//------------------------------// // Chapter Three Key Defence // Story: A Key in Equestria // by Kamen rider yokai //------------------------------// First thing I saw when I came to was my 'sisters' giving me relieved looks that quickly turned to comical anger. "James" said Celestia and I felt a cold shiver down my spine at her tone. "Why didn't you tell us about your heart condition" said Luna with her tone matching her sister's. I gulped and started to stammer. "You never asked besides I forgot about it when I appeared here" I said with my tremors of fright now being seen. "Princess Luna! Princess Celestia! Quit it your scaring the guy quite badly he just came out of surgery remember!" Scolded a young yet intelligent voice and I turned my head to see a lavender alicorn with a indigo mane with pink streaks glaring at the other alicorns in the room. I felt my eyes widen and I spoke without thinking. "Twilight Sparkle! Wha- oh wait wrong one sorry you look a bit like someone I knew in the past" I said in shock. "Actually you got my name right but how did you know my name" asked Twilight. "Oh your named after her back during the aftermath with discord I personally taught a unicorn identical to you except her cutie mark was a eclipse with stars magic specifically light and dark magic because those were what she was attuned to each unicorn has a natural elemental affinity in their magic her just happened to be balance" I said calming down. "Why didn't you tell us about this other Twilight James" asked Celestia shocked. "You both were busy with taking the thrones while rebuilding the city once discord was sealed. I didn't want you adding more stress knowing that I took up teaching the unicorns to help lighten the workload of the repairing. But tell me this how did my student's descendant end up as a alicorn" I asked giving my 'sisters' a look. "She completed starswirl's unfinished spell" said Luna. "Figures now catch me up on what's going on" I asked before I winced feeling something tug. I looked down and saw I was shirtless and had stitches over my heart and a sleeping dragon near me with a identical mark clued me in. "Well that explains the surgery comment" I said with a sigh. "Yeah we didn't enjoy having to help the head of the hospital do it. Turned out the place is understaffed" said Twilight. "Yeah I'm sure that wasn't a pleasant experience but at least you learned a bit about first aid for the future" I said confused. "Anyway now that I can concentrate I can get both of us back on our feet" I said summoning my keyblade and taking a moment to look it over again. It was dark blue with lighter blue trim. The hilt had a wing like guard with the blade itself having a spiral pole with a crescent moon as the key teeth. The keychain was a transparent crescent moon with the links being star shaped. "Curaga" I intoned as a green aura covered me and the little dragon making the stitches vanish in a small bit of light as the skin and scales mended and I felt my heart beat stronger than I remember. "Huh I'm awake! Huh? Did the surgery work" asked Spike confused. As he woke up. "How did you do that dragons have a natural magic resistance normally" said a shocked twilight. "He's still young meaning his resistance still has time to develop and by what I'm sensing his own resistance has been altered by your magic allowing certain spells to work on him. White magic like that third their cure spell is one such magic allowed. But it also had the effect of flushing out the medication used to keep him knocked out and me drowsy. If I wasn't born hyper aware I wouldn't have been able to cast at all let alone summon my keyblade" I said. "That is a bit shocking that explains why it's easy to levitate him for me" said twilight. "Anyway Luna can I please get my shirt and coat back I don't trust my balance right now I need to be caught up on what I missed" I said and nodded when I was handed the items I requested. With that Celestia told James what had happened and what year he was in. "So let me get this straight Luna turned me to stone for over a thousand years and only a few years before the new bearers of the elements of harmony freed her from her darkness, a niece I didn't know I had married twilight's older brother shining armor and became your niece and nephew in laws, discord was redeemed and the crystal empire is back after sombra was defeated? And now there is a mystery involving a box revealed by the tree of Harmony now? Man I missed a lot haven't I. And according to you me using stop on myself by accident plus the spell Luna casted extended my life span? What next Chrysalis is still around" I asked looking like I swallowed a raw lemon. "Yes" said a buzzing voice as a bird that had flown in from the open window became the changeling queen herself. "I have got to stop tempting Murphy's law" I said deadpanned as the alicorns backed up surprised. "You should James it really gets you into trouble" said Chrysalis with a giggle. "And I thought you would learn that my luck isn't all that great I mean I was turned to stone for over a thousand years it's a wonder I'm not dead after all this time" I said giving her a look. "Your the one who had to save my life from a demon" said Chrysalis with a eye roll. "I couldn't let anyone die on my watch you know I'm a protector at heart" I said. "How am I friends with you again" asked the changeling with a teasing tone. "Because you got to know me after stalking me for months. I mean really you turned into a black and green version of my student at the time with a cutie mark of a green heart! And tried to pass off as her distant cousin the only thing that ruined it was that you forgot to change your voice" I said in the same tone. "Okay I'm confused" said Spike with the Princesses nodding. "Oh forgot you were here um sorry for what happened at the wedding I was desperate for my people and wasn't thinking straight I hope you can forgive me" said Chrysalis with a bow. "Wait you finally became queen of your hive! Congratulations sorry I couldn't go to your coronation" I said surprised. "You technically did. I spotted what happened back then and held my coronation there when the place was abandoned. I had two of my changelings look after you and make sure you didn't get destroyed when the castle fell to ruin" said Chrysalis. " Even turned to stone you have my back huh" I said as everyone blinked. "Hey when your my only friend I had no choice but to worry about you" said the changeling with a shrug. "Uh anyway Chrysalis I guess I can forgive you just promise not to impersonate anyone I know again I still had nightmares about that day" said Twilight with a sigh. "Same here though I'm curious how did you meet James" asked Luna. "Oh my hive was being attacked by a demon James called a fallen angel and used his keyblade to seal it into a card. James still has it I think. Anyway after words he healed me of my wounds and left after making sure I was alright. After that I didn't see him until a few weeks later when I stumbled on one of his lessons teaching a student and I followed him curious about the being that saved me.  He had one student in particular he helped a lot which meant she was his apprentice and was in charge of helping teach the other students so I disguised myself trying into becoming said student's doppelganger to get to know him. Back then I wasn't as skilled as I am now. I got general shape right I just wasn't good at details like coloration, cutie marks and of course disguising my voice so he saw right through me. Eventually he got tired of my attempts to blend in that he helped me with my changes. That was the start of our friendship. I still go into my first attempt at transforming as my default ponysona sometimes. I went by the name Spinner Heart in that form. I even met his apprentice and she became a friend as well. She even accepted me as myself and was flattered I based my transformation on her. To be frank when I saw you there at canterlot I thought I saw a ghost and was surprised" said Chrysalis with that last bit directed at Twilight. "Well as you can see I'm not a unicorn anymore since we last saw each other" said Twilight fluttering her wings as a point. "Yes your a Princess now congrates on ascending to alicorn just be sure not to let that spell into the wrong hands" said the changeling. "Right um does anyone hear screaming" asked Twilight ear twitching. I had a bad feeling and got out of the bed and stumbled but got my footing quickly and saw a sight I never wanted to see. The town was being attacked by humanoid beings that was pitch black and ant like with jagged attennea  and yellow eyes. I glared with shock. "So they finally appear" I said. "What are those things" asked Luna looking out the window. "Shadows the lowest form of the natural Heartless they are able to sink into the ground and become two dimensional. Pretty much the lowest in ability compared to other Heartless" I said and Luna and the others gasped since Luna nearly became one. I quickly put on the shirt and jacket and turned to Chrysalis. She got what I was thinking and nodded. "Been a long time since you used that James are you sure that these are worth it" asked the changeling with a serious tone. "I just want to see if I'm rusty a bit besides those Heartless make the perfect training dummies to get back into shape" I said and she sighed. "Let's do it then old Friend" said Chrysalis as the others became confused. "Valor" I said as a clear orb surrounded me my outfit glowing as the changeling vanished as a red light that entered the orb. I started to levitate before the orb shattered with the sound of broken glass. The four felt their jaws drop. I was floating in the air with my clothes changed completely. My clothes had turned from black to bright red with a flur de lis on the sleeves and hem with two keyblades in my hands. They weren't nocturne and a other original keyblade but my personal favourites oblivion and oathkeeper! Oblivion was a pure black keyblade with bat wings acting as the guard and had a more thin blade with the kanji for darkness as the key teeth. Set in the hilt was a black gem. The keychain resembled my pendent only black. Oathkeeper looked similar only had white instead of black and a more angelic appearance with the keychain being the star instead of the crown. The key teeth was the kanji for light. I spun the two for a second refamiliarising myself to them and feeling Chrysalis presence in my mind giving me support. "Time to get to work" I said gliding out the window as a familiar tune to me sounded for everyone to hear. It was the battle theme from kingdom hearts back home that for some reason always played with no source every time I fought. "What just happened and where is that music coming from" asked Spike wide eyed. "No one knows about the music it just appears when James fights" said Luna. "And I think James will explain what happened when he is done" said Celestia just as surprised. 'Chrysalis keep a eye on the drive gauge we are going to be fighting a while' thought James and he felt his friend give a confirmination in his mind. "Dual strike raid" I shouted throwing both keyblades destroying any Heartless unlucky enough in their path than summoned them back. "Gather!" I intoned using magnetga to gather the Heartless and than cast thunderga electrocuting the Heartless. This was one of the best combos I saw my brother use in the game against Heartless as it was effective. I went into a display of swordsmanship of any of the remainder saving the ponies from becoming Heartless. They evacuated to the hospital as now all their attention was on me. "Reflect!" I said forming a barrier spell that defended me from a sudden mass attack but I smirked knowing the effect of the spell which glowed and shattered with flashes of light destroying them and any Heartless in a fifteen foot radius of the spell. The only ones left was only ten Shadows. They suddenly twitched and became dark orbs that fused into a larger one becoming a larger shadow I knew about. A giga shadow. And just my luck the drive gauge ran out according to Chrysalis and we split with my clothes back to normal and I had nocturne in hand. Chrysalis pulled out a shield I recognized from when I forged it for her as a sign of our friendship. It was black and circular with green trim and had a green heart in the center. "Glad to see you took good care of that because right now we got to take that giga shadow out" I said and she nodded. Something welled up and the two of us moved as one. We threw our weapons at the Heartless with our weapons ricocheting back at it off the surroundings and each other before heading back to us and as we caught them we charged with fire covering the sword and sheild and slashed like mirrors of the other on the Heartless leaving glowing lines before both of us jumped back and I pointed my keyblade at it as my friend had her horn charge. "Return to the shadows from where you came" we shouted as twin beams of magic shot out and spun around each other as it struck the Heartless making it turn to dark smoke as a red crystalline heart rose into the air and vanished. Suddenly a bright glow formed and out of it a card materialized showing a magic circle with the title saying summon. I caught it and spun my keyblade once before resting it on my shoulder. "So that was our limit break Royal Defender. Didn't think we would finally unlock it" I said pocketing the card. We dismissed our weapons and walked back to the hospital where all of Ponyville stared slack jawed with the princesses and the current elements of harmony meeting them. "James what in tarterus was that" asked Luna. "Don't you remember? I told you my clothes are enchanted with their own abilities. What you saw was me accessing part of them. The drive forms are like a edge I need against large amounts of Heartless. I can't use that power alone as I need my friends to help me and Chrysalis here always had her own sense of valor which made her able to help me access that form. The other drive forms are wisdom, master and final with only one other form. Though that last form is a backfired state" I said giving her a look. "That kind of enchantment is hard to pull off" said Celestia. "That's because this outfit was created by three fairies mine is a replica of the one given to a previous keyblade wielder named Sora" I said. "Um Princess just who is this being and why is the Queen of the Changelings with him" asked a red stallion with a green apple cutie mark with a similar drawl to Applejack. "Your looking at my adoptive brother James. He recently returned from being under a spell and apparently is her friend for a while now" said Celestia. At that every pony gasped in shock. I stepped forward after clearing my throat and let my accent come forth. "Ponies of equestria I am Prince James Del Light the adopted brother of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. I am the chosen of a magical sword known as a Keyblade. My job is to protect this world from darkness like the monsters you saw. Their one goal is to drag this world into darkness and every other world out there. When I found the Keyblade I took a oath to defend the worlds because I was given the responsibility to protect you. These monsters are known as Heartless. They are created from the darkness of peoples hearts. For centuries I worried they would eventually arrive on this world and today that fear came true. Unfortunately I am only a keyblade wielder and not a master yet. I trained on my own as best I could but the leader of these Heartless is more dangerous than them as he wants to control the heart of all worlds. The entity known as Kingdom Hearts which governs each and every world in our universe. With this said we must unite all the races of this world in order to save this one! We can't let past wrongs to get in the way of survival. Right now the Heartless have made the first move and declared war. There is a quote that sums up this situation. Peaceful days have ended, let's survive. And you all have lived next to the everfree and the gates of tarterus itself! Are you going to let you home be destroyed by these things? I vow as the guardian of the worlds to help you survive this crisis at hand" I said as loud and clear as I can. As they listened they all got determined looks as a fire started in them. At the end they gave a cheer showing their drive to protect their home. "You always knew just what to say" muttered Luna smirking. "I was a writer before all of this but I'm not that much into politics. I can sense quite a few able to pocess the Keyblade of their own. My student had such potential back than as well" I whispered back. "Looks like we might just bring back the Keyblade wielders and have a fighting chance" said Celestia. "I just hope we can unite the races first and save this world before we think of helping other worlds" said Chrysalis. "Same here we need special material to build the transports needed to travel in space and I got to locate the world's keyhole before the Heartless" I said with a frown. "By the way Del Light? Why have that as your name" asked Luna. "New life new name. Everyone I knew on my world is gone so I'm hoping on a fresh start" I said. "Makes sense I just hope we can get the Crystal Empire to help" said Twilight. "I can get the dragon's help" said Spike. "Leave the griffons to me" said Rainbow. "I know how to get the diamond dogs to join" said Rarity with a smirk. "I'll handle the buffalo" said Applejack. "I will speak to zecora about asking the zebra to help" said Fluttershy. "Guess that leaves me with the Timberwolves they are more in tuned to instinct and can sense that it will benefit them on joining to survive" said Pinkie. "Don't ask I gave up on figuring her out years ago" said Twilight. "Guess we are going to the Crystal Empire so I can meet my remaining family there" I said. "I need to make amends so I'm coming with" said Chrysalis. "Right let's meet up at the library and prepare for our trips" said Twilight. "Right it's been a long day so let's get some rest" said Rarity. "Night I'm going to find a place for tonight" I said with a stretch. "You can stay at mah place for now we got room" said Applejack. " Thanks by the way do you know those three fillies over there" I asked pointing at a orange pegasus with purple hair, a yellow earth pony with red hair in a bow and a white unicorn with a two tone curled mane. "Yeah that's mah sister Applebloom and her friends the unicorn is Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle and the pegasus is Scootaloo. They are known as the CMC trying to find their talents" said Applejack. "They got the potential to have a Keyblade but I got no clue when it will manifest for them. You six also have it but your test for it is a year away" I said  with a sigh. "What do you mean" asked Fluttershy. " The Keyblade chooses those with strong hearts as it's a strength of character that makes the Keyblade as strong as it is. Those kids are so pure of heart and brave that it's guarantied to choose them and you six have the same trait due to your experiences. The young dragon as well. He has a strong character for one so young" I said. "James has a knack for judging a person's character pretty well" said Celestia. "He had his Keyblade a long time to be a expert on how their chosen" said Luna. "And the Keyblade gives access to magic to anyone not just unicorns. I mean look at me before I came here to equestria I had no magic until I underwent a trial of the heart to even wake it up" I said. "Awesome" said Rainbow. "But don't think for a moment that you can do whatever you want with them. There is a saying power corrupts after all. If your not careful you will end up as a Heartless or Nobody attacking people you see as friends and if I know your personalities right you won't let that happen" I said shocking them. "That can happen" asked Fluttershy in shock. "Yes it happened to Sombra. He didn't have a keyblade but he let his darkness consume him. Thing is Heartless reform after a while unless a Keyblade defeats them. You said Sombra turned into some dark mist and didn't talk right? That meant he is a Heartless and will return again" I said recalling what happened to scar in the pride lands. "You think he led the Heartless to our world" asked Twilight in shock. "Yes sometimes when the Heartless in charge of the attacks on a world is defeated the Keyhole appears so with that line of thought once Sombra is defeated I can seal the Keyhole. But first I got to locate him" I said grimly. "Well try to help anyway we can James that's a promise" said Spike. "Well night we can continue this in the morning" I said heading to the farm with Applejack guiding me. (End chapter)