//------------------------------// // Chapter XVIII: Bright Mac and Pear Butter’s Story // Story: KINGDOM HEARTS: Dark Order // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// Back at Radiant Garden, the five guardians and the two ponies were outside the laboratory building with Sora leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Donald and Goofy standing by him, Kairi and Aqua standing by the doors to the lab, with Flurry Heart in Aqua’s arms, and Oliver was pacing back and forth again. After the second meeting with Vanitas, the boy alicorn was still struggling to believe what Vanitas just showed them back in the lab before giving them another card. Oliver stopped pacing before saying, “It doesn’t make any sense! He can’t be related to The Storm King! Aunt Twilight didn’t even hear anything from him about a Storm Pony or there even was a Storm Pony!” “It’s probably just a trick Vanitas’s trying to pull on us,” replied Donald thinking it could be a trick. Oliver looked at the wizard duck and said, “I’m not so sure if it is a trick, Donald. I’m not even sure if it is the truth either. And besides, all we got from Vanitas after showing us that photo was another one of those cards that he gave us in the castle.” Sora pulled out the new card out of his pocket and they all looked at it. “He does have a good point, Donald,” said Sora, “And since we now have two of the cards, how many more are left to collect and what do they do for showing us Vanitas and Cozy Glow’s hideout?” Just then, something, or rather someONE, popped out from Sora’s hood. It was a cricket with olive skin, thin black eyebrows, four-fingered hands and is wearing the famous white gloves many older Disney characters wear. He's dressed very formally, wearing a royal blue top hat with an orange band near the base, a red vest with a single, pink button on the front, a yellow ascot, a black blazer and a high-collared white shirt. He also wears tan pants and yellow shoes with black tips. He’s also carrying a red umbrella. It was Jiminy Cricket, Sora’s conscience. But really, he’s also Pinocchio’s conscience. Jiminy stood on Sora’s shoulder and looked at the card before placing a hand on his chin and said, “Hmmm...they do exactly what Luxord’s cards do, when he uses them to trap Mickey in the card and to make Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Riku disappear leaving you and him to fight.” Donald and Goofy jumped in shock after seeing Jiminy Cricket appear. “Jiminy?! How did you get here?!” Donald asked in shock, “We thought you were still at The King’s castle!” “Oh I snook into Sora’s hood after the meeting in Yen Sid’s castle,” answered Jiminy politely, “Hope you didn’t mind, Sora, but after entering Equestria, I somehow manage to fall asleep in the hood and woke up just now.” Goofy felt guilty for forgetting Jiminy Cricket before they went on the mission, so he looked at the Cricket sadly and said, “Sorry for forgetting about you, Jiminy.” But Jiminy just gave the captain a friendly smile like he wasn’t upset about being left out at all. “Oh it’s okay, Goofy. It was an important mission anyway, and I didn’t wanna disturb after your reunion with your friends at Equestria, Sora.” Oliver stared at Jiminy confusedly as he’s never seen or met him before. “Wait a sec, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you?” Jiminy knee he was talking about him and said, “Oh so sorry, sir. We didn’t get a chance to meet each yet. I’m Jiminy Cricket, Sora’s conscience.” “Nice name and job role,” said Oliver happily and kindly, “I’m Oliver Sparkle, but Oliver’s okay. And that in Aqua’s arms, is my little sister, Flurry Heart.” Jiminy looked at Aqua and saw the baby smiling at him while giggling and coping with her tiny hooves waving about. Jiminy let out a chuckle before saying, “She’s a giggly one, she is.” “She gets that a lot sometimes,” Oliver said politely while smiling at his sister. Just then, after a few seconds of silence, they heard screaming from people from another area of Radiant Garden. “Was that screaming?” Oliver asked worriedly while looking behind him. “It was,” replied Aqua, “It sounds like the town’s people are in trouble!” “Another Unversed?!” Guessed Donald. “Possibly,” replied Goofy. “Come! Let’s go check it out and see if we can help!” Sora said earning a nod from his friends. With that being said, the guardians and pony ran towards the other area of Radiant Garden, with Flurry Heart flying next to Aqua, to see what was going on. Once they were at the area of Radiant Garden where the screaming was coming out, the guardians and ponies saw a group full of people running past them escaping from whatever was making them run away. “Whoa!” Exclaimed Sora, “What’s going on here?!” “I think I know,” replied Aqua while looking up before pointing up and said, “Look!” The four guardians and two ponies looked up and saw what looks to be six pieces of armour flying towards before coming together. The α Armor contains the Unversed's torso and head. Its head is diamond-shaped and white with red eyes set in an angry expression. The front of its body is adorned with a large, light yellow, U-shaped additive with white edges lined by four shirt spikes. Its "neck" is thin, red, and curls forward. The Unversed symbol is printed on the end of the neck. On either side of the neck, the Unversed has two white "arms" that end in white, triangular blades, each with a red stripe on them. The β Armor takes is cone-shaped and white with blue, spiked additives decorating it. The Unversed emblem is on its front. Its base is white with red lining and four thin, white, propeller-like blades are attached to its top. These blades each have a white stripe near their tips and the Unversed spins them in a helicopter-esque fashion to move. Its red eyes are on the small spike on its top. The γ Armor resembles a set of three, segmented, white legs with red joints. The top of the center leg sports two red eyes and acts as the Unversed's "head". The Unversed emblem is small and on the center leg, right below the eyes. Each leg ends in triangular, blue feet. The arms and legs attached theirselves to the body as the unversed floated near them. It was the Trinity Armor. The guardians and Oliver stood in battle while Flurry Heart flew on her brother’s back and hid behind his head. “I knew it!” Donald said while glaring at the Trinity Armor, “An Unversed!” “These guys just don’t give up, don’t they?” Oliver said glaring at the Unversed. “No, no they don’t,” replied Sora. Suddenly, they saw the Floods appearing behind the Trinity Armor and started running around the area in search for some screams and sadness. “Them again?!” Oliver said in shock and anger, “Those Unversed are like changelings returning before they became good guys!” Sora, Donald and Goofy summoned their weapons before Sora turned to the two girls and said, “Kairi, Aqua, think you two can handle this big guy while we handle the Floods?” Kairi and Aqua smiled at Sora as Kairi kindly said, “Sure.” “Let them try and stop us,” added Aqua. Sora gave them a nod before he, Donald, Goofy, Oliver and Flurry Heart ran off to fight the Floods just as Kairi and Aqua summoned their Keyblades. The blade of Aqua’s Keyblade is thin and predominantly a dull, metallic blue color. There is a teardrop-shaped gap in the base and near the tip of the blade's shaft. The head of the Keyblade is roughly diamond-shaped, though the left corner of the diamond is absent, and there is another small white diamond on the inner edge of the right corner. The teeth are formed by four blue spikes lining the outer edge of the Keyblade's head. The handle is smooth and black. The guard is angular, predominantly white and does not fully connect to the Keyblade. The Keychain links and its token are all made up of water droplets. “Ready, Kairi?” Aqua asked politely. “Ready,” answered Kairi. The girls glared at the big armour unversed and charged towards it. “Take our the arms and legs first!” Aqua said while charging. “Got it!” Aqua jumped up in mid air and attacked the right armour arm while Kairi attacked the left armour leg of the big Unversed. “Gotcha!” Aqua spun in the air as she smack the right arm with her Keyblade making it break and disappear into dark smoke. She landed safely on the ground and ran up the other arm. “I caught ya!” Kairi smacked the left leg with her Keyblade really hard causing it to break and disappear into dark smoke. “Enough!” Shouted Aqua before doing icy tornado spin in mid air smacking the left armour arm before it broke and disappeared into dark smoke. “Wind!” Kairi shot two wind balls at the right armour leg causing it to break and disappear into dark smoke. Once the arms and legs were now destroyed, Kairi and Aqua stood by each other and near Trinity Armor while staring at it just before it started shooting white lasers at them from its head. “Duck!” Shouted Aqua as both she and Kairi ran around the Trinity Armor head while also dodging the lasers. As they were running and dodging the lasers, Aqua looked at Kairi and said, “Kairi, on the count of three, we jump and use light magic together to destroy the head.” “Got it!” The Trinity Armor head shot out its last lasers just as Aqua began to slowly start counting, “One... Two... Three!” The two girls jumped into the air and Kairi grabbed a hold of Aqua’s Keyblade before they both pointed their Keyblades at the big Unversed and shouted, “Light!” And just after that, two beams of light shot from the end of their Keyblades and headed towards the Trinity Armor head causing it to break and disappear into dark smoke. Kairi and Aqua safely landed their legs before their Keyblades disappeared from their hands. They both smiled at each other and did a high five. “Way a go, girl!” Aqua said happily. Kairi just smiled at Aqua and let out a happy chuckle. The two girls turned round and saw Sora, Donald, Goofy and Oliver walking towards them while Flurry Heart was riding on her brother’s back. They have just finished getting rid of the Floods a few seconds ago and were now heading back to the girls. “Aqua, are you and Kairi alright?” Asked Sora politely. “Yes, we’re fine, Sora,” answered Aqua kindly while smiling and Kairi giving him a nod in response. “What kind of Unversed was that?” Oliver asked. “It kind of looked like the Heartless me, Sora and Goofy fought when we first met in Traverse Town,” said Donald. “It was one of the Unversed me, Ven and Terra fought when we first visited Radiant Garden,” answered Aqua, “We weren’t sure what kind of Unversed it was, but we did know it had something to do with Xehanort and Vanitas making Ven stronger in order for him and Vanitas to forge the key. And it seems he’s reusing the Unversed he already used before the second Keyblade War.” Jiminy Cricket gently got into Sora’s shoulder again and started to wonder. “Then if I’m fully correct, Vanitas and Cozy Glow must be stronger to stop us finding their hideout by using any old Unversed they can pull along with new ones.” “Could be,” replied Oliver, “But if that’s the case, we best be careful where we go next. There’s no telling what might pop up next and attack us.” The guardians looked at the boy alicorn as Sora gave him a serious nod while saying, “Right.” Back at the Crystal Empire, with the Unversed now gone and everypony was okay again, Ventus and the others were back in the throne room with Bright Mac and Pear Butter. After seeing them reveal theirselves from their hoods, Applejack couldn’t be more proud or cheerful to see her beloved parents again. She was now hugging them while crying tears of joy while her Ma and Pa hugged her back with the others smiling at them letting the farm pony have this moment. The three eventually broke the hug after a few more seconds as Applejack wiped the last remaining tears in her eyes with her hoof and continued to smile at her parents. “Ma! Pa! I can’t believe you’re really here! I’ve missed you so much!” The apple stallion and pear pony smiled at their now grown up daughter. “We missed you too, Applejack,” said Pear Butter happily, “And look how much you’ve grown when you just a filly. How’s Big Mac and sweet little Apple Bloom?” “They’ve been doing alright,” answered Applejack, “Apple Bloom finally got her cutie mark after moons of trying to get it. And Big Mac is now married to a kind pony named Sugar Belle.” This made Pear Butter gasp in delight. She was so proud of her son getting married to a pony he truly loves in his heart. “My son is now married?! Ooh I’m so proud of him! I can’t wait to meet his new wife!” Pinkie jumped near Pear Butter and wrapped a hoof around her while saying, “Oh you’re so gonna like her and the yummy treats she makes with the apples Big Mac always brings her! They tasted horrible when we first met her but that’s another story and her treats taste all yummy again! She makes apple pie, apple cupcakes, apple cakes and...” Before she could continue on, Pinkie Pie was then gently pulled away from Pear Butter and towards the girls by Twilight’s magical grasp. “Settle down, Pinkie,” said Twilight, “We know you’re happy to see Applejack reunite with her parents again, and so are we. But they don’t know us yet like we don’t know them since Applejack only told us a little much about them.” “Twily’s right,” agreed Shining Armor, “And another thing is that we don’t know where they were the whole time after they strangely disappeared years ago.” “Yeah, I thought Granny Smith said something bad has happened you two and were taken to hospital that’s far away in Apploosa,” said Applejack curiously. Bright Mac and Pear Butter looked at each other in guilt before turning back to their daughter as they began to tell her the truth. “Look, dearie,” began Pear Butter while rubbing the back of her neck, “The truth is... we told her to tell you about us taken into hospital that’s far away in Apploosa, which doesn’t really exist.” “Huh?” Applejack was so confuse by this. “You told her to lie to me, Big Mac and Apple Bloom, and I didn’t even know if it was a lie?” “I’m afraid we did, Aj,” replied Bright Mac, “And I believe you were young to even tell if she was lying or not before becoming who you are now. But there is a reason why we told her to lie to you.” “And what reason would be that be?” Capper asked politely. The married couple looked at each other and nodded in agreement before reaching their right hoof out. Just then, a bright light appeared around their hooves and, just as the bright lights disappeared, two Keyblades appeared. Bright Mac’s Keyblade looked similar to Riku‘s Keyblade only the blade was similar to the blade on Terra’s Keyblade. The blade was coloured in light yellow while the key holder was coloured in bright red and the key chain was a tiny green apple attached to a tiny silver chain. Pear Butter’s Keyblade looked a lot like Aqua’s Keyblade only the teeth at the end of the blade were shaped like pears while the blade and teeth were coloured in light yellow and the key holder was coloured in bright green. The key chain was a tiny red and green pear attached to a tiny silver chain. The ponies, Vincent, Capper and Ventus let out a small gasp of shock, while Constantine looked in shock, as they stared at the Keyblades that Bright Mac and Pear Butter are holding. “Are those, Keyblades?!” Ventus asked in shock. “Yes, my friend, they are,” answered Bright Mac as the two Keyblades disappeared, “You see, the reason we told Ma to lie to you about us being in hospital is because we were given a role to play by somecreature named King Mickey to help him stop the darkness from spreading.” Ventus let out a small gasp of shock before saying, “Mickey?! You know him?!” “Yes,” answered Pear Butter, “We’ve met him a few days after Apple Bloom’s first word. He told us everything about the darkness, Master Xehanort, Kingdom Hearts and the x-blade. He gave us these black coats and Keyblades in order to help stop the darkness from spreading in other worlds, but we weren’t able to continue on after our encounter with one of the Nobodies.” “What happened?” Twilight asked politely. “Well...” began the pear pony. Two moons back before the third Keyblade War In the Olympics world, where the whole place is now destroyed, standing on top of a rock pile near a green field with a four holes in it, was a man wearing a black coat, have gold eyes, pointed ears, upturned eyebrows, and dark hair with several grey streaks that are tied into a long ponytail. The grey streaks in his hair, which is also considerably longer and worn tied back. His right eye is badly damaged and covered with a black eyepatch. He also has a large, jagged scar extending from his left cheek to just under his left eye. His name was Xigbar, also known as Braig but also Luxu. Xigbar was looking down at the four holes in the field until he heard a familiar voice. “Picture this: a black goat stashes away a letter, then orders a white goat to search for it.” Xigbar stared to the right and a dark corridor appeared a few miles near him as it disappeared to reveal another man wearing a black coat. He has platinum blond hair is very short and worn in a Caesar cut, and has yellow eyes. He is also the only member of Organization XIII to have facial hair, a goatee with the same blond color as his hair. He wears five silver piercings on his ears; four helix piercings in the form of two hoops on each ear and one piercing shaped like the Nobody symbol dangling from one earlobe. The latter piercing hangs from his left ear in-game and his right in some artwork, indicating that both earlobes are pierced. It was Luxord. “What could his intentions possibly be?” The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before Xigbar turned round while still looking at him. “Great, a riddle. Just what I need.” While looking at Xigbar, Luxord made a card appear in his right hand. “There are many possibilities,” he said before looking at the card and started doing a disappearing magic card trick with it, “Perhaps he forgot where it’s hidden, or he’s playing a prank.” As four cards appeared in each hand, he placed them together and shuffled them, “Or the letter has truly gone missing.” Luxord made the cards disappear from his hands, “I can think of several reasons offhand, guessing...is simply useless.” Xigbar let out a quiet sigh before saying, “Well, then just follow your orders, plain and simple.” Luxord did another card trick with his fingers. “Yes, that’s what I’ve always done. I followed the orders from above without question.” He then grinned at Xigbar. “However, I sometimes can’t help but read into my appointment’s strategy.” “Heh! Too long on the job?” “If the contents of the box are so unknown, why is it of such critical importance to the Organization? Furthermore, was it Xehanort or Xemnas who gave the order?” Luxord grinned at Xigbar in hopes that he will spill the beans and tell the truth. Xigbar knew what he was trying to do. So he continued to fib and try to get him to buzz off. “Well, it’s tricky.” Luxord was not amused by his answer, so he looked at the holes in the field while said, “All Xehanort cares about is the clash between the seven lights and thirteen darknesses. It’s unlikely he would hold such an interest in this mysterious box.” He then looked at Xigbar again, “Which means, the order was issued by...Xemnas, or the one who informed me of my task—you.” Xigbar placed his left hand on his side and said, “As if! It must have been Xemnas.” “My inquiries suggested otherwise.” Xigbar gave a shock look at Luxord. “Oh, man...you asked him?” “What are your intentions?” Luxord asked with interest. “Look, I don’t know what’s inside the box. But, it’s been protected by Keyblade wielders since way back when. Aren’t you curious? I heard it contains information that’s vital to all Keyblade wielders—secrets.” “And where did you hear this?” Xigbar placed his right hand on the back his head before answering, “Hmm, I don’t remember.” He placed his hand down, “I keep my eyes and ears wide open, but I’ve traveled to so many different places, it’s hard to keep everything straight, y’know?” Luxord glared at Xigbar before tossing a card at him which he caught it quickly and then glared back at Luxord. “If this box is truly as important as you say, why now? I believe you discovered that others also seek it, and you need to find it before anyone else does, in order to keep your connection to the box a secret from those around you.” Xigbar knew he was onto him. Luxord let out a small chuckle before asking, “Xigbar, who are you really?” Xigbar let out a small growl at Luxord while they still glared at each other. Luxord then grinned at him again while letting out another small chuckle and placed his hand down. “No matter. It doesn’t make a difference to me.” He turned round while still grinning at him, “It’s all the same. I’m content to feign ignorance.” Luxord turned his head round while still grinning just as a dark corridor appeared and then disappeared taking him along. Xigbar threw the card away and placed his hands in his sides while glaring at the spot Luxord was standing on before saying, “The question is, who are you, Luxord?” Peaking out of the big rock pile behind Xigbar was Bright Mac and Pear Butter, wearing their black coats with their hoods on, spying on the whole thing. They moved away from the edge and looked at each other. “Mysterious box,” said Pear Butter while rubbing her chin, “What do they mean by mysterious box, and what’s inside the box that’s so important to him?” “Not sure, love,” replied Bright Mac, “But whatever’s inside the box, it might contain some that could ruin all worlds. And for some reason, he wants it. We better warn Yen Sid and Mickey about this, and find that box before he does.” “Right,” agreed Pear Butter and started their way out of the Olympics world. But just as they were about to leave, they were stopped by a purple laser arrow that quickly shot near them making them walk back a bit in shock. They turned their heads to the left and saw it was Xigbar who shot that arrow as he was pointing one of his Sharpshooters at them. “Thought I heard someone else in this world,” he said while grinning before placing his Sharpshooter down, “What do you two think you’re doing? Searching for things is for Seekers only. And you don’t look like Seekers to me, nor are you part of the real Organization.” The two glared at Xigbar from underneath their hoods. “That’s because we aren’t Seekers as you say we are,” said Bright Mac, “But we know what a seeker is though, because you and that other one are Seekers.” “And I believe we have the rights to search around different worlds as we please,” added Pear Butter, “The King and his Master said we can.” Xigbar let out a chuckle before saying, “As if! Why would those let you two get involved in this?” “Because, they’ve gave us these coats,” answered Pear Butter, “and also these.” Bright Mac and Pear Butter placed their right hoof out and summoned their Keyblades to let Xigbar sew them. Xigbar let out a quiet gasp of shock while looking at the Keyblades. “Oh, man...Keyblades. They gave you them?” The two grinned at them as Bright Mac answered, “Eeyep. And they even match our fruits.” “And we’ll be using them for good and to stop those that threaten to cover the worlds in darkness,” said Pear Butter placing her Keyblade at Xigbar. Xigbar glared at them one last time before grinning at them. “Heh. I got time for this.” Xigbar placed his Sharpshooters up towards the married couple before they stood in battle mode. Xigbar shot about four laser arrows from both his Sharpshooter and headed towards the two. But Bright Mac and Pear Butter already had Keyblade training and attacked the arrows with their Keyblades. They charged towards Xigbar but he quickly vanish into thin air and reappeared behind and above them. “Dodge this!” Xigbar charged up his tight Sharpshooter and shot a big laser arrow towards them. They turned round and looked up before seeing the arrow. Luckily Bright Mac jumped towards the arrow and smacked it with his Keyblade making it fade away. The stallion zoomed towards Xigbar and smacked him with his Keyblade. “Hey, watch it!” Xigbar said angrily before floating to side away from Bright Mac and started shooting four more laser arrows at him from both his Sharpshooters. But Bright Mac still managed to dodge them by attacking them with his Keyblade. “R for reload!” Said Xigbar as he began to reload his Sharpshooters. But this gave Pear Butter the perfect chance to attack the Seeker. She pointed her Keyblade at him and shouted, “Fire!” Two fire balls came from the end bit of Pear Butter’s Keyblade and headed towards Xigbar. They hit Xigbar really hard causing him to fly backwards towards the ground and slipped back on his feet. Xigbar got back onto his feet and glared at the two as his Sharpshooter disappeared in dark smoke. “Now I don’t have time for this.” Xigbar placed his left hand out and flicked his fingers at the two. Suddenly, a dark circle underneath Bright Mac and Pear Butter causing them to look down and gasp in shock. “What is this darkness?!” Bright Mac exclaimed. But before they could do or say anything else, the dark circle dragged them into the realm of darkness before shrunk down and disappeared. Xigbar stared at where the dark circle was before saying, “That solves that problem then. Now, back to the searching.” A dark corridor appeared around Xigbar and then disappeared taking him along. End of flashback The ponies, cat and humans were in deep shock after hearing their story, even Applejack. One of the Seekers, Xigbar, have sent them into the realm of darkness and stopping them from helping Mickey and stopping the darkness from spreading. Applejack walked up her parents and looked at them sadly. “So that’s why you’ve never came back,” she said sadly, “That Seeker sent you to the realm of darkness and you were trying your best to find your way out.” Bright Mac and Pear Butter sadly nodded their heads at their daughter. “Yes,” said Pear Butter, “It took us two years to find our way out. And after we got out, we feel guilty for being away from you, Big Mac and Apple Bloom that we didn’t think it was time to actually see you again. And we don’t think you would forgive us for staying away from you.” The two looked down in shame while not knowing what Applejack might do or say next after saying all of that. Applejack didn’t know what to say or do after hearing her parents’ story about why they were gone for so so long. But she did more than just one thing, she was willing to forgive her parents for everything. So she smiled at her parents and hugged them making the two looked at her in shock. Applejack smiled and hugged her parents before saying, “Ma, Pa, you may have gone for so long and told Granny Smith to lie to me, but I’m willing to forgive you both. You’re still family, and apples and pears to the core.” Bright Mac and Pear Butter smiles at their daughter and hugged her back. The ponies, cat and humans smiled at the two again while letting them have another moment together. While they were still hugging, Pear Butter quietly said, “May our hearts be our guiding key.”