Chapter 4 – Act like the Hero, Mina!

Mina tore through the Everfree Forest with a speed belying her 16-year-old frame. Everything had seemed just fine this morning, but now the Elements were in trouble and she might be the only one who could save them! She couldn't afford to slow down or wait for help; it might already be too late for Twilight and her friends. Mina couldn't stand to think of bloody corpses or freshly made Heartless. And to think, this morning had promised such a nice day ahead.

(Earlier – Inside Twilight's house/library)

The golden light of a new dawn peaked through the curtains, awakening Mina, whether she liked it or not.

"Ugh, morning already?" Mina complained. As consciousness returned to her, Mina stretched out on the inflatable mattress Twilight had been kind enough to provide her with. Last night Twilight had provided her with all she needed for a good night's sleep, the mattress, the pillow and blanket, and even a pair of Twilight's old pajamas; even if those pajamas were made for a grown woman and thus a little big on the not quite finished growing teenager.

As grateful as Mira was to Twilight, she felt particularly happy with the inflatable mattress. It made her feel like she was back in her room on Earth. Mina's thoughts quickly turned melancholy. Her mothers, sister, and girlfriend were all missing. Mina wasn't sure she was ready to trust the mysterious figure who simply referred to himself as 'him', but 'he' had said her loved ones would be along 'when the time was right' whatever that meant. Mina hoped that it was sooner rather than later. She missed Sonya terribly and wanted nothing more than to hold her girlfriend during this sudden upheaval in their lives.

"Hey, Twilight, thanks for setting me up last night," Mina thanked, but quickly realized she was in an empty room. She got up off the bed and slipped on a pair of flip-flops. Mina simply assumed Twilight had gone to cook breakfast or use the bathroom or some such, but before Mina left the room, she spotted what looked like a note on Twilight's pillow. A note that bore her name.

"Mina, I woke up a bit earlier than usual, so I decided to start getting my friends together so I can introduce all of you. Depending on when you read this, Spike should be able to help make breakfast for you. I'd make you breakfast myself, but I don't know your sleeping habits yet and there are few things worse than soggy cereal or a cold omelet. Also, the bathroom is in the basement if you need it and you're free to use it," The note read.

"Breakfast does sound good right about now…" Mina mused to herself. Then she saw there was a PS tucked away at the bottom of the note in absolutely tiny handwriting. Mina didn't need glasses, but she did absently wish for a magnifying glass as she tried to read the words.

"P.S. Yes, I know what you might be thinking: 'Why is the bathroom next to the kitchen and the lab?'. I'm really not sure, it's just been that way ever since Spike and I moved in. I've simply learned to accept this quirk. Surely the architects had a good reason, right?" Mina got the impression Twilight had spent more time overthinking this particular oddity than she let on. Of course, this was Twilight Sparkle, when wasn't she overthinking something?

With the note read and the promise of breakfast, Mina made her way down into the main library area.

"Spike? You around here?" Mina called out

"Downstairs!" The young drake answered, "I'm just cleaning some lab equipment before starting on breakfast! It'll be a little while!"

'Curses!' Mina thought. She was perfectly capable of cooking for herself, but she didn't know how Twilight's kitchen was organized and so would certainly make a completely unnecessary mess.

"Looks like I'm taking a shower first," Mina sighed as she descended to the basement. Once inside the bathroom Mina stripped off the pajamas after locking the door and stepped into the shower stall. Fortunately the valve was no more complicated than what she was used to and she quickly had a warm shower going.

It was nice, with how suddenly everything had changed that warm showers were still as great as they ever were. How had everything gone so wrong? One day she had been an average, if slightly nerdy girl with two loving mothers, a cute younger sister, and a girlfriend she was sure she'd love until death do us part. The next the Mayan Calendar thing had turned out to be true and the world had ended.

Mina still didn't understand why she and her loved ones had been chosen to be spared or why she had been offered a deal she still didn't fully understand, but if it meant saving her family, she didn't hesitate.

Mina's thoughts continued to circle as she started lathering her hair with shampoo when suddenly she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She instinctively whipped around to try and catch the source of the motion but found nothing.

"It's fine, I'm just stressed is all," Mina desperately wanted to believe that was the case but given her recent string of luck Mina was certain she had caught a glimpse of something much more sinister. Before Mina could think on this further, there was a knock on the door.

"Hey Mina, are you trying to drown yourself in there?" Spike asked through the door.

"No, Spike, I was just… distracted! I'll be out in a minute!" Mina lied.

"OK. How do you like your eggs?" Spike inquired.

"Cheesy omelet if it isn't too much trouble," Mina requested.

"One world class cheesy omelet, coming right up!" Spike promised, "And one side order of well buttered toast, of course. How many eggs do you take?"

"Four please, I woke up super hungry," Mina answered sheepishly.

"Aye aye!" Spike said agreeably and Mina heard his claws on the floor as he walked off to begin cooking.

Mina quickly finished her usual shower ritual and toweled off before putting on her clothes, which had been washed last night while she slept. A quick brush of her hair to make herself presentable and she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Morning," Spike greeted as he heard her approaching, never turning his attention away from the cooking eggs.

"Good morning," Mina returned pleasantly.

"If you're super hungry, we have some cereal you can eat while waiting for the eggs to finish. We even have cereal with those wholesome artificial chocolate flavors," Spike snarked.

"That's a surprisingly cynical thing to say," Mina commented as she decided to leave the cereal too if she was still hungry after the eggs.

"I grew up with Twilight. She did a nutritional project thing for school once and was a super health nut for about three months before deciding she couldn't live without her burgers. She kinda tried to infect the whole family," Mina couldn't help but think that was a very Twilight thing to do, "I wasn't even allowed to eat sweets for a whole two months before Twilight learned that young healthy boys need to eat a few sweets every so often!"

"That must have been hard," Mina said sympathetically.

"Don't get me wrong, I love Twilight like a sister, but that girl is crazy," Spike's voice was colored with affection, "One cheesy omelet to rule them all, order up!" Spike carried the non-stick pan with the eggs over to the table and deposited the egg creation on a serving plate. Spike then returned to the stove top to prepare his own meal.

"Thank you, Spike," Mina said gratefully.

"Juice and milk are in the fridge if you want something to drink," Spike replied and Mina moved to the fridge. Her search was soon rewarded with some cherry juice. Call her a weirdo all you like; Mina was of the opinion that no breakfast was complete without her favorite juice.

"So, how are you finding Ponyville so far?" Spike asked.

"It's not bad. I wish Rainbow would get off my case, but otherwise not bad," Mina answered. She couldn't exactly reveal that back home the MLP cast were fictional characters. Mina pushed these thoughts to the side as she enjoyed Spike's superb omelet.

"Yeah, Rainbow's been a bit on edge since a guy named Discord passed through town. You're just a convenient target, I guess. It's not every day an alien falls from the sky," Spike shrugged, "Don't feel too bad, she called Twilight a spy when she first came to Ponyville too."

"Speaking of Rainbow, are she and Twilight...?" Spike broke out laughing at Mina's insinuation.

"Twilight Sparkle realizing she has feelings for someone? I'm sorry, that's just too funny! She'll sooner try and get a law passed so she can marry her favorite books than realize she has feelings for anything living. As for Rainbow, I dunno, if she does have a crush on Twi, she's acting like a grade school kid about it," Spike answered.

The pair went quiet as Mina thought over her situation. How would the rest of the Elements respond to her? Would any of them be as paranoid as Rainbow or would they welcome her with open arms? Part of her deal with 'Him' was a working knowledge of this Equestria. Unfortunately that didn't mean she could predict the Element's reaction to her. Mina didn't know if she could handle all of the Elements looking at her with abject distrust in their eyes.

Mina's eggs were gone and while they were absolutely delicious, they also weren't enough to fill her up. So she poured herself a bowl of generic looking round shaped chocolate cereal and began eating that as well. Spike finished preparing his own breakfast and sat down at the table as well.

"Spike, do you think the others will like me?" Mina asked softly.

"I don't see why they wouldn't. Applejack might be a bit slow to warm up to you, same as Rainbow, but Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity will definitely welcome you with open arms. After all, someone falling from the sky and claiming to be from another world barely makes it into the top 10 strangest things that have happened since Twi and I got to Ponyville and it isn't like you're a terrible person otherwise," Spike assured with a certainty that comes with youth.

"Thank you Spike, I needed to hear that." Mina replied honestly. She was still worried about the meeting, but now her fears weren't as all consuming.

Suddenly there was a banging from the front door. It sounded like someone was shouting, but neither Spike nor Mina could make out the words. No one pounds on a door like that without good reason, so Spike and Mina abandoned their breakfast and went to see what was up.

Upon opening the door, a pale woman with styled purple hair burst into the library. She immediately grabbed onto Spike.

"Spike, it's the worst possible thing! Twilight felt something odd coming from the Everfree and so we all went to look with her, but then we were attacked by these horrid beasts!" Rarity shouted.

"What kind of beasts?" Spike asked urgently.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like them! They had horrendous, bulbous heads with beady yellow eyes that looked like they were piercing through my very soul! Other than that, they were expressionless. No noses, mouths, or any other facial features and they all looked the same!" Mina felt her heart plummet into her stomach. The Heartless had made it to Equestria.

"Spike, you and Rarity stay here, I'm going to see if I can't help Twilight and the others!" Mina ordered and was out the door before either could get a word in edgewise.

(The present…)

And that was how Mina wound up charging through the Everfree. She only hoped that 'He' kept up 'His' end of the bargain and provided her with a Keyblade to fight with. If these Heartless were here because of her and the Elements got hurt because of it, she'd never forgive herself.

If something was going down in the Everfree, then that usually meant the Castle of the Two Sisters. Mina fortunately knew more or less where she was going. However, she should have been paying more attention to her surroundings. The young brunette turned a corner and collided at top speed with something.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Mina was never so glad to hear that raspy voice.

"Rainbow, are you OK? Are the others OK?!" Mina demanded as she got up off the ground. She got her answer just by looking at Rainbow. The rainbow haired woman's clothes were torn up and there were cuts and the beginnings of bruises all across her visible flesh.

"Mina? What are you doing here?!" Rainbow asked.

"Rarity showed up at the library and said you guys were in trouble! I couldn't just do nothing!" Mina exclaimed.

"You don't have to do that. You don't owe us anything," Rainbow was stunned. Mina was out here risking herself even after she had been such a huge jerk to her.

"If I can do something, then I have to do it," Mina replied resolutely.

"Alright, I can respect that. I'll see if I can find backup in town and then come back," Rainbow decided.

"No, you're hurt! You need to see a doctor!" Mina protested.

"What? This? This is nothing," Rainbow tried to shrug it off and winced at the movement, "I've survived worse. The others haven't though, so get going! And I want to hear your whole story after all this is over, got it?" Without waiting for Mina's response, Rainbow dashed off.

"That woman!" Mina growled out in frustration. Still, Mina wasn't too far off from the Castle. Might as well try and summon the Keyblade she was promised. It would be horribly embarrassing if she charged in and found she couldn't actually help.

Mina reached out her hand in an open grasping motion and prayed for a Keyblade to appear. For a moment, it seemed as if it wasn't going to work and Mina's heart plummeted. Then she felt a spark of power unlike anything she had ever felt before. It resonated in her entire being and then in a shower of sparks and a faint *shink* sound, a Keyblade was in her hands. The only strange thing was this was a Keyblade that most certainly not an official one but Mina recognized it just the same. She had been the one to draw it, after all.

The handle was a simple black, but that was the only thing simple about this Keyblade design. The hand-guard completely encircled the handle and was in the shape of a sunburst in a muted yellow color. The blade itself looked like a fancy clock hand or arrow that had been hollowed out and had been painted black on the outside and gold on the inside. The teeth looked like a black crescent moon with some kind of golden design inside of it that Mina couldn't make heads or tails of. Finally the key-chain was another crescent moon with a sun resting inside the crook of the moon, as if in some kind of eclipse.

"This is so cool!" Mina squealed before getting a hold of herself. Every second she wasted was a second Twilight and the others could be dead or worse. Mina resumed going top speed towards the castle. She could only hope she wasn't too late.

Author's Notes: So... basically, one of my readers on pointed out some good criticism and rushing in the fourth chapter and I decided to help me out by rewritten it. I own him one big time - thanks a lot for the help, my dude! I appreciate it. - His name is The Dimension Traveler on (go over there and give him some support for his stories! He deserves it!)

Lots of things were changed in this chapter - Rarity instead of Fluttershy coming to meet Mina; Rainbow beginning to apologize for actions - slowly; Mina and Spike chatting during breakfast. Plus, some of the words were changed as well - I'm glad for that. Dimension Traveler and I agreed to give him chapters for beta read so he can point out things that I can fix.

Also, in this humanized MLP world - the Mane Six's personalities are slightly altered a bit... apologies for that but its important to the story. One thing to make note of is the fact that this fanfic takes place during Season 2 after Discord's little invasion - hence why Twilight and Rainbow were a little bit on edge. Just to clear things up in case you all weren't aware and confused on when exactly is this set in the MLP timeline.

I'm glad that you all are still enjoying the story - thank you for the support! I deeply appreciate it and I promise that I'll continue doing my best to repair and not rush the chapters... if I can, guys and gals.

I think that's all I have to share for now... until next time on Chapter 5. Enjoy the rewrite and happy reading to you all. Also, again - no criticism or bad comments... that's all I ask from you.

Happy reading and later!