Chapters Birth of the Data-Knights
Chapter 1: A Sword and Shield, of Sorts
(Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story.)
(AN: This story is a collab story with Mentalis . It was one that we thought of on a Memorial Day picnic, hope you enjoy!)
Chapter 1: A Sword and Shield, of Sorts
May 27th: 2013: Earth Delta
It was a warm summer day in Mississippi, and two friends were talking as they helped pack up the supplies that their respective families brought for their church's Memorial Day picnic. The center of their conversation was an old brass key that one of them had brought to show to the other.
"I know, they just don't make keys this cool anymore." Said the older of the two. His name is Stephen McIntyre; he is about 5' 5" with light blue eyes, sandy blond hair, glasses, and pasty white skin. He was nineteen years old, which made him one of the oldest kids there.
"Maybe we should start a company that makes old-fashioned keys just for the sake of it." The other suggested in a joking manner. His name was David Hammond; he is about 5' 8" with hazel eyes, near black hair, and well-tanned skin. He was sixteen years old.
Both friends laughed at this, neither of them having any clue that they were about to experience a life changing event.
Before ether of them could get to their family's cars, several large black and purple portals opened in the air with a large number of pitch black creatures jumping out of them.
Both boys dropped the things they were holding as they quickly backed away from the yellow eyed creatures.
"Are-Are those…" Stephen began as he subconsciously held the key to his family's van as if his life depended on it.
"Heartless." David stated as he held on to the old brass key in much the same way Stephen held the van key.
This was about the time that chaos broke out as everyone else saw the Heartless, all of them screaming as the horde moved forward in a wave. Unfortunately, both David and Stephen were the ones closest to the mass of darkness and were quickly overcome. Soon, all they could see was black.
Just as they began to accept their fate, they saw a small light ahead of them. They knew this was their only chance to survive, so the pushed forward with all their might. At first, nothing happened.
Then…
An explosion of light blasted a crater into the swarm. In the middle of this crater were two boys, each one of them holding a key shaped blade. Stephen's looked almost like a blown-up version of the key to his family's van with the blade at a perpendicular orientation to the handle and the clicker as the key chain. David's looked more like an axe made from two old-fashioned brass keys with a more standard parallel blade to handle orientation and a piece of brass carved into the shape of a chest for the key chain.
They both just stood there for a few seconds, their minds desperately trying to catch up with what they were seeing. The two of them were Kingdom Hearts fans, so they immediately recognized the weapons they were holding.
Keyblades.
The screams of their friends and family soon broke them out of their stupor.
With a glance at each other, they both knew what needed to be done. They began swinging their new found weapons with mixed results. David used wide, heavy swings to obliterate multiple Heartless at once. Stephen, on the other hand, had a much harder time because of the unusual blade to handle orientation of his Keyblade. Neither of them where that good at actual combat, all they had used before now were foam swords and sticks.
A heartless suddenly jumped at Stephen from the midst of the sea of black in front of him. When he noticed this, he instinctively lifted his left arm to try and protect himself and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch as his arm was torn to bits. He grimaced as he waited for the pain to start.
Nothing.
Curious as to why he wasn't feeling excruciating pain, he opened his eyes. A green circular shield was hovering in front of his arm, and there was a watch like device that he hadn't noticed before on his arm. As he looked closer at the ornate pattern, he saw multiple strings of ones and zeroes racing across its surface.
He took a quick look at David and saw that he had a similar device on his arm, except for the fact that the one David had looked like a hard drive from a computer attached to a pseudo-gauntlet.
"David! We have shields!" Stephen yelled over the heat of battle.
When David heard that, he held up his arm and willed a shield to form. And form it did. A green tower shield blasted into existence forming from neon green ones and zeroes. He immediately put this shield to good use by deflecting a jumping Heartless.
So the two continued to fight, unaware of the fact that they had already lost.
<|-0-|>
Bible Baptist Church, West Point
The main auditorium of this building would look like the inside of any other building to any normal person. But they would be wrong about that. Dead wrong.
The large crowd Heartless that now stood inside knew this building's hidden secret. In this very place, resided this world's Keyhole. The opening to this world's heart. It's exact location, the pulpit.
A small, round bodied Heartless with a spherical head, two squiggly antennas, and two piercing yellow eyes walked up to the pulpit with a herky-jerky gate. It stared at it for a few seconds, then it jumped at Keyhole so it could corrupt this world's heart.
<|-0-|>
The two boys fought on with little effect on the massive hoard of Heartless that were besieging them, but they were steadily running out of strength. Their novice fighting styles using too much strength, mixed with the fact that at least two Heartless replaced every one they killed, was draining the fight out of them. Both of them were beginning to come to terms with the fact that they would both die if they kept on like this.
Then, the whole world shook.
Both of them were knocked of their feet, but, fortunately for them, all of the Heartless retreated into the void.
"Why are they running? They almost had us?" Stephen asked as he got to his feet. It's not that he was hoping to die, but if something was so bad that Heartless run from it, then it had to be very bad indeed.
"I think I know why…" David replied, pointing up to the sky as he did.
When Stephen joined his friend in looking at the sky, he understood what David was talking about. The sky was falling apart like old plaster from a rotting building. Both friends looked at each other in sudden recognition.
"They found the Keyhole!" They yelled out in unison.
As the earth beneath them began tremble beneath their feet, they saw a massive wave of darkness that looked to be taller than Mt. Everest coming straight for them.
"Run!" Stephen yelled as he began to take his own advice.
They didn't get far before the wave caught them, throwing them into the void as they screamed in fear for their lives.
<|-0-|>
Equestria – Canterlot, Canterlot Castle
On a balcony of a large white marble castle stood two horse like beings, one alabaster white and the other a deep midnight blue. Both of them had large wings on their backs, long horns on their heads, and manes that flowed in an ethereal breeze. These two were none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The two Royal Sisters stood side-by-side as they watched for an anomaly that they had started to notice not too long ago.
"There, sister! That star right there!" Luna exclaimed as she pointed at a particular star.
Celestia's gaze followed her sister's hoof, leading her to the star. It was blinking in and out, the time it was out getting longer with each blink. Finally, with a flash, the star disappeared. The star had died.
"No explosion, it should have gone super nova." Celestia pointed out as she continued to regard the empty void the star had once occupied.
Luna nodded in agreement, "It felt cold every time its light went out."
"Whatever this is, it does not bode well." Celestia said as she took on her famous poker-face, but underneath it was an emotion that she hadn't felt for a long time…
Fear.
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Author's Note
AN: I know this chapter seems rushed, but I had a hard time starting this one. And, please, if you dislike this story, tell me why that is, and I will see what I can do.
New Key chains unlocked!
New Data Shields unlocked!
New Heartless Data Track unlocked!
Birth of the Data-Knights
Chapter 2: Bad News from the Stars
(Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story. This is the edited version.)
(AN: That's right, Stephen and David survived.)
Chapter 2: Bad News from the Stars
The Everfree, a place of constant darkness. Most on this world would never go here, but two beings from another had no choice in the matter.
"Ugh..." was the groan of pain that the taller of the two let out as he began to come to.
The shorter of the two came too soundlessly and opened his eyes, the sight of almost interlocking tree branches meeting his eyes. He sat up slowly, trying not to aggravate his aching head. He blinked several times to try and adjust to the light so it wouldn't be so dark, only to realize that it was actually this dark naturally and not because of his eyes.
It was then that he remembered something. "David? Where are you?"
"I'm right here, Steve…" came the reply.
Stephen looked up in the direction the voice came from and saw his friend suspended in low hanging branches. The position he was in didn't look all too comfortable. This being as it was, Steve got up and helped his friend down as best as he could.
"So, now that you're down on Terra-Fermi again, do you have any clue as to where we are?" Stephen asked his recently de-treed friend as he looked at their surroundings.
Trees, exotic plants, and darkness; those were the only three things they could see. Strange bird calls echoed all around them, but there was not a bird to be seen. The darkness hung in the air as if it were a fog instead of a shadow. There was very little light penetrating the thick canopy, and the light that was getting through came to the ground in small shafts of gold.
David looked around for a few more seconds before he spoke. "I don't know, but I don't like the vibe I'm getting from this place."
"Me neither, but which way should we go?" The older boy asked as he continued to look around.
David thought about this for a bit, "You still have your Keyblade, right?"
Stephen summoned his Keyblade and held it point up, "Of course. You know as well as I do that one can't really lose a Keyblade."
"Can I see it for a little bit?"
Stephen shrugged and handed his blade to his friend.
David put it and the ground and spun it like a top. It spun for a minute or two before it slowly came to a stop. He made an arrow on the ground in the same direction the blade was pointing.
"Let's go this way." He said, handing the Keyblade back to it's owner.
Stephen looked at his friend in confusion. "What? That's it?"
David looked back at him, "I'm sure you remember that the Keyblades are alive."
"Then it would stand to reason that they can control themselves to a limited extent!" Stephen exclaimed in understanding, "That's just brilliant!"
And with that, the two set out.
<|-0-|>
"I still don't get why we're here, this is egg-head stuff." Complained a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow mane as she hovered in place with her forehooves crossed.
"Rainbow Dash, if something like what happened to that star I saw last night were to happen to our sun, it could end all life in Equestria!" A lavender purple unicorn with a mostly dark royal purple mane explained to the now identified Rainbow Dash in a panicked voice.
A white unicorn with a curly purple mane walked toward the other unicorn, "Twilight dear, I know you are distressed, but I don't think there is anything we can do about this."
The purple unicorn, Twilight, sighed and began to rub her temples, "I know you're right, Rarity, but there must be something we can do. I mean, I have already sent the princesses a letter regarding this, but I haven't received a reply yet."
"Maybe they are trying to figure it out too." Suggested a gold colored pegasus with a rose pink mane in a quiet voice, barley loud enough to be heard by her friends.
"That sounds reasonable to me. Ah know Ah ain't ever heard of a star blinkin' out before." Said an orange pony with a blond mane, but had neither wings or a horn.
"But aren't they supposed to be smarty-smart-pants that know almost everything?" Asked a hot pink colored wingless, hornless pony with a slightly darker pink mane in a chipper tone that she almost always had.
The other five that were present just looked at her.
"What?" She inquired innocently.
"Pinky," Twilight began, "They do know almost everything, and if they don't know what caused that star to die like that like Fluttershy is suggesting, then this is bad. Very, very bad."
"Hmm, if only someone was here who was actually there, so they could tell us what happened…" Rarity said in a slightly dramatic way.
Almost as soon as the white unicorn said that, Pinky's body had what would look to those that didn't know her like a mini-seizure.
"Oh, oh! Somepony new is coming to town!" The pink pony cried out as she began jumping around in circles.
"Pinky, all of Equestria could be in danger, and all you can think about is that some new pony is coming here?!" Twilight practically yelled at her friend.
The orange pony put a hoof on her friend's shoulder, "Now calm down there, Twi. Maybe whoever it is can help us understand what happened."
Twilight took a deep breath then exhaled, "I hope you're right, Applejack."
She turned to her pink friend, "I'm sorry for yelling at you Pinky; I got worked up about what I saw last night and took my stress out on you. Can you forgive me?"
"Only if you help me greet the new pony." Said the pink pony jokingly, after thinking about it for a moment.
Twilight smiled at her, "How about we all go?"
The other four ponies chimed in in agreement. So they went to greet the newcomers, five of them following Pinky as she led the way to where she believed the newcomers would come from.
<|-0-|>
Stephen and David were just exiting the forest in which the had awoken, both with their Keyblades resting on their shoulders.
"Wow, that trick actually works in real life." Stephen commented, using his free hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun.
David chuckled at his friend's comment, and then looked straight ahead, "Hey, look! There's a town over there!"
Stephen shifted his gaze to where his friend was looking, and there it was. Most of the homes were wooden houses with straw thatched roofs; there were exceptions, such as one house that looked like a gingerbread house…
Wait…
A gingerbread house?
It seemed awfully familiar…
And so did the white and purple building he could barely see beyond the others…
He looked to his right and saw a familiar looking tree with a white picket fence running around it's perimeter and what appeared to be a large number of bird houses all around it.
"Dave," He began, "I think I know where we are…"
"Really?"
Stephen looked at the town once more before he spoke, "I think we're in Equestria, and that's Ponyville."
"And there are the main six." David said as he looked ahead of him seemingly in a trance.
Stephen followed his friend's gaze, and though he could barely see them, he knew it was them. The pink one was obviously Pinky Pie, the orange one was Applejack, the white one was Rarity, the yellow one was Fluttershy, and the purple one was Twilight Sparkle.
Wait a minute.
Where was Rainbow Dash?
He heard a whooshing sound above them. Oh no…
He looked up and saw her, a blue blur with a rainbow contrail. She was flying straight at them at full speed!
"David! Look out!" He cried out as he pushed his friend out of the way.
He held up his arm to protect himself some, his shield activating of its own accord. Then she hit him, the shield taking the full force of the blow. It was now that he learned a very useful fact about his mysterious shield: it can easily absorb a tremendous amount of force with very little knock back.
<|-0-|>
The other five members of the main six were shocked to say the least; this being had taken the full force of Rainbow Dash impacting at her full supersonic flight speed, and had barely moved an inch!
Rainbow just hovered there for a few moments, then she flew backwards and began shaking her hooves as if she had touched something hot, "Ow, ow, ow, ow!"
The being's shield and weapon disappeared in a flash of light, and then it crossed its arms and spoke, "You really should work on that "attack on sight" problem you have. You left yourself wide open to a counter attack both when you were charging and after you hit my shield."
"Oh yeah, then why didn't you?" The confrontational pegasus challenged.
"Maybe because we don't intend on hurting anyone." The being responded in an obviously upset tone of voice.
The other one, whose name was apparently David, decided to put in his two cents worth, "You really shouldn't judge other people before you get to know them. One would think your parents would have taught you that years ago."
Twilight saw that Rainbow was about to offer ether a rebuttal or an insult, so she decided to intervene, "I'm sorry about that. Rainbow is just overprotective when she sees something or someone that doesn't look, well…"
"Normal?" The shorter one finished.
"Well, yes." The purple mare began, and then she started to stutter, "B-but i-it's not t-that you're weird o-or anything, it's j-just… oh dear…"
"Don't worry; we understand what you are trying to say." The one called David told her gently.
"Now then, we have a very important message to give to your leaders." The other said, as his face took on serious expression.
"Really now? Just how important is this "very important message" of yours?" Dash challenged, being her usual stubborn self.
The older of the two fixed his eyes on her with an expression so serious that only Princess Celestia could match it before he answered, "So important that the lives of not only every being in your own lands, but the life of everything in your whole world is at stake."
<|-0-|>
Inside the Golden Oaks Library, David and Stephen leaned against a wall as they waited for the princesses to arrive. Both of them were nervous on the inside, but they knew that the news that they had was far too important to let their nerves get the better of them. They were also thinking about what happened to their world. It was gone, all of it, and only they were left.
They had to try and prevent that from happening to this world.
The ponies sat in various places around the main floor, all of them trying not to stare at the two humans that were in the room with them. All of them felt differently about the humans; Rainbow Dash didn't trust them, Applejack was worried about what the message they had to give was and how it might affect her family, Pinky Pie was being her normal bubbly self (and hoping that the meeting would finish soon, so they could have a welcoming party!), Rarity was trying her hardest to not start studying the clothes of their guests (...and failing. I mean, how in the world did they make those?), Fluttershy was worrying about her animal friends, and Twilight Sparkle was curious about where they came from, and what message was so important that they had to tell the princesses immediately.
Not a word had been said since Twilight had sent the letter to the princesses; the mood wasn't very conducive to small talk.
The front door of the library abruptly swung open as six guards entered the room and took up positions along the wall. Stephen and David straightened up, and the mares got to their hooves. Two tall ponies entered the room, both of them had large wings and long horns. One was alabaster white with a mane that looked like an Aurora, the other was a deep midnight blue with a mane that looked like a piece of the night sky.
They were none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, respectively.
All the mares bowed in respect to them; the two boys bowed at the waist to show their respect as well.
"It's good to see you again, Twilight. I just wish the circumstances were different." Celestia told her student when she had fully entered the room.
Luna turned her cerulean eyes to the humans, "We assume that thou art the ones who hath a message for us ."
Stephen nodded, "You are correct, your majesty. My name is Stephen McIntyre, and this is my friend, David Hammond. As for the message, we have good reason to believe that your world will soon be invaded by Heartless."
"Heartless? I have never heard of that race." Celestia stated, with an inquisitive look on her face.
"They aren't a race, they're a plague. The Heartless are creatures made of pure darkness; they consume the darkness in a being's heart to make more of themselves. They are always hungry for hearts, so hungry that they will seek out the heart of a world so that they can consume it, killing the world and everything on it." David told the alicorn.
"Oh yeah, and how do you know that?" Rainbow challenged as she hovered with her forelimbs folded, displaying her distrust of the humans.
Stephen's expression changed from serious to saddened, "Because they just destroyed our world, and only the two of us made it."
That killed the blue pegasus' confrontational mood, and elicited a gasp from the other members of the main six.
"Are you going to tell us that we should try and destroy them just because they destroyed your world?" Luna asked with a stern look on her face.
Stephen shook his head, "No, that would be an extremely foolish and completely hopeless endeavor. They outnumber us several hundred billion to one. The only way we can ensure minimal casualties is to try and evacuate as many people from this world as we possibly can."
There was silence as the ponies in the room let what had been said sink in. Even the guards looked surprised.
"How do you propose we do that?" Celestia inquired in a soft voice that sounded almost like Fluttershy.
"We will help you as best we can to build a fleet of ships. They are going to have to be big and will have to be self-sustaining so that those on board don't have to worry about running out of supplies." Stephen told her, as he began planning out how he and his friend could help.
"Sister, we could use the old sparring grounds as the construction site." Luna put in.
The solar princess thought about this for a short time: they were telling her that this course of action was best for her subjects. Even if it wasn't, it would allow them to visit other worlds. She just hoped she was making the right choice.
"Very well, we will begin planning as soon as we arrive at Canterlot. Both of you will be assigned rooms in the palace, provided you aid in the planning and construction process, of course." Celestia said to the displaced humans.
"Your Majesties, I would like to watch the planning and construction of these ships. It sounds like it would be a fascinating subject of study." Twilight requested.
Celestia looked at her student, then back at the two boys, "Only if neither of you have any objections."
David looked at Stephen, who shrugged, "That shouldn't be a problem." He said, smiling at the inquisitive pony.
Upon hearing this, Twilight's smile turned so wide that it threatened to split her face in half, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Now that it is settled, let us get started." Luna said.
With that, the five of them went outside and got on the chariot. As they began to lift off the ground, Twilight started to wave to her friends. And so it was that the two Keybladers started a journey that would lead them from this world to many other strange places... as soon as they built the ship.
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Author's Note
AN: Warning; next chapter will have lots of sciencey things in it.
Birth of the Data-Knights
Chapter 3: Plan in Motion
(Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story.)
(AN: And now they are starting to plan the space ship.)
Chapter 3: Plan in Motion
Canterlot Castle: A building made of tall, white marble towers. This normally busy locale was alive with more activity than normal. The reason for all this activity? The arrival of the two Keyblade wielders, and the planning of a space faring ship to evacuate the planet.
Speaking of the Keybladers, one of them was just coming out of his room.
"What took you so long, Steve?" David asked his friend.
Stephen looked at his friend, "I just want to look presentable. Besides, we will still get there before the planning session starts."
David just shook his head, "Barely."
"Let's get going." Stephen said as he rolled his eyes.
<|-0-|>
Celestia and Luna were in what would normally be the War Room, which would normally be empty. Now however, it was filled with many of the greatest scientific minds and most successful air-ship builders in Equestria, including Twilight Sparkle. Most of them were conversing quietly with one another; all of them were awaiting the arrival of the two 'humans', as they called themselves.
"I see you like to make 'dramatic entrances.'" Luna stated with a flat expression.
Stephen just shrugged, "A little, but I think it's best if we get onto the topic that we're all here for."
This statement was met with a chorus of agreement from the assembled ponies.
"So, to begin with, we need to determine just how many passengers each one of these ships will carry. Personally, I think we should try for at least ten thousand per ship." The boy said, thereby commencing the planning session.
"How can we possibly make an aerodynamic ship that big?" One of the air-ship builders asked.
Stephen just looked blankly at the pony for a moment before answering, "There isn't any air in space, it's a complete vacuum."
Luna facehooved, "Do most ponies not know that basic fact?"
<|-0-|>
The meeting had gone on for a few hours before they decided to break for lunch. They had decided on the basic shape of the ship: a rectangular ship with one large main engine on each side and a large bridge structure with a design similar to that of the engines. The next step was to plan out the internal systems.
Celestia, Luna, Twilight, David, and Stephen were sitting at the table in the main banquet hall of the palace. There wasn't any conversation at the table.
"Is something wrong, Stephen?" Twilight inquired, breaking the silence.
The human in question looked up from his plate and turned toward the mare, "Huh? Oh… nothing is wrong, just thinking."
"May we inquire what you are thinking about?" Luna asked from her place at the table.
"Well, the generator is the most important internal component of the ship. I have a basic idea of what it should look like and how it would work, but we need to think about how exactly it is going to work." He told them as he took out a pen, and began to doodle on a napkin.
"The basic idea I have is a motor that spins independently rotating arms at high speeds inside of a track that collects the energy and sends it to all of the ship's systems, but I don't know how exactly to make this generate energy."
The others at the table thought about this. He had a point about the generator being the most important part.
Twilight suddenly perked up, "How about crystals with a 'kinetic energy to electric energy field' enchantment on them?"
"Say what now?"
"It is most commonly known as a 'speedometer enchantment', as that is what it is most commonly used for, speedometers. The spell makes it so that when the object it is used on is exposed to kinetic energy, it generates a field of electric energy. The more kinetic energy, the more powerful the energy field." The lavender mare explained.
"That's exactly what we need! That's just brilliant, Twilight!" Stephen exclaimed, with a big smile on his face.
Twilight smiled modestly as a light blush came to her cheeks.
"It is good to see that we have solved what could have been a major problem. Now, let us finish our lunch." Celestia said with a soft smile on her face.
<|-0-|>
The planning went on for few hours more. The team had almost finished the blueprints when…
"Your majesties! Strange black creatures are attacking the town square!" A guard yelled as he burst through the door.
David looked up from the table with a start, "Did they have a heart shaped emblem on their body?"
"Y-Yes, they did!" The guard confirmed.
"We need to get down there, now!" Stephen yelled, rising from his place.
Twilight trotted over to the boys, "I can teleport both of you there. Just hold on to me!"
Both boys put a hand on her shoulder. Then, with a flash of bright purple light, the three of them found themselves in town square. The screams of the town's ponies turned their attention to where the trouble was.
And there they were, Heartless. Shadows, and Heartless that were more humanoid in appearance with sharp red claws, a blue body, a Heartless emblem on their chest, and a silver, jaw-like helmet.
Stephen took command of the situation, summoning his Keyblade as he did so, "We've got Shadows and Soldiers! David, press the attack; Twilight, you organize the civilians; I'll try to keep them from getting to close to them!"
David nodded and called upon his own Keyblade and shield, then he ran towards the group of dark beings. Stephen was about to take up a guard position, but he stopped when he saw the Heartless split into two groups, one attacking David and the other running straight at him.
"Change of plans. They seem to want to fight just us, David!" Stephen shouted as he activated his shield, and readied himself for battle.
He thrust his blade forward and impaled a Soldier through its emblem, causing it to disintegrate into black smoke and a glowing heart. Leaping forward, another Soldier succeeded in clawing his left shoulder. He jumped back, hissing in pain, and looked over to see how David was faring.
David was doing much better, his large Keyblade giving him an advantage. Not to mention the fact that he had a more normal Keyblade as compared to Stephen's car key shaped one. Stephen swung his blade and took out two Shadows before he was forced to block a claw swipe from a Soldier.
"David! I could use an assist!" He yelled to his friend, as the Heartless began forcing him back.
Hearing his cry, David began bashing through the Heartless, using his shield as a battering ram. 'This is taking too long', he thought to himself. Suddenly an idea struck him, and, changing his grip on his Keyblade, he sent in flying horizontally in a Strike Raid attack. He was met with partial success; whereas it did destroy a large amount of Heartless, his blade didn't come flying back to him, as he expected it would.
Stephen dispatched the last two Soldiers with a slash, leaving just five Shadows. Summoning his Keyblade, David destroyed four of them with two swift strokes. The last one made a portal of darkness and escaped.
"I take it that those are the Heartless which you told us about?" Celestia asked as she walked into the square.
"Those were just a scouting party, and it only consisted of two of the weakest varieties of Heartless." Stephen told her as he put a hand over his injury.
"They didn't seem that strong to me." Luna stated with a flat look.
David turned to face her, "It's not strength that is on their side, it's numbers. Not to mention that they can reform if they are dispersed by any weapon other than a Keyblade."
"But the fact that they were here can only mean one thing: we're running out of time." Stephen said, an ominous tone in his voice.
<|-0-|>
Unknown location
The room was filled with near-complete darkness, the only light being a small shaft that came in through a hole in the ceiling. A dark throne rested just out of the illumination of the light, allowing one to just barely see the silhouette of the one that sat there. The being's glowing yellow irises were the only thing that allowed one to know where its eyes were.
A dark portal opened to let a Shadow enter the room, speaking to the dark being by telepathy upon doing so, "My lord, we have found that the world you sent us to is one of the kind of worlds you seek."
The figure leaned forward slightly, "Well done, little one. We are now one world closer to my goal."
"But master, there are Keyblade wielders there, the ones from Earth Delta." The Shadow informed the figure.
"Is that so... I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with any for at least two more months. Oh well." The figure said, in a uncaring voice.
The Shadow hobbled a little closer, "But what if they find the Keyhole?"
The being laughed, "I already know where that world's Keyhole is. I'll assemble the troops. Wait for my order to attack."
The Shadow bowed and left the room via a dark portal. The being then took out a painting of a woman. He looked at it as he stroked the image's hair with his thumb.
"Don't worry, my love, we shall be together again soon, so very soon."
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Author's Note
Next up, building the ship. And who is this dark being, and what is its goal
New Heartless Data Track unlocked!
Birth of the Data-Knights
(Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story.)
AN: Hey guy, I know it has been a long time since I have updated this one... or any of my stories for that matter, I have an unfortunate problem with procrastination mixed with being easily distracted, not to mention my dad's attitude about me writing.
Chapter 4: Time to Train
As the sun rose into the sky to greet the world on this new day, it woke many of the land's inhabitants, including two of its newest ones.
"Uhg, It has been three days since I got that injury, and it still hurts." Stephen complained as he out of the bed in the room he has been staying in, holding his still aching shoulder.
It has been three days since the scouting party of Heartless attacked and the shoulder that had been clawed still hurt, despite the fact that a healing spell had been used on it. He was beginning to think it was the fact that magic had been used on it was the reason it still hurt, seeing as there was so little magic in his home world that it was almost nonexistent.
A knocking on his door brought him out of his thoughts, "Mr. McIntyre, the princesses have asked for you to meet them in the throne room."
That was different, they hadn't called on him before, "Thank you, please tell them I'll be there in a little bit."
It went without saying that he was nervous about receiving this news, he knew that they only called for someone to meet them in the throne room if it was serious.
<|-0-|>
David had been waiting in the throne room for ten minutes before Stephen walked into the room, doing the his best to hide the fact that he was favoring his left shoulder as he walked into the room.
"Is that shoulder still acting up?" David asked out of concern for the wellbeing of his friend.
"Yes, but it's more of a dull pain than anything." Stephen told him, rolling said shoulder as he did.
"That is good to hear, considering what my sister and I have planned." Someone said, announcing the arrival of a third person into the room.
Both boys turned towards the voice, and found that it was Luna. But she was clad in armor made of black protective cloth with thin dark blue metal plates covering all of the vital parts of her body. This armor was clearly made to protect the user while allowing them full range of movement.
After looking at their dumbfounded expression for a few seconds, she chuckled, "Long before we were royalty, we were warriors. Both of us were highly skilled, and we have kept those skills sharp. During your battle with the Heartless we couldn't help but notice that your fighting styles were unrefined, much like those of new guard recruits."
"What can we say, we only got our Keyblades less than a week ago." David explained while Stephen rubbed the back his head in light embarrassment.
"That much we guessed, so my sister and I decided that there is only one way we can ensure the both of you are capable of protecting yourself and others. You are to be trained in combat, with me and my sister being your teachers." She stated, a large smile on her muzzle.
To say both boys were surprise would be an understatement, the prospect of the royal sisters taking time from their duties just to teach them how to fight. Their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shifting metal coming from the same doorway Luna had come through. It was soon enough revealed that the sound was Celestia, and the boys' jaws dropped at the sight of her. She was covered from head to hoof in thick, gold colored plate armor that made her look more like a Dwemer automaton than a princess.
"Sorry I'm late," Celestia began, her helmet making her voice echo slightly, "It takes me a while to get my armor on, all of these interlocking plates and all."
It was a few moments before Stephen found his voice, "So... you two are going to teach us?"
Luna was once again all smiles, "Actually, I will be teaching you while my sister teaches David."
"I noticed that each of your weapons is built for a different combat style, the Paladin style for David and Striker style for you respectively. I happen to be well versed in the Paladin style, and Luna is well versed in the Striker style." Celestia explained to them, her armor clanking with every small movement she made.
The two boys looked at each other for a short time before they asked, "When do we start?"
<|-0-|>
The two boys stood in the newer guard training grounds with magic walls surrounding areas of combat, with Stephen and Luna in one while David and Celestia were in the other. Twilight and a few of the guards who were on break sat outside of the walls to watch the fight. Right now, the princesses were letting the boys spar with them and giving them advice on how to improve their fighting style.
"You're putting too much strength into your attacks, focus on speed and recovery." Luna said as she used her silvery sword to block the attacks of her sparring partner.
"I know, I just want to feel like I'm doing something." The boy commented as he went for a stab, one that Luna easily countered with her own blade.
David was having a much better time sparing with Celestia, who was now having to defend himself as well as attack.
"That's good, keep making your movements flow together." The armored princess told him, her gold colored broadsword moving seamlessly from defense to attack.
"I got it." David replied as he deflected the blow and moved to counter attack.
<|-0-|>
The sun was a fourth of the way above the west horizon when the real test began, both boys ready to face their opponents. Stephen made the first move, rushing in with his blade ready to swipe and shield up to block any incoming attacks. Luna blocked his keyblade with her sword, but was forced to leap back to avoid a shield bash.
Celestia and David circled each other waiting for the other to make the first move, the princess suddenly surged forward intending to deliver a horizontal slash. The keyblader swatted the broadsword away with his tower shield and swung his own blade at her. She raised her heavily armored leg to block the blow.
Stephen presses his advantage and went in for a stab. Luna used her wings to get out of his line of attack and sent her sword in for a stab of her own. He barely had time to block her attack, a part of him wishing he knew how to use magic. 'This certainly would be a lot easier with magic. ' He thought to himself.
After blocking the last strike, Celestia was now on the defense with David giving her no chance to retaliate. She knew that she would win this fight hooves down if she wasn't going easy on him, but perhaps she could take the difficulty up a notch. She began to try to press the attack, but her opponent wouldn't give her an opening.
Luna continued press Stephen back with quick swipes and jabs, as was her style. Stephen knew he had to do something soon or he would lose, so he tried something new. He quickly curled into a ball and rolled to her side before going for a slash.
Celestia now realized she had lost her chance to recover her lead in this fight, she had apparently taught David well. He relentlessly attacked taking a step forward with each strike, his shield moving only as far as was needed to provide constant defense. It was all she could do just to defend herself, but she knew she could not last forever.
Stephen's change in tactics caught Luna off guard, she barely had time to move out of the way. The boy decided to press his new advantage and used both his keyblade and shield in an aggressive manner. Luna went for a stab, but her sword got hit by his shield with such force that it got flung away from her.
Slowly but surely, Celestia found herself being backed into a corner. Had she tried to increase the difficulty sooner she would be on even ground with David. 'Oh well, this is only for training after all. ' She thought as she was forced further back.
Luna, now without her sword, was trying desperately to stay ahead of her opponent. She knew she had also been going easy on her partner, but perhaps Stephen could handle a higher amount of difficulty next time. The flat side of Stephen's keyblade smacked her right foreleg out from under her and sent her to the ground, and she soon had the magic weapon at her neck.
The heavily armored princess was now in a corner, using her broadsword to deflect the continuous attacks. She swung her sword to stop a swipe that she saw that David was about to deliver, only for him to reveal that it was a fain. He used the opening he had made to bat Celestia's weapon away.
"You did well, Stephen, I yield." Luna said, giving the young keyblader a nod.
"It appears I went a little too easy on you, David, you win this fight." Celestia told the paladin in training.
[stop music]
The crowd of off duty guards cheered at the conclusion of the fight as the barriers faded away. Both keybladers dispelling their weapons and deactivating their shields, Stephen helping the night princess up. The four of them moved to the center with Twilight also walking over to them.
Twilight smiled at her two newest friends, "That was impressive guys, the princesses may have been holding back, but it was still impressive."
Luna nodded, a smile forming on her muzzle, "indeed, we may have held back to much in all honesty."
Both boys chuckled at this, then Stephen decided to comment on that statement, "That is only true of David, I just got lucky back there."
"In any case, that was a good fight." David said, extending his hand to Celestia.
The sparring partners went to shake hands and hooves respectively, but as soon as the boys' hands touched the princesses' hooves a bright light erupted from the boys' hands. The keyblade wielders pulled their hands back and looked at them, the light dying down till they could see what was now in their hands. What they saw was surprising, each boy had a CD looking thing in their hand and a keychain. The CD Stephen had had a crescent moon in a blue circle and a keychain that looked like a stylized moon, David had a CD with a yellow, orange, and red solar panel like shape and a keychain that looked like a coin emblazoned with a sun on it.
Twilight, along with everypony that was nearby, stared at them with the lavender mare asking the question they all had in mind, "What was that?"
"We just got new keychains, and these CD things look like they go on the devices on our wrists." Stephen answered with a stunned look on his face.
The three mares looked at us in confusion for a bit before Twilight asked, "What is so important about getting a new keychain, neither of you have any... keys... oh, their for your keyblades aren't they?"
Stephen smiled as he put the CD in his pocket and then summoned his keyblade, "Yes they are, observe."
He then removed the keychain that was currently on his keyblade and put his new one on. In a flash of dark blue light his keyblade changed, it was now mostly dark blue with a crescent moon on the hilt and with purple stars on the blade. He noticed it now seemed slightly heavier.
David interchanged his own keychains and his blade changed in a blight gold light. It was now mostly differing shades of gold with a golden sun on the end of it. The magic that ran through the blade felt warm.
Stephen then figured out how the get the CD off his wristband and then replaced it with the new one he got. He activated his shield and it burst out in silver ones and zeros that formed themselves to look like the moon. He also noticed that it had a slight sheen to it.
David saw how Stephen got the CD off his wristband and so did the same. Upon activation, his shield bust from yellow ones and red zeros and formed themselves into a solar panel like shape that had a yellow outer rim, orange on the inner part, and with red rectangular sections. He felt like some energy was flowing into him from his shield.
"That is truly interesting, do you get new keychains every time you go through an event of importance?" Luna inquired.
David gave her a shrug, "As far as I know, yes."
Stephen took a few experimental swings of his new keyblade, "Whatever the case may be, now we have new weapons to use against the Heartless."
<8>|:|<8>
Author's Note
New Key chains unlocked!
New Data Shields unlocked!
Birth of the Data-Knights
Chapter 5: End of All Things
(Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story.)
AN: Now is when things get interesting. I know It has been some time since I last updated, but my life is getting busy with me starting the job hunt.
Chapter 5: End of All Things
It was a beautiful day in Equestria , a day like many others, and the inhabitants of the land were intent on enjoying it as they would any other. One more recent inhabitant stood on one of the castle balconies looking at the large black vessel that rested in what once were the training grounds. He was filled with pride as he looked on at the masterpiece he had helped design, the ark of this world.
The ship's main body is rectangular in shape with hidden weapon compartment spread across the hull, the type of weapon in each compartment varied from twin barreled ship-to-ship cannon turrets to quad gatling anti-fighters turrets. Two magi-accelerator engines that are as long as the main body were mounted on the sides, theoretically these oversized engines would make this ship faster than any ship ever built on Eques. A wide bridge sat on the front of the ship filled with all manner of detection equipment, and two quad heavy cannons mounted on the sides of it. Filled with golems specially built for almost every task from maintenance to cooking it could be piloted by a skeleton crew of four.
"I thought you weren’t a morning person, Stephen." A voice said pulling the human out of his thoughts.
"I said I'm not 'normally ' a morning person, and today doesn't count as normal Twilight." The young keyblader replied, tuning his head to look at the mare he was speaking to.
Twilight giggled lightly, "I guess so, what with the christening of that ship of yours."
He smiled, "Yah, and you should have seen the parade of animals Fluttershy guided into there."
"She is certainly getting into her job, but I suppose that's to be expected seeing as her job is head animal caretaker." The mare commented as she rested her forelimbs on the railing.
Stephen felt something was off about her posture and tone, "Is something wrong Twi?"
She was silent for a bit before she sighed, "Its just, well... I don't want to leave, but I know I have to being a Element and all. All the same, I wish this wasn't happening. Every time I see that ship I know that my days here are coming to an end."
"I know how you feel, Twi," Steve began, "My family has moved so much that I have felt that way more than I have felt at home, but one day your people will find a new world to call home. It will never be the same as here, but as long as you remember this place it will never truly die. So enjoy today for, as a wise turtle once said, 'yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift... that is why it is called the present.'"
The lavender mare giggled at that for a bit before looking back at the human, "That's a good one, I'll have to remember that one."
The two stood there in silence for some time, just watching the sky. All was peaceful.
Until the alarm bells began to ring , quickly followed by the shout of "Heartless in the city" thundering through the city. The two look at each other in surprise before the unicorn teleported both them to the castle gate, only for them to see a horrifying sight. The city streets were swarming with Heartless of all shapes and sizes from the humble Shadow to the mighty Behemoth.
"Hey, I could use A hand here Steve!" The voice of David called out.
Looking to where his friend was standing, Stephen saw that David was trying to fight of seven Armored Knight Heartless, but they look slightly different. Instead of a well polished blade their swords were slightly rusty, and their armor had more noticeable seams and rivets. This difference only made Stephen pause for a bit before calling his Keyblade and charged in to help his friend striking one of the Heartless in the back.
The Heartless stumbled slightly with only a minor dent in it's form, so he stabbed at it's face. That attack had an effect on the thing as it stumbled back with it's free hand covering it's face. While effective, it somehow got the attention of the other Heartless as thirty five more Armored Knights and ten Large Bodies trudged towards them.
"So much for helping, now we're both over our heads!" Stephen yelled as he both ducked under the swing of a Large Body and used his shield to block the strike of an Armored Knight.
Twilight sent out a blast of magic that managed to injure the arm of a Large Body and blacken the armor of two Armored Knights, "My family is out there, we need to get to them!"
"We can barely holding our ground nevermind push forward!" David told her as he landed a lucky killing blow on a Large Body, only for three more to join the fight.
The older of the two boys struck at the exposed legs on one of the Armored Knights, his attack hit one of it's legs and cripled it. The younger managed to kill one of the Armored Knights with a hard swing to the head. Twilight continued firing bolts of magic that had little effect on most of the dark monsters.
All of the sudden, the ground began to shake. The swarm of Heartless parted, but it was not good news. Ten Behemoths were lumbering straight towards them and the castle gates. Both Stephen and David knew what they had to do now.
Stephen grabbed ahold of Twilight as he and David began to run, "Behemoths! Fall back!"
"Hey! Put me down! We need to keep fighting!" The mare exclaimed as she struggled to free herself.
"We're outnumbered and outclassed Twilight, we have no choice but to retreat!" The human that was holding her replied as he and David ran through the quickly closing gates.
The sight that greeted them in the castle grounds was not good, Neoshadows, Invisibles, and Darksides traded blows with the guards who were heavily outnumbered. One unlucky earth pony guard was sent flying into the wall and hit it with a sickening crack. The princesses used their magic to take out large swaths of the monsters, but for every one they dispersed four more joined the fight.
Celestia looked around and saw the three of them, upon doing so she ran to them, "How do things look out there?"
"Not good, they've taken the city and ten Behemoths are going for the gate." David told her, smashing his Keyblade into a Neoshadow that got to close to him as he did so.
The princess was silent for a little bit before she summoned a big book with a gold, jem infused lock on it, "Twilight, take this. It will open when the magic inside senses that you are ready to use this book. Stephen, David, get her to safety, try and save the other Elements if you can but don't put her at risk."
Twilight looked at her in shock, David was the first to get his voice back, "Are you sure Celestia?"
"Yes, I'm sure my friend, go and be safe." The solar princess replied before going back into battle.
The three of them ran towards the training grounds to get to the ship, striking down any Heartless that got in their way.
<|-0-|>
Luna dispersed another Neoshadow with a fast stab of her silvery sword, she knew now what the boys had meant when they said that the Heartless had heavy numerical advantage. Even though she could take out large numbers of them there were always more, and she knew that she could not keep this up forever. The fact that none of them truly died from her attacks didn't help, it was made even worse by the fact that it only took ten minutes before they pulled themselves back together.
A wide beam of golden magic punched through the deformed head a Darkside that she hadn't noticed getting close to her, dispersing it. She knew where the attack came from, only Celestia had magic that color. A gold broadsword smashing through the great sword of an Invisible heralded the entry of the solar alicorn.
"How goes the fight outside of the castle walls, sister?" Luna asked as she sent another blast of magic into the writhing sea of shadowy monsters.
Celestia cut through three more Neoshadows before replying, "Far worse than within, the Heartless decided to attack early it seems."
'So this is how our world ends I guess. ' Luna thought before she asked another question, "What of Twilight's destiny?"
"I sent the book with her, I put a lock on it so it could only be opened once she is ready for it. I had been hoping that contingency wouldn't need to be used, but it seems my hope was for naught." The elder sister answered as she kept fighting.
"Then may our mother guide them, for we no longer can."
<|-0-|>
The door to the training grounds burst open in a hail of splinters as a Neoshadow was sent flying through it by David's keyblade. The unlucky Heartless was soon followed by the two keybladers and unicorn. Twilight looked at the now broken door with a disgruntled look on her face.
"Was that really necessary, David?" She questioned as the three of them ran for the ship.
The younger keyblader just looked back and smiled at her, "No, but it was cooler that way."
She rolled her eyes and muttered something about the destructive tendencies of males. They quickly boarded the ship with Stephen closing it behind them. The room they were in now was large, two stories tall and almost as wide as the main body of the ship.
A soft sound broke the silence of the room, "Umm... Twilight, what is going on out there? All of the noise is making the animals uncomfortable."
They all looked towards the sound and saw that it was Fluttershy, Stephen came to the conclusion that she had stayed in the ship to keep an eye on the animals.
"It's the Heartless, the princess said we have to leave." The unicorn told her friend in a somber tone of voice.
The reaction of the gold furred pegasus was what one would expect, she gasped and put a hoof over her mouth while muttering, "Oh no, this can't be happening."
David walled up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "Fluttershy, you need to stay strong, we need your help right now."
The mare took a few deep breaths to calm herself, "O-okay, I-I can try."
"Alright, to the bridge everyone." Stephen announced before running to get to the aforementioned location.
<|-0-|>
The door to the bridge slid open with a slight pneumatic hiss, just as it was designed to. The only four sapient beings on board the ship quickly entered the room. Most of the crew stations were touch screen desks will the only exceptions being the helm and optional manned gunner pods.
The elder human took command of the situation, "David, you take weapons; Twilight, you take defensive; Fluttershy, you take life support and habitation; I'll take the helm!"
Twilight looked over at the boy as he practically vaulted over the pilot's chair, "Are you sure you can fly this thing, Stephen?"
"I designed the control scheme Twi, I would be more surprised if I can't." He replied as he started the activation sequence.
A low rumbling from the depths of the ship let all aboard know that the core was spinning up to speed. Power levels were slow to rise for the first few seconds, but it began to pickup as the core arms got more speed. It was quite the surprise when a number of Darksides began to surround the ship.
"Don't worry guys, I got this!" David called out as he activated the Anti-fighter turrets and opened fire on the large monsters of darkness.
There was almost enough power for liftoff, but the impromptu pilot knew a few more systems needed to be brought online, "Fluttershy, bring the AGUs and the CRs online, we don't want to end up on the ceiling or suffocating to death!"
She nodded as she did what she was asked, the slight increase in downward pressure and the light flow of air told all of them that the systems were now online. The power rise was slowed by the draw from the weapons, artificial gravity, and air recyclers. This slowdown would be costly in the end.
"Hang on, here we go!" Stephen announced, pulling the throttle back to the full power position.
The whole ship rumbled as the lift thrusters and engines ignited, allowing it to slowly lift off of the ground. It was slower than it was supposed to be, the reason for this was that it was at the minimum safe power level. This slowdown would make things even more costly.
Twilight did take notice, "We're rising to slowly, we need to go faster!"
Stephen grunted as he pulled harder on the control yoke, "I'm giving it all the power we can spare, this is why it's advised to wait till you have full power before takeoff!"
It took them a few seconds to get into the air, but what they didn't know was that it was already to late.
"Okay, we're in the air, let's get to Ponyville!" Twilight shouted.
David, however, noticed something horrifying, "Twi, it's to late for that."
Just like what happened to their world, the sky was falling apart like old plaster and a writhing wave of darkness closing in from the horizon. At the speed it was going they would barely have enough time to get out to space. It was, indeed, to late.
Stephen pointed the ship strait up, "David's right, sorry Twi, but time isn't on our side."
Like a rocket, it began its ascent slow and gained speed as it went. It was only at one third speed when Ponyville was consumed by the darkness, taking four of the six Elements of Harmony with it. The faster they went the closer the darkness got. It was beginning to look like they wouldn't make it.
"David, Twilight, divert as much power as you can to the engines, we're not going to make it otherwise!" Stephen yelled.
The two noded and manipulated the controls on their stations to do so, Twilight having a vacant expression on her face as she did so. They were now at full speed, and the darkness was only getting closer. Far below them, Canterlot began to began to be devoured by the void.
Even though the Heartless disappeared when the wave of darkness got to close the level of panic in the city only grew, the imminent destruction of the city made a bad situation even worse. Shining Armor and Cadence fought back to back, but they soon saw it was all for nothing and spent their last few moments wishing they had more time. Darkness was the last thing Spike saw as he wished he had attempted to tell Rarity how he felt about her.
The void drew ever closer, now Celestia and Luna got some peace before their end, watching everything they had worked so hard to build disappear with sadness. While both expected that they would have to witness the end of their world they had hoped it wouldn't happen this soon. They accepted their fate as the darkness washed over them.
"We're almost there, just a bit more!" Stephen exclaimed as they reached the edge of space.
The darkness got closer, and closer, and closer. Until...
They were out.
With one last brilliant flash, Equis died.
Silence ruled the bridge, no one spoke as they let the adrenalin flush out of their systems. They survived, but they were the only ones. This truth began to sink in as they sat in silence. Twilight and Fluttershy started to shed tears as they thought about their friends and family that were now gone, Stephen and David felt ashamed that they were unable to do more to help.
Twilight was the first to break the silence with a shaky voice, "Wh-what do we do now?"
Stephen thought about it for a few long seconds before he found a reply, "Simple, we make sure that this never happens to anyone ever again."
The two mares thought about it for a while before they nodded.
"But first, I think we should christen the ship, in memory of the lost." David suggested.
<|-0-|>
Stephen floated outside of the ship in a specially made space suit holding a bottle of champagne. He looked at the name of the ship that was originally meant to be a promise to always remember their original home, but was now a memorial to all those that are now lost to the Heartless. That name was the "Equestrian Daydream."
He smashed the bottle into the metal hull, watching as the liquid floated around if zero gravity. He saluted to the lost souls, imagining the somber tones of bagpipes in the background. It wasn't long before he decided it was time to get back inside, but something caught his eye as he turned around. Two little specks of color that didn't match the swirling gases around the ship.
He reached out to grab them and found that they were closer than he had thought. As he looked at the two objects he smiled slightly as he realized what they were. The keyblader closed his hand around them as he made his way back inside.
The other three inhabitants of the ship waited for him to get through the airlock, David was the first to speak when his friend got back in, "So, it is done."
"Yes, but look at what I found out there." The other said as he showed them what he had in his hand.
Two crystalline spheres, one was a golden color with Celestia's cutie mark on it and the other was deep ocean blue with Luna's cutie mark on it.
The younger of the two boys looked at them in surprise, "Summoning orbs."
Fluttershy looked at us in confusion, "Umm... what exactly are summoning orbs, if you don't mind explaining that is."
"Simple, if the heart of someone is strong enough then they won't simply fall into the darkness when their world does, instead, they become these. Guessing by the symbols, these are Celestia and Luna. Now all we need to do is find some magic users that know how to activate them." Stephen explained.
Twilight just looked at the crystal spheres for a bit before smiling, "So, they are still with us?"
"In a way, yes. But summoning requires magic, with the mere presence of the summon having a high upkeep cost on the casters mana supply. So, at best, they can only be around for a few minutes, unless you chug an unhealthy number of ethers that is." He told her, continuing his explanation.
This caused the mare to frown once more before she sighed, "Alright, I guess we should get going now."
She then turned and walked away, leaving the two humans and one pegasus to look at each other in concern for their friend. It wasn't long before they slowly made their way back to the bridge. Soon, the Daydream set out into the unknown of deep space, and an adventure unlike the universe had ever seen began.
<8>|:|<8>
Author's Note
And NOW the story truly begins. Also, please don't kill me for what happened to the rest of the mane six, it is a vital event in this story.
New Heartless Data Track unlocked!
