A Heart Eclipsed

by Show Stopper

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

3rd-pony POV

The mayor of Ponyville, Ivory Scroll, had gone all out in preparing for Sora and Luna's visit, and somehow doubling that effort to welcome back Ponyville's own local heroes. Even without Berry to spearhead the party planning, the citizens of Ponyville had managed to put on quite the impressive display. The last remnants of Discord's chaos had been swept up, ribbons and bows hung from every tree, and every musician who could pluck a string or hum a tune was out and filling the streets with songs of welcome and celebration.

However, Sora couldn't help but notice a subtle undercurrent of melancholy as he walked through the town, shaking hooves and learning names. He could see it here and there: a gap in the crowds intentionally left open, furtive glances towards the ominous woods to the south, the way that some ponies would flinch at shadows. He knew the signs well; this town had been attacked by the heartless.

Thankfully, it seemed that the attack had been rather small, the only victims being those who had immediately fallen as the nobles in Canterlot had. A few keybladers could bee seen in the crowd, all of them carrying Kingdom Keys across their backs or in their magic. Sora looked around, trying to see if any of them had a more unique keyblade.

"Searching for something?" asked Luna as Sora's head swiveled around once again.

"Just seeing if we have any masters here," he replied. "I've seen about 10 or so wielders, but that's it."

"Give it time," said Luna. "You will find more as we travel, and more yet may come to find you once we get the word out about the nature of the keyblade."

Sora nodded, accepting that he would just have to wait. After all, it wasn't like a potential keyblade master was just going to come flying in and crash into-

"LOOK OUT!"

Sora turned just in time to be knocked to the ground by a gray blur. He groaned as he looked straight up at the sky. "Why me? Every time, why me?"

"Oops. My bad." A stallion leaned over Sora, looking down at him. "Are you okay, mister Sora?"

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but paused as he took in the pony looking at him. The pegasus stallion had a gray coat and a blond mane, nothing too out of the ordinary. However, his yellow eyes gave Sora pause. One of them looked down at him in concern while the other looked somewhere over his right shoulder. Noticing Sora's dumbstruck face, the stallion chuckled. "It's the eyes, isn't it? Don't worry, I get it all the time. My name's Klutzy Doo. Nice to meet you!"

Sora shook his head a bit, coming out of his stupor. "Nice to meet you, Klutzy," he said, accepting a hoof up. "Guess I can't blame you for knocking me over since, well..."

Klutzy just laughed and waved away Sora's awkwardness. "Like I said, don't worry about it. I know I mess up a lot, but hey, at least I keep on trying, right?" He closed his eyes, letting out a wide smile.

"Yeah, that's great Derpface, but we're kind of in the middle of something here." Sora and the others looked at Blitz in shock as he scowled at Klutzy.

Klutzy opened his eyes and scratched the back of his neck, his smile shrinking immediately. "O-oh right. Sorry. Guess I'll just, um, let you get back to it. Yeah. Um, see you at work tomorrow, Rainbow." With that he flew off, barely clearing a house as he balanced his bubble themed keyblade on his back.

Wait, bubble themed keyblade?

"Now why'd you have to go and say that, Blitzy?" asked Berry, crossing his fore-hooves. "You know that Klutzy didn't do it on purpose."

Blitz flinched a bit, looking down in shame. "Yeah, I know it's just, ugh! He's always doing stuff like this! Flying into everything, delivering mail to the wrong address, and he's a pain and a half on the weather team. Not to mention he's always falling asleep on the job. He just frustrates me, you know?"

"Well what do you expect?" asked Applejack. "After all, he has three jobs to hold down, not to mention takin' care of that little filly of his. It's no wonder he sleeps as much as you do, and at least he has an excuse."

"Hey, I like Klutzy, alright!" snapped Blitz. "Heck, I love the guy. He's the hardest worker on the team! But that doesn't mean he doesn't mess up more than the rest of us put together. Seriously, any other weather manager would have fired him a long time ago."

Fluttershy sighed, looking off in the direction Klutzy had flown. "Poor Klutzy. If only he could get his eye fixed, everything would be so much easier for him."

"Why can't he?" asked Luna. "Is there no cure?"

"There is," said Twilight, "but it's a very expensive procedure. Not to mention that it puts you out of commission for a few weeks. Klutzy can't afford the operation, and he definitely can't afford to go three weeks without a paycheck. Everypony in town has offered to help him, but..."

Sora nodded. "Everypony has their pride." He thought for a moment before turning to Luna, grinning. "Hey, Lulu. Didn't the crown use to pay my old team for their service? Including medical leave?"

Luna raised an eyebrow before nodding her head. "Indeed we did, but only for your immediate team. And Klutzy Doo doesn't seem the type to take such charity on a technicality."

"Then we don't make it a technicality," replied Sora. "Why not extend the full offer. He agrees to join, you pay for his operation and his expenses while he recovers. Heck, he can even bring his kid along if he wants. It's a win-win."

"Um, Sora," said Twilight, "not to interrupt, but what are you talking about?"

"I told you about how I used to have a team of keybladers who traveled with me long ago, right?" Seeing nods of confirmation, he continued. "Well, I'm trying to build it again, a new team to help me fight off the heartless wherever I go."

"And you think Klutzy has the potential to wield a keyblade?" asked Elusive incredulously.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Of course. I mean he already has one." Everypony looked at each other in confusion. "You didn't see it? Big, thick blade? Gray? Lots of bubbles on it?" Blank stares. Sora sighed, shaking his head. "I swear, those keyblades are invisible to everyone who doesn't have one."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" said Blitz, shaking her head. "Let me get this straight. You're saying that Derpface, er," he flinched at the glares he received, "I mean, Klutzy Doo, the stallion who is as clumsy as his name, is going to be kicking heartless flank?"

"Once he gets that eye of his fixed, yes." Sora looked off into the distance, seeing Klutzy narrowly dodging a house only to crash into a tree. "Granted, he may need some training first."

-----

After the day-long tour of the town, the Element Bearers split up, promising to meet together with Sora and Luna the next day. The Ponyville Inn was unfortunately full, so Applejack invited Sora and Luna to stay the night in her barn. Her family was very welcoming of the princess, with mixed reactions toward the human. Granny Smith, the wrinkled green matriarch of the family, had examined Sora head to foot, declaring him to be too skinny before hobbling off to the kitchen to continue cooking dinner. Applejack's red-coated older sister, Orchid Blossom, had looked Sora up and down before nodding with a stoic "Eeyup" before going out to cut some more firewood. And then of course there was little Apple Buck, a yellow, blank-flanked colt with the endless energy that only children can claim.

"Is it true that you fight monsters and those shadow things all the time?" he asked, gazing up at Sora in awe.

"Not all of the time," Sora said. "I actually try to avoid them if I can. That's why I move around so much."

"Oh." Apple Buck seemed disappointed, but perked up almost immediately. "Oh! I heard that you have a weird weapon that shoots fire and lightning! Is that true? Can I see it?"

Sora chuckled, summoning Oathkeeper. "It can do a lot more magic then that, but yeah, I've got some fire and lightning in here."

"Wow!" Apple Buck was fascinated, looking over every inch of the blade. "Do you think I could hold it?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't know."

Apple Buck raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "What do you mean, you don't know. Can't you just hoof it over?"

"I could," said Sora, "but there's no guarantee that you'd be able to hold it for long. You see, the keyblade is a special weapon. Only those who are extremely strong of heart can wield it. Otherwise it just vanishes. But if you want to try it..." He trailed off as Apple Buck jumped to his hooves, grinning like a foal on Hearthswarming Day. Sora shrugged, holding out Oathkeeper and letting Apple Buck take it in his mouth.

For a minute, nothing happened. "Huh," said Sora. "I didn't think it would-" he was interrupted by a flash of light, which left Apple Buck holding a much shorter version of the Kingdom Key.

"Fey! I' canged!" Apple Buck exclaimed.

Sora chuckled as the colt spit the keyblade out, holding it in his hoof. "Yeah, it changed. Most keybladers can only wield the Kingdom Key, the most basic keyblade. Only true masters can use other forms. Still, I'm surprised that it took to you so easily. Most ponies can't use a keyblade until they're grown."

"You mean, this is unusual?" Apple Buck's eyes gained a strange glint. "You mean it's special? Like a special talent?" He turned his head to look at his flank, only to sigh in disappointment as he found it to still be blank. "Darn it, no cutie mark. I guess Cutie Mark Crusaders Keybladers is off the table."

"Speakin' of tables, this one's ready!" shouted Granny Smith from the next room over. "Hurry up and get yer keisters in here before I eat all o' this myself!" Sora and Apple Buck chuckled, walking into the kitchen. But as Apple Buck walked over and hopped up into his chair, Sora stood frozen in the doorway.

"Sorry 'tain't much, yer highness," said Granny Smith, setting a plate of fritters on the table. "If'n we'd known you was comin' I'd've whipped up somethin' real special."

"This is fine," said Luna, flinching at the low groan that the table made as Orchid placed down another pie. "Truthfully, I am not sure that we will be able to eat all of this."

The Apples chuckled as Sora dumbly nodded his head in agreement. The table was absolutely stuffed with various dishes, almost all of them apple based. "I don't think I could even eat a bite of everything before exploding."

"Heh, that's what y'all get for usin' those tiny portions up in Canterlot," said Applejack, already dishing up some fried apples. "Barely even a mouthful, and you call it a meal!"

"Eeyup," added Orchid.

"Don't worry, Princess," said Apple Buck, already digging into his food. "If you don't eat it all, we will. Us Apples can really pack it away. Especially after a hard day's work out in the orchards."

And pack it away they did. By the time Sora and Luna were going back for seconds, each of the Apples had finished off their thirds, or fifths in Orchid's case. Not one to back down from a perceived challenge, Sora loaded an entire apple pie onto his plate.

"Careful there, sonny," said Granny Smith. "You don't want to go blowin' up like a balloon, now do you?"

"He can handle it," said Luna, rolling her eyes. "If his stomach cannot, then his ego will more than make up for it."

Laughter spread around the table as Sora glared at Luna. The effect was somewhat ruined by his puffed out cheeks full of pie. He swallowed and pointed a warning finger at Luna. "Just you wait. One of these days, my stubbornness and ego will be what saves your life, and I'll be expecting a full apology."

"Yes, yes. Flying pigs and all of that." Luna waved Sora off, taking a sip of her cider. Her eyes widened and she tilted her head back, chugging the whole thing. "Sweet me, that is delicious!"

"Best cider in all o' Equestria," Granny Smith smirked. "Y' ain't gonna find a better mug of anythin' this century."

"I must agree," said Luna, nodding as she refilled her mug. "There was one drink a thousand years ago which might have been a contender, but Sol tells me that it has not been made in centuries. The brewer died before he could pass on his recipes."

"Well, that's why you write 'em down!" exclaimed Granny Smith. "Ain't never made sense to me to keep 'em all up in your noggin, 'specially once your mind starts runnin' away from you. Course, you don't got that problem, bein' an alicorn and all."

"Oh, don't be so sure," said Luna. "After all, no matter how good ones mind is, one-hundred years is one-hundred years. I could not hope to remember everything that I have ever experienced. And I'm sure that I have some old aches and pains that would make me sound far older that I look."

"Well, shoot!" said Granny Smith, rubbing her left shoulder. "If it's aches an' pains you want, I've got enough stories to last you all night. This dang shoulder of mine still feels out o' joint whenever it rains."

While the two old mares swapped stories and aches, Sora was talking with Applejack about his upcoming trip around Equestria.

"So yeah, Appleoosa will be our first stop. Anything I should know?"

"Don't mention Berry while you're down there." She shook her head at Sora's quirked eyebrow. "Trust me, just don't. He didn't leave the best impression on the buffalo."

"Buffalo?" asked Sora. "I thought they were nomadic. You know, always moving around."

"They are," said Applejack. "Well, most of them. See, they and Appleoosa got into a mighty big spat last year. The settlers planted their apple orchard right in the middle of the buffalo's stampedin' grounds. They wouldn't move the trees, and the buffalo wouldn't go around. It all got sorted out eventually but, well, Berry tried to get them to stop fightin' by putin' on a show." Applejack winced at the memory. "I ain't never seen a more awkward performance."

Sora nodded. "Got it. Don't mention the pink one. Well, it's a good thing they got it all settled. I'd hate to see how many would fall to the heartless if a war broke out now."

Applejack's response was cut off by a series of loud barks and scratches. Orchard raised an eyebrow, walking out into the family room. The sound of the front door opening was immediately followed by a cry of "What the-" as a small collie zipped into the kitchen and under the table.

"Winona?" yelled Applejack, getting down from her seat to glare under the table. "What's gotten into..." She trailed off as she noticed Winona holding her paws over her eyes, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. "Winona? Hey, what's wrong girl?"

Sora and Luna locked eyes, nodding once. "I'll take care of it," said Sora, standing up. "I haven't been here too long, so it's probably just some locals who noticed me." Without another word, he turned and walked out of the kitchen. A moment later they all heard the sound of the front door closing and Orchard walked back in, looking confused.

"What was that all about?" asked Apple Buck from under the table, having crawled down to comfort Winona.

"Just some heartless," said Luna, taking another sip of her cider. "He'll be back in a min-" An explosion from outside cut her off, and the sound of a body hitting the house made her wince. "Er, in a few minutes."

"Are ya sure?" asked Applejack. "Maybe I should go an' help him out."

Another explosion rang out, this one followed by the sound of Sora laughing. "I'm sure," replied Luna. "Trust me, this is standard fare for him. It's not unusual for heartless attacks to interrupt his meals. Or his sleep. Or his conversations. Why, they've even shown up in my room one time while we were, um," she paused, glancing down at Apple Buck, "wrestling."

Granny snorted into her cider while her two older grandchildren blushed. "Can't imagine that goin' over well."

Luna sniffed, glaring at the memory. "Indeed. Sora had not even drawn his Keyblade before I had blasted them through the wall. And several walls after that one."

"S-so they show up all the time?" asked Apple Buck, nervously climbing back into his chair.

Luna nodded. "At any time, at least. They hound Sora on a daily basis. Other Keyblade Masters are likely to encounter them every few days, and other keybladers still find themselves having to watch the shadows. The life of a keyblader is not a peaceful one."

Apple Buck looked down in thought, remembering how excited he'd been when Sora had shown him that he could use the keyblade. It suddenly didn't sound quite so fun anymore.

Before anything else could be said, Sora appeared in the room holding a vicious looking keyblade over one shoulder and a squirming shape under his other arm. "Hey Luna," he said, holding out the black shape. "Ever seen this type before?"

The Apples all sat back in their seats, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the strange creature as possible. It was shaped like a pony, but entirely black and with glowing yellow eyes. Its horn looked unusually sharp, and its wings were leathery like a bat's. Luna leaned in close, examining it. "I don't believe so," she said. "It appears to be a new species."

"Thought so," said Sora. "Found about ten of them with a swarm of Neoshadows and a few Fat Bandits." He dropped it on the ground, swinging his keyblade down and destroying it in a single swing. "Swatted them like flies with Mysterious Stalker here."

"Is that its name?" asked Luna, eyeing the decidedly deadly looking keyblade. "I don't believe I've seen it before. I am curious as to what sort of pony would have such a blade represent their heart."

"Actually, it wasn't a pony. But I'll explain later. For now..." He dismissed his blade, sitting back down and stuffing his face as if nothing had happened.

Sora Pony POV

"Another one?"

"Another two, actually." Dinner had finished up without further interruptions, but the Apple family had kept giving me odd looks for some reason. Luna and I had retired to the barn to sleep, but she'd first demanded an explanation for where I'd disappeared to on the train. "His name is Jeremy, and he also summoned someone named Alan. Apparently he needed help defeating a primordial chaos god or something." I shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't follow it too well. I just started hitting when the bad guy appeared."

Luna just sighed, shaking her head. "As is your usual tactic. And the new keyblade?"

"Well that's the interesting thing." I summoned Mysterious Stalker, looking over the scythe on heart keychain. "They needed a keychain from me to make some sort of anti-evil artifact. By the time they were done and Jeremy had added his token, it looked like this. I attached it to the keyblade and, BAM! New blade."

"Interesting," said Luna. "Do you think you could do that with the other tokens you've been given?"

Palm could not meat forehead quickly enough. "Why didn't I think of that?" I switched back to the Kingdom Key, pulling Alex, Xemnas and Jason's tokens out of my pockets. "Well, let's try the least compatible one first." I held up the green cylinder to the hilt of the blade. In a flash, the keyblade had changed. Black and green seemed to be the theme, with a simple circular hilt. The teeth were made with a simple green hourglass shape, reminding me of the omnitix from Ben 10.

"Huh," I said, looking it over. "Shifting Form. Fairly average in all respects. No specialization, but no weaknesses either. Very well balanced. I guess there's a Ben 10 displaced running around out there." Sure enough, the token had shrunk and now formed the end of the keychain. I quickly switched back to the Kingdom Key, eager to see what Xemnas's blade would look like.

The shaft was a glowing red rod, just like Xemnas's lightsaber ripoffs from Kingdom Hearts 2. Thorns and spikes gathered to form the teeth, and a circle of thorns formed the hilt. "Superior of the In-Between. Longer name than most. Longer shaft, too. Not really a blade for magic, but definitely one for speed. I might have use for this one later." Switching back to the Kingdom Key once more, I grabbed Alex's shell and held it to the hilt.

The result was... surprising. There was a flash of light and the keychain changed, but the rest of the keyblade looked and felt the same. It doesn't even have a name. Alex, just who are you?

"Sora?" I looked over to see Luna staring at me, her face full of concern. I guess I'd let something show on my face.

"It's nothing," I said, trying to convince myself as well as her. "Just... nothing. I'm fine." I dismissed the keyblade, lying back on the bed of hay we would be using for the night. "But yeah, not much to tell about the other Equestria. I only really got to see the inside of Canterlot Castle. The only major difference I saw was that Berry Bubble was a girl named Pinkie Pie." And she was anthro, but I doubt that that's even a word here. Better to just not mention it.

Luna chuckled. "A fitting name, I suppose. It is strange, though. First my brother, and now young Berry? Are you going to find a stallion version of me some day?"

"I hope not," I said, yawning. "You abuse me enough as it is. I can't imagine how violent a stallion version of you would be. OW!" I rubbed my arm where Luna had just hit me. "See, violent."

"Oh, hush," said Luna. "If a blow that light is enough to give you harm, perhaps you should retire from hero work."

"Not likely," I muttered. "Settling down isn't really an option. Tried it once. Didn't work." Got them killed, too.

"Sora, it wasn't your fault." I hate how easily Luna can read me. "You had no way to know that your defenses would not hold. I'm sure that they do not blame you."

"They don't blame anyone, Luna. The dead can't hold a grudge." Luna wanted to retort, but I turned away, shifting around to get comfortable. "It's been a long day, and we have a lot to do tomorrow. G'night."

Luna was silent for a moment, and I was almost sure that she would press the issue. Finally, she laid down as well, falling asleep soon afterwards. I, however, laid awake, my mind constantly going back to that fateful night. That one night where everything went wrong. Where I'd failed.

"I'm sorry, Pansy. Clover. Cookie. I won't let that happen again. I promise."

Comments

[Regreme]

Quite the way to end this chapter, eh?

[Show Stopper]

6863477 Actually, I have plans to address that point in the future. Unfortunately, saying more would constitute spoilers. XP You'll just have to wait for the explanation.

[Show Stopper]

6905604 Best thing about your boyfriend being a warrior who is used to being hurt and knows cure spells: you don't have to hold back when you hit him for being an idiot. That wall in Canterlot Castle is not the first that he's been sent flying through, and it will not be the last.

[Shift]

You introduce AJ's sis as ORCHARD but keep calling her ORCHID right after.

I attacked it to the keyblade and, BAM! New blade.

Attached.

Needs more dakka.