//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Mishaps and Magic // Story: Sleeping Darkness // by OhHellNo //------------------------------// Such light is in this land, such joy and tranquility.It almost makes you believe that all darkness is gone, vanquished! But as some people, or should I say ponies, are about to learn, the darkness can come from even the purest of hearts. After all, the deeper you delve into the light the bigger your shadow becomes... Sora opened an eye, peering at his surroundings. Woah, what...happened?He opened his other eye, wincing, as he suddenly developed a headache that threatened to split his head open "Ow, what the..." He lifted his face off the dirt floor and stood up, noticing an obvious difference. "Four legs, alright, must be in Pri-" he looked up. "Then again, maybe not." He was surrounded by trees, lots and lots of trees. They continued forever past rolling green hills and surrounded him on every side. He turned around, surveying the endless trees around him. He was on top of one of the small hills overlooking a valley in which sat a clearing and a building which seemed to be a barn. So a farm then... He looked at the trees, burdened with glistening red and green fruit. An apple orchard? Well that explains where I am... Sort of, but it doesn't solve what I am. He tried twisting his head around but just ended up chasing his own tail. Tail, sort of like in Pride Lands except... He looked at his forelegs Not paws, hooves. A horse then? He was certainly more sturdily built then a lion but at the same time he was too small to be a horse. A ummm... Oh I give up His head, while still pounding furiously, was slowly calming down and he gave himself another once over. He prodded his head wincing as he tapped a massive lump just above his eye How did I even get that? And for that matter how did I get here? He cast back his mind remembering something vaguely similar to crashing and then a massive force like someone had smashed his head with a hammer. Ouch. His head thumped harder as if in recognition of the memory. He looked back at himself I also seem to have a tattoo on my butt... Indeed there was a crown on his 'butt' not un-similar to the one he wore around his neck, the yellow contrasted nicely with his light brown coat. He shrugged as much as a pony can and then saw that he was clothed, his normal outfit stretching half way across his body. For some reason though, the clothes felt unnatural and made his forelegs itch uncomfortably. Right last thing He gave a quick inspection of his hair which still was defying gravity and stuck up in the air with the only difference being it spread down his neck. Perfect. He allowed his trademark grin to spread across his face and he set off into the valley, knowing that a great adventure was just around the corner... His thoughts were somewhat spoiled though as he then got bucked in the face by a pair of alabaster legs. "Oh, for Mick-" he managed to say before he collapsed and darkness surrounded him. Sora slowly gained consciousness and was greeted by a pounding head that sent his brain to the deepest, darkest, most painful fires of Tartarus. He kept his eyes closed swearing on the life of his friends that he would return the favor of whoever did this to him, only twice as bad. His thoughts turned to listening as he heard voices near the left side of his head. "I didn't know what to do with him so ah brought him to you" It was a female voice with a southern twang to it and was replied to by a more formal voice filled with a mix of seriousness and laughter. "And this was after you bucked him two times in the head, was it?" Sora noticed for the first time that his head while painful was tingling, specifically in the places that he had gotten 'bucked' in the head. "Ahm awfully sorry Twi, ah panicked, after all it aint everyday that somepony comes crashing from nowhere" Somepony? Well that explains one thing.One of them sighed, Sora guessed the one called Twi. "No worrys Applejack, It's understandable. Be quiet for a second while I try to heal this." There was silence and the tingling increased as a few minutes passed, slowly his head was alleviated of the pain and he sighed with relief. He opened his eyes and for the second time today found himself in a new environment. It seemed like he was in a library, books surrounded him, all of them differently sized and colored with little tags underneath each shelf depicting genre. There was a massive pillar of wood in the middle and staircases leading up the side of the circular room. He slowly stood up and turned towards the voices he had heard. In front of him sat two ponies. The one on the left was orange and was obviously the one called Applejack, she had a blonde mane and tail both of which where tied at the end, she wore a stetson which she had nervously lowered over her eyes and little freckles just below them. The one on the right presumably the one called Twi, probably short for something was a lilac color and had a dark blue mane with pink and dark purple streaks running through it. She also had a horn protruding from her mane. A... unicorn? "Oh, hey your awake! How are you doing" she walked towards Sora "Fine, I guess" he replied rubbing his head "your friend really did a number on me though" he had let a small smile appear though to show that he wasn't going to hold anything against anyone,or pony as it where, despite his swearing earlier. "Ahm so sorry I bucked you in the head" Applejack had lifted her stetson and peered into soras ocean blue eyes, giving him a look of utter adorableness. Sora stepped back, the adorableness to much for him to withstand. "It's okay, I don't mind..." He grinned "You sure can 'buck' though" He had worked out that bucking was the equivalent of kicking and he felt quite proud of himself. "Well of course ah can, I wouldn't be runnin' and orchard if not" Sora failed to see the connection but nodded none the less, his grin widening. Applejack sat back down, satisfied that she was forgiven. "Ahem, this still leaves the question of why you came flying from the sky in the first place..." "Sora" "Right, oh I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Applejack by the way." Sora nodded "so why where you here?" Sora sighed "To be honest I don't know, I was travelling somewhere and I crashed" Twilight frowned quizzically "Crashed? What where you driving?" Sora wondered whether they had spaceships or not in this place and whether or not he should tell Twilight about it. What could be so bad about telling a purple unicorn? His grin widened as he realized that this was one of the most bizarre situations he had been in. "I came here by gummi ship" He said plainly "A what?" Twilight looked confused "It's a space ship that can travel between worlds" He said again as normally as possible. At this Applejack started giggling and Twilight looked slightly annoyed. "Are you trying to be an idiot" she said giving Sora a hard look "No no no, I'm telling the truth!" Applejack stopped laughing for a moment and said "Are you sure your in your right mind sugarcube? Ah didn't buck you that hard did ah?" She started giggling again "No... well yeah you did, but I am telling the truth!" Twilight didn't look convinced. "Do you have any proof? She said waving a hoof. Hmmm "Oh, I noticed your a unicorn, that means you can do magic right?" This was rewarded by another burst of laughter from Applejack and Twilight's frown deepening. Sora carried on regardless, thinking fast "And i'm guessing Applejack can't" Twilight's horn slowly started glowing "I'll take that as a yes, but hear me out before you send me to the crazy bin" He ruffled his hair "No horn, yes?" Twilight nodded curiously "Then how do you explain this then?" His keyblade appeared in his mouth flashing brightly before taking shape. It was just the standard kingdom key, no use scaring them with one of the more threatening forms, It seemed to do the trick. Applejack's laughter stopped and Twilight's jaw hit the floor. "Neat wight?!" "But... But that's impossible!" she stuttered, Applejack's head nodding in amazed agreement. "I ca alsho do dish" He said muffled, Sora lifted his head and shouted "lisherd!" The air turned icy and everything froze. Including Twilight and Applejack. Sora's keyblade disappeared with another flash of light and he turned to face the ponies with a massive grin on his face which faded as quick as it came. Sora shrunk back "Woops..."