Arrival

Chapter 1: Arrival

"They can take your world.

They can take your heart,

Cut you loose from all you know.

But if it's your fate,

The scene changes to a boy with spiky hairs looking at Ponyville from a distance. This was Sora. He wore a black jacket with grey pockets and a stripe of the same color on each sleeve. The hood, sleeves and jacket had a red lining, and six buttons could be seen on the front. Underneath, Sora wore a black tank top with a V-neck style collar and a white lining. His gloves were replaced with gauntlets with a similar color scheme to his jacket. The gauntlets had red linings and gray circles on the backs, with yellow buckled straps wrapped around Sora's wrists. The palms of his hands were exposed. Sora's shorts were black, and are roughly the same length as they are in his Kingdom Hearts II attire, with several gray pockets. A red band wrapped around each pant leg. His shoes also resembled those of his Kingdom Hearts II outfit, with the blue straps and zipper now removed.

then every step forward will always be a step closer to home."

(Play Kingdom Hearts Face My Fears)

Sora found himself enjoying the years of the islands with his two best friends. Even sharing the same dream with Riku and Kairi as they ran along the beach shores.

"Breath, should I take a deep?"

They turned to Sora as they smiled at him. He smiled back at them.

"Faith, should I take the leap?"

Unaware to them, a strange figure was watching them from a distance.

"Taste, what a bittersweet~ All my, all my life~"

His eyes began to glow with a red infinity symbol and darkness shrouded the islands much to Sora and his friends' horror.

"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

Much to Sora's horror, he saw Riku turn to Ansem the Seeker of Darkness. Ansem then proceeded to blow Sora and Kairi away. The young teenagers tried to reach out to each other but were blown off to the other worlds.

"Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

Sora was then caught by Donald and Goofy. Each gave Sora reassuring smiles. Soda smiled back at them as he summoned a magic weapon called the Keyblade.

"Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here~ Watch me cry all my tears~"

Sora then ran up and struck Ansem down and Ansem faded away to the darkness. The dark figure watched these events as his eyes glowed again and Sora, Donald, and Goofy ended up in Castle Oblivion.

"Lose, soon have nothing to~"

Naminé drew in her Notebook as Marluxia watched her with a smile on his face when someone burst through the door. It was Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Space, this is what I choose~"

Marluxia summoned his weapon, a scythe, into his hand as the three junior heroes went into their battle stances.

"A mile, could you walk in my shoes? All your, all your life~"

The heroes engaged the villain as Roxas, Axel, and Xion enjoyed their ice cream as they watched the sunset in Twilight Town.

"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

Sora and his team came out victorious as Naminé (With Kairi by her side) smiled in gratitude. Sora (With Ventus by his side) smiled back.

"Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

The figure simply looked down as his eyes shined again. This time Sora was surrounded by thirteen figures in similar outfits.

"Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here~ Watch me cry all my tears~"

Xemnas smirked on this throne. Sora's eyes narrowed in anger when someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Riku by his side as he gave him a nod. Together, they took down Xemnas.

"Watch me cry all my tears~"

Sora turned to see Kairi on the shores of the Destiny Islands. The Princess Of Heart smiled as she waved to him as she held a paopu fruit in her hands. He beamed for joy as he was about to run over to her when the man's eyes glowed again. Kairi was stuck down by Master Xehanort and his thirteen darkness much to Sora's horror.

"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

Sora glared at Xehanort as he used his Keyblade to summon forth Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Roxas, Axel, and Xion to join the fight.

"Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

As the Guardians of Light battled the Seekers of Darkness, Sora took on Xehanort himself. He then joined with all his friends as he used his Keyblade to defeat Xehanort for good.

"Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here~"

With Xehanort defeated, Sora saw Kairi's heart. He made a dash for it as he reached out to her. Once he was close enough, Kairi returned ran towards him.

"Watch me cry all my tears~"

Sora and Kairi pulled each other into the hug under Kingdom Hearts's Light as the man watched over them as the infinity symbols in his eyes began to glow one last time...

Kingdom Hearts: A New World, A New Way

They gathered as many Keyblade Wielders they could find and took on Xehanort and his Seekers of Darkness for one final clash. Despite the victory over the Keyblade War, Sora had nearly lost to Kairi. The girl he loves. So, using the Power of Waking, he traveled to the past to collect the fragments of Kairi's heart.

Once Kairi was restored, Sora brought Kairi to the Final World. The Princess of Heart stared at the world's beauty, "It's so pretty."

Sora smiled, he knew Kairi would like his place, but suddenly his hand felt funny. He took a look at it and noticed he was starting to fade away. It was like Chirithy and even Xehanort warned him. Paying the ultimate price. He knew he had only a day to stay with her before fading away. However, if it was enough for his friends, Will Turner and Elizabeth, then it was enough for him too.

He turned to his lifelong friend with a smile, "Kairi. Come on. Everyone's waiting."

Kairi nodded, making Sora's smile wider when he blinked. He had nearly forgotten about the one who helped him get Kairi back. He looked around the Final World as Kairi looked to him with concern, "What's wrong?"

"Well... My friend should be here, but..." Sora explained to her before calling out, "Heeeey! Chirithy!"

Just then, Chirithy appeared before Sora's feet as he gasped in shock, "Whoa! Hey, why didn't you say anything?"

"I was just trying to give you two some privacy," Chirithy told them.

This made the two smile as they shyly blushed at that. Kairi then giggled a little at how cute Charity looked. Kairi then walked up the Dream Eater before knelt to him as she offered him her hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, likewise." Chirithy nodded as he shook Kairi's hand, "I'm glad you're okay."

Once they released their hands, Sora told Chirithy, "Chirithy, we're heading home. You should come with us."

"Whaaaaaaat...?" Chirithy gasped in shock.

Sora explained as Kairi smiled in agreement, "Take it from me, it's not enough to wait for someone you care about. It's true that hearts are connected wherever you are. If it's impossible for you to be together, then all you can do is wait. But, if it is possible to be together, then that's how it should be."

"Sora..." Was all Chirithy could say at Sora's words of wisdom.

Sora commented, "You know, this really is a beautiful place." He then turned to Kairi, who nodded in agreement, as he continued, "But you'd enjoy it so much more with someone you care about. Before I was looking for Kairi, I remembered how important it is... to share these moments with your friends. That's why you're coming with us. I'm taking you to see your friend, Chirithy."

Chirithy began to tear up and tried to wipe away his tears, before giving Sora a grateful nod. Kairi smiled at the Dream Eater as she and Sora knelt down to Chirithy as Sora offered him his hand, "Okay! Let's go!"

—-------------

Later that evening, everyone returned to the worlds they called home. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy left the Gummi Hanger of Disney Castle to see an awaiting Queen Minnie and Daisy waiting for them. King Mickey beamed and ran to his wife. Minnie whipped away a tear and was about to join her husband when Pluto, their dog, beat her to it, tacking his master to the ground. Mickey laughed as his dog licking him, Pluto let up when Minnie joined them. The King sat back up as Minnie giggled. They then smiled happily as they took each other's hands.

Daisy marched her way up to Donald, who began to look afraid until she smiled and hugged her boyfriend. Donald sighed in relief as he hugged back. Jiminy Cricket climbed on to Goofy's shoulder and the two smiled. Everyone then turned to see Master Yen Sid join them with Chip and Dale at his side. Yen Sid smiled with pride at his old pupil when they noticed fireworks going off as the Kingdom of Disney Castle celebrated the King's return and the Guardians' victory. Everyone turned around as they enjoyed the fireworks. They were completely unaware of the fact that sitting on the castle walls, Sora and Kairi were also there enjoying the fireworks as Chirithy jumped for joy at the sight...

The next day, on the Land of Departure, Ventus, Terra, and Aqua had a long overdue funeral for Master Eraqus. Over ten years ago, he was struck down on this very world by Master Xehanort. Aqua had placed the Master's Defender Keyblade, in the ground, and decorated with reef flowers. Hold their wayfinders closer to their hearts, they gave a moment of silence for the deceased Master. They then placed their wayfinders on their Master's Keyblade and returned to their old home.

Chirithy was very nervous meeting his friend for the first time in eons, but Sora gave the Dream Eater a reassuring shove to get out of the opening getting Ven's attention before Chirithy retreated to the corner. Chirithy unsure what to do, tried to remain out of sight. Ventus notices the spying Chirithy and calls to it with open arms. The Chirithy bounds over happily and leaps into his arms, cuddling him before Ven began to introduced his old friend to Aqua and Terra. Sora and Kairi smiled for Chirithy before moving on to what they wanted to do next…

—-------------

Later in Twilight Town, Roxas and Axel, now in his new clothes that Master Yen Sid gave him before the second Keyblade War, sat on the bell tower enjoying the sunset like they used to do. Xion, also in her new outfit, joined them. The three smiled as they were finally together, yet there was something still missing. Just then Isa, the former Organization known as Saïx, joined them and offered them all sea-salt ice cream. Everyone smiled as they each took one and Isa joined the group. A minute, Hayner, Pence, and Olette joined them, with their own ice cream. The four smiled and greeted Roxas's friends.

As the seven of them enjoyed their ice cream, they were completely unaware that above them sat Sora and Kairi holding hands as they too shared the frozen treat. As they watched the sunset a dark shadow, flew above them. While Hayner, Pence, and Olette were curious at what they saw, the others knew what it was easily...

On Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, Ienzo, and Even finished their latest project to revive Naminé having been brought back to life using Dark Riku's replica vessel. In the other room, Sora used his Kingdom Key Keyblade to free Namine's heart from Kairi's without harming the Princess. Kairi then proceeded to place the heart in the new vessel, causing the former Nobody to wake up in the lab in Radiant Garden's castle. The three scientists smiled at this...

When she was able to walk, Dilan and Aeleus escorted her out of the castle where the Gummi Ship was waiting for her. Riku exited the ship, where he smiled at the sight of Naminé and offered her his hand to take her to their other friends. Naminé smiled and took it as they entered the Gummi Ship. With that, the ship flew away from the world and headed back to the homeworld where Sora, Riku, and Kairi grew up...

—-------------

On Destiny Islands, with everyone gather, they spent their day playing on the beach. Riku, Roxas, and Terra raced each other as Mickey and Aqua cheered them on. Ven, Axel, and Isa played catch with one of Lea's old frisbees.

Naminé and Xion collected sea-shells near the water. Hayner, Pence, and Olette made a sand sculpture of Mickey, however, they were shocked by Donald's spitting image sand sculpture of himself. Donald showed it off to Goofy as he made the exact pose as his sculpture of himself. Goofy tried to warn Donald but it was too late when the frisbee knocked over the sculpture burying him in the sand.

Donald then lost his temper as he shook the sandpile off him. He then began yelling at the boy responsible, as Ven tried to apologize. Everyone else began laughing at the sight before they turned to see Sora and Kairi sitting on the Paopu tree watching the sunset, as they held each other's hands. Sora had successfully brought Kairi back. They held their hands each other tightly as they turn to each other and smiled. Tears slide down the Princess of Hearts check as she knew what was to come next. Much to everyone's horror, they watched helplessly as Sora faded-away.

Before he vanished completely, he made Kairi a promise, "I'll come back to you, I promise."

With that, Sora has vanished completely. Kairi sniffed as she replied, "I love you."

She then finally broke down crying as she sat there alone…

—-------------

Night time had long since dawned on this farm, a farm with acres of trees filled with delicious, red apples. The only inhabitants of this farm resided within a homestead that resembled a barn more than a house. Looking out of a window on the top floor was a young sapient pony with yellow fur, a plump red mane and tail, large (very large) orange eyes, and a cute little pink bow atop her head.

"Apple Bloom, shouldn't ya'll be in bed?" Another pony spoke from behind, startling the filly named Apple Bloom. She turned around to see, just outside the door frame, an orange mare with white freckles on her cheeks, a blonde mane that was held with a red band at the back (her tail had an identical appearance), lime green eyes, and a brown stetson hat. One major difference between the mare and the filly was that the former had an image of three apples upon her flanks. This older equine looked at smaller one with a stern gaze.

"Aww c'mon, Applejack. Can't ah stay up for just a little longer?" Apple Bloom pouted, quivering her lips and enlarging her pupils for added cuteness.

"Apple Bloom, yer a filly," Applejack stated, unfazed by Apple Bloom's killer sad face, "Ya'll need yer sleep. Now git to bed."

"Awww," Apple Bloom slumped. As she was trotting over to her bed, something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head back towards the window to confirm her suspicions, "Applejack, look, a shooting star! Make a wish!" The young pony exclaimed in excitement, shutting her eyelids tightly. Applejack peered out the window to look for herself. Sure enough, a trail of light was racing through the night sky.

Most shooting stars would burn out after a while; however, this star continued to build up speed and showed no signs of disappearing. It just kept going—on a collision course towards the farm. Applejack's pupils shrunk as this ball of bright fire impacted near the house, creating a small earth quake and a sizable crater. The orange mare lost her breath as a thick dust cloud obscured the window's vision.

Apple Bloom, for her part, opened her eyes and eagerly glanced at her bare flank, almost as if she expected something to happen. Her face slumped when her expectations failed to reach fruition.

"Awww, it didn't work," she mumbled.

"Apple Bloom, wait here!" the older pony ordered, exiting the room.

"What? Why?" The little filly questioned.

"Just stay put!" Applejack called out, galloping downstairs to the front door and grabbing a nearby lantern with her teeth. She opened the front door and surveyed the impact zone. Nothing of value was damaged, thankfully,

Applejack was soon joined by a bulky red stallion with a short and messy orange mane and tail, emerald green eyes, and a mark on his flanks of a green apple and its core.

The two ponies were also joined by two bipedal, canine-like Pokémon with predominantly blue and black fur. They each possessed a short, round spike on the back of each forepaw, in addition to a third on its chest. They have red eyes, long snouts, and ears. When its mouth is open, two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower, can be seen. It possessed cream-colored fur on their torso’s and blue fur on its thighs that resemble shorts. They had medium-length tails of the same blue color as well. They stand on its toes rather than on its entire foot. It has developed four black appendages that hang down from its head. One of them was wearing a white and red helmet with matching boots that appeared to be roller skates.

The four looked at each other and gave respective nods. They carefully approached the impact zone, wary of potential danger. Even after reaching the lip of the crater, the dust in the air prevented them from seeing what crashed into their farm. After letting the dust settle for a moment, they got a full look at the center.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack muttered.

Korrina and Lucario gasped in unbelief. In the center of the crater, was something they never thought they would see again. A human.

But their aura sense told them that something was off about this boy, that he was not normal. The boy seemed to be perfectly fine despite crashing into the dirt, no serious bruises, cuts, or any other kind of injury; however, he was still unconscious. Despite his miraculous luck, Applejack felt the need to aid this mysterious being.

"Korrina, can you carry him to the spare room?" Applejack asked the female Lucario.

"Oh, uh, sure," She responded, gently picking up the boy with her arms. Making their way out of the crater, they returned to the homestead to provide this human some shelter.

—-------------

Meanwhile, in the Hall of Legends, Arceus, a white equine Pokémon resembling a qilin or centaur with a gray, vertically-striated underside was observing the Keyblade Wielder that fell from the sky through a golden ring-like portal. The striated pattern on the Pokemon had similar recurrences on the underside of its mane, tail, and face. Its four pointed feet were tipped with gold hooves. Its long mane juts away from its head, and its face is gray, with green eyes and red pupils, and a green circular pattern below its eyes. Arceus also has a streak of gold coloration on its head, and ears that point upward. Its neck is fairly long, with two pairs of extrusions to the sides, and a flap-like feature on the neck's underside that is colored white like much of the body. Arceus also has a golden cross-like wheel attached to its body by its round abdomen, which changes color along with its eyes and hooves based on its current type, which depends on the Plate or type-specific Z-Crystal that it wields. The wheel also has four jewels attached to it. The pattern of striated gray of Arceus's underbelly resumes past Arceus's waist. Its limbs have gray undersides and extrusions at the tops of the legs. Arceus's tail is fairly like its mane in terms of shape and coloration.

“So, the time has finally come.” Arceus said to himself, as the portal then vanished. “Let us see if this human is trustworthy.”

—-------------

Sora groaned as he opened his eyes, as he opened his eyes. He sat up and took a quick look at his surroundings: a small, rustic bedroom with only a bed, a full sized mirror, a side table with a lamp, and a drawer with some clothing items on top. This was not an area he recognized.

But one thing was for sure: this was a new world.

He stiffened when he heard the door creak behind him. He turned around to see little Apple Bloom peeking her head from the opposite side of the door. The little filly's eyes widened when she realized her cover was blown. Sora eyed the opened entryway curiously, "Hello?" Apple Bloom entered the room proper.

"Hi there," Apple Bloom greeted. The pegasus tilted his head at the adorable creature, "I'm Apple Bloom. What's yer name?"

"I'm Sora. Nice to meet you, Apple Bloom," Sora replied with a smile, which the little filly replicated. It was nice to see a friendly face after such a shock, "Hey, do you know where we are?"

"Sure do! You're in Sweet Apple Acres, the best apple farm in all of Equestria!" Apple Bloom proudly stated.

‘Equestria?’ Sora thought, ‘What kind of a world did I end up in?’

"Hey, where ya from, Sora?" Asked an eager Apple Bloom, bring Sora away from his thoughts, "Ah'm just a little curious since ya fell from the sky and everything," That statement floored Sora, metaphorically of course.

"I fell from the sky?!" Sora repeated loudly. Apple Bloom reeled backwards in surprise from Sora's outburst.

"Uh, yeah... ya kinda did," The small filly responded with trepidation, "Ya still didn't answer my question."

Sora pulled himself back to reality, "Oh, I'm from... really far away," He answered.

"How far away?" The small filly prodded, disappointed with his vague response.

"As far away as you can imagine," He did not want to reveal the true nature of where he came from, so he was intentionally vague with the details. Apple Bloom was unsatisfied with Sora's answer, scrunching up her face in disappointment.

"Apple Bloom! There you are!" Came the stern voice of Applejack, who was standing outside the door, with Korrina standing next to her. Apple Bloom froze in place as her sister stormed into the room, "What do ya think yer doin? Ya'll have chores to do!"

"Applejack, Korrina, ah was just—uh..." Apple Bloom scratched her head in thought for a good explanation, "Oh, Sora here has amnesia, and ah was helping him remember what he forgot," Sora raised his eyebrow in confusion, that was a clear lie. He never said anything about amnesia.

Unfortunately for Apple Bloom, Applejack and Korrina weren't buying it. Not one bit. After shaking her head in disapproval, the orange mare lowered her face to Apple Bloom's eye level, "Apple Bloom, what have I told ya about lying'?"

The yellow filly looked down at the ground in defeat, "That it only leads to trouble."

"Exactly. Now stop pestering this boy and go do your chores," The orange mare ordered, then added in a softer tone, "You'll get to talk to him later,” Apple Bloom trotted away in irritation, huffing in the process. After the little filly left the room, Applejack addressed Sora proper, "Sorry 'bout that, Sora was it?"

"Yeah, and you're Applejack, right?"

"That's right," She responded with a tip of her hat, "Pleasure to meet ya. Sorry 'bout Apple Bloom," Applejack sighed with a shake of her head.

"I swear, it's impossible to get that kid to listen sometimes." Korrina said.

"She wasn't bothering me that much," Sora defended.

"Aww hooey," Applejack said, "Y'all should be resting after that crash of yer's."

"I feel just fine," Sora replied, stretching and moving about his legs to emphasize his point. The farm mare scrunched her face in uncertainty. Sora did seem to be fit as a fiddle, but...

"Ah ain't takin' that chance," Applejack poked Sora's chest, "Ya'll get some rest, ya hear. I'll be back later to introduce ya to the rest of the family," She and Korrina left the room, closing the door behind them. Now Sora was left alone on his own to ponder his next course of action.

He brought out his gummi phone and was relieved to see that it still turned on. What was less relieving was that all of his friends and contacts were greyed out. They weren't deleted from his gummi phone, but it was clear that there was no way of reaching them. He'd have to find his way home some other way. He could use the Power of Wakening again, but there was no way of guaranteeing he'd survive another trip like that, or even if the next reality he popped into would be nearly as welcoming. He'd have to make do with what he had here.

After about an hour of waiting, Sora was greeted by Applejack once again. She informed him that the rest of the family was downstairs and ready to meet him properly, so Sora followed Applejack through the hallway and downstairs into the living room where the Apple family was gathered.

Among Apple Bloom and Big Mac, who was now wearing a thick wooden harness around his neck, was an elderly lime green mare with amber eyes and a grayed mane and tail held in a bun. On her flanks was an image of a homemade pie, apple flavor most likely.

"Right then. You've met Apple Bloom," Applejack motioned towards the little filly, who waved at Sora enthusiastically, "This here is Korrina, Lucario, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith." Bic Macintosh gave a curt nod of greeting to Sora while Granny Smith trotted towards Sora to get a better look at him.

"So," Granny Smith acknowledged to Sora, "Yer what all the fuss is about?"

"Yeah, that's me. Sorry," Sora seemed to be genuinely sorry that he might have caused some sort of trouble.

"Psshhh, ya'll got nothin' ta be sorry fer," Applejack reassured, "We were more than happy to give ya shelter for the night."

"Eyup," Bic Macintosh agreed with a nod. The Apple siblings' reassurance brought a smile to Sora's face.

"So how was it ya crashed on our front lawn?" Granny Smith asked.

"I honestly don't know." Sora said, bringing a hand to his chin.

"You have to remember something," Korrina said, unconvinced that Sora had no memory prior to his crash. “Or at least how you are not a Pokemon?”

Sora tilted his head. "What's a Pokemon?"

Everyone suddenly looked at Sora like he'd grown another head. He now felt very self conscious. Had he offended them somehow? Whatever this 'Pokemon' thing was, apparently it was well-known enough in this reality that not knowing it was a problem.

"You… don't know what Pokemon are?" Korrina asked, looking absolutely dumbfounded.

"No, sorry." Sora nervously admitted. "... should I?"

The two of them looked between themselves with looks of confusion and shock. Sora began to panic just a little. This was obviously important information.

"Ya might have hit yer noggin a bit too hard there, sonny," Granny Smith commented.

"I’m actually fine," Sora responded with a rub of his neck. “Is that weird?”

"It’s definitely unusual…" Lucario muttered as he cupped his chin. Korrina gently elbowed him in the side before he continued. "B-but it's not weird, no!"

"So, ah take it you'll be heading off soon," Granny Smith said. Sora didn't think that was a good idea. He knew nothing about his whereabouts, so going off on his own was out of the question.

"I really don't have a place to go at the moment," Sora admitted. He spoke this statement plainly, almost as though he'd been in this scenario before, "Do any of you know someone who could help me?"

"Well, maybe ya can mosey on over to Ponyville just down the road," Applejack suggested, "Ask the locals."

"There's a town near here?" Sora said.

"Yeah, where do ya think we sell our apples?" Applejack replied playfully.

“Right…” Sora chuckled nervously, not thinking about that simple logic. “So, which way is Ponyville?"

"Just follow the path past the picket fence. Ya can't miss it."

(Play Kingdom Hearts II The Afternoon Streets)

He found many other signs that named certain streets, and Sora made note of which ones led back to the farm. Sora passed by a few cafes, apartments, and residents.

Speaking of the residents, one thing Sora had to note was that some of them were ponies. Others seemed to look like alien creatures like Korrina, giving Sora an nervous and surprised look. It excited him to no end. Sora had been to many worlds, each one different from the last. One world had him transform into a Merman-dolphin hybrid, another transformed him into a lion, and one even transformed him into a toy! Despite all the wacky things Sora had seen through his adventures, he would never cease to be amazed by all the things in a new world. This one here was no exception.

Finally, after turning on a street, Sora found what he was looking for: a library inside of a tree. Sora knew that inside the library was a wealth of information on this world, and there he would find the answers he sought.

Initially, when he had first arrived, Sora was tempted to ask the locals where he was, but then reconsidered it, as they would be scared and confused from how they were looking at him. He would normally do something like that, but during those times, he normally had Donald and Goofy with him to help him preserve the world order. Sora never did keep his mouth shut during those times, and here, now that he was all alone, Sora needed to keep quiet about the world order as much as possible, or he'd never hear the end of it from Donald when he returned.

(End Kingdom Hearts II The Afternoon Streets)

"Golden Oaks Library, huh?" Sora said, "Wonder what's inside."

Sora went into the door, opening it. As he went inside, he took in the surroundings. It seemed like there were books to look at, many of which appeared to have pictures on them. At one of the tables, there were two residents sitting across from each other.

The first was a light purple alicorn mare with violet eyes, a simple dark blue mane and tail with streaks of violet and pink, and a cutie mark of a pink star surrounded by five smaller white stars.

The other was a brown extraterrestrial creature with an oblong head that features depressions on both sides, wearing a Lab coat. It had black, symmetrical lines going down the front of its head. Under the rim of its head, there lay two green eyes with small black pupils. It had a lighter brown "collar" and four dots on its chest of the same color. This creature’s arms had three finger-like digits: one red, one green, and one yellow. It had a rim underneath its main body, under which were two small legs.

The Beheeyem held a clipboard and a pen in her physic grasp. The alicorn gleefully finished setting everything upon and stood back. After all, today was a special day.

“Alright Twilight are you ready?”

“I’m always ready.”

“Alright, where is the human heart located?”

“The upper left chest for males, and the upper center for females.”

“What is the ratio of solids to liquids for human blood cells?”

“20 to 80%.”

“How many miles of blood vessels in an average adult human body?”

“100,000.”

“What is their largest internal organ?”

“The liver.”

That's right, a test. While Professor Juniper was more of a Pokémon expert. She was no slouch when it came to human anatomy. So in the interest of preserving what little human culture that remained on this world, she hoped to pass as much as she could onto another for prosperity’s sake. And who better than one of Equestria’s rulers.

“And the final niche random question, how much gold makes up the human body?”

“0.2 milligrams.”

The cerebral Pokémon set down her clipboard and flashed a smile, at least in her mind.

“Congratulations, Twilight. You have successfully passed you course on the human body.”

The alicorn flew into the air and made a gleeful gesture.

“Yes, add another successful test to the folder of Twilight Sparkle.”

The professor then began to put away her things.

“Thank you Twilight, this will help to preserve what knowledge we can on humanity.”

“It's my pleasure Professor Juniper. With your help I'll soon be able to write a book on the human body, after that maybe I can write a book on human history, from their culture, to how they shaped your world and finally how they ended up where they are.”

‘Wait, so other than the ponies, these creatures aren’t from this world?’ Sora thought in confusion.

“Yes, it's a little hard to believe we are actually doing this, considering how...you know.”

The Pokémon did not need a mouth for Twilight to tell that she was internally frowning, not that she could blame her.

“Juniper, can I ask you a personal question?”

“Yes, what about?”

“It's more of a controversial subject considering, so take your time if you have to come up with an answer. Or don’t answer at all.”

“It's fine, really just say it.”

“What's your opinion on humans?”

“....What do you mean?”

“I mean, what did you think of them before the exodus? What do you think of them now that Arceus basically rendered them basically extinct in this world, and the ones from the Pokemon world soon to follow?”

Juniper did not expect that kind of question from Twilight. But then again it was an elephant in the room that barely anyone in their world wanted to address unless you had strong feelings on the matter. And Juniper knew that said feelings varied greatly wherever you went or who you asked.

“Before I answer that, can I have your opinion on humanity?”

“Oh well….hmmmm, to be honest I’m mixed. I have met many former humans who are good people: Gene, you, Abby, Seth, May and Korrina to name a few. But I have also seen their bad side. When Arceus showed everyone his memories of Earth, I was just so stunned and horrified at what humans are capable of. I honestly couldn't believe it. Then I experienced that personally when Hastings and his bunch of self-righteous stubborn followers tried to take away our friends.”

Twilight let out a long sigh.

“Then there's the fact that Arceus did all this for the sake of not letting his Pokémon suffer at the hands of humans. Make no mistake, what he did was foolish and without thought, there are many other paths he could have taken. But at the end of the day mankind pushed him into doing what he did, humans brought this upon themselves. But that being said, I believe people can change. And if humans had been steered on the right path, they could have become a great race. One of friendship and Harmony with Pokémon.”

Professor Juniper nodded as Twilight finished her statement.

“Ok, to tell you the truth, I still wish I was human. Being a Pokémon is fun and all, but being human makes me who I am. Humans and Pokémon are meant to coexist together. This is a truth I came to learn as I was studying the origins of Pokémon, cause our origins are tied to them. Yes, the evils of humans are largely the reason why we are all here. But as our god I believe Arceus went a little too far, not to mention he did not take into account or even care whether some of us wanted to be Pokémon.”

Twilight could feel the emotions coming off of the psychic-type Pokémon. Arceus had made it very clear that he wasn’t gonna change everybody back no matter how much they pleaded and begged. He had come to the conclusion that all humans will do is create more suffering for Pokémon. Apparently not knowing or caring what the evils of this new world might do to them.

“But there's nothing we can do about that. We humans weren’t always this way and we'll never be the same again. But we have to work with the hand we're dealt with. We have to find a new way in this new world, and thanks to our new friendships, that way will be easier than it seems.”

A small smile crept across Twilight's face.

“You’re right, I’m here for you Juniper, we all are.”

“Thank you Twilight, now let's review for your human history test shall we?”

“Yes, let's do it.”

“Um, excuse me?”

The two stopped, as they finally noticed Sora, while they gasped in shock.

“How-?! What-?! Where?!” Twilight tried to comprehend, wondering how a human managed to get to Equestria.

“Um, how long were you for, young man?” Juniper asked, trying not to faint from the appearance of the human boy.

“Hmm…” Sora put his hand on his chin, before replying, “Right before you started your quiz.”

The Beheeyem chuckled nervously, not sure how to react to the current scene.

Attacks

View Online

Chapter 2: Attacks

"So let me get this straight." Juniper said, leaning forward in her seat, as she and Twilight started to calm down from shock. "You're from another world - not the Pokemon World - and found yourself stranded in this one after using a forbidden power to save your friend from dying."

"Not really forbidden, just risky." Sora said with a shrug. "... but yeah."

"The reason you had to do this was because you and your friends finished defeating some guy who wanted to start a war and remake reality how he saw fit." The Beheeyem continued. "But before you defeated him, he killed Kairi, which was why you had to use this power in the first place."

"Yup." Sora nodded, leaning back in his seat and putting his hands behind his head casually.

"I'm… having a little difficulty believing this." Juniper admitted. "I'm not calling you a liar, Sora, it's just a lot to take in."

"...Key…"

Sora froze, his body tensing up from the distorted voice. Twilight took notice of this.

"Sora?"

"Did you hear that?" Sora asked them, looking around.

"Hear what?" Juniper asked.

"That voice." Sora said apprehensively. His eyes began to dart around as he felt a dark presence, a presence he had hoped wouldn't appear in a world like this. The way Sora looked around frantically was creeping the professor and the alicorn next to him out.

"What voice? Sora, what are you talking about?" Twilight asked him, concerned. She had no idea why Sora was reacting like this, but she suddenly felt the air grow a bit colder. Then it rang out, louder this time.

"Where... are you?"

"That one!" Sora exclaimed, and Twilight could hear it too this time.

"What is that?" she asked.

The three of them suddenly heard screams.

(Play Kingdom Hearts No Time to Think)

"Help!"

"Monsters!"

"Where did they come from?!"

"Oh no…" Sora said aghast. "Please don't tell me…" Sora muttered to himself, but knew it had to be true.

"Monsters?" Twilight asked, as the three made it outside.

She eventually got her answer as the three were suddenly surrounded by small, but creepy, little creatures with glowing yellow eyes and black antennae. They had creeped up on them when they had lost focus, and now made their presence known. They slowly started to advance on the duo, crouched and poised to strike.

(End Kingdom Hearts No Time to Think)

(Play Kingdom Hearts Night of Fate)

"What the-?" Twilight was taken aback by their appearance as the three were now back to back.

"Heartless…" Sora growled.

"Huh? 'Heartless'? Are these…?" Juniper asked him.

"No time to explain," the boy said as he summoned the Kingdom Key in his right hand. Its guard was gold with a black hilt. A blue piece connected the guard with the shaft, which was silver with teeth that outlined a crown shape. Hanging off guard was a chain ending with an emblem of three circles forming what seemed to be a head with two large ears. "They're dangerous in a swarm. Don't let them get near your heart!"

"Okay!" Juniper blocked a swipe from another Shadow with Protect before whacking it to the floor. She ducked as another lunged at her, missing and swiping at nothing but thin air. Sora sliced two more in half, before turning around and knocking the Shadow that had jumped over Twilight off balance, before whacking it into a wall with his Keyblade.

Seeing their other fellows easily dispatched by the duo, the remaining Shadows literally disappeared into the shadows.

"What were those creatures?" Twilight asked Sora. He could tell that she was shaken up by the sudden ambush. Anybody would be, considering the nature of these black monsters of darkness. "Sora… have you seen these things before?"

"Like I said," Sora replied with a serious tone, "They're Heartless… creatures created from the darkness of people's hearts."

"Hearts… like in the physical hearts that pump blood through our body?" Twilight asked confused, glancing towards Sora's Keyblade, "That doesn't make any-"

"Not the physical heart." Sora corrected, "I mean like our essence. It's a manifestation of what makes us who we are… an inner self…? Sorry, it's hard to explain…". Sora had a hard time explaining it to her. She herself was confused even more by his explanation, but it was slightly reduced by what he said next, "Think of it like our emotions. When I mean darkness, I mean our negative emotions, like anger and hate, or sadness. It's connected to our emotions, basically. I dunno how else to explain it."

"Tell us later, then. We need to go and find help." Juniper replied, "There's got to be Pokemon Rangers nearby. Maybe we can-"

"No." Sora interrupted her, "I'm going to go and fight those things."

"But Sora, you can't!” Twilight protested.

"You don't understand." he replied, gripping the Keyblade firmly, "These monsters are dangerous! I've seen what they can do… Their sole drive is to take the hearts of other people, and when they do, those people will lose their hearts, and become one of them! I saw it happen before on my island, I can't let that happen here! Not while I have the power to help!"

Twilight and Juniper were surprised by Sora's conviction and drive, more so by the fact that Sora had seen these things before and knew what they could do. "I'm going to do what I can." Sora said, snapping them out of their thoughts, "Go and evacuate while you still can."

"No." Her response surprised the hero of light, as she continued, "I am one of the four Princesses of Equestria. It is my duty to keep ponies and Pokemon away from danger. I'm coming too."

Sora had to blink frequently to process her words, then nodded. "Okay. Let's go and do what we can, then." He turned and was about to run towards the screams for help, before Juniper stopped him.

"Sora… regarding the Heartless…" Twilight looked uncomfortable as she was saying this, "Are they…?". Sora looked down, understanding what she was asking, and nodded silently. "I see…"

Twilight sighed, confirming her suspicions, "Let's go."

"Right." Sora nodded again, before the three rushed towards the screams.

It was already a harrowing sight, with some fires burning along several buildings. To make matters worse, more of those shadowy monsters were attacking other citizens trying to run away from them. A few unlucky victims had those shadows rip into their chest and pull out a glowing red heart, shattering it and causing the victims' forms to fade, distort, and eventually reform into more Heartless that began to scurry around.

"So… this is what you meant…" Twilight replied in horror as she saw a Soldier Heartless rip out the heart of another victim.

Sora could see that the sight creeped his new friend out, and he put a hand on her shoulder, despite him being shorter, to reassure her. "It's okay. I was afraid too the first time I saw them appear on the island. Let's focus on saving these people. I'll divert the Heartless's attention away from the civilians. You two get them to safety while I keep them distracted. If they come after you, then make sure they don't get your heart."

"Understood." She said as Sora crouched down, concentrated, and summoned blue energy around his body. Looking relieved for a second, Sora then blitzed towards the Heartless with Keyblade in hand.

"Leave them alone!" Sora cried out, kicking a Soldier Heartless off another civilian. He turned towards the citizen who looked at him with surprise. "Go, go! Get going!" Sora called to him, and the citizen nodded before running off. Sora looked at the number of Heartless on the field, and was relieved to find only Soldier and Shadow Heartless.

Good. They haven't gotten a true foothold on this place yet, Sora thought, But regardless, I need to draw their attention and take them out fast! Without hesitation, Sora pointed the Keyblade to the sky, allowing it to glow to get the Heartless's attention.

It worked. The Heartless's eyes flashed a dangerous yellow upon seeing the one weapon they feared, and lost interest in the other citizens. They started to advance onto the boy wielding the weapon, and Sora did the one thing he could do.

He ran towards them, ready for battle.

As Sora clashed with the Heartless, Twilight and Juniper and several other civilians were helping others who had been injured by the Heartless out of the fighting and destruction.

"Are you alright?" Twilight approached an injured mare, looking at the claw marks on her side.

They appeared to be pretty deep cuts, and Juniper winced as she saw the blood. "Can you move?"

"No… I can't. It hurts too much…" the mare grimaced in pain.

"Hang on!" They looked to where a small, light green Pokémon with several flowers surrounding it was running towards them. Its main body was an orange face with oval, light green eyes. On top of its head was a long, fluffy green crest that curls slightly over its face and extends backwards. A thin blue thread was attached to the back of its head and had several flowers attached to it. The flowers were white, purple, red, and yellow.

"Is she okay?" she asked her.

"No. She's hurt pretty bad," Juniper said.

"Give me a second." the Pokemon put a hand on the wound, and a green aura came from her hand, making the wounds disappear.

"Thank you…" the mare whispered.

"No worries," the Pokemon coughed. Twilight looked at her concerned, but she waved it off. "I'll be fine. Let's get her to safety."

"Got it. I'll cover you," Twilight looked to where a Soldier Heartless was running towards them. At least they were larger than those little shadow bugs. She delivered a kick to the Soldier to push it back while the young man helped the woman to safety. The Soldier tumbled a bit, before getting back up. It then spun around claws outstretched to throw Twilight off balance, but she narrowly dodged the attack before hitting it with a spell and sending it careening into a wall of a store, where it dissipated.

She noticed that when it did, a pink heart floated out of its remains. A heart very similar to the ones the Heartless had pulled out of their victims.

‘Oh no… was that a person?’ she thought horrified. She brushed her thoughts aside as she heard someone tell her to duck. And duck she did, avoiding another Soldier that had targeted her. Before she or it could do anything, it went out in a blaze of glory, turning to dust and releasing the heart within.

Shocked, she turned to see that Sora was the culprit, having cast Fire on the Soldier Heartless to keep it away from his friend.

"Get going!" he called out to her and the others.

"What about you?" Twilight asked him, "You're going to fight them by yourself?"

"I don't have much of a choice. The Heartless's eyes are on me now. And in this way, they won't focus as much on you guys," he replied, glancing towards his Keyblade, before his face lit back up with determination, "If they show up again, tell the civilians to take cover and hold them off for as long as you can.”

"...You won't be persuaded otherwise, huh?" she sighed, and the hero of light shook his head. "Okay… Then I won't stop you. Good luck, Sora."

"Got it!" Sora saluted, before covering himself with blue energy and rushing off.

As he ran, he saw more Heartless running about and causing trouble. There weren't many other civilians around running or being attacked, but the Heartless were still there, scavenging for survivors. Not only that, but Sora's earlier perception of the Heartless's hold on Ponyville was wrong: There appeared to be slightly stronger Heartless, like Neoshadows, Air, and High Soldiers roaming about. Not good.

Upon noticing the Keyblade, the Heartless stopped their search, and hissed at Sora and the Keyblade, before lunging towards the swordsman. Without hesitation, Sora cut through them as quickly as he could, his thoughts on trying to save anyone that might be trapped.

"Freeze!" he called out, launching an ice crystal from his hand. The Air Soldier tried to fly away, but it was too late as the shard of ice exploded into a larger ice crystal, freezing the Air Soldier in place before the crystal shattered. Sora used the opportunity to dispel the frozen Heartless with his blade, before landing on the ground.

"So you have come…"

He heard the voice again. This time, it was not distorted, but it gave chills down Sora's spine. He summoned his Keyblade, looking around, but seeing nothing.

"So what if I have?" Sora called out, "Where are you supposed to be?"

"Why would I need to answer that?" the voice replied, "So that you can strike me down like you did the others?"

"Well… yeah." Sora was taken aback by the answer.

"Hmph." the voice replied, "You're amusing."

"Whaddya mean?"

The voice remained silent, which Sora did not like at all. Before he could ask another question, the voice spoke again, "A pure heart to the end, aren't you, Key Bearer?"

"So what? Got a problem with that?" Sora retorted.

"No. Quite the opposite, actually."

"Huh?"

"It makes you careless, Key Bearer, and more prone to making stupid decisions. Haven't you noticed?" the voice replied, "Or are you that dense that you can't even tell that your own actions brought you to this place?"

"I know what I did." Sora said, "I know that I was meant to fade due to breaking that taboo. But it's because of my friends that I'm still alive and kicking. Besides, who are you to judge me? Aren't you some sort of Heartless?"

"Still so blind." the voice said, "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Sora had heard those lines before. But this voice couldn't possibly be him. Riku had struck him down for good at the Keyblade Graveyard. "I know you're not Ansem. Spill the beans. Who are you, really?"

There was silence, before the voice spoke a simple word.

"...Darkness…"

(Play Kingdom Hearts III Fragments of Sorrow)

At that, Sora saw multiple shadows appear from the ground. Surrounding him now were several Shadows of various sizes, and even a few Neoshadows added into the bunch. Sora hadn't seen these large Shadows since Wonderland. This could be troublesome.

A Mega Shadow lunged towards Sora, but the Keyblade wielder reacted in time, dodging its outstretched claws and whacking it away with his Keyblade. It tumbled to the ground, crushing a few of its smaller kin in the process, but got back up, angrier than ever. Sora wasn't fazed, though, and jumped as it tried to attack him again, bashing it in the head with his blade. The other Shadows lunged at him in the air, but Sora was ready for them.

"Fire!" Sora released a torrent of flame around himself like a ring. Some of the Shadows reared back, but others weren't fast enough, and were burned or incinerated by the flames surrounding the Keyblade wielder, giving him some breathing room as he landed on the ground.

He brought his Keyblade up to block a Neoshadow's outstretched claw, and delivered a kick to yet another Mega Shadow to knock it back, before turning his attention to the Neoshadow and cleaved it in half, dissipating it.

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain in his back. The Mega Shadow had come back for more, and had slashed its claws at him from behind before he could react in time. Snarling, Sora turned around and slashed the Mega Shadow, cutting it in two. Ignoring the pain currently burning on his back, he decided to test to see if he could cast another spell.

He raised his Keyblade up to the sky, yellow electricity at the tip of it. "Thunder!" he called out, summoning a series of small lightning bolts from the sky and electrocuting the enemies around him, stunning them. This allowed Sora to get some distance between the Heartless, before pointing his blade and firing bullets of light towards them, eliminating them in their stunned state.

Sora looked around, expecting more Heartless to come along, but as he turned around, he noticed his shadow had grown to an extremely large size. He jumped back, realizing what was about to happen.

As he watched, his shadow emerged as a very large Heartless that Sora had encountered many times before. It, like the Neoshadows, took a humanoid shape. However, it lacked antennae, replaced with hair-like appendages that covered its face. It also had small wings on its back, but the most prominent feature was the large, heart-shaped void in its torso, which would make even the bravest of warriors shiver.

This was the Heartless type Jiminy had dubbed the "Darkside.". The monster that had haunted Sora's dreams before he was thrown into this adventure. The one who had led the attack which had destroyed his beloved Destiny Islands.

Except… there was something different about it.

This Darkside appeared to have a more purplish tint, which was more prominent on its large hands, which were blood red at the tips of its fingers. The aura it gave out was also more intimidating and pressuring than normal Darksides.

Sora took a step back, before gritting his teeth. For some reason, despite never facing it personally, he knew exactly what this was. A Dark Follower. A stronger variant of the Darkside. This had to be the Heartless's leader here in this world. He gripped his Keyblade hard and readied himself to face the oncoming darkness.

"Come on!" Sora shouted, and the Dark Follower roared back in challenge.

The Heartless clapped both fists together, rearing back and raising them up to the sky, ready to slam both onto the ground. Sora knew he had to dodge this by jumping, but even he was surprised when the Dark Follower's attack shook the land like a minor earthquake, and the shockwave was larger than he anticipated, though he barely made it over said wave before tumbling to the ground.

Wasting no time, Sora blitzed towards the Dark Follower's vulnerable hands, and struck them multiple times before the Dark Follower brought them back up, forcing Sora to retreat as it exposed its empty core.

Dark purple energy began forming at the center of its empty heart-shaped void as it began firing large blasts of dark energy, which all homed in on Sora. The Keyblade wielder timed his strikes and deflected each of them back towards the Dark Follower, which took the orbs without much issue.

Not good. It's much faster and tougher than a normal Darkside, Sora thought, It's recovering from my attacks much more quickly! This is gonna take longer than I thought. Sora's train of thought crashed as he barely dodged an attempt by the Dark Follower to grab him.

“Let's see if this still works!” Sora said, and his pupils dilated as he focused on each of the Dark Follower's hands and then to his head. “Now!” Sora jumped up, pointing his Keyblade in front of him, as powerful energy charged at the tip of it. If one looked closely enough, his clothes also appeared to change color as well.

"Ragnarok!" Sora shouted, releasing the energy and firing 24 spinning energy bullets towards the Dark Follower. Eight bullets hit their respective targets and caused the Heartless to rear up and take a step back.

The Dark Follower recovered, and raised its right arm, which pulsed with dark energy, before slamming it down to the ground, creating a pool of darkness from its hand. Sora was quick to take advantage and attacked the hand vigorously. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shadows appearing from the pool of darkness the Dark Follower had created, and then, he decided to do something crazy.

Without a second's hesitation, ignoring the Shadows, Sora leapt onto the Dark Follower's arm, and began running up the arm towards the face. Sora used his Flowmotion to speed up to dodge the other hand that had tried to grab him mid-flight, and charging up a massive amount of power, Sora let out a battle cry as he slammed the Keyblade, whose blade now glowed a bright yellow, into the Dark Follower's face.

To say the least, an extremely powerful explosion of light was released upon impact, capable of blinding almost anybody had they been present. Sora leaped out of the smoke and landed on the ground, ready to continue the fight. The legs of the Dark Follower staggered back again from the impact, but not enough to send it to the ground. The Keyblade Wielder couldn't figure out how much damage that last attack had done, even after the smoke had cleared around the Darkside.

But one thing was certain. It was infuriated by that last attack. It roared its fury to the heavens, so much that a dark aura began oozing out of the Heartless. Sora looked determined to take this thing down, and gripped his Keyblade to prepare for the upcoming storm.

(End Kingdom Hearts III Fragments of Sorrow)

But to his surprise, the Dark Follower relaxed, staring at the Keyblade Wielder before a pool of darkness surrounded it. Sora lowered his guard, confused, before he saw the giant Heartless descending down into it.

‘No… it's retreating?!’ Sora thought. "Get back here!" Sora shouted, rushing towards the Dark Follower as it slowly disappeared into the murky pool of darkness. Sora lunged toward the Heartless, aiming for the head in an attempt to end it…

But his blade hit nothing but the ground.

"No…" he cursed himself for being too slow.

The Dark Follower had escaped.

(Play Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Hunter in the Dark)

He had no more time to think as the Heartless surrounding them suddenly started to run to a spot in front of him. The boy was initially confused, until they saw the Shadows start climbing atop one another, and Sora quickly realized what they were doing as they merged together, becoming a much stronger Heartless known as the Demon Tower.

Sora had only briefly faced it in the Realm of Darkness when he had gone to rescue Riku and King Mickey in the Realm of Darkness, but he knew that if it grew into its stronger form, things would only escalate and get out of hand.

A cry for help snapped Sora out of his stupor. He turned to see somebody stuck in the rubble. He couldn't make out their face, but he saw the Demon Tide's eyes glow red in response. Without hesitation, it ignored Sora and decided to feast upon the helpless innocent.

Sora didn't know how it happened, what came over him, or where he got the strength to even move, but his body suddenly operated on its own to prevent the Heartless from getting to the bystander. He finds himself between the individual and the Heartless, as he rears his blade back and stabs the Tide in front of them, Keyblade glowing in light.

It was working. The Tide was being repelled by Sora's light, but it left him in a terrible situation. He couldn't move from his spot to help the innocent out, or he'd risk getting both of them consumed by the darkness. It was a stalemate, and the one who gave out first would be the one to fall.

And with his predicament and his condition, it seemed like Sora would be the lucky guy to take that title. Well… lucky would be pushing it way too hard. But he wasn't planning on giving up.

“Help!" he heard the figure shout out. The voice was feminine, but she must've seen something that spooked her out. Sora looked back to see who he was trying to save.

It was a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon whose body resembles a flowing gown. Most of its body was white, but its hair, arms, and the underside of its gown were green. Its hair curled over its face and down the sides of its head. Behind its red eyes are short spikes, resembling a masquerade mask. It had long arms with three fingers on each hand and slender white legs. A red, fin-like horn extended from its chest, and a shorter, more rounded horn extended from the back. A band of green on its chest extends to the center of the front horn and connects to its sleeve-like arms.

Sora felt a wave of pain in his body. He realized that the Demon Tide had decided to put more force into its attack, and Sora was taking the full force of it.

"Don't worry, ma'am!" he shouted, "It's gonna be okay!". He put more power into his defense, but even that was failing as he felt himself being pushed back.

"I can't… I won't… I won't fail everybody a second time! I refuse to let you consume my friends and this world!" Sora shouted, trying his very best to ignore the pain he was feeling, trying his best to keep his light shining bright to protect the ones he cared about.

"SORA!" he heard people screaming his name in horror as he felt the pain escalate further. He couldn't see it, but the darkness was starting to eat at him, ripping through him and tearing him apart, just like it had with Riku and Roxas during their final stand when the Guardians fell.

And it was scaring his friends by the second, seeing their newest, and probably kindest, friend being consumed by the darkness he was protecting them from.

Sora was starting to feel the pain now. It was unbearable, but he grit his teeth and kept pushing, despite the impossible odds. But he felt it. His body was being torn apart. Was this what Riku and Roxas felt in their final moments back then in that cursed timeline? He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable doom…

But suddenly, he felt two hands placed onto his back and weapon arm, supporting him. Startled, Sora turned back to see a scared but determined Twilight, supporting him.

Suddenly, Sora felt slightly stronger, and found more drive to push back. Though he felt that Twilight might die with him, Sora decided to keep pushing, reinvigorated by Twilight’s resolve and filled with hope to save him from an end like this.

To his surprise, Korrina, Lucario, Applejack, and Juniper also came up to help support their friends, each of them supporting Sora in some way.

"Guys!" Sora said in surprise, as they all looked at him with determination.

"We're not leaving you to fight this thing by yourself." Juniper declared, "I don't care what you've got with these things, at least let us help!"

"You saved us before. So let us save you!" Twilight replied bravely.

Sora found himself laughing a bit, before grinning. "Yeah… You're right!" Sora focused his attention on the Tide trying to overpower him, and pushed.

"Hold on!" he cried out as he took a step forward, trying to push back the Tide while every single muscle in his body screamed in pain. The others wore pained but determined expressions as well, and Sora could see the darkness eating away at them as well.

"Come on… come on!" Sora grunted, pushing with every bit of strength he could muster. The Tide remained persistent, pushing Sora and his friends back a bit. "No…!" Sora remained determined, and let out a long but defiant yell to try and push back against it with all his power…

Then everything went white.

(End Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Hunter in the Dark)

When Sora opened his eyes, he found himself in a white void. Frantically, he looked around, wondering where his friends were.

"Twilight! Applejack! Anyone?!" he called out.

Nothing. No response. Not even an echo.

"Oh no… did I…?" Sora thought aloud in horror, "No… it can't be…"

Had he failed? Were he and his friends now dead? Had the Heartless actually overpowered him?

"No…" Sora thought sadly, "I… I messed up…"

Of course he did. He was by himself. There was no way he would have defeated that Demon Tide without help. He couldn't find the strength to yell out in grief. He just let the tears fall. It was over.

He'd lost.

He'd failed them. Not just his new friends… but the ones he'd left behind.

"Everyone… I'm… I'm so sorry…"

(Play: KH3 Re:Mind Soundtrack - Link to All - Second - Connect the Keyholes)

"Sora ain't gonna go anywhere!"

A familiar voice made Sora jump. He looked around, but couldn't see where the voice came from. It seemed to come from everywhere. He heard yet another voice.

"You'd betray your king?"

"Not in your life!" Sora looked around again, but still found nothing, as Goofy's voice continued to speak and echo throughout the void, "But I'm not gonna betray Sora either! He's become one of my best buds after all we've been through together. It would be wrong to leave him just because of the King's orders!"

Sora knew this memory. It was when Riku had taken the Keyblade from Sora at Hollow Bastion, and when he was about to kill him when Sora had chosen to delve deeper into that world, Goofy had protected Sora, deciding to go against King Mickey's orders to follow the one who held the Keyblade.

"See ya later, Donald! Could you tell the King I'm really sorry?"

"Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together!" a raspy but discernible voice answered back through the void. Donald… Sora thought. Why were these memories coming to him now?

"Well… You know… all for one and one for all." Donald's voice said.

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora." Goofy's voice concluded.

Then he heard his own voice, younger and higher, "Thanks a lot, Donald… Goofy,"

Sora couldn't help but chuckle at the memory as he wiped away his tears. Donald and Goofy had chosen their friendship over Sora over their loyalty to Mickey, and this only further solidified their bond. They had been his traveling companions, from start to finish, whether Sora saw it or not. He missed them dearly, and he wouldn't deny it.

He only wished he could see them one last time.

So it only further surprised Sora when he heard a very dorky, but very familiar voice speak up.

"Gawsh, Sora... what's up with that face?"

Sora looked up to see the source of the voice. It was too good to be true. Standing in front of him were a very bizarre duo. An anthropomorphic duck and dog wearing outfits to match Sora's were smiling at him, but their eyes showed concern.

"Donald…" Sora said in shock, looking from one to the other, "Goofy…" He admitted that tears were threatening to fall from his eyes yet again. His own traveling companions were standing right in front of him. "How…?"

The two simply smiled at him, and Sora could only guess why.

"Sora," Donald began, "Seriously, what's with that frown? It's not like you to feel down in the dumps."

"I…" Sora said, but the words stuck in his throat. Too many emotions were threatening to release from his heart. "I don't know… I can't do this on my own… I'm not ready to go yet… What am I supposed to do?"

"Sora. You can't give up here. We're all looking and waiting for you to come back home." Donald persisted, and added reluctantly, "We can't just leave you to fade like that. What kind of friends would we be?"

"Whaddya mean?" Sora asked weakly, "I…"

"Come on, Sora." Goofy chuckled, "You should know that you're never alone, even when we're apart. Our hearts are always connected to one another, dontcha remember? You're not kicking the bucket just like that. That's not the Sora we all know and love."

"And we made a promise," Donald continued, "We promised that we would protect each other, no matter what."

"Right… we did," Sora said, remembering that little promise they had made at the end of their first adventure, "We'd always fight together, even when we're apart."

"Exactly." Goofy replied, "So turn that frown upside down, Sora. You can do this, because not just your friends are there with you, we're right there with you too!" Goofy pointed to his chest, "Now get back up and show that Heartless you're better!"

"But… how?"

Donald smirked, "Ever heard the phrase, 'on your left?'"

As the duck said this, they became brilliant spheres of blue and green light, spiraling towards Sora, to his surprise, before his vision went white once more.

(Play Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Link to All)

Sora found himself back in reality, with him and his friends still trying to hold back the Demon Tide. With new resolve, he forced himself to push against it, but the Demon Tide still proved much stronger. Sora was about to be pushed back, but he felt a pair of hands on his right and left shoulders. Startled, he turned to see a very surprising, but welcoming sight.

Donald and Goofy were there behind him, supporting him along with the others as he clashed with the Tide. Mari and the others seemed surprised too. They were actually there! But that wasn't the only surprise. They were… glowing?

"C'mon, Sora! Give it all you've got!" Goofy called out, snapping Sora out of his stupor.

"Show him who's boss!" Donald shouted.

Sora was stunned, more so by the fact that they were actually here, talking to him and helping him. "Guys…" Sora said, before cracking a grin, "Yeah! Here we go!"

He turned his head back to the Demon Tide. Ignoring the pain in his arms, he swung his Keyblade at the Tide, repelling it and catching the Heartless off guard, sending it careening backwards.

Without hesitation, Sora aimed the blade with two hands towards the staggered Heartless, and with Donald, Goofy, and the rest of his new friends supporting him, he fired a beam of light consisting of red, blue, and green beams spiraling around a central yellow beam towards the Demon Tide, pushing it back and dealing significant damage to it. From that damage, the Tide was forced to back off, crashing into a nearby building.

Sora panted heavily as he slumped to the ground on his rear. That last attack had taken a lot out of him.

"Curaga!" he heard Donald say, and he suddenly felt rejuvenated again. A green aura surrounded Sora as he felt his wounds being healed by Donald's healing spell. He looked at the duck in surprise, who simply smirked at him. "Don't expect to see me do that for you too often."

"Donald… Goofy… you're here! You're actually here!" Sora said with joy as he jumped to his feet. He couldn't believe it. They'd found him! "But… Why are you guys all glowing and sparkly? Didja get some new clothes or something?"

"We'll talk about it later, Sora." Goofy told him, "Cuz I don't think that Heartless is down for the count just yet."

Sora hated to admit it, but the Captain of Mickey's Royal Knights was right. The Demon Tide was quickly recovering, but still remained stationary near the building it had crashed in. And boy, did it look pissed off.

(Play Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance Link to All)

"Great." Sora sighed, "All that for what?"

"Don't worry, Sora. We're gonna take it down together!" Goofy said, summoning his Knight's Shield, "No way we're gonna be beaten by some Heartless threatening the worlds, not now or ever!"

"Let's get it!" Donald declared, summoning his Mage's Staff.

Sora had a cheeky grin on his face, happy that his friends were here to support him again. He didn't care if there were people watching. It was time to teach this Heartless a lesson. He gripped his Keyblade and got into his fighting stance.

(Play: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Wave of Darkness I)

"Bring it on!" Sora challenged, and the Demon Tide began to violently swing about in response, spinning around and around the area that they were in. He heard yelps of surprise behind him as Sora turned to see everyone else sent flying back from the force of the swirling tide. Sora realized it had created a dark barrier to prevent others from coming in, appearing as a translucent black dome.

"Oh no! Sora!" he heard Lucario yell. He turned back to the Symbol of Peace, who looked seriously concerned about Sora's condition. He had managed to save the woman Sora had protected, and she was on his back. Sora noticed he was steaming, but he wasn't concerned about that. Twilight and the others also had that same look, but were at a safer distance from the building and the barrier. The Hero of Light only gave out a smile.

"Don't worry, Lucario!" he grinned confidently, "We've got this!"

"Here goes nothing!" Goofy shouted.

The Demon Tide had stopped spinning around and had turned its attention to the trinity that was Sora, Donald, and Goofy. The three of them got ready to face off, and without warning, the Heartless charged towards them.

"Get clear!" Sora shouted, and the three of them jumped away from the Tide's assault. Goofy reacted fast afterwards and threw his shield at the Tide, missing its core, but managing to eliminate several Shadows which made up the monstrous Heartless before the shield returned to the captain. The Demon Tide reared back and began to make another round, the eyes of the Shadows glowing red. It tried to ram Sora again, but the Hero of Light easily jumped into the air to avoid it, before landing on the ground.

"Blizzaga!" Donald fired a large shard of ice towards the Tide, making impact with the core and causing it to stop for a brief second, before the Tide shook off the frost and the crystal before retreating to the sky, now hovering above the spiky haired swordsman and his friends.

Sora was currently running as the Demon Tide continued its assault. It was still focusing on him. Good. It was underestimating what Donald and Goofy could do. They themselves were running in different directions to flank the Heartless should it try anything. Sora watched as the Heartless spun around and around as it sent out Shadows towards the Keyblade wielder, who used Flowmotion to dodge and weave around each and every one of them as they scampered towards him, attempting to slash and swipe at him to no avail. He was surprised. He felt lighter than he did when he first came here, but decided to focus on that later, as he narrowly dodged another swipe from an incoming Shadow. They didn't stop coming, but Sora wasn't worried.

"Donald!" he called out. "Okay!" was the duck's reply, and he raised his staff high in the air, summoning large bolts of lighting to rain down on the Shadows from above, eliminating them in an instant. The Demon Tide wasn't done, as it burrowed itself into the ground through a portal of darkness.

Sora knew instantly that it was still targeting him, and he didn't have to look down to expect an attack from below. He rolled out of the way as the Tide appeared out of the ground where he once was mere seconds ago, before burrowing itself into the ground again.

"Sora!" he heard Goofy cry out, "Bombardier!", and Sora nodded back, understanding the implication. As Mari and the others watched, Sora leapt on top of Goofy's shield, before Goofy launched himself and his friend into the air. Their eyes were focused on the portal of darkness appearing in front of them. The Demon Tide was now aiming for Donald, and the mage knew that. Nodding to the two, Donald rolled away as the Tide began to resurface.

Sora grabbed hold of his hand, spinning him around. "Go get 'em!" Sora shouted as he flung Goofy towards the emerging Heartless, with his shield in front of him and braced for impact. To the surprise of everyone present except the ones fighting, Goofy made impact and actually pushed the Tide's core down due to the force of which he was thrown, slamming said core into the ground and creating a massive shockwave.

It was all but dead, as the Demon Tide angrily pushed Goofy off of it, taking to the skies yet again.

Sora knew it wasn't gonna go down easily, having dealt with the Demon Tide twice before. The best option was to hit it with an extremely powerful attack, stronger than the beam of light Sora, Donald, and Goofy had launched at the Tide moments before.

"Donald!" he called out to his friend, "What's the strongest spell you can cast?"

"Zettaflare!" Donald shouted back, "But it's a very risky move! I can't use it here!"

"Then take it down a couple of levels! Use something slightly weaker so you don't push yourself too hard. Charge up the attack and fire when I tell you!" Sora shouted. He knew what Zettaflare could do, having seen Donald use it before against Terra-Xehanort to great effect. But that was before Sora changed history's course, so Donald had no memory of using it, because technically, that never happened. Sora didn't mind, though, as the attack itself was a double-edged sword, leaving Donald unconscious and easy prey for the Heartless. Sora turned to Goofy, "Goofy! Help me distract it!"

"Aye, aye!" Goofy replied, and the two rushed towards the Heartless, and it, in turn, charged towards them. Sora and Goofy swung their weapons to knock the Heartless back. "I have an idea!" Sora called out, "Let's do Cosmo Boost, but this time, throw me!"

Goofy nodded, as Sora straightened himself like a soldier at attention. The Captain of the Royal Knights then grabbed Sora and held him like a machine gun, aiming towards the Core of the Demon Tide. "Ready? Aim…" Goofy called out, as Sora pointed his Keyblade upwards. "FIRE!" Goofy threw Sora with all he had, and Sora rocketed towards the Heartless at breakneck speed. Quick to react, Sora stabbed the Keyblade into the Demon Tide's core, managing to right himself and send the Heartless into a frenzy.

Sora grabbed a foothold on the core, and struggled as he tried to steer it towards the direction of Donald. The mage was charging up a spell, with a special glyph around him. Sora and the Tide swung this way and that, Sora trying to control it while the Tide tried to shake it off.

Eventually, Sora won the struggle and gained control, and managed to steer it towards Donald's line of fire.

"Alright, Donald! Let em have it!" Sora shouted, getting his body behind the Tide's core.

"TERAFLARE!" Donald roared as he let his spell fly. A literal blast of flame came out of his staff and hit the Demon Tide's core with great effect. It shrieked as the powerful spell made contact with it. Sora felt the heat around him, but with the Tide's core acting as a shield, he was hardly affected by this spell. It was nothing compared to Zettaflare, but the attack was still very effective.

Remind me never to make Donald this mad when we talk… he thought to himself.

He's literally shaken out of his thoughts when the Demon Tide suddenly started to shake and angrily threw Sora off of itself, but the Keyblade Wielder landed on his feet. He goes over to Donald, who looks exhausted.

"Ether for your thoughts?" Sora asked, offering said item to Donald, who smirked and took it. "Maybe," Donald said as he popped it into his mouth.

"Did that do it?" Sora wondered out loud as he saw only the Tide's core and not the trail behind it. Suddenly, it began to furiously spin around.

(Play Kingdom Hearts Wave of Darkness II)

"Uh oh! Something's wrong!" Goofy looked shocked and worried.

"Look out!" Donald yelped.

Indeed, something was definitely wrong. The Demon Tide then suddenly plunged itself down into the road below, leaving a pool of darkness in its wake. Sora realized what it was about to do, and from their faces, so did Donald and Goofy.

The Demon Tide's core resurfaced once again, but this time, it was surrounded by a tornado of Shadows. It was now more deadlier than before, and Sora could feel it. It let out a threatening roar, nearly blowing them back. Immediately, the Demon Tide suddenly rush towards them.

"Run for it!" he shouted to Donald and Goofy, and the three of them sprinted off and barely escaped from the tornado as it missed and hit the side of the barrier, sending benches and streetlights flying as a result, before turning around and gave chase to the three heroes.

"Sora! Donald!" Goofy called out, "Trinity Guard!"

"Got it!" Sora and Donald called out. The three of them spun around to face the oncoming foe, Goofy with shield out in front, and Sora and Donald behind as support. The Tide tried to rush them, but instead of absorbing them into the storm, it found itself repelled by a powerful barrier conjured by the three's combined willpower.

The Tide reared back and tried a different approach, launching Shadows from itself to try and overwhelm the trio, but the barrier held, and the Shadows bounced off it.

"Chaaaaarrrrge!" Goofy shouted as the three made a sprint to ram through the legion of Shadows launched at them, dispelling them all with one charge.

"How'd ya like that?" Sora taunted the Tide. It responded by trying to attack the trio yet again. It rushed towards them with the intent to kill.

"Firaga!" Donald shouted, launching a blast of flame towards the Heartless, destroying the Shadows and exposing an opening which Sora and Goofy jumped into, Donald following close behind.

"Time for some magic!" Donald shouted, and Sora knew what to do. "Let's do this, Donald!" He declared as the two stood back to back within the swarm.

"Flare Force!" the duo shouted, spinning about and launching rockets which homed onto the core and exploded all around it. Sora then felt enough power stockpiled as he finished working with Donald to launch those fireworks.

"Here we go!" Sora shouted as white energy coursed through him and exploded around him, forcing the Demon Tide to rear back in pain. When the light subsided, Sora's outfit had changed, becoming darker, with tints of blue and yellow and red unlike his previous outfit. This was Sora's Second Form.

Feeling lighter than ever, Sora began to blitz the Demon Tide, slashing at it with relative ease and practically moving faster than he did in his normal state. The Tide could barely keep up, and when it tried launching Shadows at the Guardian of Light, Sora simply repelled them with a spiral of magic.

The Demon Tide had had enough. Sora saw the core recede into the earth and the Shadows surrounding it fan out and spin wildly. He looked to Donald and Goofy, nodding, and the three of them began to run away as the Tide began shooting out large spheres of Shadows which flew high into the air. Sora followed their movements with his eyes as they began to descend down on them as they ran. They missed, but they suddenly rose up again and again, making it harder to dodge them.

"OWWWAAAHHH!" Goofy yelped as a sphere of shadows hit him and sent him flying.

"Goofy!" Sora shouted and leaped to grab him, carrying him under his arm. "You alright?"

"Look out!" Goofy said, as more of the spheres began to surface. Sora managed to escape most of them, dodging and swerving all around to avoid them, which appeared to be easier in Second Form.

"Huh?" Sora said aloud as he saw darkness beginning to surface around him, Donald and Goofy, before he suddenly felt himself getting knocked into the air!

"WHOOOAAA!" The three of them yelped as they were sent high into the sky, before Donald kept them afloat with Wind Magic.

"You guys okay?" Sora asked, "We're pretty high up!"

"100%, Sora!" Goofy yelled back.

Without hesitation, Sora dived back down, Goofy following suit with his shield held in front of him, Donald hanging on to Goofy's midsection for dear life. The Demon Tide responded by launching more spheres of Shadows to intercept them. Sora twisted around left and right, whacking away any spheres in his way, while Goofy's shield dispelled them upon impact.

Sora then saw the core, and an opportunity to strike. "Take this!" Sora declared, striking at the core from above with a downward stabbing strike, followed up by Goofy, who rammed head-first with his shield onto the core.

The Tide was moving very slowly now, but it hadn't given up yet. In a last ditch effort, the Shadows surrounding the core managed to spin around rapidly, catching the trio off guard and sucking them into its tornado.

"Sora!" his friends screamed out in horror as the Tide consumed their friend.

Sora grunted as the Shadows tried to eat at him from all sides, but then he heard Donald and Goofy yell out to him.

"Sora!" They shouted, "Trinity Limit!"

Sora's eyes brighten, reinvigorated. "You're right! Let's go all out!"

"Trinity Rocketeer!" The three of them got together, sending out their weapons into the air and gathered the Shadows around them, before sending out large amounts of fireworks to scatter the Shadows and keep them away.

"Major Drive!" The three of them got together, with Donald in front, before launching yellow orbs of light towards the Shadows making the Tornado of the Demon Tide. The orbs eliminated them all one by one, until only the core remained.

"Trinity Assault!" The three of them began an aerial barrage of attacks, hitting the core relentlessly, Sora using Ars Arcanum to great effect, before the three of them thrusted their weapons together, stabbing at the core and damaging it further.

Sora twirled about and Donald and Goofy followed suit, standing together once more underneath the vulnerable and helpless core of the Demon Tide.

"C'mon, Sora!" Donald shouted.

"Don't give up!" Goofy encouraged him.

Sora smiled, recalling everything he and his two best friends had gone through. Flashes of those memories crossed through his mind: their first meeting, their falling out and making up at Deep Jungle, their funniest mishaps, their dedication at Hollow Bastion, their determination at the end of worlds, and many more tender and heartwarming moments together passed through his mind.

"Three half-pints together again…"

He admitted it. He would've never made it this far without them.

Donald… Goofy… Thanks for everything, Sora smiled fondly, before looking upwards and shouting, "Give me strength!"

"ULTIMA!" The trio shouted, and they joined their weapons together, creating an orb of bright energy that began to dispel the Demon Tide. The Shadows making up the core roared out in pain as it tried to resist, but Sora wasn't planning on making it come back. With a yell, he took the lead on the attack, forcing the light upwards and into the Demon Tide's core.

As the bystanders watched, the Demon Tide's core suddenly began to explode from the inside, rays of light appearing out of parts of it as Sora pushed the light orb further into the core. Explosions of light and darkness occurred around the Heartless as the Shadows within helplessly flailed about. Sora let out a final yell of triumph as everything and everyone present was blinded by a brilliant flash of light.

When all subsided, Sora was out of his Second Form, his clothes reverting to normal as he collapsed on his back, completely spent. The Demon Tide was gone, and the barrier slowly disappeared.

"Whew… can we… take a break?" Sora wheezed.

"Come on, Sora. Up and at em!" he heard Donald say as he didn't feel as tired as he did before. Donald had cast Curaga on him again.

"Geez… never knew you were the type to do that," Sora joked while still on the ground.

"You know I saved it for something useful. And I did," Donald retorted playfully.

"Har har."

"Gawrsh, look at that, fellas…" Goofy said in awe. Sora and Donald followed his gaze and looked just as awed as he did. They saw sparkles of light from their final attack drift down like snow, making an almost magical atmosphere. Not only that, Sora saw hearts floating down and landing on the ground, taking form as ponies and Pokemon. The hearts lost to the Heartless were returning after their leader had been defeated. At least, the leader of this particular group, as the Dark Follower from earlier had escaped, but Sora did not wish to dwell on that now.

"We did it…" Sora thought aloud as he saw people running to loved ones who they thought were lost, hugging them and letting their tears flow. "We saved everyone…"

"Talk about a light show, Sora," Donald smirked.

"Hey!" a voice snapped them out of their stupor. The three of them turned to see Twilight, Korrina, Lucario, Applejack, and Juniper run up to them, slightly injured and beaten up but otherwise okay.

"Hey guys!" Sora called out, before being tackled to the ground by them, Twilight being the first one to him.

"That was reckless… but very brave of you, Sora." Twilight gently scolded, astonished by Sora's display of power.

"Thanks, guys," Sora smiled softly.

"We thought we were gonna lose you there…" Korrina replied.

"Yeah… why did you guys help, anyway?" Sora asked.

"We're friends, Sora. It wouldn't be right to leave you like that. Our bodies just… moved," Twilight explained, "Friends shouldn't leave each other behind. They stick together, no matter what."

"We're just glad you're safe, Sora," Juniper replied, "You did something good today."

"Wow… thanks guys." Sora smiled.

"By the way…." Korrina added, looking to Donald and Goofy, "Who are these two?"

"Oh... right…" Sora said, laughing uneasily. How was he gonna explain this? He was about to clear his throat, ready to explain, before Goofy's voice stopped him.

(Play Kingdom Heart III Chains to Bonds)

"Gawrsh… It looks like we're about to run out of time."

Sora looked to where Donald and Goofy were sparkling even more, to his surprise. "Wait… what are you talking about? Are you guys… not really here?" he felt his own voice shake as he said those words.

The two shook their heads sadly. "We only came because your heart called out for help, and we heard it from our own. The moment your heart called, we answered right away, and used our connection with you to send a bit of our power to where you were. I'm sorry we couldn't explain earlier." Donald explained, "We may not be the real Donald and Goofy…"

"But that doesn't mean we still care for you like them." Goofy smiled, "And don't you worry, Sora. Even if we don't know where you are right now, you can rest easy knowing that we're still looking out for ya,"

Sora felt like a truck had hit his gut. Here he thought he was reunited with his best friends again. In a sense, he was, but in another, not. He felt something go down his face. Ignoring everything else, he embraced the two constructs of his friends, and they returned the hug quickly.

"Even if you aren't really them… I'm at least glad to have seen and fought with you guys again…" Sora sniffed, "I really miss you both… thank you... for coming to help."

"We know, Sora," Goofy gave him a pat on the head, "Donald and me… we'll always have your back. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't…" Sora softly said as he rested his head on his friends' shoulders, and they let him do so. He was shaking, but he held his tears in as best as he could. He was glad that Goofy and Donald were here, in some shape and form, even if it was for a limited time, and he focused on that to prevent himself from crying. His friends wanted to join in, but Mari and Hero stopped them as they knew this was a personal moment for Sora, the former wiping a tear away.

"Alright, Sora. Enough moping about and start turning that frown upside down. This boat runs on happy faces," Donald replied smiling, but slightly annoyed, causing Sora to rub his eyes and let out a shaky laugh as he let go of his friends.

"There he is. Welcome back," he chuckled.

"Hey! What's that mean?"

"Lighten up, Donald." Goofy said, turning to Sora, "Just remember… we're not going away anytime soon, Sora. Just keep us in there until we find you." Goofy pointed to Sora's heart, and Sora nodded, before wiping a tear to shake off the feelings of sadness, letting a grin escape his mouth.

"Thanks a lot, you two." Sora said with emotion. Donald and Goofy began to glow brighter, almost obscuring their forms in light. It was time. The two looked at one another, nodding, and then placed their own hand into the center between the three, and eventually Sora joined in, knowing exactly what came next.

"All for one…!" Donald and Goofy said in unison.

"...And one for all." Sora finished, as he watched them disappear into particles of light, floating past him and away into the sky, "See ya later… Donald… Goofy…"

(End Kingdom Heart III Chains to Bonds)

He sighed, looking to where the particles disappeared to, before realizing that there was something in the hand that had been placed there during their cheer. Sora flipped his hand around, and saw one final surprise.

It was a Heartbinder. It was pure white in color, except for the silver frame around the charm, but at the center were three hearts connected to one another through a yellow circle. One heart was red, another was blue, and the third was green. It took him a few seconds to realize what had happened, and he couldn't help but smile once again.

Seems like they had left him one final gift before departing. They truly were fellow half-pints and friends.

‘Donald… Goofy… Thank you.’ Sora thought, holding the charm close to his head, before placing his new Heartbinder into his pocket. They would find him, he thought. It would take some time, but he now knew that they would find him... wherever he was.

"Sora…" he heard Twilight say, as he looked back to his friends here, "Who were they?"

"They were… my two closest friends," Sora smiled, "Donald and Goofy. I… owe a lot to them. They're part of the reason why I'm here today."

It was clear from the emotion in his voice that this was a topic he couldn't explain outright, and his friends chose not to pry any further, as it felt just as personal as the Heartless did, but in a good way.

"I wish I could explain it all right now, but…" Sora began, before Juniper shushed him.

"It's okay. We know,"

"Thanks for that guys…" he smiled.

Suddenly, he heard sirens which caused him to look away, seeing a couple of police cars and officers running towards him with guns pointed at him.

"Freeze! Drop your weapon!"

Sora looked at the authorities calmly. Inside, he was a little scared, but knew that he did what he thought was right. He didn't care about the law anymore. Not in the situation he was put in. He did his duty as a Keyblade wielder and a Guardian of Light. If he had done nothing, the Heartless would've consumed more and more hearts.

Twilight moved to try and intercept the authorities, but Sora raised a hand to stop her. He shook his head. He didn't want her involved in his mess. This was something that he had to deal with himself.

"It's okay," Sora assured her, "I need to do this."

Deliberately, he let go of his Keyblade, letting it drop and clatter to the ground, where it vanished. He slowly put his hands up.

"Don't worry." Sora replied to the officers, "I'll come quietly. I know you’re confused, and I'll accept whatever punishment you think is right for me. I promise I'll explain everything once we're in a more private location. Just keep my friends out of this."

The sincerity and honesty of his voice made many of the officers want to lower their weapons out of respect, but they still trained them on him as the boy began to move. Sora simply walked towards the closest one and presented his wrists to him.

"Please put the chains around my arm, sir. I won't try to hurt you." Sora said in the same sincere voice. Hesitating, the officer reached for the restraints, and put them on his wrists, restraining his arms from moving, and locking the restraints. Sora smiled softly, "There we go,"

He could've easily summoned the Keyblade to release the restraints, but he knew that it would only make things worse than they already were. His eyes showed no evil intent as he stared at the officers around him.

"I appreciate your cooperativeness, boy, but you still have a lot to answer for. We'll take you to the station." The officer replied, having gained some respect for the young boy in front of him. Despite what he did, he was still human, and was even willing to accept the punishments for it. Not many ponies in this day of age could do that.

"I know." was all Sora said, and he walked towards the officer's car, with said person leading him with a hand on his shoulder. He looked back one last time to Twilight and her friends. He gave them all a reassuring smile, before he entered the car and was driven off.

"Sora…" Twilight whispered sadly as the Hero of Light was driven away. She worried for the safety of her friend, as did the others. They did not know how Sora would be punished, but after what he did to save them all today, they all hoped his sentence would be a light one.

Interrogations

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Chapter 3: Interrogations

Sora was now detained in an interrogation room at the police station of the area and he was just walking around it in circles as he wasn't allowed to leave yet, the cops just told him to wait here but it's been quite a while since that.

There was a metal table and two pairs of chairs on both sides of the table and there was of course a window that looked like a mirror but if his knowledge of police forces was right then on the other side it was transparent and most likely there must be officers watching to make sure he wouldn't do anything weird. The room was gray in color with no way to look outside.

"Well I guess I don't have to worry about finding somewhere to spend the night anymore, but I didn't think it would be while being under arrest" Sora said to himself as he took a seat in a chair and simply looked at his hands over the table. "What am I gonna do now?”

—-------------

His suspicions were correct, though he himself didn't know it. Standing outside the room were ponies and Pokemon watching him as he sat there staring back at them.

"What do you make of it, Detective?" a pony asked a short, chubby rodent Pokémon, who was observing the boy. It was covered in yellow fur with two horizontal brown stripes on its back. It had a small mouth, long, pointed ears with black tips, and brown eyes. Each cheek was a red circle that contained a pouch for electricity storage. It had short forearms with five fingers on each paw, and its feet each had three toes. At the base of its lightning bolt-shaped tail is a patch of brown fur. On top of its head was a small detective’s hat.

"For one thing, he was very polite and calm during his arrest." the detective replied, "He willingly put himself in chains after defeating that giant mass of shadow creatures. He was cooperative with the officers while he was arrested, though he was reluctant in giving up some of the items on his person. One of which was the key-shaped sword he summoned."

"What should we do with him, sir? Putting him behind bars is a bit much considering what he has done."

"I'll admit that he did protect the citizens, but he still has to be questioned like every other pony. Not to mention that he has an apparent history with the creatures that showed up today. He knows what they are, and what threat they pose, so I plan to figure out as much as I can from him. Who knows when they could show up again."

"Go easy on him, though. He's just a kid," one of the officers replied.

"A human kid," another officer countered.

“But he still knows what exactly we were up against that day, or at the very least, he acted like he did. Whether or not it is an act, I intend to figure it out today." the detective said firmly, shutting both of them up.

The detective signaled to the officers at the door to open it, and he walked into the room where the young boy was sitting. He had stopped staring at the wall at the sound of the door opening, and looked a bit nervous when he saw the detective.

"Hello, kid." the detective said, jumping onto the table in front of Sora, "My name is Henry Goodman. I work here in the Police Force for Ponyville,". Sora nodded quietly. "Can I have your name, please?"

"Sora," the boy replied, "My name is Sora, Mr. Goodman."

"Okay, Sora…" the detective wrote the name down in his notes, “Last I checked, all humans that were transported here were turned into Pokemon, and yet you didn’t.”

At that, Sora looked away, looking even more nervous.

"Can you tell me why that is?" Henry asked him.

Sora didn't know what to say. His words seemed to stop at his throat. He had made up the story of being an islander from an isolated island to his friends, but something told him that the story wouldn't convince the detective in front of him. But even if he told the truth, they probably wouldn't believe him. What was he supposed to do?

"It's alright if you don't wish to answer, kiddo. Rest assured, you are in good hands, but your silence will be noted when we question you again," Henry told him kindly.

Sora only nodded.

"Can you tell me about your power?”

Sora relaxed, "Yes. I can summon things, mainly elemental objects like fire, ice, and lightning, and I've also been able to summon that weapon you guys tried to get confiscated."

"That key-shaped sword?"

"Yes," Sora nodded, as the detective continued to write down notes, "I can summon and unsummon that weapon at will. Only drawback is that I can get hurt by whatever I summon if I use it too much."

"So if you summon a lot of fire, it could end up burning you, correct?" Henry theorized.

"Something like that."

"Can you tell me how your power manifested?" Henry asked him.

"I can." Sora said solemnly, "But it wasn't under good circumstances…"

"I assume it had something to do with those creatures?"

"Yeah." Sora replied, "They're called Heartless. Creatures created by a mad scientist from where I'm from named Ansem. They're the darkness created from a person's heart."

"When you say darkness and heart, what do you mean?"

"It's not like the physical heart that we know. What I do know is that according to Ansem through his research reports, hearts consist of light and darkness, and they're connected to our emotions. They grow with every new experience,"

"So a heart is like a manifestation of one's emotional self. One's happiness and positivity could be considered their light, and anger and sadness could be considered a person's darkness." Detective Goodman concluded.

"Yeah. If a person yields to that darkness, they'll lose their form and become a Heartless, and they can rip the hearts out of other people to make more of themselves. Not the physical hearts," Sora added as the detective looked stricken, "I'm really sorry if you're confused."

"No, don't be. Given further thought, it matches with what witnesses say about them." The Pikachu said, "Those creatures plunged their hands into the victim's chest, and pulled out a heart-shaped glowing object, which is what I'm assuming is what you are talking about, yes?"

"Right…" Sora looked down with a sigh. He had seen this happen too many times.

"And then they crushed that heart, causing the victim's body to disappear, and in their place another of these Heartless appeared. Does that sound familiar, Sora?"

"Yes." Sora nodded, "That's exactly what happened to the people from my home. The Heartless attacked and demolished it, destroying everyone in their path, and just when they were about to get me, something… snapped. And then out of nowhere, I summoned the Keyblade and kept them away from me, and I've had it ever since. Me, and two of my best friends… are probably the only survivors from my home."

"I see… so it manifested from that experience." Henry said solemnly, "I am sorry for your loss, Sora,"

"It's alright." Sora replied, and Henry simply looked at him. From what he could make out, the boy was mostly telling the truth… at least, everything up to the summoning part. Something about how he said it seemed off. There was more to this than he let on.

But when Sora spoke about the Heartless and what they did to his home, there was nothing but truth in his words. Not a single ounce of deception was in his voice. Sora knew that what he said about them was fact, and this only concerned Henry even more.

"Tell me more about these Heartless." Henry replied, "You seem to be the only one who knows what we just faced, let alone how to fight them."

"That's the issue," Sora shook his head, "They are incredibly tenacious. Since there's always darkness in people's hearts, the Heartless will continue to show up. They also have very strong regenerative abilities, so even if we take them out by normal means, they'll just show up again somewhere else given time. The only way to truly be rid of them is if everyone's hearts were pure light and devoid of darkness."

"Which is impossible. Taking one away would make the other disappear." Henry concluded, putting his paw on his temples, "So we're stuck with them?"

"I think so…" Sora replied, "But don't worry. It's not like we can't stop them. We can at least prevent them from being a worldwide threat. Remember the Keyblade I summoned"

(Play Kingdom Hearts II Magical Mystery)

"That's what it's called?"

"That's what I call it," Sora nodded, "Apparently, Ansem was trying to experiment with the Heartless, to see what would happen if he unleashed them on the world, and he sent them to my home as a test." He looked down when he said this, "And my power manifested as a result. I was able to summon something that could take them down for good. That's how I was able to deal with them."

"And you dealt with them? On your own?"

"I had help." Sora explained, and stopped there. It was clear he didn't want to say anything more, so Henry kept it at that.

"And how long have you dealt with them?"

"Two years," Sora said, "Up until now, I thought the Heartless were contained when Ansem was defeated."

"I see…" Henry nodded, writing down in his notebook once again, hiding a smile. He also noted that Sora had a slightly sorrowful look on his face as he said it. He must have been in this situation of inaction many times before, so Henry couldn't blame him for stepping in.

"Anything else we should know about the Heartless?" he asked Sora.

"There are two types. Pureblood, and Emblem." Sora explained, "From what I learned from Ansem's research, he said that Purebloods are the result of a person yielding to their darkness. It comes out as a Heartless. Emblem Heartless… well…" Sora paused at this. Now that he was about to explain it, the thought of it somehow made him sick.

"Sora?" Henry asked concerned, "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I am. It's just," Sora took a deep breath, "It's pretty disturbing. Emblem Heartless were the results of Ansem's research… using human experimentation."

Henry stared at him for a couple seconds, probably to ensure that he wasn't lying, before taking a deep breath of his own, "So Emblem Heartless were… people?"

"Yes. They were," Sora sighed, "Ansem wanted to study the heart, to learn its secrets and harness it. It was all harmless at first… normal research and surveying, but…"

"He started to use human lab rats… and began to divulge in the dark side of the heart," Henry said, now realizing why Sora had said that Ansem sent the Heartless to his home to perform "tests."

"...Yeah." Sora said sadly, "Emblem Heartless are the hearts of people given form by their darkness, while Purebloods are just pure darkness."

"I see… how can we tell the two apart?"

"There's one difference," Sora replied, "Emblem Heartless have an insignia on their bodies to mark them, hence their name. Pureblood Heartless don't have it."

"What does it look like?"

"A black heart-like symbol outlined in red markings, crossed in an 'X'. I would show you a picture, but I don't have my phone with me," Sora explained, "You can tell they're Heartless because they have yellow eyes with no pupils. And they might have the symbol I described to you before."

"Alright," Henry finished writing down his notes, before looking up to Sora, "Anything else we should know?"

"...No. Nothing else, Mr. Goodman,"

"Okay." Henry got to his feet, "That will be all, Sora."

"Wait, I can go, now?" Sora asked dumbfoundedly.

"No. We need to make sure that what you say is true." Henry replied sternly, "So what happens now is up to my superiors. It'll take some time, but you might be stuck here for a while until we patch things up, Sora."

"Well… could I have my arms to move around, at least?" Sora asked.

"No. We can't guarantee by your word alone that you won't try and break out of here, so that will have to wait," Henry said, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

At that, they heard a loud growling sound from the room.

"Heh heh… Could I get something to eat? I think I'm kinda hungry, sir." Sora said sheepishly.

"I'll get you something to eat when I return then." Henry smiled.

"Thanks, Mr. Goodman."

Henry nodded before jumping off the table and walked up to the door, with a pony opening it and closing it shut. Sora heard the door being bolted and locked, and sighed.

He hoped they would let him out soon.

As the detective exited the room, the others who were listening had troubled looks on their faces. They had heard the entire conversation between the two.

"Detective Goodman. Is what he said true?" one of the officers asked the detective.

"Most of what he said, yes. I couldn't detect a lie when he was explaining the Heartless," Henry informed them, "But I could tell that there's a bit more to the story."

"It's honestly tragic, if he is one of the only survivors," another pony said, "Though this Ansem person… I've never heard of him."

"None of us have. But apparently, he does exist. Sora wasn't lying." Henry said, "But if what he said is true, then he is either out of reach or long gone. But some of the things he said doesn't add up. He faltered when I gave out my assumption." he noted, "That time he looked pretty nervous. I didn't see him like that when he was explaining the Heartless,"

"You believe he has another motive?"

"No. I think he doesn't." Henry replied, "But you can never be too certain."

"So these 'Heartless’, what do we do about them?"

"Sora said that he could keep them at bay. At least, with his Keyblade he could." Henry replied, "If it were any other person, I'd say that this would be too convenient. But I checked, and he was speaking the truth… to an extent."

"There are other methods?"

“Actually, there is.” Henry said, before sighing. "She's not gonna like this."

More than an hour later…

Sora had been sleeping with his head on the table when the door opened up once again. There was Henry Goodman, with a bag and two drinks in front of him.

"Fallen asleep, haven't we, Sora?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Sora yawned, stretching his body and legs, since his arms were restrained, "How long was I out, Mr. Goodman?"

"Over an hour,"

(Play Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Innocent Times)

"Seriously?" Sora's jaw dropped.

"And here's some food, as requested. Hold on." The detective went over and released the restraints from Sora's arms, allowing him to use them freely, as Sora received a sandwich from Henry, "Help yourself."

"Whoa… thanks, Mr. Goodman," Sora said, before taking a bite out of it, "Wow! This is good! Where's this from?"

"If I'm not mistaken, I think it might be that cafe in town." Henry explained.

"Wow. Gotta try it out sometime," Sora said, letting the food dissolve into his stomach. This felt like eating something at the Bistro! Then again, he hadn't eaten a good meal besides water in days. Maybe that was why it tasted so good.

"Here's a drink. I got you water in case you didn't drink soda." Henry asked, before drinking out of his own cup.

After the boy had finished his food and water, Sora asked Henry, "That was good. Thanks for that, Mr. Goodman sir."

"It's no trouble."

"So… are you going to ask me more questions about the Heartless?"

"Actually… I have a different topic in mind," Goodman admitted, rubbing his mouth with a napkin and clearing his throat, "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

(End Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Innocent Times)

Sora looked at him confused, "Someone's here?"

"Yes. Wait here," Henry told him, and walked up to the door, "You can come in now."

Confused, Sora stood up, wondering who the newcomer was, and was surprised when they entered the room.

It was the woman that he saved from the Demon Tide. She appeared to be uninjured, though it was clear she was having some trouble walking.

"This is…" Sora replied.

"Yes. The woman that you rescued and nearly died for." the Pikachu replied.

"Oh." Sora said. Putting it like that sounds very weird. He thought, but shook the thought away and waved, "Hi there."

"Hello, yourself." she replied kindly, before bowing, "Thank you for saving me."

"It's no problem. I'm just glad you're okay," Sora smiled at her, "If I hadn't done what I did, the Heartless would've taken your heart."

The woman shivered a bit, but Henry reassured her with a pat on her side.

‘I don't like this, but this is the only way, I hope he can forgive us later. Usually it's not much of a problem when it comes to criminals, but it feels wrong to do it to an innocent kid, to think we had to call in Belle to extract the information directly from his memories using her power…’ He thought as he watched the woman ask Sora his name and how he is.

Belle’s eyes started to glow bright blue as she mentally reached towards him.

"I can't wait for tomorrow. Once we set sail, it will be great."

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps."

“I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts... is light!"

"Take care of her."

“You make a good other.”

“Thank you, Sora, for keeping me safe.”

"KAIRI!"

Her eyes stopped glowing as she returned to the confines of her mind having gathered the information she needed with a gasp and a shocked face.

"Are you okay, miss?" Sora asked him a bit concerned but the Pokemon didn't reply to him, only stare at him with a shocked face as Henry looked at her intrigued knowing that whatever she saw must be really important. Belle approached the detective and whispered something to him and he nodded in response.

"Sora, we need to talk about something in private, can you please wait a bit?" He asked him.

"Um, okay" He complied not knowing what was happening as Henry nodded in gratitude as he and Belle left the room leaving him alone again. ‘I hope they let me go soon,’ he thought, hoping for this to end already.

—-------------

"No way!" Henry shouted, not believing what he just heard. Now he was in a meeting room with Belle and another pokemon to discuss the situation at hand.

The other Pokemon was a white, bipedal Pokémon. Its lower body consisted of rounded hips with strong legs. It had a thin green torso with sharp, red horns sticking out of its chest and back. Its arms were shaped like tonfas with extendable blades in its elbows. Its head resembled a gladiator's helmet with a white face, red eyes, and a teal head crest. It had spikes on the sides of its face. On top of its head was a red cap, customized for his species.

"Memories don't lie, Detective Goodman,” Belle said to him, having a serious face.

"You can't be talking seriously" He said, still not believing it one single bit.

"So Sora's not from the Pokemon World?" the other pokemon.

"It's… complicated, Gene." Belle said. “Sora does not belong to this world nor his powers. He possesses magical powers even rare for his world in which no Pokemon ever exist." Belle explained having seen most of Sora's memories so she learned everything from his homeland, his magical powers and even how his universe works as a whole which was still hard to believe even if she witnessed it herself.

"Magical powers, eh? To think such a thing exists even more a world where Pokemon never existed" Henry said, still having a hard time assimilating the new information, however it made sense as Pokemon had such abilities and none of Sora's are tied to his body and from the extent of these, as odd as it sounded, it could only be magic what he actually has.

"Not only that, but in his universe there exists a myriad of worlds that are nothing more than fragments of one bigger world that due to a catastrophe ended up scattered. His magical powers come from his sword known as a 'Keyblade', it is as it sounds, a sword with the shape of a key that grants the user superhuman abilities, not just the ones you witnessed, the boy can even jump twice in the air and even glide. It also grants him the usage of 'spells' that range from elemental to non-elemental and he has plenty as his disposal, these could go to simply casting a fireball to even nullified gravity on a small range or stop the movement of time on an opponent" She explained to everyone in the room. "Like I said, these powerful weapons and abilities that come with them are rare in their own universe, only a handful of 'keyblade wielders' exists in the entire universe, due to the weapon choosing the wielder based on their strength of heart and will and those with extraordinarily strong hearts are worthy of earning acquiring a keyblade of their own. However, being worthy of wielding a keyblade is independent of good and evil as Sora have fought against enemies with these same blades making them tremendously powerful and a threat to their worlds thus, these heroes of light rose to stop them time and time again" She added.

"Keyblade wielders like him, who fights to protect the light, have a huge responsibility to protect the worlds' balance between light and darkness and preserve its peace, it also includes mantien each world's order thus cannot disclose the true nature of the universe to those who are not aware of it, that's why he didn't talk before. The boy carries a burden as heavy if not more than the legendaries, having to fight in an endless cycle of light and darkness until the end of his days and yet he not only accepts his fate but keeps living his life with joy and optimism, he's a hero in any means who has saved many people, many worlds and the universe more than once, always being followed by his friends that aid him on his quest. The boy sure has a will of titanium, pure of heart with huge courage and yet he maintains a bit of his childhood innocence despite that he went through experiences that someone should never go though, but he faced each challenge head on and keep that same grew in strength as he grew as a person, becoming very powerful by now and still having enormous potential. I dare to say that he's even as strong as the legendaries and can become even stronger" She explained as everyone kept listening to her.

"Sora's sure a wonder as going through those experiences changes people, but through his journey he was the one that inspired to change the people around him. He's special even among the other keyblade wielders, that interesting enough most of them are teens around his age, all of them his friends. Hopefully they may maintain peace in his absence as it is inevitable the return of darkness upon their worlds. The boy sure does remind me of someone I know." She said as she looked at Gene, who blushed in embarrassment.

"So what do you think, sir?" Gene asked Henry, expressing his concern for Sora.

—-------------

(Play Kingdom Hearts III Lost Masters)

Meanwhile, at the Keyblade Graveyard, Xehanort's Keyblade fell from the sky and joined its other fallen Keybalde's. Just then, it was picked up by a man in a hooded black coat with a mysterious Black Box. The man held and observed the blade, "Finally, back where it belongs."

Just then, from the distance, four robed figures entered the world from all sides. The one with the unicorn mask was Ira, the one with the bear mask was Aced, the one with the snake mask was Invi, and the one with the white leopard mask was Gula. They were the Foretellers and they all joined the cloaked figure. Ira observed the figure and asked, "Did you summon us back?"

"Yep." the cloaked man nodded.

Ira recognized his Keyblade, but his face was different, so he had to ask, "Is that you, Luxu? You look different."

The man removed his hood revealing the face of Xehanort's former right-hand man, "Haven't heard that name in a long while." He smirked as he continued, "These days they call me, Xigbar, but hey, whatever suits you."

"Is it... really you?" Invi asked, slightly shocked.

Luxu nodded, "Yeah, but some time ago, I had cast my old form away. Been through plenty more semblances sense, but it still me underneath it all."

"What happened? Why are we here? You tell me!" Aced demanded.

Luxu explained, "I had a role to play. And after all these years, it's done."

"What role?" Invi wondered.

Meanwhile, Pete and Maleficent watched these events from a distance before turning away to continue their plans. Luxu looked around to realize one of them was missing, "I guess Ava didn't make it after all."

"Meaning what?" Gula asked, concerned what happened to her.

Luxu turned to him, "I told her, clear as day, what I had to do."

"And is that why you decided to exclude her?" Gula glared at him.

Luxu shook his head, "As if! Ava had her own mission, and she carried it out."

"I heard enough! Luxu! What was your role?!" Aced demanded.

Luxu turned to the box and smirked, "Hope you like long stories..."

(End Kingdom Hearts III Lost Masters)

—-------------

"So, who should be the one to tell him?" The Pikachu Detective asked Gene and Belle as the three of them were looking at Sora through the window of the interrogation room.

By now they left under the orders of not divulging Sora's status nor the information of the Heartless for the moment, all that was left to do for now was informing Sora of the situation and then relocate him to a place where he can stay.

"I'd say it will be better for the three of us to explain the situation to him, but with care as the information would surely shock him and going off from his memories he could respond impulsively, he follows his heart and therefor acts on his feelings rather than on logic, which surprisingly never led him wrong" The Gardevoir explained to them.

"Sounds good to me" Gene said agreeing with her and the three of them walked to the door.

Sora was still in his seat looking bored while waiting for Detective Goodman or anyone, sure if he wanted he could have broken free, but it would only cause more trouble for him and that is the last thing he needed right now, so this was his only way even if it also put him against a hard place and the tip of a sword.

‘I bet it's dark outside. It's been a while since the Detective left, I hope they didn't forget I'm here’ Sora thought, trying his best trying not to fall asleep again out of boredom.

It was then that the door opened revealing Henry, the woman from before and someone that looked similar to the woman.

"Hey kid." The man greeted him kindly.

"Um, hi" Sora greeted back, feeling something was off. "Mr. Goodman, what's going on?" He asked the detective.

"Don't worry Sora, everything is alright" Henry said to him with a serene voice, but Sora was sure something was not right. "Just listen to what he has to say," He added.

"You're Sora, correct?" The Gallade asked him and Sora replied nodding. "Nice to meet you, my name is Gene. I'm Belle’s husband." He introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you too, Gene," Sora replied.

"Okay, Sora. We want you to know that you're off the hook." Henry said calmly to him. "You're exonerated," He added.

"So, I'm forgiven?" Sora asked back smiling and the chief replied nodding in confirmation. "Thank you!" He thanked him, smiling brightly. "That means I can go now, right?" He said happy to know he was no longer in trouble or so he thought.

"Actually no" Henry said to him, much to Sora's confusion. "You see, that's not everything you need to know" He continued having to be really careful with the next statements.

The Gardevoir then cleared her throat to call Sora's attention. "Beforehand, Sora. I want to say that I'm really sorry for what I have to do to get to this point" She began with an expression of regret on her face.

"Sorry for what?" Sora asked, confused, his instincts were telling him that he might not like what he would hear.

"For using my power on you. To put it simply, it allows me to connect with the brains and read their mindwaves by making contact with the head of the target" She explained and Sora's eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, that's what you did before so… You read my memory?!" He said putting the pieces together feeling both panic and violated.

"That's right, Sora," Henry said, feeling bad for Sora and understanding his reaction.

"As you can see, I'm not part of the police force, but I owed Henry a favor, so I came in to help with your case" Belle explained to the distressed boy that was starting to calm down. "Take note that I had no pleasure in prying into your privacy, however the situation demanded for it" She continued as Sora seemed rather understanding.

"We're really sorry, Sora," Henry apologized to him. "We just had no other choice"

Sora sighed, seeing no point in keeping his secret if they already knew it. "I see. So you know everything, huh?" He said, sounding comprehensive and the three Pokemon nodded in response. "Then you get why I couldn't talk before, sorry if I didn't do it before, either way you might not believe in me" Sora continued rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't worry, Sora. Your secret is safe with us" Henry assured him, smiling.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Sora thanked them, smiling at them.

"I also want to personally thank you for dispatching those flees, the Heartless. Thanks to you all victims will be restored back to normal soon enough," Henry thanked him, bowing down making Sora chuckled and rubbing his nose.

"No worries, I did what I had to. I'm glad that I could help" Sora said back at him, smiling.

‘He's sure humble’ Gene thought smiling, but the smile then vanished knowing what comes next. ‘Here comes the hardest part’ He thought with a serious look. "Sora, Belle informed us that after your last journey you ended up here stranded, right?"

"It was because of the misuse of the so-called 'Power of Waking', correct?" Belle said to him.

"Yeah, that's what happened," He confirmed, nodding feeling a bit uncomfortable that they know everything from his adventures, the Heartless, his powers and the world's order, “But it'll be alright. My friends must be looking for me right now and when they find me I'll go home and I won't give you more troubles" Sora said smiling but the three Pokemon glared at each other with serious faces, they did expect him to think like that given his optimistic attitude.

"No doubt that they must be looking for you, but the problem is far more complicated than you think" Henry began with a concerned face, Sora seemed confused so Henry decided to continue. "This is not as simple as you ending up in a different world for your friends to come and pick you up quickly"

"I'm not following you" Sora replied not understanding at all.

"Tell me Sora, I'm sure you heard the concept of worldlines, correct?" the detective said to him.

"Um, yeah. Pretty much it's just another word for alternative realities, timeline, dimension or universe. Why?" He replied and when he finished talking it drew upon the heavy realization. "Wait… you don't mean…?" Sora's eyes widened with shock and his face paled now understanding, but hoping in vain that it wasn't true.

"...I'm afraid so, Sora," Henry said to him with a sad expression. "You're not just stranded in another world, you were exiled from your own reality into ours, a different worldline. That's the consequence of interfering so much with time-space in your universe to save your friends from death." He explained as he saw Sora just sat in his seat frozen as if time stopped for him.

Then Sora suddenly returned to reality quickly standing up again with a frown on his face. "Then I'm going back!" He said in an exasperated tone as he turned around and summoned his Keyblade, the three Pokemon expected him to react like this and so they were quick to react.

"Sora don't!" the Pikachu shouted at him, as Gene and Belle grabbed him by both arms trying to hold him back.

"But if my power brought me here, then it can take me back, right!?" Sora said desperately as he was struggling to break free from the two Pokemon holding back.

"In theory it's correct, but you'll just be using it wrong again!" Belle warned him. "You know it's not for following hearts around. If you use it like that you don't know what could happen!"

"There's no guarantee it will return you back home, you could end up in another worldline or even worse, dead!" Gene warned him as the two of them kept trying to hold the boy back with all of their strength, but Sora stopped as if all of his strength vanished from his body, and just stood there breathing raspily.

"But…! But…" Sora weakly uttered in a broken tone as he shivered and then he dropped his Keyblade later to vanish and fell to his knees with his head hanging low. "But, I have to go back…" He said as tears started to fall from his eyes. "I can't stay here… my friends need me… and I need them." He continued as he sniffed. The three saw the boy break down in front of them. "Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Ven, Donald, Goofy, the king and all of my friends that I just met… all of those I helped save…" He said as more tears fell to the ground as he clenched a fist on his shirt. His heart aches so much of the thought of not seeing them again, despite saying prior that he would accept this as his fate, it still hurts like no other thing. Sora let himself fall to the ground holding on his free hand as he kept crying out of pain and despair, it was so overwhelming the feeling that he thought that his heart would break, it might be already broken. "I don't wanna be alone again…" He weakly says as the feeling of emptiness and loneliness overwhelmed his mind and already damaged heart.

Ït was then that Gene quickly got to his side and held him by his left shoulder and helped him straight himself. "Sora, you're not alone and you know that" Gene consoled him as he slowly looked back at him with watery and red eyes with a face stained in tears that kept falling. "Your friends are right here, and they always will. No matter when or where they are part of your heart just as much as you're part of theirs" He continued pointing at Sora's heart. Sora's eyes just looked still sniffing.

Belle then kneeled at Sora's other side putting a hand on his back. "You did the right thing Sora, despite knowing that it might have repercussions for you. Not many people in this world are willing to do the same" She said to the boy as he glared at her still with the same broken expression. "All heroes must be ready to give up everything in the moment of truth for the greater good and you did just that, you made a noble sacrifice for the sake of your friends just as any hero would do" She continued. "However, that doesn't mean it's the end of your journey"

"Huh?" Sora stared at her with hopeful eyes.

"That's right." Henry said to him in a sincere tone. “No matter how long it will take, we'll find a way to get you back home. It's a promise" He added with a determined face.

"Well… that's something" Sora replied, recovering his color as he now knows he can still return home. "If there's anything that I can help you with, I'll do it!" He said, smiling brightly again.

"Heh. That's the spirit" The Detective said to him smiling as well.

"It's alright Sora, you don't need to worry about it" Gene said to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "For once let the adults resolve this" He added with a gentle smile.

"Then, what do you want me to do?" Sora asked, crossing his arms. "You don't really expect me to just be lying around here, right?" He said mostly jokingly.

"Now that you say it, there is a problem that you can help us deal with," Henry said to him. "It has to do with those Heartless monsters," He added.

"Oh" Sora uttered knowing what this was about.

"Apparently when you crossed over, the Heartless somehow followed you and might cause havoc around the town, even worse the whole world if not dealt with as soon as possible" Henry explained to him.

"I see" Sora said with his eyes looking slightly down. "Guess popping up here just causes troubles for you all, I'm sorry" Sora apologized feeling guilty.

"Don't worry Sora, it's not your fault" Gene reassured him with a smile. "You know that's how those sneaky things work"

"Yeah, I know," He replied. "Still, I can't go home knowing this, so before that I'll gladly take care of the Heartless, it won't be that hard" He added with a smile on his face.

"Just as expected from you," Belle said to him, smiling.

"Now, all you need is a place where you can stay," Gene said to him.

"Oh right!" Sora said in realization. "Where would I stay?" He asked.

"You can stay with us in our house," Belle said to him with a smile.

"Um. Are you sure?" He asked the Gardevoir. "I don't want to be a bother"

“It’s true that things might get complicated, but we also owe you our lives, especially mine.” Belle smiled. “We should count our blessings, no?”

Sora smiled, seeing that she wasn’t gonna take no for an answer. "Thank you, Belle."

—-------------

After saying their goodbyes Sora, Gene, and Belle left to their house in Ponyville, which wasn’t about a twenty minute walk. On their way home, Gene and Belle explained to Sora what Pokemon were and how important they were.

Apparently Pokemon weren't just simple animals, but rather friends and companions that you would befriend and have adventures with. Pokemon Trainers, as they were called, would care for Pokemon and help them grow stronger; in return, the Pokemon would help protect their trainer and grow alongside them. Sora was very much about making new friends and building bonds wherever he could, so he immediately understood and latched onto the idea of Pokemon companions. Pokemon also came in all shapes and sizes, the tiniest being the size of a small tick and the largest being the size of a whale. They were also categorized into eighteen different "typings", each of which had its own strengths and weaknesses.

Pokemon also apparently were important in society. Pokemon battles, which at first Sora hated the idea of, put Pokemon and their trainers against each other in combat. Ash was quick to elaborate and explain that these battles were not meant to encourage violence, but instead were framed more like friendly contests of strength and ingenuity. They were meant to allow both trainer and Pokemon to grow stronger together.

By the time they reached the machine shop, Sora was about as caught up as he was going to get when it came to this strange world and its Pokemon.

"It sure is a big house" Sora said, noting that it was indeed too big for just two Pokemon.

"Well, we do have quite a bit of friends that come by for the holidays, that's why we have this big house" Gene explained. "You can take one of the visitor rooms upstairs, I’ll show you,"

"'Kay" He nodded in understanding and he proceeded to go upstairs. Sora entered the first door on the right and he was met with a room with only a bed and desk as furniture. The bed was right in front of the window that was at the right wall and desk was at the left wall aligning with the bed. A pair of centimeters from the bed was a closet perfect for Sora to save the stuff he would receive later.

Sora scanned the room that funnily enough kinda reminded him of his room back on Destiny Islands and Roxas's room in the digital Twilight Town, mostly for the bed against the window and the room as just slightly bigger than his room back home.

"Hey, could I ask you something?" She asked Gene, who averted his attention to him.

"Sure. What's up?" He replied.

"This may sound random, but I've noticed something special about your right eye. It’s different from the left one.”

Gene froze, as he turned to the boy in shock, “You noticed?”

“Kind of hard not to?” Sora teased.

Gene chuckled. “I guess not.” He then walked up to a mirror, seeing a blue light envelop his right eye, in the shape of a serpent-like ring. “Born with it. Doctors can’t determine what it is, where it came from, or how to remove it.” He sighed, thinking of his childhood. “When I was still human, kids at my school used to make fun of me, or call me a freak. I had to hide it my whole life.” He smiled, then thinking of that fateful day, “But then, on the day I set out on my journey, I met her.”

—-------------

Gene’s alarm clock went off and the boy groaned, he rolled over and fumbled for the sleep button. After a few more moments he managed to turn off the alarm and he almost went back to bed but after a few seconds he jolted up. “Today’s the day.”

He jumped out of bed and rushed to his closet, quickly changing into a white jacket and pants before throwing on his hat and putting an eyepatch over his right eye. After checking himself in the mirror he ran downstairs. His mother, cooking breakfast in the kitchen, heard him and stuck her head into the front room as he rushed for the door.

“Gene,” she called. “I know you’re excited, but could you at least come have some breakfast first?”

“No time, Mom, the boat leaves soon and I’ve gotta catch it.” Gene grabbed his bag from by the door. “Bye.”

“Just one more thing honey,” She said as he opened the door and started outside. He stopped and looked back at her. “Happy birthday.”

Gene smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”

Gene closed the door and rushed out into Mossdeep City, he quickly made his way to the dock where two other kids, a boy from Pacifidlog Town and a girl all the way from Dewford Town waited, both of whom had come for the same reason as Gene, to get their first Pokémon.

“Hey,” The girl greeted him. “I’m Sue.”

“Zachary.” The boy introduced himself.

“I’m Gene.” He said.

The three explained where they had come from and talked about their plans and hopes. It wasn’t long before a boat pulled up to the docks, two people, both dressed in blue with dark black hair, stood on the deck, facing the prospective trainers, anyone could’ve figured out they were twins after a few minutes in their company. The boy, Tate, had a Lunatone floating by his side, while his sister, Liza, had a Solrock at her side.

“Greetings.” They said together.

“And welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.” Tate finished.

His sister smiled.

“Forgive my brother,” She said. “He can be a bit melodramatic.”

“My point still stands.” He defended himself. “Now come on,” He waved the three ten year old's onto the boat. “We have a long way to go.”

The excited teenagers onto the boat and his sister signaled the captain. As the boat started on its trip to its destination the twin Gym leaders gave a speech they had given many times before but always looked forward to. “Now I’ll skip the part about being ten and getting your Pokémon, you already know that.” Tate explained. “What I want to talk about are the specifics of how we give out Pokémon.” The trio leaned in, not wanting to miss even one detail. “We don’t.”

The shocked and horrified expressions of the group’s faces sent Tate into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. His Lunatone snickered along with him. Liza rolled her eyes. “What my brother means is that you don’t just get to choose a Pokémon,” She looked to the horizon and continued. “We’re taking you to a special island that’s populated mainly by Psychic-type Pokémon: Cerea Island. There you’ll each have until sunset to find and capture your own Pokémon.” She turned back to the group. “You can befriend them, or trick them, or bait them, but you’ll each only get one Pokéball and a container of Pokémon food to work with, otherwise-”

“Otherwise you’ll never be a Pokémon Trainer!” Her brother finished, once again provoking startled responses from the assembled teenagers.

“No,” Liza corrected. “You’ll either have to go to wait a month before trying again or get a Pokémon from somewhere else.” The group nodded in understanding.

“Now, the Pokémon on this island are actually pretty social, although they’re not going to just jump into your arms. If you want their trust, you’ll have to earn it.” Tate said, finally becoming serious. “But it could be well worth it, there are a lot of different species on this island, and not only from Hoenn, there are Kanto and Johto Pokémon as well, and even a few rarer ones from Sinnoh, Unova and even Kalos.”

This got the group excited, getting their first Pokémon was good enough, but getting a rare Pokémon from a region like Unova would be a dream come true. After a few smaller directions the Gym Leaders retired below deck, leaving the hopefully future trainers alone.

“I hope I can find something cute,” Sue said with a smile. “Like a Chimecho or a Spoink.”

Zachary smirked. “I want something powerful, maybe an Abra or a Beldum as a start.”

Gene smiled and stared in the direction the boat was headed. “I just want someone who I can call my partner.”

“Aww.” Sue cried. Zachary just rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t long until an island came into view and, as if sensing that the destination had been reached, Liza and Tate ascended to the deck just as the boat pulled into the small dock.

“Alright, you three,” Liza said as they disembarked. “Remember what we said and be back before sundown, with or without your Pokémon.”

The group nodded and walked down the path that led to the forest, soon they came to a three way fork in the road. The one on the right led down to a craggy crevice surrounded by forest, the middle one led into dense woodland and upwards to a large plateau and the leftmost path led down to a pleasant lake by a waterfall.

“I’m heading up there.” Zachary pointed towards the plateau. “Bet I can find a Beldum up there.” He headed down the path leading into the woods.

“Then I’m going that way.” Sue ran down toward the lake, where she hoped to find some cute Pokémon near the calm waters. “See you back at the boat!” She cried to Gene as she left.

Gene, now alone, looked down the final path leading into crevice. “Perfect place for Solrock, Lunatone, Beldum,” He smiled. “Or Bronzor, if I get lucky.”

About an hour later, Gene was walking through one of the little craggy crevices that made up the valley. He had seen no Pokémon save for a few Flying-types that had fled at the sight of him.

“And not even a Natu,” He sighed. “This might be harder than I thought. “ He walked for a few minutes more and would’ve continued had something not caught his attention. Above his head and spanning the length of the crevice was a fallen tree, the kind Pokémon used for crossing. And walking across that tree was a tiny green and white figure that Gene recognized as a Ralts.

He smiled at the little Pokémon as it crossed the tree bridge, arms held out in either direction to help keep its balance. Gene watched the little Pokémon for a moment before continuing, it was too high up to risk getting its attention, he didn’t want to startle the little creature and make it fall. However as Gene neared the underside of the bridge and the Ralts reached the center a strong gust swept through the crevice, it was only a mild annoyance to Gene but it was a major problem for the Ralts.

Unable to keep her balance in the sudden wind the Psychic-type began to fall, she flailed wildly, trying to keep her balance, but ultimately toppled over and fell into the crevice below.

Gene witnessed the entire thing and gasped as he watched the little Pokémon fall. “No!” Gene dove for the Ralts and intercepted her before she reached the ground. “Gotcha!”

“Ralts?” The tiny Psychic-type looked up at her rescuer.

“You alright?” He asked, placing the Feeling Pokémon on the ground.

“R-Ralts.” She answered nervously.

Gene heard the fear in her voice and sighed. “Don’t worry,” He said, rooting through his bag. “I’m not gonna catch you, not if you don’t want me to.” He pulled out a cylindrical container and uncapped it. “Hungry?’ He asked, holding the food canister.

“Ralts.” She answered, she still wasn’t entirely sure about the human, but she was hungry. She grabbed the canister and began eating, Gene smiled as she did and decided, since it was almost noon, that he would have his own lunch. He unpacked and ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while the Ralts watched his every move.

“Well,” He said after finishing his lunch. “I gotta get going, I only have until sundown to find a Pokémon who’ll be my partner.” He stood up and looked down at the little Psychic-type. “Unless you’d like to join me.”

When the Ralts looked away from the human, Gene sighed. “I understand,” He began walking further down into the valley. “You can keep that, by the way.”

Ralts just watched as the human walked away, confused by the way he acted. Some of the other Pokémon who had been here longer said that a lot of humans just wanted to catch Pokémon, but this one seemed nice. Ralts just shrugged and continued to eat the Pokémon food, unaware of the shadowy figure creeping up behind her.

Meanwhile, further down the path, Gene was still looking for any Pokémon. “Maybe I should’ve tried harder with the Ralts.” He said to himself, he would be beyond disappointed if he had to return him without a Pokémon. He was considering scaling the walls of the crevice so he could search the forest, but was interrupted when a childlike cry came from behind him.

“RALTS!” Gene immediately turned around and began to run in the opposite direction.

“Hang on!” He ran until he reached the same bridge he passed previously, and there he saw the same Ralts from before. She was slowly backing away from a Hypno who was advancing on the little Pokémon.

“Hypno.” It said threateningly.

“R-Ralts.” Gene had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t care, he could see that Ralts was scared and he intended to do something about the Hypno threatening her. Neither of the Pokémon had noticed Gene yet, and the boy decided to take advantage of this. Grabbing a branch that had fallen from a tree hanging over the crevice, Gene ran over to the Hypno just as it had backed Ralts into a corner.

“Hypno!” The Hypnosis Pokémon loomed threateningly over Ralts and prepared to strike.

Ralts closed her eyes and covered her head with her tiny hands. “Psy-”

CRACK!

The Hypno’s move was interrupted as a club like branch was broken over his head. The Psychic-type crumpled to the ground and Ralts opened her eyes, seeing the same human from before standing over the unconscious Pokémon holding a broken tree branch.

“You alright?” He asked, worried for the little Pokémon.

“Ralts, Ralts, Ralts, Ralts?” She asked him, gesturing at the Hypno.

Gene took a moment to try and figure out what she was asking. “If you’re asking why, I wasn’t going to let you get hurt.”

He pulled the Pokéball he had been given earlier and looked down at the unconscious Hypno. It was already unconscious, and Liza and Tate had said to use whatever means necessary. Plus starting out with a fully evolved Pokémon would probably give him an advantage.

But as he looked down at the Ralts who were now looking up at him in curiosity he couldn’t forget how it had scared the little Pokémon. He kneeled down and looked her right in the eyes, before seeing something that caught his attention. A serpent-like shaped ring glowing a yellow light in her left eye. “I thought I was the only one.” He said in shock, before getting an idea and a grin. “Hey, Ralts?”

Ralts looked up at him quizzically. “Ralts?”

“I know I kinda already asked, but I’m gonna do it officially this time.”“Ralts, will you be my Pokémon partner?”

At first the little Psychic type was going to refuse, but she paused in her rejection, she thought about how nice Gene had been to her. “I don’t really know what’s gonna happen,” he said, noticing her contemplation. “But I can promise you that we’ll go to a lot of new places, meet people and Pokémon,” He looked her directly in the eyes. “And that I’ll never leave you behind.”

Ralts couldn’t help but smile, she could sense that he was being sincere. She looked up at him, Gene was smiling and was holding the Pokéball out to her, while removing his eyepatch and pointed to his right eye. “What do ya say?”

Ralts gasped in shock, seeing that he had the same kind of eye she did. She thought for a moment then smiled again. “Ralts!” She ran forward and hugged him.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes then?” He asked with a smile.

“Ralts.” The little Psychic-Type took a few steps back, she scrunched her nose as she looked at the Pokéball.

Noticing her discomfort Gene smiled and explained. “Don’t worry, I won’t keep you in there, it’s just so no one else can catch you.” Gene had no idea how a Pokéball worked, but he was a little uncomfortable with keeping a living creature in a capsule no bigger than a baseball.

“Ralts.” Ralts sensed that he was telling the truth and decided to get the unpleasant part over with, she tapped the white button in the center and was engulfed in red light. For a moment she couldn’t sense her surroundings in any way, like she was half asleep, but soon a bright white light engulfed her and she was again standing in front of the human.

He smiled and picked her up. “Welcome aboard.” He said, placing her on his shoulder. “I’m Gene by the way.”

“Ralts.” She cried happily. Gene smiled.

“You know,” He said as he began walking back to the dock. “I want all my Pokémon to stand apart from others, so I’ve been thinking of giving you a name.” he looked over to her. “But first off, are you a boy or a girl?”

“Ralts!” She cried indignantly.

“Uhhh, girl then?” Gene asked, taking a shot in the dark.

She nodded and crossed her arms, pouting slightly. Gene chuckled. “Alright then, how about Melody?”

“Ralts.” She shook her head.

“Um, Emma?”

She stuck out her tongue. “Alright,” Gene tapped his chin. “I know!” he grabbed her and held her in front of him. “I’ll call you Belle!”

She considered the name for a moment, then smiled. “Ralts!” Belle cried happily as Gene put her back on his shoulder.

—-------------

“Wow.” Sora said in amazement, surprised that’s how Gene met Belle.

“Ever since then, I finally knew that I wasn't the only one anymore." Gene smiled. “When I became a Gallade, it became less noticeable.” The Gallade chuckled, realizing something. “You know, you're the first one who's noticed my eye ever since we came to Equestria.”

“Really?” Sora asked, surprised as Gene nodded. Sora then yawned out of tiredness as he rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, I'm kinda sleepy" He apologized.

"I bet you are, rough day, huh?" Gene replied to him with a smile. "You should go up and get some sleep."

“Yeah,” Sora said as Gene was about to leave the room.

"Hey," He said, getting Sora's attention. "About what you did to save Kairi, I... can't say I'd done any different." Gene admitted, shocking Sora. "I'd take it to the Grave if I have to." He then exited the room, leaving Sora alone for the night.

As Sora removed his gauntlets from his hands and his jacket to lay them on the desk, he let himself fall on the bed back first. The bed was really comfortable and the pillow was really soft, then again maybe he's just too used to sleeping either on grass, sand or the Gummi Ship bunks.

Sora was facing the ceiling reflecting on his current situation: He was now trapped in a world in which there was no Kingdom Hearts, no X-Blade, and as such no Keyblade War that would cause the division of the world into a myriad of worlds. To think that Sora's life took an extreme turn two years ago on that fateful night, this is another big turn in his life, he'll dare to say the biggest one since that one night.

"Hmm. Welp, if I'm gonna be staying here for a while, I might as well get used to it, I think it will be pretty easy" Sora said to himself, putting his hands behind his head, already feeling like home in such a crazy world. "Everyone… I'm working my way back, I hope you manage without me until then…" Sora thought of his friends and loved ones, hoping they will be fine in his absence. "May my heart be my guiding key…" Sora said the ancient keyblade wielder motto before closing his eyes and letting himself fall asleep.

Royalty

View Online

Chapter 4: Royalty

It’s been a few days since the Keyblade Wielder known as Sora had arrived in Equestria and the ponies and Pokémon got quite used to the spiky-haired human. At first, his sudden appearance set everyone off a bit, but once they got to know him, he was quickly being treated like any other member of Ponyville society.

At the moment, Sora was enjoying a peaceful sleep. Pleasurable images waltzed through his head like a breathtaking ballet.

But a dark cloud started to loom over his head, planning to shatter the solitude of his dream. And that cloud was in the form of two shadows, which belonged to two Ralts. They crept into the room, leaving the door open just enough for them to see, and approached him.

One of the Ralt’s held out his hand. He counted down each digit: 3…2….1. And they pounced right on top of him. Sora felt the sudden air leap from his mouth, and he sat up in a panic.

"Ahh! It got me! It got me! It-"

Sora felt the panic drain from his body upon realizing that he was in the safe comfort of the bedroom. And once he saw the Ralt’s grinning faces, that feeling was replaced by annoyance.

"Was that really necessary?" Sora asked.

"It totally was," One of the Ralts said.

“You should have seen your face!” The other Ralts said.

Sora then started to smile, before the three of them burst out laughing.

“Sora, Rose, Robby! Breakfast!” Gene’s voice called out, as the three of them went downstairs and saw Gene and Belle standing in front of the stove. Gene was holding a spatula and whistling as he flipped pancakes and Belle was setting the table, with the utensils and plates floating into place.

“Good morning, Sora,” Belle greeted the boy when she noticed him. “I am guessing that commotion from upstairs was you?”

"Oh, there was a commotion alright," Sora said, jokingly, pointing to the two Ralts, now known as Rose and Robby. "It was the sound of my nightmares coming to life."

"We just woke Sora up with a good old dogpile," One of the Ralts said. "Beats drinking coffee any day."

“Well, while you were asleep, someone made the paper today.” Gene said, as he showed everyone what was in today's newspaper, which had a picture of Sora, Donald, and Goofy fighting the Heartless a few days ago. Over the picture was a headline that said, “HUMAN KID SAVES PONYVILLE FROM DESTRUCTION!”

Gene chuckled, as he flipped the last pancake off of the stove and onto the pile. “Breakfast is served.” He said with a smile, carrying the plate over to the table.

Sora looked at it, and his mouth almost watered. He hadn't had pancakes in a very long time. He quickly sat down and took the utensils next to it.

The sounds of someone gobbling up their food like an animal made Belle stifle a laugh. Seems like somebody's been running on fumes for a while. “Sorry,” Sora nervously said, causing everyone else to chuckle, before continuing breakfast and getting ready for the day.

—-------------

Korrina walked out of the Apple’s House as the sunlight of Equestria’s star greeted her, she took in a deep breath as she readied herself to tackle the day.

“And a long day this is going to be.”

“Ready Korrina?” Lucario said as he stepped outside.

“Ready partner.”

Both Aura Pokémon clasped paws and made their way to the center of town. They sat at a bench as they waited for a group they were supposed to meet up with.

“Want me to go get us something to eat?” Lucario asked

“Oh no you don’t have to.”

“Korrina, it's gonna be a long train ride to Canterlot. And I don’t think your body would want to wait to eat food there no matter how good it is.”

As if on cue, the former Gym Leader's stomach used growl. “Okay, get me a sitrus berry smoothie.”

Lucario nodded and went to a nearby Pokémon Berry Smoothie stand.

Korrina smiled as Lucario went to get her food, leaving her to think back a moment. They were taking their relationship slow for now, ever since the kiss and the World Summit where Lucario confessed his feelings for her partner and trainer, Korrina had been unable to process just how their friendship might change going forward. On one hand, if she didn’t love Lucario, then it might have caused an awkward strain on their relationship. When she became a Pokémon, Korrina was one of many who wanted nothing more than to be human again. But as the days and weeks went by, that seemed like less and less of a possibility. A few months later Korrina was starting to accept the fact that he would remain a Pokémon for the rest of her life. And even though she wasn’t exactly a fan of Pokémon/human relationships, her opinion slowly changed overtime. So with that acceptance, she began to see her partner Pokémon Lucario as maybe more than just a friend.

‘Life moves on as they say. You have to work with what you got.’ Korrina thought to herself.

“Did someone order a sitrus berry smoothie?”

Korrina snapped out of her deep thought to see Lucario holding a cup to her, he himself had gotten a Wepear Berry Smoothie..

“Thanks partner.”

“No problem.”

As they both drank their drinks, it did not go unnoticed that both Lucario’s had moved closer together.

You know, maybe this won’t be so bad.

A few minutes later, the Pokémon and the former human heard a familiar voice.

“Hey guys!”

Korrina looked and saw a group that consisted of Sora, Gene, Belle, Rose, Robbie, who had bags packed for Canterlot.

“I see that everyone is ready.” Korrina concluded. “I kinda wish we all weren’t getting together for only one day.”

“Yeah,” Belle said. “The World Summit was really the last time when literally everyone got together from all over the world.”

“Even so, let's all take joy in the fact that we’re coming together to celebrate our bonds and friendships, as opposed to deciding if Pokémon will get to stay here,” Lucario pointed out.

Gene nodded. “Alright, let's not keep Twilight and her friends waiting.”

Soon everyone made their way to the train station where 6 technicolor Ponies and one dragon were waiting.

“Alright everyone is here!” Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically, “Are you all ready to experience the Summer Solstice?!”

“YEAH!”

Soon everyone was on the train, and the long ride to Canterlot began.

—-------------

Celestia sat in her throne room as aides and advisors ran back and forth getting everything ready.

“Princess Celestia, we need your signature for that delivery of cake ingredients that was just dropped off.”

“Very well,” Celestia said, signing the form with her quill.

“Princess Celestia, Captain Seth Crescent said that all final sweeps inside the castle are done, and that he will be moving to survey the castle walls now.”

“Good, tell him after he is done to take a break, he’s earned it.”

“Yes Princess.”

“Princess Celestia, we have received word that Emperor Carapace will dock in 2 hours. Empress Victoria and Empress Serva are estimated to follow shortly after.”

“Understood, make preparations for when they land.”

Soon there was a gap in the line of Ponies needing to talk with the sun Princess. Celestia took this opportunity to take a breather.

“This is almost as busy as when I was preparing for the World Summit, and that was not too long ago even.”

Princess Celestia steeled herself, took a deep breath and sat back in her seat. Technically she had no one to blame but herself.

It was her idea in the first place for the world leaders to attend this year's Summer Solstice. As well as make it a celebration of the Pokémon and the friendships that had been made between two different worlds. Although it might have been more fitting to do a celebration of the Pokémon on the anniversary of their arrival, or the day they were made citizens of Equus, Celestia believed that the first Summer Solstice with Pokémon should be a special one.

Most of the World Leaders had accepted her invitation, the only ones that couldn’t make it were Golden Horn and King Trotankhamun.

Golden Horn wasn’t coming for obvious reasons, being practically the only one who voted no when it came allowing the Pokémon to call this planet home, he became somewhat of an outcast among the world leaders. The Minotaur Emperor didn’t seem to care much, only caring about if or when the Pokémon will usurp him from his seat of power. And while he couldn’t exactly kick them out of his country, he did nothing to quell the resentment and indifference towards Pokémon in land.

It was boarding on discrimination. So it was no surprise why he didn’t want to partake in a celebration meant for Pokémon.

Celestia shook her head. She prayed to whatever god that was out their that Golden Horn would become more tolerant.

King Trotankhamun on the other hand, had completely different reasons for not coming, much sadder reasons.

Almost as soon as he returned home, several tribal leaders of Zebrica declared war on those who remained loyal to the King, claiming that his handling of the Pokémon(for allowing them to stay) and his young and inexperienced role as a king made him an unfit ruler. Since this was an internal conflict very few world leaders other than Celestia sent support in an effort to end the war.

Arceus of course made it aware a few times that he would like to go and resolve the conflict himself since the outcome of the war would determine the future of Pokémon living in Zebrica. Of course Celestia told him to wait until the conflict escalated to a point where his intervention was necessary.

Fortunately no intervention was needed as the war ended a few weeks ago, but it was nearly a pyrrhic victory. Much land was devastated, and many lost their lives on both sides. The kingdom was in a weakened state that any of its enemies who were hiding in the shadows had the perfect opportunity to strike.

“I never did hear about whether or not the last Thirst was dealt with,” Celestia shuddered. Scared at the small possibility that the witch could undo the seal on an ancient evil that was banished long ago.

Zebrica needed its King now more than ever, so there was no way Trot was going to leave his people in their time of crisis to attend a celebration…

Which is why Commander Sev was going in his place.

Celestia let out a long sigh, hopefully that snake had mellowed out since she last saw him, or maybe the war only served to bring out his more impulsive nature.

Fortunately, the commander seemed to respect Princess Luna, even reworked the PLA to give praise to her as well as Arceus.

“I should talk to her about it, that way she can reign him in if he ever goes off on another one of his propaganda speeches.”

As if on cue, a certain blue Alicorn walked through the doors, a smile of satisfaction on her face.

“Good Afternoon dear sister, I have come to inform you that all of the preparations I had assigned have been completed. Also the ‘All Night Gala’ shall be ready to commence as soon as I raise the moon.”

“Very good Luna, now we just need to wait for Twilight and her friends to arrive, as well as the world leaders.”

“Fufu, to think that it has been 8 months since the Pokémon have arrived. So much has changed, thankfully mostly for the better.”

Celestia couldn’t agree more. Even though the appearance of Pokémon caused many problems upon their arrival, and will no doubt cause many problems in the future, the pros far outweigh the cons in many cases.

Crop production had increased tenfold with the assistance of many Grass, Ground and Bug type Pokémon. Many countries also now had means of controlling and distributing water due to Water and Ice type Pokémon. Flying Pokémon helped control the weather and avert natural disasters caused by high winds. In a way many nations now had some of the same benefits and abilities Ponies used to better Equestria.

“It is good to see that the works of Pokémon have helped them become more accepted by others.”

Princess Luna smiled, but then that smile became a frown as she remembered a certain pony who was not accepting. “Speaking of which, did you invite all the nobles to this event?”

Celestia looked puzzled for a sec. “I only invited the World Leaders Luna, as for any other citizen of Equestria, they are allowed to attend a public celebration such as this. Much less the nobles who can come and leave the castle as they please.”

“Yes, but I am referring to a certain stuck up noble who had the gall to interrupt a wedding out of petty spite.”

Celestia immediately understood. “Oh.” She closed her eyes and thought for a second. “Despite his inexcusable behavior during that day, Prince Blueblood has not done anything illegal or offensive enough to warrant a ban from the castle grounds. Much less attend a public event.”

“Still, I would keep an eye on him if I were you.”

“Actually, after that little trip I sent him with Twilight and her friends to Griffinstone, his behavior seems to be improving.”

“.....We are talking about the same Blueblood right? I mean you may have known him longer than I have, but that selfish stuck up noble does not seem like the type of pony to change.”

“Anypony can change Luna, they just need the right experience and means to grow up and be better.”

Princess Luna thought for a second, her sister was always the forgiving one. While Luna was still learning to adjust to modern standards and society. The methods of ruling she imposed could be seen as dated to some ponies, and Luna was more impulsive when it came to how she did things.

But then again, there was a reason why Aegislash chose Celestia in the Everfree that day. Why despite the fact that we were meant to be equal co-rulers, everyone goes and sees you as the “Head Princess” sister.

“Very well sister, let's just hope it doesn’t come to a point where Arceus will disable his vocal cords again, or worse.”

The solar Princess chuckled. “Hopefully not.”

—-------------

Within the train car, everyone conversed and talked amongst themselves, catching up and making plans about what to do in Canterlot. The newborns however ran up and down the car as they chased each other.

“You can’t catch me!” Robby said to his sister.

“Just you wait!” Rose expressed as they jumped from seat to seat in a game of cat and mouse.

“Well I’ll be darned,” Applejack said. “These fellas are getting bigger and faster every time I see them.

“Indeed,” Rarity said, “Rose looks more and more like her mother everyday.”

Belle blushed, “Aww, thank you Rarity.”

Gene nuzzled his wife, “Perhaps one day she may grow up to be as beautiful as her mother.”

“Perhaps.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the car Twilight sat with Spike and Sora as she talked to a quadrupedal canine Pokémon covered in thick, luxurious golden-white fur about the Equestrian Ranger Union.

“So Abby, it's been 6 months since the Ranger Union opened. How do you think it's doing?”

“Oh it's going great Twilight. Ever since it opened, former Rangers from all over the world have been signing up in order to protect Pokémon once again. We have had over 100 missions so far with a 97% success rating,” Abby’s smile faded for a bit. “We can’t save everyone and not every mission will be a complete success, but trial and error is expected when you start the Ranger Union anew in a new world.”

“Well, nothing in life is perfect, and there will be a few kinks to work out. I trust the veteran Rangers adjusting to their new environment and how the New Union works?”

“Well most of them to be honest.”

Twilight raised a brow at that, “Most?”

“Unfortunately there were a few old Rangers who preferred how things were run back on Earth, those who still followed Hastings lead.”

“Hastings?” Sora asked “Wasn’t he that guy who came to Ponyville and tried to arrest Gene, Belle and you two?”

Abby nodded sadly. “Yes, those Rangers still believed that Pokephillia is wrong and that we should be making rounds arresting those ‘disgusting lawbreakers’.”

Spike blew a raspberry, “Apparently they didn’t get memo, they have no power here and Pokephillia is not a crime in Equestria. I hope you chased them out the door.”

“Oh, nothing of the sort. I just told them to get over it and change, or I would be arresting them for attempting unlawful imprisonment and discrimination.”

“Heh, that works too.”

Abby took a deep breath and did a mental sigh. She could count on one paw how many former Rangers she met who still clung to the old ways. It was minuscule, but it still made her upset that good people like them still were stuck in their old ways like Hastings was. For all his intolerance, the man still did much good back on Earth. Even though Abby believed Pokémon were better than humans in many ways, she still wished for everyone to get along and find happiness in this new world. Not try to take away the happiness of others.

“I just hope they don’t end up like Hastings or worse.”

“Speaking of Hastings.” Twilight said “I may not like the guy, but how is he doing?”

Abby looked down a bit. “Mostly the same, he’s been getting therapy but the doctors say he’s still not well enough to be reintroduced into society.”

“Well, maybe one day he will be.” Sora said.

“I hope so, I still want him to be part of the new Ranger Union. To continue to do good like he did back on Earth.”

Conversations continued until the Friendship Express arrived in Canterlot. The moment the train came to a stop, Pinkie Pie burst through the doors in barely contained glee.

“Alright Let's Get This Party Started Everypony!”

Everyone else filled out of the train as Twilight used her magic to hold Pinkie in place. “Easy there Pinkie. It may be the afternoon, but there's still some time before the All Night Gala begins. Let's just get to the castle for now.”

“Oki doki loki!”

As the group made their way through Canterlot, they passed by the recently built Pokémon district. The area itself was hewed out from the side of Canterlot Mountain, with support pillars carved in as precautions. Everywhere they looked, Pokémon walked, worked and played. Sometimes they spotted a pony or two, but the majority of residents in this place were of Pokémon ethnicity.

“Wow, it's hard to believe this place wasn’t here a while ago,” Belle said.

“Princess Celestia spared no expense in giving Pokémon their own place to live in Canterlot,” Twilight explained. “She wanted them to feel at home as best as she could.”

“I even heard Princess Diancie has made her home in the caves underneath Canterlot. Apparently she’s ruling over a community of Carbink there.” Abby said.

“I was trapped in those caves once, not a fan. But I’m glad someone enjoys it down there.”

Soon the group made their way to the castle, where they were met with the sight of a Royal Guard composed of both Ponies and Pokémon. While some gave Sora a shocked look, they decided to try and ignore it to not draw attention to themselves.

“To think that over a year ago the Royal Guard only had ponies in it,” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash added. “Now it's boasting a Pokémon division that only an idiot would try and take on all at once.”

"You idiots! What in the world are you playing at?"

Everyone jumped and turned to see what the cause of the commotion was. “Uh-oh! The commander is gonna explode.” Abby said, seeing one of the new commanders of the Royal Guard, seeming angry at two of the pony guards.

The commander was a quadrupedal Pokémon resembling a fully-grown lion, wearing Royal Guard armor, and had an intimidating mustache. While its face, hind legs, torso, and the back of its front legs were blue, much of its body was covered with shaggy, black fur. The fur was longer around the shoulders and the base of the tail, and formed a mane on its head. It had yellow eyes with red sclerae, a blunt muzzle, and rounded ears with yellow insides. There were three yellow half-rings on the back of each foreleg. Its long, thin tail was tipped with a yellow four-pointed star.

"Crashing the mobile artillery into a house?" Commander Vangarre was livid, his eyes filled with anger as he glared at the two soldiers standing in front of him. "How long have you been in the force?"

Ever since the Heartless attack, they had been working on new weaponry to use in battle, though by the way it seemed, things weren’t looking too good.

"Sorry, Sir." One of the guards began. "I- It's just that we were trying to go as fast as we could, like you ordered..."

"But it's impossible to get back to the Military District in only 40 seconds." The other guard finished.

"I don't want any excuses!" yelled the Commander. "Champions don't whine, they win!"

"Yes sir."

Commander Vangarre continued with his rant. "You're a disgrace to the uniform! Are you forgetting the shame you brought on this force during joint maneuvers with the other squads in training?" He scowled at them. "Stick your back into it, maggots! Move it!"

"Yes, sir." The guards straightened up.

"Get the artillery back to the Military District, double time!" Vangarre ordered. "Then I want a million push-ups from both of you! And you better not stop until your biceps explode!"

Exchanging a grim expression with his companion, one of the guards said, "Commander. We can't move the artillery."

"What?" the commander growled. "You'd better give a good reason why!"

"Sir! The impact of the crash damaged the ether conduction cable!" The guard explained. "The ether fuel proceeded to leak out, and now the cylinder is empty!"

"Well, change the cylinder then!" Colonel Vangarre couldn't believe what he was hearing; they were like children! "Can't you even do something as simple as that?"

"The auxiliary cylinders have all been used up." The guard replied. "It'll be three days until more come in, Sir."

"I told you to keep a stock of fuel in reserve!" The commander was becoming more and more infuriated.

"Sorry, Sir..."

"You're nothing but slackers!" He yelled as he began to use Thunderbolt on one of the guards, as everyone looked away so he wouldn't have to see the pony get hit.

"Same old commander," Abby muttered.

"Yeesh, at this rate, the men will all be dead before they see any action." Korrina stated, worried.

“Let’s… just get to the docks.” Sora said, as everyone left before they could draw attention to themselves.

The group then made their way to the Princesses, who smiled at their arrival. Though he couldn’t help but notice the shorter sister, seemed to replace that smile with a puzzled look on her face when she finally got a good look at Sora. ‘Huh? What‘s with her?’ She immediately picked that up and then gave a smile that seemed a little forced as if, to hide her staring form earlier.

The taller of the two, Celestia was the first to speak. “Greetings everyone, I’m glad to see you’ve all arrived here safely.”

“Sora!” Sora heard a sort of whisper yelling behind him. He turned back to see the others were now bowing to the princess, and Twilight glaring at him hoping he got the picture. To which he did. But mostly on how Twilight at that moment reminded him of how Donald would constantly tell him to show respect to Yen Sid whenever they had to go speak with him.

“Huh? Oh, Right!” he turned back to face the Princesses and mimicked his friends in bowing.

Twilight rolled her eyes, as the Princesses gave a small laugh before calming down. “Please rise, everypony. We have much to discuss” As soon as they did Twilight walked past Sora and went to nuzzle Celestia.

“It’s great to see you again, Princess” Twilight said then looked at the darker Alicorns with the same big smile. “And you as well, Princess Luna” To which the younger princess simply returned the smile and dip of her head.

“We are glad to see you again as well, Twilight Sparkle” Luna replied. Sora picked up the difference in how she spoke compared to her sister. She seemed to give more effort in making herself sound as what royalty should sound, Well that was what Sora thought anyway. “And to all as well-” However, Luna soon cut herself off as she as well as her sister noticed Sora waving right at them. The princess's eyes widened a bit as they saw the human for themselves.

Sora in turn looked back at the royal sisters and them and examined them a bit. They definitely looked royal with the crowns and special jewelry they had. Also, their manes. Even though he's only seen the mane's of the ponies in town and the Mane Six's own manes, the sisters mane's seemed special with the way they blew in a non-existent wind.

"My name is Sora. It's nice to meet you both." Sora said politely, having experience in dealing with Royals as he's met a few Kings, Queens, Prince's, and Princess's sometimes when he visited other worlds during his adventure.

"Sora?" Celestia asked as she soon gave the boy a smile as that name clicked with Celestia almost instantly. "Oh, you're the one that Twilight mentioned in her letter."

"Yep, that would be me." Sora said as he held his hand out to the sun princess. "It's very nice to meet you."

Celestia simply held her hoof out to it with Sora softly grabbing it and shaking it in greeting. "It's very nice to meet you too, Sora. I would like to apologize for your arrest the other day. I wasn’t expecting a human to randomly appear out of nowhere.”

“Oh it’s fine your majesty. I’ve dealt with worse, and I got to meet these guys” Sora turned to the group who all smiled as well at the acknowledgement.

“Yes, it turns out that event became more of a benefit then I had imagined.” Celestia smiled and gave a nod, before seeing Rose and Robby. “Oh, and who might those three young ones be?”

“Princess Celestia, these two twins are mine and Belle’s, their names are Rose and Robby.” Gene said.

“Oh my they’re simply just precious. Hello there, my name is Princess Celestia, welcome to Canterlot.”

Robby greeted Celestia with ease, but Rose seemed to look away from the alicorn's imposing figure.

“It's okay sweetie, Princess Celestia is a nice pony. She was at mommy and daddy's wedding.” Belle reassured her daughter.

Gene put his hands on his daughter's shoulders, “It's alright Rose, you can say hi.”

The Ralts then managed to let out a small greeting, “Hi nice to meet you.”

Celestia smiled, “Nice to meet you too.” Celestia smiled, before turning her attention back to Sora. “Sora, may I ask you something.”

“Uh, sure?” Sora said uneasily, wondering where this was going.

"Just a few days ago, I saw a shooting star from my balcony. I felt a strong light emanating from that star. Tell me, was that shooting star you by any chance?" Sora nodded in response to Celestia's question, "I must ask, however did that come to pass?"

Sora's face slumped, he didn't know how he ended up in Equestria, but he did know the circumstances that led him here. He remembered those events clearly as day, events he would like to forget. Thinking about it puts a strain on his heart.

"I was rescuing someone important to me," Sora relayed a heavily abridged version of what happened, and he spoke with sadness in his voice, "But my heart was damaged in the process. I ended up fading away. Next thing I know, I'm on the Apple farm. Apparently I fell from the sky." He finished, as Gene put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“Your Highnesses!” A guard sprinting at full speed before skidding to a halt in front of them and quickly bowing in front of the Royal Sisters.

“Yes?”

“I hate to disturb you, but the first delegate is arriving!” The guard said as an airship approached Canterlot.

“Ah, Victoria it is then,” Luna said with a nod.

The Griffin airship was larger than most Equestrian ones, and was marked with the Griffins insignia, a silver Griffin standing on its hind legs, wings spread behind it and claws in striking position, on both sides of the ship.

As the airship approached the city, cries of awe, and a few of alarm, could be heard from the city below. Celestia wasn’t sure what the alarm was about, since she had announced the upcoming meeting the day before.

“They won’t attack me, will they?” Sora asked, knowing how much the residents in this world hate humans from what they learned.

“Don’t worry. They were notified of your appearance yesterday. Everything will be fine.” Celestia said, as the ship decreased in speed as it approached the castle, coming to a stop above the landing platform. ‘I hope.’

The ship then dropped several ropes from either side, which fell to the sky dock below the ship.

“How are they going to anchor it?” Sora asked.

His question was answered for him when six Griffins leapt from the ship and glided to the dock below.

It wasn’t long before the Griffin airship was safely secured in the sky dock. Once the final ropes were tied off, the side door opened and a ramp slid out, reaching the ground below it.

First out of the airship were another half dozen Griffin guards, each one armed with a sword, a spear, or a crossbow.

The twelve Griffins, including the ones who had tied down the ship, lined up on either side of the pathway as another Griffin exited the airship. “Announcing the arrival of her Majesty,” He stepped off to the right and bowed as he finished his line. “Empress Victoria of Griffinhiem.”

A solitary female Griffin exited the airship, her feathers a pure royal white save her wings, which were blood red, her fur was a silvery gray and aside from the silver crown atop her head, she wore silver armor over a red tunic.

As Empress Victoria walked and approached the end of the ramp, each of the guards bowed before her as she passed, the Empress’ didn’t seem to notice, as her gaze was locked directly on the Princesses.

Everyone was so focused on the Empress, that they almost missed the next beings to exit the ship. First was another Griffin, again female, with a mustard yellow coat and white feathers, though not as pure as the Empress’ her feathers were mottled with purple chick-like dots and two tufts of feathers hung from her head, almost like pigtails.

Behind her were two Pokémon, a Bisharp wearing a metal battle skirt, a sword on her waist, and a female Lopunny.

Bisharp was a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon. It had a round, red and black head, similar to a war helmet, topped with a golden, double-headed axe blade with white edges. Its face was primarily yellow with a black outline. The helmet shrouded most of its yellow-and-black face, although its triangular eyes were visible. Resembling shoulder pads, Bisharp's red shoulders projected slightly over its arms and had a thin yellow line where they met its black torso. It met white, metallic hands that resembled gloves, with retractable, horrifically sharp blades attached. Encircling its torso were two blades, which created the impression of a ribcage. Its thighs were red and became progressively thinner as they connected to the knee. Both of its feet were metallic and split down the middle, resembling cloven hooves. These hooves were also similar to steel war boots or possibly leggings.

Lopunny was a bipedal, rabbit-like Pokémon with dark brown fur and a short, round tail. She had pink eyes with black markings on the inner edge, long tufts of cream-colored fur above her eyes, and a small, pink nose. Similar tufts of fluffy cream-colored fur covered her wrists, lower legs, and the ends of her long ears, which bend shortly above her head.

“Greetings Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” Victoria eyed Twilight for a second before adding. “Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Empress Victoria,” Celestia greeted. “It is good to see you again.”

“On that we can agree,” Victoria said. “You remember my claw maiden Grizelda,” Victoria indicated the younger Griffin behind her. “And this is Shredder, and Roll, I hired them and the rest of their guild, Checkmate, to serve under my crown after they assisted Miss Do during an incident involving some Diamond Dog rogues.”

Celestia had to repress a smile. While Twilight looked shocked that apparently both rulers knew about Daring Do, it did explain a few of her mentor's cameos in the books.

“Guards! Show Empress Victoria and her company to their rooms.” Luna said. The Princesses had an entire portion of the castle coordinated off for the visiting royals and their guards.

One Lunar and one Solar Guard stepped forwards and waited for the Griffins to follow them, after a quick glance back at the Empress and a nod, the Griffins began following the ponies.

“See you soon Princess,” Victoria said as she followed her guards, Grizelda, Roll, and Shredder following behind her.

Everyone watched the Griffins until they had all entered the castle. “She seemed... nice,” Sora ventured.

Celestia sighed. “Victoria feels inexperienced compared to me when it comes to ruling, I think she might feel a little inferior.”

“Oh,” Sora commented.

It was only a short while before the next arrival was made known, once again when an airship entered Canterlot airspace.

The approaching ship was smaller than the Griffins, but still fairly large. It was dark silver and black, with bright green markings resembling a crescent moon with what appeared to be an ocean tide coming out, the markings of the Changeling Empire.

Celestia smiled as the ship docked in much the same way the Griffins had, several Changelings flying to the ground and tying off the ropes. Although there had been a... rough patch, after Chrysalis had invaded, Celestia still looked forward to seeing Carapace again.

Once the ship was tied down and the doors opened, several Changeling guards stepped out and got into a formation much like the Griffins had. Unlike the Changelings who had invaded Canterlot, these Changelings had different colored wings, manes, tails, and chitin saddles. “Announcing his Majesty,” The Guards said together. “Emperor Carapace, ruler of the Changeling Empire.”

A few seconds passed before an older looking Changeling exited the craft, unlike the guards, who had more or less the same build, he was of a slightly bulkier build and a slightly taller stature. His mane and tail were silver, with a lighter streak running down them, and his wings were a warm but translucent grey. His chitin saddle was also grey, but lighter and warmer and his horn, while crooked, curved softly instead of sharply.

A small smile on his face, Emperor Carapace made his way down the ramp and towards the Princesses, another two Changelings, one with bronze coloring and one with white coloring exited after him.

They, in turn, were followed by several Pokémon. First a Chesnaught wielding a tan and green spiked hammer, he was followed closely by a Heliolisk and a Trevenant, both females. A few steps behind them came a Zoroark, male and... the ship appeared to be shaking as something within approached the door.

Chesnaught was a bipedal, mammalian Pokémon with some plantlike features. There was fluffy white fur on its belly and fringing its face like a beard. It had a small, pink nose with a three-pointed patch of brown fur extending up its short snout, and four pointed teeth. On top of its head was a plate of beige armor, similar to a helmet. It possessed a prominent domed, armor-like shell similar to that of a chestnut. The armor was beige with four large spines jutting out of the back. The armor was trimmed with red and green bands; the green was on the outermost edge. There was an additional spine protruding from the armor over each of Chesnaught's shoulders, which were connected by a green breastplate. Its body was colored similarly to the shell, and its long limbs and tail are banded with plates of armor. The top surfaces of the tail and arms were protected by green armor, and each arm had two small spines. It had three brown, clawed digits on its hands and feet.

Heliolisk was a bipedal Pokémon that resembled a yellow lizard. Its head was mostly black with a yellow lower jaw. It had blue eyes with a pointed spike over each. Covering its neck was a black frill with orange spikes around the rim. This frill could be raised to frame its head if needed. Its hands and feet were black with three digits each and there was an orange band with triangular markings around each leg. It had a long, tapering tail that was orange and then black at the tip.

Trevenant was a ghostly Pokémon resembling a slender brown tree. Its shadowy black body was visible through gaps in the tree, and a single, red eye was visible through a hole near the top. There was a wavy, horn-like branch on either side of its head, both dotted with small, green leaves, and a smaller branch on its forehead. On top of its head was a cluster of green leaves. It had two arms with gnarled branches similar to its horns on the elbows. Around its wrists were cuffs of green leaves and it had three claw-like fingers on each hand. Instead of legs, it had six roots similar to a spider's legs.

Zoroark was a bipedal, slate gray, fox-like Pokémon with crimson and black accents. It had a pointed snout and ears with red insides. It also had some red rimming its eyes and mouth. Zoroark had a large, red, voluminous mane with black tips, tied into a ponytail, as a teal bangle down its length separated a mass of the mane from the lower portion. It had a black ruff on its upper body, pointed at the shoulders from which its arms extend. Its upper arms were thin, whereas its lower arms, while still slim, were bulkier. The arms had spiky extensions of fur at the elbows, and it had red claws on its hands and feet. Zoroark's eyes were red-rimmed with light blue irises.

The gathered beings gasped as a red and orange head peeked through the doorway.

The Tyrantrum squeezed through the doorway, its frame barely accommodating the Dragon-type. He roared as he exited, the sound echoing throughout the area.

Tyrantrum was a bipedal, dinosaurian Pokémon that resembled a large theropod. It was predominantly brownish red with scaly patterns on its skin and scattered orange highlights on some scales and ridges. Tyrantrum's head was proportionately large with a blunt, ridged snout and powerful jaws. It had black around its eyes and a light gray lower jaw covered by a beard of white, primitive feathers. Several sharp teeth are visible in the lower jaw, while the upper jaw was lined with orange-tipped, tooth-like projections. Over its eyes was a row of five spikes resembling a crown. Around Tyrantrum's neck was a feathery white ruff that extended over its shoulders similar to a cape. Its underbelly was gray with white borders and there were two orange spikes near the tip of its long tail. Its small forelimbs had only two black-clawed digits each, but it had powerful hind legs with three black claws each. Plated, armor-like ridges covered its knees, back, and the top of its tail.

“Belle?” Sora whispered. “What is that?”

“Tyrantrum,” The Gardevoir answered. “It’s a prehistoric Pokémon, and aside from Genesect, probably the most dangerous.”

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Carapace greeted, turning to Sora, he smiled. “And you must be Sora.”

“Yes... your majesty,” Sora answered nervously.

Carapace smiled warmly, then turned to Celestia. “It is good to see you again, especially since our last ‘incident’ wasn’t under the best circumstances.”

“Nor is this one, I’m afraid,” Celestia said. “But I’m glad to see you as well. Would you like the guards to show you to your rooms or...”

“That won’t be necessary,” Carapace said. “We’ll be sleeping on the airship for the duration of our stay.”

Celestia nodded sadly, after Chrysalis’ invasion, fear of Changelings had skyrocketed, and the Princess could understand if Carapace wished to be cautious. “Very well, feel free to look around the palace, but do be careful,” Celestia said. “The meeting starts around three.”

“Of course Princess,” Carapace said before heading towards the palace, his guards and the Pokémon following him.

“Look! A ship!” Pinkie shouted, pointing out the airship on the horizon.

It was smaller than the other two, and was light brown in color, with golden metal on its rims. The sails had a symbol of a slashing sword, the cutie mark of the king, on them.

“Oh no.” Gene said. Twilight had told him before how Commander Sev was coming instead of the Zebra King due to the civil war in Zebrica. Gene sighed, hopefully he won’t be as loud or as talkative as he was last time.

The ship was soon docked, and once it was. Out stepped a Lucario and a Charizard.

“Announcing the arrival of the glorious Commander Sev, chosen of Arceus, of Trotankhamun, of Princess Luna herself.”

The night Princess turned red at that last part.

Sev then slithered off the ship, followed by his entourage, which included pony and pokemon guards.

Sev was a serpentine Pokémon that is usually depicted scrunched up like an accordion. He was mostly covered in black scales, but he had several markings on his body. He had yellow hexagon markings that run from his head to his tail, small yellow bumps where it touches the ground, and various purple scar-like marks. He had elongated red fangs that protrude from his upper jaw and fierce red eyes. His tail was partially red and has a blade-like shape.

“Nobody panic, I! AM! HERE!”

The whole docking area went silent.

“Nobody is panicking, Sev.” Luna said as she rubbed her forehead.

“You’re right, nobody is panicking. Because the panicking stopped the moment I arrived! No need to praise me, I do this for the people. For what good is a leader who shines as bright as the sun if he is not as warm and kind as the sun?”

There were some in the room who did not know if that was meant as a jab directed at Celestia, not even Celestia herself knew.

“Anyway Sev, I think it's best if I personally showed you to your room.”

“Of course Princess, how could I refuse the very pony of whom the Pokémon Liberation Army worships. Praise be your name Luna, you are ten times the pony that Arceus will ever be.”

At this point Luna used her magic to grab Sev by the ear (“does he even have ears?”) and dragged him off the dock, followed by his group.

As soon as he was gone, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, at least this time he wasn’t spewing propaganda about how he will bring justice upon human heads.” Gene said, as Sora let out a sigh of relief.

“Yes, thankfully that was briefer than the last time he was here,” Celestia said. “Now let's see who is next to arrive.”

The next airship, which was the most peculiar thus far. First off, it was completely sealed and the sails were set on either side. It had twin balloons above the body of the ship, keeping it aloft, and a large pair of windows at the front, the rudder, at least, was still set in the same place at the back.

What was truly peculiar was all of this gave it the appearance of a fish someone had tied balloons to.

Rainbow snorted as the ship landed, and an actual anchor dropped to the dock.

The side door opened, allowing some of the water inside the ship to spill out. “So... Hippocampi?” Pinkie asked.

“As if the fish ship wasn’t already enough of a clue?” Rainbow replied.

This time, instead of a ramp coming from the ship, a walkway made of water created a slow decline to the ground.

The Hippocampi who exited the ship was a mare with a coat as white as Celestia’s, her tail was a brilliant sea green and whenever the scales caught the sunlight in the right way they would shine like a rainbow, she also wore a golden circlet atop her head. Furthermore, she was almost as tall as Celestia, and stood a bit taller than Princess Luna, or... she would’ve been, had she been standing.

Queen Oceania was surrounded by a clear sphere of water, suspended several inches above the ground.

Behind the queen, a small contingency of four guards followed after her, like the ponies to Celestia, they were smaller than their Queen. All of them were encircled in their own spheres of water.

They, in turn, were followed by a pair of Milotic, one with the normal red and blue colors on her tail and Dorsal fins, while the other had pale blue Dorsal Fins and a gold and red tail. The Shiny one sported black and yellow clips on her Dorsal Fins.

“My word,” Rarity exclaimed. “They’re magnificent!”

Gene smiled. “Yep, those are Milotic for ya. It’s no exaggeration that they’re considered the most beautiful Pokémon by most people.” He turned to Belle and smiled gently. “Though not by me.”

“Why are they different colors?” Sora asked.

“Because one of them is a Shiny Pokémon. They’re basically the same as normal Pokémon, except they have different coloration.” Belle explained

“I see,” Sora said with a smile.

“Greetings, your highnesses,” Queen Oceania said as she approached Celestia, Luna and Twilight. “I’m glad to see you all are well,” she smiled at the younger Princess. “Especially you, Princess Luna.”

“Queen Oceania,” Celestia greeted with a smile. “And I’m glad to see you’re in good health as well.”

“Yes,” Luna agreed. “It has been... quite some time since last we laid eyes on you.”

Oceania, along with Carapace, were the only world rulers, and some of the only beings, who remembered Luna from before her fall from grace. Changeling rulers were long lived beings, and Oceania was tied to the forces of the sea the same way Celestia and Luna were the Sun and the Moon.

“Allow me to introduce my advisor for these meetings, Lady Cynthia,”

The Milotic went up to the Gardevoir and Gallade as they hugged her, and she did her best to return it by wrapping her tail around them.

“How have you two been?” She asked. “It’s been too long since we last talked.”

Gene smiled and pulled away from his friend. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ll catch up later,” Belle said.

“Looking forward to it,” The Sinnoh Champion said with a smile.

“Yes... well... I assume you’ll be staying on your ship for the duration of your stay...” Luna began. “Or would you like us to prepare rooms for you and your guards?”

Oceania smiled. “Our ship will be just fine, thank you though. I would like it if I could have a guard to show me around, it’s been quite some time since my last visit.”

“But of course,” Celestia said, motioning forward to one of her guards.

“See you soon Princesses,” Oceania said as she followed the guard.

Cynthia turned to Gene and Belle and waved using her tail before following after the Queen.

Celestia smiled. “So far so good,” She said. “Next to arrive would likely be the Deer… Though I don’t know if they will be arriving by train or by airship. After them would most likely be our good friends from Saddle Arabia. They shall be coming in by air… Then the Diamond Dog, and finally the Buffalo. Though I don’t know when Arceus is coming, nor Cadance for that matter.”

Twilight was about to say something when Luna interrupted. “It would appear our next visitors have arrived.”

Celestia and Twilight turned to see another airship arriving. This one was more streamlined and elegant than the others, the metal from which it was crafted shined brightly in the sunlight.

“Ah, that would be the Deer,” Celestia said.

It took a few minutes for the Deer to anchor their ship but once they were safely secured to the sky dock, a half dozen guards, Does and Stags, exited and announced the arrival of Empress Serva of Stagland.

Serva was a tall, thin Doe, she wore a wooden crown that resembled antler as well as flowing green robes. Walking beside her was a Lucario. A peculiar looking Lucario with very large eyebrows, and also looked notably older than Korrina and Lucario.

“Grandpa, it's good to see you again.”

“Likewise Korrina, you know I really should visit sometime outside of these gatherings. So how have things been going for you and Lucario since I last met?”

Both the gym leader and her partner looked at each and then back to the Mega Evolution Guru.

“Well, things are now longer awkward between us.”

“Yes, me and Korrina have never been happier.”

The elderly Pokémon noticed that the two were now clasping paws.

“Ah, I see. Well I am happy for the both of you.”

“Empress Serva, it is good to welcome you back to Equestria,” Celestia said

“Likewise Princess Celestia, I look forward to this celebration as much as anyone else. Although I hear that Golden Horn isn’t able to make it?”

Celestia shook her head. “No, I believe he said and I quote ‘I have much better things to do than to attend a celebration of Pokémon. Besides I don’t think I would feel very welcomed’.”

Serva smiled a bit. “Well, you can’t win them all Celestia.”

The princess nodded in agreement. Despite everything, she had hoped that Golden Horn would have come to a realization that Pokémon were not a real threat and tried to actually get along with them. But it looks like that won’t happen anytime soon.

‘Hopefully he isn’t planning to do anything rash, the fact that he has been awfully quiet lately does not help.’

“Well no use, dwelling on those with little tolerance in their hearts. Let me put down my things and then we can talk about some real good work that we have been doing.”

Celestia shook her head, as Serva and Gurkinn left, though Gurkinn sensed something wrong in the distance, as he whispered to Serva, who nodded to let Gurkinn go and investigate.

While Celestia was wondering where Arceus was, as well as who would be arriving next.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the next airship arrived. This one was gold and royal purple, with an intricate design and silver rimming. A silver star over a horizontal golden crescent moon was set on the sails.

“The Saddle Arabians,” Luna stated. “As extravagant as always.”

The ship landed and was anchored just like the rest and the guards who exited the ship announced the arrival of King Faris and, to Celestia’s surprise, Princess Amira.

The first to exit the ship was an elder stallion with a light silver coat and a mane of a slightly darker gray, the saddle he wore across his back was gold and royal purple, just like the coloration of his ship. And he wore a golden crown with purple gems set in it.

Twilight was surprised to see that the mare who was apparently the Princess was the same mare who had come to watch her perform in Ponyville. Looking closer, Twilight noticed the stallion who had accompanied her standing at the front of the guard contingency.

The Princess wore the same blue and purple outfit she had worn the last time Twilight had seen her.

“King Faris,” Celestia greeted. “I’m glad you could make it.”

The stallion nodded. “Yes well, I found it necessary to come and speak out against what has been forced onto us by this Arceus,” Faris glanced at the Pokémon. “I felt compelled to fight for our way of life.”

Celestia nodded, then smiled at Amira. “Princess Amira, what a wonderful surprise, I did not expect you to come.”

“I figured it was about time my daughter start learning the finer details of ruling a country,” Faris explained.

Amira sighed. “It’s good to see you as well Princess.”

Celestia smiled, she had been working to set Amira up as a ruler who would bring about change to the old traditions of Saddle Arabia, as while there was nothing wrong with traditions, it would be bad for a nation to remain completely unchanging, especially when the rest of the world was changing, and she didn’t just mean the Pokémon.

The rulers exchanged a few more pleasantries before Faris excused himself and his daughter, saying that they were going to go speak about the situation in private before the meeting.

“That just leaves the Diamond Dogs, the Buffalo, and Cadence,” Luna said. “I do hope our niece isn’t in too much trouble, I would have thought she would have arrived by now.”

“I hope so too,” Twilight said under her breath.

The group didn’t have to wait long before another airship appeared on the horizon. What struck out about this one was its simplicity, it had no vibrant colors, instead it was a light gray, the only thing that stuck out about it was the design on the sail.

A mountain, with a paw holding aloft a crown underneath it.

“I was expecting something more... flashy,” Twilight admitted.

“Why is that?” Luna asked.

“Well, I know that the Diamond Dogs are largely a mining based culture, and I assumed they would use the gems they mine to decorate their ship.”

Celestia nodded. “A good prediction of Twilight, but let me ask you this,” She smiled and turned to Twilight. “What would be your number one fear if you brought a gem ladened airship to another country and left it unattended, even if it was in a castle?”

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, then laughed. “I guess I didn’t think of that.”

The Princesses watched as the ship was anchored into place and a half dozen Diamond Dog guards filed out of the ship. The last one to exit held a scroll in his paws.

“Announcing the arrival of his majesty, King Grimm Halfpaw, the king under the mountain.”

As the introduction was completed, a single Diamond Dog with a light brown coat exited the ship. He wore a suit of light blue armor, which had a blue starburst gem set in the chestplate. At his side hung a broadsword, a red gem ladened in its hilt. His most distinguishing feature, however, was that he was missing two fingers on his left paw.

“Princess Celestia, what a pleasure it is to see you again,” Grimm said with a smile. “And likewise to finally meet you Princess Luna, as well as you Princess Twilight.”

“Glad to see you as well King Halfpaw, how go things in Canida?” Celestia inquired.

The King under the mountain waved his paw. “Eh, a few incidents with these monsters on the first few days but for the most part order has been kept.” The Diamond Dog gritted his teeth.

“I hope no one was injured,” Celestia said.

“Hmph, nothing fatal, but almost Princess, almost.” The king shook his head. “Anyhow, we’ve had a long flight so I think I’ll rest up a bit before the meeting.”

“Of course, I’ll send a guard to fetch you before we begin.”

“Much obliged.” With that, the Diamond Dogs left for the castle, but he decided to add a little bit of good news on his way. “But for all its worth, this isn’t the worst that’s happened before.”

Celestia smiled at the news as the king continued towards the castle.

“Well, I must say he was quite the gentle... dog,” Rarity said, finishing with an awkward smile.

Celestia nodded. “The Diamond Dogs of Canida are nothing like the ones you’ve encountered.”

Twilight nodded and was about to say something she had learned about Canida when a ruckus in the streets below drew her attention.

From this height, she was unable to hear what the ponies below were saying, but she did manage to make out one word. Stampede.

“Princess?” Twilight began. “I think the Buffalo are here.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked down at Canterlot, she could just make out a faint dust cloud drawing nearer the castle.

“Ah Thunderhooves, right on time.” Celestia’s horn glowed gold for a second before she used a teleportation spell.

Once the light from the spell cleared, the group found themselves standing in front of the castle gate.

“Open the gate,” She told the guards bowing behind her. “We’re about to have more guests.”

Celestia watched for a moment as the dust cloud rounded a corner and came barreling towards the castle.

The guards tensed when the Princess didn’t move out of the way of, nor did she seem to worry, the cloud barreling towards her.

When the dust cloud was only a dozen or so feet from the Princess, and the guards were all but ready to push her out of the way. The cloud just stopped.

It took a moment for the dust to settle, but once it did Celestia was finally able to see the beings who had caused it.

“Chief Thunderhooves,” Celestia greeted with a smile. “Glad you could make it.”

The Buffalo snorted. “Princess Celestia,” He said with a bow. “We bring good tidings from Appleoosa, and I too am glad to be here.”

Celestia looked over the half dozen or so Buffalo warriors Thunderhooves had brought with him.

“Why don’t I have my guards show you and your bulls to your rooms? I assume you must be tired after such a long journey.”

“You are most gracious, your highness,” Chief Thunderhooves said.

“It’s no trouble Chief,” Celestia had only met with the Buffalo tribes a few times, but she noticed their leaders always held her in high esteem.

Celestia motioned for one of the guards to take the Buffalo into the castle, once that was done, the Princess sighed and flew back to the landing platform where her sister and the others were waiting.

“Sorry about that,” She apologized. “But the good news is that everyone’s here now except Arceus and Cadence.”

“You would think a being like Arceus would be able to show up on time,” Luna said.

Celestia was about to respond when a flash of gold illuminated the platform. Sighing, Celestia turned to see that Arceus had appeared in the center of the platform.

“Greetings all,” Arceus said, approaching the Princesses. “I am Lord... oh, hello Princess, where are the other rulers?”

Celestia glared at Arceus. “Inside, and I thought we agreed you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

The Alpha Pokémon thought for a second. “Let’s see, no intimidation, no showing off, don’t erase anyone from existence... nope, nowhere was it said that I couldn’t announce myself.” He said, before turning to Sora. “So, you are Sora. I have heard great things about you.” He said, shocking everyone else. They expected he was going to attack him from him being human, but he was doing the exact opposite. "You sacrificed your very being for one you cherish above all else. Rest easy, and know that help is on the way." Sora smiled, knowing that his friends are looking for him.

“Well, with you here we’re only waiting on my niece,” Celestia said. “She’s running a bit late, so I think we should go wait for her at the train station.”

“Yeah, let’s get to the station.” Sora chimed in.

—-------------

(Play Kingdom Hearts Master of Masters Theme)

Meanwhile, not that far from Canterlot, a man in an Organization XIII coat was sitting on a rock being approached by a pony, also in an Organization Coat.

When the approaching hooded man approached the one sitting on the rock, there was a moment of silence, before the one sitting asked, "So?"

The second one removed his hood before revealing his face, Blueblood. He smiled as he observed the coat, "Yeah. It wards off darkness. It's useful."

"Told ya!" The hooded man beamed before asking, "So, how'd it go? The tour?"

Blueblood walked up to the mysterious hooded man before he sat beside him, "I learned... the reason for my existence."

"Ooooh," The man seemed intrigued, "Tell me more."

"All around the world, Ponies and Pokemon live seemingly peaceful lives," Blueblood explained as the mysterious man listened, "They believe themselves to be moral and virtuous, but it's all an act. Darkness lurks in the pit of everyone's heart. Their light is a total farce."

"Sounds like your trip around the world opened your eyes," The hooded man commented, "...but you got a bit more than you anticipated. Must've seen a lot of darkness."

Blueblood leaned back as he looked to the sky, "Those who are weak, or who desire great power, simply strip the strong of their power, and convince themselves they've earned it. That's how others get tainted by darkness. They believe what they want to believe, using hollowing reasons as justification. They repeat the cycle, and their darkness grows."

"So you're saying that the weak feel the need to justify their actions to maintain a sense of self." The hooded man shrugged and threw his hands up. "Can't let that slide?"

"No, it's better they be ruled by darkness. People carry delusions of having power, but it's a lie," Blueblood answered him, "They are like sheep pretending to be wolves. Though I admit, I can understand why."

The hooded man faked a shocked tone humorously. "Oooh, I've never heard that one before. A Prince wielding to the side with the darkness?" He uses a deep funny voice wagging his finger and deadpanning, "Why not just let them be until the darkness consumes them?"

Blueblood leaned forward, "Because left alone, the world would fall to chaos. There needs to be order."

"Are you sure about that? Why not just sit back and watch it play out?" The hooded man asked him while standing up and pacing with his hands behind his back.

"Understanding hearts is difficult, more so the emotion within," Blueblood told him, "I simply realize that it's easy to dismiss what you don't comprehend."

The hooded man hung his man back and groaned a little, "All right, all right... The world needs you, I'll grant you that one."

"I don't know what I can do," Blueblood admitted, "...but I will act. What comes next is too important."

"I suppose letting false light dictate the future might be a... pretty lousy move." The man stated before turning back to Blueblood, "So? You can make a change, you have that power. What do you want for the world?"

"Power, eh...?" Blueblood repeated before shrugging, "Who knows? The Summer Solstice is not far off. Maybe I can get some clarity then."

"You're letting the celebration decide?" The hooded man asked as he shook his head humorously, "Listen to me, that doesn't matter. You believe the world needs you. Sounded like you know where you're headed."

Blueblood smirked, "It's funny. Somehow, I can sense where I'm supposed to go, and what I'm supposed to do." He then stared at his black-gloved hoof in realization, "Yes, even this coat, it's as if I'm meant to wear this."

Just then, the hooded man hummed, getting Blueblood’s attention, "Hmmm... No... you'll ditch it soon."

"What do you mean?" Blueblood wondered.

"I mean that one day you're going to outgrow it," The mystery man explained.

Blueblood then asked, "How so?"

"If you truly possess great power, the darkness can't control you," The man continued to explain, "You won't need a silly old coat to keep you safe. In fact, you'll be the one controlling the darkness instead." The hooded man then chuckles humorously, "Me, on the other hand, I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to ever take mine off."

Blueblood then leaned in curiously at the man, "Who are you really? Some kind of fortune-teller?"

"Well, I could lie to you and tell you that's what I am, when I'm actually a brilliant artist, or even a scholar," The man stated as he turned away, "I could tell you I dream of world peace, when I'm actually planning its destruction. The truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear."

After a moment of silence, Blueblood simply smirked, "So, your name?"

The man in the Organization coat turned to him completely dumbfounded, "What did I just...?!" He then sighed and shook his head, "Never mind, I guess there's no harm. My name is..."

But just then his name was blurred out to Blueblood much to his shock, "Huh?!"

After a moment of silence, the master simply shrugged, "I'm a Lost Master."

"A Lost Master?"

The hooded man simply turned away before telling Blueblood, "May your heart be your guiding key."

(End Kingdom Hearts Master of Masters Theme)

Blueblood thought about what he said before he shrugged it off, as he looked up at a train heading towards Canterlot. “Well, you heard him.” He said as a teenage girl, who was covered in red armor and wore a strange red helmet on her head, walked up next to him. “I am ready when you are.” He stated, as a red infinity symbol glowed in his right eye.

“Yes. Let the game begin.” The girl said, with the same symbol glowing in her left eye.

Ouroboros

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Chapter 5: Ouroboros

While most of the group decided to go to the castle to keep an eye on things, Sora, Twilight, Gene, Belle, Korrina, Lucario, Celestia, and Arceus went to the train station, wondering when Shining Armor and Princess Cadence would get there. When they arrived, they found themselves surrounded by numerous Shadows, Soldiers and Large Bodies. While this caught everyone off guard, Sora, Twilight, Gene, Belle, Korrina and Lucario stood their ground, ready to fight, while Celestia and Arceus evacuated the area.

"Guys," Sora said, summoning his Keyblade, "I hope you're ready for this." He then took a closer look at the Heartless, seeing that instead of the yellow-pupiless eyes, they were a crimson red. ‘That’s weird, Heartless’s eyes aren’t normally red’ Sora didn't have time to contemplate as the Heartless charged into battle.

Sora began by lifting his keyblade in the air, "Thunder!" A bolt of lightning rained down on the heartless, creating a massive burst of electricity that stunned the dark creatures. He launched forward, hacking and slashing his way through the heartless ranks. Sora swung his keyblade in an upwards slash, launching a Soldier up in the air. The boy jumped and brought his blade down on the Soldier, sending it crashing on the floor and destroying it. While flying, Sora fired a blizzard spell at a Large Body, freezing it in place.

While Sora was more than capable of batting many Shadows at once, he couldn't cover all his bases as one Heartless launched at Sora without him realizing. The Shadow almost connected a swipe at Sora, almost being the key word. An Aura Sphere dove into the Shadow at high speeds, the impact dissipating it into mist. Sora turned his head around to see, much to his shock, Gurkinn had entered the fray.

“Everyone, weaken the monsters, then Sora can destroy them permanently!” He yelled.

All of them shared a nod of mutual understanding, now fully willing to work together. The battle continued with Sora slashing the heartless while Twilight fired bolts of magical energy and flung the monsters around with her magic, and the Pokemon weakened the enemy. They had cut down a sizable amount of the heartless force, but more kept showing up.

“Magical Leaf!” Belle yelled, as glowing, razor-sharp foliage flew towards some of the Shadows, while Gene was using Slash behind some of the Large Body’s.

A Large Body lethargically raised a fist with the intent to strike Korrina and Lucario. They both managed to dodge the attack and get behind it as it swung at nothing. "Okay Korrina, just like we practiced." Lucario said as they both used Aura Sphere at the Soldiers, destroying them.

One Soldier set its sights on Twilight. With her expression tightening in determination, she used her magic to lift the Soldier heartless in the air. "Sora!" Twilight called out. The boy looked to Twilight, who launched the Soldier to him. Sora took advantage of the situation and cut down the heartless, releasing the heart inside.

Sora took a deep breath and heightened all his senses, carefully taking note of all the heartless still on the battlefield. Sora leapt into the air and held his keyblade in his hand. The tip of the blade glowed in a radiant light. In one swift flick, Sora fired a salvo of magical projectiles homed in on the heartless. His attack decimated the remaining heartless, all except for one Shadow. It didn't have much time to plan an attack as a blast from Twilight's horn destroyed it.

Everyone sighed in relief when the fighting was done. But that relief was shortly lifted, as a cry of pain soon followed as a golden spear impaled his chest, causing a mortal wound in his flesh.

"Grandpa!" Korrina ran over to him, kneeling over his body on the ground. He looked to be still breathing, but the wound wouldn't sustain him for long.

Lucario felt as if he was paralyzed, with his body being unable to move from what he had just witnessed. He and the others stood in fear, as they heard heavy footsteps approaching in the distance. Hearing the footsteps, Twilight fired her magic at the direction they were coming from. The spell traveled down the tracks, and a massive hand could soon be seen holding two ponies. Recognizing who it was, Twilight felt a cold sweat run down her face.

"Shining?!"

"Twily, I… I messed up…" The large, violet hand holding him could now be seen, and the creature gripping Shining Armor in its hand came out of the darkness beyond the tracks. It appeared to be the size of a giant, with massive, frayed arches sticking out of its head. A sinister grin showcased a pair of sharp teeth, and the creature's red eyes looked to be staring within their souls. Another pony could now be seen gripped within its left hand, the pony trying to flail herself from the tight grasp.

"Twilight, you guys! Help me, please!"

“Cadence!" Twilight tried to scream louder, but her voice was unable to go higher. A sense of dread had stricken her greatly, with her being unable to do anything as she stood in place with the others.

"What is that thing?" Belle asked, absolutely terrified.

“Not a Heartless, that’s for sure.” Sora stated.

"Oi, what do we have here?" A crimson red infinity symbol lit the creature's right eye, almost as if it personified a nightmare itself.

With Korrina still by his side, Gurkinn shakily got up, trying to cover his wound. He could hardly sit up straight, or even try to distract himself from his wound.

"It can’t be…" He coughed up some blood, before slumping back on the ground. “Moebius…?” Korrina looked back at him, while trying to comprehend what her grandfather said.

Noticing how nobody had changed positions, the creature taunted them by raising both Shining Armor and Cadence into the air, gripping them more tightly before carelessly throwing the ponies to the ground, who grunted in pain as Twilight ran up to them.

"You monster!" Twilight shouted. "Do you really think hurting our friends and family is a game to you?!"

"Oh, this is already proving to be quite the show! Hate to break it to you, ma'am, but the same thing applies to both you and your friends. Try and stop, if you dare." The creature grinned. "The thing is, you'll be dead before you even realize it." The grin on its face grew wider, revealing its sharp set of teeth further. "Don't you adore it? Don't you just wanna savor it? The sweet taste of a life cut short!”

The creature then fired another golden spear, this time at the Princess. The others gasped in shock, even Twilight, Sora running as fast as he could to make it and block it, but he was too far away and would be too late, as Twilight couldn’t use a spell fast enough to block it.

"Twilight! No!" He screamed out.

Twilight flinched and held out her hooves, time slowing around them as the inevitable end would come. Suddenly, appearing in a bright flash of lavender light, a Keyblade appeared right in her hooves.

The guard of the Keyblade is a recoloration of the classic Kingdom Key's guard; it was a deep, pastel blue color while the handle itself was a deep indigo. The shaft was light-blue and rounded, ending with an orb past the teeth, which was formed by a spike and a five-pointed star of the same color; this results in the Keyblade having a double-edged appearance in a similar manner to Ends of the Earth. A gold rainguard was at the bottom of the bar. The Keychain was a five-pointed gold star and it was attached to the hilt of the Keyblade with a silver chain.

Sora stared in shock as he skidded to a halt, surprised to see Twilight actually holding a Keyblade. Twilight opened her eyes after feeling nothing, gasping as she saw a Keyblade held in her hoove. "W-What?" She held the blade up, examining the newly appeared Keyblade both in awe in confusion.

"Ah well, what did I expect?" The creature said.

“Hey ugly!”

The creature’s smirk faded, as it looked at Gene and Belle, and saw them with their Wedding Rings showed out to it.

“Get ready, whatever you are,” Gene said, as their rings glowed and a sphere of energy so bright that everyone else in the area had to look away enveloped the couple. “Cause here we come!”

When the light show finally faded, Sora gasped as they saw that Gene and Belle had changed.

Gene’s entire body became white. Red plates emerge on his arms, the blue head crest is slightly longer, and the spikes on his head were elongated and gain two cape-like protrusions on the back, this giving him a knightly appearance.

Belle turned almost completely white; only her hair remains green. Her gown becomes longer and wider, resembling a bridal gown. The forearms were slightly thicker with a pointed extension above the elbow, resembling gloves. Her facial spikes were larger and now curl upwards. In contrast, her hair is now shorter and more tightly curled. There were now two horns in the center of her chest, extending to either side.

“Mega Evolution,” Gurkinn smiled, as he wheezed in pain, while Gene and Belle went into battle.

"Wait, you guys!" Sora ran after them, while Twilight charged towards the creature alongside them.

While the four charged for the creature, Korrina still felt unsure whether to join the battle. She didn't want to leave Gurkinn to die, and her healing moves weren't particularly the best for this kind of wound.

"Korrina, Lucario," Gurkinn slowly got up, still holding his paw to the wound. "You two go join in on the battle. If someone makes it out alive, it's gonna have to be you two."

Korrina knew that she wasn't suited for the battle, and the guilt of leaving her grandfather to die would forever haunt her. However, she wanted to respect his dying wishes.

"I'm… I'm going, Grandpa.” Tear’s in her eye’s and filled with anger, she and Lucario charged towards the monster. As they ran away, Gurkinn slowly made his way to the damaged artillery from earlier. Not before coughing up some more blood, he climbed into the cockpit of the machine. As he faintly pressed a button, the engine still started up, seeing that the guards didn't know about its backup battery and fuel.

Watching them preparing to attack it, the Moebius swiftly moved out of the way and fired another claw towards them, knocking everyone back. The claw made an impact in the dirt, obscuring the area around them. Once the Moebius noticed Twilight slowly rising up, it aimed its claw towards her. Before it could hurt him, Sora shielded her from the attack in just a matter of time. Hoping to aim for both of them, the Moebius tried to slice the Keyblade apart with its claw. As the claw touched the weapon, the artillery rammed itself into the Moebius's chest. The Moebius skid across the ground, until it managed to escape from the artillery’s grasp. As the machine lunged one of its hands at the Moebius, it effortlessly stopped the hand.

"Ah well, what did I expect?" Tearing off the ship's arm, the machine was blasted away from the Moebius, and landed with a crash. "That's about all you're good for, mate!"

Knowing that he would be gone soon, Gurkinn wanted to drag the Moebius to death with him. The ship was hardly functional, but he pulled one of the still functioning levers.

"Got a good throwing arm! But, y'know…" He used the ship's cannons to fire a string of bullets at the Moebius, but were soon deflected with its claws. Knowing he hardly stood a chance, the Moebius fired a laser at the ship, causing it to explode. Lunging towards the ship, the Moebius shattered the glass and flipped it over on its side. With Gurkinn now in the open, it reached for him inside the ship and grabbed him with its claws. Korrina and the others watched in horror as the Moebius held him within its deadly grasp, hearing it cackle as he tried to break free. Knowing something had to be done, she ran without any second thoughts.

"Wait, Korrina!" Lucario shouted, running after her. "Don't just go provoking it like that, you'll die!" However, his words were unable to reach Korrina. She had already lunged at the Moebius, prepared to face it head-on.

"I won't let you hurt anybody else, I swear!" She jumped into the air and used Bone Rush on the Moebius's hand, losing grasp of Gurkinn. Upon getting the Moebius's attention, she took the chance to twist her bone into its right eye, only to fail as it grabbed her and lifted her into the air.

"Don't get so cocky, bud. You're nothing more but a grunt!" The Moebius continued to taunt her, lifting Korrina higher into the air. With him still in its grasp, Sora and the others tried aiming at the Moebius until it smashed its fist into the ground. The impact had caused him and the others to get smashed onto the ground, while sustaining the pain it brought. Forcing himself to get up, Lucario stood on his feet and ran towards the Moebius.

"Korrina, we're coming! Just hang in there!" He lunged at the Moebius, until a forceful blow from the Moebius's arm launched him away. He let out a cry of pain as he hit the ground, the impact nearly paralyzing his body.

Now that they had gotten up to fight once more, the Moebius took the opportunity to not hold back. It then launched itself into the air and fired another claw into the battlefield. As the claw hit the ground, the explosion launched Gene back.

His Mega Evolution faded as tumbled onto the ground, his body aching from the impact. Upon getting up, he felt a sudden breeze of warmth heal his wounds, as he saw Sora using Cure on him.

“Thanks.” Gene said, as Sora helped the Gallade up.

“No problem.” Sora said with determination. ‘That used the rest of my mana. I have to make sure no one else gets hit again!’

Knowing that the team wasn't going to give up anytime soon, the Moebius continued to engage its counterattack. Spotting the Gardevoir at the corner of its eye, it fired a claw towards her. Belle felt herself tripping onto the ground, her Mega Evolution going away and her heart racing as she tried to get up.

"Ha! One's already done!" The Moebius was about to deal the final blow, until Belle felt someone push her away. She looked in front of her to see Gene, holding her back as he shielded them with his arm blades. Having a sword or shield wasn't an issue for the Moebius, as its strength could easily cut through the two of them. "Alright, two for one!" It then lunged another claw at the couple, hoping to cut through them.

Before the Moebius’s attack went through, both Gene’s right eye and Belle’s left eye started to glow in their own colors, brighter than ever before. The light was followed by a sudden flash, blinding everything before them.

—-------------

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Ouroboros Awakening)

“Gene... I’m sorry but... I love you... I’m so, so sorry but... I should go........ Gene?”

“Belle... don’t leave me... please... I... I need you... I love you... please don’t leave me.”

“My beautiful Fairy Princess... I love you so much Belle... ever since I’ve met you, you’ve made every moment a treasure... will you marry me?”

“Gene... I... yes. A thousand times yes!”

Opening his eyes, Gene found himself facing an endless repeat of past events being played in front of his eyes. Most of them consisted of Belle, with Gene appearing in many of them.

"It's not the tunes that matter. It's the feelings you imbue with, Gene."

"We can only contribute after death, is all.”

“I don’t really know what’s gonna happen, but I can promise you that we’ll go to a lot of new places, meet people and Pokémon, and that I’ll never leave you behind.”

Belle had found herself next to him, watching his memories in front of her eyes. When another surge of light enveloped them, their souls had become one.

—-------------

Upon returning to the battlefield, a tall, illuminated being slowly phased itself into the open.

Seeing the Moebius aim its claw towards the direction it was in, the figure launched it back with the edge of its elbow. The Moebius crashed against a tree, and the figure took notice of its hand.

"What did I just... do? Wait, this hand…" Gene looked at the changed hand, thinking it was only his.

"Is it mine?"

He moved it for a moment, until he heard Belle's voice speak at the same time as him. Their voices gasped, and turned to find their friends observing their merged form on the battlefield. They backed away slightly, while their weapons were tilted in the same direction.

“How are you inside me? Inside…” Their voices said, as sudden realization came to form. “Hold on. Are we…?” They stood up simultaneously, causing their form to reach its full height. Their form towered around the others, who were just as confused as they were.

The being was a mechanical, bipedal Pokémon whose appearance retains numerous visual traits from both Gardevoir and Gallade. Its arms consisted of gauntlets with large magenta blades protruding from the sides, which it can detach and combine to serve as a deadly double-edged weapon. Its head spiked outward twice from both sides and was covered by a green curved piece resembling hair with two cone-shaped structures at the back of its head, and a teal head crest, somewhat akin to a gladiator's helmet. Five petal-shaped white and green guards tinged with magenta at the ends adorn its torso, resembling a dress. The being donned a golden circle in the center of its body, the center shining brightly.

Taking notice of their form, the Moebius lazily kicked the tree aside and stood before them, now nearly being the same height.

"Hmm, you sure catch on quick. Guess we gotta give you credit, then." It stood apart from their form, choosing to not make a move just yet. "Seems that you've got yourselves an interlink, eh?"

"Interlink?"

"Looks like it's time for an education lesson. That form you two just merged into? It's called 'Ouroboros'. Slap that into those tiny skulls."

"Ouroboros…? Then, what are you-"

"Ah, the big reveal. Me? I'm Moebius! We're pretty much lookalikes, aren't we?" The Moebius was now carelessly approaching the Ouroboros, continuing to gloat. "When two hearts come together as one, they merge into a being that's on the same level as us. Well, sorta."

"One being? But, how?"

"Let me reword that for you: you're a bunch of failures. For the cherry on top, we're both mortal enemies. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"If we're enemies, then the true enemy is-"

(End Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Ouroboros Awakening)

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Moebius Boss Theme)

"Yep, that's right. Looks like you've got the picture, so let's get the party started!" The Moebius escaped from its stance, and swiped a claw at the newly formed Ouroboros. They felt the claw dig into their body, the stinging pain sending a small shockwave through it. With the wound being small, the pain stopped stinging and they soon got back on their feet. Drawing the strange blade, the Ouroboros clashed against the flaming claw of the Moebius. With another slash, it briefly knocked the Moebius out of balance. While the slash threw it back, the double-edged weapon hadn't made a dent in the cracked, violet flesh. The Moebius snickered to itself, and continued to fight the Ouroboros like a bloodthirsty demon.

Continuing to observe the battle, Sora noticed that the Ouroboros was starting to become more illuminated. Their body color had changed into a lighter orange, with the other aspects continuing to shine brighter. He noticed the same thing happening to the Moebius, and it looked as if their bodies were overheating. He could also hear a faint ticking noise from above, although being faraway. Despite his concerns, he knew that he couldn't say anything about it. Like the others, he didn't know a thing about the Ouroboros. Just as he noticed the changes in their bodies, the Ouroboros swiftly punched the Moebius and slammed it into the ground. They smoothly landed on their feet, as the Moebius fell to the ground with a heavy explosion. It soon got up and walked from the scene, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Moebius Boss Theme)

"Heh, what a toughie. Let's just say we lost this one, alright?" The same ticking noise could be heard as the Ouroboros stood from the Moebius, the noise coming from both of them simultaneously.

"Who is it talking to…?" Gene and Belle had the same idea in mind, leaving them with more questions about who this creature truly was. Their Ouroboros continued to heat up as they stood, assuming that it was only from the tension of the battle.

"We've got a parting gift for you. Don't worry, there's plenty more to go around!" With the flames around the Moebius's body continuing to grow, it fired a red laser from its eyes into the sky. The same blazing red infinity symbol from earlier appeared above, lighting the sky with a faint shade of red.

"And now, all of Moebius knows of your existence." Feeling the symbol reflect itself in their eyes, the group below was drawn in by the crimson flame. The symbol marked them as an enemy of Moebius. Being this creature’s, along with others like it, newly formed enemy, there was no turning back for them. "I wonder how your lives will turn out? We're all counting on you to put on a good show for us." The Moebius disappeared in a blaze of purple light, out like a flame to a candle. After it disappeared, the battlefield had grown silent.

"Who in the… Who even was that?" The Ouroboros stood in place, until the ticking noise ceased and released both Gene and Belle to the ground. They landed with a small impact, shortly examining their bodies after being freed. Everything appeared to be normal, almost as if they hadn't interlinked in the first place.

They took notice of Gurkinn slowly walking towards them, clutching his still open wound. He stumbled as he walked, hardly being able to stay up. Taking another step in their direction, Gurkinn’s last step caused him to collapse. He groaned in pain, as his remaining energy began to dwindle away. Without thinking beforehand, Korrina desperately ran towards him. She managed to hold him within her grasp, barely just losing hold of him as she dragged him against a wall of the train station.

"Thanks.”

“Don’t worry. We'll get you to a hospital! We can-” Korrina said.

“No… There isn’t enough time.” Gurkinn said, making Korrina try to protest, “Korrina… We both knew… this day would come.” Gurkinn’s voice was growing fainter, as the wound continued to bleed out. It was then her granddaughter started to tear up, not wanting to lose him. "Besides, I get to go knowing that there’s hope."

“What do you mean?” Gene asked, not fully understanding.

"You and your wife… You're both Ouroboros.” Gurkinn said. “Your Irises, the Ouroboros Rings, that is a sign, a hope. The hope… to set this world to rights.” Gene and Belle gasped in shock, not thinking that their eyes were so special. "Listen, folks. That's not all. You guys, you wanna survive? Live on? Hold the torch? You all don't need to worry about me. Not anymore. However, that doesn't mean you'll get to relax. From now on, those Moebius freaks are never gonna leave you alone. They'll hunt you down constantly and relentlessly, like a pack of animals. Because now, you all share a common destiny…" He took a moment to breathe, his breath being shaky. The group continued listening to him, watching him approach his final moments.

"However, there's one place that'll give you a chance. The land of the first Ouroboros. You gotta find their hope. Their City. It's the only way you'll be able to defeat the real enemy, and restore our world to what it should be.” Taking another breath, his body began to glow with golden motes. The motes slowly rose into the sky, while his body dissolved within them.

“Don't give up just yet. Falling to Darkness? You all deserve so much more than that. The only thing that can change all of this, is the will of Ouroboros. It's up to you kids, and you alone…" A small smile appeared on his face before the rest of his body dissolved into motes, the motes continuing to trail the others into the sky.

Feeling tears in their eyes, Gene and Belle looked at each other and nodded, taking out two flutes, Gene’s being black and Belle’s being white. They held them to their lips, and began to play as their fingers softly moved along the flutes.

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 A Life Sent On)

Their melody was a soft but hopeful tune, known for touching the souls of both the departed and the living. As the two Pokemon played, the sky was now filled with a sea of blue motes, while surrounding the others. They created a sea of blue light in the air, brushing over the survivors as they started their journey into the beyond.

Watching him fade into the world beyond, Korrina felt as if a heavy burden had been placed on her shoulders, as she began to cry, and hugged Lucario tightly.

Continuing to play alongside each other, the once chaotic battlefield was now filled with an endless stream of the blue motes that rose above as the solemn melody continued to play. The group felt a sense of hope as they continued to listen to the melody, watching the motes fill the sky.

"What do we tell the others?" Twilight asked, not knowing how everyone is going to react about what just happened.

"The only thing we can say," Sora said, with sadness in his voice, "The truth."

(End Xenoblade Chronicles 3 A Life Sent On)

Seeing the last of the motes rise above, Gene and Belle removed the flutes from their mouths. Korrina, who was starting to calm down a little, looked at the Gallade and Gardevoir. “Thank you for doing this for me.”

"Well, it's what we're meant to do." Gene replied. "To send on the voices of the departed, is an off-seer's purpose." He could tell that the others were still feeling unsure about the situation, and wondered what they would be doing after this. They were supposed to celebrate the Summer Solstice tonight, but after everything they had been through, how could they?

Swords

View Online

Chapter 6: Swords

Sora tapped his fingers on the table as he waited for the last few individuals to arrive before the meeting could start.

Sora sat next to Twilight and her friends at one end of the table, while Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, who were now bruises, bandages, and a couple of stitches over their bodies, at the other end of the table next to the head chair reserved for Princess Celestia or Luna.

They had all been there for maybe 5 minutes tops, but given the mood and everyone's expressions, it may as well felt like an hour.

Sora continued to tap his fingers until Rainbow Dash had enough. “Would you cut that out?!” She yelled, causing Sora to yelp.

“Sorry.” Sora sat up in his seat and straightened himself.

The cyan pegasus then had a look of frustration on her face.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that, it's just-.”

“The wait is killing you?” Applejack finished.

“...Yeah,” Rainbow said sheepishly.

“It's fine Rainbow,” Twilight said. “I’m sure all of us are waiting to get this started.”

“Well,” Gene began. “While we wait, can I ask you something Lucario?”

“Yes, Gene?”

“How is Korrina doing?”

Lucario looked down at the table, he shook his head. “Not good, she’s shut herself in her room, and she says she doesn’t want to see anyone.”

“Oh poor Korrina,” Fluttershy said.

“I swear,” Applejack began. “When I find that no good freak, I’m gonna make sure he feels 20 times the pain and suffering he caused today.”

“Get in line,” Rainbow Dash grunted.

“Actually, I think we should focus on discovering who is behind this attack, rather than revenge at the moment,” Cadence stated.

Applejack still looked upset, but kept quiet.

“Let's just hope the Princesses and Arceus get here soon,” Twilight said. “Cause I’m pretty sure we all have a lot of questions and not many answers.”

—-------------

“What are you going to say first sister?” Luna asked.

“I’m still working on that Luna, after all, I’m sure many of them will have different questions that they want to be answered first,” Celestia responded.

“Well, even so, if Arceus isn’t at the meeting room already, then that gives you more time to think of a proper question.”

“True, but I wouldn't count on him to miss this, not after what all of us have been through.”

“Yes,” The Lunar alicorn said solemnly.

The two royal sisters arrived at the doors to the meeting room, no doubt the others whom they had called were waiting inside.

“Well, shall we proceed?”

As soon as the doors swung open, all eyes were on the Princesses, they then took their seats as they waited for the last individuals to arrive.

And then, as soon as the clock struck 8 PM, there was a flash of golden light, and in its place was Arceus and Mewtwo.

Mewtwo was a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon with some feline features. He was primarily gray with a long, purple tail. On top of his head were two short, blunt horns, and he had purple eyes. A tube extended from the back of his skull to the top of his spine, bypassing his neck. He had a defined chest and shoulders, which resemble a breastplate. The three digits on each hand and foot had spherical tips. His tail was thick at the base, but thins before ending in a small bulb.

“Hello everyone,” The Psychic Pokemon said mentally.

Celestia was about to chastise Arceus for just teleporting in without warning. But she bit her tongue, she had a feeling the god was NOT in the mood for a lecture on manners. And besides, he did arrive at the exact time she asked him to be here.

Celestia nodded. “Hello Arceus, Mewtwo.”

“Princess Celestia,” Arceus responded in a neutral voice.

“Let's get this started shall we?” Mewtwo added.

“Very well, let us cut to the chase.” Celestia turned to her sister and nodded.

Princess Luna cleared her throat. “So, as we all know, we were attacked by a mysterious monster. We currently have no idea who is behind this evil act or why. The fact that they have not issued a statement or anything is even more strange.”

“While we were able to fend the monster off, the monster disappeared, after signaling an infinity symbol in the sky. I don’t know if it was magic or not, but if it was, it wasn’t anything like I had ever seen.” Twilight finished off.

The room was silent as the Princesses finished their statement, everyone sitting at the table had either a look of confusion or anger on their faces. Everyone except Sora who was thinking of what Gurkinn said.

“You guys, you wanna survive? Live on? Hold the torch?”

“Good question.” He said, catching everyone’s attention.

“Huh?”

“Guy’s, let’s live, let’s survive.” Sora smiled.

“What the hay are you talking about? Of course we are gonna survive!” Rainbow Dash stated the obvious.

“Well then,” Sora said, before standing up, “We know where to go: The City.”

“The Cit-?!” Shining Armor said, dumbfounded. “What are you even…?”

“The Heartless,” Sora began to explain, “Their eyes were glowing blood red, just like his did.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Belle said. “Heartless’s eyes are supposed to be yellow. Could it be that they were being controlled?”

“How is that even possible? Was that freak responsible?” Shining asked in suspicion.

“We don’t know the method, but it would be logical to think that he did something.” Twilight stated.

“That’s why we need answers. I say, tomorrow, after the celebration, we go out searching for them.” Sora said, eyes glancing at the floor. “I have to know… Who exactly are Moebius? How did Twilight get a Keyblade? Why do Gene and Belle have these powers? What did Gurkinn mean by the real enemy?”

“So, the City?” Cadence asked.

“Yeah.” Sora said, closing his eyes and putting a hand on his chest. “Besides, I want to honor Gurkinn’s dying wish.”

The room was silent, as they nodded in agreement, before Celestia spoke up, “While I think that we should discuss this more, the All Night Gala is about to commence. I believe that we need to clear our heads a little.”

“Yeah.” Sora said, as everyone started to leave, before Celestia called out.

“Lucario, a word?”

—-------------

While the celebration went underway, Korrina sat in the room she and Lucario were staying in, tears in her eyes. Out of everyone in Canterlot, she was hurting the most right now. ‘I can't believe that Grandpa's actually gone. One minute he's right beside us, and the next, some monster shows up and kills him!’ She looked out the window, seeing her grandfather’s silhouette. ‘What did he do to deserve this?’

Her thoughts were interrupted, as she heard a knock on the door. It opened, revealing itself to be Lucario, with a plate of food in his paws.

“Hey.” Lucario said.

“Hey.”

“Can I sit down, please?” Lucario awkwardly asked, as Korrina sadly nodded. He entered the room, as he sat next to Korrina and set the plate of food next to her. “Celestia wanted to make sure you were eating.”

Korrina nodded, before starting to get serious. “She can’t stop us.”

Lucario sighed, knowing that this would happen. “The number of guards we would need, to do this smart, would leave Canterlot vulnerable.”

“So that thing just gets to get away with this?” Korrina asked, upset.

“Nobody wants that.” Lucario said.

"Yeah, but that's what's happening!" Korrina countered. Silence took the room for a minute, as she sighed in sadness, “Sorry, I just…”

“Hey, it's okay.” Lucario said, before they embraced each other. “It’s okay…”

—-------------

As the Gala finally got underway, many friends and family who hadn’t seen each other for a while ever since the World Summit began to catch up and mingle.

Emperor Carapace spent the first few hours talking among the other world leaders about their recent experiences in past months, he soon found himself chatting with Celestia about changeling affairs.

“In a way, the Pokémon have provided a boost in the amount of love we have received. In fact, ever since they arrived, we have been able to meet our quotes every month for the first time in years.”

“That's very good Carapace. I would hate to hear that your people are still starving.”

“Yes, it is a good reversal of fortune that has been a very long time coming. We just had to be patient, not be bold and ignorant.”

Celestia gave a small awkward chuckle, but it was followed by an equally awkward silence.

“Carapace, this may seem out of nowhere. But how is Quee- I mean how is Chrysalis doing?”

The Changeling ruler was silent for a moment before sighing. “Honestly Celestia, I’m getting worried at this point. I just don’t know what I have to do to get through to that girl.”

“Well, you mustn't give up on family Carapace.” As Celestia said this her gaze landed on the second oldest alicorn in the room. “You will have plenty of time to try to get through to Chrysalis.”

“You know what she said to me that last time I visited her? She wished I was dead.”

“....Oh.”

“She wished I was dead and wished that she could run through those quote ‘Elements of Harmony and that lovely couple’.”

Princess Celestia’s anger rose for a second at the threat of life upon her loved ones, before she forced it down and took a deep breath. Chrysalis was in prison, she was no danger to anyone.

“I think her time in confinement has twisted her mind from trying to feed her people, to getting revenge on those who ‘wronged her’. What happened to the dutiful, caring granddaughter who wanted what was best for her country?”

Celestia was a bit surprised at this, she had only met Chrysalis a few times before her invasion. But the way Carapace just described her was completely different from what she knew.

Then again, I was not there when she was born, nor did I meet her until she was a grown mare.

“It makes me sad to think that my granddaughter may have to spend the rest of her life in that cell. Which is a long time for a royal changeling such as us.”

Carapace soon felt a hoof on his shoulder, and turned to the alicorn giving him a reassuring smile.

“Things can always change my friend. You never know what the future may bring.”

Carapace smiled and nodded.

“You're right. Perhaps after this celebration when I go home, I’ll know the exact words to get through to her.”

Across the room, Spike walked nervously up to Rarity. His mind was racing through a dozen different possibilities of what might transpire next. But he was determined, if he was to get anywhere with her, he had to be a big boy and ask her.

He soon found Rarity all by herself, watching the other couples getting ready to dance to the slow music.

“Uhhh, R-rarity?”

The white unicorn turned her head to see an obviously nervous dragon.

“Oh Spike, how are you?”

“Oh, uh, great! Yeah just great!...So.. great party right?”

“Indeed, it's just so romantic to see all these happy couples dancing. Especially ones who are of different races. Aren’t such things just exciting to see.”

“Yeah, interspecies romance is great.”

There was a moment of silence as Rarity continued to watch the crowd.

“Hey Rarity, can I ask you something?”

“Of course Spike, what is it?” The unicorn didn’t seem to pay attention as her head was still focused elsewhere

“I was wondering if, maybe, I don’t know. If you wanted to, d-d-d-danc-”

“Rarity!”

Spike was then interrupted as a pony-like Pokémon with a cream-colored body walked up to Rarity, when she turned to face him, he noticed how her face lit up.

It had a short, rounded snout with large nostrils and blue eyes. It had a large, feathery red mane, long, dark blue, ridged eyebrow-like protrusions, and a single cream-colored horn that curved slightly. The back of its head, as well as its neck, was covered with fluffy, light blue fur. This Pokemon had blue hooves, which were capable of ejecting water. Its tail was light blue with white spots and resembled an elaborate feather in a cap.

“Oh Keldeo there you are, I was waiting for you!”

Spike recognized the Pokémon as the same one he had met when they had entered the Hall of Legends, on the day the Pokémon first appeared. But his mind was more focused on the fact that Rarity was nuzzling said Pokémon.

“Oh Spike, this is Keldeo, he is a Legendary Pokemon. You might remember him on the day we met Arceus right?”

“Uh no, you guys went to the Temple and left me at the Library.”

Rarity thought for a moment, "Oh right, I guess we did."

“Hi, I’m Keldeo. Rarity has told me a lot about you Spike. She tells me you have been a real help to her all these years.”

Spike folded his arms, “Oh yeah, cause she has never mentioned you too at all. How do you two know each other?”

“Oh Keldeo has been taking me on dates for the past 8 months. He’s been such a sweet Coltfriend.”

Coltfriend.

At that word Spike's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach, dissolving in the acidic liquid that broke down everything that entered it. Tears began to well up in his eyes, but he looked away.

“Spike, is something wrong?”

*Sniff* “Ugh, n-nothing Rarity...I have to go.”

And just like that Spike bolted from the room, ignoring Rarity’s calls as he continued to run.

Once he made his way to his room, he threw himself under his bedsheets and broke down crying.

—-------------

Abby was enjoying the party, catching up with Seth, and meeting up with some of the other Rangers stationed all over Equestria was a nice change of pace. All in all she had a fun time.

However, that was not the only reason she came to Canterlot. And despite visiting ours being over, Celestia had granted her special permission to see a certain hospitalized inmate.

Within the mental ward of the Princess Cadence Memorial Hospital, a Conkeldurr sat in his cell. A straight jacket was wrapped around him to prevent harm to himself, after the 12th time he tried to end his life.

The Conkeldurr was a bipedal sepia-colored Pokémon resembling an ogre. Its nose was large and red, with its face also having a prominent brow, a wide mouth, a gray tuft on its chin, dark rings around its eyes, and a bulbous feature sticking up from the back of its head. Thick violet bands and tendons adorned its shoulders, chest, back, and thighs.

The guard stationed there opened the first metal door to his room as Abby walked in. Then she sat down as a second wall of plexiglass that separated them.

“Hastings, it's me Abby.”

The former co-founder of the Ranger Union only turned his head slightly, as if to acknowledge her. But then just shifted his body until he was facing the wall.

Abby took a deep breath.

“So, the doctors have told me you still haven't tried to kill yourself in 6 months. That must mean you don’t think you deserve to die anymore.”

Silence.

Abby sighed, “Look Hastings, we both know that what you did was wrong. And that there are some Pokémon and ponies who I know that will never forgive you. But I can’t say that I have been perfect either. This Ninetales body has some great benefits, but it also comes with drawbacks. I have lashed out at people, cursed others who didn’t deserve it. And even if they did, it was not my place to do so.”

Hastings lifted his head up, but still said nothing.

“In a way I was like you, I used my powers to punish others. Just as you tried to enforce old laws to punish people because you thought they deserve it,” Abby took a deep breath again. “We both know we can’t change the past, and that there is no way we can ever forget what has happened.”

Abby looked behind her through the small window of the metal door, Kasai was still standing there, giving a reassuring smile.

“But I hope that one day in the future, we can be a part of each other's lives again. I don’t hate you sir, I could never hate you. You have done too much for me to ever deserve that.”

Having said what she had to say, Abby got up and walked to the door.

“Goodbye Albert, I wish you well.”

The door to Hasting’s cell then closed, and he was alone once again.

In the dim light of his cell, he mangled to let out a whisper.

“I could never hate you too.”

—-------------

Soon, it got to the point where some got tired of partying and went to bed so they wouldn’t be sleepy in the morning. Twilight herself wanted to get at least 6 hours of shut eye before Celestia raised the sun.

As she entered her room, she noticed Spike was already fast asleep.

“Huh, I wondered where he disappeared off to. He must want to get as much sleep as he can before I wake him up tomorrow.”

Twilight then soon got into bed and closed her eyes.

“Goodnight Spike, sweet dreams.”

And yet if Twilight had looked more closely, she would have seen the face of a baby dragon in sorrow. His dreams are anything but sweet.

—-------------

(Play Kingdom Hearts A Villain of a Sorts)

In the unknown, a replay of past events were projected onto a large, stuttering screen. The events consisted of the previous battle, the screen containing static as the events continued to play out frame by frame. The crimson seats in the amphitheater were empty, with only the static of the rolling screen playing amidst the silence. Elsewhere, the stage was cut to black.

"Wow! Those were some tough kiddies, huh?" The Moebius walked onto the stage, its flames illuminating the area. "It's a wild ride, this 'passage of fate'. We've got ourselves a nice new awakening." Following its return, another figure soon appeared under the stage's spotlight. The figure wore a set of ruby armor, with their face being concealed by a helmet.

"You both were all talk when you left here. But, you've got nothing to show for it!"

"Oh, give us a break, P." The Moebius separated into Blueblood and the teenage girl wearing the similar armor to the one before them, crossing her arms. "After all, we did exactly what we were meant to do! Ain't that right?" Blueblood said.

"Exactly. If it weren't for Ouroboros, then we could have easily wiped them out." The girl spoke.

"So, what happened to that huge bet you two both insisted on? Tell us, who won?" P asked slyly, placing a hand on her hip.

"Pah. A draw, I think!" Another figure appeared next to P, who was much rounder than the others. He cackled mockingly at the others, while glancing back at P. "There even were two Keyblade Wielders on the field! If they weren’t there, the whole battle would've been done by teatime."

"Perhaps we'll get them eventually, O. It'll be quite the show when the time comes."

"It is quite expected that they have failed." A larger figure appeared under a spotlight, nearly looming over the others. "For people with such recklessness, you were bound to have fallen. Perhaps X and I should have taken care of this, as we holdeth the status of our master's most exquisite Moebius."

"Aw, come on Y!" A much shorter figure appeared next to him, her voice sounding annoyed. "You're being pretty harsh on them, even if they do deserve it." She crossed her arms, and sighed hopelessly. "That stupid couple, if only we could've gotten our way…"

"I hath acknowledged that. The ones who call themselves Ouroboros will not be freed from our grasp anytime soon, however."

In a lone seat in the theater, a shadowy figure sat in the darkness before the stage. His face was unable to be seen, while the violet aura surrounding him illuminated the outline of his body.

"Honestly, you all cause more commotion than those children on the battlefield."

Noticing his presence, the Moebius sharply turned towards their master.

"Z! (pronounced as “Zed”)"

"Well, what did you guys expect? Of course he was going to be paying us a visit." X stated.

"Even if you did stop fate's raging flow, it will soon burst through. All it takes is the slightest amount of pressure to do so."

Further away on the stage, another Moebius donning golden armor appeared. A set of light silver armor could be seen behind them, and only the red glow in their armor indicated the duo's presence.

"And that is what you call fate. Haven't I told you all before?" The golden figure asked, their smooth voice containing hints of slyness. Bothered by their presence, the earlier Moebius turned away from them.

"Ugh, the gang's all here again." They scoffed, not bothering to open their eyes.

"Perhaps it's time for someone else to go, since you both are proving to be quite incapable. How about we give A a chance? He hasn't seen any action in a long time." As the Moebius’s name was called, yet another figure appeared on the stage, whiched seemed to be a mix of a canine and an ape, wearing the red armor and helmet.

"If you insist that I go, I go." The Moebius disappeared under his spotlight, and each light on the stage soon diminished as the others went out.

"Very well, then. Let us see how far their hearts bring them."

(End Kingdom Hearts A Villain of a Sorts)

—-------------

Spike woke up slowly, his bloodshot eyes blinking before last night's memories started flooding back into him.

He remembered. He remembered how he tried to ask Rarity, the love of his life, to a dance. How his world was shattered when that arrogant looking stallion, no, Pokemon came up and stole his mare.

Spike had no idea who that guy was, he knew he was a Pokemon at the very least. But why did that give him the right to steal Rarity from him!? Spike had known and helped Rarity for years, since the day he met her. So what if he was some big shot Legendary Pokemon!? Spike knew her first, he had done more for her than he ever did!

All of a sudden, dark thoughts began to creep into Spike’s head. He imagined himself confronting that thief of a Pokemon. He imagined growing to adult sizes, and…

“No, this is wrong.”

Despite his immense jealousy and broken heart, Spike knew he was better than that. The last time he got jealous of someone, it nearly didn’t end well. Besides, even if he wanted to, Keldeo was a Legendary Pokemon. And no doubt picking an ill intentioned fight with one would bring the wrath of Arceus down upon him.

Resigning himself to the fact that there was nothing he could do, Spike closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

But he couldn’t.

—-------------

Twilight ran outside as the celebration was about to commence. She then flew towards the big crowd that was gathering around the main stage. Soon she spotted her friends in the VIP section.

“Twilight over here!” Rainbow Dash said.

The alicorn Princess soon landed and took her seat right next to her best friends.

“Hi girls, sorry I’m late.”

“Oh it's fine sugarcube,” Applejack said in response.

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie added. “So long as everypony is here, everything is fine!”

Twilight nodded, but then, she noticed that someone was missing from their group.

“Hey, has anyone seen Spike?”

It was at that point that the girls noticed that the baby dragon was nowhere to be seen.

“He must still be in bed. But I would think he would not be lazy enough to miss this.”

“Maybe something happened to him?” Fluttershy said.

Twilight then noticed that Rarity had been awfully silent this whole time.

“Rarity?”

“Oh! Yes, what is it Twilight?”

“Are you alright?”

“Oh yes darling, just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Well...last night Spike came to me and was about to ask something. But then he just took off with tears in his eyes.”

“What!? Why?”

“I don’t know, I just introduced him to Keldeo and he just left.”

“Did Keldeo say something to him?”

“No, nothing offensive. And all I did was just say that he was my coltfriend…….oh.”

The situation soon dawned on everyone, and then they understood exactly why Spike was not here to join them.

“Oh no…” Twilight said.

—--------------

Sora, Gene, Belle, and the twins took their seats. “So what's gonna happen now?” The human boy asked.

“Well Sora, we are going to get to see Princess Luna lower the moon and Celestia raise the sun. Not everyone gets to see this, so this is a special day where everyone gets to see it.” Belle explained.

“Wow. But wait, I tried looking at the sun before, and it hurt my eyes. Won’t everyone hurt their eyes looking at the sun?” Rose asked.

“Hmmm, that is true. Tell you what, you can look away if the sun starts to hurt your eyes.”

Sora watched with a smile as Belle doted on them, he then saw Gene looking down, thinking. “Hey, you alright.”

“Huh?” Gene looked up, seeing the boy looking at him in concern. “Oh, yeah. Just thinking about, well, you know.”

“Oh.” Sora sighed, knowing that he was talking about Gurkinn.

“You know,” Gene said, “My whole life, I always thought that my Irise was some kind of curse, but now,” He clenched his hand, before bringing it to his chest, “I finally know that it's a gift.”

Sora smiled, knowing that it must have been tough for the Gallade, yet he was being positive of the situation.

—-------------

Princess Celestia stood behind the stage, she could hear the chatter from the crowd as they eagerly awaited their Princesses to lower the moon and raise the sun.

“There is certainly quite a crowd here,” Princess Luna said. “If the number of voices that I can hear is any indication.”

“Yes, this is looking to be quite a turnout.”

“I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

Both alicorns turned to see a certain Alpha Pokemon standing beside them.

“Good morning Arceus,” Princess Celestia said warmly.

The god of Pokemon nodded to the sisters.

“Good morning Princess Celestia, Princess Luna.”

“Good morning Arceus,” Princess Luna said. “Is there something you wish to discuss?”

“No, not really. I just came to express my gratitude for doing all of this. You could have just waited until the anniversary of my arrival to do a celebration like this.”

“We could have,” Princess Celestia said. “But something tells me that this day was a perfect day to help bring our two peoples closer together. It's been months since you all arrived, and I want to do something to help show just how far we have all come together.”

“Indeed Princess, I know that there still are a great many things that we can do. If only because both our people learn to trust each other, we may accomplish those great things.”

“Yes, to think that less than a year ago, we never knew you existed. Now, it's hard to imagine what life might have been had you not brought the Pokemon here” Princess Luna added.

Arceus looked out over the crowd, the many happy faces of Pokemon was something that he had always wanted to see. Pokemon walking as equals. No prejudice, no discrimination, his people were finally living as he had always wanted them to live. Free and happy.

“Yes, it's hard to think that we might have remained on Earth. Under the yoke of….sorry, now is not the time to dwell on things that no longer matter.”

Arceus turned back to the co-rulers of Equestria.

“I know that I don’t say this often, but I am sorry that I just dumped my Pokemon into your laps without warning. I really have been trying hard lately to not just do anything I want without the consent and opinion of others. Even creator gods like me have to follow rules and ethics, even if it doesn't seem like we may suffer any personal consequences. After all, if omnipotent beings just did whatever they wanted on a whim, it would be..”

“Chaos?” A voice said behind them.

The three turned around expecting to see Discord, but he was not there. Arceus then looked around and saw the spirit of Chaos sitting next to Fluttershy, an innocent smile on his face.

“Anyway...I believe it's time for you to do what you do best?”

The Princess nodded, they then began to walk up the steps. Arceus then teleported to a spot right next to his Legendaries.

“It's nice to see that he has matured since he first came here, sister.”

“Indeed Luna, I think Equestria and what it stands for has helped him mellow out since those days. I may even consider inviting him over for tea with us once in a while.”

“Maybe, but for now. Let us do what we came here to do.”

The royal guards sounded their trumpets as Princess Celestia and Luna walked onto the stage. The cheers of the crowd exploded as their rulers came into view.

Princess Celestia held up her hoof, and the crowd went silent.

“My Little Ponies, Pokemon, and friends from around the world, we gathered here today to celebrate. And oh we do have a great many things to celebrate and be thankful about.”

Celestia looked over the crowd, the diversity and size of it making her beam.

“We are here to celebrate bonds and friendships that we formed in the last eight months. Ever since the Pokemon arrived, they have been met with many things, skepticism, fear, and hostility. But they have also been met with open arms, kind smiles, and helping hooves. All the Pokemon wanted was a world to call home, a world that would treat them as equals in mind, body, and spirit.”

There was a wave of cheers from the crowd.

Celestia turned to the World Leaders who were seated before her.

“I would like to thank the World Leaders who attend this celebration today. Indeed, I would like to thank: Emperor Carapace of the Changeling Kingdom, Empress Victoria of the Griffin Empire, Empress Serva of Stagland, King Faris of Saddle Arabia, Grimm Halfpaw of the Diamond Dogs, Queen Oceana of Marelantis, Chief Thunderhooves of the Buffalo, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and King Trotankhamun of Zebrica how could not be with us today. I would like to thank each and every one of them for accepting the Pokemon as full citizens of their respective nations, without them, none of this would be possible.”

Another wave of applause sounded from the crowd. Which made some of the leaders like Cadence and Victoria blush or beam with pride.

“And last but not least, we gather here to celebrate the day of the return of my beloved sister, and your Princess, Princess Luna!”

The Lunar Princess smiled with pride as the crowd all shouted cries of joy and admiration for their second Princess.

“It's nice to know that I am appreciated.”

“Thank you my little ponies, you are too kind.”

“And now, me and my sister shall perform the sacred duty that was passed on from the ancestral unicorns of Equestria. The duty that brings both night and day to the entire world! The rising and setting of the Sun and Moon!”

A final wave of cheers came from the crowd before the guards once again sounded their trumpets. Then, Princess Celestia and Luna stepped forward.

Princess Luna was first. She flew into the air, not high enough that no one could see her, but from a certain point of view, one could think she was holding the moon itself.

The alicorn of the Night gently floated down, the moon following her at the same speed of descent. Finally she touched the floor of the stage, and the moon disappeared over the horizon.

Everyone was silent as Princess Celestia began to crouch her knees.

“Oh, this is my favorite part!” Twilight said.

Everyone watched with bated breath as Princess Celestia flew into the air, slower and not as fast as Luna. With each beat of her wings, the Sun rose from behind the edge of Equestria. The glow of the star grew brighter and brighter as its Princess flew higher and higher.

Until finally, the sun aligned with the golden arch on the stage, and the morning had finally come. Princess Celestia looked down upon her kingdom, their faces in awe as the light of the sun shined brightly over Equestria.

Once again cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. Cheers from the ponies who held great love for their Princess. The Pokemon and first-timers who had just witnessed this event, now understood why it was a sight to behold.

Princess Celestia then touched down on the stage, and Luna walked up to her sister.

“We did it, Tia.”

Celestia looked at her sister with a smile. “Yes, we did.”

—-------------

The ride back to Ponyville was thankfully an uneventful one, as the group seated at the caboose of the very same train that they’d rode yesterday. While most of them were talking with one another on various topics. Twilight however, had her mind set on another issue: the creature from yesterday.

"And now, all of Moebius knows of your existence. I wonder how your lives will turn out? We're all counting on you to put on a good show for us."

“Moebius… Why haven’t I heard of them before?” she said to herself.

“Maybe because they kill everyone they come across.” Korrina mumbled.

“Korrina, I know you’re upset, but you can’t let that get to you.” Sora said, as he watched Rose and Robby sleeping on their parents laps. “We need to search for this ‘City’ Gurkinn was talking about.”

“Why not try looking at the Castle of the Two Sisters?” Belle suggested. “That place has some of the oldest books in this world. Maybe one of them has some sort of clue.”

"Guess that's some sort of plan," Twilight sighed. She then looked out the window. “Well, we’re here everypony. As soon as we get off, let's prepare to enter the Everfree,” She immediately got out of her seat. Sure enough, they could see their home coming into view, as everyone, especially Rainbow Dash, felt eager to get off the train and go.

“Uh, what’s the Everfree?” Sora asked.

—-------------

(Play Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep The Silent Forest)

The Everfree Forest was as dark and mysterious as the last time they ventured into it. With the memory of yesterday still fresh in their minds, the majority of the group took a bit more caution than usual, with Twilight’s head constantly on a swivel, Keyblade in her mouth and Spike carrying a bunch of Rarity’s camping gear, preparing if they needed to stay longer than intended. Though Spike was still heartbroken, he had every intention to prove himself.

Sora, Gene, Belle, Korrina and Lucario were at the front of the group; the boy looking around to either admire the flora and fauna, or have a more serious look whenever he sensed any danger. While they wanted to bring Rose and Robby with them, they asked Abby to babysit them while they were out.

“I have to say, this place certainly gives a creepy vibe every time we come here,” said Gene. He was half expecting a big monster to come bursting at them at any moment.

“Well, it’s not exactly a place I like to return to as often, but we have a mission and I have every intention to complete it,” Twilight replied but tensed up and gave an adorable yelp when she heard the sound of a twig snapping, the very same twig she stepped on. “Ahem, as I was saying, We have to complete our mission, but we also need to be very careful around here. Who knows what we’ll run into the deeper we go.”

“Come on, guys, wouldn’t it be better to think of the cool things about the forest than just constantly worrying about the bad? You may miss something interesting that way.” Sora stated.

Suddenly Pinkie came up from the side hugging Sora, into an abnormally strong hug. Then she giggled, “I like the way you think, Sora.”

“Pinkie… Pinkie air,” Sora gasped out before Pinkie immediately released her grip on them before he fell to the ground. “Ow…”

“Whoops, sorry about that,” Pinkie said, even though she still continued to laugh at the silly looks on his face.

One hour later…

Sora and the group had finally reached their destination, much to Spike’s relief when the heavy pack was taken off his back as everyone except Twilight were now taking things from the bag to set up their “camping spot”. Twilight in the meantime was investigating the area for any clues about Moebius or the City.

Sora was helping Applejack pitch a rather lavish looking tent that they managed to get out of the bag.

“Okay, Sora stake’s down.” Applejack was holding down the last stake to hammer in to keep the tent from flying off from a stray gust.

“Right!” Sora immediately set to work bashing the head of the stake to get the thing into the ground.

“Easy there, Pard’ner. Don’t wanna go hittin’ me in the process,” said Applejack with her face expressing concern.

“Relax, I got this.” He raised the hammer a bit higher. He hoped that would get the job done in one slam. Then he swung the hammer down; charging for the top of the stake.

However he missed the stake; narrowly missing Applejack’s hoof by a centimeter. “Oops… hehe, sorry.”

Applejack didn’t take it too well. She looked at Sora with her piercing eyes, let go of the stake and held her hoof out. “Gimme the hammer, Sora!”

Fluttershy had been taking care of setting out the food, cooking ware, and first aid with Pinkie Pie. The latter already excited about deciding what to make. “Wow, Rarity got everything, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, spices, lots of fruits and veggies, stuff for tea, some pots and pans; It’s like we bought a kitchen with us!” Pinkie giggled at the possibilities.

“Oh yes, it is quite extensive. Perhaps a stew would be a good idea. We can even get Applejack’s help on it. Since I’m sure she knows a few good recipes we can try.”

Pinkie gasped in surprise at the revelation. “We’ll be like a cooking team! I like the way you think Fluttershy.” Pinkie hugged her friend for a brief second before noticing Sora and Applejack finally finishing up the tent. “Oh, perfect timing! I’ll go get her now!” Then she was gone in pink blur, causing Fluttershy to be spun around in place by the force a few times, then she recovered from dizziness then she giggled at her friend’s eagerness.

Rainbow had finished with unloading the bag for everyone and was immediately bored now. She then noticed Twilight a good distance away from the camp inspecting the ruins around them. “Yo Twi, whatcha up to?” She flew over to her.

“Isn’t it obvious, Rainbow?” Twilight stated. “I’m trying to find clues about Moebius. The camp set up seems to be covered by the others so I figured start working now, and give us a head start.” Twilight had a notepad and quill out in case anything important needed to be recorded.

“As diligent as ever, egghead.” Rainbow shook her head while watching her friend work. “It’s not like this place is going anywhere you know.”

“I am aware of that.” She stopped in her tracks.

Concerned for her friend freezing up, she flew over to her. “What’s up?”

“Guys, has that always been there?”

Everyone decided to follow her gaze and was met with an unusual sight. A wall with a serpent-like symbol on it.

“Wait, Gene, isn’t that…” Sora said.

“Yeah, it is.” Gene said, as he stepped up. The moment he did, his right eye gave a sudden blue flash as the symbol on the wall glowed before the entire section of the wall vanished, revealing a hidden staircase.

As everyone looked in awe, Sora looked down the long stairway. “Well, it’s a long flight of stairs, but I can see the bottom at least.”

Rainbow hovered right above him. “Yeah, yeah, lots of stairs, let’s just get down there already.”

“Hold on Rainbow, we don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into,” said Twilight, “For all we know someone could be lying in wait for us. I’d rather not run cluelessly into a trap.”

Fluttershy peeked into the passageway but immediately receded due to the eerie spooky vibes it was giving her. “Um, is it okay if we just stay up here and not worry about traps?”

“Of course not, otherwise this whole trip would be pointless.” Rainbow rebuttled with her shy friend.

“Actually, that may not be a bad idea?” Sora turned to face the others.

“What?! Are you having cold hooves or something about all this NOW?” Rainbow glared at Sora.

Sora simply shook his head. “No no, that’s not what I meant. Twilight has a point that there might be a trap waiting for us. It would probably be best if we separate into smaller groups, perhaps in pairs. and one of the pairs should wait here. In case things take a dive.”

“I have to agree with Sora on that one.” Korrina walked up to the group and got a look at the stairway below. “It’ll be better if we space ourselves out a bit as well when we go down there, that way if a trap is set, the pair behind them will be able to help out.”

Belle nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Alright so who pairs with who here?” Rainbow asked

“Gene and Belle will be first, followed by Korrina and Lucario. Next will be me and Sora, then Applejack and Rarity, and finally Rainbow and Pinkie.” Twilight said.

“Wait, what about me?” Spike asked, wondering why he wasn’t picked.

“You and Fluttershy will remain up here and watch over the camp and the entrance.”

“What?!” Spike looked at the librarian. “You’re setting on the sidelines. I can totally help.”

“You will be helping, Spike.” Twilight smiled.

“By being SAFE?” Spike folded his arms, expecting such an answer to come out of her mouth.

“By keeping the camp safe.” Sora said, catching his attention. “I mean who else is able to scare away any creatures with fire? She can think of no better than the one who can actually breathe fire after all.” She saw him falter a bit at that true fact. “And, Fluttershy will also need protection, in case you two run across a scary animal she can’t soothe. You can be a Hero.”

The little dragon perked up, straightened himself out, and faced Sora with a salute and a confident grin. “You can count on me!”

“Perfect, now that that is all settled. Shall we get going?” said Twilight.

“Yay! Down the spooky staircase we go!” Pinkie is more than happy for another adventure before it gets too late.

(End Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep The Silent Forest)

Everyone sans Spike and Fluttershy descended down the staircase, only to walk down a long corridor. The pairs kept themselves spaced out. Far enough to not get caught with another pair that activated any booby traps, but close enough to respond to them quickly.

“Do you think we’ll really find it here, Sora?” Twilight asked as she felt a chill run down her spine. This place definitely wasn’t doing a service to her nerves from how eerie it all felt. She couldn’t tell if the markings on the wall were writings, glyphs, or just some creepy patterns that whoever designed this corridor thought it would be funny to put on.

“Dunno.” Sora shrugged.

This caused Twilight to stumble. “I suppose, I shouldn’t be surprised by that answer.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. If anything, we know that there HAS to be something down here. SO I don’t think it’s pointless to be down here anyway.”

“I suppose…. It’s hard to believe you do this all the time though.”

“Yeah, sometimes I kind of wonder about myself. I mean, I was just a kid goofing off and building a raft with my friends one day, then suddenly, bam. I get thrown for a loop about what’s really out here. Then go off on a spaceship and have all these otherworldly adventures. Then finally, here I am.” Sora chuckled.

“Out in the stars again in a new world.” Twilight smiled at him.

“It’s always fun to travel, I guess… Oh hey I think I can finally see the end of this hallway.” He trotted head.

“Oh thank Celestia, we’re finally out of this creepy place.” She sighed before catching up to him. But then she noticed Gene, Belle, Korrina and Lucario stopped at the entrance and glaring at something. “Guy’s? What's wrong?” Twilight asked, before gasping in shock at the sight.

(Play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Sealed Temple Theme)

The room looked like some sort of temple. There were many tall columns while there was a bright red sword in the center of the room with the Ouroboros Ring on its base, resting on a pedestal. Behind it was a giant slab of stone with a keyhole on it.

“I have been waiting for you, Ouroboros.”

Everyone was startled, though not threatened, by this voice. A figure came out from behind the giant stone slab and revealed to be, much to the group's surprise, an elderly woman. Were it not for her tall, red hood, she would have been only half of Sora’s height. The hood casted a dark shadow over her eyes, concealing them entirely, and it trailed behind her for a good few feet. She wore a teal-colored robe, and her long blonde hair was braided. Her hair was so long, in fact, that the braid she wore had been curled into a circle, and it swung like the pendulum in a clock. She brought her small hands together and bowed her head slowly.

"I welcome you… to the Sealed Temple. I have waited for many years for you to arrive. All so that I could fulfill my purpose as your guide."

(End The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Sealed Temple Theme)

—-------------

(Play Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep The Promised Beginning)

On the Land Of Departure, Riku stood face to face with the man who passed down the Keyblade to him. After a few minutes of silence, Terra finally spoke, "Well, look at you."

Riku nodded, "Thanks, I finally fulfilled my promise to you."

"You did," Terra replied, "Now there's nothing left for me to teach you." He then began walking to Riku, "You're a Keyblade Master, not to mention a great leader to those around you. You even found the strength to save your friends."

Riku frowned as he shook his head, "It's not enough."

They still had one friend in need of saving, the one who saved them all, Sora. Riku's best friend. A brother from another mother. Terra placed his hands on Riku's shoulders as he told him, "The very fact you were able to make your way here proves just how strong you are. That is why I called for you."

Riku looked at him in shock before asking, "That's the reason?"

Terra looked at him with a smile on his face, "You expected more?"

"Yes," Riku admitted, causing both young men to laugh.

Just then, Aqua and Ventus walked up to the two of them before the latter ran up to them, "Hey, you two, what's so funny?"

Terra turned away with his arms crossed, "It's a secret."

"Aww, come on, tell me!" Ven complained as he ran after his friend.

Aqua walked up to Riku's side as he turned to her, "Are you sure about this?"

He knew how she, Ven, and Terra volunteered to journey back into the Realm of Darkness to search for Sora, and the last time she was in there, she remained trapped within the realm for almost twelve years, nearly falling to darkness. She turned to him as she smiled with confidence, "Yes, but don't worry. I'm not alone this time."

She then walked up to join her friends, after giving each other a nod, they each summoned their respective Keyblades. They raised Rainfell, Wayward Wind, and Earthshaker as light swirls around them, opening a portal to the Realm of Darkness.

They all step forward to the portal before turning back to give one last farewell to Riku. They then pressed their shoulder armor as light brightened for them to appear in their full suit of armor, much to Riku's shock. Three then proceeded to enter the Dark Realm as the portal closed behind them as Riku whispered, "May your heart be your guiding key."

(End Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep The Promised Beginning)

—-------------

(Play The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Sealed Temple Theme)

“Moebius…” The woman said, as everyone now in the room, explaining who their enemy really was. “They fear of the future, making them desire ‘The Endless Now’. A world frozen in time.”

“A frozen world?” Sora asked, confused but shocked as everyone gasped in fear.

“But wait, what does that even achieve? Trying to freeze everything?” Rainbow Dash asked, not understanding the point of it.

“Not a thing…” The woman replied. “They don’t need to do anything after that. Only, to keep everything in its place, in stasis, and create an eternity to abide within, as is their wish, for life and death are their playthings.”

“Life and… Death.” Gene said, thinking about the Moebius that killed Gurkinn.

“And yet, there are ways to oppose Moebius’s affairs, with the Keyblades, your Ouroboros Powers, and the Sword of the End.”

“The Sword… of the End?” Sora asked, then gasping as he looked at the sword behind the woman.

“It was created by the Ancient Keyblade Masters, to oppose Moebius, for they knew that one day, it would be needed, to bring true light and restore peace to the world. It is a sword so strong, it could even rival the X-Blade.”

“No way!” Sora said in awe, as everyone was now looking at the blade in amazement. While Sora had told everyone about the X-Blade, no one, not even Sora, knew there was a weapon that could match its power.

“If you wish to defeat Moebius, I suggest you draw the sword and raise it skyward.” The woman said.

“Easy.” Rainbow Dash said, as she went and tried to grab the hilt, only for a force to push her into a wall, hard, as her friends winced. “I’m okay!” She said, before landing on the ground, face first. “Less okay…” Sora went over and cast Cure on her, hoping that would help the pegasus.

“Only those who are Ouroboros can draw the blade.” The woman said, as everyone looked at Gene.

(Pause The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Sealed Temple Theme)

Gene sighed in defeat before examining and placing both of his hands on the hilt.

(Play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Get Master Sword)

He struggled a bit but he finally pulled it out, raising it skyward as she told him. As soon as he did that, a bright blue illuminated the edge’s of the sword.

(End The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Get Master Sword)

(Resume The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Sealed Temple Theme)

He lowered it down, shocked that he was holding the blade. “Wow…” He said, as he closed his eyes, seeing all sorts of maneuvers with it. “I never used this kind of weapon before, and yet, all of its techniques are flashing before me, as if I always knew them my whole life.”

“I see you are easily impressed.” The woman said, catching their attention.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Gene asked, as the woman was about to drop a bombshell on everyone.

“You see, what you hold isn’t the true blade, that is just the Sheath.”

“JUST THE SHEATH?!” Everyone exclaimed in shock.

The woman nodded. “The sheath acts as a disguise, to hold back its power, though it is still very effective against Heartless. However, if ever against Moebius and needs its true strength, it is only a matter of drawing. Only then will its true power be unleashed.”

Gene nodded, as he made the sword disappear, similar to how Sora dismisses his Keyblade.

“Before you leave, there is one last thing I must share with you.” The woman said, before turning to the stone slab behind her, “Sora, when you first entered this room, did you take note of the Keyhole?” Sora nodded. “While the keyholes lead to world’s hearts, this one is different. The great slab standing before you is known as the Gate of Time. It is the only of its kind in existence…The only portal binding our world to the one you originate from.”

“You mean, this leads back to Destiny Islands?” Sora asked in shock as everyone else gasped.

“Indeed, but as you can see, the gate is nothing more than a slab of cold stone for now. It is sleeping. Rousing it from its slumber would require great power. Yes, I believe the power from a Keyblade Wielder that originated from this world might just do it…"

“Wait, my Keyblade originated in this world, so maybe…” Twilight said, summoning her Keyblade and walking towards the stone.

"I hate to disappoint you, Princess, but for now your Keyblade lacks the power necessary to awaken the gate. First, you and your Keyblade must grow together.” The woman explained. “This world, four sacred flames can be found within it. Seek them out, and purify your weapon in their heat. Only after your blade has been tempered by these four fires will it be fully imbued with the great power for which you search. Clues to finding the sacred flames have been pasted on for generations in the City. These clues are your best hope of finding your way to the flames. Go to The City. Somewhere has one whose knowledge will point you in the right direction."

“Do you know where the City is?”

“Indeed.” The weird thing that was swaying back and forth now gave a trail of sparkles. Just then, Sora’s Gummi Phone went off. When he pulled it out, it revealed that a map of the world, along with a marked location, was on his screen. "Now go, Ouroboros. Your mission depends on your success…as does this world’s fate." The woman said, as she suddenly faded away, leaving only her garments. “May your heart be your guiding key…” Her voice echoed.

(End The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Sealed Temple Theme)

While everyone was shocked by this, Sora then spotted something that caught his eye: a small, silver tag. He carefully removed the tag, examining it in his hand. Engraved in it was a full name, and he traced over the words with his finger.

"Impa… Vandham." He spoke, reading the words on the tag. “Must have been her name.”

“Well that’s a relief.” Rarity spoke up, as everyone looked at her, confused. “I'll be honest, I kinda hated the idea of not knowing who she even was.”

"Let's remember her as the person who gave us a goal; the person… who gave us hope." Sora said, as he picked some sort of Silver Bracelet. Everyone nodded, as they all went back up down the corridor they came from, as Sora looked back at the sleeping Gate of Time.

“Just wait a little longer, guys. I’ll be home soon.”

Books

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Chapter 7: Books

(Play Kingdom Hearts II Lazy Afternoons)

A few days have passed since the group learned of Moebius’s true intentions. While they wanted to head to the City right away, they couldn't; not without proper training to fight. For the past few days, Sora started to train Twilight with offensive to defensive basics with her Keyblade, while Gene and Belle practiced in their Ouroboros form, to get more familiar with their powers. By the time it became noon, the alicorn was exhausted. Her jaw cramped up from holding her Keyblade for so long, and her neck hurt from twisting it around to strike or block Sora's attacks.

"Can we... call it a day?" Twilight panted, dropping her weapon as it then vanished.

"Yeah," The boy replied, "I think we made some good progress." The alicorn groaned in relief and fell over, unable to stay standing for much longer, while Sora gave him a glass of lemonade.

As she took a sip, Rainbow Dash was the last to arrive, though she seemed really distracted by something for the past couple days.

"Finally decided to show up, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked after taking a sip from her lemonade.

"What the heck is going on?" Rainbow asked, having no clue what was going on.

“Uh, training, what does it look like we’re doing?” Sora said, stating the obvious.

"How come I wasn't invited!? I wouldn't want to miss watching it!"

"We did tell you and you were invited, but you seemed a mite too busy reading' the last Daring' Do book for the twelfth time," Applejack reminded in annoyance.

"Well, in another three months and twenty-six days, the next book in the series will come out, and I'll read that several more times!" Hearing the title of the book, she pulled out one of the books from the series and looked at the cover.

Sora stared at the first book in the series, 'Daring Do and the Sapphire Stone'. The illustration on the cover showed a light gold pegasus mare, her mane striped several shades of gray, wearing a pith helmet and a green shirt made for exploration through thick jungles, her cutie mark a compass. Sora looked up from the book at Rainbow Dash, then back at the mare known as Daring Do, finding it odd to see these two looked alike aside from their coat and mane colors and cutie marks. Either this was the author's intended description of the excavating pegasus, or it was a strange coincidence.

"Actually, Rainbow, you're going to have to wait a while longer," Twilight said. "The author, A. K. Yearling, pushed the publication of her next book by another two months."

"What!? No!" Rainbow cried out in disappointment, slumping to the ground in disbelief. "I can't wait any more months! I've waited enough! And how do you even know about that!? I'm her biggest fan!"

"I'm just as much of a fan as you!" Twilight argued. "Did you forget who introduced you to reading those books, or any books at all?"

"...Oh. Right." Rainbow chuckled sheepishly, completely forgetting she started reading the series after injuring her wing and forced to sit in the hospital for a while.

"Besides, A. K. Yearling is my favorite author when it comes to fictional adventure novels," Twilight continued. "I know everything about her: where she grew up, where she studied literature, where she wrote the first book in the Daring Do series-"

Rainbow perked her head up, hearing her alicorn friend knowing everything about A. K. Yearling, or anything. "Where she lives?"

"...Uhh, no, but I can find out. Why?" she asked.

"Are you serious!?" Rainbow exclaimed, flying up in Twilight's face. "She must be having problems where she lives and so many distractions that's making her delay the book! If we can do all her chores, cook her meals, do her laundry, whatever she needs, A. K. Yearling can continue writing so I-uhh, I mean fans like us, can read the next book ASAP!"

The Ouroboros flung the book Rainbow Dash held with its powers at the pegasus, smacking her in the back of the head. "Rainbow Dash, that is not how it works," Belle's voice scolded, as the Ouroboros separated and the Gardevoir approaced the mare with a stern gaze as she held the first book of the Daring Do series in front of her. "Art takes time and patience in order to make. You can't rush what the creator calls perfection, and doing favors for someone and invading their privacy like a little fangirl wanting a thousand autographs will only cause more distractions."

"But-" Another smack in the head, silencing Rainbow of any reasoning or complaints she was about to say.

"If you want to read it, you're going to have to wait just like everyone else. If you're that impatient, there's plenty of other adventure novels you can read until then."

"...W-Well...I only like the Daring Do books," she meekly said, scuffing her hoof against the ground.

"You only read one series?" Sora questioned. "...Is this series the only type of book you've read?" Rainbow nodded her head in embarrassment. "...Why?"

"...I thought that...reading was for eggheads..." the pegasus uttered.

"...seriously?" Sora said from the pegasuses statement.

"...Soooo...can we find out where A. K. Yearling lives?"

"Rainbow Dash, are you serious!?" Twilight exclaimed. "After what Belle just said!?"

"Hey, I'm just asking!" Rainbow argued. "We can head to A. K. Yearling's place and see if she needs anything we can do to help so she can continue writing. She can just say no, and we'd have the privilege of meeting the greatest author of the greatest book series ever."

"...Well...I guess I see your point..." The pegasus grinned, hearing Twilight admit she was right. "Let's see if we can find her address."

(End Kingdom Hearts II Lazy Afternoons)

----------------

After finding where the author lived, Twilight routed out a map and led her friends, Sora, Gene, Belle, Korrina and Lucario to the address. As they walked along, Pinkie took the rear, randomly smearing a trail of red paint behind their path from the library up to now in the middle of the forest a few miles away from Ponyville.

"Pinkie, just what exactly are you doing?" Sora asked.

"Well, duh! Everypony watching this is obviously going to stare at the map first, so I'm drawing out the route we're taking until it zooms in on me, showing them we're getting closer!" He was about to question what she was talking about, but decided to take her word for it, letting the random, silly earth pony do her thing.

"I think we might be getting close," Twilight said, looking up from the map. "If we keep following this path, we should find A. K. Yearling's home."

"Maybe we should have listened to Belle and given A. K. Yearling her privacy," Rarity said. "If she's this far away from any town, it's no wonder she-"

"I think I see the house!" Rainbow shouted, flying on ahead.

At the end of the road was the author's house, a simple looking stone cottage, though from some of the shattered windows and the broken door, it looked like someone had robbed the place. Not knowing if the robbing ponies that broke in were still around, Gene stepped up to the house first, carefully opening the door, which wound up falling off its hinges the moment he touched it. Inside was a lot worse, the whole house having been ransacked with various things flung across the floor and furniture flipped over.

"Wow. This place must have been robbed." Gene said. With the broken home secure, the others walked inside, examining the damage done to the place.

"Or maybe A. K. Yearling is a really big slob," Pinkie wondered as she touched some of the fallen items that belonged to the famous author.

"What if she got kidnapped!?" Rainbow asked, beginning to panic. "If she's been taken, or injured, she can't write anymore books! What about the sequel!?"

"What are all of you doing here?" Quickly turning to the front door, they saw a mare stand at the entryway.

It was hard to tell what she looked like, wearing a purple cloak that concealed her body, cutie mark, and tail, a hat on her head, and a pair of red glasses. She looked around at the intruding ponies who were in her home, though she looked at Sora a bit more before seeing the state of her home.

"Oh my gosh," Rainbow mumbled, lost in a state of awe as the mare walked inside. "A. K. Yearling?"

The pegasus stifled her squeal of excitement, officially meeting the author of the greatest adventure novel she had ever read, and the only novels she's ever read. "What did you do to my house?"

"Miss Yearling, we didn't do any of this," Sora said. "We found it like this, but we're glad you're-"

"They didn't find it, did they?" A. K. ignored the stallion as she began searching around her living room for something. While she flipped everything back in place to find what she was looking for, Rainbow Dash fidgeted in place, trying to keep calm around her favorite author. "Where is it?"

"Ok, I know this isn't the best time, but I'm a huge fan of your books, probably the biggest fan out of anypony." The mare continued to ignore them, finding what she needed under Rainbow's hooves.

Swiping the book from under the pegasus and tripping her up, A. K. held a red book with a golden horseshoe printed on the cover. Placing her hoof on it, she twisted the horseshoe to the side, not a picture, but a hidden mechanism. The book opened up, revealing a hollowed inside with a golden ring inside, the author breathing a sigh of relief as she held it out.

"Thank goodness," she said. "It's safe."

She flinched when she heard some books from her desk being shoved off, watching Rainbow Dash pushing her typewriter up. "Okay, you found what you were looking for. Now, how about writing that book?"

"Alright, Rainbow, get over here," Korrina scolded, pulling the pegasus's tail back harshly and away from the annoyed author. "Sorry about that, Miss Yearling. She's a really big fan of your stories, and unfortunately, she can get too excited when meeting her idols."

"Great. Now, if all of you don't mind, please leave my house. I have a lot of work to do." Gladly giving the mare her privacy, the group left her home, Korrina forcefully dragging Rainbow Dash out before she could complain.

As soon as they were far enough away from A. K. Yearling's property, Korrina dropped Rainbow's tail and leered at the mare. "You know, you kind of need to have more patience and restraint. You have a horrible habit of jumping the gun over something."

"But we met A. K. Yearling! I just wanted to know when the book was gonna be finished!" Sora growled, crossing his arms.

"And you're freaking out like an annoying fangirl who wants something a creator can't exactly make until it's truly finished," Sora argued.

"Rainbow Dash, do you remember Snips and Snails when they went crazy over Trixie the first time she came to Ponyville? You're acting exactly like them, and the more you worship her, you're only going to make things worse." Rarity said

"...But I'm not a fan of Trixie." The boy facepalmed, the ponies behind him groaning in exasperation.

"She's talking about your idolizing A. K. Yearling," Twilight said. "She doesn't want to be bothered when she works, so we have to respect her privacy."

"Yeah! And not like those stallions up on the roof!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Wait, what?" Sora looked up on the roof, spying a few shady stallions sneaking their way into the second floor window of the author's house. "Oh boy. Looks like the thieves decided to come back."

They raced back to the cottage and peered through the window, watching A. K. Yearling try to get her house back in order. Through the cracked mirror, she spotted the thugs sneaking up on her, quickly turning around and backing away from them. She wasn't at all scared of the intimidating stallions, quickly flicking off her clothing at them while keeping a hold of the gold ring she kept. To everyone's shock, underneath that outfit was Daring Do, exactly as she was described in the covers of her books.

"Oh my gosh!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"A. K. Yearling IS Daring Do!" Twilight finished, both fans even more excited at the strange twist.

"Wow! What a twist!" Pinkie said, holding her hooves up in a shrug.

Inside the cottage, Daring fought back against the stallions, trying to steal the ring from her. She was far more nimble and quicker than the earth pony bandits, using her environment to her advantage, keeping them far away from the possibly priceless artifact in her possession.

"Uhh, shouldn't we be helping her out?" Sora asked, the mares too enthralled with the action from the famous fictional character actually being a real pony, almost as if they were in one of her famous books. "Okay, I'LL help her out then!" He ran inside and joined in the fight, punching a stallion holding Daring Do as she struggled to keep the ring away from the others. He sent them both flying across the room, Daring dropping the ring as he picked it up, twirling it around in his hand as the other two thugs didn't expect her to have help. "Hasn’t anyone told you to NOT hit a lady?"

Elbowing the boy still grabbing her hard in the gut, Daring quickly stood up and leered at her guest. "What the hay are you doing!?"

"Saving you from getting mugged, 'Miss Author'." One of the thugs snapped out of their surprised daze, running at the teen to snatch the ring out of his hand, but Sora tossed it up and backflipped, kicking the stallion in the jaw and sending him flying back across the room.

Frustrated, Daring flew off and caught the ring, not appreciating his assistance. "I don't need your help!"

"Well, you looked like you needed it!" Sora argued, avoiding a punch from the other stallion, twisting his hand and turning him around, holding his limb tightly behind his back. "Three-on-one's a bit unfair, unless you know how to handle a situation like that!"

"I work alone," Daring grumbled, flying down to kick the thug Sora held hard in the stomach, throwing him behind her as she looked at the teen. "Leave now, or I'm going to kick your flank to Zebrica!"

"I'm just trying to help you out!" He quickly ducked as Daring attacked him. "Hey!"

"Get out of here before I-" Too distracted with the teen interfering, one of the thugs grabbed a hold of her and tossed her back.

Sora leapt into the scuffle as all five of them fought, kicking up dust and concealing all five of them in the cloud around them. The ring flew out from the brawling cloud of ponies, rolling up to the entrance where another earth pony stallion stood waiting, picking up the ring in his hoof. His coat was brown while his mane was black, though his tail had a dark stripe down the middle of the black hairs, wearing a light gray explorers jacket and a red and white-spotted neckerchief, his cutie mark a gold skull with ruby eyes.

During the fight, as Sora was about to strangle one of the stallions, one of them grabbed a frying pan and clonked him hard upside the head, knocking the teen out as he was more of a threat than Daring was. The mare was badly beaten, held down by one of the thugs as she looked up at the entrance to her home, glaring at the stallion smirking at them.

"Many thanks, Daring Do," he said. "We have been searching everywhere for this little treasure. So kind of you to find it for us."

"Give it back, Caballeron!" Daring warned, unable to escape from the heavier stallion's weight pressing her down.

"I don't think so." Caballeron looked over at the unconscious boy, recognizing his hairstyle and clothing. "Ah. So, you thought you could get some help from Equestria's little hero, eh?"

"I didn't hire him for anything," Daring growled. "Did A put you up for this? Stealing that ring from me to give to him so his hold on the Fortress of Talacon would be kept for eight centuries, as told in the prophecies of the temple!?"

"Very close, but no. I am going to sell this to him and retire from archaeology with the bits he'll offer." The stallion chuckled, putting the ring around his neck to hold onto.

"You're a fool!" Daring grunted as Caballeron's henchpony kicked her hard in the gut, keeping her immobilized as they made their leave. "You're...going to doom the valley to eight centuries...of sweltering heat!"

"So long, Daring Do!" Caballeron chuckled as they left.

While Sora woke up, shaking his head as he felt a headache and a bad bump on his noggin, and Daring Do struggling to get back up after the beating she took, the Mane Six finally decided to help them after getting too lost in the excitement through the window. "Oh, NOW you guys come to our rescue. Whoop de doo!"

“Sorry…” Belle chuckled nervously.

"I didn't...need...rescuing," Daring growled as she stood up. "I can take care of myself."

"If you didn't try to fight me, we could have handled those guys." Sora summoned his Keyblade, casting Curaga over them to heal their injuries.

The adventurous pegasus wasn't even phased by the magical healing flowers he summoned, or the giant key that appeared in his hand. "Well, no thanks to you, I need to get that ring back before those idiots cause several centuries worth of relentless heat waves."

As Daring Do began to walk out, she was surprised to feel barely any pain after getting beaten up. She shook her head and ran off to catch up with Caballeron and his goons before they met up with Ahuitzotl.

"You're welcome," Sora muttered.

"We have no choice but to help Daring Do now!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Rainbow Dash, she said she works alone!" Twilight reminded her as they began to leave Daring's home.

"Well, did you hear what she said about the Fortress of Talacon!?" Rainbow argued. "You know what's at stake here! A has sought control of the Tenochtitlan Basin since book three!"

"True, but in book four, she defeated A and secured control of the Amulet of Atonement, dispelling the dark magic of the Ketztwctl Empress, and thus protecting the basin with the Radiant Shield of Razdon!" Twilight countered, the others already getting lost with the lore of Daring Do's auto-biographical story, rather than a fictional novel.

"But the Radiant Shield of Razdon is vulnerable to the dark enchantment of the Rings of Scorchero!" Rainbow said.

"But are you forgetting that the Rings were scattered to the four corners of Tenochtitlan, thus rendering the dark enchantment powerless?" Twilight questioned, Pinkie the only one seeming to understand as she nodded her head, the others looking at each other in confusion.

"Only if you assume that the Rings have yet to be retrieved, and the ring Caballeron just stole isn't the last to completely restore the dark tower and its cruel hold on Tenochtitlan! Have you ever thought of that!?" Rainbow said.

"...Okay, I'm lost," Sora said. "The only thing I can get out of all that is Daring Do definitely needs our help, so I'm with Rainbow Dash on this. She can't handle that Caballeron guy, or whoever A is by herself."

"We have to get that ring back for Daring Do!" Rainbow exclaimed, glad to have Sora agree with her.

Twilight sighed, knowing it was the right thing to do since the fate of the world falling to centuries of a deadly heat wave could destroy Equestria. "Ok. We're going to need to plan ahead, figure out everything we need to know and who we're dealing with-"

"Twilight, Rainbow just flew off," Sora said, pointing in the direction the pegasus flew in. Twilight groaned in annoyance at their pegasus friend who always acts first and thinks last. "Me, Gene and Belle will go after her while the rest of you catch up."
Sora, Gene and Belle ran off and chased after Rainbow Dash before she winds up getting Daring Do more ticked off from having anyone interfering in her work.

—-------------

Deep in the woods, Daring Do snuck through the foliage in search of her archaeological rival and his henchponies to get the ring back. She hated how she had to be saved by a teenager several years younger than her when she could have handled them on her own. Of course, she knew who Sora was, but to have him come and help her like she was a damsel in distress wasn't necessary. At least she didn't find him as annoying as Rainbow Dash, always despising hearing so many fans of her tales constantly praise her while also begging for more stories of her life.

"Today is not my day," she mumbled, peeking through the bushes while keeping an eye out for Caballeron. "I can't exactly tell anypony I'm the author of my own stories, but now I got fanponies who found out my alias, and because of him interfering, I have to go and get that ring back."

"Rainbow Dash! Get back here!" Daring quickly hid behind cover, groaning in annoyance as she heard Sora's voice and knowing he and Rainbow Dash were tailing her.

"Hey, you agreed with me," the cyan mare said. "So, why should we stop when we're going to help THE Daring Do!?"

"For one-" Gene slapped Rainbow in the back of the head. "-you flew off before we even thought of a way to help her. Second, she is not going to appreciate you freaking out over her. She's like Celestia and Luna: they may be royalty, but they are still normal ponies, just with a title that tells them they're important. So, before you go into a full blown freakout and put her up on a pedestal like an ancient idol, calm yourself."

"But it's Daring Do! How can I not freak out about this!? I thought she was just a character, but she's real! I'm reading her life story, and it's far more awesome than-" She received another smack upside the head, the mare growling after having that happen for the fifth time today. "Will you cut that out!?"

"Are you going to praise Daring Do again?" Belle asked, Rainbow shaking her head. "Then I'm stopping."

"Perfect. These guys had to try to help me. I don't need any help." While Daring peeked around the tree she hid behind, she was unaware of a pair of yellow eyes peering at her through the shadows of the plants.

Slowly creeping their way out from the trees were a large pack of Heartless that looked like monkeys: there were a lot of them with blue fur, known as Powerwilds, and there were orange ones with a red bow on their heads and carried slingshots, called Bouncywilds. One of the Bouncywilds pulled up their slingshot and took aim, a small orb of energy forming at the end of the string ready to be fired. It shot and struck Daring in the back, making her grunt in surprise as she turned to face her opponents, immediately jumped on by the Powerwilds as they began scratching at her.

Daring tried to shake them off, but their claws gripped her tightly as she scrambled out of the bushes. Sora and Rainbow leapt back as they heard her stumble out, the Keyblade
Wielder and Gallade summoning their weapons to take out the annoying primate Heartless. All the Bouncywilds and some of the Powerwilds felt the Keyblade's presence and ran toward them, avoiding their wild fury of swipes and potshots as they made their way to Daring Do. Sora spun around and slapped the Powerwilds on the downed pegasus mare, lifting her up on his back.

"You could definitely use some help here," he said.

"I said I don't-" Daring yelped. Sora flipped away from a Powerwild, nearly thrusting its claws straight at her face. "Ok, maybe with these things."

"No problem." The Heartless surrounded the four, slowly prowling up to them. "Been a while since I fought you annoying monkeys. Let's see if you're as annoying as I remember." Sora looked up and spotted Rainbow Dash flying overhead, the Heartless too focused on him to notice her. "Okay, Daring Do, time to get high."

"Wait, you aren't gonna-?" Sora tossed Daring up in the air a little, her question turning to a yelp of surprise, the teen flipping onto his hands and pushing back against the mare with his legs as she landed on them, sending her flying up into the air toward Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow caught Daring, the pegasus giggling nervously as she was holding onto the adventurous mare, helping her stay out of harm's way. "Uhh, hi again."

Daring groaned in annoyance, unable to flap her wings after the amount of damage the Powerwilds did to her backside and having no choice but to be carried by the squeamish fan. She looked down and watched as Sora, Gene and Belle fought off the Heartless down below, their movements swift and accurate as she saw the hearts being released from the dark primates. Even with the Bouncy Wilds randomly running around and shooting at him from afar with their slingshots, he was able to avoid each shot along with the Power Wilds trying to claw at him. Daring began to regret not asking for his help if he really was as good as the news said he was.

Sora had a much easier time dealing with these Heartless after his first trek through the Jungle world, now more experienced and a lot quicker than before. Even as they avoided each thrust, he tricked them by spinning around and slashing them in his recovery. He avoided the banana peels the Bouncywilds threw around to try and slip him up, throwing them around when he was near one to get them tripped up by the slippery skin. Within no time, they destroyed each Powerwild and shot down the Bouncy Wilds that kept fleeing from him with either magical spells or Shadow Ball. Sora looked around, finding no more Heartless hiding in the bushes or trees.

"Okay! Coast is clear!" Sora called out, Rainbow gently bringing Daring Do down to the ground. As she winced in pain, the stallion cast a Cure spell, the mare now paying attention to the healing bell flowers sprinkling green energy down on her. As it touched her, her pain was gone, just like before in her shambled home. "Feeling better, Miss Yearling?"

"It's Daring Do right now," she said, not exactly happy for the save, but grateful. "Thanks, I guess."

"You guess? Do you know who just saved your life!?" Rainbow asked, highly surprised at Daring's attitude.

"I know who he is. All of Equestria does," she said. "I thought he was just a dumb kid getting in my way, but he's the real deal."

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed, taking offense to Daring's comment.

"I mean no offense. But if you're like me, you'll know plenty of die hard fans who try to do everything the ponies they idolize do, even going as far as to dress like you and pretend to be you." She looked at Rainbow Dash, sneering at her as she saw the glint of fandom in her eyes. "Or have annoying fans constantly getting in your way when there are important matters to deal with."

"Yeah, Rainbow's a big fan of your work, and it's hard for someone like her not to freak out over someone they look up to."

"Anyway, thanks for saving me from those...odd looking monkeys, but I have a dirty thief to catch."

"Wait, we can help!" Rainbow offered, but Daring stuck her hoof in the mare's mouth.

"I. Work. Alone." The cyan mare's ears drooped, but Sora stepped in, taking Daring's hoof out of his disappointed friend's mouth.

"Yeah, I think you do need help," he said. "Whatever's going on, you'll at least need our help taking on Caballeron."

Daring opened her mouth to argue on the matter, but seeing how many of her enemies are working together to make a disaster happen within the temple, she may need some backup. "...Well, it seems like I may need some assistance. You can help when I need it." She pointed at Rainbow Dash, who was grinning ear to ear as she was asking for help. "You go back home."

"What!? Why!? I want to help too!" Rainbow whined.

"That's why. There are some people that I can't trust." Daring leered at her. "Fans like you I can't trust. My work involves secrets, and mysterious, and a lot of dangerous traps that could get anyone else killed. I can't trust you to keep your mouth shut and stay out of my way." Rainbow whimpered, begging for Sora to do something, but if Daring didn't want her help, he had no choice but to comply since he had proof of his skills from before and fighting the Heartless just now. "We gotta catch up to Caballeron and his goons before A does. Let's go, guys."

Daring walked on ahead as Rainbow pouted. "Sorry, Rainbow. Maybe she'll warm up to you once you finally stop worshiping her and treat her like an individual." Sora said, hurrying after Daring Do, leaving the pegasus alone, looking down at the ground in disappointment.

—-------------

As it turned late in the night, Sora, Gene, Belle and Daring spotted Caballeron and his group at a camp they set up, the fireplace burning brightly in the darkness. The two pegasi hid in the bushes as they spied on them, far enough away to avoid getting caught.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Gene asked.

"I'm going to see if I can barter with Caballeron and buy back the ring while disguised." Daring Do found a small pit of mud, smearing some of it on her face. She grabbed a bunch of loose leaves that had fallen from the trees, attaching them to her muddy face as makeshift glue, making a fake beard. For added effect, she smushed her helmet to make it look like a flatter cap to avoid being recognized. "Okay. How do I look?"

"...Like a mare pretending to be an old stallion," Sora commented. "Are you sure this will work?"

"I don't like gambling, but I'm betting on it." She stepped out to confront her rival in her disguise while the three watched from a distance, ready to pounce if things went sour.

"Hey, what's going on?" The three had to stifle their yelps, quickly turning around to see Rainbow Dash behind them.

Gene quickly grabbed her, slamming her down behind the bushes before her rainbow hair and loud mouth blew their cover. "What are you doing here!?"

"I'm here to help Daring Do," she whispered, Gene silencing the frustrated groan he wanted to make from the mare's insistence to help.

"Daring is going to be really ticked off if she sees you here! Just find the others and stay with them!" Sora looked through the bushes, making sure the plan was going along smoothly, which was surprisingly working as Cabelleron began to take the bag of bits Daring Do was offering.

"Caballeron!" Suddenly, appearing from the foliage on the other side of the camp was a strange creature Sora had never seen before.

It was an odd being that Discord could have come up with if he was lazy enough with his creative genius. He, from the sound of his roaring and menacing voice, was an odd mix between a canine and an ape, his eyes more close to his nose with his dog-like head, wearing a tribal necklace around his neck, ape-like paws for his hands, and a hand on the tip of his tail that functioned like a real hand, his entire body covered in a weird red armor.

"What in the name of Arceus is that thing???" Gene asked.

"That's A! Awesome!" Rainbow squealed, the Gallade quickly shoving his hand in her mouth to keep her from giving away their position.

"Hand me the ring now!" A commanded. Before the thieving archaeologist stallion could give the ring to him, Daring shook off her disguise as she snatched the ring from Caballeron. A roared in frustration as she slashed his hands at the mare, avoiding his swipe as she backed away while Caballeron and his men took the money and fled. "Daring Do. Hand me the ring. Now!"

Seeing she was in trouble, Sora came through the bushes and snatched Daring Do off her hooves before A slammed his fists down on her. "Sorry, you Aztec weirdo! In order to get the ring, you have to propose to a mare properly before you earn it!"

In the bushes, Rainbow smirked at Sora's mocking statement, even making Daring grin a little. "I was gonna say that."

"So, you actually decided to bring that brat of a hero to help you in your fights, eh, Daring Do?" Sora lowered Daring back on her hooves as he summoned his Keyblade. "Well, I'm not one without my own minions."

A snapped his fingers on his tail, calling forth his minions: dangerous felines. There was a tiger, a lynx, a leopard, a panther, and a small kitten. The last one made Sora stare at the white cat in confusion, then a snicker, and finally bursting out laughing.

"A-Are you serious!?" he asked as he struggled to breathe. "One of your minions...is a kitten!?" The kitten hissed angrily and ran at Sora, Daring backing away from the stallion as the small feline charged at him. "What's it gonna do? Meow me to-" The small minion leapt onto Sora's face and scratched at him repeatedly. "AHHHH! Get it off! Get it off! It's trying to scratch my eyes!"

"I should have warned him." Daring watched as Sora flailed around, trying to pull the small kitten off his face, but its claws clung on to him as it attacked him.

"Get them!" A commanded, sending his other feline minions after them.

Sora managed to pry the kitten off his face, throwing it far away from him, scratch marks lined all over his head. "Okay. Never trust cats ever again. Should have learned that after meeting Pete." He heard two roars from two of the cats, the tiger and leopard running at him. "Oh crud." He brought his Keyblade up, blocking the tiger's jaws as it tackled him to the ground. The leopard growled at him, holding a claw up to scratch at him while he was pinned. "Deja vu with a leopard. Good thing you aren't related since I did kill it after it kept attacking me so many times."

While he dealt with his dangerous cats, along with the kitten that attacked him earlier, Daring Do was holding her own against the panther and lynx, avoiding their pounces and kicking them hard in the face. Sora managed to pry the tiger off of him, blocking the leopard from scratching at him before flipping back up and smacking it up in the air with his Keyblade. As the two pegasi dealt with the attacking felines, Rainbow Dash watched in awe, but wanting to do something to help. She noticed Daring's pith helmet laying against the ground, having been tossed aside as the mare dropped her disguise.

The cyan pegasus ran up to it and picked it up, doing the dumbest thing possible by revealing herself. "Hey, Daring Do, I got your helmet!" Rainbow calling out to Daring alerted A, the dog-like being grinning as the defenseless pegasus was too entranced by getting his enemy's attention. "You want me to toss it!?"

Sora shoved the tiger and leopard off of him, seeing Rainbow Dash out in the open. "Oh for goodness sake, Rainbow-"

The kitten leapt off on a hill tall enough to land on the teen, slamming a rock down hard on his head and knocking the stallion unconscious. Satisfied at taking down his target, the small cat scuffed some dirt on his face and focused on Daring Do. The mare finally noticed Rainbow Dash, now caught in A's tail hand, holding her hostage. Grumbling angrily, not wanting her to get hurt, the mare surrendered, dropping the ring as the cats tied her and Sora up.

"Hang on, Daring Do! I'll help you!" A flung the pegasus into the woods, having caught Daring and her new helper, his minions carrying the captured boy and author as they began heading off to a temple not far from where they were.

"Don't bother!" she shouted. "I'd say you helped out plenty!"

Hearing her favorite explorer say that to her so coldly made Rainbow depressed, her attempt to help only doing nothing but causing more trouble. And now that she got Sora captured as well, they were both going to be put in a death trap because she was so caught up in her excitement as a fan. What he said to her earlier about putting Daring up so high on a pedestal came back to her, and she realized that she was putting herself down because she was better than anything else. She was worshiping her too much and forgot about her own abilities and self-esteem. Snapping out of her attitude, she leered at the temple and flew off toward it, this time actually helping to save her idol, her friend, and the world from eight centuries of sweltering heat.

—-------------

Sora groaned as he stirred awake, unable to move his mouth from the gag that was placed on him. He opened his eyes, looking at A upside down, his legs tied to a chain hanging from the rafters from inside the temple. He tried to move his arms, but they were tied up as well. There was no way he would be able to escape without the use of any of his limbs to call his Keyblade and break free, the evil canine-ape creature knowing a thing or two how he summons his weapon.

He looked up as he heard Daring grunting, finding her trapped as well. Her hooves were bound to stone restraints attached to the wall, and below them was a pit of water with piranhas jumping up, trying to sink their sharp jaws into their meals hanging teasingly above them. Sora was half expecting a sea-bearing crocodile that made ticking sounds like a clock instead, though seeing how cliche it seemed for a villain to trap their foes in an "inescapable" death, he knew they were going to break out at some point.

"You'd better surrender, A!" Daring warned as she struggled to pull her hooves out from her restraints, but the villain only laughed in amusement.

"Oh, how I will miss your amusing little quips, Daring Do. But now, I must leave to commence the ring-placing ceremony to unleash eight hundred years of unrelenting, sweltering heat!" A laughed harder, pulling on a chain beside him that caused the pit beneath them to fill up with more water, bringing the piranhas closer to them.

As soon as he left, a big mistake on any villain to leave their enemies alone as they are about to die, Daring pulled harder on her restraints. "I can't believe she followed us out here! Now, no thanks to her, A's going to succeed and doom this valley, and all of Equestria! But I'm not going to let that happen, not until I die!"

She pulled hard, pulling out the slabs her bindings were attached to. She released one of her hind legs, then another, and barely managed to pull out one of her forelegs. The water was rising fast and her three free limbs were weighed down by the heavy stone slabs she pulled out, and she was already exhausted from trying to break free. She couldn't even move her other foreleg out from the strain of the weights attached to her freed hooves.

She flinched as she prepared to get eaten, slowly feeling the last slab slowly slipping out, unable to escape from this trap unlike the many others she was able to get out from. Sora worried she wouldn't make it, but his saving grace came from a rainbow and two green blurs swooping down through the skylight, with Gene cutting the bindings of his arms with his arm blades. As he dropped from his position, he quickly summoned his Keyblade, swinging it down to slice through the chain to free his legs, holding it in his hand and aiming down at the water. He cast a Blizzaga spell, freezing all the water coming in from the pipe and below them, landing on the very thick ice with a thud as he watched the piranha bumping into the frozen surface.

Now freed, Sora pulled out the cloth in his mouth and dashed toward Daring, the mare slipping off to fall and crash through the ice, but was saved by him before the stone restraints cracked the ice and sent her down to a watery grave. He carried the adventurous mare and the extra weight of the stone slabs connected to her hooves up on the ledge where A stood, Gene, Belle and Rainbow Dash standing there waiting for them with her makeshift dagger in her mouth.

Now back on solid ground, Daring slammed her hooves down onto the floor, smashing her restraints and freeing her hooves. "I understand why you two are here, but why are YOU here?"

"We just saved both of your flanks, and you're going to thank me like that?" Rainbow questioned.

"I told you I work alone," Daring reminded.

"Well, I don't," Rainbow argued. "And you were working with Sora, Gene and Belle. So explain that."

The archaeologist was about to argue, but without her saving both her and Sora, they both would have wound up fish food. "...Alright...I guess I can't escape every single trap I wind up in...or take down my foes single-hoofedly every time. So, thanks. All of you."

"Ok, can we make up after we stop eight centuries of a relentless heat wave and a psychotic villain dumb enough to do this and leave his victims alone to their deaths without making sure they stay dead and not escape." Both mares blushed at the comment Gene made, nodding their heads as they made their way out of the death room and into the temple.

After navigating through the corridors, the five of pegasi found the room where the ceremony was about to take place. Standing along the pathway were tribal stallions holding spears, and on the other side of the room were a stack of golden rings, stacked from biggest to smallest around a totem with unreadable inscriptions. At the end of the room was a strange glowing object on a pillar. A cackled, holding the last ring and was about to place it down to complete the ritual. Sora quickly flung his Keyblade using Strike Raid, sending the weapon spiraling like a blade, knocking the ring out of his hand, clattering to the ground far from the ape-dog villain.

"What!?" he exclaimed in shock, Sora flying in and kicking A in the face, sending him into the wall.

"I object!" Sora shouted. "This celebration is canceled!"

A sat up, rubbing his head as he gawked in shock. "H-How did you escape!? There was no way you or Daring Do could have gotten out!"

"Well, if you bothered to stick around and see us die, then that would have worked." Sora called his Keyblade back in his hand, pointing it at the angered villain. "Now it's time to take you and your little minions down, Fido."

The stallions let out a battle cry and charged after Sora, along with his feline minions.

Gene held up his Sword, blocking the little kitten that was about to lunge at his face. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty." The cat's claws struck his blade, quickly flipping rapidly in midair as Gene flicked his weapon to parry. "Bad kitty!"

He stepped forward and unleashed a shockwave, sending the cat and the other stallions flying back. A growled and leapt toward him, joining the fight using his own claws and extended arm of a tail. While Sora, Gene and Belle distracted the baddies, Rainbow and Daring snuck around the battlefield and reached the golden rings.

"We have to get this large ring at the bottom out," Daring explained. "If we can pull this off, then the whole temple will collapse."

"This was your plan?" Rainbow asked out of curiosity, both mares taking off the smaller rings, but needing both their strength to pull off the larger ones.

"Well, I had to find some way to get into the fortress without sounding an alarm." Rainbow Dash nearly dropped a medium sized ring they were pulling off, surprised to hear that the daring Daring Do wanted to get caught.

"Wait, you wanted to be captured!?" she asked. "What about Sora!?"

"I didn't exactly tell him all of my plan." Both mares grunted, pulling off another ring as they flapped their wings hard to lift it off over the totem. "I figured he'd go along with whatever I did, but having him knocked out by that cat wasn't what I had in mind. Plus-" They both strained to pull off the second to last ring, each one getting heavier and heavier the bigger the rings were. "-I didn't count on how heavy these things were."

Back in the battle, A thrust his tail forward, Sora quickly dodging as he latched onto it tightly. "How about a little do-se-do!?" He yelped as the teen pulled hard and began swinging him around, smacking the villainous creature into his minions. "Swing your pardner, round and round! Fling 'em up-" Sora flicked A up, smacking him into the ceiling and dazing him. "-then slam 'em down!"

With a hard tug, he sent A slamming down hard into the stone floor. With the boss knocked out, all that was left were the annoying cohorts following their leader's orders.

"Blizzard!" Twilight's voice rang out, a blast of ice soaring past Sora's head as the spell struck one of the stallions, encasing him in ice. He looked behind him, seeing the rest of their friends finally caught up as they ran into the room, helping distract the minions. "Sora, are you alright?"

"Perfect!" he said as he pumped his hand in the air. "Though, can you aim a few yards away from the back of my head when you shoot magic? Don't want to be burnt to a crisp...Or wind up like that guy."

"Duly noted." The alicorn yelped as a tribal stallion thrust his spear at her, quickly blocking it and sending him flying back with a blast of her magic. She then froze, staring at the object on the pillar, ‘No way, a Flame Clock?!’

Meanwhile, Rainbow and Daring managed to get the second to last one out, but the final ring was too heavy for both of them to lift. He helped them out, giving them the extra muscle they needed to pull it out. As soon as they hoisted the large ring up, the temple began to shake, needing just this last ring to destroy this place. A sat up with a groan, his body sore, especially around his head and tail. He felt the ground quake and looked over at the totem, his jaw dropping as the two pegasi were pulling the last ring out of place.

"STOP THEM!" he shouted, winding up biting his tongue as Pinkie Pie bounced on his head.

Rainbow, and Daring flapped their wings as hard as they could and lifted with all their might. With one last push, they tossed the ring away from the totem, the shaking growing wild as the temple began to collapse. Not needing to be told, Twilight created a large barrier to shield them from the falling rumble. When the rumbling stopped, everyone sighed as they saw the temple collapsed and everyone safe, ending another attempt from Daring Do's arch enemy using ancient magics to destroy or take over Equestria.

Or so they thought.

"It’s over, A! You lost!" Daring Do shouted.

A said nothing, as he began to chuckle, before bursting into full out laughter, which confused everyone. Before the others could say a word, they went quiet as they saw A begin to glow with sparks of purple light. As the light was drawn into him, it then revealed a massive creature standing in his place, taking a similar appearance to the Moebius they had encountered before, though seemed injured.

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Moebius Boss Theme)

“He’s transformed?!” Sora exclaimed in shock.

“He looks exactly like that monster!” Korrina yelled in anger as everyone stared in shock while getting into a defensive position, seeing the infinity symbol glow within the being’s right eye.

“Moebius…” Gene muttered, as his sword began to vibrate softly and glow an otherworldly light towards the Moebius.

The Moebius then moved closer towards the Flame Clock, which was somehow perfectly intact, and slowly raised his arms. As he did so, the life within it could be seen shining from the clock, and into him. Continuing to consume its remaining lifeforce, the minions surrounding them fell to the ground as their life force was shortly drained from their bodies. The area was now becoming a feast of blood for the Moebius, as he continued to drain the minion’s lives. Seeing him do so, the group stared at the scene before them in horror, while watching the dying minions twitch on the ground.

"No way…He's stealing from the Flame Clock?" Twilight could hardly watch the Moebius steal their life force, while the Moebius could only only help but cackle gleefully.

"My dear princess," The Moebius then carefully approached the group, filled with ecstasy from the life he had stolen. "Your vaunted intuition… couldn’t be more wrong!" He then pummeled his fist into the ground, with the great force knocking them backwards. As they got back on their feet, they all began their attempts to attack the Moebius. However, his wounds only continued to heal from the life had stolen. "I'm not 'stealing' from them, as I, a Moebius, have the rights to do whatever I please with the Flame Clock. You may resume attacking me, but I'm afraid I shall not fall. Take your best shot at me, if you dare!" With their efforts being in vain, the group stood back as they continued to watch the Moebius further drain the rest of the minion’s life force. They couldn't continue fighting like this, as the Moebius would defeat them in no time. Nearly being buried around the various rubble, they helplessly stood in place as they tried to think of another plan.

Continuing to watch lives get drained away, Gene noticed the Flame Clock at the corner of his eye. The clock only had a small sliver of light left within it, and it would be a matter of time before it depleted.

“Twilight, what happens if that thing goes out?!” Gene asked.

“Then those connected to it… will die.” Twilight said, worried.

“Stop attacking! Guys!” Sora shouted.

“You must be joking!” Korrina said, shooting an Aura Sphere. “If we stop now, he’ll take us out!”

“But…”

“Wake up, Sora! They're not his minions anymore! They’re his fuel now!” Lucario yelled, dodging an attack.

“Even so…” Sora said, as Gene continued to think. He knew that the Moebius depended on the Flame Clock in order to keep fighting them. If they managed to destroy the clock, he would surely be defeated for good.

"Did you think of something?" Belle noticed how he was deep in thought, with her wondering why he had been so quiet. She nudged him gently, with him shortly turning to her.

"I did, but it's a dangerous risk to take." He replied. "What if we managed to destroy the Flame Clock, in order to take out the Moebius? It could end up killing his minions, but there's no way of telling that it will."

"Destroy the Flame Clock? It's risky, but if it's the only way to take him out, let's do it." With her approval, Gene advised the others to avert their attention to him. They turned to him intently, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"What do you have in mind, Gene?" Twilight asked.

"We're going to destroy the Flame Clock, while you guys distract him. Does that sound like a plan?" Genereplied.

"Wait, you're really going to destroy the clock?" Twilight asked, staring at him in shock. "If you do, then these ponies will-"

"It's the only way we'll get out of here alive. The two of us will head towards the clock, while the rest of you continue to distract the Moebius. I'll count to three, then we'll charge towards him."

"Got it. After all, I think someone deserves a good beating!" Sora readied his Keyblade, while the others nodded in reply to the plan. He began to count to three, with them readying themselves once more. As he reached three, they all charged towards the center of the battlefield. With the others continuing to attack the Moebius, Gene advised Belle to follow him. They shortly reached the clock looming over them from above. Merging into their Interlinked Form, They quickly sank their dual edged weapon into the clock. However, the two were taken back as it didn't even make a mere dent in the clock. Managing to find the two, the Moebius laughed at their failed attempt.

"Oh, such naivety! I very much admire your determination, Ouroboros." He began. "However, the Flame Clock is life itself! I doubt it'll break that easily, will it? I appreciate you all showing yourselves, as it'll only assist me further!" Lifting himself into the air, the Moebius continued to fire a variety of lightning strikes down onto the battlefield, with them annihilating parts of the ground below. The Ouroboros continued to attack him, while barely managing to dodge his attacks in the process. With Gene still determined to smash the Flame Clock, he suddenly unlocked a memory within his thoughts.

“The sheath acts as a disguise, to hold back its power, though it is still very effective against Heartless. However, if ever against Moebius and needs its true strength, it is only a matter of drawing. Only then will its true power be unleashed.”

‘If it really can rival the X-Blade…’ Gene thought, before getting an idea, “Belle, try again! Cancel the Interlink after we jump!" Gene shouted.

“What’s the plan?” Belle asked.

“The time has come to show are sword’s true power!”

Receiving her approval, they lunged towards the Moebius and gave him a swift blow to his chest. With the blow knocking them back, the two took the opportunity to cancel their Interlink.

“Your Interlink. But why?” The Moebius asked.

As they were nearing closer towards the clock, Gene then drew his blade. Grabbing the handle of his blade, the outer shell of his blade formed a red gauntlet around his left arm. The true sword was a long, silver blade with a black handle on the bottom. Wielding the fabled blade within his right hand, Belle grabbed his left hand as they were about to fall. As they fell further in the air, Gene stabbed the Flame Clock's center with his sword. With metal managing to slice through the center, the clock was further drained of its remaining life. A sea of blood red lifeforce was released into the air, disappearing as it hit the ground below.

"I-Impossible! The Flame Clocks cannot be broken! Just who are these people?!" The Moebius was stunned at the sight of mere mortals slicing the Flame Clock, with him shortly falling towards the ground below. They were designed to be indestructible, but the Gallade’s sword had proven otherwise.

(End Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Moebius Boss Theme)

While kneeling on the ground, he felt the lifeforce he had stolen from his minion’s drain from his body. As it did so, he screamed as he felt the excruciating pain shorten his own lifeforce. "N-Noooo! All I wanted was to play around just a little more!" He wailed, trying to get back on his feet. "No! I don't want to die!!" Shortly after his remaining life had drained, the Moebius disappeared within the same light he had used to transform with. In his place, A's body laid lifelessly on the ground.

"Is everyone alright?" Gene asked, with them managing to catch up with the others. He hadn't been able to redraw the sword ever since withdrawing it from his outer blade, but he figured that the time would eventually come again.

"I think they're fine." Belle replied. Seeing the others unhurt, he then knew that the answer was quite obvious. "I can't believe we all managed to actually pull that off!"

"Yeah, we're all fine." Sora smiled. "You guys look alright, too." They then noticed A's body lying nearby, with it invoking uneasy feelings within them.

"That guy was just playin' around, wasn't he?" Lucario asked, staring at the body. "Let's take a peek at this guy’s face." They then approached the body, with him kneeling over the A. The others were unwilling to go near it, leaving him to do the honors. "How'd you get this thing off? It's stuck on tight!" Feeling the back of A's helmet, his finger felt a small button further below. As he clicked the button, the mask soon revealed the villain's face.

“So this is what he really looks like.” Daring Do said. “Always wondered what was underneath that mask of his.”

While they continued to stare at him, A’s body had begun to fade within motes of blue light. His motes flew past them as they floated further into the sky, with a mote brushing over Gene. The mote had echoed A's dying words.

"No! I don't want to die!!"

Although the A had done many horrible things to them, Gene took out his flute without any reconsideration. Seeing that he was going to play for the Moebius, the others stared at him in disbelief.

"Nope, you aren't doing that!" Korrina placed a paw on the flute, preparing to swipe it from him. "You aren't sending him on! Do you even realize how wrong that is?!"

“You think so?” Gene asked.

“How do you not…?!” Korrina said dumbfounded, not prepared for his reply. “Think about the things this guy did!”

“He tried to kill us all, and rob his own minions of their life!” Twilight added.

“You’re right. Both of you are right. But still, we chose to fight, and kill him. We have to atone for that.” Gene said, before holding out his flute and about to play. Lifting the flute to his lips, he began to play his tune.

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 A Life Sent On)

The sound of the melody echoed throughout the area, much to the disapproval of the others.

“Sometimes I hate it when he’s right.” Korrina sighed in defeat.

As he continued to play, Belle could only watch him play. She dreaded the fact of playing for the being that tried to kill them, but noticed how his motes were the same as the ones belonging to were being sent on. Being an off-seer herself, she shortly took out her own flute and played alongside him. With the two off-seer tunes playing at once, the sky was now filled with a sea of blue motes, while surrounding the others. Moebius's body had disappeared for good, marking the start of his journey back to the afterlife.

Daring pulled Rainbow Dash and Sora to the side, honestly unable to pull off this adventure without them. "Couldn't have done all this without you guys. Thanks you guys."

Beaming widely, Rainbow rammed into Daring Do and caught her in a hug. Sora shook his head, still behaving like a fangirl even after acting normal around her favorite author/character when they stopped A. Daring grinned nervously, not really expecting a hug, patting the mare on the head.

"Okay, Rainbow Dash. Enough trying to live out a fantasy with Daring." Rainbow blushed heavily, leering at Sora as she pulled away, the teen grinning as he teased her.

"Well, after all this much fun, I've got an incredibly exciting book to finish," the mare said. "And I found myself a perfectly good twist in mind. But you guys need to keep my identity a secret while I'm A. K. Yearling. Got that?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rainbow said excitedly.

"Good." Daring approached Sora and whispered to him out of Rainbow's hearing. "You will make sure she doesn't tell anypony, right?"

"Don't worry. We won't blow your cover," Sora promised.

Daring Do flew off, waving to her surprisingly new friends and headed back home to continue writing her latest expedition/"fictional" story.

Seeing that they had done their purpose, the off-seers ceased their playing.

(End Xenoblade Chronicles 3 A Life Sent On)

They knew what they had done was considered wrong, but the two had no regrets. Even if he was a Moebius, he was once a person just like them.

"Strange, isn't it?" Gene commented, watching the remainder of the motes disappear into the sky. "It's odd how we both played for him, despite what he had done to us. I can't help but feel sorry for him, though."

"Me too," She replied, while putting her flute away. "But, it's our purpose as off-seers. No matter who they are, it's always our duty to send off the departed." As they watched the motes, the others continued to stare at them. Although some of them didn't approve of what they had done, they understood why the two did so.

City

View Online

Chapter 8: City

After the Moebius attack from their Daring Do adventure the other day, Sora felt like it was more important than ever to head towards the City, as everyone made their way towards Los Pegasus to get a boat. Apparently, the City was located on an island in the middle of the ocean, where a giant sword pierced the world. Their path started to open up, as Sora was now alarmed by what he saw to take any notice. "Smoke?"

"Maybe someone's got a fire going!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "Hope they're cooking up something good!"

"It's hardly a good spot for a barbecue." Belle said.

"The smoke seems too dense, as well." Gene added.

"Come on, let's take a look." Sora said. They quickly ran to the source of the smoke, careful to avoid the native creatures. As the boys approached the column of smoke, they began to make out a large, dark shape at its base. They paused beside it.

"Someone's left a buggy out here." Lucario said.

"That's strange." Juniper said. "Who would just abandon a buggy in this place? And it's pretty new."

"Is it brand new?" Rarity asked.

"Not brand new." Juniper said. "But it's in very good condition. You wouldn't just abandon it. So what did happen to the driver?"

"It does seem strange." Twilight said.

Gene summoned his weapon and held it tightly. "Guys! Over there!"

At a nearby Oasis, two Large Bodies towered over a Chespin as he screamed for help. Chespin was a bipedal, mammalian Pokémon. He was primarily light brown with darker arms and three triangular markings around his face. He had oval, brown eyes; a triangular, red nose; and rodent-like incisors. His arms had three fingers, while his feet had two long claws. Covering his back was a tough, green shell, which extended from his head to halfway down his tail. The tip of his tapered tail was orange. There was a small, off-center hole in the shell on the back of Chespin's head and, around the face, the shell had four leaf-like spikes. On the back of his head was another spike split into three parts. Sora, Twilight, and Gene immediately placed themselves between the Chespin and the creatures, due to them being the only ones that can destroy the Heartless. "You all right, kid?" Gene asked.

The Chespin looked up, startled. "Who are you?"

"That can wait!" said Sora sharply. "Go! Get outta here! Leave these guys to us."

"O- OK!" The boy quickly got to his feet and fled.

"Let's do this!" Sora exclaimed.

"Ready when you are," grinned Gene. The creatures growled and tried to follow the boy, but Gene smashed it in the face with his sword. It recoiled and narrowed its eyes; a sore had opened up where Gene had struck it. "You'll have to go through us if you want the kid!" The Large Bodie tried to punch Gene, but he jumped back and hit it in the head once more; it took a couple of steps backwards, growling.

The other Large Bodie charged at Gene; he leapt out of the way and slashed at it with the end of his sword, leaving a long, deep cut in its side. While the beast rounded on Gene; Sora dashed in and swiped its other side. It tried to turn to Sora, but Twilight ran in and slammed it on the side of its head with her Keyblade. Sora slashed it again; after a few more rounds of this, it collapsed as it vanished and released the heart trapped inside it.

The two quickly disposed of the other Large Bodie in a similar fashion. The Chespin they were helping was nowhere in sight.

"Well, now that that's over…" Gene looked over at Belle. "Did you see where that kid went?"

"I think he ran off towards the buggy… I'm not sure though."

Sora nodded. "That'd make sense. Let's go back there."

Sure enough, they found the Chespin back at the buggy. Juniper went over to the machine and bent down to examine it properly. Thankfully she brought some tools in case of situations like this, so she had just the right things to fix the buggy. "All right. It should work now." Juniper said.

The Chespin looked relieved. "Great. You saved my skin! My buggy short-circuited, and then there were those monsters, and… Well, thanks!"

Juniper nodded. "I fixed the circuit, but it's out of ether. Change the cylinder and it'll be good as new."

"Where are you guys heading? If you've got time, you should come back to our camp!"

"Your camp?" Sora repeated.

"Yeah," said Chespin. "It's not far."

"What do you think?" Gene asked Sora.

"Let's take him up on the offer," Sora suggested. "I'm surprised there's a camp here, but they might have some information."

"I suppose," Belle agreed.

Sora turned back to Chespin. "Chespin, can you tell us how to get there?"

"Sure!" said Chespin eagerly. "If you go back to the oasis, you should see a tall stone post. Head there first."

"Then what?" prompted Gene.

"There's a small path in the woods, next to the stone post. Just follow it down to our camp."

"Got it!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "Now, let's make a move." The buggy was still able to move on its own, albeit very slowly. Chespin jumped into the driver's seat and drove it steadily forward. Everyone started to head north-east, back towards the oasis where they had met.

Korrina took a deep breath. "Man, is it always this sunny here?"

"Not always… But it is a lot of the time." Chespin smiled

Korrina nodded, seemingly satisfied. They made their way through the trees towards a narrow opening in the cliff face; Juju nodded to a man standing guard as they passed him.

The path sloped downwards at a slight angle. The cliff face on their left opened up into a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing lay a pool of water with what looked like some kind of giant engine sitting in it.

A Shiny Gardevoir approached the party as they made their way into the refugee camp. "Chespin". She sighed. "Where have you been?" The woman was scowling as she glared down at the buggy. "Don't tell me you were…" When Chespin just stared at his feet, she continued. "I've told you a thousand times. We're not ready to leave the camp yet."

"But I thought…" Chespin slowly raised his gaze.

"Chespin!" she exclaimed angrily.

Chespin looked back to the ground. "Sorry, Mrs. Philips." He said, making Gene gasp quietly.

The Shiny Gardevoir smiled softly and bent down to touch her forehead to Chespin’s. Then she stood and turned her eyes to the group. "You must be survivors from the attack!" She ran over to Gene, looking desperate. "Is Los Pegasus Okay? Did everyone else make it?!"

"Hold on," said Sora. "What are you talking about?"

"We've… we've come from Ponyville," said Gene slowly.

Mrs. Philips looked surprised. "Ponyville?"

Juju spoke up. "They saved me from some monsters. You should have seen them, especially Gene!"

"Gene?" The Shiny Gardevoir said in surprise, before looking at the Gallade in front of her, "Your name is Gene?"

"Y-yeah… it is." Gene replied. His mind was spinning now. Something had clicked in his mind, and that was causing him to lose focus as realization began to dawn on him, as he saw a peculiar silver pendant around her neck. Something that belonged to someone close to him. "N-no… no way…!" Gene said dumbstruck. All of the pieces fell into place as he and the Gardevoir looked at one another in shock. “Mom?”

“MOM?!” Everyone exclaimed in unison.

That word snapped her out of her funk, as she looked at Gene with wide eyes. The elephant in the room had been addressed, and now Gene waited anxiously for any sign of reaction or realization.

Suddenly, they were at eye level, as the Gardevoir examined Gene’s face. Gene felt like her eyes were staring right into his soul, and that unnerved him even more. Despite that, Gene stares back at her, trying his very best not to break under pressure. After several seconds of staring each other down, the Shiny Gardevoir’s eyes soften, upon seeing the blue Ouroboros Ring in his right eye.

(Play Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix Friends in my Heart)

"It's really you…" she said breathlessly, "You're really here…" before she enveloped him in a warm hug. "Gene my dear child… you're here." she said, her face filled with tears, "I thought I'd never see you again…"

"M-Mom… I…" Gene said, still in disbelief. Could it really be her? His mind was screaming its denial, but Gene knew, deep in his heart, that this woman was without a doubt, his mother. He hugged her back, tears of his own threatening to spill. "I can't believe this… I didn't think I… I thought you were…!" Gene stammered, before shakily letting out a deep breath, "Forget it… I'm just so glad to see you again…"

"Me too, Gene… me too…" his mother hugged him tighter, and Gene let her. Mother and son had reunited, after a year apart. Sora simply smiled softly at the two, while Rarity was blowing her nose with tissue paper while Applejack gave her a reassuring pat. Rainbow herself was wiping away a tear, and everyone else couldn't help but smile at the reunion.

It took a while, but Gene and his mother broke apart, looking at one another again.

"Goodness, look at you." his mother finally said as she examined Gene, "What have you even been doing after all this time, Gene?"

"A... A lot of things," He sighed as his mother took his hands, shaking her head the entire time.

"You're so stubborn, you know that? I swear, you get that from your father."

"...Sorry?" Gene asked awkwardly.

"It's not your fault, Gene. I'm just relieved that you're really here, alive and well. I've been so worried ever since...." She trailed off, as they both started thinking of the last time they spoke to each other.

The two embraced once again, with more feeling than last time.

"I missed you so much, Gene." Gene’s mother whispered. Gene smiled as he rested his chin on her shoulder, letting a stray tear fall.

"I missed you, too, Mom."

(End Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix Friends in my Heart)

"Excuse me, Mrs. Philips?" Twilight asked.

“Please, call me Diana.”

"Diana, I hate to interrupt your family reunion, but you seemed very worried about Los Pegasus. Did something happen?"

Diana averted her gaze. "Los Pegasus has been…" She couldn't bring herself to say it; Chespin looked away. "Our new home! Now it's been taken over by some giant violet monster."

“No…” Sora said in disbelief, as everyone immediately knew what she was talking about.

Moebius.

"I'll tell you about it inside," said Diana grimly. "Follow me." She turned and began to lead the group into a cave set into the cliff. Everyone looked at each other before following her into the cave.

Inside were a number of women, children and elderly people, belonging to both Ponies and Pokemon alike. The children stared as they walked through. The entire area was open; there was no privacy to be had here. The stone corridor was short, and looped back in on itself; there was barely enough room for the few dozen refugees currently calling it home.

Diana led the group to what was presumably hers and Chespins area. A couple of mats lay on the ground for them to sleep on, and boxes full of supplies were stacked in a corner.

She turned to face the strangers from the strangers (well, most of them at least) from Ponyville. "They came out of nowhere, a swarm of black creatures were everywhere. They killed people and burned our buildings. They were led by a giant creature I had never seen before" She repressed a shudder. "Me and Chespin dedicated ourselves to evacuating the children and elderly." Diana shrugged. "I don't know what happened next."

"It sounds a lot like what happened at Canterlot," Sora muttered.

"They attacked Canterlot as well?!" Diana exclaimed in shock.

Gene nodded. "Yes. We were able to neutralize the threat, though.” He said, before turning to Korrina, who seemed upset, “At a cost.”

“It's good that you managed to evacuate so many." Belle said.

"Yeah…" Diana sighed.

"Erm..." Chespin sounded nervous.

Sora turned to him. "Hmm?"

"You're on your way to this City, right?" Chespin asked.

"You bet! We're heading there to get some answers," Rainbow Dash proclaimed "I bet we can even get some help to get your home back."

"There you go, showing off again..." Twilight sighed.

"If anyone can do it, it's you guys," said Chespin eagerly. "Could... um..." he steeled himself, "Could you take me with you to the City?!"

"Chespin!" said Diana sharply. "The people here need us! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"But you heard!" Chespin said angrily. "Those things attacked Canterlot! That means a load of those monsters must have left Los Pegasus already! It has to!"

Diana’s anger died; she hadn't considered that. "Even if that's true... No, especially if that's true! We cannot expose the camp to any more danger."

"So..." Chespin couldn't believe what he was hearing from his friend, "you don't care what happened to the people in Los Pegasus?!" He raised his voice. "How can you be so heartless? Are you that scared of those Monsters?!"

“Chespin, stop!” Sora said.

“But Sora-”

“No, seriously, stop!” Sora exclaimed, “Do you hear that?”

Everyone stood in silence, as they began to hear a strange engine noise. Worried, they left the cave and went to the entrance of the camp. From there, they saw large green ships appearing out of thin air, with their mechanical legs reaching towards the ground.

When they landed, numerous masked-humans emerged from the ships, as they surrounded the group. “What the-” Twilight exclaimed in shock, as she, Sora and Gene summoned their weapons, while everyone else got ready to defend themselves.

Unknown to them, two more people walked out of one of the strange ships, as they both stared at the group. (I will put in a Monica Description once I find one good enough.)

The person next to her was a young girl who was rather short despite being of adult age. She had fair skin, green eyes (with an eyepatch also with a strange symbol on her right eye) and light brown hair, worn in near shoulder-length twintails with her front bangs pinned back and held together with a hair clip. Her clothing consisted of a cropped open vest, mini skirt and forearm guards that had a green military camouflage pattern and red strokes. Underneath, the girl had a skintight black, sleeveless, midthigh one-piece suit that also had matching red lines. In addition, she wore black, long sleeve fingerless arm gloves with red accents and dark colored combat boots with a rectangular metal piece on the toe tip.

One of the masked men stared at Diana and the two Ralts, before Gene and Belle stepped in front of them, with Gene’s sword pointing at them. The woman glared a little, before she started to walk towards them.

“Sheathe your weapons. We’re not looking for a fight.” One of the soldiers said.

“What the-” Spike said.

“We are the Lost Numbers.” Another soldier said, “Sworn enemies of Moebius.”

“What?!” Korrina said as the group gasped in shock.

“There are others standing against Moebius?!” Rarity asked, as the woman was now in front of the group, which gained their attention.

“The name’s Monica. Monica Vandham.” The woman introduced. “The woman who entrusted The Sword of the End to you…I’m her daughter.

“Wait, you mean Impa?” Sora asked for clarity.

Monica nodded. “You’re headed for the City, ain’t ya?”

“How do you-” Belle asked, but was interrupted.

“That’s our base of operations. Come on.”

“Wha…?!” Diana said, not understanding what was happening.

Monica turned to the girl next to her. “Shania. Escort everyone here to the ships.”

“Yeah, all right.” She said, before she and a few soldiers went into the camp to get everyone.

“You two,” Monica said, pointing to Gene and Belle. “Before we take you to the City, you and your kids have to wear these.”

Some of the soldiers went up to the family, as they pulled out four black eyepatches.

“Eyepatches?” Gene asked in confusion.

“They’re the same as the ones we wear. Put them over the eye where your Ouroboros Ring is. Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.”

“And why do we need to wear these?” Gene asked, not understanding, as Shania and the soldiers came back, leading the refugees.

“These…will put a spanner in Moebius’s recon.” Monica replied.

“Moebius’s?!” Gene exclaimed, as Monica nodded.

“When you become Ouroboros, your Irises change,” She explained, “And they start emitting a weak radio signal. And so, we’re blocking that signal.”

“With these things?” Belle asked, staring at one of the eye patches, before turning to Monica. “Wait, what about yours? Are you Ouroboros too?”

“Eh, we’ll go with that.”

“What do you mean by that?” Rainbow Dash leered.

“You see,” Monica said as she lifted her eyepatch for a few seconds, revealing a yellow Ouroboros Ring, “We’re bound by Ouroboros blood.” Shania and some of the other soldiers did the same, before putting their eyepatches back on.

Gene hesitated for a second, before he looked at his family and nodded, as he, Belle, Rose and Robby took an eyepatch and put them on, with Gene and Rose’s on their right eye and Belle and Robby’s on their left.

“Thanks for the cooperation. We appreciate this.” Monica said.

“Yeah, well don’t bash us about it or anything. We still don’t fully trust you.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“If I wanted to, then your attitude would have you a thrashing already.” Monica said, making Rainbow Dash shut her mouth while everyone else started to laugh. “Right. Let’s get going then.”

Everyone then started to board one of the ships, as it began to take off.

—-------------

Meanwhile, Kairi was sitting on a bed and talking to Ansem the Wise, Ienzo and Even.

"Here is what we are going to do Kairi," the former started. "We are going to put you into a deep sleep so we can study your heart and see if it contains any clues to Sora's whereabouts."

"Okay." She said.

"There's something you should know about Kairi." Ienzo revealed. "We do not know how long it will actually take us to find something. That means that you can be asleep for some time."

"I don't care!" Kairi revealed. "I'll do whatever I can to find Sora!"

A silence broke into the room, waiting for anyone to reply to her statement.

"Very well," Even said. "This is your choice."

After Even said this… Kairi's friends walked into the room.

"Are you going to put her to sleep now?" Xion asked.

"Yes," Ansem the Wise replied. "So say your goodbyes."

"She isn't going to be asleep for a year, is she?" Axel asked.

"It depends on how long it takes to find any clues on Sora's whereabouts", Ansem the Wise revealed.

"Are you sure about this Kairi?" Riku asked.

"I'm sure." Kairi replied.

"Guess this is goodbye then." Axel said as Naminé walked up to her.

"Th...thank you for keeping me safe within your heart", she said.

"You're welcome", Kairi said. "Naminé, can I ask you to do a favor for me?"

"A favor?" Naminé asked in confusion.

"Look after Riku for me." She asked.

Naminé looked at me in shock, but then...she nodded.

"I'll be fine", Riku stated, as walked up to her and gave her a hug. "Sleep tight", he said. "I hope you have good dreams."

—-------------

(Play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 City Theme)

The group finally saw the giant sword in the middle of the ocean, before they went through a hidden entrance at the sword’s hilt, “This was inside the Great Sword the whole time?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I suggest you save your surprise for later.” Monica stated, as an advanced settlement came into view.

“This is the…City?” Sora asked.

“While I am relieved that we are here, we shouldn’t relax just yet.” Lucario stated.

“Why not?” Sora said.

“We don’t even know if the people here are really are allies yet.” Lucario said. “We can’t get complacent.”

“They said they opposed Moebius, didn’t they?” Belle asked. “So it should be okay to trust them, right?”

“‘The enemy of our enemy is our friend.’ Gotcha.” Gene quoted.

“Why do I even try?” Lucario sighed to himself, as the ships landed on a platform.

“You can take the eyepatches off now.” Monica spoke up, gaining their attention as she took off her’s. “Won’t need them past this point.”

“Are you sure about that?” Belle asked.

“The City’s got some signal-jamming tech that functions just like the eyepatches, blocking detection by Moebius. We’re safe here. You have my word.”

“I suppose that must be the reason why they haven’t been able to discover the City location yet.” Twilight realized.

“You got that right. This place, and the Sealed Temple, is our last redoubt, and our sole haven in this world. But as soon as we step outside, Moebius are all over us, like a bad wool sweater.” Monica said. “So don’t forget your eyepatches whenever you leave.”

“We hear you, loud and clear. We’ll remember.” Belle said, as she, Rose and Robbie took theirs off, while Gene for some reason kept his on.

“You’re keeping yours on?” Monica asked in confusion.

“To be honest, I’ve been wearing an eyepatch for a very large portion of my life.” Gene shrugged. “It feels natural to me.”

“If that’s what you choose.” Monica said, as everyone then followed her, while hearing the people talking about them.

“Ouroboros?”

“Ouroboros, yeah.”

“So ‘they’re’ Ouroboros.”

“And they’re Pokemon…?”

“But they’re not from our world!”

“Watch yourself! They could be secret spies for Arceus!”

“It’s over…This place will be a warzone.”

“They’re all whispering about us.” Belle stated uncomfortably, as she held Rose in her hands, while Gene held Robby.

“I feel…we’re not exactly welcome here.” Diana said.

“‘Uninvited guests’, one might say.” Rarity stated.

“They’re the ones who brought us here.” Rainbow Dash said.

“I still don’t get it.” Twilight spoke up. “There was no history known in Equus about this place, nor about human beings.”

“Yeah,” Korrina nodded, looking at some of the kids playing tag. “Arceus said when he was looking for a new world to send the Pokemon to, this one had no humans. How did he not find this place?”

“My guess is the same reason why Moebius can’t,” Juniper theorized, thinking it was the only logical explanation.

“So you’re Ouroboros, huh?”

“Huh?” Gene said, as everyone turned to see a group of five people walk towards them, looking very upset.

“You learned of Moebius about like what? A week ago? Some hope you are.” One of them said.

“What’s your problem?!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Mind your manners!” Rarity added.

“Lemme introduce ya.” Monica said, walking over to the group of five. “These were our Ouroboros candidates. They trained relentlessly to fight against Moebius…Each and everyone one of them. That includes Shania there.”

“Candidates?” Gene asked, as he turned to Shania, who looked away from him.

“You happy? That you stole Ouroboros from us?” The leader of the group asked angrily, making everyone confused to what he meant.

“All right, that’s enough!” Monica said, before a fight could begin to form. “Whatever the reason, they were chosen. To be fair, they have gone against quite a few Moebius and Heartless already. They’re the real thing all right. You heard Shania’s reports.”

“Reports? What reports?” Applejack asked.

“I had her monitor your actions with extreme scrutiny. All the way from Canterlot.”

“Since way back then…?” Fluttershy said in shock at Shania, who again, turned away.

“Together, we are united in our cause.” Monica stated.

“Ms. Vandham…” The leader said, before sighing in defeat. “Alright then.” The group of five then walked away, leaving the heroes to themselves.

“Nice to meet you…?” Sora awkwardly said.

“Well, that was awkward.” Belle said.

“Please, it’s not their fault. They’re not a bad lot, really."

“That’s easy for you to say.” Korrina said, as they continued to their destination.

“You said that you were monitoring us earlier. Is that why you came to the refugee camp?” Gene asked.

“After you two first interlinked, Shania relayed the info straight back to us.” Monica said. “So, I’d been looking for a chance to contact you. When you got the Sword of the End, we reckoned that you would just head straight here.”

“Most of us didn’t have any fighting experience.” Twilight said, “We didn’t know if we would get ambushed by Heartless on the way here.”

“I don’t blame you.” Monica chuckled.

(End Xenoblade Chronicles 3 City Theme)

“Wait.” Sora said, as everyone stopped and turned to him. “I think it’s best if you have this.” He walked over to Monica and pulled out the silver bracelet he picked up at the Sealed Temple, and gave it to her.

“Thank you. I mean it.” She replied, as she looked at the Bracelet in sadness, before she put it away. “This way.” She said, leading everyone to a room with a strange stone in the center, and six statues circling the wall.

“Who are these guys?” Diana asked, looking at the statues.

“The first Ouroboros.” Monica replied. “The Founders, we call them.”

“Can you tell us about them?” Gene asked.

“Long, long ago, they gained the power of Ouroboros. It let them match Moebius blow-for-blow.” Monica began to explain. “The City folk you see here? We’re all descended from them.”

“Really?” Sora asked in amazement.

“The Ancient Keyblade Masters, the Foretellers, their powers united created Ouroboros. Keyblade Wielders and Ouroboros are the only ones that can take down Moebius.” Monica said, before looking at the strange looking stone. “Although, there can only be six Ouroboros alive at one time. By activating the Ouroboros Stone’s cage here, those with aptitude can become Ouroboros.”

“Only six?” Korrina asked. “Why so few of them…?”

“I get it. That’s why they got…so upset.” Belle sadly realized, thinking of the group that was angry at them earlier.

“You happy? That you stole Ouroboros from us?”

“Finally clicked? There’s only so many seats and Stones.” Monica said. “The one you see here, it took our ancestors forever to find. And yet…” She paused, as she turned to Gene and Belle, smiling at them. "You proved that there can be another way."

"Huh?"

“You see, you two are the first one’s in history to become Ouroboros without the use of a Stone.”

“The first?!” Gene asked in shock. “But how?!”

“You know what, I don’t know.” Monica replied. “But if anyone knows, it's the Foretellers. We are currently searching for them as we speak.”

“Wait,” Sora interrupted, “The Ancient Keyblade Masters died during the Keyblade War, which was at least a few centuries ago. How can they still be alive?”

“It’s gonna take more than a war to keep the Foretellers down.” Monica smirked. “Our ancestors believed that they are somewhere in this world, sleeping.”

“What for?” Twilight asked.

“Why else? To protect our world from Moebius.” Monica said seriously.

Silence filled the room for a moment, before Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Man, I think I need some time to process all of this.”

“Yeah.” Korrina nodded. “Quite a weight to carry, absorbing all this in one go.”

Monica nodded as started to walk out of the room, “Come. I will show you where you will be staying while you are here.”

The others nodded, as they followed Monica.

—-------------

(Play Kingdom Hearts A Villain of a Sorts)

In the Moebius's Base, the stuttering screen replayed the actions of the heroes lifes. Witnessing the various events being shown, the audience could only feel sorry for them.

"Such a shame," A golden figure spat, staring at the screen in disbelief. "If they only knew what awaits them in the future."

"Aww, it's only fun if they find out for themselves! Don't just try to rush them, y'know." X slumped in her seat, becoming annoyed with the golden figure seated in the front row. "Honestly, we should just get a move on already. There's too many incompetent people here, including some of the newer members."

"The time will come when he calls for it." Y replied, not being bothered by X's numerous complaints. Amidst the Moebius sat their master, who continued to watch the screen in silence. He didn't bother to turn when his name was called, but simply listened in place.

"What will you do now?" The golden figure asked, staring at the screen. "Will it begin soon enough?"

"We'll begin to break them little by little. Such is what you'd call the passage of fate in this world."

Continuing to sit in silence, another Moebius suddenly appeared between the rows of the seats. With the press of a button, the Moebius’s helmet was removed. Noticing their presence, the golden Consul quickly took notice of them.

"Ah, you're here. I see that you're getting accustomed to this already." He spoke, making eye contact with them. "Aren't you happy you've chosen the correct path, instead of accumulating false hope?"

"I'm enlightened, to be quite honest with you. As for them, they'll only continue to go through the endless cycle once more." Moving their head towards the Moebius, their eye lightened with a crimson infinity symbol. As the golden figure glanced back, the symbol appeared within his same eye.

(End Kingdom Hearts A Villain of a Sorts)

—-------------

By the time it was night, everyone was getting ready for bed, while night time patrols started doing their routines. Diana came out of the building that she and the others were staying in, looking at the City.

“Hey.”

She gasped, as she turned to see Gene walk up next to her. “Is there a problem?”

“No. Just thinking.” Diana sighed.

“I just wanted to let you know that we’re not sleeping in tomorrow, our training starts early. They said that it isn’t like what we’re used to, so I suggest you get some sleep while you can.”

“Oh. Okay.” Diana said, before looking at Gene’s hand, seeing his wedding ring, and sighing in defeat. “I’m sorry”

“Huh?” Gene asked, turning to her.

“The last time we spoke to each other, I was furious at you, about your relationship with Belle. After I called the cops on you, I immediately regretted it. I wished that I could just turn back time and undo that moment.” Diana said, her tears starting to form in her eyes. “I’m sorry, for everything.”

Gene didn’t know what to say. How does this balance out? Which weighs more—love or betrayal? Which carries more pain? He swallows. “I just… You always told me to follow my heart; and it led me to Belle. The moment you called the police on me, it hurt. I felt betrayed. I wanted you out of my life for good. I can never forgive you for that. But…” he said, with stems of tears coming out of his eyes, “I would like to try.”

Diana breathes out, loud. “I’d like that,” she said.

“Okay,” Gene said, uncertainly. “Good night.”

“Yeah, night.” Diana replied, as Gene left and went into the building, trying to comprehend what happened.

—-------------

"Mommy, we can’t sleep. Will you sing us a lullaby?" Rose asked politely, as Belle was putting her and her twin brother to bed.

"Of course, sweetie." She said, "But you have to promise to go to sleep afterwards, okay?" Belle asked, which made the twins nod.

(Play Kingdom Hearts Simple and Clean)

(Belle)

When you walk away

You don't hear me say,

"Please, oh baby, don't go."

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight

It's hard to let it go

You're giving me too many things

Lately, you're all I need.

You smiled at me and said,

"Don't get me wrong, I love you,

But does that mean I have to meet your father?"

When we are older you'll understand

What I meant when I said,

"No, I don't think life is quite that simple."

When you walk away

You don't hear me say,

"Please, oh baby, don't go."

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight

It's hard to let it go

So simple and clean

The daily things

(like this and that and what is what)

That keep us all busy are confusing me

That's when you came to me and said,

"Wish I could prove I love you,

But does that mean I have to walk on water?"

When we are older you'll understand

It's enough when I say so

And maybe some things are that simple

When you walk away

You don't hear me say,

"Please, oh baby, don't go."

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight

It's hard to let it go

Hold me

Whatever lies beyond this morning

Is a little later on

Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all

Nothing's like before

When you walk away

You don't hear me say,

"Please, oh baby, don't go."

Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight

It's hard to let it go

Hold me

Whatever lies beyond this morning

Is a little later on

Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all

Nothing's like before

Hold me

Whatever lies beyond this morning

Is a little later on

Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all

Nothing's like before

(End Kingdom Hearts Simple and Clean)

When she finished, the Gardevoir saw both Ralts fast asleep. With that, she quietly exited the room, making her way into her own.

—-------------

The next morning, everyone was now in a massive circular area about the size of a couple of miles in length across, with the surface made of glass. Beneath the glass was a cylindrical machine with two large metal orbs. Meanwhile, Rose, Robby, Diana, Chespin, Juniper and a few others were in the stands to watch. “This place is ginormous!” Pinkie Pie yelled.

“Well I don’t blame you for thinking so.” Monica's voice said, as she was at the intercom. “This is one of our training areas, provided with the ARC.”

“The ARC?” Sora asked in confusion.

“The Augmented Reality Combat System, or ARC for short, generates a fully interactive environment, used for numerous combat scenarios.” Monica explained, “The Heartless that come from the system will be nothing but interactive holograms.” She then pressed a few keys as her monitor showed a picture of a city that looked like San Fransokyo. “For this session, I will activate the field, ‘Quadratum’.”

A whirring noise sounded underneath, making everyone look down to see the cylindrical machine with the two large metal orbs as one of the ends tilted up towards the glass ceiling below. “Augment Reality Combat system online.” A computer voice said, as magenta beams shone through the orbs and onto the glass, covering it in light. “Generating Battlefield.” Once the light faded, concrete roads appeared from where everyone stood. The light began to spread to the walls and ceiling, changing them into a night sky. Buildings and cars begin to emerge from the ground, as the field finished forming.

As everyone looked at their new surroundings, Belle went over, and touched one of the cars that the ARC system generated. "It feels like an actual car," she said in amazement.

“Get ready. I’m about to generate some enemies.” Monica said, as everyone nodded and separated, to cover more ground. A few moments later, Monica pushed a button, as a swarm of Heartless materialized from the ARC system.

(Play Kingdom Hearts Sora’s Theme)

Rainbow Dash dove into a Shadow at high speeds, the impact dissipating it into mist. "Not today, you heart stealing freaks!" she proclaimed with a smirk, uppercutting another Shadow into the air. She then grabbed hold of the monster's leg and slammed it back into the ground. The creature dissolved on impact.

Gene jumped in the air and brought his sword down on a Shadow, destroying it in an instant. They continued with their battle, but more Shadow's kept emerging from the ground.

"Hold on, y'all!" Applejack yelled, tossing a lasso and ensnaring three Shadows with it. She tugged on her rope to yank the monsters closer to her, delivering a powerful buck that sent them flying across the street. Two of them dissipated while the survivor rolled on its back in a dizzy trance. It didn't have time to recurerate as Gene slashed downwards on it.

When Sora spotted some Heartless on one the roofs of the buildings, he picked up his speed before lunging forward as he latches the tip of his Keyblade onto a nearby streetlight. Working with his already immense momentum, he uses his weapon to swing around the post, launching himself upward toward the adjacent towering building. Monica looked at him, admittedly impressed and perhaps even a bit dumbfounded as she watches Sora freerun up the side of that building, deftly knocking aside any Heartless that happen to show up in the process.

"Interesting…" she noted. "Gravity, not binding…"

At the same time, Sora continues steadily making his way up the building, though all the while, a persistent pack of Heartless continues pursuing him. For a moment, he ignores them, largely for the sake of making it to the top of the building, where Twilight stands by, attacking the Heartless swarming. She took a high leap, shooting off several successive fire spells at the winged Heartless bombarding her. The magic hits its marks squarely, defeating them and allowing both of them to move on.

Korrina and Lucario recuperated from a Soldier's attack, rubbing their heads for support. Another Soldier appeared in front of the duo as they were recuperating. It would have spun itself at the two Pokemon, had a blueberry pie not impacted on its face. The dazed creature of darkness shook the tin off to see Pinkie Pie with a comically large wooden hammer, which was bashed on the Soldier's head. The Heartless now had its head caved inside its torso, losing all sense of direction as it stumbled in place. A well aimed fire spell from Sora put an end to its comedy routine.

Fluttershy stood as far away from the battle as possible, laying down and covering her head for support. ‘She needs to believe in herself, otherwise she won’t last a minute in a real battle.’ Monica thought.

Rarity galloped to the cowering pegasi and held her up straight.

"Fluttershy! Pull yourself together!" Rarity said, as Large Bodies began to form. Fluttershy shrieked in fear as the large heartless lethargically raised a fist with the intent to strike the two ponies. Rarity managed to push herself and Fluttershy away from the gigantic fist as it swung at nothing.

Rarity gritted her teeth and charged towards the massive heartless. She leaped into the air and performed an impressive spin kick—only for her to bounce off the Heartless' stomach. The fashion pony fell on the floor in a heap just as the Heartless was preparing another strike. Rarity felt her heart miss a beat as the monster began lowering its hand, but Sora came in and slashed it across its back, sending it tumbling away.

Sora wasn't done with it yet. He pointed his keyblade at the Heartless, "Freeze!" An ice crystal blasted from the Keyblade, creating a rail of ice that led to the monster. The crystal impacted Heartless, freezing it in place. He jumped on top of the rail of ice, glowing in a blue aura as he slid towards his enemy. Sora jumped up and slashed the heartless with three rapid forwards slashes, destroying it.

"Alright, that should be enough for now," Monica interjects. “Get to the ground, I’m shutting it down.” She said, as she began to turn off the machine.

(End Kingdom Hearts Sora’s Theme)