Author's Note: Hello...readers. I don't have much to say other than apologize for this huge delay of this story. I sometimes lose focus and motivation when it comes to... certain habits. Yes I know, we all go through that and sometimes we make excuses (not everyone I mean) but I'm hoping to try to be more...active. I know some excuses are pretty common such as education, college, personal life, or etc, but I'm hoping to try to accomplish something as my personal goal for once. As somebody told me once, I should not waste my talent. So...in all hope I want to complete just one story and see how it goes. I don't mind if my grammars turn out to be bad to read, but I only wish that you all enjoy reading this story.
Chapter 4
Explanations?
Nothing usually happens back in the Organization base where members continue to do their usual routine, taking turns with the missions they attend, and personal business if nothing seems to come around. Of course, some events turn to be downside for few members like Axel. Because of his unpaid tabs passed down to Superior's second in command, he gets dragged into trouble by Saix, and who knows what he would do to his so called friend. The trouble maker was still being drag like a trash bag from Saix to make sure he doesn't flee as Axel could no longer fight it other than cross his arms and pout in defeat.
"Seriously, Saix," Axel said annoyed. "You take things way too seriously. I mean, do you have any proof that I was the one responsible for those ice cream bills?"
The 7th member known to be the Berserker, remained neutral but his tone was very strict when it came to unacceptable excuses. "I do not care what you say. Proof or not, I don't need to know who left the bills on my table. The only ones that ever eat those childish ice creams are you and number 13."
Well, Axel couldn't argue that part. It was obvious after all since he often ate sea-salt ice cream with his best pal. No other members would want to join with him anyway since he knew how each of them were not so friendly at times, especially number 12. Though he was okay with Demyx, he grew tired of him and his lovely guitar, playing the tones and singing made him want to forget about him. Only Roxas was acceptable to hang with anyway, but since his pal was forced to stay in the new world, he had nothing left to do.
The two members reached their destination, which turned out to be a door with a number IV symbol upon it. Saix immediately yanked Axel up to his feet as he knocked on the door and heard someone reply, "I'm very busy right now! Whoever it is, I'm not scheduled to do dishes."
Relentless, Saix knocked once more until heavy footsteps were heard before the door slid open with a loud slam as number 4 yelled, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
His shout caused Axel to shudder back while Saix remained composed as number 4 quickly realized who it was, and calmed down for his misbehavior. "Terribly sorry, Saix. I did not expect you to show up at this time. I take it you want me to do a little experiment?"
"A little experiment yes," Saix reply. "But it does not involve hearts or the heartless issue, Vexen."
Vexen gestured for Saix to come in, who continued dragging Axel along, which irritated Vexen to have to see him again. "Now why doesn't this involve the Heartless?" Saix didn't answer his question, but only gave him the folder with reports from Roxas’ encounter in the new world. After a few moments of research, Vexen regained his composure, "What a strange world we have here. Colorful ponies that talk, peaceful environment but a dangerous forest, and when a member enters the world, he or she becomes a pony as well."
He walks up to his work table and places the reports on it as he takes his glasses off. "If I had a heart, I would doubtfully die of laughter. A myth of so called ponies to actually exist among other worlds we’ve encountered so far, and yet this new world has had no recent heartless activity until now. Not what I expected, but what do you need from me, Saix?"
"I need you to create a potion..." Saix answered, still held a tight grip on Axel who still had his arms crossed.
"A potion of what exactly?" Vexen asked. "I can create whatever potion it may be, but you’re not being specific about the subject."
Irritated enough, Saix answered, "A potion that can change one of our members back to human form while they are in that world. The reports from Roxas’ experiences have proven difficult for him to handle his new body, so I want that potion made as soon as possible."
The scientist became intrigued by the new project he was assigned to do, since his habit were to analyze, study, and his most favorite of all; experiment. Of course, he would need more resources and details about the ponies. He almost forgot, but he never knew why Axel was with Saix in the first place. He figured that he probably did something wrong to get himself in trouble, seeing how Axel was begging for him to set him free, even though Saix was simply ignoring the troublemaker.
"Very well, Saix, I will see what I can do. But what about Axel? Vexen wondered. "I get the feeling he did something wrong."
He looked back at Axel with a simple glare from his emotionless face.
"Despite all the unpaid bills left on my table, Axel will become your temporary lab partner."
Vexen was disgusted by such a young member who didn't respect much of his authority. Saix knew that he would not like the idea, but then again, he had a better way to punish him.
Saix continued with a good suggestion, "Since you do not wish to enter the new world, you may send Axel in to do it for you. From here on out, Axel will have to do your bidding, and he will find out whatever you need to know about these equines. Are you fine with this, Vexen?"
Vexen suddenly grinned at the thought of Axel being his lab partner. With him being forced to follow his orders, he just might be able to get the information he would need, when he eventually sends him down to the new world. As for Axel however, he felt that this was his worst punishment yet. Saix could see him beginning to regret leaving those bills on his table. When the scientist accepted the offer, he began to clear away a few files and tools left on his table as he prepared to start his new project.
"When do you want me to send Axel to this new world?" Vexen asked, but notice that Saix’s focus was on Axel now, who was cowering as the berserker continued to glare.
"Aw come on, Saix." Axel whined. "I know I made a mistake and all, but I can pay you back honest and-"
He didn't get a chance to finish before Saix grabbed his collar and opened the corridor to his left , "No excuse, no exception."
And with that said to be done, Saix tug him near the portal and kick his gut as Axel flies right into the corridor as it silently seals up. Vexen wasn't surprise of his action, after all he was known to have temper at some point but doesn't show serious aggression. Then again, they are nobodies and they have no feelings of hatred.
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Roxas wished he hadn't take the mission in the first place. If only Saix had assigned him a different mission, but an order is an order. Roxas was taken into the library where Twilight lives because of his heroic effort, and the fact that the girls wanted to find out who the mysterious pony was that Twilight had described. He did his best to avoid further situation when Twilight asked him to come with her, but the girls around him asked him to come along anyway.
Sunset hit the horizon, and seeing it from the window that Roxas was by, it was close to night time and he had nowhere else to go. With Dash and Applejack somewhat acting as guards to ensure he didn't flee while Twilight gathered the few items needed: a scroll of blank paper, a quill, and an ink bottle. He sees Pinkie Pie is still hyped up from the Heartless attack, continuously hopping around the place. In fact, she was actually setting up the place with streamers, balloons, and more party favors than he had ever seen. The place was set up like a birthday party with a huge sign that said, 'Welcome to Ponyville' and the next line below said, 'Hero of Ponyville'.
The pink pony was certainly odd, and Roxas couldn’t help but wonder how she was able to do everything so quickly. From a quick nudge from Applejack, she answered his unvoiced question, "Best not ta think too hard about Pinkie, sugarcube. She's just being Pinkie is all."
The nobody gives Applejack a nod and glances back to something else so as to avoid the thought. He then sees Rarity near the center table of the room, but she appears to be whispering to a pony under the table. It was easy to recognize by the pink long hair color that it was Fluttershy. His guess was that she was probably still afraid of the Heartless earlier that attacked her before his heroic arrival. To her, however, it was something else that she couldn’t help herself.
"Fluttershy please come out from under the table." Rarity said, concern for her friend. "This gentle colt is not going to do anything bad, dear."
The shy mare couldn't help it. She was glad to be saved by the hero twice, but for some reason couldn't find the courage to thank him. Something about him made her feel...warm.
She whispers back to Rarity but much quieter than her friend, "I-I know...but...I can't seem to h- help it."
Before Rarity got the chance to ask why, Twilight interrupted. She had finished all the preparations. Her horn began to glow as the quill and paper glowed as well, but Roxas was the only one surprised to see it floating as if by magic. With everything settled, Twilight takes a firm look at Roxas as the other girls, as well as Spike could see that she was ready.
First, she began to examine his coat while her magic begin to do its job in writing out the details on the scroll. Roxas was too distracted by her magic until Twilight coughed to get him to focus.
"Okay first off, my name is Twilight Sparkle. I know you met all my friends but I never got the chance to meet you. So...what's your name?"
"My name is Roxas. Just a simple name is all I have but no last name." Roxas answered, which made Twilight even more curious about his name.
"Roxas huh? Never thought anypony would have a strange name like that. Though I must say, you really are a mysterious pony walking around with a black coat. Which brings us to the questions I wanted to ask you."
Figures, more questions to deal with, but Roxas had to pick his words carefully. It was never a good idea to let them know the real reason he was here. But some of the questions he might be able to answer. So, he nodded to Twilight in agreement as the lavender pony smiles and proceeds with her questions.
"So start off with you, Roxas. You were the same pony that saved me and Fluttershy from those shadow creatures you referred to as Heartless. You also wielded a strange weapon, which appeared to be some kind of key, against them. So my questions are: what do you know about them, what weapon is it you use, and...who exactly are you?"
He sighed heavily, to think that the girl had to throw the three most exposing questions to answer, especially the last one, at him from the start. He could see the girls staring at him, waiting for him to answer under the same pressure like the time when they were in the apple fields. There was no point in lying, but he might want to say something soon, since he didn't like to keep folks waiting.
"Well, the dark creatures you mention first. The reason they are called Heartless is because all Heartless are created when the darkness that resides in a person's heart consumes him or her. Meaning, these creatures can steal away anyone's heart in order to become whole. Being born from darkness, they are mindless and act on instinct.Ttheir only goal is to find hearts, and consume them to create more Heartless."
The sounds of gasps were heard around him, while he saw Twilight’s expressions range from shocked to disturbed, but she still wanted to know more about the creatures. "Do these Heartless monsters actually take hearts away from ponies as in force?"
"When you put it that way, then yes. But they don't take actual hearts if that's what you’re thinking." Roxas answered, as the lavender pony sighed a bit, still a bit disturb. "Anyway, what they actually take are spiritual hearts, if you can call them that. A heart that makes them who they are. Without it, you become Heartless."
Twilight took more notes down, scribbling on the scroll as if she was in a rush. The other mares were either shocked as well or confused by the whole Heartless explanation, but they seem to understand the point that they are much more of a threat than they originally thought. Though the girls beside Fluttershy asked a couple of questions about them, Twilight could see him feeling uneasy from all her friends’ questions.
"Girls, you will all get your chance to ask other questions, but right now I need to ask Roxas some serious questions that need to be taken care of." Twilight said, causing Dash to pout while Applejack silently agreed, along with Rarity. Pinkie however, was still excited to hear more from Roxas. "Now what about that key you used earlier? It doesn’t look like you have it with you and by the size of it, I doubt it’s in your coat."
He chuckled at the question and smiled a bit, as he performed the keyblade summoning ritual. He closed his eyes and lifted both his hooves forward. All the girls looked at him with a confused expression on their faces. It didn't take long before the key appeared like magic with a burst of light, revealing his weapon to them all. All he received were ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s, while Twilight was mostly amazed by his action. She couldn't help but wish to see it up close. She quickly gestured to Roxas for permission to look at it, and he let her.
Her magic levitate the key toward her as she rotated it side to side, trying to see its design. One part she almost forgot about was that Roxas was a Pegasus, and there was no way he was able to use magic to summon his weapon. This made it seem even more impossible due to the fact that unicorns were the only ones able to use magic. The thought of it disturbed her, and she asked, "One thing I don't get is that you were able to make your weapon appear out of magic. But you’re a pegasus, Roxas. So...how is it possible?"
Roxas could only scratch his head as he answered, "That weapon you’re holding is um... really special. To be honest though, I don't exactly know how I got it, but it has a name. They call it a keyblade."
Still confused after his explanation, Rainbow Dash flew up close to examine it. It was a key with a handle, but calling it a keyblade seemed off to her. It sure didn't look like it could actually be a weapon. Then again, Roxas made some performance with it against the giant Heartless, so she just shrugged at the explanation, but Twilight still didn’t accept it.
"What's so special about this keyblade? I mean, what is the purpose of having this?"
It never crossed his mind of what its purpose was, but he knew that it was the only weapon that ever helped deal with Heartless. He explains, "You can think of this keyblade as a solution to dealing with Heartless, because it’s the only weapon that can actually vanquish them and release the heart they held inside."
"And what happens to the heart that gets released from the creature?" Twilight asked, but the question was rather tough to think about. Should the girls learn what would actually happen to hearts that were set free? It didn’t seem like it would be a good idea, but he couldn't afford to say such thing, or else the conversation would lead off to even more problem.
As if it wasn't enough, a loud thud was heard from outside of the front door.
"Ow!"
"What in tarnation was that?" Applejack cried. The rest of the girls knew where the sound came from, and Twilight was annoyed by the sudden interruption.
She groaned as she tucked the notes away. "I don't know who it is, but this is not a good time to interrupt an important discussion."
Twilight walks to the door with the rest of the girls and Roxas following them. She opened the door with her magic, but for some reason nopony was in front of her. She stuck her head out, looking from left to right with no sign of anypony until she heard a groan. Looking down in front of her was a very familiar figure; a black coated pony with a similar design as Roxas’ but the only difference was that his face was reddish with some crazy fire-like red mane with long spike sticking out. Also, below the eyes were strange arrow marks on both sides. There was a conscious pony in front of her, and the rest of her friends caught a glimpse of who it was, moving out of the house as they examined the stranger.
"Who is he, Twilight?" Rarity asked in concern. "This pony has the same clothing as....Roxas."
Without notice, the stranger flutters his eyes until he could see clearly. With a quick check of his surroundings, he noticed he was being stared at by...ponies? He immediately jumped to his feet with a look of panic on his face.
"Whoa, where am I? Who are you and...." He stops mid-sentence right as he pointed forward to see a hoof instead of his hand. He slowly lifted his other hoof up and without even realizing he had lost his balance, fell down on his bottom. Afterwards, he never said anything else even though Pinkie was waving her hoof in front of him while Rainbow Dash poked his cheek. He didn't respond to their actions.
It didn't take long for Roxas to come outside to see what was going on when he found out what had made the sound from earlier. It wasn't so hard to guess who it was, but Roxas was very surprised to see him. He noticed Twilight looking at him with a stern face, as if she was waiting for him to say something.
"Ugh...don't worry, Twilight. He's someone I know...." Roxas said it carefully in a friendly tone as he approach to his friend.
"Axel?"
His friendly blaze colored friend looked back up and recognized him. But words did not seem to come out of him still, which caused Roxas to get nervous about the situation. He walks close enough to Axel to check on him when his friends' hooves grab both of his shoulders. Both were bewildered and confused, but Axel's mouth was gaped open....
"I'M A FREAKING HORSE NOW!!!!!"
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Note: I like to thank NightmareKnight for encouraging me to continue where I left and thank him for editing this chapter. I'll be back to continuing the next chapter sometime soon or later so cya!
Also, if some...certain details about KH stuff that I miss out, I'm sorry but you can feel free to nerd out and correct me. ^_^;