Harmony Hearts

Chapters

The Arrival
The Trial
The Escape
Ponyville I

The Arrival

It was a beautiful day in Canterlot as Twilight Sparkle ran to meet her teacher in the main palace. It could have been any day in Canterlot, but it wasn’t. Today was special.

Twilight Sparkle was apprentice to a keyblade master and today was her Mark of Mastery exam.

Passing this exam would mean she would no longer be Grand Master Celestia’s star pupil, it would mean…

Twilight stopped running. What would it mean?

“Twilight?” a small purple dragon said as he scrambled over Twilight’s shoulder, his tail draping over her neck. He was somewhat slender in build, sized and proportioned similarly to a bobcat, yet still distinctly reptilian. His angular face was adored with two strips of green scales protruding from his cheeks, almost resembling gills. a trail of matching spines ran down his back. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing… well actually, it’s everything,” she answered quietly, putting her chin between a thumb and forefinger.

“Are you debating the origin of life again?”

“No… it’s just…” Twilight started as she began walking slowly. “What exactly does a keyblade master do? I mean, I’ve read stories about older ones stopping great wars and vanquishing time traveling villains, but what about me?”

“Eh, just worry about it when it comes. I mean, you might not even pass!” Twilight shot the baby drake a glare. “Okay yeah, that was kind of mean. Sorry. Look, don’t worry; I’m sure you’ve got some big important destiny. But if it’s destiny, then it’ll come when it’s ready, right?”

“You’ve been reading my philosophy books again, haven’t you?” she asked with a smile, scratching her old friend’s chin.

“I peruse.”

“Well, regardless, you’re right. Let’s go!” she said excitedly, holding a fist in front of her chest, and started sprinting again. As she ran, a number of people in the city called out, greeting her enthusiastically. Of course, she returned these greetings just as happily.

As she rounded a corner, she nearly ran into two women each carrying a present in their arms. Skidding to a halt, the young keyblade apprentice was able to stop just a foot away from toppling one of them.

“Um… hi, Minuette!” she said with a smile.

“Hey, Twilight! I was hoping we’d run into you!” the blue-haired woman replied. “Moondancer’s having a party in an hour. You wanna come?”

“Um, Minuette…” the woman next to her started, before she leaned in and whispered briefly in Minuette's ear. Her face went red.

“Right. The exam,” Minuette said, chuckling nervously. “I uh… forgot.”

Twilight smiled at her, before giving a slight bow. “Thanks anyway.”

“Twilight! We’re gonna be late!” Spike shouted in her ear, causing her to stumble sideways. For a baby dragon, he was extremely loud.

“Right!” Twilight affirmed, and ran around the two girls, exchanging a wave in good nature.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, are you sure those clothes are appropriate for such a big event?” Spike asked, pointing over his adoptive sister’s shoulder at her attire. It consisted of a two-tone, light and dark purple, hooded coat with an offset zipper on the front, two cobalt hip pouches, a pair of dark purple pants, knee-high light purple sneakers, dark purple, fingerless gloves and a small cobalt backpack with stomach and chest straps. The coat itself extended down past her knees. It was mostly dark purple, except for the hood, which was a lighter lavender. The coat's zipper extended down no further than her belt, ensuring she could reach her pants pockets if need be. Her hip pouches were each attached to a separate belt, which criss-crossed her waist. The entire ensemble was meant to be as practical as possible, and it always had been, in Twilight’s opinion. “I mean, it seams a little, I dunno, casual?”

“Spike, these are my combat clothes! Princess Celestia told me I’d be dueling with other keyblade wielders, and that I needed to have this ready. Besides, it’s not like there’s going to be some fancy ceremony, right?”

“…I guess you’re right. It is just a test.”

~H*H~

Celestia sat lazily on her throne, resting her cheek on her right fist, with her long legs stretched out in front of her, feeling rather uncomfortable in her fancy dress. Her keyblade was leaned haphazardly against her throne, threatening to fall any second. The weapon was rather simple. The hilt, consisting of two white, half-folded wings swooping down at an angle toward the pommel, and featuring a violet gem in the middle above the golden grip, was the most intricate part. The ‘key shaft,’ as it was known, resembled that of a normal sword, while the teeth were the same blazing sun that resided on her throne. The keychain, of course, was a blazing sun.

Today was going slowly. Naturally, this was her fault. She’d forgone the day’s court in favor of preparing for the exam, but preparations really only included setting up wards to prevent outside interference, and to bring in the extra thrones.

A faint smile crossed her lips as she looked to the throne on her right, with its crescent moon insignia on the high back. It would be good to see her again.

“Trixie cannot believe this!” Celestia’s smile vanished. Her other pupil, Trixie Lulamoon, paced back and forth in front of the thrones. “Twilight Sparkle is late, yet again!”

“Trixie.” Celestia’s smirk returned.

“Busy reading, Trixie’d bet!”

“Trixie.”

“The nerve of that girl!”

“Trixie, I’m right behind you,” Twilight said, causing Trixie to jump and stumble away from her. “And yes, I was reading. But you should know that I was reading up on our guests’ cultures. I’d like to be a good host.”

“Ahem, well, perhaps Trixie can forgive you this time.” She paused for a moment to look over Twilight’s attire. “Glad to see Trixie is not the only one who wore her combat clothes.”

“Do you like them? I thought maybe I was being a bit too flashy, but…” Twilight paused and glanced over Trixie. “I can see you went a bit further…” Trixie was clad in a silvery-blue tailcoat over a white tuxedo shirt, matching shorts that seemed far too short to be comfortable, white leather gloves, and thigh-high silver boots with two-and-a-half inch heels. This all tied together nicely with her signature star-spangled hat and matching cape, the latter of which hung freely from her shoulders, cascading out behind her.

Celestia did not approve. But, she was glad to see the girls discussing something other than magic for once. Honestly, hearing Trixie brag about how illusion magic was better in combat than arcane magic was something Celestia had grown tired of quickly.

“Yes, Twilight, Trixie did. But rest assured, it is no less practical than your outfit,” Trixie explained, putting her hands on her hips, drawing Twilight’s eyes to them. “Eyes up here, Sparkle. Trixie knows she’s hot, but try to focus.”

“Shut up… it’s not like that,” she responded meekly, blushing. “You’re just showing too much skin.”

“Not much more than y–” Trixie was cut off as Celestia stood and picked up her keyblade, and strode towards them.

As she drew near, she leaned over and wrapped her arms around both of her students’ necks, hugging them tightly. She pulled away, and looked the each in the eyes. “You two…” she started, her smile growing considerably. “…make me so proud to see how far you’ve come.”

“Hey! What about me?!” Spike intoned, popping out of Twilight’s backpack. He had a red gem in his claw, which he promptly bit into.

“Oh, of course you too, Spike! Only a dragon as mighty as you could master size alteration!” she said cheerfully, rubbing the top of his head. “Hm?” Celestia’s head snapped towards the throne room entrance. In an instant, she was no longer beside her apprentices, but back in her throne, her keyblade leaning neatly against the arm. She now sat straight up, her legs crossed and her arms resting on the throne's arms like they were supposed to.

The door suddenly flew open, having been kicked by a small foot. “I HAVE ARRIVED!” the small, young-ish woman in the doorway shouted, and strode in, followed by a meek looking girl with pink hair. The woman leading had short blue hair, and was clad in a tight, dark blue, open-front duster and a lighter blue leotard underneath, bearing a crescent moon emblem on the chest. She carried her keyblade slung onto her shoulder and walked with a confident gait. “SISTER! ‘TIS GOOD TO SEE THEE AGAIN!” she called across the throne room, prompting Twilight and Trixie to stare at her in shock.

They’d heard stories about Master Luna, but they had never met her. They didn’t know just how… confrontational she was. Celestia stood and strode forward, holding her keyblade out to the side. Luna's keyblade was essentially an altered version of Celestia’s, exchanging the sun for a crescent moon, lengthening both the grip and blade, and darkening the colors. Her brow was furrowed, her jaw set, and her lips tight.

Luna smirked, dropping her own keyblade to her side, slamming the tip to the floor with a brutal clang. “Fluttershy,” she said kindly, “take note of how thy master fights.” The girl behind her nodded. As Luna strode forward, she wrapped both hands around the elongated grip of her keyblade and pointed the blade behind her. “SISTER, THOU SHALT FALL TO MY WRATH!”

“As hard as last time?” Celestia said with a smirk, placing her left hand behind her back. “Oh, my mistake, I didn’t fall last time.”

“WHY YOU…” Luna’s pale cheeks flushed red as she drew near to her elder sister. It was quite adorable. “I SHALL NOT LOSE THIS TIME!”

“Watch the ice,” Celestia cautioned with a smirk.

“WHAT ICE?!” Suddenly, Luna’s bare foot impacted a patch of frosted marble, and she went sailing into the air. The resulting squeak was the most adorable thing anyone in the room would ever hear in their lifetimes. “Oh… that ice,” she groaned from her new position on the floor.

“Oh, Luna, still so impulsive!” Celestia teased, leaning down and offering the shorter woman a hand. “It is good to see you as well, dear Sister.”

Luna took the hand offered, and was promptly hoisted up into a crushing hug. “Ach! I cannot breathe!” she shouted, flailing her arms in an attempt to get loose.

With a hearty laugh, Celestia released her sister, letting the young woman drop to the floor with a thump. “Come, Sister, let us await our other guests. I know you are excited to see them as well.”

The smaller master beamed. “Of course!” she shouted, and was suddenly in the throne beside Celestia’s, sitting cross-legged with her keyblade resting over her lap.

Slowly, Celestia walked back to join her, taking her place in her own seat of power, while Luna’s apprentice came to stand beside hers.

~H*H~

Twilight and Trixie stared at the meek girl in silence. She was so unlike her master, they were baffled as to how the robust woman could have possibly trained her. This doubt was doubled upon examining her wardrobe. She was clad simply and wholesomely, wearing a Yellow turtleneck sweater that was long enough to be a short dress. The sleeves hung over her shoulder and reached all the way down to her hands, where her thumb hooked through them. A pair of black spandex shorts peeked out a few inches from under her dress. the rest of her legs were covered in a pair of white knee socks and brown Mary Janes.

Twilight was very eager to learn about her.

“Hi there!” Twilight said cheerfully, stepping out in front of the girl, who shrank back in response. “I’m Twilight Sparkle! What’s your name?”

“I’m… Fluttershy…” she whimpered, causing Twilight to take a step forward and repeat herself.

“I’m sorry, didn’t quite catch that…. What’s your name?”

“I’m…” What followed was a string of barely audible squeaks that prompted Trixie’s brow to furrow.

“One m–”

“Twilight, you’re scaring the poor girl!” Trixie shouted, causing her friend to jump back in surprise. “She’s shy, can’t you see that!”

Twilight’s face turned scarlet as she finally took note of the girl’s expression. Her eyes were shut tight, and her pink hair had fallen down over half of her face, while her arms were crossed over her stomach. It was also worth noting that she was leaning against the wall, having backed away from Twilight in fear.

“Oh, gosh… I am so sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you…” Twilight said quietly, reaching out a hand, only for the girl to flinch away. Spike suddenly jumped over Twilight’s shoulder, landing squarely on the floor in front of her, and held up a claw to tell her to wait.

“Hi there!” Spike cheerfully, waving up at the girl, even though her eyes were still closed. “My name’s Spike!”

The girl cautiously opened one eye to look down at the tiny dragon in front of her. as a result, her eyes grew wide and a smile spread across her face. “H-hi Spike… I’m Fluttershy,” the girl said quietly. “I’ve never met a baby dragon before…”

“Well…” Spike said with a smile. “You probably won’t see another anytime soon.”

“W-why not?” Suddenly, Fluttershy was down on her hands and knees, looking the little reptile in the eyes.

"Baby dragons are rare. Nobody's really even sure where I came from."

“No!” Fluttershy yelled, grabbing the little dragon and lifting him up into a tight hug. “Don’t think like that!” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “There’s always hope! There are other dragons in my world!"

“Hey! I never said I was alone... I’m never alone,” he said, squirming in the girl’s ridiculously strong grip. Once free, he scampered over to Trixie and pushed on her leg, telling her to step towards Twilight, to which she happily complied. He promptly jumped up onto their now-touching shoulders, and put a claw on each of their necks. “See? I have my big sisters! Although, they’re more like my mothers, really…”

Fluttershy’s face turned bright red as she stood back up and hastily straightened out her dress. “Oh… oh my… I’d heard of fellow apprentices getting… involved… but not two girls…”

“Trixie is going to stop you right there,” the illusionist said, holding up a hand. “Trixie Lulamoon is in no way romantically involved with Twilight Sparkle. Spike is merely implying that we raised him together. Trixie and Twilight are sisters, if anything.”

“Oh… okay…”

The group of students stood in silence for a while, scratching heads and awkwardly clearing throats, while their masters watched with amused smirks.

“But Twilight is gay.”

“Trixie!”

“It had to be said!”

“Oh… my goodness…”

Celestia and Luna suddenly burst out laughing at the trio, making the three of them blush. “Oh, Tia, that is priceless!” Luna exclaimed, slapping her throne's arm instead of her knee. “I like yours!”

“Yours is quite admirable, as well!”

“So you viewed the footage?”

“And I was thusly impressed with her skill. I am proud of you, sister.”

Twilight covered her face with her hands to hide her blush. “I think we should just wait quietly for the next arrival.”

“Trixie agrees.”

“Um… me too.”

~H*H~

Chrysalis strode towards the door, her long, flowing dress trailing behind her, as she went. Her keyblade was clutched tightly in her left hand, nearly touching the floor as she went. Her weapon consisted of a twisted black spire for the shaft, branching off into another spire to form the teeth, a sickly green crystalline guard, and a black grip. The keychain was a green heart with several holes in it. A distinct lack of footsteps behind her caused her to turn towards her students. They had stopped a few yards away, looking nervous and shifting on their feet.

“Come, girls, it does not do to keep the Grand Master waiting,” she said sharply, causing the girls to flinch, before nodding and continuing towards her. I must fix those faces, she thought to herself, feeling her cold heart twitch. “Stop,” she commanded, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “What plagues your minds?”

“It’s nothing, Master Chrysalis,” they said in unison. The master grimaced.

“I can tell you’re lying,” she said, causing them to flinch again. “But you need not tell me that you are nervous. These other students, they have been training for a little longer than either of you. But do not fear; you will not fail.” To most, it would sound a command, but to them, it was encouragement. They knew she was telling them that she had faith in them. This was evident from the smiles that spread across their faces as they nodded in unison.

“Yes, Master Chrysalis!” they said together, stiffening and given a bow.

“Now, come! I long to see my friends again.”

~H*H~

Fluttershy watched as the tall woman strode through the throne room entrance, her hips swaying confidently as she went. She was thin, almost looking emaciated, but it was apparent to Fluttershy that it was merely how she was built. Her sickly green hair hung loosely in tangles around her face, even though she was clad in a rather nice dark green dress. It was long and mostly transparent, but was darker closer to her slender hips, well covering anything that actually needed to be covered, but leaving quite a bit of her gorgeous legs exposed. And that was to say nothing of the neckline and the sleeves! The sleeves were made similarly to the tail, while the neckline plunged down past her bosom, stopping just shy of her navel. There were no shoulder straps, so it was presumably held up by double-stick tape, or magic.

Regardless, it made Fluttershy blush to behold her. So instead, she turned to the woman’s students. One of them had brightly colored rainbow hair and was clad in a light blue athletic suit consisting of three-quarter-length sweat pants and a jersey, with the jersey tied around her waist, which left her black halter top exposed. She wore a pair of classic sneakers and a pair of black fingerless gloves. The other student was completely different, having starch white hair, save for the purple tips. She was even built different, being taller and more muscular than her counterpart. Her clothes were the opposite of her fellow’s, consisting of a brown leather biker vest over a white t-shirt and jean pants tucked into brown biker boots. Her thick arms were covered by golden-brown gauntlet style gloves, while around her neck resided a white scarf that faded to purple towards the scalloped ends. Her eyes were framed by purple make-up resembling two crudely-drawn fireballs.

“Go wait with the others,” the woman commanded, receiving an unseen bow from the students. “And relax. You should mingle.”

“Yes, Master,” they said in unison, before turning to run over to the trio.

~H*H~

Gilda didn’t like the look of the other apprentices. Well, two of them. The one with too many straps around her body looked formidable and the sexy wizard-looking one might be a challenge, but the one in the sweater-dress-thing was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. She was cute, but probably not too tough.

Rainbow Dash, however, was excited to make new friends. “Hi!” she shouted, causing the one with pink hair to flinch and duck behind the other two. “Uh… okay, what’s her deal?”

“She’s shy. We literally just did this a few minutes ago. I’m Twilight Sparkle,” the one with purple hair said casually, and offered a hand for Rainbow to shake, who in turn stared at the hand cautiously.

“We were taught to bow in respect when we introduce ourselves,” Gilda said sourly, stiffening and bowing. “My name is Gilda Griffon. It’s good to meet you.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry! The books I read about Cloudsdale didn’t say anything about bowing…”

“It’s not really a Cloudsdale thing,” Rainbow said casually, scratching the back of her neck. “It’s something Master Chrysalis taught us. By the way,” Rainbow Dash stiffened and bowed, “My name is Rainbow Dash. It’s great to meet you.”

“Well, let me try that again,” Twilight said, and copied their greeting. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m honored to meet you.”

The wizard stepped forward, and gave a showman’s bow, crossing one arm over her stomach and extended the other out. “My name is Trixie Lulamoon. It’s grand to meet you.”

The adorable schoolgirl stepped forward and bowed, placing her hands in front of her and letting her elegant locks flow down around her face. “Hello, my name is Fluttershy. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, her voice soft but still clear.

“So,” Gilda said, turning to Twilight, “with a name like yours and the way you’re dressed, I have to assume you’re Master Luna’s apprentice?”

“Um… no… that would be Fluttershy,” Twilight replied, arching her eyebrows when the Rainbow and Gilda looked at each other in confusion.

“Uh, you sure about that, Twilight?” Rainbow asked, pulling a small rectangular device out of her pocket. “Because that would mean that this…” She paused, holding up the phone to Twilight and Trixie, “…is Fluttershy.” A video on the screen showed a light-colored blur dashing across the screen, decimating a number of wooden humanoid targets arranged around a small white rabbit, screaming savagely in rage. After a few seconds, the video stopped.

Fluttershy squeaked, hiding her face with her hands. “Master Luna put my pet bunny in danger… I had to save him.”

“That seems extreme,” Trixie said quietly, crossing her arms.

“It wasn’t really him. When I reached him, it was just an illusion…” Fluttershy explained, uncovering her face. “Master Luna would never harm an innocent creature. That’s why she and I work so well!”

“That makes sense. I couldn’t figure out why someone so timid could study under such a confrontational master…” Twilight said gently, carefully putting a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“I didn’t like her at first, but when she showed me the world she lives in, The Lunar Republic, I fell in love with the place. We bonded over a love for nature, and we’ve been good friends since!”

“Girls, Trixie thinks the next master is coming in!”

~H*H~

Chrysalis strode casually up to the thrones, even as her fellow master stood and walked towards her. “Chrysalis,” Celestia said formally, raising a fist to and open palm, and bowed to her equal. “It is good to see you again, old friend.”

“And you as well, Celestia,” Chrysalis replied, copying the motion, and moved to take her seat on Celestia’s right. “Tell me, does our master’s statue still stand?”

“Thankfully, yes. Are you concerned?”

“I’ve been getting, as the kids call it, bad vibes lately.”

“As have I, Tia,” Luna said softly, even as a fourth master entered the room. “We should discuss this later. ‘Tis best not to dampen our charges’ moods.”

The others nodded in agreement as a fourth master entered.

~H*H~

Trixie stared in awe of the newest addition to the masters’ ranks. He was humungous. He stood taller than her master, and was much bulkier, giving him the appearance of a giant. On his head rested a crown with four prongs, two long ones flanked on either side by shorter ones, sticking up in front of his flowing black hair. He was clad in full, gunmetal grey armor that sported a red cape trimmed with white fur flowing behind him. His keyblade resided in his right hand, swinging with every step. The shaft looked to be made of a shard of red steel, while the teeth were formed from a twisting spire of black crystal that started as the guard, the spiral widening at the end and ending in a vicious spire pointing the same direction as the shaft. The keychain was a blue crystal heart. Behind him strolled a girl Trixie’s age with dark skin and curled violet hair, clad in a slightly more elegant version of her ominous master’s gear.

The primary layer consisted of a light grey duster that billowed around her when she walked, a pair of grey pants, black knee-high boots and some simple black gloves. The girl’s duster was, in several ways, similar to Twilight’s, save for the color and length. Her armor consisted of a pair of bracers and a breastplate covering her somewhat substantial bosom. Resting on her forehead was a simple silver circlet with a teal gem as its centerpiece. She was more armored that Twilight, but equally pragmatic and stylish, albeit in a different way. Trixie doubted, however, that Sparkle had been in any way thinking about style.

“Go make friends,” the massive man said simply, receiving a nod from his student, who then strolled casually over to the other students.

The girl waved as she went, smiling broadly at the quintet of students that were already gathered. “Hello there!” she said brightly, but stopped when she laid eyes on Twilight. Twilight, for her part, stared at the girl in avid curiosity. Their eyes darted about each other’s wardrobe for a moment, before they smiled kindly at each other. The girl pinched the sides of her coat and pulled it out, curtsying to the group, but mostly Twilight. “My name is Rarity. It’s an honor to make your acquaintances.”

Twilight bowed first, as she had to Rainbow and Gilda. “Twilight Sparkle. I’m honored to meet you, Rarity.”

The others followed suit, bowing and introducing their selves as before.

“So tell me, Miss Sparkle, are you also trained as an arcane combat mage?” Rarity asked, sidling up next to Twilight and smiling warmly at her new friend.

“Yes, I am! Please, call me Twilight. Oh, and this is my brother, Spike,” Twilight said, gesturing at her shoulder, where a wide-eyed baby dragon stared hungrily at Rarity. “Oi! Lover boy!” Twilight shouted, snapping her fingers in front of Spikes muzzle.

“Huh?! Oh! Sorry! Your uh… your armor is just so shiny! It caught my eyes… and I… couldn’t look… away…” Spike hung his head and smacked a claw over his eyes. “None of you are buying that, are you?”

The group collectively shook their heads, but they all smiled, regardless. Even Gilda had a half smile on her lips instead of her earlier scowl.

“I don’t mind. I get my fair share of stares in the Crystal Empire. By the way, Twilight: your brother asked me to tell you he says 'good luck.'”

“You know Shining Armor?” Trixie asked, perhaps a bit too quickly, causing a blush to spread across her face when everyone looked at her. “That is to say…Never mind.”

“Trixie had a crush on my brother.”

Trixie's face burned even redder. “Twilight!”

“Payback for telling Fluttershy I’m gay!” she said triumphantly, crossing her arms, before realization set in. “Shoot!”

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Rarity said kindly, putting a hand on her fellow combat mage’s shoulder. “You aren’t alone there!”

“You too?” Twilight said dumbly, eyes wide.

“Certainly! I wave the gay banner with pride! Though, not as proudly as someone else…” Rarity’s eyes flashed over to Rainbow Dash, smirking and giving her a wink.

“Hey! I am not gay! These happen to be my natural hair colors!” Rainbow shouted and pulled out her phone. “Besides, I’m taken! His name is Thunderlane!” She then held up a picture of a man in a dark grey flight suit with a storm cloud on the shoulder. His two tone gray hair was done up in a tall Mohawk. He was standing in front of a large craft that looked to be a fighter ship. There was some illegible text on the side of the craft that only one of them was able to make out.

“Oh, he’s a Storm Chaser?” Fluttershy said quietly, eyeing the phone avidly. “They’re good…” when everyone stared at her in shock, she smiled and pulled out her phone, pulling up a picture of herself, a man sharing her hair and a woman with red hair all standing in front of a starch white house. “I’m from Cloudsdale, originally,” she explained with a smile, receiving a collective ‘oh’ from the group

“He wants to be a Wonderbolt, but… he did some things a while back that keep him from joining. He won’t tell me much about it…”

“He’s pretty cool though,” Gilda said, slapping Rainbow on the back. “He takes Dash flying all the time when he’s not deployed. Took me up once too… Never again…” She said, looking at the floor. “That fighter of his is too fast. I’ll stick to my cruiser.”

“Wimp,” Rainbow teased, poking her friend in the side, causing her to jump and squeak, making everyone laugh at her.

~H*H~

“They seem to get on well, Sombra,” Celestia said as the massive man bowed to her, before taking his seat beside Chrysalis.

“Quite, old friend,” he replied with a smile. “Rarity has never had much difficulty making new friends.”

“Ah, it appears our next guest is arriving!” Luna shouted, pointing at the entrance, where a rather curvaceous figure was entering, with a slightly smaller figure skipping around her excitedly.

~H*H~

As Zecora entered the room, all eyes turned towards her. That was okay; she was used to it. It was of no surprise, either, considering her garb. She wore nothing but a broad-backed loincloth with a moderate front (with underwear, at her student’s insistence), a crossed chest wrap and three gold rings adorning her throat with a matching set on her upper arm. That, accompanied by her dark skin, black and white Mohawk and her rather voluptuous figure, insured that she was sure to get many stares. Her keyblade, residing in her right hand, was a little more complex than the others’. The guard was made of a wreath of blue flowers, with a tribal mask residing at the intersection of the hilt and blade. The grip was simple bamboo, while the shaft was made of a light brown tree with colorful bottles hanging off of it and light green leaves. The teeth consisted of the same mask on the guard. The keychain was a blue flower.

“Pinkie Pie, my apprentice most dear, why don’t you go and mingle, right over here?” she said, pointing at a group of girls gathered on the side of the throne room.

“Okie-dokie-lokie, Master Zecora!” she said jovially, and cart-wheeled in their direction as she continued toward her fellow masters.

Her eyes flicked over to Luna, but only for a moment. The smaller woman blushed, but her face remained otherwise impassive.

When she reached the throne, she placed her palms together in front of her chest and bowed to Celestia. “Grand Master Celestia, my old friend; it is good to see you after how long it has been!”

“And you as well, Master Zecora. How I have missed those rhymes of yours…” Celestia replied as Zecora moved to take her seat on the throne beside Luna’s.

“Now, aside from us five, Granny is the last to arrive…” Zecora said, watching as her protégé bowed to the other students.

“‘Tis only natural that she be late… She is rather old, after all,” Luna said quietly, her eyes darting between the door and Zecora. “I missed thee,” she whispered, causing the shaman to smile.

~H*H~

As Pinkie Pie finished introducing herself, the others simply stared at her.

Twilight and Rarity’s eyebrows were raised in shocked interest, as the girl in front of them smiled warmly. She was pretty cute. She wore a layered pink tank top, and some baby blue Capri pants, with some ankle socks and low-top tennis shoes, along with a pair of fingerless blue gloves… and that was it. Out of the gathered apprentices, she was the simplest clad. Her hair was unlike any of the others’, though, as it cascaded around her a tangled mess. It was as if she didn’t even try to brush it.

"So, tell us about yourself," Trixie urged, smiling at the girl. Trixie would be honest, she seemed like she wasn't all there, the way she constantly smiled and had wide eyes that seemed to follow you. She seemed... too happy to be normal. But then, Normal was relative when discussing keyblade wielders.

"Well, I live in the world of Everfree," Pinkie Pie started, clasping her hands behind her back. "I trained under Master Zecora as a synthesis specialist, and I still have a long way to go before I'm on her level... I like parties, and cupcakes, any cake really, except fruitcake but I mean who does, right? Right. So, my keyblade skills... definitely on par with Master Zecora's, if not juuuust below her level. I have a pet alligator named Gummy–he's got no teeth, but I can see that you have one too. But it looks like he breathes fire. I guess that makes him a dragon, right? Oh my gosh am I rambling? I totally am! Sorry, I tend to do that after Master Zecora took me off of my medicine. She says it makes me too dimmmff..."

"Please, just... stop. It's too much..." Rainbow Dash said quietly as she and Gilda each clamped a hand over Pinkie Pie's mouth.

"Wait," Rarity said suddenly, "What was that about her keyblade skills?"

Their discussion was cut short as another master entered through the door. They were clad in a brown hooded robe, leaning against their keyblade as if it were a crutch. The grip of her keyblade consisted of a frying pan, with the pan residing at the base of the key shaft. The guard consisted of two wooden wolves circling around the grip. The shaft was a reddish-brown apple tree with dark leaves, bearing a rainbow striped apple with blue lightning erupting around it. The keychain was a jar of rainbow preserves, presumably made from the same apple on the blade. Behind her strode two figures, one being a large man and the other a girl the same age as the other apprentices. The man was blonde, and dressed in a red, short sleeved button down shirt and a pair of jeans, as well as a pair of cowboy boots.

The girl, also blonde, wore a Stetson, an orange short-sleeved, button down work shirt, with a pair of brown gloves. Her muscularly thick legs were garbed in a pair of jean shorts overlaid with brown leather chaps, which ended over a pair of cowgirl boots. She looked over and smiled at the other apprentices, tipping her hat.

“Go on, Applejack, make some new friends. Y'all got a bit before the exams start,” the elderly master said, making her way to the thrones. “Mac, you stay with me."

Despite the woman’s age, she moved no slower than her comrades.

Over in the corner, the apprentices were chattering amongst themselves, discussing the ancient master.

“How is she a keyblade master?” Rainbow asked, receiving a smack on the head from Gilda.

“You dweeb, that’s Master Granny Smith! She’s been a master for way longer than any of the others!” she scolded, smiling and waving to the newest apprentice. “Master Chrysalis talked about her several times in lectures!”

“Yeah, because I totally pay attention to those…”

“You should,” Twilight said, before stepping forward to meet the newcomer. “Lectures are important. Hi there!” Twilight stiffened and bowed, prompting the cowgirl to arch her eyebrow. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you.”

“Well, shucks, y'all aint gotta bow!” she said, prompting Twilight to stand back up quickly enough to make her head spin. “I’m Applejack, A.J. for short!” the girl said, holding out a hand for Twilight, who promptly shook it. The same greeting was given to the others.

“Is uh… is the other apprentice coming?” Rainbow asked pointing at the man beside Master Granny Smith.

“He ain’t an apprentice, that’s my brother. Granny’s eyesight ain’t what it used to be,” Applejack explained, prompting all of the apprentices to gasp. “So he piloted the ship.”

“Y-you refer to your master by name?” Rarity asked, stepping up behind Twilight. “I mean, Master Sombra and I do too… but only in private…”

“No, I refer to my grandmother by the title ‘Granny,’” Applejack said, rolling her eyes. “Her real name’s Annie. But everyone calls her Granny, on account of her age.”

“Your master is… your grandmother?” Gilda said, gawking at A.J.. “Well, congratulations, my mind’s blown.” A series of affirmations cascaded over the group, causing the Applejack to smile.

~H*H~

As Granny Smith came to her fellow masters, a smile crossed her lips. These five had come so far… Giving as good of a bow as she could, using her keyblade as a cane, she received a different bow completely from the Grand Master. Celestia kneeled down on one knee, holding her keyblade point down in front of her with both hands on the grip, closing her eyes and setting her lips in a stern line. All of the other masters promptly stood and copied the motion, including Luna, who rarely bowed to anyone.

“Ancient Master Smith, it’s an honor to see you again,” Celestia said somberly, receiving a wrinkled hand on her shoulder.

“Enough of that, Grand Master. I ain’t no better than you,” the elderly woman said, smiling when her friend stood back up.

“Well, then,” Sombra said loudly, as Granny quickly made her way to the throne beside Chrysalis’s. “Why don’t we go ahead and get started?”

“It would certainly do to get this matter settled soon,” Chrysalis said calmly, sitting back down.

~H*H~

The apprentices, including Applejack, gawked in shock as all of the Masters bowed to Master Granny Smith.

Twilight and Trixie the most shocked. Their mentor was the Grand Master, the Master that outranked other Masters! Who could garner such respect from the Grand Master? What was this elderly master capable of? What great accomplishments had she performed in her long life that caused such reverie from the other Masters?

Applejack stared because someone had bowed to her grandmother, plain and simple.

Rainbow Dash and Gilda stared because, while they had known that Granny Smith was a well respected master, they hadn’t realized just how much the others truly respected her.

The same was true for Rarity and Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie wasn’t so surprised. She’d heard lot’s of stories about Master Granny Smith. She knew how her own master would react when they met.

“Apprentices!” Grand Master Celestia called, startling the group out of their stare. “It is time we began! Line up before the Council of Masters, so we may start the trials!”

The students all looked to one another, nodding to each other in reassurance. After wishing each other good luck, they all took a unanimous step forward; a step towards their collective, uncertain fate.

Elsewhere, a black-clad figure took that same step over the threshold of the palace’s main gate.

Author's Note

Okay, so this has been swimming around in my head for a while, but I've only just figured out how to execute the story. For future note, Each region of Equestria will be treated as a different world. For example, Ponyville and Everfree are two different worlds, just like Canterlot and The Lunar Republic. Yes, I know the republic is an over used concept. But see, it's a concept that works. We can't have two Keyblade Masters in one world, so Luna took the throne in the republic.

Also, when I say 'Black-clad figure,' if you picture anything other than the Organization XIII coat... just don't. Because that's what it is. That's exactly what it is.

Further more, while I designed most of my own keyblades, there were a few I found that I liked too much not to use. Keyblade creation credit is as follows:
Celestia: Solar Radiance, Me
Luna: Lunar Brilliance, Me
Sombra: Crystal Conquest, Me
Zecora: Shaman's Wisdom, Me
Granny Smith: Unforgettable Memory, animalman
Chrysalis: Shifting Loyalty, originally animalman's design, but altered by me.

I'll try to have some links available to my keyblade designs soon.
This chapter was pre-read by MegaFlameHedge.

The Trial

She stared at the statue in disgust. This was how they saw her master; as a maniacal, laughing beast with a dragon-esque body and mismatched body parts? A monster? It made sense, when she thought about it.

Her master had said that the universe hadn’t been ready for his way. His students had said that the universe would never need his way. They were wrong. His was the true way; the only way.

His way was the future.

Raising her right hand to the side, a beam of crackling, violet chaos energy blasted out of her palm, rippling and cascading erratically for a moment until it settled down into a straight, blade-like form. Stepping forward onto the statue’s base, the figure leapt up, slashing across the beast’s torso. She planted her heels on the newly liberated top half and kicked forward, sending the mass of white granite flying into a nearby ice cream shop.

A shame… She’d wanted a treat from there. She was even going to pay for it! Oh well… She had more work to do, anyway.

Collecting her prize, a violet, diamond shaped gem roughly the size of her hand, from the remains of the statue’s core, she gave a wide smile. He was going to be so proud of her!

Now, on to part two… of the… plan?

As the figure started off towards the main palace, something on the ground near the ice cream shop wreckage caught her eyes. There, wrapped in clear plastic, were three blue bars of sea salt ice cream, all still perfectly intact. Beneath her hood, a glint flashed across her eyes as she approached the sweets. She dismissed her entropy blade and picked the ice cream up by the sticks, then delicately deposited them into her flared out sleeve. Because she had no pockets on her coat. Seriously, was that too much to ask?

As she walked away, she tossed a few bits over her shoulder onto what remained standing of the counter. She missed completely, sending the coins into the freezer, which was now missing the door.

“Chaos,” she whispered with a broad grin.

~H*H~

The eight apprentices were lined up in a row, each in front of their respective masters. All of them, save Pinkie Pie, wore serious expressions and seemed ready for any task ahead.

Grand Master Celestia stepped down from the thrones, followed by her comrades, and approached her students.

“Your first test,” she said loudly, “will be that of might. Each of you will be paired up with another whose style is similar to your own. After discussing the matter, we’ve selected the pairs carefully. You will be graded on skill, creativity, control, and strength. The only constraint is that you are not permitted to use any form of magic, including key shifts.”

Luna stepped forward. “The pairs are as follow: Rainbow Dash will duel with Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy with Trixie Lulamoon, Gilda Griffon with Applejack, and Rarity with Twilight Sparkle.”

Chrysalis chimed in. “The first to duel will be Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. The rest, please wait in the hall over there,” she said, pointing to the right.

Moments later, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were standing a few yards apart in the middle of the throne room, while the other six were situated off to the side behind a barrier set up by Celestia.

“Present keyblades!” Master Sombra shouted, prompting Rainbow and Pinkie to hold out their right hands. In a flash of light, they each summoned their weapons. Rainbow’s reverse-grip keyblade, Pride of Nation, was simple enough in spite of its unique design. The guard was a ring of clouds, while the rather short shaft looked like a broken white marble column leaning away from her hand. The teeth were comprised of a white cloud with a red, yellow and blue lightning bolt erupting towards the hilt. The keychain was a rainbow lightning bolt. Pinkie’s keyblade, Fun and Games, was of standard length, bearing a shaft made of a two-tone pink birthday candle with three balloons tied to it forming the teeth. The guard was made of a number of colorful rocks held together by a thin black string. The keychain was a small alligator.

“Ready?” Master Zecora asked, cursing her rhyming affliction. “Steady?” All of the other Masters smirked at her, causing her to blush. The combatants, however merely nodded, retaining their prior expressions, and took their stances. Rainbow widened her feet, putting her left foot forward, and then sweeping it back in a quarter-circle. She held her keyblade in front of her, with her left arm was held beside it as a secondary defense*. Pinkie Pie took more unique stance, pulling her keyblade up next to her head, parallel with her line of sight. Her left hand rose up, resting beside the tip of her blade. Her feet were no further apart than her shoulders, while her legs were bent*.

“Begin!” Granny Smith shouted, prompting Rainbow to dash forward, completely lifting off of the floor, and pull her keyblade back to strike. As she drew close to Pinkie, her opponent did nothing. She merely maintained her stance.

When Rainbow was only a few feet away, she swung her keyblade and missed completely. Suddenly, there was a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder prompting her to look up. She came face-to-face with the most disturbing smile she’d ever seen. No, it was a normal smile… but it seemed unnatural in the current situation. She should be scowling in concentration, not smiling like an idiot. She wasn’t taking this seriously at all!

And yet, she’d dodged Rainbow’s attack with very little difficulty.

As Pinkie flipped over her opponent, a collective gasp emanated from the other apprentices, who were not expecting such skill. Adjusting her balance, Pinkie twisted, let her body fall and planted her feet firmly between Rainbow’s shoulder blades.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. She knew why those feet were on her back. She felt the pressure start and quickly adjusted her stance to the left, causing Pinkie’s tennis shoes to glance painfully off her shoulder blade as she pushed forward. Rainbow continued her spin, swinging her keyblade out in a wide arc to slash at Pinkie. The hit landed, sending the smiling girl flying several feet away, which caused her to flip to regain her stance.

By the time Pinkie was back on her feet, Rainbow was already behind her, ready to strike. But Pinkie sensed her and dropped into a spilt, narrowly dodging Rainbow’s blade as it soared over her head. Swinging her left leg forward, she pulled herself up onto it, and then swung her right leg back to hook it around Rainbow’s right leg. She transitioned all of her weight to her hands and used her left leg to kick Rainbow right it the chin.

Suddenly, though, there was a sharp pain in the back of Pinkie’s head as Rainbow brought her keyblade into it.

The two fighters separated, Pinkie face planting on the floor, and Rainbow doing the exact opposite by landing on her back. They didn’t stay that way for long, as Rainbow rolled backwards onto her hands and toes, while Pinkie spun in a manner somewhat akin to break dancing, coming into a similar pose.

“Okay,” Pinkie said loudly, before she started running, her shoes screeching annoyingly against the floor. “It’s time to get real!”

Rainbow paled. “That wasn’t real?” she asked as she shot forward, matching Pinkie’s pace almost perfectly.

“No! I wasn’t even using my keyblade!” Pinkie shouted as her opponent leapt into the air, holding her keyblade back. Pinkie countered by jumping after her, holding her keyblade out beside her.

Rainbow swung her legs to shift her weight and start a flip. Her flip neared completion as Pinkie drew nearer and nearer. As Rainbow prepared to strike, though, Pinkie shot past her and planted her feet firmly on the ceiling. This prompted Rainbow to twist in the air to face Pinkie. As Pinkie pushed off, she swung her keyblade counterclockwise at her opponent. As the two came near each other and their weapons collided with a resounding crash, their momentum halted, and the two began falling to the floor.

Seeing an opportunity, Pinkie disengaged and executed a quick two-footed kick, accelerating her opponent’s descent and slowing her own. As Rainbow smashed into the ground with a scream and sickening thump, Pinkie landed neatly nearby and started to walk slowly towards her fallen opponent. To everyone’s shock, her hair had straightened out and her smile had been replaced with a vicious snarl. Slowly, she raised her keyblade over her head and a collective gasp spread throughout the Council of Masters. Thin tendrils of violet energy had begun swirling around her hand, and were inching their way along her keyblade.

Zecora was the first to react, leaping from her throne and landing only inches away from Pinkie, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Pinkie Pie, that is enough! You have proven that you are tough!”

Pinkie stopped for a moment, looking at her master in anger. That anger turned to shock, then disgust, then despair. Her face scrunched up and tears started pouring from her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, Master Zecora…” She buried her face in her master’s shoulder, dropped her keyblade in a flash of light, and gently put her hands around the woman’s waist. “I… You told me… d-don’t take it… But I thought… i-it’s a t-test… Right? I-I nee-need to f-focus...” Zecora wrapped her arms tightly around her apprentice and held her as she started bawling into her shoulder and the two slowly sank to the floor. Constant wails of ‘I’m sorry’ permeated the throne room as everyone watched on in shock.

~H*H~

After nearly half an hour of tears, Zecora was seated in her throne, while Pinkie Pie had curled up in a ball over with the other apprentices, most of whom had opted to stay away from her. Rainbow Dash, having taken a hi-potion to recover from her plummet, sat across from her, staring intently at her almost-killer.

“That was chaos energy, Master Zecora,” Celestia said evenly from her throne, not even looking at her fellow master. Despite her calm demeanor, not one of the masters failed to detect her anger. It emanated from the grand master in waves, almost as though it were a Harsh, suffocating heat.

“I am fully aware, Grand Master. It is my doing, this disaster.”

“You taught her that?” Luna asked, her eyes widening at the shaman.

“No, my dear friend Luna… It was an existing dilemma,” Zecora said softly, staring at a small blue pill in her hand. “I made this little remedy, intent on calming her energy. It is a depressant, whose power is quite incessant. When taken by most all beings, it has an effect most calming.” Zecora stopped and looked over to where her student sat. “But when taken only by her, it creates a monstrous terror. She was already prone to harsh depression, but this pill acts as a demon’s possession, failing in full repression, but unlocking her aggression. Had I not intervened just now, one apprentice we’d be without…”

“So,” Sombra chimed in, holding out his left hand, “she is like me. It comes easily to her.” A small tendril of violet energy arced between his fingertips to illustrate his point. “The appearance of such individuals as us marks only one event.”

“Agreed,” Chrysalis agreed bluntly, crossing her arms. “Gilda had a certain inclination to it when she started training, but it hasn’t shown itself since. If his return draws near, we need to hurry with these trials.”

A chorus of affirmations spread throughout the council as Celestia lowered the sound shield she had placed around the apprentices. “Trixie and Fluttershy, come forth!”

~H*H~

Fluttershy and Trixie faced off, staring each other down with keyblades held at an angle in front of them*. Fluttershy’s Gentle Wind was simple. The guard was comprised of a green leaf laurel, while the shaft was just that, a simple, yellow shaft. The teeth were comprised of a pink butterfly laid across the shaft, looking as though it’d been skewered. The keychain was a pink butterfly.

Trixie’s was equally simple and rather similar in design. The guard was made of a number of playing cards spread out like they had been laid down, while the shaft was a purple magic wand with a blue star at the end. The teeth were made of a stream of translucent blue ribbon flowing off the wand’s head and sweeping down in an arc. The keychain to her beloved Magician’s Delight was a simple blue gem, matching the one tied under her shirt collar.

“Begin!” Granny Smith shouted.

Trixie took a step left, intending to circle her opponent. She didn’t get the chance, as Fluttershy stepped forward, approaching Trixie. She wanted a head on battle? Fine.

Trixie changed direction, following Fluttershy’s example. Fluttershy’s face changed, slipping from determined, into slightly afraid. She switched her tactic, and began circling around Trixie. Trixie grimaced and changed her pace, moving closer to Fluttershy, who didn’t change her pace at all. This continued for some time, and a quick glance at the masters told Trixie that she was not the only one growing tired of this game.

“Perhaps… matching similar styles was a bad call,” Master Sombra said behind her, prompting Master Smith to chuckle.

Trixie clenched her teeth and pointed her keyblade at Fluttershy. “Would you stop running and fight Trixie already?!” she shouted, causing Fluttershy to jump and drop her keyblade, dismissing it in the process.

“Oh! Um, okay…” In an instant, Fluttershy had summoned her keyblade back into her hand and had taken a defensive stance. “C-come at me… whenever… you know, you’re rea–”

“Trixie is ready now!” Trixie lunged forward, thrusting at the timid girl, only to have her keyblade knocked away by a gentle tap from Fluttershy’s. Trixie’s balance was thrown off as her opponent side-stepped, letting her momentum carry her though into a stumble.

A lance of pain shot through Trixie's back as Fluttershy drove the pommel of her weapon between her shoulder blades. Trixie whirled counterclockwise, intending to slap the offending keyblade away, but she struck nothing but empty air. Fluttershy was several feet away, out of Trixie’s range, and she held her keyblade up parallel with her body with her left hand behind her back. She’d back-stepped and was preparing to strike!

In a blur of yellow, Fluttershy swung her keyblade out in a broad, horizontal arc. Trixie parried the blow, bouncing Fluttershy’s weapon over her head, which provide an excellent opening at the formerly meek girl’s waist. Trixie shifted her offensive hand’s wrist and swung her keyblade in a short arc, impacting Fluttershy’s torso perfectly.

As Fluttershy staggered to her right, Trixie wasted no time in striking again. Slashing up and to the right, she sent her keyblade straight at her opponent’s head. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and knelt down, dodging Trixie's attack. Unfortunately, Fluttershy’s hair wasn’t fast enough to avoid a few strands getting sliced through by the star on the end of Trixie's keyblade.

Fluttershy took her chance to evade Trixie and pushed off, running awkwardly to Trixie’s right. Naturally, she was pursued. Spinning on the ball of her right foot, Fluttershy slapped away another attack from the right, sending the tip of Trixie’s keyblade slamming into the marble floor with a loud clang. Trixie recovered by stepping forward next to her keyblade, pivoting the weapon on its tip, and brought the pommel up in an attempt to bash Fluttershy’s chin. But again the blow was evaded as Trixie’s opponent took a quick step backwards.

Fluttershy brought the tip of her own blade up in a vertical cut, succeeding in slicing through the front of Trixie's shirt. Trixie was fast enough to avoid letting the blade cut her stomach. Fluttershy stopped her cut so that her keyblade was parallel with her gaze and continued her attack by thrusting at Trixie’s chest. Trixie parried the thrust to her left and slashed at Fluttershy, who countered by raising her keyblade into a static black position. Trixie’s keyblade clashed harshly against hers, sending sparks flying from the impact.

Trixie leapt back a few paces and quickly brought her keyblade back to bear against Fluttershy, who had taken the same stance.

“Enough!” the Grand Master called, startling the two combatants with her amplified voice. “This match has reached a stalemate. Neither of you are victors, and yet you both are. Both of you have shown admirable strength, stamina, and an astounding ability to think on your feet. Be aware, girls, that the goal of this was not to determine who is stronger. It was to showcase your ability in combat; abilities you should both be very proud of!”

“Besides,” Master Chrysalis cut in, “I don’t think it would be possible to pick a winner between you two.” A chorus of affirmations rang out from the council as the two girls beamed at each other.

Fluttershy, for her part, fell onto her backside and dismissed her keyblade. Leaning back on her hands, she sighed and looked up at Trixie. “That was hard…” she said sweetly with a smile.

“Indeed, it was,” Trixie replied, offering a hand to Fluttershy. It was gladly accepted, and she immediately hoisted the girl to her feet. “Trixie quite enjoyed our match.”

“Well, I… um… I don’t like fighting… but, yes, that was fun…”

As Trixie and Fluttershy made their way back to the other apprentices, Gilda and Applejack stepped out into the designated area.

“Good luck, you two!” Trixie said as the two duos passed by each other. Applejack and Gilda said nothing as they made their way to the center of the throne room.

~H*H~

I can’t just… leave her like that…

Rainbow Dash rose from where she sat, drawing the attention of everyone around her. She slowly walked over to where Pinkie Pie was curled up and knelt down in front of her.

“Hey,” she said quietly, prompting the sad girl to look up. “You okay?”

“N-no…”

“How come?” Rainbow asked, sitting down cross-legged. “You won the duel.”

“I disobeyed Master Zecora and I almost killed you…” Pinkie muttered, staring at her knees. “Why would anybody be okay after that?” She suddenly looked up at Rainbow with a scowl. “And why aren’t you m–” She was cut off by a gloved palm smacking against her forehead.

“Chill out, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow said teasingly. She pulled back her hand back and made a fist, holding it just in front of Pinkie. “Put her there, and let’s be buds.”

“You… You wanna be my friend? After that?”

“I’ll tell you now, that was nothing compared to Master Chrysalis’s accelerated training. So yeah! I wanna be friends!” Rainbow said enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. “And you gotta teach me that shoulder flip thing! That was so cool!”

Pinkie giggled as her hair poofed back up, and she raised her fist to gently bump it against Rainbow’s. “Deal! But I’ll be honest; you’re kind of short to be grabbing people’s shoulders…”

Rainbow’s face promptly turned red as she took in her new friend’s words. She crossed her arms and looked away with a mock pout. “Aw, shut up, you!” Her pout was soon replaced with a grin as she looked back at Pinkie. “So, we’re cool? No more pouting, right?”

“Right!” Pinkie said happily. Before Rainbow could do anything to stop her, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the other girl’s shoulders. “We’re gonna be the bestest friends ever!”

“And I suddenly question why I made this decision!” Rainbow said playfully, half-heartedly pushing Pinkie Pie away. The weight was too much for Rainbow to bear, and the two toppled over in a laughing mess.

“The next match is starting!” Twilight said as Trixie and Fluttershy came back into the waiting area.

~H*H~

Gilda stared Applejack down like a vicious bird of prey. Without moving anything but her hand, she summoned her keyblade, Wings of Loyalty. It was an abstract design, with the guard consisting of a pair of blue wings spreading out at the base of the shaft with two rainbows trailing from their tips and connecting at the pommel. The shaft was comprised of a long rainbow, ending in a rainbow-haired, blue pegasus curled up with its wings spread out to form the teeth. The keychain was an eagle’s head. Gilda’s face turned a little red. A keyblade formed its shape based of the wielder’s personality and the contents of their heart.

And hers was based on Rainbow Dash. She hated that.

Applejack flicked her arm out to the side, summoning her Honest Apple. It was a very simple design. The guard was a pair of apple trees bending up around the grip, while the shaft was an orange slab of steel and the teeth were a trio of red apples. The keychain was an apple.

“Ready?” Chrysalis asked, prompting the two duelists to take their stances. Gilda bent her knees and held her keyblade’s elongated grip in both hands at an angle to her body, just in front of her waist*. Applejack took a similar stance, only she held her keyblade upright beside her*.

“Begin!” Master Granny Smith shouted.

Gilda leapt towards Applejack driving her blade’s tip towards the cowgirl. Applejack parried, sending her opponent’s weapon to the left of her. A.J. followed up by bringing her keyblade down towards Gilda’s shoulder. Gilda stepped back and smashed her keyblade up into Applejack's, sending sparks skittering across the floor. She quickly followed up by twisting her blade and slashing down. A.J. jumped back, narrowly avoiding the cyan wing that threatened to slice her face in two. She quickly stepped around her, swinging her keyblade at Gilda’s shoulder. It made contact, sending Gilda stumbling away.

Gilda grimaced, glaring at Applejack through her bangs. She was stronger than she looked… and she looked strong. Gilda removed her left hand from the keyblade and tightly clutched her scarf for a brief second. She was not going to let her best friend down. She took hold of her weapon again and swung at Applejack, aiming at her right arm. Her attack was deflected over the cowgirl’s head. As Applejack prepared to counter, Gilda pulled her keyblade back up and smashed the pommel into her opponent’s face, breaking her nose.

With a pained grunt, Applejack stumbled back with her hand over her nose. “Daggum! I reckon you ain’t gonna pull your punches either, huh?”

Gilda didn’t respond. She was focused on the duel. She wasn’t going to make idle chit-chat with her opponent, like the others had. She was a warrior above all else, and she intended to make that known.

“I’ll take that as a nope,” Applejack said with a sigh, before wiping her bloodied hand on her shirt and returning it to her keyblade. From the waiting area, a loud gasp sounded, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. “Well, good thing I got a few more o’ these…”

Gilda continued to glare at her opponent. “Come at me,” she said calmly. Applejack rushed at her, swinging her keyblade up in a broad arc. Gilda dodged backwards, then pulled her keyblade back and thrust forward, nearly impacting Applejack’s stomach.

“Enough!” Celestia called, causing the duelists to freeze. Gilda dismissed her keyblade, stood back up straight and bowed to her opponent. Applejack copied the bow, and then held out her hand for Gilda to shake. After a moment’s hesitation, she did just that, smirking at her former opponent. “You both did very well! I’m sure you’ve done your masters proud.”

As the two made their way back to the waiting area, Applejack pulled out a potion and quickly chugged it, then crossed her arms and leaned in close to Gilda. “So, uh… That there keyblade of yours sort of reminds me of your little friend over there. What’s the deal with that?”

Gilda’s face flushed red as her hand rose up to her scarf. “It’s… uh… kind of personal. I don’t really know you well enough to tell you…” she said quietly, a soft smile forming on her lips. “Sorry.”

“Ya’ll ain’t gotta apologize,” Applejack replied, holding up her hands. “Personal stuff’s personal. I’ll hear it when you’re ready.”

~H*H~

Back in the waiting area, Fluttershy and Trixie were both fanning Rarity’s face, while everyone else looked on with worried expressions.

“Is she gonna be okay?”

“For the tenth time, Pinkie, we don’t even know why she collapsed!” Twilight shouted, holding her two glowing hands over Rarity’s chest. “Cura isn’t even doing anything!”

“Are you sure it’s not just Cure? Trixie can cast a Curaga if you’d like?”

“Whoa, you can cast Curaga?” Pinkie said excitedly, her eyes wide with wonder. “I can’t even manage Cura!”

“Yes, Trixie, I’m certain it’s Cura. It’s just... Maybe an ether would work?” The glow on Twilight’s hands subsided, indicating that she had ended her spell.

“I got this,” Rainbow said as she pulled off her sneaker. “This always works on the squirt when she sleeps in.” She held the shoe in front of Rarity’s face, causing her to gag and sit up straight.

“What in the name of all that is glamorous was that dreadful odor?!” She demanded, putting a hand over her mouth.

“That would be four-year-old sneakers that have never been washed,” Rainbow explained, holding up the bright blue footwear. “It’s about a million times more effective than coffee.”

“That… that’s disgusting…” As Rarity got back to her feet, she spotted Applejack and Gilda making their way into the side hall, Gilda holding her scarf and blushing. Rarity pointed a finger at Applejack and strode forward. “You! How could you?!”

“Beg yer pardon?”

“That shirt!” Rarity screamed, thrusting her finger at the work shirt. “I mean, sure, orange is a bit outdated but it works for you! How could you just… bloody it up like that?!”

“We’re keyblade wielders,” Applejack said, her tone suddenly very stern. “If ye’re afraid to get yer clothes dirty, then maybe ye’re in the wrong place.”

“I’m not afraid of getting my clothes dirty,” Rarity countered, pulling a small phial out of her hip pouch, then tossed it to Applejack. “I just prefer not to. That’ll remove the stain, unless it sets. You’ve got twelve hours before it does.”

“How… can you tell how long it takes?” Applejack asked, uncorking the phial and taking a whiff of its blood red liquid contents. She promptly scrunched up her nose and corked the phial.

Rarity started walking past, but stopped for a moment to look sidelong at A.J. “Don’t think you’re the only apprentice that’s shed blood for their master.”

“I wasn't…”

“Come along, Twilight. Our duel is next,” Rarity said shortly, before exiting the waiting area, quickly followed by a shocked Twilight.

“Rarity… What was that?”

“That was me cementing in that brute’s mind that I am not as frail as she thinks,” she explained, scowling ahead of her.

“Oh…”

~H*H~

Twilight and Rarity stared each other down, keyblades held at the ready*, while Spike had been left in the waiting area until the duel ended. Rarity’s weapon, Dutiful Abandonment, was rather complex, and displayed a number of meanings. The guard consisted of two separate structures. The side closest to her forearm was comprised of a small white unicorn with a light pink and purple mane, while the other side was made of a grey unicorn with a black mane and a red horn. Both unicorns wore a scarlet cape, the white one’s flowing under the grip and the black one’s flowing over it, connecting the two. The shaft was a long roll of violet fabric, with a black crystal spire weaving through, ripping it to shreds. The teeth were comprised of three teal gems connected by the crystal spire, and the keychain was a spool of violet sewing thread.

She despised her keyblade.

Twilight’s keyblade was very simple and just as simply named. Broken Harmony’s guard consisted of two wings circling the grip, one resembling a violet bat’s wing, while the other was a blue feathered wing. The shaft resembled her master’s keyblade, but the blade had pieces broken out of the edge, causing it to resemble a modern key, rather than the classic skeleton key design. The keychain was a violet, six pointed star. She wasn’t really sure why her weapon had taken that form, but it had lent to her simple style of combat nicely.

“Begin!”

Before Rarity and Twilight could so much as raise their weapons, the throne room door burst open to reveal a woman in a black coat with her leg held up from kicking the door, and one hand held up to her hood.

“Shup,” she said simply, her voice muffled by something in her mouth. “Why’sh e’rebo’y shtaring at me?” The figure sighed and lowered both her leg and her arm. In her left hand was a blue ice cream bar. “Come on, did I miss the party?” she asked, holding her hands out to either side as she started walking forward.

In a blinding flash of golden light, Celestia appeared in front of the woman with her keyblade held at the interloper’s throat. “Why are you here, child?”

The woman gasped, holding her hands up in front of her hood. “How’d you know it was me?!”

“You still reek of your… malignant… brand of magic.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” the woman said, a nearly luminescent smile forming under her hood. “I’d think you’d want to see your old pupil again…” she muttered venomously. Celestia pulled her keyblade back and drove it forward, only to meet with empty air. “Well, that’s not very nice!”

Everyone in the room looked up to see the woman standing on the ceiling, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Her coat hung around her legs as though the ceiling itself were exerting gravity against her, and she had resumed eating her ice cream.

“Cease your games, heathen!” Luna screamed, leaping up beside the woman and slashing at her, only to meet with the same results as her sister.

“Pfft… Games?” Heads turned towards Celestia’s throne, where the intruder had taken to laying across the arms of said furniture. “No, I’m not here for games,” she said calmly, twirling a clean ice cream stick in her between her fingers.

Chrysalis smashed her keyblade into the throne and destroyed the marble fixture, only to miss like the others had. “Then why have you come?!” she screamed, her eyes flashing emerald with raw magic.

“Oh, that’s simple!” The woman appeared between Twilight and Rarity, slinging her arms over both girls’ shoulders. “I already told you, I’m here to see my old master!” Rarity scowled and slashed at her, meeting with much the same results. The woman reappeared beside Sombra’s throne, receiving another failed slash from him. This prompted him to bare his sharp fangs and quickly swing his head, sweeping his gaze around the room. He spotted the woman walking across the wall to his left. “Well, that, and to kill you six.” She stopped walking a put a hand to her hood. “Oooh… Probably should’ve have kept that to myself…”

A soft shuffling sound drew everyone’s attention to Granny’s throne, only to see her robe drifting down the steps. “Ye should’ve kept away, is what ya should’ve done.” Everyone looked back to see a white-haired elderly woman in the air beside the intruder’s head. She was clad in a pair of blue jeans and a green work shirt, with a pair of brown boots and matching work gloves. Fast as lightning, she swung her keyblade and, much like the others, missed. Granny fell to the floor with a thump, landing on her feet with no difficulty at all. “If ye had any guts in ya, ye wouldn’t run away like that!” she said, shaking her fist in the air.

“Well, that’s just mean. And look!” Everyone turned to see the woman pointing at her shoulder, where a large piece of her coat had been torn away, revealing a patch of tan skin. She stood atop Zecora’s throne, the owner of which promptly appeared behind the intruder, slashing as she rose up. She as well missed. As a slab of the throne fell sideways, the intruder drew everyone’s attention to her with a simple complaint as she made her way towards the apprentices. “You messed up my coat!” she said, a trace of hurt in her voice, “I mean… I had to pay for this myself! It was really expensive!”

“Silence, you cur!” Celestia and Luna roared in tandem, bringing their keyblades down above the woman, who promptly vanished.

“Come on, Celestia, is that any way to treat an old student?” The woman said as she reappeared behind Trixie, her body mere inches from Trixie's. “By the way, I like the way these have turned out. This one is especially cute. I see you at least let them dress themselves now.” Trixie’s face burned a bright red as the woman’s shoulder shifted forward. “I approve…”

Spike leapt over Trixie's shoulder and blew a gust of emerald flame at the intruder. "Leave my sister alone!"

Trixie followed up by spinning and summoning her keyblade, then swinging it out as the interloper stumbled back in surprise. “Indeed! Do not touch Trixie, you cretin!” Magician’s Delight slammed into the side of the woman’s head, sending her reeling into the wall.

~H*H~

Granny’s eyes narrowed as opportunity presented itself to her. Sprinting towards the apprentices, she leapt up towards the side hall’s vaulted ceiling, planted her feet firmly on either side of the peak, then rocketed down toward the brat that dared to interrupt her grandbaby’s big day. She hit the ground with a hard thump, and grabbed the woman by the hood as she bounced off of the wall. With a labored grunt, she pulled her arm back and tossed the intruder into the air, then jumped up a few feet and gave an aerial roundhouse to her stomach that sent her flying back out into the throne room.

The other masters were quick to pick up on Granny’s play. Sombra suddenly appeared below her. Gripping the Crystal Conquest with both hands, he leapt up and slashed across the woman’s back, causing even more of her coat to tear away.

Chrysalis struck next, using a pair of sickly green ethereal wing to approach from the side. Using Shifting Loyalties’ teeth, which had folded out to form something akin to a pickaxe blade, she hook the woman by the armpit, then pulled up towards the ceiling and slammed her enemy into the solid marble, sending a spider web of cracks spreading beneath her. A strike from the master’s fist to the woman’s chest caused the cracks to spread even further. Chrysalis gripped the woman by her coat’s collar and hurled her back at the ground.

Zecora appeared beside her with Shaman’s Wisdom pulled back. She brought her keyblade down into the woman’s abdomen, hastening the intruder’s decent.

As the woman made contact with the ground, Luna and Celestia appeared on either side of her. Celestia slashed across the woman’s front, while Luna hit her back.

As the woman staggered to her feet, Sombra stepped up in front of her and raised his right leg, his knee coming to rest against his chest. The woman looked at him and her shoulders sank as his foot shot forward into her chest, sending her into the east wall.

Granny dashed forward, thrusting her keyblade forward, only to have the enemy stumble to the side. Instead of pulling out, she brought her keyblade down, cutting straight through the marble. Her cut continued, slicing into and through the floor in a wide, sweeping curve towards the woman.

The woman stepped back as the weapon emerged from the ground and flew at her face. She narrowly avoided her doom as the tip of a blue lightning bolt passed an inch from her nose. Granny stopped her swing and brought the keyblade down at her. The old master’s feet came off the ground as she flipped to give her strike more momentum. The woman stumbled sideways again as a shower of sparks erupted from the ground where she had been standing not even a second ago.

Chrysalis flew in again holding her keyblade out to the side, intending to slash this time. Sombra and Zecora were already lined up behind her…

She had no choice.

She had to.

She ran towards Chrysalis and, at the last moment, dropped to her knees and slid under the master’s keyblade. The wind from Chrysalis’s attack snatched her hood away from her face, causing her crimson and golden locks to fall out around her sun-kissed face adorned with beautiful cyan eyes.

As she stood back up, Celestia and Luna set up for another cross-slash attack, but she was ahead of them.

“Enough!” Sunset Shimmer screamed, holding her hand up over her head. “Stopza!” A black field of temporal magic and the sound of ticking clocks flooded the throne room and side hall, freezing every person present in their tracks. “I’ve had enough of this. It's time I finished up here...”

Author's Note

Ass kicking. Ass kicking everywhere. I know, Pinkie and Dash's fight was a bit short, but it did what it needed to. Now, for the asterisks, cuz you know they're coming. These were meant as reference points, where you could scroll down to the A/N and get a bit more info on them. In this chapter, I used a lot of Historical stances, weapon disciplines, as well as techniques during the trials that might've intrigued some folks. Bear in mind these are their Primary fighting styles. Who knows what I'll come up with later on... :pinkiecrazy:

*Rainbow Dash's stance and style is based on a reverse grip knife fighting technique, in which you use your non-dominant arm to protect vital organs and the such. Particularly useful with a karambit knife.
*Pinkie Pie's stance and style (though we didn't get to see here actually dueling with her weapon discipline) are based on shaolin sword techniques. Very languid, fast and hard to track, much like Pinkie herself.
*Trixie and Fluttershy are trained in a variation of cutlass/saber disciplines. That's really all I can say about that. That's why their duel was particularly... duel-ish, compared to the others.
*Gilda's stance and style are based on kenjutsu (yes, that is a real thing... look it up on YouTube.) and general two-handed techniques.
*Applejack is similar to Gilda, though I tended to gravitate more towards European longsword techniques. Hence her stance is a bit different.
*Twilight Sparkle and Rarity are trained as arcane mages. Their disciplines and stances are very generic and simple, yet highly adaptable. I didn't really take much influence from any particular style when planning them out.

Keyblades:
Fluttershy: Gentle Wind, originally aniamalman, but altered by me.
Trixie: Magician’s Delight, me.
Pinkie: Fun and Game: me.
Rainbow: Pride of Nation, me.
Gilda: Wings of Loyalty, me.
Applejack: Honest Apple, originally aniamalman, but altered by me.
Rarity: Dutiful Abandonment, me.
Twilight: Broken Harmony, me.

If I alter any of aniamalman's M6 designs, it's typically going to be adding a bit more detail or removing the Element of Harmony from it.

Now, I have a challenge for all of you, reader. I want you to tell me what you think the meaning of their keyblades are. Specifically, Twilight, Gilda, and Rarity's keyblades. I won't tell you right away if you're right, but you'll eventually discover whether you were or not.

Jesus this is a long A/N...

The Escape

Twilight was speechless. How could she? She stared in shock as Sunset Shimmer strode casually over to throne of her master and sat upon its wreckage. They had been… Celestia had said she was… She used to be Twilight’s friend… She felt something wet streak down her cheeks.

After resting a moment, Sunset stood and moved over to Twilight, wearing a grim smile on her face all the while. “Hey kiddo,” she said miserably, wrapping her arms tight around Twilight’s shoulders. “I missed you.”

“You betrayed our master,” Twilight hissed, suddenly aware that she could speak.

“Yeah… Look, Twilight…” Sunset stopped for a moment, pulling back and resting her hands on the younger girl’s shoulders. “There’s… a lot going on. Things you wouldn’t understand just yet.” Sunset pulled away and trudged back towards the masters. “To be honest, I wish I didn’t have to do this.”

“D-do what?” she asked tentatively, though she imagined that she already knew the answer.

“You really need to ask?” Sunset whispered, holding her right hand a little away from her body as she made her way towards Master Zecora. A stream of violet energy cascaded from her palm, convulsing and cascading for a moment before settling into a short, blade-like shape. “Huh. I guess time magic takes more out of me than I thought,” she muttered, holding the blade up to her face. “Never been that small before…”

“Sunset, don’t do this!” Twilight screamed, watching with horror as Sunset raised her blade over her head. “Please! I’m begging you!”

“Sorry, Kiddo,” the villain said coldly, turning back to her former friend. “They can’t be allowed to interfere.” She turned back to Zecora, only to have a white and gold keyblade fly at her head. Sunset immediately raised her energy blade to block, but it was promptly shattered and she was sent flying several feet, landing on her back.

Twilight’s eyes flicked over to see her mentor glowing with a golden aura surrounding her body. Her eyes shone with the same light as she moved towards Sunset holding her hand out. Solar Radiance appeared in her hand, glowing with that same brilliance. Twilight felt her heart seize in panic as she realized what that golden glow really was.

It was Celestia’s Limit Break, Supreme Nova.

It was her last resort.

“No…” she whispered as her master stepped up to the stunned Sunset Shimmer and planted her sandal-clad foot on her enemy’s chest, preventing her form rising. Sunset’s eyes widened as the glow surrounding Celestia quickly expanded into a large sphere, encompassing both of them in its blinding light. The sphere continued to expand until it was large enough that Twilight could feel the heat emanating from the sun-like spell.

Twilight’s panic only grew deeper as she processed what would happen if Sunset was alive when the Limit Break ended.

The glow surrounding Celestia faded to reveal a grinning Sunset and a shocked Celestia. “It can’t…” Celestia started, her eyes widening, then narrowing in determination. She turned to Twilight, pointing her keyblade at her pupil. “I’m sorry,” she said somberly, before a flash of light enveloped Twilight.

When the blinding light subsided, Twilight found herself in a completely different part of Canterlot. Instead of the bright and beautiful marble walls of the palace and surrounding residential areas, she now stared straight into the metallic grey walls of the city hangar port.

“Hey, y’all, what happened?” a masculine voice asked from the left. Twilight turned to see Applejack’s brother running towards them, a wrench in his hand.

“I… don’t rightly know…” A.J. replied as she put a hand to her head. Big Macintosh came to a stop in front of her, checking her up and down to make sure she was okay.

“Nor do I,” Rarity said quietly, crossing her arms.

“The last thing Trixie remembers is…” She trailed off, picking Spike’s now unconscious form up off of the ground. He never could handle teleportation.

“That scary lady holding up her hand after fighting our masters…” Fluttershy finished, hugging her stomach.

“She cast a stop spell,” Pinkie said leaning against the wall.

“Well, let’s get back and bea–” Rainbow was cut off as Twilight stood up and summoned Broken Harmony.

With a savage scream, Twilight slammed her keyblade into the wall, leaving a long, deep gash in the metallic surface. “Sunset… Shimmer…” she hissed, clutching her keyblade’s grip tightly. “I can’t believe she just…”

“What?” Twilight looked over to see Gilda reaching over to put a hand on her heaving shoulder. “What happened, Twilight?”

As if to answer her question, Twilight and Trixie both felt something heat up beneath their shirts. Quickly fishing their amulets out of their collars, both of their eyes went wide. The sun-shaped pendants continued to heat up and a slight buzz could be heard emanating from them until suddenly, a beam shot roughly three feet from the amulets’ jeweled centers. As the golden hologram of Celestia began to form in front of them, Twilight’s face twisted in grief. “Please no…” Trixie whispered behind her.

“Hello, my faithful students,” the hologram said kindly, smiling warmly at them. “I regret to say that if you are hearing this, then I have fallen in battle before you were ready. I’m sorry. Now that I have perished, I fear I must relinquish a daunting task unto you.” The hologram held out her hands and five holographic gems of different colors appeared before her. “You must find these. They are called the Elements of Harmony. They are an ancient and powerful weapon, older even than I am. You must protect them. Scatter them throughout the worlds if you must. There are those who would seek to destroy them; do not let these fiends get their hands on them. For this reason, I cannot tell you where I have hidden them. But I can tell you that they are not in Canterlot. I trust you will see this mission through to the end, no matter the cost.”

Twilight stepped forward, reaching her hands out. “No… please don’t…” She brought her fingertips close to the hologram’s face as tears ran down her cheeks in torrents, dripping down onto her coat.

“I am sorry that I must now hand my duty over to you, but it is out of my control at this point.”

“Trixie?” Spike said quietly, squirming in his sister’s arms. “What’s…?” His eyes widened when he saw the golden visage of Celestia before him. “Oh no…”

“I suspect that if I have perished, then so too have the other five masters.” Twilight reached forward and attempted to close her hands on the hologram’s face, only to have them slip through the intangible construct of magic and light. This caused her to fall to her knees, her shoulder trembling and her face twisting even further in grief. “Find their apprentices, and request their aid in this task. You will likely need all the help you can obtain. Unfortunately, your amulets can only hold so much magical energy, so my time runs short for this message. If I have in fact perished before any of your eighteenth birthdays, I would like to give you this…” The hologram held out its hand, and a key ring adorned with a small automotive key appeared before it, then fell to the ground with a clatter. “You will find it in my personal hangar. Take good care of her, and she will aid you in your new role.”

“M-master…” Twilight whimpered as the glow of the hologram began to dim.

“Fare thee well, my precious, faithful students.” With those final words, the hologram dissipated, leaving Twilight and Trixie to stare at the place it had been only moments ago in utter silence.

Twilight brought her arms across her chest and hugged herself tight in one final attempt to stem the tide of heartbreak before it could escape. She bit her lip to try and stop the whimper building in her throat and clamped her eyes shut tight to keep any more tears from falling. All her efforts went to waste when she felt a quartet of clawed feet scamper into her lap and a pair of tuxedo-clad sleeves wrap around her shoulders from behind.

As Spike squirmed his way into her arms and Trixie pulled her close, every wall she had been trying to keep standing shattered, and Twilight let loose a heart wrenching wail that filled every eye in the area with tears. Even Big Macintosh was forced to run his arm over his face to dry his tears.

~H*H~

“Fare thee well, my precious, faithful students.”

Sunset grit her teeth as the hologram dissipated and she was left staring at empty air. Slowly, she sat down and leaned her back against the white marble railing of the balcony she was on. She stared at the small, sun-shaped amulet in her hand for a moment before tucking it into her coat collar. “Damn it…” she whispered, hugging her knees close to her chest. “Why me?”

~H*H~

It was a while before Twilight managed to calm down enough to process rational thought. When she finally did, she stood in front of the other apprentices and looked to each of them in turn. They had all lost their masters, same as she and Trixie.

But they were alive.

Celestia had saved them, and had given them all a task.

“Twilight?” She turned her head to the right to look at Spike, who was sitting on her shoulder. “What do we do now?”

“Indeed, what is our next move?” Trixie asked, tightening her grip on her surrogate sister’s left hand. When Twilight looked to her, she saw that she was not the only one to shed tears. Trixie’s eyes were blood shot and puffy, same as hers probably were. Same as almost everyone else’s were, especially Fluttershy. The poor girl was huddled up against the wall with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, still sobbing her eyes out.

“Our next move…?” she muttered, contemplating the matter. Suddenly, she lifted her head. “Everyone, listen up!” All those gathered turned to look at her with despair in their eyes. “We’ve been given a mission by the Grand Master herself! It’s our job as apprentices to fulfill her wishes!”

“Twilight,” Applejack said, stepping up to her. “We all just lost our mentors. I just lost my kin. Ain’t nobody here ready for that kind of task just yet.”

“Even so, Applejack, it’s our responsibility,” Twilight countered, grimacing at her new friend. “You heard what that message said. We have to do this. She wouldn’t have trusted us if she didn’t need to.”

“I hate to be the brush-off here, but Twilight’s right,” Gilda chimed in, crossing her arms. “If these Elements are so important that someone would kill our masters for them, then we need to find them A.S.A.P.”

“Y-yeah!” Fluttershy suddenly stood up, drying her eyes on her gloved forearms. “M-Master Luna would want me to be strong… I’m in!”

Rainbow and Pinkie joined her, each putting a hand on her shoulders. “Count us in, too.”

Rarity, who’d been standing off to the side while everyone wept, tucked something into the collar of her coat and turned to face the others. “I will aid you as well,” she said simply, scowling at the rest of them. “I wish to… avenge… my master’s death. I may yet do that if I am involved with this quest of yours.”

Twilight smiled and turned back to Applejack. “So? Will you join us?”

“I…” Applejack paused for a moment, clenching her teeth. With a sigh, she crossed her arms smiled warmly at Twilight. “I reckon so. I can’t scold Rarity for being a priss if I wuss out now, can I?”

“Most assuredly not,” Rarity added, planting a hand on A.J.’s shoulder and offering a warm smile.

“Then it’s decided,” Twilight proclaimed with a smile as she summoned Broken Harmony. “We take the Grand Master’s ship and we complete this mission.” She held her keyblade up above her head. “And if we can, we avenge our master’s deaths!”

Trixie let go of Twilight’s hand and summoned Magician’s Delight, and then raised the weapon up to meet with Twilight’s.

One by one, the other apprentices joined in, holding their keyblades up to touch the tips with Twilight and Trixie’s; even Big Mac raised his fist up to the keyblades. With a bright flash, they all dismissed their weapons and smiled at each other.

“Aw, isn’t this cute…” Every head in the room turned to see a woman wearing the same coat as Sunset walking towards them. She was built different than Sunset, having a more curvaceous figure, but she still looked to be in decent shape. In her right hand was a strange metal staff that separated near its middle and came to two points. It almost resembled a tuning fork. “You kids think you’re a threat…” she said, giving a haughty laugh as the apprentices all took a collective step back.

“Another one?” Trixie hissed, summoning her keyblade. As she took a step forward, Twilight held a hand up to bar her path.

“No, Trixie. We need to get out of here. These people… Sunset was able defeat all six of the masters. There’s no telling how strong her allies are.” Trixie would have objected, but the look on Twilight’s face was all she needed to understand the situation.

“That might be a good idea,” the woman said sweetly. She held her staff out, gesturing behind her at the number of spacecraft lining the docks. “But you seem to forget that I’m blocking the way to your ships.”

“What do we do, Twilight?” Trixie asked, dismissing Magician’s Delight. “If she’s anything like that Sunset woman, we can’t hope to defeat her…”

“I need a mana boost,” Twilight whispered, trying to move her lips as little as possible lest this new enemy catch her ploy.

“How much?”

“A lot. Mass teleport levels.”

“Understood.” Trixie turned and wrapped her arms around Twilight’s neck, hugging her tight. “Oh, Twilight! If we should die, Trixie wants to be in your arms!”

Twilight, for her part, closed her eyes and hugged Trixie’s waist. “I feel the same way, Trixie…”

“Daggum it, y’all, is this really the time?” Applejack shouted, earning a punch in the shoulder from Rarity.

“The poor girls deserve a final embrace, don’t you think?” She scolded, scowling at the two ‘lovers.’ She knew what they were doing… and she wasn’t sure that she approved. “To be honest, I wouldn’t mind dying in a pretty girl’s arms…” she glanced over to Fluttershy and winked, causing the meek girl to squeak in surprise.

“Um…” The cloaked woman turned her head and crossed her arms over her stomach. “Well, this is… uncomfortable…” she said quietly.

“That’s enough, Trixie…” Twilight said, tapping her friend’s shoulder. The magician pulled back and took Twilight’s hand as she moved to stand behind her. “Everyone, link hands!” Twilight shouted, noting with a bit of pride that everyone did as she said.

“What?” The woman turned her gaze back to the group. Her shoulders trembled as she pointed the forked end of her staff at the group. “You tricked me!” she yelled as a mass of turquoise energy enveloped her weapon. Before she could do anything, however, the entire group vanished in a flash of light.

With an agitated growl, she turned to the ships behind her and pointed her staff at the one comprised of black and red crystalline structures, then fired of a blast of pure mana at the craft. It was promptly destroyed in a ball of fire.

“Calm down, Starlight,” a soft voice said behind her. She turned to see her comrade approaching, in the process of removing her tattered coat to reveal a short, orange tube top, a pair of black tights and her black boots. “Remember, we need them alive.”

Starlight gave a soft sigh and pulled her hood back, letting her purple and teal pony tail fall heavily between her shoulder blades. “I know, Sunset… But I dislike how we’re going about this… It really doesn’t give them a fair chance.”

“I don’t like it either,” Sunset whispered, clutching the pendant in front of her chest. “I mean, I just…”

“I know… It couldn’t have been easy.”

“You don’t even know, Starlight,” she replied, before grabbing Starlight’s upper arm. “Let’s get back to base. We don’t want to keep the new members waiting.”

The two of them blinked out of existence, leaving the hangar completely empty.

~H*H~

The sound of retching filled the private hangar as Rarity leaned over a rail and released her lunch and breakfast into the void of space. Likewise, most of the other apprentices were either keeled over, curled up on the ground, or doing the same as Rarity.

“Easy, Twilight…” Trixie said gently, supporting Twilight as the two sank to the floor. “Trixie’s got you…”

“Hey,” Twilight grumbled in response, “Not so loud… kind of have a headache…”

“Sorry…”

“Remind m–” Rarity stopped as another wave of nausea overcame her, prompting her to retch yet again. “Remind me to never teleport again. That was dreadful!”

Pinkie appeared beside her, holding a phial of brownish-gold liquid. “Here, take half of this. It’ll ease the nausea.”

“Master Zecora really had a potion for everything, didn’t she?” Rarity asked as she accepted the phial and took a rather unladylike swig of its contents.

“Well… yeah,” she said as she ran off to hand out more ambrosia. “But I learned that from my mom. She came up with it when she was pregnant with me and Marble.”

Rarity’s brow raised as her nausea suddenly vanished. “Marble?” she asked as Pinkie finished passing out medicine.

“Yeah, Marble Pie. My twin sister,” Pinkie explained, kneeling down next to Twilight.

“There are… two of you?” Rainbow asked. She and Gilda were currently in the process of helping Fluttershy to her feet.

“You mean two people like me?” Pinkie asked, holding an ether to Twilight’s lips and tilting her head back. “Cuz actually having two Pinkies around might get confusing–”

“And annoying,” Twilight mumbled as she downed the last drop of ether.

“–but probably lots of fun.” Pinkie stood up and tossed the empty bottle behind her. “Oh, and no. Marble and I are like day and night. She’s really shy and super adorable.”

Applejack wobbled as she stood up, summoning her Honest Apple and leaning on it for support. “Hate to break up this chat, but we should probably scoot on out of here before them coat ladies find us.”

“They were hardly ladies, darling.”

“You know what I meant,” A.J. snapped back.

“Regardless of their manners, Applejack is right. We need to leave,” Twilight said as she staggered to her feet. Trixie stood up beside her, holding Spike’s unconscious form in her arms as though he were a housecat.

“I got the ship ready!” a masculine voice called from inside a nearby cruiser.

Surprised, everyone turned to face Applejack’s brother, who was standing on the gangway to Celestia’s personal craft. The ship itself was simple and small, about the size of a larger house. It was pure white and had smooth features, looking more like an airplane than a spaceship. On the side was emblazoned the name Sol Navem.

“Everybody, get on board! We’re leaving now.”

“Sheesh, who made her the boss?” Rainbow whispered to Rarity, who gently placed her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“She did get us out of the hangar,” she stated plainly, gesturing at Twilight with her free hand. “Not to mention, she was the Grand Master’s apprentice. I don’t think it will hurt to follow her for just a little while.”

Rainbow’s expression softened as she watched Twilight turn her back to Trixie so she could gently deposit Spike in her backpack. “Yeah… good point,” she whispered before setting off towards the spaceship.

~H*H~

“So, think you can fly it?” Gilda asked as she and Big Macintosh took to the cockpit. He took the pilot’s seat, while she flopped down in the copilot’s.

“Eeyup,” he replied calmly as his eyes scanned over the control panel. He found what he was after and put Celestia’s key into the ignition, turning it as soon as it was seated properly.

“I’m still a little confused about that key…” Gilda said quietly, pulling her harness around her and fastening it just under her bosom. Big Macintosh gave her a puzzled look as he buckled himself in. She answered with a shrug. “I mean, it’s not like this is an older model, like a Highwind or something… It looks brand new! Why would she have such an outdated ignition switch?”

“Beats me.”

“You don’t really say much, do you?”

“Nope.”

“How come?”

Big Mac sighed as he wrapped his hands around the controls. “Mostly ‘cuz I don’t need to. I live a life where words usually just drift off into the wind. Ain’t really nobody around to here ‘em, so I keep ‘em to myself.”

“Sounds pretty lonely,” Gilda said quietly, moving her left hand up to clutch her scarf.

“I got my sisters.”

A small smile crossed Gilda’s lips. “You’ve got more than one?” she asked as the ship started to lift up.

Big Macintosh smiled too, though he was clearly trying to hide it. “Yeah… I got two,” he said warmly. He seemed to finally give up on hiding his smile and let it spread across his face. “A.J. and Apple Bloom… They mean the world to me, y’know?”

“I’m an only child, but I think I know what you mean,” she answered as the door behind them slid open and Twilight stepped in.

She stepped up between the seats and leaned forward. “Are we all ready?”

“Eeyup.”

“Good to hear,” Twilight said cheerfully as she reached for the panel. She quickly brought up the holo-map and scanned over it. “It looks like the closest world is Ponyville. We’ll head there and get supplies before we start looking for the Elements.”

Gilda gave a thumbs-up in response, while her copilot simply nodded in response. His earlier smile had vanished, replace by a soft frown. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“Then we’re off. I’ll go get buckled in.” With that, Twilight disappeared through the door and they were left to pilot the ship in peace.

“Hey, Big Macintosh?”

“Call me Mac.”

“Okay, Mac… So, uh…” Gilda crossed her arms and scowled at the control panel. “You’re… from Ponyville, aren’t you?”

“…Eeyup.”

“What’ll you tell your family?” she asked quietly.

Mac didn’t respond at first. He stared out into the void of space as a look of sadness came over his face. That look was immediately replaced with one of stark determination. “I’ll tell Apple Bloom that we’ll find that monster and make her pay.”

She didn’t say anything else; she merely nodded and grabbed her controls as they flew out towards Ponyville.

~H*H~

Sunset strode into the chamber with Starlight jogging close behind her. Group Seven’s two new members, who stood on opposite sides of a table in the center of the room, looked to her with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

“Where is your master?” one of them asked. She was tall and thin, looking more like a wraith than a human with the way her coat hugged her body.

“You don’t get to ask me questions like that, Number Three,” Sunset said harshly, placing the bounty of her last mission on the table.

“Will you at least tell us what that is?” the other one asked, reaching for the gem. Sunset made no move to sop him, yet his hand recoiled in pain as a number of jagged triangles materialized as a dome shield around the table.

“No,” Sunset said sharply, turning away from the table. “Number Four, you are to travel to the world of Everfree, and capture three manticores. I don’t care how; just do it. You leave immediately.”

“You have no right to order me around li–” He was cut off as Sunset whirled on him and held out her hand. Number Four immediately sank to his knees and clutched his chest.

“Don’t think you can talk back to me, just because of what you were,” she said coldly, lowering her hand. “You may have been something great before, but now, you’re just a rookie. Remember, Four: I am Number One, and she is Number two. You serve us and follow our orders. Is that clear?”

“Y-yes!” Four shouted as he fell on his side, curling up in pain. “Please, stop! I beg you!”

“I’m glad we could come to an agreement.” She turned away once again, gesturing for Starlight to follow. “Come on, Two. We’ve got more work to do.”

“Right away, One,” Starlight replied, jogging to catch up. “What’s next on the agenda?”

Sunset held out her hand, prompting a large glass jar to appear in it. Inside of the jar, a mass of dark violet energy squirmed and struggled, hoping to escape its prison. “Now, we recruit our next new member.”

Author's Note

So, thus ends the setup. I hop you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to the rest of the story! There's nothing else really to comment on, so I shall bid you adieu!

Ponyville I

Apple Bloom grabbed the bow pinned to her hair as a white spaceship flew low over head, sending a massive gust of wind over the orchard. The handle of her wagon fell with a thump as the craft prepared to land in a clearing nearby. She caught a glimpse of her brother in the cockpit as the ship turned around, but he and Granny and Applejack weren’t supposed to get back for another couple of days.

And that wasn’t their ship.

The Sweet Apple Acres ship was a plain old cargo ship painted red and green. This was clearly a luxury craft, even if it had a somewhat sporty design.

Before Apple Bloom even knew what she was doing, her feet were carrying her towards the ship, dodging between trees, her heart pounding faster and faster as she ran. What was going on? Who was that white-haired girl beside him? Why was he in such a fancy ship?

She got her answer soon enough, once he and Applejack exited the ship. The sound of boots on metal drew her attention back to the gangway, where a bunch of young women she didn’t recognize were exiting the craft. One of them, a lady with navy blue hair and purple clothes, put a hand on Applejack’s shoulder and whispered to her. Applejack gave a quick nod, before she held out her hand, offering it to Apple Bloom. Big Mac was quick to follow.

“Come here, Lil’ sis. We got a lot to talk about…” Applejack muttered with a smile. But it wasn’t a happy smile. It was sad. Really, really sad.

Apple Bloom’s heart sank as she took the hands and was led back towards the farmhouse.

~H*H~

“I didn’t realize she’d be so young…” Gilda whispered as the group exited the apple orchard at the top of a hill. “I figured she’d be closer to A.J.’s age…” She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered, even thought there was no wind blowing.

“That poor child… I just can’t imagine how she feels,” Fluttershy whispered, looking back at the farmhouse and holding her hands in front of her chest.

Twilight strode past them, holding up a list in front of her. “It is pretty horrible, but we have a lot of work to do. We’ll divide into teams of two and split the list evenly between us. Everyone in agreement?” She received affirmatives all around. “Then let’s get going,” she said, tearing the list apart and handing the pieces out.

“By the way,” Rainbow Dash started as she received her and Gilda’s portion, “are you sure it was really all that smart to leave Pinkie Pie behind to guard the ship?”

“She managed to beat you,” Spike pointed out as he climbed onto Twilight’s shoulder.

“And beyond that,” Rarity chimed in, “I’m not sure any of us really want to, um… enjoy her company any longer than we need to.”

Rainbow shook her head and crossed her arms. “Not my point. I’m saying she seems like the kind of girl to get distracted really easily. Definitely not the diligent type.”

“I think she can handle it,” Twilight said solemnly. She then turned towards Ponyville with a scowl. “I trust her.”

Trixie stepped up behind her and crossed her arms. “If Twilight believes in her, then so does Trixie.”

“Alright then, let’s get this over with,” Rarity said as she started off towards town. She briefly turned back and smiled at her assigned partner. “Come along Fluttershy!”

“R-right! Sorry!” Fluttershy called back. The timid apprentice followed quickly after her, jogging daintily with her arms out to the side.

The other two teams smiled and followed after them.

~H*H~

Pinkie Pie lay on top of the ship, gazing listlessly as the clouds drifted by, a dopey grin on her face. “Oh, look… a gator… head?” she muttered to no one in particular as an angular formation came overhead. “Whatever, clouds are weird.”

Despite her attention being directed at the sky, she was still acutely aware of her surroundings. She could hear everything happening around her, from a dog barking in the distance to the rustling of the apple tree leaves. She could feel the slightest of breezes as it brushed across her body, and she could smell all the apples in the trees. The atmosphere was nice and peaceful.

“But peaceful is kind of boring…” she whispered as she sat up. She held her left hand up in front of her and focused on it. After a moment’s concentration, a few tendrils of violet lightning arced around her hand. “Why can’t I just have fun like I want?” Everything always had to be so boring. Train hard, mix the potion just the right way, meditate for an hour… but now she didn’t have to do any of that. Her smile faltered, before sinking into a slight frown. Now master Zecora was gone, and she was all alone… The lightning coursing around her hand dissipated as she hugged her chest. “All alone…” she whimpered.

The hatch behind her opened, causing her to jump to her feet and draw her keyblade. As a tan Stetson appeared in the crack, Pinkie’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “Hey,” she said cheerfully, forcing a smile back on her face. “Everything alright?”

“I could ask you the same,” Applejack replied as she hefted herself out of the small hole, nodding at Pinkie’s keyblade.

“Yeah, I guess I’m just a little on edge,” she said loudly, dismissing her weapon. “So, you gonna answer my question?”

Applejack put her hands in her pockets and turned towards the apple orchard. “Nope.”

“Well tha–”

“Ain’t nothin’ right, by my account,” she said somberly as the wind picked up a little, threatening to take her hat off. “Everything goin’ south faster’n a cannonball in water. Granny’s gone, the other masters are dead, and now we’re goin’ on some crazy quest to find a bunch of jewels older’n Celestia herself. I knew I’d be doin’ some crazy things when I became a master, but nothin’ like this…”

“Um, I just meant is your sister okay.”

Applejack’s face flushed a little pinker, prompting her to pull her hat down a little. “Ah. She’s, uh… She’s takin’ it pretty hard. She weren’t but a runt when Ma and Pa passed. Granny was the closest Apple Bloom’s ever had to a parent.”

Before Applejack could respond, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, pinning hers to her side. “I’m so sorry,” Pinkie whispered to her as tears started seeping through the back of her shirt. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose so much of your family.”

“It’s… it’s hard,” Applejack replied quietly. “You gotta grow up real fast, and it ain’t no fun being a grown up that young…”

“That’s something I think we can all relate to…” Pinkie pointed out softly. “We keyblade wielders don’t exactly get much of a childhood, do we?”

Applejack’s teeth clenched together hard enough to produce an audible creak. “No. We sure don’t.”

~H*H~

“Hey, Gilda… you okay?”

“Fine, why?”

“You’ve just been really quiet since we got to town.”

Gilda stopped and crossed her arms, sighing as she did so. “What’s there to say?” she countered. “We’ve got a job to do, so we do it. There’s nothing else to it.”

Rainbow scowled as she stepped forward and put a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “Except there is,” she said, “You always do this Gilda. When something happens or you get upset or… whatever, you shut down and close everyone out. It needs to stop.” Rainbow paused as her best friend turned and looked her square in the eye. “It’s not just us anymore. We’re part of a team now. The others can’t read you like I can.”

Gilda didn’t respond for several minutes, but looked down at the ground in contemplation. “Dash,” she said softly, “we just lost our master, the woman that treated us like daughters-practically raised us. The people we’re up against… the ones that killed her… they’ll come after us, too. Forgive me, but I’m pretty sure they’d wipe the floor with us. So, I’m sorry if I’m not to keen on making new friends when it’s more likely I’ll lose them.”

“I understand that, but… Master Chrysalis always told us to love those we call our comrades. She said that that love gives us and them strength…”

“I… never really bought all of that.”

Rainbow sighed as she pushed past Gilda with a stern scowl, continuing ahead. She turned back briefly and glared at Gilda. “I know you didn’t. But I did.”

“…I guess you would,” Gilda whispered, jogging after her best friend as she started walking again.

~H*H~

“Twilight,” Trixie said sternly, grabbing a hold of her surrogate sister’s hood. Twilight promptly gagged and stumbled backwards. “You should head back.”

“I told you, Pinkie has th–”

“Not what Trixie means. Trixie can see how exhausted you are.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Just a few hours ago, you teleported nine people–”

”And a baby dragon!” Spike shouted from inside Twilight’s bag, where he’d taken to resting lately.

“As well as a baby dragon, halfway across Canterlot,” Trixie finished, casting a harsh glare at Twilight. “Trixie knows you have a knack for magic, but for anyone, even you, to be up and active after that is ludicrous. You need to be resting.”

“We don’t have time to rest,” Twilight shot back, pulling an elixir out of her side pouch. “A couple of these and I’ll be fine.”

“A couple?! Those are expensive!” Trixie scolded, snatching the bottle away. “How many do you have?”

“Twelve,” Twilight replied dryly. “I’ve been stockpiling them for a few months…”

“But… why?”

“Trixie, I can do magic. I’m great at it; really great. But I can’t even hold my own against you in a keyblade duel. You could barely hold up against our master for more than a minute…” Twilight gently took her elixir back and put it in her pocket, then looked away from Trixie. “My combat ability is probably the lowest of us all.”

The two of them were silent for a bit, neither one particularly wanting to continue the discussion. Eventually, Trixie spoke up. “You’re right. You do have the lowest melee ability, which is why you need to rest up and be at your best.”

“I get that I need to be ready, but resting is only going to set us back!” Twilight replied harshly.

“How?” Trixie countered, scowling at Twilight. “How exactly is it going to set us back? Each of us had maybe eight items on our lists!” she was shouting, but she didn’t care. Twilight was being stubborn and Trixie needed to get some sense through that head of hers. “Why do you always have to be so thick-headed? You always relied on items in training, and it’s not healthy! What happens when you run out of ethers? Potions? That’s not to mention how bad that is for you! Your body isn’t built to have its recovery sped up over and over again like that! It’s dangerous… and… and Trixie worries!”

“I…” Twilight gaped at Trixie in shock as several people around them stopped to observe their argument. “Fine,” she muttered, clenching her fists. “I’ll go back.”

“Can I stay?” Spike asked, climbing out of Twilight’s bag and onto her shoulder. “I can help look for stuff!”

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Twilight muttered, kneeling down to let him scamper down her arm and onto the ground. “You keep an eye on Big Sis, okay?”

“I will!” Spike shouted as he clambered up Trixie’s arm and onto her shoulder.

“We’ll see you once we’re finished and you’ve had some rest, alright?”

“Alright… until then.” With that, Twilight turned and began the long trek back to the orchard, even as her two best friends turned the other way to finish shopping. It stung a little to be scolded like that, as if she was a child. In the end, though, Trixie was right. Twilight did need to rest, and being stubborn about it was… childish. It was childish and Twilight should have known better.

~H*H~

“Fluttershy, darling? Is everything alright?” Rarity asked as she perused a nearby market stall’s clothing selection. It was a small stall, but they actually had a fairly wide variety. “You haven’t said a word since we left Jacqueline’s farm.”

“I-I’m fine… and I don’t… I don’t think that’s her name,” her timid partner replied, nearly inaudible over the hustle and bustle of the market. It actually took Rarity a moment to piece together what she’d said.

“Regardless, it is much prettier than… why would her parents name her after a kind of brandy anyway? It’s very peculiar, isn’t it?”

“I… um, I suppose so…”

Rarity shrugged and picked up the next article of clothing, carefully examining it. Apparently, they sold ponyental clothing. How fascinating. “Then again, I suppose there are only so many apple-themed names available,” she continued, holding the top up to her chest in front of the mirror. “Ew, no. Green in certainly not my color. Might work for you, though.”

Fluttershy took an instinctive step back when Rarity turned to her, holding out a sleeveless green top. “A-apple-themed?” she asked softly, taking the shirt and holding up to her chest.

“Mmm, very nice. It definitely works on you, goes great with your softer skin tone, but a bit of yellow thrown back in the mix would be better. It does clash with the hair a bit, though.” She took the top back and placed it on the table, selecting the same piece in red. “Oooh, now I know either of us could work this. And yes, apple-themed. It’s quite obvious, really. Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom… it only makes sense.”

“I… see,” Fluttershy replied softly.

Rarity paused in the middle of folding a shirt back up and scowled down at the table. “Stop pretending it doesn’t bother you,” she whispered, too quiet even for Fluttershy to pick up. She finished folding the garment and slammed it back down on the table, before storming off in the direction of the next stall.

After staring for a few moments, Fluttershy shook her head and sprinted after her, not even sure what was wrong. She hadn’t said anything to offend her… She hadn’t even spoken enough to have offended her. Fluttershy stopped running. That was it.

She must have been annoyed at her being shy, just like everyone else.

Setting her lips in a stern line, she started back after Rarity.

“Wait up!”

~H*H~

Big Mac looked up at the clock. It was getting late. The girls should be back soon; they’d been gone for a couple of hours.

He should get the guest room ready.

But a look down at Apple Bloom, fast asleep in his lap and still clutching his shirt, gave him pause. He couldn’t leave her. He was her big brother, and that meant it was his job to keep her safe. That included making sure she wasn’t alone.

“Big Mac?” Apple Bloom shifted in his lap and looked up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were puffy, but she otherwise looked fine.

“Hm?”

“Are you gonna go away too?” she asked, turning her head back down and burying her face in his chest.

“Nope,” was his simple reply.

Her grip on his shirt tightened. “I don’t believe you. Everyone’s leaving. You’re gonna get in that ship and you’re gonna leave and never come back!”

“Now that just ain’t true.” Mac grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up so he could look her in the eye. She still turned her head away and crossed her arms. “I’m gonna go with them; that’s a fact. I have to. But I’ll always come back home.”

“I’m coming too.”

“Nope. It’s gonna be dangerous. You have to stay here.”

“Then promise me you’ll call every day!” She shouted, looking back at him with a furrowed brow. It was actually kind of cute.

“I’ll call whenever we land. Days are hard to count in space.”

Her expression softened, and a smile came to her lips. “I can deal with that.”

“Good,” Mac said softly. He then tossed Apple Bloom up a little, making her squeal, and then caught her in a hug. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Now, how about we go get the guest room ready for the girls?”

“Okay!” she said happily, pulling away and jumping out of his lap.

As she ran out of the room, gesturing for him to follow, a soft warmth filled his heart. He’d always be there for her, even if it killed him. That’s what big brothers did, after all.

~H*H~

Some time after the sun had sunken over the horizon, five girls made their way back towards the farmhouse, arms laden with bags. Big Mac ran out and took a few from each one, his arms drooping as they all piled on. The girls laughed, most commenting on how a bunch of girls could lift more than he could.

Trixie, of course, asked about Twilight. Big Mac told her she was sound asleep on the couch, and that she had barely made it into the door.

Meanwhile, on a distant hill, a pair of glowing turquoise eyes watched the happenings intently.

“I can feel more auras down there. What’s changed?” Sunset asked as she strode up behind her comrade.

Starlight merely heaved a sigh in response. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Twilight showed up a few hours ago. Pretty much collapsed when that big guy answered the door. The rest of them just came back.”

“And your wards? How are they holding up?”

Starlight clenched her teeth. “Fine, Sunset. They are holding fine,” she practically hissed. Despite saying such, she could certainly feel the immense strain the silence and invisibility spells were putting on her body. That was not to mention the pain her eyes were bearing from the far sight spell. “Their guard's pretty sharp. Just from watching her, I can tell that she's acutely aware of her surroundings. Unnaturally so. It kind of… makes my skin crawl, actually.”

“That’s Pinkie Pie, Zecora’s apprentice. She’s tenacious. I watched her fight during the exam.” Silence surrounded the two of them for a while as Starlight watched the apprentices, and Sunset watched Starlight. After some time, Sunset finally spoke again. “The mana limiter isn’t working, is it?”

“Only barely, right now. It seems to work best when I’m using small-scale spells. This far sight would have consumed next to no mana at all if I weren’t casting two more at the same time.”

“Good, good… I got what we were after. Let’s head back to the corridor and get out of here.”

Starlight was quiet for a few more minutes before she finally responded. “You head on back. I think I’m going to watch them a little while longer.”

“Why?”

“They intrigue me.”

A growl behind Sunset made her turn towards her prize. Floating inside a large reflect shield sphere was a single Timberwolf. The semi-sentient mass of sticks, leaves and voodoo magic stared intently at her with malice in its eyes. She didn’t blame it. After all, it was being ripped out of its home by some stranger.

“Okay, Starlight. Just… be back in a few hours.”

“I will.”

“See you then.” With that, Sunset walked away, disappearing back into the wall of trees.

“Right.”

To Be Continued

Author's Note

A bit of a slow chapter, I know, but it's important to have good buildup. There's not really much to say about this one, so I'll leave it at that.