//------------------------------// // Chapter 31 // Story: The Darkness Shard // by OliverSparkle //------------------------------// “A hippo?!” Pinkie said in shock after she and everyone else saw the hippo too, “What’s a hippo doing here?!” “Not sure, Pinkie,” replied Rainbow, “But he is near two of our students, and my nephew!” Rainbow angrily flew towards the hippo and shouted, “Get away from them!” But just as she was about to reach to the hippo, she was stopped by a light brown lioness, with a pink on her left eye, as she pinned her to the snow. “Rainbow!” The girls shouted worriedly. “Auntie Rainbow!” Lightning cried in fear and worriedly. “It’s okay, kiddo, I’m fine,” said Rainbow trying her best to get up, but the lioness was pinning her too hard for her to even get up. “Don’t even try,” growled the lioness. Suddenly, just as before anyone could go save Rainbow, another lioness and three lions jumped into the scene. The lioness was brown with a light blue line on her forehead. The first lion was brown with a dark brown mane that only goes to the back of his neck. The second lion was brown also but his dark brown mane was around his head. The third lion was yellow with a tiny red mane on his head and has a scar on his left eye. Following behind them was a male and female cheetah, a white male egret with orange and yellow feathers on his head, a lightish dark blue male honey badger and a lightish dark purple female honey badger, a purple female martial eagle, a grey fur mandrill and a white owl. The wizards and witches got their wands out ready to fight with Constantine and Doctor Strange getting their magic ready in their fists and hands. Sonic and Knuckles got charged up ready. The guardians summoned their Keyblades, staff, shield, sword and crossbow. The lions and the lioness stood round the heroes in a circle while growling at them. The cheetahs, honey badgers and hippo stood by the lions while the egret, owl and eagle flew around them. The red mane lion jumped towards Sora, but he used his Keyblade to block the lion’s attack and made him fly back as he landed on his paws and slid back a bit. The lioness tried to claw Roxas, but he kept on jumping back to dodge the claws before he tried to attack the lioness with his Keyblades. The egret, owl and eagle flew around Applejack as she waving her hoof around trying to shove them away. Oy! Get off! Get out of here!” But it wasn’t any good. They just kept on flying around the farm pony. Applejack sighed in annoyance before saying, “They’re more annoying than those rabbits stealing Granny Smith’s carrots!” “Hey, less claiming and more stopping them!” Rainbow yelled while still trying to get up from the lioness’s pin. The female cheetah zoomed past Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, making it hard for Knuckles to punch her no matter how hard he tried to work out the perfect timing of her speed. “She’s too fast!” Knuckles said. “Well let’s see how fast she is against my speed,” said Sonic with his fur glowing blue, “Time to go fast!” Sonic zoomed really fast as he charged towards the cheetah and bumped into her making her fly to the right and rolled over on the snow. “Go, Sonic!” Cheered Tom. The female cheetah got up and glared at the blue hedgehog. “You do not want to make me angry.” “And you don’t want to see what happens when you miss with me,” said Sonic. “Think you faster than me? Prove it.” “Will do,” said Sonic while charging up. Sonic zoomed off and sped around the cheetah making her unable to see where he was and when to strike him at the perfect time. She was so getting dizzy from his speed. “Stay still!” The cheetah growled, “You’re making me dizzy!” “Part of his plan!” Said the voice of Tails. “Huh?” The female cheetah saw Tails and Knuckles coming out from outside of Sonic’s speed circle as they punched the cheetah in the face causing her to fly out of the speed circle and slide on her side. She tried to get up, but she was stopped by Knuckles’s fist as he pinned her head to the snow. “Fist beats speed,” said Knuckles with a grin. The female cheetah growled in anger while still having her face pinned to the snow. Newt, Tina, Queenie, Theseus, Dumbledore and Credence were flicking their wands shooting tiny light blue grasp at the male cheetah and the three lions that were running around and past them as they tried to claw them, but they kept dodging the claws. “They’re too fast for us!” Theseus said. “Allow us,” said Cadence. Celestia, Luna and Cadence’s horns started to glow. They used their magic to lift up some of the snow and threw it at the lions making them stop running and trying to claw the wizards and witches. “Nice throw,” said Jacob. “Thank you,” replied Princess Luna. Suddenly, the lions jumped from the snow and towards the heroes. The wizards, witches and the three princesses managed to jump and fly out of the way before landed on the same spot the magic people and alicorns were once standing. The red hair lion saw Jacob trying to run as fast as he could. “Baliyo!” He called out, “Stop him!” “On it!” Baliyo said before running towards Jacob. Jacob running as quickly as he could, but he was stopped by Baliyo jumping on him and pinned him to the snow. He tried to get up, but it wasn’t any good due to Baliyo’s powerful pin. “Jacob!” Cried Queenie worriedly. She tried to run to save her husband, but she was stopped by the brown lioness. “Uh-uh,” growled the lioness. The lions and their animals now have the heroes trapped in a circle while Knuckles had the cheetah pinned to the snow with Baliyo had Jacob pinned to the snow as well. They were all stuck and trapped. That’s when Capper tried to cut the line and put an end to this. “All right, time it!” Capper called while making a T sign with his paws, “That’s it, time out! Guys, let’s all chill out, yeah? We’re all getting out of paws, claws and hooves here. Let’s all just chill out, and talk for a second.” “To be fair, he does have a point there,” said Vincent. “Agreed,” said Sunset Shimmer. The yellow lion glared and growled at Oliver while he glared at him back. Flurry Heart was hiding underneath her big brother while shaking in fear. “I’m gonna ask you this one time,” said the yellow lion, “Why are you hurting my son?” “Yeah, I do you one better,” said Oliver, “Who is your son?” “I do you one better,” said Knuckles, “What is your son?” Everyone looked at Knuckles confusedly with Knuckles looking confusedly at them not knowing why they were all looking at him. “What? I thought we were having a fun asking game here. Never mind, forget it.” The heroes, the lions and their friends turned back to glare at each other with Knuckles doing the same as well. “Tell us how to save my nephew or I swear to you, I’m gonna claw this creature,” said Baliyo. “Let’s do it!” Shouted Knuckles, “You hurt our friend, I’ll hurt yours! Let’s go!” Knuckles rose his right fist up while charging in red sparks showing he will hurt the female cheetah if Baliyo does hurt Jacob. “No, she can’t take it!” Maddie said. “She’s right,” said Dumbledore, “None of us can’t.” “Oh you’re not gonna stop the nightmares from hurting my nephew? That’s fine,” said Baliyo, “We’ll just get rid of all of you and we’ll take it out with Ardyn Izunia ourselves! Starting with you!” “No!” Jacob said in fear. “Wait, did you say Ardyn Izunia?” Doctor Strange let out a calm sigh before saying, “Okay, let me ask you this one time. What master do you all serve?” “We serve no master,” answered the blue honey badger, “Only the king and queen of the Tree of Life. What about you? What master do you lot serve?” “What master do we serve? What are we suppose to say? King Sombra?” Rainbow asked. “Wait, hold on,” said Constantine with the golden magic grasp on his hands disappearing, “You have a problem with Ardyn too, right?” “Yes,” answered the yellow lion calmly, “He’s giving my son nightmares, and we still unsure why he’s doing it or what he wants with him. Why’d you ask?” “Wait, so none of you are with Ardyn?” The female cheetah asked confusedly. Smolder looked at the female cheetah with a annoyed and confused expression on her face. “With Ardyn?!” She said, “No. We’re here to stop Ardyn. He’s hurting my boyfriend. Look, just, who are you?” “We’re the Night Pride,” answered the brown lioness, “And me and Kion are the King and Queen of the Tree of Life.” Sora, Donald and Goofy were the first ones to be surprised hearing her say Kion. They remembered hearing that Kion was Simba’s son before they all began their journey to the Tree of Life. “You’re Simba’s son that we heard about,” said Donald. Kion surprisedly looked at the trio before asking, “You know my father?” Then he remembered the story his father told him about how he helped a young boy who helped him as a lion, “Wait, are you Sora, Donald and Goofy?” “What? No, you’ve got the wrong creatures,” said Sora, “I’m pretty sure the Sora, Donald and Goofy you heard about are a dark brown lion, a bird and a tortoise.” “Huh?” Donald asked confusedly. “Order!” Sora said through clenched teeth making Donald understand what he meant by that. “Oh yes!” Donald said quickly, “You have the wrong creatures! We’re not who you think we are! We’re not the Sora, Donald and Goofy you’ve heard of!” Kion giggled before saying, “It’s okay, my father told me about you. Your secret’s safe with me.” He winked at them. Sora, Donald and Goofy were starting to understand that Simba must have told Kion everything about them, including why Sora was human when they first met. “Oh. Well, in that case, yes,” said Sora, “We are Sora, Donald and Goofy.” “At your service!” Goofy said while saluting. Kion chuckled at the three. “Okay, Baylio,” said Rani, “They’re on our side, they’re not with Ardyn. You may get off their friend now.” “Okay, sis,” said Baylio as he got off of Jacob. Queenie helped her husband up while brushing the snow off his shirt. “Thanks, Queenie.” Knuckles moved his fist off Fuli as she got up back on her feet and walked back to her team. “Sorry for attacking you guys,” said Kion, “We thought you were with Ardyn after he showed.” “It’s okay,” said Twilight, “We all make mistakes sometimes, even when it comes to meeting new friends.” “After accusing them for being evil if they’re not a pony,” said Discord as a insult. “Shut up, Discord!” Shouted Sunset angrily. “Ouch,” was all Discord could say after being told to shut up. “Ignore Discord. He can be mean and teases others without knowing what their sense of humour is like,” said Twilight, “Anyway, I think introductions should be an order.” “I think so too,” said Kion, “I’m Kion, and these are my friends and family: Rani, Bailyo, Nirmala, Surak, Bunga, Beshte, Fuli, Ono, Anga, Binga, Azaad, Makini and Ullu.” “Nice to meet you all,” said Twilight, “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my family, friends and students: Spike, Shining Armor, Cadence, Flurry Heart, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Lightning Twister, Capper, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Celestia, Luna, Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream and Amore.” “I’m Mickey. You already know Sora, Donald Goofy’s name, and these are the rest of our friends: Kairi, Riku, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Roxas, Xion, Axel and Yozora.” “Call me Ven. It’s what I always go by.” “I’m Albus Dumbledore. This Newt and Theseus Scamander, Tina, Queenie, Jacob and Credence.” “Name’s Sonic.” “I’m Tails.” “Do they call you that because of the extra tail you have?” Bayilo asked. “Yes, that’s right,” said Tails happily, “Everyone else got that.” “I am Knuckles.” “I’m Tom and this is my wife Maddie.” “Hi,” said Maddie while waving. “I’m John Constantine.” “Doctor Strange.” “Call me Vincent.” “And I’m Cosmos.” “So nice to meet you all,” said Beshte, “Sorry for scaring some of you earlier. Didn’t mean to do that.” “It’s okay,” said Ocellus, “We’ve just never seen a hippo before.” “Well, glad to be the first.” “So your child is being haunted by nightmares too?” Constantine asked. “Yes,” answered Kion, “Ardyn has trapped him in an endless of sleep nightmares that keeps hurting him. After revealing himself to us, he said he did the same to another child, only he has something that he wants from him as well.” “That would be my son,” said Fluttershy, “Ardyn made him have endless nightmares just so the darkness, that remains in him, can get stronger enough for him to take.” “We’ve heard that the Tree of Life is able to help save animals and creatures that have these kinds of problems,” said Princess Celestia, “So we came all this way to see if you can help.” “And since you said your son was suffering from nightmares too, we can help you save him as well,” added Sunset with Donald nodding his head. “Well you all came to the right place,” said Rani happily, “And we appreciate your offer to help. Follow us, we’ll take you to our home.” Kion, Rani and their friends and family went up the snowy hill with the groups following behind them as they headed towards the Tree of Life. “You actually helped a lion who knew you before becoming a lion yourself?” Kairi asked. “I’ll explain once this is over,” whispered Sora as a promise. As they walked to the Tree of Life, the snowy area they were walking on was starting to turn into a nice green area. It’s almost like the snowy place was magically turning into a lovely warm place. “New friends,” said Rani, “Welcome to, the Tree of Life!” There, just down the mountain, was a lovely green area with lots of trees, including a big tree, a clean dirt path, brown mountains, a river stream and a waterfall. The Equestria group looked at the place in amazed and awe. They either said “wow” or “cool” as they looked at the area of the Tree of Life. “Now this is what I can call paradise,” said Rarity. “It’s so beautiful,” said Fluttershy. “Oh I just wish Skystar was here!” Silverstream said excitedly, “She would love this place!” “Rani, why don’t you take the children on a tour around the Tree of Life? The rest of us will talk to the others about our son’s suffering.” “Of course, Kion. Follow me, children. You’re gonna love the tour.” “Is it okay for me to look around, Momma?” Lightning asked. “Of course it is, baby,” answered Fluttershy softly. “Yeah, you go have fun, son,” said Capper. “You lot should go as well while me, Yozora, Aqua and Terra talk with Kion,” said Mickey. “Wait, even me?” Riku asked in surprise. “Of course. Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in when you come back from the tour.” Riku looked at Sora and Kairi who were smiling while nodding their heads showing that he should tag along. Riku smiled back at them before letting out a chuckle before saying, “I suppose I could take a little break from the Keyblade Master stuff for a bit.” “Well, what do you say, guys?” Axel asked while putting his hands on Roxas and Xion’s shoulders and smiling, “Shall we take a tour around the Tree of Life?” Roxas and Xion smiled at Axel while chuckling happily which made Axel chuckle as well. “Take that as a yes.” “Mama?” Cadence giggled before saying, “I know what you’re going to ask, Flurry Heart. And yes, you can go. Just as long as you stay with Rani and do what she says.” Flurry Heart smiled happily before hugging her mother. “Thank you, Mama!” She broke the hug and flew over to Rani who was smiling softly at the young alicorn. “Are you going, Spike?” Twilight asked. Spike looked at Twilight in surprise. “Wait, I can go on the tour as well?” Twilight giggled before answering, “Of course. After all, you deserve to go on the tour while the rest of us have a private chat with Kion.” Spike smiled happily at his mother and hugged her as she hugged him back. “Thanks, Mom.” “You’re welcome, Spike,” said Twilight softly before breaking the hug, “Now run along. And don’t forget, have fun.” Spike nodded before running towards Rani. Ventus ran over to the queen while waving to Terra and Aqua. “See you in a bit!” He said happily. “See you in a bit, Ven,” said Aqua. “Have fun,” said Terra. With the children together with Rani, the queen led them down the hill and onwards to the start of the tour around the Tree of Life, leaving the adults watching them go. “Now, about your son,” said Doctor Strange to Kion. “I’ll take you to him. Follow me.” Kion led the groups to where his son was resting, unknowingly that they were being watched by Makucha, Chuluun and Ora who were hiding behind a tree with the snow covering Chuluun’s appearance. “They’re here,” said Makucha quietly, “Let’s go and tell Ardyn for the next step of the plan.” The two gave the leopard a nod as the three left the tree and headed back to Arydn’s hideout.