Locksmith

by QuartzScale

6. Assault

It took an hour of asking around for the library before I finally found it. The municipal building doubled as both a library and a city hall. Ignoring the politics around me I trudged into the library and quickly looked around for books on the geography of Equestria, the local customs and traditions, and a dating book. For research purposes.

The map was useful but I couldn’t take it with me. I was going to be going non stop with very few chances to return back to a home I could call my own. Also I hated the name of the city I was in for being one of the more painful puns I had heard since my uncle decided to have a pun-ishment session when I misbehaved when I was younger. Never again. NEVER!

I pulled out the lexicon and held it over the atlas. I wasn’t expecting anything to happen but I didn’t have very many options which I could pull on. Strangely enough the book started glowing which I had to hide in my saddlebags because I wasn’t the only pony in the library.
When it subsided I pulled the lexicon back out and peered into its pages. A new section had been added which included the entire map of Equestria and some of the areas outside of its borders. Nothing was labeled though and I had to make rough estimates on scale. Only the Badlands and Baltimare were fully labeled landmarks and all.

With the location aspect of my worries taken care of, I turned over to the customs and traditions. The lexicon didn’t react to it and I was forced to look through it at another’s pace. The important holidays seemed to be the Summer Sun Celebration which had to do with the summer solstice, Nightmare Night which was analogous to Halloween, Hearth’s Warming which was comparable to Christmas, and Hearts and Hooves Day which was a glorified Valentine’s day.

‘Note to self. Never tell them that Valentine’s day was based on a bloody massacre that claimed the lives of many. Or that if they have a Santa counterpart never tell them that he was also the patron saint of prostitutes.’

The Summer Sun Celebration had been the talk of the town but everypony seemed pissed that it was being held in a place called Ponyville. The same place that Sunshower was speaking about. Might as well take care of everything I need to.

Starting the last book was… a challenge. By challenge, I mean I was embarrassed to even need to read such a book but I might as well see if I could avoid any pitfalls. Heaven knows I’ll need the pointers if something is going to happen. The book, though, was less than helpful and only gave me the basics of the basics. Earth ponies were hard workers and favored the same for the most part. Unicorns were either going after high society unicorns or magically powerful unicorns. Pegasi were like birds at the bare minimum and sometimes went by plumage or wing span. That explained a lot at least and made me reconsider buying a jacket to hide my wings whenever I was around others.

At least I knew now it wasn’t serious love. Only infatuation due to pegasus hormones… hopefully. I returned the books to the places I found them avoiding the ponies that congregated inside the building as they all spoke politician which was mind numbing at best. Though one conversation caught my ear.

“Those guards haven’t come back yet… Think they gave up?”

“No way. They probably doubled their search time and went deeper into the sewer…”

I didn’t waste anymore time and dashed out of the building and into the air. It was still bright out though. I was also exhausted and endeavored to search after a quick nap. I was probably already too late if they ran into heartless but running in half cocked would get me killed… almost like my first night fighting against a single shadow.

I found my cloud luckily in the same spot I left it untouched. A note was left on it as well.

Think nothing of it handsome.

Sunshower

Well at least now I know it was flirting… I didn’t even do anything to earn that. What the… It’s pointless to think about. Much more important things to think about. I took the cloud to a fair height and fell back asleep. At least I tried. I now had a small inkling of what was happening in this city. At least a partial idea. Whoever that weird reptile like eye belongs to is either controlling the heartless or being manipulated by the heartless in some way not clear at this point. The only way to make stronger heartless is to gather hearts but dragging too much attention would probably drag somepony important or strong enough to deal with the problem. While the keyblade is the only thing that can put the heartless down it doesn’t mean they couldn’t be put down at all. Light spells would certainly keep them from coming back since I do seem to remember the Cornerstone of Light working to that effect.

That also makes this dangerous because that means I’ve attracted the attention of someone that could be comparable to Maleficent. At least to some degree and more than likely more competent than Pete. After I had finally gotten back up and the ponies of the town fled back to their homes I immediately tried to find one of the closest entrances to the sewers as I could. The one I previously entered was heavily guarded but the guards surrounding it looked extremely unsettled. Probably because of the missing ponies that never came back.

Down one of the alleyways I found an obscure entrance down near the first entrance. I managed to use the keyblade as a wedge letting me sink into the depths without much trouble.

“When did I start risking my life to find the truth… I’m supposed to be apathetic to the plights of others… Damn sentimentality from being in a pony body probably got to me.”

I crept further into the tunnels making my way to the familiar sluice gate from a few nights ago. My blood no longer coated a few spots on the wall but I did notice the discarded gear of the Day Guard. The gold armor was really… tacky and probably one of the worst ideas I had ever seen. I did note it was gold plated but that still made it tacky. Several weapons were left scattered near the sluice gate. When I went in I was a bit saddened by what I saw.

There was nothing left in the room except for the sign of a battle that had long ended. From the armor adorning the floor I could safely say that four guards lost their lives here last night. Since there were no bodies either that meant the heartless got them.

“Perhaps I should have come down here after the hospital to make sure no one got hurt… Crap… This is gonna weigh on me isn’t it…”

I’ve realized I talk more to myself instead of others. Would that be the telltale sign of insanity or eccentricity? Before I could ponder further on that tangent I was suddenly kicked into the far wall of the Sluice Gate room. Wasn’t paying attention again and now I’m paying for it.

Out of the shadows, a soldier heartless popped out of the darkness and was finishing up his spin kick. As it landed two other soldiers popped out alongside a green requiem. They brought the healing one.

Shaking off my shock I took flight though it was only enough to keep out of range of their claw swipes. I knew which one I needed to go after first as I darted forward blade first managing to smack the requiem into the wall and shattering it before it could warp out of range. Luckily it was the weakest of the heartless here and fell to a keyblade with a strong enough strike. Though I had charged ahead and slammed it into a wall and smacked it at least one more time with the tip of the keyblade. The crystalline heart floated away and disappeared back into the aether. Eventually I would have to find the corresponding nobody that goes along with it.

The soldiers, instead of panicking, threw themselves at me trying their best to knock me out of the air. The first two were too low but the last one managed to reach my leg and grabbed at me. We both fell back to the floor forcing me to fling my other leg out clocking the heartless in the jaw. As it staggered back I thrust the keyblade at it’s chest forcing it farther back. I was still distracted as another soldier spin kicked me into another wall.

“Why don’t I get the easier heartless to deal with? I bet Sora never got this beat up by a small group of enemies that were this low on the ladder.”

Before the third soldier could slash at me I held my blade out blocking the strike and staggering the soldier back. I quickly knocked it back with the keyblade and jumped out of the way as the second soldier attempted to spin kick me again. As it flew past I struck the first one and slammed it to the floor before planting the keyblade into it’s head dispersing it and freeing the heart it had eaten.

The other two alternated their attacks keeping each other out of combos and strikes. When one finished its attack the other would come in and cover. Whenever I blocked they would team up and force me back rather than give me time to attack. I was getting fed up at this point but I could do little more than block. Luckily, they were still heartless and rashly flung out their claws at the same time. After they hit the blade I flung them back and took to the air.

While I flew out of their range I cast cure and waited for them to fling themselves at me again. The second one still had no idea how to aim but the third was a much better shot. Unfortunately for it, I was ready for the attack this time. As it attempted to grab me I grabbed it’s helmet. It flailed around up until the point I stopped flying. As we fell I got on top of it allowing it to take the brunt of the fall. I was forced to roll off at the last second before we could touch the ground. It was stunned while I was dazed. The other soldier didn’t waste any time and went straight for me. As it got closer I stumbled out of the way of its attacks. Stupid dumb luck was the heaviest reason I still wasn’t dead.

When I stumbled back I slapped the keyblade against the soldier knocking him back. Sheer dumb luck was my savior. I quickly picked up steam and swept the keyblade at it dispersing the heartless and releasing the heart. The final soldier was still listless on the floor and wide open. I stumbled over and planted the keyblade into it’s head dispersing it as well. Four freed hearts later and I was finally done.

“Wonder if I should get an apprentice… Nah. I’m still working on my own style. Maybe after I get better but until then… “

I needed two cure spells to stop the pain all over my body. I’m pretty sure I nearly broke my leg when the soldier grabbed me and dragged me down. These heartless were so much smarter than they should have been. Someone was personally controlling them or they had a stronger heartless controlling them. I’m really hoping that it’s a stronger heartless because the alternative raises so many other problems for me.

I actually looked over my journal at this point. Since it was being filled automatically by magic it was perhaps my best bet to figure something out. I searched through the pages noting that I had new heartless to look over.

5 Shadows
10 Bit Snipers
3 Soldiers
1 Green Requiem

My kill count had grown somewhat. After resting, as much as could be done in a sewer, I traveled back above ground luckily to the sight of no ponies in the area and through the same manhole cover. The moon was slowly rising into the sky and I felt very… wrong and hungry. I instantly rushed to the river zooming at ever increasing speeds and drenched myself in water until I felt clean again. I needed a real shower.

I went back to my cloud now and took vigil over the town heading for the more slum like portions. The ponies there were far more interesting in a sense. At least one club was popping with music while the mares and stallions of the night waltzed their way through it. I merely watched the fun go on since I was still so damn tired. As the light of the moon started to trail off the ponies on the street all fled back to wherever they belonged. I did notice that there were still two ponies exiting the club but one of them looked really pissed that it was morning already. The other was really happy.

As I turned away I heard the sound of a scream. Damn cliches are going to kill me. A single stallion, I think, confronted the two ponies from the exit of the club. I watched for a few seconds before I noticed that it was getting serious. Crap, this is really going to suck… I flew straight up into the air and zoomed straight down for the stallion. As I came closer I turned it into a flying kick aimed at his neck in case he tried to duck. He didn’t. I was going fast enough that he didn’t react until he felt my hoof touch him and flung him out of the alleyway.

I managed to land without much problem though my back hoof felt as though I walked through glass. Couldn’t heal it in front of other ponies. I turned to them and tilted my head towards the still empty entrance. I probably shouldn’t have been slightly flapping my wings because they started to stare with large blushes on their muzzles. I whistled once gathering their attention.

“Leave. Get away. Now.”

Every word was direct and emphasized for a reason. They both got the message and left both muttering out a thank you. As they rounded the corner, the stallion I kicked got back to his hooves struggling to keep balance. He also started to cough up a lot of saliva. Luckily, I didn’t draw blood. Though he tried to come after me I flew straight up and went back to my cloud far out of his reach. He was an earth pony which made it easier to leave him behind. He bucked a nearby dumpster creating a very large dent in it making me cringe at the idea of actually fighting him in a physical match.

When the sun finally rose I tried healing myself again and found that I didn’t need my keyblade to act as a focusing tool for the magic I learned. I felt my back hoof and noted that it wasn’t broken before I flew my cloud off. I needed to sleep and it had to be somewhere he couldn’t send goons to take care of me.

“Who the buck was that stallion Vinyl? Why was he looking for you?”

“Well I think he was one of those drunks I was talking to you about. I kind of turned him down for a date and he got really pushy. The guards tossed him out on his flank. So he got all pissy and tried to get me to reconsider any time I’m in Baltimare. I heard he got a mare already but I guess that rumor turned out to be a lie.”

“Vinyl it looked like he was about to do something… vulgar to us right then and there. What made you think that it was a good idea to come back here?”

“I thought he was legit finally. Sue me. I was looking at that whole ponies always do better bullshit we always hear about when we’re foals. Still I think it was worth it, don’t you?”

“... I suppose. Feels weird to have a knight in shining armor save us. Though I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thestral outside of Hollow Shades. The few I did see in Canterlot were all in the Night Guard but they always seemed listless and boring.”

“He really kicked that guy hard. Did you see the distance he got on that kick. Also those wings were pretty big right?”

“VINYL! Let’s just get back to the Inn. I’d rather need a rest from having to watch you sweat in a DJ booth for several hours.”

“Hey! I was sweating in a booth making all these sweet bits the least you could do is play along.”

The stallion, Mighty Oak, finally regained his bearings and ran off for the nearest alley he could find. He needed to collect his head after being knocked off his head. He almost had that little mare. She would have been his if it hadn’t been for one of the Night Guards seeing him in action.

“Damn it all. Now I gotta improvise this shit. Fucking thestral… “

As he headed down the alley a group of shadows attacked him and dragged him into darkness. He wouldn’t be missed. The shadowy alicorn welcomed her newest heartless, the Large Body. She would soon have the keyblade wielder in her magical clutches. Even if it killed her. The plan was in motion and everything was alright.

Comments

[everydaygamer]

Gotta say I really like this one so far, has some good pacing and world building compared to some of the others. I look forward to the next one.

[QuartzScale]

8120926 Thanks. I'll admit I was reading the other stories and noticed the pacing was like I was here but now I'm there. I'm taking my time with this and while I will try to crossover with the others I'll do it at my pace and make it work well rather than fast.

Some things I need to get better at before I reach writing those parts...
-Work on giving bad guys more screen time and I mean the normal everyday jerk
- Fit in the Nobodies and adapt them to this story rather than take the ones we know and use them.
-Since BioQuill has the X blade work in the Unversed eventually.
-Romance wise make it actually be romantic rather than what is portrayed in any other story.

[Zealot12]

[Darkmaster10000000]

Okay, so Nightmare Moon is creating an army of Heartless. *exasperated sigh* Wonderful.