> Kingdom of Friendship Part 2
>  by SkyFlare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Overlord
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The young colt stood in darkness.  A dark Overlord had come to his home a year before, killing both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.  The Overlord had requested that Luna help him, that she bring her eternal night to Equestria.  Upon her refusal, he killed her.
This was the life that the colt knew.  One of fear and death ruled by a tyrant who lived in a castle that he had stolen from the benevolent Princess that had lived before him.  The colt was hiding in a small, run-down house with his uncle and a couple of ponies who he had gotten to know very well over the past year.
“Inkwell, there isn’t much time.” stated the only mare in the room, a bat pony.  Her voice was raspy as if she was choking on some dust.  It may have been nice at one point but it had been that raspy voice ever since the colt met her in the collapsed mine.  Before that, her voice had been soft and her silver eyes had a brightness to them.
“I know Grey, but we still don’t have the coordinates.  One miscalculation and we could come out in the bucking sun.” Inkwell was the colt’s uncle.  He was a strong looking stallion, broad enough to look as if he’d worked on a farm his whole life, despite this deceptive appearance, his name was a more accurate way to tell what he did.  He started writing fictional stories when he was a little younger than his nephew.
“She’s just saying that we need to hurry, Ink.” the third pony, a frail looking stallion stated.  He was the voice of reason in the group, always keeping Inkwell and Grey Cloud in line.  His name was Leaf, he wouldn’t let onto the rest, but as far as anypony knew, he used to be a gardener before the world did that whole, “ending” thing.
“I know, sorry Grey.” Inkwell stated, turning to face the boarded up window beside him.  He peaked through the cracks and saw a pony that was as big as he was walking the streets.  The pony was solid black with no mane or tail, its eyes were a solid glowing purple.  The body was covered in cracks and each crack had a dark purple mist seeping out.  “They’re here.” he whispered.
“What?” Grey shouted between clenched teeth.  This reaction got a swift smack on the back of the head from Inkwell.
“Quiet.  We want to survive this, right?” Inkwell growled.
“We’re fine.  They can’t hear that well.” Leaf whispered.
The colt sat on the floor during this entire conversation, his muzzle buried between his hooves.  He didn’t fully understand the plan that his uncle and the others had come up with.  All he really knew was that they intended to leave Equestria.  The only place that he knew they could quickly go to was the Frozen North, seeing as they were currently residing in what remained of the city of Vanhoover.
“Come on short stuff,” Inkwell pushed the young colt toward a door in the back of the old house.  “I heard that when he first took over, the ponies in the fringe cities had time to build tunnels.  Escape routes for when he finally came for them.”
“If they were successful, the ponies here would still be alive.” Grey’s head dropped down and to the right, eyes closing slowly.
The colt tripped over his own hooves when he heard those words.  Terror filled his small heart and he couldn’t bring himself to take another step.
“Grey, shut it.” Inkwell’s neck snapped back to glare at the bat pony.  “Relax kid, plenty of ponies made it out of here. How else would the word about the tunnels get out.”
The colt knew that his uncle was lying.  Nopony made it out of Vanhoover.  The few ponies that still had air in their lungs were performing labor to aid the Overlord.  The tunnels existed before the Overlord had ever been heard of.  The colt did have a couple of years of schooling in before everything happened.
The three adult ponies and the one young colt entered a small door leading to a set of stairs.  They quickly made their way down the stairs and found themselves in a long, dark tunnel.  There were no light sources anymore, there were a few burned out oil lanterns, but they had been dropped, leaving tiny shards of shattered glass scattered about the dirt floor.  These shards were only visible thanks to a dim light emanating from Inkwell’s horn.  The light caught them in such a way that they shined a rainbow of colors across the tunnel.
“In the midst of such death and destruction, beauty can be found in the oddest of places.” the unicorn stallion stated, a small smile forming on lips that had nearly forgotten how.
“You can write about it some other time.” Grey stated.  “For now, we have to get to the Town Hall.”
“So that’s where it is.  You two had neglected to inform me of our destination.” Leaf half laughed.
“Well if you weren’t so quiet, you could have told us that we’d forgotten to tell you.” Grey shook her head, giving the earth pony a playful shove.
The sight made the colt smile.  He hadn’t seen anypony acting so playful, so carefree in a year.  He’d forgotten what a smile looked like on another pony’s face.  Through his countless sleepless nights, he’d only heard conflict between Grey and his uncle, but now they were supposed to be close.  The col began to wonder how they were going to go from the Town Hall to the Frozen North.
The four ponies nearly fell into a gallop, anxiously wanting to get to their destination.  Inkwell wanted nothing more than for his nephew and his oldest friends to make it to safety.  No matter how much he fought Grey Cloud, she was always his best friend and his first friend.  Leaf wanted to see a world without such suffering, like what theirs had been before.  Grey just wanted a happy life, which for her called for only one thing, as she always told her companions, that one thing however remained nameless even still.  The colt’s one wish was for his parents to come back to him, but his was the most farfetched of all of their dreams, but to a colt his age death is a strange concept.
“Stairs… stairs… stairs…” Grey paused her naming of every set of stairs that she saw.  “How exactly are we going to tell the stairs we’re looking for apart from the others?”
“They are at the end of the tunnel, it is physically impossible to miss them.  You’ll probably need some help finding them though, knowing you.” Inkwell laughed as he nudged the bat pony.
“Okay, just because you suck at drawing maps doesn’t mean I get lost easily.” Grey scrunched up her muzzle and stuck her tongue out at the stallion.
“I’m no cartographer, I’m a novelist.” Inkwell laughed back.
The colt could only assume that they were discussing one of their adventures during their youth.  Or as his father used to call them, their misadventures.  These ranged from waking an angry hydra to making a magical tornado.
“Looks like we’re there you two.” Leaf intruded in the ponies little pushing game.
“Oh!” Grey laughed as her legs caught the first stair.  “I didn’t notice.”
“Exactly.  Couldn’t even find the stairs at the end of the tunnel.” Inkwell messed up the mare’s mane with his hoof.
The group walked up the stairs, whispers between Grey and Inkwell could be faintly heard as they reached the main hall of the building.  Paintings were done along the walls, probably thanks to some elementary school art project.  In the middle of the room, there was a circle of stone that had been set upright to look like a doorway.
“Stand back.” all laughter had left Inkwell’s voice when he spoke those words.
Inkwell shot a small beam of his usual lime green magic at the circle, causing a portal to form inside of it.  He waved his companions toward it as he felt the ground shake.  It was not a natural shaking, nor was it caused by his magic.  It was the warriors of the Overlord.
“Go now!” Inkwell shouted, lifting his nephew from the ground with his levitation magic and tossing him through the portal.
“I’ll hold them off.  I won’t let them continue this rampage.” Leaf said calmly before charging outside, throwing all caution aside.  He knew that he would not be leaving alive, but he could buy them time enough to get through and close the portal.
“Come on!” Grey shouted, grabbing Inkwell’s black mane in her teeth.
“I can’t.  If I go through, the portal will close, I won’t be able to make it all the way through.” Inkwell shook his head and gave the mare a weak smile, the last expression he would ever wear.  “I love you.”
Without another word, Grey Cloud was thrust through the portal, leaving the stallion alone.  He could still hear the screams of Leaf as his body was being torn to ribbons by the warriors.  Inkwell wiped the tears from his eyes, trying his hardest to keep his smile, before turning to face the oncoming swarm of warriors.  To his surprise he saw a cloaked pony.
It was a mare, a mare that he was familiar with.  She spent her time working for the Overlord’s underling, King Sombra.  Her name was Midnight Vim.
“Thank you ever so much for showing me the way.  And in case you were wondering, I can follow them by imitating that last spell’s coordinates.” the mare laughed.  “Grey Cloud and Mist Valley are the ones who went over right?”
Vim stood in front of the pony, waiting for anything.  A verbal response, a scowl, simply turning away.  Nothing.  The arrogant stallion just stood in front of her with a sad smile.
“No last words?” she asked.  “Oh wait, what you said to Grey Cloud.  How poetic, and a writer like you just can’t change something like that, can you Inkwell?”
A tightness formed in the unicorn stallion’s chest, causing him to drop to the floor.  He struggled to do it, but he kept up his smile until the moment that he died, despite the pain of a heart attack.
Vim craned her neck in a manner as to pop it before casting a spell to reopen the portal.  “Blade, get your tail in here.” Vim called for her dragon.  “Go through, I want you to make sure that it’s safe.”
“Can do.” the dragon nodded, glancing down at the deceased novelist, almost as if to say, “I’m sorry.”  He knew that saying something like that would get him killed though, so he just thought it and hoped that it would be enough.

It was been years, probably at least ten years since that date.  Grey couldn’t bear to count the days though, it was too hard.  She thought back to Inkwell and what he said to her that day every single morning.  Always as she would lay her head on her pillow, “I love you too.”
She’d woken up to find herself in a bright cityscape.  Canterlot, pre-destruction.  The sun itself was enough to blind her.  The constant chatter of the ponies roaming the streets instantly drove her away.  All she had time to do was fly to the colt, Mist Valley, and tell him that Inkwell had died saving them.
She hadn’t seen Mist Valley since that day, but always read his books the day of their release.  It made her feel close to Inkwell, just like the old days.  That is, until the last book, Mist Valley’s Geography of the Everfree Forest.  The by line and the dedication crushed her heart.  By Princess Twilight Sparkle, in loving memory of Mist Valley, who died saving Equestria.
Grey Cloud had been standing at that mare’s coronation, watching with eager eyes as Twilight made her speech.  As she praised her friends for making her the pony that had earned the crown.  The bat pony had nopony to live for anymore and it had crossed her mind to end it all on more than one occasion.  The one thing that stopped her was Inkwell, who she could always hear in the back of her mind saying those three words.  She would live on for him.
The urge to meet the newly crowned Princess was overwhelming though.  She wanted to know about Mist Valley.  There was something else that needed to be asked though, the last few weeks before her coronation, Grey had no recollection of.  She had, in passing, brought this up with some of the ponies that she saw in the local Apple Cider Bar.  None of them seemed to recall anything that happened during those weeks.  If anypony knew what happened, it would be that alicorn.
It would take some time to travel across Equestria.  She lived just outside of Vanhoover, something else to make her feel close to Inkwell.  She would have to take a lot of consecutive train rides and a great many suspicious stares.  Bat ponies weren’t usually seen outside of their home territory and were usually associated with evil and bad luck.  That bad luck thing was something that Grey didn’t feel like she could argue against though, after all, her life was one train wreck after another.  Thank Celestia it wasn’t literal.
Grey lifted herself from her bed in the early part of the sunset.  It was about as early as she could stand to get up.  The pony walked out and grabbed a pair of saddlebags before trotting out her door.  The sun was still a bit too bright for her to see very well, but she had to make due, the ticket that she had purchased the night before was for this specific time.  Otherwise she would have just skipped it and not gone at all.
She found herself sitting in the back, right hoof side of the train, covered up with a blanket to avoid the stares that she got everywhere that she went.  It was almost as if, when a bat pony was not a guard for Princess Luna, then they were surely plotting the imminent demise of civilized society.  It wasn’t as if Grey hated Luna or anything ridiculous like that, Luna hadn’t been around while she was back in her home universe.  Furthermore, she also wanted to avoid being in public sight.  She was more reclusive than even most bat ponies.
“Hey mommy, what’s that?” asked a young filly.  Her mane was bright silver and her coat a light sky blue.  She had a cutie mark of a flute on her flank.
“That’s a bat pony, dear.  Come on, let’s sit up here.” the mare beside the filly stated.  The mare was mostly hidden by a seat, but Grey could see a brown coat and a blond mane.
“As per the norm…” Grey muttered as she felt the train take off from the Vanhoover station.
Grey was going to have to ride that train to a station directly below Cloudsdale and then to Canterlot.  The capital was a hub for all trains that were going anywhere.  The train that she first boarded was going to keep going east until it reached Fillydelphia.  She was going to have to wait for two hours for her next train to arrive after disembarking her first train, the second with the sole purpose of taking her to Ponyville.  The pony sighed, “This is going to be a long night.”

“Spike!” Twilight shouted.  “Spike!” she raised her voice slightly.
“Here!” Spike ran in, stumbling to a halt in front of the lavender colored alicorn.
“Where’s that book on flight that I bought yesterday?”  Twilight used her hoof to push her wings down.
“You were reading it in bed last night, weren’t you?” Spike asked, scratching a claw to his head.
“Yes!” Twilight shouted after a slight pause.
“That’s what I thought.” Spike blushed slightly.
“No, I got my wings down.  These things don’t feel natural; I can’t make them do anything.” Twilight grumbled.  “I picked it up this morning and set it down on the table, but it’s not there anymore.”
Spike laughed quietly to himself, “What all did you do today?  Maybe retracing your steps will help.”
“I got up and read the book a little more before setting it down here.” Twilight gestured a hoof toward the table.  “Applejack came over and told me that something was wrong with one of her trees, so I grabbed a bunch of books on botanology and dendrology.  Turns out some spell ended up causing the tree to become sentient.  The whole time that I was trying to fix it, the tree was lecturing me on why plants are better than ponies.”
“That just sounds weird.” Spike whispered, trying to imagine the kind of voice a tree would have.
“No, Pinkie Sense is weird; at least the tree had an explanation.  On the topic of Pinkie Sense, there was a Doozey today.”
“Again?”
“Yeah, although I still don’t quite understand what it was.  I just kind of nodded and agreed when Pinkie said whatever had happened was a Doozey.  After that I had a bite to eat and met up with Fluttershy.”
“Okay…” Spike stated.  His mind immediately shifted to Rarity and the thoughts of having a dinner date with her.
Twilight sighed.  “After that I came back here because it was starting to get late, but I needed to study great leaders in Equestrian history.  I spent the last three hours reading about distant kings that lived among their subjects and experienced day-to-day life with them.  Honestly, it sounded kind of how my life is right now.  The difference being that the ponies in his kingdom didn’t treat him any differently, which I would love.”
“It should be on the table if you haven’t bothered it then.” Spike stated.
“But it isn’t on the table!” Twilight shouted before freezing.  She inhaled deeply and brought her hoof to her chest.  As the pony exhaled, she slowly moved her hoof away from her.  Cadence’s stress exercise helped a lot.  “It wasn’t on the table.” Twilight said in a much calmer tone.
“I’ll look for, you should get some sleep.” Spike said as he started to walk around the library.  “You didn’t sleep well last night; I know that because of the fact that every ten minutes you had to shout about your wings.  If I had to give an advice on the wings, I’d say loosen up.  They seem to be like that when you’re stressed.”
Twilight nodded, silently thanking Spike before walking up the stairs of her home and going to bed.  She fell asleep quicker than usual and had a much better night due to her wings being under control.  When her mind tensed up, so did her wings.
Spike searched the library for an hour before finding the book that Twilight had been stressing over.  The book was sitting on a different table and the only reason that it took Spike an hour to find it was because it was on the other side of the library.  He’d made his way from one end to the other.  The dragon grabbed the book and held it in his claws as he ran up and put the book on Twilight’s nightstand.  All of this before retiring to his own bed.

Grey Cloud was the only pony that was on the Ponyville train at first, but a white unicorn quickly ran onto the train.  She carried with her a great deal of luggage and she wore an extravagant hat.  Her dark violet mane was finely combed and she had a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes.
“Sunglasses… I’m so stupid…” Grey mumbled, thinking about how they would make the sun a little less excruciating.
“A bat pony?  What are you doing out so late… early for your kind?” the pony asked in a very well-mannered voice.
“I have to go to Ponyville.  But I need to ask something.” Grey said nervously.  She hadn’t done a lot of talking to ponies who were sober enough to be conscious of their surroundings.  The pony herself never drank any cider, but she found that she could only bring herself to speak with ponies who were.
“Yes darling?” the mare said so casually that it brought a little ease to Grey’s mind.
“Is there any place in Ponyville that I could acquire… er, purchase some sunglasses.  The sun kind of hurts my eyes.”
“I would say so, after all, bat ponies are rarely seen out in the day.” the pony paused before digging through her bag with a blue magical aura.  “Here, have these.” the pony offered a pair of sunglasses.
“Th- thank you…” an act of generosity to a complete stranger.  It was something that Grey simply couldn’t wrap her head around.  Regardless, she slipped the glasses over her eyes and was finally able to see.
“My name is Rarity by the way.  It’s nice to meet you, um…” the mare stated, not knowing Grey’s name.
“Grey.  Grey Cloud.” Grey stated back; still in a state of awe at the kindness she had been shown.
Rarity turned around and started doing her own thing, sketching something out on a blue piece of paper.  She seemed completely drawn into what she was doing.
Grey sat there for a few moments, trying to grasp something in her mind.  She knew Rarity from somewhere, she’d seen her before.  The only question was where.  It hit Grey hard and suddenly, at the coronation.  Rarity and four other ponies were with Twilight Sparkle.  She spoke to them during her speech, she never said their names, but Grey definitely recognized Rarity.
The only thing left was how to go about it.  Was she going to simply ask if she knew Twilight Sparkle or would she have to get Rarity talking first?  She was used to only talking to ponies who’d drunken so much cider that they couldn’t even see straight.  This was a foreign concept to her considering it had been ten years since she’d spoken to a pony under circumstances like this.
“Yes I know her.” Rarity turned back.
Grey froze up.  Had she said her thoughts out loud?  “Yeah… um… I was just wondering… what’s she like?”
“Twilight is a dear friend of mine.  Her skill with magic is unmatched by anypony that I’ve ever met.  Did you know that she was beat an Ursa Minor?  Well, more like put it to sleep, but still.”
“N- no.” Grey thought about the Ursa Major that she’d encountered once.  The thought almost made her cry.  She and Inkwell had woken one once, but they managed to beat it, mostly due to a cliff and the maximum amount of weight that it could hold.  As the ground shattered beneath their hooves, she’d picked up Inkwell and they laughed together as they overcame another challenge.
“Oh yes.  She put it to sleep and sent it back into the Everfree Forest.  She’s quite the bookworm.  And she is a truly great friend.” Rarity smiled compassionately.
“I see.  I need to speak with her as soon as I can.” Grey stated, looking down at the floor.
“Well, I was going to go and see her tonight anyway, so how about you come with me.”
“That’d be… nice.  Thank you.” Grey said quietly, adding in a nod at the end.
“You aren’t used to talking to other ponies are you?” Rarity observed.
“No… not really.”
“We’ll be fixing that shortly.” Rarity smiled, moving back to sit next to Grey.
For the remainder of the ride, Rarity was working on getting Grey to get her whole thought out without pausing.  It took the whole trip, but by the end, Rarity felt like Grey had made some good progress.
	
> Chapter 2 - Fissure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight was awakened by a loud knocking at her front door.  It was shortly followed by a calmer knocking and the sound of voices.  Twilight recognized one of the voices as belonging to Rarity, as well as the second set of knocks.
The alicorn stumbled out of bed and to her window.  She saw that the clock tower read 7:04 PM.  She went to bed only two hours before, and it wasn’t even night yet.  She’d never been to bed so early, but the night before, she hadn’t gotten to sleep until after four in the morning.  As she made her way to the stairs, she heard the door open, probably thanks to Spike.
“Sorry, Twilight’s asleep right now.” Spike whispered.
“Oh, this is bad time?” Rarity asked.  “Grey, do you mind if we wait until the morning?”
Spike craned his head over and caught a glimpse at the bat pony standing behind Rarity.
“Now’s fine.” Twilight yawned as she got down to the first floor.  “What’s the matter?” her voice was groggy and her words were slightly slurred.
“I met this pony on the way back from the fashion show in Canterlot.  She said that she needed to speak to you and I picked something up for you in Canterlot.” Rarity explained, stepping aside to let Twilight see Grey.
“My name is Grey Cloud.” the bat pony stated, scraping her hoof at the ground.
Spike stepped back.  This was his first time meeting a bat pony who wasn’t wearing the armor of Luna’s Royal Guard.  He’d never spoken to one before, and he’d always heard that they were, on average, very hostile.
“Nice to meet you Grey Cloud.” Twilight paused to yawn again. “I’m Twilight.”
“I need to speak with you about that book that you wrote.  About Mist Valley.” Grey stated.
Rarity froze up at the mention of his name.  It was a sensitive topic around Twilight.  She didn’t know him well, but he had practically saved her life, and later gave his life in an attempt to save the world.  A sacrifice that turned out to be in vain.  “I’ll just give you the gift tomorrow.” Rarity smiled awkwardly before galloping away.
“I’ll just leave you two alone for a bit.” Spike said before running up the stairs.
“I’m not really in the mood to talk about him.  I’m sorry.” Twilight shook her head.
“I knew his family.  His real family.” Grey stated, catching Twilight’s attention.
“That’s not possible.” Twilight thought back to Celestia telling her about the sudden appearance of Valley.  How he came from the same place as Vim.
“His mother and father were killed.  The last thing that I saw before his uncle, Ink, threw me through the gate was a mare named Midnight Vim.  I can only assume that she killed him.” Grey stated, clearly affected by the statement.
Twilight nodded, taking mental notes of everything that Grey said.
“Inkwell, Leaf, Valley, and I were running from a pony who called himself the Overlord.  He came suddenly and without warning, bringing with him an army of warriors.  We never knew of an official name for them, but Inkwell always called them Fissure.  The cracks in their bodies made him think of fissures.  He made them wipe out whole cities, I don’t know of any other survivors.
” Grey explained, bringing up memories that brought her to tears.
“I’m sorry…” Twilight said quietly.  “You haven’t told me what happened to Leaf.”
“He went out to fight the Fissures, I don’t know the details, but he couldn’t have survived.  Fissures can’t be killed; I don’t even think that they feel pain.  I only hope that his death was quick.” Grey wiped her tears away with her wings.
“But did you really come to me just to talk about Mist Valley?  You seem to be focusing more on telling me about the other Equestria than asking about Mist Valley.” Twilight yawned, remembering how tired she was.
Grey’s face may have been blushed, judging by her expression, but due to her dark grey coat, it was hard to tell for sure.  “I was hoping that you might tell me about those few weeks before your coronation.  The day before is all that I can remember, and the same applies to everypony that I’ve spoken to about this matter.”
“I’m sorry, Grey Cloud, I really am, but I’m not allowed to discuss-” Twilight started.
“Stop saying that!” Grey cried.  “I don’t want ‘I’m sorry’s’ I want answers.  Mist Valley died during that week and I need to know why.”
“All I can say is King Sombra.  I shouldn’t even say that much, but I can’t leave you like this.” Twilight whispered.
“Sombra…” Grey’s expression looked like she seen a ghost.  “But how?  He was with Vim and the Overlord in the other Equestria?”
“As far as I can tell, Sombra took Vim back here with him.  It was the Sombra from this Equestria that had Vim doing his dirty work.  In the end, she gave her life to save me.”
“She sought redemption?  No wonder, considering the cities that she leveled after killing Princess Celestia as a filly.”
“She what?” Twilight shouted back, the shock waking her up.
“Yes, she killed Princess Celestia by Sombra’s request.  A few years later, when Nightmare Moon came back, Sombra tried to convince her to join him. He mentioned what happened to Celestia and Nightmare Moon went berserk.  She lost it and tried to kill him.  He knocked her out and tortured her for three years before killing her when she still refused to join him.”
“He had me for a short time, but I was rescued.  I thought that I was going to die the whole time though.  He starved me and held my friends as bargaining chips.  He killed one who had come to save me because I refused to attack him…” Twilight’s eyes refused to part from the floor as she spoke.
“Sounds like him.  But if they came here, than what’s to stop the Overlord?” Grey asked.
“I’ll go talk to Princess Celestia about it tomorrow and I want you to come with me.” Twilight covered her mouth as she yawned again.  “I really need some sleep though.  Do you have a place to stay?”
“Not really.” Grey shook her head.  “I’m nocturnal though… mostly.  I’ll just go for a bite and stretch my wings while you sleep.”
“I’ll see you in the morning then.  We’ll meet at the train station, at about ten.” Twilight nodded before stumbling up the stairs and collapsing onto her bed.
Grey turned around and stepped back into the early night.  The first thing that she did was take off vertically, flying straight for the moon.  She pulled the sunglasses off from over her eyes and looked down at the soft shades of the small town.  The night was her world, one of soft colors and quiet lives.  It had been this way for ten years now.  Ten years more than she wanted.
At full speed, she threw herself at the ground, pulling up at the last second and flying in the direction of the forest in the distance.  Time to put that little pony’s accuracy to the test, time to see if the forest was like she had written.  The bat pony flew into the forest at top speed, tearing branched off of trees using only her forward momentum.  She pulled up sharply as she was met with an overgrown timberwolf.
As she flew away from it, she heard it yelp out like a dog that’d just been beaten.  She stopped in midair and turned to look back at it, her curiosity piqued.  Broken shards of wood covered the ground where the timberwolf had stood.  She watched for a few moments, waiting for it to rebuild itself, but that never happened.  Either it was too scared to let its attacker know that it was still alive, or it was dead.
Something that was capable of doing that to a timberwolf that towered over a pony was precisely that kind of thing that Grey wanted to find.  Anything to make her feel like herself again.
The pony flew close to the ground, looking for any animal that would be able to do something like that in such a short time.  She looked around, noting some poison joke that lined the forest floor around her.
“Come on out!  I’m waiting for you!” she called, taunting whatever it was.
She had the overwhelming feeling that she was being watched.  She was unable to see anything, but she knew that something could clearly see her.
Suddenly the mare began suffering from shortness of breath.  She couldn’t get any air into her lungs and it took her a few seconds to realize why, but when she did, she gathered up all of her strength and took to the sky.  Over the next few minutes, she was able to catch her breath, but her time to enjoy herself was gone.

A stallion walked down the streets of Canterlot, heading to speak with Princess Celestia.  He had news from his latest mission, news that the Princess would most likely find to be very interesting.  There were still a decent number of ponies roaming the streets, despite the incredibly late hour.  There was supposed to be a concert, courtesy of Sapphire Shores earlier that night.
The pony eventually reached the castle gate and greeted the guards as he always did, with a simple and silent nod.  They opened the gate and allowed his passage.  There were an exceptional number of guards on patrol that night, meaning that something had supposedly happened.  Nopony was speaking to the stallion, implying that whatever had happened was above his pay grade.
“Ah, you’re back.  What’s it been this time, three months?” asked a mare standing at the door to the throne room.
“Three months, two days, thirteen hours, twenty two minutes, and seven… eight… nine…” the stallion replied, keeping eye contact with the mare.
“Yeah, I get it.  Just get your tail in there, Haze.” she laughed at her partner.
It had been eight years since he’d come to Canterlot and the closest to anypony that he’d gotten was with his work partner, Shimmer.  She couldn’t describe their general relationship due to the fact that it varied every day.  One day, he seemed like he could stand her, and the next, he acted like he wanted her to just fall over dead.  He was a tough pony to get along with, but Shimmer was patient, she grew up in a “broken home” with no mother and a father who cared more about cider than about his own daughter.
“Whatever you say, Shim.” the stallion walked into the throne room, adjusting his shaded goggles as he did.
“Ah, Haze.” Celestia nodded to the dark stallion.  “What news do you bring?”
“That gate has been open for ten years.  Sombra, Vim, and Mist Valley weren’t the only ones to come out.” Haze stated.
“Do you know if that Sombra was originally from this Equestria or the other one?” Celestia asked.
“Here, but in the other world, he’d been there for ten years.  This is due to a lapse in time when traveling to that world from this one.  I can’t explain how it happens, but I know that it’s true.” Haze stated, his voice staying monotone.
“I see.” Celestia nodded again.  “You mentioned that more than just the three travelers we are aware of have come through.  Do you know the identities of the others?”
“There is a bat pony.  She has been somewhat of a recluse for the past decade.  I know that she spends much of her time in bars, yet she has never purchased a drink in all of her time here.” Haze explained.  
“Interesting.  Do you feel that she poses a threat?” Celestia asked, stepping down from her throne as Luna entered the room.
“She just passed through Canterlot at about noon where she took a train to Ponyville.  I believe that she intends to confront Twilight Sparkle about something.”
“As a precautionary measure, I’d like to have a couple of guards be alert in Ponyville.  If she’s been hiding for ten years, there can’t be a good reason.” Celestia stated.
A pair of guards that were posted by the door nodded before swiftly running off to get a group in Ponyville.
“What’s going on?” Luna asked, having entered the conversation near the end.
“Come with me and I will explain everything that I know.” Celestia wrapped a wing around her sister.  “You may go, Haze.”

Grey concealed herself in the branches of Twilight’s tree house, watching carefully for any sign of danger.  It was getting close to morning, so she’d covered her eyes back up with the sunglasses.  She wasn’t sure what was normal for a small town such as Ponyville, but things seemed calm enough.  That is, until four armored ponies entered her line of sight.  Two pegasus, and unicorn and a bat pony.  They wore the armor of the princesses.
They did a scan of the area, looking for something, or somepony.  Grey would have gone out to speak to them, but she wanted to make sure that Twilight would be safe as well.  Maybe the activity would draw it out, but then what?  She couldn’t kill the thing, that was impossible, but maybe she could get it away from them.
She could faintly hear them speaking, but they didn’t seem to be trying to hide their conversation.
“I don’t know.  All she said was to keep an eye out.” the unicorn stated, shaking her head.
“How in the hay are we supposed to do crap without knowing what in Tartarus we’re supposed to be doing?” the bat pony growled.  He was in no mood to hide his short temper.
“Shut it rookie.  If we wouldn’t know when we saw it, then she would have told us.” the stallion pegasus stated.
The mare pegasus turned and looked out into the distance.  “Why don’t we just cover the four corners and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”
“Or we could ask her.” the bat pony stated.
“What are you talking about Rogue?” the pegasus mare asked.
“Her, don’t you see ‘er, Twister?” the bat pony pointed a hoof at the tree.
“Get down from there and identify yourself!” shouted the pegasus stallion.
“Hush!” Grey shouted between clenched teeth.  “She is sleeping in there.” Grey slowly floated down to the guards, giving up on her plan.
“What were you doing up there?” the pegasus stallion growled, slightly quieter than before.
“My name is Grey Cloud and I was keeping an eye out for something that I have a feeling was going to be coming after her.” Grey stated.
“Why hide?”
“When you want to catch something that can’t be fought off guard, then you need to hide.  Otherwise it isn’t very off guard.” Grey turned her head suddenly at the sound of a breaking twig.
“C’mon Temp, she’s telling the truth.” Rogue stated, stepping between the two.
“It’s Tempest.  You will not abbreviate my name, and you will refer to me as sir.” the stallion half shouted.
Rogue pulled Grey aside and spoke with her privately.  “He’s got a real stick up ‘is rear.” the pony joked.
“I’m inclined to agree with his thoroughness, however inconvenient it may be.”  Grey maintained her blank expression.  “What’s the unicorn’s name?  I heard the rest of your names, but not hers.”
“She’s a funny one, her name’s Raid, or at least that’s what she goes by.” Rogue stated.  “What are you doing so far from where bat ponies usually live?  If you were a guard, it would make sense, but you aren’t.”
“I had some questions for the princess who lives here.  After we spoke she decided that we should speak with Princess Celestia.”
“You mentioned something about being watched.” Rogue asked, finally dropping his joking attitude.
“I was flying in the Everfree Forest and something destroyed a timberwolf in only a couple of seconds.  I think that it is probably after Twilight considering what happened before her coronation.”
“You’re not supposed to know about that.” Rogue pointed out.  “How do you know about that?”
“Twilight told me after I told her what I knew about the other Equestria that Vim had come from.” Grey answered.
“Okay, so… need any help protecting her until you can get to Canter-” Rogue stopped when Grey’s hoof flew toward his face.
“Quiet.  We’re being watched.  Get your friends and get the princess out of here.” Grey commanded as she spread her wings and lifted her body into the air.
She watched in silence as the four guards moved to Twilight’s door and knocked before letting themselves in.  Seconds later they were back at the door, surrounding Twilight in a manner that made it to where nothing could make a move at her.
“Just tell me what’s going on.” Twilight shouted, much more awake than she’d been before she’d gotten to go to sleep.
“Something is here and we have reason to believe that it intends to harm you.” Tempest stated in a very formal way.
“I can protect myself.” Twilight stopped walking.
There was a flash of light as a Keyblade appeared in front of her.  The Dawn Star, it was her personal favorite.
“It won’t work.  They can’t die.” Grey said calmly.
“I’ll seal the heart then.” Twilight referred to one of the newer Keyblade based spells that she’d learned.
“Locking the heart is a loophole to death.  That would be perfect… if they had hearts.” Grey shook her head.
“You’re talking about the Fissure, right?” Twilight asked.
“Yes.” Grey exhaled a deep breath.  “They used to be Heartless, but then the Overlord did something to them.”
A hissing sound started behind Twilight and she jumped, expecting a Heartless, but her eyes met with the glowing violet orbs of a stranger creature.  It looked like a Heartless as far as body form was concerned, but it had cracks everywhere.  It almost looked like a living statue, cracked by weather and time.
She swung her Keyblade at the creature, but it was stopped upon making contact.  There was a loud crashing sound as the Keyblade hit it, but the Fissure didn’t react at all.  It wasted no time hesitating before making a counterattack.  Twilight was quickly shoved aside as Tempest moved to protect her.  It was a terrifyingly brutal sight, seeing a pony’s heart ripped out like that.  These creatures didn’t hesitate to kill, that’s how they were programed to act.  The Overlord took the Heartless and he cast a spell on their minds, changing them from creatures who stole hearts by instinct, to creatures who stole hearts for pleasure.
A loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance as the Fissure loomed over the crimson pool in the grass.  It looked up at Twilight and slowly cocked its head to the side and smiled through teeth that dripped with blood.  Twilight had to hold back a scream.  She thought that Sombra was bad, she thought that there was nothing worse than what he had been doing, but this thing didn’t hesitate; it didn’t show remorse.  It simply killed.
“Run!” Grey shouted, shoving the alicorn forward.
A bright flash of light accompanied by a loud blast of thunder shattered the alicorn’s willingness to resist.  It was enough to snap her out of the awe that the death had put her in.  She watched as the bat pony kicked the monster in the face, but to no avail.
Through the smile, a voice spoke, transmitted through a high level spell.  “Twilight Sparkle.” it said calmly.  “I know the folly of my pupil, Sombra.  He thought that you could be changed, but I know that isn’t an option.” the Fissure stood there as the voice spoke through it.  The unchanging expression was unsettling.  “I won’t be making the same mistake that he did, I will kill you.  There will be no safety from me.  I will find you and your friends and I will kill every last one of you.”
“No!  I won’t let you hurt my friends!” Twilight cried back.
“You’ll be powerless to stop me.  As for you Grey, I have something special in store for you.  After the surprise, I will also be extinguishing your light as well.”
“That’s fine by me.  Assuming I am allowed to take you to Tartarus with me.  You took away every reason for me to live.  I only wish that you could suffer as I have, but you can’t feel heartbreak because you can’t feel love.”  Grey stared at the creature.
The Fissure closed its mouth and moved its head to a more natural position.  It stared back at Grey for a few seconds.  During that time, Twilight was able to teleport herself and the three remaining guards to safety.  This left the Fissure standing alone with only one living target, Grey.
The monster made the first move, pouncing at the mare, revealing its massive fangs.  She was able to move aside just in time.  She smirked at the Fissure, hoping that its master was watching.
“If you like surprises, you’re in for a big one.” she said, smiling like she used to, back when she and Inkwell were about to do something exceptionally stupid, even for them.

“Twilight!” Celestia shouted as the young alicorn mare appeared before her in a lilac flash of light.
Twilight panted for a few seconds, expecting to black out from a teleportation like that.  She’d gone from Ponyville to Canterlot in only a second carrying three ponies with her.  “We need to talk.” she said, her head bobbing slightly as she struggled to figure out which way was up and which was down.  “After I…” she fell to the floor and Celestia galloped to her side.
“Twilight!” she shouted once more before turning to the remaining three guards.  “What happened out there?  Where is your captain?  Where is Tempest?”
“Something… attacked us…” Twister stated.
“The pony that we were looking for was there, Princess.” Rogue stated, trying everything in his power to remain calm.  “She saved us.  I don’t know if she’s still alive, but she gave us time to get the young princess away.”
“What attacked you?” Celestia asked, although she found it to be an implied question.
“Princess Twilight and the mare, Grey Cloud, called it a Fissure.  It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  It jumped at Temp and it… it…” Rogue couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
“It tore him to shreds.” Raid whispered, shaking violently.  She didn’t know if it was fear or rage, but she hoped that she could avenge Tempest.
“I’m sorry Raid.” Celestia placed a hoof on the shoulder of the unicorn as she began to cry.
“H- he was a- all I h- h- had…” she stuttered out.
“I know.  I would understand if you need to take some time off.  He was your older brother after all.” Celestia tried to comfort the distraught mare, but her efforts were fruitless.
“I don’t want time off… I want this Overlord guy dead.” she lit her horn with her bright pink magic.
“Overlord?” Celestia asked.
	
> Chapter 3 - Bugs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight woke up to find herself in a dark room, resting on a bed.  She thought back to the last thing that she could remember.  Teleporting to Canterlot, seeing the princess and telling her something.  What did she tell her?
“Oh, you’re awake.” Princess Celestia stated as she saw the pony sit up.  “You said that we needed to talk.”
“Oh yeah…” Twilight turned to face the princess and tried to line up her thoughts into a somewhat orderly shape.  “A bat pony named Grey Cloud came to me last night.  She told me that she knew about Mist Valley’s real family.  I had to tell her a little about those few weeks.  After you wiped everypony’s memory, most were content, but she knew that something big had happened.”
“I trust your judgment in this matter.” Celestia stated plainly, allowing for Twilight to continue her story.
“She told me about where she and Mist Valley had come from.  That you and Luna were gone there and that a pony named the Overlord had taken over.  She told me that he was Sombra’s master, and that he took some of the Heartless under his control and made them into mindless killing machines called Fissure.” Twilight climbed out of her bed.  “I left her behind…”
“Her sacrifice was not in vain.  Her goal was to get you out of there from what I heard from Raid, who has taken charge of that squad of guards.” Celestia stated.  “I’ll let you rest for a while longer.”
“I don’t want to rest.” Twilight stated.  “I want to find a way to fight the Fissure.  Grey told me that they can’t be killed, but I’ve got to find a way to at least stop them.”
“Perhaps returning them to the other Equestria would work.” Celestia suggested.
“And if anypony there is still alive?  What then, just sacrifice them?” Twilight asked.
“When Mist Valley first started to speak after arriving in our world, he told me that he didn’t think that anything was left alive in that world.” Celestia’s words lined up with what Grey had said the night before.
“But what if they were wrong.  They couldn’t be sure that nopony was left alive; after all they were there at the end.  The likelihood that there would only be four ponies left is miniscule at best.” Twilight argued.
“What other choice do we have?  With the Elements of Harmony gone we don’t have a way to fight them.” Celestia glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes as cold as Sombra’s had been.
Twilight couldn’t respond to that, she just stood there, staring at the white alicorn as she walked away.  There seemed to be something that was being kept secret from her and she wanted to know what it was.  Even though she was a princess now, she still couldn’t be trusted with something that had a lot to do with her.  The Overlord said himself that he was coming for her, and if Celestia knew anything about it, then she’d have to come forward sometime.

“Where are we going?” Twister asked quietly, following her newly appointed leader, Raid.
“We’re going to bring that new princess’s friends to the castle; you heard what that thing said.  It will kill them.  It is our duty as guards to protect life and maintain order.” Raid stated, before stopping.  “Where is Rogue?” 
“He said something about the Badlands and he flew off.” Twister stated quietly.
“That darn foal.  He’s screwing us over with every move he makes.” Raid snipped.  
“I’m sure that he’s trying to help in his own way.  No matter how he acted, he respected your brother and he took his death pretty ha-” Twister stopped speaking when Raid’s hoof stomped the dirt.
“I don’t want to talk about him.  He’s dead and nothing will change that.  Can’t you just drop it?” Raid shouted grief fueling her anger.
“I’ll just go and find Princess Twilight’s friends…” Twister flew off, wanting to avoid Raid before she did something that would really set the unicorn off.  “Good luck Rogue, I’ll try and keep her away, but I don’t know how much time I can buy you.” she whispered, wishing that there was a way that the bat pony could hear her, but he was probably well into the Badlands by that time.

“Celestia… Dang it… Why the buck is there so much wind?” the bat pony shouted angrily as he fought a strong wind current that was carrying dust into his eyes.  “I’m not even close to the Badlands yet, how can there be so much of the bucking dust?”
The pony stopped flying and dropped to the ground as he noticed a pair of glowing blue orbs through the flying sand.  They were focused on him, never blinking and never breaking contact.  Above them was a dim green light of a unicorn horn.  As he drew nearer, the blue orbs vanished.  When he was finally close enough to make out the pony who was casting the wind spell, the wind stopped.
“You aren’t supposed to enter the Badlands without express permission.” the pony stated.
“Cut the crap.” Rogue grumbled.  “Take me to your leader.” He smirked every time that he was given the opportunity to say those words.  Every time that he had to meet with a business to discuss illegitimate activities, he would always approach the secretary and say those words.  From his experience, they worked like magic.
“It’s been a while, come with me.” the pony stated.
It had been a while, just like the pony had said, but in Rogue’s mind, it hadn’t been long enough.  He’d left that place four years ago and he’d been living happily in Equestria ever since.  Now he was back and he was going to be doing some wheeling and dealing to get some help.
The pony led him to a mountain that looked like it had been carved out.  It resembled a bee hive like structure.  He followed the pony inside and kept his eyes down, looking only at the hooves of his escort.  The last thing that he wanted to do was draw attention to himself, especially there.
“Wait here until you are addressed.  Maybe He’ll find you and save me the trouble of ripping you apart myself.” the pony stated before walking behind a curtain.
Rogue wanted to look up, to look and see if he was being watched, but he knew what the result of that action would be.  He was better off avoiding any eye contact until She came out to see him.  Avoiding eye contact with her was as dangerous as making eye contact with the other residents of the rat hole.
“Ash?” the voice of a mare asked.  The voice however sounded like it was layered, having multiple voices in one.  “Have you returned to us?”
“My name is Rogue now.” Rogue stated, looking up at a cloaked pony.  Her height was one to rival Princess Celestia.
“Why did you leave us?  After everything that we did for you?” she asked.
“My kind eats bugs, remember that.” he tried to stay calm, but one wrong move and he was dead.  “It was the best choice for everyone involved.”
“That sounded remotely like a threat at first.” the pony said back coldly.  “What reason have you for returning?”
“We need help.  Celestia won’t tell anypony the full story, but I know that somepony called the Overlord is coming.” Rogue explained as the cloaked figure loomed over him.
“No.  I will not lend my aid.  She is on her own, and so is Equestria.” the pony stated, showing no emotion.
“You won’t be safe.  If we fail, he’ll come for you next, whoever he is.” Rogue turned around and started to walk away.
“Wait!” she shouted and Rogue stopped.  “I’ll help, but only because I am protecting my hive.”
“Thanks.” Rogue nodded before turning back to face the figure.  “How many will you lend us?”
“As many as I can spare.  Celestia approved of you coming to us for help?” she asked.
“No.  She would never permit for me to even speak to you.  At this point though, I don’t think that it really matters.”
“How do I know that she won’t just have her guard kill them then?”
“I won’t let her.  If this is as bad as it seems to be, then we’re screwed without all of the help that we can get.  I’ll be stopping by the griffons as soon as I can and while on the way there, I’ll pick up some of the bat ponies that stay inside the villages.” Rogue told her his plan.
“My queen, do you wish for me to accompany him?” another voice spoke.
Rogue turned to have his eyes met with solid blue orbs.  They were in the head of a pony-like creature.  The body however, seemed almost like it had rotted away.  It was a changeling.
“Yes.  Take the form of a pegasus so that you will not attract any suspicion.  Just make one up, anything will due.” the cloaked pony answered.
“Thank you, Queen Chrysalis.” Rogue said before turning away from the cloaked pony and leaving with his new changeling escort.
The pony and the changeling slowly made their way out of the hive and spread their wings under the cover of night.  They didn’t speak until they passed Dodge Junction.  The town was qui with not but a couple of youthful ponies strolling the moonlit streets.  As they passed over a cherry orchard, Rogue took the first step toward breaking the silence.
“So, mind telling me your name?” he asked.
“Yes, I mind.” the changeling said plainly.
“I’m just trying to be polite, least you can do is give me the same respect.” Rogue spoke in his joking tone, he always did.  He had long since decided that being serious made him grumpy, but being like this made life a little more fun.
“Let’s get one thing straight, pony.  I don’t respect you.  I’m only doing this because my queen requested me to.” There was a slight bit of emphasis added to each letter “s” that he spoke.
“Fine.” Rogue made a face and spoke in a slightly higher pitched tone, trying to make a joke of the conversation.  “I find it kinda sad though, you don’t even feel secure enough to tell me your name.”
“Screw you.” the changeling growled.
“Nah, I’m good.” Rogue laughed.
“You are precisely the reason that I hate ponies.” the changeling said, loud enough to make sure that the bat pony would hear.
“Why, ‘cause I’m funnier than you?” Rogue knew that eventually the changeling would reveal his name, if for no other reason than to make him shut his mouth.
“No. Because you are all arrogant!” he raised his voice for the first time.

Twilight walked through the Canterlot Gardens, looking up into the night sky.  She thought about everything at once, unable to maintain a single clear thought.  There was just so much happening, all of it after she thought she was done with that kind of thing.  Right when she felt like the world could be safe for a few weeks, this kind of thing happened.
She had just given up the Elements of Harmony a few days before hoof.  She hadn’t even had time to figure out anything about the six keys for the box that was by the Harmony Tree.  There was so much to stress over, but she didn’t even have time to stress.  The only upside to any of it was that she didn’t have any Princess Duties yet, nothing that she had to do to keep Equestria in order, or at least nothing official.
Something moved behind the alicorn and she turned around, fearing the worst.  Those fears however, were quickly put to rest when her eyes met another pony’s.
“How are you feeling?” Luna asked.
“Not well.  I don’t know any way that we can fight these things.” Twilight shook her head.
“I understand.  They are a strong adversary, but everything has its weakness.” Luna smiled at Twilight.  “How well can you fly?”
“Not very.  I just can’t get my wings to do anything that I want them to.” Twilight complained.
“Don’t think of them as new.  Think of them as magic, something that you are very familiar with and have a great deal of control over.” Luna lectured.  “If it helps, you might even want to use your magic to move them at first.”  
“All right, I’ll try it.” Twilight’s horn lit up as she used levitation magic on her own wings.  She’d read a library’s worth of books on the mechanics of flight, but she’d never been able to master it using muscles that felt so foreign to her.  However, her magic came as naturally to her as breathing.  Back when she was in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she would stay up for days at a time.  Sometimes, she would forget how her own legs worked from exhaustion, but she was always able to use her magic.
She felt her hooves slowly slip away from the ground and she smiled.  It was working, she felt like she had more control over her flight than she did when she was carrying Spike back from Canterlot while the Everfree Forest was overgrown.
“Is it helping?” Luna asked as she flew upward.
“A lot actually.  Thanks Princess.” Twilight smiled over at the dark blue alicorn.
“Come with me.” Luna flew higher into the sky, up to a cloud.
Twilight nodded and flew closely behind Luna, landing by her side on the cloud.  She’d walked on clouds before, but both times she was using a spell that made it to where she didn’t really touch it. The cloud was softer than she’d imagined, especially considering it was only water vapor that had condensed.
The mare’s eyes slowly drifted upward as she made herself comfortable on the cloud.  The sky was closer than usual and there was no interference from light or clouds up there.  So many more stars were visible, brightening the night sky in an unmatched beauty.
“When you look at the night sky, what do you see?” Luna asked.
“Are you speaking metaphysically?” Twilight asked.
Luna sighed with a small smile before nodding.
“I see a dark sheet that’s been permeated by thousands of lights.  I see that even though something can be kind of scary, it can be even more beautiful.” Twilight answered.
“So you think that the night can be scary?” Luna inquired.
“Only because of what happened with Sombra.  For the first little bit, I couldn’t even bring myself to go outside at night.  I got over it though as you can tell.” Twilight explained.
“Before I became Nightmare Moon, I was angry that the ponies would sleep through my nights that I worked so hard to make.  During my banishment, even though it was through the eyes of Nightmare Moon, I was able to understand them.” Luna told the young pony.
“I kind of get it.  You were alone for so long that you were able to see the night that you were forced to live in for a thousand years as the ponies on the ground saw their nights.” Twilight replied.
“Precisely Twilight Sparkle.  Does this help you at all with your problem?”
Twilight thought for a moment, trying to draw the connections.  “I think so.  I need to see things as they are seen by others, right?”
“Yes.  You must understand where my sister is coming from before you pass judgment on her decision.” Luna smiled.
“Thank you…” Twilight said as she spread her wings and lifted herself from the cloud.
“One more thing though.  Congratulations on flying half of the way up here without your magic.”
Twilight craned her neck around and saw that her wings weren’t lit up in the aura of her magic.  In that moment, she stopped flapping her wings and fell just a bit before catching herself.  She was flying without the help of her magic.  All that she needed was for her wings to feel flight for her to truly begin to understand it.  Races with Rainbow Dash were out of the question still, but then again, if she ever got that good than she could become a Wonderbolt herself.
The pony lowered herself to the ground.  She watched as Luna glided off into the distance, off to do something important no doubt.  But Twilight was stuck there, not allowed to leave the castle grounds under the orders of Celestia.  The castle grounds had a library though, and there was a section that had previously been off limits to her but she was now allowed into.  Something there might help her learn about Celestia’s secret.  Luna’s advice was great, but to understand Celestia, Twilight would need to find out what the princess knew.
Twilight teleported to the gated entrance to the library, catching the guard on duty by surprise.  It was the same guard as it had always been since Twilight went to school in Canterlot.  He just smiled and opened the gate, letting her inside.  She rushed around the library, looking for anything that mentioned an Overlord or dimensional travel.

“It’s Cocoon!” the changeling shouted as the pair flew over Rambling Rock Ridge.
“Cocoon?  Like a chrysalis?” Rogue’s expression curved into a mischievous smile.
The changeling grunted in reply.
“Huh?  Couldn’t quite catch that, do you mind answering again?” the smile grew as he spoke.
“Yes!” Cocoon panted angrily as he shouted his reply.
“You’ve gotta admit, that’s pretty funny, right?” Rogue nudged Cocoon.
“I hate you.” Cocoon said quickly.
“I’d hate me too if I were you.  Ya know, ‘cause I’d be you, and me being you wouldn’t change how you felt about me.  Heh?” Rogue held back uncontrollable laughter.
Cocoon refused to even respond that time, hoping that he could avoid any further interaction that could be avoided.  Rogue backed off, giving the changeling some space, both physically and mentally.
Ponyville was nearby and the pair could make out the skyline in the early morning light.  In only a matter of minutes, Rogue would require shaded flight goggles to protect his sensitive eyes.  He could faintly make out a blur heading toward them fast.
“Rogue!” a mare’s voice shouted.  “Raid’s in Ponyville and she’s getting mad.  You might want to… to…” Twister paused.  “Who’s that?”
“This,” Rogue held a hoof up to the disguised changeling.  His current form was of an orange pegasus with a bright silver mane and tail, both of which were finely combed.  The cutie mark was of a lightning bolt.  “This is Cocoon.  He’s a stick in the mud.”
“You were gone all night to get a single pegasus?” Twister gasped.
“Actually, I have an army, but I need to take Mr. Stick in the Mud to meet with Princess Celestia to discuss a course of action.” Rogue explained.  “By the way, any sign of Grey, you know, the bat pony from last night?”
Twister shook her head as she flew with the bat pony and disguised changeling back to Ponyville.  “You are aware that you will only get to Canterlot if Raid lets you live, which there is only a slim chance of.”
“Darn.  About Grey that is.  Couldn’t care less what Raid does to me.” This was the most serious voice Rogue had used in years.
As they flew back, Twister informed Rogue that all of Twilight’s friends had been found without a single problem and that things seemed to be going smoothly.  Raid was going to be waiting at the train station with the five ponies and one dragon.  The Overlord supposedly didn’t know about their identities, but Celestia wanted them in Canterlot just to be safe.
The train station was just in front of the three ponies as they made their descent.  The ponies that they were protecting were already on board the train, but Raid was not.  She stood in wait, watching as they approached.
“If you don’t get your tail in line…” Raid took a deep breath, letting Rogue’s imagination take the rest.
“You’ll take me to dinner?” he laughed.  “I don’t like those fancy places; just some fast food place would be good for me.  It doesn’t even have to meet the standards for sanitation.”
“You’re his boss right?” Cocoon asked.  “Can you make him shut up?”
“Train.  Now.” Raid pointed to the farthest back car.
Rogue did as he was told, taking the car to himself.  The others went to the car in front of where the group that they were escorting was.  Cocoon explained to Raid his part, carefully avoiding any possible clue that he was a changeling.

Haze stood alone in his office, which is where he spent the vast majority of his time.  Even in the privacy of his own office, he never relaxed.  The cloak that he wore draped over his back was never removed.  His goggles never left his face.  He had so much to hide.
Haze walked behind his desk where he took a seat and he lifted a book with his yellow unicorn magic.  It was his private journal, dating back ten years.  His old one, he’d left behind.  There was no point to carry around incriminating evidence.
“All of the pieces are falling into place, one by one.  Grey, you may have averted me this time, but soon you’ll be joining the rest of your world.” he muttered to himself as he wrote.
“Spoke to Princess Celestia.  Sent four guards to kill Grey, but failed.  Bat pony is still on the loose and capable of ruining plans.  She must be exterminated at any cost.” he scribbled into the journal.

A dark shadow stumbled through the Everfree Forest dizzily.  Her strength was drained and she would be found soon.  She needed a way to hide her presence, but hiding from him was basically impossible.
“Darn it…” she whimpered weakly.  “Why can’t I just fly?”
Something shifted behind Grey and she flung her head around.  This caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.
“Come with me to my hut.  Let me tend to that cut.” rhymed a zebra who stood over Grey.  She pointed to a large gash in the bat pony’s wing.
	
> Chapter 4 - Clash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Thank you Zecora.” Grey glanced over her shoulder at her heavily bandaged wings.  “I have to go though; I have a bad feeling about Canterlot.”
“I’d stay off that wing if I was you, otherwise you might think that you have déjà vu.” the zebra stated.
Grey could only assume that the zebra meant that she’d have to make a return trip to the small hut if she tried to fly.  The bat pony nodded before turning back around and heading out the door.
The Everfree Forest seemed just as menacing as before, the problem was that now she didn’t have a quick way out.  No flying meant that if something attacked her, she’d be screwed.  Luckily there weren’t a terribly large number of attacks reported from the forest, but on the other hoof, there weren’t terribly many ponies that roamed them.
The pony quickly trotted down the marked path of the forest, making her way out as fast as she could.  She stumbled forward as a root caught her hoof.  Instead of taking it for what it was though, her mind immediately jumped to a possible worst case scenario.  She feared that it was a Fissure and she raised her front right hoof, spinning around quickly to make sure that nothing was attacking her.  Once she assured herself that she was alone, she placed her hoof back on the ground for a second before continuing.

Twilight’s eyes stopped on a phrase as she read it for the twelfth time in a row.  She had to be certain.  “The Overlord is gone.”  That was all that it said.  It was a journal that had nothing else written on any of the pages.  Three pages past the middle of the journal were those four words.  Something about the way the words were written seemed oddly familiar to her, like she’d seen something similar before.
The alicorn placed the book on her side, holding it in place with her wing.  She then galloped to the entrance of the library before looking back one last time.  Everything was in order, possibly in better order than it had been when she’d first entered.
“Did you find what you needed, Princess?” the guard at the entrance asked.
“Yes.  Do you know where Princess Celestia is?” Twilight asked, her words flying out at an almost indiscernible rate.
“No, I’m sorry.  Perhaps if you go speak with that one pony who I heard has been standing outside the throne room all day he could tell you.” the guard suggested.
Twilight nodded back before teleporting away.  She appeared outside the large double doors to the throne room, and saw a single pony leaning against the doors.  All she could see were his bright green eyes and a brown unicorn horn jutting out from his forehead.
“Um, excuse me?  Sir?” Twilight tried to get his attention.
The pony silently looked to the alicorn before bowing his head slightly.
“Oh… um…” Twilight wasn’t used to the whole bowing thing yet, it made her feel uncomfortable.  “Do you know where Princess Celestia is?”
“She should be in the dining hall.” the stallion’s voice was crisp but soft at the same time.  He felt familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite figure out why.
“Thank you.” Twilight nodded as she teleported once more, intending to see Celestia this time.
She peered through a window in the door, trying to see if the white alicorn was sitting at the table.  Twilight was somewhat glad to see that she was, the reason that she wasn’t overly excited was she still didn’t know how to go about her question.  There wasn’t time to waste though; she had to find out about the Overlord as soon as she could.
“Ah, Twilight, I was beginning to wonder where you were hiding.” Celestia smiled as she saw the alicorn walk into the room.
“I need to ask you something.” Twilight stated.
“All right then ask aw…” Celestia’s voice dropped off as her eyes fell upon the book that Twilight pulled from beneath her wing.  A book that Celestia had prayed that she would never see again.  “Where… where did you find that?”
“The library.  I was following some advice.  To understand your decision about banishing the Fissure, I’d need to look at it from your point of view.  I had to find out what you knew about the Overlord, even if you weren’t going to tell me.” Twilight explained, using her alicorn magic to set the journal on the dining table.
“This journal will do little to reveal what I know about the Overlord.” Celestia explained, taking another bite of food.
“I know, there are only four words.  ‘The Overlord is gone.’  That’s all it says.” Twilight replied, her face scrunching slightly.
“Those words don’t appear near the start of the book, do they?”
“No.  It’s been bothering me though, why aren’t they on the first page?” Twilight opened the book to the page containing the words.
“Those words were the last one’s written in the journal, true, but they are far from the first.  Use the spell that I taught you, the one that allowed for you to look into the past.”
Twilight thought for a second before recalling the spell.  She’d used it when Luna had her imprisoned to find a way out, and she used it to see what Sombra had done in the past, to see him killing the ponies.  Her horn flared as she cast the spell once more and the pages of the journal turned in a flurry.  She was now looking at the first page.
“She is learning quickly.” Celestia read off from her memory, not even glancing toward the book.  “Soon she will have the ability to do what her destiny has in store for her.  The younger sister is doing excellent as well, but she seems to become jealous too easily.  I will have to make sure to speak with her privately at a later date.”
Twilight heard what Celestia said and it registered, but she was unable to tear her eyes away from the name on the inside cover.  “Star Swirl” was written in a dark blue ink.
“This was…” Twilight started.  “Star Swirl the Bearded!”
“Yes, it was his journal.  It starts with the great unicorn teaching my sister and I how to use our powers.  I never fought the Overlord; I am just following in his hoofsteps.  That was how he was able to defeat the Overlord, and so that I how I intend to fight him.” Celestia explained.
Twilight sat there, dumbstruck.  She didn’t know what to think.  She’d hoped that finding this journal would help her understand, but now she felt more lost than ever.  Star Swirl the Bearded knew the Overlord and they’d fought.  That much Twilight was certain of now, but the question remained, how did they know each other?
“Read through his journal.  Perhaps you will find an alternative strategy, until then however, the plan will still be to send him away.” Celestia dismissed Twilight and returned to her meal.
Twilight slowly walked down the halls of the castle, unsure of anything.  As she walked, she skimmed through the journal.  She noticed that every page was limited to one entry and that every entry was fairly short.  There was nothing left to do but to read the book.  Before she knew it, the pony had left the castle and was out by a paved path.
The lavender alicorn planted her haunches on a bench that was in the shade of a tree.  She flipped the book back to the first page and stared at the name for a few minutes.  “Star Swirl… what do you have to teach me?” the pony muttered under her breath.

“Bored!” shouted a stallion as he paced angrily.  “Raid!  You can’t just hold a grudge!”
Raid shook her head and leaned over in her seat.  She stared out the window, trying to figure out what her brother would do if he was still there.  Simply thinking about him was almost enough to bring her to tears.  Their parents had passed away a few years back and they were all that each other had.  She felt so alone in the world that she couldn’t stand it.
“Twister, could you please make him shut up?” Raid whispered.
“Yes ma’am.” Twister sighed.
The pegasus trotted down between the separate train cars.  As she passed through the car that held the five ponies and single dragon, she was bombarded with questions.  She did her best to quell the various worries.  Her main goal though, was to get through so that she could talk with Rogue.  There were so many questions that she had and only he would know the answers.
“Rogue.” Twister nodded as she stepped into the last train car.  “Raid wants me to tell you to be quiet, but I have some questions.”
Rogue glanced over at his comrade before flopping over onto the floor with a sigh.  “Yes?”
“Cocoon.  He acts strange, like, raving paranoia strange.” Twister smiled uncomfortably.
“Not very questiony for a question.” he rolled his eyes.
“Why?” Twister almost shouted, frustrated.
“I honestly don’t know him.  I met with somepony who I thought might be able to help us, but all I could get out of him is that he hates me.” Rogue laughed quietly.
“I don’t blame him.” Twister joked.  “You’re an obnoxious jerk.”
“Thanks, I do my best.” Rogue climbed to his hooves.  “How’s Raid taking it?  Last time I saw her, she was pretty upset.”
“He was her brother.  She’s taking it as well as anypony would.” Twister shook her head, her voice was soft.
“She’s been crying a lot, hasn’t she?” Rogue sighed as he walked up to the front of the car.
“Yeah.” Twister swallowed hard.  “So they’re the Elements of Harmony?” she tried to change the subject.
“Yup, that they are.” Rogue answered as he opened the door.
“What are you doing?  Raid wants you to stay back here.” Twister argued.
“Yeah, I heard that.” Rogue shot her an innocent looking smile as he trotted through the door.
“What’s going on?” shouted a cyan pegasus with a rainbow colored mane.
“Trouble.” Rogue smirked back.  “Rainbow Dash, right?”
“Yeah, so what?  Tell me why you took us from our homes.” Rainbow Dash shouted back.
Rogue let out yet another sigh.  “Princess Twilight Sparkle received a death threat the other night.  That threat extended to her friends.”
“Who in the hay is threatenin’ us?” Applejack half shouted.
“All I know is a name.  I’m sure that Princess Celestia will inform you of everything that she knows when we arrive in Canterlot.  Until then, I need to move up and speak with that grouchy mare in car up front.”
“Is Twilight all right?” asked the small purple dragon, catching Rogue at the last second.
“She’s at the castle.  In fact, she’s the main reason that any of us made it out of a fight alive.” Rogue reassured the dragon.
Before another question could be aimed at the bat pony, he quickly slipped into the next car up.  He could see the top of Raid’s head over a seat a couple rows up from him.  Her soft brown mane rested against the window.  She didn’t turn to look back to see who had entered the car.
“Twister, thank you…” Raid said quietly, not moving her head.
“Actually, it’s me.” Rogue smirked.  “How are you feeling?”
“Rogue!  Go back to your post!”  Raid flung her head around, her mane flying wildly.  Her eyes were filled with anger.
“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.  If there is anything you need, don’t hesitate.” Rogue turned around and walked away.
Twister stood in the car that Rogue was supposed to be staying in.  She thought back to when she’d first met her team.  She’d been friends with Raid since they were both fillies and she thought that Tempest was the coolest stallion ever.  They all joined the Royal Guard together and ended up being put in a squad together.  Once their squad was set up, Rogue had been added to the roster.  None of them knew him very well, but he was a good fighter.  At first, he and Raid had gotten along really well, until he and Tempest had a fight.  Neither of the stallions would say what it was about, but after that, Rogue was practically shunned by both Tempest and Raid.  Twister was the only pony who would still talk to him or spend time with him when the job didn’t require it.
She was happy to see him walk back into the car, but her smile faded as she saw his distraught expression.  Once he saw her face, he quickly started to smile, not wanting the pegasus to worry about him.
“Yeah, she still hates me.  Turns out, I can’t go for a walk.” he shrugged.
“I’m sorry.” Twister pouted.  “She doesn’t mean to be like that.”
“Yes she does, and I’m inclined to agree with her.” for the first time in years, he dropped his fake smile and frowned as he let his legs give way and collapsed onto the ground.
“Rogue…” Twister placed a hoof on the bat pony’s shoulder, wanting so badly to comfort him.
Before Twister could say anything else, they heard a shifting behind a crate in the car that they were in.  Rogue immediately leapt to his hooves, preparing for anything.  He slowly snuck up on the location and his eyes met a pair of silver eyes staring back weakly.

Luna slowly walked into the throne room as she waited to meet with her sister.  Celestia was eating last Luna checked, but she was supposed to be returning to the throne soon to greet Twilight’s friends and their escorts.  The blue alicorn looked over at a large stained glass window that depicted her return as Nightmare Moon.  She let her eyes drift to the next window and the one after that.  She looked at each accomplishment Twilight had done as she worked her way to become a princess.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the door behind her creak open.  She turned around, expecting to see her sister, but instead her eyes met with a pair of lilac irises that were well below eye level for the moon princess.
“Twilight Sparkle, what brings you here?” Luna asked, taking note of the mare’s expression.  Her expression was one of confusion and curiosity.
“I found Star Swirl’s journal that he mentions the Overlord in.  Did you know about it?” Twilight asked, stepping into the room and approaching Luna.
“Yes, I was aware of its existence.” Luna responded.  “I felt that it would be easier for you to understand these events if you read them the way that he told them.  He wrote them as they happened, I would be recalling upon events that occurred well over a thousand years ago.”
“You could have helped me find the book though.” Twilight argued, trying to remain calm.
“You must understand, what I did, I did to help you.  While you searched for the book I was loo-” Luna stopped speaking as the door opened again.
“Luna, Twilight, I’ve been looking for you both.” Celestia said as she entered the room and joined the other two alicorns.
“I came here to meet with you as we agreed.” Luna explained.
“I was out in the yard, reading the journal and I just finished it.” Twilight told her part.
“The train has arrived and your friends should be joining us shortly.  I believe that Haze will be joining us as well.  He has a theory on how to stop the Overlord.” Celestia told the pair.
Twilight froze up for a moment, thinking about the name of the pony that the princess had just mentioned, Haze.  She knew it from somewhere.  Had she met him before moving to Ponyville?
Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt end when a loud clap of thunder shook the castle.  The vibrations reverberated through the walls, staying in the castle for much longer than it would in any other building.  Celestia walked over to a window and looked through it, seeing dark clouds covering the sky.
“That’s strange.” she commented.  “The storm isn’t supposed to be here for another three days.  I wonder what is making the weather ponies start it now.”
Right after she asked the question, another loud clap of thunder rumbled.  It was loud enough to block out the sound of a pony entering the castle grounds as the guards were distracted.  The pony snuck through the darkened grounds with a stealth that was unmatched.  The pony eventually made it inside the castle and dashed into the throne room, charging into the throne room.
“Grey!” Twilight shouted, relieved to see the bat pony still alive.
“Twilight, there isn’t much time.  I’ve stopped your friends from coming into this trap, but you’ve got to get out of here too.” Grey panted.
“Twilight, who is this pony?” Celestia asked.
“She’s a friend.  She helped protect me from one of the Fissure.  Without her, I don’t think I’d be here right now.” Twilight defended the downed bat pony.
“What’s this about a trap?” Luna asked, intrigued by what had been said.
“The Overlord, he doesn’t really know who your friends are…” Grey told Twilight, but answered Luna’s question in the process.  “If you bring them here he can kill them though.  I spoke to a Royal Guard named Rogue Wind about this, that’s why he set up the storm.  He knew that he couldn’t convince his commander to not follow your orders, but he could delay the events long enough for me to stop them.”
“Who is the Overlord?” Twilight asked.  “You’re talking like you know everything about him, including where he is.”
“He’s in the same place that gave him the standing to take over my Equestria.  He’s an advisor by the name of Midnight Haze.” Grey’s entire body shook as she spoke.  She was injured and despite the zebra’s warning, she had used her wings to get out of the sight of one of the guards on the outside.  The wing had torn again and she was bleeding heavily, but she positioned herself to hide the red stain on her bandages.
“Midnight Haze?” Celestia stumbled, trying to grasp the concept.  The Overlord that she had known could never be Haze; he went out of his way to help ponies, almost breaking his cover while he was trying to prevent crimes from occurring.  He could never be the monster that her teacher had once fought all of those years ago.  “I can’t believe that, it just doesn’t make sense.” she argued.
“Ponies have this idea that denying the truth will make it go away.  When the Princess Celestia of my world was warned, she said almost the exact same thing.  Later that day, he got Sombra to send his puppet to kill her.” Grey refuted.  “Please, I’m trying to save your life.  When he had Midnight Vim kill my Celestia, it was a test.  He is multitudes stronger than she ever could have become.”
“I will trust you.  Not because what you speak makes any sense, but because Twilight trusts you.  Let us take our leave immediately, he is on his way.” Celestia stated.
“Too late.” sang a voice from the door.
A black unicorn stallion stood in the doorway, goggles hanging around his neck, revealing his solid yellow eyes for the first time in this world.  His robe still covered his flank, but that was always part of his style.
“You…” Grey gasped, looking into the pony’s eyes for the second time.
“Ah, we meet again Grey Cloud.  You played your part well, but you seem to have reached your expiration date.  ‘Fraid I’m going to have to off you.” Haze smiled and stepped into the room.
“How dare you betray my trust?” Celestia shouted, sending out a golden blast of magic that radiated warmth.
A yellow shield protected Haze from the blast, but it still blocked his view for a second.  During this opportunity, Twilight took Grey and teleported, taking them both out of there.  It was up to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for the time being.
“Twilight!” Spike shouted as both the alicorn and the bat pony appeared and tumbled across the soaked pavement of the Canterlot street.  “Are you all right?” Spike asked, seeing red stains cover Twilight’s coat.
“Grey!  You’re bleeding!” Twilight gasped, on the verge of completely freaking out.  There was so much blood and the alicorn had no idea what to do, but if she didn’t act fast, her friend would surely bleed out.
Spike ran over to them and tried to apply pressure to the bat pony’s wing, but they were instantly interrupted as a flash of yellow blinded them.  Haze ran over to them, a large scar across his face, courtesy of Princess Celestia.  The moment that he touched Twilight, she used a teleportation spell, taking her, Grey, Spike, and Haze to anywhere that she could.  At the exact same moment, Haze tried to teleport them as well.  And Grey tried to use some of her energy to teleport blast the Overlord away with an ancient arcane magic from her world.
All of these things together did something that none of the ponies, nor the dragon, could have ever anticipated.
When Twilight woke up, the rain was gone, but something felt different.  Different from normal, but strangely familiar at the same time.  She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands…
“Hands!” Twilight shouted, startle Spike and Grey awake.
	
> Chapter 5 - Bastion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Twilight, what are you talking abou… You’re human!” Spike shouted, before looking over to Grey and seeing another human.  He could easily recognize it as the bat pony, if for no other reason that the blood gushing out of her shoulder.
“Spike… you’re human too…” Twilight gasped out.
Spike looked down at his claws… hands, and let out a gasp.  “I’m not a dog this time!” he shouted joyfully.
“Who’s there?” shouted a voice.
Twilight looked around to find the source of the voice.  She saw floating white stones and that they were surrounded by a water fall… rise.  The water around them was flowing up instead of down.  She kept scanning the area until she saw another human up on a higher up stone.
The human had messy brown hair that fell to his shoulders.  He wore an un buttoned, or unzipped, from her distance Twilight couldn’t quite tell, short sleeved shirt.  On his shoulder, he held a long sword.
“My name is Twilight!  We need some help down here!  Our friend is very badly injured!” Twilight called back, hoping that the human would be kind enough to lend them a hoof, hand, whatever the term here was.
“I’ll be right down there!” the voice called back.
Twilight could see the human jumping between the floating rocks as he approached them.  When he finally made it to them, Twilight was able to get a much better look at him.  He was a little taller than she was, definitely older.  Between his blue eyes, there was a scar going down his face.  The collar of that shirt that she noticed before was fluffy, like a pony’s mane.
“My god…” the human’s mouth gaped as he saw the condition of Grey.  “Twilight was it, can you move?  I can only manage to carry one of you, and this place is too dangerous right now for multiple trips.”
“Yes… I can move…” Twilight struggled to climb to her feet.
“Do you see that castle up there?” the man pointed to a large castle that he had been standing in front of earlier.  “We’re going to that castle’s library.  Stay close.”
Twilight nodded, picking Spike up.  Miraculously Spike was the only one out of the three of them who didn’t get injured, or worsen preexisting injuries during the teleportation mishap.  The man picked up Grey in a fashion similar to the way a mother Ursa Major picks up her baby.
Twilight watched in amazement as the person leapt from one stone to another, this time going back up.  She didn’t know how she was supposed to follow him though.  She could barely run around a kick a soccer ball, much less jump six feet up and move forward about the same distance.
“What are you waiting for?” the person asked.  “Gravity is weak in the Rising Falls, trust me, you can do it.”
Twilight nodded hesitantly and began to follow the person up the stones.  She couldn’t believe how easy it was to jump like that.  When she was in the air, she felt weightless, like she was flying.  A sensation that her newly found wings back home helped her with back in her pony form.  As a human, she had no wings.
Once they reached the top, Twilight set Spike back down on the ground and took a good look at him.  His hair was the same shade of green that his spines used to be, and it was messy and shot out in every direction randomly.  His shirt was the same purple that his scales had been, but one the chest, there was an image of a green fire.  Another thing that she noticed was that nobody had the Technicolor appearance that people back in Canterlot High School had.
Twilight watched as the human that was escorting them touched a floating spike ball and it turned from red to blue.  A platform that reminded the princess of a birdcage came down and the man led them inside of it.  Once the four people had climbed inside, it started moving, almost as if it knew that everyone was in there.  It took them up to the castle where the man took them to a large door.  They followed him inside to a room that felt cold.  Not physically cold, but cold because of horrible memories within the room.
“This way.  Come on before they notice us.” the person stated before walking to a set of stairs on the left side of the room.
“They?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
The man didn’t answer her, but she followed him anyway.  If he was going to do anything bad, he probably would have done it back outside.  Also, he’d mentioned a library, and Twilight really wanted to see it.
“Here we are.” the man stated as they stepped into a room that was filled with books.
Twilight gasped, it was like a maze of bookshelves.  She didn’t know where to start, but she wanted to read them all.  It was a whole new world of knowledge, and there was nothing that she sought more than to learn.
“Yuffie!  Come here and bring a potion and a first aid kit!” the man called out, yelling to who Twilight presumed was one of his friends.
“On it Leon!  Did one of them getcha?” a girl’s voice called back.
Twilight took note of the name that the man was called, Leon…
“It’s not for me.  There was a bright flash out there.  At first I thought that it was one of them, but it was two girls and a little kid.  One of the girls is seriously injured but the other is awake.” the man called back, proving that he was Leon.
A girl in boots that almost touched her knees and a pair of socks that barely passed her knees jumped down from the level above Twilight.  The girl was wearing a sleeveless shirt and very short shorts.  Her hair was also very short and black with a headband in it.  The girl made Twilight think back to the way that ninja ponies had been described in the history books.  At least, the headband and the predominantly dark colors did.  Ninja were supposed to be quiet and didn’t expose their coats or any other identifying features.  Qualities that this girl did not seem to share.
“Oh, there you are Leon.” the girl turned to face the man.
“This girl right here, she’s hurt pretty bad.” Leon said as he laid Grey on the floor in front of Yuffie.
“Now for you two.  Tell me what happened out there?  Who’s the girl that Yuffie is treating and who’s that little kid?” Leon interrogated Twilight.
“I’m not really sure what happened, it’s all a blur.  It just happened so fast…” Twilight answered.
“Then who are the others that you’re with?”
“This is Spike,” Twilight pointed to who had once been her baby dragon, “and that’s Grey.” she pointed over to the limp girl on the floor.
“And you’re Twilight?” Leon asked.
“Yes.”
As soon as Twilight answered there was a sudden scratching at the door.  Leon cursed under his breath and turned to face Yuffie.
“Where’s Cid?” Leon snipped.
“He went out to try and access the basement.  He was hoping to get the defense grid online.” Yuffie answered.
“Please tell me that he took his staff.” Leon shook his head, “They’re trying to get in here which means that they are probably hunting him down too.”
“Who are ‘they’?” Twilight asked.
“They’re Heartless.  Monsters that only seek out people with strong hearts so that they can tear them out and have a meal.” Leon explained.
“Where is this Cid?  I can help.” Twilight stated, putting a book that she was looking at back on the shelf.
“Trust me; these things aren’t a joking matter.” Leon shut her down.
“I wasn’t joking.” Twilight stated, summoning out the Dawn Star Keyblade.
“The Keyblade?” Leon shouted, getting Yuffie’s attention.
“She’s a wielder?” Yuffie asked without turning away from Grey.  One misstep could cost Grey her life, and Yuffie was not about to let that happen.
“I can fight them.” Twilight smiled.  “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“You remind me a lot of another wielder I know.  But he’s not available right now, this world’s been cut off from the rest, so we’re on our own.  How you got here is a mystery to me, but I’ll go with you to make sure that you don’t get in over your head.” Leon stated, opening the door.
“I’m coming too!” Spike shouted, running up to Twilight’s side.
“Spike, I need you to stay here.  We need to make sure that Grey can get the help she needs.  If the Heartless attack, then it’ll be up to you.” Twilight shook her head before rubbing Spike’s already messy hair.
“Fine… but be careful Twi.” Spike demanded.
“Always.” Twilight smiled back at the child.
From the moment that Twilight and Leon left the library, the only thing that they could see were Heartless.  The creatures had swarmed, almost as if every Heartless on the entire world was told to go there.  Twilight had only seen an accumulation of Heartless like this once, and that was at Sombra’s castle before she used the Keyblade that destroyed it.
“I’ve got this!” Leon shouted, slinging out his sword.
The man fought through the Heartless horde like it was nothing, simply plowing a path straight through them.  Twilight followed close behind him, taking out the stragglers. Even though she had never used the Keyblade in hands before, it felt natural to her.  Almost like the Keyblade was guiding her actions, giving her abilities that she knew that she didn’t have when she was in Canterlot High as a human.
Twilight could run and react faster than her last experience as a human.  Most importantly though, she had that experience under her belt, so to say, and it left her with knowledge of the workings of her human body.    As a unicorn, and as an alicorn, she had to use her magic to hold her weapon, but as a human, she held it in her hands.  She controlled her strikes with her arms, and it almost felt more natural to her.
Leon led her into a room that was filled with the birdcage structures that had lifted them into the castle the first time.  He pulled her inside one of them and it sank below the platform that they’d been standing on.  Twilight watched as the Heartless hurled themselves into the pit in a futile attempt to catch her and Leon.  Their bodies flailed wildly as the fell into the darkness beneath the cage.
“Stay back!” shouted a hoarse voice.  “Ye dern Heartless!”
“Cid!  I’ve brought some help!” Leon called out as the cage touched the ground.
“A kid?” the man called back.
The man’s hair was blond and he wore goggles just above his forehead.  His shirt was a plain white and short sleeved.  There was an orange looking band of some kind between his pants and his shirt.  The pants were excessively baggy jeans.
“She’s a Keyblade wielder.  Show him Twilight.” Leon said as he aimed the point of his sword at a Heartless and shot a large fireball at the creature.
Twilight summoned her Keyblade again and smacked away one of the Heartless that was falling from one of the levels above.  When the Keyblade appeared in her hand, a large group of Heartless made a jump at her.
“Well I’ll be… she really is.” Cid mumbled as he swung his staff, knocking away about five or six Heartless in one strike.

“Just… about… done!” Yuffie cheered as she finished reapplying the bandage to Grey’s shoulder.  “That was rough.”
“She’ll be okay, right?” Spike asked, staring at the door.
“Which one?” Yuffie asked.
“Both…” Spike muttered, looking down to the floor.
“Yeah, that one girl went with Leon and he’s really strong. This one will probably need a good bit of rest, but she will make it.” Yuffie smiled at the relatively short child.
The scratching at the door only stopped when Leon and Twilight left and seconds later, it had started back, louder than before.  The two of them had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes and Spike was beginning to grow worried.  
“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” Yuffie walked over beside Spike.
“She raised me since the day I was born.  She is my family.” Spike stated.  “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I’m sure that she’s fine.  Leon will take really good care of her.” Yuffie comforted Spike.
“I know but… It’s just… He’s probably still looking for her.” Spike stuttered out.
“Who?” Yuffie asked.
“I don’t know really.  I just know that she and Grey teleported to me and…” Spike had to watch the way he spoke; he couldn’t mention anything about the attacker being a stallion, that probably wouldn’t go over too well.  “Some… guy attacked us.  There was a blinding light and we were all here, but he wasn’t.”
“Over… lord…” Grey grunted from a cushioned chair that she was resting in.
“Overlord?  Who’s that?” Yuffie asked.
“A murderer.  He killed off entire cities, leaving nothing but ruins in his wake.” Twilight stated, stepping into the room alongside Leon and Cid.
“Tron’s keeping up the security.  He should be able to hold the Heartless off for a while.” Leon explained, “You’ll have plenty of time to tell us about this guy.”
By the time that Twilight and Leon had reached Cid in the basement, he had already turned on the defenses and was waiting for them to activate.  Only seconds after he knocked away a good deal of Heartless with a single swipe, a strange looking white circle with a ball floating above it started zapping the Heartless.  Twilight assumed that the strange light was the defense system that Leon was talking about.
“I would explain, but I’m not entirely sure myself.  If anyone knows about what’s going on, it’d be Grey.” Twilight answered.
“And that’s the unconscious girl, right?” Leon asked.
“Semiconscious…” Grey responded from the chair.
Her eyes were still closed, but she was awake enough to hear them and understand them.  Her mouth was about the extent of her functional motor skills.  She was unable to even feel the rest of her body.
“Let me talk to her first.” Twilight ran up to Grey’s side.
“Where… are we?” Grey asked weakly.
“We’re on another world.  Don’t mention anything about Equestria being inhabited by ponies.” Twilight whispered.
“Why?”
“Right now, we’re creatures called humans.  I went through a mirror that’s located in the Crystal Empire that did something similar to this before.  Don’t say anypony, everypony, or nopony; instead, try to say anybody, everybody, and nobody.  Trust me, this will make sense soon.  I’ll try and explain everything that I know once we get some time away from everybody else.” 
“All right.” Grey whispered back.

“Where’s Twilight?” Rainbow Dash shouted, charging into the castle throne room.
The answer that she’d received was far from what she had been expecting.  Both of the princesses that resided in that castle were on the ground, lying limply.
“Omigosh!” Rainbow shouted as her friends entered the room behind her.  “Are they alive?”
The unicorn guard was the first to rush in, checking for a pulse on Celestia and then Luna before letting out a sigh of relief.  “They’re breathing, but weakly.  Pegasus!  Go get a doctor!” Raid addressed Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash saluted before flying away as fast as she could manage.  Rarity galloped to Raid’s side and looked over her shoulder.
“Is there anything that I can do to help?” she asked.
“I- I don’t know…” Raid was on the brink of going into a full on panic.  Without the princesses there to help maintain order… she had to avert her mind from the worst case scenario.
“Step aside!” Cocoon shouted as he shed his disguise and lifted the princesses with his changeling magic.
“Changeling!” Raid shouted before launching a blast of magic at the shiny black pony-like creature.
“Raid!  Stop!” Rogue glided into the room and grabbed Raid and pulled her away from the changeling.
“You’re protecting it?” Raid shouted angrily.  “My brother was right about you…” tears streamed down her face.  “Traitor!” she wailed out, flailing her front hooves at Rogue who just took the beating.
“Please… Raid, just trust me like you used to.” Rogue pled.  “I would never betray you, Twister, or Tempest.  He’s here to help; he was part of a group that was going to offer us aid to stop the Overlord.”
“I- I hate you!” Raid cried back before galloping from the room.
Rogue turned around, keeping his eyes hidden by his own shadow.  Nopony could see him cry.  “Cocoon,” Rogue shook, “how does it look?”
“They’ll be fine; they were each only struck once by fairly weak magic.” Cocoon answered after setting the alicorns back down onto some pillows that he’d brought over with his magic.
“Weak?  It knocked out the princesses!” Rogue shouted back, not seeing how the attacks could be considered weak, or how any pony would be capable of knocking out either princess.
“Considering the fact that they are still breathing, I would consider this relatively weak.” Cocoon stated at the precise time that Twister entered the room.
“I- is that a- a changeling?” she gasped.
“He’s on our side.” Rogue stated without turning around.  “I’m having him help the princesses.”
“But he’s a…” Twister repeated.
“Changeling, yes I know.” Rogue turned to face her.  “I’m going to tell you the same thing that I told Raid, you have to trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
“You’re face…” Twister gasped.  “Did somepony hurt you?”
Rogue hadn’t noticed it, but he had received a worse beating from Raid than he’d originally thought.  His eye was blackened from a direct hoof to it and both cheeks were flushed from impacts to his face.
“It’s my fault…” Rogue muttered back.
“You can’t just keep blaming yourself.  You never told me what happened between you two, but you need to get over it right now, Equestria’s in deep crap.” Twister said, knowing that her words would be just what the stallion needed.
“That rainbow pegasus should be returning with some doctors, I want for you to retrieve any medical supplies from the medical tent out in the training grounds.” Rogue commanded.  There was still a faint hint of sadness in his voice, but he was working through it.
“On it.” Twister nodded back before flying out of the room.
Rogue walked over to the princesses, and looked over their bodies.  Celestia had a large black smudge across her face; like some sort of fire spell was used on her while Luna looked unharmed.  A physical attack on Celestia and a psychological attack on Luna was all that Rogue could think of.

“All right, so this guy leveled entire cities?  I’m sorry but he sounds like he’s out of your league, kid.” Cid commented as Grey finished the first part of her story.
“As I was saying, once I was thrown through the portal, I went into hiding.  I managed to hide for ten years before I heard of the death of Valley.” Grey continued.  “I confronted Twilight and asked about him.  I told her what I had just told you, she needed to go to sleep, so I left her.”
“What next?” Leon asked, leaning in to the story.
“I stayed close for most of the night, after I saw one of the Fissure.  Before the Fissure just had a chance to do anything, four guards came in to take Twilight, at least that’s what it seemed like.  Three of them left, one didn’t.” Grey looked away from the group, her mind drifting back to Inkwell.
“And you mean to tell us that these things can’t be killed?” Leon interrogated as he covered his mouth in thought.
“No, they cannot be killed.” Grey paused.  “They can however be banished.”
“Banished?” Twilight asked, her eyes shooting over to Grey.
“This is news to you?” Leon asked.
“Yeah, she didn’t mention it before.”
“Let’s just say that there… is a little more reason to my injury than a fight.” Grey whispered, swallowing hard.
“How did you banish it?” Twilight asked, being the information seeker that she was.  If a non-magical pony was capable of banishing a Fissure, then she desperately wanted an explanation.
“I’ll teach you.” Grey smiled at Twilight.  “Just as he taught me.”
Twilight could have sworn that she saw a tear in Grey’s eye as she said that.  She watched as Grey stood up and walked over to the windows that lined the wall next to the stairs.  The former bat pony stared out through the windows into the orange sky.
“There was something that she didn’t tell us, wasn’t there?” Leon walked to Twilight’s side.
“The guy who threw her into the portal, she was in love with him.” Twilight looked over to the tall man.
	
> Chapter 6 - Isolated
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What world are you three from?” Yuffie asked Twilight as she caught her reading a book.
“World?” Twilight asked.  She was certain that talking about other worlds should be something of a taboo, but if the other person was aware, was it okay?  “Um, one that’s really far away.”
“How’d you get here, this world isn’t connected right now?”  Yuffie asked.  “When a world isn’t connected to the others, you can’t go to or leave it.”
“I don’t know.” Twilight shook her head.  “A magical mishap with unforeseen consequences…” her voice faded at an alarming rate.
“What is it?” Yuffie grew concerned, but more importantly, she grew curious.  Twilight seemed to her like she’d pieced something together, something important.
“If Grey, Spike, and I are here, but we shouldn’t be able to be here, what’s to stop the Overlord?” Twilight asked.
Yuffie paused to think, but she couldn’t come up with anything to put Twilight’s mind at ease.  The constant sound of footsteps around the pair made it hard for the ninja to focus on the task at hand.  Leon was double and triple checking every entrance.  Cid was making some blue prints for a new Gummi Ship by piecing together old blueprints.  Spike and Grey were resting, Grey to recover and Spike simply to get some sleep.
“He could be somewhere else…” Yuffie suggested, not even able to convince herself that she was telling the truth.

“Are you okay?” shouted a man with a mess of spikey yellow hair.
The man wore black pants and a black sleeveless shirt.  Over his left arm, he wore a shoulder piece that had a sleeve attached.  There was a silver wolf face attached to the shoulder piece.  On his back rested a sword that was as long as he was tall that had been wrapped in what looked like medical tape.
Haze grunted, looked down at his own body.  Human.  He was a human.    He felt a dark robe covering his body, a hood pulled over his face.  Before he could let the person speaking to him get a good look at his eyes, he pulled the goggles back up over them.
“I’m fine.” Haze answered, smirking as a plan came to mind.  If he was here, then those two mares couldn’t be that far away.
“You came out of nowhere, are you sure that you’re all right?” the man asked again.
“Yes.  My name is Haze and I’m looking for a young girl.  She has lavender hair with a pink streak going through it.  Have you seen her by chance?” Haze asked back.
“My name’s Cloud.  No I haven’t seen anyone matching that description.  Is she important to you?” the man replied, Haze found it interesting how this human’s name could have easily been that of a pony.  Usually Griffons and humans shared the same names, not humans and ponies.
“If I don’t find her, something terrible could happen.” Haze left out the important detail about his intentions.
“I could help you look.  Odds are that since I haven’t seen them, they’re probably in the castle with my friends.” Cloud explained.
Friends, a word that made Haze feel nauseous.  “We’ll help each other then.” Haze suggested.
“The problem is that there are just too many Heartless between the castle and this town.” Cloud pointed out.
“I think that we’ll be able to make it through.” Haze smiled as he told the Heartless to move using the darkness in his heart.

“You’re getting better, but you need to focus.” Grey told Twilight as they stood on the second floor of the library.
Twilight was receiving lessons from Grey on how to banish the Fissure.  She had been stuck on the first step, clearing her mind.  They had privacy on the second floor while the others slept.  It had been a very long day for everyone, but they wanted to try and have two people awake at any given time in case the Heartless got in somehow.  Instead of wasting this time, Twilight was learning from Grey how to beat the most powerful enemies that they could encounter.
“You don’t have to lie.  I know that I’m not making any progress.  Maybe if you told me what it was then I could…” Twilight suggested.
“It is ancient magic that requires an external physical item as a conduit as opposed to a horn.  In this world, such magic should be even easier to cast due to the abundance of magic in each of these… people.” Grey explained.  “I drew out a mark on my hoof after I saw the Fissure in the Everfree Forest.  When my hoof touched it, it was blasted out of your world.”
“But I’m not using symbols.” Twilight complained.
“That’s because you are just starting to learn, the spells come later.  You need to focus on that one thought.  Let everything else slip away, lose your fear, your joy, your sorrow, and your love.” Grey coached.
It made sense to Twilight.  To learn a complex new magic, she would have to first learn the most basic thoughts behind it.  She had to do the same thing to learn how to teleport.  Teleporting requires one to clear their mind before picturing where they intend to go.  This varies in maximum distance by several factors, the most important is the magical strength of the caster; a less important factor is the number of obstructions in between the caster and the target location.
Twilight mentally slapped herself for immediately letting her mind drift off after being told to clear her thoughts.  She sat there, working on clearing her mind, which was a lot harder than it sounded.  Every time that she managed to push one thought or worry away, two more would take its place.  Her will needed to be absolute, unwavering against even the most terrifying of thoughts.  She had to stop thinking about what fate befell her friends after she arrived here.  She needed to resist trying to come up with a plan to get home.  She stopped thinking and lost her grip on the world around her.
“Good.” Grey whispered as Twilight’s body went slack.  “Now think of a happy moment in your life.”
Twilight, still within the recesses of her mind, looked around.  Her mind was organized to look like a library; she felt that it was fitting.  Memories and thoughts were organized by the feeling associated with them.  Twilight looked through her happy moments and tried to pick one.  There was one that stood out to her, the moment that she found her Element of Harmony while confronting Nightmare Moon.
“I’ve got it.” Twilight confirmed; her posture unchanging.
“Open your eyes and draw the symbol that I showed you.” Grey commanded.  “Don’t lose sight of that memory.”
Twilight slowly blinked her eyes open and picked up a piece of chalk and started to sketch out a circle.  She drew a seven point star inside the circle and then proceeded to add some shapes that she had no name for due to their abstract nature.  Soon the symbol was finished and Grey set, what Twilight thought to be a lamp, from the table into the middle of the circle.
“Do I do it now?” Twilight asked, focusing on her thought and the symbol.
“Yes, cast the spell.” Grey responded.
Twilight clenched eyes shut and tried to imagine the lamp vanishing.  When she opened her eyes, the lamp was gone.  She nearly squealed with joy, but stopped herself upon remembering that everyone else was asleep.
“You picked up on it pretty fast.” Grey commented.  “It took me forever to actually get the banishing part right.”
“It did?” Twilight asked, surprised because of the skill that Grey had displayed when showing Twilight an example.
“Yes, believe it or not, but it gets easier with each time.” Grey laughed at Twilight’s reply.
“I have a question.” Twilight changed the subject and straightened her expression.
“What is it?” Grey started to worry that something was wrong.
“Earlier, you said that you would teach me just as he taught you.” Twilight started.
“You wanted to know if it was Inkwell, right?” Grey looked away and nodded.
“I’m sorry…” Twilight whispered back before approaching the window.
As she looked out into the night sky, she started to think.  Without Princess Celestia and Princess Luna here, how could day and night occur?  When they first arrived, it was day, but now, hours later it was night.  It made no sense to Twilight; someone had to be moving the sun and the moon.
Her thoughts soon slammed to a halt as she noticed the Heartless in the valley below starting to part ways.  Two figures in black approached the castle but they were too far away to really make out.  Twilight turned around to face the rest of the group.
“Grey, take a look.” she whispered, calling the former bat pony over.
“What is it?” Grey quickly approached the window and let out a gasp.  “Who are they?  Why are those Heartless letting them through?”
“What’s going on over there?” Leon spoke.  His voice sounded wide awake and not drowsy in the least.
“I can see two people… or at least I think that they’re people, moving toward the castle.  The Heartless have moved out of their way.” Twilight explained.
“Cloud and… I don’t know who’s with him.” Leon squinted through the window.  “Cloud’s one of us, he was protecting the town while we tried to get the defenses up and running.”
“Well, let’s go and meet them at the door.” Twilight suggested, looking forward to meeting another human.  Her experiences with humans before this didn’t tell her much, mostly because they acted like their pony counterparts.  This world seemed to function completely differently, with no apparent links to Twilight’s home, Grey’s home, or even the world through the mirror.
“We might as well.” Leon stated calmly.  “Yuff, Cid, wake up!”  
In his attempt to wake up his friends, he also startled Spike awake.  “What’s going on?” he mumbled, barely with any coherence.
“We’re going downstairs to meet with Cloud.  Maybe he has some news about what’s going on here.” Leon answered, leading the group out of the library.
This was Twilight’s second time in the entry hall to the castle.  She was able to pay more attention this time since she wasn’t worrying about Grey.  There were two sets of stairs that met behind a large fountain that was built into the wall.  There was a balcony that was level with the chandelier that lit the room.
In the center of the room there was a large hole in the floor.  It looked relatively recent, and there was another birdcage like structure within it.  Leon led them inside and the rode it straight down.  Twilight recognized the appearance of the basement walls, but she was in an unfamiliar area of it.  It was a set of long halls with square rooms almost randomly placed.
Leon once again took the position ahead of the group, taking them to a small door.  As he opened the door, Cloud arrived on the metal platform outside.  Cloud gave Leon a small wave, signaling for him to approach.
“I sent out a distress signal.  Hopefully one of them will get it and reconnect Radiant Garden.” Cloud stated, referring to people who Twilight was not familiar with.
“We’ve got a Keyblade wielder right here.” Leon pointed back to Twilight as he moved forward.
“Oh do we now?” mused a familiar voice from behind Cloud.  “Her name wouldn’t happen to be Twilight now, would it?”
“No…” Grey took a step back.
“Spike,” Twilight knelt down, “hide.”
“Is that the friend that you were looking for?” Cloud asked.
“I never actually said that she was a friend.  I simply said that something terrible would happen if I was unable to find her.  If I couldn’t find her, she would have a chance to prepare to stop me.” Haze smirked as he stepped out from behind Cloud and started toward Twilight.
“Everyone, run!” Twilight shouted, warning the others to go to safety.
Leon withdrew his sword and aimed it at Haze’s face.  “Stop.” he warned.
Haze brushed off this threat and kept on his direct path toward Twilight.  A blast of fire launched from the tip of Leon’s blade, just as one had before, and it impacted with Haze’s chest.  The cloaked man ignored this attack, simply waving his hand and throwing Leon across the area with levitation magic.
“I don’t have time to waste with you.” Haze said calmly as he continued his approach.
Before Twilight could tell what was going on, a massive sword slammed down through Haze’s shoulder, ripping his entire right arm off of his body.  Haze slowly turned to face Cloud who was glaring at the Overlord.
“I liked that arm.” he said plainly.
Dark tendrils sprouted from Haze’s shoulder and formed a replacement arm.  The dismembered arm that was on the floor faded away into a purple mist.
“How…” Cloud started but his voice drifted off.
“It’s a simple spell, easiest way to immorality.  Those who rise against me cannot kill me, no matter how hard they try.” Haze smirked.
Twilight saw Grey drawing something out on the palm of her left hand, and it took her a few seconds but she soon recognized it as the symbol for the banishment spell.  There were some subtle differences between the symbol that Twilight had drawn and the one on Grey’s hand.  Grey glanced at Twilight; her expression was flat and emotionless.
“Promise me that you won’t do this.  And I mean ever, promise me.” Grey demanded as she finished the symbol.
Not giving Twilight the chance to answer, Grey charged at Haze in an attempt to slam her palm into his face.  At the last second, a Fissure pulled itself out of the ground between Grey and Haze.  The Fissure still had the same form that they had back in Equestria, looking like a pony.
Grey’s expression turned to one of horror as she realized that she wouldn’t have time to stop herself.  Her palm met with the forehead of the Fissure and she let out an agonizing scream.  Crimson streaks flew back as Grey’s arm was ripped apart from the spell.  She collapsed onto the ground, clenching her severely wounded arm tightly as she writhed in pain.  There was a smoldering pile of ash in front of her, exactly where the Fissure had been.
“Grey!” Twilight shouted, running over to her fallen friend.
“I bought you some time.  Run…” Grey grunted.
“Not without you!” Twilight shouted back, summoning the Dawn Star.
“How… cute.” Haze mused as Twilight charged at him.
Haze held up his hand and caught Twilight’s Keyblade stopping her in her tracks.  Twilight summoned out Griffon’s Wing into her left hand and made a second, surprise strike at Haze’s side.  She felt her weapon dig into him before he knocked her away.
The Overlord took a few steps toward Twilight as she was sprawled out across the ground.  He however, came to a halt when a large shuriken flew past him.  Without any warning there was a sudden barrage of smaller, glowing shuriken that assaulted Haze.  He quickly put up a magical shield to protect himself and started toward Twilight again.
Haze let out a scream as he vanished into a golden light.  Grey was lying on the ground with her right hand stretched out to where Haze’s ankle had been before he vanished.  She had the symbol of banishment drawn onto her palm.  Twilight noticed that Grey’s right shoulder was even more severely injured than it had been before.  She thought back to when she cast the spell and remembered the cracks on the floor, and started to make a hypothesis.  The banishment spell has a powerful recoil, but whatever spell Grey had used on the Fissure was exponentially stronger.
“Grey…” Twilight climbed to her feet and scrambled over to her friend’s side.
“I’ll be fine…” Grey said between breaths.
“Someone tell me what’s going on.” Cloud demanded, having just been involved in a fight that he didn’t know the reason for.

Raid stood alone at the top of one of the towers, it was still night, as Celestia was unable to raise the sun.  She knew that ponies would start freaking out soon; it was already nine in the morning so the sun should have been out.  With the princess unable to raise the sun, there would be no day.
“Raid!” called a voice from the ground at the foot of the tower.  Raid was just barely able to hear it and at first she dismissed it as her imagination.  “Raid!” the voice called out louder as it moved away.
The unicorn looked down from the ledge and saw a silhouette moving about the ground.  She couldn’t identify the pony by his appearance, not from that distance, but his voice on the other hoof, was a completely different matter.  She took a step away from the ledge, hoping that Rogue hadn’t seen her yet.
“Why don’t you just go away?” Raid hid in the shadows of the doorway.
There was a short silence and Raid started to retreat back inside.  She wanted to avoid Rogue at just about any cost.  After he broke her trust during Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s wedding, she could barely stand to be in the same room as him.
“Raid…” his voice whispered from behind her the moment that she turned to face the inside of the tower.
Raid flung around, hoof outstretched.  Her hoof was caught by a bat wing though before it could make contact.  She yanked her hoof back and tripped falling backwards into the room.  Before she could hit the floor though, she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her.
“Careful.” Rogue whispered into Raid’s ear.  “Please hear me out.  I want to explain everything to you.”
“I don’t want…” Raid looked away for a few seconds before looking back at Rogue.  “All right…”
“When I was a colt, my parents and I were wandering the Badlands, forced out of our home village.  The other ponies in that village kicked my parents out for criminal activities, I was never told exactly what, but I knew that it had to have been awful.  Instead of leaving me with my aunt like they were supposed to, they snuck me out with them.” Rogue took a breath as he paused; dredging up these memories hurt him more than he felt they should.
“We soon found ourselves on the brink of starvation.  That’s when changelings attacked us, killing my parents in front of me.  They took me into their hive and tried using me as a food source for their queen, that’s how I knew her name.  I lived there for years, building connections with some, but not many.  Most of the changelings only saw me as a problem, something to get in their way.”
Raid slowly nodded as Rogue spoke.  She was starting to understand the truth behind what had happened.
“I ran away a year before I joined the guard.  During the wedding, when Twister was attacked, I had been fighting off a changeling that she’d warned me about.  When I turned around, she was unconscious.  Three changelings were feeding on her emotions.  I flew at them and knocked them away, but I was hit from behind right afterwards.” Rogue finished.
“I’m sorry… for everything.” Raid pulled herself closer to the bat pony.
“There’s one last thing that I need to tell you.” Rogue held her tightly.
“Yes?” Raid smiled her real smile for the first time in a very long time.
“I still love you.” Rogue kissed her forehead.
Before Raid had the chance to say anything back, Rogue spread his wings and flew away.  He needed to talk with the unicorn guard, see if he could get them to do something about the sun.  There were old stories about how the unicorns controlled day and night back before the founding of Equestria.  Maybe together they could move the sun, keep an all-out panic from happening.
Raid just stood out on the ledge to the tower watching as he flew away.  She had always known, deep down, that there was more to what had happened the day of the wedding.  At this moment though, she was simply happy to be able to talk to Rogue again.

“Twister was it?  Come over here.” Cocoon called to the  pegasus pony as she re-entered the room with three doctors.
“Yeah?” Twister glided over to the changeling.
“What kind of spell do you think could have caused this princess’s injury?” he gestured to Celestia as the doctors rushed in.
“A fire spell?” she asked back.
“Not quite.  Take a closer look.” Cocoon said back quietly.
Twister walked to the sun princess’s side and looked at the black mark on her coat.  It almost looked like, “…paint?” Twister’s face contorted as she tried to process this fact.
“Precisely.  Mental spells were used on both of them.  They were forced into a sleep like state.  To get them to wake up, we’ll need a dream walker, do you know of one?”
“Other than Princess Luna, no.” Twister thought, trying to come up with anypony, but she honestly didn’t know anypony who could do it.  Dream walking was an exceptionally rare talent.
“Let me try something.” said a stallion who was wrapped in a black robe.  The only detail of the pony that could be seen was his two bright green eyes.
“Who are you?” Twister spun around and glared at the pony.
“Does it really matter, I’m offering to help the princesses.” the stallion scoffed.
The stallion walked to Celestia’s side and a bright green light traveled from beneath his hood, touching the princess’s forehead.  Celestia shifted slightly, reacting to his magical touch.
“Time to wake up princess, it’s only dream.” the stallion quietly whispered.  “Come back to us.”
Celestia let out a tired sounding grunt.  “Wha-  what happened?” she asked.
“I was hoping that you could tell me.” the stallion turned away from the sun princess and faced her younger sister.  “Now, I’ll wake her back up.”
The same green magic reached out from under the stallion’s hood and touched Luna’s forehead.
“All I am able to remember is Haze coming into the room and everything went dark.” Celestia explained.
“Of course.” the stallion rolled his eyes.  “Luna, wake up.” he paused for a few seconds.  “My, that is quite the nightmare you have there.”
“She’s having a nightmare?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, worse than the one that you were having.” the stallion commented.
“I don’t remember a nightmare.” Celestia replied, staring at the suspicious pony.
“I didn’t think that you’d want to remember it.  Unlike what most dream walkers do, I am not trying to help you resolve internal conflicts, I am only trying to wake you up.”
The stallion began to realize that for Luna to wake up; he would have to interfere with her dream.  He hated messing with other ponies’ dreams.  They were supposed to be private unless the pony willingly spoke about them.
The stallion sighed.  “Good night everypony.  I’m going into her dream to see if I can pull her back.”
	
> Chapter 7 - Questions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Hm…” the stallion mused as he entered a dream like world.  “If I were a princess, oh dear Celestia I hate how that sounds…”
The stallion started to roam the barren landscape as the world began to take life.  The ground shifted as textures and objects came into existence.  He felt his robe slowly fade away as his form changed into that of a solid white earth pony.
The stallion let out a sigh.  “Princess Luna!” he called out.  “You can call me Lost; I’m here to help you!”
The environment took the form of a dense forest.  There was a fog that limited Lost’s vision to only about two yards.  There was no real source of light, but everything seemed to have a slight glow to it.  Lost slowly navigated the forest, hoping to meet up with the princess soon.
“Princess?” Lost yelled as he reached a clearing.  “If you can hear me, please answer!”
“Stop!” a second voice cried out.
The voice was coming from above Lost, up on the clouds.  Normally that would pose a problem, but this was a dream and so nothing was normal.  He blinked his eyes and became a pegasus.  He spread his wings and took to the sky in an attempt to find Luna.  He could eventually make out the image of an alicorn, seemingly hiding behind a cloud.
“Princess, you have to wake up!” Lost shouted.
Luna jumped from the cloud and flew into the sky.  Once she was in the cloud layer above Lost, a massive storm started up.  Now he would have to chase Luna while avoiding the random bolts of lightning.
“She doesn’t know it’s a dream…” Lost grumbled.  “She’s scared of something and that’s what’s keeping her in here.  Whatever that fear may be, it seems to reflected by me.”
Lost could hear Luna crying up above.  He raised his hoof to his face to think of a plan.  There had to be some way to get to her.  Whatever he was in this nightmare had to have been terrifying to Luna.  He would need to counteract his effect with something that Luna cared for as much as she feared him.
“Luna, your sister, she needs you.  Celestia needs you to come home.” Lost yelled.
“I don’t believe you!” Luna cried back.
“This is all a dream Luna, you should be able to see that better than anypony.  In the real world, Celestia is worried about you.  I know that I have no right to be here in your dreams, but I am doing this for the betterment of all of Equestria, so please, wake up.”
“How long until he-” Celestia stopped speaking when she saw the stallion take a step away from Luna.
“I’ve done my part, now it’s up to you.” he said as he turned and started toward the door.
“Who are you?” Cocoon asked as he intercepted Lost.
“Name’s Lost.” Lost answered before walking past the changeling.

“Where did you send that ‘Overlord’ guy?” Leon asked as he lifted Grey off of the ground.
“I honestly don’t know, but I had to get him away before he could kill any of you.  He doesn’t hesitate.  The only way that he’ll let you live is if he has plans for you and usually his plans aren’t very pleasant.” Grey explained as she was carried back into the castle.
Twilight watched as Leon took Grey into a small room.  She stayed back, thinking about what could have possibly made Haze into that monster.  Everypony who did things like that had some reason for it.  Sombra was corrupted by the magic that he resorted to using.  Vim was taken in a moment of weakness and told to do things that she would have never done before.  She wanted to know Haze’s story.
“What are you thinking about, Twi?” Spike asked running up to her side.
“Haze… Why is he the way that he is?” she asked, putting her hand to her forehead and running her fingers through her hair.
“Does there have to be a reason?” Spike asked, “He just seems kinda crazy to me.”
“There’s always a reason, somepony doesn’t just decide on day to go on a killing spree.” Twilight shook her head.
“That’s a good point, but how are we supposed to find out?” Spike continued.  “Come on Twi, let’s go inside.”
“All right, maybe Grey will know something…” Twilight pondered.
They walked inside the room and noticed a large framed portrait of a man with long silver hair.  He was wearing a white lab coat, so Twilight assumed him to be an important scientist.  Grey was resting in a chair while Yuffie bandaged her arms once again.  It probably wasn’t the best time for her questions, but Twilight had her mind set on knowing this.
“Grey, I have to ask you something.” Twilight said in a quiet voice.
“Go on.” Grey looked up into Twilight’s lilac eyes awaiting the question.
“What do you know about Haze from before he attacked?”
“Nothing.  Never heard of him until he leveled Canterlot.” she shook her head slowly, trying not to move either shoulder.
“Darn…” Twilight pouted.
“I might be able to help you.” laughed a cold voice as a swirling black and purple arch appeared.  “Step on through, Poppet.”
Twilight unconsciously took a step toward the portal before Leon shouted at her.
“Stop!” he yelled. “I don’t know of anyone who’s on our side who can use those portals.”
“I need the answer.” Twilight dismissed Leon’s fears as she stepped into the portal and Spike quickly scampered after her.
Twilight found herself in a town that was predominately a golden color with the sun setting on the horizon.  She could see a very short train that was flat at both ends scoot by on a set of railroad tracks.
“What is this place Twi?” Spike asked as he started to walk over toward a hill that they could see three people walking away from. 
“I don’t know Spike.” Twilight shook her head.  “Maybe it’s the town that Leon mentioned.”
“I don’t think so; we’d be able to see the castle.” Spike replied.
“Good point.  Why don’t we ask those people, maybe they could tell us?” Twilight suggested.
“What if it’s really obvious and they think that we’re crazy?” Spike asked.
“Spike, the day that we arrived in Ponyville, what did I say about the town?”
“Uhh… I don’t remember.  You said a lot of things about the town.”
“I said ‘All the ponies in this town are crazy,’ but now I live there and I love it.  I think that makes me crazy be default.” Twilight laughed.  “Come on, let’s go.”
As they drew nearer and nearer to the trio, they could start to overhear their conversation.
The larger boy groaned impatiently.  “The ghost train didn’t show up today…”
“Chill Pence, we’ll check out the other places tomorrow.” replied a taller blond haired boy.
“Yeah Pence, Hayner is right, we’ll check out the reflection tomorrow.” laughed the only girl in the group.
“I guess Olette.” Pence replied.
“Hi, I have a question.” Twilight smiled upon meeting with the three teens.
“Oh, hey.” Hayner replied.  “I haven’t seen you before.  Are you new around here?”
“Um, yeah.” Twilight giggled.  “Where is here exactly?”
“Twilight Town.” Olette answered.
“Hey, it’s like you belong here, huh Twi?” Spike joked.
“Your name’s Twi?” Hayner asked.
“Twilight, as impossible as it seems.”
“That is pretty funny.” Pence laughed.
“My name is Hayner, nice to meet you.” Hayner extended a hand out for a hand shake, to which Twilight obliged.
“I’m Pence.” Pence added.
“And I’m Olette.” Olette finished their side of the introductions.
“This is Spike.” Twilight pointed to her child companion.
“It’s been nice, but we’ve gotta run, it’s getting late.”  Hayner said as he looked at a large clock tower in the distance.
“All right, bye!” Twilight called back as the trio ran off in the direction that Twilight and Spike had come from.
“Now we know the name of the town, but not much else.” Spike commented, making it seem like they had accomplished nothing with that conversation.
“Yeah, but at least we met some nice people.” Twilight looked to the bright side.
They started walking toward a small area that was down a few stairs from them.  Twilight could see a small waterfall fountain that had been built into a wall.  She also thought that she saw something strange behind it so her curiosity, as usual, got the better of her.  As she moved closer to investigate, she realized that the reflection that she was seeing was not hers.  Instead, she saw Vim, wrapped in her robes.
“Vim?” Twilight asked, surprised to see the pony who had saved her life.
The reflection itself was actually of the pony, not of a human version.  She simply stared back at Twilight for a few seconds before stepping out of the waterfall.
“You want to know about the Overlord.” Vim said calmly.
“Yes, but how do you-” Twilight started.
“I’m part of you now, or did you forget?  I know everything that you do, but my mind is still beyond yours.” Vim answered.
“Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?” Twilight asked, trying to keep her patience.
“What I know of Haze is not much, but I hope that it will help you in understanding your enemy.  As a colt, he was blind, but he was gifted in magic.  He eventually crafted a spell of his own devising that was able to give him sight.  Years later, he met a young Star Swirl, whom he quickly befriended due to a common interest in spell creation.  One day, Haze attacked his friend and Star Swirl was forced to retaliate.  Their battle in your world lasted for two decades, neither unicorn giving way until Star Swirl was finally able to develop a spell that-” Vim stopped as Twilight started to speak.
“Banished him from my world and stranding him on yours.  I read the journal; I already knew all of that.” Twilight pointed out.
“But you didn’t see the point in it, did you?” Vim smirked beneath her hood.  “Haze was never Star Swirl’s friend; he was simply using the old foal.  He was a means to an end, and that end was the suffering and death of thousands of ponies.”
“But there has to be a reason for him to be the way that he is!” Twilight urged, refusing to give up her hope that he could be saved.
“He is beyond redemption Twilight.  Nothing that you say will change that fact.” Vim insisted.
“But how can a pony just be that bad naturally?”
“A born sociopath.  He does not care if others live or die.  He never has.” Vim shook her head.  “Tell Spike that I said hi.”
“Twilight!” Spike shook her as she was lying on the ground.
“Was it a dream?” Twilight asked herself aloud.
“You looked into the water and fell down.  I’ve been trying to wake you up for a couple minutes now.” Spike sounded worried.
“I’m fine.” Twilight smiled back.  “And Vim says hi.”
“Vim?” Spike asked, astonished to hear the name again.
“Apparently when she died during the fight against Sombra, she became part of me.  I don’t know why, but it’s true.  She says that everything that I know, she knows, but it’s kind of a one way thing.  She is still aware of things that I’m not apparently.” Twilight explained as best she could.
“Hi Vim.” Spike smiled and waved.

As Rogue arrived at the first set of unicorn bunks, he froze up.  There was an orange gold light shining over on the horizon.  The sun was rising, which could only mean one thing, Princess Celestia was awake.
Rogue turned back and started running at full speed to get back to the throne room.  Upon reaching the door, he was relieved to see that Celestia and Luna were standing up on their own hooves.  The bat pony was more than relieved to see that they were all right.
“Rogue, I need you to inform my queen that the princesses are accepting our aid.” Cocoon growled.
“Thank you.” Rogue smiled to the princesses as the stood by their thrones.  
The fact that they were willing to accept the changelings’ help meant that he would probably not be getting in very much trouble for bringing a changeling into the castle grounds.  He was going to be traveling back to the Badlands which would take a while, but if something happened, it would probably happen soon.
Rogue stepped out of the castle and took back to the skies, flying south toward the Badlands.  He wasn’t overly fond of the area, but it was necessary for the safety and overall wellbeing of Equestria that he gets there as soon as possible.  The changelings would increase their numbers and make it possible to protect a great deal more civilians.  Most changelings were warriors; they had to be to survive out in the Badlands with so many larger monsters.
It wasn’t until that night that he was able to reach the hive that Chrysalis lived in.  He was allowed to pass through without interruption as the guards on duty were expecting him.  As he delved deeper into the hive, a tall cloaked changeling stepped out of one of the tunnels.
“Queen Chrysalis, the princesses have accepted your aid.” Rogue told the changeling, panting slightly as he had not had a break for running around in a very long time.
“Assemble the army.” Chrysalis said calmly.
Rogue watched as dozens of armored changelings, followed by countless unarmored changelings marched out and took flight.  An impossibly loud buzzing sound nearly deafened the bat pony’s sensitive ears.  That was another problem that he had with them, they were too loud.  After waiting a few minutes for the majority of the changelings to leave, Rogue set out after them.
“I’ll be back soon.” Rogue promised himself.

“So those are the Heartless?” Raid asked Celestia as the pair sat out on a balcony.
Beneath them shifted a living mass of shadow.  They moved in what Raid could only describe as a lopsided manner, tilting heavily toward whichever hoof was about to touch the ground.
“Yes.” Celestia nodded back.  “This time, I can help fight them though.  The light is their most devastating weakness, and so with the rise of the sun this morning, I can weaken, if not destroy their forces.”
The yellow sphere peeked over the horizon, as if looking at the Heartless.  The farthest back of the Heartless fell to the ground and their screeches of agony could be heard from anywhere in Canterlot.
Before much else could befall the Heartless as a result of the sun’s light, clouds quickly moved to block out its rays.  Raid could have sworn that she heard Celestia curse under her breath, but she felt that she had to have been imagining it.
“I’m going down there.” Raid said matter-of-factly.
“It’s too dangerous, I can’t allow for you to do this.” Celestia said, making Raid pause on the ledge of the balcony.
“There are innocent ponies down there.  I joined the Royal Guard to protect ponies like them, and I am not going to let anything stop me from performing that task.” Raid leapt from the ledge of the balcony, using her magic to not only slow her fall, but shoot beams of pink light at the Heartless.
“Need some help there?” shouted a familiar voice as Raid felt four hooves wrap around her body.
“Rogue!” Raid smiled up.
“I brought some backup.” Rogue directed Raid’s attention to a massive swarm of changelings that was heading straight for them.
“Why are they helping us anyway?” Raid asked, having not spoken to Rogue about that part of his plan yet.
“With ponies dead, they would lose their food source.  I figure that they can help us stay alive.” Rogue smirked.  “Fire at will!” he shouted at the changelings who were just arriving on the scene.
“Which one’s Will?” Cocoon asked as he flew over Rogue and Raid’s heads.
“Now you speak to me, huh?  Just zap them.” Rogue shook his head, smiling widely the whole time.
“I have an idea.  Rogue, fly me over that group right there.  With your help, I can shoot them with my magic while staying out of their reach.” Raid suggested.
“Good idea.” Rogue flew over to a distant group of Heartless, away from where the changelings were fighting them.
There was a mess of green blasts shooting down from the sky and across the ground.  The changelings were making a massive dent in the Heartless forces, but it wasn’t enough.  Even as more changeling’s arrived on the battlefield, Heartless seemed to spawn from the air itself, appearing from nowhere.
The castle gates opened and a large number of unicorn guards charged out.  The first few only had time to cast one or two spells before being eviscerated by the Heartless.  At one point, Raid froze up from fear, terrified beyond belief at how brutal the creatures were.  The unicorns that didn’t immediately fall retreated back into the gate.  A few minutes later, they came back out with pegasi carrying them in a very similar way to what Rogue was doing for Raid.
“Raid, are you still able to fight?” Rogue asked, snapping Raid out of her dazed state.
“Ye- yeah…” she stuttered back, shooting a pink bolt at one of the Heartless that was coming close to a changeling.  
“All right, let me know if you can’t do it anymore though.” Rogue insisted.
“I- I will.” Raid whispered back.
She felt that she needed to be strong, that she needed to be as brave as Tempest would have been.  He would have charged into that fight even without magic; without any way to fight them.  Rogue had done almost the same thing by swooping in at the last moment to catch her.

Haze slowly opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings.  A desolate plain of nothing but sand.  The sun beat down on him heavily as he climbed to his feet.
“Still in this universe… which means that I still have a chance to kill them.” he smirked at the realization.  “That bat pony will be the first to die.”
As Haze wandered the barren wastelands, he noticed that dark clouds had covered the sky except for a single light.  The light was coming from a massive moon that had taken the shape of a heart.  Beneath it stood a pillar that towered over every other thing surrounding it.
“What’s this?” Haze asked as he strolled around the pillar.
When he reached the other side, he saw something that he was unprepared for.  Keyblades, thousands if not millions of them, were impaled into the ground.  He walked over to them to investigate, noticing that each one of them was severely aged.  Some were broken slightly; something that he was not even aware could happen to a weapon like the Keyblade.
Haze teleported up to the top of the pillar that was beneath the heart shaped moon.  “Is this really it?  Is this Kingdom Hearts?”
He got no answers, but that was what he was expecting.  Moments later, his mind was slammed by a single thought.  Seven Lights and Thirteen Darks.  The key to Kingdom Hearts would be forged at the clash of seven lights and thirteen darks.
“A nice little game of hide and seek.  I get to find some darks and some lights, open a great big door, and even take over another universe or two.” Haze sang cheerfully.
He was already devising a plan for acquiring his thirteen darks; the seven lights were a problem though.  Finding seven others whose hearts were strong enough in the light to qualify.  Some of the Elements of Harmony’s former wielders would work, but not all of them, not with his plan.

“Where do you think they are?” Grey asked after finally gaining the strength to walk again.
“Cid is attempting to track the portal that Twilight and Spike took out of here, but it will take some time.  While we wait, perhaps you could join Yuffie outside and wait for our guests.  They are also Keyblade wielders, like Twilight.” Leon suggested.  “With their magic, maybe they’ll have a better chance of following her than Cid’s computers will.”
“Who are they?” Grey asked.
“They’re names are Sora and Riku.  We’ve known them for a while now, and I heard that Riku might have just passed his Mark of Mastery exam, making him a Keyblade master.” Leon replied, thinking back to when he had first met the two of them and how much they’d grown since.
“I guess could…”  Grey sighed, still unable to stop worrying about Twilight and Spike.  The thought rushed into her head suddenly, Equestria was still in trouble, they had to get back before even more died.  She would need Twilight’s help to travel there though, with her lack of teleportation spells, Grey wouldn’t be getting there on her own.
She slowly walked outside and saw Yuffie sitting on a rail, throwing shuriken down at some Heartless.  She cackled slightly as the Heartless burst into nothingness.
“Yuffie?” Grey approached the seated ninja.
“Yeah?” Yuffie spun around and looked up at Grey.  “What do you need?”
“Leon sent me out here to wait with you for the Keyblade wielders.” Grey explained, sitting down next to Yuffie.
“Okay!” Yuffie said cheerfully.  “They should be here pretty soon.”
Grey nodded and silently sat next to Yuffie as they waited for the two Keyblade wielders to arrive.
	
> Chapter 8 - Hunt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight walked over to a bench and sat down.  She thought back to how she arrived in Twilight Town.  She’d taken a portal of unknown origins, to an unknown location, simply because there was a chance to get some answers to the questions that were burning in her mind.  It was reckless, a word that could single hoofedly explain her entire life of late.  She had gotten caught up with an evil king, corrupted by dark powers, a tyrant who had taken over an entire universe, and was following disembodied voices.  The very definition of reckless.
“But I can’t stop now.” Twilight said to herself.  “Not when I’m so close to having an answer.”
“What are you talking about Twilight?” Spike asked as he sat down next to her.
“The reason for Haze’s actions, I know that I’m getting close to the answer.” Twilight explained.
“But I thought that Vim told you that he was just crazy.  He doesn’t have a reason.” Spike rebutted.
“Not that she was aware of.  I won’t give up so easily.” Twilight smirked as she started to formulate a plan for once she met with Haze.
“Vim basically told you to stop looking into it, that Haze was evil from the start.  There’s nothing more to it, so please, take it as a warning and stop searching for the answers, for me…” Spike pled.
“Spike…” Twilight sighed, turning her head to face her young assistant.  “I have to do this, if I don’t stop Haze, then all of Equestria and this universe will be destroyed.  I need to find him first though…” Twilight trailed off back into her thoughts.
Twilight climber back to her feet and walked up the hill that Hayner, Pence, and Olette had been leaving when she’d first seen them.  It was a hill which meant that she might be able to see something up there, something that could help her with her quest.  There was a chance that she could see something or maybe even Haze, which she couldn’t determine if it would be good or bad luck.
Upon reaching the flat part at the top of the hill, she looked out over the railed ledge.  The sun was still setting in the distance and a set of train tracks seemed to go endlessly toward that sunset.  As she stood there and watched, she saw a train appear from nowhere and drive under the hill.  The sudden appearance of the train had piqued her interest and she turned around to follow the train tracks with her eyes.  The tracks came out the other side of the hill and went to a train station.
That train had something special about it; trains don’t normally just appear and disappear.  With any luck, she would be able to find it at a train station.  As she spun around and started running down the hill, she passed Spike in a blur.  Spike grunted as he ran after her.
She followed the train tracks until she reached a small train station that had a single train under its cover.  It was not, however, the same train that she had seen while she was on the hill.  But the place that she was in had been in so far was fairly small and there was no sign of anything of any significance, so she decided to take the train.
She was relieved to find out that there was no cost for boarding due to a lack of money for this universe.  Twilight wasn’t sure how useful her bits would be there, seeing as they were currency from a whole different plain of existence.
Twilight quickly boarded the train, Spike following only feet behind her.  They took a seat next to the entrance and only waited about half a minute for the train to start moving.  Aside from the pair of them, the train was otherwise empty.  Both Twilight and Spike took this as a chance to rest up a bit before they had to go anywhere else.
“We will be arriving in Central Station in Twilight Town’s Station Plaza in about five minutes.  Please make sure that you have all of your belongings and have a nice evening.” a voice echoed through the train.
Twilight let out a gasp as soon as the voice started, and a second once it stopped.  She began to frantically look around the train for the origin, but it was hard to pinpoint.  The voice sounded like it was coming both from in front of them and behind them at the same time.  It made her think back to see if she’d ever experienced anything like that before.  The memory slowly came back to her, back in Canterlot High School, Twilight had heard Principal Celestia’s voice come from nowhere and Rarity had told her that it was just the intercom.  She just guessed that the train had its own intercom system.
As the train slowed to a halt about six minutes later, Twilight climbed back to her feet and walked off of the train.  She was relieved to see that the train that she’d seen from up on the hill was stopped in the station.
The train was only one car and was primarily purple.  There was a gold trimming on a decent portion of the train.  A hat that resembled Star Swirl the Bearded’s hat was on the top of the front side.
There were a few other people in the train station, most of who were sticking to the walls like flies.  They casually leaned as if waiting for another person to arrive.  Each one of these people wore shirts that advertised something called the “Struggle Tournament.”  There was a list of winners beneath the title.  Setzer, Seifer, Hayner, Sora…  The list went on.
“I have arrived.” declared an overly dressed man as he entered the Central Station.
“Setzer!” a couple of girls exclaimed, falling to the side.
Twilight rolled her eyes at the arrogance of the man who had just entered the room.
“I will reclaim the title which is rightfully mine on this year’s Struggle.  I’ll do it for all of you, my adoring fans.  No one will be able to stand in my way, I will take back my trophy!” promised the man as he ran his right hand through his long silver hair.
“Oh brother…” Twilight sighed as she turned away and looked back to the mysterious train.  “Come on Spike, let’s leave Lover Boy to his ‘adoring fans’ and get out of here.” 
“Are you sure that you want to get on that train?  We don’t know where it goes; for all we know it could be a trap.” Spike argued.
“I went through a random portal thing; I really doubt that the train could be much scarier than that.” Twilight stated as she walked through the doorway and took a seat on the train.
Spike scampered in after her and took a seat beside her again, just like before.  The train took off without warning and sped into the distance.  The ride felt like it took a couple of hours, but it was hard to tell because the sun never moved in the sky, like the entire world was trapped in a perpetual sunset.
The train skidded to a halt, catching both Twilight and Spike off guard, causing them to fall from their seats.  Once back on their feet though, they walked off of the train, just glad that the fall hadn’t actually hurt either of them.  When they left the train, it immediately drove off onto tracks that vanished after a few yards.
“Where are we?” Spike asked as he walked to the edge of the grassy area that they had stepped out onto.
“I don’t know Spike.” Twilight looked around them.  There were a few trees and one massive tower, but aside from them, the floating piece of land was barren.
“Is it magic that’s keeping this place up?” Spike asked as he tossed a clump of dirt over the edge and watched as it fell through the emptiness.
“I would assume so, nothing else would explain it.” Twilight commented, still mesmerized by the tower.  “Let’s see what’s inside of this place.”
“But Twilight!” Spike groaned, resentfully following Twilight into the door.
A set of stairs spiraled up as far as the eye could see.  As the pair climbed these stairs, they reached a couple of circular rooms, after each, the stairs changed.  The third set of stairs was what Twilight found most intriguing.  They were in a void and simply stretched out forward for a short distance.  At either end was a door.  As she made her way up those stairs, she couldn’t help but feel anxious about who, or what, was waiting for her on the other side of the door.
She’d been feeling a strong presence ever since she had entered the tower, but as she climbed, it became more and more prominent.  She started to wander if Spike felt it, however, she didn’t ask because she knew that if he didn’t feel it, hearing about it would make him even more determined to turn back.  If he did feel it though, he would probably brush it off as something that he’d eaten so long as Twilight said nothing.
Spike froze up, unable to bring himself to move as he felt something touch his ankle.  It felt like something long and smooth was dragged across his flesh.  He gulped as he tried to convince himself not to look down.  Despite his effort, he was unable to fight off the urge and his eyes locked with a dark portal forming at his feet.
“Twilight!” Spike screamed.  “Help!”
As Twilight turned to face Spike, she saw the dark tendrils wrap around his body and drag him down into the portal.  She hurriedly reached out her hand for him, but he was just out of her reach.  She could see tears in his eyes as the darkness swallowed him.
“Spike!” Twilight screamed.  “Spike!  Come back!”
Twilight was hyperventilating at that point.  She fell to her knees and held her head in her hands and wept loudly.  It was one thing hearing about it happening from the Crusaders, it was a whole other thing seeing it first hoof.
“Gi- give him b- back…” Twilight sobbed.  “Pl- please…”
As her voice quieted, she could hear the door behind her open.  She turned around and peeked between her fingers at an extraordinarily tall man.  He was wrapped in a blue robe that had a lighter blue trim on the cuffs at the wrists and the center where the two ends met.  The blue hat on his head was adorned with a crescent moon and two five point stars.  The long grey beard and hair covered the top portion of the body of his robe.  His eyes seemed almost too large to be real as he looked down at Twilight.
“Is something the matter?” he asked.  His voice was calm, but old and full of wisdom.
Twilight wanted to scream at him, to demand that he tell her where Spike was.  She wanted to do so much, but instead, all she could bring herself to do was nod as she sobbed.
“Come with me, perhaps we can help each other.” the old man stretched out his hand and waited calmly for Twilight to take it.
Once their hands were joined, the old man helped her to her feet and led her up the last few stairs.  Twilight was done caring about Haze, about the Heartless, about the Fissure.  All she wanted to do was make sure that Spike was safe.

Spike flailed wildly as he tried to fight off the darkness.  As he finally opened his eyes he noticed that he wasn’t in the tower anymore.  He was all alone in a dark forest.  The sun barely managed to break through the dense leaves overhead.
He slowly climbed up onto his claws…  “Claws?” Spike asked himself as he looked down to his purple scaled feet.  He was a dragon once more.  Lost deep in the Everfree Forest, but he was himself again and he was back in Equestria.
“Twilight?” Spike called out, hoping to Celestia that he would get a response from the alicorn.  “Twilight, are you there?”
A low growl replied to his call as a pair of glowing green eyes looked over at him from a bush.  He could hear the familiar sound of a timberwolf moving, the unmistakable sound of wooden planks sliding across each other.
Spike summoned his Keyblade, the flash of light causing the timberwolf to recoil backwards.  Once it regained its eyesight, it lunged at Spike, but the dragon was fairly easily capable of blocking the attack.  Spike struck the timberwolf’s leg, causing the brittle wood to shatter into pieces.  As the timberwolf hit the ground, Spike swung his Keyblade at it one more time, destroying its head.
“Spike?” asked a familiar voice.  “Is that you?”
“Grey?” Spike turned around and saw the bat pony leaned up against a tree.  “How did we get here?”
“I honestly have no idea.  A black vortex like hole formed under me just as the two Keyblade wielders were about to arrive in the Hollow Bastion.  It swallowed me and I woke up here.” Grey explained.  “Where’s Twilight?”
“I don’t know.  I was taken by something like what you described, but Twilight wasn’t.  The last thing that I heard before I ended up here was Twilight yelling my name.” Spike shook his head.
“We’ll find a way to get her back here.  If we could come back to Equestria, then it shouldn’t be too hard to get Twilight back here, we just need to figure out how we got back.” Grey suggested, walking away from the tree that she had been leaning against.
She had a bad limp as she avoided letting her front right hoof touch the ground.  Her wings were pretty badly beaten, preventing her from flying.  Grey looked more like a cripple than the interdimensional warrior pony that Spike had come to know her as.
“If we’re in the part of the Everfree that I think we’re in, then Fluttershy’s cottage should be this way.” Spike pointed in the direction that the sunlight was coming from.  “It’s getting late and the forest isn’t a safe place to spend a night, so going to Fluttershy’s would be the safest thing to do.”
Grey nodded and the two set off in the direction of the sunset.  There were no definite paths in the Everfree Forest except for the one that led to the Castle of the Two Sisters.  Most of the forest was a big mess that was almost impossible to navigate… almost.  Spike, thanks to his numerous trips, was getting pretty good at finding his way around.  Grey only had the knowledge of the book about it and her two short trips into it, neither trip took her very far though.
As the pair moved through the darkened forest, they met almost no opposition.  The closest to a fight that they came was when a cockatrice came near them.  Luckily for them, it was preoccupied with a pack of hungry timberwolves and the pair was able to sneak by without a fight.
Soon they found themselves standing near a small cottage just outside of the Everfree Forest.  Two or three chickens were inside of a small fenced off area at the back of the home.  A light shown through a window, letting Spike know that Fluttershy was home and they needed some help.  Fluttershy was pretty good at fixing ponies up thanks to all the work she did on other animals, like mice.
Spike knocked on the front door once they got around the cottage.  Hoofsteps could be heard on the other side of the door.  As the door slowly creaked open, the yellow pegasus poked her muzzle through the door.
“Spike!” she shouted as she flung the door open and wrapped her hooves around the baby dragon.  “Where’s Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as she noticed that her friend was not with Spike.
“I don’t know…” Spike answered.  “I think that she’s stuck on another world.”
“Another world?” Fluttershy asked back, almost losing her balance from the recoil of the thought.  “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a long story, but we don’t have time for it right now.  This is Grey, she needs some help.” Spike pointed to the bat pony mare behind him.
“Oh my!” Fluttershy gasped, seeing the bat pony’s hoof and wings.  “Please come in.” she urged, almost pulling Grey into her home.
With no other choice, Grey was forced onto the yellow pegasus’s couch where she almost immediately had her hoof started on.  Fluttershy pulled out some cloth and wrapped the hoof in it.  Seconds later the pegasus was already working on patching up Grey’s wings, or at least keeping them still until they had time to heal.
“Here,” Fluttershy offered quietly as she passed a small pill to the wounded bat pony.  “It’s some medicine that should help you feel better.”
“Thank you, but you really don’t have to do all of this.” Grey tried to explain, taking the pill from Fluttershy.
“I know, but you needed help.” the pony explained as she watched the bat pony drift off to sleep.
“I’ve got to go Fluttershy.” Spike said, speaking for the first time since Fluttershy started caring for Grey.  “I need to bring Twilight home, but I can’t let Grey get hurt any more than she already has.  Please keep her from coming after me.” Spike half begged.
“I’ll try.” Fluttershy nodded.
“And one last thing.  Let the others know that I’m all right.” Spike requested before heading out the door before Fluttershy could answer.
Spike ran to the library, hoping that he could find a book that could help him.  He always seemed to find something that could help Twilight when he looked hard enough, so there was a chance that he could find something that he needed.
He searched the library until the sun started to light up the tree’s interior.  Spike was beginning to understand how Twilight felt when she was on a deadline; he could barely manage to get a breath to pass through his body.  There was nothing in the entire library that told him how to get back to save Twilight.
Spike’s frustration was brought to a halt when he heard the door to the library slowly creak open.  The dragon spun around, immediately calling upon his Keyblade and aiming it straight at the pony who stood in the doorway.
“I’m here to help.” said an unfamiliar voice.
“Who are you?” Spike asked, still not very trusting of the mysterious, cloaked stallion.
“A friend of a friend.  You can call me Lost.” he answered.

Haze walked through the wasteland known as the Keyblade Graveyard for what felt like an eternity before he heard a voice.
“I’m in line for a new ally, and I think that you and I, we share some goals.” said a man’s voice.
“Perhaps you can be of use to me.  Tell me who you are and maybe we’ll talk.” Haze said in his most calm voice, which was a little jumpy.
“Name’s Braig.”
The man wore a black hooded cloak with a chain around the collar.  His black hair was slicked back and tied in a ponytail.  A scar ran from just under his left eye, all the way down his cheek until it ended at the bottom of his jaw line.  Braig wore an eye patch covering his right eye.  In his right hand was a large weapon of some sort.  It had spike looking things coming off of the back and a protrusion from the bottom that Braig was holding it from.
“Braig huh?  What’s that you hand there?” Haze asked his potential ally.
“Ain’t you ever seen a gun before?” Braig asked in an arrogant tone.
“Guns aren’t around where I’m from.  Tell me, what does it do?” Haze continued his interrogation.
Braig sighed and shrugged.  “They shoot.  Got that Mister Pony?” 
“Tell me more about this Clash of Seven and Thirteen.  I’d like to know just what I need to do to make everything go as planned.  The ‘dos and don’ts’ of making the door.”
“Don’t rely on making other people into your Thirteen if they aren’t willing.  The heart is a fickle thing and is not so easily tamed.  My old master didn’t understand this and it led to his downfall.” Braig explained.
Haze nodded as he resumed his walk.  “I know how to do it then, and it shouldn’t require any unwilling subjects, at least for the darkness.  The warriors of the light should be willing to do anything to protect their home.”
“You sound concerned about something.” Braig commented.
“Just an old enemy who might become bothersome.  Nothing I can’t handle, assuming that I am able to return to Equestria.” Haze smirked as he half danced down the path between the fields of ancient Keyblades.
“I have an idea for your return trip, but it will be tricky.  We’ll need a Keyblade wielder.”
“What a coincidence, I happen to have a Keyblade wielder hunting me down as we speak.  Is it a problem that she wishes to inflict intense physical harm to me?” Haze asked playfully.
“Shouldn’t be.” Braig laughed back.  “I think that this’ll be fun.”

Celestia paced impatiently as she waited for her guards to come up with a plan to get Twilight and Spike back.  It had come to her knowledge after being awakened by Lost that they had been taken to another plane of existence.  They were possibly in danger and yet, Celestia, with all her power and wisdom, was once again unable to help her student.
Many of the evens in the past, the sun princess could have interfered and aided her student, but she’d chosen not to in the hopes of molding that student into the great leader that she was destined to be.  Now though, the lack of aid was killing Celestia, she couldn’t stand not being able to do anything, being completely helpless.
She could hear the sound of hooves as they gently touched the tiles of the floor behind her.  Celestia turned around to see her sister standing in the doorway with a worried expression.  Unable to determine if the worry was for Equestria or Celestia, the princess decided to speak for the first time in nearly an hour of non-stop attempts to hold conversations with her.
“What is troubling you, Sister?” Celestia asked.
“She will be fine.” Luna tried to comfort the elder alicorn.  “You told me this back when she was fighting against Sombra.”
“He was weaker, more open to negotiations.  The Overlord is a monster that cannot be reasoned with, he cannot be imprisoned, and he cannot be killed.  I do not see any way that she can succeed in this endeavor.” Celestia, for the first time in her long life, doubted in her most faithful student.
“If that was true, then the world would have ended long before Twilight was even thought of.   But she is here today, and she has proven her merit well beyond anypony’s expectations.  Anypony, except for you that is.  You always believed in her, so why start doubting her now?” Luna explained, placing her wing over her sister.
Celestia silently nodded and stepped back inside the castle.  The group of guards having the discussion froze in place the moment that they saw her.  Their points dropped off mid word and a silence fell upon the room.
None of the ponies wanted to speak, but they were all curious.  Had their princess been crying?  Her eyes were reddened and they could almost make out the streaks on her coat where the tears had fallen.  They hadn’t made much, if any progress, on deciding how to save the young princess, her dragon, or the mysterious mare that was with them.
“We’ve been unable to make a decision as of yet, princess.  I am deeply sorry.” one guard stated.
“Research the spell that that were used.  Once we know what it was, we can have a spell crafter make a spell to reverse it.” said a mare as she stepped into the room.
“Shimmer?  Is that you?” Celestia asked, turning to face the mare.
Shimmer was a considerate mare to a point, but once that point was reached she would rush everything.  Her mane was light blue and had a single black streak that ran down the very edge; her tail had no such streak.  Her coat was almost a midnight blue.  Her eyes were interesting for a pony, one was orange and the other was pink.  The color of her magic fluctuated almost randomly over time, changing colors in almost a mesmerizing way.
“Yeah.  So how’s my plan?” she asked as she took another step toward the princess.
“It may work.  But we’ll need to get a team on it immediately.  Shimmer, I trust that you know some capable ponies?” Celestia answered, still trying to regain her composure.
“Considering that the pony who is to blame for this whole mess is also the pony at the top of the list I would have recommended, I have a small team.  I’ll be taking lead since Haze is… gone.” Shimmer explained.  “The rest of the team is made up of ponies that teach at your school, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go and recruit them immediately.”
“Go.” Celestia nodded to the mare, sending her on her way.  “Twilight… I’ll find you…”

“Tell me child, what is your name?” the old man asked as he sat behind a desk.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight answered fairly easily having been given time to regain her composure.
“Twilight Sparkle, my name is Yen Sid.” the old man answered.  “Now tell me, why were you crying?”
“Spike was taken from me again…” it was all that Twilight could do not to cry again.
“He must be very important to you.” Yen Sid pointed out.  “Things have a way of working themselves out, is something many people have said in the past.  Others chose to take their challenges and face them, to take back what they cared about.  Which kind of person are you?”
“I’m going to find him.” Twilight said, still shaking.
“Good.  Now, tell me, how did you arrive at my tower?” Yen Sid asked.
“I took a strange looking train here.” she answered.
“That train only appears to those who have the Key.  That means that you must also be a wielder.” Yen Sid assumed.
“Yes, I have the Keyblade.” Twilight nodded.
“I was once a teacher to many Keyblade wielders, however I had given up my Keyblade many years ago.  I have recently however, held the Mark of Mastery Exam.  The test to prove one’s merit as a Keyblade wielder, and to those who pass, they become Keyblade masters.” Yen Sid explained, standing up from his seat.
“There’s a test?” Twilight half shouted.  “I didn’t study!  I don’t even know what to study!  Oh no, oh no, oh-”
“Relax.  It is not that kind of a test.” Yen Sid tried to quell Twilight’s anxiety.  “It is a test that is different for every wielder who takes it.  It usually involves two wielders, but seeing as you are currently alone, I can administer a test to just you if you would like.”
“What does it mean to be a master?” she asked hesitantly.
“It is a title that gives the right to teach about the Keyblade to others.  It is a sign that a wielder neither fears, nor shuns the darkness or the light, and instead embraces them for they are part of everything.”
“All right.” Twilight said calmly.  “I will take this test, and I will not fail.”
“Good.  I will find the perfect kind of test for you, and administer it as soon as I am able.” Master Yen Sid said with a tone of finality.
	
> Chapter 9 - Mastery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Twilight, I have discovered the test that best suits you.” Yen Sid said suddenly.
“What is it?” Twilight asked, still anxious about a test.
“Are you aware that two hearts reside in your body?  One heart is of hope and love while the other is of fear and regret.” Yen Sid explained.  “I feel that a test in which you explore this second heart is appropriate.”
“Exploring Vim’s heart?” Twilight didn’t understand, how could somepony explore a heart?
“Sit down here.” Yen Sid pointed to a chair in the corner of the room.
Twilight walked over to the chair and sat down.  She let her body slowly relax until Yen Sid cast a spell on her that out her into a deep sleep.  His voice was still audible in her sleep, but she wasn’t sure if it was part of a dream or not.
“Twilight, you must search your heart for the point where your heart meets hers.  Once you find that point, you must enter her heart and resolve her internal conflicts.  Her heart is broken in a way that I’ve never seen.” Yen Sid’s voice rang through the empty void.
“But how will I find it?  How will I find her heart?” Twilight called back.
“Her heart is connected to yours in the place where your path separates.” Yen Sid’s voice trailed off, until it became inaudible after the statement.  If there was any additional advice that was intended for Twilight, she was unaware of it.
Seconds later, Twilight watched in awe as an entire world formed around her.  She found herself surrounded by mazelike walls of bookshelves.  It was like a giant library, which Twilight found to be useful.
“Libraries are organized, that can help with finding Vim.” Twilight said to herself as she started making her way through the enormous library.
Twilight calmly walked through the narrow paths between the towering bookshelves.  Her mind drifted as she traveled, wondering where Vim’s heart would be.  In a library, stories can fit into so many categories; it could be under “V” for her name or maybe “M”, there was the possibility of it being under “S” for Sombra since that was when they last really saw each other, unless she took into consideration the waterfall in Twilight Town.  There might even be a chronological section, which would be her first choice.
She teleported herself to where she would have placed an area for her life in chronological order.  Every year of her life had its own door.  She started at the very end, right about the time that Vim had died.  To her surprise, there were two doors that had her current age listed.  Twilight stepped through the second door, just out of curiosity, a trait that seemed to get the best of her more often than not.
On the other side, she saw that it had doors for everyday leading up to when Vim died.  Not a single day past that fight was in the corridor.  It didn’t make sense.  A lot of things had happened since she beat Sombra, so Twilight stepped through it, thinking that there was a chance that it was Vim’s memory.
Once she passed through the door, she was unable to interact with anything.  She watched through Vim’s eyes as the pony cast a teleportation spell.  The pain was unspeakable as she felt the body tumble to the ground.
“Go now… avenge… our dragons…” Vim whispered through a cracked voice.
Twilight couldn’t bear the thought of having to see Vim die again so she backed out of the memory.  She didn’t want that to be where she had to go, she couldn’t help with anything when Vim was already dead.  Twilight retreated back to the corridor and galloped into the main part of the library once again.  She walked down the wall of doors that led to each and every year that she had lived.  Each door had a second door for the same year sitting right next to it, Vim’s doors.
She walked until she reached the year before she had taken her entry exam to get into Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.  At that door, there was only one.  The implication of what that meant made no sense though.  It meant that before Twilight became Celestia’s student, Vim didn’t exist; it meant that she was barely older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Twilight back tracked to the year that she’d taken her exam and walked into Vim’s door for that year.  She walked into the earliest memory that Vim had, expecting to see from the eyes of a newborn foal.  Instead, the princess was met with a very similar scene.  She was in the small classroom with four ponies judging her as she attempted to hatch Spike’s egg.
“This is my memory though…” Twilight shook her head.  “Did I go through the wrong door or something?”
She watched through her own eyes as she struggled with hatching Spike’s egg, and just when the little filly had given up hope, Twilight expected there to be a loud blast, startling her and helping her hatch the egg.  Instead, there was nothing.  Absolute silence aside from the sound of quills scratching across paper.  One of the judges climbed to his hooves.
“I’m sorry Miss Sparkle, but you didn’t pass.  I would advise more practice and I wish you better luck next year.” the stallion said before leaving the room with his three companions.
Twilight watched in horror as her father approached her and gave her a warm hug.  “I’m sorry honey, how about we go out for ice cream and try to make the best of the day?  How’s that sound?” Night Light asked.
Twilight wanted to cry, she didn’t know what was going on.  Nothing was right, she was supposed to pass the test, not fail.  She wanted to accept her father’s offer, but instead, when the filly spoke, she said something that Twilight would have never imagined.  “No!” the filly shouted angrily.  “I don’t want to go to this stupid school anyway!  Princess Celestia doesn’t deserve me!” It was an anger fueled by sorrow that caused her to shout.  The older Twilight didn’t understand why she would have ever said anything like that.
“Twilight dear, your father is just trying to be nice.  You should apologize for yelling at him like that.” Twilight’s mother, Velvet, argued.
The filly Twilight sobbed as her parents both tried to comfort her.  The older Twilight left the memory, unsure of what she had just seen.  It wasn’t correct, something had changed her memory, unless…  She had to be sure.  She went into the next memory, the day after the test.
She was sitting alone in her room with the lights off, trying to read a spell book.  The filly was mumbling incoherently as her door was being beaten on.  Twilight had no control over the body, seeing as she was just a guest in her own memory.
It was hard to see the book, but eventually she saw the kind of spell that the younger her was reading about.  It was dark magic, darker than even what King Sombra had been using when she’d fought him in the Castle of the Two Sisters.  Twilight knew about the spell, but only because of a warning from Princess Celestia to avoid even reading the book.  She was given an example of what one of the weaker spells was capable of, and that was to destroy matter that was surrounding the spell caster.  If cast improperly, the spell would only result in an explosion with a blast radius of about a hundred feet, destroying, but still leaving the rubble, of everything surrounding the caster.
Twilight wondered why she would ever be looking at a book like that, or how it even came into her possession.  It was supposed to be under strict protection by a small army of guards and only Princess Celestia herself was allowed to see it.
The beating on Twilight’s bedroom door intensified and the filly turned around slowly to check her barricade.  All of the furniture in the bedroom had been forced up against the door, holding it closed against the force outside.  Twilight could faintly hear her mother and father shouting from the other side of the door, pleading with her to just come out and talk.
The filly turned back to her book and started trying to cast the spell.  Her horn flared up a lilac aura that expanded as she channeled more and more power into the spell.  Twilight wanted more than anything to close her eyes, to stop herself somehow.  She was powerless though, unable to save her family.
“Twily!” Shining Armor’s voice shouted from the other side of the door, causing the filly to turn her head back to the door, interrupting her spell.
The incomplete spell caused a massive explosion, destroying her entire house and rendering the filly unconscious.  While asleep, she could hear a voice, one familiar to the older mare, but foreign to the youthful filly.
“Come to me and I will save you.  I will take you in and give you a place to call home.  A chance to seek revenge on the princess that caused all of this.” the voice promised.
“Who are you?” demanded the filly.
“I am King Sombra.” the voice answered.  “And what is your name, little filly?”
“Twilight Sparkle.” the filly snipped back.
“Hm, this is an interesting turn of events.  For me, this is our second meeting, but I think that for you, it is our first.  If you become my pupil, I can teach you how to control the darkness in your heart.” Sombra promised.
“What’s the catch?” Twilight asked back.
“Eternal servitude and unquestioned loyalty to me.” Sombra demanded.  “Should you choose to accept, the Twilight Sparkle that the world knows will die and Midnight Vim will be born.”
“I… accept.” Vim gulped, unsure of what she had just promised.
Twilight fled from the memory, retreating back to what she knew.  Those memories terrified her, but they told her so much about Vim.  Twilight and Vim were closer than she could have ever imagined before that moment, they were the same pony.  When Master Yen Sid told her to go to where they separated, he meant the day that she became Vim.  Twilight understood what had caused it, but she didn’t know how to fix it.
“Now you know.” Vim said from a dark corner of the corridor.  Her robe was off for the first time in years; she was through hiding.
Vim’s hair was styled just like Twilight’s except for differences in color.  Her hair was primarily black aside from two streaks of red that were right next to each other.  The streak that was closer to the center of her head was much darker, the color of old blood, while the one that was closer to the outside was slightly lighter.
“I- I’m…” Twilight tried to speak but couldn’t get the words to form properly.
“Where you succeeded, I failed.  When you gained friends, I helped to bring the world to its knees.  When you learned to love, I learned only to hate.” Vim said calmly.
“How am I supposed to help you?” Twilight asked.  “If all of this happened in your past, then how am I supposed to change anything?”
“I don’t know.” Vim shook her head slowly.  “Isn’t that the point of the test?  To find a way to help?”
“How did you… oh, yeah.  I’d forgotten that everything that I see, you see.” Twilight paused for a few moments.  “Maybe if I keep going through your memories, I can find a way to help you.”
“This is the day that I got Blade.” Vim pointed to a door that was a little farther down the corridor.  “It’s the next significant moment in my life.  I am not proud of my actions that day, nor am I proud of how I treated him, but it cannot be changed.”
Twilight nodded and walked into the doorway.  She once again found herself in Vim’s body, seeing only what Vim could see and feeling only what Vim could feel.  It was dark and cold; the only light was coming from the moon.
Vim began to walk, taking Twilight with her as she entered the castle.  She followed after King Sombra, intending to test Vim’s loyalty.
“This is what that training was for.  She won’t expect you to attack her.” Sombra smiled that sickening, comforting smile that he always gave Twilight.
“I’ll kill her.” Vim said coldly.  “It’s all I’m good for, right?”
“Yes.” Sombra nodded.  “It is your one purpose.”
Twilight couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  After all of the effort he went through to get Twilight on his side, he seems to not care for Vim at all, even from the start.  Why would she stay with him after seeing that he didn’t care for her, Twilight had to know.  Before that though, Twilight had to make it through the memory that she was currently in.  It was imperative that she find out everything, including how the other Princess Celestia was defeated.
“Who’s there?” Celestia asked as the filly and the king entered the room.
Sombra had cloaked himself in shadows so that Celestia would be unable to see him and he could watch the events unfold without being bothered.  If Vim succeeded, then it was all said and done, but if she failed, then Sombra would step in and kill both his student for failing and the princess who defeated her.
“A filly?” Celestia asked, lowering her guard and approaching Midnight Vim.  “What are you doing here, child?”
Vim didn’t answer.  She started blinking rapidly, hoping that the princess would notice that something was wrong.  Twilight could hear her every thought.  She didn’t want to die, but if she fought the princess she was dead, and if she refused then Sombra would kill her.  Maybe she could survive if she could just warn Celestia without giving herself away.
“What’s wrong?” Celestia asked kindly.
Vim stayed perfectly silent.  She looked up at Celestia and when their eyes met the sun princess doubled back.  In the split second that their eyes were locked, Twilight was able to see Vim’s reflection in Celestia’s eyes.  Vim’s eyes were a bright green and had the dark smoke emanating from them like what happens when a pony is using dark magic.
Without any warning, a blast of dark magic shot from Vim’s horn.  Celestia was slammed into her throne, toppling the royal seat.  Twilight was unable to see Celestia until a yellow bolt shot from the throne, striking the filly and slamming her into the floor head first.  Vim slowly tried to get back onto her hooves, but instead of stopping her, Celestia’s attention turned to the door that Vim and Sombra had entered through.
“Sombra!  Show yourself you coward!” the princess demanded.  “I knew that you were scared of a fair fight, but sending a filly to do your dirty work is just sad.”
Vim attempted to cast another spell, but she found that all of her magic had been drained.  That attack from Celestia did no physical harm to her, but it drained her of all of her energy.  The filly could barely find the strength to stand, much less fight a god.
“Was it that obvious?” Sombra asked, revealing himself.  “Tell me Tia, are you willing to kill a child?”
“What are you talking about?” Celestia snipped back, glaring down at the king.
“No matter how this ends, the filly will die.” Sombra answered.  “Either you kill her directly or indirectly.  If you don’t kill her yourself, then I will be forced to kill her for failing to kill you.”
Celestia looked between the two of them.  The life of a filly was in her hooves and it was clear that she was faced with uncertainty.  There was a single loophole that she could find, kill Sombra so that the filly would be free, but that would cause a major scene in which the filly could die in the crossfire.
Twilight knew how the story would end, she knew that Vim had claimed to have killed the other Princess Celestia and Sombra had not argued.  If it were a lie and Sombra was the one to have killed her, he would have spoken up, probably beaten her knowing him.  Twilight didn’t want to see it, but she had no choice, it wasn’t like she could close Vim’s eyes or change her actions.
While Sombra and Celestia stared at each other, Twilight could feel a power flowing through Vim’s body.  It was a familiar energy, just like what Twilight had felt when she was startled by the first Sonic Rainboom.  A bubbly dark purple beam shot out at Princess Celestia while she was distracted.  There was no recoil on the princess’s part, instead she just fell.  It lacked any of the emotion that Twilight was expecting; it was so calm that it was almost peaceful.
“Well done.” Sombra smirked.  “This castle is yours now.  Do with it as you please.” Sombra walked out of the throne room, leaving the young Vim and the deceased princess alone.
Vim walked away from the throne room and made her way to one of the towers.  Specifically the tower that she took her test in.  Once inside the testing room, she saw the egg was still sitting on a table.  She gripped it with dark magic and helped it hatch.
Instead of looking like Spike did as a newly hatched dragon, this dragon was slimmer and slightly longer.  It seemed more grown up than Spike did even now, years later.  It was Blade, the dragon that had been staying with them in the castle while Twilight was forced to stay with Sombra.
“I passed your bucking test.” Vim growled.  “I’ll call you Blade.”
Twilight felt herself being pulled out of the memory.  She was face to face with Vim once again.
“There are two more that you need to see.  The day before Mist Valley escaped to your world, and the day that I met the Overlord.  Come with me.” Vim led Twilight out the door and took her a few years down the road.
They ended at about the time that Twilight would have arrived in Ponyville, but that made no sense to her.  Mist Valley arrived ten years ago, but this was only about three years or so.  Vim must have noticed Twilight’s confusion because she stopped before opening the door.
“Something wrong?” Vim asked calmly.
“The timeline, it doesn’t make sense.” Twilight’s face contorted into an expression that accurately portrayed her confusion.
“Have you ever been into the Star Swirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot Library?” Vim asked, stopping in front of a door in the inner corridor.
“Yes, I have.” Twilight nodded.
“You may be aware that he has a time spell then.  I used that time spell at about this time to go back and try to stop Mist Valley’s entire group from escaping.  As a filly, I was unable to, but we know that we stopped one of them and nopony was taking credit for it.  I figured out how it happened though, that I had gone back in time and met them as they escaped.” Vim explained.
“And this is before you cast the spell?” Twilight asked back.
“Yes, this is the day that the light almost saved me from the darkness.  The day that I met… you’ll just have to see for yourself.” Vim opened the door and waved Twilight to it.
Twilight stepped through the door and found herself in the form of a mare.  She was walking around in an abandoned building, something about which felt familiar.  It took her only a few seconds to realize the events that were transpiring as a dark, night sky like, fog formed on an overhead balcony.
“Where are my subjects?” Nightmare Moon asked as her body formed from the smoke.  “Was my sister not supposed to be holding her precious celebration here this year?”
“Your sister has fallen.” Vim explained.  “Princess Luna, come with me, my master wishes to meet with you.”
“Your master?” Nightmare Moon glared down at Vim, “Was he the one who defeated my sister?”
“No, it was me.” Vim said almost solemnly.
Twilight saw something that she was not expecting.  She saw Luna’s eyes, not Nightmare Moon’s, but Luna’s eyes staring back at Vim.  “You harmed my sister?” there wasn’t anger in her voice, in fact there was no emotion at all.
“Yes, I beat her.” Vim answered.  “My master commanded i-” Nightmare Moon’s celestial mane wrapped itself around Vim’s throat, stopping her mid-sentence.
“Who is this master of yours?”  Nightmare Moon asked as she started to change back into Luna.
Twilight could only assume that the love she felt for her sister was what was bringing her back.  She’d thought that the Elements of Harmony were the only things that were capable of saving Luna from the Mare in the Moon, but it didn’t seem to be that way.  It seemed that Luna was capable of saving herself, that the Elements may have just helped her.
“King Sombra.” Vim answered.
“And he had you kill Celestia?” Luna asked, having fully changed back to herself.
“He would have…” Vim whispered.  “In Canterlot, your sister built a castle.  She is still there, and she is still alive.”
“Take me to her!” Luna demanded.
Vim created a large bubble of magic and teleported the two of them into her castle.  Vim led Luna into a hidden staircase that went down for what felt like an eternity.  Eventually they reached the bottom of the stairs and they came across a cell that had magic hiding it.  A perception spell, only Vim and those who she allowed were able to see it.  It was the only way she knew of to protect the sun princess from Sombra and his mysterious master.
“Luna…” a hoarse voice whispered from within the shadows of the cell.
“Celestia!” Luna shouted darting over to the cell.  “Are you all right, sister?”
“I could be worse.  Thank you Vim for bringing her to me.” Celestia smiled at the unicorn.
“We don’t have long.  Sombra will have me bring you directly to him, Princess Luna.  If you don’t cooperate with him, he’ll kill you himself.  I won’t be able to save you.” Vim explained.
“Then we will fight him together.” Luna suggested.
“I- I can’t…” Vim choked out.  “If I betray him, he’ll kill me.  I’ve done more than I should have already.”
Celestia and Luna looked back and forth at each other, silently discussing what needed to be done.  Vim had sacrificed so much for them, if she was found out, then she would be killed in a way more brutal than either of them cared to imagine.  They needed to find a way to hide that Celestia was alive from Sombra.  Revealing her survival to the Overlord could actually play out fairly well for them, assuming that he blames Sombra.
“Midnight, please stay here while my sister and I deal with Sombra.” Celestia stated.  “I’ll be hiding my identity so that he will not be able to recognize me, that way you should be safe, should we fail.”
Vim stood there completely silently.  There was no way to respond to that.  The princesses were willing to risk their lives to save their world, and all Vim had done so far is try to survive.  She didn’t feel like she deserved to be near them, they were better than she was.
Celestia and Luna walked out of the dungeon like area, leaving Vim alone.  Once she was sure that the princesses had gotten far enough away, she ascended the stairs.  The castle was as empty as ever, all of the ponies that had once lived within its walls were now dead.  The army of monsters that the Overlord was in control of had seen to that.
Vim paced impatiently until there was a plain line that designated her path.  There were hours of absolutely nothing, until there was a blinding light.
Twilight was unable to see anything due to Vim’s eyes being clenched shut as a reaction to the light.  When Vim finally opened her eyes, she could see Luna standing with an average sized unicorn pony.  Celestia had done an effective job of concealing who she really was.
“Vim my apprentice, teach these two insolent ponies a lesson.” Sombra smirked, waving a hoof carelessly toward the two princesses.
Vim looked at the princesses, and then back to the king of shadows.  Twilight could feel her body shaking; she could hear the barrage of thoughts that were running through Vim’s mind.  “No.”
“What?” Sombra snapped, smacking Vim across the face with his hoof sending her tumbling down to the ground.  “Without me you’d be nothing.”
“Don’t you dare lay another hoof on her!” Luna demanded, stomping her own hoof into the snow.
They were just outside of King Sombra’s castle.  He’d taken the Crystal Empire for his own.  He said something about it being rightfully his before he attacked it.  Vim couldn’t stand it there, it was cold and miserable.
“I’ll do with her as I please.” Sombra looked back to the princess of the night.
“I’m through with helping you.” Vim said as she climbed back onto her hooves.
“Really now?” Sombra looked over at his apprentice and there was a flash of light.
A Keyblade appeared in front of Sombra, the same one that he had used against Twilight when they fought.  He smiled at Vim as he pierced her heart with the Keyblade.  Twilight had never felt such pain, like her heart was being ripped in two.  Her vision blurred into a dark mess as her legs gave out.  She felt like her head hit the floor, but she couldn’t be sure since all of the feeling in her body was gone.
“This Keyblade has the power to unlock hearts.  It will remove the light from your heart, leaving nothing but your darkness.  Your hatred and your fear will empower you, they will make you stronger.” Sombra explained as Vim stood back up.
Vim’s head was still spinning and Twilight could still hear her thoughts.  As Vim took the first step toward the princesses, all the pony could do was wish that she could stop herself.  
Up until this point, Vim had looked just like Twilight, but was her heart was unlocked, she changed.  Her coat turned to a dark grey from its usual lavender.  Her eyes turned into a very light blue and narrowed ever so slightly.  Vim’s mane and tail became an exact match to the hair of the human Vim that Twilight had been seeing lately.  Her cutie mark changed from what it had always been to a lone, black six point star with a red outline.
Vim was gone in that moment.  Something else had replaced her, locked the real her away deep within her own heart.  The new Vim smiled a crooked smile before blasting Celestia and the Luna.  The two princesses fell to the ground.  Vim shot Celestia again, this time with a banishment spell, similar to what Grey had been teaching Twilight back in the library of the Hollow Bastion.
“Leave her.” Sombra stopped Vim from banishing Luna.  “My master wishes to see if she would be willing to join us.  She had betrayed her sister and fallen victim to the dark once already, so the likelihood of it happening again is very high.”
Twilight left the memory of her own free will that time.  She couldn’t bear to see any more of it.  Vim stood on the outside waiting for her, the same as the last time.  Instead of speaking, she simply pointed two doors down, letting Twilight know where her final destination would be.  She would finally meet Haze in a real setting.  So far, her only encounter with him was a brief fight.
On the other side of the door, Twilight once again became the new Vim, the one who had fallen victim to the darkness.  She was standing before a pony that was wrapped in a black cloak and was wearing a pair of goggles.
“Midnight Vim?” Haze asked calmly.  “Is that you?”
“Yes.” Vim answered quietly, lowering her head.
“I heard what you did, how you confronted your master to do what you thought was right.  It was a very noble thing to do… I hate noble.” Haze smirked as he hopped down from a ledge.  “If I ever hear about you doing anything like that again, about you interfering with my plans…”
Vim stared into Haze’s goggles as he lifted them from over his eyes.  Twilight was finally able to recognize why he would hide those eyes of his.  They were solid yellow, just like the heartless.  As the pony removed his cloak, his similarities with the monsters became ever more apparent.  His coat was solid black.  There was only one streak of color on his mane, a dark purple.  The base of his tail was the same shade of purple, but the tip was black.
“I will save you from death.” he continued.  “A life of eternal suffering, and no possibility of death, sounds a lot more interesting.  Or maybe I could kill you and bring you back to life, forcing you to face your ultimate fear over and over for all of time.”
Vim remained unfazed by the threats of the Overlord.  Having her heart sealed in the way it was had taken away all of her emotions.  She felt no fear, no joy, no hate, no love.
“That is, however, only if you stand against me again.” Haze smiled almost happily.
Before the memory could continue, Vim pulled her back out.  The two of them stood in silence, each one expecting the other to speak first.  Vim looked away from Twilight for a few seconds, trying to regain her composure.
“I think that I know how to help you.” Twilight said quietly.  “I’ll share your pain, and you can share my love.  Without your family, I think that you’ve forgotten what love feels like, but I can help you.”
Vim turned back to face Twilight.  “What… what do you mean?”
“You’ve been alone for so long and nopony should ever feel like that.  I want to share my life with you, so that you can live your life like you should have been able to.  So that you can still have your family and so that you can have the friends that you needed.” Twilight smiled before hugging Vim tightly.
“I- I don’t kn- know w-what to s- say…” Vim said through tears.
“You could say yes.” Twilight smiled at her warmly.  “You’re my friend, but you’re also something more, you’re part of me and I’m part of you.  Together we are one pony, and nothing will ever change that.”
“Yes.” Vim smiled back at Twilight.  “I accept.”
“All right.  I’m going to wake up now, but I promise that we’ll get through this.” Twilight said as she opened her eyes and saw the old man pacing behind his desk.
“You’re awake.” he gasped.  “I was beginning to worry.”
“It’s all right Master Yen Sid, I helped her.  I had to understand what she’d been through to know how, but now Vim is at peace.” Twilight smiled as she stood up.
“You have passed your test then.” Yen Sid said as he turned to a window.  “Master Twilight, there is one more thing that you must do before you can return home.  There is a Keyhole that needs to be sealed.  Both Sora and Riku are nowhere to be seen and this world is in immediate danger.  Unless you do something to save it, then it will be lost to the Heartless.”
“A Keyhole?” Twilight asked.
“It is how a Keyblade wielder seals a world off from the Heartless.  If you can make it there before the Heartless, then the world will be saved and so will all of the people who live there.” Yen Sid explained.
“Where is it?” Twilight asked as she walked over to the old man.
“It is the Hollow Bastion.” Yen Sid answered.
“But I was just there…” Twilight gasped.
“There is no time to lose.  Go there immediately.” Yen Sid urged Twilight. “Take this Gummi Ship, it will fly there on its own, all you need to do is be in it when it arrives.”
A strange looking ship came into view of the window.  It looked like building blocks that had been attached together into some foreign shape.
Twilight nodded and teleported on board the Gummi Ship.  Almost immediately the ship took off, leaving the tower and Master Yen Sid behind.
	
> Chapter 10 - Keyhole
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“So Lost, who is this friend of a friend?” Spike asked as he let the pony into the library.
“That will be revealed in due time.  But for now, just know that I am on your side and my only goal right now is assuring the survival of Equestria.” Lost answered as he followed the dragon inside.
“How do I know that I can trust you if you won’t tell me anything?” Spike was getting frustrated by the mix of no help from the books and no help from the stallion.
Lost took off his cloak and hung it over a chair.  He revealed his dark brown coat and bright green eyes.  Both his tail and mane were very short and they were colored a sky blue.  There was something very similar about the stallion, but Spike couldn’t quite place his claw on it.  Then he noticed Lost’s cutie mark, it was an inkbottle with a quill sticking out of it.
“Just trust me, especially if you want that mare of yours back.  There is a way to access the worlds that she is trapped on.” Lost explained.
“And how do you know about that?” Spike snipped back.
“I know a lot of things that I probably shouldn’t.  I know that you, Twilight Sparkle, and a bat pony by the name of Grey Cloud arrived in another world a short time ago.  I know that you and Grey woke up in the Everfree Forest only a few hours ago.” Lost explained.
“That just makes me want to trust you less.” Spike rebutted.
Before Lost could respond to Spike’s answer, the door to the library was flung open.  On the other side stood an angry looking bat pony, Grey, and a concerned yellow pegasus, Fluttershy.  Grey’s expression soon changed from one of anger to one of fear as her eyes locked with Lost’s.
“No…” she said shakily.  “It can’t be…”
“I tried to stop her, but she woke up faster than she should have.” Fluttershy explained.  “I’m sorry Spike.”
“Grey, long time no see.  What’s it been now, ten years?” Lost asked as he walked over to the bat pony.  “I was just about to ask the dragon where you were so that I could possibly talk some sense into him.”
“You’re… you’re supposed to be dead…  The Fissure…” Grey stuttered out.
“I was stuck there for a while.  After the Overlord came here I tried to fix things back home.  I found a few ponies that were still alive and they are rebuilding Canterlot, they call it New Canterlot, since not much was left of the old one.” Lost explained.  “I’m sorry that it took so long to get back to you.”
“Inkwell…” Grey whispered before falling to her knees, tears streaming down her face.  “You’re alive.”
“I thought that his name was Lost?” Spike looked at the two ponies.
“That’s the name of the main character in his stories.  A pony who lost their memories and their way.”  Grey explained.
“I had lost everything that I cared about, so I felt a connection with the character.  The name just kind of stuck.” Inkwell continued.  “Enough about me though, we need to find a way to get Twilight Sparkle back to this world before it is lost to the darkness.  The Fissure are getting closer to the Keyhole and we’re running out of time.”’
“To get her back, we’d need to find a portal like the one that allowed for Grey and me to travel here.  If it is in the same location in this Equestria as it was in ours, then we need to make our way to Vanhoover.” Ink stated as he approached the door.  “We could use your Keyblade dragon; do you want to join us?”
“If Grey trusts you, and it means getting Twilight back, then yes.  And my name is Spike!” Spike half shouted back.
“Very well.  Pegasus, do you mind staying back here?  We would need you to inform Princess Celestia if Twilight turns up like Grey and Spike did.” Ink requested.
“Um… Okay.” Fluttershy responded quietly.
“How are we getting to Vanhoover?” Spike asked.
“With style.” Inkwell smirked.  “Get close.”
The trio teleported across Equestria and wound up in the outskirts of Vanhoover before Inkwell had used up all of his energy.  From there, Grey helped the exhauster unicorn as they made their way through the city.

“Princess, I think that we’ve had a breakthrough with the spell!” Shimmer half shouted as she galloped into the throne room.
“Excellent.  How long until we’re prepared to cast it?” Celestia asked the out of breath unicorn.
“That’s the bad news…” Shimmer panted out.  “We can’t cast it, but there is a location in Equestria that would function the same as casting the spell.  We would need a spell to locate Twilight on the other side and then we can open a gate straight to her.”
“Where is this gate?” Celestia asked, standing up.
“Vanhoover.” Shimmer answered.  “I would suggest that we take four or five other unicorns in addition to myself that can cast a triangulation spell.  The more ponies that are casting the spell, the more accurate it will become and the faster we’ll find her.”
“How long will it take for your team to arrive there?” Celestia asked.
“There is a train leaving Canterlot in half an hour.  We should be able to arrive there by about six in the afternoon if there aren’t any delays.” 
“There won’t be.” a stallion said as he entered the room.
“Captain Shining Armor?” Shimmer asked as she saw the stallion.
“I’m not a captain anymore.  However, as a prince, the train conductor was more than willing to listen to what I had to say.  The train is waiting for you and it will make no additional stops, seeing as it’s on royal business.” Shining smiled before turning to face Princess Celestia.  “Thank you for keeping me in the loop while I was on my way down here.”
“You needed to know, she is your sister after all.” Celestia stated.  “I will be taking my private chariot to Vanhoover in a few moments, if you would like to join me, Shining Armor.”
“Of course princess.” Shining nodded as he moved to the princess’s side.
“I have one matter to take care of first.  I am going to need Luna to take care of Canterlot while I am away.  I do not want her to worry about me and think that something bad has happened.  Shining Armor, will you meet me by my chariot and get the guard ready?”
“Yes ma’am.” Shining Armor saluted, his guard instincts coming back to him in a rush.
Celestia walked away, retreating back to where Luna would be sleeping.  As she entered her younger sister’s room, she was greeted with a tired yawn.
“Celestia?” Luna yawned.
“I am about to leave for Vanhoover.  It is there that we might be able to save Twilight and bring her home.” Celestia explained, covering Luna with her wing.  “Will you be all right while I am away?”
“Of course.” Luna smiled slightly.  “Once I get some sleep I will be right back out there.”
“Okay.” Celestia smiled before turning around and starting toward the door.
“Oh, and sister, one last thing.” Luna stopped her.  “Good luck, I hope that you bring her back safely.”
“Thank you, Luna.” Celestia smiled back at her sister once more before leaving the room.
Celestia made her way through the halls once again.  This time when she reached the throne room, she kept going until she reached the castle courtyard.  There, a group of four pegasus guards, Shining Armor, and her chariot were waiting for her.  Without speaking a word, she climbed aboard her chariot and Shining followed suit.  The pegasi lifted them from the ground and flew them through the morning sky.  It had been a long time since Shining Armor had flown like this, and if it wasn’t for the possibility of his sister being in danger, he could have enjoyed it.
The trip was relatively quiet, neither Shining Armor, nor Princess Celestia speaking very much throughout it.  The weather was nice on their trip, but that was insignificant to them at the time.  They both worried for Twilight, wondering what kind of world she could be stranded in.  If Haze was close to finding her there, or if it was already too late.  With so many thoughts on each of their minds, neither of them could get their thoughts straight enough to speak.
When they finally arrive in Vanhoover, both Celestia and Shining are surprised to see a familiar face standing with a crowd outside of the town hall.  Shining practically leapt off of the chariot and ran toward the crowd.  Celestia’s position as a respectable princess stopped her from mimicking him, but she still climbed off in a regal manner and stepped into the crowd.
“Spike!” Shining shouted, capturing the dragon’s attention.
“Shining Armor!  We’re about to get Twilight back!” Spike shouted cheerfully.
“How?  The others couldn’t have gotten here yet.” Shining responded thinking of the unicorn team that had taken the train.
“A bat pony named Grey and a unicorn named Inkwell are in there right now, trying to bring a gate up from deep underground.” Spike explained.  “Once it’s up, all they have to do is get Twilight to come through it and she’ll be home!”
“So you were trying to do the same thing as we were.” Princess Celestia stated, entering the conversation.
“You were trying this too?  How’d you know about it?” Spike asked.
“An advisor of mine by the name of Shimmer, she discovered it.” Celestia answered.
There was a sudden flash of lightning accompanied by a clap of thunder loud enough that it shook the ground.  Celestia looked up at the sky.  Seconds earlier it had been peaceful, but now the sky couldn’t be seen through the thick layer of storm clouds that covered the city.  There was no warning before the storm came in on them.
“Running is in everypony’s best interest.” mocked a voice from on top of the town hall.
Spike froze in place, horrified.  He couldn’t bring himself to look up, not to that voice.  He could hear the muffled sounds of Celestia and Shining yelling at the stallion.  The words were inaudible to the dragon as the shock was still setting in.
“You’re dead!” Celestia shouted as Spike’s hearing returned.
“And I was dead after the Crystal Empire too.” the stallion remarked.
Spike looked up at the lone figure.  It was a unicorn with a curved horn.  Glowing green eyes and a dark smoke around his horn were visible.  There wasn’t any other choice.  Spike summoned his Keyblade an aimed it up at the roof, challenging the King of Shadows.
“Sombra!” Spike shouted. “Come down here and face me!”  The dragon looked to the two ponies that had accompanied him as the other ponies ran away from the scene.  “Go in there, help them find Twilight.  I’ll take care of Sombra.”
“But you can’t fight him alone.  Twilight was only able to beat him because Vim gave her li-” Celestia tried to argue.
“Watch me.” Spike glared at the king.  “Third time’s the charm, right?  This will be his third death.”
Before Celestia could argue any further, Shining Armor pulled her inside the town hall, leaving the dragon and the corrupted unicorn to face each other again.  Sombra smiled as he lowered himself down to the streets of Vanhoover.  His Keyblade formed in front of him and instantly clashed with Spike’s.

A Gummi Ship hovered over the lowest piece of ground in the Rising Falls.  Twilight eventually made her way out, after giving up on making the flying monstrosity land; she had teleported to the ground.  She quickly made her way back up to the castle gates and was immediately greeted by a Heartless that was carrying an enormous shield.
The shield had a face that was black and looked cat like.  The Heartless stood perfectly still, blocking her way into the castle.  The mouth on the Heartless’s shield opened and a large fireball launched out at Twilight.  She projected a shield with her magic, stopping the attack before attacking the Heartless with her Keyblade.
She stumbled backwards as her attack clashed with its shield.  The Heartless’s shield was too big for her to get around.  She would have to find a way to get behind the Heartless, not really a big problem.  Just as Twilight prepared to teleport, the Heartless fell down and she could see Cloud standing behind it with his sword out.
“Things are getting bad here.  Leon saw your ship and he sent me to check it out.” Cloud stated, waving Twilight to the door.
“Master Yen Sid told me to find the Keyhole for this world.  Do you know where it could be?” Twilight asked.
“It makes sense that you would be sent to seal the Keyhole, you are a Keyblade wielder after all.  The Keyhole is through a portal in the grand hall of the castle.” Cloud explained as he led Twilight back into the castle library.
“Can you take me there?” Twilight asked.
“I can try.” Cloud nodded.  “We’ll need to make our way to the high tower; from there we should be able to get into the chapel, assuming that there aren’t too many Heartless.”
“They won’t be a problem.” Twilight smiled.  “Come on, if it’s as urgent as Master Yen Sid made it sound, then we need to get there soon.”
Cloud nodded and they started toward the lift stop that was hidden behind a bookshelf.  Before they could reach it though, a light blue and red swirl formed in front of them.  Twilight could almost make out a voice coming from it.  Soon a figure started to take shape inside the portal.
“Tw… ight…” the voice was broken up.  It was partially discernable, but it was fairly hard to make out what was said after Twilight’s name.
“Princess?” Twilight asked back, unsure as to if it was really Celestia’s voice.
“Twilight, it’s me.” Celestia replied.
“I can hear you.” Twilight smiled back.  “How are you doing this?
Celestia turned her attention away from the portal.  “It’s working Inkwell, keep it like this.” She turned back to face Twilight.  “We’ve found a way to get you home, hurry.”
“I’m sorry princess, but if I don’t seal the Keyhole for this world, it will be destroyed by the Heartless.  I have friends here; I can’t just abandon them like that.” Twilight shook her head.  “It won’t take long; I’m being taken to the Keyhole now.”
“Spike is fighting Sombra, he’ll need your help.” Celestia explained.
“But Sombra’s dead… I beat him; I used the Keyblade to take his heart.” Twilight refused to believe what she was hearing.
“I can’t explain how, but he is back.  I understand what you are trying to do there, but please, come back soon.  We’ll reopen the portal as soon as we are able to.” Celestia said as the portal faded from existence.
“What was that?” Cloud asked staring over at Twilight.
“The portal?” Twilight looked over at Cloud with confusion. 
“No, the thing inside the portal.  Was that a talking horse?  You know what, never mind, considering I used to work with Red, it doesn’t matter.” Cloud shrugged as he started leading Twilight through the lift stop once again.
“Who’s Red?” Twilight asked.
“A talking animal that helped me deal with Shinra.  Come on, as you said, we’ve wasted enough time already.” Cloud said as he entered  a bird cage lift.

“Yuffie, how’s it looking from that side?” Leon shouted to the ninja.
“Not good Squall, they just keep coming.” Yuffie answered, knowing that this is one of the only times that Leon wouldn’t have the time to argue about his name.
Leon held his gun blade in both hands as he channeled his magical energy into it, causing it to extend and produce a glow.  He leapt down to the Heartless that were making their way up the stairs, swinging his sword into the horde.  The extra range and power that he had would be just the thing for clearing a crowd like this one.
Yuffie saw what Leon had done, and followed suit, sending her energy into one of her shuriken, causing it to expand.  She threw it down at the Heartless and took control of it, using it to clear out their numbers at a much faster rate.
“Leon!  Wizards are heading your way!” Yuffie shouted, alerting the swordsman to a new wave of Heartless.
“Thanks for the heads up!” Leon called back, shooting a large ball of fire at one of the floating, cloaked Heartless.
The door at the bottom of the grand hall opened and the attention of the Heartless shifted from the ninja and the swordsman.  There was a new target that had their interest; a certain Keyblade master’s scent had caught their noses.
“I’ve got them, go to the Keyhole!” Cloud shouted as his body lifted from the ground.
He flew over to the Heartless and started slashing at them from the air.  Twilight wasn’t going to waste this opening, not when the fate of two worlds was on the line.  She ran past the Heartless, managing not to get a scratch on her thanks to a couple of shuriken taking out some Heartless that got a little close for comfort.
“I’ve got to get to the Keyhole.” Twilight gasped as she reached Leon.  “Where is it?”
“Through there.” Leon pointed to a large portal in the shape of the Heartless symbol.  “Do you want me to go in there with you?  Last time there was a dangerous Heartless in there.”
“No, I need you to keep them from getting to me.  I can handle whatever’s in there.” Twilight shook her head as she started walking toward the portal.
The inside was like a tie-dye mess.  It was constantly moving and it gave Twilight a feeling of nausea.  She could see a keyhole shape on the opposite side from which she’d entered.  She was so close; all she needed to do was cross the room.
“Hello there Poppet.” the same voice that had lured her into the portal.
“Who are you?” Twilight demanded.
“Whoa there, feisty.  How’s about you just come with me, Haze wants to speak with you.” the man answered as he stepped out from a portal like the one that he’d gotten Twilight to go through.
“Who are you?” Twilight shouted that time.
“Name’s Braig.” the man answered, pulling down his hood and revealing his face.  “And as I said, Haze wants you to-”
Before Braig could finish his statement Twilight short a beam of magic at him from her Keyblade.  He narrowly dodged it at glared at her for a few seconds.
“Oopsy daisy.” he smirked.  “You know, they used to give me that exact same look.  What’d I do, kill your goldfish?”
“You’re keeping me from the Keyhole for starters.” Twilight snipped.  “Just get out of my way!”
“No can do.” Braig laughed.  “How about this though, I take you with me and this world and everyone on it dies.”
Twilight was so angry that she was shaking.  This was the third time that she’d felt like this.  The first was when she found out that the hydra wasn’t the doozey that Pinkie was talking about, and the second was when Vim tried to drop a boulder on her.  A white glow surrounded Twilight as her hair became a fire.  Her eyes turned red and she lost it for a second.
She blindly charged at Braig with her Keyblade.  Braig vanished and reappeared upside down, standing on air.  He pulled out his weapon and shot an energy bolt at her.  A magic shield popped up just in time to block the shot though.
Twilight pulled out a second Keyblade; the Griffon’s Wing and jumped at Braig.  He managed to block with his weapons and knocked her back to the ground.  She landed hard on her back and found herself unable to move at first.  As she slowly scrambled back to her feet, Braig reappeared in front of her with his guns aimed at her head.
“Say goodnight.” Braig taunted, but before he could pull the trigger, he was hit with a fireball, sending him flying away.
“Go!  Now!” Leon shouted as he ran toward Braig.
“You came alone?  Not very smart.” Braig laughed as he shot one bolt at Leon and another at Twilight.
“Who said that he was alone?” Yuffie entered the fight, hitting both shots with her shuriken, dismissing the attack.
“We’re a team.” Cloud smirked as he spun his sword in his hand confidently.
“Twilight, it’s up to you.  Seal the Keyhole.” Leon stated as Twilight ran to the wall that the Keyhole was on.
When she reached the Keyhole, her Keyblade aimed itself at the opening and a small beam of light shot from the tip of the weapon.  There was a soft clicking sound as the Keyhole faded away.
“No!” Braig shouted, teleporting to Twilight and wrapping an arm around her throat.  “Try anything and I’ll kill her.”
Leon, Yuffie, and Cloud couldn’t afford to move.  None of them were close enough to save Twilight, not without risking her life more in the process.  They could only stand by and watch as Braig took her through a portal.

“Sombra!” Spike shouted as he climbed back up from the puddle that he’d been thrown into.  “I won’t let you get inside this building.”
“You won’t… let me?” Sombra paused entertained by the word choice.  “And how exactly… do you plan to stop me?”
“I’ll find a way.  I’ve held you off this long, haven’t I?” Spike swung his Keyblade at the king.
Sombra slowly stepped to the side.  The fight was taking its toll on the dragon and he knew it.  He just had to keep up the appearance that it was having no effect on him.  If he was lucky, the dragon would feel that he’d done nothing and he would give up.  Sombra was still weak though from his revival, if he couldn’t end it soon, he would need some backup.
“Do you really think that you are the one stopping me?  I’m simply toying with you, seeing how much you’ve grown since we last met.” Sombra mocked.
Spike managed to get a hit in on Sombra’s leg while he was distracted by talking.  The king took a knee as he was hit.   It was over; Sombra knew that he’d been found out.  The worthless pony that was supposed to be coming to his aid was nowhere to be found either.
“Is that… all you’ve got?” Spike panted as he held his Keyblade to Sombra’s neck.  “Some king… you turned out to be.”
“Insolent whelp!” Sombra boomed with a newfound strength in his voice.  He climbed back to his hooves and blasted Spike back with his magic.  “Do not speak down to me!”
“Come on Twilight…” Spike whispered as he blocked a powerful attack from Sombra.
The two Keyblades were locked as their wielders hearts battled.  Whichever heart was the strongest would come out as the victor.  Each heart was strong in its own way, one in the light, the other in darkness.  A battle of light and dark, of love and hate.
Sombra’s hoofing gave slightly as Spike started to force him backwards.  With all of his might, Spike flung his Keyblade, disarming Sombra and sending his Keyblade flying down the road.
“How…” Sombra started. 
“Because I have somepony to fight for.” Spike bashed Sombra across the face with his Keyblade, knocking him to the ground.
Spike walked away with a heavy limp.  He needed to see how the effort to bring back Twilight was going.  Maybe she was already back, if he was lucky.
“Princess.” Spike nodded as he slowly entered the building.
“Spike!  How badly are you hurt?” Celestia ran over to the dragon.
“I’ll be fine.  Sombra on the other hoof, well, he’d out cold.” Spike smirked.
“You actually beat him?” Celestia gasped.
“Don’t sound so surprised.” Spike laughed.
	
	
> Chapter 11 - Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Braig dropped Twilight when they came out the portal.  She looked around and saw that she was in a desert like place.  There was a strange looking field in the distance with what looked like tall, grey grass.
“Ah, thanks a bunch Braig.  Would you like a cookie?” Haze joked.
“I’m fine.  I just want you to make sure that it hurts.” Braig glared at Twilight as she sat on her knees.
“I take it she put up a fight?” Haze laughed.  “She’s just one girl, how much trouble could she be?”
While the two continued their dialogue, Twilight started to silently crawl away.  Before she could even get two feet, her face was slammed against the dirt.  She was then lifted up by her throat and forced to look Haze in the eyes.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” Haze asked, squeezing on Twilight’s throat a little harder.
Twilight tried to defend herself, but she couldn’t even manage to choke out a single word.  She tried to kick, but she couldn’t find the strength.  Haze smiled before dropping her back onto the dirt.
“What exactly did she do to you?” Haze asked, looking back over to Braig.
“She got past me and sealed the Keyhole.” the man growled back.
“Then would you like the honor?” Haze’s expression terrified Twilight.
“Now we’re talking,” Braig smirked, “revenge for everything that the other Keyblade wielders did to me.  You know, it’s thanks to them that I have this eye patch right here.” Braig tapped the black eye patch that covered his right eye.
Twilight whimpered as she felt the cold tip of a Keyblade touch her sternum.  Braig stopped for a few seconds, savoring the moment.
“Say goodnight Poppet.” Braig laughed as he pierced her skin with the Keyblade.

Raid looked at each one of the unicorns that her squad had been assigned to escort to Vanhoover.  One was Shimmer, a pony who she’d only really gotten to know in passing.  She was in charge for this entire mission.  There was also a mare by the name of Bubble, who taught at Celestia’s school.  She was not really extraordinary, but she was consistent in her skills, if she tried something in her skill range, she never failed.  There was a solid white stallion by the name of Blizzard.  He was the librarian that was in charge of the restricted area of the princesses’ private library.
“Raid, look at this.” Rogue beckoned her over to a window on the train.
When she got to his side, she noticed the storm clouds that were forming over Vanhoover.  It wouldn’t have been a problem if it wasn’t for one fact.  Princess Celestia was already supposed to be in Vanhoover, which meant that the pegasi of the city should be trying to keep the weather nice for her.  The fact that there was a heavy storm either meant that Vanhoover had an awful weather team, or something was wrong.  Raid looked over at Rogue and could in his eyes see that, he believed the latter.
“Rogue, could you take Twister with you and make sure that everything is all right up ahead?” Raid asked.
“What if something happens while we’re away?” Rogue asked.
“I’m with three other unicorns, two teach at the princess’s school and the other is a royal advisor.  The four of us can take care of ourselves.” Raid shrugged.
“I’ll get Twister and we’ll go then.” Rogue nodded before galloping down a car in the train.
Raid waited patiently until she saw the two winged ponies fly ahead of the train.  	Once they were gone, she turned around to face the ponies that they were escorting.  Bubble was lounging across two rows of seats on the train and Blizzard was practicing gravity magic by walking on the train’s ceiling.
Shimmer was the only one doing anything remotely “normal” in that she was sitting calmly and reading a book.  Raid attempted to see the title of the book, eventually making out a single word “Daring.”  The cover showed the archeologist, Daring Do, as she swooped in and grabbed the Griffon’s Goblet.  It didn’t take Raid long to figure it out once she saw the cover image.
“What do you know about triangulation spells?” Shimmer asked, not looking away from her book.
“Um… I’ve used one once or twice, but aside from that, not much.” Raid shook her head.
Shimmer sighed quietly, still not looking away from her book.  “You’ve cast them before, but you don’t know how they work?”
“I know that they are used to locate an item or a pony, but aside from that, I’m not terribly into studying spells.” Raid answered.
“Let me break it down for you.  If one pony uses a spell, it is very inaccurate and you might as well just look instead of wasting your time.  When two ponies use it, then you can get a broad area for searching.  Three can usually get you pinpoint accuracy.” the unicorn explained.
“Yeah… I knew about the number of ponies that are required for an accurate search.” Raid half laughed.  She was thinking that Shimmer was looking for something more on the inner workings of the spell.
“Can you tell me anything about searching an entire world for a single pony using a spell like that?” Shimmer continued, making it feel almost like an interrogation.
“I know that searching an entire world would be pretty much impossible, even with four or five ponies.” Raid answered.
Shimmer slid a bookmark into the crease of the book and closed it.  “Now think an entire universe.  Are you willing to help us search it for Princess Twilight?”
“You want my help?  But I’m just a guard; I haven’t spent years training my magic like you all have.”
“We’re going to need all of the help that we can get.  Shining Armor and the princess are going to help us with the spell as well.” Shimmer looked over to the guard.
“I’ll do what I can.” Raid nodded.

“Twister, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Rogue asked as he used his wings to slow himself.
The town hall of Vanhoover was glowing and there was a pony lying face down in a puddle outside of the building.  He was too far to make out any details, but if the pony needed help, it was a guard’s responsibility to help him.
“I’ll check out the stallion, remember, a lot of ponies are still scared of your kind.” Twister commented, drifting up beside her friend.  “You check out the town hall, make sure that everything is okay in there.”
Rogue nodded before speeding back up and flying through the door to the town hall.  Inside stood a baby dragon, the bat pony from Ponyville, a new unicorn stallion, the former captain of the guard, and Princess Celestia herself.  They were staring at a stone ring as if they were expecting it to do a trick or something.
“Princess, what’s going on?” Rogue asked, capturing the attention of the room.
“We found Twilight.  She couldn’t return at the time though, a world was in terrible danger.” Celestia answered, turning to face the guard.
“The train is getting close, but Twister and I were sent ahead to investigate the storm.  Do you know what’s causing it?” Rogue asked.
“Sombra is back.” Shining responded quickly.  “Spike here managed to hold him off, he’s outside unconscious right now.”
“Twister!  She was going to make sure that a pony was all right outside!  It’s gotta be Sombra!” Rogue shouted before flying out the door as fast as he could.
When he got out there, he could see Twister being held in place by dark magic.  Sombra stood beside her, a Keyblade floating by his side.  The two stallions stared at each other for a few moments before either of them spoke.
“Tell me, do you fear the darkness?” Sombra asked, enveloping Rogue in shadows.
“You haven’t dealt with bat ponies before, have you?  You adopted the darkness, resorted to it when the light rejected you; I was born into the shadows and I overcame them and I found the light.” Rogue took a step toward the king.  “Just because I have found the light, doesn’t mean that I’ll lose my way if I stumble into the darkness.”
“One more step and she dies.” Sombra growled, bringing his Keyblade to Twister’s neck.
Before Sombra could even attempt to carry out his threat, he was blasted back by a beam of purple magic.  Shining Armor teleported to the mare and helped her get away from her captor.  
“You hurt my sister.” Shining stated as he teleported back to Sombra.  “That was a big mistake.”
“So you must be Twilight’s older brother.  It’s about time that we meet.” Sombra laughed as he climbed back to his hooves.
Sombra’s attention was captured when he saw a pony fly into the sky, breaking through the clouds.  A smile overtook his face as he turned back to face the group of ponies that stood against him.  Darkness started to form around the king and it encased him.
“Sorry, but I’ll have to cut this short.” Sombra laughed as the darkness sank into the ground.  “Turns out that our mission here is done, we got what we came for.”
“Rogue…” Twister choked out.  “Wasn’t that where the train was?”
“Raid…” Rogue’s eyes went blank before they filled up with worry.  “Watch over Twister, make sure that she’s okay.  I’m going to check on the train!”
Without another word, Rogue began to fly south toward the train.  It didn’t take him long to make it there, seeing as they were fairly close to the city when he and Twister had left and the train had moved some since they got out.  The sight however, was not what he wanted to see.  
The train was sitting on its side just off of the tracks.  The engine car had been crushed until it was nearly flat, and Rogue could make out the shape of a stallion still inside.  When he flew down, he had to look away.  The conductor had been covered by the burning coals when they fell out of the furnace.  Rogue backed away and moved farther down the train until he reached the car that he and Raid had been in.
A large hole was ripped out of the side of the car, exposing three unicorns.  Rogue went inside and checked each unicorn for a pulse; luckily all three of them were still alive.  The fourth unicorn, Raid, wasn’t inside the car though.
“Ma’am, I need you to wake up.” Rogue gently shook Shimmer, until she started to move on her own.
She grunted quietly and moved her hooves to her head.  She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the bat pony.
“What happened?” he asked as he helped her up to her hooves and got her outside.
“W- we were attacked…” Shimmer said weakly.  “I think… she was taken…”
“Who attacked you?” Rogue tensed up.
“I couldn’t see.  A pegasus… that’s all I know…” Shimmer fainted again.
Rogue was barely able to stop himself from shouting.  He flew back inside the train car and pulled out Bubble and then Blizzard.  Neither of them had any useful information as to their attacker.  Rogue wanted nothing more than to go out and look for Raid, but she wouldn’t want him to leave behind three injured ponies.  It was his duty to protect them, not abandon them, no matter what the situation.
“I just got you back…” Rogue was almost in tears as he sat on the ground beside the ponies.  “I don’t want to lose you again.”
The bat pony was strong, but not enough so that he could carry three other ponies to a town that was half a mile away.  He could manage it if he took one at a time, but that would require abandoning two others.  If another pony would just come to the scene, then he could get the unicorns to the town and get to finding Raid.

Raid struggled to escape from her bindings.  Her magic had been restrained by Sombra upon his arrival.  There wasn’t much that she could do other than squirm and hope that she can get free.  Hope that somepony will come in and save her.
“Raid, if you stop struggling it’ll be easier for everypony involved.” Sombra stated, holding out a hoof to the mare.
“Easier for you maybe.” Raid snipped back.
“Easier for you too, it won’t hurt nearly as much.” Sombra smiled as he summoned his Keyblade.
Sombra touched the Keyblade to her heart and applied just the slightest pressure imaginable.  Just enough to break skin and draw a couple droplets of blood, but not to hurt the mare.
The cloaked pegasus that had destroyed the train and ponynapped her, pulled Sombra off to the side.  Raid was unable to hear what they were saying, but it seemed to be an argument that Sombra was losing.  When the king returned, he swiftly jabbed his Keyblade into Raid’s heart.
“Sorry, but apparently, the master doesn’t want me toying with you.  Master’s little pet here had to tell me off.” Sombra gestured toward the cloaked pony.
Raid felt the light leave her body.  The part of her mind that made her into who she was, fell back into its darkest depths.  Her body remained conscious as Sombra released her.  She tried to run, but her legs wouldn’t listen.  She tried to scream, but her mouth simply wouldn’t move.
“Welcome to the club, Raid.” Sombra said coldly.  “Instead of releasing your heart, which would cost us your body, I simply compressed it under the weight of another.  A heart forged from the remnants of the nightmare energy that was left behind in the Everfree Forest.”
“What do you need me to do?” Raid’s body asked despite her efforts to make it stop.
“When he gets back, we’ll have to tell him that it worked better than we had expected.  Instant obedience.  I need you to go back to Vanhoover and make sure that the princess gets that portal open.  Without it, Master Haze cannot return to this world.” Sombra stated.
“Yes sir.” Raid responded before teleporting away.
“All according to plan.  Make sure that her coltfriend doesn’t get in the way.  Get the unicorns to the city, but get rid of him.” Sombra commanded.
“And how exactly am I to do that?  I’m not really the least noticeable pony with this cloak on.” the pegasus growled.
“Fine, I’ll do it.” Sombra flashed his horn, teleporting the three unicorns to Celestia and the one bat pony to their lair.
“Sombra?” Rogue snarled as he saw the monarch.
“And company.” the cloaked pony added.
“No…  It… can’t be…” Rogue said shakily.
“The least that you could do is respect my wishes.” the pegasus almost shouted.  “You know what?” the stallion asked after calming down slightly.  “I don’t even care anymore what you do.  Being on this side of the fight has freed me from having to worry about everypony and their petty lives.”
“You aren’t…” Rogue stared into the stallion’s eyes.  “Why do you look like him?”
“Ah, now there’s a good question.  It is because I am Tempest.” the stallion laughed as he removed his hood.

Princess Celestia quickly performed a recovery spell on the three unicorns, not even questioning how they got there, at least not out loud.  The ponies needed something good to happen, and it did.  If she were to point out that something like this doesn’t happen for no reason, it would just cause them to worry.
They needed those three anyway.  When they tried recasting the spell to open the portal for Twilight, it failed.  She wasn’t eve on the same world as when they’d cast the spell the first time.  Inkwell and Shining Armor were unable to get an accurate pinpoint on her location, and Celestia was using all of her energy to make sure that Sombra wouldn’t be ab to get to them if he came back.
“I think that we’re getting close to finding her.” Inkwell stated, breaking the longstanding silence.
“Excellent.  How long should it take for you to reopen the portal?” Celestia asked, craning her neck to look at the five unicorns.
“No more than half an hour.” Shimmer answered.
“That will have to do if we cannot open it any sooner.” Celestia sighed.
“We might not be able to get it open that quickly even.  There is something blocking us.  Some form of magical backlash from the world that she is on.” Bubble explained.
“We’re trying to get through, but it’s tough.” Blizzard added.
Shining was focused intently on the stone ring as he tried to save his little sister.  Nothing, no magical backlash, no evil king, nothing, would get in his way.  With him being this close, he wasn’t going to give up for anything.
“This is just the reason that I wanted that one guard to help us.  I don’t know why our attacker took her.  If they wanted to stop us from getting Princess Twilight back here, they would have been better off just killing everypony on the train.” Shimmer commented.
Celestia agreed silently.  If the intention was to stop them from completing the portal’s connection with the other worlds, then they didn’t think it through.  But considering the sudden reappearance of the research team, it was clear that Sombra wanted the portal to be opened.  More importantly, it was clear that he had no hold over them since they were able to pass through Celestia’s safeguard spell.
Their goal probably had something to do with getting Haze back into this world, back into Equestria.

“How’s it feel, Poppet?” Braig asked as he twisted the Keyblade, digging just a little deeper into Twilight’s skin.
Twilight was still unable to answer.  She just whimpered weakly, hoping that he would stop, or that Princess Celestia would come to her rescue.  When she needed help, her friends were always there for her, except this time.  She was out of their reach; she was alone with two monsters that seemed to want nothing more than to kill her, especially Braig.
“Remember Braig.  The plan.” Haze reminded the sharpshooter.
“Right… the plan.” Braig sighed, not moving the Keyblade from Twilight.  “We’ve big plans for you Poppet, yes we do.”
“We’re going to need your help if we intend to complete our plan.  So how about you be a good little girl and play your part.” Haze explained, cupping Twilight’s chin in his hands.
Just as the Keyblade pierced deeper into her, a bolt of lightning shot from the sky and knocked Braig away.  Taking her heart was only partially completed; they had one of the two hearts that lived within her.  Once again, Vim had saved her life.
“So, what’s the organization been up to lately?” asked a strange voice.
“You?” Braig shouted angrily.  “Traitor!”
“Are you talking to me or Roxas?  Maybe Ventus?  In any case, this game’s over.  You aren’t hurting anyone else.”
“Who is this?” Haze asked, glaring at the spikey haired newcomer.
“Sora.  He’s the reason that the organization is gone.  He’s really good at sticking his nose where he shouldn’t.” Braig growled back.
Sora ran over to Twilight’s side, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine…” Twilight said shakily.
“You know what Xigbar?  Or Braig, whatever you call yourself now?” Sora asked as he helped Twilight onto her feet.  “I have one word for you.  Thundaga!” 
A large bolt of lightning fell where Braig was standing, knocking him off of his feet.  While Braig was falling, Sora pulled out a Keyblade.  It was solid black and had a chain-like pattern on the inside of the shaft.
“This one’s Oblivion.” Sora explained.  “It packs a mean punch, and I mean that in the most painful way.”
Once he was sure that Twilight was going to be able to stand up on her own, he ran at Haze, but before he could even swing his Keyblade, the keychain flew off of it, and straight into Haze’s hand.
“Not so fast.” Haze smirked as he threw Sora to the ground.
“What’s that?” Sora gasped as the ground started to open up beneath everyone there.
“Celestia?” Twilight managed to squeak out, holding her chest in pain.
“Take this!” Sora shouted, shoving a folder into Twilight’s hands before Haze blasted him away from her.
“Sorry kid, but I don’t need another Keyblade wielder running around and getting in my way.” Haze laughed as the portal absorbed the three of them, leaving Sora behind in the Keyblade Graveyard.
Twilight could hear Sora shout one last thing to her.  “I hope the reports help!  I’m sorry that I can’t do more!”

“They’re coming through!” Shimmer shouted as she tried to clear a path.
“They?” Celestia asked, almost breaking her concentration on the shield.
“Princess Twilight and one other.  It were too close when we opened the portal.  One other pony and a creature unlike any I’ve seen before.  It appears to be a native of that universe though.” Shimmer explained.
“The only other pony there is… Haze!” Celestia shouted as the reality of the situation became apparent to her.
“Guilty.” Haze laughed as he tumbled out of the portal.  “Oh, hey Shim.” he smiled at his former partner.
Before anypony could do anything about his arrival, another pony came out.  He wore an eye patch and his black mane was tied back.  His coat was a dark blue and the one visible eye was yellow.  Once they were free from the portal’s clutches, the pair teleported away thanks to Haze’s magic.
Seconds later, a lavender alicorn fell head first onto the floor, a red folder wrapped tightly in her hooves.  Shining Armor was the first to approach her, silently offering her a hoof to help her up.  Twilight looked up at him, but instead of taking his hoof, she jumped up and gave him a tight hug.
“Twily…” Shining Armor smiled as he returned the hug.
“I’m home.” she smiled, looking around the room.
“Yes you are.” Celestia said as she walked over to Twilight.
“But we aren’t safe yet, Haze is back, and he brought somepony with him.” Shimmer stated.
“Haze is working with Braig now, that’s who the other pony was.” Twilight assumed that Braig had been changed into a pony due to the way the Shimmer had referred to him.  “But it won’t be a problem.  I’m already working on a way to stop them.  And I think that whatever is in here might help.” Twilight directed everypony’s attention to the folder that she was holding.
“Let’s just get you home, all right?” Celestia whispered.
“I like that plan.” Twilight half laughed back.
“Well then, let’s get going.” Celestia smiled.  “You can tell me what happened while we’re on the way to Ponville.”