//------------------------------// // Nobody's discoveries // Story: Life of a Nobody // by Xinrick //------------------------------// So once I was discharged from the hospital in Manehattan, sampled some of the foods from the gift baskets and had my cloak back on I had a luxurious ride in one of the more royal carriages driven by two stallion pegasi. The ride to Ponyville with Twilight was uneventful, but breathtaking as I got to see the world from so high up...only to remember that I had a fear of heights and started focusing on Twilight and her talks about the town. The lavender mare explained that Ponyville was quite a town, even if it was small. The citizens were more used to ‘unknown visitors’ because of all the weirdness happening almost every week, and the citizens were welcoming and happy, but she warned me to expect a pink pony to suddenly bombard me with a million questions per hour just to figure out what I liked and who I am. “Yeah I’m gonna get along with her great...” I groan, having a feeling that Pinkie is going to be a nightmare and I won’t like it. The more we continued the more she explained about her friends and life at the town, and before long we actually landed in town. I got out of the carriage and looked around, seeing that it was a small but ‘homey’ looking town, a quiet place to relax and enjoy the country instead of the constant hustle and bustle of Manehattan. “Reminds me of home…” I mutter to myself, having lived in a small quiet town for most of my life as I surveyed the town. “So...when will I meet Ms. Gonna piss me off a lot?” I ask Twilight curiously, wondering why I wasn’t bombarded with questions. “HI TWILIGHT!” Yelled an energetic pink anthro pony. She shook Twilight while saying that… where did she even come from? “Who’s the stiff?” She asked, pointing a thumb at me. “Well excuse me for getting out of the hospital not too long ago.” I frown. “But who are you bouncy girl?” I ask, pretending to not know who she is even though I was giddy on the inside to have a Pinkie Pie party. “I’m Pinkie Pie! And thanks for noticing! I just got a new bra!” “Listen...I don’t need to learn about your ‘Party Balloons’ okay?” I say to her, not believing I just called the pink mare's breasts ‘party balloons’. “How did you know I call them that?” ”Fuck, I’m blowing my cover...think of something quick!” I think to myself, trying to think of something to distract her. “Uh...names Ben.” I say simply, hoping to get her back on track instead of on boobs. “Hi Ben. So you’re the guy Luna and Twi are gonna date?” “Yes…” I nod. “I suppose she told you everything?” “I get to plan out the baby showers!” “Oh for the love of!” I throw my hands in the air. “Can she stop thinking like that? As much as I’d like to grab that moon sized rump I’d at least take her on a date...I just hope she hasn’t beaten anyone for gawking over her…” I say, before realizing what lewd things I’m saying and blushing mad under my hood. Pinkie pulled out a recorder. “Luna owes me two hundred bits now.” She said before bouncing off into the library. “How about no!” I shout before rushing after her in an embarrassed fuss. “I don’t want her hounding me for that!” I saw Pinkie bounce back my way. “Easy money.” With that, she bounced off. I put a hand up to my head and sighed out bitterly. “Great….just great...fucking things up already...can we go to your house Twilight?” “I might have a talk with Luna.” Twilight said, walking up to me. “Thank you…” I sigh out. “I just….want this to work alright? I don’t….I don’t want to lose…” I mutter, shaking my head at just saying something stupid. “So you like my ass?” Luna said, somehow getting behind me. “Thought you were a boob man.” “For the love of…” I mutter before turning around. “Can we at least talk about this behind closed doors? I...I don’t…” I mutter, rubbing my arm in embarrassment. “Shy? Cute! Well, in any case, the dining hall is set for our date/conversation.” “Well...sounds good enough for me at least. I’d like some food that either didn’t come from a gift basket or from the hospital…” I nod. We all walked over to the dining room. Three plates of salad, something I think might be meatloaf, and buttered bread sat on the table. We all took a seat. “So Ben, what was that key sword you used to kill that monster?” Luna’s voice and expression quickly turned serious. “Well sooner or later you will learn…” I sigh out. “I already have an idea… Starswirl had something similar.” “He had a Keyblade?” I ask, not entirely liking that thought. “So it’s the same weapon then, good to know. Yes, he did, he studied them.” “Why I didn’t tell Twilight was...I was scared that if either of you knew then...dark paths could come to you if you tried studying them.” I say, not knowing the full ramifications of studying such weapons but knowing that magical items of power could always lead to darkness. “Starswirl filled ten books, all sealed away to anyone but myself, about what he learned about them. His was a gift from his master.” Luna explains. “Do you know who Starswirl’s master was?” I ask curiously, hoping to get some glimpse into how that old stallion knew about the keyblade. “He referred to him as, Eraqus.” ”That old son of a bitch.” I think to myself with a hidden grin, thinking that Eraqus would do something like that. “So...this ‘Eraqus’, do you know what he looked like?” “I saw him once, he was very young, maybe five years older than you.” ”Twenty three? Damn.” I think to myself. “Well glad to know. How long have these creatures, or better known as ‘Heartless’, been around?” “Only in the last few months. Eraqus once said that this world was naturally resistant to darkness.” I nod. “Sounds like a good thing to know...but no matter how resistant some things will always push through…” “He said that too. When Starswirl died, his Keyblade was buried with him in his tomb. He said if darkness invades, I should retrieve it, and I want you there when I do… also, none of this conversation reaches my sister, understood?” “Understood.” I nod. “But your sister...Celestia correct?” I ask. Luna noded. “Um...do I have to worry about her...while we date?” I ask worriedly, knowing that family can be overprotective of their family. “I wish, sister prefers holes over poles.” “Didn’t...need to know that but alright.” I sigh out. “Meh, not many know that about her. So, in one of Starswirl's books, it mentioned how Keyblades have wills of their own, can you clarify?” “I don’t know much about Keyblades, so I only have limited information on it.” I say. “Alright then, what about a Keyblade also known as the X-blade. He was very interested in that weapon.” “That, my dear princess, is the strongest Keyblade in existence. A Keyblade that is said to open up something of great power. And I will leave it at that cause people who have seeked it have, more often than not, been egotistical maniacs with too much time on their hands.” “I see. One other thing kept popping up in his books, something called, Kingdom Hearts, what is it?” “Of course he said that…” I grumble. “It is, as legend says, the heart of everything. Of every living being with a heart, and...believe me even though this sounds crazy, the heart of every world.” I say simply. “I figured. Well, then a few more things. Who is Xehanort?” “Oh for the love of…” I sigh out. “Listen, I’m sorry if I’m sounding paranoid here...I just...don’t want you wrapped up in something that...could get you both killed…” I explain sadly, my breath starting to sound shaky as I my mind goes through all the ways they could die. “Damn depression…” “I see he is dangerous then. Last question, who are God, and Core?” “Xehanort is a dangerous man yes...but God and Core...God is a being of unimaginable power...a ‘Creator’ in a sense...and Core? I’ve met him, Twilight can attest to that...and just from looks and speech...a thoughtful planner that’s...a ‘Destroyer’ in a sense.” I explain. “So that’s what his last book meant when he referred to them as, the Brothers of Unity.” “Ya know...for some reason I feel like I’m being spoiled a major surprise…” I say, kind of confused on why but shrugged it off. “Anyways anymore questions? Or can we move onto something lighter.” “Well, just one I guess… and it’s very important.” Luna says. “Besides how much you want to get laid?” I ask sarcastically. “Hah, sadly no. What is a Nobody? The last book mentions them once, and that’s it.” I lifted a finger and was about to say something, but then closed my mouth and wondered something. “Hold on...don’t freak out but I’m gonna do something stupid…” I say before snapping my fingers, hoping God was right that I could summon Nobodies. When nothing happened I felt like I wasn’t ready to do something that special, but then I suddenly heard...something. Where is...my heart? Said something as a small white and grey creature crawled forward into all of our views. The thing ‘stood’ there as it’s muzzle moved around, ‘looking’ at all of us. “Luna, Twilight, that is a Nobody...a ‘Creeper’ as it’s called.” I say simply, still hearing it’s questions of where it’s heart is. Luna went down and looked at it. “So… this is what Heartless leave behind after their work is done…” “This is a low ranking Nobody. Small in size but can be dangerous in big numbers. There are thirteen total nobodies documented, but I’d rather not test my luck on trying to bring out anymore.” I say, the Creeper now questioning who Luna was. “How much pain the person it once was must have been in, yet the body refuses death, as the book stated.” “Yep…” I nod before waving my hand, a small white hole appeared below it before it quickly was consumed by white energy and simply vanished. “They are...special creatures. Having the body and soul of people that were separated from their heart.” Luna sat back down. “I am surprised Twilight hasn’t said anything.” Luna had a smirk. Twilight was way too busy writing down literally everything me and Luna were talking about, her eyes as wide as dinner plates and small white sparkles dancing in them as so much wonder and knowledge was basically being dumped onto her. “I suppose that’s why she hasn’t been talking.” I shrug. “Anyways, can we talk about something that’s less...serious and more ‘get to know each other’? Cause I’d rather not feel like crap and being too paranoid to explain things that are to that level of seriousness.” “Fine.” Luna said. “... So what kind of video games do you like?” “I like all of them besides horror games. Could never stand them.” I shrug. “I prefer challenging games, or mass multiplayer. Somepony gave me a new game yesterday, though I don’t know who.” “That’s all fine and dandy, but what was the game?” I ask curiously. “... It was odd… It was the point of view of a… I’m not sure who the character was, but they were in a dark place filled with monsters, I made it to what looked like a moon lit beach, and a man in black with a blind eye appeared, then it said ‘game over’.” “Did you get any names?” I ask, my curiosity peaking as the thought of the beach in the World of Darkness filled my head. “The blind eyed man called the character, “Test subject one” and he seemed like he could see me. Must have been a horror game cause that did scare me a bit.” My mind rushed through multiple possibilities, but the only thing I could think of was Core’s buddy messing with Luna. “Mind if I take a look at this game after we’re done with our date? Cause it sounds...interesting.” “Sure, I loaded it again, and now the level looked different, it’s paused upstairs.” “Well...that sounds interesting…” I say slowly, still concerned about this situation. “But anyways, what light hearted question next?” “I kinda wanna ask you something personal, that alright?” “Ask away miss ‘I wanna know if my boyfriend likes boobs or butts’.” I joke. “Are you a virgin?” And I tried so hard for my head not to hit the table. But I failed and with a thunk my head collided with the table. “Um...I told Twilight...I never had a girlfriend...and you...took my first...kiss…” I explain nervously, not sure if my voice was muffled or anything. “Oh… then good thing I made it sloppy. That aside, how did you get to Equestria?” I brought my head up and with the most ‘flare’ in my voice I said “Magic.” “Fair enough. So what kind of books do you prefer?” “I am dating a bookworm like myself,” while Twilight said ‘Hey!’ at that comment. “I’m living in a library that happens to be a tree for some coincidental reason, and the best thing to happen in my life happened to involve books, so...I have literally no idea what books I prefer.” I explain. “Then you would have loved the Canterlot Libraries.” Twilight said, finally done with her notes. “I lived there when I studied under Celestia.” “Well I’m gonna need to learn more about the history of this place and a lot more...but question….why the fuck was there a war about cheese?” I frown, still confused on the ‘cheese’ war thing. “... Well… that was… let’s just say cheese was new at the time and it was a delicacy everywhere.” Twilight said, quickly munching her salad. “And here I thought a magical crazy man started throwing cheese at people.” I chuckle, knowing I’m the only one to know the joke but still wanting to say it. “Where is Spike?” Luna asked. I looked around for the little guy but then saw the little drake walk into the room and towards the fridge. “I didn’t hear anything, I still hope you're paying for the electricity princess, and I was hoping you’d soundproof your room.” The drake says, sounding a lot more professional then he should. “Listen, we’ll have some... bro time later alright?” I ask him as the purple dragon rummaged a few snacks for himself. “Thanks, now if you’ll excuse me I have comics to read, snacks to eat, and questions to write down to ask you when we have bro time.” Spike says before closing the fridge door and heading off to his room. “That seemed...a lot easier than I originally thought…” I say with a little half frown. “But I suppose having to make sure this place didn’t blowout the entire town, have a princess suddenly live with you, and having Twilight start dating me is quite a lot to take in….” “Spike is a dragon. Mentally he’s our age, but physically he’s about nine.” Twilight said. ”Keep forgetting that this isn’t entirely like the show.” I think to myself. “Well that sounds nifty...so about Luna’s question on boobs or butts...well I’m the kind of guy that loves a mare for what they really are on the inside, not so much on what’s the outside...but a good looking lady never hurt.” I chuckle. “You can feel my inside tonight~” Luna teased. “We’ll...still need to soundproof our room…” I say sheepishly. “Spells.” Luna deadpanned. “Still.” I deadpan back. “But let’s talk about more than just sex lives...how in the name of hell did you get your hands on all those game consoles? Also do I even want to know how ‘specially made’ your computer is?” “I got into gaming to help adjust me quick to the modern world, and I’ve become an addict. Most of the extra money I get I spend on new games. And my computer can hold enough digital games to replace all my consoles. But I keep it solely for pc gaming, and game mods that look fun.” I look between Twilight, the lovable nerd that I’ve always liked, and Luna, the beautiful princess of the moon that happened to be a game addict, and I just sighed happily. “Ya know….I’m so glad this isn’t a dream...this is literally the greatest dream come true…” I smile. “You want sex dreams?” Luna asked. “So you want me to plow you out of dreams and the in dreams?” I ask. “You can do a lot more in a dream than just with a book of sex spells.” “I can imagine.” I say, feeling like steam was coming out of my head even with my cloak’s hood up. “Well, in any case, thank you for going along with this. You can imagine that being a ‘demon of the night’ before Twilight saved me gave me hundreds of dates before.” “Listen...this is the greatest thing to happen to me since I discovered books.” I say simply. “I just hope...I can be the man you both want and need instead of….thinking I was a waste of time…” “Don’t be like that. They say everything happens for a reason. Someone must be looking out for you if you ended up with us.” “You could say that.” I chuckle. “But...I thank you both...so much for letting me be in this relationship...not everyday you just kill heartless and then suddenly have two beautiful women want to date you.” “Tell that to the fans who sent those nudes.” Twilight said, laughing at the fact. “I didn’t expect them to send nudes okay?” I say quickly. “I mean...gift baskets and the ‘get well soon’ was obvious when I’m a hero but...nudes were the last thing on my mind…” “Well, when you put into accout there’s four to five mares per stallion in every city in Equestria, they had some hopes. That’s why herd relationships are common, and making a comeback with this gender shift over the last two generations.” “Damn.” I say simply, not knowing that four to five mares would date a single stallion. “Um...it wouldn’t be a surprise if more mares joined in...right?” I ask, having a feeling there will be more than just the three of us but not sure when. “Well, traditionally, the mare asks, and the stallion or ‘monarch’ of the herd decides. And informs the others… though I think Luna will be the monarch in this herd, she basically did start it. Though, I am unsure how many mares would even join with us, Luna and I kinda tend to scare ponies who know us by reputation.” “I’m sorry but right now I see two adorkable women who are either very into books or practically obsessed with video games...not sure how people can’t immediately see that.” I chuckle. “Titles.” Luna said plainly. “I am a princess, Twilight is the prized student of my sister. They place us on pedestals and they end up feeling inferior and… small, so they tend to fear us and respect us without even knowing us.” “And given that I’m now probably considered a national hero where I killed all but two things...that might add to the problem.” I shrug. “But anyways, I know about your sister, but what about relatives? Any relatives that I need to worry about?” I ask, hoping I won’t have a sibling or parent trying to fight me. “Well, no one on my side really, but I imagine Twilight’s brother will be cross.” “He might.” Twilight sighed. “We were so close as foals, he’s always looked out for me. Mom and dad will be happy, they never thought I’d get into dating, and Cadence… I’d rather not think about that.” I immediately thought of why Twilight wouldn’t want to know what Cadence thought but shrugged. “Oh well. At least I know I may have to deal with one person….probably gonna have to ‘prove my worth’ to Shining cause reasons and...a boatload of fun for a while. “Oh, it’s not that Cadence won’t be thrilled… she just might be too thrilled.” “That depends on your definition of ‘thrilled’.” I frown. “Cause if Luna is a good example…’thrilled’ can mean a few other things.” “Well… it’s still legal for royalty in the Crystal Empire to give Mares in Waiting as wife gifts to a newly married couple… and she kinda liked that idea… mainly because the Mares in Waiting are similar minded as her.” “Oh boy, can’t wait to have mares in maid outfits trying to gain my attention…” I say, which then immediately made me think of Twilight and Luna in said outfits. “Oh dear…” I mutter to myself, feeling my face heat up at the sight. “Well, dinner seems to be done.” Luna says as I look at our plates. They were all empty. “To the bedroom so we may try out that game, then head off to bed.” After putting the dishes away and me learning a tad more about the tree library we all went to our shared room...and good lordy was the room both big and jam packed with stuff. “Wow…” I say simply, seeing the place filled with gaming consoles, the big tv, the computer and all that stuff and a few more things. “So...where did you put the character at?” I ask, hoping to get some bearings in the game instead of just rushing head long into the unknown even for a video game. “The PC.” Luna says, taking a seat in the roller chair and taking the PC out of standby. “When I reloaded it, it said I was in some place, called, The Lab and-” When the PC turned on, the pause menu showed a man in a gashed face mask wearing purple robes… Core. “This isn’t where I left it?” Luna clicked continue, and Core waved his hand, and Twilight and Luna fell asleep. “Finally, that took forever.” “Well I’m sorry that I wanted to spend some quality time with people.” I frown. “So...how the hell did you put them to sleep, how the hell are you breaking the fourth wall of a video game, and how the hell did you program it this well?” I ask, having a good feeling the bastard could hear me through the game. “Somehow one of our latest test subjects managed to send an sos in for form of a disc, it contained some data, and she somehow managed to link a live feed from her perception to the disk. She must have encoded Heartless into the data for that to happen. Though, it helped us in catching her. Since Luna loaded it up as a game, she was in control of the test subject. “I am impressed with the advances in Subject 1c, that was advanced stuff. Still, it lead to her recapture in the end.” I took a seat on the computer chair and looked at the screen. “That is quite something.” I shrug. “But...why would one of your test subjects want to run and hide?” “Not all are willing brainiac. Majority are ones I took before their world was consumed.” “Makes sense, I doubt a lot of people would want to work for you willingly cause…’Destroyer of Worlds’ right here.” “Oh, now that’s a name I haven’t been called in a long time. So the fact you know that name means you also know God is my brother?” “Pretty obvious when you think ‘God is the Creator, wouldn’t there also be a Destroyer? And if so wouldn’t they be brothers?’.” I explain. “But quick question...why was I bored when seeing my world fall?” I ask curiously, still a little confused on why it was boring. “Funny, I had no part in my brothers imagination. That was all him, as for you… I took a sample of your heart when we last met. Your heart is full of self doubt, depression, and the best of all, it’s half dead.” “Ah, so that’s why I was bored.” I shrug. “But oh well, can’t be a winner all the time.” I say. “But that sounds worrying...half a heart isn’t really good when the heart is...quite important to a lot of things.” “I’ll only say this once, a heart is the source of all your emotions. Looks like half were left to die when you were on earth.” “If this is some Birth by Sleep shit I’m gonna be a tad pissed.” I frown. “Birth by Sleep? … Oh, those games.” “Yeah, those games that are apparently real cause Multi-verse theory.” I shrug. “It’s a lot simpler than that dear zombie, fact is, your world, and all it’s parallels and such, were nothing more than figments of my brothers imagination, given and sustained life within his mind.” “I’m sorry but Morpheus want’s his speeches back.” I say sarcastically. “Next time you meet him, ask, it’s the truth. The reality you exist in now is your True Reality. Then again, what does Reality even mean when you look at it like that?” “You make your reality, your choices help shape it, and those that you actually give a damn about help you shape it whenever you stutter in life.” I say. “Or we could believe that everything is Nothing and leave it at that.” “Smart, has a mouth, and a heart that wants to be fully alive again. You’ve surprised me.” “I feel like that’s the greatest achievement to surprise a god.” I say simply. Core laughed. “Please, god is just a name. I will let you know that, now that you’ve gained my full interest, expect a few foes coming your way.” “Where would the fun be if I wasn’t being attacked by bad guys?” I ask. “Now even though I’d like to live a happy quiet life for once I think others wouldn’t want that, whether it be you or someone else.” “True.” Core looked off screen. “Yellow, test this guy for me, and take Subject UV-C20 with you.” “Understood.” A feminine voice spoke from off screen. “Shit…” I frown. “So...anywhere specific I need to go to start fighting?” “Not right away. We’re evil, not irrational. Five days of peace and free time, then Yellow and C20 will test you.” “Well at least I won’t die a virgin.” I chuckle. “But thank you for the five days.” “Relax, if I sent them to kill you, I would have ordered it. I suggest you prepare well, C20 is one of our stronger fighters, and frankly, he’s been wanting a brawl.” The PC turned off, the CD drive ejecting the Disk, and it faded into darkness. “Welp...this isn’t going to be fun.” I sigh out before turning the swivel chair around and getting up, trying to wake up the two sleeping mares. “Hmmm.” Luna groaned. “When did I fall asleep. Were we going to bed?” “Yes, we were going to bed and there would probably be some plowing involved…” I say honestly. “Oh, why the change of mind?” “If you two are gonna go at it, I’ll bunk with Spike tonight. I’m not ready for sex yet.” Twilight says as she exits the room. “I think that would be for the best.” I say honestly. “But why the sudden change? Well...I suppose I just want to be with one of the most beautiful mares ever.” I say, hiding the fact that I only have five days of peace and training before a fight starts. “Well then, last one to strip down naked is on bottom.” Luna says with a giddy smile. To be continued...