//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Thief // Story: Universe is Magic: Kingdom Hearts // by cybirddude //------------------------------// ------------------------------- After landing in Ponyville, Zecora removed herself from Ventus's back. Her stomach started to feel funny and her face immediately turned green. She decided to run away towards a nearby bush. She put her head into the bush and began vomiting. After releasing her meal, Zecora walked over to Ventus with a slight wobble in her step along with a dizzy expression. "...You OK?" Ventus asked. Zecora nodded her head in response. "So, where's...the...sta...tion?" He asked, hesitating due to the impressive sight before him. Ponyville was a simple town, with buildings, ponies, cars*, and other things you would expect to see in a town. However, none of these impressed Ventus. What impressed him, was a large, metallic tower at the very edge of the town. The tower in question was red with light blue lights. It looked like it reached space. In fact, some say that it reached the heavens. It was a perfectly erect vertical tower with red windows through which Ventus could see other ponies going down, like an elevator. At the very bottom of the tower was a door larger than a small van. Ventus wondered what the tower could be for. Seeing that Ventus was distracted by the tower, Zecora decided to slap him. "Ouch! Why did you do that?" he asked while rubbing his cheek. "I saw that your eyes were distracted, so I acted," she answered with an annoyed look on her face. "W-well how could I just look away from that tall tower?" he said, defending himself. "I mean, what kind of city has a huge structure like that!?" he yelled. Zecora sighed. "Judging from your shocked reaction, it seems you do not know about that contraption," Zecora stated. She then began to trot towards the north. "However, your sightseeing will have to cease, for we must go to the police." Ventus followed her. "What is that thing anyway? I saw some ponies inside descending like it was an elevator." Zecora rolled her eyes at his stubbornness, and decided to tell her story on the way. "It will take a while to explain to find the answer you seek, so pay attention as I speak," she informed Ventus, who nodded in conformation. "The tower which attracts the eyes on your face, is a structure designed to reach into space." "S-space!?" he cried out shockingly. "Why would they need to build something like that?" He asked with great curiosity. Zecora chuckled. "With a reaction like yours, so very queer, I must assume you're not from here," she realized. Ventus's eyes widened in shock. "W-well, how do you know I don't come from another country?" Ventus asked in a somewhat panicked voice, which basically confirmed Zecora's assumption. "I don't want her to find that out. After all, she's already seen my Keyblade," he thought with a a small gulp. "Because everyone on this planet, whether they are a filly, colt, stallion, or mare, knows that in this world, those space towers like that are not at all rare," she responded with a smug look. "Since you are not from this planet, I see, tell me, what exactly were you doing in the forest that is the Everfree?" She asked with suspicion. "Come on Ventus, think of I lie. I know this isn't like me, but I can't let her know about THAT," he thought. "I-I-I'm a researcher. I was in there to write information about the animals," he said in a tone that made it obvious that he was lying, but Zecora decided to play along. "If what you say is not a myth, then why did you not bring a notebook and pencil to write with?" Zecora questioned him curiously. Her eyes had a suspicious look in them, eager to know his secret. "Those monsters ate it. Besides, why should you be questioning my motivations?" The green pony tried to desperately change the subject and stall until they got to the police station. Fortunately, the heavens smiled upon him as the building they were walking to was reached, indicated by the large, sign with "PONYVILLE POLICE STATION" written in large blue letters. It was an overall medium sized building. The material seemed to be some sort of some grayish-white metal that looked very rare and expensive. Zecora immediately ran inside with Ventus right behind her. Inside the station lobby were typical things a person would see in a police station, such as chairs, security cameras, lists of wanted criminals amongst other things. As to be expected, there were multiple desks that each had a police officer behind them, waiting to have someone report a crime. Currently, there were three ponies who were doing just that. "Well, this is an absolutely unfortunate day," said a light purple unicorn mare with a cutie mark of stars. Her purple mane(with a pink stripe) looked slightly messy due to stress. "Even though that symbol that the criminal left behind points to one individual, it's pretty much useless!" She spoke with a loud voice that made the other five equines wince. Another pony decided to cool her down. "Now Twilight," spoke a tall, orange earth mare with a blond mane that was tied up in a ponytail and covered by a light-brown Stetson. Her cutie mark was three apples. She spoke with a southern accent**. "You shouldn't get so upset. After all, it could be worse. The thieving scoundrel at least left behind some evidence," she reasoned with the mare identified as Twilight. The purple mare just snorted in anger. "Yes, but what about DNA evidence, Applejack?" She countered with a sad tone. She then began crying. "Without any DNA, we won't even be able to identify the pony who did it. Besides, the only reason you're so calm is because you can grow more apples. I can't grow more books," Twilight finished. Applejack gasped in offense. "Yeah, but the thief still stole from my farm, and that's a crime!" Applejack told her purple friend, trying to reason with her. Seeing this another pony spoke up. "U-um ladies, don't forget, they stole from me too," spoke a dark blue unicorn stallion with white hair and a cutie mark of a diaper pin. He sounded somewhat nervous, and was shaking in terror. "They stole a large amounts of silver ore from my shop! I've lost a bunch of profits!" He complained. "Can it be true? Three others have been robbed, too?" Zecora spoke out with Twilight, Applejack, and Pokey trotting towards her. "Zecora? Let me guess, some of your possessions got stolen, the thief left behind some weird cult symbol, and you've come to the police station to complain. Am I right?" Twilight guessed while rolling her eyes. Zecora nodded in confirmation. "And the same must have happened to you Mr...?" she spoke to Ventus. "Ventus. Call me Ven. And no, I didn't get robbed. I just flew Zecora here after her potions were stolen so she can report what happened to the police," he explained to the other three ponies. "I just happened to be around when she got robbed and decided to help out," Ventus finished. However, Applejack realized something. "Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest. What were you doing in there?" The orange mare asked Ventus, speaking with a somewhat concerned tone towards him. "I'm a researcher. I was studying the animals," he lied to her. The others could tell he was lying because of the speed of his explanation. They didn't address that, because they didn't have evidence. "Well Mr. Researcher, you know what they say: Curiosity killed the cat," Pokey admonished him for being so reckless. "I mean, anyone with one percent of a brain knows that the Everfree Forest is a minefield: Going in there is just asking for trouble." Zecora then chuckled and said, "Yes, but in spite of his tiny size, he was able to send a large group of timberwolves to their demise," she told them. After learning this, Pokey's jaw dropped, Applejack's eyes widened, and Twilight gained an impressive look on her face. "If what you're trying to tell me is true, then remind me to never piss him off," Pokey complimented Ventus on his achievement, looking at him with a somewhat fearful look. Twilight immediately trotted over to Ventus's side, pushing Zecora out of the way and started observing him. "W-w-what are you doing!?" Ventus asked while blushing due to the mare making somewhat personal physical contact with him. Twilight immediately stopped her search, looking unimpressed. "I highly doubt you could kill fifty timberwolves," she insulted Ventus, making him somewhat angry. "But, as they say: big things come in small packages," she complimented him. Ventus was sick of having his small body pointed out. "ANYWAY, it's obvious that some thief is going around leaving his or her mark around town," Ventus said. "Did the police give you any useful information, Ms-Purple-Mare-Who-Just-Violated-Me?" Twilight's face looked annoyed. "One, my name is Twilight Sparkle," she introduced herself while trying to calm down. "Two, they did not give me anything useful. Whoever this thief is must be some kind of teasing genius, mocking us with that useless symbol," she spoke with her temper rising, as indicated by the tick mark on her forehead, her eyes glowing a white color, and her horn glowing purple. "Twilight, don't you think you should send a letter to Queen Celestia***?" Pokey suggested while hiding behind Applejack. The orange mare rolled her eyes as she slid Pokey over to Twilight, making him rush and hide behind Ventus. Pokey's suggestion made Twilight calm, but confused. Twilight sweat-dropped. "Why would the Queen care about a common thief in the first place?" she asked in disbelief. "I mean, if it was something like a terrorist, that would be understandable. But this is a simple thief. This is a minor issue at best," she said with a sigh. "Let's just face it, we have no leads," Twilight said before sighing and walking out of the door. However, she stopped in her tracks when she heard a hooting noise. The hooting noise obviously came from an ordinary owl. He crashed into Twilight violently, knocking her back, and sending her rolling across the floor. Ventus looked as if he was about to attack until he heard Twilight giggling. The owl was pecking at her affectionately. "Owlowisious, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked the owl. The owl held out its leg. In it was a rolled up letter. "What's this?" Twilight wondered as she opened it and began reading its contents. As she scanned the letter, her face started looking gradually angrier. After reading it, she suddenly let out a loud cry of "This is just fucking great!" as she threw the letter on the ground. "Miss Twilight, what is wrong, that you use language that is so strong?" Zecora asked Twilight, who looked towards her with a glare that made Zecora stiff. Twilight, too angry to explain herself in words, used a levitation spell to give Applejack the letter. The orange pony placed it on the floor and decided to read it, while everyone except for Twilight looked at it with her. At the top of the letter was a familiar spiral mouth symbol that Ventus and Zecora knew all too well. Applejack and Pokey also seemed to be familiar with the symbol judging by the curious looks on their faces. Though unlike the one in Zecora's house, the lips were only outlines. "Dear Ms. Twilight Sparkle, I have kidnapped your pet dragon. If you want him back, meet me in the middle of the Everfree Forest. ALONE! If you bring any friends with you, I'll kill him! From: Anonymous PS: Just to give you more incentive, I also admit that I stole your books," Applejack finished reading. "I wonder why he wants to meet you alone Twi-" she began, gasped, and looked towards were Twilight used to be. It was obvious to everyone what she had done. "I'm going after her!" Ventus said as he spread his wings, ran out the door and was about to soar, until Applejack stopped him by tackling him. "Miss, please let me go! I have to help Miss Twilight!" The green pony protested and fought Applejack, who just barely restrained him. "He said he would kill Spike if someone came with Twilight!" Applejack countered as she struggled to hold Ventus down. The restrained pony decided to take drastic measures, and summoned his Keyblade. Applejack was shocked by the sword appearing out of nowhere, long enough for Ventus to give her a slight smack in the stomach with it. While Applejack was rubbing her stomach, Ventus immediately flapped his wings and starting flying. He yelled,"I have a plan! Just trust me!" Applejack stomped her hoof on the ground at failing to restrain Ventus. Zecora put her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "Do not despair, but grin, for I can tell that this conflict is one Ventus will easily win," Zecora assured Applejack as Pokey came out and nodded at the zebra's words. "That's right, Applejack. After all, Zecora did say that he killed a bunch of timberwolves," Pokey reminded Applejack, who just rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry Pokey Pierce, but I find that hard to believe," Applejack retorted. She then snorted and said, "A pony killing a group of timberwolves? That sounds about as real as the boogeystallion." Zecora shook her head. "What I said is no lie. It is as real as the sky," she said defensively. Applejack had enough of Zecora's "lie" and smirked. "Okay. If you're not lying, then tell me exactly how he killed them," she challenged Zecora, who responded with a smirk of her own. "Although the story I tell you may be hard to receive, if you see it for yourself, you will believe," Zecora explained. She then explained to Pokey and Applejack about Ventus's battle against the timberwolves. ------------------------------ In the Everfree Forest, Twilight Sparkle was running, desperate to search for her kidnapped friend. Her purple mane flowed in the wind as she desperately tried to reach her destination. In spite of her pounding heart and the heavy amounts of exertion on her body, she didn't stop to catch her breath. Her emotions were a mix of anger, fear, and confusion. Her confusion led to questions. Why did the person want to meet her? Why did he or she kidnap Spike? Who was this mysterious kidnapping thief? Why did he or she admit that he was the thief? These questions would have to wait for later, as Twilight had a dragon to rescue. Thankfully, she had not ran into any beasts of the forest, which made it all the more easier for her to make it to the center. Eventually, after a few minutes of rushing, she made it to the center of the forest, and sighed in relief at what she saw. What she saw was a small, purple, wingless dragon with green spikes. His legs were currently trapped in chains that were tied to a tree, which he was trying to bite off, with no hope of getting free any time soon. Surprisingly, there was nopony to be found! Twilight smiled, and walked over to Spike, who gasped in response. "Twilight no it's a trap!" He warned her, but it was too late. Suddenly, out of nowhere, chains began emerging out of the tree branches, rushing at the unicorn. Twilight gasped, and tried to use her magic in response, but a chain wrapped around her horn, somehow preventing it. Without the help of magic, Twilight was easily subdued, the chains wrapping around all four of her hooves. Twilight then feel as the chains were being pulled, as her hooves were suddenly felt were being stretched, the chains being spread apart enough so as to make her suspend above the ground. "Well, well, well. It looks like you showed up," said a mysterious, adolescent voice. Twilight and Spike heard footsteps in the grass, and saw a pair of glowing red eyes. The owner of the eyes then emerged, showing that he was some kind of strange-looking wolf. A wolf with blue fur covered in copious amounts of blood, and eyes that looked as red as blood. However, the most notable feature was his long tongue which swished with great speed. It looked as if it could engulf an entire pony in one bite. Twilight decided to ask the obvious question. "Who are you and what do you want? Why did you do this?" Twilight asked with a fearful tone as she attempted to use her magic. The wolf then walked over to her and stared at her, which made the chains wrap around Twilight harder, making her wince in pain and stop attempting to escape. "I take it you are Twilight Sparkle. AKA, the Element of Magic. AKA, Celestia's student. Am I correct?" The wolf asked, with Twilight nodding in response. Spike then saw his chance, as the wolf's backside was facing him, and shot a blast of fire towards his kidnapper. As soon as the flames hit him, the wolf suddenly started hopping. "OUCH! THAT'S FREAKING HOT! IT HURTS! OH MY GOD!" the wolf yelled as his behind was searing in massive amounts of pain. He hopped, ran, and rolled in order to get the pain to stop. Eventually the pain stopped, the wolf, with a slight amount of tears in his eyes, then walked over to Spike, who had a smug look on his face. In spite of the pain of the chains, Twilight couldn't help but giggle. "That hurt you piece of shit!" he yelled at the dragon, stomping on the baby's neck. Spike screamed in pain at this, and tried to breath fire in response. Unfortunately, a chain then suddenly wrapped around the neck of Spike, making sure he wouldn't be able to breath fire. For extra cruelty, the chain was so tight, Spike could hardly breath, as Twilight could tell by the deep breaths the purple dragon was taking. "Leave him alone!" Twilight demanded of the wolf, who turned to her in response. "It's me you're after, right?" Twilight asked with tears in her eyes, hoping he would comply. The kidnapper then walked towards her and wrapped his long tongue around Twilight's neck, choking her. Twilight struggled hard against the organ and the chains, desperately fighting for freedom and oxygen. Spike tried as hard as he could to claw through the chains and breath fire. But unfortunately, their attempts were meaningless because the chains wrapped harder around their body parts. Twilight eventually gave up and accepted her fate. But then, a miracle happened. A bolt of lightning hit the canine's tongue, making him retract it, freeing Twilight's neck. The wolf screamed out in pain as Twilight gasped for air. But that wasn't all, out of the sky came a certain green stallion, wielding a black sword with his tail. "Ventus!" Twilight exclaimed in shock, not expecting him to follow her. Ventus then grinned at her and made a quick stroke with his sword. The single stroke broke all of the chains, dropping Twilight on the ground. She then stood up and stared towards the wolf who had kidnapped her. "Whose this guy, Twilight?" Spike asked, impressed with both the green pony's sword and swordsponyship. Ventus then freed Spike in the same manner as before. The dragon then took a deep breath, and stood, ready to fight his kidnapper. The wolf then had a nervous looking smile on his face. "Damn it! I wasn't expecting this! Oh well, I can always use my trump card," he thought as he suddenly extended his tongue. Ventus stepped forward, ready to defend. However, the tongue wasn't what he needed to worry about. Out of nowhere, many chains, some red with heat and some having spikes attached to their tips, came rushing towards the group. The wolf then started laughing madly, eager to see his victims destroyed. Spike and Twilight's eyes widened, the former screaming. Ventus however, gripped his sword tighter, ready to fight. The mysterious thief then smirked at Ventus's audacity, and sent all of the chains towards him. As soon as the chains came near the green pegasus, he attacked them effortlessly with great speed. He sliced every chain that attacked him, breaking them almost rhythmically. None of the chains touched him, his magnificent speedy, agility, and heightened senses assisting him in defending himself. Having enough of this, his sword then glowed and unleashed a great tornado of rocks around its wielder, automatically breaking every single chain that came towards him. After they stopped, Ventus then looked towards the wolf, who looked ready to run away. To Twilight, this was simply revolutionary. His sword skills were superpony with how he managed to destroy each and every single chain. The part that really intrigued Twilight was the tornado of rocks at the end which made her think two things: How could that sword perform magic? Where did he get it? She simply had to know more. To Spike, this looked like something out of some comic book, or a movie. His mastery with a sword, speed, and ability to use magic, could be summed up in one word: "Awesome," Spike said, eager to tell his friends about this later. After the sword had stop glowing, ending the spell, Ventus then looked towards the young wolf, who looked like he would vomit in fear. The long-tongued beast knew there was nothing he could do. Trying to use his tongue wouldn't work because the green pony would react in time and probably cut it off. So, in the end, the canine just stood there while Ventus walked up to him. Ventus looked down at the dog, having a look of murder in his eyes. He wanted to know only one thing: "What's your name?" Ventus asked. The wolf gulped and said "Lacom," hoping that the warrior standing before him wouldn't take his life. Ventus then took his sword and pointed at the thief. The wolf flinched and closed his eyes, thinking he was going to die. However, he instead no longer felt the ground he was standing on, making him realize that he was levitating. Twilight, still being impressed, ran up to Ventus, getting between him and Lacom. "Amazing! Astounding! Absolutely astonishing!" she complimented him, while wanting to know more. "How you defeated those timberwolves is obvious! What isn't obvious is that blade that you used to use magic! Tell me how you did it! Explain how you obtained it! TELL. ME. EVERYTHING!" Twilight demanded while getting in Ventus's face, making the stallion blush. Ventus thankfully didn't drop Lacom. Ventus pushed Twilight's face out of his and said, "U-um, I'll can explain that to you later. Right now," he glared at the wolf trapped in his telekinesis spell, "We have bigger problems to deal with. Okay Lacom, tell me where you hid the stuff you stole: the books, the apples, the silver ore, and the potions, and I promise to not hurt you," Ventus requested of him, though unfortunately, the wolf had something unexpected to say. "I'm afraid that's not possible," Lacom responded. "Besides, I only stole the books," he answered bluntly, making Twilight Sparkle come to a conclusion. "Since the same symbols were on the scenes of the other thefts, and due to the fact that you claim to only know about the books, I can assume you're part of a group of thieves," Twilight rationalized, which made Lacom gulp. Twilight smirked. "I assume I'm correct. Now tell me, where have you hidden my books?" Lacom shake his head and said, "Beats me, I don't know where the hell they are," he answered, making the two ponies and dragon irritated and confused. "What!? How could you not know? You stole the freaking books!" Spike exclaimed in confusion. Lacom then answered, "My job was to steal it, I don't know where the others took it." Spike then sighed and looked at the sky. "We don't have all day, we might as well walk back to Ponyville and take you to the cops," he said as he decided to start walking. The two ponies also decided that it was a good idea, Ventus levitating Lacom with telekinesis. Seeing that Ventus was not flying, Twilight decided to ask, "How come you're walking with us? We've caught him. You can leave," she said before realizing something. "Wait! Don't leave, I still need to know about that sword!" she begged Ventus while also being in his face as he was trotting, once again making the green pony blush. "O-okay! I won't leave. However, can we take a rain check on that request? Say... no later than the next three days?" Ventus requested of Twilight, who nodded and grinned. "Right. No later than three days. I'll memorize that!" she said excitedly as she cheerily hopped, skipped, and jumped towards Ponyville, making the three males sweat-drop in confusion. ------------------------------ Back in Ponyville, everything was pretty much normal... except for Pokey Pierce holding Applejack's waist while trying to stop her from entering the Everfree Forest. "Applejack!" Pokey cried out as he struggled to protect the mare, mostly failing. His muscles were starting to fail him as his grip started loosening. Applejack struggled only slightly due to the blue pony's lack of strength. "I'm sorry Pokey, but even if what Zecora told us was true, we still need to do something!" she told him as she strained against the grip the blue unicorn was giving her. She eventually escaped and kicked Pokey Pierce in the head, knocking him out, thus stopping him from chasing her. "I need to help out Twilight! If I stay out of sight, then maybe I'll be able to ambush the thieving varmint!" Applejack thought with worrying excitement. Her heartbeat was rapid, her legs were moving as fast as they could go, and her hat was barely on her head. She ran with great speed, eager to get to rescue her friend. However, as she reached the entrance, her chase was halted when she crashed into a purple pony, the impact making them roll like a steamroller into one of the trees. As the earth pony lifted her head up and opened her eyes, she saw that it was Twilight, and started strangling the unicorn in a painful hug. Twilight could barely breath. "Oh thank Celestia you're okay, Twilight! I thought you might have been eaten up by some critter!" Applejack shouted in joy as she continued hurting Twilight, who used her magic to move the earth pony a few inches away from her, allowing her to catch her breath. Applejack realized what she did and blushed. "S-s-so, where are the other two?" she asked. Twilight then looked over towards the entrance. "They should be over right now," she stated. And she was correct! Ventus, Spike, and Lacom walked out of the Everfree, Ventus still levitating the wolf. "By the way Applejack, that thief was the one who stole my books. Though he claims someone from his group stole your apples," she informed her friend, who snorted and frowned in disappointment. Spike, seeing Applejack, ran over to her and started yelling at her very quickly. "Applejack! You should have seen it! Ventus was awesome! He had a cool sword, and was really fast and cool, a-a-and the coolest part is his sword! It. Can. Use. Magic! It was awesome! He's like some kind of superhero!" he said excitedly as Applejack's eyes widened in realization. "Well I'll be a mule's aunt. Zecora was right," she said, impressed with Ventus's power. She then realized something. "Hold on Twilight, didn't you say that the wolf guy doesn't have my apples?" she asked while glaring at Lacom. Twilight nodded. "Yep," she said simply, as Applejack then glared at the thief before smiling with a cruel smile that could scare a crocodile. "No problem. We can just torture him," Applejack said bluntly, which made Lacom sweat furiously and try to escape Ventus's telekinesis. "We can kick him, strangle him, or slowly peel off his family jewels until he sings," she suggested, making Lacom all the more desperate to escape. Twilight then shook her hooves in protest. "There's no need for that, Applejack! Besides, that's the police's jurisdiction. They'll accuse you of being a vigilante," Twilight told Applejack. The orange mare sighed in defeat and mumbled under her breath. Ventus then decided to fly Lacom over to the police. Lacom begged, kicked, and whined, but it wouldn't help him. "Wait!" Spike screamed at Ventus, who obeyed the request. Spike then ran over to where Lacom was and did something unexpected: he gave Lacom a mocking kiss on the nose before slapping him. Twilight was shocked, Lacom was nervous, but Applejack and Ventus laughed. Twilight thought the joke was funny, but tried to keep a serious and disgusted look on her face. Eventually, Twilight couldn't help herself, and joined in on the laughter. The sound of the laughter overwhelmed the sound of Lacom's crying. What the ponies (and dragon) didn't know is that there was more to Lacom than just the fact that he was a thief. They would soon learn that he was part of something bigger.