Green is to play music, Red is to stop music.

Kingdom Hearts: Harmony of Hearts
Chapter 11
Family Reunion

Equestria: Canterlot ER

Shining and Sora held their embrace for a few minutes longer before they broke it. “Eighteen years,” Shining said.

“Eighteen years,” Sora agreed. He looked around before asking, “Where’s Twilight?” He looked to Shining. “Where’s my sister?”

“She’s visiting the Princess in her hospital room.”

“The one she said I was to visit and was attacked by Vanitas?” Sora asked.

“I believe that’s the one,” Shining confirmed. “I spoke with the doctor earlier, and he said that once you wake up, you were allowed to leave.”

Sora got up from the hospital bed and began to leave the hospital room. Just as he opened the door, a pink alicorn walked in, almost bumping into Sora. “Woah, sorry!” Sora and Cadence said at the same time.

Shining snickered a bit, but Sora and the alicorn caught his laughing. He attempted to cover it with a cough, but it only resulted in Sora and the alicorn laughing at his attempt. “What?” He asked.

“It’s just funny that you’re laughing at your brother for such a silly thing,” the alicorn said. Sora looked to her in amazement.

“So, you know my brother and you know that I’m his brother?” Sora asked.

The alicorn nodded. “Princess Celestia told me of you. As for how I know your brother, I’m his wife and he’s my husband.”

Sora was surprised. “You’re Married!” He blurted in his surprise.

“I don’t think you would exactly know that, considering you’ve been gone for 18 years,” Shining commented. “Thinking about that, where have you been all these years?”

Sora then had a look of nervousness. “I...well...uh.” Before he could think of a suitable cover story, a pink-ish aura formed around the interior of the room before vanishing.

“He’s been on another world.” Everypony in the room looked to the door and saw Flash and…

“Twilight!” Sora rushed to his sister and embraced her in a hug. Flash looked at Sora and seemed ready to draw his sword. Shining noticed this and placed his hoof on his shoulder. Flash took notice and saw Shining shaking his head in disapproval. “Let my siblings bond, they haven’t been able to see each other for 18 years.”

“Siblings?”

“It’s hard to believe, yes, but it’s true. And judging by what Twily said, he’s lived most of his life in a world like Canterlot High.”

“Destiny Islands,” Sora said.

“What?” Everypony said in confusion.

“That was the name of the world I’ve lived on for 15 years of my life,” Sora explained as he broke his hug.

“What about the other three years?” Cadence asked.

“Sporadic living on three different worlds. Traverse Town, Radiant Garden, and the Mysterious Tower.”

“What can you tell us of these worlds?” Twilight asked.

Sora looked around and saw that he had no way to escape answering more questions. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time,” Shining said, eliciting a laugh from the group. “Let’s head to someplace more comfortable.” He led the group out of the hospital and to the place that Shining probably dreaded would be Sora’s death by their mother’s hug...Home.

****************************

Equestria: Sparkle Residence

“Honey! I’m Home!” Night Light called out to his wife as he walked through the door. Eagerly, his wife, Twilight Velvet, rushed to her husband in the entryway of their large yet modest home.

“I’m glad that you’re okay,” She said with a kiss, the worry thick in her words.

Night shrugged. “The lockdown was a bit of an overkill, considering the battle yesterday only lasted a few hours at most.”

Velvet giggled a bit before kissing her husband again. “I understand that you missed me through the night, but I would wait a thousand years to see you, if it meant that you would be safe.”

“Don’t go thinking that I’ve been sent to the moon.” Night nuzzled his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Anyway, I’m going to check our bill status, so I’ll see you at dinner.” He started heading to his office when his wife called out to him.

“Shining sent a message to us earlier. He told us that he will be home around then with Cadence as well as Twilight and her fiance. They will be bringing a surprise with them.”

Night entered his office and mumbled to himself, “I hope it’s Donut Joe’s.”

********************

A Few Hours Later

Night was having a hard time staying focused on the paperwork on his desk. His mind was currently focused on the donuts and pastries that Shining would be bringing home. He had to remember to wipe his mouth every so often to keep his watering mouth from leaking onto the paperwork.

Finally, the Celestia blessed sound of Shining’s voice sounded through the house. “Mom! Dad! We’re home!”

“Finally,” Night grumbled to himself as he got up from his desk, the bills and other paperwork barely touched. He walked out into the main room. “I hope the wait was worth...it?” Night, upon entering the entryway, saw not only his gathered family, sans Velvet, but also a familiar yet unfamiliar pegasus.

“Shining, who’s this?” He asked in a casual, yet warning voice. The pegasus turned and took notice of Night and his scowl. Shining stood between him and the pegasus.

“Dad,” Shining said in an equally warning voice and scowl. Standing barely a head taller than an average pony, he could intimidate almost everypony with that combination...except Night.

“What is he doing here?” Night shifted his scowl towards Shining. “Is he the surprise your message mentioned?”

“Yes,” Shining replied in firm defiance, “But this is not one of those times when I’ve spent the night drinking and I end up allowing one of my drunk friends to crash on the couch.” Everypony present gave him either a confused or unapproved look. He caught on to their looks. “I was young, stupid, and single. You can’t blame me for wanting to have a social life, even if alcohol is involved.”

The pegasus facehoofed. “Of all the things you had to say, you tell me that you were a drinker.” He shook his head. “And I can guess that you still drink a bit.” Shining looked as if he was a bit flustered. The pegasus looked to Night and pointed at Shining. “After he said that, I could just tell that he still has a lingering habit. Not much of a role model, are you?”

Night shook his head in confusion. “It don’t care if he is a drinking buddy or not! I want to know. Who! Is! He!”

At this point, Velvet decided to make an appearance. “Nighty what’s the fuss about?” She asked to him before she stopped in her tracks. Her gaze was focused on the red pegasus. Her eyes had a look of curiosity that shifted to surprise, then wonder, and finally started shedding tears of joy. She then rushed to the pegasus and gave him a hug, surprising him and Night. He couldn’t wrap his mind around what she was doing.

“Honey, do you know him?” He asked. She then looked at him with teary, yet annoyed eyes. Velvet’s horn lit up and Night suddenly felt the pain of something blunt making connection with the back of his head. Shifting his head, he could see that it was a photo album.

“Of course I know him!” Velvet practically shouted. “I gave birth to him, you Dim Light!” Night cringed a bit from the nickname she used whenever she was angry at or near him. Twilight intervened, causing Night to silently give a prayer of thanks.

“Mom, I understand that you haven’t seen Silver for eighteen years and your sensitive. But did you have to hit Dad over the head with the family album?” She took the album in her magic and briefly leafed through it. “Speaking of which, why did you choose to hit him with the family album, rather than the psychology textbook you usually use?”

Velvet looked a bit confused at first, but then realization dawned on her. “To be honest, I didn’t realize I grabbed it. But the reason to hit him is still the same.” She took the book back and looked at him with a glare. “Knock. Some. Sense. Into. Him,” she said, punctuating each word by hitting Night’s horn.

Silver then walked forward and grabbed the album out of Velvet’s magic and looked it over. He then began smirking. “Shining, you never told me that Twilight dressed your hair up like that.” Shining suddenly grabbed the album and held it to himself, blushing the whole time.

“Don’t let Cadence see that!” He shouted out. “To this day, I regret letting Mom take that picture.” His grip on the album increased as Cadence drew near.

“What’s the matter, Shiny?” Cadence asked, slowly walking closer. “Are you scared of me seeing your sister’s hair job on you?” Shining looked to his wife and gave her a slight nod. Night decided to save his oldest son from embarrassment...for a price.

“Shining, since you decided to bring your long lost brother home, you can go and get some donuts and muffins from Donut Joe’s for our dessert celebration.” He pulled the album out of Shining’s grip and pushing him to the door. He then whispered to him as he was heading out the door, “At least you won’t be around when they get to the part when you blew up the kitchen in an attempt to test a shield spell.” Shining’s eyes shrunk to pinprick at the mention of that memory. Without another word, he continued out the door.

Smirking, Night turned around and looked at Silver, his son. Shaking his head, he decided to spend some time with him, whether or not he was his son.

********************

More Time Passes

Shining Armor entered the house with the confectioneries in tow. He heard laughter coming from the kitchen and he headed straight there. Upon arriving, he found everypony, except Twilight, laughing at something in the album. Shining set down the box of desserts and looked at the solitary picture on the page and began chuckling. “The Reverse Gravity incident?”

Twilight groaned and covered her face. “Worst week ever.”

Shining nodded. “Yeah, but I wish that Mom would have allowed me to make it more embarrassing.” He laughed.

“How so?” Night asked, leaning forward.

“Flying her like a kite.” At that, Night, Silver, and Twilight fell off their chairs, the first two out of laughter, the last out of embarrassment. The album was then levitated by Cadence and it was hurled into Shining’s face.

“How can you be that cruel to your sister?” She said, with a playful look on her face. Shining removed the book from his face and smiled slyly.

“I’m pretty sure you realize that most of these pictures are from when us three either pranked each other or embarrassed ourselves.” He then turned to a picture of young Twilight with invisible string in her magical grasp. Showing the picture to his wife, he asked, “Don’t you remember the time that Twily managed to tie your wings to your back without you knowing it?”

Twilight shot back into her seat as Cadence tried to make herself invisible without magic. “Not my best take off.” She muttered. At that point, even Flash was trying to not hurt from the constant laughing.

Silver managed to recover enough to get back into his seat. Wheezing, he said, “Well, that’s nothing compared to when you…” Before he could finish, Night’s and Velvet’s hooves speedily landed in his mouth, effectively silencing him.

“Let’s not recount that.” Night said, firmness in his voice. “Shining has had enough embarrassment, and everypony here that knows that story has been sworn to silence after hearing it.” After he and Velvet carefully removed their hooves from Silver’s mouth, he muttered, “That was the worst day for all involved.”

“What about you?” Flash asked. “In your 18 years away from home, don’t you have anything embarrassing that happened to you?”

Everypony turned their attention to Silver in anticipation. Shining found a seat to enjoy the show. Silver looked as if in thought, but practically everypony knew he was stalling. He then looked up and said, as calmly as he could (that is to say, he practically shouted in embarrassment), “I’m not giving any details! The most I’m going to say was that it involved a gorrilla, a few banana peels and a mango!” He then started bashing his head against the table. “I don’t want to remember that moment! Donald never did let me forget!”

“Who’s Donald?” Velvet asked innocently.

“He’s a friend of mine.” Sora answered. He shook his head with a slight chuckle. “He’s one of my best friends out there. He’s a bit of a hothead, not very smart, and when he gets talking, he’s hard to understand. But he’s a really strong mage, and handy in a fight.”

“So, he’s a unicorn?” Night asked.

Twilight seemed in thought about something before speaking. “I thought he was a d…” Before she could finish, Silver grabbed the nearest donut and forced into her mouth.

“Before you finish that thought, I need something of everypony.” He turned to the family. “Anything that is now said, we need to keep to ourselves. Nopony else is to know any of this. Understand?” Silver’s sudden seriousness caused everypony’s eyes to widen and they nodded their heads. “Okay.” He turned back to Twilight. “You may continue once you finish that donut.”

Twilight finished bite she was forced to eat, and finished. “Isn’t Donald a duck?” Everypony gave her weird looks, although Silver had a surprised look.

“How did you know that?” Silver asked, causing everypony else to change to surprised.

“I had a dream about you and your friends when you fought your former friend, Riku,” Twilight said. Suddenly, a hoof slammed onto the table. Silver seemed upset at what Twilight said.

“Twilight.” He said as gently as his pained face would allow. “You don’t know the whole story.” Twilight then threw her hooves into the air.

“What’s to know?!” She asked a bit too loudly. “Your friend succumbed to the Darkness and tried to kill you! How can you still trust him after that?” Everypony was silent after she said that. Sora then teared up and nodded his head down.

“You weren’t there when we closed the Door.” Silver then bolted from the table and ran up the stairs. Shining looked to Twilight briefly.

“Handled that well,” he commented, before chasing after Silver. He followed him and managed to get to the hall just as he slammed the door to Shining’s room. “Silver?” No response. “Silver, it’s me, Shining. I just want to talk to you.” The door was suddenly enveloped in light and the sound of the door’s lock sounded loudly. Disappointment marred his face as he went down back to the ruined dessert celebration. As he entered the kitchen, Velvet stood up.

“How is he?” She asked, worry covering her face.

“We’re not going to be able to talk to him for a while.” Shining shook his head. “He sealed the door to my room shut.”

Night snorted out of mild amusement. “You make it sound like he used…”

“Magic.” Night looked at Twilight in confusion from her interruption. She looked up to him with a sad expression. “He is the bearer of a weapon called a keyblade. I don’t know all the properties of it, but I can assume, based on the name, that it can lock and unlock any lock or chest.” She pointed to Shining. “So he used the correct word combination.”

She got up and headed for the door. Velvet rushed to her daughter, stopping her before she got to the door. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to talk to Princess Luna and get her to help me see the remainder of the dream that I had.” She sighed and turned back to the door. “I’ve got a feeling that I’m missing some details of the picture.” She then left.

Awkward silence reigned for the duration of the time that everypony else went and cleaned up the kitchen. Soon, after the seated themselves in the living room, Shining decided to break the silence.

“I think the evening went off smoothly until the last part.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure as to why Silver blew up like that, but it must have been something that was sensitive.”

“It was.” Everypony was startled by Silver’s sudden appearance. “It took me a few years to keep Riku from putting himself down for succumbing to the Darkness.” He sighed. “After that, I have had a hard time keeping my cool whenever someone brings it up in the wrong way.”

“Someone?” Night and Velvet asked.

“He’s lived on other worlds for a while, so the term can apply.” Flash stated.

“What?”

“I guess I have some explanations to do,” Silver commented. Everypony nodded. “So to start off, I’ve lived most of my life on a world called Destiny Islands.” He then began to gesture with his hooves to help describe the world. “It is a group of islands surrounded by a vast ocean. After 14 years of living with only the islands and the ocean, me and two of my friends decided to build a raft and try to see if there were other worlds.” Shaking his head, he continued. “Little did we know, we would find out, but not in the way we planned.”

“How did you find out?” Night asked.

Sora sighed. “There was a storm.”

Author's Note

So now, the Family has be reunited. The meeting was a bit bumpy, but overall, we see them together again.
Will Sora/Silver be able to forgive Twilight? Will she learn of Riku's story? Find out in the next chapter.