Something From Nothing

As the battle with the heartless raged overhead, Rainbow Dash observed a battle of a different sort occur in front of her as Pinkie went through the recipe and compared it to the nearly inedible scones that had been offered to the two of them earlier. Opposing her was the angry, vulture-headed Grandpa Gruff.

“And what’s wrong with pebbles in a scone? Some of us have gizzards, and we need stones every now and then.”

“So offer the pebbles as something on the side, or at least clean them off before you dump them in the batter. I grew up on a rock farm, so eating rocks is nothing new for me, but the dirt ruins the flavor!” Pinkie proved her point by blowing a dust cloud off of the bowl of pebbles. “Wash them a day before you bake so they dry out and don’t add extra moisture to the mix, and if you miss the texture you can add some stale breadcrumbs or something to simulate the grit.”

Dash groaned, feeling the onset of a headache. “There’s griffons fighting shadow monsters, and you two are arguing about putting stones in food!? The hay is wrong with you!?”

Gruff glared at Rainbow Dash for a few seconds. “So you liked the scone I gave you earlier then? Maybe you have a weapon that can hurt the darklings, and you’re eager to lose a couple feathers in a fight? No? Then shut up while we go over how to fix what is apparently a crappy recipe!” He took a deep breath and then turned back to look at Pinkie with a much calmer expression and demeanor. “That makes sense, actually, and you mentioned soaking the cinnamon sticks in the heavy cream instead of just dropping them in the batter while mixing, and then grating a bit of extra into the dry mix for a fine powder?”

Pinkie nodded eagerly while bouncing in place. “Yepparoonie! You can even reuse the wet cinnamon sticks for multiple batches if you’re careful and keep them chilled along with the cream. Grating them into a powder before mixing in ensures a more even distribution of flavor into every bite, so you don’t have to chew on the stick to get it. You’ll also go through fewer cinnamon sticks this way, what with not having to make sure there’s one jammed into each scone.”

“Gah!” Dash took flight, her wings giving the hummingbird a run for its money. “Screw this! I’m going to help Gilda!”

“Use the door so your hips don’t get caught in the window. I don’t want to stare at your backside for the next hour.” Gruff snapped at Dash before turning his attention back to Pinkie. “Going through fewer sticks would mean less money wasted, but I’m sure your other suggestions are going to suck up some of the extra profit margin you just introduced.” The conversation between the two continued as Dash followed the old jerk’s suggestion.

Dash always stuck out. Only two other ponies had her main colors; something her family took pride in. Here, against the dull greys and browns of Griffonstone and the black, wriggling shapes of heartless, she almost seemed like a living streak of light.

Her trail shone against the roiling blackness. Tunnel vision overrode common sense, leading her to ram right into the back of the bat heartless. “I gotcha, G!” she announced proudly, appearing next to her wayward friend.

“Dash? Why in the sky’s name are you out here?! You’re unarmed and untrained!” Gilda quickly flipped over in the air and slashed at a bat-wing shadow that passed over the two of them. “I’m a warrior, not a cubsitter!”

Snorting, Dash weaved through a retaliatory swipe from the giant bat. “I know how to fight, Gilda! I can kick the flank of any of these freaks.”

“Knowing how and being able to are different things, Dash! You don’t have a weapon that can touch them!” Gilda reached out to grab one of Dash’s forelegs to get her out of there. “Now is not the time to be stupid.”

Jerking her leg away, Dash whinied. “I’m not leaving until you’re safe, G.”

Snapping her beak, Gilda shoulder checked Dash towards the ground. “Forget about your ego, Dash. You literally can’t hurt them, so just go back with Grandpa Gruff.” Brandishing her daggers, Gilda cut across the beast’s chest.

Before Dash could react, a set of strong talons had wrapped around her barrel. “Don’t worry, I got...you aren’t a griffon.” A confused male voice spoke as its owner dragged her out of the air. “Nevermind, gonna get you to safety so you can get looked at by a medic.”

“Go with him,” Gilda barked, flaring her wings. A few hunters fell in with her, surrounding the bat. “Weave and cleave.” She waited a few moments, allowing the other hunters to execute her suggestion.

Dodging the bat’s wings and claws, the hunters drove their weapons into its wing joints. Black ichor seeped out, an ugly blot against the blue sky. Positioning herself high above the thrashing beast, Gilda transitioned her daggers back into their default form. Screeching like a mighty Roc, she dove, crashing blade first into its back.

Propelled by both her keyblade’s magic and her own momentum, Gilda and her prey crashed down into what had once been a textile factory. Adrenaline dulled the impact, which saw her thrown through a rotting support beam. A plume of pure blackness inked out her world, even as the building came down around her.

Dash, of course, only saw Gilda dive into the building, and she struggled against the grip of the griffon holding and pulling her away from the combat. “Hey, wait, she’s gonna be hurt too!”

“Who, Gilda? Nah. She’ll have a few bruises at most.”

“Okay, fine, but what’s the big deal with pulling me away the second I started falling?” Dash twisted her head to look up at her ‘helper’ and gasped as she saw streaks of lightning, ice, and fire flying across the sky as the other griffons that were fighting from the cover of the guard towers combined spells with their arrows. Clouds of flying heartless were scattering or dispersing into smoke on contact.

Clicking his beak, the male lowered her to the ground. “Why were you even up there, anyway? You do know you can’t hurt heartless without a keyblade, right?” Landing next to her, he gestured with a hand. “They have a weird thing that gets all worrbly when anything else tries to hit them.”

“I’m a weathermare, and training to be a Wonderbolt. I could have done something, made some lightning. They’re using lightning!” Dash swept a wing up to point at the storm of spells and arrows that was now shredding the black flock apart. “You guys never gave me a chance.”

“Well, that lightning is special,” he countered. “Magic given by one of those keys, which means it can get rid of them.” He pointed a talon at one of the heartless as it evaporated, tracking the glowing heart that rose out of it. “See that heart? Once a weidler destroys a heartless, they release the heart. Kill ‘em without one, that heart just spawns another one later.”

“Yeah, well, uh...fine.” Dash sighed and hung her head for a moment as she realized this was one case where she couldn’t really justify more bluster. “So, hi, I’m Rainbow Dash, one of Gilda’s older friends. Who’re you?”

Smirking cockily, the young griffon ran a hand through his feathers. “I’m Gallus, one of the apprentices. Gilda’s actually my master.”

Dash thought about this for a few seconds, then shook her head. “So that’s why you were there to grab me so quickly. You were there to jump in in case she got hurt or something.”

Gallus seemed to deflate, though he didn’t lose his confidence. “Yeah well... I’m mostly support for now. I haven’t uh... been able to manifest my keyblade yet.”

“Oh, well, don’t feel bad about that. I’m sure you’ll be fine once you’re able to, uh, manifest your own. Making sure people don’t get hurt even more when they fall out of the sky is a good thing to do.”

“Yeah.” Gallus perked back up. “I guess it is.” Spreading his wings, he hovered between the ground and the hunters. “Why don’t you go check on Gilda? I gotta do my job.”

Rainbow Dash looked around and flew up a little over the height of the closest buildings so that she could get her bearings on where she was now compared to where she saw Gilda fall. With another quick glance given to the sorcerous lightshow above to make sure nothing was falling down towards her, she beat her wings quickly to carry her half a block to the north.

Gilda was busy pulling herself out of the wreckage when Dash arrived. A few of her feathers were bent or crushed, and there were a couple bleeding cuts on her talons that would need to be looked at, but she was mostly whole and hearty as she struggled to move a pile of debris off of her tail. “Ugh, stupid old building had to break and keep me out of the fight!”

“You plummeted pretty hard, G.” Flying back a few beats, she darted forward and shoved the debris off Gilda’s tail. “Does having a keyblade make you indestructible too?”

“Not completely, no, but it does tend to mean you’re used to catching your fair share of beatings one way or another.” Gilda carefully felt along the length of her tail and nodded to herself before looking at her old friend. “So why the heck are you here with that pink pain in the butt?”

Watching Gilda for a moment, Dash, flicked her hair back. “We got sent here by Twilight’s map. We’re supposed to be helping solve some kind of friendship problem.”

“A friendship problem, really?” Gilda couldn’t hold back her derisive snort. “Look up, Dash. We’re constantly fighting back flocks of heartless here. We don’t have any time for something as silly as a ‘friendship’ problem. We have REAL problems.”

“Friendship saved the world, G,” Dash countered. “Like, a lot of times. If it weren’t for my friends, you wouldn’t have days anymore.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Gilda snapped her talons together and summoned her keyblade again. The whisk-like guard encased her talons while they wrapped around the wooden grip. She swung the weapon around a couple times and stopped it right in front of Dash’s head, the silver and gold feathers that acted as the teeth glinted in the light briefly before the shaft was rotated and the back side of the blade, half of a large wooden spoon, bopped the sky-blue pegasus with the lightest of taps. “This thing makes most problems go away. Looks like I’m stuck dealing with dweebs.”

Dash snorted, rubbing her nose. “I’m not the one with the dweeby sword-thing. That looks like you went into the kitchen and just glued a bunch of stuff together,” she shot back, trying to ignore a growing stain of jealousy.

“Yeah, well, at least I can actually hurt those darn heartless.” Gilda reared up on her hindlegs briefly, seemingly ripping her keyblade in half as it shifted and changed to match her stance before fading away in a flash of light. Gilda fell back to the ground heavily and had to pull herself back onto her feet. “Bah. I need to get home to gramps. I’m too sore to keep fighting right now.”

Moving besides Gilda, Dash braced the griffon’s side. “Just in case you need some more support,” she said, managing a smile. “Let’s get you back before Pinkie turns your house into a bakery.”

“It already is one. Wait... that pink menace is at my house?!”

Thicket was a breathtaking city, hidden deep within the vast acreage of the Everfree. It was grown out of trees akin to Fluttershy’s cottage, but on a much larger scale. Everything about the deer’s domain was interwoven into nature. Deer moved to and fro, giving the passing group its fair share of dirty looks.

More than a few times Celsetia had to gently prod Alex along when his attention was taken by the sights. Of particular interest were the deer coaxing rapidly growing trees and vines into a home.

When they reached their destination, Alex’s eyes twinkled with awe. The palace was the largest tree he had ever seen, grown into a size and shape that vaguely resembled Twilight’s castle. Multitudes of light broke through its leaves, dancing on the ground as the tree moved in the wind.

Celestia led Alex along as they walked through the castle halls, herself being led by one of the serving fauns while they had a conversation in a language he didn’t understand. Every so often she would look back to make sure he was still keeping up before continuing to walk along. Finally, they entered a cozy room with a rather simple, ancient table set in the middle of it. A single, equally-ancient-looking chair was set at one point next to a cushioned bench, and a padded section of the floor.

“Is the chair for me?” he whispered to Celestia. It was more finely crafted than any he had seen before. “I don’t wanna just assume and cause an international incident.”

“That chair was made for Lady Aqua.” Aspen responded while walking to the head of the table. “I assumed that it would be suitable for you as well, if perhaps needing a height adjustment.”

Cringing, Alex slunk into the chair. "Thank you, your majesty."

“Oh, please, let us not stand on perfect formality in this private setting, young wielder. You may simply call me ‘Aspen’ while we dine and talk. As a group of current, former, and learning keyblade users, I consider us all the same rank when a show doesn’t need to be put on.” The tall deer smiled genuinely at Alex while sitting down at the head of the relatively small table. “Besides, as I understand it, your unique situation could be used to justify calling you a princess of Equestria if one squints really hard at the laws of heredity and who your adoptive sister is.”

A princess? The idea was an alien concept. He admitted it was partially fitting, given how easily animals had started taking to him. Including the otherwise terrifying bugbear. "If it helps, I'm also a knight in the siren kingdom."

Celestia giggled softly while nudging Alex with a wing. “That’s beside the point, Alex. Just relax a little for the time being. We’re going to have a nice meal and a bit of a chat about the plans for your training under other masters of the martial arts.”

“Indeed. You made a good showing to the dogs out there, for example, and I’m sure they’re already planning on ways to try and improve your techniques.”

Relaxing a bit, Alex rubbed his neck. With all his time in Equestria, he had grown more comfortable with praise. "I'm just trying to apply game knowledge to real life. It helps that most of my free time is spent sparring."

“I would suggest speaking to your instructors about allowing you a bit more time off. It is true that attacks have become more frequent recently, but a growing child still needs time to relax and be a child.” Aspen held up a hoof quickly after saying that. “And I have been made aware of your mental situation, but you still need time to be yourself and figure out who that is now.”

"I wish they wouldn't treat me like a child," Alex lamented, chiding himself for almost putting his elbows on the table. Did that even have the same level of rudeness here? Best not to find out. "It's stifling."

Aspen nodded and looked over to Celestia for a few seconds. “They mean well, Alex, and can you truly state that there have been no times where you have been grateful for the coddling? If nothing else, you are being given a warm welcome home that would perhaps not have been so readily granted had you been found by another species. You might not have survived Griffonstone, for example.”

"I think Alex is where he needs to be." Servants began to ferry in food and drink, and Celestia partook in the offered wine. "On our original topic, Aspen, I will make this clear. I will not tolerate any callous remarks from those who train Alex."

“Instructors will do what they will do, Celestia. I will do my best to ensure that the instructor that visits Alex from us will be as kind as possible or face my wrath. What I cannot do is ensure that they will never say a single remotely hurtful thing because faults need to be pointed out.”

"I'm not talking about Alex's ego," she shot back. Her stance shifted, eyes like daggers over the rim of her cup.

“Ah, so it’s about the fact that he’s like you, then? A former stag in the body of a doe?” Aspen simply grinned for a moment. “Did you not note that one of our best trainees is a doe herself?”

Alex side eyed both sovereigns. Taking a roll from the tablet felt like taking the cheese from a mouse trap. Or was he the cheese? Dedicating himself to a bowl of soup, it became imperative to make as little noise as possible.

Sipping at her drink, Celestia eyed the swirling liquid. "They will regard Alex with the utmost respect, very much the opposite of our escort, Pinecone. Afterall, you wouldn't want to insult one who has favor with the siren queen."

“Ah, yes, Pinecone. Had I known she was on patrol duty today I would have made sure she was placed somewhere you were unlikely to approach from. She’s notorious for being about as pleasant as sitting on an old, dry, open… I honestly wonder if her parents had a bit of prescience in naming her, actually.”

"Soo... What are we having?" Alex asked, lifting the lid off one of the trays. Fish greeted his sight, though he couldn't name the kind. "My compliments to the chef." Also on the tray was a small salad with what looked like wild carrots, nuts, and various berries with a small jar of bright red dressing of some kind.

“For you, a fillet of fresh river salmon prepared with some simple, fragrant spices preferred by the previous human guest according to the palace records. Similarly the salad for you lacks any of the various grasses we tend to use as our base ingredients, using nuts and berries that have been documented as non-toxic to your kind, and the dressing is a blend of beet juice and vinegar. All perfectly healthy for a growing human. If you’re still hungry after that, I can ask the chefs to boil a couple eggs for you as well.” Aspen responded readily while looking down the table at Alex with a kind smile.

It quickly became clear that deer cooking was delicious. He'd never have the heart to admit that it rivaled Fluttershy's cooking. "Did Aqua tell you all of that?"

“Me personally, no. Of all the things I can do well, child, cooking is not one of them. The last time I tried to make a salad I almost set the kitchen on fire.”

Alex stifled a giggle. He supposed Aspen wasn't that bad of a guy. "I've never been good at cooking either. My dorm was full of tv dinners and instant ramen. Which is ironic, being a med student and all."

“Med... medical? I assume then that such food is considered unhealthy?”

"Yeah, but it's cheap. And cheap is good when you're paying your own way through college." A satisfied grin dawned on Alex's face. He'd never actually have to pay back all those loans. "I plan on trying for the medical field again."

“You won’t have to worry about a single bit for that education here. Between the generous pricing of specialized education in Equestria in general and all of the other nations wanting to curry some favor with either you or your father...I expect you’ll be showered with either gifts or competitive offers.”

'As they should. Peons should always praise their betters.'

Alex suddenly felt a finger prodding at his waist and a soft, almost dismissive-sounding sniff coming from right next to him. Turning to look had him staring directly into what looked like a floating pink ball of fluff flanked by two giant ears. “You are the young and new bearer of the ancient keyblade? There are heartless that could sit on you and kill you, kupo.”

Grabbing those ears, Alex gave a firm tug. "I didn't give you permission to touch me, rabbit." Releasing the ears, he flicked the orb. "I don't need to defend my skills to you."

“I’m not disparaging your skills, kupo. You are too young, you are too thin, your bones are underdeveloped, and your muscles have not reached their full potential.” A pair of hands came up to steady the bobbing puffball and the being backed up a couple steps before looking around the chair and offering an awkward genuflection towards Celestia. “Princess, your radiance is always a pleasure, but your blade is reckless in choosing so young a bearer.”

Celestia smiled, wrapping a wing around Alex. "I have total faith in Alex." Her eyes twinkled with recognition. "It is good to see you again, Artemis. The last time I saw you, you were just starting your apprenticeship."

“Many years have passed since then, Princess. Decades, if I am remembering correctly, kupo. I am told that my services as a forgemaster are to be needed in Equestria as your country is finally re-arming itself against the heartless and their recent resurgence.” Artemis took another step back to look Alex up and down again, allowing him to finally get a good look at the odd creature.

His own eyes widened, staring at Artemis with wonder. An Ivalice-styled moogle stood before him, tiny wings, pom pom and all. He reached out to squish its face before pulling his arm against his chest. Embarrassment was clear on his face. "It's nice to meet you, Artemis."

Artemis extended one somewhat short arm towards Alex in what was obviously a handshake invitation. “I look forward to working with your keyblade at some point and hope that we can work together in a mutually respectful way from here on out. My first duty will be to examine Princess Luna’s blade, then examine the new bearers for imperfections and flaws in their blades. We wouldn’t want them to break in the middle of an intense fight with new bearers and untested blades, kupo.”

Taking her hand, he marveled at how soft her fur was. It reminded him of a siamese. "Same here, I guess. Aubade should be fine though so no worries there."

Artemis pulled her hand back after a few seconds, and her eyes narrowed slightly before she gazed back over to Celestia. “You cast your blade adrift a millennium ago, correct? A thousand years adrift in the darkness between worlds, where anything could happen to it? It is out of respect for you that I don’t make that my top priority, for I am sure your light has done much to protect it from those that would wish to break such a tool for good. Every tool requires maintenance though, and a thousand years of neglect is a long time, kupo.”

Alex shook his head, a refusal passing his lips before he really thought about it. "I already told you, Aubade is fine. It's not going to break from a bunch of shadows." The mere idea of parting with Aubade, even for a moment, horrified him.

Artemis looked back at Alex, their expression shifting from incredulity to concern. “I can’t keep your keyblade against your will unless it is broken, and even then it would return as soon as it has accepted that it is sufficiently repaired and the magic of the blade flows once again. Moogles are also incapable of abusing the grasping loophole to obtain a keyblade. We are merchants and smiths, not warriors. Our bodies are ill-suited to the rigors of combat, kupo.”

Celestia placed a hoof on Artemis's shoulder. "We can table this discussion until you've seen to Missing Ache." Spreading her other wing, she motioned to an open chair. "Please, join us. I'm sure King Aspen would not mind another at his table."

“I’d be honored by your presence, Mastersmith…”

“Forgemaster, King Aspen.” Artemis stepped over to the chair offered by Princess Celestia and hopped up on it with ease before offering a tilt of her head towards the buck. “Forgive my interruption, but you would not wish me to call you by the incorrect title in a formal setting.”

Aspen inclined his head. "Of course not, dear Forgemaster. You will always have a place at my hearth."

“And my forge shall always be open to service a blade in need, despite my primary focus shifting to Equestria, kupo. Connections make our hearts and our world stronger after all.” Artemis responded with a smile.

‘I like her, she’s got spirit.’

Alex side-eyed Artemis. The little creature was adorable, a walking teddy bear. He just wanted to scoop her up and squeeze her. Was that the same part of him that Sonata drew out? Shaking away an image of himself be-dressed and snuggling said moogle, he tried to ignore Nightmare's cackling.

One could easily mistake day for night in the forgotten village of Hollow Shades. Abandoned many centuries ago, the decaying vale had given way to the shadows. And they took to their new home with vigor.

Trixie was not one of them, nor had she ever given thought to this place; much less coming to it. Turning her head out of the dirt, she glanced up at the creature pinning her down. She found her own terrified face staring back from its helmet.

"You're telling me I went out of my way to find you a puppet and you don't even want her?" Her kidnapper asked, gesticulating to a hanging cloak. "Are you really going to be this picky?"

A sleeve of the cloak swept out as if the arm inside were cutting through the air. “I’ve used this puppet before and found her quality lacking. Not this one specifically, of course, but one from another world. Cut her strings and cast her adrift to join our forces; I’ll not have her body holding me back.”

Summoning his keyblade downward, Vanitas sighed. "Hey, this'll hurt, but you don't want the alternative." Stabbing into her back, he yanked Trixie's heart out. It floated towards the sun, evaporating into a haze of purple.

"B-but I'm Great and Powerful..." Trixie whispered before fading out from under his boot.

"How many is that now?" Vanitas asked, spreading his arms out. "Trying for a baker's dozen? We won't get anywhere if you don't settle on someone."

“I’m not settling for a subpar egomaniac who doesn’t have enough power to do what I need my new body to do. You called her a puppet, and you were right to do so, but I’ve been there before. I refuse to be so limited ever again, tangled up in her insecurities like a spiderweb. I want a body, not just a toy.”

Hooves cut into the conversation, echoing off the collapsed walls. "Hail, seekers of Darkness." Decrepit as the village around them was the mare’s visage; framed by a witch’s cloak. Standing before Vanitas, she stamped a hoof. "A boon I bring to you." From her cloak, she tossed a scroll between them. "The moon's folly shall be your triumph."

“Vanitas, it seems we may have an ally we didn’t know of on this world. Would you kindly see what that bit of information she just gave us is?”

Unfurling the scroll, Vanitas turned to his master. "Oh, you are going to love this."

Alex tugged his gloves harder, hoping in vain to find more warmth. Night was coming faster, and with it the chill of autumn. Or did the Everfree just get colder than the rest of Equestria? With goodbyes between monarchs outlasting his patience, Alex wandered a short ways to the gardens.

Many of the flowers were browning, though a few had closed up tight. A hibernating flower was a novel idea, much like Thicket itself. His meandering stopped, having brought him to a section of wall. In the dimming light of the sun, he observed the mural covering its surface.

What colors. What shapes. They called to him, begging for his touch. He had to know more, to step into that painted world-

For a heart-stopping moment the mural shifted in front of him, becoming a very different painting of a snow-covered mountain with a rickety wooden bridge leading towards a castle in the distance. He could even see the bloated, flame-spewing hollows patrolling the ramparts with their torches raised. That was disrupted by the sensation of his coat being tugged on.

“-ex! Your teeth are chattering and you’re shaking like you just came out of an icy lake, kupo. Come back inside and warm up. We’ve been looking for you for half of an hour.”

"Huh?" Alex stepped back, rubbing at his eyes. A simple painted wall stood before him. "Y-yeah. I'll be right there." Giving it a final glance, he pulled himself away. Just a simple daydream, brought on by tiredness, he dismissed.

Deep in her prison of memory, the blue haired perversion of Alex's mother grinned. The night, much like her host, would be hers once more.