A Heart Eclipsed

by Show Stopper

Chapter 9

Klutzy Doo was happy with his life.

Sure his eyes were a bit off. Sure colts, fillies and even some adults made fun of him from time to time. Sure he'd had to raise his daughter, Dinky Doo, by himself. And sure, he was now having to deal with those annoying shadow things that tried to attack him all the time. But still, Klutzy enjoyed his life. He loved his daughter, he loved his jobs at the post office and the weather office, and he loved Ponyville, where exciting things never failed to happen.

But over the past few days, Klutzy had begun to feel restless. He began looking out to the horizon as he flew, wondering what was out there and, by consequence, crashing even more often than usual. He'd never felt wanderlust before, always content to remain in Ponyville. Sure he'd taken Dinky out on a vacation or two to Cloudsdale and Manehattan, but he'd always been happy to return to the home he knew. But now...

Klutzy was pulled from his morning thoughts when he heard a knock on his front door. Making his way quickly over, lest a second knocking should wake up Dinky, he opened the door with a cheerful smile on his face. "Good morning," he said, voice as bright and bubbly as ever. His smiling face fell to one of surprise when he saw who stood before him.

"Hey," said Sora, holding out his hand to the grey pegasus. "Klutzy Doo, right? We met yesterday."

Klutzy nodded, shaking his hoof and smiling nervously. "E-he-he. Yeah, that's me. Um, sorry again about that."

"No worries," said Sora. "I was just hoping I could talk with you for a moment. May I come in?"

Klutzy nodded and led Sora inside. Klutzy's house wasn't huge, but thankfully it didn't need to be. He led Sora to the dining room and gestured for him to sit. While he did, Klutzy darted into the kitchen, returning after a minute with two glasses of water. "Sorry I can't get you anything else," he said. "Water's all I've got right now."

"It's fine," said Sora, taking a sip. "I just wanted to stop by because I noticed something interesting yesterday as you were flying off."

Klutzy winced. "Oh. You saw me crash into that tree, huh? Don't worry, it wasn't too bad."

Sora struggled to hide a laugh, turning it into a cough. "N-no. Not that. No, it was your keyblade."

Klutzy's face brightened significantly. "Oh! You mean this thing?" He held out his hoof, his keyblade appearing a moment later. The shaft seemed to be made of a series of connected bubbles, with one large one at the end. The hilt was gray with a small muffin at the end to which the keychain connected. "His name is 'Bubbly Protector'. You want to see him?"

"Sure," said Sora, reaching for the strangest named keyblade he'd ever seen. He stood up, backing up and swinging it lightly. "Hm. Heavier than it looks. Good for defense, but brutal if it connects. Not a great magic blade, but better than average for cure spells. Have you had a lot of experience with it yet?"

"What, you mean fighting?" Sora nodded, the keyblade vanishing. "A bit. I'm the mail-stallion for Ponyville and I work on the weather team, too. I've seen those shadow things pop a lot, lately."

"I see. And when did you get your keyblade?"

Klutzy's face fell and he glowered a the floor. "They went after my Muffin. My daughter, Dinky," he explained, seeing Sora's confusion. "I was flying over to pick her up from school when I saw those shadows the first time. At first I thought they were just another strange creature from the Everfree, but" he shuddered. "No animal ever felt like that. They just felt... wrong. Evil.

"Anyway, I kept flying for the school, as fast as my wings could carry me. I found the doors shut and windows shuttered. A bunch of those shadows were scratching at the door and walls, but they weren't getting in. Then another one showed up, but it was different. This one stood up straight on two legs and had some sort of helmet on."

"A soldier."

Klutzy nodded. "That sounds about right. He started spinning on one of his feet which I thought was really funny at first. But then he started hitting the door over and over, and the door was starting to break. I did the only thing I could think to do to protect my Muffin and everypony else inside the school. I dove straight towards it, yelling at it to get away. And then..." Klutzy paused, looking questioningly up at Sora. "You have a keyblade too, right?" Sora nodded. "I guess you'll probably believe me then. You see, there was this great flash of light..."

I blinked furiously as the light cleared. I was surprised to find myself standing up rather than crashing into the schoolhouse. I looked around, searching for the creatures. The schoolhouse. My daughter.

Instead, I found something that I'd never sen before. I was standing on a giant stained-glass window. It showed the Royal Siblings circling each other, with a lot of suns and moons and other symbols. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Surrounding the window was an endless black void. I walked over to the edge and looked over, seeing that the glass was on top of a column that went down and down until I couldn't see it any more. For some reason, the thought that I could fly away from the pillar never crossed my mind, not that I would have had anywhere to go.

"Wh-what is this place?" I asked.

A plane of preparation.

I nearly leaped out of my wings! I spun around, looking all over. "Who's there?" I asked, seeing no-one. "What's going on?"

This place will help you discover the desires that lie in your heart. It will equip you with the tools you will need to carry out these desires.

"My desires? You mean you'll help me protect Dinky?" Panic filled me as I realized I'd wasted minutes looking around and talking with a mysterious voice. "Oh my gosh! Muffin! You have to let me out! I have to save her!"

Time is meaningless in this place. That time from which you came, to that time you will return.

I calmed down a bit at that. For some reason I still don't understand, I trusted this voice completely. "Okay. So, what do I do now?"

Three pillars of light fell from above, three white pedestals forming where they hit the glass. Above these pedestals floated three items. One of them looked lie some sort of staff, with a blue orb at the top that had two smaller orbs on top of it. Another was a red and black shield with the same three-circle pattern on it. Finally, there was a dangerous looking sword, the strange symbol featured on the hilt.

Great power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well.

"You want me to choose one?" I looked over the three objects, considering my choices. I'd never liked fighting, and the staff looked like it was meant for some sort of magic. I walked over to the shield, fluttering up onto the pedestal and slipping my hoof into the grip.

The Power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?

I nodded, and the shield vanished in a flash of light.

Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?

I fluttered over to the staff without hesitating. I was never very good at pegasus magic. Heck, the only reason I was on the weather team was because I was so good at demolishing clouds.

The Power of the Mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Do you give up this power?

I scrunched up my nose. "Ugh. Definitely. I ruin enough stuff already." The staff vanished just like the shield had.

Suddenly, the floor started shaking. The three pedestals sunk into the glass, cracks spreading out from them. I darted to the center, trying to avoid the cracks, but they began converging on me. The glass shattered beneath my hooves, falling into the darkness below. I opened my wings, trying to remain aloft, but the air vanished from beneath my wings and I fell.

I flailed through the darkness, trying to control my fall. I soon saw something below me, another stained-glass window. This one, however, filled me with dread. It showed Nightmare Moon, rearing back and laughing. As I drew closer, I found my wings catching on the air once again. I hovered down, landing surprisingly lightly on the platform. A flash of light brought the shield back onto my arm.

There will be times when you will have to fight.

Small patches of darkness began to form on the ground around me. They slowly grew larger before pealing themselves off of the floor. I soon found myself surrounded by those shadow creatures.

Keep your light burning strong.

I gripped my shield tightly as the shadows leaped at me. I shot into the air, slamming one with my shield on the way up. The rest collided into a pile beneath me, and I dove straight back down, shield first. Most of them scattered out of the way, the few who didn't vanishing into dark mist as I came down on them. I dove to the side, avoiding one of the shadows even as I swung my shield at another, blasting it into mist. I smashed shadow after shadow, not noticing as a few flattened themselves to the ground. Darkness started flowing out from them, reaching me just as I finished off the last ones still standing. I didn't notice until I started to sink. I spread my wings, trying to escape, but the darkness clung to me, pulling me under.

The darkness slowly faded from my sight, leaving me siting in Sugarcube Corner. But something looked... different. The door was closed and the windows showed only white outside. Three ponies sat at different tables. I walked up to the first one, a light purple unicorn with three gems for a cutie mark who often foal-sat for Dinky. She looked up at me as I approached, wearing the small smirk that seemed permanently attached to her face. "What are you so afraid of?"

I stopped, taken aback by the sudden question. "Um, I don't know. Being unable to help, I guess."

"Being unable to help?" she asked. "Is that really so scary?" She turned to stare straight ahead of her, paying me no further mind.

I frowned a bit at her question. This definitely wasn't the Sparkler that I knew. I walked over to one of the other ponies, a yellow earth pony with a curly orange mane. Her face bore the same slightly annoyed smile it always did. "What do you want out of life?"

"That's easy," I replied. "To make ponies happy."

"Making ponies happy, huh?" She turned away and said no more. I rolled my eyes at the fake Carrot Top and walked over to the last pony, a brown earth pony mare with a darker mane and an hourglass cutie mark.

"What's most important to you?" asked the fake Time Turner.

"Dinky." I didn't hesitate. How could I? She was family, and family is the most important thing to anypony.

Time Turner cocked her head to one side. "Is family such a big deal?"

The question was... strange. At any other time i would have gotten a little angry, but her question wasn't dismissive. She just seemed interested.

You're afraid of being unable to help. You want to make ponies happy. You want family. Is this what your heart tells you?

I thought about it for a bit, nodding at each point. "Yeah, it is."

The room began to grow brighter, the three ponies vanishing. I shielded my eyes, waiting for the light to die down. When it finally did, i found myself standing on another stained-glass window. This one depicted Discord, surrounded by random objects. A pillar of light shown on one end, and I walked over to it.

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

I turned around, seeing that my shadow had indeed grown longer. Then it started moving. I stumbled backwards as it began to rise off of the ground, reshaping itself as it grew.

But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all.

Klutzy stared at the ground for a while, shaking slightly. "But I was afraid," he whispered. "I was terrified. My shadow... that heartless..."

Sora nodded. "You don't need to say," he said. "Everypony goes through that. That heartless takes on the form of your deepest fear. Most ponies aren't even able to describe what they see. I'm glad that that particular breed only exists in that vision. I assume you defeated it? It then began to sink into the ground, pulling you down with it?"

Klutzy nodded, wiping some tears from his eyes. "Y-yeah. After that, I woke up inside the schoolhouse. Everypony there said i'd just appeared out of nowhere after they heard me yelling outside. The soldier broke down the door a few seconds later, and I rushed forward to attack. That's when he appeared." He held out his hoof, summoning Bubbly Protector once again. "He just appeared in my hoof, and I started swinging." He winced. "Broke a few windows when i sent them flying through them, but Cheerilee said not to worry about it. After that I grabbed Dinky and hurried home. After making sure that the shutters were closed and she'd locked the door behind me, I went out to look for more of them."

"You went looking for a fight?"

Klutzy glared at Sora. "I went looking for ponies who needed help. And there were a lot of them. A few other ponies had keyblades, but they all looked the same. We fought off the heartless, and set up a guard rotation. Well, Cloud Kicker set up the rotation. The rest of us just sort of followed her lead."

"I see," said Sora, making a mental note to talk with this Cloud Kicker later. It sounded like he'd found the new captain of the Ponyville branch of the Keyblade Guard. "And you've been fighting them ever since?"

Klutzy nodded. "Yeah. And since my job takes me all over Ponyville, Cloud left me out of the rotation as long as I fight them off whenever I see them. Then you showed up yesterday and, well, here we are!"

"Here you are indeed," said Sora. "Klutzy Doo, sorry for the abrupt change in topic, but I've got a deal to offer you."

"A deal?" asked Klutzy, tilting his head to one side. "What sort of deal?"

"You have a unique gift," said Sora, gesturing to Bubbly Protector. "You have a unique keyblade, the mark of a Keyblade Master. You already possess great power, and your potential is even greater. I had a team over a thousand years ago. A group of Keyblade Masters who helped me to fight the heartless wherever they arose. I'm building that team again, Klutzy, and I want you on it."

The house was silent as Sora's words hung in the air. Klutzy's eyes were wide, his mouth opening and closing as he sought for words.

"M-me?" he finally stammered out. "B-but I'm nothing special. I mean, I'm not smart. I'm not all too strong. I... my eyes, for Solaris's sake! How am I supposed to be some sort of hero if I can't even see right? And then there's my daughter. And my jobs with the post office and the weather team. I can't just leave them to go off all over Equestria!"

Sora nodded. "I understand your concerns. But we can help you out. This wouldn't be a volunteer thing." He smirked, thinking of the number Sol had told him when he'd asked about how much the twin crowns were willing to spend supporting the keybladers. "Equestria pays her heroes well. And we can keep you local too, just covering encounters within a day's travel. You'd never have to leave your daughter for more than a single night at a time. And as for strength..." Sora leaned forward, tapping Klutzy on the chest. "The strength in there is all that matters. Your heart is the mightiest weapon of all, remember?"

Klutzy looked down, placing his hoof over his heart. It did seem to make sense. More than that, it felt right, like this was what he was supposed to do. Only one doubt lingered on his mind. "But, my eyes..."

"Yes, those might pose a problem," said Sora, leaning back and placing his hands behind his head. "Thankfully, we have a great medical program. Paid time off for as long as you need to either recover form injuries or undergo surgery and recovery to make you a better fighter. The crowns pay for all of it too. Convenient, huh?"

Klutzy glared at him. "This isn't just another offer to get my eyes fixed for free, is it?"

Sora smirked. "Not 'just'. I really do want you on the team. I also want to help you out with getting that surgery. It just so happens that the two goals coincide. So what do you say," he asked, leaning forward. "Do you want to help protect other ponies?"

You're afraid of being unable to help. You want to make ponies happy.

There was only one way to answer.

"So he agreed?"

Sora nodded as he and Luna walked towards Town Hall. "His surgery is scheduled for next week, and recovery should take about a month. I told him that he could wait for our tour to be finished before reporting for duty, but he insisted on joining up with us. Though he did insist that he be allowed to bring his daughter."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Luna agreed. "There will be others who can watch her if... when heartless show up. Other than that, it should be a good vacation for the both of them. It sounds like they could use it."

Sora nodded, stepping up and into Town Hall. "You said it. A single dad with two jobs? I bet they haven't gone on a vacation in years. Excuse me!" Sora stopped Ivory Scroll who was walking past. "I was told that the mare who was organizing the keybladers was here. I think her name was Cloud Kicker."

Ivory nodded. "Go upstairs, and it's the first door on the right. I must say, it's good to see her working so diligently on something besides, well, never mind. If you'll excuse me, I need to see Miss Sparkle about some books that she ordered." She gave a polite bow and walked off. Sora and Luna headed up the stairs, turning right and finding themselves in the Ponyville Weather Office. A light purple pegasus with a yellow mane sat behind the desk, going over some paperwork. Strangely, she was wearing a full set of red armor, armor that looked very familiar to both of them.

"That's why the name sounded familiar!" The mare jumped and looked up at Sora's shout. "The Kicker Clan! Aw, how could I have forgotten them? Some of my best keybladers came out of that clan."

The mare looked Sora up and down before noticing Luna and saluting. "Princess! I- um- I mean-" She quickly lowered her hoof and dropped into a bow. "S-sorry, your highness. Military family. Old habits. Sorry."

Luna just laughed, motioning for the mare to stand. "Don't worry," she said. "I remember well the Kicker Clan's traditions. Learning to fight as soon as you could fly, if times have not changed too much. You are Cloud Kicker, yes?"

Cloud rose to her hooves, standing ramrod straight. "Yes ma'am. Cloud Kicker, assistant manager of the Ponyville weather service."

"And unofficial manager of the local keybladers, if rumors are to be believed," added Sora.

Cloud nodded, relaxing slightly as she turned to regard Sora again. "Kind of, I guess. I mean, somepony had to do it, and I'm the only one in town with any sort of guard training, so..." She shrugged. "I guess I just did what was needed."

"I assume you can use a keyblade then?" asked Sora. Cloud nodded, summoning a Kingdom Key. "Then we've got an offer for you. How would you like to be the commander of the Ponyville branch of the Equestrian Keyblader's Army?"

Cloud's keyblade dropped as quickly as her jaw. "M-m-me?! A military commander? Are you crazy? I- I ran away from the military. I'm a failure. A dropout! Am I even qualified?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a keyblade?" Cloud nodded. "Are you willing to fight the heartless?" Another nod. "Do you have more military training than the average squirrel?" A third nod, and Sora shrugged. "You sound perfectly qualified to me. To be honest, the EKA's always been pretty loose when it comes to, well, everything. Heck, we don't even usually get armor, so you're already ahead of the curve on that one. If you can fight, you're in. If you can lead, you lead. It's as simple as that. Besides, you're pretty much doing the job anyway. All that's left is to get you on the payroll."

Cloud sat back, staring down at her desk for a few minutes. "Well, when you say it like that, it's not nearly so overwhelming." She looked up, her face full of confidence. "I think I can make it work."

"Glad to hear it," said Luna. "Captain Gleaming Shield will be in touch soon with the details of the position."

"Gleaming Shield, huh?" Cloud tapped her chin a few times, lost in thought. "Gleaming. Gleaming. I feel like I know that name... oh!" She grinned as the memory came to her. "She's the one who's banging the Prince, right?"

Luna snorted, trying to hold in her laughter as Sora's jaw dropped. "Wha- bu- what?! Sol is- but he- he never said- LUNA!" He turned on the alicorn, grabbing her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me that your brother was finally seeing someone?!"

"Um, he isn't." Sora looked over to see Cloud giving him a strange look. "I was talking about the other one. You know, Bolero? Pink guy? Alicorn of love? Ascended a few years ago? Ringing any bells?"

Sora slowly turned his gaze back to the widely grinning alicorn. "And you were going to tell me about this, when?"

"When it came up," she replied, using her magic to brush his hands off of her shoulders and turning to Cloud. "If you'll excuse us, Commander Kicker."

Cloud straightened up, saluting proudly. "Ma'am! I won't let you down, ma'am!"

Luna nodded, grabbing the still stunned Sora in her magic and floating him out after her.