Prologue - Long Lost Promise
The pitter patter of little footsteps against the sand echoed across the moonlit sky, the only sound aside from the waves gently washing up on the nearby shores. This lonely little beach, usually empty and only ever visited in the dead of night, served as a second home for two.
And right now, the two found themselves in the middle of something extremely important…
A little boy rushed forward, a wooden sword gripped tightly in his hands. In front of him, a shadowy figure held a little girl with red hair, struggling desperately against the creature’s grip.
“Sora, help me!” she exclaimed, the terror in her voice doubling his speed in an instant.
“Don’t worry, I’ll save you!”
With a wide, very telegraphed swing of his blade, Sora jumped up and attacked the monster with fury. The red-haired girl was able to break from its grip, narrowly managing to fall to the ground, out of the way of the strike. The boy’s technique was choppy and unrefined, but he swung his blade like a man possessed, ripping into his foe with everything he had.
And because of this… sand went everywhere.
The moon shone down, Sora able to see his work proudly. Half of the sandman they had created was lopped off in a single swing of his toy weapon. And much to his delight, that meant they had won this little game of theirs.
And as Sora stared into her purple eyes, he couldn’t help but grin.
“My hero!” the young redhead swooned, standing back up and hugging Sora. “Thank you so much, brave knight Sora!”
“It was my honor, Princess Moon Dancer!” he exclaimed happily, resting his sword against his shoulder. “No sand monster’ll ever hurt you!”
Moon Dancer couldn’t help but smile, relishing in the feeling of her friend being so close.
Part of her still couldn’t believe that she had been so lucky to meet him. It seemed like only yesterday when he had just shown up, even though it had been months ago. This little boy with his toy sword had been here every night since, and the two of them played the nights away.
They could only see each other while Moon Dancer slept, this beach a construct in her dreamscape where they could have all the fun together that they could imagine. The tranquil sea and starry skies above their head were ethereal, and completely unchanging, but both were okay with that.
For Sora, it reminded him of home. And for Moon Dancer, it reminded her she had somewhere she actually had a friend.
“So, whatcha wanna play now?” Sora asked, eager to whack something again. “Ooh, maybe we can play blitzball!”
“Actually…” Moon Dancer said, looking away with a shy smile. “I was kind of hoping we could just sit and watch the waves?”
“Okay, sure!”
The girl smiled. Sora was always so easy to please, and she never felt like she could do wrong with him. It was nothing like in the real world, where she would say the wrong thing, or upset the other kids because she didn’t like the games they wanted to play.
With Sora, it was easy.
And so, the children sat, fine grains of sand pressed up against their legs, small waves of water trickling over them from time to time. Moon Dancer wished they could stay like this forever.
But it could not. She knew the morning would come eventually, and she would have to leave her only friend. Have to wake up and go to school, finishing her classwork so easily, and wishing she could just take a nap in class and see Sora again.
She didn’t know if Sora would be available in that case. From what he had told her of his life, he had a home, and friends back home. Would he be able to drop everything just because she was lonely? And what if he got caught up in something that meant he couldn’t come back?
A swell of anxiety bubbled up in Moon Dancer’s little chest as she thought of that.
“Something wrong, Moonie?” Sora asked.
A small smile graced her lips as she heard his little nickname for her. Far be it from Sora to not pick up on when she was feeling scared. He was so considerate, and she loved that about him.
It made her heart hurt more, thinking about the idea of him going away.
“Sora, we’re friends, right?” asked Moon Dancer, voice brimming with trepidation. “And we’ll always be friends… right?”
“Of course!” he answered, not an ounce of hesitation. “I wanna be friends forever with you!”
“But what if we can’t always meet up like this?”
To that, Sora shook his head. “Even if we can’t always see each other, you’ll always be my friend.”
“You promise?”
“Yep! In fact…”
Without warning, Sora stood back up, and presented Moon Dancer his wooden sword. To say the girl was shocked by this action would have been an understatement. He loved that thing… was he really giving it to her? Could the boy really just part with it like that?
“Hold onto this,” he told her, blue eyes burning with a mix of regret and confidence. “Look, I don’t know if I’ll be able to see you these next couple of nights, but I’m making you a promise right now. I’ll be back, and until I am… I want you to have this, to remember me by.”
“Y-... you’re serious?”
He didn’t need to say anything. The nod of his head and the conviction in his eyes said more to her than words ever could. Moon Dancer smiled, graciously accepting the toy weapon. To her surprise, it felt a lot heavier than she had expected.
Maybe that was the weight of his determination. No longer was this merely a simple toy, but a symbol; it MEANT something now. It was a promise between them that Sora would return, no matter what.
And Moon Dancer would believe in his promise.
The very next night, Moon Dancer was alone.
She waited and waited for Sora, but he never showed up. While he had warned her of the possibility, seeing it come true was a completely different beast.
And that beast brought with it boredom.
She would pass the time by drawing in the sand with his toy sword, or building another sandman in case he wanted to play pretend when he got there. But despite all of her preparations, Sora ultimately wasn’t able to make it, leaving only a very sad girl with no one to play with.
Still, Moon Dancer held out hope all the way until she felt herself about to be woken up for school. And while her disappointment was immense when her knight didn’t make it, it was manageable. It was just one night, after all, and he would make up for it tomorrow.
She would believe in his promise.
A day turned into a week.
Moon Dancer was a child, and so her patience wasn’t always the best. She missed her only friend so very much. It had been a very bad day at school, with one of the other girls pushing her down on the playground, and others laughing at her.
The other kids at school were so mean, and normally she could handle it. Because she had him there to make all the sadness go away.
She had been forced to try and fight away the boredom, which became an uphill battle with the sadness of earlier. To distract herself, she had drawn so much that she was beginning to wear down his wooden sword. The tip, previously a perfect triangle, was now a bit more weathered, and a lot less pointy. She hoped he wouldn’t mind…
No, it would be okay.
He wouldn’t mind, that much Moon Dancer knew. When Sora got back, he’d be happy she had held onto it. And they’d play together, like they always did. She’d have her friend back, and her hero would be there to keep her safe again.
She would believe in his promise…
A week turned into months.
As the year passed on, Moon Dancer found herself visiting these shores less and less. Her hope was beginning to fade, her one true friend still nowhere to be found. And yet, the girl tried to visit every night that she could, in some desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, this would be the night that he would return to her.
But Sora had yet to return.
… That was his name, right? Sora?
It sounded right, but at some point, she had begun to second-guess herself. She could remember his blue eyes well enough, and his smile. But his voice, mannerisms, his outfit? Not always the easiest thing to recall.
The main reminder of his existence was the wooden sword she’d planted into the ground. Placed there so he could pull it from the sand like the sword in the stone, and be the knight he had always been.
She had missed the last two nights, opting instead to go fly or be a pirate in her dreams. But for now, she was going to keep returning. Because part of her wanted so desperately to see him again.
She wanted to believe in his promise…
Months turned into years.
Moon Dancer couldn’t remember the last time she had been to this beach. Were she pressed to summon an answer, it would likely be the night before she met her only real friend, Twilight Sparkle. After that single, defining event, she’d no need for these imaginary shores.
And no need for her imaginary friend.
So many years since she had even thought of him, that little boy whom she would dream of from time to time.
Caelum, if memory serves.
Alongside this beach, the boy had been a welcome distraction from the misery that was Elementary School. And now, as a girl one summer vacation away from high school, she found herself returned.
The waves were as tranquil as ever, the sands as silvery as they had always been.
The only thing that had changed in so many years was the blade.
The wooden sword that had once been his was now battered beyond repair. Gone was the blade, split off only a bit above the crossguard. Useful for nothing more than to remind her of a time long forgotten.
As Moon Dancer looked to the dried out stump of Caelum’s primary weapon, she couldn’t help but scowl. She had spent so long holding out for something so silly, just… clinging to this desperate belief that maybe one day, it would work out. That her knight would return, and they’d be able to just pick up where they had left off, like nothing had changed at all.
All because he had made a promise.
She wished she hadn’t believed in his promise…
It was a long and lonely three years before those silvery sands would shift for a familiar set of feet once again. He was much larger than he had been the last time these grounds had been tread, but the peaceful winds almost seemed to invite Sora back.
Almost as if this place was happy to see him.
While the weary warrior could not muster the same feeling, there was something vaguely nostalgic about this place. He couldn’t help but feel like he’d been here before.
And in his attempts to figure out when exactly that had been, he stepped on something. Looking beneath his shoe, he saw the source of it—a lonely little object. Curiosity got the better of Sora, and he picked it up, holding it up to the moon to get a better view.
It was the handle of a wooden sword. Dried out, worn, caked with sand, and definitely looking like it had seen better days, but still a familiar sight. The very same type of toy he and his friends would play with back on Destiny Islands.
Yet as he held it in his hands, Sora couldn’t help but struggle. This blade felt so heavy, and in his mind, he couldn’t help but feel like that weight was more than just physical. He couldn’t explain it, at least not fully, but…
It felt like this broken blade meant something.
His answer would be received in the form of a blinding light, so grossly incandescent that he had to avert his eyes. The handle practically burned into his palms, the boy gritting his teeth as he desperately tried to let go of it.
But before he could even think of doing something, the brightness overwhelmed him. He felt it hold him close, like the loving embrace of a long-lost friend…
And then, he felt nothing.
“MOON DANCER! WAKE UP! IT’S TIME FOR SCHOOL!”
Sora’s eyes slowly cracked open, vision blurry as the drowsiness spread throughout his being. Allowing himself a grin, knowing that he could feel once again was a promising sign, the next goal became apparent. And so, slowly but surely, he brought himself to a sitting position, trying to shake away the tiredness to the best of his abilities.
But as the Keyblade wielder felt his body, something felt… off. Usually he could explain whatever he was feeling, but this was one of the rare times where he couldn’t find the words. All he knew was it wasn’t right.
And to make matters worse, something hit him right in the middle of trying to find said words. Something that completely pulled him from his stupor, eyes widened in abject shock.
“Did she just say... ‘Moon Dancer’!?”
Author's Note
So, I'm sure this seems weird, given that I already have a story like this, but this is sort of me getting back to my roots for this premise.
I wish I could give you a real explanation for this, but truth is I just got hit with the urge. There were certain aspects of Sora and Moon Dancer's dynamic that I found wonderful, and I wanted to use them again. But I didn't want to do it in Equestria proper, and so instead, I decided to channel it in the human world. And plus, it gives me a chance to explore some territory that I always find fun, that being Sunset Shimmer and friends, and how Sora would interact with them.
And also Shadowbolts. LOTS of Shadowbolts. Surprise of the century there, given what I write for Indigo Zap.
So, with that in mind, do expect the next update for both this and Rebirth in Starlight soon. My plan is to update the two congruently, so that if you prefer one version or the other, neither side is left wanting. It's a bit of a tall order, but I'm confident I can do it.
So until then, I hope you enjoy. But for now, Gusto out, and I wish you all a happy new year.
I - Crystal Kingdom (Part 1)
Sora froze dead in place, breath hitched in his throat, and unsteady on his feet.
Moon Dancer…
He had no idea who was on the other side of that door, but whoever she was calling for definitely was not here. As far as he could tell, he was the only one in the room, but his now blurry vision did nothing to help confirm that.
But wouldn’t she call for two people if he was meant to be here? That would just make sense, so if it was only one…
Eventually, he would get his answer, as the door was opened, revealing another human being.
At least, that’s what he had to assume. Seriously, why was his vision so bad today?
“Oh, Moon Dancer…” the voice fretted, her doting tone like that of an older sister. “Rough sleep last night?”
Sora stammered for a bit, trying to find an answer for this mystery person. She had just called him ‘Moon Dancer’, he could barely see, and nothing exactly felt right. What was he supposed to say here?
After a few seconds, she approached, and placed a pair of glasses on Sora’s face. The confused warrior practically jumped back, until it finally registered he could see again. In front of him was a pleasant looking young woman with reddish hair, peach skin, and purple eyes. She was dressed like she worked at a coffee shop, and her name tag said ‘Morning Roast’.
So, she had a name, but he was still not sure who exactly this lady was.
“Come on, sis,” Morning Roast said, clearly trying to be reassuring. “I know going to a new school is going to be strange, but I believe in you. Trust me, you’ll do great at Crystal Prep. Alright?”
“A-Alright?” Sora managed to squeak out, still reeling at how much information was being piled on him at once. New school? Crystal Prep? ‘Sis’?
He needed answers. And so, glancing at the nearby dresser and mirror, Sora took the initiative to actually get them.
But looking in said mirror almost made him wish he hadn’t.
Staring back at him was not the deceitfully dangerous 15-year-old Sora. Rather, he was met with the sight of a scrawny bespectacled girl.
She looked to be about his age, and about his height as well. But looking at her was like looking at an alien. Her skin, first off, had a sort of yellowish tint to it that he’d never seen before. Her blue eyes were huge and expressive, with bushy eyebrows right above them. Her hair was a deep red, but with a single streak each of lighter and darker purple, a little bit frizzy, and tied up in the front.
If Sora had to describe this girl in a word, it would be…
“I… I look like a wreck…”
“Oh, don’t put yourself down like that, Moon Dancer,” Morning Roast chimed in, placing a hand on her ‘sister’s’ shoulder. “We all have our off days.”
Sora could only squint at that. This looked like far more than just an off day.
“Well anyway, I’ve got your uniform ready, and I’ve made breakfast if you want some,” Morning Roast continued, placing some clothes down on the bed. “Meet me down in the dining room when you’re ready, alright?”
“... How long do I have?” Sora asked.
“About 45 minutes,” the older girl told him.
45 minutes. He could work with that.
The door was closed, and once again, the confused Keyblade wielder was left alone. He glanced over to the outfit on the bed, noting the various purples and the plaid of the skirt. Academy uniforms were nothing new, and following a dress code wasn’t too difficult.
But that was a thought for later. For now, he had work to do.
And so, the next 30 minutes were spent following a very practiced routine: brush teeth, shower, brush hair, and put on clothes. It was all made a bit more awkward by the fact that this wasn’t actually his body, but he was able to push down those feelings long enough to get it all done.
By the time that he had left the bathroom, ‘Moon Dancer’ was cleaner, and Sora could feel it. He hadn’t even noticed the feeling of being messy until after all the steps were completed, but now he was glad it was gone.
And since there was still some time, Sora took in the details of Moon Dancer’s room. Loathe as he was to acknowledge it, this was going to be his room for the foreseeable future…
And it looked like an absolute mess. A thin layer of dust on everything, crumpled up papers everywhere, a small wastebin full of instant noodle containers, and a backpack over to the side. Honestly, it kind of mirrored the state he had found Moon Dancer in, looking like it needed a bit of elbow grease and care.
But there was one thing Sora was happy to see, and that was his own bag. He would have to check it after school, but judging by how full it looked, he could surmise there was plenty of his old gear within.
That would be helpful.
“Moon Dancer?” Morning Roast called out. “I reheated your breakfast!”
Hearing that voice again made Sora’s heart sink. He was still not happy to be stuck in the body of someone else. It made him feel horrible, to know he’d taken the place of someone else. Even if he had not opted into this by choice, this was the same thing that Xehanort had done.
And now he was doing it…
“I’ll be right down!” Sora called out, putting on the outfit and grabbing Moon Dancer’s backpack. Before he left, he grabbed Moon Dancer’s hair tie, tucked her bangs behind her ears, and placed her hair into a low ponytail.
There would be time to lament his situation later. For now, if he was going to be Moon Dancer, then he would have to put his best foot forward.
The ride to Crystal Prep was quiet and awkward, as Morning Roast tried to make small talk, and Sora continued to think about his situation.
It was rare for him to be this quiet, but he couldn’t help it today.
In only about 30 minutes, he had learned one thing to be true about Moon Dancer, and that was that she wasn’t the most social person. Morning Roast had apparently not been expecting Moon Dancer to come down on the first call, much less in the condition Sora had put her in. And whenever Sora did respond with more than two sentences, he saw the flicker of surprise in her eyes.
To her credit, Morning was clearly doing her best to be a good big sister. She was very attentive to everything ‘Moon Dancer’ was saying, even if it was just a random bit of rambling. But that only made him feel worse about taking her place.
In the time since they’d left the house, Sora had taken in one other detail about being this girl, and that was in her frame. All the books in her room made it clear she was a reader, and definitely the indoors-y type. But while he couldn’t exactly prove it, he was sure that he felt so much weaker than usual.
It had been a long while since Sora had felt anything but superhuman, but here he was.
‘Well, I guess if I’m gonna be stuck as Moon Dancer, I can help her out,’ Sora mused. ‘First thing’s first, no more instant noodles!’
Sora had to fight back the urge to gag. Most people didn’t know this, but he was actually a pretty healthy eater. It was part of why he took so well to working with Little Chef. Even if he didn’t always have the best materials to cook with, the idea of making a bowl of ramen in a microwave just didn't sit right with him.
And frankly, he had no idea what kind of threats this world had. The last thing he wanted was low energy getting in the way during a potential Heartless attack.
“Moon Dancer, are you listening?”
Sora blinked, looking over to Morning Roast. “I’m sorry, could you say that again?”
“I said we’re here,” Morning Roast explained, gesturing to the beautiful school outside the window. “You ready to go?”
“I think so,” he answered honestly. “But I gotta admit, I’m still a little nervous.”
Morning Roast’s response was to pull her little sister into a hug. “I know, sis. But I promise, it’ll all be okay. Just remember, your schedule is in the top pocket, and your lunch is in the middle pocket. And if you ever feel like it’s too much, you can call me during lunch period. Sound good?”
Sora smiled, feeling the love this woman had for Moon Dancer. Of course, that gave way to a wave of guilt immediately afterward, but he tried to push that down as best he could.
“I’ll do my best,” he said. “Thanks… sis.”
The word felt weird on his tongue, but seeing the joyful shine behind Morning Roast’s eyes certainly helped alleviate that. And as Sora stepped out of the vehicle, heading in through the front doors of Crystal Prep Academy, he felt the smile on his face growing.
He could do this.
He could not do this…
It had seemed so easy to just say that earlier, but Crystal Prep proved to be a very mean place. From the minute Sora entered those halls, many eyes were on him, some glaring, some whispering, so on and so forth. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered the boy too much, but he felt strangely… vulnerable in this new body.
After all, they weren’t judging him, but rather, Moon Dancer. Every little thing he did reflected on her, and that made it so much worse in his mind.
And the classes themselves. Oh, they were dreadfully dull.
Sora had never been much of a book learner. He loved storybooks and old fairy tales, but classes didn’t grab his attention all that often, and textbooks could be frustrating from time to time. And of course, the teachers in this school were so boring, all either too stiff or too harsh in their lectures. It didn’t matter if it was English, Math, History, or whatever else, almost all of them seemed like the kind of stuffy jerks that he hated having as teachers back home.
A fact which also extended to his current Science class.
For the most part, Sora had tried to keep his head down throughout the day. It was much easier than trying to interact with these subjects, especially when he’d missed so much of the curriculum before this. Today’s lesson was on anatomy, and while Sora understood enough about how the human body worked, he still felt lost as their teacher droned on.
And of course, most everyone in the class seemed to be just as stuffy. All sat at attention, eyes glued to the screen. It almost seemed unnatural to him. He’d been to high school (albeit not for long, due to his universe saving adventures), and he knew at least one or two students always had their focus elsewhere.
‘Wait, actually, I’m that student right now, aren’t I?’ he asked himself, stifling a small chuckle.
“Moon Dancer?”
Sora perked up at the mention of the girl’s name. “Y-yes sir?”
“Can you tell the class how the heart is divided?”
To that, the Keyblade wielder smiled. Finally, a question he could answer.
“Easy,” Sora told him. “The Heart’s made up of many things, but there are four important parts. There’s Light, there’s Darkness, there’s Experience, and there’s Bonds. These are the core parts of what makes a person a person, and how our hearts continue to grow throughout our lives.”
The confidence with which he said that might have been inspiring. At least, one would think…
Instead, the other students began to laugh at Sora, causing the boy-turned-girl to wince. What were they laughing about? He’d answered truthfully, using his knowledge of the heart and how it worke-...
‘Oh…’ Sora thought, sucking on his teeth. ‘Teacher meant the organ, not the True Heart.’
Now Sora felt embarrassed. He might not have been a scholar of the Heart, like Ansem the Wise, but he knew plenty about it. And so much journeying involving the Heartless and Nobodies had made him associate the term with the ‘True Heart’—the one that lived beyond just flesh and bone.
Honestly, it messed with him the fact that they had a body part with the same name. He couldn’t even think of it like that anymore.
But now he’d have to, lest he make a fool of himself like that again.
“That kind of pseudo-philosophical spiel might get you points in an elective class,” the teacher warned. “But this is common core, and we take things a bit more seriously. Now pay attention, or it’s going to show on your grades.”
“Yes sir…” Sora said, dejectedly.
The teacher asked someone else for the right answer, but Sora unconsciously tuned it out. No one liked being laughed at, so to experience it firsthand from his classmates and potential friends was not fun.
But, while he was looking away in embarrassment, one thing caught his attention. One single, similarly bespectacled girl, who had her attention squarely on ‘Moon Dancer’.
One student who had not laughed at that.
That was solace.
The rest of the class dragged on, the teacher continuing his lecture on human organs. Sora was admittedly relieved when that bell rang, as his schedule had said lunch was next. He didn't know what Morning Roast had packed, but he was hungry.
Leaving the class, Sora kept up the routine of trying to stay inconspicuous. He had to wonder if there would be talk of what he said in that class.
Given what he knew of high school, most likely. And that brought back the twinge of guilt from earlier. He was already messing things up for Moon Dancer…
"I liked your answer back there."
Sora froze on the spot, turning around to see who could have said that. To his surprise, it was her again.
Now he could get a more proper look at that bespectacled girl. She was about Moon Dancer's height, with blue skin, white hair tied back at multiple points, and wearing a different version of the Crystal Prep uniform - one with a different blazer and leggings.
And as an added pleasant surprise, she had a genuine smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, what?" He asked, trying to play the fool.
"I liked your answer," the girl repeated. "It had nothing to do with the subject matter, but it was interesting."
"Oh, thanks."
"Though I am curious what you meant by 'Light' and 'Darkness'. Were you using those in place of 'good' and 'evil'?"
Sora shook his head, images of Riku coming to mind. "Not really. Darkness doesn't have to be evil."
The other girl nodded. "Are you new around here? I've never seen your face before."
'Well, she's direct,' Sora mused as they walked toward the cafeteria. 'Done with one thing and just jumps right into the next.'
Still though, the girl asked a question. It would be rude not to answer.
"Yeah," Sora explained. "I just transferred from somewhere far away. I'm S-... Moon Dancer."
"It sounds like you were about to say something else," the girl told him. "But I won't question it. You're entitled to your secrets. I'm Sugarcoat, by the way."
"Wow… that's a pretty name," Sora noted. "Well, hi Sugarcoat! It's nice to meet ya!"
"Likewise. Now, since you're following me anyway, let me introduce you to my friends."
That brought a smile to Sora's face. It was always nice to meet new friends, especially if food was involved.
And so, the two finally stepped toward the cafeteria doors.
But no sooner than they appeared, did a deluge of scared students rush out. Both Sora and Sugarcoat took shelter on either side of the opening, narrowly avoiding getting trampled.
Panic set in for one, while the other felt confusion. Sora recognized this kind of panic, but part of him didn't want to believe it. He desperately did not want to deal with that, on top of everything else.
But another part of him knew that if it was that, and he didn’t get involved, people could get hurt. That was something he just couldn’t allow, a risk he wasn’t willing to take.
And so, he looked in the room once the students had evacuated.
And sure enough, it was that.
“HEARTLESS!”
Author's Note
Much like I had said for Rebirth in Starlight, it should not have taken me this long to write it, but it did.
Life is a pain in the butt, but thankfully, I managed to get my brain to work long enough to put words to document. This is only part 1, obviously, but I think it establishes enough about the scenario to be enticing.
I also want to thank everyone who gave this a look when I opened it up, and for leaving comments on the story. It was a delight to read your comments, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy my story.
Until next time, my friends.
