The Key to the Light

by KingJoltik

Ohana, Part 3: Come On and Do the Jailhouse Rock with Me

There are many worlds out there. I know this more than anything. Even more than the Light, the Darkness and 'The Key'. And yet, I feel so...insignificant. So tiny in the wheels of fate, a speck of dust in the cosmos, a grain of sand in the desert. That...that is what I am. But...I know 'The Key' has something to do with all of this. It is there to establish what I must truly do. I must find a keybearer and help them. I must help them no matter what the cost.

-Starswirl, Report 12

"Listen uh...Jumba is it? Look, put that weapon of yours away, okay?" Twilight asked as she gripped her kyblade tightly, the blade just barely touching Lilo as she stood behind Twilight. "We don't need to fight."

"Oh really? You seem to forget something little girl with the weird key thing." Jumba replied with a cheeky grin, a dark aura slowly forming over his eyes. "You're exhausted from fighting 626."

As his statement struck Twilight's brain, she instantly knew he was right. Her body was already beat up from just the few blows Stitch had landed on her. His abnormal strength would have destroyed her if it hadn't been for the darkness clouding his mind. Shoot. This is bad. she thought as she glanced at her keyblade and then looked at Lilo. She saw the frightened expression on her face, fear overtaking her whole body. She's scared. After all that, all that mess with Stitch and the Heartless and now she's scared. I see...she's afraid Stitch will get taken.

Seeing this, Twilight looked back at Jumba and pointed her blade at him. "Forget it. I won't let you take Stitch."

"HA! His name is Experiment 626 and he is mine." Jumba laughed as he glared at Twilight, his pistol ready to fire. "I'll give you one last chance, hand him over and I won't hurt you."

"No."

Jumba's angry eyes slowly turned to an almost dead-like expression. "Then you give me no choice."

Twilight readied herself. She wasn't sure what the weapon was that he was currently using, but it didn't matter. The only thing going through her head was that she had to protect Lilo and Stitch. Seeing this, the tip of her blade began to charge, ready to fire a blizzard spell. Don't have a choice here, this guy has some darkness clouding his mind too. Guess I'll just have to try and hold out until they can get away. Twilight glanced at Lilo and whispered. "Lilo, can you get Stitch out of here?"

"Uh-huh." she nodded as she grabbed her dog. "But uh...what about you?"

"I'll be fine. Get going."

"Oh no you don't! You will be bringing 626 to me little girl!" Jumba yelled as he fired the pistol. Twilight's instincts kicked in and she went to block the shot with her magical weapon. As the blast hit the shaft of the sword, Twilight let out a yelp of pain as it knocked her off her feet, the blade flying out of her hand. "HA!"

"Twilight!" Lilo yelled before another shot rang out, hitting the ground right in front of her.

"Don't make another move." Jumba remarked as he pointed the gun back at Lilo. His eyes continued to glow as darkness began to fill them. "Experiment 626 is mine. He will become the greatest monster of all time."

"No he won't! He's my dog and he's part of my Ohana!"

"Ohana?" Jumba stopped, unfamiliar with the word. Twilight was also baffled, she had never heard the word as well.

"Yeah! Ohana means family, and no one gets left behind in family!" Lilo yelled as she put the knocked out Stitch on her back. "I won't let you take him!"

"Tch, then you leave me no choice little girl."

As Jumba readied the gun again, Twilight tried to get up only for her legs to give out. No! Not now! I have to...help her! her mind yelled as she summoned the keyblade back to her hand. She closed her right eye as she began aiming the blade at the mad scientist. No choice. Gotta do what Flash taught me...if you're down and have no way up, improvise.

"Blizzard!" she yelled as a blast of ice flew out of her blade. However, her scream alerted Jumba, who quickly blasted the shards before they made contact. "No..."

"HA! Nice try little-urk!" Jumba let out a yelp of pain as he was suddenly struck by a blast of fire. Twilight and Lilo looked at where the fire came from, only to see a familiar figure.

"Good grief Sparkle, already beaten up? You know, you could have waited on Trixie. After all, the Great and Powerful Trixie would have easily beaten this idiot in one go!"

"Trixie! Thank goodness you're here!" Twilight then pointed to Jumba, who was currently patting away the flames. "He's got darkness as well, you have to stop him!"

"Trixie can see that Sparkle. Trixie will-"

BLAM!

Jumba's gun rang out a Trixie's rant was interrupted by a wild shot. The blast blew a small hole into the sand as Trixie began sidestepping, her focus now on Jumba's gun. As he tried to shoot her again, Trixie saw where the blasts come from within the gun, So, that weird weapon fires it odd magic from there, eh? Very well, I'll have to keep sidestepping, best way to make sure he doesn't hit me!

Three more shots rang out as Trixie dodged effortlessly. As he readied one more try, a dark flame appeared in Trixie's hand. She released the fireball, which struck Jumba's gun, knocking it flying out of his hand. The four-eyed alien let out a yelp of pain as Trixie rushed in and kicked him in the head, knocking him down.

"Trixie! He's possessed! Don't go so far!" Twilight barked as she finally got up. Trixie merely shrugged from the comment before hopping onto Jumba, showing her blade to his throat. "Trixie! Don't you-"

"Quiet Sparkle! Trixie isn't gonna do anything." Trixie droned, tapping Jumba's throat. "Hey! Trixie knows you're still awake!"

"Uggghhhh....that hurt, weird girl with dark sword thing."

"Trixie will gladly show you what 'hurt' really means." Trixie gritted her teeth as she pressed her foot into his stomach. "Don't move."

"Trixie!" Twilight yelled as she walked up to them. "Stop being a bully! We've talked about this."

"Oh come on Sparkle! What did you-"

"Enough! We'll talk about it later Trixie." Twilight commanded before resummoning her keyblade. "Now hold still, I'm going to help you Jumba."

Twilight shot another beam of light, quickly banishing the darkness that plagued Jumba's heart. As the dark mist that was covering his eyes started to fade, Trixie hopped off of him, letting him get back up. Jumba shook his head as the pain began to subside from his heart and mind, scratching his head as he faced the duo from Equestria.

"Oooohhhh...thank you, girls with weird weapons."

"No problem." Twilight replied while glaring at Trixie. "Sorry Trixie was so rough on you."

"Hey! I just saved your flank Sparkle!"

"She is right." Jumba commented as rubbed his forehead. "After all, I do not feel like I have been thinking very clearly recently."

"Trixie agrees with that. Though Trixie has to admit...Trixie does not think somepony was controlling you."

"Really?" Twilight's eyes widened from that comment. "You mean, he got taken over from a lust for power?"

Trixie nodded. "Probably. Darkness was barely covering his body after all. The light you used Sparkle, was it very much?"

"I uh...don't know how to quantify it, but I guess so?" Twilight shrugged as she looked back at Jumba. "Say, are you okay?"

"I am fine. My evil brain is a bit jumbled but I am okay."

"Evil brain?"

"Yes. Jumba is evil genius with evil super brain. Heh heh...evil super brain. I like that." Jumba scratched his back at that thought before looking at the girls. "Sorry about all that. Glad I'm back to normal."

"Define normal."

"Trixie! Don't be rude!" Twilight barked as Jumba pointed at Lilo, who was still carrying an unconscious Stitch.

"Hey! Little girl, give me back my experiment. I need him to do some very evil things, especially concerning destruction and mayhem."

"NO! He's not an experiment! His name is Stitch and he's my dog!" Lilo yelled back as she began to backpedal. "Stop calling him that!"

Twilight then grabbed Jumba's shoulder. "She's right Jumba. I saw it when I freed his heart. Your 'experiment' just wants a friend, I could tell."

"He does not want a friend!" Jumba yelled. "I programmed him to destroy everything he touches. Why in the world would he ever want something like friends?!"

"Tch...Trixie is not sure you freed his heart Sparkle."

Jumba ignored her and continued to stare at Lilo. "I'm sorry little girl, but 626 is coming with me. After all, I created him and this world is not fit for him. He needs a place where he can destroy constantly." Jumba explained as he pointed at Stitch. "Hand him over."

"No! He's my dog and part of my Ohana!"

"Ohana?" Trixie asked, confused at the word.

"I'll explain later." Twilight said before turning to Jumba. "Say, why can't Stitch stay with her? If you created him, why is he here?"

"Simple. Stupid intergalactic counsel captured him and sentenced him to be banished to a desert asteroid. Therefore, I'm going to make sure he goes somewhere where he can truly be himself."

"You mean somewhere where he can destroy everything." an one-eyed individual commented as he approached the group, causing Jumba to glare at him.

"Be quiet you!" Jumba barked while Twilight and the others just stared at the newcomer.

"Is that a cyclops?" Trixie whispered to Twilight. "Trixie thought those mystical creatures were supposed to be giants."

"I agree. I've read a few myths about them but...I'm guessing he's an alien like the four-eyed guy." As Jumba and the other argued, Twilight did a slight cough, catching their attention. "Ahem. Hi there. I'm Twilight and this is Trixie. Who are you?"

"Ah! Sorry about that, I'm Peakley." he replied as he did a slight bow. "Nice to meet you. I'm a galatic officer that is currently stuck with the psychotic criminal to catch that monster behind you."

"Hey! He's not a monster! He's Stitch!" Lilo yelled again as she tried to carry the still knocked out dog away.

"I told you little girl! He is Experiment 626 and he's-"

"Oh, would you just shut up?!" Trixie interrupted, causing the two aliens to respect her command. "Trixie demands a full explanation of everything and then we can argue where the dog goes."

Following a facepalm from Twilight, Jumba and Peakley explained that they were aliens tasked with capturing Stitch. They were sent by the intergalactic counsel on the promise that Jumba would be freed of his crimes if he brought in his experiment he created. As they talked this over, Twilight and Trixie began to notice something was missing.

"Say Sparkle, um...where's Sentry? Shouldn't he have been back by now?"

"Not sure." Twilight glanced around, biting her lip. "Him and Spike are late. I sent that blizzard spell upward as a flare earlier and he still didn't come." She then turned back to Jumba. "Sorry about that Jumba. You said someone informed you that I would come?"

"Yes." Jumba nodded. "It was a strange fellow by the name of Party Favor. He was there before 626 escaped his capture. Apparently, he was working closely with Grand Councilwoman."

Twilight looked at Trixie who just shrugged. "Trixie doesn't know him. But, Trixie can give you one guess as to what he is."

Recognizing that the name sounded very Equestrian, Twilight nodded. "Sounds like the pawn to me."

"Trixie agrees. Trixie thinks we need to get Sentry here, Trixie expects this 'Party Favor' will come here soon."

---

Meanwhile...

"Hmm...I don't know Spike." Flash said as poked his head out of the bush. He and his moogle pal had been following the bullies from earlier. He had saw them from afar just a few minutes ago, the main bully complaining about her tricycle being stolen by Stitch. Since he knew that they at least knew the girl from earlier, he decided to tail them for information. However, all he ended up hearing was complainants, which distracted him from Twilight's make-shift flare.

"Boring kupo."

"Yeah, I'm starting to see your point buddy." Flash groaned as he sat back down in the bush. "Maybe this was a bad idea. I thought that girl would eventually come back to them at some point since she took the tricycle and she didn't look like a mean girl but...looks like that's not happening. I'm really not good at this, am I?"

"Don't know kupo."

"Agreed. All I want is a good fight. Forget this trying to figure stuff out...I want good old fashioned brawl." Flash grumbled as he got up and laid back on a palm tree. "Guess mom was right. The only thing I care about is fighting and I need to change that." He unsheathed his sword and stared at the shaft of the blade. "But I can't help it little buddy, I love fighting. Its the only thing I'm good at."

"Doesn't help kupo."

"Yeah, I know." Flash agreed as he glanced at the moogle. "Heh, Its funny. You can only say, what? Two words at most before saying 'kupo'? And yet, I get everything you're saying."

"Young kupo."

"No kidding. Baby moogles must be really smart then." Flash put his sword back up and began to walk away. "Come on pal, looks like we got no Heartless or Heartless summoning dog here. Let's look somewhere else."

"Okay kupo."

As they made their way back to the tropical town they had entered before, the duo suddenly heard a loud rumbling noise. His pegasus instincts kicked in, and he instantly knew the sound was from above. Looking up to the sky, Flash saw the most unusual sight. A large black-colored ship suddenly appeared above the island, heading towards the beach in a quick pursuit. Flash and Spike looked at each other with grimaces on their faces. "That's not good."

"Agreed kupo."

As they turned to chase the ship down, they noticed a large dark pool form in front of them. Eight shadow Heartless shifted out of the pool along with four coconut looking Heartless. Flash quickly grabbed his sword and shield, readying himself for a fight. "Now we're talking! Bring it on!"

---

Meanwhile...

Stitch had finally woken up. As the five had continued to debate what would happen with the dog, (Though Trixie mainly just wanted to beat up Jumba and leave to find the pawn) they too heard the rumbling noise from before. They all looked around, seeing a alien ship in the distance. Peakley then spoke up, panic covering his face.

"Oh no! That's Captain Gantu's ship! The council is already here!" he yelled, flailing his arms around in a panic.

"What?!" Twilight and Trixie exclaimed in unison.

"That is not good." Jumba grumbled before glancing and pointing at Lilo. "You, little girl. Hand over 626 this instant. He is mine."

"No!" She yelled as she hugged Stitch. "Stitch is part of my Ohana! He's part of my family!"

"You said that before. Is that 'Ohana' thing mean family?" Trixie asked, cocking an eyebrow. Lilo nodded as her eyes narrowed at Jumba.

"Ohana means family. That means that no one gets left behind!"

Hearing this statement, Trixie slightly stiffened, her mind thinking about her lost family. Twilight quickly noticed and nudged her. Trixie looked at Twilight in surprise, only to get a wink from Twilight before the keybearer spoke up. "I agree Lilo. In fact, why don't we let Stitch chose? After all, if he has a family now, I'll bet he wants to keep it."

"Bah!" Jumba rebuked. "626 has no concept of family. 626 is programmed only with destructive, violent instincts that I, Jumba Jookiba, could create! He has no feelings, just destructive impulses!"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Twilight replied, crossing her arms with a smirk. "Just look at him."

As the others looked at the blue dog, they saw him cling to Lilo. He hugged her tightly, causing Lilo to shine a giant grin from the sign of familial affection. Twilight and Trixie wanted to both say 'awwww' but were interrupted by several grunts and snarls from the mad scientist. Hearing this, they turned back to him with scowls on their faces.

"See? He wants to stay with her now." Twilight said, pointing at the duo. "After I freed his heart, he realized that Lilo was still there for him, even when the darkness possessed him."

"Trixie agrees." Trixie continued, nodding. "Trixie was the same way. Trixie was possessed by the darkness once and Trixie's friends were there when she was freed. If that dog has a friend, that's what it wants to be happy."

"I told you, 626 is not meant to be happy or have a family!" Jumba yelled, causing Stitch to snarl at him. "Don't look at me like that 626, you are mine and that is final! I created you to destroy everything!"

"Trixie suggests you shut up and-"

THUNK!

"Eek!" screamed a voice, causing them to turn around. There, they saw a giant fish alien with a small cloaked figure on his shoulder along with a large dark black ship behind them in the distance. A huge dark aura covered the alien as he let out a giant laugh.

"Aaah! Its Captain Gantu!" Peakley exclaimed, almost fainting at the sight.

"Stitch! Lilo!" Twilight yelled as a giant fish man put both of them inside a giant glass-like capsule. She and Trixie quickly summoned their weapons, causing the alien to cock his eyebrow in slight surprise. He glanced at the cloaked figure, only to receive a nod as Twilight continued to yell. "Hey! Let them go!"

"Not a chance, little one with the key! These two are mine!" Gantu bellowed as he tapped the capsule with his giant finger. Stitch and Lilo rolled around from the tap, Lilo screaming for help while Stitch kept barking at the alien. "And here I thought this little wimp was some weapon of destruction. Turns out, he's not much, eh Party Favor?"

"I agree." Party chuckled, the dark aura surrounding him growing as his shining eyes stared deeply at the new prisoners. "This was easier than I thought."

"Party Favor?" Twilight said, only for her to look at Trixie and receive a nod. The two were thinking the same thing.

"Hey! You in the black coat!" Trixie exclaimed, causing Party to turn his head at them. "Trixie's gonna guess that The Servant sent you."

"Indeed." Party Favor replied before snapping his fingers. As the noise rang out from his hand, the laughing Gantu suddenly stood straight up, his grip tightening on the capsule. Party looked back at Gantu and commanded, "Gantu, put your prisoners away on your ship. Then, destroy the keybearer!"

"Yes sir." Gantu then turned and placed the capsule onto his vessel, locking it on the back of his ship. He turned back around and pulled out his blaster on his side, his eyes looking like they were completely dead inside. "I'll destroy them all sir."

Party crossed his arms, shining a small grin as dark smoke surrounded his eyes. "Good. Let's end this now."

---

Meanwhile, in Equestria...

"Passengers! We are now arriving at Appleloosa!" said the intercom, causing Maud to completely awaken from her memory filled slumber. She slowly rubbed her head as her eyelids blinked several times.

"Boulder. Wake up, we're here." she said to her pet rock as she pulled him out of her pocket. "Oh. You're already awake. Good."

Stepping out of her seat, Maud slowly made her way to the train car door. Her body shifted effortlessly as the train swayed back and forth before finally coming to a stop. Letting out a tiny, almost whisper like yawn, the filly left the train. There, as she walked past the station and past the ticket booth, her eyes caught an unbelievable sight. As if a miracle had just happened, her usual blank expression changed as her eyes widened just a little bit from the shock.

Half of Appleloosa was gone.

What was once several rows of wooden buildings, all housing tons of ponies was now a half-broken wasteland. Over half of the town's buildings were nothing but ash now, just piles of black char ridden wood. It was nothing like she remembered it. She distinctly remembered the town because she went to it one summer with her mother and it was a lively cowpony town. It was a lively town, filled with friendly ponyfolk who loved apples and rejoiced in the event of spreading joy and cheer.

But that was all gone.

Instead, all that remained was a distinct half and half look of the town. On her right were the same buildings she remembered, tall, steadfast and filled with happy ponies. On the left was a burnt flat piece of waste, filled with crying ponies and puffs of smoke. The smell of sulfur was rich in the air as her nose twitched at the sight.

"Boulder, what happened here?' Maud asked her pet rock, which of course didn't respond. It didn't need to. She had seen more than enough as her widened eyes took on a different form. Her eyebrows barely slanted as she showed just a small hint of anger. "Heartless. What should we do first Boulder?"

No response.

"I agree. Let's get some information."

Quickly turning to the right side of the town, Maud walked past several buildings before seeing the one place she knew she would get the most information out of. The Saloon. Going through the flimsy doors, she walked up to the bartender and tapped her hoof on the bar. The bartender turned around, surprised at the small filly suddenly sitting there.

"Um...can ah help ya little missy?" the tender asked, his lips tapping his burly mustache. "I'm surprised a little one like yourself would come in here. The whole town being half gone after all."

"Yes. I'm looking for two individuals. One should look like a filly with purple hair and wearing an orange outfit. The other is a moogle with a blue pom-pom, blonde hair and a blue outfit."

The bartender was taken back by her no-nonsense tone. Or deadpan tone depending on who you were asking. Instead, he gulped despite being somewhat intimidated by the filly. "Uh...not sure. What's a moogle?"

"It looks like a white bipedal...kind of bear thing with tiny wings." Maud said, her tone unchanging.

"Hmm...sounds familiar. Did the thing play music?"

"Yes." she nodded.

"Then yeah, they were here two days ago." the bartender sighed as he pointed to the saloon's stage. "They performed for a day and then-"

"The Heartless attacked, didn't they?" Maud finished his statement. Sensing he didn't know what she was talking about, she began to describe what Heartless usually look like.

The bartender went wide-eyed at the explanation. His jaw dropped as he responded. "You-you're right! They disappeared after those monsters appeared! How did you-"

"Where did they go? Did they get on the train?" Maud said, her hoof hitting the bar. The bartender saw the small dent she made, surprised at her unnatural strength.

"I...I don't know. I don't think they used a train though."

"Good." Maud then hopped off the seat, quickly turning and leaving the saloon. The bartender tried to yell at her, wanting answers to her knowledge of the situation. But, she was already gone, like a puff of air vanishing in the wind. As Maud made her way to the edge of town, her eyes shifted around as she tried to find her target. There, she saw a few mountains in the distance along with what she was looking for. "Hey Boulder?"

No response.

"I'm guessing these guys will show me where they are, won't they?" she said as she looked at few Heartless wandering around in the distance. It was two air soldiers along with five shadow Heartless. "Time to go hunting Boulder."

Author's Note:

PLEASE READ!!!

First off, I honestly thought I would never get this done. I did like half the chapter yesterday. Writer's block is killing me!

Now, I recently did a blog post that no one read but it does show stuff that if you do really like this story, it shows some behind the scenes stuff of this story. See it here: The Link

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!