//------------------------------// // Beware the Shy Ones // Story: The Girl That Never Was // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Edge of the forest wasn't exactly the best of directions. Xion reached the edge of the forest at least six different times before she found what Maestro had instructed her to find. Or at least, she believed it to be what the Maestro wanted, because when she saw a small Pegasus at this clearings edge, Sombra let out a sound that she had come to associate with disdain. The Pegasus was yellow, with a pink mane and tail. As Xion walked out of the woods and got closer to her, Xion could see a set of butterflies on her flank, which were all pink as well. The sun was just beginning to lower across the sky as Xion approached, the sound of her heels on the grass gaining the attention of the pony. The pony's eyes went wide at the sight of the being in the cloak, while Sombra let out a small cackle at the pony's face. 'Oh boy, it's Fluttershy. Wonder what she's doing so far from home?' Sombra muttered to himself with a snicker, before Xion drove him deeper into her pocket. "Anything you can tell me about her so I know what not to do?" Xion whispered as she came to a stop, the look on Fluttershy's face telling the puppet that the pony was on the verge of panic. 'Sure. Roar as loud as you can and swing your keyblade at her. Maybe she'll drop over dead from the sight.' "As usual, you're useless," Xion sighed before taking another small step towards the pony, who took a step back in reply. "Hi there. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise you that." Xion had hoped that her words would calm the pony down, but instead her eyes went even wider and her face turned white. 'Don't bother, puppet. She doesn't see your cute little face or your annoyingly sweet voice. She sees the same thing everypony else sees. Red eyes. Face hidden in darkness. Voice as blank and emotionless as a mannequin. She ain't trust you anytime soon,' Sombra revealed to Xion, who crossed her arms with a sigh. 'All she sees is a monster of darkness.' "Well, you know her, maybe you can get her to trust me?" Xion asked, getting Sombra to let out a laugh so loud that Fluttershy fell over from fear. 'Yeah, and maybe if you plant me in the ground I'll grow into a brand new pony, complete with a heart and conscious,' Sombra mocked before Xion heard him scoff. 'She's one of the seven that helped to kill me. We're not exactly on speaking terms at the moment. But if you slay her now, Maestro will never get what he wants...' Ignoring Sombra's less than stellar advice, Xion walked right up to Fluttershy and knelt down in front of the pony. Fluttershy's pupils were barely visible they had shrunken so far, but at the mention of the Maestro Xion figured that she needed to act and soon. "Look, I get that you're afraid of me and you see me as a monster, but I bet we have other things to worry about right now," Xion said in a serious tone, one that made Fluttershy blink once as the fear began to ebb away. "Someone sent you to this location, same with me. And if I had to wager, we're both in danger right now. So you can sit here and be terrified of me, or you can tell me why you're here and what I can do to help." Xion's words seemed to have an effect on Fluttershy, who blinked a few times before she swallowed her fear. "I was told that there was an endangered animal in this forest that is being hunted," Fluttershy revealed as she hid behind her mane, her voice softer than a cloud. "He told me that if I wanted to save it, I would need to work with somepony that is nothing more than a fake. Um, would that happen to be...um..." "Yeah, he was probably talking about me. And what he said to you was most likely to get you out here by yourself," Xion said before turning to glance into the forest, making sure that they weren't being watched. "If you want my advice, go back home and forget the being that talked to you. Anything he says can only end in pain." "But what if there actually is an endangered creature in need of my help?!" Fluttershy said with a conviction and strength that both Sombra and Xion thought was impossible for her. "I can't just turn away and leave it to die! Even if I have to work with somepony super scary, I still have to help it!" 'Haha, stubborn idiot. How easy it is to take advantage of these Element bearers,' Sombra cackled from within Xion's pocket. "And yet they beat you...fine, if you're going to go in there, I'm coming with you," Xion told the Pegasus, who looked at the cloaked being with surprise. "Do you have any idea where this injured animal might be?" "Um, not really, but I can...sense it," Fluttershy muttered as she started to walk towards the forest, as if pulled by an invisible force. "But something is really wrong with it. I can feel that too. There's a darkness in this forest. A darkness the likes of which I've never felt before. A cold, merciless darkness." 'Like Sombra?' Sombra asked before Xion swatted at her pocket. "No, Sombra was more confused and annoying, not like this," Fluttershy replied. Xion had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing as Sombra made a gagging sound. Fluttershy looked back to Xion, the conviction shining through once more. "And then there's the darkness coming off of you. It's...strange. It's almost like you're just there, nothing more than a shadow. Not cold, not evil...but strange." "That's a pretty accurate description of me, I guess," Xion said before extending her hand, summoning forth her keyblade in a flash of light. Fluttershy looked at the blade with a shocked expression on her face, but before she could say anything Xion motioned to the forest. "You can sense this thing. Lead the way." ==== XIII ==== The first wave of heartless caught the both of them completely off guard. Fluttershy had been leading Xion through a small ravine when the heartless poured out of holes of darkness in the rocks, surrounding the both of them instantly. Upon seeing the monsters of darkness that were there to claim her heart, Fluttershy let out a scream and ran straight into a dead end, where she turned around to see the heartless charging towards her. 'Straight into a dead end. So many places for her to go, and she picked there,' Sombra said with a disgusted sigh as Xion drove the keyblade into the back of one of the Shadows head, banishing it back into the darkness. 'For the love of Faust, she's a pegasi. She could just fly straight up and avoid these things. Sweet mercy, she is cowering under her hooves.' "Trying to focus here, Sombra," Xion snapped while lifting her blade to deflect a strike, before thrusting her arms to the side and generating a burst of magic that pushed the heartless back. She dashed forward and uppercutted one of the Shadows, launching it into the air. She leapt up after it and slammed the blade of her key onto its head, driving it into the ground and turning it back into darkness. "Fluttershy, this way!" Xion yelled while waving a hand into the air. Fluttershy let out a whimper before racing in-between the opening that Xion had made for her. Fluttershy took cover behind Xion right as the heartless began their next attack, with a Soldier whipping around behind Xion and winding up a kick. Xion caught the movement and rolled out of the way of the kick, before leaping back towards it and cleaving it in two with a single strike. "Is that a...heart?" Fluttershy asked as the heart trapped within the Soldier was released, ascending into the sky. "No time for questions, we need to keep moving," Xion instructed as she deflected a lunge from a Shadow. She drove the tip of her blade into the head of the creature and destroyed it, only for three more Soldiers to show up behind Fluttershy. "Argh, they're all going after her. Don't know if I can keep protecting her forever." 'They're most likely after her heart,' Sombra revealed, getting Xion to spare a momentary glance of confusion at where he was stashed. 'Think about it. The heartless go after hearts, the stronger the better, right? Even if you didn't have a heart, she's one of the six champions of this land. If I were them, I bet she would make one heck of a heartless if her heart was taken.' "The stronger the heart, the more powerful shadow it casts," Xion muttered under her breath before rolling over to Fluttershy's side, cleaving through a pair of Shadows as she did so. She spun around to face the last three heartless before pointing her blade at them. "Fire." The fireball struck dead center between the heartless, blasting them apart in a massive burst of fire. Xion let out a sigh of relief as she lowered her weapon, before glancing down at her hand. 'I'm still feeling the effects of this land. I had hoped that with time at least some of my full power would return, but...' "We're almost there," Fluttershy said, snapping Xion out of her thoughts and getting her to look down at the pony. "I can feel it. Whatever I'm here to help, it's just up ahead." Xion nodded and continued after Fluttershy, resting the keyblade upon her shoulder as she did so. For a few minutes the two of them walked along in silence, but Xion was aware that every few feet Fluttershy would cast a glance Xion's way. "Go ahead, ask me what you want." "Oh, I um...what's you're name?" "Pardon?" "I was just...you've been...you...do have a name, right?" Fluttershy asked from behind her mane once more. Xion glanced down at the forest floor, not sure that she felt ready to reveal her name to a total stranger. Someone Xion knew practically nothing about. The thing that she knew they had in common was that they were both being used by the Maestro. 'You could always just lie,' said the devil in her pocket. "Xion..." she said after a few moments of silence. "Oh...that's a pretty name," Fluttershy said as she peeked out from behind her mane, only to hide behind it once more as Xion's red eyes turned towards her. "Thanks...is this the place?" Xion asked as the two of them walked into a large clearing, one that was devoid of both tree and grass life. "Yes, I can feel that there's something wrong here," Fluttershy muttered as she stepped into the clearing, looking around with a confused look upon her face. "But I can't sense the creature that was in need of my help. But what could have happened...?" Fluttershy's answer came as a colossal beast of darkness leapt through the trees on the edge of the clearing, landing in the middle with enough force to knock both the puppet and the pony off of their legs. The creature looked like a mix between a T-Rex and a bird, with a large, black beak and eyes that were a deep yellow. It had muscular legs and wings that were tucked against its body, while it whipped a feathered tail back and forth. The rest of it was made up of darkness, a darkness that looked familiar to Xion and Sombra. As well as the red symbol that it wore upon its chest. "Is that what I think it is?" Xion asked with some fear as she took up her fighting stance once more. 'Yep. That is what was supposed to be guarding the water that we totally didn't steal. Only different is I don't remember the thing looking so much like a heartless,' Sombra confirmed for Xion, before his dark aura seemed to grow stronger. 'So the heartless, or Maestro, got to it before it got to us. And you just had to come back in this forest, didn't you?' The massive heartless let out a roar and charged the three, the ground shaking beneath each of its footsteps. Xion dived out of the way, but when she glanced back over she found that Fluttershy was frozen in place with fear. Realizing that she had to act, Xion raced back over to Fluttershy and tackled her out of the way just as the heartless came charging past. The two rolled across the ground as the monster skidded to a stop, turning on the both of them. "You need to get out of here," Xion said to Fluttershy as she pulled the pony to her hooves. 'Focus, puppet. The giant heartless is our biggest concern right now!' Sombra reminded her. Xion pushed Fluttershy to the side before she charged towards the heartless, which let out a roar as it charged towards her. Right when the two were about to collide, Xion leapt up and wrapped her arm around the bottom of the monsters jaw, flipping herself onto its head. The moment she landed she drove her keyblade into the center of the heartless symbol, getting the beast to roar in rage. "Time for a rodeo!" Xion yelled as she yanked her keyblade to the side, turning the head of the heartless and got to turn in the direction she was pulling. She made the heartless run right into the side of a tree, where she flipped off as the creature collapsed to the ground. The moment she landed she ran up to the head and slashed at it with her blade, managing to get off a string of strikes before the creature pushed itself back up to its feet. "That thing can take a beating," Xion muttered as she backflipped to gain some distance, taking up a defensive stance as the heartless turned on her once more. 'We should retreat. It's clear that it's stronger than we originally thought. We'll let it eat Fluttershy while we make our escape.' "Yeah, no." The heartless lowered its head and opened its beak wide, making Xion raise an eyebrow in confusion. A massive blast of darkness erupted from the creatures maw a moment later, catching Xion completely off guard. She had enough time for her eyes to go wide before the wave of darkness consumed her, throwing her backwards and slamming her into a the side of a cliff face. 'Xion! Get up!' Sombra roared, but all Xion could do was let out a weak groan in reply. Sensing that the key bearer was almost defeated, the heartless let out a bellow before it lunged towards her, shaking the ground with each step as it barreled at Xion. "STOP!" Despite being a heartless, the creature came to a stop as the yellow Pegasus flew right in front of its face. "You will not lay a feather on them," Fluttershy told the heartless with a look upon her face that made Sombra shake slightly within Xion's pocket. The heartless did not fear her, but the look upon Fluttershy's face stunned it for just a moment. And a moment was all that Xion needed. "Time to go down!" she roared as she lunged at the heartless, her keyblade consumed in light magic that formed a blade. Faster than Fluttershy could register Xion slashed through the heartless in a flurry of strikes, getting the beast to roar as light erupted from its eyes and cuts. The heartless then exploded into a spray of darkness, allowing the massive heart that had been trapped within the darkness to finally be freed. Both Fluttershy and Xion watched as the heart rose into the heavens, radiating a light that caused grass to grown beneath the feet and hooves of the two. Xion then let out a sigh as the light faded from her keyblade, returning it to normal. 'Ugh. I don't feel so good,' Sombra said queasily from within Xion's pocket. Xion opened her pocket and pulled the horn out, while keeping it hidden from Fluttershy. "You're a horn. You can't feel anything," Xion reminded him. 'Tell that to my stomach. Think I'm going to hurl!' Xion rolled her eyes before she placed Sombra back into her pocket. She then turned towards Fluttershy, who was looking at where the heartless had vanished with a sad expression on her face. "What happened to that animal?" she asked Xion when the puppet walked over. "I've heard of those creatures before. They can be territorial, but what it was like was...nothing I've ever seen before. None of those...monsters were like anything I'd ever seen before." 'You shouldn't tell her about the heartless. If they know, they'll get involved. And if they get involved, it will be tougher for us,' Sombra told Xion, but there was none of his usual arrogance in his voice. "Fluttershy...I can't tell you what they are. All I can tell you is that they're bad news and that I will do everything I can to defeat them," Xion revealed before turning to leave. "You should go back to where you're safe. Stay away from these things and any other voices that tell you to go anywhere. Or else you might end up like that animal." "Are you sure? Because maybe I could-" "I work better alone. Trust me," Xion whispered. Fluttershy's gaze softened at Xion's words before she remembered something. She tapped Xion on the back of the coat, getting the puppet to turn to look down at Fluttershy. "I found this when I was exploring the edge of the forest. I want you to have it," Fluttershy said as she extended a keychain, one that looked like a blue butterfly. Xion reached down at took it from the pony, glancing over it before putting it in the same pocket as Sombra. "Thanks. See you later." "Thank you for helping me, Xion. At first I thought you were evil or a monster. But I guess...you're not as scary as I thought," Fluttershy said with a kind smile, one that wasn't hidden behind her mane. Xion flashed her a smile, and for a brief moment Fluttershy saw a smiling face beneath the hood. Then the pony blinked and all that was beneath the hood was darkness. Xion then turned and walked off, leaving Fluttershy to watch the hooded figure go. "Heartless...that's what Sombra's voice called them," Fluttershy muttered to herself once Xion was gone. "I need to tell Twilight about them...and maybe about Xion."