Lend Me Your World

by Superdale33

Chapter 3: The First Promise

Pinkie Pie had zipped out of detention as soon as it ended. Sunset couldn’t stop replaying it in her head. The way she shot off her seat, her colorful canvas fluttering behind her, and out the door without a glance back. Sunset figured she was avoiding her, that just proved it. Sora hadn’t brought it up. There was clearly a wish to discuss it - the sideways glances and the attempts at small talk. Sunset was glad that was all he did. Even as they stood before Twilight’s house, she considered turning right around to find Pinkie. It was only with Sora by her side, with that same curiosity of his, did she remain rooted to the spot.

“Why are we here?” he asked. He examined the house, lifting his head to get the full picture. Sunset was the same when she first arrived months ago. It was a mansion compared to her home. Stout with a classical feel to it, like something described in old poetry. Besides the tall lightning rods secured to the roof.

“We’re meeting Twilight Sparkle, a friend of mine,” Sunset replied. She rang the doorbell. A melody of chimes reverberated within. “She can find an anomaly in anything she sets her mind to. If she can’t give us something, no one can.” She checked her phone. “I texted her earlier to fill-”

“You have a Gummi Phone?”

Sunset ran a blank, staring ahead before facing Sora.

“Gummi Phone?”

“Yeah, what you’ve got in your hand,” Sora pointed out, brimming with excitement, though that wasn’t new. Sunset wondered how he found near everything so fascinating. She glanced to her phone again.

“This... is a smart phone,” she said flatly, holding it out. “Not a… what’s a Gummi Phone?”

“How is that not a Gummi Phone?” Sora asked back, scrutinizing her phone. “It looks just like it.”

“Never heard of it,” Sunset admitted, ringing the doorbell again.

Sora reached in his back pocket, but his face fell, frantically patting his pants before slouching, “I don’t have it in this form, or anything for that matter.”

Sunset gave a comforting smile, “You’re a ghost - or a phantom, I’m not sure now. Did you expect to have your stuff on you?”

“I did last time,” Sora said with a shrug. The idea of his death still rolled around in her head, unable to set in. At the very least, it kept her occupied. Which prompted her to ring the doorbell yet again. After the third listen, the melody grated on her, but she pressed it again.

Sora hummed along to the tune. An irritated look from Sunset silenced him with a grimace. Sunset checked her phone again. The last message sent by Twilight was her agreement to meet at her place. Sunset would have pounded on the door, to dissipate her building annoyance, but the sound of movement behind it stopped her.

It padded along with scratches on a hardwood floor, grumbling the whole way. There was a grunt and the handle twisted, jiggling the door open. Spike nudged his nose through the crack and peered out, far more annoyed than Sunset was.

“Could you be any louder?” he asked through a yawn, eyes half-lidded. “Mid-day naps are hard enough as it is.”

“Aw, a puppy,” Sora said, crouching down. It got a smirk out of Sunset, seeing him fall to the wiles of a cute dog so quickly. “What’s his name?”

“Hi, Spike,” she emphasized, getting a thumbs up from Sora. “Is Twilight here?”

“I lost sleep for this,” he said. He nodded to the side. “Check the shack. And don’t tell her I called it that.”

Sora stood back up as Spike pushed the door closed, muttering about parents.

“To the shack then?” he asked.

“Lab,” Sunset corrected, following the side of the house. “Twilight’s really particular about that.”

“A lab?” Sora repeated. “For computer-science things, right?”

“In layman's terms, yes,” Sunset replied. It was an odd way for him to describe it, but she let it slide.

The shack itself was in the backyard, near the fence. It was a quaint spot, and the structure was closer to a cabin than a shack. It matched the house in color and style. The door was ajar as Sunset approached, and with reluctance, gently swung it open.

“Twilight, you in here?” Sunset called, peeking inside. Her nose was met with the odor of singed hair. She twisted her face and scanned the room. Since it was Twilight’s own lab away from home, it was cluttered with large electronic consoles. Some were arranged against the wall, faces full of buttons and blinking lights, with one having a receptacle on the side like a washing machine. Sunset squinted. It actually was a washing machine, retrofitted with an antenna. The weak lighting made it hard to see past the door.

“Twilight!” Sunset called again. No response and no sign of her.

“She must have stepped out,” Sora said, looking over her shoulder. Sunset was inclined to agree, though Twilight would have sent a message. She was always on top of her schedules. Sora walked through the door and gazed around in wonder.

He honed in on the closest panel, ogling the small screen displaying a line graph.

“You can’t just walk in without permission,” Sunset said, opening the door further. The natural light still couldn’t reach very far.

“Not like I can break anything,” he replied with a chuckle. He hurried to a crate by the door with the giddiness of a child. “Whoa, check it out! They’re glowing!”

A dozen bottles illuminated the corner with a eerie pasty blue. Sunset didn’t want to know what they were, let alone where Twilight got them. Movement further inside caught her attention. A person slipped around a metal cylinder, large enough to encompass herself. Sunset entered the room carefully, eyeing the loose cords that snaked the concrete floor.

Sora sidled over to the cylinder, still enthralled in the technology. He stood on his tip toes and leaned side to side to see as much as he could. Sunset didn’t know how he could make out much at all, the blipping lights notwithstanding.

Sunset bumped into a side table, and a lamp rattled atop it. She fiddled with it until her fingers brushed across the knob. With a turn and click, the bulb lit up, and there next to the cylinder was Twilight. Her eyes were wide like a deer in the headlights, garbed in a white lab coat with a blue sweater underneath. Blue rubber gloves operated a set of wires, and she shifted the pen between her lips.

Sunset scoffed, but couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face, “Working in the dark? You aren’t hiding from me, are you?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak and the pen plummeted. Her attempts to catch it had her juggle it in the air before snagging it with both hands.

“N-no, of course not!” Twilight protested, genuinely upset. Sora broke away from the cylinder, curious. “I thought the lighting was fine, and I was engrossed in the project. Don’t take it the wrong way! You’re still important, I’m just… getting things ready. For your phantom, the one following you. That phantom.”

She cleared her throat awkwardly. Sora and Sunset spared each other a knowing glance. A minute in and Sora already had an idea of who Twilight was. Sunset was glad he picked up on that fast.

“You know I won’t take it the wrong way,” she said, leaning against the table. “No need to explain yourself.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, playing with her pen. “You caught me off guard is all.”

Sunset stepped closer, getting a better look at her. Besides the thick frame glasses she always wore, she had a pair of goggles strapped to her head, one with a lens and the other replaced with a magnifier. Her hair was tied into a bun, held up by a pen and pencil, and frazzled. Sunset had an idea where the odor came from.

“She fits the bill for a scientist,” Sora said, gesturing to her.

“She doesn’t always look like this,” Sunset replied. She sauntered to Twilight and threw an arm around her shoulders. Her glasses slipped down her nose and she pushed them back up. “Twilight, meet Sora, the phantom whose phantoms bugged me for a week.”

“Oh, that’s who you were talking to,” Twilight said. There was a short pause, in which she raised a brow, unsure of herself, before she lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Hello.”

“Tell her I say hi,” Sora said, a hand cupped over his mouth.

“He… says hi,” Sunset said. Playing telephone was the last thing she wanted to do, but Sora’s enthusiasm rubbed off on her. Twilight noted her reluctance and furrowed her brow. She slid out of Sunset’s grasp and into an office chair. Another glance to Sora’s spot made her purse her lips before thrusting her legs out to roll over to her computer.

Sora looked to Sunset for an explanation. She merely sighed, expecting that reaction from Twilight, “You don’t believe he’s real.”

Twilight winced, hovering her fingers over the keyboard.

“I didn’t say that,” she said, twirling around. Her expression was stern, but softened when Sunset frowned at her. “Everything I’ve ever learned is telling me that he doesn’t exist, scientifically or magically. Levitating a rock or talking to animals is one thing, but ghosts are a different matter altogether. But you can see him, Sunset. And I believe you.”

Sunset had contemplated how to convince Twilight on the way over. To have her open to the idea off the bat made Sunset want to tackle her into a hug, but settled with a broad smile. She could always count on her.

“So!” Twilight said, getting back to her computer. She typed more code into the program, her fingers a blur as letters raced across the screen. “That’s why I modified my capsule. It should scan anything we put in it and give us any kind of data it reads, even magic. Just need to make a few more adjustments…”

She leapt from her seat and onto the metal cylinder that was the capsule. Sunset was able to pick out a few more details. Several maroon beams wrapped around it in layers with the highest one connected to a colored display hanging over the slide-away door. Twilight opened a lid on its side and pulled out a motherboard, examining it closely.

“She mentioned levitating rocks,” Sora piped up, a hand to his chin, “and talking to animals? What did she mean by that?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Sunset said, brushing back her hair to fully show her necklace. “Me and my friends found these geodes a while back. They give us amazing, magical powers. Twilight can use hers to levitate-”

A screwdriver floated in a lavender aura. It passed by Sunset and Sora, the latter watching as his jaw slowly fell open. Twilight, her hand engulfed in the same aura, let it drop into her grasp, smiling triumphantly.

“That speaks for itself,” Sunset finished, trying not to laugh.

“Cool!” Sora said, pumping his fists. “What can you do?”

“Read a person’s memories and feelings,” she said with a shrug. “Not the flashiest power, but it comes in handy.”

“Can you read me?”

The remnants of his memories returned in force, enough for Sunset to flinch as though struck. They had negative feelings attached to them, and she had no desire to relive them. Whatever Sora had gone through before arriving to Canterlot High School must have been rough. Which made his anticipation hard to shoot down.

“Like I said before,” Sunset said a little too quickly, putting up a forced smile, “my powers don’t work on you as you are.”

Sora whined, but perked up near instantaneously, “Well, it’s something to look forward to when I get my body back.”

Sora was an unseeable to everyone but Sunset, behaving like a ghost, yet still found the upside to everything. She envied him, but his memories still stood out to her. They contrasted him so much, like they were someone else's, and she pondered whether she should keep them to herself.

“It’s so weird when you talk to him,” Twilight said, taking a step back. “That must have been what everyone thought of me before Spike could talk.”

“Before he could talk?” Sora asked. Sunset made a mental note to fill him in later.

“Anywho, I’m done!” Twilight shouted gleefully. She dove for her chair again and whizzed to the computer, reading the text on screen. Her eyes narrowed, humming. “Everything appears to be in order. It’s a little last minute, so we better be ready for anything.”

“Like what?” Sunset asked, already afraid of the answer.

“Oh, you know,” Twilight said with a dismissive wave before shrinking behind the back of her seat. “A power outage.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, glaring off to the side, “that’s what I keep telling my parents, but noooo, we have to think of the neighborhood. If the old lady next door tried powering an infused alloy converter, then I’d understand.”

“Twilight,” Sunset said, snapping her out of her rant. Twilight adjusted her glasses with a nervous chuckle.

“Right, digression,” she said standing to her feet. The chair wheeled away. “I got it.”

Sora stared at the capsule. There was a new sense of wonder to him, more reflective. Twilight slapped a button near the door and it slid open. Sora frowned, scanning the interior. Empty save for the grate on the ceiling. He hopped inside, grunting thoughtfully.

“I slept in one of these before,” he said. It was ludicrous to hear, but there wasn’t a hint of humor to his tone. Sunset studied his expression. It was distant and unsatisfied. He grew more mysterious by the minute. “Still not a hundred percent sure why.”

Sunset wasn’t sure what to make of that, but knew what Sora would want to hear. She put a hand on her hip, “We’re not going to put you to sleep if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He looked to her, surprised. A part of her worried she should have said something different, but he smiled. It was different, more genuine, more from the heart. Sunset wasn’t sure why she could tell, given she hardly knew him.

Twilight tapped her foot repeatedly and broke Sunset out of her thoughts. She wasn’t impatient - Twilight tended to rush if she was - but there was plenty of uncertainty brewing inside her. Eyes wandered the room for entertainment before landing on Sunset. Her tapping abruptly stopped.

“He’s inside,” Sunset said.

“Oh!” Twilight lit up, smiling awkwardly. “Good. I couldn’t tell and I would have asked, but I didn’t want to come off as, you know, rude, and I’ll just-”

She pressed the same button as before. The doors clamped shut with a resounding thud. A keypad flipped out and Twilight punched in a string of numbers before hitting the enter key. The machine buzzed, clicking in bursts as electricity arced across the bars.

“You’ll need this,” Twilight said, offering a set of lab goggles to Sunset. Her eyes fell to her clothes, and she blanched. “You forgot your lab coat?!”

“Good of you to notice before starting,” Sunset teased, tugging on the collar of her jacket. Twilight groaned as Sunset took the goggles and strapped them over her eyes. Twilight slipped off her glasses and slid her own goggles down, all the while the capsule intensified. Warbles and bursts of static filled the room. Twilight checked and rechecked several monitors. Sunset left her to oversee it, given she had no idea how anything operated.

A toaster ding resonated and all was still. Until the room went dark with a low purr. Sunset felt like the inky blankness strangled her, and she reached out to the desk behind her to hold herself up. A memory of her time as a she-demon bubbled up. A dark impetus that swallowed her up for power and control. She tightened her grip on the table to ground herself in reality. It was over, a year over in fact. There was no reason to dwell on it. Her panic dissipated enough to pick out Twilight shuffling around.

“My parents are going to ground me for life,” Twilight grumbled. “Scratch that. Have me apologize to everyone on the block first, then ground me!” There was a clang of metal, followed by clattering as though sifting through tools. “Don’t worry, there’s a failsafe in place. I know what to do!”

A soft click and light returned in the shape of a cone. It swept over Sunset before flicking to a large lever on the wall. So large that Sunset couldn’t have missed it before. Twilight reached out, and with some effort, brought it down. The lights clicked on, one by one, and the familiar hum of electricity returned. The capsule door flung open, to reveal a confused Sora, and the printer by the computer spewed out an endless stream of paper.

Twilight, glasses back on and goggles lifted to her forehead, tossed the flashlight back into a toolbox on the floor. The paper had already reached the ground by the time she took ahold of it, skimming through and tossing the paper up like she was handling rope. Sunset tore off her goggles as Sora joined her.

Twilight ripped off the last section and froze. With her back to them, Sunset couldn’t make out what was running through her head. Twilight played with the pen from earlier and set it in her mouth again. A sign of her own speculation.

“Did we get anything out of it?” Sunset asked cautiously. Twilight turned around and held out the paper where a single heart laid. It wasn’t artistic - a simple outline of a symbolic heart - but within its confines was her Cutie Mark in black and white. Sunset could recognize it anywhere.

“That…” Sunset started, searching for the right words before shaking her head, “is ridiculous.”

“No,” Twilight said, rolling the pen between her fingers. She took a deep breath. “It’s amazing! Exceptional even.”

“What?” Sora and Sunset said simultaneously.

“Don’t you see?” she said, shaking the paper. “It means there’s something there! Not a hallucination or a hologram, but a real person. Not in a plane of existence in which I nor anyone else can see him, but to some ability can be seen by you!”

“But what’s my Cutie Mark got to do with it?” Sunset asked. It felt like she was back to square one, back to seeing phantoms zoom by. No hard facts but simple observations. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

Both Twilight and Sora were baffled, looking back and forth between the paper and Sunset. A wave of irritation swept over her. They didn’t know about Cutie Marks and their connection to ponies. She pushed those harsh feelings away, far away.

“A Cutie Mark is a representation of a person and their abilities,” she said, maintaining a level voice. “That Cutie Mark inside the heart essentially represents me.”

“A heart and Cutie Mark,” Twilight said thoughtfully. Her energy diminished in favor of anguish. A revelation had occurred, and it ate at her. “A heart can represent love, compassion, care, but it also means life, existence, to be. That must be from Sora. And with your Cutie Mark there… do you have some connection to him?”

The geode. Sunset clutched it in her hands. The phantoms of Sora had disappeared when she grabbed it. And the real Sora took their place. It didn’t explain why or how she did it, but she did.

“I was the one to pull Sora to our world,” Sunset said, lifting up her geode to gaze into it. A familiar shimmer graced its surface, her engraved Cutie Mark gleamed in the light. Sora didn’t take his eyes off her geode, deep in thought until his lips edged into a smile.

“Thank you, Sunset,” he said. Sunset turned back to Twilight. She didn’t feel like she earned it. Worse, she knew she didn’t. Trying so hard to help her friends only to be foiled and nearly push Sora away. The feel of his clothing came to mind, remembering taking a hold of it. Never letting go until Sora was out of the portal.

Never letting go…

It clicked. Sunset took a hold of Twilight’s wrist and directing her to Sora. When she tried to speak, Sunset held up her hand. Twilight pursed her lips as though scolded. Conflict brimmed in her, but Sunset needed her to cooperate.

“Take your geode,” she said, giving a silent prayer, “and reach out to Sora.”

“But I can’t even see him.”

“Trust me,” Sunset said. It was a hunch, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She released Twilight, allowing her to grip her geode, thumb rubbing against the chain. Sunset gesturing to where Sora stood, who furrowed his brow but remaining silent. Twilight extended her hand. Sunset was sure it would work, so her faith plummeted when Twilight passed through as usual.

Sora sighed, “Sorry, Sunset.”

Sunset kicked a loose screw. It skidded across the floor, over the wires, and Sunset wished it would bounce back so she could kick it again.

“Why does nothing work?” she asked, planting her head in her hands. “We get this far but still don’t understand a thing.”

“Sunset-”

“There has to be a missing step. Something, anything.”

“Sunset, please-”

“Maybe we need to get back to the portal. Or-or have Sora touch our geodes instead?”

“It’s me!” Twilight yelled. The silence that followed was deafening. She bowed her head to make herself small. “It has to be me. I said I believed you that Sora was real, but it doesn’t really mean much if I still don’t believe it myself. I’m your friend, and I still needed proof!”

Sunset would have had her stop, apologize herself, but her throat tightened and refused to utter a word. She did it again, broke down in front of another friend. Tears threatened to break over in Twilight’s eyes, and she rubbed them away to hide it. This was what Twilight had concluded earlier, and Sunset hadn’t broached the subject. She was afraid to make it worse, paralyzed on the spot. Sora made to move, caught himself again, and gripped his hair like he would tear it out.

“This can’t be her fault,” he mumbled. “Why does everyone jump to that?”

Because it was how Sunset acted, because she keep putting all this unnecessary pressure on her friends, because she couldn’t accept that sometimes there were setbacks. Her head ran through these explanations. At some point, she had to accept things as they were. Speak up before another friend left.

“Twilight,” Sunset said. Despite herself, she smiled, sad as it was. Twilight was distraught, like back during the Friendship Games. Back to their mistakes and their reparations. “If I was in your position, I’d be skeptical too. No one’s forcing you to believe me.”

“What about Sora?” she asked, clenching her eyes shut. Sora had a sharp intake of air. “He’s stuck as he is, and I treat him like he doesn’t exist.”

“Now you’re just being harsh on yourself,” Sunset interjected. Sora nodded firmly. Twilight flipped her geode in her grip, and it reminded Sunset of herself. “Sora doesn’t hold it against you. He’s actually a really nice guy.”

“He sounds like one,” Twilight grunted. She sniffled and flipped her geode again. “Maybe there is more I can do. An experiment or two, with this data, could give-”

She opened her eyes and halted, blinking at Sora. Not through Sora, but at him, like he was there, standing before her. Sunset didn’t dare speak. She didn’t want to get her hopes up. Sora glanced behind him, equally apprehensive.

“Uh, Sunset,” Twilight asked, pointing to him. “Is that… Sora?”

“You can see him?” Sunset asked, breathless. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah!” Twilight said, laughing nervously. “He’s here. He’s been here, but now he’s here-here. A lot shorter than I expected. Well, not to be rude, but I imagined him as-”

“She can see me!” Sora cheered, rushing over with a laugh. Twilight took a step back, but didn’t retreat. Sunset practically flew over to her, wrapping her in a big hug. Sora held up a triumphant fist. “I knew we’d get something out of this.”

Sunset felt her heart soar, pulling away from Twilight to see Sora again with another genuine smile. They were really getting somewhere. She nearly embraced Twilight again at the thought, but there was pure confusion in her expression. No excitement nor joy. Sunset had seen it before, the look when she had a theory. Sunset quelled her excitement, at least enough to keep things rational. Her smile still persisted.

“So, I can see him,” Twilight stated. Sora nodded, crossing his arms. “Then, is he back? Like, fully back?”

Sunset immediately brushed his shoulder. No such luck. Sora shrugged, still riding out his jubilation. It made it hard for Sunset to be mad at all. It was progress, and there was little that could bring her down. Though, a thought did strike her. She pulled out her phone again, pulling up the camera.

“Let’s check if he can be seen by others,” she said, positioning Sora inside the frame. “The last time I took a picture of him, he didn’t register. I think it has to do with his condition. If he turns up, then we’ll know he’s visibly back.”

Sora chuckled, holding out both hands, “It even has a camera like a Gummi Phone!”

“Again with the Gummi Phone,” Sunset sighed. Twilight was simply puzzled. “Don’t ask.”

Taking the picture, Sunset pulled up the photo to find no Sora within. Her chest tightened ever so slightly. Getting Twilight to see Sora had elevated her expectations. She shook her head, and the other two deflated. Sora was the first to recover.

“At least Twilight can see me,” he said.

“But how did she?” Sunset asked. “What changed?”

Twilight opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again, “I saw him after fully believing he existed. It has to stem from that. My own belief. Maybe that was the problem the whole time. None of us really believed Sora was there. We trusted Sunset, but that was as far as it went.”

“And…” Sunset said, raising a brow, “he just appeared? Just like that? Seems like a coincidence to me.”

“Only one way to find out,” Sora said. He hopped over to her, hovering his hands around her phone in a way to present it to her. he topped it off with the biggest, goofiest grin Sunset had seen on him. Twilight giggled, and Sunset had to suppress a smirk, to little success. She would never know how he had so much zeal.

Still, she didn’t want to call up her friends right away. Pulling up their contacts left her anxious, uncertain. Twilight might have been a fluke, a lucky break, and getting the gang together could lead to nothing. Not to mention they had responsibilities after school, and the time read...

“Wow, it’s getting late,” Sunset said, holding her phone close. Detention had lasted an hour, coupled with getting to Twilight’s place and finding a way to get Sora back, and they were only minutes away from the evening. “I need to get back. Homework, dinner, you know the drill.”

It was only after saying that did she realize it sounded like an excuse. She cringed as Sora and Twilight had to let that sink in before nodding in agreement. She didn’t mean it as an excuse, but it did bring relief. Twilight eyed her a moment until Sunset gave her a funny look. She tried to play it off, leaning back on her heels with her hands held behind her. Subtlety wasn’t her style.

“Come on, Sora,” Sunset said, beckoning him. “You can crash at my place.” She thought about that line. “Do you even need sleep?”

“Don’t think so,” Sora said, hands behind his head. “I don’t need food or water, so I could probably stay up all night.”

“Let’s not test it,” Sunset said. Twilight edged closer, stealing glances to her. Sunset clenched her teeth to prevent herself from bringing it up. It had to do with her, and she wasn’t ready for that. The day was already arduous enough. She cleared those thoughts out and smiled. “Thanks again for your help, Twilight.”

“Yeah,” Sora said with a wave. “Good to meet you too. We’ve gotta hang out later.”

“A-Actually,” Twilight said, picking up her pen to turn it in her hands. “Could Sora stay for a few more minutes? I’d like to run one more test to check something. It’s nothing formal.”

“Oh, what kind?” he asked, lighthearted as always. Twilight hunched her shoulders, averting her gaze.

“Pft, you know,” she said with a forced smile. “The kind that require testing. A note here, an observation there, and a pinch of… well, stuff, and yeah! Heh.”

“Okay, sounds like it’ll be a breeze.”

Sunset didn’t peg Sora for the naive type. Twilight wanted him, certainly, but it was more to speak to him privately. The more that settled in Sunset, the more distant she became. Not angry or betrayed, just distant. It was a far cry from their small achievement.

“You sure it’s not to get some alone time?” she joked. It was hollow, forced even. It did amuse her to see Twilight blush, degrading into a blubbering mess. Sora flashed a grin. It reassured Sunset that things would turn out fine. That her friends had no malicious intent behind their meeting. It was something Sunset needed. Usually, Princess Twilight was the only one to give her that kind of encouragement.

---

“Is Sunset doing all right?” Twilight asked Sora. It was a question he wasn’t ready for. It wasn’t like he had anything to do after Sunset left. Twilight simply wrote on a notepad, studying so closely her glasses nearly touched his clothes.

He took his time to think on the answer, and Twilight gave it to him. A couple scribbles on her pad, and the occasional glance to him, was all she did.

“Is there a reason she wouldn’t?” he asked. She flicked her eyes to his. They were sharp, like he would expect from a scientist. He hadn’t met a lot in his travels, but her methods to get information were concise. It was a forwardness Sora didn’t expect from her.

“When did you meet her?” Twilight asked, shifting the notepad under her arm. Something told Sora this wasn’t part of the test.

“Uh, this morning,” he answered. She took a step closer to stand directly in front of him. “Is something wrong, Twilight?”

Her face scrunched up, fingers tightening over her pen. Then it all fell away. She spun around, and took hasty strides to her workbench, strewn with machinery parts.

“I’m not sure,” she replied, propping her arms on the workbench. “She seems, I dunno, tired. All the business with the phantoms bothered her enough, and now she has you around now. I think she’s…”

“Trying to do everything herself?” Sora finished, crossing his arms. Twilight pulled her head back, looking to him curiously. “My friend, Riku, was the same for a while. I lost him once and searched everywhere to find him.”

It reassured Sora to see Twilight face him comfortably, giving her undivided attention. There was a mixture of concern and interest, a silent request to continue.

Sora grunted, “Well, turned out he didn’t want to be found. He had to do everything on his own. I had to catch up with him and remind him he had friends around to rely on.”

Twilight brought her hands together. Her expression was unreadable, though Sora wasn’t good at that anyway. It tore him up to think Sunset was in turmoil and he was blind to it. Even Twilight had picked up on it, and social skills weren’t her forte. Sora remembered Sunset spew questions at him, and he didn’t have a single answer to them. He wanted her help to return to his old self, make things right, but he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know Sunset at all.

“Riku does sound like Sunset,” Twilight piped up. Her hands rubbed her arms for comfort, lost in her words. “Putting so much burden on themselves to make things right, and always forgetting they aren’t alone.” She swallowed. “Sora, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no, it’s okay,” he said, waving dismissively, “you’re just worried about Sunset.”

“Not just that, but denying your existence too. It’s already hard on her to help you out, and I wasn’t helping at all. She’s lucky to have you around, to keep her company.”

“I wish I could do more,” Sora said with a shake of his head. “Even today, Sunset had to handle everything, and she’s already doing a lot. Maybe I should give her some space, just to cut her some slack.”

“Sora,” Twilight said, saddened. There was a lengthy pause, in which Sora wasn’t sure what to expect from her. With a deep breath, she squared her shoulders, standing resolute with arms held rigidly at her sides. “I need you to make me a promise.”

Comments

[ObamnaSoda]

Kingdom Hearts? More like, Kingdom Farts. Thank you I’ll be here all week

[Superdale33]

9557130
Got 'em. Pack it up, folks.

[ObamnaSoda]

9557271
Absolutely roasted I know. I’ll take my award

[gpopeKH04]

"“Riku does sound like Sunset,” Twilight piped up..."
In more ways than you currently know, Twilight. "IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU CURRENTLY KNOW!!!!!!!😉

Also; YAY.... Twilight can see Sora!!!! Now we just need the remain EqG-mane 5 on that same boat.

[Regreme]

Another great chapter, as usual.:D

[Architect Ironturtle]

So we need a friendship cannon to bring him back, huh? Once everyone can see him, they bring out the gems, and boom! One new live boy.

[JRPG FAN]

Interesting, so they can see him if they belive in it and use their geods. Maybe all 7 could bring him back, though maybe not alone.

[Xavy T Drag]

A dark impetus that swallowed her up for power and control.

I see what you did there!

[JRPG FAN]

9562904
What did he do?

[Jakub the Reshiram]

Hmm I wonder if pinkie will be the first person to see sora other that twilight and sunset and if that happens well Sora’s in for a hell of a party.

[Xavy T Drag]

9564113
In KH3, there is a secret boss known as Dark Impetus.

[pinkiepierocks]

9566104
it's actually dark inferno

[Bronze Knight]

...Honestly, it's easy to explain Sora now that he can communicate and proved he can be in a different room. Just have the girls do something simple but secret in a different room, and then have Sora tell Sunset who tells them. Like have AJ and Rainbow plays a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors in a different room, and have Sora tell them who won and how. Boom, proof because how would Sunset know?

[Superdale33]

9566481
Or better yet, the age ol' game of holding a certain number of fingers behind your back!

[Dimension Tripper]

9566104
No it’s the unknown figure boss battle music in birth by sleep