Just to let you know, while I said I would change the first chapter if I was wrong on a specific point, I'm sorry to say it but I won't be changing it, because that point is indeed vital to the future of this series and would make future volumes far less complicated. Sorry if this bothers you, but then one must take into account that THIS IS FANFICTION!
Thank you for understanding. We now return you to your regularly scheduled fan fiction.
Last time, Sora and the gang arrived in a strange yet picturesque world, one vastly differently than the world they had been in before. Even the new guy, Aiden Mackenzie, The Keyblade Alchemist, found this new green world to be to his liking. But then the sun set on the valley, leading to wave after wave of Heartless attacking them. Just when it seemed that our heroes were about to be overwhelmed by the dark creatures, help came in the form of five teenagers whom had power over the elements. Aiden seemed to recognize one of them, a girl. But it's what came next that truly blew our heroes minds; talking ponies.
Elsewhere in time and space, a group of ascended beings watched Sora and the gang and decided that they have to help, or else our heroes wouldn't survive.
'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 2: The Little Ponies of Dream Valley
Our heroes were surprised by the sight of the pastel colored ponies, but Kairi Donald and Goofy were the most vocal.
"Wow," said Donald.
"Gawarsh," said Goofy.
"Oh my!" said an awestruck Kairi.
Sara then pointed out the ponies to our heroes, "that's Shady," she indicated the one with the sunglasses mark, "Cherries Jubilee," she pointed to the one with the cherry mark, "North Star," pegasus with the compass mark, "Heart Throb," the Pegasus with the winged hearts, "and Galaxy," the unicorn with the constellation mark. "They, and several others, are the Little Ponies, and they live here in Dream Valley."
"How do you do?" the unicorn, Galaxy, asked as she walked forward towards Sora and raised her right front hoof, as if to shake Sora's hand with.
"Fine, thank you," said Sora as he shook Galaxy's hoof. It felt more than a little weird to be making conversation with a talking pony, but then Sora realized he should to be used to seeing weird stuff on his travels.
"What interesting outfits you have," said the Pegasus Heart Throb as she spoke with Kairi, "and I just adore that shade of red, it's so fabulous."
"You really think so?" Kairi asked as she touched her hair.
"You must have come from a very far place," said the other Pegasus, North Star, to Riku and Aiden.
"You have no idea," said Riku.
"I'm still new at this whole traveling to other worlds thing," said Aiden.
"You two certainly are odd," said the 'earth' pony Cherries Jubilee to Donald and Goofy.
"Look who's talking!" said Donald.
"We don't have talkin' horsies on our world," said Goofy.
"We're not horses," said the other 'earth' pony, Shady, "we're Little Ponies."
"At least you're okay with being short," said Aiden, "I knew a guy from my world who went ballistic whenever anyone made fun of his height."
"How short was he?" David Stratos asked.
"Like 165cm, or something like that," said Aiden, "and that's counting the top of his hair, and platform shoes no less."
"I'd be easily upset if I had to wear platform shoes," said Lance Stonehill.
"Same here," said Nate River.
"This is all nice and dandy," said a slightly irate Denise Emberson, "but would if be alright if we could take this conversation somewhere else? Someplace less exposed? Or am I asking too much?"
"She's right," said Sara Lancaster, "those monsters, Heartless you called them, they'll surely be back, and in greater numbers."
"And we shouldn't have to fight with our friends exposed," said Lance, indicating the five Little Ponies.
"I assume you have a more defensible location we can travel to," said Riku.
"It isn't exactly the best of defensible locations," said Denise Emberson, "but for our friends, it's home."
"Then lead on," said Kairi, "we'll talk along the way."
"It's not far," said Sara Lancaster. She lead our heroes down through the valley, her raised hand providing enough light for Sora and the others, as well as Sara's friends, both human and Little Pony, to see by.
As they walked, Sora and the others gave summarized versions of their travels, as well as more detailed information about The Heartless.
"Just how many world are we talking about?" Lance Stonehill asked.
"More than can be counted," said Riku, "there are countless universes existing side by side, and in each universe are multitudes of worlds."
"And The Heartless are out to turn them all to darkness," said Aiden.
"And here I thought we were having a rough time," said Nate River
"So you guys are all that stand against that darkness?" David Stratos asked.
"Anyone who has light in their heart can stand against the darkness and win," said Kairi, "just believe in yourself and your friends."
"I learned long ago that no matter how dark and hopeless things get," said Sora, "no matter how stacked the odds are against you, there's always a light, deep down inside, that never goes out."
"That's what we believe as well," said Galaxy.
"There's always hope," said North Star, "even in the darkest of night, there'll always be a dawn."
"Our thoughts exactly," said Kairi.
"Then again," said Shady in a slightly depressed tone, "it could rain in the morning, and then for the rest of the day, and all night, and again the next day, which is sort of okay with me, because I don't mind the rain at all."
"She has self confidence issues," said Cherries Jubilee to Sora in a hushed tone.
"Shady is alright," whispered Heart Throb, "a little bit depressing to be around, but you'll get used to her."
A short time later, our heroes, having reached the valley floor thanks to Sara's guiding light, came across a wide grassy field. Perched on a hill overlooking that field was a large building that looked like a ranch resort with white walls and a pink tile roof.
"Paradise Estate," said Sara.
"Home Sweet Home," said Cherries Jubilee.
"This is where you live?" Sora asked.
"We used to have our own castle," said North Star, "but now The Grundles live there."
"Grundles?" both Donald and Goofy asked.
"It's a long story," said Heart Throb.
Our heroes were shown inside to a large, brightly lit room filled with overstuffed chairs and couches. Waiting for Sara and her group were over a dozen more Little Ponies, each one more colorful than the last. Sara and her group were immediately surrounded by the Little Ponies, all of them asking for news about what was happening.
Kairi looked like she was in the middle of an intense sugar rush from the sight of all the pastel colored ponies.
"Oh, they're all so cute!" she exclaimed with stars in her eyes.
"I know," said an equally gaga-eyed Denise.
"What is it about girls and horses?" Sora whispered to Riku.
"If I knew that," said Riku, "I'd be a millionaire."
After several minutes of intense talking from the Little Ponies, Sara finally got them to listen to her. "I know, I know, you're all happy that we made it back," she said in a matronly manner, "but right now my friends and I need to talk with our new friends. They're here to help, but we need to have a serious discussion with them."
It was then that Sora and the gang were noticed by the Little Ponies in the room. Now they were the center of attention as a dozen talking ponies began asking questions at once; questions like 'who are you?' and 'where do you come from?' and such.
Just then a woman came into the room. She looked to be an older version of Sara; same blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue and white dress.
"I think you're all getting a little over excited," said the woman to the Little Ponies, "why don't you all go see what's in the kitchens? We'll be along in a bit, after we've talked to our new friends."
It took several minutes, but thanks to the woman's words, and some encouragement from North Star, Galaxy and the other Ponies that Sora and his group had met already, the assembled Little Ponies left the room.
"That was…interesting," said a perplexed Aiden.
"They can be a bit overwhelming at times," said Nate, "but it's worth it, just to see them happy."
"It is," said the woman. She then spoke to Sora and the gang, "I'm Megan Lancaster, Sara's mother. And who are you?"
Sora and the gang introduced themselves.
"We met them at the top of the valley, mom," said Sara, "they were fighting those things, Heartless they call them."
"Heartless?" the woman, Megan, asked.
Sora and the gang then explained The Heartless all over again.
"This is really serious," said Megan, "worse than anything I've seen since I first came to Dream Valley, and I have seen a lot.
"I'm sure you have a tone of questions," she said to Sora and the others, "especially how my daughter and her friends can do what they can do."
"It's crossed our minds," said Riku.
"I also want to know what your part in all this is, Ms. Lancaster" said Sora.
"Me to," said Kairi.
"It's a long story, and call me Megan." She bade Sora and the others to sit down, "I guess I should start at the beginning, at least for me. I first came to Ponyland in 1984. I was 12 at the time, when a Pegasus Pony fell out of the sky and landed in the well on my family's ranch in Wyoming. Her name was Firefly, and she had come to Earth seeking help for her friends.
"For as long as anyone in this world can remember, Ponyland, especially Dream Valley, has been a place of joy and happiness. All day long, from one end of Dream Valley to the other, the Little Ponies would frolic and play their games, making the day that much more beautiful.
"But with great good, eventually comes great evil. A demon named Tirnac came to Ponyland and tried to cover the world in eternal night. He had powerful dark magic, the Rainbow of Darkness, that twisted everything it touched into monstrous forms.
"Nothing was immune to the corruption of the Rainbow of Darkness, not even the Little Ponies. Tirnac kidnapped several Ponies and turned them into monsters to pull his flying chariot that he would use to bring about the endless night."
"How'd you stop him?" Sora asked.
"That's something I still ask myself from time to time," said Megan, "I was, and still am, an ordinary human being. I have no special powers or abilities, let alone any magic powers. When Firefly asked me to go back to Ponyland with her, I told her she had the wrong person, but I went with her anyway.
"Through a combination of sheer guts, ordinary human common sense, strength of heart, and some borrowed magic, we were able to stop Tirnac from destroying the world and restore all that was twisted by dark magic.
"Since then I've had many adventures in Ponyland; exploring the world and meeting strange and incredible people, battling against other forms of evil, helping the Little Ponies with everyday and otherworldly problems, and eventually meeting the man who would become Sara's father."
"Must have been an incredible guy," said Aiden.
"He was and is," said Megan. "I met Malcolm Lancaster just before I graduated high school. It was spring break of my senior year. At the time I was here in Ponyland, helping my friends face another evil, when along came Malcolm Lancaster, a wandering adventurer.
"It truly was love at first sight, like something out of a fairytale. We eventually moved back to Earth at my parent's ranch, got married in 1993, and a year later, Sara came along."
"Mom told me stories of her adventures ever since I was little," said Sara to Sora and the others, "and I told them to my friends," she indicated Nate, Lance, Denise and David.
"We didn't believe her at first," said Denise, "I mean, a world full of talking horses, who would believe that?"
"It was okay hearing it when we were kids," said Lance, "but as we got older, we started getting bored with the stories." Nate and David nodded in agreement.
"Even I began to disbelieve as I got older," said Sara, "and I nearly forgot the stories. But then 3 weeks ago several Pegasus Ponies came out of the say, saying that they needed mom and dad. My friends and I were there at the time, so we got to come along as well. We didn't believe before, but we do now."
"Boy, do we believe," said a slightly exasperated Nate.
"That is some story," said Sora.
"But it leaves several questions," said Riku.
"Like how you and your friends can use magic," said Kairi.
"That another thing that's been bothering me," said Megan, "my husband, Malcolm, he's like me; an ordinary human being. There aren't that many humans living in this world. Most of them came here by accident and couldn't get back to their worlds, so they settled here.
"Malcolm was the son of two humans from a parallel Earth. He grew up to be an adventurer, exploding the world and meeting new people, all without the use of super powers or magic. It's reasonable that Sara should be just as ordinary."
"And yet I can do this," said Sara as she held up her hand and produced the white light again.
"And you've probably guessed what we can do," said Nate. He held his hand out towards a glass of water and made the water in the glass rise up and hover. He then made the water flatten pout into a disk, then formed it into a pyramid, a cube and a sphere, before returning it to the glass.
Denise then produced several fireballs and made then rotate around her hand, then formed them into a double helix formation, a circle and a hexagon, before extinguishing the fires.
Lance produced a fist-sized rock from a pocket and made it hover above his hand. He then made it break into several pieces and caused the pieces to move about in complex formations, before forcing the smaller stones to merge back into the larger rock.
David created a miniature tornado in his hands and used it to float several seat cushions about the room, before returning them to their places.
"We come from ordinary human families, like Sara," said Denise, "and yet, this is who we are."
"It's a mystery," said Lance, "one we really haven't had much time to think about."
"Those creatures," said Nate, "Heartless, they began showing up in Dream valley several months ago. At first they didn't bother anyone, and there were only a handful, like one or two at a time. And only small ones."
"Were they like this?" Sora asked as he got out his sketchbook and showed Sara and her friends a drawing of a Shadow.
"That's it," said Sara.
"But then, about 3 weeks ago," said David, "they began showing up in larger numbers, and they were bigger. One night, and they only come out at night in this world, they attacked Paradise Estate and kidnapped several Little Ponies."
"They didn't!" exclaimed a shocked Kairi.
"They did," said Megan, "they took six that first night, including Firefly."
"No way," said Sora.
"That's when North Star, Heart Throb and several others came to Earth for help," said Sara.
"It got worse after that," said Megan, "The Heartless came back several nights later and took more of the Little Ponies. We were able to hold then back for a while, but each time The Heartless came, they took more of our friends."
"Only the ones you saw tonight are left," said Sara, "and even they would have been taken, if our powers hadn't emerged."
"We're guessing that the two events are related somehow," said Lance.
"This is terrible," said Riku, "and a bit unsettling. Heartless don't kidnap people, especially talking ponies, not on their own anyway. No, someone in this world is controlling them, someone evil."
"This is right up Maleficent's alley," said Sora, while Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.
"Who's that?" Denise asked.
"A dark sorceress of the worst kind," said Riku, "a witch who sees herself at the mistress of all evil, and that may be true."
"But if she's behind this depravity," said Aiden in a determined voice, "we'll do all that we can to stop her and rescue the Little Ponies. And even if she isn't, we'll do everything we can to help save the Little Ponies anyway."
"Yep!" said Goofy.
"Darn right!" said Donald.
"You'd better believe it," said Kairi.
"Without a doubt," said Riku.
"We'll find and save them," said Sora, "count on it."
Unknown to Sora and the others, the troubles in Dream Valley had nothing to do with Maleficent. Something else is controlling The Heartless this time, something most foul.
Deep within an underground cave, an inhuman creature of pure malice is working to bring about a dark deed that would shake the world to its foundation. It is a humanoid demon with gray skin and three snake-like eyes and elongated limbs that ended in claws. Its name, as close as can be said in the tongue of men, is Zabuchrion.
The creature stood at one end of the cave where a rift to The Realm of Darkness had opened up. Emerging from it were dozens of Neo Shadows, Dark Balls and Invisibles.
"Come to me," hissed Zabuchrion, "come, creatures of darkness, come."
The newly arrived Heartless advanced towards the demon, yet they did not attack. Demons do not have hearts, not in the way humans do, so The Heartless had no reason to attack the demon. Yet this creature of malice compelled The Heartless towards it, forcing them to obey with dark magic of a different sort.
"You are mine now," hissed Zabuchrion, "you will obey my commands without hesitation."
The assembled Heartless bowed in obedience.
"Excellent," said Zabuchrion, "it's only a matter of time before I have enough Heartless at my command, enough to overwhelm those foolish young humans who believe they can stand against the inevitable darkness that will cover this world forever."
Zabuchrion then went to an adjacent cave, where dozens of frightened Little Ponies were kept in several cages. The Earth Ponies had their hooves chained to the ground, while the Pegasus ponies had their wings tied back with ropes enchanted so they couldn't be broken. The Vnicorn Ponies had rings of black stone placed on their horns that could negate their magic, for unicorns Ponies have strong magic of their own.
"You fools thought that the darkness had been defeated," hissed Zabuchrion, "you couldn't be more wrong. The time of eternal night grows near, and nothing in this world can stop it." It laughed cruelly and left the cave.
Zabuchrion returned to the cave with the rift and forced its will on another group of newly arrived Heartless. It was about to take control of another group, when a lesser demon came into the cave. This demon was of a vastly lower class than Zabuchrion, and much smaller as well, barely 2ft tall. It had pale blue scaled skin and walked on four clawed limbs. Two horns jutted from its head.
"Master Zabuchrion," said the lesser demon.
"What is it, Kichot?" the upper level demon asked.
"Strangers have been seen in the valley, Master," said the lesser demon, Kichot.
"Strangers?" Zabuchrion asked.
"Four human children and two unknown creatures," said Kichot, "they possessed weapons that are able to destroy Heartless."
"No human weapon can destroy The Heartless," said Zabuchrion, "you must be mistaken."
I am not, Master," said Kichot, "I saw it with my own eyes. The humans had swords that resembled keys."
"What?" exclaimed Zabuchrion loud enough to cause Kichot to cringe and back away several paces to avoid it's masters' fury, "Are you sure they looked like keys?"
"They were, Master," said Kichot.
"So," said Zabuchrion, "some Keyblade Wielders have come. After so long, new adversaries of The Heartless have arrived on the battlefield of the multi-verse. Kichot, what did the Keyblade Wielders do?"
"They fought and defeated several Heartless," said Kichot, "and they may have defeated all that were sent against them on their own. But then The Five…"
"The Five are involved?" snapped Zabuchrion. It extended a clawed hand towards Kichot, seizing the lesser demon with dark magic that started to choke it.
"I saw them talking with the Keyblade Wielders," gasped Kichot.
Zabuchrion then released its hold on Kichot, leaving the lesser demon coughing for breath, "Well then," said Zabuchrion in a more calmer tone, "then we'll have to move ahead with our plans."
"What are you going to do, Master?" Kichot asked as it stood up.
"I was going to wait to launch another attack on the home of the Little Ponies, but not for several days," said Zabuchrion, "so as to lull them and their pathetic human protectors into a false sense of security. But now that the Keyblade Wielders are involved, there is no time to wait. I shall launch the next Heartless attack tonight, before they can prepare."
"But Master," said Kichot, "what of The Rainbow of Light?"
"A dieing relic of the past," said Zabuchrion, "it is of no concern to us. The time of light in this world is over. Darkness is the future."
"Have you selected a champion yet?" the fifth Ethereal asked.
"Not yet," said the third Ethereal, "but I have narrowed my choices significantly. I feel that Sora, Riku and Kairi would be most comfortable with a hero from the past of their Earth, mostly a historical figure from within the past few centuries."
"What about a specific place?" the second Ethereal asked, "Most of the many Earths have multiple nations and cultures. Perhaps from someone haling from Sora's culture? Japan."
"An excellent suggestion," said the first Ethereal, "perhaps a famous ninja, or a samurai."
"A samurai would be a better choice," said the fourth Ethereal, "ninjas from most Earths tend to be lacking special powers, relying on trickery and cunning mostly."
"A samurai it is," said the third Ethereal, "the choices have been narrowed again, but there are still so many samurai to choose from."
"Please choose soon," said the fifth Ethereal asked, "time is running out for Sora and his friends."
"I know how precious time is," said the third Ethereal, "please have patience. I will choose, but I wish to choose the best one for the task."
"May I suggest that you choose a samurai from 1650 AD to 1850 AD," said the second Ethereal, "from the height of the samurai era."
"Then that is where I will choose from," said the third Ethereal, "though I will keep my options open, perhaps extend the search a decade or two in both the past and future, just to be sure."
"It is for the best to choose the best one for the task," said the first Ethereal.
"Indeed," agreed the fifth Ethereal.
The end of chapter 2. Next chapter, our heroes team up with Sara and her friends to defend Paradise Estates from The Heartless. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!