A Shadow flew past Twilight and her human guide as they rushed out of the alley. It vanished into wisps of darkness after crashing into a nearby wall. “Ya’ll get away from them pups!” Twilight heard a familiar voice angrily shout.
“Applejack!”
“Twilight? Ah’ll say, you’re a sight for sore eyes!” The mare bucked away a Soldier. Three black and white spotted puppies cowered behind her, whining in fear. “Mind givin’ me a helpin’ hand?”
“No problem!” Twilight cried, her horn glowing as she cast a quick spell. “Barrier!” A wall of purple magic solidified around the earth pony’s charges, just in time to block the claws of a Heartless.
“Friend of yours?” Leon asked, engaging one of the Large Bodies. He easily blocked its punches before skewering the towering Heartless’s head.
“Yes!” The keyblade wielding mare cried, unleashing another spell. Fireballs shot out from the tip of her keyblade, decimating a small horde of mixed Shadows and Soldiers who had emerged from the alley they’d come from.
“Twi’, mind finishin’ these for me?” The earth pony strained to hold one of the Large Bodies in place with her lasso. Unseen, another Heartless rose from a shadow behind her.
“No time to warn her,” Twilight frantically thought, as the Shadow’s claws descended. Remembering Leon’s advice, she reached for the darkness, and it responded. Shudders ran down her spine as she traveled through the shadows. It was over in moments, but it was so dark and cold! Reappearing behind her friend, the unicorn raised her keyblade just in time to block the Heartless’s claws. Swinging the weapon around, she blasted it with a wave of dark power. The Shadow vanished under the overwhelming assault, along with the wall behind.
“Woah, nelly!” Applejack jumped back in surprise, nearly losing her grip on her rope. “Where in tarnation did ya learn to do that?!”
“It... isn’t... easy,” Twilight grunted. Darkness oozed from her corrupted Element. “No, I won’t give in! Control, control!” Slowly, the power drew back and she leveled her gaze at the still struggling Large Body in Applejack’s lasso. “Blizzara!” The fat monster vanished under the assault of chilled magic.
Leon finished off his own foes. “I believe that is all of them, for now. We should get these three back to their parents.”
“Now hold up!” Applejack said, standing over the three puppies protectively. “Ah ain’t goin’ nowhere with somepony,” Here Leon raised an eyebrow. “Ah don’t even know, even if he did help me fight off those Heartless!”
“Applejack, trust me, he’s a friend,” Twilight said, tiredly putting a hoof on the farmpony’s shoulder. “I’ll explain later, but right now we need to get these little guys somewhere safe, ok?” After a moment, she nodded.
“This way,” Leon said, already headed down a small side passage. He stopped by an inconspicuous door and knocked thrice. The door opened a moment later and Leon nearly stumbled as the puppies raced in under his feet. Twilight and Applejack stepped into a warmly decorated room. Two adult black and white dogs, oh, dalmatians, that’s what they were called, dalmatians warmly barked and nuzzled the pups, as a few groups of others played around. One of the other puppies nosed forward a small package.
“For us?” Twilight asked. The little pup nodded. “Thanks!” Inside were a few potions. How was she supposed to carry these? Maybe if she stuffed them into her munny pouch? She really needed to buy some saddlebags...
“Alright Twilight, we’re safe in here, right? So explain,” Applejack impatiently said, glaring suspiciously at the swordsman in the room.
Twilight looked to Leon who nodded. “I woke up in an alley with Spike shaking me...”
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“And that’s how I got here,” the unicorn finished.
“Ah see. Well, looks like Ah owe ya an apology, Mr. Leon.”
“It’s Leon. Now, I assume more of your friends are missing?” The two ponies nodded. “Perhaps you should tell me how you got here.”
“An evil pony with a keyblade kidnapped our princess, Celestia, who is also my keyblade master...”
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“I see. Interesting. It’s strange that your princess never mentioned the other worlds or the ancient keyblade wars. And I’ve never heard of your world, this Equestria.” Leon commented. “It’s almost like your ruler was trying to conceal the past.”
Twilight bristled. “Princess Celestia would never do that!” Several of the puppies shied away from the angry unicorn.
“Sugarcube, Ah think Leon here might have a point. Ah hate to admit it, but what he’s sayin’ makes sense,” Applejack put in, toying with her golden necklace. “If Nightmare Moon was Celestia’s sister, well-”
“Fine, I get it!” the unicorn interrupted. She took a moment to calm herself before continuing. “I agree there’s a possibility that Princess Celestia was keeping a lot of secrets about the past. Now, Leon, people keep mentioning worlds. What do you mean?”
Leon shrugged. “There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of different worlds out there. Each one contains its own separate lands, people, and rules. I should warn you, if you do go to other worlds you shouldn’t interfere with them. Legends say that barriers of light separate the worlds, keeping them safe from the Heartless. When a world’s barrier is shattered, Heartless can then enter that world, thus we can only enter worlds that are exposed to the Heartless. Tell me, have you ever heard of someone called Ansem?”
The two ponies shook their heads.
“Ansem was the ruler of my original world, Hollow Bastion. He was studying the Heartless. All I know is that one day thousands of Heartless emerged from his lab. Many people died, and we barely escaped with our lives. His findings were written in a report, the pages of which are scattered throughout the worlds. If you should ever find one, let me know.”
Twilight nodded. “So, our Equestria was just one world of many?”
“Yes, that is correct. What do you wish to do now? Your world may still exist, however, if your friends fell into the darkness, they could have ended up scattered amongst the worlds.”
The keyblade wielder thought for a moment. “I’m not sure, what do you think, Applejack?”
“Um, much as Ah’d like to get back and check on mah farm, Ah think we need to find the princess and our friends first,” Applejack replied.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Twilight turned to the swordsman. “How would we get to the other worlds?”
“Hm, that other keybearer, Sora. I told him many of the same things and he chose to find his friends as well,” Leon said to himself, before continuing, “For that, you’ll need to talk to our mechanic, Cid. He maintains our ships. He might agree to lend or sell you one,” Leon answered, shifting his sword. “He’ll be in the First District. I can escort you there, but afterwards there are some other things I need to attend to.”
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There were fewer Heartless on the way back, and the ones that did rise against them were quickly vanquished. After blasting the last one with a bit of fire magic, Leon spoke. “I just thought of something. Most of the people in the worlds are human.”
“So?”
“Unless you want to start a panic, you’ll need to blend in. Do you know any transformation spells?”
“Uh, no.” Twilight replied. The door swung open just enough to let them pass and the trio stepped through.
“Then you should visit Merlin in the Third District before you leave. I’m sure he’ll be able to help you,” Leon said. “Now, I need to get back to my duties. Cid should be somewhere on the second level here, keep an eye out for a blonde haired man wearing goggles who swears a lot.”
“Thanks, Leon! And bye!” Twilight called.
“Yeah, thanks a lot!” Applejack waved a hoof as the man left. “Hm, for a human Ah guess he weren’t too bad, right Twilight?”
“Uh huh. Oh, we need to pick up Spike, I’m sure he’s worried!”
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“That Leon sure wasn’t kidding, was he?” The earth pony said, her eyes wide as she watched all the humans and other creatures going about their business.
“At least you were warned,” Twilight grumbled, “I got the shock of my life, walking out of that alley.” Threading through the crowd, the mare led her friend downstairs. Twilight thought the sight of a human boy, a tall dog humanoid, and a walking duck entering the town through the oversized door was a little odd, but just shrugged. Compared to evil shadow monsters who ate hearts, they were perfectly normal. Putting the trio out of her mind, she continued down to the cafe. “Spike! I’m back!”
The little dragon walked out of the back room wearing a miniature apron. “Hey Twilight, I was just helping Marie make some muffins.”
“Well, at least he wasn’t just worrying about me the whole time,” Twilight thought.
Spike clapped his paws together, sending a cloud of flour into the air. “Oh, you found Applejack!” He took off his apron and hung it on a nearby hook.
“Hey there, Spike!” The farmpony waved.
“So, did you have any luck finding anyone else?” He asked. Twilight shook her head. Spike sighed. “Where could they be?”
Before Twilight could answer, Marie emerged from the back room. “Oh, you’re back!”
“Thanks for watching Spike, I really appreciate it.”
“Oh, it was no trouble at all, Twilight, he was just a little darling! Feel free to come back any time!” Marie cheerfully replied before turning to help a customer.
As they walked back up, Twilight explained everything that she had learned.
“So, we’re going to other worlds to find the others?”
“That’s right, Spike. We need to find this ‘Cid’. Hopefully we can convince him to let us borrow one of his ships, or at least buy one. Though, that might be a problem, I don’t have much Munny.”
“Munny?” Applejack questioned. Twilight simply floated out one of the small, multicolored orbs. The other mare facehoofed.
“I did the same thing!” The keybearer laughed, putting away the ball.
“Consarn it!” Applejack grumbled, “Ah can’t believe they use that for trade! You can just get that by beating up Heartless! Why, anypony could just get a bunch and ruin the economy!”
“I didn’t know you had such an interest in economics, Applejack,” the other mare said, moving aside as a large man walked by.
“Eh, comes with the territory o’ runnin’ my own farm,” the earth pony explained, before pointing at a man wearing a pair of goggles on his forehead in the distance. “Is that Cid? Looks like somepony is already talkin’ to him.”
“Er, Applejack? I think if we’re not talking about ponies, you’re supposed to say someone,” Spike corrected.
“Ah’ll talk how Ah wanna talk!” She exclaimed, already running forward.
Twilight followed, just in time to catch what they were saying.
“So, what’re you here for, kid?” the man, presumably Cid, asked.
“I dunno, I just got this feeling in my heart, like there’s something here I need to do,” the foal, no, boy said, arms resting behind his spiky haired head. “Besides, after dealing with all that craziness in Wonderland we all needed a break.”
“Aw, speak for yourself, Sora.” the duck-person grumbled, waving an arm dismissively. His voice had an odd sound to it, almost like he was quacking at the same time.
“Sora... where did I hear that name before?” Twilight thought.
“Gosh, Donald, I thought you said you couldn’t wait for a break earlier?” The taller one with the shield spoke up.
“Shush, Goofy!”
The unicorn’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh, I remember!”
“Uh, remember what?” Spike asked from his perch atop his mistress’s back.
“I think Leon mentioned him earlier, he’s that other keyblade wielder he mentioned! We need to talk to him!” Twilight walked up and tapped the boy on the shoulder. “Uh, excuse me?”
“Huh?” The boy turned around. “Woah, a talking horse!”
“‘scuse me? Ah’m a pony, not a horse, whatever that is!” Applejack indignantly cried as she trotted up.
Spike waved his hands. “Yeah, and I’m a dragon!”
“Oh, uh, sorry?” He grinned apologetically. “I’m Sora. These are my friends, Donald.” The feathered fowl waved half-heartedly. “And Goofy.”
“Pleasure to meet ya!” the tall one greeted.
The unicorn nodded. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant, Spike, and my friend, Applejack. Um, I heard you have a keyblade. Could I see it?”
“Sure!” The boy reached out his hand. A flash of light later, his keyblade appeared in his hands, the shaft a shining silver and the grip cast in gold.
“Hm, his keyblade looks way different than mine, the princess’s, or even Nightmare Moon’s,” Twilight hummed in thought, looking the weapon over.
“Uh, if ya don’t mind me asking, why’d ya want to see Sora’s keyblade?” Goofy asked.
Donald folded his arms and grumbled. “Awful suspicious if you ask me.”
“Well, the thing is...” Twilight’s keyblade, the Star Seeker, appeared beside her, enveloped in the purple glow of her magic. “I’m a keybearer too!”
“What?!”
“That’s awesome!” Sora shouted, excitement evident in his voice. His two companions stood there with a dumbfounded look on their faces. “How long have you had yours?”
“Oh, I’ve had it for years,” the mare replied. At this, Donald gave Goofy a questioning glance, to which he just shrugged.
“Well, I’ve only had my keyblade for a couple of days now, ever since my islands were swallowed by the darkness.” The last bit came out a little more quietly than the rest.
“Ah’m sorry to hear that. I’d hate for anything like that to happen to Equestria.”
“What’s this Equestria like? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before.” Goofy scratched his head confusedly.
“Well, it’s mostly populated by ponies like us, though there are some other races such as gryphons, dragons, and buffalo,” Twilight explained. “Heartless would occasionally appear, but we’d always be able to fight them off. But other than that, we lived in peace under the rule of Princess Celestia. She’s also my keyblade master!”
“Gawrsh, you were taught by a keyblade master? I wonder if she knew Master Ye-” The rest of Goofy’s words were muffled by Donald’s hands. The others looked at him oddly.
“Uh, don’t mind us! I just remembered something I need to talk to Goofy about.” The duck wizard laughed nervously as he pulled his companion over to the side.
Twilight stood there confused for a moment before continuing. “Uh, anyways, everything was fine until this evil pony who called herself Nightmare Moon appeared and kidnapped the princess. My friends and I chased after her into the Everfree Forest, but when we finally found her she did something with a set of six powerful magical artifacts she called the Elements of Harmony. I think she tried to channel their power into her keyblade, but it backfired on her, unleashing the darkness on us. We were all sucked in, and the next thing I knew, I was here in Traverse Town with Spike.”
“I’m still not sure what happened back on the islands, it was all so confusing. Right now I’m just trying to find my friends, Riku and Kairi.” Sora let his keyblade disappear into flickers of light.
Twilight nodded as she did the same. “Yeah, I’m trying to find my friends too. At least I already found one of ‘em, right Applejack?”
“Ya sure did, Twi’!”
“Hey, what about me?” Spike cried, waving his claws.
A grin spread across the unicorn’s face. “I never lost you in the first place, so how could I find you?” The little dragon sat back, satisfied.
“Um, I did have one question,” Sora asked. “Could you maybe give me some tips?”
“Er, really?” Twilight was rather surprised. “Nopony has ever asked me to teach them before!”
The boy toed the ground embarrassedly. “Well, you know, trying to figure out how to use the keyblade by myself isn’t very easy. I just thought that since you’ve been using one a lot longer and even had a teacher you might have some tips. If you don’t want to you don’t have to, I guess.”
“No, no, no, I wasn’t saying I wouldn’t!” the unicorn hurriedly reassured the boy. “I was just surprised, that’s all! Um, I’d like to teach you, but I really need to get a ship so I can search for my friends.”
The man with the goggles finally interrupted. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear your little conversation. Did you say you need a ship?” Twilight nodded. “I’m Cid. I keep all of Traverse Town’s gummi ships in good shape. I also happen to run the local accessory shop in my spare time, so stop by when you get a chance.” He scratched his chin. “Well, normally I wouldn’t do this, but since you seem to be friends with Sora here I’ll make an exception. I was going to ask him to deliver this book to our local wizard, Merlin, in the Third District.” He held up a thick book. Twilight couldn’t quite catch the title as the man waved it about. “But things have been getting a little hairy in the other districts lately, so, I’ll tell you what. You help Sora deliver this book and I’ll let you borrow one of the gummi ships. Deal?”
“Um.” Twilight looked to her companions, who urgently nodded. “Sure, we can do that! Is that OK with you guys?”
“I think that’s a great idea, right Goofy?” Donald exclaimed a little loudly as he walked back up.
“Huh?” The duck poked him with his wand. “Oh, uh, right!”
“Great!” Sora exclaimed. “You can give me some tips on the way! Come on, let’s get going!” The keyblade wielder made for the door just as Goofy grabbed his shoulder.
“Now hold up, Sora. We’re low on supplies, remember?”
“Oh, right. Twilight, do you mind waiting while we go buy some potions?”
“Actually, we’ll come with you. I wonder if they have any saddlebags around here?” Twilight asked.
“Ah sure hope so, Ah was in too much of a rush to bring any and Spike’s little bag there won’t hold a lot.”
“Hey!”