I haven't had dreams like these for years... The last time I was almost destroyed. I only managed to survive by the skin of my teeth. This time, my long combo of kicks to the Reaper's crotch could be halted but he'd better not expect anything less than kicking and screaming. I don't go down easy. I make sure of it. I thought I got out of this by now... Come on! This is ridiculous. I'm out of that loop. I figured out where my lock and key was, I should be free from that. Why am I being brought back there? All those stain glass windows standing in the abyss. Just gaunt silence for a few seconds before I suddenly hear singing....Somewhere...yeah. Now my dream has ghostly backing music. And I thought I'd cut down on the movies since last time. I know calling out is rather useless. Almost like I'm walking on thin ice, speaking will just shatter it. Like all dreams really. I stare down at the window I stand on...I can't make it out, just pretty colours and things. The chilled sea laps against the shore line only a few meters away. As she looks up from the journal to the snow covered peaks outside. She could hear banging downstairs. Someone's getting restless. I stare down at the window I stand on...I can't make it out, just pretty colours and things. The banging gets louder. I stare down at the window I stand on...I can't make it out, just pretty colours and things. She was expected to read through the prisoners statement and they were horsing around downstairs. I stare down at the window I stand o She gives up, dropping the journal to wonder downstairs to see what the fuss was. She trots down the stairs into the Police Office only to find the cluttered and well-worn space empty. It was devoid of the others for whatever reason with the doors hanging open onto the snow sprinkled street. She wonders outside, looking up and down while the flakes flutter down to join those on the floor. Nothing much ought to be happening here in Tundra Peeks. It doesn't seem right to be attacked, here now and when there's an entire mountain range between here and anything resembling civilisation. It's snow, fishing boats and small shops here... Black shapes circle her, silently skimming over the snow. The Shadows rise up, displacing the powder with either new solidity. She turns and gallops only to see a colossal creature pound down the street towards her. Environmental Music to Set the Tone The dragon shaped skull resembled battle armour. Each metallic and gigantic claw clicks with each movement, stomping through the white street towards her. It shuffles it's wings, letting it's enormous tail swings back and forth, crashing into surrounding buildings. Weaponless and surrounded, Honey Comb waits to see what side will attack first.
"Thank you, thank you, thankyouthankyouthank-" The mare shut up as Buster shoved his hoof in her mouth. "Listen, you already paid me, I already transported you, we never saw each other. Now shut up and go!" Buster said angrily. As he removed his hoof from her mouth, he expected her to begin apologizing again, but this time she just shut up and nodded, before heading out of the port with her family. 'Some ponies I can't wrap my head around.' Buster thought as he turned back to his gummy ship. This particular mare wanted to be on a world that was not even on his maps. Was this place really so terrible that she had to get in unnoticed? He was about to re-board the ship when he noticed one of the engines had been damaged during the landing on this new world. "Horseapples!" He said to himself, as there was nopony else in the hangar. "Well, it is a new world, after all. May as well explore while I'm here. Never know if it might ne a place worth staying." He turned and trotted out of the hangar, in an opposite door of what the other pony had exited through. He was greeted with a bright array of lights that blinded him temporarily. When he regained his vision, he saw only a few ponies standing around the hangar. Only two of them spoke, and they whispered too quietly for Buster to eavesdrop. 'What, no security?' He thought, confused. 'That makes the fact that she had to be smuggled in even more curious.' He walked out of the building and into the sunlight, which was less bright than the lights within the building. The town was neat and tidy, with much more ponies actively walking around than inside the port. Two ponies watched as he stepped out of the hanger. He tipped his hat at them, and they returned it with a glare of hate. 'What's wrong with these ponies?' Buster thought as he moved farther away from the port. He decided he would have a look around the town, but that decision was becoming more and more doubtful as he continued through the streets. Everywhere he went, ponies stared at him and whispered. They even went out of their way to stay as far away from him while still continuing to their destination. As he passed one of the corners, nothing special about it, one brave pony appeared and faced him down, blocking his path. Buster made to move around him, but the pony blocked him once again. "My apologies, but I wish to pass." Buster said calmly. The pony snorted and replied with "Why are you here? Do you plan on raiding our town or something?" Buster looked into the pony's eyes. They looked cold, but he could see that deep down this pony was not a bad character. "Whatever gave you that idea?" Buster said, confused. Were they having issues with raiders? The pony in front of him gestured at his sword. "Why would you need that, unless to stick it in somepony?" Oh, that's why. He had forgotten that he was displaying to everypony around what could have been a potential threat. "No, of course not. I use Ensis to fend off heartless and destroy nobodies." The pony suddenly looked terrified. "But...we haven't had an attack here for nearly a year! Is there one coming soon?" He looked around nervously, and Buster answered quickly with "No, it's just a precaution! I don't plan-" The pony had already begun walking off, now looking unnerved. The other ponies who witnessed the spectacle, but not heard it, went out of their way to stay even farther away from him than before. He sighed and continued forwards, hopeful that he could get some answers about this place before he left.
Lady Ambiance, my Faithful Soldier...This world is lost... But...but the demons have been driven from the palace! We can fend them off now! Sadly, it is not enough. Thou art but one mare and our foes are many. Thou shalt be overwhelmed... Neigh, Milord! Let me face them! We will crush them together! We will gather our best mages and knights and- Neigh, Ambiance. Hear Our words: The demons we face cannot be stopped by mere swords or sorcery. They are beyond our power. The only thing capable of driving them back is thy mythical Keyblade that thee now possesseth. Then let me fight! Again, We say neigh. Thou art not strong enough to face them by thyself. We will use the last of Our power to send thee to another world. A world which has only recently seen the taint of the Demon Heartless. A world that hath not been overrun. There thou shall muster thy strength and thou shall return when thou art ready. I'm ready now, Milord! May the Light shine upon thy path, Lady Ambiance... We Love Thee, My Little Pony... Then, a flash. Then, nothingness. Then, the world around Ambiance slowly comes into focus. She finds herself in the middle of a forest clearing. First, she sees the flow of magic around her, as all Earth ponies are able to do. Her Lord's spell was quite powerful and it takes several seconds for the last of the magic energies to finally dissipate. She feels a heaviness in her heart as the last bit of what was essentially her King, fades in to the thin air. She fights back a tear and resists the urge to scream at the Heavens for allowing the Heartless to cast her from her homeland and everyone she ever knew and loved. Glancing around, she can now see that nopony has noticed her entrance, or at the very least that nopony dares approach her. Good thing, too. She feels the intense urge to lash out at the first thing that shows itself. Further in the distance is a small town with a large hangar nearby. "This world has airships?" she whispers to herself. "Perhaps I could find somepony to transport me to the nearest palace that I might offer my services..." With great effort, she wills her hooves to carry her forward and toward the town. ----- The crimson pony's presence doesn't go completely unnoticed, however. A shadowy figure watches her from a distance. "Not a Heartless..." he mutters to himself. "Not worth my time." Without another word, he surrounds himself with dark energy and soon disappears, leaving naught but a trace behind.
"She couldn't have gotten far." Short said to himself looking over where the gummy ship he and his friend had built used to be. He knew that the ship was not finished and might only last one flight. 'I hope you got somewhere safe.' Looking back at his town which was just starting to rebuild after the heartless attack he thought to himself. 'Theres nothing left for ne here except bad memories.' Short was just about to bord his ship when he remembered. 'I need that picture of her.' He ran back to where her ship had been and snatched a picture off the wall stuffing it in his bag. As he now borded his gummy ship he he thought. 'This thing better be fast it cost almost everything i own.' the ship took off into space like a lightning bolt. Realizing he got his moneys worth he slowed the ship down so he could get a better look outside. "considering how finished they had been on the ship he decided to go to the nearest world. after landing in the hanger he exited his ship. Exiting the hanger he noticed that everypony was giving him a dirty look. He finaly decided to ask somepony if they had seen his friend or her ship. loking around he saw a colt wearing a duster. 'I have to start somewhere.' He walked up to hm and said. "Hi there."
Buster stopped, a little annoyed. 'More? What will I get terrorized about this time?' Without turning towards the pony behind him, he said "Listen, I don't want any trouble, and I realize I am possibly intruding upon your cultures. If you want anything from me, feel free to leave. I have nothing of value with me. If you want me to leave, you can leave yourself. If you want to ask a question, it would be a good idea not to and leave. Now, anything you wanted?"
"what."Short said a little confused. "I just wanted to ask if you've seen this pony around here." He pulled out the picture of his friend. "Or at least her ship."
Buster turned, a little confused. He was an obvious outsider, why would he recognize anypony from this area? He glanced at the image, and legitimately attempted to think of any ponies of that physique, but came up with nothing. "No, I can't say I have met her. Sorry" He said. "As for her ship, I only saw one ship coming in, and that was my own. You'll just have to look elsewhere." He continued walking forwards. By now the streets were totally deserted, save for the colt from a moment ago. 'It's as if a nuclear bomb went off, and they can only spend so long in the fallout." He thought quizzically. 'If there was any ponies I could ask about-' he stopped walking and turned back towards the saddened looking colt behind him. "Actually, It's my turn to ask the questions." He said to the pony. "Where is everypony? They seemed so scared of me. One was even concerned about the fact that I had a weapon. Can you explain this phenomenon?"
Short looked at the colt. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I just got here. By the way my names Short Fuse." Short extended a hoof to him. "This is actualy the first new world I've been to."
Ponies are dashing past the pair chatting away. Some are carrying fillies while others are carrying luggage that strikes a balance between what's light enough to run with and what can't be bared to be left behind. While some talk amongst themselves about what's gotten into the fleeing ponies, others scream at the top of their lungs about the impending danger. "THEY'RE HERE! THE HEARTLESS ARE HEAR! EVERYPONY RUN!" Anypony still chatting stopped immediately and either run for the hanger or ran elsewhere, most probably to pack. As the black shapes scramble towards Short and Buster, hunting down ponies around them as they flee, The Shadows stand. They soon form a ring around the two, closing in.
Buster swore as a sudden rush of ponies flew past him. "What the-" He glanced around at the shadows now closing in on the two. 'Where the hay did they come from!?' Buster thought with fear. He could fend off nobodies fine, but heartless were indestructible! Hopefully, he could at least save Short Fuse. "Get behind me!" He shouted as he drew his gunblade off his back. One shadow took a daring step towards him, and he slashed it in half. The shadow turned into a blob and reformed, but not before Buster could knock it away from the two. The shadows closed in, eager for the souls of the two they had trapped in their clutches. He jumped at a few and began hacking away at them, occasionally firing off his gun to the side in an attempt to keep them off his back, but he was soon overwhelmed. One shadow landed a lucky blow on his chest, and he found himself laying on the ground. 'Looks like this is finally going to be it.' he thought somberly. 'A shame, I had hoped to go down with a bang. Oh well. I wonder what it's like being a nobody?'
Out of nowhere he and buster where surounded by shadows. Short was shocked and it took him a moment to find hs barings. It was at that moment that he saw a shadow trying to land a finishing blow on buster. It was then he felt it materialize. It was his keyblade. Without a moment to spare he lunged and struckthe shadow in mid air. the shadow disintegrated befor it hit the ground. Short did ths to the rest of the shadows surounding them then when to buster and extended his hoof. "Need a hoof." He said looking at buster.
Buster looked up to see Short Fuse holding out a hoof. "Need a hoof?" he said. This was unbelievable! He had just single hoofedly taken out at least a dozen heartless! "No, thanks." Buster said as he got up on his own. He picked up Ensis and looked at the street. More heartless were materializing and coming their way. "I don't know how you destroyed those heartless, but now would be a good time to do it again!" One jumped at Buster, and he ran it through with his sword. Rather than reforming, the heartless dematerialized on the spot. 'What the?' he thought with alarm. 'Apparently, if I'm near this pony, I can destroy heartless of my own accord. It would be wise to keep him around in the future...' He took a step back. "Incoming, we're about to have a fight on our hooves."
"THEY'RE HERE! THE HEARTLESS ARE HERE! EVERYPONY RUN!" The fleeing ponies may or may not have noticed the dark-hooded pony standing in the middle of the street. In fact, a few brushed by him in their panic but the hooded pony remained still as a statue. Luxilq smirked. He didn't derive pleasure from many things (anything, in fact), but he always felt the need to snicker slightly any time the Heartless showed up. Something about the fear that everypony expressed as they fled in absolute terror. There was something primal in it. Something that he had never felt. What was it like to be completely helpless against something? He didn't know, nor did he care. When he had a clear line of sight down the street at the advancing horde, he drew and nocked his crossbow. He grimaced as another pony ran into him, nearly knocking him off his aim. He flashed a glare at the offending mare, then brought his attention back to the shadows, which had grown ever closer. He fired a singular bolt into the horde, instantly reducing his target to a fine, black mist. He smirked again, then fired another bolt. Before it got halfway to its destination, he whispered one word: "Scatter." Instantly, the bolt lit with dark purple energy and spilt into a large cone of arrows which spread out and annihilated several targets at once. When the black mist had cleared, several normal ponies lay injured. "Next time, duck," he muttered as he coldly walked past. Not that he really cared... ----- "THEY'RE HERE! THE HEARTLESS ARE HERE! EVERYPONY RUN!" Ambiance spied several ponies virtually pouring out of the town as she drew nearer. She sighed, having not expected to face the Heartless so soon. Suddenly, her lip twitched in anticipation. She may not be able to save her world, but her Lord claimed that this world was not as far gone as hers. Perhaps she could save them all. After all, she was itching to exact a little sweet revenge. As if answering her, Heart's Desire appreared, tightly clutched in her mouth. "Yesh! Letsh guh!" she shouted, now in a full gallop toward the town.
There where shadows everywhere. Short then had a bright idea. He took one of his easy light bombs and scraped the red end of the wic on his keyblade igniting it as he threw it into a large group of heartless and yelled. "FIRE IN THE HOLE." There was a huge explosion and when the dust cleared so did the heartless. He then noticed out of the corner of his eye a dark red filly with... a keyblade. While his atention was on the filly with the keyblade he didn't see the shadow that was right over him. It would have gotten him to if Buster hadn't sliced it in half right before it got to short who looked startled. "I guess that makes us even huh." short said with a little laugh.
Buster chuckled and looked towards the commotion across the street. Another pony had gotten into a brawl with more heartless, and was destroying them just as Short Fuse was. 'I'm going to have some choice questions when this is over...' he thought. Charging forwards, he destroyed multiple shadows and landed next to the combatant. "Yu look leik yu could yush shome help there." He said through his sword handle. He fired a quick shot at a nearby shadow and turned so he could guard the pony's backside.
Meanwhile on another world a pony has crashed there gummy ship in a forest. The pony inside turned out to be a blue unicorn with small snow white spots all over her. She regained consciousness a short time later. "I knew this ship wouldn't get me far. Oh short fuse I'm so sorry I had to leave you behind. tears where begining to form under her eyes. "I hope your able to find me." Short looked up as he felt some something inside. "Frost."
"THE HEARTLESS ARE HERE! THE HEARTLESS ARE HERE! EVERYPONY RUN!" Axel picked up on this, and decided to stay away, but he might as well watch. Maybe, find a safe spot to perch. he looked for a tower.
"Yu look leik yu could yush shome help there." Ambiance glanced back at the grey pony who suddenly came to aid her. Still gripping her Keyblade in her mouth, she smiled and replied, “I thank thee! I alwaysh welcome alliesh.” Her eyes widened a bit when she saw his weapon. Such a fantastical device! I’ve heard of similar weapons being utilized by the Crystal Kobolds. I shall have to ask him about it. A small group of shadows suddenly materialized before the two. Ambiance gritted her teeth and attempted a technique she used back on her world. “Shtand back, Friend!” She reared up on her hind legs, and putting every ounce she had into it, she threw the Keyblade at the opposing shadows. The blade flew end over end, striking several shadows in the process, reducing them to black mist. Once the blade had reached maximum distance, it seemed to turn of its own accord and returned to the crimson pony, who caught it in her mouth. Returning to all fours, she steeled herself for the next attack. ----- Luxilq was just finishing his own small battle when he spied Axel. As usual, Axel wasn’t performing his duties, preferring instead to sit back and see who wins and clean up the survivors. Lazy. He fired a few more bolts, killing a few more shadows, then teleported to Axel’s location. “What brings you here?” The way he said it implied that it was more of a statement than a question.
Axel coughed. "Well... I was observing stuff... and... Well... I was on break... Why, did I miss anything other than the stuff down there?" He leant back, about to get comfy.
Lux remained standing, looking down upon the rest of the town with a glare that suggested the he would simply wipe it from existence if he could. Like an annoying ant hill. "This town is lasting longer than the others. I think they have a Keyblade wielder in their midst."
