The day was awash with sunshine, and a soft breeze slipped through the air. Near Whitetail Woods, seven mares sat around a picnic basket atop a blanket. A small white creature sat atop the basket, nearly feline in form, its red eyes examining the seven mares. The six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony focused intently on the seventh. Food lay mostly forgotten as she told the story of the spread of demons by an "unplanned extradimensional excursion", as she put it.
"And with this ingress of demons into your dimension, Governance feels it would be better for both communities if you were self-sufficient in handling them, rather than relying on Humanity, as our resources are already stretched thin." After a brief pause the pink mare flicked her eyes to the catlike creature atop the basket and flicked a strand of her red mane away from her face. "The Incubators agree with Governance on this, and looked for the best potential contractees. They found you six."
"Excuse me?" Twilight interrupted. The pink earth pony focused on her and she continued, lifting a quill and sheet of parchment, "I'm sorry Miss Sakura, I just want to get this all straightened out in my mind. You're part of a race of beings called humans, Governance acts as your ruler, and the Incubators are.. guards of your species? And you.. Magical Girls, work with the Incubators?"
The pink earth pony shook her head and pulled out a box of chocolate covered sticks from... somewhere. "Please, call me Kyouko. And that's close, but not quite right. Yes, we are humans, although the magic that took me here also changed my form to match your species'. Governance is a ruling body, yes, but they're primarily administrative and let Humanity do what they want as long as no one violates the Core Rights. Incubators, however..." Kyouko reached over and picked up the cat-looking creature by its nape and slowly spun it in front of her face. A brief 'oh!' came from Fluttershy across the blanket as she almost reached out to stop Kyouko from doing this.
"I don't think I'll ever understand your continued disdain with us, Kyouko Sakura. We merely offer an even trade to contractees," a telepathic voice projected into their minds. At this, Rarity dropped an apple that she had been levitating up to her mouth, Twilight dropped her quill, and the four others started in surprise, Rainbow jumping up from where she had been half-dozing with her face resting atop a hoof.
"Incubators will grant one wish to a person in exchange for bestowing upon them magical powers and drafting them into fighting demons. This makes them a Magical Girl, and they are obligated by contract to kill demons and collect grief cubes. However, they are notorious at backfiring, and whatever good you wish elsewhere in the world will have to be paid by yourself. However- there is one caveat for you six, and you can thank Kyubey here for that." After dropping Kyubey on the basket, it turned around a few times then looked at Twilight.
"Since you already are linked by an incredible weight of karmic destiny, you all must make a single wish, as a group. To allow you to make separate wishes would only diminish your power to unnaceptable levels." The Incubator licked a paw then continued. "Kyouko Sakura will recommend that you all carefully consider your wish. You are free to take your time, just note that demon attacks like the one yesterday are going to start happen more frequently, and it is unlikely that conventional attacks from this world will destroy them."
Kyouko nodded firmly. "Also, there are a few more things I need to tell you about the process, but that can wait until tomorrow. For now I will definitely recommend-" Kyouko poked Kyubey at this "-carefully considering your wish." Standing up, she passed one last glance at the assorted ponies around her, eyes landing on Rarity's forgotten apple. Snorting, Kyouko snapped her tail before picking the apple up and tossing it adroitly in the air, then catching it in her mouth. When she turned away, the other ponies had a brief glimpse of her cutie mark, a spear crossed over a staff, before she flashed pink and moved, faster than any of them could follow.
=====Three Thousand Years Later=====
Twilight gasped, righting herself as she prepared to throw herself back into combat against the demons. "Woah there, sugarcube. You're alright now. You just took a bad hit from a beam and lost your body for a few hours." Applejack held Twilight as she recovered and took in the too-familiar 'recovery' facility.
"Oh.. ugh, I don't think I'll ever get used to this," Twilight groaned as she looked around.
Pinkie snorted. "I think you're used to enough, silly billy! That's only the five hundred and thirty third time you've said that!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "And that's only the five hundred and thirtieth time you've said that."
This banter passed easily between them, a Waking-Up tradition of sorts. Twilight turned to the bedside table where her Soul Gem was held, and reverted it to its bracelet form on her right hoof, forming a thin metal band with a tiny purple luminescent shard on the front. Like she did every time, she paused and gave the Soul Gem, her soul made physical, some thought. She had made the wish with her friends to always be together, and so far, it had yet to fail.
"C'mon Twilight, Rainbow and Fluttershy are waiting outside!" Pinkie's exuberance hadn't failed either, after all these years. It was amazing how things could change so much, yet stay so similar.
[Machina, how are you today?] Twilight inquired to her Tactical AI, a gift from Humanity acquired after many long years of cooperation, as they walked towards the entrance.
[All systems and subsystems are operating at full efficiency. You need to watch your HUD more, though.] Machina's gentle chiding in her own voice caused her to blush slightly.
[Yeah, I'll put some more hours in the Sim over the next few weeks.] Approaching the main foyer, she picked up her pace, still slightly unnerved by the fact that the building she was leaving was filled with clones of herself and her friends, just waiting for the spark of their Soul Gems to give fill them with consciousness.
"Hey Twi, good to see you awake!" Rainbow dash called from the main foyer. "Let's ditch this place and get something to eat, I'm starving!"
Twilight grinnned, nudging Rainbow as she caught up to her. "Hello girls! Sorry about worrying you with that accident back there, Machina's already chiding me about it." She reached a hoof up to her forehead, blushing.
"Oh, um, it wasn't that bad. I mean, it was scary, for a moment, it always is, but I know that we're always pretty safe." Fluttershy smiled as they walked out to the sunshine in front of the Magica Research Institute. "Oh, and Rarity's waiting for us. She cut her meeting with Human Governance short to get back here and have lunch when you woke up. She's probably at the restaurant right now."
"Well, I guess being Ancient does get a mare some leeway," Rainbow chuckled, nudging Applejack, who just rolled her eyes.
Author's Note
All critiques are welcome.
This is mostly how my Iron Author submission was. Trying to figure out where I'd put this in a story and what the rest of the story is after it.. Two sides of the same coin, yes?
I figure I'll do a little bit of the demon attack referenced somewhere near the beginning, or... maybe the intial meeting with Kyouko? Afterwards.. adjustments, struggles, interacting with humanity(Oh no, I'm going there. Didn't even realize it until I'd written it.), although humanity won't be a strong focus. Probably. I have no clue how I'll get to the ending I set, but damn, it'll be cool if I can get there.
