//------------------------------// // Episode 5: Working with Anger // Story: Kingdom Hearts: The Path of the Heart // by Tetsuya Kintame //------------------------------// With a slam of his fist on the arm of the Gummi Ships chair, Sora groaned from the pain he caused to himself. He felt far too frustrated to keep any of his anger in check. The outburst had actually made Riku raise an eyebrow from the display of his friend. He understood of course, he was just as frustrated as his best friend. “Two weeks, Riku… It’s been almost two weeks, and we still can’t find her. Where could she have been taken to…?” Sora finally said after a moment of silence. “I don’t know, but I just hope she’s staying safe,” Riku said. “We’ve visited ten worlds by now. We should have at least picked up some sort of trail by now,” Sora said, a hint of sadness in his tone. “Don’t give up, Sora. We’ll find Kairi, no matter what,” Donald said, trying to cheer his friend up. After Kairi had disappeared into darkness, Sora and Riku felt it best to go to King Mickey for advice. However, when they arrived they had found out that the king had already left, and had left a note behind saying something about a new threat approaching. When they had made to leave, Donald and Goofy had insisted on traveling with them. “Sora, I know you feel bad about what happened. I’m sure we would know if something had happened to Kairi by now,” Goofy added. “I know guys, but I can’t help but feel useless about this. We’ve taken care of any Heartless problems that came up with each world, but we still met dead ends trying to locate her. I just wish I knew for sure she was alright,” Sora said, placing his left hand over his heart. “Well, we’re not going to discover anything just sitting around. Maybe going to all these worlds wasn’t the approach we should have taken,” Riku spoke, adding his own thoughts. “What do you mean, Riku?” Donald asked. What Riku had just said also intrigued Sora and Goofy too. “True, we’ve been helping out where we’ve gone, but I’m starting to think that we’re going about this all wrong to search for Kairi,” Riku said, and continued before Sora could say anything. “What I’m saying is we’ve been blindly looking for her because we believe she’ll be in danger. We weren’t thinking clearly before, but I think if we calm down, we’ll think of a new approach to do this.” “What makes you so sure about this?” Sora asked. “Just a hunch, I guess. I know you’re worried about her, Sora, but she did handle herself pretty well when we saved that little girl in Traverse Town. If she had to, I’m sure Kairi can hold her own for a little while longer,” Riku replied. Sora looked like he wanted to argue the issue, but everything Riku said had a good point. Kairi was able to take care of herself on her own now. He had to have faith she could continue to do so. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, I’m just frustrated.” “You don’t have to be sorry Sora. We understand,” Donald said. “Yeah, we can’t blame ya for wantin’ to find Kairi,” Goofy stated. “I certainly can’t, I’ve been just as frustrated as you,” Riku added. After a moment, a slight smile grew on Sora’s face. “Thanks guys. Okay, so a new way to approach finding Kairi. Anyone have any ideas?” A long moment of silence passed as they tried to come up with an idea. Sora was calmer for it, but ultimately was drawing a blank. The same could be said for Donald and Riku, both not coming up with any ideas of their own. Goofy then broke the silence as he said, “Hey, why don’t we go talk to Yen Sid? I betcha he could give us a clue where to start. And if he doesn’t know anything, maybe Merlin could give us a hand.” “That’s not a bad idea actually. Even if Yen Sid and Merlin don’t know where Kairi is, they could probably point us in the right direction,” Riku said. “Sounds like a plan to me,” Donald added. “Okay, then let's go see Yen Sid,” Sora said as he grabbed the control for the Gummi Ship. “Kairi, we’ll come find you, and that’s a promise. Just hang on for a little while longer.” Sora spoke to himself as he flew the ship towards Twilight Town. Darkness was all around her as she came to her senses, and the feeling of her human body, as well as her clothes, came quickly to her mind as she descended into such darkness. Further and further she drifted down, unsure how far she had fallen. As more of her senses came to her, Kairi soon noticed the multi-colored stained glass pillar coming into her view. Six images of her newest friends were captured in circles in the upper portion the stained glass, as well as her oldest friends and three five pointed stars in three different colors were stained around the edges. In the center was her own likeness almost curled up with her knees bent, she was holding her Destiny’s Embrace Keyblade in her right hand, and Oath Keeper being held in her left. The background within the crescent part was an image of old home, of the flower gardens in Radiant Garden. Once her feet touched down on the glass, she looked at her surroundings, but only saw an endless void of darkness. How there was any light where she was, she didn’t know. She took a step forward, and away from the edge. “Where am I? What is this place?” she asked, as if expecting an answer from the darkness. And the response was almost chilling as an inaudible, yet somehow recognizable unseen voice answered her. “A princess, who’s lost her way, yet wishes to help those around her. You may not know why you are in such a peaceful world yet, but with time things will become much clearer.” “Who’s there?” she asked. She felt in the back of her mind a small twinge of fear, yet something inside told her this voice was friendly somehow. “Do not fear for things yet untold. You shall make sense of it soon enough. Now, step forward to the center so that your path may unfold before you.” Kairi wasn’t sure what to make of her situation, but she did as told since there were no other options open to her yet. Once she reached the center of the room, three pedestals erupted from the floor through shining lights. Above the pedestals, three items appear, and float lazily in place; A shield, a mages staff, and a sword. “Power sleeps in all sorts of forms, and you must be the one to give it form. Choose wisely.” Kairi took note of her options around her, wondering what the voice was talking about. In front of her floats the sword above its pedestal, and slowly she steps forth towards it. “I wonder what this is all about?” she wondered to herself. When her hand soon grasped the blade, the voice spoke again. “The power of the warrior. Insurmountable courage. The power to strike your foes down. Is this the power you seek?” Kairi reflected on the words spoken to her, but the description wasn’t what she had been thinking. It was something more than just defeating enemies to her, it was a weapon that could be used to protect. She nodded her head, and the sword flashed in her hand before disappearing. The sight had surprised her a little bit, before turning to the last two items. “Your path becomes a little clearer. Now, what will you sacrifice in return?” “Sacrifice? What does that mean?” she asked, hoping to receive an answer. For a moment, she was met with nothing but silence. How was she supposed to know what the voice meant? Looking at the shield and staff, she supposed it meant she needed to choose one of the two to give up. But for what purpose, she didn’t really know. Looking to each, she found herself walking to one of the pedestals, and grabbed the item from its lazy levitation. “The power of the guardian. A wall of defense. A shield to repel evil. Do you give up this power?” Kairi nodded slowly, and watched as the shield shattered to float up in to nothingness. The pedestals then sank back into the floor as Kairi’s choices had been made. She took a step back as this happened, hoping something bad wasn’t about to happen. For another long moment, nothing did. Looking around a little more, she found a narrow path of stained glass bursting into existence. It was leading to somewhere, and with nowhere else to go, she took a hesitant step onto the path laid out before her. She found it was solid, and wasn’t sinking under her weight. With that worry off of her chest, Kairi continued forward on the path. As she continued walking on the winding path, Kairi saw a new pillar coming into view. As she neared it, the color scheme of the stained glass was vastly different from the previous pillar. Instead of the multiple colors that matched her friends before, this one seemed to have three different shades of pink and butter yellow color to the glass. She wondered what would happen this time as she looked around while stepping towards the center. Behind her, the path of stained glass she had walked had vanished, leaving her stranded on the huge column. “You have gained much knowledge in defending yourself, but there is still more to learn that can’t be taught. Finding your own way will be the challenge that lies before you. Now, take up your weapon, and defend yourself.” This was the only warning Kairi got before she found herself surrounded by Heartless. With practiced ease, she brought out her Keyblade, Destiny’s Embrace, and readied herself for the fight. Like slipping on a pair of old shoes, she wielded her Keyblade with practiced ease, blocking one attack, and counterattacking with a series of combos against her enemies. Shadows were easy to predict and fight for her by now, easily dodging their attacks and striking back. Her fighting style almost looks like she is just dancing around the Heartless, and as the last of the Shadows were defeated, she breaths in a deep lungful air as her confidence returned full force. Her confident stature only lasted a few seconds though as darkness spread out underneath her feet, and is quickly pulled in. Her vision is blacked out in the darkness as she struggles to free herself from its confines. She felt like she was suffocating in the pitch black void, until she felt something against her back. Her eyes flew open as she found herself lying on another column, taking a few quick breaths to steady her beating heart. Once she sat up, she looks around to see the color scheme of the stained glass has changed again. The edges surrounding the pictures were a rainbow of colors while the central images were colored orange and gold. Kairi soon stood up, wondering what was going to happen next. As she walked to the center of this pillar, she heard that same inaudible voice. “The heart is strong, yet at the same time also weak. It can be easily influenced by the simplest things.” Around her, her friends suddenly appears wearing smiles on their faces. She was about to call out to them, but then she notices that their bodies looked different, almost as if they were ghosts. “When nurtured, the light can grow very strong. But the opposite is also true.” At these words, she saw darkness engulfing the ghosts of her friends. She wanted to do something, anything to stop what is happening, but she didn’t know what she could do. In the few seconds they were engulfed, solid Shadows were left in their places. “In order for the heart to be strong, you must nurture it with your own light.” A moment of hesitation from her gave one of the Heartless enough time to strike from behind, leaving a small flame of darkness. Shaking off her hesitation, she brought her Keyblade forth, and struck back at the Heartless, vanquishing it back to the darkness. Despite having seen these Shadows coming from images of her friends, she knew they weren’t really them. Something inside her told her to strike out, that everything was going to be okay. With this in mind, she continued to do battle against the Heartless until every single one of them is gone. Breathing heavily, she uses her cure spell to heal her injuries, and remove the flame that had sprouted on her back. She never liked that feeling. Even though it is a flame, all she could feel from it was a cold blank sensation every time. Once more she looks at her surroundings, and found a door on the other end of the pillar she stood on. “Along your path, many doors will appear. The obstacles that lay beyond are for you to overcome. Now step forth, and open the doorway in your path.” “Are you going to tell me what’s going on anytime soon? I feel like I’m being led astray here.” Kairi stated. She still felt a little disturbed at the display she just witnessed. Even though she was hesitant to continue forward, she found her feet guiding her towards the door. Inspecting the door for a moment, she reaches her hands out, and grasps the handles to pull on them. As the door opened, a bright shining light erupts past its frames, causing Kairi to squint just to look inside. The light from inside the door was quite the intriguing sight, and Kairi found herself walking into it. Long moments passed as Kairi walks forward, no real destination in mind. She soon finds herself on another pillar as the bright light quickly vanished. She notices something quite different about this pillars image. The color scheme had changed again; a white border surrounding the images which are colored three different shades of purple, with a touch pink here and there. However, instead of herself and her friends being portrayed, she sees instead Celestia and Luna in the center, and new faces glaring pretty evilly at the sisters. One of the faces disturbed her as its horns were mismatched, with tan fur on his face, white eyebrows lining eyes with yellow sclera and red irises, and one large tooth poking way too far from his lip. Another of the faces seemed fairly bug-like as it glared at Celestia, her green eyes sending a chill down Kairi’s spine. The horn on her head was fairly long, as well as looking jagged twisted too. The other face Kairi saw looked to be a unicorn pony. His fur looks fairly gray, and his mane is a deep black. His horn seemed to curve slightly upwards, turning red towards the tip, and the crown on his head completed his evil appearance. Just like before, translucent images of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared in front of her. This Luna looks older in appearance, standing almost as tall as Celestia, and her colors seemed much darker than the first time she saw her. Her mane and tail seemed to billow gently in some unknown breeze as well now, and looked like the night sky. “Like all inhabitants, many will appear very strong, and may give you a sense of safety. Some however will turn to darker intentions. You’ve seen the outcome when one is ruled by negative emotions.” A third image appears next to Luna, and one Kairi didn’t expect to see. Before her was Nightmare Moon in all her past glory, wearing a frown on her features. Before she knew it, the images and Celestia and Nightmare Moon faded away, leaving only Luna. But why was she the only image left? Doing a double take on Luna, Kairi realized she looked a little more solid now. Was this one actually going to turn into another Heartless? “Hark thee, Miss Kairi. How doth this night find thee?” Luna greeted. Kairi had to blink for a second, and closed her eyes to rub them. Opening them again, she realized this was the real Luna. “Princess Luna? How did you get here?” she asked, quite obviously confused about what was going on. “Thee is in a dreamlike state, tis more lucidly. We dost guard the dream world in by gone times, and We shalst continue to do so.” Luna responded. Kairi had to scratch her head a little, not really sure she caught what Luna had said. The princess notices this easily, and blushes a little. “Ahem, sorry, We are still adjusting to this modern time speaking. It has been quite a chore to learn.” “It’s okay, I’m just not used to that sort speech. I get that I’m sort of asleep, though a bit more lucidly. I think if I understood correctly, you said you guard the dreams of others as they sleep?” Kairi asked. “Verily,” Luna responded quickly. She quickly corrected herself as she said. “Truly, that is what We do. However, there are so many peaceful dreams tonight, We felt a little break was okay.” “That’s good to hear. I have been curious where I am though. Do you know what this place is?” Luna took stock of her surroundings, and finally the flooring on which she stood. A hint of unhappy recognition flashed across her face when she looked at two of the portrayed evils glaring at herself and Celestia, though it left her as quickly as it came. “A look around, We would assume you have performed a Dive to the Heart.” “Dive to the Heart? I think Master Yen Sid said something about that once, but I can’t recall what it was.” “Allow us to refresh thine memory then. It is world a within a dream, and the dreamer’s heart is reflected in the stained glass we stand upon. However, what happens here will have a real effect on thee in the waking world. And sometimes, the stained glass may even give foreboding meanings to thee. I see two recognizable faces here, though the third is a mystery to us. The structure we stand upon is also a representation of your heart.” “So you recognize them? But I don’t know who they are. Why are there faces of others I don’t know, but you know be here?” “Like I said, a Dive to the Heart can sometimes give a foreboding meaning. You might encounter them in the future, you might not. Only time can tell you for certain.” “Then, it’s probably a good idea that I know who they are.” “Normally we would agree, but it feels like we would be forcefully shoved from your dream if we were to do so. After all, this is your dive, We should not be playing an active part in it at all.” “Then, why are you here?” “Simply, We wished to let you know We are cheering you on from outside. You seemed quite troubled, so we believed you needed a little help to continue.” “Then, that wasn’t your voice I’ve been hearing this entire time.” “No, it wasn’t, but We have a fairly good idea whose it was. They are watching us even now, waiting for you to continue.” “But, there’s no-“ Before Kairi could finish her sentence, a new narrow path of stained glass began shining into existence behind Luna, and is leading further up in this world she found herself in. “Have no fear, Kairi, We are certain you will do well. No matter what you may face, be confident in your ability.” As Kairi moved past Luna, and looked up at the winding path, a nagging question came to her finally. She back at Luna, and asked, “How did you know it was me? I’m not a pony right now.” A few seconds passed, before a soft smile spread on the princess’s lips. “You look remarkably like your pony form. It was easy to tell who you are.” This answer caused Kairi to smile, and she watched as Luna fade away, possibly to continue viewing her dream. Knowing she had Luna’s support, she moved forward on the path set for her. As the pillar behind her vanished from sight, a new one appeared as she came closer. As soon as she stepped off the path, it too vanishes, but in a brilliant shine of light. This new pillar was just as different as the one before it, but it seemed to come with a darker theme. Several cloaked ponies, at least nine in total from her count, surrounded what looked like a keyhole, and six ponies she recognized as her friends. The cloaks the ponies wore resembled that of Organization XIII’s, and Kairi felt a deep foreboding as she too felt what this meant to her. From what she saw on the stained glass, it looked like her friends were bound by a spell, and looked like they were asleep. “Well…this can’t mean anything good…” she spoke to herself. She wondered briefly what this meant, but the disembodied voice returned. “Light can be very strong, but as it grows brighter, so does the shadow become deeper.” Kairi blinked, before turning to look at her shadow as it followed her movement perfectly. But then it lifted itself up from the floor, and slowly stood upright. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing; her own shadow had seemingly given itself a body, and stood at exactly at her height. She backed away from it when it seemed to form a weapon in its hand, resembling her Destiny’s Embrace Keyblade. Sensing a fight, she called forth her own Keyblade, and readied herself to counter her shadows movements. “But don’t be afraid…” The shadow made the first move, and lunged towards Kairi wickedly fast. She barely parried the attack away from her before striking at her own shadow. The yellow glow of its eyes was unnerving as the fight continued. Both Kairi’s struck at each other, only to be parried or blocked by the other, sometimes even dodging to avoid being hit. The two seemed evenly matched against each other, neither giving the other an inch. After one clash, both jumped back a distance away from each other, eyeing the other to determine a better plan of attack. ‘This has been an odd experience from the start. So, how do I beat this shadow? It’s obvious this thing is more than just a normal Heartless. It reacts almost perfectly to my own movements.’ Kairi thought to herself, still catching her breath. She didn’t know what exactly was going on, but it felt like this whole thing had been a test for her right from the start. If that was the case though, what was she being tested on? It made no sense to her why she needed to do any of this. And then she remembered some of the disembodied voice’s words. “You have learned much knowledge in defending yourself, but there is still more to learn that can’t be taught. Finding your own way will be the challenge that lies before you.” She realized now that this was indeed a test for her, and she realized something she didn’t expect to find in herself. She had felt doubt. Doubt that she could handle things on her own without her friends, Sora and Riku. Doubt that she was strong enough to do anything helpful for her newest friends. She smiles; it seemed so silly, holding such doubt when she had done so much already. She lowered her stance, feeling a little happy that she could hold doubt. Seeing this, her shadow moves in to strike, raising its shadow blade up to strike down Kairi. However, in one swift movement, Kairi strikes at the blade hard, and knocks the weapon from its grasp. It lands several feet away, and explodes into a shadowy burst. With a quick glance at its destroyed weapon, the Shadow Kairi returns its attention back to Kairi, but she’s not even attempting to strike it down. “I get it now. I won’t let my doubt hold me back,” she said softly, her Keyblade vanishing from sight. The moment is silent for a while, before the shadow melds back into floor, becoming Kairi’s shadow once more. Looking up, Kairi finds herself with a few thoughts, but she at least she knew one thing for sure. Whatever was coming her way, she was not going to back down from the fight. “Don’t be afraid.” She heard this, listening closely to the voice. “For you have the key to shape your path. Walk with confidence into your future.” Kairi closed her eyes as the area slowly became brighter. Kairi yawned as she woke from her slumber, the sensation of her pony body returning to her. She felt ironically well rested after the dream she had, and began stretching her limbs a little to help wake her up. As she woke, she noticed a small shift of the bed she rested on, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the sweet innocent smile of Sweetie Belle staring back at her. Kairi would have been shocked and surprised out of bed by this if this had been the first time the little filly had done this. This had been the fifth time now the young unicorn had waited for Kairi to wake up. “Good morning Kairi, did you sleep well?” she asked. With a gentle smile, Kairi raised her head up as she replied, “Yes Sweetie Belle, I did. You know you don’t have to wait for me to wake up. You can always shake me if I’m sleeping in too much.” “But I don’t want to be rude, and you don’t sleep in all that much in the first place.” “Heh, alright fair enough. Give me a second to wake up a little more,” Kairi replied, a gentle smile spreading across her lips. “Okay, I’ll go tell Rarity you’re up. Breakfast should be almost ready by now,” Sweetie Belle said. She hopped off the bed, and exited the room to let Kairi wake up. “She’s an adorable little kid, for sure. She probably wants to hear more about where I come from,” she said to herself. Slowly, she rose up from under her sheets, and gently down off the bed as well. The dream she had was still fresh in her mind, almost as if it was a real experience. Making her way out of the room, Kairi walked down the steps towards the first floor, and then made her way to the kitchen, another yawn escaping her as she entered. “Oh my, sounds like somepony’s still trying to wake up,” she heard. Looking to her left, she saw Rarity almost finished putting breakfast on to three separate plates. “Yeah, a little bit. I feel plenty rested though. A few more minutes, and I should be active,” she says as she takes her seat at the table. The aroma of food in the air certainly helped to keep her from slumping down on the table. Usually Kairi felt far more awake by now, her thoughts drifting back to her dream. As Rarity placed Kairi’s plate of eggs and toast in front of her, she too took notice of Kairi’s tired look. “My my, you look like you didn’t get enough sleep last night, despite you feeling rested.” “I feel like I ran a marathon in my dream last night. Doesn’t help that I fell asleep pretty late as well,” Kairi said as she picked up her fork with her hoof. She was still getting used to using utensils with her hooves, but the past couple of days had been good practice. “Oh, that’s right. You start your job today, don’t you?” Rarity asked as placed Sweetie Belle’s plate of pancakes in front of her. “Yeah, I felt so anxious last night that I could barely sleep. And when I did fall asleep, the dream I had was a little scary.” Kairi paused for a second to eat a bite of her eggs before continuing. “It was weird; I was in some sort of dark world on these massive pillars with stained glass jutting up from a dark abyss, and I was fighting a lot of Heartless there. I think I even fought with a shadow version of myself. Princess Luna even showed up there.” “Sounds like you had a trying experience in your sleep; like you were fighting whatever darkness you might have,” Rarity said. She gave Kairi’s dream a little more thought before joining them at the table. “You think Kairi might have darkness in her?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Sweetie, everypony has darkness inside of them. I highly doubt Kairi is exempt from this fact.” Kairi had been about to say something at first about not having darkness in her heart, but then she thought on the subject a little more as Sweetie Belle asked another question. “So, are you saying even I have darkness in me? But I’ve never thought of anything bad.” “Even if you haven’t, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. But where there is darkness, light is also there as well. You simply can’t have one without the other.” “Oh, well that makes me feel better. So what happens if someone is completely filled with light or darkness?” Rarity paused before she answered, and gave the question Sweetie asked some deeper thought. Kairi wasn’t quite sure how to answer it either. What would happen if the heart was completely encased in light or darkness? Rarity could tell Kairi didn’t have an answer either, and said, “I’m not quite sure what would happen. It certainly isn’t something I would want to try though. For all we know, removing either from your heart could probably have some terrible effect on your body. Now, enough talk about darkness. You both need to eat, especially you Kairi. I dare say, you might need the energy for today.” “Right, I’ve got a job to get to. But, how do know so much about darkness already?” Kairi asked, now a little curious about the knowledge Rarity knew. “It’s pretty much basic education ever since Equestria was founded. I think the reason is because how magic can be miss-used, but I believe Twilight would be able to answer your question more thoroughly. I only learned some basic stuff about darkness and light because I don’t have the talent for higher end spells. Twilight, being an advanced magic user, might know a little more since learning more spells comes with new territory. Princess Celestia might have even lectured her on the subject.” “I see, that makes some sense actually. I guess I can ask Twilight about this sometime later,” Kairi said as she began eating again. The topic was definitely provoking her to think a little deeper on the subject. She remembered what she had been told about how Namine was born as her Nobody. This begged her to ask a question about herself: Did her heart contain no darkness because she is a princess of heart, or is there a chance she really did have a little darkness as well? Perhaps the other princesses of heart also have some darkness as well, but were it because there was just so little of it in them that they could be considered to have hearts filled with light? Was that the reason they were used to open the keyhole in Hollow Bastion, now known as Radiant Garden, because they had mostly pure hearts? As she dwelled on her thoughts, Rarity saw a shift in Kairi’s expression, and decided to snap her out of it. “Kairi, are you alright?” Kairi looked up instantly, and blinked in confusion. “You were so deep in thought that it seemed to have been bothering you.” “O-oh, I’m fine. Just…some serious things I was thinking about,” she explained, hoping to avoid talking about it. Though, maybe she should talk about it anyway. She never told her friends more about herself yet. “Well, if you want, I wouldn’t mind listening to what’s on your mind.” “Yeah, whatever it is, we can probably help,” Sweetie Belle piped up. Smiling at them both, she laughed happily because of how sincere they were being. She then looked at the clock, and noticed how late it had gotten. “Maybe tonight, I’m going to be late at this rate,” she said, before wolfing down the rest of her breakfast. As soon as her plate was clean of food, Kairi took her plate to the sink to wash them. “Oh, don’t worry about washing them, Kairi. I’ll get to them when Sweetie and I are done,” Rarity said. Kairi nodded in her thanks, and went to lobby to get strap on her saddlebags. “Have a good day, Kairi,” she heard Sweetie Belle call out from the kitchen. “Thanks, see you girls this evening,” she says back, before leaving the Rarity’s boutique, and made her way towards Time Turner’s shop. Hopefully the stallion had dropped his prices over the weekend. Late in the afternoon It was through true restraint that Kairi didn’t just slam the door open and closed when she got back, her face scrunched in pure anger. With a short growl, she made her way to the couch, and slumped hard onto the cushions. Hearing the commotion, and witnessing Kairi’s seething anger, Rarity peeked in on the human turned pony. “Oh my, I’m guessing the first day was pretty bad.” “More than just bad, that pony is absolutely frustrating! It was a chore just getting him to back down from keeping the prices low! Every time I turned my back after put a new price tag up on something, he goes and replaces it with the old one! Not to mention changing all the inventory around on a whim! Said something about making sure dust didn’t pile too much! Well it wouldn’t pile up so much if you actually SOLD SOMETHING FOR ONCE!” Kairi screamed the last words towards the front of building, almost like she was trying to make him hear her. After ranting, she slumped back down on the couch, feeling a little better letting her anger out. “…Sorry about that.” “No no, it’s quite alright dear. I think I’d have had a meltdown long before now from what you said. It really doesn’t sound like a pleasant way to spend a day.” Rarity could sympathize with Kairi, some of her clients really did get on her nerves sometimes. She carefully stroked a hoof down Kairi’s head, hoping to ease some of her anger a little. To Kairi, it actually felt kind of good, though the hard hoof kept her from enjoying the feeling too much. Randomly, she thought about Sora doing the same with his hand, before blushing as she shook the thought away. “As much as it’s going to be a chore to do, I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t switch the price tags on me, and make sure he doesn’t switch everything around on me again.” Kairi said, sighing heavily. “Why not go find another job? Surely there must be something else. It’s obvious you don’t like working there.” Rarity wondered why Kairi would even consider continuing working at Time Turner’s shop. “Guess I’m just stubborn that way. In any case, I’ll make sure he doesn’t try to weasel out of this. I’m going to make sure that shop actually sells something, even if it costs me my sanity.” Rarity giggled as Kairi raised her hoof up into the air dramatically. “Well, I guess I should make something for us to eat then. I’m sure after such a trying day, you’d like something pleasant filling your belly.” With a nod from Kairi, the alabaster unicorn made her way to the kitchen to start dinner. Noon of Tuesday Kairi rubbed the temples of her head as she felt a headache approaching. Time Turner was up to his tricks again, having taken all the clocks in the store into the back to tune them, and only after she had managed to put the lower price tags down. She already expected him to put his original price tags back on them again. “He’s going to ruin my health if this keeps up….” she said to herself. She had opted to stay behind the counter while he had been collecting a number of clocks from the shelves, not so much to stay out of his way as it was to keep herself from arguing with him again. Now that he was in the room leading to the back of the store, she wandered about the store with more labeled price tags in her mouth just in case she needed to re-reprice the hoof made toys. Thankfully, it seemed he finally left things alone, not a one seemed to have been messed with. She sighed silently, heading back to the counter once again. “Finally, may be now I can draw some customers in.” The ringing of the store bell caught her attention a moment later, and she turned to face the customers who had come in, to find it was Snip and Snails. “Hey guys, you two been keeping out of trouble?” she asked. “Yeah, we’ve been on our best behavior,” Snails said happily. “We came by because we heard you started working here,” Snips piped up, looking around the store for a moment. “Good to hear you’ve been behaving. So, how can I help you today?” “Well, we wanted to see if maybe you could cut the prices down on some of the things in here for us. A few of the wooden toys in here look cool, but it’s way too expensive for us to afford,” Snips said. “Yeah, it’s like Mr. Turner doesn’t want to sell his stuff,” Snails added. “Don’t worry guys. I’ll be making sure the prices are kept low for Ponyville. Go ahead, and look around for anything you might like,” she responded with a smile. Almost as fast as they could move, the pair of colts dashed around the store to browse through what was still up on the shelves. Kairi watched them go, giggling a little at their enthusiasm. Maybe she could drum up some business by word of mouth through them if they bought something. At least that headache she felt was no longer threatening to spoil her day. A few minutes had barely passed by before the two colts with a toy they wanted. It looked like a rocket ship up close, smiling as she hoofed the amount of bits needed on the register. “That will be five bits please,” she said happily. When the two colts gave her the money, she placed the bits in the drawer, and pushed the register drawer closed. “Alright, all paid in full. You two have fun.” “Thanks Kairi,” Snails replied as he took the toy shakily in his magic. “Yeah, see ya later!” Snips exclaimed, and both colts left the shop without incident. Kairi watched them as they left, before pumping her foreleg. ‘Yes! First sale! Now when Mr. Turner brings those clocks back out, I’ll make sure to put the appropriate price tags on them. It’ll probably be the fifth time I done it, but it will be worth it if I can keep selling stock,’ she thought to herself. She was glad she had sold something, and hopefully the two colts would spread word about her working in Time Turner’s shop. If they did that, a few more ponies might actually show up as well. She then heard the door to the back room open, watching as Time Turner wheeled out the clocks he had taken back out in to the store proper in a wagon. He gave Kairi a glance, and noticed the smile she had before she frowned at him. “Somepony seems rather chipper. Anything happen while I was in the back?” he asked her while he put the clocks on the shelves. Deciding to follow him this time with the pre-written tag she had made, she walked behind him, insistently handing him one of the tags. Begrudgingly, he took them as she handed them to him, sighing in defeat. “Yes, I managed to sell one of the toys. I finally made my first sale here,” she said, her smile returning. “Oh, good job then. I guess congratulations are in order,” Turner said, placing another clock on the shelf. “I don’t suppose you want to continue to stay here-“ With a knowing smirk, Kairi interrupted him, “Nope, sorry Doctor. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me until closing time.” She heard him mutter something, deciding to ignore it for now. It was starting to aggravate her that he didn’t seem to want to sell any of his creations, despite having set up a store to do just that. “Okay, I don’t really understand why you keep changing to price tags, especially when you agreed you would let me price them to the best of knowledge. I studied Equestria’s monetary system all weekend just so I could be prepared for the job. Don’t you trust me to handle the bit pricing?” she asked. For a long moment it looked like Turner was getting angry, but his anger deflated long before he gave it voice. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Kairi. I guess when I opened this shop I never really took in to account just how I would feel if I ever sold anything. You understand, right? I don’t have to get into the touchy feely stuff?” Kairi blinked, having expected to start arguing with Time Turner again. She cleared her throat, before looking at him as she said, “Yeah, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Sorry for being so hard to work with. I just really want to make this work.” “I can hardly blame you for being so eager. I should be apologizing for going back on my word,” he said. He placed another clock on the shelf just as another pony entered the shop. Kairi looked back towards the door, then back at him. With a sigh, he held out his hoof. “You get to the register, I think I can figure out which tag goes with which clock.” Kairi nodded as she hoofed over the tags, before moving back behind the counter. The pony she saw that entered was one she hadn’t formally met yet. Her mint colored coat went well with her brilliant cyan mane and tail with a white streak, and her sunny yellow eyes looked around the shop to find anything interesting. Kairi saw her cutie mark is a lyre, soon beaming a smile at the pony. “Hi, and welcome to Time Turner’s Clockworks! I’m Kairi, how can I help you today?” she said to welcome the pony. The pony smiles back, and said, “I’m Lyra Heartstrings. I just moved to Ponyville, and I was wondering if you had an alarm clock I could buy. My last one got busted on the move here to Ponyville” “Hmm, I know we have clocks here, but I’m not sure about alarm clocks. Mr. Turner is putting clocks back on the shelves right now. I’m sure he can help you find what you’re looking for,” Kairi replied. Looking around, Lyra found the stallion in question, and said, “Cool, thanks for the help.” She then walks down the aisle towards Turner, and asked him her question. After a moment of Turner looking through the clocks he had in his wagon, he picked up one of the clock, and showed her how the alarm is set. Before Lyra could take the clock in her magic, which glows with a golden aura, Turner had placed one of the tags Kairi gave him on the clock. Lyra then brought it up to the counter, and placed it down on the surface gently. “You guys going through an inventory check or something?” “I guess you could say that,” Kairi said as she checked the tag. She mentally sighed in relief when she saw the tag really was one of hers. She quickly hooved the amount on the register, and said, “That’ll be twenty-five bits, please. Mr. Turner had actually taken the clocks in the back to make sure they were all in working order. He finished only a few minutes ago.” With her magic, Lyra levitated a sack of coins, and moved each bit onto the counter one at a time to count them out. “Sounds like I arrived in time then. There we go, twenty-five bits,” the mint unicorn said with a smile. Kairi had counted with her in her head, popping the register open to hoof the gold coins in before shutting it. “Alright, all paid. Thank you for your purchase. Please come again if you need another clock!” she said happily to her second customer of the day. “Thanks, I think I’ll tell my friend about this place. I’m sure she’d like a clock of her own,” Lyra replied as she smiles back. She then took the clock in her magic again, and made her way to the door. “Have a good day!” Kairi said just before the shut behind Lyra. She then looked over to Turner, who nodded to her with his own smile. She then walks up to him as he places another clock in one of the aisle shelves. “She was the second pony to buy something today. If this keeps up, we should probably expect more of Ponyville coming to buy something. Think you can keep up if demand starts rising?” “I’m sure I can, it is my special talent after all. Now, since you have some free time, mind helping me put these clocks back where they need to be?” he asked. “Sure, I don’t mind,” she said, and began helping him out. It was only a half an hour later she realized something as she placed the last clock on a shelf. “Ah jeeze, I shouldn’t have got mad yesterday or today.” “Why is that, if I might ask?” “I thought the reason why you kept putting the prices back to their absurd amount was because you really didn’t want to sell anything. Now I realize you were inspecting everything yesterday, and the original price tags were just to keep anypony from buying anything. Were you up all night cleaning the toys off?” Time Turner turned a sheepish smile to Kairi as he replied, “Well, yes I was. Wouldn’t do to sell dusty toys now would it? And yes, I was inspecting the clocks yesterday too. This was why I took them all into the back. I was making sure they worked properly before they could be sold.” “And here I thought you were just making excuses. I really should have realized that sooner.” “You couldn’t have known. I really didn’t make an effort to tell you what I was up to. I had spent my weekend looking at all the things I made with my hooves, and I was preparing myself to part with them. It’s why I everything was still covered in dust when you came in yesterday.” Turner scuffed hoof over the wooden floor, looking a little guilty for not explaining everything earlier. Kairi shook her head, feeling bad about not realizing what he was doing sooner. “It looks like if we’re going to be working together, we should at least attempt to communicate better. I was getting mad for no reason.” “I wouldn’t say that. I didn’t tell you what I was really doing. You have every right to be a little angry.” “It still isn’t a good excuse.” “A good point, I suppose. Well then, from now on I’ll let you know first hoof when I start doing something around the shop so we can avoid any future complications. That sound like a good idea?” Kairi looks at him as he held his hoof up to her, then smiles. “Okay, and I’ll come to you if I need to ask you any questions. And instead of the absurd price tags, how about you put up a little sign that says ‘Not for sale yet’ for anything in the future?” When he nodded, she placed her hoof against his, and they shook on the agreement. The rest of the hours passed without any more customers, but Kairi felt much happier now then she had been earlier. While it was fairly boring waiting for anypony that might come in, she passed the time with the Daring Do book Twilight let her borrow. She had started reading the book last night, and had found it quite the captivating read. She was so engrossed in the book, she didn’t even realize it was time for Time Turner to close the shop for the day. She said her farewell as stuffed the book into her saddlebags before she strapped them to her barrel, and soon made her way to Rarities boutique. Along the way, she saw several ponies about town breaking branches off of trees, and wondered what was going on. She soon saw Rainbow Dash flying above her, and called out, “Hey Rainbow! What’s going on?” Hearing somepony calling for her, she saw Kairi below, and zipped down to her. “Hey Kairi, we’ve got almost all of Ponyville preparing for a big storm. See, we in the weather team missed a small rainfall the other day, so we’re making up for it with a storm,” the rainbow maned pegasus explained. “Oh, that makes sense then. Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, wanting to be of some help. “Actually most of the work is already done. The storm will probably start pretty soon, so you might want to get to Rarities as quick as you can. I’d carry you there myself, but I’ve still got a few more clouds to move before I can head home myself.” “Alright then, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow after I get off work. You, Applejack, and I should start training together so we can be prepared for anything else that might pop up on us. I’ve also got to teach Applejack how to use magic with her Keyblade.” “Sounds like a plan! I’ll see ya tomorrow Kairi!” And with that, Rainbow Dash was off to continue her work. Watching her fly off, Kairi then made her way quickly to Rarities home. She didn’t want to be caught out in the middle of a storm. Luckily for her, it had only just begun to sprinkle as she stepped into the boutique. “Rarity, are you home?” she called out as she made sure to wipe her hooves first outside before stepping inside the building. If she knew Rarity as well as she did, the white unicorn would not like it if she tracked dirt anywhere. Instead of her friend’s voice, she met with another’s. “Rarity isn’t back yet, Kairi. She’s probably still helping out in town.” She recognized the voice as Sweetie Belle’s, and entering the living room, saw the little filly laying on the couch. “I hope she gets here soon. The rain is starting to come down now,” Kairi said, looking at the window. She saw the wind was beginning to pick up now, and rain was coming down more. The crack of thunder didn’t help the matter. “She’s probably going to be upset she got wet.” “She’ll be fine. A little water never hurt anypony,” Sweetie stated. “A good point. How about I try make something to eat until she gets here?” “Sure, can I help?” “Sorry kiddo, but Rarity has told me what happens when you try to make anything edible. Let’s see what I can do before we just settle on eating an apple.” Unfortunately for Kairi, she was probably just as bad as Sweetie Belle when she tried cooking. She wasn’t even sure how she burned toast, chalking it up to having hooves. Looking at the mess she had made, she decided it was probably better not to try any further, and retrieved a couple of apples from the fridge. “Wow, I think you’re as bad as I am,” Sweetie said, adding salt in the wound. “Yeah, I’d probably do better if I still had hands.” Kairi frowned at her attempts to cook, before looking out into her main area of the boutique. “She’s still not back yet. I hope Rarity found somewhere to stay for the night. It looks like this storm will last until morning.” “I hope so too.” Meanwhile at Golden Oaks Library. “What in tarnation?!” Applejack found herself trotting in Twilight’s home, only to find Rarity spreading a mud mask on Twilight’s face. Feeling a bit peeved at having wash her hooves, she said, “Now wait just a gol’darn minute. Ya make me wash the mud all over mah hooves, but it’s alright to have mud all over yer faces?” Rarity dismissed Applejack’s attitude, and replied, “Silly, this is called a mud mask. It’s to refresh and rejuvenate your complexion.” “We’re giving each other make overs! Eee!” Twilight exclaimed, having a hard time keeping her excitement contained. “We have to do it. It says so in the book.” The purple unicorn then levitated the slumber party book to Applejack for her to see. “Slumber 101, everything ya-“ The farm pony stopped in the middle of the sentence, a shocked look on her face. “Oh hey, would ya look at the time. Ah gotta skedaddle on home. Ah’m powerful late for,uh... for something. Good night!” She didn’t make it very far to the door before a lightning strike sounded outside. She zipped back over to her friends, a sheepish smile on her face. “Or maybe I’ll set here for a spell.” She knew one thing for certain. She was going to have a hard time getting along with Rarity if she was going to be staying the night. As the few hours passed, Kairi indulged Sweetie Belle with telling her more about where she came from, and the friends she met in her life. The little filly eagerly listened calmly to as much as Kairi told her. Soon though, it was time for the little filly to go to bed, but the lightning strike outside made Sweetie squeak in shock. Kairi hid a giggle, and said, “Maybe you’d like to sleep with me in my bed tonight. The lightning and thunder might keep you up if you’re all alone.” “Yes please,” Sweetie said, and followed Kairi to her bedroom. As they both settled down for the night, Sweetie looked over to Kairi and asked, “Do you miss your friends, Kairi?” She responded with a sad smile, and replied, “Yeah, of course I miss them. But I’ve got good friends here, and a sweet filly like you to keep me company.” She said, nuzzling the fillies head. “And you really believe they will come find you here?” she asked, giggling when she was nuzzled. “You bet, I’d be scared for whatever got in there way. Now, it’s time to sleep. Good night Sweetie Belle,” she said softly, laying her head on the pillow. “Good night Kairi. Sweet dreams.” “Sweet dreams.” Kairi watched Sweetie close her eyes first, and slowly drifting off to sleep. She glanced out the window, thinking of her friends, and of good times as she herself fell into her own dreamland.