The Girl That Never Was

by Onomonopia

Hick

The crowd wasn't as bad as Sombra had made it out to be. Upon entering the fair, Sombra had spied a stand with numerous masks and outfits on them. With his dark powers he snatched up one of the masks and told Xion to wear it, which she did so without hesitation. Now that she had the face of a chicken, Xion found that aside from a few strange looks none of the ponies in the fair paid her so much as a second glance.

'And once again my unfathomable brilliance has saved us from future danger. Truly my genius is a gift from the gods,' Sombra bragged loudly, forcing Xion to clamp her hands around his horn to stifle his voice.

"Are you serious?"

'You're right, even the gods couldn't bestow such brilliance. Perhaps I myself am a god?'

"No, I mean you're talking out loud while we're surrounded by hundreds of ponies, none of who like you," Xion harshly whispered to Sombra, who let out a scoff but heeded her words and lowered his voice.

'Applejack should be close by. Unfortunately, you're most likely going to have to take off your mask in order to be recognized by her. Her friends have most likely told her about you, so perhaps we'll get lucky and she won't freak out at the sight of whatever she sees in your face.'

"Well, we'll just have to take that risk when we meet her," Xion stated.

The two walked through the fair, keeping their eyes out for any sign that the ponies might be catching onto them or that some of the security that they had seen had become interested in them. But surprisingly to the pair they weren't stopped once by any guards or any of the ponies, so with little incident they made their way to where Applejack was using Sombra's ability to track her.

They found the orange mare with the apple mark sitting on a bench, looking tired as she munched on a snack. As Xion approached Applejack turned her head to look at them, an eyebrow going up as she saw the mask Xion wore. Applejack then patted the seat next to her twice, inviting Xion to sit down with her. Xion looked down at Sombra, who told her to do as Applejack asked.

"So yer the mysterious dark being Xion, are ya?" Applejack asked as Xion sat down next to the orange pony. "Gotta admit, when ah heard you were coming ah didn't expect ya to show up wearing a chicken mask."

"Well, my normal face tends to scare ponies and incite riots, so I figured it was best that I kept my face covered up to keep things nice and calm," Xion replied.

"That's some smart thinking. Did ya come up with that idea or was it Sombra?" Applejack asked, smirking when Xion chose not to answer. "Yeah, I heard from Rarity that yer carrying the horn and consciousness of Sombra around with ya, and that ya were willing to fight with her to keep him safe. Ah take it I don't have to tell ya how dangerous or evil Sombra can be?"

"Believe me, he's more hot air than he is evil," Xion replied with a smirk, getting Sombra to seethe in her pocket. "But I didn't cross all of Equestria just to talk about what I've got in my pocket. If you've heard about me from your friends, then you know what I'm here for."

It was Applejack's turn to choose silence as her answer, but then she reached under her hat and pulled out a keychain a moment later. The keychain looked similar to the ones that all of the other Ambassadors had held, only that this one had an apple at the end of it. Applejack then cast a glance towards Xion, who nodded to show that indeed that was what she sought. Xion reached out for it, but before the girl could grab it AJ pulled it back.

"Applejack, if you've heard about me from your friends, then you know that I need those keychains so I can fight back against the swarm of Heartless that are invading your lands," Xion said to Applejack.

"Ah get that, but ya had to earn all the other ones, didn't ya?" Applejack asked with a smirk, getting Xion to narrow her eyes beneath her mask. "Don't you worry none, ah'm not going to ask ya to do some impossible task or anything like that. Something nice and easy. Just a small trial."

"And what kind of trial would that be?"

"Mah sister and her friends are somewhere at this fair playing hide and seek with me. But I'm too tuckered out from the constant battles with the Heartless to see straight, let alone chase three fillies with enough energy to power a city," Applejack said before she stifled a yawn with her hoof. "Ya find all three of them and bring them back to me, the keychain is yers."

"Alright, I guess I can do that. Sounds far easier than anything I've done since I've gotten here," Xion replied with a shrug. "Any hints as to where your sister and her friends will be hiding? And how will I even know its them when I find them? I've never met them before."

'Allow me to answer that,' Sombra cut in before Applejack could speak. 'As they are closely connected to the Ambassadors, I can faintly sense where they are hiding. I will also be able to identify them for you should you happen to find them.'

"Ah didn't know you could track our power," Applejack muttered through narrow eyes, before she took her cowboy hat off of her head and handed it to Xion. "Wear this and the girls should know that you're a friend of mine. That way they won't run away from ya screaming at the top of their lungs."

"Yeah, trying to avoid that honestly," Xion said as she placed the cowboy hat on top of her head. "A chicken mask and a cowboy hat. Bet I look amazing. Come on Sombra, let's go find those foals."

"Good luck, they can be hard to catch," Applejack warned the pair after Xion rose and walked towards the massive crowd of ponies.

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No. XIV
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'The nerve of that country bumpkin, thinking that she can make us do her chores while the fate of this world is on the line!' Sombra roared with fury from within Xion's coat pocket. 'We could be doing far more important things like trying to balance the light and the darkness or maybe beating our heads against a tree, but no. Here we are foalsitting.'

"I don't like it any more than you, but I'm going to need that keychain if I want to hope to stand a chance against the Maestro," Xion replied before looking up at the massive Ferris wheel that towered overhead. "So quiet your whining and help me. You said that you sensed one of them around here, right?"

'Yeah, and considering how much this ones energy feels like Applejack's I'm going to guess that it's her sister,' Sombra replied. 'Look out for a red bow and a red mane on a yellow filly. I think her name is Applebloom.'

"And you know all of this because...?"

'I keep careful track of my enemies and those close to them. You don't get to be a good evil villain by overlooking tiny details,' Sombra said with some pride in his voice.

"Okay, that's creepy...and I think I see who you were talking about," Xion muttered to herself as she spied a red bow sticking out from behind a cluster of barrels.

'Yep, I can feel the Rainbow energy faintly coming from her. That's one of them,' Sombra confirmed. 'So how do you want to do this? We just going to walk over and talk to her or do you want to grab that giant net I saw at a tent a few yards back. Because I know what I would pick.'

Choosing once again to ignore Sombra, which Xion noticed she was starting to do more and more, she slowly walked over to the barrels and peeked around behind them. Just as Sombra had said, a yellow filly with a red mane and ribbon was crouched down behind the barrels, glancing out from a gap in the barrels at the ponies that passed by.

"So you're Applebloom?" Xion asked. The moment she spoke the filly leapt into the air and spun around to face the masked being. Her eyes widened with fear for a moment, before she looked up and spied the cowboy hat that Xion wore.

"Awe, are ya kidding me?" Applebloom asked in an annoyed tone, getting Xion to raise an eyebrow underneath of her mask. "Applejack was supposed to come and find us, but instead she sends somepony else to come and do it? What's the point of taking yer sister and her friends out fer some fun if all ya do is sit around?!"

"Um, look, whatever issues you have with your sister you can work them out with her," Xion cut the foal off, not wanting to have to waste time listening to her complain. Applebloom sighed sadly before she started to head off towards where Applejack was sitting, leaving Xion to shake her head before she glanced down at her pocket. "Alright wayfinder, tell me where to go next."

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No. XIV
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The next location that Sombra lead the both of them to was the games part of the fair, where dozens of tents were set up and each of them held a different challenge within them for a chance to win a prize. Standing in front of one of those tents they found an orange mare with a purple mane, who was shooting at numerous things that moved by on a belt, yet was unable to hit any of them.

'Scootaloo. More or less Rainbow's sister,' Sombra informed Xion, who nodded before she walked over to the filly. 'Seems that she isn't playing the same game as her friends.'

When she got close enough to the filly, Scootaloo glanced up at Xion. For a brief second confusion crossed Scootaloo's face, then she laid eyes on the hat and a smirk spread across her lips. "So Applejack sent you to gather us all up, did she? I knew she was tired, but to think that she was trust a total stranger like you with the task..."

"Yeah, she sent me. And I'm in a bit of a rush, so if you wouldn't mind coming along nice and easily," Xion tried to say, but Scootaloo then held up a hand to silence the girl. Scootaloo then pointed her hoof to a giant, stuffed pony in an outfit.

"I'm not leaving this spot until I get that Wonderbolt," Scootaloo stated before she slammed a handful of gold coins onto the counter, getting the stallion behind the counter to shake his head with a sigh before he started up his game once more. Targets began to move across a belt and Scootaloo began to shoot at them once more, yet she missed every shot.

'With that filly's accuracy we're going to be here until the end of time,' Sombra said quietly, but just loud enough so that Scootaloo began to look around for whoever had insulted her.

"You have an idea?"

'Win it for her.'

Scootaloo let out a frustrated growl as the game came to an end, yet she had been unable to strike any of the targets. But this time when she placed more bits on the counter, Xion snatched the gun from her hooves and took aim. Scootaloo began to complain, but a look from Xion, even with the mask on, silenced any arguments. The stallion started the game once more with interest in his eyes, while Xion took aim at all of the targets moving.

Twenty total targets moved across the belt and twenty times Xion pulled the trigger, striking each target with a deadly precision. When the game came to an end and none of the targets were left standing, Xion placed the gun on the counter and pointed to the stuffed Wonderbolt that hung overhead.

"I'll be taking that."

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No. XIV
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'Sweetie Belle should be the final pony that we're looking for,' Sombra informed Xion as the three of them headed into the house of mirrors, where Sombra had felt the Rainbow power of Rarity radiating from. Xion cast a glance up at the wacky clown face whose mouth they would be entering into to get to the mirrors, smirking at how it was supposed to be terrifying.

"So what should I be on the lookout for?" Xion asked as she stepped into the hall of mirrors.

'Think of Rarity, but smaller and less annoying,' Sombra stated. 'Also I believe she has some pink in her mane, but that may have been dye. I don't know.'

As Sombra said this, Xion walked by her first mirror and came to a dead stop at what she saw. The reflection of her was her in her same clothes with the mask and hat still on, but something was different. Underneath the mask and hat she could make out red hair. Slowly, Xion reached up and removed her mask and hat, revealing to her a face that she recognized along with the blazing red hair that the girl had.

'Woah, Xion. You look different,' Sombra muttered as he gazed into the mirror as well, able to see what Xion was seeing.

"Yeah, that happens," Xion muttered as she kept on walking, each of the mirrors she passed by showing her the same red headed girl. Xion then turned a corner and walked down a new hallway of mirrors, only to find that instead of the red headed girl, this time a blonde girl with worried eyes and a white dress was now looking back at her. For a long time Xion gazed into her reflection, until Sombra broke the silence.

'Eh, I don't know. The red hair might have worked, but blonde definitely isn't your thing,' Sombra said with a cackle, one that broke Xion out of her thoughts. 'Xion, these are just mirrors, designed to mess with you and show you how you would look in different ways. Don't take any of these personally.'

Xion decided to listen to what Sombra had to say and continued moving on, not paying attention to what the mirrors showed her. That was until she came to a single mirror in a sea of the red headed and blonde reflections of herself. Inside the mirror was a boy with dirty blonde hair and a black cloak like hers.

'Okay, how does that one work?' Sombra asked, but instead of answering Xion walked closer and closer to the mirror, staring into it with longing eyes. She then raised her hand and gently pressed it against the glass, with the reflection doing the same. For a moment nothing happened, then the reflection smiled at Xion before the boy vanished and change to a perfect reflection of her.

Xion then slowly fell to her knees, hand still on the mirror while tears softly fell from her eyes. Sombra, having no tact or any idea how to be comforting, opted for silence instead of opening his mouth. For a long time Xion knelt there with tears streaming from her eyes, until a white hoof tapped her on the shoulder. Xion looked over her shoulder to see a white filly standing behind her with concern on her face.

"Um, excuse me miss. Are you lost?"

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No. XIV
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"Welp, that's all of them. Thanks for helping me out," Applejack said to Xion once all three of the foals were seated at the table with her. Applebloom didn't look happy, Scootaloo was holding onto the stuffed Wonderbolt happily and Sweetie Belle occasionally glanced over at Xion with worry. "So what did ya think, not too hard a trial, right? Certainly couldn't be harder than dealing with all of those Heartless?"

"Yeah, this wasn't that bad," Xion said in a deadpan voice, one that made Applejack chuckle nervously. Xion then took her hat off of her head and handed it to Applejack, who took it and placed it upon her head.

"And ah believe that ah owe ya this," Applejack continued on as she pulled out the keychain with the red apple on the end, which she then handed to Xion. Xion nodded in reply before she turned and started to walk away from the group, only to stop when she heard Applejack clear her through. "Ah know that yer probably going to go to Ponyville next to look for Twilight, but she won't be there."

"What do you mean?" Xion asked Applejack.

"See, with all of the attacks going on all of us have been traveling all over the land fighting back against the Heartless as best we can," Applejack revealed to Xion. "Heck, that's why we had the fair today, to try and brighten the mood of the ponies here. But Twilight's been working herself harder than all of us. Wherever an attack takes place, she's instantly there fighting back as hard as she can. She hasn't been home in weeks."

"So do you know where she is or is my journey here going to get even longer?" Xion asked in a dry tone, one that caught the apple pony off guard. Xion saw the face that Applejack made and Xion sighed. "Sorry, I'm just going through a lot right now. If you know were Twilight is, I'd appreciate it. She's the last one I need to find."

"Yeah, ah kind of figured that. Now ah don't know this for certain as it has been a day and a half since she last wrote to us, but last ah heard from her she was fighting in the city of Mareami, which is east from here. Maybe a days journey by train," Applejack told Xion, who nodded.

"Thanks. Anything else you can tell me about this city?"

"Um, it's had the most Heartless attacks, the most causalities until Twilight arrived and the Heartless seem to want to take it more than any other city. Not to mention the cloaked beings that have been rumored to be running around there," Applejack stated, getting Xion's eyes to widen with shock.

"Thanks. Let's hope I don't get lost getting there," Xion said with a smirk as she started to walk away.

"Oh don't worry sugar cube, there's no way you can miss it. It's along the beach!"

Author's Note:

Obtained: Red Delicious

Comments

[Mother3Forever]

Twi would make a terrifying Nobody...

[Fireeaters]

I think I sense the climax coming soon, what with Xion achieving the goal she set near the start of her journey. (I.E. getting to a beach)

[badninja]

Well we only have had a few of the Organization members show up. I get the feeling that many more will be showing up. Also loved the Roxas and what's her name cameos.

[Clockwork Unity]

I have a theory. Because Xion's appearance depends on her connections and how people view her, the closer her ties to the light the more like Kairi she seems. Some ponies might see Kairi, such as Pinkie, but others won't. I'm personally wondering if anyone might see Aqua at some point, Due to Roxas' connection to Ventus.

[KingJoltik]

Xion reached out for it, but before the girl could grab it Rarity pulled it back.

When did Rarity appear in this chapter?

[the other sans]

Xion reached out for it, but before the girl could grab it Rarity pulled it back
So quiet your whining and help me

1. Applejack.
2. Quit.

I wonder if Demyx is the cloaked being there... then again, I'm only thinking that because of the water.

[Warrior Kitten]

Xion reached out for it, but before the girl could grab it Rarity pulled it back

Damn it Rarity! We already dealt with you!

Wear this and the girls should know that you're a friend of mine

Uh, no they won't. They'll just think something bad happened to Applejack. Or that it's just a generic hat. It's not exactly unique.

but I'm going to need that keychain if I want to hope to stand a chance against the Maestro

Uh, no, you don't. The keychains do practically nothing. Not to mention Maestro probably put the keychains there in the first place!

Scootaloo then held up a hand to silence the girl

Please no EQG.

the most causalities 

Casualties. Unless you don't mean death, in which case use a different word.

[not-so-anonymous]

I have a request on a Heartless Xion and Sombra to run into, mainly to show how Light and Darkness don't always mean good and bad. Angel Star's. From the original Kingdom Hearts, these Heartless are born of 'holy' spells. I always thought it was a contradiction, beings of Darkness able to use powers the good guys use. Maybe when they run into Twilight or Celestia?