Kingdom Hearts: The Key To Harmony
By darkponyD
001: Power Imparted
Location: Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville, Equestria, 1002 CE
Night had fallen over Equestria, in particular, the Ponyville library, home of the local bookworm Twilight Sparkle, sleeping peacefully. Her dreams, however were far from peaceful. The dream started out peaceful enough; she was standing on a stained glass platform, depicting her cutie mark, a purple six-pointed star surrounded by six smaller white stars. Surrounding Twilight's cutie mark, were the cutie marks of the other five bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
A voice, sounding oddly familiar suddenly spoke up. "So much to do, so little time... Take your time. Don't be afraid. The way is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"
Twilight looked around for the source of the voice, utterly confused as to what was going on. Shakily, she took a few steps forward. Suddenly there was a rumbling, grinding sound to her right. A square pedestal rose up from the glass floor, and with a flash of light, a six-pointed star, much like Twilight's cutie mark appeared above it.
"Power sleeps with you"
Another pedestal rose to Twilight's left, and with another flash, a golden sun appears above it.
"If you give it form"
A final pedestal rises directly in front of Twilight, and with one final flash, a full moon appears above it.
"It will give you strength. Choose well."
Twilight took a step towards the golden sun, immediately recognizing it as Princess Celestia's cutie mark.
"I choose the power of Celestia's great sun," Twilight proclaimed.
"The power of the sun. Inner strength. A power of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?"
"Yes."
The sun above the pedestal winked out of existence in a flash of light.
"Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?"
Twilight looked over the two choices set before her. On the right was the moon, while on the left was the star.
"The star" Twilight said under her breath.
"The power of the star. Kindness to protect friends. A shield to repel all. You give up this power?"
"NO!" Twilight turned her gaze upon the full moon. "I wish to give up the moon."
"The power of the moon. Invincible courage. A power of terrible destruction. You give up this power?"
"Yes"
Another flash of light engulfed the symbol of the moon.
"You've chosen the power of the sun. You've given up the power of the moon. Is this the form you choose?"
"Yes."
Twilight immediately regretted her answer, as the floor around her shattered, allowing her body to fall into the pit below. As she fell, Twilight began to notice another floor rapidly approaching her. As she braced for impact, she landed softly on her hooves. Suddenly, a staff appears beside her. Twilight takes the staff in her telekinesis and gives an experimental swing.
"You now have the power to defend yourself against the dark," spoke the mysterious voice. "There will be times you will need to fight."
With that a dark creature, vaguely resembling a pony rises from the floor. It then proceeds to lunge at Twilight, who instinctively raises a violet force field in response. The dark pony collides with the force field, which then proceeds to launch the energy absorbed back at the creature, vaporizing it instantly.
"All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect yourself and others."
Suddenly, in a flash of light, Twilight finds herself back in the library, with three different ponies around her. They were none other than Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
"The way is still shut, before we leave, tell me more about yourself."
Rarity then steps forward and proceeds to ask: "What’s most important to you?"
Twilight simply stares at her friend. "Rarity, you should know that it is and always will be my friendships."
Rarity simply nods and backs away, Rainbow Dash quickly zipping in to fill the void.
"What are you afraid of?"
Twilight actually had to think this one through. She had never really thought about what she was afraid of before.
"Well, I suppose losing you and the rest of my friends is what scares me the most."
Rainbow smirks and, like Rarity before her, backs away to be replaced with Applejack.
"What do y'all want outta life?"
This one was the easiest question for Twilight to answer.
"To be with my friends and to keep them safe."
Applejack smiled and all three ponies vanished in a flash of light.
"Your journey begins in the dead of night. Your road won’t be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journey's end."
As these words are spoken, the purple mare awakens to the sound of someone pounding on her door.
***
Location: Night Sky, Crystal Empire, Equestria, 1002 CE
A beautiful mare, lost in thought, flies across the moonlit sky of the Crystal Empire, lost within the recesses of her mind.
’So moon, what do you think? Is Luna's night hurting again tonight?’
She looks to the sky, watching as another star winks out of existence.
’So the night hurts again as another is lost. Lady Luna must be upset with the loss of yet another of her beautiful stars. I hope the midnight train is still at the station. I need to get this crystal to Twilight Sparkle. Hopefully she’ll know what it is.’
The mare known as Midnight Aurora holds in one hoof a crystal that she found near her four nights ago. The same time the nightmares began. Always the same, yet different every time. Always with some poor creature calling for help before vanishing forever. Aurora soon realized that these nightmares coincided with the nights a star winked out. Could these two seemingly separate events be linked somehow? Putting those thoughts out of her head to be thought of at another time, Aurora, spotting the Crystal Empire’s train station, comes in for a landing, hoping to catch the midnight express to Ponyville.
’OK Aurora, time to get this show on the road.’
As she lands, she spots the train, still prepping for departure, and quickly buys a ticket to Ponyville.
“All aboard!”
Aurora quickly boards the train just as it leaves the station. As the train heads to Ponyville, she watches the star, once again lost in the forest of her thoughts. At some point, she must have fallen asleep, for she suddenly finds herself standing on a stained glass platform depicting her in it's center with ponies she doesn’t recognize in circles surrounding her. Twin keys cross in its background in front of her cutie mark, a bursting aurora in front of a full moon.
“Do you want to help the night shine brightly again, Aurora?”
The mysterious voice caught the silver pegasus by surprise.
“Hugh... Where am I?” She asked, looking around. “And yes...I do. But, how can a lowly pegasus like me help Luna's night?”
In answer, a square pedestal rose up from the glass floor on Aurora’s right, and with a flash of light, a six-pointed star appeared above it.
"Power sleeps with you"
Another pedestal rose to Aurora's left, and with another flash, a golden sun appears above it.
"If you give it form"
A final pedestal rises directly in front of Aurora, and with one final flash, a full moon appears above it.
"It will give you strength. Take your power in hoof and show the night you care. A great darkness will soon come to your world and you will need to be prepared. What will you keep? What will you give up? Choose well.”
Aurora takes in this information, not quite sure what to make of it. It is, after all, a dream. For all she knew it could be Princess Luna testing her, but at the same time, it could be Discord messing with her head. Despite this she considers her options, and goes to the moon.
“I sure hope going along with this isn’t a mistake. I choose the moon,” She says, while pointing her wing towards the moon.
"The power of the moon. Invincible courage. A power of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"
“Yes”
The moon vanishes in a flash of light.
"Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?"
Aurora looks over her remaining options, and walks over to the sun.
“Sorry Celestia, I hope you aren’t too upset about this. I give up the sun,” she says, once again pointing to the symbol she chose
"The power of the sun. Inner strength. A power of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?"
“Yes.”
The sun, as the moon had done earlier, vanishes in a flash of light.
"You've chosen the power of the moon. You've given up the power of the sun. Is this the form you choose?"
“Yes.”
“Then go forth and prove your power.”
A door appears at the edge of the platform. Aurora, giving in to her curiosity, heads to the door. It opens, spilling darkness directly in front of her. Darkness which soon took the form of dark, pony-esque creatures. The creatures soon surrounded her. Aurora glances around at the creatures, sizing them up, and determining the best course of action.
”Give your power form and show the night your courage.”
Aurora closes her eyes and focuses her will. The shadows, thinking they’ve found an easy meal, charge the silver pegasus, only to be halted by a brilliant flash of light. Aurora opens her eyes to see twin blades in each of her hooves. They look to be keys of some sort but she feels as if she knows them.
‘Moonlight... and Moonshadow?’
Quickly deciding that she’d figure out how she knew what the weapons were called later, Aurora quickly charged at the shadows surrounding her, cutting them down and leaving nothing but ashes behind.
“You have shown your power and are ready. Good luck and may the night shine brightly for you again.”
As the mysterious voice fades to silence, a bright light engulfs Aurora’s vision. She wakes, with at start, to the bright glare of light streaming in through the window of her train compartment.
‘Wow, that was some dream,’ She thinks, as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes, and shifts the Keyblades by her side to a more comfortable spot. ‘Wait, what?!?’ Aurora, thoroughly awake now, looks to her side to see her two new Keyblades beside her. ‘OK, what are these doing here? These are just supposed to be a figment of my imagination, unless what happened in my dream actually happened…Hmmm, well, that’s just one more thing to ask Twilight.’
“Welcome to Ponyville, all passengers disembarking, please make sure you have all your belongings. Next stop, Canterlot.”
Aurora, grabs here new Keyblades, and moves them onto her back. She then quickly makes her way to the Golden Oaks Library, with a short detour at Sugar Cube Corner for a bite to eat. As she approaches the library, Aurora, noticing the time, realizes that its far too early for the library to open. Undeterred, she raises her hoof and knocks on the door.
“Hello?! Twilight, I need your help with something!”
‘Please be awake…’
***
Location: Outskirts of Ponyville, Equestria, 1002 CE
Blobking lies on the ground, staring up at the starry night sky. He had always been in awe of their celestial beauty and had always imagined them being more than simply balls of flaming gas. But that never stopped him from imagining them being more. After all, what does anypony really know about the stars? Nothing, except for what everypony can see from the ground. Only one pony Blob could think of could possibly know more; Princess Luna, the artist of the night whose work he now gazes upon. Blob continued to gave up at the masterpiece above him, until he was forced to stifle a yawn. It was getting late, so he stood up to leave, only to find that he was no longer in the grassy field he had been in before. He was now on a glass pillar, with a mural of himself surrounded by other ponies on it. Out of the five other faces depicted on the mural he only recognized one, but he felt as if he shares a bond of some kind with all them. He looks up to the sky, now only a dark expanse with a swirling light above, almost as if he was deep within the ocean.
"So much to do, so little time...” A mysterious voice now comes to Blob out of the gloom. “Take your time. Don't be afraid. The way is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"
Blob, unsure of what is going on, looks around for the source of the voice, utterly confused as to what is going on. Shakily, he takes a few steps forward. Suddenly there is a rumbling, grinding sound to his right. A square pedestal rose up from the glass floor and with a flash of light, a helmet, very much like that of Samus Aran’s Varia suit helmet appears above it.
"Power sleeps within you"
Another pedestal rises to Blob's left, and with another flash, a fire flower appears above it.
"If you give it form"
A final pedestal rises directly in front of Blob, and with one final flash, the Master Sword appears, embedded in the pedestal.
"It will give you strength. Choose well."
Blob went took a few steps towards the fire flower, but, changing his mind, he turns around and walks to the Master Sword, drawing from the pedestal.
“The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?”
Blob nods his head. "Yes."
The sword in his mouth disappears in a flash of light.
“Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?”
Blob looks around at what is left and, coming to a decision, walks over to the helmet.
“The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Do you give up this power?”
Blob once again nods the affirmative. “Yes.”
Another flash of light engulfed the helmet.
"You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the guardian. Is this the form you choose?"
"Yes."
The floor around him shattered, allowing his body to fall into the pit below. As he fell, Blob began to notice another floor rapidly approaching him. As he braced for impact, he landed softly on his hooves. Upon landing, the master sword appears in his mouth.
"You now have the power to defend yourself against the dark," spoke the mysterious voice. "There will be times you will need to fight."
With that a dark creature, vaguely resembling a pony rises from the floor. It then proceeds to lunge at Blob, who instinctively raises the sword in response. The dark pony collides with the sword, vaporizing instantly upon impact.
"All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect yourself and others."
More of the dark ponies rose all around him, forcing him to attack. The dark ponies lunged, attempting to impale the green unicorn with their claws, only to be met with a swing from Blob’s new sword. As soon as the last of the creatures are destroyed, the entire platform he stands on becomes a pool of darkness of no escape. As the darkness clears, Blob finds himself back in the grassy field he started in, though it was now morning.
***
Location: Japony, Equestria, 1002 CE
Sakura sat in a meditative position, her eyes shut blocking out the rest of the world. As she sat there, she wandered through the forests of mind, pondering the mysteries of life, the universe and everything. Suddenly, a bright light flashed in front of her mental eyes. Sakura blinked her eyes, trying to dispel her initial blindness. Once her vision cleared, Sakura found herself standing on a stained glass platform depicting herself and five other ponies, all of whom she was unfamiliar with.
A voice, filled with both mystery and warmth suddenly spoke up. "So much to do, so little time... Take your time. Don't be afraid. The way is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?"
Sakura glanced around, before pulling a tablet(1) out of thin air(2). She tapped a few icons on the screen before dismissing it, satisfied that this was simply a figment of her imagination and nothing more. Confidently, she took a few steps forward. Suddenly there was a rumbling, grinding sound to her right. A square pedestal rose up from the glass floor, and with a flash of light, a Dual Hound appeared above it.
"Power sleeps with you"
Another pedestal rose to Sakura's left, and with another flash, the Crown Scepter appeared.
"If you give it form"
A final pedestal rises directly in front of Twilight, and with one final flash, the Buster Sword appears, embedded in the pedestal.
"It will give you strength. Choose well."
Sakura took a step towards the Buster Sword, immediately recognizing it as her own fusion version of the weapon.
"I choose the Buster Sword," Sakura proclaimed.
"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"
"Yes."
The Buster Sword flew from the pedestal, the blades separating, and coming to circle around her, ready for use.
"Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?"
Sakura looked over the two choices set before her. On the right was the Crown Scepter, while on the left was the Dual Hound.
"The Crown Scepter." Sakura stated
"The power of the mystic. Inner Strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?"
"Yes"
A flash of light engulfed the Crown Scepter, while the Dual Hound floated over and settled on Sakura's left hoof.
"You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?"
"Yes."
As soon as Sakura said this, the world around her warped and contorted, bringing her to another glass platform. This one with a bright light shining from above. She approached the light walking slowly, and staring above her.
"The closer you get to light," The Mysterious voice said. "The greater your shadow becomes."
Upon hearing this, Sakura turns around, and sees the enormous shadow trailing behind her. Suddenly, it did one of the most unexpected things you could think of; it rose up out of the floor. It quickly lost all of its pony features, becoming bipedal, with a massive body with a heart cut out of it, short legs with feet that couldn't have possibly held it up, long muscular arms ending in claws, and a head with tentacles for hair.
The mysterious voice spoke up once again, "But don't be afraid."
The giant took a step towards the frightened pony, who, even though she was terrified, prepared to battle the creature.
"And don't forget..."
The giant attacked, slamming its fist into the ground and creating a dark pool of energy, out of which came smaller creatures, these ones resembling ponies. Sakura used her magic to send the many blades of her Buster Sword to impale the dark creatures, vaporizing them in an instant. As the giant removed its hand from the floor, the dark pool vanished, allowing Sakura to attack the giant head on. She sent her blades to the head, causing them to hover around it. She then jumped and grabbed the first blade she came to and began her ferocious Omnislash attack (3), completely obliterating her opponent. As the giant began to dissolve, Sakura found herself within another dark pool, this time, instead of spawning creatures to attack her, it began to pull her under.
"Don't be afraid."
The darkness had now covered her torso.
"You hold the mightiest weapon of all."
Sakura's body was now completely engulfed in darkness.
"So don't forget:"
The last thing Sakura heard as her head was covered was, "You, and the others I have chosen, are the ones who will open the door."
Sakura suddenly shot her eyes open, her meditation being interrupted by the tolling of a bell outside.
002 - Arrivals and Answers
Kingdom Hearts: The Key to Harmony
By darkponyD
002: Arrivals and Answers
Location: Japony, Equestria, 1002 CE
Sakura hurried from her room. She had never encountered such an area within her mind before, and that strange voice. It echoed through her mind like a prophecy.
'"You, and the others I have chosen, are the ones who will open the door", what does it mean?'
So lost in thought was she, that she didn't even know that she'd reached her final destination until the guard guarding the door to the room of Japony's Elder cleared his throat. Snapping back to reality, Sakura smiled sheepishly at the guard in front of her.
"What is your business, Sakura-san?"
"I wish to speak with the Elder."
The guard nodded and banged his pike on the ground. "Sakura-san to see Elder Konishi."
The voice of Elder Konishi came faintly through the door. "Let her pass."
The guard stepped aside, as the doors swung inwards. Sakura swept past the guard, only pausing to give him her thanks, before rushing towards the earth pony in the center of the room. Elder Konishi Petal, renowned martial artist, technical master, ruler of Japony and sister of Sakura sat in a meditative position in the center of the room.
"Ahh, Sakura, I have been expecting you."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sister, you should know by now that I won't respond to that the way you want me too."
"Oh come on, you're such a kill joy," Konishi says with a huff. "You know I like to have a good joke every now and then. This Elder job is downright boring. Anyway, what brings you here this early? Was it some strange dream that felt real, had a mysterious voice, and had three different types of weaponry?"
Sakura's jaw dropped when she heard this. "How did you know?"
Konishi smiled mischievously, "A good Elder must never give away his/her secrets. That would just break the illusion that we're all knowing."
"You used the experimental dream reader didn't you?"
"Oh come on! Why do you have to go and spoil my fun?" Konishi pouted.
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Why do I even bother anymore? Anyhoof, what did you make of it?"
"Make of what?"
"The dream."
Konishi sighed, walking to one of the windows, gazing out into the distance. "I honestly don't know. The whole thing looked like some sort of power inheritance ritual. What that power may be, however, i haven't the foggiest idea. The voice, however, was on I hope I would never hear again."
Sakura blinked. "Hold on, you're telling me you've heard that voice before?"
Konishi nodded. "He was one of Japony's most hated enemies. Fuwa is his name. He is the embodiment of chaos itself, and until very recently, he was imprisoned, I know not how, within the nation of Equestria. He broke free, about a year ago, while you were up in the mountains training. He came here and wrecked havoc on the nation before returning to enact revenge on one of his captors in Equestria, where he was once again imprisoned. As far as I know, he is still in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle."
"Then why was his voice in my head?"
"I honestly don't know, but I suggest you find out. Go to Ponyville and search for Twilight Sparkle; she was one of the mares that imprisoned Fuwa again, so she should be able to help you. Did you get the tablet I made for you?"
Sakura nodded, pulling it out and hoofing it to her sister. Konishi began tapping instructions into the interface, a look of sheer concentration etched on her face. Finally, with a look of satisfaction, she tapped one final icon, and the tablet began to glow.
"There, I upgraded it to allow you to store your weapons and items in it. It may be rather unconventional, but it sure beats dragging the massive sword everywhere." Konishi said, hoffing the tablet back. She then pulled out a small microchip off of her desk. "Use your magic to implant this in your brain, it'll allow you to call any item you have stored in your tablet to you. Rather useful if you come across unexpected trouble. Oh, and I already input the coordinates of Ponyville into the teleporter ap.
"Thanks, sis."
With that, Sakura activated the teleporter and vanished from the room. Konishi stared at the spot her sister had departed from.
"Stay safe sister."
***
Location: Outskirts of Ponyville, Equestria, 1002 CE
Blob’s mind reeled as he made his way to the library. He had never had such a realistic dream in his life.
‘For all I know, it actually happened. Though where that place could be, I haven’t the slightest idea. Maybe Twilight will know…’
He made his way across town, spotting the occasional pony opening shops and preparing for the day. Within about fifteen minutes, he had made it to the library, only to find that he wasn’t the only one needing to speak to Twilight; standing in front of the library door, while pounding on it, was a crystal pegasus mare. Blob walked over.
“Hello there, I need to talk to Twilight, is she home?”
The mare looked over, her attention being drawn to the green unicorn that had approached her.
“I don’t know but I need to talk to her as well,” she said with a sigh. The mare suddenly brightened as an idea formed in her mind. “Maybe you can help me!”
Blob shrugged, “I can try.”
The mare smiled, “Thanks, my name is Midnight Aurora by the way,” she said as she held out her hoof.
“A pleasure to meet you Aurora,” he said, shaking her hoof. “My names Blobking, but you can call me Blob.”
“Now that we’ve got introductions out of the way, would you two be kind enough to explain why I’ve been woken up at six in the morning?”
The two ponies looked to the source of the voice, seeing none other than Twilight Sparkle in the doorway with a rather irritated look on her face.
“Sorry Twilight, I didn’t mean to wake you up, but I’ve got a bit of a problem that I need your help with. About four nights ago, I was sleeping on a cloud in the crystal empire when a strange looking creature called out for help then vanished. I woke up right after that, one of Luna's stars vanishing from the night sky and the sky crying out in pain. I found this crystal next to me when I woke up,” Aurora explains, holding up the crystal she found. It was a red crystal orb with a black symbol on it. As Twilight examined the crystal, Aurora continued her explanation. “I tried all the crystal shops in the Crystal Empire, but they don’t seem to recognize it, not even what type of crystal it’s made from! All they were able to ascertain was that it has a strong power in it. I was hoping you might be able to shed some light on what it is. Well, I was until that dream last night…”
This got Twilight’s attention. “Dream? What dream?”
“Well, last night, on my way here, I had a dream that involved the sun, the moon and a star, all on pedestals, with a voice asking me to choose one.”
Blob and Twilight just stared, not quite believing what their ears had heard. Twilight, brushing it off as mere coincidence, continued her investigation of the crystal. Blob on the other hoof, was speechless. Once he got his voice back, he asked. “Did they represent power, magic and defense?”
“Eeyup.”
“And you got those key sword things from the dream?”
“Two for two”
“I had the same dream, though, instead of the sun, moon and star, I was given the choice of a sword, a flower and a helmet.”
Overhearing this conversation, a Japonyese unicorn mare ran towards them. “Hold on, you had that dream too?!?”
Blob turns his head away from Aurora, to look at the newcomer. “Yeah, I did. Wait you too? That makes three of us!”
Twilight's jaw dropped. She was too busy being shocked at the description of the dreams the three before her had described to continue her examination of the crystal. Other than a few details, they were almost exactly the same as her own dream.
"Hold on, are you saying that you found yourself on a stained glass pillar with 3 pedestals around you with items that symbolized power, magic and defense? All three of you?!?" She exclaimed.
“Yes, exactly,” Blob said nodding, the words not registering in his brain at first. When they finally did register, his eyes widened in shock. “Wait, you too?!”
Twilight nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Finally she mustered the willpower to say “You should probably come in.”
“My thoughts exactly Twilight.”
The group whirls towards the voice, emanating from an ominous dark portal, a pony dressed in a black cloak walking out of it.
