//------------------------------// // Ch. 8: "Secrets of the Heart and Mind" // Story: The Dawn of a bright, new life. // by Hallowedsoul //------------------------------// Chapter Eight “Secrets of the Heart and Mind” It’d been about two weeks since I’d bared my soul to Twilight, Terra and the CMC (I’m still kinda miffed they eavesdropped on such an intimate conversation, but it doesn’t matter now, the damage is done). Terra got a job working with Rarity as her assistant and as a model for dresses while I did odd-jobs around town. Terra also ended up becoming great friends with Rarity and Fluttershy, who took her with them on their spa dates. It raised my spirits to see Terra glowing with happiness like she was. Oh, and Rarity came through for me on the coat, which was completely bad-ass! It was designed like an old-western duster that went down almost to my feet, colored a dark, almost black, brown color with a sweet mantle that fell around my shoulders. I wore it around town that day just to see everypony’s reactions and I was not disappointed. Jaws dropped, mares swooned and I posed with Vinyl while Octavia took a picture for her phone (Oh, and she was blushing so much her gray coat was more red than gray). Oh yeah, speaking of Vinyl, she discovered my iPod and the treasure trove of music on it. Needless to say, she’s been hanging out at my place just to sit on the couch and listen to it. If you’re wondering about my first encounter with Lyra, let’s just say it was… interesting. Apparently, because she has hands in this world, she’s developed an obsession with feet. But she’s a sweet mare and I hung out with her a couple of times afterward, though she’s often less than subtle about flirting with me. Twilight became less rigid around me though she still sometimes made offhanded comments like she was talking to him, at least until she realized it was me and would become depressed for a little while. Every time she did this I felt like a knife was tearing at my heart and I would end up staring at her while trying to decide on how to cheer her up. I once tried making a snarky comment, but all that did was make her shut herself in her room and Spike promptly escort me out of the library. Same thing happened when I tried offering to go get her favorite drink. Since then, I’ve figured that it’s best to just leave her alone when she’s depressed because all I do is remind her of what she lost. Dammit, it killed me, seeing her like that. Most of the time, all I could think about was how much pain she was in. Wait, hold up… … Oh no. I sincerely hoped what was happening to me wasn’t what I thought it was. I hoped it was me being torn up inside at seeing a very close friend suffering, but every time I thought about how much Twilight hurt, it felt like my very soul was being ripped apart. I simply couldn’t stand it. I needed help from an inside source… and I knew just who to talk to, but I would need Luna’s assistance to get there. I managed to pull Spike aside one afternoon while Twilight was out with Applejack helping Applebloom with a mess she’d gotten herself into (I really felt bad for the poor filly, but this was one of those lessons people learn the hard way) and he sent a message to Luna for me, whereupon I returned home and awaited night time. When it came time for bed, I climbed under the covers, took a deep breath and closed my eyes to sleep. After what felt like an eternity, I finally heard Luna’s voice. “Greetings, Leon.” She said as I climbed out of my dream bed and walked over to stand next to the door with her “We hath awaited thine arrival with trepidation.” “Sorry, Princess. My mind was going a million miles an hour.” I replied with a smirk, though she cocked an eyebrow at me in confusion “Forget about it, Princess, it’s just something people say back in my world.” “Ah. About that…” She said and gave a small cough “Twilight Sparkle sent our sister a letter… detailing what thou told her about thine world…” “She did what?!” I snapped, turning my head sharply towards Luna “Oh, I’m going to have a little chat with her about ‘sharing secrets’ when I wake up tomorrow. I can’t believe she did that!” “We request that thou not be upset with her, she sent it out of concern for thee.” Luna said in a pleading voice “We are certain she meant no offense by it.” “Yeah well, that doesn’t stop me from being extremely offended.” I replied irritably “Anyway, that’s not important right now. Can you help me talk with my subconscious?” At that, the door in front of us swung open, revealing the Enigmatic Girl. “Jeez, are you stupid or something? I said ‘all you had to do was ask’; you didn’t have to go get Princess Luna to talk to me, Leon!” She snapped irritably, but then turned and gave Luna a small bow “I mean no offense, Princess.” Luna, who’d been caught off-guard by the sudden arrival of my subconscious, cleared her throat at being addressed and waved her hand dismissively. “Tis alright, umm…” Luna said, unsure how to finish her sentence, but EG was more than happy to oblige her. “You may refer to me as the ‘Enigmatic Girl’, Princess, or as Leon likes to put it, EG.” “Oh, of course.” Luna said, then coughed and stood straighter “Tis alright, Enigmatic Girl. We offered Leon our aid and tis our supreme pleasure to grant it.” I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation “Okay, okay now that we’ve got the pleasantries out of the way, I have some issues I need to resolve.” “Like your feelings for Twilight Sparkle?” EG replied dryly “Because you already know the answer to that, you don’t need to see me for something so obvious.” “Yes, yes I just need to con- wait, WHAT?!” I yelled, my voice cracking. I felt my face light on fire as EG laughed at me and Luna giggled “EG, why would you say something like that?!” “Um, because it’s true? Duh.” She replied, hands on her hip. I groaned. I had expected her to be a pain in the ass, but this is just nuts. “Hey, the only one you have to blame here is yourself.” EG quipped, pointing a finger at me accusingly “If you didn’t want Princess Luna hearing about your romantic feelings, you should’ve thought this out a little better before involving her. Again, I mean no offense, Princess.” “It is quite alright, EG.” Luna replied with another giggle “I am most amused by my discovery. I believe my dear sister would be pleased to hear of this turn of events.” “Don’t you even dare.” I said, jabbing a finger at the Moon Princess “If you so much as breathe with the intent of telling anypony what you’ve heard I’ll tell everyone your own dirty little secret.” Her gaze turned steely and all trace of humor was gone “And what, pray-tell, is our ‘dirty little secret’?” “That you’re the one who’s been eating Celestia’s cakes.” EG answered for me, that little twerp ‘Dammit, Leon, we’re in your mind! When are you gonna figure out I can hear what you think? Seriously, you may as well just say it out loud.’ “Wh-what?!” Luna sputtered, her eyes darting left and right “I-I’d never touch my sister’s delicious… triple-chocolate…” Both EG and I stared at her with an expression that said ‘Go on…’ (Or at least I did, I couldn’t tell with EG because of her hood ‘I totally did.’) She looked away, her face noticeably red through her dark coat. “That’s what I thought.” I stated, matter-of-factly, then turned to EG “You and I need to have a chat, EG. While I did want to return to that room and see the mural again, I’ve also figured out you’re keeping secrets from me and I intend to find out what they are.” EG spun her hood to stare at me “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “EG, you know what I’m going to say regarding this matter. Do you really want it to come to that?” I asked her firmly. She stared at me for a moment before giving a sigh and stepping into the room to allow me to pass by her. Luna attempted to follow, but EG stopped her. “Sorry, Princess. Only Leon and I are allowed past this point. You can wait here if you want.” She said before shutting the door behind us. At first, there was only darkness. Then, in true Kingdom Hearts fashion, the mural revealed itself in a storm of feathers. It was still the same as before, except this time I was depicted opposite Twilight with one of my hands directly above the pink shards, which were glowing faintly. Well, that answers that question. “Told ya so.” EG said, walking over to a recliner not unlike the one sitting around my new house and plopping down on it, crossing one leg over the other while resting her head on one fist. “Now, whatcha need to know?” She asked, her voice curious. “Who are you really?” Her head shot up, and she stared at me in what I think was disbelief. “I’m your subconscious. What else do you need to know?” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her. “For starters, ‘why is my subconscious female instead of male’?” I said, pacing back and forth “Obviously, I’m not gay so that’s out of the question.” She stared at me for a second before standing up and walking over to me, making the recliner vanish with a snap of her fingers. “Why is this something you absolutely have to know?” She asked me with an edge to her voice “Why can’t you just leave well enough alone and accept that your subconscious is very vocal and amazes you with her wit and intellect?” “Because I need to know if you’re dangerous.” I stated “If I think you’re a threat to this world, I will have you removed even if I have to cut you out of my head with my knife, so tell me the truth, EG… or else.” She groaned, putting one hand on her hip and reaching into her hood to rub at her head. After a moment, she gave a resigned shrug and crossed her arms across her chest (boy, we love doing that ‘This isn’t the time for jokes, Leon.’). “Cutting up your brain won’t get rid of me.” She replied, her voice dull “I’m connected to your soul. In fact, if you had me removed, bad things would happen to you.” “Like what?” “For starters? Terra and Twilight would no longer recognize you, nor would anyone you’ve ever met.” She said, her voice still dull “Anything connected to you would vanish and you will become little more than an empty husk, going through the act of life but unable to feel the emotions that come with living.” I stared at her in horror. “In essence…” She continued, giving a sigh “You would cease to exist as an individual. You would be… nothing.” I felt my legs begin to shake and give out from under me. EG hurried over and guided me into a recliner, which happened to appear behind me at that instance. “Oh my God…” I murmured, my mind racing with the implications of what she’d told me. “As for who I am…” She said as she took a few steps away from me and reached up to her hood and pulled it away to reveal the face of a girl with shoulder length blond hair that fell into very slight curls but was styled in a way that her bangs partially covered one of her emerald green eyes. “My name is Veronica… and I am your Nobody.” My eyes widened. “No way…” I murmured, disbelief in my voice. “Well… technically I’m his Nobody.” She said, scratching the back of her head “The other Leon had an… accident while traveling around with Sora and Riku back in the Kingdom Hearts dimension.” I could only stare at her as she began to pace back and forth. “The Elements of Harmony don’t remember, but I was there at the final battle… the one that cost Leon his life.” She said, sitting on a stool she’d conjured with a snap of her fingers “When it was finished… I didn’t die, not traditionally anyway. Leon had infused me with some of his magic and sent me out across the Void, whereupon I stumbled across you on your way to… that creepy place.” Can’t brain right now; I gots the dumb. She giggled “Okay, I know I’ve totally blown your mind from here to Kingdom Come, but you really need to be paying attention to this.” She said as she held up her left hand and summoned a strange silvery keyblade “While I am still mostly me, I am also what’s left of the other Leon’s magic, which now resides within you. It’s the part of his magic he felt he couldn’t afford to lose, which is the connection he had to the Elements of Harmony; in essence, the Magic of Friendship.” I understood now. The reason the Elements recognize me and still remember him. He didn’t want to be forgotten, especially by her. “Good job, Sherlock, you’ve solved the mystery!” Veronica said clapping her hands “Now that that’s out of the way, you got any questions?” “Yeah, actually.” I said “Why’s your name ‘Veronica’ and not an anagram of Leon’s name with an X in it?” “Wow. You could’ve asked me anything, literally anything, and that’s your first question?” She replied, astonished, but then shrugged “It was, originally, but it was total garbage. Besides, I abandoned the Organization pretty much as soon as I was able to. All that ‘no hearts’ stuff they kept spouting was complete crap, lemme tell ya.” “So why ‘Veronica’?” “Because Leon allowed me to choose. That was always one of his greatest traits, y’know; he believed every living thing had the right to choose their own lives.” She replied solemnly, but then her face broke into a grin “Plus, I liked how it sounded and I can shorten it to ‘Nica’, which is such a cute nickname!” “Alright then, next question.” I said, looking at her seriously “Why is my Nobody a girl?” “Aw, jeez…” She sighed, face-palming “Okay, the other Leon asked me the same question and I’m gonna tell you what I told him; I don’t know.” I sighed, but prepped my next question, which I believed was very important. “If you’re a Nobody, why are you sharing my body instead of wandering around in your own?” At this, Nica turned her head so that her hair obscured her eyes “Remember when I said he’d sent me into the Void, to save that which he couldn’t afford to lose?” She replied, her voice low “Well… He considered me to be one of them. But in order to be cast out into the Void, I had to… leave my body behind. And before you say anything, it was my idea.” I decided to ask her one last question before turning the floor over to her. She turned her head back towards me, her expression still serious. “So are you what I picked up in the Void? If so, that’ll make it one less problem I’ll have to deal with later.” I said, but unfortunately Nica shook her head. “Sorry, bub, but I found you, and I only managed that much because you and he are very nearly on the same spiritual wavelength, plus it was before you got swallowed.” She replied, examining her keyblade idly and giving it a couple of experimental swings (it made a strange humming when swung that sounded both sandy and crystalline at the same time). The she stood from the stool and walked over to me, planting the tip of her keyblade on the mural’s surface and resting her hands upon its hilt. “Now it’s my turn; how far do you intend to go regarding Twilight?” She asked, her voice serious. “I’d appreciate some time to digest that little bit of information, if you don’t mind.” I replied with a deadpan stare “And besides, I’m not sure she’s ready to get involved with anyone… especially someone who reminds her of…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Veronica shrugged, but continued. “Have you tried casting magic yet?” She asked, to which I nodded. “I have, but I’ve been unable to make even the simplest spells work.” I replied, my voice weary “I understand the theories well enough, it’s just… I’m unable to draw in the energy. Twilight says it’s because I don’t have a focus, but I think it’s more than that.” “And you’d be right.” Nica replied, picking up her keyblade and, with a flourish, laid it upon her shoulders “You need to experience the flow of Magic, develop the senses need to feel the energy, or you’re never going to be able to use it despite having the talent for it.” “So what do you recommend, Doc?” I asked, deciding things have been serious enough and it needed some humor. In response, Nica glared at me and snapped her fingers. The recliner vanished from beneath me and I fell to the floor with a thud. She walked over to the center of the room, where the pink shards were located on the mural and sat down on one side facing me. “Well, what are you waiting for? Get your lazy ass over here!” She called out to me, pointing to the spot directly opposite her. I pulled myself up from the floor and walked over to where she sat. She once more gestured to the spot directly opposite her and I sat down in a crossed-leg fashion. She suddenly scooted forward until our knees were touching and held up her hands, dismissing her keyblade before doing so. “Okay, now lace your fingers between mine so that our palms are touching and hold your arms just like this.” She said and I complied (this was in no way awkward ‘Leon, focus!’). We sat like this a moment, before Nica closed her eyes and began to glow. At which point I felt something coursing through my body, flowing through my body in a way that made me think of unity. After a moment of this weird sensation, it stopped and Nica opened her eyes and looked at me. “This is the best I can do. I can’t stimulate the proper receptors that would allow you to perceive magical auras and energy, only give you a small idea of what it will feel like.” She said, her voice weary “I suggest you get with Twilight Sparkle and ask for her help in this exercise, and before you say ‘why not Terra’ it’s because she uses magic in much the same way she breathes; she just does.” I blushed at the idea of having to sit with Twilight, a mare I apparently have a crush on, in such an intimate manner. “Get over it.” Nica said with finality and stood “Talents are wasted untrained and Twilight’s the only pony who can unlock the potential within you.” “Fine…” I said with a sigh and stood as well “Well, I think it’s about time I got out of here. Things are gonna get interesting around here, not to mention insanely awkward.” “Sure thing, Hoss.” Nica replied before snapping her fingers and making a door appear, which looked exactly like the door to my bedroom “Oh, and before you leave, I’d like to remind you that if you want to speak to me, just. Freakin’. ASK!” I sighed and walked over to the door, which I opened and stepped across the threshold before turning back to Nica and giving her a two-finger salute and closing the door, signaling dream’s end. I awoke in my bed, the early morning light shining in through my window. As I sat up and stretched I felt mildly annoyed that Veronica had so casually spoken about my feelings in front of Luna. ‘Oh, yeah, about that? Things are gonna be awkward when you encounter Terra this morning.’ Nica’s voice quipped, which caused me to sit and ponder for a moment before the implications hit me. “Aww, crap…” I muttered, face-palming “I’d said anypony… and Terra’s not a damn pony!” Sure enough, the first thing Terra said to me was a cheerful “Good morning!” along with a bout of giggles. At this, my expression turned resolute and instead of fixing my breakfast, I threw my coat on and I grabbed my hat and messenger bag. I turned back to Terra. “I’m gonna go visit Twilight to send Princess Celestia a message. You wanna come?” I asked her, but she shook her head and gave me sweet smile. “No thank you, but I’m sure she would be delighted to see you this morning, Leon.” She said and giggled some more. Oh, yeah. Luna’s going down in flames. An hour and one message to Celestia later, sweet justice was visited upon the gossipy Moon Princess, which was heard by everypony in Equestria… and maybe further.