> Kingdom Hearts: Twilight's Awakening
>  by Equestrian Defender
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1: Twilight's Dive To The Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was falling, mostly floating, through seemingly endless nothingness. Everywhere she looked there was not a thing to be found. 

Am I dreaming? No, it can't be one of my dreams. There's not a book to be found.

Just when she wondered if she was going to spend the whole dream falling, she felt her hooves touch something akin to solid ground. Shaking off the slight feeling of vertigo, she looked around, only to still see nopony around. "Hello," she called out. "Is anypony there?"

Not hearing a reply, she took a step forward, and suddenly the ground began to move. Before she knew it the darkness on the ground disappeared, taking the shape of birds before flying away and allowing light to shine from the ground.

And revealing that Twilight was standing on a large, circular stained glass window that depicted her sleeping form in the center, with Spike and the rest of her friends around her in smaller panels. Smiling she said "My friends. I wonder how they're doing right now?" Peering over the edge she saw nothing but more darkness. "Okay. I'm not entirely sure what that spell was supposed to do, but I don't think this was it."

On a whim, she lit up her horn in an attempt to shine a light downwards and see just how far the darkness went. 

Sadly, that went nowhere as the darkness just seemed to go on and on and on into infinity. Nervously, she stepped back from the edge. "Eenope."

Walking back towards the center of the platform, she froze when she heard a voice whisper "Power sleeps within you. If you give it form..."

There was a slight rumble, and from the ground rose three stone pedestals. Once they finished rising an object appeared and hovered above each one: a sword, what she guessed was a staff of some kind, and a shield.

"...it will give you strength. Choose well."

Looking around and not seeing a speaker, Twilight stated "That's not weird at all." Seeing nothing else happen she said "Guess I'll play along for now."

She trotted over to the first platform, the one with the sword. 

As she picked it up with her magic, she heard the voice say "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"

Twilight shook her head. While having invincible courage sounded good, she couldn't get behind the "sword of terrible destruction." It just didn't sound like her, using her power to destroy. So she put the sword back, said a quick "No thanks," and walked to the next pedestal, this one bearing the staff.

Lifting it, she heard the voice say "The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?"

This one did sound a bit more like her. After all, magic for unicorns basically relied on their own inner strength, and her studies were all geared towards magic and mysticism. But while it did feel more like it fit her, at the same time it didn't. Maybe she was just overthinking it, but having the power to "ruin" something or someone with magic didn't sound like her. So placing the staff back she said "Close, but no enchilada."

That left the last pedestal, the one with the shield.

Much like with the other two, the voice spoke to her. "The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?"

Now this one she had no qualms or worries about, as it pretty much matched what she wanted to do every time they got into trouble or had an enemy to face. And if Spike's issues of Captain Equestria were anything to go by, shields could be effective for offense just as much as defense. "Plus, Kindness is one of the Elements of Harmony," she said with a giggle. "Yeah. This is the power I seek. The power to protect my friends."

The moment she said that the shield disappeared in a flash of light, and the voice said "Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"

Looking between the sword and the staff, she held up the sword. "Swords were never my thing anyway."

As the sword disappeared the voice said "You've chosen the power of the guardian. You've given up the power of the warrior. Is this the form you choose?"

She nodded. "It is."

The moment the words left her mouth the pedestals tilted before passing through the floor of the platform.

Followed by the platform breaking apart into thousands of glass shards, leaving Twilight slowly falling through empty space again. "This dream just keeps getting weirder and weirder," she muttered.

She fell for... seconds? Minutes? Honestly she couldn't tell. But eventually she felt her body slow down before righting itself, and she landed on another stained glass platform.

Unlike the last one, this picture showed a peculiar creature. If Twilight had to guess it looked like a young female monkey, but without the fur to cover her pale white skin. However, she wore clothes that went really well with her dark red mane, a rather gothic black and red outfit with a cloak that was as red as rose petals. But perhaps the things that stood out the most about her were her eyes, which were a startling silver color, and the weapon she wielded: a gigantic red scythe that was easily a head and a half taller than she was. [1][2]

She was jarred out of her observations by the shield re-materializing over her right foreleg, her magic holding it in place. Surprisingly the shield was rather light, despite its large and kinda bulky design. The voice came back, saying "You've gained the power to fight."

Figuring that the voice meant with the shield, she made a motion with her hoof like she was throwing a punch. The shield, still enveloped in her magic, followed suit, a trail of purple magic following it as it moved. "All right! You've got it."

"Thank you, Mysterious Dream Voice." She giggled and added "Wow. I sound just like Pinkie Pie."

The voice continued (possibly ignoring her, she couldn't tell.) and said "Use this power to protect yourself and others."

Thinking of her friends and her family, she nodded. "I will."

She felt something was off, and saw weird shadowy creatures crawling along the floor. "That's not normal."

The voice said "There will be times you have to fight."

As the shadow creatures suddenly began peeling themselves off of the floor and transitioning from 2-D to 3-D, she rolled her eyes. "Honestly I'm not surprised." 

As they pulled themselves up she took time to study them.

The creatures were small and diminutive, roughly a head shorter than her. They were bipedal, but hunched over to the point you'd think they were quadrupeds. Their arms ended in three sharp claws, which she figured were their main form of offense. Their heads were odd; having two antennae on top of their head, glowing yellow eyes without pupils, and no visible mouth.

All in all they didn't look like they'd be too much of a threat. Not unless they swarmed her in mass numbers. Right now there were only four.

"Keep your light burning strong."

Readying her shield, she said "Can do."

One of the creatures, which she dubbed a Shadow [3], lunged at her with its claws outstretched. With a flick of her horn she brought the shield in front of her and heard the Shadow slam into it. She then mimicked her earlier action and slashed at the shadow with the shield, landing a hit to its midsection. To her surprise the shadow was sent flying away, fading away to nothingness as it hit the ground. "Huh. Scary looking, but kinda fragile." 

She slapped another Shadow away with the shield, before dodging the swipe of another one and bashing it with an overhead slam. Both of them faded away much like the first Shadow, and Twilight fixed the last one with a look. "And then there was one."

The Shadow didn't respond, save to make a move with its claws like it was sharpening them, then splaying them out like it had jazz hands.

Twilight's response was simple; she reared her arm back and threw the shield like a frisbee. It flew through the air straight and true, nailing the Shadow in the neck and making it stumble. She quickly yanked the shield back and then smashed it in the face with a right cross as it faded away.

Once they were all gone, Twilight floated the shield onto her foreleg. "Looks like Shining and Princess Celestia were right about those magic self defense lessons." She then groaned. "And now having said that, I owe Shining 50 Bits."

At that moment the stained glass she was on started to be covered in rapidly spreading darkness, as if someone had tipped over an inkwell and spread ink everywhere. Before she knew it it had pooled around her hooves and quickly yanked her down, almost like it was quicksand. Instinctively she took a deep breath before her head went under. 

But that didn't prepare her for the cold feeling she got as the darkness dragged her down, or the fear she felt that this might be the end. She tried another lighting spell, but it failed to illuminate anything beyond a foot in front of her. 

Fortunately it didn't last long before the darkness faded away, and Twilight found herself laying on another platform of stained glass. Exhaling the breath she was holding, she quickly took a few deep breathes and said "I really hope I don't have to do that again." 

The platform she was on didn't show another odd creature, or herself or her friends. 

Instead it showed a large tree made entirely out of crystal, with hundreds of crystalline branches and smaller limbs reaching into what she assumed was the sky. In the branches closest to the trunk there were six gems that she recognized instantly. "The Elements of Harmony. But what are they doing in that tree?"[2][4]

Shelving that thought for later, she looked around and found a large wooden door across from her. Walking to it, she was immediately confused. "When did this door get here?" She looked behind it and saw there was nothing there, increasing her confusion. "Why would someone build a door to nowhere?"

Figuring that this was part of the dream, she tried to open the door. It didn't open, which made her sigh. "Figured it wasn't going to be that easy." Looking around she said "Okay Mysterious Dream Voice, what am I supposed to do?"

Almost as if in answer, a large red and gold chest appeared in a flash of light a few feet away from the door. "Thank you."

Once she stood in front of it, she tried to lift up the lid but found it wouldn't budge. Confused, she looked at her shield and saw the slight glow it had. Shrugging, she tapped it on the lid of the chest and it suddenly popped open. "Well, that's handy."

She peered inside the chest, only to pull her head back as a light suddenly floated up and shot towards the door. The moment it made contact there was a loud click! sound. Curious, she grabbed one of the handles and turned it, finding that this time it gave without any issues. "I guess that's one problem solved."

Opening the doors, she found herself having to shield her eyes from a sudden flood of blinding light. 

Once she removed them, her eyes widened at where she was.

She was now outside on a rather sunny day, right outside the Golden Oaks Library. She could feel a slight breeze blowing, the warmth from the sun felt real, it honestly felt like she was outside.

But then she remembered how she had got there to begin with, as well as the fact that it had been almost nighttime when she and her friends cast the spell. "Yeah, I'm still dreaming. So, what do I need to do?"

"Hold on. You're not ready just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."

"Tell 'me'?" Looking around, she quickly noticed three ponies standing across from her. One was a white unicorn stallion with blue eyes and a blue mane and tail, wearing his Royal Guard Armor and polishing his shield. It was her older brother, Shining Armor.

The second was an alicorn with a light pink coat and a three color mane and tail of yellow, pink and purple and purple eyes. She was looking at a bunch of pictures, most of them family pictures. This was Princess Cadance, Shining Armor's wife and Twilight's sister-in-law.

The third pony... was actually a zebra, with blue eyes and a well kept black and white Mohawk. This was Zecora, a zebra who lived in the Everfree forest and was one of the best potion brewers Twilight had ever met. Speaking of, she was currently brewing a potion in a large cauldron, with wisps of blue smoke and the occasional spark rising up from the rim.

Walking over to Shining Armor, she said "Hey Shining. Is it really you or are you part of the dream?"

He didn't answer her question. Instead he asked "What's most important to you?"

"Dream it is," she muttered. Smiling, she replied "Friendship!"

"Is friendship such a big deal?"

"If you were really my B.B.B.F.F., you'd know the answer to that," she deadpanned, before walking over to Zecora.

Zecora looked up from her cauldron and looked at Twilight. "What are you so afraid of?"

Honestly there were a lot of things she could list. Failing an important test, accidentally hurting one of her friends (physically or emotionally), but the one that stood out the most was: "Letting my friends and the ones I care about down. Failing them is something I'm constantly afraid of."

"Failure. Is that really so scary?"

"Contrary to what Pinkie Pie says, there are some fears you can't laugh away."

Finally, she came to Cadance. She waited for a few minutes, but Cadance's gaze didn't leave her pictures. "Um, Cadance?"

There was a pause before Cadance asked "What is it that you want out of life?"

Twilight thought about it for a second, and then thought about it some more.

Truth be told, Twilight had actually been thinking about it a lot lately. All of her friends had one goal or a few goals that they were working to accomplish. Applejack wanted to help Sweet Apple Acres prosper for generations to come, just like her parents and their parents did. Rainbow Dash was training night and day to become a Wonderbolt. Pinkie Pie wanted to spread smiles across all of Equestria with her parties. Rarity wanted to start a fashion line that would be sold in boutiques in every city in Equestria. Even Fluttershy, who wanted to get her veterinary license despite the fact that she was already one of the best animal caretakers in all of Ponyville (possibly all of Equestria).[5]

But while Twilight originally said her dream was to learn magic from Princess Celestia, one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Applebloom, had asked what Twilight planned to do once she'd learned all the magic the Princess could teach her. She didn't have an answer, because honestly she'd never really thought of that. She was just so caught up in being Princess Celestia's student that she never really thought of what she would do after she graduated. It wasn't like she could stay in school forever. It wasn't like she was living in a kids show where the main character never grew older and nothing ever really changed.[6]

Finally after a while she replied "I... I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out."

Cadance then turned to look at her and smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll find that out soon enough."

Before Twilight could ask what she meant there was another flash of light, and when it cleared she was on another platform with a stained glass picture.

This one depicted another one of those odd creatures like the red haired one, only this one was what she assumed to be a young boy. He was short and kinda chubby, with curly black hair and wearing a red shirt with a gold star, with blue jeans and some sort of open red shoes. [2]

As she took a step, more Shadows began appearing and peeling themselves off of the ground. Pulling out her shield, she settled into a combat stance. "More of you? Great. I was starting to get a little lonely." Taking a moment she stated "And now I just sounded like Rainbow Dash. I better not start arrogantly bragging about how awesome I am."

One of the Shadows leaped at her from behind, but she quickly rolled away to dodge and slapped it away with her shield, conveniently sending it flying into a group of its companions, scattering them like bowling pins before it faded away. "Nice try, but the monologue trope only works with the villains." 

She quickly went to work, bashing, slashing, and whacking the Shadows into oblivion. Once she took down the last one, she looked around and asked "Are we done yet? Not that this dream hasn't been fun, but I would like to wake up and go home. Please."

The moment she said that a series of steps made out of rainbow colored stained glass appeared, all of which led to another pillar a good distance away. Hoping it was the way out of this place she quickly trotted up the stairs, being careful not to fall off the edge. "I'm gonna have to ask Princess Luna about this, because this has been one strange dream."

Once she got to the top of the stairs, she found that the top of the pillar had another stained glass picture. 

This one depicted another one of the strange creatures, this time being a boy who was a little older than the one from the previous platform. He had a spiky brown mane and blue eyes, and was standing next to a dog that walked on two legs and held a circular shield, and a duck who was holding a staff. The boy himself was holding a strange looking sword, one that looked like a giant old fashioned key with a silver blade and a gold handle. Surrounding them were a bunch of the Shadows, but they all stood ready to fight.[7] 

"Wonder who these guys are," she mused aloud. "Okay Mystery Dream Voice; what do you got for me?"

"The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."

That didn't sound good.

And as Twilight whirled around get a look at her own shadow, it didn't look too good either.

Somehow her shadow had stretched out and grown, now reaching almost to the edge of the platform. To her horror, it began to peel itself off the ground like the Shadows.

Only the Shadows didn't take the form of a fifteen foot tall pony with a unicorn horn and pegasus wings that were far too small to fly with. Its mane, if you could call it that, was more like a mass of tentacles that swayed too and fro in a nonexistent breeze, and its eyes were the same eerie glowing yellow as the standard Shadows.

And as the beast rose up to its full height, she could see a large heart-shaped hole in the center of its chest.[8]

Scared, she took a few steps backwards, barely registering the voice saying "But don't be afraid. And don't forget..."

As the beast took a step towards her she turned tail and ran to the edge of the platform, only to see that there was nowhere for her to go. Looking back at the still approaching monster she charged up magic in her horn to fire a beam, only to find that she couldn't. She then tried to teleport back to the platform she had just been on, only to find that she couldn't do that either. "Oh come on," she whispered in a panic. "I need to get out of here! I can't fight this thing! I can't-"

At that moment her shield appeared on her foreleg, and she remembered how she had taken down all the Shadows. Something she never thought she'd be able to do on her own. With new found strength rising in her, she took a deep breath as she looked back up at the monster, which in the back of her mind she somehow knew was called the Darkside Alicorn. Steeling her resolve"I can do this. I can fight, no! I can beat this thing!" Settling into a combat stance she yelled "Come and get me, ugly!"

Almost as if in response to her challenge, the Darkside Alicorn raised its right hoof as dark energy gathered around it. As it brought it down Twilight dodged out of the way, narrowly missing the monster's attempt to stomp her. 

Sadly she didn't miss the dark energy erupting out in a shockwave, which knocked her away and sent her skidding towards the edge. Fortunately she stopped just short of reaching it, though she quickly yanked back the one hoof that was getting a little too close to the edge for comfort.

As she looked back at her opponent, she saw that the black energy the monster had used was now pooled around its hoof on the ground. Within it she could see several Shadows starting to take form, all looking at her and getting ready to attack. 

Deciding she should deal with them first she shot forward, taking out several of them before they even had time to blink (assuming they could blink.) Once she had destroyed the last one she started visciously attacking the Darkside Alicorn's hoof with her shield. While she didn't see any cuts and the monster didn't seem to respond, she could only assume (or hope, rather) that she was actually damaging it in some way.

And she was proven right when the monster recoiled, rearing up on its hind legs in what seemed to be pain.

But as Twilight watched she saw an orb of dark energy gather in the hole in its chest, before it shot out in several small blasts, all of which began homing in on her. "Oh, come on!"

She quickly started running, narrowly dodging each of the blasts before she went back on the offensive. 

It went back and forth for a few minutes; Twilight would attack the Shadows and its hoof after it tried to stomp on her, she would then run like crazy while dodging its homing magic, and repeat.

However, Twilight knew it couldn't go on like this forever. As it was she was starting to feel a little tired from all the running and fighting she was doing. "I really need to start exercising more."

Looking back at the Darkside Alicorn as it gather energy in its heart hole again, an idea came to her. Quickly and smoothly, she reared her arm back and threw the shield. Much like with the Shadow from earlier, the shield was straight and true and nailed the target.

Unlike with the Shadow from earlier, the results were a bit more... dramatic.

The shield ground itself against the darkness orb, before finally winning and the orb exploded with the sound of breaking glass. The Darkside Alicorn threw itself backwards, letting out a wail of pain from Twilight's attack.

And in doing so it fell over the edge, falling into the darkness below.

Taking a few labored breaths she said "It's over. It's gone."

Suddenly she found herself being dragged into darkness again, struggling to free herself even though she knew it was useless. She picked up her shield and moved to strike the darkness, but the shield suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. Panicking, she started saying "No! Nononono!"

"-But don't be afraid."

She calmed down slightly, something about the voice was making her feel slightly calmer. Enough that she stopped trying to fight the darkness as it dragged her down.

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all. So don't forget:"

The tiredness and exhaustion had finally caught up with her, and the last thing she heard before she blacked out was:

"You are the light that will shine through the darkness."

The moment the voice finished, Twilight's unconscious form was suddenly enveloped in a golden light. The darkness that tried to take her was now being pushed back, unable to withstand the intensity of the light.

And just as sudden as it appeared, it vanished.

Along with Twilight Sparkle.





Meanwhile in Canterlot, a familiar white alicorn with a three color mane of pink, blue and green stood on the balcony of her tower, looking out towards the Everfree Forest.

More specifically, at the large patch of dark storm clouds that her guards had said just suddenly appeared that day.

Quietly, Princess Celestia whispered "And so it begins..."
> 2: Equestria: The Calm Before The Storm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight's eyes shot open, immediately taking noticing a few important facts.

She was back in the Golden Oaks Library.

She was NOT drowning in suffocating shadows and darkness.

And Spike was laying at the edge of her bed, wrapped up in his blanket and snoring without a care in the world. 

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm safe. I'm okay," she whispered. 

Noticing the position of the sun, she figured it had to be around 7-8 O'Clock. Figuring it was time to get up, she gently nudged Spike and said "Spike. Time to get up, buddy."

Spike's eyes snapped open, and he immediately looked at Twilight. With a look of pure happiness he tackle-hugged her and knocked her back down on the bed. "TWILIGHT! YOU FINALLY WOKE UP!"

Giggling, she replied "Well, yeah. That's what somepony does when they go to sleep at night. Why are you acting like I just won a fierce battle with cancer?"

Releasing her, Spike asked "What was the last thing you remember?"

"I remember us fixing everypony's Cutie Marks, then we cast Starswirl's Unfinished Spell, I had the mother of all weird dreams, and then I woke up and got hugged by you." Looking at her bed she asked "Did I black out from the spell?"

Spike shuffled his feet nervously, before he finally answered "You did. And we figured maybe the spell just drained you. So we carried you up here and tucked you in."

"Really? Well thanks. I guess-"

"But you didn't wake up the next morning."

Confused, Twilight asked "What do you mean I didn't wake up?"

"Just that. You didn't wake up. We tried everything we could think of, but you just slept on like you were in a coma. When we ran out of ideas I sent a letter to Princess Celestia. She and Princess Luna came and we explained what happened to you. After that they cast a few spells to try and see what was going on and if they could wake you up, but nothing they did worked. Princess Celestia herself said she couldn't understand how this happened."

That surprised Twilight. If Princess Celestia, a mare who had lived for well over 3 millennia and had witnessed and even created countless spells was unable to break her out of what sounded like an enchanted sleep, then clearly what happened to her wasn't natural. "What happened then?"

"Near as they could figure out your body was perfectly fine, so we figured the best thing to do was just to let you sleep it off. The Princesses went back to Canterlot and told us to let them know if you woke up. Which you finally did, so I guess I better write that letter-"

Her stomach growled at that moment, causing both of them to laugh. "Can I get some breakfast first?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah. I figured you'd be hungry after a week-long nap."

Her eyes widened. "I've been asleep for a week?"

"To quote Big Mac, 'Eeyup.'" He quickly smiled and added "Don't worry. I've been holding down the library while you were snoozing. Everything's fine."

"All the books?"

"In their proper places."

"The shelves?"

"Dusted them daily."

"The floor?"

"Same deal. I also got groceries on Thursday, like we usually do. And I made sure to get a box of your favorite cream-filled chocolate cupcakes."

There was a moment of silence, before Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Spike in a tight hug and asked "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"[1]

Returning the hug, he replied "About every time you told me that I was the little brother you never had. Which would be once a month every year since you hatched me when you were 10." Breaking the hug, Spike asked "So, you want chocolate chips in your pancakes or strawberries?"

Giggling, Twilight asked "How about both?" Getting up and stretching, she said "But first, I just spent seven days in my bed in a magically induced slumber. So before anything else happens today, I seriously need a shower."





About an hour later Twilight had showered, eaten three plates of Chocolate Chip Strawberry Pancakes[2], and had just had Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia. "Now I guess we just wait for her to reply," she mused. "In the meantime, I should probably go check in with my friends. They're probably worried sick about me."

Spike chuckled. "I already took care of that. I messaged them when I heard the shower turn off." He looked at the clock and added "And given how fast Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie can fly and/or run, I'd say they should be arriving in 3...2...1..."

The moment he counted to two, Twilight braced herself for impact, knowing how Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash hugged.

It was a good thing that she did, because once Spike got to one the door to the library was thrown open and she was suddenly tackle-hugged by a pink blur and a rainbow blur. Managing to hold her ground she looked down at her two friends. "Hey Pinkie Pie," she choked out. "Hey Rainbow Dash."

Ending the hug, Rainbow Dash said "Glad to have you back in the land of the living, Twi."

Pinkie Pie bounced up and nodded vigorously. "Yeah! You were asleep for so long like you had a cause of the snoozies! We were afraid you might sleep forever! Which would suck because then you'd miss all of my parties!"

Twilight smiled, giving both of them a quick hug. "Well you don't have to worry about that. This unicorn's not ready for the Big Sleep just yet." Releasing them, she asked Pinkie "So, are you going to throw me a Wake Up Party?"

Pinkie Pie put a hoof over her heart, jokingly acting like Twilight had insulted her. "Why Twilight, how could you think such a thing?" She then smiled and replied "Nope! I'm throwing you a Rise and Shine Party!"

Twilight couldn't help but giggle at that. Don't ever change, Pinkie.

There was a knock on the door, and they all turned to see Rarity and Applejack at the door. "Howdy y'all," Applejack said with a smile as she walked in. She then gave Twilight a strong hug and added "Glad to see you're awake, sugarcube."

"And looking quite refreshed, darling," Rarity added, giving Twilight her own hug once Applejack let her go. 

"Well, I did spend a week getting my beauty sleep," she joked, making everyone giggle. "And honestly, it's good to see you girls too." Looking around she asked "Where's Fluttershy?"

"Right here!"

Everyone turned and saw the familiar yellow pegasus walk into the tree house. After giving each of them a quick hug she said "I would've been here earlier, but I had to move the rest of my stuff."

Puzzled, Twilight asked "What do you mean move your stuff?"

Everyone looked at her, and then at Spike. "You didn't tell her yet," Rainbow Dash asked.

Spike sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and replied "I was a little busy being happy she woke up. So it kinda slipped my mind."

"Fair enough," Applejack replied. Turning to Twilight she asked "Have you looked out at the Everfree Forest since you woke up?"

"Honestly since I've woken up all I've done is get a shower and eat some pancakes-"

"YOU MADE PANCAKES AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US," Pinkie all but screamed.

Once the ringing in her ears stopped, Twilight replied "One, no. Spike was the one who made them. Two, there's still a few out there if you want any." She smiled and added "Hope you like strawberry chocolate chip."

"Anyway," Rarity cut in. "You should see this for yourself."

Puzzled at what they were talking about, Twilight walked to the window facing the Everfree Forest.

And she could immediately see what they were talking about.

The Everfree Forest was long considered a scary, if not dangerous place. The place was full of monsters like manticores, cockatrice, Timberwolves, and even rumored to be a Cragidile or two. But another thing that made ponies uneasy about the place was the weather. Unlike most of the weather in Equestria, it wasn't created or regulated by the pegasi. Not because the pegasi were too scared to try and mess with it, but because for some reason the storms the popped up over the forest were some of the nastiest in the land. Hail the size of apples, whipping rain that was so cold you'd feel like you just stepped into the world's coldest shower (and would send even the most cold-hearted ponies running home for some warm blankets), and winds that were so fast and strong and unpredictable that any pegasus trying to fly through it would more than likely end up dead. Even Rainbow Dash wasn't stupid enough to try it, stating that "Flying through an Everfree Storm for a pegasus is considered an act of suicide."[3]

But the storm she saw brewing over the Everfree now pretty much blew those out of the water. The clouds blanketed the entire expanse of the forest, leaving not a single square inch. They were so dark they bordered on the color black and so thick they completely blocked out the sun, enveloping the entirety of the forest in shadows. There wasn't any rain or wind or lightning yet, which only helped to make the weather phenomenon feel even more unnatural.

"Yowza," Twilight said, turning back to her friends.

Rainbow zipped to the window and nodded. "Yeah. Even for the Everfree Forest that storm is freaky."

"Mmhmm!" Pinkie Pie swallowed the bite of pancake she had in her mouth, and added "That storm showed up three days after you cast the spell. Those scary storm clouds just showed up and stayed there. It's giving everypony the spookies."

"Not just ponies," Fluttershy added. "All of my animal friends are trying to get as far away from the Everfree as possible."

"Even Angel bunny," Twilight asked bewildered.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yeah. It surprised me too because aside from foxes, snakes, and carnivore birds; he's usually not scared of much."

"That's why she asked me if she could move all of her critters to my farm and bunk with mah family till the storm finally breaks and finally ends," Applejack explained. "I said yes, obviously. And I couldn't say no to one of mah friends."

Twilight nodded and smiled. "Of course you couldn't." A thought occurred to her and she asked "Hey, did Zecora come out of the Everfree too?"

"She came out the same day the storm clouds showed up," Rarity replied. "She said... Umm..." Looking at Pinkie Pie she asked "How did she put it again?"

To their surprise, Pinkie Pie immediately shifted her mane to resemble Zecora's (somehow putting darker pink sections in her mane to match Zecora's own) and said "The storm above Everfree is so dark, it makes the trees shake in their bark. I've come from my abode in a tree, in hopes I might find safety."

Everyone was floored at her performance. "Wow Pinks," Rainbow remarked. "I never knew you took acting lessons."

"You think that was good? You should see my impressions of you guys."

"Perhaps later, Pinkie," Rarity replied. "Anyway, Zecora has been staying in one of my guest rooms. She actually knows a few things about sewing, so she's been helping out around the boutique."

"That's good. So, how's Discord been since I started my snooze?" 

The girls looked at each other before Applejack replied "Truth be told, ever since the storm appeared, Discord hasn't."

"Really?"

They all nodded, and Fluttershy explained "Nopony's seen him since the storm appeared. It's almost like he was just as scared of it as everypony else was."

"And there haven't been any signs of weird and crazy chaos magic coming from anywhere," Pinkie added. "It's like he just up and disappeared."

That was definitely worrisome to Twilight. Discord was equally on terms with both Princess Ceelestia and Princess Luna combined in terms of magical prowess and power, and had lived nearly as long as the two of them. No doubt he had seen countless horrible and terrible things. For him to be scared of that storm meant something about it was unnatural. And she probably would've given that more thought had Spike not burped up a letter in a flash of green flame. "I take it that's Princess Celestia's reply?"

Spike nodded and read aloud: 

Dear Twilight,

I am glad to hear that you have awoken from your slumber. You had us all worried there for a while.

Since you're awake, I'd like to speak to you about what happened with the spell personally. Do you think you could meet me in Canterlot around noon?

I look forward to seeing you.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

Looking at the clock she saw it was 10 O'Clock on the nose. "Yeah, I should be able to get there in plenty of time," she stated. "Spike, let her know we're on our way."





An hour later Twilight and Spike hopped off the train at Canterlot Station, Twilight having the spellbook containing Starswirl's Unfinished Spell in one of her saddlebags. Seeing the time from a nearby clock, Spike asked "So, why exactly are we here an hour early?"

"I wanna stop at the library to check something," she replied, picking him up in her magic and placing him on her back. She proceeded to trot towards the castle and explained "I wanna see if I can find something on those creatures I saw in my dream."

Twilight had told Spike about the dream she had while she was in her coma. While Spike had been weirded out at first, he had been impressed that Twilight had actually stood her ground and fought against those creatures. Especially the one she called the Darkside Alicorn, that thing sounded especially freaky. "You sure those things weren't just something your mind made up?"

"I hope so, Spike," she replied, arriving at the castle. "But if not, I want to see if there's something we can use to fight them, since I sadly don't have that magic shield anymore."

As they walked through the halls to the library, Twilight couldn't help but remember what the voice had said before the dream ended. You are the light that will shine through the darkness. 

What did the voice mean by that? What darkness? She paused, remembering the storm clouds above the Everfree that appeared shortly after she went into her sleep. I don't think it's a coincidence. But how is my magic induced coma and that weird storm connected? And why is it that every time I look at that storm I get this feeling of dread?

So caught up in her thoughts, Twilight didn't notice the other pony she was about to walk into until- "Oof!"

Shaken from her thoughts, Twilight immediately said "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry."

"Nah, it's fine," the other pony, a stallion, replied. "Nopony got hurt."

Twilight smiled, muttered a quick "Okay." and took a look at the stallion she ran into.

It was a pegasus stallion with a light orange coat and a cobalt blue mane and tail that matched his eyes. She noticed that he was wearing golden Royal Guard armor indicating that he was a member of the Day Guard. On his flanks were his cutie mark, a blue shield emblazoned with a yellow lightning bolt. 

He smiled back, which actually made Twilight's face flush a little, before she noticed that he wasn't wearing his helmet. "So, you just get off duty?"

He nodded, revealing a gold helmet tucked under his wing. "Yeah. I was actually on my way back to the barracks to drop off my armor." Holding out a hoof he said "Lieutenant Flash Sentry, at your service."

Shaking his hoof, she replied "Nice to meet you, Flash. I'm-"

"Twilight Sparkle, Captain Shining Armor's younger sister and personal student to Princess Celestia." Smiling at her surprised face he added "You really think you can be a Royal Guard under the Princess, have your brother as my captain, and NOT know who you are?"

Twilight giggled. "Yeah, I guess you have a point there."

Spike looked between the two of them, and said to Flash "So, you kinda looked like you were in a hurry."

"Yeah. My little brother gets out of school in about two hours, and I promised him we'd go to the park once it was over." Seeing the time he said "Well, I'd better get going. See you around, Miss Sparkle."

"I'm only sixteen[4], Lieutenant. Don't call me Miss Sparkle, it makes me feel old."

Flash laughed. "Well then, just call me Flash Sentry. Lieutenant makes me feel like I never take this armor off."

They both laughed before going their separate ways. As they walked into the library, Spike grinned and asked "So, what was that?"

"What was what," Twilight replied.

"Come on, Twilight. The smiles, the giggles, the jokes. I may not be as romantically inclined as Rarity, but I'm pretty sure those are the signs of a cru-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Spike," she said, pulling a book from a shelf with her magic. "I just met Flash. At this point we're just acquaintances. Haven't even reached the friends stage." Shaking her head and putting the book back, she added "Besides, odds are a member of the Royal Guards isn't going to be interested in a bookworm like me. Hey, could you hand me that book please?"

Handing it to her he said "Don't sell yourself short, Twilight. I'd think any stallion would be lucky enough to have you for a marefriend."

She rolled her eyes and turned to her book. "I just met him, Spike," she repeated.





About an hour later Twilight and Spike walked through the doors of the throne room, ready to meet with Princess Celestia. Their research attempts had proven to be less than fruitful. No book in the entirety of the library had anything on Twilight's dream or those weird creatures she saw. Mentally, she decided she'd ask Princess Luna after her meeting with Princess Celestia.

As she walked towards the throne she noticed that Princess Celestia was looking at her with an oddly melancholic expression on her face. As if Twilight had disappointed her, even though as far as Twilight and Spike knew they hadn't done anything to earn such an expression.

Almost as if she knew they noticed, Princess Celestia's face quickly transformed into her usual smiling face and asked "So Twilight, how was your nap?"

Deciding not to comment on the previous fact she had on, Twilight smiled back and replied "Well I woke up a little groggy and tired, but otherwise I I'm fine."

They all shared a laugh at that, before Celestia said "You did actually have Luna and I scared there for a while, Twilight."

Twilight winced. "Sorry. I honestly don't know what happened. I thought I figured the spell out. I'm not sure what the result was supposed to be, but I don't think it was supposed to put me in a week long coma."

Puzzled, Celestia said "I don't think it was supposed to do that either. Tell me everything that happened, Twilight."

"Everything?"

She nodded. "Leave out no detail."

So Twilight launched into a highly detailed report of what happened; from getting the spell book, accidentally casting it without realizing, the chaos that ensued because of her friends' switched up Cutie Marks, her setting everything right, and finally her figuring out the spell and casting it. Celestia listened to most of this while taking mental notes, but nothing really jumped out at her. From Twilight's account, she figured out the spell and it should've worked as intended.

But then Twilight told her about the dream.

"The voice then said that I was 'the light that would shine through the darkness.' and then I woke up. I found out that I'd been out for a week, got a shower and some breakfast, met with my friends, and that was about it." She racked her brains and then added "Oh, and they told me that Discord had disappeared about the same time those storm clouds appeared above the Everfree Forest."

While Celestia tried her best to hide it, both Twilight and Spike could see that she was slightly bothered by the description of Twilight's dream. But instead of being fearful for the safety of Twilight's dream self, or in awe of what her dream self had done when faced with the nightmarish monsters, she seemed to be in a state of denial. Almost like she didn't want to believe Twilight had dreamed what she'd dreamed. She quickly masked it and asked "Have you felt different since you woke up?"

"Different as in...?"

"A sudden increase in magical power, weird feelings along your back or spine, anything?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, not really. Aside from still being kinda hungry, I don't really feel that different than before we cast the spell." Confused, she asked "Why?"

"Well, it's just that from what you said you were basically irradiated with the magic from the Elements of Harmony. I didn't know if their magic would've stuck with you once you completed the spell or not."

Neither she nor Spike really bought that, but they didn't question it aloud and simply nodded. "I'm sorry Princess Celestia," Twilight began, only for the princess to hold up her hoof.

"Don't be, Twilight. Starswirl's Unfinished Spell has been a mystery for centuries, the answer eluding even the most brilliant of ponies." She smiled and added "But you have come closer than any before, so you should feel proud of yourself."

Twilight smiled at that, before she asked "So, do you have any idea what those creatures might've been?"

Celestia shook her head, and replied "I'm afraid not, Twilight. Why do you ask?"

"Just in case they turn out to be real. If they are, then I want to know more about them so I'll be able to fend them off better."

"Well, hopefully they were just part of your dream. Is there anything else?"

Nodding, Twilight asked "Do you know what's going on with the storm above the Everfree Forest? Most of the ponies in Ponyville are on edge, and if what my friends said was true then the storm scared away Discord."

"I have noticed the storm above the Everfree, but I wouldn't be too concerned, Twilight. The weather over that forest has always been, unpredictable to say the least. I'm sure that it's nothing to worry about."

"Okay then."

Standing up from her throne, Princess Celestia walked to Twilight and asked "Are you sure you're not feeling anything strange going on with your magic?" Twilight shook her head in the negative, so Celestia added "Still, I think it might be best for you to take a few days off. Just to make sure the spell didn't damage you in a way that's not immediately evident."

Part of Twilight wanted to insist that she was just fine, but instead she conceded and said "I guess I could use a little break from my studies." 

Nodding Celestia said "Just take it easy for a bit, Twilight. No large scale spells." Holding up the spellbook she added "In the meantime, I'm going to go over this and your notes and see if something went wrong. I'll let you know if I find something." Smiling, she added "And don't worry about any friendship reports. Just, go have some fun with your friends."

Twilight could guess why she told her that, the most likely one being she didn't want a repeat of the dreaded "Lesson Zero." A few residents of Ponyville still wouldn't let that one go, even after the constant apologizing she did. "Okay then. Have a good day, Princess Celestia."

"You as well, My Faithful Student."

Once Twilight and Spike had left and the doors had closed, the two of them walked down the hall towards the library. Once they were a good distance away, Spike turned to Twilight and asked "Is it just me, or did it seem like Princess Celestia was..."

"Hiding something?" Twilight looked at Spike and nodded. "Yeah. I could tell."

Surprised at this statement, Spike asked "Really? How could you tell?"

Twilight smirked. "A little body tell that I've noticed whenever I shadowed her when she was in Day Court. She may hide it behind a stoic face or a kind smile, but whenever she's telling somepony a lie or a half-truth, her right ear would flick like a fly landed on it."

Thinking back to their conversation, Spike remembered that Princess Celestia's right ear did flick a few times when she was talking to them. Primarily when it involved Starswirl's Spell, but also when she said anything about those weird creatures, and the storm above the Everfree. "So, why would she lie to us? Actually, why would she lie to you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. But I wouldn't call it lying. More like, she told us half-truths."

"How so?"

"Well, she told us that she had 'no idea what those creatures were.' Maybe she's never seen them in person, but she's met ponies who have seen them in person and she just shook it off as being stories or hallucinations or the like. Think about it, Spike; how would you react if somepony you just met told you they saw a creature that could flatten itself into a 2-Dimensional Form and then peel itself up into a 3-Dimensional Form, and looked the way it did?"

Spike paused for a moment before he replied "Yeah, even for Equestria it would sound kinda crazy. What about the Everfree Storm? Her right ear flicked the moment she said 'I'm sure it's nothing to worry about.'"

She rubbed her chin in thought, before replying "I've got multiple theories on that. But the most likely one is that if she told me the truth I'd panic and start yelling it at the top of my lungs. And then it would spread like wildfire until all of Equestria was in a state of mass hysteria." Seeing Spike's skeptical look, she asked "You do remember how I reacted when I read about Nightmare Moon, right? I pretty much went full conspiracy theorist and thought the end was nigh!"

Spike chuckled, and replied "True. But unlike them you actually bothered to do your research." Thinking for a second, he asked "And Starswirl's Unfinished Spell? Pretty much everytime she talked about it her right ear was twitching."

"That... is a good question," Twilight admitted. "But it's also the one that I really don't have an answer for. I mean, it's not like she was trying to trick me into casting the spell."[5]

Spike looked like he was about to answer, but then shrugged and asked "So, what're we gonna do now?"

"I guess we'll go back to Ponyville and I'll take my vacation." She smiled and added "Plus, odds are Pinkie Pie's got my Rise and Shine party set up and ready. Which definitely means two things..."

"Cake and ice cream!" Hopping onto Twilight's back he mimed raising a sword and cried "Onward, Twilight! To the party!"

Giggling, she reared up on her hind legs and said "Hold on!" before galloping away towards the train station.

And yet in a small part in the back of their minds, they couldn't help but wonder what exactly Princess Celestia was hiding from them.





Princess Celestia sighed as she looked at the spellbook and Twilight's notes. "This shouldn't have happened."

She didn't understand what had happened. By Twilight's account and what she read in the spellbook and her student's notes, everything was done the right way. 

And yet, it failed. Twilight was still a unicorn and not an alicorn. Her magic, while still much stronger than most unicorns her age, was still nowhere near the level of an alicorn's magic. It was like something inside of her had rejected the spell, something she couldn't understand.

At least, until Twilight told her about the dream she had while she was in her coma.

Celestia knew what the dream meant. It meant that she was wrong. The role she believed Twilight was destined for was not going to happen.

Rather, her role would be something that could help her greatly with her plan, assuming she could get Twilight on her side.

Or, it could end up utterly destroying it, undoing a thousand years of her careful planning and preparation.

Sighing again, Princess Celestia looked out at the Everfree again, taking notice that the storm looked about ready to break. "It'll be over soon," she whispered. 

"And I will finally have fulfilled my promise."





The moment that Twilight and Spike got off the train at Ponyville, they immediately knew something was wrong.

Though that was fairly obvious because of the weather. 

The clouds that had been hanging above Everfree Forest had now spread over the whole of Ponyville, only this time they weren't being so passive. The wind howled and raged, tearing up flowers and windows from shutters. While there was no rain, lightning still would occasionally strike the ground, sometimes near unprepared ponies. 

And all the while there was this feeling of doom and dread, as if the apocalypse had now come to town.

"I get the feeling your party's gonna be postponed," Spike managed to say over the howling wind.

"Spike, this isn't the time for jokes," she admonished. "We need to find our friends and get everypony to safety before-"

Her words died in her throat when she saw them.

Shadows, just like in her dream, were now prowling around Ponyville. Some were 2-D and crawling on the ground. Others were 3-D and were chasing ponies around. But all of them looked exactly how she saw them in her dream, from the inky black skin to the glowing yellow eyes.

"It's those things from my dream. They're real," she exclaimed!

Seeing what she was seeing, Spike only had one response. "Oh, this can't possibly be good."

If only Spike realized just how much worse it was going to get before the day was through.
> 3: Equestria: Darkness Falls, Light Awakens Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the short time since Twilight Sparkle had come to Ponyville, she had seen Nightmare Moon return and plunge the land into eternal night. She had seen Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, turn most of Equestria into what could only be described as a five year old's attempt at abstract art, and simultaneously turn her and her friends into their polar opposites (an act which led to Twilight attending therapy for three months so she'd stop freaking out whenever she saw cotton candy or chocolate milk). She had seen her brother's wedding crashed by an invasion of shapeshifting monsters that looked like the love children of a pony and an insect. And the most recent one was the return of the Crystal Empire (which was more of a city-state since most of the empire's former land was still a snow covered tundra but eh, semantics) that had been ruled by a tyrannical king made out of shadows and smoke. All of those situations had been a combination of weird and sometimes terrifying.

All of that paled in comparison to what she was seeing now.

The storm had already given the town a dark, shadowy look that gave an ominous feeling of fear and dread; but that paled in comparison to the creatures now running amok. The Shadows from Twilight's dream now ran free in the real world, looking slightly more terrifying now due to the sheer number of them. They chased after and tried to attack any Pony or living thing they saw, leading to many of the town's residents taking shelter in their homes and no doubt barricading their doors and windows.

One of the Shadows noticed them and started to hobble to them, no doubt planning to attack them. Acting quickly, Twilight fired a Magic Shot at it. Her aim was true, striking it square in the face...

...only to see that it had done nothing save for make it stumble a bit. Undeterred, it continued to move towards them. Standing in front of Spike, she charged up her magic before unleashing a much more powerful Magic Blast that nailed it and sent it flying into a wall. But once again, it simply got back up and started advancing on them.

And this time several of its brethren had decided to join in.

Thinking quickly Twilight grabbed Spike in her magic and teleported the two of them away, landing on the roof of a nearby house. Seeing they were safe for a moment Twilight muttered "This doesn't make sense. Why isn't my magic doing more damage to them than just stunning them?"

"I think we should worry about that later," Spike replied, looking down and seeing the Shadows moving around. "Preferably when these things are all gone."

She nodded. "Okay. We need to find the girls and get the Elements of Harmony. Hopefully they'll be able to send these things back to where they came from."

"Uh, that might be a problem," Spike said, pointing at the path to the Golden Oaks library. Twilight immediately saw what Spike meant; the entire path was flooded with Shadows, with barely a square inch of dirt or cobblestone uncovered. Add to that was the random lightning strikes (which Twilight now noticed were an odd metallic purple color. As if the ponies need further proof that this storm was unnatural.) all seemed to strike down on the path with alarming frequency. 

So much for lightning never striking the same place twice. "Yeah, I can see that Spike," she muttered. "But that's where the Elements of Harmony are, and we need them." Picking him up and placing him on her back, she smiled and added "Besides, I can teleport. Remember?"

Spike quickly grabbed a hold of her mane, just as Twilight took a running start and leaped from the roof they were on, her horn flaring as she did so. In a flash of purple magic, they disappeared before they could touch the ground...

...and instantly reappeared inside the main room of the Golden Oaks library, right in front of the glass case holding the Elements of Harmony. Opening it, she immediately put the necklaces holding the Elements of Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter into her saddlebag. Picking up the tiara with her own element, the Element of Magic, she said "Okay, we have them. Now we just need the girls." Sliding it into the saddlebag with the others she looked to Spike and asked "Did you message the girls?"

Spike nodded. "I also sent a message to Princess Celestia. Maybe we might get lucky and she'll come help us." Looking out the window, he noticed the Heartless were still milling around but for some reason hadn't come into their house yet. Quickly closing the blinds he asked "Do you really think the girls are going to be able to get here, with all those things out there?"

"I don't know, Spike," she replied. "But I seriously hope so." 

Almost immediately after she said that the front doors were thrown open as Fluttershy zoomed in, quickly followed by Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Applejack ran in and grabbed the door, quickly slamming it shut as soon as Rainbow Dash shot into the room. Once that was done, the ponies immediately began barricading the door with Twilight's desk, several wooden boards, the dresser and the bed from Twilight's room, and just about everything but the kitchen sink (Which only escaped the chaos because Pinkie Pie couldn't find the monkey wrench.)

Looking to Twilight, the girls all asked the same question "What in Tartarus are those things?!"

"I have no idea," she replied, pulling out the Elements of Harmony and handing them to their respective bearers: Honesty to Applejack, Kindness to Fluttershy, Laughter to Pinkie Pie, Generosity to Rarity, and Loyalty to Rainbow Dash. "All I know is that these are the same creatures from my dream."

"Dream? You mean the one with the stained glass platforms and the giant evil alicorn monster you had to fight with that magic shield," Pinkie Pie asked.

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow replied "No Pinkie. The dream where she had a picnic with these things and played Frisbee with the shield. What do you think?!" Seeing Pinkie's hurt face and the disapproving glares from the others she quickly said "Sorry, Pinkie. I'm just-"

"Scared," Pinkie asked.

"I was gonna go with 'worried about my friends and family' but sure, scared works." 

"I don't blame ya, Rainbow," Applejack stated. "Those things are just freaky looking."

Fluttershy nodded. "I-I've never seen any animal like them," she stuttered. 

"Well whatever they are, they don't seem to be that affected by my magic," Twilight quickly said. "Which is why we're using the Elements of Harmony."

"Aw, yeah!" Rainbow Dash quickly clasped her Element around her neck and said "Bringing out the big guns!"

"Um, darling," Rarity cut in, looking at Twilight. "Not to question your strategy, as the 'giant rainbow laser of friendship' is our usual plan of attack, but do you really think it will work against these things?"

Twilight paused for a moment, thinking about the answer. Finally she replied "Honestly, I don't know. I checked the Canterlot Library but I couldn't find anything on them. And we already sent word to Princess Celestia, but she hasn't sent a reply and I'm not seeing a battalion of the Royal Guard attacking these things."

"Which is weird because usually she replies to you in like five to ten minutes," Spike added, looking at the clock. "It's been FIFTEEN minutes and so far there's been nothing."

"You reckon maybe these 'ere things made it to Canterlot," Applejack asked, sounding slightly fearful.

"Again, I don't know," Twilight replied. "But I don't really think we'd have much to worry about if there was. Aside from the thousands of Royal Guard soldiers, Princess Celestia is there. Incident with Queen Chrysalis aside, Princess Celestia is still one of the most powerful ponies in existence."

"What about Princess Luna," Fluttershy asked. 

"She's not in Equestria at the moment. We were planning on talking to her after we talked to Princess Celestia, but she told us Princess Luna was on a diplomatic visit to Griffonstone." Making sure her Element was safely snug on her head, she continued "Anyway, I do have a plan beyond the 'Rainbow Laser of Friendship.'"

"And that would be," Rarity asked.

"Back when I was fighting the Shadows in my dream, they'd sometimes spawn from pools of shadows. Assuming the same rule applies, we find the shadow pool-"

"-we cut them off at the source," Pinkie finished, smiling.

Twilight nodded. "Hopefully, it works."

Spike cleared his throat. "Slight problem; how are you going to find where they're coming from?"

There was a pause, before Twilight sweatdropped. "Okay, admittedly I did not think that through."

"I might have an idea on that," Rainbow stated. 

"What would that be?"

Motioning them to the window, she pointed her hoof right above the Everfree Forest. 

Specifically, she was pointing at a large ring of clouds surrounding a patch of oddly purple sky. "That my friends, is what we in the Weather Business call the Eye of the Storm. And I'll bet you guys my next three paychecks that's where these things are coming from."

"It makes sense," Twilight admitted. "The storm shows up, and one week later it finally hits and these things come out en masse." 

Applejack looked out the window and noticed the amount of Shadows between the treehouse and the Forest. "And how the hay are we supposed to get there without getting attacked?"

Twilight had to admit that was a problem. The Shadows were doing their level best to cover every inch of ground between the Everfree Forest and Ponyville, some even climbing up on the rooftops. Trying to run through there would be suicide. And they couldn't have Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy trying to fly them over wasn't much better because of all the lightning, as that could also kill them.

Finally she came to the only option she could think of. "I'll have to teleport us to the entrance of the forest." Seeing the incredulous looks on their faces she said "It's the only way we'll be able to get there without getting zapped or torn apart."

Being the only other unicorn in the room, Rarity quickly looked at her in concern. "Twilight, are you sure that's a good idea?"

Her horn lit up as she began charging her spell, focusing a massive amount of magic that began to cover her, Spike, and the rest of the girls. Just before she cast it she answered "I don't really think we've got any other options. Hang on."

Before they all disappeared in a flash of purple light, Spike asked "To what?!"

And then they were gone without a trace.





A few seconds later there was a large flash of purple light, and six ponies and one dragon appeared out of thin air, landing a tad bit roughly on the soft ground. Taking a few deep breaths, Rainbow said "I will never get used to that. Everytime we teleport it feels like-"

"-were milkshakes getting sucked through the world's thinnest bendy straw," Pinkie Pie finished, looking a little green around the gills. 

Running a brush through her mane (nopony asked where she pulled it from) Rarity replied "Sadly, I have to agree with both of you on this one. This is why I never bothered to learn the Teleportation Spell. That and-"

She was cut off when Twilight's legs suddenly gave out on her and she began to fall, only to be caught by Fluttershy and Applejack. Seeing this, Rarity sighed and finished "-and the amount of magic required could leave unicorns who overuse it with a bad case of Magic Exhaustion. Like Twilight did just now."

Twilight would've argued, but honestly she was too tired at this point. "I just...need a moment...to catch my breath," she said between breathes.

Spike sighed. "You know, I seem to remember Princess Celestia telling you to take it easy and not strain your magic too much." 

"Well it was either that... or we tried running through all those monsters back there. Figured this route had less chances of us getting torn apart by their claws. Plus, if I took the time to teleport you all one at a time, I'd actually use up more magic." She tried to stand up, only to stumble because her legs still felt kinda numb, so she ended up leaning on Applejack again.

Seeing this, Applejack said "Easy Sugarcube. You done tuckered yourself out with that spell. You need to rest."

Shaking her head, Twilight replied "We have to keep moving. If we don't stop those things soon, all of Equestria could be overrun."

"Well you're not gonna be much use when you can barely stand, Twi," Rainbow stated. "If we get swarmed by these things, you'll be too weak to run away. And if you really did use all your magic back there, you won't be able to teleport."

"Not without seriously injuring herself. Or worse." Seeing the looks everypony gave her Rarity explained "It's one of the first things they teach young unicorns when they start using their magic. Know your limits and try not to strain yourself, otherwise you could end up permanently damaging your magic." 

"Girls, I'm fine," Twilight stubbornly refuted. "I'm nowhere near empty. By the time we get to where these things are coming from, my magic and stamina should be right where they need to be."

None of the girls bothered to argue with her, knowing that she could be just as stubborn as Rainbow Dash and Applejack combined. So instead Applejack hoisted her up and draped her over her shoulders, barely noticing the added weight. "Well until you get more of your stamina back, you'll just have to piggyback on me."

Twilight sighed, seeing as how she had no choice but to go along with it (Even if it did make her feel like a filly.) "Alright. Let's just go before things get worse."

With that, the seven of them set off into the Everfree Forest, hoping to find the source of these strange creatures.

If only they knew that what they had seen in Ponyville was just the opening act. 

Now the main event was about to begin...





The trip through the Everfree was a lot faster than the first one they took back during Nightmare Moon's return, something all the girls took notice of. Pinkie Pie even mentioned that it felt like it was only yesterday the six of them went into the forest to find the Elements of Harmony, with Spike saying he wished he had been there. Twilight quickly stated how funny it was that a year and a half had gone by so fast. [1]

Another thing the seven of them noticed was that throughout the entire trip, none of the Shadows had shown up to stop or attack them. It was simultaneously relieving, but also concerning. As such Rarity made sure to keep her horn lit to illuminate the path, while the other mares kept an eye out for those creatures, praying they wouldn't trot right into an ambush.

About halfway they stopped to take a rest, and Twilight found that she had regained enough stamina and energy to walk on her own. Sadly, she didn't have enough magic to do anything beyond lighting her horn up. 

Once they rested for a little they all set off again, following the sky when Twilight noticed something. "Is it just me, or does it look like the eye of the storm is right above the Castle of the Two Sisters?"

Flying as high as she dared, which was only slightly above the canopy of treetops, Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. It is."

"Jeez. Major Deja Vu," Pinkie Pie remarked.

Everypony nodded, except Spike. "Kinda hard to have that when you weren't there the first time."

"Not your fault you needed to sleep, Spike," Fluttershy said. "Plenty of baby animals need more sleep than older animals."

"Yeah. Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake usually sleep a good chunk of the day," Pinkie added.

"Yeah. Except Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake are both almost a year old," Spike replied. "I did the math. While in pony years I'm six years old, in dragon years I'm actually 12."[2]

"Actually in a week you'll be 13," Twilight added, noticing Pinkie Pie quickly jotting down a note on a notepad. Looking to the girls she added "And it's true. Turns out dragons age twice as fast as ponies. But because of how long they can live, they grow a lot slower.[2]

Everypony was surprised by that, but decided not to comment on it and resumed their trek to the castle.

But as they continued, Twilight asked "You guys ever wonder what might've happened if we never met? If Nightmare Moon never came back? If we never became the bearers of the Elements of Harmony? If I-"

"-never came to Ponyville and became our friend," Pinkie Pie finished. She then promptly shook her head (everyone hearing a sound similar to a cowbell) and added "Nope!"

"Not really, sugarcube," Applejack said.

Rarity smiled. "I have to agree."

"I don't even wanna think about what life could've been like without you around, Twi," Rainbow added.

Fluttershy nodded, before hugging Twilight. "You're our friend. That's all that matters." She then messed with the spines on Spike's head and added "And you too, Spike."

"Hey! Quit messing with my spines," he whined.

Everyone laughed, even Spike once Fluttershy stopped, and they continued on. 

Eventually the Castle of the Two Sisters came into view, and everyone noticed the slight break in the sky and the storm. While it still looked as dark as the rest of the storm, the area under the eye didn't seem to have much wind and was untouched by the lightning (which the group had been fortunate enough to miss.) But none of that managed to take away the feeling of eeriness, or the fear that the whole place could be infested with the Shadows.

"It's too quiet," Rainbow stated. Getting confused looks from everyone she explained "I mean, this castle is always quiet but you'd at least hear an owl or something. This is just-"

"-creepy," Fluttershy finished, shivering slightly.

Twilight was about to reassure them that it was probably nothing, but then there was a loud POP! and the sound of a balloon deflating. Everyone turned to see Pinkie Pie, whose mane had deflated. And then she promptly started shuddering like she was having a "doozy." "Pinkie, what's going on," Twilight asked.

"I don't know," Pinkie replied, sounding scared. "My Pinkie-Sense never acted like this before. But... I have a bad feeling. Like something really-super-ultra BAD! is going to happen!"

"Then ah' guess we outta get a move on," Applejack said.

Twilight nodded, walking over to the rope bridge. She was about to cross when she heard something, like claws scraping on stone. She peeked over the edge into the gorge-

-and her jaw dropped at what she saw. "Uh, girls?" She motioned for them to join her and look down, which they did in a heartbeat.

And they severely wished they hadn't.

The gorge was filled to the brim with shadows, looking like nothing but a writhing mass of black with yellow dots interspersed among them. None of them seemed to have noticed the six ponies and one dragon above, so they continued to shamble on aimlessly. "Sweet Celestia on a pogostick," Spike muttered. "There's gotta be thousands of them down there."

"Well they haven't seen us yet," Rarity whispered. 

"Let's not change that. These things hear or see us and they'll be on us like Rainbow Dash on apple cider," Twilight replied. 

"No comment," Rainbow said. 

Seeing the condition the rope bridge was in, Twilight added "Let's go one at a time. Watch out for cracked or damaged boards, and go slow so you don't make too much noise." Seeing them all nod she asked "Who's first?"

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash raised their hooves, but Applejack's was just a fraction of a second faster. "Too slow, Rainbow," she snickered. 

"Yeah yeah, just get moving," she grumbled.

Applejack nodded, before crouching down low and slowly walking across the bridge. The bridge swayed and creaked once or twice, but none of the Shadows below gave notice. Once she was on the other side, she signaled to the others.

Rarity went next, carefully putting her hooves on each board in front of her with very precise hoofsteps. As it were she barely made a sound before she reached the other side.

Fluttershy followed, surprisingly using her wings to hold herself up so that she barely put any weight on the boards. Compared to the other two, she made no sound whatsoever.

Three down, four to go Twilight thought, hoping their luck would hold.

Pinkie Pie slowly made her way across, but her walk was far less quiet. Part of the reason could be that Earth Ponies tended to weight a bit more compared to Unicorns and Pegasi, which probably wasn't helped by the fact that Pinkie Pie's diet consisted of 60% sugary sweets and 40% healthy fruits and vegetables (She wasn't overweight since she exercised, but she did weight the most out of the Mane 6.) Or it could be that because Pinkie Pie's new Sense combo it might've made her heavier (Honestly the effects of her Pinkie Sense were so random that Twilight wouldn't have a problem believing that.) So during her walk the bridge creaked three times, but if the Heartless heard or took notice they didn't show it.

Rainbow walked across, mimicking Fluttershy's idea with her wings, and managed to make it across just fine. Though hers was a few seconds faster and got one creak from a particular board, but again the Shadows gave no notice.

Twilight pushed Spike up and whispered "Be careful."

Spike nodded. "See you on the other side."

He began slowly walking over, and Twilight's breath hitched in her throat. She had been hoping their luck would hold as they all crossed the bridge before. Now that her Little Dragon Brother (LDB) was in a very dangerous position, forget hoping. She was downright praying nothing bad would happen.

Sadly her prayers would not be answered this time.

About halfway across the bridge, the board Spike was standing on suddenly broke loose, and Spike suddenly found himself falling through. Luckily he managed to grab onto a board that held firm.

Unfortunately, the board that had broken loose had continued to fall into the gorge. And just so happened to nail a Shadow right on the head. 

And all of them looked up to see the young dragon hanging on to a board for dear life.

Oh come on! Can't something go right for one day?! 

Knowing she didn't have enough magic to teleport, Twilight instead broke into a run across the bridge, thankfully not breaking anymore boards. Not that it mattered at that point, since she saw the Heartless starting to climb up on top of each other like a bunch of ants, trying to make a tower high enough to reach the bridge. She managed to make it to Spike and lift him up with her magic, but she saw that the Shadows had already started climbing onto the bridge behind them. It was a rather horrifying sight that almost froze her in place, until she heard her friends on the other side scream for her to run.

Which she did, tearing her gaze away from them and sprinting towards the castle. When they were close enough to the other side, she threw Spike the rest of the way with her magic. She breathed a sigh of relief when he was safely caught by Fluttershy-

-only for that relief to quickly leave her when she felt the bridge violently dip downwards, along with a few small snap! sounds. She quickly saw why that was, as due to the combined weight of her and the many Shadows climbing on behind her, the support ropes holding up the bridge were starting to fall apart. "Oh no."

She tried to run, but it was too late.

And with the loudest SNAP! anyone had ever heard, the ropes broke and the bridge collapsed.

Time seemed to stop for a few seconds as Twilight felt all four of her hooves suddenly feeling nothing but air.

But of course, gravity was still a thing (even though Pinkie Pie constantly told it to get lost on a regular basis.) and Twilight began to fall, barely registering the screams from Spike and her friends as she fell closer and closer to the Shadows. Right before she could make contact she poured what little magic she had into a force field spell, creating a bubble of purple magic around her body. 

And it worked, repelling the monsters as her shield touched them, allowing her to sink down to the bottom of the canyon unharmed.

Which was both a good and a bad thing, since she was alive... but now at the bottom of the gorge and surrounded by several thousand Shadows who looked about ready to tear Twilight apart and... eat her? Honestly these ones didn't have mouths so it was hard to tell.

As the Shadows started attacking her shield bubble with either their claws or by ramming into it, she could feel two things; her magic starting to fail her (which was evident by her shield bubble losing its glow) and the fear gripping her heart. Is this really how I'm going to die? At the bottom of a gorge, getting mauled to death and possibly eaten by these things? Never being able to see my friends and family again?

Her mind suddenly went into a montage of moments with her friends and family. Every moment flew through her mind in the span of a second: hatching Spike at the entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, meeting the girls in Ponyville, defeating Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony, removing Discord's corruption from her friends by reminding them just how much they mean to each other (via a memory restoration spell) and turning Discord to stone, fighting the Changelings when they crashed Cadance and Shining's wedding, seeing King Sombra vaporized by the Crystal Heart, and all the little moments in between. All of those memories reminded Twilight of just how much she cared about her friends, and how she hoped that they would all be friends until the end of their days.

When the flashback montage was over, the spark in Twilight's heart became a flame. "No. It's not. I've survived a jealous moon princess,  the physical incarnation of pure chaos, an army of shapeshifting bug-ponies, and a thousand year old tyrant unicorn who practiced the dark arts." She felt a surge of strength in her, and her force field bubble began to glow brightly, like a star. "I am not going to be killed here by a bunch of glorified shadow puppets!"

The feeling in Twilight's heart climbed even higher, going from a strong flame to a raging fire. Her horn and eyes lit up bright white, and when she unleashed the magic bubble around her as a radial shockwave that filled almost the entirety of the gorge, the Shadows weren't just knocked back. If they were right up against the force field or a few feet away from it, they were straight up vaporized.

Once she felt the surge of power end, Twilight became aware of three things.

The majority of the Shadows were gone, save for ten to thirty on each side of the gorge.

Her magic was now fully restored, a fact she was very thankful for.

And lastly, she was holding a strange looking object in her magic.

It looked like a sword, but if it was it was the weirdest looking sword she'd ever seen. From the pommel to the tip it was almost as tall as she was. The handguards around the leather-wrapped handle were a dark purple. The shaft of the blade was a very light purple, while along the one side of the blade were... "teeth" she guessed, that were shaped like half of Twilight's Cutie Mark. Attached to the bottom of the pommel was a small keychain, with a small purple stone that looked like almost an exact replica of the actual Element of Magic.[3]

Awed at the object, she asked aloud "What is this thing?"

In the back of her mind, she heard one word: Keyblade.

She rolled her eyes. "Great. Mysterious Dream Voice is back. Oh how I wish this were still a dream because then-"

Before she could finish that sentence, several screams rang out through the night from the castle entrance. Snapping into action, she held her Keyblade tight in her magic before teleporting up to the top of the cliff, just in time to see several Shadows surrounding Spike and the rest of her friends. One of them leaped at Fluttershy, claws outstretched-

And then something happened. Something that no one in Equestria or beyond would ever think was possible. Something that if it were ever suggested would be laughed off as being so unlikely to ever happen that it may as well not exist.

Twilight Sparkle, at the top of her lungs no less... swore.

"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BITCH!"[4]

She teleported right up to the Shadow, swinging her Keyblade and cutting it clean in half across its stomach. Both halves of the Shadow faded away, and for a brief second everyone could see a crystalline pink heart float away before vanishing.

Before any of them could ask Twilight anything, she had already teleported to another Shadow and stabbed it through the chest, causing it to fade and another heart to vanish. She repeated the process; teleporting, stabbing and slashing until all of the Shadows were gone. Taking a few breathes, Twilight said "We should be okay for now." Looking to her friends she asked "Everyone alright?"

Everyone nodded and Spike asked "Where'd you get that... what is that thing?"

Knowing what he was referring to, Twilight replied "In order? I have no idea and I think it's called a Keyblade."

"Since when did you learn to fight like that," Rainbow asked.

"Since I saw you guys about to become monster chow. Now come on! The Eye's right over the castle, so odds are the source of these things is somewhere inside. We need to stop them before-"

At that moment, pools of shadow began to appear along the ground, with more Shadows crawling out of them.

"-before that happens," Twilight grumbled. 

"What do we do," Fluttershy asked, the fear evident on her face.

Seeing that there were no Shadows between them and the castle, Twilight floated her Element of Magic off of her head and gave it to Spike. "Get in the castle and find where these things are coming from?"

"Darling, what about you," Rarity inquired.

Lifting it up and giving her Keyblade a twirl, Twilight coolly replied "I'll finish these guys off and meet you inside. That way we hopefully won't be chased the whole time we're in there. 

"Since when did you become an action girl," Pinkie asked.

"Since right now, apparently. Now get going! I'll meet you all inside."

They all nodded, and as they ran through the door Twilight added "And be careful!"

Once they were out of sight, she turned to the Shadows. Casually leaning her Keyblade on her shoulder she asked "So, who dies first?"



To Be Continued...


> 4: Equestria: Darkness Falls, Light Awakens Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fight took about five minutes in total, but eventually Twilight destroyed the last Shadow. Wiping some sweat from her brow with her foreleg she said "Phew. What a workout." Once she caught her breath she looked to the castle. "Don't worry everyone. I'm coming."

She started running towards the door, holding her Keyblade by her side in case a Shadow popped out from around the corner or somewhere else.

Once she was inside she made her way to the room where they found the Elements of Harmony, figuring that that would be where the girls more than likely went to first. As she barreled down the halls she would occasionally be attacked by a few Shadows, but they were quickly dealt with with a few slashes and strikes with her Keyblade. Is it weird that I'm really starting to like this thing?

Once she took out the latest group, she pushed open the doors and found herself in the familiar room again. She smiled as she remembered when they'd first found them, and then when she and the rest of her friends ended up facing Nightmare Moon together. 

But part of that was tempered by rather sad thoughts. If what she read in the history books was true, this place used to be Celestia's and Luna's old home. But that changed after Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon. And after their fierce battle and Nightmare Moon's subsequent banishment, Celestia had ordered the construction of a new castle in the capital city of Canterlot. 

And if the state of the room she was in was any indication, she never looked back at this place. Seriously, there was mold and/or moss on the walls, small plants growing between the cracks on the floor, the parts of the floor that were wooden were rotting out and in danger of falling through to the basement (assuming they hadn't already done so and left huge holes in the ground.) It all just looked sad, and more than a little haunting.

As she walked towards where they had first found the Elements of Harmony she noticed that behind the weird machine the Elements had been on in their stone forms was a hidden door, which had apparently been hidden behind a bookcase that someone had rather forcefully kicked to the side. "Applejack, probably," she guessed.

The door led to a rather narrow stone staircase, which spiraled as it led down into what she guessed was the basement. There were torches along the wall, but none of them were lit. Fortunately, she had her horn for that. So with her horn lit, she descended down the stairs.

After climbing down the stairs for about fifteen minutes, she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Quite literally, as there was something in the next room that was glowing. That's gotta be them. Please be them.

Once she reached the bottom she rushed into the room, seeing Spike and her friends almost immediately. "Hey guys!"

"There ya are, Twi," Applejack said. After a quick group hug she added "We were all worried somethin' fierce."

"They were," Rainbow Dash quickly interjected unconvincingly. "Not me. I figured after you tore those things apart you'd be just fine."

Twilight rolled her eyes, clearly not believing Rainbow. "Well I'm still here. And we-" she paused, taking the Element of Magic from Spike, uttering a quick thanks before putting it on. "-still have a job to do." 

"Yes, well... About that," Rarity began.

"What?"

"There's nothing here."

Having been so focused on seeing her friends again, she had neglected to look around the room.

The room was circular with stone walls and floors. The ceiling was at least ten feet tall, and there was a large golden stone in the center of the ceiling that cast a low light across the entire room. 

But Rarity and her friends were right. Aside from the light stone in the ceiling, there was nothing else. "No, it can't be," she muttered.

"We've been here for the past ten minutes looking for something, but we've found nothing," Pinkie stated. "I tried running all around and every which way, but there's absolutely-positively nothing here!"

"Well it was hidden behind a heavy bookcase like in a Daring Do book," Rainbow said encouragingly.

Twilight nodded. "This used to be Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's castle. If they built a secret chamber like this, they had to make it for a..." She paused as her Keyblade began to glow. "...reason."

The middle of the floor began to glow, before a large keyhole appeared on the largest stone in the center. As all of them surrounded it to get a good look at it, Spike looked to said "Not to state the obvious, but I'm betting it probably has something to do with the oversized keyhole in the ground, and your nice big oversized key."

"Still earning you a 'Thank you, Captain Obvious', Spike," Rainbow remarked, only to be bonked on the head by Applejack's hoof with a very audible clonk! sound."Ow!"

"You had it coming," Applejack replied.

Sighing, Twilight said "Girls, please act your age." She then levitated the Keyblade over the keyhole and lined it up, before sliding it in and turning it clockwise.

There was a slight rumbling sound, before the floor began slowly lowering itself downwards with the girls standing on it, which lead Fluttershy to state "It's an elevator." 

Twilight nodded. "Looks that way. Surprised it still works after a thousand years."

As they descended deeper and deeper, Rarity asked "So, where do you suppose this leads?"

"Not sure. But if this really is where the Shadows are coming from, then we'd better be careful. We might be walking into an ambush."

Everyone except Twilight looked a little fearful. "Um, what do we do if that does happen," Applejack asked.

"Well I'm hoping we can just use the Elements of Harmony to wipe them out like usual. But if that doesn't work... I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"Maybe have you go all 'Hi-Ya!' on them with your new toy," Pinkie Pie stated, mimicking holding a sword with her hooves, making everyone laugh.

"Hey, this toy happened to save me and all of us from those things," Twilight replied, giving it an affectionate pat on the handle. "Show it a little respect."

Everyone rolled their eyes at this. "Oh man, next thing you know you're gonna name the thing," Rainbow muttered.

"Well, I was thinking of calling it Spellstar."[1]

"Me and my big mouth."

At that moment the "elevator" had finally reached the bottom, and to their right was a metal gate. Spike pushed against it but it didn't budge at all. "Why won't it-" He stopped when he saw the Keyhole. "Of course. Twilight, could you please?"

Smirking, Twilight tapped the tip of her Keyblade against the lock and was rewarded with a satisfying click! and the door swinging open. "Huh. Handy."

"Where were you when I locked myself out of my boutique," Rarity asked.

Deciding not to answer, Twilight walked through the gate, the rest of them following behind her.

They emerged into a large underground chamber, with a few small streams flowing along the sides before flowing out of the cave. Clusters of crystals along the walls and ceiling glowed in the dark, the light illuminating the cave in an ethereal blue glow.

But what stood in the center was what drew their collective attention.

A massive tree made entirely out of blue-white crystal, its skeletal branches reaching up to and into the ceiling. Among the branches were five small indentations, with a slightly larger one in the center at the top of the trunk. Inscribed on the trunk were two symbols they all recognized. "Celestia and Luna's cutie marks," Twilight said. "What are they doing here?"

"Forget that. What the hay is this thing," Applejack asked.

"I'm not sure. I've never seen it before," Twilight replied. Looking around she took notice of something else. "There's no more of those Shadow things. Did you girls see the Shadows come through that bookshelf or-"

"Um, actually Twilight," Fluttershy began. "The bookshelf had already been moved when we got there."

That got Twilight confused. "Wait, you mean you guys didn't move that bookshelf and find that passageway?"

They all shook their heads in the negative. "We just assumed those Shadows or somepony else moved it and came down here," Rainbow Dash replied. "We also saw through a hole in the ceiling that we were dead center underneath the eye, so we figured there was something important down here."

"I... honestly can't argue with that logic. But if you girls didn't move the bookshelf, then who did?"

Rarity looked around, before noticing something. "Um, darlings? Is it just me, or is that crystal tree starting to lose its glow?"

They all looked to the tree and saw she was right. The tree was slowly losing its glow, the cave getting darker as a result. And as it did the tree from the roots up started to be covered in smoky shadows. "That can't be good," Spike stated.

"It's not," Pinkie Pie confirmed, her body shuddering and her mane still deflated. "That bad feeling's getting worse! And it feels like it's happening right now!"

Crack!

All seven pairs of eyes looked to the source of the sound, their gazes promptly widening when they saw the large crack appearing on the ground a few feet away from them.

And then their gazes turned fearful when several Shadows started crawling up through said crack. Rainbow groaned. "Here too? How many of these things are there?"

Twilight readied her Keyblade. "Maybe you guys should head back to the-"

CRACK! CRACK-A-CRACK-A-CRACK!!!

More cracks began to appear, before suddenly whole sections of the cave floor suddenly fell away. "What the-" Twilight began, only to stop when she saw a sinister purple-black glow coming from the large pits appearing around the tree. She teleported past the Shadows to the edge to get a closer look, and her jaw dropped. Collecting herself she said "Um, guys? I think I found what's giving Pinkie that Really Bad Feeling."

Suspended a few feet beneath the roots of the tree was a massive orb of darkness. As the sections of the ground kept falling away, they were immediately sucked into the orb and consistently broken apart until they were little more than dust.

And for every section the orb absorbed it grew larger, while more and more Shadows began to appear. 

Teleporting back to the group she said "I'm not sure how, but there's some sort of magic black hole beneath that tree. It's sucking in everything!"

Another chunk of the floor fell away, this one giving all of them a clear view of what she was talking about. "Um, that thing's not gonna suck us in, is it," Applejack asked.

"We're not giving it a chance," Twilight replied, her horn glowing in conjunction with her Element of Magic, along with the other Elements of Harmony. "We'll blast that thing to- Huh?"

The surprise came from her magic suddenly cutting out, along with the Elements. "Uh, why'd you suddenly cut off your magic," Rainbow asked.

"I didn't," she replied with confusion while trying to restart her magic, to no avail. The only magic she could use right now was what she was using to hold her Keyblade. "It's like something's jamming my magic. And without my magic we can't trigger the Elements!"

"Is that even possible," Fluttershy asked, slightly panicking from everything happening.

"It shouldn't be. The only time it's ever happened to me was..." Her face visibly paled. "Oh no. Please no."

Boom!

All of them went silent as a large black hoof rose from the newly formed pit, easily the size of a large tree stump. "Uh, Twilight," Spike began. "Isn't that-"

"EVERYONE GET TO THE ELEVATOR! NOW!"

Spurred on by the urgency in her voice, they all sprinted at full speed to the elevator. Once they were all on it automatically began ascending to the surface, just as another hoof appeared and stomped on the ground. Fortunately at that point they were already out of sight.

Once they got back to the chamber, they immediately started running up the stairs to the surface. "Uh, why are we running away," Rainbow asked.

"It's not running away," Twilight replied. "It's a tactical retreat. I can't use my magic and we can't use the Elements of Harmony. We need a new plan."

"So what do we do," Rarity asked.

"Princess Celestia. If anypony knows what's going on, it'll be her." I hope.

Once they reached the surface they continued running, hoping to reach the entrance without any problems.

And they almost did. Almost.

Right as they reached the front door the ground shook, and a chunk of the ceiling fell and was about to crash in front of them and trap them inside.

Fortunately Twilight at that point could access some of her magic, so she grabbed the chunk with a Levitation Spell and held it. Straining with the effort she yelled "Go!"

They obliged, getting to the other side and out of the path of the falling debris. Once they were on the other side, Twilight prepared to stop the Levitation Spell and Teleport to the other side.

Only for her magic to cut out on her again and the debris to smash into the ground in front of her, cutting her off from the others. She heard the girls and Spike yell out "TWILIGHT!"

Twilight didn't reply. Instead she turned around, Keyblade at the ready.

A massive geyser of shadows shot out from the floor in front of her, tearing a majority of the ceiling away as well as the walls inside the castle, essentially turning it into one room.

And standing in front of her was the monster she didn't want to see.

The Darkside Alicorn spread its horrid looking wings, glaring at Twilight hatefully with its yellow eyes and stamping its forehoof down in challenge. She noticed that its broken looking horn was glowing dark purple, which she guess was the reason her magic wasn't working properly.

"Twilight!"

She turned back around and saw a small hole through the debris, revealing her friends watching on the other side. She said "You girls need to go. Now."

"You're not seriously going to fight that thing, are you," Spike asked.

She sighed. "I don't really think I have a choice." She then handed the Element of Magic to Spike and said "Keep that safe for me until I come to get it. Okay?"

Spike took it gingerly, like it was made of glass. He then looked at her and said "You are gonna come back. Right, Sis?"

Twilight nodded. "Cross my heart. Hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye." Looking at the faces of her friends she added "Head to Canterlot and tell Princess Celestia what's going on. I'll meet up with you there."

They all nodded, and Applejack said "Y'all be careful. Alright, Twi?"

"I make no promises," she replied, turning back to the monster and readying her Keyblade. "Now go!"

She heard their hoofsteps fade into the distance, breathing a low sigh of relief once they were completely gone. Pointing her Keyblade at the monster and said "Now it's just you and me. Again."

The beast didn't respond, save for focusing shadows into its horn. It released it, enveloping the area in a massive cloud of darkness. Twilight took up a defensive stance, expecting the evil Alicorn to attack her.

It didn't, and as the cloud cleared away she found out why.

The remains of the castle they were standing on was now floating in the sky, the pieces of the wall and a few of the castle towers floating around them, suspended in midair. The consuming black hole from before was now below them, only now it was big enough that it looked like it could swallow Canterlot Castle. The crystal tree was still floating about it out of reach, much to her confusion. 

But she noticed something far more horrifying.

The Everfree Forest was slowly getting pulled into the black hole, feeding it as it grew. Soon enough Ponyville would soon be absorbed, as would Canterlot, Manehattan, everything.

Understanding dawned on her at what this meant. These creatures were like a swarm of locusts, devouring everything around them like it was a field of vegetables, leaving nothing behind. 

As she watch, she slowly realized that odds were she'd never see her friends or her family again. If that thing eventually grew large enough to devour the entire world, then no matter where they went it would catch them eventually. The world was ending and there was no way to escape it.

And even with her Keyblade there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Her magic grip tightened around her Keyblade as her body shook; not from fear or sadness, but anger. She glared hatefully at the Darkside Alicorn, and said "I hope you and your friends enjoyed your last meal. She stamped her hooves down and roared "BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"




Boss Battle: Darkside Alicorn




The Darkside Alicorn stamped its hoof down, shadows swirling around its horn for a brief moment before it fired a beam of pure darkness at Twilight. Nimbly dodging to the side, she ran at the beast and slashed three times at its right leg. The monster responded by raising its hoof and trying to squash her like a bug, but she rolled out of the way and jumped over the shockwave. Shadows began appearing from the pool, but they were dispersed in seconds by Twilight's Keyblade.

This thing's just as much of a pain in the real world as in my dream, she mentally grumbled.

She was jarred out of her musings when the monster flapped its small wings, and to her surprise it actually managed to fly over their battlefield. "Oh, come on! How is that possible with those tiny wings?!"

The Darkside Alicorn's response was simply to charge up an orb of darkness in its chest hole, before unleashing multiple blasts at once and rain them down on Twilight like shadow meteors. She managed to dodge all except the last one, and pain erupted over her body as it struck. No doubt the fur on her back was singed, and she definitely smelt burning hair, which meant it also got her mane. And it's learned some new tricks. How do I take this thing down?

Seeing it charge up another orb in its chest, she remembered her shield throw trick in her dream. Looking at her Keyblade she said "I really hope this works with a Keyblade just as well as it does with a shield." before rearing it back and threw it at the monster with a cry of "Strike Raid!"

Her Keyblade shot towards the Darkside Alicorn, spinning like a deadly buzzsaw. Surprisingly though, the monster dodged to the side, the Keyblade missing its chest.

However, it didn't miss entirely, and the Keyblade cut right through the monster's wing left wing. Unable to stay afloat it crashed down and landed on its uninjured wing, its orb detonating inside of it (and hurting it immensely if the pained yowls were anything to go by.)

Her Keyblade reappeared in front of her in a flash of light, and she asked "Is it over?"

There was a low rumble as the Darkside Alicorn slowly got back up; missing a wing and its remaining wing crumpled up like a tin can, but still alive (if you could call it that.) She sighed. "Of course not."

Before she could move the monster shot another Shadow Beam at her. Unable to dodge in time she instead blocked it with her Keyblade, hoping to minimize the damage. 

A small energy shield appeared around it, and it held for a few seconds before the beam shattered it. Twilight braced herself, but she still ended up getting blasted into the far wall, pain coursing through her entire body, her spine, and her head. Twilight listed off a number of related injuries she might have, but she ignored that and looked at the Darkside Alicorn. "I... I can't lose." Slowly getting to her hooves, her Keyblade glowing as she did so, she glared at the monster as it charged up another Shadow Beam. "I WON'T LOSE!"

At that moment her Keyblade began to glow a brilliant purple, as did her eyes. Knowledge of a powerful attack flowed into her mind, almost as if her Keyblade was talking to her. Her eyes returned to normal, and she smiled. "Here goes nothing."

She pointed her Keyblade at the Darkside Alicorn, and a series of purple rune circles appeared along the blade with a large one in front of the tip. She felt her magic, and instead of pushing it through her horn like her other spells, she pushed it into the Keyblade. She was rewarded with the blade glowing bright purple, and the rune circles beginning to spin rapidly. So this thing prevents me from casting Equestrian Spells, but spells using my Keyblade are fine. Duly noted.

Aiming it at the Darkside Alicorn she focused the magic into the tip, feeling it build up in power and intensity. Seemingly knowing that attack she was about to use was capable of killing it, the Darkside Alicorn fired another Shadow Beam at her, intent on finishing her off.

But it was too late.

"STARDUST LASER!"[2]

And from her Keyblade and the rune circle a massive beam of purple magic blaster forth and collided with the Shadow Beam. They clashed for roughly one second before Twilight's beam won out, overpowering it and slamming right through the Darkside Alicorn. As the beam blasted through it it howled in pain, cracks of light appearing along its body and spreading from its hooves to its horn.

Finally with one last horrified scream, it exploded into a cloud of black dust.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief before she collapsed on the ground, thoroughly exhausted after her attack. That attack took a lot out of me. But at least that thing's gone. Hopefully for good this time.

At that moment she felt the floor shake, and saw large cracks appearing around her. She remembered that her world was basically disintegrating and realized she was more than likely about to be sucked in.

But sadly, after everything that had happened between getting her Keyblade and fighting the gigantic abomination, she couldn't muster the energy to raise so much as her one hoof. As it was, she was having a hard enough time keeping her eyes open.

The last thought that went through her head before she blacked out was her praying that Spike and her friends were okay.




Later, in a Far Away World...




Donald Duck, Head Wizard of Disney Castle, had seen a lot of strange things. He had seen monsters made of shadows, he had seen other worlds, he'd seen himself and his buddy Goofy turned into other creatures or had their body's altered into some really weird forms (As it was Donald made it a point never to visit Atlantica again as he didn't want to have his legs replaced by the tentacles of an octopus. Never again!)

The sight in front of him, however, was a new one.

About ten minutes ago he had been looking through his tomes of magic, seeing if there was a spell he could use to make the enchanted broomsticks work twice as fast around the castle, when Goofy had barged in and started spouting off about a shooting star. Donald would've asked him what was so important about it, had the room they were in not suddenly been illuminated by a brilliant purple glow.

And had their not been a massive CRASH!!! that came from the castle gardens.

Worried that it might be an attack by either the Heartless or the Nobodies, Donald had grabbed his staff and told Goofy to grab his shield and meet him out front, only for Goofy to already have his shield in hand. "Always come prepared," he said with a smile.

Once they got to the castle gardens, they saw that whatever had crashed into the gardens had demolished a good chunk of it. Wincing as he bore witness to the destruction Donald said "Daisy's not gonna like this."

Goofy then pointed to the crater. "Uh, Donald?"

Inside the crater was a single figure, not a Heartless and not a Nobody (he hoped, anyway) but rather a flesh and blood being. It looked like a horse, but with a lavender coat and an indigo mane with a pink and mulberry stripe. On its flank was a purple six point star with five smaller stars surrounding it. Most significant of all was the horn jutting out of its forehead.

And as Donald and Goofy looked, they notice two very important things.

One, the poor equine looked like it had been through the wringer. There were scorch mark along its back and part of its neck, a few scrapes along all of its legs, and a little bit of blood coming out of its nose.

And second, its hooves were resting...

"A Keyblade," the two of them asked in unison. 

Shaking off his shock, Donald said "Go get the King. Tell him we have an injured Keyblade Wielder and to prep the med- Huh?"

The equine creature in front of them suddenly began to glow in a blinding light, forcing Donald and Goofy to shield their eyes. It only lasted for a second before it died down, so they decided to look, and gasped

Where the horse-like creature had once been laying was now a young human girl in her teens with weather tanned skin. Her hair remained the same colors as her mane had been, and the Keyblade was now being clutched in her new hand. Somehow the magic behind her transformation had also given her basic clothes; a lavender t-shirt and torn up blue shorts. But she didn't have any shoes, strangely enough.

"Uh, should I go get the King now," Goofy asked.

Quickly checking the girl's pulse and finding it normal, Donald nodded. "Then get back her and help me move her to the Hospital Wing."

As Goofy ran off to inform the King, Donald sighed. "So much for a nice quiet evening."
> 5: We're Not In Equestria Anymore
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike groaned as he started to get feeling back in his body. "Ow," he grumbled. "What happened?"

He managed to push himself upright, opening his eyes to take stock of his surroundings.

He was in what looked like a cave, illuminated both by glowing crystals and by the large opening to his right that seemed to lead to the outside. To his left was a waterfall that fell into and formed a small pond, which flowed down a side tunnel. "This definitely isn't the cave where that tree was." He put a hand to his head, fighting off the slight headache. "Ugh. How did I get here?"

He racked his brains. He was with the rest of Twilight's friends trying to get to Canterlot, but then there were multiple earthquakes and a bright flash. Then he blacked out and... woke up in this cave. 

It was then that he noticed something else.

His hands looked different. Instead of having four fingers on each hand (well, three fingers and a thumb if you want to be specific) he now had five. Along with that he was missing a grand majority of the scales on his hands, and his arms now that he got a good look at it. All of it had been replaced with flesh save for a patch on the backs and his palms. His claws were a bit shorter too, but they still looked usable. He still had his tail, though it looked a bit longer and thinner, with the tip of his tail looking more like a spearhead or a dagger, with a bit of green in the center of it on both sides.

Moving over to the pond he had seen earlier he looked at his reflection, seeing that his face got the same treatment. No scales, just flesh. The spines on his head had changed to be more like a mane, though both it and his eyes were still the same emerald green they'd always been. He smiled and saw that his teeth were only marginally changed, all of them still ending in sharp points.

To add onto the weirdness, he suddenly had clothes on. Nothing extravagant like what Rarity would make; just a pair of purple cargo shorts (complete with underwear) with a hole in the back for his tail, green and purple shoes, and a green sleeveless shirt. As he got to his feet he looked behind him and saw that he still had his tail, though compared to how it was before it was actually a little longer.

Actually now that he noticed it, he had apparently grown a good bit, coming in at roughly five foot one inches tall. Tall enough that if Twilight were here he'd probably be eye level with her. "This just gets weirder and weirder," he muttered. 

On impulse he took a breath and breathed out a stream of green fire. Once it was finished he grinned. "Glad I still got that at least." Looking around he saw the opening and said "Maybe if I look outside I'll see something familiar."

Carefully digging his claws into the rock he climbed up to the opening, before finally peeking out into the surrounding area.

And...

"You've gotta be kidding me."

The majority of the land outside of the cave appeared to be a barren wasteland, with large chasms and craters as far as he could see until he got to the mountains rising up in the distance. The only things that stood out to him in this mostly barren wastelands were two castles. The castle on the left was dark, foreboding and decrepit-looking; with twisted looking towers and broken windows among the dark masonry. On the largest tower in the center was a strange symbol emblazoned upon it; a black heart outlined in red, with a jagged 'X' over top it. Spike snorted. "Jeez, you mind's well put a gigantic sign above it that says 'Someone Evil Lives Here! They're not even trying to be subtle."

To the right, what Spike guessed was probably a few miles away, was another castle. Unlike the other castle which mostly stood alone, this one set in the center of what looked like a large, walled-in town. The castle also looked to be in far better condition than the other one, and looked a lot nicer too with the much lighter tones on the masonry and the immaculate towers and windows. Compared to the Dark Castle (which was what Spike was calling it for now) this castle and the village around it actually looked inhabited, with beautiful gardens and trees inside the walls. Compared to the rest of the barren wasteland and the other castle, the town looked like a paradise.

But this sight, while wonderful for him, also made something very clear to him. "That's not Canterlot. Or the Crystal Empire, for that matter. In fact, this doesn't look like anyplace in Equestria I've been to. Which brings me back to the question; where the heck am I?" Looking around the landscape and finding nothing else he added "Looks like that's the only place I'm gonna get some answers, though. Now, how do I get there?" 

He peered down over the edge, and then drew his head back when he saw the sheer drop of at least fifty feet to the bottom. While he was confident in his rock climbing abilities (these claws weren't just for show) he wasn't going to risk slipping and falling fifty feet to his death. "Yeah, let's not." 

Once he was back on the cave floor he saw the side tunnel the stream was flowing down, and saw that it was the only way out of the cave. "Well, let's hope there's not a cave-in." 

Just before he made it to the tunnel entrance, he saw something glittering on the floor. He bent down to examine it, and his eyes widened. "No way."

It was Twilight's Element of Magic, though without the tiara it used to be set in. Instead it hung from a length of gold chain, like a jewelry necklace as opposed to the armored collar looking ones the other Elements were attached to.[1]

Gingerly picking it up like it would turn to dust if he gripped it too hard, Spike stared at it sadly. "Twilight. I hope that you're okay."

Pushing down his negative thoughts, he slipped the necklace over his head and let it settle around his neck. He then smiled and said "Nah, she's fine. She's survived Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and her army of Changelings, and King Sombra. She's probably fine." Walking into the tunnel he muttered "Now let's see where this goes..."





Twilight was alone.

She was standing in what looked like Ponyville, but everything was shrouded in shadows. The buildings that managed to escape the shroud all lacked the vibrant colors they usually did, looking dreary and depressing. The grass, flowers and trees all shared that aspect, and not a single bird call could be heard. The overwhelming silence was the worse part, giving the whole place a haunting, abandoned vibe. 

Even though she knew it was futile, Twilight called out "Hello? Is anypony there?"

Silence was her only reply.

Undeterred, she called out "Spike?"

Silence.

"Rainbow Dash?"

Silence.

"Rarity? Fluttershy? Applejack? Pinkie Pie?"

She rattled off the list of every pony she knew in Ponyville, but all she got was silence. Frustrated, she stamped her hoof on the ground. "Where is everypony?!"

"Not here."

Almost jumping out of her skin, she whirled around to face the speaker...

...only to see there was nobody behind her. She groaned. "And now I'm hearing voices."

There was a giggle, before someone said "No you're not. Down here."

Confused, she looked down and came face to face with a pair of turquoise blue-green eyes. "AH!" 

She stumbled backwards and fell on her haunches, finally getting a good look at the speaker.

It was a unicorn filly, roughly the same age as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Along with her turquoise eyes she had a bright amber coat, and a mane the color of the sunset; scarlet red and shining gold. On her flanks were her cutie mark; an eight point startburst that was half red and half gold, with the center resembling a Yin-Yang Symbol. She smiled and said "Hello!"

Getting back on her hooves Twilight smiled, albeit awkwardly, and replied "Uh, hi. My name's Twilight. What's your name?"

The filly frowned sadly. "You mean you don't remember me?"

That confused Twilight. "Remember you? I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember a filly with a mane like yours." She smiled and reach out to touch it. "Seriously, it's really-"

Her hoof touched the filly's mane, only to pass right through it like it was a mirage. Or a hologram. "What the-?"

The filly giggled. "Silly Twilight. I'm not here. Physically, anyway."

"Wait, so you're a ghost?"

"More like a memory. The fact that I'm standing here means you do remember me, if vaguely."

Realization came over Twilight, and she asked "So, this is a dream?"

The filly shrugged. "That's up for you to decide. But we should probably get moving."

"Huh?"

The filly smiled, before turning towards the Everfree Forest, beckoning her with her tail. "I have something to show you."

Twilight rolled her eyes. When did my dreams get so weird?

"Probably after you had that dream with the stained glass platforms," the filly replied. Seeing Twilight's shock, she smirked and added "We're in your mind, remember?"

"Right. My bad." Finally she smiled and said "Lead the way."

And with that, they trotted off to the Everfree Forest.





After Spike had walked down the tunnel, finding crude stone steps on the sides away from the stream so he wouldn't slip and fall, he was faced with a slight problem.

Or rather, a "sight problem."

The... room he guessed, at the bottom of the tunnel had no openings to the outside and very few glowing crystals, leaving the whole place so dark that Spike could barely see more than a few feet in front of him. "Man, it's times like this I wish dragons like me had night vision."

He looked around for a torch or something he could use to light the way, but sadly came up short. And he didn't want to constantly spam his fire breath because if he ran into someone in these caves, he didn't want to set them on fire. But he definitely didn't want to stumble through the cave in the dark, possibly falling into a pit or running into a monster. 

As he looked around for something to help, he caught sight of something glinting in the dim light a few feet away. Approaching it, he saw what looked like a colorless gemstone partially encased in stone. His stomach grumbled and he said "Guess I could use a snack."

He reached for it, only for the gem to suddenly start glowing with light, illuminating the cave. He withdrew his hand, and the glowing stopped. "Huh. That's weird." He smiled before reaching for it again ignoring the glow as he said "But handy. Just found myself a flashlight."

The moment his finger touched the gemstone, the glow intensified to the point that he had to shield his eyes. 

Once it died down he looked at the gemstone...

...only to find that there was a lot more to it than he thought. 

The gem was actually part of a large wooden staff, roughly six feet tall and decorated with several runes and symbols. The top of the staff was shaped like a serpentine dragon with short wings, the gemstone held with its open mouth. The gemstone itself had changed color, now looking more like a shining green emerald. Spike gingerly picked up the staff, looking at it in pure awe. "Wow. This is 100 times cooler than any of the staffs pictured in Ogres and Oubliettes." He twirled it experimentally, finding that it was almost feather-light. "And light too."

The gem still shone a light to illuminate the cave, not bright enough to blind him but bright enough that he wouldn't have to worry about running into any unpleasant surprises. "Awesome."

Now that he could see around the cave he was in, he saw that there were three exits not counting the tunnel he just came down. The exit furthest to the left was fairly small, just enough for someone his size to squeeze through. But as he got closer he could hear air flowing through it, so he knew it didn't lead to a dead end. But that tight of a squeeze, especially in his new body, plus the chance of it being much more narrow further in and him getting stuck... He didn't feel like taking his chances. "Let's save that for a last resort. Next."

The exit in the center was fairly unassuming, but something about it made the scales on his hands tingle. And the reason became clear as carved onto the side of the wall next to it was the X-ed out heart symbol he saw on the evil-looking castle. "Yeah, nope. Not going this way."

The last exit, the one farthest to the right, was the best looking one out of the bunch. Not only did it not give him any bad feelings, but he could also see a faint light coming from further in. "Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner." 

As he walked down the tunnel, illuminated by his new staff, he couldn't help but feel worried about Twilight and their friends. I seriously hope Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are okay. And Cadance, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna... Wow, there's a lot of ponies I'm worried about. Maybe when I get to that town I'll find some paper and see if I can get in touch with them. Assuming my mail fire still works in this form. 

His thoughts stopped when he exited the tunnel, coming into a small chamber. The light he had noticed was coming from a large metal brazier that looked like a cage, a roaring fire contained within. Getting a closer look Spike observed "This fire's either magic, or it's just been lit. Either way, someone might be down here." 

Looking around and only seeing one other exit, he added "If there is someone here, I hope whoever they are they're friendly. At the very least I might have someone to talk to, and I won't be stuck here talking to myself."

He was about halfway down the tunnel when he heard a noise; like small stones rapidly striking stone. It was coming from the tunnel behind him, and it sounded way too close for comfort.

Then he heard a faint growl, and against all better judgement he turned around to see what was coming.

And severely wished he hadn't.

He couldn't see the whole creature from where he was standing, even with the insta-flashlight from his staff. What the light did show, he could make out that this new creature looked like a slug-like insect, roughly a good two heads taller than he was, and staring at him with hateful clusters of red and gold eyes that glowed in the low light of the cave. The impacting sound was coming from its very long, bent forelegs the ended in curved, sharp claws that it used to pull itself along the rocky floor. Once it seemed it realized that Spike had seen it, it opened up its horrifying mouth to reveal sharp serrated teeth dripping with translucent green slime.

And that was all he needed to see. "Yeah, I'M OUT OF HERE!"

Spike took off running, tightening his grip on his staff in fear as he booked it. Whatever was causing the sound apparently noticed, because it started to move faster after him.

Fortunately, Spike saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel.

Unfortunately that light at the end of the tunnel was because the exit led outside, to only a few feet of solid rock before a sheer drop to the bottom of a ravine. The only way across to the other side was a stone bridge a few feet to his left. But from the numerous cracks and quite a few chunks missing from it, it didn't look like it was safe to cross.

Hearing the scraping sound behind him, he decided that crossing that bridge and potentially falling to his death sounded a lot better than being eaten by... whatever the Tartarus that thing was.

So he continued running to the bridge, and he noticed it looked even worse up close. As it stood even the better looking parts looked like they might crumble if too much weight was added. As he crossed the bridge he whispered to himself "Alright Spike. Watch your footing, don't step on any cracks, and hopefully this won't end up like the rope bridge."

He was about halfway across when he heard a familiar growl. "Oh, come on!"

He could see it fully now, and it was even uglier out in the light. The thing looked like a mix between a slug and a tick, with metallic gray armored plating along its body. It's long armored forelegs were one of eight, with six shorter additional legs helping it walk along. It definitely didn't look like the things that attacked Equestria, but if it were possible it looked even more dangerous. And evil. The slimy green froth it was drooling did not help matters.

Spike backed away and felt his foot on the edge of the bridge, just a few inches shy of ending up over the open air. He then heard a low cracking sound, and saw cracks splintering where the bug-thing was walking. "Oh no."

He took off running, weaving around any missing chunks and jumping over any particularly large gaps, his only thought being to get to the other side before that giant bug-thing either got him or collapsed the bridge. Or both.

He had just made it to the three-quarter mark when he heard a CRACK!! like a gunshot, followed by a low rumble. "Yeah, definitely need to get to the other side!"

He continued running, ignoring the rumbling and the clacking sound of the beast behind him. The way the bridge was shaking he figured it was only a matter of time before the biggest majority collapsed. And if he wasn't clear of that section when it fell, he could guess that it was at least a fifty-sixty foot drop to certain death. 

Amidst the sound of his own heavy breathing he could hear more cracking sounds, and then he felt something sticky attach itself to his foot and trip him. He flipped over to see the slime from the bug thing's mouth was now stuck on his foot, part of a large strand that was still attached to it. 

And the giant bug was slowly using its mandible to pull it in, like a fisherman reeling in his catch.

Only, Spike was the fish.

"Oh, HELL NO!"

He struggled, he thrashed, he clawed at the slime but nothing he did could remove it. He was being pulled in, closer and closer to its ravenous jaws. In desperation he dug his claws into the stone, but even then it only slowed his descent. 

It was only then that he saw the staff near his hand, the emerald crystal shining like a star. On instinct he grabbed it with his right hand, and his eyes glowed as he felt something in the back of his mind; a voice that was showing him a way out of this situation. He flung his arm around, aiming the tip of the staff at the insectoid-beast, and yelled a single word: "EXPLODE!"

A sphere of what looked like condensed fire shot out, striking the beast in the face and kicking its head up while severing the strand of slime-

-and then with a loud BOOM! the sphere exploded, enveloping the bridge in a tremendous fireball while the shockwave sent Spike and the beast flying. The beast flew back to the middle of the bridge, landing on its side on the part riddled with cracks and holes.

Spike, luckily or unluckily depending on how you looked at it, ended up hanging off the side of a stable part of the bridge, with most of his body save for the top of his chest, head, and arms hanging over the open air. Digging his already sore claws into anything he could use for purchase, he turned back to the bug that had tried to eat him.

The explosion had torched most of the front of its body. While most of the damage was minor thanks to the armored plating, the head was now covered in burns and its left eye cluster was pretty much destroyed. It glared hatefully at Spike with its remaining cluster on its right, a look that promised painful retribution.

Fortunately he didn't have to look at it long as with one last long RUMBLE! the center of the bridge collapsed, sending the insect monster screaming to the bottome of the ravine in a shower of large boulders and dust until it was completely out of sight. Its screams died out not long after.

Spike would've celebrated, but his sore claws were starting to give out and his feet couldn't find any purchase. Fear clawing at his chest and seeing no other way out, he did the only thing he could think of. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

Deep down he figured it was probably futile. After all, what was the chances that somebody would actually hear him when he was for all intents and purposes in the middle of nowhere?

Apparently pretty high, as he felt something warm and fury grab his hands; and a kind, almost motherly voice say "Don't worry. I've got you."

Spike felt himself being pulled up, helping it along when his feet finally found purchase, before finally he felt his feet reach solid ground. Taking a few deep breathes, he said "I never... wanna do that... again." Once his breathing normalized and his heart rate slowed, he looked at his savior and said "Thank you."

His savior was an anthropomorphic goat, clearly a female judging by her voice and body type. She had white fur and short horns, with red-tinted eyes and droopy ears. She wasn't wearing shoes, though she was wearing a long purple robe with loose white sleeves, though surprisingly no shoes which revealed that her feet were paws instead of hooves like traditional goats. She smiled, showing a pair of small fangs, and replied "You're welcome." Looking at where the giant bug fell she remarked "What a terrible creature."[2]

"Don't need to tell me twice. That thing almost had me for lunch." Looking back at the goat lady he asked "So, are you from around here?"

She nodded. "I come here everyday to see if someone else has arrived here. But I actually live in Radiant Garden."

"Is that the shiny castle with the town? Not to be confused with that other evil-looking castle."

She smiled. "Yes, that castle. No one lives in Maleficent's castle, to my knowledge."

Spike sighed in relief and a bit of exhaustion, but managed to smile. "Awesome. Can you please show me how to get there?"

"Even better. I will guide you."

"That is even better. Thank you again, Miss-"

"Toriel,[2]" she immediately replied. Looking at the sky as the sun started to dip down she added "We should leave now then. The more aggressive Heartless tend to come out when night falls."

Spike was about to ask what a Heartless was when he saw something shifting in the shadows by the cave mouth, and a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Immediately picking his staff up from the ground, he shined the light from it into the cave. 

It was another one of the creatures that attacked Equestria, but this one was different. It had a helmet and small bits of armor, walking upright and having more developed hands that ended in five red claws on each. On its chest was the same X-ed out heart symbol that he saw on the tower of Maleficent's castle. It scraped its claws against the stone wall and started walking towards the two.[3]

Spike aimed his staff, about to try and use that spell again, when Toriel stepped in front of him. Before he could ask what she was doing she held up her paw, and to his surprise a ball of fire appeared. The creature lunged, but before it could even get close Toriel launched the fireball at it, striking it in the chest. It stopped in midair before exploding in a puff of purple-black smoke, and a crystalline glowing heart appeared, briefly floating before flying away into the sky.

Awestruck, Spike asked "Did you just use magic?"

Toriel nodded, keeping her eyes trained on the cave. "Yes. I am very well-trained in Fire Magic." After a few minutes and no other creatures showing up, she said "It should be safe for now." Seeing how dark it was inside she sighed. "If only I thought to bring a torch."

Spike smirked before shining the light from his staff forward. "Who needs a torch?"

Giggling, Toriel replied "Very well." Taking Spike's free hand she said "Come. I'll lead you through the tunnels, child."

Spike rolled his eyes, but let her lead him regardless. As he did, a thought occurred to him.

That attack I used on that bug monster... Was that also magic? Did I use magic?



Twilight had followed the filly over a river and through the woods to the Castle of the Two Sisters, down the hidden stair case and the elevator, right back to the crystal tree she and her friends had seen before the world was destroyed. Nothing had attacked them during the entirety of the trip. Frankly nothing had appeared at all, which didn't surprise Twilight that much. 

During the journey she talked to the filly, trying to get some idea of who she was. So far she managed to work out a few facts. The filly liked reading and learning magic (especially fire magic), her favorite food was strawberry cheesecake, and she got her Cutie Mark the same day that Twilight did. [4]

But despite those facts and the strange feeling of nostalgia she got, Twilight still couldn't remember her name. Equal parts of frustration and guilt made her want to slam her head against a tree, but she refrained because all that would do was give her a headache.

Eventually they reached the crystal tree they were at now, and Twilight asked "So, why did you bring me here? To remind me of my failure?"

The filly shook her head, and smiled. "Nope. I'm here to show you the way forward.

'To show you how to bring Equestria back..."



To Be Continued...



> 6: The Radiant Garden and the Tree Of Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took the better part of two hours, but eventually Toriel led Spike to a set of thick metal blast doors. He half expected her to pull out a key and put it into some keyhole, or to use her magic to open the doors.

He did not expect to hear her say "This is Toriel. Open the doors!"

He was confused for a moment before a mechanical voice replied "Commencing Scan..."

Toriel rolled her eyes before pulling Spike forward. "Don't move. You may feel a slight tingle." She smiled to reassure him. "But it's harmless, I assure you."

Spike would've replied it was okay, but at that moment the floor beneath them began to glow with golden light. After a second it ended and the same voice said "No Heartless Detected. No Nobodies Detected. All Clear!"

"Of course there wouldn't be," Toriel said. Looking at Spike she explained "Because this system of caves connects to that other castle, we have to scan everyone to make sure that they are who they appear to be."

He nodded in understanding. "We've had a problem with shapeshifters back home. But we took care of it." Even though it involved Twilight being made to look like a crazy fool, nobody believing her warnings, and all her friends and her teacher abandoning her. Including me. He looked down shamefully at that part. Some little brother I was.[1]

He pushed those thoughts aside when with a groan the blast doors began to slide apart, letting light shine through and revealing a metal elevator that led to the surface. Stepping into it and closing the game, Toriel pressed a button and the machine began its ascent. 

Growl.

Surprised, she looked around but didn't see anything. She then looked to Spike, who was blushing from embarrassment. "Sorry. I haven't eaten anything since..." He racked his brain before finishing "well, before those things attacked my home."

She nodded, understanding. "Well, once we get up there we'll get you some food."

"Awesome." Seeing that it was going to be a while before they got to the top he decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. "So, that creature you toasted back there. You called it a Heartless?"

"Yes." She shook her head, a bit of anger on her face. "Despicable creatures."

"Well, what are they?"

"They are creatures of darkness. Most of them are born from the shadows themselves, but ones like the one I 'toasted' are actually created from when they manage to find a victim." Seeing his confused look she elaborated "The Heartless are attracted to the darkness in a person's, or a creature's, heart. Not the physical organ, but rather a spiritual one."

"Like a soul?"

"Not quite. It's... hard to explain. Think of it more like a culmination of your being; the part that gives you your feelings, your emotions, everything that makes you... well, you."[2]

"Okay. And I'm guessing they're attracted to the Heart to... eat it?"

Toriel nodded somberly. "Unfortunately. They feed on the light within the Heart, leaving only the darkness behind. When that happens, that darkness ends up becoming another Heartless. How strong the darkness is within that person's heart determines how strong the Heartless will be. Just a few of these things could turn an entire town into their lunch within a few hours."[3]

"That sounds terrifying."

The elevator finally reached the top, and Toriel sighed again. "You don't know the half of it."

As they exited the elevator, they immediately came to metal door. Toriel smiled before opening it, and said "Welcome to The Radiant Garden."

Spike could immediately see why it was called that. Compared to the rest of the barren wasteland around them (and especially that other castle) the town was full of life. Children ran around playing games, adults were either doing their jobs or shopping, and the whole town just seemed to radiate joy and happiness. It was almost like he was back in Ponyville again (Though without a castle, since there wasn't a princess living there and he doubted one would be soon.)

But one of the key differences Spike noticed was that none of the creatures in front of him were ponies, griffons, or dragons. They all looked like he did now, save for the fact that they didn't have patches of scales like he did. Or a tail. "Um, Toriel?"

"Yes Spike?"

"Where... exactly are we? Because on my world, all of these... creatures," he gestured to the people in front of him "would either be ponies, dragons, or some other magical creature."

Toriel looked at him, then at his scales, and asked "You used to be a dragon?"

He nodded. "Yeah. That's not a problem, is it?"

Growing up in Canterlot, in his early years he'd faced his fair share of discrimantion from some of the snobbier individuals there. Up until Twilight found out, told Princess Celestia, and Princess Celestia told said snobs that he was a friend of hers and her student (AKA Twilight.) They backed off after that.

But Toriel shook her head and replied "No. But that does explain the scales." She then sighed. "You said that your home was attacked by the Heartless, right?" He nodded, and Toriel continued "The truth is, Spike, judging by what you said, you actually came from another world."

"Like, another planet?"

"Sort of. Anyway, much like a person a World has a Heart of its own. They tend to be much bigger and made almost entirely of Light. And since the Heartless feed on Light..."

She left the sentence hanging, but Spike's mind already came to the conclusion. "They ate the Heart of our world. Which means-"

He couldn't finish that sentence. He just couldn't. The thought of his home, the place he was born and spent his whole life growing up and where he met all of his friends. And his friends... "Is it possible I'm not the only one who survived?"

Toriel nodded. "It is possible. The ones who usually survive a world's destruction are those with strong hearts with the least amount of darkness in them, or who are protected by a spell or if they happen to have a Keyblade."

Images of Twilight holding that sword and her calling it a Keyblade by name flashed in his mind, and he said "My older sister, she got a Keyblade just before our world was destroyed. So she's safe?"

She nodded again. "Yes. But she might not be here. When a World is destroyed, any survivors would be scattered across the many worlds in existence. While there are a few worlds that the majority of survivors land on, such as this world, Traverse Town and Twilight Town, there's a chance she could end up anywhere."

"But she's alive at least. And it's possible my other friends and family might be too. That's good enough for me." He smiled. "Gotta think positive."

"Indeed." Hearing his stomach growl again, she said "Now, let's get you some food. Preferably before you stomach decides to eat itself."

They both laughed at the joke, before hearing someone ask "Spike?"

The speaker was another one of the strange creatures that Spike had turned into, though he lacked scales or a tail. He was wearing a pair of blue pants with red and black sneakers, a hooded jacket with blue on the inside and the sleeves over a white t-shirt with a familiar symbol: a blue shield with a yellow lightning bolt emblazoned upon it. 

That symbol, plus the fact that the creature had blue hair in the same style and the same blue eyes, immediately clued Spike in on who he was. "Lieutenant Flash Sentry?"

He nodded. "Thought I told you to call me Flash?" Looking at Toriel he added "Oh, hey Toriel. Caves treat you okay?"

"I was fine," she replied, before looking at Spike. "But he ran into something down- Wait, you two know each other?"

Both Spike and Flash nodded. "Yeah. I met Flash a few hours before the Heartless swarmed Equestria." Looking at Flash he asked "Hey, how'd you get here anyway?"

Flash rubbed the back of his head. "It's a long story..."



 

Twilight looked at the crystal tree in confusion, then at the little filly, then back at the tree. "How exactly is this crystal tree going to bring back Equestria? I thought it was sucked into a black hole?"

The filly giggled. "This isn't just any old crystal tree, Twilight. This is something far more important." Seeing a little light appear on the trunk, the filly gestured for Twilight to touch it. "All the answers will be revealed."

With nothing else to do, Twilight reached out a hoof towards the light.

And the moment she touched the light, images began to flow into her mind as her eyes glowed. "Whoa..."





"And that's pretty much all I remember," Flash finished.

After the three of them came to a small inn to get some food, Flash had told them what had happened. Apparently after they played in the park, Flash and his little brother were going out to get some ice cream. 

Then the sky went dark, and the Heartless started showing up. Nowhere near as much as what was in Ponyville, but still enough to be concerned about.

Anyway, after making sure First Base (that was his brother's name) got into one of the shelters, Flash had flown off to Canterlot Castle to get some answers and retrieve his gear.

Sadly by the time he got there the only thing he had time to grab was his shield before, as he put it, everything went black. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a room at the local inn in this town, now transformed into what the locals called a "Human."

Swallowing a spoonful of soup, Spike asked "So, what have ve you been doing since then?"

Flash sighed. "Well, I spent the better part of a week looking around this place for First Base. But sadly, looks like he didn't land here."

"You find anyone- Wait, a week?"

"Yeah. One of the people who help run this place said that sometimes people from the same world end up crashing into others at different times. I've been here for going on two weeks now, and I'm guessing you just got here."[4]

"Yeah. So, did you find anyone or anypony else from Equestria?"

Flash shook his head. "Sadly, no. You're the first one from Equestria who's landed here besides me."

Spike sighed, then noticed Toriel. Throughout the whole conversation she hadn't really said much, just ate her food while listening to their story. "Sorry if we kinda dumped all this on you. It's just-"

Toriel dismissed it with a wave of her hand, smiling. "It's fine. Really the most surprising part was finding out that you used to be a dragon and your friend used to be a winged horse."

"The technical term is Pegasus, Ma'am," Flash replied, taking a bite of his salad.

"Sorry." She looked at the rest of her food with a forlorn expression, and said "The saddest part is that the story of what happened to your world almost entirely matches-"

"-what happened to your world?" Seeing her surprised expression Spike continued "The way you talked about the Heartless, and how they consumed people and Worlds? Sounded a bit too much like firsthand experience."

Once she got over her shock, Toriel nodded. "About a year ago, the Heartless showed up in my world; The Monster Underground. Nobody knew what they were or where we came from, but they didn't give us a chance to find out. We tried fighting them off, and we managed to hold them off for some time. But between some internal problems between us monsters, the sheer number of the Heartless, and the fact that at the time we didn't know about Hearts, the Worlds, et cetera; our world was destroyed." She absentmindedly poked at her salad. "One moment I was recovering from a fight, reading a book on snail recipes by a nice warm fire. Next thing I know, everything goes dark and I wake up in the same cave system you woke up in. I've been living here ever since, helping to search the caves for others who land here."

"I'm sorry."

She waved it off. "It's fine. While I am worried about some of my friends back home, I'm confident I'll see them again. Plus, I finally got to see the sun." Seeing the surprised look on Spike's face, she smiled and added "It's not called 'The Monster Underground' for nothing."

Flash and Spike both chuckled. "Anyway," Flash said "if what everyone here says is true, then it's likely my brother landed in another world besides this one. I need to find him before something happens to him. And then I want to try and find the other survivors."

"Understandable," Toriel replied. "But how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Yeah, I doubt you can just fly there. Especially considering your wings are kinda not there anymore," Spike noted. 

"Don't remind me. It feels weird not having them on my back." Flash smirked and continued "And I actually did find a way to travel between worlds."

"Really? How?"

Taking a sip of his drink, Flash replied "Finish your food and I'll show you."





Twilight saw the tree, the same crystal tree that she had touched moments earlier. Only now below within its roots she could see something else; an enormous crystal shaped like a heart, though much MUCH larger than the actual Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire. But much like the rest of the world at the moment, it lacked color. In fact, it looked kind of damaged if the cracks were anything to go by.

It was then that she saw six different colored lights floating in front of the tree. Each of the lights became clearer as she got closer, revealing the Elements of Harmony.

As they each floated into their corresponding slots, the tree began to glow, the light traveling down into the heart within the roots. The cracks began to heal as the heart glowed...

...and to Twilight's amazement the light from the tree slowly expanded, spreading out and banishing the darkness. 

In an instant she was somehow floating above Ponyville, seeing the darkness that had covered it banished away by the light. As it did, ponies started to appear, some rubbing their heads or eyes as if they had just woken up from a strange slumber. 

Then she remembered what the voice in her dream had told her. You are the light that will shine through the darkness.

And then the vision ended, and Twilight was back in the cave with the filly. Looking at said filly with a smile on her face she said "I need the Elements of Harmony. With them, I can restore the Tree, which will restart that crystal within the roots and bring Equestria back!"

The filly smiled. "Exactly. By restoring the Tree of Harmony, you'll restore this world's Heart. Only then will it come back from the darkness."

Twilight nodded, but then noticed the world around her beginning to fade. "Am I... waking up?"

"Soon, probably. Time moves differently in your head."

Looking at the filly, Twilight smiled and said "Thank you. I'd hug you, but I'd just go right through you."

"Maybe someday you could hug me for real," the filly asked.

Twilight nodded. "Absolutely. Hopefully by then I'll remember your name..."

It was at that moment it hit her: a vague memory of sitting in the Canterlot Library as a filly, reading a large book on Fire magic with the filly sitting right beside her. Though back then she was a year older than her.

Her best friend. "Sunset Shimmer."

The filly, Sunset nodded. As the world faded she smiled and said "See you around, Twi."

Twilight smiled, not noticing the few small tears escaping her eyes. "See you around, Sunny."




Once they finished their food, Flash led Spike and Toriel to a large building close to the city wall. Opening the door with a keycard, he led them inside. Flipping a few switches to the left, large lights flipped on overhead, revealing what was inside.

Spike's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me."

It looked like something out of one of the science fiction comics Spike read about spacecraft; maybe Pony Trek?

Only it was real.

He was actually looking at an honest to Celestia spaceship.

It was shaped mostly like a hexagon, with the cockpit mounted near the front. Underneath it was a gunner's station, with a double barreled gun on either side. On either side was also a gunner's station, though they each only had a single barreled gun. On top of the craft was a 360 Degree turret, armed with a four-barreled canon.[5]

But the awe and majesty was kind of undercut because several panels were missing all over the ship, as well as one of its three engines were hanging by a set of chains. On top of that, it seriously needed a new paint job as the majority of the paint was either faded or completely stripped to the metal in some places.

Noticing this, Flash said "Yeah. I'm still kind of putting it together. But aside from the missing panels, and the engine I'm repairing, it's still mostly intact."

"Yeah. Mostly," Spike scoffed, even though he immediately smiled once he said that. "You really think this'll take us where we need to go?"

Flash nodded. "It should. The guy I bought this from said he used to go to all sorts of worlds. But this was back when all the engines were in one place, the power core didn't need replaced, and the memory drive that had the Star Chart wasn't fried. That's not even taking into account the one hull breach I just fixed yesterday, the life support that I got replaced a few days before that, and the artificial gravity system that was the first thing I fixed after I bought it."

Toriel looked at him in surprise. "Where did you get the money for this?"

"I'm working a few odd jobs for the guy I bought it from. Well, he's not a guy. He's a duck."

"You're working with Scrooge McDuck?"

"Not really. I'm not his employee, I just do a few odd jobs for him. Can't really be a full-time employee since the moment this thing is fixed and I get a new Star Chart I'm heading out. I do a job, get paid, buy the parts, try and fix this ship up."

Looking at one of the exposed parts of the underside, Spike asked "How's that working out?"

"With any luck, I should hopefully have this thing fixed up and flying in about three or four months," Flash replied, making the "so-so" gesture. "Give or take. All this while I'm taking classes from a guy here who used to work on these ships, so that I can repair and maintain this beauty while I'm out there in the cold vacuum of space."

"Careful there, Flash," Spike said. "One of my friends, Applejack, tried to take on too much work by herself."

"Yeah, I heard about that from Princess Celestia," Flash stated. "Don't worry though. I'm still getting at least six hours of sleep a day, and I'm taking time to eat and drink." Seeing the surprised look on his face he added "Military training. Had to be ready to hop out of my bed and get ready at a moments notice, and fight for my life in the event of an attack with less than an hour's worth of sleep."

"Sounds hard."

"Let's just say I became quick friends with a pot of coffee."

"Personally, I prefer tea," Toriel stated, smirking. 

They all laughed at that. "Three to four months, huh?" Looking at Flash, Spike asked "Any chance there's a place here that I can do some odd jobs?"

Both Flash and Toriel nodded. "Radiant Garden has plenty of places to get some Munny," Flash said. "Delivery jobs, repair jobs, I'm personally more partial to Heartless hunting. I think I saw two or three job requests for rare gems found in the caves Toriel found you in."

Spike smiled. "Okay then. So I'll help you get the money for this thing. Should cut our time down in half, right?"

"Unless something happens to totally trash the ship, yeah. But don't you think you should focus on learning how to use that magic staff you found?" 

Remembering that he had already told Flash about what he did to the bug monster, the spell he used, Spike realized he had a point. "Hey, you still manage to do your jobs and repair this ship while taking engineering classes. I can do that too while learning about magic." Fingering the Element of Magic, he added "Plus, I need to find Twilight."

"Hey, I get it," Flash said with an understanding smile. "Brothers and sisters gotta look out for each other."

Spike nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright then. You can help. But the first moment I think you're pushing yourself too hard, I will make you stop and take a break. We clear?"

"Crystal," he replied, shaking Flash's hand.

A few minutes later Toriel and Spike walked out of the building, Toriel leading Spike down the road to meet a friend of hers. "So, this friend of your's," Spike asked. "You're saying he can teach me magic?"

Toriel nodded. "Trust me, if anyone can help teach you magic, or tell you what that staff of yours really is, it's him." Coming up to a house she said "Here we are."

Knocking three times, a wizened old voice asked "Yes, who is it?"

"It's Toriel, Merlin. May we come in?"

The door opened to reveal... no one there. "Magic," Spike guessed. 

Toriel nodded, leading him inside the house and almost right into the owner of the house. "Ooh, sorry about that! I was just about to make a pot of tea."

The owner in question was a bespectacled man who looked to be in his fifties, with short white hair and a long, straight white beard. He was wearing blue robes and a tall blue hat that ended in a point, which immediately made Spike realize that he was a wizard. Smiling (which was kind of hard to see behind his beard) he said "Hello Toriel. Good to see you again." Looking at Spike he asked "And who's this young man?"

"My name's Spike, sir," he answered, holding out his hand. "And, I'm actually a dragon." He held up his tail for emphasis.

The man smiled, taking Spike's hand and shaking it. "Pleasure to meet you, Spike the dragon. My name's Merlin." Motioning them inside he asked "So Toriel, why exactly have you brought him here?"

Toriel explained what Spike had told her when he used that spell, and how Spike wanted to learn magic. Merlin listened with rapt attention, and when it was over he looked to Spike. "An Explosion Spell? Those are uncommon... but not unheard of. It's a very rare spell."

"Well, I never used any spells until I found this staff," Spike said, showing it to Merlin.

Merlin analyzed the staff, seemingly X-Raying it with his eyes. "Hmm... I fell like I've seen something like it before. I'll have to check my library. In the meantime, however..." He looked at Spike and said "Fair warning, magic isn't as easy to learn as it seems. It will take a lot of study, a lot of practice, and quite a bit of trail-and-error. Are you sure you wish to walk down this path?"

Spike nodded. "If the Heartless show up again, I want to be able to fight them off with more than just my fire breath. Plus, my older sister and her friends are always fighting to save our world and protect me. This time, I want to be able to protect them."

Merlin and Toriel both smiled at his answer. Seeing this, Spike asked "So, when do we get started?"

Chuckling, Merlin replied "We already have."





Twilight felt weightless, like she was floating in water. Her whole body was so numb she could barely lift her head or open her eyes. I must've worn myself out worse than I thought. I've never had a case of Magic Exhaustion this bad. 

As the seconds passed by she started to regain feeling in her body, but something felt... off. Why does my body feel so different? Why can't I flick my ears? Where's my tail? And my horn? And why do my hooves feel so... wrong?

Unable to handle it any longer, she opened her eyes and put herself in a sitting position.

And immediately she noticed two things.

One, she was apparently in a hospital room of some kind. There were a few machines around her that were taking her vitals, an IV bag on a stand that was currently plugged into her arm, and a button on the rail of her hospital bed that read "Nurse."

And two, sometime during her period of unconsciousness her body had undergone a significant change. Gone was the body of a unicorn, replaced with what she could only guess was a body similar to the fur-less primates she saw on the stained glass from her dream. Her horn and tail were gone completely, as was all her fur, leaving only flesh. The hooves on her forelegs were gone, now fleshy as well and with additional appendages. The hooves on her rear legs were just as fleshy, though the additional appendages were shorter and kinda stubby. 

Her panic was starting to rise as she looked herself over. "What happened to my hooves? Why don't I have my horn? What happened to me?!"

Unable to take it anymore, she did what anyone in her situation would do.

She screamed.
> 7: Disney Castle: Welcome To The Keyblade Club
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

-A Few Minutes Earlier-

"So, has she woken up yet," Goofy asked.

Donald shook his head. "Nope. Last I checked on her she was still-"

At that moment both of them could hear a scream that wouldn't sound out of place in a horror movie. Looking in the direction of the Medical Wing Goofy said "I'm guessin' she's up."

"I'm surprised we can hear her when she's all the way on the other end of the castle," Donald muttered. "We should probably go calm her down before she screams herself unconscious."





It took at last ten minutes to get Twilight to calm down enough that she'd stop screaming and actually listen to the two of them. Strangely enough, she wasn't shocked or surprised that she was talking to an anthropomorphic duck and dog, one of whom was wearing a traditional wizard's garb and another who was wearing armor and holding a metal shield. "Honestly, not the weirdest stuff I've seen in the past few days," she muttered, flexing her new "fingers" as they called them. Once she was done, she looked at them and asked "Who are you guys?"

Goofy was the first one to answer. "Well, my name's Goofy, and this 'ere's Donald."

"Hello," Donald said.

"Well, I'm Twilight," she cut in. "Twilight Sparkle. Could you please tell me where I am?"

"This is Disney Castle," Donald replied. "Captial of the Disney Kingdom."

"And, where in Equestria would that be?"

Both Donald and Goofy looked at each other, the two of them sharing the same thought. Donald finally asked "We've never heard of Equestria."

"Or ever seen a purple horsey turn into a human girl," Goofy added.

Twilight huffed. "First off, I am not a horse. I am a pony, a unicorn to be exact."

"That explains the horn you had," Donald stated.

"And second, are you sure you've never heard of the kingdom of Equestria?" Seeing them both shake their heads, she asked "What about Princess Celestia? Have you ever heard of her?"

"Nope," Goofy replied.

Shock evident on her face at the idea of somebody not knowing about one of the most well known ponies on the planet, Twilight decided to take a long shot. "What about Equus? Please tell me you've heard of that name."

Sadly, they both shook their heads, and the realization of what was going on hit her like a ton of bricks. Her face fell in her hands (which still felt weird instead of her hooves) and she muttered "Guess that confirms it."

"Confirms what," Goofy asked.

Twilight sighed and then explained what happened to her before she crashed landed in their garden. "I was honestly hoping I had been wrong. But then you guys haven't heard about my home kingdom, one of the most important ponies of the world, and the name of the planet itself. That pretty much means that my home was destroyed by those things, and I somehow ended up here."

"They're called the Heartless."

All three of them turned to the doorway to see another anthropomorphic creature, this one being a mouse with large circular ears dressed in strange traveling clothes. 

The moment they saw him, Donald and Goofy both said "Good morning, your Majesty!"

Twilight's eyes widened at hearing that. "Wait, you're a King?"

The mouse nodded happily, before walking over to her and holding out his hand. "Yep. King Mickey, at your service!"

Slowly and gingerly taking his hand, fumbling a bit with her new fingers, she shook it and replied "Twilight Sparkle. Sorry, I'd get up and bow but... I'm not really used to walking on two legs."

Mickey chuckled. "It's okay. I'm not really one for formalities." He sighed and continued "Donald and Goofy gave me the lowdown on how you ended up at my castle. And then I overheard part of what you said." He looked at her sadly. "I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to your world."

She could feel the sincerity in his voice, but also something else. A strange sense of familiarity. Almost as if- "Has this happened before?"

All three of them nodded solemnly. "Never to our world," Donald said. "But we've had a few friends whose world was destroyed by the Heartless."

"And they weren't the only ones to lose their world," Goofy added.

"Um, not to sound rude, but could you maybe start at the beginning," Twilight asked. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around my world being destroyed and me being on another world."

They all looked at each other before Donald and Goofy zeroed on on Mickey. Mickey nodded, pulling up a chair. "Well then, here goes.

'It started a long, long time ago..."



Spike looked at the letter he had just finished writing. "Okay, that should be good."

"What should be good?"

Turning to see Flash walking into the Garage, as they started to call it, Spike replied "You remember how I said that Celestia used to send messages to Twilight through me using my magic fire?"

Flash nodded as he walked over to the closet. "Yeah. Kinda wondered why she didn't just teleport it straight to her instead of using you as a mailbox."[1]

Spike wanted to answer that it was somehow necessary... but he couldn't think of anything. "I... guess you have a point. I'll have to ask Twilight that when we find her." Putting the letter in the envelope he folded it up and said "Here's hoping it works."

He breathed out a small stream of fire on the envelope, half expecting it to just burn up into ashes.

But surprisingly it was transformed into shiny green dust and flew up towards the ceiling before disappearing. "Huh. It worked."

Watching the dust disappear, Flash asked "So what do we do now? Wait for her to reply?"

Spike nodded. "Not much else we can do at this point. I just hope wherever she is she'll be near a pen and some paper." Picking up his staff he said "But in the meantime, I got my first magic lesson with Merlin and Toriel."

"Think they'll teach you fire magic," Flash joked.

Rolling his eyes he replied "I'm a dragon, Flash. Fire's in my nature. I'd be surprised if I didn't have an affinity for Fire Magic."

As he walked out the door, he mentally said I hope Twilight got my letter. And that she's okay.

Though I have to wonder, where the heck did she end up?




"...and that's pretty much it," Mickey finished.

He had just spent what amounted to a half hour explaining to Twilight the story so far. Twilight had listened aptly, only interrupting to ask the occasional question when something confused her. 

The story basically went that long ago all of the individual worlds were once joined together into a single world, one that had been full of light given to them by Kingdom Hearts, which was apparently the source of all light in the universe. The only way to access it was the original Keyblade, which they called the X-Blade to prevent it from being confused with the many other Keyblades in existence. It was also from the X-Blade that other people were able to access their own Keyblades if the person had a strong enough Heart. Whether it be a Heart full of Light, a Heart full of Darkness, or a Heart that was somewhere in between.

But as it was with most sources of near infinite power, there were people who wanted to use it for themselves and others who just wanted to protect it. Thus began what became known as the Keyblade War. The war ended up shattering the Great World into the individual worlds that were around today. 

It also ended up shattering the X-Blade into 20 different parts: 13 of Darkness and 7 of Light. Without it, nobody can enter Kingdom Hearts.

Which was apparently what a dark Keyblade Master named Xehanort wanted. Though for what purpose they couldn't guess.

But what they did know was that Xehanort was arguably the most manipulative bastard in history. Through his manipulations some of the last few Keyblade wielders were missing or dead (Terra, Aqua, and Ventus for the missing category, and Master Eraqus for the dead category), several worlds had been destroyed and consumed by the darkness, and he was definitely not someone you'd want to invite to your birthday party.

Oh, and there was a mass outbreak of Heartless and the improved Emblem Heartless that scattered and spread throughout the worlds like a plague. What a dick.

After that, the home world of their friends Sora, Riku and Kairi was destroyed by the Heartless. Sora awakened his Keyblade, but just like Twilight's situation he couldn't stop his world's destruction. This lead to him meeting Donald and Goofy, bouncing around world's looking for Riku, Kairi and King Mickey. Along the way they battled villains led by an evil sorceress named Maleficent and sealed "Keyholes" to prevent the Heartless from getting to the Hearts of the Worlds they traveled to. They finally ending up fighting Xehanort's Heartless, who took the name of his former mentor Ansem, who was trying to access Kingdom Hearts. When Twilight asked how that was possible without the X-Blade, Mickey explains that Ansem had found a "Back Door" through the End of Worlds (which as Donald put it was basically a trashcan where all the worlds destroyed by the Heartless ended up before Kingdom Hearts restored it.) that he only managed to open TO Kingdom Hearts for roughly a second before shifting back to the Realm of Darkness since he didn't have the "13 Hearts of Darkness" (More on that later). They managed to close it before a massive wave of Heartless could be released on the worlds, but that ended up leaving King Mickey and Riku on the other side of the door with them and Sora separated from Kairi.

Things got a little complicated after that, because Sora, Donald and Goofy ended up... missing, for about a year. The best they could put it was that they went to sleep, and then they woke up a year later in a strange place. 

Considering what happened next, they all assumed that Organization XIII was to blame.

Apparently back when Sora and his friends' world (the Destiny Islands) was attacked, Kairi's Heart had somehow left her body and hid inside of Sora's Heart (which led to Twilight making a lame joke about Sora and Kairi having a "Heart-To-Heart"[2]) right before the destruction. This was important as Kairi was one of the Seven Princesses of Heart, who Ansem believed were the way to get through his "Back Door" into Kingdom Hearts (which had failed, obviously.) Anyway, Sora used a Keyblade Ansem created on himself to give Kairi her Heart back, temporarily turning him into a Heartless (a small Shadow, which made sense since Sora pretty much had an almost pure Heart and had the bare minimum of darkness in his heart.) 

But both Kairi and Sora had accidentally created two Nobodies, which were a separate species created as a byproduct of a person being turned into a Heartless. Basically if they had a strong will and ended up becoming a Heartless, their body would then become a whitish-grey monster called a Nobody. Though the ones with strongest wills still retained some form of their former... form.

Anyway, Xehanort's Nobody, Xemnas, wanted to use Sora to gather up the Hearts from the Emblem Heartless to create a new Kingdom Hearts. After another world hopping adventure ("Seriously, do you guys ever get a vacation?") they all reunited on an artificial world called The World That Never Was, and with help from the ACTUAL Ansem the Wise, blew up their new Kingdom Hearts and Sora and Riku beat Xemnas in a 2 on 1 fight that sadly the rest of them wasn't able to see. Though thanks to a spell by Yen Sid (King Mickey's mentor and a powerful sorcerer) they were able to see it through their memories, and it was pretty awesome. Twilight made a note to ask to see it later. 

After that, Sora and Riku managed to get to Destiny Islands through the Realm of Darkness, and enjoyed a somewhat happy ending.

For a few months.

Because as King Mickey had just revealed, by destroying someone's Heartless and their Nobody, you end up restoring the original person. Which means Xehanort was probably going to be making a comeback sometime in the future, and thus they needed to prepare.

And as King Mickey had said earlier, that was pretty much it.[3]

Afterwards, Twilight had told them what had happened to her world; everything from her dream to her world's destruction, and then waking up as a "human."

Twilight looked at the Keyblade in her hand, then at the three in front of her. Finally she asked "So, was Xehanort behind my world getting destroyed?" 

Mickey shook his head. "Not likely. Aside from the fact that we're pretty sure he hasn't completely reformed yet, all of the worlds he's messed with have been on established star charts and records. When these two told me that you used to be a unicorn pony before transforming into a human, I checked through all of the records for a world that you could've possibly come from."

"Nothing?"

He nodded. "Equestria or Equus didn't show up on any records or star charts, nor were there any worlds that had talking ponies as the dominant species. There have been worlds that have talking animals, but surprisingly not ponies. Since your world's uncharted, it would've more than likely escaped Xehanort's notice."

"So it was a random attack," Donald stated.

Some part of Twilight's mind was telling her it wasn't random, especially considering that her friends had found the secret entrance to the Tree of Harmony already opened. But since she couldn't really think of a culprit nor had any solid proof, she decided to keep it to herself for now. 

Not that she really had time because in that moment there was a green flash and a letter appeared seemingly out of thin air before falling into Twilight's lap, much to the surprise of the other three. "What was that," Goofy asked.

Carefully picking up the envelope, Twilight recognized the mark on the back almost instantly. "It's a letter. From Spike."

"You mean the little dragon you adopted after you hatched him," Mickey asked.

Twilight nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Guess that magic mail spell works between worlds as well as cities. Which also means..."

"He's alive," Donald finished.

She nodded again, opening the envelope and pulling out the letter...

Dear Twilight,

I'm kinda taking a long shot here since I don't know if the spell works between worlds like it does between Canterlot and Ponyville, but I figured it was worth a try.

I'm fine. Kinda. I've been changed into something close to what the locals call a Human, and I've managed to find one other survivor. It's that Lieutenant we met before those monsters came, Flash Sentry. He's okay too.

I'd put more here, but I honestly don't know if this is even going to work, and I've got a lesson to get to. So if you do happen to get this, please write back and let me know that you're okay. Please.

Your Little Dragon Brother,

Spike

P.S. Also, if you're wondering, I landed on a world called The Radiant Garden. It's a pretty nice place. Hope you ended up on a nice world too.

Once she was finished, she looked at King Mickey and asked "May I borrow a pen and some paper? Please?"

A few minutes later they brought her the materials she asked for so she could write her reply to Spike.

And they immediately found out the first problem of Twilight's new body. "How do I-" she began, struggling to hold the pen with her fingers. "How do I use my... fingers?"

Mickey, Donald and Goofy looked at each other, before Donald said "Didn't see that coming."

"Well, we've always had hands and fingers," Goofy replied, twiddling his thumbs before pointing at the ends of Donald's wings. "Or in your case Donald, something close to it."

Before Donald could respond to that, Mickey picked up the pen (that Twilight dropped) and paper and asked "How about I write for you? At least until you get used to your new body?"

She nodded, a bit sheepish. When Mickey showed he was ready she said "Dear Spike..."





"So apparently she ended up in a castle, where the king is a talking mouse that walks on his hind legs. And his two best friends are a dog and a duck, one of which is the captain of the guard and the other is a sorcerer," Spike read from the letter he just received. 

It was after his lesson and he had met up with Flash for lunch when the letter came through.

And after reading it, both of them looked at each other and then back at the letter in disbelief. Finally Flash asked "Um, they didn't put something in my salad, did they?"

"Our world was destroyed by living shadows and we ended up turned into humans when we landed here; and yet the idea that there is a kingdom on another world with an anthro-mouse as their king is too much for you to believe?"

"Point taken."

Spike nodded, pulling out a pen and another piece of paper. "Well, let's get each other up to speed."





For the next hour they swapped information, covering what had happened to the both of them in the time since Equestria was destroyed. Spike sent a letter detailing him waking up in the caves in his new form, him finding his magic staff and getting chased by the bug monster, which also lead to him using his first magic spell: Explode. After that he told her about his rescue by Toriel (who was now tutoring him in Fire Magic) running into Flash Sentry and how they were working jobs to get a spaceship fixed so that they could look for anyone else who might've survived Equestria's destruction. 

This was a big shock for Twilight; not just because of Spike having a near-death experience (technically two since if he hadn't fallen to his death he would've been eaten by the enormous creepy crawly) but because apparently her Little Dragon Brother could use magic. Something that he'd never done before back home. In fact, now that she thought about it there'd never been any sign that dragons could use magic. (Well to be fair up until the Changelings invaded and showed their shapeshifting magic as well as Queen Chrysalis's Mind Control spells, most Equestrians believed only unicorns could use magic.) So for Spike to be able to use magic was kind of a big deal. She'd definitely have to run some of her own tests when she made it to Radiant Garden.

Twilight in turn told Spike about her dream/memory; and how with the Elements of Harmony and the Tree of Harmony they could restore Equestria. 

She asked Spike about Sunset Shimmer, but he told her the name didn't ring any bells. But then again he was still a toddler when she was a filly, so maybe he was just too young to remember. 

Which led to their current conversation.

Yeah, after the last big letter they basically started sending strips of paper with short messages on them. Much easier on Spike's throat and stomach. You really think this Tree of Harmony can bring back Equestria? And also bring everyone back?

It's not an exact science. From what King Mickey, Donald and Goofy are telling me, they've never had a case like this. So we're going to talk to King Mickey's teacher, a sorcerer named Yen Sid. He's an expert on this stuff so hopefully he can shed some light on the matter.

Alright then. I guess in the meantime I'll keep going to my lessons and help Flash get the ship fixed up. Any idea when you might be coming?

Twilight tapped the pen on her chin for a moment, before replying Not sure yet. When we were talking about Yen Sid, King Mickey said that he was a former Keyblade Master and was helping to train their friends Sora and Riku.
So I was thinking, maybe I should see about getting some lessons on using Spellstar.

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea, considering that if the Elements of Harmony are connected to our world's Heart, then the Heartless may come after them. Which also means we'll probably have to fight them. Plus, this'll give you time to get used to your new body. Don't think I didn't notice you're not the one writing the letters. :p

Twilight chuckled, before writing Got me. And yeah, that does make sense. I'll clear it up with Master Yen Sid and give you more details later.

Cool. I'll keep going with my lessons then. Any tips?

Listen to your teachers, read all the material they tell you to, and be sure you have someone take notes and/or record everything for me. You're the first dragon capable of using magic and I want to know EVERYTHING!

I figured as much.

Also, please for the love of Faust don't experiment with your magic without proper supervision.

Yeah, don't want a repeat of what happened in Magic Lab 15 on July 4th-

WE NEVER SPEAK OF THAT! But yes, we don't want anything like that happening.

Got it. No experiments without someone making sure I don't do something stupid. Oh, I gotta get going for my first job. Be safe. Love you, sis.

Love you too, little bro.

Once that last note was delivered, Twilight looked at them and asked "So, when do we meet Yen Sid?"

Mickey smiled and said "Actually we can leave right now if you want."

"Then let's get going," Twilight said, enthusiastically jumping out of her bed. "We don't have a moment to- AHH!" THUD

As the other three occupants of the room looked at the face-planted Twilight, they sweat-dropped. "Um, maybe me and Donald should help you get used to walking first," Goofy suggested.

A muffled "Please." from Twilight was his only response.




The job Spike had chosen was to help Toriel at the town library. After all, he helped Twilight at the Golden Oaks Library all the time, so it shouldn't be too hard.

He was immediately regretting that train of thought when he saw not only the size of the library, but also the amount of clutter there was. Stacks of books everywhere, the few that were on the bookshelves weren't even remotely in the right places, and don't even get him started on how dusty the place was. "Jeez. Looks like nobody's been here in years."

"They haven't," Toriel replied, putting on her reading glasses while looking at the cover of a book. "When Maleficent moved in and took over the castle, everyone had fled to escape her before she turned them into Heartless." Putting the book down she added "But from what I heard the person who had run this wasn't the most organized person in the first place. Books organized alphabetically by title, didn't even know the basics of the Dewey Decimal System, and don't even get me started on his complete failure to keep this place clean." She wiped her finger on the cover of one of the bookshelves, revealing a coating of dust that was almost a quarter of an inch thick.

Spike shook his head. "Twilight would go ballistic if she saw the state of this place. And the disorganization." Looking around he asked "So, where's the cleaning stuff?"

"There should be a janitor's closet somewhere by the nonfiction section." She pointed to the shelves on the left of the building, which were arguably some of the biggest shelves Spike had ever seen. The entire wing stretched for roughly ten to fifteen feet, with shelves that reached up to the ceiling (actually the bottom of the second floor) at twenty feet, with thick ladders made of hardened oak to reach the uppermost shelves. The bookshelves in the Canterlot Archives (and pretty much EVERY Canterlot library. Sweet Celestia, those ponies loved books) were pretty tall, but they were only about half as tall as these. (Plus they didn't have ladders, since most of the patrons were unicorns or pegasi. Not a lot of Earth Ponies lived in Canterlot, and even then most of the books that were on the higher shelves were spellbooks, so there was really no reason for them to want them.)

At one point in time, this section and the rest of the probably looked grand and amazing, a definite place where people would come to find books.

Now though? Most of the lights in the ceiling were busted, casting dark shadows between the shelves. Some of the shelves themselves were broken or decaying, along with the broken windows on the one wall, which had also scattered a lot of broken glass on the floor. He could already see a lot of water damage on those shelves, especially mold. 

As he was walking through the place with his staff's light guiding him, he mentally said Jeez. Forget ballistic. If Twilight saw the sorry state of this place, she'd go nuclear. I'm going to have to pull out some of these shelves and replace them, get a lot of mold-killer, and don't even get me started on the smell. It's going to take months to- Huh?

He was heading towards a door that had the word JANITOR on it, when he noticed a book peeking out from underneath the door. Pulling it out, he took a closer look at it. 

It was a large journal, roughly a couple hundred pages if he guessed, bound in green leather. There were several runes and inscriptions arranged in a circle on the front, with more writing inside of it. All of it was in a language he had never seen before...

...but somehow he was able to read it. "The Book of Monsters." Opening it to the first page, he found that everything was handwritten in the same language that was on the cover, clearly written by the author.

To those who can read this journal, a word of warning,

Throughout the many worlds that make up the cosmos, there are far worse monsters than the Heartless and the Nobodies.
Many of them cannot be slain by mortal means. As such, I have written a record of the ones I have encountered, as well as listed ways to either ward them off or destroy them.

I hope this journal aides you in your own travels.

It was then signed by someone calling themselves The Gray Wizard. [4]

Looking at the cover again he asked himself "What kind of monsters could be worse than the Heartless?"

Deciding to table that thought for later, he slipped the book in his bag and opened the door to the janitor's closet. "Well, let's get started. This library ain't gonna fix itself."




A few hours later, Twilight was standing (having gotten somewhat used to standing and walking on two legs, thanks to Donald and Goofy) in front of Mickey's mentor, Yen Sid.

He was dressed in dark blue robes with matching pointed hat with two gold stars and a gold crescent moon. He had a dark grey beard with grey eyes, and a very wizened look to him. He definitely looked the part of a sorcerer to Twilight.

After introductions were made and Twilight told Yen Sid everything that had happened, she was now waiting to hear what he had to say on the matter of the Tree of Harmony.

"It's a rare case," he eventually said. "Sometimes a Heart, in an effort to protect itself from the darkness, will place pieces of itself in objects closely related to it. If the Heart is connected to a tree, for example, it may place pieces of itself in the fruit."

"So if I return the Elements, which in this case are the fruit, to the Tree it should restore Equestria," she asked.

He nodded. "As I said, cases like this are rare. But they are not impossible. Frankly when it comes to Hearts and the Light and the Darkness, nothing is truly impossible. So yes, it is very likely returning the Elements to the Tree will restore your world."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you, Master Yen Sid."

His tone then turned serious. "But I must warn you, this will not be easy. The shadows will be drawn to your light like moths to a flame, and you may find yourself facing darkness far deeper than anything you've ever experienced. If you plan to go down this road, you must be willing to give everything you have."

The room was silent for a moment, before Twilight grinned and summoned her Keyblade. "When do we start?"

A small smile actually appeared on Yen Sid's face. "We just did." Looking to Mickey he said "Mickey, send a message to Sora, Riku and Kairi. I believe they have a new training partner."

Mickey nodded. "At once." 

Before he left he turned to Twilight, smiled and said "Welcome to the Keyblade Club, Twilight."