Chapter 17
Chapter 17
3rd-Pony POV
Grumpy Kat shuffled drunkenly down the streets of Manehattan. Another day gone. Another day the same as the last, the same as the past week, the past month, going on a year. Every day, working the same boring job with the same irritating ponies in this same noisy city. Every night getting drunk at some tavern or another before making his way home to collapse on his bed and repeat the cycle come morning.
“Yup, livin’ the dream,” he muttered, turning down into an ally, a regular shortcut of his. Most ponies would hesitate to enter a narrow, unlit alley after dark, but Grumpy was unhindered as both the familiarity of the route and his own drunkenness kept him from caring. So what if the streetlights at either end were out? So what if the air had gone unnaturally still and he could no longer hear the sounds of the streets before and behind him. So what if pairs of yellow eyes were beginning to emerge from the darkness…
Grumpy blinked, trying to focus on the strange eyes through his drunken stupor. “Wha- who’s there?” he slurred. He began to back away nervously as more sets of eyes appeared. “J- just my imagination,” he muttered to himself. “I’m drunk and I’m seeing things. Yeah, that’s it. It’s just-”
A loud hiss from behind Grumpy made him jump and spin around, coming face to face with a creature that all of Equestria had come to fear in recent weeks. The heartless crept towards him, forcing him back toward the swarm behind him. Grumpy looked back and forth, fear finally taking over entirely. He whimpered, curling into a ball and covering his head. “P-please,” he begged. “J- just leave me alone. I d- don’t want to die.”
He was answered by a series of hisses, sounding almost like laughter. Grumpy whimpered again and curled up even tighter, sensing them coming even closer, preparing to strike. This was it. This was how he was going to die, alone, afraid, with no-one around to care.
“H- help.”
ROOOOOOAR
The loud roar startled Grumpy to his hooves, making him and all of the heartless turn to the mouth of the alley. There stood a sight that Grumpy never would have expected, and he wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or even more terrified.
There, strong and proud, stood a great lion. Grumpy had never seen a lion before - few ponies had - but he had heard stories of these mighty beasts of Zebrica, giant cats who could rend a pony in two with a single swipe of its mighty claws. Thankfully for Grumpy, the lion’s glare seemed to be focussed on the heartless rather than on him, though he wasn’t sure how long that would last.
The lion gave another roar before leaping at the nearest heartless, shredding through it with one swipe. The remaining heartless hissed and fled, melding back into the shadows. The lion sniffed around as if expecting them to return. When none did, he turned his attention to the still quivering Grumpy. As he began walking closer, Grumpy curled up once again, hiding behind his hooves. One death for another, he thought. At least this one will be quick.
“Are you alright?”
Grumpy slowly rose a hoof and peered out to see who had spoken to him. A cream coated mare stood before him, her mane and tail tones of light blue and a cute collar around her neck. She stood next to the lion, holding out her hoof to Grumpy, eyes filled with concern. Grumpy’s eyes darted back and forth between this mare and the giant cat beside her, unsure of whether or not to trust her. The mare saw where his eyes were darting and she smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Simba’s a friend. He won’t hurt you.” Still trembling a bit, Grumpy took the offered hoof and allowed the mare to help him up.
“Th- thanks,” he muttered, still warily eyeing the lion. “Um, you saved my hide back there.”
The mare just shook her head. “Oh no, it was Simba who really saved you. I really didn’t do much. Now, we should get you home before any more of those creatures come out.”
Grumpy nodded and began walking towards his house, Simba and the mare following close behind. Looking over the mare, he noticed something strapped to her back. It looked almost like a sword until he got a closer look. What he’d taken to be a blade was simply a straight, light blue rod tipped with a red feather. The “hilt” was in the shape of a light purple heart. All in all, it looked more like a piece of art than a weapon.
They arrived at Grumpy’s home after a few minutes. “Well, thank again for, you know, everything,” said Grumpy, fumbling a bit with his keys.
“Oh, it was no trouble,” said the mare. “Like I said, it was more Simba’s work than mine.”
Grumpy shrugged and turned back. “Well, thanks then, Sim…” He trailed off as he saw that the lion was gone. “Um, where’d he go?”
The mare sighed and looked sadly at where the lion had stood. “He never can stay for very long.” She shrugged and smiled at Grumpy as she turned away. “Well, I should be heading home myself. It was nice to meet you.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you too,” Grumpy mumbled. He watched the stranger leave, wondering who she was and how the hay her lion friend had managed to sneak off without him hearing it. He sighed and turned back into his house.
“Not like I’ll remember any of this tomorrow anyway.”
********
“Fillies and gentlecolts, we’ll be arriving in Manehattan in about 5 minutes. Those of you stopping here, please gather your luggage and be ready to disembark.”
Sora yawned loudly from where he lay on one of the benches. He’d always liked traveling by train; it was the perfect opportunity to get in a good nap.
“I don’t get how you can sleep on one of these things,” said Strongheart, pacing up and down the aisle.
“The bench?”
“This train!” Strongheart stomped her forehooves, followed by a nervous glance around as if afraid the train would come off the rails. “There’s no way that anything this big should be able to go this fast. It just isn’t natural! And do you feel how much we’re shaking? It feels like we’re going to fly right off the tracks!”
Sora blinked and glanced around at his fellow passengers. “Has she been like this the whole way?”
“Indeed,” said Luna, not bothering to look up from her book. “To her credit, I was much worse my first few times traveling by train. I’m surprised that you were in no way concerned.”
“Nah, I’ve been on a few trains before back where I’m from.” He sat up and stretched. “Well, we’d better get ready to get off. What’s the itinerary like here?”
Fancy levitated a schedule up and cleared his throat. “First will be a brief tour of the city given by the mayor-”
“Which will most likely be interrupted by a heartless attack,” said Jazz.
“-followed by dinner at the famous Balthazar Bakery where we are to meet with several local celebrities-”
“Several of whom are almost definitely heartless,” added Luna.
“-and ending with our checking into the Royal Plaza Suite at the luxurious Plaza Hotel.”
“Where a small swarm of heartless will be waiting to ambush us,” finished Sora. “You know, it’s nice how predictable my life is.”
“So what’s the plan for finding keybladers?” asked Jazz. “After all, this ain’t no Ponyville or Appleooza. We can’t just go around testin’ everypony in the city to see if they can use one. It’d take weeks!”
“We don’t need to get every potential keyblader,” said Sora, standing up. “Just enough to keep the city safe once we leave.”
Jazz looked out the window and snorted as they rolled towards the center of Manehattan. “Like I said, weeks. Manehattan folk ain’t the friendliest of ponies. Tryin’ to find keybladers here is goin’ to be like lookin’ for a needle in a haystack.”
“Nevertheless, ‘tis our duty.” Luna stood as the train began to slow, closing her book and placing it in her saddlebags. “Perhaps we should enlist the aid of the locals. They know their neighbors better than we; if anyone can tell us who would be worthy of a keyblade, it would be them.”
Strongheart cocked an eyebrow. “So we just go around asking complete strangers if they know anyone good enough for the keyblade after telling them that they aren’t? I’d rather keep riding this deathtrap.”
“Downtown Manehattan! If this is your final destination, please exit the train quickly. Next stop, Hollow Shades.”
The doors flew open as Sora shrugged. “Unfortunately, that might well be our best plan. If we can’t find a local keyblader who can point us to the right ponies, we may be here for a while.”
They filed off of the train and immediately spotted their welcoming party. A group of city guards stood arrayed behind a portly tan earth pony stallion with a gray mane and tail. He wore a smart blue suit, which cut off to reveal his slice-of-pizza cutie mark. “Princess,” he said, grinning as he stepped forward, “and esteemed guests, welcome to Manehattan! I’m Mayor Deep Dish, and it’ll be my 'onor to show you around our beautiful city!”
“The pleasure is ours,” replied Luna graciously. “I do hope that our short notice visit was not too much of an imposition.”
“Don’t even worry about it!” said Deep Dish, waving them off. “Trust me, nothin’ is more important to me than makin' sure that yous is happy with your stay 'ere.”
“If you don’t mind,” said Sora, stepping forward, “what’s the situation with the heartless here. I heard that they’ve been a big problem in a lot of cities.”
Deep Dish eyed Sora up and down, his grin widening even further. “So yous must be dat Sora character we’ve been 'earing so much about! Well let me tell ya, dem heartless was a real problem for a few days.” He immediately grew more somber, looking down and shaking his head. “Two-'undred and sixty-eight ponies gone in three days, and dat’s just the ones we know about. I tells ya, it was 'ard.” His grin returned as he looked back up. “But den wouldn’t ya know it, somepony started fightin’ those monsters back! Reports started comin’ in like crazy about a mare dat would show up out of nowheres and rescue ponies, fightin’ off swarms of the little monsters! I tells ya, we’d all be swimming in 'eartless if it weren’t for her!”
Fancy chuckled and nudged Jazz. “Well, it looks like we have found our needle.”
“Any idea who this mystery mare is?” asked Sora.
“Wouldn’t be much of a mystery if I did,” said Deep Dish. “She keeps a low profile. Shows up, mugs a few dozen 'eartless, and then vamoose! She’s gone. We ain’t got much of a description of 'er, either. Cream coat. Blue mane. ‘Bout a 'undred ponies in this city that fit dat profile, and I got no clue which one it could be. But hey, I’m sure she’ll turn up again while you’re 'ere. Maybe you’ll have better luck trackin’ her than us. Now, hows about that tour?”
Luna nodded, waving her hoof. “By all means, lead the way.”
********
Eeyup, this is Manhattan all right. Sora looked around the towering skyscrapers, his memories flashing back millennia to brief glimpses of the Big Apple back on Earth. The dizzyingly high buildings, the huge and packed crowds, the constant movement of everypony having somewhere to go. Even the presence of Princess Luna, twenty city guards, and a strange bipedal ape didn’t warrant any more than a second glance as everypony pushed and shoved their way through the streets.
“How can anyone stand this?” Sora looked down to see Strongheart pressed right up against Jazz, half by the crowd, and half out of fear of being separated.
“I know what you mean,” said Jazz, nuzzling her reassuringly. “Never did like big cities myself. We Apples’ve got some family up here, but they mostly work administration and contracts and such. Heck, it was a cousin up here who arranged Bloomberg’s travel down from Ponyville. Nice mare, but you won’t never get her to do farm work. She was out of Appleoosa faster than a mouse runnin’ from a cat.”
“Yeah, we’re a lot less fancy than what yous got up in Canterlot.” Sora looked over to see Deep Dish chatting with Luna and Fancy. “Oh sure, we gots the highfalutin types who think they’re nobles, but most of us are a lot more down to earth. No offense.”
“None taken,” replied Fancy amicably. “To be completely honest, most of the nobility bored me to tears. But, appearances are everything in Canterlot. Or they were, at least.” His tone became softer as his eyes hardened. “That’s changing now. After all, the heartless don’t much care how much money you have, or how big your yacht is.”
“A good change then,” Deep Dish pointed out, “if it weren’t for such terrible reasons. I swear, these monsters have forced us to become better ponies. Do you know dat crime rates have dropped lower than they’ve been in years? Everypony’s too scared dat it’ll paint a target on their backs for the 'eartless.”
“A familiar pattern,” said Luna. “Crime disappeared almost overnight when the heartless first arrived several millennia ago. However, I would much rather have a lively city with an undercurrent of crime than a crimeless city gripped in fear.”
“You saw it too, huh?” I asked, looking around. Ponies shoved and shuffled about as much as you would expect in a big city, but an oppressive air hung over the streets. Ponies kept their heads down, eyes forward. Bumps and collisions that would have normally sparked short shouting matches were settled with angry glances and dark mutters. The skies, which one would expect to be full of darting and dodging pegasi, were strangely empty. They trudged along the ground alongside unicorns and earth ponies, almost as if they didn’t want to give anyone, or anything, another angle to attack them from.
“'ow could you not?” Deep Dish demanded. “Most days you can’t walk down the street without hearin’ somepony threatenin’ to kill somepony else, but now? The streets are way too quiet.” Strongheart paled at the thought of the city usually being even louder. “Tourism’s died on us, too. Nopony wants to travel when you don’t know if somethin’s gonna to come burstin’ out of the alley at ya. Don’t matter that the 'eartless stick mostly to the night time, enough attacks have happened in broad daylight to have everypony spooked. Not to mention what we heard about what 'appened in Canterlot!”
The tour continued, with Deep Dish pointing out various famous buildings and monuments. They eventually arrived at Balthazar's Bakery as the sun was beginning to set. Deep Dish led them to a table near the back where several other ponies sat, all of them looking important. Or self-important, Sora thought, eyeing the ponies warily. Dinner was ordered and Sora and his entourage were introduced to the several celebrities. Surprisingly, no heartless attacked during or after the meal, and Sora was actually able to have a pleasant conversation with a young mare named Coloratura.
"So, your manager turned into a heartless, huh?"
Coloratura, or Rara as she preferred to be called, sighed and nodded. "I mean, Svengallop seemed nice enough, but I guess there must have been another side to him. Heh, I still can't believe he almost got me to call myself 'Countess Coloratura.' Bit of a mouthful, if you ask me."
"Oh sugar, I could have told you from the get-go that Sven was no good." Sora and Rara turned to the blue-maned earth pony on Sora's left. "I've seen him backstage before talking to the people running his clients' shindigs, and he is the most deMANding of ponies, let me tell you. Personally, I'm not at ALL surprised he turned out to have a pitch-black heart. Trust me filly, you're better off without him."
"I guess," Rara muttered, staring into her salad. "It's just, at least he was putting me out there. I might have a bit of fame here in Manehattan, but fame is a fickle mistress in this city. I don't know how I can make it on my own."
"Now hold on just a minute!" The blue-maned pony slammed her hooves on the table, grinning across at Rara. "Who says you have to go it alone? Filly, I've heard you sing and trust me, agents will be FIGHTIN' over the chance to represent a voice like yours. All you need is a little endorsement. Maybe from somepony already deep in the industry?"
Rara's jaw dropped. "W-wait! Are you saying-"
"Oh absoLUTEly! Why, I haven't seen talent like yours since I was a filly. With my endorsement, you'll be passing even ME on the charts in no time, or my name isn't Saphire Shores. Trust me filly, you're going to be se-ensationAL! OW!!!"
Sora shuffled nervously in his seat as the two mares began talking music and famous singers. He didn't know any of the names they were tossing around or even who this "Saphire Shores" was, though given Rara's reaction he could tell that she was a pretty big deal.
Fancy was having a much easier time chatting with a gray earth pony whose dark glasses completely concealed his eyes. "Oh, I know!" Hoity Toity exclaimed. "I had the chance to see some of his work in Ponyville last year. I'm keeping a very close eye on Elusive. So glad I listened to Spike on that one. The little guy certainly has good taste."
"Oh! You know Spike then?" Fancy asked. "Good fellow, very much a gentledrake. I dare say, it was good seeing him when we went to the Dragon Lands together just a few days ago. The boy's really grown. Heh, in maturity if not in size."
"Indeed, 'twill be a long time before he begins to grow physically," Luna chimed in. "I worry for him sometimes. By the time he truly leaves adolescence, his friends will all be old and weathered. Solaris and I will do what we can for him, but..."
"Ah, the curse of immortality," Hoity agreed. "I can empathize, if only a little. Everypony who creates has a certain fear of outliving our fame. We strive for our works to shine bright enough to eclipse our own short lives, living beyond us and granting us a form of longevity."
Luna met Sora's eyes across the table and they rolled them in sync. Finding a slight cause in Rara and Saphire's conversation, Sora cleared his throat. "So, Rara, do you know of any keybladers here in Manehattan?"
Rara blushed lightly, scratching the back of her head. "Um, I actually have one," she said. "Got it just yesterday while I was walking home. I saw a guy getting attacked in an empty lot by those heartless and..." she shrugged. "I don't know why, but I charged in there, bucking and biting the whole way. Somewhere in there I picked up a branch or a pipe or something and started swinging. Didn't realize what I had in my mouth until they were gone."
"Now that is something amazing," Saphire said. "I tell you, not everypony is brave enough to rush into danger like that. Wish I had that kind of courage. I just keep my bodyguard nearby to do any fighting for me."
"Have you hooked up with the EKA yet?" Sora asked. "Have they started establishing a branch here yet?"
Rara nodded. "A pegasus named Cirus Kicker is captaining it here. I checked in this morning, let them know where I live and that I have a keyblade."
"Any sign of a Keyblade Master?"
Rara shook her head. "Not yet. We've heard about one running around Manehattan, but nopony seems to know who she is. All you hear is more of the same. Cream coat, blue mane. Although one pony did come in as I was leaving who said that she'd saved him last night. He said she was wearing a purple collar."
"Are you talking about Miss Pommel?" Sora and Rara looked across at Hoity. "She's an amateur seamstress, but she has good instincts. I'm making sure to keep an eye on her progress, and I have high hopes. Apparently she was getting ready to apprentice under Suri Polomare, but she ended up as a heartless." Even with his glasses, Sora and Rara could still see his eyes roll. "Not surprising, really. Her style seemed to change every time she got a new apprentice. I'm positive she was stealing their work and calling it her own, though of course I had no way to prove it."
"Yous talkin' about Coco?" asked Deep Dish? "Yeah, she's a good kid. Real sweet'eart. Too bad her apprenticeship fell through, but I hear she's got another one lined up for her in Philly. It'll be a shame to loose her, though." His eyes lit up as he made a connection. "Say, you don't think she could be our Mystery Master, do you?"
"Miss Pommel? I shouldn't think so. Don't get me wrong, her heart is certainly of the greatest caliber, but I doubt she has it in her to get into a fight."
"Actually, that's something else interesting that the pony said this morning," Rara said. "He mentioned that she had a lion with her and that it was the lion that fought off the heartless! He said its name was Soma or Sima or something like that."
"Simba," Sora corrected, grinning across at Luna. "Looks like we've found our mystery mare, and she's a Summoner to boot!"
"A summoner?" asked Strongheart.
Sora nodded. "Summoning is a unique branch of keyblade magic. Instead of creating or bending elements to your will, you summon creatures to fight on your behalf or alongside you. Simba, a lion, is one of the easiest to summon. Strong heart, always ready to answer the call. Any keyblader can learn to summon, but it comes much more naturally to some ponies."
"The last Summoner Equestria had was a stallion named Menagerie," Luna added. "At the height of his fighting career, he could summon entire forests of creatures. He even learned how to summon his fellow keybladers from across the world!"
"An' since we've already confirmed a Keyblade Master in Phillydelphia," Jazz said, "and she'll be able to cover all three of the eastern cities, I guess we've got us a new member for the team."
Sora nodded, turning to Deep Dish. "Could you tell us where we can find Miss Pommel?"
"Not tonight," Deep Dish replied. "It's been a long day, and you's gotta get some sleep. Tell you what? I'll send somepony by first thing tomorrow mornin' to take you to her. I'd join you myself but I got a lot of work to do to keep this city runnin'."
"That will be acceptable," Luna replied. "I apologize if our arrival has kept you from your work."
"Are you kiddin'?! I've been lookin' for an excuse to ditch the office for weeks now! Besides, I'm real happy to have you here." His jovial expression dropped to one of sorrow as he turned to stare out a window. "This city ain't doin' so hot right now, but yous bein' here sure helps ponies feel like things're gonna get better. You give us hope, ya know?"
Sora nodded, staring out at the street as well. Ponies still hurried to and fro with their heads down, but one or two would occasionally glance up and see him and the others sitting there. Those that did seemed to perk up a bit, managing small smiles and holding their heads a little higher. He turned back to see Luna smiling softly at him.
"Yeah," he said, returning her smile. "Hope."
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Another great chapter, eh?:D
Hmm.... I just had a thought that you may like in regards to summoning, actually.:D
7737718 Oh? Do tell.
Very cool Glad that happened to Suri. Never liked her.
Eh, it's okay
7737755 Eh, thanks, I guess.
Is there anything in particular that you think I could be doing better? Anything specific that you didn't like?
7737730 Well, we know that both Disney and Final Fantasy are part of Kingdom Hearts. The summons we've seen tend to be Disney. But... what if those are just lower tier summons? We've seen in the game the light symbol resembles a crown when Sora opens the paths between worlds, kind of an opposition to the heartless symbol. So, what if for higher tier summons, the summons are final fantasy summons with that motif in mind in their design?
7738578 ...interesting. I'll have to think about it, but I can see some potential there.
7738591 Glad you like the idea.^^