all at once, and the chance of more appearing is high.” She faced the other two Magical Girls. “…We need to get prepared for school.”

Applejack blinked as she watched her two pegasus friends stand up from the sofa, their hands reaching for small navy blue bags. Come to think of it, all of them were wearing some creamy colored outfit with a red ribbon. “…Ah suppose that’s a uniform you wear?”

Rainbow groaned as she tugged at the white collar covering her neck. “Ugh, don’t remind me of the stupid thing. It’s frustrating enough that I have to wear it every day. Enjoy the freedom, AJ!” She gave a wave as she was quick to follow her filly-hood friend out of the room. “…Hope you find the other two!”

The farm pony bit her lip as a wave of anxiety rushed over her. “…Ah sure hope ah do, sugarcube…”

---

The traffic of students flowed at a consistent pace as the three Magical Girls made their way down the paved walkway, Mitakihara Middle School growing closer as they continued to walk. Blue eyes glanced up with a smile at the blooming cherry blossoms – it really was a pretty area to walk through. If she had more time, maybe she could see what kind of animals were living in the trees and the bushes? 

Still, she couldn’t get distracted. Dashie would get annoyed.

“…You seem awfully distracted with the trees there, Flutters…” The timid Magical Girl blinked as she turned to face her filly-hood friend. “Keeping an eye out for critters or something?” She blushed as the rainbow-haired girl gave a small smile. “Yeah, I thought so. Don’t think I missed that!” She teased as Fluttershy gave a sheepish grin.

Akemi Homura stayed silent as she walked; her eyes glancing every now and then back at the colorful pegasus duo behind her, giggling as they continued talking about trees. True, it was a pretty area, but things like that weren’t important in comparison to what was bound to occur soon. With Miki Sayaka’s contract, there was always something to throw a wrench in her plans. From here, she had to make careful decisions if she was going to get help with Walpurgisnacht.

...Especially if SHE was going to come to this city soon…although she was a week late to come. What factors changed things?

With her personality, maybe it was best for Rainbow Dash to approach Miki Sayaka regarding her contract. With another Magical Girl to accompany her, Madoka wouldn’t be as likely to follow her into her battles. Not to mention the fact that Tomoe Mami was around, so maybe Sayaka already had a companion to fight with. 

Nevertheless, they could discuss suitable partners over lunch. Applejack was a brand new variable to be accounted for, after all.

The apathetic Magical Girl winced at the sudden jab in her shoulder. “…Hey, Earth to Home Run, you there?” Narrowing her eyes, royal blue orbs gazed into magenta. “...I’m here, yes. I was just thinking about what our next move should be. We should gather with Tomoe Mami and Miki Sayaka during lunch to discuss how to create fighting tactics.”

Fluttershy raised a pink brow in confusion. “…Fighting tactics? As in…how we fight, and who we fight with?”

“Yes. As of right now, we have me, you two, Tomoe Mami, Miki Sayaka, and Applejack, bringing us up to a total of 6 girls exactly. We can even off into partners based on who goes best with whose power or weapon.” The dark-haired Magical Girl explained, her hands counting the number of variables currently.

Rainbow Dash wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulder, her face full of confidence. “I’m sure it’s pretty obvious Flutters and I will be partners. That’s one pair figured out.”

Homura sighed – while they were certainly willing to support each other and all, it wasn’t in her best interests that they stick to their own kind. They had to be mixed up if they had any chance of fitting in this world. “…We’ll address this during lunch with Miki Sayaka and Tomoe Mami. Until then, nothing is set in stone. We’re almost to the building.”

The two nodded silently as they followed their caretaker and host – what was she planning? Weren’t they just going to school? Talking to the other Magical Girls? Why was she so focused on a plan?

Rainbow leaned towards her friend’s ear. “…Why do I get the feeling Home Run isn’t telling us something again?” She whispered softly.

Fluttershy gave a sigh in reply as she watched the apathetic Magical Girl. Even if she was, at this point it really wouldn’t surprise her. It seemed like Miss Homura worked at her own pace, and for her own hidden motives. The only thing that even gave her a clue was Miss Homura’s dislike of QB and Madoka’s great potential to become a Magical Girl…but so far that didn’t tell them anything.

“…You know…I think you’re right about that, Dashie.”  

> Chapter 16 - There's No Way I'll Regret It
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Students engaged themselves in various activities as the bell rang to signal that it was time for lunch. Getting out of her seat with a giggle towards her pink pigtailed best friend, Miki Sayaka relished in the break from long draining classes, her mind focused on her stomach and what she had packed for lunch just that morning. “Ahh, I’m so glad that it’s lunch time!” She whined in a boisterous manner, her loud voice filling the classroom as she gave a laid-back stretch in her seat.

Kaname Madoka closed her eyes with a grin. “Mmm, that last class felt longer than usual. Let’s head towards the rooftop to eat, ne?” Her pigtails bounced with slight movement, her posture full of energy. She couldn’t tell right off the bat, but something seemed a little different with Sayaka-chan…maybe they could talk about it?

“Mmm! That sounds great! Let’s get going then!” The blue-haired girl beamed as she picked up her bag, seeming quite eager to leave the classroom as she turned to head towards the glass filled hallway. It was strange how each and every classroom was separated by only a few sheets of glass. Students could see everything going on in other classrooms and in the hallways. Who came up with a building like that?

Well, who cares? It was lunch time and she was feeling hungry.

The pink-haired school girl nodded as she hurried after her friend. “M-Matte (Wait), Sayaka-chan…!”

Fluttershy kept silent as she watched the exchange just beside her. If she understood her Japanese right…it sounded like they said roof, so…maybe they were going to the rooftop to eat their lunch? With a sigh, the pink-haired Magical Girl stood up from her chair and looked towards her prismatic filly-hood friend. 

…Should we follow them?

Rainbow Dash blinked with a start before quickly looking in her companion’s direction, her body a little tense.

D-Don’t do that without warning, Flutters! You almost gave me a heart attack!

O-oh, I’m sorry, Dashie! 

Letting out a sigh, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl closed her eyes for a bit to calm down, before meeting Fluttershy’s gaze once more. 

…But yeah. We should follow them. Home Run plans to talk to Sayaka and Mami during lunch, so we need to be there for that.

With a nod, the timid pegasus proceeded to pick up her bag and started to follow her companion out of the classroom without another word, her blue eyes taking note of Homura’s presence approaching them from behind as they started to climb the stairs. “…Does Miss Mami know about the meeting?” She asked softly, her voice barely carrying through the stairways.

Homura gave a small nod, her hair swaying as she walked with the other two. “Eh. I made sure to send her a message. She should be on her way. Now all that’s left to do is to intercept Miki Sayaka before we begin. The rooftop should be a suitable place…but we’d have to get Kaname Madoka out of the way.” Her tone grew cold as her eyes narrowed.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she put her arms behind her head. “Oh, come on. Lighten up already, Home Run! You’re acting like it’s a game of chess or something!”

The apathetic Magical Girl remained silent, giving no further comment on the matter. 

Their footsteps echoed as they went up the stairs, eventually reaching the spacious rooftop with its elaborate fencing that bordered the entire area. Fluttershy let out a soft breath as she caught sight of the two school girls, eating lunch together as Madoka had a shocked expression. Surprisingly, QB was nowhere to be found.

“S-Sayaka-chan, you contracted?!” A feminine voice filled the air as the three walked closer, catching wind of their conversation. “…W-With your wish granted, you’ll be risking your life. You finally found something worth all of that responsibility?”

The blue-haired girl nodded, a distant smile on her face. “…When I think about it, the answer was clear from the start…but I went and dragged it on longer than it needed to be.” Her eyes grew clouded as visions of a boy, his dreams crushed and his eyes no longer full of life, stood at the edge of the hospital building…her tears as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pleading him not to jump… “…But!” She gave a grin, her voice full of spirit as she stood up and pumped a fist in the air. “That’s all in the past now! From here on out, Sayaka-chan, Savior of Justice, will do her best to protect the people of Mitakihara!”

Madoka parted her lips, hesitation in her voice. “…A-are you sure you’ll be okay? I mean, of course Mami-san will be there…but---”

“…I actually would like to speak with you, Miki Sayaka.” The two girls let out a gasp as Sayaka narrowed her eyes at the dark-haired Magical Girl, accompanied by the two colorful transfer students, which were relatives of her’s and Mami-san’s, according to the school at least. But they were directly associated with her? 

“…What do you want, Transfer Student?” Her blue eyes glared deeply into royal blue orbs as she put a hand out between Homura and Madoka.

Homura kept silent, running a hand through her hair before directly meeting her gaze. “As you’re now officially a Magical Girl, we need to make some adjustments about how things will operate in this city. In short, we need a city-wide strategy meeting.” Her eyes glanced towards Madoka, causing the shorter girl to flinch from behind Sayaka’s protection. “…Those who aren’t contracted mustn’t get involved so deeply.”

Madoka’s eyes widened as she glanced towards the colorful duo, slowly standing up. “…W-Wait, then…that means that all of you are…You two are also Magical Girls…?” They seemed friendly yet distant in the classroom…but she never expected so many new Magical Girls to surface all at once! How many WERE there in the city?  

“Eh?!” Sayaka glanced between her best friend and the two newer transfer students. “W-Wait, I never heard about this! …Why would I wanna associate with you anyway, Transfer Student!? You don’t decide what I do!”

The prismatic girl frowned as she twisted her tongue, all of her practice bearing fruit. “…Just listen to her. Mami’s also okay with this.”

The blue haired Magical Girl gulped, her body still tense in the presence of the apathetic Magical Girl. “…Mami-san’s okay with this….?” Her lips curled into a frown. “Where is she, then?”

Fluttershy stepped forward slowly, hoping she could help calm her. “…Mami-san is on her way. Homura-san called her to meet us all.” 

The pink-pigtailed girl glanced at the group, her posture uneasy as she reached to pick up her belongings. Clearly Homura-chan didn’t want her there for whatever they needed to discuss…and she’d rather not be a burden with so many who could help Sayaka-chan with her fight. Maybe through this, she and Homura-chan could try to get along…it sounded like Mami-san was okay with her now. “...You should stay for the meeting, Sayaka-chan. If Mami-san’s going to be here…it must be something important, so…I’ll see you later, Sayaka-chan!” She didn’t waste any time running from the area and down the stairs, passing the blonde pigtailed veteran.

Sayaka reached out a hand. “O-Oi, Madoka…!” The blue-haired girl looked towards the doorway for a moment, noticing a glimpse of gold as Tomoe Mami was in fact making her way over to the group. “…Mami-san.”

Mami glanced back towards the stairs before facing the apathetic Magical Girl, but not before giving a nod towards Sayaka. “…I saw Kaname-san pass by me just now…is everything alright?”

Homura closed her eyes for a moment. “…Everything’s fine. I simply told her not to get involved. What we’re going to discuss today isn’t meant for her ears…we already have enough inexperienced Magical Girls to train in order to prepare for Walpurgisnacht.”

“…Walpurgisnacht?” The blue-haired Magical Girl blinked. What the heck was that? Some alien language?

The golden-locked Magical Girl nodded. “…Yes. Walpurgisnacht, you see, is a super-colossal Witch known from Magical Girl rumors over the ages…but Akemi-san has predicted that it will appear in this city at the end of this month, providing me with concrete evidence. With how powerful it is, it has no barrier…so the city of Mitakihara will be threatened on a large scale. In order to prevent it from destroying everything, I have joined forces with Akemi-san, Fluttershy-san, and Dash-san, as well as another, in order to fight it together. Now that you have contracted, Miki-san…we need your strength.”

Sayaka gulped. The whole city could be destroyed…?! That also meant the hospital, and Madoka and Hitomi..! Blue eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists, a fire in her eyes. “…Count me in. If there’s something coming…I wanna do what it takes to protect everyone!”

Fluttershy gave a soft smile. “…Arigatou, Sayaka-san. Let’s all work together…to protect the ones we love.”

As lovely as their passion for protecting the city was, it was about time they got down to business. Homura let out a sigh before addressing the group. “…With Miki Sayaka on board, we should now discuss the important matter at hand: how should we divide ourselves into groups? With six Magical Girls here, we need to rationalize when we hunt and how much energy we spend.”

The blue-haired girl raised an eyebrow as she made a mental count of the group. “Oi, I think you’re confused or something, Transfer Student. There’s only five of us here on the rooftop!”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, but we have a friend outside of school who’s also with us.” Thinking about it, how was Applejack’s search going anyway? Hopefully she managed to find some trace of them…they were certainly out there somewhere… “…So that makes six.”

Homura nodded. “…Right. Now, with no further interruptions...we should team up in groups of two each, a pair that would complement each other’s abilities and weapons. I can be either a short or long-ranger, I have the ability to stop time for a short moment, but a shortcoming that I have is that I lack strong healing or defense abilities. Someone who could compliment me should have strong healing, but also have decent abilities regarding defense. I believe the person who is most suitable for these necessities is Fluttershy-san.”

The prismatic girl frowned, her mind trying to translate important pieces of the conversation. “…Wait, are you saying for Fluttershy to be your partner?! I thought we already decided Fluttershy was with me!”

The apathetic Magical Girl shook her head. “…I said it before, didn’t I? Until we started the meeting, that nothing was set in stone? It’s actually better in the long run if you two weren’t on the same team. If you always stayed with Fluttershy-san, how would you know how to work with anyone else, or trust anyone else? The biggest obstacle right now is your need to stick to your own kind.”

Rainbow lowered her head, her fists to her forehead. “Gah, I don’t get it! What the heck are you saying!?” Something about being together wasn’t okay…but they Pinkie Promised to protect each other, didn’t they?! “…Why can’t Fluttershy be my partner?!”

Mami let out a deep sigh.

…Because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to truly fit into this world if you stayed with your own kind. I understand you two are friends, Dash-san...but Akemi-san is right in this regard. You wouldn’t be able to trust us if you always stayed with what you understand.

B-But…we promised…! 

Please, this is for the sake of all of you...I can’t understand how hard this world must be for you…but you HAVE to be willing to let us in. It’s the only way you can start to accept our world.

Fluttershy glanced towards her filly-hood friend, a soft sigh escaping her lips. Unfortunately, Miss Mami and Homura were right. They couldn’t keep sticking to each other like this…no matter how much she felt reassured with Rainbow by her side. It hurt, but…

…Rainbow? It’s…it’s okay. We’ll always be friends, and we’re still living with Miss Homura…but we still don’t understand much about this world. Maybe by making more friends here…we’ll start feeling more at home here. After all, we…we can’t go back to Equestria, so…this…this is our home now.

Rainbow frowned, magenta eyes wavering as she looked up at her best friend. 

…But, I…I…

A deep sigh escaped the prismatic girl’s lips.

…I get it, Flutters. Just…do your best, okay? I know things will be rough and all…so just stay awesome and kick some flank, huh?

Sayaka blinked as she watched the exchange, taking in the mental link shared between them all. The transfer students sounded a lot less hesitant in the mind...it was actually kinda nice. Was there something between Dash-san and Fluttershy-san, though? What was ‘flank’ about? What was Equestria?

Homura nodded. “…Now that the mess has been figured out, Fluttershy-san will be partnered with me. Tomoe-san, who do you think would better compliment your fighting style?”

Mami put a hand to her chin in thought. “Mmm, sou ne (Let’s see)…Applejack-san needs a mentor to teach her how to use her pistol…and with my knowledge of the musket, I may be able to help her out. My healing is decent enough, and my defense is strong. My ribbons give me an advantage of entrapping my opponents…for Applejack-san, I might be able to offer her the best support to compliment her teleportation magic, compared to Dash-san and Fluttershy-san.”

Rainbow Dash let out a heavy sigh, her magenta eyes falling onto the blue-haired Magical Girl, causing the other to flinch. 

…I guess that means you’re my partner. I’m super-fast with my wings, I provide a lot of power and reflex with the sword, and my defense is super great with my shield. In exchange…I can heal, but I don’t regenerate from wounds fast. 

Sayaka slowly nodded. 

M-Mmm…My wish was based around healing, so my healing’s good and I regenerate quickly and pretty easily, which…kind of makes up for the fact that… 

The blue-haired girl let out a sigh. It was actually embarrassing, saying your shortcomings…especially to someone she didn’t know as more than a transfer student… 

…Judging how my first Witch battle was, I guess I... rush into things without thinking, and I get hurt a lot? 

Her voice grew meek as she felt ashamed to admit to such a thing…but if it helped the people of Mitakihara…at this point she really had no choice. “…So, I guess…eeto (Um)...take care of me.” She gave a brisk nod, her head lowered to the prismatic girl. She didn’t seem untrustworthy, at least…

“…Yeah.” Rainbow nodded back, an uneasy feeling causing her to feel hesitant on the matter. For the first time since she came to this strange world…she was going to fight with someone that wasn’t Fluttershy. In terms of teamwork, she had everything down pat – Rainbow Danger Dash wasn’t afraid of anything! Just try and test her skills! Years on the Ponyville Weather Team taught her plenty! 

…But this wasn’t about the weather – this was a merciless battlefield, and everyday she’d be risking her life, while Fluttershy would be fighting her own battles where she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on her to make sure she’d be safe. She’d have to focus on ensuring Miki Sayaka’s safety instead, and expect she’d have her back in case things went south. To top it all off, she’d have to trust Home Run to keep Fluttershy alive and well! With how many secrets she was keeping from them while focusing on her own agenda, how could she possibly be okay with this arrangement?!

Crossing her arms loosely, Mami glanced at the group before looking towards Homura. “With our groups decided, how should we divide when each of us will hunt for Witches?” Going all at once would be too risky for the city average of Witches available to hunt…so how were they going to balance six girls in one city? 

Homura raised an index finger in the air. “…We each do a one-day rotation. That means that Fluttershy-san and I would hunt one day, Tomoe-san and Applejack-san would get one day, and so on. There are of course exceptions in case one group is lacking in Grief Seed supply to properly maintain their Soul Gems, but that is what I propose we do in order to divide amongst six Magical Girls in one city. Each Magical Girl must try to conserve as much magic as necessary.”

Sayaka nodded slowly, keeping a wary eye on the dark-haired Magical Girl. As much as she was willing to trust Mami-san, it was still hard to believe that she was now working with that cold-eyed transfer student…but the circumstances were easy to believe with the whole city at risk. “…Jya (So), who’s going to start first with this…rotation thingy?” She frowned.

“Ara (Oh), I suppose your group is volunteering, Miki Sayaka?” The apathetic Magical Girl’s lips curled into a small smile. At this point, she wasn’t too sure of the risks of leaving the two to their own business without supervision, but she needed to start training with Fluttershy-san if they were going to work together. 

The blue-haired girl puffed her cheeks in frustration before letting out a sigh. “…Fine! I’ll start off the rotation, and your group can go the next day! And I suppose Mami-san would go right after you, then. In that case…” She rose her arms up as she stretched, stepping a few feet away from the group before facing them. “…Dash-san, let’s find a good place to meet up after school today!”

Rainbow blinked. “Eh? Ah, hai (Yes)!” Something about meeting up after school? Probably in order to hunt, so they were going to start off the…rotation. At least she thought that’s what was going on? It was a little hard to translate… “…Doko desuka? (Where?)”

Sayaka put a hand to her chin. “Mmm…let’s meet in front of my apartment. I’ll write you an address real quick!” She reached into a school bag before pulling out a small notepad and tore a small piece of paper out, scratching a pen on the surface before holding it out to the prismatic girl. “Hai, kore! (This!) I’ll be heading back down, now.”

The rainbow-haired Magical Girl raised a brow as she slowly took the piece of paper, glancing at the foreign characters scribbled in the blue-haired girl’s handwriting. “…Hai…” She gave a small nod as she watched her make her way from the rest of group and down the stairs off of the school roof, already out of sight.

…What the hay did she just give me?

---

The golden light of the sun poured down as it began to set, prismatic locks shifting with each movement as she took a glance at the piece of paper she was given, which now had additional notes added to it in order to translate, thanks to Home Run and Mami. Turns out it was an address to her apartment, if she understood them right. As she approached what looked like a tall multi-story building, she stopped short, her neck raised to take in the structure. “W-Whoa…” Rainbow breathed, noticing a large glass door that seemed to open as soon as someone approached it. This world was truly different from Equestria.

Blue eyes blinked as Sayaka stepped through the automatic doors, noticing the rainbow-haired Magical Girl. “…Osoi~! (You’re late!)” She started in a dash away from the entrance, stopping just in front of her new battle partner as she put her hands on her hips. “I thought we were meeting directly after school!” 

Rainbow Dash winced. The blue-haired girl seemed to be upset at her. Something about being late? “…Gomen, gomen (Sorry, sorry)!” She spoke in Japanese, before switching to her native language. “…Your note was hard to understand…Home Run and Mami helped me translate it…”

Sayaka stopped short. She caught translate, note, hard, and something about Mami-san and the Transfer Student… “…Ahahaha, my bad!” She scratched the back of her head, giving a sheepish grin. “You couldn’t read my note, huh? This language barrier thing is hard…” She let out a sigh before her lips curled into a small smile. “…Jya, Ikou (Shall we go)?”

The blue pegasus nodded. “…Yeah, let’s go get a Witch.” She followed the energetic short-haired girl as they left the front of the apartment, her magenta eyes filled with more uncertainty as they continued on. How hard would it be to take down the Witch? There was no connection here. She didn’t know if she could honestly entrust her life to this human…but maybe that was exactly what Home Run and Mami were talking about…’letting them in’ or something like that. 

The blue-haired Magical Girl held her hand out as her blue Soul Gem glowed, magic dancing along her hand as it materialized into the egg form, a crescent on the top of its gold-framed crown. Watching it intently, she walked down the street away from the apartment, turning the corner as they entered a more crowded area filled with throngs of people speaking Japanese, all of them trying to get somewhere. 

Rainbow Dash took glances at her own Soul Gem, keeping it in its ring form. It was more convenient that way, to be honest. Less things to fill up your hooves…hands. Letting out a sigh, the rainbow-haired Magical Girl glanced towards the sky. It was nearly sunset, the evening lights of the city giving the area a faint glow as they crossed a bridge, heading down the stairs. “…Mmm, nothing showing on my Soul Gem…Getting anything, Sayaka?” It was a little weird to say on the tongue. Sa-ya-ka.

Sayaka glanced behind her. “Hm? Ah, not yet. Mami-san told me it takes time, so…I guess we keep on walking, ne?” She gave a reassuring smile before facing her Soul Gem again, continuing on down the sidewalk away from the bridge.

Eventually, it came. Magenta and blue eyes widened at the same time as they both suddenly looked at their Soul Gems, the lights pulsating as it picked up energies. With a nod, Sayaka grinned. “Kokoda! (It’s here)!” Following the blue-haired Magical Girl down towards a less-populated area and stopping at what looked like a desolate alleyway, Rainbow could see her Soul Gem was pulsating faster. The source was in that alleyway…but it felt too weak to be a Witch. 

As the Soul Gem reached the source, the entire area of the alley grew distorted, taking them into a world covered in green solid walls, crayons raining down as they descended down the flight of stairs as the barrier’s aura revealed its malicious nature to them. 

…The source seems to be here…but it feels a little too weak to be a full-fledged Witch. 

Sayaka blinked, her eyes glancing towards her prismatic battle partner. 

You think so? In that case, it might just be a really strong familiar…but either way we’ve gotta take care of it! It’ll kill people, after all!

Rainbow frowned a bit, narrowing her eyes as she gave a sharp nod.

…You got it! I’ve got your back.

“Okay!” The blue-haired Magical Girl grinned, magic surrounding her as she was surrounded by a watery aura, bubbles rising up as her body was bathed in a light-blue light, her Mitakihara school uniform being replaced by a strapless frilled blue and white bodice with gold lining, her legs being dressed in white stockings with blue belt buckles as her cream-colored sleeves were replaced with separate dark blue sleeves, her fingers covered by white gloves with blue bands. Her skirt was replaced with a blue angled skirt with a lighter blue layer draped over, a shimmering blue crescent forming on her belly. Reaching a hand to her hair, fortissimo-shaped hairpins decorated the side of her head, her neck covered by a white cape lined with gold as she pulled a blue and silver cutlass out of her chest, swinging it around as she completed her transformation, jumping out of the covers of her cape. 

Rainbow allowed her rainbow-hued magic to completely envelop her, her creamy uniform being replaced by her black with rainbow lining armored dress with the gold necklace resembling the Element of Loyalty appearing around her neck forming her Soul Gem, her arms and legs being decorated by red-guard armor over black boots and half-gloves as a pair of cyan-blue pegasus wings sprout from her back, a sense of peace before rainbow lightning crackles, forming her cutie-mark on her shield, a sword appearing in her other hand as she reappeared in the crayon-filled barrier. “…Alright, let’s take it down!”

Sayaka formed several cutlass swords in front of her as she took notice of a small scribbled creature with its tongue sticking out, sitting on a rocket as it hovered over them. “BEH~! UGHFFG UGGG!” The familiar cried out as she twitched. Okay, that thing was REALLY annoying. “Take this!” Blue eyes narrowed as she threw several cutlass swords towards the creature, the familiar gliding along as it attempted to avoid her attacks, until suddenly, a gold chain-whip with a silver and red blade struck at the swords, preventing them from hitting the familiar as it let out a screech, quickly moving away from the threat.

“Hold on, just WHAT do you THINK you’re doing?” A strange foreign voice filled the air in Japanese as Rainbow blinked in surprise, a red-ponytailed girl in a red and white-frilled coat landing on top of one of Sayaka’s swords that was pushed away, before it dispersed in a blue light, the barrier around them folding into itself instead of collapsing, the alley reverting back to normal as the familiar flew away.

“Ah, it’s getting away!” Sayaka called out, starting into a pursuit after it before she suddenly tilted her head upwards, a long golden pole with a silver spear blade pressed right at her neck, causing her to flinch as she stayed in one spot a fair distance from the other strange girl, letting out a shaky breath.

“Sayaka!” Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth at the sight of the red stranger. “HEY! What do you think YOU’RE doing, huh?!” She spat out in English, her anger rising as her wings flared.

The red-haired girl narrowed her eyes at the prismatic Magical Girl. “Hnn…Eego (English), ka?” She mused, before her lips curled into a smirk, her tongue twisting with an accent. “…Are you a fool? That’s a Familiar, not a Witch. You won’t get a Grief Seed from it.”

The rainbow-haired girl frowned, glaring at the girl. Her English was surprisingly good…but that wasn’t the point! “…Grief Seed or not, it’s going to kill people if left alone! Now release my friend, or you’ll have to deal with me!” She aimed her sword towards the redhead. It was strange she was calling Sayaka a friend so soon…but she was entrusted to protect her, and have her back. She wasn’t going to leave her hanging!

A black-cuffed hand reached into a side pocket, pulling out a taiyaki as the redhead took a bite, chewing a bit. “…So?” Red eyes shifted towards them like a predator eyeing her prey. “…Let it kill people. Eventually if you wait for it to eat…hmm…five to ten people, it’ll become a Witch with its own Grief Seed. Then you can hunt for it without wasting magic.” She took another bite. “If you nip it in the bud, you’re hurting the economy, you know? …The Food Chain? Didn’t you learn it at school?”

Sayaka gulped, catching bits and pieces of the conversation. “…Food chain…? …What does THAT have to do with anything!?” Her lips pursed shut, still nervous about the sharp blade just an inch from her neck.

The mysterious girl barked out a laugh. “…Wow, you two have got this ALL wrong.” She pulled her spear back as the pole shrank to a smaller size, releasing the blue-haired Magical Girl. “…Allow me to educate you, then.” Sayaka found no relief as the redhead licked her lips before walking closer, a hungry look in her eyes as she moved closer to the blue-haired girl, her red boots clacking against the hard alleyway surface. “…Weak humans get eaten by Familiars. Familiars become Witches, and then we, the superior Magical Girls, EAT the Witches.” She took another hearty bite of her treat before she eyed the prismatic Magical Girl behind Sayaka. “…Circle of Life, you know?”

Magenta eyes slowly widened, bile rising in her throat. “…You’re…you’re just…sick…!” How could anyone even LIVE with themselves if they had THAT mindset…?! She glared at her. “So what, you’ll just leave people to suffer just so you can get another Grief Seed?!” 

“It’s SURVIVAL, sister.” Her ponytail shifted as she put a hand on her hip, a mocking tone in her voice. “…What, you didn’t expect this gig to be all about saving people, DID you? …Love and justice or some kind of CRAP like that?”

Sayaka clenched her teeth. She understood enough. “…You…!” She swung her sword at the redhead, a clanging sound ringing through the air as her attack was blocked by the redhead’s spear, her composure rather calm as she closed her eyes.

“…Hey. Why don’t you quit it?” She spoke in a softer tone, showing a fair amount of patience as the blue-haired girl strained against her weapon, grunting the entire time. 

The prismatic Magical Girl felt a chill run down her spine. This strange girl was barely even trying, and Sayaka couldn’t make a dent on her, no matter how much force she was putting in. Just who WAS this girl…?! “…Well, why don’t YOU cut it out?! You’re the one who pounced on us, talking about the food chain!” Rainbow growled at her, gripping her sword tighter.

The mysterious Magical Girl held out a hand into a shrug, keeping her spear in place with one hand. “I’m just stating the facts here, Colors. Hunting familiars wastes SO much energy that could be spent hunting for more Grief Seeds. Why waste a perfectly good Witch?” She took another bite of her taiyaki, stuffing the rest of it in her mouth. 

Rainbow’s anger bubbled until it boiled. “Alright, you ASKED for it!” She rushed forward, getting ready to strike. Nobody treated her companions like that and got away with it!

She swallowed. “…This is getting annoying.” All of a sudden, red diamond barriers formed in multiple layers in front of the prismatic Magical Girl as the redhead pushed her spear forward, knocking Sayaka off balance as she twisted her body, the golden pole collapsing into a chain-whip spear as she swung it into the blue-haired girl, causing her to fly backwards, straight into the red diamond barriers and making Rainbow crash into her, red diamonds falling all around the two.

“Agh!” Sayaka winced at the pain as she quickly glanced over at her battle partner. “G-guh…D-Daijoubu (Are you okay)…?” She asked the prismatic Magical Girl, struggling to slowly get up, her regenerative abilities starting to kick in.

Rainbow Dash had been in crashes all her life, at all kinds of velocities…but Tartarus did her body HURT...! “Mmgh…I’ll be okay, I’ve got good defense…!” She winced before her eyes narrowed into a glare towards the mysterious Magical Girl. Seriously, using her friend as a weapon against her? NOT. COOL.

“Tch…” The redhead frowned as she watched the two slowly recover from the blow they dealt, a blue healing light with music notes surrounding Rainbow Dash as her pain slowly eased, glaring daggers at her. “An attack like THAT should’ve put you two out of commission for two or three weeks, at least.” She shifted her posture to a firmer stance. Things were going to heat up from here.

The rainbow-haired girl readied her sword, her eyes more focused as she took a glance towards her battle partner who gave a nod in return, her cutlass at the ready. “…Too bad…” Rainbow looked back at the ponytailed girl. “We’re too awesome for that.” They both charged at the redhead, fury in their eyes.

The mysterious Magical Girl gave a sneer. “…Aww, two little kitties wanna play in the lion’s den.” A couple of fast reckless idiots…one had wings…but wings weren’t exactly useful in an alleyway. Making a high jump into the air and over the two in mid-run, she threw her chain-whip towards the prismatic Magical Girl, causing her to yelp as she was suddenly wrapped up in chains, boots clacking against the ground as the redhead swung her prey into the blue-haired Magical Girl.

Rainbow felt another blow of searing pain as she once again found herself on the alleyway floor. This girl was tough…but SHE could be tougher…! Striking with speed alone wasn’t going to cut it, though…so what could she do…!? The alleyway limited her movements, so she couldn’t get much momentum with her wings…unless she dived from above? 

Sayaka let out a growl as she started to regenerate again, jumping straight into the battle as sword and spear clashed, the ponytailed girl blocking each advance the blue-haired girl blindly made. Out of the corner of her eye, the redhead noticed the rainbow-haired girl struggling for a moment to get up before she flapped her cyan-blue wings, lifting into the air. 

‘Gaining momentum, I see…this rookie idiot isn’t tough at all, but DANG is she persistent…! And I’ve also got Colors to worry about…best make quick work of the blueberry.’ The mysterious Magical Girl threw a kick in between their blows, knocking Sayaka across the room as her cutlass flew out of her hand, crashing to the floor with a clanging sound.

“Sayaka!” Rainbow clenched her sword tightly, rainbow lightning crackling through it as she dive-bombed towards the ponytailed girl with high momentum, slashing at her with electric energies. “Take THAT!”

The redhead gasped as she quickly jumped back, wincing as while she just barely managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, the lightning cut deep into her arm, her white and black cuffed sleeve ripped in a few spots where there were now gashes. “Kch…! …This is a game-changer…” She muttered, keeping an eye on the speedy Magical Girl.

Sayaka let out a groan, slowly getting up as her regenerative abilities proceeded to help her once more…but her body was still hurting everywhere. “Kuu…!” She summoned another sword into her hand, getting ready to strike again.

Rainbow flew back into the air, charging up more energy as she gave a smug smirk. “HA! Not so tough now, ARE you?!” This was good. If she kept on using momentum and lightning, they could get another dent in her!

“…Oh, I’m just getting warmed UP!” The redhead used her good arm as she slammed her fist into the ground, several large spears shooting up high from the ground all in succession.

The prismatic Magical Girl’s eyes grew wide. “Whoa!” She quickly weaved her way through the spears, wincing as one cut deep into her left wing. “AGH…!” She cried out, flapping limply.

“…Rainbow!” The blue-haired Magical Girl dashed, surrounded by blue energy as her speed increased, her eyes filled with rage as she struck at the redhead. “YOU…!” She cried out.

Red eyes narrowed as the ponytailed girl quickly reformed her spear, inwardly biting her lip as cutlass clashed into the spear again with great force, a sharp pain running through her injured arm as she struggled but managed to maintain her stance. She’d been through way worse…but BOY were these idiots putting up a good fight. Glancing back at the rainbow-haired Magical Girl as she continued to deflect the blueberry’s moves, she could see she was slowly lowering to the ground. Couldn’t exactly fly with only one wing in great shape, after all…

So that took care of her momentum…but she still had that rainbow lightning to worry about.

Rainbow clenched her teeth as she landed, panting as the pain in her wing stung. It was fine though. She was used to pain. Plus, she could also be pretty fast on the ground. Blinking for a bit, magenta eyes widened as she noticed the redhead’s stance as the two fought…wasn’t as firm as it WAS. Giving a confident grin as a plan formed in her mind, she rushed with high speeds towards the two as she allowed herself to lean backwards, her hands reaching to touch the floor as she curved around Sayaka, black boots scrapping against the alleyway as she threw the strength of her entire legs towards the redhead’s ankles.

“…GAH!” The ponytailed girl felt the force of the prismatic girl’s attack as she lost her balance, a sharp searing pain traveling up her legs as she crashed to the ground, the blue-haired girl’s blind attack cutting deep into her shoulder as she fell, face first.

The rainbow-haired Magical Girl got up from the attack, feeling a bit of pain from her drastic yet awesome move. “Ha! Got her!” She breathed out, glancing towards her battle companion. “…Daijoubu, Sayaka?”

Sayaka nodded slowly as she panted, the blind fury slowly fading. “…Su…Sugoi…(Amazing)!” She grinned towards Rainbow, pumping a fist. “Sugoi, Rainbow! Kakoi~! (Cool!)”

The redhead let out a groan, quickly alerting them as she attempted to get up, pushing herself up with her good arm…but her knees weren’t responding… “…Kuu…not bad…rookies…” She panted, holding her torso up with her one arm. Oh, fantastic…she...she couldn’t get up…!

Rainbow gave a smirk as she walked closer to the downed predator. “…Sounds like it’s YOU who’s gonna be out of commission, Redhead.” Her lips curled into a frown. “…Who ARE you, anyway?”

“…Kyouko!” A velvety voice filled with concern caught their attention as another strange girl stood from the rooftop above the alley, long lusciously curled purple hair swaying in the wind as she jumped down, her maroon with white frill dress flowing with her every movement as she clenched her own spear, a silver pole with decorative engravings while the blade was a sharp light blue crystal. Narrowing her sapphire blue eyes dangerously, she glared at the two standing as she wore a necklace similar to the Element of Generosity, adorning her purple diamond Soul Gem. “…What did you DO to her, you RUFFIANS?!” She spat out in English.

No. It was in Equestrian. Magenta eyes slowly widened to pinpricks as the world around her came to a halt. No. No, it couldn’t be.

Sayaka frowned, translating everything but ruffian. What was a ruffian? “What did WE do?! She was the one who attacked us FIRST! Who are you, anyway?!”

The purple-haired girl ignored the two as she quickly bent down, reaching to help pick up her friend. “…Kyouko, are you alright!? We can get you healed as soon as we go back…!”

It had to be a joke.

The redhead, now known as Kyouko, let out a painful grunt as she was hoisted up. “…You idiot…I thought I told you to stay back in Kasamino, Rarity…!” She let out a cough.

Rarity shook her head. “…I couldn’t, darling! I had a bad feeling you were going to get hurt. Let’s return to Kasamino for now. Those injuries are quite serious!” She lifted the red-haired Magical Girl, leaping up to the roof before jumping out of sight.

The blue-haired Magical Girl reached out a hand. “H-Hey! Wait!” She clenched her teeth, putting her hand down as she couldn’t see them anymore, clenching her fists. “…Who the heck WERE those two?! Acting like WE were in the wrong!”

“…Rarity.” Blue eyes blinked at the sound of her companion’s voice, softer than she ever heard it before. “…Eh? Did you say something, Rainbow?” She turned around to face her.

The prismatic Magical Girl looked up at where the purple-haired girl once stood, the events that just occurred replaying over and over in her head. The redhead named Kyouko. The necklace that looked like the Element of Generosity…and her voice. “…What…what should I do, Sayaka…?” Magenta eyes wavered. She felt small…and weak, her legs losing strength. “…That was…Rarity…!”

Sayaka blinked again. “Eh? Y-yeah…didn’t she say that…?” Her head tilted to the side.

Rainbow Dash swallowed a heavy lump in her throat.

“…M-my friend.”