A Heart Eclipsed

by Show Stopper

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

3rd-Pony POV

"...so even though all dragons feel a small compulsion to obey the Dragon Lord generally, the full effect doesn't take hold unless the Dragon Lord gives an actual command. Even then, a relatively strong-willed dragon can resist the compulsion if they try."

"I see," said Spike, furiously taking notes. "So, is the compulsion magical in nature, or is it more along the lines of dragon instinct?"

"A little of both," Ember replied. "It's mostly dominance-submission instinct, but magic takes a major role when the scepter gets involved. If a Dragon Lord makes a command when channeling the scepter, not even the strongest willed of dragons can disobey."

Spike paused in his writing, looking over the edge of the chariot at Ember. "That's a little worrying," he said. "Doesn't that mean that if a bad Dragon Lord comes along that everydragon has to do what they say?"

Ember shrugged. "Unfortunately, yeah. But we do have checks in place. If a dragon feels that the current Dragon Lord is abusing their power or failing to lead well, he can call for a vote of no confidence, like Sora did." Ember tapped her chin as she flew, staring off into space. "I think there's only been... five times that the vote's gone through, and the Bloodstone Scepter and Dragon Lord have been around longer than ponies have existed."

Spike nodded in understanding and resumed taking notes. The trip north out of the Dragon Lands had continued this way for a few hours. Spike, knowing what Twilight would say if he didn't find out everything he could about dragons when he had the chance, and he himself being curious about his scaled brethren, had been peppering Ember with question after question about draconic history, culture, and magic. Ember had been more than happy to answer Spike's questions, relieved to find another dragon in her generation that actually cared about any of it. Sora and Fancy rode in the other carriage as Sora asked about the situation in Canterlot.

"The number of daily applicants had dwindled by the time I left," admitted Fancy, "but we've already got a good two-hundred keybladers now in training, with another hundred unicorns who specialize in light-based magic. I rather think that the capital is well protected."

"That's good to hear," Sora replied. "It looked like Ponyville had a few keybladers and a Master who will be joining our team as soon as his eye gets fixed. Appleoosa also has a couple bladers and two more Masters for our team. At this rate, Equestria should be even safer than it was two-and-a-half thousand years ago."

"Pardon, but did you mention that the Ponyville Master has problems with one of his eyes? This wouldn't be mister Clutzy Doo, would it?"

"Yeah, that's him," Soar said. "You know him?"

"Know him?" Fancy laughed. "I rather think that everypony as far out as Dodge City knows him. Friendliest courier and mail-stallion central Equestria has ever had. I shouldn't be surprised that he was chosen by the keyblade. I've been telling him for years to get that eye looked at."

"Yeah, but he's a stubborn one." Sora shook his head, but couldn't keep a small smile off his face. "He has his pride; he didn't want to feel like a charity case. Fortunately, the Crown has a terrific medical package for my little band of troubleshooters."

They shared a laugh and Sora noticed that they were approaching their destination. "Hey, Ember!"

"...so to avoid that Greed Growth, focus on the value of your possessions rather than the number of them. That should keep you from wanting to hoard everything you see." Ember gave a mighty flap of her wings, spinning above Spike's carriage and settling in between it and Sora's. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to thank you again for this," Sora said. "I have no idea what Gryphonstone's like these days. The gryphons never took as well to the keyblade as ponies did, and I'm worried they might not have any bladers of their own right now, let alone Masters."

Ember just waved him off. "No problem. If they don't have anyone, I can keep an eye on them. Besides, the Dragon Lands are usually pretty empty. Most dragons live all over the world and only gather for the migration or when the Dragon Lord calls. I'll probably be roosting somewhere up here anyway."

"I appreciate that," Sora said. "I can't imagine that the entire Empire doesn't have any keybladers, but Gryphonstone was always a particularly troublesome place. Lots of old vices there, greed most prevalent among them."

"Well, no-one knows how to handle greed like a dragon. Don't worry, I've got this."

They landed in Gryphonstone a few minutes later. Ember, Spike, and Fancy looked around, obviously unimpressed. Sora just looked sad.

The once great city of the gryphons was a dump. Crooked housed leaned against single walls that were all that remained of the buildings that had once stood there. Trash littered the streets and rats and cockroaches scurried around unchecked. The few fully intact buildings were heavily graffitied. The several gryphons that roamed the streets or sat by the wayside seemed apathetic, going about their business as if on auto-pilot or lazing around uncaring for the squalor of their city.

"Geeze," muttered Spike. "And I thought Twilight's bird nest last Winter Wrap-Up was bad. This entire place needs to be condemned."

"Agreed." A flash of light saw Fenrir and Ultima appearing in his hands. "I had a conversation with the Gryphon Empire about two thousand years ago. We agreed that if Gyphonstone ever reached the point where the inhabitants stopped trying, the city would have to be razed to the ground. A place like this is a breeding ground for heartless." He flashed into heart-sight looking around and sighing. "Yeah, the only reason these feather-heads aren't heartless already is that they're too apathetic for even darkness to take root." His eyes returned to normal as he raised his keyblades to his shoulders. "Guess it's time to-"

"OH MY GOSH!!! You have one too?"

Sora blinked and looked up to see a young gryphoness gaping down at him, a huge smile nearly consuming her face. A keyblade rested across her back, the teeth shaped like an eagle's talons. The shaft and guard were the same bluish-grey as her coat, the keychain a purple trophy. "Um... hi?"

"Hi there!" the gryphoness called, waving energetically. "Nice to meet you! I'm Gabriella, but you can call me Gabby. Everygryphon does."

"I wonder why?" Spike muttered, causing Ember to giggle.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Gabby," said Sora, grinning almost as widely, though it seemed a bit strained. "I'm Sora, Warrior of Light and Master of the Keyblade. These are Spike, Fancy Pants, Gale Wing, and Swift Blade of Equestria, and this is Dragon Lord Ember. We're just here to check on the heartless situation here in Gryphonstone. Are you, er, just here visiting by any chance?"

"Nope!" Gabby called happily, diving to the ground and breaking at the last minute to land softly on her mismatched feet. "I'm a Gryphonstone gal, born and raised! Sure, being a courier means I'm only here about half the time, but hey! Home is home, right?"

"Right." Sora dismissed his keyblades, his left eye twitching slightly. "Resident. Great. Well, anyway, the heartless. Seen any around?"

"You mean those scary black things?" Gabby shuddered. "Yeah, they've been popping up for a while now. No worries, though! Me and a tallonfull of other gryphons have been putting the hurt on them with these!" She pulled her blade from her back, swinging it around a few times. "All the other gryphons' swords look the same, though. The Emperor said something about Masters being different, but I was kind of distracted. See, there was this really important letter that I had to get delivered, and I was just waiting for him to finish explaining so that I could get going. Not that it's not an honor to talk with the Emperor, but hey, duty called!"

"I can understand that," Sora muttered. Shaking his head he spoke up again. "Well, glad to hear that everything's alright in the Gryphon Empire. I hope you didn't suffer too many losses when the heartless first showed up."

Gabby's smile fell, replaced with a somber frown that looked wrong on her face. "A few. Mostly just a gryphon here and there across the Empire, but I knew one of the gryphons here that... well, that fell, I guess. I mean, I didn't know Gilda too well, and she was a lot more mean than the other gryphons here, but she still didn't deserve..."

Sora nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know. No-one deserves that."

Gabby sniffed a couple of times, wiping away a few tears before they could fall. "Anyway, that's in the past." Her grin returned, though it was a little more subdued. "All I can do now is make sure it doesn't happen again, right?"

"That's all anyone can hope for," Sora replied. He backed up a bit, looking around once again. "Well, it looks like Gryphonstone and the Gryphon Empire are in good claws. If you ever need any help, just send word to Equestria. The Equestrian Keyblade Army has joint jurisdiction over Gryphonstone, and me and my keybladers have jurisdiction everywhere. Just send us a letter, and we'll be here as fast as we can be."

Gabby grinned and leapt forward, grabbing Sora in a hug. "Will do! And if you ever need help in Equestria, just call for Gabby the Gryphon. See you all later!" With that, she leapt off of Sora's chest, bounding into the sky.

Everyone stared silently after her for a moment before Spike broke the silence. "No matter what, we can never let her meet Berry. I don't think Equestria could handle it."

"Well, that's our job done," said Sora, turning to Ember. "We're heading back to Equestria. Thanks for coming this far with us. Sorry it was for nothing."

"It's fine," Ember replied. "Like I said, I'm planning to roost somewhere nearby anyway. You need any help, just let me know." She gave a small salute before leaping into the air, quickly turning eastward and deeper into the Empire.

"So, back to Equestria, Sir?" asked Gale, already hitched to his chariot once again.

"Yeah," said Sora, climbing in along with Fancy Pants. "Luna and the others were planning to meet us in Trottingham once they finished with Baltimare and Phillydelphia." He nodded over to Spike and Swift Blade. "You two'd better get back home. Twilight will be worried, and Sol will want a report on the situation so far.

The two pegasi nodded and took off, Swift flying west as Gale took Sora and Fancy further northward.

"Anything you can tell me about Trottingham?" Sora asked Fancy.

"Nothing much to tell," the unicorn replied. "It's a small town, populated mostly by earth ponies and pegasi. Their economy is mostly sea-dependent with an emphasis on fishing and trade with the Gryphon Empire. I had the opportunity to visit their island last year. Good, decent folk. I expect they'll have a keyblader or two there already."

"Let's hope so," Sora said. "I'd hate to relocate a keyblader away from the mainland if we don't have to."

They traveled in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. After about an hour, Fancy cleared his throat. "I don't mean to pry," he started cautiously, "but you seemed rather... irked when Gabby said that she was from Gryphonstone."

Sora sighed, sitting down and leaning his back against the side of the carriage. "That obvious, huh? It's like I said, the old Gryphon Emperor and I had an agreement a long time ago. Gryphonstone's always been a problem city. It doesn't look like it, but that's the main trading hub between the Empire and Equestria. Trade's been scarce for a while now, for obvious reasons. The gryphons there got wealthy off of trade and it went to their heads. Now their greed is almost as pervasive as that of dragons. They won't lift a claw if them. You'll occasionally get a charismatic ruler who manages to bring them around for a generation or two, but it never lasts. The generation that Gryphonstone doesn't have a keyblader is the generation when they fall into darkness."

"Hence you razing the city if it ever came to that. You want to force all of the gryphons to move somewhere with a keyblader to protect them before the heartless can take them out."

"Exactly." Sora sighed again, looking out at the ocean passing behind them. "I've been to Gryphonstone about a dozen times, and each time there was only a single keyblader there making sure that it didn't all go to Tartarus. Personally, I think we should raze the city regardless and be done with it, but Luna still has hope for them and the Emperor is always too proud and stubborn." He settled into a more comfortable position, sighing once again as he closed his eyes. "Sure hope Gabby can handle it."

It only took Sora a minute to doze off, leaving Fancy to contemplate his words as the trip continued. To destroy an entire city just to prevent the heartless from gaining victory? I knew that this conflict was serious, but I never could have imagined. What would happen if he lost faith in an Equestrian city or town? Would he even hesitate? Recalling Sora's fight against the Darksides and all of Prince Sol's tales about him, Fancy shuddered. I do hope I never have to find out.

Author's Note:

One more short and sweet chapter. Got a big confrontation coming up next, and I want to fit it into a single chapter if possible. As always, let me know how I'm doing. Like. Comment. Etc.

Comments

[satnapillowpants]

I mean, I didn't know Gilda too well

Wait, does this mean Gilda is dead, or did she become a heartless. If she did become a heartless I think she would have a strong enough will to become a nobody. Are we gonna run into a organization 13 made out of ponies?

[Show Stopper]

7702813 Good questions.

I will say that there's no chance of Gilda being a nobody. I personally don't see her heart as being nearly strong enough. Maybe after The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, but this is season 2 in the timeline. Poor Gilda.

[satnapillowpants]

7703475
Eh, I couldn't think of any anagrams anyway.
What would that even be? LiXgda? Gaxdil?

[Show Stopper]

7703497 Galdix. Daglix. Gadlix. Xilgad. Xiglad.

I'm rather good at these. Then again, all you have to do for this name is make it two syllables, place a vowel in the middle of each one, and have fun with the consonants. Try doing a name that already has five consonants and two vowels. Or four vowels and one consonant. That's where it really gets tricky.

...I may or may not have made Organization names for myself and all my friends.

[satnapillowpants]

7703520
Nice

[satnapillowpants]

7703520
Word scrambles aren't particularly my forté