//------------------------------// // Unlikely // Story: Kingdom Hearts of Harmony // by steel soul //------------------------------// Kingdom Hearts of Harmony by steel soul Unlikely Within the bubble of darkness Just outside the forest near Trottingham “Where shall we begin?” Lightning walked around the table that her team had set up within her own personal tent. Though it wasn’t the first time she had been in captain mode, it was still an imposing sight to see, even with the fact that she was just a normal pegasus mare. Or maybe that made it worse, not too many guards under her command would say it to her face regardless. Rainbow, Sora, and Dreamdrop of all ponies stood off the side as Lightning interrogated the show mare, allowing the guard captain to do what she needed to do. “Trixie will do her best to answer any questions she can. Trixie is just happy that she is finally safe and away from those weird ponies.” The show mare told the captain. “Then let's start with what you can tell me about how you came to be chased by those things. Do you know what's happening in the city?” Lightning asked, the mare taking a seat opposite of the blue unicorn with the purple fancy cape. “Trixie, honestly doesn't know a thing.” the show mare told her after taking a swig of the bottle of water she had been given before the interrogation. “Trixie only ever saw those dark ponies and that was only when Trixie had reached town. Trixie had had never encountered anything like them in the forest, in fact she had not seen a thing by the time she had entered the city proper, but as soon as Trixie and the other two got into the forest after evading many dark ponies, that giant...monster attacked us.” She placed a hoof over her heart as she leaned back into her own chair. “Trixie and the colts only got away by the skin of our teeth.” Lightning leaned back in the chair she sat within, folding her forehooves across her chest. “I see…” She turned towards the Keyblade Wielder, “Sora you have anything to add?” The stallion perked up at the sound of his name, his gaze shifting from the open flap of the tent they were under and towards the pegasus captain, the daze he was in lifting as he did so. “Huh? What did ya say Lightning?” He asked with an embarrassed smile, a forehoof lifting to rub the back of his head, acting as if he was a naughty child getting caught. “I asked if you had anything to add to the conversation Keyblade Wielder.” Lightning repeated, her tone a little more curt than before. “O-oh...ah…Well...I guess there are a lot of weird things about her story, the Heartless in particular I mean, but it kinda lines up with what happened back at Ponyville.” Sora began as he folded his forehooves across his chest. “The Heartless I’m used to fighting would wait in the dark so they can get the jump on someone, So for there to be none in the forest is weird, at least for me. Though...I might have some kind of Theory for it.” “Huh? You have a theory?” Rainbow Dash teased. “Now this I gotta hear.” Sora gave the mare an annoyed look before continuing. “First...I gotta explain the difference between a pureblood Heartless and the other heartless.” “Is there a difference between them?” Dream Drop asked, the guards-mare raising an eyebrow. “They all look like monsters to me.” “Yeah. There is.” The Keyblade Wielder answered. “From what I remember from the notes a friend of mine took, There are two kinds of Heartless. Ones with the red emblem and those without it. All those shadow ponies we fought before, I’m pretty sure they are pure blood ones, cause they don't have them. But the one we fought in the forest here, that metal dragon, had one one of those emblems on top of its head. It’s the same with that Flower Heartless I fought back in Ponyville.” “Whats the difference between them, Sora?” Lightning asked, though a frown appearing on her features showed that she wasn't going to like the answer, whatever it was. Sora nodded before continuing. “From what I remember, heartless with the emblems on their body, they are man made.” He blinked at the looks he was given before adding, “That means that someone is making them instead of them being from the world of Darkness...at least that's what I remember from the notes.” Lightning frowned as she slowly sat stiffer within the confines of her chair. “If what you say is the truth then that means. Somepony is actively making themselves more Heartless.” “That's...that's not good, is it?” Rainbow asked. “More than not good.” Sora reaffirmed. “The ones who know how to do any of this...the only ones who know such a thing only exist back where I can from.” He told them as his frown grew. “And that, in itself, can only mean one of two things. That someone from my world is here making them come here, or…” “Or that someone from your world gave somepony the knowledge to make them appear.” Lightning finished for him, her hooves digging into the wooden table in front of her. “Trixie...is confused.” The show mare would soon speak up as she looked between every pony. “Your mouths keep moving but Trixie can't hear anything.” Sora blinked before he looked towards Lightning with a raised eyebrow. “My guards placed a silencing spell on her.” The captain assured him. “Nothing permanent mind you but a necessary precaution. We are talking about sensitive information after all.” Sora couldn’t help but look at her in embarrassment, forgetting that he was supposed to keep such information quiet, at least to pony’s outside of his core group of friends. “In any case that's not even the biggest problem.” The Keyblade Wielder started again. “There's more?” Rainbow complained as she leaned back in her chair. Sora nodded grimly. “While the Heartless usually take orders from others, they have a bad habit of turning against you if your heart wavers even just a second. The pure blood one's more than any other. I’m just throwing it out there, but the fact that more Heartless are appearing in the forest when Trixie said she didn’t see any until she came into the city means…” “That somepony is either losing or already lost their grip on the Heartless.” Lightning finished, her frown deepening. “In any case we need to come up with a plan of action before heading back into that forest. There could be more of those giant Heartless around and I will not allow my team to blindly get themselves killed.” “What? Trixie still can’t hear any of you!” “Then let me go on my own.” Sora suggested. “It’s my job to destroy these Heartless after all.” “No way are you going out there to have all the fun without me, Hero.” The rainbow maned mare spoke up with a smirk, wrapping a hoof around the stallion’s shoulder as she did so. “I got your back one hundred percent, those heartless don’t stand a chance when it's the two of us.” “Denied.” Was Lightning's sudden answer, cutting through the pair’s comradery without hesitation. “Out of the question. For both of you.” “What?! Why?!” both the Keyblade Wielder and the rainbow maned mare said at the same time, looking towards the captain in surprise. “Hello! Equestia to Trixie! Do you read Trixie?!” “Going into unknown territory is bad news no matter how you slice it. I’m not taking the chance of separating us.” “I've jumped into the unknown plenty of times.” Sora complained as he frowned at the mare. “I’m always going in blind when traveling between worlds after all.” “Well now you are under my command, even if it is just loosely. And after seeing the Heartless in action first hoof, I will not allow anymore surprises to escape my notice. Not if I have anything to say about it.” “Trixie still has to talk about the others in the forest! Can you not hear Trixie, you silly ponies?!” Everyone looked at the blue mare. “Oh! Trixie voice reaches you now. Good. Trixie was getting a little worried that all of you had gone deaf at the same time.” Lightning raised a hoof, which caused the twin unicorns behind the show mare to activate their horns, the space around the Showmare’s ears stopping their subtle glow. Now free from the silencing magic, Lightning would turn towards the mare, giving her her full attention. “Tell me about those ponies mare. Now.” “OH! Yes of course.” Trixie squeaked, nodding rapidly. “Trixie and the colts were on our way to a group of ponies that were not in the city. Actually they are part of Trixie’s old magical troupe group. They usually live outside the city so...I would guess they were not caught up in everything that happened.” “I see...how far away are those ponies? It would be good to get to them before the Heartless do.” The show mare shrunk in her chair at the hard gaze of the pegasus captain. “Admittedly...Trixie does not know. She was following the colts since they actually live with the troupe. They are part of the same group after all.” “Then we get the colts to lead us to them. Leaving those ponies on their own would be a mistake.” “What about the ponies in the city?” Rainbow called out as she sat up from her chair. “We can’t just ya know...leave them. They need help too, especially after what Sora said about whoever is controlling them losing said control!” “As of right now we don’t know the situation of the ponies in the city. We do however know of ponies outside the city who need help more since more dangerous Heartless are out in the forest.” Sora shook his head. “The longer we wait, the less time we have before said pony looses full control and the city becomes just like…” Sora growled softly before shaking his head. “Like I said before, sending me in there is the fastest way to defeat these heartless, I can do it no problem!” “You mean we can do it!” the cyan mare added. “You’re not leaving me out of this one Sora. Besides, the others wouldn’t forgive me if I allowed you to get hurt like last time!” Lightning slammed her hooves upon the table, causing everyone present to jump. “I make the calls here! Not you!” Pulling away from the table, her voice became much more somber. “I want to save them, I do, but the ponies in the forest are the bigger subject of attention. They may provide more information that we may need about what is going on within Trottingham and every bit of new information is good information. Sora’s ears folded back against his head. “But-” The captain frowned. “This isn’t up for debate. What I say goes here. End of discussion.” Getting up from the table Lightning would leave the tent, her two guards following right behind her as she did so. “Geeze...I know that she's Fluttershy’s cousin and she's awesome and all that...but she just shot down our idea like it wasn’t even worth considering.” Rainbow huffed. “Who does she think she is?” Sora could only sigh softly at that, whole heartedly agreeing with the mare. “Working with so many others is way harder than I thought it would be. Not even master Yin Sid got on my case this much.” Sora’s gaze would fall back to the opening of the tent, a frown forming on his face once again. “I...well…” “Hero? Something up?” “Huh!? No! I mean...I’m fine. I just...ah...gotta go.” Sora quickly exits tent, leaving the rainbow maned mare to look on with a tilt of her head. "Okay...somethings up..." Rainbow said under her breath before following after him. “Wait! Don’t leave Trixie alone!” ~ Upon exiting the tent, Sora, Rainbow Dash, and Trixie were greeted by the everlasting darkness of the night sky that the giant dome made. It was made a little more bearable due to the fact that Celestia’s guard had set up more than a few magical light sources around the camp and the opening leading to the outside. Sora was actually quite impressed with how fast and efficient they were with everything. “I see...so you need my help with finding my troupe? Sounds simple enough. And if we can save them then all the more power to it, right” The sound of Zidian’s voice caused Sora to turn towards its source, the young colt standing in front of Lightning with a wide grin upon his face. Despite his age, Sora couldn't help but note just how confident and in control he sounded. It honestly reminded him of Riku. He always knew the right things to say and how to say it. Something that honestly both helped and irked Sora in equal measures. He could barely count how many times that his best friend would get him both into trouble and out of trouble in equal measures. Honestly, despite that, Sora could easily find himself befriending the teenage colt. And yet… He knows he shouldn’t hold it against the colt...he knows that deep in his heart... Why is it that every time I see him near her... “Sora?” Said stallion jumped ever so slightly at the sound of his own name. Turning towards the source, he would find a familiar butter yellow pegasus staring at him with a gentle tilt of her head. Pulling himself together, the stallion would give the mare as gentle of a smile as he could, “Ah...Sorry Fluttershy. Was...was there something you needed.” The shy mare bit her bottom lip gently before moving ever so closer to the stallion. “I was just...worried about you. You had a...umm...You looked kinda...serious…” Sora Mentally slapped himself as his cheeks turned a deep shade of red out of pure embarrassment. Geeze! What kind of face was I making that even Fluttershy thought there was something wrong!? Looking away from the mare, the Keyblade Wielder scratched his cheek, doing his best to think of a way to change the subject. “Ah...Sorry. I was just...thinking about some small stuff. It was nothing too major so you don’t have to worry about me.” Fluttershy’s worried gaze turned into that of an adorable pout as her head shifted to the side. “If it's you...I don’t mind worrying about it…” Sora tilted his head. “Huh? What was that?” “I-It was nothing!” Fluttershy squeaked, her cheeks mirroring Sora’s own from before. Pulling the hood up over her face, the mare would continue. “A-anyway. I think Lighting said something about...leaving soon...and...Ah...I was…I mean I was thinking that...maybe...you would...” “Fluttershy my dear!” The shy mare squeaked before turning towards “Oh! H-Hello Zidane.” She turned to face the older colt fully. “D...Do you need something from me?” He seemed to be his every boisterous self as he made his way to the yellow mare, bowing deeply before speaking “It seems like we might be heading off soon. My friends back at the camp are waiting for me after all.” “Oh...I’m...um...I see.” Fluttershy answered before looking away from him. “You...um...must be happy about that?” “Oh I am. Making sure that every one of my friends are safe and sound is just one of my driving forces. The other is more of a selfish one.” the teenage colt smiled and winked at the mare. “I was thinking, since you are sure to be coming with us and all I was hoping that you would share the road alongside me.” “Oh...I mean...I...That is to say...” Fluttershy would trail off as she looked away for Zidane, her gaze searching for the other stallion that she had just been talking to only to find that he was nowhere to be seen. “Fluttershy?” Bright back to the situation at hand, the shy mare would look back into the eager eyes of the wide eyed colt before giving a gentle nod of her head “I...guess…” “Ah! Then allow me to get prepared. One of the guards took my weapon and I feel safer with it than without when we leave.” The shy mare could only nod at the colt before turning to where Sora had been just moments before, her ears folding back against her head. ~ Sora’s hooves took him ever deeper into the darkness of the forest. His gaze was that of both confliction and annoyance, not knowing which one overpowered the other, but knew that he had to leave, lest he said something he would have regretted. Rather that was for himself or someone else he did not know. “Sora! Dude! wait!” The sound of Rainbow’s voice calling after him did little to slow the stallion down, though his ears would perk up at the sound of her all the same. His pace would still be an even one all the same, not at all stopping. That was until the sight of a cyan blue pegasus’s angry features suddenly came into his view, an act that caused the stallion to fall onto his rump to stop from colliding into her full stop. “Dude! I told you to Stop!” The rainbow maned pony huffed angrily, “Where the hey do you think you’re going?” Sighing deeply, Sora knew that there was no way he get out of talking to the mare. “I’m going to the city.” Wasn’t a lie, but... “You heard them. I know those ponies in the forest could be in trouble too, but I just can’t leave all those within the city to get turned into heartless and I could have done something to stop it.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow as she spoke. “So what? You’re just gonna disobey Lightning’s orders? Just like that?” The keyblade wielder frowned as he cocked his head to the side, looking at the mare with one eye. “What? You gonna stop me?” The cyan mare’s frown turned into that of a devious smirk. “What? And leave you to get in over your head in trouble? I made you a promise didn’t I?” She punched his foreleg, not too lightly but still with modest affection. “I told you that if you were going into that city then I got your back, no matter what.” Sora shook his head, “What about Rarity and Fluttershy? Aren't you worried about them?” She smirked. “Aren't you?” Sora frowned and looked away. Rainbow smirked in triumph. “Rarity can take care of herself and Shy is way stronger than she looks.” The cyan mare told him after a while, waving a hoof. “If anything I would be the one in trouble if they knew you went off somewhere by yourself and I didn’t at least try and stop you.” Sora rolled his eyes. “Come on. It’s not like you girls have to save my butt every time you turn around?” “History would say otherwise, Hero.” The Keyblade Wielder sighed, knowing where this was going. “You could get hurt.” “And so can you.” “I might not be able to protect you all the time.” “Then I'll just pick up the slack for both of us.” “There could be dangerous Heartless that I’ve never fought before in there. “Are you trying to deter me or sell me on an adventure of a lifetime?” Sora shook his head. Seems like girls are stubborn, no matter the species. “Fine. You win.” Rainbow pumped her hoof. “Just the words I love to always hear.” The stallion couldn’t help but smile. If he was being honest with himself, having her here would distract him from Fluttershy and more importantly, that colt. Just even thinking about him trying to sweet talk the shy mare, he didn’t like the way it was making him feel. Shaking his head of the thoughts of the two, he would turn to Rainbow Dash, a determined frown upon his face. “Right. Let's go! We gotta town to save.” “Not without Trixie you are not!” The two ponies turned around to see a vary familiar blue pony slip from the brushes, the show mare struggling as she pulled her cape from from a snagging branch. Once free of the offending bush, the mare tipped her hat, giving both ponies a smug smirk. “What are you doing here?!” The rainbow mare asked, her tone of voice like that of a venomous snake. The show mare raised an eyebrow. “What? Are you hard of hearing? Did Trixie not just say she is going with you?” “No way!” Rainbow growled. “We don’t need some showoff braggart slowing me and the hero down.” “Says the biggest showoff of them all.” Trixie huffed in a haughty tone of her own. “Least I can back up what I throw down.” “It's called hyping the crowd. Something Trixie is sure you know nothing about.” The show mare explained as she growled back at Rainbow. "Trixie does play in front of an adoring crowd and not just some friends back in their hick hometown.” “Hey! I performed in front of the Wonderbolts before!” “And Trixie has performed in front of the whole of Manehattan in Pony Square.” The unicorn mare smirked. “Trixie can do this all day.” “Sorry to cut this short but we don’t have all day.” Sora interjected before Rainbow could start with the mare again. “We don't have time to argue. Ponies need our help after all.” The rainbow maned mare blushed at being caught up in the moment, quickly turning around and away from Trixie. “Yeah! So why don’t you just go on back to the camp and leave saving ponies to those more qualified.” Trixie smirked. “And do you even know where you are going?” Rainbow paused which in turn caused Trixie to continue her taunt. “Because Trixie knows a passage. One that just might make your journey all the more easier.” Rainbow turned to look back at the show mare before looking off towards Sora who was offering her an apologetic smile. “Ugh…of course it wasn't going to be easy for me...” Sora shook his head before turning to Trixie. "Right...Trixie was it? Think you could show us the way?" The show mare gasped. "Why! Trixie would be delighted to offer her talents to the cause. Now if you two would be so kind as to follow me." Now leading the way, Trixie would give the cyan mare a smug smile of triumph as she passed her. Sora would, in turn give his friend a shrug of his shoulders as he passed. Rainbow rolled her eyes before taking her place behind the two. Despite the set back of having a mare she hated with a passion working beside her, her initial plan was still on the way. Sora was acting strange and she was going to get to the bottom of it. No matter what.