Chapter 32: Dark Usurper

The crystal ponies all gathered at the Crystal Stadium, where they were all waiting to watch the jousting event that was about to begin. In the middle of the stadium, Pinkie Pie was there with the spotlight on her. She wore a silly jester outfit with various different patches of colors, a yellow ribbon, and there was a star on the left side of her face. Well, she is a silly pony, after all. She was getting the ponies riled up and ready.

"Mares and Gentlecolts." Pinkie Pie said. "Are you ready for the greatest Jousting match in the history of Jousting Matches?" The crowd began to cheer with applause. "Then let's get ready to rumble!" Pretty soon, two groups of two began to emerge from opposite sides of the stadium. One side was Terra and Applejack, and the other side was Cloud and Rainbow Dash. Interestingly, both Terra and Cloud were riding on top of Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Well, that's the whole point of jousting. Two guys ride on horses and they try to knock the other off with their weapons. Just like they do in the old days when the knights and kingdoms have nothing better to do. Not sure if it was very bloody, but it's worth to see someone get knocked off.

Both teams were ready to bout. As Applejack looked around, Terra's focus was on Cloud. Though the Soldier boy was far away, Terra noticed something was familiar about Cloud.

"It's just... he looks familiar." Terra said. "He reminds me of someone I met a long time ago." Terra was right. Something about Cloud did remind him of someone. Someone who had short thick black spikey hair with bangs framing his face and bright blue eyes.

"Well, you can think about that later." Applejack said. "Let's get ready to rodeo."

"Right." Terra said, summoning his keyblade. The two then made their way into the arena.

"Ok." Cloud said, a little unamused, but ready to fight as he removed the Buster Sword from his back. The two also made their way to the middle of the arena.

"Alright!" Pinkie Pie said with the microphone. "And here are our gladiators! On this side is Team Earth Apple, consisting of Terra and Applejack, and the other side is Team Buster Rainbow, consisting of Rainbow Dash and Cloud Strife! Two fierce ponies, two guys with big swords! Which one will be our champion?! Let's find out!" The party pony then zinged away from the middle of the arena as the two teams were now facing face to face.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see about that." Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings with excitement.

"Well, I guess you and I are going head to head." Terra said, pointing his keyblade forward.

"Yeah, guess we are." Cloud said, spinning his Buster Blade, and pointed it straight forward. "Let's get this over with." Both teams were ready, while the crowd watched on the edge of their seats.

And just like that, both ponies with men riding them charged forward. They pretty much got closer and closer, and then... Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash jumped upwards, causing both Terra and Cloud to be flung right off them. And soon enough, both ponies collided into each other and began to wrestle each other.

Luckily, both men made a smooth landing, and watched as the two ponies began to wrestle and fight. Everyone in the stadium was watching with confusion. They wanted a jousting event, but all they're getting is wrestling?

"This is even better!" Another crystal pony called out. Everyone was beginning to agree, cheering as the earth pony and Pegasus continued to battle it out. Terra and Cloud looked at each other with a bit of confusion. Luckily, they both were now getting the same idea. Entertain the audience with a friendly battle.

"Well, sounds good to me." He said as he positioned into his battle stance, and Terra did the same. Pretty soon, both charged right towards each other and clashed blades. The crystal ponies began to cheer as they saw what was going down.

Seeing two ponies and two guys with swords brawl it out. Now that's entertainment. And surprisingly, the others who were watching from the sidelines also started to cheer.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy said, her focus on the fight, though Discord only rolled his eyes at the big guy's language.

"Language..." The draconequus said, shaking his head. Everyone was watching the staged fight unfold. Mickey was leaning his head a bit, and jumping over some people to see, though it was a bit difficult, given his small size.

"Oh!" The mouse spoke as he felt a strong shiver down his spine. Turning his head, he sensed something in the center of the Crystal Empire. Whatever it was, it was something... something very dark. It was a powerful darkness nearby. But it wasn't your typical everyday sort of darkness, nor was it advanced darkness. This was ancient... much darker... much more... wicked. Making his way out of the stadium, he looked back at the Crystal Castle, seeing that it was coming from there.

As the King stared at the castle, he was trying to figure out what it was. And he wasn't the only one. Riku came to his side, staring at the castle.

"A terrible one to that." Aqua said as she approached them, her eyes on the castle. "It's unlike anything I've ever sensed. This one is more different than the ones we've faced."

"It's... like a terrible scourge." Aqua said. Mickey began to think as he heard her say the word scourge. Suddenly, his eyes widened with great fear.

"No.... it can't be...." He said. Without hesitating, the king summoned his keyblade and ran off straight to the castle, which was a surprise to the other keyblade masters.

"Mickey, wait!" Riku called out, but the mouse didn't hear him. The King continued to rush to the castle. What was a bit surprising to Riku was the mouse's face. He's never seen the King so... scared before. Not that scared at least.

"Ok." Riku said. "Keep the others occupied." The woman gave a nod, allowing Riku to head off to his friend. Soon, he was able to make his way to the front of the castle, where he saw the King standing there and looking around. But Riku came to a stop as he got close enough. He saw what Mickey was seeing. It was a pair of royal guard weapons and armor, on the ground. But no ponies in sight. That was odd. The royal guards were supposed to be stationed outside the castle. Where are they?

"They were." Mickey said. "But... now they're gone. I don't think they left on their own accord." The two glanced at the weapons and armor on the ground. The King was right. There's no way the guards would just run off, leaving their stuff behind. Could've something happened to them?

The two glanced up at the castle. The darkness was coming inside. And Sora was in there, along with the others. But he also sensed something else. A strong, powerful light in the castle as well. He knew that scent well too.

"Look...!" Mickey said, pointing up at the sky. Looking around, they noticed something. Something was moving straight towards the castle. It was a strange black mist forming around the castle. That was definitely darkness. but... what kind?

"About... 30 years ago..." Mickey said. "But I thought... I thought it was a dream." The King didn't have time to think however. He just began to run towards the castle doors and headed inside, with Riku following suit. Whatever it was... it's really bad.

"C'mon, this way!" Kairi called out as she began to lead everyone in the castle to where they needed to go. Pretty soon, the group of friends made their way up the stairs and up to a set of doors. They soon came to a stop.

"Well then, let's open it!" Shining said as he rushed to the door and tried to open it. But alas, it wouldn't open. He tried to push against the door, but it still would not open.

"Look!" Donald said, pointing at the top of the door. The stallion glanced up and saw something that was keeping the door from opening up. It was a chain, and tied up on it was a lock.

"Don't worry." Twilight said. "I'll get it opened." She then ignited her horn and then shot out a beam of energy right at the lock. But as it connected, the beam bounced off, shooting straight at Goofy! Luckily, the Knight brought up his shield, and blocked the attack, which then shot straight at Shining. With a yelp, he summoned a magical glowing shield, sending it straight at Donald.

The beam hit Donald and sent him across the floor, making everyone cringe, especially Twilight.

"Oops... sorry!" Twilight said. The royal wizard lifted himself up and shook his soot covered face.

"Why is it always me?!" He asked before giving a grumble. The lavender unicorn glanced back at the lock. Her magic didn't work.

"But this will." Sora said as he stepped forward and summoned his keyblade. Aiming it straight at the lock, the keyblade charged up and shot out a beam of light straight at the lock. As it connected. The lock and chains began to glow.

It clicked. Then, the lock began to disintegrate and fade away, and soon, the door opened up, revealing what was inside. The room was large, with a hallway connecting to a circular room inside, where long crystal pillars rose up to the top of the ceiling, and glass windows between them, all in different colors. Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Blue, Purple, Magenta, Brown, Grey, White, and Black, and Platinum. What was interesting about the pillars was that there was carvings of various different knights in each one. But that wasn't the important thing. The important thing was the object that was floating in the middle. It was of a heart-shaped crystal, glowing brightly. Sora and Twilight smiled at the sight of it. This was it! The Crystal Heart! They have found it!

"We found it!" Sora said, as everyone began to cheer. They have finally found it. The Crystal Heart was here! All that searching was finally worth it! They have succeeded! The group then made their way towards the center of the room and got close enough to see the Heart still floating, minding its own business.

"Yeah." Sora said as the others nodded in agreement. Sora began to walk towards the heart to grab it. But then suddenly... The Crystal Heart glowed brightly...

"Gah!" Sora shouted as he grabbed his own head. The others saw this with surprise.

"Sora!" Kairi said as she held to him to prevent him from falling to the ground.

"Something's... in my... head..." Sora choked as he lifted his head, but suddenly, his eyes widened as he stared right at the Crystal Heart, which was shining directly at him.

"Sora, What's going on?!" Spike asked. The boy took a step towards the heart, which began to sparkle more.

男がこの領域を歩くとき、惨劇の影がこの世界を脅かしています。彼の心は闇に染まり、彼の心は復讐でねじれた。彼の道に血が続くまで、彼は何もせずに止まります

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" Spike's voice shouted as he jumped in Sora's face. The spikey haired boy shook his head, coming to his senses. Looking around, he saw Kairi helping him keep his balance, while Donald and Goofy looked with worry. Twilight and Shining were looking with concern, as did Spike.

"Yeah, I think so." Sora said, but his attention was drawn to the Crystal Heart.

"No." Sora said. "I don't think that was Sombra... I think the Crystal Heart was trying to link me with someone."

"Link you with who?" Goofy asked. The boy glanced down and began to think. He then remembered Chirithy speaking about Those Who Came Before.

"I think they were speaking to me through the Crystal Heart." Sora said as he took another step forward. He glanced right at it, and began to recite what he could manage from their distinctive language.

"A man whose tainted by darkness." He said. "His path will leave a trail... of blood?"

The sound of hands clapping behind them made them stop. They turned around, to see someone they didn't except to see... but it wasn't Sombra.

"Well done, well done." The voice said from the doorway, revealing the hooded man in the black coat. "I knew that you all would find it. I'm quite impressed, actually."

"You!" Sora shouted, as he, Donald, and Goofy got ready to fight, while Kairi, Twilight and Shining stood there quite surprised, and Spike hid behind Thorax.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt on your little celebration." D said. "But I wanted to see the Crystal Heart for myself, since it's not on display back at the Faire." Then, Sora summoned his keyblade, Donald his staff, and Goofy his shield. Kairi also brought out her keyblade too, ready to fight.

"Now then, let's take a look at that Crystal, shall we?" The man asked as he stepped forward a few more steps. With his keyblade gripped in his hand, Sora, with Donald, and Goofy behind him, charged forward to attack. But then suddenly, the man disappeared, and appeared behind the group, his back towards them. The boy froze, surprised by the teleportation. The man was facing straight at the Crystal Heart, and was giving a smile.

"So, this is the almighty Crystal Heart." He said. "It looks much more beautiful in it's real appearance. According to the legends, the heart is used to prevent this kingdom from becoming a frozen wasteland. I wonder what happens if I... break it." Twilight gasped. He was going to break the Crystal Heart!

"NO!" Twilight called out as she galloped forward, using her magic to summon a blade across over her horn.

"Twily!" Shining called out, but the unicorn leaped and swung, striking the man in the back, making him almost stagger.

"Gaaaah!" He shouted as he almost stumbled. "Ahahahaha..." Twilight's eyes widened, seeing that the strike barely did any damage to him!

"How valiant of you, Twilight Sparkle." The man said as he turned around. "But are you truly worthy of being Celestia's attack dog?" He lifted his hand up, as it conjured up a black and purple swirling orb. Twilight quickly stood back, seeing that he was charging up dark energy.

"Let's find out!" He said as he shot a blackish red beam towards the pony, who conjured up a beam of her own. The two beams collided, pushing against each other until neither could push anymore. Both attacks were at a stalemate, showing that both were equally strong.

"Very impressive!" The man said. "I knew that you were special from the very start. Such raw power, such talent. You would've made a great warrior of darkness if you had stayed on the path of darkness."

"Am I?" D asked. "I've seen you fight against the meddlesome keyblade master. I've seen how you hurtled that unicorn off that mountain. And let's not forget your heroic efforts to stop the Changelings from taking over Canterlot." Twilight's eyes widened. This guy must've watched her and Sora battle back at the Ruins, and seen how she posed as Mare Do Well and tossed Starlight Glimmer off the mountain. And the Changeling Invasion? How did he know that? Was he actually there?

"Oh, I was there, from the very start." D said, showing a smile under his hood. "I arrived shortly before your brother brought up his little bubble of a shield, doing a little scavenger hunt until the big day. I was planning to interrupt the celebration until the Changelings beat me too it. When I saw you fighting against those bugs, I knew it wasn't going to be that easy to finish my expedition with you running around. So when I learned that some greedy Chancellor was conspiring with the Changelings, I decided to ask him for help, promising that I would give him and his associates the Princess's Throne. I tasked him the place that little amulet that held the Nightmare's lingering spirit with the other elements so you would find it, which kickstarted everything that you all have been through."

"So it was you." Sora said. "You were the one who started everything from the beginning!" At that moment, D gasped with excitement.

"You guessed right!" He said as he gave a clap. "It was me from the start. And it was suppose to go so smoothly too, until you lot showed up. But I sort of half-expected that you would come here, given that the Sun Goddess would rather have someone else deal with the problems that she made in the first place."

"How dare you say that!" Twilight shouted. "Princess Celestia never used me to fight her own battles."

"Says the pony who told her so." D spoke back. Twilight gasped, and then remembered. She remembered her argument with Princess Celestia before she began the path to darkness, where she accused the Princess for using her to fight her own battles instead of facing them herself. She did say that.

"That's right... I did say that..." Twilight said. However, she shook her head. "But I don't believe that anymore! She would never use me!"

"Oh really?" D asked. "Well, then she should've tried to fix her own mistakes then, such as saving the sister she left in the shadows."

"Even if she wanted to, she couldn't!" Twilight said. "Princess Celestia's connection to the Elements of Harmony were severed, so she couldn't save Luna herself."

"Funny of you to say that, because she was also the one who freed Nightmare Moon in the first place." D said. Twilight gasped. Did he just say Princess Celestia freed Nightmare Moon?!

"You're wrong!" Twilight shouted. "Princess Celestia didn't free Nightmare Moon! It was the stars. The stars aided her in her escape!"

"Yes, they did." The man said. "But the Moon wasn't the only thing Princess Luna could move. She could move the stars as well. So while Luna was banished, who controlled the Sun, and the Moon, and the Stars?"

"Well, Princess Celestia did." Twilight spoke. "She controlled the stars and-" Suddenly, she froze, and realized what she said. That's right. Princess Celestia did move the sun, the moon, and the stars while Princess Luna was banished. Princess Celestia controlled the stars, because the Sun was also a star! So then that meant... Her eyes widened with pure shock and disbelief. Princess Celestia freed Nightmare Moom? No. That can't be. It's not true!

"Oh yes." The man said. "The prophecy was all just mumbo jumbo. The stars by themselves didn't free Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia freed Nightmare Moon." Twilight stood there in complete shock, and so did Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and Spike and Shining, their mouths were hung down with disbelief.

"What?!" Sora asked, while Donald and Goofy gasped with disbelief. Shining couldn't believe what he was hearing either.

"That's right." D said. "The Princess of Equestria freed the Nightmarish Specter. She risked sending Equestria into an Eternal Night, all because she wanted her sister back."

"It... it can't be..." Twilight told herself, trying hard to not believe it was true. But the facts were all there. Celestia controlled the sun, the moon, and the stars. So there for, if she moved the stars, then it's possible that the Sun Monarch unleashed Nightmare Moon.

"But that's not all the horrible things she's done." D said, wagging his finger.

"What if I told you that your dear Princess Celestia isn't as colorful and innocent as you think?" D asked. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. The man with his hood gave a smile, and extended his hand.

"I could tell you..." He said. "But, how about I show you instead?" He then raised his hand, conjuring a great magical sphere. He then pushed his hand forward, sending out a bright flash, much to Twilight's surprise.

"Sora, Wait!" Donald, Goofy, and Kairi called out. The boy kept running towards them, and soon, he was caught into the bright light as well.

With the bright light come and gone, Sora opened his eyes, seeing Twilight next to him. She too opened her eyes, and the two saw that they were on the balcony of a giant black colored crystal castle. Looking at the sky, they saw that it was red in color, showing that it was either dawn or dusk, yet the sky was covered with black clouds. Perhaps it's the work of some dark magic. Looking from the balcony, they saw crystal houses, all of them lost and without color.

"Where else?" Both turned around to see the cloaked man walking behind them toward the big doors, before turning around to face them.

"This is the Crystal Empire, a thousand years before Sombra made it disappear." D explained. Sora and Twilight gasped in surprise. They were still at the Crystal Empire, but far back in a thousand years? Wait, how is that possible? Could it be a vision of some sorts.

"I already told you." D said as he approached them. "I'm showing you one of the many horrors Princess Celestia is capable of..." He then raised his hand and pointed straight out to the city. The boy and the unicorn glanced to see what was happening in the Crystal City. There were dusts explosions from place to place as they saw King Sombra, just like they saw him out in the Frozen North, only this time, he was wielding a mighty scythe and moving around on the city streets, shooting dark magic at two flying alicorns who were fighting back. It was two alicorns that Twilight knew so well. It was Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. But they weren't wearing their regal attires. They were wearing fancy armor. Celestia's armor was gold and black, with the helmet shaped like a crown. She wore armored boots and wielded a mighty axe-shaped lance. The helmet and chest plate contained a purple jewel in each. Luna's armor was black, and it had the crescent moon symbol on the chest place, and her mane tied into a long ponytail. She wielded a royal sword, her shoes were a lighter blue, and her helmet was also black, and contained a pointy jagged part below the horn.

Sora and Twilight couldn't believe it. They were watching the very fight between the Royal Sisters and Sombra. They both watched with amazement as the two alicorns flew up in the air, their horns joining together to shoot down a powerful blast upon the black unicorn. However, Sombra disappeared and moved in to strike, but Celestia countered with her lance, as Luna tried to dive in to strike. But the Shadow King, seeing this coming, summoned a massive black crystal rock and shot it towards Luna, sending her across the field and trapped into one of the walls outside the house. Seeing him distracted, Celestia thrusted her lance, right into Sombra's chest, making him gasp. But he smile, showing that the lance didn't hurt him one bit.

"Muhahahaha..." Sombra laughed. "So... much... Hatred!" He then phased through and bashed into Celestia, sending both of them flying across the city and into many buildings before pushing her down to the ground. But Celestia did not falter and flew back upwards, clashing her lance against Sombra's scythe.

"Oh please." Sombra said. "Even the Gods lack the purity in their hearts. I can sense your wrath, and I will say, it smells delicious." Unfortunately, Celestia pushed Sombra's scythe from out of his grasp, and charged up her horn with lots of magic. Then suddenly, the sun's light pierced through the clouds, and shined upon Celestia, allowing her to glow with power, surprising Sombra.

"May the Darkness End With You!" Celestia shouted as her eyes glowed brightly, and she shot out a powerful beam of Magic. Sombra summoned a black shield to protect himself, but the beam collided with it, and began cracking it to pieces, much to his horror.

"No... No!" Sombra shouted as his shield began to break away, before shattering completely. He was then engulfed by the beam, making him scream in pain as he was pushed far and far, slamming him into the castle windows into one of the rooms. The sight of the attack surprised Twilight and Sora. Celestia was able to harness the power of the sun! That could explain why is is able to move the sun. But that was merely incredible. Twilight has seen Celestia perform such miracles, but not something like that.

"Whoa... where did Sombra go?" Sora asked. The two glanced back at the man with the black coat.

"See for yourself." He said as he opened the doors, allowing them to enter. "But be warned. You won't like what you see." Although they were suspicious, Sora and Twilight followed him inside. After the door closed behind them, they saw that they were in the throne room, which was the same black and wicked color as it was when Sombra reigned. Looking around, they saw Sombra, limping his way to the throne. He was hurt, and he was weak. The sun's light was too much for him. He was slowly breaking apart.

"This... this is impossible..." He said as he laid on the ground. "The sun's power... is just as strong as the Crystal Heart..." He remained there on the ground, too weak to even more.

"Sombra!" A voice called out, getting the stallion's attention. He turned his head and saw a crystal pony making her way from the doors. Sombra's eyes widened, recognizing the lavender unicorn with crystal blue hair and tail. It was the very friend he pushed away! It was Radiant Hope!

"Radiant Hope?" Sora and Twilight asked. What was she doing here? Didn't she flee when Sombra shattered Princess Amore?

"Sombra, I'm so sorry!" She said, galloping towards the stallion, kneeling down to his level.

"I went to the Royal Princesses and told them what has happened." Hope said, with a sad face and tears forming in her eyes. "I'm the reason why they're here. I asked them to save you. But I didn't think that they would try to kill you." After confessing, the crystal unicorn began to weep into the stallion's chest, who was surprised.

"I'm sorry, Sombra." Hope sobbed. "I didn't mean for all of this to happen. I just wanted to save you, but instead I sent them to destroy you. I'm so sorry, Sombra. I'm so, so sorry." As the mare continued to sob, Sombra only remained there, surprised. But he then realized that Hope was just trying to help him. She went to the Princesses in hopes to save him, not to destroy him. Honestly, he could never blame her. The black stallion gently pulled the crying crystal mare into a comforting hug.

"Hope... don't blame yourself." Sombra said. "None of this is your fault. You had good intentions." He then looked over to the throne, seeing his reflection inside it. He gasped, seeing what he had become. He had become a monster. Guilt began to consume him, as he started to realize what he had done.

"This... this was my fault." He said. "All of this was my fault. I turned into a monster because I was afraid of you leaving me. I was scared that you would leave me and join to be the princesses' student. I... I've been such a fool." The stallion lowered his head in shame, as the crystal mare lifted her head up, hearing his words.

"I could never leave you, Sombra." Hope said. "I will admit, I was happy that I got the invitation from the Princesses, but I wanted you to come with me. I knew how unhappy you would be here without me, and that's why I wanted you to come with me."

"Of course." Hope said. "You were the only pony who's been my friend for so long. I could never abandon you. I love you." The black stallion's eyes widened, hearing everything. She had no intention of leaving him? She wanted him to go with her?

"Hope..." He said. Without an moment of hesitation, the crystal mare moved closer and hugged him, nuzzling into his neck affectionately. The Shadow King was surprised, but at the same time, he was relieved. His friend never had any intention of abandoning him. She loved him with all of her heart, and deep down, he loved her too.

Looking around the dark colored castle, he began to realize what he was doing. He was enslaving the crystal ponies, many of them that didn't do him wrong. He had forced them to dig deep beneath the castle and unleash his menacing brothers and sisters, which would've burned the castle down if the Princesses haven't arrived. He has committed wrong that was far worse than what other ponies have.

"What have I done?" Sombra asked, a tear escaping his eye. "I... I really am a monster."

"You're not a monster, Sombra." Hope said. "What I said before I left, I never should've said that. You let me go, and that's the proof that there's good in your heart. It's not too late to fix things." She took his hoof and caressed it with her own.

"It's never too late to make things right." She said. "And I will be by your side through thick and thin. Just as we always had been." The stallion thought it over. She was right. It wasn't too late to stop this. He can just stop what he's doing right now, and surrender, return the crystal the Crystal Heart, and-

The sounds of glass shattering made the two ponies look up to see Princess Celestia flying through and onto the ground, showing a determined face, and ready to fight.

"Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. She and Sora watched as the Sun Monarch approached the two ponies, and she didn't look happy.

"It's over, Sombra." Celestia said, with venom in her voice. The stallion glanced at the royal princess with worry. But he stood up and lowered his head, ready to surrender.

"I... I surrender." Sombra said. "I will relinquish the throne and return the kingdom back to the ponies."

"That's not how this works... monster." Celestia said as she charged her horn up with magic. Both Sombra and Hope gasped. The stallion pushed the crystal pony away just as the blast struck him, sending him across the floor. Both Twilight and Sora were surprised by the sudden act. What was the princess doing?

"Sombra!" Hope said as she saw her friend on the floor, hurt and afraid. She then saw Princess Celestia approaching the stallion, ready and armed with her lance.

"Sorry, but monsters are not welcomed here." Celestia said with a stern voice. "Monsters must be struck down and put in their place!" She then aimed her lance right at the stallion, ready to thrust and stab him, much to his shock.

"NO!" Hope called out as she galloped towards the two and stood in place on her hind legs and her front hooves spread outwards, shielding Sombra from Celestia's attack. The Son Monarch stood still, surprised.

"Move away, little pony." Celestia said. "The monster must be vanquished!" The crystal pony shook her head.

"No!" She said. "I won't let you hurt my friend!" A moment of silence was all there was as the Princess of the Sun tilted her head, as the crystal mare refused to step aside, all to protect her friend. Then...

"GAH!" A gasp came from Hope's mouth, and Sombra's eyes widened with horror, as the unthinkable happened.

Sora stood there, in deep shock, while Twilight only stood there in tremendous shock, the sight of the mentor she viewed as second mother, fatally stabbing a young unicorn mare.

"No..." Twilight said with disbelief. As the Princess removed the blade from Hope's body, the crystal pony began to fall backwards.

"NOOO!" Sombra shouted as he got up and galloped to his friend. He caught her with his hooves. Pretty soon, Twilight galloped towards the two, and Sora followed suit, both still shocked of how Princess Celestia could do such a terrible act. As they got close enough, they saw the stallion in great despair as his friend began to die in his hooves.

"Hope!" Sombra shouted. "Hope! It's going to be ok, Hope! It's going to be ok!" The crystal pony didn't respond, but she turned her head to the black stallion.

"Hope... I..." Sombra said as a tear dropped from his eye. Radiant Hope gave a weak smile, and caressed the stallion's cheek.

"Sombra..." Hope said. "I.... I love you...." A short gasp came from her mouth after she said her final words, and her hoof dropped from his cheek. The mare's eyes didn't move, her color faded away, and all life that was in them were gone. Radiant Hope was gone. She was... dead.

Twilight couldn't believe what she saw. Her own mentor taking an innocent life, all to stop a villain. And worse part was that Celestia showed no remorse what so ever. She didn't care.

"How... Why would Princess Celestia do this..." Twilight said as she lowered her head.

"This... this can't be right." Sora said, thinking about it. There's no way Celestia could do something this... terrible. Could she? He looked back at the Princess, who still showed no care on her face, and then back at the stallion weeping the loss of his friend. This can't be right. Celestia would never...

"No.... Nooo...!" Sombra said, holding the dead body of his beloved friend in his hooves. Tears formed in his eyes, as so many emotions began to take over. Despair, Sadness, and Rage. He closed his eyes, and opened them once more, showing no pupils, but green and everything else.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!" Sombra shouted, or more like gave a mighty grown as darkness began to burst from his body, sending both Sora and Twilight away and across the floor. Luckily, they didn't tumble backwards or anything, nor did they notice a certain stone that was glowing in Sora's pocket. They both glanced up to see King Sombra, now in his monstrous Shadow Pony form, with nothing but rage and hatred. He had unleashed the power of darkness.

"Oh no...!" Twilight said, her focus on Sombra. Sora, however, turned and saw Princess Celestia, who was backing away, with surprise on her face.

"Sister!" Luna's voice called out as she charged from the broken window and into the room. "Are you al...right?" She froze in place, seeing Sombra all dark and powerful, and her sister backing away.

"Something... not good." Celestia said. Sora glanced back at what Twilight was seeing, an angry powered up Sombra, ready to do whatever was next.

"You all will pay for this..." Sombra said. "For a thousand years shall this place fade away!" Sora then realized what was happening. This must be the curse that Sombra casted upon the Kingdom to make it disappear.

"And right you are, little ones." Both of them turned to see D approaching them, giving a smile under his hood. "And just like that, he placed a curse on the Crystal Empire, a curse that made it disappear, frozen in time, for a thousand years." And just like that, he snapped his fingers, everything went all white.

Pretty soon, Sora and Twilight found themselves back in the area where the Crystal Heart was hidden. Turning around, they saw Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Spike, Shining Armor, and Thorax, all of them surprised.

"Well, you, Twilight, and that hooded creep disappeared!" Spike said. "And then you guys just popped back." Sora then thought for a second. They just disappeared for a moment. He remembered everything that happened. They had just seen a glimpse of the past of before Sombra made the Empire disappear. The fight with him and the Princesses, and Hope arriving, and then... Sora gasped, remembering what happened.

"Celestia... she struck a pony down." Sora said. Hearing that made everyone look at Sora with surprise.

"I saw the past, and everything." Sora said. "Sombra was going to surrender, but Celestia tried to kill him instead. But then... that unicorn he was friends with, she tried to stop Celestia but... Celestia took her life." Everyone gasped hearing that.

"What?" Shining asked. "That... that's can't be right! It must've been a trick by the bad guy!"

"No..." A voice got everyone to turn their heads, to see the lavender unicorn's head lowered and facing the ground. She had witnessed everything that has happened. She saw Princess Celestia coldly striking down Radiant Hope, just to destroy King Sombra, who was going to surrender.

"So that means..." Spike said. "Princess Celestia did free Nightmare Moon as well."

"That's right!" Everyone glanced forward to see D, who was standing with his hands behind his back. "Princess Celestia, the most benevolent Princess of all of Equestria, is a heartless, manipulative, and murderous pony. She struck down an innocent pony just to slay a monster who was willing to surrender. She banished her sister all the way to the Moon and left her trapped there for a thousand years. And she released her, not caring about the damage she would do. And she sent you through a perilous journey to fix her mistake. Princess Celestia just used you to fix her problems, just like she was using everything that happened as a test, to make you the new ruler of Equestria." Twilight's eyes widened with surprise. Did he just say that Celestia was going to make her Equestria's new ruler?

"You heard me." D said. "Celestia was going to have you become the new ruler of Equestria, and leave all of her troubles to you. Now what kind of a ruler would force someone into a position just so she could get away from all of her problems. That just further proves that she is not the ruler this land deserves. She's not even worthy of being a ruler of anything... like how a certain King who destroys lives didn't deserve to protect his people."

"But you, Twilight." He continued. "You should have the choice to be what you want, to follow what you desire the most." He then extended his hand out, wanting to offer it to the lavender unicorn.

"How about we show her what real rulers can do?" He asked. The lavender unicorn stood there and stared at the floor, going over what she now had just learned.

Sora stood there surprised, and confused. All this time, the prophecy was just a joke. Princess Celestia freed Nightmare Moon all along, and slaughtered an innocent pony many years ago to destroy Sombra. Nothing could justify what happened in the past, but the boy knew one thing. If Celestia hadn't done the Nightmare Moon incident, then Twilight would've never been friends with the girls. He went towards the lavender unicorn.

"Twilight, listen." Sora said. "I know you'll probably don't wanna listen, but hear me out. Regardless of what Princess Celestia did, taking Hope's life, and using you to save her sister, she may have freed Nightmare Moon and sent you on that journey. But if anything... she chose you. She had faith in you, and she still does. She knew that you would be able to stop Nightmare Moon and free her sister. She knew you had such great potential. And maybe if she hadn't freed Nightmare Moon, you would've never became friends with the girls." The lavender unicorn's eyes widened up with realization as Sora mentioned the girls. The boy didn't know what she was thinking, but she was thinking it over. With that moment of thinking, Twilight took a deep breath.

"And what's that... Little Twilight?" D asked. The lavender unicorn lifted her head up.

"Celestia may have done some wrong things." She said. "But she did give me what I needed."

"She gave me what I needed, and that was a group ponies that I can call my friends." Twilight said, thinking about Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. "Princess Celestia never gave me the task to stop Nightmare Moon. She told me that I needed to make friends, and nothing more. Going up against Nightmare Moon and saving Equestria was my choice alone, because it was the right thing to do. When I went up against Nightmare Moon, five ponies that I met that day joined me on my quest to stop her. They helped me when I needed them, even when I didn't realize it. Applejack assured me everything was ok, Fluttershy showed kindness to the Manticore, Pinkie Pie helped us laugh at our fears, Rarity gave the Serpent what he lost, and Rainbow Dash never left me hanging. And together, they taught me how wonderful Friendship is, even in the darkest times. Princess Celestia may have done some terrible deeds. She may have taken an innocent life all those years ago, and she may have freed Nightmare Moon. But she did many good things too. She gave me what I needed. She gave me friends." She glanced back at Sora, knowing that he was there to help her all the way. He was the very first friend that she made during that quest too. He gave a nod.

"And I will do whatever it takes to protect my friends." Twilight said. "I will still fight for Equestria, and for Princess Celestia!"

"And so will we!" Sora said as he stepped forward, with Donald, and Goofy rushing up behind, ready to fight. D only smiled.

"Awww... so you guys still want to fight for a failing monarch who would send someone else to do her fighting?" He spoke.

"Funny coming from you." Sora said. "You've been gathering followers to help you in your goal, so maybe you're just having them fight for you. A man who lets others do the fighting for him is a coward, and that's what you are! A coward who hides behind a black coat."

"Yeah!" Donald shouted. "Why don't you fight for once, you big palooka!" The man's smile slowly turned to a frown as he heard that.

"Well, now that you mentioned it." He said, but he then gave a grin. "I suppose you're right. I might as well warm up before I start the uprising, and show you all what I can really do."

"Bring it!" Sora said as he summoned his keyblade, showing that he was being serious. The boy readied his keyblade and charged forward to strike, as Donald and Goofy followed suit. The man then lifted his hand up with a flick.

Suddenly, the glass windows began to shatter, revealing multiple objects hurtled straight toward the boy, making him stop quickly. And surprisingly, the objects stopped just as they reached the tip of his nose. He stood there, shocked, as did Donald and Goofy, and so did Kairi, Twilight, Spike, Shining, and Thorax.

"Sora!" Riku called out as he and King Mickey burst through the doorway, catching up with the others. Suddenly, they stopped, both in shock. Around Sora, pointed straight at him, were lots of blades, axes, spears, daggers, and swords, all of them glowing red.

"Wha..." Sora said, dumbfounded at what was going on. King Mickey glanced at the hooded man, and his face showed rising horror.

It was only a while after D had brought the Legion of Doom together for Maleficent and Pete to meet. Now D was just sitting in the snow, watching the Crystal Empire from afar. As he stared at the sight of the castle, Maleficent emerged next to him and was watching as well. He sensed her arriving.

"Yeah." D said. The witch took a glance at the hooded man. His face was still shrouded, so she couldn't figure out who he looked like.

"I'm gonna go for a walk around the Empire a bit." He said. "While I'm away, can you prepare the Legion for me?"

"Of course." Maleficent said. "You've done a fantastic job bringing them together for us."

"You're welcome." The hooded man said with a smile. The witch glanced back at the empire, but her thoughts were more on the man sitting next to her. She hardly knew anything about him, not even his own intentions. Why is he interested in conquering Equestria? Why even sharing the interest? Since he was here, she decided to ask.

"Tell me, why is it that you're interested in this world?" Maleficent asked. D only glanced at the snow.

"I have my own ambitions, but what about you though?" He asked. "Why are you interested in conquering this world?" The witch only glanced across the frozen landscape.

"This world is a catalyst that provides the magic of the universe." She answered. "With it under my control, I shall use it to spread darkness across all worlds."

"Or maybe I didn't ask the right question." D said. "The real question is... why are you so keen on being Evil?"

"Because, not everyone is born bad or evil." D said. "The Unicorn King wasn't born evil. He was turned evil. So I'm asking you, why are you playing the villain? What's your story?" The witch only turned away, but her head was only staring at the snow. Truth be told, she's not very comfortable talking about her past, since she has buried it. But he did ask, so...

"Since you have mentioned it, I was never always evil." Maleficent confessed. "I originally was a fairy, who lived and ruled the Moors, the magical forest realm that bordered the human Kingdoms."

"Ahhhh... tell me more." D said as he glanced at her, wanting to know more. The witch was a bit more surprised and weary to tell him, but she continued.

"As a young girl, I fell in love with a human boy, who was kind and curious." She said. "He promised to give me the purest and rarest gift of all, but it was not to be unfortunately. As we grew older, we grew apart as well, while he lived in the human Kingdom, his love overshadowed by ambition, and I became the protector of my home."

"No." She answered. "I... was betrayed!" The hooded man tilted his head, but nobody could see the smile under his hood.

"The ruler of the Human Kingdom wanted to conquer my home, and he declared that whoever killed me would become his successor." Maleficent said. "The boy that I grew to love was the one who did the deed. He betrayed me. Though he didn't not take my life, he severed my wings with an iron blade, rendering me powerless. On that day when he became King, I vowed to destroy him and his kingdom. I learned the ways of dark magic and transformed my kingdom into one of evil. I was able to get my vengeance on the king by cursing his daughter, and through an old keyblade master, I learned how to extract her heart... that is until the wielders of the Keyblade stopped me." D then glanced forward, his direction towards the snow

"Ah, so you became evil because you were betrayed by someone you loved." D said. "I suppose that makes the two of us."

"I too was once good, and I too know betrayal." He said. "Like you, I had the desire to protect those from the forces of darkness. I did what I thought was right, saving innocent lives while my family only destroyed them. Where I came from, a terrible darkness, not like the darkness you know, ravaged our home. People were slowly turning into monsters, and my family believed the only way to get rid of the monsters was to destroy them, not even knowing that the monsters were poor people, innocent children and families. I didn't like my family's way of destroying the darkness, because no matter how many times you destroy it, it will just spread and infect others."

"I took the darkness away from them." D continued. "I absorbed the darkness with the power that was blessed with me from their poor souls and hearts, even though it would've consumed me. All I cared about was saving those poor people. That's all I wanted, and I did save their lives. Maybe that's why the darkness didn't kill me." The witch glanced back at him.

"My parents were dead, there was only me, and my brother." D said, his voice showing venom when he said the word brother. "We both were in line to see who would be the ruler of our kingdom. I didn't really care about being king, because I just wanted to help people. Of course, those people I saved wanted me to be their king, so I accepted it, if it was what it will take to protect them. My brother, however, was ambitious. He wanted to be king no matter the cost, but people viewed him as a inhuman jealous murderer because of how he was dealing with the monsters. So when he learned of how I was saving them, he decided to win their love by trying to expose me as a monster. He challenged me to a duel, but I begged him not to fight me. But he did, and in the process, he killed my beloved. He killed the woman I loved, the one person who loved me with all her heart, and saw what I was doing was good. She was all I had, and my brother slaughtered her before me without care." He then knelt down to the ground, and glanced at his hands.

"He took everything from me..." He continued, clenching his fists, which began to emit some strange black mist and sparkles. "He stabbed me in the back. He killed the light I had inside, and left nothing but darkness... vengeance... and rage." Under his hood, within his amber colored eyes, there was a face of sadness and anger showing, but no one could see it, not even Maleficent. But she did sense something in him, and it was the darkness within him. But this darkness, this power, was unlike anything she had ever sensed before.

"Yep, plain and simple." D said, getting himself back together. He stood back up on his feet and stretched. "But now my brother's gone and I'm free as a bird. I may have not been able to kill him myself, but I will destroy everything that he built. And this world will give me the very thing I need to do so." As he stared at the Crystal Empire, the witch only stared at him with a tint of suspicion and confusion.

"A magician?" D asked. "No, not at all. I could just lie to you and say that I'm a brilliant scholar who's trying to save the world, or a healer of some sorts of a terrible evil, while I'm actually a host for it and planning the destruction of the worlds." Maleficent only tilted her head.

"So... who are you really?" She asked. "What is your name?" D only rose an eyebrow.

"Well, I was gonna tell you later." D said. "But since you asked, I suppose giving you my real name won't hurt. My name is..." He then spoke the name, one that nobody else heard. As he said his name, he unhooded himself, and showed his face. Within a moment, Maleficent froze, and her eyes widened, her entire face showing utter shock as she heard his real name. She was actually completely shocked. So shocked that her grip on her staff faded, causing it to fall down.

"Y...You're..." She spoke with realization. With a smile, D placed the hood back over his head, and began to walk away towards the Crystal Empire.

"Pass it on the others, because I'm gonna show my face real soon..." He said as he disappeared into the dark portal, while the Mistress of Evil stood there in plain shock. She had seen his face, and it was a great shock to her. Pete approached her from behind with a confused expression.

"Um... Maleficent?" He asked. "Is everything ok? Where's mister dark and creepy?" The witch, then formed a smile on her face, a wicked smile to boot, and a creepy laugh.

"Why his power was so familiar..." Maleficent said. "The ancient texts of millennia were real after all!" Pete raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Back with the group, Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood in complete shock as they saw the dozen swords and bladed weapons, all glowing in a red dark aura, surrounding them just inches away. The spikey-haired boy glanced back at the hooded man.

"The extent of my power." The man said, his dark amber eyes glowing from inside his hood. Lowering his arm, the swords dropped down and disappeared. "The power of the ancient kings of yore... at the command of my fingertips. Dating back far many years before even your Keyblade even existed." As he spoke, his voice got much lower pitch, more charming and more... sinister. The boy tilted his head in confusion. This man can control swords, without even holding them?

"Allow me to explain in a little short story." Maleficent continued. "In an age long past, way before even the keyblade existed, an incurable scourge ravaged the peaceful land of fairytales. A tiny menace that twisted men into monsters, monsters that are beyond what the heartless are. In the old kingdom of kingdoms lived a savior, a man who was to be the King of all. He wished to cure the ones inflicted by the scourge, using his own body to absorb the darkness, to save countless innocent lives. But a jealous man, his younger brother, one who was not meant to be king, ostracized and demonized the elder brother, and turned him into the monster he labeled him as." Pete only tilted his head.

"Yes... A King, though he was going to be if his brother had not let his own jealousy get the best of him." Maleficent said. "That is why his power was like the ones I've read from the books."

"Oh... many names..." The hooded man spoke. "Usurper... The Accursed... The Darkness of the Legends... D is just a syllable of what I embody, so allow me to give you my proper name..." He then held a grip of his hood with his hand, and removed it, revealing his face.

As the hood was removed, the man's face is shown, revealing himself to be a middle-aged man, with red-violet hair, and strong facial features. Suddenly, above him appeared a black fedora, which dropped in his hand. He placed it onto his head, finally speaking his name.

"Ardyn..."

"Izunia..." He spoke, opening his redish-amber eyes. "Ardyn Izunia..." Everyone nearly gasped, in both surprised, and confusion, while Mickey's face showed like he had seen a monster from a scary book. Sora, however, looked a bit confused, seeing this mysterious man.

"Ardyn Izunia..." Sora said. "Wait... why do I feel like I've heard that name before?" Goofy then turned his head back to Donald.

"Adagium!" Mickey's voice called out, getting everyone's attention. "He's Adagium! The one who's been ravaging the stars with the Scourge!"

"Ahhh, so someone does remember me." He said. "I am humbly gracious for that, your majesty." Donald and Goofy gasped in shock.

"The... Accursed?" Twilight asked, having some knowledge of it. "But... that can't be... The Accursed One was sealed away."

"In a way, yes." Ardyn said. "Forgive me if the name sounds a little fuzzy. You'll have my brother to thank for that, for he really tried his best to erase my name from history. Unfortunately, death caught up to him before he could finish the job, while I remained alive for nearly two thousand years." Sora tilted his head in confusion. This guy has been around for over two thousand years? How was that even possible? Unless? Did he do the same thing Xehanort did? Remove his heart from his body and placed it into a new one? Either way, the look on this guy showed that he was truly bad news.

"Revolution." Ardyn said. "What I want is start an uprising, to help those who have lost everything and give them back what they deserve. I came to this world searching for something, but I can't seem to get it while there is too much light in this world. So I've gathered others to my cause and in return I will help them get what they want. And I can't have you lot ruining it." The boy only growled.

"Well then, off with your heads." He spoke, as multiple swords appeared behind Ardyn, and lunged forward, as the trio were taken by surprise. Luckily the swords didn't stab them, but they exploded on contact, sending them across the floor.

"Sora!" Kairi called out as the boy tumbled backwards. He then got back up, gripped his keyblade and rushed forward to swing. Suddenly, as he swung, Ardyn disappeared.

"Behind you..." He whispered, and then summoned a massive longsword known as the Rakshasa Blade, with the grip and hilt housing a wing ornament colored in platinum, while the long blade was blood red. The man turned and swung hard, but Sora twirled around and clashed with his keyblade. Both of them pushed, but Sora was having trouble. Ardyn then pushed him to the ground and raised his blade.

"Goodbye." The man said as he swung down, but Sora rolled to his left, dodging the attack. He got back up and swung, striking Ardyn in the side.

"GAH!" The Accursed shouted in pain as he stumbled a bit. But Sora noticed the wound on the man's side, giving off a strange mist. Then suddenly, the wound disappeared, surprising him.

"Fool... it's going to take more than your key to destroy me." Ardyn said, and then he swung his Rakshasa Blade, sending Sora across the floor.

"Riku, Wait!" Mickey pleaded, but the older boy jumped in to strike, but suddenly, a glowing red blade appeared behind Ardyn and blocked the attack.

"Pathetic..." Ardyn said as he turned around and swung his own sword, clashing with Riku's keyblade. Both of them stood there, both blades clashed, but Riku was showing struggle. Then...

"Away!" Ardyn shouted as he pushed Riku away, tumbling into Sora. Seeing both of them on the ground, Mickey summoned his Starseeker Keyblade and rushed in.

"Leave them alone!" Mickey shouted as he jumped in and swung, while Ardyn dodged swiftly. The mouse swung a few more times like a ninja, but the Immortal Accursed dodged each swing.

"Well, you've improved a lot since we last met." Ardyn said. "How long has it been? 30 years?"

"Who's counting..?" Mickey growled, showing his serious face. He then swung his keyblade again, but Ardyn then grabbed Mickey by the shirt and pulled him towards him.

"Meddlesome King..." He said as he hurled Mickey into one of the columns standing.

"Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy cried out. Seeing their king drop to the floor, Donald and Goofy hurried in to attack.

"Nobody hurts the King!" Donald shouted as he charged up his staff. "BLIZZAGA!" He then fired a massive crystal ice shard straight at Ardyn, who swung his arm and bounced it back at the duck, tossing him away as the royal wizard was encased in ice... again.

"Frozen.... Again..." Donald said. Goofy quickly stood his ground, holding his shield up as the man approached him.

"The Captain of the Royal Knights..." Ardyn said. "Still using a shield than a sword or a spear. A major mistake."

"You made the mistake coming here." Goofy said. "Your Gods aren't gonna be pleased when they know you're out."

"Oh, I know more about the Gods than your king." Ardyn said, gripping his blade. "I've seen them..." He raised his blade up and swung down, clashing with Goofy's shield, who held on with everything he got. After a few long seconds, Ardyn shifted right, throwing Goody off balance and pushed forward with his arm, sending Goofy right into Donald, both flying onto the floor all dizzy. At least Donald was no longer a frozen duck-sicle.

"That hurt..." Goofy said as Donald groaned. Ardyn only scuffed as he turned his attention to Sora and Riku, who were trying to get back up. Ardyn approached with his Rakshasa Blade in hand, but then, standing in his way was Kairi, with her own keyblade in hand, pointing right towards him.

"Awww... how cute." Ardyn said. "The Princess of Light throwing herself in the face of danger." The girl stood her ground, but then she noticed something. She could sense a very powerful dark aura from this man. Come to think of it, this was the same aura that she felt when she was attacked and was wounded. She nearly gasped in surprise.

"Oh... that." Ardyn said. "I'm amazed that you've managed to figure it out, for a silly little girl." The girl didn't flinch.

"NO!" Sora shouted, still unable to get up. The man swung his blade down, but the girl dodged swiftly. Twirling around, she swung her keyblade, as Ardyn summoned a dagger in defense. She then swung against, pushing him back. He then countered and swung his longsword, but the girl slid under, while swinging her keyblade right at his feet, causing Ardyn to trip to the ground. Jumping upwards, she then shot out a Firaga spell, which hit the man and a blast of flames came from the impact as she jumped back. As the smoke cleared, however, Ardyn was still alive and unharmed, though his coat was showing some flames, slowly going out.

"Impressive." Ardyn said. "But still not enough." Suddenly, he disappeared, much to the girl's surprise. Suddenly, he reappeared behind her. Sensing him quickly, she turned around to swing, but the man grabbed her keyblade by the blade, and then pushed her away onto the ground.

"YAAAAH!" A shout came from Shining Armor as he summoned a magical spear to attack Ardyn, who then moved aside, grabbed the spear and tossed Shining away, while Thorax flew into to try and stop him, only for the man to kick him across the floor.

"Hey, Leave Him Alone!" Spike shouted as he jumped on the man's back, trying to pull his hair and keep him at bay. But then the man disappeared, much to the baby dragon's surprise. The little guy was then grabbed by the neck by Ardyn, who suddenly appeared, and squeezed tightly around Spike's airway.

"You know, dragons are a common thing back in my day." Ardyn said. "You know what happens to dragons where I come from?" He then summoned a dagger to his hand, making Spike give a choking gasp.

"Gah!" Ardyn yelped as his dagger was shot out of his hand, and making him drop the baby dragon. He turned his head to see Twilight, giving a snort as her horn glowed. He smiled.

"Get away from him!" Twilight shouted as ignited her horn and fired more shots. But Ardyn only flicked them away with his hand like a baseball bat, causing them to bounce into some of the pillars around them. Luckily, she was distracting him long enough so Spike could get away and run to Thorax and help him up.

"I won't lie to you, I actually liked you when you were tainted with darkness." Ardyn said. "How about we fix that, but instead, making you into my own liking." He then lifted his hand up and conjured up a misty black sphere. This wasn't like any darkness that they have faced before.

"Sink into Darkness!" He shouted as he fired his other hand, straight towards Twilight, who gasped.

Back at the stadium, both Terra and Cloud were still going at it as they both continued to swing their weapons at each other, while blocking, rolling, and dodging each other as they continued. Terra quickly used his Geo Impact attack to shoot a column of rock out of the ground and then whacked it into the air towards Cloud, while the Ex-Soldier spun his Buster Sword and unleashed his Blade Beam attack, shooting a wave of energy at the rock, making it explode. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were still having the time of their lives, wrestling on the ground and in the air. Everyone else was watching the show... until...

"AHH!" The sudden gasp came from Princess Cadance as she fell to her knees. Luckily, Aerith noticed this, and quickly approached her.

"Princess Cadance, are you ok?" She asked. The Princess of Love opened her eyes, feeling uneasy. She sensed something near the castle.

"I felt... I felt a bright light being tainted by a powerful darkness." Cadance said. She was right. It was someone who was struck and tainted by a powerful darkness. It wasn't Twilight, however. It was someone she knew.

"Shining!" She gasped. Suddenly, the pink alicorn got up to her hooves and galloped away, heading straight for the castle, much to Aerith's surprise.

"Princess, wait!" Aerith called out, but the alicorn was already gone. Pretty soon, Aerith noticed something at the castle. A strange black mist was circling around it. It was very sinister, and very dark. Sure enough, Leon, Yuffie, and Cid emerged from the stadium.

"What was that?" Yuffie asked, only to see what Aerith was seeing. Cid and Leon took notice of the strange event going on at the Crystal Castle.

For those who were wondering what happened, Shining was struck by the misty sphere hard in the chest, and he was hurled right into the wall.

"Captain!" Riku called out as he and Sora got to their feet. Both began to run towards the stallion.

"Shining!" Twilight shouted, galloping toward her brother as the stallion struggled to get up. He gave out a cough, but then looked down, seeing the mist slowly spreading across his stomach and chest.

"I don't know..." Shining said. But then suddenly, his body began to shake, violently. He started to feel very strange.

"Shining?" Twilight asked. "What's wrong?" The stallion began to step back, getting away from Twilight.

"What?" Twilight asked. "Shining?!" The stallion began to choke on his words, as the mist began to spread across his body, where the veins began to turn black. As he opened his eyes, his eyes turned black with yellow sclera.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He shouted, as a black and purple cloud began to erupt from him, pushing Twilight away. Sora and the others watched in disbelief.

"What?" Sora asked. As Twilight got back to her hooves, she looked to see where her brother was standing. His half of his body was covered what seemed to be some black goop, but as the goop was fading, his left hoof sprouted clawed feet, and his right hoof had a black blade erupting from it. He lifted his head up, with strange horns erupting from the back of his head, showing his yellow eyes. Twilight's eyes widened with horror.

"Must... must... kill..." He spoke as his horn, now jagged and black, fired a beam straight at the unicorn, only for it to be blocked by Goofy and his shield.

"Whoa!" Goofy said. "That was close!" But the corrupted stallion approached him, standing on his hind hooves, and raised his bladed hoof to strike. But luckily, Riku came in and blocked the attack with his keyblade.

"Shining!" Riku called out. "Come to your senses!" Mickey lifted his head up, and saw what was happening. He gasped.

"What?" Riku asked, stilling trying to keep Shining away. The stallion let out a scream, showing his sharp teeth and swung again to strike, while Riku blocked it.

"I don't believe it... Shining has fallen to the darkness!" Twilight said, as a tear escaped from her eye.

"Oh No!" Donald shouted as he, Thorax and Spike ran to help. Suddenly, two black mysterious pony-like creatures emerged from the broken windows and blocked the three. Donald, Thorax, and Spike gasped in surprise and horror. Standing before them were two ponies, both of them looking twisted, mutated, and they also had long thick blades on their front hooves, and they stood on their hind legs.

"Oh No!" Donald shouted as he summoned his staff, ready to fight the strange pony monsters. Funny, they looked just like the two royal guards that were at the entrance of the castle. Sora stood there in deep shock, seeing what has become of Shining and those strange two monsters.. Were they turned into... Heartless? But... they don't look like Heartless. He glanced back at Ardyn, who was smiling at the results.

"Oh, don't worry." Ardyn said as he walked forward a couple of steps. "I didn't turn them into Heartless... I turned them into a Daemons."

"Beings who are corrupted by a very ancient darkness." The man said. "Unlike the darkness that you've faced before. This one has the power to turn creatures and people into monsters." Sora's hand began to clench, as the boy stared at the man with rage.

"That's It!" Sora shouted as he charged forward, and swung his keyblade. But then, the man disappeared.

"When are you ever going to stop doing that?" Ardyn asked, leaning in behind from Sora's right. The boy swung again, but the man disappeared. The boy then looked around, wondering where he went.

"It's so fascinating, isn't it?" Ardyn's voice said, with Sora looking up to see him up on the pillars surrounding the entire room. "How you've come all this way in hopes to protecting this land, but yet only fall so slowly." Sora leaped up and swung down, but the man disappeared. Sora then turned, and saw the man walking away, speaking. The boy then charged forward and swung again, then again, again, and again. But the man kept teleporting.

"With all of you extreme efforts to save this world, you are only just inches away from witnessing it's destruction. " Ardyn continued. "Of course, I wouldn't have had pulled this off without some enemies of this place and friends on the inside. And in return, I'm going to help them reclaim what was taken away from them." As Sora made one final swing, the man disappeared and appeared behind Sora. As the boy turned around, the man pushed his hand out, sending a energy blast to push Sora all the way to the ground. He quickly got up.

"SORA!" Donald cried out. The boy looked to his left and saw Donald, Spike, and Thorax cornered by the two Daemon ponies, and turned to his right to see Shining in his corrupted state, as Riku and Mickey were trying to stop him from hurting Twilight, while Goofy did everything they could to block him.

"Guys!" Sora shouted. As he summoned his keyblade back to his hand, he felt his arm grabbed by Ardyn, who held him up in the air.

"Leave him alone!" Kairi called out summoning her keyblade, and charging towards the man to stop him from hurting his friend. Bu then suddenly, he sent his hand out again, and suddenly, a black pool formed behind the girl, and sprouted out black tentacles. One of them latched around the girl's neck, and one around her arm, making her stop. Both squeezed tightly, preventing the girl from breathing. Two more latched to her legs, and one on her other hand. All five of them began to hold her up in the air, choking the life out of her.

"Kairi!" He called out. But he was then sent to the ground by Ardyn, he held the boy by the head and his knee on his back.

"Look at you, so helpless." The man taunted. "So powerless to save your little friends, powerless to save your dearly beloved... how painful it must be for you to see them in agony, to see them slowly die." Sora tried to move, but he could do nothing as the man had his knee and hand on him. He looked to see his friends struggling to keep the monsters at bay, and Kairi, struggling to breathe, and slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

"Time for me to act! Don't worry! I'll lend you a hand!"

"Huh?" Sora asked. That sudden new voice got his attention. And then all of a sudden...

A mysterious blue flash suddenly dashed right from the side of the window and slammed right into Ardyn.

"GAH!" Ardyn shouted as he was suddenly pushed off of Sora, and was sent flying into the air and onto the ground.

"STOPZA!"

Suddenly, glyphs of clocks began to appear around Sora, ticking and ticking, and then sent out a wave, causing everything to freeze around him, slowly down time and causing it to quickly slam to a halt. The spikey haired boy lifted himself up, and saw that everything was frozen around him. Time has come to a splitting halt! But... how?

"Wha... how?" Sora asked. He looked over to his right, seeing Riku and Mickey frozen along with everyone else. There was no way the King casted Stopza because he too was frozen.

"What's... going on?" The boy wondered. He then looked at Kairi, still held by the black tendrils, on the verge of passing out. But she was frozen in time! Quickly realizing that he had time. He made a rush to save her. As he did, however, Ardyn, who opened his eyes, quickly got up to his feet. He was unaffected by the time spell. He looked around, seeing that time had stopped around him. But he saw Sora rushing to save his friend. He smiled evily.

"Oh no you don't..." He said as he rushed forward, summoning his Rakshasa Blade. Sora turned his head as he kept running, seeing Ardyn ready to strike.

"Haha!" The man laughed as he was ready to swing. Sora quickly summoned his keyblade and was ready to block... until...

Suddenly, as a brown robe was tossed aside, a light blue flash suddenly burst right in and jumped between Sora and Ardyn's attack, sending out a blast of light, and an electrical surge of energy. The boy opened his eyes, only to see the dust in front of him. He was not hit. He was not struck by the man's attack. All he could see was the dust cloud evaporating, and someone... someone half his height was right in front of him.

Ardyn, noticed this too. He has not struck the boy in anyway. All he could feel, was something pushing against him. His eyes widened in surprise as he gasped, seeing somebody in front of him. But he was smaller, his height is about half of Sora's, and he wore a set of garments that were... more modern. He wore a black T-shirt underneath a blue short sleeved jacket, and her wore long red pants with pant chains on each side, with a set of belts wrapped around his waist. And he wore a pair of red shoes with a white strap on each held on by a gold buckle.

His face however, was not human, but a... a hedgehog! Colored in blue with a skin colored muzzle, six thick spikey quills on the back of his head, green emerald eyes, and a cocky smile. And... He had a keyblade in his hand, almost looking like Ephemer's keyblade, but slightly different. The guard was straight up blue, the top part between the blade and guard had a red circle with a star in it, and white swings spreading outward. The blade itself was long and silver, though there was gradiants of gold all the way up. The teeth of the blade was a star, but was now gold, and the spike on the other side of the blade had a fanning trail that invokes the image of a shooting star. And the orb at the tip of the blade was now gold, and the keychain was a yellow star, with the links consisting of gold rings. Surprisingly, Ardyn was shocked.

"What?!" He asked. "Who?!" He was then pushed a bit by the smaller figure, who's wasn't showing any signs of struggling.

"Too slow... Mr. Creepy." The hedgehog spoke, and with a swing of his keyblade, he pushed the man away from himself and Sora, and the blue hedgehog figure landed on his feet without trouble. Sora watched with surprise, especially by the keyblade in the little guy's hand.

"Another... Keyblade wielder?" Sora asked. The blue hedgehog turned his head with a smile.

"Hey y'all!" He said. "Sorry about the sudden arrival. My invitation to this butt-kicking got lost in the mail. Actually, I wasn't invited, but I'm here anyway."

"What is this?!" Ardyn shouted, getting both their attention. "W...Who are you?!" The blue hedgehog smiled.

"Like you, I'm many names too." He said as he twirled his keyblade. "Blue Blur, Speed Demon, Blue Devil, the Fastest Thing Alive, the Knight of the Wind... but real name?" He then pointed his keyblade forward.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." He called out. "And you mister Izunia fellow, have been a very bad man." The cloaked immortal raised an eyebrow, but shook his head.

"How dare you!" He said. "Nobody stops me!" He raised his sword in the air, and moved in to attack.

"Look out!" Sora said as Ardyn swung his sword, but to Sonic, time slowed down to a snail's crawl, and everything around him was moving super slow. He looked at his watch and smiled.

"C'mon, the guys who made this don't know who they're dealing with." Sonic said as he gripped his keyblade and swung, hitting Ardyn right in the face, sending him across the floor. Sora was even more surprised. This guy actually hit the bad guy without being hit?

"But... what about you?" Sora asked. The blue hedgehog gave a thumbs up and a grin.

"I got this." Sonic said. The blue hedgehog threw his keyblade forward and rushed forward, just as Ardyn got back up.

"Impossible... how did he-" He asked, only to see the keyblade thrown straight at him, with Sonic rushing in grabbing the hilt and striking the accursed immortal, sending him into the air. Ardyn summoned his Rakshasa Blade and countered, clashing with Sonic's keyblade, but the speed demon moved quick and swung back. Seeing that this blue hedgehog can handle this, Sora gave a nod.

"Ok." He said, summoning his keyblade. He then rushed away, heading straight for Kairi. Using his keyblade, he slashed the tentacles that held her and they disappeared, allowing the girl to fall to her knees and gasp for air. She let out a couple of coughs, but she was breathing again.

"Yeah... I'm ok..." The girl said as she got back to her feet and clung to Sora. "Thank you." Hearing the clashing that was happening, the two turned around to see Ardyn still fighting with the blue hedgehog, who was surprisingly all over the place. He was so fast, so quick, there was no telling where he was going. But one thing's for sure, he looked like he was having fun.

"Where are you?" Ardyn asked as he looked around, unaware the blue hedgehog was behind him.

"Over here." Sonic said. Hearing his voice, Ardyn swung his Rakshasa blade, but the speed demon swung first, hitting right at Ardyn's face. The blue hedgehog jumped backwards and aimed his keyblade.

"Have a nice flight!" Sonic shouted, conjuring up some lightning magic. "THUNDAGA SHOT!" Instantly, he fired a powerful bolt of electricity straight towards Ardyn. It made contact and exploded, sending him out of the window and falling outside the castle. Seeing this, Sonic ran forward to get a closer look. To his surprise, however, he saw Ardyn floating up to his level, giving a mean smile.

"To save the future, that's what." Sonic said. "The kid ain't the only one who can time travel. But somehow I've stumbled upon an Alternate Reality, at least I think I did. Eh, time travel's so confusing. This whole universe doesn't make any sense."

"Well, aren't you the one who's causing damage to the timeline?" Sonic asked. "That's why I'm here. To find the culprit and bring them to justice."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ardyn said, showing a confused face. "But at least I know where you came from." Sonic tilted his head, a bit surprised.

"Wait, so you're not... who I'm looking for?" Sonic asked. He then thought about it, but then shrugged. "Well, either way, I'm not letting you do what you're doing." The blue hedgehog then positioned himself to fight by summoning his keyblade. The mysterious man only smiled.

"Well... let's see if you can stop this." Ardyn said as he raised his left hand, summoning six blades to the side, and with his right hand, six more blades appeared, all of them glowing red. Ardyn began to lift himself in the air, and all blades pointed right at the blue hedgehog.

"Now... to hell with you." Ardyn spoke, and charged forward with his Rakshasa Blade, and all twelve blades following to strike Sonic. But he smiled, and pointed his keyblade forward.

"SLOWJA!" Sonic called out, and then suddenly, Ardyn and his weapons slowed down very, very slowly.

"Wow..." The blue hedgehog said. "I don't know how long he'll be like that, but I got plenty of time." With a grin, the blue hedgehog then moved so quickly, circling and jumbling around the man before him, pointing all of his swords right back at him.

"Ok, time to reset the clock." Sonic said as he clapped his hands together. And pretty soon, time sped up again, and all the swords Sonic redirected slammed into Ardyn, exploding upon contact, sending him flying out the broken window. The mysterious Usurper was surprised.

"What?!" He asked. "How?!" He then flipped forward and saw the blue hedgehog jumping out of the castle, letting out a warcry as he summoned his keyblade once more and swung, clashing with Ardyn. The two continued to fly all over the place, while Sora and Kairi watched with confusion.

"SORA!" Donald and Goofy called out, getting both their attention. They turned to see that time has went forward again, and Donald, Spike, and Thorax were being cornered by the two Daemon ponies, while Goofy, Riku, and Mickey were trying to stop the corrupted Shining from attacking Twilight. That's right! They were in trouble!

"We're coming!" Sora said as he and Kairi rushed forward to help. Using both their keyblades, they whacked the two Daemon ponies away, sending them to the floor.

"You're welcome." Sora said, a bit annoyed that the duck didn't say thanks, but relieved that they were ok.

"Um... need some help over here!" Goofy called out. They turned to see Goofy, Riku, and the King trying to keep the corrupted Shining Armor at bay, as Twilight was unable to do anything, distraught by the sight of her brother turned into a monster.

"Hang on!" Sora said as he and the others rushed over to help. Riku was on top of Shining's back, using his keyblade around the stallion's neck and pulling to make him lose his footing and unable to attack. However, the stallion let out a growl and flung his hooves out, sending out a blast the pushed Riku and the King off, while making Goofy tumble backwards.

"Oh No!" Twilight said, before glancing back at her brother, who stared at her with a monstrous face. He let out a growl as he began to approach her.

"Shining... Shining, stop!" Twilight said. "It's me! It's Twilight!" The Daemonic stallion stopped for a minute and tilted his head, looking at the mare, who was frightened.

"T....T....Tw...ily....?" The words came out of Shining's mouth, making Twilight show a hopeful face. He was still there!

"Yes, it's me!" Twilight said. Suddenly, the stallion began to move backwards, and began to shake his head and growl, much to her confusion.

"What?" Twilight asked. Shining let out one final growl, before a set of horns appeared on his head, and his eyes became pitch black and red, showing that his transformation was now complete.

"YOU... NEED... TO... RUUUUN!!!!" Shining shouted, his teeth sharpening into a set of demonic fangs. Twilight gasped in horror just as the stallion began to charge straight towards her. However, he was stopped by Sora, who summoned both keyblades in his hands and blocked him, preventing him from coming further. Donald, and Goofy also rushed in to help keep him at bay, while Kairi stood next to Twilight and held her close, summoning a barrier around them both, Spike, and Thorax.

"Captain!" Sora shouted to the stallion. "Snap out of it!" Shining only let out another growl, trying to push forward. But then, magical chains began to appear from behind and grabbed him by all four hooves and his neck, pulling him back. Turns out it was Riku and the King who summoned the chains. They quickly jumped over him, wrapping the chains around the stallion's body and holding him in place, preventing him from breaking free.

"Nice one!" Sora said, before looking back at the Daemonic Shining, who was trapped, but struggling to break out of the chains. Seeing him in this state was very painful to watch. The Captain of the Royal Guard was now a monstrous creature.

"What... what's happened to him?" Riku asked. "This is not like any darkness that I've seen."

"Daemon..." Sora said. "That's what Ardyn said. He turned him and the other two into Daemons."

"I've heard about that word..." Twilight said, her focus still on what was left of her brother. "They're suppose to be... some kind of darkness."

"They're the spawn of evil itself." The King said, with everyone looking at him. "Daemons are the embodiments of a greater darkness that existed beyond years and years before everything we knew came to be."

"No... they're worse than the Heartless." Mickey said. "They're... a terrible scourge."

"Only one thing..." Mickey said, showing a saddened face. "We... we have to put him down..." Hearing that brought a gasp from the others.

"NO!" Twilight shouted, horrified by what the king had said. "We can't!" The mouse glanced back at the lavender unicorn and shook his head.

"He's turned... and nothing can save him." Mickey said. "He's become a Daemon now, and he's not like the Heartless. Those who are turned into Daemons are lost forever." Sora and Riku looked at each other with surprise. They have to put Shining down? That means they have to... kill him.

"No!" Twilight said as she stood in front of the king. "I won't let you hurt him! He's my brother. There's still light inside of him! I know there is!" The King looked at the lavender unicorn, who was begging him not do do such an act. Mickey couldn't help but lower his head. In reality, he didn't want to do so either, because it was wrong. But what other option is there?

"Nobody is dying tonight!" A new voice came into the room, making everyone turn their heads back to the gates. To their surprise, it was Princess Cadance! She has arrived at the scene!

"Princess Cadance!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said. The pink alicorn made her way into the room, everyone completely unaware of the Crystal Heart glowing more brightly as she got closer.

"I sensed my beloved's light going out." Cadance said. "But he's not gone yet." She then turned her head to see the corrupted Shining Armor, still shackled by the magical chains, but struggling to break free. It ached the pink alicorn's heart to see her lover in this terrible state. But she could tell there was still light inside of him, trying to stay lit.

"Let me..." Cadance said as she approached the demonic Shining, with Twilight standing out of the way. The pink alicorn was afraid, but not afraid of what her beloved has been turned into, but for him. Shining glanced at Cadance with a growl and hiss, but the alicorn did not back away. She continued to approach him.

"Shining Armor." She said as she placed her hooves around his face, making him stop in place, just as she leaned her head towards his. "Come back to us. Come back to me. My love..." She pressed her forehead against his, allowing their horns to touch. Her horn ignited with the crystal blue light as she used all she could to bring him back to his senses. Suddenly, in the middle of the room, the Crystal Heart began to glow brightly, and Cadance's cutie mark began to glow along with it. Everyone was seeing what was happening. The Crystal Heart's magic was igniting with Cadance's magic. The heart shined a bright light onto her and Shining. Suddenly, the daemon stallion was bathed in a crystal blue aura, and his body began to turn into a black mist that began to evaporate as the light was shining on him. The two Daemon ponies that were unconscious on the ground also began to glow with the same aura, and just like that, the Crystal Heart sent out a wave of magic that wiped the darkness away, causing both ponies, and the corrupted Shining to glow with a bright light, engulfing the entire room, making everyone close their eyes.

Pretty soon, the light began to fade. As everyone opened their eyes, they all gasped in surprise, and Twilight gasped even more. Standing in front of Cadance was Shining Armor, reverted back to his original self. Pretty soon, the stallion came to, but felt dizzy. He nearly fell forward, but the pink alicorn caught him just in time.

"Shining!" Twilight called out as she galloped towards him and embraced the two with a group hug, nuzzling into his brother's neck. The stallion was quite surprised, but he didn't care. He returned the gesture and hugged the lavender unicorn and the pink alicorn. Everyone began to cheer with relief and excitement, happy to see that Shining was alright. Even the King was happy, but yet surprised. He wasn't expecting Cadance could heal Shining of the infliction he was under. He then glanced back at the Crystal Heart, seeing that it was still glowing, but it was glowing brighter when Cadance used her magic. He then realized that there was a strong connection between Cadance and the Crystal Heart! The heart's magic reacted to Cadance's magic! So then that means...

"Yeah... I think so." Shining said. "What... what happened? I remember that guy with the fedora attacking Twilight. I stepped in but..."

"Love conquers even the deepest darkness." She said. The stallion couldn't help but smile, and continued to hug his sister and the princess, all three of them laughing and giggling. Pretty soon, there were a couple of moans and groans. Two royal guards were on the ground, where the black daemon ponies once were. They seemed to be healed too. They slowly lifted their heads up.

"Did we pass out again?" The second guard asked. The two guards looked around, wondering where they were.

"I... honestly don't know." The second guard said. Their confusion brought a bit of laughter from the group. It was short lived, however, as Mickey began to look around, seeing that Ardyn Izunia was nowhere to be seen.

"Wait... where's Adagium?!" Mickey asked. Everyone then began to look around, wondering where he went. Luckily, Goofy was the first to see something.

"Look!" Goofy said, pointing forward out the window. Everyone's attention was drawn to outside the castle walls, all of them saw Ardyn, who was still clashing with this Sonic the Hedgehog character. The man was throwing his Rakshasa Blade upwards and warped up to attack the blue hedgehog, striking his keyblade out of the speedy hedgehog's hands. But that didn't stop the little blue guy from somersaulting with a spin-dash right into Ardyn's face, sending him to the side of the castle. Sonic's keyblade returned to his hand as he began to spin towards the mysterious man, but Ardyn smiled and summoned more weapons to toss at the hedgehog, pushing him back into the air. Taking the moment to strike again, he jumped from the side of the castle and summoned his blade once more to clash, not caring of whoever was watching the two brawl.

"I... I dunno." Mickey said. "I've never seen a keyblade wielder like this before. In fact, I've never seen anything like him." Back to the fight, Ardyn and Sonic began to push against each other.

"Do you really need me to repeat my name again, mister evil spreader?" Sonic asked, successfully pushing the man away. He then dived straight towards Ardyn, swinging his keyblade again at rapid speed, while the man kept using his Rakshasa Blade in defense, but the blue blur was overpowering him with his mighty speed, which was breaking the speed of sound itself. Luckily, he managed to whack the hedgehog away with his blade, but the speedster wasn't done yet.

"Hold still, you little rat!" Ardyn shouted as he summoned a sword, an axe, a broadsword, and a scythe, throwing them at the speedy hedgehog.

"Sorry, I can't stand still!" Sonic said as he quickly moved in fast, jumping on the sword, axe, broadsword, and scythe, before giving funny taunts as he did before swinging his keyblade upon Ardyn, who countered with his Rakshasa Blade. The vicious man pushed the hedgehog away and then charged up an attack. The blue hedgehog also charged up an attack.

"TORNADO SHOT!" Sonic shouted at the same time, shooting out a sphere of powerful wind magic. Both spheres collided with one another, and then...

An explosive burst of flames and wind exploded in the air outside the castle, getting everyone's attention outside, even making Terra and Cloud stop their fight just as they got the crowd riled up. Even Applejack and Rainbow Dash stopped their wrestling.

"What in the name of all apples?" Applejack asked. She and Rainbow Dash got up and galloped outside, and so did Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. They all gasped as they saw the smoke coming near the top of the castle! That only meant one thing. Twilight was in trouble!

"C'mon!" Rainbow Dash said. "Let's go!" And they did. Little did they know was two people being blown back into the Crystal Heart chamber, with Ardyn and Sonic tumbling across the floor. The impact made everyone inside watching cringe a bit. Luckily, the blue hedgehog lifted his head up and shook out the dizziness in his head.

"Ok, that was way past cool." Sonic said with a smile. He then started to get up, picking up his keyblade, just as Sora rushed over to him.

"Yeah, I'm good." Sonic said, looking up at the spikey haired kid. As he did, the blue hedgehog couldn't help but smile and look at the boy from top to bottom. "Sweet Mobius, I can't believe I'm actually talking to the Legendary Sora in person."

"Huh?" Sora asked, tilting his head. "Wait, how do you know about me?" The blue hedgehog then covered his mouth, and looked around frantically.

"Oh, wait..." Sonic said, trying to think of something. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of note cards and began to read them over.

"Ok..." Sonic said as he turned around and read the words quietly. "If by any means you come into contact with someone in the past and almost inadvertently refer to them by a name commonly used in your current timeline, brush it off and don't say anything else, and just don't tell them about their future." The hedgehog then let out a sigh, but then started to think.

"Wait... but Sora's still here... and everything happening too early proves that this is an alternate reality." Sonic said to himself quietly. "So could this not affect the timeline?" As the blue hedgehog began to think over in his thoughts, Sora looked at the blue hedgehog with confusion. Twilight soon approached the two.

"Not really." Sora said. "But he seems to know me, somehow." He then glanced at Donald and Goofy, who both shrugged. They both glanced back at the Mickey.

"Um... your majesty?" Goofy asked. The King glanced back at the hedgehog, who was tapping his foot and going over his notes. He did spot something on the hedgehog's sleeve. It was a skull with an angel wing on it, next to what appears to be a key.

"Wait... is he...?" Mickey asked. Suddenly, there was a groan to be heard. Everyone glanced back at the man in the black coat, coming to his senses.

"Oh, right, the mission!" Sonic shouted. His keyblade was summoned back into his hand, and rushed forward, placing his foot on Ardyn's Rakshasa Blade, preventing him from picking it up. Ardyn then shook himself off, and glared at the blue hedgehog.

"Not so fast, Accursed Man." Sonic said as he pointed his keyblade forward. Pretty soon, Sora rushed over to Sonic's side, ready to help.

"Whatever's going on, it's over Ardyn." Sora said as he summoned his keyblade. "You're surrounded." The man looked around, seeing Riku, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Thorax, Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and the two royal guards, ready to pounce him. He sighed.

"Well... here goes nothing." Ardyn said as he lifted his hand up, and summoned a sword in it, pulling it in to strike. They were ready. But then...

"YAH!" Ardyn shouted as he threw the sword not at any of them, but straight to the center of the room, right into the Crystal Heart!

"NO!" Twilight shouted, as Sora and Sonic gasped in shock. As the blade pierced through, the Crystal Heart began to crack, and then.

"Oh No!" Cadance said. Everyone gasped in horror, while Sora watched with disbelief. The Crystal Heart was destroyed!

"No!" Twilight shouted as she galloped towards the pieces of the Heart. Frantically, she tried to piece it all together, trying to fix it, but not even her magic could do the trick. "No, no, no!"

"Awww, the little pony panicking over a broken crystal." Ardyn said with a chuckle as he got up. "Well, the Umbrum wanted it out of the way." As he gave a sinister laugh, Sora's shocked expression quickly shifted to rage as he glanced back at Ardyn.

"NOOOOO!!!" Sora shouted as he rushed forward and struck Ardyn right in the chest with his keyblade, and Sonic jumped in and swung his own blade hard, hurtling Ardyn across the floor, and making his fedora drop onto the ground. But the man got up, showing no signs of pain, and picked up his fedora, placing it back on his head.

"Thanks to all of you for warming me up for the Revolution." Ardyn called out. "I pray you all get along well... in hell." He then summoned a dark corridor around himself.

"Mickey!" Riku called out as Mickey jumped in and swung his blade, but the corridor and Ardyn was already gone. The King only stood there.

"Oh no..." Mickey said as he dropped his keyblade and fell to his knees. Riku rushed towards him.

"He's free..." Mickey said. "This... this can't be happening... It just can't." As the King shook his head, Sora managed to calm down, and glanced back at Twilight, who was still, and unsuccessfully trying to piece the Crystal Heart together. He approached her.

"Without the Crystal Heart, the Crystal Empire doesn't stand a chance!" Twilight said in despair. "What do we do? What do we do?" The lavender unicorn tried to figure something, but couldn't think of anything. Spike quickly rushed up to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Twilight." Sora said. "We'll figure something out! Right guys?" He glanced back at Donald and Goofy.

"AHH!" Cadance suddenly gasped and began to fall to the ground. Luckily, the stallion caught her just in time.

"Cadance!" Shining said. "Cadance, are you ok?" The pink alicorn didn't respond, nor did she wake up. Suddenly, something was happening outside. They could heard howls of wind and screams all over. Turning to his right, Sora saw Sonic looking upwards. Moving towards him, he saw what the blue hedgehog was looking at. The clear sky above them started to show some flashes, like it was turning from sky blue to dark red. There was then cracks that were beginning to form in the sky. It wasn't the sky, actually. It was the barrier that was keeping the shield around the entire kingdom! The barrier was breaking apart! That meant anybody, anybody of darkness can enter the Empire! Including Sombra!

KINGDOM HEARTS: Fractured Friendship

by KHXhero

Chapter 32: Dark Usurper