//------------------------------// // 6. Crusader Investigators/Jiminy Crickets! // Story: Ponies & Keyblades II: Return to Equestria // by GoneGuy //------------------------------// Sugarcube Corner Ponyville, Equestria "Alright, everypony. I've been watching out everywhere lately and I haven't seen a single Heartless attack yet. Do we have any ideas on why this is?" "Maybe they just decided to stop being Mr. Meaniepants and went to hide in the Everfree Forest?" "I highly doubt that, Pinkie Pie. I find it more likely that considering the keyblade wielder is here, they have become more cautious." "But Twilight, Heartless act on instinct for the most part. Since they are attracted to the very object that would lead their doom, they should be popping up like crazy." "But Sora..." "Wait. Who said that?" "I did." A small creature jumped out of Sora's pocket and onto the table in front of the group of ponies. "I-It's a cricket!" Fluttershy exclaimed, "a cute little cricket!" "Jiminy's the name. Jiminy Cricket." "It can talk?" "Yes, I can talk. Now, for the most part I already know your names. But as I was saying-" "How do you know our names?" Rainbow inquired. "I'm the Royal Chronicler for King Mickey and Queen Minnie of Disney Castle. I record everything in this little journal of mine," Jiminy said as he pulled out a small book from his jacket, "if you look inside, you'll not only see some home-made drawings of you and all the people and ponies we've met, but you'll also see a little information on them." "Let me see," Twilight requested. "Knock yourself out," the cricket said as he gave the tiny book to Twilight. Twilight removed a magnifying glass from her bag and began to read. "Twilight Sparkle This lavender mare from the kingdom of ponies, Equestria, is an all around book addict and is very intelligent. At times she may seem more invested in her books than her friends, but within her body beats a heart of gold. In the last adventure in Equestria, Twilight, Sora, and their friends defeated both Maleficent and her allies, including Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra of the Crystal Empire. Before Sora left Equestria, she went from being Princess Celestia's star student and a simple unicorn to being an alicorn and princess of Equestria. She lives in Ponyville and learns lessons of friendship almost every day." "Yup. I remember writing that after we visited here last time." "How did you see all this?" "Sora's pocket is an excellent vantage point for action." "I forgot you were in there, Jiminy." "My point," the slightly annoyed cricket began, "is that Heartless USUALLY act on instinct. Unless, of course, there is some high power that is evil in the world. In other words, someone like Maleficent or Xemnas. The Heartless usually follow the stronger side of the evil spectrum." "So, sugarcube, you think there might be somepony else who is controllin' the Heartless?" "That's precisely what I mean, Applejack." "But darling," Rarity interjected, "we defeated the darknesses of Equestria last time, both past and future. Why did Maleficent not recruit this denizen of evil if she intended to use them to take over Equestria?" "M-maybe she thought this villain was too much of a match even for her..." Fluttershy added. "Maybe she and this villain would've fought for control of Equestria," Sora concluded, "after all, she hates us, but she hated Organization XIII even more. She even helped us to defeat them once." "Perhaps..." Jiminy finished as he grabbed his journal and jumped back into Sora's pocket. Schoolhouse Playground Ponyville, Equestria "Scootaloo, we already tried to get cutie marks in deep-sea diving." "I know that Sweetie Belle. But Twilight let me borrow a book on it and I think we'll get our cutie marks for sure this time!" "But ah was lookin' forward to tryin' to get our cutie marks in air acrobatics today!" "Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! I just had a great idea! Why don't we get our cutie marks in cupcake making!" "Ah already tried that one a while back. Didn't turn out too well." "Hold on, girls," Scootaloo interjected, "look over there." The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked across the playground to see three familiar ponies walking around, seemingly trying to avoid being seen. "Doesn't that look a little suspicious?" "Yeah, it kinda does. But what does that have ta do with gettin' our cutie marks?" "Duh, Apple Bloom! We get our cutie marks in SLEUTHING!" "That's genius Scootaloo!" "Alright, let's get goin' girls! Cutie Mark Crusader Investigators, go!" Unknown Road Ponyville, Equestria "I don't think we should bother Time Turner today, Sunset." "Derpy, how many times do I need to tell you. He prefers to be called 'The Doctor'." "Even so, he hadn't called us out. Why are we even doing this?" "Because," Vinyl interjected, "we need to be able to help Sora out best as we can. The Doctor knows a lot about what goes on here in Equestria, and he insists on helping Sora. We need to do our part." "Ok, Vinyl." "I told you, I go by my street name now. DJ Pon-3." "Alright Vinyl." "Ugh, never mind." "Shhh you two!" I thought I heard something." The trio turned around to see a small broken branch in the road. "We need to proceed carefully. The Heartless might be on our tails." "Ok. But after our visit with the Doctor, can we get some muffins?" "We'll see." Unknown Road Ponyville, Equestria "Nice going, Scootaloo! You almost blew our cover!" "Hey, it's not my fault there was a huge branch in the road!" "Girls, stop bickerin'! Sunset and the other two are headin' into Time Turner's house!" "Time Turner? Why would they go there?" "Ah dunno Sweetie Belle. I hear Time Turner's a little... crazy. Always talkin' about the 'alternate realities' and such. Everypony says he thinks he can travel through time, claims he met another him, was part of some interdimensional protectional society across the megaverse or somethin' crazy like that." "But that's impossible! Ponies can barely even leave our world, let alone mess with time!" "Ah dunno. But there's gotta be some reason those ponies are visitin' him."