(UPDATED 6/7/2018)

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

-CHAPTER START-

Ponyville

Three Days After End of Last Chapter – 3:00 PM

Things had all fallen into another stretch of between-crises peace and quiet. The coalition was cooperating with Equestrian personnel to perform a rough census and determine an accurate planet-wide population size, while medical specialists were cataloguing loads of data from various local medical records to construct a detailed profile of Equestrian physiology. The three Project Corona-owned VTOL dropships were determined to be of Koprulu-Terran origin, the serial numbers matching a few long-missing units from the Kel-Morian Combine. The TSAB were already going over Equestria's magic styles/systems, cataloguing them.

Small patrols frequently went out around Ponyville's outer edges, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Right now, two figures were patrolling through an area of rocks and grasses near Ghastly Gorge: a purple-furred earth pony mare, and a little teal-furred unicorn filly in a skirt. Erika kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious, while also instinctively sticking close to Golden Tiara as she too scanned the landscape. So far, their patrol today had been peaceful, and they talked about various little things.

As they walked among a cluster of rock spires, however, they became aware of something nearby – subtle whispers of wind and footsteps, motion out of the corners of their eyes, a feeling of being watched. They looked to each and nodded, and then Erika shifted to her natural form and summoned her Keyblade and Armor, while Golden Tiara summoned her Project Corona armor. On high alert, they readied their respective energies.

In a sudden burst of motion and a flash of green, GT spun around and Biotically grabbed hold of a Soldier-type Heartless in mid-leap, and then threw it into a rock pillar, killing it. Seconds later, a Strike Raid from Erika nailed a Neoshadow trying to leap from one stone spire to another.

"Impressive instincts, both of you" a woman's voice said.

They turned, and caught sight of a lone hooded figure, the body shape identifying her as a pony and the bulge in the hood identifying her as a unicorn. A black glow came from her horn, and her cloak was telekinetically tossed aside. Golden Tiara growled as she recognized the mare.

"Checker…" she snarled. "I thought we ran you out of town."

The once-red heart in Checker's Cutie Mark was now black, and when she opened her eyes the irises were revealed to have turned gold, as she gave a calm smirk. "You did" she replied. "I've acquired a new source of power now, as payment for accepting a new superior, one of great wisdom and power who was quite willing to provide me with several perks in exchange for my loyalty. Now, then… You two have been deemed significant threats. If I kill you now, I'm sure that Master Xehanort shall be quite pleased."

GT glowed green with Biotic power, while Erika's grip on the Stroke of Midnight tightened. "You pledged yourself to the Seeker of Darkness?" the young Keyblade-Wielder asked.

"I did" Checker replied. "And the perks were worth it – a significant boost in power from the Darkness, an army of capable servants," she flashed her horn's magic, and a pack of Neoshadows formed around her, "and the chance to get revenge on you, 'Agent Gamma'. Now… it's time to have some fun…"

The Neoshadows charged, and GT unleashed a Biotic Pulse that knocked a few of them off their feet, stunning them. Erika beheaded two more of the bipedal Heartless with a single swing of her Keyblade, and lashed out with a kick to the chest of a third. Then Checker was upon them, lashing out with hooves crackling with black Lightning-type magic. Erika blocked a strike with her weapon, and then countered with a quick slicing swing of it that Checker back-flipped away from. Golden hit a Neoshadow with a Biotic Throw that launched it at Checker, who simply blasted it before it could hit her.

Checker fired a wave of small Darkness-type magic bolts, and Erika blocked with a Reflect spell. Checker teleported behind Erika before she could react, striking with a crushing blow, only for Golden Tiara to Biotically yank Erika out of the way, saving her. GT then blasted Checker with a close-range Biotic Shockwave that sent her flying backward, managing to land on her hooves. Erika fired a Blizzara spell at her, but Checker cast a Dark Barrier that blocked the attack. Checker then rushed in at GT, engaging her in a close-up brawl, using her new skills to keep up with the Spec-Ops veteran. Strikes were blocked, dodged, or slapped aside, neither one of the two gaining an advantage.

"Gamma, look out!"

Erika's warning gave Golden the time to leap away from Checker… dodging by less than a foot the downward punch from The Meta that shattered the ground where she'd been standing an instant earlier. The white-armored, Darkness-corrupted human super-soldier snarled as he lashed out with a kick that impacted a hastily-formed Biotic Barrier, knocking her back a few meters. Erika fired a Prism Rain attack at the two, only for The Meta to activate his dome-shield projector, protecting him and Checker from the multi-colored barrage.

"Well, this fight just got harder" Erika remarked.

"Do you two honestly think you stance a chance against the both of us?" Checker Monarch said with a smirk, as The Meta cracked his knuckles. "The Darkness that he and I have submerged ourselves in gives us power beyond compare."

"You overestimate yourself" Golden replied. "What a cliché villain thing to do. You've got some new tricks and a power boost, but that doesn't make you unbeatable."

"I may not be omnipotent, but I'm more than powerful enough to take down some small-town mud-walker, regardless of that otherworldly substance infused within your body. And I doubt a prepubescent Keyblader who's had her weapon for only a couple months will make much difference, especially with this fellow here helping me."

"If you think you can beat us that easily," Golden said, her eyes glowing green, "then you're in for a nasty surprise."

"We'll see…" Checker replied, dark magic enveloping her horn. The Meta gave a quiet growl, while Erika channeled mana through her Keyblade.

For several seconds, the four were still and quiet, staring each other down. Then, all of them moved at once. A Dark Barrier shield-spell from Checker blocked Golden's Warp attack from hitting The Meta, while at the same time Erika's Keyblade batted away a grenade that The Meta fast-balled at Golden, sending it flying off to explode against a rock pillar. Erika then went on the attack, and The Meta used his armor's new reinforced forearm guards to block and parry her Keyblade strikes, slowly being pushed back by the little girl's surprisingly ferocious assault. Checker and Golden got into a close-range duel, dodging and blocking physical attacks empowered by Biotics and dark magic. After a short while of this, they lashed out with a Darkness-enhanced telekinetic strike and a Biotic Throw, launching each other backward and away.

Erika landed a blow that sent The Meta tumbling backward, but he regained control and hand-sprung into a landing on his feet. He then pulled out an M6C pistol and started firing, and Erika blocked some of the bullets with her Keyblade and cast Reflera to stop the others. She dropped her barrier and rushed him, letting her armor's personal energy shields take the last three shots in his pistol's clip, and landed a short combo of blows that staggered The Meta. She went for a follow-up strike, only for a telekinetic pulse from Checker to knock her away. Checker then conjured several long, thin metal spikes, like javelins, and launched them at Erika, but Golden Tiara moved in with a Barrier to protect her. She then compressed and launched the Barrier as a focused wave of Biotic force, hammering Checker and The Meta.

Checker and The Meta fell back, and Golden & Erika pursued, beginning a running battle, the two pairs exchanging fire as they moved. Before long, they reached Ghastly Gorge, battling not far from the massive chasm in the earth. The Meta rolled under a Strike Raid from Erika and charged her, bringing his fist down with bone-crushing force. Even with her Keyblade Armor, and her chakra channeled through and into her arm, it still hurt to block his punch. She attacked with a sweeping low kick, but he jumped back to avoid it… and got nailed in the back by her returning Keyblade. He snarled and shrugged off the pain, pressing his attack again.

The fight moved to the edge of the cliff. Bolts of dark magic shattered stone, Biotically-thrown boulders and Keyblade-fired magic blasts flew through the air, and up-close blows were exchanged. Checker leapt high to avoid a Strike Raid from Erika, and she then charged and fired an explosive burst of Darkness and Lightning magic down at Golden, who countered by firing a Warp blast up at her. The two high-velocity spheres of volatile energy met halfway, struggling against each other, before flying off wildly, shooting in an arc over the edge of the nearby cliff and then curving back around and up. The energy mixture impacted the cliff face and exploded violently, and a few seconds later the already-unstable rock began to give way.

A rockslide of huge hunks of stone began to fall down the gorge. The four combatants couldn't get out of the way in time, so they were made to ride the rocks down, continuing their fight even as they fell. Erika threw her Keyblade at The Meta, who dodged and launched himself off a boulder, flying toward her with fist ready, only for Erika to home in on and teleport herself to her Keyblade, avoiding the attack, and then fire a Firaga spell at him, which he avoided by swinging himself around the hunk of rock he was presently riding, letting the fireball impact it instead. Golden hit a hunk of stone twice as big as herself with a Biotic punch that sent it hurtling toward Checker, who simply blasted it into pebbles and dust with a concentrated explosive Darkness blast. Checker then leapt from rock to rock, reaching the canyon floor before anyone else, having calculated where the remaining rocks would fall and now taken position where she wouldn't be beneath any of them. She charged raw Dark power into her forehoof, bringing it back and ready to strike. Golden Tiara launched herself downward at her, her hoof wreathed in Biotic energy, her eyes glowing green with power. The two struck at each other at the same time, their blows meeting and letting out a shockwave that blew away everything around them.

The rocks came crashing down all along the canyon floor, but the combatants paid little heed to that as they kept fighting each other. Checker fired a bolt of black Lightning magic at Golden, but Erika moved in and blocked it with her weapon. The Meta tried to rush Erika from the side, only to be blasted away by a Biotic Throw from Golden. Erika fired a Blizzara spell at Checker and then charged her, unleashing a flurry of blows that the dark mare was hard-pressed to dodge or block, while Golden went after The Meta, hammering him with Biotic blows that he muscled through as he tried to crush her with his super-powerful punches and kicks.

Erika soon landed a high-power horizontal strike that sent Checker flying back. The fallen unicorn snarled and readied an attack spell, only to have to cancel it and dodge to avoid being flattened by The Meta, who had been launched back by a Biotic Throw from Golden. The two quickly got back up on their feet, bodies surging with dark power.

"Okay, that's enough!" a voice called. "Playtime's up for the day, kids!"

The four looked up at a rock ledge sticking out of the cliff face about 30 feet off the ground, spotting a man in a black cloak lounging on it, his gray-streaked black hair flying in the wind and partially covering his eyepatch, and a cocky grin on his heavily-scarred face.

"It's nice you two are havin' fun," Braig/Xigbar said, "but the Boss-Man wants the both of ya to help take on a bigger target ASAP."

"And what makes you think I would throw out this chance to get revenge on the bitch who humiliated me in front of those commoners?" Checker growled at him.

"Hey, easy" Xigbar put his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I'm just relaying the orders. Besides… wouldn't you rather beat her in front of a crowd, instead of out here in the middle of nowhere with, like, only four witnesses?"

"Hmm…" Checker stroked her chin in thought. "That's a good point." She turned to The Meta. "What do you think?"

The ex-Freelancer just shrugged his shoulders.

"…Alright, alright" Checker finally said. "Let's go, already."

"Wait" Erika cut in. "Just like that? You're leaving?"

"Yep!" Xigbar said. "…Damn, and I thought Sora was young for a Keyblade-Wielder."

He leapt down, landing between Checker and The Meta. He then snapped his fingers, and a Dark Gateway formed behind them. The trio fell back, stepping through the gateway, which then closed.

"We'd better go let the others know that Checker's working for Xehanort now" Golden said, as she and Erika began their trek home.

-CHAPTER END-

Next Chapter: An old threat, thought vanquished, emerges.