Pony Buster: A timeless journey

One day ago, dimensions away from Equestria, a large futuristic base was under attack by numerous shadows and apparitions, unleashed by chaos and guided by the darkness. There, a purple maned pony dressed like a maid was guiding other ponies towards a portal in order for evacuation. In an area close by, a red-eyed brown maned mare wielded a giant calligraphy brush as her weapon as she led the fight with other heroes against the dark and chaotic enemies. No matter how much they tried, the enemy overwhelmed the heroes with countless numbers.

"Ugh... I can't take it anymore!" The calligrapher winced as she saw most of her allies cut down and engulfed by the forces of darkness. "We can't hold any much longer!"

"I can see that." The maid sighed, "everypony! We must retreat now!" The remainder of the eastern and western heroes nodded and ran quickly for their lives, most however were caught by the shadow forces and were mercilessly annihilated.

"Roya! You need to get out of here too!" The calligrapher called back,

"Not until everypony has got out safely!" The maid known as Roya called back,

"But--"

"No buts Qiuxiang!" Roya replied, "go! Now!" It wasn't before long when one of the dark ponies stood before her, he was armed with two different rifles, tied to his front legs.

"Wait... Aren't you?" Roya spoke. The stallion said nothing but raised one of his legs with the rifle firearm on his leg. The rifle mechanically slid from his leg and onto his hoof and with a click of the trigger, fired a bullet straight through the maid.

"Roya!!!!" Qiuxiang screamed as the maid collapsed before the vicious warlord.

"That's horrible!" Applebloom blurted after Lihua's story. "What happened to Miss Qxia-- Whatever her name was?"

"She forced everypony that made it into the portal, but I don't know what happened to her, or to the rest of the heroes that made it. We got split up and sent alone, even my partner in battle."

"Who's that?"

"Xiang Ying, the only daughter of the Overlord of Western Chu, Xiang Yu." Lihua answered, "she's quite a stubborn mare."

"Mah condolences."

"Don't worry. Although we may be separated, the portal we all went through leads to your world, so I am sure that everypony that made will also be wondering through-- What is this land called again?"

"Equestria."

"A very nice name, and from what I have seen, a very peaceful place. All the more to protect it from Chaos."

"This Chaos you're speaking about..." Applebloom asked, "are you talking about those dimensional cracks?"

"I see you are quickly putting the puzzle pieces together. Yes, the dimensional cracks are what we heroes call Chaos. I'm afraid they're now beginning to attack your world."

"That won't happen," Applebloom comforted "the Princesses and the Royal Guard are busy controlling and sealing them! That's what magic is for!"

"And I'm amazed that they can hold as long as they could. Unfortunately, the power of Chaos is much stronger than they think." As if acknowledging her words, two very loud claps in succession from before echoed through Ponyville, so powerful that it was visible through purple sound waves which shook the air and the ground. As they turned towards Ponyville, the two ponies' hearts sank in despair as a very large crack was, although quite far, pointing directly towards Ponyville.

"Uh oh, that doesn't look good." Applebloom replied,

"It seems that Chaos has tarried long enough and is ready to unleash its soldiers soon." Lihua replied, "I believe it's target will be Ponyville."

The two has finally arrived to the area where Sweet Apple Acres was in view.

"We must split ways now. I need to find my allies quickly in order to seal the large crack."

"Then why don't ah help you find them? If ah can save you, ah can save the others with you!" Applebloom offered,

"I would definitely say no since you are of young age." Lihua objected,

"Ah'm not a kid anymore. Ah've seen and survived against those varmints Chaos sent out. Ah reckon I can help you out, ah'm positive!"

"I know..." Lihua sighed, "this is no easy task and it is life-threatening. If you decide to be involved with fighting Chaos, there's no turning back from here. Think about others you love, your family, your friends, are you still sure you want to do this?" Applebloom thought long and hard, then came with a unexpected response.

"Do you have any friends Miss Lihua?"

"Me? I'm not quite sure..."

"What about yer fightin pardner? And the other heroes?"

"I call them my sisters and brothers, even if we are not of the same blood. We are siblings in arms. We look after each other, fight for each other, protect each other."

"Then isn't that what friends also do too? Mah sister always supported her friends, and one of them's the Princess of Ponyville!"

"I am not familiar with your land's history. But if what you say is true..."

"Ah am honest. Like mah sister is the element of honesty. Ah won't let mah friends down, and what ah've heard about yer burden and what we've been through, ah don't won't let you down either."

"A-Are you saying that...?"

"Yes Miss Lihua." Applebloom determinedly nodded, offering a hoof to shake "ah'd be mighty honoured if you were mah friend as well, and yes, ah do want to help you and yer siblings in arms get back together again."

"... Very well." Lihua nodded, shaking Applebloom's hoof. "Then let me give you this." A large yellow marble ball was placed into Applebloom's extended hoof.

"What's this?" Applebloom asked,

"Remember when I said those enemies from before and I were not real life ponies? We are just souls that are awakened, revived and rejuvenated with our bodies. We have no need of food and drink to survive and we have no limit to how much food or drink we can take. Our souls are linked to soul stones, small indestructible spheres, such as the one I gave you, which is mine. The yellow colour as well as the symbol of the cracked rock symbolises my element type, which is Cave. On the opposite side of the symbol, is my cutie mark." Applebloom turned the stone around to see the image of Lihua's spear weapon, spotless and sparkling. Fan Lihua showed the filly her cutie mark, which matched the cutie mark image on the large marble.

"They look just like large marbles that we sometimes play at school with!" Applebloom noted.

"No no no! These things are very valuable! It's no toy." Lihua gulped "it contains my soul. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, I may turn against you and your people."

"Ouch. Ah'll keep that in mind."

"Anyway, whenever you're in trouble or in danger, you can summon my presence with this stone. All you have to do is raise it to the air, yell my name, with a word or more that is related into calling or summoning me, and I'll be there as quick as the wind. Want to try?"

"Sure!" Applebloom smiled, holding the soul stone in her hoof, she slowly raised it to the air and said, "Fan Lihua, come on out."

"That's too boring. You'll need more emphasis, more action, more tone, more colour."

"Okay okay Ms Judge." Applebloom sighed. This time, Applebloom swung her leg carrying the stone to one side, spun herself around in the other direction, stopped abruptly in a tough looking pose and raised the stone to the sky.

"Fan Lihua! Ah summon yer presence to save the world!" Applebloom chanted boldly and loudly. In response, the stone glowed and gleamed a bright light and the ground shook around her with 5 pillars of rock rising from the ground, surrounding the filly in formation.

"That's more like it!" Lihua approved with a smile. "Don't worry, the rock pillars are just special effects, they won't wreck the environment." Sure enough, the rock pillars faded from view, and the ground seemed unaffected by it.

"Phew! That felt powerful!" Applebloom breathed in relief, "this is amazing!"

"It seems you have much power and potential when harnessing the soul stones, perhaps it was right choosing you."

"Me? Chosen?"

"When you decided to put your life in stake in order to fight with me and what you have done with my soul stone, you have become a pony that has the power to summon heroes. They are known by many names: Pioneer, Hunter, but the main and popular one, is a Hero Buster."

"Ooh!"

"And now, I, Fan Lihua, am a hero that is now under your control and can be summoned by your will." Lihua firmly placed her weapon in front of Applebloom and bowed "I am your servant, and will follow and protect you to where your journey leads."

"Hold yer horses. Ah didn't say you were mah servant."

"No?"

"Maybe ah can summon and guide you anytime you want, but we're of equal importance here. You ain't mah subordinate or slave, yer mah friend, mah pardner, mah sister in arms, and we will find yer partner and yer fellow heroes, and protect Equestria together."

"Very well then, my sister in arms." Lihua corrected,

"You can call me Applebloom like before too." Applebloom added with a smile.

"Okay then." Lihua chuckled "now that that's done, I must take my leave."

"What? Can't you stay over for dinner or something? Or if you don't have a place to sleep, you can stay the night as well!"

"Thanks for your generous offer, but it's best that I keep my presence and identity a secret. But don't worry, I'll always be around Ponyville."

"Okay then..." Applebloom sighed, "see you around."

"Till next time." Lihua nodded and with that, she leapt away into the distance.

"Fan Lihua..." Applebloom thought to herself "and many other heroes from East and West. This sounds pretty bad, but ah think It'll be an adventure!"