Season 2 finale…epic beyond words. I don’t think I needed to tell you all that, but it had to be said.
Also, The Avengers comes out this week! Boo-yah!
Disclaimer: If I owned it, ‘Love is in Bloom’ and ‘B.B.B.F.F.’ would never have been born, so it’s a good thing I don’t. Awesome I may be in the eyes of some, but I’m definitely not that awesome.
-G-M-
Guardians of Magic
Chapter 5: Chaos in Canterlot
Twilight raised a hoof and knocked on the front door of a house in one of Canterlot’s lesser districts, although that was a relative term. In the Royal City, even if your family wasn’t from upstanding nobility with great lineage, very few families had homes of the humbler sort that even the wealthy in Ponyville enjoyed.
She could hear Riku shuffling around behind her, and Twilight felt a bit anxious herself. She hadn’t seen her parents Twilight Velvet and Cobalt Bracer in three months. Twilight always tried to visit whenever she had to go to Canterlot, but circumstances sometimes kept her from fulfilling that wish.
Now she wasn’t sure if this would be the last time she’d ever see them.
“Let’s hurry and get inside,” Riku muttered from behind her, “all these other ponies are starting to freak me out.”
Twilight couldn’t entirely say that she disagreed. While she supposed she could understand what Riku was going through, a little, she had certainly felt uncomfortable with all of the looks she and Riku had been receiving as they walked down the street together. Rarity had certainly been right and Twilight had the sense not to try and deny it: Riku was a gorgeous stallion; fit and strong, a shining silver mane and lustrous turquoise coat underneath bright aquamarine eyes. It was no wonder that several young mares had shot her jealous looks and whispered dark words under their breaths when they’d incorrectly judged her to have snagged a fine catch.
She almost facehoofed. Dating? Her? Not for a while yet, that was for sure. Her studies and her friends had to come first, and she knew that she didn’t have room in her schedule for a coltfriend to be pencilled in.
The door opened and revealed a female unicorn at the door. Her coat was white and her mane purple and cream, three lilac stars were her cutie mark. Cyan eyes glittered excitedly as she saw who was at the door, and the unicorn mare hugged the slightly smaller mare. “Oh Sparkle, it’s wonderful to see you.”
“Great to see you too, Mom,” Twilight Sparkle replied. They stepped back from each other and Twilight Velvet glanced at Riku for a second before returning her gaze to her daughter.
“Well, why don’t you and your friend here come in? Your brother’s here too, so we’ll have the whole family here.”
Twilight felt her eyes widen at the news. “Shining Armor’s here?” A pleasant feeling of surprise filled her and she entered the house. Twilight Velvet stepped back a couple of paces and Riku followed her in.
“Twilie!”
Twilight gasped at the sound of her brother’s voice and smiled. On the second floor landing she could see her older brother starting to come down towards her. Behind him was their father Cobalt Bracer, a cobalt blue unicorn with a navy mane and golden eyes. On his flank was a golden crescent moon and star. Shining Armor, though, was as white as his mother, with a mane mainly of the blue of his father’s with an electric blue highlight, and eyes just like his mother’s. His cutie mark was of a magenta star like Twilight’s, except overtop a blue shield. Three cyan stars were plastered above the shield.
“I’m so glad to see you, Twilight,” Shining Armor. “It’s great that you could make it, especially considering what’s been going on recently. Aren’t you excited?”
Twilight looked at her brother in confusion. “Excited for what?”
Now Shining Armor cocked his head in bewilderment. “Didn’t you get my letter?”
“I did,” she answered, “but I never got to read it. My friend Rainbow Dash kept interrupting me and things kinda spiralled out of hoof after that.” Her mother, father, and brother all laughed. “What is it?”
“Oh Twilight, I’m so proud of you,” Shining Armor said, coming up and patting his sister on the head. “You said, ‘my friend’.” Twilight blushed a little and bowed her head. She was conscious that Riku was still behind them and paying attention to every word.
“Shining Armor…”
“What do you mean by that?” Riku asked, stepping forward slightly. Shining Armor laughed.
“Not only is my little sister here a smarty-pants egghead apprenticed to Princess Celestia, but before she went to Ponyville she never had any friends besides me,” he told Riku. “And now she’s got a whole bunch of friends from what we hear; and a secret coltfriend by the looks of it.”
Twilight was sure her face had gone as pink as Pinkie’s mane at the implication. It was bad enough that her brother was embarrassing her by telling Riku that she’d never had friends before, but to imply that she was dating him? When she’d only just met him this morning and he wasn’t even a pony for pony’s sake!? Ponies on the street she could handle even if it was a little embarrassing, but her own family too?
Before she could even answer to contradict him, Riku laughed. “Unfortunately for your imagination, no. Twilight Sparkle and I just met today. While she is important to me and my friends, she’s not my girl—marefriend and I’m not looking for one.”
“Dang,” Shining Armor replied. “And here I was, hoping that she’d have a date for my wedding.”
Twilight felt something in her snap. “Wait, what? What wedding!?”
Cobalt Bracer smiled, humoured, at his second and youngest child. “Your brother’s getting married, Sparkle, didn’t you know?”
“NO!” she retorted. “And when did you decide this?”
“Just two days ago,” her brother answered. “I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible. That’s what was in the letter I sent to you, Twilight. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and I are getting married.”
Twilight smiled. “Well then, I suppose congratulations are in order, except for one teensy-weensy thing.”
“And what’s that?” Twilight Velvet asked of her daughter.
“Who the hay is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!? Why haven’t I heard of her before?” Twilight only felt her ire grow when her family started to laugh, and it increased exponentially when Riku chuckled slightly behind her. The jerk. He had to be even more in the dark than she was and yet he found this whole thing funny?
“You should know her better than almost any of us, Sparkle,” Cobalt Bracer told her. “She was your foalsitter after all.”
Shock coursed into Twilight and she stuttered over her next few words. “M—my foalsitter? N—no, Cadance was my foalsitter, not this Mi Amore Cadenz—”
Cadenza, Cadance… Cadance, Cadenza…
Shining Armor smiled when he saw the huge grin erupt onto his sister’s face. “I think it clicked.”
“You’re marrying Cadance!” she exclaimed, “as in, Cadance, the best foalsitter in the history of foalsitters?”
“You tell us dear,” Twilight Velvet said, “she was your foalsitter after all.”
Twilight couldn’t help but burst as the memories of her fillyhood foalsitter rushed back. “Oh my gosh! Woo-hoo! You’re marrying Cadance! You’re marrying Cadance! You’re marrying Cadance!”
“Alright, alright, settle down Twilie,” Shining Armor said in what Twilight assumed to be an attempt to get her to stop bouncing up and down in a circle around him. “I don’t think you’ve introduced us to your not-coltfriend here.” Being reminded of Riku’s presence in her family’s home sobered her up quickly.
“Right,” she said, coming down from the cloud she’d briefly visited with her brother’s news. “Everypony, this is Riku. Riku, this is my mom, Twilight Velvet, my dad, Cobalt Bracer, and my brother, Shining Armor.”
Riku nodded to each in turn, and Cobalt Bracer took a step forward. “So, why don’t you tell us how you know our little Sparkle here?”
Riku smiled. “You really want to know?”
“Of course,” Twilight Velvet answered.
“Yeah, we won’t judge you here,” Shining Armor added.
Twilight laughed nervously and went to stand next to Riku. She leaned up to whisper into his ear. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea. My brother’s a Captain of the Royal Guard.”
“Even more reason,” Riku whispered back. “I first saw her when I woke up behind bars in the castle dungeon this morning,” he answered pleasantly. “Princess Celestia thought that we were connected to the…Shadows that had been appearing, and she was right.”
Twilight glanced between her family members anxiously. Her mother and father looked at each other in shock, but Shining Armor was suddenly glaring at Riku, a glare that was being met with a confident smirk. Her brother’s horn began glowing with magenta light and his voice was even as he said, “Twilight, get behind me, now.”
Twilight threw her hooves out in front of her as she stood on her hind legs. “No! Wait! You’ve got it wrong, brother! Riku’s one of the good guys!” She dropped back down and pointed at Riku’s flank. “See his cutie mark? That’s a Keyblade. It’s a weapon he and his friends carry that can defeat the Heartless, and apparently I’m supposed to be one of these mystical wielders too and a pony who somehow keeps all of the magic in existence flowing and balanced.”
Shining Armor relented and his horn ceased glowing, but his glare at the younger stallion stayed. “Start explaining.”
“Your sister is a Guardian of Magic,” Riku answered plainly, “technically known as a Keeper of the Art. She’s one of six beings that uphold the flow of all magic in existence through their own existence. When together with the other five, they can find and potentially summon any magical item existing and can perform feats of magic few could even dream of.” He looked at Twilight now, and she shied away slightly at his gaze. She could feel everypony’s eyes on her, and it was making her feel like she’d been asked a question she didn’t have the answer to back in Magic Kindergarten. “Also, Twilight, don’t call it a cutie mark. It makes me feel emasculated.”
She chuckled dryly, trying to find humor in what he said despite the unwanted attention she was getting. Special was one thing, but this was a bit too special. “What are you talking about, Riku? That’s what it is. No sense calling it something that it’s not.”
“You could at least drop the ‘cutie’ part from it and just say ‘marking’ or ‘crest’ or ‘sigil’ or even just call it a ‘tattoo’. Just thinking ‘cutie mark’ and me in the same sentence makes me want to hurl.”
“Why’s that?” Twilight Velvet asked.
“Let’s just say that I come from a place where my societal gender stereotype brainwashing tells me that the phrase ‘cutie mark’ belongs solely to little six year old fillies, not grown stallions,” he answered. Twilight saw him smirk again at her older brother. “Shining Armor, I’m not lying. If I really were allied with the Heartless, I wouldn’t have come with Twilight to help her explain to you all that she’s going to have to leave Equestria with my friends and me.”
Twilight felt her heart wrench at the looks on her family’s faces. “But Riku,” her mother asked, “why? Sparkle, what is he saying?” Riku only looked at Twilight Sparkle. Feeling the pit in her stomach deepen, the lavender unicorn opened her mouth to speak. She could feel the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Her brother was going to get married, and she was probably going to miss the most important day of his life because some villain was hunting her due to a power she’d never even known existed.
“I—”
A scream from outside cut her off before she could even start. Riku’s ears perked up beside her, and he quickly spun around. Through the window Twilight was able to see a grey earth pony run by, screaming. A second later Heartless that appeared to be more of the Shadows that had been attacking Trixie; along with some others that looked like them, only in helmets, boots, and blue bodysuits with a strange heart-shaped emblem on the front, ran past in pursuit.
“That’s my cue,” Riku growled.
-G-M-
Rainbow Dash felt her jaw drop in what she knew to be a bit of fear when one of the Draco Ursas roared loudly into Sora’s face. Spike, Pinkie, and Peewee all fled from where the Heartless were gathering in the centre of the room and quickly joined the others near her and Coltinster. “What are those things?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing a hoof between the smaller Heartless and the massive bear-dragon ones.
“Meet the Heartless,” Sora replied, the chocolate-maned pegasus crouching lower and snorting at the throng that had appeared in the room with them.
“And they don’t seem too happy to see us,” Kairi added, and Rainbow Dash was sure that she almost sounded eager about it despite the panic she’d displayed earlier. Flashes of light came from the mouths of both pegasi, revealing their Keyblades within. Rainbow could only watch as the pair charged towards the Soldiers and two Draco Ursas, and suddenly they were upon them. With a fast jerk of his neck to the right, Sora sent the Oblivion flying out of his mouth, the onyx Keyblade spinning like a circular saw as it cut through the air to chop right through a Soldier Heartless’ helmeted head. Kairi attacked from Sora’s left, her angelic white Keyblade transferring into her scarlet tail from her mouth in another flash of light before she spun around on her hooves so her back was turned to the Soldier she’d charged. The Oathkeeper rose and descended in her tail’s grasp, slicing through the Heartless’ front in one swipe. Both Soldiers burst apart into clouds of darkness, and pink crystal hearts rose up into the sky from out of their bodies.
“Ooh,” Pinkie Pie said, looking at the rising hearts.
“Well?” a voice snapped from the side, and Rainbow turned her head to see the bearded old unicorn Coltinster staring at her and her friends. “Aren’t ye going to do anything, or are the Elements of Harmony going to let two ponies they hardly know defend Equestria without the help of those who were born and bred here?”
“But we don’t have the Elements here with us,” Rarity said. “Princess Celestia said that arming ourselves with the Elements could wait until after we’d questioned Riku and them.”
“And besides, they won’t work if we’re not all here,” Applejack added. She glanced around quickly, and Rainbow Dash watched Sora make short work of another two Soldiers with a single slash, the brown pegasus leaping through the air with his Keyblade clutched tightly in his mouth. “Ah don’t see Twilight anywhere. Did anypony see where she went?”
“Oh, I saw her!” Pinkie announced. “She left with Riku a while ago, but I’m not sure what about.”
“Then, what are we going to do?” Spike asked.
Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know. Without the Elements, how can we—?”
The unicorn’s reprimand had lit a fire in Rainbow Dash’s belly, a fire that the fearful presence of the two Heartless that were each twice her size couldn’t smother. Sora and Kairi were fighting so well, so strongly, even if their movements were somewhat awkward from never having fought as ponies before. Rainbow spoke before Spike could finish his sentence. “Easy,” she answered loudly, flapping her wings to take her into the air and clapping her forehooves together, “we do this the hard way. I don’t know everything about this Keybladey stuff, but I am not going to let myself get shown up! Are you guys with me?”
“Let’s do it!” Applejack crowed. “Come on y’all, and let’s show these two how ponies wrassle.”
Rainbow Dash needed no further encouragement. So long as Applejack was game, she was sure they had this in the bag. Bolting forward, Rainbow Dash tackled one of the Soldiers that had been about to swipe at Kairi’s chest, the pink pegasus having turned her head to watch where her tail-grasped Keyblade was swinging. She snorted right in the Soldier’s face as she pinned it to the ground, its golden eyes watching her unblinkingly. Rainbow smashed her hooves down, and suddenly the weight beneath her vanished as the Soldier became nothing more than a dark cloud. A shudder went through her unbidden at the cold feeling of the dark wisps that made up the Heartless against her skin and coat, but it quickly passed.
“Thanks Rainbow Dash,” Kairi said, “that was pretty good.”
Rainbow Dash perked up a little and rubbed a hoof against the back of her head. “Well, uh, you’re welcome.” She ducked her head as fire suddenly lanced out from the mouth of one of the Draco Ursas. The smell of burnt hair filled her nostrils and Rainbow Dash gulped as she stared into the leering yellow eyes of the large Heartless. Suddenly her view was blocked as Sora stood in front of her; out of the corner of her eye she could see Applejack striking down a Soldier with a well-placed buck from her two back hooves.
“You deal with the little ones,” Sora told her firmly, “Kairi and I will handle the ugly ones.”
“Ye seem to be doing a poor job of it,” Coltinster commented dryly from behind. “For Keyblade Wielders, your skills are far behind those I’ve met many years ago.”
“Forgive us,” Kairi snapped, jumping away from a massive claw that one of the two Draco Ursas was swiping at her, “but we haven’t gotten the whole, fighting as ponies with swords thing down yet!” Rainbow Dash heard the old pony grumble something about excuses and the young, but concentrated instead on the Soldier clacking about in front of her. Its red-coloured claw darted towards her snout. Rainbow ascended on her strong wings, dodging the swipe, and kicked the earthbound Heartless on the head. It staggered backwards, shaking its head while appearing to be in a daze, and was then blasted halfway across the room to smash into a pillar, a trail of confetti and streamers behind it. Pinkie Pie stood just shy of where it had been, her party cannon held in front of her.
“I guess these Heartless just don’t know how to party,” she told Rainbow Dash with a warm smile. Her face contorted in pain and Pinkie jumped up, yelping, “OW!” after a Soldier’s iron-shod foot connected with her flank.
The Heartless barely had time to regret it. As it turned around it met the violent cyan eyes of a usually soft-spoken yellow pegasus. “I don’t care who or what you are, mister,” Fluttershy told it. “So what if you and everything like you are made up of scary darkness, you do not, you do not, hurt my friends!”
Rainbow Dash smiled as the Soldier went completely slack, absently gazing at Fluttershy as the Stare Master paralyzed it in fear of her stare. She was right about to dive down and smash the creature’s head into the dust when a crackling bolt of lightning suddenly jolted into the Heartless’ stomach. The Soldier flew only a couple hooves before bursting apart in a dark cloud. Rainbow shook her head in surprise and saw Coltinster’s horn sparking with lightning.
A yelp of surprise and pain touched Rainbow’s ears and she saw Sora tumbling across the marble floor of the ballroom, his coat singing from where a red bolt had exited one Draco Ursa’s horn and struck him on the flank. Kairi’s shout of his name overpowered several others’ but hers quickly turned into one of momentary pain as a claw from the second one swatted her twelve hooves back. The pink pegasus crashed into Rarity, and the two ponies slid until they were only a short distance away from another pillar. Both Draco Ursas were the only Heartless left in the room; one was sporting a shallow wound near the shoulder that was oozing black wisps, and neither of them looked too happy at the moment.
Rainbow Dash gulped as both of them roared loud enough that she was sure Ponyville could hear them, and muttered, “This isn’t going to be good.”
“I think this farce has gone on long enough,” a disgruntled voice said behind her. Coltinster’s horn sparked again and another bolt of lightning, this one as thick as one of Applejack’s legs, zapped out of his horn and struck the closest Draco Ursa. The beast roared in pain, and the lightning arced off of its body and struck the second one too, only the bolt wasn’t quite so thick as it had been. The first Draco Ursa burst apart in a large cloud of black smoke that slowly dissipated, while the second one now had a smoking hole in its cheek leaking darkness to go with the cut on its shoulder. It emitted a low yowl.
“It’s hurt bad,” Fluttershy said shakily.
Rainbow Dash smirked and yelled, flying towards the Draco Ursa with one hoof extended. She kicked the beast hard on its wounded cheek, and then spun around and delivered a second hit with her right forehoof chopping across. The Heartless staggered from the blows, and sharply turned its head towards her, displaying rows of glistening, sharp teeth and a forked tongue. Rainbow could see fire welling up within its mouth, and she gulped. This won’t end well.
The fire never spewed out. She only heard a muffled, “Urf,” and the Heartless sagged for a moment before breaking apart with a pink crystalline heart rising up into the air. Sora was panting beneath Rainbow Dash, the Oblivion digging back into his mouth after he’d stabbed his foe with the weapon. His eyes were beyond wide and he started to heave, the pony’s weapon lodged behind his back teeth and rubbing against his throat.
“Oh gods, Sora!” Kairi gasped, getting back onto her hooves and galloping to her coltfriend. The Oblivion vanished from his mouth and Sora began hacking loudly and painfully. “Are you okay?”
He winced slightly, but responded, “Yeah, I’m okay Kairi.”
“That was pitiful.”
All heads turned towards Coltinster, the old unicorn giving the two Keyblade-Wielding ponies looks of disapproval.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash started, “Who the hay do you think you are to—”
“No, Rainbow Dash,” Sora said quietly, “he’s right.”
“Ye wouldn’t last four seconds against any of the fourteen of your predecessors I have known in my lifetime,” Coltinster continued. “I have known all to be beyond exceptional fighters, and none of them would have displayed the sloppy work that you two did just now.”
“We would if we were human,” Kairi muttered under her breath.
Coltinster stamped a hoof down hard. “No excuses! Human or not, ye Wielders are the front line guardians of balance in the Realm of Light. While fighting with the Keyblade in different animal forms may not be instinctual, ye are always given a way to do so. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, what did ye notice about how they fought?”
“Are yah sure this is really the best time to be doin’ this?” Applejack asked.
“I agree with Applejack,” Rarity concurred, fixing her rumpled mane with her nose. “They should both get looked at after the—” She stopped as Coltinster fixed her with a stare equal to Fluttershy’s. He glanced up at Rainbow Dash as she hovered over them all.
A jolt of fear touched the proud pegasus’ heart and she instantly began answering. Forget the Heartless or dragons, this pony was downright the scariest thing she’d ever met. “Well, if I had to say anything, it was that they weren’t using their wings to fly around, or holding their swords in their hooves.”
“We can do that?” Kairi asked, glancing at Sora in confusion before looking at her hoof.
“Well, sure,” Applejack answered. “My sister Apple Bloom was able to hold a foil in her hoof with no problem when she had Cutie Pox that one time.”
“And Mulia Mild had a good couple of hooves on that ninjat ō when she sliced up the MMM,” Pinkie added.
“You remember that that was me, Fluttershy, and Rarity, not Mulia, right?” Rainbow reminded Pinkie.
“Oh, right, silly me.”
Sora looked sceptical, and glanced at his right forehoof. The Oblivion appeared there in a flash of light, and Sora looked surprised when he was able to hold it firmly in his hoof instead of it falling off. “You know, logically biology should tell me that this is impossible, but I’m willing to overlook it if it means I can fight.” His Keyblade vanished, and he looked at Applejack. “What were these things we’ve heard mentioned a few times? The Elements of Harmony?”
“Oh, they’re these necklaces and a crown thingy that Twilight’s got that represent friendship,” the cowpony replied. “Fer instance, I represent the Element of Honesty.”
“Laughter!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, giggling immediately afterwards.
“Generosity,” said Rarity.
“Kindness,” Fluttershy added.
“Loyalty,” Rainbow Dash said proudly, dropping onto the floor next to Sora. “I’d never leave my friends hanging.”
“And Twilight’s the Element of Magic,” Spike concluded. “They’ve used the Elements of Harmony to save all of Equestria a couple times.”
Rainbow Dash saw Sora and Kairi looking at her and her friends with mild annoyance. “You mean to say that you’ve got magical weapons, powered by the friendship you have within your hearts, that you’ve used to save your world a few times, but you don’t have them with you?”
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Eh he he, yeah.”
“So where are they?” Kairi asked.
“In a special hall in the castle,” Rarity answered. “But we can’t get at them anyway. Princess Celestia keeps them in a vault that’s locked up with a spell only she can undo.”
Rainbow could see the smirks appear on the two off-world pegasi’s faces. “Locked, huh?” Sora asked. “Take us to them.”
-G-M-
Well, there’s something of a battle at any rate. Coltinster proves himself as being badass number one in the room with his use of the Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells. Now if only he’d cast Polymorph on those two to briefly make them human again…
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
"The smell of burn hair filled her nostrils and Rainbow Dash gulped as she stared into the leering yellow eyes of the large Heartless."
the smell of burn hair
burn hair
wat
oh, and first!
528824 Fixed.
I can't help but wonder how things are going to turn out. Where is the Keyhole? Will Riku figure out unicorn telekinesis in time? And will Twilight and Trixie remain ponies outside Equestria?
These questions may or may not be answered NEXT TIME, on Guardians of Magic! This is Leo Archon, signing off. Have a good day!
"...cast Polymorph on those two to briefly make them human again…" but that would be too easy, wouldn't it?
528829 thank you, that bugged me.
shire are you almost done with the new chapter of AoD?
My two favorite sentences:
"Let’s just say that I come from a place where my societal gender stereotype brainwashing tells me that the phrase ‘cutie mark’ belongs solely to little six year old fillies, not grown stallions."
"Locked, huh?"
Heh, I was hoping that Shining Armor would have an opinion on the cutie mark question.
I can only imagine what's going through Sora's head at the very end. "Stand back, guys. I'm about to blow your freakin' minds."
What would be truly hilarious is if even the Keyblade couldn't undo the lock. I doubt that it couldn't, but I've always wanted that to happen, just to stump our Keyblade wielding heroes.
I realize now that it should've been painfully obvious as to why Twilight brought Riku home to her parents. And of course, Riku remains calm even when Shining Armor is about to go 'Protective-Older-Brother' on him.
Nicely done. Looking forward to the next one.
Aspicio, diluculo Infinitas Noctis.
Shadow Horizons
Shire Folk first I'd like to say thank you for writing what has so far been one of the best fan fics I've read, I absolutely loved the Kingdom Hearts games and when I saw this story about heartless in Equestria I knew it could potentially be an amazing story and you sir have not disappointed. My only problem is the time I have to wait to read the next chapter but that's only because I'm impatient and can't wait to hear what happens next
Second I want to thank you for introducing me to a great series of books, it is because of you I decided to look up just who this "Elminster" character was and that same day I immediately bought all the books in the series (I've finished "The Making of a Mage" and I'm now reading "Elminster in Myth Drannor").
So in short thank you for your hard work on an amazing story and thank you for introducing me to a great book series.
P.S. I love Rei's character and hope to see more of her
Ah, futures twisted by the presence of the heartless... my favorite flavor of time changing.
I concur with zombie waffles.
sorry for the short post, work...
>Locked
Nope!
This is getting good.
Also i love how every OC or crossover character in Fim fanfics question how hooves can grip.
Something that kinda bothered me (but it's a canonical thing) is that the Mane 6 actually require the physical pieces of jewelry in order to make their power, the elements that they are the SPIRITS of, work. If it were up to me, they would at least have the power to summon the Elements much like the Keyblade, or maybe just having that strong spiritual tie with each-other would grant them the ability to do great things. The Elements always kinda just looked like glorified laser weapons.
Cool beans. Interesting you decided to have this take place just before the the finale rather than just after.
528843 All questions that will be answered...LATER!
528848 'Twould be too easy; 'twas why I didn't have Coltinster do it. I thought about it, but decided that it would be too easy.
528855 No. I'll be sending all three-four chapters regaling the Battle for Radiant Garden to my beta at once when I am finished all of them.
528977 Those are some of mine too.
529010 He didn't really get too much of a chance, but he'll probably make a comment or two after he sees Way to the Dawn.
529065 I can just hear Roxas telling Sora to say that. That would be funny if it didn't work, but if the Keyblade was unable to unlock something that Zeus himself locked, then I'm pretty sure Celestia's lock will also fall before the laser beam. Ah, so now it's obvious as to why she brought him home. I was half considering having Twilight play on using him as a secret coltfriend in which Riku would not be amused, but a level and sober head prevailed over that consideration. And of course he remains calm in the face of the over-protective brother. He's Riku. You recall how in chapter 56 of AoD, The Bells of Notre Dame, how he stood up to Leon when the gunblade wielder was questioning his relationship with Yuffie? This time it's funny because it's only a perceived relationship and not a real, serious, one.
529198 Thank you very much. I'm glad that you're enjoying both my story, and Ed Greenwood's ones. I can recommend Spellfire if you're looking for another Elminster book, but I simply must ask...WHERE DID YOU GET ALL OF THOSE BOOKS? I'VE BEEN SCOURING BOOKSTORES ALL OVER WHERE I LIVE AND NONE OF THEM HAVE ANY OF THE EARLY ELMINSTER SERIES, JUST ELMINSTER MUST DIE! And that was me being a crazed fanboy of the Sage of Shadowdale. Anywho, I'm also glad that you like Rei.
529378 Time changing? Well, it certainly changes how the Canterlot Wedding is going to go down, that's for sure. I'm not even sure if Queen Chrysalis is going to be involved or not.
529441
529760
529935 Well it's not biologically possible for a horse to grip a sword and cut something up. -"That's what he kept screaming at the time." -"THIS DOESN'T SEEM BIOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE!!"
530161 They sure seemed like glorified laser weapons when the symbols were all flying at Discord before Twilight went Avatar State and their powers combined into the Friendship Rainbow of flank-kicking.
530965 Well, not quite just before the season two finale, as you will find out later.
Now then, to all of you. I have a question to ask of you, and a bit of a spoiler that must go with it. At least one pony will be going with Twilight and Trixie after King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy finally find where Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Rei got portalled to (cough*SPOILER*)EoL(cough*ENDSPOILER*cough), and this pony needs a weapon. I want to go away from swords (because I give too many characters swords) so I was thinking of an axe. However, I'm not totally decided on what she should wield so I'd like your guys' opinions. My preference is medieval/pre-arquebus weaponry from either a European or Asian background (or a Final Fantasy one). That's not to say that I won't take a gun if you can make a convincing case for one, I would just prefer not to. Come on fellow bronies and fans of this story, help me arm a pony for battle!
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
531281 Hm, a pony needing pre-arquebus weaponry, but you don't want a sword?
Give Rarity an enchanted bow of some sort, and throw her at the Heartless. She's an archer in my fic, after all.
5312810
Aside from the Hoof gripping thing, Vampony Twilight revealing herself and feeding on AJ first seems to be a thing, along with the mane six commanding some extremely important aspect of the royal army in war fic's.
We need a tropes page for these things we really do.
531281now, i dont use fanfiction.net like, at all, so what does beta mean? and when are you gonna update the table of keyblades?
531281 How about a Spartan Shield? A morning star? A maul? A Ji? A bec de corbin? A horseman's pick? A Samurai four-body Katana!
531281
I have a suggestion for a weapon and a suggestion for continuity.
Weapon: chackrams. Xena style. A flyer should be good at calculating vectors and angles and rebounding, catching and relaunching in flight along all vectors would be a huge advantage. I see her as a projectile weapon user due to speed, stealth and maneuverability advantages.
Alternately I see her as a slasher with bladed greaves on her canons or wing mounted blades. Or as a lancer with a side mounted pike. That style of combat is doable with chackrams by spinning them like buzzsaws around any of 6 limbs and charging through. If you NEEDED to go melee, I am partial to kamas.
Continuity: Discord broke free because the Elements were transferred to new bearers. If some of those bearers are leaving Equestria (whether the Elements stay or not) they would likely be under a time limit before the seal on the god of. Chaos weakens again. This should be addressed even if it is merely hand waved away.
531281 I vote you use Gilda, and you give her a glaive... well, maybe not so much Gilda, but the glaive definitely. (Polearms are such an interesting class of weapon, and there is at least 100 different types)
531281
It kinda depends on the pony.
Applejack I can definitely see with an axe, whereas Dash would work better with a spear in my opinion (more streamlined, able to capitalize on speed). Not sure what I'd do for the other three of the available mane 6, not that you will (or won't) be using them.
Whatever you wind up doing, I know it'll be a fun read.
531281
I bought them all on Amazon
Will we see the elements of harmony become keyblades? It would be very interesting to see if Sora is able to unlock that ability in them or the bearers.
Is there a sense of shipping going on between Riku and Twilight? I mean I don't mind but it seems cool though.
531281
Ponies and weapons...
First off, <--- she, being my first pick, should get something small, yet dangerous: as a manipulator of weather, I imagine sigialed(runes), armored boots that could absorb/expel lightning (she's no mage, but she knows weather). Kinda like in that one story "It's a Dangerous Business, Stepping outside your door" but not all over. The Might of FireFly
should definitely get a bow if she goes: an elegant bow enchanted to be able to combine spells with the arrows such as fire, ice or lightning (kinda like in Champions of Norrath). And for close range, the bow is sturdy and strong enough to wield as a bow staff. The Touch of Lorien
is a bit of a loose cannon, if you will, and would probably just randomly pull any blunt weapon she'd like, although her party cannon could be re-purposed...Or maybe she could get a small arm cannon like Samus Aran.(fires party favors of doom or confetti instead of energy). The Party for One
I don't see as much of a fighter, but she could carry the summoning pendants and use them to fight for her...If she could be a mage, she'd be support mage (but she's a pegasus). Most likely, she'd have a passive ability to control certain creatures and/or enemies through her Iron Will alongside the ever faithful, ever effective The Stare.
is, admittedly, my least likely chosen to go on crazy, hair-brained schemes. But, being Ponyville's most dependably pony, she must have her chance for consideration: her lasso and her shoes of steel. Probably a combo: the Cast and Kick
<(What do you think?)
<( . . .) (Maybe we could bring them all?)>
Also, just a thought, don't know if you have a name for and keyblades (since we all know they get one), here's just a couple I think would work: the Slight of Hoof(Trixie) and the Magic's Glow(Twilight)
But once again...just a thought.
532196
Or the elements could become their weapon to use (I think there may be enough Keyblades), kinda like how every other side-kick has a weapon themed to them and their world like Aladin's sword, Leon's gunblade, Yufi's over-sized throwing star and Axel's flaming circle/blade things
I was rather hesitant starting this story, but I'm quite glad to see where it's going. Good work with it!
I only ever played the first KH, so most of this KH lore is new to me...
I still think that Coltinster was too hard on them. I mean they didn't know that they could hold things in their hooves...
That really changes one's ability/method of fighting.
He needs to be taught just why they are the wielders of the Keyblades.
Ugh... well, I'm happy the Key-blade wielders are having trouble... but so far, this is really seeming like a well... Kingdom hearts story, and I'm a little worried that the KH characters and thier story are really overshadowing the Ponies. Sure The keybladers have been fighting alot, with two really established univerese, and the fact that you've written heavily KH focused stories a lot of the time...
I'm just worried that the Ponies and the Mane Six are going to be playing second fiddle to the Keybladers constantly. It's a bad pattern that often crops up in this type of crossover. You've also thrown in a powerful OC in Coltinster... it'll be hard to do proper credit to so many different characters without making others look bad or simple.
531281
I could see her using a Tesla Claw from Ratchet & Clank... But that would likely slow her down. She needs something that is quick, accurate, and light, but that also is capable of dealing heavy damage... I would look at weapons from Kid Iccarus Uprising, the different beams/missle combos from the Metroid Prime series, the Megabuster and weapons megaman gets from beating The Robotmasters or that X geta from Maverics, the Z-Saber, and Devil Arms From DMC(try the Artemis from 3 or the Nightmare-beta from 1.)
Pinkie would probably use a RYNO
542334 Hard to read?
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
542340 hard to read like its midnight and I'm half asleep, not like the actual material is difficult. goodnight
542356
Ah, okay. Go to sleep. Hush now, quiet now, lay down your sleepy head.
534124 Actually, I always thought that was exactly where it was going. It sounds like there's only going to be 3 characters (who probably aren't ponies anymore) from FiM by chapter 10 or so (not sure how fast Shire Folk moves his stories along), and he'll be expanding to more of the KH universe. We'll see exactly what happens, but I'm reading this as a Kingdom Hearts fic with a start in MLP, not the other way around.
556810 That is exactly where this is going. I've heard that there have been multiple Kingdom Hearts/MLP crossover fics in which it's simply Sora et all show up, beat the Heartless, seal the Keyhole or whatever, leave, and pfft! Story's over. That's unsatisfying in my view, and it appears as if the majority of those few fics have been rather poorly written.
I've taken it upon myself to change that. I'm going to try to keep a focus on the MLP characters that continue on, but they have to share the spotlight with Sora, Riku, Kairi, Rei, Zelda, King Mickey, the baddies, and the other Guardians of Magic as they find them.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
559357 Sounds good. Now I just need to find and play KH2 so I can understand more... (I only beat KH1 for the first time ever this week. GOD DAMN Ansem takes forever to just die)
559503
Only really if you are underlevelled. 50 is a good place to be for the final boss(at least on Normal). Oops. Sidetracked.
(YES, I know. Double post. I am a horrible person.)
For the weapon dillemma, it really depends on the pony... I only have suggestions for a couple of them though.
Either a ranged weapon, like chakrams(You could have Roxas suggest them) or something he can use backhanded, Ventus style.
Some sort or variety of 2 handed weapons: axe, hammer, glaive, etc. Pinkie can stand on her hind legs exceptionally well.
An aeris-esqe staff, possibly with limited Kingdom Hearts universe magic capabilities(cura, reflect, aero, barrier, maybe holy/faith)
Thats all I got. On a side note, when can I hope to see more of this?
Loving this fic so far, it's inspired me to go check out your *mammoth* AoD fic (currently on chapter 2 of part 2), which I'm also enjoying thoroughly. I'm glad I went back to some of your previous comments regarding how you're handling this fic with your main KH fic, thought there might have been some continuity errors for a while there. But since this is an AU in relation to the other fic, it saves me a bit of time asking about it .
@Xenotype
>Tesla Claw
>Pinkie with a R.Y.N.O.
"Ooo, I like the way you say it, Lawrence! Can we do that? Make it so!"
(Not in anyway implying she should actually get a R.Y.N.O., it'd make her more O.P. than she already is )
bobandgeorge.com/comics/archives/metroid/Metroid388.png
CONTINUE THIS!!!! I BEG OF YOU!
Btw, im surprised Sora is using Oblivion, considering that keyblade really represents Riku. oh and any chance of dual wielding roxas fights?
Just saying, but surely a pony would be better suited to having the Keyblade reconfigured into a lance to be mounted on the shoulder? Considering Heartless break apart on death, mounting a lance or two could allow them to fly about impaling Heartless at high speed then getting away to line up another charge.
Riku on the other hand will just telekinetic slash to high heaven while Twilight spams spells.
Also, I REALLY do need to play the Kingdom Hearts games.....Blasted lack of PS2....
Yay, no annoying as hell, faux-Japanese, shoe-horned-pointlessly-into-the-plot little sister this time!
When is the next chapter?!
I would just like to take the time to applaud you, Mr. Shire Folk for this magnificent fanfiction which I feel I should inform you I have been doing a reading of for YouTube. I'm not going to push you to update this, because I know everyone has to work at their own pace, but please, don't just leave this brilliant piece of work to sit here for eternity.
848930 Actually I'm still in the process of writing chapter 6, and I fortunately have time to write for it today and tomorrow. I just have the problem of also being in the middle of writing a few other pieces so my time is never able to be fully devoted to one project and it's been slowing me down quite a bit.
Anyway, thank you very much for your kind comment and I'd actually like a YouTube link to that! Hearing that people like my work enough to do readings of it is !
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk