//------------------------------// // Sonata Research Assistant // Story: Sonata the Drama // by MythrilMoth //------------------------------// By the time the group had been in the Athenaeum for a solid hour, the novelty had worn off and reality had set in: they were in a dusty old library. Twilight and Sunset were hard at work, pulling books and scrolls off shelves and skimming through them, creating piles for further study and piles to be reshelved. Kim was doing her best to help, flying along stacks and trying to look for anything that seemed like it might be useful. Ron, on the other hoof... "Man, this bites," Ron complained. "I wish Rufus was here." "Ron, right now Rufus is a bird made out of fire," Kim pointed out in exasperation. "We are in a library. Not really the best idea!" Ron sighed. "Yeah, yeah, you're right." He kicked at a loose pebble on the floor. "I just...why did I even come down here? It's not like I can do anything but stand here and bray." "Well, you could help us search for something we can use in our research," Sunset said testily. "Yyyeah, research? Not really Ron's strong suit," Kim said as she flew down from a high shelf, flipping pages in a book with her hooves. Ron stared at her. "Okay how are you even doing that?" "Hmm?" Kim mumbled distractedly. "Ron, I figured out how to fly yesterday. I've been doing it all day!" "Not the flying, the thing with the hooves!" Kim blinked, then looked at her hooves. "What thing?" "The thing! You're turning pages in a book with hooves! As in, big clumsy there are no fingers or thumbs hooves!" Kim pursed her lips. "Huh." She shook her head. "Weird." She turned another page as she lowered herself onto a bench by a reading table. "What's up with that?" Sunset shrugged. "It's just how things work here. You'll get used to it just like me and Twilight got used to fingers." She sighed as she tossed another book aside with her magic and grabbed a fresh book. "Twilight, what are we even looking for here?" "I honestly won't know until we find it," Twilight said without looking up from a scroll. "Starswirl put every ounce of magical knowledge he accumulated in his entire lifetime into mirror portal research. He and Celestia spent decades studying other world and the magic needed to reach them." "Yeah, we could spend decades just reading all these books," Ron said. Kim frowned as she paged through a dusty old journal. "You know, some of this sounds like they were just time-traveling instead of jumping to other worlds," she said. "I think some of it actually was just time travel," Twilight admitted. "They just didn't realize it at the time. But trust me, they visited several alternate worlds." "...they?" Sunset asked. She frowned. "Wait. You mentioned Princess Celestia going through a mirror earlier..." Twilight set aside the scroll and picked up a book. "They found a world that was a reflection of Equestria," she said. "One where everypony was the opposite of their nature here." "Oh, like that one episode of that space show," Ron said. "Life isn't TV, Ron," Kim said in an exasperated tone. Twilight shot them an irritated look, then continued, "In that other world, Celestia and Luna were evil tyrants, and Equestria was ruled by a wise and benevolent King Sombra. Our Celestia fell in love with their Sombra and snuck off to visit him without Starswirl's permission several times. Starswirl eventually caught her and sealed the portal because her little visits were putting both worlds in danger." "Ouch," Kim said. "Wow, the things you don't know about somepony," Sunset said, eyes wide. "None of that has anything to do with our situation," Twilight said with a shrug. "But it does emphasize the need for caution when dealing with dimensional travel magic." "Yeah, uh-huh, what I know about magic is the less you have to deal with it the better, especially if it has anything to do with time, dimensions, or monkeys," Ron said as he examined the ancient statue of Starswirl. "Or time monkeys." "Time monkeys?" Sunset asked. "You don't wanna know," Kim muttered. "Actually," Twilight mused, "Ron's monkey magic is even more powerful than Kim's luck magic, and since we're trying to figure out how to untangle the mess of magic surrounding you two without removing anything important, I probably need to know everything I can about...whatever monkey magic is." "Oh, dude, you are asking the wrong donkey," Ron said. "I so don't understand this mystic monkey stuff. I just know I have it and it comes out when I need it." He paused. "And that, you know, every month or so we run into some new stupid monkey thing that ends up nearly destroying the world." "Yeah, we run into lots of monkey stuff," Kim said. "Monkey idols, monkey statues, monkey demons, monkey spirits, monkey gods, Monkey Kung Fu, monkey magic...it's like monkeyshines just can't stop happening around Ron." Ron shuddered. "All I ever wanted was a happy-go-lucky, monkey-free life." Twilight and Sunset exchanged a glance. Sunset looked back at Kim and Ron, raising an eyebrow. "Sooooo...monkey magic is something that just sort of...follows you two around?" "Mostly Ron," Kim said. "He's, well..." She gestured vaguely with a hoof. "Do ponies believe in destiny? Do you have like, the whole 'The Chosen One' thing here?" Sunset's eyebrow climbed higher as she slowly looked at Twilight, smirking. Twilight coughed, a sheepish smile crossing her face. "Yeah, I, umm...think we're familiar with it," she said. Ron blinked. "Wow. You too, huh?" Twilight sighed. "Yeah." "Well, Ron's apparently the destined Ultimate Monkey Master," Kim said. "Neither of us really understand it, and usually when this monkey stuff happens, it happens too fast for us to really get any answers or understand it." "Yeah, it's like all these ancient monkey mystics just wanna fling crap at me," Ron said. "If the mystical monkey power hadn't let me save KP's life that one time and, y'know, Sensei didn't constantly seem to need my help with something, I'd say rip it right outta me. I so need less monkey in my life." Twilight shook her head. "I'm not messing with anything I don't completely understand," she said. "Magic you brought with you from your world needs to stay with you when you go back there. There's no telling what kind of damage is being done to your world just by you and your monkey magic not being there." * * * * * "I find it very inconvenient," a blue-skinned man with a ring of bright yellow flower petals growing out of his neck grumbled as he aimed a ray gun at a monkey dressed in a black ninja outfit, "that Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable are nowhere to be found right now!" "Yeah, it's not like Kimmy to miss out on a party like this," the green-skinned woman at his side said as she fired a green energy blast at a monkey ninja, while backfisting one that tried to attack her from behind. She unclipped a communication device from her belt and tapped a button. "Hey Nerdlinger, what's—" "—the sitch?" the voice of a young boy answered. "No clue. The Kimmunicator's gone completely off the grid. Can't pick up Ron's chip either. Umm...thanks again for picking up the slack while I try to figure out what happened to them." "Nnnghhaaaaah," Dr. Drakken grunted, scowling as he sent a trio of vines after a monkey ninja. "I hate doing this whole hero thing. This is not my department!" "Yeah, well, you save the world a time or two, you kinda end up saving it a whole bunch," Shego said. "I didn't exactly wanna go back to hero work either, you know!" She blasted two monkey ninjas, then sighed. "Of course, after that whole alien invasion thing, I kinda...don't really feel like doing the whole taking-over-the-world thing anymore either." Drakken grimaced. "I have to admit, I've lost my taste for it as well," he said. He shot a monkey ninja, freezing it solid. "Still, the hero thing is best left to...blast it, where IS that annoying teen hero?" A sinister chuckle filled the air. "Where indeed...?" * * * * * Ron's jaw and ears dropped. "Are you saying I'm like, our whole world's monkey plug?" "Don't be so dramatic, Ron!" Kim said. "Monkey Fist is, well..." She frowned. "After that whole thing with Yono, I don't think he's coming back." "Oh, yeah, right," Ron said. "Kinda forgot about that. Yikes." "And I'm pretty sure by now we've exhausted all the really bad monkeyshines," Kim added. "In any case, worrying about it doesn't help anybody. What we need to focus on right now is helping Twilight and Sunset get us home." She gave the two native ponies a perky smile. "Anything we can do to help, just say the word." "Well, for starters, you can tell me how this monkey magic works," Twilight said. "It sounds like you have active control over it, I'd love to see an example of what it does." She paused, then added, "If it'll even work in your current form." Ron laughed nervously. "Aheh...yeah..." He scuffed a hoof on the floor. "Thing is, I don't really have like, y'know, control over it. It's one of those...oh, what do you call it, I got it wrong on a biology test I barely passed..." Kim rolled her eyes. "The Mystical Monkey Power only kicks in when Ron's super stressed," she said. "Like, 'one of us is about to die' stressed." "Or 'pushed way past the limit of BS I'm willing to put up with' stressed," Ron added. Twilight blinked. "Oh...kaaaay," she said. "Well, when you do tap into it, what do you use it for? How does it work?" Ron shrugged. "Pretty much kicking bad guy butt," he said. "I mean, that's all it's really good for. There's always a bad guy, they have a butt, I go monkey mad and kick it." "That's...awfully vague," Sunset said. "I think she was hoping for something a little more...technical?" "The monkey power gives him mastery of Tai Shing Pek Kwar," Kim said. "Monkey Kung Fu. When he's in magic monkey mode, he's practically invincible." "Yeah, it's only happened a couple of times," Ron said. Sunset's muzzle crinkled. "So it gives you increased physical strength and skill?" "Yeah, sounds about right," Ron said. "Oh, and it's connected to a whole bunch of monkey stuff we've run into. Mostly the Lotus Blade." "Lotus Blade?" Twilight asked. "Shape-changing ancient magic weapon," Ron said. "If you have the mystical monkey mojo, you can make it turn into anything you think of." "That sounds useful," Sunset said. "Yeah, but it's the ancient treasure of a super-secret ninja school, so...kinda not available for everyday use." "Most of the other monkey stuff is too dangerous to mess with," Kim added. "Or we've already destroyed it." Twilight frowned. "So basically this monkey magic, it's a purely combat-oriented form of magic that can only be used either in battle or to control a variety of enchanted objects, most of which are used for destruction?" "Sounds about right," Ron said. "Sounds like a jinx," Sunset muttered. "Well, Ron does tend to have spectacularly bad luck," Kim said. With a laugh, she added, "Sometimes it's so bad it spins back around to good!" "And sometimes it's just plain bad," Ron grumbled. "I mean, you wanted to go to that new Japanese place, but I insisted on Bueno Nacho. If I'd just gone along with what you suggested, none of this would've happened!" "Eh, I wasn't really enthused about it myself," Kim said. "I just suggested it because I thought we could use a change of pace. I mean, I don't want us to fall into a rut, y'know?" Ron snorted. "KP, I think we fell into the ruttiest rut that ever rutted." Twilight made a stuck sound. Sunset flushed. "Uhh...yeah. Word of advice? Go easy on the word 'rutted' when you're in Equestria. Kinda...not something you say in public here." "Oh...sorry," Ron said. He tilted his head. "Wonder why that is?" Kim blushed. "I think I know, and I agree. Bad word." Twilight sighed. "Okay, so...can't examine Ron's monkey magic in action, so we'll have to do passive tests." She frowned. "I guess for now, we should just get back to work." "Yeah, I'm still not sure what we're even looking for," Sunset said. Twilight frowned. "Anything related to cross-dimensional magical entanglements," she said. "I mean, Starswirl probably ran into something that would be useful now. Maybe he has some kind of filtering spell I could adapt." "Well while you ladies are doing that, I'm gonna look through some of this funky wizard stuff," Ron said, trotting over to a large brass chest which stood against one wall. With some difficulty, he managed to open it, tipping it over in the process; dozens of objects tumbled out, clattering across the ancient floor. Ron flopped onto his belly, braying in alarm. "RON!" Kim snapped. "Be more care...ful...?" She trailed off, eyes widening as one of the objects in the chest began to glow and rose into the air, pulsing with a faint violet light. Sunset looked up from her book, noticed it, and blinked. "Uhh, Twilight? What...is that?" "Hmm?" Twilight followed her gaze. Her eyes widened. "GAH! What—" A bright pulse of light flooded the room. Stoppable-san. The deep, melliflous voice echoed off the walls of the Athenaeum. Ron scrambled to his hooves, eyes wide. "Sensei...?!" The world is in grave danger. The great devil monkey Genghis Kong has risen. You, Stoppable-san, are our only hope. "Where's that voice coming from?" Twilight asked, wings flaring wide as her head darted around, seeking the source of the voice. "How'd he even find us here?" Kim wondered. The astral plane binds all, Kim Possible-san, Sensei said. Though the distance between us makes contact...difficult. "Yeah, about that," Ron said. "We've kinda got a serious problem here and I'm not sure when we're gonna be able to get back to our world. Unless, y'know, you have some kind of magic ninja doo-dad that'll help?" Alas, the long path home from the Land of the Great Horse will be your honor to find and walk, Stoppable-san. Ron sighed. "Yeah. Figured as much." But it is fortuitous that you are there, for it is the location of one of the Seven Rainbow Monkey Crystals, which you will need to stop Genghis Kong. "Of course," Ron said, eyes half-lidded. Our great founder Toshimiru left the Seven Banana Crystal with an equine wizard long ago, Sensei continued. You have come into contact with that crystal, and that is how I have found you. The remaining Rainbow Monkey Crystals are scattered across the Great Zodiac Animal Worlds. Even I do not know their location. Stoppable-san, you must find all seven crystals and return them to our world, and you must do so as quickly as possible. We will join your allies in Middleton and Go City to hold back Genghis Kong for as long as we can. The world needs you, Stoppable-san. The bright pulse of violet light faded to a soft glow as a hoof-sized violet crystal ball dropped to the floor, rolling slowly toward Ron. Seven small golden bananas were embedded just beneath its glassy surface. Ron, Kim, Sunset, and Twilight all stared at it. They slowly looked at one another with wide, startled eyes. Finally, Kim broke the silence: "Maybe you really are our world's monkey plug..."