Hearts of Harmony

by Legrio

Chapter 20: For Want of a Hoof

“What the hay?!” Applejack exclaimed as they came to a halt. “Why’s the door all locked up?”

Before them was the large wooden door to the Third District, but heavy iron chains barred the way. A large black padlock sat prominently in the middle, as if taunting them.

“And why didn’t that Cid guy tell us about this?” Rainbow Dash suspiciously asked. “Maybe he helped the Heartless set up that trap back there!”

Twilight shook her head in exasperation. “Rainbow, I really don’t think Cid set this up. For one thing, if he wanted to trap us, all he’d have had to do was set up our Gummi ship to stop once we were out in interspace.” She stepped forward and raised her keyblade. “Alright girls, just give me one second here,” she trailed off as a beam of light shot forth from the tip of her weapon, entering the lock’s keyhole. The pegasus and earth pony looked on, concerned, as time passed. Finally, half a minute later, it clicked open as the chains fell to the ground before disappearing completely. The unicorn let out a sigh of relief as she banished her weapon.

“Hey Twi, what took so long? You said it would only be a second!” the pegasus complained.

Shaking a little sweat from her brow, Twilight slowly began to explain. “That lock was made of powerful dark magic. Very powerful,” she emphasized. “Whoever conjured it really wanted to make sure no one could get through.”

“And maybe whoever made the lock set up that trap back there with the Heartless!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Maybe. Well, if they don’t want us going forward then we’d better get going!”

With that, Twilight opened the door with her magic and stepped through.

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Twilight’s ears perked up as she heard someone talking around the corner. The voice reminded her of Nightmare Moon’s, but it sounded slightly different. Motioning for her friends to be quiet, the mare crept closer to listen.

“You see, Riku? It’s just as I told you.”

“Riku, Riku, where did I hear that name before?” the keyblade wielder wondered as the speaker continued.

“While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions.”

“Wait! Riku is one of the people Sora’s looking for!”

“Evidently, he values them far more than he does you. You’re better off without that wretched boy.”

“No, he’s not!” Twilight shouted, her keyblade flaring into being beside her as she jumped out into view. Before her were two people standing near a house’s window. The two was a tall woman clad in black robes, obviously a sorceress. In her hands she bore a staff that the mare could just feel magic oozing from. Two black horns jutted up from her head. Twilight was unable to tell if they were a part of her clothes or a part of her. “Is that Nightmare Moon in a human form?” she wondered for a moment, before mentally shaking the distracting thought away. The other was a boy that, if she had to guess, looked to be about Sora’s age. He had silver hair and wore a yellow shirt with two straps that crossed to form an X along with some blue pants.

“A talking... pony?” The boy, Riku, muttered to himself, surprised.

A snarl briefly crossed the woman’s face as she turned to face the mare and was just as quickly smoothed away. “Ah, Nightmare Moon’s little protege,” she began before she was interrupted.

“I’m not her apprentice,” Twilight reflexively growled back. “Okay, definitely not Nightmare Moon.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack exclaimed as they rounded the corner. They stopped behind their friend, ready to back her up.

A raven landed on the woman’s staff and almost seemed to whisper something to her. A cruel smirk twisted upon her face. “Oh? And is that why you used her gift so well to defeat my minions?”

Twilight growled as her keyblade began to glow beside her with magic. She almost attacked then and there before a flash of insight stopped her in her tracks. “She’s trying to goad me into a fight on purpose! Why?” Her eyes slid over to look at the somewhat bewildered boy. “That’s it!”

“That doesn’t matter. You, you’re Sora’s friend, Riku, right?” She asked, pointing at the boy with one hoof.

“Yeah, so what if I am?” he said, recovering from the slight shock of seeing real pastel colored talking horses. “It’s not like he cares,” the boy scoffed. “He’s just fine with his new friends.”

“That’s just not true at all!” Applejack interjected, stomping her hoof in irritation. “The whole reason Sora’s traveling with those two is just so he can find you and that girl he mentioned, uh...”

“Kairi,” the young boy filled in for her, his voice quiet. “That’s really his whole reason?”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded emphatically. “In fact, when one of his companions wanted to travel with me instead, Sora begged me to convince him to stay with him so he could find the two of you.”

“Oh come now, Riku,” the sorceress began, laying a finely nailed hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Are you really going to listen to some little pony? Besides, we have a deal, remember? You help me, and I help you find your friend.”

Twilight watched as the boy seemed to hesitate before coming to a decision.

“The deal’s off, Maleficent!” Riku shouted, throwing the woman’s arm away. He spun away, summoning a strange dark blade into his hands, shaped like a bat’s wing. “You were probably just lying to me all along! I bet you don’t even know where Kairi is!”

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong,” the woman, Maleficent, replied. With a wave of her staff, intricate runes appeared upon the stone ground. With a pulse of magic, they lit up, projecting an image of a comatose young girl. “You see? She’s waiting for you. Now come along, and I’ll forget all about this.”

“Don’t trust her, Riku! Any decent mage could make an illusion like that!” Twilight replied, embellishing the truth slightly. “Well, I’d have to actually know what she looks like first, but still...”

Riku hesitated once more, but the decision was taken out of his hands. The door of the house they were nearby slammed open and Leon peered outside. “What’s going on-YOU!” he roared, his normally calm voice going livid as he caught sight of the sorceress. In a flash, his gunblade was in his hands, shining like a star. The energy surrounding his blade suddenly lengthened, more than doubling the weapon’s reach as the swordsman leapt forward. But a barrier of dark magic snapped into being in front of Maleficent, easily deflecting Leon’s attack.

“Oh, the rabble wishes to play, do they? Well then, who am I to object?” the witch mockingly declared, her mouth twisting into a cruel smirk. “Come unto me, creatures of-guh!” she grunted as a volley of glowing shuriken tore through her barrier to embed themselves into her arms.

Looking back, Twilight saw a young lady crouched upon the roof readying more of the small blades while another bearing a long staff began to chant some spells. And last but not least, Sora, Donald, and Goofy burst out of the house, their weapons raised and ready for battle. “Riku!” the other keyblade wielder cried.

“Hmph, more of you crawling out the woodwork like ants. Fine then, keep your prize. You will all regret this!” Maleficent shouted, raising her hands as magic gathered around her. Suddenly, a storm of darkness erupted from the ground, blowing them all back. When it finally cleared, she was gone.

“Riku, you’re back!” Sora happily exclaimed, pulling his friend into a hug. “I was wondering where you ran off to.”

“Hey, let go,” the other boy growled, fruitlessly trying to push the other off.

Twilight watched as Leon let out a long sigh and sheathed his sword once more. He walked over and pulled the two wrestling boys apart before setting them down. “So,” he began, intently looking at Riku. “Care to explain who you are and what you were doing with Maleficent?”
“I don’t answer to you,” Riku replied, returning the older swordsman’s look with hostility.

“If you won’t answer my questions then I’ll be forced to consider you a threat,” Leon stated, his hand already straying towards his blade’s handle.

Before Twilight could intervene in the rapidly worsening situation, an outlandishly dressed girl jumped down from the roof above. “Woah, hold on a sec, Squall,” she cried, trying and failing to push him back a bit.

Annoyance flickered in the normally stoic man’s eyes for a moment. “I’ve told you before, it’s Leon.”

“Leon, Squall, whatever,” the girl, no, teenager continued, rolling her eyes as she waved his objection away. For a moment, something about the girl reminded Twilight reminded of Pinkie Pie before she continued. “Don’t you think it’s kinda rude to ask someone who they are without even giving your own name?” Without even waiting for his reply, she spun around. “Hi, I’m Yuffie! Nice to meet you!” the exuberant teen exclaimed, a bright smile upon her face.

The white haired boy continued glaring at Leon for a moment before finally looking away. “My name is Riku.”

The woman in the dress stepped forward. “I am Aerith, it is a pleasure to meet you.” She said, introducing herself with a slight bow before looking at Twilight expectantly.

“Oh, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are two of my friends, Applejack,” the earth pony tipped her hat in acknowledgement. “And Rainbow Dash.” The pegasus quickly made a heroic pose when her name was mentioned.

“Yeah, and Twilight’s a great Keyblade Master, too!” Sora cheerfully exclaimed. “She’s been teaching me a lot about magic and stuff!”

“Wha, what?!” the young unicorn found herself exclaiming. “I’m not a Keyblade Master, I’m still in training!” She quickly denied as her friends chuckled, but the look Riku shot her was surprisingly respectful.

“So, Riku,” Leon cut in, refusing to be distracted, “What were you doing with Maleficent?”

Obviously debating with himself, the boy took a moment before finally speaking. “After Destiny Islands, our home,” he said, nodding at Sora, “Was devoured by the darkness, I found myself... drifting. I don’t know how long it took, but eventually I found myself in another world.”

“Wow, what was it like?” the other boy interrupted. Twilight had to admit, she was a bit curious herself.

“It was... strange, like a castle, but with machines and pipes coming out of the walls.”

“Hollow Bastion,” Leon murmured, his eyes lighting up in recognition.

“No one came out to greet me, so I decided to see if I could find someone. After wandering around for awhile, I found myself in a large room with a fountain. Someone was standing in front of the fountain, like she was waiting for me. It was Maleficent.”

“Ooh, what happened next?” Rainbow Dash asked. She stood closer than before, obviously interested in his tale.

The boy still looked slightly disturbed by the pony’s proximity, but continued on regardless. “Well, she introduced herself and offered to help me find my friends in exchange for my aid in her own endeavors. She tried to act kind, but I could tell she was just trying to use me.”

“Why’d ya go along with her?” Applejack asked.

The boy sighed. “She was the first person I’d met in that world and I didn’t have much choice.”

“Did she ever mention why she required your help?” Leon asked.

Riku thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, she never mentioned any specifics, but I overheard her talking with someone, something about ‘needing to find the pure of heart’.” The man hummed in thought and motioned for him to continue. “After, um, a while,” he began, and here Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“What is he hiding?”

“I demanded that she fulfill her end of the bargain and help me find my friends, so she brought me here,” Riku finished.

“Come on, Riku, you left out a lot,” Sora protested. “What’ve you been doing the last few days?”

“And where’d you get that creepy black sword? Awful suspicious if you ask me,” Donald grumbled, his arms crossed.

Seeing everyone looking at him expectantly, Riku let out a sigh, less than pleased at getting caught. “Alright, fine,” he confessed. “Maleficent was teaching me how to use the darkness as a weapon.” As he said this, a strange blade manifested in his hands. It was shaped like a bat’s wing, with a creepy looking eye set into the hilt. “Like this. I learned a couple of other... small tricks as well.”

“Would those ‘small tricks’,” here Twilight raised herself up on her hind legs so she could form quotation marks with her hooves, “Involve the darkness as well?”

Reluctantly, Riku nodded.

The keyblade wielding mare let out a breath. “You should be really careful with dark magic. I know that more than most.”

The boy snorted. “What would someone like you know about the darkness?”

“Someone like what?” Sora asked, his head tilting confusedly.

“Uh, well,” Riku gestured vaguely, “A pony?”

Unexpectedly, Twilight had to fight the urge to just burst out laughing. “What, you think just because we’re ponies we don’t know about such things?” She shook her head. “I’ve had more than my fair share of encounters with the darkness.” Concentrating, Twilight carefully conjured a small orb of dark energy. She let it float there, just long enough to prove her point, then quickly banished it before it could get out of hand. “Alright?” The boy nodded.

“Hm. I’ve heard enough,” Leon declared, getting their attention. He looked around at all of them before settling his gaze upon the white haired boy. “Riku. I’m not sure if I trust you yet, but so long as you stay with either Sora or Twilight you’ll be allowed in Traverse Town. However, cause any trouble and I will kick you out. Personally. Understand?” The boy met his gaze for a moment before nodding. “Now, I think we’ve all stood around here long enough. Stay out of trouble,” the swordsman finished, walking off into the Second District.

Yuffie popped up behind Riku, startling him. “Aw, don’t mind him, he’s just been grumpy ever since we lost our home. You’re fine so far as I’m concerned. Well, see you all around, Leon gets annoyed when I forget my patrols!” She cried, leaping to the top of a nearby building before running off.

“Mm, I should get going too. Good luck to all of you,” Aerith said, bidding them good-bye.

“Hmph, I guess you’ll be joining us then,” Donald grumbled as she left. “Just you remember, I’ve got my eye on you!”

Goofy just let out a laugh. “Welcome to the team, Riku!”

“This is gonna be great, you’ll see, we’ll have Kairi back in no time!” Sora cheered, throwing his arm around his friend’s shoulder. The other boy quickly threw him off, but he smiled, just a bit. “So, what’re you all doing here?” he finally asked, picking himself up off the ground.

“We encountered that dark mare again on another world,” Twilight began, before Goofy interrupted her.

“Um, Nightmare Moon, right?” he asked, scratching his head.

“Right. Well, she was acting really, well, weird, now that I think about it,” the mare began. “Not that I know her really well or anything, I just expected her to be more, well, violent.”

“That goldarned mare kidnapped our princess and set Heartless loose on our world, Equestria,” Applejack quickly explained to a rather lost looking Riku.

“Right,” Twilight continued, “Well, she gave me a special gummi block and a magical hairpin. We came back here so Cid could look at the gummi block.”

“A special gummi? Hey, we found one of those too!” Sora exclaimed as Twilight nodded.

“What about the hairpin? What did that do?” Riku asked, intrigued.

“It gave Twi’ these awesome darkness powers, but it kinda made her look all ‘blargh, I am evil!’” Rainbow Dash explained. Applejack just gave her a look and bonked her over the head with a hoof. “Ow, what was that for?!”

“Stop channellin’ Pinkie, Rainbow, one is enough,” the earth pony ordered.

Rainbow looked as though she was about to retaliate, but then thought better of it, rubbing the growing bump on her noggin instead. “I guess I needed that,” she mumbled to herself. “One pony like that is more than enough.”

Twilight shook her head, letting out a little laugh at her friend’s antics. “Anyways, we were headed towards Merlin’s house, but we were attacked by some powerful heartless along the way. I guess she didn’t want anyone interfering, but she didn’t count on someone who could use the keyblade. It took us a little while, but I undid her locking spell and well, here we are.”

“The keyblade, huh? Wish I had one of those,” Riku said, looking slightly jealous.

“Don’t worry about it, Riku, you’re still awesome without one. Come on, you used to beat me all the time back on the islands,” Sora reminded him. A smirk tugged at the corners of the older boy’s mouth at the memory.

“And hey, me and Applejack kick plenty of tail, and heck, I just use my hooves!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. She stomped on the stone ground, hard, and a few cracks spidered out from the impact.

Riku looked rather surprised at her display of strength, then nodded. “Well, what should we do now?”

“I still need to see Merlin about this hairpin,” Twilight explained. “It gives me a lot of control over the darkness, but well, I don’t know. I just don’t feel safe using one of Nightmare Moon’s gifts just like that.”

“Aw, really? We just came from there,” Sora complained.

“Who is this Merlin, anyways?” Riku asked.

“You’ve never heard of him?! He’s one of the greatest wizards in all the worlds! And he taught me everything I know!” Donald proudly exclaimed, puffing up a little.

“Uh, if he’s so great, then why don’t you use bigger spells?” Goofy asked, scratching his head.

Donald sagged. “I only have so much mana,” he sighed.

“A wizard, huh?” Riku said, thinking. “Well, I wouldn’t mind meeting one that isn’t just trying to use me. Maybe he could help me with my own spells. Maleficent only showed me how to cast dark magic. It’s powerful, but if it’s as dangerous as you say...” he trailed off.

“Well, I’m not sure what to think, really,” Twilight confided as they began to walk towards the magician’s home. “I’ve seen what happens when ponies, excuse me, people, are corrupted by the darkness, and it is powerful. But what if you need that power to save someone you care about?”

Comments

[Legrio]

Hm, sorry about the rate of updates slowing down, but I'm almost at the end of my pre-written work for this story, so... yeah.

[Jorlem]

Folks, we have officially completely left the rails of canon!

[Rocket0007]

Seatbelts everyone, it's going to be a bumpy ride! We've disengaged the management rail and are on our own.

[sonicfan21]

Please tell me that I am honestly not the first person to notice that the Chapter Title is based off the name of a TvTrope?