Chapters Friendship is the Key
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"The door to this world is yet sealed to us."
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AN - Hey, all. You'll notice I've done a little re-organizing. I'm a little happier with how this chapter flows than how it originally did. Taking a small break from actually writing this weekend, though, though I hope I get back to it soon. I am having fun writing it, at least.
The Door With Seven Parts
Friendship is the Key
by Appending_fic
"Freeze, mister!" Riku, poised at the top of the stairs to the dungeons, froze in place at Rainbow's shout.
Friendship is the Key
by Appending_fic
Applejack shook her head to clear it. Wherever the cryptic guy had gone, he'd left her in a foggy forest. It smelled oddly familiar, if a little unsettling.
Friendship is the Key
by Appending_fic
Rarity hit the ground hard; she heard grunts and yelps that told her the others had similarly hard landings. It was dark, so she summoned a small light and looked around. "Is everypony all right?" she asked.
The other ponies drew back, except Applejack, whose wound seemed to keep her down, and Rainbow, who only just made a valiant effort to stand. This proved too much for her, as she collapsed back down almost immediately, face green. "Hey, what are you waiting for?" Rainbow demanded. "Get her away from that thing!"
Friendship is the Key
by Appending_fic
It was hot. Almost unbearably so; Fluttershy tried to raise her wings over her head to shield herself from the sun, but they were numb. She shivered and curled up in a ball rather than think too hard on it, and her thoughts drifted to Cruella, and her last panicked expression-
Friendship is the Key
by Appending_fic
Ditzy Doo trotted out of her house bright and early, mailbag slung over her flank. The fact that it wasn’t particularly bright out didn’t bother her; she was used to carrying the mail in the winter, when Celestia was too tired to get up early. Sure, it was still spring, but there were also clouds stretched from horizon to horizon, so Ditzy left that mystery to the meteorologists. She had mail to deliver.
Friendship is the Key
by Appending_fic
Applejack blinked as the blazing light of Agrabah’s sun gave way to cool shade. Bands of shadow blocked out the sun, cooling the air enough that Applejack could breathe easily. She glanced around to make sure everypony was all right; nopony seemed hurt, although Riku’s outrageous yellow shirt had given way to his blue-gray coat, suggesting wherever they were, a human shape would not be taken well.
Friendship is the Key
Chapter 7: Selfish Hearts
by Appending_fic
They landed in yet another wilderness, a forest, again, Rarity thought morosely as the girls climbed to their feet. At least they were all their respective correct shapes, an issue that was giving Rarity some concern. Twilight liked ponies to think she had matters well in hoof, but her magic was starting to seem...irregular. She resolved to take it up with Twilight at the nearest opportunity.
However, it seemed the discussion would have to wait. Riku had doubled over on arriving and was retching miserably into a small patch of clover. Applejack and Fluttershy stood near him, and both looked worried.
"Is everything all right?" Rarity asked.
Fluttershy looked up and gave Rarity a shrug, but Applejack's expression spoke volumes. "I think we ought to give Riku a moment," Applejack said. "No, Fluttershy, you stay with him. Come along, girls, Spike."
Rarity waited until they were well out of earshot in a small, daylit clearing, to speak. "Well?"
"He isn't doing well," Applejack replied. "I don't know fiddly-squat about this darkness mumbo, but it can't be good for him. We've been pushing him, and it's taking its toll."
"He's...gonna be ok, right?" Rarity glanced at Rainbow, surprised at the show of concern from the weather pony; the others must have done something similar, because Rainbow fluffed up her wings and glared at them. "What? I can't be worried about him?"
"I'm sure nopony insinuated anything of the sort," Rarity said hurriedly, in the hopes of forestalling an argument. "But if that is our case, Riku needs rest. And I doubt we'll get any out here. These woods are positively filthy." It wasn't just the filth, of course. Even the clearing had a dark sort of gloom hanging over it.
"They feel dangerous," Twilight whispered.
"Like Bambi's forest?" Rarity asked, feeling a growing sense of alarm at the thought of another forest overwhelmed by darkness.
"More like the Everfree Forest," Twilight said. "Untamed. I think we should look for shelter."
"On it!" Rainbow declared. She shot up into the air, clearing the canopy in an instant.
"Be careful!" Twilight shouted as the pegasus vanished. Once Rainbow was gone, Twilight slumped her shoulders. "I hope there isn't anything dangerous up there."
Rarity opened her mouth to reply before Pinkie could say anything tasteless, or worse, sing, but before she could speak, Rainbow crashed back through the canopy. "Hey, we're in luck! I saw a totally awesome castle just outside the forest!" Rainbow Dash preened one of her wings proudly. "I bet we can get there before nightfall."
Rarity felt her gaze drawn towards the deeper part of the forest, and she met Twilight's worried expression. She could definitely agree they didn't want to be outside after dark.
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They did reach the castle before nightfall, but not without some serious worrying. Riku had stopped vomiting, but his skin was pale and needed support to walk more than a few steps. And Twilight had yet to explain exactly what worried her about the forest. It felt like the Everfree, but moreso. It took concentration to keep her horn from leaving sparks in the air as it moved. She didn't dare try her camouflage spell, which left her worrying about how the castle's inhabitants would react to them.
And then there were the lingering concerns about Maleficent, Ansem, Hollow Bastion, and the Heartless in general. She was about ready to have Spike start a checklist (although she wasn't certain what should be first - finding Keyholes? Getting rid of Maleficent and her crew?) when they emerged from the forest and the question of the castle's inhabitants became the most immediate concern.
A slender, dark-haired human dressed in green and brown stood at the head of two columns of soldiers. When he caught sight of the ponies, he sank to his knees. "Ladies," he murmured.
Twilight stopped mid-step, and could see confusion flitting across her friends' faces. "I'm sorry, do you know us?"
"Our queen told us of your arrival, and commanded I meet you and bring you to her." He looked up, and for a moment, his eyes, a subdued, earthen shade of green, met hers. Despite his official words of welcome, the man's eyes were hard and cold. "Were it not for her command, I would drive you from this place, and offer you no solace here."
"Our friend is ill, sir," Applejack said.
The man swung his head toward the orange earth pony and met her gaze. "Even so," he said.
"You're not very polite!" Pinkie Pie popped up in front of the man, glaring at him from the uncomfortably close distance of the length of her snout.
"I am obedient to my queen," the man said, and then turned away from Pinkie. "Come. You will find rooms prepared for you, and food."
Twilight gave her friends a quick look, hoping somepony was less confused, but she found no guidance in any of their gazes, so for Riku's sake, she fell into step behind the rude man. "How do you already have rooms for us?" Twilight asked.
"My queen is a...well-informed woman," the man replied. "She would know all that happens in her kingdom, and beyond."
Hope surged in Twilight's chest. Maybe this queen could give them some answers! If she could only convince the woman to gather knowledge for them, they might be able to make a plan to stop the Heartless!
"I do realize you have your orders, but I do apologize for being remiss in failing to introduce ourselves," Rarity said.
"I know who you are," the man said. "The Ladies Sparkle, Dash, Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity, the Lord Spike-" There was a brief giggle from Twilight's back, where Spike was riding, "and Riku. I am my queen's faithful servant Humbert."
"Pleased to meet you!" Pinkie said.
"You will forgive me for failing to mirror that sentiment," Humbert replied dourly. One of the soldiers made an unfamiliar gesture and spat to the side of the path. "Nevertheless, here we are."
The castle was impressive, if as dour and imposing as the forest that surrounded it. When they entered, Twilight found the interior nearly as depressing. Large swathes of the walls were bare, devoid of even simple portraits or mirrors to brighten the corridors. She glanced back and saw Rarity scowling at the walls, something that managed to break through the gloom and make Twilight smile. If Rarity could be snobby about the decor, things couldn't be that bad.
They stepped from a corridor into a wide hall, at which Humbert froze and gasped, "My Lady-"
"Well done, my Huntsman."
The human woman who stood before Twilight was beautiful. Her skin, as pale as bone, gave her the delicate look of china. Her hair, black as a raven's wing, seemed to glitter even in the dimness. Her lips, as red as rubies, were parted slightly, and her eyes, the shade of green found in the depths of glaciers, drifted over the group of ponies. It seemed that she lingered on Fluttershy, but Twilight couldn't be certain. She wore purple velvet robes and a delicate golden crown; neither were complex, but she wore them with such poise that they seemed more magnificent than the cloth could be.
"I live to serve, My Lady," Humbert murmured.
"But whom, I wonder?" Twilight wasn't certain she actually heard the words, because a moment later, the queen turned to the ponies, smiling broadly.
"Greetings and welcome, Ladies. Lord. And...Riku. I have heard so much about...all of you."
"I was actually wondering about that-" Twilight began.
The queen, however, gasped. "Your friend is hurt! And you let me ramble on with formalities rather than tend to him?"
"I-" The shift in topic had knocked Twilight off-balance, as had the realization that she had, if momentarily, forgotten about Riku. "If you have a healer here-"
"He'll come with me; I am skilled in the alchemical arts," the queen said. She walked with swift purpose to Riku's side. "Child? Can you walk?"
Riku stared at her with blank eyes before shaking his head slightly. The queen nodded and whirled on her heel. "Lady Rarity! Would you be so kind as to help me take Riku to my laboratory? I'm sure we will find much to discuss after I've seen to your friend."
Rarity nodded. "Yes. I'm sure we do." She glanced at Twilight and jerked her head at an empty space on the wall. Twilight shrugged once it became apparent Rarity expected a reply. Rarity growled and swung her head around, possibly to try the same thing with one of the others, but then the queen was helping Riku lean on Rarity, making further delay impossible.
"Humbert, help these ladies...and gentleman, get settled before supper," the queen said as she led Riku and Rarity away.
"Yes, please get me unpacked," Rarity called. "Maybe have a look around-"
And then she and the queen were gone.
"What-?" Pinkie began before Rainbow slammed a hoof over her mouth.
"Let's let the nice huntsman show us to our rooms, Pinkie, okay?" Rainbow said. She turned to Humbert, grinning widely. "So, where are we staying?"
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Riku woke slowly to the sound of voices. As one was Rarity’s cultured tones, he didn’t let the voices worry him, but still struggled against the draw of unconsciousness. The queen had fed him a potion, declaring it a sure help for his ailments; he had to admit, despite the drowsy aftereffects of the sleep it had put him into, he did feel better. He tried to focus on the voices.
“-don’t have much time, Your Highness.”
“You’ll have enough, I’m certain. I have other business to attend to with your colleagues, so you will certainly have time for something simple. Please. I have seen your work, Lady. I would desire it for my own.”
Riku blinked uncertainly, eyes drawing open. Were they talking about dresses? It seemed impossibly mundane, given their circumstances, but he hadn’t seen any signs of the Heartless. Maybe the queen had time to worry about such things, without the threat of imminent destruction.
“Well, I’ll see what I can do. But please, Your Highness, I beg pardon if our duties draw us elsewhere with little warning. I would not wish to earn your ire for failing to complete your commission.”
Riku frowned. Rarity sounded so subservient, like when she’d spoken to King George. And unlike it, too. He thought there was a note of fear in her voice.
“Certainly.” A bell rang, and Riku heard movement. “Take the Lady Rarity to the workroom I prepared for her.”
“Your Highness-”
“Don’t worry; you will see your friends as soon as I’ve finished with them.”
More movement, and then the queen’s face loomed over Riku. He gasped and tried to recoil, instead just colliding with the headboard of his bed.
“I am glad to see you are well, Riku.”
Rubbing his head, Riku glared at the queen. He somehow felt she knew he’d been awake.
“Feeling a lot better...thanks.”
The queen shrugged and settled on the very edge of the bed. She had traded in the elegant robes for a stain-covered smock and trousers; behind her, Riku could see bubbling pots and vials, all connected by an elaborate series of tubes.
“It is my mean little art, Riku, so I am glad it helps. But I worry more about the state of your heart.” She reached out and pressed a gentle hand against Riku’s chest; of its own volition, his heart fluttered and sped up. She smiled. “You do know of what I speak, yes?”
“The pathways of Darkness?” Riku guessed.
“Of course not!” The queen stood quickly, turning away from Riku. He felt a strange pang at the distance. “Those who warn you away from them are weak - I can see, Riku, that your heart is strong enough to weather the Darkness beyond! No, I speak of the sickness in your heart. It is a sickness of potential wasted, languishing amongst these creatures. They would steal your chances at glory, Riku. Did not the king knight them all, only to leave you forgotten? You do not blame him, of course. What could you have done against the Heartless? You have no magic, no blade-”
“Could you teach me your alchemy?” Riku interrupted.
The queen turned back to him, startled. But then she shook her head minutely, smiling faintly. “It takes a lifetime to learn, Riku. Nor can I grant you a blade. That is the domain of the gods, and they have clearly forsaken you.” She paused and approached Riku again, lips pursed. “Although...well, it is a risky path. I don’t know if you would dare...”
“What?” Riku demanded.
The queen sighed. “Again, it is a terrible risk, Riku. I have seen others slip down this path - women I once called sisters.” She sat again and folded her hands in her lap, eyes down. “You have learned to use the Darkness to travel. There are other uses. You can cow and command Heartless, draw on magic unknown to your unicorn allies, and who knows what else!”
Hope surged in Riku’s chest. He hadn’t known what had drawn him to this place, but now he could see it. Facilier had promised him power to help the ponies-
The queen pushed Riku back, palm pressed flat against his chest, and she met his eyes with her own ice-green ones. “Stop, child. I can see that excitement. You should not so easily travel down this path. It is fraught with danger. Only with sufficient consideration should you-”
“What makes you think you can tell me what to do?” Riku snapped. He pushed the queen’s hand away and leapt from the bed. “I’ve been thinking about this since I left the Destiny Islands!”
“Since you opened the door,” the queen said quietly. Riku’s blood froze at the words that Facilier had so delicately avoided during his reading. “Oh, please, don’t look at me like that.” She stood and stepped close to Riku, pulling him close to her and wrapping him in a loose embrace. “What could a child have known of Ansem’s machinations? Who would blame you for wanting to escape such a mean and petty fate, even knowing that?” She bent close and her next words were whispered, and so close he could feel the breath on his ear. “Perhaps you can master the Darkness alone, and save your friends from the pain of facing it.” She pulled back and kissed Riku’s forehead chastely before stepping away. She smiled at him, and Riku’s heart fluttered again.
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The set of bedrooms to which Humbert had led them was as under-decorated as the rest of the castle. Pinkie regretted not having brought (more) party supplies on this adventure. She comforted herself with the knowledge that nopony could have expected there to be so many worlds with depressing decor. Still, she began composing the checklist she’d need to improve this castle while Applejack glared suspiciously at the room, Twilight began nosing at the few books in the room, Fluttershy and Spike settled in a corner, and Rainbow circled the room nervously.
A rainbow braid of streamers would do nicely, Pinkie thought.
“What’s wrong, Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked after a moment. “Are there Heartless here?”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow muttered. “There’s something wrong...”
Pinkie wriggled her rump experimentally, but felt no twitches, sneezes, or ticks to suggest her Pinkie Sense was acting up. She considered telling the others this, but she wasn’t about to suggest to Twilight that there was a new type of sense to analyze. Sure, Pinkie’d had fun, but she doubted Rainbow Dash would like sitting still while somepony attached colanders to her head.
“But I bet if there were Heartless everywhere, they would have popped out already!” Pinkie said. “Like a surprise party, except with monsters instead of cake. And monsters instead of streamers. And a really depressing soundtrack. I prefer our regular one, to be honest.”
Twilight shot Pinkie a sharp look before turning to the others. “Pinkie’s right; I can’t imagine why the Heartless would be laying low when we’ve got Rainbow here. Still...Rarity was worried about this place, so I think everypony needs to look for anything suspicious.”
“What kind of suspicious?” Applejack asked.
“I don’t know...suspicious,” Twilight responded. “Spike! I need one of your scales for Lidda’s Simple Trapfinding!” Having summoned her assistance, Twilight began scouring the room, her horn illuminating small patches of wall as she moved. Fluttershy scrambled to her feet and tried to look attentive, helping Applejack when the farmer shifted furniture out of the way. Rainbow took to the air for a moment before she landed near the books, giving them a surreptitious glance, obviously looking for something interesting to read.
Pinkie...thought about where she’d hide something suspicious if she were hiding something in a bedroom. There was nothing under the mattresses, hidden inside the false bottoms of the drawers, or inside the pillows (unless you considered goose feathers suspicious, which Pinkie had decided against several years ago). She began tapping one of the mirrors, suspecting somepony might have magically hidden something inside the reflection, but Backwards Pinkie Pie wasn’t cooperating.
“All right,” Pinkie growled, “you asked for it...”
She leapt at her reflection.
The resulting collision was a tie, which Pinkie should have expected, Backwards Pinkie knowing how to counter all of Pinkie’s moves. On reflection, as the mirror swung forward to land on top of Pinkie Pie, she should have expected Backwards Pinkie to win. She always managed to put a little surprise into the fight that left Forwards Pinkie a little worse for wear.
“Pinkie! Stop fooling around!” Twilight snapped.
“You all right, sugarcube?”
“Oh...girls?”
Pinkie shrugged off the remains of the mirror and grinned at her friends. “I’m fine! Just forgot that Backwards Pinkie’s a canny foe...”
“Girls?”
“Backwards Pinkie? You named your reflection? You’re so random.” Spike punched Pinkie’s shoulder, grinning.
“Girls!” The shout was barely louder than anypony else’s speaking voice, but...well, it was Fluttershy shouting, so they all fell silent.
Fluttershy folded in on herself when she realized she had everypony’s attention. “Um. There’s something...behind the mirror.”
Pinkie lifted her head around the broken mirror to focus on what everypony else was looking at. There was a portrait hanging there, a young human filly with pale skin, dark hair, and slim, red lips. She stared at it carefully until Applejack spoke up.
“Is that the queen?”
“Oh, no,” Fluttershy said eagerly. “The bone structure is all wrong, and her eyes are brown, instead of green. They could be related.”
“Oh,” Applejack said softly; she sounded sad, which was silly, because Pinkie thought the queen was a little creepy, but not if she had a daughter! Maybe it was even her birthday.
“Well, it seems a little odd to hide a picture of her daughter behind a mirror,” Pinkie said. “Unless maybe her daughter’s a backwards daughter.”
There was a complicated sort of silence that Pinkie recognized; sometimes, someponies just couldn’t handle Pinkie Pie, and needed a minute to catch up.
“Sugarcube, I think that girl’s dead,” Applejack said gently.
“Oh.” Pinkie felt herself deflate, just a tad, before she perked up again. “Well, that’s a shame, but hiding around in a moldy castle pretending she didn’t exist isn’t helping anypony.”
“I don’t think forcing her to think about it will help,” Twilight replied uneasily. “Everypony has to get through their grief in their own way, Pinkie Pie.”
There was a knock at the door, and Twilight glanced frantically at the portrait. “Hide it!” she snapped. Applejack and Rainbow scrambled to comply, shoving the portrait under one of the beds just before the door swung open to reveal Humbert.
“Ladies?” he asked uncertainly. “Dinner is served?”
“Oh, thank goodness, I’m starving!” Pinkie declared, trotting past the man. The others followed more slowly, and Pinkie could see Twilight glaring at the walls, much like Rarity had before. She decided to ignore it; if there were going to be a shocking reveal, it would happen at dinner, whether or not Pinkie looked for clues.
The dining hall was a grand room, with a table that could hold hundreds. The ponies (less Rarity and Riku), Spike, and the queen filled only a tiny corner of it, but there was still more than enough to feed all of them. There were plates of apples, and pears, and all sorts of fruits in the form of soups and pastries and cakes. There was the finest hay and clover; delicate sugar cubes flavored with almond and vanilla, cider, wine, and almost more things than Pinkie could count. The ponies dug in with gusto, but Pinkie waited a moment, noticing the queen’s plate remained empty, the woman accepting only a glass of wine from her server.
“Um, Queenie? Aren’t you going to eat?” Pinkie asked.
The woman’s smile faded a little. “I felt I should not, as my diet would be...upsetting to you.”
Twilight and Fluttershy shuddered; Pinkie thought for a moment, before she remembered humans ate fish and meat and things (but not usually ponies), and nodded. “Oh, well, that’s nice of you! Are you sure you don’t want an apple tart? They’re almost as good as Applejack’s.”
“No, my cup will sustain me,” the Queen replied.
Twilight stared at the cup while Pinkie returned to her food. When Pinkie looked back up, the unicorn’s brow was furrowed in the same way it got when she was trying to puzzle something out.
“Where are Riku and Rarity?” Twilight asked.
“Rarity is doing me a small favor, and Riku is...somewhere he can recuperate,” the queen replied easily. “Why? Are you afraid I ate them?” She chuckled, but Pinkie felt a shudder work through her at the laugh. She could see Applejack tense, as well. That wasn’t an honest, happy laugh. That was something...mean.
“Of course not,” Twilight replied. “We’ve just had problems with Heartless, and so we like to know where everyone is.”
“Heartless?” The queen demanded. “I assure you, I have the problem well in hand. No Heartless are running about my kingdom.” Her smile returned, and now, Pinkie could see something self-satisfied, something vicious and secretive. This was not good, not good at all. She glanced at Applejack, and could see the other earth pony’s jaw tighten, eyes fixed on the queen.
But it surprised her that it was Fluttershy who spoke next. “Did the Heartless kill your daughter?”
The queen’s expression froze. “I beg your pardon?”
“I saw a picture of her in our rooms,” Fluttershy said. “I...” She ducked as the queen turned her icy gaze onto Fluttershy. “I’m sorry. She was just so pretty, and-”
“No!” The queen shot up from her seat, raising to her full height, towering over the ponies as fire seemed to catch in her eyes. “Do not dare say it! She is not as fair as I! She never was! And even if she was, she is gone and I am still here! The fairest of them all!”
At the sudden motion, Fluttershy had skittered away from the table, and now she huddled, wide-eyed, staring at the furious queen. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought-”
“What did he tell you?” the queen roared. “What did that lying traitor tell you? I’ve heard the rumors. I know what they say about Mad Queen Grimhilde, who cuts out little girls’ hearts-”
“Grimhilde?” Twilight asked, voice wavering. Pinkie glanced down at her plate, wondering why the name sounded so familiar. “You’re one of Cruella’s friends.”
“Friends?” Grimhilde said, voice dripping with disdain. “That woman had no class, no nobility. I mean, honestly, making her own clothing? Leaving her victims’ bodies just lying around, skinless? She thought she could control other creatures, which was a mistake that cost her life. I know that I can trust no one.”
It was at this point, that Pinkie, who knew when things were about to go wrong, hit Grimhilde in the face with a cherry pie. The distraction was enough for Rainbow Dash to summon her Keyblade, and Twilight to ready an awesome spell...
At least, that was the plan. Pinkie, however, found that when she threw the pie, her vision swam, just a little bit, and she missed. When Rainbow reached out to the middle of the air to grab the weapon, she bit at empty air, instead. And Twilight’s horn sparked once, before going out.
“Wha-?” Twilight got out.
Grimhilde laughed. “Do you think I would have brought you here if I thought you were any possible threat to me? I told you, I am a master of the alchemical arts. While I can try my hand at healing, my particular specialty is poison.”
Pinkie slumped to the ground, her balance and strength no longer enough to keep her upright. She heard similar sounds as the others succumbed to the poison that must have laced all of the delicious pies and pastries. It was quite possibly the second-worst party Pinkie had ever attended, she decided. Although, if it turned out the queen wasn’t making some silly joke about eating hearts, she might be willing to bump it up a rank.
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Rainbow wasn’t certain how much time had passed before consciousness began to return. She felt numb all over, and it wasn’t until she pried her eyes open that she had any evidence that her legs were still there. The ceiling she could see looked similar to that of the dining hall, and with great effort, Rainbow was able to catch sight of her friends (save Riku and Rarity), all unconscious.
This was...not the ideal situation, tactically.
Rainbow tried to move, but aside from her neck, every muscle felt dead. She doubted Grimhilde had skimped on the poison she’d slipped into the food, which meant Rainbow and the others were at the queen’s mercy.
But speaking of the queen - where was she?
An off-tune humming drew Rainbow’s attention; Grimhilde entered the room from one of the tiny doors that probably led somewhere like the kitchen. She had a large knife in one hand, and she was smiling. Her eyes flicked in Rainbow’s direction, and the grin grew wider.
“Nice to see you’re up,” she said. “Not that it’ll do much good. If there’s one thing I know, it’s poisons. You won’t be moving for ages, still. And by then...” She shrugged.
Rainbow tried to make an indignant demand, but her vocal cords seemed as dull and dead as the rest of her body.
“I don’t know why you bothered to come here, anyway,” Grimhilde said. “There’s no danger here. The people are safe from roaming bands of Heartless. They don’t have anything to fear.”
“Except you.” The voice, male, world-weary, and oddly familiar, cut through the hall. Rainbow sighed, realizing that the effort to look for the speaker was too much for her, and that she would be relegated to an observer for this.
“Humbert? What are you doing?” Grimhilde’s smile faded; she looked positively peeved.
“You’ve gone too far, Lady. Perhaps I held my duty too highly, following your commands, but I will not stand for this!”
“The mirror does not lie, Humbert. The yellow one is fairer than me. You know I will not stand for that.” Her voice went uneven at the end, and Rainbow, who had once faced down a maddened Pinkie Pie, felt her blood go cold. Grimhilde was insane, worse than Cruella, who killed beautiful things, but at least saw to accomplish something from the death. To be willing to destroy something simply because it was prettier than you-
“I will not let you do this, my queen.” Humbert’s voice wavered, but Rainbow could hear a core of strength, of bravery in it. She cheered in her mind, for she couldn’t make any noise to encourage him.
“And what makes you believe you can stop me?”
“I am a huntsman, my queen,” Humbert said, and what followed was the quiet sound of steel against scabbard.
The queen began to laugh. There was no faked joy, no concealed malice in this laugh. No, Grimhilde found this to be a moment of honest hilarity. She actually began to wheeze with the effort of it before she got the laughter under control.
It was strange, seeing something almost human from Grimhilde. Maybe, Rainbow thought, she wasn’t as far gone as the others...
“Humbert, did you ever wonder why I, a master of Darkness, am surrounded by no Heartless servants? Why our land is not crawling with the monsters?” Her smile grew, almost impossibly large, and Rainbow, who had read enough adventure novels to fill a whole wall of her library, wished she could get further away from the queen. Or summon her Keyblade, if only to loan it to Humbert. Before-
There was no moment of monstrous transformation like in the books, no slow change between beautiful human and horrific beast. There wasn’t even a slow build-up of power. Instead, black tendrils of energy sliced through the air from the queen. Rainbow heard an unpleasant squelch, and a breathy gasp, and she knew they were doomed.
“Hello?”
Rainbow wanted to scream. If she couldn’t get away, the best she could do was warn Rarity away. But her voice was still gone, and soon, Rarity’s hoofbeats brought the unicorn into danger.
“Oh, Your Majesty, I wasn’t aware you were...occupied.” If she were upright, Rainbow’s jaw would have dropped. She’d mocked Rarity’s obsession with manners and good breeding, but hadn’t been aware the unicorn was actually insane about it.
Although...Rarity’s words sent a strange flicker of emotion across Grimhilde’s face, as if she couldn’t figure how to react, whether to kill the unicorn, or act the gracious host.
“Rarity! I hadn’t expected you to be done so soon!”
Rarity chuckled haughtily. “Oh, well, for a unicorn of my skills...”
“So you have it? The garment that will make men weep for my beauty?” The covetousness in Grimhilde’s gaze actually made Rainbow nauseous; her stomach roiled at such naked, selfish greed. Or rather, the knowledge of what Grimhilde would do to accomplish her goal.
“Oh. No. I’m dreadfully sorry I gave you that impression,” Rarity replied, voice dripping with sympathy. “I spent some time working on it, and I did do my best, but I’m afraid your request is beyond my skills. Anypony’s, really.”
Grimhilde’s face contorted, mouth twisting down as her green eyes sharpened and focused to where Rarity must have stood. “What. Do. You. Mean?”
Rarity chuckled, and Rainbow knew that chuckle. It was not a good sound. “Oh, I’m just fumbling my manners all over the place today, aren’t I? I meant to say that you’re a hideous monster that no amount of skill can improve.”
What little blood was in Grimhilde’s face drained from it, leaving her skin well and truly white, and her eyes actually began to blaze. “Say. That. Again.”
When Rarity spoke, her voice was the steel of the fashionista directing the action within her boutique, the diamond edge that could cut through a pony’s mind. “I knew it the moment I saw you. Your selfishness shines so brightly, I can hardly stand to look at you. I found your dining room, Your Majesty.” Rarity’s voice next became sickeningly sweet, again dripping with pity. “Were you so unloved that you had to eat people’s hearts to feel happiness?”
“You say that now, young one, but when age approaches you and your beauty fades-”
“HA! I can coax forth the beauty inside anyone! It is an art and a challenge. And to send someone from my shop looking more beautiful than I am...well, it shows my skill more than anything else. No, stop deluding yourself, Queen. You are a monster. Nothing will change that the meanest, ugliest vermin has more charm than you.”
As Rarity spoke, Grimhilde’s anger seemed to fade, her face taking a calm, almost benevolent expression. When Rarity finished, Grimhilde was simply smiling placidly.
“I see. Your opinion has been noted. However, I must point out something you seem to have overlooked in your little tirade.”
“What?”
“This.” The tendrils of darkness lanced out, and Rainbow winced, until instead of the moist sound of a pointy death, she heard an echoing gong. “What?” Grimhilde’s face twisted in fury. “Impossible!”
“Not exactly,” Rarity replied. “It’s nothing I want to try again, though.” Her voice dropped, and Rainbow could barely hear the unicorn’s whispered, “Courage.”
Light flared through the room, nearly blinding Rainbow. She heard a strange thud in her blind spot, but something immediately caught her attention. Something small and blue launched through the air, hitting Grimhilde’s face with enough force to make her stumble. She screamed wordlessly and clawed at the thing even as it did the same. She almost seemed to be gaining the upper hoof, when a creature the size of a pony, shaped much like a large cat, tawny and yellow, padded into Rainbow’s field of vision and roared, a sound that stole the last of Grimhilde’s balance, sending her tumbling to the ground.
For a moment, Rainbow thought the two creatures were going to win, and then the blue one went flying back, slamming into something, probably a wall, with a familiar thud and squeak. And Grimhilde stood, her face covered in boils and pustules, eyes misshapen and grey with age or blindness, and her gown ripped and bunched like a beggar’s rags.
“You beast!” Grimhilde howled. “You think those lost souls can defeat me? I have consumed the darkness of a thousand Heartless, taken the shadows into my very soul!” She paused, glancing in Rarity’s direction before laughing. The large cat lunged her while she was distracted, and Grimhilde simply caught it and slammed it into the ground next to her, still laughing. “It took all of your magic to free them to fight for you, didn’t it? You can barely stand, and the two of them aren’t nearly enough to defeat me!”
“Not...just...two,” Rarity gasped. There was a quiet clopping of hooves, and a murmured sound from Rarity. “I won’t ask you to fight, Bambi,” she said.
“I can still help you,” the deer said softly. There was a gasp from Rarity, and then, after a moment, another whispered word from her.
“Love.”
As the light flared, Grimhilde’s hideous face crumpled into a knot of furious emotion. “You went into my chambers? How dare you? That gem was my prize, my second-greatest treasure!”
The light faded, but whatever it was stayed out of Rainbow’s vision. There was a moment of silence, as all the conscious combatants took in the scene. And then a voice spoke. It was strange...echoing and oddly lacking in expression.
“Directive!” A blast of light, colorless but with the pure force of the Elements, lanced through the air, and through Grimhilde. She howled in pain, body evaporating as if burned to ashes. Rainbow’s body jolted when something landed behind her, and something applied pressure to her neck.
“I wouldn’t do that again, little machine,” Grimhilde whispered. “Poison is my bailiwick, and you will find me unsympathetic to this poor, innocent mare’s life if you threaten me further.”
“Directive!” Light passed an inch from Rainbow’s face, ending in an agonizing scream from behind her. Something white and cylindrical, hovering a foot or so above the ground, then swung into Rainbow’s range of vision. The pressure on Rainbow’s throat vanished, and she could breathe. Heck, Rainbow found, she thought she could move!
Not that she could do much. Not nearly as quickly as she normally could. Knowing her muscles were weak, she knew Merlin’s warning was accurate, and it would be suicide to try and use her magic.
Rainbow did, however, shift her head just enough to get a better view of the battle. Rarity’s three new friends struck at the Heartless queen with vicious ruthlessness that suggested they understood what it meant that their souls had been bound in crystal - and who to blame for the situation. The small blue thing alternated between cannonballing into her and, when Grimhilde teleported away in a puff of darkness, hurling furniture at her skull. The cat circled the battlefield, roaring when the queen was far from him, and pouncing whenever the queen’s attempts to dodge the white thing’s blasts of light drew her too close to it.
Rarity and Bambi were on the ground at the far end of the long table, looking weak and exhausted. Rarity looked grim, and Rainbow knew it was because the designer wasn’t sure her friends could help. She had given them everything she had, and the queen was still too strong.
No. Not everything. With her friends helpless, and an evil queen worse than Chrysalis threatening them, Rarity had one thing left to give. Rainbow could see it in the trembling of Rarity’s sides. She wouldn’t - would she?
“I won’t...let you win,” Rarity murmured. “Beauty always...triumphs. That’s the point...of foal...stories.”
Grimhilde laughed as she deflected a blast of light, narrowly missing the blue creature with it. “You’re threatening me with children’s tales? You’re on your last legs, and I have the strength of thousands coursing through my veins!”
“Not...your...strength,” Rarity ground out, and struggled to her hooves.
“Rarity, no!”
The queen turned to Rainbow, her lips curved in a wicked smile as the pegasus struggled to her own hooves, desperate to prevent Rarity from sacrificing the last of her strength to kill Grimhilde.
Rarity’s horn glowed. The sight revealed something Rainbow hadn’t noticed before, a glimmering purple diamond suspended at Rarity’s throat.
The Element of Generosity?
Rarity tossed her head, and it was as if she threw a curtain of light from her horn, one that passed through Grimhilde, whose attention on Rainbow afforded her no time to evade. Grimhilde shuddered, once, but otherwise showed no ill effect. In fact, her body gained a strange aura of shadow, wisps of darkness rising from her body like fog. The queen stood straight, shedding the deformity she had gained when fighting with the two beasts. She gave Rarity a haughty glare.
“You have seen this power fail before our kind once before, Rarity. What made you think it would do any good this time?”
Rarity smiled at the queen. It was a smug expression, something promising humiliation of the most exquisite sort. “I wasn’t trying to make you good, Queenie,” Rarity said primly. “I was taking back everything you stole.”
“Stole...?” The wisps of shadow became rising streams, and then torrents, and Grimhilde’s beauty began to give way again, fading to mundanity. “What-”
“You stole hearts, Grimhilde. You have taken them and crushed them and fed on them.”
Grimhilde’s laugh echoed through the hall. “Maybe! But my hatred is my own, and that-”
Light consumed her form, but this time, Grimhilde did not vanish; her still body, instead, fell to earth.
“Directive.” The white thing’s surreal voice almost seemed to carry a note of smugness.
Rainbow gave the unmoving body of the queen one last contemptuous glare and stumbled to Rarity’s side. Bambi seemed to have vanished, and as Rainbow glanced around, the two other animals seemed to be missing, as well.
Rainbow nudged Rarity. “You okay?”
“No lasting harm done,” Rarity replied. “Thanks to Eve, here. Thank you Eve,” She added, nodding to the white thing.
“No. Directive,” Eve replied. “Earth. Protect. Wally.” Her shape wavered and vanished, leaving Rainbow and Rarity the only two conscious creatures in the room.
“Poor thing,” Rarity murmured. “She’s only one thing left to live for.”
“What...is she?”
Rarity shrugged. “Specifically? Who knows? But she is a lost heart. I knew, ever since I found the first, that I could release them by sharing my own power. I never...had a reason to before. Thank you, Rainbow, for the assist. I’m certain I could have got her, but distracting her was a help.”
Rainbow flushed and kicked her hoof. “It was nothing. Although...what was that thing you did? How long have you been able to do that awesome curtain thing?”
Rarity tossed her head. “I’ve been practicing ever since Agrabah. It struck me that, like myself, the Elements of Harmony are refined, specialized tools. Oh, certainly, they can function well enough fighting nightmare demons, but it’s like cutting a dress with a machete. I am the bearer of the Element of Generosity - I figured I should see what, exactly, I could do with that.”
Rainbow just stared at Rarity. Sure, she knew there were depths to the unicorn, but Rarity was showing innovation and fierceness that Rainbow had never appreciated. There was only one thing to do.
“I...I’ll deny it if you tell the others I said this, Rarity, but you are totally awesome.”
Rarity smiled and preened. “Of course I am.”
There was a grumble beside them, and Rainbow glanced to see Applejack stirring. “Ugh, what was in that...oh my stars!”
“Calm down, Applejack. I have taken care of our host, as it were, although I believe her manners leave something to be desired.”
The orange earth pony groaned. “Well, that’s a relief - ah!” She scrambled to her hooves, eyes rolling. “I thought you meant you gave her a stern talking-to!”
“That woman was a selfish monster,” Rarity replied. “There’s no telling if she actually helped Riku, or tore his heart out. So, regrettably, I had to request the assistance of some of my friends. They were...not as gentle as I would have been.”
Rarity seemed to believe that had settled matters, and nopony was willing to question her further on it, so it was. It took a day for the girls and Spike to recuperate, and for them to scour the castle for Riku. The servants all seem to have fled, which Rainbow didn’t blame them for; the Queen had been stone-cold crazy, and she’d have left if she didn’t have something more important to worry about. If Grimhilde had taken Riku’s heart, would he end up like those horrible women - monstrous terrors? Or would he be like the Heartless, mindless and hungry? Either way, it didn’t bear thinking about.
Pinkie was the one who found the Queen’s secret room, below the dungeons (where a human skeleton reached out to a water jug that was dry and dusty), where a mirror hung on the wall. More than one mirror, actually. The room had six sides, bare except for the mirrors hung on each of the five sides not occupied by a door.
The mirror in question hung just opposite the door, and contained a green, translucent face. When Rainbow first saw it, her heart leapt, and the Keyblade sprang to her grasp.
“Hold, my lady,” the mirror spoke. “Before you seal this world’s heart, I have wisdom to impart.”
“Wait, hold on,” Twilight snapped, pointing at the mirror. “Are you saying the heart of this world was down here all along and the Queen didn’t know about it?”
“Oh. Oh no,” the mirror replied. “I told her, when she asked, that I was the heart of this world, the harshest and truest power within it.” The eyes glanced at Rarity. “You, however, understand best, I believe.”
Rarity’s eyes were like gems, hard and unyielding. “Yes. It was why she hunted the Heartless that came here. If they consumed the heart, this world would cease to be. More importantly, it would cease to be hers.”
“But that is not what I wished to tell you. These are the Queen’s mirrors, my ladies, my good sir. More than this world’s heart, she held mirrors of all magic. Mirrors to travel, mirrors to spy, mirrors to remember, mirrors to forget...mirrors to rule the world.”
Rainbow stiffened at the first of the mirror’s list. To travel...
“Did the Queen send anyone through these mirrors?” Rainbow demanded, and the mirror understood, even around the Keyblade in her mouth.
“Oh, yes. He seemed unwell,” the mirror replied. “She sent the boy on to a friend of hers, who she said could help.”
Rainbow bit down on the grip of the Keyblade, growling. Please don’t let it be Ansem, she pleaded. That would be the worst, she knew.
“Her name was Tremaine.”
;;;:::::{-]
Hades stared at the illusory images flickering over the small table, as they played again. The black-clad warrior spun with unearthly grace, dual blades slicing through opponents like so much water. Cerberus, Cloud, and even the Titans fell before this...Usagi. People had begun to whisper that the challenger was a warrior of legend. Usagi had defeated the Spectre of Time, the Demon of the Sands, and now was humiliating the Lord of Death’s greatest champions.
He drummed his fingers absent-mindedly on the table. He had a few other options. They were, however, not ideal. They were uncertain, hard to control. An angry ghost, and a disinterested god.
And the problem was that Usagi was fury unchained. The Heartless fell like wheat to the warrior’s twin blades...one a Keyblade of ferocious power, and the other a long spike that was as efficient at killing Heartless as any Key.
And then, a knock came at the door. Hades looked up from his brooding. It was Pain...or Panic. He could never tell the two of them apart. “Yes?” he demanded.
“A letter for you, your horrificness,” the lackey murmured, bowing low, and holding out a square of plain parchment.
Hades snatched it and began to read. It was from Grimhilde, and as usual, filled with intelligence gleaned from her silly mirror. But it did contain a cunning plan, one that would bring an end to most of their current troubles. He felt a smile tug at the edges of his lips. He supposed he could tell Sephiroth to bugger off to wherever he went when he didn’t need to have a climactic battle with someone.