//------------------------------// // Ohana, Epilogue: Take a Walk Down Lonely Street to Heartbreak Hotel // Story: The Key to the Light // by KingJoltik //------------------------------// Rage. It is a key element in using the Darkness. It seems this element makes any being, no matter how tainted by the Darkness they are, rise again and again. It makes them seem like an unstoppable opponent. But they're not. They only need to be beaten till their rage is extinguished. That's all it takes. -Starswirl, Report 54 Equestria... "TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!" yelled the cloaked pony as another volley of flame flew right by Hurdy's head. The moogle cringed as the flames singed his cheek. The cloaked pony then grabbed Hurdy's neck with it's hoof and screamed. "TELL ME NOW!" "I'm...not...telling...you...anything...kupo." Hurdy replied, gasping for air as the hoof kept pushing his neck. "Then I think I'll have weird burning little white bear for dinner." the pony grinned as another flame appeared in it's hoof. "Get ready to add a few good burn marks to your face." As the flame got closer to his face, the other prisoner kept yelling, trying to stop the cloaked pony. While this happened, Maud and Little Strongheart were hiding behind a few rocks in the cave. Seeing this, Maud turned to the buffalo. "I told you to wait outside." "I'm not staying out there. Those monsters might appear out there and I don't stand a chance against them." she whispered back. "Oh...good point." Maud looked back at the cloaked pony and it's prisoners and then back to Strongheart. "Actually, change of plans. Could I ask you a favor?" "Um...sure." Strongheart replied, surprised at the sudden question despite the unchanging tone to Maud's voice. "You saved me, so I'll help you with anything." "That pony in the black coat is probably summoning the Heartless. I need to take that pony out and save my comrades." Maud said, pointing at Eiko and Hurdy. "I need you to save those two while I'm fighting that other pony. I can't do both." "You need me to...save them?" Strongheart replied while pointing as well. "Yes. They're why I'm here and if I fight, I can't let that pony try to hurt my comrades while I'm fighting that pony." Maud explained, Strongheart quickly understanding her logic. "Will you do this?" Strongheart blinked as she looked at the duo and back at the geomancer. Her eyes narrowed as she nodded. "You got it. You beat up that monster-controlling pony and I make sure that monster doesn't hurt your friends by freeing them. Got it." "Alright, let's begin." Maud said as she put her hood on and pulled out her usual rocky partner. "Ready Boulder?" No response. "Understood. We'll win this no matter what." Meanwhile... WHAM! That was the sound of Gantu slamming both of his fists into the ground, knocking all three heroes into air from the shockwave that followed. The trio all yelled out in pain as they landed back into sand, Trixie especially winded as she landed on top of her head. "Trixie does not like-grk!" she squeaked as Gantu quickly grabbed her, his giant finger squeezing her with all his might. "AUGH! Let go of Trixie!" "I'll start by getting rid of you." Gantu hissed before turning around and throwing her away like a baseball. The girl went flying down the beach, screaming all the way. "Trixie!" Twilight yelled before Gantu turned around as the darkness covered his entire body. Then, in front of Twilight and Flash, the darkness recreated his once cut-up gun back inside his side-holster. With this, the giant pulled out the weapon and pointed it at keybearer. "Don't move. I'll destroy you right here." "Out of the way!" Twilight screamed as she summoned her keyblade and pointed at him. "Get out of my way right now!" "DIE!" Gantu yelled as he triggered the gun, blasting a plasma shot at the keybearer. She quickly blocked the blast, only for her sword to be knocked away as she fell off her feet. Her body skidded down the sand as she felt the blow, knocking the wind out of her. As her head fell onto the sand, Gantu readied a second shot. "Ohhhh...that hurt." Twilight moaned as she tried to look up, only to see Flash rush in, knocking the blaster away with his sword. As the darkened gun flew away, Gantu quickly tightened his fists, swinging both at Flash. The pegasus turned human began sidestepping, dodging each punch with ease. However, despite the fancy footwork, Flash couldn't counter back as the fists kept charging into him. Twilight on the other hand, rubbed her face as her senses started to put themselves back together. "Gotta...get it together." she moaned before her ears picked up a slight banging noise. Trying to figure out where it was coming from, she then heard a voice. "Get us out of here! Help!" yelled the voice. "Igga taka! Igga taka!" continued another voice, along with the sounds of scratching glass. Twilight turned around and saw Stitch scratching at the capsule, just barely making progress on the glass prison. Her mind started to grind the gears as she quickly pointed her keyblade at the capsule. "Lilo! Stitch! Stand back now!" she commanded, causing the two to look at each other for a second before following the order. Twilight's eyes narrowed as she took a deep breath and said, "Blizzard!" A shard of ice shot out of the sword, instantly embracing the capsule in a frozen sheet. Twilight sucked in a deep breath and yelled, "Stitch! Break the capsule, now!" "Ighba gabbataka!" the blue dog yelled as he cocked his noggin back and headbutted the capsule, instantly shattering the frozen glass. Twilight beamed a smile as Stitch hopped down with Lilo in his paws. "Ighata! Ighata!" "Good boy Stitch!" Lilo said as she hugged her dog and then turned to Twilight. "Thank you Twilight!" "No problem." Twilight replied as she started to get back on her feet. Seeing this, Lilo quickly ran up to her and helped her up. "Thanks." "No problem. You helped us, and now we have to help you." Lilo replied as she and Stitch helped her up and then glanced at the battle between Gantu and Flash. Gantu's fists were like a machine gun now, a barrage of punches blasting the beach as sand kept flying into air from the blows. Flash on the other hand, was slowly getting backed into a corner as Gantu's fist knocked his sword away and all Flash had left was his shield. Lilo turned back to Twilight and asked, "Is that big dummy gonna try to take Stitch away?" "Yeah...I think so." Twilight barely said. "That Peakley guy said that this 'Gantu' is some captain that wants him back." "Grrr...I won't let them." Lilo growled before pointing at Gantu. "I'll help Twilight Stitch, you go get that big dummy!" "Ighba!" Stitch nodded before curling up into a ball and began rolling towards the enemy. At the same time, Gantu's final blow hit Flash's shield, knocking it away as Flash fell into the wet sand of the ocean. "Augh!" Flash yelled as his back kissed the ground. "Ohhh....that's not good." "Flash!" Twilight screamed as she tried to move, only to stumble as Lilo tried to keep her on her feet. "Stop it Twilight, you're hurt!" Lilo said. "But-" "Believe in Stitch! He'll beat that big dummy!" "I..." Twilight couldn't respond. As Lilo's words went into her ears, she instantly knew what Lilo meant. She remembered fighting Stitch, and feeling the sting of his immense strength. Seeing this, Twilight nodded and cheered, "Go Stitch! Kick his flank!" "Igata!" Stitch yelled as he grabbed a rock on the beach and threw it at the back of Gantu's head. Feeling this, the giant turned around to see the blue ball of mischief. "Hi!" "You..." Gantu growled, his dark aura growing even more. "Die you abomination!" Gantu's fists joined together as the alien slammed both down on the experiment. As they were just about to make contact, a resounding 'thud' could be heard as the attack suddenly stopped. "What in the-" "ALOHA!" Stitch yelled, his claws blocking the blow and now grabbing the joined fists. Quickly spinning like a top, the blue dog spun the giant around and then threw the monstrosity right back into his ship. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH-URGH!" Gantu yelled as his body slammed into his ship, a groan of pain following the scream. With this, the dark aura began to haze around him as his consciousness began to faze. "Oooohhhhh...have to...beat the...abomination..." Seeing this, Twilight looked at her keyblade and saw a bit of light at the tip of the sword. She then turned at Lilo and said, "Lilo, get me close to that monster." "Huh?" "I've got to get rid of that dark aura around him." "Dark aura? You mean that black foggy thing that was on Stitch earlier?" "Yeah...get me over there." Twilight pointed at Gantu as Lilo nodded. The two then began to slowly walk over to the ship, only to feel a sudden nudge on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight turned and saw Flash standing there, his arm around Twilight as he helped her walk over there as well. "Flash! You're okay!" "Yeah, I'm okay. Just got the wind knocked out of me. Now, you need to get the keyblade over there, right?" "Yeah...then we can end this." Twilight groaned as the trio got her closer to the target. A few moments later, there were standing in front of the knocked out fish alien. Twilight pointed the keyblade at the target and closed her eyes. "Please let this work. Light, shine forth and free his heart from darkness!" A beam of light soon followed as it pierced the darkness, freeing the alien from the thick, mucky aura surrounding him. A large gasp of pain released itself out of his mouth as the darkness started to disappear. Seeing this, Twilight let out a long sigh before leaning on Flash, her whole body still in pain. "We won...thank goodness." "Yeah, no kidding." Flash groaned before pointing to the beach. "We better go check on Trixie now." "Could you do that? I need to lay down." Twilight moaned as they hopped off the ship and back onto the beach. Lilo and Stitch also got back on the beach, which both of them were so relieved that the fight was over. Flash then put his friend on the sands, causing her to fall back on the crusty ground. "Ooohhh...that's nice. Thanks Flash." "You gonna be okay?" "Yeah." Twilight nodded. "Could you-" "No problem." Flash interrupted before tapping the little creature on the top of his head. "Hey pal, could you watch over Twilight for me?" "Sure kupo!" Spike exclaimed as he hopped down from Flash's blue hair and floated over to Twilight. "Get going kupo!" "You got it." Flash said with a small salute before turning around. As he started to go to Trixie, he let out another sigh. "Thank the stars that's over." Meanwhile, back in Equestria... WHAM! "YOU STINKING PIECE OF TRASH! HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME!" SMASH! "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BLASTED LITTLE-" BAM! "STOP TRYING TO PUNCH ME YOU PIECE OF-" SLAM! "AUGH! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT YOU-" WHAM! The following noises, sounds and yelling was Maud Pie fighting the cloaked pony. The gray earth pony was currently changed into her Monk class, causing her clothes to change into a black headband and a light blue gi covering her body instead of the geomancer coat. Her hooves were constantly swinging at the enemy, causing rock after boulder in the cave to break as the cloaked pony kept dodging at the last second. "STOP DOING THAT YOU STINKING-" SMASH! "Grrr...I said stop that!" the cloaked pony yelled as a fireball appeared in it's hoof. "BURN YOU PIECE OF GARBAGE!" Maud spun in the air, quickly dodging the fireball like she was skating in mid-air. "STOP THAT! STOP DODGING MY-URK!" The cloaked pony's rant was interrupted by one single punch to the gut. Time itself felt like it stopped as the hoof slammed into the stomach. Maud herself just glared at her opponent, her usual deadpan stare showing a slight hint of anger. A spurt of spit flew out of the pony's mouth as the hoof kept putting more and more pressure into the blow. It was only for a split second, but the sound of bones just barely cracking could be heard. What followed was the cloaked pony flying threw the air, their body smacking the wall with a loud thud. "Augh! Son of a...you stinking...little..." the pony wheezed, clutching it's chest as the pain flew through the pony's body. "Ooohhh...that hurt." "Give up." Maud deadpanned with just a small hint of anger. "Give up right now." "What did you...just say?" The pony said with a slight cough. "I said give up. Now." Maud's usual blank stare didn't change as she stared at her opponent. The pony stared down at the ground before looking back at Maud. However, the stare was so much different. The cloaked pony's eyes were glowing a bright sickening yellow, accompanied by a malicious grin. Then, the laughing started. "Heh heh heh. Me? Give up? You piece of outsider garbage, you think you can make me give up?!" "Yes." An eruption of darkness surrounded the pony as a thick musty aura appeared over the cloaked pony. The pony's eyes still shined in that darkness as the pony yelled, "YOU PIECE OF FILTH! I'LL SHOW YOU TRUE FEAR! YOU WILL BURN TILL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!" With that, the pony clapped it's hooves twice. As the sound of clapping followed, a black flame appeared before the cloaked pony as a long rapier was summoned inside the fire. The pony quickly stuck it's hoof inside the handle of the rapier. The rapier was silver colored from tip to the bottom, even it's handle. The inside of the shaft began glowing an orange-reddish shine, the colors of brilliant blazing flame. With this, the pony swung the blade into an offensive stance. "My blade of flames shall cut you into pieces!" Maud tightened her hooves as she readied herself for the fight. As she was about to speak up, another voice interrupted her. "Oh really? That sounds like the barking of a loser to me." said a certain purple haired pony in an orange garb as she walked right up to Maud. "What the-how did you get free?! Those shackles were filled with darkness!" the cloaked pony barked as the moogle and Strongheart also stood by Maud. "Simple." Eiko replied as she pointed to a small pouch in her shirt. A tiny baby moogle with a yellow-colored pom-pom poked it's head out. "Mog here gave the buffalo some light magic. You may have sealed away me and Hurdy's magic, but not Mog's." "You stinking little-" "Oh stop it." Strongheart interrupted while gritting her teeth. "Let's just get to the part where we beat you up and go home cuz you're nothing but a stupid monster." "Oh really?" the cloaked pony growled as the rapier in it's hoof began to rattle. The pony's hoof vibrated as the pony pointed the tip of the blade at the others. "If that's the case, I think I'll start by slicing your head off buffalo. And when I'm done..." A small, fiendish hiss came out of the pony's mouth. "I'll make sure all of you and Appaloosa burns to the ground." Meanwhile... Trixie had been found completely knocked out on the beach. Her body was firmly ingrained into the sand while her back was still in somewhat aching pain. Thanks to Twilight's magic coming back, she healed Trixie along with her friends before finally grouping up with their new companions, Lilo and Stitch. Jumba and Peakley had also joined them as they stood by the downed ship with an unconscious Gantu still laying on top of it. "So, you're leaving?" Lilo asked as Twilight an her friends all nodded in unison. In response, her head drooped down. "Oh...that stinks. I just met you all." "Yeah...sorry Lilo." Twilight replied as she scratched the side of her head. "I hate to say it, but we accomplished what we needed to do here. Sorry, but we have to move on now. Besides..." Twilight pointed to a laying Party Favor who was still knocked out despite Gantu waking up before him. They weren't sure why, but the poor soul wouldn't wake up. "We need to take him back to where we came from." "Okay." "Ighba." Stitch added, his ears dropping down. Twilight then walked up and tapped Lilo on the shoulder, a nice fine smile gracing her face. "Cheer up Lilo, we can always come back here." "Really?" Lilo lit up, hearing that. "Uh-huh." Twilight nodded before her friends did as well. "We all will." "Trixie wouldn't mind coming back. Trixie has started to find this beach...enjoyable." Trixie said with a slight sniff. "Trixie could see herself coming here for vacation." "Agreed. Its not a bad little place." Flash remarked, putting his hands behind his head. "Though I doubt I can find a good fight out here." "You're all about fighting, aren't you?" Trixie scoffed back. "What a meathead." "Eh, its who I am." Flash shrugged, only for Spike to imitate him. "Whatever kupo." "Anyways!" Twilight spoke up, looking back at Lilo. "We gotta get going Lilo. Are you and Stitch going to be okay?" "We will." Lilo replied as she hugged her blue dog. "We're Ohana after all!" "Yeah! Ohana!" Stitch barked, hugging her back. Seeing this, a slight groan could be heard behind them. They all looked up to see Jumba with a disapproving look on his face. "Ugh...I guess that's that." Jumba said as he shook his head in disarray. "It seems 626 wishes to stay here." "Um...if that's true, what do we tell the galactic council?!" Peakley whimpered, "I mean, they'll tear us apart if we don't bring him back!" "It'll be fine Peakley. 626 has found his place. Too bad it is not somewhere where he can go wild and destroy things." Jumba huffed before glaring at Twilight. "But, I won't stop him. I can see he's happy here. To that, I thank you litt-er...Twilight Sparkle." "Um...sure." Twilight replied before tilting her head. "But why are you thanking me?" "You got rid of that dark thing that that Party Favor fellow was trying to control 626 with. That and got rid of the one on me." Jumba scratched the back of his head at that thought. "Heh, how embarrassing..." "No problem. I'm happy that I could help." Twilight crossed her arms with a big smile. "Just don't try to stop Stitch from being happy again, okay?" "Understood." Jumba nodded before Stitch walked up to Twilight, his eyes wide while looking at the keybearer. "Hmm? What's wrong Stitch?" Twilight asked as Stitch reached out his paw. Seeing this, Twilight shook his paw with a grin. As they did, a bright light shined between the two. A few seconds later, the light faded and the two just stood there, confused. "What was that?" Flash asked. "No idea." Twilight replied as she looked at her hand. "Strange..." As she said that, her keyblade suddenly appeared in her hand. Letting out a small gasp, she noticed that the keyblade looked slightly different. The tip was shining a small light. "Huh? What's this?" Her hand slightly jerked before suddenly pointing the keyblade at Stitch. "Wait a minute, what is-" The light from the blade shined a bit brighter before Stitch began glowing as well. When this happened, Twilight clutched her head with her other hand as she felt a flood of information enter her brain. "Whoa..." A minute or so later, the light stopped and the two shook their heads in unison. As the others just watched in confusion, Twilight and Stitch stared at each other with smiles on their faces. "Say, did you understand that Stitch?" "Gaba!" Stitch nodded. "Good. Whew, what a headache..." Twilight replied while rubbing her head. "That was a rush." "Um...explain Sparkle." Trixie demanded, grabbing Twilight's collar. "What was that?!" "I think...I learned a new spell for my keyblade." Twilight replied as she desummoned her keyblade and winked at Stitch. "Don't you agree Stitch?" "Gaba ighba!" Stitch cheered, nodding in approval. "A new spell?" "Yeah...just something me and Stitch can only do." Twilight grinned as she patted Stitch on the head. "I'll show you later. Let's head back, shall we?" As her friends nodded in agreement, Lilo walked up and hugged Twilight. "Come back sometime! Promise me, okay?" "Of course." Twilight hugged her back. "I promise." Equestria... Celestia sat on her throne, sipping a small of Prench wine. She had felt a bit off today, and needed an extra kick for the day. However, her session of calming herself would soon be interrupted by the tapping of hooves in the hallway beyond the throne room. There, Shining Armor appeared and bowed before her. "Your majesty, I have a report for you." "Rise and give me your report Shining Armor." "The mirror my sis-er, your protégé went into is no longer showing signs of the dark aura that was surrounding it before." He said as he slowly got up. His tone lowered as he spoke his next words. "However, something else happened right before this." "What happened?" "Um...another mirror starting showing signs of a dark aura." He admitted with a grimace. "I'm sorry your majesty, its exactly as you predicted. I know you wanted it to be wrong but-" "Its fine Shining Armor." Celestia replied as she ascended from her throne. "I had a feeling this was going to happen." She then walked up to the soldier and patted his shoulder. "I'm going to Starswirl's lab to see this for myself. Could you tell Princess Cadance what has happened?" "Of course your majesty." Shining bowed again. "I will do this at once." "Good." Celestia watched Shining leave the room. As he did, she let out a long sigh as she proceeded to her destination. I have a bad feeling about this...and I already did before my protégé returned to Canterlot.