Locksmith

by QuartzScale

40. Memoirs: The Lost Empire

It took several minutes before I willingly woke up noticing I was still in a pony pile though Octavia was the closest one with Sunshower to my right. She was staring up at the ceiling scowling away while Spitfire looked away sheepishly. Neither looked bruised so I assumed they didn’t try to beat each other to death. Still it was best to figure out what was going on at this point.

“What’s up? Has it been a week of sleeping already?”

“What? No. One of the guards knocked on the door and Milo and Kida wish to speak with us.” Spitfire explained.

“So how long has it been?”

“Nearly twenty hours.” Octavia mumbled next to me before squeezing me harder.

I coughed slightly because now I remembered just how hard earth ponies hug. It was suffocating, literally suffocating. Vinyl had to tickled her just to get her hooves off of me. Fresh Coat gave a little catcall which made the still waking up Octavia blush in embarrassment. It was an interesting development overall. Everypony was very well rested and they all also seemed to be sending humorous jabs at one another without resorting to any cruel remarks.

I suppose fighting together and living so close to one another in life and death situations had left them all realizing how much they are going to rely on one another throughout these treks into the unknown. I looked around the room finally taking in everything I purposely ignored after our fight with Rourke and his transformed mercenaries.

Standard Atlantean affair of fluffy bed most likely made from cotton should there be a farm around here with that kind of manufacturing. It was sparse and decorated with merely a rug and nightstand carved out of stone.There were two doors, one of which I knew led out into the halls as the only thing I paid attention to. Training as a cop meant making sure to be aware of your surroundings even while asleep. Didn’t help much when completely exhausted mentally but it helped on the calmer nights when I wasn’t trying to deal with the world I once knew.

I managed to roll onto the floor since Sunshower flapped up into the air. She was still disgruntled but I figured that she would feel better sooner rather than later. I quietly stretched out my back legs one at a time feeling a slight pop when I did. Each alternating hoof in the front followed suit allowing me to get the most out of my stretching. After I felt certain that my legs were limber enough I did the same to my wings stretching them out little by little. After flaring my wings out a bit I folded them back in and looked over to my herd. All of them were staring at me, fully blushed and I was pretty sure one or two of them had a nose bleed. I only watched shonen anime when I was a child and it was limited to Toonami back on earth. The only time I saw something like this it was in… Tenchi Muyo.

“So as much as I enjoy giving you all a show I think we should get ready to meet with Milo and Kida then.”

Nopony moved at all. I had to close a few mouths before they finally realized where they were and what they were doing. I really don’t think thestrals have this kind of power nor that my body is the product of perfection. I doubted God made my body with that quirk or ability attached.

“So… let’s get ready to go. We’re leaving as soon as we’re done with the pleasantries. Time to head back to Equestria ladies.”

That got everypony to quietly clean up. Though I noticed a few times that several mares’ eyes were roaming over my body. I coughed a few times when I noticed which made them quickly look away blushing. One by one we all showered though I noticed that the hot water was gone by the time I was able to take one. I was more surprised by the fact that there were pipes throughout the city.

“Oh this is gonna suck…”

It wasn’t hot water anymore… I breathed in deeply and clenched my teeth tightly. I knew the frigid blast of water was coming. I knew what to expect. I jumped in without hesitation and felt my entire body immediately seize up. I couldn’t open my mouth otherwise it would get to me. I turned around constantly letting the freezing shower cover my entire body. After a few seconds I stumbled out of the shower freezing and shivering immensely from the cold. I rolled around on one of the towels.

“C-c-c-cold…”

My teeth were chattering as I let the now soaked towel fall into a nearby hamper. I shook whatever was left dripping on me around until I was sure that I could dry off just by walking around town and made sure I at least had my wings done just in case something else was happening. Fur is a pain to wash; such is the downfall of now having a pony body. As I stepped out of the room a few of the mares were still dripping wet from their manes at the very least. I didn’t stare… or keep staring at the very least and my wings didn’t nearly pop open. I was very respectful and that smirk from Vinyl as she swatted her tail under my chin meant absolutely nothing at all.

Octavia motioned a scandalous gasp though the mirth in her eyes made sure to say that she was just kidding. Still, we all donned our disguises and made for the throne room. While it had only been a day we still were feeling the effects of our battles through the labyrinthian terrors of the tunnels and the final confrontation with a mercenary madman. This was our first adventure and it was something that we couldn’t exactly rationalize away as anything more than extraordinary.
We had ventured deep into an unknown ocean to pony eyes past a literal leviathan and battled a mercenary battalion while saving a thought to be lost civilization from genocide. That isn’t even mentioning the heartless at all. Still I pulled out the Lexicon and looked for the heartless’ info on that gator we fought above the now active volcano.

Snapagator

A large alligator heartless that muddles the minds of its host in order to turn them hostile. If the subject is already hostile it feeds on the darkness growing larger and more ferocious. By it’s namesake it snaps its jaws which can bite through steel if powered up enough. Specializes in dragging prey into darkness drowning them before devouring their heart.

Well… that entry was horrifying. Sunshower immediately read over the entry and was thoroughly disgusted by what it could do. Another strange heartless I had never even seen in the games back in my old life. I swore that one of my marefriends, I guess I should say at this point, mentioned that the snapagator looked like a cragodile. They also muttered something about the snake heartless looking like a sea serpent that lived in the Everfree Forest.

I was about to ask about those creatures when we managed to step into the throne room where Kida now sat at the stone throne while Milo stood by her side looking through the records left behind by the now late King. We all kept quiet as several of the guards led a procession with the body hidden underneath a white tarp. I bowed my head slightly while the others wept silently.

“Good to see you all awake. I suppose I have all you to thanks for freeing me from that cage I was held within.” Kida addressed us as she motioned the guards to exit the palace leaving us alone with them.

“Yeah. It was great how you all managed to do that. You know all the flipping and fighting but I gotta ask since I was under a lot of stress at the time and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t entirely crazy but… are you all actually quadruped horse like creatures.” Milo stroked his hand through his hair though the exasperated look in his eyes was telling of how he felt.

“Perhaps… Would that be bad if we were?”

Milo mulled it over nibbling at his thumbs. I was sure that Spitfire, who had gotten close to me, was using her wing to, I guess, warn me about something. It kind of tickled and didn’t get the point across well enough.

“You know what… No it would be awe inspiring that there are such creatures in this world. Though I don’t think my mind can take it.” Milo grinned maniacally which I quirked an eyebrow to. He was really wound up pretty tightly.

“Then let’s just say we’re human and leave it at that without ever bringing it up ever again?”

“Agreed.” Milo immediately jumped on the idea. Kida was a bit flabbergasted but went ahead and asked her own questions.

“I, for one, would like to know what you did back in the plaza when you freed me from my trance. One moment I was holding my mother’s necklace and then it started floating in place surrounded in a blinding light. What has happened?” Kida peered down at me while I felt Octavia push me forward.

“Well as a keyblade wielder it is our job to seal off the world’s heart from the heartless. We do this in order to keep the world from basically dying off because those creatures decide to steal the heart away. We usually try to be discreet about it but if someone is in danger then who are we to resist helping out others.”

It wasn’t a lie. As a cop it was something I sword to do to uphold justice and protect the innocent. It felt like I did way back when things were less complicated and I actually felt like I was making a difference. Still, it had been a long time since I had actually said something to that magnitude. Maybe I was lying, to her, or to myself. It was hard to gauge at this point. When I looked back everypony seemed to nod in agreement. I suppose being raised in Ponyville for most of them made them a tighter knit community. Spitfire may have been the only pony raised in Cloudsdale from what I could tell but her duty as a Wonderbolt seemed to extend to helping others no matter what.

“I am glad that our ‘world’ is safe… though by saying that you are telling me that there are other worlds out there… Is this true?” Kida seemed more interested now as she stood up and looked me eye to eye.

“I suppose that yes, there are many worlds. The King seemed to know that implicitly and I suppose that that knowledge is spread through any nobility. Now you know the truth as well and must safeguard that secret as well.”

Kida seemed to ponder over things quickly. The excitement rushed through her eyes but turned hard as she seemed to understand just how big this actually meant. Milo actually had to lead her back to the throne just to make sure she could process this all clearly. She sat down as the weight of the crown finally clicked in her mind and what it entailed actually meant to everyone who lived in Atlantis.

“What can you tell me of your world then?” Kida looked over, curiosity shining from the depth of her heart through her eyes.

“I’ll let the ladies answer. They know more about it than I do.”

---

It took several days before everyone was outfitted and ready to leave Atlantis. I had summoned the Gummi Ship out on the outskirts of the tunnel that led back to the volcano while another transport was acquired to allow the mercenaries to get back to the surface. Helga had been strangely pardoned more on the words of Sunshower who came to her defense during the impromptu trial during the heist. Rourke, as the commander, had taken the entirety of the blame and been sentenced to death… which was impossible at this point since he did die… horribly in fact.

While she didn’t get along with the others who had defected there was a certain respect between them all that transcended money or morality in a sense. She was given the same treatment and a share of the treasure that they were given though it was smaller than the rest if only to mitigate any bad blood between the group. That had been Redheart’s contribution. We also got a portion of treasure since the Atlanteans had no monetary use for any of it which really surprised all the mares who while didn’t care for money was surprised by how much they were giving away.

“Are you sure we can have all this?” Vinyl asked as she lifted a large emerald over her eye looking at the brilliant luster that radiated off of the uncut gem.

“Of course. Without any of you those monsters of darkness would have taken us out and destroyed us all. You all played a part in our salvation. I just wish we had more to give you all.” Kida solemnly answered as she placed a specialty jewel around everyone’s necks.

This in particular I remembered. The crystals connected directly to the Heart of Atlantis. From Milo’s lecture during our rest days they also granted a link to the heart which seemed to work more like a time abyss. While wearing the jewels on this world we effectively became immortal, aging only one year every one thousand years. Whether it would work back on Equestria was something I couldn’t answer to any of the ladies. It was an uncertainty and the fact that we could effectively become older than Celestia and Luna by virtue of remaining in Atlantis was unfathomable.

“I didn’t think being a hero would turn into something like this… Seriously I was thinking it would just be feel good moments and the feeling of knowing you did the right thing.” Spitfire muttered out sheepishly enough. She still seemed in awe about everything that was placed before her.

“What will we do with this treasure though? It’s not Equestrian bits and I don’t think we could do anything with it.” Octavia picked up a few of the atlantean coins letting them trickle through her fingers while the other ponies watched and thought as well.

“We could smelt it and sell it to somep- someone in the guard. You know how they like their gold status armor.” Fresh Coat snarked while rolling her eyes.

“Wouldn’t they ask us how we got it?” Redheart chirped in.

“Probably not. If that doesn’t work we could get our fearless leader to do something with it.” Sunshower chuckled.

“I guess I could get Stiltzkin to synthesize some other things and we could take it to random jewel shops around Equestria and pawn it off there for bits. I do need to regain some of my bits back and get more furniture… Actually Kida do you have any furniture you are willing to part with?”

“I could get the artisans to get some of their finest furniture for you if you give us another hour of your time.” Kida answered.

“That would be fine. We’re in no rush as it is for now.”

“Understood. I will get the guards to get some ready. Any particulars?” Kida questioned as she got one of the guards closer.

“A very large armchair if possible. And maybe some cabinets?”

“Right. You heard the man. Get to the artisans now.” Kida ordered as the guard ran off for their fish ship back to the city.

That left saying goodbye to the mercenaries. Mole and Sweet were loading the treasure they got into their ship. Audrey was busy getting Ms. Packard away from her suitors. Sunshower and Redheart for some reason thought that Granny Smith could give her a run for her money. I didn’t say anything about it because I was entirely confused on how it actually happened. Cookie was leering at Helga but still helped her into the ship. It was Vinny who decided to start up the goodbyes.

“You know, I’m gonna reopen the flower shop and I’m gonna think about you guys every single day. Monday to Friday, nine to five, Saturday to two. Sunday, I’m gonna take Sunday off probably and maybe I’ll go in for a couple of hours at all but August. I’m gonna take August off.” Vinny rambled on after giving Milo a hug. He also presented us with the last of his dynamite.

I quickly put it in my bag before the sly look Vinyl was getting could get any further than that. She managed to snap her illusory fingers even though it sounded more like a clip clopping sound. I still don’t understand how ponies do that.

“I ain’t so good at speechifying but I want you to have this. It’s the bacon grease from the whole trip.” Cookie sniffed a bit.

“Ah… thanks-” Milo started but Cookie shrugged it off nearly busting out into tears. Several of the ladies patted him on the back until he managed to pull himself together. Audrey came up behind Milo kissing him on the cheek before he realized what was happening.

“Ah, two for flinching,” Audrey slugged him on the shoulder slowly enough that it was actually playful. “See ya Milo.” she mock saluted before allowing Mole to take the stage.

Redheart actually broke off from us speaking to Audrey in more detail from what I could tell she was wondering about what she would do next. I missed Mole’s entire talk until Milo merely patted him on the head due to the smell he was giving off. It wasn’t pleasant on our end either. He did whisper something into Vinyl’s ear which pissed her off enough to slug him so hard that the stars he saw were seeing stars as well.

“I’ll get him back up.” Vinny pointed out lifting him back over to the treasure.

“Whoa, are you sure you want to stay. There’s a hero’s welcome waiting for the man who discovered Atlantis.” Sweet brought up.

“Nah. It’s fine down here. I’ve taken up a job deciphering gibberish language.” Milo replied as he grabbed Kida’s hand when she offered it. Everypony beside me went ‘aww’ at the sight. I merely rolled my eyes though I did feel a coy smirk appear on my face.

“Hey Sweet before you go, think you could…” Milo pointed at his neck which Sweet nodded at.

“Sure buddy.” Sweet cracked Milo’s neck and he seemingly relaxed on the spot to the surprise of everypony. I was pretty sure they were still scared of the saw they saw when we first met him.

“Enough goodbyes. Can we go now?” Ms. Packard answered in her monotonous tone while stamping out her cigarette.

“Yeah. One more picture in front of the piles of loot. Get in here everyone.” Sweet motioned for our group to join them as we all posed on the treasure.”You too Helga.”

Helga rolled her eyes and stepped off the ramp posing for the picture as well. She was entirely unhappy about the situation though Sunshower stepped near her drawing a smile from her. It was enough to last for the photo at the very least.

Fresh Coat made certain that the camera caught everyone subtly with her magic. We all posed with a few of us holding up some of the loot while we posed in front of the giant narwhal ship.

---

As the mercenaries left on the giant narwhal another ship offloading some furniture which was dragged into the ship as well. It looked somewhat heavy but the ship had some cargo space luckily enough and it seemed that I could beam the furniture into my home thanks to the other modifications that Merlin made. There still wasn’t a decent cupholder but I would hold out hope that one would be made sooner or later for my jumbo sized drinks eventually.

Everypony piled onto the ship while the atlanteans helped put most of the treasure onto the ship for us leaving me with Milo and Kida. It was an interesting adventure to be certain but I was surprised by how things had changed from when we came to this world to now. Milo was a confident man now and had something better in life to look forward to. Everypony in the herd had decided on an alpha and we were ready to make it an official herd without all the breaks from tradition that seemed to mess with several of the ponies when I asked them on our vacation.

“So this is it then?” Milo asked uncertain about things.

“Yup… this is it. We’re heading off. Still many new worlds to find and save. New beings to meet and more adventure to find. Not getting cold feet are you Milo?”

“What? No, no no no. I’m just… I mean. It’s just that since we met you’ve been looking out for me, and Whitmore did as well. It’s a lot to take in. So why did you watch out for me in the first place? You never answered me that.” Milo pressed on while Kida watched slightly concerned.

I never did answer that question to him. Everypony knew after I told them but telling Milo… It wasn’t something I actually wanted to do. Still… he deserved it after everything he did. Even if I did very little for him I made sure he survived the entire trip on his own merits instead of doing everything for him. I probably should have done more but beggars can’t be choosers in this harsh of an environment.

“You know… I had a brother. He was a huge dork as well. I miss him everyday…”

Milo closed his mouth from responding with a sad smile appearing on his face. Kida also looked on in melancholic fervor. I patted them both on the back which was as much as I could do for them. As it turned out if someone saw through the illusion then it didn’t work against them. That was slightly disconcerting to me in the long run.

“You have found new family.” Kida answered solemnly.

“Yeah… I wouldn’t trade it for anything else at this point.”

With a slight nod I entered the ship while Milo and Kida waved on. With a quick flick of the button I made certain that we would get out of there with the smallest of trouble. The ship flew through the same path that was once blocked by lava and we immediately flew up through the opening of the volcano. I looked over my saddlebags before we left noting that I asked for some extra crystals as well. Only a few in case Vinyl was serious about adding to the herd. The crystals would be a good indicator for those I trusted with a keyblade that were more intimately involved with me.

“So… Looks like we finished up here finally. How are all of you feeling about this? I know it was touch and go while we out there but I was impressed by how well you handled it all.”

“Honestly that was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.” Octavia bluntly stated.

“I got to fly around on a giant fish.” Vinyl deadpanned.

“I earned my keyblade.” Sunshower smugly gloated.

“I saved someone even if they didn’t deserve it but I did so anyways cause that’s the kind of pony I am.” Spitfire solemnly mumbled.

“I learned about human physiology and what it means to be an Atlantean. Especially what it means with these crystals. I don’t think they work anywhere but on that world.” Redheart quickly added when she brought up the Atlanteans.

“I’ve got so many ideas for painting projects I want to work on. Especially the heartless since they sometimes look so goofy. Mind helping me later Gray. I think that book of yours could help me out with it.” Fresh mentioned off hoof which I noticed made a few mares perk up.

“Yeah that’s fine. We’ll make some time so we can all hang out and do stuff together and have some time so we can have a few one on one times. That’s part of being in a herd I think, right?”

Octavia quickly nodded which made all the others nod as well. It seems that at the very least I wouldn’t have to worry about them going the jealousy route. I really need to look through that book I borrowed from Twilight that detailed herds. Seems like she is still searching for somepony and striking out… a lot if those tabs meant anything at all.

“So we’re going home then?” Octavia chirped up which drew my attention back from my rambling thoughts.

“Yes. Let’s head back to Equestria.”

I pressed the warp button on the console while everypony was firmly seated in a chair with their safety belts on. We were finally heading home and I could allow myself some time to put the records of The Lost Empire into a different book and dress it up in a vague way… just in case I need a distraction.

Comments

[Fluffy-Boi]

Yes!! This world is awesome but I'd love to get back to the hub world.