It was a beautiful day in Ponyville; the birds were singing, ponies going about their business all happy like, and nothing stood of the ordinary...well, except for the Gummi Ship that was parked just outside of town. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy had arrived early to get some training done, as advised from Master Yen Sid himself, but Sora wanted to visit Twilight first. Since their last visit, they didn't get to see any of the sights, due to the recent attack of Heartless and Plundervines a few days ago, so Sora wanted Twilight and Spike to help him get his bearings about the new world before he went head first into training.
Sora turned to his friends, "Okay, guys, I'm gonna head inside the library see what Twilight's up to."
"I'll go to Applejack's and see if my magic can help her on her farm." Donald suggested.
"H'yuck! And I'll go to Rarity's and see if she needs any help with her dresses!" Goofy said.
"Don't you mean, 'trash her dresses'? Especially knowing you?"
"Cut it out, Donald, Goofy's not THAT big a klutz, besides, he's helped us many times before." Sora interjected.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Goofy."
"It's alright, Donald, I know yer just teasin'." Goofy waved off.
"In any case, I'll go with Sora," Jiminy said, "I'll need to chronicle anything in my journal and you two can tell what you've been through afterwards."
"Okay. See ya later, Sora!" Donald said as he and Goofy waved him and Jiminy goodbye for now.
He waved back in his pony form and headed for his destination. After he entered the library, he noticed Twilight concentrating on a book she was reading. Deciding not to bother her, he took a seat against the wall far from Twilight. After reading the book from start to finish, she picked it up in her telekinetic hold and tossed it away.
"Ugh!" she groaned in annoyance.
Little did either of them noticed that Spike was dusting and the book that was thrown smashed into his feather duster, partially destroying it.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" he asked.
"Agh, I've gone through every book in Ponyville, Spike," she began as she lifted another tome, "and there isn't a single mention of the mysterious chest that came from the Tree of Harmony, nor anything about keys to unlock it!" she put the book down and turned to Spike, "But something tells me that opening it is pretty important."
"So that's why you were so focused on that book." Sora said.
The two jumped at his words, swiftly turning their heads in his direction, "Sora!" Twilight gasped, "When did YOU get here!?"
Sora put a hoof to his chin, "Hmm...I think about five minutes ago."
Twilight blushed in embarrassment, not noticing him come in earlier, "Ah, heh-heh..." she shook off her blush and flew up to a tall stack of wobbly books, "Anyway...I hope Princess Celestia has some ideas. If the library in Canterlot doesn't have anything, I don't know where else to look."
"Ahh!" Spike yelled as the wobbly book stack landed on him.
After he dug himself out, he burped a plume of green fire and out came a scroll from Princess Celestia, which Twilight grabbed with her telekinesis and began to read,
My dearest Twilight,
While it would be perfectly lovely to have you in Canterlot once more, I have another option in mind much closer to Ponyville. As you know, the ancient castle that I once shared with Princess Luna is mostly in ruins, deep in the Everfree Forest. But if you look carefully, you may find a book that could prove helpful to your research, hidden somewhere in what's left of the castle library.
"Road trip!" Sora declared, making Twilight and Spike giggle at his antics.
And so they did; the group of three headed out of the library and travelled through the aforementioned Everfree Forest, arriving at the castle and making their way to its library. Once there, Twilight gasped loudly at all of the books that lay on the shelves and scattered around the floor.
"Wow! Look at all these ancient books!" Twilight said, excitedly, flying up to the shelves, "It's a veritable gold mine of information! I can't believe it! Whoo-hoo!"
Spike, on the other hand (or hoof), wasn't as excited as Twilight, he looked the area, scared and nervous to the point where he didn't notice a spider web in his path until it was too late. He walked right through it and caught himself off guard, stumbling and falling to the stone floor, closing his eyes from the pain. After opening them, he was face to face with a stone statue of a giant horse and yelped as it startled him.
Spike laughed nervously as he brushed off the webbing, "So, uh, Twilight, Sora, eh, ready to head home?"
"Are you kidding? This place is PERFECT!" Twilight cheered as she dove into a large pile of the ancient books.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna see if this place has some kinda old training area I can use. See ya!" with that Sora waved to them and began to scour the castle, looking for a place where he can train.
Meanwhile, Spike, curled up in a ball, looked around fearfully as spiders with six eyes, eight legs, and star marks on their thoraxes crawled around him, making him even more scared, as if he was fear itself.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note
Dearly Beloved
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to Hasbro Studios and DHX Media
Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and SQUARE ENIX
Kingdom Hearts: Castle Mane-ia
EDIT: Music links added
Chapter 1: Dares, Restoration, and Studies
After a while, Donald had finally made it to Sweet Apple Acres, only to find two bunches of bees in the shape of two ponies just outside the barn.
"Uhh..." was all Donald could say in his confusion.
"I'm not gonna move. You move." the one sounding like Rainbow said.
"Uh-uh, there is no way Ah'm movin'." the another sounding like Applejack said.
Donald walked over to Pinkie and her pet baby alligator, Gummy, and asked, "Okay, what am I looking at?"
But Pinkie seemed to ignore him as she narrated, "THIS is the most daring dare anypony ever dare dare another pony to dare!"
"Huh?" Donald, Applejack, Rainbow spoke in confusion.
"It's exciting!" Pinkie clarified as a bee found it's way inside Gummy's nostril and out again.
Donald, still being confused by the whole thing, said the only that came to mind, "...Uh...What?"
"Whatcha all doing?" a beekeeper pony, who came out of nowhere, asked.
Pinkie got in his face and said, "Rainbow Dash and Applejack are competing for the title 'Most Daring Pony'!" she rushed over to her two friends, "This is the final test, 'The Bee Stare'! Last pony to blink wins!"
"Ohhhh..." Donald said in understanding.
The beekeeper pony deadpanned, "I'm gonna need my bees back."
"But then we'll never find out who the most daring pony is!" Rainbow mumbled.
"I'm sorry about that." he said, then whistled, calling his bees back to him, revealing Rainbow and Applejack wearing beekeeper suits.
"Well, what'a we do now?" Applejack asked.
"Don't worry, ladies," Pinkie began, "I've been keeping excellent score all day!" she skipped over to her table and started to tally the score between Applejack and Rainbow, "Congratulations! You're tied!"
"Tied?" Applejack asked, confused.
"You can't be tied for 'The Most Daring Pony'!" Rainbow argued as she and Applejack glared at Pinkie.
"I dunno, numbers don't lie!" Pinkie revealed the score sheet, which had a bunch of random scribbles on it, making Dash and AJ glance at each other. "I'd LOVE to stay and give giving score, but I promised to help test the new school bell! I get to it ALL WEEK, NONSTOP! And I don't have to take turns because no one else volunteered!" with that, Pinkie bounced off, giggling all the while.
"Okay, no problem," Rainbow spoke as she took off her suit, "We just have to come up with another daring dare."
"Right." Applejack agreed.
The two looked around for anything they can use for a, "daring dare", until Applejack spotted the Everfree Forest near her home and smiled deviously.
"Ah think Ah might have an idea on what we can do." she said as Rainbow shared her smile, "An' Donald here can help us!"
"Oh no..." Donald moaned.
Meanwhile, deep within the forest, Rarity, Fluttershy, Angel Bunny, and Goofy walked along the usual path to the old castle.
"Um...Rarity? Don't you think it's a little late in the day to be walking through the forest? It is Star Spider season, after all." Fluttershy timidly said, "Though, I'm sure you have a very good reason."
"Simply THE most important reason I've ever had in my entire life." Rarity replied.
"Oh! Well then I'm happy to help, what is it?"
"Yeah," Goofy spoke up, "what reason could ya have for comin' into this dark and spooky place?"
"I've heard rumors that the Castle of the Two Sisters is filled with the most GORGEOUS of ancient tapestries in all of pony history! It pains me to think of those magnificent creations rotting away in those old ruins, totally unappreciated!"
"I see..." Fluttershy said, slightly annoyed.
"Uh, I'm no genius, but that's kind of a silly reason, ain't it?" Goofy theorized.
But Rarity acted like she didn't hear him and continued on across the rickety bridge, "I require your help in, borrowing one or two to bring back to the boutique where I can restore them." then she got excited, "Maybe I'll even use the patterns as the inspiration for a new line!"
"That DOES sound very important." Fluttershy commented.
"Uhh..." Goofy was confused beyond all reason.
"Yes! Well...maybe not THE most important reason in my entire life, but retro, ancient classic will be all the rage next season, so it's nothing to sneeze at." Angel Bunny brushed his tall ears against Rarity's nose and made her sneeze, ironically.
The group made it to the entrance of the ruined castle, ready to complete Rarity's little chore.
"Um, are you sure you need those tapestries?" Fluttershy asked, scared.
"But of course...although, I must admit these ruins are a fright," Rarity stepped in muck and proceed to shake it off, "just look at all the dirt everywhere."
Angel ran off into the castle doors on his own, making Fluttershy gasp, "Angel!"
"A-hyuck, come back, little bunny!" Goofy called.
The three ran in after him, unaware of an ominous shadow lurking over the steps.
"Goodness!" Rarity uttered, "It's practically an artistic treasure trove of ancient good taste!"
Angel was found standing just inside one of the rotted out hallways, tapping his foot, impatiently.
"Angel!" Fluttershy rushed over to him and started fretting, "Oh, you really shouldn't have run off like that! Ancient ruins are filled with all sorts of things that can hurt you! You could stub your toe, or trip on a loose stone, you have to be careful!"
Fluttershy then realized she was left behind by Rarity and Angel and ran to catch up, not noticing that Goofy stubbed his foot and tripped into the hallway, shouting, "YAH-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!!"
Just then, Twilight, Sora, and Spike walked by at the top of the staircase with a candelabra incased in Twilight's magic.
"Hey, did you guys hear something?" Sora asked.
"Um, no, why?" Twilight asked back.
Sora put a hoof to his chin and shrugged, "Eh, I'm probably just hearing things."
"Anyway, I don't think I need all these candles, Twilight," Spike said, "I was really only scared for a second."
"Oh, these aren't for you, Spike, we're gonna be studying late into the night, and we're gonna need all the light we can get." Twilight replied.
Spike's eyes widened in shock before his shoulders slumped, "Oh. Great." he continued with Twilight and Sora to the next room.
Before they knew it, the castle just got three new visitors, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Donald Duck entered the main hallway.
"Well...here we are!" Applejack declared.
"Uh, what's so daring about this place?" Rainbow asked, "This is where we got the Elements of Harmony."
"When I was just a filly," Applejack began, "Granny Smith told me of an ancient legend; when Nightmare Moon was banished, not every last bit of her dark magic went with her. Granny used to say, when night falls on the castle, that magic takes the form of...The Pony of Shadows!"
"You mean like a ghost?"
"Nopony kno-o-o-ows..." Applejack said in an eerie voice.
Rainbow groans, prompting Donald to speak up, "Ah, it's probably just an ancient Heartless or something."
Rarity gasps in awe as she found one of Luna's old tapestries, "This one is perfect!"
"Well...it certainly could use some restoration." Fluttershy said.
"Uh, I guess?" Goofy said, still confused.
Rarity turned to Fluttershy, "Be a dear, fly up there and lift it off that hook."
Fluttershy flew up and tried to grab the end with her mouth and tried to lift it, but to no avail.
"Maybe from below?" Rarity suggested.
Fluttershy gave her an annoyed look while Rarity just gave a big smile, and flew under the tapestry to remove it from the wall, but then suddenly, the wall Fluttershy was at began to spin until it completely flipped over.
"Uh-oh..." Goofy uttered.
The daring trio walked through the castle while searching for the fabled, "Pony of Shadows".
"I don't see what's so daring about an old legend." Rainbow said, "Plus, I don't believe in ghosts."
"Yeah!" Donald agreed.
Applejack looked up and saw a tapestry rustling, "Ya might wanna rethink yer position on that..."
A whimpering came from the tapestry, making the trio go wide-eyed and their mouths agape, they screamed as they ran away, but they were stopped by a flash of lightning illuminated the room and showed an evil silhouette that loomed over them.
"AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"
To Be Continued...
Author's Note
It's time for Jiminy's Journal!
Angel Bunny
A mischievous little rabbit who is the primary pet of Fluttershy; he cares about his owner, but can sometimes be impatient with her.
Not much else is known about him...
Unknown Figure
Image Not Available
Last seen creeping up to the entrance of The Castle of the Two Sisters.
