Chapter 7
3rd-pony POV
Sora lay across the bench, his eyes closed as the train rushed down Mount Canter. To anyone watching, he would appear to be asleep. But instead of resting, Sora's mind was going over his last conversation with Solaris.
"You don't have to do this."
"Sora, you've been the lonely hero for too long. Now that you have finally returned, I'm not going to lose you again just because you're a heartless magnet. I promise, by the time you and Luna return, I will have found a way to keep them off of you."
"Whatever you have in mind, Sol, it won't work. Even your best wide-area barriers can't keep them all out. Heck, from what I've seen, that Gleaming Shield is probably the only unicorn good enough with shields to cover a whole city and keep them out, and there's no way I could ask her to maintain something like that day after day for years on end."
"Nevertheless, I will find a way. And if you do not believe that I can do it, even for you, then believe that I can do it for Luna's sake."
For Luna's sake, huh? Sora sighed. Honestly. She could do so much better than me. But the heart wants what the heart wants. He smiled softly. And I'm one lucky son of a yay that I'm the one she wants.
The train jolted as the brakes were applied, and Sora opened his eyes and sat up. Outside the window he could see a town quickly approaching.
"Oh good! You're up." Sora turned to see Twilight standing next to his bench. "We'll be at Ponyville station in about five minutes. Better get ready."
As she walked off, I focused on the power of the keyblade. In a blink of my eyes, the world had gone gray. The only colors that were visible were glowing balls of light in everypony's chests. As Twilight approached Fluttershy and Applejack, I studied these lights: their hearts.
No doubt about it, those are Clover, Pansey and Cookie's hearts. These three must be their current reincarnations. My eyes drifted over to Rainbow Blitz, Berry Bubble and Elusive. And they're definitely Hurricane, Puddinghead and Platinum. Good ponies, even if they never could wield a keyblade. Too xenophobic, even after the unification. Looks like these three don't have that problem, though. It's a shame they're the Element Bearers. Those are six of the strongest hearts I've ever seen. He shook his head, blinking back to normal vision. Well, like Twilight said, better get-
"GREAT WARRIOR OF LIGHT! ENEMY OF DARKNESS AND CHAMPION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! COME TO MY AID SO WE MAY WALK THE PATH TO DAWN!"
Sora blinked, staring off into space. Huh. Someone must have found my token. I wonder how I-
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There was a flash of light and Sora found himself in a strange room that looked like it was probably in Canterlot castle.
"Great... I summoned another one. Can't I enjoy my honeymoon in peace?"
Sora blinked in confusion a few times, turning to see who had spoken. He slowly eyed the being before him up and down, fighting the urge to run, hide, or draw his keyblades. "Slenderman," he said slowly. "I just got summoned... by Slenderman."
The unnaturally gaunt, tall, faceless figure sighed "I am a human with Slendy crammed in my soul, which has been amplified by chaos. I am also named Jeremy Farkness, have Cabadath's clothes and scythe, and I am married to Pinkie Pie."
Sora glanced over to the bed, where a slightly human-like female Berry still slept. "...aaaaand she's anthro. Okay, this is easily the strangest world I've ever been to." Though it's also only my third, counting Earth and my Equestria. He shook his head, and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Jeremy. I am Sora, the Warrior of Light."
He smiled and shook my hand. "Hey, at least you aren't a dick like my displacer. Nice to meet you too."
"Displacer? You mean that Merchant guy?"
He nodded, his face splitting open into a smile that showed far too many rows of black teeth as he laughed darkly. "Bloody bastard nearly killed me. I WOULD be dead if it weren't for some ancient being named Raphael. I guess he's a chaos God of some kind."
He then looked to Pinkie and calmed down, "I am thankful, though... If it weren't for him, I'd still be alone in life...
He then looked to a small, blue robot with yellow eyes and sighed "Hold on a moment, I need to grab that token too." He grabbed the it and shouted, "I CALL ON HARMONY'S BITCH!"
In rainbow flash, a robot appeared in front of us, sounding annoyed. "She could have told me who instead of throwing me in a bloody portal!" He turned and noticed Jeremy and gave a shiver. "Oh crud, I thought I'd seen the last of the slenderman." Before he could explain, an anthro version of Hinata Hyuga from Naruto appeared beside the robot. "Oi, you could explain before tossing me into a portal!"
"We didn't have enough time," she countered.
"Yes, you shouting 'meeting slendipie!', then tossing me into a god damn portal covers everything! I was practicing in restrict mode and is that a Pinkie?" He asked before his eyes turned pink and he fell to the ground.
"Oh boy, pink screen of death. Now he is out for awhile." I heard the woman muttered before turning to Jeremy. "Hi, my name is Sync Heart or as my friends calls me, Harmony."
Jeremy nodded slowly. "Yeah... my honeymoon is going to be WEIRD," he said with a very annoyed face as he looked to Pinkie, who was snoring away completely oblivious.
Sora tuned out their conversation for a moment, slipping into his 'heart-sight' as he called it. Ignoring the robot and Harmony, he focused on Jeremy.
As he'd suspected, there was an extremely powerful darkness in his heart, but it seemed contained and shoved deep down into the depths and chained there. In fact, it almost seemed like another heart altogether. The rest of Jeremy, while not untainted, was generally good. His love for Pinkie was genuine, and a quick glance at Pinkie's heart showed that she reciprocated that love. There was another external taint on Jeremy, but thankfully this one wasn't a part of his heart. It seemed almost attached, though, as if something had tied it there. Nevertheless, it didn't seem to be influencing his heart in any way. Coming out of his heart-sight, Sora decided that he could probably trust this Jeremy.
"Good, then I won't have to dismantle you."
Okay, thought Sora, I need to stop zoning out of conversations. "So," he interjected, leaning forward, "have I been reduced to a wallflower now, or can I be introduced to these new people?"
"Oh crap I forgot that you were here!" The robot exclaimed as he rubbed his head sheepishly. "The names Emerl or my friends call me Alan. By the way, you're the second Sora displaced I have met."
"Really?" Sora asked surprised. "Huh, wonder if I'll ever run into him. What's he like?"
"He's a cheery guy who defends his friends, yet I think he maybe a little too protective," Emerl explained as he thought about something. "Do you have a Goofy and Donald like partners?"
Sora's face instantly went flat. "No. Donald and Goofy were placed into the games to add backup fighters. They would be absolutely useless in an actual fight against heartless." His face lifted as his thoughts turned to Fancy Pants, and older friends from years gone past. "I have found a few more keybladers amongst the ponies, though."
There was then a flash of red as a human appeared, looking at Jeremy anxiously "J-Jeremy? W-we've got a serious p-p-problem!"
Jeremy looked to him curiously "What's up, Carl?"
Harmony sent out a wave of energy, relaxing Carl. "Don't worry, Carl. We won't panic."
Carl sighed "You remember Raphael right? Well, I just talked to Fluttershy about him on our first date... a-and... well... I think he is under the influence of a very powerful strengthening relic that is making him insane..."
Jeremy looked to him blankly "So.... should I get Jane again?"
Carl shook his head "NO! The only reason she beat him was that he had just put on the artifact! He cannot be beat like he is now!"
"Out of curiosity, does this Raphael has a large primordial chaos signature?" the robot asked looking at a single direction.
Carl nodded "He IS primordial chaos. He is the beginning and the end of chaos. He was born when the first universe was sparked, and will only die when the last embers of creation die..."
"So can anything of order or harmony at least weaken him?" The robot asked with curiosity and worry.
Carl thought for a moment. "Well, if we could somehow focus an unbelievable amount of Harmony, Order, and Light into the Artifact, also known as the Anarchists Archive, it should split Raphael between his sane and insane self... but... I have no idea how we can do that..."
"Lucky for you Carl I'm a Harmonic entity and our Sora friend is filled with light," Harmony stated as she manifested a glowing, multi-colored aura. "Now we need order and this will be over before Pinkie can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
Carl looked at Sora a moment before sighing "Wait... if we split them apart, Sora's keyblade would turn Raphaels insanity into a Heartless... can Equestria HANDLE that kind of a fight?"
"Well how strong are these guys usually say compare to Beerus, or Dragonball Z characters?" The robot named Emerl asked.
Carl gulped "Think of comparing an electron to an entire galaxy... hell, he can create and destroy realities at a whim..."
Sora swallowed nervously. What have I gotten myself into?
"B-but... if we split them up," Carl continued, "Raphael, the sane one, will help us fight his mad self... I know he will! He is a kind, caring god... not at all like what his mad self is like..."
"Okay Emmy do me a favor help stall while I chat with my sister," Harmony said.
Just then, a large hourglass filled with black sand appeared out of nowhere. Carl seemingly recognizing this item instantly "CAREFUL! That is one of Michael's artifacts! He is an elder brother to Raphael, and commands the concept of death!"
So of course, Jeremy reached forward and grabbed it. "MICHAEL! FATHER TO ROT AND FATE, I BESEECH YOU! COME TO THIS PITIFUL MORTAL REALM AND AID US IN OUR HOUR OF NEED!"
There was then a sound of hissing steam and a flash of light as a robotic bird-man hybrid with talons for hands and feet appeared. He wore a black robe and generated an aura of pure unadulterated power, as if just getting near him was to court death. "Greetings, mortals, I am the lord of death, Michael, for what purpose did you summon me?"
"Let''s see. A Primordial Chaos has sunk into insanity and we were wondering if you can help us?" Harmony asked with a puppy expression.
Michael nodded sagely, seemingly unfazed by the puppy dog eyes "I shall help my brother; he is dear to my heart. I thank you for informing me of this. I would have noticed in time, but many would have perished in the meanwhile." He then looked to Jeremy and nodded again. "I see you are a scythe user... interesting..." He then held out his hand, a blue crystal orb materializing in it. "I have made a trade with Uriel, most fortunately, and this orb will fulfill your need of an Order power source. Have you Light and Harmony?"
"Well I'm the Tree of Harmony back home and Sora is a keyblader of light. Will that cover it?" Harmony asked as looked at Emerl who respond with a nod.
Michael nodded "I shall need use of one of the keyblade user's key chains, specifically the one that goes to the Way to the Dawn keyblade."
Sora nodded, summoning Way to the Dawn before removing its heartless-symbol keychain. "Sure," he said, tossing it over. "I never use this one anyway."
"I don't need to ask, but say that if there were alternatives that I would need to speak privately with you," Emerl said.
Michael looked to Emerl, and a conversation seemed to pass between them. Psychics? thought Sora. Man, I really am in over my head. Primordial beings. Gods of the multiverse. Eldrich horrors. Almost makes me think that the heartless might not be so bad. Flashes of memory and long past screams echoed through Sora's mind. Almost.
Michael then spoke aloud "No, we have all we need here. No sacrifice is needed, and I would recommend you do not take your life so lightly. You are going to bring great change." He then took the aura of Harmony, the Order crystal, and the Way to the Dawn keychain. "Jeremy, I need you to create a token."
Jeremy nodded curiously and held out his hand, letting red blood like liquid flow from it and pool on the floor, forming a red metal slenderman mark combined with a strange eye-like symbol, which then floated into Michael's hands. The three items then began to orbit the new token as they turned into three orbs of light, one rainbow colored, one blue, one bright white. They all then flowed into the mark as Michael crushed it in his hand, the shards floating in mid air a moment before reforming into a keychain in the shape of four scythes crossing a heart.
Sora whistled, impressed. "Man, I'd love to see the bad-yay keyblade that comes with that chain."
Michael handed the keychain to Jeremy, pointing to a newly formed hole in his scythe's handle, right at the bottom. Jeremy cautiously connected the chain to the scythe and gasped as it was overwhelmed by a black, blue and white flame, changing into a four sided scythe with a skull at the center, it's mouth the spawning point of the four scythe blades which glowed with the multicolored fire as the flames went down the handle, changing it into a metal spine. The fire then went to his hand and enveloped his body. Suddenly, he was bound in black shiny armor, his entire body covered in the spiky black plate-mail except his head, which was the same expressionless white screen.
Sora looked him up and down and smirked. "Okay, you've got to be the most ridiculously over the top metal Slender I've ever seen."
Michael laughed "Interesting. It seems that the power of your scythe is greater than I had anticipated, young mortal."
"I wonder if it has anything to do with the Master Emerald in me?" Harmony asked out loud as she touched the scythe with wonder.
Jeremy shrugged "I have no idea, all I know is that I am ready to face Raphael."
"Well I wish you luck," Emerl stated as he looked at the direction Raphael was apparently heading. "I'm sensing that he is coming right now!"
"Sweet," said Sora, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion. "I've been looking forward to fighting something other than the standard heartless."
There was a bright flash of red light, and they found themselves to be no longer in Canterlot, or even Equestria. They were in a dark, foggy battleground, blood soaking the ground as a voice sounded from all around them. "Can you hear the screaming? I hear it... it calls out to me from across reality... I hear her cries just as I heard them that night..."
Everyone looked around, growing uneasy." Where are you?" shouted Jeremy. "SHOW YOURSELF!"
Raphael then appeared in front of him, his cane in one hand in a reverse grip, and a sword made of red metal in the other, his eyes were cold, dead, and cruel. "I tried to save her... but she was too weak... mortals, are too weak... they do not deserve our interventions, as they will eventually die anyway, the only SANE answer is to crush them under our heels like the insignificant insects they are..." He then laughed insanely before flashing behind Sora and clubbing him behind the head. "Sleep now..."
"Shit! Sora!" Emerl suddenly stopped as he questioned. "Are you sure? It's a primodial being you are facing?" The robot's eyes suddenly glowed red as he began a hollow laugh. "Finally, a worthy opponent to test out." He charged at Raphael with a third eye opening. Emerl's body color changed completely gold as the eye color had a red dot to the center.
Michael nodded as he held out his hand, the wound on Sora being inflicted on him, a large dent forming in his metal frame. Sora woke up right as Michael was attacked by Raphael, who easily deflected each attack from Emerl. Raphael took his sword and in a quick stroke beheaded Michael in a clean strike, straight through his scythe.
Sora pulled himself to his feet, glaring at Raphael. “Okay, maybe I need to go all out on this one.” In a flash of light, Sora began floating in the air, his clothes entirely white and black. He’d switched out keyblades, too. One was the Ultima Weapon. The other’s shaft was a deep, dark purple with black and green vines twining around it. The hilt was a light purple in another vine design, and the blade featured a wicked looking curve which was stained blood red. The keychain featured a cracked flower. “Going to need your help for this one, Pansy.” He pointed Ultima at Michael, calling out "Curaga!" A flurry of glowing green leaves surrounded Michael as his head floated back onto his neck, the dent disappearing and his eyes whirring back to life.
Michael nodded appreciatively to Sora before he turned to Raphael, letting out black sand from his wrists that went into the floor, raising what seemed to be three stone Ogres. "My servants shall detain him for a minute at most!"
Emerl suddenly appeared behind Raphael. "Oi dumbass! You never go easy on things like me!" He performed some rapid blows which Raphael was easily blocking with his cane. It took a few moments before the god found himself using more force as he gave a competitive grin. "Oi fools! I can only stall him for 2 mins!" Emerl shouted with rage.
Raphael, interested by the machines capabilities to adapt, changed to a completely different style as his sword disappeared and was replaced by a pair of daggers. "Do you really think you may harm me mortal? I am chaos, I am change, none may stop me!"
Emerl only grab the deities body as his body merged with it. "That's why Nth combining will weaken you. I'll have a good time fighting you!" The god felt his body mixing with forces of Harmony while his chaos energy was being drained and converted against him. It took a minute before a human was spat out of the metal covered god. The human only stared up and heard a maniacal laughter from the god as he blew up his prison. The insane god stared at the human.
"Well at least he remembered to spit me out before doing something stupid." The human sighed as he summoned a grey armor and a blade. It had what appeared to be the hilt of Excalibur, but the blade was different as it was longer and wider. "Well I told Micheal I wouldn't use Essence, but madness has taken over for the moment." The human now identified as Emerl charged at Raphael and he notice that the human's eyes glowed. He wisely dodged the attack as, with slash, a piece of his hair was cut off. He attempted to recover it, yet nothing happened. This made the insane god narrow his eyes as he quickly displaced the essence human by sending him into a black hole. "Oh shit!" Emerl yelled before he disappeared from sight as Raphael focused on everyone else.
Jeremy teleported behind Raphael and grabbed him, teleporting them both several hundred feet up into the air and hooking him on his scythe before using it to throw him at high speed unto the ground. He looked to Michael and Sora, who were fighting constructs made by Raphael and was about to teleport to the ground when a pair of daggers stabbed him in the shoulders. He screamed in pain as a burning sensation filled his body, only for it to stop as Michael again took on his pain, falling right as his stone Ogres finished off the constructs. Jeremy then looked to Raphael, who was laughing darkly before a Thundaga from Sora hit him square in the chest, doing little more than make his hair frizz up.
Sora grinned. "Time for me to get in on this." He quickly flew behind Raphael, throwing the darker keyblade at him repeatedly as he used Ultima to spam Fira spells at his back. "Hey ugly! You call yourself a chaos god? I've seen ferrets more threatening than you!"
Raphael looked to Sora with a psychotic grin. "Let me help you hear the screaming... listen to its bitter lullaby..." He then changed his daggers into a pair of gauntlets and appeared right behind Sora, taking both keyblades and dispelling them as he grabbed him by the throat. "HEAR MY SORROW SONG, SORA!"
Raphael roared in a psychopathic rage as he struggled against his bonds, breaking free in mere seconds before Jeremy teleported behind him with his scythe in four pieces, each looking like a skull on a small metal spine with a flaming scythe blade coming out the mouth. He rammed one scythe right into Raphael's arm, freeing Sora right as a blast of red electricity ran between Raphaels hands.
Sora sighed in relief, summoning his keyblades once again as he nodded to Jeremy. "Thanks for that. Not sure what that attack was, but I don't think I would have liked it much."
Michael nodded "That is one of Raphael's cruelest executions, he makes you live through his entire life in mere moments, making your brain explode from data overload. Stay away from his hands."
Sora just smirked. "Got a better one for you. Aeroga!" A mini-cyclone formed around Sora, whirling around at high speeds. "Let's see him try to grab me now."
Raphael growled and flew straight at Sora, breaking through the winds with ease and punching him so hard that a painful crack was heard. Sora went flying back into a wall, the cyclone reforming just in time to cushion the blow. "Okay," he said, casting a quick Cura on his broken ribs, "cockiness gets you killed. Got it..."
Jeremy then Slenderwalked to Raphael and planted each of his four scythes in Raphaels joints, temporarily paralyzing him as he grabbed the Archive and ripped it from the god's neck. He tore out his scythes and reformed them as he crushed the crimson crystal heart. Raphael screamed in agony as the area turned back into Canterlot. Raphael slowly stood up, but... he seemed different. His eyes, once cold, dead and cruel, were now warm, alive and full of remorse as they filled with tears "What... what have I done?" He looked around him, seeing the various wounds on everyone.
Sora looked him up and down, his eyes flashing briefly to heart-sight before he relaxed, disbanding his keyblades and his Final Form. "Nothing that you could control. The madness has left your heart."
The whole group noted a portal forming in front of them. They were confused by the sudden appearance until a robot suited Emerl came out of the portal. "Phew, you guys can't believe the crazy things I saw when trying to find this place. So battle over? Did you guys split the madness out of him, yet?" he asked before being tackled by Harmony who started pounding on his chest.
"You dummy I thought you were dead!" Harmony cried as she buried her face in his chest.
"Don't worry Harmony, I'm alright now, so cheer up," Emerl softly whispered while brushing her head.
Suddenly, a dark laughter rang out. Everyone turned to see the shards of the Archive releasing a dark miasma. Raphael quickly noticed and snapped his fingers, dispersing the amulet. "It seems that I have retained my boosted power. I assume that my mad self can only drive others insane now..." He then looked to us and bowed. "I apologize for my unforgivable behavior as of late; it was absolutely abhorrent."
"Don't sweat it, man! At least no one got killed," Emerl commented while sheepishly rubbing his back.
He then noticed Harmony and blushed. "M-madam... I know this is rather sudden, but may I treat you to a meal sometime?"
Harmony felt her cheeks grew warm as she looked back at Emerl sternly who sighed, yet nodded. "Sure Raphael, I would love to go on a date with you." She ended with a wink.
Raphael nodded shyly and offered her his arm, which she took it with little to no hesitation. As they walked off, Jeremy dispelled his scythe and armor before removing the charm and handing it to Sora "I think you should have it. I don't think this kind of power suits me that well..."
Sora nodded, taking the keychain in hand. A flash of light later, and he held a new blade. This keyblade had a long, thin, silver shaft that looked almost like a metal spine with red tendrils weaving together to form the handle, and 4 scythe blades on the end in the shape of key teeth. "Mysterious Stalker," he muttered, giving a few practice swings. "Good for quick, mid-range strikes, not much magic affinity, and, wait..." He suddenly vanished, reappearing on the other side of the room. "...short distance teleporting. Nice."
Emerl quickly called Chaos on his Omochao. "Hey, I know you had that crush for Tikal, but she moved on." There was raging mumbling from the other end. "Apparently, it's a primordial Chaos god and, no offense, she kinda knew you as a brother/best friend." The raging conversation chatted loud enough to voice out "It's your fault this happened, asshole!" Emerl quickly hanged up before it grew worse as he said, "Well I pray this guy doesn't break her heart like the last guy."
Michael laughed "Do not be ridiculous; I have never seen Raphael this smitten before. Well... not since Alice... but this one is an immortal, so I do not think there should be any such problem."
Emerl was happy to hear that before he respond. "That's good because the last guy who dumped her did it because of Discord."
Michael shrugged "Raphael is basically the grand master of the draqoneqqui, so he'd probably just ground him if he became a pest."
Emerl shrugged at the commented. "That is true. Anyway, I worry about the mare/tree/woman like my second mom." He changed into a sly tone to Michael. "So any chance of blackmail on the couple in the near future?"
Michael shook his head amusedly as Jeremy slugged Emerl in the back of the head, producing a loud clang "Don't be an ass."
"Ok I won't do anything on their first date." Emerl suddenly straightened up. "Oh shit! Look at the time, need to babysit the colts. Jeremy make sure you don't open any of the boxes or Pinkie'll piranha them down her throat in seconds." The robot was about to head out when he remembered something. "Oh yeah, Sora if you find James, please don't blast his partner since she's Chrysalis. Anyway, could you guys give me a copies of your tokens?"
Jeremy generated my new token and gave it to him, smiling "Maybe I can enjoy my honeymoon now?" Emerl felt like laughing before he shut up by his glare. "I am absolutely serious."
Sora summoned a kingdom Key keychain and tossed it over. "Don't worry," he said. "I may be new to the multiverse, but I know better than to judge another based only on what mine is like. But, if I may ask, who is Chrysalis?"
"She is a changeling queen, or basically a bug pony with morphing abilities," Emerl commented while an Omochao went to Sora. "So goodbye you two, and Michael, I expect her back before midnight." The robot teleported back to his world.
"Changeling, huh?" muttered Sora. "I'm going to have to look out for that." He looked over to Jeremy and smiled. "Well, it's been interesting. If you ever need me again, call on my name and I'll be there." In a flash of light, he was gone.
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"...Her Royal Highness, Princess Luna!"
Luna stepped off the train, flanked on either side by her guards. Though she put forth an air of calm, she was inwardly panicking. Somehow, Sora had vanished from the train minutes before. Nopony had seen him leave, and there was no way he could have left the train safely at the speed it had been going.
What was more, their announcer hadn't gotten the memo yet, and would be announcing Sora in the next few seconds. Not only was Ponyville's mayor at the station to meet them, but it seemed like almost half of the town had crowded onto or around the platform to see their arrival. And now Sora was going to embarrass them with his absence on top of worrying them.
"And finally, announcing the Warrior of Light, friend to the crown, First Wielder of the Kayblade, Enemy of Darkness and Hero of Equestria, Sora!"
A flash of light went off, leaving Sora standing on the platform right outside the train doors. The Ponyvillians cheered and applauded, thinking that this had been planned. Sora's confusion quickly left his face and he smiled, placing his hands casually behind his head.
Oh, that's right Sora, thought Luna, maintaining her air of calm regality throughout. Just act like nothing happened. Just pretend you didn't have me worried sick. Oh, when we get to the inn, you are in soooo much trouble. You'd better have a wonderful explanation.