Chapter 2: A Whole New World
Chapter 2: A Whole New World
He was surrounded by a dull, gray void that never seemed to end. No sound existed in this place save for his slow breathing that came from sleeping. The only colors here that stood out were his yellow T-Shirt and blue pants. What made things stranger was that he was floating on his back as if he was in a pool that was drifting him slowly away.
His gasped as if reaching the ending of a nightmare and opened his light blue eyes, finally awakening in this void.
“Where am I?” he wondered aloud, panting slightly.
Whatever the area was surrounding was causing him to feel peaceful and relaxed, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. His eyes began to shut once more.
“Sleep.”
Like a flick off a switch, the teenager was up in a standing position…sort of. He was still floating while standing, but he was on his guard.
“Who’s there!?” he demanded harshly, looking around for the source of the noise.
“Sleep, my child,” the deep voice soothed. “Sleep in the area between light and darkness.”
“Am I in Purgatory?” he questioned, chills going down his spine from the voice. “Is this the time when I will be judged?”
“You are not dead, Richard,” it explained. “But it would be quite interesting to see what your fate would be should you have died! Just relax and fall back into slumber. The darkness that blankets you protects you. Soothes you. Forever. You will never know fear or hurt again.”
Richard snorted. “Like I’m going to keep listening to your poisonous words, Ansem!”
Ansem chuckled. “You have not forgotten me.”
He gave withering glare in a random direction, hoping that it was directed towards the monster that ruined his life. “Who else talks cryptically and speaks of how amazing darkness is and how light will only bring pain and misery in my life?”
“So defensive,” he observed. “Are you so cruel to the one who gave your life meaning, gave you purpose?”
“You gave me hell!” Richard snarled, clenching his fists. “You destroyed Earth! You turned me against my best friend and my sister! You made me your puppet! You almost destroyed the universe with your darkness!”
“You invited me in, remember?”
Richard froze, turning pale at those simple, but horrible, words.
“But we shouldn’t dwell on the past,” Ansem advised. “You should return to your slumber, Richard. I can end your agony, your pain, your fears, if you would just let me in. I can help you.”
Richard was not buying a single word of his. “You must really think I am stupid, don’t you? I will never succumb to your ways ever again! Now, get out of my head!”
For a moment, there was silence, but Ansem broke it seconds later. “The light will reject you, Richard. Darkness cannot exist where there is light! It will bring you such misery!”
“If it shuts you up, I’ll take my chances,” he sneered.
The void began to rumble and Richard found himself falling. He didn’t scream, but he started to feel uncomfortable as the area began to glow.
“So you choose the path of pain,” Ansem stated, sounding disappointed. “You are stubborn in your ways, Richard. When the light rejects your presence, and it will, I will be waiting for your arrival.
Richard shielded his eyes as the light grew brighter and heard the final words of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.
“The prodigal son will return home once more!”
Richard shot up into a sitting position with a shout. Panting like someone just ran several miles without stopping, he was able to realize that it was nothing more than a dream. He knew this due to the fact that instead of the gray void he was in, a dense forest surrounded him with sunlight barely able to crack through the trees.
“It was just a dream,” Richard told himself. “Ansem is dead. Kingdom Hearts killed him.”
“You sound so hopeful.”
Instead of searching for someone that wasn’t taking physical form at the moment, Richard just groaned. “Can’t blame me for wanting that, can you?”
“I suppose not,” Ansem conceded. “Why don’t you take a minute to think of the good things darkness has done for you. It has given you power and strength that no mere mortal could ever hope to achieve. You turned Maleficent the Witch into a Heartless through my power and made her submit to you!”
“Huh?” Richard asked as if snapping out of a daze. “Oh, sorry. I was busy tuning out some demon that keeps spouting nonsense every time he opens his mouth. Can I take a message?”
“Amusing,” he replied in a tone that clearly wasn’t. “It is clear that you will not listen to me now, but you will in due time. Enjoy the path less traveled by.”
Richard would be lying if he said he wasn’t unnerved by the whole experience. The fact that a fragment of Ansem still remained inside his body was enough to cause concern. For a brief moment, he considered ending his life to make sure that Ansem couldn’t use his body again, but he knew that the demon was powerful enough to just search for another hopeless fool. Since he knew the dangers, Richard would have to keep Ansem in until he could find a way to destroy him for good and free himself from his poisonous presence.
Once he rose to his feet, he reached behind him and pulled out a slightly-curved sword that was strapped to his back. Rightfully named the Soul Eater, this purple and red weapon could make short work of most objects. The creepy part about it was the blue, eyeball-like gem near the hilt. Whenever Richard would use the darkness, the gem would change to purple, echoing the purple mist that surrounded a darkness user. Or, if it detected another darkness user, it would glow red instead. Quite useful if he didn’t want to get ambushed by the Heartless or a sorcerer.
“This is the only thing I’ll ever thank Maleficent for,” he said, staring at the blade.
Instead of returning it to his back, he kept it out as he progressed through the forest. He wasn’t about to get eaten by a predator because he was foolish enough to let his guard down for even a minute. Even if using the powers of darkness was out of the question, he was still a heck of a swordsman.
Another thing that bothered him was the fact that King Mickey was nowhere to be found. The last thing he remembered was the two of them sealing the Door to Darkness and fighting Heartless after Heartless. After that…nothing. He doubted Mickey would have been defeated by those things, but he hoped that he wasn’t still trapped there. Once he got away from this world, he would find Mickey and then go from there.
As he progressed further, Richard made sure to listen to the sounds of the creatures. Several birds cawed throughout the area and occasionally he heard the growls of predators, but none were indicating they would be attempting to feast on him. He began to consider jumping on top of the trees to see if he could spot a town or a city, but he decided against it. To anyone else, this would sound crazy, but he wanted to soak in the peace and quiet of this place as much as he could. He had no idea what would happen the moment he left the forest, so he decided to remain ignorant of the future this one time and not seek it too quickly. He felt content and at peace more so here than he did when he was in that void. Yet again, Ansem lost this round.
CRUNCH!!
Richard winced as he felt bones being crushed under his foot. One look at the ground told him all he needed to know: he stepped on and killed a snake.
“Ugh!” he groaned, scraping the dead snake off his shoe. “You ruined my shoe, you idiot…and I’m talking to a corpse. You are completely sane, Richard.”
All of sudden, he heard low growls coming from behind him. Quick as a flash, Richard whirled around in a guarded position. At first he saw nothing and only heard the growls growing louder by the second. They were attempting to intimidate him, which really wasn’t working.
Then, he saw them...and started to laugh.
These creatures were wolves, four of them, but unlike any he had ever seen before. These wolves had glowing, green eyes which would have been creepy were it not for the fact that the canines were made of wood. Wood! And that’s why Richard was laughing. These wood wolves actually thought they had a chance to remotely hurt him.
“I have no idea if you wood-wolves can actually think,” Richard began, “but I can destroy each and every one of you with little to no effort. Why don’t you go find a different meal to have?”
As expected, the wolves didn’t back down and drew closer to him.
“Fine by me,” Richard replied, motioning them to go first. “After you.”
Taking the bait, the first wolf lunged at his neck and soon found its head quickly separated from its body. The “corpse” shattered into several pieces of wood, but the three wolves did not retreat. The remaining three charged with the intent to kill, but a quick few slashes sent each of them to their deaths. Like the first wolf, they broke apart into lifeless wood.
“Wow, I didn’t even break a sweat,” Richard stated sounding bored and disappointed.
He turned to walk away, but he detected the sound of movement behind him. The pieces of wood were shaking rapidly and gathering together. In an instant, the wood formed into a wood-wolf that was twice as big as Richard, growling with fury.
“Okay, that’s a little bit better,” he admitted.
The giant wolf took a snap at him which he easily sidestepped. He went for the neck, but the wolf anticipated the attack and knocked him aside with its head. Richard crashed against a tree, causing birds to fly out of it in fear.
“Okay,” he grunted, getting back up while the wolf stalked towards him. “That hurt. One problem, though: you’re made of wood.”
Richard launched a small fireball at the creature, which looked mortified of the attack.
KABOOM!!
The impact of the flame caused it to explode into several pieces of wood, completely removing its ability to regenerate. Where the body used to be was now a smoking crater in the middle of the field.
“Weakest. Bad guy. Ever,” Richard said, brushing off the debris from his body. “At least I didn’t burn the forest down with that move.”
The only thing that he was concerned about was the commotion he caused. He sincerely doubted that the wood-wolves were the worst things this world had to offer. If they happened to be the worst, he had nothing to worry about. If not, then whoever or whatever else lived on this planet would be coming for him very soon.
Golden Oak Library
My dearest Twilight,
Less than twenty minutes ago, Luna and I detected a strong magical surge originating from the Everfree Forest. It is unlike any magic I have ever felt, but Luna believes the surge to be familiar in a way. She is still trying to understand why as I write this letter. Don’t panic, Twilight. I need you to remain calm. I would not ask this of you if you were not capable of doing so, but please discover the source of the surge. Bring your friends as well. The Elements of Harmony may be needed in this endeavor. Take all the necessary precautions and be prepared for anything. If you believe that you cannot handle this by yourselves, there is no shame in asking for our help.
I wish you all the best of luck.
Sincerely,
Celestia
P.S.: Don’t panic.
It took several tries to read the letter before Twilight Sparkle, the student of Princess Celestia, the Bearer of the Element of Magic, the one who faced down horrible monsters in the past year, stopped panicking. The purple unicorn had a good reason for it, though.
A magical surge that concerned the Princesses of the Sun and Moon would be enough to worry the country. And the fact that Luna believed it to be familiar drew up several theories revolving around when Luna was Nightmare Moon. It could be ponies trying to bring back Nightmare Moon through forbidden rituals, Nightmare Moon actually returning in a different body, and other such theories regarding Nightmare Moon. No doubt Luna had these same exact worries.
Whatever the cause of the surge was, Twilight had to investigate, and she was not going to mess this task up like she did in the Crystal Empire when it came to the Equestria Games. She had no idea how things managed to work out the way they did, but she knew that it was by pure, dumb luck.
In less than five minutes, she managed round up all of her friends for a debriefing in the library. Pinkie Pie, the Bearer of the Element of Laughter, actually showed up moments after Twilight received the letter from Celestia. Her Pinkie Sense was going haywire, saying that there was a major doozy located in the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy, the Bearer of the Element of Kindness, came shortly after in a state of fear. She revealed that there was an explosion in the Everfree Forest not too long ago, and flew over to Twilight’s house to tell her. Twilight stayed behind to calm Fluttershy down while Pinkie was tasked to get the other three. Naturally, the pink pony got the job done and the other half of their group arrived: Rainbow Dash, the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Applejack, the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, and Rarity, the Bearer of the Element of Generosity. All three of them were ready for whatever came next.
“Our reinforcements have arrived!” Pinkie announced, giving Twilight a salute.
“Thank you, Pinkie,” Twilight replied, feeling a little bit better about the situation.
“What’s going on, Twilight?” Rainbow questioned, sounding concerned instead of annoyed for a change. “All Pinkie told us was that there was a doozy, and we needed to come to your house right away to talk about it.”
Twilight levitated the letter to her friends as she explained what was going on. “Princess Celestia detected a magical surge coming from the Everfree Forest. She has no idea what caused it, but Luna believes it to be familiar.”
“Nightmare Moon isn’t returning, is she?” Rarity gasped, horrified at the prospect.
Fluttershy gave an “Eeep!” before hiding her face in her hooves, not wanting to have to face the dark alicorn again. Once was more than enough.
“Anything’s possible,” Twilight admitted. “It could be Nightmare Moon manifesting in another pony, or it could something else entirely. Either way, it’s up to us to investigate.”
“Say no more, Twilight!” Rainbow assured with a grin on her face, the Pegasus pony flying up in the air. “If there’s something out there that needs a good flank-kicking, then we’ll be there to kick it.”
“Thank you, Rainbow,” she replied, levitating the Elements to their respective owners. “Girls, we need to be prepared for anything that could happen. That means we have to stick together the entire time. Don’t give me that look, Rainbow. I’m not taking any chances. Because if this thing is evil and powerful and we get separated, we might not be able to stop it. And if we don’t stop it, it could go after Ponyville. And if it goes after Ponyville--!”
“Simmer down, Twi!” Applejack stated firmly to the panic-filled unicorn. “Ah understand you’re scared. We all are.”
“I’m not.”
“Hush, Rainbow. But you need ta keep a cool head or you’re gonna fall apart when we find what we’re lookin’ for.”
“Darling, Celestia offered to help us if we need it,” Rarity pointed out, levitating the letter back to her friend. “If you think that this is too risky for us, just say so.”
Twilight took a deep breath, relieving herself of her panicked emotions for the moment. She felt the tiniest bit of doubt that this was something over their heads, and she came close to acting on it, but in the end, she decided to trust her instincts. It took a few seconds, but she did respond to that statement. “I think we’re capable of doing this.”
“Great!” Pinkie exclaimed, pulling a picnic basket out of nowhere. “I didn’t prepare these snacks for nothing after all.”
“Pinkie, we aren’t gonna be gone that long,” Applejack said.
“You don’t know!” she responded, swallowing a cupcake whole.
It was then that Rarity noticed someone missing in their group. “Twilight, where is Spike?”
“I sent him to the mayor’s office,” Twilight answered, putting on her own Element. “The mayor needs to be in the know in case something bad happens and Ponyville ends up in danger. I also told him if we didn’t come back in an hour to send an S.O.S. to the princesses.”
“You’ve pulled out all the stops today, Twilight,” Rainbow pointed out, impressed at how prepared she was.
“If our recent visit at the Crystal Empire taught me anything, it’s to use my head.” Twilight walked up to Fluttershy, who hadn’t spoken during the debriefing. “Fluttershy, are you going to be okay?”
“I’m…I’m scared, Twilight,” the shy Pegasus said softly. “Whatever’s in the Forest caused an explosion. What if it’s a horrible monster that eats ponies?”
“Then we do what we always do: put a stop it to it,” Twilight answered, determined. “I wouldn’t have asked you to come under other circumstances, but the Elements can’t be used without all of us together, and you’ve been in the Everfree Forest more times than we have. We need you, Fluttershy.”
Feeling encouraged by those words, Fluttershy rose to her hooves with a bit more confidence than she did earlier. “You can count me to help you, Twilight.”
Satisfied at how this was turning out, Twilight turned to the rest of her friends. “Are you girls ready?”
The ponies gave a collective cheer in response.
“Elements, roll out!!” Pinkie shouted in a war cry tone.
Author's Note
Okay, does anyone know how to do the letter thing the way other fics do it, with the author's note box surrounding it, because I have no idea.
Originally, I was going to add the meeting scene in this chapter, but I decided against it. As much as I like writing longer chapters, there’s gonna be a lot of information that happens during them, and I don’t want to dump too much into one chapter. There’s a chance I will go back to writing longer chapters in the future, but don’t hold me to that, please.
Thanks to ten likes, guys, and all the people who favorited and are following this story. Five dislikes is discouraging, especially when they won’t say why, but I won’t let it get me down.
Let me know if there are any grammatical errors in this chapter and I’ll fix them right away. I’ve been writing for almost three years and I still miss things.
Next chapter: Richard meets the Mane Six. This should be interesting.
EDIT: Added the Golden Oak Library as a location.
Chapter 1: Knowledge Without Identity
Kingdom Hearts: The Equestrian Files
Chapter 1: Knowledge without Identity
His eyes opened ever so slowly as unconsciousness left him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a dreamless sleep. He would have appreciated that thought if he wasn’t lying on the pavement with pieces of gravel practically stuck to his skin. With a groan of pain and annoyance, he brushed off the gravel that now left imprints on his skin and got up, looking around the area he was in.
Several trees surrounded him, making him wonder if he was in the middle of a forest. To his left, the pavement ended at a concrete street, verifying his suspicions that he was on a driveway. The moon in the sky clearly indicated that it was currently nighttime. At least nothing dragged him away or ran him over while he was knocked out. He assumed he was knocked out, for why would a teenager willingly sleep on a gravel-covered driveway?
Actually, he had a better, less trivial question: how did he even up on a random driveway in the first place?
He tried to remember the last thing that happened to him before this moment, but his mind drew a blank. A very long blank. In fact, he couldn’t even remember anything before the point he woke up. It was as if his entire life had been…erased.
His eyes widened in horror as the implications started to settle in. Somehow, someway, he lost his memory. Sure, he had some knowledge about algebra, English, many things about Earth, history--wait a minute. Many things about Earth? Why in the world did his mind phrase it like that? He was always on Earth. It was—is—his home. Unless…he wasn’t on Earth anymore.
Focus, me. He scolded himself, his frustration managing to keep his panic at bay for the moment. Ridiculous ideas will get me nowhere.
He tried to think long and hard about who exactly he was, anything that could help him out. Who was he and why was he here? So far, his attempts to regain his memories were unsuccessful. Trying to remember a piece of his past was like sifting through darkness while searching for a door to open.
Suddenly, he cried out in pain as flashes of memories went through his mind in a fast, epileptic pace. He held his head, unable to get a lock on any of them until he was blessed with a name: Sora.
“Sora,” he spoke, his voice a little bit hoarse and pained.
There was no plausible way to explain it, but he felt like the name belonged to him.
“Sora,” he repeated, feeling more confident about it. “My name is Sora.”
The name revealed that he had Japanese blood inside of him. He didn’t sound like a Japanese, though. Odd.
Satisfied that he had at least his own name back, Sora began walking down the driveway away from the street. He had no idea how long until the street reached the city, but he knew that at the end of a driveway, there would be a house. Where there was a house, there would be people…unless they happened to be on vacation. If worse came to worse, Sora would be forced to break in and stay the night. He wasn’t about to continue sleeping on the driveway again.
After a few minutes of walking, he came upon several acres of land covered in trees. They seemed to go on for miles in different directions. On closer inspection, these trees contained several apples that were not yet ready for picking. He couldn’t believe his luck. He stumbled upon an apple farm. Up ahead, he noticed a few cars parked in front a red house with a garage and a red barn. Judging from the smell, it was very possible that animals lived here as well.
I didn’t see a Beware the Dog sign when I got here, so I should be fine. He hoped.
As Sora continued his walk towards the house, he stopped when he noticed a red apple ripe and ready for eating. His mouth began to water at the mere thought of devouring the fruit. He had no idea how long it had been since he ate last, but given the reaction he had to an apple, it was probably a long time ago.
While making as little noise as possible, Sora crept up to the tree, watching his step to avoid twigs and animal feces. He was not about to deal with that on his shoes tonight. Carefully, he plucked the apple out of the tree and took a bite out of it. His mouth was assaulted with the juiciest apple he had ever eaten in his life. There were no words to describe how incredible the fruit tasted. Surely, these apples came from gods!
BOOM!!
On instinct, Sora dove to the ground, keeping an eye out for whatever caused that noise. It came from some sort of gun, possibly a hunting rifle from the sound of it. The shot landed a few meters left of him, the imprint burning up a few pieces of grass.
I guess they don’t take kindly to trespassers. Sora assumed as he contemplated his two options: run or surrender.
“Come on out, ya thievin’, cowardly timberwolf!” a voice with a southern accent called out. “You ain’t takin’ our apples from us!”
Sora’s eyes widened, the situation finally taking hold. He was almost shot by an elderly, southern-accented woman for trespassing and stealing an apple. Was he in a place where trespassing was punishable by death, or did he stumble across a crazy person’s house?
“Where are ya, ya four-legged varmint?” the old woman demanded. “This old pile of bones still has a few springs left to spare.”
Definitely crazy. Sora inferred, deciding to surrender before she decided to take another shot and actually kill him. “Wait, don’t shoot! I swear I’m unarmed.”
With his hands in the air, Sora slowly rose to his feet, spotting the shooter as he did so. She was a plump, old woman with a yellow-eyed glare that was looking directly at him. What caught him off guard was the fact the she was green-skinned. How in the world did a woman have green skin?
Priorities, Sora! He reminded himself. Worry about the fact that she has a GUN AIMED AT YOU!!
He noticed several lights kick on inside the house and several silhouettes moving around. Not good.
The old woman lowered her gun, her glare lessening. “Sorry ‘bout that, sonny. Those darn timberwolves have been preyin’ on my farm for generations.” She looked around the area with narrowed eyes. “You never know when the next one will come about.”
As a weirded-out Sora desperately tried to find a way to make a quick exit, the house door finally opened. Three people much younger than the old woman and wearing pajamas dashed outside, determined to find out the source of the commotion. The rest of the family had arrived.
First off was a young adult male roughly in his late teens or very early twenties. Unlike the crazy lady, he had light red skin, but like her, he too had a rifle in his hands. The second person was a tan-skinned, or orange-skinned, girl in her teen years that also bore a hunting rifle. The final of three was a girl just starting her teen years with…light tan skin? Olive-colored? He could never get the color right in his mind. However, she broke the consistency by wielding a baseball bat instead.
The sight of these armed individuals, made Sora regret even considering having an apple on their land. He only hoped that they weren’t as insane as the elder that stood before him.
“Granny, what in tarnation are ya shootin’ at?” the older girl in the trio questioned, her tone having a mixture of annoyance and concern.
“Doggone timberwolves attempted another raid,” “Granny” answered. “One shot from the old rifle sent them runnin’ for their mommas.”
The man in the group shook his head with a sigh while the girls facepalmed. Sora figured that this sort of thing happened a lot.
“You scared us half ta death, Granny!” the youngest of the three stated, upset. “We all thought somethin’ horrible had happened.”
“Applebloom, Ah thought Ah told ya ta wait inside the house!” the older sister rebuked.
“Ah came prepared,” the young girl, Applebloom, protested. “’Sides, what kinda Apple would Ah be if Ah hid under my bed instead of standing with my family?”
Sora had to give credit where credit was due. It was very courageous of Applebloom to stand with her family as opposed to hiding it out and waiting for everything to end. Instead of trying to talk his way out of it, he decided to be honest.
“This was all my fault,” Sora explained before he could stop himself, picking up the fallen apple and tossing it to them. “It was only me. I was desperate for food. I’m sorry.”
The man gave him a suspicious look, catching the apple. “You mean ta tell me you trespassed on our land for the sake of one apple?”
“Ah knew there was somethin’ funny ‘bout you,” Granny said, returning the glare. In fact, all of them were giving him glares.
“If you were planning on stealin’ our apples, you’re one lousy thief,” Applebloom commented.
“None of what happened tonight was meant to happen!” he replied quickly, ignoring the insult. “Like I said, I was hungry and I...kind of needed a place to stay the night. I’m…lost at the moment.”
The man wasn't in a sympathetic mood. “This ain’t a hotel! Now, beat it!”
“Wait a minute, Big Mac,” the older girl interrupted, handing him her rifle.
“Applejack--,” he warned, but she cut him off.
“Relax, Big Mac. Ah can handle this.”
To Sora’s surprise, the girl, Applejack, walked up to him with a determined look on her face. He took a couple of steps back when she got closer and found himself with his back against the tree. He could not hide from the green eyes that were practically staring into his soul.
“What’s your name?” she questioned.
“Sora,” he gulped, intimidated.
“Okay, Sora,” Applejack continued. “Ah want you to tell me why you are here and why you need a place ta stay. And don’t lie ta me. Ah’ll know.”
Nervously, Sora tried to answer, but it came out as broken stuttering. How was this girl supposed to believe that he had no memory of his life save for his name? He could not figure out how to say, “I have amnesia,” without sounding stupid. Plus, he was afraid he was going to either be beaten to a pulp by the girl or shot to death by the rest. Who knew what crazy philosophies they might have? After ten seconds of listening to his attempts to form a sentence, Applejack decided enough was enough and approached the situation differently.
“That’s enough of that,” she stated firmly, before taking on a softer tone. “Listen, Ah can see you’re afraid of us, sugarcube, but Ah’m not gonna hurt you, okay? None of us are.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Ah’m sorry Granny took a shot at you. Prob’ly one of the reasons why you’re so tongue-tied. You also think we’re a bunch of crazy people who shoot trespassers without blinking, don’tcha?”
“That thought crossed my mind,” Sora admitted, sheepishly.
“All ah’m askin’ is for you ta be honest, Sora. Are you runnin’ from home?” It was then Applejack noticed several bruises and scratches Sora’s arms and legs. Her expression became dark and suspicious for a brief moment. “Applebloom, go back inside. You weren’t supposed to be out here anyhow.”
“Aw, come on, Applejack,” she protested. “Ah wanna help in case he tries somethin’.”
“Ennope!” was Big Mac’s single, firm reply.
“Ah reckon you two can handle things from here and keep an eye out for them wolves,” Granny said, heading back inside. “Let’s go, little missy.”
With an exasperated groan, Applebloom followed Granny inside.
“How’d ya get those?” Applejack resumed, indicating the injuries.
Hoping for the best, Sora began to explain. “I have no idea. You probably think I’m crazy, but I can’t remember anything about myself save for my name. In fact I woke up about a half hour ago on your driveway, and I figured I could get help.” When Applejack said nothing in response, he sighed in defeat. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Ah never said that,” she replied. “Ah just wanted to be sure you were bein’ honest.”
Sora raised an eyebrow. “What are you, a human lie detector?”
Applejack chuckled at that. “Somethin’ like that. Not ta brag, but Ah can tell when someone is bein’ honest or lyin,’ and you ain’t lyin.’”
“If mah sister thinks you’re on the safe side, that’s good enough for me,” Big Mac added. “But that don’t mean Ah’m not gonna be watchin’ you.”
A look of confusion appeared on Sora’s face. “Why would you be watching me? You told me to beat it.”
“You really think we’d turn away someone who needs shelter?” Applejack asked.
Considering all that he went through in the last few minutes, Sora was inclined to answer. “Uh--?”
“Don’t answer that. Go ahead and wait inside the house and we’ll be inside shortly. Then, we’ll set you up in the guest room and go from there.”
Sora allowed himself a smile at her generosity. For all she knew, he could have been playing them for fools, and yet, they were still taking him in. That, and Applejack’s ability to tell truth from lies aided in his situation.
“Thank you so much!” he said with a little bit of excitement. “I’ll do whatever I can to repay you all for--!”
The teenager held up her hand. “Don’t think anythin’ of it. As of right now, you are the honored guest of the Apple Family.” She held out her hand. “Mah name’s Applejack, by the way, and this here’s mah big brother, Big Macintosh.”
I’m starting to see a pattern in their names. Sora thought as he shook hands with her. Applejack, Applebloom, Big Macintosh—HOLY CRAP!! IS SHE TRYING TO CRUSH MY HAND, BECAUSE IT’S WORKING!!?”
Applejack released her grip with a chuckle. “Sorry ‘bout that!”
“It’s fine,” he assured. “If I couldn’t walk it off, I’d need some serious help. I’ll, uh, wait inside.”
Sora and Big Mac exchanged nods before the former stepped inside the house.
“What do ya think, Big Mac?” Applejack asked, staring at the direction Sora went.
“Seems nice enough ta me,” he replied. “Still gonna keep an eye on him ta make sure he don’t cause trouble. If it weren’t for you, AJ, Ah’d assume his memory loss was nothin’ more than a tall tale.”
“Ah can’t imagine what that would be like,” Applejack stated. “All things considered, he’s takin’ it pretty well.”
Big Mac shook his head. “Be prepared for a delayed reaction, Applejack. It’s gonna be nasty when that happens. What Ah’m concerned about is how he got those injuries. You havin’ the same idea as Ah am?”
Applejack nodded grimly. “Ah hope that isn’t the case, but if it is, we’ll make sure he doesn’t end up goin’ through that abuse no more.”
“Ah’ll ask the workers when they get here to keep an eye out for anyone lookin’ for Sora and get all the facts ‘bout him and his family,” Big Mac added.
Applejack yawned, the adrenaline rush wearing off. “Let’s get him set up in the guest room and call it a night.”
“Eeyup!” he agreed.
What Applejack didn’t voice was her worry revolving around Sora. There was something…off about him that she couldn’t place. He was telling the truth about what happened, but she couldn’t help but have a sinking feeling about this situation. It bugged Applejack to no end that she couldn’t understand why she was having that feeling of…whatever it was, but that wasn’t going to stop her from helping someone in need. For now, her family would take care of Sora and do their best to help him regain his memories, but until she could place what was off about him, she was going to keep an eye on him.
Author's Note
(Author's Note Part 1): So, this story has been on my mind for a very long time. I have been going through idea after idea regarding this story, trying to make everything click, and I think I figured it out…for the most part. I have the beginning worked out, most of the middle falling into the place, and the ending just about worked out. I really do want to complete this story by the end of next year if I’m lucky, but when real life comes into play, things get crazy.
Before the next chapter is published, I have listed a few things that are different from the Kingdom Hearts canon that aren’t spoilers for my story.
- Sora is a fifteen (almost sixteen) year old teenager with more maturity by this point.
- His homeland was Earth before it was covered in darkness.
- (PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!) I have changed the names Riku and Kairi to Richard and Karen respectively and the two of them are siblings. Karen is Sora’s girlfriend and Richard is Sora’s best friend.
And now a list of other things that you need to know.
- This story is rated PG-13 for intense action, mild language, and scary moments if anyone is curious as to what kind of content will be in this story.
- I will not be using any explicit language, so please don’t use it in the comments.
- Constructive criticism is welcome, but there may be times I will continue as planned due to personal preference.
- This story will be my primary focus on this site. “Broken Together” is still going to be completed, but not for a long while. However, considering that it’s in the red zone because it’s a Flash Sentry story, I don’t think anyone will care right now.
- Let’s see if you readers can predict what game this will taking place during. The answer will be revealed in the second chapter.
(Author's Note Part 2): I just wanted to take the time to point out that my favorite of the Mane Six is Applejack. With that out of the way…
Out of all the stories that I have ever written on Fimfiction and Fanfiction, this was the easiest first chapter to write to date. At first, I was going to have a prologue that explains what happened to cause Sora to end up in the Equestria Girls universe, but I decided against it. It’s more fun to see what you guys believe happened before I reveal the truth. I think you guys will end up on the right track, at least, though I won’t confirm or deny it unless it’s really outlandish and crazy. Whoever guesses it right gets a cookie.
My hope is that I can get some good cover art of this story, but that’s wishful thinking at this stage. After all, I just started.
Until next time, my friends. Reviews are welcome.
