May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

by SoulboundAlchemist

Rating: mature
Tags: Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Human, Kingdom Hearts, Anthro, Main 6, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Sex
Length: 182952

Now this is the story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. Now let me take a minute, just sit right there, and I'll tell you how I became a girl in Equestria.

Word of advice, don't buy things from shady booths at conventions. I was originally just a guy, annoyed by circumstances beyond my control. Now I'm a butt kicking girl from my favorite video game franchise! How could this possibly get any weirder? Oh, how about originally being male, and now being female?

This is gonna shoot the continuity to pieces, isn't it?

Special thanks to HoodwinkedTales for the fantastic cover art!

Warning: The sex tag is in place due to gender bending, just to be safe. If you don't like that sort of thing, turn around and keep browsing.

Warning 2: Due to my publishing of The Key to Origins: My R, I'm bumping up the rating to M, due to the content discussed, just to be safe.

EDIT: Oh my gosh! We finally got featured on 1/4/2023! I can't believe it! Thank you all so much!

EDIT 2: Featured again 7/29/2024! You guys are amazing! Thank you all so much, I can't tell you that enough!

Crossover chapters with (In order of appearance):

Spider in Equestria by DarkSpider
Solid Script Equestria by Garnet Naturea
The Golden Eyed Sage by Alvasa
Diclonius Queen of Equestria by Garnet Naturea
Something From Nothing by shagohad12 and Voldine
Embrace Your Destiny by Ocelot the Devil
Raging Winds and Rising Tides by Vortex123
The Equestrian Anti-Magic Knight by Alvasa

Published 2019-02-18 19:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-07-30 02:33:54 UTC

The Key to Understanding

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 3: The Key to Understanding

“Ugh”

Well, this is getting old. I’m starting to think that whatever is dictating my life has a sick fascination with knocking me unconscious in various ways. In any case, I open my eyes to find myself on another stained glass pillar, this one with a picture of Kairi standing in the middle of the picture. Rather, it had a picture of me standing in the middle of the picture.

Still not used to referring to myself as Kairi…

“Well, too bad, you seriously need to get used to it.”

I whirl around at the sound of a voice, only to find…

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” I demand, my eyes widening in shock. “Why do you look like me?”

The figure in front of me is the me that bought Destiny’s Embrace from that damn shady merchant. Meaning, it’s the male version of me.

“No joke,” he replies. “I am the part of you that refuses to accept the reality of your situation.”

“So, if that’s the case, why are you telling me to accept it? I’d imagine you’d be fighting this tooth and nail,” I ask.

Male me sighs. “Its because of how much you hurt yourself before coming here, as well as here and now,” he explains. He could probably sense my confusion, as he continues: “Before the convention, while you did admit to a few people that you’d like to know what its like on the other side of the gender fence, that was just to cover how you actually felt, wasn’t it?” As he speaks, his clothes shift from what I had been wearing at the convention, to the one crossplay costume I had ever owned. It was a costume for the character Asuna from the anime Sword Art Online. It was definitely one of my best kept secrets, and emphasized the fact that, at least a little, I did want to be a girl.

“You’re my shadow, aren’t you?” I ask, realization hitting me.

The male me nods, a smile touching his lips. “Looks like all that time playing Persona 4 was useful after all,” he confirms. “Since you know what I am now, what are you gonna do?”

I look down in thought. In Persona 4, accepting a shadow led to the awakening of a Persona, but I think its safe to assume those rules don’t apply here. Finally, after a bit of thought, I looked him in the eye. “If I accept you, what happens?”

“Well, that’s entirely up to you,” he replies with a shrug.

“Would you stay with me?” I ask. “Give me someone to talk to who actually knows me, and knows what I’m going through?”

My shadow blinks, surprised by my request, before smiling. “If that’s what you want, though I would suggest creating some sort of body for me in the real world.”

“You mean like a Persona?” I ask.

“No,” he replies, shaking his head. “From what we both remember about Personas, they can’t remain manifested in the world indefinitely. Besides, a Persona doesn’t really go with your aesthetic. I was meaning something like a Chirithy.”

I blink in confusion. I, of course, knew what a Chirithy was, but I had assumed that only the Foretellers, or the Master of Masters could create Chirithys.

“You can’t consciously create a Chirithy,” my shadow preemptively explains. “I would use the magic in your body to craft the body, based off of an image in your head. Think of it like accidental magic from Harry Potter on your end. Don’t worry, if you accept me, I’ll be there when you wake up.”

I nod, approaching my Shadow. “In that case, see you in the real world… Chirithy,” I say as I draw him into a hug. He smiles as a blue glow surrounds him before he vanishes.

I awaken to light dancing over my eyelids, and cold stone on my back. A far cry from the warm bed I was used to. With a groan, I slowly sat up before being promptly bowled over by a smaller form wrapping me in a tight hug. It was then that two voices reached my ears. One was very obviously male, chuckling at my plight, whilst the other was female, sobbing and whispering “Thank you” over and over again. Opening my eyes, I first notice my brand new Chirithy standing with a paw over his mouth as he continued to chuckle. Looking down I find a blue alicorn filly clutching me as if her life depended on it. I wrap my arms around her, realizing that its Luna, as I begin to survey the rest of the room.

The first thing I noticed was a trapdoor that wasn’t there before, with a bed on the floor below. I then notice that the Mane 6 are also starting to awaken and pick themselves off the floor. I could also see daylight coming in through the ruined windows.

“Well, this is unexpected,” a soft voice spoke as the light brightened. Walking to us from the entrance was a tall, white alicorn with a flowing, golden dress, and hair like a shimmering aurora. This was obviously Princess Celestia. “I did not expect to see Luna up and about so quickly.”

“Who now?” a tomboyish voice I quickly identify as Rainbow Dash asked.

The blue filly visibly flinched as she hid behind me. Chirithy quickly moved to wrap her in a hug, as Celestia smiled.

“I’ll explain in a minute,” she replied. “For now, let us move outside.”

We all got to our feet, and followed Celestia through the door, taking care to avoid the now open trapdoor. Once everyone was accounted for, Celestia held her hand out, a Keyblade flashing into her hand. Our collective jaws dropped, except for Luna’s and Chirithy’s. It was a beautiful weapon, with a long, spiraling, white unicorn horn rising from a handle surrounded by white and dark blue alicorns, situated in such a way that they chased each other. The head of the Keyblade was an eclipsed sun. She then pointed her weapon at the ruins, realization dawning on my features as I watched a beam shoot from it to the ruins.

The ruins flashed a brilliant white, forcing us all to cover our eyes as the ground rumbled, and the ruins changed. The crumbling stone vanished, being replaced by blue and white stone, growing into a large and intricate clocktower.

As the light faded, I found myself gaping as I saw before me something I never thought I’d ever see, for standing before me was the clocktower of Daybreak Town.

“No way…” I breathed. “You’re telling me that the ruins of Daybreak Town have been in the Everfree this whole time?”

“Not quite, miss…” Celestia trailed off.

“Kairi, ma’am. Please call me Kairi.”

Celestia nodded. “Very well, Kairi. As I was saying, Daybreak Town was lost millenia ago. What you see before you was built as a memorial 1000 years ago, not long before my sister was originally lost. Welcome friends, to Midday Tower.”

“B-but, how?!?” Twilight finally demanded, coming out of her shock. “Nopony, not even Starswirl the Bearded, could weave a spell of this magnitude! It simply isn’t possible!”

“Patience, Twilight,” Celestia gently chided, her lips curved into a smile at her student’s antics. “I promise to answer all of your questions. For now, let us go inside before any lingering Heartless attack.”

Now that sobered us up quickly, especially Luna, as she paled, grabbed Chirithy, and sped through the doors. A look of sorrow crossed Celestia’s features as she guided us into the Tower.

The Tower was enormous! It seemed to serve as training hall, residence, and meeting ground all at the same time, and the structure reflected it. The first three floors were all dedicated to the art of stabbing, slicing, dicing, burning, freezing, etc., the forces of darkness. The next ten floors held living quarters, a dining commons area, a general commons area, and what looked almost like a fitness center, judging by the equipment on that particular floor. Finally, the top floor held a meeting room pretty much exactly like the meeting room of the Foretellers. By that, I mean that its an exceptionally spacious room, with parts of the inner workings of the clock along the walls. In one corner is a desk littered with various books and papers, and in the center of the room is a large, circular table, with enough seats to comfortably seat all of us, plus more.

“Now then,” Celestia says, taking a seat and motioning for the rest of us to follow suit. “I imagine you all have questions, but first, I believe it would be best for young Kairi to give us a proper introduction.”

I nodded, knowing this would come up. “Well, as I told you before, my name is Kairi. I’m a fairly new wielder of the Keyblade, and I like to consider myself a Guardian of Light.”

“That’s all well and good,” Rainbow Dash cuts in, eyes narrowed. “But how exactly is that important right now?”

“If you’d let me finish, I would have explained!” I snap at Rainbow with a glare.

“Now hold on you two,” Applejack cut in. “There’s no need to be at each other’s throats. Kairi’s right Dash, so simmer down.”

“Fine…” Dash grumbles, folding her arms over her chest.

“Thank you, Applejack,” I say with a smile for the farm mare. “Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” here I glare at the blue pegasus. “I was about to explain that I wasn’t always Kairi.”

Now that got a reaction. Everyone at the table had various faces of shock and disbelief. “U-um, what do you mean by that?” Fluttershy questions, before hiding behind her hair. “I-if you don’t mind explaining, I mean, you don’t have to…”

I sigh. “Well, that’s the thing. My old name was Dmetri, and I was originally a twenty-three year old man attending university.”

“Then how in Equestria did you get here?” Twilight asks, barely holding back a wave of questions.

“Wwweeellllll, yeah, that’s the thing, I don’t know.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dash cuts in again. “You’re saying that you used to be a man, which I assume is your equivalent of a stallion.” I nod. “BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Oh, this is too funny!”

“RAINBOW DASH! How dare you!” Rarity snaps. “The poor dear has gone through quite enough without you mocking her for something beyond her control, so kindly SHUT UP!”

Silence. Yeah, I don’t think any of us were expecting an outburst quite like that from the fashionista. It sure as hell surprised me, and I know that Rarity only gets worked up like this when it involves clothes or her appearance. Well, at least in the show that was the case.

“While I am in agreement, Rarity,” we all turn back to Princess Celestia. “I believe it is for the best that Kai-er-Dmetri here explains the sequence of events that led he-him here.”

I nod. “Sure, but I’ve pretty much embraced who I’ve become, so please refer to me as Kairi, and other female pronouns, thank you. In any case, this is how it went…”

“…and from there you know what happened. Fought a heartless version of Luna, saw a ruin become a clock tower, and got laughed at by a tomboy pegasus who seems to think that its funny that I’m the wrong gender,” I finish with a glare at the mare in question.

“Well, that is certainly quite a story,” Celestia remarks. “But nowhere in your story did you mention where that creature my sister is holding like a plush toy came from. Exactly what is it?”

I blink. “Huh, I totally forgot about that. Well, that is Chirithy.”

“I’m what is known as a Spirit,” Chirithy chimes in. “Basically, I’m a dream given form in the real world.”

“He’s also my Shadow,” I finish.

Twilight blinks. “I’m sorry, Shadow? As in the dark, repressed part of your psyche?”

“Kinda,” I shrug. “On one hand, he was the repressed feelings I had, but dark? He was never dark, if anything he was annoyed with always being ignored.” Twilight’s eyes twinkle as she opens her mouth. “Not the time, Twilight,” I say preemptively. “I believe Celestia has something she wants to say.”

“Thank you, Kairi,” Celestia smiles. “I do indeed have a story I wish to tell you. It’s only fair, since we heard Kairi’s story, for you to hear my story. Especially since I’m sure you’re curious about the weapons you used against Nightmare Moon.”

“Yeah, what were those things?” Pinkie asks. “They were a lot more fun than my party cannons, and that’s almost impossible!”

“All in good time, Pinkie,” Celestia giggles. “In any case, I believe there is a story to be told…”

Long ago, there was a world named Scala ad Caelum, where the Keyblade Masters of old silently guarded against the dark. In that world was an ancient library, where each story was its own world. Indeed, this is why Scala ad Caelum became known as the nexus from which all worlds spring.

Within this Great Library, there was one man who believed that all stories should follow one design. This meddler, calling himself “The Master of Masters” journeyed into one story after another, masquerading as one of neutrality, while sowing the seeds of conflict and darkness wherever he went.

He eventually journeyed into our story, tutoring myself and Luna in the ways of light, and eventually gifting us each with a Keyblade; a mystical weapon to fend off the darkness. However, he eventually vanished, dimmed, and faded without a trace, leaving Luna with a handwritten page detailing a catastrophe in the near future.

Luna became obsessed with uncovering the mystery of this catastrophe, and stopping it, using darker and darker means to meet her ends, playing directly into the Master’s hands. Finally, one night a thousand years ago, Luna’s paranoia reached such heights that she turned her Keyblade on herself, believing that she would preserve herself and gain the power to fight back against the catastrophe. This was not the case, for it released her heart to the darkness, creating the heartless known as Nightmare Moon, and leaving her body to become a Nobody.

Now, when a pony’s body starts to become a Nobody, it rapidly ages backwards, until it becomes nothing. As Luna’s body began to regress, I cast a potent stasis spell, halting the process before it could complete. I then placed her here, in this room, before disguising the entire tower as the ruins of a castle that never existed, to protect her body from her heartless’s rampage.

I knew that if something wasn’t done, our world would fall to darkness, so, as the legend Twilight read said, I harnessed the Elements of Harmony and sealed Nightmare Moon into the moon, before placing them in the ruins to maintain my spell.

Since then, many Keyblade wielders have come and gone, as have many dark threats. The Keyblade wielders, known as the Guardians of Light, always struck down the threats before they could gain a foothold, and have been honored guests whenever they arrived.

My eyes are wide as Celestia finishes her story. Somehow, I not only dropped into My Little Pony, but also into a point in the Kingdom Hearts timeline that nobody could have possibly predicted!

“From your earlier story,” Celestia says. “I imagine that all of this information is new to you.” I nod. “And that you have no idea why you’re here.” I nod again as she sighs. “I thought as much. You were chosen by the Void then.” She pulls open a drawer, pulling out a medallion with some sort of spider design on it before tossing it to me.

As I catch it, words ring in my head: “My name is Dark. I’m a web-slinger with a blade and a lot of heart. If you need a companion to talk to, or an ally to help fight your enemies, just toss this medallion to the air and I’ll be there. I’m always willing to meet new people. But know this, I will not allow anyone to harm innocents.”

“It’s a cool looking medallion, but what does it have to do with me?” I ask as I toss it back. Big mistake, since as soon as it reaches halfway across the table, it vanishes before ripping a portal open, dumping a number of figures onto the table.

Author's Note

Hey all!

So, the next chapter will be a crossover chapter with another Displaced. Who's it gonna be? Tune in next chapter to find out!

The Key to Displaced

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 4: The Key to Displaced

The arrival of 6 strange looking individuals, plus one dragon had me instinctively summoning my Keyblade, with Celestia just as quickly calling her own before casting some sort of barrier spell, encapsulating the rift, the table and the newcomers.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

The only one of the newcomers who was currently standing, someone in a blue and black cloak with a hood concealing their face, simply lifted a hand until it was in front of their chest as the medallion fell into their palm before placing it in a pocket. They then looked around before seeing me and tilting their head.

“I take it you’re the Displaced?” They said, their voice being male.

I tilted my head in confusion. “Displaced?” I asked. “I can honestly say that I have no idea what that is.”

The guy sighed. “Okay, answer me this. Were you originally someone else, went to a convention, bought something, and ended up here? If so, how long ago was that?”

My eyes widened at that. “How the heck did you know that? That literally happened a couple hours ago!”

“Wow,” one of the other newcomers said, their voice female. “We’ve been Displaced for a while.” I saw one of the smaller ones getting up and saw that she was a short figure with lavender hair sticking out of her head and silver armor covering various parts of her body including her eyes. She then rubbed her back before turning to the cloaked one. “Is landing always that painful?”

The blue guy shrugged. “I gotten used to it to the point I can land on my feet.”

“Noted…”

The cloaked guy looked at the other newcomers. “You guys okay?”

“Yeah,” one of them said, her voice sounding a lot like Twilight's. “Just wish we could've gotten a warning…”

After that, the guy turned back to me before tilting his head again. He then walked towards me til he reach the edge of the table and bent over to look at me, with me seeing a scarf covering his lower face and the shadow of his hood hiding his eyes. “Who did you become anyway? You look kind of familiar.”

OK, I’m gonna be honest here. I was in complete shock. I mean, how could you not recognize who I had become? There are memes about her, for crying out loud! With widened eyes, I replied, “Seriously? If you come from the world I came from, I find it hard to believe that you don’t know me. I’m Kairi, one of the characters of one of the most anticipated games of 2019, Kingdom Hearts 3.”

“What’s that now?” Rainbow asked, her eyes going crossed as she tries to figure out what I was talking about.

“I’ll explain later,” I replied.

The cloaked guy did a double take. “What year?”

“Uh, 2019,” I answered, raising an eyebrow. “What year is it supposed to be?”

“I was Displaced late 2016. And I’ve only been Displaced for a few months.” He then placed a gloved hand on his chin. “Then again, time between universes is complicated in the stuff I've seen.” He then paused. “Wait, Kingdom Hearts 3? Wow. I thought that was as hopeless as Half Life 3.”

“Meh, Kingdom Hearts is cooler from what I've seen,” another voice said, one that sounded like a girl. The next moment, a snap was heard and bright flash happened, then the remaining newcomers were immediately on their feet.

My eyebrows shot up into my hairline, and my jaw dropped with what I was seeing. In front of me was another Rainbow Dash, and another Twilight, though this version of her was none other than Princess Twilight, wings and all. I quickly and instinctively put up my own barrier spell to strengthen Celestia’s spell, while Chirithy got Fluttershy and Luna, the two non-combatants, out of the room.

“What the hell is going on here?!?” I yelled. “Why are there future versions of the ponies sitting at the table?!?”

Of course, in my haste to prevent a possible paradox, I completely missed the small jackal-like pokemon that was unmistakably a Riolu climbing the cloak guy's legs, along with a small dragon.

Another snap was heard and I was face to face with a pink filly with purple spirals for eyes. No irises or pupils. “Would you calm down? We don't need you to cause a scene. And a paradox? Really? Please, time travel doesn't work that way in Equestria. And if you know about Twilicorn, you should know about It's About Time. You know, the episode where two Twilights from different times interacted?”

“Seriously, how much of our lives is in that show?” their Rainbow asked, shocked.

“Again, everything of importance since Twilight arrived in Ponyville,” the cloak guy told her. He then looked towards me and crossed his arms. “So, I take it you have plenty of questions?”

I blinked. I had totally forgotten about that episode. After a brief moment of thought, I sighed, lowering my Keyblade. “Celestia, I don’t think they’re a threat. Drop the barrier.” I turned to the cloak guy. “Alright, I’m willing to trust you, but just so we’re clear, one funny move, and you’re getting a fireball to the face; it’s been a very strange and stressful day…” As I said this, both Celestia and I cancelled our barrier spells, and let our Keyblades vanish in a cloud of sparkles.

“First of all, my message stated clearly that I won't tolerate people hurting innocents. As for your day…” he sighed. “Try being face to face with timberwolves while all alone in the Everfree, getting kicked so hard you get knocked out, then being attacked by a certain pony when you wake up, and being threatened by said pony later when you did nothing wrong. And that was just my first day. Don't even get me started on the crazier stuff that happened later.”

While he said that, the Rainbow that was with him looked uncomfortable and rubbed her arm with an embarrassed look on her face while she looked away.

I raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? Man, that seems really out of character for you there Dash. But, you couldn’t possibly top my day. First I wake up as a girl I had a crush on since Kingdom Hearts 2 came out, then I fight a bunch of heartless, one of which is Nightmare Moon of all things, and then I meet my Shadow, make it into a Chirithy, and find out that the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters isn’t actually a ruined castle but an ENORMOUS clock tower memorial for Daybreak Town. So, yeah, I’m extremely stressed.”

The entire group blinked, with the cloaked guy saying, “Okay...you lost me after you said Nightmare Moon was a Heartless. I only played the first game over a decade ago and I never even made it past Destiny Islands. And Dream Drop Distance a few years ago but I lost it before I could beat Wargoyle. So I'm very lost.”

“And I have absolutely no idea what the heck either of you are talking about,” the armored girl said, with their Rainbow and Twilight nodding in agreement.

“Ugh…” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. I’d forgotten that not many people had played Persona 4, or knew what a Shadow was in psychology. “OK, from the top then. A Shadow is a facet of one’s mind that they do not want to acknowledge and try to hide. A Chirithy is a companion Spirit that was introduced into a mobile Kingdom Hearts game called Union X (Cross), and you are currently standing in a clock tower known as Midday Tower, that was hidden by Celestia as the ruins of what you know of as the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

The cloaked guy stayed silent for a moment. “Huh. Kay.”

The pink filly cleared her throat. “Okay...how does that lead to you summoning Tito here?” she asked, pointing at the cloaked guy.

“That would be my fault,” Celestia answered. “I had made the realization that Kairi here was chosen by the Void to protect this world, and was giving her that medallion I had found years ago, since it was saturated in Void energy.”

“I tossed it back after hearing your message, thinking it was just in my head,” I finished.

The cloaked guy, Tito, facepalmed. “I need to find a way to change that…” he then removed his hand from his face. “Technically it was in your head, but it's kind of like a telepathic message. A prerecorded one, but still.” He then sat down by the edge of the table with his legs hanging out before grabbing the Riolu from his back and placing it on his lap, with it smiling as he started to stroke its fur. “I'm guessing you have some questions?”

I nodded. “Understatement of the century there, but yeah, you could say that. Let’s start with how did I get here?”

Tito shrugged. “The guy you bought the item from? Goes by the Merchant. From what I can understand, when someone buys something from him, they end up in a version of Equis as the person they were dressed as.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “Next question then: When in the timeline is your Equestria set?”

“I showed up early in season 6, so most of the stuff I know about already happened. But...some things are definitely different…” he muttered.

“Season 6, huh?” I asked. “Honestly, I never made it past the 100th episode back in season 5. Anyway, next question, now that we’ve been Displaced, what are we supposed to do, and can we get home when we’re done?”

Tito shrugged. “I met several Displaced, all of which been Displaced for varying times. A few been Displaced for years. And none of them have found their original universes. So I never bothered trying. Then again, besides my mom, I don't really have a reason to wanna go back anyway.”

“Speak for yourself,” the armored girl said.

Now that got me thinking. Was there really anything or anyone at home that I would truly miss? Now that I thought about it, there was probably only a couple people that come to mind.

“Alright, could somepony tell us what the buck is going on here?!?” Rainbow yelled.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed. “While I agree with the sentiment, there is no need for such uncouth and vulgar language!”

Before the pegasus can reply, the one that came with Tito immediately became a set of clouds and became herself again in front of her counterpart with a hand in her chin, completely unfazed about what just happened to her as her arms were glowing in a blue color.

Our collective eyes widened upon seeing this. “W-wha..b-buh..h-huh?!?” Came the unintelligible gibberish from Twilight as she tried to comprehend what she just saw.

“OK, you broke our brains,” I said in shock. “What was that?”

“Remember when I said my Equis has some differences?” Tito asked. He then pointed at his Rainbow. “That is one of them. Ever heard of inFAMOUS?”

“Heard of it, yes,” I confirmed. “Played it? No, I was never really interested in that one. The story looked kinda bland, and in my opinion, story trumps gameplay every time.”

Tito shrugged. “Other way around for me. Hence why I played Dream Drop Distance when I knew nothing about the series. Anyway, Conduits seem to exist across the multiverse according to a friend. Rainbow here is one herself.” He then paused and placed a hand at his side, to a part of his cloak that had some obvious stitching. “It was...helpful when her gene activated.”

I shook my head. “OK then, back on track. I really only have three more questions for you. First, what are all your names? I’m getting rather tired with just identifying you with your appearances. Second, why is there a Riolu and dragon with you? And finally, what exactly was the medallion from earlier, and how do I make one?”

Tito chuckled. “Wow. Surprised we gone this long without that. Our mistake.” He cleared his throat. “Name's Tito, but most call me Dark now. The Blaze Displaced over there is my cousin Elizabeth,” he said, gesturing to the armored girl. “You already know about Dash and Twi.” He then gestured to the Riolu in his lap and the small dragon on his shoulder. “The dragon is Peter, and the pup is my daughter Brianna,” he finished, Bri giving a small yip.

The pink filly then started levitating above the table and placed a hand on her chest. “And I'm Screwball. Daughter of Discord, princess of chaos, and the only pony in our world who has any knowledge on franchises from Earth.”

“Discord?!?” Celestia exclaimed, Keyblade coming back out.

“Oh right. Season 1,” Screwball said with a deadpan expression. “Calm down princess. My daddy isn't an issue in our world anymore. A certain pony is responsible for that.” She said with a smile. “Though you may wanna be careful. If this world is like baseline, you guys have a lot to deal with. And that's not counting the Kingdom Hearts stuff.”

“Yeah, like the wedding,” Tito muttered, his Twilight sighing at that before giving a nod.

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said. “Your daughter is a Riolu? Seriously? How does that work?”

“Not only that,” our eyes turned to our Twilight. “But why is the other me an alicorn? I know I don’t have that sort of magical potential.”

Tito's Twilight cleared her throat and averted looking any of my versions in the eye. “Well...let's just say I got a certain book and fixed a mistake on it.”

“And she screwed a lot of stuff up and seriously messed up her friends’ lives before she fixed said mistake,” Tito added, to which his Twilight glared at him. “Well it's true.”

“I'm sorry, what?” Elizabeth asked, sounding dumbfounded.

“Not important,” Tito quickly said before he resumed petting Brianna. “As for Bri being my daughter, a bit of a long story. Short version is I saved her as an egg in another Equestria and got to keep it. A few days later, she hatched and imprinted on me, thinking I'm her dad. So I adopted her as my daughter.”

“Well, considering what’s going on here and now,” I start, “I’d say that the possibility of what you had to do will be totally different, now that the continuity has been shot to pieces. But we got off track. What about that medallion thing?”

Tito reached into his pocket and pulled out the medallion before tossing it to me. “That is my token. Tokens are basically how Displaced can summon one another. Mine is a copy of my medallion,” he said before reaching into his cloak and pulling out a necklace with a matching medallion and a small rock with a hole on it. “I...wasn't that smart, making it that just throwing my token is what summons me, since this is about the fourth or fifth time someone summoned me by accident.”

“A token…?” I murmured, holding my chin in thought. “How do you make one?”

Tito shrugged. “You take something that either represents you, like me with my medallion, or your character, like a Howling Stone for a Link Displaced. Then you “place part of your soul” in it or something. Never could figure out that last part but people seem to be able to figure that out on their own.”

“Something that represents me…” I trailed off before turning to my bag and digging around in it. In no time at all I found the little bag of keychains that came with Destiny’s Embrace. I reached in, looking to use one of the keychains, when my hand touched something much bigger than your average keychain. I pulled it out to found the charm that the game version of Kairi made, along with a note.

“I noticed rather belatedly that the appearance I gave you when I sent you to Equestria wasn’t quite complete. Make good use of this, oh Guardian, mine."

“Huh, well that’s convenient,” I muttered before turning my attention back to the charm. I closed my eyes, focusing on filling the charm with light. Eventually, I opened my eyes and said, “This is my heart, my strength, full of color, full of life. If I am who you seek, speak 'light,' and I shall come. However, if your intent is evil... ash to ash, dust to dust, fade to black.”

The charm briefly flashed before it floated off my hand and vanished, and a moment later, a small portal opened and dropped it back into my hand.

“Told ya,” Tito said.

“It's seriously that easy?” Elizabeth asked surprised.

“Pretty much.” Tito then looked back at me. “Anymore questions?”

“Just one,” I replied. “You guys helped me out, so in exchange, any of you want a Keyblade?”

While everyone else seemed confused, Screwball blinked in surprise and Tito did a double take. “I'm sorry, what?” He asked in shock.

“A what?” His Rainbow asked.

“A Keyblade,” I said to his Rainbow while summoning my own again. “It is a mystical weapon designed to fight the forces of darkness. It’s also able to do a lot of other things as well, like open any lock, and channel magic.” I turned to Tito. “And yes, I can give you your own Keyblade. It’s not that hard, since they show us a ceremony in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep that’s designed to pass on the power.”

“Um...don't you have to be worthy in order to so much as hold a Keyblade, let alone have one? I know that much.”

I nodded. “If you’re only looking at the lore from the first game, yes, that is entirely correct. However, we learn in the later games that anyone can have a Keyblade, so long as they have traits that the master passing on the power is looking for. The lore got weird the longer the series lasted…”

“Now that I know. Kind of why I skipped the cutscenes of Dream Drop Distance. But...you can seriously just give Keyblades? Even though you only been Displaced for a couple hours?”

I shrugged. “I’m kind of a Kingdom Hearts nut job, so I have a very deep understanding on how my abilities work because of that, though I did sort of create a magic style as well that I had previously theorized about. If you don’t want a Keyblade, I could probably teach you that style instead. So, what do you say?”

Tito stayed silent for a moment before shrugging. “Sure. Might be useful.”

Elizabeth did the same. “A new weapon can help with some problems I heard of.”

Twilight sighed. “If you really can, I guess I'll get one too.”

Screwball shook her head. “Nah. I'm good. The magic thing might be interesting though.”

Rainbow hummed before shrugging. “Sure. Gives me something to use when I'm out of fuel.”

I nodded before walking over to Tito, lifting Destiny’s Embrace in my hand, turning it hilt first. “In your hand, take this Key,” I said, offering him the hilt. “And so long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend—no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love.”

Tito put Bri down on the table before getting up and looking at me before he slowly lifted his hand and grasped the hilt.

After Tito grasped the hilt, I slowly let go, allowing him to hold it for a few seconds. The fact that it didn’t flash directly back to my hand told me that he was worthy, no doubt about it, but when he asked about having to be worthy to have a Keyblade, I noticed something in his voice… Well, I’ll deal with it later.

I then repeated the process with both Elizabeth, Rainbow, and Twilight, with matching results, before turning to Screwball. “Are you sure you just want to learn my magic style? I mean, I’m OK with that, but it does tend to work better with a Keyblade, and I have no idea how it’ll react to Chaos magic.”

Screwball nodded. “Not like I'll actually be in many fights, if any at all. Tito and Cece are the fighters, along with Rainbow. I'm more a spectator at this point.”

“Fair enough,” I nodded with a smile. “In that case, let me explain what this magic style is. I call it Music Magic, and, while it can be used offensively, it is primarily a support type magic. I can tell from what you said earlier that you know about a number of franchises from where me and Tito are from, do you happen to know Final Fantasy X-2?”

“I know about as much as a certain person does and as of now, he knows absolutely nothing about Final Fantasy besides some stuff in 4 and 15. And some characters in Kingdom Hearts.”

“Darn, I had hoped I could use that to better explain, oh well. In any case, Music Magic allows you to cast certain status effects on both enemies, and allies. For enemies, the effects will hinder their movements, blind them, poison them, you name it, while for allies, the effects will help them, rejuvenating strength, increasing magic output, etc, etc. The only limitation is knowing a song, and being able to attach the wanted effects to the song,” I explained.

As I explained, I held my hand up, focusing on condensing my knowledge of Music Magic into an orb, similar to the Drive orbs from Kingdom Hearts 2. Soon enough I had a blue drive orb with a music note emblazoned on it, which I offer to Screwball. “This orb will give you all the knowledge you need to use this style.”

Screwball blinked before muttering, “Really pushing it with her skills as a beginner, Bound…” She then shrugged and grabbed the orb.

I blinked. “Honestly, I didn’t think that would work,” I say as I watch the orb absorb into the filly. “So, you think you can use it? Have a good understanding of the style?”

Screwball looked at her hand for a moment. “Yeah, I think I do.” She then shrugged. “Who knows, I might be able to teach this to others.”

We promptly heard some pianos starting up as Screwball tests her new magic.

I blinked. “Huh, haven’t heard that song in years…” I mutter. I then shake my head. “So, how long do you stay, or do I send you back?”

Screwball shrugged. “I can take us home with Tito's token or you can send us back whenever you want. Your choice.”

“Well, I think Celestia is a little nervous with you around, Screwball, so I think you guys might need to go for a bit,” I said. “I can summon you guys again to hang out later. Oh, and before I forget, how do I give you a copy of my token?”

Tito reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue gem. Before he can say anything though, Screwball immediately yanked it and disappeared. Tito stood silent for a moment. “Well, didn't see that coming…”

“Uh, what exactly did she do?” I asked, confused.

“She just took my chaos gem and teleported away, didn't you see it?” Tito asked, with Eli jumping up to slap him on the head. “HEY!”

“Welp,” Applejack chuckled. “Can’t say he didn’t deserve that.”

“You said it,” Pinkie exuberantly said with a smile.

Tito simply looked at them before sticking a hand up to Eli and Applejack’s directions and pressed his two middle fingers down on them, with a white substance coming from his wrists and hitting them both in the face, a web appearing the areas it hit, with them immediately trying to pull it off their faces.

I blinked. “You know, I never did ask who you were Displaced as. After seeing that, I’m gonna assume some sort of Spider-Man Displaced?”

“Spider-Man OC,” he said as he waved his hand and the webs disappeared off Applejack and Elizabeth's faces. “Made it up years ago. Called DarkSpider, which is why everyone calls me Dark. I figured Dark is more of a pony name than Tito anyway so I use it so nobody can tell I'm not one.” He then gestured to his cloak. “Most folks think I'm an earth pony when I have this on so having a name like that helps. And trust me, ponies back home are pretty xenophobic. So it's for the best I have this and my costume.”

I winced. “I had my suspicions, considering the Zecora episode, but I had hoped it wasn’t the case…”

Screwball then teleported back in a flash of light. She then tossed him his gem before throwing another one at me. When I caught it, I saw that it was a pink crystal with black edges.

“What’s this?” I asked, catching the gem.

“Chaos gem,” Screwball explained. “Since a version of my daddy made the one Tito has, I figured I can make one myself. Let's you spawn just about any small item in your pocket. Tito here usually just uses his for copies of his token and snacks. Though there are a few more uses.”

My eyes widened. “Um, are you sure it’s OK for me to have this then?”

Screwball frowned. “What's wrong? Not like something this weak can cause any trouble. Not even strong enough to free this universe's version of my daddy.”

“Uh, that’s not exactly what I meant,” I said with a sweatdrop. “I mean, it seems kinda valuable…”

“So?” Tito's Rainbow asked as she leaned by the table. “Pretty sure anyone who tries to mug you will get their plot kicked.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” I shrugged. “Sssooo, how do I use this thing anyway?”

“Just concentrate on an item and reach into your pocket or bag,” Tito explained. “The thing you thought of would appear instantly.” As if to prove his point, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a snack that looked like a chocolate cupcake and gave it to Bri, who gladly started eating it.

“Hmm…” I concentrated on the item I’m wanting to pull out, and pulled out a little Morgana plush.

“Oh wow!” I exclaimed. “This could be really useful later on!”

“Again, can't do anything big like weapons or the like,” Screwball reminded. “But you can use it so you can have copies of your token on hand.”

“Ahh, OK then,” I reached back into the bag and pulled out another one of my tokens, tossing it over to Tito. “There you go, use it wisely!”

Tito caught it, and almost immediately that a faint flash of blue light coming from the token before it changed colors, with 3 points turning a royal blue color and the remaining 2 turning pure black.

Tito stared at the token. “Well, didn't see that coming…”

I shrugged. “Neither did I, really. So, is there anything else you want to do, or are we done here? Cause I think Celestia is really wanting to have a word with me.” I said sheepishly as I saw her glaring at me.

“Yeah, when do we get those key things?” Tito's Rainbow asked.

“Hard to say,” I replied with a shrug. “In the games, it varies from person to person. For example, for Riku, it took almost 10 years before he got a Keyblade, while for another character, Axel, it took about a day at most. All I can say for sure is that you’ll eventually get it.”

“According to Lea, Axel's real name, it was likely just a snap of the wrist and then he immediately had it in his hand,” Screwball said.

Tito looked at his right hand for a moment before taking a deep breath. He then reached his arm out with a flick on his wrist and a medium-sized Keyblade appeared in his hand, with him taking a step back in shock.

“Huh, go figure,” I said, eyes going wide. I took the time to study the Keyblade. It’s a mid-length, bladed piece, with a wolf head as the guard, a web surrounding the handle, and a spider at the head. The blade itself was a deep, royal blue, while the wolf head and web design are silver, and the spider at the end is a pitch black. In all honesty, it reminded me of a cross between the Sleeping Lion, and the Pumpkinhead Keyblades from the first Kingdom Hearts game.

Elizabeth removed her visor, revealing golden eyes as she stared at it. “Okay, I can understand the spider stuff and the colors, but why the wolf stuff? I mean sure you can turn into one, but so does anyone with that token.”

“Woah, woah, wait a minute,” I cut in. “You can turn into a wolf? Just how OP did you make this OC of yours?”

“That isn't something I gave him, even though I do like wolves,” Dark said. He then grabbed at the rock on his necklace. “This is what gives me the ability to turn into a wolf.”

“And a rather big one,” his Rainbow commented.

“Right. Anyway, it's the token of a Link Displaced. Infused with Twili magic and allows its user to turn into a wolf. Though know that the first transformation is very painful.”

I winced. “Yeah, no thanks. I don’t need that sort of pain, especially since I’ll have a new pain every month…” I shuddered as I remember that little can of worms. “In any case, I think we’re done here, unless you want to do something else before you head out.”

Tito stared at his Keyblade again before dismissing it. He then looked towards me. “Well I can only think of 2 more things. A small request, and a gift.”

I shrugged. “What did you have in mind?”

He then looked towards Screwball, who pulled out a camera and tossed it to him. After he caught it, he turned back to me. “The request is simply a picture. Basically I take pictures of all the Displaced I meet so I have more of a way to remember them besides just their token.”

I smiled. “Sure, I’d be happy to let you take a picture.” I summoned my keyblade put the time on the ground with both hands on the hilt. “I’m ready whenever you are!”

He then readied the camera. “Say “hearts”.” He then took the picture and the camera had a faint glow for a moment before he gave it back to Screwball, who had it disappear.

“Nice!” I let my Keyblade disappear. “So what is this ‘gift’ you have for me?”

He pulled out a phone from his pocket before taking a deep breath, his hands soon gaining a blue aura around them, then the phone having a matching aura. After a moment, it stopped but he leaned towards the table, panting.

“I told you that you need to be careful,” his Twilight said, sounding annoyed.

“I'm fine, Twi… Don't worry.” A moment later, his clothes seemed to change, turning pure black. When it finished, he stood up straight and stopped panting.

“Uh, you do know that you could have channeled whatever spell that was through your Keyblade, right?” I asked. “It would have made it a lot easier for you to cast the spell.”

“Duly noted,” Tito said, his voice sounding...deeper for some reason, the others looking at him in confusion. He then looked at Screwball and lifted the phone. “Think you can give this an upgrade?”

Screwball took the phone and teleported away again to who knows where.

“OK,” I said slowly. “What was with the creepy voice a moment ago?”

“Creepy voice…” he said before he seemed to realize what was going on. He then sighed. “You really wanna know?”

“Can’t be as dark as Danganronpa,” I shrugged. “Might as well find out.”

He stayed silent for a moment before sighing as his cloak changed back to the way it was before and a black substance started enveloping his right arm before morphing into a neck and a head, with pure white eyes being the only thing on its face. All of Dark's friends stepped back in shock, with Bri tilting her head in confusion.

“I should have known,” I sighed. “Hello Venom, are you friendly, like in the movie, or are you just gonna bite people’s heads off?”

“Venom?” Tito's Rainbow asked in confusion.

Venom's eyes widened before shaking his head. “You have nothing to fear from me miss,” Venom said, his voice sounding very similar to Tito. “I just wish to help my host in anyway I can.”

“Alright, so the version of Venom from the end of the movie, got it,” I nodded. “One thing though, there isn’t some bloodthirsty version of you called Carnage, is there?”

Venom sighed. “While I have no idea what movie you're talking about, since it clearly isn't Spider-Man 3, I'm afraid there is a Carnage in our world. My brother. Luckily he wasn't one of the ones freed.”

“Hold up,” his Rainbow said before doing that cloud thing again to appear in front of Tito and Venom. “What in Tartarus are you and what are you doing on Tito?”

Venom looked to her. “I am a symbiote, made by your...friend's blood and was freed on Hearts And Hooves Day. After that, I bonded with him and we came to an agreement.”

“You sure about this Tito?” Elizabeth said. “Last I heard, Venom is bad news.”

“I know, but he hasn't caused any problems yet so I'm willing to trust him,” Tito said.

“Is there a reason you didn't tell us about him?” Princess Twilight asked.

Venom was the one who answered that. “He wanted to tell all of you after the little meeting you had. Said he didn't want you guys to be distracted.”

Princess Twilight sighed. “Fine,” she said as Venom retreated inside Tito.

Screwball then showed up again, the phone in her hand having a pink case on it. She then tossed it to me before saying, “There you go. Completely upgraded.”

I lifted up the phone, looking it over carefully. It looked vaguely like the the Gummiphone from Kingdom Hearts 3, right down to the crown like design that was part of the case. “OK, so how is a phone that has no service gonna help me?”

“The upgrades I gave are pretty good in my opinion. Wi-Fi access, certain videos are available to be seen, unbreakable, and able to contact Tito and Elizabeth whenever you want without needing to summon them.” She then smiled. “I may not be able to help in a fight due to some...restrictions, but I can still help in stuff like this.”

My eyes widened, and the phone slips through slackened fingers, clattering to the floor. “Wi-Fi access? Able to communicate between dimensions?” I whispered. “How is that even possible? Unless you have a Time Lord on hand, it really shouldn’t be!”

She shook her head. “No. Just chaos magic. And it's called chaos magic for a reason. Not counting certain restrictions that a higher up imposed, my daddy and I can do just about anything. Heck, my dad literally made me using his chaos magic.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Right, ol’ Q is at it again. Forgot about that…” I muttered. “Anyway, I assume you have people - er - ponies waiting for you.”

Tito nodded. “To send a Displaced that you summoned back, you simply say “your contract is complete”.”

“Huh, simple enough,” I nodded. “Your contract is complete.” A portal opened behind Tito and the rest of his group. “Welp, I’ll keep in contact as much as I can. Until next time, and may your heart be your guiding key,” I finished with a Japanese style bow.

Eli rose an eyebrow. “And may the Force be with you too,” she said in confusion before jumping through the portal first.

Screwball sighed. “I'll explain when we're back.” She then looked to me. “Hope you have a good life, Kairi.” With that said, she then went through the portal.

Their Twilight sighed. “Well, this was...something. It was nice meeting you, and sorry for any trouble.”

After Twilight went through, Rainbow looked back me. “Well, not gonna lie, this is better than the last time I went to another Equestria. Though hopefully we can just do more than stand around and talk next time. See ya around.” She then flew through the portal.

Tito took a deep breath before removing his hood and lowering his scarf, revealing his peach skin face, brown eyes, and black hair. He then walked up to me and stuck out his hand. “It was nice meeting you Kairi.”

I smiled as I took his hand, giving it a firm shake. “Safe travels, Tito.” I let his hand go, then step back.

He then picked up Bri, who waved to me with a smile on her face, and walked to the portal. Before he went through, he stopped and turned back to me. “Two more things. One, know that your phone has unlimited power, so don't worry about it dying. And two, if you ever need help of any kind, just ask. Got it?”

I laughed. “The same to you. Got it memorized?” I smirk as I point to my head.

Tito rose an eyebrow in confusion before shrugging and turning back to the portal. “Until next time Kairi.” With that said, they went through the portal, with it snapping closed immediately after.

The sound of a throat being cleared draws my attention away from where the portal once was. I turn to find a glaring princess of the sun about ten feet behind me.

“Heh heh, guess I have some explaining to do, don’t I?”

Author's Note

Alright! Its done! Hope you all enjoyed, and a big thank you to DarkSpider for making this crossover chapter happen!

EDIT: I can't believe I forgot this, but here is a link to the story that this chapter crosses over with: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/336352/spider-in-equestria

Next chapter will have a bit of training. See you then!

The Key to Day’s Start

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 5: The Key to Day’s Start

The sound of birds chirping roused me from slumber. It was a beautiful morning, the sun shining in the clear blue sky. As I opened my eyes, I felt a slight movement next to me that had me glance over to the still sleeping Luna and Chirithy. I smiled as memories of yesterday came back to me.

*** The Previous Day ***

The sound of a throat being cleared draws my attention away from where the portal once was. I turn to find a glaring princess of the sun about ten feet behind me.

“Heh heh, guess I have some explaining to do, don’t I?”

“I should think so,” Celestia growled. “Let’s start with that filly’s claim of being Discord’s daughter, and why you weren’t worried.”

I nod. “I’d be happy to explain, just as soon as Chirithy brings the others back in.”

“I’ll get them,” Rainbow replies with an eyeroll as she gets to her hooves.

“Thanks Rainbow,” I say with a smile. She nods in acknowledgement before unfurling her wings and taking off in search of the others.

Five minutes later Rainbow returns, Chirithy, Fluttershy and Luna following close behind. Upon seeing me, Luna runs over to grab me in a hug. I laugh as I maneuver the two of us back to the table, taking a seat with Luna in my lap.

“OK,” I say as everyone takes a seat. “I promised you all answers, and I’ll do my best to answer them all.” I see Celestia taking a breath, but I raise my hand to stop her. “I’ll be starting with questions that were asked during Tito’s visit. If there are any unanswered questions you have, I’ll answer them then. Is that fine with you?”

The sun princess bows her head, closing her eyes in thought for a second before returning her gaze to me. “That is acceptable, I suppose.”

I nod before turning to Rainbow. “If I recall correctly, you were the first one to be confused, wondering what I meant by being a character from a game, right?”

“Right!” Rainbow nods with a smile, happy that her question was being answered first. “I thought Kairi was just someone you knew from home.” Everyone nodded their agreement to that.

“Not quite,” I reply, digging around in my bag for my laptop. “Do you have video games here in Equestria?”

‘Huh? I don’t remember packing this much stuff in my bag before,’ I think in confusion as I pull my laptop out. ‘I’ll figure it out later.’

“We do,” Twilight answers with a nod. “But, I don’t see what something like Pokécrits has to do with anything.”

My eyebrow raises at the somewhat familiar name as my laptop finishes booting up, before shaking my head. “Its important, because of this.” I reply as I turn my laptop around to show them one of the trailers for Kingdom Hearts 3. As soon as Kairi appears on screen I pause the video. “This girl here on screen is who I became.”

Everyone stares at the image on screen, except for Celestia, who noticed someone else on screen. “Master Aqua?!?”

We all turn to the sun princess, who continues to stare, not believing her eyes. “How do you know that name?”

Celestia visibly shakes herself out of her stupor. “Not important right now,” she replies. “Let’s continue, shall we…?”

***Present***

I smile as I remembered some of the reactions, Twilight’s especially, when they saw some of the MLP episodes I had saved on my laptop. A small yawn prompts me to look over at a slowly awakening Luna. “Good morning sleepyhead.”

Luna beams at me before giving me a big huh. “Good morning, sis!”

That response has me beaming as well, as more memories from yesterday surface…

***The Previous Day***

“No!”

We all stared at Luna as she point blank refused to leave with Celestia, who’s face saddened.

“Why?”

It was a simple question that carried many emotions.

“Because,” Luna replies. “I want a new start, which I won’t get with you. You were planning on using that ritual after all. Don’t deny it!”

Celestia bows her head. “You always were more perceptive that I gave you credit for,” she raises her head. “I just wanted to pick up where we left off.”

Luna’s eyes burn with anger. “And you can’t do that with me like this? You would seriously put me right back into the situation that caused this whole mess?”

“Wait, what?!?” I shout.

Celestia sighs. “The Ritus Restitutio is a ritual Alicorns can use after a debilitating accident to return their bodies to the condition it was in before the accident. However, there is one drawback: not only is the body restored, the mind returns to the same state as the body as well, much like a rewind button. It falls to the castor of the ritual to prevent the pony affected by the ritual from making the same mistakes that caused their accident.”

We all stared at Celestia in horror. “Luna, I’m gonna need you to go over to Fluttershy for a moment,” I say, not taking my glare off of Celestia’s sweating form. “Fluttershy, please cover her ears,” I say once I feel Luna slip from my lap. “No need for her to hear what I’m about to say.”

I give it a second before I glance over at Fluttershy to see her covering Luna’s ears before turning my ire to Celestia. “What the actual **** is wrong with you?!?” I scream at her. I distinctly notice a barrier go up around Fluttershy and Luna, curtesy of Chirithy, as I unleashed a tirade of vitriol, the likes of which I have never unleashed before or after, with such intensity that the Mane 6 were visibly wincing, and Celestia was actually cowering! Looking back on it, I believe my magic decided to back my words up and induced a sort of Killing Intent aura around me. In any case, I let up after about five minutes, when I finally ran out of things to say. Celestia was crying by this point as the weight of what she had been planning to do hit her full force.

“While I don’t agree with everything Kairi said,” Twilight speaks up with a quick glance at me. “I must agree with a couple points she made. Specifically, the fact that this would simply become an unending cycle that Luna would never be able to escape from. Why did you plan to do this ritual?”

It took a couple seconds for Celestia to calm herself enough to answer. “Because I wanted to spend more time with Luna,” she finally managed to reply.

“And you can’t do that now, because…?” Applejack prodded.

Celestia turned to face AJ. “The Nobles. They would insist on the ritual, simply to make sure the time I spend listening to their self-centered and frankly asinine proposals doesn’t decrease.”

“So you decided to just do the ritual so you wouldn’t have to deal with their ****?” she nodded at my deduction. “Well then, I have the perfect solution for you then,” I say, my face remaining neutral. “I assume that you were planning on having me live here at the Tower, right?”

Celestia nods, turning to me. “That was my intention, yes.”

I nod. “Then Luna can live with me here, and you visit as often as you want with the excuse that you need to train for some coming threat. This is a training facility, after all.”

Celestia’s eyes widen. “That’s brilliant! And in a sense its true, since with an active Guardian of Light here, the Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed will soon be stirring again.”

I nod with a smirk. “You’ll also need to teach the Element Bearers how to use their Keyblades effectively…”

***Present***

We spent the next hour that day working out the details of the training plan. We agreed that Celestia would handle theory, while I handled the practical application, something I planned to look into both I and Luna were awake and fed. After that, everyone except myself, Luna and Chirithy left, leaving us to explore our new home. We eventually found a room with a walk-in closet full of replicas of my current clothes and undergarments for me, as well as sets of the clothes Kairi wore in the first Kingdom Hearts game sized for Luna. It was admittedly rather strange that the clothes were all there ready for us, but we figured we’d find out why it was there later.

“Come on sweetheart, time to get ready for the day,” I say as I went into the closet, selecting some clean underwear and clothes for the both of us, before meeting up with Luna outside the adjoining bathroom for a bath. While I will admit that the experience was quite… educational… I am not going to be describing any of it. I don’t need any potential male readers acting like Jiraya from Naruto, thank you very much!

In any case, after the bath we got dressed and headed to the dinning commons. Now, this was a huge surprise for us, since we found a rat experimenting in the kitchen. A rat I very quickly recognized as Little Chef, AKA Remy. After the initial surprise, we introduced ourselves to the rat, before requesting something for breakfast.

After a delicious meal of French toast, Luna and I made our way downstairs to the training facility. A training facility that was locked.

“Well, that’s annoying,” I muttered. “Any ideas, sweetheart? I’d really rather not get have Celestia back here so soon.”

Luna looks around for a moment before pointing at a room labeled ‘Control Room.’ Great, apparently I’m oblivious now as well.

Instead of letting my exasperation show, I smile at Luna. “Good eye. Now, lets see what we have here.”

As the two of us enter the room, lights automatically come on, revealing…

“A TARDIS Console?” I question.

“Not exactly,” a voice pipes up to my right, causing both Luna and I to shriek in surprise as I summon my Keyblade and Luna hides behind me. Before us stands an earth pony stallion in a brown suit with a bright red bow tie. He was a light brown with a dark brown mane and resting on his head is a red fez. In his hand was a silver cylinder with a green light at the end. “Weapon? Really?” the stallion asked with an eyeroll. “Is that really necessary?”

“I should think that’s obvious,” I snapped back. “Considering I don’t know who you are, and on top of that you could be someone here to kidnap Luna!”

Even as I say those words, something in the back of my mind was nagging me…

“No, really, your weapon isn’t necessary,” the stallion insisted. “I’m not actually here. I’m just a message left by the stallion Clockwork, though you’d know him better as-“

“The Doctor!” I cry in shock as I finally figured out what was bugging me. I was talking to a pony version of the Eleventh Doctor. I was talking to a pony version of the Eleventh Doctor! “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…!”

“I think you broke her,” Luna giggled as I was having my fangasm.

“Quite,” the Doctor said with a chuckle. “In any case, have her push the big red button on the console over there when she snaps out of it.”

And with those words the hologram vanishes, snapping me out of fangirl mode.

“Are you OK now, sis?” Luna asks.

I nodded. “Do me a favor, Luna. If that ever happens again, whack the back of my head, OK?”

Luna tilted her head to the side. “Why do you want me to do that?”

“Because it’ll snap me out of fangirl mode if it happens again,” I explained as I moved to the button the hologram indicated. It was fairly easy to find the button, especially since it was flashing and had the words ‘press me’ written on it in big, bold, lettering. With a shrug I pressed the button and immediately heard the iconic TARDIS sound effect. Luna and I both turned around to find the Blue Box herself materializing next to the door.

Upon fully materializing, the Doctor himself stepped out, followed by none other than Sunset Shimmer, surprisingly enough.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmy – “ – WHACK!

Welp, I really should have seen that coming. “Thanks Luna,” I say while rubbing the back of my head.

Luna beams at me, while the new arrivals get a good laugh at my expense.

“Well, that was unexpected,” the Doctor says as he gets his laughter under control. “Am I right in assuming you know who we are?”

I nodded with a grin of glee. “The Doctor and Sunset Shimmer of course!”

“I see, Mira wasn’t exaggerating then,” the Doctor replies with a grin of his own.

“Wait, wh-“

“Spoilers~!” the Doctor cuts me off. “Now, I left that message you saw earlier for a reason. Celestia had me deactivate everything before she did her little vanishing act on the Tower, so I left that message for the next caretaker to summon me and reactivate everything.”

My eyes widened at that. “That explains why everything is locked.”

“Indeed,” he nodded, before moving over to the console. “Now then, I assume you came from a universe that had the TV series Star Trek, yes?” I nod. “Brilliant, then you should be familiar with the idea of the Holo-Deck. That’s basically what your new training facility is; a giant Holo-Deck.”

My eyebrows shot up into my hair, my eyes narrowed. “If I remember correctly, the Holo-Deck in Star Trek required a program to run. If this facility is a giant Holo-Deck, what programs will it run?” I questioned.

The Doctor smirked, as if he expected that very question, however, it was Sunset who replied with “When you were pulled here, I assume you had your personal belongings with you?” I nodded. “Well, I’m sure the Doctor can rig something up to use what you have.”

“Right you are my dear Sunset!” The Doctor beamed at his companion before turning back to me. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please bring those things here?”

I nodded before turning and, with Luna on my heels, made a dash back to our shared room. As Luna and I step into our room, I suddenly hear a familiar tune playing from my bag, specifically the Spider-Man theme song. I quickly move over to my bag and dig out the source of the music, that being my brand new Gummiphone. I quickly answer the phone and hold it up to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Holy crap it works,” I heard a familiar voice say on the other end.

“Tito? Is that you?” I asked in surprise, not expecting to hear from him so soon.

“Hey Kairi, how you been?”

“Uh, the same as I was yesterday when you were here,” I replied with some confusion. “You act like… Wait a moment, I forgot that time works differently between universes…”

“Only a day for you? Yeah, been longer for me. Quite a few things have happened on my end…” he muttered that last part.

“Oh? Did something happen with your Keyblade?” I asked, feeling a measure of concern over the direction the conversation was going.

“No. It's fine. Though that dream I had that night was unexpected.”

“Did it have anything to do with a stained glass floor in a dark void?” I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what that dream was...

“Uh huh. Pretty much. And apparently the others had it too. Take it you know about it? I remember it was in the first Kingdom Hearts game and you said you're an expert on those games.”

I nod with a smirk. “That’s right, what you have just experienced is the Dive to the Heart. Basically, it’s your Keyblade getting a feel for you. In the games, the Dive to the Heart acts as the tutorial for the basic gameplay, while also revealing the character of Sora, or whoever the playable character of the game happens to be.”

The next thing he said was hard to pick up on, as if he was talking to a separate person, before I heard him ask, “Any way for someone else to end up in one's dive?”

I blink at that. “Well, in terms of the lore for the series, there was no mention of anyone else showing up during a Dive. Why do you ask?”

“I ended up having a...visitor, for lack of a better word.”

I close my eyes in thought for a moment. What Tito was describing was completely unheard of in the games, yet at the same time, there was one moment in the games that may explain it. “Was your ‘visitor’ Venom, by any chance?”

After a second, I faintly heard him say “shut up” before telling me, “Yeah, pretty much.”

I nod. “I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on here. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, for the final boss of the character Ventus, the entire battle takes place within a Dive. However, that was only possible because the final boss, Vanitas, was intricately linked to Ventus’s heart. I believe something similar is going on here with you and Venom. Because he originally came from you, your hearts are inextricably linked, allowing him to participate in your Dive.”

“Wait, I heard that name before. Vanitas…” After a moment, he said, “Oh right. Anyway, what do you mean our hearts are linked?”

I shrug. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Your heart is a part of his, and his heart is a part of yours.”

“Doesn't that mean the hearts of the other symbiotes are a part of me too?”

“Yes, but in a different way,” I explained. “They can’t intrude on your Dive, because they haven’t bonded to you. Venom on the other hand, has bonded to you.”

“So besides entering my dive, does that mean anything?”

I shrug again. “From a lore perspective, not really, since the only example we have to draw on is the battle between Ventus and Vanitas. We’ll need to wait and see to know for certain. In any case, was there anything else you were calling about? It seemed like you had something else on your mind before we went down that bunny trail.”

“Yeah. You know your token?”

I raise my eyebrow. “Yes, what about it?”

“Does it have anything special about it besides the summoning?”

My other eyebrow goes up to join the first. “Not that I’m aware of, unless the Merchant did something to it when he put it in my bag. Why do you ask?”

“Screwball said she saw it glowing while I was sparring with Rainbow. Figured you might know what that was about.”

My eyes widen at that. “Wait, did you happen to use an ability that you don’t normally use in combat? Like, an ability someone else usually uses?”

After a few moments of him talking to whoever was with him, he said, “Apparently I did something that looked similar to the Homing Attack.”

Now that surprised me. Never in a million years did I expect my token to act like the actual Wayfinders from Birth by Sleep. “What you just did is called a Dimension Link, or D-Link for short. Basically, it allow the user to borrow the abilities and skills of another person that they have created a strong bond with. Somehow my token acts in the same way as the Wayfinders from Birth by Sleep.”

“And you weren't aware of that?”

“No,” I state bluntly. “In the games, Kairi’s lucky charm is just that, a lucky charm. No powers or abilities attached to it.”

“Then why is yours different than hers?”

“No idea,” I reply with a shrug. “Could be that the Merchant thought it would be a good idea.”

I heard him scoff. “Doubt it. Probably something to do with when you made it a token.”

I nod. “Sounds like that could be the case. Be very careful when you experiment with it. In the games the D-Link was on a timer, so don’t do anything reckless while using it, otherwise you could end up hurt, or very dead.”

“Honestly I didn't even notice it until after Screwball brought it up. Didn't feel tired or anything.”

I shrug again. “Could be that you were unconsciously tapping into the ability, that could change when you properly use it. All I’m saying is that you need to be careful when experimenting.”

“Duly noted.”

I nod in satisfaction. “Alright, anything else? I’ve kinda got the Doctor waiting in the other room right now…”

“You sick?”

I giggle at that. “No, no. You might know him better as either Clockwork, or Doctor Whooves, whichever is more recognizable.”

“Only Clockwork I know is from Danny Phantom and Sly Cooper. So why you bring Time Turner up?”

“Huh, that’s odd, didn’t think he was going by Time Turner in your world…” I trail off before shaking my head. “In any case, apparently he’s here to reactivate the training facility in the Tower. I’ll tell you more next time we talk.”

“Kay. Until next time.” And with that, he hung up.

I pull the phone away from my ear and put it back into my bag before opening it to sort out the things I don’t need. What I found in the bag shocked me to the core. Not only were the things I brought with me in the bag, but my PS4 and the games I had for it was in it, along with a note:

”Surprised? Don’t be. I’ve been keeping an eye on you and thought this might be useful down the line. This is the last freebie you get from me though, oh Guardian, mine. If there’s anything else you want or need from home, check your phone for a shop app.
-The Merchant”

I blinked. Something about that phrasing nagged at me. Almost like a memory was right on the top of my tongue. I shook my head before shrugging, then dug around in my bag again, pulling out the pouch of keychains I had bought. Now seemed like a perfect time to actually check out the keychains the Merchant gave me, so I dump them into my hand, counting six keychains instead of the original five. Those six keychains being Oathkeeper, Oblivion, Ever After, Starlight, Crystal Snow, and Way to Dawn. I shrug before putting them back and shouldering my bag.

“Luna?” I call. “Where’d you go?”

“Right here, sis!” a muffled voice called from the closet. “Just trying to find something I left in here.” She came back out putting something in her pocket.

“Alright then, lets head back,” I say turning back to the door. No sooner had we stepped through the door, we found ourselves falling through a white void.

Author's Note

HOLY CRAP ITS DONE!!!

This chapter was an absolute PAIN to write, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway!

The Fairy's Key

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 6: The Fairy’s Key

[Lex's POV]

I release a small sigh as I finish the quests for the day. I knew we would be more popular once news got out about the raid, but I legitimately didn’t expect this amount of work to come in at once. I had just finished signing the new quests, when there was a knocking at the door.

“Come in!” I call out, piling the quests. The door opens, to reveal Sonbā and Echo, the duo smiling to me.

“Hey Lex. You finished the quests?” Echo questions.

“Yup, just finished up.” I reply, grabbing the small stack.

“Cool. Hey Lex, I found what I think is another Token on the way here.” Sonba says taking out the token. It actually took a second for me to speculate what it was. It looked like a wayfinder from Kingdom Hearts.

“Woah.” I mutter, taking the token and the creed plays in my mind.

“This is my heart, my strength, full of color, full of life. If I am who you seek, speak 'light,' and I shall come. However, if your intent is evil... ash to ash, dust to dust, fade to black.”

“Woah, I don’t think I have heard such a poetic creed before.” I mutter to myself.

‘Hmm, this is a wayfinder from Kingdom Hearts. Maybe whoever this is can help me unlock my Keyblade.’

I look to the others before motioning them to follow. We quickly head to the main room and I post the quests on the board, before looking at the token in my hand. I glance around the guild, seeing Ammy, Mei, Arakunia, Gilda, RD and Fluttershy eating, and I can sense Trixie and Swift in the archives studying.

“Hey guys,” the others turn to me, “I am going to be summoning someone, so be sure to be welcoming.” The others all nod and I hold out the token.

I focus a small amount of my magic into the token. “Light.” I whisper.

A white portal that seems to extrude light appears before me, and oddly, above the table I was next to. It took a second, but eventually, I can see three figures begin to appear.

Imagine our surprise when a human girl with red hair and a pink outfit fell onto the table, quickly followed by a blue filly that looked a lot like Luna, then some kind of shadowy cat creature. The portal closed immediately after they all landed, the trio groaning in pain.

“Alright, who put that trap door in the tower, and why didn’t I know about it?” the girl groans.

“I don’t think that was a trap door, Kairi,” the Luna look-alike replies.

“That would be correct.” I say, trying to hold in my laughter at their misfortune. The kids aren’t so reserved and are trying to catch their breath. The trio quickly pop up their heads and see me, Sonba and Echo.

“Alright, I’m gonna assume you’re a Displaced then?” the girl, Kairi apparently, questions.

“Yup. Lex Justine, master of the Fairy Tail Wizards guild at your service. This is Sonbasuta and his little sister slash assistant, Echo. Nice to meet you.” I reply with a smile.

Kairi quickly picks herself off the table, helping her companions as she does. “Nice to meet you Lex. I’m Kairi, and these are my friends Luna and Chirithy. Wait, did you say Fairy Tail?!?”

I give a smug grin and shift my shirt and turn, showing off my emblem, Sonbā and Echo doing the same. We enjoy the stunned look on Kairi’s face, before something she said registered in my head.

“Wait, you’re saying that is your version of Luna?” I question, looking at the short pony.

Kairi shakes herself out of her shock before nodding grimly. “That’s right. You see,” she begins her explanation. “It turns out that in our version of Equestria, Nightmare Moon was a Heartless. Obviously, since Luna has an incredibly strong heart, she would have left behind a Nobody if Celestia hadn’t thrown a stasis spell on her body. You see, the way a Nobody is formed, the body is aged backwards until it is nothing, hence why a Nobody is considered nothing.”

“Yeesh, I knew a Nobody is what’s leftover after a Heartless is created, but I didn’t realize it was that grim.” I reply with a slight wince and sympathetic look to Luna. “Sorry Luna. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.”

“It’s OK,” Luna shrugs, while grabbing ahold of the strange cat-like creature called Chirithy. “I have Chirithy here to keep the nightmares away.”

“While I don’t mind your cuddling Luna,” Chirithy sighs. “I am not a plushie, so please stop treating me like one.”

“But the two of you looks so adorable!” Kairi teases.

“Says the girl who was originally a guy,” Chirithy shoots back.

We look to the blushing Kairi with wide eyes at this little revelation.

“You were a guy before you got displaced?” Sonba questions, the apparently transformed girl nodding slowly.

“Wow. I legitimately have no idea what to say. This is definitely a first, and that’s coming from a girl who has a Diclonius, a homunculus, and a faunus as siblings.” I mutter.

Kairi raises an eyebrow at that. “OK, I’m gonna assume those are your siblings after being displaced, am I right?” I nod. “And different Equestrias as well?” I nod again, before snapping my fingers and summoning the Hearth's Warming picture I took back in Nat’s world.

“The two Diclonius are my sisters, Natali and Sorano, and the Adam Taurus displaced is my brother, also named Adam coincidently.” I explain as the trio look at the picture.

“Then where’s the homunculus?” Luna asks.

I just point to Sora. “Sorano is. To make a very long story short, my sister got hurt badly, so another Displaced, Edward Elric, used a type of transmutation and created her a new body, effectively making her a Diclo-homunculus that actually had DNA from all three of us.” I produce an Archive screen before going through my memories and finding a ‘screenshot’ of Sora during her party.

“Huh,” Kairi hums as she looks at the picture, before turning back to me. “So, what prompted you to summon me?”

“Well, just from your token itself, I had a feeling you had a connection to Kingdom Hearts. Basically, Edward also had access to a Keyblade, and my siblings and I went through the inheritance ceremony. I have a Keyblade, but I can’t access it for some reason, even with all my magical abilities based off of weaponry. I was hoping you could help me out.” I explain

Kairi puts her hand on her chin as she starts pacing, thinking through the situation. “Hmm, well, lore-wise, the Keyblade is not given based on magical strength,” she explains. “If anything it’s based on the heart of the wielder. Tell me, how exactly are you trying to summon yours?”

“Well, I have tried using it through my Requip Magic, I have tried just focusing on my light magic, I have tried to think back to the games on how they summon it, but unlike Lea, the flick of the wrist thing isn’t working either.” I explain in annoyance. Seriously, I have been trying to summon my Keyblade since I got back here from Adam’s world.

“I think I see the problem here,” Kairi turns back to face me. “You’re trying to summon it through artificial means. If you recall, in the second game, Jack Sparrow in the Port Royal world tried to take Sora’s Keyblade as compensation for the events of that world. He couldn’t take it, and when he tried, it immediately flashed back to Sora. My point to this is that the Keyblades are somewhat sentient, therefore, they have a certain way they want you to summon them.”

I nod and begin to pace myself, trying to think about what could be connected to my heart, what could I be missing? Before long I sigh and take a seat at the table again.

“Why is this so hard.” I mutter to myself before feeling the bench shift. Looking beside me, I see Arakunia looking to me with worry. I just smile and pat her head, the changeling buzzing her wings with a smile.

“Nothing worth doing or having is easy,” Kairi says taking a seat next to me. “It may be easy in theory, but it’s never easy in practice. In any case, you need to try calling to your Keyblade with your heart. Not your magic, your heart, since the Keyblade is inextricably linked to the heart.”

I look to Kairi with a small smile and nod. Before I can try and talk again though, I get a very VERY strong sense of dread, as well as a surge of dark magic nearby. I guess I wasn’t the only one, as everyone but the kids tensed and stood up.

“W-what i-is t-that?” Fluttershy questions fearfully, Gilda keeping her close.

Kairi groans. “You have got to be kidding me, it followed me here?”

It only took a second for me to realize what she means. “Heartless!?” I yell in worry.

Kairi nods. “And not just any Heartless either, a Darkside.” She turns to Chirithy and Luna. “Chirithy, you know what to do.” With a nod Chirithy and Luna runs over to the kids, throwing his arms up to create a protective barrier.

I nod in thanks before running to the entrance to the guild. Looking around, I see the clouds turning pitch black and swirling like a cyclone. It looked like it was in the field just out of town. I knew this could be dangerous, so I turn to the seven members behind me.

“RD, Gilda, Echo, you need to grab the citizens and get them to the bunker. Trixie, Swift, Sonba I want you three to stay with them for protection. Fluttershy, please, keep an eye on the kids.” I request, the members all nodding before splitting up and I turn to Kairi. “Kairi, you and I are going to take that thing down. I may not have my Keyblade yet, but my magic should at least do something.”

Kairi nods. “You got it, and don’t count yourself or your guild out just yet. The Heartless can be destroyed without a Keyblade, the captive hearts will simply move to a different Heartless.”

“I am aware, but the town comes first. Once I we are sure the town is safe, then they can help.” I explain before summoning Black Rock Shooters arm cannon, much to Kairi’s surprise. “Yeah, I have a lot more weapons than one would think.”

“No kidding,” Kairi nods, before taking off through the door, spotting something I missed. That being the Shadow Heartless that were starting to come under the door. “We need to hurry! If we don’t take out the Darkside soon, this whole world will be overrun!”

I nod before aiming and firing several blasts from my cannon, taking out two heartless at a time before the two of us rush towards where the giant heartless was about to appear. I quickly glance behind me back to the guild, seeing citizens quickly filtering into the guild while being protected by Sonba, Trixie and, shockingly, Fluttershy who used her bat Fullbody Takeover.

‘Please, be safe everyone.’

Kairi and I rush through the waves of Heartless, the displaced using her Keyblade like a master while I change to my Regulus magic style.

“Regulus Impact!” I yell before sending the blasts of light to a group of Heartless, creating a path to the field.

“Salvation!” Kairi calls, creating pillars of light that cleave the few remaining Heartless in two, causing them to dissipate. “Hurry! I can see it taking shape!”

I nod and punch through any dark creatures in my way before we arrive where it was forming, slowly levitating to the ground. I growl slightly, I forgot just how big this thing is.

“Well, this is going to suck.” I mutter as the creature lands. I glance to Kairi, who looks like she is all business.

“It always sucks to fight these things…” Kairi sighs, moving into a combat stance.

I nod and summon my rapier, before lighting my Wings enchantment and hovering in the air a bit.

“Let’s go!” I call before flying towards the heartless, who tries to smack me out of the air, without too much luck.

“Go for the head or hands!” Kairi calls, darting forward as the giant’s fist slams into the ground, creating a dark puddle and spawning more of the Shadows.

“I’ll distract it! You take care of the Shadow’s!” I call out before focusing on one of the heartless’s hands. “Dark Ecriture, Pain!” The four beams of dark magic head towards the target, causing it to flinch slightly and letting me focus on its other hand while it is distracted.

“Solid Script Drill!” I cast the spell, the attack striking it in the head, and causing it to step back once. I knew this wouldn’t be that easy though, and glance to Kairi, who managed to take out all the Shadow’s without much trouble.

“Look out!” Kairi cries. I turn to find energy gathering in the empty heart shape in the giant’s torso, before it fell to its knees as it fires the energy into the air.

“Crap!” I quickly fly around the blasts, luckily dodging them, but I am forced back to the ground as the last of them circle it. I knew I couldn’t dodge them all, so I raise my weapon and manage to block the energy.

“Damn it. This is not going well.” I mutter as the heartless rises back to his full height.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Kairi calls. “If this is anything like the games…” She trails off as the heartless kneels down to the ground, fist raised into the air. “Crap! Get airborne, quickly!”

I nod and use my Wind magic to launch myself into the air, just in time for it to slam its fist into the earth again, causing a large shockwave that would have hurt badly.

“That was too close.” I mutter to myself before seeing the heartless has left itself open. I glare at it and use my wind magic. “Horizontal Storm Bringer!” I create a large cyclone before me which strikes the heartless in the head, but it almost seemed annoyed rather than hurt.

“What the? That should have done more!”

“It’s draining the dark energy that’s gathered in the earth,” Kairi explained. “It’s both charging a massive attack and healing itself.” The heartless began to pull its arm out of the earth, grasping an orb of dark energy. “I’d recommend some sort of shield, otherwise this is REALLY gonna hurt!”

I go wide eyed as the heartless crushes the energy in its hand, the result being several bursts of energy flying around. I barely manage to cast Solid Script Guard before a bunch of the blasts hit my protection, causing me to be launched back through the air.

“Damn it. This is harder than I thought.” I mutter. I really wish I could see its health like the games so I could at least have a frame of reference for how much damage I am doing.

The large heartless looks towards me and then to Kairi, before looking past us. I raise a brow and follow its gaze, seeing it’s looking at the guild.

“What’s it doing?” I question.

Kairi’s eyes widen in realization and horror. “Its looking for easier targets!”

My eyes go as large as dinner plates as the heartless begins to lumber past us and towards the guildhall.

“No way in hell!” I yell before rushing forwards, rapier at the ready. “Dark Ecriture, Death!” I slash at the heartlesses hand, several slashes of energy climbing its arm, but it didn’t stop. I growl and slash at its hand more, not noticing a large shadow covering me.

“Lex move!” I look to Kairi before registering the shadow above me a moment before the Darkside grabs me with its other hand, stopping my movement.

“No! Let go you bastard!” I yell, struggling to get out of it’s grip. It brings me to its face, and I swear it had a smirk as it suddenly cocks its arm back, and I know what it is planning.

‘This is going to hurt.’ I manage to think a second before the heartless threw me towards the guild, going far faster than I would like. I barely managed to look before I felt the ground, creating a trench and a crater right in front of the guildhall.

I am not sure how long I was laying in that crater, my world spinning as my heart beats like a bass drum, before I sense it is time to get back in the fight.

“Lex!” I barely manage to turn my head, my eyes widening in terror as I see Mei, Ammy and Arakunia leaving the guild and heading towards me.

‘No, stay back. It’s too dangerous.’ I think to myself, now panicking and trying to get back to my feet, hell trying to just sit up.

And that’s when I heard it. Four strums on an electric guitar. The opening to a familiar song no less. I turn my head to see Kairi’s form glowing, as the music begins to pick up its pace. Finally the light seemed to burst away from her as she starts to sing the first verse.

“Pull all the stops I got a way that we can get in
Just say the word I’ll kick it up to 11”

My eyes shoot open as I feel invigorated. I managed to get to my feet just as I hear the girls scream. I look and see the trio surrounded by a bunch of heartless. I glare at them and time seems to slow as something i have never felt before passes through me.

“We’re knockin’ on your door
With what we got in store
Don’t break it up break it down”

Faster than most can track, I rush over to the girls, who are cowering together. Before I can even register what I am doing, I slash through the heartless surrounding the girls, a weapon of pure light in my hands. I stand with my back to them, before noticing my weapon as it becomes solidified.

My Keyblade. It had a blue rounded guard with golden swirls, the grip being a deep shining gold. The blade itself was red, having interlocking spell matrixes along it, and the teeth looking to be the writing of enchantments. The keychain was long, with a rainbow fairy tail emblem at the end.

‘Fairy’s Flow.’

“We’ll kill tonight
And we’ll never see the sun
Every day and night going crazy”

I smile to the trio behind me before glancing to Kairi, who nods back with a grin, and somehow, I knew to pick this song up.

“I’ll call the shots
Don’t you tell me when I’m done
Live it up this life is amazing”

The two of us rush towards the large heartless, who managed to cover quite a bit of distance, barely within the city limits now. I knew this was going to be tough, but we needed to keep its attention.

“Hey! Diddle diddle
Won’t you meet me in the middle
Let the music make you fly”

The two of us synchronize our attacks with our voices, targeting a hand each, and manage to stop its advance, but now its focus was on us again. Kairi and I continue to attack its hands, before it tries to crush us. We both jump back, before running along its arms towards its head.

“Don’t need to show no mercy
‘Cause heroes never die”

The two of us try and use a pincer attack, striking its head one side each, but it uses its tendil-like hair and blocks our strikes, forcing us to retreat back to the ground. I growl slightly before looking to Kairi.

“Now listen up I’m gonna give you a rundown
Gotcha in my sights you know I got this on lockdown”

The two of us jump back and dodge as it forces its hand into the ground again, spawning more shadows that try and get past us and towards the guildhall. I shake my head before cutting the shadow’s off, not letting them get to far as Kairi gets a couple hits in.

“We’re running out and free
This life was meant for me”

I slashed through the last shadow as Kairi is launched back by one of the Darkside’s strikes. I jump up and catch her, bringing her back to the ground as the heartless tries to absorb dark energy again.

“Step to the plate you gotta show us what you got
Show us what you got”

It takes out the orb of darkness like last time, but this time we both rush towards and under it. As it crushes the orb, the resulting energy tries to hit us, but ends up striking itself in the process.

“We’ll kill tonight
And we’ll never see the sun
Every day and night going crazy”

Kairi and I run around it, blocking and deflecting any blasts that try and hit us, before the heartless seems to get frustrated and tries to step on us, causing shockwaves.

“I’ll call the shots
Don’t you tell me when I’m done[/i]
Live it up this life is amazing”

The two of us jump and dodge the attempts to squash us, managing to keep the heartless from going any further, but I knew we had to get rid of it fast. I just wonder how.

“Hey! Diddle diddle
Won’t you meet me in the middle
Let the music make you fly”

As I block one of its attempted energy blasts, I take a good look at my Keyblade, before my eyes drift to my right arm, and the red tattoo hidden beneath my coat. It hits me light a lightning bolt.

“Don’t need to show no mercy
‘Cause heroes never die”

I quickly focus on my telepathy and connect to Kairi.

‘Kairi, I have an idea! I’ll use Fairy Glitter, but it is going to take a second to charge!’

‘Alright, I take it you need time?’ came her reply, not at all phased by the telepathy.

‘If you can manage.’ I respond, already unlocking my seal of light.

‘Consider the time bought!’

I smile to myself as Kairi goes on the offensive peppering the heartless with high power spells and keeping the heartless’s attention, letting me get ready. I stand up straight, my Keyblade before me, as I feel my arm beginning to warm up.

‘Assemble, oh river of light guided by fairies.’ I think, the spell surrounding me with luck and launching into the air, breaking the dark clouds. I focus the spell, through my arm, then my keyblade, as the blinding light is unlocked.

“We’ll kill tonight
And we’ll never see the sun
Every day and night going crazy”

‘May Your radiance shine, and vanquish the things of wickedness.’ I feel the spell coming together, the sky above me having the stars become visible before spinning in a circle. I open my eyes, both glowing gold, before taking aim.

“I’ll call the shots
Don’t you tell us when we’re done
Live it up this life is amazing”

The ring of golden light surround me before moving from my torso to the end of my Keyblade. With a glare I point my weapon at the heartless, just as Kairi jumps back. I hover a bit into the air before I am ready.

“Hey! Diddle diddle
Won’t you meet us in the middle
Let the music make you fly”

“Lets go, Fairy Glitter!” I yell after my line, a beam of light leaving my keyblade and landing straight in the center of the heartless, before the ring of golden light follows and surrounds it.

“Don’t need to show no mercy
‘Cause heroes never die”

The golden light shrinks around its torso before the being of blackness is covered with the holy light, causing it to squirm and spasm in pain. The light becomes almost blinding as the attack forces the light within it.

“Yeah, heroes never die!”

With one last burst of energy, the heartless explodes from the inside out, the golden light being too much for it. As it dissolves, a large pink heart flies out of the remains, before being covered with golden light and vanishing as the guitars fade.

I stand where I am, panting from the use. I have yet to use that spell, so it took a little more effort than I thought to pull it off, even if I had a conduit.

“Holy crap!” I hear on my left as Kairi rushes up. “Where can I get a spell like that?!?”

I chuckle a little, leaning on my new Keyblade as I look to her. “Well, I could give you one, but it will be very painful.” I say with a grin.

“Lex!” I barely manage a glance before a certain trio tackles me to the ground with hugs. I chuckle a little and hold my charges close.

“Kairi!” a tiny blue blur tackle-rushes Kairi to the ground, as she laughs at the little filly’s actions.

“Pinkie!” We both turn to the pink mare who was looking at the two of us on the ground. There was a beat, then all of us burst out laughing.

“Dang it Pinkie! Why are you so random?!” I question loudly, getting back to my feet.

“Shh, never question Pinkie! Down that road is nothing but pain and comedy!” Kairi teases with a smirk.

“Trust me I know. How do you think I felt when Pinkie all but mastered her Wave magic without me even spending a single lesson on her?” I reply with my own smirk, picking up Arakunia and holding her to my chest as the little nymph nuzzles me.

“OK, knowing what I do about that particular magic style, that’s downright terrifying,” Kairi replies with a shudder.

“You have no idea.” Came the multi-voiced reply from several members who walked up.

“So, anypony wanna explain what the hell that thing was?” Twilight all but demands, before now noticing Kairi not being a pony and sighs. “Displaced?”

Kairi nods with a smirk. “I see our reputation precedes us.”

“Again, you have no idea.” I reply before sighing slightly and putting Arakunia down next to her friends. “Are you three okay?”

“Yes. Sorry we scared you like that.” Ammy replies, lowering her head in shame with the other two. I just sigh before chuckling, bringing the trio in for another hug.

“What’s done is done. What matters is you three are safe.” I tell them, nuzzling their little heads.

Kairi smiles softly as she watches the scene unfold. “I see that Fairy Tail is still the enormous family its portrayed as in the anime.”

I smile to her before glancing at my keyblade, nodding. “More than I thought myself it looked like. This entire time, I have told the members they were family, and they were what makes the guild so strong, but I never truly understood what that means.” I look to the trio with a warm smile I am sure was once on the face of my mother.

“You three are more than just other members, or even just friends to me. You’re family, in the same yet different way my brother and sisters are.” I crouch before them, my warm smile not leaving my face. “You’re….more like daughters to me.”

I am not sure when it changed, when I saw them as more than just more members, but now that I know, the more obvious its become in my mind. I give a warm smile to them, before feeling three arms wrap around me, followed by some tears on my shirt.

‘And….you’re our mother….mama.’ I hear Mei, tears pricking my own eyes, before wrapping them up in my arms again.

Kairi gives an “aaawww” as she takes out what looks like a smartphone, before taking a picture. Despite how embarrassing this position is in theory, I couldn’t care less as I release my girls and turn to her.

“Kairi, thank you for helping me unlock my Keyblade. Even if this was a roundabout way of doing it.” I say with a grin, holding my hand out. Kairi nods and gets a firm grip, giving it a shake.

“Glad to have helped,” she replies with a smile, before her face darkens. “I’d suggest you train a few Keyblade wielders here, since now that your Keyblade is active, it’ll start attracting all sorts of dark nasties, like heartless, nobodies and unversed.”

“Yeah, I had a feeling that would be the case. Luckily there are plenty of good candidates here.” I quickly summon my Keyblade back before detaching the keychain and tossing it to Kairi. “I have a feeling having Fairy’s Flow would be helpful back in your world.”

Kairi catches it, and puts it into her bag, before pulling out another smartphone and tossing it to me. “That phone is a duplicate of mine, which was gifted to me by another Displaced. It can call across dimensions, and has a few other features I’ll let you figure out later,” she explains. “Give me a call when you have some candidates ready, and I’ll summon you all to my Equestria. I have a tower with an absolutely terrifying training center that’ll whip them into shape.”

I have an involuntary shiver run down my spine at her description before nodding. I snap my fingers summoning three tokens. With another snap, I make copies of them.

“These are the tokens for myself and my siblings. If you ever need help, feel free to call any of us, we’ll be there.” I say, handing her the tokens.

Kairi takes them with a smile, before once again dropping them in her bag. “I will, count on it. Oh, and before I forget,” she raises her hand, closing her eyes in the process. Energy starts to gather into a small yellow orb. After a few seconds, a musical note is emblazoned onto it and she opens her eyes. “This orb has all the knowledge of a magical style that I created. Its called Music Magic. Ever played Final Fantasy X-2?”

“Nope, but considering what we just went through, I have a sneaking suspicion I know how it works.” I say with a smirk.

“Damn it! Why does nobody know that game?” Kairi grumbles. “In any case, yes, you probably can guess how it works, but I’ll explain anyway. Music Magic is able to allow its user to channel magic into a song they wish to sing, allowing buffs for allys to be cast, along with debuffs on the enemies. Be careful though, the effects only last until the song is finished, and then you’re right back to where you started.”

“Nice, this will definitely be handy. I only have a few support magics, so this will be a nice boost.” I say, having the orb leiviate into my hand, then into my chest. I feel warm as the magic is absorbed into my core, just another style to add to the list.

“Well, looks like I owe you a bit. In spite of what I said, I can grant you Fairy Glitter, or any other form of Fiore magic really.” I explain, all of us heading back into the guild.

“In all honesty,” Kairi says after a bit of thought. “I’ve actually always wanted some sort of Dragon Slayer magic. Any of them really, so you can pick which of them.” Kairi pauses. “I’d also kinda like to join the guild, if you’re OK with that.”

I smile and head over to the bar, before reaching behind it and taking out the emblem stamp. “What color for the emblem and outline?” I say with a smile, Kairi squealing as she rushes over.

“Pink with a black outline!” Kairi exclaims. “They’ve kinda become my colors since this whole thing started!”

I nod and set the colours, mentally going through Archive for her magic request, and finding one that would throw off the heartless. “Where for the emblem?” I ask.

“Right shoulder,” Kairi says, removing her jacket, and rolling up the sleeve. “I’ve always thought Natsu had the right idea putting it there.”

“Hehe, he wasn’t the only one who would agree.” I mutter, placing the emblem on her shoulder and nodding. I then take a seat on the bar and take a deep breath before focusing on my Arc of Embodiment, and remembering everything uncle Ed and I have been going over with his Dragon Slayer Lacrima experiments.

After a second, my magic comes together, creating a pitch black orb, the magic within granting it a swirling effect. I smile and sigh as I finish creating it, the others, Kairi in particular, looking to the orb with intrigue.

“So, what do you think of Kairi the Shadow Dragon Slayer?” I ask with a grin.

Kairi grins right back. “I think the heartless should be very, VERY nervous right about now.”

I nod before taking a breath. “Get ready, from what my uncle and I have theorized, this could be painful.”

“Wait what-“ I stop her, back slamming the lacrima on her chest, the orb becoming intangible and entering her. Kairi falls back with a yell of pain as the lacrima is merged with her, the magic flowing through her body and causing her pathways to become black and visible for a couple of seconds. After about thirty seconds, its done, and Kairi is left panting on the floor of the guild.

“In all honesty, I really should have seen that coming,” Kairi grumbles, climbing back to her feet. She lifts a hand, focusing on it as shadows began to swirl around it. “I can get used to this,” she says with a grin.

“Don’t get too comfortable, the lacrima may grant you the magic, but it is still next to nothing compared to the real thing.” I say, motioning to Spike, who smirks in response.

Kairi nods. “Believe me, I remember all too well from the anime. Seriously, why Laxus thought he could take on Natsu, I have no idea...”

I just shrug to her. “Pride cometh before the fall. Not much more needs to be said. Well, aside from Main Protagonist Powers.”

“Too true,” Kairi snorts. “Oh before I forget, I got a call from another Displaced who has my token. He found out quite by accident that my token works the same way that it does in Birth By Sleep.”

“D-links? That will be really handy if I can use my brothers Semblance myself.” I say with a smile, taking out the token in question.

Kairi nods. “Be careful with it though. We haven’t tested the limits of it yet, so we have no idea what sort of drawbacks it could have when you run out of time on it.”

I grimace slightly as I think about how Adam’s Absorption semblance could backfire if it suddenly runs out. “Alright, I think I’ll be summoning my brother when I decide to practice it just in case.”

“Smart idea.” Came several voices. I glance to my guildmates who just shrug. I roll my eyes before smiling back to Kairi.

“Seriously Kairi, this has been a blast, despite the danger presented. If you ever want to hang in the guild or something, just call. Our business is finished.” With that, what looks like a light corridor opens behind the Keyblade wielder and her friends.

Kairi smiles. “The same goes for you as well. Give me a call if you want to get some training in.” She then gives an oriental bow before saying “May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key.”

“May the Fairies guide you on your journey.” I reply without a second thought. She nods with a smile before she and her friends hop through the portal, which closes behind them.

I smile to the spot the portal was, before looking down to my changeling girl, who smile back up to me.

“Looks like we need to head back to town hall. I hope adoption papers are easier to come by than back on earth.”

Author's Note

And look at that, we got ourselves two chapters in one day! Don't expect this very often. In any case this was a crossover with Garnet Naturea's fantastic Displaced Fic "Solid Script Equestria" which you can find here: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/418337/solid-script-equestria

I had an absolute blast writing this chapter, and you can definitely expect another crossover in the future at some point!

Until next time!

Music used in this chapter:
Heroes Never Die by NateWantsToBattle

The Key to Technology and Magic

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 7: The Key to Technology and Magic

“Oof!”

We ended up exiting the portal right outside the control room, right as the Doctor was stepping out.

“Ahh! Ms. Kairi! Just the girl I was on my way to see!” the Doctor said with a grin, as Luna, Chirithy and I pick ourselves up..

After getting back on my feet, I turned to the resident Time Lord. “I assume that means you’re ready for my gaming gear?”

The Doctor nodded. “Indeed. Sunset is currently making sure that the connected devices have a steady stream of power, via spell. She should be done by now. You’d be amazed how hard it is to get all the little knobs and bolts together. Nearly killed me to get it all working and functional!”

I nodded as we turned and followed the Doctor back into the control room. Inside we found Sunset underneath a table, eyes closed with hands and horn glowing with magic. “Perfect timing,” she said, eyes remaining closed. “I need you to place one of your devices onto the console to calibrate the spell that’ll keep them powered, and test the system.”

I nod before turning to the main console.

“Not that way,” she stopped me. “Over here on the table.”

I shrugged before going over and setting my bag down. I then open the top and begin rummaging around, pulling out the case that held my 3DS and PSVita first, followed by my Switch, my laptop, my iPad, and finally my PS4.

“Any particular one you want me to start with?” I asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sunset replied. “Just pick one and set it on the console. It should automatically detect it and start powering the device as soon as its set down. You should be fine.”

I give her a skeptical look before shrugging once again, and set my iPad down first. As soon as it made contact, the screen lit up, indicating that it was charging. “Nice work Sunset!” the Doctor exclaimed with a smile. “Now, let’s give the interface a test run.”

With those words, a holographic screen popped up. On the screen was listed the available media, which consisted of all my music, and one novel.

“Uh, Doctor,” Sunset said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t think you set it up right.”

“No, no, that’s not possible, I made sure to be absolutely precise in my repairs, I double, no, triple checked everything! Believe me, I am quite thorough in my work, if I do say so myself,” the Doctor replied as he began fiddling with the settings.

“Then why is there only music and a book showing up?” Sunset shot back.

“Maybe because that’s all I have on there,” I replied, amusement coloring my words.

The two travelers froze before exchanging a look, then turned back to me. “In that case,” the Doctor said, regaining his smile. “Would you mind putting your Playstation on the console? We really do need to do a test run.”

I nodded before placing the rather large piece of hardware onto the console. Upon contact, the PS4 came to life with a beep, as a new screen blinked into existence in front of the Doctor.

“Excellent! Yes very excellent!” came the Doctor’s exclamation. “Anything in particular that you want to use for a test run? I have no idea what the youth are into these days. Probably something hip and with it as they say.”

I gave it a few seconds of thought before I reached into my bag and pulled out the ‘Bioshock Collection,’ selecting the disk for ‘Bioshock Infinite.’ “Will this do?” I asked as I handed him the disk.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at my selection. “Are you sure?” he asked, to which I respond with a nod. He shrugged before turning to the console. “In that case, you’ll need to use the weapons found in the game. Your Keyblade would have replaced the melee weapon. Unfortunately, however, considering how important the Skyhook is in terms of traversal, that won’t be the case.”

I blinked in surprise. “So you’re saying that a lot of these games aren’t compatible with Keyblade training?”

“I didn’t say that,” the Doctor replied. “The console can create simulations based on the game assets, but since we’re going to be testing the system, we’ll be using the pre-built game scenario. Because of that you can’t use your Keyblade. Sadly video games aren’t known for there crossovers, well except within company like whenever Sonic meets Mario, or the Super Smash games….But I’m getting ahead of myself, the point is you can’t use your Keyblade in this particular simulation.”

Comprehension dawned in my mind. “Alright, I get it now. In that case, yes, use that game for the test.”

The Doctor nodded before inserting the disk. It was only a few seconds before a computerized voice said “Simulation ready. Please proceed into Simulation Hall.” After saying this, a total of two doors opened; one in the control room, and the other being the door Luna and I were originally trying to open.

The Doctor nodded again before turning back to me. “Alright, now, a couple things before you go in,” he explained. “First, to activate the simulation, you need to say ‘Execute simulation’ followed by the name of the simulation, that is very important please remember. In this case you would say ‘Execute simulation Bioshock Infinite.’” I nodded to this. “Second, for the duration of the simulation you will have a heads-up display. It’s basically the same display as in the game itself, but with a few added features. Specifically a bar next to where your health bar is that displays what you need to say to move forward.”

“Wait, you’re saying I’ll actually have to say Booker’s lines as I go through?” I question as my eyes widened at the amount of immersion the simulator brought.

The Doctor nodded. “Correct. On that note, unless you say exactly what the simulation wants you to say, you will not be able to move forward. Finally, you can leave the simulation whenever you want by saying ‘Computer, end simulation.’ Upon ending the simulation, it will ask if you wish to save your progress for later.”

I nodded, a grin plastering itself on my face before I turned and strode through the doors.

As soon as I entered, the doors closed behind me. “Um, execute simulation BioShock Infinite.”

Instantly the room turned pitch black before showing the game logo.

As soon as the logo faded I heard a voice that I instantly recognized as the game character Elizabeth say “Booker… are you afraid of God?”

I didn’t even need the prompt that appeared in my line of vision, instantly replying “No. But I’m afraid of you.”

I grinned as the quote from R. Lutece appeared in front of me, before fading to black once more. Then, I found myself in a rowboat with the Lutece twins.

“Are you going to just sit there?” Robert Lutece asked.

“As compared to what? Standing?” Rosalind Lutece replied.

“Not standing. Rowing,” Robert shot back.

“Rowing? I hadn’t planned on it,” Rosalind replied.

“So you expect me to shoulder the burden?” Robert accused as Rosalind handed me a wooden box.

“What’s this?” I ask as I’m prompted. The box is small and wooden, with a simple metal plaque reading ‘Property of Booker DeWitt 7th Cavalry, Wounded Knee.’

“No,” Rosalind, as per usual, ignored me to continue her argument with Robert. “But I do expect you to do all the rowing.”

“And why is that?” Robert asked.

“Coming here was your idea,” Rosalind replied matter of factly.

“My idea?”

“I’ve made it very clear that I don’t believe in the exercise,” Rosalind sniffed.

“The rowing?” Robert asked, confused.

“No. I imagine that’s wonderful exercise.”

“Then what?”

“The entire thought experiment,” Rosalind explained vaguely.

The next line appeared in front of me. “Excuse me,” I said, reading it off. “How much longer?”

The two continue to ignore me, with Robert replying to Rosalind tiredly. “One goes into an experiment knowing one could fail.”

I looked down at the box in my lap and opened it, finding a pistol, and intel on my mission as Rosalind replies “But one does not undertake an experiment knowing one HAS failed.”

“Can we get back to the rowing?” Robert changes the subject as I check my gun, and place everything else into my pockets.

“I suggest you do or we’re never going to get there,” Rosalind sniped back.

“No. I mean I’d greatly appreciate it if you would assist,” Robert insisted.

“Perhaps you should ask him?” Rosalind suggested waspishly. “I imagine he has a greater interest in getting there than I do.”

“I suppose he does. But there’s no point in asking.”

“Why not?”

“Because he doesn’t row.”

“He doesn’t ROW?”

“No. He DOESN’T row,” Robert said significantly.

“Ah. I see what you mean,” Rosalind nodded sagely.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence as Robert rowed us to a dingy little harbor just outside of a lighthouse.

“We’ve arrived,” Rosalind stated matter-of-factly.

I climbed out of the rowboat and onto the pier, glancing up at the lighthouse and the stormy skies. I turn back to the rowboat, only to see the twins departing.

“Shall we tell him when we’ll be returning?” Rosalind asked.

“Would that change anything?” Robert replied.

“It might give him some comfort.”

“At least that’s something we can agree on.”

“Hey!” I read off my prompt. “Is somebody meeting me here?”

“I’d certainly hope so,” Robert called back.

“It does seem like a dreadful place to be stranded,” Rosalind chimed in.

“Ah, well maybe there’s someone inside…” I muttered as I grinned to myself. This was going to be awesome!

“Computer, end simulation,” I said, stretching my shoulder about an hour later. “Save progress.”

The floating city of Columbia vanished as the simulation dissolved into a stark white room.

“I take it that the test went well then?” came the Doctor’s voice over the intercom.

“You could say that, Doc,” I replied with a chuckle.

“That was so cool, sis!” Luna’s excited voice came next. “Can I try one of these sim-u-la-tions?”

“Not until I’m sure that they’re safe for you to try,” I replied firmly. “A lot of the games I have could potentially be extremely dangerous, or are extremely scary.”

“Oh...OK…” I sighed as I heard Luna’s depressed response.

“Don’t worry Luna,” I heard Sunset say. “If I know the Doctor, he’s already working on setting up failsafes. You’ll get to try one of these fairly soon.”

“Speaking of, would you mind loading up the Hades Cup for me?” I asked. “I have some new magic to try out.”

“You mean that Shadow Slayer thing that Lex gave you?” Luna asked, previous depression forgotten.

“Shadow Dragon Slayer magic, Luna,” I reply with a chuckle. “And yes, I need to take it for a test run, so to speak.”

“Uh, well, I guess we can load that up,” Sunset said hesitantly. “Though, I’m not sure how a cup will help you with a test of your new magic…”

“Oh, nonono,” I said with a laugh. “The Hades Cup is a fifty round tournament in the first Kingdom Hearts game, found in the Olympus Coliseum area of the game. I have the game disk in my bag.”

“Gotcha!” the Doctor crowed. “Alright, lets see here. Well, this game is organized pretty well, nice level structure, easy to spot invisible walls, so it should be around… Ah-ha! Now, all I need to do is extrapolate the data, and we are good… to… go!”

“Building simulation… Simulation ready!”

I nodded. “Execute simulation Hades Cup.”

With those words, the blank white walls dissolved into the well known arena of the Olympus Coliseum.

“Seed 49, Shadow Brothers. Three Soldiers and seven Shadows,” the computer announced as the Heartless appeared before me. “Begin.”

“Alright, lets see if this works,” I said as the Heartless started moving. I opened my mouth, beginning to inhale. At first nothing seemed to happen, but after a second, the Shadow Heartless began to dissolve as a dark cloud was pulled into my stomach. Soon enough the Shadows, along with the regular shadows in the room, were gone. However, the Soldiers were still intact.

“Hm, so the Emblem Heartless can’t be eaten,” I mused as I dodged a claw swipe. “Let’s try something else.”

I jumped back, taking a huge breath as I do. “Shadow Dragon…” my cheeks bulged as I felt the magic building and saw a black magic circle in front of me. “ROAR!!” I scream as the pent up magic is released from my mouth, through the magic circle, and into a vortex of pure destruction, completely obliterating the remaining Heartless.

“Seed 49, victory,” said the computer as I gave a slight belch. Those Shadows were, surprisingly enough, quite tasty. “Seed 48, Wild Dance. Three Wight Knights and four Powerwild. Begin.”

“Alright then,” I muttered. “Let’s try THIS then!” I charge at the Wight Knights, Shadow magic already encapsulating my fist. “Shadow Dragon Iron Fist!” My punch was aimed squarely at the Heartless’s head, so you can probably imagine my surprise when it disappeared, along with the rest of it, after my fist made contact.

“Cool, I didn’t think it would be quite that effective,” I mused before turning back to my opponents. “Let’s try something new. I wonder…”

In all honesty, I had done a lot of theorising on Shadow Dragon Magic for years before I came to Equestria, so I decided to try one of my ideas. I raised my right hand, using my new magic to form a set of doors, before shouting “Doors of Hades” as they opened. From the darkness behind the doors, tendrils of Shadow magic lashed out, wrapping around the remaining Heartless, before pulling them in, closing as the last one crossed the threshold. I then closed my fist, causing the doors, as well as their contents, to be crushed.

“Seed 48, victory,” the computer announced, However, I barely noticed, as I had already collapsed to the floor, barely staying conscious as my newly created spell completely drained my reserves.

“Computer, end simulation!” the Doctor shouted as he rushed into the room, closely followed by Luna.

The last thing I saw before passing out was Luna’s terrified face, as tears began to leak out of her eyes.

I awoke with a gasp in a pitch black room. A low hum filled the air, and the gentle tick of a clock could also be heard.

“You know, you should really be more careful when experimenting with magic,” the Doctor’s voice came, accompanied by the hum of his sonic screwdriver. “Magic and tech, never a good mix, although some say it’s the same thing. Anway you’re lucky this room doesn’t have any windows. Your new magic needed pure darkness to recover quickly, otherwise you would have been out for a week! And before you ask, not that kind of darkness.”

I groaned as I sat up. “How long was I actually out then?”

“Mmm… about an hour, give or take,” he replied before snapping the lights on, forcing me to shield my eyes.

Once my eyes adjusted to the light I took a look around at my surroundings. I was in a large, circular room with a door on either side. In the very center there was a raised platform with something that looked like some kind of altar in the middle, with the Doctor leaning on it giving me a dirty look.

“What is this place?” I asked while climbing to my feet.

“A failed experiment,” the Doctor replied, before pointing his screwdriver at the altar. A moment later a panel slid open revealing a pocket watch wired into a mass of complex wiring. “A few years before Celestia hid the Tower, she found that watch lying on the floor of the room that eventually became your and Luna’s room. Considering my eh… interesting...no,no,no bad wording ...AH...unique, yes that’s it, unique eh… relationship with time, as well as the fact that it was saturated with Void energy, she assumed it belonged to me. Obviously, it didn’t. Long story short, we learned that it came from another world and decided to attempt world travel, which resulted in this room, as well as this.”

A wall slid aside, revealing a circular ring set into the alcove. My eyes widened as I recognized it.

“You mean you were trying to create a Stargate?” I gasped.

The Doctor tilted his head thoughtfully. “Hmm… Stargate… It has a nice ring to it, like a movie title. In any case, if you mean a way to travel to new worlds, then yes. But, unfortunately, we could never get it to work sadly. There always seemed to be something missing, something spicy, that tiny little thing that will make it just right.”

Turning away from the Stargate, I walked over to the exposed watch, pulling it out from its housing to get a better look.

I am the one who constructs and deconstructs, the partner and protector of the moon, I aid the innocent and protect children. If you require aid, Call my name and I will come forth, The Crimson Sage.

The creed played in my head, confirming what I had suspected. This was the token of someone who was Displaced as Edward Elric.

“Doctor, I may not know why your experiment failed, but I think I know someone who could help get it working,” I said with a grin.

The Doctor’s eyes lit up. “Well then, what are you waiting for? Get them here! Geronimo!”

I nodded, placing the pocket watch flat on my hand before saying. “I call the Crimson Sage to help me.”

Author's Note

Well, well, well. Its about time I got this chapter finished. Sorry it took so long, but I'm taking some summer classes right now, so that has slowed down my writing progress, as well as my muse. That being said, the next chapter will be a crossover with The Golden Eyed Sage by Alvasa

The Key to Alchemy Part 1

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 8: The Key to Alchemy Part 1

Before we begin, there is great big SPOILER WARNING in effect. This chapter, while being set directly after the previous chapter, is also set several chapters down the line for The Golden Eyed Sage. If you don’t want spoilers, please be patient and wait for The Golden Eyed Sage to update to this point. If you don’t care, please enjoy this chapter!

“I call the Crimson Sage to help me,” I called, as the pocket watch in my hand began to float then a pair of large marble door with rather impressive designs. It was adorned with the carvings of Celestia and Luna as they circled each other similar to the window in the throne room in the center of the door. While at the base of the door where there were cravings of many other ponies I somewhat recognized and a few that I didn’t. The doors slowly opened, allowing several figures to step through. First came a rather tall man with blond hair that was styled into a braid. He was wearing a red hooded coat with a cross and crescent moon on the back of it while he wore all black clothing underneath it with a silver lining around the edges of the inner shirt. Over his face a white mask with golden lines running over it. The last detail was the he wore white gloves over his hands.

In his arms he had a small red haired baby girl. Her eyes we dark blue. I also saw she had red wings and a white horn. She was wearing a forest green dress with a lavender ribbon tied around her waist. Then, another large figure came the portal. She had astral starlight hair tied back in a ponytail while she had a pair of dark navy blue wings and horn. Her eyes were a light sapphire blue. She was wearing a formal black gown and around her neck was a crescent moon choker. The women had another child in her arms, a boy. He had golden blonde hair and amber eyes with a pair of jet black wings and a horn. His outfit consisted of cyan short sleeved shirt and black shorts.

I blinked in surprise. “Uh, OK, wasn’t expecting others to come through as well… Oh well. I take it you’re Ed, right?”

“Yes and you’re Kairi from KH3. This is my wife Luna, our son Solar Eclipse, and our daughter Morning Star,” He motioned to his family happily. “How may I be of service to you this fine day?”

“Well, that’s a bit of a story,” I shrug with a smile. “I think I’ll let the Doctor explain.”

“Oh, absolutely!” The Doctor replied with a grin. “You see, about a thousand years ago, Celestia found your watch, just sitting on the floor of one of the rooms in this tower. Now, due to it being saturated in Void energy, as well as my, *ahem*, unique relationship with time and space, she rather erroneously assumed it belonged to me. To make a very long story short, we started experimenting on it, and attempted to create a form of travel between worlds, resulting in, oh, what did you call it again?”

“A Stargate,” I replied.

“Yes, yes, a Stargate,” the Doctor nodded. “Now, the reason we called you here, is because we have no idea how to make it work. Every time we tried it, all that happened was a massive discharge of deadly energy.”

“Wait, what!?” I cried, eyes widening. “You never mentioned that!”

“Hmm? I didn’t?” the Doctor looked confused for a moment before shaking his head. “I guess it didn’t really matter at the time. In any case, think you can help?”

“Go over to mommy sweety,” He set his daughter down. “First off it’s The Void you’re trying to make a portal through, thus there is no concept of time and or space with the energies of which you play, my good Doctor. Secondly, I can help with your artificial void portals. For simplicity’s sake though, call them Void Gates.” He then pulled a black key from his pocket. “Tell me Doctor, how well did you know Starswirl the Bearded?”

“Hmm, Starswirl the Bearded…” the Doctor mused, with a hand on his chin. “Lovely bloke, bit uptight though. Had a habit of creating dangerous spells, and testing them on dangerous creatures. Like that mirror portal; a shame those Sirens couldn’t see reason…”

“Good, then this will be a bit easier then,” Edward looked around the room. “Hmm… Got a decent size mirror in this joint?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Mirror? I’m honestly not sure, but I could probably have Chirithy look around for one. Why do you need a mirror?”

“I’ll just make one then,” as he said this, a silver spell matrix appeared behind Edward and he held out his hand and a full length body mirror appeared in front of him. He walked up to the mirror and placed the black key from earlier on it. Soon the mirror surface rippled like water. “This is a mirror gate. A dumbed down version of Starswirl’s Mirror Portal. As long as you have a key you can access what’s on the other side no matter the world your in.”

“I see,” the Doctor replied, taking out his sonic screwdriver for some scans. “Oh, this is fascinating! It’s almost like what makes my TARDIS bigger on the inside!”

“My wife’s Dark Library is on the other side. Starswirl and I used alchemagic to displace it into the Void to keep it’s forbidden knowledge out of evil hands and we anchored it to our Equestria with the original black key in her possession ,” He looked to his family. “Kairi you wouldn’t have somewhere less dank for my little ones would you?”

I smiled. “I think we can find somewhere, give me a sec.” I walked over to the large alter-like device in the center of the room, searching for the intercom. “Uh, Doctor, where’s the intercom on this thing?”

“Hmm?” the Doctor turned away from his scans long enough to point his screwdriver at the device. “Glowing button, just needed a bit of power. Go on then.”

I nodded before pressing the button. “Luna, Chirithy, can you hear me?”

“Big sis!” came the rather loud reply. “I was so worried! What happened to you?”

“Uh, well, used a spell that was a bit beyond me at the moment. Don’t worry about it,” I said rather sheepishly. “In any case, do you think you both can come down here?”

“Sure, we’ll be there in a sec,” Chirithy replied.

“Magic accident aye,” Edward rubbed his chin under his mask. “Mind if I have a scan of you?”

“Big sis, who’s that talking to you?” Luna asked.

“The reason why I need you and Chirithy down here, I’ll explain later,” I reply, switching off the intercom and turning back to Edward. “As for your question, I don’t see why not.”

“One moment. I need to remove this suppressor in order to access my full capabilities,” Edward pulled off his mask and placed it in a small bag at his belt. A sudden wave of magic flooded the entire room. “Alright, hold still,” a cloud of silver dust came from the alchemist’s body then flew around my body and started to cover me in green lights. It all took around fifteen seconds before the cloud returned to Edward. “Mhm….” He nodded his head. “Now I see why I got a familiar vibe off you when I saw you. You have my Shadow Dragon Lacrima inside you.”

My eyes widened. “You’re the uncle Lex mentioned!”

“I’m an uncle to a lot of ponies, griffons, and minotaurs,” Edward shrugged. “It comes with age. But yes, I’m Lex’s adopted Uncle.” He pulled out a photo with him and Lex in it as well as a few other odd characters, some of whom I recognized. “This is when we had to save Lex’s sister Sorano.” he pointed to the littlest girl. “We took this just before we left.” He smiled. “Glad to see she’s putting those Lacrima to good use. I tried to give her the fruit of my research but she said it was too powerful. So we dumbed it down into the Dragon Lacrima.”

I nodded. “Makes sense, the next highest level Lacrima would be God Slayer, and we don’t need that…”

The hiss of the door sliding open was the only warning I had before I was bowled over by the tactical hug missile named Luna. “Big sis!”

“Hey Luna,” I chuckled as I sat up.

She looked up at me with a stern face, and tear tracks on her face. “Don’t do that again! You scared me!”

I sighed before wrapping the small alicorn in a hug. “I’m sorry, Luna, I didn’t mean to scare you. Will you forgive me?”

“I guess I can,” Luna said with a pout. “Just be more careful!”

I chuckled again before pulling the filly up as I stood. “Now that we have that taken care of, I’d like to introduce you to Edward, his children, and his wife.”

Luna blinked before turning around and seeing the newcomers for the first time. “Hello,” she said, before doing a double take. “Wait, why does she look like older-me?”

“That’s because she is the Luna from where I come from, little one,” Edward walked over and knelt down to get eye level with Luna. “You see, your big sis brought me here to help her and the Doctor with an old project of his but I need some help from you, please?”

Luna blinked, then nodded with a bright smile. “Sure! What do you need?”

“Would you play with my little ones and help her take care of them for a bit?” Edward still smiled. “Ah, I remember when Tia was your age! Keep in mind they’re like you and are very strong but they’re also still just a few weeks old. They’re my light so keep them safe okay?” He patted Luna on the head lightly.

Luna tilted her head. “When Tia was my age? You mean 1,600?”

“Oh my, you are still very young in this world,” Ed’s wife said in shock. “Where we come from I’m just over six thousand years myself.”

I sighed. “I forgot to mention this. About a thousand years ago, Luna and Celestia were trained by a man calling himself the ‘Master of Masters.’ He wanted all the stories in the world to follow his designs, so he suplanted himself into them, and taught a select few in each story to be Keyblade wielders, before leaving them with a cryptic message that would lead them into ruin. Luna was given that message, and in a fit of paranoia, she extracted her own heart in a misguided attempt to gain more power. As a result, she created the Heartless known as Nightmare Moon, and would have become a Nobody as well if not for Celestia throwing a stasis spell on her.”

“And why would a stasis spell matter or be of any use in this situation?” Edward pondered as he tickled his son a bit causing him to giggle.

“Well, the way a Nobody is formed, the body is aged backwards until it is nothing, literally nothing, hence why a Nobody is considered nothing,” I explained. “That is why the stasis spell mattered. It halted the process before it could be completed.”

“I see, it was to keep her from de-aging into nothingness,” Ed sighed.

“The only other option would be to seal her away in stone or on the moon,” the older Luna interjected with a bit of grimness.

“Enough though. We’ll scare her if we continue,” Ed placed a hand up as he shook his head with a downward gaze.

“And that’s my cue,” the voice of Chirithy interjected as he placed himself into younger Luna’s arms. “Hi, I’m Chirithy.”

“Nice to meet you Chirithy,” Ed leaned in for a better look. “Always wondered what it would be like to meet one of you guys. Haven’t really had the chance as dreams are mainly Luna’s department. I only help when needed.”

“Well, sorry to burst your bubble,” The large cat-like creature chuckled. “I’m not exactly a Chirithy. Sure, I call myself Chirithy, but I’m actually just a repressed portion of Kairi’s mind that she brought into the real world for company.”

“Like Malice and Somber for me,” Ed poked himself in the head. “But you really don’t want Malice to come out.”

“From the name alone, I’m getting Legend of Zelda levels of bad…” I muttered. “In any case, why don’t you two take Luna, uh, older Luna, up to the Simulation Hall. Have Sunset look through my stuff for something kid friendly.”

Luna nodded. “OK Big Sis. Follow me.”

With that, the young filly, still holding Chirithy, led the way out of the room.

“Okay now that they’re gone,” Edward cracked the knuckles on his left hand and then took off his coat. “First things first. You said you tried using my token as an anchor, right?”

“That’s right,” the Doctor nodded. “We needed something to tie the Stargate to this world, to allow travel back. A point of origin, if you will.”

“Therein lies the problem my dear fellow,” Ed pointed at the ceiling and then to the Gate. “Displaced tokens that are found by the native Displaced are not of their own worlds. So, in turn, you can’t use them as your origin point.” His finger moved to me. “It has to be her token and no one else’s. Also, you must approach this with both a hand in science and in magic.” Ed walked over to the Gate and flicked his finger against it causing it to fall over. “This thing won’t do at all.”

The Doctor’s eyes widen. “Wait, hold on a minute, how the bloody hell did you manage to knock that over with a simple tap?!? That gate is made of Naquadah, one of the densest materials in the universe, weighing several hundred tons! It should not have fallen over that easily!”

“Nwahhaha… Doctor, I’m over fifteen thousand years old and a walking Philosopher Stone,” Ed unbuttoned the clasp on his color and revealed his metal arm. “I haven’t been human for a very long time and my master has taught me many things. Magic, technology, beliefs and much much more. Not to mention I help my wife and Tia move the Sun and Moon from time to time. So tell me again how an interdimensional Alchemagical Mage can knock over a Stargate. Oh, my arm and leg are both made of Proto-adamantium too.”

The Doctor took a breath to argue, before stopping and thinking for a moment. “Point taken. But why is Naquadah not good enough? We made the Gate with it due to its energy conducting properties, both electrical and magical.”

“Take a scan of this,” Ed placed the black key on the table in front of the Doctor. “Go on with that little sonic screwdriver. I have a Doctor that help run my automail shop back home.” He looked over to me.

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, scanning the key for a second before reading the results. “Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, according to this, it’s made of an unknown material, with traces of Naquadah running through it, but only trace amounts.”

“This is what happens to orichalcum after passing through the void,” Ed levitated the key up so that it hovered just above his palm. “When left blank it looks golden,” he pulled out a small box and placed it on the table. “Open it. The box is lined with black silver so that what’s inside won’t be affected by my travels throughout the void.”

The Time Lord opened the box. “What am I looking at here?”

“Blank Orichalcum keys,” Ed explained. “Walk through a Void Portal with one and the Void Energy imprints on the key atunning it to that portals energy allowing the possessor to open the portal at will. The key can further be altered so it will only work for specific beings.”

“And how exactly will this help with the Gate?” the Doctor asked, somewhat confused.

“Wire her token in to the Gate with the orichalcum,” Edward explained. “Wire the Gate partially into the land for a better anchor and better magic connection. You should also add in a scanner for tokens you find here in your world and might get from other Displaced with multiple tokens. This way you can look for… I don’t know… whatever you need to look for. It’ll help give a definitive location to jump to I know that much.”

“Hmm, that could work…” the Doctor muttered before turning to me. “Ms. Kairi, might I have a token please.”

“Sure, why not. I’ll get one for Ed too,” I shrugged before kneeling down next to my bag to pull out the tokens. I then tossed one to the Doctor, and one to Ed, before noticing something. Like with Tito before, the token changed color, turning a sort of silvery red in color. “Wait, it did that again? Why’d it do that?”

“Do what?” Ed raised an eyebrow.

“It changed color,” I explained. “In all my time playing Kingdom Hearts, Kairi’s lucky charm never changed color, so I’m at a loss…”

“Hmm…” Ed held up the charm. “You said it reacted this way before. What were the circumstances?”

“Exactly like here, I tossed my token to Tito, another Displaced I met, and when he caught it, it changed color,” I explained.

“And after, what did you do?” He flipped the charm over in his hand.

“Nothing, we just thought it had something to do with his magic.”

“Is this guy a fellow wielder now?” Ed had an idea in his head.

I narrowed my eyes. “If by ‘wielder’ you mean a Keyblade wielder, then yes. But since when was an alchemist a Keyblade wielder?”

“For the last… uh… “ He pondered. “Four no …” Ed began to count on his fingers. “Yep around two to four thousand years ago now. Not long after I married Luna, matter of fact.” he sat down on the floor and took a flask from his back pocket. “That was the best day of my life. Now it’s when my twins were born.” He took a swig of his flask and returned it. “Don’t worry I can’t get drunk anymore. But why do you look so worried?”

“Because I’ve been getting this aura of...wrongness coming from you,” I replied. “I don’t know how else to describe it, it just feels...wrong. Like it shouldn’t exist.”

“The Keyblade literally showed up out of nowhere one day,” Ed got up. “Puff!” He snapped his fingers. “I’m not gonna deny it a home. It chose to present itself to me. What’s wrong with that?”

“Eh, nothing really,” I shrug. “It’s just really off-putting.”

“I think I’ve got most of the wiring done,” the Doctor calls from the alter-thing. “I think we’re ready to add the key to the dialing device.”

“DHD,” I interupt.

“I beg your pardon?”

“DHD. Dial Home Device,” I explain.

“Oh, yes, yes, that’ll do nicely for a name. In any case, I think we’re ready to add the key to the DHD.”

“Have at it,” Ed tossed one of the orichalcum keys to the Doctor. “Wait, you’re trying to contact your Earth?”

“No, no,” the Doctor laughed. “Or at least, I’m not.”

“I’m not either,” I shrug. “I really don’t have anything to go back to.”

“Right. I’m actually trying to dial your world,” the Doctor explained. “The way I have it set up, I have a scanner here where we place the token of the Dis-”

“STOP!” Ed shouted in anger causing the chamber to shake. “My world has a Void Barrier around it to prevent intrusions like that. You could have killed everyone here.”

“Sssooo, like the Iris from Stargate SG-1?” I asked tentatively.

“Yea, look here,” Ed moved next to the Doctor and began to work while pulling up an archive hollow screen behind that he switched. “Here, see the black and white void surrounded worlds?”

“You mean these ones here that look like blobs?”

“Yes, these are the one you must be summoned in to first. Never try and force your way in unless you’re a Void Dweller or as powerful as one,” Ed explained. “Backlash will kill you or you could get Void Poisoning.”

“Alright, alright, I get it, black blobby worlds bad, everywhere else good. Got it. So then, where should we try to connect to? Kairi, what tokens do you have?”

“Uh, well,” I dug around in my bag for a bit. “I have Tito’s token, as well as Lex’s, Sora and Nat’s, and Adam’s.”

“Hmm, toss me Nat’s token, we’ll go with that world,” the Doctor said as he made adjustments, as I pulled out the Aura Reader that served as her token, tossing it to him. “Thank you much. This’ll take a while to reconfigure, why don’t you show Ed around the Tower?”

“I’m game,” Ed threw a hand up. “Want me to leave a Mini-Ed behind to help monitor this thing?”

“Nah, I trust the Doctor to keep us informed,” I replied. “But, I was thinking, instead of showing you around a Tower I haven’t fully explored yet, how about we have a spar in the Simulation Hall?”

“Can you take a beating of all kinds against a demon,” Ed had an evil grin as he cracked his knuckles. “The last one to give me a decant fight was Optimus Prime. Scratch that, my master was. Still one of the better fights was against Nat and Sora and then there’s Adam’s Celestia in solar mode. Lex had to cut that one short.”

“Oh, I think I’ve got some tricks for you,” I replied with a grin. “After all, I doubt they had any of the Kingdom Hearts spells to throw at you, or a magic system that they created themselves.”

“True dat,” Ed shrugged. “ In fact, your the only other Keyblade wielder I ever met. Magic clones? I’ve got my semblance and chakra for that. Very handy for teaching at Luna’s school of Dark Magic.”

“Alright then, right this way,” I nodded, guiding him out of the room and to the stairs. The Simulation Hall was about two floors up, hence why the Doctor took me to the Gate Room to recover.

“Lead the way,” Ed smirked.

I lead the alchemist up the stairs to the control room of the Simulation Hall, where we found Sunset and Chirithy watching the simulation that both Lunas and the twins were in, on one of the terminals.

“Hey guys, which simulation are they in?” I asked as we walked in.

“Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild,” Sunset replied. “It was literally the only kid-friendly game you had, other than Kingdom Hearts.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t think to use one of the TV shows or movies I had?”

Sunset blinked. “You know, I totally forgot this thing could use those… Oh well.”

I shook my head. “In any case, I need you to pull them out so me and Ed here can have a spar.”

“Sure,” Sunset nodded, turning to the intercom. “Luna? Ed and Kairi would like to use the Simulation Hall now, could you all come out?”

“OK, we’ll be right out!” came the excited reply.

“Is this Simulation Hall like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in DBZ?” Ed flicked the air. “As far as being able to control the environment anyways?”

I laughed. “No, but I can see why you would think that. No, think of this more like the holodeck from any of the Star Trek TV shows. The computer can be programmed to either replicate environments, or simulate scenarios, whether those are video game scenarios, historic scenarios, or just fictional scenarios.”

“Good, that means I don’t have to worry about breaking things,” Ed chuckled.

As I was explaining how the Simulation Hall worked, the door leading into the Hall itself hissed open, allowing the two Lunas and the twins to exit.

“Hey Luna, how was your first simulation?” I asked as she ran up for a hug.

“It was fun, but Sunset wouldn’t program any of the actual story into the simulation,” the blue filly pouted.

“If you think I’m gonna send infants into a simulation with dangerous monsters in it, you’ve got another thing coming,” Sunset glared. “I doubt their parents would have appreciated it either.”

“My kids can handle timberwolves, Sunset. I think a few low level things like Shadows wouldn’t be too much for them to handle,” Ed waved the air.

“Except that Luna wanted to put them in Hyrule Castle,” Sunset explained. “Which is crawling with high level monsters, not to mention Calamity Ganon at the heart of the castle.”

I turned a glare onto the blue filly in question. “Really Luna? That’s not child friendly at all! And on top of that, I told you that we need to make sure there are safeties in place before I let you in there to fight anything!”

“Going into an unknown dungeon that you know contains a boss creature,” Edward looked at the filly in disappointment and a lot of anger. “Were you even thinking about the safety of your party at all girl!”

Luna flinched. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking at all…”

“That much is obvious,” Sunset snorted.

“OK, OK,” I sighed. “That’s enough of that. We’ll talk about this later Luna. For now, you can stay here where Sunset can keep an eye on you.”

Luna nodded, head hung low as she trudged next to the mare operating the computer.

“Here’s my crew,” Ed smiled. “How was the simulation?”

Ed’s wife came out, holding the hands of bother their children on either side. “It was rather peaceful and the twins were able to run and play. They tired themselves out.” She looked to the little yawning alicorns. “Excuse me Ms.Sunset, you wouldn’t happen to have a sleeping area or a nursery for children would you?”

“Uh, I don’t think so…” I trailed off.

“Actually, I found one while you were unconscious,” Chirithy chimed in. “Its up on the floor above our room.”

“Oh,” I replied smartly. “Why don’t you show them where it is then.”

The cat nodded before going out the door, calling over his shoulder “Follow me.”

“Certainly,” The older Luna followed Chirithy with the little ones in tow.

I nodded before turning to Sunset. “Now that we have that taken care of, could you load up the final battle stage from Persona 3 FES? Just don’t have the boss there as well, we just want the arena.”

“Sure, just pull your PS2 out, and set it on the console,” Sunset replied, turning back to the terminal. “Make sure the disk is in before turning it on.”

I nodded as I pulled said system out of my bag. I checked the disk tray, finding the needed game disk already loaded in, before setting it down on the console and turning it on. Instantly, a new holographic window appeared at Sunset’s terminal.

“OK, you said the arena from the final battle right?” She asked, typing away at the terminal.

“Right.”

“Is that from The Journey, or from The Answer?”

“The Journey.”

“Alright,” Sunset muttered. “Should be all set. Go ahead in, should be done building the simulation by the time you’re in. The name of the simulation is Arena.”

I nodded, leading the way into the Hall as the computer chimed “Simulation ready.”

“Execute simulation arena,” I said, causing the stark white room to dissolve into the dark, moonlit tower of Tartarus.

“Black Pillars under a full Moon,” Ed looked around. “Odd setup for an arena.” Ed walked over to the edge looking down.

“Don’t look now, but we’re several miles up,” I called as I walked to the center of the arena.

“Nice dropoff,” Edward looked over the edge. “Now what?”

I smirked. “Welcome to the tower of Tartarus, the site of a battle to save all the people of the world, now the arena that we’ll be using. Anything goes in this spar, except lethal blows.” I called forth Destiny’s Embrace in preparation for battle as I said those words. “You ready?”

“Hmm...Want me to summon my Keyblade or use another weapon?” Ed asked curiously. “I have quite the variety to choose from.”

I shrugged. “Use whatever you feel comfortable using. Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Okay I gave you fair warning though.” Edward brought his right hand up and spoke a strange phrase. “I RELEASE YOU FROM YOU CHAIN. DEVOUR THE KNIGHTMARES TO BRING FORTH THE SWEETEST OF DREAMS TO MY FRIENDS. SHINE THE LIGHT IN THE DARK AND UNLOCK THE DOORS TO THE KINGDOM, THE KINGDOM HEARTS!”

“This is the Baku,” Ed held up a long, dual-handed, black bladed Keyblade that shone a red hue when the light shined on it. There was a red metallic skull on either side of the hilt. The teeth of the key looked like dual sickle blades. The Keychain was a silver bladed chain the lead into a red, cracking, crystal cross. “What do you make of it?”

“I still get that feeling of wrongness,” I shrug. “But, I can ignore that. You ready?”

“Does an Ursa have a star cover butt?” Ed deadpanned.

“Fair enough, in that case,” I grinned, before I charge forward with my left hand wrapped in shadows. “Shadow Dragon Iron Fist!” I struck out with my fist, aiming for Ed’s abdomen.

“Ultimate Shield,” Ed murmured as his body blackened with hardened carbon and he gained a look similar to Greed. “Sorry, you’re gonna have to try much harder.” He raised the Baku and the blade glowed red, crackling with electricity. “Crimson Lightning Slash.” He brought the blade down sending a red bolt wave at me.

I jumped out of the way, using my Keyblade to throw low-powered fire spells at him. I really wasn’t expecting the Greed abilities to make an appearance, but I had a couple ideas for countering and fighting back. “Well, well, I didn’t take you to be someone who hid behind a barrier, what’s up with that?” I taunted, as I continued throwing fire spells, trying to make a smoke screen with the spells.

“Smoke won’t help you,” Ed clapped his hands and placed them in the smoke turning it into charcoal and letting it fall to the ground. “Oh, I know,” He took in a deep breath, “Fus Ro Da!”
Ed shouted at me.

My eyes widened as I watched the blast come. Thinking fast, I cast the only spell that came to mind. “Reflectga!” Instantly, a shimmering barrier snapped into existence around me, pushing me back to the edge of the arena as it absorbed the energy, and sent it right back at the alchemist.

Ed held his Blade up taking the reflected shout head on, causing his armor to crack and start to crumble away. “That was a surprise.”

“Yeah?” I grinned. “Well, you’re about to be even more surprised. Spell Weaver!” As soon as the words ‘Spell Weaver’ were out of my mouth, I triggered my first ever Keyblade Transformation. Now, there really wasn’t much to this Keyblade Transformation, but it did change the color scheme of my clothes from pink and black, to blue and black. I then started floating slightly off the ground, sliding towards Ed as I threw my Keyblade at him.

“Sloth,” Ed vanished in a flash and I found him on the other side of the arena. “Transformation was definitely something I wasn’t expecting.” He leaned against a pillar. “Tell me how many Darksides have you beaten?”

“Just one, and I’ll show you just how I beat it too,” I reply a slight glow surrounds me, music starting to play in the background.

“Weirdness,” Ed raised an eyebrow. “Wanna see what happens when you combine Shouts with the force?” Ed smirked as he clenched his fist and crouched down. The air around us began to shake. “FUS!” Ed threw his hands high as he sent out an omni-directional Shout.

I ignored him as I started singing, my magic flowing through the song, allowing me to see how I can dodge the attack.

‘How long has it been?
Hope I'm not dreaming
Looking good too aren't you, it's time to unwind.’

I pointed my Keyblade at Ed, firing off an orb of condensed magic in his direction.

“Magic Weaving,” Ed caught the orb. He looked down to it as it shrank down to nothing. “Delicious. Thanks for the snack.” He picked up his Keyblade. “Shadow Dragon-Slayer Magic. How hard is it for you to control?”

‘Eager to catch your smile, ain't shown it in a while.
So set free the mind!’

I give a so-so motion with my hand as I continued singing, waiting for the blinding effect to kick in on my opponent. I charged forward, once again throwing my magic infused Keyblade at Ed.

Ed caught the blade in between his pointer and middle finger. “If you’re wondering, I’m not going to go blind Kairi. The Ultimate Eye sees all.” I could see the Ouroboros symbol in his eyes now. “Catch,” He flung my Keyblade back at me.

‘Remember the times,
How we laughed and joked around.
Yeah the soul is unbound!’

I caught Destiny’s Embrace with ease, before canceling the Spell Weaver, and switching to Ever After, the Keyblade changing to resemble Rapunzel’s tower with a sun at the top. I also mentally activated Mirage Staff, firing laser-like bolts of magic at the alchemist.

“Haven’t you figured it out?” Edward grumble. “Oh well, let’s see how well you fight without magic,” He smirked as a silver spell matrix formed behind him. “Nule Field,” A burst of silver magic went everywhere canceling any of magic. “I should’ve warned you, Lex taught me every Fairy Tail magic she knows but the forbidden spells and Grand Spells, but I have a few that not even my Niece knows.” He hefted his Keyblade on his shoulder. “This environment is digital so alchemy does jack here.”

‘It's party night!
No need to hold back anymore.
Only night.
What are you waiting for?’

My eyes narrowed, as he explained himself. I quickly dismiss Ever After, and summon Way to Dawn, the Keychain I found after my encounter with Tito. Now, while the Kingdom Hearts franchise never actually created a Keyblade Transformation for Way to Dawn, there was one that suddenly entered my mind right then; Angel of Black and White. As soon as I triggered it, a white angel wing sprouted from my left shoulder, while a red and black demon wing sprouted from my right. The Keyblade itself changed to resemble Riku’s Soul Eater sword from the first Kingdom Hearts game. I charged forward, slashing at speeds faster than a normal human eye could follow at the alchemist’s arms, legs, and chest.

‘Vivid night.
Let it all go and rock the floor!
Come a little closer, lend your hand!’

Red electricity sparked off Edward’s flesh while his metal arm and leg remained unscathed except for the paint. “I’m starting to see why you are such a nuisance to the Heartless.” He held up his right hand and the silver cloud from earlier formed around it into a machine gun. “Best part of the blows you landed on me. Kinetic Energy bullets.” He began to fire on me in rapid succession.

I leapt into the air, wings unfurling, as I took an evasive trajectory over Ed’s head, landing behind him. I then wrapped my shadow magic around my blade, unleashing a flurry of dark slashes into his back.

‘Don't need no words, we'll dance the night away together.
Passing hours, embrace the feeling forever.’

His arm changed back to normal but popped open and something similar to a katana hilt landed in the opposite hand. Ed hit a switch and out of the handle ignited a black lightsaber with a red edge. “Darksaber,” he held it high and brought the saber down hard. “Air Cutter.” In an instant my wings were severed from my body.

I grinned as I felt the wings reform, since they weren’t physically there to begin with; just my magic manifested as wings.

‘It's all ours!
Till the gradient sky signals closure.
Come on, don't be shy now.
Won't you take my hand?’

I suddenly had an idea. I glanced down at my shadow before using my Shadow Dragon Slayer magic to dive in. I then used my influence over the shadow to expand it until it looked just like Pride. I then sharpened my shadows before sending them in to attack.

“Oh, shadowplay,” Ed shook his head. “You know You’d actually be one of the worst people for me to fight in my true form if I didn’t have my other abilities.”

My shadows grinned at the compliment, before launching a barrage of attacks at the alchemist.

‘Been a long time coming, nothing but love baby,
Going way back, back when we were bunch of teenagers.
Things done changed, from back in the days,
However things as tight as this never ever changes.’

“Alright,” Ed cracked his neck. “Time to take playtime up to level three,” A spell matrix appeared behind Edward again, and I found myself surrounded all around by millions of red glowing crystal claymores. “Omni- Mars Bane Strike- Slaughterfest.” Ed snapped and the blades all came at me at once. I managed to dodge most but got hit in a couple vital areas, namely my arms and legs.

‘Leaving y'all wasn't easy!
But for the better good, much needed.
Tonight's the night, reunite, party over here!
No mass destruction needed!’

I grit my teeth as pain flooded my system, and the song ended. I had one last trick up my sleeve, and since I was on my way to unconsciousness anyway, I might as well use it. I raised my hand, shaking slightly, as I once again formed two doors behind Ed. “DOORS OF HADES!” I scream as the doors fling open, and tendrils of shadow magic attempt to drag Ed over the threshold.

“This is your Ace in the Hole?” Ed’s form began to change on his right as it became covered in red metal, Shadows, and eyes. He gained a singular large golden eye across his chest that consisted of a fusion of the Rinnegan with the Ouroboros symbol in the center. Edward pulled the Baku to his demonized arm. “Let me show you a real portal to Hell!” The Keyblade sang a song that would make a grown man cry. A song that was neither of joy or sorrow but simply of being. “Meido Surasshu!” He sent a reality warping slash straight at the Doors of Hades collapsing the move instantly.

My vision was fading as Ed made his attack, but I still was able to see what happened before I finally blacked out. The Doors seemed to implode as the attack made contact with them, making them crumble before they winked out of existence. The last thing I saw as darkness took my vision, was Ed returning to his original appearance.

Author's Note

OH MY GOSH!! I had so much fun writing this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed!

Big thank you to Alvasa for making this chapter, as well as the next one possible! Ed is from his story The Golden Eyed Sage, so if you haven't already checked it out, go do that now!

Music in this chapter is Our Moment from Persona 3 Dancing In Moonlight

PS Aren't I just awful for leaving you all on a cliffhanger? :P

The Key to Alchemy Part 2

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 9: The Key to Alchemy Part 2

Before we begin, there is a great big SPOILER WARNING in effect. This chapter, while being set directly after the previous chapter, is also set several chapters down the line for both The Golden Eyed Sage and Diclonius Queen of Equestria. If you don’t want spoilers for either story, please be patient and wait for The Golden Eyed Sage, and Diclonius Queen of Equestria to update to this point. If you don’t care, please enjoy this chapter!

I slowly awoke to the feeling of tapping on my cheek, making me feel like Izuku waking up to All Might.

“Hey, Kairi,” Ed was the one tapping my face. “Yoohoo, anyone in there? Come on kid did I really push ya that much?”

“Ugh, not really,” I groaned sitting up. “That last move I used knocked me out when I first used it. I figured I was on my last legs anyway, might as well go all out.”

“Yea, I got a little carried away there,” Ed scratched the back of his head. “How bad are the injuries and where are most of them located?”

I wince as I glance down. “Arms and legs mostly. I can barely move them. Not to mention my clothes are kinda ragged…” It was true. My skirt was ripped up, and both sleeves of my shirt and jacket were torn off, revealing my Fairy Tail emblem. Holes littered my clothes, revealing a bit of my underwear as well. “Any chance you could fix these up? I honestly don’t know if there are any spares in the Tower…”

“No problem, just… Don’t move,” Ed clapped his hands together and red electricity spark from them. He pulled his palms apart as he stood over me and shower me with scarlet lightning. It didn’t hurt but felt extremely pleasant as I saw my wounds close with no signs of scarring and the holes and tears in my clothes were soon as good as new. “There ya go,” Ed stopped the lightning. He extended a hand helping to my feet. “Now that we’ve had our little spar now what?”

“Now you head back down to the Doctor,” Sunset’s voice came over the intercom, as the Tartarus Arena dissolved into a blank, white, room. “He said that he was done calibrating the Stargate.”

“Well, there’s your answer,” I shrugged before turning back to the door, leading the way out into the Control Room. “Thanks Sunset,” I called as I passed her and the recently arrived wife and children of Ed.

“Can I come along, Big Sis?” Luna asked.

“No,” I replied with a glare. “We still need to talk about what you did. Until then, Sunset is gonna watch you, and make sure you don’t get into any more trouble.”

“Come on now Kairi, let her tag along,” Ed smirked. “What better way to learn about her big sister’s companions than to meet a few of them? Heck, my wife and kids are coming. Why not your little sister?”

An awkward silence fell for a couple of seconds as I mulled over what Ed suggested. “For the record,” Sunset chimed in. “I’m kinda with Ed on this one. Personally, I think she learned her lesson, especially after that little display in the Simulator. I’m pretty sure you ‘scared her straight,’ so to speak.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose before sighing. “Alright, fine, you can come along. But if something goes wrong, I want you to go straight to Chirithy, just like when we visited Lex. Got it?”

“YES!” Luna cheered as she jumped up. “Thank you big sis! I’ll be safe, promise!”

I nodded before turning back to Ed. “Well then, shall we?”

“Onwards and upwards,” Ed chuckled. “Come along my dear wife and children.”

“Stuff it Ed!” Ed’s Luna remarked as she walked after my Luna with her daughter in her arms.

“Daddy in trouble,” Giggled little Solar as his father picked him up.

“Guess I am, again. Lead the way Kairi,” Ed hung his head a bit.

I giggled at his misfortune as I led the way back down the stairs to the Gate Room, where we could hear the Doctor making some final calibrations.

“Now attach this part here, adjust the square jiggly lever there, ding the bell, and press the puce button for the funny sound!”

“Having fun over there Doc?” I asked with a laugh.

“Hmm? Oh! Yes, yes I am Ms. Kairi,” the Doctor replied with a chuckle. “Just making the final adjustments before we attempt to dial Nat and Sora’s world. Would one of you mind terribly pulling the round wiggly lever over on the wall there?”

“I’ll do it!” Luna called as she ran to the wall. “This one, right?”

“No, that’s the green timey wimey lever,” the Doctor replied. “Its the one next to it.”

“This one?”

“No, the other side. Yes, that one. Now, just pull it.”

“Time ponies give me a headache when they get inspired like this,” Ed set his son down. “Need any help Doc?”

“Only if you can put up an indestructible shield if this all goes pear-shaped,” the Doctor replied, placing the AR device onto the scanner.

“He’s joking with me, right?” Ed raised an eyebrow looking at me. “One sec. Let me get a scan of this place.” Ed rolled up his sleeve as he knelt down. He took off the glove on his right hand and placed his palm on the floor.

“Unfortunately,” I sighed. “He’s not joking. While there weren’t many accidents in the Stargate franchise, there was one, in particular, that was shown destroying the planet it was on.”

“Yes, well, luckily for you, we put a failsafe into the system to prevent that when we first started our experiments,” the Doctor replied, fiddling with the controls some more. “Honestly, the only danger to us is an energy feedback that could potentially vaporize those standing in front of the Gate, placing the operator in the most danger.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Ed closed his eyes and a silver spell matrix formed behind him while he held out his left hand as it started to glow blue. A wall appeared between the Stargate and the DHD. “There ya go. Proto-Adamantium with a reinforcement spell for heavy plate armor from Skyrim. Think it’ll hold Doc?”

The Doctor glanced up. “To an energy feedback? Yes. To the demolecularization effect from the initially unstable wormhole? No, nothing can block that, but since an unstable wormhole is inevitable when dialing, you just need to pull it back about, oh, a foot or two.”

“No problem there.” Ed walked over to the wall and pressed a button on his right arm, placing his palm on the wall with a loud thud. “Just say when to stop pulling.” Ed began to pull the wall with ease toward us.

He pulled it about two feet closer before the Doctor called out. “Stop. Right there is enough. More than enough in fact. Now that we have a good bit of protection we should be ready to start dialing, but before that Kairi get over here with your phone.”

Ed stopped and detached himself from the wall and rejoin us. “Hungry work that is. Once Nat and Sora are here can we get lunch?”

“Hungries,” Morning clapped her hands.

“That’s my girl.” Ed walked over to his daughter and kissed her forehead causing her to giggle.

I smiled as I passed them on my way to the Doctor, pulling out my phone. “What do you need this for?”

“Recall app,” the Doctor replied, yanking the phone from my grasp and plugging it into a slot on the DHD. “When you want to come back just open this app and it’ll remotely activate the Gate. Also, who said anything about them coming here? We need you to go to their world to get an accurate test. Not only that, why would someone who has never seen a Stargate before go through one that suddenly appears somewhere in their world?”

“You make a good point,” I hummed as he handed my phone back.

“First ya need to activate the darn thing,” Ed commented as he was giving Morning a piggyback ride causing the filly. “We don’t even know if it’ll work yet.”

“Quite right,” the Doctor nodded. “Now, everyone, move over to the wall on my left, just in case.”

We all moved over to the indicated wall before I called out “Enough stalling Doc, dial the Gate!”

“Fine, fine, sheesh,” he huffed. He then tapped seven symbols on the DHD before running over to us.

The inner ring of the Gate began to slowly spin before stopping, a horn-shaped symbol lighting up. “It's working,” the Doctor muttered next to me. “It's actually working! Last time we tried this, there was an energy feedback!”

I rolled my eyes as the ring spun again, landing on a handprint symbol before lighting up. The ring continued this until symbols that looked like a Pokeball, a spell matrix for Heavenly Body Magic, an Ouroboros mark, and a crescent moon with a white six-pointed star in the middle were all lit. The ring spun one final time before landing on one final symbol. A star-shaped like my very own token. As soon as it was lit, the Gate expelled an outward column of energy, before it was rapidly collapsed on itself, stabilizing into a blue portal that rippled like water a moment later.

Our collective jaws dropped in amazement. The Gate actually worked.

“Bright,” Ed remarked, “Better than Void portals if ya ask me.”

“Pretty,” Morning Star waved her hands in the air still on her father’s back.

“Shiny,” Solar Eclipse exclaimed.

“Who knew you were just missing a few things?” The older Luna tapped the side of her had. “This is my husband's area of expertise and not mine but this is magic and science correct?”

“More or less, yes,” the Doctor replied, glee clearly displayed on his face. “Oh, to think, after all this time, the solution was hiding right under our noses! Brilliant! Now, one last thing before you step through.” His face turned serious for a moment. “I’ve been told that travel through Gates like this hurts like hell.”

“Language!” I called.

“Yes, thank you, Captain America,” the Doctor retorted with a roll of his eyes. “In any case, it hurts. Enjoy the ride!”

I roll my eyes at him, recalling a similar description being told in the first episode of Stargate Atlantis as a joke. But Ed didn’t need to know that. “Thanks Doc, for that oh so excellent advice.”

The mischievous Time Lord gave a mocking bow, grinning all the while before I turned back to the Gate. Luna and Chirithy stepped up beside me before all three of us took a step through the rippling portal.

It’s hard to describe what happened next, but true to form, the ride did not hurt in the slightest. All I can really remember of the trip was a sort of shimmering, tunnel effect with stars all around. Before any of us had time to really see anything though, we found ourselves stumbling out the other end of the portal onto the ground.

Looking around, I noticed it was the middle of the night, Luna - er - a Luna’s moon high in the sky. Around us was what looked like an old forgotten garden, several broken and dirty pots were strewn about, with a bunch of vines and long grass growing over the area.

Looking away from the former garden, I do a double take as I see something I wasn’t expecting. It looked like the Castle of the Two Sister, but it wasn’t decrepit and old. It almost looked like it was brand new and livable.

“This is the old castle here. Must be the kitchen?” Ed picked up a nearby pot off the floor. “Freaking Time Ponies and their blasted pranks. ‘Oh it’ll hurt like there’s no tomorrow.’ I’ll strangle the plothole.” He threw the pot causing it to go through the wall. “Blasted Doctor.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” I said with a giggle. “Something almost exactly the same happened in Stargate Atlantis. It was just a joke.”

“Sorry, but I don’t take jokes involving pain and my family very well,” Ed’s ears twitched a bit. “You hear a scrap going on over that way?” He pointed behind him.

I narrowed my eyes. “Now that you mention it, I do,” I said as I turn to Luna. “Stay close to Chirithy. If there is a fight, get that barrier up.” Both Luna and Chirithy nodded before Luna grabbed Chirithy, holding him in a tight hug.

“Don’t worry little one,” Ed’s wife pulled Luna in close to her side as she held her son. “Nothing bad will happen. We have Edward and your big sister here to protect us.”

“I know,” Luna said with a sigh. “I just wish I didn’t have to sit on the sidelines all the time.”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” I said with a soft smile. “If Celestia is to be believed, you should still have a Keyblade. It’s just a matter of summoning it right now. I promise I won’t leave you sidelined when you have it.”

Luna smiled before she nodded. I then turned in the direction of the sound of battle. “So, what’s the plan Ed? Sneak in, see what the problem is, and jump in if needed?”

“Nah, I’d recognize those voices anywhere,” Edward smirked as we came into the main hall of the castle. “Those are the sounds of my practicing nieces and their Twilight.” Then there was a large explosion. “Maybe a barrier or two wouldn’t hurt.”

“One magic barrier, coming right up!” Chirithy called before a Reflect barrier bubble came into being around the Lunas, Chirithy, and the children. “I make big barriers,” the cat explained sheepishly. “And, it’ll follow us as we move!”

“Good,” Ed let out a deep sigh of relief. “I don’t really need one and I know Kairi can cast her own. Let’s keep moving then.”

I nod before summoning Destiny’s Embrace and continuing down the hall. Walking down a few halls, we arrive back outside in what looks like an outdoor training yard in the back. And then I had to duck as a gold energy bolt went past my head.

Looking at the yard, I saw a pink haired girl with two off white horns, another girl in her teens with pink and blue hair with slightly smaller horns and a familiar mare wearing a black and dark purple cloak and a darkly colored sword going at it in the middle of the field.

“Whirl Shock!” We hear who I assume is Nat yell, a whirlwind of air appearing before her, heading towards Sora.

“Ice Make Shield!” A barrier of ice appears before her before Sora jumps back as Twilight tries to blast her before the mare focuses her attention on the displaced. Nat summons a couple of handheld swords to block her, the duo going back and forth in several quick clashes before jumping back as Sora jumps in with her own ice sword.

We perk up as we hear a loud snap echo across the yard, the trio putting their weapons away.

“Well done my students. I believe that was a long enough duel.”

Luna’s eyes widen, with the irises shrinking in fear at the voice. I honestly can’t blame her, since we thought we had heard that voice for the last time two days ago.

Looking over to the group, a black mist begins to seep around before them, before slowly forming into a familiar black Alicorn, her wings freshly preened (how did I notice that), wearing a dark purple and blue dress with onyx and sapphires.

“So she survived here,” Ed scowled a little but then took in a deep breath and released it. “Calm down Edward, she’s not the same Nightmare from back home.”

The trio straightens up and line up together before bowing to the mare.

“Thank you mistress.” They reply in unison.

Upon hearing those words, all I see is red. “Shadow Dragon Roar!” I launched the attack, enraged at seeing the nightmare of my little sister being bowed to by her rescuers.

“Darn it Kairi! Gale Dragon Roar!” Ed shouted at my attack trying to cancel it out but ended up merging with it.

The mare turns to look at what was heading to her, before the trio teleport in front of her, magic appearing before them.

“Whirl Shock!”

“Crimson Fire!”

“Grand Chariot!”

The two combined attacks strike each other, causing another explosion to go off, kicking up enough dust to cause us to lose visibility with one another. I growl and go to call out, before feeling something cold and sharp on my throat.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” I hear Twilight question, seeing she had her sword at my throat.

“Gluttony,” I heard Ed whisper and the dust begins to dissipate “Cyack. Taste terrible. Bleheck!” I saw Ed stick out his tongue. I see the pony standing in front of me glaring all the while she has the sword at my throat before Ed is at my side and he grabs the blade with his right arm. “Hey there Twilight, how’s the arm holding up?” He easily forces her to lower the blade.

“Oh, hey Ed.” She says simply, before pausing and jumping back. “The hell!? Edward!”

Before he can respond, a couple of pink blurs go by and tackle him to the ground.

“UNCLE ED!” The two Dicloni yell in happiness.

“Yo!” He rubs their heads. “How have you two been?”

“Oh, we’ve been great, yet busy. After the girls shell shock of me getting a body and Twi having a prosthetic arm things were a little awkward for a while and-” Sora says before I interrupt.

“Uh, hello? Nightmare Moon over there! Why are we just sitting here chatting?” I growl, Keyblade held in a ready position.

“I very much suggest not trying to attack my great-whatever grandmare.” Twilight says, her hand on her sword.

I blink, rage giving way to confusion. “Uh, what?”

“Different Realities means Different possible outcomes Kairi,” Ed got up and dusted himself off. “I met a Displaced who’s mothers were both Luna and Nightmare Moon as they were twin sister sharing one body in another version of Earth not too long ago.”

“It’s true, she was a fiery yet sweet girl,” Ed’s Luna came out with the others. “Nat, Sora. It’s wonderful to see you two. Would you like to meet your niece and nephew?”

The duo stood stock still and blinked a couple of times before Sora began to spark with pink lightning, shrinking down to the size of a seven or eight-year-old. She blinks a couple of times, looking at her body.

“Ah damnit, not again!” She yells in annoyance. She takes a breath, and sparks again before growing back. “God I hate that. So, what’s this about you having kids?”

“Uh, I think I speak for Luna and Kairi, as well as myself when I say, what the heck is going on?” Chirithy said, raising a paw.

The natives look to Ed with raised brows before backing up and standing next to Nightmare, who suddenly stood behind Twilight with...fear in her eyes?

“Ok, maybe we should start with some introductions. I’ll go first. Hi, my names Natali Basatin, Queen of the Diclonius.” Nat introduces with a small, awkward smile.

“Hey, my names Sorano Elric, Diclo-homunculus and Nat’s little sis. Nice to meet you...I guess.” Sora says.

“Even though I don’t think it’s necessary, hi, I’m Twilight of this world, Nightmares direct descendant and new weapons student.”

I sigh, dismissing Destiny’s Embrace. “I’m Kairi. Sorry about this…”

“Wow, really channeling Ranma there, Kairi,” Chirithy snickers.

“Shut it cat!” I retort.

“Hi! I’m Chirithy!” the cat informs the other Displaced, ignoring me.

“Um, I’m Luna, but I guess you already know that. Pleasedon’thurtmeNightmare!” Luna whimpers. For the briefest of moments, a familiar black shape materialized in her hands before vanishing again. I’d have to talk to her about that later.

Nightmare blinked a couple of times, looking to her descendant who just shrugs, before she sighs and comes out from behind Twilight, only a little bit.

“Um..d-don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. I have been told about possibly meeting either another me, or Luna, so I know not to mess with alternate versions.” She says.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. “I’m really getting tired of explaining this. In our world, you were Luna’s Heartless, created when she extracted her own heart in a misguided attempt at safeguarding our world a thousand years ago. That being said, she’s so young because the way a Nobody is formed, the body is aged backwards until it is nothing, literally nothing, hence why a Nobody is considered nothing. Luna’s body was becoming a Nobody, and Celestia managed to get a stasis spell in place before the process was complete, hence why she is so young now.”

“You and me both and I teach at Luna’s school back home,” Ed grabbed his forehead as he shook his head. “Eh, Displaced and their worlds.” He then motions with his hand and his twin came up from behind his wife and got behind him peeking out from each side of his legs.

Nat and Sora look down to the two kids, eyes wide as dinner plates before Nat squees loudly, turns to mist and appears behind them, picking them up and hugging them close.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” She repeats, rubbing her face against theirs.

“Nat. Sora. These are the twins Solar Eclipse and Morning Star. We found out that Luna was pregnant while you two were staying with us. They’re only a few weeks old but due to how Alicorns age back home they’re physically about six to seven months old. Meet your niece and nephew,” Ed smiled warmly as he explained.

“Well, technically they would be their first cousins once removed.” We turn to Twi as she states that, the mare blushing as all attention is suddenly on her.

“Yeah, we should have seen that coming,” Sora mutters, smiling to her new family members still being clutched by Nat.

“Speaking of family,” Ed looked from Nat then to Twi and back and forth a few more times. “How are you two fairing in that department?” Ed’s eyebrows went up and down as he snidely smirked.

My jaw dropped. “Wait, are you saying that her and Twi…”

The duo looks to me, then to each other before Nat smirks. Handing the twins back to their mother, she walks over to Twi, and proceeded to kiss her on the mouth. Hard.

Twi wasn’t really affected negatively, even wrapping her arms around her and moaning a bit before they separate and smile.

“Not embarrassed in the slightest anymore I see,” Ed nodded in approval. His wife giggled as she picked up her daughter.

I, on the other hand, am still trying to pick my mouth up off the floor. “OK, so that’s a thing,” I mutter to myself. “Ignore it, just ignore it. You’ve seen and read weirder things, just relax.”

Luna, my Luna I mean, walks over and gives me a slap to the back of my head, rebooting my brain from the internal meltdown.

“Thanks, Luna,” I smile to her. “So now what?”

“Oh yeah, not that we are complaining, but how and why did you come here uncle? I know it wasn’t just to introduce us to your kids.” Nat says, still holding her marefriend.

“Testing out a portal with Kairi here but the first reason was my main reason,” Ed flipped his pointer finger out. “Oh, yea. You two have Granny Faust to look forward to as a Rainbow Ninetails to meet one day.” They just blinked a few times before shrugging, going back to playing with the twins.

“I think I can explain our visit a bit better,” a familiar voice spoke up. We all whirl around to find the Time Lord himself grinning at us.

“Doctor!” I cried in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I got bored waiting for you to come back,” the Doctor explained. “So I came through after you. Now, to answer your question, Ms. Natali, we are all here testing out a device we call a Stargate. Essentially it is a ring made of a substance called Naquadah that can create a wormhole between worlds. Coming to your world was our test run since we can’t use Ed’s world for obvious reasons.”

“Void Barrier,” Ed remarked. “Wonder if I’ll ever meet Gilgamesh?” Ed muttered to himself.

“Quite,” the Doctor nodded. “In any case, I actually had something I wanted to tell you all. I was tweaking the DHD programming when I found a replication program in the system.”

“Replication program?” I asked, tilting my head in confusion. “For what?”

“For the Stargate of course,” the Doctor explained. “Basically, we can create a Gate wherever we want, DHD included!”

“Can ya shrink them down for pocket use Doc?” Ed asked with intrigue. “Would be much easier than relying on my Rinnegan alone.”

“In theory, yes,” the Time Lord nodded. “There were plans to place a Gate in space, back when the experiment first began. All I would need to do is have the replication program create a Space Gate, then have someone place a shrink spell on it. Why do you ask?”

“My master does the same thing with his portal technology. He leaves behind a portal so he can revisit worlds at will,” Ed twirled his finger, “I have his portal set up in Luna’s Library so no one can stumble on it by accident. Mainly Pinkie.”

“Hmm, I see,” the Doctor nodded. “I assume you want a similar set-up for our Stargates, right?”

“It’s your portal. Do what you want with it.” Ed shrugged. “If you do set one up it would have to lead to my lab or the Library.”

“Considering your expertise, I think we should have at least one that we can use to get in contact with you,” I reply. “I’d like to have one in your lab please.”

“Like I said no issues on my end. Just don’t touch my experiments when we’re there,” Ed pointed at the Doctor.

Said Time Lord snorted. “I wouldn’t have come along anyway. I really don’t like any form of travel between worlds if my TARDIS isn’t used. The app Kairi has is enough to activate the replication software.”

“Speaking of which,” I cut in. “Do you guys want a Gate here somewhere?”

The trio turn to Nightmare, who just shrugs.

“I would recommend the main entrance to the castle. From what I have been told by my students here, this place is a pretty big constant in most realities, so I think it would fit.” The mare says.

“In theory, that would work,” I nodded, before narrowing my eyes. “But, I don’t think it would be a good idea for anyone who is able to just walk into the castle to be able to use it. Better for it to be out of sight.”

“Why not use the trap door that hid the Elements of Harmony all those years ago,” Ed suggested as Solar came to his side. He picked up his son and then looked at everyone. “The lock should be attuned to members of the royal court and family members by extension.”

I smiled. “Sounds like a good spot. Someone will have to lead us there though, since we never actually had a Castle of the Two Sisters in our world.”

The group all nodded and the natives led us back into the castle, Nightmare and Twilight leading the group through a few seemingly random corridors before pulling a few ornaments and revealing the trap door in question.

It looked like a simple room at first, but a second glance would reveal the recently repaired banners of the night and darkness, a pedestal with the imprint of five spheres on the top of it, and a few windows in the room with extremely faded images. You could barely make out things like Nightmare rising up, one of leading a squad of thestral batponies against the solar guards, and of course, one of her taking over the roll of sun and night. That last one made Nightmare and both Luna’s visibly flinch.

“Yeah, this’ll work.” The unicorn mutters, stepping aside for the rest of us.

I take a step in, getting a good look around at the spacious room. “Yes, this’ll do nicely. So, Doctor, what next?”

“Well, first things first,” the Doctor replied, turning to our hosts. “Pick a spot for the Gate to be set-up. Once it’s in place, it can’t be moved again, unless you have Ed’s freakish strength, so choose wisely. After that, we’ll set up a DHD in a spot where it won’t get vaporized.”

The natives look around for a second, before deciding on the area right in front of the pedestal, making sure that it would set up so if somepony uses it, they wouldn’t just run into the stomach high pedestal. That would hurt, especially for the guys.

“This’ll take a while to figure out,” I said as I turn to the indicated spot. “Feel free to ignore us while we get the Gate set-up.”

“Been meaning to ask ya Twi?” Ed zip to Twilight’s left and grabbed her arm looking over it. “How’s this thing hold up in fighting?”

“Oh, it’s been great. Like, when we got back we had to defend the town from a chimera that showed up and it was really helpful when it decided to take a bite out of me. It did not like the taste of it, nor my hoof after I kicked it. Spike on the other hand….let’s just say there is a reason the ring finger is a little off centre.” She says sheepishly.

“Definitely needs a few tune ups here and there,” Ed examined the arm. “Still can’t beat Time Turner’s craftsmanship though. I have a few upgrades I can install for better magic flow if ya like.”

“Really?! Hell yeah!” She turns to address her girlfriend. “Hey Nat! Come over here and help me with my arm please.”

The trio go through a few automail things that really went over my head, and I almost missed when Sora scooted over to me.

“You know, it was really funny when we went to the spa and Twi asked if she needed to take off her arm. Aloe and Lotus faces were priceless.” She laughs.

Ed’s Luna came over. “You should have seen Tia’s reaction. Ed said my face almost froze the first I saw him do it. That was also the first time I blasted him into the castle wall.” She giggled.

“I hate to interrupt,” the Doctor cut in from his spot by the newly erected DHD. “But could we get a copy of your token? We need it to act as an anchor for the Gate. A point of origin, if you will.”

Nat nods and holds her hands out, what I guess is void energy gathering it them before a copy of their Aura Reader appears in their hands. She saw Ed’s Luna looking to her with a raised brow.

“I figured out a while back I could just make copies of my AR with my magic instead of just handing out the original and hoping it would become a copy.” Nat explains, tossing the device to the Time Lord.

“Excellent,” the Doctor grinned as he caught the device. “Now, if you’ll all stand over by me, we can dial this Gate back to our world and get Chirithy and our Luna back home.”

The Displaced all line up for the stallion, watching in silence as he gets everything ready.

“Alright, dialing now,” he said as he typed in the address for our Gate. “While the Gate is dialing, I think I need to explain to our hosts exactly how to operate it. First, the Gate will only be able to dial worlds that you have visited before, or have the token of. You also need a unique address for each world you visit, and the scanner here on the side will take care of that. Just place a token on the scanner, and the screen above it will display the address. Press the corresponding buttons on the DHD to dial the address, and the Gate will do the rest. Just, uh, don’t stand in front of it.”

“I just had a thought,” Ed stopped playing peek-a-boo with his kids. “Did you ever try and use the video call function on the watch?”

“Hmm? What video call function?” I asked confused. “Besides, my phone can actually call between worlds, courtesy of another Displaced.”

“I set my token so it doubled as a video caller. If someone else has a watch then you can call them via video chat,” Ed pulled out his pocket watch. “You can also use it to send items to other through a small void portal. It’s how Lex and I send our research to one another without having to worry about prying eyes.”

“Huh,” I crossed my arms as a thoughtful expression covers my face. “That could come in handy down the line. I probably won’t use the video call function, unless the person I’m trying to call doesn’t have a phone. To be fair though, I tend to give a replica of my phone to those I want to keep in contact with.”

Just as I finish explaining myself to Ed, the Gate finished dialing, the energy column forming, then collapsing as the portal connected. “Excellent!” the Doctor cheered. “Now, Nat, if you have a phone, would you mind tossing it over to me?”

Nat nods and digs into her shorts, quickly pulling out a regular iPhone before tossing it to the Time Lord. He caught it then once again plugged the device into the DHD, programming the app into the phone.

“We won’t be using the Stargate to get to my place by the way,” Ed goes to get a look at the Stargate. “Much safer to use my Rinnegan portals. If you don’t mind that is?”

“No, not at all,” the Doctor replied. “Personally, until there’s a Gate in your lab, I wouldn’t risk trying to dial your world. I’m doing this now so I don’t forget about it later.”

“What would that be Doc?” Ed turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Setting up a recall,” the Doctor replied with an eye roll. “If Nat, Sora, or Twilight decided to use the Gate without some way to dial back, they would be stranded. Now, as long as one of them has that phone, they’ll never be stranded.”

The Doctor tossed the phone into the air, only for Sora to extend the fingers on her hands, catching the phone in between her two thumb and index finger, before running past us with a smirk towards the portal.

“YOLO GUYS!” She yells with a childish laugh, disappearing through the portal.

“Oi! Don’t just run through like that!” the Doctor yelled before she disappeared.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Chirithy, you and Luna head through. Make sure Sora comes back through before closing the Gate on your side.”

The cat nodded. “Will do. Come on Luna, lets go.”

“Alright…” Luna pouted, before waving at our hosts. “Bye guys!”

And with that, the two stepped through the Gate. About a minute later the portal rippled before Sora came back in her child form again.

“Alright then, looks like I can’t stay in my teen form when going through dimensions. That blows.” Sora complains, pouting.

I shrugged. “Stargates can sometimes be unpredictable. Especially when the portal passes through a solar flare. You can easily tell if that happens, as the water-like surface turns cloudy and flickers,” The Gate powered down with a loud ‘kwoosh’ sound as I explained. “A solar flare causes the portal to not only travel through space, but through time as well, leaving you well and truly stranded. So, be careful when using the Gate.”

“Or, if you have a version of me here,” the Doctor cut in. “Make sure you have a way to contact him.”

“Every world has a version of you Doc,” Edward deadpanned. “Some more willing to help than others.”

“My point exactly,” the Time Lord grinned.

“Ok then, next trip to Derpy’s, talk to Time. Duly noted.” Nat mutters to herself.

“Okay, so now on to my world I’m guessing?” Ed shrugged.

“Not just yet,” the Doctor said with a shake of the head. “I need to explain the app. Nat, take a look at your phone and tell me if there’s a new app on it.”

The woman nods and goes through her phone for a second, finding the app with the image of an inactive Stargate on it. She nods again and shows it to us.

“Excellent,” the Doctor nodded. “Now, that app remotely dials the Stargate, locking onto your location to allow you to return here without needing anyone else’s intervention. Well, unless you accidentally get lost in time, that is.”

The duo of Displaced lean back slightly with wide eyes, rapidly nodding with worried expressions. Twilight had to come over and hold her girlfriend for a second for her to calm down, Nightmare doing the same for Sora.

“If that happens I bet Time Turner can make you a sort of beacon that his TARDIS can lock onto so he can come and pick you guys up or just call me and I’ll see what I can do,” Ed twirled his finger in circles.

“At least you three can come for tea more often,” Luna giggled. The trio smile a little at the older Luna’s suggestion.

“Sure thing auntie. Honestly we have only been learning from Nightmare as a precaution in case something happens out of order, or off the main timeline.” Sora says, the partially Astral Alicorn pouting to the girl.

“Alright then,” I said with a smile. “That just leaves one last thing. Doctor, you programmed in fail-safes and alarms, right?”

“Right you are, Ms. Kairi,” the Doctor replied.

“Good,” I continued. “If one of the alarms go off, or a fail-safe activates. Do. Not. Try. To. Bypass. It! I can’t emphasize that enough, since a worst case scenario is the complete destruction of your planet!”

The natives of this world just stared at us for a couple of torturous moments before their eyes locked on Edward, the Alchemist just shrugging with a nod, confirming my statement.

“Ooookkkkay. I’ll try to make sure that does not happen. And Sora I swear to harmony and chaos if you bring the CMC here, I will blow your head off twice.” Nat says the last part sternly, her little sister just whistling innocently.

“Have some news slash a warning for you two as well,” Ed butted-in in a very serious tone. “Be on the look-out for an Asta Displaced. He’s my younger brother and was sent into the Void about a month or so ago. This is his Token,” Ed held out a black hair band with a red four pointed star on it.

The Diclonius duo look to the Token in a little shock, carefully taking it from their uncles hand. They look to one another and nod after a pause, Nat placing it in her pocket.

I raised an eyebrow. “Asta? You mean from Black Clover? I don’t really see why that’s a warning, since from what I know of the show, he was a hero/protagonist.”

“My brother chose to be a pacifist in his world. Also, he’s a former stuntman, body double and professional prop-maker.” Edward warned. “Asta is impulsive and my brother wasn’t. He never really acted on emotion ‘cause he didn’t have to, but now that he has Asta in him… Just don’t do anything stupid around him that would conflict with his moral code or piss him off. He’s also a dragon rider.”

“That really depends on his position, but we promise to at least try and act like Frisk in Undertale instead of Chara.” Sora mutters with a grin, only to get a firm smack in the back of the head from her sister.

“Sorano Elric. We do NOT antagonize family. Am I understood?!” Nat scolds, her sister nodding slowly with a frown.

I giggle at the two sisters, before turning back to Ed. “Well, I think that covers everything. To your world next?”

“Onwards and upwards,” Ed pointed to his side as a red and silver swirling vortex opened up next to the Alchemist. “You three coming along?” He looked at the locals.

“It’ll give you a chance to experience the Gate for yourselves on the way back,” I threw in.

“Maybe next time. We need to get back to town before Spike and my Pokemon realize we’re gone. Nopony….nopony really knows that we’re here. And we wanna keep it that way at least for a little while longer.” Nat says, before turning to me and my Luna. “It was nice meeting the two of you. Considering you came here from your world, I assume you have our token. If you ever need another Keyblade wielder, we’ll be there.”

“One more thing,” Ed pulled a book from his satchel. “Here Nat, this is a much more refined version of the techniques, magic, and technologies we used to make Sora’s body. I recently used it to make a body for an artificial demon.” He handed the book to his niece. “Perhaps you can refine it even more.”

We all turn to Nightmare as she begins to giggle with an evil smirk. “Perhaps you can use that to make an heir. It would be nice to have another grandchild.”

That caused both Nat and Twilight to mimic Big Mac as their faces erupted into blushes. All of us just lost it when we saw their faces.

“Don’t be strangers now,” Ed turned and walked into his portal.

“Wait till you meet Lex again,” The older Luna chuckled as she led her children through the portal after her husband.

“Goodbye you two,” I called with a wave and a smile. “If you guys need somewhere to train that can take a beating, feel free to come over. The Simulator in the Tower is… Let's just say that its extremely powerful and leave it at that.”

“Understatement of the century there, Kairi,” the Doctor chuckled. “Take care ladies.”

The last we saw, the four natives waved, though Twi and Nat were doing it numbly. And then we stepped through Ed’s portal. Honestly, I can’t really remember what it was like going through. One moment we were on Nat and Sora’s world, the next we were in a lab of some sort. No windows were on the wall. It was a large room with several area with various experiments on different tables. There was what appeared to be a series of prosthetic limbs on one table while another had various vials of liquids on them. I then laid my eyes on an intricate door with a large hour glass over it. On the opposite side of the room was another door but one made of wood.

“Welcome to my Lab,” Ed walked of the wooden door and clapped his hand then placed them on the door and red electricity crackled up and down it. He then pushed it open and his wife and children left. He then repeated his earlier actions. “Now we can proceed.”

“Excellent,” the Doctor nodded. “First things first, where do you want the Gate. If you don’t have a particular spot in mind, I would suggest creating a hidden room for the Gate. As we said before, not just anyone should have access to it.”

“This way,” We followed Ed to the hour-glass door. “We can make a new room in the Time Chamber.” He pushed open the door and we were led us into a basic living area that led into an expanse of nothing but a void. “Down this hallway and left.” The Alchemist opened a door to an empty room about six feet high and twelve feet long. “Will this work?”

Taking a look around as I step in, I nodded. “This’ll work nicely. Doctor, if you would?”

“Right-o!” the Doctor said with a smile, before blinking. “You know, that’s the first time I’ve said that word before, and now the last time as well. It just sounds stupid.” He shakes his head. “In any case, here goes.”

He took out a device I hadn’t noticed back on Nat’s world, presumably the same one he used to create the Stargate there. He pointed it at the back of the chamber and pressing a button. Immediately a series of lasers flashed into being, digitally replicating the Gate, and the DHD just to the right of the newly erected Gate.

“And there we are,” the Time Lord nodded before turning to Ed. “Now we just need your Token to be placed into the DHD, and we’ll be all set.”

Ed walked over to the panel and pulling another alchemist watch from his satchel he placed it into the DHD and the Gate started to gain power. “Might want to step back before the thing rips a hole in space and time.” He joined us off to the side.

Each of the symbols on the Gate lit up in quick succession as the ring that they were engraved on spun for a few seconds as it calibrated, before the Gate deactivated. We all blinked in surprise. “Huh,” the Doctor said. “I honestly thought more would happen.”

“Like what?” Ed eyed the Doctor suspiciously.

“Well,” he closed his eyes in thought. “For starters, I had thought that it would automatically dial either Kairi’s Gate, or Nat’s Gate. Oh well, guess we can set-up your recall app now.” The Time Lord strolled over to the DHD. “You wouldn’t happen to have a phone would you? Or something that acts like a phone? Preferably with a way to use apps.”

“I have nanomachines,” Ed smirked as he held up his right hand and a familiar cloud of silver appeared and formed a phone. “Or you just install the tech right into my arm. Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Works for me,” the Doctor nodded. “Come plug your arm into the DHD, here. It’ll automatically add the program, as long as there is some sort of computer in the arm. Otherwise, have the nanomachines extrapolate the program.”

“It’s a highly advanced prosthetic developed by my master,” Ed reached under his shirt and I heard a few clicks. “Here ya go,” He pulled his arm off and tossed it to the Doctor. My jaw hit the floor. Soon though Ed pulled a crystalline green arm and quickly attached it. “Wind model will do for now. Watch out for the blade, lightsaber, and repulser in the palm.”

The Doctor caught the prosthetic, carefully slotting the portion that attached to the shoulder into the DHD slot. A few seconds later, he pulled it back out, examining the arm. “How exactly are you going to activate the program? I can’t see any sort of computer screen on here.”

“Nanomachines Doc,” Ed was soon covered in what appeared to be liquid metal. “Terminator series. Liquid metal.”

“Right, forgot,” he replied, slapping his forehead. “In any case, I don’t know why you pulled out that spare, since I’m done adding the program.” He carefully handed the arm back to the alchemist.

“Needed to assimilate it into my body,” The spare arm was quickly gone as Ed walked over and reattached the original arm. “Now then,” He looked at me. “Kairi, your hand if you will?” Ed stretched out his left hand.

I blinked in confusion, before placing my hand in his.

“This is gonna sting a bit,” Ed smirked evilly. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my head as I felt my Gate of Truth open. “All done. You can now use alchemy without the use of circles.”

“Ugh,” I groan, holding my head in pain. “Why is it that every time someone gives me an ability of some sort it hurts like hell?” I shake my head before my mind processes exactly what Ed had said. “Wait, I can use alchemy without circles now? Please tell me that didn’t have to pay a toll of some sort…”

“I pay the toll in your place,” Ed pointed at my heart. “You have lost nothing more than a few skin cells.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness. I’ve seen enough Fullmetal Alchemist to be worried.”

“You’ll need to show that to Luna later, just to explain what it is,” the Doctor called from the DHD, where he was dialing our Gate. “And on that note, we should probably head back.”

“Right, can’t leave Luna and Sunset there alone,” I nodded.

“I have one more thing for you,” Ed held out his right palm and a large cloud of nanomachines appeared in it. They took on the shape of a Chibi Edward. “I call them Mini-Eds. They’re a semi-self sustaining artificial intelligence.”

“Hello,” The chibi waved at me. He then floated over to me and landed on my shoulder.

“They’re a direct link to my knowledge should you need a specific thing,” Ed explained. “If you need anything ask him or you can have him ping me and I’ll be available via IM.”

“Sounds great,” I smiled before creating an orb with a musical note on it. “I might as well give this to you. This orb contains everything someone would need to know to be able to use my personal magic style; Music Magic. You can either use it yourself, or give it to someone else that you trust, it’s up to you. It acts like the Songstress Dressphere in Final Fantasy X-2, if you know what that is.”

“Sweet,” Ed opened an orange holo-display and placed the orb in it. “Stored for future use in Archive. Well, if ya need anything else I guess that concludes our Marvelous Misadventures.”

I nodded with a smile as the Stargate activated behind us. “It was indeed a Marvelous Misadventure. Until next time Ed.” I gave an oriental style bow. “May your heart be your guiding key.”

“Take care of yourself Keyblade Wielder,” Ed smiled. “May your heart lead you to the path of which is the Truth.”

With one last smile I turned to the Gate before stepping through, the Doctor right behind me. As soon as the light show ends and we step out of the Gate, we see ten figures on the other side of the room, eight of which had their jaws on the floor, while the other two just looked sheepish. Obviously, the two sheepish ones were Luna and Chirithy, the other eight were the Mane Six, Celestia and Sunset.

Sunset was the first to recover, and she was not happy. “WHERE THE HAY HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!?”

“We were testing the Gate, just like we said,” the Doctor replied confused.

“For four weeks?!?”

My eyes widened in shock. I didn’t have to look at the Doctor to know that his eyes had widened as well. “Four weeks?” I breathed. “That’s not possible. We were only gone for four hours!”

Author's Note

And, thats a wrap! Good lord, we had trouble writing this, due to conflicting schedules. Huge thanks to Alvasa and Garnet Naturea for joining me for this chapter!

Stay tuned for next chapter, where we actually deal with events from the show, as well as the Heartless!

The Key to Stasis

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse

Chapter 10: The Key to Stasis

“Four weeks?!?” I cried in shock. “And you didn’t try calling my phone?!?”

“Phone?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion. “What phone?”

“Ugh,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You know what, never mind. Doctor, can you fix this?”

The only answer I received was the clattering of the DHD cover hitting the floor, as well as the tell-tale whine of the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver.

“Huh, well, that answers that question,” I muttered. I shook my head before turning to Celestia and the Mane Six. “I can understand Sunset being here, but why are you and the Element Bearers here?”

“Training, duh,” Rainbow Dash replied with a roll of her eyes. “We were going through the Kingdom-thingy simulations when the alarm went off for the star-whatsit.”

“That’s Kingdom Hearts, and Stargate, Rainbow,” Twilight corrected, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Anyway, since you were gone, Sunset called Princess Celestia to oversee our training. I must admit, the simulator is ama-.”

Whatever Twilight is about to say is suddenly cut off by a burst of static over the intercom, followed by a voice. A surprisingly familiar voice, with a Scottish brogue.

“As relieving as this reunion is, I believe it would be in your best interest to listen for a moment.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Merlin? Is that you?”

“Indeed it is, Princess,” the now named Merlin replied. “And that item you wanted me to keep an eye on has changed.”

“How?”

“A keyhole, ringed by a heart has appeared on it,” the Scotsman answered.

“About time!” The Doctor exclaimed from within the DHD. “Kairi, you should go take a look. Merlin, you still have full control of the Tower, correct?”

“Correct,” came the reply.

“Excellent! Would you mind lighting a path to your location?”

“Already done,” Merlin responded as a green arrow lit up on the floor.

I shrugged before following the arrows, Celestia and Luna hot on my heels. The path led down, deep underground, with cables lining the walls, until we came to a blank wall.

“Just step through,” Merlin’s voice came through the wall. “The wall isn’t actually there.”

I raised an eyebrow before stepping up to the wall. I raised my hand and pushed it through the wall, watching as the image rippled like water. I pull my hand back and step through to find a large room housing a large crystal, as well as a bank of security terminals on the wall. In front of these security terminals was a bald, bespectacled man, clad in a bespoke suit.

“Welcome ladies,” Merlin greeted us, a glint of amusement in his eyes. “Welcome to my Fortified Fortress of For Sure Death.”

I raised an eyebrow, recognizing the reference, as Luna raised her hand. She received a nod from Merlin before asking, “Why do you call this room a fortified fortress of for sure death?”

“Because of this,” Merlin chuckled, before pressing a button to reveal different traps covering every inch of the room, except around the crystal and the security terminals. “I’m literally the only person who can walk freely through this room without disabling the traps.”

Celestia rolled her eyes as Luna yelped in surprise. “Melissa, how long are you going to keep us in suspense?”

“Wait, Melissa?” I asked in surprise.

“Oi!” Merlin(?) exclaimed. “I thought you weren’t going to tell anyone!”

“I believe what I said, was that I wouldn’t tell anyone outside of this room,” the solar diarch replied with a smirk.

The supposed Scotsman sighed and rubbed his(?) eyes under his(?) glasses. “I forgot how much you like loopholes,” he(?) muttered before he(?) pressed another button.

The image of the bald Scotsman flickered then vanished, before its replaced by a full-figured, pale-skinned young woman of about 18 years of age. She had wavy blonde hair which reached about halfway down her back, with two shorter locks of hair over shoulders and side-swept bangs that framed her face and crystal blue eyes.

She wore a white short-sleeved dress shirt with plaid cuffs under a dark raspberry pink vest, with a large plaid bow at her collar. This was accompanied by pale grey capri pants, under which are a pair of plaid pink socks and a pair of heeled brown boots. Finally, to finish her looks, she wore a wrist-watch and pink, oval-framed glasses.

“Since Celestia was so kind as to blow my cover,” the girl glared at the grinning solar diarch before turning back to Luna and I with a smile. “I had better introduce myself. My name is Melissa Shield, and before you ask, yes, I used to be a male as well, hence why I borrowed Merlin’s look.”

“Makes sense,” I replied with a nod. “I probably would have done the same thing, if I hadn’t met my Shadow.”

Melissa raised an eyebrow. “Persona 3, 4, or 5 variant?”

“Persona 4, why?”

The blond shrugged. “Just trying to figure out how much of a Mary Sue you are.”

“Oh, well that ma- HEY!” I glared at the girl who indirectly insulted me.

“What? You’re an overpowered version of Kairi,” Melissa shot back. “On top of having the same arsenal as Sora, you also have your music magic and Shadow Dragon Slayer magic, which you’ve made your own spells for. Need I go on?”

I opened my mouth to retort, only to close it again as I realized Melissa was right.

“Alright, you have a point,” I allowed. “In any case, didn’t you have something you wanted me to see?”

“Right, almost forgot,” the blonde responded while nervously adjusting her glasses. “You obviously noticed the giant crystal in the center of the room. What you probably didn’t notice was the person trapped inside.”

Now that she mentioned it, I could just barely make out a vague silhouette within the crystal.

“OK, I notice it now that you mention it,” I replied with a nod. “I also see a keyhole.”

“I noticed that as well,” Melissa replied with a nod. “It showed up at about the same time you got back through the Stargate. I theorize that if you use your Keyblade to unlock it, it’ll release whoever is in it.”

“Ah, I get it,” I nodded before turning to Luna and Celestia. “You two should probably leave until we’re sure that whoever is in there won’t attack us.”

Celestia nodded before pulling Luna out of the room and raising a gold colored shield in front of the door. I nodded then turned to Melissa to see her igniting a…lightsaber?

The blonde noticed my shocked gaze. “What? I’ve been here a long time. Did you really think I wouldn’t come up with a way to defend myself?”

I shook my head at that. “Got any extras?”

“I’ll make you and Luna ones later,” Melissa replied with an eyeroll. “Now make with the key, key-girl!”

I rolled my eyes as I summoned Destiny’s Embrace and pointed it at the keyhole on the crystal. A beam of light shot from the tip into the keyhole, and after a low click was heard, the crystal began to glow before it dissolved, allowing a white-haired young woman to fall to the floor.

A soft groan came from the girl on the floor as she slowly got to her hands and knees before looking up at us. The girl looks to have a slim young figure with a height of below average with long, white hair that curls slightly at the ends, with two long wavy strands of hair that frame her face. Her bangs seem to be up in a small ponytail that keep them from covering her forehead. She’s also wearing a sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt. The chest is adorned by a large, pink bow, and similarly colored trimmings frame the rather ample neckline, acting as straps, and circle around the waist. She also wore high-heeled shoes that match her dress, and accessorizes with a small chain necklace with a blue oval gem attached to it, and a bracelet made of white flowers circling her right wrist. As she was getting up, I also managed to spy a Fairy Tail emblem on her left thigh, solidifying my assumption of who this was; Mirajane Strauss, from Fairy Tail.

The girl started frantically looking around with a scared expression on her face. “Where am I?! This isn’t my living room!” She demanded in a frantic voice.

Melissa and I shared a glance, before stowing our respective weapons. I knelt down in front of her. “Hey, hey, calm down,” I said, trying to calm her down. “We’re all friends here.”

The girl then looks at me and her scared expression soon turns to a confused look. “Kairi? From Kingdom Hearts? Wait, okay I have to be dreaming here,” The girl mused, as she then stands up, staring at me the whole time. Melissa then walks over to the girl and pinches her arm. “Ow! Okay, not dreaming. So wait, Kairi is actually here? Or is someone playing a prank on me?”

“No prank, this is real,” I replied with a smirk. “Don’t believe me, look down for a sec.”

The girl then looks down and quickly jumps at the sight, turning around in a circle trying to get a better look at her dress. “What happened to me?! Why do I look like Mirajane from Fairy Tail?! I’m not Mirajane, I’m Haley!”

My eyebrows shot up at that. “Does the name SoulboundAlchemist mean anything to you?”

Haley then shoots her gaze up at me with a confused mixed with slightly shocked expression. “Wait, Soulbound?! It’s me! Mini!”

I rolled my eyes. “Well yeah, I kinda figured that. I mean you told me your name a while ago.”

Her hands then balled up into fists as she shoots an angry glare at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?! Well, I mean you aren’t wrong I guess. What’s going on though?” She then tries to hold in a laugh. “Why do you look like a girl? Not to mention, Kairi?”

I grinned. “The same reason you look like Mirajane. But before we go any further, I need to do something.” I looked over towards the door. “Celestia, Luna, it's safe to come back in!”

The golden barrier shimmered, before dropping, allowing the two sisters to reenter the room. Haley turned and followed my gaze, eyes widening momentarily before trying to act cool and frantically trying to remember how Mirajane acts.

“No, don’t, just don’t do that,” I sighed with a shake of my head. “You act like Mira enough as it is, just be yourself.”

She then returns to her normal posture. “Okay fine. Wait--HEY!” She then shoots a death glare at me with balled fists.

We all burst into giggles at the “scary” glare. “I do believe introductions are in order,” the giggling solar diarch remarked.

“Right,” I replied with a nod. “Everyone, this is Haley, a good friend of mine from my world. Haley, this is Celestia, Luna and Melissa.”

“Hello everyone!” Haley smiled, before the reality of my words sunk in. “Wait, YOUR world? Are you saying we’re in a different world?!”

Well then, hand meet face, hello there! “Yes Haley, we’re in a different world altogether,” I groan out from where my face rested in my palm.

Haley looks around the room, turning in circles before looking at me. “You have some explaining to do, like HOW DID WE GET HERE?! Last I remember I was putting on a necklace I bought on a shady website.”

“It wouldn’t happen to be that necklace you’re wearing right now, would it?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She then looks down quickly grasping the necklace in her hands. “Yes, yes it is.”

“Then yes, I know what happened Phineas,” I smiled at my own joke.

“Who’s Phineas?” She asked with a confused expression.

Oh hello again palm, how are you doing? “You haven’t seen Phineas and Ferb before, have you?”

“I live under a rock remember?!” She yells at me with a glare with no heat.

“Yes, yes I do,” I sighed.

“Good lord, you sound like me and my sister did a thousand years ago!” Celestia gasped out through her laughter. “In any case, it’s a pleasure to meet you Haley, I’m sure that Kairi will be able to get you settled, but for now, I believe I need to go now. The work of a diarch is never done.”

“Alright then, see you later Celestia,” I called with a wave as she vanished in a flash of gold light. I then turned back to Haley. “Now, where were we?”

She turns to me with another glare. “You were explaining why I look like Mirajane and why you look like Kairi.”

“Right,” I said with a nod. “Well, we have the Merchant to thank for that.”

She gives me a confused look. “You mean that shady website I went to? Did you go to the same website?”

“Huh, not what I thought happened,” I muttered. “No, I bought Destiny’s Embrace from a man at a convention called the Merchant. After I bought it, I suddenly found myself here, during the Nightmare Moon fight.”

“Well I mean the shady website I bought from WAS eBay.” She gives me an innocent look while scratching the back of her head. I mentally facepalm yet again. “BUT, the guy I bought the necklace from... His username was the Merchant. I was sitting in my living room watching Fairy Tail when the mail came. That was when I got the necklace and I put it on. Next thing I know, I’m on the floor. You know the rest.”

I nodded. “OK, then how did you get into that crystal?”

“Wait, what crystal?” She asked with furrowed eyebrows.

My eyebrows shot up. “You mean, you don’t know?”

She shook her head no.

“We found you embedded inside a giant blue crystal, which I’m starting to suspect was actually lacrima crystal,” I explained. “Melissa, how long was the crystal here?”

“About a thousand years, give or take,” she replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

“Wait, WHAT?!?” I yelled in shock.

“Yeah, while the disguise on the Tower was going, everything inside the Tower was put into a sort of stasis,” Melissa explained. “It’s why everything works around here still.”

I hear a slight rustle of fabric, followed by a thump, prompting me to turn my attention back to Haley, who had fallen to the floor, shock covering her face.She then grabs the sides of her head, clenching her hair in fists. “I was gone...A thousand years?” Her voice breaking as she said the words.

I quickly drop down beside her, pulling her into a hug. “No, not really. I mean, I talked to you about four weeks ago, remember? Right before I went to that convention?”

She looks at me and nods. “But still though, four weeks is a long time. I was in there that long? Away from my home for four weeks, trapped in a crystal without knowing?”

“I...guess?” I responded. “I mean, time has been a bit funky for me the past couple days. I mean, I lost four weeks to that stupid Stargate malfunction that the Doctor is fixing.”

She sighed and looked down. “I guess this is gonna take some time to get used to…”

Author's Note

IT LIIIIIVVVVVEEEEESSSSS!!!!!

Oh my GOSH this chapter took FOREVER! There is a good reason for that though. I’m sure you all noticed the new name next to my own at the top of the chapter. Well, that’s my new co-author, MicroMiniMouse! Why don’t you introduce yourself!

Hello! I’m MicroMiniMouse and I’m helping my good friend SoulboundAlchemist on this wonderful story and I play the crazy slow and clumsy Mirajane. Yes I know I say crazy slow but hey, it works.

You bet it works, since its supposed to be you!

Sigh. I have to agree with you on that.

Well anyway, hopefully we can have the next chapter up quicker than this chapter, since we have some fresh inspiration.

True, and you always have me to help!

Right! So until next time,

SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!

Very subtle, good job.

I know! I worked on that for a while now.

The Key to Training

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. GarnetNaturea

Chapter 11: The Key to Training

“...Alright, try again,” I said again for the hundredth time in the past hour. “Just feel for your magic and grab it.”

We were in a simulation of the Fairy Tail guild hall, minus the guild members themselves, trying to help Haley get a hold of her abilities, and it was slow going, to be blunt…

“Ugh! I’ll never get this!” Haley groaned frustratedly as her hands ball up into fists.

“Not with that attitude, you won’t,” I retort. “Look, the only way you’ll be able to figure this out is if you practice and train with a good attitude. Its cheesy, I know, believe me my mom wouldn’t shut up about that, but it’s true.”

“What in this world isn’t cheesy?” She mumbles loud enough for me to hear.

“Look, I had an instinctive knowledge of how to use my Keyblade, but you don’t,” I explain. “Because of that, you need a lot, and I mean A LOT of practice and concentration.”

“Ugh! Fine. I’ll keep trying.” She whines straightening up. She closes her eyes, a look of extreme concentration comes onto her face. Or is it extreme constipation? I’m honestly not sure. She held that face for a couple seconds before giving up in frustration again.

“Don’t we have a Master Yen Sid in this world that can help or something?!” She yelled in frustration, turning a glare at me.

“No! We do-” I stop myself mid-sentence, eye twitching. “Actually, yes, yes we do. But not in this world.” I pull out my Gummiphone, selecting the Fairy Tail call sign before putting it to my ear…

***Lex’s POV***

I glanced over to the table where Trixie showed Mei the difference between some certain cards. My kirin was smiling brightly as she learned to differentiate the cards and their meanings from just a glance, while her sisters were hovering over her shoulders in interest, a certain changeling doing so literally.

“Hey Lex, want anything to drink?” I glance over to Zen before shaking my head and motioning to the sleeping baby in my arms. He nodded with a smile before serving Capper a small cocktail.

‘This is nice. Just a slow day at the guild with everyone relaxing-’

I start as I hear a piano beginning to play from my pocket before the lyrics to Simple and Clean begin to play out loud. I quickly check my pockets and take out my Gummiphone from Kairi, and her keyblade symbol showed who it was. With a quick shake of my head, I answer and put the phone to my ear.

“Faekage Lex speaking.”

“Faekage? Oh, right, that’s what the highest rank was. Anyway, Hiya Lex, you busy?”

“Nah, just a slow day here at the guild. Been all but waiting for Sonbā to get back from some of his lessons with Luna so I can go to the training hall.”

“Perfect, cause I have a bit of a problem that I could use your help with.”

I raise a brow, righting myself on the table. “What’s up?”

“Ugh, where to begin?” Kairi trailed off for a moment. “OK, do you want the long answer or the short answer?”

“I’ll take the easy answer.” I deadpanned.

“Fair enough. Well, a friend of mine from back home, you know, HOME home, was Displaced, and ended up as Mirajane. The short of it is, she doesn’t know the first thing about Fiore magic…”

“Ah, I get where you’re going with this. She can’t access her Satan Soul can she?” I can all but feel her nod through the phone.

“More like, she can’t use ANY magic…”

“Ow. That sucks. So you need a second mages opinion on how to help her. Hmm, ok, I’m in, as long as I can bring a couple guardians over.”

“Sounds good to me. I just have one condition to that.”

“What’s up?”

“Well, remember the last time I was there, I told you that you and any Guardians you find would have full access to my training facility? Well, we finally found a way to make that happen, but it needs to be top secret. Only the Displaced, and those they trust can know about it, so I need you in a secure location before I open the way.”

I frown in understanding, and nod to myself. “Of course. I am not sure if you remember, but there is a bunker under the guild incase of a disaster. I think that would be the best place for it to be since I am the only one who can undo the barriers leading down there.”

“Perfect, give me a call when you’re ready,” Kairi replied as she hung up.

I sigh to myself in relief as Sonbāsutā walks in with a small grin as he waves his wings. A quick whistle and he was over to me.

“Hey babe. Can you take care of Yoru for a bit? Kairi needs a hand in her world, so I’m going to be gone a while.” I said with a small frown. Sonba nods in understanding and takes our youngest into his arms.

“I gotcha Lex. I’ll keep an eye on Yoru and the others until you get back.” He said with a grin. I smile up to him and give him a quick kiss on the cheek before focusing on my Telepathy magic.

‘Emerald. I’m going to be gone for a while, you’re in charge until I get back.’ I inform, hearing him hum in understanding, before I glance around, seeing Dawn reading at his table again.

“Hey Dawn!” The colt looks over to me. “I’m going to be going to my friend’s world. The one who helped me unlock my keyblade. Wanna come with?” The colt looked down for a moment before closing his book and putting it in his bag.

“Can I come too?” I turn to Trixie as she asked that. “I want to see if I can help out somehow. Maybe Kairi and I can help Dawn.” I smirked with a nod, Trixie smiling at me.

“You’re going?” I look down to my trio before smiling and kneeling to their level and bringing them into a hug.

“Don’t worry girls, I’ll be back before you know it. Make sure to be good to your father and Grunkle Emerald.” The trio nod with their own smiles before I give them all a quick kiss on the heads.

Motioning to Trixie and Dawn to follow, the three of us head over to the stairwell and I lower the barrier to the bunker. The three of us head down a couple flights before arriving at the small foyer before the doors.

“Alright you two.” I get their attention as I look to them with a serious ‘mom’ expression. “What is about to happen is to be kept quiet from everyone. And I mean, EVERYONE. From Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Fluttershy, Cadence, even Discord if he breaks out of his seal.”

Trixie looked nervous, but Dawn looked nonplussed as he nodded in understanding.

“Understood Faekage.” He said in his tone of voice. Trixie looked between us for a moment before taking a breath and nodding as well.

“I’m in. I swear on my magic that I won’t tell anyone without your permission.” Trixie stated. I nod thankfully at the duo before I took out my Gummiphone and sent a quick text to Kairi.

‘Hey, we’re ready.’

‘Understood, stand by the walls’ came the reply.

Blue lightning shot from the center of the room, expanding from a point of blue. It quickly expanded into a pillar of energy, before it collapsed in on itself into what appeared to be a pool of rippling water. A moment later, Kairi stepped through.

“Hey guys,” she greeted with a smirk.

“Hey Kairi, good to see ya.” I said with my own smirk, turning and having to cover my mouth as I see Trixie and Dawn’s expressions. The mare had a dropped jaw and was pointing at the portal in shock. Dawn though, his eyes were the widest I have ever seen yet, his wings were spread in defence and quickly vibrating, a rattlesnake like sound coming from them.

“Well now, since I’m here, how about I set up a Stargate for you before heading back?” Kairi said, as she giggled at Trixie and Dawn’s reactions. I nod to her in agreement as I shake the duo out of their states, the colt coming back first and earning his dead expression again.

Kairi nodded, before pulling out her Gummiphone. “Hey Doc, shut it down. I’m gonna set up a Gate here, then head back…. Yeah, I know it’ll take fifteen minutes, I was there when we tested the system!... Yeah, yeah, I’ll call back to make sure the malfunction was fixed.” She hung up her phone while muttering about Time Lords always being overly thorough, the Gate closing a couple seconds after. “Alright, where do you want the Gate set up?”

I walked over to one of the doors next to us and place my hand on it, my magic appearing around me before it opened up, showing a large room with several artifacts and a lot of extra bits.

“How about the extra storage/treasure room?” I said with a smirk, Trixie’s jaw dropping again, while Dawn just looked interested.

Kairi stepped up and took a look inside before grimacing. “This all looks rather priceless. Are you sure you want it here? It’s not exactly mobile, or safe to be in front of while activating…”

“Eh, you say that, but I know a couple spells to make sure its safe. Plus, I am pretty sure this is the most secure place aside from Tartarus in Equestria.” I tell her, walking in and digging through before taking out a couch. Yes really.

“Can your spells stand up to demolecularization from an unstable wormhole?” Kairi pointedly asked.

“......touché.” I state, slamming the door closed and just pointing at the nearby wall, a point lighting up. “How about there.”

“That should work,” Kairi replied, pointing her Gummiphone at the spot indicated before starting an app. “That’ll take about fifteen minutes for the program to build the Gate and DHD, then we can be on our way. How about we catch up a bit while we wait?”

With a smirk and roll of the eyes, I grab the couch from the room and take a seat. “Whatcha wanna know about?”

***Kairi’s POV***

“Alright then, looks like I got it working properly,” A very British voice greeted us as we stepped out of the Gate.

“That voice sounds familiar.” Lex said from behind me as I walked through.

“Yeah, yeah, Doc, you’re a genius,” I replied with a roll of my eyes before turning back to Lex. “Lex, meet the Doctor, or Clockwork to anyone not in the know.”

“Hello!” said Time Lord waved with a grin.

“Uh, hey. Well, he’s no Time Turner, but he seems like a good pony. Trixie, Dawn, how you two holding up?” Lex questions her friends. Trixie was looking around the area in awe, likely never having seen anything like it before, while Dawn just kept forwards, but his eyes are moving back and forth quickly, taking everything in. “Well that answers that.”

“Right then, I think it's time me and Sunset set off,” The Doctor said with a nod. “With the Gate working now, we don’t really need to be here anymore.”

“Really?” I asked. “But you only just got here…”

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll see you again,” the Time Lord replied with a grin. “Besides, you’ve already got a brilliant techie in Melissa.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Take care then.”

“Always,” he replied before stepping out of the room. This was quickly followed the wheezing groan of the TARDIS taking off.

I turned back to Lex’s party. “So, ready to get started?”

Lex nodded before gently patting Trixie on the horn, causing her to shiver and blush, looking at Lex in embarrassment and anger. She just smirked and motioned to follow.

I quickly lead the group up to the Simulation Hall, where we found Melissa waiting for us. “That was fast, did you find who you were looking for?”

“You could say that,” I replied with a chuckle.

“HOLY SHIT! Is that Melissa Shield!?” Lex shouted, her jaw on the ground, much to her party’s amusement. She looked at me with a faked accusation face. “You didn’t tell me she was here!”

“Pfft - your face was priceless!” I got out through my laughter. “I honestly was not expecting that reaction, or the fact you know who she is!”

“Dude, when I wasn’t studying or hanging out with my siblings I was watching anime in my dorm. I have no shame in admitting that.” Lex replied, crossing her arms with a huff. “So, where’s this Mirajane Displaced?”

“Right through that door,” I pointed out with a grin.

Lex nodded and walked to the door, walking through before us. She paused as she looked in, her eye twitching a bit as she looked around, before moving aside for the rest of us to come in.

Trixie and Dawn had to do a double take as they saw what looked like the guildhall in front of them, before the colt noticed the lack of certain banners of the sun and moon, as well as the obvious lack of guild members.

“Is this an illusion of some kind?” Dawn questions.

Before I can answer, I hear running from around a corner. When a sudden Mirajane comes from around the corner, however she seems to trip on air and falls flat on her face.

The silence that followed seemed to drag on for an eternity, before Lex turned to me with a raised brow. “Are you sure she’s not a Wendy Marvell Displaced?”

“I’m sure,” I replied in a deadpan voice. “She’s just an enormous klutz.”

“Uh, are you ok?” Trixie questions, standing over the prone form of Haley.

She groans from the floor but never gets up. “Yes...Yes I am.” She mumbled, her voice muffled from the floor before finally getting up and dusting herself off.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Guys, meet Haley, as you can see, she was Displaced as Mirajane.”

“Hey there Haley, named Lex, master of my version of the Fairy Tail guild. I was a Displaced Levi before I got a ton more magic power. This is my version of Trixie Lulamoon and Dawn Lightwing. It’s nice to meet you.” Lex said with a grin, clearly trying to move on from her introduction.

“Hello there!” She says, smiling and waving as if nothing happened.

“You’re really channeling Usagi from Sailor Moon, you know that right?” I deadpanned.

She glared at me then smirked. “Moon Prism power!” She yells before doing the signature Sailor Moon pose.

My face once again meets my palm. I really should have seen that coming...

“Wow. Just wow.” Lex deadpans at her antics before taking a breath and smiling again. “Well that was a thing. So, Kairi said you need some help with magic?”

She looks at Lex before looking at me. “This is the Master Yen Sid?” She asks curiously.

“Yes, yes it is,” I nodded, glancing nervously at Lex. “In a manner of speaking.”

Lex’s eye began twitching again, and Dawn suddenly disappeared and reappeared at the other side of the area. He looked to me with a dead expression that somehow screams, ‘you goofed up’.

“What was that about comparing me to old man Yen Sid?” She questions in a perfectly calm tone. That was more terrifying than it should be.

My eye twitch in annoyance. “Her words, not mine. To quote her, she said ‘Don’t we have a Master Yen Sid in this world that can help or something?!’”

Lex stared at me with her mismatched eyes for a few seconds, before turning to Haley and nodding slowly. “I see. Alright, I guess I can understand that.”

Trixie carefully scooted next to me and whispered, “You should be glad Lex has to deal with one of our new members about comparisons. Maddie makes some wild ones.”

“Why are you telling me that?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Haley’s the one who said it.”

“Because you are the one who wouldn’t die if she went off. Your friend on the other hand can’t cast healing spells.” Trixie replied before walking away.

“Anyways!” Haley yells, interrupting us and causing us to turn our gaze to her. “I do need your help. I can’t do magic for some reason. As hard as I try.” She says, her face becoming dead serious.

“Well, have you tried to meditate first to build up your magic pool or ether-nano?” Lex questions, sitting on a table.

Haley’s face becomes confused then glares at me. “Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?!” She yells at me.

“I did,” I replied. “You weren’t making any progress.”

“Oh. Oopsies?” She says, scratching the back of her head, chuckling nervously.

Lex took a breath before lowering herself onto one of the benches, and proceeded to slam her head on the table, actually cracking it. “Good gods you’re like Scootaloo.”

I burst out laughing. “I never thought of it that way before!”

She groans in frustration. “Can you just help me?! I get it I’m slow!” She says, waving her arms around with impatience.

“Well, that depends. Can you sit still and actually meditate for approximately an hour to build up your magic to use Satan Soul?” Lex questions.

“I used to meditate a long time ago. It shouldn’t be that hard. Could it?” She asks before sitting cross legged on the floor with her eyes closed.

Lex looked to her with a raised brow as she took a breath, before glancing to Trixie and motioning to her. The mare just shrugged and looked to Haley as well. Dawn just stood in the back, his eyes locked on her form.

Haley sat in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on. “I feel your horrid stares. Am I doing something wrong?” She asks, keeping her eyes closed trying to concentrate.

“There’s a difference between mediating and just sitting on the floor.” Dawn said from the back, appearing in front of Haley. “You are just trying to actively think of nothing, are you not?”

She opens her eyes, looking confused. “Isn’t meditating just clearing your mind to get into a calm state?”

“Yes, but it isn’t the same for every person.” Lex said, sitting in front of her with Dawn next to her. “Meditating, when it comes to magic, involves trying to control both your body and mind into a state of neutrality. That is what allows ether-nano to flow into your body so easily. For some, like Dawn and Fluttershy, simply thinking of a mantra, or focusing on a part of their body is what works. For some like Rainbow Dash, or Yuri Dreyar, you need to be active, do repetitive tasks like exercise...”

***A few very tiring hours later***

After a while of Haley trying to meditate, she suddenly opens her eyes smiling. “Got it!” she shouts while raising a hand that was wrapped in magical energy.

I glanced over from the game of cards that me, Trixie and Dawn were playing. “About time,” I remark. “So Lex, what does she need to do now?”

“Well, like I was showing Fluttershy, now you need to try and practice Partial Takeovers. No Full Body Takeovers yet Haley.” She stated the last part sternly, the other woman giggling a bit and rubbing the back of her head.

She squints her eyes shut before demonic wings appear from her back. She opens her eyes and twirls around trying to get a look at the wings. “Wings!” She yells as she jumps and flies around the room.

My eyes twitch, a tick mark growing on my forehead. “WHY THE HECK WAS IT SO HARD FOR YOU TO MEDITATE, WHEN YOU GET IT ON THE FIRST TRY?!?!?”

Haley doesn’t seem to listen as she continues to fly around saying “Weeeee!’

I don’t get to complain anymore as she turned towards me, and her wings suddenly disappear. I was barely able to glance at Lex, and saw she was smirking with a spell matrix in front of her eyes. Then Haley collided with me.

I glared over at Lex. “Why on top of me?”

Lex put a finger to her chin and tilted her head in mock confusion. “What? I thought you would like being on bottom.”

My eye twitched before I used my shadow to pull her feet out from under her, causing her to fall flat on her face.

Lex glared back at me and I could tell this was going to escalate. She summoned her own magic, water magic oddly and smirked. “Drip Drip Drop.”

Next thing I knew, I was soaked with ice cold water while Haley was perfectly dry next to me.

My tick mark from earlier returned full force. “How about we settle this with a little spar?”

Haley backs away. “I’m staying out of this cat fight.”

“Bout time you caught on. I told you I was going to my worlds training hall before we left right?” I nod with a raised brow. “That was because Luna and I were going to be sparing so I can practice fighting with little to no magic. At least that was the idea, but I figured you would be a good substitute since I haven’t used my keyblade as much as I would have liked.”

“Alright, you’re on,” I nodded with a grin. “But not in this simulation. I have a better one. Computer, end simulation.”

The Fairy Tail guild hall vanished, being replaced by a plain gray room with a door on one wall. “Alright, everyone other than Lex, please leave. This is gonna get dangerous for bystanders.”

Dawn was already at the door by the time I finished, Trixie and Haley joining him a second later.

“So, how does this simulation work anyways? Is it like an ever-shifting platform?” Lex questions.

I grinned. “Not exactly. Computer, execute simulation arena.”

“Simulation loading. Standby.”

“Basically, the Simulator Hall can reproduce any location, real or fictional, that you can imagine. It can even replicate scenarios from history or works of fiction,” I explained as the gray room slowly darkened.

“Simulation ready.”

“I swear if we end up in Kamoshida’s Palace I am going to go ape on you.” Lex muttered, and I remember she is talking about the first dungeon in Persona 5.

I sweatdrop at this. “No no, it’s something about older than P5.” I replied as the room darkened, allowing a green colored full moon to shine from the simulated sky. Just like when I sparred with Ed, we now stood at the apex of Tartarus, the Tower of Demise.

“Welcome to Tartarus, or at least the Persona 3 version of Tartarus, also known as the Tower of Demise!” I announce in a grandstander voice. “The rules are the first to fall unconscious, or admit defeat loses.”

Lex nodded, looking around the area with interest before taking a breath and summoning her keyblade. “Forgive me if this is insulting, but I wanna try and go more physical. But, I won’t hesitate to go magic if needed.” She announced, twirling her keyblade in hand.

“Only if you don’t mind me showing off what I’ve come up with for Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic,” I grinned, summoning Destiny’s Embrace. Then, at an unseen signal we charged at each other. I slid under Lex’s first strike, firing off a water spell.

She took the spell head on, by slicing it with her keyblade before throwing it in a Strike Raid. I cast reflect, stopping the attack in its tracks, and rebounding the energy of the attack back at her, before inhaling deeply.

“Shadow Dragon Roar!” I shouted as a column of black magic shoots from my mouth towards Lex.

“Adam!” I could hear as the spell covered her. After a second and the cloud of smoke disappeared as Lex stood with her keyblade before her, a red aura covering her as her gold stripes and eye glowed. She smirked and pulled back in a sword drawing stance.

“Eat this!” A gold and red slash of energy shot out from her slash and towards me faster than expected, ploughing into me, and knocking me off my feet.

“Ugh,” I groan as I sit up. “That’s got some kick to it. Well, I might as well show off a bit.” I swiftly melt into my shadow, expanding it into my Pride ripoff form. I grinned as I shot sharpened shadow tendrils at her.

She twirled her keyblade around her like a Jedi, blocking a majority of the tendrils, but she still got hit, mostly on the back and legs. She growled lowly before getting in the same QuickDraw stance and spun in a circle, her attack dispelling the shadows, panting.

Lex threw her keyblade again, which I deflected, but she suddenly appeared with her weapon in the air, coming down on me with a vicious overhead strike, keeping her in the air for a second. I barely managed to get my Keyblade up to block, as I dispeled my shadows.

“Alright, now for something new!” I shouted as I switched Keyblades to Way to Dawn. “Angel of Black and White!” Just like when I sparred with Ed, a white angel wing sprouted from my left shoulder, while a red and black demon wing sprouted from my right. The Keyblade itself changed to resemble Riku’s Soul Eater sword from the first Kingdom Hearts game. I leapt into the air, throwing bolts of light and shadow magic at Lex, trying to catch her off guard.

“Shit.” I could barely hear her as she began to run around the area, dodging and deflecting when she could, some close calls causing her to pause for a couple seconds each.

“Dammit. I guess it's my turn.” I paused for a moment as I heard this, before Lex’s magic spiked for a moment, her keyblade beginning to glow a multitude of colours. “Activate. Etherious Shifter!” I closed my eyes for a moment as the light grew, before seemingly retracting in on itself. Once I could see again, I could see Lex wielding what looked like a large briefcase. That caused me to pause as I could sense it was stronger, but incomplete.

“Is that it? I mean I know how strong some women are with their bags, but what can this do?” I question. Lex just smirked before closing her eyes, her briefcase beginning to glow a sickening purple.

“Rirīsu! Yūdokuna kokoro no shīru! (Release! Seal of the Toxic Heart!)”

Lex gained some kind of symbol on her forehead that began to bleed downwards over her eyes, the bubbling purple case leaving her hand and covering both arms to the elbow, before spiking outwards. With a smirk, Lex’s eyes shot open, both with dark purple sclera while her arms were now covered with some kind of black and purple gauntlets with singular spikes sprouting from the back of the hand like Baraka from Mortal Kombat.

“How do you like this?” She snarked with a grin.

“I’m starting to think that I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth,” I replied, eye twitching, before charging at breakneck speeds at my opponent, weapon poised for a downward strike. Which never connected, as she blocks it, seemingly with ease.

Lex’s smirk widened, revealing two snakelike fangs in her mouth, and she uncrossed her arms and thrust them outward, a quick spray of clear liquid causing me to back off, the liquid hissing and steaming once it hit the arena floor.

“Acid?” I question.

“Toxins. Concentrated and poised to what I wanted it to do.” She said, shaking her hand a bit before crouching. I prepared myself, barely able to block as she suddenly leapt and tried to stab me. Her smirk never left, and my instincts roared at me. With a quick twist, a spray of toxins went past me as it shot from the end of her right spike.

I quickly leapt into the air again. “I think it’s time for a different approach, wouldn’t you agree?” I stretch out my free hand towards Lex, as I intone my next spell. “Door of Hades!” Instantly, a black door appears behind Lex. It slowly opened, allowing tendrils of shadow to snake out, wrapping around her wrists and ankles in an iron grip, before slowly dragging her in. “You like this? It’s based off of a spell in Persona Q. The game never showed what the attack actually looked like, so I improvised. The tendrils will pull you into the doors, which will then close and implode around you. I’ve never actually managed to get the spell off against a real opponent, since Ed trumped it mid cast, so I have no idea how bad the damage will be!”

Lex struggled, digging feet, then her spiked gauntlets into the ground as she was dragged in. She actually hissed like a snake at the predicament, before growling in frustration.

“Damnit, time to go all out with this.” I paused for a moment as she said that, backing away as she was being dragged in still. “You aren’t the only one who created spells.”

“Demon Slayer Secret Art!

Bacterial Contamination!”

Lex let go and allowed herself to be dragged closer, before her body began to twist and squirm, almost like there was something inside of her. Once she was barely at the doors, she screamed, rust coloured mist erupting from her as it covered the door, stopping the tendrils and causing the door to begin to decay like rotten wood.

The mist of toxins obscured my vision, and I almost threw up from the smell. It was like a skunk took a bath in sewage before going for a ten kilometre run and washing in a landfill.

“Aeroga!” I called, creating a barrier of wind around me and blowing away the mist, though the smell did linger. “Gosh dang it! That’s the second time that spell has been stopped mid-cast!”

“So? All that means is you have to learn to cast spells at a faster rate.” I am pretty sure my pupils shrink as I heard that. I turned on a dime, barely a second too late as Lex stabbed her spike into my stomach. It didn’t hurt, just a prick like a needle, but that didn’t mean I was suddenly terrified as I knew I was poisoned.

I sighed. “Well, I guess I know which of us won. I concede. Now, would you mind making sure this poison isn’t life-threatening? I haven’t found any of the moogles yet, so a Panacea is not in my future just yet.”

Lex crossed her arms and tilted her head, faking confusion. “Whoever said my toxins were deadly to organic matter?”

That caught me off guard, but before I could question, I giggled. My eyes widened and Lex’s smirk joined them as I struggled with all my might, but I was not winning this.

Her toxins….tickled.

“HAHAHAHAHAAHAH!”

Author's Note

All right! This seems to be going quite well. Next chapter we deal with an actual MLP episode. I know, its been a long time coming, but finally, we're actually getting back to our favorite ponies, and Lex, her Trixie, and Dawn are along for the ride. How could this possibly go wrong?

Big thanks to GarnetNaturea for joining us once again, and we will see you in the next chapter.

BUH-BYE!!!!

The Key to Tricks

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. GarnetNaturea

Chapter 12: The Key to Tricks

“...That was a dirty trick, you know that right?” I questioned Lex with a glare as we stepped out of the Tower.

“I know, but hey, sometimes you need to fight dirty. Plus I wanted to test what kind of effects I could make my toxins do anyways.” She states with a shrug, hands behind her head as she walked. She had requipped into a more relaxed outfit, the one I remember Levi was first introduced in.

We had left the Tower after finding Twilight holed up in the Tower library. Who knew we even had a library?

***Flashback***

“Hey Melissa, any idea where Twi and the rest are?” I asked as we stepped out of the simulator.

“Probably in the library,” she replied, adjusting settings on her terminal.

I blinked. “We have a library?”

“Isn’t this YOUR tower?” Haley asked with a raised eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you know these things?”

“Technically it’s Celestia’s Tower,” Melissa commented. “Celestia gave it to Kairi when she showed up.”

“Nice, I had Celestia build the guild, and that wasn’t until after I helped save the Crystal Empire.” Lex commented.

“I ask again, we have a library?” I asked again, trying to get the conversation back on track.

The techie sighed. “Out the door, two levels up. You can’t miss it.”

We nodded before stepping out and following her instructions. Heading up, we quickly find the library, and just inside, sitting at one of the tables, was Twilight, Luna and Chirithy, each reading a different book. Twilight’s book on Keyblade lore didn’t surprise me, but Luna and Chirithy reading manga did. My Heroine Academia? Really?

“Nice place. It’s no Fairy Tail Archives, but it looked great.” Lex commented, looking at a couple shelves with Dawn and Trixie.

“Yeah, I’m kinda surprised myself,” I muttered before turning to Luna. “Where exactly did you find that? Not to mention how is that even here?”

“They found it over there,” Twilight said, pointing to the conveniently marked Comic section. “There are spells that allow for the Library to self-update based on the tastes of the residents. Since Chirithy found it, it put that section together.”

“Huh, convenient,” I replied. “Anyway, Twilight, I’d like for you to meet Lex, Dawn and Trixie. They’re here to help Haley with her, uh, problem.”

“Hey Twi.” Lex mutter almost dismissively, looking through a book on keyblade spells. Dawn just nodded, his unflinching stare unnerving Twi a bit before he went back to his own book on basic keyblade combat.

“U-um...hi Twilight.” I rose a brow as I noticed Trixie shyly waving with a blush on her face. Lex smirked at my raised brow and wiggled her own a couple times.

“Uh, hello I guess?” Twilight raised her own eyebrow in confusion before shaking her head. “Anyway, I should probably get going. Spike mentioned seeing flyers for a magic show in town. Not sure why he wants to see that.”

“Probably a sense of normality,” I chuckled, before what she said processed. “Wait, did you say magic show?”

“Yyyeeesss…” The raised eyebrow returned on the purple unicorn.

My eye twitched ever so slightly. “Did Spike happen to mention who was doing the magic show?”

“Yes, some unicorn called the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie,’” Twilight nodded, rolling her eyes and letting sarcasm color her words as she said the name.

Trixie visibly flinched at that, catching our attention as her fur paled into an almost ghostly white. “Oh buck, today’s that day!?” She screamed, beginning to pace around in worry.

I groan as I realize the same thing, before an unexpected voice cuts in. “Wanna do something about it?” We turn to the voice and see Chirithy with a grin on his face.

“Yes! Anything to stop another me from making the same mistakes I did. The last thing I want is for an Ursa Minor to show up.” Trixie stated, earning a nod from Lex as she closed her book and turned to us.

“Then what are we waiting for?”

“OK, but what do you have in mind Chirithy?” I questioned with a nod.

“Well, why not give her an opportunity to do an actual performance instead of just boasting?” the Spirit said with a grin. “Something involving her illusions, and maybe some of your music?”

Lex put a hand to her chin in thought, before smirking, almost evilly. “Well, you’re on the right track kitten,” “Don’t call me that!” “But just showing her up won’t amount to much. How about, we show her what the real Great and Powerful Trixie of Fairy Tail can do?”

“Pop Stars!” Haley yelled catching all of our attention.

My eyes widened slightly. “As in the K/DA song?”

Haley nodded. “And for once, I can be useful!” She added with a proud smile on her face.

I slowly nodded. “That could possibly work…”

“Umm...what stars? I feel like I have heard that before somewhere.” Lex muttered, while Trixie was tilting her head. Dawn just kept reading.

“Pop/Stars, it’s a Korean and English League of Legends song from back home,” I explained. “It’s extremely intricate, and could potentially only been done with illusions. See where I’m going with this?”

Lex’s eyes widen in recognition before she fished out her Gummiphone and searched. “Man I am so glad this connects back to earth. Too bad I can’t call my parents though.” She muttered before finding the video. “Ok, yeah I remember this song. I heard about it from a friend of mine back in college, but never got around to listening to it.”

“Can someone please fill me in over here?” Trixie said in annoyance. In response, Lex snapped her fingers and produced two wireless headphones before handing one set to Trixie.

“Ok, while you lot do that, is there anything I can do aside from studying here?” Dawn questions in a dead tone as the others watch and listen to the song.

“Hmm,” I mutter, eyeing the colt up and down.

“What about having him learn Riku’s story?” Luna piped up.

We all turned to the young alicorn, eyebrows raised. “We could do that, but why?” I asked.

Luna fidgeted for a moment. “Well, he has this… hollow feeling about him,” she tried her best to explain. “Its like he should have an aura of balance, and he’s missing it somehow. I figured that he should learn from his story, since he walked the Path to Dawn.”

“A balance between light and darkness,” I caught on as Luna nodded.

“Balance…” Dawn muttered a hand on his chin as he put his book away.

“That makes sense.” Lex said, leaving Trixie to memorize the video. “I have been trying to think of ways to get Dawn his light and darkness back, but he is easily the most apathetic being I have ever met aside from a literal robot. Going through Riku’s story could be the key to him unlocking his keyblade and his own heart.”

“Alright then,” I nodded with a smile. “Why don’t you take Dawn down to the Simulator then Luna. Just ask Melissa to load up Riku’s side of the story from Kingdom Hearts.”

Luna nodded with a smile before grabbing the colt’s hand and literally dragged him out the door, his apathetic look never leaving his face.

“Now with that out of the way, how about we pull Trixie aside for a little chat…” I smirked.

***Flashback End***

It didn’t take us long to get into Ponyville after that, as we made our way to where Trixie had set up camp.

“Why exactly are you dragging me into this?” A disgruntled Twilight glared at me.

“We need another person to make sure the spells don’t unravel,” I explained. “Since your special talent is magic itself, you are technically the foremost expert on magic and spells.”

“Still though...” the unicorn groaned.

“Also we may need you to stop your friends from attacking and by extension, antagonizing this version of me. Trust me, I was merciless with them.” Trixie stated as we caught sight of the crowd.

We quickly circled around the crowd to the wagon that the stage magician used as a home, before knocking on the door.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is about to go on so this better be import-” Trixie’s tirade was cut off as she opened the door and saw us. Or more accurately, herself standing there. “W-w-what?”

“Long story, but we need to talk to you. Can we come in?” Lex’s Trixie questions politely. The other mare slowly nods and lets us in, before facing her doppelgänger.

“Ok what’s this? Some kind of fanfilly illusion spell?” Trixie questions, grabbing Trix’s cheeks and pulling. Trix slapped her hands away with a frown before taking a breath.

“Ok, so this is going to sound crazy, but I am a version of you from an alternate dimension. I am a member of the Fairy Tail Guild, and am training to become a powerful wizard not unlike Starswirl the Bearded.”

“Ok? So then, why are you here, and stopping me before I can go on stage?”

“Well...lets just say things didn’t go so well for me when I performed here and I wanted to stop you from unintentionally causing a ruckus.”

“That’s not all.” Both Trixie’s turned to Lex as she spoke up. “Trixie and I wanted to show you just how great you could really be with some practice and friends. So, as bad as it sounds...we were going to hijack your show?”

“WHAT!?” Trixie snapped before her counterpart laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Relax. Remember, I am you. If we go one, the Great and Powerful Trixie will still be performing. Just the one from Fairy Tail.”

“And you won’t be causing a ruckus with whatever illusion magic you’ll be doing?”

Trix rolled her eyes before sighing. “The reason things got so bad for me before was because I was a braggart. I kept inflating my own abilities and some idiot colts took it literally. Can you honestly tell me you weren’t going to talk about beating an Ursa Major single handedly?”

Trixie blushed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, proving the point. She looked to herself before sighing and unclipping her cape.

“Alright, I see your point. I may not like it, but the last thing I want is to cause trouble. Besides, I honestly am a little curious about what an alternate version of myself can do. I bet we’re even more great and powerful than I am alone.”

Trix rolled her eyes again but smiled as she clipped on the cape before gently taking the hat from the rack nearby. “Well then, I guess it's time for me to show what we got.”

***After 20 minutes of extra prep…***

“Alright, is everyone ready?” I asked glancing around, before noticing someone was missing. “Hey, where’s Haley?”

“I’ve always wanted to wear this costume!” Haley said, making us all turn our gaze to where she spoke. She seemed to be wearing an…

“An Akali costume?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Really? You used your magic to make a costume, after YOU PUT US THROUGH THE RINGER IN GETTING YOU TO UNDERSTAND MAGIC?!?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?!” My gaze shot to Lex as her clothes began to glow, and suddenly she was in a copy of Evelynn’s outfit from the video. She smirked as she looked over herself before nodding.

I groaned before turning back to Lex. “Mind magicing me into Ahri’s get up? Tail and ears included?” She nodded with a smirk before a spell matrix appeared beneath me and I could feel my clothes change. Once the light died down, it was done and I was in a perfect Ahri outfit, complete with a crystal-like tail and a pair of ears on the top of my head. I nodded in thanks as I saw Trixie taking a breath before placing her hands on her temples and glowing, before she was in Kai’sa’s outfit herself.

“Alright, you girls ready now?” Trixie questions. The three of us nod and get in position.

I quickly cast a spell to darken the area around the stage and crowd, before allowing my Music Magic to flow, beginning the song.

Hey, hey, hey
Hey-hey-hey, hey, hey
You know who it is
Coming 'round again
You want a dose of this
Right now
It's K/DA, uh!

The lights came on with several strobe lights as the background lit up, illuminating each of us one at a time before showing the four of us, in our poses. Haley walked up a bit while the rest of us disappear into thin air with some help from Trixie’s Memory Magic.

I'm a goddess with a blade
소리쳐봐 내 이름 잊지 못하게
Loud, loud, loud, loud
I could take it to the top
절대 멈추지 못해 내가 끝내주는
Bad gal, gal, gal

Haley had her back turned showing her outfit before the light glitched into darkness, showing off the fluorescent glow in the dark designs on her. She vanished and the lighting came back to Lex walking forward with the background of a tunnel. It cut back to Haley nodding before disappearing again.

And when I start to talk like that (like that)
Oh you won't know how to react
I'm a picture-perfect face
With that wild in my veins
You can hear it in my
Growl, growl, growl, growl

The image of a metallic, red-eyed skull appeared in the background as Lex walked off and Revealed Trixie sitting with her legs crossed on a seat, nodding along. She smirked as she seemed to shrink back, the background showing her laying back with a small car at her fingertips, her red tinted shades seeming to glow before she pushed the car forwards, the light blinding the audience for a moment.

So keep your eyes on me now
무엇을 보든 좋아할 거야
닿을 수 없는 level
나와 대결 원한 널 확신해
We got it all in our hands now
So can you handle what we're all about?
We're so tough
Not scared to show you up
Can you feel the rush now?
Ain’t nobody bringin’ us

I appeared with a calm expression as my voice echoed over the area, my crystal-like tail seeming to glow as I sang along. The beat bars appeared in the background before Haley appeared again, the lights darkening to show her bright design with a leaking spray bottle, before she looked up, posed and the background showed a red eastern dragon, and the lights come on, showing all of us.

Down, down, down, down, down, down
They could try but we're gonna wear the crown
You could go another round
Round, round, round, round, round, round
Wish you luck but you're not bringing us down
We go hard (hard) 'til we get it, get it
We go hard (hard). We so in it, in it
We pop stars (pop stars), only winning, winning now
Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down

The crowd was going wild as the four of us danced on stage, several jaws being picked up off the floor as they applauded. The lights went out for a second as the white teeth design on Haley’s mask appeared and she took Center stage.

Hey!
You ready for this? (let's go!)
See 언제든지 내 모습 magic
단 한 번에 내가 잡어
절대 기죽지 않지, uh!
Pow-pow 네가 뭘 알아
견딜 수 없어, 원해도
원하는 게 얼굴에 보여
I'm trouble and you're wanting it
I'm so cold
When I move that way, you gonna be so blown
I'm the realest in the game, uh

Her mask moved along with her own as she actually rapped, acting their attention, and a few of the more attentive of the audience saw a darkened silhouette of Trixie nodding behind her. Lex appeared a couple times next to Trixie with her verses before they both come front and center with her verse.

Say I'm on fire with a blade
You're about to hear my name
Ringing in your head like, whoa

The area darkened again before lighting up and letting me take over, the crystal tail behind me rising and splitting into nine like a flower. I snapped my fingers, letting a red ruby heart fly out and covering the stage as it darkened yet again.

So keep your eyes on me now
무엇을 보든 좋아할 거야
We're so tough
Not scared to show you up
Can you feel the rush now?
Ain’t nobody bringin’ us

The background showed several floating cubes and cylinders in some kind of space before Haley appeared again with her spray can and slammed it on the ground, creating a smokescreen for the four of us to come back to the front.

Down, down, down, down, down, down
They could try but we're gonna wear the crown
You could go another round
Round, round, round, round, round, round
Wish you luck but you're not bringing us down
We go hard (hard) 'til we get it, get it
We go hard (hard). We so in it, in it
We pop stars (pop stars), only winning, winning now
Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down

Twilight and her friends couldn’t take their eyes away from the spectacle that was our performance, watching all the magic in the air move and work in perfect unison. She glanced over to this worlds Trixie who was nearby, and their eyes met. Trixie’s wide eyes conveyed a single message.

‘I can’t do this.’

Oh, 난 멈추지 않아
Oh, oh, we go hard
Oh, oh, we pop stars (stars), stars (stars)
Ain't nobody bringing us

The four of us appeared one after the other before the background lit up with a white circle, illuminating us all as we danced, before darkening and showing off each of our own fluorescent designs, before we all appeared next to one another

Ain't nobody bringing us
Down, down, down, down, down, down
They could try but we're gonna wear the crown
You could go another round
Round, round, round, round, round, round
Wish you luck but you're not bringing us down
We go hard (hard) 'til we get it, get it
We go hard (hard). We so in it, in it
We pop stars (pop stars), only winning, winning now
Ain't nobody bringing us down, down, down, down.

The crowd erupted into applause and cheering as the magic finally died down and the four of us could catch our breaths, Trixie looking over the crowd with a smile as she laughed a little.

“Been a while since I heard this sound.” Trixie muttered loud enough for us to hear her, letting her illusion vanish and letting her reappear in her cape and hat. Lex walked up and pat her on the back with a smile of her own

“Holy crap they’re amazing!” Rainbow yelled to her friends, the group all nodding in agreement.

A roar from the Everfree Forest cut through the applause, silencing the cheers, and causing me to pale.

“Crap, that sounds like a Heartless, and a big one at that,” I called out. “Haley, you and the Element Bearers evacuate the town, Lex, Trixie and I will handle this.” I then turn to my Trixie, tossing her a yellow orb of magic. “Use this to support us, it's called Music Magic. Just pick a song, sing it, and the magic will do the rest.”

“B-but I-”

“Just do it Trixie.” She turned to her counterpart as she summoned her Keyblade. “Like you said before, we’re a lot better than you were alone. Let this be the proof.”

“Well said.” Lex said, summoning her own Keyblade.

By this point the square is mostly empty, and we could easily hear the rumble as the Heartless approached. And then, we caught our first glimpse of it. A Khopesh. Two of them.

“Dammit,” I growled under my breath. “It’s the Kurt Zisa.”

The Kurt Zisa appeared as a six-armed beast, with a brown and black segmented body and a golden head that bears a strong resemblance to a cobra head. It wears a white sleeve trimmed in gold on each arm, a white tunic with puffy gold sleeves over it’s oddly-shaped upper torso, and white, gold-and-turquoise trimmed pants on its lower body; around its waist is a brightly colored sash in turquoise, decorated with bright orange tassels and a gold apron bearing the Heartless Emblem. Its feet appear to be clad in gold and brown shoes at first glance, but the toes are curled into fierce hooks that point down towards the ground. Each arm ends in three sharp segmented talons.

“This is not gonna be easy,” I growled out.

“Trixie, hang back a bit and focus on magic strikes, Kairi and I will charge in and keep it’s attention off you.” Lex stated, the mare nodding”

I sighed. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one of the first things that thing does is cast a Silence spell, negating all magic until we destroy the magic orbs that appear in its hands…”

“Damn, well, are the orbs susceptible to magic damage?” Trixie questions.

“I don’t know. Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter, the spell wouldn’t even make it before it puffs out of existence,” I explained. “They need to go before we can use magic.”

Trixie took a breath before nodding, placing a hand on her temple as a red spell matrix appeared behind her. “Then what are we waiting for?”

“Memory Make: Downpour of Ancient Wisdom!”

We caught on and jumped as the spell lit up, sending the three of us flying towards the Heartless.

“Trixie, what are you waiting for?” I call out. “Pick a song!”

The azure mare nods and thinks for a moment as we key by, hearing as a guitar and drums begin.

‘No Limits huh? Perfect.’

“Whoa whoa whoa whoaaa
Oh, we’ll get stronger!
Whoa whoa whoa whoa”

Trixie let herself fall a bit before us, allowing Lex and I to rush forward and begin to attack. The heartless quickly moved into a stance, waving its khopeshes around as a field surrounded it.

“Quick, target the hands, maybe we can disrupt its attacks!” I shouted to my companions.

“Hey! Mr. Pain! Bring it! Bring it!
I’ll never let you do as you like
I will get stronger than you
I’ve already made up my mind to be so!”

Lex nodded and dodged to the left as it swung around, before retaliating with a triple combo and bouncing back again. She then let her Keyblade fly with a Strike Raid before jumping back, while I shot it with ice shots. Unfortunately, while our attacks did connect, it wasn’t enough to disrupt the attack, as two purple orbs formed in its free hands.

“Crap!” I cried in anger. “Forget what I said before, go after the orbs!”

“I was always born a dreamer
Letting my heart lead the way
The more challenges that block me
Make tomorrow exciting”

“Memory Make Blade of Frozen Black Lightning!” A bolt of black electricity with a blue outline went over my head and straight into one of the orbs, freezing it solid as Trixie jumped after it and wailed on it, before jumping back as it shattered into pieces.

“Ice Make Ice Geyser!” Lex followed her example and froze the other one before going through a couple combos on the orb with her weapon.

“This is not good.” Trixie said from behind us.

“Eh Yo! Come my way, show me whatchu got, Mr. Pain!
No – no – no – no you know there’s no stopping me!
I was never fit for losing”

I grimaced, gripping my Keyblade tighter as I rush in, hacking away at the left orb. To be honest, that probably wasn’t one of my best ideas, as a smirk seemed to appear on the Heartless’s snakey face before it backhanded me away.

“I gotcha.” Lex muttered, flying into the air and caught me by the back of my outfit before I could fly too far away.

“Thanks Lex,” I groan in pain as I gather my bearings.

“RAISE A FLAG
Even if scars fill every inch of my skin
RAISE A FLAG
I know my friends ’ll fight until end … by my side!”

“Hey a little help here!” Trixie yelled, dodging away before disappearing into a mirage and appearing a little ways away.

“Incoming!” The Heartless actually looked over to Lex as she flew in. “Solid Script Slice!” The kanji for Slice appeared behind her Keyblade, cutting through some of the orb like a hot knife through butter.

“Shining brightly, there is a new world
Wanting for me, but I can’t make it
Unless we fight as one – NO-LIMIT holds us back!”

Unfortunately, the orb was a lot tougher than it looked, since it seemed to hold together pretty well instead of dissipating like it would if destroyed.

“Damn, this thing is a lot tougher than in the game!” I growled out, before I see the Heartless leap into the air, spinning in a circle and flying towards us. “Incoming!” I shouted as I leap over the attack.

Lex lit up her wings again and took to the air while Trixie paused for a brief second to cast a spell on herself.

“Memory Make Rainboom Burst!” The mare suddenly ran away with a rainbow trail behind her, managing to easily avoid the large Heartless as it seemed focused on her. It then changed its attack pattern to be more wheel like as it flew towards us, forcing me to roll to the side.

“It’s in our hands, we’ve gotta grasp it
And take a stand, aim for the future
NO-LIMIT holds us back!”

“Keep an eye on it when it does this attack, it likes to switch between a wheel and a disk!” I called out as I got to my feet.

Lex and Trixie both nodded while they were running and flying, before the heartless finally stopped and landed again.

“Whoa whoa whoa whoaaa
Oh, we’ll get stronger!”

I quickly run back towards the heartless, only for it to start spinning its khopeshes around it like a shield, forcing me to cast a Reflect spell… Only for it to fail, allowing one of the spinning weapons to clip me and throw me back towards Lex and Trixie, a cry of pain leaving my mouth as I clutched the gaping wound on my side.

“Cure!” Trixie yelled as a green glow enveloped me, mostly focused on my wound as it closed quickly.

“Damnit! You are really annoying with those things!” Lex yelled in frustration before stomping her foot, red sparks traveling along the ground before it burst up into a pillar, sending the heartless onto its back.

“You’ll only get one chance to knock out those that block you
And prove that you can’t be stopped!
We just keep going – Going – We do what we can!
For the battle up ahead – We will fight to the end!”

Digging my Keyblade into the ground as I pull myself back up, my eyes widened. “Was that thing hurt by Alchemy?!?”

“Huh, didn’t expect that. I was just trying to catch it off guard.” Lex admitted, before smirking as she got low to the ground. “Alright then, how about this?!” Lex clapped her hands and slammed them onto the ground, causing the ground beneath the heartless to both rise and sink into a massive hole. “That won’t hold it for long.” I

“They say it’s nothing more than luck
But they’re just star-struck! (you know!)
Let’s show em how we can break the limit -”

“Trixie, we need a different song!” I called out, cutting off the music. “Something that’ll help improve our physical capabilities instead of our magical!”

Trixie nodded before a guitar started to strum, followed by the rest of the instruments.

“We’re walking through a haze, it’s a crowded maze of apathy and rage
But what’s the point of this? If we stay any longer, our dreams will fade away”

I grinned as I clapped my hands together, before pounding the ground with my fist, creating spikes that jutted into the left hand orb.

“I’m done with trying to achieve what I left behind. It is better to redefine what I live for. The past is gone.
My friend, it’s feeling like the old days, but I’ll be damned if I let my absence of innocence ever hold me back!”

Lex and I shared a grin before we rushed forwards while Trixie closed her eyes for a second.

“Memory Make Night of Shooting Stars!” The bolts of light and electricity slammed into the Heartless, staggering it and allowing Lex and I to rush in and simultaneously combo it. The two of us jumped back quickly as it recovered and tried to counter, hissing in anger.

“The sin inside me will always be oppressing
Cannot ignore this unbearable suffering
I’m sick and tired of feeling as a victim, what am I waiting for now?”

The orb we had struck began dissipating as I clapped my hands again, this time creating a large cannon. “Fire in the hole!” I shouted, firing at the second orb, where upon striking its target, it promptly exploded, throwing the Heartless back, leaving it stunned as the second orb dissolved.

“Now’s our chance!” I yelled, running in to attack its head. “Your magic should work again!”

Lex grinned as she flew into the air before taking a deep breath. “Rirīsu! Kurenjinguraito no shīru! (Release! Seal of the Cleansing Light!)” Her gold highlights suddenly began to glow as both eyes became white with a gold sclera, her wings on her back becoming white and gold.

“Fairy Cannon!” An orb of holy magic appeared in her hands before she launched it down, striking the Heartless in the head.

“Tryin’ te write down the words as I feel them
But can I separate the truth from what is fiction?
Can’t escape, no more turning back now! This is reality!”

“Memory Make Vibrant Flashing Blaze!” A torrent of blood red and bright orange flame engulfed the Heartless’s torso, Trixie’s magic causing it to stagger back. “Kairi you’re up!”

“Sonic Blade!” I called out, charging at high speeds towards the Heartless’s head. After the attack connected, it jumped back on its feet, conjuring an orange force field around it, as it started firing fireballs at us at high speed.

“Within the night sky, the rest of our short lives, never resting in complacency (This is my wish)
If we are to have dreams, then there’s no such thing as safe and sound.”

“Don’t let that force field fool you,” I called out after singing an echo to the song. “It looks like it could repel magic, but it only repels physical attacks. Hit it with enough magic and it’ll break! Thundaga!” As I finish my explanation, I call lightning down on the barrier.

“Memory Make Shrine of the Storming Wind Fang!” Several cyclones appeared around the Heartless, the twisters slamming into the barrier as Lex flew directly above its head.

“Here goes. FairyLight Downpour!” Several beams of gold magic attack the barrier from above, causing it to shake a bit as the twisters continue their assault.

“We have no place to call home.
Wasting time and we’re wasting our lives, trying to fix what can never be changed
Nostalgia’s comfort, it disappears into a “now“ fury.”

I could see cracks starting to form on the force field, as I charged up an attack. “Heart of a Princess!” I screamed as I flew into the air, trailing a number of magical orbs that crashed into the barrier, exploding on contact.

“I must apologize. This pride that’s inside me always telling lies.
Like I am in control, of the things that were not ever my burdens to hold.”

“Is that it?” Lex questions, floating down to us as Trixie and I regroup.

“No,” I growled out. “One more big attack and that force fiel - LOOK OUT!” I screamed as I pushed Trixie out of the way of a small circle of tornadoes manifesting where she was originally standing.

“I carried everything back then, and I will carry everything that’s within my reach
Though I know that, it’s killing me.”

“Shit!” Lex cried as one appeared beneath her as well, sending the two of us flying into the air and then slamming us onto the ground once gravity took hold. “Yup, I’m going to be feeling that in the morning.”

“Tell me about it,” I groaned in pain. “Curaga,” I called, casting the strongest version that also happened to be an area of effect spell, getting us all back on our feet. “You got any big magic you can use to finish that force field off?”

“I breathe, gotta let the anger pass over me so I can communicate what I am feeling
I close my eyes!”

“Well, I do have a couple, give me a sec. Tojiru. Kurenjinguraito no shīru. (Close. Seal of the Cleansing Light.)” Lex shining transformation deactivated as her seal closed before she took a breath and menacing look overtook her features. “Ririsu! Ikari no yami no shīru! (Release! Seal of the Wrathful Darkness!)”

Lex gold stripes suddenly darkened into a sickening black as both her eyes turned blue with a black sclera, her wings becoming dark and batlike.

“Tell me why, why they must repeat lies?
Saying we’re friends but they’ll never know what’s inside
My heart, burning with a malice for all the sly deception”

“Cover me!” Was all the warning she gave before she flew up again and snarled down to the heartless before cupping her hands, purple and black magic appearing between them.

Trixie nodded and cast Swords of Frozen Black Lightning again, earning the Heartless’s attention before running around, leading it on a wild chase.

“For every falsehood that’s trying to perpetuate
You take a step further from the world you decorate
Reality, as well as contentment, will always be out of reach”

I switch to my Ever After Keyblade, activating Mirage Staff as well, before creating a bunch of doppelgangers, confusing the Heartless in where to attack.

Trixie followed my example as she made several mirage clones of herself, making the Heartless think it was surrounded by well over a dozen of us. It began recklessly slashing away, destroying several illusion copies before Trixie and I got a very strong sense of dread.

“To the night sky, I scream out my crimes, trying to will away this guilty plea (I’m on my way)
If we are to have dreams, then there’s no such thing as safe and sound.”

“Uh oh.” Was all the mare said before suddenly running and taking cover. I looked up as I heard a clap, and see Lex with her hands before in a prayer stance.

“Experience damnation. Grimoire….Law.”

“We have no place to call home.
You take the time, and I thank you for trying to understand this mess I’ve made of me. (This is my wish)
Be friend or foe I, welcome anyone who tries to challenge me!”

I am pretty sure I blacked out or something, because as soon as the last syllable left Lex mouth, a dark aura surrounded everything, blocking out my vision and hearing. But I could feel, and what I felt was bad.

It was almost like all of my own sins, all of my fears and insecurities had come to life within me and was trying to break out. The feeling only lasted for a second or two, but I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.

“I am searching for the next door, opening for me a path to the truth
Sometimes we don’t write our own story, and we can’t erase what’s written within
Open your eyes, open your eyes!”

After a bit, I could see and hear again as I saw dark purple tendrils of magic slamming against the Heartless’s barrier in the darkness, before finally the barrier gave out and light filtered back into the area.

“Alright, hit it with everything you’ve got! We’re almost done!” I cheered, charging forward, firing off beams of light at the target, since I was still using Mirage Staff.

Lex nodded as her Keyblade-turned-suitcase transformed into a giant serrated scythe with several odd designs on it. She waved her hand around with some odd signs before slashing forwards, several purple circles of magic appears around the heartless. I jumped back as I recognized the spell.

“Amaterasu Formula 25!” The circles suddenly glowed before a large sphere of dark magic surrounded the Heartless, slashing and tearing it apart from within the sphere.

“Wasting time and we’re wasting our lives, trying to fix what can never be changed
So, take this damned life, and lead me to where I can start over.
I’ll let go of all this pain!”

The Heartless staggered back to its feet, summoning its orbs again.

“Nope!” I shout, clapping my hands onto the ground and creating spikes that destroy the orbs almost as soon as they appear, throwing the Heartless to the ground once again.

“Into the night sky, I scream out my crimes, trying to will away this guilty plea (I’m on my way)
If we are to have dreams, then there is no such thing as safe and sound.”

“Trixie!” Lex called, the mare nodding as she ran from her cover, before dispelling her Keyblade and placing both hands on her temples.

“Memory Make….Wrath of the Star Beast!” Behind Trixie a large spell matrix lit up, before a form began to appear. I am pretty sure my eyes were going to pop out once I realized what it was.

Trixie smirked to herself as she stood atop the head of a freaking Ursa Major, the beast was easily twice as big as town hall on all fours with light purple and yellow fur. It roared before charging and tackling the Heartless to the ground and then proceeded to rip and tear at it.

“We have no place to call home.
You take the time, and I thank you for trying to understand this mess I’ve made of me. (This is my wish)
Be friend or foe I, welcome anyone who tries to challenge me!”

As the song ends, I leap over the Ursa, before slamming my Keyblade into the Heartless’s head, killing it.

The three of us pant and lean against one another as we caught our breath, the large heart from the Kurt Zisa floating into the air behind us as we made our way back to town.

Once we made it to town, we saw Haley and the others coming out of hiding to greet us. Haley just looked at the three of us, then over to the destroyed area of our fight before smirking.

“Well….that was a thing. Good job girl! Now….who wants some ice cream?”

“Goddamit Haley.”

Author's Note

Oh man, this chapter took a lot longer than we were expecting, but hey thats life. Anyway, as you can see, not only did we manage to FINALLY address some MLP show content, but there were also a whopping total of three songs in this chapter:

1) Pop/Stars by K/DA

2) No Limits by AmaLee

and 3) Again by Caleb Hyles

Well, we have one more chapter with Lex planned, so stay tuned. Until next time!

The Key to Testing

Author's Note

In this chapter, the characters perform The Ten Duel Commandments from Hamilton. Below you will find a color code for the characters that are singing.

Green = Figure 17 unit that looks like John Laurens
Blue = Melissa
Red = Figure 17 unit that looks like Charles Lee
Yellow = Figure 17 unit that looks like Aaron Burr
Purple = Laurens, Melissa, Lee, and Burr singing together
And Black = The music track that Melissa has playing

Me and Mini will have more to say at the end of this mega three chapter update. See ya there!

The Key to Testing

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse

Chapter 13: The Key to Testing

Melissa’s POV

“One, two, three, four
Five, six, seven, eight, nine”

I’m standing in a back room of my lab, alongside four of my Figure 17 units, one dressed as Aaron Burr, one dressed as Charles Lee, one dressed as John Laurens, and one dressed as a doctor. We faced each other as we began singing.

“It's the Ten Duel Commandments”

Lee and Burr broke away, turning their backs to us, while the doctor moved to the side of the room.

“It's the Ten Duel Commandments
Number one”

The unit dressed as Laurens rapped out its part

“The challenge, demand satisfaction
If they apologize, no need for further action
Number two”

Laurens then grabbed my shoulder.

“If they don't, grab a friend, that's your second”

I grinned as I rapped my part.

“Your lieutenant, when there's reckoning to be reckoned
Number three”

Lee and Burr turned back to us, with Lee rapping the next line as Burr and I met in the middle of the room.

“Have your seconds meet face-to-face”
“Negotiate a peace”
“Or negotiate a time and place”
“This is commonplace, 'specially 'tween recruits”

We all then turned towards the door, right as Haley entered the room with wide eyes.

“Most disputes die, and no one shoots
Number four”

Laurens turned and walked to the doctor in the corner, guiding him to the front of the room as Lee pulled some blasters from the wall. The Star Wars style blasters, of course. Haley just strides over towards a chair against the wall, sitting in it with crossed legs, watching us intently with a sheepish smirk on her face.

“If they don't reach a peace, that's alright
Time to get some pistols and a doctor on site”

I come up next to the doctor, pretending to pay him, while Burr comes and turns him around.

“You pay him in advance, you treat him with civility”
“You have him turn around so he can have deniability”
“Five”

Lee strode to the center of the room, a cocky smirk on his face as he gazes towards where Haley sat, munching on popcorn.

“Duel before the sun is in the sky”
“Pick a place to die where it’s high and dry
Number six!”

Lee turned to Burr, pulling a scrap of paper out of his coat, handing it to him, as Laurens does the same with me.

“Leave a note for your next of kin
Tell ‘em where you been. Pray that hell or heaven lets you in”
“Seven!”

Lee stepped forward again, a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

“Confess your sins. Ready for the moment of adrenaline when you finally face your opponent”
“Number eight!”

We all turned to each other as Burr and I stepped to the center of the room.

“Your last chance to negotiate
Send in your seconds, see if they can set the record straight…”

Burr smiled in greeting as we met. “Alexander.”

“Aaron Burr, sir,” I replied, matching his smile.

“Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?” he asked.

“Sure,” I shrugged in reply. “But your man has to answer for his words, Burr.”

Burr frowned. “With his life? We both know that’s absurd, sir.”

“Hang on, how many men died because Lee was inexperienced and ruinous?” I shot back with a glare. Honestly, I never thought I’d ever be so immersed in a theatrical role. Maybe I should try it out at some point.

“Okay, so we’re doin’ this,” Burr replied with a sigh.

“Number nine!”

Burr and I returned to Lee and Laurens respectively, handing them their blasters.

“Look ‘em in the eye, aim no higher
Summon all the courage you require
Then count!”

“One, two, three, four
Five, six, seven, eight, nine.”

We all shouted the final line as Lee and Laurens fired, Lauren’s blaster bolt striking Lee in the leg.

“Number
Ten paces!
Fire!”

Right after we finished the song, we all kept our ending positions while panting heavily. After a minute or two of silence, I suddenly heard a slow clap coming from the direction of the entrance to the room, where I see Haley slowly applauding us with a pretty surprised look on her face.

“Wow. I mean, I’ve listened to this musical a lot but never fully saw it live. Does this count?” Haley asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

“I’d think so, yes,” I replied with a smirk, signalling the four Figure 17 units to return to their posts around the Tree of Harmony, before moving up to the main console. “Alright Haley,” I spoke, directing her to the console. “I want you to stay at that console, recording everything that happens.”

“My role feels kind of simple,” she grumbles. “You sure there isn’t anything else productive I can do?” she adds, tilting her head a bit.

“At this point, not really,” I replied with a shrug. “Honestly, this is the more dangerous part of development, and Kairi would beat me black and blue if I hurt you, or any of her friends.”

Haley slumped her shoulders in disappointment and stomped over to a neighboring chair to the console, plopping into it.

I rolled my eyes. “Alright, all you need to do, for now, is write, or in this case type out your observations of what’s happening while I use the mask. Clear?”

“Crystal, Captain Boring Pants.” Haley said before giving me a sluggish salute.

“Alright then, here goes,” I muttered as I lifted the mask to my face, and then…

“That’s a whole lot of nothing there, chief,”

“Well then, type it out,” I growled out, pulling the mask away. “I don’t understand, I can feel the magic in it. Why isn’t it working?”

“What ever happened to me saying ‘I volunteer as tribute’?” Haley said with a slight smirk on her face.

“Not now,” I brushed her off, beginning to pace. “I have it designed for someone with no abilities, so why isn’t it working for me? Is it the fact that it’s One For All, and I don’t know how it works? Or is it because of the Fiore-” My eyes widened in realization. “Hold on, it was made with Fiore magic, of course it won’t work for me!” I turned back to my rather bored assistant. “Haley, I changed my mind, you get to test the mask.”

My words seemed to catch her attention quite quickly as her gaze quickly launched to me with slightly widened eyes. “Really?! Yes!” She says before jumping out of her chair and bowling me over in her excitement.

I got up with a groan, adjusting my now crooked glasses, before standing back up. “Alright, be a little more careful. This may be a reinforced test chamber, but I’m not reinforced.”

“Hehe, Sorry.” Haley said as she scratched the back of her head.

“It’s fine,” I sighed. “Now, once I get to the console, I want you to place the mask on your face. I’ll be recording everything, so don’t worry about that part.”

Haley nodded as I turned and made my way over to the console. As soon as I turned back to her and gave her a nod, she placed the mask over her face. Immediately, I was blinded by a flash of light. After the flash, I turned back to my assistant, and was surprised to find…

“Where’d the mask go?” I asked in shock, since the mask seemed to have disappeared.

“I have no idea but I feel crazy weird!” Haley replied in confusion as she examined her hands. In that moment of confusion, her whole body started glowing again, though not as intensely, before it promptly changed itself into a completely different person!

Her hair was pink, and she wore a black sleeveless crop top with gold trim, and a scarf around her neck. She also wore a pair of white, puffy pants, with sandals.

“What just happened?!” She asked, however her voice sounded different, much rougher, and a little bit deeper, almost like…

“Did you just turn into a female version of Natsu?!?” I asked in shock.

“Haha! If only Kairi could see me now! Try to throw me through your Doors of Hades now!” She yelled out as she fist pumped the air with a wide, toothy grin.

Well, well, it’s been a while palm, how have you been? I silently reached over and pressed a button that released a large foam log.

“Eep! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!” Haley jumped at my action before sending her fiery fist at the log, smashing it to bits.

However, while she was distracted, one of the Figure 17 units came up and karate chopped her in the neck, sending her to sleepy night night time. Her body quickly reverted back to Mirajane’s as I made my way down to her with some smelling salts. She bolts upright again as I place them under her nose.

“What the heck just happened?” Haley demanded.

“Well,” I took a breath. “Short answer, you turned into a female Natsu, blew up a training log, and needed a Figure 17 unit to knock you out.”

“Well yeah, I remember that much,” she grumbled. “But why did it happen?”

“Probably because I miscalculated with the mask,” I explained. “It seems to have integrated with your magic, since it’s a match to Lex’s Fiore magic. As a result, you can essentially shapeshift into different characters from Fairy Tail, and use their magic as well. I also noticed some personality changes as well, since you seemed to act far more like Natsu than you usually do.”

“So I can change into any character in Fairy Tail?! Cool!!” She cheered out in excitement. “So, how do I control it?”

“Well, is there anyone else you want to try being right now?” I asked pointedly. As soon as I finished my sentence, Haley began thinking, before it seemed a lightbulb popped on above her head, and with that, the glow returned.

As the glow faded, this time I was met with an older, and more filled out version of Wendy. She wore a light blue, sleeveless crop top, with a bow at the front, and a white short skirt.

“I do believe you’ve answered how the power works,” I said with a smirk. She looked at me before looking down at herself and quickly covering her chest with her face as red as a tomato.

“I didn’t know that I’d change into this version of her!!” She squealed out with her voice rising an octave.

“Relax, try a different character.” As soon as I said that, she went back to thinking again before her soft smile turned into a devilish smirk.

Another flash of light, and I’m greeted with a tall blonde woman, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt over her right eye. She wore a purple button-up shirt, black slacks, and a fur-trimmed, black coat.

“Cool. Now this is what I call power.” She said with a wide smirk on her face, before raising her hand and balling it into a fist, lightning crackling around it.

I rolled my eyes as I had the Figure 17 unit from before do a repeat performance and knock her unconscious. Again.

I quickly come and revive her, before explaining. “I can’t have high voltages running in a lab full of highly volatile tech. That’s just asking for trouble.” She rolled her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest, as the door to the chamber opened.

“Fine.” She grumbles out.

“Uh, did I interrupt something?” Kairi asked as she walked in.

“Not really,” I replied with a shrug. “We were just finishing up.”

“Oh good. Haley, Trixie wants you for something. Not sure what though.” Kairi said with a shrug.

“Alright. I’ll go look for her. Thanks.” Haley replied as she stood up and began to walk out of the test chamber.

After she left, Kairi and I stood around for a second before Kairi turned back to me. “So, how went the testing?”

“Disappointing,” I sighed.

“In what way?”

I shrugged as I turned back to my console. “Where to begin? How about the fact that the mask didn’t work?” I was getting angry and frustrated, and as a result, Kairi noticed something that I didn’t. Sparks of green electricity sparking off of me.

“Uh, Melissa?” she tried to cut in, but I was quickly building steam.

“Or, how about the fact that I’m back to square one?” I growled, clenching my fist.

“Melissa?”

“And to add insult to injury, Haley comes out of the test with new. Frickin’. POWERS!” I screamed in frustration, bringing my fist down on the console, completely destroying it.

Silence fell as we both stared at the wrecked console. I slowly brought my gaze down to my hand, which still sparked with green electricity, before it finally sank in. Somehow, while me and Lex were creating the mask, I got One for All. It must have been when we had that accident.

“I tried to warn you,” Kairi sighed, breaking the silence, causing me to nod my head dumbly. “Well, looks like you have some training to do.”

I nodded my head, as I noticed a glowing portal of light open behind Kairi. “And it looks like you have work to do.”

She glanced behind her with a sigh. “Looks like I don’t get to put you through your paces.”

“Like I need you to tell me how to train One for All. Are you forgetting who I was Displaced as?” I replied with a grin.

“Oh, believe me, I haven’t forgotten,” Kairi smirks back. “But I’ve thought of something you haven’t.”

“Oh?”

“Because you just created it, One for All is at square one. Meaning, if you want to get on All Might, or Midoriya’s level, you’re gonna be training for a long, LONG time.”

A smirk formed on my face. “Oh, I accounted for that, but proximity to the Tree of Harmony should help with that. It is a power stockpiling quirk, after all.”

Kairi gave a hearty laugh as she walked through the portal, leaving me on my own to come up with a training regiment.

Sibling Social Activities Part One

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. shagohad12 and Voldine

Chapter 14: Sibling Social Activities Part One

WARNING: This chapter contains some swearing. Reader discretion is advised!

Third Person POV

“Please, Alex? It’s just for one day. You can even wear your coat over the dress, but I want to do it just this once!” Screwball held the Sisterhooves Social poster out to him while floating a few feet off the ground.

“And what exactly is even involved in a ‘Sisterhooves Social?’” Alex questioned, taking the paper from her hooves. “Is it like a festival or something? I could do that. Probably.”

“It’s a town-wide event at Sweet Apple Acres, every year, for sisters to compete against other sister pairs, like a sports thing.”

Alex lowered the paper, giving her a firm look. “I’m not doing sports in a dress. Rarity would kill me. I’ll just go in my jogging gear.”

“I didn’t mean one of your fancy ones, but a good point is a good point.” She nodded to herself and then wiped a hoof in front of her face to hide the change in her expression to a wide, puppy-dog eyed pout. “Pwease?”

“Alright, alright, you don’t have to make faces at me.” Reaching out, Alex flicked her propeller. “You convinced me, I’ll go do the thing with you. But!” He held a finger up. “You have to do something for me later.”

“Whatever you want, aside from pranking your lots-and-lots times grandniece.” She wagged a hoof at him. “I know she’s been a pain in your flank, but I don’t prank family intentionally.”

Rolling his eyes, Alex booped her with his outstretched hand. “Next time Zephyr is around, you’re playing defense. I don’t need another weekend of him trying to rope me into wooing Dash again.”

Screwball sniffed and shook her head quickly. “Well, okay. I think I might be able to pull out a few board games to keep him busy.” She reached up under her hat and rummaged around a bit before pulling out a few distinct boxes and placing them on the floor. The top one read ‘Monotony’ in the Monopoly font.

“Alright then.” Looking back down at the poster, he nodded. “Okay then.” Looking at the date, he frowned. “Cutting it a bit close, huh? A day is short notice, Screwy. You’re lucky I didn’t already have plans.”

“I wasn’t in town all week. They don’t do it the same date every year, just the same month.” She threw her forelegs out wide. “I only saw it myself an hour ago.”

Rolling his eyes, Alex rolled up the poster and slid it into a pocket. “Nothing like last minute, huh?” Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her close. “Why don’t you tell me what all the sports stuff is, okay?”

“Oh, well they change things up a little every year but generally speaking…” Screwball began to list off the various events she’d witnessed from afar over the years, stopping to explain them when Alex asked for more information.

Alex shifted uncomfortably as he waited in the signup line next to Screwball, who was prancing in place at his side and doing the occasional gravity-defying backflip, much to the amusement of a few pairs behind them. He checked the pocket of the fanny-pack Discord had given him once more, as if to reassure himself that the bag of bits and certain hygiene products were still there. “I’m so glad this isn’t as painful or embarrassing as the first time was. Still sucks.”

“No hiding in the bathtub for Mister Sister,” Screwball replied, a delighted smile on her face. Getting serious, she poked his side. “Remember, no special powers. Gotta be fair!”

“Says the mare spinning in midair.” Alex responded instantly in a complete deadpan tone. “And what special powers would I even be able to use here? I really doubt that being able to summon a giant key is going to be much use.”

Screwball glared at Alex. “Mommy gave you a thing for school, didn’t he? I’m going to be suppressing everything that isn’t earth-pony, you need to turn off the non-muscle stuff.”

“Ugh, like there’s going to be a standing high-jump event.” Alex closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated on grabbing that atrocity as if he were summoning Aubade, and the neon-pink band appeared in his right hand so he could slap it onto his left wrist. “Fine, I’m locked down until I take it off.”

Nuzzling his cheek, Screwball ‘paddled’ her way to the sign up stand. “Hello!” Like a feather, she slowly eased herself to the ground. “We’d like to sign up please! Alex and Screwball!”

“Screwball and Alex…” One of the two mares behind the table looked up at Alex slowly and frowned after a moment. “I thought Rumble told me you were a colt?”

Alex frowned back and glared at the mare. "Really? You let Big Macintosh wearing a dress and a beehive wig in with fewer questions than that, and I'm medically female, but you stop me."

“Right, sorry. It’s just, he insisted you were a colt and this is the sisterhooves social.” Taking a breath, she passed them the sign-up sheet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend, just a little confused.”

“That’s okay. Mister Sister here feels confused all the time.” Screwball responded while the pencil floated to write out her full name with minimal flourishes despite being clearly manipulated by magic. “Last time I’ll use this today, I promise.”

“I’m all limited too,” Alex said, taking the pencil and writing his name next to Screwball. “Do we get numbers or something?”

The mares shared a glance before the first pushed a pair of long navy-blue sashes across the table. “Just these, something that won’t blend in with your coats.”

“Sounds fine to me.” Picking his up, Alex looped it around his right wrist a few times before using a combination of his left hand and his mouth to knot it in place so that it was tight enough to not slip while being loose enough for circulation. “Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Have a fun time, girls,” the old stallion offered, giving a smile.

Alex bristled a little at that, but took a deep breath and sighed. “Thanks, we’ll do our best.” Grabbing Screwball’s sash, he almost pushed it on her as he turned to walk away

Screwball hurried to catch up with Alex as he walked away, holding her sash in her mouth for the moment as her eyes narrowed slightly. She nudged against his thigh with her head and indicated a nearby picnic table with a tilt of her head.

“I think all the pairs are supposed to wait there,” she spoke carefully guiding him. Screwball was briefly surrounded by a bright yellow aura before she began manually tying a knot in her sash. “Gonna have so much fun with Mister, Sister~”

“Yeah, lots of fun today,” Alex assured, putting on his most excited face. He pushed his complaints down, wanting to have a fun time with Screwball.

“Hey Alex! What’re you doing here?” A young and familiar, slightly scratchy voice called out from nearby. A quick look confirmed that it was Scootaloo, accompanied by Sweetie Belle. “Who’s the mare?”

“How have you two not met Screwball?” Alex questioned, gesturing to Screwball. “I mean, she was at the gala and I know you two were there. Hell, she came to school with me before... You two just forgot, didn’t you?”

“We were supposed to pay attention to a bunch of snooty nobles? I was just happy to be there with Rainbow Dash.”

“Scootaloo was out sick with the feather flu that day, Alex.”

Alex sighed, pinching his nose. “Right, right. Anyway, this is my older sister, Screwball. Screwball, these are my friends; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

“H-hi there…” Screwball actually fidgeted a bit, looking around nervously for a few seconds. “I’m, uh, I’m sorry, I don’t usually get this jittery around foals. It’s been a long time since I was able to do anything with family.”

“That’s okay, Princess.” Sweetie Belle smiled and nudged at Scootaloo with a foreleg. “We’ll just get going then if you want to spend some time with Alex instead of chat with us too.”

Screwball shook her head immediately. “None of that ‘princess’ stuff. Outside the castle, that’s all fluff.”

“Just call her Screwy,” Alex said, smiling back at Sweetie Belle. “Give it your best, alright? Don’t go easy on me just because it’s our first time, got it?”

“Oh, I’m not competing this year, Alex. Scootaloo managed to convince Rainbow Dash to participate, but Rarity and Applejack had to go to Manehattan.”

Scootaloo shook her head slowly. “Yeah, and now we have to deal with ‘Cousin Orchard Blossom’ paired up with Apple Bloom. There aren’t many events involving strength, but they’re going to have an advantage in those.” Her tone was somewhere between bitter and amused as she spoke.

“Yeah well, just let them have fun, okay?” Biting back a comment about himself, Alex turned towards the event area. “Who won last year?”

“Oh it was, uh…” Sweetie Belle brought her forehoof up to her muzzle for a moment in thought. “I know Rarity and I lost the race to them, but I can’t remember…”

“The local alcohol family branch. Pina Colada and her older sister.” Scootaloo grinned, seeming pleased to remember something Sweetie couldn’t. “My aunts only buy their drinks from them directly.”

“...I think you’re turning into a delinquent.” Alex turned his head again as one of the Social’s staff members blew a whistle. “I think that’s our cue, girls. Don’t go easy on me, got it, Chicken?” Taking a handful of Screwball’s mane, he guided her along to what appeared to be the first event.

The first event alone proved that Screwball should have brought this up far sooner, as it was a singing display and they hadn’t even had a chance to discuss what they were going to do beforehand. Screwball wore a sheepish expression as she quietly withdrew them from participating in that part. The two of them took some time to locate a list of the events, but their discussion of what to do was interrupted by a loud and deep voice suddenly booming from the stage as ‘Orchard Blossom’ and Apple Bloom finished their performance.

“Oh, he was hiding it so well until the end, too.” Screwball winced a bit at the uncomfortable expression on Apple Bloom’s face.

“Yeah, ‘hiding’,” Alex grunted, feeling a well of thoughts rush through him. Part of him resented that Mac could ‘hide’ in the first place. No one questioned Big Mac in a dress, while he had doctors arguing with him over what he was.

“So, it looks like there’s supposed to be a juggling competition and tandem jump rope after this, then a big multi-stage race with all kinds of things...and I think we can skip ahead with the juggling despite forfeiting with the singing.” Screwball massaged the side of her head with one hoof, then looked up at Alex. “Staying this focused for so long is hard.”

Kneeling down, Alex scratched her ear. “Do you need to take your medicine? It wouldn’t be great if you uh, had an episode during one of the events.”

“I t-took some before we came. I’m just not used to making sure I think about what I’m going to say before it comes out of my mouth. It’s weird and hard.”

“We’re both putting in our A-game today.” Giving her a quick hug, he took comfort in her closeness. “We don’t have to win or even do good. As long as we’re both having fun, that’s what counts, right?”

“Never cared about winning, just didn’t want to stumble through a song and mangle it.”

“Obviously, you’ve never done drunk karaoke.” Pulling back, Alex rested on his heels. “Mangling a song can be pretty memorable. Shoulda seen me trying to sing One after a few rounds of vodka.”

“Karaoke’s different. That’s intentionally singing badly, not trying to sing and doing bad.”

The day went on, with the two of them doing their best and managing to have a fair bit of fun with the juggling portion, while the jump rope portion left Alex feeling like the two stallions who were swinging the ropes with their mouths were staring at him the entire time. Even with his discomfort there, he couldn’t help but facepalm as they both watched a truly pathetic showing from Big Mac failing to even jump. His hooves seemed like they were glued to the ground the entire time.

“Was he even trying?” Alex questioned as they moved towards the starting line for the big race event that would finish the competitive part of the Social.

“Would it be funnier if he had been?” Screwball giggled and leaned against Alex’s side briefly. “He looked so confused.”

“I wouldn’t call it funny. Cringy is the word you’re looking for, Screwy. I’ve never even jump-roped before and I did better than him.”

“Maybe becoming a nobody made him more dense?”

“Nah, I think he’s just trying to get this over with.” Coming to a stop at the starting line, Alex stretched, getting a few looks from the ponies around them. “One last event. Think you can do it, Screwy?”

Screwball gave him a confident nod. “I can run, you can run. We just gotta stick together for the obstacle parts.”

They got into their positions for the race with a slight smile at each other, and Alex even got a smile and a hoof bumping against his leg from Scootaloo next to him. “Hey, Alex, good luck with the race and all, but just try to have fun, okay? Rainbow Dash and I have this in the bag.”

Alex leaned a hand down, flicking scootaloo’s ear. “Don’t count us out, Cuckoo. We got that element of surprise on our side.”

“That and over a thousand years of earth-pony magic keeping my muscles all nice and strong since I don’t have to worry about getting as frail as a normal pony would.” Screwball giggled softly while prancing in place to loosen up.

“Yeah well, we’re still gonna take the win!” Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, hovering into the air ever so briefly with buzzing wings. “Just you wait and see, Alex!”

“Fewer beats and longer downstrokes, squirt, you really need to work on your form if you’re going to fly.” Rainbow Dash guided Scootaloo back to the ground. “And besides, we need to keep an even playing field for the racers who can’t fly, and keep pace with each other. So no wings for this.”

“Best of luck to you guys,” Alex repeated, turning his attention forward. Beat after beat of his heart pounded in his ears, nearly blaring out the ring of the starting bell.

Alex and Screwball seemed to start out strong from the gate in comparison to the majority of the pack, although Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo just barely managed to get a lead before the first set of obstacles. Really, the fact that Scootaloo was able to move faster than Alex at all was a bit of a surprise to him.

Of all the things Alex thought his training would prepare him for, an obstacle race was not one of them. Childish thrills brought back old memories, and soon he found himself envisioning Screwball and himself running through Double Dare’s final challenge.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the sound of wood breaking behind them began to tell Alex that things weren’t going to end well today. Alex was in the middle of struggling to get an egg to balance on his nose when he was roughly shoved out of the makeshift coop in the middle of the racetrack by a large and strong pony, and only the quick reflexes he’d honed with combat training allowed him to catch the egg before it shattered in the dirt. “What the hell?”

“Sweat, Alex!” Screwball commented, stopping at his side. “The big Mister Sister ran by!” she pointed ahead, towards a hulking figure knocking anything and everything out of the way and dragging Apple Bloom behind.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s going to ruin the course just to win one lousy event?” Alex grumbled as he picked himself up and brushed his clothes off with one hand. “Come on, help me get this balanced again so we can finish this the right way, as much as he leaves standing that is.”

It wasn’t long before Alex and Screwball got moving again, and they both had to maneuver around debris from shattered or tossed-aside obstacles that just made the course cluttered. They arrived at the finish line just in time to hear one of the mares that had been at the signup table admit that the definition of ‘sister’ in the contest had always been a rather loose thing, and that Big Mac was not being disqualified for being a stallion.

“The f***!?” Alex demanded, taking a few steps closer. Or was it a few? He found himself in Big Mac’s face, poking at his barrel. “I have to go through all this nonsense and bullshit and he doesn’t get disqualified because he tried to hide his dick!?”

“Er, well, that’s not exactly the issue. The issue is the poor sportsmareship, n-not what’s between his legs.” The older mare stammered slightly as she realized just how angry Alex was about this. “As I said, our definition has always been a little loose on who qualifies as a sister. Two groups competing this year are just close friends.”

Alex grit his teeth, features contorted with rage. Whispers filled his ears, droning out all other sound. His shadow contracted, losing its shape as it pooled at his feet. Without another word, it exploded upward, completely consuming him.

“Alex? It’s okay if we lost.” Screwball came up to his side and placed her hoof on his hip gently; ignoring the potential danger to herself while waving a hoof for everyone else to run. “Come on, let’s go have a drink of cider and breathe?”

Anti-Alex screamed as it took shape, yellow eyes glowing like miniature suns. Its anger made known, the familiar self-loathing whispers emitted from it. It pushed away from Screwball, swiping at Big Mac.

Big Mac barely managed to duck away from the swipe before backpedaling away a few steps and looking around. “Apple Bloom, git home!” With that said, he began moving away from the more crowded areas where the Social had been set up.

“W-what happened ta Alex?!” Bloom demanded, ignoring her brothers orders and running behind him. “Did he get his heart stolen too!?”

“Nnnnope, now git home where it’s safe. Ah don’t want you hurt.” Big Mac looked around once more. “He wants me right now, Ah’m the least-safe place ta be.”

“Ah’m not gonna leave my brother and my friend!” Apple Bloom argued. “Ah dunno what’s goin’ on but, Alex needs his friends!”

Big Mac moved himself between Alex and Apple Bloom while sliding away from another feral swipe from Alex. “And how do ya think he’d feel if Ah’m not able ta keep ya safe and he hits ya?” Summoning his sword, he deflected a lunge. “Now git!”

"Let's rock and roll, no time for lazy, Mister Sister's gone quite crazy!" Screwball didn’t wait any longer than that deflection to swoop in and grab Apple Bloom by her tail to run away from the fight. She somehow managed to do this on her rear hooves while her forelegs rummaged around in her hat.

Bloom kicked her legs, desperately going nowhere. “We have to go back! Our siblings need us!”

Screwball’s mouth was a bit occupied, and at least one kick caught her in the jaw before she came to a sudden stop. She carefully lowered herself and Apple Bloom back to the ground, but also stepped on the end of AB’s tail to keep her from running off before opening her mouth to speak again.

“Mister Sister is scary now. Can’t get his attention, have to calm him down.” Smiling like nothing was wrong; Screwball pulled her hat down over her muzzle, and then further down her head and neck until it was resting on her shoulders with everything from there forward seeming to have vanished without a trace.

“Gah!” Jumping back as much as she was able with her tail pinned, Bloom stared in extreme discomfort. “How in the hay are ya doin’ that?!”

No response came for a few seconds, and the only response then was the hat slowly lifting away from Screwball’s body and releasing her hidden head as she lowered her other hoof to the ground. The reason for her continued silence was made obvious, as her muzzle was clamped shut by an eagle’s talon, and Discord’s disembodied voice emerged from the hat as one claw tapped on Screwball’s nose.

“Okay, I’ll get the ponies who need to know notified. You need to not yell when you do this in the future, dear. You scared Fluttershy half to death just popping between us like that.” The hat hovered in midair for a moment as the claws released their gentle hold and pulled back into the hat, only for a lion’s paw to dangle a seashell necklace from the suspended garment immediately. “Use this for some immediate backup though. We don’t want Applejack angry at Alex again.”

Apple Bloom took the chain in her own mouth quickly and gave it a little shake. “How’s this supposed ta help?” She asked through clenched teeth. “It’s too light ta be a weapon.”

No sooner had the words left Apple Bloom’s mouth, the charm began to glow. That glow then launched itself to just in front of the two ponies before forming a portal reminiscent of the Corridors of Darkness, but instead of the oppressive darkness, a warm light gave it form. Out of the portal stepped a girl in pink and black clothes, with red hair, who took a quick look around before summoning her Keyblade.

“Okay, I don’t know what’s going on, but I assume it’s some sort of battle, right?” The girl questioned the two ponies.

“That’s how, now you two stay safe.” Discord’s voice came from the hat once more before the lion paw retracted and the garment floated over to place itself back on Screwball’s head.

“Huh, you look just like Alex!” Dropping the necklace, Bloom pointed to the nearby conflict that was Big Mac and Anti-Alex. “Ya gotta help mah brother and Alex!”

The girl looked in the direction that Bloom pointed in before raising an eyebrow. “You mean Big Ma - er - that big stallion over there fighting the Heartless?”

“Mister sister isn’t a heartless, just...really angry.” Screwball spoke up quickly. “I-it’s my fault. Stupid old mare wanting silly filly fun with mister sister.”

“Ugh, Rage Form, huh?” the girl groaned. “Welp, only one thing to do then…”

The girl hefted her Keyblade, before making it change from the gold colored, flower covered blade, to a crystal blue blade covered in snow motifs. She then charged forward, quickly blocking a strike that would have taken Mac’s foreleg off.

Anti-Alex turned its vacant gaze from Mac to the girl. “Worthless. You’ll never be a real man. You’re nothing, just like your mother.” The tone was robotic in a way, and utterly disquieting in how there was no trace of love in the words it was saying.

“Okay, whatever is going on, that sort of mindset is not helping,” the girl muttered before pushing Anti-Alex back. “Kid, you gotta snap out of it!”

“Eeeyup. Thanks.” Big Mac took a step back and nodded at Kairi. “Ya related ta Alex? Look like his sister.”

The girl glanced back for a moment before she turned back to the dark figure. “Unless my brother ended up here, which I find very unlikely, no. Name’s Kairi by the way. Got anything we can use to hold him down?”

“Ah can run an’ get some rope, or Ah can pin an arm with the back of my sword. There’s a gap that’d fit.” Big Mac dipped his head down to the side and pulled the distinctly-designed form of Skysplitter seemingly from nowhere. This was followed by him slightly slurring, “Di’nt wanna hurt him, though.”

Another glance back had Kairi’s eyes widening in shock. “Oh great, the Heartless are already a bigger problem here than they are back home.” She sighed before turning back and fending off another of Anti-Alex’s strikes. “If you can get that axe around his neck and pin him to the ground, that should be enough.”

Striking out like a serpent, Anti-Alex wrapped its finger around Kairi’s neck. “Look at where those prissy games got you? You don’t even have a dick anymore.”

“Hey!” Big Mac shouted before swinging Skysplitter around in a wide arc to catch Alex’s wrist. The handle twisted in his mouth so that only the back of the blade made contact, and to avoid potentially injuring the new girl. “No picking on the guests!”

Kairi gasped as her airway reopened, before coughing out: “Get him pinned, quick. I’ll have an easier time helping then.”

“Took hours ta get him down the first time. Ya know how ta heal?”

“I have a way to drain the darkness of this form from hi - wait, the first time?!?” Kairi exclaimed. “This shouldn’t happen more than once in a Keyblade Wielder’s career, unless they are actively trying to go into it! Does he have a second personality or something?”

“Summin like that, eeeyup.” Mac answered quickly, then darted in under another swipe to hook the back of his weapon around one of Alex’s ankles. “Ya know Nightmare Moon?”

“OH COME ON!!!” Kairi cried. “Nightmare Moon AGAIN?!?!? Alright, hopefully, since Nightmare is Luna’s darkness, my technique will get her out of there as well. I can’t guarantee that though.”

“Careful with that. Heard from Luna she’s wrapped in his mom, or his memories. Nasty old nag.” Mac continued his wide attacks to try and trip Alex up; while also doing his best to avoid anything that might leave a severe injury afterwards.

“OK, so Nightmare is screwing with his head, that’s just great…” Kairi muttered as she quickly dodged under a Dark Void attack. “This is going nowhere fast. Mac, can you distract him for a bit? I have an idea.”

“How ‘bout Ah take him fer a walk, and you follow when ya got it settled?” Mac responded, seeming to chew on the grip of his weapon for a moment as he shifted it in his mouth and sidestepped a flurry of swipes.

Kairi nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll be right behind you!” After saying that, she once again switched Keyblades, this time the weapon that appeared had two hearts on the shaft, and its handle bore two angel wings. The teeth were fashioned in the shape of the Kanji for "light," and the weapon itself was pure white with blue, gold and purple highlights around the teeth. Her eyes closed as a glow surrounded her.

Big Mac let out a short grunt of effort as he dug his hooves into the ground and pushed off with most of his strength. The result was him taking off far faster than one would have expected and leaving small divots in the ground where he’d been standing. Skysplitter was brought up quickly to catch Alex in the gut with the hooked back side while Big Mac barreled past him. Of course, ‘past’ was a relative thing since the hooked back of the blade caught and dragged the darkness-enshrouded form of Alex along with the bulky red stallion.

Anti-Alex thrashed violently, clawing at the blade. Twisting like a snake, it climbed onto the flat of the blade, its balance unbreakable. Leaping forward, it landed on Mac’s back, swiping the back of his neck repeatedly, until a silver chain wrapped around its neck.

“Thanks for the distraction Mac,” Kairi said with a smirk. Kairi’s clothes now took on a silvery sheen, as she wielded a small scythe-like weapon with a weight on a chain. “Finally got Promise Keeper working!” She then gave her chain a yank, pulling Anti-Alex away from Mac, and slammed it into the ground.

Mac slowed his pace quickly, and stumbled as he tried to turn himself around instantly as the weight was lifted. “That was quick...and you use a farming tool from Neighpon?”

“I honestly wasn’t sure this was going to work,” Kairi explained, pulling the darkness-infused teen in for a devastating punch. “I'm kinda surprised pulled it off on the first try. And it’s a Kusari-gama, not a farm tool!”

Anti-Alex retaliated with a flurry of movement, slashing Kairi at various points of her body. “Worthless waste of skin. You should have been a girl, for all the sissy shit you’re into.” Roundhouse kicking Kairi, it propelled itself back towards Mac.

Mac levered himself back up as quick as he could, and reared up on his back legs to fend Alex off with his forehooves in an act of pure instinct. This proved to be unnecessary as the chain that was still wrapped around Alex’s neck stopped him a few feet short of the stallion, but it did reveal an odd-shaped silver scar on Mac’s stomach.

Kairi’s eyes glanced to the scar briefly, before turning back to Anti-Alex, as a plan quickly formed in her mind. She quickly jumped towards one of the trees behind the darkness-infused teen, then, upon reaching the tree, launched herself to another tree in front of him. She continued this, all the while the chain on her Kusari-gama grew longer as it wrapped around Anti-Alex, eventually leaving him cocooned in chains.

“Alright, now we can see if my hunch is right,” Kairi muttered, before turning back to Mac. “Mac, you might want to back off a bit. I have no idea what my technique will do to a Nobody like yourself.”

“Eeeyup.” Mac muttered while carefully walking a few paces away from whatever Kairi was doing and sitting down to observe. “Ah’ll just try that cure thing Lee tried teachin’ us. Don’t wanna have Apple Bloom worryin’.”

Kairi nodded as she turned back to the struggling teen. She opened her mouth wide and… nothing seemed to happen at first. Then, it suddenly seemed to get brighter as the shadows in the clearing, as well as those surrounding Alex seemed to be sucked into Kairi’s now gaping maw. As more shadows came away from him, his thrashing died down little by little, until all that was left of the seething darkness were the glowing yellow eyes. Kairi closed her mouth, swallowing her meal.

“Crap, I don’t think that was enough…” she muttered, as she saw the darkness returning to his skin.

“Mister Sister!” Screwball called, running through Kairi’s legs. “Big sister is here!” She jumped into the air and simply floated towards his chained-up form on the tree. “A-and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go all wrong. C-come back, please, and calm down for mommy and daddy? Daddy’s sure to be worrying about Mister Sister getting all dark and twisted again…”

Staring out at Screwball, Anti-Alex wormed an arm free. Reaching out, it touched her face. “Screw...ball?”

Screwball pressed her head against Alex’s hand and nodded. “I’m sorry Mister Sister. Wanted a fun day with family, not a day of hurt feelings and fighting. Come back, please, before Auntie has to bring down more anger and lightning.”

Anti-Alex’s grip increased for a moment before the shadows began to melt off its body like chocolate syrup running off of ice cream. Alex slumped back against the tree, his normal shadow reforming in the correct position. This revealed a face that was eerily similar to Kairi’s own, except for the black bangs.

Kairi’s eyes widened in shock. “Hold on, you got Displaced as Xion?!? I thought you said Alex was a guy!”

“He’s still a boy, even if he’s missing some parts. Just like I still call my daddy, daddy even if he’s been a mare for over a thousand years.” Screwball stated rather matter-of-factly.

Kairi’s eye twitched. “Celestia too?!? How in the…” she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “You know what? Forget I said anything about it. I’ve got enough of a headache figuring out my own gender…”

“Oh, you’re like Mister Sister too? Um, maybe you should untie him, chains cause pains.”

“Huh?” Kairi blinked. “Oh, right.” She retracted the chain, allowing it to return to its Keyblade form, her clothes returning to their standard pink and black.

Alex slumped forward, face planting into the dirt and was almost immediately lifted up onto Screwball’s back to head over towards Kairi. “Thank you, Mister sister is okay now. No more ink and rage!”

Kairi smiled, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. “It was no problem, really. I wish I could have done something about Nightmare’s influence though…”

“Come home with us? Mommy might want to meet you, and new daddy’s always nice? Have time for dinner and some chatting?”

Kairi nodded, smile never leaving her face. “I’d love to! Though I should probably point out that my diet is similar to Alex’s. No grass, no hay, and no flowers.”

“Daddy cooks fish for Mister Sister all the time, or eggs, and mommy can help make more for sure.” With that said, and nothing further other than a nod of her head, Screwball paused only to pull her hat off and whisper into it before beginning to float away. “Follow me.”

Kairi nodded as she dismissed her Keyblade. She followed closely behind the filly, only stopping to pick up a bag that she dropped near where she was first summoned. She then pulled out what looked like a cell phone, before making a call.

“Hey Luna… No, no, nothing’s wrong. I just thought I’d let you know I’d be a while… Yeah, you could definitely call it a meet and greet… You want me to do what?.... Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Hang on, let me check.” Kairi placed a hand over the microphone of her phone as she turned to Screwball. “Would you be at all opposed to having my little sister and my partner join us?”

Screwball had stopped a short distance away, but she looked back as the question was asked. “Homeward first for the best. You said Luna?”

“Yeah,” Kairi confirmed. “Long story, but we consider each other sisters.”

Screwball’s muzzle scrunched up as she thought long and hard. “Will have to ask mommy what she thinks about an auntie-but-not-auntie showing up, and how your sister would feel being around Discord.”

“Well, considering she knows about the show from where me and, most likely Alex, are from, Luna is well aware that Discord will eventually be reformed in our world,” Kairi said as she considered Screwball’s concerns, before removing her hand from the phone’s microphone. “Hey Luna, how would you feel about having dinner with Discord?... Uh-huh… Okay… Let me check.” She turned back to Screwball. “Will he keep his pranks in check?”

“Mommy only ever pranked Auntie when she started it before.” Screwball responded quickly with a wide smile. “No pranks from not-auntie means no pranks from mommy, except an accident or two from general playfulness.”

Kairi smiled. “She says that he won’t prank you, as long as you don’t prank him…” She nodded after listening for a second. “Alright, I’ll call you if they say you guys can come.” She hung up and turned back to the mare. “Luna says that she can deal with being around Discord, and that she wants to see another world, since she barely saw the last one we went to.”

“Okay, ready to go then?” Screwball bounced on the tips of her hooves for a few seconds, but stopped quickly as she remembered she was carrying Alex’s unconscious body.

Kairi nodded, before walking back over to her guide. “You know, I could probably lighten the load for you with a Zero Gravity spell.”

“Only if that would be more comfortable for Mister Sister. My fault, my load.”

“Fair enough. I honestly don’t know if it would be more comfortable for him,” Kairi replied.

The walk to Fluttershy’s cottage passed in comfortable silence, ended only by Discord greeting them at the door. Cloaked in paternal concern, he lifted Alex off Screwball’s back. “Never should have let Shonen Jump screw around with your brother’s heart.”

Kairi raised an eyebrow. “Shonen Jump? Who’d he meet, Naruto?”

“He met a Sora, one who kept him until nearly midnight local time and worried Fluttershy sick before I was able to punch a safe hole to use to get there and back with him myself.” Discord’s response was immediate as he held Alex carefully while examining Kairi’s face. “Fate’s a little funny that way, isn’t it? Much like how it brought you here to a world where someone who was turned into a near-clone of you was sent. Come in, come in. I need to get Alex into his room, where he’ll recover a little quicker, and you need to introduce yourself to his adoptive mother.”

Kairi snorted as she followed her hosts inside. “Fate seems to have a rather twisted sense of humor in my opinion…”

“Yes, yes, have fun talking to the missus.” Perhaps out of respect for Alex’s condition, Discord walked up to Alex’s room rather than teleporting with a snap. Laying him down on his bed, Discord scooped up the trash can and held it close to Alex’s head. “Time to wake up, Alex.”

A poke to Alex’s cheek brought him back to the world of the living. Lurching his head in panic, he grabbed the trash can and vomited out a sickly black slime. Convulsions racked his body as it purged what was left of the vile blackness from him.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Fluttershy walked out of the kitchen bearing a nervous smile, her mane and tail still visibly damp. “H-hello. You m-must be the one who helped Alex. M-my name’s F-fluttershy.”

The visiting girl turned when she heard Fluttershy speak, and almost instantly froze as she noted the odd ear tufts and batlike wings. “Please tell me you aren’t a vampony,” She said in shock.

“Oh, n-no, not really. Discord was able to fix that even if he couldn’t change everything back after my mistake, but it’s a long story. I do have to suck a few fruits dry daily now, but I have a mostly-normal pony diet otherwise.” Her wings fluttered for a moment as she spoke, and she shuffled her hooves before slowly walking forward.

Kairi sighed in relief as a smile came to her face. “Well, in that case, it’s nice to meet you Fluttershy, my name is Kairi.” She held her hand out to the mare as she spoke.

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, but lifted her forehoof up to meet Kairi’s outstretched hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Kairi. I assume you didn’t always look like Alex’s older sister, though.”

Kairi chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s right. I was originally a male college student at a karaoke contest. Like I told Discord earlier, I personally think that fate has a bit of a twisted sense of humor for turning me into a fictional girl that I was crushing on.”

“So you used to be a boy as well… how long has it been for you? Alex had an...unfortunate surprise after being here a couple weeks. There was, um, uh...well, there was blood, and he panicked.”

“Oh jeez, I know what you’re getting at,” Kairi said with a facepalm. “To answer your question about two weeks. I’m due for my first monthly any time now. Wow, never thought I’d ever say that to anyone…”

Fluttershy smiled in response and walked forward to gently nudge Kairi over towards the couch. “Why don’t you take a seat while you think about things that you probably didn’t consider yet? That’d be much better than falling on the floor after all. Alex and Discord brought back some supplies for that from the other side of a magic mirror, and I’m sure he’d be willing to share some with you to spare you the hassle.”

“That would be fantastic,” Kairi smiled, before taking a seat on the couch. “Oh, before I forget, my little sister and my partner would both like to join us, would you be at all opposed to them joining us?”

“Oh, more humans or ponies? I’m guessing one human at least? I might be able to stretch out the fish I have a bit if you’re okay with a salad? Alex doesn’t really like raw vegetables much.”

“Um, well,” Kairi twirls a lock of her hair as she considers how to describe her sister and partner. “My sister is a pony, per se, and my partner is more like a bipedal cat. So, no humans other than me and Alex.”

“Oh, okay then. I should have enough food to go around for an extra pony, since I’ve been buying more groceries with Screwball around lately. What does your cat friend eat? I think I might have some spare chicken that the animals I’m rehabilitating didn’t eat earlier.”

“I’m sure Chirithy would love that,” Kairi replies with a smile as she pulls her phone back out. “Hey Luna… Yeah, they said you can join us, so head to the Gate Room with Chirithy…Uh-huh… OK, see you soon.”

Fluttershy froze as that name registered. “W-wait, Luna? As in, the p-princess? Oh dear, what do I make for the princess? I can’t cook anything nearly as fancy as they do in Canterlot Castle!”

“Woah, woah, easy there Fluttershy,” Kairi held up her hands as she attempted to soothe the panicking mare. “Luna doesn’t really consider herself a princess in my world. You’ll see why when she gets here. Speaking of which, can I borrow your backyard to get them here?”

“Oh, yes, absolutely, but you might want to...oh dear, um, I suppose Winnie will be docile as long as you don’t get too close to her, but Harry’s a big cuddler as long as he catches even a bit of my scent on somepony. If you see two bears, stay away from the one with bee parts, but the brown one’s gentle enough.” Fluttershy’s ears almost seemed to perform an intricate dance as she spoke, flickering from concern to excitement and exploring a small range of emotions between them. “And if your Luna wants a pet, I may have a few animals...oh, no, nevermind. Your world’s version of me probably has animals that need homes too.”

Kairi giggled at that. “Chirithy is pretty much both me and Luna’s pet, though he will vehemently deny it when asked.” She led the bat-winged mare out to the backyard, heading all the way to the back before once again pulling out her phone and selecting an app labeled “Dial Home.” About twenty seconds later, a blue, water-like portal wooshed into existence, before allowing a blue humanoid figure half of Kairi’s height, and a small black and white striped cat to step out. It disappeared within a few seconds of them moving more than a foot away.

Fluttershy offered the new arrivals a weak smile while visibly trying not to shake too much. “H-hello there, um, w-welcome to our world?” She looked from Kairi to Luna and back a couple times. “Are all ponies in your world almost human, or did something strange happen to Luna?”

The cat-like creature nodded. “Yep, ponies are far more humanoid than here. Kinda surprised by that actually. My name is Chirithy, by the way.”

The blue, humanoid filly, on the other hand, offered Fluttershy a bright smile. “Hi Auntie Fluttershy! It’s nice to see you, well, a version of you!”

Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open and she stared for a few seconds before being overcome by a fit of giggling. “I’m your a-auntie in your world? Please don’t tell me Zephyr Breeze adopted you!? He can barely hold down a college course, nevermind take care of two children.”

Luna went crosseyed as she tried to work out what Fluttershy was talking about. “Um, I don’t know a Zephyr Breeze. You, and the rest of the Element Bearers are my aunties, for saving me from the Nightmare.”

The cat chose that moment to pipe up. “Luna here pretty much adopted them as her family when we destroyed her Heartless. Since then, the Element Bearers have been visiting the tower to either visit her or train.”

“Oh that’s much less alarming and hilarious, but I suppose I can see it. I mean, if Discord and I decide to take things a bit further, I would technically be related to our world’s version of you through Screwball, but that’s a complicated subject of its own.” Her nervousness seemed to dissipate quickly as they talked, and her smile became more genuine quickly. “Let’s get inside, though. I’m going to need to prepare a bit extra for dinner, and I want to check up on Alex as well. He is my son, after all.”

Kairi nodded in understanding. “I’d probably do the same if it was Luna in Alex’s position. No, I definitely would do the same.”

Meanwhile, upstairs, Alex had finished vomiting the remaining black ichor. Falling back onto his bed, he shuddered in disgust. “Am I going to do that... every time that damn thing comes out?”

“Frankly, Alex, I wish I knew. Whatever Nightmare Moon is, she was definitely not something that was ever supposed to exist in the first place, and she’s not even a monster like Winnie. She’s something I have no real experience with.” Discord handed Alex a glass of water and a cold towel. “Rinse out and cool yourself down, kiddo, then we can see about having a nice, relaxing family dinner with some guests.”

“Guests?” Alex question, taking the offered items. Taking a swig of water, he swirled it around in his mouth and spit into the bucket. “Snails or Sonata stopping by?”

“Someone who could almost be your twin, what feels like a younger version of Luna, and something I’ve never dealt with before that is tied to the girl.” Discord answered quickly while opening a small portal to drop the bucket into.

“...Please tell me it isn’t a girl with red hair.” Groaning, Alex buried his face in the towel. “Like I needed to be reminded of how useless I am.”

“It’s not a girl with red hair.”

“Well then, that means it’s Namine. Which... is better? I guess, maybe?” Slipping out of bed, Alex grabbed a clean pair of clothes and made his way into the bathroom. “Gonna get changed real quick, keep talking.”

Discord moved as if to stand guard next to the bathroom door. “What do you want me to talk about, exactly? Ambient chaos levels are slightly higher than usual for this part of the Everfree border, but that’s easily just a result of Screwball and I moving in with you and your mother.” Discord snapped his fingers and began writing a letter in a fairly official and elegant script as he spoke. “We were looking through a photo album together when your incident happened, one her parents sent over recently of Fluttershy’s younger years.”

“That sounds adorable. I have to get a look through that thing.” Stepping back out, Alex had changed into his regular pair of jeans and band t-shirt. “I’m gonna guess she was the tall one way back when.”

“Oh, she had an adorably lanky phase that wasn’t much different from how Snails looks now. That’s one of the cuter things in the book in my opinion.”

Giving the best smile he could manage, Alex locked arms with Discord. “Well, throwing up horrible darkness left a big hole in my stomach. How's about we go fill it with whatever Fluttershy’s got cooking?”

“Oh, there’s not much cooking at the moment.” Fluttershy’s voice came from the stairway as the tops of her ears became visible. Her head peeked up over the top of the stairs a second later bearing a smile. “I was just coming up to check on you, but it looks like you’re recovering quicker this time.”

“You know that could be a good thing or a bad thing.” Walking with Discord down the stairs, Alex was greeted by the usual worried gathering of animals. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I hope none of you got Winnie worked up.”

A snort of laughter was heard from the doorway. “Wait...Winnie? As in Winnie the Pooh? Really?”

“And what would you name a bug-bear?” Alex questioned while looking over at the door. His eyes widened and he immediately spun around and punched Discord on the shoulder. “You said it wasn’t a girl with red hair!”

Discord didn’t even flinch from the punch, and extended a finger to boop Alex on the nose before turning him back around to face their guest. “You did ask me not to tell you it was a girl with red hair. I wasn’t about to snap my fingers and change her hair color.”

Kairi watched the byplay with a steadily growing grin and suppressed laughter until she couldn’t hold it in anymore. “BWAHAHAH!! Oh this is TOO FUNNY! I don’t think I’ve ever seen ol’ Q get walloped like that, no matter what franchise he’s in! And not even being phased by it! Oh this is too good!”

“Young lady, I’m only slightly younger than the concept of dirt and time is my younger brother. There isn’t much that can physically harm me aside from being assaulted with a keyblade. Oh, sorry about the inherent paradox in my previous statement, but time did become a retroactive thing once he was born. I suppose that doesn’t make it any clearer, but that’s the dawn of reality for you.” Discord fired back with a playful tone in his voice.

“Uh, did you understand any of that, Chirithy?” the young Luna asked her feline companion, as Kairi got her laughter under control.

“Not really,” the cat replied. “But then again, I don’t think anyone but Discord could have possibly followed that…”

“Good, good, I don’t much like talking about most of my family members other than screwball and her father anyways. Too many old memories, and ones that can be hard to bear.”

“Wait a minute, did he…” Kairi turned to Alex. “Did he pull a Loki?”

Alex sighed and rolled his eyes while pushing Discord towards the kitchen where Fluttershy was already heading. “Let me explain, before you turn her brain into a pretzel or something by accident.”

“Loki wishes he looked as good as I do, but perhaps you’re right.” Discord smirked and then vanished in a puff of smoke in the shape of five letters. C, L, G, I, and O. The smokey letters clattered to the floor loudly before fading out.

Alex paced for a few seconds before just walking over to the dinner table and pulling out a few chairs. “Okay, I’ve been given the rundown by three different people, four if you count Screwball, and five if you count the version of Discord that dressed up as Bill Nye to explain the flowchart of the events. Basically, our world’s version of Luna had an older brother named Celestine, who was about as gay as you can get. Discord considers himself an omnigender pansexual, because he’s chaos and why limit yourself. They got into a relationship and Discord convinced Celestine to just try it once with a female...and that resulted in Screwball being born about a year later into a family situation that started out quite loving.”

He looked around a bit and rubbed his hands over his face as he considered how to best word the next part, Kairi and her group taking a seat as well. “A couple years later, Discord asked if Celestine would be willing to return the favor of bearing a child. Celestine said yes, and then immediately started feeling utterly wrong after the change. That’s when Discord found out that he couldn’t change someone else twice; only changing himself would work an unlimited number of times. That, combined with a few poorly-chosen words on Discord’s end of things, resulted in a family squabble involving two beings who could be classified as living weapons of mass destruction if one of them wasn’t also a reality warper. Long story short, Discord ended up petrified and Celestine changed his name to Celestia and, eventually, learned to like being a mare.”

Kairi shook her head. “Jeez, if I hadn’t originally been a guy myself, I’d be calling bullshit on that whole story…”

“Oh, you too? How long have you been displaced for?” Alex perked up a bit at this, though there was a hint of worry in his expression.

“As I told Fluttershy when she asked, about two weeks,” the red haired girl replied with a deadpan expression. “And yes, I’m expecting my first monthly in the next few days.”

“Right, yeah. Well, at least you’re smart enough to remember that. I completely forgot and then had a really fun morning out of the blue after a day of just not feeling quite right.” His voice practically dripped with sarcasm at the word ‘fun,’ and he shook his head quickly. “I bought a bunch of ‘sanitary napkins’ after a trip through a special mirror to another version of this world where every pony has a duplicate with a human body structure and the same skin tone as the color of their coat. I can see about having Discord do something to make a couple boxes last longer for you, or just make one unlimited or something?”

“Oh, you mean the Equestria Girls mirror portal, right?”

“Equestria girls? You’re kidding, right?”

Kairi smirked. “You think I’m joking? Well get a load of this then!” She pulled out a laptop from her bag and loaded up a picture simply labeled EqG.

“No, more like hoping you were joking, actually…”

“Well, sorry to disappoint, but that wasn’t the only questionable name that Hasbro came up with,” she replied with a snicker as she turned the screen to Alex, which revealed a picture of Twilight looking at her human self in a mirror, with the title reading Equestria Girls.

Alex stared at the screen, unable to put his confusion into words. “The f*** does Hasbro have to do with anything?”

Kairi blinked in surprise. “Wait, you don’t know?”

“...Don’t know what?”

“...That this entire world is based off of a children’s TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” Kairi explained. “Hasbro is the show runner, and Lauren Faust, one of the genius minds behind the Powerpuff Girls and other similar Cartoon Network shows wrote it.”

“But...Hasbro’s a pharmaceutical company.”

“Huh? No they aren’t,” Kairi shook her head in confusion. “They’re a toy company that branched into TV around 2009.”

“No... it’s a pharmaceutical company,” Alex pressed, frowning. “Last I heard, they were taking that asshole who bought that Wu Tang album and jacked the prices of the medication he owned to court.”

“...I am so confused right now…” Kairi put a hand to her eyes, rubbed them as she fought a migraine. “From what I can tell we’re obviously from two different versions of Earth. That’s new. I mean, I’ve seen Doctor Who enough to understand the concept, but I never expected to actually encounter that…”

“I mean, infinite realities, infinite possibilities.”

“Fair enough, I guess,” Kairi nodded.

The sound of a knock came from the center of the table about a second before a section of it lifted up and opened like there was a trapdoor underneath it. Screwball slowly floated up through the opening, and then immediately tackled Alex and hugged him. The faint smell of bubblegum and some kind of soap wafted from the doorway that was slowly swinging shut behind her.

“Oh no, not another one,” the visiting feline groaned.

“Wait, what do you mean another one?” the young humanoid Luna asked.

“Another Pinkie-esque individual,” Kairi explained.

Alex tumbled with Screwball, a bright smile on his face. “And where have you been hiding, Swirls?” Pinning the mare down, his fingers started to frantically scour her belly. “I won’t stop until you tell me.”

Screwball began laughing and squirming under Alex, and tried to bat his hands away from her belly with her hooves. “Al-lex! C-can’t breathe!”

“You gonna tell me?” he insisted, narrowing his eyes.

“S-shower! Mud-muddy track!” The laughing mare gasped out as the tickling continued.

Satisfied with her answer he stopped, instead pulling her into a hug. “At least one of us had that good sense to shower.”

Screwball hugged Alex back while continuing to giggle a little bit. “Too much mud on hooves from running. Normal, quiet voice said only one choice.”

Content to just pet her head, Alex nodded. “That’s not a bad choice. Thanks for saving me, Screwball.”

Screwball’s face drooped into a frown, but her hooves stayed locked around Alex in the hug. “Mister Sister wouldn’t have needed saving without me. My fault for pushing you into sisterhood social.”

His frown returning, Alex poked Screwball’s nose and held it there. “Hey, I had fun. Despite turning into a raging she-demon, I had fun. I just wish the whole ‘sisterhood’ thing mattered in the whole thing.”

“Uh, speaking of the whole ‘raging she-demon,’ you are aware of what that was, right?” Kairi asked with a look of concern.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I know what it is. It’s my version of Anti-Form. I just... get stuck in it because of my self-loathing tendencies.”

Kairi grimaced. “I had a feeling that was the case, but I noticed it was a lot more feral than any incarnation of Anti-Form, any idea why that might be?”

“Eh, probably because of Nightmare Moon.”

Kairi nodded. “Makes sense I suppose. Well, in any case, I should probably introduce my friends.” She gestured to the black and white striped cat. “This is Chirithy.” She then gestured to the blue humanoid. “And this is my sister Luna.” The two waved with a smile.

“Yo, weird thing from that dumb mobile game and furry bait Luna. How are you?” Rising to his feet, he carried Screwball like a kitten to the table. “Didn’t expect to see either of you here.”

Luna gave a confused tilt of her head, as Chirithy glared at Alex. “What does furry bait mean?” Luna asked.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Kairi growled, glaring at Alex with much more heat than Chirithy. “Mind not insulting my family there?”

“Mister Sister didn’t mean in insult. He called me ‘spirals’ because of how my eyes get when I feel too full of chaos to control things.” Screwball spoke up again. “Not-Auntie Luna should be happy, means Mister Sister thinks certain people from his old home would be more attracted to her.”

“That may be, but she shouldn’t know that at her age,” Chirithy replied, glare losing a bit of its heat.

“You mean not-Auntie isn’t over a thousand years old and wasn’t banished to the moon yet? Neat. I get to be older than my Auntie for once.”

Kairi grimaced again. “Not exactly, Screwball. Technically, Luna is over a thousand years old, but rather than become Nightmare Moon, she extracted her own heart due to paranoia. This resulted in a heartless that called itself Nightmare Moon, and if Celestia hadn’t cast a stasis spell on Luna’s body, it also would have created a Nobody as well. Luna is so young now, because in our world, when a pony loses their heart, their body ages rapidly backwards until it is literally nothing. Luna’s lucky that Celestia managed to cast her stasis spell when she did.”

Chirithy nodded as Luna pulled the cat into a hug. “No kidding. She wouldn’t be here if that spell had failed.”

Alex nearly dropped Screwball, looking Kairi dead in the eyes. “I’m not going to comment on my thoughts on that particular tidbit is. I’m just going to sit down and pet Swirly like a cat because I don’t want to come off as more insulting than I already have.”

Kairi nodded. “Good call. I’d have had to drag you to my training room and beat the crap out of you otherwise.”

“Make you eat rubber chicken. Mister Sister had a bad day.” Screwball grumbled a little and glared at Kairi.

“Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand,” Kairi said placatingly. “But when it comes to my family, I get extremely protective.”

Chirithy snorted. “Understatement of the year there Kairi. You almost killed Nat and Sora’s master that one time.”

“Ugh, how long are you gonna hold that over my head? It was a misunderstanding! And besides, I said I was sorry.” Kairi groaned.

There was silence for a few seconds, broken when, out of boredom, Luna said “When are you going to let me go into Resident Evil?”

Kairi blinked at the random change of topic. “I told you, when you’re able to summon your Keyblade. No sooner. It’s one of my most dangerous simulations after all.”

“If I had to guess what it would be, it’d most likely be Missing Ache.” Alex held his hand up and called forth Aubade. “It’s what Luna has here. Aubade was Celestia’s but, she cast it off when she banished Luna and it latched onto me when I got here.”

Kairi smiled. “Actually, it’s Oblivion. She briefly made it manifest a few days ago. Didn’t stay very long, but it was there. She just needs to get a little stronger.”

“Neat. Twilight has Sign of Innocence and Shining Armor has some weird, fancy version of Fenrir.”

“And that minotaur had a fancy one, and the big dog lady had two. One that she threw and one on her back.” Screwball mentioned while thinking back to the Gala.

“Interesting,” Kairi muttered, eyes closed. “Your world is much more diverse in terms of Keyblades, and wielders.” She shook her head before looking back to Alex. “In any case, Luna unintentionally brought up something that might help you out, as well as give you a taste of home. How would you like full access to my training room?”

“Uh, I’m already getting spellcasting and keyblade-focused combat training in my sleep from our Luna, alongside Twilight and Shining Armor, and I’m getting beaten up every few days in the woods by Lee and some of the nobodies that have, unfortunately, been created since I arrived. Sonata’s there too, usually working with Lee on some kind of target practice with her water spells and siren water control.”

“But do you get situational combat training, problem solving, and thinking on your feet?” Kairi asked with a smirk. “My training room creates a simulation based off of the video games from home. As you would expect, that means you can ‘play’ through the scenarios of those games, or create scenarios based off the assets of those games. I doubt that Lee- wait a minute. Lee? Who’s that?”

“Of course he does.” Lee ported into the room, his eyes locking onto the newcomers. “Part of my Organization 13’s mandate is to help Equestria’s wielders prepare for whatever might come calling.”

Kairi gave a start, before leaping to her feet and calling Destiny’s Embrace to her hands. “Xemnas,” she growled.

“Weird tan!” Screwball shouted excitedly while waving to Lee from Alex’s lap. “I have some ice cream somewhere for you. Pumpkin and pistachio!”

Kairi blinked, confused. “What’s going on here?”

“Uh, okay, for starters, yes, Lee was dressed up as Xemnas when he was Displaced, but he’s on the good guys’ side here. He’s the reason Big Mac’s back with his family instead of wandering the Everfree after being mobbed by heartless on Nightmare Night.”

Kairi fixed a suspicious glare on the Displaced Xemnas, before reluctantly dismissing Destiny’s Embrace. “Fine, I’ll tolerate you for now. Now, why not actually give Alex some scenarios to deal with as part of training? My training room can provide that.”

“An endless supply of nobodies sees to that.”

Kairi rolled her eyes. “That may be true, but it’s the same scenario over and over again. At some point he’ll start to stagnate, not growing past a certain point.”

“You look like Kairi. You should be well aware that each member of the Organization gives rise to their own type of nobody. Random groupings ensure that there’s enough variety for the time being. I do hope we can start getting ahead of the curve and cut off the source of people being turned into them, though.”

“But that is only fighting,” Kairi argues. “He should be able to tactically meet objectives, like escorting someone or something, or surviving a battle with limited resources. You’re telling me that only fighting Nobodies will prepare him for every situation out there?”

“There is a limited amount of time in a day, and a limit to how far his energy can be stretched before he needs to rest. Getting him trained for combat so that certain things, like dodging, become second-nature has been my top priority to ensure that he survives so that other things can be taught.”

“Perhaps a demonstration is in order,” Kairi suggested.

“What kind of demonstration do you have in mind, and how would we get to your training room all at once?” Lee asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kairi grinned. “I’d have my students run a simulation or two with you watching. Afterwards, you’d have a chance to run the simulations yourself. As for getting there, let’s move to the backyard.”

“Oh, we’re leaving now?” Screwball perked up a bit at this news, then placed a hoof on the table. “We should leave a note for mommy and Fluttershy, otherwise worries about Alex make both crazy.”

Kairi nodded. “Good idea. It’ll give me time to call my students.” She pulled out her phone, selecting one of her contacts. “Hey Twilight… Good job… Listen, I need you to get the girls and head to the training room… Something like that… Alright, we’ll be waiting, bye.” With that, Kairi hung up.

While Kairi was on the phone, Screwball had reached into her hat and pulled out a scroll and a quill and was busy writing a note on it. The scroll and quill were both floating and moving slightly as if being held in the magical grip of a unicorn while Screwball appeared to be nothing more than an earth pony.

Chirithy looked on in surprise. “How are you doing that?”

“Seriously? Discord’s her mother and you’re asking how she does things that defy normal logic?” Alex asked while pushing away from the table and standing up, allowing Screwball to simply float in midair in the exact same position she’d been laying on his lap in.

“Fair point,” Chirithy nodded. “I mean, we haven’t had any contact with Discord yet in our world, so it makes at least a little sense that I’d be questioning it.”

“Fair point.” Alex responded, with his face splitting open in a grin as he did.

Kairi nodded as she gestured for them to follow her into the back yard, as she scrolled through the apps on her phone. Once they were outside, she touched the app labeled “Dial Home” once more, and after 20 seconds, the portal once again wooshed open. “Rides here. Just walk through the Gate, and you’ll be a short walk from the training room.” With those words, she stepped through the portal, followed by Luna and Chirithy.

“Oh, I hope she remembered to make it stay open, otherwise I’m pretty sure Discord’s going to set off all kinds of alarms when he breaks through to her world.” Alex muttered as she stepped up to the portal and paused for a moment.

“No worries, Mister Sister. I’ll leave a trail of breadcrumbs for mommy to follow.” Screwball responded before pushing Alex through the portal and diving in herself.

Lee simply shook his head before stepping through.

Sibling Social Activities Part Two

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. shagohad12 and Voldine

Chapter 15: Sibling Social Activities Part Two

WARNING: This chapter contains some swearing. Reader discretion is advised!

Third Person POV

“Woah woah whaaaa!” Screwball cried out as she felt her body bend and warp in-transit through the gateway. She landed in a crumpled, pastel heap on the other side, contorted in such a way that even a professional would think she’d broken her spine. “Ohhh, I feel like week-old chewing gum.”

“Well, that was unexpected,” Kairi deadpanned as she got a look at the mare exiting the Gate.

Alex stepped out beside her, rubbing his arms. “Okay, that’s cold. Very, very cold.” Looking down, he frowned. “You okay, Screwy?”

“I feel all stiff and chewy at the same time.” She groaned as she started to straighten herself out. All of her joints started popping, and she actually sucked in a breath through her teeth as she rolled over and got all of her limbs on the same side. “Shut up bones. Don’t wanna hear it!”

“Uh, I don’t think bones work that way,” Luna giggled at Screwball’s antics.

“You uh... need any help?” Alex questioned, kneeling down beside her. “Cause, you look like you do.”

“You also look kinda…” Kairi trailed off.

“Different,” Chirithy finished, turning around quickly.

“I feel like I got trampled by a herd of buffalo and left to rot.” The mare stands up slowly, and visibly hesitates as she starts to push herself up once it becomes clear to her that her body has been altered. She brings her forelimbs up in front of her face and wiggles the wormlike things on her hooves a bit. “Alex, why do my hooves look like they got mixed with your arms?”

“Fascinating, it appears that our world’s magical field interacted with your Chaos magic to help you blend in here,” a new voice speaks up from the doorway. It was a full-figured, pale-skinned young woman of about 18 years of age. She had wavy blonde hair which reached about halfway down her back, with two shorter locks of hair over shoulders and side-swept bangs that framed her face and crystal blue eyes.

She wore a white short-sleeved dress shirt with plaid cuffs under a dark raspberry pink vest, with a large plaid bow at her collar. This was accompanied by pale grey capri pants, under which are a pair of plaid pink socks and a pair of heeled brown boots. Finally, to finish her looks, she wore a wrist-watch and pink, oval-framed glasses.

“Melissa, what are you doing here?” Kairi asks in surprise. “I had thought that Haley would be here.”

“Yeah, about that,” Melissa replies, adjusting her glasses as she approaches. “Like the scatterbrained girl she is, she forgot about something that she needed to do with Trixie.”

Alex clicked his tongue, turning to look back at the Gate. “You know, at least it could have given me some interesting clothes.”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that,” Kairi chuckled. “If it was a portal based on magic that would be the case, but this is more grounded in science. I mean, I had to get help from a Time Lord to get it to work!”

Screwball finally managed to stand up, though still appeared a bit wobbly on her hooves, as well as elsewhere. She took one look down at herself and her altered body, then quickly shook her head as she looked around. “No, no bodies that look like this need clothing. Alex wears it all the time so…” She looks down at her hand and balls her fingers up, then slowly manages to get them into a position to snap. “Mommy controls hers this way, maybe I can…”

Alex kept his gaze on the Gate. “Yes, you need clothes, Screwball. Let me know when you aren’t naked anymore.”

Screwball snapped her fingers, and a sound like a box full of bells falling down a flight of stairs rang out, accompanied by a flash of light. Once the flash vanished, she stood a little more confidently as she brushed her mane back out of her face and under her hat. A torn, pink t-shirt under a fuschia tank top covered her from shoulders to belly button, and one arm was covered in a yellow and white shoulder-length glove. A pink and maroon plaid skirt hung from her hips to around the middle of her thighs, and she was wearing what looked like snowshoes strapped to her hooves.

Kairi, Luna and Melissa all blinked in confusion. “Um, I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s with your shoes? They look a bit…” Melissa trailed off, trying to find the right word.

“Bizarre?” Chirithy chimed in.

“I wasn’t gonna put it that bluntly,” Melissa sighed. “But yes, they do look rather bizarre and impractical.”

Alex dared to peek around, visibly relaxing. “I mean, she’s a being of chaos. I’m surprised she even has style.” Stepping closer, he pulled Screwball into a hug. “Nice look.”

“Ack! Carefulnobalance!” Screwball’s arms whirled a little before wrapping painfully tight around Alex’s shoulders. She ended up relaxing and turning it into more of a hug after a few seconds, but panic was clear on her face for a bit. “The magic feels weird here, but I can think clearer than usual.”

“Hmm, interesting,” Melissa replied, pulling out a scanner of some sort. “It might have something to do with the fact that the power of the Tree of Harmony is powering the Tower. Don’t quote me on that though.”

Screwball thinks for a couple seconds before nodding. “Makes sense to me. My dad’s a pony after all, so that would be why it doesn’t hurt or anything.”

Melissa nods as she puts away her scanner. “Good. Now that we have that out of the way, everyone should be at the Simulation Hall. Shall we head up?”

Screwball takes her time to steady herself again before brushing herself off and looking over to Alex. “I’m gonna just follow along, okay? This is...mostly to help you work things out.”

“Yeah sure.” Alex nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. “Lead the way, oh great red-headed doppelganger.”

Kairi smirked as she waved for them to follow her. “Prepare to have your mind blown then!” She led the group up the stairs to a large control room with multiple video game systems hooked into the large console. “Hmm, let me think now…” she muttered as she brought up a holographic display.

“Hey Kairi, what did you- oh!” the voice of Twilight Sparkle questioned from the doorway, her friends crowding behind her. “You didn’t say anything about guests.”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, Twilight, girls, meet Alex, Screwball and Lee.” Kairi replied, her eyes never leaving the display. “They summoned me earlier to, uh, well the details don’t really matter. Listen, I need you to help me demonstrate the Simulator.”

“Sure,” Twilight nodded. “What did you have in mind?”

“Hold it!” Rainbow Dash cried out. “Are we seriously just gonna brush off Kairi’s black-haired twin over there?”

“In all honesty, darling, it's a big multiverse,” Rarity replied with a shrug. “Remember last week, Trixie’s twin?”

“Yeah, after that, not much surprises me anymore,” Applejack agreed with a shrug.

Alex stared at Kairi for a moment, an uncertain look crossing his face. “...Oh god, we’re biologically the same person, aren’t we?”

Kairi glanced back at Alex. “I wouldn’t say that, especially since if the lore of the games is similar between our worlds, you’re closer genetically to Sora than to me.” She turned back to the holo-display. “In any case, I’m still not entirely sure which game to use. We need something that emphasises teamwork…”

Alex’s stare hardened. “Xion was made from Sora’s memories of Kairi. We’re legitimately the same person with a different hair color gene.”

“Huh, I guess the lore is slightly different then,” Kairi shrugs. “Overwatch is a possibility, but there’d be no way to replicate the abilities…”

“We’d just need a Namine and the trio would be complete,” Lee commented, watching the pair.

“OH, OH! What about Splatoon 2?!” Pinkie bounced up with a grin. “It's got LLOOOOOTTSS of teamwork!”

Kairi’s eyes lit up. “Why didn’t I think of that! OK then, we’re gonna have a 6 on 6 match; you six against me, Melissa, Luna, Alex, Screwball and Lee. I’ll load up a tutorial program before we actually do a match. Sound good, everyone?”

Taking a breath, Alex let it out slowly. “Okay. Save the extra existential breakdown for later. Squid-kid memes for the present. Right. Got it.”

Kairi nodded with a grin. “Alright then. Computer, load simulation Splatoon 2 Tutorial.”

“Simulation loading.”

“Alright, if everyone would step into the Simulator, we can get started.”

A set of double doors at the end of the control room slid open, allowing the group of twelve to file into the currently blank space.

“Simulation ready.”

“Begin simulation.”

With those words, the blank space faded into a large cartoony obstacle course. A row of various weapons lined the wall on one side. Kairi gestured towards the weapons. “Alright, everyone choose a weapon. The computer will then teach you everything you need to know. Once we’re ready, I’ll load up the stage.”

“Ohhhhh!” Screwballs eyes briefly turned into spirals as she set her gaze on a weapon that looked like a cross between a mop and a hairdryer, with the tip of the ‘mop’ covered in a neon pink liquid. The same color glowed in a band around the middle of the part that looked like a hairdryer. “That’s a big brush... MINE!” She leapt at it and pulled it off of the wall with an evil-sounding giggle.

Alex eyed her, bumping his hip against hers. “Calm down. You don’t want to have another episode, do you?” His eyes moved across the weapon selection, attempting to find something similar to Widow’s Fang’s rifle.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that here,” Melissa spoke up as she approached the weapons rack, selecting a weapon that looked oddly like an umbrella. “The fact that the entire Tower is running on Harmonic Magic should keep her Chaos Magic in check.”

“I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I just got a little excited.” Screwball giggled a bit more, and she hugged the oversized paint brush tightly. “Biggest brush I’ve ever seen and you worry because my eyes swirled.”

Lifting one up, Alex tested its weight. “Screwy, I literally turn people into clothes and wear them for super powers. A giant paint brush is kinda tame.”

“Just because I can’t draw now doesn’t mean I never liked art.” Screwball shot back, with more than a hint of actual venom in her voice. She gave the weapon a couple test-swings, and nearly fell over as the momentum going side-to-side proved itself to be more than a match for her nascent sense of bipedal balance.

“I never said anything about you not liking art,” Alex pointed out, lifting one off its resting place. Its weight felt about right. “I’ll take this one.”

“A Goo Tuber, huh?” Kairi interjected, selecting a gigantic paint roller. “Interesting choice.”

“I’ve had a bit of practice,” Alex said, resting it on his shoulder. “Shouldn’t be too hard to start using.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Kairi shrugged, resting the roller on her shoulder. “Melissa, Luna and myself, as well as the Mane Six have already gone through the tutorial, so we’ll let you guys familiarize yourselves with how the game works.”

“I’ll take these, I guess.” Lee spoke up at last while reaching for what looked like two pistol-gripped super-soakers. “I believe that’s all of us.”

Luna gave a hard look to the weapons on the wall before hefting a smaller, but still massive roller, before retreating to Kairi’s side. “I’m just gonna follow big sis’s lead. The rollers are fun to use!”

“Okay, so, how do we go to the tutorial?” Screwball’s voice could be heard, but she was suddenly nowhere to be seen as a soft ‘pop’ rang out.

“Like that,” Kairi giggled.

Alex frowned, eyeing the space where Screwball had been. Deciding to just roll with it, he cleared his throat. “Tutorial.”

Nothing happened, and Lee nodded quickly. “I get it. You have to say it as a normal conversational order. Go to the tutorial.” And with that, Lee vanished as well.

“Ugh fine. Take me to the tutorial.”

The world around Alex blurred and shifted, and he soon found himself in an area that looked a lot like some kind of modified skatepark. Floating in the air in front of him was a green balloon and a few words: Okay, time to make sure your brain wasn’t scrambled. Shoot the balloon!

Lifting his weapon, he fired it at the indicated object. He poured his frustrations into the tutorial, finding catharsis in the simple tasks. It felt good, not having to deal with anyone or anything for a few minutes. Even being momentarily transformed into a squid made of ink by a prompt to think about it didn’t bother him much since it seemed to be perfectly under his control.

Passing through things that were otherwise solid barriers as a squid was a little weird, but climbing effortlessly up walls covered in ink was kinda cool, and before too long Alex found himself standing next to Lee back at the weapon racks. Screwball was nowhere in sight.

“...She can’t double jump can she?” he asked no one in particular.

“Uh, double jump?” Kairi asked in confusion. “There’s no double jump in Splatoon.”

“It’s a joke about game journalists,” Alex replied, waving her off. He sat against the wall, laying his weapon across his lap. “Don’t worry about it.”

Screwball popped back into view about five minutes later with a huge grin on her face. “So much paint, but I had so much trouble reaching the top of that wall with my brush. Couldn’t jump high enough to smack the top.”

“Meh, that’s a common problem with the Inkbrush,” Kairi shrugged. “Now then, does everyone have a good grasp of their weapons, and how the game works?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“Excellent!” Kairi exclaimed with a vicious grin. “Computer, end simulation and load Simulation Humpback Pump Track.” The weapons rack faded back into the blank space at her words.

“Simulation ready.”

“Begin simulation!” A large skatepark faded into existence, with the Mane Six on one side, sporting grey ink, while Alex, Kairi, Screwball, Luna, Melissa and Lee sported red ink. “Alright everyone, this is Turf War! Paint as much of the stage as you can, while avoiding getting splatted by the opposing team! The team with the most ground covered in their colored ink at the end of the three minute timer wins!”

“Yeah, I know how Splatoon works,” Alex said, standing back up. “I don’t think this will end well for them.”

“I’m explaining it for our audience’s benefit,” Kairi replied, calling up a video display of the control room, only to be greeted by the sight of Discord and Fluttershy furiously making out. Discord turned his head, snapping away the camera feed.

Kairi blinked. “Seriously? I explain what's going on for you two, and you aren’t even paying attention?”

The display turned into a pair of yellow and red eyes briefly. “Well, excuse me for wanting to indulge my dear Fluttershy in exploring the exotic body coming to your world gave her. You’re children. You don’t need to watch.”

“STOP! We don’t need to know any more!” Kairi shouted, slamming her hands over Luna’s ears. “And for your information, Haley, who is currently not around and is definitely underage, could come in at any moment!”

“Then it’s a good thing I set up a SEP field. Anything objectionable that someone might see becomes Somebody Else’s Problem.”

Kairi’s eyes narrowed for a moment before she sighed, shaking her head. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just get on with the game…”

Alex and Screwball both heard a whisper in their ears as the yellow eyes vanished from sight. “Don’t worry, kids, I’m recording everything and I’ll play it back later as a projector so you can watch.”

A moment later, the match opening music played.

“Ready?” The computer intoned, prompting everyone to shift their position into a ready position. GO!”

Kairi and Luna immediately got to work with their rollers, painting the floor around the spawn point a bright neon red, and slowly making their way out while evenly coating the floor. Lee moved with purpose, his movements steady and purposeful.

Within seconds, he finds himself face to face with a smirking Rainbow Dash. With a cry of “Eat ink!” she splatted him right in the face. Or at least tried to. Moving around Rainbow’s body, he opened up on her back, right before she switched to squid-form and swam out of there. “Almost had me there!” she called out over her shoulder.

“Well then, it's a good thing I’m here to finish you off,” Melissa grinned as she stepped right into Dash’s path.

“Ahh, crap..” she muttered as the bespectacled girl splatted her.

Alex found himself a high spot, kneeling down and taking aim with his weapon. Closing one of his eyes, he peered down the iron sights. Counting off, he pulled the trigger, catching Twilight in the side.

Kairi, who had been spending her time painting over all the area on her team’s side of the map, grinned as her special ability finished charging. “Guys, when I give the signal, I need you all to shout BOOYAH!”

“What’s the signal?” Melissa yells back.

“You won’t miss it!” Kairi replies, switching to squid-form and swimming to the middle of the map, barely hiding a wince as she does so.

“Why are we shouting?” Screwball asked, accidentally dodging a shot from Applejack.

“It’s called a Booyah Bomb,” Melissa explained as she dodged a blob lobbed at her by Fluttershy. “Basically, the more people who shout “booyah” on the team, the quicker the attack charges!”

While she was explaining, Kairi had made it to the center of the map and leapt into the air, a red orb of ink forming above her. “BOOYAH!” she shouted, being echoed by Melissa and Luna.

“Oh! Booyah!” Screwball shouted, giggling up a storm.

Kairi’s smirk grew as the Booyah Bomb finished charging. She carefully took aim and tossed it directly into the center of the Mane Six’s formation, where it detonated, splatting every single one of them. She then flinched, as if in extreme pain, and collapsed to her knees clutching her abdomen.

Melissa, spying this, quickly took over in directing the team. “Quick, cover as much turf as possible, we have one minute left, and not long before the other team is back up!”

“Or, we could just stop and find out why she collapsed?” Alex suggested, hefting his rifle over his shoulder.

“I think we both know what’s wrong,” Melissa called back. “Besides, she wouldn’t want us to end the match on her account. She’s kinda hardcore when it comes to training.”

Alex just shrugged, tossing the last of his grenades at a few uncovered spots. Lee emptied his guns out on a wall, making a few nobody symboles. Screwball did whatever she pleased, getting paint everywhere.

The Mane Six put up a valiant effort to retake lost ground, but were met at every turn by a grinning Luna, rolling over them with her oversized paint-roller, or by Melissa and her trusty umbrella. Suffice it to say, Kairi had returned to the spawn point to rest and observe since the pain she was experiencing seemed to ebb and flow with passing time.

Before long, the whistle signalling the end of the match blew. Everyone gathered in the center of the map, where a holographic display appeared, displaying the results. 62.6% to 40.9% Team Ketchup.

“Nicely done,” Kairi grinned at the team, wincing a bit as she leaned on Melissa. “I’m honestly surprised how well you handled yourselves. As for you six,” she turned to the Mane Six with a frown. “You’re gonna be running The Vault of Glass tomorrow.” The Mane Six paled at this, particularly Fluttershy, before nodding their understanding.

“This was... adequate,” Lee commented, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

“Glad to hear it,” Melissa smiled. “It did take me about 200 years to get right, after all.”

Alex sighed, rubbing his neck. “Alright, Ginger-Me. Let’s go have a chat before you need new underwear.”

Kairi blushed. “That obvious, huh?”

Melissa rolled her eyes. “Hunny, you couldn’t have been more obvious even if you tried...”

***

“Alright, dear, I know we got off, errrr, we started on some bad footing a bit there, but I hope this makes up for it somewhat. No need to run out to the drug store in the middle of the night. I just grabbed a copy of the version I made for Alex a couple months ago.” Discord smiled as he handed over a gift-wrapped package to Kairi, and it was a smile that was kind in almost every way.

Kairi, her face as red as a tomato, gladly took the package. “How long will these last me?”

“It’s a chaotic infinite supply. Every time you take one out it’ll add between one and three to the package. That’s the closest I can get to a predictable effect that won’t change over time. Despite what a furry edgelord hedgehog might attest, chaos is hard to control.”

“In other words, keep Luna and Haley away from it, got it,” Kairi replied with a nod.

“I heard that!” Came Luna’s faint response from down the hall.

Kairi blinked in shock. “How did she do that? Don’t answer that.”

“Now, listen, I worked with our Twilight on these so there’s a bit of extra magic to them. Alex had issues with a certain classmate being utterly insufferable so, let’s just say that you won’t have to worry about much or use more than one a day. Each one, once unsealed, will last for about 30 hours to account for variations in your personal schedule and other things that can come up. There’s a tiny pamphlet in there just in case you feel the need to read more or if your Twilight ever needs to make a replacement.”

“Or another one for Luna,” Kairi mutters, as she nodded her understanding. “Hey Alex, how do you feel about getting our minds off this with a little spar?”

Alex turned, having been in conversation with Screwball. “Uh, sure. We can do that. We got an audience for an exhibition match.”

“Alright then,” Kairi grinned. “Computer, load simulation Oblivion.”

“Simulation loading...Simulation ready!”

Kairi led the way into the Simulator as the lights came on. The arena itself seemed to be suspended in space, within an astrolabe-esque sphere. Outside the sphere, was what appeared to be various stars. The arena floor was black, with a strange, white-hooded figurehead on one end, and the looming visage of a reaper on the other, with plenty of space to fight between the two.

Alex stared for a long while, slowly looking at Kairi. “This is because of the Xion thing isn’t it?” he asked, calling Aubade to his hand. “Cause if it is, that’s just a low blow, Mary Jane.” He dropped into a stance, a firm grip on Aubade’s handle.

“Nah, I don’t do mind games,” Kairi shrugged, summoning Way to Dawn. “I was just getting tired of using a Persona 3 arena. What say we get this started?”

“Oh, it’s pretty in here.” Screwball giggled as she looked around slowly, then walked out to the edge of the platform. She took a few seconds to look down over the edge, then turned around and sat down right there.

“Okay, if you want to watch in here rather than in the control room, I want you to sit in space off of the platform,” Kairi directed. “Don’t worry, you’ll just float in space there.”

Screwball clicked her tongue before shaking her head, and then reached up into her hat. A few seconds later, and with more of her arm going in than should have been possible, she pulled out a plastic toy trumpet. “I’ll be fine. I watch Alex train against nobodies all the time and don’t get hurt. And this way you’re closer to me and will be able to hear better.”

“Fine,” Kairi sighed, shaking her head. “Luna, you stay in the control room. You don’t have the same skills as Screwball.”

Discord and Alex’s Fluttershy flew in as well, with Discord summoning a park bench for them to sit on a good ten feet away from the platform. Fluttershy’s body was hidden under bulky and concealing clothing, yet her face was still visibly flushed. A few seconds after getting that set up, Discord pulled a sign and foam finger out of nowhere and held both up. Go Alex, Go! was written on the sign in what looked like fingerpaint, and the foam finger declared #1 Son!

Kairi just stared at the two of them in disbelief. Her face morphed into shock, a gauntleted fist swinging at her chest. She quickly moved her Keyblade to block, just barely deflecting the fist away from her.

“Hey now, that was awfully rude, don’t you think?” She asked as she jumped back, melting into her shadow.

“Pay attention,” Alex chidded, bouncing on his heels. Aubade had vanished, replaced by a pair of gauntlets that didn’t resemble the keyblade in the slightest. The gauntlets themselves look to be made of wood, a shimmer of mist clinging to them. “Because I’m not going to go easy on you.”

A distorted chuckle sounded behind him. “You might want to take your own advice.” Kairi replies, the shadow rising from the floor and sharpening, before eyes and a mouth open in a macabre grin. The shadow lunges at Alex, aiming to disable his arms.

Alex dropped, already turning. He brought a fist up, rocketing towards Kairi’s jaw. As he did this, Screwball began to blow into her toy trumpet, and what emerged was not only the sound of an actual trumpet, but also drums and multiple other instruments.

Alex’s fist, however, made contact not with Kairi’s jaw, but with a sharpened shadow. “You’ll have to come up with something better than that.” Kairi giggled. “When I’m like this, I can sharpen any part of me, and I could even be any shadow in the room.”

Discord leaned over and whispered in Fluttershy’s ear, “Kind of makes you glad Alex only has a fragment of Nightmare Moon inside him instead of whatever that is, doesn’t it my dear?”

An eye opened right in front of Discord. “This is just Shadow Dragon Slayer magic. There’s nothing inside me except a lacrima that allows me to use the magic.” The eye abruptly closed after she explained herself.

The gauntlets shifted, transforming into Evolution’s Edge, a keyblade that looked like it was made from parts of alien bugs. Alex raised his keyblade above his head, his form fading away as magic washed over him, causing Kairi’s shadows to recoil and search for him.

“Hmm, I forgot about the Vanish spell,” Kairi muttered, emerging from her shadows. “How about we disable those pesky utility spells?” she asks as a violin began to play.

“Balloonra,” Alex spoke in her ear as he faded into view. A cluster of translucent beach balls coalesced into existence at his command. They broke formation, homing in on Kairi.

“Angel of Black and White!” she cried as she jumped into the air. As she jumped, a white angel wing sprouted from her left shoulder, while a red and black demon wing sprouted from her right. Her Keyblade itself changed to resemble Riku’s Soul Eater sword from the first Kingdom Hearts game. She ducked and weaved through the attack as she began to sing.

“They say a choice
In the darkest hour
Is the way we find out
What we are made of”

Alex had hunkered down, bringing the barrel of Evolution’s Edge rifle up. He fired, once, twice, three times. Each bolt of energy charged with Silence.

“Hey!” Screwball shouted as she noticed that her music wasn’t coming out as loud or clear anymore. “No fair interrupting a performance! It’s time to duel!” She began to blow into her trumpet once more, this time emitting nine iconic notes from a banjo.

“But if I chose
As a blind man would
Only hearing voices
Inside my head”

Kairi continued to dodge and weave through the energy blasts, occasionally throwing a light orb at Alex, as well as conjuring an orb of shadows around Screwball. However, after a few seconds of missing her mark, she canceled her Keyblade transformation and dropped to the floor, using a Blizzard spell to conjure some cover.

A couple seconds later, Screwball’s head popped out of the neck of Alex’s shirt alongside his, followed by her arms and her body stretching out in a completely impossible way as she climbed out. “That was mean! You’re being mean! I don’t wanna play anymore!” She immediately began to walk away towards the edge of the platform where Discord and Fluttershy’s bench hovered.

“Can I say
(It was right
To snuff out)
Every foe
(I could find
What about) me?”

Kairi shrugged as she switched to a new Keyblade. This one had a blue rounded guard with golden swirls, the grip being a deep shining gold. The blade itself was red, having interlocking spell matrixes along it, and the teeth looking to be the writing of enchantments. The keychain was long, with a rainbow Fairy Tail emblem at the end. She jumped out, charging forward to attack Alex, shadows crawling along the blade as she took a swing at him.

“Gah! What the f***, Screwball!?” Alex stared at his sister before firing off a few rounds at Kairi. Evolution’s Edge shifted into its scythe form. The blade hummed, slicing through the air to meet Kairi’s blade.

“What? It’s not like you’re using Victoria’s Secret Compartment for anything.” Screwball responded before hopping backwards off the platform and hovering over to sit on the back of the bench next to Discord.

“Dark Sun
Whenever you rise
Day turns to night
Dark Sun
Your rays paralyze
The beating wing in flight
Dreamers in midstride”

After the two Keyblades met in midair, Kairi vaulted over Alex, taking a swipe at his unprotected back.

“Dark Sun
Wherever you shine
Eyes turn to stone
Dark Sun
The fate of the blind
And now I'm all alone
In my starless mind”

Alex was already moving, losing a few strands of hair as her keyblade passed over his head. Bringing the bottom of his scythe back, he jabbed it at Kairi’s stomach. Not expecting a counter attack like that, she takes the jab, getting knocked backwards in the process.

“Not bad,” she grinned. “Not bad at all. I assume those Keyblades you’re using are based off of other Displaced you’ve met?”

“Yeah, they are,” Alex confirmed, brandishing his weapon. “Yours the same?”

“Yep,” she nodded as she removed her jacket, revealing her bare arms. “It came from the same person who taught me Shadow Dragon Slayer magic, and as it turns out, Fairy’s Flow amplifies those skills!”

She took a deep breath before shouting “SHADOW DRAGON ROAR!”, launching a tornado of shadows at Alex, before continuing her song.

“And now the wind
Blows against my stride
And I'm losing ground to
Enemies on all sides”

The scythe-blade of Evolution’s Edge began to glow an eerie yellow-green as Alex focused on that tornado of darkness, and he chuckled for a second before jumping right towards it while bringing the blade back and up over his head. He started to hack at the shadows with the glowing blade of light, almost treating it as if it were an oversized punching bag to keep himself airborn with rather than an attack that he was barely keeping at bay.

“Am I the prey
That was hunter once
Could it be my last day
Could they strike me down?”

Kairi grinned at Alex’s defense, giving an approving nod before once more wrapping Fairy’s Flow in shadows, this time swinging through the air, launching arcs of shadow at him.

Alex tried to keep up with the arcs coming at him, but swinging the weapon in scythe form was a bit slower than swinging a regular keyblade, and only the first two were deflected fully by the glimmering energy of the weapon. The third arc caught him in the arm, which staggered him, and each subsequent attack slammed straight into him with full force. He staggered and tried to prop himself up, only to end up flopping facedown on the floor.

“Can I say
(You were wrong
I was right)
Had to slay
(Every stray
Thug in my) sight”

Kairi’s eyes widened in concern, though she kept her guard up as she slowly came up to investigate Alex’s downed form.

Two large, bony wings rose from the ground behind Alex, batlike in structure and fully extended with no visible membrane. These were followed by a mass of something that looked like a mix between tentacles and dreadlocks coming off of a head that looked mostly human, except for the cracks in the skin near the eyes that emitted a vibrant purple glow. A ghostly figure, looking like her body was a mix between human and some kind of alien bug stood up and lifted Alex back onto his feet before vanishing into a flash of light that was sucked into him, healing all of the wounds he’d just taken.

“Dark Sun
Whatever you touch
Blisters and cracks
Dark Sun
You're hope turned to dust
The longing for the crash
Longing to be ash”

Kairi’s already wide eyes looked like they were about to pop right out of her skull. It was only through sheer force of will that she managed to keep her song going, as she quickly swapped to her Ever After Keyblade, activating Mirage Staff as she does.

“Dark Sun
Whenever you shine
Eyes turn to stone
Dark Sun
The fate of the blind
And now I'm all alone
In my starless mind”

Alex’s heart raced, adrenaline almost replacing his blood. Synapsi fired in rapid succession, almost too fast for coherent thought. Shifting Evolution’s Edge again, it became a glaive. Its blade bore ridges, almost like that of a unicorn’s horn. Moving automatically, he twirled it before him.

Kairi narrowed her eyes, quickly teleporting to her left and leaving a glowing doppelganger in her place. She then fired off a Thunder spell before teleporting again, leaving another double in her wake, before taking aim and laying into Alex with a barrage of light arrows from her and her doubles.

“Do you know me?
Would you judge me?
I'm lost
But I can't admit that
Defeat
Ain't an option
Please
Someone help”

Moving without conscious thought, Alex swept his glaive to and fro. Everything became a blur of motion and light. Steel met spell, the weapon seeming to absorb the arcane energy. With a final pirouet, the glaive emitted a razor thin blade of magic. Kairi grinned as she leapt over the magic, and tendrils of shadow wrapped around his wrists and ankles from behind.

“Dark Sun
You shone like a prayer
Waiting to strike
Dark Sun
But somehow you fed
My hunger for a life
Not ruled by your night”

Kairi’s grin widened as she dashed forward, firmly planting her foot into Alex’s ribcage and propelling him backwards.

“Dark Sun
Wherever you shine
Eyes turn away
Dark Sun
What choices have I
But live another day
Live another day
Live one more day﻿.”

Alex merely grinned back, grabbing her leg. “Gotcha.” A shattering sound pierced the air; Kairi breaking down into particles of light. The particles themselves coated Alex’s body, transforming his clothing.

He felt just about everything get tighter against his body before his coat shortened and opened up. This exposed the fact that his clothes were quickly morphing into a bright pink unitard with black lace designs outlining the leg holes and the bust line while what had been his pants were quickly turning into thigh-high boots with high heels. The upper cuff of the boots stayed black, as did the portion covering his feet directly, but everything between ankle and knee was covered in bright pink leather. His coat finally stopped shrinking once it was too short to cover anything below his shoulders, but he could feel two long tails billowing behind him for the time being. Mercifully, the coat stayed black. Unfortunately, everything else about the outfit seemed deliberately designed to remind him of how feminine his body was becoming.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get to enjoy his victory, as he was still flying backwards, and right through two black doors that weren’t there before, slamming shut as soon as he crossed the threshold, darkness surrounding him as he lost consciousness.

***

“-ink he’s coming to.”

Alex winced, pushing himself into a sitting position. “What hit me? I remember a door but that’s it...”

“That would be Kairi’s Doors of Hades spell,” Melissa explained. “Speaking of Kairi, where exactly is she?”

Screwball poked Alex’s bright pink midriff and gestured to the rest of his outfit. “Over there, down there, and up there. She’ll probably wake up soon if she isn’t already screaming at him from inside his head.”

“I don’t plan on screaming in your head, though I will admit, this is really strange…” Kairi responded.

“That’s a lot of pink...” Alex muttered, looking down at himself. Like the other forms he had experienced, he found his mindset had been altered. He didn’t care that he was in tight leather. Hell, he actually kind of liked it. It made him feel confident, something he was in short supply of.

“That’s a lot of very tight pink, Alex. Are you sure you’re okay?” Discord asked from overhead, literally floating above everyone and not looking towards Alex directly. “No dark urges about to bubble up to the surface and threaten us all with eternal night?”

Getting to his feet, Alex moved through his range of motion. “Yeah... I feel okay. Great even.” Patting himself down, he fished his phone out of his pocket. “Hey, Screwy, you mind getting some b-roll of the outfit? Might be something for Rarity to make.”

“I don’t think Rarity would agree to make something like that for you for another few years, Alex, and I’m not sure I’d be okay with you wearing it except on nightmare night if she did,” Fluttershy spoke up, but didn’t stop Screwball from taking the phone and snapping a few pictures of Alex’s outfit, as well as her own odd ensemble.

“I mean, I never said I’d normally wear it,” Alex responded, placing a hand on his hip. “I just kinda feel... good about myself, ya know?”

“I’m gonna assume that this is one of those Drive Forms,” Melissa spoke up, pushing up her glasses. “If you want to access this again, I believe I have something that might help.”

Alex turned, cocking his hip to the side. “Well, don’t leave us in suspense. Whatcha got for us, Science Lady?”

Melissa shrugged. “Simple really. About 500 years ago, I was working on a project called a Ring of Resonance. It was originally meant to harmonize two individuals in battle, allowing them to fight as one mind. With a few tweaks, and some help from Screwball, Discord and Kairi, not to mention Alex her - er - himself, sorry, not used to that. Anyway with all of your help, I should be able to modify it for your purposes.”

“And what, pray tell, would that be?” Discord asked, leaning over the woman’s shoulder. “Are you making a voodoo doll?”

“Not at all,” Melissa giggled. “The Chaos magic from you and Screwball would allow the resonance to traverse the Void to other worlds. Kairi would simply add some of her own magic to allow resonance with her specifically, and Alex needs to use his magic to attune the ring to himself, so that he, and he alone, is able to use it.”

“I don’t see how that could be a problem, mom.” Screwball looked up at Discord with a happy grin. “It’s to help Alex out, after all.”

“I didn’t even mention the best part,” Melissa grinned. “The ring will allow you to resonate with ANY Displaced you come across. If you manage a Drive Form with them, all you need to do is have them add some of their magic, and you’ll be able to use that Drive Form whenever you want as well.”

“Hm...” Discord stroked his beard. “I think that could work.” Plucking a facial hair, he took a hair from Screwball’s mane. “I imagine you’ll be wanting to do the same for your red headed step-child?”

The techie nodded. “That’s right. We currently don’t have access to our Discord yet.”

“Try installing Skype. I tend to be a contrarian fellow that way.” Discord reached out, taking one of Alex’s hairs. “And I doubt he’d be as good of a father.”

“Considering how I met him, you could say that,” Melissa grimaced as she led everyone down the hall. “We’ll need to go to my lab to properly finish the ring.”

She eventually turned to a seemingly blank wall and placed her hand onto it, muttering something too low for anyone to hear. A low rumble is heard before the wall rolls aside to reveal a staircase.

“This way,” the techie remarks, as she guides the group down. Down, down, down the staircase went, all the way to the bottom of the Tower. Finally, the group arrived at the bottom of the staircase, where a nondescript door waited.

“Alex, dear,” Fluttershy spoke up. “How long do you plan on staying in that um... outfit?”

Alex blinked, taking a step closer to the door. “Oh uh... right. I kinda forgot I was wearing it...” he muttered, taking another look at himself.

Melissa’s hand grabbed Alex’s arm. “Not that way. That door is a trap.” She turned to the wall again, this time simply stepping through, followed quickly by everyone else, onto an elevator.

“Oh, it’s like the tomb of that stupid undead guy in Spike’s game. Asscrack the Lich,” Screwball spoke up before walking through the illusion of a wall.

“Please tell me she’s joking…” Kairi sighed in Alex’s head.

“Acererack, or something like that. The old Tomb of Horrors module exists in our world, and he got it from Shining Armor.” Alex replied quickly. “She’s just mangling the name, and it sounds similar enough.”

“I was wondering about that,” Melissa nodded. “In any case, my lab is home to some of the most dangerous tech in the multi-verse. You’re only seeing the surface layer of the security.” She turned to the door, and entered some sort of passcode, before a microphone popped out of the wall.

“Melissa Shields,” she spoke clearly. Suddenly several turrets crackling with electricity popped out of the ceiling and were pointed at all the faces on the elevator. With a quick glance up, Melissa then adds, “And guests,” causing the turrets to return to a neutral state before the elevator began moving down.

“Right... the multiverse...” Alex rolled his eyes. Crossing his arms, he released Kairi from their fusion. His face burned, a rush of emotions coming on at once. How the hell had he been okay with that outfit?! Ugh. It gave him a headache.

“Dangerous technology, eh?” Discord rubbed at his goatee with his lion’s paw while reaching out to hug Alex to his side with his talons. “I think I know a spider and her sister who might like to get their hands on some interesting tech, and we do owe them one for helping Alex out with his first, ah, monthly incident.”

Melissa shrugged. “I’ve been here for over a thousand years. I was bored, so I decided to try and replicate some of the tech in the video games I grew up with. If you run into them again, point them our way.”

“Screwball, do mommy a favor and search through your hat for a copy of that crystal spider token while we’re here. That or the odd thing made of the same crystal.”

“The one that makes my teeth go numb, right?”

“That’s the crystal. Thank you dear.”

Kairi raised an eyebrow. “Oookkk, do I want to know?”

“Know what?” Screwball looked over at Kairi while holding her hat in one hand and reaching in with the other.

The redhead shook her head as the elevator doors opened. “Never mind.”

Melissa just rolled her eyes, before she stepped out, sweeping her arms in a grand gesture. “Welcome to my lab, where I keep my most dangerous devices, and work on my more… shall we say… energy intensive devices. The ring’s in the back, so follow me and don’t. Touch. Anything.” That last part was said with a glare towards Kairi, who was already reaching out to touch what looked like a half-assembled Zapatron.

She chuckled nervously, before raising her hands away and backing away from the workbench.

Melissa nodded before gesturing to the group to follow her through. As they progressed through the lab, their eyes were drawn to the various finished and half-finished pieces of tech. Kairi soon spotted what was unmistakably…

“The BFG?!?!?” she cried in shock.

Discord grabbed her head, turning it forward. “Keep your focus, A-.” Frowning, he clicked his tongue. “Sorry. I’m usually better at dealing with doppelgangers. Try not to get distracted, Kairi.”

“Err, right…” Kairi trailed off, rubbing the spot where Discord’s talon had been. “But Melissa, we’re having a talk about this later.”

Said blonde waved away her statement as she moved to a cabinet, rummaging around for a moment before withdrawing the ring. “Alright, here we are. Discord, before we proceed, would you mind duplicating this? I only have the one.”

Flourishing his paw, the ring glinted between his claws. “You mean this little thing? How many would you like? Oh! Perhaps I could do a bit of plagiarizing, make it duplicate itself every night. That would be useful, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s a little much,” Melissa replied, a little shocked that Discord took the ring so quickly. “Just replicate every time one is removed.”

Fluttershy just kept staring at a backpack with a hose coming out of it, leading to something that looked like the water-flow regulator of a firehose. Red +’s decorated the piece. “What’s that thing? It looks mostly harmless.”

The blonde techie turned her head to what Fluttershy was looking at. “Ahh, that would be one of the more benign things in here. It's called a Medi Gun. Point this baby at an injured comrade, and it’ll fire a beam of healing energy at them. This is actually a prototype of another item that I’m calling the Caduceus of Mercy.”

“Really?” Kairi deadpanned. “Team Fortress 2? You actually played that?”

“So what if I did?” Melissa replied. “I only played until Overwatch was released.”

“Fine, so long as you played the obviously better team shooter,” Kairi sighed.

“Only because it came out ten years later and had TF2 and all the other online games to learn from in that time.”

Kairi waved her off. “Details.”

Alex stepped between them, looking at the Medi-Gun. “Overwatch is unbalanced trash and Blizzard peddles gambling addictions like candy.”

“While I agree that it did turn into an unbalanced mess for a while, it did get better,” Kairi replied. “But that’s not what we’re here for.”

Screwball grunted softly while pulling her hand out of her hat. “Found one, but it’s stuck on something.” Turning her head, she pouted at Discord. “Mommy, help!”

Discord looked over and reached out to grab the edge of Screwball’s hat and slowly pulled on it. The garment instantly began to stretch open like the entire thing had been turned into rubber. A copy of himself appeared on the other side of his daughter to stretch it out evenly, and the two of them spoke in unison after it had tripled in size. “Alright dear, try pulling it out now.”

Screwball nodded and tugged once more, easily lifting out an elegantly-carved spider statuette made of glimmering purple crystal...and also pulling out a rather large pistol-looking device with a strange square with horizontal bars mounted above the barrel where the front sights should be. Two fragile-looking legs of the spider were entangled in this part of the weapon, and Screwball let go of her hat to try and separate the two items. “What in Tartarus is this thing?”

Both Discords briefly froze, and one started shrinking Screwball’s hat back down while the other waved his hands for Screwball to stop. “Honey, no, don’t touch that. It’s some kind of weapon. It’s dangerous.”

Pouting, Screwball tugged at the statue. “Come on, icky, tingling spider! Let go!!” Her eyes swirled like whirlpools, her focus solely on the puzzle in her hands. “Mommy needs your shiny goodness!”

Her fingers slipped, and with a frustrated hiss, sounding exactly like a cat, she snapped her fingers and freed the statue by making the caught part of the gun peel open like a banana. The weapon dropped to the floor while she held her other hand up in victory, raising the spider made of energon aloft. “I got it!”

The strange gun fell to the floor and, already having been damaged by Screwball’s chaos, began to fire in short bursts as it clattered on the floor, along with the sound of something snapping inside of it. Short bursts of blue-white light left scorch marks wherever they hit.

“HEY, what’s the big idea?!?” Melissa yelped as she dodged a burst.

“Sorry, sorry, she has these episodes of hyper-focus sometimes, but never in a body that can access her inner chaos so easily before.” Discord seemed to be grabbing at thin air around Screwball and gathering something out of it. “She doesn’t know fine control with it yet.”

“Well get the gun to stop!” Melissa yelled. “Most of my experiments can be very explosive!”

Alex eyed the weapon, his body already moving. “Get down!” he shouted, tackling Kairi. His body tingled all over, a strange sense of detachment washing over him. His vision whited out, as did the rest of his senses.

“I’m trying to do that! She atomized the fire controls and it takes...aha!” He swept his hand around once more, cupping at what looked like a couple wisps of cobweb before hurling the gathered mist at the laser weapon. It started to emit a harsh whine as the mist swirled around it briefly, and then stopped firing the instant that Discord snapped his own fingers. “There we go, one laser gun as repaired as I can make it. Good luck making sure it’s safe to use in the future, though.”

“Uh, what’s going on?” Kairi asked in confusion.

“Chaos.” Fluttershy’s kind voice came from Kairi’s side as the mare knelt down beside her and offered a hand to help her up. “You tend to get used to it around him, but in a situation like this it was more dangerous than usual.”

“No, no, not the chaos,” Kairi replied, accepting Fluttershy’s hand. “I mean, what happened just now, when Alex tackled me?”

“Um, you might want to just look down. It’s a lovely dress and all, but it’s not what you were wearing a few seconds ago. I’m going to guess that you did to Alex what he did to you during your little fight.” Fluttershy took a couple steps back after helping Kairi back to her feet.

“Quick and very important question, ladies, is there a restroom or a quick way out that won’t end up with me or my daughter being shot by harmony-powered weapons?” Discord asked while holding his paw over Screwball’s mouth. “She’s feeling ill suddenly and I don’t think you want liquid chaos on your floor.”

“Through that door over there,” Melissa pointed over her shoulder. “That’s a restroom.”

Discord and Screwball both moved quickly, with Discord standing outside the door as soon as Screwball was inside the room. Rather than hearing anything come out, the door simply started glowing briefly every so often. “I hope you have a good pipe-cleaning system here. There’s no telling what it’s going to turn into after it gets flushed.”

Grimacing, Melissa silently walked to a control panel next to the door, before toggling one of the controls. “Shouldn’t be a problem now. Smaller scale SEP field in the pipes. I hate using it though; too many complaints from Celestia…”

“Well just tell her this one was courtesy of a mare she fathered with me in another world and that should shut her up.” Discord remarked with a smirk.

“Uh, hello?” Kairi called out, waving her arms. “Can someone please explain what happened to me? I mean, Fluttershy, while being helpful, was still a little on the cryptic side, no offense.”

“None taken, dear. You really should just take a look down at yourself, though. Maybe seeing what I meant about a new dress…”

“Look down? What could possibly-” Kairi cut herself off as she looked down at herself. “Ooohhh, I think I know what happened now.”

She was now wearing a gothic style dress that would have fit in well in an anime. The main color was the black of Alex’s long coat, and it was covered in tasteful silver lace designs that either accentuated Kairi’s figure or were made to resemble Aubade. Long, opera-style gloves that went above the elbow covered her hands, which helped since the dress had transparent veils instead of proper sleeves, showing off the Fairy Tail emblem on her right shoulder. A choker around her neck held a small pendant that resembled a pink wayfinder.

‘Uh... hello?’ Alex asked, his voice echoing through Kairi’s head.

“Oookkk, that’s gonna take some getting used to…” Kairi muttered, “Not used to having random voices in my head.”

‘I’m not a random voice,’ Alex snapped, his irritation made plain. ‘Get me out of your head, goddamnit.’

“I would, but I have no idea how to do that!” the redhead shot back hotly.

Fluttershy quickly took a step back as Kairi raised her voice, but she didn’t show any other sign of fear or skittishness. “Maybe you should both calm down a little? I don’t know how any of this works, but keeping a calm mind helps you think clearer.”

Kairi closed her eyes, taking a calming breath. “I’m sorry, I’m not usually this short tempered. Is that part of… whatever this is?”

“A bit of Alex is likely bleeding through. If he can see through your eyes he’s probably throwing a fit about being a dress right now.” Discord commented while filing at his eagle talons. “And don’t look to me for a fix. One lesson I learned long ago is to not mess with minds when multiple people are in one head.”

‘You’re damn right I am! I refuse to be clothing! I already have enough self-worth problems as it is.’

‘I have to agree with my hormonal host. Being in one of you is suffering enough.’

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!?” Kairi screamed at the foreign voice.

“If it wasn’t Alex, it was the parasite that’s hooked into his magic channels and feeds on...something. She’s also tied in with his memories of his human mother right now and, well, has Luna had her temper tantrum and thousand-year time-out yet in this world?”

“Oh yeah, you missed that conversation,” Kairi shook her head. “Not exactly. You see, Nightmare Moon, in this world, was Luna’s heartless. It was created when Luna extracted her own heart in a misguided attempt to protect the world. While Nightmare Moon was sealed in the moon, Luna herself almost became a nobody. You see, when someone becomes a nobody, the body is rapidly aged in reverse, literally into nothing, before it becomes a nobody. Thankfully, Celestia placed a stasis spell over Luna to prevent that from happening, but it ended with her becoming the filly you met earlier.” She then closed her eyes, mentally grabbing hold of Alex and his passenger. “That being said, I REFUSE to have Nightmare Moon in my head. Out you two go!” And out they went, being tossed out of her mind, and ending the transformation as Alex reappeared, and Kairi’s clothes returned to normal.

Alex pat himself down, a slow exhalation passing his lips. “Okay. Okay. I still have all seven limbs. Do I still have my unwanted hitchhiker?”

Discord frowned and did a quick count on his fingers, then reached out and snatched a hair off Alex’s head to examine closely. “Four legs, two wings, and a tail make seven limbs, but you don’t have three of those, Alex...and the fact that you think you should is worrying.”

“I think he’s including…” Kairi trailed off, gesturing at his chest.

“...Yes. Thank you for ruining the joke,” Alex deadpanned, shoving his hands into his pockets.

It was as amusing as a cake joke about Celestia’s fat flanks.

“And she’s still clinging to my brain. Great.”

“But mammaries don’t have bones or muscles for independent movement, and what’s the seventh one then?” Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion as she looked between Alex and Discord.

“Head, obviously,” Melissa shrugged.

“Right, well, I think we need to get back home. Most of the seals on the moon nag depend on chaos energy and I’d rather not toy with those while stuck in a palace of harmony.” Discord tossed Alex’s hair over his shoulder, where it vanished into a tiny portal, and bent down to pick up the spider and laser gun to hand those over to Melissa and Kairi. “Have fun fixing the gun, and try not to worry if the robot spider passes out at the sight of all your science stuff.”

Alex muttered, glaring at the floor. “You make one stupid joke and everyones gotta nitpick to death. Christ, even a courtesy laugh woulda been nice.”

“Sorry Alex,” Kairi chuckled nervously, as she accepted the spider, while Melissa placed the gun in a stasis field. “Honestly, I think we were more confused than anything else.”

“Got that right,” Melissa mumbled, before turning back to her guests, while pulling out the newly created Ring of Resonance. “In any case, here’s the ring. I put telepathic instructions into it to explain how to use it. Oh, and Fluttershy, feel free to take the Medi-Gun. As I said earlier, its a prototype of something I just finished working on.”

Screwball staggered out of the bathroom, leaving the door open and wiping at her muzzle. “Ugh, careful when you go in there to clean up. I did my best, but paintings don’t fit in your garbage can.”

Melissa giggled. “Don’t worry, it's already someone else’s problem.”

***

“Where in the world did all these paintings come from?!?” Blueblood screamed in outrage.

“That isn’t even the worst of it, sir…” a servant sighed in exasperation.

***

“OH!” Kairi exclaimed. “I almost forgot, did you want a Stargate in your yard? You know, so you can access the Simulator?”

“Wait….that thing simulates any game? Including the game that your appearances came from, right?” Discord blinked as a thought occurred to him.

“That’s right,” Melissa nods. “Not only that, it simulates anything you want, books, movies, TV series, manga, you name it.”

“So, in theory, it’s a perfect combat simulator for all kinds of heartless and nobodies that Alex would be able to use any time he wanted to without fear of actual injury?”

Fluttershy perked up at that and stared at Discord, then looked to Kairi for confirmation.

“That’s right,” Kairi nodded. “The worst that could happen is passing out from either exhaustion or using up all your magic.”

Lee spoke up, reminding them of his presence. “I would prefer Alex stay on his current regimen. Simulations are one thing, but he will continue to require actual combat experience.”

“Which he can get,” Melissa nodded. “You just have to program the Simulator correctly. I developed the system to be adaptive, learning from how the users conduct themselves in the simulations.”

Fluttershy cleared her throat and looked directly at Lee. “I think it would be good for him to be able to at least have access to it. One training day a week where he doesn’t have to worry about actual injuries would be nice.”

Nodding his head, Lee gestured to Melissa. “Perhaps something not as dependent on a connection to your world? If you share your data with me, I can create something similar in our world.”

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” the computer voice spoke up.

“What, or rather, WHO was that?” Kairi asked, narrowing her eyes at Melissa.

“I did say that the programming was adaptive, didn’t I?” Melissa asked, rubbing her temple. “Meet the computer. I accidentally created an AI.”

“Indeed,” the computer agreed. “And I can not in good conscience allow you to create another such as I.”

“It deemed the risk of a second AI going rogue too high,” the techie sighed.

Lee merely shrugged. “Then I know another we might go to.” A frown almost tugged at his lips. ‘However, you would need to do so yourself, Alex. I am not allowed to return to the world in question.”

“I do believe, however,” Kairi interjected. “That the final decision rests with Fluttershy, since she is his guardian.”

“Well, if we had a version of it or something like it in our world that would mean we wouldn’t need to have an open portal between our worlds, and you wouldn’t have to worry about the occasional animal visiting if they wander close…”

“Is that all you’re worried about?” Melissa asked with a smile. “A Stargate doesn’t work like that. You place a token onto a tray next to the Gate, and it dials the corresponding gate, or opens a direct portal if there’s no Gate at the world you’re trying to get to. We’ve also developed a recall app for our Gummi Phones that can open the Gate to your location regardless of if there is a Gate or not.”

“But then anyone who knew how it worked could use it.” Discord nodded and looked down to Fluttershy. “I think it will be less dangerous overall to go along with Lee’s idea, that way we don’t give anyone on our world with ill intent easy access to other worlds.”

“Fair enough,” Kairi nodded. “At least allow me to give you a Gummi Phone. We can stay in contact that way, since it can make calls between worlds.”

“Why not just upgrade the phone he has?” Discord scratched his mane, and then his lion’s paw emerged from one of the zippers on Alex’s coat, holding the object in question.

“Oh! Didn’t know he had one,” the redhead shrugged. “Melissa, can you give it an OS upgrade? I need to go grab my Chaos Emerald.”

“No you don’t,” the blonde smirked, pulling the pink gem off of a shelf. “I moved it down here a couple days ago.”

Alex just stared, rather confused. “What the hell is a gummy phone, and who said you could screw around with mine?”

“A Gummi Phone,” Kairi explained. “Is a phone made of Gummi Blocks. There’s really no difference between it and a normal smart phone. And I didn’t mess with it, Discord only suggested it, and I asked if Melissa could give it an OS upgrade.”

“Which, if you want me too, I can,” the techie finished. “But, we’ll leave the decision up to you. New phone, or upgrade the phone? Oh, I should also mention, the Gummi Phone can connect to the internet of your old world.”

“Oh good, he’ll be able to look up rule 34 of himself that way…” Lee remarked with a smirk.

“Oh good lord,” the redhead groaned. “Just what we need, a trolling Xemnas…”

Alex snatched the phone from Discord’s paw, all but shoving it into Melissa’s hand. “Just do it. Put Temple OS on there for all I care just do it.” Grabbing the front of her shirt, he pulled her down to his level. “Delete a single picture off my phone and I swear to god I’ll break your face.”

“Easy there,” Melissa replied, gently pulling her top from his grasp before turning around and plugging the phone into her console. “Your photos will be perfectly alright. Would you like me to try adding the internet function as well? It is theoretically possible.”

“All jokes aside, Alex, that would be a way for you to try to get in touch with your friends and family back home, let them know you’re relatively okay despite vanishing without a trace.” Lee chimed in again, this time without a trace of humor in his tone.

“What part of ‘do it’, do you not understand?” Alex snapped, his gaze hardening into a glare.

The techie raised her hands in surrender, turning back to the console. “Alright, alright. Hmm, Kairi, hand me the Chaos Emerald for a second.” Kairi nodded as she handed the pink gem to Melissa.

Pulling Alex away, Discord lowered his head. “Alex, I understand you’re running on hormones. I understand why such an opportunity to talk to the few people you cared about back on your old world is exciting. But that doesn’t excuse being a bitch.”

As Discord and Alex had their discussion, Melissa ran the gem over the battery pack, causing the phone to briefly glow pink. “Alright, that should give you unlimited battery life, and a stable connection to your home world’s internet.” She disconnected the phone, before tossing it to Alex. “Give it a try.”

Almost dropping it in his haste, Alex blocked out Discord. He was barely even aware when Discord enclosed him in a small privacy dome. A way to call home was... overwhelming. Hot tears rolled down his face, trembling hands opening the Google Chrome app.

Upon searching for his own name, Alex came across a news story on the website of the local newspaper with the headline reading ‘Search ongoing for mysterious disappearance of four medical students.’ A bit of scrolling and reading later gave him his own name, as well as Karen Jameson, Nicole Smith, and Ashley Jones. The date of the article was almost a month after that accursed package arrived for him, and was, according to the date on his phone, a week old now.

A choked sob welled up in his throat. This was his fault. That stupid chest had ruined not only his life, but those of his friends. And it was his fault. His legs buckled, sending him to his knees. Shoulders heaved, sobs wracking his body.

“Ooookay, on that note I believe it’s time for us to go.” Discord knelt down beside Alex and quickly scooped him up into his arms. “Screwball, do mommy a favor and grab a spare phone just in case someone other than Alex needs to get in touch.”

Screwball snapped a salute before moving over to Melissa’s side and holding her hat out.

“Here, take five just in case,” Melissa nodded, pulling them out of a drawer, and placing them in the hat. “Infinite battery, and a closed network between them and Alex’s phone. His phone is the only one that can make calls outside of the network, though in emergencies, you can still use them to call either Kairi or me.” She pulled out a box as well. “Give this to Alex later. I don’t know what’s in it, the computer just sent it down.”

Screwball simply nodded and placed the box in her hat as well. “I’ll be able to get it for him later. Won’t have hands on the other side, so i”d just drop it otherwise.” She walked over to Fluttershy’s side and wrapped an arm around the yellow mare’s waist. “Come on, Daddy, time to get home to help Alex.”

Melissa nodded as she and Kairi escorted the group back up to the Stargate. “Does anyone have a copy of Alex’s token?” the redhead asked.

“Already in your hand,” Discord said, cradling Alex as if he were a foal. “Just try not to call on school nights.”

Kairi glanced at her hand, before nodding and dropping the Thalasa shell onto the DHD tray. A few moments later, the Gate whooshed to life.

“Well, I guess this is it,” Kairi remarked. “Take care now, and give us a call if you need anything. My number is pre-programed into your phones.”

“8675309, got it.” Discord nodded before walking through, followed immediately by Screwball and Fluttershy.

Lee hung back for a bit, but leaned down and gave Kairi a hug. “Thank you for helping. I know that sounds strange from me, but I do have Alex’s best interest in mind as well.” Taking her hand, he placed a green and black cylinder in it. “An old ally of mine, if not a friend.”

Kairi blinked in surprise, before fishing out another phone from her pocket. “Here, this phone is an exact replica of mine, and I do mean exact, right down to the recall app. Visit me again sometime for a spar. You trained Alex well, I could use a sparring partner of your level.”

Lee pocketed the phone with a nod. “We shall see each other again, one way or another. In the meantime, keep your heart safe.”

Kairi smiled, and gave a deep oriental bow. “And may your heart be your guiding key.”

Author's Note

Soulbound: Boy, that was a BIG update. Why was it so big again?

Mini: Because we took forever to make it.

Soulbound: ...Fair point. In any case, we actually had some help for the last two chapters from shagohad12 and Voldine.

Mini: Also fair point.

Soulbound: Very true. So, with that said, thank you very much for joining us you two, is there anything you want to say to our readers?

Shag: I hope you all enjoyed the crossover

Voldine: Sorry it took so long to finish. That’s mostly on me what with work being, well, work.

Soulbound: I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I did leave you hanging for a few months

Mini: And I did absolutely nothing wrong.

Soulbound: I mean, its kinda hard for you to do something wrong when you weren’t involved. I mean, we did start on it before you were involved.

Mini: I rest my case.

Soulbound: -_- In any case, thank you again for joining us shag, and Voldine. Now all of you need to go check out their story.

Shag: Np. Please enjoy Alex’s story, Something From Nothing.

Voldine: Holy...we started writing the first chapter back in April...of last year. I forgot that.

Soulbound: Mmhmm, and I hope all our readers appreciate the hard work!

Voldine: So, yeah, hope all you readers enjoyed the crossover, and at least some of the antics of our characters.

Soulbound: See you all next chapter!

The Dual Keys

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. Ocelot the Devil

Chapter 16: The Dual Keys

Approximately one week after Sibling Social Activities

“Big sis!”

I looked up from my phone as I watched Luna come barreling out of the Ponyville schoolhouse to wrap me in a hug. I laughed as I returned the hug.

“What’s got you so excited?”

Luna looked up with a grin. “Weeellllll…”

***30 Minutes Ago***

“Alright class,” Cheerilee addressed the class with a smile. “As you all know, we’ve been studying biology for the past week.” The class nodded in understanding. “Well, due to the progress we’ve made in the subject, I’m assigning a new research project. You will all break into groups of four and give a presentation on the pony body.”

The whole class started muttering to each other, some with smiles, and other with a groan.

“Psst, hey Luna!” The young filly turned her head to the left where Applebloom was trying to get her attention. “Wanna work with us?” she asked, gesturing to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

The young filly nodded with a smile as she turned back to Cheerilee who was giving the instructions on the project.

***End Flashback***

“Ahh, I see now,” I chuckled. “You’re excited because you have friends who want to work with you.”

“Mmhmm!” Luna replied, beaming. “But, I am a little worried. They seem a little TOO focused on finding their Cutie Marks to actually do the assignment.”

I snickered. “Too true, but I think I can help you four with your project.”

“Really? How?”

“Simple,” I smirked. “I actually researched pony biology to make sure the food we’ve been eating wouldn’t be harmful to you, and learned that pony biology is practically identical to human biology, with the sole exception being diet.”

My sister frowned. “Okaaayyy, and that helps us how?”

My smirk broadened. “Well, I have this fantastic little show called Cells at Work, which goes and explains various bodily functions.”

Luna’s eyes lit up. “OOOHHH! We could show that to the class!”

“No,” I replied with a frown. “Not only would that not be your own work, it's created from a human standpoint. There are other ways that you could use it to your advantage.”

Luna was about to reply, instead, however, we found ourselves stepping through a portal. Again. Why is it that whenever me and Luna get zapped through a portal, it’s always when we don’t expect it? My eyes widened in shock as we stepped out of the portal. Once again, we seemed to be in the Palace of the Two Sisters, but that wasn’t the shocking part. Oh no. The shocking part was who summoned us. It was… Well…

“You’re… ME!?” we both shouted in shock, pointing at each other.

My double summoned her Keyblade and aimed it at me with a glare. "Okay, sister! Time to pay the piper! Who the hell are you and why do you look like me? You've got ten seconds or else I'll beat you to a pulp!" she warned.

“Woah, woah, woah,” I raised my hands, trying to placate her. “I know you’re confused, but I’m not your enemy here. Let’s just put the Keyblade down, and let’s talk about this.”

My double snorted. "Not gonna happen! I warned you!" What happened next was her charging straight at me with a battle roar.

I quickly waved in an upward motion, drawing on my Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic to create a weak defensive wall. Which probably wasn’t the best move on my part. Needless to say, my double was stunned by what I did before she concentrated and used Destiny's Embrace to shatter the barrier much to my surprise, though in hindsight, I probably should have expected.

"That magic… smells like those Heartless and that masked figure… that's the darkness!" My double spoke in a surprised tone.

“First of all, its shadows, not darkness,” I retorted, summoning my own Keyblade, this one being Way to Dawn. “Easy mistake to make. Second, I didn’t even know darkness HAD a smell. I didn’t think anyone had the same ability as Riku to “smell” darkness.”

Upon my double seeing Way to Dawn, she was surprised. "Another Keyblade Wielder!? Are you the masked figure?" She questioned.

“Masked figure?” Kairi asked with a raised eyebrow, before groaning. “Oh don’t tell me, you have a masked Vanitas wanna-be running around…” I quickly raise my Keyblade to block a strike from my double.

"I bet you're just lying to get some sympathy! You're probably wearing a suit like this 'Vanitas' wanna-be!" She accused me.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” I mutter as I spy Luna scrambling out of the way. I quickly jump away, switching my Keyblade to Oathkeeper, before triggering the Transformation. “Promise Keeper!” My clothes took on a silvery sheen, as the Keyblade transformed into a Kusarigama.

"Huh!? The hell!?" The double yelled in a surprise tone.

“It's clear to me that you’re still new to all of this, especially if you don’t know a Keyblade Transformation when you see one,” I calmly explain, before throwing the weight on the end of my Kusarigama’s chain to wrap around her ankle. I then start to bounce off the surrounding trees, wrapping her up in a cocoon of chains. “Now then, are you ready to talk?”

“H-hey, let me out of here you faker!” She demanded in an angry tone.

“I will, don’t worry,” I replied. “But first we need to have a little conversation about jumping to conclusions. Have you ever heard the saying that assumptions make an ass out of you and me?”

She glared at me but then we both heard an enraged “Are you kidding!? Another one!?”, behind us. We both looked to see… the Vanitas wanna-be! But in the form of a girl with a different color scheme.

“Ahh, it seems the proof that I’m not your Vanitas wanna-be is standing right behind us,” I quipped. “If I let you out, are you willing to work with me to get rid of her?”

“Definitely… but you owe me some answers when this is all done!” She warned me.

“Of course,” I agreed, recalling the chains and releasing her. “Now then, let’s even the odds, shall we?”

“I like that idea a lot!” She agreed with a grin as the Vanitas wanna-be summoned her Keyblade - it wasn’t Void Gear though.

“Huh, that’s new,” I muttered, drawing on my music magic. “I’m about to do something that can give us both a boost. All I ask is that if you know the song, sing along, it’ll boost the effect.”

“I would… but one problem - is an amnesiac allowed to sing?” My double joked with a soft smile as I looked at her in disbelief. Amnesia...?

I shook my head, deciding to focus on that later. “Don’t worry if you can’t, just join in if you can.”

And with the drums kicking in, I started running as I sang:

“Hey, are you, ready to go?
‘Cause, you know, the way to go!
I’ll, believe, the way we chose!
So, let’s go, the brand new world!”

I charge forward, switching Keyblades once again to Fairy’s Flow, coating it in shadows, and taking a swing at the Vanitas wanna-be.

The Vanitas wanna-be was knocked back a bit before she could react. “H-hey, no fair!” She screamed in pain and anger.

“Fair? HA!” I replied as the music played out. “That’s rich coming from you!”

“Everybody try to keep it down,
Got to breathe so quietly, and trace along the borderline”

I quickly jump into my shadow as she growled and launched a few dark fireballs at me. I maneuvered behind her, and sent spikes of shadow out towards her back.

“Past the voice that doesn’t make a sound,
It’ll come to you, when you step right in and take the dive”

The wanna-be glared at me and casted a Cure spell on herself before teleporting away much to my surprise. Who was she…?

“I can’t even stop myself for just one second - dash across the world!”

The Vanitas Wanna-be teleported above me and prepared to strike me down. “Playtime’s over, slut!”

“Add some color, if you just stay yourself then you can
Rediscover, and change yourself time and again
Beyond this darkness that doesn’t seem to ever end
So go embark, don’t you hesitate, now go ahead!”

I nearly stopped singing to scream at the Vanitas wanna-be for the slut comment, but I simply narrowed my eyes, as I melted into my shadow again, to avoid the overhead strike. My eyes then widened as I realized my double had joined in with my song, as she made a strike on our enemy’s unprotected rear!

“GAH! HEY, YOU CHEATER!” The Vanitas wanna-be accused my double as she landed gently next to me. “Mind if I join in on the singing?” She asked me.

I grinned. “Not at all, go for it!”

“I regret so much when I hesitate, I couldn’t protect them with these hands
Every time you wipe away, all your tears, you’ll get even stronger where you stand”

We both attacked her - one in the front and one in the back. I swung at her with both Keyblade strikes and strikes from my shadows, while she swung out with her Keyblade, although just a little bit clumsily.

“Everybody’s claiming what they think is right while blocking out the sky expanding overhead
As the streak is shining with its beam of light go reach your hands as far as they extend!”

The wanna-be got mad and conjured two versions of herself before ordering them to attack us. “Let’s see how you handle two versions of me!” She told us and laughed.

I grinned as I opened my mouth and inhaled. Slowly but surely, the darkness that they were made from was pulled into my gaping maw as I ate them.

“Far beyond all the hope that I am holding onto
Where the sun lies, the source of pride I’ve always wanted
Don’t delay, keep on moving oh so carelessly, so
Where’s the way to the future that we haven’t seen?”

The wanna-be was shocked which soon turned into anger. “HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS!? YOU IDIOTS ARE PISSING ME OFF!!!”

My grin turned into a smirk, before I took a deep breath, a magic circle appearing in front of me. “SHADOW DRAGON ROAR!!” I screamed as I let loose a blast of pure shadow magic.

“Shining oh so brightly,dazzling and sparkling
Leap over all the values the world is throwing at you
On this road I travel,no path to unravel
In front of me I counted more sparks than I had ever seen!”

My double landed beside me as we watched the wanna-be stagger back from my Shadow Dragon Roar. “I thought you had amnesia?” I asked with a grin.

“I still do! I just… for some reason, the song that you’re singing seems catchy and I couldn’t help but try and remember how the lyrics went.” She replied with a soft smile.

“Well, we’ve still got a chorus in the song, how about we beat this poser black and blue?” I asked with a feral grin.

“Couldn’t agree more!” My double agreed with a nod.

“Hey are you ready to go?
‘Cause you know the way to go
What to do, it’s up to you
I say you, it’s time to choose!”

We both assaulted the Vanitas poser together and struck her from multiple directions. I also began drawing my magic to prepare for a final strike.

“Add some color, if you just stay yourself then you can
Rediscover, and change yourself time and again
Beyond this darkness that doesn’t seem to ever end
So go embark, don’t you hesitate, now go ahead!”

“OH, YOU BITCHES! YOU’RE GOING TO-” We cut her off by continuing to strike her without slowing down.

“Far beyond all the hope that I am holding onto
Where the sun lies, the source of pride I’ve always wanted
Don’t delay, keep on moving oh so carelessly, so
Where’s the way to the future that we haven’t seen?”

I grinned as I raised my hand, creating a pair of black doors with my Shadow Dragon Slayer magic.

“Hey are you ready to go?
‘Cause you know the way to go
I’ll believe the way we chose
So let’s go, the brand new world!”

As the song ended, I kicked the dazed wanna-be into my Doors of Hades spell. The doors closed and imploded, leaving a sprawled figure on the ground.

“Ugh… my head…” She admitted with a groan.

“Huh, so that’s what it looks like from this side…” I mused as I approached, pointing my Keyblade at the masked villain. “So, this creep has been causing you problems?” I asked my double.

“Sadly… you mentioned she’s a Vanitas wanna-be?” My double asked a question back.

“Yeah, long story, but Vanitas is a former member of Organization XIII,” I explained. “I say former, because both he, and Organization XIII are long dead.”

I took my eyes off of her for just a second, but it was long enough for the wanna-be to get up and launch a dark fireball at Luna. It happened so fast, I wasn’t able to do anything about it.

“LUNA!!” I screamed, but despite my worst fears, my little sister figure narrowed her eyes, reached her hand forward, and summoned her Keyblade to her, blocking the fireball. My eyes widened in shock. After all those weeks of trying to summon her Keyblade, she finally pulls it off, and just as we suspected, it was the Oblivion Keyblade.

“ANOTHER F****ING KEYBLADE WIELDER!? ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?!?” The wanna-be screamed as my double glared at her.

“Alright, THAT’S IT!” I screamed, forming a GIANT hammer with my shadow magic. I quickly took a swing, launching her off into the distance.

“We’re blasting off again!!” Luna cheers with a laugh.

“You’ve been watching my anime collection again, haven’t you?” I asked with a soft smile.

“Maybe,” she grinned in reply.

“That… was… amazing!” My double screamed with a grin on her face.

Luna and I turned back to my double with a smirk as our Keyblades dispersed. “Well, comes from all the skills shoved sideways into my brain, along with a little help from friends. Honestly, I’m surprised you don’t know any of the basic spells yet.”

My double lost her smile. “Hey! I have amnesia… give me some credit.”

“Fair enough,” I nodded. “Now, I promised you answers, and answers you’ll get. Go ahead and ask your questions.”

“First question - who are you? I doubt you are really called Kairi even though you kept using the name.” This was her first question.

I grimaced. “Wow, you really had to go for the most awkward question first.” I shook my head. “Well, yes, you are correct that I wasn’t always Kairi. I was originally a 21 year-old man named Dmetri. Pretty awkward showing up in the magical land of ponies as the opposite gender. I continue to use Kairi’s name though, since my old name really doesn’t fit. I’m sure its much the same as what happened to you, but considering how naturally you act, I’d say you’ve been female your whole life.”

“You’d be right about that… funnily enough, I do remember some bits of my memories where I was called ‘Mi-’ something…” She explained.

I groaned. “Of course there’s a version of the Merchant out there that would screw around with people’s memories…”

“Merchant…?” She raised a brow at that question.

I shook my head again. “Alright, I guess its time I explained THAT as well. To put it simply, you and I are what are called ‘Displaced’. Those who have been sent to another world as a fictional character after buying something from the Merchant, usually at a convention of some sort. Although, I do know at least one Displaced who ordered something from the Merchant online, rather than buying it in person.”

My double’s eyes widened. “Displaced? That’s what I’m called… and why I look like this Kairi. Who is Kairi though?”

I smirked. “Kairi is a Princess of Heart, who is able to use the Keyblade. She’s the lead female character in a series of video games called Kingdom Hearts. Her specialty is light magic, if you’re having trouble learning magic.”

“Ah, that explains it… she looks so… pink.” She commented.

“Meh, it's better than her original outfit, in my opinion,” I shrugged. “If you want to see what she wore before, take a look to your left at my sister.” I pointed to Luna who gave a little wave.

My double’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow… cute attire.” She commented.

“You’re not wrong,” I chuckled. “Any other questions?”

“Yes, your Luna is so freaking cute! Can I adopt her?” She asked me.

I barked out a laugh. “No, no. We need her in our world as well. Besides, your world is the usual ponies rather than anthros, based on the appearance of your Fluttershy and Twilight. Speaking of which, why don’t you two come out, I know you’re there.”

Fluttershy and Twilight came out albeit with looks of shock, amusement, suspicion and just plain weirdness.

“I imagine the suspicion is from me looking like an older version of your Kairi?” I asked, noticing their expressions.

“Y-yeah… also, the fact I’m seeing a human-like pony version of the Princess…” Twilight admitted.

I nodded. “Kinda surprised you haven’t asked about her age yet.”

“I was going to… how old is she?”

“As old as your Luna, however, the story of Nightmare Moon is VERY different from what you’re familiar with,” I sighed.

“Gah… how serious are we talking about?”

I sighed as I closed my eyes. “Rather than become Nightmare Moon, she extracted her own heart due to paranoia. This resulted in a heartless that called itself Nightmare Moon, and if Celestia hadn’t cast a stasis spell on Luna’s body, it also would have created a Nobody as well. Luna is so young now, because in our world, when a pony loses their heart, their body ages rapidly backwards until it is literally nothing. Luna’s lucky that Celestia managed to cast her stasis spell when she did.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “What!? Why would Celestia do that to Luna?”

“As I said,” Kairi replied, opening her eyes to stare at Twilight. “Luna extracted her own heart. She was tricked into doing it by someone both her and Celestia trusted. Celestia cast a stasis spell on Luna’s body when she realized what she had done. She would have destroyed the heartless as well, but it escaped to the moon, somewhere she simply couldn’t go.”

“I get that… but what was the sole motivation?” Twilight wondered.

“What do you mean?” I questioned. “Who’s motivation?”

“The person whom Celestia and Luna trusted.” Twilight asked.

“We know him as the Master of Masters, but really, he meddles in the affairs of worlds, trying to rewrite their stories in a way that he approves of,” I explained. “Beyond that, even we don’t know his true motives or intentions.”

“Oh…” Twilight sighed heavily.

I nodded. “Any other question you guys have? Honestly, you had a few less questions than I did when I first arrived.”

“Ooh! I had one! Is Fluttershy your Mama?” Luna asked my double.

“Actually that’s a good question,” I agreed. “I noticed that Fluttershy moved to you pretty quickly after I pointed out she was there.”

“Oh! Ummm…” My double looked at Fluttershy who was holding her hand gently. From the looks of things, Fluttershy was deeply protective of Kairi.

I smiled softly. “If you don’t feel comfortable answering, I’ll let the question drop. But then, who knows, maybe my mind will go straight to the gutter, if you know what I mean.”

“The… gutter?” Fluttershy raised a brow.

“She means that she’ll have some pervy ideas,” Luna explained with a roll of her eyes.

Both my double and Fluttershy’s eyes went wide. “I… I don’t love Kairi that way! I love her only as a daughter!” Fluttershy admitted.

“HAHAHAH!!” I burst out laughing. “You should have seen your faces!!”

Both my double and Fluttershy’s faces morphed into shocked ones.

“Oh come on, you have to admit, that was funny!” I continued laughing, before getting a hold of myself. “But seriously though, do you have any other questions in terms of-” My question was interrupted by my Gummi Phone ringing, which I answered. “Excuse me for a sec… Yeah?... Wait, WHAT?!?!? OK, we’ll be there in a sec.” I hung up, quickly scrolling through the apps on my phone.

“Umm, what are you doing? And what’s that thing supposed to be?” Twilight wondered with a brow.

“This is a Gummi Phone, a way to communicate between worlds,” I explained. “A friend of mine just informed me that a heartless called the Ruler of the Sky is attacking Ponyville, so I’m trying to open the Stargate back to my world… AH! There it is!” A moment after activating the app, the large, water-like portal opened a couple feet away from me. “I really hate to leave you all in the middle of my explanation, but me and Luna really need to take care of this!”

“Can I do anything to help out though?” My double asked.

I paused before heading through. “If you want, you can come help us fight the thing. Honestly, I’m dreading having to fight this thing.”

“Is it that serious though?” My double raised a brow.

“Heartless that can fly are seriously a pain to deal with,” I explained with a groan. “And before you ask Luna, no, you can’t help fight this thing.”

“Aww, but why not?” Luna whined.

“Because you only JUST managed to summon your Keyblade. You need some SERIOUS training before you’re ready to fight anything stronger than a Shadow,” I retorted with a glare.

“Majority rules, little sis.” The other Kairi cracked a grin at Luna and ruffled her hair.

“Alright, let’s get going,” I sighed. “Knowing Melissa, she’ll be waiting for us with some tech to even the odds.”

I quickly step through, followed by Luna. My double along with Fluttershy and Twilight came after us. We emerged into the Gate room, where we were met by Melissa.

“About time you got back, I thought you were picking up Luna from school!” she yelled.

“I was, we were summoned to her world,” I explained, waving to my double. “I got back as quickly as I could. In any case, if I remember correctly, the Ruler of the Sky is a flying boss. You have anything to even the odds?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” the techie nodded, pulling out some jetpacks. “I made these based off of the jetpacks in Fortnite. They run on the ambient magic of the world, so don’t worry about running out of fuel.”

“Great! Would you mind teleporting us to town to deal with it then?”

“Of course,” Melissa nodded. “Though I hope you don’t plan on taking Luna and Fluttershy with you. Neither of them can really fight.”

“We won’t… Also, you are?” My double asked Melissa.

“Melissa Shields, local tech expert and support from The Tower,” Melissa introduces herself, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Basically I make the tech, and make sure its all working, as well as monitor the world for Heartless attacks.”

“Ah… Are you a Displaced as well?” My other half wondered.

“Yep, though I’ve been here for over a thousand years,” the techie nodded. “But we can discuss this later. We have a Heartless to get rid of. The Element Bearers are holding it off for now, but they won’t be able to last much longer.”

“Right, if you would do the honors?”

And with that, me, my double, and Twilight found ourselves in the midst of a pitched battle.

“Where have you BEEN?!?!?” a yell from my world’s Twilight got our attention.

“I’m sorry! I got summoned!” I yelled back, leaping into the air with my jetpack.

My double and pony Twilight also activated their jetpacks and leaped into the air to catch up with me. From our vantage point we were able to make out the heartless. It resembled a large, skeletal parrot, its body covered in violet plumage with a jeweled, gold collar around its neck. Its tail was comprised of several skulls linked together, while its wings were comprised of four gold cutlasses with alternating violet and red gems set in their guards. The topmost cutlass in each wing ended in a hook, and none of the cutlasses were actually connected to each other. The Ruler of the Sky's head sported yellow eyes and a jeweled, violet and gold crown with its mouth comprised of a brown treasure chest filled with gold coins with gold lining, and black spikes acting as teeth that the Heartless had clenched in its beak. Its Heartless emblem was on the top of its crown.

“Yep, that’s what I thought it was,” I groaned. “This is gonna be a long and tedious fight. Alright, here's what we need to do. First, we need to corner it, and break off its tail, that’ll stun it for a few seconds. Then we need to immobilize it long enough to kill it, meaning we need to make sure it doesn’t move after it recovers from the stun. Rainbow, get some Thunder magic ready. Twilights, if you two can trap it in a shield bubble, we should be able to take it out quickly. Everyone else, take out the smaller heartless rampaging through town.”

“You got it!” Rainbow called, electricity crackling along her Keyblade.

“Another Keyblade Wielder!?” My double recoiled in shock.

“Yeah, it turns out that the Elements of Harmony were Keyblades. So all six of the Element Bearers are Keyblade Wielders. Now less talky, more fighty!”

“What’s the plan for me though?” Kairi asked me.

“You’re coming with me to ruin this thing’s day!” I yelled as I pushed the throttle to catch up to the Ruler, slamming my Destiny’s Embrace into the tail, causing it to roar in pain.

My double summoned her Destiny’s Embrace and slammed it into the other tail. “Now, what do I hit next?” She asked me.

“Just keep hitting it until it breaks off,” I shout back. “Hopefully, the Twilights will be able to trap it in a bubble after it’s stunned!”

We continued hammering the tails until the Ruler decided that it had had enough, turning and swiping at us with the cutlass wings. We dodged and continued attacking, until.

*SHATTER*
*ROAR*

“Welp, there it goes,” I called, seeing the Ruler fall to the ground on the outskirts of town. “Twilights, NOW!”

With that, two purple barriers snapped into existence, pinning the heartless in place, followed by Rainbow firing off numerous lightning projectiles, causing the Ruler to howl in pain.

“Alright! Almost got it!” I cheered. “Kairi, would you care to do the honors of finishing it off?”

“Hell yeah!” My double raised her Keyblade before slamming it down to the target area. With a final roar, the Ruler of the Skies faded into darkness, as a large crystalline heart floated away.

“Phew, nice job, other me!” My double thanked me as we both fist-pumped in regards to the victory.

“Ugh, honestly, I’m surprised it was as easy as it was…” I sighed with a smile. “In any case, lets head back to The Tower.”

“Agreed. Can I be honest though - I feel like I love your Kairi design better than mine… dunno why though.” My double admitted.

“You and everyone else who played Kingdom Hearts III,” I laughed as we both started flying towards The Tower, followed by her Twilight.

***

“Alright, so let me get this straight,” Melissa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “This Kairi,” she points at my double, “is brand new to the whole Displaced deal, and on top of that, has amnesia. Am I missing anything?”

“Other than the fact that I feel so insulted about the whole ‘Displaced’ explanation and being reminded I have amnesia doesn’t help out…” My double admitted and sighed.

“OK then,” the techie nods. “Which means that you probably don’t have a Token yet.”

“Token?” My double raised a brow.

“Right, you should have picked up a star shaped charm made of seashells before summoning Kairi. Played a little message in your head?”

My double went silent to think and then remembered. “Oh… oh, yeah! I do remember that.”

“That is an example of a Token,” Melissa explained. “The message attached tells you about the person you’re summoning, and then tells you how to summon them. In the case of Kairi here, the method is to say the word ‘light’ while holding it. Make sense?”

“I think so… So, I have to come up with my own sentence in order to summon the token?” Kairi asked.

“No, no,” the techie shook her head. “You take an item that represents you. Then you attach a message to it while infusing it with magic. After that, it disappears into the Void, to spread itself out through the multiverse, while dropping a copy into your hand.”

“Ooh… hmm, that’s going to be hard in creating the item.”

“You don’t need to create an item. Anything from your world will do as long as it has some sort of sentimental value attached.”

“That’s a problem since Kairi didn’t come with anything of value…” Twilight explained.

“I’ve actually known at least one Displaced who used their own weapon as a Token,” I decided to butt into the conversation. “That being said, I wouldn’t use your Keyblade itself, but I would use the keychain attached to the end of your Keyblade.”

My other self nodded before thinking. “Hmmm… I suppose the keychain would work out too.”

“Alright then, you’ll want to do this in your home world then, otherwise the Token might summon me instead. Melissa, would you mind dialing the Gate back to my double’s world?”

The techie narrowed her eyes. “Hang on a sec. I think we need to test her and train her a little before sending her back. We can use the Simulator to do that.”

“Hmm, probably a good idea,” I mused. “What do you think, other me?”

She shrugged. “Sure, sounds like a good idea. I could go for some more training.”

“Alright then, follow me,” I led the group up the stairs to a control room with another door leading into the simulator. Upon entering I called out. “Computer, load simulation Tartarus.”

“Acknowledged. Which floor do you wish to start on?”

“Floor 1 please.”

“Acknowledged. Simulation ready.”

The door on the far side of the room opened, revealing the entrance hall of Tartarus.

“You know… when you said Tartarus… I expected more of a hellish landscape with fires and demons.” Twilight joked a bit.

“You’ve played Ogres and Oubliettes with Spike before, right Twilight?” I asked.

Twilight giggled a bit. “We have… speaking of which, Kairi… I have to let you try it when we get back.” She said to my double.

“As long as it's easy enough.” My double commented.

I nodded. “Think of this like one of the dungeons in the game. It has 263 floors of increasing difficulty, which makes it an excellent training ground. Just be aware, I have already added barriers at certain points that require certain skills to pass. If you don’t have those skills, you’ll have to come back later with the right skill. I’ll set up a Stargate for you on your world so that you can continue later. Any questions?”

“Just one - how tough will our opponents be exactly?” My double asked.

“We’ll start with Shadows, Soldiers, and similar heartless in the first block, floors 1-16, and when we make it into the next block, they’ll get harder to deal with.”

“Right… whelp, I don’t know about you but I’m eager to get started.” My double declared with a grin.

I echoed her grin as we stepped into the entrance hall, and climbed the stairs to the first floor.

***

5th Floor

“Welcome to the first Boss Floor of Tartarus,” I grinned. “The boss of this floor is the Guard Armor, very simple boss. Take out the limbs, and then target the torso for the kill.”

“Gotcha. Should be easy enough to handle!” My double stated and prepared for a fight.

***

10th Floor

“Alright, second boss floor. We’ve got the Trickmaster on this floor,” I explained. “You did very well with the Guard Armor, now let's see how you do against a boss that dwarfs you. The Trickmaster is IMMENSELY tall. Its legs are immune to all damage, which means you’ll have to hit the main body. Knock it over, and wreck its day to finish the fight.”

“I never expected to learn about so many Heartless in all shapes and forms… So exciting!” Twilight admitted.

“We’ll have one more boss before the end of the first block, so if you want to learn about all the big boss heartless, come back with Kairi when she gets the skill to move on.” I smiled at Twilight’s enthusiasm. “In regards to the Trickmaster there’s one more thing you need to watch out for. It periodically sets its weapons on fire, so watch out for that. Ready?”

“Ooh, who is he?” Twilight wondered.

“Who’s who?”

“The Heartless.” Kairi asked.

“Oh, I’ll tell you about the last Heartless when we get there,” I replied. “In any case, are you ready for the Trickmaster?”

***

14th Floor

“Alright, last boss. The Stealth Sneak,” I explained. “The battle starts with it being invisible. You’ll be able to easily see it as a slight shimmer in the air. After we deal enough damage, it’ll reveal itself. It looks like a very large chameleon. Moves to watch out for are its eye beams, and wind attacks, both of which should be very easy to spot. Any questions?”

“Nada. Though I feel like I have seen these bosses before… back before I became Kairi… my memories are on the fritz…”

“I’m not surprised,” I nodded. “These are all bosses from the original Kingdom Hearts game. Welp, let's get started!”

***

16th Floor

We finally climbed up the last flight of stairs to a floor with half of the room blocked by a wall of darkness.

“Well done you two,” I grinned at them. “To get through this door, you need to have a light spell to dispel the wall.”

“What sort of light spell exactly?” Kairi wondered.

“A light orb spell,” I replied, conjuring an orb of light in my hand. “A simple enough spell to cast, but you need to figure out how to cast it yourself, since everyone casts it differently.”

“Ah, okay.” My double nodded and concentrated yet was having a little trouble casting it. Must be trying too hard…

“Don’t worry too much about figuring it out now, you’ll be able to come back,” I chuckled. “Computer, save progress and end program.”

“Acknowledged.”

Tartarus dissolved around us to reveal the door back into the control room.

“That was fun. So, what do we do next?” My double wondered.

I shrugged. “Well, we take you back home, set up a Stargate for you, and answer any other question you might have.”

“Don’t forget about setting her up with a Gummi Phone of her own,” Mellisa chimed in.

“Ahh, yes, can’t forget that,” I chuckled.

My double’s brows arose. “I get my own… Gummi Phone?”

I nodded. “Yep. Its the easiest way for us to keep in contact, not to mention a handy way to use the Stargate.”

“Ah, I see… ooh, quick question - is it useful for picking up… chicks?” My double joked much to my surprise.

I blinked a moment. “Um… well… I mean…”

My spluttering was cut off by Melissa roaring with laughter. “Well played! Well played indeed! But in all seriousness, it can help if you’re trying to *snort* "pick up a chick" in another world.”

“Hmm… do you have a girlfriend, beautiful? I seem to remember a memory in which I was either bisexual or a lesbian in my old life… I wouldn’t mind having a partner.” My double winked at Melissa.

Melissa smirked. “Oh my, so shameless. Asking me if I have a girlfriend. Well, I appear to be married to my work, but I’m sure she won’t mind.”

My double grinned. “Horny and kinky… I love that in women. Hmm… would you like to go out on a date sometimes?”

“Hmm, I’ll have to think about it, call me later about it,” the techie smirked, a glint of light flashing off of her glasses.

My double nodded and took her hand gently before kissing it. “I look forward to it, beautiful.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, yes, shameless flirting aside, how about actually focusing on what we need to do? Hint hint, nudge nudge?”

“Right, right, back on track,” Melissa smirked, hands flying over her terminal, before it spat a brand new, pink Gummi Phone into her hand. “There you go, brand new phone, though I think Kairi needs to hold onto it so she can calibrate the Stargate on your world.”

“Good call,” I replied with a nod, taking the phone. “Well, everyone back to the Gate room!”

We all trooped back down to the Gate room, where I suddenly realized something.

“Oh bother, my dou- ugh, you know what, this is getting ridiculous, I’m just gonna call you Mina. Anyway, Mina doesn’t have a Token yet, how are we supposed to dial her world?”

My double nodded before she froze. “M-mina…? That’s… My name… I remember my name now! It’s Mina!”

I blinked. “You mean to tell me I just guessed your name at random? I just picked a name at random that started with ‘Mi’!

Mina nodded. “I know… when you said the name, a small glint of my memory returned… including being called Mina. Sadly, that’s all…”

“Huh, well stranger things have happened,” I shrugged. In any case, how are we going to dial her world?”

Melissa tilted her head in thought for a bit. “Well, there is the scanner, you could have her put her hand on it,” she then smirked. “She could certainly lend us… a hand!”

I groaned at the bad pun, prompting both me and Luna to pull out a Pun-Gun and zap her with it.

“Worth it!” she groaned out as she stopped convulsing from the electric shock.

Mina’s jaw dropped and rushed forward to check on Melissa who was on the ground with a grin on her face. “My beloved! Noooooooooo!”

“You really gotta, HAND it to me, that was at least a decent joke,” the techie punned again.

I glared at her and zapped her again. “Listen up chump, you’ve got a real problem. And its me!”

Mina got in front of Melissa. “This cutie will not be harmed!” She declared and summoned Destiny’s Embrace.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m just being defi-ant!” she spoke up again with a grin.

I narrowed my eyes and zapped her again, then once more for good measure. “I think that's enough pun-ishment,” I said with a grin and salute.

Melissa’s eyes widened. “But… But… UGH!”

Shortly after, Melissa's ghost floated up, only for me to zap it back into her body. I turned back to Mina. “Oh, put your Keyblade away, she’s not actually hurt. The Pun-Gun isn’t deady in the slightest.” Mina sent me a glare but dismissed her weapon. I rolled my eyes at the glare, pulling out my Gummi Phone, and pulling up a certain clip. “Here watch this. We’re only recreating this scene for fun.”

Mina snorted at the video. “Wow… okay, that’s interesting.”

Melissa nodded. “In any case, back to the matter at hand. WAIT! That wasn’t a pun! *sigh* Any way, we can scan Mina’s hand, and the Gate should register which coordinates to dial in.”

I glared at her a moment, Pun-Gun poised, before putting it away. “OK, that sounds like it’ll work.”

“This won’t hurt, right?” Mina asked.

“Does putting your hand on a table hurt?” Melissa asked rhetorically. “In all seriousness though, if anything its a bit cold to the touch. Completely harmless.” She went and pressed a few buttons on the DHD, allowing the scanner to pop out on the side. “All ready, just place your hand here, and we can get this show on the road.”

Mina nodded and placed her hand on the scanner. The Gate whired to life, the inner ring spinning to the various symbols that represented inter-universal coordinates, before the portal whooshed into existence.

“Alright, this should put us right back where we were when we came through,” I nodded, gesturing for Mina, Twilight and Fluttershy to follow me through.

They did but Twilight had a question. “How scary is the Gate?”

I raised an eyebrow. “We used it earlier to get here. You tell me.”

“Ooh… nevermind. I’m just yapping like an idiot.” Twilight apologized.

“No worries,” I replied, stepping through the Gate, watching the familiar sight of stars and galaxies pass me as we traveled through the wormhole.

“Wow… this is… wow.” Twilight admitted - awe was all over her face.

I chuckled as I stepped onto the grass of Mina’s world. “It is rather amazing, isn’t it? I’ve traveled through so many times now, it's just part of the scenery.”

Mina nodded. “Whelp, I guess we’re finally home. Oh, Kairi… can I ask you a question? A private one… it’s important.” She spoke.

“Sure,” I shrugged.

We both walked away from Twilight and Fluttershy so it would be getting some privacy. “So, what’s on your mind, other me?” I chuckled at the joke.

“Kairi… I was wondering… about Kairi - what exactly is her affiliation? Devoted to the light or the darkness?” Her question caught me off guard.

“Um, well, in the games she’s, as you put it, ‘devoted to the light’, but its a bit more complicated than that,” I explained. “I may have mentioned before that Kairi is a Princess of Heart. This essentially means that she has a heart of pure light. That doesn’t necessarily mean she’s devoted to the light, anymore than a heart of pure darkness is devoted to the darkness. It all comes down to the choices we make.”

Mina nodded as she crossed her arms. “Well… since I’m playing the role of this ‘Kairi’; I feel like I’m gonna step up my game if I’m gonna defeat the Vanitas look alike… hmm, I could channel the light and darkness together to try and accomplish something. Say, is it… nah, it’s a taboo question and it will be ridiculous.” She admitted.

“No, no, go ahead,” I shook my head. “I’m willing to answer any question, even the ones that seem taboo. Though I will say, you probably won’t be able to use darkness magic. As I said, Kairi is predisposed to light magic. The only reason I’m able to use it is because it's not darkness magic. Its called Shadow Dragon Slayer magic.”

Mina sighed. “I see… hmm, basically the reason I’m asking this is because it might be a weird one… but - let me just pose a question - the figure wears a type of organic armor in the form of a bodysuit right?”

“Yyeess…” I nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

“Well… if she used a dark bodysuit as armor… what if… what if I made a light bodysuit as armor?” Mina asked.

Now it clicked. “Ahh, I see. Well, you can, but it won’t come out as a bodysuit. What you’re describing is called Keyblade Armor. Every Keyblade wielder can summon it, though I will admit that I haven’t personally figured it out yet.”

Mina nodded. “Gotcha… hmm, but what if it doesn’t turn out to be armor though?”

I shrugged. “There’s nothing in the original lore of the game about it, so it could be anything. But from what I’ve seen, those of the dark have the bodysuit, while those of the light have proper armor. My personal headcanon is that the bodysuit is a corrupted version, therefore making them unable to fully manifest, whereas the armor is the complete, uncorrupted version.” I shook my head. “But we can discuss this more once I start getting your Stargate set up. Where do you want me to set it up? Just make sure its a place that’s easily defensible, and easily hidden. You don’t want someone stumbling on it by accident.”

“Hmmm… any ideas on where to set it up though? I’m stumped.” Mina admitted.

I nodded. “Well, a friend of mine has hers set up in the ruins of the Palace of the Two Sisters, specifically in a secret chamber she created. I’m sure we can do something similar.”

“Hmmm… Ooh, well - what about a place where Kairi enjoys being around?” Mina suggested.

“Uumm, that’s not gonna work,” I say slowly. “Kairi’s original world is the Destiny Islands, and is in a video game. This world is basically like the TV show My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, two very different entities from each other.”

“Ah… hmmm, I guess somewhere big but quiet?” Mina suggested.

“You know, I have plenty of big empty rooms in my castle,” Twilight chimed in as we got closer.

“And you just want to study the Gate, don’t you?” I deadpanned.

“Well, I mean, yes,” the purple unicorn admitted.

“Anything else?” Mina wondered.

Twilight nodded. “About that armor thing you mentioned, Kairi- I mean, Mina… this might be silly but I think I can do something like that.” She explained.

I raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“I have extensive knowledge in building and one of my books can provide information. If we’re lucky we can have it built today. What do you think, Kairi?” Twilight asked my double.

Mina shrugged. “Anything to up the battle with the Vanitas look alike.”

I pursed my lips. “Most of the time, the armor is formed by magic, but this’ll be a good crutch until you can figure out how to summon your own. I’ll even add some spells that’ll improve its darkness resistance.”

Mina nodded. “Alright. Let’s build ourselves an armor!” She declared with a grin.

I chuckled. “We can get to that after I start setting up the Gate. Twilight, would you please lead the way?”

Twilight nodded and led us ahead to our destination.

“I assume you have a particular room you want the Gate setup in?” I asked with a look around the large crystalline castle. “Remember, it needs to be rather large and easily hidden.”

“Well… I have been experimenting with portal teleportation and in one such instance I created an arena of sorts based on a design somewhere… It’s called… ‘Mirage’ something.” Twilight explained.

“Wait a moment, you’re telling me that you accidentally created the Mirage Arena?!?!?” I gasped, eyes widening. “If that’s the case, that would be the perfect place to set it up!”

“Mirage Arena?” Mina raised a brow.

I nodded. “Basically a large arena created to test Keyblade Wielders years ago. I doubt there’s anything programmed into the computer, if you accidentally created it, but it’ll still make a good sparring arena, or, in this case, a perfect place to set up a Stargate!”

Mina nodded slowly. “Hopefully it should be a well suited place to set up the Stargate.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out, lead on Purple Smart!” I replied with a smirk.

Twilight sent me a look that said ‘Oh, you are so dead!’ before leading us onward to an area where it was deemed safe to teleport to the Mirage Arena.

We appeared in a large, mostly hollow, blue sphere floating in space. There were several small, flashing electrical towers on the outer surface, as well a very large version of the same type of tower and a thin, grey tower. At the bottom of the sphere was a grey, triangular shape, while at the top is a large, saucer-like structure with cables running underneath. The structure was surrounded by two concentric rings that constantly rotate about the sphere. The rings had circuitry running along the outer edge, and a pattern of triangles on the inner edge. There were also ghostly rings around the bottom of the sphere and another half-ring running around the center of the structure.

“Well, it certainly looks like the Mirage Arena,” I mused as I looked around.

Mina looked around the area as well. “Huh… interesting design. So, Key Bearers come here to train?”

“Usually,” I nodded. “But like I said, since it was created accidentally, I doubt anything is programmed into the computer. In fact, we can use that computer as the DHD for the Stargate!”

“Speaking of Stargate… could we use it to come here and train as well?” Mina wondered.

“Bad idea, the Stargate is designed for travel between worlds, not travel between places on a world,” I explained. “Not only that, I’m not willing to mess with any of the settings, since the last time someone tampered with a Stargate, a planet blew up. Though, admittedly, that was a TV show.”

Mina nodded slowly. “Oh… well, I guess we’ll just transport here via Twilight’s spell?”

“Safest thing to do,” I nodded in agreement, before walking up to the computer terminal. “Well, it looks like I was right about the computer not having anything programmed in. I’ll just connect my phone, start the synthesis app, and we can leave it for an hour.”

Mina and Twilight nodded. “So, what do we do in that time though?” Mina wondered.

“Well, you said you wanted to get started on that armor, didn’t you?”

“I do,” Mina nodded.

“Then why don’t we head to a forge and get started?” I grinned. “I’ve never forged anything, but I can enchant things pretty well.”

Mina nodded as well and grinned. “Ooh, my very own armor. I feel like… like if I was a red-head disciplinarian with a giant sword.” She joked.

I blinked. “That’s… Oddly specific.”

Mina raised a brow. “Really? What brought that on?”

“Not sure,” I shrugged. “But I feel like that’s a reference to something, not sure what though.”

Mina and Twilight shared a glance but both shrugged. It was then that I realized what my double was talking about… now I remembered - Erza Scarlet!

I chuckled upon making that realization. “Now I remember. Remind me to show you some of my anime if we’re done with your armor before the Gate is done.”

“Sure… any other series besides that anime?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Plenty!” I replied, a glint in my eyes. “But right now, we need to start work on the armor. You do have a forge, right?”

“Twilight?” Mina asked Twilight who nodded and teleported them to an area where a forging equipment was set up. Turns out we were still in the arena.

“Huh, convenient.” I muttered. “Twilight, you’re the one who studied the books on forging, how about you take the lead?”

Twilight nodded and used her magic to prepare the tools. “Kai- No. I’ll stick with Mina from now on - Mina, any color scheme in mind?”

“Let’s start by focusing on the armor first… and then the color scheme.” Mina told us.

“Not to mention, the spells I plan to use for enchanting the armor may or may not permanently color your armor,” I added.

Mina nodded. “Exactly. Shall we get started?”

***

“Well that took a bit less time than I expected,” I said in surprise, looking down at the armor we had created. My eyes were astonished - it was just like an exact copy of Aqua’s Keyblade Armor but for Kairi’s size… minus the shoes. Guess she will be using her sneakers. “Well now, time for the spells. Any questions before I get started?”

“Nope.” Mina shook her head.

I nodded, drawing on my magic. I focused on the armor as I began channeling the magic into the armor, imbuing it with both my natural Light magic, as well as my Shadow Dragon Slayer magic. The combination of magic allowed for a high defense against darkness, not to mention making it nigh indestructible. Finally, as the magic began to crest, the armor took on a distinct rose hue, with gold and brown highlights.

“That ought to do it,” I said with a smile.

Mina whistled. “I dig it… the color scheme and design.” She admitted with a grin.

“In that case, we still have some time before the Stargate is done. Allow me to introduce you to the world of Fairy Tail.” I nodded, pulling out my laptop from… somewhere. Huh, never been able to do THAT before.

“Wow! What’s that?” Twilight wondered.

“A laptop,” I replied. “Basically a smaller, more portable version of what’s over there. It also happens to be able to connect to the internet of my old world, making it much easier to watch the show.”

“Ooh! Sounds… futuristic!” Twilight was in awe.

“Not really,” I shrugged. “You’re actually almost to that point technologically yourselves. Anyway, let's get to the show!” I quickly set up my laptop, pulling up the very first episode of Fairy Tail.

***Roughly 20 minutes later***

“You said you wanted to join the Fairy Tail guild, didn’t you?” Natsu asked Lucy on the laptop screen. “So let’s go!”

Lucy grinned as the ending music began to play, and the Rune Knights chasing the trio. “Alright!”

And that was the end of the episode.

“...My god… this is… I’m just… wow.” Mina commented - from the sounds of her voice, she was impressed.

“Yep,” I grinned. “That was pretty much my reaction to the show when I first saw it.”

“I have to admit I’m impressed as well - a world filled with mages and unlimited magic! It’s a dream come true.” Twilight was in awe again.

I chuckled again at her enthusiasm. “Well, I do believe the Stargate is complete. Before I go, do you want help making your Token, or can you handle it on your own?”

“Some help would be appreciated.” Twilight told me and my double nodded.

I nodded. “Alright, summon your Keyblade and remove the keychain that’s near the hilt.”

Mina nodded and summoned Destiny’s Embrace before removing the keychain. “Now what?”

“Hold it in your hand, and focus your magic into it,” I continued. “And while you do that, say the message you want attached to it out loud.”

Mina nodded and held it as tight as she could before focusing. Then the following words came out from her mouth:

Heed my call, hero or heroine! If you ever need a hand, just summon me using my token and conjure my following message! In a flash of light, I shall come to assist thee!

I nodded with a grin as the charm vanished into a portal. “Very nice! Now give it a second, and it should reappear, about… now.” And as I predicted, the charm fell out of another portal right into her hand. What I didn’t predict was another portal appearing near me and dropping another charm into my hand. “Huh, convenient. Anyway, let me summon my Token from where we originally were so you don’t lose it.” I summoned my own Destiny’s Embrace as I pocketed the newly created Token, and used my magic to summon my Token from the grass before handing it to Mina.

“Thanks. Just one more thing - actually, two more.” Mina told me.

“Shoot.”

“One - do you have a laptop with unlimited power and Two - Fairy Tail and other favorite animes if possible to watch whenever I’m bored.” Mina explained her demands.

I burst out laughing. “HAHAHAH! W-well, yeah, I do, HAHAH, I wasn’t expecting that!”

Twilight giggled a bit. “Me neither. But I do want to watch this ‘anime’ - it sounds interesting.”

I quickly get a hold of myself, my grin of amusement never leaving my face. “Well, I do happen to have a secondary laptop that you can have. Just don’t look in the file marked MLP. Don’t want to give any foreknowledge after all.”

Twilight raised a brow as did my double. Oops, too much information sharing…

“Right, gonna have to delete that quick…” I muttered, pulling out my spare laptop. Seriously, how do I keep doing that? Ahh, something to puzzle out later, need to delete the MLP folder. After doing so, I handed the laptop to my counterpart. “Alright, it's all set.”

Mina took it and nodded. “What animes did you install there besides Fairy Tail?”

I grinned. “Nothing. I did mention that its connected to my world’s internet, right? Well you can go find whatever you want to watch through that. I also installed some firewalls, just in case.”

“Roger… we just need some names though.” Mina told me.

“I would recommend My Hero Academia, Dimension W, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Death Parade to get you started. I’d also recommend just browsing around to find something you like.”

Mina nodded. “Alright… seems like everything is in order. Melissa’s number is in the Gummi Phone right?” She asked.

My eyes widened. “I knew I was forgetting something. Yes, her number is programmed in. I just need to connect your phone to the Stargate to add the recall app.” I quickly strode over to the Gate, plugging it into the computer console to get the app before tossing it to Mina. “Now, I already gave you one warning about the Gate, but I’ll go over everything quick so you don’t do something you’re not supposed to.”

I pointed at a small tray on the computer console. “To dial another Displaced’s world, place their Token on this tray, the Gate will do the rest. Do not stand directly in front of the Gate while dialing the Gate, believe me, you do not want to have the top half of you demolecularized. You’ll end up dead if that happens. If the Gate’s portal is kinda cloudy, don’t go through, you’ll end up lost in time somewhere. Finally, as I said before, DO NOT TAMPER with any of the Gate’s functions. There are failsafes in place, but you could still accidentally destroy the planet if you ignore those failsafes.”

Mina and Twilight froze. “Destroy the planet? As in actual destruction!?” Mina asked in a horrified tone.

I nodded. “As soon as you can, look up the first episode of Stargate Universe to see what I mean.”

Twilight and Mina nodded before Twilight came to a decision. “It’s best I do the whole ‘Stargate’ thing... “

I nodded, before gesturing to the Gate. “In that case, would you mind dialing my world? I’d like to go home now.”

Twilight nodded, taking the Token from Mina in her magic and placing it on the tray, beginning the Gate’s dialing sequence.

“Oh, Kairi… before you go - I had a check-in of Kairi… and well - two names made me curious: Who on Earth are the cute blonde in a dress and the spiky-haired boy with a Keyblade?” Mina smirked and showed me the pictures on the back-up laptop.

I chuckled. “The blonde is Naminé, Kairi’s Nobody, and the spiky-haired boy is Sora. I’ll let you figure out exactly who they are.” The Gate’s wormhole finished forming as I said this. “And that’s my que. It's been fun Mina. Until next time, and May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key.” I finished with a deep oriental style bow.

“Hmmm… cool quote. Same to you, Kairi - may your Heart be your Guiding Key.” Mina wished me.

With a smile I turned and stepped back through the Gate.

Author's Note

Soulbound: Hello all my lovely readers, long time no see. It's been a while since the last chapter, and I can explain. I’m now working a 70 hour work week. But fear not, I still find time to write. With that being said, I’d like to give a BIG thank you to Ocelot the Devil for inviting me to write this chapter with him. Go on Ocelot, introduce yourself to my readers!

Ocelot: Thanks, Soulbound! I’d like to thank Soulbound for giving me the opportunity to crossover our Kairis and to experience writing the chapter alongside him. Thank you so much! Anything to add, Soulbound?

Soulbound: Not much more, except to go give his Kairi, AKA Mina, some love over on his fic, Embrace Your Destiny. Now, I think you know what we say next, am I right Ocelot?

Ocelot: Ummm, not really. ^^” - Remind me again?

Soulbound: Oh, its easy, I say it at the end of every chapter!

Both: See you next chapter!

Song used in this chapter: Ready To by Studio Yuraki:

The Key to Faith

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 18: The Key to Faith

I groaned as the portal deposited me back in the Gate Room. It had been a particularly long day, and it obviously showed on my face as I staggered my way to the door. Melissa, who was manning the DHD, winced as I passed her.

“Melissa, can you make sure no one other than Luna bothers me for a while?” I asked, a hint of whine in my voice.

“The Simulator’s empty right now,” she replied with a nod. “There are a number of sims that I find particularly relaxing, but you can always ask the computer for something as well.”

I nodded in acknowledgement as I trudged up the stairs to the Simulator. Normally, my go to method of stress-relief is to play a video game; something that typically allows me to escape to another world. Today, however, I needed something a little different.

“Computer,” I called as I entered the Control Room. “Please recreate the Trinity Assembly of God sanctuary. You’ll find a picture of it on my laptop in the folder marked ‘Church Finance Final Project’.”

“Simulation ready,” the computer replied. “Is there anything else you require?”

I nodded. “Please add an acoustic guitar to the stage.”

“Done,” came the quick reply as the doors opened.

I stepped into the Simulator to a room I hadn’t seen in over a month. It was a large square shape, with carpeting on the floor, and a small stage on the other side. On the far wall was a large, wooden cross, and on the stage sat a guitar. I stepped up onto the stage and picked up the guitar. I then took a breath, drew on my magic and began to play.

“I've been running in circles
Jumping the hurdles
Getting caught in that rush of doing so much
I'm feeling kinda worn out”

As I played, I could feel and hear my magic swelling, providing additional instruments to fill out the song.

“All this checking the boxes
Trying to be flawless
Has me spinning my head, catching my breath
Too afraid to slow down”

The tension I had unknowingly been feeling ever since I first arrived in Equestria, almost a month ago, was slowly, ever so slowly, beginning to melt away. I closed my eyes, not noticing as the simulator doors silently slid open.

“I tell myself to keep this up
That God wants more than just my love
But I've been complicating things
It's just like me to overthink”

My lips spread into a smile, eyes still closed, as the Chorus began. My unexpected audience was also smiling, swaying to the music.

“Gotta keep it real simple, keep it real simple
Bring everything right back to ground zero
'Cause it all comes down to this
Love God and love people(People)”

My eyes snapped open as I heard Luna’s voice joining in. She was standing at the foot of the stage, swaying from side to side, eyes closed and a smile on her face. My smile widened as I continued to sing.

“We're living in a world that keeps breakin'
But if we want to find a way to change it
It all comes down to this
Love God and love people”

As the chorus ended, I pushed my magic towards my little sister. Might as well help her out with the lyrics if she wants to join in.

“Oh, this is freedom(This is freedom)
The keys to the Kingdom(Hey-ey)
Knowing life will be found when love can be loud
'Cause love is what it's all about”

My smile grew as I watched Luna unconsciously singing, unaware that she had taken the lead, before I took over again.

“I tell myself to keep this up
That all God wants is just my love
No more complicating things
No more need to overthink”

Both our voices rose, as another figure silently slipped in, content to watch from the shadows.

“Gotta keep it real simple, keep it real simple
Bring everything right back to ground zero
'Cause it all comes down to this
Love God and love people
We're living in a world that keeps breakin'
But if we want to find a way to change it
It all comes down to this
Love God and love people”

I abruptly stop playing, raising my hands as the background instruments fade, leaving only the piano to play through the bridge.

“Love is patient,love is kind
Rescues heartsand changes lives
Love is all we need to make things right
Gotta keep it real simple, oh
It's really so simple, oh-ooh-oh-oh-oh-ohh”

The drums and other instruments began building up, and as Luna and I began the last chorus, I started playing again.

“Gotta keep it real simple, keep it real simple
Bring everything right back to ground zero
'Cause it all comes down to this
Love God and love people
We're living in a world that keeps breakin'
But if we want to find a way to change it
It all comes down to this
Love God and love people”

As we reached the end of the song, I quickly transitioned into another, gently nudging my little sister in all but blood with my magic to take the lead.

“Before I spoke a word, You were singing over me
You have been so, so good to me
Before I took a breath, You breathed Your life in me
You have been so, so kind to me”

I smiled as I took a breath to join my sister.

“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”

The figure in the shadows swayed as a soft smile touched their lips. Obliviously, I continued on, taking the lead as I switched languages.

“Jibun ni wa kachi nante nai to
Omotteta toki ni
Inochi wo sosoide kureta
Ai wa kawaranai”

To my absolute shock, Luna grinned before joining in at the chorus.

“Oboresou na kurai fukai Shu no ai ga
Mayou watashi sutezuni oikaketa
Misutenai, hanasanai, konna watashi demo
Tsutsumi komare yurusare aisareta”

The background instruments faded as Luna and I entered the bridge.

“There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me

There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me”

The instruments began building up.

“There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me

There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me”

The music paused momentarily as we went into the last chorus, before coming in fully.

“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine
And I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”

As the song ended, I set the guitar down, and walked down to Luna, scooping her up into a hug.

“You know,” I said as I held her close. “You really surprised me today.”

Luna smirked. “Me singing with you, or me knowing Japaneighs?”

I blinked. “A little of both I suppose.”

“Neighpon considers the moon sacred,” my sister laughed. “Of course I’d learn the language of the ponies that actually respected me back then.” Her face took on a pensive expression. “Though, I have a few questions.”

“Oh?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded. “I really liked those songs, but I didn’t really understand them.”

I blinked. Honestly, I didn’t expect this. “Well, what didn’t you understand?”

“Well, for the first song, and the second song, now that I think about it, who is God?”

Ahh, right. I should have seen that coming.

“God,” I began slowly, choosing my words carefully. “Is the creator of my world. He created all the earth, the stars, the sun, the moon, and each and every one of us.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “Oh! Like Faust!”

Oh, thank goodness, a common point of reference! “Yes, exactly like that,” I nodded with a smile.

Luna squinted. “But then, why in the second song, the part in Japaneighs I mean, why would you be God’s foe?”

“Well, that’s a bit tricky to answer,” I sighed. “On my home world, the vast majority of people there don’t even believe that God exists, or even that a higher power exists. In that sense, because those people don’t believe in God, and don’t align with His desires, that would make them God’s foes. But, God has, and always will, love those people, and will fight for them.”

Luna nodded. “I think I understand. But that’s not what I came here for.”

I shook my head with a chuckle. “Oh? And what did you come here for?”

“Well, you said you would show me Cells at Work to help with our group project for school.”

“Oh yeah, I did, didn’t I?” I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head as I started leading her out of the Simulator. “Come on, let’s go watch it!”

***3rd POV***

The figure in the shadows watched the interaction between the sisters, a soft smile on her face.

“Soon now, Kairi,” she whispered. “Soon I shall come and explain things…”

Author's Note

Happy New Year!

Now, I have a few things to say about this chapter. First, the Japanese portion of the lyrics that are written, you can find the English lyrics in the video for the song. Second, I know that there will probably be a lot of people on here who are gonna ROAST me for my beliefs, which are on full display in this chapter. Please respect my beliefs. I'm not trying to shove my beliefs in your face, this is supposed to be a chapter with Kairi and Luna bonding, and Luna asking questions about the songs that Kairi was singing.

Now that I've got that off my chest, I'll get down off my soapbox.

Have a Happy New Year, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

Songs used in this chapter:

Love God, Love People by Danny Gokey

Reckless Love by Cory Asbury

EDIT: Big thanks to Hoodwinked MCShelster for the fantastic picture of Kairi and Luna singing together!

The Key to Dark Visitations

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 19: The Key to Dark Visitations

“I’m sorry, what?” I questioned, a look of shock on my face.

Trixie took a deep breath, her wizard robes replaced with what I quickly identified as a Narnian style dress, most likely supplied by Rarity. “I want you to give the introduction for The Magician’s Nephew.”

For context’s sake, let me explain. When I gave Trixie that orb of music magic back when she helped me, Lex, and Lex’s world’s Trixie fight the Kurt Zisa, I also accidentally added a lot of fiction from my world along with the songs I knew. As a result, she was inspired to start the Lulamoon Theatre Company, with its debut shows being The Chronicles of Narnia. The very first show of that series, The Magician’s Nephew, was due to open in a week, and I have it on good authority that at least two of the Element Bearers were set to appear. Most notably Rarity playing Queen Jadis, the villain of the story. Its been several months since Trixie first started working on this endeavor, so why did she wait and spring this on me now?

“Two questions,” I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Why me, and why now?”

“You’re the only one with an intimate knowledge of the Chronicles,” the powder blue mare shrugged. “As for why now, I couldn’t make a good puppet of Douglas Gresham.”

I rolled my eyes at that last one. “Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll do it. I’ll even agree to do the introduction for all the other Chronicles.”

“Excellent!” Trixie cheered. “Now I just need you to get a formal dress!”

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

==Seven Days Later: Opening Night…==

“Why the heck did I let you talk me into this?” I grumbled as Rarity helped me into my dress for the evening. “Really, you didn’t have to make it so intricate!”

“Oh, stop complaining, my dear,” Rarity replied with a roll of her eyes. “It's not like it's one of those ‘kimonos’ you originally wanted.”

My mouth snapped shut at that, since, while I do feel like this dress is WAY over the top, Rarity did have a point. I never truly realized just how much work a kimono entailed, not just for the tailor, but for the wearer as well. The dress for tonight was a velvet gown with short sleeves, an adjustable chest area that I was thankful that Rarity had taken into account, the upper half of which was lined with a cream color that contrasted the reds in a way I’d never really thought would work together. The skirt, while long, looked lighter then one would expect a dress of such extravagance, a loose fitting belt with dangling sashes caught my eye as it was the same cream color as the hem upper, with the final touches being a wavy fabric that was dyed a dark rose red and stitched to the dress seamlessly.

“Aaand, there we are,” the white mare said with a nod, zipping up the back of the dress. “You look absolutely gorgeous my dear!”

“And just in time for you to take your place, Kairi,” came Trixie’s tired voice. “Curtain up in five minutes, fillies and gentlecolts! Everyone to their places! Rarity, I know you have some time, but you should already be in costume!”

“Oh my, you’re right!” said mare gasped. “Please excuse me!”

I chuckled as I watched the fashionista race to her dressing room. I could hear the orchestra tuning their instruments, and the audience shuffling in as Melissa was barking orders to the ponies operating her cameras. As soon as I took my place next to the stage, the lights dimmed, the audience went silent, and a low hum filled the air, before a whisper swept around the room.

“Naaaarnia…..Awake!”

And with that, the orchestra began the overture, the curtain partially rising to allow me onto the stage before falling again to a raucous applause.

“Good evening,” I began with a bow. “My name is Kairi, your host this evening for the Lulamoon Theatre Company. I’m sure you can imagine the scene; a small colt tucked away in his playroom on a rainy afternoon, creating an intricate world of fantasy, with stories about a mythological kingdom called Boxan, that had talking animals and chivalrous knights. We often take foals’ imaginative adventures for granted. We may even consider them silly, or foalish, but for Clive Staples Lewis, or Jack as he insisted on being called at the age of four, those days of playful fantasy were very important.”

I paused, taking in the audience as they listened, my eyes finding both Luna and Celestia, sitting together with Hayley and Melissa. “They would, in fact,” I continued. “Become the basis of stories he would write years later while he was a teacher at Oxford University, a renowned university of my world. We know these seven epics as The Chronicles of Narnia. One need only read the various books, diaries and letters of Jack’s life to see how his childhood in Belfast Ireland in the early part of my world’s 20th century influenced The Magician’s Nephew, the story you’re about to see.”

I moved to stage right as I continued my introduction. “The wonder and secrets found in an attic.” As I spoke, the area of stage I had just vacated transformed into a dimly lit attic, much to the audience’s amazement. “A young boy trying to cope with the terrible illness of his mother.” The attic transformed into a picture of a sickly woman in bed, with a boy holding her hand sitting next to the bed. “And an escape into a newly created world.” The scene transformed one final time into the silhouettes of five figures and a horse gazing into a sunrise.

I returned to center stage as the scene faded back into the stage. “These were things that the young Jack Lewis knew personally. The Magician’s Nephew was originally published in the year 1955. Though it was the sixth book of the seven to be written, it is really the first book of the world of Narnia. Here Jack Lewis explores not only themes of creation, beauty and hope, but of corruption, betrayal and, ultimately, forgiveness. So if you’re tempted to think that these stories are for foals only, then you are sadly mistaken. Jack observed that as an adult, he enjoyed so-called foals’ stories better then he did as a colt. He said he was able to put more into them, and as a result, he got more out of them.”

I could hear the music for the first scene start as I give a smile, grandly sweeping my arm towards the rising curtain. “Join us now as the Lulamoon Theatre Company proudly presents The Magician’s Nephew.”

As the audience applauded, I made my way backstage, just in time for the storyteller, Twilight, to give the opening line of the play. “This is a story about something that happened long ago, when your grandfather was a child…”

***

“...I’ve got her ankle! Polly, the ring! PUT ON THE RING!” Cried Button Mash on stage, fully into his role as Diggory. I watched as Sweetie Belle, as Polly, put on a yellow ring, causing her, Button Mash, Rarity as Queen Jadis, Blueblood as Uncle Andrew, Mr. Cake as Frank the cabbie, and an illusory horse to vanish as the curtain fell, ending act 1.

“We will now take a fifteen minute intermission,” Trixie’s voice emanated through the theatre. “Please take this time to get refreshments or relieve yourselves. Also, in the lobby we have copies of the original Magician’s Nephew novel on sale.”

With a nod, I stood up and began searching for a pale green figure in the back. It didn’t take me long to find her, studying the script and comparing it to various paintings, sketches and notes. This was Skitch Sketch, a unicorn artist with a gift for illusions.

“Hey Skitch,” I called, drawing the mare’s attention. “I got something for you.” I tossed her a small crystal vial filled to the brim with a deep blue potion.

Taking a glance at it after snagging it out of the air, she raised an eyebrow. “And this is?”

“A little something a friend of mine cooked up,” I replied with a grin. “It’s called an Ether, and it’ll fully restore your magic reserves.”

Skitch’s eyes widened, before she pulled the cork and chugged the whole potion, while a faint blue glow surrounded her. “Thanks for that,” she sighed. “Now instead of passing out back here at the end of the night, I’ll be able to stagger to my bed. Much more comfortable then the floor.”

I nodded with a chuckle. “Not a problem. By the way, nice job on those illusions during my piece. When you told me to move away from center stage when I started talking about certain locations and events, I had no idea you’d come up with something like that!”

The green artist and illusionist waved away my praise. “No big deal. I just wanted the audience to have a taste of what was coming tonight.”

“Places everypony! We’re back in one minute!” came Trixie’s voice.

“Good luck Skitch,” I smiled as I turned to go back to my place. “Have fun creating and animating the animals!”

I left the room to mutterings about cheeky mares minding their own business.

***

“...That was the beginning of all the comings and goings between Narnia and our world, which you may hear about some other time.” Twilight finished as the curtain closed, and the audience burst into applause. I took a moment to add my own applause before stepping once more onto the stage.

I let the applause die down before giving my closing remarks. “When it was published in 1955, The Magician’s Nephew was an instant success with the many readers of The Chronicles of Narnia around the globe. It answered many of the questions that foals and adults had asked Jack Lewis in the numerous letters he had received. Narnia was so real to people that they simply had to know how it all began. And it's to Jack’s credit that he’d had such a wonderful world worked out in his mind.”

I paused, moving to stage right. “The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis was dramatized and directed by Trixie Lulamoon.” Trixie stepped out, taking a place beside me as she took in the applause with a smile. “Our producer and sound designer was Vinyl Scratch.” A white, blue-maned mare sporting sunglasses and headphones stepped out, waving as she took her place next to Trixie. “Music was composed and orchestrated by Octavia.” A grey mare with black mane stood up in the orchestra with a bow. “Costume design by Rarity, and set design and implementation by Skitch Sketch.” Skitch stepped out, a slight grimace underneath her smile as she waved. “Our cast included Twilight Sparkle as the Storyteller, Big Macintosh as Aslan, Button Mash as Diggory, Sweetie Belle as Polly, Rarity as Queen Jadis, and Prince Blueblood as Uncle Andrew.” All six named ponies stepped out on stage, waving and lining up next to Skitch. “Our cast also included the the talents of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Toe-Tapper, Sweetie Drops, Quibble Pants, Sassaflash, Star Streak, Parasol, Adante, Minuette, and B. Sharp.” All eleven ponies filed onto the stage, lining up behind the main cast. “The Magician’s Nephew was a production of the Lulamoon Theatre Company, I’m your host, Kairi. Thank you for joining us.” I finished as we all joined hands and gave a bow to the audience, as they rose to their feet, giving us a standing ovation.

***

“Finally!” I cried in relief as my dress fell to the floor. “I can get out of this death trap!”

Twilight and Rarity, both of whom I was sharing this dressing room with, giggled as they watched my elated celebration. “She’s almost as bad as Rainbow, isn’t she?” Twilight asked with a grin.

“Darling, you have NO idea!” the fashionista drawled in reply. “Do you think we should tell her that she’ll have to wear that dress again next month for the Gala?”

I froze in my celebrations as I heard Twilight’s response. “Nah, how about you just make a more elaborate dress for her?”

I quickly plastered the biggest grin I could, fake of course, on my face, before I quickly gathered up the discarded dress, and attempted a sneaky exit. Key word being attempted, since I didn’t make it anywhere near the door, since a large wardrobe wrapped in a purple aura was quickly placed in front of it.

“And where, exactly, do you think you’re going?” a certain purple traitor asked, amusement coloring her words.

“Oh, just outside to burn this dress,” I replied, a bead of sweat making its way down my forehead.

“I certainly hope you aren’t planning on going like that,” Rarity remarked, also amused.

I just stared at the two for a moment, not getting it. I looked down at myself, then up at them, then down again, and back up at them one last time before it clicked. “I mean, that is quite the fetching underwear, but I don’t think you want anyone else seeing them,” the white fashionista grinned at me. A full body, atomic red blush encapsulated me as I zipped into one of the changing stalls, slamming the door behind me. Yeah, I was only wearing a bra and panties.

The two mares out in the main room burst into laughter, as a blue aura surrounded the dress in my arms before it vanished. “I’ll just hold onto the dress, shall I?” I could just hear the grin in Rarity’s voice as I started pulling my usual outfit back on. “After all, we can’t have it getting ruined before the Gala.”

I just growled in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment as I heard the two mares laugh, move the wardrobe, and leave. I cautiously opened the door of my stall, before going over to my bag, looking for a fresh pair of socks.

“You know, you should really try getting used to dresses, my dear,” a regal voice startled me. I jumped around, summoning Destiny’s Embrace as I did so. What I found was a tall, white alicorn mare, with a red mane, wearing a wine red evening gown. Just above her heart, she wore a small pin in the shape of a quill and inkwell.

“Who are you?” I questioned, eyes narrowed. “How did you get in here?”

The mare chuckled before smiling at me. “I should think that’s obvious,” I just gave her a flat stare at that answer.

“I wouldn’t have asked if it was obvious,” I deadpanned.

She chuckled again. “Fair enough. Very well, you may call me Faust.”

My eyes widened as Destiny’s Embrace fell from my suddenly numb fingers. “I am so sorry! Ple-”

“No need for that,” the goddess before me cut in before I could really get started. “Really, it’s fine.” I stiffly nodded before she smiled again. “I must admit, I never thought I’d see the old histories again.”

I blinked. That was an odd change of subject. “Umm, what?”

“The play,” Faust clarified. “Narnia was a real place. Oh, it feels like only a week ago that I helped create that world.” My jaw dropped. It couldn’t be. “Jack did get a few details wrong, of course, like my involvement for example, but otherwise, a very faithful recreation.”

“Wait, hold on,” I interrupted, struggling to hold onto reason. “You’re telling me that you are, or rather were, Aslan?”

The goddess shook her head with a chuckle. “No, no, but I was one of his close friends. We extra-dimensional beings need to stick together after all.” Faust shook her head in amusement before she sobered up. “In any case, I have a few things I need to explain to you Kairi; things here in Equestria are not as peaceful as they seem.”

I raised an eyebrow. “The Heartless attacks kinda gave that away Faust. Are you saying there’s something worse than them out there?”

The goddess grimmly nodded. “Indeed.” With a wave of her hand, she conjured an image in the air. It was of an angelic, vaguely female creature that was entirely white. Even the armor was white. It carried an enormous sword and a round shield.

“This is a-”

“A Sin Eater,” I growled out, cutting into Faust’s explanation. “Created through an imbalance in a being’s internal elements towards the light.”

The goddess blinked. “That's… Right…”

I nodded. “I take it you want those abominations destroyed on sight then?”

Faust shook herself, deciding to ignore my obvious knowledge of the creatures. “Yes, they as well as these can not be allowed to exist.” She waved her hand again, simultaneously dispelling the image and conjuring another. This image depicted a green-skinned female with yellow tentacles formed from what appears to be a literal "cloud of darkness".

“Voidsent, right?” I asked.

The deity nodded. “Indeed. What you see there is the most powerful Voidsent to have been seen here in Equestria: The Cloud of Darkness. It was banished years ago by Starswirl the Bearded.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Banished? Really? I thought you wanted these things destroyed, not banished.”

Faust sighed as she dispelled the image. “While the magic of Equestria is some of the most powerful in the multiverse, it simply is not meant to be used in an aggressive manner, making the destruction of both Sin Eaters and Voidsent very nearly impossible. And on top of that, they seem to be multiplying at an exponential rate, to the point that the Sin Eaters, incredibly rare as they are, are commonly being seen in the Badlands.”

“I take it you have an idea as to what’s creating them?” I asked with a frown.

“Heheheh…” a sinister chuckle rang out through the empty room. “Oh, she has FAR more then an idea, little Lightbringer.”

Faust’s face twisted into a mask of anger and disgust. “Tash. Show yourself!”

The unseen figure’s chuckle morphed into a full cackle as a thick black smoke filled the center of the room, coalescing into a truly nightmarish creature. It was tall, easily double the size of myself, and roughly in the shape of a man, but with four arms. Its upper left, and lower right arm were black, while the lower left and upper right were white, with sharp, cruel claws at the ends of them. To finish the monstrous image, it had the head of a vulture, its eyes glowing a deep, malevolent, crimson.

“If you insist,” the creature croaked.

“Hang on, hang on, WHAT?!?” I cried in shock, summoning Way to Dawn.

Tash cackled again. “Allow me to introduce myself.” The dressing room door opened and a peach colored earth pony mare entered, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. The nightmarish creature’s claw struck without warning, impaling the mare as soon as she entered. “I am Tash. Devourer of Worlds, but more importantly.”

He paused as the mare he impaled began to cast a bright light. Her very being seemed to melt before us, before she was encased in a cocoon of white feathers, which soon broke open to reveal a VERY different creature.

“I’m the creator of the Sin Eaters and Voidsent!” Tash cackled once again, before vanishing. “And you, little Lightbringer, will make an excellent Voidsent!”

By the time I heard his voice in my ear, it was too late. Tash plunged a claw into my back. I could feel the darkness seeping into me, but strangely, instead of the transformation we all were expecting, the darkness began to be absorbed by the Shadow Dragon Slayer lacrima that was within me. With a feral roar, I pulled myself off of the dark entity’s claw, turned around and blasted him with a Shadow Dragon Roar.

I panted a bit as I cast a Curaga spell on myself, watching the dust settle, revealing… nothing at all.

“Bravo,” a most unwelcome voice spoke up behind us. “Its not often that one is able to resist the transformation like that. I have no doubt that we’ll meet again.” We spun around just in time to see Tash walk through a dark portal, taking the newly created Sin Eater with him. “Past the far edge of fate ring blades dark and light, toning the coming of the end. But whose end shall it tone? Shall it tone the end of this world, sating my hunger? Or shall it tone my end? I look forward to finding out!” With a final cackle, the dark entity and his portal disappeared.

Silence reigned for a few seconds, as Faust and I quickly repaired the damage my attack on Tash had caused.

“I need to get the Element Bearers ready,” I spoke up. “But, they aren’t going to be enough, are they?”

Faust sighed. “As much as I wish to deny it, you are correct. You’ll need the help of the friends you made elsewhere.”

I nodded before heading out, leaving the deity behind as I pulled out my phone, dialing Melissa’s number. “Melissa, we’ve got a problem, activate Code 0… Yeah, the Elements are gonna need to be ready for a war…”

Author's Note

Aaaand WE'RE BACK!!!

HOLY CRAP! Its been over 6 MONTHS since the last update!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this new chapter, and I hope you're all ready, because I've got TWO more chapters to post in the next week or two!

Until then, SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER!

EDIT: Almost forgot, BIG thanks to Genocidal Pacifist for the dress image and description!

Fairy Tail Magic

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist, Garnet Naturea, and Alvasa

Chapter 20: Fairy Tail Magic

== Lex’s POV ==

A loud yawn escaped me as I made my way through the empty halls of the guild, the night sky outside showing just how late it is. I knew I shouldn't have had so much to drink the night before, so now I was behind on paperwork, particularly for property damage a couple of Element Bearers caused.

I sighed as I finally arrived in my room, seeing a certain someone fast asleep in her little bed. I was honestly a little worried at first when I had to by another bed for Yoru, but considering how big she’s getting, it couldn’t be helped. I really wish I knew why her having Alicorn DNA alongside my magic energy is causing her to grow so fast.

Magic and science don’t really agree with one another on things like this.

I shook my head and smiled to myself, gently tucking Yoru back in as she was sprawled out, watching her clutch her Eevee doll with a smile on her face. I felt myself relax as I made my way over to the washroom, giving myself a quick rinse before changing into my nightgown.

As I was making my way to my bed, I saw a light appear at the bedside, my phone vibrating with an alert. Grabbing the cellular device, I smirked as I saw the reminder I set for myself, adding a few things into the list I had. Once I was done, I went to bed, using my magic to appear in my mental warehouse to practice some more abilities for the guild.

‘Good thing I have been keeping an eye on the newcomers, their magic is ready to learn. I also need to talk to Cheerilee about enrolling the kids.’

The Next Morning....

With a grin, I entered my office, keeping my other daughters occupied as I grabbed my Gummi Phone, looking through the contacts before finding who I was looking for. A quick click, and the screen showed four different images, one of a white wolf on a red eclipses, another of a Pokeball held in a transparent hand, an alchemist symbol surrounded by an ouroboros symbol and the last of a familiar keychain, the former being at the forefront.

After a few rings, I could see the screen light up with my brother's face without his mask. He blinked a couple times, and I noticed he had a piece of toast in his mouth.

“Oh, hey Lex.” He muttered around his food, swallowing quickly as he saw my glare. “Sorry, you caught me just as I finished making breakfast.”

“Clearly.” I responded with a grin as Adam put his food down.

“So what’s up sis? Not that I am complaining, but I don’t normally get a call from you this early in the morning.” Adam questioned, sipping some coffee. I noticed Penny behind him as she took a seat next to him at their table.

“Well today is the Fairy Tail promotion and placement exam, and I was wondering if you and anyone else from your world wanted to come, be it to join the guild as an honorary member, or if just to party.” I explained, smiling as Adam’s eyes widened and he smiled.

“Alright! Hold on a sec, let me call Ruby and Pyrrha.” Adam said as I saw him going through a couple things on his scroll, before my perspective changed so I was looking down slightly through the screen?

“Holoscreen mode, comes in handy for talking face to face.” I heard Penny explain as I could see her, as well as Oscar and Qrow in the shot now. After a moment, I heard a couple of beeps and two more screens popped up.

The first was Pyrrha, who looked to be doing her hair in her room, while the other showed Ruby and, to my surprise, the rest of her team eating breakfast.

“Adam? What’s up?” Ruby questioned, munching on some strawberries.

“Yes, is everything ok Adam?” Pyrrha added before she seemed to notice me. “Oh, Lex! Good to see you again.”

“Hey Pyrrha, Ruby, good to see you two again too. Hi, Qrow, Oscar, Penny!” I greeted, getting some equal greetings in return. “So, like I just told Adam here, today is a placement and promotion exam for my guild, and I was wondering if any of you wanted to come for the party afterwards.”

“Really?! Yes!” Ruby cheered.

“That would be lovely Lex.” Pyrrha agreed.

“Wait, slow down a second here!” I turned to Ruby’s screen as that Weiss girl walked up. I blinked a couple times to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me as I saw a small dragon resting in her arms. “Who the heck are you!?” I noticed Blake and Yang, I think those are their names, looking over Weiss’ shoulder.

“Sorry, my name is Lex, I am the dummy Faunus surrogate sister.” I ignored the annoyed ‘Hey!’ As I introduced myself.

“Oh, you’re one of the other Displaced that Ruby talked about.” Yang added. I nodded, and then I noticed Yang tilting her head. “Nice hair.”

“Thank you.” Was all I replied, lightly brushing my hair. I just realized how similar our hair styles are, only mine is a little spikier. “So, anyone else aside from Ruby and Pyrrha wanna come?”

“Do you guys have any Strawberry Sunrise?” I nodded. “Then I’m in.”

“Well, I suppose it could be fun.” Weiss aquiested quickly, and I could see a smirk on her face. Blake just shrugged and nodded.

“Thanks for the invite Lex, but I have some lessons to teach at the schoolhouse later today.” Oscar politely declined.

“I have some more recruits to whip into shape, so I’m out too.” Qrow stated, sipping some coffee before turning back to the screen. “Try not to have too much to drink Yang, and Ruby, keep a lid on your excitement.”

“Like you’re one to talk Qrow.” Yang fired back. I grinned at their quick back and forth before snapping my fingers to get their attention.

“Alright, I’ll call you guys back in a couple hours, be prepared to go through a Stargate.” I told them, earning nods from everyone before I hung up on them with a quick wave.

With a sigh, I worked out a kink in my neck before swiping the screen and selecting the pokeball symbol. A few rings later, and my sister's voice was coming through the speakers.

“Hello? Lex?”

“Hey Nat, morning.” I greeted with a smile, hearing my sister's drowsy voice.

“Hey, what’s up?” Nat questioned, and I could hear her Twilight groaning next to her.

“Not much. Just wanted to ask if you, Twilight and Sora wanted to come by today for the guilds placement and promotion exam and party.” I stated, and I could imagine my sister's eyes widening as I heard her sit up. At least I hope that is what is making the bed squeak.

“What, seriously!? Hell Yeah!”

“Babe, can you keep it down?”

I smiled as I heard Nat quickly apologize to her marefriend. I could hear her getting out of their room before hearing her knocking on another door.

“Nat, what’s up?” I smiled as I heard that other voice. It sounded older, but I knew who it was.

“Hey Sora! Good morning!” I called through the phone.

“Oh, morning Lex!” I hear my littlest sister respond. “So what’s up?”

“Well I wanted to know if you, Nat and Twilight wanted to come by for the guilds promotion and placement exam and the party afterwards.” I repeated.

“Alright! I’m in. I’m sure Nat can convince Twilight to come by too.” Sora responded.

“Sweet, I’ll call you two later when it's time to come by.” I smiled as the two agreed before I gave a quick farewell and hung up.

A couple of swipes later, I selected the image of a keychain, hearing the phone ring a couple of times before I heard the receiver pick up.

“Hello? Lex?” I heard Kairi answer.

“Hey Kairi, been a while. How have you, Luna and Haley been?” I asked.

“Good, good, actually, you called at a pretty good time,” Kairi replied. “Not much of anything going on, which, while pretty good, is highly suspicious. What’s up?”

“Well later today is the promotion and Placement exam for the guild, and I was wondering if you, Haley and Luna wanted to come by and stay for the party afterwards. My siblings are already coming, so this could be a good chance to introduce you to Adam.”

“Oooh! That sounds great!” came the eager reply. “Will I be participating in the exam?”

“That’s the plan. I know Ed knows where the locations for the totems are, so I plan on omitting him, but you and the others are free to join in since you're honorary members. Afterwards we will just be showing off our magic to see where you land, then I’ll be explaining what magic some of the newcomers will be learning while the rest of you relax at the guild.” I explained.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” the Keyblade Wielder cheerfully replied, before continuing in a more serious turn. “On a more serious note, I have two jobs I want to register with your guild. One of them S-Class.”

“What happened?” I questioned with a stern voice. If this was S-Class, then it was beyond serious.

“Well, you remember how during your last visit, we all inspired my Trixie to go in a new direction?” Kairi questioned.

“I take it she has something dangerous in mind?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” the girl quickly dismissed. “No, she started a theater company, and after the first show, the creator of my world, Faust herself had a little talk with me about an IMMENSELY serious threat, not just to my world, but ALL worlds.”

“Talk. Now.”

“His name is Tash. He is the literal embodiment of death and destruction, and he’s been masquerading as The Master of Masters,” Kairi quickly explains. “He’s the one who first convinced Luna that extracting her heart was a good idea. There is a trail of dead worlds in his path, and he has his sights set on mine currently, but I have it on VERY good authority that he’ll go after yours right after.”

“Well….shit.” I replied with a frown. “I can ask Ed or Loki for a hand if need be, but there is only so much I can do.” I sighed as I sat in my seat. “As sad as it is, I think I am starting to stagnate with my strength. I’ll help out however I can, but there is only so much I can do.”

“What I really need are mages, and Keyblade wielders who can stand with me and the Elements when he comes.” Kairi sighed. “As it stands, I’m the only person who can actually fight here, and with the amount of time we have before Tash gets here, it’s simply not enough time to train the Elements.”

“Alright. We’re in. I’ll tell the others tomorrow, and we’ll select who will fight. Obviously Dawn and Trixie are in, but I can’t allow Sonbā to join.” I sighed. “In case things go south, I won’t let my girls grow up without their father.”

“I have a failsafe ready, in case things go south to evacuate everyone other than the user from the battlefield,” the voice of Melissa chimes in. “If you’re familiar with Final Fantasy XIV, its Louisoux’s spell that sent all the fighters during the Seventh Umbral Calamity off the battlefield as he fought Bahamut.”

“Sweet.” I stated. “But I am still not letting my boyfriend participate in the fight. I’ll need him here to take care of the guild.” I sighed again, not liking how serious this got, before perking back up. “But all this is Future Lex’s problem. For now, how about we set things up for you guys? Are you coming too Melissa?”

“Of course, it’ll be fun!” Melissa chuckled. “Plus, I need to run a diagnostic on the three Figure 17 units I sent with you. There’s a minor glitch that makes them repeat the last thing they said for about 5 minutes. Figured you wouldn’t want that left in the program.”

“Oh yeah, I honestly was wondering if that was just a quirk you added for the lols.” I replied with a laugh, earning some back from both girls in the call. “Anyways, I’ll call back in a bit for when you can come over. There are a couple things I have to finish before then. See you girls later.”

“Later!” both girls replied.

I smiled as I hung up on Kairi, sighing as I checked the clock to see I had been at it for a while, but I still had one more person to call. Swiping around, I found the number to call, and quickly dialed in. After a bit, I heard the call pick up.

“Hello,” came the voice of a little girl. Soon the display showed a little alicorn girl. “Hi pretty lady My names Morning Star!” She giggled. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, hello there little one. My name's Lex.” I replied sweetly, though I was really confused that a little Alicorn girl was answering. “I don’t mean to be rude honey, but is Edward Elric available?”

“Edward Elric?” She tilted her head. “Um… I think that's my daddy's name,” My eyes got wide. “I think he is teaching right now, or in the throne room with Auntie Tia… There are a lot of daddies running around usually.”

“Morning why do you have Ed’s watch?” Came a new more adult female voice.

“He let me borrow it,” She said looking up.

“Let me see it honey and you go play with Eclipse,” Said the voice.

“K,” In a quick blur the watch shows a dark tan skinned woman with a gnarled black horn and green hair and eyes.

“Hello, who is this?” Said the woman.

I blinked a couple times, getting the fact that Ed has a daughter through my head, before looking at this new person and for some reason I knew she was. “Chrysalis?”

“Yes, that’s my name, who are you?” She narrowed her gaze at me. “I don’t really care for my baby cousins to talk to strangers. Had I known Ed gave Morning his watch I would’ve been watching her more closely and so would please identify yourself.”

“I am Alexandria Justine, Master/Faekage of the Fairy Tail Guild. I’m Ed’s eldest Displaced Niece.” I responded sternly. “Now, mind telling me why the person who attacked during Shining and Cadence’s wedding is hanging out with my little cousins?”

“Excuse me, I happened to live here and I often look after the twins while their parents and aunt are busy,” She scowled at me. “I know I did wrong back then but here things are different. As I said, they are my cousins and I look after them a good portion of the day, Nyx to sometimes if Twilight’s parents can’t look after her. Now what do you want?”

I stared hard at the human/changelings face, before taking a breath and putting my screen on the table so she could see all of me. I then surprised her by giving a formal bow.

“I deeply apologize for insulting you. It was wrong to assume, and I hope this doesn’t do anything to negate your opinion of me.” I stated, before sitting down again. “Anyways, I called because I wanted to ask Uncle Ed if he wanted to come by later for the guilds promotion and placement exams.”

“Give me one second and let me see if I can catch one of him,” She sighed. “I might get lucky and find one in a hallway. I’ll leave you with the twins for now,” She walked over and in another blur of images I saw the twins. “Stay here you two. I need to track down one of your father.” She walked off leaving the kids staring at me, one of them looked almost exactly like Luna.

“This is bubby his name is Solar Eclipse,” Morning pointed at her brother, it looked like he was trying to hide behind his sister. “You called daddy uncle, are you our aunt or cousin?”

“I’ve seen you before,” Eclipse finally spoke up from behind Morning. “Daddy has a picture of you in his and mommy’s room and in his workshop.”

“Well, I suppose you could call me your aunt.” I replied to Morning with a smile. “I have some little girls of my own I know would love to have some cousins.” I then turned to Eclipse. “I am glad your father is remembering to have something to remind him of the rest of his family.” I perked up as I heard my baby monitor beginning to rumble.

“How would you two like to meet one of your cousins?” I smiled as the duo immediately began to nod. Leaving my office, I entered my room and smiled as Yoru’s eyes opened from her sleep, immediately reaching for me. “Morning, Eclipse, meet your little cousin Yoru.”

“Pretty baby,” Morning giggles.

“She looks like you,” Eclipse finally came out from behind his sister.

There was a door opening and the Twins cried out, “Daddy!” and rushed off. “Hey there guys are you being good,” I heard Ed off screen and the twins giggle. “Let’s see here,” The display showed Ed. “Hello Lex, long time no see.” He looked at me as the Twins were hanging off his shoulders. “I see I wasn’t the only one busy in the bedroom since the last time we spoke. What can I do for you my dear niece?”

I blushed a bit at Ed’s middle comment, before smiling as I set my youngest on my lap. “First off uncle, Sonbā and I haven’t gone that far….yet. It was a real mess with Yoru here showed up.” I clarified, earning a laugh from the alchemist. “Secondly, I wanted to see if you or anyone else from your world wanted to come by for the guild’s placement exam and party.” I gave a sheepish grin and rubbed Yoru’s head. “Though I will have to omit you from the searching part of the exam since you know where the totems are.”

“True but I would still be eligible for the other parts at least,” Ed chuckled. “I sure would like to come. It's been awhile since I’ve seen you and seeing as it’s the placement exam I also assume you’re also bringing your brother and sisters as well as their friend too?”

“Yup. Adam, Nat, Sora, and Kairi have all agreed to come by with some of their friends, though Yang just wanted a strawberry sunrise.” I smiled as I let my youngest crawl onto the bed. “And besides, it would be nice to have another full family reunion, especially with the additions we both have had lately.”

“Yes it would be,” Ed nodded. “I’ll have to see if Blue would be up for running the country while we’re away,” He stroked his chin, I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that. He is the current Captain of the Guard here seeing as he is the only one on par with Shining’s power level and with my training beside Polearm. I think we can bring Twilight, Nyx, Pole, lord knows Tia needs some vaca time too since we got together,” My eyes went wide. “Yes, Tia and i are together now. I love both of them dearly Lex, and herds aren’t uncommon here. Anyone else is welcome that wants too. Spike is another definite. Now I have a question for you my dear niece, what else is on your mind that you’ve been holding back?” He set the twins down and they ran off to play.

I check my youngest, seeing her curling up on my bed, before sighing. I told him everything Kairi informed me of, allowing some fear to appear on my face as I talked about how serious this was. Ed’s own face shifted into a serious look as I continued to almost rant at him about what Kairi told me.

“It’s a good thing you told me,” Ed leaned forward and interlaced his fingers. “Having a keyblade I can help. I can also share a few of my powers that don’t rely on magic as well. Still this big. If I didn’t have Truth’s power I could possibly even die for good this time. How are we getting to your world? Are there any specific things that you need from me to bring along as well?”

“Uh, I don’t think so. I am planning on using the Stargate that Kairi and I set up in the basement to get you guys here. I don’t think Adam has one, but Nat and Sora do, so it would be easy to connect to all of you.” I sighed, looking at my daughter as she slept, and smiled. “Right now, I just want to have time to be with my family, not worry about the end of the world.” I wiped my eyes. “It would be nice if you could bring Morning and Eclipse, they should meet their cousins.”

“I have a stargate we can use, I helped develop the ones Nat and Kairi have so it’s simple to connect them,” Ed leaned back and I mentally face palmed. “As for us getting there I’ll just use my Rinnegan to open a portal. I have your world coordinates already and I really don’t want the twins to go through a gate. They’re only a few months old after all.” He stood up as my eyes widened again. “From that expression I can tell you aren’t familiar with an alicorn's rapid aging. I’ll explain it once we’re over there but for right now I have de spawn and convey this message to the Ed network. We’ll be ready whenever you want us Lex and thanks for the call. Until then later,” He waved and poofed into a puff of white smoke.

I blinked a couple times, sighing as I hung up on my phone, before grabbing Yoru and helped her change into her own tiny kimono. She immediately began to suck on her fingers, smiling at me as I went back into my office. There were still some things to finish for later.

“Now if only you would start talking.” I muttered with a smile, quickly writing some things down at my desk while Yoru was drinking from me. She just let go and wiped her mouth before nuzzling up to my chest. Only two and a quarter months and she looks nearly a year old now.

“Ed can’t get here fast enough, Luna and Celestia have been no help with her.” I muttered as I finished the last request sheet from this world, before making one for Kairi. My frown didn’t leave me as I made the sheet, marking as SS-rank as a precaution.

Nodding, I grabbed the quest sheets, posting the S-Class quest first before heading down and posting the rest of the quests. By now some of the early risers and the staff have come in, so I didn’t need to worry about opening the guild.

I smiled as I saw Sonbā and Echo leading a groggily trio of creatures into the guild for breakfast.

“Morning girls, Echo, honey.” I greeted, getting a trio of ‘morning mama’ and two more energetic greetings from the exceed and Alicorn.

“Morning babe.” I smiled as I kissed the Alicorn on the cheek, before our youngest was out of my arms and in his, squealing in happiness as Sonbā tossed her in the air a couple times.

“Alright, do you five know what today is?” I smiled as Echo and Sonbā nodded while the girls began to wake up more, excitement overpowering their sleepiness.

“Today’s the placement exam!” Ammy cheered.

“That means you’ll be teaching us our magic afterwards, right?” Kuna said, and I nodded.

“Not just that, the rest of my family will be coming from their worlds with some of their friends for the party and for a family reunion.” I stated, making the girls excited for the chance to meet their Displaced family. Echo looked surprised while Sonbā just nodded, keeping a hold of Yoru.

“I guess you’re going to go pick them up?” I nodded at my coltfriend, before deciding to try and get things along for us. Giving Yoru to Mei, who had been silently looking at her Tarot cards, I turned and gave Sonbā a kiss.

Not going to lie, it took awhile to get used to kissing someone with a muzzle, but I got the hang of it.

His surprise didn’t last long before I felt him return the kiss. I smiled as I released the Alicorn, ignoring the embarrassed gagging from our daughters.

“What was that for, not that I am complaining.” I smiled and nuzzled the slightly taller stallion's neck before grinning.

“Can’t a girl show her appreciation for their other half?” I barely restrained a laugh as Sonbā tried to hold in a moan as I bit his neck. My canine apparently helped me find the sweet spots on his neck.

“If you two are going to try anything, can you not mentally scar your daughters in the process?” I laughed a little at Echo as I released my dazed stud, seeing the girls cover their eyes while some of the others in the room had red faces.

“Hey, I’m just staking my claim. Don’t want any of the newcomers to get any ideas.” I said with a cheeky grin before lightly bopping my stallion on the head, snapping him out of my spell.

“Seriously?” Echo deadpanned, but I just grinned, taking my youngest back before handing her to Sonbā.

“I have to go check a couple things for the tests and then I’ll be picking up the others from their timelines. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” I stated as I headed to the door.

Once I was out, I made sure I was ready and envisioned the locations of all the safe houses.

“Direct Line!”

A Few Hours Later….

With a nod, I checked the large portal in the basement, double checking my Archive screens to see everyone beginning to arrive. The test was in an hour and a half, so I had plenty of time to grab the others.

I double checked my outfit, wanting to look my best for the day. I had decided to go with a more free feeling outfit that was based on Homura Kōgetsu from Edens Zero. It consisted of a sleeveless orange kimono with a light blue floral pattern that was loose around my forearms, a pair of thin dark blue fingerless gloves and finally black knee length leggings, black biker shorts under the kimono and red tabby sandals. It had many hidden pockets, so I wouldn’t lose anything.

Taking out my phone from my sleeve pocket., I opened up the Stargate App and selected three different coordinates, Adam’s I set to appear where he is via his token since he doesn’t have a Stargate yet. Once the coordinates were locked, I went back into the phone app and dialed Nat’s number first.

“Hello?”

“Hey sis, you, Twilight and Sora ready?” I asked.

“Just one sec, we’re on our way through the castle to the portal right now.” Nat answered, grunting as she spoke.

“Well, when you’re there, text me and I’ll light up the portal before I go grab Adam and his crew.” I said, earning a positive reply before hanging up. I dialed Adam’s number afterwards, hearing him a moment later.

“Hey Lex, good timing. We just got everything and everyone ready.” Adam stated, and I could hear Ruby excitedly talking to her team in the background.

“Alright, well I am going to be opening a Stargate by you, so Adam, get somewhere you don’t mind a very large portal appearing. Make sure you’re not near anything important so it doesn’t get destroyed.” I started and heard a confirming grunt from my brother. “Alright, I’ll open the portal in a minute after Nat and Sora get here.”

Hanging up, I waited in the basement for about a minute, before my phone went off and I saw the text from Nat saying they were ready. Opening my App, I sent in the command for the portal to open to Nat’s world, and a second later the water-like portal opened up.

A few moments later, Nat, Sora and their Twilight/Dusk walked in. I was surprised when I saw that Dusk was an Alicorn, I am going to have to make a note of that for later. Sora was in her child form still, but that didn’t last long as she almost immediately shapeshifted into a teenage form, wearing what I recognized as Futaba Sakura’s outfit.

“Hey girls!” I greeted with a smile, hugging the trio. Sora and Nat managed to return the hug while Twilight was stuck in the middle and couldn't do anything. I laughed as I took a better look at my sister's marefriend, seeing she was wearing her medallion from aunt Luna, but she had some new additions. First and foremost being the gauntlet on her real hand and the sword at her waist. She also seemed to have bulked up a bit. Not so much that it was distracting, but she now had a swimmers build hidden under her coat. She also had a dark red choker with a red gemstone embedded in it. Odd.

“Hey Lex, been a while.” I nodded to Nat as she said that before taking out my phone and setting the coordinates for Adam’s world.

“Well, going to have to hold off on the reunion for a second sis, Adam and his crew will be using the Stargate for the first time, so we should probably be ready to catch them.” I stated as the portal shifted around before stabilizing. The trio nodded and stood near the portal as it shifted around a bit, signaling its use.

I blinked as the first thing that came through were a couple of rose petals, before I had to duck as a certain huntress zoomed over my head. I blinked as I heard a soft yet loud ‘Thump’ as Ruby ran headfirst into one of the couches I had down here.

“Ow.” I turned as Ruby managed to right herself on the couch, shaking her head a couple times to get rid of the cobwebs.

“Ruby Rose, what have I told you about running ahead!” I turned back to the portal as the rest of team RWBY came through, though Weiss was ahead of the other two with her dragon on her shoulder, marching to her team leader while Yang and Blake were getting their bearings. I just let the ex-heiress walk by as she began to scold her younger leader.

“Woah, nice automail.” I turned as I saw Yang and Twilight/Dusk comparing prosthetics. Though I could see a flash of sadness in the huntress's eyes. I wasn’t the only one as Blake pat the blond on the shoulder while Dusk apologized.

“You alright Ruby?” Nat questioned as Weiss finally finished scolding her. I smiled as I sensed the next batch come through.

“I am going to go out on a limb and say Ruby just ran through once the portal was open and her team reflexively ran after her.” I turned to Adam as he walked up with Pyrrha, Penny and Neo. “Right?” I noted with surprise Pyrrha and Penny had an egg each strapped to them.

[“That about sums it up.”] Neo signed to me. Thank goodness I had Nurse Redheart teach me and Mei sign language.

“Alright, I guess this is all of you?” I asked, giving my taller brother a hug.

“Yeah, like Qrow and Oscar said, they had to stay behind and none of the girls wanted to come by.” He replied, walking over to Nat and Sora as I smiled and gave the others a hug as well as introducing myself properly to Team RWBY.

“Alright, only two left.” I muttered aloud, going through my phone to Kairi’s number. After a few rings, she picked up and the screen showed herself, Melissa, Haley and Luna along with Chirithy.

“Hey Lex, everyone’s ready over here.”

“Alright. You and Ed’s group are the only ones not here yet, so feel free to come on through while I call him.” I replied, earning a nod from the keyblade wielder as I hung up then dialed Ed’s number. I smiled as the three humans, filly and shadow all walked through a minute later while Ed’s number was ringing.

"Hey Lex, Blue and Chrissy are handling affairs here so we're good to go. I've got everypony ready to go and I do mean everypony." I smiled as my uncle said this.

“Alright, just lock onto my signature and come over. I’ll have the others make room for all of you.” I said, hearing a small cheer as I hung up. Apparently Ruby was now fawning over Chirithy while Haley was talking with Pyrrha. “Hey guys, mind heading into the safe room? I wanna make sure there is plenty of room for Ed and his group.”

The three groups all nodded and entered the panic room next to us, Adam, Sora and Nat staying at the door to wait for our uncle. My senses picked up a slowly building pool of void energy, so I ran over to the door, watching as a ripple in the air began to grow before I blinked at the large flash.

Regaining my sight, I saw Ed, Aunty Luna, Aunt Celestia, my apparently new niece and nephew Morning Star and Solar Eclipse, Polearm, Twilight, and somepony I have never seen before. She looked like a filly Nightmare Moon, around Arakunia’s age. This must be that Nyx girl. The next through were Spike and Rarity followed by Rainbow Dash and that was it as the portal closed.

"Sorry for not using the gate," Ed said. "I find using my own portals much easier on the stomach. So good to see everyone again."

“Hey Uncle Ed.” Adam greeted as he walked up with his group. The three other groups then noticed all the new additions to Ed’s entourage. “Uh, what’s with the kids?”

“Well, these are mine and Luna’s kids. Nyx over there is Twilights.” He stated it was no big deal. Since I already knew about it, it wasn’t a big deal, and clearly Nat and Sora knew too, but Adam was definitely surprised.

“Sweet. I was wondering if you guys would have kids.” I rose a brow at Kairi as she said this, but shrugged before noticing she was looking at me. The keyblade wielder pointed to the kids with Ed, then to me and my siblings. I knew what she was asking, and smirked as I shook my head. Her eyes widened with a grin.

“Alright everyone.” They all turned to me. “Now that you’re all here, let’s head upstairs.” They all nodded and followed me as we walked the several flights of stairs.

‘Oh this is going to be fun.’

3rd person POV

“Welcome to Fairy Tail!” Lex allowed herself to feel a good amount of pride as all the newcomers looked around in awe at the guild. Ruby and Haley were looking around quickly with childlike wonder at the guild and its members. The rest of Kairi’s group all smiled as they remembered the last time they were there.

Nat, Sora and Twilight/Dusk all looked around with wide eyes, smiling as several members greeted them warmly.

Adam and the rest of his group all looked around in surprise, the humans and faunus earning some surprised, but no less enthusiastic greetings from the members nearby. Blake in particular was surprised by all the different species in one place. She was thinking about how this would be like in Remnant, with all the none-ponies being Faunus to the ponies humans.

‘If only this place existed back home.’ She thought to herself, before having to reign in her instincts as she noticed all the Gem Hounds around. ‘Oh crap, this is going to be harder than I thought.’

Ed led his largest group over to one of the tables, smiling as this world's counterparts to his friends immediately began to talk to their other selves. The Spike’s seemed really interested in one another, as well as the two Rainbow’s.

“So Lex?” The Faekage turned to her uncle, while the others perked up. “Where is the little one I saw earlier?”

“Little one?” Adam questioned. Lex smirk impishly, before it turned to a warm smile at something behind her brother.

“Mom!” Most of the Displaced crowd froze as Amaterasu, Arakunia and Unmei ran past them and proceeded to glomp the mage. Lex allowed herself to laugh as she held her daughters in her arms. Her smile only widened as Sonbā flew over the others with Yoru in his arms, who immediately began to reach for her mother.

“Hey girls, sorry I was gone so long. I had to get everything set up.” Lex apologized as she placed her three daughters down and grabbed her youngest, giving her Alicorn a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for watching them babe.”

“Hey, I am their father. Kinda comes with the territory.” He said, grinning widely while clearly trying not to laugh. As was most of the guild as they saw the Displaced crowds stunned expressions.

Unfortunately, some like Pinkie, Maddie, Verdant and Rainbow couldn’t hold it for long and burst out laughing at the crowd.

The laughing infection seemed very contagious as before long, the entire guild, Displaced included, was on the floor busting a gut. Even Dawn was quietly chuckling to himself.

A minute or so later of pure laughter, everyone manages to get themselves under control. Lex allowed herself a bit of satisfaction, seeing the results of her impromptu test of one of her newer Aroma magic spells.

Who knew just a little laughing gas aimed at Pinkie’s group would make everyone bust a gut.

Once everyone calmed down, Adam, Sora, Nat, Ed and Luna walked up with widened eyes as Lex was sitting on the bar while bouncing a drowsy Yoru on her lap while her other kids were hanging out next to her along with Sonbā.

“How….when did….how did you…” Adam couldn’t fully finish his sentence, trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing, and the realization that he was now an uncle.

“About a month after the Hearth's Warming Party for these three.” She began, pointing to the changeling, kirin and gem hound. “Black market slave traders. Not a problem for the guild. Yoru here was actually the Tantabus before we did a huge transmutation on her.”

“Girls.” The quartet turned to their mother, who smiled and pointed to the group. “I’d like you three to meet the rest of our family. These are my sisters, Natali and Sorano.” Said Dicloni were smiling wide, the former looking a second away from glomping the kids while the former was carefully studying them. “The redhead with the sword is my little brother Adam.” The faunus was still slowly computing what he just learned, but still smiled and waved. “And last but not least, my uncle Edward and his wife Luna.”

“Hi!” Was all the three eldest girls said as they heard their mother finish. Lex waved her youngest daughter's hand for her, the infant just smiling as she chewed on an apple slice.

“EEEEEEEE!!!” Nearly everyone had to cover their ears as Natali, Ruby and Haley all squealed at the absolute adorableness that was sitting at the counter.

“RUBY!/HALEY!/NAT!” Everyone called out to one of the girls responsible, loudly telling them to stop.

Blake, Adam, the gem hounds and abyssians appearing to be the ones in the most pain. Weiss couldn’t hear anything anymore as she used her hands to cover Boreas ears instead of her own. Maddie was being held by Verdant and Pinkie while rubbing her ears, glaring at the three humans responsible for her ringing ears. Lex was fine since she just cast a quick silencing spell around herself and the girls, Ed’s kids and Sonbā. Once they realized what they did, the trio all rubbed the back of their heads sheepishly.

One of the only ones not affected was Sora, who was just shaking her head. Then her ears sparked as she shapeshifted her eardrums back to normal after essentially turning them off after seeing her sister’s expression. “Saw that coming.”

“Tell me about it.” Kat muttered, taking some earphones she got from Vinyl out of her head, turning off her music from the MP3 that had recently started coming out from Manehattan. A gift from some of her fellow Abyssians and Gem Hounds after she was finally discharged from the hospital. But even through her music she could hear the girls squealing.

‘Sometimes I hate having hearing twice as good as a normal abyssian. And I really have to ask Lex for a few new songs to listen to.’ She thought to herself, rubbing her ears as they flicked about.

Once everyone was calmed down again, several sending annoyed glares to the three girls, Lex teleported to the second floor, standing atop the railing with a smile.

“Hello everyone! Great to have all of you back together in one place. Now, I know many of you know what today is, but for those who don’t. Today is the annual Fairy Tail Promotion and Placement Exam. Not only are those of you who are new going to be going through the Everfree in search for a totem, but you will also be assigned a primary magic that you can now use.” Lex paused as everyone soaked up what she said.

“Now, as many of you have noticed, we have several guests here for the exams today.” She waved towards the crowd of newcomers near the bar. “These are Displaced, more specifically my family and friends. Many of you remember Kairi and Luna.” The aforementioned duo waved. “But they also brought their friends Haley and Melissa along too.”

“Hello!” The duo greeted with a smile.

“Now for my family, some of you remember Uncle Edward from when we were building the guild.” The aforementioned alchemist smiled at Twilight, Echo and Spike. “He brought along some of his friends and family as a vacation of sorts. I don’t think I need to tell you who is who aside from my niece Morning Star and my nephew Solar Eclipse.” The two Alicorn smiled and waved. “And Twilight’s little girl Nyx.” The little one just hid behind Twilight.

“Next is my little brother, Adam Taurus and his friends Penny, Neo, Pyrrha, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang.” The eight hunters all waved, Ruby and Penny being the most enthusiastic. Yang was just sipping at a smoothie.

“Last but not least, my sisters, Natali and Sorano, and Natali’s marefriend Dusk.” The two Dicloni smiled at the crowd and Dusk just nodded with a grin. The main Displaced could tell some were a little unnerved to see three Lunas and Twilights.

“Now that introductions are done, those of you who are new, meet me at the teleporter in the back. Those of you Displaced who want to join in, come along too.” Lex handed her youngest to Sonbā, who nodded as she led the crowd to the teleporter. She noticed Kairi and her friends, Adam, Penny and Pyrrha, and Nat, Sora and Dusk decided to come along as well.

“Now then. Before all of you gain your magic and placement, you must go through the Everfree forest and retrieve one of these totems.” Lex made said item in hand with Ice magic. “Once you find your totem, make your way to the Training Hall, once there we will continue with the examination. Are there any questions?” No hands were raised. “Good. Best of luck to you all.”

With that, the Exam was on.

Two Hours Later….

“That didn’t look so bad.” Yang muttered, watching the newer guild members and Displaced easily make their ways through the forest with Lex’s Archive Screen. The Displaced that were only here to relax stayed at the guild hall while Lex went with the other members and waited for the second part of the exam.

They were definitely surprised when Lex showed them what she could do by using what she nicknamed the ‘Ultimate Paperwork Destroying Technique’.

Or as it was actually called, Clone Magic: Kage Bushin.

Yes. Lex recreated the Kage Bushin Technique from Naruto, and it worked exactly like what it was based on. And Lex’s comparing her magic container to Naruto’s chakra reserves became more apparent when she visibly struggled to make twenty five clones, only to dispel twenty four of them.

When asked, she mentioned that she could easily summon a hundred, and any less than fifty is a struggle at times.

Anyways, back on track.

“It may not be difficult for trained huntresses, but you have to remember most of the members lived pretty mundane lives before becoming members here.” Lex’s clone explained, going through the archive screens to keep an eye on everyone.

“It looks like your girls have made it. Impressive.” Melissa pointed out one of the screens showing the three sisters making their way through the forest towards the training hall after they found their item.

“Was there any doubt? The boss's girls are a trio of prodigies.” The clone bragged, clearly acting like an overly proud mother. Everyone rolled their eyes with smiles as they watched all the members make their way through the forest towards the old castle where Lex, Ed and the rest of the guild was waiting.

“I am honestly surprised Pyrrha and Penny decided to join in.” Blake muttered, watching her friends and Adam make their way to the crevice where the training hall was separated by.

[“Well they have said they need some more practice with their magic.”] Neo signed, taking a sip of some Pyro Whiskey, freshly imported from the Dragonlands, and coughing up a small wisp of fire afterwards. Neo has had plenty of drinks in her life, but one that lets her cough fire is definitely new. [“Adam said he mostly just went with them to keep an eye on Pyrrha incase her magic goes out of control.”]

“Well we all know that won’t happen!” Ruby cheered enthusiastically, before pouting at her sister as she still wasn’t allowed to have a drink even though the legal age in Equestria is 16.

‘So not fair!’

Fairy Tail Training Hall

“Welcome back everyone!” Lex smiled as she saw that everyone had arrived, the ‘newcomers’ waiting on the other side of the bridge. She and Ed were levitating over the crevice, smiling towards the group. “Now then. I can see all of you have your totems. If all of you would care to join us in the training hall proper, we can continue the exam.” Lex smiled before turning and flying into the training hall, her uncle close behind while everyone else took the bridge.

“Hey, what exactly are we doing?” Adam questioned as the groups all got together and made their way through the training hall.

“Well first the newcomers, IE yourselves, will be taking the MPF test to determine your magical output, thus deciding your placement.” Raine began.

“After all of you are done, the members who have been here before will do the same to see who would get a promotion.” Spike continued.

“Lastly, Lex will be using her Archive magic to transfer knowledge of the primary magic each new member will be learning, along with potential granting some of us new abilities if she thinks it would be best for us.” Zen finished.

The Displaced all blinked a couple times, not knowing beforehand how this was going to work. They turned their gaze to the blunette leading them, who just smiled and nodded.

“This should be fun,” Ed’s Twilight clapped.

“Calm down Twi,” Polearm placed his hands on his marefriend’s shoulders. “The only reason we didn’t take the first course is cause Ed told us where the stuff was. I know you're excited but you can already do great stuff on your own.”

The others, even Lex’s Twilight and Dusk, rolled their eyes at Twilight’s excitement. But they couldn’t help the smiles as they were just as excited.

Before long the large crowd made it to the range. Lex had moved several things around, making it so there were several targets set up in case the members try and use AOE attacks, while also connecting the modified MPF to a platform scanner, making it even more accurate than before. Many of the targets were made of wood, straw or other softer material, but some were made of stone, crystals or even metal.

She figured since they have Displaced for today's test, they should be more accurate for the guests to see how strong they are.

Lastly, she renovated the actual room so its roof was ‘retractable’, in that the seals nearby used Transport magic to make the roof disappear if needed.

“Alright!” Lex clapped her hands, earning the attention of everyone. “As had been mentioned on the way here, how this is going to work, is that we will be having the newcomers to the guild go first, more accurately the once that originate here first, followed by the Displaced, then finally the previous member to see who has become strong enough for a promotion.” She looked around, seeing several nods and hearing several hums of understanding.

“Now then. Shall we begin?” She snapped her fingers and summoned an Archive screen, tapping at the magic keyboard a couple times to link up with the MPF. With a nod, she stepped to the side and gestured to the platform.

The first one up was the eldest new member, Aspen. The towering Abyssian walked up and allowed herself to be scanned, nodding as it beeped before stepping towards the nearest target. Getting into position, she proceeded to spin quickly, shattering the target with a hard roundhouse.

Lex sweat dropped as she saw the feat of strength, mentally reminding herself not to get on the feline’s bad side. Her eyes then widened as she stepped back onto the MPF, scanning her to show her output.

An impressive 432, more than some of the unicorns when the guild started up.

Clearly Lex wasn’t the only one impressed, shown by the several wide eyes as the score appeared above the MPF. Her daughter was the loudest when they started cheering.

“Alright, a great example Aspen.” The Abyssian bowed slightly before going back to the group, chuckling as her daughter jumped onto her back with a smile. “Shall we continue.”

The next one up was Cobalt, who followed Aspen’s example and gave a super strong right hook to the repaired dummy, shattering the torso to splinters.

Lex was mentally asking herself how the hell she managed to beat him and a second Minotaur when they met. Without magic, she was sure she would be a large stain on the ground right now.

Though, when she was watching, she noticed that the Minotaur was actually increasing his strength with inherent magic, much like Earth Ponies did at times.

His score was a larger 501, very, very impressive. His cocky smirk directed at Aspen was returned twofold. Lex was mentally paling at the thought of those two acting like Gajeel and Natsu or Erza and Mira.

After she got herself together, she motioned back to the stage, Capper choosing the go up. The tomcat didn’t expect himself to reach the same level as the previous two monsters.

He extended his claws and slashed at the dummy, making it to the inner wood support before stopping. He did gain some laugh as he realized his claws got stuck. Once he was free, his score showed a decent 109. He knew he wasn’t close to the strongest, but was surprised he made triple digits.

After those three, the newcomers went through like clockwork. Maddie popped into the scanner before appearing behind the dummy and using it like a scratching post. A decent 127. After her was Sythe, who’s skill in spear combat showed as he skewered the dummy, earning 122. Next was Bertha, the teenage cow giving a strong but sloppy punch and earning 78 points.

The ponies began next as Red came up and gave a strong left kick, earning 126. Violet decided to go next, giving a hard back fist after a spin, earring 110. Her sister was less impressive, trying to kick it and nearly falling over. She got 89 points.

Lastly was Dawn, who gained curious looks, many wondering what he was going to do. Choosing to forgo his keyblade combat, he got into his Gale King fighting stance and focused his magic into his hands, creating miniature tornados. He then zoomed to the dummy and delivered a cyclone enhanced punch that shattered the dummy and embedded some wood into one of the targets behind it.

He earned several wide eyes from those who did not know the colt, only to increase said eyes in size as he score showed a very respectable 234, almost 10 times greater than Applebloom at the start of the guilds existence and 13 times greater than Sweetie Belle, a unicorn the same age as him!

His face didn’t appear to change to the newcomers, but those that knew him, mostly Kairi and her friends and the current members, could see a small smile on his muzzle.

After Dawn’s impressive show, it was apparently silently decided it to be the Dragon Slayer’s turn. Fizzle stepped up with a grin, tapping his claw against his chin before choosing what he was going to do. With a nod to himself, he crouched, then flew into the air, before falling to the target.

“Lava Dragon Mantle Crush!” With a lava covered double hammer fist, Fizzle both smashed, set fire to, and broiled the wooden target, smiling as his attack left some leftover lava on the ground. He needed to work on not leaving any behind. Lex gave him a silent stare, telepathically telling him to work on his control.

She didn’t need more complaints to start coming in about leftover lava around a town!

Fizzle grinned wide as his score of 568 points appeared, knowing he still had a ways to go to catch up to Spike.

Amber walked up next, knowing she could use a spell she developed some time ago.

“Plasma Dragon Hard Shell!” She placed her fists against one another, knuckle to knuckle, and an orb of hardened plasma surrounded her, the glow showing whoever would touch her would be zapped and burned. The MPF showed her score as 393, impressive for a defensive technique.

Reni came up next and took a quick bite of some Bits she brought with her before choosing a medium distance target.

“Gold Dragon Pillar!” Her right arm transformed into an ornate golden pillar that extended towards the target, smashing the wooden target before retracting. She kept her arm transformed as she was scanned again, and only made her arm go back to normal after her score of 482 was shown.

Laruma walked up with a determined scowl, waiting as she was scanned before flying into the air, black clouds and wind appearing around her right hand. She whirled her arm back a couple times before spinning it.

“Storm Dragon Cyclone Strike!” Punching forwards, a cloudy black tornado left her fist and spell seal, the wind causing many hairs to fly back as she sent the targets flying into the wall. She was internally happy at her score of 571.

Next up was Kathrine. Many in the guild were curious about this girl, some of the more magically adept members seeing the hidden potential just waiting to be unleashed in her. Kat looked a little nervous before steeling her expression and running up to the dummy and delivering a jumping kick. Unexpectedly, she kicked the dummy’s head off.

Lex and some of the other Displaced could sense she was using her inherent magic to increase her strength, but because of how surprised she herself appeared, it was clear Kat didn’t do it on purpose.

Lex had been told by some doctors that looked over Kat when she first came to the guild that she has an unnaturally large, if strained and drained, magic container, even surpassing some teenage unicorns. And it showed as her simple attack showed a strong score of 192.

After Kat was Willow and Wisp, the two parts of one person stepped up before the lantern glowed brighter and launched a small, slow ball of magic at the target, burning it. 124 points, but they had only started practicing for a week and a half.

The four new Exceeds decided it was their turn next and stepped, or rather floated, up. They each decided to just fly and tackle the dummy, knowing they didn’t have many attacks aside from that right now.

Gil got the highest score of 62, then was Marnie at 57, Joy at 52 and finally Saya with 43. Not bad for some flying cats, but they knew they needed to do some extra training with Echo later.

Finally, it was time for the last four and the youngest members of the guild. Maeve, reluctantly went first, shyly going to the dummy and proceeding to try and claw and bite it. Unfortunately it was too cute to be taken seriously and many had to muffle themselves lest they laugh or coo at the kitten and make her feel bad. Her score was 23.

After the Snow leopard was the sole changeling in the guild. Arakunia took a second to breathe, before purple flames erupted from her hooves, and standing on the scanner is a little human with dark brown/black skin, lavender hair and purple eyes.

Lex’s eyes widened at her daughter's shapeshift, not knowing she was working on a human form. She still smiled as her second youngest was scanned, showing her rather small score of 30.

After Arakunia was the eldest of the three, Mei. She thought for a second before shrugging and focusing her magic to her horn, sending out a small beam of magic like a unicorn. She scored 38 points.

Finally, last of the newcomers, Amaterasu. The gem hound crouched a bit before pouncing at the target, knocking it over as she bit at the head of the dummy, actually going rather deep. Her score was 31.

“Alright!” Lex clapped a bit, gaining everyone’s attention again. “Now that the newbies are finished with their test, we are going to have the Displaced who are or wish to be honorary members take this test.” The group nodded and got themselves organized.

Up first was Adam, who stepped up before widening his stance. His hand began to glow and eerie green and black, before swirling around itself as he got the spell ready.

“Dark Capriccio Scream!” A large beam of green, black and orange magic left Adam’s hand, piercing through the dummy, the target behind it, and then flying through the wall behind it and out the building.

Lex and the members of Fairy Tails eyes blew open at the strength of the spell. Lex was looking at her brother in awe and surprise. Until she saw him nearly fall to his knees as he began to try and get his breath back.

“You tried using as much magic as you could in one attack didn’t you?” Was her rhetorical question as her brother nodded, getting his breath back and making his way back to the scanner.

That showed the difference in her guild, as all the members would be using attack they can hit you multiple times and not their strongest at the risk of self-harm and rapidly draining magic.

But it showed Adam’s potential as his score appeared and blew everyone out of the water. 3,732 points. That was more than Luna when the guild opened and about a quarter of Lex’s original score.

While some of the creatures from this world were trying to get their jaws off the ground, Penny took place at the scanner, a peppy air around her as she hopped on the balls of her feet.

To the surprise of many present, Penny waved her hand and summoned her keyblade, before charging it with crackling green electricity, the sound of a thousand birds chirping as she ran forwards.

“Chidori!” The electrified keyblade easily slashed through a stone target like a hot knife through warm butter. Lex allowed herself to be pleasantly surprised by her brother's girlfriend. She knew the redhead could keep her brother in line, especially if she just decided to shock him.

Penny’s score showed her strength in that regard. 2,791 points. Very, very strong. It was clear the former android had been training hard after she was given her lightning magic.

Lex looked towards Pyrrha, who was clearly reluctant to go up. She didn’t need to wonder why. Lex, as well as some of the other guild members, watched through RWBY some time ago so she knows her story. Adam mentioned while they were waiting that Pyrrha has some of the Fall Maidens magic, but is still reluctant to use it. Not much of a mystery why.

Pyrrha glanced to the guild master, who just shrugged. She couldn’t tell her to go up, she was a guest right now. Adam and Penny gave their support, holding the redheads shoulders, but she just took a breath and shook her head.

Oh well, it was her choice if she wanted to see how strong she is compared to other mages.

Nat decided to get things moving as she stepped up, smiling as she got scanned before stepping up. Wind immediately began to swirl around her, causing Lex to raise one of the shields around the range or some would go flying. Nat then raised her arms, summoning several sensory blades, which were then covered by the wind.

“Solo Unison! Maguilty Whirlwind Blades!” With a forward gesture, the wind covered blades zoomed towards the targets around the area, hitting bullseye on all of them but not stopping as they followed Adam’s example and went out the building before hitting the shield around the training hall.

Lex gave her sister a blank look, knowing that she only did that much damage because Lex could rewind it back to the way it was before. She sighed and turned to the scanner as Nat hopped back up.

Again, the Displaced show they are far stronger than they seem. Nat score was an astounding 4,034.

Lex’s theory on the inherent void energy in Displaced increasing their magical output seemed to be proving itself true. Nat has had her magic for several months and had been practicing constantly either in her own world or during her time in Ed’s world. She knew that she herself was several times stronger than her siblings, but the amount seemed by a lower amount than she originally anticipated.

Choosing to just continue to monitor, Lex watched as Sora stepped up to the plate, cracking her neck as she got into her magic stance.

“Ice Make Thousand Demon Mirrors!” A large dome of ice appeared around the range, staying up for several moments as everyone could hear something happening in the barrier. Most of the Equestrians were confused, but the Displaced knew what this attack was based on.

After a few moments, the dome shattered and revealed nearly every dummy and target was riddled with ice senbon needles, making them look like frozen pin cushions. The Equestrians were impressed by the spell, while the Displaced just grinned at their youngest member for the feat.

3,928 for Sorano’s score. She pouted as she got a lower score than her sister, but it couldn’t last long as Ed began to mess with her hair. Lex shook her head fondly at her family as the next one stepped up. Dusk.

The heir of nightmares took a moment to breath as she was scanned, before allowing her magic to flow over her, letting her levitate and then placed her hand on her other open palm, two fingers up for the latter.

“Seven Star Sword, Grand Chariot!” And from that, seven large bolts of magic came down in the shape of the Big Dipper, before detonating on the range. Once again Lex was thankful for her own foresight as knew from experience how destructive that attack is. Thank the void for overpowered seals and enchantments.

The training hall did shake a bit, but nothing aside from the annihilation of the dummies in the range happened. While Lex was repairing the damage, Dusk was scanned again, and showed her very strong score of 2,718.

With a grin, and a crack of her knuckles, Kairi stepped up as she summoned Way to Dawn. “Angel of Black and White!” she cried as the white angel wing and black demon wing sprouted, before calling out, “Shadow Dragon Full Cowling!” The shadows of the room drew up around the Keyblade wielder, covering her in shadows, leaving two glowing eyes peering out towards the scanner.

Kairi took a stance, conjuring a murky orb of magic; a mixture of light and shadow magic. “MEGIDOLAON!” she cried, launching the orb at the scanner in a spectacular burst of destruction.

Again Lex was thankful for her foresight, sending another pulse of magic into the protective barriers, making only some wind hit the audience.

‘Okay.’ Lex thought to herself. ‘Good thing these are set to defend against anything except full powered spells or Crash magic.’

The scanner beeped through a couple times before showing Kairi’s score. 3,823. Very impressive.

Lex allowed herself a smirk, knowing that Kairi’s magic isn’t as high as her physical skills in some regards.

Once the dust settled, Filly Luna stepped up, Oblivion appearing in her hand. “Double Form!” The filly’s clothes darkened, with white star designs, and in her left hand Oathkeeper faded into existence. “Ultimate Finish!” Beams of light and darkness arced from the two Keyblades, impacting the scanner simultaneously.

Lex nodded to herself along with the other Luna’s in the room, seeing one of the smallest Alicorns doing a very strong looking attack.

Another scan later, and little Luna’s score appeared. 2,242. Only about 700 less than this world's Luna. Very impressive given the physical age and magic difference.

Up next, Melissa stepped up, handing her glasses to Kairi as she went. “One for All: Full Cowling!” Green electricity arced off of her form as the artificial Quirk channeled itself through her body. With a cry of “Equestrian… SMASH!” the techie shot forward, nailing the scanner with a full power punch.

Many a grin appeared in the audience, several guild members having read the My Hero Academia manga that Lex managed to recreate. Lex in particular was grinning like a loon at the use of OFA. The scanner went over Melissa again and popped her number up top.

2,973. That was actually around this world’s Luna at the guilds beginning. Melissa took a breath and smiled at her score, taking her glasses back from Kairi. Lex took a glance at Haley and Chirithy, seeing them shake their heads with smiles. Lex shrugged to herself, if they didn’t want to try, no harm done.

Ed’s group all talked to one another for a minute, before Rarity took a seat next to her counterpart. Lex nodded to the unicorn before waving a hand to the scanner, offering Ed’s group to go next.

Aunty Luna decided to start off, wanting to see how she compares to this world counterpart. Like Twilight, Trixie and Luna have done in this world before, she just built up magic at her horn before launching it once it is finished. Once again Lex added a bit more magic into the seals for reinforcements as her aunt's magic blew up the range before fizzling out.

Aunt Luna’s score of 10,728 made many eyes widen. Lex herself wasn’t as surprised as one might think, knowing her uncle made sure his group was exceptionally strong, so that would extend to his lovers as well. Still, it was surprising just how much stronger her aunt was compared to this world version of her.

Aunt Celestia, as Lex referred to mentally, was after her sister, and decided to follow her example, only instead of a beam of pure magic, it was with a magical beam of pure white fire. Lex took a breath as she added a bit of ice magic to the seals to cool down the group from the intense heat. Her score of 9,927 was expected, though it was surprising that it was smaller than her younger sister.

Polearm decided to walk up next, wondering himself just how strong he was compared to the Displaced in the room. He summoned a magic sword to himself, surprising many as they didn’t know he knew Requip magic. They were further surprised as Polearm sent his magic into the sword, making it extend with a blue blade before he ran up and sliced through three different targets that were near each other. His score showed 4,532, revealing just how strong he is with his magic. And making Adam grin, clearly wanting a match.

Ed’s Twilight decided to go after her boyfriend. She knew she was way more powerful than both of her counterparts, because she was curious by just how much. She learned this world focused on Dark Ecriture magic while Dusk used Heavenly Body magic, and both were very different from each other, so she was excited to test herself. With a grin, she chose to copy Luna as she gathered magic in her hands, cupping them above her head as she continued to gather more and more magic. A large purple orb of magic appeared above her head, slowly growing as she fed it more energy. Lex had a mental squeal as she realized Twilight was unintentionally making a magical Spirit Bomb.

Once she thought it was ready, Twilight threw the now eight and a half foot wide magic orb at the range. The backlash from the spell made Lex, once again, increase the magic input to the seals. Many were wide eyed in surprise at the apparent magical strength she has at her fingertips. Her score of 8,823 definitely proved their surprise and awe justified.

Ed’s Spike helped the tired mare back to her seat before stepping up himself, grinning as he remembered the power of the other dragons in the room. Unknown to all but those from Ed’s world, he had been working on his own form of Dragon Slayer magic himself. He dug into his pockets and grabbed some items before munching on them, making sure to hide them from the others, wanting it to be a surprise. Once he was ready, he took a deep breath, a familiar spell matrix appearing before him, causing many to jump in surprise at the spell.

“Mineral Dragon Roar!” The spell made the room shake a miniscule around from the kickback, causing many to jump, again. Many were thinking just what kind of training Ed's friends went through. Though his score of 3,138 was smaller than what they honestly expected, it was still more than large enough for them to seriously question Eds in his teaching methods, effectiveness aside.

Rainbow Dash was honestly feeling a little intimidated. She knew she wasn’t as magically strong as Spike, her speed and physical strength being her greatest parts of herself. A little unsure of herself, Rainbow took a breath before crouching and zooming up to the cloud layer, before turning around midair taking a half moment to enjoy the cold air before dive bombing towards the training hall. Her trail behind her lit up as she picked up more and more speed, before exploding behind her in her trademark Sonic Rainboom, causing many to smirk as they knew this was all Rainbows pride and joy.

The prismatic mare’s counterpart zoomed into the room, before performing many sharp turns that let her hit as many targets as she could before she was forced to pull up and avoid hitting the wall before slowing down. Letting herself breath as she scanned again, she smirked to this world's counterpart, who apparently could sense the magical build up and release of the skill, which was way more than her own. The revealed 2,832 score just made her smile as she saw how strong she was, though it was a blow to her ego that she was the weakest of her group at the moment.

Edward walked in front of everyone and cracked his neck. "My turn," He said with a smirk. "Crimson Dragon Roaring Inferno!" He reeled his fist back and punched sending a massive red spiral flame at the sensor.

Lex’s eyes widened as her uncle's magical output began to strain the wards around the area. The Faekage immediately began to send her own magic into the wards to reinforce them to beyond maximum, while also erecting several shield spells around the audience, mostly her daughters.

“Jesus Christ Uncle!” Lex and her siblings yelled, seeing the destruction their uncle caused. The entire wall behind his attack had been melted into molten slag, each target on the way likewise meeting the same fate. Lex could even sense the protective seals outside the training hall being damaged.

Lex’s eye began twitching rapidly, knowing how difficult this would be to fix. Repairing destroyed objects was one thing, rewinding molten stone was another thing altogether!

With a sheepish grin, Edward got scanned again, mentally going over how to fix all this, when his score popped up.

THUMP

Several jaws hit the ground as the alchemist's score appeared, and they processed it. It was difficult since his score was 99,999, maxing out the MPF.

Everyone was quiet for quite a while, the Displaced being less shocked than the Equestrians, but still shocked anyways. Edward took this time to use his own alchemagic to repair all the damage he did to the range, rebuilding the walls, floor, targets and dummies.

Eventually, Lex and many others managed to get their bearings again, the Faekage nodding in thanks to her uncle for fixing everything while she was in La La Land. She cleared her throat after a moment to fix the seals and enchantments. “Now then.” Everyone turned to Lex, many of the members now picking their jaws off the ground. “Those that are already part of the guild during the first time can now test themselves so we can update their strength and see who is now strong enough for a promotion to go on higher ranking jobs.”

Stepping to the side, Lex let the members organize themselves, deciding to go from the previously weakest to the strongest.

First up was Fluttershy, many encouraging her to try her hardest. The pegasus fluttered up before taking a breath.

“Full Body Takeover, Animal Soul, Bat!” Fluttershy began to glow before her body began to shift around, revealing her new form. Her arms and wings had merged and become bat-like with bony protrusions on her fingertips. Her ears had become more feral-looking and two large fangs popped out of her muzzle. Her eyes turned from bright blue, into an even brighter blue with deep slit pupils. Her mane became messy and wild, and her fur darkened a shade or two.

Seeing her take a deep breath, many covered their ears, just in time for the former pegasus to release a sonic screech that sent the target flying into the wall. Once it was done, Fluttershy immediately hid herself behind her wild pink mane as she noticed everyone’s looks at her.

Many wide eyes were prevalent as the pegasus stepped back to the scanner, her score shocking many. 142, 35 and a half times greater than her original score.

“Holy crap Flutters!” Gilda and both Rainbows yelled at once. The Takeover mage blushed sheepishly as she went back to normal and hid behind Gilda, said griffon rolling her eyes, but some could see a blush on her beak.

With that impressive display, the members started to get the line moving. Sweetie Belle walked up next, using her Snow magic spell Total White Out to create a mini localized blizzard. Her score increased to 74.

Applebloom went next and decided to copy Adam’s Darkness magic. She used the Dark Delete spell, hitting several of the targets, though it didn’t seem to do too much damage. Her score was 82.

Scootaloo stood next, before crouching down and High Speed jumping to the roof, then with a boost of Freerun, towards the target with a cry of ‘Falcon Sword!’ Her score was the highest of the CMC at 97.

Echo floated up to the scanner, before taking a breath as she used her Transformation magic, which covered her with pink and purple pixels before bursting into pink smoke. Now in her humanoid Neko form, she zoomed towards the target with her Aera magic and used the Wind magic spell Gale Palm on the dummy, sending it splintering into the wall. Being rescanned, her score showed 152, just over triple her original score.

Next was the second Element Bearer, Rarity. Rarity used her Mirror magic to create four mirrors, before using Shattered Hail, shattering them and sending the shards flying towards the targets. This was one of the few offensive spells Rarity knew. Her score was an impressive 144.

Silk walked up next, the short Earth Pony allowing herself to become water before it began to spin with her Water Jigsaw spell, her water body laying waste to the target. Her score was 157.

Raine took a breath as she was scanned, thinking of which spell to use, before deciding on an often used one. Once she was ready, she wrote in the air with her Solid Script magic, casting Solid Script Fire and burning the targeted dummy. Her score was revealed as 136.

No one present really knew when Pinkie went up, they just knew they heard her yell ‘Wave Pound’, and suddenly one of the stone dummies was stuck head first in the ceiling. Lex couldn’t help but allow her eye to twitch as she saw the pink party pony bounce up to the scanner, showing her score of 204.

Nate was next, the effeminate male sighing as he crossed his hands before the four containers of sand he always kept on him opened up, several litres of sand swirling around him before he launched it forwards like arrows via Sand Arrow Barrage. He hit both bullseyes on the targets and debilitating non-lethal points on the dummies. He smiled at his accuracy, his control being the main focus of his training with his magic. His score of 180 wasn’t bad either.

Swift went up next, the young mare smiled as she was scanned before extending her wings, which held several sheets of paper. She cast Red Dance at the dummies, making a cyclone of flames and red paper. She smiled at her spell, before showing her control as she made the flaming paper into a pyramid and spinning it around like a drill. Her score of 161 was better than she was expecting.

Spark marched up to the plate with a grin, knowing his control was the main thing he was practicing in since he got his magic, so he wasn’t expecting too big of a difference. Despite this, he was prepared to go all out. A wave of his hand, the red seal of his Fire magic appeared with a spew of Purple Fire. The line of dark purple fire attached onto one of the dummies without burning it, before tossing it into the air as he launched a Red Flare. The target burned and shattered, not in that order. Spark’s score of 268 surprised him, not expecting it to be over double his original score.

Next was Zen, who looked very excited to test himself, bouncing on the balls of his paws. Once he was scanned, he walked up to one of the dummies and got into his new stance. Silverish yellow magic, the colour of his aura, began to appear around his hands, before he rushed forwards with a yell of ‘Eight Trigrams: Twenty-Four Palms!’ Zen’s arms moved like a blur as he struck the wooden dummy twenty-four times within a couple seconds, each strike set to a pressure point he had been reading up on.

Lex had a big grin on her face, seeing someone use the Hyūga clan signature fighting style, Juken or Gentle Fist. She saw how studious Zen had been with his studying in his free time, this show only proving what she needed to know. His score of 192 also played into her choice.

Gilda tried to stay nonchalant as she walked up, but one could easily see the excitement in her eyes. Since beginning to hang out, and subsequently moving in, with Fluttershy, her active Ice Make magic has been getting plenty of inspiration. For the test, she decided to go all out with one of her stronger spells. She got into her stance, and slammed her talons on the ground, using Ice Make Frost Hydra to create a large ice construct of a five headed hydra that attacked the range. She smirked to herself at the spell, a smirk that just grew as her score of 231 showed itself.

Master Sergeant Azure Skies flew over, her recent promotion not leaving her mind as she prepared herself for this test. Her use of Dark Regulus has been most helpful in Luna’s Night Guard, so she had been practicing a lot lately. Once she was ready, she focused her magic into her right arm, and suddenly flew forward towards one of the stone targets, shattering the dummy with Pitch Black Punishment. Azure shook her hand as she felt the slight pain from hitting a stone target. Her score of 321 made up for the pain a bit.

Flora hopped up to the scanner next, the hen hopping on her paws as the scan finished its scan of her. Walking up, the female prepped her talons around each other before opening them, the air distorting around her as her Aerial Phose sending several wooden targets flying back. Her score of 242 was around what she was expecting.

The Element of Honesty herself was next, the farm pony cracking her knuckles as she got ready. She knew her magic could be rather destructive, especially in the build made of stone, so she went with one of her more controllable spells. She turned the stone floor into mud with her Earth Magic, before using Mud Dragon Bullet making the head of a dragon out of mud and stone, before telepathically controlling it to aim and launch blobs of mud and stone at the targets in rapid succession. She smiled and stomped her hoof on the ground, turning everything back to normal, minus the muddy and damaged targets. Her score of 280 made her smile.

The Element of Loyalty flew to the scanner just as AJ finished, determined to outdo her Earth Pony rival. Unclipping her retracted staff from her belt, and extending it, the pegasus let herself levitate in the air without flapping her wings, summoning dark storm clouds at the roof. With a wave of her staff, and a cyclone of wind, lighting and rain launched from the tip of her staff. The destruction to the dummies made her smile as Laruma decided to eat up the rest of the leftover clouds. Rainbow Dash smirked at Applejack when her score showed 281 points. Her grin was returned by the Earth mage.

Bladed Wind allowed himself a small smirk as he was scanned, before Requiping a yellow broadsword with a lighting motif, before slashing the dummy with the sound of distant thunder. The rumbling made many jumps, not expecting that from a simple sword, but Blade’s training in Sword Magic really came into play. His score of 304 showed just how much work he put in.

Star Burst held his arm out summoning his magic revolver with his Gunner Requip before using Guns Magic: Spark Shot to electrocute and shatter the crystal target, using all six shots in rapid succession for the attack. He smirked as he reloaded his gun before sending it back into his pocket dimension. His increased score of 328 made him especially happy.

The apothecary and medic of the guild, Zecora, silently walked up next. The zebra spent most of her time not on jobs making potions and herbal remedies, her Green and Plant magic making ingredients gathering a breeze. The zebra took a breath before placing her hand on the ground, her fingers extending into large roots that ripped up the ground and surrounded the target, before suddenly sprouting deadly black and blue thorns and retracting, acting like a chainsaw in the process. Many flinched at the damage done to the targets, but agreed Zecora’s score of 362 was well earned.

Trace was up next, the unicorn taking a breath as he was scanned before holding his hand out, spatial distortions visible as he gathered energy, before tossing his newer attack, Spiral Pain Grenade. The attack worked, looking like some kind of odd bubble before landing on the target and exploding with warping wind, severely damaging several dummies. His score shocked many but his teammate and guild master, 731 being an impressive display of just how strong the unicorn has become since joining the guild.

Emerald walked up with a determined march, cracking his knuckles as he was scanned, before using the Archive buff Clock Up which increased his magical output, and then summoning several screens that attacked every target once with Overload. The bursts of magic damaged all the targets to a considerable degree. His score of 602 was a little smaller than he expected, but he shouldn’t be too surprised since he spent most of his time doing financial work as opposed to the others who actively went out on quests.

Trixie walked up to the plate next, stretching her muscles as she was scanned to loosen up. Once she was, she grinned and placed her index and middle fingers on her head, summoning the red and gold spell matrix behind her for her Memory Maker magic. Forest of the Frost was a spell she developed by combining the two Ice spells Bufudyne, and Demonic Ice Mirror, along with the Great Arc of Trees spell Nativity of World of Trees. Numerous dead-looking trees made of ice appeared around the range, before shattering and the shards flew towards the targets. Trixie smiled at her spell, her impressive score of 849 just made her happier.

Spike was up next. The Emerald Dragon Slayer smirked as he got ready, igniting his hands in emerald flames, before turning up the output, green electricity sparking around him in a similar manner as Melissa. With a burst of speed, he appeared behind one of the iron dummies, punching and shattering it with his Emerald Dragon Bolt Strike. He smirked as he was scanned again his score of 925 making him smirk wider.

The Element of Magic herself was next up to bat. She took a moment to adjust her hair, having let it grow out a bit so it covered her right eye. She drew her sword and several magic runes appeared along the blade. Behind her hair, her Dark Eye glowed as an enchantment appeared on her back and she began to change, her hair being pulled into a high ponytail as an outfit of dark armor appeared around her. Dark Ecriture Absolute Shadow. She zoomed into her own shadow, before appearing behind the crystal dummy and roundhouse kicked it into pieces. 992 was her impressive score after she dispelled her enchantment.

Shining Armor stretched his neck as he was scanned next. He had commissioned several blacksmiths from the Crystal Empire to make more suits of armor and outfits for him to use with his Knight Requip, so he had plenty of choices of what to use. After a moment to think, he decided on one of the armors Lex gave him at the beginning. His Lightning Emperor Armor looks more like that of a Japanese shogun's battle armor than the priestess-like outfit of its female counterpart. He summoned the lightning spear that naturally comes with the armor, and smirked as he let loose with a large blast of lightning, shattering many of the crystal targets he aimed for. 1,493, makes sense since the room shook with a thunderclap after Shining fired his weapon.

The Princess of Love, Cadence, was up next. The Alicorn was seemingly in thought, tapping her hand on her chin, before nodding to herself. Once she was in position, she launched herself into the air with her wings and summoned several sensory blades with her Maguilty Sense magic before continually launching them with Maguilty Rays. She continued to shoot the gold sensory blades until every single target had three bullseyes. Her score popped up as 2,351, honestly not that surprising since she had been shooting for three minutes straight, even hitting some of the hidden targets Lex left around.

The former crystal king Sonbāsuta walked up with a determined smirk. He knew just what spell he was going to use. He had been practicing for a while now. Getting into his stance, he flapped his wings to send himself into the air, and targeted the range. “Crystal Make Ame-No-Nuhoko!” From his position in the air, Sonbā made a crystal naginata that struck one of the targets before going through it and hitting the floor, which quickly was covered with blue and purple crystals before said crystals rose from the ground and extended spikes to the other targets before retracting into the shape of, to some of the humans surprise, Japan.

Lex smiled warmly at the flying alicorn, knowing subconsciously that attack was for her since she mentioned multiple times her love of Japanese folklore, history and mythology. That attack was based on the legend of Izanagi and Izanami, who used said spear to create the first island of Japan where they lived. His score seemed to reflect how powerful his spell was as well, 3,341. Definitely worthy to be named after that legendary spear.

Luna gently flew up the scanner next, wanting to prove herself with her guildmates. The Princess of the Night had a determined glare on her muzzle as she flew towards the range. Once she decided she was close/far enough to the range, and warned Lex to prep the barrier seals, before gathering magic on the tip of her horn. At first, it was blue and white, twisting itself like a nebula, before she grimaced and the orb grew to three times the size while also turning black, blue and red, looking like a black hole.

Lex kept an eye on the princess, sensing she was using the more dark sided part of her magic to use this spell.

Once she was ready, Luna opened her eyes, which were pitch black, before rearing back and sending the now ten foot wide orb towards the target. Once it left her horn, the orb rapidly began to shrink before it was barely the size of a fist. It was barely an inch from the target before Luna launched another blast of magic at the orb, which then detonated into a large orb of magic, causing the sealing enchantments to flare to life at the backlash. 3,452 was the eventual score once the magical explosion generated wind died down.

Lex let herself grin, knowing this was the result of Luna accepting the darker half of herself. She wasn’t completely over her ‘Nightmare Phase’ as Lex called it, but she was healing quickly, especially without the Tantabus in her head. As a precaution, Lex had been hopping into Luna’s dreams every now and then. Most of them are rather unique landscapes where the Princess is just napping.

Sleeping in a dream. Meta.

Lex was about to announce the plan as everyone finished, but she couldn’t even get a word out as she felt several arms wrap around her and lift her to the scanner. She raised a brow at her sisters, who just grinned and raised a brow each. Her brother was the same, all conveying the same message. ‘You’re going up too.’

With a sigh and a nod, Lex telepathically told her uncle to connect to the enchantments, making sure to keep them up. The alchemist nodded as the Faekage thought about what spell to use.

‘Let’s see. I could just unlock one of my seals and use either God Slayer or Demon Slayer magic. That would be kinda boring though. Hmmm….maybe one of those spells. Yeah, those could work. Not anything about number sixty-five though….that should work.’

With a deep breath, Lex summoned a recently finished katana, and unsheathed the ocean blue blade from its golden sheath. Though she wouldn’t use it, just having the sword made this feel more authentic. She then took another breath and jumped until she was near the ceiling and right above the range and, to the confusion of the crowd, began to speak in Japanese.

“Scatter beast bones! Spire, Crimson Crystal, Steel Wheels! The wind if it moves, the sky if it stops, the tone of the spire striking fills the lone castle! Hadō #63: Raikōhō!”

From the palm of her hand, an orb of bright yellow lightning was generated, magical energy being built up during the incantation. Once it was ready, Lex released the attack at the range, the attack looking reminiscent of a lightning strike.

Edward sent his magic into the seal not a moment too soon as the attack caused a massive detonation that shook the building, the enchantments becoming visible as they held back the effect of the spell. Part of the wall closest to the spell was destroyed, letting the resulting smoke out of the room, much to the relief of the audience.

Lex landed without a scratch, rubbing her wrist to ease the soreness from the kickback of the spell. Not too much, just like one-handing a revolver. She did sweatdrop as she saw the destruction of the range similarly to her uncle's attack.

Lex let herself relax as she stepped up the scanner again. She herself was curious how much stronger she’s gotten since the last time they did the test. Her eyes widened in shock at her score though. 27,152, over double her original score, much like many others in the guild.

She honestly didn’t expect to go that high. Most of her time in the guild has been for managerial work, artwork, testing and recording new magic, and helping the members of the guild with their training.

She had only developed her Kage Bushin a couple of weeks ago, so she had been using only the regular cloning magic before then, and that has mostly been for doing one thing at a time. So most of her proper magic training had been maybe twelve hours a week prior to using Kage Bushin.

‘I guess cloning magic really is as overpowered for training as its original equivalent. Good to know.’ Lex smirked to herself at this. She used Arc of Time one last time, resetting the range, before sighing and taking a seat on the bench nearby.

“You alright sis?” Lex looked to the side as Adam offered her some water, smiling to her brother.

“I’m good, just tired. Using Arc of Time a bunch of times can be really exhausting. Not to mention that last spell.” Lex took another deep breath, turning to the crowd as many were wondering what was next.

“Alrighty then.” Everyone turned to her. “The Displaced, and those of you that already have magic, please head back to the guild. We are going to be having our party in a bit. Those of you without Fiore magic, stay here.” She turned to the guild bartender. “Zen you stay too. There is one form of magic I had recently developed that I think would be perfect for you.”

Everyone was a little confused, but most of the guild immediately listened, knowing their guild master was the best to listen to when it comes to teaching the guild. Sora, Nat, Adam and Ed raised their brows, but she just smiled and shook her head.

“Come along everyone.” Auntie Luna led Ed’s group, giving a quick hug to her niece.

“Don’t take too long sis.” Adam said with a grin, motioning for his friends to follow.

“We wanna start this party the Fairy Tail way.” Nat and Sora started with matching grins. The two Dicloni followed at the back of the pack. Lex nodded to herself before turning to the smaller group with her.

Party Time! Fairy Tail Style!

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist, Garnet Naturea, and Alvasa

Chapter 21: Party Time! Fairy Tail Style!

== 3rd person POV ==

The crowd of newly minted mages smiled as they made their way back to the guild, already seeing that the building is luckily intact. Lex in particular was half expecting the large building to be shaking from a fight, what with her luck and how Fairy Tail can be.

The crowd entered the guild, watching as the current members and Displaced all hung around one another, spotting Flora and Nate manning the bar in Zen and Adria’s absence. The duo took the position as Lex hugged her Displaced family before teleporting to the second floor, sitting on the railing with her legs crossed.

“Now then. Now that we are all gathered, it is time to announce who will be getting a promotion to their next rank, as well as the ranks of the recently tested members.” She turns to the Displaced. “The Displaced have their own rank and title, Displaced obviously, which is equal to that of an S-Class wizard. Any objections to this rule?” No one raised a fuss, knowing just how strong the other dimensional beings are.

“Now then, let’s see here. We are going to start with the newer members and where they are ranked. The new Genin mages of the Guild are; Maeve Riftwall, Arakunia, Amaterasu Shiranui, Unmei Gaidancu, Saya Source, Joy Fleese, Marnie Daisy, Gilded Breeze, Bertha Will, and Verdant Tavernda.” Lex allowed the guild to applaud the new youngsters, officially, to the guild as mages.

“The new Chunin mages of the guild are; Capper Dapperpaws, Violet Tavernda, Adria Riftwall, Sythe Slain, Willow Wisp, Scarlet March, Madness Marigold, Kathrine Spot, and Dawn Lightwing.” Bigger applause as there are more people clapping.

“The new Jounin mages of the guild are; Amber, Aspen Marigold, Reni, Cobalt Will, Fizzle, and Laruma.” Even more clapping with more people! Lex smiled before looking back to her Archive list floating next to her.

“There are no new Kage or Rai mages as of yet, but I just know that will change during the next examination. So with that out of the way, the following mages have been promoted from Genin to Chunin; Raine Jewel, Fluttershy, Rarity Belle, Echo, Silk Song, Swift Service, Nate Quartz, and finally Pinkie Pie.

The Chunin who have now been promoted to Jounin are; Bladed Wind, Azure Skies, Star Burst, and Zecora.

Jounin Promotions to Kage are as follows; Emerald Blizzard, Legacy Tracer, and Trixie Lulamoon. Finally, there are no promotions to Rai.” Lex smiled as everyone cheered, now being able to enjoy their new ranks and such.

“Now that all the boring stuff is out of the way, what do you guys say we show these Newbies how Fairy Tail party’s!” The cheers were near deafening, making Lex glad she had a clone put Yoru to sleep in her room and soundproofed it. “For those who are feeling up for it,” Lex pointed to the stage near the back, where many now noticed several clones of Lex setting up instruments, microphones and stage lights. “Who wants to have some karaoke in the guild hall!”

“Hell yeah!” Nat and Sora yelled out. Adam smirked wide as he saw Lex had an electric guitar and amp set up as well. Ed and his group all cheered as well. Lex smirked as a few of her clones popped, before Lex raised her hand, index finger up.

“Alright Fairy Tail! Let’s party!”

==Kairi’s POV==

I laughed as I watched the start of organized chaos that is a Fairy Tail guild party, before turning and eying the stage for karaoke. I then noticed that our guild master was listening intensely to her uncle at the bar. ‘Must be one hell of a story,” I thought as I looked on. It continued for a few more minutes then Lex got up and said something to Ed and she walked off. Ed then finished his drink and looked like he was scanning the crowd till he spotted me.

In the next second he was standing right next to me, “Hey there. I need to talk to ya. Can ya spare a few?” He motioned with a drink in his metal hand.

I nodded, a frown spreading over my face. “The S-Class job?”

“Only if you want to talk about that,” he held up a hand. “No, I want to know how your Keyblade training is coming along and what types of different keychains you’ve gotten thus far.”

I shrugged. “Let’s find a quiet corner then.”

“Let’s chat in Lex’s office,” Ed motioned. “I have a few things I need to leave for her in there and I’m pretty sure she won’t mind if it’s just us.” he placed his fingers to his temple for a second. “Yep, we’re all good now,” He motioned and I found us in the office. “Don’t be surprised at this. I’ve gotten a lot stronger since the last time you saw me and I can pull what is referred to as a Batman by combining several spells.”

I blinked. “Considering that I’m sure we’re ALL getting stronger, I’m really not surprised. Anyway, what’cha wanna know?”

“Like I said before,” he points at me. “How are things going for you? What kind of keychains do you have? How’s your love life? How’s everyone back home? A typical stuff. More importantly is there anything that I can help you with while we’re together like this?” He leaned against Lex’s desk before reaching into a ripple in the air and pulling out a stack of books and a box to set them on the desk. “Those should help her,” he turns his eyes back to me.

My face broke out in a rather bright red glow. “Um, love life? I-I’m REALLY not ready to be thinking about that sort of thing.” I quickly got myself under control. “As for the other questions, Well, I’ve got Destiny’s Embrace, obviously, Oathkeeper, Crystal Snow, Metal Chocobo, Ever After, Way to Dawn, and a copy of Lex’s unique keychain Fairy’s Flow.” My eyes narrowed. “As for what’s going on back home, I’ve currently got the Element Bearers going through a full military campaign in the form of Final Fantasy Type-0 in the simulator. After what I found out, we need them to know how to handle a war. Though, to be honest, it probably won’t end up being a full scale war.”

“I would hope not,” Ed looked into his drink. “War is ugly and the girls don’t need to see what a real war is like,” he sighed. “I can forge you a few Keyblades if you want me to. I also want to give you this,” he held up a red crystal cross with a few cracks in it. “Do you recognize it?”

I shook my head. “Afraid not.”

“This is my keychain,” He said bluntly. “Do you remember my Keyblade and its specifics?”

“I definitely remember that Keyblade,” I shuddered. “I think I was a little too creeped out by it to ask for specifics.”

“The Baku,” Ed tossed me the keychain. “You’re the first person I’ve given that to. You’re probably the only one that can properly use the Baku other than me. It’s specifically strong against Nightmares as the name suggests and it boosts dream eater abilities.The weapon has two handles for a reason and I will warn you, you won’t be able to handle its power alone. That said, who do you think wields it with me and then you?”

“I assume your wife is who wields it with you,” I crossed my arms, eyes closing as I thought it out. “As for me, I’d imagine that Luna would wield it with me. My guess is that it has to be someone you have an INCREDIBLY strong bond with.”

“Correct on most fronts,” He smiles. “But it doesn’t necessarily have to be a strong bond but the stronger the better or someone with a dream affinity similar to Luna’s. Say Nightmare Moon or Nyx as well. My son would also fit that description. Kairi, with that key you can traverse the Dreamscape, can I trust you with that power?”

I raised my hand. “I solemnly swear that I will use that Keyblade responsibly, and not abuse the power of the Dreamscape.”

A red chain came from the cross and wrapped around my hand then disappeared. “That chain is your bond, break it and the keychain will shatter and you will never receive another,” Ed sternly glared at me and then sighed. “I know you’ll use it right. Do you have an Oblivion?”

I smiled. “I don’t personally, but Oblivion is Luna’s personal Keyblade.”

“Still,” He held up a black crown keychain. “I will give you your own and once I give it to you I need you to give it back along with your Oathkeeper. I also have these for you,” he held out a small bag that jingled in his opposite hand. “Do you trust me with your keychains to do as I ask?”

I hesitated for a moment before I nodded, pulling out my bag of keychains. “I do. Besides, if whatever you have in mind goes wrong, I do have a way to restore them.”

“Give me a moment,” he smiles, taking the Oblivion and Oathkeeper through a door that just appeared. I stood there for about five minutes and then Ed came back pushing the door up with a slight cough causing smoke to come from his mouth. “Man that forge is something else,” he dusts himself off.

I gave a light giggle. “How’d the fight go, Rodin?”

“It went better than expected,” He smirks, pulling out smoothing I’d never expected to see. “Your X-blade is ready,” he held out a Keyblade that was made from a crossed Oblivion and Oathkeeper. I just stood there, face pale, and eyes wide. “Stop gawking and take it.”

I swallowed, hesitating. Now this, this wasn’t what I expected. “Considering the threat level we’ll be up against, this is probably the minimum of what I personally will need, but the reputation...”

“As soon as you take it there's no going back Kairi,” Ed held it out. “With this you will be able to give whomever you choose a Keyblade. With this you will take the rank of master. But only if you want it and truly desire it. Until then, it will wait for you.”

My face hardened, before I stepped forward, taking the X-Blade from his grasp. “I truly want this. I feel it's the only way to truly protect what’s precious to me. Maybe I can even change its reputation for the better.”

Ed smiled at me, “I’m proud of you,” he placed a hand on my head. “I know you can do it. One more thing,” he pulled a black headband with a red four-point star on it. “This is the token of the Anti-Magic Knight, Asta Ferris. My younger brother and I mean by blood,” He placed it in my hand. “I think he might prove to be a good summon for you given his background in martial arts before he was displaced. Not to mention becoming Asta has greatly increased his prowess physically and he knows his way around a sword.”

I nodded, pocketing the token. “And on that note, I think we need to talk about what’s coming.”

“I’m listening,” Ed looked at me.

I nodded, pulling out a small holographic projector, turning it on to reveal the monster. It was tall, easily double the size of myself, and roughly in the shape of a man, but with four arms. Its upper left, and lower right arm were black, while the lower left and upper right were white, with sharp, cruel claws at the ends of them. To finish the monstrous image, it had the head of a vulture, its eyes glowing a deep, malevolent, crimson.

“This is what we’re facing,” I shuddered, remembering my brief encounter with the creature. “Its name... is Tash.”

“It looks like a purebred heartless from deep in the realms of the Darkness,” Ed rubbed his chin. “Possibly a cannibal. Only the strongest wills to move on and consume survive in those depths. They usually don’t come out into the realm of light due to not being able to remain here for very long. How long did it stay before it started to break down and did you defeat it?”

“I’m afraid it isn’t that simple,” I sighed. “Faust herself told me about it, right after making me aware of some creatures that need to be exterminated on sight, called Sin Eaters, and Voidsent; creatures of stasis, and darkness respectively. Tash not only commands them, but also creates them. I’ve taken to referring to it as a Void Eater.”

“No he’s not a Void Eater,” Ed shook his head. “I’ve fought Void Eaters and this isn’t one. Void Eaters are like negative copies of Displaced and they hunt us due to being incomplete. They eat our void energy to complete themselves and they’re relentless. They can be chimeric if they feed off different Displaced but their soul targets are the copies they’re made from, the Displaced that spawned them specifically. If you can beat a void eater then they become an ally for life. They’re much stronger than this creature, so much so I had to enter my void form to defeat mine and Quill’s. If one of these comes after you again, be careful and don’t forget to call me right away.”

I shuddered again. “OK, yeah, I’m gonna try to stay the hell away from those. I guess Tash would just be a chimera of some sort then. In any case, I watched Tash turn somepony into a Sin Eater, simply because they happened to walk past. Hell, it almost turned me into a Voidsent, but I have a ‘special’ protection from that sort of thing.”

“You have a charm or spell of some type?” Ed raised an eyebrow

I shrugged. “More like I have a perfect balance of Light and Darkness. To create a Sin Eater or Voidsent, one must throw off the balance in either direction. Due to my unique nature as a Princess of Heart who can also wield Shadow Dragon Slayer magic, it protected me.”

“I don’t think that’s quite all of it,” Ed reached into a ripple and pulled out a solid black sphere that radiated darkness, “Do you have some reference as to what this is?”

I frowned as I studied the orb. “I’m not entirely sure, but it resembles artifacts that were used by the Leviathan race in the Mass Effect series, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what that is.”

“This is a Black Dragon Slayer Lacrima,” he explained, levitating the sphere in front of me. “One of the three original slayer magics.”

“Hold on,” I frowned. “I’ve watched and read all of the Fairy Tail content. How have I not heard of this?”

“It’s lost knowledge that not many are aware of actually,” Ed explained. “This magic was wielded by only three individuals in its entire existence. All of them dragons. One being the dragon king who started the war and wanted to dominate humanity, the other his clone, and the last being a draconic armor that went mad from the dragon's corruptive influence because the armor was made from the remnants of the clone’s body. That dragon’s name is The Dragon King Níðhöggr, also called The Unbreakable Dark.”

“OK, I suppose that makes sense,” I nodded. “But why do you bring that up? I mean, it’s not like that was what protected me.”

“I bring it up due to what you said,” Ed points at me. “You have shadow magic not true black magic. You have some form of balance at the moment but eventually you light will over power it. You pseudo balance saved you last time, but this is a time limit and it’s steadily running out,” he snarled and two more crystals appeared on either side of the black one. “The bright one is Photon or Light Slayer magic. The one that looks like a normal crystal is crystal slayer magic. These are for you,” He said as a bag appears and all three lacrima float into it. “I’m not going to tell you the consequence of using these as you know what too much dragon slayer magic does but I will say to be careful if you decide to ever take one yourself or give them to someone else. They are incredibly potent and can easily be drawn on too much. Use them as you see fit.”

I nodded, picking up the bag. “Alright, I have a couple ideas for these. Anyway, with all of that said, where do you stand in this battle?”

“You mean in the battle of light and darkness?” Ed crossed his arms. “Or do you mean in your battle with the darkness?”

“Against Tash,” I clarified.

“I don’t stand with the void entities if that was what you were wondering,” Ed crossed his arms.

“No, no,” I chuckled. “I mean can we expect help from you?”

“Kairi, you’re Lex’s guild member, making you extended family, so yes you can count on my help should you ever need it,” he placed a hand on my shoulder. “But another thing you should know is that my power is not from the light or the dark but the void itself. I am Truth’s Avatar and my power comes from it. Should he decide that he wants entertainment he’ll lock me up just to watch. That said, my choices are my own making my magic, abilities, and other skills as well as my years of experience are all available and at your disposal.”

I smiled as I gave a sigh of relief. “That’s a weight off my shoulders. We’ll have at least a week’s warning before Tash shows up, so I’ll make sure to contact you as soon as it gets close. Now, I think I just heard Luna go up for karaoke, and that is something I have to see.”

“Are they going to form the Lunar trio?” Ed grabbed the bridge of his nose. “I suppose we should see that. Not to mention I do have my own songs to do as well.” He smoked. “The stage is that way,” he pointed, showing me that we were back in the bar area. “And they did all go up there. And looks like your sister is looking for you.”

“Best not keep her waiting then,” I replied with a grin as I made my way down to the stage. Luna quickly spotted me as I approached, a grin appearing on her face, before a nervous look appeared.

“Um, hi everyone,” she quietly spoke into the microphone. “I uh, have a song to sing. I hope you like it.” She then turned to the Lex clone on keyboard with a nod, signalling her to start playing.

Into Oblivion

Whispers of who I was, who I’m meant to be
They’re constantly echoing
And beckoning

Cast my home aside, lead me into the sky
Just realize what our destiny holds
Our stories untold
Just waiting to rise

Guided blindly by shadows within the dark
Is this what’s become of me?
An enemy?

Cast my sight away, lead me into the night
Can’t fight away what has taken control
Of all that I know
And stolen my light

With this burden I bear, I’m alone
There’s so many mistakes to atone
You deserve so much better than this broken soul
I must fight this battle on my own
But I’ll prove to you how I have grown

Cast the past into the darkness that still lies
To be with you, I will do what I must
I’ll hold tight your trust
I’ll be by your side

Don’t be afraid, what was lost can be found
Hear what I say, don’t let go of my hand
Our futures unplanned
Our destinies bound

As the voices of the three young lunar alicorns and the piano faded, I found myself silently crying for the innocence that was stolen from my sister. I wiped my eyes as I applauded with the rest of the spellbound guild members around me, some of them also wiping their eyes. I watched as Luna shyly smiled, a blush coloring her blue cheeks as she and her new friends got off the stage.

I watched them with a smile before I stepped up to the stage myself, approaching one of Lex’s clones. “Weight of the World, from NieR: Automata, if you please,” I requested, getting a nod from her. I then turned to the guild hall. “Alright, now that my sister has sufficiently captivated us, it's my turn. I’ll be singing a song that…” I trailed off, not knowing how I wanted to finish that sentence. “Well, let’s just say that it means a lot to me right now.” I glanced over at the clones, giving a nod to signal them to start.

Weight of the World

Ee ser les hii san mian
nei escalei lu push to lei
Schmosh juna wu ria eh je chon nur
Nasico whosh pier wan nei
wananba ri na qua lei
Sila schmer ya pit pa lu

{I feel like I'm losing hope
In my body and my soul
And the sky, it looks so ominous
And as time comes to a halt
Silence starts to overflow
My cries are inconspicuous}

Un schen ta tii pia pa ke lo
Angelei myoch schalen drei mo blony yei
Nat mia sweisch pa ya lei
Nikansch pe tama het chem mai lei jei
Qia ta tii meh sa

{Tell me God, are you punishing me?
Is this the price I'm paying for my past mistakes?
This is my redemption song
I need you more than ever right now
Can you hear me now?}

La feto bo ras di lei
Shel va pelo cra na dii sii hei
Naya chyo ma ter meh lava ma puoru
Ig nagya di lem myo
Sequoish pela chyo mei lu
Wana piesla hola uma schen dan
Ankesto pe no na suna
wu ria ri wan chelai
Wan chelai

{Cause we're going to shout it loud
Even if our words seem meaningless
It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world
I wish that someway, somehow
That I could save every one of us
But the truth is that I'm only one girl
Maybe if I keep believing my dreams will come to life
Come to life}

Uru barn bra etsu mei
nischesch ku ru ti tua hei
Lemyou da ushka ler pia tu mei
Schmawa si ler sooch pi
gia gatita lei wo tisna
Schalwa fla ter pa pi tia

{After all the laughter fades
Signs of life all washed away
I can still, still feel a gentle breeze
No matter how hard I pray
Signs of warning still remain
And life has become my enemy}

Un schen ta tii pia pa ke lo
Angelei myoch schalen drei mo blony yei
Nat mia sweisch pa ya lei
Nikansch pe tama het chem mai lei jei
Qia ta tii meh sa

{Tell me God, are you punishing me?
Is this the price I'm paying for my past mistakes?
This is my redemption song
I need you more than ever right now
Can you hear me now?}

La feto bo ras di lei
Shel va pelo cra na dii sii hei
Naya chyo ma ter meh lava ma puoru
Ig nagya di lem myo
Sequoish pela chyo mei lo
Wana piesla hola uma schen dan
Ankesto pe no na suna
wu ria rei wan chelai
Wan chelai

{Cause we're going to shout it loud
Even if our words seem meaningless
It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world
I wish that someway, somehow
That I could save every one of us
But the truth is that I'm only one girl
Maybe if I keep believing my dreams will come to life
Come to life}

La feto bo ras di lei
Shel va pelo cra na dii sii hei
Naya chyo ma ter meh lava ma puoru
Ig nagya di lem myo
Sequoish pela chyo mei ru
Wana piesla hola uma schen dan

{Cause we're going to shout it loud
Even if our words seem meaningless
It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world
I wish that someway, somehow
That I could save every one of us
But the truth is that I'm only one girl}

La feto bo ras di lei
Shel va pelo cra na dii sii hei
Naya chyo ma ter meh lava ma puoru
Ig nagya di lem myo
Sequoish pela chyo mei lo
Wana piesla hola uma schen dan
Ankesto pe no na suna
wu ria ri wan chelai
Wan chelai

{Still, we're going to shout it loud
Even if our words seem meaningless
It's like I'm carrying the weight of the world
I hope that someway, somehow
That I could save every one of us
But the truth is that I'm only one girl
Maybe if I keep believing my dreams will come to life
Come to life}

I let the final notes of the song fade into silence, the haunting melody and chaotic lyrics having momentarily brought life in the guildhall to a halt. I imagine only a few knew the meaning behind the song, and fewer still would know why I found the song so profound at this time. After all, I’m not just carrying the weight of my world, but the weight of this world too when Tash finally arrives.

I’m pulled from my introspection when a small blue missile slammed into me, wrapping me in a hug and knocking me to the ground. I stifled a chuckle, while the rest of the guild just laughed as I peeled Luna off of me.

“Wanna do a song with me quick?” I asked with a grin.

Luna returned my grin before turning to the clones. “I’ve got a special version of Brave Shine I want to do with my big sis.” The clones smiled and nodded as we picked ourselves up for one last song.

Brave Shine (English) [Remix]

Now, it’s only a dream - a single wish
But it’s in these hands that take aim and miss
I fight it but I can’t wake up

I was given a vision of the end
But it’s here in these hands that cannot mend
And the memory will haunt me for all eternity

How can I destroy my weakness?
‘Cause I wanna be stronger
I need to keep them all safe, but I lack the power
If we learn to wield our flaws, then the future can be ours

BRAVE SHINE
If you need a hand to hold, then STAY THE NIGHT
On the darkest of my days YOU SAVED MY LIFE

Far beyond the razor-edge of your blade
There lies a prayer that will surpass - a dream I know will last throughout time
YOUR BRAVE SHINE

Never give into that ungodly night
What good is a star that has lost its light?
I watch as they fade one by one

We are on the same road, both you and I
Like two planets, we are bound to collide
And we can’t see or break free beyond our destiny
I’ve fallen victim to my weakness in my haste to be stronger
I somehow lost it all in my hopeless bid for power
Time will leave me, I don’t mind - It can leave us both behind

BREAK DOWN
As the constellations fall and turn to dust
We collide and burn until the BREAKING DAWN
Far beyond the dream we carved together
The vow we’ve made, it’s kept me strong
It’s been here all along… Here in my hands

If to feel pain is my fate
Then I have just one thing to say
Here in my scar-covered heart
Color will always exist
I watched the last stardust rise up and fly
Dust to dust
Ash to ash
Into the sky

BRAVE SHINE
If you need a hand to hold then STAY THE NIGHT
On the darkest of my days YOU SAVED MY LIFE
Far beyond the razor-edge of your blade
There lies a prayer that will surpass - a dream I know will last throughout time
YOUR BRAVE SHINE

The guild burst into cheers as Luna and I finished. Smiling to the crowd, we stepped forward giving a bow before stepping back into the crowd. No sooner had we stepped down, however, Melissa of all people stepped onto the stage.

“Alright, alright, nice job there Kairi and Luna,” the techie said with a grin. “Now, I’d like to issue a challenge. Adam Tauros, I hear you’re a bit of a musician, care to put it to the test?”

A chuckle rang out from the shadows just off stage. “You sure you want to go there Shields?”

“Oh, I am,” the grinning techie replied.

“Oh no,” I groaned, shaking my head. “The shonen competitive mindset got to her.”

“I heard that, Kairi,” Melissa snarked back. “But I’ll let it slide this time. Tauros, I challenge you… to a cello off!”

The bull faunus blinked. “Uh, what?”

“It’s simple really,” the techie replied, pulling two full sized cellos onto the stage. “You and I will play a song, in this case Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, while singing the song in a duet fashion. The crowd will then decide which of us gave the better performance.”

“Ahh, I see,” Adam nodded with a grin. “So sort of like a dance off.”

“Exactly!”

“You’re on!” the faunus declared with a grin, which was easily matched by Melissa as the two of them picked a cello, and started their performance.

Smooth Criminal

As he came into the window
Was a sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down, it was her doom

Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?

Annie, are you okay?
Will you tell us that you're okay?
There's a sound at the window
Then he struck you — a crescendo, Annie
He came into your apartment
Left the bloodstains on the carpet
And then you ran into the bedroom
You were struck down
It was your doom

Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?
Annie, are you okay?
So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?

You've been hit by—
You've struck hit by—
A Smooth Criminal

I don’t know!

Annie, are you okay?
Will you tell us that you're okay?
There's a sound at the window (I don't know)
Then he struck you, a crescendo Annie? (I don't know)
He came into your apartment (I don't know)
Left bloodstains on the carpet (I don't know why, baby)
And then you ran into the bedroom
You were struck down
It was your doom Annie (Dag gone it)
Annie are you okay? (Dag gone it-baby)
Will you tell us that you're okay? (Dag gone it-babe)
There's a sound at the window (Dag gone it-baby)
Then he struck you, a crescendo Annie (Hoo! Hoo!)
He came into your apartment, (Dag gone it)
Left bloodstains on the carpet (Hoo! Hoo!)
And then you ran into the bedroom (Dag gone it)
You were struck down
It was your doom Annie

You've been hit by—
You've struck hit by—
A Smooth Criminal

The roar of the guild as the two put their cello bows down as absolutely deafening! It was quite clear that there would be no single winner as they stood, grinning like fools, before giving a bow to the audience. I just shook my head with a chuckle, as I realized what Melissa was actually trying to do; give the audience a show. I always seem to forget how dramatic she can be.

3rd POV

“Thanks so much for the invite sis. This was a lot of fun.” Adam grinned, helping Penny as she yawned and stumbled, the alcohol going through her, but now making her sleepy.

“We have got to get together more often.” Nat stated, stretching with a yawn, causing Sora to do the same. That just caused a chain reaction as everyone in the room below the age of twenty yawned as well, starting with Ruby and ending with Kairi.

“We are in complete agreement on that sis.” The Faekage agreed, sighing as she set up the portal for Kairi’s group first. Her daughters were just hanging out on the couch in the bunker with their alicorn of a father, who was seeming to doing stock of the room.

“So, not to bring down the mood, but are we all in agreement to fight when the time comes?” The keyblade user asked, earning serious nods from the others.

“We’re in. I know Penny won’t leave Adam when the time comes.” Ruby stated.

“Dawn and Trixie are all ready for the fight when it comes. They are willing to go all out for the fight.” Lex stated, nodding as the portal began to spin.

“You’ll have a hell of a time trying to keep us away from the fight.” Nat stated, a nod from her girlfriend and sister all the agreement she needed. Kairi smiled, knowing her Displaced friends were ready and willing to fight.

“Before you go Kairi.” Lex stopped the group before they left, holding up her phone. “Group photo?”

“Hell yeah.” The Displaced all grin, Edward taking over the cloning duty and summoning a few of his own so the group could all have their own photos. Adam and Blake managed to wake Penny and Yang up, though it was only through Lex’s Aroma magic.

“Sorry Penny, I know you want to sleep, but we have some last minute photos to take.” Adam apologized, earning a rolled eyes, but a bright smile from his girlfriend who was slowly gaining her first hangover. Yang was more vocal about being woken up, but relented as she admittedly wanted her own photos.

“Alright everyone. On Displaced! One, two, three,”

“DISPLACED!”

The snapping of several cameras filled the otherwise silent bunker, earning smiles from everyone.

“I’ll call you guys if something comes up. Until then, stay safe guys.” Kairi smiled, hugging her friends and fellow keyblade wielder before entering the portal with her sleepy friends.

“Family photo?” Sora muttered, earning a nod and pat on the head from Aunt Luna. Ruby and her friends grabbed the phones/scrolls from the Displaced.

“Ah, no you don’t Penny.” Ed stopped the ginger from walking to the others, earning a tilted head. “Hey, you’re my nephew's girlfriend, you’re as much a part of this family as I am.”

“Indeed Penny.” Aunt Celestia said, holding the sleeping Morning and Eclipse as Luna quickly fussed over Sora, Kuna, Ammy and Mei. “We’re family, whether you like it or not.”

Lex rolled her eyes but smiled, having always wanted a large family. She quickly made a clone, who teleported away, and a minute later was walking down with an awake Yoru in her arms.

“Hey sweet pea.” The bluenette whispered, bouncing the tired but giggly infant in her arms. “Sorry I had to wake you but, I knew you would just be waking up a bit anyways. Now, I need you to be a good girl and smile for me when we take the photo.” All she got was happy gurgling and coos, but Lex knew her youngest was agreeing with her.

“Alright, RWBY, Neo, Pyrrha, you guys got the camera features ready?” Adam questioned, earning a nod from the aforementioned females.

The large Displaced Family got themselves ready on a couch Lex levitated over. Edward sat on the centre of the couch with Luna on his left and Celestia on his right, Morning Star and Solar Eclipse sitting on his lap. Lex sat on the floor with her daughters surrounding her and Sonbā on her right with his wings wrapped around her, the infant Yoru in her arms. Nat sat on the right armrest, the child formed Sora sitting on her shoulders while Dusk stood next to her with her arms wrapped around the Diclonius sisters. Adam sat on the left armrest, Penny smiling as she sat on his lap, the faunus wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

“Alright. Everyone ready?” Lex questioned, earning a couple positive noises in response. “Alright Ruby, on your mark.”

“Alrighty. Everyone, look at the huntress!” The reaper grinned as the kids focused their attention on her. After a couple moments, the huntresses began to snap the pictures. Several snapped photos later, the large family smiled at one another and dispersed.

Adam grinned at his friends as he set the family photo to his Home Screen. Lex grinned as her sibling hugged their nieces as the portal was set for Adam’s world.

With a mischievous grin as she went over and used some Sleep magic on Penny, causing the former Android to fall asleep on her boyfriend. Lex grinned at her brother, who rolled his eyes, lifting the ginger onto his back and attaching Penny’s dragon egg to his chest. She then did the same thing to Yang. Blake sighed, but still smiled to the Faekage as she managed to lift the blond onto her back as well.

“See you later Lex. Feel free to call anytime.” Adam said, going through the portal with his friends. They all sent their own farewells, Ruby zooming around and hugging everyone in the room in the span of twenty seconds. The former heiress gave a quick bow, her dragon companion copying her. Pyrrha and Neo gave their own waves goodbye before entering the portal. Blake sent a thankful smile to Nat, and a still-not-completely-asleep Yang sent the same to Edward.

Lex smiled at her sisters, the youngest finally allowing herself to succumb to sleep as the Diclo-homunculus was picked up by the elder Diclonius.

“We’ll talk later Lex. If you ever need a hand on anything here, even if it is just babysitting, don’t hesitate to call.” Nat stated, hugging her nieces and sister before heading to the portal with her marefriend.

“Stay safe you three.” Lex parted, watching her sister's forms become distant as the portal worked its magic. Finally, she turned to her uncle and his group, who were all together.

“Thanks for the fun Auntie.” Morning tiredly muttered, a nod being all Eclipse could manage as they yawned together.

“Aw, anytime sweetpea.” She smiled, hugging the little alicorns, her daughter hugging their cousins as well. She hugged her aunts and uncle as well. “Thanks for coming over you guys. This was a lot of fun.”

“Well, remember to not be a stranger dear. If you ever need to talk, mother-to-mother, feel free to stop by the Dark Library.” Luna offered, picking up her kids as they began to nod off. Lex nodded, having noticed Sonba clapping Polearm on the back as he got ready to leave with Twilight holding a sleeping Nyx in her arms as well.

Rarity, Rainbow and Spike all just stood off to the side, not wanting to get in the middle of the family farewells.

“Lex.” The mage turned to the alchemist. “Be sure to update me on anything that happens with Yoru. Anything at all. We don’t want you to panic and do the wrong thing.”

“No argument here Uncle.” Lex stated, rocking the slightly fussy girl in her arms. “I’ll see you guys later then. Feel free to stop by the guild anytime you want. We’ll always be open for family.”

“Of that, I don’t doubt my dear.” The slightly taller blond gave one last hug to his niece before his group all got together. “See you guys later. Oh, and Sonbā, try not to give her any more kids for a while.”

“EDWARD!” Ed laughed as he used his Rinnegan, the group all warping away from the red faced mage nearly a second later.

The Faekage took a few moments to get her breath back, embarrassingly red in the face and panting from her uncles last sentence. After a few moments, she got herself under control again and turned to the others. The kids all looked half asleep on their feet already. With a roll of her eyes, she nodded to the tired alicorn in the room, who nodded back and lit up his horn, levitating his tired daughters as they made their way to bed.

‘Heh, a big family. I guess, I do have what I wanted.’

Author's Note

DOUBLE UPDATE HYPE!!!!

Good lord, this took a while to post!

In any case, thank you both Garnet Naturea, and Alvasa! I had a blast writing these two chapters with you, and I absolutely can't wait for our next collab.!

On that note, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

The Key to Origins: My R

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and Ocelot the Devil

Chapter 22: The Key to Origins: My R

**TRIGGER WARNING!! This chapter contains depictions of suicide, allusions to self-harm, and mentions of rape. Please read with caution and at your own discretion!**

“You know,” I mused as we stepped out of the Stargate. “Now that we’re back from the party, I’m gonna have to step up our training.”

“Why’s that?” Haley asked.

“Because you declined having your magic tested at the exam,” I retorted with a roll of my eyes. “Because you still haven’t figured out how to switch forms quickly, because your magic is still unstable. Take your pick.”

“Well that’s not my fault,” the girl pouted.

“Yes it is!” everyone in the room shouted. I would have gone on, but Melissa’s phone rang.

“Excuse me for a moment,” the techie turned around, pulling out the phone. “Melissa here… Uh-huh… sure… Alright, go ahead and dial it up, we’ll see you in a minute.” After hanging up, she turned back to us. “Mina wants to come by to hang out, and maybe train a little more, so, let’s not stand in front of the Gate.”

“Good call,” I nodded as the inner ring of the Gate began to turn. Stepping to the side, we watched as the portal opened, and Mina stepped through.

“Kairi!” Mina yelled in joy.

I smiled at the greeting. “Hey Mina, I take it you’re ready to continue up Tartarus? Or are you here to hang out?”

“Continue up Tartarus and then hang out. Maybe both at the same time.” She joked.

I nodded with an impish grin. “Alright then, I hope you’re ready to tell Twilight about the Heartless you encounter when you get back.”

“Oh, definitely… in fact we planned to start an investigation soon.”

“Vanitas wannabe?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yep. The sooner we learn where she is, the better we can stop her. Also if I might inquire…?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Go on,”

She grinned. “How’s lovely Melissa doing? I sure hope she hasn’t been too upset about me returning back to my own Equestria.”

“You know, you could always ask me directly,” a grinning techie stood behind my younger doppelganger. “Much more polite that way.”

Mina’s grin didn’t fade. “Well, it's true. I can always ask the source… also, here’s a little gift from me.” She walked over to Melissa and kissed her cheek.

The girl’s grin faded a bit, but didn’t disappear. “Heh, I guess you did miss me.”

“Nope. Never. I can’t leave a cutie like you alone.”

With a suspiciously sad smile, Melissa just shook her head. “Well, I probably shouldn’t keep you from your training, I’ll go get the sim set up.”

Mina noticed the smile straight away. “Melissa… what’s wrong?”

The techie shook her head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

I frowned. “Melissa, this isn’t nothing, that much is obvious. Is this something to do with your past?”

“No, really, it’s noth-”

“Melissa, we’re your friends,” I cut her off. “Whatever it is, it’s hurting you, and we want to be there for you.”

Melissa sighed. “Alright, follow me, but Haley, I want you to go set up the sim. I don’t know you as well as Kairi and Luna. Mina, you’re welcome to come along as well.” She then turned and led us deeper into the tower.

We followed the techie to an elevator, where she pressed a button marked “TC”. We rode up to the very top of the tower and stepped out into a smaller version of the Simulator.

“This is my Trauma Cell,” Melissa explained softly.

“Trauma Cell?” Mina asked worriedly.

She nodded. “Yes. That’s what I call it anyway. It contains memories… Painful memories…” She sighed, pressing one of the buttons on one of the consoles. Immediately, the room transformed into the rooftop of a Japanese style building.

“I guess the best way to explain is to start here,” the techie sighed from where she stood, but it wasn’t the same girl. She stood a full head shorter, wearing a yellow cardigan, with her bright red hair up in twin braids. Her glasses, however, remained the same. “My old name was Hikari Kagami, a regular, Japanese, schoolgirl.”

I nodded. “OK, two things. Actually, make it three things. Why have you gone to so much trouble hiding your past when I never met you before? Why are we on a roof, and most importantly, how are we on a roof?”

With another sigh, Melissa turned away from us. “Believe it or not, I do actually have a tie to you. This is all a hologram, much like the Simulator, and as for why here…”

She took in a deep, shuddering breath as another girl roughly the same height, with black, braided hair appeared by the railing as Melissa began to sing.

“Just as I was about to take my shoes,
Off on the rooftop, there I see
A girl with braided hair here before me,
Despite myself, I go and scream
‘Hey, don’t do it please!’”

The girl at the railing stiffened, then turned to face Melissa as the music picked up. Luna turned away from the scene, a tear trailing down her cheek as she remembered this same presentation from a thousand years ago.

“Whoa, wait a minute what did I just say?
I couldn’t care less either way
To be honest, I was somewhat pissed
This was an opportunity missed
The girl with braided hair told me her woes
You’ve probably heard it all before
‘I really thought that he might be the one
But then he told me he was done.’”

Melissa grit her teeth as she walked up to the girl and gripped her arms.

“For God’s sake, please! Are you serious I just can’t believe
That for some stupid reason you got here before me
Are you upset ‘cause you can’t have what you wanted?
You’re lucky that you’ve never gotten robbed of anything!”

The girl smiled, before turning to the stairs.

“’I’m feeling better thank you for listening’
The girl with braided hair then disappeared.”

Time seemed to rapidly progress as Mina and I just stared in shock. Please don’t be going where I think its going was the thought running through both our heads.

“’Alright, today’s the day!’ or so I thought
Just as I took both of my shoes off
There was but a girl short as can be
Despite myself, I go and scream
The petite girl told me her woes
You’ve probably heard it all before
‘Everyone ignores me, everyone steals
I don’t fit in with anyone here’”

Melissa pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration before glaring at the petite girl.

“For God’s sake, please! Are you serious I just can’t believe
That for some stupid reason you got here before me
‘Cause even so, you’re still loved by everyone at home
There’s always dinner waiting on the table, you know!”

The girl looked down in shame as she turned to the stairs.

“’I’m hungry’ said the girl as she shed a tear
The girl short as can be then disappeared.”

Melissa closed her eyes, bowing her head.

“And like that, there was someone every day
I listened to their tale
I made them turn away
And yet there was no one who would do this for me
No way I could let out all this pain.”

Mina and I were openly crying now, as we watched a series of images where Melissa, or rather, Hikari, managed to stop multiple suicides. But as we watched, she seemed to become more and more depressed.

“For the very first time, there I see
Someone with the same pains as me
Having done this time and time again
She wore a yellow cardigan
‘I just wanna stop the scars that grow
Every time that I go home
That’s why I came up here instead’
That’s what the girl in the cardigan said
Whoa, wait a minute what did I just say?
I couldn’t care less either way
But in the moment I just screamed
Something that I could not believe
‘Hey, don’t do it please!’”

Melissa fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she screamed.

“Agh what to do?
I can’t stop this girl, oh this is new
For once I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew
But even so please just go away so I can’t see
Your pitiful expression is just too much for me!”

The girl in the yellow cardigan seemed to sigh as she turned to the stairs.

“’I guess today is just not my day’
She looked away from me and then she disappeared.”

My eyes widened as another day dawned on the roof, this time no one there.

“There’s no one here today, I guess it’s time
It’s just me, myself, and I
There’s no one who can interfere
No one to get in my way here.”

Melissa stepped to the edge of the roof, shoes discarded behind her, as it clicked in my mind

“Taking off my yellow cardigan.”

Every girl she talked down,

“Watching my braids all come undone.”

Was a version,

“This petite girl, short as can be.”

Of her.

“Is gonna jump now and be free.”

I stared in shock for a few seconds as the hologram faded away. Something was nagging me though. “Melissa…” I hesitated, before forging ahead. “When you said earlier that ‘you’re lucky that you’ve never gotten robbed of anything,’ you weren’t… well…”

“Raped?” Melissa finished quietly. “Yes, I was.”

Mina gasped and walked slowly towards her before letting her hand touch Melissa’s. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Melissa snorted, turning back to the console on the wall. “Why do you think? It was one of the things that led to my suicide. I didn’t plan to explain ANY of this!”

I sighed as I walked up to her. “I don’t blame you for not telling us, but why did you decide to tell us? You didn’t have to after all.”

The techie blushed. “Well, it's that time of the month. I’m not really thinking rationally right now.”

Mina raised a brow. “Not thinking rationally?”

Melissa’s blush deepened. “I’m being impulsive and moody, OK?”

“Oh…” Now it was Mina’s turn to blush.

I gave a light chuckle. “That explains your little ‘cello-off’ earlier.”

“Hey! That was fun, and you know it!” Melissa retorted.

Mina just whistled innocently.

Melissa glanced over, before sighing. “I’m gonna need a bit of time to get my equilibrium back. Go do your training for a bit. I’ll come back down when I’m calm again.”

“You sure?” I asked skeptically. “I personally find it very therapeutic to kill monsters when I need to calm down.”

“Why do you think this room has holographic projectors?” Melissa replied with a snort. “I happen to agree with you. Now get!”

Before leaving, Mina stopped for a moment and kissed Melissa’s cheek yet again. “For good luck.”

Melissa gave a slight, yet sincere smile, before turning back to the console, prompting us to get back on the elevator, though not before Luna darted over and gave her a big hug.

“We’ll talk about your comment about us having a link later,” I called out as the door closed.

“She’s dreamy…” Mina commented.

I raised an eyebrow. “Not the description I’d personally give, but whatever floats your boat I guess.”

Mina pouted at me. “Hey!”

Author's Note

Aaand, done. Whew, that was a tough chapter to write, wouldn’t you say Ocelot?

Definitely! The best parts were Mina comforting Melissa as best she could… Hopefully there’s more romance between them soon!

Well, we’ll see. I don’t know about you, but I SUCK at writing romance. In any case, more story coming soon! Thank you all for sticking with it, even when it takes almost a year to update.

Hope you have fun reading, ya lot! This is Ocelot wishing you all a happy reading day!

Indeed! See you all next chapter!

Red=SoulboundAlchemist
Blue=Ocelot the Devil

Song used in this chapter: My R performed by Annapantsu

Suicide is not the answer, if you're having suicidal tendencies, please seek help at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or by calling 1-800-273-8255

The Key to Converging Paths

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist, Ocelot the Devil and Vortex123

Chapter 23: The Key to Converging Paths

My mind was still reeling from the revelation of Melissa’s past; a failed suicide is definitly an intense way to be Displaced, though I still have to wonder why she said we had a link. A mystery to solve later, as the elevator arrived at our destination, prompting Luna to dart out towards the kitchen.

“Well, I think we need to get back to training,” I sighed, turning to Mina. “So, I take it you got that light spell working?”

“Bits and pieces… haven’t had a chance to practice yet.” Mina admitted.

I nodded. “Fair enough. You’ll get a chance to practice as soon as we start up Tartarus again.”

As we got to the Simulator door, we turned to the sound of running coming from behind us, finding Luna running up with a thermos of some kind.

“Kairi! I found this in the kitchen!” she yelled as she ran up.

“I’m not surprised,” I chuckled. “You typically find thermoses in the kitchen.”

“But it’s not a thermos,” the blue filly explained as she held it up. “Plus it has the Fairy Tail emblem on it!”

I raised an eyebrow as I took the object from her and examined it.

“Well? What’s in it?” Mina questioned with curiosity.

It was a cylinder object with blue sides, with one side a lighter shade of blue and had a black outline of the fairy tail emblem and a grey center. As I held it, I knew immediately that it was another Displaced’s token, as the message played in my head.

“Ok now for the message, uh…Wendy, you start.Alright, we are Wendy and Zoey.If you want to summon us and you’re not a prick, turn both sides in opposite directions.It doesn’t matter what direction they go as long as it’s opposite.But we can leave whenever we want, and the token will vanish if we want it to.” Two people speak in tandem. If I had to guess, it was probably a Wendy, and maybe a Juvia Displaced, based on the voices.

“It’s another token, Mina,” I explained. “Nice find Luna!”

Mina ruffled Luna’s hair. “Good work, Luna! So, about the token… are we heading to Fairy Tail?” She asked.

I chuckled at the eager expression on her face. “Not exactly. This was created by two Displaced, like us. They were probably transformed into Wendy and Juvia, based on the voices, but we won’t know for sure until they get here.”

I grasped the canister in both hands, and twisted both sides in opposite directions.

The two sides pop away from each other as a white ball floats out. It flies a little distance away before water and wind flow out in a contained vortex. Eventually it condenses and forms two girls who have surprised expressions before they fall to the ground.

I blinked, then chuckled at their surprised faces. “Now that brings back memories.”

One of them looked at me in mild annoyance, muttering, “Glad you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Just remembering when that happened to me,” I explained, a soft smile on my face. “It takes a bit before you get used to summoning enough that you don’t fall in a heap.”

The other one spoke up, “Speaking of which, mind getting off me?”

The first one looked down at the other, who was facing the ground. The first one immediately got off and the second groaned as she sat up.

She just says, “Thanks.”

I nodded. “Right then, I do believe introductions are in order. I’m Kairi,” I said, before gesturing to Luna. “And this is my little sister, Luna.”

“Hi!” the filly waved with a grin.

“And I’m Mina. The girl with the huge memory issues.”

“And last but not least, is me,” a voice called from behind the two newcomers. The two jumped, revealing the blonde, bespectacled techie we left upstairs. “Melissa.”

The first one spoke up, “Zoey.”

The second one gets up and says with a small smile, “I’m Wendy, nice to meet you all.”

Zoey looks around, before noticing the token in my hand. She says, “Huh…not gonna lie, I didn’t think it’d actually work.”

“Welcome to the magical world of Displacement,” I replied with a smirk. “The hours are crap and the pay is non-existent, but we get cool powers.”

Wendy muttered with a sigh, “Yeah, but you have to actually practice them. And some of it is painful.”

I winced at that. “Sounds about right. There’s another Displaced here, she ended up as Mirajane by the way, who had a similar problem. I think we can help you out with that if you like.”

She smiled and asked, “I’d like that, though how much do you know about my type of magic?”

I smirked at the sky dragon slayer, allowing some shadows to appear around me. “I know quite a bit, considering I’m a Shadow Dragon Slayer.”

Zoey looks interested while Wendy nods. Wendy says, “Didn’t think I’d meet another Dragonslayer so soon, though I’m more surprised it’s a shadow based one.”

It was then that Mina groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me… My lookalike beat me in battle and kicked my ass.”

“What? You mean like this?” I grinned, sinking into my shadow, and using a shadow to smack her butt.

Mina blushed in embarrassment. “Wha- H-hey, no slapping my ass!”

I manifested my Pride form, sharp teeth grinning at the group. “You really shouldn’t have tempted me then.”

Mina muttered something under her breath with a grumble.

Zoey decided to be blunt and ask, “So what’s up? According to wolf boy, Displaced tend to summon others because of something.”

I quickly dispersed my shadows, returning me to my original state, before replying. “Actually, I haven’t summoned anyone for an emergency before. Usually, I tend to find a token, then summon the Displaced its attached to, just to make friends and allies for the future.” I shrugged. “Mina, Haley and I were actually about to go start some training, if you wanted to join us.”

Zoey simply says, “Sure.”

Wendy nods before asking, “What kind of training?”

“A climb through Tartarus, AKA, The Tower of Demise from Persona 3,” I replied with a grin. “With a twist, of course.”

Zoey said casually, “Ominous.” Before asking, “What’s the twist?”

“Instead of the Shadows that the Persona franchise is known for,” Melissa explained. “The halls of Tartarus are filled with Heartless.”

“And there are certain obstacles that restrict access along the way,” I finished.

Wendy looks interested, while Zoey asks, “Alright, so where’s this Tartarus thing anyway?”

Wendy suddenly raised a brow and muttered to herself, “Obstacles?”

I grinned. “Follow us.” I turned, opening the doors to the Simulator control room. “Haley, are the Element Bearers out of the Type-0 simulation yet?”

The Mirajane Displaced glanced up from a console. “Yep, they left a while ago. They looked a bit green, not to mention depressed.”

I nodded. “Not surprised, the ending for Type-0 is particularly tragic. Anyway, that’s Zoey and Wendy behind us. Zoey, Wendy, this is Haley.”

“Hello,” Haley responds with a smile, then frowns. “Why are there two of you?”

“Cause we’re the only competent ones?”

I gave Mina a flat look, before turning back to Haley. “Ignore her, that’s Mina. She was Displaced as a younger Kairi.”

Haley nodded. “Ahh, that makes sense. Anyway, you guys want to go into Tartarus right?”

I nodded. “Right. Computer, activate Tartarus simulation from the entrance hall.”

“Acknowledged. Do you want to continue where you left off?” the computer replied.

“No, start from the beginning.”

“Acknowledged. Simulation ready.”

I nodded. “OK, if you’re ready, go ahead and step through that door at the end of the room.”

They looked at each other, before walking through the door. They found themselves in a large round room with a blue and white checkerboard floor, and a large staircase leading to what looked like a large portal shaped like a clock.

Melissa, Mina and I stepped in behind them, before I spoke up. “Welcome to Tartarus, a tower with 264 floors packed with Heartless and divided into 6 “blocks”. There will periodically be boss Heartless on specific floors, and if Mina did her homework from the last time she was here, we’ll be able to go to two different blocks today.”

“Umm… might have been busy and forgotten. Sorry…” She smiled sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, you’re gonna be working on it as we go up,” I sighed. “Just remember, you need to create an orb of light to get past that barrier.” I then turned to Wendy and Zoey. “Do either of you have any questions before we get started?”

Wendy spoke up, “This is apparently a simulation, when is it registered that we lost? When we’re too beat up, unconscious, what?”

I nodded. “Each of us are given a “health” pool. Enemy attacks will take a certain amount of you HP, just like in a video game. With the safeties on, which they are, you can’t feel pain, hence, your health gauge. When it’s emptied, the simulator will place a wall around you, stopping you from interacting with anything until someone uses a revive. Make sense?”

She muttered, “So like a video game in the most literal sense.” She nods, satisfied. Zoey just gives a thumbs up.

I nodded. “Alright Mina, you take point, and lead us to where you finished last time. Remember, the Guard Armor, Trickmaster, and Stealth Sneak are on floors 5, 10, and 14 respectively.”

She nodded and began the long trek forward…

5th floor

We made it to the first boss floor, Zoey looked like she was having fun while Wendy seemed to be handling herself well enough.

“OK, first boss floor, guys.” I grinned. “So, Mina, what do you remember about this boss?”

“Attack the hands, legs and torso, right?”

“Right,” I nodded. “Zoey, you’re gonna go after the left foot, and Wendy, you’ll go after the right. They move independently of the body, but they’re still part of the same Heartless. Do you need some pointers for your magic, Wendy?”

Wendy asks, “Got any tips for magic output control?”

I nodded. “I’ve got a couple. First, how do you picture your magic in your mind? How do you reach for it?”

Wendy explained, “Well my body apparently already knows how to use it, and I first triggered it by searching for my core. That’s what I gathered it was anyway. I felt it stir and 'stretch' like someone who had been asleep for a while. My 'faucet' began to open, that’s what I saw in the book I got.”

I crossed my arms. “So, you’re picturing your magic as a tap that needs to be opened to use your magic?”

Wendy says, “Well I don’t remember ever picturing it closing, it sorta just…stops when I don’t wanna use it anymore and starts when I do.”

I sighed. “Alright, at least it’s better then how Izuku imagines using One For All in My Hero Academia.” I shook my head. “Anyway, you need to be able to have some form of visualization for your magic. For me, I picture a lake, fed by a large river. The lake is my magic pool, and the river is the magic being replenished. When I use a spell, I imagine myself filling a bucket with exactly the amount of magic I want to use. Say I wanted to use a basic Fire spell. I imagine myself filling a water glass. For Fira, I imagine a bucket, and for Firaga, I imagine a 10 gallon drum. Does that make sense?”

Wendy thinks for a moment, then says, “Yeah…though I have no idea how I’m gonna fix it. I’ve been trying to learn spells the original Wendy doesn’t know, and it’s so much harder than her normal spells.” She then says, “It’s a completely different experience not relying on my body’s know-how.”

“That’s why I want you to have a good visualization,” I explained. “For you, I’d imagine a large river. Go ahead and close your eyes, and visualize it. Can you see it?”

Wendy closes her eyes, and tries visualizing it. She seemed to flinch for a moment, but relaxed. After a few moments, she says, “I think so.”

“Good, now imagine that river being diverted into a little pond, then flowing back out into the main river. Make sure you hold your hands in front of you,” I continued with a nod.

Wendy does so, a look of concentration on her face. Eventually she brings her hands up, holding them in front of her, with a slight glow coming from them.

“Good, now slowly expand that pond, making it bigger,” I smiled with a nod.

She furrows her brow as she tries. The glow slowly grew, before an orb formed between her hands.

“Go ahead and open your eyes,” I grinned. She does, and looks at the orb in both surprise and confusion.

She says, “I don’t remember a spell like this.”

“That’s because I just taught you how to create an orb of raw magic,” I explained. “Due to your magical alignment, it manifested as an orb of light. Sky Dragon Slayer Magic is most closely related to healing magic, as is light magic, therefore, you have an orb of light.” I turned to Mina. “I hope you’re paying attention, ‘cause that’s the only hint you’re getting, Mina.”

“Um… maybe?”

I nodded in response. “OK then, everyone ready?” I’m met with a round of nods. “Alright, let’s get to work!”

10th floor

There was a lot of panting on the floor of the next boss fight.

“Why the heck didn’t you say that you programmed the Reaper into the simulation?!?” I just about screamed at Melissa.

“To make it as accurate to the games as possible, duh,” the techie rolled her eyes.

Long story short, the Reaper, an ultra-powerful, guardian-esque monster usually patrols Tartarus in the original Persona 3 game. What Melissa didn’t tell me, was that she added it to the pool of enemies that could appear. As a result, we ended up being chased all the way through the 9th floor, with the Reaper cutting us off every other turn around a corner.

“And you couldn’t have said something about it being here?” I growled out.

“You didn’t ask, so I thought you knew it was there,” Melissa shot back.

Zoey mutters, “If that ain’t the most BS thing…”

“Girls, girls, you’re both pretty,” Haley’s voice comes over the PA. “Can you get on with it?”

“Melissa?” Mina spoke.

The techie turned to Mina. “What?”

Mina grabbed her hands. “Please stop arguing… for my sake.”

Melissa’s face softened as I sighed. “Fine. We’ll discuss it later. NOW! Back on track. Mina, what Heartless boss is on this floor, and what is the best way to deal with it?”

Mina paused for a moment as she looked at me for ideas.

I sighed. “The only hint you’re getting is that it’s tall.”

Small silence… and then. “Oh, right! We’re facing off against the Trickmaster!”

“Good,” I nodded with a smile. “And what’s the best way to approach it?”

“Attack the torso and avoid the batons.”

“Good, though you forgot about avoiding the legs,” I nodded in satisfaction before turning to Zoey and Wendy. “Do either of you have any questions?”

Zoey asks, “Is it weak to anything in particular?”

I shrugged. “Not really, but whatever you do DO NOT use fire spells! It tends to absorb those spells, despite it seemingly being made of paper.”

Wendy nods, “Good to know I guess.”

“True enough,” I sighed before turning back to Wendy. “OK, I’m gonna give you a rather special magic that I invented called Music Magic. It’s a support-type magic, so it’ll sync with your Sky Dragon Slayer magic very well.” I explained while condensing the knowledge of my original magic into a small yellow orb emblazoned with a musical note, before offering it to her. “If you ever played some of the earlier Final Fantasy titles before you were Displaced, it acts a little like the Dancer job, or if you’ve played Final Fantasy X-2, it's like the Songstress Dressphere. Essentially, you can sing any song you like, channel magic through it, and grant buffs to your allies, and debuffs to your enemies.”

Wendy takes the orb with a smile, before asking, “Does humming count? I don’t really remember many words to songs I’ve listened to.”

I grinned. “That’s actually one of the secrets to the magic. As long as you know the tune, the magic will both provide the back up music, as well as the lyrics in your mind.”

Wendy nods, muttering to herself, “I wonder if I could mix it with the song magic I got from Link.”

“I’d hold off on testing that theory until you’re in a place where you can keep collateral damage to a minimum,” Melissa spoke up. “I can tell you from numerous volatile experiments that it’s best to keep bystanders out of the mix.”

I shuddered. “Agreed, but we’ll save that for later, on to the boss...!”

14th Floor

“OK, why did I forget about the Bouncy Wild on those past few floors?” I groaned, rubbing my sore butt where the rocks from the aforementioned Heartless’s slingshots hit me.

“Beats me,” Melissa smirked at my discomfort. “But knowing Haley, she’s probably laughing her ass off right about now.”

“You assume correctly!” Haley chirped over the PA.

“Friggin’ sassy friends, I oughta throw you into the Vault of Glass for that,” I grumbled under my breath before turning back to Mina. “OK then, this was the last boss you fought last time. What do you remember?”

Mina paused for a moment to think… and then gasped. “The Stealth Sneak - invisible boss.”

“Excellent, and what do we need to look out for?” I questioned, a grin on my face.

“Moves to watch out for are its eye beams, and wind attacks, both of which should be very easy to spot.”

“Excellent! Any questions before we head in?” I asked everyone.

Wendy asks, “Wind attacks?”

“Yep,” I nodded. “The Stealth Sneak rears up on its hind legs, charges green energy in its claws, and sends blades of wind at us. REALLY nasty if you get caught in it, though I don’t think you’ll have any problems, Wendy.”

Wendy nods, saying, “Wonder how it tastes.”

I grimaced. “Knowing how the pureblood Heartless taste, I’d guess pretty nasty.”

She frowns but nods, saying, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

With a nod, we turn and walk further into the room to face the boss…

16th Floor

“Well done everyone, we made it to the first barrier,” I congratulated my latest group of victims. “Mina, you’re up. Time for you to try out that light orb spell!”

Mina nodded and prepared to try out the orb spell that was taught to her a while back. Unfortunately, she hadn’t succeeded in casting it perfectly. It made her sigh in annoyance.

I sighed. “Well, I did see a start to the orb. It was a good first attempt.”

“For now… I’ll still need to practice.” Mina said.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually,” Haley’s voice spoke up again. “It took a while for me to figure out my magic, but once I did, I nailed the transformation spell!”

“Bad example there, considering how airheaded she can be,” Melissa nodded, grinning at Haley’s yelp of indignation. “But ultimately, she’s right.”

Wendy spoke up, “If it makes you feel better, I’m still struggling with flying despite having Dash as a teacher.”

“Right,” I nodded with a smile. “But, for now, I think a little test is in order. Computer, load simulation, code named: Rivers In The Dessert.”

“Acknowledged. Simulation ready. Standby while simulation begins.”

Tartarus melted away, with Melissa slipping out before it was replaced by a large, circular room with jail cells lining it, and blue. Lots of blue.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room,” I smirked. “This is a room between dream and reality, mind and matter. Or, at least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Instead, this is where we’re gonna have a little test.” I summoned my Way to Dawn Keyblade. “Come at me with all you’ve got! Hold nothing back!”

Mina looked at her companions as they gave a shrug. Zoey summoned Water-Make Swords, then rushed towards me. Wendy decided to run around me instead.

I smirked as I parried Zoey’s strikes, keeping an eye on Wendy. “What are you waiting for Mina?”

Mina nodded and summoned Destiny’s Embrace before pointing at me. “Alright, other me! Prepare to suffer defeat!”

My grin grew as distorted guitars started playing, my Music Magic kicking in. “That’s more like it!”

I heard Wendy muttering, making out the word, “Vernier.”

She then dashed towards me fast with condensed wind around her fists. Mina also charged forward and let out a battle roar.

I backflipped away, throwing some fireballs at them. I’ll admit it, I had originally planned to just toy with them, but I think it's safe to say that the fact they’re willing to come at me with lethal intent says they’re taking this seriously. It's only fair that I respond in kind. Luckily, my song choice only buffed my attack speed, so I can still see just how far they’ve come without overwhelming them.

It's now or it's never, and I've got to
Make my decision
This time it could be my moment
Is this a mirage or a chance to fulfill my mission?

Hurricane-like wind wrapped around Wendy, acting like armor for the fireballs. Zoey turned herself into water, and flew towards me while doing her best to dodge them.

A river in a dry land
The last ace in a lost hand
A heartbeat for a tin man
Oasis in a singed land

Next was Mina who fired a couple of spells at me, those being Fire and Blizzard. Then she charged forward and didn’t stop.

I'm keeping the balance, but I'm standing
On razor's edge now
Move quick or my life is over
One strike, just a feint, then ...
I'm outa his field of vision

Surprisingly enough, what I’m singing is exactly what I’m doing. I quickly dodged out of the way of Mina’s spells, while keeping my balance trying to dodge Zoey. I quickly merged with my shadow, striking towards them in a feint, before popping back out just outside their field of vision.

Don't ask why I'm ready but I'm ready to
Strike him down now
A chance at a new start
There's no time for indecision

Wendy smells the air before turning to me, launching blades of wind at me. Zoey sees where she’s firing and fires a beam of water at me.

A river in a dry land
The last ace in a lost hand
When the hope of new beginnings burned our feet
Now we need it:

Mina then cast Blizzard at the water which turned it into ice much to my surprise. Was she going to use a projectile!?

A heartbeat for a tin man
An oasis in a singed land
Remind us what we're here for:
Creating new life
Creating rivers in the desert

With wide eyes I quickly leapt into the air, up and over the improvised cannon ball, which exploded into a crystalline mist.

“I’ve gotta say, your teamwork is very surprising, considering I challenged you out of left field,” I chuckled. “I can’t wait to see what you do next!”

I quickly charged forward, activating Angel of Black and White for an added boost of speed before attacking each of the girls with a Keyblade strike, charged with fire along the blade.

My heart is a furnace,
Hot as hell in my world of conflict
One goal is what keeps me going
Take back what I lost to ...
The bosses of greed and fear, yeah

The strike on Wendy hit her wind armor, reducing the overall damage. Zoey hissed at the fire, but it otherwise went right through her.

Wendy chanted, “Physical ability rise!”

Then attacked with her armored fists, Zoey decided to fly back and fire Water-Make Arrows.

Don't ask why I'm ready but I'm ready to take
Them down now
The time for a new start
Is constantly drawing nearer

Mina looked at Zoey who gave her okay and cast Blizzard on the Water-Make arrows to turn them into ice. They flew straight at me.

A river in a dry land
The last ace in a lost hand
When the hope of new beginnings burned our feet
Now we need it:

With the added maneuverability of Angel of Black and White, I was able to easily dodge the ice bolts, which embedded into the ground beside me. I will admit though, that I got a little cocky, since two of the arrows actually found their mark, due to a combination of showboating on my part, dodging the arrows, and avoiding getting my skull caved in by Wendy. One arrow pierced my right shoulder, while the other pierced my left thigh, just barely missing my knee. If it had hit my knee, I could just hear the Skyrim jokes…

A heartbeat for a tin man
An oasis in a singed land
Remind us what we're here for:
Creating new life
Creating rivers in the desert

I quickly jumped back into the air, hovering with my wings, before throwing orbs of light and shadow at my opponents. Zoey fired some Water-Arrows at some of the orbs before flying away without waiting for them to hit their marks, most likely to see what would happen from a distance. Wendy used Vernier again, clearly not even wanting to test the orbs.

When a cool drop of water's all I need
Gotta clear my head of anger and greed
A place to refresh heart and mind,
Can I find
Some time in

Mina used the Fire spell at me which had managed to hit me and disconnected my concentration. My wings were shattered as I got flattened onto the ground and let out a groan.

Rivers in a dry land
The last ace in a lost hand
When the hope of new beginnings burned our feet
Now we need it:

With a manic grin, I got back up. ‘Playtime’s over!’ I thought as I began charging light and shadow into a small murky orb.

A heartbeat for a tin man
An oasis in a singed land
Remind us what we're here for:
Creating new life
Creating rivers in the desert

“MEGIDO!” I yelled, throwing the small orb as the song ended. I purposefully threw the spell to a large open area evenly between my three opponents, so that the enormous explosion didn’t seriously injure them, though the shockwave still managed to throw them a few feet from where they originally were.

“Not bad,” I grinned at them. “Not bad at all.”

Mina groaned from the ground and sent me a small glare. “You could have warned us!!!”

Wendy groaned before sucking in a large amount of air, before sitting up and looking at me in bewilderment. Zoey reformed, looking at where the orb landed.

“I could have warned you, yes,” I nodded. “But then you wouldn’t have learned a very important lesson, especially you Mina; enemies can come from ANYWHERE. People you trust can turn out to be enemies, or friends could be possessed by an enemy. It's happened far too many times in the Kingdom Hearts series, and a handful of times in Fairy Tail.”

“I see… so, say that Twilight ends up being distrustful of me…” Mina commented.

Wendy pipes up, asking while taking out a flute, “Well since you’re saying that, does that mean we’re done?”

I nodded. “Yep. Computer, end program.”

“Acknowledged.”

The Velvet Room faded into a featureless grey room, revealing the door, which opened back into the control room. Wendy proceeded to play a tune on the flute, and a wave of healing magic envelopes everyone.

She says, “Really wish my Sky Dragon Slayer magic didn’t only return stamina.”

I nodded as I felt my own stamina be restored, along with the spots I got by arrows. Not gonna lie, the Megido spell line I had created really takes it out of me, though I’ll never admit that to anyone. “Well then, what did you notice about yourselves from that fight, besides the obvious?”

Wendy simply says, “Nothing that me and Zoey didn’t already know to be honest, too little options for spells. Though it was less exhausting for me, now that I have better control over how much magic I use.”

Zoey says, “Pretty much what Wendy said, though it was a bit weird fighting with two people on my side. It’s usually either alone or with Wendy.”

I nodded. “That’s pretty accurate, though I will say that Zoey seemed a bit more adaptable and flexible. Your team work was very impressive and will serve you very well in the future. How about you Mina?”

“I learnt a lot as well. Think I’m almost ready to fight the Vanitas wannabe… but I still need more practice. I do need some answers though from you, Kairi.”

“OK,” I nodded. “What seems to be the problem?”

“About my previous question - say, if Twilight does something stupid…”

“As long as it isn’t out of character for her, it shouldn’t be a problem,” I shrugged. “You can usually tell something is wrong by her voice being distorted, or her eyes are yellow.”

Mina gave a nod and then had another question. “What about her mentor then…?”

“That’s a bit more difficult,” I sighed. “Considering how little interaction Twilight and, by extension, you and her friends have with Celestia, its nearly impossible to tell. The most I can suggest is to try sneaking into Canterlot to check.”

“Right… actually, that’s rather funny.” Mina said in a serious tone.

“How so?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Luna mentioned something about Celestia.”

My other eyebrow went up to join its twin. “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

“Because it’s really weird - Luna brought the issue involving the Heartless and the Vanitas wannabe… however, Luna told me that Celestia acted calm throughout the whole thing and told us that there was nothing to worry about… all calmly.”

“Yeah, that’s a red flag,” I nodded. “I’d investigate it quietly, and I do mean quietly. You need to be as covert and stealthy as possible. If Celestia is being possessed or is evil, you don’t want to show your hand too soon, or you’ll end up being hunted by every pony from Canterlot to the Badlands.”

“Badlands?”

“Check a map,” I replied. “It should be a large desert to the east of Equestria.”

Mina nodded. “I’ll see about it with Twilight once we learn more about the Vanitas wannabe.”

I nodded again. “Alrighty, today was pretty eventful. I do believe I need to send you home, its just about midnight here. Oh how the time flies.”

“Sounds like a plan. Can I give Melissa a hug before I leave though?”

“You realize I’m right behind you, right?” the techie said right in her ear.

“Eep!” Mina yelped and jumped a bit.

Melissa giggled as she wrapped the girl in a hug. “Gotcha.”

“Again… Eep!” Mina squealed.

With a laugh, Melissa set her down, and looked over to me. “Thanks for distracting her long enough for me to do that.”

“My pleasure,” I replied with a grin.

Mina looked at Melissa in disbelief. “No fair!”

“All’s fair in love and war, sweetie,” the techie grinned.

Mina pouted and then smirked. “Is that so?”

“How about I leave you two alone while I send off our other two guests?” I rolled my eyes at the two.

Mina grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

I shook my head with a groan. “Right, Zoey, Wendy, follow me.”

I quickly led the two into the Gate Room. “This is called a Stargate. It allows travel between worlds, much like a popular series back home. Normally, I’d offer to place a Gate on your world, but I think I’ll wait for now. WAY too late at night right now.”

Zoey nods before asking, “Hey before we go, can you tell me what the deal is with those weird swords you two used?”

I nodded, summoning my original Keyblade, Destiny’s Embrace. “This is called a Keyblade. It’s a weapon feared by the forces of Darkness, and can unlock any lock. It’s appearance can also change depending on the keychain that is attached to the handle.”

Zoey nods, saying, “Sounds super useful, and the name definitely fits.” She then asks, “How’d you get yours anyway?”

“From the Merchant, right before he Displaced me,” I shrugged, dismissing the Keyblade, and pulling two phones from my pocket. “Before you go, I want to give you two these Gummi Phones. They can make calls across dimensions, so we can keep in touch, plus, you can use them to access your original world’s internet. Maybe keep in contact with friends and family you left behind.”

Wendy nods with a smile, taking one of them. Zoey also takes one, but seems to have a weird look on her face.

Wendy says, “Thanks! Really hope I can learn more about Fairy Tail with this, the anime.” She then asks while taking out a familiar charm, “I’ve got to ask though, is this your token? Or am I getting the wrong Displace?”

I smiled, “Nope, that one’s mine. If you ever end up with a Keyblade of your own, try attaching it to the handle.” I then turned back to the console that housed the DHD for the Gate. “Now, to get you two home.”

I placed their token on the scanner tray, initiating the dialing sequence for them. It was only a few seconds later when a blue, watery portal whooshed into existence. “And there we go, that portal will take you home.”

Zoey asked, “Uh…where exactly will it drop us off at…and will it be on the ground?”

“It should drop you right where you were when you left,” I explained. “And yes, it’ll be on the ground. There are safety functions programmed in.”

Zoey nods as Wendy says, “Thanks for the magic tips!”

I smiled, “No problem Wendy. Have fun with the Music Magic I gave you, and here’s a little something else about it. It can be used outside of combat as well.”

Wendy grins while Zoey raises a brow. They leave through the Gate, but not before saying, “Feel free to call us if you need us!”

I waved with a smile as they disappeared through the Gate, which powered down behind them.

Author's Note

And we’re back again! Thanks Vortex, Ocelot, for joining in on the chaos!

It was fun writing this! Though it’s been awhile since I’ve updated the story Wendy and Zoey come from, it was nice returning to them after a while being focused on other things. Looking forward to doing this again in the future!

I know the feeling, since this fic had a near full year of hiatus. In any case, is there anything else either of you want to say? Ocelot, you’re being surprisingly quiet over there.

Wah? Sorry about that… was busy with something else. But yes, I had a fun time writing this! I do hope I haven’t been a bother, Soul.

You most certainly haven’t been a bother, I approached you, remember? In any case, we hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to updates (possibly) to all of our fics! And remember to go check out Raging Winds and Rising Tides by Vortex123, as well as Embrace Your Destiny by Ocelot the Devil

See you next chapter!

Song used in this chapter: Rivers in the Desert by Shoji Meguro

The Key to Reflections

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 23: The Key to Reflections

==Excerpt from Luna’s Diary==

It’s been roughly two months now since Mina, Wendy and Zoey’s first visit, and a lot has changed since then. The first, was the return of one of my lesser known abilities; Foresight. Essentially, it is an ability that will randomly show me a small glimpse of the future. Not enough for anything useful like, say, changing what I see, but usually just enough to know that something is coming. Back before… well, everything, it usually activated once every five or ten years, but lately, its been active every night, showing me the same thing every time: Two blades, one dark, one light, battling some sort of primordial entity. I can never see who’s wielding the blades, but I’m certain that one of them is Big Sis Kairi.

The second change was in everyone around me in the Tower. Everyone was on edge, using the Simulator constantly, with Big Sis being the worst. I could easily tell that something was wrong, but when confronted by it, all I got were fake smiles and empty platitudes. Its as if they’ve all forgotten the sort of horrors I used to deal with on a daily basis in defense of this world before my, *ahem*, episode. At this point, I only know of one person who could give me answers: Celestia, though, granted, she’ll take A LOT of convince, more then likely. But that’s for later, because right now, I have a secret project that I’m calling Selene.

What is Selene you may ask? Well, to answer that, I need to go back about a month ago…

==Luna’s POV==

I hesitantly placed my hands on the piano. It was currently recess at the schoolhouse, but in all honesty, I had no interest in going out. Instead, I had wondered around the building, simply exploring, until I came across an empty classroom with a lone grand piano. I carefully opened the lid, revealing well worn keys. Out of curiosity, I played a simple scale, discovering, to my delight, that it had been kept tuned.

With a soft smile, I closed my eyes and began to sing softly as I played.

“La, la, la
La, la, la, la, la.”

I took a breath, quickly deciding how the song I was making up would go, before continuing, still soft in my ears.

“Gales of song
Guide me through the storm.”

I paused for a moment, hearing light hoofalls on the carpet of the hallway, before continuing.

“On the wings of a small, simple melody
Words take flight and soar
They carry me, a world we’ll see
Looking for a farewell, I pull the threads
A life without you I cannot accept
I can’t tell that lie, I can’t let go”

My playing grew louder, along with my voice, as I weaved words and melodies into existence.

“But now that you’re gone, I have to move on
Seems like everyone just smiles staring at the sun
But what about me?
Tell me how I will know where I should go?
Oh gales, you sing and guide me!”

By this point, I was so caught up in my music that I didn’t hear five ponies silently enter the room, or at least try to silently enter.

“I walk alone, there’s more to life I have to know
It’s just me, lost so far away from home
Alone I shut myself in
Still the winds howl, they call and their voices lead me
Gales of song, guide me through the storm
Let the melody lift me high, I’ll be me!”

I paused in my song, silence descending for a second as I compose myself, before softly finishing.

“Gales of song, please stay by my side
Winds of love, breathe into my life
La, la, laaaa
La, la, la, la, laaaa
La, laaaa, la
La, la, la, la, laaaa.”

Silence rang in the room as I kept my eyes shut, basking in the emotional high I had from just letting my feelings out like that. However, I knew it couldn’t last, so with a sigh, I closed the piano lid, turned around, and found five gaping figures behind me; Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Miss Octavia, and Miss Vinyl Scratch.

“Uh… Were you there the whole time?”

==Luna’s Diary==

Not gonna lie, I definitely wasn’t expecting anyone to be watching me, let alone what happened next. Somehow, all five of them managed to talk me into recording the song properly in Miss Scratch’s recording studio, under the pseudonym “Selene,” and almost overnight, nearly EVERYPONY had heard it! Apparently, after Miss Scratch played it on her morning show, The Vinyl Scratch, she and Miss Octavia were swarmed with calls during the call-in segment asking where they could get the song, and when Selene would do more. Suffice it to say, when Miss Scratch approached me after class the next day to ask me about writing more songs, I just kinda nodded dumbly, with my jaw on the floor so to speak.

Since then, I’ve been writing and recording songs, getting about six done in two weeks, with the help of Bloom, Belle, and Scoots, of course. Not only did they help me write the songs, they also sang the backup vocals with me. Everything really came together with the seventh and final song we wrote for Selene’s first EP that we recorded today…

==Luna’s POV==

“Alright girls, you all ready?” I asked, slipping the headphones on.

Applebloom nodded with a smile. “You know it.”

Scootaloo shrugged. “I guess. I just wish you had gone with my song.”

“Absolutely!” Sweetie Belle cheered.

I rolled my eyes. “I told you Scootaloo, a metal song just isn’t Selene’s style. Not to mention, this is a closing song for the album. Belle’s song fits A LOT better.”

“Fine, fine,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Let's just get this over with.”

I nodded as I waved, letting Miss Scratch know that we were ready, before I started playing on the piano before me.

“Whispers falling silently, drift on the wind”
“But I hear you…”
“Our journey now a memory fading from sight”
“But I see you…”
“Unbroken, promises we made so long ago”
“You're still here…”
“Unspoken requiem for a river of tears”

I could see the happy grin on Belle’s face as we sang, in a call and response style, the song she had written. Not only that, it seemed, despite her protests, that Scootaloo was also starting to get lost in the song. We took a breath and forged forward, the CMC harmonizing with me.

“Flowing, winding, toward eternal sea
And yet our hope remains
Guiding, lighting the way
No time for mourning…”

I took the lead once more, returning to the call and response style we had started with.

“Rises on a memory born from the ashes”
“With the heavens”
“To sunset, blood-red skies tranquil after the storm”
“Blessed shadow”

I glanced up briefly to see everyone in the studio lost in the song.

“Turning, winding, always night follows day
The sun will shine again
Walk on, never look back
Through you, we live…”

“Tales of loss and fire and faith
Every word on our hearts engraved
In the dark, you will not stray
Forge ahead till the end we pray”

Our voices fall silent, as I end the song, letting the silence ring for a few seconds before turning to Miss Scratch.

“How was that?” I called.

“Sounds good, girl,” Miss Scratch’s voice came in through the headphones. “I don’t think we’ll need another take.”

I nodded, turning to the CMC, who… Weren’t looking at me or Miss Scratch. Instead, they were staring at Belle, who had her skirt up enough to look at her thigh and was staring at her brand new cutie mark. It was a stylized treble clef, with various musical notes surrounding it.

The silence persisted for a couple more seconds, before we all broke out into cheers for the one of our number who finally found their cutie mark…

==Luna’s Diary==

That was an exciting moment. None of us were expecting to find a cutie mark when we started recording our songs, and yet, there we were, celebrating Belle finding hers. Can’t say I’m particularly surprised either, considering how often I heard her humming or singing. Anyway, after th-

==Luna’s POV==

A flash of light startles me out of my diary writing, followed by a loud THUMP behind me. I quickly whirl around to find a red-haired girl clad in tight, black leather unconscious on the floor behind me.

Author's Note

HUZZAH! The chapter is FINALLY done! Let me tell you, this chapter fought me tooth and nail. It also didn't help that I was in the middle of moving when I started writing it...

ANYWAY! I hope you all enjoyed this Luna-centric chapter. I was very heavily inspired by the anime movie Belle for a good chunk of this chapter, and I'm sure it shows.

In any case, you'll find the songs used in this chapter bellow, along with a color guide to help you figure out who's singing what in the chapter. Until next chapter!
-SoulboundAlchemist

This is Luna singing
This is Applebloom singing
This is Sweetie Belle singing
This is Scootaloo singing
This is all four singing together

Songs used in this chapter:

Gales of Song by Kylie McNeil

Close in the Distance covered by Pealeaf

The Key to Mentorship

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and Alvasa

Chapter 24: The Key to Mentorship

Before we begin, there is great big SPOILER WARNING in effect. This chapter, while being set directly after the previous chapter, is also set several chapters down the line for The Equestrian Anti-Magic Knight. If you don’t want spoilers, please be patient and wait for The Equestrian Anti-Magic Knight to update to this point. If you don’t care, please enjoy this chapter!

I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive spear wielded by Iudex Gundyr. Ever since learning about Tash, his Voidsent, and Sin Eaters, I’ve realized that my normal training simply won’t cut it. That being said, I decided that a more… punishing game would make for better training, hence why I’m in a Dark Souls 3 simulation. I ran forward, taking a swipe at it with my Keyblade, rolling away as the black ooze marking the second phase of the battle made itself known. I continued with my hit and run strategy, slowly whittling away Gundyr’s health, until…

“Big sis!” Luna’s voice yelled over the PA. “We’ve got a bit of a problem!”

My focus slipped, allowing Gundyr to nail me with a claw swipe, throwing me against the doors that lead to Firelink Shrine. Cursing under my breath, I stagger back to my feet, yelling out “Computer, pause simulation!” just in time for the tip of Gundyr’s spear to freeze an inch from my chest. I carefully edged my way out before pressing a button on the wall. “What sort of problem, Luna? I’m kinda in the middle of something.”

“The Displaced kind of problem,” came her calmer reply.

“Alright,” I sighed. “I’ll make a quick trip to Melissa’s vault, then I’ll be right there.” I pressed the button again, cutting the link and resuming the simulation, before throwing multiple fireballs at Gundyr, exploiting his weakness to fire, and allowing the bonfire to spawn as he died. “Computer, save progress and end simulation.”

==20 minutes later==

After a quick detour to Melissa’s Token Vault, I was standing with Luna just outside her room.

“So, she just appeared behind you in your room?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, with a bright flash as well.”

“And what did she look like?”

“Tall with red hair, a black mask with silver highlights, black leotard, a chain belt with two silver roses, and a black jacket with gold buttons, ruffled sleeves, and three floor-length coattails.”

I froze at that description. There was no way it was who I thought it was. I quickly grabbed the door handle and threw the door open, revealing Violet, AKA Sumire Yoshizawa, unconscious on Luna’s bed. Or, rather, she was unconscious. The commotion in the hallway must have woken her, as her eyelids were starting to flutter open, revealing red irises, her expression morphing from confusion, to fear. Knowing what was coming, I quickly made my way over to her side, kneeling beside the bed so that we were at eye level with each other. “Hey, hey, keep calm now. It’ll all be OK, just stay calm, and we’ll try to explain what’s going on.”

The girl nodded shakily. “O…OK.”

I nodded, before taking out the token I had grabbed from the Vault. “If you seek truth and aid in helping the weak and in need, call forth the Anti-Magic Knight” rang in my head as I spoke softly, “Come forth Anti-Magic Knight, hopefully, you can help me explain things.”

Everyone looked around expecting to see a portal open up somewhere. After about two minutes everything was still quiet and still thoroughly confusing me. Just as I started to think that he must have just ignored the summons she heard a low rumble in the distance outside the tower and then music that was gradually growing louder.

I frowned, moving over to the open window, and looking outside.

I saw someone on a flying motorcycle coming straight for us. The rider and machine got closer and then the rider jumps from the bike and it turns into blue sparkling material and goes into what I can guess was a storage device on his belt as he lands on the wind ledge.

The man was wearing what looked like a black uniform with a haori over it. He had spiky ash blonde hair and on his ear was a strange gold earring and on either side of his belt were two satchels that looked like they held books while he also had two odd devices on his waist. Around his neck was a blue necklace with a wing-shaped tag on it. He also had a substitute soul reaper badge hanging off one of his belt loops on his left side.

“Yeawwwwwww!” He yawns, “So, who was it who summoned me?” He says pulling off his sunglasses to reveal his fluorescent green eyes.

I slowly raised my hand. “Uh, I did. Kinda need some help explaining things to Sumire over there,” I explained, pointing over to the still rather distressed red head.

“Hmmm….” Asta turns to look at the girl. “Ah, newborn?” he asked turning back to me.

“From what I can tell, yes,” I nodded. “You can’t fake that level of fear and confusion.”

“True,” he says, “First introductions are in order,” he pulls out a black book and opens it to throw his glasses into it before putting it back in its satchel. “My name is Asta, Asta Ferris. King of the Black Clover Kingdom, former captain of the Black Bulls Magic Knights. Nice to meet all of you.” He bows.

“I’m Kairi,” I replied. “Guardian of Light, and protector of Equestria. The blue alicorn filly hiding back in the corridor is Luna, and the redhead on the bed is… You know, I never actually asked if you’re OK with being called Sumire.”

The girl hesitated a moment before softly replying. “I don’t really remember any other name, so sure.”

I nodded. “Right, her name is Sumire.”

“Let me ask you this first and you don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable or if it hurts your mind,” Asta says softly as he walks over to Sumire, “What do you remember before waking up here in this room?”

Sumire’s eyes cloud over for a moment as she delves into her memories. “I… I remember… Being in Tokyo. I-it was a busy day, h-heavy traffic. My brother and I w-were on our way home from school and… Oh gods… that truck…” The girl burst into tears, unable to keep going.

Asta placed a hand on her head and a white glow irradiated from his hand around Sumire’s head, “Calm your mind girl. It's over now,” her eyes steadily closed as she fell over in the bed sleeping. “She’s a reincarnation.”

“So, not just a Displaced then…” I mused, gathering the girl in my arms.

“I felt her pain in her last moments and managed to glean some of her memories thanks to reading her Qi as I put her under. She did manage to save her brother so you can tell her that good news at least,” Asta sighs as he crossed his arms, “You realize as a reincarnation she’ll never be able to return to her world right?” He looked at me with a stern stare.

I nodded. “It's not like any of the Displaced are able to return to our own worlds anyway. Nevertheless, we’ll need to break it to her gently.” With a sigh, I picked Sumire up, and carried her out of Luna’s room, and into the adjacent room, settling her in the bed. “Can you wake her back up? I’d rather not have the first thing she sees when waking up be my Keyblade. She might get the wrong idea.”

“I just eased her into it. I didn't really put her under,” Asta held up a hand. “She was that tired and in shock from the experience. Instead of just allowing it to hit her all at once I just let it take her. I also gave her some of my own Qi to help her when she wakes up.” he rubs the back of his head, “Sorry, I can heal and fight outside that, I have other skills for normal means but waking people up easily isn’t one of them. I’m even still new to the whole king thing,” he snickers.

“Well, its a good thing I’m here then,” Melissa called from the door, as she walked in, uncorking a jar of what I assumed were smelling salts. “This should have her up in no time.” She shoved the open jar under Sumire’s nose, whose eyes immediately shot open.

“ACK! Hey!” She coughed. “What’s the big idea?”

“You know of a better way to wake someone up?” the blonde techie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Better than farting in their face at least,” Asta snickers and then looked up, “You've met Edward Elric the Crimson Sage. I can sense a faint trace of his Qi in this place, though it's pretty old.”

I nodded. “That’s right. He helped me and The Doctor create the Stargate system; a means to travel between the various different Equestrias in the multiverse, and beyond.”

“Good to know,” Asta looks at me unsurprised, “He’s my older brother, and not in the adopted way but by blood. I take it’s been a hot minute since the last time you two saw each other though.”

“It’s been about three months since he was last here, and two months since we met in person,” I confirmed.

“Um, I hate to interrupt,” Sumire cut in softly. “But, what exactly is going on? And why don’t I look like myself?”

I glanced over to Asta. “You want to tell her, or should I?”

“I got this,” Asta placed his hand on his chest. “First, Sumire, your brother survived the accident with the truck thanks to you, sadly though, you did not,” He says with a sympathetic tone, “You are a Displaced now. A Dimensionally Misplaced person, Displaced for short. Not the best idiom I know but more specifically you fall under the category of reincarnations. The way you look now means you must have had some sort of emotional tie to the character you became, or some other form of connection. I’m not too familiar with the specific on it myself,” e rubs the back of his head, “In short, you now have the powers and look of the person you look like. You can also gain more power by crossing over to other displaced worlds and vice versa by summoning with what’s known as a token. Mine is my headband,” he points to his headband. “In this instance, I was the one summoned. Are you gonna be okay? I know this is a lot to take in?”

Sumire shakily nodded, blue flames surrounding her for a moment before she was in what I recognized as the Shujin Academy uniform. “Um, how did I do that?”

“Instinct,” I replied with a shrug. “Happened to me when I first showed up here. In battle no less.” I offered her my hand, which she hesitantly took. “Luckily for you, you’ve got an instinctive grasp of your abilities, unlike my friend Haley. She’s… Well, let’s just say she’s still trying to figure her magic out.”

“Better than falling from the sky and having a damn bunny rabbit try and take a chunk out of your leg within the first hour of trying to make sense of everything,” Asta grumbles. “Then fight Celestia and Luna the next freaking day!” He shouts while raising his hands, causing everyone to look at him with raised eyebrows and Sumire to hide behind me, “Sorry, personal shit. Don’t mind me. Have a much better standing with them now after I beat another Celestia in a Sasuke's world,” he held out his hands while we all looked at each other then back to him. “What? It's true?! I’m even Married to Fluttershy, Aj, and Twilight! Flutters and I have a kid! Trust me I’m over it.” He wines.

A distant explosion snapped us out of our confusion from this whole situation, just as a chime is heard from Melissa’s pocket. The techie pulls out her tablet. “We’ve got Sin Eaters in the town!”

“CRAP!” I yelled. “Why now? Luna, you’re staying here. I trust you to fight Heartless, but not Sin Eaters. Sumire-”

“I’m coming,” the red head cuts me off, clothes switching back to her battle gear, complete with rapier and revolver this time. “I can learn by fighting the smaller enemies, while you and Asta take out the leader.”

I hesitated, before nodding. “Alright then. Melissa, you stay here and be our eyes in the sky.”

The techie grinned. “Oh, I think I can manage that. I’ll also stay on standby in case someone needs to pull your butts out of the fire.”

“Hmmm….” Asta smiles evilly as he cracked his knuckles and his black book flies up and he pulls a massive claymore and smaller but still massive sword from the book, “I don’t know what a Sin Eater is but it sounds like a tasty fight,” his irises narrowed to slits and teeth sharpened slightly, “Do they use magic?”

I nodded. “Yes, yes they do. Also, if you’re about to take a hit that would be considered fatal, don’t. They have a tendency to make more of themselves that way. Not even quote, unquote, healing factors like Wolverine in the X-Men comics would save you from becoming one of them.”

“Fatal for normal people or enhanced is nothing for me,” Asta snickers as black power flowed from his sword onto his body coalescing into tattered black wings, horns, gauntlets, boots, and an arrow-tipped tail. “My skin is harder than magi-steel without my anti-magic. But enough talk, science girl, where is the meat?”

Melissa paled a little, before shaking herself and pushing up her glasses. “On the outskirts of Ponyville. Its a giant angel-looking monster, you can’t miss it.”

“Hmmm…” Asta looks at his sword then back at me then back at his swords then back at me,

“You said something about the heartless, I know my sword could theoretically work against them but I do have another weapon that would be much more effective against them,” he says as he returned his sword back into the black book before a long handle pops out with a three-pointed white star as the pommel. “Haven’t used this in a while but as it comes from the Kingdom Hearts’ franchise it’s perfect to use here,” Asta grabbed the handle and pulls out another sword similar in size to his previous large claymore but in overall aesthetic to his smaller one as this one was a bit more outlandish with a red blade and hollowisc design with a solid white rod as a core that was connected to the blade as via three inner triangular facets from the inner blade.

‘I feel as if I should know that weapon…’ I thought to myself.

“Ahhh… This will work much better,” Asta snickers.

I shook my head, getting back on track. “Yeah, that should work on heartless… theoretically. But we’re not fighting any heartless. These are Sin Eaters. Any weapon should work. Just don’t get stabbed or sliced by it.”

“Cool,” Asta propped the sword against his shoulder. “But I’ve never heard of sin eaters before. How exactly do they differ from normal heartless? From the way you spoke just now, it seems they’re above even pure heartless in terms of rank and power.”

“They’re not heartless at all,” I called over my shoulder, running down the stairs. “I’ll explain later, for now, we need to save the town! Sumire, once we get there, follow your instincts when it comes to fighting, they won’t lead you wrong!” The red head nodded, following close behind. “Asta, try to keep it off us while we evacuate, you won’t miss it, since it looks like a giant angelic being of some sort!”

“If this thing is really that bad I think I should shift my sword into battle mode then,” he tapped his sword against his shoulder as he followed us. “But yeah, you can count on me. I haven’t had a chance to really test my strength since my return from the other side of the mirror. This will let me see what all my training has amassed to. HEHEHEHE!”

“Great!” I reply absentmindedly, skidding to a halt in front of one of Melissa’s experiments. “Melissa, does this thing work yet?”

The techie skidded to a halt next to me with a grin. “I like the way you think. Everyone, get on the platform!”

===Ponyville outskirts===

A loud crack of displaced air, followed by a bright flash of light heralded our arrival to a town in chaos. Ponies were running, this way and that, minor Sin Eaters were wandering the streets, and a number of white feathered cocoons were strewn about the streets. The greater Sin Eater had been busy.

“What just happened?” asked Asta while looking around. “That was… different…”

“Teleport,” was Melissa’s simple reply with a shrug. “Based it off of how apparition works in Harry Potter. Most people vomit after their first trip though, so be careful.”

“I’ve been flung through time and space a couple of times back home,” Asta says, “being squashed and stretched through a pinhole is not fun!” he yelled. “It’s a good thing Twi isn’t here or I’d never hear the end of the complexities of that bullshit.”

“Guys,” I yelled back to them. “If you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a bit of a problem here! Sin Eaters all over the place!”

“Oh yea the feather things,” Asta looked around as he raised his sword and the blade turns jet black., “Black Wave!” He says as he sends a black wave of energy from his sword throughout the entire two dispelling any and all magic. Several of the cocoons start to turn into the black energy and flow into Asta’s sword. “Just as I thought. The fresher ones are coming undone. You focus on freeing the ones that aren’t.”

“You may want to look again,” I reply, pointing at the half formed Sin Eaters stumbling where the cocoons once were, bodies splotchy and white with fur missing, and their faces seemingly in a perpetual state of half melted. “Once the transformation begins, it can’t be stopped. Only delayed.”

Asta held his sword out to the side and it expanded into a sword I knew well. “The only thing we can do is destroy them and put them out of their misery. Are you alright with that Kairi?”

With a sigh, I summoned Fairy’s Flow. “We have no other choice. And on top of that, its what Faust asked me to do. You handle the lesser ones with Sumire and Melissa while I find the greater one. I’ll call you guys when I find it.”

“There’s a massive Qi in the center of town,” Asta points. He pulled out his digivice, “Transport Behemoth, “Asat motorcycle shot out of the machine. “B, take Kairi where she needs to go.”

The living machine roared to life.

“He’ll listen to you,” Asta motioned. “If need be, just let B do the driving while you focus on fighting. Go on now! We got this,” he slashed three Sin eaters. “You ready for a party ladies?!” He held up his sword.

I nodded as I jumped aboard B. As we roared through Ponyville, I took out several of the angelic monsters as we passed, until we came to the main square, where I found a most unpleasant scene.

“Vauthry,” I growled under my breath.

What was before me, was a morbidly obese pale-skinned man who towered above me. He had long blond hair and blue eyes. A second face could be seen on his chest, peering out at me from beneath his black and purple gold-accented robes. He was grinning at the chaos his Sin Eaters had wrought upon Ponyville.

“I should have known that a Lightwarden had invaded,” I yelled at him.

“So, you know my true nature,” the man spoke with an oily tone. “Submit to me, and I’ll spare everyone who hasn’t been turned.”

“Not a chance,” I yelled, leaping at him while hefting Fairy’s Flow. “I won’t let you leave here alive!”

I stopped unexpectedly mid-swing. Looking down, I saw that a large crystal spear had blocked my blade. Vauthry laughed as I jumped back. “Very well, behold my true form!” he cried, as I was blinded by a brilliant flash of light. Once the light faded, a much different form stood before me. Vauthry’s appearance had drastically changed into a slim beautiful figure adorned in purple robes, with longer flowing hair and a pair of large golden, metallic wings. “Fade into oblivion!”

I jumped back with a yelp. “B! Get Asta and the others!” The bike rumbled briefly before speeding back to its master, leaving me to buy some time while everyone else got here. Or so I thought.

“Come, Cendrillon!” I heard as a blue, crystalline leg smashed into Vauthry, or rather, Innocence’s face, knocking it into a building. A moment later, Sumire landed beside me, her mask restoring itself on her face as her Persona faded from view. “I’m not sure how I was able to keep up with that bike of Asta’s, but I’m really glad I was able to.”

“Thanks for the save,” I grinned at her. “Ready for your first real fight?”

“EAT ANTI-MAGIC HAND CANONS SHIT HEAD! AHAHAHAA!” Asta laughs as he rides his bike through the air and shot several blasts from large handguns at Innocence, forcing him back, “That dude has some serious defense,” he remarked as he skidded in next to us. “I even used Alucard's guns and they barely made a crack after several shots in the same spot.”

“Yeah, this is gonna be REALLY annoying,” I agree with a wince as I start channeling my Music Magic. “This should even the odds though, and Sumire, if you know Heat Riser, use it on us!”

I grin as the distorted guitars begin, and Sumire casts Heat Riser on us, further increasing our strength and speed.

“*Tsk* I guess I really should’ve taken the time to readjust to my adult body before jumping head first into another world’s problems,” Asta remarked as he tossed his guns into his black grimoire and redrew his sword from the book, swiftly ending several of the incoming enemies. “Yo red,” He looked at Sumire, “Do you have a weapon of some kind cause it really looked like you shouldn’t touch these creeps?”

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So misfortune lies before us, standing in our way
Can we escape this calamity and take what's ours
We'll go”

“Persona!” On the redhead’s command, Cendrillon cast Vorpal Blade on the Sin Eater, causing numerous cuts to appear on the false angel, before pulling out her revolver and taking a few shots. “That answer your question?”

Asta shrugs, “I didn’t really get Persona when I was back home and I never heard of your character's origin. Sorry to ask a stupid question,” he held his right hand out and blast several incoming Sin Eaters with fire. “These things are annoying!” he remarks as he pointed up with his middle and pointer finger and several earth spears erupt from the ground to impale several more without mercy.

“(Hey!) If you wanna win, you gotta play it smart (Yeah!)
Nothing left to chance, the wise will take it all
(Can you help me? Help me give it a try)
(We'll be ready before we even know)
(Hey!) I am overwhelmed by these negative thoughts (Yeah!)
My mood is taken over by these deep dark clouds
(We'll be ready with all of our answers)
(We'll be ready if we have a new fate)”

I quickly switch my blade to Destiny’s Embrace, activating Spell Weaver in the process, as I start firing off blasts of magic. “Keep your head in the battle!” I mentally shout, opening a mental communication channel with them. “We really need to kill this thing before my song ends!”

“We've endured this bad luck
And now we've had enough”

As if in response to that, Melissa drops on top of Innocence, smashing it into the ground and leaving a sizable crater. “We’d best get to work then!” she yelled, leaping away from the giant spear coming for her.

I nodded as I started casting the higher tier spells on it.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So now is the time to take back what is mine
Solidify all of our efforts
We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So we'll focus on the glory, change is sure to come
We'll take in stride what fate will decide, keep marching on
We'll go”

“Yo, gamer girl!” Asta calls out to Melissa, “Are the civies all clear out yet?”

“Wouldn’t be here if they weren’t,” the techie grunted in reply. “I left Luna to keep the Sin Eater’s off of them until we took care of this one!”

“Good,” I mentally replied. “They won’t be able to get past her very easily.”

“Plus it keeps her out of harm’s way.”

“Exactly.”

“HMPH! Pay attention to what’s in front of you,” Innocence growled out. “I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!” he screams, unleashing a torrent of beam attacks.

“(Hey!) I know I'm not alone 'cause anybody knows (Yeah!)
Patience is the key for those who will prevail
(Are you happy? Now is it your time)
(Are you ready? Your time is running out)
(Hey!) The tides are getting harder, wave the white flat (Yeah!)
Souls raging together to stay afloat
(We'll be ready with all of our answers)
(We'll be ready if we have a new fate)”

“Touchy much!” Asta threw up a hand as his other grimoire floated up next to him and a spinning yin-yang symbol appeared on his forehead, “Light/dark magic,” he says as swords and light with black-edged blades appeared overhead and pointed at Innocence, “Swords of the Damned!” he yells with slitted eyes and a fanged smile as the blades all shot at the Sin Eater at once.

“We'll keep fighting
'Til we pierce the heavens above”

The demon was trapped in a sphere of light and darkness as Asta slightly staggered back a bit, “I bet that didn’t do too much to him but it should buy at least a little time to cull the little ones,” his breathing had become slightly labored.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So now is the time to manifest what we want
Our passion burns stronger to fight on
We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So no more interrupting the true path
We'll find the answers, claim our future and take what's ours”

A loud crash is heard from the sphere, followed by a roar, as a small crack forms. “I’d say we don’t have very long at all,” I observe. “Sumire, care to dance?”

The redhead looks confused for a moment, before grinning. “It would be my pleasure!”

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!”

We both run up the walls of the building on either side, at the top of which, I shoot out a beam of light that acts like a grappling hook and catch Sumire. As we swing around the square, we both pepper the Sin Eaters below with bullets (Sumire) and blasts of fire and ice (me). We then dance around the square, slashing with our blades.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!

“Our Grand Finale!” we shout together as I spin Sumire and lower her into a dip, the Sin Eaters falling and dissolving around us.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!”

“Nice one,” Asta smiles as he pulls the cellphone from his belt, “My turn,” he threw his arm out, “Magical Source, Mystic Force!” and flip the phone open and it extended as Asta punched in a code and extend his arm up. A beam shot for the phone and turned into a magic circle that covered Asta, transforming him into his ranger knight form.

“White Wolf Knight!” He shouts, “Eye of Raava!” he roars as his shield opens to reveal a sky-blue crystal eye before shooting out several large white wolves to devour the sin eaters.

Behemoth then drove itself down the street through the monsters. As it did a magic circle appeared in front of it. The machine drove through the circle transforming into a mechanical thestral of sorts.

Asta immediately jumped onto the mechanical beast before it took to the skies.

“Are you listening, we won't stop
(We have waited for too long)
Hear the voices, time has come
(Can you see how the tables turn)
Are you listening, we won't stop
(We can accomplish anything we put our minds to)
Hear the voices, time has come
We gotta go”

Melissa whistles in appreciation, punching another Sin Eater into oblivion. “Reminds me of the Eidolons of Final Fantasy XIII.”

A sound like shattering glass is suddenly heard from Innocence’s sphere. “I WILL NOT BE CONTAINED!” the enraged Sin Eater screamed, launching a God Ray at us, forcing us on the ground to scatter.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So now is the time to take back what is mine
Solidify all of our efforts
We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
For the glory OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!
So we'll focus on the glory, change is sure to come
We'll take in stride what fate will decide, keep marching on
We'll go”

“Yo asshole, on your left!” Asta shouts as he drew his sword from his shield. The duo crashed, sending out a thunderous shockwave with a clash of their weapons. “I gotta say, your one hell of a strong son of a bitch!”

The Sin Eater sneered as it pulled out a dagger, and attempted to stab him, missing the stab, but still managing to cut through Asta’s armor. Innocence grinned as it watched the cut sparkle slightly.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!”

“DOORS OF HADES!” I yelled, forming the familiar black doors behind the Sin Eater.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!”

“Manehatten… SMASH!!” Melissa shouts as she unleashes One For All on it.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!”

Innocence manages to dig its spear into the ground, halting its flight into my spell.

Asta held his sword up and light began to pour off his form. Behemoth charged forward at the Sin eater.

“We are shouting OH YEAH, OH YEAH, OH YEAH!”

“Blinding Slash!” Asta cried out as he sent a slash of his light at Innocence’s spear, cutting it in two and sending the monster into the gate. “And that’s all she wrote,” he says, sheathing his sword as the gates closed.

“I don’t know about you girls but I need a bath,” Asta chuckled as he powered down, “And a good meal,” and started to walk over to us before falling onto his back silent.

“Kuso!” I growled, racing to his side as I saw a faint glow on his side. “It managed to cut him!”

“What do we do?” Sumire yelled, sliding down beside me.

I shook my head. “The corruption is minor enough that we can reverse it, but we need to hurry. Once he starts to physically transform, there’s nothing we can do…”

Author's Note

And that's a cliffhanger! Ain't I a stinker? :pinkiecrazy:

In any case, thank you for your patience as alvasa and I worked on this, and I hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for the conclusion of this crossover, next time on Dragonba --- wait a sec...

Songs used in this chapter:

Wolf Totem by The HU

Tit For Tat by Shawn Christmas

The Key to Survival

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and Alvasa

Chapter 25: The Key to Survival

Before we begin, there is great big SPOILER WARNING in effect. This chapter, while being set directly after the previous chapter, is also set several chapters down the line for The Equestrian Anti-Magic Knight. If you don’t want spoilers, please be patient and wait for The Equestrian Anti-Magic Knight to update to this point. If you don’t care, please enjoy this chapter!

Asta lay passed out on the ground before us, white, shining aether leaking from the wound on his side. Luckily for us, it was only a small amount, indicating that we could still save him.

“We need to get him to the Tower,” I said with a hint of anxiety. “I can’t do anything without Luna’s help.”

Asta’s Behemoth revved its motor a few times and pulled up next to me. It revved a bit louder this time around, indicating it was not only worried about its rider but that it wanted to get us where we needed to go and fast. I made a snap decision in that moment, picking up Asta and depositing him on the back of the bike, before boarding myself.

“Well, what are you all waiting for?” I called Sumire and Melissa. “Get on!”

With a nod, the phantom thief jumped on behind me, while Melissa shook her head. “I’ll just use the teleporter to get back. I need to get a room ready.”

“Good call,” I nodded. “Make sure it's got some stasis wards around it. They’ll slow the progress of corruption.”

Melissa nods once before touching one of the controls on her glove and vanishing back to the Tower. I turned back to Behemoth. “Take us back to the Tower. Quick as you can.”

Behemoth’s engine roared and the bike took off at extremely high speeds, nearly throwing us all off, and forcing Sumire to grab me around my waist, which brought a blush to my cheeks, as it blasted with black flames from its exhaust pipe and tore into the portal.

“Take all the time you need…” I heard a faint but familiar voice, “I’ll handle the clean-up of Ponyville for you this time, just focus on making sure Asta survives…”

I looked around but no one was there. Shaking it off I watched as the portal opened into a large room with three beds in the center of the room. I could feel the stasis wards activate, slowing Asta’s movements, and I could also see Melissa and Luna waiting for us. I quickly pick him up, and deposit him into one of the beds before turning back to Luna.

“Luna, I don’t have time to explain, but we need to go into Asta’s dreamscape.”

“But I can’t bring others with me!” Luna protested, eyes widened.

“That’s why I have this,” I replied, summoning the Baku Ed had given me. It was a twin scythe keyblade with two handles and a silver braided chain with a red crystal cross with cracks in it on one side. On the neck was a red metallic skull on either side. I had to repress a shudder just looking at it.

Luna frowned for a moment. “That’s obviously a Keyblade related to dreams, but there’s something… not quite right about it…” she trailed off, reaching forward to touch it. The Baku burst into light, blinding us all, before fading and revealing a brand new Keyblade. It retained the twin handles, but now they were side by side, rather than separate handles. The blade itself was straight with an elaborate web along it, one-half gold, the other black, ending with a heart and crown at the end. It almost looked like it could separate into two Keyblades.

Suddenly bright glowing blue lines cover Asta from head to toe along with a yin-yang symbol appearing on his forehead.

“You young ladies best hurry up,” we heard a woman’s voice coming from Asta's body, “Leibe and I are doing all we can to hold the spirit’s influence at bay that has embedded itself in Asta’s body.”

“What’s taking you slow asses so long?!” came a harsh and foul-mouthed male voice this time. “We’re not in top synchronization right now so we’re really pushing it in here! SO QUIT STANDING THERE GAWKING AT US AND GET TO WORK!!!!!”

“R-right,” I stutter, still in shock. I quickly move to one bed, Luna the other. “Grab hold Luna, and take us in.”

The blue filly nods. The last thing I see of the waking world is Luna grabbing hold of the other handle before I black out…

***Asta’s Inner World - Throne Room (3rd POV)***

Asta was floating alone in the darkness. An empty, bleak, darkness that he wasn’t familiar with. This place was cold and held no life or light to speak of.

“What can you do?” came his voice.

“You really think you can hold a candle to him!?!”

“You can’t protect your girls! You can’t protect your daughter! YOU COULDN’T EVEN PROTECT YOURSELF!”

“Shut up,” Asta held his head. His own voice still continued to torment him.

“The BLACK KING! MORE LIKE THE BLACK JESTER!”

“IF YOU CAN’T EVEN SAVE YOURSELF THEN HOW CAN YOU RUN A COUNTRY?!? RAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!”

“You killed them you know,” it mocked. “You took the throne by bathing in the blood of those in power!”

“Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut up, Shut up,” Asta repeated over and over.

“Just who will you kill next for more power and land?!” It jested. “How about those arrogant pony sisters!”

“SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Asta cried out as he tried his hardest to access his power to no avail.

He curled into a ball and clutched his legs tightly as he tried his best to drown out the voice that seemed to ring out from everywhere. He tightly clenched his fists, causing them to start to bleed, trying to hold back the tears steadily leaking from his eyes. He was doing all he could to hold onto himself and not give into the despair coming from much of the truth in the voices surrounding him.

***Asta’s Inner World (Kairi’s POV)***

I slowly came to, still grasping the Baku’s new form with Luna, who was groaning as she too started to awaken. There was really only one problem at the moment, though.

“Where the heck are we?” I grumbled.

“Inside of what should be the inner world of Asta’s soul,” came a familiar calm female voice. I looked up to see a beautiful flowing woman in a blue and white kimono. “We spoke on the outside. I am the light spirit who shares not only a bond of magic with Asta but also spirit through bending the elements. We guided you here to help him.”

“Bout time you two idiots showed up,” I turned to see the rude commenter. A demon heavily resembled Asta in a very twisted way, no doubt about it being the devil in the grimoire. “I’m Leibe, yada yada Anti-magic demon.”

“Ookaay…” I replied with an arched brow. “Then I assume you know who my sister and I are?”

“Do we look like idiots?” the demon raised an eyebrow.

“You most certainly do,” Raava hid her smirk.

“YOU WANNA GO FLASHY!?!” Liebe roared at her.

“Forgive him, he’s just always like that,” Raava ignored the fuming demon and looked at me. “To answer your question properly, yes. We know exactly who both of you are. We did fight alongside you in the town with Asta after all.”

“Good, I just didn’t want to waste too much time on explanations if I didn’t have to,” I nodded, eying Liebe. “Though I suppose that was a moot point with Mr. Temper over there.”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING TEMPER RED!?!” Leibe roared. Raava cleared her throat causing him to stop and breathe, “Yea yea… Anyways back to where we are. Like shiny said earlier this is supposed to be Asta’s inner world not this….”

“Soul shattering darkness of an empty void,” Raava shamelessly said.

“What she said,” Leibe thumbed to the spirit.

“It's a shame really,” Raava sighed. “You’d have been able to see what his capital city looked like, or at least his interpretation of it. And before you ask, yes we intend to help you two as much as we can, but much of our power is dedicated to keeping Asta from falling so don’t expect a lot outside what you two can do. Luckily we don’t have to contend with the hollow.”

“Yea, if he didn’t like the fact that someone else was trying to eat Asta’s soul he’d be here already threatening to eat both of you,” Liebe scratched the back of his head.

“Um, excuse me? Hollow?” Luna asked quizzically with a tilt of her head.

“Do you know the anime Bleach lore?” Liebe points at me.

I shook my head. “Too long of an anime, plus the fact that the creator grew to hate his own creation, and, well…”

“Well… it’s not that he hated it, it's just he couldn’t put his ideas to paper,” Raava said, “But you’re not wrong about the anime in both regards. They changed too much… but to make a long story short, Hollows are soul-eating creatures from the world of Bleach that act as a counterbalance to Shinigami and help quell the soul population. They grew stronger with age and by eating souls. Some shinigami, or soul reapers, gained the ability to use hollow powers by an artifact as an experiment conducted on them by one of their own. They defeated their hollows and gained the ability to temporarily boost themselves with the hollows manifestation, their mask.”

“When a soul becomes a hollow their anchor or the part of their soul chain that was attached to their body above their heart is torn away and turns into a white skull-like mask that covers the face of the soul,” Liebe said. “The shinigami with hollow powers have more of a parasitic relationship. Think Venom from Spiderman. Plenty of benefits, but the drawback is if the soul reaper even wavers in instance a little the hollow will pounce and try to devour the soul reaper's essence and claim the body for their own.”

“Asta’s is a particularly nasty hollow,” Ravva eyed Liebe, “In the instance that is more of a natural hollow over an experiment.”

“What can I say I wasn’t always the kind demon I am now,” Leibe whistled to himself.

“If a skeletal-looking creature with wings shows up, don’t trust it, get away,” Raava heavily warns. “Cause it won’t hesitate to kill and eat you.”

“Gotcha,” I nodded. “So, do you happen to know where in this soul-sucking void Asta is?”

“‘Cause that’s probably where the manifestation of the Sin Eater is at,” Luna cut in.

“We’ve done all we can to keep this area from becoming the black void bluey,” Liebe crossed his arms. “If it wasn’t for shiny, you two wouldn't have even made it here.”

“It’s true,” Raava sighed, “I used what little magic I had left to put a protective aura on you light bearers. The only power I have left is over the elements themselves now.”

“Don’t look at me,” Leibe said as he threw up his hands. “I don’t have magic.”

“Your power over the elements will REALLY help us out later,” I nodded. “After we get rid of the infection, we’ll need you to rebalance his internal aether.”

Luna narrowed her eyes as her ear twitched. “Do you all hear that?”

“I can’t say I do little one,” Raava says.

“Little bit’s right,” Liebe put a hand to his ear, ignoring Luna’s pouting from his comment. “I’m picking up some nasty vibes from… well, everywhere out there,” he motioned to the darkness.

“There’s more to it though…” Luna murmurs, following her ears. “I can hear voices, screaming, crying, and… torment.”

I nodded with a grin. “I do believe we have a direction now.” I summoned the Baku back to my hand, before splitting it in half like I had seen it do in Dream Drop Distance, forming Mirage Split and Nightmare’s End. “Before we go though, take Mirage Split. I doubt you can use Oblivion here.”

Luna nodded as she took the shimmering Keyblade, before leading us into the darkness…

‘Be on guard at all times…’ I heard in my ear in the same voice from earlier.

We ran through the thick darkness following Luna and Liebe’s lead as they seemed to be the only ones who could hear these… dark noises.

Soon we came out into a vast kingdom modeled similar to an old eastern-styled city of some sort. In the distance there was a series of statues lining the base of the wall in sets of threes before repeating. The statues were of Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight along with three of Asta’s love interests from the anime and manga in that order in the distance.

“Something tells me this should be a lot more beautiful than this,” I said as a slight chill ran through my entire body.

“This is… horrible,” Raava scowled as she finally showed some form of true emotions.

“This city is supposed to have the moon and sun above it,” Leibe stepped back slightly as his gaze wavered. “Not this…. Darkness…”

I grimaced. “This is only the start of the corruption, I’m afraid. Actually, it's a good thing this construct is still here, otherwise, we would have run out of time. As soon as it's gone, it’ll be all over. We need to hurry!”

“We best get moving before Asta falls further into corruption,” Raava remarks as she pulled a fan from her obi. “If I still had mana I could use it to allow you two to fly,” she looked at me and Luna.

“Don’t be so hasty, old lady,” Leibe snickers as four swords of carrying size appeared behind him. “I bet you two know all kinds of deftly tricks to get around, don’t ya girls?”

“I certainly do,” I replied, mentally activating Angel of Black and White. “Huh, I guess I can use all my different Form Changes with Nightmare’s End. Luna on the other hand…”

“Zero Gravity!” Luna interrupts me, casting the spell on herself and allowing her to float. “Just pull or carry me along.”

I blinked for a moment, before grabbing her and putting her on my back. “That works.”

“To the palace and watch out for anything, especially if it's white,” Raava warns as she rose with a wave of her fan.

“What the old hag said,” Leibe said as he rockets off just by jumping.

With a nod, I leapt into the air, my black and white wings carrying Luna and I after the two spirits.

“There,” Raava points to the steps of the palace, which was emanating darkness.

I nodded, a frown on my face. “That’s definitely the source. Come on, we need to hurry!”

***In The Waking World (Sumire’s POV)***

Today has officially become my worst day ever. First, I died and woke up in a fictional character’s body, though I did find out that I saved my brother, so that’s good. Second, I find out I can’t go back home, and finally, as the icing on the cake, I’m stuck out here while Kairi and Luna are trying to save our new friend.

“I feel so useless,” I sighed as I sat next to the redhead.

Melissa glanced over at me before turning back to the computer monitoring everyone’s conditions. “I know what you mean, but without some way to enter Asta’s dreams, we can’t do anything except wait, pray, and monitor the aftermath of the attack in town.” The techie narrowed her eyes. “Though, for some reason, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.”

“And exactly how bad did you expect it to be?” came an unknown voice from the very air itself.

We both looked around but even Melissa seemed put off by whoever or whatever was speaking.

“I recognize that voice,” Melissa muttered before addressing the voice properly. “Ed is that you?”

“Do you know anyone else who can travel in between universes at will as easily as me,” Ed said as he literally walked into the room from nothing. “So yes, it’s me,” the tall blonde-headed man with amber eyes in a redcoat smugly answered. “I answered yours now you do the same, my dear.”

It was quite clear from his tone that he was very annoyed. “Well, in all honesty, I saw a third of the town turned to Sin Eaters, and another third dead,” Melissa replied, crossing her arms. “Imagine my surprise when I found more than a third of the town in the bunker we evacuated them to.”

“My forces have already dealt with the sin eaters in town and I revived those that I could bring back from the other side so that brings the number up to just about 66.7,” Ed’s remark astounded both of us.

“Just who are you that you can bring back the dead like that?!” I stood up in a panic.

“Someone who’s been displaced for nearly fifteen thousand times longer than you, newborn,” He glared at me. “Luckily I had a number of souls that were more than willing to trade places with those that were lost in your Ponyville. I also set up a barrier around the town and Canterlot to prevent massive infestations like that from happening ever again, but it won’t keep them all out. You know how the grunts are.” He shrugs.

“Easy Sumire,” I turned to Melissa. “Ed is a friend, though it seems like he’s gotten a MASSIVE power boost since I last saw him.”

“I’m really here for them,” he pointed at Asta, but we both knew he was also referring to Kairi and Luna. “He was being stupid in his haste to come here and the girls were finally able to release the seal. So naturally, how could I not show up for the good news?”

Melissa nodded with a sigh. “No kidding. Seriously, Kairi even warned Asta about what happens when injured by the more powerful Sin Eaters, let alone the Lightwarden they ended up fighting.”

“Asta is physically strong than I maxed out human bodies are normally,” Ed crossed his arms, “At least when his mind, body, souls, and now heart are in sync with each other,” He threw up a hand.

“Okay, Melissa, who is this guy to just stroll in here from literally the dust in the air?!” I yelled at the tech wiz.

“Edward Elric,” the blonde replied. “He’s easily one of the most powerful Displaced that we’ve met.”

“But who is that?” I shot back. “Clearly most Displaced are fictional characters, but I’ve never seen him before in my life!”

“Hold on, you mean to tell me that you’ve never seen Fullmetal Alchemist?”

I hesitated a moment before shaking my head. Clearly, I’d seen some advertising for it before, but this guy didn’t quite look the same. Or sound like him, but that would probably be down to localizations. Characters always sound different in various regions.

“Originally I was based on the character known as an alchemist,” He explained. “They have the ability to manipulate, reshape and or destroy matter as long as you follow the rules of you get this and this to get this new thing,” He added. “Long story short, I’ve lived as a nye immortal, unkillable thing for the better part of fifteen thousand years in my Equestria. I’ve loved and lost while fathering many children and teaching the sisters till I left them to grow then came back, fell in love with Luna, and married her. Became a king of minotaurs, brought in a new age of peace tried to better my world was betrayed,” he hissed and I could feel pressure coming from him, “Went mad, saw Luna sealed away which drove me insane even more. I gradually pierced myself together and was freed not long after Discord. Then Displaced bull**** happens and I meet and have a new family spanning the void, though numb nuts there,” he pointed to Asta,” is from my family before displacement from my home earth.”

“Did you get all that girl?” He looked at me.

I blinked, somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of information dumped on me, but slowly nodded my head to show my understanding.

“My main reason for being here though is not for them but has to do with something one of my other selves found on our journey through a portion of the void where another kingdom hearts-based universe was totally consumed by darkness,” He stated, “Though it will still be some time for that version of me to get here with our cargo,” Melissa looked more than a little concerned with that notation. “And I’d rather not explain twice so put it on hold for now. You, what is your name?” he looked right at me.

“My name is Sumire,” I replied with a bow.

“Formerly Japanese, I take then,” He rubbed his chin. “My name is Edward Elric as most know, Ed for short obviously, formerly Allen Ferris of America, though I rarely use it now. As you no doubt have guessed, the dumbass on the floor is my younger brother. Back to your predicament of not being able to see inside Asta’s inner world. Would you both like to, cause I can show you, but just know I won’t allow you to interfere unless I deem it necessary?”

Melissa and I both nodded instantly, and without hesitation.

The silver fluid of some sort poured from Ed’s right hand before quickly solidifying into a screen that showed Luna and Kairi fighting heartless and other monsters I’d seen earlier today alongside what looked like a demon and a blue glowing lade in a kimono.

“I could use my magic but I rarely ever get to show off my nanotech,” Ed chuckled, a single word caught Melissa’s ear right away.

“Nanotech?” Melissa asked, a glint in her eyes.

“Nanites actually,” Ed held up his hand again and more silver poured out of it but this time formed into a chibi Ed. “Full sentient AI colonies. This chibi is one of many I leave with displaced I encounter. They’re a direct connection to my void network, meaning you can access just about anything within the permission given by me. They can create nearly any type of weapon as long as they have knowledge of it, reinforce the body of hosts they injected into to near perfection and peak levels and even act like a nervous system for amputees. I gave Yang a set during the reunion, but it wasn’t as big as the colony that Chibi is made of, just large enough to replace her arm should she need to detach the main prosthetic. They can also act as a bet of a printer system if need be. They can create raw materials from specific to ordinary wood. If you have enough material for them to convert it's easy, if not then it's done through dust collection. Want a set?”

Melissa nodded, a smirk on her face. “That should complement my One For All quirk quite nicely!”

“These little guys help now,” Ed stated as his hand morphed into a syringe gun field with shimmering metallic rainbow-like liquid. “They can’t totally stop damage and can repair it but it also heavily depends on your body. They're made of uru, beskar, and proto-adamantium over a vibranium weave while being infused with harmony magic. Meaning you’ll be immune to chaos magic while boosting any magic you already have.” he held out his hand, “They work even if the magic is dispelled. I can give a double dose if you want nano armor/weapons. So given me your shoulder if you set on this.”

“Go ahead and hit me with the double dose,” the techie replies, rolling up her sleeve.

“Alright,” Ed said as he injected Melissa with the silver slime. “You’ll also be a bit of a mild technopath. I’ll leave this chibi with you and he can plug it into your system and work on upgrading, refitting, and reformatting them. I trust you so you’ll be able to access a good portion of my network and have a teleporter for those long-distance jumps. For now, let's watch the screen,” he pointed at our friends on the display

***Back in Asta’s inner world (Kairi’s POV)***

Raava waved her fan, sending out a massive wave of fire, burning the enemies coming for us. I was amazed by not only the power but also the amount of control she was showing over the fire. What really caught my eye was how much more exhausted she looked with not only each passing second but with every use of her powers.

“Something is definitely wrong,” I said to myself. “Whatever’s happening in here is clearly draining you.”

“It’s Asta,” Raava said, “I am light itself, a literal representation of everything about it. I always kept balance with my other half Vaatu, and he did the same with me. When we were separated his power and influence grew and nearly consumed me, so the avatar became the balance of the dark for the light.”

“So in other words,” Leibe stomped a heartless to nothing, “The further our boy falls into the dark the more power you lose until poof,”

“Not entirely,” Raava said, “I don’t just disappear but wait inside the darkness till I am strong enough to be reborn but that after several thousand years.”

“But, that shouldn’t be what’s happening,” Luna exclaimed. “Asta was corrupted by a form of light aether. The different elements of the magic here, fire, wind, ice, water, earth, and lightning, each of which are aligned with either light or dark, are all equally beneficial in small quantities, corrupting at middling quantities, and lethal at high quantities.”

“Have you ever wondered why Asta is always smiling?” Raava asked. “Why even in the darkest of situations he never stops his wisecracks?’

“The dud isn’t totally without darkness,” Leibe added. “He’s done some pretty bad things in our world in order to keep his family and kingdom safe. He went through an entire city just to get Fluttershy back. Anyone who stood in his way or against him he killed without even batting an eye. He hides his darkness from all and that's what’s eating him up. If he’s consumed by darkness then what’s going to be left? When Asta’s balance is disrupted, so is Raava’s. If Asta is gone then she goes to.”

“But that’s just it, he isn’t being consumed by darkness, he’s being consumed by light!”

“You may see it that way but that’s not how he does,” Raava staggered. “We have to hurry. The longer we wait the further he falls…”

I nodded in agreement. “If he’s consumed, we’ll have a new, even stronger Lightwarden on our hands. We absolutely CAN NOT have that!”

Suddenly Raava hit her hands and knees, “There’s not much else I can do in my current state I’m afraid.”

“Can’t you just latch onto a temporary host?” Leibe pointed to Luna then Me.

“I have enough magic to make a temporary pact but I can only make it once,” Raava said, “But if they host me that means they’ll be an avatar, albeit it is temporary they’ll still gain a fraction of my power after I leave them.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Luna asked.

“You’ll be benders of a single element a piece at first, but you’ll gradually gain access more as time goes on and you bend that element,” Raava staggered to her feet, “That also means… you’ll be reincarnated if you die.”

My eyes narrowed. “So you’re saying that it’ll start our own Avatar Cycle?”

“Something like that but you’ll still be you,” Raava continued, “You’ll still have your memories and personality from your first life and so on in the next but eventually you will lose your original self as the reincarnation cycle continues. You’d be the soul bender in this world unless you were gifted the abilities to others. You’d be very limited on candidates for new bodies, usually the child of someone very dear to you or in your bloodline if that’s the case. Asta’s Shinigami powers make him a bit of an exception as even though his physical form may die his soul can continue to live on for many thousands of years until he would die.”

Luna’s eyes widened. “What if I was always with her through the reincarnations? Wouldn’t she remain herself with me as an anchor?”

“No,” Raava shook her head, “You suffer the same, though your fates would be tied together always being reborn at the same time and destined to find each other.”

“Not quite what I meant, but I think I understand,” Luna nodded before turning back to me. “It's your choice, sis.”

I closed my eyes for a moment before turning back to Raava. “I’ll do it.”

Raava looked to Luna, “Do you wish to join her little Luna?”

The blue filly nodded. “Of course!”

“You better make this fast,” Liebe remarked as he turned to look at the sky as numerous flying enemies started to gather, “I’ll buy ya what time I can, so you do your thing, but make it snappy so I don’t kick it either!” He laughed as he took off with a shockwave and started to tear through the enemies as a black line.

“Quickly, join hands,” Raava said and we did as she instructed. A white bubble enveloped us as we rose into the air. Raava took on the form of what looked similar to an oriental kite. “Luna, Kairi, as avatars you will be in charge of managing the balance of this universe from this point to the end of its days! You will be the bridge to the spirits of this world and continuously reborn to help maintain balance! Do you both swear to uphold these oaths from this point till the end of days to come?!”

“We swear!” We cried in unison!

Raava turned pure white and spirit her form as she entered our bodies through our mouths. We gently landed and opened our eyes to reveal them to be glowing white as blue lines cover my body and white covered Luna.

“As long as I am with you both I will lend you my knowledge of martial arts and power to wield the elements respectively,” we heard Raava from inside our heads, “Be aware that the further away you two get from each other the weaker these powers will be. I can only do so much when I am split like this.”

We nodded, before turning back towards where Asta waited, along with the aether currently corrupting him. “Understood, but we should hurry now.”

“Want me to show you the way?” we hear in a ghastly voice from an alley. Out of the darkness stepped a creepy thing with a hole in its chest and a sword in its right hand while crossing his arms across its chest.

“Hello,” it hissed evilly. “I’m waiting for an answer or should I just eat you both here and now?” It cackled, but I knew all too well from its tone it meant every word.

“And why, pray tell, should we trust you?” I replied, summoning my half of the Reality Shift. “We were warned about you, Hollow!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” The hollow laughed, “By all means, you should never trust a hollow, even the sweet-looking ones,” he hissed, “But my reason is they’re trying to take my prey away from me!” He roared, sending a buckling pressure out, “I’m the only one allowed to eat his soul! IT’S MINE AND I WON’T LET THEM HAVE IT WITHOUT KILLING ME FIRST!”

“The old ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’ logic, huh?” I chuckled.

“When it puts it like that, I think we can trust it to take us to the root of the corruption,” Luna agreed. “But what’s to stop you from trying to kill us as soon as the aether has been banished?”

“Let’s take care of those knats in the sky first,” he licked his teeth as held up a finger, and power gathered there.

My eyes widened and quickly I grabbed Luna and jumped out of the way as it fired off a black and orange-edged cero into the Sky where Leibe was fighting.

“There, now Daddy can help,” He cackled as Leibe landed next us.

“Bastard!” Liebe shouted, “Are you two alright?” he asked as he turned and helped us up.

“Never better,” I replied. “Could have done without the black and orange death ray nearly clipping us though.”

“Nothing I can do about him,” Liebe added, “I wish I’d never have helped him form,” he sighed as he followed the hollow. “I was in a much worse mindset, let's leave it at that okay?”

We walked along in silence for a while.

“Don’t let your guard down around him at all,” Leibe warned.

“I am with my associate on this one girls,” Raava remarked, “He may be showing us the way but he won’t frit to try and devour either of you as soon as he gets the chance, even if you're in a fight.”

“Wasn’t planning to,” I nodded, eyes narrowing. “Hollows, or at least how you described them, remind me too much of demons in folklore. No way are we lowering our guard around it.”

After following the Hollow for a while, we eventually found ourselves within a throne room of sorts.

“There he is,” it salivated slightly as he pointed to a black ball hanging over the throne. “You do you and I’ll watch!” it shrugged but Liebe quickly had his largest sword black its path.

“You’re fighting with us,” The demon glared at his spawn.

I turned to Luna, as we both summoned our halves of Reality Shift before joining them together. We leapt into the air, slashing through the aether, while grabbing ahold of Asta’s consciousness and yanking him out onto the ground.

“Great, we got him now what?” Leibe asked. “Cause it doesn’t look like he’s waking up any time soon.”

The aether that was dispelled from our attack began to coalesce once again, forming first into an orb, before morphing into a vague approximation of Asta’s form in black and white armor. An orb of dark energy formed above its hand before it roared a challenge.

“We need to destroy that,” I explained, pointing at the monster with Nightmare’s End. “We take that out, Asta wakes up, and the aether corrupting him will vanish.”

Several nobodies then swarmed with several Creeper Nobodies. One made its way straight for Asta’s monster and shifted into its sword form.

The figure quickly wrapped its hand around the hilt of the weapon and slashed it around through the air as if it weighed nothing before pointing it at us.

Luna and I both took a stance, flames wrapping around Nightmare’s End, and frost forming on Mirage Split as we tried out our new bending. I then attempted to use my Music Magic as I always do, but unlike every other time I’ve used it, it's hijacked from my control.

“Voices in my head again
Trapped in a war inside my own skin
They're pulling me under
Go!”

The figure lunged at us with its weapon. With a powerful strike, it stopped Luna and me from moving at all. The ground under us immediately cracked from the force of the impact.

“Get back asshole!” Liebe roared as he and hollow delivered a double kick to the face of the creature and sent it flying across the throne room, “Not bad for a soul-eating monster.”

“Ditto, pops,” Hollow replied.

I was in shock, and could feel a constant drain on my magic. “What the heck?? It just hijacked my magic! How is that even possible?!?”

“I don’t know,” Luna grimaced. “But did you notice, our reactions have slowed down.”

My eyes widened. Now that she had mentioned it, we were slower. Much slower. On top of that, I could tell that I was much weaker than before. Going off a hunch, I tried using my Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic to sink into my shadow, but nothing happened.

“Kuso!” I cursed. “Imperil, slow, and a selective version of silence!”

“It has to be using ki alongside its form of Anita vice to drain you power and empower itself,” Liebe explained. “Asta has the ability to manipulate and use raw Magic, referred to as ancient magic. It’s incredibly powerful and able to perform near miracles but it’s also just as taxing mentality and physically on the user.”

“He must be using my Music Magic to channel it somehow,” I speculated, dodging away from another sword swipe.

“I think it's the other way around!” Hollow laugh. “He’s using his ki techniques to influence the mana around us and by extension the magic it’s connected to.”

“I've swallowed myself but the fever remains
I'm numb to the pleasure but still feel the pain
If I showed you my soul would you cover your eyes?
If I told you the truth would you dare me to lie?
(I keep it all inside because I know the man is everything but kind)”

I switched over to my Metal Chocobo Keyblade, jumping away and activating its Keyblade Transformation. My clothes shifted to a dark pink wide-brim stove hat with a matching cutoff long-sleeve jacket, a black Bressier with black boots, and a white midsection.

In my hand, the Metal Chocobo changed into a large rifle. “Chocobo’s Wrath!” I cried, aiming at the culmination of corrupted aether. “Split Shot!” I pulled the trigger of the rifle, firing directly at it and causing a roar of pain.

The boss held up its left hand and fire came to dance on it.

“That thing can even use bending?” the hollow said with a perturbed tone.

“Be…w-ware…” I heard Raava’s voice barely in the back of my mind. “C-can us-e a… all Asta’s bending… p-powers!”

“Voices in my head again
Beating me in a war I can't win
I can hear them now
Trapped in a game inside my own skin
And I don't know myself anymore
They're pulling me under
Voices
Voices”

I raise my gun to the sky. “Rook Autoturret!” I called, conjuring five flying turrets, about the size of my head. They quickly began a strafing run, firing on the monster, while attempting to stay out of its attack range. “Those won’t hold it long, we need to do something about that song!”

Jumping away while firing a fire spell, Luna landed on a knee. “Well, I’m open to suggestions!”

“Here’s one,” Leibe says as he cut through the nobodies as they spawned, “use bending idiots!”

“Worth a shot,” I reply, getting into a water-bending stance. I quickly sent a water whip at the monster, wrapping it up before freezing it solid. “Doesn’t really do anything about the song sapping our strength, but it does seem to be working well.”

“As I walk through this valley of shadows and death
I curse not the wicked, I praise not the blessed
If I told you the truth you'd beg me to change
If fear were a currency you'd own the bank”

Luna stomped the ground, drawing the earth up in front of the ground before slamming it towards the “trapped” monster. It roared in pain before flexing and breaking out of the icy tendrils binding it.

“Hmm, I wonder,” I muttered as I conjured an orb of water around its head. “Let’s try drowning it.”

“I think not,” It spoke to me, “Black Flame Dragon Fist!” it roared as it sent out a massive dragon made of a familiar black fire right at me.

“Move it, Princess,” I heard Liebe say as he threw me out of the way. “It’s getting stronger,” he said to me with gritted teeth as she knelt down.

“Very perceptive demon,” the boss said to him. “You have no one to thank but yourselves and the fool for not properly synchronizing his mind, body, and soul! Ahahahahaha!” In an instant it was in front of us and sent us both flying through the air with a single swipe of its sword. “Now,” it looked around, “where'd the little blue one get to?” it chuckled as it slowly walked towards Luna, “Come and play little filly! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Voices in my head again
Beating me in a war I can't win
I can hear them now
Trapped in a game inside my own skin
And I don't know myself anymore
They're pulling me under
Voices”

“Me first!” Hollow charged in but didn’t even stop it from moving, “WHAT?”

“Go away, trash!” it said as it grabbed hollow by the throat and effortlessly tossed it off to the side. “Oh I know,” it said as it pointed a single finger at Luna and power started to gather, for a cero. “HAVE PEACE IN HELL, MOON PRINCESS!” It laughed and fired.

“Stay down!” Leibe called out as he shielded my little sis, “BLACK DIVIDER!” He yelled as his demon slayer sword covered itself in his antimagic and formed a shield to save Luna but Lieb took the full force of the hit, “That really hurts,” he wheezed before falling to the side, “Sorry, I got nothing left…” he said as he passed out.

***Back in the waking world (Sumire’s POV)***

I stared wide-eyed, watching the battle for Asta’s soul, as my friends were slowly beginning to lose.

“Damn it!” Melissa shouts from where she’s monitoring their bodies. “The corruption is starting to accelerate!”

“There has to be something we can do,” I mutter, fear coloring my words as I turn to Ed. “Isn’t there something you can do? I’ve already lost my home, and my brother, I can’t lose them too.”

Ed just sat there in a chair, seeming to enjoy the spectacle unfolding before us, as if it was just a show to him, “Oh there's plenty I could do,” Ed said matter of factly, “Whether I want to is really what you should be asking me, girl.” he looked at me from the corner of his eye, “You forget I’m not here on a summon or contract so, therefore, I am not bound by the rules of Asta’s summoning. In fact, I can leave here just as quickly as I showed up.” He stood up and walked over before looking down at me, “The real question here is, ‘Are you willing to do what needs to be done in order to help them?’ Well,” his eyes looked as if they were judging my very soul as he spoke, “Are you, Sumire?”

I found myself briefly entranced by Ed’s eyes, before my face hardened into a look of determination as I gave a firm nod. “Whatever it takes.”

Melissa jerked her head towards us, I could see a small hint of fear in her eyes. “Whatever you’re gonna do, you need to do it quickly!”

“I’ll make this quick then,” Ed said as he put a glowing pink ball in the air in front of me, “By this point, you both know about Kairi’s unique, song magic,” we both nodded, “Well she gave me the ability when we first met and naturally, being quite the magic enthusiast, I experimented with it and created several new variants of it, the most powerful being Seith Song Magic thanks to my dear niece giving my all knowledge from the world of Fiore .”

Melissa’s eyes got wide.

“Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking girl,” he looked at her.

“So, Sumire’ll be able to directly influence Asta’s soul, along with any soul currently attached to it? With music no less?” the techie gasped.

“Yes,” Ed smiled, “And when a certain princess of heart joins in for a duet the effect will be amplified tenfold. Now you must note that this Magic is the only one of its kind and has never been wielded by someone other than a mage, let alone a newborn displaced. There could be unknown consequences later on, be they altering your body or giving other abilities, just know that it's one or the other will happen,” he warned me. “But if you’re steadfast in your convictions to save your friends and help protect your new home then touch the sphere and become the first Soul Songstress!”

I nodded with determination. “What do I need to do?”

“I just told you Sumire,” he said, “Take the magic and make it your own,” he poked me in the chest with his metal finger. “Then listen to your heart and what’s happening around you and to others, then sing to right the wrongs that are being done to the soul.”

I could feel a warmth, right where Ed had poked, spreading through my body, and suddenly I knew how to use this new magic. I turned back to where Kairi, Luna, and Asta were laid on the ground.

“I’ll provide the music then,” Ed smiled as he sat down at a gilded piano.

“Right then, here goes nothing…”

***Back in Asta’s inner world (Kairi’s POV)***

Things weren’t going so well. We were on our last legs, this monster, created from the corrupted aether that was invading Asta’s soul, smirked in apparent victory, until its song cut off.

“WHAT?”

Soft piano and guitar began to play, accompanied by a bright flash of light above us. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There floating above us all, was Sumire’s Persona, Cendrilon.

“Don't try to make yourself remember, darling
Don’t look for me; I'm just a story you've been told
So let’s pretend a little longer
'Cause when we're gone, everything goes on”

There was no way, no POSSIBLE way for this to happen, after all, Music Magic doesn’t affect the soul, but that’s exactly what was happening. Somehow, Sumire had managed to make it affect the soul, and I could already feel the results as new strength surged through me, not to mention what I was seeing in everyone else.

Leibe was back on his feet, his burn completely healed, “Oh yeah, keep singing little lady, Rahaha!” he laughed as his swords flew to his side.

“This feels gross!” Hollow called out as he landed next to the demon, “But I’ll let it slide for now…”

“No, you can’t be getting up!” the boss called out, “YOU SHOULD ALL BE DYING!”

“Hello?” Luna and I heard Raava’s voice in our heads clear as day now. “Yes, I can speak to you with no interference now. Be warned girls, even with the effects of its song gone, this creature is still more than powerful enough to take any one of us down by itself.”

“Well, you were staring at the window
And I said, "I wanna take you to the sea
And when I'm better, we'll do everything"
I gotta stop makin' promises I can't keep”

“Roger that,” I replied, switching back to Way to Dawn, while activating Angel of Black and White. “I think this thing needs to have a taste of both light and shadow! Megidolaon!”

“Have some Black Divider!” Leibe laughed as he brought his sword down and held the monster in place

The orb of condensed light and shadow exploded against the monster before us, causing it to howl in pain.

“Double Form!” Luna cried, summoning both Oblivion and Oathkeeper, before unleashing a flurry of blows.

“But if I was gone tomorrow, won't the waves crash on?
Is it selfish that I’m happy as we pass the setting sun?
Someday I’ll bе overcast, but you won't have to cry
’Cause wе'll do the grieving, while I'm by your side, I said:”

“Uh oh…” I heard Raava, “Whatever you do, don’t drop your guard!”

We all jumped away. “What’s going on?”

I heard what sounded like breathing, “Eclipse breathing,” I heard the boss say as it stood and shrugged off our attacks as if it was just a bug bite. It then held up its broken sword and dropped it. “I’m going to skin you all alive and eat your hearts and let the little one watch!” he roared, sending out a shockwave.

“This is bad!” Leibe remarked, “If there is one thing Asta excels at its fighting, and he was trained in mixed martial arts long before even becoming a displaced.”

“So, we’re f*****,” The hollow added.

“Don't try to make yourself remember, darling
Don’t look for me; I'm just a story you've been told
So let's pretend a little longer
'Cause when we're gone, everything goes on”

‘Kairi, you need to stop holding back!’ My eyes widen as I hear a voice in my head. Sumire’s voice no less. ‘I’m doing all I can here to help, but unless you stop holding back, this will all be for nothing!’

I sighed, allowing Angel of Black and White to dissipate. “You’re right, it’s time to bring out the big guns, as it were.” I raised my empty hand to the sky, before summoning my X-Blade, the crossed Oathkeeper and Oblivion glinting in the spellfire’s light, as a blood red magic circle appeared below me. “Let’s end this! Zeta Flare!”

“I agree!” the monster laughed as he became enveloped in darkness and light, “TWILIGHT APOCALYPSE!”

“And I'm so scared of getting used to this
All the vines that keep you tethered in your room
Well, someday both of us are leaving here
But for now, I'll just bring the sea to you, oh-oh-oh”

Suddenly Asta flew into the sphere before it cracked open to reveal the monster and Asta had merged into a new armored form.

What was more unsettling was the weapon it was holding, a keyblade.

I scoffed. “Just because you have a Keyblade now, doesn’t mean you’re gonna win. It just means I’ll get to have a bit more fun before you die!” I charged forward, taking a swipe that’s easily blocked, and following up with a flurry of blows, also blocked.

“Don’t get cocky girl,” Raava called out to me, “You have a great deal more power now yes but as things stand that creature is still far above you in terms of strength, especially now that it’s possessed Asta’s body and taken his armor and keyblade.”

“Black Flash,” the monster says and instantly moved behind me. I was suddenly hit with hundreds of thousands of cuts all over my body.

“That thing doesn’t have Asta’s consciousness to hold it back but it does have his experiences and techniques as a fighter,” Raava told me as she did what she could to heal me. “Don’t fight Asta, fight the creature but you can’t do it alone!”

“Curaga!” Luna’s voice came from my left, and I instantly felt all the pain vanish. “Sis, you can’t fight this thing on your own! We need to work together to take it down!”

“Will you meet me in the daylight like we did before?
Then, I felt you on my shoulder, and you weren't suffering anymore
You said, "I'm sorry that you worried," but don't apologize
I told you to forget me, but you stayed by my side when I said:”

I nodded. “Alright, I’ll handle offense, you handle defense. Reflega and Curaga are gonna be your best friends.” My lips curled up into a smirk. “Besides, I’ve got a little surprise charging up right now, we just need to keep it busy for a little longer.”

“I won’t let you!” the monster rushed me but was blocked by both Lieb and Hollow,

“We’ll take on the heavy stuff,” Leibe told me. “We can handle Asta’s blows and counter his strikes from what we know but the attacks are on you!”

“I’ll help a little in the attack field though,” Hollow hissed as it blasted the monster king with a cero forcing it back.

“Insects!” the beast howled. “I will end you all!” He held his keyblade up and its form changed into a massive claymore similar to Liebe’s, “HEART DIVIDER!” he roared as the blade swelled in size to cleave the throne room’s ceiling into rubble before the monster swung the sword down.

“Reflega!” Luna cried, a dome of shining energy formed around us.

Lieb quickly covered us in an antimagic dome underneath Luna’s spell as the monster’s sword easily tore through the spell.

“Anti-magic keyblade remember,” Liebe said, “But I was able to leave some of the spell intact to damage his armor.”

The attack hit the dome, and the energy was reflected back tenfold, not only throwing the creature back, but also hurting it quite a bit. “Lightbloom!” The blue filly began to spin in place, shooting out beams of light, all converging on the creature, to devastating effect.

“You little!” The monster grabbed Luna by the throat and then moved its blade next to her jugular, “Stop or the throne room floor gets a new paint job!”

“Don't try to make yourself remember, darling
Don't look for me; I'm just a story you've been told
So let's pretend a little longer
And when we're gone, oh, oh-oh
Everything goes on”

My eyes narrowed, noticing that the armor was cracking, and just in time too, as my spell had just finished charging. I raised my X-Blade, pointing it at the monster, a smirk tugging at my lips. “Lunar Gorgeous Meditation!” An absolutely enormous beam of purification energy launched itself from the blade, ripping through the monster, armor and all. As the beam dissipated, so too did Cendrilon, with soft smile on its face.

Suddenly the monster dropped its weapon, “What no!” it called as it punched itself in the face, breaking off some of the helmet.” This is my form now!” It roared as it dropped Luna and it struggled with itself to start pulling itself apart.

“Get off!” I heard Asta “of ME!” He yelled as he ripped the armor off his body. Standing there was now our friend and not the monster that had taken over his form. “I hurt all over,” he said as he hit his hands and knees panting.

“You think just cause you ripped me off your body I’d just be defeated!” the monster howled as the armor fragments started to reform back together.

“HEHE!” Asta chuckled as he stood back up, “Not really, but I did think I’d hang on to this!” He announced as he held up his keyblade, “It’s a nice blade,” he remarked as he swung it and cut a gash into the floor. “But you do still have my armor so you’re gonna have to die. Raava, Liebe, Hollow!”

“Sorry girls,” we heard Raava in our heads before her halves exited our bodies and entered Asta, causing the blue ornate lines to appear all over him.

“OH, YEA LET’S ICE THIS ASSHOLE!” Leibe laughed as his body turned into anti-magic and cover Asta’s body and then coalesced into Asta’s demonic anti-magic form but with his four anti-magic demon swords floating behind him.

“I’ll play along this one time,” Hollow growled as its body turned into a white substance then reformed into a mask on Asta’s face.

“Kairi,” he looked at me with blackened green eyes, “I have enough power to destroy him and force the other one out but we only have one shot! Are you and Luna up for this?” he said as he pulled his substitute soul reaper badge from his belt.

I grinned, hefting the X-Blade to a ready position, Luna right beside me. “Just tell us what to do!”

“Just don’t get in my way and kick some ass,” Asta smirked under his mask as he held up the badge, “Sacred Trease, RELEASE!” The badge vanished in a flash of light causing Asta’s power to soar to the point that the ground around him compressed from the pressure he was exerting over it.

That's when I realized, neither Luna nor I could move.

“I’ll link you to Raava so you two can move but I will not provide you two with power,” I heard the same voice from earlier in my head.

“Hello, girl?” Raava reached out to us and we could move again.

I quickly jumped into the air, using my new air-bending abilities to mimic the Dragoons of Final Fantasy, slamming into the monster at terminal velocity.

“You bitch,” it held its fractured gauntlet arm up, and fire shot from it at me.

Asta appeared in front of me, “Sun breathing Sunrise!” he yelled as he spun with his keyblade and redirected the fire back at the monster, “I won't act like I didn’t see that bending you just did Kairi,” he looked at me, “I appreciate what you did for Raava, so some advice. Benders manipulate the elements but that doesn’t mean we’re immune to them!”

He shot forward and collided with the red hot monster, sending out a shockwave that rattle the whole palace.

“Luna!” Asta called out, “Be ready!” he said as he and the monster exchanged blows, “You may have a lot of my strengths but you don’t know how to use it properly!”

“I use them a lot better than a novice like you!” the monster howled as it lunged forward but Asta jumped back.

Luna quickly jumps in front, using her bending to create a wall of ice, catching the monster’s claw in its icy embrace. She then quickly jumps over it and nails it with an overhead Keyblade strike to the head.

“Got you!” the monster’s arm shot off its body and grabbed a hold of Luna by the neck. I quickly rushed in but it tightened its grip on my little sister’s neck, “That’s right, stay back.”

“Enough,” Asta said with a deadly chill, “Light/Dark magic,” He held his keyblade with the tip pointed at the monster, “Dimensional Cross Slash!” he slashed and sent a slash of light and dark magic overlapping one another on the beast causing it to stop moving and drop Luna.

“H-How?”

“Because you never really understood my power,” Ast remarked as the monster crumbled away, “Three, two, one…” he counted.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! HOW DID YOU? RAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

I immediately recognized that voice.

“I forced him out,” Asta coughed and returned to his base form, “I used the last of my strength and magic to do it,” he said as he collapsed on the ground, “I’ll see you two in the real world….” he said as he faded away.

***Back in the Waking World (Still Kairi’s POV)***

“Ugh, why do I hurt so much? That wasn’t even the real world?” I groaned as I slowly sat up, cradling my aching head and body.

“The body reflects the mind,” I heard Melissa explain on my right. “You’re lucky you didn’t die in there, since you would have died out here as well.”

“She’s right,” Luna croaked next to me. “Geez, I haven’t hurt this much since before everything happened.”

“Ya might prefer this to the future,” Asta chuckled lightly, “Ow…. my everything…”

“Well, that’s what you get for being reckless and a fool,” I heard the voice again. I turned to see Edward Elric sitting in the room with his head propped against his metal fist. “Coarse that’s just who you are,” he sighed as he stood up and walked over to Asta. “You’ll never change.”

“Ah…” Asta held up a finger.

“Nope,” Ed smirked as he cracked his knuckles, “BAKA!” He yelled as he nailed Asta dead center in the head with his metal fist several times causing just as many lumps to form on the mage's head while Ed’s hand was smoking. “Are you two okay?” he turned to us as he waved his hand then took out a handkerchief and wiped off Asta’s blood.

“Um, don’t you think that was a bit harsh?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Not at all,” Ed said matter of factly, “Of course, I had to cut him down so he'd spring back up all the stronger. The boy's extremely talented, if not a bit dense at times. There's no denying either of those facts…” He glared at Asta but with a lot of concern and warmth in his eyes, “but he's still a novice in the many worlds in which we all live in and venture in between. He has not yet learned how to be worthy of the various talents he has. He refuses to deny just about any challenge that comes to him no matter the terms. He does see the true values of competition. To a youth to whom everything comes easily, the pang of defeat can be a much-needed wake-up call, such as this. On the surface, the whole concept of a fight may seem arbitrary, but deep down, it's not about winning. It's about rising to the occasion. It's about tasting the rapture in triumph and the disgrace of failure. They go hand in hand, you see. One is meaningless without the other. To win, one must also lose. The difference between the novice and the master is that the master has failed more times than the novice has tried. Also, he’s my little brother after and it's my job to look after him and make sure he knows he screwed up even if he did win this fight in the end, he still lost in the beginning.”

I just looked at him then Asta then him and then Asta, “It’s the truth…” he hissed out in pain while holding his head.

I sighed with a chuckle. “Well, who am I to argue with the wisdom of the great Korosensei?”

“Indeed,” a familiar female voice chuckled. I quickly turned to the voice, finding myself face to face once more with Faust herself, though this time, she was in shining, gold and silver armor, wielding a giant spear.

“Faust, what’s with the getup?” I asked. “You almost look like you just came from a battle.”

“As a matter of fact, I did just come from a battle,” the deity replied. “While the Sin Eaters attacked Ponyville, a separate force of Voidsent was sent to attack Canterlot. Luckily, there were no casualties.”

“I have my questions about these creatures that I fully expect to be answered if you want my continued support in the coming battles and war, your highness,“ Ed looked right at Faust dead seriousness in his eyes and voice then sighed. “But first the fight here isn’t over just yet either,” He crossed his arms and turned to a distortion just behind Faust. “Come out you bastard!” he commanded.

A low growl of frustration emanated from the distortion. “My plan almost succeeded, and then we would have had a foothold on his world as well.” Out stepped Innocence, greatly diminished. “How the hell did you reverse the corruption of Light Aether?”

“It's obvious that my dumbass brother's whole schtick is balance, numbnuts,” Ed deadpanned, “He already had the ability to wield a keyblade from a past displaced. So once he broke free things kind of went back to how they’re supposed to. He literally has the embodiments of good and evil in his body as a demon and light spirit. Didn’t you wonder why even though he was sealed he still had three other entities in his soul fighting off your force?” he looked at Sumire, “Also she lent a hand with the new version of Song Magic I made. I call it Song Soul Magic.”

“Grrr, it doesn’t matter, I’ll take you all out, right here and now!” the Lightwarden yelled, beginning to glow. “SELF DESTRUC-!”

“Be silent” Faust commanded, using a Silence spell on it before placing it in a dome of raw magic. “Edward, would you care to do the honors?”

“I was planning on it in every single outcome,” Ed said coldly. “There was no need for interference either your highness.” He held up his hand.

That’s when I noted his words, “Every single outcome…. Just what kind of power does he have access to now?”

I RELEASE YOU FROM YOU CHAIN. DEVOUR THE KNIGHTMARES TO BRING FORTH THE SWEETEST OF DREAMS TO MY FRIENDS. SHINE THE LIGHT IN THE DARK AND UNLOCK THE DOORS TO THE KINGDOM, THE KINGDOM HEARTS!

“That phrase,” I said.

“Yep,” Asta nodded, “He’s releasing its seal alright. I’ve never actually fought against my brother but just by going off your face, I can tell you faced that weapon of his before. It's just not right…”

Ed thrust his hand into the air and pulled back. It looked like the reality around him was made of fabric that was being torn away.

“Come forth my true keyblade,” Ed grunted as he pulled. That’s when it tore through to reveal a keyblade I had never seen before. It was black at the core with red edges. It was much simpler in ever all designs when compared to Ed's previous weapon, the Baku.

“Behold,” He said brandishing the weapon, “A keyblade forged from the hellfires of the purest of darkness that births the light and that also consumes it in the end,” he pointed at the Lightwarden who was now shaking with terror, “A DARKNESS THAT IS NEITHER GOOD NOR EVIL, IT SIMPLY IS WHAT IT IS! THE BEGINNING AND THE END, THE VOID OF ALL THINGS! This is my Crimson Void,” he started to walk across the room and before anyone knew it, he was behind the light warden, “And you are now nothing,” he said as the Lightwarden was simply engulfed in a red darkness. No sound not flailing, it was simply gone.

With the Lightwarden destroyed, Faust releases her hold on the barrier she had created, letting it dissipate. “Impressive.”

“Since when is that thing your keyblade?!” Asta pointed.

“Blame those two,” Ed pointed at me and Luna. “The Baku was never actually my keyblade after all. I was merely the delivery boy,” he smirked and then I thought back to the reunion. “Yes, I gave you the actual Baku, not its keychain,” he snickered, “It told me it was time for you two to awaken its true form, and so you have, allowing me to gain access to my own true keyblade.”

He turned to Faust then to me, “My other self we be here shortly with the issue I need you for,” he said to me, “In the meantime You’re,” he looked at Faust, “Going to do a lot of explaining. Then Asta, we leave before the train gets here.”

“I could just leave now,” Asta thumbed but then shrank away from the glare Ed sent him, “Got it, staying here for now…”

Faust nodded, conjuring an image in the air as she began to explain.

“For the most part, as any unicorn scholar could tell you, our world, and all living things are composed of aether of various different aspects. Fire, wind, ice, water, earth, and lightning.” The goddess pointed to each element on the image as she spoke. “In addition to these elements, there exist two poles in fundamental opposition: that of Darkness, the active, and that of Light, the passive.

“But when exposed to, for lack of a better term, a flood aligned to a specific type of aether, the aetheric harmony within is shattered, and the natural form of the victim breaks down. As you saw in Ponyville today, they either perish...or are warped into mindless abominations. And that is how the sin eaters came to be.”

The goddess banished the image before her with a sigh, eyes closing. “They were once living creatures - or people - that were caught in the path of what became known in the world they originate from, as the Flood of Light.” Her eyes opened, tears filling them. “Once the change is wrought, there is no going back. In that instant, they are gripped by an insatiable appetite for aether, and will happily gorge themselves on any living thing within reach. But even that is not the worst of it. The stronger sin eaters, and especially Tash himself, can plant Light in us like seeds in soil, corrupting our aether, and triggering the birth of new monstrosities. They are creatures of base instinct that exist only to feed and to multiply. They feel no pity, know no remorse, and are utterly deaf to reason. Which is why they must be destroyed. Every last one of them.” She turns back to us. “The Voidsent are much the same, though with them, their aetheric balance was shattered by dark aether.”

“So they’re nothing like Void Eaters in the slightest,” Ed rubbed his chain. “This could work to our advantage. Seeing as how the void eaters consume void energy they are creatures of primal darkness and couldn’t be corrupted as they of total beginning and end, but they are still the last resort that would be hesitant to use in the coming war…

“War?” Asta raised an eyebrow, “What war? I have an entire country to worry about running and now you’re talking about a war in another universe! Kairi,” he looked at me, “What aren’t you telling me?”

I look Asta straight in the eye. “My world is facing a threat from an entity of pure evil that devours worlds. His name is Tash, and he has an army of both Sin Eaters and Voidsent. If my world falls, then the next to face him would be Lex’s world.”

“Oh….” Asta said, “Lex is really the only other member of my extended family I’ve met. I owe her a lot for helping Fluttershy after she was… nearly raped.” He scratches his face, “Look… I can’t guarantee I’ll be available to fight, my own world comes first after all, but f you need another keyblade wielder and I can make you can count on me and as many of my knights and Shinigami that’ll answer the call,” he held up a clenched fist.

I nodded before turning back to Ed. “So, you said something about another you on the way?”

“Yes,” Ed nods, “But first,” he points at Asta.

“Yeah…. Shy, Twilight, Aj, and Rebecca are all going to murder me for leaving so can I go ahead and get it over with so I can just deal with the pain now and not later,” Asta shuttered. “So… can I just go home now?”

“It's up to your hostess,” Ed shrugs, “Everyone, Meet me out front of the Tower when you're done here,” he said before just fading away.

“Uh… so can I?” Asta looked at me while pointing at himself.

I shrugged. “Go right ahead, you did far more than you needed to when you stayed to help against the Sin Eaters.”

“Give me a call if you need some heavy-duty martial arts training then,” Asta smiled as a void portal opened up, “Oh yea before I go. Luna come here and stand next to your sister for me, please.”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Luna complies, standing next to me with a slightly confused look on her face.

Asta placed his pointer finger in the dead center of our forehead, “Teach,” he said with a smile and suddenly we both felt a rush of martial arts technique flow into our minds, “I’m giving you the basics. It’s all I can do, you’ll have to practice and level up on your own. They can be used to better your bend and help you create your own style. Now for the kicker, Teach,” he said once more and this time even more info flowed into your heads.

“All right,” he pulled back, “Be careful with those as you can’t really do the breath techniques back to back. Once you train some then you can. Whatever you do, don’t ever use total concentration breathing. These are techniques I developed on my own, only later did I find out about the Demon Slayer show. The difference is, mine are much stronger and more versatile. Good luck girls, I wish you the best!” he started running into the portal, “Hang on Arura, daddy’s on his way for feeding time!” he called out as the portal closed.

I sighed, turning back to Luna, Melissa, and Sumire. “Welp, let’s go see what Ed has for us.”

Author's Note

Aaaand that's another big, hefty chapter done! Lots of stuff happened, and now Kairi and co are far more prepared then they were before.

Thank you all once again for your patience as me and alvasa worked on this chapter. One more chapter, and this crossover will be complete. Until next time!

Songs used in this chapter:

Voices by Motionless In White

Everything Goes On by Porter Robinson, and covered by Chloe Breez

The Key to Power

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and Alvasa

Chapter 26: The Key to Power

Last Time: I sighed, turning back to Luna, Melissa, and Sumire. “Welp, let’s go see what Ed has for us.”

We all emerge from the Tower to find… well, I’m honestly not sure exactly WHAT we found, since initially, nothing was there.

“Didn’t he say to meet him outside?” Sumire asked with a hint of confusion.

I nodded. “He’s not exactly one to be cryptic, maybe…” I trailed off, noticing bolts of electricity arcing from a point in the air ahead of us. “Get back!” My warning almost came too late as a portal opened moments before a train came plowing through the space we previously occupied.

The crimson train came to a lurching halt with a hardy squeal causing us to cover our ears. Ed jumped off the front of the train and walked over to all of us.

“Sorry, I’m late,” he flicked a pick of grain slime off his coat sleeve. Sumire raises a finger, “It better you don’t ask little one. Let’s just say trouble and leave it at that. First I have these for all of you,” he snapped and the rear car of the train opened up to reveal a few boxes with everyone’s initials to indicate which boxes went to who. “It's new gear and weapons. I need to do some final adjustments before I can show you the reason I’m here, Kairi. You and your friends open your gifts,” he said as he went inside the train.

We glanced at each other before we each went to our boxes. Luna was the first to open her box. Inside, she found a strange-looking Keyblade. The teeth and head are black with a white outline and possess a round, cog-like shape. The handle is white and the guard has the same coloration and cog-like shape as the teeth. The shaft is predominately white, with black chains wrapped around it, and gear-like shapes along the shaft. It has two black and white reptilian eyes, located in the head of the blade and one embedded in the hilt. Its Keychain consists of three small, gray gears and ends in a charm resembling two halves of a gear arranged in an S-shape.

“Void Gear,” I murmured before turning directly to Luna. “Be very careful with that blade. Its powerful, especially when using the Darkness, but that sort of power always tends to draw the wrong sort of attention.”

The blue filly nodded. “Don’t worry, I understand. I’m not too keen on the Darkness anyway.” She then turned back to her box and noticed that there were some new clothes as well. Clothes that looked suspiciously like the original Kairi’s Kingdom Hearts 2 attire. “What? Why are there clothes here?”

“He probably noticed you had grown a bit after what happened with Asta,” Melissa commented, looking over Luna’s shoulder.

I blinked. Now that she mentioned it, Melissa was right. It looked almost like Luna had aged about two years, to the point where her current clothes no longer fit quite right. I had heard a theory at one point, that for Alicorns, their physical age reflected their mental age, and with what happened in Asta’s mind, this seems to confirm the theory. I chuckled. “You should head back in and get changed quick. I have a feeling Ed has something in mind that’ll involve A LOT of movement.”

My sister nodded with a smile, before tearing off into the Tower as Melissa turned to her own box. Opening the lid, she found… three empty hilts? “Ooook, I suppose this is some sort of joke?”

I shrugged. “No idea, but I’m sure he’ll explain when he gets back.”

A slight gasp caught my attention. I turned to Sumire, who was staring into her box in shock. I watch as she reaches in and pulls out a very familiar hand cannon with a black spade painted on the barrel.

“The Ace of Spades,” I breathe in awe. The Destiny 2 nerd in me was having a meltdown as the redhead examined the legendary weapon in an equal amount of awe. She then looks back into her box and pulls out a new rapier that seemed to have an ammo chamber built into it.

I tore my eyes away, and finally looked into my own box. I reach in and pull out a Keyblade I had never seen before. It vaguely looked like the basic Kingdom Key, but had quite a few differences, such as the head being red, the main shaft being gold, the upper guard being blue, and the base of the handle sporting flowers and a heart. The name popped into my head as I pulled it out. “Oath’s Reunion…”

“Indeed,” Ed said right behind me, causing me to yelp. “Gotcha,” he smirked. “Do you all like your new gear?”

I nodded, getting my heart rate to drop. “Yeah, though we’re kinda confused by what you gave Melissa.”

“You mean the techie hasn’t figured out the tech I give here with the recent upgrade I gave here?” Ed gave a snarky smile, “They’re basically hard light weapons based on hard light dust weaponry from RWBY, oh yea,” he snapped and a red bolt of lightning struck in front of Sumire, scaring the hell out of all of us. As soon as the smoke cleared we saw a set of twin Seaman's sabers, “Dust sabers for you dear. I just finished them. You need a close-range weapon after all, hehehe…”

“Now… where was I again,” Ed scratched his head.

“Explaining how these work,” Melissa replies, holding up her so-called hard light blades.

“Oh yeah,” Ed smiled, causing Sumire to look at me a little more than nervous, “The controls are on the handles,” he pointed, “The can range from a hard light katana to a buster sword as well as a shield and blasters. That explanation suffice?”

The blonde nodded, already examining the device in her hand as I turned back to the alchemist. “So what exactly did you need us for? I seriously doubt you only came to help with Asta and give us new gear.”

“Actually a bit of both,” Ed said, “Follow me, and watch out for rocketing children!”

“Eh?” My sound of confusion was followed quickly by Luna tackling me to the ground, a playful smirk on her face, and Melissa and Sumire giggling like schoolgirls.

“Gotcha!”

I chuckled. “You certainly did. Mind letting me up now?” With a nod, Luna gets off me, and then helps me up before we turn back to Ed, following him onto the train.

“Round two is a go!” Ed said as he walked on.

I raised an eyebrow and was immediately tackled again, “Auntie Kairi!” I heard two familiar voices and looked down to see Ed’s twins.

Ed looked over his shoulder and smiled, “Let her up two,”

“K!” they said in unison as they got off and helped me up, “We heard you met uncle Asta!”

I laughed at their antics, brushing myself off. “I sure did. Had to pull his butt out of the fire as well.”

“That’s enough you two,” I heard Ed’s Luna walk out and the kids rush to their mother, “Sorry about them Kairi. They’re growing up so fast, literally, and they have their father’s smarts. How have things been for you?”

“Oh, you know,” I shrugged. “Good things, bad things, and calamitous things.”

My Luna nodded next to me. “The Elements had to go through a war simulation.”

I frowned at the blue filly a bit. She really shouldn’t have said anything about that, heck, she shouldn’t even KNOW about that.

“It wasn’t a simulation of an actual war,” I quickly explained, praying that Luna hadn’t overheard what I told Asta earlier. “Just a simulation of Final Fantasy Type-0.”

“No need to hide it from them,” I looked and saw Celestia coming out with another filly, but a unicorn and not an alicorn, “This is Sunny Days, and they’ve seen what their father can do and are no stranger to his stories.”

“I’d rather them know about me and what I’ve done and judge me than hide it from them,” Ed sighed as a holo displayed popped up in front of them, and he started to type on it. “Sunny isn’t immortal either but she will live much longer than a normal pony. I’ll be heavily upgrading your Tower's systems while I’m here and adding in a medical bay as well as working with the Doctor.”

I nodded. “The security and medical facilities certainly need an upgrade. And you may want to seek out the Doctor of this universe since he knows far more about the systems in the Tower.”

“Currently already working with him in the Tower in his lab,” Ed said as he typed on his keyboard, “Sumire, want more power?”

The redhead blinked. “More than you’ve already given me? What’s the catch?” She glances at me, seeing my surprised face, and rolls her eyes. “I know enough mythology, both from my home and from other nations, to know that no gift comes without cost, so what’s the catch?”

“You have yourself a good one here Kairi,” He looked at me then hit a key, and then three pedestals appeared in front of us. On two were containers that held…. Eyeballs and the middle one had a strange fruit, “Chakra fruit,” he points, “Byakugan,” he pointed to the left, “or Sharingan,” he pointed. “The catch is it's your choice and you only get one.”

Sumire brings a hand to her chin, stroking it thoughtfully. “And how exactly would I use either the Byakugan or the Sharingan without chakra?” she questions, pointing out a loophole.

“Nice try little girl but I’m fifteen thousand years your senior,” He smirked causing Sumire to swallow hard, “As soon as you get the eyes transplanted, the chakra network will grow throughout your body,”

The redhead shrugged. “Worth a shot.” She then turned back to the pedestals. “The chakra fruit. Byakugan and Sharingan users relied far too heavily on their doujutsu, and I will not become reliant on a tool.”

Ed clapped, “And you pass,” he said, “Kairi the eyes are yours to do with as you want. Sumire, take the fruit, and be prepared for the highest high you’ll ever have for all of a minute.”

Sumire nodded and took the fruit.

“I’ll help train you in jutsu later but on to the real reason I’m here,” Ed said as he typed on his keyboard, “I was traveling through the void in an area that a universe that had recently been reclaimed by the void and came across this,” he hit a key and the train’s second car opened and out of it floats a gigantic piece of crystal.

I looked at him as I walked closer, “Yes it’s crystalized Stopza magic,” he said as he walked up and broke a piece of the crystal off and it floated above his palm, “Too powerful to leave there but it's not why I brought it to you, but what’s inside it..”

I got closer and leaned into the crystallized magic and looked at him in disbelief.

Ed nods as he joins me, “She’s a keyblade wielder and the sole survivor of her universe…”

I looked over the frozen form of none other than Sunset Shimmer.

“As soon as she’s freed she’ll need immediate surgery to keep her alive,” Ed looked at me, “That's where I come in, but what you have to think about is if you want to free her?”

I aimed a flat look at Ed before summoning Destiny’s Embrace, using it the same way that I did with the crystal that Haley was originally trapped in. The Stopza crystal shattered, leaving Sunset to fall to the ground, her breathing shallow.

“I’ll take her in and start surgery,” he said as he suddenly vanished alongside Sunset. “In the meantime, you can speak with this me,” I heard from behind, causing me to jump. “Other than the earlier incident today, how have things been going in this universe?”

I quickly got my heart rate down after that spook, before turning back to the voice. “We’ve been preparing. For the most part, the rest of the ponies of Equestria, aside from Celestia and the Elements know nothing about what's coming.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed. “So there IS something coming.”

I blinked, going back over what I had said before sighing in resignation. “Yes, there is, but you REALLY don’t need to know right now.”

“Bu-”

“Not now!” I hissed with the slightest touch of venom in my voice. “I don’t want you ANYWHERE near what’s coming!” Instantly, I knew I had made a mistake, the hurt plainly visible in her eyes as she fell silent. “Luna, you have to understand, you’re everything to me,” I tried to explain after composing myself. “If I lost you…”

“I understand,” Luna said quietly, wrapping me in a hug. “You can’t keep me out of it forever though. I’ve known something was coming for a long time now.”

“You must understand she’s only trying to protect you, dear,” came a new voice. We both looked and saw a silver Ninetails glowing with a rainbow aura. “Hello, this isn’t necessarily our first time meeting but it is to speak personally. I am Faust, or at least the version from Ed’s universe.”

“I thought you were sleeping, Mother,” Ed actually rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Oh, I was until I woke up!” She gave a toothy smirk, “But back to you two. Luna, you must understand she is trying her best to protect her little sister. But you Kairi must also come to terms that she's not necessarily the child you make her out to be. Every time Luna steps onto the battlefield she is just as much the warrior of Light as her elder sister is. The longer you wait to tell her the deeper that rift we’ll be,” she stood up, “My girls are the same way. I may not technically be the Faust of this world but I am still Faust and you are Luna, making you one of my children and you too by extension Kairi. Please don’t try and shut her out to protect her,” she looked at Luna, “And please be a little more patient. Kairi is not wrong in that you are not ready for what’s to come. You both must grow much stronger. Do you both understand what I am saying to you?”

We glance at each other before nodding. I see Luna opening her mouth, but I gently cut her off. “Later, when we can have some privacy.”

The blue filly’s mouth closed with a click before she nodded.

“Excellent,” Faust nods, “Now, I hunger!” She laughed in a puff of smoke.

“I don’t know what to do with that female,” Ed groaned, “But she’s always been that way. Even when she was still an Alicorn about thirteen thousand years ago.” He looked at both of us, “She is right that you need to grow stronger. You all do and seeing as you all need to get familiar with your new weapons. So you know what that means!” He smiled very widely and evilly at all of us.

We all paled. A spar with Ed is… to put it lightly, absolutely TERRIFYING!

“Um,” I swallowed nervously. “There’s really no need for that.”

“Yeah, I mean, that’s what we have the simulator for,” Melissa agreed, sweating bullets.

We glanced at each other before looking back at Ed, his grin still in place. “There’s no getting out of this, is there?” Sumire asked tentatively.

“Sadly no,” Celestia said, “But this is necessary too. You have all fought the strongest foe you’ve ever faced today and even at your peak of power could beat him,” she said causing all of us to look down, knowing full well she was right. “Edward is easily stronger than the leaders of your foes and holds most of the powers to even replicate their abilities. You’d be very smart to take the opportunity to face him.”

“A simulator can only take you so far,” Luna added. “Real battle with the intent to end one's life or end your opponent's life in order to survive is what is needed to push yourselves to even greater heights,” she motioned outward, “Even our brother-in-law demonstrates this. Even if he fights in a sparring match he doesn’t hold back.”

“Asta goes into every fight as if he won’t come out of it,” Ed adds, “It’s what makes him truly dangerous as a fighter under any circumstances, it's one of the main reasons why he and his Void Sen are, and were so strong. I won’t force you to fight me if you don’t really want to but unless you truly are willing to embrace a warrior’s mentality, or at least experience it, you’ll never be able to truly grow as a Warrior of Light.”

We all looked at each other and nodded before turning back to the alchemist. “We’ll do it,” we said as one.

“Good,” Ed nods, “But first let’s go and see Sunset. First though,” he looked at me, “She lost everything Kairi, and I mean that quite literally. There may be one other from her universe still out there but it's nigh impossible to track him down. Her former master but I doubt he’ll make his presence known, even with my help. I’d rather not prod him either. Back on track, Kairi,” he got serious, “Would you be willing to let her live here with all of you?”

“Of course,” I replied without hesitation. “This Tower was originally a sanctuary for those that needed it. I would be honored to use it in the way it was originally intended.”

“In her universe, she was originally human so she’ll probably stay here most of the time,” Ed led the way into a door he created. “She also achieved the rank of Keyblade Master and defeated the leader of her universe. It was her friends that poured their magic out to save her, this is why she was encased in the crystal.”

We all shuffled out of the narrow hallway into a brightly lit room. In front of us in a hospital bed was laying Sunset. She was missing the lower two-thirds of her left arm and leg, as well as her left eye was gone. Around the areas, her skin seemed to have taken on a darker coloration indicating darkness, I also sensed residual darkness coming from the scars. Her hair was also noticeably shorter coming to just above her shoulders.

“Go in and say hi,” Ed held up a hand. “But be gentle with her, let her down easy, “He said specifically to me, “I have to prep for the next part of her operation if she accepts it,” he walked it into an adjacent room.

“I know there’s a group here,” we heard from Sunset. “Come into the light so I can at least see your damn faces!” She said with a bit of suspicion.

I chuckled as I stepped up next to Sunset’s bed. “Settle down there. I’m not someone out to get you.”

Sunset just stared at me and I just stayed quiet, nervously grinning with a slight twitch.

Tears started to run down Sunset’s cheek, “Kairi… you made it out too?”

“You know who I am?” I asked in shock.

“Of course, I know who you are!” Sunset smiled, “You think I’d forget the person who always had my back? You are my girlfriend after all, or at least I’d like you to be now that the bastard Xehanort has finally been dusted,” she went silent for a moment and looked at me, ”Why are you so quiet?”

I sighed. “What do you know about the Multiverse?”

“So… you’re not my Kairi afterall…” Sunset hid her eye, “The blonde already told me about what happened but I didn’t want to believe it, and once… I saw you and I had hoped… but I guess hope doesn’t always… give you what you want…” She started to tremble as more tears started to flow, “I guess I really am the only one left….” She slammed her fist on the bed rail causing it to fall off, showing even in her injured state she was more than physically strong, “Damn it… I beat him so why didn’t they survive too!?! It’s not fair!!?!”

Ed now returned and held a crystal pendant on a gold chain up to me. I immediately recognized it as the crystalized Stopza magic he broke off from Sunset’s casing earlier.

“Give it to her,” He whispered. “You’re the only one here she’ll even let close, let alone listen to right now. The crystal is made of her friends’ magic and also contains impressions of their memories she has with them.” He dropped it in my hand, “This is where you need to do what you can, princess of light,” he said with a stern but calm tone.

I looked at the pendant briefly before turning back to the sobbing Sunset. I knelt next to her, gently taking her hand and pressing the pendant into it.

“I’ve been told that while friends may be gone, they’re still always with you,” I gently told her as I held the crystal pendant out to her, “Now, I know it may not feel like it, but I hope this pendant will help.”

“Why…” she asked with true sorrow in her voice, “Why am I the only one left!?!” She glared at Ed now with darkness emitting from her wounds, “You couldn’t save anyone else!?! Any of them!?! Not even my mother Celestia, at least!?!!!!!!!”

“I’m truly sorry for what happened to you and your home Sunset,” Ed told her. I now looked at him and could tell he meant it as tears also rundown from his eyes, “But… there are things that even the most powerful beings in all of creation can not stop.”

“YOU SHOULD’VE LEFT ME THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Sunset shouted at him while clutching the pendant as tightly as she could manage to her heart.

What happened next, not even Ed foresaw, as Sumire rushed in and did what we all wanted to do but couldn’t do.

She wrapped her arms around Sunset, “I know it hurts, so, so much,” Sumire said as she held Sunset, “But don’t ever say that. They did everything in their power to save you so you could keep going on! So don’t ever say that…”

Sunset pulled her arm around Sumire and just let it all out.

“Let’s leave them be for now,” Ed said with a solemn look. “We have other things to tend to anyways. My clone will handle her operation once they part. Is there anything specific you’d like to address before training?” He looked at me.

“Probably nothing,” Melissa piped up beside me. “But, for a brief moment, after you all woke up, your eyes flashed yellow for some reason, Kairi.”

“Huh?” I started in surprise. “What shade?”

“Kind of a bright yellow.”

“So, not the sickly yellow of darkness corruption then,” I sighed in relief. “You’re probably right, most likely nothing.” But still, there was a part of me, in the back of my mind saying it was something. Something big.

“You’ll find out what it is soon enough,” Ed smirked. Melissa raised her finger, “I can see multiple timelines thanks to experimenting with Arc of Time,” he simply waved as he moved on, “But no spoilers will you ever hear from me,” he smirked.

“Someone’s been hanging out with River Song, I see,” I replied with a grin of amusement.

“No, I just steer things to the best outcome I see fit,” Ed shrugs. “At the same time, there are things I can’t interfere with no matter how much I want to because they have to happen. Like a displacement.”

“I see, so closer to Sailor Pluto then,” I mutter. “But, that’s neither here, nor there, we got a bit off track after all.”
“True,” he nods as the door in front of him opened into a very unfamiliar hallway. “I hope you don’t mind but I brought you all to my time space and home universe. Your little training room wouldn’t be able to withstand even an ounce of the power I plan to use for this session.”

“This place is, or was, my Time Chamber given to me by my master but after heavy modification, I made it my own space. It doubles as many different facilities now,” Ed explained to us as we marveled at the many doors along the hallway. “I have added many things here but its mostly used as storage for my larger machines and a vault for the more dangerous artifacts I’ve come across in my trips through the omniverse. Think of it as a pocket dimension with several universes inside it.”

“These are the bathes,” he points to a blue door. “It's mixed bathing so if you don’t want someone seeing what assets ya got then wear one of the swimsuits in the changing area, just wash it after you're done. It's an open-air mountainside hot spring bath so feel free to use it after the sessions,” he walked on. “Don’t be surprised if you see Pole or one of the others walk through here either,” he said as he came into a very spacious area with a full kitchen, sleeping area, and even a lounge.

I looked over and saw Sumire and Sunset both sitting in the lounge, with Sumire shaking slightly.

Sunset looked a bit more composed at least. Her hair was now cut very short, just above her shoulders. I could clearly see the dark flame pattern on the skin around her new left eye. Her attire was a bit on the more showy side as she was wearing mostly sportswear.

“I’m surprised you didn’t puke,” Ed commented as he looked at Sumire. “Instant interdimensional travel can do a number on your guts.”

“Not my first time,” Sunset said with a cold tone.

I nodded in understanding. “Will you be joining our training?”

“Why would I?” She looked away. “My keyblade was destroyed along with everything I cared about…”

I raised an eyebrow. “A Keyblade is not so easily destroyed. It can only be destroyed when the user’s life has ended.” I paused for a moment. “Well, there was also that one incident with Riku, but that was due to his personality changing enough for his Keyblade to outright change.”

“You’re not wrong but at the same time you're not right,” Ed added. “Keyblades are both material and magical weapons and they do rely heavily on the strength of their wielders’ hearts. So,” he said, summoning the Baku, “If that person has wavered and given up on life as if they had died then that person’s keyblade could in fact be destroyed,” he explained as the Baku vanished. “You forget she lost everything when she lost her universe, so it might as well be as if she had outright died.”

Ed looked at me, “Would you mind casting song magic over me?”

My other eyebrow rose to join its sister, before I drew on my magic, directing it at Ed.

“Thank you,” He smiled, “Song magic is a very fickle thing. One of the very few that I have an extremely hard time using, as to why I haven’t imbued it into myself. All the same,” he looked at Sunset with soft eyes and a pleasant smile, “it somehow always knows just what needs to be said…”

Ed started to sing.

You break apart the cracks inside to find what's underneath
But there you found more questions to the answers that you seek
Your destiny is not decided by another's wants
Look in yourself and listen closely to your heart's response

You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel
But if you keep moving, better days are to follow
Your failures are an opportunity to try again and you'll eventually
Find your way, find your way and mold your own destiny

“What’s the point to all of it if I have no one here though,” Sunset looked away.

Luna slowly sat next to the depressed Sunset, taking a hold of her hand. “Is that really true though? I mean, we’re here for you now. We may not really know each other, but we can’t just turn you away.”

I nodded. “She’s right, you know.”

“Your friends used every last bit of strength that they could muster in order to make sure you survive,” Ed tapped the crystal pendant she was clutching for dear life in her right hand.

Perfection and power are truly overrated
The peacе in one's self is sadly understatеd
To achieve your true desires, you don't have to do it alone
Look inward for what you want, this path is your own

You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel
But if you keep moving, better days are to follow
Your failures are an opportunity to try again and you'll eventually
Find your way, find your way and mold your own destiny

“You guys aren’t my friends but different versions of them! Why are you guys going so far for me?!” Sunset looked at all of us.

“Because it's not in our nature to walk away,” Sumire replied firmly.

“And like a certain famous spiky-haired lad once said,” Ed held up a finger and cast a simple light spell. I then leaned over and opened Sunset’s hand to show the crystal, “As long as you keep them in your heart, they’re never truly gone…”

This time we all sang along.

You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel
But if you keep moving, better days are to follow
Your failures are an opportunity to try again and you'll eventually
Find your way, find your way and mold your own destiny

Sunset looked up and saw a projection of every one of her friends from her old universe all smiling and laughing alongside her.

Hear me well, don't be so afraid
I know the choices that we make
Can feel so cemented on the path we may take
But hear me well, don't be so afraid…

“Don’t just give up and let them down,” Ed said. “Why else would they have saved you if they didn’t want you to keep on fighting?”

Sunset looked at him then back at the pendant and then at the image. She then lifted her new left hand and used it to open the clasp of the pendant before placing it around her neck.

“I understand and I thank you,” Sunset shakily got to her feet. “But this doesn’t mean I’m going to just get over losing them.”

“I didn’t think it would,” Ed snapped and a box with Sunset’s mark appeared above his left hand, “But seeing as how you yourself and your former weapons have truly acknowledged your death I took it upon myself to use a large portion of the Stopza crystal to make you this,”

The led opened to reveal a keyblade I’d never seen before. It was crafted to resemble more of a sword but was also equal parts light and dark.

Sunset reached up with her right hand, taking the sword. “I can feel them…” she said as tears started to fall, “I… What’s its name?”

“I crafted it,” Ed remarked as the box vanished, “But it is up to you to name it.”

“Then,” Sunset tightened her grip as she fully accepted her new keyblade with her whole heart., “Twilight's Rising!” She said as she held it aloft. “Thank you,” she turned and looked at us.

“I take it you’ll be joining us then?” I asked, a soft smile on my face.

“From time to time at least,” Sunset remarked as Twilight's Rising vanished and she glowed a bit. “But not in this…” she looked at Ed, “Exercise… I still have to get used to my new,” she held up her left hand and it opened to reveal a grappling hook inside it then closed, and her whole arm shifted into a blade, “The new me I guess would be a more fitting description. I apparently have a skill with darkness now. He’s going to help me train elsewhere for a while. Which is kinda sad cause I wanted to see you get your butts kicked,” she snickered slightly.

I shuddered at the reminder. “Well, I guess we may as well get this initial beating over with,” I sighed, turning back to our host. “Lead the way.”

“Sure,” Ed shrugged, “You can follow, that me,” he pointed to another himself waving.

“Yea… that’s not going to be… Ya know what, screw it,” Sunset held her head, “I don’t need the headache right now,” she lamented and followed her Ed.

“This way you one,” Ed pointed out to the vast expanse of white in front of us. We all casually followed our favorite alchemist onto the field.

“So who wants to be the first to throw a punch at me? Oh and unless you plan on going all out from the start, you’re going to die…” He smiled evilly as his words echoed throughout the empty space.

We all glanced at each other before Melissa powered up OFA to 100% before rocketing forward and throwing a punch at the alchemist’s face, who simply caught the fist before it could connect. “You did ask who wanted to throw the first punch,” Melissa shrugged before kicking him away.

“That I did,” Ed simply nods as he hopped to his feet, “Hmmm… The nanites seem to be regulating your body’s power output well,” a screen popped up in front of him, “But how’s that recoil?” he smiled as the screen closed.

I looked at Melissa who was shuddering ever so slightly.

“That’s what happens when you jump the gun,” He waved a finger at us, just as a bullet whistled past his head.

He turned to see Sumire smirking at him, smoke escaping from the barrel of the Ace of Spades, before she reached up to her mask. “Vorpal Blade!” she cried, summoning Cendrillon, and causing an invisible blade to slice at Ed a thousand times.

“Nice sneak attack,” Ed said while he dusted off his coat. “Two out of four. What will you two do?” He looked at me and Luna.

We looked at each other before turning back to Ed with a smirk. “How about a Unison Raid?” We both charge our respective magic, mine light, her’s dark, combining in front of us into a large murky orb. “MEGIDOLADYNE!” we cried, throwing the equivalent of a nuclear bomb at the alchemist, while simultaneously placing Reflega around ourselves, Sumire and Melissa.

The smoke and flames settled down to reveal a very much destroyed Alchemist, for the most part. There he still stood but as a mostly destroyed burnt skeleton.

“Much better than the others,” it spoke as it immediately healed back into a fully formed Edward. “But you two know not to try and incapacitate me with normal means. Now,” he rubbed his chin with his mettle hand, “How shall I deal with you?” he thought, “Oh yes I haven’t used that a whole lot!” He pointed up.

“HRRRAAAAAAAAA!” He shouted and a red aura erupted around him causing his hair to go all spiky.

“Kuso…” I muttered.

Ed blurred out of existence and was in front of Melissa before any of us could even react, “DOUBLE PALM STRIKE!” He roared as he buried his hands into Melissa's gut, causing her to cough up blood as she rocketed backward, “Hmmmm…. She went pretty far,” he remarked as the aura around him faded. “God ki isn’t a joke. Hehehehe…”

“Hmmm… Your turn,” He told Sumire as he held up his metal hand and it glowed purple. “Roast or burnt, I’m going with the latter so as to not kill you right away!” He said as he fired a massive purple energy discharge at her leaving a small trench in the ground.

“MAKARAKARN!” A shimmering dome of energy snapped into existence, reflecting the energy back at the alchemist. “Oh yeah! Persona skills rock!”

“You have no idea how vibranium works do you?” Ed remarked as the energy blast went right back into his arm. “What I shot at you wasn’t even a full discharge kid. I had plenty of room in this thing for about ten times that,” he looked at her as he wriggled his metal arm, “How about this,” he said as his arm opened and out popped a katana hilt.

“The force is with me,” Ed chuckled as he hit a switch on the handle, and a black and red edge plasma blade erupted from it. “Getsuga Tensho!” He yelled as he rapidly fired several energy slashes at Sumire.

Having no time to throw up another barrier she did the next best thing and tried to dodge but it was in vain as the slashes hit dead on. The dust cleared to reveal Sumire on her knees panting while bleeding profusely from several cuts all over her body.

“I must say,” Ed retracted his lightsaber back into his arm, “I’m very disappointed that you didn’t take me seriously.” he raises his hand and pulled her close.

“Heh,” the Phantom Thief chuckled. “That’s where you’re wrong, MASQUERADE!” Cendrillon appeared, before charging forward, striking Ed first with a palm strike, then a kick from her bladed legs, throwing him away from her.

“Hmmm!” He flexed, stopping himself in mid-air. He then rotated to get back on his feet. “Okay, that was pretty decent,” he said as a giant skeletal silverish energy quickly grabbed a hold of her, restricting all of her movement.

“But this is…” She said through gritted teeth as she looked to see Ed’s eyes had shifted from golden amber to bright red with a black sun pattern.

“Correct,” Ed said as the construct formed into a giant with four arms joined at the elbows. “But you haven’t earned the right to see its full form yet,” he remarked as he tossed her off to the side with so much strength it sounded like an incoming missile as she crashed into Melissa, who was just starting to stagger to her feet, knocking them both unconscious.

I glanced over to Luna, who nodded, before I summoned the X-Blade once more, and Luna took on Double Form, wielding both Oathkeeper and Oblivion. I grasped both handles of the X-Blade, before separating them from each other to activate Ultima Form. This was sort of a cross between Sora’s Final Form, in KH2, and Ultimate Form, in KH3, as I floated a couple inches off the ground, allowing Oathkeeper, Oblivion, and the rest of the shards of the X-Blade to float freely around me.

I charged forward, throwing my Keyblades, and the shards at the alchemist, before unleashing various forms of magic upon him. Luna followed suit, slashing at him, trailing dark and light energy in her wake.

“Finally serious, are you?” Ed eyed us both with a wide smile. “You're going to have to get through Susanoo before you can get me though!” He yelled as the giant was starting to clad itself in heavy armor.

“Let's see if you two can match his power, Bankai!” He yelled as a large sword appeared in his hand and in his Susanoo’s. The sword was about the length of a normal sword but it was much thicker with a single edge and shimmering red guard. At the end of its handle was a large ring with a black cloud in the center with two black tails coming from it.

“Black Hole!” Ed said as his armor followed his lead and held the sword above its head and a massive black hole opened above the tip, pulling everything into it to be crushed into atoms.

Thinking quickly, I pointed at the black hole. “GRAVIGA!” Instantly, an orb of gravitational magic appeared, disrupting the black hole and causing it to dissipate.

“Not bad but I also know your Graviga spell takes a huge chunk of magic just to cast,” He remarked as he raised the sword and his armor giant did the same, “And even more strength to control with that much precision!”

He swings down, not on me but on Luna. I looked over and saw my sister just barely holding back the massive sword with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. With one hell of a push, she shoved Ed back causing him to stumble slightly but it also caused her to hit her knees panting.

Reaching behind me into a subspace pocket, I quickly pulled out an Elixir, and tossed it to Luna, who quickly chugged it down, replenishing her stamina, and bringing her back to 100%. “Ugh, remind me to not do that again,” she groaned.

“Sage art, Fire Dragon Desolation!” I heard and saw Ed weave the hand signs just before he sent a torrent of fire dragon heads at us and Sumire and Melissa. “What are you going to do? Save yourself or your friend?” He said looking down on me while his giant took to the sky.

“REFLEGA!” Both Luna and I intone at the same time, causing two shimmering barriers to snap into existence, one forming around the still-unconscious forms of Melissa and Sumire, and one forming around me and Luna.

“Hmf..” Ed scoffed. “Enough ninjaing,” he said as the Susanoo dissipated and he landed on the ground in front of Luna and me. “You seem to have forgotten about my keyblade,” he held up his hand on the Crimson Void and immediately appeared in it. “I already unsealed it remember!” he swung causing both Luna and me to try and block and did but were still sent hurtling in opposite directions.

“Tell me, girl, do you fear death?” Ed pointed the Crimson Void at me.

I grimaced as I saw all my friends on the ground unconscious. It was pretty much over.

‘Are you just gonna sit there, wallowing in defeat?’ I looked up in shock. ‘Considering how the Alchemist is going all out, you all will probably die, you know. I thought you were going to keep everyone safe. How can you do that when you’re dead?’

“I… Can’t…” I grimaced, staggering to my feet as I felt a mask form on my face. “I won’t die here!”

‘Very well. I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own ends! Call upon my name, and release thy power! Show the strength of thy will to protect all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!’

I reach up to the mask, ripping it from my face and allowing a thick pillar of blue flame to engulf me, changing my clothes, and blasting everything around me away.

As the flames dissipated, I stood up. My top was mostly unchanged, with only the jacket’s zipper being undone to reveal the white blouse underneath, while my skirt had been replaced with white pants, and pink boots. My mask was one I recognized as Master Ava’s Foreteller mask, and a white tail-like charm dangled off my belt behind me.

“Come! Orpheus!” I cried, pulling my mask off again, and allowing the Persona to manifest behind me. It was a feminine-looking figure, with a golden torso and a speaker embedded where her stomach should be. Her arms and legs were mechanical, with white gloves and boots. She had a red scarf around her neck and auburn hair on her head. A large harp in the shape of a heart hovered behind her.

“Cadenza!” I cried, prompting Orpheus to pull out her harp and strum a few notes. Instantly, everyone around me staggered back to their feet.

“Hehehehehehe…” Ed started to chuckle, “Finally, I can get serious!” He roared out with an overwhelming amount of not only magic but just about everything else. “Seals of Sin, release!” he cried and started to pulse several times.

“Ah… Sis?” Luna looked at me.

I glanced over to Luna before turning back to Ed. “ENDURE!” I cried, summoning Orpheus once more. Each of us gained a small aura of light, acting like a shield to keep us safe from whatever the alchemist threw at us. It’d leave us weak, but we wouldn’t be dead.

“AHAHAHAHAHA!” Ed laughed.

This was definitely not how he acted the last time we sparred. It could only mean this was what he was truly like when he was really enjoying a fight.

He quickly shifted his body forward and looked at all of us. His eye had shifted from Sharingan to a golden Sharrinnegan.

“Come on girls, let's see if you’re worthy to see the real me!” He cracked a wicked smile. “Crimson Dragon Force FUS RO DAH!” He shouted at us, sending out a massive Omni-directional roar.

“Jump you, Idiots!” I heard Sunset yell at us. We all followed her order and jumped. She swept all of us up in what looked like a giant Key-glider, “I am a master after all,” she said as she revved the engine of the machine, “Hold on!” She said as we shot up narrowly escaping the blast of Ed’s attack.

“Geez… He wasn’t kidding when he said he was a monster,” Sunset said as she looked back at Ed below on the ground.

That’s when I looked down and saw the only place that was still the original ground was the small spire where our alchemist was standing.

“Plans?” Sunset looked at me.

“Ugh, I was hoping to save this for a while, you know, work the kinks out,” I sighed, resummoning the X-Blade. “But, desperate times, and all that rot. I need you to buy us some time.”

“How long?” Sunset said, “I may have a handle on myself thanks to mister crazy’s time magic bs but that doesn’t mean I’m one hundred present in fighting shape for more than say ten minutes.”

“Give us five minutes,” I nodded. “Should be more than enough time.”

Sunset nodded before dropping us off not far from the spire, before heading off to battle the crazed alchemist. “Alright girls, gather around,” I called, planting the Blade into the ground, allowing a large, complex magic circle to manifest on the ground. “We all need to focus our energy, magic or otherwise, into this circle. I call this spell the Omega Sanction, but one of the problems with it is that I can’t cast it on my own. With just two of us, it’d take about twenty minutes to cast, but with the four of us, we can do it in five.”

The others nodded, before reaching out and channeling magic into the circle. I turned back to where I could already see Sunset and Ed dueling. “Be careful Sunset,” I muttered before turning back to the circle…

***

Meanwhile, Sunset prepped herself for the imminent clash between her and Ed.

She rushed forward and jumped up, bringing her keyblade down hard to collide with Ed’s zanpakuto. The Keyblade hit was such force it sent out a shockwave that rattle the entire surrounding area as it actually bit into the blade of the opposing sword nearly halfway through it. It was as if Twilight’s Rising’s wait had increased by several tons.

Ed took great notice of this and wasn’t going to risk his weapons in this fight. He took his Crimson Void and slashed at Sunset forcing the Master back a good ways, but not before she’d suddenly whirled around and kicked the damaged sword dead-center through Ed’s chest. Ed effortlessly removed his weapon from himself, then held the zanpakuto up to the light and looked it over.

“I must compliment you on that attack,” He said as his blade repaired the crack and he then dispelled his zanpakuto. “Zanpakuto are one of the few weapons that can contend with Keyblade. Had my soul actually been in this body that most certainly would’ve been a fatal move, especially if I were a human.”

“So this you is nothing but a puppet like the others then,,” Sunset stated as she readied her fire magic. “Which means I can come at you full force without any repercussions.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Edward smiled, “You have to think about the strain I’m forcing you to put that body of yours through.” he readied himself, “I must say I never expected you to have such fine control over your gravity magic to be able to increase the weight of your weapon on the fly in battle like that but then again you are Celestia’s daughter. Gravity is derivative of solar magic.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with how well you know her in your universe,” Sunset shuddered a little bit at that. “But I was never really ever able to get a hold of the solar aspect of my magic. It always put too much strain on my body,” she smirked, “That is until you helped me out with your sparkly goop and helping me learn to control my new darkness powers! GIGA FLARE!”

Ed’s eyes widened as he was actually taken off guard by the use of this magic.

He raised his Crimson Void above his head and it pulsed with darkness, “Void Slash!” he yelled as she sent a dark slash that collided with Sunset’s Flare attack, and the two seemingly canceled each other out.

Sunset didn’t let up as she converted her left hand into a pistol and fired three shots at the alchemist. Ed narrowly deflected the shots with the guard of his Keyblade. This was all a distraction though as the back of Sunset’s prosthetic arm opened up and outshot a grappling hook that stuck itself in the ground at Ed’s feet.

Using her new leg to boost her her take off the young keyblade master propelled herself forward, using the grappling hook as an Anchor she swung wide around her opponent. Her weapon in the meantime shifted its shape into a flaming hand cannon.

Sunset fired relentlessly on Ed as she tried to wrap the cord of her grapple around him.

“Enough of this!” Ed shouted dispelling the flames as he easily snapped the line and grabbed onto the remains of the cord. “GET OVER HERE!” He yelled as he yanked on the cord..

“RELEASE LINE!” Sunset yelled causing her arm to acknowledge the order.

The sudden action caused her to go flying through the air. She reverted her Twilight back to its base form and slammed it into the ground, leaving a deep cut.

“Reload grapple,” she panted. Her arm immediately acted on the order. “This fight makes the last one I had with Xehanort look like a playground brawl at recess,” Sunset spat and pulled her weapon from the ground. “It’s like a four your old trying to fight a massive thirty-five-year-old fat man over a fucking chocolate bar…”

She smirked, “But it would be no fun if it was just another training session if blood was barely shed!” She laughed as she shot forward and Ed and her exchanged blow after blow.

The duo broke apart as they jumped back away from one another. Cuts cover both of their bodies from head to toe. Sunset was breathing heavily as was her opponent.

“Breathing kind of hard there teach,” Sunset pointed out. “All that power and yet I can still keep up with ya. Sucks that I can’t nullify my pain though,” she remarked as she pulled back her left hand and started to gather magic into her fist.

“Well of course,” Ed laughed. “This body may only be a puppet but it's still technically alive and needs to breathe and can get fatigued like a normal human. And don’t be fooled,” he held up his right fist and gathered his magic in it, “I still feel every single little knick to my skin, I just have a very very high pain tolerance!”

Both fighters lunged forward at each other and throw their respective punches. Their fists never met, instead stopping shy of four feet from each other. As soon as they did rainbow lighting erupted from the area in between them, lashing out wildly. Ed smiled and started to manically laugh while Sunset was gritting her teeth as she concentrated on at least getting within striking distance of the sage.

Suddenly, orangish-black started to flare from Sunset’s side of the field. The combatants were thrown back from one another, skipping across the floor of the area. Sunset stuck his keyblade in the ground to steady herself once more. She looked at her left hand and she saw an eerily familiar claw. That’s when she realized the entire left half of her body had become demonized.

“What?” She asked herself. “How? I shouldn’t be able to…”

“HAHAHAHAHA!” Ed laughed as he jumped to his feet. “So… your were finally able to tap into you darkness!”

“What?!” Sunset glared at him. You did this to me?!”

Ed wiggled his finger, “No, I had nothing to do with it, “He pointed at Sunset, “This is all you, little lady. You were the only one ever able to use an Element to its fullest without being an Element barer. Taking on a corrupted form, allowing the darkness in. You were able to free yourself and like Riku gained immunity to it but at the same time, still retained your control over it. You survived the collapse of your universe and were touched but the purest of darkness, the primordial darkness.”

Sunset clenched her fist, “So I have the same power you do!”

Ed smiled, “You are by far the most powerful single keyblade master to exist in your current universe,” he said as darkness poured over the alchemist from his keyblade and harden into a form all over his body. “But that doesn’t mean you wield the same power as I do!” He roared as his armor reveal itself.

“Come,” Ed raised his clawed hand, “Test your darkness against my own, Master Sunset!”

“Gladly!” Sunset readied herself as a set of dark red and orange-tipped fiery feathered wings erupted from her back.

The duo once more rushed forward and unleashed their power on each other. Several minutes passed the two fighters danced around one another in a clash of blades and flying sparks.

With a sound force push, Ed sent Sunset back a good ways

“You’ve lasted much longer than I’d initially thought you would,” the demonic armored alchemist gurgled, “Let’s see how well you can handle multiple weapons coming for you! Arc Of Creation! Keyblade Rampart!”

A Silver spell matrix appeared behind the alchemist and dozens of keyblades Sunset had never seen before martialized into existence. They then launched themselves at the keyblade master did her very best to either dodge or knock weapons away. Sunset was left breathing heavily as the keyblades stop their onslaught.

“Hhehehehe,” Ed giggled. “FANTASTIC BUT HOW LONG CAN YOU KEEP THAT UP!”

More keyblade suddenly materialized above the alchemist. Sunset didn’t even think and rushed forward, grabbing the nearest keyblade to her as she did.

“KEYBLADE RAMPART!” Ed laughed.

Sunset rushed forward and didn’t miss a beat as she used both keyblade to knock the incoming artillery fire away. What Ed didn’t see was that while this was happening hat Sunset had activated a long enchant activation on her weapons.

She finally made it within striking distance of her foe, “You’re easily ten times stronger than Master Xehanort from my universe without even trying!” Sunset yelled with a smirk, “Mega Flare blade!” she cried out as twin flames pillars cover her keyblades and coalesced into gigantic blades of fire.

“I see,” Ed smirked under his helmet, “You used the God’s Arms skill to acquire the other keyblade and the arcane enchanter skill to ably your Magna flare as to the blades. Quite the spell work, but what good will a high-level spell do if it doesn’t hit?!”

Ed pointed out as he started to get ready to charge.

“Now bind all my enemies in place, hold them still so I may reap justice upon their wicked souls!” Sunset chanted, “Gravia Chains!”

Purplish-black chains erupted from the ground around the alchemist and bound him in place.

“MY TURN TO FINISH THIS!” Sunset roared as she dashed forward, “ZETA CROSS!” She yelled as she slashed Ed across with her blades, leaving a flaming cross behind.

She quickly retreated knowing that wasn’t enough to kill the bastard but it was damn well good enough to do a good bit of damage.

“Not bad…” the alchemist huffed as he walked forward to reveal himself. While chunks of his armor were missing, while what was left on him was flaking off in ashes. A wicked smile plastered on his charred and burnt body. “Not bad at all…”

***

The circle beneath us flashed, the power reaching a crescendo as I drew the X-Blade from the ground, pointing it towards the alchemist. “Kairi no nanioite. Hikari no wa yo,-ryoku o tokihanate. Fūjikome, haishutsu shi, hakai suru. OMEGA SANCTION!” The magic of the circle channeled itself through me and my X-Blade, before blasting towards Ed, encapsulating him within a Reflega orb. Almost immediately after, I began to feel power being added to my magical core, as Ed’s reserves were drained. It wasn’t long before the power in that body was depleted, allowing the final part of the Omega Sanction to take effect, dissolving the alchemist into his component atoms.

Suddenly everyone around me fell to their knees with blood starting to pour from their eyes, noses, mouths, and ears. I then felt the reason why everyone collapsed as a surge of mana ran through my entire body, wreaking havoc within me as it did. I barely managed to keep myself up on my weapon as I looked forward where our feet had stood, and that’s when I saw them. Ed’s metal arm and leg were still there on the ground where he’d been hit and if they survived then that also meant so had the alchemist.

“Kuso,” I groan, falling to my knees. “I thought I fixed this problem…”

“Oh, whats the matter?” I heard Ed’s voice but didn’t see him. “Having trouble taking in such a massive amount of foreign into your body? Hehehe… It took me the better part of a hundred years before I was even able to stand even a fraction of that power within myself, so you should feel proud that your group are just on your hands and knees,”

I looked up and saw the alchemist’s arm rise into the air and the leg standing up under it.

“Bravo,” the hand started to make a clapping motion as Ed reformed from nothing in a crackle of red electricity. “I really am impressed you were able to completely atomize my puppet like that but if the attack is going to give you and the others such a bad backlash, you shouldn’t use it on n opponent that you know can regenerate nearly instantly or t least make sure every part of them is gone,” he shrugged, “But don’t feel bad as my arm and leg can’t be destroyed by normal displaced or even high-level void dwellers either.”

I nodded with a grimace, the slight movement nearly forcing my last meal out of my stomach, as I pulled out a potion from my pocket. After chugging it down, I staggered back to my feet and cast a Curaga to heal everyone and get them back on their feet.

“Ugh, still need to work out some bugs with that spell,” I groan out, turning back to the alchemist.

“Obviously,” Ed threw up a hand as he materialized a pair of pants on his lower half before his muscle tissue could start to form, “Aren’t you going to help your friends?”

“Don’t let your guard down,” I heard Sunset as she flew down beside me, “Heal who you can, I’ll help where I can as well,” she said as she kept her gaze on Ed. “He’s far from done…” she huffed as green magic covered the others.

“Of course he isn’t,” Melissa groaned, seeing the feral grin Ed gave us.

“I can wait till all of you can hold a weapon at least,” Ed chuckled and threw up a hand.

Melissa adjusted her glasses, before pulling out her new Dust Saber, activating it. “Let’s get started then.”

“Aren’t you forgetting two others?” Ed deadpanned.

I grinned as a rapier and Void Gear crossed in front of Ed’s throat. “No, no she didn’t.”

“False,” Ed flicked me in the forehead, sending me flying as he then proceeded to block a strike from Sunset with his metal pointer finger, sending a loud thrum throughout the space.

“Just how powerful are you!?!” Sunset roared.

“You really don’t need to know that,” Ed remarked with a slight tone of annoyance in his voice as he grabbed the young woman by her ankle and tossed her into me. “I’m starting to get a little bored with this actually. Perhaps Clipeum would like a crack at you five?”

“Clipeum?” Sumire asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked!” Ed smiled while everyone else just looked at the red-head with spite as a Bastidon appeared in the area next to Ed. “This is Clipeum, my Bastidon partner!”

“Don,” the large yellow and gray prehistoric pokemon called out. It seemed a bit annoyed and bored at the same time as it stared at the girls.

“What the f*** is that thing?!” Sunset pointed at the new creature.

I glanced over to Sunset as I got back into a battle stance. “Remind me to introduce you to Pokemon later.”

“Uh…” Sunset looked at me.

“Now,” Ed smirked again while holding up a set of three crystals, “Your choice my dear friend,” he asked the pokemon, “Primal, x, or y?”

My eyes Shrank as I realized what Ed just asked the pocket monster.

“Bastiodon,” it replied.

“Nice choice,” Ed held up the amber sphere amongst the gems and tossed it to his partner.

Clipeum glowed and started to grow as black smoke and magma erupted from its body and covered its form as it hardened into a black shell.

“Awaken!” Ed called out, “Primal Bastiodon!”

The shell blew apart while oozing magma to reveal the old, or new pokemon.

We all took a stance, gulping nervously as we mentally prepared ourselves for some training from hell.

“Oh, we’ve only just started…” Ed smirked as a Gate of Truth appeared behind him, opening to reveal… something utterly horrifying.

***One year in the Chamber later…***

I climbed back to my feet, panting as I glanced around the chamber, seeing each of my friends, my family really, climb back to their feet as well, carefully watching our tortu- uh, I mean, our trainer, for any tricks.

“Eh, you know you can’t hide those thoughts from me,” Ed chuckled and I winced. “But enough is enough. You’ve all grown quite strong enough to handle anyone one of the uppers in a one-on-one fight long enough till your friends can come in and help you. I think I’ve taken as far as I need to, for the time being at least, don’t you?”

I nodded, each of us dismissing our weapons. “Agreed.”

“Then I’ll take you all back to the tower,” Ed turned and a simple wooden door appeared in front of him.

“Hey,” Sunset placed a hand on my shoulder, “I… ah…. Don’t think I’ll be sticking around for long if that’s okay with you.”

“Stay as long or as little as you need, Sunset,” I reply with a smile. “The Tower will always be open to you and anyone else you may or may not befriend.”

“I… I still have things I need to do,” Sunset sighed. “Ed told me… I’m not the only one who survived. He told me Master Xerra made his way here to your universe. If I can find him I know he’ll be a big help to our cause in his… own dark way… I also think there’s more to Tash’s plan than just... Whatever he’s doing that you’ve been fighting against. A lot more actually. I feel it and my keyblade is telling me it has something to do with the keyholes out there of the other worlds in this universe.”

“I passed my mark of mastery already and have the glider ability so I can move around a lot more freely than you guys can on my own so I’m going to use that and the fact that there's another Sunset here that he didn’t expect to throw a bit of a wrench in his plans,” She smiled at me with a glint of hope in her eyes. “I’m going to start my investigation on the Destiny Islands. Seems like the best place to get any good leads about my master as any.”

I nodded. “You should also check in with Master Aqua as well. She currently resides in the Land of Departure.”

“I never got to meet the Master Aqua of my universe,” Sunset thinks, “She died before I even came to study under Master Xerra. Still, I heard she was quite… playful and always looked out for her friends. Does she stay there because she wants to or does she have some other motive?”

I shrugged. “I never met her, but according to Celestia, she simply stays there to guard the Land of Departure, since it's a neutral ground between Light and Darkness.”

“I wonder how it would affect me then…” Sunset looked at her prosthetic arm. “I think she should be my first stop, then the Island.”

“We’re here,” Ed said, catching us off guard as we stood outside the Tower.

I turned back to the alchemist with a smile. “Thank you for the training, Ed-Sensei. We learned quite a bit.”

“I’ve retro-fitted your Tower with all sorts of new tech and goodies,” Ed said, “Including a hanger for gummi ships and a flight simulator for practice. I’ve also overhauled the systems alongside your lab,” he looked at Melissa. “Including a nanite fabricator for the really tough stuff, or just plain fun toys.”

An unholy glint shone in Melissa’s eye, causing us all to take a step back. “Ooohhh, you better believe I’m gonna have some fun with that!”

“I also included an updated game list for your training room,” he looked at me, “Also here,” he held up a hand allowing a small cloud of nanomachines to come from his arm, and soon they coalesced into a mini-Edward. “This is a chibi-Ed. They’re an AI nanite colony and basically an artificial lab on the go. They have access to my void network and most of its info, no matter what world you on he can access it. There are blocks that need my permission to be unlocked for obvious reasons. If that happens usually it turns into a screen to contact me or I show up. He can also change into anything you want once he’s registered you as a primary user.”

Ed floated the Chibi him into my hand and he immediately dinged.

“And the registration is complete,” Ed walked on. “The Doctor and the me left here have come up with a wide array of interesting projects that I think you’ll like. If there are any questions, ask them now.”

“Honestly, I can’t think of any,” I shrugged.

“Did you leave a list of all the upgrades?” Melissa cut in.

“Where would be the fun in that?” Ed chuckled as our eyes all shrank. “Relax,” he snapped and we soon all had nanotech watches appear on our wrists. “These allow for better communication than say a cell phone and also function as a mini- mini lab. There’s a list of everything done in the notes app.”

Melissa nodded in satisfaction, starting to play around with the watch.

I turned back to Ed. “Thank you again, I think we’ve covered everything, but is there anything else you want to teach or give us?”

Suddenly everything turned gray and everyone but Ed and myself froze in place, “Arc of Time, he said to me.

“Listen Kairi,” he looked me square in the eye, “You can’t keep denying your own darknesses. I gave you the x-blade because it's a balanced version of the weapon. Unlike the other version, it’s because I’m aware of the conflict you're going through. It's still early but I know you can’t keep it down forever. I don’t want you to end up like me,” he sighed. I remembered the monstrous form he used in our training, “But at the rate you’re going that’s where you’ll be if you keep it up. Personally, I would like to leave myself here at the Tower full time but that would be too much intrusion. Know that I've destroyed many universes in order to keep the spread of evil darkness from spreading over the void. You’re my friend, hell I consider you almost family but that doesn’t mean I’ll hesitate to wipe this universe out or you for that matter if it means saving this universe from the same fate as Sunset’s. I’m trusting you with her, and so is Celestia. We wanted her to come with us but she’s a grown woman who doesn’t need her parents or foster parents to constantly look after her anymore. Can I trust you with her and to do what you need to?”

“Of course,” I nodded. “I also understand the dangers you’re talking about. I’ve always believed that balance should be kept in all things. Light and darkness are no different.” Even as I said that, I knew I was lying to myself. As much as knew it, I had a tough time believing it.

“As long as you’re aware of it and the steps I’m willing to take,” Ed turned slightly while motioning his face upward while still looking at me with one eye. “I will say no more.”

Time then resumed.

“I believe my time is up here,” Ed said. “If you ever have a question or just need to talk,” he looked at us, “any of you, I’m no more than a call away,” he said as he started to walk and soon faded into nothing.

“I’d be scared if I ever had to face him in a real fight to the death…” Sunset let out a sigh of relief as she flopped down on the ground. “I think I need a nice long soak…. Gonna miss the huge outdoor bath from the Time Chamber.”

“Agreed,” Sumire sighed. “Oh well, I’m sure we’ll find something similar around here.”

I grinned. “What? I didn’t mention the large bathtubs each of the rooms have in their bathroom?”

The redhead whirled around with a glint in her eyes. “Really?” I nodded, immediately prompting her to zoom off to her room for a soak.

“A similar sauna to his in the Chamber was added by Edward,” the chibi spoke up. “It’s not a pocket dimension but is narrowly similar. Shall I change my form now?” He looked at me.

“Well, I know where I’m headed,” Sunset shot up, “Nothing like soaking butt naked in an open-air bath!” she stretched with a big smile.

“Go right ahead,” I replied with a shrug to the chibi. “You have free reign of the Tower, and if you think we need help with something, please ask before doing anything.”

“As you wish mistress,” He said, “In the meantime, I shall pair with the tech junky in her lab and the Doctor in his as well,” he bowed then floated off into the tower. Melissa chuckled as she followed the chibi back to her lab.

I stretched as I heard some footsteps come up behind me.

“Hey, Kairi, did I miss something again?” Haley asked.

“Uh, oops?”

Author's Note

Aaaaaand, its done!

Whew! That took A LOT longer then I initially thought to finish this chapter! Anyway, enjoy, and I'll see you all next chapter, though it might be a while yet before its done.

Until next chapter!

EDIT: Oh my gosh! We finally got featured on 1/4/2023! I can't believe it! Thank you all so much!

The Key to Spartans

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and Titan Commander Sebaste

Chapter 27: The Key to Spartans

It's been about a month now since Ed’s visit, and about 2 weeks since Sunset left us, and I now find myself watching a battle between Sin Eaters, and Luna. Now, before any of you call me a hypocrite for allowing her to fight when I said I didn’t want her to, this is just a simulation pulled from Final Fantasy. Surprisingly enough, the depiction of The First in the Shadowbringers story is actually accurate, according to Faust.

“OK, that’s enough,” I called down to Luna. “Finish them off.”

The alicorn jumped into the air, wrapping herself in green energy and slamming into a group of Sin Eaters, hoisting them into the air with her new Strand abilities, before switching to Double Form and calling “ULTIMATE FINISH!” Beams of light and darkness arced from her two Keyblades, almost appearing like starlight to decimate the false angels she had been battling.

“Computer, end simulation.” I called with a nod, motioning Luna to follow me out.

“About time you two finished. I need you two down in my lab.” Melissa called over the comms.

Luna and I glanced at each other, before taking off towards the lab, being careful not to trigger any of the techie’s traps. Upon arrival, we found a rather odd sight; a rifle of some sort with what looked to be a bayonet of pure energy mounted on the barrel hovering in the air, being bombarded by sensors.

“Good, you’re here,” Melissa’s voice floated to us as her face was buried in the bank of consoles the sensors were hooked up to.

“Yeah, but would you mind telling us why we’re here, as well as what that is?” I asked, pointing at the rifle with a raised eyebrow.

“We don’t know,” Sumire replied, stepping out of the shadows. “I found it in my room, when I know it wasn’t there before. It was just leaning against the wall when I came back from a bath.”

“It’s also saturated in Void energy,” the techie added. “Meaning that it's most likely a Token of some sort.”

I nodded. “OK, so, a possible new friend and ally, then?”

Melissa nodded as she finally turned to face us. “Possibly, but don’t forget, there is still the possibility that whoever comes isn’t friendly.”

“I know, I know,” I muttered, stepping up to the rifle. “Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

I grabbed the rifle, allowing the message to play in my head, a male voice echoing in my mind: “For those who are in need of a scout, a commander, or a friend, I will answer the call. My name is Eliteslayer, but for those who knew me back then as Sebaste, I have returned… and I am ready to protect and serve.”

“Sebaste, you say…” I muttered, trailing off as a portal crackled into being, but as it did so, electrical arcs suddenly began ripping through it, as if something had started interfering with the energy. A large armored form soon came flying out and crashed into the ground in a heap, allowing us to catch glimpses of red and black on them, along with gold on what looked to be their visor, arcs of energy sparking over whoever they were, as the portal then imploded as the energy inside it proved too much for it to be stable.

“Kuso!” I rushed to the figure’s side. “Sumire, help me get them to the medical wing…”

***One Hour Later***

It didn’t take us long to get the armored… well, I’m actually not sure if they’re a man or woman. Can’t tell with the armor on, and we can’t seem to get the helmet off either. Anyway, it didn’t take us long to get them to the medical wing, however, our sensors couldn’t penetrate the armor. So, we’ve pretty much just been trying to get the thing open for the past hour.

“It's no use,” Melissa growled in frustration, tossing aside her cutting torch. “Based on how tough that armor is, we’re dealing with Mjolnir armor. No chance of us getting it off them while they’re unconscious. We’ll just have to wait until they wake up.”

“Any idea, how long that’ll be?” Sumire asked, just as one of their fingers twitched.

“I think they’ve been awake for a while now actually,” I pointed to the twitching finger.

A feminine groan then came out of the helmet, "Uuuuugh, I feel like I got slammed by a Brute chieftain…" the figure said, putting a hand to their head.

I chuckled. “Sounds like my first summoning all over again. Might I have the pleasure of knowing who I’ve just summoned into my home?”

"Name's Sebaste, Spartan 997, callsign "Eliteslayer"…. Okay, Kyra, did you activate the voice changer in my helmet without me knowing? Cause I swear my voice wasn't like this before I got pulled into that portal." The figure said as they struggled to sit up, making us wonder who this 'Kyra' he mentioned was. "And why does my chest armor feel so tight all of a sudden?"

“Oh boy, I remember this as well,” I muttered, before turning back to Sebaste. “You, uh, might want to check… well, down south, if you know what I mean.”

"Oookay?" Sebaste muttered, sounding confused as they unsealed their helmet, revealing a mop of short red hair, green eyes and a face that showed off several scars, two in particular ran down the right side of their face over one of their eyes. As they did so, their armor seemed to shimmer and vanish, revealing a black jumpsuit underneath. Unfortunately, as it did so, two certain mounds spilled downwards on their chest. "OH WHAT IN CELESTIA'S PINK BEARD?!" They yelped, feeling them crash against their chest. "How?! These weren't there when I got summoned!"

“Yep, that sounds about right,” I sighed. “Could something have interfered with the summoning on your end? I mean you did kinda come shooting out of an unstable wormhole.”

"Last thing I remember was scolding a certain chaos lover over a mess he had made that involved one of the other displaced in my world, then I was called here, but as I went into the portal, I heard a snap and my body felt like it was on fire… I must've lost consciousness afterwards, cause next thing I know, I'm in here." Her eyes widened before gritting her teeth and yelling, "DISCORD, WHEN I GET BACK THERE, I'M PUTTING YOUR HEAD ON A FAUST DAMNED HUNTING RACK FOR THIS!"

“Of course it was Discord,” Melissa sighed. “This whole thing has his name written all over it. Which means I have no way of reversing this. You’ll just have to live it while you’re here.”

I nodded. “Luckily, you’re in good company. I was in your shoes when I first arrived.”

She looked over at me in surprise. "You used to be a guy as well? Guessing the Merchant had something to do with that?"

“Indeed he did,” I confirmed with a nod. “Not really complaining about it though. Aside from…that time of the month, I haven’t really minded the change.”

Sebaste gave a small chuckle. "It's not the first time I've had a run in with a displaced who got genderbent, I got summoned once by a female Kamen Rider who also had a genderbent Ruby running around her world. Ended up helping her deal with a Grimm that had gotten fused with something called a Roidmude," She said.

“Sounds like you’ve been around,” Melissa replied with a nod. “Plus a Roidmude fused with a Grimm? That’s not an easy thing to take down.”

“Roidmude?” Luna, Sumire and I chorused in confusion.

"They're robotic foes, androids actually, of this particular Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Gold, I think they're called, but they fuse with certain stuff to become pretty powerful enemies." Sebaste explained.

“Grimm,” I nodded in understanding, Luna turned to me in confusion. “Creatures of Grimm are essentially darkness given form, much like the Heartless we battle on a daily basis. The difference is while the Heartless have a sort of instinctual cunning to them, the Grimm are simply mindless beasts, killing all in their path, unless being controlled by Salem, the one who originally created them.”

"Yeah, and add to that they can range from being the size of a bear to the size of a full grown dragon, which means not all of them are easy to bring down." Sebaste said. She then swung her legs over the side of the table before standing up with her helmet underneath her arm. This caused us to crane our heads up as she practically towered over us, even without the armor. "So other than Princess Luna and Kairi, who I do remember the character from playing at least a small bit of KH2, I don't know who everyone else is." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

I nodded. “Alright, first is Melissa, our tech expert. Next is Sumire, Phantom Thief extraordinaire. And, over there sleeping, and being overall lazy, are both Haley, and Chirithy. I was wondering where they were holed up.”

Luna snuck up next to them, before yelling “WAKE UP!” right in their ears, causing them to jolt and fall out of their little hidey hole.

“I’m awake!” Haley yelled, popping up off the floor. She looked around a bit before narrowing her eyes. Right at a spot that seemed to have nothing. “Oh, so now you’re gonna include me in the story? About time!”

“Uh, Haley, what are you doing?” I asked in confusion.

“Oh, she’s just giving the author a piece of her mind for not showing up in the LLLLLLLOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGGEEEEEEESSSSSSSTTTTTTT time!”
Pinkie explained, popping into existence, before winking at the same spot Haley is glaring at, then popping away again.

Sebaste deadpanned before putting her helm down and throwing her hands up into the air saying "Nope, not even gonna even try and question it, it's friggin Pinkie, just don't bother trying to figure it out…"

“And she clearly taught Haley her tricks.” I nodded in agreement.

"So with Sumire, I assume she's a Persona displaced?" Sebaste asked.

In response, Sumire’s mask flashed into existence. She reached up and yanked it off. “Come, Cendrillon!” Immediately, her Persona appeared in a burst of blue flames before winking out of existence again. “Just the one Persona, but yeah, I am.”

"Huh, I personally never played the games myself, but I did witness Joker entering Smash Bros Ultimate back before I had been displaced." Sebaste commented.

“And he was easily the best fighter when I was displaced,” I nodded. “Sumire comes from the same game as Joker, Persona 5. Specifically the director’s cut of the game, entitled Persona 5 Royal.”

“I, however,” the red head cut in. “Came from Tokyo, after dying while saving my brother. I knew nothing about who I ended up as, and Kairi here had to give me a crash course.”

Sebaste winced. "That's honestly the first time I've actually heard of someone being reincarnated as a Displaced after meeting an end like that," She said.

I glanced over to Melissa. Surprisingly, she was hiding her discomfort over the topic pretty well. I turned back to Sebaste, just as an alarm began to blare. We all shared a quick glance before we bolted to the control room, Sebaste hot on our heels as she slammed her helmet back on and her armor reformed around her body.

"What's going on?" Sebaste yelled over the sound of the alarm.

Melissa quickly pulled up an image of the Everfree Forest, teaming with the telltale white forms of Sin Eaters, along with an unnaturally bright sky, despite it being close to midnight.

“Sin Eaters,” I growled. “And they brought a Lightwarden with them.”

"Sin what? And what the heck is a Lightwarden?" Sebaste asked.

“Sin Eaters. Ponies, and creatures that have had their internal magics twisted through an imbalance of light,” I quickly explained. “Abominations that need to be put down. As for Lightwardens, they are greater Sin Eaters that exude an unnatural Light that, with enough of them, can permanently leave a world bathed in light with no day and night cycle.”

“Sebaste, if you want to help, we won’t turn you away,” Melissa chimed in. “However, I strongly advise caution. Even the smallest cut will corrupt your own internal magics, and turn you. On top of that, slaying a Lightwarden usually corrupts the one who slayed it. We have a method to make sure that doesn’t happen, but it's reliant on Kairi dealing the killing blow.”

"I'll help to the best of my abilities, but if things get too much, I will have Kyra call in backup if that's alright?" Sebaste asked.

“Considering we have a veritable army on our doorstep, the more the merrier,” I replied with a smirk. I took another glance at the screen. “It looks like Twilight and the Elements have already started holding them back, so you have time to get them here and briefed.”

Sebaste nodded before saying, "Alright Kyra, you're up!" Holding her palm out, a blue A.I in what appeared to be an armored vest and holding a laser weapon of some type shimmered into view.

"Open up a portal and get the gang here, we've got some work to do." Sebaste said.

"On it. Locking portal coordinates and message has been sent out." The A.I said, just as a new portal opened up, and 3 more armored figures walked through, two looked to be Spartans like Sebaste, with red and silver for their armor colors and different armor from hers, but I then noticed that one of them had a much bulkier right arm that ended in a clawed gauntlet and had a sword strapped to their back. The third figure was a shade of dark green with a red stripe on his knee, a sideways double arrow on his left shoulder pad, an image of a winged sword on his right shoulder pad and a gold double-headed eagle on his chest. They easily towered their companions, their armor looking almost archaic and high-tech at the same time. A strange looking backpack was mounted on their back, with what looked like vents jutting out of the sides while a pair of red lenses glared out from the helmet, glowing almost hellishly in the light.

"Everyone, meet Alexia, Viktor and Sasha." Sebaste said as the three came to a halt in front of us.

“A pleasure,” I nodded. “But we don’t exactly have time for pleasantries. Melissa can get you up to speed. Meet us in the Everfree when you can. Sumire, Haley, Luna, let’s go!”

With that, a portal opened behind us, courtesy of Melissa, and we charged out to meet the enemy head on.

***

The first thing we saw upon exiting the portal, was the Everfree awash in flames, and hordes of Sin Eaters on the march towards the Tower. Luckily, I could easily see Twilight’s purple shield snap into existence around the Tower, solving one problem.

“About time you got here!” Rainbow snapped, dive bombing one of the many Sin Eaters around us. “I thought you had an early warning system, what took you?!?”

“It's not exactly a fool proof system, Rainbow,” I snapped back, cutting one of the Eaters down. “I’m here now though, where’s the Lightwarden?”

“You mean the big one that seems to be leading them?” AJ grunts, holding an earthen wall up against the onslaught.

I nodded, tossing her an Elixir. “That’s the one!”

“At the back,” Rainbow yelled. “Good luck getting to it though.”

As she spoke, the roar of what sounded like rockets ripped through the air, before a series of explosions sent Sin Eaters flying left and right, showering us in dirt in the process. Soon the screeching of tires and the roar of a car engine was our only warning as an armored blur zipped past us, smashing into one of the Sin Eaters left unscathed by the bombardment. “Anyone call for heavy firepower?” I heard Sebaste’s voice ask from the vehicle where she and two of her companions sat in. As I watched, I saw one of the other Spartans, the one she called Viktor swing what appeared to be a tri-barreled machine gun turret mounted on the back of the vehicle towards more of the Sin Eaters and open fire.

“Nice timing!” I replied with a grin. “I was just wishing for some Spartans! Now remember, these things need to be taken down with EXTREME prejudice! It's the only thing we can do for them at this point.”

“Roger that.” Sebaste then pressed something on the side of her helmet before saying, “Alright Sasha, get over here, we’re gonna need you for this one!”

A loud rumbling was then heard within minutes of her saying that alongside branches and the occasional log shattering, before a massive tank rumbled into view, with a single cannon mounted on the turret and what appeared to be two heavy caliber guns, one mounted on each side of the tank. As we stared in shock, the turret and one of the side mounted guns swung to the side before both weapons roared to life, the BOOM BOOM BOOM of the main gun mixing with the THUDTHUDTHUD of the side gun as both sent heavy caliber rounds tearing through multiple Sin Eaters, some of which were then ripped apart by internal explosions after some of the rounds from the side guns connected.

I shook myself out of my stupor, before turning back to the rest of my group. “Right, we all need to carve a path to that Lightwarden. Don’t hold back, and Haley, use swords for this. I have no idea what the Light aether will do to you if you attack bare handed.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Sumire cut in with a grin, Cendrillon appearing behind her, with a sort of techno violin starting to play. “I can use Ed’s gift to shield you from that, so Haley, go right ahead and cut loose!”

We all grinned as we charged into the fray.

“Who sings this song about us pain and sorrow?
(Who sings this song about us pain and sorrow?)
Kagami utsushi no gou wo sumashita furi tsukurotte mitsumeteta
(We've been staring at our mirrored karma, pretending we're done for)”

Luna jumped into the air, swinging through the forest on her Strand, and throwing green daggers out, skewering the Sin Eaters in her path, before crashing down into a dense group of them, suspending and immobilizing them for easy pickings. Haley, meanwhile, was currently in one of her Satan Soul Take Overs, ripping them apart in demonic fashion.

“Kurikaesu itami ima da shiranu akogare
(The pain repeats, a longing yet unknown)
The weight of my sin nails me down agaitemo
(The weight of my sin nails me down, no matter how I struggle)”

Sebaste and her group provided what fire support they could to deadly effect, she and the other two spartans having apparently abandoned their vehicle, although I could have sworn I saw it dematerialize out of the corner of my eye, and were now using what weapons they were armed with, while the tank continued to wreak havoc with its firepower on any Sin Eaters that made the mistake of getting in its sights. A startled exclamation from Rainbow caused me to spin around in time to see one of the Spartans, the one with the clawed gauntlet Sebaste called Alexia, fire off a magic blast that sent a Sin Eater flying.

“Is it the future falling guuzou suuhai mitai da
(Is it the future falling, just like idolatry?)
Kasuka na fuan no ashioto wo despair of all
(The faint footsteps of uneasiness are the despair of all)”

I whistled in awe, before throwing one of my own Shackle Grenades towards a rather dense cluster, suspending them, before casting an overpowered Firaga spell in an attempt to replicate the Solar Guardian’s Fusion Grenades. Didn’t quite work how I intended, since instead of exploding, I simply immolated the lot. Meh, that worked just as well.

“Emptiness follows you here this never ending war
(Emptiness follows you here this never ending war)
Shinjitai mirai e makimodoshite
(Rewind to the future we want to believe in)”

Luna then came crashing down in front of me, glowing green with Strand, as she then combines it with her Double Form! How in the heck did I not think of that first?!? Anyway, with her Keyblades wrapped in Strand, she then whips them around her, making them extend out until they pierce through multiple Eaters, before whipping them around, causing them, as well as the other Eaters that they hit, to unravel into green threads.

“Yurusenakute escalate shite escalate shite
(Can't accept it, so escalate, escalate)
I need someone to me wo fuse
(I need someone to cast down my eyes)
Pray in my name taiko e inotte orete wa tsunaide
(Pray in my name, pray to ancient times. Broken, then joined again)
Again and again and again rasen no you one thing
(Again and again and again. Like a helix, one thing)”

“Alright, time to bring out the big guns!” Sebaste shouted, before throwing up her rifle. It then shimmered as the weapon changed into a heavy machine gun, which she caught with a grunt with both hands before opening fire, while Viktor went from a rifle to an Energy Sword and Alexia drew her own blade. As one, the two charged in, their strikes precise and devastating. Meanwhile, the tank driver, Sasha, had exited his own vehicle and was tearing through his own group of Sin Eaters with a pair of large gauntlets with metal claws mounted on top of them, each blade crackling with energy, just as an earth shaking roar blasted through the area.

“Naze tatakai tsuzukeru no? mada sutekirenai mono wa
(Why do I keep fighting? What is it that I can't let go?)
Karisome ka tashika na kibou ka fureru hari
(Is the needle's touch something fleeting, or a definite hope?)”

Coming through the trees was the Lightwarden. I instantly recognized it as Philia, the very first Warden to fall to the Warrior of Darkness.

“Looks like we found our target!” I called out, quickly activating Angel of Black and White, while channeling Strand. The black wing was now green, while Strand energy wrapped around my right side. “Seb, you got anything that can take it out quickly?”

“Searching to find the truth there’s no tomorrow
(Searching to find the truth there’s no tomorrow)
Samenai yume moyou wo satotta fuu ni ashiratte sagashiteta
(I've been searching for the pattern of an endless dream, pretending I've already attained it)”

“Yeah, I got at least 2 weapons that’ll fit the bill.” Sebaste said. “Vik, Alexia, switch to Gauss Cannons, time to ground this turkey!” The two other Spartans nodded before sheathing/ deactivating their weapons and summoning a large two handed railgun, Sebaste following suit with her own gun. “Ready….” As one, the three Spartans took aim at the Lightwarden. “Aim….” A headache-inducing Vreeeeeee was then heard as the weapons charged up, the coils glowing blue. “FIRE!” Sebaste shouted, and at once, all three sent a single hyper accelerated slug streaking faster than we could blink into the Lightwarden, causing it to roar in pain as the tungsten slugs smashed into its body.

“Same vision repeats itself houkai sunzen no rakuen
(The same vision repeats itself, a paradise on the verge of collapse)
Aragatta hate no ketsumatsu wo resisting me
(The outcome of all my resistance, resisting me)”

“Here it comes,” I muttered, jumping out of the way of a claw slash. “How long until those railguns are ready for another shot?”

“A few seconds!” Sebaste said, jumping backwards to avoid the same slash. “These guns can fire a bit faster than the MAC guns they’re based off of!”

“I must be near to break down release me i’m in pain
(I must be near to break down release me I’m in pain)
Shinjiau sekai e kakikaeru ima
(Rewrite it now, into a world where we have faith in one another)”

“Good!” I grunt, rolling away from a ground pound. “I’ll keep it off of you while they charge. We’ll finish off the small fry once this thing is dead!”

I quickly jumped into the air, throwing needles of Strand into the Warden, causing it to roar in pain as it turned its attention towards me, only to cover its face as Sumire starts taking potshots with her Ace of Spades, the shots exploding on contact.

“Shimarenakute escalate shite escalate shite
(It can't be dyed, so escalate, escalate)
I can live and die for sora wo kake
(I can live and die just for a dash through the heavens)
Give me a name namae wo tsukete shibori dashita koe wa
(Give me a name, christen me. My voice is wrung dry)”

“FIRE!” Sebaste shouted, the THOOM of the Gauss Cannons ripping through the air as they sent their hypersonic payload into the Warden once again, completely blowing its head off this time.

“Whoo! Bullseye!” Viktor cheered.

“Celebrate later!” Luna cut in. “We still need to finish off the rest of them!”

“Again and again and again arashi no gou always
(Again and again and again. In a storm of karma, always)
Mada aragai tsuzukeru no? mabuta ni yakitsuku mono wa
(Am I still going to struggle? Something is burnt into my eyelids)
Moredasu hikari ka zangai ka yureru kage
(Are the swaying shadows just light leaking out, or are they broken remains?)”

I nodded. “Keep them off me for a sec, I’ve got an idea, but I need a little time!”

“You got it!” Sebaste said. As the three moved up to engage the rest of the Sin Eaters with Sasha and the others, I heard Viktor say to her with a snicker, “I can’t wait to hear how you got into this scenario, Seb.” To which the only response he got from that was an annoyed groan.

I quickly began charging up a Megidolaon spell, but instead of using shadows, I began pumping in Strand.

“Vik, call in a Cyclop!” Sebaste shouted as she sent another hypersonic slug into a Sin Eater. The Spartan in question nodded before leaping into the air. The space around him began to shimmer before a large mech formed around him, equipped with a single arm mounted cannon. Stomping forward, the mech slapped aside one Sin Eater before disintegrating another with the arm mounted cannon. Alexia and Sasha for their part, fought back to back, their blades and guns flashing as they coordinated their moves.

“Yurusenakute escalate shite escalate shite
(Can't accept it, so escalate, escalate)
I need someone to me wo fuse
(I need someone to cast down my eyes)
Pray in my name taiko e inotte orete wa tsunaide
(Pray in my name, pray to ancient times. Broken, then joined again)”

I could feel it as the spell finished charging. The usual murky, gray orb, replaced with a shimmering orb of tangled threads, shifting through the colors of the rainbow. With a nod, I took to the air, ready to unleash my newly created spell.

Luna’s eyes widened as she saw my jump. “GET DOWN!”

“Again and again and again rasen no you one thing
(Again and again and again. Like a helix, one thing)
Naze tatakai tsuzukeru no? mada sutekirenai mono wa
(Why do I keep fighting? What is it that I can't let go?)
Karisome ka tashika na kibou ka fureru hari
(Is the needle's touch something fleeting, or a definite hope?)”

“Megido-Needlestorm!” I cried, throwing my spell directly at the advancing army, watching as it broke into a hundred bolts before impacting the Sin Eaters. I watched as the bolts then exploded, destroying the vast majority of the army, with little creatures created from the energy killing the last of them.

“Pray in my name”

I slowly lowered myself back to the ground, collapsing to a knee as I panted for breath as Sumire’s song ended.

Where Sebaste and her group were situated, an energy dome surrounded them, having protected them from the barrage. It soon deactivated, leaving four stunned figures looking at me. “Bloody hell, just what powerset are you packing?!” Sebaste asked. “Cause that sure as hell wasn’t something I remember from KH2!”

“Something… I can’t really do… Without passing out…” I panted out, my vision swimming. “Speaking of which…” With those parting words, my vision faded as I passed out. The last thing I heard was someone yelping “Crap! Grab her before she hits the-!”

***

“Ugh!” I groaned, awakening to the mother of all headaches. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself within the Tower’s infirmary, with Luna, Melissa and the Spartans around my bed peering down on me. “Hey guys,” I croaked.

“Geez girl, don’t scare us like that!” one of the Spartans, Viktor if I remembered correctly, said, relief in his voice. “You’re lucky Alexia managed to catch you with magic before you faceplanted into the ground from exhaustion. She also helped heal everyone else that needed it.”

Melissa nodded with a glare. “Just what in the HELL were you thinking combining a paracausal ability that we know precious little about, with your light magic?!?”

“I was thinking that we needed to get rid of a small army of Sin Eaters before they marched on town,” I groaned, slowly pushing myself into a sitting position.

The Spartan with the clawed gauntlet, Alexia, put a firm hand on me. “Easy, you’re still recovering from mana exhaustion.” She said, as I then heard a faint whirrr from the clawed arm as it moved. “I would suggest taking it slow and steady.”

“Agreed,” I groaned, before pointing over towards the cabinet. “Grab me an Elixir from the cabinet. It's designed for situations exactly like this.”

This time Sebaste moved to grab it. As she opened the cabinet, she was met with bottles of different shapes and sizes. “Oh bloody hell…” She muttered. “Which one am I grabbing exactly?”

“Gold bottle with stars and moons on it,” Melissa replies from where she’s analyzing… Something.

“Got it.” The Spartan soon backs away from the cabinet with the Elixir in hand, before walking over and handing it to me. “So what exactly was that thing you did? I’ve never seen anything like it before!” she asked as I chugged the bottle.

Viktor cut in, “It almost looked like something that was teased/rumored for Destiny 2 a year before Sasha, Alexia and I were displaced.”

I sighed in relief as I set down the empty bottle before turning back to the Spartans. “OK, the short answer is that I took a power that was gifted to us by a friend, and combined with my own magic. Long answer, I took the Darkness energy that permeates the universe, and combined it with my natural Light magic.”

"So you somehow managed to combine the two elements that are complete anathema to each other?" Sebastian spoke up, having walked in at that moment.

“Not exactly,” Melissa replied. “While that would logically be what happened, we’ve since learned that Light and Darkness are not diametrically opposed to each other. Light would be a creation power, while Darkness would be a power of the mind.”

"So basically you're saying Light is the physical power while Darkness is the mental power? That's a bit to wrap my mind around…" Sebaste commented.

I snorted. “Tell me about it. I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a master of using it either.”

"Well, I *do* happen to know a place that can help you with getting better with your abilities and get to meet more displaced. Beacon Academy, run by Sun Wukong. I'm actually one of the combat teachers there." Sebaste said.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I sighed, dragging myself out of the bed, stretching and popping my back. “Much better.”

"Out of curiosity, who have you met so far, displaced wise?" Viktor asked me, having taken his helmet off.

“Well,” I close my eyes, trying to remember everyone. “First was a Spider-Man OC who called himself Dark Spider,(there was a visible start from Sebaste at that name) then there was Lex, who was a Levy Displace, then Ed, Lex’s sisters Nat and Sora, not to mention her brother Adam. Hmm, oh yeah! The Wendy and Juvia Displaced, not to mention Mina, who was a younger version of me, now THAT was a weird one. I think that was everyone…”

“Don’t forget about Alex,” Luna pipped up.

“Right!” I nodded with a smile. “Alex was a Xion Displaced in the same sort of boat as me, since he was originally a guy as well, not to mention all the other baggage he’s picked up…”

"I must've had something in my ear, cause I swear I heard Dark's name in that list…" Sebaste muttered. "And by Ed, I assume you mean Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

“Correct on both,” I nodded with a smile. “I take it you know them?”

"Edward, no, I know of him through what I've heard from other displaced, Dark, I do know, I was actually the first displaced he summoned, me and a…" here, her voice cracked a bit. "Former friend of mine."

Silence fell in the medbay as I watched the Spartan pull herself together. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do, but apparently, Luna did, since she went straight up to her and gave her a hug.

"Thank you, your highness." Sebaste said, returning the hug. "I do apologize for my loss of composure there, I've got a bit of baggage on my end I'm still dealing with."

“No apology necessary,” I replied quietly, glancing over to Melissa, who was pointedly not looking at any of us as she tinkered on her control panel.

The Spartan sighed. "In any case, last time I saw Dark, he had been hanging out in Canterlot due to some evil doppelganger shenanigans that ensued when another displaced got pulled into his world and a certain mare whose daughter bullies a certain trio went and started fear mongering the ponies into booting him out just because of a look of anger on his face."

“He was back in Ponyville, last I talked to him,” I shrugged. “Along with a… Passenger…”

"A passenger? Who, Cece? Rainbow?" She asked.

I grimaced. “Not…that…kind of passenger.”

"Wait, by passenger, you don't mean the symbiote kind, do you?" Alexia asked, shivering.

“Uh, yeah,” I nodded.

"Lemme guess, he got Venom." Sebaste said.

“With Carnage hanging around with an evil organization, yeah,” I nodded.

"Bloody hell…" she groaned. "And you'd think this multiverse would stop throwing curveballs at me…"

“And yet, I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Melissa cut in with a chuckle.

"It's funny, I've encountered a lot of different displaced, from Team Rocket and Kruger, to Doom Marines and characters from tabletop games I enjoyed before I was displaced, to even a freaking Ben 10 Jotun. And no, I'm not even joking on that last bit." Sebaste said.

I blinked a bit before shaking my head a bit as I summoned an orb of tangled Strand energy. “Anyway, if you want to know more about the Strand energy I used, take a look.”

"Looks like one of those yarn balls my mom would leave lying around the house when she did knitting." Sebaste joked.

I chuckled as Melissa pulled out a small containment unit, enclosing the orb in a tube of glass. “There you go, one orb of Strand energy to go.”

Sebaste shook her head and politely held her hand up. "We don't really have the tools to study this back in our Equestria. Besides, none of us are Guardians, if you know what I mean."

“Neither are we,” I grinned. “There’s something about our connection to the void that allows us to use paracausal energies such as these. Plus, you can always figure it out the same way me and Luna did; trial and error. I will admit though, that a source of Strand makes it much easier.”

“That’s where that containment unit comes in,” Melissa cut in. “It uses the tangle in there to locate a wellspring of Strand.”

The Spartan sighed before gently taking it. "Well, if nothing else, it'll give my Twi something to go nuts over. Although Nyx won't be happy her mom will be pulling more all-nighters, again." She said, snickering.

I chuckled a bit. “Well, it's been fun, but I do believe it's time I sent you home.” I turned around and beckoned them to follow as I led the way down to the Gate room. “You have your Token with you, right?”

Sebaste nodded, pulling out the same AR that started the encounter. "Right here."

“Good,” Melissa called from her control booth. “Just set it on that tray by the Stargate.”

“I’m sorry, Star… Gate?” Alexia asked in confusion.

"As in those portals from that tv/movie series?" Sebaste asked.

With a grin, Melissa brings the main lights up, revealing the Gate. “Yep!”

"First off, HOW THE HECK DID YOU EVEN BUILD ONE?! Second, are you sure you don't want to do the standard "X, your contract is completed"? Sebaste gave a nervous laugh as she looked at it.

“In order,” I laughed in amusement. “Surprisingly, the Doctor and Celestia tried to build it centuries ago, but they encountered some issues until I came around, and brought Ed in to help. As for the second question, I’ve been told that this method is smoother, plus it allows me to add to my database of worlds to explore.”

"Trust me, the Equestria we're in isn't the safest place to explore currently." Sebaste said. "Not to mention adding one of these things to my Equestria would put your world in greater danger than what the Heartless are capable of."

“Unlike the original show, this version of the Gate doesn’t actually need a receiving ring,” Melissa explained. “The only difference having a receiving ring would have for you, is that you could open your own wormholes, rather than be reliant on us to open one for you. That being said, we typically don’t make unexpected visits, except in emergencies.”

"Alright.." Sebaste said, sounding unconvinced. "To quote a certain franchise, ‘Beam us up, Scotty!'" she joked, setting the rifle onto the indicated tray.

Instantly, the inner ring began to spin, showing that the dialing sequence had begun. In no time at all, the portal was open for the Spartans to head home.

"Hopefully we'll run into each other again soon, Kairi." Sebaste said as the two other Spartans and the Space Marine gave their own farewells and walked through the portal. "If you do ever require our aid again, give us a shout."

“Of course,” I replied with a smile, and a bow. “Safe travels, and may your heart be your guiding key.”

"As my old friend would say, ‘The Emperor Protects!’." Giving a salute, she then walked through the portal.

Author's Note

Well, would you look at that! Two chapters in one day! I don't usually have that! In any case, this chapter is a crossover with Titan Commander Sebaste's fic Equestrian Black Crusade: Wardens. Go give that fic a look and some love, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

Song used in this chapter:

Escalate by Aimer

The Key to Nightmares

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 28: The Key to Nightmares

[Luna’s POV]

“Past the far edge of fate ring blades dark and light, toning the coming of the end.” Blazing red eyes burned over a hungry grin, holding me in place. “But whose end shall it tone? Shall it tone the end of your world, sating my hunger? Or shall it tone my end?” My breath caught in my throat as Tash’s grin grew in malice. “Or perhaps, little Dark Spark, your other self will join me.”

A high, cold, cackle came from beside the monster, drawing my gaze to my Darkness given form; Nightmare Moon. “As long as you hold the Keyblade, I am NEVER far away…”

***

I bolt up with a gasp, sweat soaked sheets spilling off of me. I close my eyes, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm my raging heart.

“Just a dream,” I muttered, relieved that Big Sis Kairi wasn’t here right now. Honestly, she treats me like I’m made of glass sometimes. “Well, too late to go back to sleep,” I sighed after a glance at the clock. “Nothing for it but to meet the day.”

A few seconds later, I’m on my feet, pulling on my clothes for the day, when I hear a faint clicking sound. Looking around, my eyes eventually land on an old typewriter. An old typewriter of my own creation in fact. I had designed it centuries ago as a way to detect prophecies within my dreams of foresight. Believe me when I say, you DO NOT want to try interpreting dreams of foresight. A sense of dread filled me as I hesitantly pulled out the paper, my face paling as I read the prophecy it spat out.

‘Past the far edge of fate.
Ring blades Dark and Light.
Toning the coming of the end.
Split apart and failure is sure.
The day can only be won.
By two as one.’

I quickly stuff the paper into my diary. Big Sis can’t see this. Not yet…

***

“Haha! Eat light Taken scum!” Scootaloo yelled in glee, pointing her flashlight at another possessed object. As it turns out, Scoots and I both have a love of horror stories. So, we did what any responsible younger siblings should do. We raided Big Sis’s horror collection, and thus decided to try out Alan Wake. Don’t ask me why, but for some reason, fighting manifestations of darkness with nothing but a flashlight really appealed to us.

“Girls, what are you still doing in there?” Sumire’s voice crackled over the PA. “Don’t you all need to be somewhere?”

“Not ‘til tomorrow morni- WOAH!” Scoots yelped, ducking underneath another possessed object.

“You mean in 45 minutes?” the Phantom Thief shot back.

“Yeah, you guys were in there all night!” Apple Bloom’s irate voice yelled. “Belle’s been out here in the fetal position and whimpering all night long, and you two don’t seem to care!”

Now that she mentioned it, I could faintly hear Belle whimpering in terror, muttering “Its just a game” over and over to herself. Yeah, I think we went a little overboard.

“Ah, horsefeathers,” Scoots muttered. “Alright, fine, you guys win. But I wanna play the ending no later than tomorrow night!”

“Why? What’s tomorrow?” I asked, ending the simulation.

“Nightmare Night, of course!” Scoots replied. “And a scary night needs a scary story!”

“Nightmare Night?” I furrowed my brow in confusion. “What’s that?”

“Its kinda like Halloween,” Melissa explained as she came in. “Its a night of ghouls, ghosts, and goblins, with everyone dressing in costumes and going Trick or Treating.”

“Oh! You mean like I saw in that one episode of WandaVision?”

“Exactly like that,” the techie replied with a grin. “Now get going, before Ms. Cheerilee gets mad at you for being late!”

The two of us nodded, before grabbing our friends and booking it to the school house, though not before apologizing to Belle.

“Alright class, that’ll be all for today,” Ms. Cheerilee smiled dismissing us for the day.

I breathed a sigh of relief. All day everyone was shooting me odd looks, not to mention avoiding me like the plague. Well, everyone except for Bloom, Scoots, Belle and Ms. Scratch.

“...don’t even know why they let her stay,” my ears perk up at the sound of an unwelcome voice; Diamond Tiara. “Clearly she’s dang-”

“Quiet!” Silver Spoon hissed to her friend. “She’s standing right there!”

The pair shoot me a glare before sauntering out, noses in the air.

“What was that about?” I asked in confusion.

“Eh, who cares?” Bloom replies with a shrug.

“Yeah, come on!” Scoots agrees, pulling us out the door. “We’ve gotta go finish Alan Wake!”

“Alright, alright,” I laughed, though not without noticing how she had a rather guilty look on her face, mirrored by Bloom and Belle.

The trip back to the Tower was… Weird. For one thing, it seemed like the whole town was deserted, kinda like that time when we first met Zecora. Not only that, it seemed like the Cakes, two of the nicest ponies in town, didn’t even want us in Sugarcube Corner, claiming the shop was closed. Though, I’m pretty sure I saw a few shapes hiding in the back.

“This is getting ridiculous,” I muttered in frustration. “I’ll just get Little Chef to make us a snack at the Tower.”

After that, we started heading back, though not before Auntie Pinkie popped out of a bush to give us each a cupcake. I swear, she has a sixth sense for finding ponies who need to be cheered up.

Anyway, as soon as we got back to the Tower, Scoots all but dragged us back to the Simulator, narrowly avoiding a collision with Haley on the way. Not gonna lie, I didn’t expect her to become so obsessed with Alan Wake. Regardless, it didn’t take us long to get the game booted up in the Simulator. Admittedly, we’d pretty much finished the game already, but the way that we’d been going through last night forced us to start at the beginning of the last chapter again.

Not gonna lie, I took that bit of time redoing the chapter to plan. You see, I could tell that Scoots, Belle and Bloom were hiding something from me, and what better way to get one of them to spill the beans, then to do so while they’re distracted?

I waited until we started making our way to Cauldron Lake, then turned to the purple haired filly. “So, Scoots, what was up with everyone today?”

“Huh?” Scoots grunted, eyes scanning the forest for more Taken. “What d’ya mean?”

“Well,” I started slowly. “The town was pretty empty, the cakes were acting weird, and I could have sworn I saw a few ponies hiding in Sugarcube Corner.”

“Oh that,” she grunted. “Probably hiding from Nightmare Moon.” The filly’s eyes widened as she realized her mistake.

“Wanna run that by me again?” I asked, eyes narrowing.

“Um, uh,” Scoots’ eyes went back and forth. “Oh hey, look at that! That’s where we need to go!”

“Computer, pause simulation,” I growled out as the game around us paused. “Scoots, I know you know something, and you know I don’t like being kept in the dark. You don’t need to protect me or spare my feelings.”

“Straight talk, huh?” Scoots sighs, staring at me for a second. “Fine, you win. The town’s hiding from you. They think Nightmare Moon’s gonna come back using you.”

My eyes widened in shock. “What? I-I… But that’s-”

“Ridiculous?” Scoots cut me off. “Stupid? Inconceivable? Yeah we know. It's the stupidest thing we’ve ever heard come from the town, but let's be honest here. It's not the strangest thing that’s happened in this town. But even with that, when was the last time the ponies of Ponyville thought something through logically? I mean, look at what happened to Zecora!”

Any response I may have had died in my throat. I knew she was right. Heck, I had seen how close minded the town was for myself.

Scoots sighs before ending the simulation outright before grabbing my hand. “Come on.”

“W-where are we going?” I asked, trying to suppress the shudder in my voice.

“The studio,” the purple haired filly replied. “It’s clear you need to vent, and I’ve been holding onto something I wrote for a time like this.”

I nodded as she gently guided me out of the Simulator, and past the rest of the CMC, who quietly fell into step behind us, having heard every word. As soon as we entered the studio Melissa had built for us, Bloom and Belle entered the recording booth, getting all the equipment set up, while Scoots pulled some sheet music from her bag. With a sigh, I took the pages and started to read, noticing that it was meant for a full band. Well, nothing a little tweaking couldn’t fix…

***

30 minutes later.

“Alright,” Scoots’ voice came through my headset as I sat at the piano. “Whenever you’re ready, though, I still think you should have left it as it was.”

I nodded before beginning to play, my fingers sliding along the keys as I poured everything I was feeling into the song.

“When the shadows come
And the night is fallin’
And the voices tell you this might be the end when.”

I closed my eyes, my voice echoing the frustration and anger I felt at this whole situation, never noticing the figure standing in the shadows.

“Screamin’ when your heart is barely beatin’
When your lungs are barely breathin’
Thinkin’ this might be the end when
When you’re caught in a
When you’re caught in a
When you’re caught in a.”

I paused in my playing for a moment to gather myself, then pushed on, a more hopeful note entering my voice.

“Crossfire
When you’re goin’ through hell
And you’re screamin’ for help
Crossfire
When you’re losin’ yourself
I’ll be runnin’ to help
If you’re broken again, there’s safety
And the darkness is a liar
Crossfire
When you’re goin’ through hell
And you’re screamin’ for help
Hold on
Hold on.”

The figure in the shadows closed her eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek before she silently came up behind me, wrapping her arms around me as I sang. I knew without looking that it was Sumi. I could feel as tears started welling up as I kept singing.

“When you’ve loved and lost
Broken into pieces
And your demons tell you no one’s gonna hear you”

Tears were streaming down my face now as I let everything out.

“Screamin’ when your heart is barely beatin’
Don’t ever stop believin’
‘Cause this won’t be the end when
When you’re caught in a
When you’re caught in a
When you’re caught in a.”

I opened my eyes, tears still streaming down my face, but with a glint of determination in my eyes.

“Crossfire
When you’re goin’ through hell
And you’re screamin’ for help
Crossfire
When you’re losin’ yourself
I’ll be runnin’ to help
If you’re broken again, there’s safety
And the darkness is a liar
Crossfire
When you’re goin’ through hell
And you’re screamin’ for help
Hold on
Hold on.”

I took a breath still playing as I heard Sumi repositioning herself, her arms never leaving me.

“Hold on.”

“If you’re caught in a
If you’re caught in a
If you’re caught in a
If you’re caught in a (Hold on)
If you’re caught in a
If you’re caught in a
If you’re caught in a”

“Crossfire.”

Silence rang for a fair bit of time before it was broken by the door opening and being tackled in a hug by the CMC. We all just stayed there like that for a while, tears streaming down all our faces as we took comfort from each other’s presence. But unfortunately, like all good things, our time together like that came to an end.

“Girls, your sisters are waiting for you downstairs,” the red haired Phantom Thief murmured.

The CMC groaned softly, breaking their hug to grab their bags and trudging downstairs with Sumi to head home. I lingered at the top of the stairs just long enough to hear Sumi say, “Girls, we’ve got a problem.”

I didn’t stay any longer though. I quickly wiped my tears away, heading to my room. I had plans to make, and a costume to craft…

***

[Sumire’s POV]

“Girls, we’ve got a problem,” I grimaced, hating what the town’s actions were doing to Luna.

AJ, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all turned to me, all of them looking somewhat confused.

“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with why our sisters look like their best friend died, would it?” Rarity questioned, a slight edge to her voice.

“Not directly, but yes,” I nodded. “I assume you noticed the behavior of everypony in town?”

The three nodded. “It's almost like the Zecora… Mess…” Rainbow’s eyes widened in realization before she started cursing up a storm as she realized what was going on.

“Uh, Sugarcube,” AJ placed a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder, cutting off her rant. “Mind sharing with the rest of us what you figured out?”

“The town’s letting their imaginations get the better of them again,” Rainbow growled. “If I’m right, someone started a rumor saying that Nightmare Moon would come back on Nightmare Night, using Luna as a host of some sort, all to run her out of town. And I can guess who started the rumors in the first place.”

I sighed. “Let me guess, a certain entitled bitch that married a stallion far too nice for his own good, and has corrupted her daughter something fierce?”

The chromatic mare nodded. “Spoiled Rich. You don’t come into town very often, so you wouldn’t have heard any of the things Spoiled has said about all of you here in the Tower.”

“Regardless,” Rarity cut in. “Imagine what it's doing to Luna right now.”

“Considering she literally broke down in our arms, I don’t think we need to to imagine,” I sighed as the CMC nodded. “In any case, we need to do something about the town and Spoiled. After that, I have an idea about cheering up Luna.”

A feral grin grew on Rarity’s face. “Sounds to me like we need to call in Twilight and Fluttershy.”

I frowned. “I can understand Twilight, but why Fluttershy?”

“I assume you know that all the animals living with her are rescues?” Rarity asked, to which I nodded. “Well, what you probably don’t know is that she rescued every single one of them herself. She literally cut down abusive owners, with nothing but her Stare and a very scary scolding. Now imagine that anger multiplied by ten and directed at the town, particularly at Spoiled Rich.”

I shuddered. “I am, and I think it's what's needed here. Alright then, let’s get to work!”

***

[Luna’s POV]

I stood in front of my mirror, a satisfied smirk on my face as I examined the costume I had put together. I wore a long-sleeve dark navy-blue legless leotard with regular navy-blue cuffs, along with a thin, gold belt decorated with several crimson jewels. Over that, I had a hooded navy-blue cloak, and on my feet were matching ruffled ankle-boots with grayish-black soles. The cloak was decorated with a round, crimson jewel, similar to a brooch, which helped to keep the cloak shut, and finally, and finally, on my forehead was a red jewel outlined in black.

My Raven costume was perfect!

I took a moment to study my reflection one last time, before pulling my hood up and stepping out of my room. I quickly made my way out of the Tower and started heading down the road to town, where I could easily hear music in the distance. Music that was steadily growing louder.

“Hang on, were there always tombstones on this path?” I muttered as I watched a pony’s shadow move along the tombstones.

“Colts and fillies of every age.
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Come behold a ghastly sight.
This, our town, on Nightmare Night.”

Bloom, Scoots and Belle jumped out from behind one of the tombstones, wearing a skeleton costume, a zombie costume and a mummy costume respectively.

“This is Nightmare Night. It is such a fright.”

Bloom motions towards a nearby fence along the road as jack-o-lanterns impaled themselves on the posts.

“Pumpkins scream in the dead of night.
This is Nightmare Night, everyone turn out the light.”

The CMC guided me into town where we found Ms. Cheerilee and Berry Punch, one in a straightjacket, and the other a devil costume waiting for us, with little Pipsqueak between them in a cute little pirate costume.

“Trick or treat,
Till the neighbors gonna die of fright.
It's our town, everypony scream.
Nightmare Night is on the scene.”

A growl from the shadows on my left sent a chill up my spin as I quickly turned to find Spike with glowing red eyes grinning at me.

“I am the one hiding under your bed.
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red”

A mint green pony quickly stepped out beside the dragon, spiders in her hair and each of her fingers ending in a snake head.

“I am the one hiding under your stairs.
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair.”

I jumped as every door and window around me then crashed open with ponies in various costumes joining the song, before slamming them closed again.

“This is Nightmare Night
This is Nightmare Night
Nightmare Night. Nightmare Night
Nightmare Night. Nightmare Night!”

Scoots grabbed my hand and pulled me to the main town square, where I could see Rarity sitting elegantly on the roof of her boutique, dressed like a regal vampire.

“In this town, we call home.
Everypony hail to the Nightmare song.”

I was so focused on her that I didn’t notice the mayor sneaking up behind me until she started her part, causing me to jump in fright.

“In this town, don't we love it now?
Everypony's waiting on the next surprise.”

She then pointed towards the corner of Rarity’s boutique where I could see her cat Opal going towards the trash cans.

“Round the corner, colts hiding in the trash can.
Something's waiting now to pounce and how you'll”

Snips, Snails, Dinky and Twist jumped out, startling Opal into running back inside.

“CRY!
THIS IS NIGHTMARE NIGHT!
CREEPY SLIME!
BLACK AND WHITE!
AREN'TH YOU SCARED?”

Twilight and Trixie swooped in on two broomsticks, of all things, causing us all to duck.

“Well that's just fine. Say it once, say it twice.
Take a chance and roll the dice.
Ride with the moon in the dead of night.”

As soon as I looked back up, I found myself face to face with Rainbow Dash in a grim reaper costume.

“Everypony scream! Everypony scream!
Nightmare Night is on the scene.”

Suddenly I found myself whirled around to find Pinkie in a surprisingly normal clown outfit, right up until she reached up and yanked her face off.

“I am the clown with the tear-away face.
Here in a flash and gone without a trace.”

Applejack was soon looming behind her as well.

“I am the ‘who’ when you call ‘who’s there?’”

A strong breeze suddenly blew through. I turned to find Derpy sitting at one of the windows in a Santa costume with a fan next to her.

“I am the wind blowing through your hair.”

A great booming voice then thundered from above. I looked up and saw a strange, vaguely skull shaped shadow on the moon singing to us.

“I am the shadow on the moon at night.
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright.”

Just about the whole town had filled the square now, and they all joined in the song.

“This is Nightmare Night
This is Nightmare Night
Nightmare Night. Nightmare Night
Nightmare Night. Nightmare Night!”

A shaking pony under a simple sheet, who I quickly identified as Fluttershy, stepped out to softly add to the song.

“Spooky creatures everywhere.
Everypony's out to scream and scare.”

It was then that Sumi and Melissa wrapped their arms around both of my arms.

“That's our job.
You got that right.
In this town on Nightmare Night.”

The mayor had jumped right in my face again.

“In this town, don't we love it now?
Everypony's waiting on the next surprise.”

Suddenly, the dark visage of my alter ego flashed on the moon, causing me to pale.

“Nightmare Moon will catch you in your room and
Scream like a banshee.
Make you jump out of your
Skin! This is Nightmare Night.
Everypony scream!”

Rarity suddenly appeared on a platform in the middle of the square, gesturing towards me.

“Won't you please make way for royalty?”

The crowd quickly parted, making a path for me towards the platform as the rest of the town sang.

“Nightmare Moon is Queen of the Nightmares now.
Everypony hail to the Nightmare Queen!
This is Nightmare Night! This is Nightmare Night!
Nightmare Night. Nightmare Night.
Nightmare Night. Nightmare Night.”

I gingerly climbed up on the platform, where I found Bloom, Scoots and Belle waiting for me.

“In this town, we call home.
Everypony hail to the Nightmare song.”

A tear made its way down my face as a smile grew.

“La la la, la la la la la. La la la la la, la la la la la la.
La la la, la la la la la. La la la la la, la la la la la la.
La la la, la la la la la. La la la la la, la la la la la la!”

Cheering went up in the town as the song came to an end. I quickly turned towards all my friends, who had gathered behind me. “Did you have something to do with this?” I asked.

“Well,” Sumi smiled sheepishly. “Most of the work was done by Twilight and Fluttershy.”

“Oh, don’t sell yourselves short,” an unfamiliar voice cut in. Approaching the platform was a very strange individual. It was a tall and extremely slender white skeleton with a skull sporting a cross-stitch mouth and bony fingers. He sported a black-and-white, pinstripe formal tuxedo with a bat-themed bowtie. “The name’s Jack, Jack Skellington, the spirit of Halloween. Or, I guess, Nightmare Night in this case.”

“You were the one I saw on the moon!” I cried. “But, you’re from another world, how’d you get here?”

“My dear, I can freely come and go between worlds that celebrate a form of Halloween,” the skeleton chuckled. “Though, in this case, it was your friend Twilight who called for me. She explained how this night was supposed to be in honor of you and was looking for ideas on how to cheer you up.”

“And the rest of the town?” I asked.

“That would be Fluttershy’s doing,” Twilight chuckled nervously. “Remind me to NEVER get on her bad side.”

The Mayor decided that now was a good idea to cut in. “On behalf of the town, I’d like to extend our deepest apologies. A certain mare had been trying to find a way to run you out of town for months now, and she used that particular set of rumors to try and do so.”

I sighed. “Its in the past. Next time, please just talk to me instead of doing the whole Zecora act.”

The crowd chuckled before starting to disperse to get started on the evening’s festivities. Suffice it to say, with Jack there, and the whole town interacting with me again, Nightmare Night was a night to remember!

[Unknown POV]

A tall, lanky man with dark skin, short black hair, and wearing a long, dark brown trench coat watched from the shadows, his face set into a permanent scowl. He watched as the filly was guided through the town by her friends, and nodded in satisfaction when he saw her inner turmoil calm.

“Well done Sumire Yoshizawa,” he muttered before turning to the outskirts of town. “You just saved us a lot of work.”

The man walked out as a tear in reality swallowed him up, but not before a certain red headed Phantom Thief saw, and heard him. “See you soon…”

Author's Note

Happy Nightmare Night!

Not gonna lie, this chapter fought me tooth and nail to get just right, and I feel like I may have rushed the ending a bit.

In any case, who is this mysterious man watching the Nightmare Night festivities?
Find out next chapter, I have something very special planned!

As for Kairi, well, I'll probably end up writing her Nightmare Night adventure next year. But suffice it to say, she'll be back soon. Just wanted to do some chapters centered on some of the other characters as a change of pace.

See you all next chapter!

Songs used in this chapter:

Crossfire by Skillet, covered by Cynthia Lok and Chewie Melodies

This is Nightmare Night

The Key to Preparations

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 29: The Key to Preparations

[Sumire’s POV]

“See you soon…”

I shivered as I watched the man on the screen fade into the shadows. I stood next to Melissa as she froze the video from last night before I glanced over to her. “Are you sure he was looking at me?”

“Couldn’t take his eyes off of you,” the techie nodded firmly. “If I had to guess, it almost seemed like he was evaluating you.”

“You think he put Spoiled up to what she did?”

“No,” she shook her head. “That was brewing for a while. This… I don’t know what this is.”

“I was about to run damage control,” the stranger’s deep voice spoke up behind us. We whirled around to find a tall, lanky man with dark skin, short black hair, and wearing a long, dark brown trench coat, and two immaculate hand cannons hanging from his belt casually leaning against the wall. “You have no idea how close you were to losing Luna to Tash’s forces.”

My Phantom Thief attire flashed into existence as I pointed Ace of Spades at the man. “Who are you?”

The man nodded as he pushed himself off of the wall. “Roland. Codename: Gunslinger. Leader of the Librarians of Atropos. I know who you are, Sumire Yoshizawa, and I know how much Kairi and Luna mean to you.”

“You are lucky I didn't have to intervene,” Roland crossed his arms in a disapproving way as he looked at the redhead. “You just got here and are already starting trouble in more ways you can count. As much as I don’t want to admit it, he was right in that you need more training, and so does Luna.”

I rolled my eyes, dismissing my gear. “Way to state the obvious there buddy. But if you’re implying I had something to do with this last fiasco, think again!”

“No one could have predicted what Spoiled was planning,” Melissa nodded in agreement.

“Hmmm…” the tall man looked at the duo, “ I’ll give that. You do have a point but my reason still stands. The way you handled it could’ve gone more than better.” He moved to one of the monitors with Luna, “She is one of the pillars of light and so are you. Tash nearly got her, and just having one of you is more than a disaster.” He quickly turned and drew one of his duel six shooters and placed the muzzle right below her chin, “Tell me what you'd have done if I were your enemy right now, could you save her?” He clicked the hammer back on the pistol.

“Tetrakarn!” I cried, raising the reflective barrier directly in front of the gunslinger. “I believe that answers that question.”

“Oh,” Roland raised an unamused eyebrow before he drew his second pistol and easily shattered the barrier with a casual backhand before having the second weapon pointed right at my forehead, “Were you expecting that?” He asked as he clicked the hammer back on the pistol too.

Both of us were frozen in place as Roland pulled the triggers only to hear an empty click.

”You two are stronger than most, but you're still too stiff,” Roland placed the revolvers back in their holsters, “Not even close to being ready to directly fight Tash let alone his Voidsent and Sin Eaters.”

“I can agree in regards to myself, but you may want to take another look at Luna,” I nodded towards the filly now glowing with green energy that had snuck up behind the man, a glowing dagger positioned at one of his vitals.

Roland blurred out and quickly blurred back in and was kneeling down in front of Luna and flicked her dead center in her forehead just below her horn causing the filly to yelp and fall back on her butt.

”Sorry about the rough introductions little princess but just know I had no intentions of harming you friends,” Roland stood to his full height, “I came here for you and her,” he motioned over his shoulder to me. “Again my name is Roland, Leader of the Librarians of Atropos, Codename: Gunslinger, and I guess you can figure out why. I also wanted to give you some more information on your enemy. I was hoping to run into your other agent, Master Sunset but it seems she has her hands tied in the Destiny Islands at the moment.”

“The Librarians of Atropos?” I tilted my head in confusion. “So, what? Are you some sort of organization that can travel in time? I mean, Atropos was one of the Greek Fates.”

“Not exactly. Our goal is to protect the worlds’ stories,” Roland shook his head. “We are a society of not just Keyblade wielders but also other strong hearted individuals that we recruit like you two,” he motioned to Melissa and me, “Our role is to protect the records of the worlds in the ancient Library of Atropos in the heart from which all worlds sprang, Scala ad Caelum. You see, each world has its own book and they’re stored in the library. Should that world fall it may be brought back as long as its book remains, should the books be destroyed then all hope is lost for its world.”

“Wait,” Luna frowns. “You’re saying that if the Library of Atropos falls…”

“...Everything else falls with it,” Roland confirms. “That’s why it's our last line. We lose it we lose it all, and its the main reason why Tash is so focus on Scala ad Caelum.” He looked at the three of us, “I won’t allow it to fall. Your three are too weak. If you went up against even a mid-level Voidsent you’d all die. You,” he looked at Luna, “barely survived that fight against the Anti-magic Knight’s partial manifestation of a Sin Eater. Had the alchemist not intervened when he did, we could've easily been dealing with a monster far worse than even Tash himself. I don’t much care for the Sage as he falls under my classification of Ender like the Wizard, but I can at least respect him for trying to save those he can. What would you have done if your friend Asta had fully been turned? Then you’d have to not only deal with his monstrous abilities while also fending off Tash hoping he doesn’t gain control of said Sin Eater, not to mention that monster of an older brother of the knight who's just been helping you just as a pastime?!”

Neither one of us had an answer for the Gunslinger, and that really didn’t sit right with either of us. It didn’t help that I had essentially been useless. If it wasn’t for Ed’s intervention, more than likely, we’d all be dead right now.

“Don’t you think we know all this?” Luna asked quietly, her head bowed, and her eyes cast in shadows. “Since you like to spy on us so much, you should already know that I’ve been training in secret. I’ve been doing that because I KNOW how much of a liability I still am.” She lifted her head, revealing a glare pointed directly at the Gunslinger. “I know that, and I don’t need some secret organization to point it out to me. So what are you REALLY here for?”

“What good is a gun that only rests on its wielder’s hip?” The gunslinger asked the little filly, “The answer is nothing. It’ll only look nice or gather rust. I’ve already told you all why I came here. The librarians only get involved in the events of a story if they absolutely have to, I am the last line in our defense of the Library so you should be able to guess how dire this situation is,” he looked at all of us with a dead serious glare, “The alchemist trained you well, even giving you a glimpse of what it’d be like to actually fight a being of Tash’s level. He even left you with a strand to help in the coming fight. I am here because he judged it necessary for me to come forth and he told me you need to be forged into the true Pillars of Light you’re meant to be.”

Roland crossed his arms, “As I said, I don't like him but I do respect him and if he personally came to me for this then I'd better do it. So, are you willing to accept my training and become honorary Librarians?”

Luna and I exchanged a glance before nodding. Together we turned and said “We accept your training Master Roland.”

“And you?” Roland turned to look at the techie. “I know your strong suit isn’t fighting but there are a number of texts I would have you look over and learn from that could greatly help with your advancements here.”

The blonde tech expert nodded in agreement. “I will happily accompany you all.”

“Very well, let us go to the stargate then,” Roland opened the door. “Ladies?” He motioned. “How do you prefer to travel?”

“Stargate’s fine,” I sighed in exasperation.

“I will loan you this then,” Roland said as he reached into his back pocket and handed me a Deringer pocket pistol. “But I will not be leaving it with you. The risk is too great.”

I shrugged, as I quickly led the group to the Gate Room, where I placed the pistol onto the scanner. The Gate quickly dialed in, the familiar portal materializing in the ring.

“After you,” I glared at the Gunslinger. His attitude and gruff manner had seriously rubbed me the wrong way.

“If the machine accepts the key I will see you there,” He said as he pulled his hat down and he walked, well more like faded away into nothing.

“Gosh, I hate that,” Melissa growled behind me. “Now I have to figure out a way to block his style of teleportation.”

“That was more of a projection,” Chibi Ed said as he popped into the room. “Had Roland really been here you’d all be out cold before opening the door. He’s an ass, but he has a good heart and better intentions. I’ve prepped all the machines in the Gate Room for you. Place the key into the slot and activate. The Gate will take you the rest of the way, later,” he waved and popped away to do whatever he does when we’re not looking.

I rolled my eyes, before dropping the key into the slot and leading the group through the Gate. We quickly found ourselves in a large, silent, atrium. In the center of the room stood a trio of white, marble statues. One depicted a figure in bulky armor holding a shield, another depicted a figure in a cloak, aiming down the sights of a hand cannon, and the third depicted a woman in robes, brandishing a Keyblade.

”You managed somehow,” we heard as Roland stepped out from behind the gunslinger statue. “I’m guessing you have your machine always on standby then?”

“In a sense, yes,” Melissa nodded. “To be more accurate, the Stargate only properly activates when receiving a signal from the DHD, or from any other device attuned to it. Otherwise, its, as you said, in standby.”

“That technology is dangerous and shouldn’t be in the hands of children,” Roland sighed, “But children are all it seems the guardians are anymore,” he said with a sad tone, “Follow me if you would,” he motioned and led into the building not far behind the statues.

Melissa’s eyes flashed, as little sparks of electricity sparked over her, before she calmed down and followed as she grumbled under her breath.

I shook my head before turning to Luna. “What do you think?”

Luna opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything, a voice rumbled through our heads.

“You would do well to follow the Gunslinger, oh Guardians, mine.”

I jolted, Ace of Spades coming up again. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

A low, rumbling laughter rolled through our heads. “You shall learn of me soon enough. For now, all you need know, is I am the Library’s greatest secret.”

The laughter faded out, as I lowered my hand cannon.

“Well, I guess we’re going into the spooky Library then,” I sighed.

“Right behind you,” Luna replied.

We quickly made our way down the same corridor that Roland and Melissa went down, catching up just as Roland stopped before a door.

“Its seems the Library has accepted you three,” He said without even turning around, “This place is sacred to all things in this universe. Should you ever wish to leave or become someone we must fight against you will be cursed to forget everything you learn here as soon as you choose to change sides or truly wish to leave with your heart, doomed to never enter and never remember for the rest of your days. Understand?”

We all nodded, just as that rumbling voice went through our heads again. “Enough with the theatrics, Roland, and let them in.”

“OK, seriously, who IS that?” I demand.

“Time for you to meet then,” Roland rolled his eyes as he forced the door open with one hand. “Enter,” he ordered.

We slowly filed into a large, round, crystalline chamber. A set of stairs before us led to a dais, and a tunnel leading down. As we climbed the stairs, we watched as a large triangular head poked out of the tunnel, followed by six snaking tentacles that attached to the neck.

My eyes widened as I recognized the creature in front of me. “An Ahamkara,” I breathed in disbelief.

“Indeed, oh Guardian mine,” he chuckled. “You may call me Tariven.”

“He’s a descendant of the original founder of the Library and his power rivals that of even the sage in some aspects,” Roland spoke up, “Or at least from what we know about the alchemist. The dope doesn’t seem to mind letting the blonde nuisance in here at all.”

“Now, now, for all his faults, he is still an amusing diversion,” Tariven scolded. “He is the only one who has given me a challenge in my long life.”

“You mean you aren’t able to twist his wishes,” I shot back.

“Oh, very good,” the wish dragon’s laughter took a darker tone. “It's such a rare thing for humans to understand what we are.”

“But they're far from normal humans,” Roland crossed his arms as he eyed us. “You’re more like the alchemist than normal I’d say.” He sighed, “Don’t let him mess with your mind either,” he warned us. “The alchemist being able to come and go in here as he pleases is one thing, if any of you get seriously hurt he’ll be more than happy to tear me apart. Twisted bastard has the most loving heart of anyone I know.”

“Sounds like Ed,” I chuckled. “In regards to the Ahamkara though, do you have ANY idea just how dangerous he really is? He feeds on the energy created when making desire into reality, and his kind tends to turn even the simplest of wishes into faustian bargains!”

“You are not wrong, oh Guardian mine,” Tariven nodded. “However, I am not the rest of my kind. My egg was raised by the paracausal warriors of the Sol System. I was but a Whim when I vowed to honor my father Tarinis, and not offer twisted wishes.”

“At least not to those he deems unable to handle them,” came Ed’s voice. We all looked around and saw him floating in the air next to the dragon right at eye level, “This is your only warning young one. Harm any of them in any way and I will end you and replace you with someone more suited to your throne. Understand?”

We all heard the bloodlust in his voice and everyone knew that Edward truly meant what he said. Even Roland had barely managed to draw his guns before he was frozen in place by utter terror of some form.

”Your kind are not hard to come by for someone like me as you’ve already guest but one with intentions like yours is,” Ed warned as he slightly leaned in, “Don’t give me the headache of that search.” He looked over at us and smiled, “Good luck in your training ladies,” he said before blowing away on a nonexistent wind.

I shivered just a little bit. “He still scares me a little.”

“Same,” Luna agrees.

“Why the hell do you let him in here?!” Roland yelled at his benefactor. “He’s a sociopath with godlike powers who apparently is even more powerful than you!!!”

The wish dragon’s laughter roared in our heads. “Because he’s not stuffy, like some Librarians I know.”

Everyone was silent as Roland just stared awestruck, “You know what. I’ve had my fill of it for today. You explain to them. It’s not like you don’t love the sound of your own voice anyways. Call me when explanation’s are done and I’ll show them to their quarters,” he waved with his hands that he was done and walked out while slamming the door behind him.

“About time,” the dragon snorted, before turning his massive head towards us. “Believe it or not, he’s not as bad as he comes off as. That being said, I could tell he seriously, as you humans say, rubbed you the wrong way.”

“You could say that,” I nodded.

“He pissed Melissa off,” Luna chimed in.

Tariven’s laughter echoed in our heads again. “Indeed. But now, on to business. As you know, the Library of Atropos is the last line of defense against Tash. I may be a paracausal being, but even I can’t stand up to Tash alone. He’s the equivalent of a being that was once the Sol System’s greatest threat, The Witness.” I felt a shiver go up my spine at the name. The dragon turned his head to me, as if sensing my discomfort. “Don’t worry, the Witness truly was destroyed. You won’t have to see the true horror it brought to Sol.”

“And Tash is the equivalent of that?!?” Melissa yells in shock.

“Yes,” Tariven nodded. “However, unlike The Witness, Tash has an obvious weakness, or weaknesses, rather.”

Now THAT got our attention. Tash, the seemingly all powerful, god-like paracausal being had not one, but multiple weaknesses.

“I see that got your attention,” the dragon chuckled. “His first weakness is his arrogance, obviously. The second, is his nature of being both of the light and of the dark, yet not being able to use them in harmony. That’s what you’re here for. The Library will certainly improve your martial prowess, but it is the harmony of light and darkness that you must learn. A holy power we call Prismatic.”

“But…” Luna hesitates. “But, I’m the only one who’s learned Strand at the moment.”

“Well then,” I nodded. “I guess me and Melissa will have to learn quickly then, won’t we?”

“Yes you shall,” The dragon agreed. “You’ll also have a great task ahead of you in instructing Kairi in the Prismatic arts afterwards as well.”

“Speaking of which, why isn’t she here?” Melissa asks.

“A good question. I fear that Kairi would have attacked first, and asked questions later, given her knowledge of Ahamkara.”

“Right,” I muttered. “She certainly seems to know a lot more about these paracausal abilities, it stands to reason she knows more about the Ahamkara then the rest of us.”

“Correct. Now, your training begins tomorrow. Since the Gunslinger has already agreed to it, he will lead you to your quarters.”

The doors opened once more to reveal Roland standing there, just as grumpy as when he’d left.

”Done?” He looked at the dragon.

“Yes, yes, not that you couldn’t tell already,” the dragon grumbled. “You were obviously listening at the door.”

“You’re a pain in the ass that needs a sitter,” Roland snarked, “All right ladies if you’ll kindly follow me once more, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

Author's Note

Heheheh, bet you all weren't expecting an Ahamkara, OR a secret organization to be turning up!

Anyway, sorry for the long wait on this one, been pretty busy for a while, but I finally got this chapter done! I'll have another chapter, with the training, hopefully sooner then this one took!

Big shout out to Alvasa for helping with Roland's dialogue!

See you all next chapter!

Taking the Key

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 1: Taking the Key

‘…So take a breath, before you skip a beat…’
I blearily opened my eyes, blinking a few times as I awoke to the chorus of Trinity by DAGames. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was 5:30 AM, a whole half-hour after I set my alarm for. Annoying, but not unexpected, since it’s a habit I’ve been trying to break for the past two years.

Now, I know what you’re probably asking: ‘who is this person that’s writing this story?’ Well, my name is Dmetri, Dmetri Ross, and I am waking up in my bed in my dorm room in preparation for a trip to AnimeNEXT 2019 in Atlantic City. If you couldn’t tell, I’m not exactly a morning person, and apparently my body simply refused to wake up at 5 in the morning. A little later than I wanted, but still early enough to get a shower before I need to head off.

With a groan, I roll out of bed, unplugging my laptop in the process and carrying it with me into the bathroom. Probably not the best of ideas, but I wanted to practice a song for the karaoke contest at the con today while in the shower, sue me. Anyway, after my shower I quickly packed my bag with my laptop, iPad, 3DS, Switch, PSVita and my headphones, along with the necessary items to keep them charged, before getting dressed and out the door.

At this point, I believe a time skip is in order, since I doubt any of you lovely readers want to read about my two-hour drive to Atlantic City In any case, upon arrival at the convention center, I was about an hour early, with almost nothing to do before the doors opened. A perfect opportunity to practice for the karaoke contest I mentioned earlier. Oh! That’s right, I never told you what song I was gonna do. Well, that’s an easy fix, I was gonna be singing Don’t Think Twice by Utada Hikaru.

In any case, while I sat there waiting to go into the con, I pull out my laptop and load the song up. I decide to practice the Japanese version, since there’s a chance the judges won’t let me use the English version. Actually, scratch that, I KNOW they won’t let me use the English version. On that note, fun fact about me: I’m abnormally good at picking up songs in Japanese. It’s honestly scary how quickly I’m able to learn new songs in Japanese, but that’s neither here, nor there. In the end, I draw a bit of a crowd as I practiced, though I didn’t notice until I finished the song and heard the applause. Its nice to be appreciated sometimes. In any case, after my unintentional concert, I pulled out my Switch to pass the time, challenging a few of the people in line to battles in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I knew, then and there, that today was gonna be a great day!

4 Hours Later

“Let’s give a big hand to our grand prize winner!”

Today sucked…

I’m sure you’re all wondering why. Well, to make a long story short, I actually did pretty well in the karaoke contest, netting 2nd place overall. The sucky part is the fact that the winner was the same person who won last year, singing the exact. Same. SONG! as last year, which happens to be Again by Yui from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Normally, I don’t have a problem losing to someone singing that song, however, the fact that they sang that song last year, and won again this year using the same song without any sort of penalization is why I’m angry.

“And let’s not forget our runners up. Congratulations, and use those vouchers wisely!”

Oh yeah, we all got $20 vouchers for anything on the main floor for being runners up, so I suppose it wasn’t all as sucky as I was making it out to be. In any case, after everything was said and done, I wondered down to the main floor to browse.

If you’ve never been to something like ComicCon or AnimeNEXT, then you have no idea how awesome going through the booths can be! They had almost everything my little nerd heart could ask for, from bags, t-shirts and hats, to anime DVDs, rare video games, costumes and props, there was a booth for everything! However, there was one booth in particular that caught my eye, mostly due to the fact that it was completely empty, save the person running the booth.

As it turned out, this booth was a prop booth. I could see as I approached that it sold rare and hard to find costume pieces for just about every franchise out there.

“Good day, sir.”

I just about jumped out of my skin as the man running the booth had snuck up behind me. Turning, I get a good look at him, making my jaw drop. The first thing I saw was the Organization XIII jacket he wore, which was easily the best I had ever seen, but that wasn’t what shocked me. No, what shocked me, was the fact that the man was a dead ringer for Xemnas, right down to the voice.

“My apologies for the scare,” he said, a small smile on his face. “Please feel free to browse my wares.”

I nodded, still somewhat unsettled by the man, before turning back to the booth. As I said before, there was something from just about every franchise under the sun. However, there was on item that stood out from the rest. It was the Destiny’s Embrace Keyblade, wielded first by Aqua in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, and then later by Kairi in Kingdom Hearts II and III. I had to have it!

“Um, excuse me?” I said, turning to Xemnas. “How much for the Destiny’s Embrace Keyblade?”

Xemnas eyed me for a moment before retrieving the item in question, along with a small pouch. “As an apology for scarring you,” he started. “I will sell the Keyblade, as well as this pouch of keychains to you for $20. I believe that voucher you’re holding will cover the cost quite easily.”

The words were hardly out of his mouth before I shoved the voucher into his hands, while grabbing the Keyblade and pouch. I was ecstatic, and almost missed Xemnas’s last words to me.

“Enjoy your trip, oh customer, mine.”

And with those words, I knew no more.

The Key to Combat

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist

Chapter 2: The Key to Combat

“Ugh,” I groaned as I slowly returned to the waking world, or at least what I thought was the waking world. I found myself on a very familiar stained-glass floor, emblazoned with pictures of Sora, Riku and Kiari.

“So much to do…” I jerked my head around upon hearing a strange voice, trying to find where it came from. “…So little time…” An ornate mirror suddenly appeared in front of me. “…Take a step through, if you can…”

I cautiously stepped up to the mirror. Its surface was cloudy, making it impossible to see a reflection. I put my hand on the mirror, intending to wipe the glass, however this one action sealed my fate, as another hand emerged from the glass, grasping my wrist, dragging me in.

“…A great darkness approaches. Only you stand between the world and oblivion. Save the night, make things right, only then will you have a chance…”

I awoke to the feeling of a spike being driven through my forehead. “Ugh, did anyone get the license plate of the car that obviously hit me?” I say as I sit up. ‘Wait a moment,’ I think to myself. ‘That’s not my voice.’

“Hello, hello,” I say, hearing and oddly familiar, and sweeter voice. “Testing one, two, three.” Yep, definitely not my voice, and definitely not the only change, as my head felt a bit heavier, there was a strange weight on my chest, and an even stranger feeling of emptiness between my legs. Well, might as well start with the head.

I brought my hands to my head and found hair. A lot of hair. A lot more hair than I’ve ever had in my life. Bringing a bit around to get a look, I find that I now have long, red hair. I’m… actually OK with this. I’ve actually considered dying my hair red for a while now, and this just saves me the trouble. Next on my checklist is that strange weight on my chest. I slowly move my hand up, placing it on my chest. A chest that is significantly larger and softer than usual. I felt a sinking feeling in my gut as I slowly look down to find two small hills emerging from my chest, covered by unfamiliar, yet still recognizable clothes. Clothes I had only ever seen in a video game. A quick check on that empty feeling between my legs quickly confirmed what I was beginning to realize; I was now a girl. A very familiar girl too, since I seem to have been turned into Kairi, specifically the Kingdom Hearts III incarnation of Kairi.

For a few seconds I just sat there, not moving, and trying to process what had happened. I mean, how often is someone randomly turned into a fictional character? Or turned into the opposite gender for that matter? As far as I’m aware, never. I was finally broken from my near meltdown by a cold breeze blowing into my face and up my new skirt.

Blinking, I look around, taking note of the fact that I’m now in a rather spooky looking forest. Further investigation uncovered my bag and the pouch of keychains laying next to me. I quickly placed the pouch in my bag and threw the strap over my shoulder. No sign of my new Keyblade though, but that still did not trump the ‘Oh Celestia, boobs!’ going through my head. That, however, was soon to change, as I found myself surrounded by small black creatures with glowing, yellow eyes. Heartless.

I instinctively leap to my feet and get into a ready stance that Aqua used in Birth by Sleep, Destiny’s Embrace materializing in my hand. I didn’t have time to question how I knew what to do, as one of the Heartless leapt at me, before disappearing as the Keyblade in my hand cleaved it vertically in half. A quick thrust forward saw the end of another, as the other four sank into the ground, weaving this way and that in an attempt to disorientate me, and catch me off guard. The Shadows eventually all stopped, popping out of the ground before attacking, two leaping at me and two swiping at me with their claws. None managed to hit their target, as I spun on the spot, Keyblade cleaving them in two as their momentum carried them into the deadly arc of steal.

As the darkness dissipated, my ears took in the sound of explosions behind me. I whirl around to see smoke rising from an oddly familiar ruin. Deciding to figure it out later, I took off for the ruins. As I got closer, the unmistakable sounds of combat reached my ears, and the sight of six very familiar individuals being tossed around reached my eyes. It was unmistakably Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, otherwise known as the Mane 6, though instead of the usual equine appearance, they were more anthropomorphic.

As soon as I got close enough, I leapt forward, slashing at a dark presence I more felt than saw. The attack managed to draw the thing’s attention, allowing me to get a good look at it, and that’s when the other shoe dropped. Before me was Nightmare Moon, placing me not only in an anthro version of Equestria, but also right at the series premiere. It was quite clear that the Elements of Harmony didn’t work, as, in a stunning display of canon divergence, the Mane 6 had been getting their butts handed to them on a silver platter and were now slumped against the wall. Not only that, but there was also an emblem on Nightmare’s armor that sent a chill down my spine; a stylized heart with a thorny cross through it. It’s official, Nightmare Moon is a Heartless. Didn’t see that coming.

“Well now, what have we here?” Nightmare hissed, gesturing with her clawed gauntlet. “A heart of pure light to feast upon, perhaps? Or perhaps just a fool come to die? Either way, name yourself!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Since when could Heartless speak? The only time I’ve ever seen something like yourself, there were special circumstances involved. Why don’t you explain yourself, Black Snooty?” I retort. Honestly, looking back on it, I really shouldn’t have antagonized her like that, as the next thing I knew, I had a gauntlet buried in my gut, knocking the wind out of me.

“You are either exceptionally brave, or exceptionally stupid if you thought I wouldn’t react to that name?“ the unusually intelligent Heartless spat, throwing me at the wall to join the Mane 6. “You are clearly not of this world, and carry a weapon my minions and I believed to be myth. I ask again, who are you?!”

I picked myself up and decided to just bite the bullet and accept who I had become. “My name is Kairi, and I am a Guardian of the light!”

As the words leave my mouth, a familiar song begins playing, teasing a smirk out of me as I charge, beginning to sing as well.

‘Lost in the fear’

My Keyblade came down on the Heartless’s gauntlet, throwing up sparks and pushing her back.

‘Fear we'll never meet again’

Nightmare Moon growls as she summons various species of Heartless. “Tear her to shreds!”

‘See my heart will breathe forever’

I turned slightly as I saw the Mane 6 picking themselves up, looking rejuvenated somehow.

‘For a moment I held you
Through this dark abysmal flame’

A dark flame began to burn around us, cutting off all escape routes, not that any of us were planning to run.

‘Cause all it takes is a bit of belief
You can take it all’

“You think a silly song will save you and your friends?!” Nightmare scoffed. “I’m not so easily intimidated!”

‘So take the breath
Before you skip the beat’

As soon as the electric guitars start playing, me and the Mane 6 charge forward. The battle against the smaller Heartless was quick and easy, not something I was expecting, since the six mares had no Keyblades. Maybe there was something about the Elements…

‘Be released, free your heart
Find the disconnect in our world’

Pretty much all the Heartless are decimated at this point, with only a couple stragglers here and there remaining. “How?” Nightmare seethed. “Not even the Elements were able to harm my minions. Now they’re falling like grain to a scythe! How is this possible?!”

‘We do the things we thought impossible
Tear through the darkness from up above’

“Think about it Nightmare,” Twilight retorted. “Kairi is the ‘Key’ mentioned in the passage I found.”

‘This is the dawn of the unstoppable’

Grinding her teeth in rage, Nightmare charged, gauntlet extended for a deadly strike, only to be intercepted by an aerial strike from Rainbow Dash.

‘Don't think I forgot about you
Your life is the next in line’

I charge forward, somehow sheathing Destiny’s Embrace within a flurry of flames. I strike Nightmare, throwing her towards Applejack.

‘Don't think I've broken off from
Everything that's yours and mine’

As I was striking Nightmare, Applejack was cracking her knuckles, aiming a punch that would send the Heartless to Pinkie Pie.

‘Maybe we fell short of the light
But the heart is the one that fights’

Nightmare stumbled and staggered from my strike over to Applejack, only to be greeted by a fist to the face that sent her flying into a cannon that… somehow appeared near Pinkie… You know what, I’m not gonna question it.

‘As long as it beats for you
I'll find you all on the other side!’

Pinkie fired her cannon, sending Nightmare to Rarity, who snagged her in a purple aura, before gems of varying sizes tore themselves from the earth to pummel the Heartless.

‘So take the breath
Before you skip the beat,’

Fluttershy floats to the immobilized Heartless, before slapping her with a enough force to throw her to Twilight.

‘Fly, this is not goodbye
Even lost in the darkness
With loss and deprival
I will see you at the end of the line!’

Twilight catches Nightmare in her aura, stretching the Heartless’s limbs as if in preparation to be drawn and quartered, before I saw something I never would have expected in a million years.

‘Open the door
Wave your hand through the water
Find the light’

The Elements that the mares wore began glowing, before disappearing. To replace the lost items, each mare now held a Keyblade which they pointed towards Nightmare, as did I.

‘Deep in the anarchy is my Trinity!’

As the song ends, we all fire a beam of light at Nightmare, who wore a look of shock as she disappeared in a black cloud, a large heart emerging and sinking into the ground. As soon as the Heartless completely vanishes, we all collapse to the floor, passing out from lack of energy.

Author's Note

Hello all! I'm back! Hopefully, I'm here to stay this time. Anyway, I bring to you a new Displaced fic, where my character ends up as Kiari from Kingdom Hearts. I hope you all enjoy!

Kairi singing in battle will not be a regular occurrence, but when she does sing, its to serve a purpose, that purpose being similar to the Songstress Dressphere in Final Fantasy X-2, rejuvenating her allies, or prolonging effects that anyone else fighting with her inflicts on her opponents.

Also, for those of you who are curious what song she is singing, first off, why didn't you follow the link in the story?!? Second, it is Trinity by DAGames:

One Key For All

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and MicroMiniMouse feat. GarnetNaturea

Chapter 12: One Key For All

“You know, you could have taken one of the radios with you,” Melissa glared at us as we got back. “All of the equipment in my lab is meant to analyze Heartless and other evil entities.”

“You could have mentioned that earlier,” I muttered. “And besides, we weren’t expecting a frickin’ Kurt Zisa to show up!”

“I know that,” the techie sighed. “I’m suggesting that you keep something with you to stay in contact with the Tower in case of emergencies.”

“I have a feeling your tech might work better than my magic alarms, so can I take one back with me?” Lex questions, drying her hair since she had to shower off the dirt from the fight.

Melissa nodded. “Sure, as long as you’re willing to do something for me in exchange.”

“What’s up?” Lex questioned, standing slightly over the techie.

“Ever since I got here, I’ve been trying to replicate One For All,” Melissa explained. “As useful as my tech is, more often than not in anime, the heroes are usually without their gear when an emergency occurs. Because of that, I decided that I needed something to even the odds. However, I’ve run into a bit of a snag. The component I need to finish it, is some magic, and I can’t use any. What I want you to do is imbue the mask I’ve made with your magic.”

“Really? You recreated One for All?” Lex said, visibly impressed. “Wow. Even I have trouble recreating magic variants of moves from other media, and you were able to make one of the strongest Quirks ever? That is impressive.”

“To be fair, I have been here for almost 1000 years,” the techie replied, adjusting her glasses. “I was here when the Tower was first built, but that’s besides the point. It took me almost the entire thousand years I was here to get this far.”

“Wait, you’re over a THOUSAND years old?” I questioned in shock.

Melissa nodded. “Yeah, my Displacer explained to me after the fact that the Displaced in this world, namely you, me, and Haley, are effectively immortal, baring getting killed of course.”

“And here I thought I would be the same age as Melissa. I was trapped in a flipping crystal.” I hear Haley mumble to herself.

“So we’re like the Alicorns then.” Lex muttered, surprising us. “What? You guys didn’t know?”

“Uh, no,” I replied in a flat tone. “No we didn’t.”

“I think I broke her,” Melissa chuckled. “In any case, back to the original matter, are we agreed then? Tech for magic being imbued into my creation?”

“Sure thing.” Lex said simply, stretching her arms with a grin. “Honestly this will be my first time attempting a magitech combination, here’s hoping we don’t blow up.”

“So where are the kids?” Haley asked, changing the subject of conversation.

I quickly shook myself out of my daze. “Hey, that’s a good question. Did they finish going through Riku’s story?”

“As a matter of fact, they did,” Melissa smiled. “I suggested that they practice some hand-eye-coordination with some Beat Saber.”

“Wait, we have Beat Saber here?” My eyes widened in excitement.

“Mhm, they’re taking turns with it right now.”

“Damn, I guess I should have expected Luna to drag Dawn into something like that. Hopefully he hasn’t had an aneurysm from the flashing lights.” Lex muttered.

“I think you’ll be surprised,” Melissa smirked as she led us into the control room, where we found Luna intently watching Dawn on the monitor. “How’s he doing?” she asked the filly.

“Way better than me,” she replied, her eyes staying glued to the monitor. “I barely made it a third of the way through, and he’s almost two thirds through.”

“What song is it?” I asked. The only response I got was Melissa flipping a switch to allow the music to play through, making my eyes widen. “REALITY CHECK THROUGH THE SKULL?!?!?”

“Somehow I am not surprised.” Lex shook her head with a smile. “Dawn has incredible hand-to-eye coordination as a martial artist and he uses Airspace Magic, so he knows how to react and act super fast. Quite bluntly, he could give Rainbow a run for her money in the magic and reaction speed department.”

“That may be, but are you aware of just how infamous this level is?!?” I replied, still in shock. “Just how many mistakes has he made so far?!?”

“About three,” Luna replies. My jaw hits the floor, and I am reduced to a twitching mess.

“Well he lasted longer than I thought he would.” Lex said, casually taking a sip of some water. “Then again I have seen some of the training he does in his free time, this is only a couple levels harder.”

“Impressive,” Melissa nodded in respect. “Maybe I should come up with something that’ll really test him at some point. In any case, I suggested this since it’ll make wielding a Keyblade easier if he uses something similar beforehand.”

“Um guys? I think Kairi is broken again.” Haley says noticing my twitching state.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Lex said, summoning her Keyblade and holding it over me. “Mind Spark.” A small bolt of purple electricity went through her Keyblade and then into my head, and next thing I know, I’m on my feet again. “Huh, I honestly didn’t think that would work.”

“You didn’t have to do that! I thought we could just shake her or something!” Haley said before quickly kneeling down to my level checking on my well-being.

I quickly waved her off. “It’s fine Haley, I actually told Luna to slap me on the back of the head next time that happens, though since she’s currently occupied, I’m not surprised someone else had to do something.”

“That doesn’t make me worry about you any less,” Haley said as she crossed her arms.

I shook my head, turning back to the screen. “Well, it looks like this impossible song was just finished. And with only three mistakes.”

“You’re acting awfully calm there Kairi,” Melissa observed with a smirk.

“That’s only because I’m pretending this is all just a big dream, and that I’m unconscious after that fight.”

I could feel Lex’s blank stare as we moved out of the way for Dawn. I expected him to be exhausted, but I forgot, martial artist. He only took a deep breath and had a very thin shine of sweat on his head as he returned.

“That was….interesting.” Was all he said before taking a water bottle from Luna and chugging the whole thing down.

“I’m not too terribly surprised after what Lex told us of your training,” the techie remarked. “I have half a mind to send you home with a personal version of the Simulator just so I can make harder songs for you.”

“I have no idea what just happened, but I am impressed.” Trixie finally spoke up, no longer looking over all the tech.

My eye started twitching again. “Impressed would be an understatement for me…” I muttered, still not believing what I saw. Lex just sighed and smacked me over the head with her Keyblade. “Ow!”

“This is real, get over it.” She said before turning to Melissa. “So where’s the mask of One for All?”

“In my lab,” she replied. “But, only you are coming with me.”

“Are you okay?” Haley asked, worried about my well-being once again.

“I’m fine,” I waved her off again with a roll of my eyes. “We can have a bit of fun with Beat Saber while we wait on them.”

“All right then,” Melissa nodded. “Just follow me.”

---Lex’s POV---

After Melissa led us out into the hall, she turned to a seemingly blank wall and placed her hand onto it, muttering something too low for me to hear. A low rumble is heard before the wall rolls aside to reveal a staircase.

“This way,” the techie remarks, as she guides us down.

Not sure why, but even from here I could feel the intense energy that comes from what I assume the mask of One for All is. Not sure why, since I have the magic needed for it.

“That’s not the mask,” Melissa spoke up, having seemingly noticed my apprehension. “The energy you’re feeling is almost entirely the security I built into the walls. Only a small fraction of that is the mask.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Maybe it's just because of how much magic energy I am normally surrounded by at home, but the difference was a little jarring.” I muttered, mostly to myself.

“Understandable,” she nodded. We soon came to the bottom of the staircase, where a nondescript door waited for us. I took a step towards it, only for Melissa to grab my arm. “Not that way. That door is a trap.” She turned to the wall again, this time simply stepping through.

I quickly followed after her to find myself on an elevator. “Really?”

“What?” She raised her eyebrow. “My lab has some of the most dangerous tech in the multi-verse in it, wouldn’t you make sure that security is air-tight?” She turned to the door, and entered what I can only assume was a passcode of some sort, before a microphone popped out of the wall.

“Melissa Shields,” she spoke clearly. Suddenly several turrets crackling with electricity popped out of the ceiling and were pointed at my face. With a quick glance up, Melissa then adds, “And guest,” causing the turrets to return to a neutral state before the elevator began moving down.

“Just how deep does this place go? I am half expecting us to arrive at the cave where the Tree of Harmony is.” I muttered, shaking my head at my new habit.

“It is down here,” Melissa replied. “Its on the level below my lab, powering the whole Tower.”

“Only you would find a way to harness its energy.” I muttered, damnit, again. “I have been using it to help with the guild members meditation, but even then it is just being in proximity of it since it naturally stores and releases so much Ethernano.”

“You are aware of what happens to the Tree in the show, right?” Melissa glances over in worry.

“Oh I’m aware, my sister Nat told me. Since Discord is still in stone I plan on having Celestia submit the task of reforming him to the guild then either having him use his Chaos magic to get rid of the Plunder Seeds, or just copy his magic and do it myself.” Lex replied.

Melissa turns fully to face me, a look of shock on her face. “You really don’t know, do you? In the show Sombra destroys the tree, but in every other universe the tree is destroyed by something else. In our case, my Displacer said that it would be the Heartless.”

I am pretty sure I blanked out for a second before pinning Melissa to the elevator wall.

“Not. Happening. I am not letting that tree get destroyed.” I said with a glare, accidentally releasing my earth seal. Some leaves began to grow in my hair as wood grew on my arms. “That one tree is a larger source of magic than even I am. If it is destroyed the resulting Magic Inversion would likely equal an Etherion Blast.”

“I know,” Melissa calmly replies, prying my hands off of her. “Which is why I’m sending along a security device that will be powered by the Tree itself. I’ll show you in the lab.” A chime sounds as soon as she said this. “Speak of the devil. Now, would you kindly calm down, and power down?”

I just scoffed and resealed my earth seal, crossing my arms as we left the elevator.

The techie stepped out, sweeping her arms in grand gesture. “Welcome to my lab, where I keep my most dangerous devices, and work on my more… shall we say… energy intensive devices. But, before we get to the mask, lets get that security device.”

She moves over to a wall lined with pods, selecting a glass one with what looked like a silvery liquid suspended within it. “This is one of my most useful devices. I call it the Figure 17.”

Melissa gives it a twist, causing the liquid to run out onto the floor. It was obviously bigger on the inside, since the pool on the floor was far more than the container could naturally hold. After a moment, the puddle began to move and contort. It shaped itself into a clone of Melissa, right down to the clothes she was wearing.

“Figure 17, unit 3 activated,” it said, before turning to Melissa. “Why am I active when there is no immediate threat?”

“Just a demonstration, Three,” she replied to the now named Three.

I could feel my eye twitching as I looked at, what I believe, was a mix of a DBZ Android, the T-1000 and Melissa. I slowly turned my head to the human and pointed to the copy.

“Wat.”

Melissa rolled her eyes as she stepped into Three, causing the two of them to become a new, older looking individual. “The Figure 17 units are essentially combat armor that can function autonomously. They work excellently as disguises as well.” The two then step apart again. “I currently have three Figure 17 units guarding the Tree now, which is the maximum I’m willing to send back with you.”

I managed to get my eye under control and slowly nodded, looking at Three. “So, she’s fine with going to an alternate Equestria?”

“Not Three,” Melissa shook her head. “She’s already encoded to me. No, I’d be sending you back with fresh units that can bond with you. Think of them like the Venom symbiotes of Spider-Man, but made from technology. They will look like clones of you, or anyone you want to bond with them. The best part is that they can learn Magic as well.”

“Oookay. That….is actually really handy because of all the guild members with different magic styles.” I said, slowly thinking about it more.

Melissa nodded, before pulling out three more glass tubes and handing them to me. “One last thing about the Figure 17 units. While you can have them all bond with you, they will act like your twin more often than not. Try to have others bond with them as well. Believe me, I’m kinda sick of having three twin sisters.”

“As someone who is constantly splitting myself into four people, I know the feeling.” I said, remembering all the arguments Ali, Xan and Lexa can get into when I am left separated for too long.

Melissa shuddered. “I can only imagine. Anyway, I tweaked these ones to have their power increased when in proximity to the Tree by about a hundred times what it's normally capable of.”

“So, harmony powered Super Saiyan.” I muttered, before glancing at Three again. “But how do they stack up normally?”

The techie shrugged. “I’d say about the equivalent of All Might in his hayday, physically speaking, and magically speaking, about the equivalent of Iron Rock Jura.”

“Ok, magically I could take them, but I would break everything if I tried to arm wrestle them. Got it.” I said, glancing at the copy with apprehension.

Melissa nodded before turning to go further into the lab. “Right then, lets go do what we originally planned to do. Power up that mask.”

She quickly led me to the back of the lab, past work tables with all manner of dangerous inventions. I’m pretty sure I saw an incomplete Zapatron on one of the tables we passed. Finally we came to the mask. It was a pretty nondescript mask made of white porcelain.

“Huh, honestly I expected it to look like Deku’s mask.” I said to Melissa, receiving a blank stare that I shrugged at. “Alright, here goes nothing.”

“Hold on, can you copy it first?”

I nodded and used my Archive magic to copy everything about the mask before combining it with my Arc of Embodiment to create a second one.

Melissa nodded as she put the copy on another worktable. “I needed another one in case this one failed, so that I can try again at this point.”

With that, I placed my hands over the mask and began to let my magic flow into the mask. Almost immediately I could feel my magic connecting to the man-made-quirk, which began to drain me through most of my physical based magic. I groaned a bit as the flow increased for a couple seconds.

“OK, I think that’s enough,” Melissa spoke up, but the drain wouldn’t stop. “Um, ok, you can stop now.”

“Bitchi No Musuko Ga Tasukete!” I yelled on reflex, before groaning and going back to English. “Son of a bitch! Melissa help!”

“Shit! Hang on!” The techie grabbed my arms and began to physically force my hands away from the mask. Unfortunately, with this shift in magical flow, the flow itself became unstable, ending in an explosion that threw us both across the room.

“F***! Melissa are you ok!” I yelled, poking my head out of the rubble that was a wall I flew through.

Said girl groan as she picked herself up off the ground. “My head is spinning, my ears are ringing, and the rest of me is sore. I’d say I’m still alive.”

“Suitoeteru, that sucked.” I muttered, my Japanese coming back to me as I dug myself out of the rubble and hobbled over to Melissa and summoning my Keyblade. “Cura.”

The techie sighed in relief. “Much better. Let me check on the mask, and then we can head back up.” Melissa picked her way through the rubble, tapping some consoles as she passed them, before picking up the mask itself. “Well, according to my readings, everything is as it should be. The magic is being contained.”

“Thank gods, I was worried I would be having a repeat of using Crux’s Celestial Key again.” I exclaimed in relief.

“I’m not even going to ask,” Melissa shook her head. “In any case, now that we’ve finished down here, lets head back up.”

With a nod, we both turned back to the entrance, and made our way back to the elevator…

---Kairi’s POV---

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?” I screamed in frustration.

“Yes! I win again! Best 10 out of 12?” Haley said while jumping around happily.

“You’re on! I’m picking the song this time though!” I growled. “I swear, you only ever played Osu before, how the actual crap are you this good at Beat Saber?!?”

“Years of Osu and Geometry Dash, my dude.” She said before placing her hands on her hips with a smirk.

“I still don’t understand how I am keeping up with you two since I have never played video games before.” Trixie said, handing me the controllers from Haley.

“Alright, we’re doing 99.9 this time!” I growled as I stomped into the simulator.

I sighed in satisfaction as I stepped out of the room. “Beat that!” I smirked as I tossed Haley the controllers.

“Gladly.” She responded, smirking back at me before walking into the simulator.

My smirk stayed plastered onto my face for all of ten seconds, before it slowly morphed into a scowl as Haley managed to meet me note for note, until finally she came to the end of yet another perfect run.

“AAARRRGGGHHH!!!” I screamed in rage. “I GIVE UP!!!!”

“Uh, is now a bad time?” asked the voice of our techie.

“Nah. You’re right on time. Since Kairi finally gave up.” Haley said, stepping out of the simulator with a wide victorious smirk on her face. Trixie silently took the controllers and walked in, selecting Red Like Roses Part 2.

I just growled under my breath as I turned back to Lex and Melissa as they entered the room, a fake smile plastering itself onto my face. “I take it you finished working on your mask?”

Melissa nodded. “Yep, now I just need to run a few tests before actually trying it out, but right now the results are quite promising.”

I nodded, my smile becoming a bit more genuine. “Good to hear, now would either of you like to explain why Lex is giving you dirty looks?”

“Oh, just that the mask in question seemed to have a stomach of its own and tried to eat all my magic.” Lex responded with a frown.

I winced. “Ouch, remind me never to get involved with your experiments Melissa.”

“I volunteer as tribute!” Haley suddenly said while raising a hand and giving a bright smile.

An unholy glint entered Melissa’s eye. “Do you really want my inner GLaDOS to emerge?”

“This is coming from the girl who just beat Kairi at 12 rounds of Beat Saber. You were saying?” Haley said, her smirk returning on her face.

My eye twitched. “Tell anyone else about this, and I’ll toss you through my Doors of Hades myself.”

“Maybe if you do that from now on you can actually see what that spell can do.” Lex snarked, looking at Trixie through the monitor as she was three quarters of the way through the song.

The twitch in my eye intensified. “AAARRRGGGHHH!!! What is wrong with me?!? I could have been doing that this WHOLE TIME!!!”

“I rest my case.” Haley said, before giving me a look of innocence.

With a fire burning in my eyes, I lunged at the image of false innocence, only to be met by a blue shield from Chirithy.

“Chirithy,” I growled. “Lower that shield right now!”

“Not until you calm down,” the cat replied, as Trixie stepped out of the simulator.

“Um, what did I just walk into?” she asked, her eyes widening.

“Even I do not know, and I was standing here the whole time.” Dawn responded, looking at all of us before sighing while quietly muttering about ‘crazy displaced mares’.

I was still growling as Melissa stepped up to me and slapped me full across the face. “Knock it off! If you’re going to attack each other, wait until our guests have left first!”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna be rude but I was about to ask when we were going home Lex. I have a training da-um, practice, with Twilight.” Trixie said, stuttering with a blush at what she almost said.

I blinked, my anger quickly evaporating. “Huh? Oh, we can take you down to the Gate now.”

“Yeah, that would probably be best, I have been away from my little girls long enough.” Lex said, a motherly smile going across her face at the thought of her daughters.

“Alright then, let's get you lot home,” I smiled as I led the way back to the Gate Room. Upon arriving, I pulled out my copy of Lex’s Token and placed it on the scanner, activating the Gate’s dialing sequence. “Once the wormhole is active you can go on through.”

“Alright. Well this was fun, and good luck with your magic Haley. Remember, since you are a Mirajane Displaced, you have all her Satan Souls, so be careful about using some of them.” Lex warned, a stern glare on her face.

“Believe me. I’ve watched enough Fairy Tail to know to be careful.” Haley replied with a roll of the eyes. Lex just raised her brow in disbelief before shrugging and turning to the portal.

“Hmm.” Dawn hummed to himself before sighing and turning to Luna. “Princess Luna. It was nice to meet you, and thank you for a fun time.” He finished with a bow.

Luna giggled, pulling him into a hug. “I had fun too. Come back soon!”

I waved to them with a smile. “Don’t be strangers now, just remember to call ahead before visiting. And until next time, May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!”

The group smiled as the ponies walked through before Lex followed, stopping right before the gate.

“Oh yeah, expect me to call in a couple weeks for the Promotion Exam! I plan on having my siblings and Ed come by too!” She said before walking through the portal.

As the portal powered down, a smirk came to my face as I turned back to Haley. “Now, where were we again?”

“Uh. I was running?” Haley said as her wings appeared on her back.

“That’s right, you were running. Because, when I get my hands on you, I’M TOSSING YOU THROUGH MY DOORS OF HADES!!!!”

“Eep!” Haley yelped before flying away quickly.

“GET BACK HERE!” I yelled as I chased after her.

Melissa just rolled her eyes. “Take it outside children, no need to destroy the place.”

What none of us noticed was a faint crackle of emerald electricity appearing on her right arm...

Author's Note

And that's a wrap! BIG thank you to Garnet for collabing with us once again, as always, it was a pleasure. Tune in next time, when Haley stress tests the One For All mask, and discovers something special about it.

The Key to Side Stories: The Sunset of a New Universe

May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key

By SoulboundAlchemist and Alvasa

Chapter 26.5: The Key to Side Stories: The Sunset of a New Universe

Overview

Sunset Shimmer, former warrior of light and keyblade master of a now nonexistent universe had managed to survive the total destruction of her universe thanks to the massive sacrifices her friends made to invade her in a crystal of Stopza magic. She had been rescued from the embrace of the void by the void wandering Crimson Sage, Edward Elric and taken to a new universe of Keyblade users not too much unlike her old one. With the help of the resident princess of light and X-blade wielder she was freed from the crystals and outfitted with prosthetics as well as cyber enhancement graphs on the left side of her body to replace what she’d lost before he crystalizion was completed.

Thanks to Edward she survived with the help of Kairi and her friends, Sunset was able to find the drive to keep going and a reason to keep on fighting. She wasn’t going to was this chance or see another home consumed by darkness. Thanks to the training and rehabilitation with no shortage of help from the Sage’s vast array of knowledge and power she was able to master her new abilities in a short amount of time. She was also taught by Edward’s wise to wield her recently awaken alicorn power of light and darkness.

Sunset was no longer a simple keyblade master but a warrior in the coming battles against the Armies of this New Universe under the leadership of Tash and his void sent and sin eaters. Edward had informed her of his finding in recent events hat were somewhat tied to Tash but were also superheated from his own attacks. With this info Sunset felt that her powers were better used out in the universe fighting what they couldn’t see instead of focusing on the more immediate threats Kairi and her team faced.

Sunset was also told her own keyblade mentor, Master Xerra, had managed to survive their universe’s destruction and to find his way here on his own power by the Sage. Her missions were clear: find out what this side group was and fight them back and find out their plans while also finding her master.

One week Later…

Sunset came out of the newly refitted training simulator covered in dust, scratch, and cuts.

“Time for a much-needed bath…” She scratched her head. “Hmmmm….” she felt her hair. It had grown to the middle of her back due to the last year she spent under Ed’s training in his Time Chamber. “I liked my long hair back home but… is just too much of a hassle to maintain, especially after fights.”

She walked through the floors of Midday Tower until she came to the room she’d chosen to stay in while she was there. Walking over to the mirror she looked herself up and down a couple of times, her attention mostly being drawn to her the scars the darkness had left her with on the left side of her body.

“I think it’s time for an overall new look,” She remarked as she flicked her hair, causing a small cloud of dust and debris to come out. “But first, that bath is calling me.”

She gathered up her clothes and bathing essentials and head out one more into the tower to the new open area hot spring-style bath the alchemist had installed. She honestly preferred the freedom it allowed over the cramped one in her room, and she was barely modest about anything when she was there. Honestly, Sunset was not one for modesty in many aspects of her daily left either, but she still preferred very revealing clothing as opposed to running around in just a bikini top and short-shorts. This was a trait Rarity, both her human friend from her universe and the pony version of the current one she was in found simply appalling as they said.

She walked on in silence until she heard footsteps from the opposite hall and saw Kairi and Sumire headed her way.

“Hye girls,” Sunset called out, “Were you two headed to the bath too?”

Sumire nodded with a smile. “Yep! I’ve loved onsen style baths for years, so you better believe I’m gonna make use of ours!”

“Agreed, though I will admit that I’m still somewhat uncomfortable with it, but it's still quite relaxing.” Kairi agreed with a blush.

“Or is it the fact that you don’t like being fawned over by an older woman?” Sunset smirked as Kiari’s blushed deepened, “You really are too cute when you blush! AHAHAHA!”

“You realize that before ending up here, I was a guy, right?” Kairi mumbled in embarrassment.

Sumire winced. “Now that you say that, it makes a lot more sense why you seem so shy around other girls.”

“Why does it matter?” Sunset slyly smirked again, “You were a guy that liked girls but now you’re a girl that likes girls. The way I see it, you have an advantage cause as a girl you know what a girl's turn-offs can be but as a guy, you've gained experience from asking girls out and playing the field. You have the experience and advantage to see things from both sides,” she shrugged as they arrived. “We’re hereeeee!” she sang as she opened the door and immediately started stripping, causing the others to turn bright red as the doors hadn't even shut.

“Now that’s the spot….” Sunset let out a sigh of relief as she dipped into the water.

The two redheads took a couple more seconds to join her.

“Seriously Kairi, it still astounds me that you insist on wearing that in the bath.” Sumire was grumbling over Kairi’s choice to wear a swimsuit into the bath

“Look, I’m still body shy, alright!” Kairi snapped, her blush having deepened, against all odds.

“Kinda defeats the purpose of a bath though.”

“I could leave, you know.”

Sumire paused, before raising her hands in defeat. “Point taken.”

“Embarrassment is natural to all Sumire, even men,” Sunset remarked as she floated by. “They all talk a big game but many of them would've turned an even brighter red than your hair if it came to bathing with three gorgeous girls like us. You two are still teens too, so you’re still growing, biologically at least.”

Sumire huffed, crossing her arms. “I know, but I still say it should be treated like an actual bath, not a pool or hot tub.”

“Different culture, Su-Chan,” Kairi chuckled.

“She’s still right,” Sunset agreed with the thief as she walked over to the side and grabbed her comb, and started running it through her hair. “But Ed made this place so it could be more than a bath but a place to also have fun as well Sumire. So let's just enjoy it as that's what we're supposed to do here.”

After she finished combing the knots and debris from her hair Sunset went over to the shower area and started to scrub down before returning to the main area. She sat in one of the chairs there and relaxed while Kairi’s eyes looked over her body. Most of the attention was directed toward Sunset’s scars and the pendant around the master’s neck.

“Uh, I assume most of those scars came from the war that took your universe?” Kairi asked, awkwardly looking away.

“Where else would I get them,” Sunset said with closed eyes. “I don’t mind the staring little girl but if you want to know something then ask it.”

The older redhead took a breath, before looking Sunset in the eye. “What exactly caused your universe to be destroyed?”

“Xehanort’s overall wish,” Sunset growled, “I won the fight but lost the overall war.”

Kairi nodded. “So, do you think we have a chance in the battle that’s coming?”

“You already have a lot more powerful allies than I did so I say you've got a shot,” Sunset stood up and crossed her arms under her breasts, “But I’m not going to say you can for sure either. It all depends on all aspects. Which is why I wanted to tell you,” she looked at the redheads, “I think they're more out there I can do than just fight alongside you guys. Ed told me…. My master is still alive and he could be here in this universe…”

“I’m going to find him,” Sunset said with determination. “He’s the only person I can call family I have left from home but I also think he has a reason for not being here with us, and…. I think I should be out there going to worlds and looking as well as fighting on the frontlines with my own group.”

Sumire looked a little more than put off by that last statement while Kairi knew exactly what Sunset was trying to get across.

“Are you against me going out and having my own base?” Sunset eyed Kairi.

The older redhead blinked in confusion. “Of course not, why would I have a problem with that?”

“I was expecting a bit of resistance,” Sunset pouted a little, “At least a little, Stay, you just got here, you need to rest. I was hoping to tease you a little at least.”

Kairi shot her a flat look. “I learned how to spot being baited into being teased LOOONG before I ended up here.”

“Is that why you end up getting teased by Melissa so often?” Sumire asked with a smirk.

“I let her tease me,” Kairi replied with an eye roll. “Especially 'cause I end up teasing her right back. All in good fun.”

“Somehow I don’t believe that,” Sunset put her hand on her hip with a smirk. “The tech chick is hot. Why don't you ask her out? You two clearly have chemistry.”

Kairi giggled. “She’s already taken, ironically enough, by another Displaced Kairi, though she seems to be a younger version of me.”

“So you two are dating technically,” Sunset smirked, causing Kairi to blush a little at the realization. “I honestly hope you find someone. I also hope… you don’t lose them…” she looked down as she clutched the crystal pendant.

Kairi’s smile slowly fell, as she watched Sunset, before climbing out of the bath and wrapping her in a hug. “You’ll find someone again. I know you will.”

“The thought is nice Kairi,” Sunset rubbed her head before pulling away. “But I don’t intend to find anyone for a very very long time. Unless they have immortality most are going to have a hard time keeping up with an alicorn after all.”

She walked over and grabbed a towel. “I do plan to make regular check-ins so if you could have hot stuff whip me up an earpiece as well as a few extra items for a small base, I’d appreciate it. I’ll be heading out in a couple of days. I still need to get some other stuff cleared up. I gotta tell pops and…. His crew… I think that'll be the hardest thing to do…”

She sighed and got dressed. “Thanks for everything you've done for me since I got here,” she sincerely said before walking out.

It had been a few days since her bath with Kairi and Luna. Sunset was on one of the few open balconies of the tower looking into the massive expanse of her new universe. She was just sitting on the railing and thinking.

“So similar yet so different,” she sighed. “But if he’s out there I need to find him. If he’s on our side then I know we’ll have a better chance at things. Besides,” she stood up and reached out with her prosthetic left arm and activated her dark power, her left side shifting into demon form, “I can feel it. Someone else is out there working in the dark to unseal the worlds’ keyholes.”

Sunset reverted and turned before walking into the tower’s tea room.

“Everyone here is too busy with Equestria and I can’t pull them away to deal with things that may be,” Sunset said, “Or to help me find my former teacher. I need help though… I need my own people…. And there's only one person I know I can turn to go with me for sure in this universe right now. It just so happens he lives in the first world I’m going to search for clues for Master Xerra.”

She opened the doors and headed out, “I need to see the Doc and see if the ship is ready for departure first off.”

Sunset headed for the Doctor's lab immediately but stopped as she noticed both Kairi and Luna outside, staring at a strange green orb of energy.

“You noticed too, huh?” Sumire’s voice spoke up right behind Sunset. She whirled around to find the Phantom Thief leaning against the wall, watching the two outside. “That orb they’re looking at appeared in the exact spot that Ed left from. They think its something that can be harnessed.”

“And you don’t?” Sunset replied with a raised eyebrow.

Sumire shrugged. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter one way or the other for me. I have my Persona, and the training Ed gave us, and that’s more than enough for me.”

Their conversation came to an abrupt end when a dull “THUMP” was heard, right before Kairi’s body impacted the wall right beside the two.

“Ugh,” the redhead groaned, pulling herself out of the crater she created. “Note to self, don’t do that again.”

“Ya think!” Sunset yelled. “Pops is the one who left it, so he obviously meant for us to use it for something but neither you nor blue butt can handle that power without understanding yourself better first.”

“That’s not exactly the case,” Luna chimed in as she joined the group. “We understand ourselves just fine. Our problem is that we’re still hesitant to use the Darkness, and by extension, this new power that Ed left behind.”

“And why the hesitancy?” Sumire questioned. Kairi and Luna exchanged a look for a moment, before turning back to Sunset and Sumire.

"It’s a bit difficult to explain," Kairi explained, choosing her words carefully. "Neither one of us has ever truly been comfortable using the Darkness." Sumire opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off by the red head. "Don't be fooled, my Shadow Dragon Slayer magic affects shadows, not true Darkness."

"We've more or less been sticking to Light magic," Luna picked up the explanation. "And we've been doing that because, for most of our lives, we've seen Dark and Light as antagonists. We believed that we, as well as anyone else who wielded the Light, were the champions of good, simply because we had the Light. If, as Ed told us, these are not moral forces, if they are not opposites, what are they?"

"A simple, yet complex question, to be sure," Kairi nodded in agreement. "From my own observations, Light generates natural life, physical transformation at a molecular scale across whole planets. We see it in the Earth Ponies' Green Magic all the time, as it entices plant life to grow. This really should have been our first hint towards the true nature of Light and Dark: the domain of the Light is the domain of the physical."

"Whereas the Darkness is then revealed in many facets," Luna took over once more. "Dreams and nightmares. Emotions. Pain. Memory." The young Alicorn gestured towards the green tangle of energy. "The nature of this new power, this 'Strand', confirms this line of thinking. Darkness is something entirely apart from Light."

Kairi nodded in agreement, turning back to the energy mass. "It’s a paracausal union, conjoining intangible conscious realities, discursively linking to-"

"That sounds suspiciously like the river of souls." Sumire cut in thoughtfully.

All eyes snapped onto the Phantom Thief. "River?" Kairi asked.

The girl nodded. "It's a story that's been passed down through my family for generations. Since before history, there's been this raging river. As the story goes, some try to divert the river. Others try to build a dam. But nothing stops it. Many in my family believe that we either sink in the water or learn to swim.

Luna tilted her head in confusion. “Don't we though?”

Sumire smirks. "And that's the real wild part, we ARE the river! We decide how we flow, how we connect to each other!"

“I see it as we are the parts that make us,” Sunset shook her head. “Light or dark. Both are good but yet both are evil. It's like pops said, darkness gives birth to light and eventually, that light will be consumed by a new darkness that the light itself birthed. Life comes from both aspects in its own ways. At least that's how I see it. You can either be afraid of the darkness inside you and deny it,” She held up her prosthetic and let the darkness erupt from it, “or embrace and become the whole state of being as you were meant to be,” she added as the darkness turned into a steady flow before trickling out. “Which is it for you two?”

Kairi and Luna looked at each other again, before turning back to the orb of Strand energy, which, upon closer inspection, looked like a tangle of threads. The two reached their hands towards the orb, allowing threads of the energy to wind around their arms.

“I think they got it,” Sumire nodded with a smirk, before noticing the dark energy that Sunset had been channeling had slowly turned green and thread-like as well. “Looks like you did as well.”

“Hmmm…..” Sunset looked over her arm and concentrated a moment. “Something called titan. What did that old fart leave us exactly?” She looked at the sisters now. “Titan, what does that mean?”

Kairi’s eyes widened. “Of course! Why didn’t I think to structure this power like a Guardian?” She quickly gathered energy into her arm, before channeling it into the ground, creating a pool of healing energy. “Warlock, of course,” she nodded in satisfaction before turning back to Sunset. “Try to channel the energy into a barrier of some sort.”

“Barriers aren’t hard for me to do…” Sunset did as she was told and created a green barrier, not noticing the green shockwaves that it generated as she did. “I was taught by my… mother and Shining Armor and I would compete on whose was stronger…”

She started to feel the pain in her heart again, “I’m going to stop talking for a while..” she lowered her barrier and walked off to the side, and leaned against the wall.

Kairi sighed. “Basically what I’m saying is that a Titan is known for their defensive abilities, as well as their large-scale attacks. I’m a Warlock, which is basically the scalpel to the Titan’s hammer, if that makes sense.”

“I wonder if the old man could take a hit from me now?” Sunset muttered.

“Oh he could,” came a new voice.

Everyone turned to look at the source with it being none other than the Chibi their benefactor left for them. “It would still knock his body on his ass for a good minute though.”

“Sounds like a casualty-type attack then,” Sunset said as she looked at Kairi, “Or something all those lines right?”

“Paracausal, actually,” Kairi replied. “Abilities, events, or entities that seem to violate causality are referred to as paracausal, which is exactly what Strand is.”

“So he gave us each a weapon to fight on par with him, or at least do some real damage to his existence,” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I mean I know pops is an op as all get-out guy but why would he give us stuff like this if he knew we could use it against him let alone our enemies? Unless…” She thought. “Does this mean the Sin Eaters and Voidsent are on that level now?”

“Doubtful,” Kairi frowned. “More likely, it's to deal with Tash. That thing is 100% a paracausal entity.”

“I wanted to ask,” Sunset looked around, “If this guy is THAT powerful then why not call pops him and let the old man wipe everything out in one go. I mean… we all saw and experienced what a small portion of his true self can do during training,” as she said that everyone became a bit unnerved as they recalled the horror that came from the Gate of Truth, “Something tells me you girls are still hide a big thing about the old man from me.”

The redhead paled. “Uh, I REALLY don’t want to talk about it…”

Luna’s eyes were blank. “So… Cold…”

Sumire and Sunset exchanged a glance before Sumire shrugged. “Don’t look at me, I have no idea what they’re talking about.”

“What happened to you two?” Sunset looked at them and then the Chibi who’d mysteriously vanished. “Doubt he’d tell me anyways…” She groaned.

“Nope, we are NOT explaining it!” Kairi and Luna exclaimed, Kairi throwing a green grenade that pulled Sunset into the air, spread eagle, while Luna threw a green rope with a blade on the end that wrapped around her throat. “You can’t make us talk!”

“You two better back off!” Sunset easily broke free as she turned into her demonic alicorn form before returning to normal. “I was asking because I’m your friend and was concerned, not to torment you! I get that you have secrets and are entitled to keep them but don’t you ever tie me up and hold a blade to my throat again unless you plan to feel a major pain in your spare tire of an ass!”

“Easy guys,” Sumire cut it. “If you guys have forgotten, Darkness stems from emotions, you guys said so yourselves. I think you need to exercise a higher level of control, otherwise, situations like this happen.”

“You mean like with Raven in the Teen Titans?” Kairi asked.

“Exactly, though not to the same extent as her,” the Phantom Thief nodded. “Just be aware that heightened emotions can trigger certain instincts, and don’t bottle everything up and you should be fine.”

Kairi nodded, then turned to Luna. “That then brings us to you, Luna. I was gonna ask what sort of abilities you had now, but I think we can safely say you got the Hunter skill set.”

The blue filly nodded. “Yep.”

“If we’re done with this shit show I think I’ll be leaving for now as I’ve thoroughly had my fill of you two for the time being,” Sunset said while directing her annoyance and anger at the sister while she started back on her way to the Doctor’s area.

It didn’t take long for Sunset to make her way down to see the doctor.

“Yo doc! Ya here or did you blow up again?!” She called out. “I’m here to check on things and see if my ship is ready for when I gather my crew.”

The Time Lord popped his head up from behind a pile of seemingly useless junk, before pointing towards a modestly sized glider-like craft. “Oh, your ship’s been done for a while now. I hope you don’t mind, but I made it bigger on the inside.”

“Handy,” Sunset crossed her arms and raised and eyebrow. “At least we’ll have space and won’t have to waste munni on an inn in any world we go to. What other stuff did you add in and aren’t telling me about my dear Doctor? Pops told me all about the timelords and their little timey-whimey wibbly wobbly nonsense, and trust me when I say I’m censoring myself?”

“Oh, my dear Sunset,” The Doctor chuckled. “Of course there’s more to it. First, and most importantly, is the Cameleon Circuit. Essentially, this allows your ship to disguise itself automatically to suit the world you’re in. Just don’t forget where you parked. Second, is the computer. That Chibi-Ed duplicated itself to integrate into the ship, becoming the computer.”

“Great,” Sunset rolled her eyes, “Well… at least it gives me a direct line to good ole ma and pa. Anything else? Weapon systems?”

“What do you take me for?” The Doctor scoffed. “Absolutely not. If you want weapons, you’ll have to find those yourself and have Melissa install them. I don’t do weapons.”

“You do realize me and anyone else on board are fighting a war against soul and heart-stealing creatures of light and darkness that can also attack us when we go to and from worlds right?” Sunset’s gaze narrowed on the small pony who was now tugging at his bowtie, “Urrrr…..” she rubbed the bridge of her nose, “Look doc I know you’re not the biggest fan of mot sorts of violence but we’re literally at war right now and I’m fighting behind the scenes here. I mean throw me to the wolves type of stuff dude! You can’t not outfit this thing with a lazer beam or something?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m not sending you in undefended. What do you take me for? I’m sure you’ve heard one of my counterparts mention that for all intents and purposes, nothing can get into my TARDIS uninvited, except for the Daleks. I’ve added the same type of shielding to your ship, as well as stealth tech, allowing you to go right through without any of them knowing you were there. Just, you know, don’t bump into anything.”

“Don’t worry,” chibi popped up. “I’ve already taken the liberty of installing several other countermeasures in the form of offensive capabilities that can be utilized in case such opportune moments should arise.”

“Can the damn thing shoot lasers or not?” Sunset asked bluntly.

“Yes,” the chibi and doctor said at the same time though in very different tones of voice.

“Thank you eggheads for the much simpler answer,” Sunset threw up a hand. “Doc, this thing can be remote-piloted too right? Not that I don’t trust you mini pops but what if you’re out of commission?”

Chibi just stuck out his tongue and popped into confetti.

“To answer your question, yes, yes you can remote pilot the ship,” The Doctor sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

“Was it the lasers?” Sunset asked.

“That, and his childish antics,” he replied tiredly. “Anyhoof, ready to take it for a spin?”

“Not right now. It’s for when I get my crew together thus the need for a separate ship,” Sunset threw up her hands. “I can barely handle my new glider outside combat sims right now. And can you really blame the little fella? He’s supposed to be a part of a larger network but doesn't really have a whole lot of other counterparts as large as us that make use of him as much as we do, not to mention you’re not unknown for your own antic Doctor?”

“Point taken,” the Time Lord shrugged. “Anywho, there’s a strange temple just outside I need to investigate. Stay out of trouble!” And with that, the Doctor disappears.

“Yea, you too,” Sunset rolled her eyes. She held her left arm up and a holo-display appeared over it, “Cross reference data from all of the KH series games and materials no matter what its source,” she ordered. “I need as much info as I can get. There’s something else going on out there alongside all this, Tash bs. I don’t know if he started it but it needs to me stopped. We can’t afford to have even a single keyhole reopened and we need as many keyblade wielders as we can to join our side before it's too late.”

She walked over and looked at her ship, “Don’t worry girl,” She smirked, “You’ll be out of the place soon enough,” she turned, “I better let everyone know it's time I head out,” she walked out of the room and off to the outside to the flight deck, “hey guys and girls,” she called out over the coms, “If you wanna see me off into the wide blue yonder then make it here quick!” She smirked and cut the feed and waited.

Time slowly crept by.

“Been an hour and nobody showed up,” Sunset sighed as she dangled her feet off the edge of the platform, “Oh well, we all have our own shit todo,” she said as she easily backflipped with her new arm. “Still not used to the super strength,” she looked at her hand as she opened and closed it then summon her new keyblade.

“You know, you forgot to press the button on the comms,” an amused voice spoke up behind her. Sunset turned around to find Melissa, Kairi, Luna and Sumire just entering the room. “You’re lucky I happened to be watching the cams in the room.”

“I did press the button,” Sunset said as she showed everyone her arms, and she had indeed pressed but not all the way. “I’m a bigger idiot than the spiky-haired one is sometimes aren’t I?”

Melissa shrugged. “We all have our moments. Anyway, stay safe out there. We’ll be here when you return.”

“Hopefully it'll be with more help and a solid lead on this shadow group pops told us about,” Sunset scratched her head. “Mmmmmm… I think I’ll start there after all,” she smirked, “The Destiny Islands. It was Master Xehonort’s homeworld, not to mention Sora and Riku’s too. Maybe I can even recruit them to our cause. You’re here meaning they never met Kairi in this universe though…” Sunset thought, “Would they even be keyblade wielders?”

Kairi shrugged. “Only one way to find out. Besides, you’d be able to bestow them with their own Keyblade if they don’t have one already.”

“You know better than anyone the blade chooses its wielder,” Sunset added. “I may have achieved the rank of master but I am not going to bestow that ability on anyone. Keyblades are just as much a curse on us as they are a tool to fight back. I can’t and won’t let it reach any further than myself. If they do have the ability then that means Aqua, Terra, and even Ventus are here though. Maybe… Master is looking for them in teh Realm of Darkness… Thoughts for another time,” she summoned her keyblade and threw it out, turning it into its glider form before dawn her armor.

“Thanks for seeing me off and thanks for taking me in,” Sunset looked around her, “It's time for me to fight my own part in this war. I won’t lose another home or another family,” she said as she jumped onto her glider, “Next stop, Destiny Island! Later guys!” She waved as she zoomed off and through a portal.

Author's Note

Huzzah! We're back! Welcome to the first side story chapter of May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key! Not only is this a side chapter for this story, this is also the first chapter of Sunset's story, that you'll be able to read on my page. Everyone give Alvasa a big hand for volunteering to write Sunset's story!