//------------------------------// // 59. Blooming Rose // Story: Spider in Equestria // by DarkSpider //------------------------------// Dark leaped towards his left, barely avoiding the rainbow-colored blur from tackling him. Upon landing, he quickly spun around, shooting a string of webs from both of his wrists towards the blue pegasus, trying his best to bind her.  Rainbow Dash flew up towards the air, dodging the two strings of webs heading towards her. Curving downwards, she flew down towards Dark, both of her arms were stretched out to grab him. Only for Dark to dodge her again.  As the two continued their spar, Bri and Screwball watched from the sides, the two of them being rather impressed with how much the two have improved from the last time they sparred. The Riolu then raised its paws in the air, cheering the two on in their fight. "You know, this is rather dumb," Venom said inside Dark's mind. "What?" "The two of you sparring so much. It's counterproductive." "How-" Before Dark could finish his reply, he was suddenly sucker punched by Rainbow. Upon scoring the hit, the blue pegasus pumped her fist in the air and gave out a loud shout in excitement. "Ha. Too slow Tito." Dark simply rolled his eyes. "Yeah, lucky shot taken while I was dealing with Venom…" he muttered, just low enough that she didn't hear. After that, they resumed their fighting. "I'm just saying you should probably spar with your pokemon or even Cece." Upon hearing his sister's name, Dark immediately let his mind wander, letting his spider-sense control his movements as he started thinking about the previous night, with Cece coming back with some minor wounds and slashes on her. While she said she was fine, he couldn't help but worry about her. Even when not fighting anything serious and with Emily by her side, she still got hurt. While Dark was busy thinking about his sister, none of the two fighters noticed a brief flash of pink light coming from one of Dark's pockets. Being warned by his spider-sense to dodge, Dark quickly leaped towards the air, avoiding the pegasus as she flew right where he was. Suddenly, Dark began to notice the pink glow spreading all over his body, before he could do anything about it, he was forced to curl up and was forcibly thrown towards Rainbow Dash. The pegasus could do nothing as she stood there and gaped at the strange attack before she was suddenly tackled by the ball-shaped Dark. Dark immediately uncurled himself and stood up, looking at his body in complete shock. "Okay… That was unexpected…" "What was that?" Rainbow asked as she got back on her hooves, feeling rather weak for a few moments while her body healed from the attack. "I-I have no idea." Dark placed a hand on his head, under his hood. "Did you seriously turn into a ball?" "Apparently…" "Well, didn't see that coming," Screwball commented as she and Bri stepped towards them. "When did you learn the Homing Attack?" The two fighters blinked. "The what?" Rainbow asked. "Did you just say Homing Attack?" Dark questioned. "You know what that is?" "It's a Sonic move. While he's in the air he can zoom towards an enemy from afar while...curled…up…" After explaining that his eyes widened. "Well holy shit. I did just use the Homing Attack." "So is that another thing you gave yourself, or…" "No. Nothing related to Sonic was in mind when I made the DarkSpider character. So I have no idea how I did it." "Maybe that glowing had something to do with it," Screwball suggested. "Glowing?" Dark asked before remembering the glow he saw before he did the move. "Right. What about it?" "Something in your pocket was glowing pink before you did the move. There anything special?" Dark shrugged before pulling out the only two items in his pockets, his chaos gem and Kairi's token. "These are it." "There a chance it's the token?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, Link's token can turn you into a wolf. Maybe Kairi's has something to do with that homing thing." Dark sighed. "I don't know. I'd need to ask her myself and I rather not summon her for something so minor." "Why don't you just call her?" Screwball pointed out. "I did upgrade her phone to get calls from you, remember?" Dark blinked. "Okay. I'll give that a shot. But I left my phone in my room. So, see you later?" He asked Rainbow. The pegasus sighed. "Sure. Heck, probably should check up on Tank anyway. See ya Tito." And with that, she spread her wings and took off. Dark hummed before shaking his head and picking up Bri. He then turned to Screwball. "Are you coming or do you have plans?" Screwball shrugged. "Might wander around. Get more familiar with the town. Talk to you later." She then disappeared in a flash of light. Dark nodded at the area the filly previously was before heading back to the castle. (???) “This… Isn’t my room…” I thought out loud, as I noticed the large crystal walls and floors below the bed. My eyes narrowed as I tried to remember how I got here. “In fact, I don’t remember even falling asleep…” Carefully, I stepped out of the bed, only to let out a hiss when my feet touched the floor. I stumbled around for a few seconds before grabbing the bed next to me for support. “Why does my body feel so sore?” I complained, deciding to just stand there for a few seconds to get used to the soreness. “I feel like I went full round against Knuckles.” Letting out a sigh, I began walking towards the door. Suddenly I stopped, my eyes locking with the small, sleeping fox-like creature next to the bed. The small fox yawned cutely, and stretched out its feet. Opening its eyes, the two of us made eye contact before she let out a small bark and jumped towards me, stopping right in front of me.  Looking at the small creature, my heart couldn’t help but melt. “Aww, aren’t you just the cutest thing!” I cooed, picking up the small fox and holding it tightly against my chest. The small fox looked briefly confused for a second before it yipped happily, nuzzling against me. I continued to shower the small fox with affection before I remembered about my situation. Giving the fox a suspicious look, I briefly wondered if it had anything to do with it. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the one who brought me here are you?” The fox only tilted its head in response, looking even more confused than before. “Fen?” I smiled, petting the fox. “Nah, nothing this cute could possibly be evil.” Carefully putting the fox down, I walked back to the room’s exit, finding it to be surprisingly unlocked. “Huh. Whoever my kidnapper is, they must be pretty new at this. That, or Eggman’s finally slipping.”  Stepping out of the room, I walked down the hallways for a minute before I heard the small pitter-patter of tiny feet. Turning around, I spotted the yellow fox running after me. Stopping once it caught up to me, the fox yipped, tilting its head at me in worry. Smiling softly, I reached down to give it a comforting pet. “Oh right, how selfish of me. You must be trapped here too. Well come on then.” I gestured at her to follow me. “We should get out of here before any of Eggman’s stooges find us.” The fox shot me an even more worried look, hesitating for a moment before following after me. The poor thing was likely worried about running into whoever or whatever captured her. Not that the little cutie had anything to worry about with a Freedom Fighter around! Looking around the castle’s hallways, it soon became apparent to me that practically everything in the castle was seemingly filled with crystals, something that really put me on edge. Summoning my hammer, I gripped it tightly, slowing down my walking speed. “Crystal pillars, and crystal walls… There’s only one troll I know who's this obsessed with crystals.” I frowned in worry, looking around for any sign of the elderly wizard. “But Naugus is still with GUN right? He shouldn’t be able to escape, especially not so soon.” I mumbled, taking a look back at the fox as suspicion started to fill me again. Naugus was a shapeshifter, it wouldn’t be too out there for him to turn into something to gain my trust… The fox smiled happily when it saw me looking at it, letting out a happy bark. Instantly all of my suspicion disappeared. Internally I couldn’t help but laugh at how paranoid I was being, 'Like Naugus could turn into something so adorable, it likely just got caught up in the whole thing!' Stopping in front of the tall, glass-covered, wooden door, I carefully looked around the hallway before cautiously opening the door. On the other side of the door was what appeared to be a bedroom, with a nightstand next to the bed that had two rather large books. On the other side of the room was a small shelf, filled with books, and a telescope right next to it. Looking around the room one more time, I couldn’t help but frown. “Well… This doesn’t really look like a room that belongs to an ancient troll wizard…”  I sighed, reaching for my communicator. My eyes widened when I couldn’t find it, “I know I have it in here!” Searching for it one more time, I gulped when it became clear that it was no longer with me. “Alright, if there were any doubts that this was a kidnapping, then this clears it all up.”  Stepping out of the room, I looked around the hallways. Satisfied with it being empty, I scooped up the small fox and began walking towards the opposite direction from where I came from, hoping to find an exit before Naugus could find me. I stopped, my eyes widening as I came face to face with someone else in the castle, standing in front of me was a human wearing blue clothing. In his arms was what appeared to be a young black and blue canine-like creature in an identical outfit, with its hood down, revealing its puppy-like face with brilliant red eyes, staring at me with a confused look. "Morning," the human said with a small wave. "Sleep well?" I blinked in confusion, being caught off guard by the casual greeting. “Umm. Yeah, I slept pretty well.” I responded hastily. "You feeling alright? You had me worried last night." I forced out a laugh, trying to not let my confusion show. “Oh yeah I’m feeling great! Really, there’s nothing to worry about with me.” I looked around, trying to spot an exit. I slowly inched away from the two. “Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to go now. Thanks for worrying about me, and I’ll see you later.” Before I could leave, however, the small pup immediately leaped out of his arms and ran to me before stopping right in front of me, the confused look still in its face as it tilted its head. I stared at the small pup before looking up at the human, my smile becoming shakier. “What’s it doing?” The human scratched the back of his head through his hood. "No idea. She's never acted like this before." He then shrugged. "Maybe she wants to spend time with her aunt. You guys don't really hang out that often now that I think of it." A moment later, he looked to his right and said nothing for a few seconds before saying, "Makes sense." He then turned to me. "Mind watching her for a bit? I need to get my phone and call Kairi. A rather surprising development just came up that she might know something about." “Umm… Sure? I can watch her.” I nodded, feeling rather lost at the moment. "Thanks." He then walked to the pup and knelt down to pet her head, to which she gave a happy yip to. "Be good, okay Bri?" The pup gave a smiling nod and hugged him in response, to which he returned with a laugh. When he let go, he stood back up. "Well, see ya later Cece." And with that, he left without another word. Absentmindedly waving at him, I turned down to look at the pup and gave her a shaky grin. “This is starting to feel less like a kidnapping, and more of a case of mistaken identity,” I mumbled, reaching down to pet the small pup. “On the plus side, Naugus must still be in prison, and I won’t have to deal with that creep again.” I sighed, scratching the back of my head. The pup made a small noise while pointing at me, which seemed to confuse the fox I had with me, causing it to look at me the same way as it. Looking back up, I glanced at the multiple hallways before me. Turning back towards the pup, I gave her a small smile. “Hey… So I’m pretty sure you know what’s going, or at least have some idea... Any chance you can help me navigate this place? The castle is pretty big, and I’m kinda lost here.” The pup simply tilted her head before smiling and emitting a happy yip. (Twilight’s Castle, Dark’s POV) Pushing open the tall wooden door, I walked inside the spacious room, looking around for my phone. Spotting the phone laying on the nightstand right next to a resting Peter and Shoto, I walked towards it and grabbed it as Shoto flew up and perched himself on my head again. "Are we really sure this'll work?" I asked, looking towards Venom and ignoring the bird. Venom shrugged. "Only one way to find out right?" I shrugged in response. After unlocking my phone, I went through the contacts til I found Kairi. After clicking her name to call her, I put the phone to my ear as I waited before hearing a click. “Hello?” “Holy crap it works,” I said in shock. “Tito? Is that you?” “Hey Kairi, how have you been?” “Uh, the same as I was yesterday when you were here. You act like… Wait a moment, I forgot that time works differently between universes…” “Only a day for you? Yeah, been longer for me. Quite a few things have happened on my end…” I muttered as I remembered what happened at the rock farm. “Oh? Did something happen with your Keyblade?” “No. It's fine. Though that dream I had that night was unexpected.” “Did it have anything to do with a stained glass floor in a dark void?” “Uh-huh. Pretty much. And apparently the others had it too. Take it you know about it? I remember it was in the first Kingdom Hearts game and you said you're an expert on those games.” “That’s right, what you have just experienced is the Dive to the Heart. Basically, it’s your Keyblade getting a feel for you. In the games, the Dive to the Heart acts as the tutorial for the basic gameplay, while also revealing the character of Sora, or whoever the playable character of the game happens to be.” "Then how did you enter it?" I whispered to Venom. "It wasn't very hard. Ask her. She might know." I sighed before saying to Kairi, “Any way for someone else to end up in one's dive?” After a brief moment of silence, she said, “Well, in terms of the lore for the series, there was no mention of anyone else showing up during a Dive. Why do you ask?” “I ended up having a...visitor, for lack of a better word,” I said as I looked at Venom. Kairi was silent again for a few moments. “Was your ‘visitor’ Venom, by any chance?” "Very subtle Tito," Venom said. “Shut up,” I whispered to him before telling Kairi, “Yeah, pretty much.” “I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on here. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, for the final boss of the character Ventus, the entire battle takes place within a Dive. However, that was only possible because the final boss, Vanitas, was intricately linked to Ventus’s heart. I believe something similar is going on here with you and Venom. Because he originally came from you, your hearts are inextricably linked, allowing him to participate in your Dive.” “Wait, I heard that name before. Vanitas…” "Delsin mentioned that he got his darkness powers from a Vanitas Displaced. Even mentioned Birth By Sleep too." I nodded as I remembered. “Oh right. Anyway, what do you mean our hearts are linked?” “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Your heart is a part of his, and his heart is a part of yours.” “Doesn't that mean the hearts of the other symbiotes are a part of me too?” “Yes, but in a different way,” She explained. “They can’t intrude on your Dive, because they haven’t bonded to you. Venom on the other hand, has bonded to you.” “So besides entering my dive, does that mean anything?” “From a lore perspective, not really, since the only example we have to draw on is the battle between Ventus and Vanitas. We’ll need to wait and see to know for certain. In any case, was there anything else you were calling about? It seemed like you had something else on your mind before we went down that bunny trail.” “Yeah. You know your token?” “Yes, what about it?” I pulled it out of my pocket with my free hand and looked at it. “Does it have anything special about it besides the summoning?” “Not that I’m aware of, unless the Merchant did something to it when he put it in my bag. Why do you ask?” “Screwball said she saw it glowing while I was sparring with Rainbow. Figured you might know what that was about.” “Wait, did you happen to use an ability that you don’t normally use in combat? Like, an ability someone else usually uses?” I nodded, though I guess to nobody in particular. “Apparently I did something that looked similar to the Homing Attack.” "What you just did is called a Dimension Link, or D-Link for short. Basically, it allows the user to borrow the abilities and skills of another person that they have created a strong bond with. Somehow my token acts in the same way as the Wayfinders from Birth by Sleep.” “And you weren't aware of that?” “No. In the games, Kairi’s lucky charm is just that, a lucky charm. No powers or abilities attached to it.” I raised an eyebrow at that. “Then why is yours different from hers?” “No idea. Could be that the Merchant thought it would be a good idea.” I scoffed at that. “Doubt it. Probably something to do with when you made it a token.” “Sounds like that could be the case. Be very careful when you experiment with it. In the games the D-Link was on a timer, so don’t do anything reckless while using it, otherwise you could end up hurt, or very dead.” “Honestly I didn't even notice it until after Screwball brought it up. Didn't feel tired or anything.” I then muttered, "Though that glow was weird…" “Could be that you were unconsciously tapping into the ability, that could change when you properly use it. All I’m saying is that you need to be careful when experimenting.” “Duly noted.” “Alright, anything else? I’ve kinda got the Doctor waiting in the other room right now…” “You sick?” I heard her giggle at that. “No, no. You might know him better as either Clockwork, or Doctor Whooves, whichever is more recognizable.” “Only Clockwork I know is from Danny Phantom and Sly Cooper. So why do you bring Time Turner up?” “Huh, that’s odd, didn’t think he was going by Time Turner in your world…” She then stopped. “In any case, apparently he’s here to reactivate the training facility in the Tower. I’ll tell you more next time we talk.” “Kay. Until next time.” I then hung up the phone and put it in my pocket. "So, that's an interesting development." I then looked at Venom who was frowning at me with his arms crossed. "What?" "Did you seriously forget to tell her about the Heartless thing?" I looked at him confused for a moment before my eyes widened in realization. After that, I buried my face into my free hand. "You have got to be kidding me…" Before I could do anything else, I heard a knock come from my door. With a sigh, I put the Wayfinder back in my pocket and put my other hand down as I walked to the door. Immediately after opening it, I was hugged by Bri, barely keeping myself standing as Shoto flew up in alarm before landing himself back on my bed. "Hey Bri. You okay?" I said with a small chuckle as I lifted her up to look her in the eye. Looking behind her, I spotted Cece standing by the door with Emily by her feet, her eyes darted around the room, as if afraid to make eye contact. Before I could say anything, Cece cleared her throat. “Hey so… Can we talk? It's pretty important.” "Um...sure. What's wrong?" Cece scratched her head, humming in thought. “Well… Alright this might sound a bit strange, but I need you to bear with me, alright?” Letting out a sigh, her ears drooped as she fiddled with her hands. “So what am I to you? Who do you think I am?” I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion as I put Bri down. "What?" Cece sighed, raising her hands up in a calming gesture. “Look, it's going to sound weird, but you have to believe me... I’m not whoever you think I am. My name is Amy Rose, and I think you may have me confused for someone else.”