“What world are you three from?” Yuffie asked Twilight as she caught her reading a book.
“World?” Twilight asked. She was certain that talking about other worlds should be something of a taboo, but if the other person was aware, was it okay? “Um, one that’s really far away.”
“How’d you get here, this world isn’t connected right now?” Yuffie asked. “When a world isn’t connected to the others, you can’t go to or leave it.”
“I don’t know.” Twilight shook her head. “A magical mishap with unforeseen consequences…” her voice faded at an alarming rate.
“What is it?” Yuffie grew concerned, but more importantly, she grew curious. Twilight seemed to her like she’d pieced something together, something important.
“If Grey, Spike, and I are here, but we shouldn’t be able to be here, what’s to stop the Overlord?” Twilight asked.
Yuffie paused to think, but she couldn’t come up with anything to put Twilight’s mind at ease. The constant sound of footsteps around the pair made it hard for the ninja to focus on the task at hand. Leon was double and triple checking every entrance. Cid was making some blue prints for a new Gummi Ship by piecing together old blueprints. Spike and Grey were resting, Grey to recover and Spike simply to get some sleep.
“He could be somewhere else…” Yuffie suggested, not even able to convince herself that she was telling the truth.
“Are you okay?” shouted a man with a mess of spikey yellow hair.
The man wore black pants and a black sleeveless shirt. Over his left arm, he wore a shoulder piece that had a sleeve attached. There was a silver wolf face attached to the shoulder piece. On his back rested a sword that was as long as he was tall that had been wrapped in what looked like medical tape.
Haze grunted, looked down at his own body. Human. He was a human. He felt a dark robe covering his body, a hood pulled over his face. Before he could let the person speaking to him get a good look at his eyes, he pulled the goggles back up over them.
“I’m fine.” Haze answered, smirking as a plan came to mind. If he was here, then those two mares couldn’t be that far away.
“You came out of nowhere, are you sure that you’re all right?” the man asked again.
“Yes. My name is Haze and I’m looking for a young girl. She has lavender hair with a pink streak going through it. Have you seen her by chance?” Haze asked back.
“My name’s Cloud. No I haven’t seen anyone matching that description. Is she important to you?” the man replied, Haze found it interesting how this human’s name could have easily been that of a pony. Usually Griffons and humans shared the same names, not humans and ponies.
“If I don’t find her, something terrible could happen.” Haze left out the important detail about his intentions.
“I could help you look. Odds are that since I haven’t seen them, they’re probably in the castle with my friends.” Cloud explained.
Friends, a word that made Haze feel nauseous. “We’ll help each other then.” Haze suggested.
“The problem is that there are just too many Heartless between the castle and this town.” Cloud pointed out.
“I think that we’ll be able to make it through.” Haze smiled as he told the Heartless to move using the darkness in his heart.
“You’re getting better, but you need to focus.” Grey told Twilight as they stood on the second floor of the library.
Twilight was receiving lessons from Grey on how to banish the Fissure. She had been stuck on the first step, clearing her mind. They had privacy on the second floor while the others slept. It had been a very long day for everyone, but they wanted to try and have two people awake at any given time in case the Heartless got in somehow. Instead of wasting this time, Twilight was learning from Grey how to beat the most powerful enemies that they could encounter.
“You don’t have to lie. I know that I’m not making any progress. Maybe if you told me what it was then I could…” Twilight suggested.
“It is ancient magic that requires an external physical item as a conduit as opposed to a horn. In this world, such magic should be even easier to cast due to the abundance of magic in each of these… people.” Grey explained. “I drew out a mark on my hoof after I saw the Fissure in the Everfree Forest. When my hoof touched it, it was blasted out of your world.”
“But I’m not using symbols.” Twilight complained.
“That’s because you are just starting to learn, the spells come later. You need to focus on that one thought. Let everything else slip away, lose your fear, your joy, your sorrow, and your love.” Grey coached.
It made sense to Twilight. To learn a complex new magic, she would have to first learn the most basic thoughts behind it. She had to do the same thing to learn how to teleport. Teleporting requires one to clear their mind before picturing where they intend to go. This varies in maximum distance by several factors, the most important is the magical strength of the caster; a less important factor is the number of obstructions in between the caster and the target location.
Twilight mentally slapped herself for immediately letting her mind drift off after being told to clear her thoughts. She sat there, working on clearing her mind, which was a lot harder than it sounded. Every time that she managed to push one thought or worry away, two more would take its place. Her will needed to be absolute, unwavering against even the most terrifying of thoughts. She had to stop thinking about what fate befell her friends after she arrived here. She needed to resist trying to come up with a plan to get home. She stopped thinking and lost her grip on the world around her.
“Good.” Grey whispered as Twilight’s body went slack. “Now think of a happy moment in your life.”
Twilight, still within the recesses of her mind, looked around. Her mind was organized to look like a library; she felt that it was fitting. Memories and thoughts were organized by the feeling associated with them. Twilight looked through her happy moments and tried to pick one. There was one that stood out to her, the moment that she found her Element of Harmony while confronting Nightmare Moon.
“I’ve got it.” Twilight confirmed; her posture unchanging.
“Open your eyes and draw the symbol that I showed you.” Grey commanded. “Don’t lose sight of that memory.”
Twilight slowly blinked her eyes open and picked up a piece of chalk and started to sketch out a circle. She drew a seven point star inside the circle and then proceeded to add some shapes that she had no name for due to their abstract nature. Soon the symbol was finished and Grey set, what Twilight thought to be a lamp, from the table into the middle of the circle.
“Do I do it now?” Twilight asked, focusing on her thought and the symbol.
“Yes, cast the spell.” Grey responded.
Twilight clenched eyes shut and tried to imagine the lamp vanishing. When she opened her eyes, the lamp was gone. She nearly squealed with joy, but stopped herself upon remembering that everyone else was asleep.
“You picked up on it pretty fast.” Grey commented. “It took me forever to actually get the banishing part right.”
“It did?” Twilight asked, surprised because of the skill that Grey had displayed when showing Twilight an example.
“Yes, believe it or not, but it gets easier with each time.” Grey laughed at Twilight’s reply.
“I have a question.” Twilight changed the subject and straightened her expression.
“What is it?” Grey started to worry that something was wrong.
“Earlier, you said that you would teach me just as he taught you.” Twilight started.
“You wanted to know if it was Inkwell, right?” Grey looked away and nodded.
“I’m sorry…” Twilight whispered back before approaching the window.
As she looked out into the night sky, she started to think. Without Princess Celestia and Princess Luna here, how could day and night occur? When they first arrived, it was day, but now, hours later it was night. It made no sense to Twilight; someone had to be moving the sun and the moon.
Her thoughts soon slammed to a halt as she noticed the Heartless in the valley below starting to part ways. Two figures in black approached the castle but they were too far away to really make out. Twilight turned around to face the rest of the group.
“Grey, take a look.” she whispered, calling the former bat pony over.
“What is it?” Grey quickly approached the window and let out a gasp. “Who are they? Why are those Heartless letting them through?”
“What’s going on over there?” Leon spoke. His voice sounded wide awake and not drowsy in the least.
“I can see two people… or at least I think that they’re people, moving toward the castle. The Heartless have moved out of their way.” Twilight explained.
“Cloud and… I don’t know who’s with him.” Leon squinted through the window. “Cloud’s one of us, he was protecting the town while we tried to get the defenses up and running.”
“Well, let’s go and meet them at the door.” Twilight suggested, looking forward to meeting another human. Her experiences with humans before this didn’t tell her much, mostly because they acted like their pony counterparts. This world seemed to function completely differently, with no apparent links to Twilight’s home, Grey’s home, or even the world through the mirror.
“We might as well.” Leon stated calmly. “Yuff, Cid, wake up!”
In his attempt to wake up his friends, he also startled Spike awake. “What’s going on?” he mumbled, barely with any coherence.
“We’re going downstairs to meet with Cloud. Maybe he has some news about what’s going on here.” Leon answered, leading the group out of the library.
This was Twilight’s second time in the entry hall to the castle. She was able to pay more attention this time since she wasn’t worrying about Grey. There were two sets of stairs that met behind a large fountain that was built into the wall. There was a balcony that was level with the chandelier that lit the room.
In the center of the room there was a large hole in the floor. It looked relatively recent, and there was another birdcage like structure within it. Leon led them inside and the rode it straight down. Twilight recognized the appearance of the basement walls, but she was in an unfamiliar area of it. It was a set of long halls with square rooms almost randomly placed.
Leon once again took the position ahead of the group, taking them to a small door. As he opened the door, Cloud arrived on the metal platform outside. Cloud gave Leon a small wave, signaling for him to approach.
“I sent out a distress signal. Hopefully one of them will get it and reconnect Radiant Garden.” Cloud stated, referring to people who Twilight was not familiar with.
“We’ve got a Keyblade wielder right here.” Leon pointed back to Twilight as he moved forward.
“Oh do we now?” mused a familiar voice from behind Cloud. “Her name wouldn’t happen to be Twilight now, would it?”
“No…” Grey took a step back.
“Spike,” Twilight knelt down, “hide.”
“Is that the friend that you were looking for?” Cloud asked.
“I never actually said that she was a friend. I simply said that something terrible would happen if I was unable to find her. If I couldn’t find her, she would have a chance to prepare to stop me.” Haze smirked as he stepped out from behind Cloud and started toward Twilight.
“Everyone, run!” Twilight shouted, warning the others to go to safety.
Leon withdrew his sword and aimed it at Haze’s face. “Stop.” he warned.
Haze brushed off this threat and kept on his direct path toward Twilight. A blast of fire launched from the tip of Leon’s blade, just as one had before, and it impacted with Haze’s chest. The cloaked man ignored this attack, simply waving his hand and throwing Leon across the area with levitation magic.
“I don’t have time to waste with you.” Haze said calmly as he continued his approach.
Before Twilight could tell what was going on, a massive sword slammed down through Haze’s shoulder, ripping his entire right arm off of his body. Haze slowly turned to face Cloud who was glaring at the Overlord.
“I liked that arm.” he said plainly.
Dark tendrils sprouted from Haze’s shoulder and formed a replacement arm. The dismembered arm that was on the floor faded away into a purple mist.
“How…” Cloud started but his voice drifted off.
“It’s a simple spell, easiest way to immorality. Those who rise against me cannot kill me, no matter how hard they try.” Haze smirked.
Twilight saw Grey drawing something out on the palm of her left hand, and it took her a few seconds but she soon recognized it as the symbol for the banishment spell. There were some subtle differences between the symbol that Twilight had drawn and the one on Grey’s hand. Grey glanced at Twilight; her expression was flat and emotionless.
“Promise me that you won’t do this. And I mean ever, promise me.” Grey demanded as she finished the symbol.
Not giving Twilight the chance to answer, Grey charged at Haze in an attempt to slam her palm into his face. At the last second, a Fissure pulled itself out of the ground between Grey and Haze. The Fissure still had the same form that they had back in Equestria, looking like a pony.
Grey’s expression turned to one of horror as she realized that she wouldn’t have time to stop herself. Her palm met with the forehead of the Fissure and she let out an agonizing scream. Crimson streaks flew back as Grey’s arm was ripped apart from the spell. She collapsed onto the ground, clenching her severely wounded arm tightly as she writhed in pain. There was a smoldering pile of ash in front of her, exactly where the Fissure had been.
“Grey!” Twilight shouted, running over to her fallen friend.
“I bought you some time. Run…” Grey grunted.
“Not without you!” Twilight shouted back, summoning the Dawn Star.
“How… cute.” Haze mused as Twilight charged at him.
Haze held up his hand and caught Twilight’s Keyblade stopping her in her tracks. Twilight summoned out Griffon’s Wing into her left hand and made a second, surprise strike at Haze’s side. She felt her weapon dig into him before he knocked her away.
The Overlord took a few steps toward Twilight as she was sprawled out across the ground. He however, came to a halt when a large shuriken flew past him. Without any warning there was a sudden barrage of smaller, glowing shuriken that assaulted Haze. He quickly put up a magical shield to protect himself and started toward Twilight again.
Haze let out a scream as he vanished into a golden light. Grey was lying on the ground with her right hand stretched out to where Haze’s ankle had been before he vanished. She had the symbol of banishment drawn onto her palm. Twilight noticed that Grey’s right shoulder was even more severely injured than it had been before. She thought back to when she cast the spell and remembered the cracks on the floor, and started to make a hypothesis. The banishment spell has a powerful recoil, but whatever spell Grey had used on the Fissure was exponentially stronger.
“Grey…” Twilight climbed to her feet and scrambled over to her friend’s side.
“I’ll be fine…” Grey said between breaths.
“Someone tell me what’s going on.” Cloud demanded, having just been involved in a fight that he didn’t know the reason for.
Raid stood alone at the top of one of the towers, it was still night, as Celestia was unable to raise the sun. She knew that ponies would start freaking out soon; it was already nine in the morning so the sun should have been out. With the princess unable to raise the sun, there would be no day.
“Raid!” called a voice from the ground at the foot of the tower. Raid was just barely able to hear it and at first she dismissed it as her imagination. “Raid!” the voice called out louder as it moved away.
The unicorn looked down from the ledge and saw a silhouette moving about the ground. She couldn’t identify the pony by his appearance, not from that distance, but his voice on the other hoof, was a completely different matter. She took a step away from the ledge, hoping that Rogue hadn’t seen her yet.
“Why don’t you just go away?” Raid hid in the shadows of the doorway.
There was a short silence and Raid started to retreat back inside. She wanted to avoid Rogue at just about any cost. After he broke her trust during Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s wedding, she could barely stand to be in the same room as him.
“Raid…” his voice whispered from behind her the moment that she turned to face the inside of the tower.
Raid flung around, hoof outstretched. Her hoof was caught by a bat wing though before it could make contact. She yanked her hoof back and tripped falling backwards into the room. Before she could hit the floor though, she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her.
“Careful.” Rogue whispered into Raid’s ear. “Please hear me out. I want to explain everything to you.”
“I don’t want…” Raid looked away for a few seconds before looking back at Rogue. “All right…”
“When I was a colt, my parents and I were wandering the Badlands, forced out of our home village. The other ponies in that village kicked my parents out for criminal activities, I was never told exactly what, but I knew that it had to have been awful. Instead of leaving me with my aunt like they were supposed to, they snuck me out with them.” Rogue took a breath as he paused; dredging up these memories hurt him more than he felt they should.
“We soon found ourselves on the brink of starvation. That’s when changelings attacked us, killing my parents in front of me. They took me into their hive and tried using me as a food source for their queen, that’s how I knew her name. I lived there for years, building connections with some, but not many. Most of the changelings only saw me as a problem, something to get in their way.”
Raid slowly nodded as Rogue spoke. She was starting to understand the truth behind what had happened.
“I ran away a year before I joined the guard. During the wedding, when Twister was attacked, I had been fighting off a changeling that she’d warned me about. When I turned around, she was unconscious. Three changelings were feeding on her emotions. I flew at them and knocked them away, but I was hit from behind right afterwards.” Rogue finished.
“I’m sorry… for everything.” Raid pulled herself closer to the bat pony.
“There’s one last thing that I need to tell you.” Rogue held her tightly.
“Yes?” Raid smiled her real smile for the first time in a very long time.
“I still love you.” Rogue kissed her forehead.
Before Raid had the chance to say anything back, Rogue spread his wings and flew away. He needed to talk with the unicorn guard, see if he could get them to do something about the sun. There were old stories about how the unicorns controlled day and night back before the founding of Equestria. Maybe together they could move the sun, keep an all-out panic from happening.
Raid just stood out on the ledge to the tower watching as he flew away. She had always known, deep down, that there was more to what had happened the day of the wedding. At this moment though, she was simply happy to be able to talk to Rogue again.
“Twister was it? Come over here.” Cocoon called to the pegasus pony as she re-entered the room with three doctors.
“Yeah?” Twister glided over to the changeling.
“What kind of spell do you think could have caused this princess’s injury?” he gestured to Celestia as the doctors rushed in.
“A fire spell?” she asked back.
“Not quite. Take a closer look.” Cocoon said back quietly.
Twister walked to the sun princess’s side and looked at the black mark on her coat. It almost looked like, “…paint?” Twister’s face contorted as she tried to process this fact.
“Precisely. Mental spells were used on both of them. They were forced into a sleep like state. To get them to wake up, we’ll need a dream walker, do you know of one?”
“Other than Princess Luna, no.” Twister thought, trying to come up with anypony, but she honestly didn’t know anypony who could do it. Dream walking was an exceptionally rare talent.
“Let me try something.” said a stallion who was wrapped in a black robe. The only detail of the pony that could be seen was his two bright green eyes.
“Who are you?” Twister spun around and glared at the pony.
“Does it really matter, I’m offering to help the princesses.” the stallion scoffed.
The stallion walked to Celestia’s side and a bright green light traveled from beneath his hood, touching the princess’s forehead. Celestia shifted slightly, reacting to his magical touch.
“Time to wake up princess, it’s only dream.” the stallion quietly whispered. “Come back to us.”
Celestia let out a tired sounding grunt. “Wha- what happened?” she asked.
“I was hoping that you could tell me.” the stallion turned away from the sun princess and faced her younger sister. “Now, I’ll wake her back up.”
The same green magic reached out from under the stallion’s hood and touched Luna’s forehead.
“All I am able to remember is Haze coming into the room and everything went dark.” Celestia explained.
“Of course.” the stallion rolled his eyes. “Luna, wake up.” he paused for a few seconds. “My, that is quite the nightmare you have there.”
“She’s having a nightmare?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, worse than the one that you were having.” the stallion commented.
“I don’t remember a nightmare.” Celestia replied, staring at the suspicious pony.
“I didn’t think that you’d want to remember it. Unlike what most dream walkers do, I am not trying to help you resolve internal conflicts, I am only trying to wake you up.”
The stallion began to realize that for Luna to wake up; he would have to interfere with her dream. He hated messing with other ponies’ dreams. They were supposed to be private unless the pony willingly spoke about them.
The stallion sighed. “Good night everypony. I’m going into her dream to see if I can pull her back.”