~When a weak heart gives in to the darkness, the body is lost and a Heartless is born ~
Well. . . . that was new. Mych thought to himself as he and Zavier dusted themselves off, summoned their Keyblades and switched to defense as the swarm of Heartless started to surround them. Not only are we plucked from Twilight Town like it was an urgent calling, we get flung half way across the star paths between worlds and wind up here. And not only were the usual conventional methods ignored, we're tossed like we were kicked out of some crazy cab ride. "Hey Zavier. . " he motioned to his friend as they stood back to back,"Yeah Mych?" "Remind me to fire my travel agent when this is over." " Uuuh Mych. . . you don't have a travel agent to begin with." Zavier replied as the first wave of Shadows attacked. The two darted with ease and soon the sounds of Keyblades striking Heartless could be heard," Well that's good then! Saves me the trouble of firing somebody today!" He said with a grin.
Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watched from cover as the two new beings engaged the shadow creatures. No pony spoke for they were enthralled with how they moved. Rarity murmured that the two moved with a grace that was also beautiful. . in some deadly way. Applejack commented on how easily they were handling themselves despite the odds stacked against them. Even Rainbow Dash was impressed by their hoof work. Course she added they could be 20% cooler with how they carried themselves.
"Its like watching a couple dance." The white unicorn spoke. All eyes turned on her as the high pitched sound repeated and more strange different shadow creatures leaped from no where and hurled themselves at the two,"Well look at them. Surprised you ladies haven't noticed by now. The stallion keeps his back to his mare friend to avoid any surprise ambushes or sneak attacks those dark bugs try on them. She responds by using magic. . defense magic to keep harm to a minimal. His feels more offensive given how hes firing off Fire and Ice. And before any of you think its odd, they're doing it with accurate precision. . .its like they've danced this dance so many times before. . . its simply. . .romantic."
Twilight just smiled with a soft snicker as Rarity fluttered her eyes. Rainbow Dash made a face that looked like she was going to be sick, while Applejack just silently laughed at the pegasus's antics,"Course their attire could use some work. . they look just awful in those garments. The stallion could use a trim too, his mane is just all over the place. Surprised he keeps it tied up like that. . and those colors. . uugh. . he reminds me of you Rainbow Dash. . with morning mane." The pegasus snorted and crossed her front legs in a huff,"I just happen to like it that way. . sides with all the flying I do, whose got time to fuss about the way their mane looks?" Rarity just hmmmphed and played with hers,"You dear, still don't understand what it means to be radiant. . .typical." Twilight was impressed with her fellow unicorn's interpetation of the two strangers.
This allowed her to make some mental notes about their appearance as well: Both stood on their hind legs, lacked tails and their front legs hung from the sides of their bodies rather in front. And instead of hooves, they looked to be more like Spike's paws. . minus the scales and claws. . and instead of four digits, they each possessed five. The tall stallion wore what looked to be a white shirt that could use a serious cleaning, what being covered in dust. He wore an outer coat, that looked like the fabric to be made of jean material, also faded and long sleeved. He kept these rolled up at the "elbows" as Spike called them allowing no hinderence as he wielded the item in paw. His face and her face were also strange: No muzzles, the eyes were in front with a nose beneath them and the mouth under that. Their ears, instead of being on top of their heads were on the side. How can any creature live like that? She shook her head, it was just a new strange thing happening on top of everything else.
Back to examination: The mare's mane was kept in short and tied, with a little tail. It was a pale blue which seem to compliment her rather intense green eyes as she moved with quick fluid motions of her item and destroyed more of the creatures. She also wore a dark blue shirt which, compared to the stallion's was clean. Over-alls. . as Applejack mentioned covered the lower portion of her body and legs while strange shoes adorned both their hooves. . or rather feet as Spike had said. The stallion's were faded black pants that looked a little too big for his frame and yet they never fell once. His eyes were the strangest of all: The left bore a soft grey that reminded the unicorn of a cloudy day. The right was more of a dark blue that matched the evening sky. Seems he was not entirely unscathed either: A scar ran over that eye and stopped just above his cheek? in the shape of an S almost. His mane was also a strange color or colors and reminded her of how Rainbow Dash mane stacked up. Fiery red with pale white atop and blackest black bringing out the rest. These creatures sure had some odd taste in colors that was for sure.
Unfortunately that was all she could gather before they felt a creepy presence behind them. All heads turned to see gangily shadow creatures dressed in armor and wiggled about like scarecrows. Rarity screamed which drew the two stranger's attention,"Locals. . . ." the "stallion" motioned. The "mare" nodded and dashed towards the six, all panicking as those creatures attacked. She was fast. . .really fast. All had their eyes closed, ready for the end. All their ears heard was the whirl of something whipping in the air above them, the loud clunk of metal against metal and a strange poomf! sound. One by one each dared to open their eyes and found themselves staring up at the mare,"Look. . I don't know if you can understand me or not." This has got to be the strangest sight I have ever seen. Ponies?!. . I mean. . who colors ponies like this? And. .are those two unicorns? And pegasus? "But this really isn't a safe place! You should take cover and hide!"
A loud oof! sounded and the "stallion" went sailing past her. . taking both pegasus with him as he tumbled across the ground, laying face first with both of them under his arms,"Heeeelp!!!" Rainbow Dash flailed,"Its got me!! It's gonna turn me into one of those things!!" Poor Fluttershy could only squeak and tremble while hiding her eyes under her front hooves as he groaned and slowly shook his head, his "mare" friend rushing up to meet him,"Mych! you ok?" He spluttered and rose a little woozily before shaking his head to clear things,"Yeah. . .I'm fine. . .damn Dark sides. . always hit like a fricken truck." He looked down at Rainbow Dash who rose to her feet, brushed her self off and started to flap those wings again,"What?! What are you looking at? Want a piece of me too?" she said with a few shadow boxing jabs with her front hooves. He merely looked at her with an arched brow,"Big talk coming from some shrimp who was squealing like a girl a minute ago." Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped before she grew angrier,"What?! What did you say?!" Before she could come at the tall "stallion", the "mare" intervened,"Mych. . . stop that." She pointed a finger at the pegasus,"And you. . .don't provoke him ok?" The pegasus grumbled and huffed before the purple unicorn spoke up,"She's right Rainbow Dash. Now is not the time to pick fights when we still have a situation here."
The one called Mych looked at the Dark side,"C'mon Zavier. . lets end this thing and then we can mingle with the natives." The mare nodded and hefted her item from one hand to the other,"Time to sent this fellow packing." Mych nodded and they tapped wrists. Twilight felt a surge of power flow through the two and then. . .they moved at a speed so great it could challenge Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom. The giant deemed "Dark side" to the two, tried to smash down with those great fists and crush them. . .with no success. Mych and Zavier were simply moving too fast for it to follow through. Each missed blow was met with a strike from their items and the thing writhes in silent pain as the pair split down the center and took sides. Mych moved with a flurry of strikes bearing down on the Dark sides' one limb, while Zavier worked her way up to the neck as they literally climbed the thing. They both leaped off its shoulders and brought the items down, thus creating a cross slash over the Dark side.
It was over. . .the thing toppled back into the pit even as the two landed, its body fading beneath mists and speckles of shattered light. What drew Twilight's attention was the heart the drifted among the fading body rising into the air before it just vanished. All that was left was the hole and the ruins of Town Hall. The shadow creatures had retreated, which was odd because of their frenzied behavior earlier. Could they fear these two? And the items they held in their hands? As silence fell upon Ponyville, Twilight could only come to a conclusion that yes, it was possible.
She watched the two standing there, the "stallion" having his item draping over his neck like a rake, while the "mare" kept hers at the side,"Not bad for a crash course in landing." The two tapped their knuckles together and just admired their work. "All right. Ahm sure we're mighty thankful for the things ya done fer us but I have a couple questions." Mych and Zavier both looked over their shoulders to the tanned pony with the blond mane, wearing a Stetson hat and had a thick southern accent,"Jes who or what are yous? And what bout them thangs your carryin? Fact what did ya call those tiny varmints again? Shadows? Dun recall seein shadows behave like that before." Applejack looked to her friends,"It's clear our strangers know lot bout whats goin on. I think we all agree that some explain needs to be done before we allow them to go anywheres else." Twilight nodded as did her friends before turning to look up at the two,"I'm sorry about all this but Applejack is right. You both seem to know what is going on and yet we've never seen you or those things ever. What are they?"
The one called Zavier was the first to speak,"They are called Heartless." Puzzled looks graced all the ponies faces,"I don't know. They seem pretty hyper and bouncy and all grr grr wavy hand claw at you to have no hearts!" the pink one with poofy pink hair and tail seemed to cheerily admit. The one, Mych shook his head,"Its not that. . its just what they are called. Heartless. When a weak heart succumbs to the darkness, the body is lost and thus a Heartless is born. They prey upon living beings, stealing those who have weak or corrupted hearts and making more of themselves." He brought the object which was still drapped across his shoulder,"And these thangs. . miss pony. .are called Keyblades."
The tanned one spoke up again,"Names Applejack. . and. . whatsa Keyblade?" Zavier nodded,"Its a weapon. . a weapon the Heartless fear and loathe. Its their weakness. When a Keyblade destroy a Heartless, the heart that is trapped is released. It either returns to its owner. . or joins Kingdom Hearts." The six ponies looked puzzled once more, the white unicorn spoke up,"So your saying. . dear. Is that you. .and your stallion friend. (Mych felt his face heat up like a stove top) battle these. .Heartless and release hearts?" Twilight finished,"And these hearts. . they go back to their owners or. .return to. . . Kingdom Hearts? I. . I don't understand. Why have none of us ponies or Princess Celestia have heard of these things. I mean. .we both tore our libraries down from top to bottom, none of what you said or mention exists."
Mych rubbed the back of his head, wearing a sort of sheepish expression,"Problem is why you don't hear about stuff like this is because. . .its sorta a low profile. When there are outbreaks of Heartless in worlds, we tackle them behind the locals backs." The blue pegasus spoke up,"Why would you do that? I mean if the threat is there, wouldn't it be better if they knew about it? And what is this about "other" worlds? Only world I know of is Equestria." Mych sighed and blew loudly through his nose,"Hoooo boy. . . I was worried about this. Minute Heartless go rampant and the locals get involved, we get stuck doing history lessons." Zavier shook her head,"Comes with the territory. People.. or in this case ponies are bound to want answers sooner or later. Might as well fill them in, while we do damage control."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
As the mane six, with their two new companions, took the main path back to the library, Mych and Zavier did their best to fill them in, as they peppered them with questions. Zavier had noted that Twilight was the smart one of this group as she was nodding her head in silence as though making mental tabs for some future book. The one blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash kept quiet for the most part, only to trade glances over at Mych before quickly turning around so he would not take notice. The other one the butter creamed colored pegasus with pink mane and tail, seemed just as content walking with her friends then with her fellow winged companion. The white unicorn, the one they called Rarity was asking if it was alright with them, about making them some better outfits then the "rags" they wore currently. (Zavier noted that each time she referred to Mych as a "stallion", the poor guy's face kept lighting up like a red light and he often coughed and stared off somewhere.) And Pinkie Pie? Well she was just. .hopping down the trail while bearing a rather huge content grin.
As the library came into view, Zavier fell back to speak with Mych,"Say. . .you notice anything about this that doesn't make any sense?" He looked at her with a bizarre look on his face before whispering back,"You mean aside from falling from the sky, making aquaintences with really colorful ponies, which I made add that yellow one, the quiet shy one, is so rediculously cute? That if I were to keep looking at her, my head would explode into puppies, kittens and confetti at any moment? Not to mention that their flanks are bearing odd symbols, each one different from the other and that no two are the same? Nope. . .I'd say that's normal around here." Zavier rolled her eyes then elbowed him,"Not that!. .. why haven't we changed? You know in worlds such as these the Keyblade's power alters our appearance so we could blend in more and not stick out like this." Running a hand through his hair, Mych could only shrug,"Something is off here and we know it. Question is what? Can't be the Heartless, they don't have that kind of thinking. And given how that Dark side managed to tunnel under the town. . . Get the suspicion that some one. . is pulling strings around here."
A pink face appeared out of no where, nearly startling the two,"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! you know what? After this whole Heartless thing is over, lets have a party! I mean since your new here, its only natural that new comers get parties thrown for them! Cause that would totally be awesome. And then we can get our friends and you can get yours! Oh and we can have cake and ice cream, play games eat cupcakes, drink fruit punch, play more games, have some pie dip our heads into the chocolate fountain! And then there would be balloons, we'd throw streamers and blow kazoos while whirling noise makers! It would be so great! And hey the next day. . we could do it again!!" This pony, the one whose friends called Pinkie Pie. She was. . different. While the others remained collected and calm, she was just .. . dare Mych think it? Bouncing all over the place. And the way she spoke? Zavier swore that if she had recorded this conversation just now, played it back and hit the slow button, she still would not understand half of what the pony said, given she was talking at 100 miles per hour here.
A small being emerged from the door, running up to greet the group,"Twiliiiiiight! Its a letter!" the green and purple creature called out. Mych leaned over and whispered,"Is. .that a dragon?" The purple unicorn smiled and nodded,"Yep. That is Spike, my number one assistant and helper in the library." The small dragon came to a stop in front of them, out of breath and waving a scroll in his hand,"I just got this a few minutes ago. It looked urgent so I thought I would run it to you. But seeing as your here, that saves me the trou-" He stopped and looked up at the two tall beings behind his friends, eyes growing wider,"Whoa. . .who. . who are they?" Twilight looked over her shoulder,"Oh. . That there is Mych," he saluted to the dragon,"And that other person there is Zavier." She gave a nod,"Wow. . .what are they?" the dragon asked still looking up in awe as Twilight plucked the scroll from his hand and unrolled it,"Human beings. . they are called. And they helped us back in Town Hall battling those monsters." Spike felt a nudge and looked to see Fluttershy,"Umm. . Spike? H. .how was my little animal friends? Were they scared when the earthquake showed up? I'm so worried about them." While the dragon spoke to the pegasus, assuring her that her friends were ok, Mych leaned over and whispered to Zavier,"Kinda small for a dragon you know." She elbowed him, creating a soft grunt and hurt look,"Stop that. . he's probably just small for his size or is still growing."
A sudden gasp, broke everyone's silence as the scroll dropped from Twilight's magic. Rainbow Dash was instantly there at her side, shaking the stunned pony,"Twilight? What's going on? Why you shocked all of a sudden? What did it say?" She turned to look at every one with worried eyes and in a trembling voice spoke,"C.. Cantorlot is under siege. . .the Heartless are attacking as we speak. Celestia has lost half her guards already. . they holed up in the throne room. ..and. . .and she's been seriously hurt." A collective shocked gasp came from her friends as they crowded her. She continued,"There's more. . . . " The pony had trouble speaking the words until Applejack bumped her,"Well spit it out sugar cube, what is it?"
Violet eyes looked to her friends before she spoke,"Nightmare Moon is back. . .and she is leading the attack."