"Put the keyblade away!" Ambiance skidded to a halt when she heard the fox call out to her. She turned and glared at him. "Have you no idea what that is?! It is one of the Black Demons who took my world from me. We cannot allow it to live!" Despite her righteous indignation, she held herself back from attacking until she heard an explanation. In the meantime, she kept the Keyblade firmly in her grip and growled at the pegasus, as a wolf would growl at in intruder.
Oh no...She's a stray. Tyro had seen World Orphans by the hundreds growing up. A World's Heart appears more susceptible than the very core of your home should be. As the darkness swarms over the surface, it looks for an entrance to the Heart. They can practically taste that energy on the air, increasing it's intoxication as they move closer to the source. Once inside, the corruption is untraceable at first from the surface. Once the tie to the darkness tightens it's grip, the landmass is swarmed by both freak storms and black hoards. By this point, it's too late. The land mass is being consumed by the cataclysm left by the decaying of the heart. The darkness has domain and demolishes yet another pin-prick in the sky. The mare seemed very, very new to all this... "Hey!" There was a slightly awkward pause where he realised that he didn't have her name. "You! That's not a heartless! I've never seen them make good Fire-fighters so that can't be what destroyed your home. Get down here now and put that key away. We've already had one-hundred-and-one distractions today alone. Let's not make this any busier and just chat." He watches Ambience, his two tails flicking behind him nervously.
Eight Star was gone. Uninterested... hungry... distracted... not listening. Heck, he didn't even pay attention when the fox said his name. He was probably already purchasing some form of pear or another. Even if he had to go to the shop owners house and procure it personally! It was like there wasn't anything more here for him but food.
Ambiance gritted her teeth for a long time, while keeping her eyes locked on the black pegasus. There were a dozen thoughts flying through her head: So...they're called 'Heartless'. How appropriate. But how would the fox know that, unless...he's seen them before? It's true. I've never seen the Black Demons performing any acts of kindness before, even if it would benefit them... Perhaps the fox is correct and this isn't a...'Heartless...' Her features softened slightly as the Keyblade disappeared from her mouth. After a sigh, she reluctantly came down from the burnt husk of the former cottage like a child who had been been reprimanded by her father. "My apologies, Sir Fox. I should not act so rashly in the future." She bowed and said, "I am Princess Ambiance." It seemed there was no point in hiding her heritage any longer, as she had already shouted her full title for everyone in Ponyville to hear. "And I must thank you for stopping the Templar earlier as well. Do you have a name?"
Tyro grinned, happy that things looked like they might quieten down for the time being. The fire was nothing more than smoldering, glowing remains of Dark Shine's home. It's incinerated contents was either a fine dust or flowing up into the sky. Maybe now, he could set a few things straight. "Me? I'm Tyro." He says with a warm smirk. "This is pretty much my job so, all in a days work...Although it's not really over..." His brow furrows to match the new, serious look on his face: "We need to talk. In fact..." He points to Dark Shine above him. "We need to talk aaaaaaannnn-" He looks behind him for the Scarlet Pony he'd talked to earlier in the street but it seemed like he ignored Tyro. He might need to try and find that Unicorn later. He might know something... "Oh...Well...err..All right! You, you and you! Drinks on me, come on! I'm not taking no for an answer." He'd jabbed a paw at Ambience, Dark Shine, Blizzard and Titus before trotting away from the house. "Your a flea-bitten, mangy, lazy moron." Sulphy snarls over his bowl of Jewels, while he scribbles on the parchment adjacent. "I'm sorry. There were bigger concerns..." Tyro attempts. "Next time your getting the angry torrent of hate from the next pony who's stuff you let get trashed." Sulphy said, throwing another gem into his mouth, eyes never lifting from the scribbling. "Yes, dear..." Not a flinch from the dragon. The cafe was downwind of the burned wreck so the acrid stench of charcoal wafted by with every light breeze. Seeing as lunch was just approaching after the explosion of events this morning had offered, the tables were filling up. They were also glancing over to the table of misfits in the middle, huddled around the same table. They seemed even more concerned over the lumbering machine standing just outside, looming over the area. "All right then..." Tyro starts. "Somepony want to start explaining how they got mixed up in this? Because mechs, keybarers, magic pegasi and especially foxes don't just appear. Last I heard, I was the only one in Equestria. PLus pegasi can just about make a penny disappear. Also, nopony has asked for a holy-warrior-come-locksmith." He smirked a little at that last comment.
Dark Shine stopped once he was satisfied with what he had done. His Amulet stopped too. The dark aura which once surrounded Dark Shine left back into the amulet, and Dark Shine, exausted, fell. His coat returned to its normal grey as he fell, down into the wreckage of what was his house. There was the classic sound of a *CLASH* as he hit home.
"All right then...Somepony want to start explaining how they got mixed up in this? Because mechs, keybarers, magic pegasi and especially foxes don't just appear. Last I heard, I was the only one in Equestria. PLus pegasi can just about make a penny disappear. Also, nopony has asked for a holy-warrior-come-locksmith." Ambiance has a feeling that the "holy-warrior-cum-locksmith" comment was directed at her, and she found it just as amusing as she found it when Twilight mentioned that Equestria didn't have any doors that would fit the Keyblade. Har Har. "I suppose I'll start." She sighed. "My father...My father sent me here. That's not entirely correct. He didn't send me here specifically, he was sending me away from my own world, which had been lost to the, what did you call them, Sir Tyro? Heartless. This world runs parallel to my own...I am not versed in the Magical Arts as some of you may be... It is my understanding that the worlds are...close together...in a manner of speaking... My objective is to find a way back home and save my world from destruction."
There was further cause for other diners to stare at the group in the middle: the pony knocked out and left in a pile next to Sulphy and Tyro. As far as they knew, the group had taken a victim but felt it would be fine to have a spot of lunch before dumping the body. The pair had managed to carry the pegasus over with them as soon as Dark Shine hit the floor. Sulphy's tirade of complaint nor a little splash of water when they arrived diddn't wake him up. The best they could hope for at the moment was that Dark Shine would just pop back to life of his own accord. So, Dark Shine's now just sleeping under the table, his hind legs threatening to trip up any of the staff not looking where their going thanks to haphazardly being placed on the floor. Tyro sighs, taking and processing Ambience's story. He was finding it hard to fault the father's actions here. "I hate to break it to you but...err..." He coughs quietly, trying to figure out whether there was a good spin to his news. He was finding his hard to look Ambience in the eye all of a sudden. "Even if I knew a way of crossing over into alternate realities, the truth is...that...That your home is probably gone. The Heartless would have most likely snuffed it out of existence along with everypony on it." Another awkward clearing of his throat as he turns his head to look anywhere but at Ambience.
Ambiance furrowed her brow and glared at the fox. "No." She paused for effect, then continued. "No, Sir Tyro, my home is not gone. I do not, cannot, will not believe that. Somewhere on my home world, my friends are fighting to stop the Heartless and I am not with them. They need me in order to use the Elements of Concordia." "The Dread Witch Nightmare Moon could not win against us, even with her armies of monsters and evil spirits. These Heartless shall not win, either." "I will find a way back to my world, or be damned trying." As far as she was concerned, she had spoken her peace about that, and that was the end of it.
"I dunno....I can't say I've seen worlds hold out for too long without a Keybarer around. It's the one thing they fear. It's the only thing that can fight them off effectively enough." He points a paw at Ambience. "That's what you are now, cause I'm assuming you haven't had that thing for long. Your a Heartless Killer. Your effectively pest control. Heartless will now hunt you because your the one thing that threatens them. Unless there were other keybarers left to fight the Heartless and lock your world from them, I can't guarantee they have long. A couple of weeks at the most perhaps. It could already be too late." He leans on the table, beginning to actively show that he's depressing even himself with his long face. It's been years since he's needed to regurgitate this sort of stuff. Normally it's explaining why he has two tails. Or even what a fox is doing here. "But, if they have managed to hold out this long, I promise I'll do what I can to send you back. I just can't really promise home'll still be there."
Blizzard had followed the group around, not speaking much as a blur of events passed before her eyes. A metal monstrosity, a house on fire, a knocked out pony, and now a discussion on this odd force called "Heartless." "That's weird...Weren't most planets back home consumed like that? A mysterious black force swallowing up the planet and moving on?" Calhad questioned, paying attention to the conversation once he stopped trying to force Blizzard's head towards the direction of the few females eating at the Cafe. "Please Cal, you know what everyone said. It was the collapse of our universe! Nothing could stop it, why did we not fight back if it were these heartless? Or any word get out about such creatures?" Cal settled down, and Blizzard smiled. Of course it was not these Heartless. However, what was a problem was that these Heartless could travel through worlds, and it seems they could be aiming at this one next. Ruggard would not be able to cast such a spell that transferred them through the dimensions again, so they could no longer run. Blizzard cleared her throat to gain the attention of her fellows. "Well, as thoroughly depressing as this topic is, I don't think it is really necessary until we find a way to send everyone back to their original worlds. Tyro? Do you know of any way to get everyone back home?" She asked, crossing her legs as she tried to get comfortable.
Tyro smirks at Blizzard. "It figures that your not from here either..." He then leans on the table, frowning with the effort of concentration. "The only thing that I know for certain that would work is what I used to get here in the first place. And that's broken beyond repair and locked away in a royal vault somewhere in Canterlot, I think. I haven't seen it since I lost it not too far from here. Even then, I'm not sure it's a simple case of just adding extra strings..." He looks up, scanning his mind as though projected on the slightly smoky sky. "I can't remember ever seeing anything else that could do the same thing. There could be a spell or something but that could be costly as well. At the moment, it looks like us aliens are going to be sticking together for the time being..." Tyro looks up at Titus. "You've been pretty quiet. How'd you end up crash landing here?"
Dark Shine shot up, and awake, gasping, before banging his head on the table. "OW!" He shouted, before moving around and out of the table. "Uh.... What... What happened?" He sighed, before rubbing his head, moving his mane slightly, revealing a deep bruise. He shrugged after seeing it and moved his mane back over the bruise. "Who... Who are you lot?"
"Ahh, it's awake! Well, I'm Tyro." The dirty scarlet fox said, pointing a black paw at himself. "How about you tell us who you are and what in the world you were doing at the fire? Something go wrong?" He was studying the black and white pegasus up and down. He'd dropped out the sky after managing something pretty close to magic. Apart from the necklace, he seemed like a normal pegasus: athletically built and with a mane that was constantly fixed in place thanks to heavy winds. It was like a natural freeze-dry effect. Like most of the pegasi he'd met, he could bet he was interested in flying tricks and speed. Very one track minded...
Dark Shine rubbed the back of his head with his hoof nervously. "Ummm.... Your not here to kill me?" He asked, sweat running down his forehead.
Ambiance hung her head sheeishly. "I had, at one point, meant to kill you. Sir Tyro has helped me to see the error in my ways. But why would you think that somepony wants to kill you in the first place?"
Dark Shine's backed off a little from the pony who had just mention intending at first, then relaxed a little. "I take that as a not now..." He sighed. "I dont know why, apart from 'I know too much'. That fire was my house. If I had stayed in there, my brains would have been shot out of my skull... In fact... I should leave. I dont want to bring a problem to those who dont deserve it..." He began making his way to the door, his wing, begginning to regain the pain from earlier.
"No, don't leave!" Ambiance shrunk back a bit after her outburst. She likely drew a few glances her way. After coughing slightly, she said, "W-what I mean is, perhaps it is better if we stay together. If your assailants are still out there, then you'll stand a better chance if you're with us." She glanced up at the Templar. "I assure you, we are all capable of handling ourselves, Sir...I'm sorry, I didn't get your name..."
Tyro was more processing than listening. As Dark Shine spoke, he was combing for details, looking for anything after the agitated pony hinted at a possible attempt on his life. He picked up on a few key details: 1) Strange fire. 2) Being shot despite being in Equestria. 3) Meek demeanour. He calls out in unison with Ambience, although he was unintelligible. Relieaved that Dark Shine had decided to stay, he clears his throat. "Well, this sort of thing is kinda my business so how about I help you look into it? I'm sure my new acquaintances wouldn't mind tagging along too." Tyro proposes, adding a small grin. A four job day, this was big! He couldn't be happier. "We're a charity now?" Sulphy adds, looking up from his bowl. "We don't have to take everything from the Princess. Anyway, he looks like he'll tear his feathers out over this. I think it's worth my time..." Tyro reasons. Sulphy grumbles, something about 'slave labour' before throwing another gem in his mouth.
Dark Shine sighs. "Fine. But anything gets too rough, just leave. Especially if I start getting angry. Trust me." He looked to the one who had just asked his name. "Name's Dark Shine. And thanks to whoever it was who got me out of the wreckage."
