Symphony of the Heart

In the stillness of deep space, a wormhole opened and out of it emerged the Gummy ship. The space craft wobbled momentarily as it adjusted from going thousands of miles an hour to fifty in a split second.

“Ohh, I don't feel too good,” Kairi moaned, hunched over the co-pilot’s seat and both arms wrapped around her abdomen.

Sora patted his friend on the back, chuckling sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry. I forgot to warn you, but warp speed can make you a bit nauseous the first few times.” Kairi said nothing, eyeing Sora with a sullen frown. “Hey, you took it better than I did, at least. My first time I threw up all over the control panel.”

Kairi arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yep,” Sora nodded wistfully. “Donald pretty much lost it and tried to clobber me with his staff. I spent the next week using my toothbrush trying to get in between those buttons,” he muttered more to himself, memories of him hunched over, painstakingly scrubbing in between the numerous, neverending and small buttons resurfaced on the back of his mind. “So… many… buttons…”

“Sora?” Kairi asked uncertainly. When the spiky haired teed didn't answer, Kairi lightly pinched his arm. “Are you okay?” She asked as Sora stated in surprise.

“Uh… yeah, yeah,” he said hastily. “Here. Just let me…” He steered the ship and Kairi could barely feel the minute vibrations of the engines. She thought her friends were pulling her leg when they told her the ship was made almost entirely of gummies and the first time she boarded it to travel to Yen Sid's Mysterious Tower, a part of her was worried the gummy portion of the ship would melt away and they'd be stuck in deep space. It wasn't like that, obviously, as the ship proved more than safe.

"And here we are," Sora said. Kairi looked to him. A wide, toothy grin split his face as he stared out at the new world and Kairi's gaze followed suit.

A beautiful world, in her opinion, but then again, they all did have a certain beauty and majesty to them when viewed from space. Lush, fertile valleys, mountain ranges, tundras, deserts and forests could be seen peeking behind the cotton-like blanket of clouds that encircled the world.

"Are we going now?" Kairi asked eagerly.

Sora did not immediately answer, in the process of pushing some buttons and pulling a number of levers. "Not just yet," he said.

Kairi's attention was then diverted to the control screen where a new message appeared, saying 'Scanning in Progress'

"What's that for?" Kairi asked curiously. "Can't we just go in?"

"Well we could," Sora said as he leaned back on his seat. "But it's probably not a good idea. It's a new world, Kairi, so we don't know what's going on down there. I mean, for all we know, we could be landing in a warzone, or a palace or right in the middle of a town. And as keybearers, we're forbidden from messing with the world order. No one can know we're from another world, and we can't mess around with issues that are not related to our mission."

"So what are you saying? We can't talk to anybody while we're down there?"

"No, we can talk. We just can't let on that we're not from around here. I know, rules and all." He rolled his eyes good naturedly. "I'm not sure I fully understand it all, but the King and Yen Sid insist on it, so you know it's for a good reason."

"I guess," Kairi conceded. "And how long will it take before the scanning's complete?"

“About an hour or two. Give or take. Goofy, Donald and I usually go in where the ship picks up the most Heartless activity.” He then stood from the captain’s chair and stretched. “Well, I dunno about you, but I could go for some food right about now. You hungry?”

Kairi considered this. On one hand, the trip via warp speed proved rougher than expected, but now that it ceased, the queasiness in her stomach quickly receded, only to be replaced by some faint hunger pangs. In all the excitement, she'd forgotten to eat lunch and now her stomach voiced its disapproval at this course of action. “Sure, I could eat. Ohh, I wish I'd taken a shower before leaving, though.”

“So take one,” Sora said simply. He elaborated when Kairi looked at him questioningly. “Well, since we travel so much, Goofy, Donald and I pooled our money and got the ship some upgrades. Come here, I'll show you.” He took Kairi by the hand and led her into the small elevator at the opposite end of the ship’s control center and pressed the button labeled 'Living Quarters'.

They exited a fairly small, narrow hallway with five sets of doors. Two on either side and one at the end.

“See? Here we are,” Sora said as he opened the door at the end. Kairi was appalled.

“It's a mess!” And a mess it was. Towels lay haphazardly, on the curtain rack, stuffed in the sink and wedged in a cabinet that has clearly been forced closed. Dried, muddy footprints—thankfully faint—dotted the floor, in the shape of duck feet and two sets of shoes. Bottles of shampoo, tissue paper and other amenities overflowed from the wastebasket while discarded cartons of soap, toothpaste and more than a few feathers littered the floor. Kairi stepped gingerly over the chaos, aghast. She caught her reflection on the mirror above the sink, making out little more than an oddly shaped blob. So smudged with dried water it was that it looked like it had never been clean. The toilet, thankfully, seemed to have escaped any neglect, though Kairi did notice the seat had been left up.

“How do you guys live like this?” Kairi asked in horror as she held up a slightly stiff towel with the word ‘Sora’ spray painted on.
Sora chuckled weakly, having enough sense to look ashamed. “Well, we don't spend that much time on the ship. A-and we’re usually tired from fighting and there's other things we need to get to and…” he trailed off lamely.

“You think this is bad, you should see my room," Sora said in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood.

Kairi shot him a deadpan look and shook her head. "Boys..." She huffed.

***

Luna stormed out of yet another house in an angry huff, very nearly slamming the door off its hinges. No bodies, no trace of survivors, not even a clue as to the identity of Trenthoof's attackers. The rest of the search party fared little better.

Armed guards, wary and standing at attention, flanked her and the hoofful of royal professors and scholars, vigilant of any threats that may rise. Just as Celestia had said, no trace of anypony remained. No physical trace at least.

The unicorns among them—those particularly attuned to the ambient magic around them—reported feeling... something. Luna felt it as well. An oily haze, faint, that dulled their senses. Traces of the monsters responsible for this. It encircled the small town, and nowhere else.

Luna warned her guards to remain on alert, for though these creatures were not visible, their presence could be clearly felt. The longer they remained, the stronger it became—even to the point where everypony could feel it.

A squadron of the guard sounded the alarm. Luna galloped to the spot where she saw a cluster of her ponies facing a spot in the ground.

They dispersed to let her through and Luna could see just what it was that drew their attention.

A dark blob, a shadow without visible source writhed on the grass until it took on a shape. And in an act that stunned everypony around, the shadow then rose out of the ground, its body turning three dimensional, with but two beady yellow eyes.

Seconds passed as everypony took in the bizarre sight before them. The creature twitched and jerked erratically, as though unable to stand still for even a moment. Two antenna like protrusions emerged out the top of its round head and save for its round, pupiless yellow eyes, its body lacked any semblance of color.

Ponies cried out in alarm as three more of the creatures—these Shadows—emerged around their brethren, and hastily backed away.

"Hold, everypony! Do not allow these creatures to intimidate you." Luna's commanding tone settled the batponies, who at this point drew their weapons. Swords unsheathed, spears lowered, crossbows were pulled taut and horns glowed as everypony prepared to strike down the

Shadows at their princess' command.

"Vile creatures, this is your only warning. Stand down and surrender yourselves, lest you face destruction at our hooves!"

The Shadows lunged, three-clawed hands ready to tear into the ponies, who were more than prepared for their assault. At least a half dozen weapons struck the Shadows, who were defeated immediately and more than one pony gasped as their forms dissolved into nothingness, leaving no trace of their existence.

The guards muttered amongst themselves, baffled at the scene that just transpired. Luna frowned. She'd been absolutely certain the Shadows were responsible for the destruction of Trenthoof and yet, they proved surprisingly poor opponents.

But their victory was short lived, for that haze they all felt before—that darkness-came back in full force. The ponies cried out in alarm and scrambled to reposition their formation as Shadows emerged all around them.

Princess Luna strode forward, head held high and posture radiating confidence. "Stand your ground, all of you, and rally behind me! We shall smite these creatures back to the foul pits from whence they came!"

Princess Luna's rallying cry, made all the more prominent by use of the Royal Canterlot Voice, echoed across the unlikely battlefield. The ponies, composed but tense, readied their weapons, warily eyeing the Shadows all around them. At least two dozen of the creatures, identical in every way, pounced as one.

Luna's horn lit with power. The princess channeled her magic to its very tip from where an orb, whitish blue in color, steadily grew in size. The smell of ozone filled the night air as the moon princess released her charged spell. Tendrils of lightning sprung from her horn, instantly annihilating a dozen Shadows.

The guard ponies charged forward, meeting the Shadows' own. They were weak opponents, and lacked any semblance of strategy or teamwork. The Shadows' tactics consisted of nothing more than quick lunges, poised to scratch with their claws and maybe one or two would opt to jump and descend on a hapless pony.

Despite the ponies’ training, a number of Shadows managed to land hits, but these were few and far in between as the mindless monsters did not possess a semblance of strategy and many of their claws bounced off the guards’ enchanted armor.

One after another, the Shadows were struck down until eventually, none remained standing. A collective sigh of relief spread across the Lunar Guard.

Most ponies remained unharmed, though a few sported bleeding cuts from where the Shadows’ attacks hit their mark.

Princess Luna inspected the battlefield, still wary. They'd beaten back the monsters, just as she expected and yet, the brief skirmish had proven a bit too easy.

“Enemies incoming!” yelled a bat pony.

All eyes turned, measuring this new threat. Eight new creatures, clad almost entirely in armor, marched onward. Their body structure appeared simian; brute creatures as tall as Luna and twice as massive, their hulking arms almost comically disproportioned to their smaller legs, but this is not what unnerved the ponies. Each of the brutes carried a single shield from which protruded the face of a canine animal possessing three eyes. The faces’ ears twitched, they growled and bared their fangs as the stalwart brutes lumbered forward.

Luna was the first to recover. “Insidious louts! You shall join your brethren in Tartarus!” The princess’ head lowered, her magic flared, blasting the monsters with conjured bolts of lightning. But these enemies would prove more formidable than the Shadows.

Luna's barrage of lightning ended. The moon princess looked upwards, expecting her foes to be vanquished. "Impossible," she whispered in horror.

The brutes still advanced, seemingly unbothered by the torrential magic the princess had unleashed on them. Only their slightly charred shields indicated they'd indeed withstood the blast. Throughout this, the brutes—the Defenders—remained stoic, uttering nary a sound save for that of their footsteps and the snarls and growls of their unnatural shields.

Snarling, Luna called on her inner power. Pure, raw magic swirled like a vortex from her horn, but Luna's control over it was absolute, shaping it, molding it into a blade of pure energy. "Everypony with me! We shall meet these creatures head on! For Equestria!"

"For Equestria!" Following in their princess' wake, the ponies rallied and charged at the Defenders, weapons ready to strike, but they were not prepared for what happened next.

The heads on the Defenders' shields snarled, their eyes glowed a vivid orange and from their maws they expelled a series of fireballs that homed in to the charging ponies.

Not prepared for this, the guards broke rank, scattering from their organized assault as they hastily turned their charge into an attempt to avoid the flames. Most ponies were quick to dodge, but an unfortunate few caught the blast head on and were instantly set ablaze.
Though the princess nor her ponies knew this, the enemies they now faced were commonly known as Heartless and true to their name, they were creatures without hearts. A threat capable of consuming entire worlds, Heartless were not to be taken lightly, for though the princess and her guards had managed to dispose of a number of them, those very same Heartless had not been fully vanquished.

The felled Shadows had been only momentarily stalled, for though their corporeal forms were destroyed, the captured hearts from which they drew power remained intact. Only the rage of the Keyblade could release the captured hearts and truly destroy the Heartless.
All around the battlefield, the Shadows rose anew and pounced on the unprepared ponies. The scattered guards were overwhelmed. Broken from their formation, the Shadows were quick to surround them, and though they proved no more formidable than before, their greater numbers helped turn the tide to their advantage.

The ponies fought valiantly but the Shadows knew no fear—save for that of the Keyblade—and wave after wave overcame the ponies. Luna watched in horror as several guards were consumed, their bodies dissolving into nothingness, hearts claimed by the Shadows and becoming Heartless in turn.

Luna bared her teeth, snorting in fury. The sight of her loyal troops cannibalized by the Heartless to bolster their numbers repulsed her, knowing the ponies who stood beside her not moments ago were now enemies—enemies that would need to be destroyed.

The moon princess unfurled her wings and took to the skies, faster than the Heartless could react. As much as Luna would like to avenge her fallen troops, she knew she and her forces would have to retreat. The creatures couldn't be killed by conventional means, and the longer this battle was drawn out, the more of her troops fell, in turn bolstering the number of Heartless.

No, in order to preserve the lives of her ponies, they would need to retreat and live to fight another day. They would need time to devise a way to fell the Heartless permanently. She would then take great pleasure in exacting vengeance. But before any of that, they would need to capture a live specimen, to better understand them and their weaknesses.

“Captain Dewfrost, sound the retreat,” Luna ordered her second in command.

The captain and her squad of bat ponies had been harassing the Heartless from the air, swiping at them with weapons, hooves or bombs that exploded in lightning bolts.

“At once, Princess,” Dewfrost saluted and from her saddlebag drew a small horn that she blew with all her might. “Pull back, everypony. Pull back! Wind Runner, Sablemane, take two squadrons and protect the ground troops from the air. Cover their retreat and keep the monsters busy,” Dewfrost ordered two nearby ponies, who acknowledged her orders and organized the bat ponies to provide cover for the ground troops’ retreat.

“Princess, what will you…” Dewfrost began to say, but paused as she registered that Luna readied to launch yet another attack. The princess' horn sparked and crackled as midnight blue lightning bolts cracked from the sphere at the tip of her horn. With a mighty battle cry, Luna let loose the massive spell. Dewfrost had to shield her eyes as blazing bolts of electricity lit up the night, descending without mercy on the unsuspecting Heartless.

The bolts arced from the point of origin, splitting into dozens of smaller but no less powerful tendrils as they neared the Heartless. Countless Shadows were vaporized under the sheer heat of the lightning bolts, as were most Defenders, caught unawares by the surprise attack.
Princess Luna breathed heavily as she recovered, the toll of such an intensely powerful spell having drained a good portion of her magic. She knew it was but a matter of time before the monsters reclaimed their physical forms. Even there, high in the air, she could still sense their foul presence. Still, her actions worked in providing her ponies a much needed respite from the creatures' assault.

Luna surveyed the area. More than a few of her lightning bolts had struck the nearby houses, igniting the wooden frames, and setting them ablaze and quickly enough, the smell of acrid smoke enveloped the area. But this was not what she looked for. Her eyes roved over the terrain until they came across a Shadow. The Heartless lay on the ground, clearly stunned and twitching, obviously having been struck by her attack. Not so much so that its physical form dissolved, but enough to stun it. Luna tucked in her wings and dived, landing atop the felled Heartless. Her magic flared to life again and the Shadow’s body levitated off the ground. Luna then conjured a magical sphere to imprison the unwitting Heartless. She was confident it wouldn’t be able to escape the numerous protections she’d placed on the sphere.

With the Heartless in tow, Luna took to the skies once more, the sphere held in a magical grasp. She hoofed it over to captain Dewfrost, under orders to return the Shadow unharmed. With any luck, it would provide some answers and a way to vanquish the Shadows and their ilk for good.

Luna watched with satisfaction as Dewfrost took off, securing the her prize. Things seemed to be going according to plan. Most of the Heartless had been vaporized by her attack, though several Shadows and a hooffull of the Defenders remained. The lumbering brutes turned their sights on her, recognizing her as the greater threat. The cursed lupine faces on those unnaturally resistant shield of thiers bared their fangs, growling, and let loose with a number of fireballs that homed in on her position. With a sneer, Luna sent strong but compact bolts of magic to intercept the fiery projectiles, which snuffed out pitifully under her superior magic.

Yes, her ponies’ retreat was unfurling as planned. She could still feel the Heartless’ presence all around her, and any second now they would reappear. What Luna didn’t plan on was for the fell creatures to materialize in midair.

Several dark voids came to being out of thin air, made of the foulest darkness and when dissipated, revealed a new enemy altogether. Flying creatures, scaled and possessing two clawed feet. Their bodies were vaguely draconic in nature and their forearms long since morphed into a set of wings. The Wyverns dived in for the kill. Luna managed to blast one of them with a powerful beam of magic, but even as it vaporized under her attack, the remaining Wyverns were too fast.

The first of the winged beasts barreled into her side, its hard, pointed snout striking painfully against her ribs. Luna gasped, but before she could recover and launch a strike of her own, she felt powerful, taloned feet claw at her back, slicing the tender skin of her wing joints. Luna’s wings beat erratically, trying to retain control of her flight, but the Wyverns were nothing if not relentless. They swarmed the struggling princess, mercilessly using their hard bodies and sharp talons to slam against and slash away at her.

Luna fell under the combined assault, her body crashing hard against the ground. One of her wings was bent at an odd angle, clearly broken and it was all she could do to not scream in pain. The Wyverns descended as one, poised to finish off their prey, but Luna still had some fight left in her. Marshaling her reserves of magic, the princess sent a volley of compressed but powerful bolts of magic. Even under the pain she now felt her accuracy remained sharp as ever. Each of the Wyverns found themselves with a narrow hole burning clean through their body. They halted their assault, looking down at their chests in what was undoubtedly pure surprise before their bodies burst and dissolved into nothingness.

Luna smiled, snorting in satisfaction. Wincing, she struggled to her hooves. The damage was not as bad as she initially thought. Her wings were useless now, the tender, sensitive skin in her joints having been torn. She gingerly tried moving them, but found they felt stiff. Her ribs ached, but clearly remained unbroken and several cuts spread throughout her body now bled. All in all, it could be worse.

But the princess was offered no respite, for three fireballs slammed against her side. This time, Luna couldn’t hold back the scream of pain as the searing heat burnt off a large patch of her fur, sending her stumbling. The Defenders lumbered forward, the hellish faces on their shields salivating, snapping their jaws, eager to tear into her flesh.

“Everypony, protect the princess!”

A squad of pegasi entered the fray, stomping the heads of the clumsy Defenders with armored hooves, dazing the lumbering brutes. Captain Dewfrost emerged from the swarming pegasi, landing besides Luna and attempting to help her back to her hooves.

“Quickly, princess. We must get you out of here,” Dewfrost urged carefully but firmly pulling the princess to a standing position.

“Thank you, captain,” Luna said gratefully. “But I am afraid my wings are too damaged to fly away.”

Dewfrost frowned. Her gaze trailed to the pegasi circling above, forming a protective shield around the two of them. The mare signaled four of them and the ponies broke rank, landing beside the duo. “Your princess requires your assistance,” Dewfrost said imperiously. “Take her back to the castle. Let no further harm come to her, understand?”

The ponies saluted and chorused, “Yes, ma’am!” They hefted the princess in their hooves, and though it chafed Luna’s pride to be carried away like a pampered little filly, she knew this was not the time to raise any objections.

“Thank you, everypony,” Luna said softly as the four bat ponies hefted her in their hooves and carried off the blazing remains of Trenthoof. As the ponies carrying her put distance between them and the town, Luna could see the remaining bat ponies stayed behind, flanking her escort.

More Heartless emerged from the darkness. Wyverns, Defenders and Shadows alike. The ponies bravely dived in, fighting off the vile creatures, but it was in vain. Heartless fell due to the ponies’ superior teamwork and ability to work as a cohesive unit, but the Heartless’ numbers were too great. Like a tidal wave, they overcame the ponies. Defenders smashed their shields, fireballs were spat out, Shadows flanked and ambushed the ponies, Wyverns tackled and shredded with their talons. One by one, the ponies fell, their hearts claimed by the Heartless and becoming Heartless in turn.

Luna watched on, unable to do anything as her brave ponies were consumed by the fell creatures. Their sacrifice enabled her and the ponies carrying her to make a speedy getaway, but even then, her losses were far too great.

How could she face her sister now? What would she say to the families of the ponies who perished this day? That they became cursed and corrupted, mindless creatures who now served dark forces beyond her comprehension? And what of her kingdom, how would they defend themselves against this new threat? Sure, they now held a Shadow captive. Luna could only hope they would be able to devise a way to truly extinguish this new infestation before it got out of control.

These thoughts and more rushed through her head, but the exhaustion that coursed through her body, coupled with the blood loss, eventually caused her vision to go dark.

***

“That can’t be right,” Sora muttered as he stared at the screen before him.

“What can’t be right?” Kairi asked, stepping out the small elevator and entering the control room, garbed in a fluffy pink bathrobe, with fuzzy bunny slippers to match and a towel of the same material and color curled atop her head.

“Wha… where did you get that?” Sora asked, appalled at the sheer amount of pink before him.

Kairi sniffed, looking at Sora balefully. “Not from your bathroom, that’s for sure. I made sure to bring my own stuff,” she said and took a sip from a mug of hot cocoa in her hand. “Now what were you saying?” she asked and stepped closer, sitting on the chair beside him and peering at the screen.

“Oh, right. Well, the ship’s finished scanning the world, but…”

“Yes?”

“Basically, it tells us where the major cities are located, where the Heartless activity is at its strongest and it also tells us who the dominant species is.”

“And…”

“Well, take a look.” Sora pushed a button and an image popped up onscreen.

“Is that… a pony?” Kairi asked after a beat of silence. Yes, it was indeed a pony. Well, it resembled one, for though it resembled the ponies Kairi was familiar with, it also differed in a number of ways. The legs looked strangely elastic and more robust than a normal pony. The creature’s muzzle significantly shorter and the eyes were clearly out of proportion with its head.

“Yep. But that’s not all. Look,” Sora said and pressed some more buttons. Now two more images popped up. Ponies as well, looking pretty much the same as the first example but with some telling differences. The pony on the right sported a pair of wings while the one on the left had a stubby little horn atop its head.

Kairi couldn’t help but giggle. “A pegasus and unicorn? And these guys are the dominant life in this world.”

Sora offered a wan smile. “Apparently, but that’s not all.” At Kairi’s inquisitive look he continued. “So apparently these guys have a nation, right over there, you see?” he pointed out the ship’s window to a landmass in the northern hemisphere. “That’s their kingdom and where you’ll find most of them, but they aren’t the only intelligent species in this world.”

“Oh?” Kairi’s eyes lit up in interest. Sora pushed more buttons, and a number of images popped up alongside the ponies. Minotaurs, griffons, deer, caribou, yaks, sphinxes, winged serpents, what could only be described as a seapony, dragons, strange centaur-like creatures and gargoyles, Kairi arched an eyebrow. “Is this correct?”

“According to the ship’s scanners, yes. And no people in sight. Kind of like the Pride Lands.”
Kairi breathed out in wonderment, her eyes alight. Worlds such as these were notoriously rare. She’d heard from Sora about his exploits in the Pride Lands, where he’d been transformed into a lion cub. One of the strangest experiences in his life, according to him, but also fun.

“And that’s where we’re going?”

“Yep.”

“Will we turn into these… ponies or some of the other creatures?”

“Um… not likely.” When Kairi looked to him, he continued. “Donald’s usually the one who changes our appearance. It’s not like we land in a new world and poof! We’re different species. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Well… I can’t say I’m sorry. Nothing against the ponies, but I don’t think hooves are really my style.”

Sora chuckled. “You can say that again. You’ve no idea how weird it is to use your mouth for everything you’d do with your hands.”

“So are we going now?” Kairi asked eagerly.

“Almost. Just a few things we need to…” Alarms flared to life, buzzing annoyingly and bathing the control room in a sea of red. The images onscreen disappeared from sight and a holographic rendition of the world replaced it. A section within it, the landmass Sora indicated as the ponies’ homeland became outlined in red. The image closed in in four increments, a swirling red circle enclosing a space near the wintry mountains to the north. It highlighted a town, or at least, the remains on one.

“Sora, what is it?”

“Heartless!” Sora replied, his fingers darting quickly on the keys in the control panel. “But something’s not right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yen Sid said the Heartless had only recently appeared in this world, but the readings indicate a very large surge of them. This doesn’t happen normally. It usually takes a while for this many Heartless to appear at the same time. They’ve grown strong way too fast. The only way this could happen is if they were being controlled.”

“Controlled?”

“Yeah, and from the looks of things, the ponies were taken by surprise.”

“Then we need to get down there,” Kairi said.

“I’ll steer the ship down. Go and get ready.”

“Aye, captain,” Kairi said, a smirk in her lips. “Those Heartless will never know what hit them.” With that, the young redhead hurried to the elevator, disappearing beneath.

“Honestly, out of all the…” Sora muttered. “Why couldn’t we get a minor infestation? With all that darkness down there the Heartless are gonna be strong.” As he typed furiously in the control panel, his hand accidentally knocked down the mug of cocoa Kairi had conveniently forgot, spilling hot, sticky liquid all over the interface.

“Oh, for… Kairi!”