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Chapter 16

Chapter 16

3rd-Pony POV

Trottingham had been just as Fancy had described it, small, simple, and with a pervasive ocean theme to everything. The townsponies had welcomed Sora and Fancy whole-heartedly, Luna and the others having arrived the previous evening. There were three keybladers in town, along with one Keyblade Master. He was a crotchety old pegasus who lived in a hut on a rock about half a mile off the coast, but he had a heart of gold and an especially soft spot for foals. Assured that they would be able to continue their journey without his aid, Gale Force took off that evening for Canterlot. After a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast, Sora and his entourage boarded a boat headed for the mainland.

"You sure about this?" asked the Captain, looking over the map with Sora. "There ain't any ports north o' Manehattan. I'm only goin' to be able to get so close to the shore."

"We'll be fine. Most of us can swim, and Luna can fly the one who can't over. My friend was sure that that," Sora pointed to a blank spot on the map northwest of Manehattan, "was the place."

"If you're sure."

They reached the coast that evening, Sora, Fancy, and Jazz swimming to shore while Luna flew across carrying Strongheart on her back. They slept out under the stars before continuing on hoof the next day.

Two days later, they climbed the final ridge before their destination. "Is that it?" asked Jazz, pointing down at the collection of houses below. There were two rows of perfectly straight and identical houses running parallel to each other, with another house sitting at the far end.

"Looks like it," Sora confirmed. "Alex said that it was some sort of equality cult. The houses forming an equal sign was a pretty good sign."

"Didn't he also say that they were taking ponies' cutie marks?" Fancy asked.

Sora nodded, scanning the town for any signs of life and growing more and more unnerved as he could see none. "Yeah, which means it'll just be me and Strongheart at first. Don't want to risk any of you if I don't have to."

"Come now Sora," said Luna. "I am one of the Royal Siblings. The alicorn who moves the moon and rules the night. What could I have to fear from them?" Sora looked over and raised an eyebrow. Luna reviewed her words and sighed. "And now fate would conspire against me."

"Yeah, way to jinx it, your majesty," joked Jazz, elbowing her in the side. The last few days on the road with her had significantly lowered Jazz's fear and formality with Luna as she'd grown more familiar with her. "No way we're lettin' you anywhere near that town, now."

"Besides," Sora added, "remember what Alex said happened to the princess who investigated in his world?"

"...point."

Sora's POV

"Okay, this is just eerie."

The town was deserted. Worse than that, it was clean and deserted. There was no damage, no trash, no signs of a fight or a panic. There weren't even any tracks leading out of town to suggest where everypony had gone, assuming there had ever been anypony here in the first place. Even my heartsight only revealed one heart in the building at the edge of town, and something was... off about that one. Not only that, but there seemed to be strange gaps in the heartsight. In each house was one of these gaps, almost like a hole where my sight was just sucked in. Not particularly wanting to investigate this phenomenon, I led Strongheart past the houses without investigating.

"This place is wrong," Stongheart whispered, Pact already out and laying across her back.

"You sense it too?" I asked.

She nodded. "It feels like... like there are things watching us from the buildings. Not ponies, and not heartless either. Just... things." She shuddered, walking a little closer to me. "Things that are just wrong."

I hesitated for a moment before deciding not to tell her. Whatever those voids in my heartsight were, they were probably the same "things" that Strongheart sensed. "It looks like there's somepony in the house at the end," I told her. "Let's see if she knows anything."

As we continued down the street, I began to notice something else. The shadows between the houses were beginning to move, small swarms of heartless gathering all around. But they were behaving oddly. None of them attacked us, for one thing, and they seemed determined to stay right between the houses, as far from the walls as possible. They were shuddering as I passed, and I saw their yellow eyes darting from us to the houses and back. It wasn't until we passed the last two houses that I realized just what I'd seen, and it caused my blood to freeze.

The heartless were afraid.

Heartless are never afraid.

"Watch our backs," I muttered to Strongheart, before turning and knocking on the door. For a while all was silent before the door's handle was enveloped in a light-blue aura. It turned slowly, and the door started creaking inward. Strongheart tensed, keeping one eye on me and the other on the street behind us. I readied myself to draw my keyblade as the door finally opened enough for us to see inside.

"Welcome!"

I hadn't known what to expect, but a Smiling purple unicorn wasn't it. Her mane was a darker purple with a teal streak running through it, her cutie mark an equal sign. However, a second look revealed some disturbing features. There were heavy bags under her eyes, eyes that were wide and wild and a little unfocused. Her mane, tail, and coat were dusty and tussled, and a quick sniff revealed that she probably hadn't bathed in a while. What was strangest though was her Smile. Now, there are smiles. And then there are Smiles. The first is a sign of happiness, a cheerful greeting. The second, well, the second was what this unicorn had on her face. Far too wide, far too many teeth showing, and strained as if it were stapled in place. Combined with everything else, that smile told me just what was so strange about this pony's heart.

"Um, hi," I said, backing off of the front porch. "Is this Our Town, by any chance?"

The unicorn giggled, a strangled sound that made the hair on the back of my head stand up straight. "Yes yes it is," she sang. "Or it will be soon. Just as soon as you become like the others, yes in deedy!"

"Others?"

"Oh, but where are my manners? Come in!" She grabbed us with her magic, pulling us inside and slamming the door shut before we could react. She slammed us down in front of a table before walking into another room. "Let me make you some tea!" she called. "It's been AGES since anypony wanted any tea. None of the ones in town seem to care for it since they got here."

Strongheart and I looked around the room, we were in as the mad unicorn kept rambling. "She's insane," I whispered, noticing the barred windows and the numerous locks on the front door. "Literally insane. Her mind and her heart are both shattered beyond repair."

"Let's get out of here then," whispered Strongheart, staring around at the various pictures of ponies on the walls. All of them appeared to be caught in the unicorn's aura and absolutely terrified. "I'd rather not discover what she did to all of these poor ponies."

"That's exactly why we can't leave." I examined the pictures as well, noticing a few dark shapes in the background of each one. "You see how powerful she is. We can't let a mad powerhouse like that stay here. Or worse, leave while we get reinforcements. And I still don't want to risk the others." I flinched away from one picture which featured a pony screaming as his cutie mark was stretched half-way off his flank as several heartless in the background leaned forward almost expectantly. "Whatever ripping off a cutie mark does here, I don't want to find out by it happening to Fancy or Jazz."

"And so I said to myself," Strangheart and I quickly schooled our faces as the unicorn returned, carrying a large tea tray in her magic, "Starlight Glimmer, I said, if nopony's coming to Our Town, you'll just have to go out and find ponies to come here! Once you bring them here and show them the joys of living a life of equality, they'll NEVER want to leave! And sure enough, none of them have. Here you go!" She levitated over a pair of teacups and filled them with hot water from the kettle. "Sorry the tea's a bit thin, but we haven't had any merchants stop by recently. The last one came by a month ago, and after he was equalized, he decided to stay FOREVER!"

"I... see." I stared sadly into my cup of hot water. I'd been hoping that I could at least get some actual tea to calm my nerves. "And, um, how exactly do you equalize someone?"

"Not someone, silly," said Starlight, giggling madly. "SomePONY! It only works on ponies, after all. All I do is cast a tiny little spell that RIPS AWAY THEIR CUTIE MARK AND CRUSHES IT TO SMITHERINES!!!" Starlight panted heavily for a few seconds, her face twisted into a mask of rage and veins visibly throbbing in her neck. She quickly drained her still steaming cup of water and poured herself a new one, her Smile back in place. "And then they're equalized. Simple as that."

"And, um, what happens to the ponies that are equalized?" I asked, leaning back from the table. Strongheart was already up and across the room, cowering by the door with Pact in her mouth and ready to either flee or attack.

"Why, they change of course!" Starlight replied. "It's a glorious metamorphosis where they become absolutely equal to one another. Most ponies don't survive the process, unfortunately, and they just turn into little shadows and run away, but that's why I started going down to Manehattan and recruiting! After all, there are so many homeless ponies in that city who are just desperate for a place to call home. Or," she giggled again, her eyes unfocusing even more, "there were." Her eyes snapped back to attention, drilling straight into mine. "Would you like to see them?"

Despite Strongheart's pleading looks and violently shaking head, I had to know what had happened to the ponies who survived Starlight's spell. It was obvious that things had gone differently in this world than they had in Alex's, but I needed to see if those who were "changed" could be saved. More than that, I had to make sure that they weren't a threat. "Of course," I replied, Strongheart facehoofing behind me. "I'd love to see them."

"Great!" Starlight stood and trotted over to the door, flinging it open and marching out into the street. I followed cautiously, summoning Shifting Form just in case. Strongheart followed close behind, her eyes never focusing on anything for more than a second.

"Come on out, every... one!" Starlight shouted, grinning around at the surrounding houses. "We have new guests in Our Town who want to see you!" The houses were silent, and Starlight's mane became a bit more frazzled as she nervously rubbed a hoof through it. "Eh-he-he, no need to be shy, every... one! Come on out!" Catching movement out the corner of her eye, she lit her horn and turned to the house on her left, her face contorted into a snarl. "I said, COME OUT!!!" She jerked her head to the right and a figure came flying through the window. It landed on the ground before her, writhing and contorting in her magic. As soon as she released it, it sprang to its feet, hissing at me and Strongheart.

I stared in shock at the creature before me. No, I though. It can't be. They aren't real! They don't buysomeapples exist here! Try as I did to deny it, the creature continued to stand before me, hissing angrily. The bipedal creature was almost entirely white, with two strips of blue running down its sides. Its mouth stretched unnaturally far back, threaded with a zipper and reaching almost to its neck. It had no eyes or nose, but the flat top of its head bore a crest, one that I hadn't seen since Earth.

"Wh-what is that thing?" Strongheart asked, pointing Pact at it as fire began to build around its tip.

"Oh, this?" asked Starlight, her Smile once again back on her face. "This is a perfectly equal being. Everypony that is equalized becomes one of these. Why, when I'm done, everypony in Equestria will be-"

"Firaga!"

Starlight and the creature screamed in agony as the ball of fire struck them. Strongheart jumped back in shock, staring at me in horror. I'm not sure exactly what she saw in my eyes, but whatever it was made her hold her tongue.

The fire quickly consumed the creature, but Starlight remained standing when it faded. Her mane and tail were seared away, her coat replaced with angry blisters. "What have you done?!" she screamed. "YOU JUST DESTROYED A PERFECTLY EQUALIZED BEING! I HAD TO EQUALIZE TEN PONIES BEFORE I FOUND THAT ONE!!!"

TEN!? I schooled my rage as best I could and fell back on the few times I'd come up against non-heartless criminals in the past. "Starlight Glimmer," I said, "as General of the Equestrian Keyblade Army, I place you under arrest for the murder of several ponies. Recognizing your state of insanity, I offer you a certain amount of grace in your trial should you surrender now. Otherwise you will be taken in by any means necessary. Dead or alive."

Starlight's eyes grew wide, a manic gleam overtaking them. "Ooh, dead. Now that sounds like a great idea! Citizens of Our Town, ATTACK! KILL THEM! TEAR THEM TO SHREDS!!!"

Hisses and roars echoed throughout the town as doors and windows slammed open. Several more of the creatures slithered out before standing upright and leaping toward us. I quickly switched to Mysterious Stalker and grabbed Strongheart, slenderwalking to the other side of town. "Go get the others," I commanded. "Take out these creatures, but leave Starlight to me. And be careful. There may be more lurking about of different types." Seeing a gleam of light, I rose my keyblade just in time to parry a bolt of red energy. "Strike that, there are definitely several types. Get going."

Strongheart nodded and sped off as I switched out for Oathkeeper and Oblivion, diving into the swarm of Nobodies.

3rd-Pony POV

"So... do we help?" asked Jazz as she watched Sora charge into the swarm of strange creatures.

"If he asks for it," Luna replied, studying the creatures intently. They seemed unnervingly familiar to her, though she couldn't for the life of her determine why. She frowned, lighting her horn. "I will prepare a mass teleport in case that is what Strongheart is coming here to tell us."

Strongheart arrived a moment later, barely breathing hard after scaling the ridge. "Sora needs help! He wants us to take out those creatures, but leave the unicorn alone."

Luna nodded, her horn glowing even brighter. A flash of light landed them at the entrance to Our Town. Before the creatures could turn back from where Sora was fighting, Luan and Fancy struck out with their keyblades.

"Take that, you curs!" Fancy shouted, dodging back and forth as the creatures attacked, his fencing style remarkably well matched by the nimble creatures. Every thrust met the chest or head of an opponent while every strike and counter was easily parried.

Strongheart and Jazz fought side by side, Rodeo and Pact swinging one right after the other. Every opening was guarded by the other, every parry followed up by the other's counter. They moved as a single body, anticipating each other's attacks and defenses perfectly.

Luna was a powerful force in her own right. Twin blades of moonlight struck out at the surrounding creatures, decapitating them with each strike and causing them to vanish into nothing. Her ears picked up a piercing note sounding from one of the houses and she raised a blade just in time to intercept a bolt of red energy. She teleported into the house, catching the bipedal crossbow wielder off guard. A single slash of her blade took it out before she leaped back into the battle outside. She parried three more shots and noticed a pair of bulkier creatures gliding towards her, their arms covered in spikes.

They look strong, Luna thought, twirling her blades as she grinned. But let's see if they're strong enough to handle me.

Sora's POV

Yay it all! I can't believe I let those Assassins slip past! I berated myself while I fought, taking out every Dusk and Creeper I could as I continued forward. At least I was able to take out those Dancers before they became a headache. The Snipers are annoying, but it looks like there are only four of them. They should be able to handle them. I leapt over an Assassin, slicing it to ribbons from above before landing and continuing onward. All the rest are Dusks and Creepers, and there's no way they can't handle those losers. All that leaves is that Samurai guarding Starlight, and if he fights anything like he does in the game...

I finally broke through the final ranks, running towards Starlight and the Samurai that stood before her. A chill went up my spine and something in my gut told me to freeze. I did, and so did everything around me. Everything else faded to black as the Samurai and I stared each other down. It was a familiar standoff, and one that I had taken every opportunity to seize back in Kingdom Hearts II. Only one of us would strike, and it all depended on the right timing. I knew that one wrong move could prove to be a painful mistake.

The Samurai twitched.

*SHING*

I twirled my keyblades, turning to Starlight as the Samurai vanished into nothingness. "You've lost, Starlight Glimmer," I said, pointing Oblivion at her. "Call off your minions and I will spare your life."

Starlight just cackled madly. "You say that as if it is yours to take!" Her horn lit up and she fired a beam of magic at me. I dove to the side, throwing Oblivion at her even as I pointed with Oathkeeper. "Graviga!"

The gravity spell held her in place and her eyes widened right before Oblivion struck her. She went flying out of the spell's range and I darted forward, catching Oblivion and bringing Oathkeeper around to strike her as she fell.

Unfortunately, she'd seen me coming. My blade slashed through open air and I looked up to see her hovering above me, held aloft in her own telekinesis. She darted over to a nearby rooftop, landing and firing another beam of magic at me. I dodged as I raced for the building, pointing Oathkeeper at its base. "Aciga!"

A geyser of acid gushed from the tip of my blade, striking the foundation of the house and quickly dissolving it. The front half of the building sagged, Starlight lifting herself from it just before it collapsed. She cried out in rage, charging straight for me, horn first. I dismissed Oblivion, pointing Oathkeeper straight up. "Thundaga!"

Starlight shrieked in pain as lightning struck from above, her magic giving out as she convulsed violently. Her momentum carried her forward into my waiting arm. I clotheslined her, taking a knee and grabbing her horn as she fell before slamming it into the ground. "It's over!" I shouted. "Surrender!"

"NEVER!" she screamed, spitting blood. "If I can't win like this, I'll just have to take away whatever it is that makes you special!" I was caught off guard as her horn lit up despite what should have been debilitating pain. A wave of magic enveloped my body. I braced myself, not knowing what she was doing. The magic was invasive, searching over my entire body from the tip of my hair to the ends of my dorky clown shoes. Finally, the spell ended, Starlight staring up at me confused. "But, but that should have worked." She started squirming in my grip, ignoring the pain it caused in her horn. "Why didn't it work? It always works! You should be dead now! Or mindless like them! Why didn't the spell take your cutie mark?!"

"Humans don't have cutie marks," I answered, tightening my grip on her horn. "Your spell is useless against me."

Starlight glared up at me before her eyes turned to the battle behind me. A manic grin spread across her face as her horn lit again. "But I know somepony against whom it isn't," she cried. A dome of shield magic burst from her horn, breaking my grip and sending me flying backwards. I quickly got to my feet and saw Starlight staring out at the hoards of Nobodies. Turning to look myself, I froze as I saw Luna engaged in battle with the two Assassins. She'd somehow managed to break through the lines to try to assist me. Starlight lit her horn, aiming right for Luna's flank. There was no time to think. No time to block her. There was only one way to stop her. I dashed forward, summoning a new keyblade to my hand.

Luna looked over right as Reaper sliced through Starlight's neck.

3rd-Pony POV

Luna's blades sunk into the chests of the twin creatures she had been battling. She turned to see if Sora needed aid and froze as she saw him cleanly decapitate the unicorn mare he had been fighting. Luna stared in shock, unable to move as she saw the unicorn's corpse fall. She had seen Sora kill before, but it had always been at an official execution, and even then only a hooffull of times. Her eyes met his and he flinched, looking away.

A bolt of energy struck Luna from behind, causing her to stagger as she remembered that there was a battle waging around her. She turned back to the fray, wielding her twin blades once more as she sensed Sora running up to join her. Together they made short work of the creatures, soon reaching Fancy, Strongheart, and Jazz as they finished up the ones on their side. A few well places Thunder spells from Sora and Fancy finished off the crossbow wielders, and all was still once again in the ghost town.

"Whewee!" cried Jazz. "Glad that's over and done with. Just what were those things, anyway?"

"And what happened to Starlight?" added Strongheart.

"I'll tell you later," muttered Sora. "For now, we should get out of here. Starlight..."

"Shall threaten Equestria no longer," Luna finished. "But Sora is correct; we should be off. The heartless have 'til now been kept at bay through fear of those creatures, but I doubt whether they should have any restraint in doing battle with us now that they are slain."

The others looked around, nodding in agreement as they noticed the heartless staring out from the shadows. Sora paused as they reached the edge of town, turning back and gazing at the barely discernable form at the far end. He raised Oathkeeper once more, muttering, "Fira."

********

Sora stood on top of the ridge as the sun began to set, looking down at the still-burning town below. The heartless had fled the magical fire long ago and the only movement to be seen was a wall or ceiling collapsing as the fires engulfed them. Even from where he stood, Sora could see that Starlight's body had long since burnt to ash. He sighed as Starlight's house collapsed all at once, turning back and walking down the ridge to where they'd made camp, none of them having felt much up to traveling after their fight.

Strongheart and Jazz lay together by the campfire, talking with each other as they snuggled together. Fancy sat nearby, reading one of his many novels. Luna stood a ways off, watching the sun as it descended and preparing to bring on the night. Sora sat across the fire from Fancy, staring into the flames as he thought about Our Town. About the creatures. About Starlight. About what he'd had to do...

So absorbed in his own thoughts was he that he didn't notice that day had turned to night until Luna sat down beside him. "A bit for thy thoughts?"

Sora chuckled. "Methinks thou shouldst drop thy use of the ancient tongue. Verily, thy subjects must think it most strange to hear thee speak in so arcane a fashion."

Luna rolled her eyes, hitting him in the back of the head with her wing. She followed up with a sigh, laying down and resting her head on her crossed hooves. "I always seem to slip back into that when I'm distracted. Or confused, angry, ecstatic, or riding high or low on any emotion."

"And what emotion has you low tonight?"

Luna shrugged. "Mostly confusion about those creatures we fought. But also a twinge of concern." Her eye turned to him. "That's the only time I've ever seen you kill in the field," she said, her voice soft enough that the others couldn't hear her but loud enough that it didn't cause suspicion. "I know you've executed before, but..."

Sora sighed, his gaze still on the depths of the fire. "Yeah, it's different. I'm... conflicted. I keep going over that fight in my mind, trying to figure out what else I could have done. But it always comes back to two things. One, she wasn't going to give up. She was insanely focused on her goals, and nothing could have convinced her to stop. Two, she was impossible to contain or capture. She was powerful enough to break out of any restraint we put her in short of a high-power anti-magic ring."

"Would have been nice to have one with us," Luna muttered.

Sora nodded, sighing again. "Yeah, but we didn't. And pain didn't seem to stick. She was able to cast powerful spells even covered in fresh blisters and with me squeezing her horn and forcing her head to the ground with it. Even if I'd torn it off, the pain probably would have killed her anyway. Even if it didn't, there's no way she would have stopped. She would have continued to try to cast, building up more and more magic in her broken horn until..."

Luna flinched. "That would have been a much messier way to go."

"Which is all that wards off the guilt," Sora finished. "I know I had no choice. She wasn't going to surrender, no matter what. Even if she had, there's no way she wouldn't have gotten the death sentence. You know how Sol feels about murder, even if the murderer is insane."

Luna nodded. "If it had only been one or two, he might have just imprisoned her. But if she confessed to ten right in front of you, and that was only to create one of those creatures..."

"She needed to die," Sora agreed. "I just wish there'd been some other way."

"And what about those creatures?" Luna asked, raising her voice so the others could hear. "You seemed to know about them."

Strongheart and Jazz looked up and Fancy flicked an ear in our direction. Realizing that all attention was on him, Sora sighed. "They were... nothing."

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