Chapter 9 - A Day's End and a New Dawn…

All around the library everything was dimmed as soft snoring could be heard from an unlikely source - Spike. He had retired after finishing up with the cleaning and constant worry about Twilight and more specifically, Mina. Both were still in the hospital due to their injuries being treated. That was over a day ago and there was still no new updates on the situation.

Spike could only pray that her sister-like friend and the brunette hero were alright. They had to be… he knew that Twilight could take care of herself but Mina… he wasn't sure if he was being honest.

As the young boy continued to snore, he didn't hear the door opening along with the lights being flickered to reveal none other than Twilight and Mina coming home.

"What a day…" Mina stretched her arms while blocking a yawn. Twilight concurred with a nod.

"Agreed. Out of all the days I had experienced in Ponyville alongside my friends, I'd label this one as the weirdest." Twilight said.

"Definitely… I'm gonna take a shower and then hit the fridge, will that be okay?" Mina asked.

Twilight didn't seem to mind since Mina definitely needed a break after all she had gone through. Giving a nod in agreement, the brunette went downstairs to clean herself up while the Element of Magic sighed heavily and went to check up on her brother-like friend. All of that stay in the hospital must have truly worried Spike…

When she went upstairs into her bedroom, she walked over to her brother's bed and had a look. "Oh, Spike… sorry for being away… you wouldn't believe the number of crazy events that have occurred. Hope we didn't worry you that much."

She petted him gently on the hair and smiled at how peaceful Spike was being right now. At least he was sleeping without a care in the world… and not caught in whatever stunt her… ugh… she couldn't really say it since she was beginning to question her behavior today.

Walking over and sitting down on her bed, Twilight couldn't help but contemplate the events that occurred today. Her- Celestia had ultimately weakened the bond between them due to how she acted. Why didn't she listen to reason? Mina was anything but a villain… she helped her and her friends in fighting off the Heartless.

Thank god that Princess Luna at least helped them out in saving the brunette wielder and taking her away from Celestia. For the time being, of course. If she knew her mentor and she definitely knew her well enough, she would attempt to take her away once more and banish her. Something that Twilight would see as unforgivable.

Therefore, it would be a good idea if she and Mina along with her friends avoided the Princess of the Sun. At least until she calmed down and gave up her obsession of ridding Equis of Keyblade Wielders… mainly ones that had noble and pure intentions.

Perhaps she could speak with Luna and ask for advice? Her trust for the Princess of the Night so far was very high. At least she listened to reason and did not act like a complete jackass unlike someone she knew…

Twilight let out a huge aggravated sigh and laid down on the bed. Before closing her eyes, she couldn't help but wonder. "How will all of this end? Light triumphing over darkness? Darkness taking control of us all? I hope we are all prepared for the worst…"

Then she drifted off into a deep slumber, ready to push away the frustrations of this day…

(Next morning…)

"How'd you sleep?" Twilight asked while taking a small sip from the apple juice that was given to her by Applejack.

Mina made out a couple of gestures with her hands. "Somewhat meh. I'm still feeling the lingering thoughts about yesterday. Mainly… you know who is trying to kick me off Equis." She finished and took a bite from the bacon that she was eating.

"Understandable. I'm as angry as you are… I can't believe she did all that! I thought that she would at least hear you or me out. Instead, she kidnaps you and puts you in a cage. 'Mishap' doesn't even describe how disappointed I am in her, Mina." Twilight paused for a moment before sighing heavily and then smiling gently. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Mina smiled. "Thanks for the assist. Why come back for me though?" She asked with a curious expression.

"Because we're friends. I don't leave my friends behind - even if they do keep… secrets for the better good." Twilight blushed in embarrassment.

Mina nodded. "Well, yeah… it is. You never know who might end up wielding such a powerful weapon and then plunge the world into everlasting darkness."

"True… say, besides this 'Sora', did anyone get a Keyblade?" Twilight inquired.

"Yes… Sora's friend, Riku had acquired one… then a girl called Kairi but she's not exactly the most experienced. You can blame the writers for that." Mina explained.

Twilight made a disgusted face. "Oof, I know what you mean… sometimes, book authors tend to ruin a character by ruining him or her. It just messes the experience completely. I read a couple of novels and was so disappointed by some of the characters in them. Thank goodness we have the fans to remake them into better ones, right?"

"Yep. Thank goodness for that." Mina agreed.

Both of them continued eating their breakfast in peace while Spike was upstairs cleaning the library. It was nice to have a peaceful time without anyone interfering… especially Celestia herself.

Mina paused as she looked at one of the windows and saw that it was going to be a bright and sunny day. A perfect day for an outing… or maybe some practice.

"Any plans for today? I wanted to go out and get some practice done with Equinox." Mina admitted as she ate.

"Not really. Actually, mind if I join you? I wanted to test those reflexes on yours on some targets. To prepare for any Heartless attacks that might show up." Twilight explained.

Mina shrugged. "I'm not against it. Actually, can you conjure any spell orbs - Fire, Water, Ice, elements… those sort of things?"

"Yes… I can. Why do you ask…?" Twilight raised a brow, eager to see where this was going.

"Besides fighting, wielders also rely on magic in the heat of battle. Sora often utilized such skills when fighting the Heartless. Perhaps we could put a couple of spells to the test?" Mina suggested.

Twilight flashed a grin. "I'm already on board with this idea. So many things about the Keyblade that we never knew… Amazing. Very well… We'll start off with the familiar elements of Water and Fire. In fact, I know of a secure place where we can practice without any interruptions."

"Sounds like a plan. Also, any ideas on how to make 'Water' into an effective magic-type weapon?"

Twilight still kept her grin. "You're talking with a professional and expert in the arts of Magic. Trust in me, I have my ways. For now, let's finish our breakfast and then give you proper training gear."

"Won't my regular gear work though?" Mina asked.

"It will but I figured something easier to move around freely in without breaking a sweat would help," Twilight explained.

Mina thought it over - having a backup attire for training sessions didn't seem like a bad idea. Plus, she couldn't go around wearing the same uniform forever.

The brunette gave a nod at Twilight who was glad to hear that. She was sure nothing in her wardrobe suited her anymore. She'd have a look after breakfast was concluded.

(Training ground - Castle of the Two Sisters…)

"Hmmm… Does it make me look like a hipster?" Mina commented while examining the training gear that Twilight had given her.

To start her off, there was a white top underneath a black t-shirt followed by a set of black khaki Capri pants with a purple belt to hold them tight. Lastly, two purple sneakers with light purple and black accents were labeled as her footwear. Not really her style but Twilight had chosen it…

Twilight shrugged. "It doesn't look that bad. Plus, who's gonna comment on it? We're in a forest and its training gear."

"I know that… but still… this outfit isn't really my style. It literally screams 'hipster'."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up and put a sock into it."

Mina pouted and crossed her arms. Couldn't Twilight at least have gotten something a little more...not this? Granted, she or Twilight wasn't a fashion critique since neither had any ideas as to what to wear properly for certain events.

Whatever the reason, they didn't question it and moved on with the main lesson at hand. Time to see just how skilled Mina was in fighting with a Keyblade… along with observing the mistakes that she would no doubt make.

"Alright… first things first - let's start by observing your fighting pattern on some dummies that I'll spawn." Twilight explained.

"Got it. Attack, defense or both?" Mina asked.

"Both. I wanna see how far you can go without making a mistake before we start the lesson on Magic. Think you can handle it?"

"If they're anything like the Heartless I encountered, it shouldn't be too much trouble." Mina assured her.

"Alright… don't get cocky though. Also, their weapons aren't just for show - they will do your harm despite being made out of wood. You should treat this seriously, not like a game,"

Mina nodded. "Right. How long will the lesson go on?"

Twilight paused for a moment to think. She was solving the numbers in her mind while making a couple of finger gestures. "I'll give you… 10 minutes. Once your time is up, we'll see how you did."

Mina nodded and summoned Equinox. Twilight then opened the spell book that she had taken out of the library, flipped its pages and found the one she needed. Muttering an ancient incantation, the book began to glow as sparks came out from it. They touched on separate locations in front of Mina before forming into a set of training dummies with weapons in their hands.

The brunette examined them all - spears, swords, knives and even a bow with wooden arrows. This should be an easy challenge… as long as she didn't do anything stupid. Twilight held a small pocket watch as she set the timer to 10 minutes.

"Alright… everything seems to be in order. You ready?" Twilight asked.

Mina nodded and got into a fighting position. Twilight's thumb pressed the green button as the time started to tick down while allowing the dummies to move freely. The librarian's violet eyes were kept on the brunette at all times as she began to move around and attack.

(A little later…)

"So… how'd I do…" Mina asked while on the ground and taking deep breaths. There were a couple of wounds here and there on her body but most of them got patched up by Twilight using a healing spell.

"I'd say that you did a moderate job for someone using the Keyblade for the first time. You did make a couple of mistakes but learning from them is important for growing."

"That's true… can't always be perfect, I suppose. How many dummies did I take down by the way?"

Twilight used her fingers to count down the number of puppets that were taken out. "You managed to take down… 12, actually make that 13. Not a bad score."

It definitely wasn't a bad score. Granted, she did make a couple of mistakes when trying to defeat her wooden opponents but that was part of the training. To make sure that the flaws were discovered and see what could be fixed.

For a first attempt, it wasn't all that bad. Now though, Twilight decided to move onto the next part of the test - Magic.

"Fit enough to continue or do you need a little more time to rest?" Twilight asked with Mina answering immediately. "5 more minutes and we'll continue."

Twilight nodded in return and checked out the book for any useful spells that Mina could learn besides Fire and Water. She was sure that the other elements such as Ice, Earth or Air could also work. Maybe even more esoteric elements as well.

Speaking of spells, Twilight had to teach Mina to use a healing spell to ensure that she wouldn't perish during the heat of battle. A useful tool to have at your disposal.

A few minutes later, Mina had regained her strength and was ready to continue with the lesson. Twilight had muttered an ancient incantation as orbs had spawned in the air. They began to move around just like how Twilight wanted them to be.

Mina was confused by the moving orbs in the air before Twilight started to explain. "We're going to test out how well you can destroy them using both Fire and Water at your disposal. Take these two orbs and let them get absorbed by Equinox."

Twilight had conjured two sets of glowing orbs - one that was red while the other was blue. Mina aimed the tip of Equinox at them and in an instant they were both sucked in.

The first thing that Mina felt was how hot her weapon had become but it subsided as it cooled down soon afterwards. No doubt due to the Fire and Water orbs inside of Equinox. Interesting…

Now the question remained on how to activate the spells. From her experiences in playing the games, she knew that Sora could activate them by just yelling the name… but would it have an effect here? Only one way to find out.

Pointing Equinox at one of the orbs, Mina took a deep breath and then yelled. "FIRE!"

What followed next was a couple of sparks coming out from the tip and then a big cloud of black smoke filling the area. Both Twilight and Mina coughed.

"Oof! That was…" Twilight paused as she coughed and started to clear the smoke away. Her entire body was covered in soot as was Mina.

Once the smoke was gone, they both dusted themselves as best they could. Another cough came out from Mina. "Well, that was a bust."

"Yeah… but it was only your first try. Give it another shot and concentrate… try to imagine the fire in your mind." Twilight advised.

Despite the suggestion, Mina found it more difficult in trying to conjure a fire spell in order to hit one of the orbs. Every time that she attempted to do the spell right, it ended with them being covered in soot. The brunette got a little frustrated and eventually called it quits since she couldn't attempt to cast the spell properly.

"Ugh, this is so… Ugh!" Mina was so frustrated that she punched a tree much to Twilight's shock and worry.

The violet-haired librarian placed a hand on her shoulder. "Being frustrated over this won't help you learn at all. I think we should call it quits for today. Pick up tomorrow or another day."

Mina looked down for a moment and turned to Twilight to protest but realized she had a point. Being frustrated over something like this wouldn't solve the problem at hand. Maybe next time she would have better luck with this.

"I guess you do have a point… I'm just so annoyed I couldn't try out the spells today." Mina sighed with a frown.

"I know… but don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to learn how to cast them properly. For now, let's wrap this and head back to Ponyville. It's almost noon."

"Okay." Mina nodded as Twilight dismissed everything and pocketed the spell-book in her backpack. With that cleared up, the two began making their way towards the exit.

They desperately needed a shower and some food… along with some peace and quiet. Hopefully nothing serious would happen once they had returned to the library.

Author's Notes: And thus... Chapter 9 was born! I wish you all a nice return to reading one of my most important fanfics - next to Anya's and my RWBY crossover which I must return to... sooner or later. Hopefully I'll start on a new chapter tomorrow or in the days to come. I do gotta return to my novel writing ASAP.

On a personal note, thank you to those that have supported me in writing this along with the rest of my fanfics... I hope you'll enjoy the future chapters as they role and will continue to support me as I improve as an author that will one day publish a real-life book. God, I hope I do publish it... I want people to read it and experience the true depths of my imagination. A wish of mine...

The next chapter shall be the last one that will be light-hearted... and then the true events happen. Mina and her new friends are about to take their first step into the spirit of adventure... it shall be interesting. Also, the tower will return!

A final note for myself - to update the cover art, Don! Be sure to do that!

I bid you all adieu and until Chapter 10!