//-------------------------------------------------------// Hasbro/Square Enix Kingdom Hearts Days of a Nopony -by SonictheHedgepony- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 1-Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 1-Prologue Typical Heartless, unconsciously gathering hearts. The unlimited power of the Keyblade expels those hearts. They wonder the darkness, untrained and unrestrained... until they combine to form Kingdom Hearts. When that moment comes, we can have what we wished for all along: a chance for a better life. Day 1-Prologue I remembered those words like they were part of some school mission. I was part of a group of mysterious missionaries known as the New Organization XIII, and our group consists of, you guessed it, thirteen members. I was the thirteenth member, the last to be inducted into this second incarnation of this group, in which the last Organization disbanded for, as our leader told us, reasons. I thought about these words as I was sitting on the edge of a clock tower in a place known as Twilight Town, where the town is small, but it's sunsets are breathtaking. I was sitting right beside my new friend Discord, who is a bizarre creature known as a draconequus, who when I first met him, looked quite like a mish-mash. But when I saw his kindness, I pretty much accepted him for who he is, though he can surprise me at times. He told me that the reason he's part of our fold is because he was accused of a horrible thing he didn't commit, and he escaped here to start a new life. "Moondancer," Discord said to me. Moondancer is my name, just so you know. "Are you certain you don't have a heart?" "I'm not sure," I responded to him. "I mean, I can't really... just look inside myself. But I'm wondering... if there's something in there-- within us-- then we would actually have it, right?" "I think that's good enough," said Discord, giving me a treat. That treat was sea-salt ice cream, a brand of ice cream that is very sweet and very salty, and it feels like I had it before somehow. But I brushed it off as I was looking back at the other members of our number. Number I, our leader, is Vanitas. Number II is King Sombra, the king of a wonderful empire before he was usurped. Number III is Diamond Tiara, a little filly who, despite her cute size, is rather spoiled. Numbers IV, V, and VI are the Diamond Dogs, a group of dogs who hunt gems. Number VII, the second-in-command, is Queen Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings so to speak. Number VIII is, of course, Discord. Number IX is Prince Blueblood, a handsome prince who had his eye on a glamorous pony, but things didn't go so well. Number X is the Great and Powerful Trixie, a traveling magician who she says has conquered an Ursa Major. Number XI is Garble, the leader of a group of rebellious dragons. Number XII is Gilda, a griffon who had a cool friend once but had a falling-out. Then there's Number XIII, which is, you guessed it, me. And if you're wondering why I'm even in this, I didn't really have much of a choice. The day I was "born," I was standing at the gate of an old mansion, which I guess must be abandoned and condemned, because the gate was chained up and locked up, with no key to unlock it. I was wondering what I should do until I saw an egg-shaped burst of energy emerge before me, and out of it was a cloaked figure who approached me and just stood there. "You're searching for answers," he finally said to me. Then, with a wave of his hand, he projected a name before me, even though it's in backwards, I knew that the name was read as TWILIGHT SPARKLE. I didn't know if it was my name or not or somepony else's but before I had the time, he just continued talking. "I can give you the purpose you're looking for." He then twirled the letters around me until with a small burst of light they were instantly replaced with new letters which arranged themselves to form the name I would later read out. "'MOONDANCER,'" I read out loud. "That's correct," the figure said. "The brand new you." He then removed his hood and I saw he looked like a teenager. "My name is Vanitas, and I'm Number I of the New Organizaton XIII and you are Number XIII. I'll give you some time to explore your surroundings, to get better acquainted with your new life. When you're ready, go to the Castle That Never Was in the World That Never Was and we'll give you the welcome you deserve." As soon as he left, I went into the town, where three kids passed by me eating sea-salt ice cream, like I was invisible to them. However, I was greeted by Discord who led me to the clock tower with sea-salt ice cream and a cloak similar to the ones that the Organization is required to wear to protect ourselves from the darkness that we travel through. This is one moment I'll never forget. Apparently, Discord knew what I was thinking, because he gave a slight chuckle. "Ha, I missed that day," said a nostalgic Discord. "Still have it memorized?" "Well, yeah," I said. "Good," he said in response. "It's just, the day we met, when you received your name, you and I sat right here, just like right now, and watched the sun set." "Yeah," I said. "That was a great first time. I just hope I can remember things like this forever." "I know," said Discord. After that, we just sat there watching that sun set, eating what's left of our ice cream before it was time for us to go, back to our mission with the Organization. Author's Note I know what you're thinking, but it was hard trying to find the right characters for Vanitas' Organization XIII, but it was the only best I could come up with, but don't worry, some of these members won't stick around the Organization for long. I hope you enjoy this story. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 7-The Fourteenth Member //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 7-The Fourteenth Member I know this is weird and confusing, all of these members and their reasons for joining us, but you have to admit, everything has to start somewhere. The closest thing to me was when I was seven days old, and I met her. Day 7-The Fourteenth Member Today, even though there was barely even light out in the World That Never Was, my instincts told me to get up. And so, after stretching out my back and legs, I rolled out of bed and made my way to the Grey Area, the lounge where Organization members like to hang out in after completing their work. I didn't know what we're supposed to do today, so I simply made my way to Discord, hoping he can tell me what we're going to do today. When I approached him, he didn't even notice me until he turned around. He gave out a smile upon seeing my groggy face. I was still trying to wake myself up, but I knew he wouldn't make fun of my face. "Morning, Moondancer," said Discord. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't find the right words to speak with. "Can I help you with something, motormouth?" I knew that the nickname wasn't really an insult, but I haven't really spoken much since I got here that he wanted to have some fun with me. "Oh, now I get it. We're supposed to meet in the Round Room today. Ugh, converses...." "Round...Room...?" I managed to say. It wasn't much, but it'll have to do. "Uh-huh," Discord said. "Vanitas says he's going to give out some HUGE news." He placed an emphasis on "huge" because whatever Vanitas is supposed to say, it might not be that interesting. "Want to head there now?" I figured that because meetings like this are mandatory, I don't really have much of a choice but to attend, so I just nodded my head okay. "Okay. Follow me." We then used a Corridor of Darkness to transport to the Round Room, landing on our designated seats. I knew the meeting was mandatory when I saw that all the other members were in attendance. Everyone hushed themselves when we saw a Corridor of Darkness appear on the highermost seat, dropping off a hooded figure. We quickly discovered that when he removed the hood, it was, of course, our leader, Vanitas. "Salutations, my dear comrades," Vanitas began. "Today is a momentous occasion." Everyone can see a hooded figure make its way to the center of the Round Room. "I'm proud to announce that a new member has been selected to wear the coat." When he said those words, I knew that it meant that someone was selected to be a part of our ranks. The figure then stopped at the center as Vanitas introduced it personally. "Number XIV." As I was looking down, I had a rushing memory of when I was introduced to the Organization. "Let us all welcome on of the Keyblade's chosen few." Those were the same words to introduce me as he introduced to Number XIV. In my memory, I made my way to the center of the pillar with Discord by my side. As I looked up, I saw Vanitas giving me a smirk, and I wasn't sure if it was for happiness or of sinister motives, but as my memory ended, I saw Number XIV look up to me, at least I think it was looking at me, and give me the tiniest of smiles and I wasn't sure what it had in mind, but after its welcome, we were dismissed and I went to my room to sleep for another day. Author's Note And with the induction of a new member, it has begun. Hopefully, you like this day (AKA chapter) than the last one. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 14-Friendship //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 14-Friendship That was my first time working for the Organization. They gave me missions, and I did them without hesitation. But if you really wanted to ask what my job was all about... I'd simply stare at you. But the next day, I learned its goal. They wanted to collect something known as a "heart." I don't even know what it was or why they even cared. But what came out of that day was that I knew my place in the Organization. But I learned the day after that I was a Nopony-- that even though I exist physically, I'm missing something important. Like our new member, Solaris, I came into being without a heart. Would that make me different? If I had a heart... would that make me a somepony? Over my training missions, they taught me my Keyblade releases hearts. But why do I have such a mythical weapon? How did I even learn how to use it in the first place? But the more I learned, the less I knew about my origins. Later, I learned that our jobs are more than just a quick trip between the Castle That Never Was and Twilight Town. The barriers in between the worlds are impenetrable, so we use our own way for traveling: Corridors of Darkness which takes us to any place we desire. Our group of thirteen had its good days, as well as having their bad days. But everypony who joined wanted the same thing: the completion of Kingdom Hearts. What is this Kingdom Hearts? And what will happen when it's completed? I don't know yet... I just do not know... But I'll fight for my opportunity to be complete-- fighting against the darkness, no matter how long. Day 14-Friendship Over the next week working for the Organization and learning with my other comrades, I learned more about my role in the XIII. I was to use a legendary key-like weapon known as the Keyblade to release hearts from some dark and mysterious creatures known as Heartless so they can join together to make a heart of all worlds known as Kingdom Hearts, which, according to our fellow members, will endow us with wishes, giving us what we truly desire. However, one of our members told us that me and Solaris will get a special wish to complete us because we were Noponies, a species of Nobody who originated from a pony whose lost their heart to the darkness, albeit with a strong will. That would explain why we have the same cutie mark: the symbol of the Nobodies. During a training lesson on recon, I learned that we travel to various worlds in the Realm of Light, not just Twilight Town. I also learned that missions won't always be easy, as various Heartless of varying shapes and sizes will hinder in my work, but I know, that if I'm to complete Kingdom Hearts and get my wish for a heart of my own, I'll fight for my right to truly exist, no matter how long or how much the odd are stack against me. The next morning, when I woke out of bed and walked into the Grey Area, I was warmly greeted by a kind and smiling Discord. "Morning, Moondancer," he said. "It's us again today." It's great that I finally get to do another mission with him, especially after giving me two bars of sea-salt ice cream. "Just check with the Queen when-- hell, you know how to do it. I just don't know what the mission is, but I hope it's something that's super easy and we can 'glide' through." Discord, upon saying "glide" flapped his wings, which are of an angelic wing and of a demonic wing. "And before I forget, today's mission is gonna be your first for-real mission, so you'd better be awesome with your 'Blade, alright." In my mind, when he said it, I was psyched and relieved at the same time. I was getting tired (physically, not mentally) of these training missions that I really wanted to really work like the others. And so, I was nearly ecstatic that I finally start my actual work. After my brief victory party in my mind, we approached Chrysalis and told her we were ready to go, and after opening a Corridor of Darkness to Twilight Town and walking through it, my next mission (and my first true one) has officially begun. "Our second mission as a team." "Yeah." I meant to say it like I was nearly excited to the point of jumping, but I was still trying to wake up, so my response was nearly deadpan. After that, we both shared an awkward silence. "Whoa, don't talk my ear off," warned Discord, even though I didn't say anything during our moment of silence. "Ready?" I nodded my head yes and we began our mission. "Our mission is to collect hearts, right?" I asked Discord. I wanted to make certain I understood the assignment Queen Chrysalis gave me. "Exactly. You think you're mare enough to do it?" I was nearly offended by this remark that I wasn't going to let the Queen, or more importantly, Vanitas down, so I think I am "mare enough" to complete my task. And so, we traversed the back alleys and even the lot around the clock tower to find the Heartless we're supposed to destroy, and sure enough, we found enough Heartless to destroy and release hearts from in order for them to be a part of Kingdom Hearts. After we arrived back at the Corridor of Darkness, Discord turned to me. "What do you want to do now that our work is done?" I was worried that Discord would disapprove of me after I tell him what I do after work, but I can't just shrug off the question. "Well, I'm going to tell Chrysalis that my work was done and go to bed like I usually do," I casually said to him. "Go to bed!? Oh, jeez..." I knew he wouldn't like my answer. But then, we saw three children running straight to somewhere, where the blonde kid started laughing. "You know the drill," he said. "Last one gets the winner an ice cream." "Are you for real with this game?" asked the girl. Based off of her tone, she mustn't like this game. "C'mon," said the large kid. "I'm allergic to running. You know that." It's weird that he said he's allergic, but I don't see any visible reactions. "Better get movin' if you don't wanna get spendin'," said the blonde kid. And just like that, they were gone the second we saw them. "Who were they?" I asked. "Apparently, they're kids that live here," Discord replied. "Well, one thing's for certain, they acted strange." "Why ever for?" He was confused by my statement that he wanted a reason why I said that. "Those other two kids enjoyed getting pushed around, but they didn't make those weird noises." "That's laughter. Usually, those with hearts laugh even when they don't understand." "Well, I guess they're different than me and Solaris." "Don't worry about that," Discord assured me. "Let's have some ice cream." I was confused that we're actually having ice cream again for the third time in a row that I needed a logical explanation. "Why are we having ice cream again?" That was the only question I can get for an answer. Discord looked out into the heavens like he was remembering something from his fractured life, but instead of sadness or depression that's usually caused, he instead had a feeling he can do something right for once and not screw this up again. "Because." Here, he paused for a moment. "We're friends." I was surprised and confused by the answer that I wanted to confirm it. "You're saying friends are those who always have ice cream together?" "In a way..." I knew that there was more to this "friends" thing he was talking about. "I mean, those kids that just passed by were friends. Just come with me, and I'll show you how a friendship works." *** Indeed, after we went to get some ice cream from the local shop, we went to the top of the clock tower again to enjoy our treats and watch another beautiful sunset. "Moondancer." I turned to face Discord after he mentioned my name. "Let's have ice cream here again every day after you're finished with your work. I mean, who the hell would spend their time just going from work to the Castle?" I giggled at that comment. "Not me, of course." I suddenly became surprised at my first laugh that I felt it was genuine. "I laughed... I think we are friends." Author's Note And so begins a new friendship for Discord to make up for the one he lost in the previous story. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 22-Departure //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 22-Departure Day 22-Departure Over the next week, I have started to get the hang of this mission business. I was accompanied by other members of our team to help me out. I know it was a pain to not work with Discord, especially after he gave me those kind words that we're friends. Luckily, I kept my promise to him and every day after work, we met up on the clock tower and enjoy a tasty bar of sea-salt ice cream, watching the sun set. I would like to talk about Discord's life before joining the Organization, but every time I do, he always brushes it off. I can clearly see that whatever happened to his life, it must have traumatized him to the point that he won't even speak to me unless I mention something else, like our work. Discord would even ask me about my life before being recruited, yet I told him that I don't remember much. Either way, those are moments we may treasure forever. After waking up, I approached Queen Chrysalis for my daily mission assignment and told me that I was to destroy a Heartless known as a Guardian and my partner was, of course, Discord. I was glad that I finally get to work with Discord again, because not only are we working together again, we also don't have time to wait for each other to show up on the clock tower. After accepting my mission, we went to Twilight Town to take on the day and the mission. "Alright, let's finish this quickly so we can chillax," said Discord. "You told me our goal is to destroy a Guardian, right?" I was somehow confused by what he was talking about that I nearly questioned him until I realized what he was talking about. "Yeah, I think so," I simply replied. Discord turned to me to see me staring out into the distance. He must have heard my weak response, because he gave out a slight sigh. "You are such a zombie pony. You want to hang out at the clock tower while I make some heads roll? Get your head in the game, alright?" I ignored the fact that he called me a zombie pony again that we just continued with our time. I know he can be a joker at times, especially when he uses his magic to do feats physically impossible, but ever since the time we spend together, I have gotten used to it. After we walked into a sandlot, we saw a large Heartless appear in front of us, and we knew at once what it was. "There you are, Guardian." He then used his magic to summon his Keyblade, which has features that reflect solely on him. "Alright, Moondancer, let's raise some hell! Just keep your head on the Guardian." "Right!" I then summoned my own Keyblade, which has features that don't reflect on me, like my white mane mane and tail with purple streaks or my pink coat. My Keychain doesn't even have my cutie mark, just a magenta star with five smaller stars around it. But either way, we used our Keyblades to hack away at the Guardian and slash him into oblivion, releasing its heart so it can be with Kingdom Hearts. "You know something, Moondancer?" I turned to face him to see what it was. "You've become quite an expert after just two weeks. Ready to hang out?" *** Of course, we went to the clock tower so we can have ice cream and watch the sun set into the horizon. After a while, Discord gave a depressed sigh. "I think I'll miss the ice cream hangout we have together," he said out loud. I was starting to get worried by what he meant. "Why?" It was the only question I can ask in such shock. Discord gave another depressed sigh. "I'm gonna be gone tomorrow." I suddenly became disappointed that he won't be hanging out with me anymore, but Discord gave out a kind and emphatic smile. "But since you're my friend, I'll tell you personally. I'm going to be at the Everfree Forest for a bit." "What's that?" I was confused by this place, but because it has "forest" in the name, I suspect he's going to a location within the woods, like how I was "born" near the gates of an old mansion in the forest outside of Twilight Town. "The Everfree Forest is a haunted forest located in the magical land of Equestria," he explained. "Within the woods are the remains of an old castle that was once the home of two regal alicorn sisters, which the Organization uses as a spare base. Got it memorized?" Of course, I would remember this piece of information. "Yeah, it's just that I wish others told me about such things like this." Discord then looked out into the sunset and promptly got up. "Anyway, I'm gonna get ready for my departure. Take your time to return." After he left, I munched on my ice cream until it was all gone, and when I looked closely at the stick, I saw it had the words WINNER written on it, and it had the twinkling star with the smaller stars next to it, like my Keychain. I don't know what I've "won," but I'll ask Discord before he leaves tomorrow. Author's Note I'm surprised that I would make Discord return to Equestria, especially now that he's a fugitive of harmony. But, this trip is more than meets the eye... //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 23-New Companionship //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 23-New Companionship Day 23-New Companionship When Discord was about to leave through a Corridor of Darkness he just conjured up, he was approached by Queen Chrysalis. "Discord, I have an important piece of news for you from Lord Vanitas," she explained. "We think one or more of our members sent to the ancient castle in the Everfree Forest intend to betray us. I want you to find those backstabbers and kindly send them on their way." "And it came from Lord Vanitas himself, eh?" Discord asked her. He felt uneasy to betray someone, especially after what happened last time. But, he was to do as instructed and upon stepping through the Corridor of Darkness, he, along with the portal, was gone. *** "Discord!" As I had woken up, I realized I was late to tell him about my WINNER stick. And after fumbling out of bed, I ran straight into the Grey Area, noticing he's not there, as well as the Diamond Dogs, Garble, and Gilda. Queen Chrysalis came towards my side just as everypony was looking at me awkwardly. "Discord already left for the Everfree Forest," she just said to me. "Come see me when you're ready." She then went to the very back of the Grey Area, obviously so she can give me my mission for the day. I then got out my ice cream stick and stared dejectedly at it. "This ice cream stick with WINNER on it... I have to tell him what I just won." I eventually decided to tell him when he gets back and solemnly went to the Queen to get my new mission, which was to destroy a Heartless known as a Darkside. And you're not going to believe this, but I'm going to do this alongside our Fourteenth member, Solaris. I felt uneasy at this turn of events, because it hasn't said a word to me, or anypony else for that matter, since its arrival. But, I knew I didn't have a choice. And so, I just accepted our mission and went straight for Twilight Town via a Corridor of Darkness. "Moondancer." I heard a voice behind me and I realized where it's coming from: Solaris. "Your name's Moondancer, right?" "Yeah..." I trailed off as I briefly remembered how Vanitas gave me my name. "Moondancer," she said again. She then lifted her hoof up to her hood and removed it from her head. "Good luck, alright?" I was surprised by what the hood previously concealed. Her head had a flowing flame-colored mane and had a horn coming from her forehead, just like me. I just shrugged this off and just gave a quick nod before continuing on our way. After arriving at the plaza of the station, we saw a jet black darkness emerge from the ground and take the shape of a humanoid monster. "What the hell is that?" I was surprised that I even swore that I think I might have been influenced by Discord a little. "That's our target, of course," said Solaris. I then summoned my Keyblade and charged at the Darkside with everything I had, but no matter what I did, it didn't fall as easily as all the other Heartless I fought, and eventually, I began to feel weak and tired, and that monster of a Heartless knocked out my Keyblade, causing it to land straight at Solaris' hooves. Suddenly, it appeared at her side and charged at the creature and flew up into the sky, literally. I saw she has wings too and with her flight power, she flew straight down and gave a powerful slash, it caused the Darkside to fall and disappear into nothingness. "Solaris, I didn't know you could fly or use a Keyblade." I was so surprised I didn't even know what to say next. "Actually, neither did I." "Well, you did spectacularly. In fact, I'll get you something extra." *** After getting ourselves our ice cream, I took her straight to the top of the clock tower and she took her place next to me. I then handed her her ice cream. "Here," I said as I gave it to her. "This is sea-salt ice cream. Give it a try." She took a bite out of the ice cream and gave out a sound of delight. "It's sweet and salty," Solaris commented. I noticed that her comment is similar to my two times I had this ice cream, but was glad she liked it. "I know. Me and Discord always have ice cream after we're done with work. I also noticed that sea-salt is Discord's favorite." "Well, it looks like it's your favorite as well," Solaris noted. "Yeah, and actually, I don't really remember well, but Discord said he brought me here when I joined the Organization. And he got me some ice cream again after my first mission. He called it the 'icing of success' or whatever." "You guys must be very close to each other." "Discord's the first friend I ever have here." "Your... friend?" Solaris must be confused about friendship like I was. "Can I be your friend, Moondancer?" I figured that, since she asked so nicely, I think I can bring her in as a new friend and that's when I came up with an idea. "When Discord returns, let's ask him. That way, we can all have ice cream together after work!" "Alright." I can tell by her voice that she must like my idea. And with that, it was settled. We can all be friends after Discord's return. And to wrap it all up, we spent the rest of our first time together eating ice cream and watch the sun set. Author's Note Sorry about the brief switch from the first-person to the third-person and back again, but I figured that, since 358/2 Days focused on other characters viewpoints other than Roxas, I figured I'd give it a shot. I hope you like that part as well as the reveal of Solaris. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 24-Expelled //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 24-Expelled Day 24-Expelled The next morning, I went to the Grey Area to see what new mission Queen Chrysalis had for me, because I can only hope it's with Solaris, because after her performance yesterday, I just couldn't wait to work with her again. But when I entered the Grey Area, my excitement was broken. "...Like, how did that happen?" I knew that voice belonged to Diamond Tiara, because only she can have a voice that can sound spoiled. I turned around to see that she was speaking with Prince Blueblood. "Don't take that tone of voice at royalty, young filly," he said. "I only knew just seconds ago." I didn't know what was going on so I approached King Sombra. "Is everything alright?" I wanted to make sure my question and tone were concerning enough for the King. He then looked at me with his red eyes and I can never take my eyes off of the purple mist coming out of them. "Yeah right! We just heard that one of our members stationed at the Everfree Forest has been expelled." I then became shocked by which one was expelled. "Expelled?" I was so frozen in shock, I could barely speak anymore. "B-but that would mean..." I was then cut off when Queen Chrysalis came to us. "Moondancer, I have your mission," she said. "You are to go with King Sombra to Jasper, Nevada." I didn't want to waste time hearing about my mission to know what happened at the Everfree Forest. "Is it true about what happened in the Everfree Forest?" "That's no flying feather of yours." Even though I wasn't an alicorn like Solaris, I knew it was part of an insult. "But what about Discord?" I was worried that he must be the one that was expelled. "I don't know about that. Maybe he's out traversing the badlands after being kicked out." I was so devastated upon hearing such an assumption that I could barely say another word. "No need for tears," said the King. "We have work to do." I was so upset by this news, I didn't feel like working. But, our goal had to be done, and so, after accepting our mission, we used a Corridor of Darkness to get ourselves to the new world, one that contained a desert with various rock formation. "There's got to me more to this story than just exploring some desert. Let's just figure out what this world is all about." Sombra noticed that I was unresponsive and he turned to me. "Are you bored of this world already?" He must not know what I'm going through, so I decided to speak up. "Is it true about what happened at the Everfree Forest?" It was the only question I could give out so he can know about my depression. "Seriously?" Apparently, he was annoyed by my concern of Discord that he mustn't want to hear me whine about it. "I'm worried we lost a comrade, or maybe multiple ones." "How about this: If we get this mission done in the least amount of time, we'll RTC and you can get all you want out of what the hell happened at the Everfree Forest." I felt slightly revived by this sentiment, and so, we went with our mission until we saw a car pass by us. We became curious about this discovery, hoping this would help us with our mission. We followed that car to a random rock formation, where we thought it was about to crash into it, but a large door opened up allowing the car to go in. We were able to make it inside where inside, we saw a base within the rock where it was operated by tall, cybernetic robots, and out of the car was a young woman, a girl, a boy, and an important-looking man with a suit and tie. I saw that the woman was worried out of his mind. "Nurse Darby, I'm sure Jack's fine," said the man. "Why, I think Jack already got the new Wisdom of the Primes and loaded it into Prime." "Well, you called it, Agent Fowler," said someone from a swirling green portal. "Optimus Prime is back!" Behind him, was a red and blue robot who, although he looks like the leader to this group of robots, he has a symbol on his shoulder that doesn't resemble the one on the floor. "What do you make out of this?" asked King Sombra. "Well, I think that based off of the look of that insignia on his shoulder, he must be part of some villainous faction of these robots," I said taking a look at the scene. "Well, you didn't see those robots attack those humans now, did you?" "Yeah, you're right. So, he must be the leader of this group of good robots, but something must have happened to him to cause him to turn until he had a change of heart, leading him to return, which we're seeing just now." "That's right. I think this will interest the Queen. Ready to head back?" I nodded my head yes, not because that this mission is done, but also find out more about what happened at the Everfree Forest. But as King Sombra went through the Corridor of Darkness, I suddenly felt immobile and I felt like something was going into my brain, when all of a sudden, I fell to the ground and blacked out. I then saw an image of Discord, an image of Solaris, and finally, I'm seeing an alicorn with a pink coat with a mane of several light colors with the cutie mark of a Nobody symbol on her flank, just like me and Solaris. I saw her approach an alicorn who is just like her, but has a white coat and a sun as her cutie mark, who was then joined by an alicorn with a dark mane and coat with a moon in a night sky cutie mark. I saw their faces were filled with confusion until I saw the image fade away from my mind. "Who are you?" I heard the white alicorn say. I was confused by what was going on in my mind that I just couldn't comprehend what's happening to me until my lights went out. Author's Note Now this should make you feel better. A Hasbro world which includes the resolution to the Orion Pax saga. And about the end of this chapter, why are there two Noponies that are alicorns? Luckily, more shall be revealed as the story goes. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 75-Return //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 75-Return Day 75-Return Another three weeks have passed since I reawakened, and there's still no word about what happened in the Everfree Forest. I still go up to the clock tower to eat ice cream and watch the sunset, but Discord is never there. Neither is Solaris. I feel like I lost something important from somewhere inside me, because I don't have a heart (duh). I don't know how to describe it, but it's not a good thing, and it feels as though I'm being tortured by these thoughts. Also, when I'm on missions, even when I'm not asleep, images of that lavender unicorn keep flashing through my head. I don't know where these are coming from, but I'm having a hard time putting my hoof on it. This morning, as I walked into the Grey Area with a depressed look on my face, as usual, King Sombra gave a slight chuckle as I walked by. "What's wrong, Moondancer?" he asked. "What is troubling you so?" He should clearly know what saddening me, but I didn't want him to know that again. "It's nothing," I pitifully spit out. I just didn't want to talk right now. "I gotta say, though, this castle's a lot less loud. At least, with Diamond Tiara and Prince Blueblood. But I'll get used to this arrangement. What say you?" I seriously didn't want to talk to him right now, but we saw Prince Blueblood walk in with an interested look on his face. "Hey, Moondancer, did anypony tell you? Everypony at the Everfree Forest indeed get banished from the Organization. Spooky stuff. Especially since the spookiness is in the most spookiest forest in Equestria." "Then they're really not with us anymore." I was upset by this piece of news, but I kept it together. After I accepted my mission, I took a Corridor of Darkness straight to Twilight Town, where I was to destroy Shadow Globs, which are a form of Heartless that summon Purebloods. I destroyed the weak and defenseless Shadow Globs with little effort. I was about to take off for the clock tower again when I was frozen solid by a familiar voice. "Hey, Moondancer!" I turned around to see a creature who looked awfully familiar, until I realized who it was. It was Discord! "How's it going?" I was so stuck with relief that it was hard to come up with the right words to speak with. "What is it. It looks as though you just saw an apparition." "I thought you were gone!" I finally spat out. "The Everfree Forest--everypony was expelled..." I trailed off again. "Actually, the non-ponies were expelled." I was so relieved, in fact, I ran up to Discord and hugged him, trying to hold back tears. "I was worried about you." "Well, it somehow worked, due to the fact that you don't have a heart." "Well, let's go get some ice cream!" *** After we got our bars and went to the clock tower, I felt a spark of joy return to me. It felt great to have Discord with me again. "I've got to check with the Royal Highness, or she's gonna get me, for sure," said Discord. "You mean you didn't RTC yet?" I asked. Discord shook his head no in response. "Why come with me, then?" "I just wanted to find out what I've been missing," he simply said. "Well, I started bringing Solaris up here while you were away." "Seriously?" He must have been surprised by my update that he almost didn't believe it. I simply nodded my head yes. "I also promised her that all three of us would have ice cream together when you returned. We're friends now." After giving him this bit of information, we just contently nibbled away at our ice cream as we saw the sun go down. Author's Note Hope you like this day, especially the return of Discord. Even though this story is marked as a Tragedy, we won't get to the tragic part until near the end of this story. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 76-Lost //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 76-Lost Day 76-Lost Discord was staring out the window, remembering something from his past. His time in the Everfree Forest has started to bring back powerful memories of his past life. His memories were then cut off by the arrival of Queen Chrysalis. "Why did you not report in?" she asked. He then turned around to face her. "There's a little thing everypony is trying out," he simply said. "And it's called knocking." Chrysalis shrugged off this sarcastic comment. "I'm being told that another Nopony has come into being." "First, Twilight screws up her friends cutie marks, and then a Nopony has been born. I don't know how these things happen." The Queen was starting to get annoyed by his remarks, but kept her composure. "Did you at least search every room?" "Are you for real? It was almost like making apples the size of bowling balls." The Queen understood Discord's comparison that she didn't show any signs of annoyance. "And you find the chamber?" "Seriously, that chamber is so elusive, it's almost as if it's invisible. But you were right. About the Diamond Dogs, those traitors... You knew what they were up to." "I just wanted them to leave so they can get out of the way." "They were annoying anyway, more annoying then our remaining numbers..." His voice trailed off as he looked over the other members. "Did you return as your normal self or didn't you?" Discord began to look back at his crimes in tomfoolery as Chrysalis began to walk away. "I expelled Gilda." His comment made the Queen stop in her tracks as she turned to face him again. "That's what you needed. I'll play by my former self... this time." *** I walked into the Grey Area where Discord was expecting me. "Guess what, Moondancer. They're making us partners again." This was the first time I got to work with him again, especially since his return, so I was really psyched about this. "Really?" That was all I could choke out, but I was still excited about this news. "Well, they know how much we enjoy each other's company..." I heard his voice trail off as he gave an annoyed, but tired sigh. "But would it be nice to have a day off? Just look at these bags. Even my bags have bags." He pointed to his lower eyelids to see what he meant, and he wasn't kidding. "But you know, win some, lose some. Let's go." After accepting my mission, we went to the lot of an abandoned warehouse where we were to collect hearts today. We were in luck today as we saw a large amount of Heartless crowding us. "How about we make this quick?" He then summoned his Keyblade, meaning he was ready for battle. "Right!" I said as I summoned my Keyblade and we just went about to destroying the Heartless, releasing their hearts so they can be a part of Kingdom Hearts. As I was slashing my way, I saw a brief image of the lavender unicorn hugging the five other ponies. I don't know what that meant, but I was able to focus on the task at hand. And just like that, we were done. "Well, that's a day," Discord said, wiping sweat from his brow. "Ready to head for the clock tower?" As soon as I was about to agree, I saw a jet fly out of the warehouse and into a forest. "What the hell was that?" "Well, for one thing, that wasn't there the last time I was here." Discord was wondering something until I saw him beam with brilliance. "Change of plans, Moondancer!" We're going to figure out what that thing's deal is. "What about our mission?" I was concerned about not following our mission protocol that I decided to just go to the clock tower on my own again. "We're already finished with our mission," he reminded. "Besides, checking on oddities is an important part of the job." "Wouldn't you call that disobeying?" "Actually, I like to call it flexible thinking. Got it memorized?" I decided to go along with this plan and nodded my head yes. With a snap of his fingers, we were now on one of the branches of a tree, where we saw a guy in an important uniform facing the jet, which suddenly transformed into a robot. "My T-cog?" asked the man. "Temporary setback," said the robot. "Other Autobots, other T-cogs. We'll find a replacement for you soon." "Not soon." Soldiers then came out from behind the trees and I was lucky Discord didn't teleport us to the ground level of the trees. "Now!" The soldiers then armed their guns and shot out an electrical blast at the robot, causing him to howl in pain as he powered down. The soldiers then removed something from his body and just departed, leaving the robot behind. As soon as he regained consciousness, we saw him look at a strange vortex, which I realized was the same one I saw the last time I was here. Out of the portal came the leader, Optimus Prime as the boy called him, the green robot, and a blue robot. "Autobots!" The robot must be afraid by this group of robots which he just called them that he decided to transform out of here, however, he had difficulty doing so. It wasn't until he realized something as he felt at his side. "My T-cog!" We then saw him run off deeper into the forest. We looked at each other as I decided to teleport us to the side of the warehouse to see what was going on over there. I saw a yellow robot emerge from the warehouse with a solemn look on his face. He was carrying the same thing the soldiers took from the robot, a T-cog they called it, but it looked damaged. "Ratchet, ready the Ground Bridge," said Optimus. "And prepare for surgery." "Well, thanks to me, Megatron has the Forge," said the green robot. Apparently, he must be upset that he lost something called the Forge, but Optimus didn't appear to be upset by it. "While we would've put the Forge of Solus Prime to good use," Optimus assured. "I don't think we have reason to fear Megatron's possession of it." We then saw the group of robots, Autobots as the first robot called them, depart through the portal, a Ground Bridge as Optimus called it. "Well, based off of we saw," I told Discord. "That yellow Autobot lost something called a T-cog, which must be something that allows these robot to transform into vehicles, like we saw with that grey robot. Without it, they can't transformed at all, like what happened to that grey robot who doesn't really look and act like an Autobot, so he must be part of that villainous group of transforming robots that me and King Sombra observed the last time we were here." Discord was so amazed by what I just saw that he just stared at me, mouth agape. "How about we get ice cream?" Discord snapped out of it and we just left for Twilight Town. *** On board the Nemesis, Megatron was attempting to create something using the Forge, to no avail, with Knock Out and Soundwave looking on. "It doesn't look like a Fortress-Grade Maximus Nucleon Shock Cannon," Knock Out commented. "It's just as I feared," said Megatron. "Without the power of a Prime to activate it, the Forge is merely another addition to our toolbox. One we must keep as far as possible from the reach of a Prime." Megatron didn't need to point out that he was referring to Optimus. *** Back at the Autobot base, Ratchet scanned a sleeping Bumblebee and looked sadly at Optimus. "I...did what I could," he simply said. "Our scout could not have been in better hands, old friend," Optimus assured him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "And we didn't go with plan A, which is Ratchet would donate his cog, why?" asked Miko. "Bumblebee wouldn't accept it," Jack replied. Suddenly, Bumblebee awakened feeling dizzy from his induced stasis. "Easy, Bumblebee," warned Ratchet. Bumblebee didn't listen as he began flexing out. "Please, recovery takes time." Bumblebee attempted to transform into his vehicle form, but to no avail. "The damage was... severe." After another failed attempt, he finally transformed into his car mode and gestured Raf to ride with him and beeped where he wanted to go to. "Anywhere," said Raf. "Just drive." After getting buckled in, they sped out of the base. "Go easy," said a relieved Ratchet. "For a standard break-in procedure." "Whoa, it looked like Bumblebee's T-cog was ready for the scrapyard," said Bulkhead. "Amazing the doctor repaired it," said Arcee. "That's not all that Ratchet repaired today," said Optimus. *** We sat on the clock tower, enjoying the ice cream and sunset. I know we had this yesterday, but it was great to have Discord back with me. "You're outgoing, you know?" asked Discord, breaking the silence. "Well, you are, as well," I said in response. "I suppose she rubbed off on you..." His voice trailed off as he remembered something again. I was confused by what he said as he was talking. "Who?" I wanted to know who that someone was. I saw him shrug it off as he turned towards me. "Let's just say that you can thank yourself that you're working the best you can to fix a situation." I brushed off this cryptic response and turned my head where Solaris should be arriving, but she never did show up. "I wonder where Solaris is at?" I was hoping she would join us and she would become Discord's friend. "How about I ask Queen Chrysalis about where she's at?" "Yeah, do that. That way, we'll know what she's up to, and we'll be ready for her." With this sentiment, we just ate our ice cream watching the sun set, knowing that we will see Solaris again. Author's Note Sorry about these subplots near the end of this chapter, but you have to know what happened after Moondancer and Discord left. I just hope you'll stick with me soon enough and I'll finish up soon. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 77-Three Of Us //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 77-Three Of Us Day 77-Three Of Us The next morning, as I entered the Grey Area, I saw Discord with an excited look on his face. "Good news, Moondancer," he said. "I asked the Queen about Solaris." "And?" I wanted to know what he found out from Chrysalis. "She was on a mission, but never RTC'd." I was disappointed and confused by this news and why he was excited about giving me the update. "I don't know what kept her, but you and me are going to find her. That's our mission today." I was so relieved by this assignment, because not only will we find her, but we'll get the hangout we deserve. After we accepted our mission, we went to Twilight Town, where Solaris was sent on her mission. "Where is Solaris?" "Her mission was to find and destroy a giant Heartless. So if we find it, we'll find Solaris." I suddenly had a brief memory of the lavender unicorn watching an orange pony kicking trees to make their apples fall off. I suddenly had a hunch about how this can help us. We went to the forest and I started kicking the trees hoping they would do something. Even though it was hurting my hind legs, I didn't give up. Eventually, when I kicked one of the trees for the umpteenth time, I shook all by itself and something went whooshing towards the old mansion. We gave chase and it revealed itself as the giant chameleon-like Heartless known as the Veil Lizard, the Heartless Solaris was trying to find. "That must be it." I was confident that it was the target we were seeking. "That's what took Solaris. It cloaked itself into the background. And I guess Solaris is still trying to find it. But, a Heartless is a Heartless. I don't care who's going to take it out. Let's destroy it before it disappears again." We summoned our Keyblades and started attacking it with everything we had, but halfway through the battle, I saw something fly in, and I quickly realized that it was Solaris, having finally found the target. "Solaris!" As I said her name, she turned to face me. However, she didn't see the Heartless extend its tounge at her, knocking her out cold. "SOLARIS!" I was so worried out of my mind for her, I didn't know what to do. "I'll see to Solaris. Just focus on the Heartless." With Discord's reassurance, I went back to my fight with the Heartless and with that, it was destroyed, with its heart floating away towards Kingdom Hearts. I then ran straight towards Solaris, who was already regaining consciousness. "Are you alright?" "M... Moondancer?" she asked. I was glad that it was the first she said, although it was the first she said to me when we had our first mission together. She then got herself up and I looked at where she got hurt at. "That looks like it hurts," I observed. "I'm alright," she said with a despondent tone. "It's just that..." "We'll have all the time to talk later," said Discord. "First, let's find a place to sit." Of course, I knew where we're going. *** As we took our places on the clock tower, Discord handed us our ice cream, and I handed Solaris hers. Me and Discord took our bites of ice cream, but Solaris didn't take a single nibble. I quickly took notice of this. "It's going to melt," I warned Solaris. "Eat up." She just didn't take my warning and just stared down. "Come on, what's wrong?" asked Discord. She didn't respond to his question and just kept her gaze down. "Can you just tell us what happened?" Again, she didn't respond or look up. "Look, we're here for you if you want to tell us. That's what friends are for, right, Moondancer?" "Exactly." When I confirmed Discord's statement, she finally broke her gaze to look at us. "I can't use the Keyblade anymore," Solaris squeaked out. We were so shocked about this news that we thought it best not to tell the other members. "Without it, I can't do my missions, because if I don't defeat Heartless with the Keyblade, the hearts they release find their way into other Heartless. I kill them in one world and they appear in another. I'm supposed to collect hearts. That's my job, like you. Without that legendary weapon, I'm useless." "Well, we'd like to help you," said Discord. "But you're right. No Keyblade, no go." "And I'm worried they'll turn me into a Dusk once they discover my uselessness." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so it was my time to speak up. "Come on, Discord," I said to Discord. "Help out!" "I'm thinking," Discord assured me. "I'm just trying to figure out how we can--" He stopped suddenly as he beamed with brilliance again. "What if you worked overtime, Moondancer?" Solaris must be confused by his idea that she wanted to know more. "What do you mean by that, Discord?" she asked. "Solaris, you should partner with Moondancer until you learn how to use the Keyblade again," Discord said. "Just make sure your missions are with her. If you do that, Moondancer can collect hearts, and nopony will know you aren't doing the same." "That is the most brilliant plan you ever came up with!" I said in amazement. It's lucky I get to spend more time with her, at least until she regains the Keyblade. "BUT," said Discord, temporarily cutting off my joy. "Moondancer, that means you have to collect twice as much hearts." I know I don't like much work, but it'll be worth it soon enough. "Discord," said Solaris. "Does this mean you and me can be friends?" "Yeah," Discord simply said. "I mean, Moondancer already wanted all three of us to be together. A friend of Moondancer is a friend to me, as well." "Moondancer, Discord, thanks!" said a happy and joyous Solaris. With her happiness, we enjoyed our ice cream and watched the setting sun as I was ready for our plan to go into action. Author's Note And so, we have our three main characters together. Be warned, upcoming events will cause this friendship to go off the rails. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 78-Unbreakable Friendships //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 78-Unbreakable Friendships Day 78-Unbreakable Friendships As I entered the Grey Area, I met up with Solaris. "Morning, Moondancer," said Solaris. "Are you ready to do this?" "Yeah, let's see if this will work," I said. I'm just hoping that the Queen will agree on this arrangement. We then approached Chrysalis and told her about our partnership. "Together?" she simply asked. "Is that a problem?" Solaris asked. "Yes. I mean, why would you want to do something such as that? We're already low in numbers, yet you want me to agree?" We nearly wanted to give up convincing her, but Discord came in, giving us a small spark of hope. "Come on, why don't you just do it? If you put one and one together, you get two. Besides, we all have Keyblades." "And if you pair us up," I suggested. "We'll do difficult missions for you." "Very well, then," Queen Chrysalis simply said. After accepting one of our missions, we took a Corridor of Darkness straight to the desert where the Autobot base is at. "Our orders are to investigate the base and its tenants this time, right?" asked Solaris. "Right," I confirmed. "Discord and I observed more of the Autobots the last time we were here. We even saw a robot who transformed into a jet who lost that ability who is also frightened of them." "How did you guys discover that?" "Mainly after that robot who formerly transformed zipped by us." I wanted her to know how my knowledge was even possible. "We were wondering what that robot was doing when it passed by, and Discord recommended we follow him." "And that led to encountering the Autobots... Good thinking on Discord's doing. So you ready?" "Yeah, I can just teleport us into the base." Of course, I used my magic to teleport us straight into the base, where we saw the green Autobot, who was lying motionless, being zapped with defibrillators by a white Autobot, Ratchet as Optimus called him through his commlink. "Bulkhead, respond!" said Ratchet as he was trying to zap the green Autobot, Bulkhead as he called him, back to life, to no avail. "Bulkhead?" asked the girl. "What happened?" "Tox-En exposure, among others. Bulkhead's suffered a complete system failure." "Wait a minute, Tox-En?" asked the blue Autobot. Based off of her question, they must know that this Tox-En must be some horrible substance. After Ratchet checked the green Autobot's, Bulkhead as the girl and Ratchet called him, life readings, I saw he must be really worried right now. "Help me get him the medical bay, now!" said Ratchet. Of course, the blue and yellow Autobots dragged Bulkhead straight toward the medical bay. "NO!" shouted the girl desperately. "If I hadn't gone to Manhattan..." "There's nothing you could do," assured the man. "Hardshell suckerpunched him while he was down." "Who?" "An Insecticon, not that important. What's important is that it's not your fault, alright." The girl just nodded her head as she watched Bulkhead being hooked up. We just saw what was happening until we looked at each other and just nodded our heads in agreement to continue with our mission, having already seen more of the Autobots. We then walked down a long hallway filled with doors. "Do you think we should see what's behind those doors?" I asked. "There are windows on them. You can fly up and I'll levitate myself to accomplish this task." "That's a good idea, Moondancer," said Solaris. "How did you come up with that?" "It just came to me." What she didn't know was that the only reason that I came up with this is that I just saw a memory of the lavender unicorn falling down some stairs and before she hit the ground, she used her magic to stop herself, and I figured I would do the same to float up the windows. We looked inside the windows and saw all types of machinery and weapons, but the one that really stood out was a pod that contained a robot, which was immobile inside. We didn't understand why that happened, but we saw enough that it was time to call it a day and meet up with Discord on the clock tower. However, as we were about to leave we heard a scraping sound coming from the main room, as we took a look around, we saw another white Autobot dragging himself to his comrades, having been through some ordeal, alongside him, the girl who was concerned about Bulkhead. "Are you alright?" asked the blue Autobot. "She's fine," assured the white Autobot. "The kid's a pro." "I wasn't talking to you." "How is he?" asked the girl. The yellow Autobot buzzed something as he looked to the ground with a sad expression on his face. "Bulkhead will survive," assured Ratchet. "Though he may never be fully functional again..." The girl looked so devastated that she ran to be with Bulkhead's resting body. "I... don't think I should see Bulk right now," said the white Autobot. "Not in this condition." He then transformed into his car mode and drove out of the base and we just continued to see the girl looking at Bulkhead. "I'll never leave you again," she said. "I don't know what's up between them, but based off of her concerns for Bulkhead, they must be close friends," I assumed. "You think?" asked Solaris. "Well, we're friends with Discord, who's a draconequus, so who are we to doubt?" "I suppose you're right." I knew she would strike out after I gave out my save. We summoned a Corridor of Darkness and walked through it, ready to meet with Discord again. *** Megatron just stared at the body of Hardshell the Insecticons just brought to him, and he was thoroughly infuriated, not because he failed to kill Wheeljack, but because he lost his life as well. "The Autobot did this!?" snapped Megatron. "No, my liege," said an Insecticon. "It was a human girl." *** We met up with Discord as soon as we got to Twilight Town. Upon getting our ice cream, we went to the clock tower and watch the sun set. "Did the mission go alright?" asked Discord. "Yeah, I think it's working..." Solaris' voice trailed off as a smile lit up on her face. "Thanks, Discord. You and Moondancer are the greatest." "Well, you know..." It was Discord who trailed off this time. "So where did you go for your mission?" "That place we went to..." I don't know what's up with us trailing off, but now they got me doing it as I can't remember the name of the world we went to. "What was that place called again..." "Jasper, Nevada," Solaris reminded. "That desert where the Autobots?" asked Discord, wanting to confirm. She nodded her head yes in response. "We also ran into some interesting characters today." "Like Bulkhead and that girl, as well as that white Autobot?" I asked. I wanted to make sure those were the characters she was talking about. "That girl and that white Autobot looked really worried about their friend. But you can't really jump in and do something-- even if you really want to." "Well, some people, even robots, need some space," said Discord. "I suppose you're right," I said. I knew there was no way out of this debate, so I just agreed with him. "You know, that reminds me, what's it like to have a friend?" I saw him stumble off again, apparently remembering something from his past. Luckily, he pulled himself together and just stared out into the distance. "I don't know. I don't have one." I knew he must have had a friend sometime before he joined us, but I just don't know it yet, so we just nibbled away at our bars and see the sun descend until it was time for us to RTC. Author's Note Again, another subplot to a Transformers: Prime episode, this time for the ending to the episode "Hurt." I'm almost done trying to come up with some awesome ideas for this story. Just roll with it. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 95-Kingdom Hearts //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 95-Kingdom Hearts Day 95-Kingdom Hearts For the next two weeks, me and Solaris went on missions together while distracting the other members from the fact that she lost the ability to use the Keyblade. However, even though she saw me use it in the field, this hasn't jogged her memory of how to use it yet, but we'll keep this up until she summons her Keyblade again. This morning, when I entered the Grey Area, I found the room to be empty, and Queen Chrysalis walked towards me. "Lord Vanitas has summoned us," she told me. I then followed her straight to a balcony where all the other members have gathered, with all of us looking at an empty sky and I didn't know what was going on, but because Vanitas organized this meeting, I figured he would have a reason. "The time has come," said Vanitas. "Look towards the skies." We looked up and didn't see anything until we saw something fade into view, a heart-shaped moon. I didn't even know what it was, but I trusted Vanitas enough to let him continue. "There, hanging in the sky, the compilation of hearts--Kingdom Hearts--is finally showing us at last. Look at the numerous hearts that have been collected. Hearts that contain anger... jealousy...depression...and happiness. There is the promise for your wishes to come true." So that's what Kingdom Hearts is, at first, I found it a little anti-climatic that we did all this work so an almighty force can manifest as a moon in the shape of a heart, but I knew it was worth the effort. He then turned to face us. "My dear friends, remember why we joined together-- all you ever want in life. The infinite power of Kingdom Hearts is epic. Soon, we'll have all the power in the world. Never again shall we...have power over others." I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was determined to finish what's left of Kingdom Hearts so I have have my own wish-- the right to exist fully in this world. Upon accepting our mission for the day after we were dismissed, me and Solaris used a Corridor of Darkness to travel to a remote forest. "The Heartless we're supposed to destroy is a Neoshadow?" I asked. I wanted to make sure our assignment was valid. "Yes," Solaris said. "And because this is a forest, it's highly critical that we stick together." I didn't want to lose her for an extended period of time again, so I wanted to make sure she stuck to me like glue. We walked all over the forest, hoping to find traces of the Neoshadow. We then noticed a spherical object and went to inspect it. We found it was empty, but the design looked futuristic and alien, and we knew this looked like the Autobots. Before we could figure out what was inside, Solaris gestured me towards a black puddle, which quickly materialized into the Neoshadow, which I was able to strike down. Before we could depart, we heard the sound of laser blasts and went over to see what was going on. We saw the Autobots fighting some purple robots and an insect-like robot, with Ratchet helping the Autobots since Bulkhead's incapacitated. When it looked as though the Autobots were about to get defeated, we saw a white and blue robot strike down the robots with little effort, so I figured that he's another Autobot. After seeing that everything is alright now, we left for Twilight Town. *** We had arrived with our ice cream on top of the clock tower with Discord and did our normal routine of nibbling on our ice cream and watching the sun set. "So how'd it go today?" asked Discord. "Handling double duty well?" "We're alright," I said. "Moondancer was able to destroy today's Heartless with no problem," said Solaris in response to Discord's first question. "Then I guess you're doing well then," said Discord. I sighed as something crossed my mind. "I'm just not sure why we have to continue fighting the Heartless," I said. "Well, we have to continue fighting in order to complete Kingdom Hearts. Besides, we finally got our first view of it this morning." "But what is it? 'The compilation of hearts'?" "It's where all the hearts we collect go to," Solaris insisted. "Exactly what she's talking about," Discord agreed. "It's all thanks to us that we're making progress in our real mission. We may get our wishes after all." "'The infinite power of Kingdom Hearts is epic,' Vanitas said," Solaris recalled. I understood what they meant, but I still wanted a clear cut answer. "Yeah, but why do we need its power?" I asked. "Come now," Discord assured me. "I just don't know why having a wish is so important." "Weird bringing this up..." Discord needs to know why I'm talking about it right now. "Well, don't you want to take a moment and think? We're fighting for something that we don't have enough knowledge of." Discord placed his eagle-like arm over my shoulder as he attempted to console me, which worked. "Moondancer... We're fighting because we want to know what it's power is capable of." "I suppose you're right." I had a feeling he must've been on to something, so I just agreed with him and just resumed our time eating our ice cream and see the sun go down. Author's Note If you're wondering about the white and blue Autobot appearing at the end of this chapter, it's the new recruit to Team Prime: Smokescreen. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 96-Solaris' Key //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 96-Solaris' Key Day 96-Solaris' Key This morning, I entered the Grey Area and met up with Solaris, as usual. "Morning, Moondancer," said Solaris. "Morning to you to, Solaris," I replied. "Ready for another mission?" "You bet I am!" Before we can approach Queen Chrysalis, she approached us first. "Moondancer, Solaris, I want you on separate missions today," the Queen ordered. "Why?" asked Solaris. She was wondering, as well as I, why we're being separated again. "Two major Heartless have appeared in two separate worlds. Moondancer, you're going to Jasper, Nevada, and Solaris, you're going to Twilight Town." "But why would--" Solaris was brutally cut off by Chrysalis' menacing gaze. "Never mind." "Wait right there, Your Highness," I heard Discord say as he approached us. "You're just going to send Moondancer to Jasper? I'm not sure... I was there yesterday when you assigned me for recon and I saw that Heartless you're talking about. You shouldn't have Moondancer go against that monster, not by herself." "Well, if I send both of them, who's going to handle the Heartless in Twilight Town?" asked Queen Chrysalis. "Me, of course." "You? You're kidding, right?" "I'm not the jokester anymore. I'm handling that Heartless." "Except that you're not the greatest Keyblade wielder." "Yeah right! I'll do some of my tricks to distract it and I'll strike it down and release its heart with no problemo." I had a feeling that I knew what he was talking about, so it was my turn to persuade her. "Is that alright, Your Highness?" I asked. She sighed as she turned around, knowing that she must be annoyed about something. "Fine," she simply said. "But this is the last time. Beginning tomorrow, both of you are working alone." The words his us like meteors, and made me wonder about Solaris, giving the fact that she still hasn't regained control of the Keyblade. *** After accepting their mission and taking a Corridor of Darkness to Jasper, the Queen turned to face Discord. "Don't think that I believed what you pulled," Chrysalis warned. "I don't pull anything except bunnies out of hats," said Discord, using his magic to summon a top hat and pulling out a rabbit, making both of them disappear as soon as they appeared. "But anyway, I should get on to Twilight Town." He then summoned a Corridor of Darkness for Twilight Town, walking through it with the Queen looking on. *** As soon as we arrived in the forest where we encountered the Neoshadow and the white and blue Autobot yesterday, I turned towards Solaris, who was wearing a depressed expression on her face. I'm sure it's about what's going to happen if she can't use her Keyblade. "You alright?" I simply asked. "It's just... I don't know what I'll do beginning tomorrow," said Solaris. I was right by my assumption, because she concentrated and manifested a beam of light, which is similar to how I summon the Keyblade, but her Keyblade never came forth. "I just do not know..." I just couldn't see her like that, so I came up with an idea and summoned my Keyblade. "Can you use my Keyblade?" She used her magic to take control of mine, and indeed it worked, as it no longer required her to use her magic just to wield it. "I think I will." I beamed in relief and brilliance. "Then use mine for today." "But Moondancer--" I cut her off before she could finish. "Maybe it can help remember how to use your own." "What will you use as a weapon?" "I'll improvise." "How?" "I'll use a weaken spell and you can use the Keyblade to finish the job." "Well, I suppose it can work..." "Great! Now let's go find the Heartless." We walked around the forest and encounter the pod again, and when we came to inspect it, the Heartless that we were looking for, which vaguely resembles a dog, suddenly appeared before us, and just as I told her, I used my magic to weaken it, and Solaris used the Keyblade to strike it down, thus releasing its heart. "Thanks, Moondancer. Here you go." She gestured my Keyblade towards me and I used my magic to make it mine again. "Well, did it work? Do you know how to summon it?" "I don't know... I'll give it another shot." She concentrated hard and looked up as if nothing was happening, but all of a sudden, her Keyblade suddenly appeared before her, looking similar to mine. "Good job!" "I can't believe it! I can't believe it worked! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" As she said this, she began hopping around me, which caused me to have a brief memory of the lavender unicorn hopping around three fillies. "Wait until we tell Discord about this. Let's go!" *** Of course, because Discord had his mission in Twilight Town, we went to the clock tower and saw that he was the first to be on the clock tower having ice cream and watch the sun set. "Discord!" I said in excitement. "What up with the faces?" Discord tiredly asked. I can clearly see that he was worn out from having to deal with that Heartless. "How's the mission?" "Oh, it was awesome... especially that magic show I performed for him in order to get him off guard. How did your day go?" I gestured towards Solaris and, in response, summoned her Keyblade for Discord to see, which surprised him greatly. "I have Moondancer and Discord to thank for this summoning," she said. "It was Moondancer that helped. Why am I having the glory?" "Because if you didn't speak up this morning, we would've gone on those separate missions." "And Solaris wouldn't have been able to use the Keyblade," I said. "So, thank you, Discord," said Solaris. "Well... how about some ice cream?" asked Discord. "I already have two of your bars in my cool sphere." He said, gesturing toward a sphere of cold temperatures, Discord having used his magic to do it. He made the sphere disappear and levitated the bars towards us. After that, we just laughed over how convenient our day has been. "I hope we're always together," I said. "I know..." agreed Solaris. "What's with you?" asked Discord. I turned to Discord, then Solaris, and then at the sunset. "I just want these days to last until the end of time," I replied. "Chilling out, ice cream, sunsets..." "Nothing lasts forever, you know," remarked Discord. "But we'll always be together, even when things change and we won't be able to do this anymore, because so long as we remember each other, we'll never be separated. Got it memorized?" I should've remembered Discord and Solaris before they took their extended absences, so I thought I should remember his piece of advice. "Got it," I simply replied. Author's Note Don't be fooled by Discord's speech at the end of this chapter, because something will happen soon that will cause these memories to be lost forever. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 100-Day Off //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 100-Day Off Day 100-Day Off Discord was sitting on his bed looking out his window to look at Kingdom Hearts until his gaze was broken by the arrival of Queen Chrysalis. "Seriously, you want to learn about knocking?" asked Discord indifferently, conjuring up a book. "Here's the book?" Chrysalis used her magic to combust it into ashes, like how she combusted the dress hats before the Royal Wedding. "Tell me what Solaris has been up to," the Queen offered. "I don't know. I'm not spying on her or nothing." "But you guys are close." She knew that they spend a lot of time together, but Discord gave out such an innocent answer. "I just don't want to get into other ponies business. Leave my domicile." "We're on vacation today." Discord then jumped off of the bed and hugged Chrysalis tightly. "Oh, thank Celestia! You gave me that lame visit just to get me moody and suddenly get me psyched that there's no trouble in the Realm of Light? Thank you!" The Queen shoved herself away from Discord as she tried to regain her breath. "We also want you to return to the Everfree Forest." "Why ever for?" "The castle of those accursed sisters hasn't given up all of its secrets. And there's something that Lord Vanitas is quite interested in." "You mean the chamber." He sighed in response. "We turned that landmark inside out, and even if it's there, we won't be able to find it simply by just looking through each and every room." "I thought you would say that, so I also have another piece of intel. The Elements of Harmony aren't the only things that come from the castle. Solaris comes from there, as well." Discord sat back down on his bed as he was trying to take all of this in. "Seven of your favorite ponies. So do you still think another visit is a waste of time and work?" "Let me get this straight... the chamber is going to tell you everything about what Vanitas is really up to?" "The Chamber of Alicorns, and its counterpart, the Chamber of Harmony... Vanitas isn't telling us what's really going on. And the elusive chamber, the Chamber of Harmony--it has everything to what we've been trying to look for for a thousand years. We need those answers if we're to gain the upper hand against Twilight and her friends--for our own reasons." Discord pondered over something as he remembered the first time he was sealed to stone by the Elements of Harmony. "Look, I knew the Diamond Dogs and Gilda would be trouble. That's why they're not with us anymore. When have I ever complained? I cleared the road just for you. Just try not to trip up." The Queen then thought over something and nodded her head as she turned around. "A solo mission in the Everfree Forest... you leave at the end of your day off." As soon as Chrysalis left, Discord looked down on the silver linoleum floor. "The Elements of Harmony... and Solaris?" *** For the next four days, me and my friends have been doing our missions that we have been respectively given and completing them with ease, always meeting on the clock tower to have ice cream and watch the sun set. No matter how much work we do, we'll always meet up to hang out, because everypony needs to hang out after a grueling day of work. This morning, when I entered the Grey Area, I saw no trace of a horn or tail and the only thing that's changed in here is a sign that I saw posted on the window. I walked up to it and I read it, and the sign read "OPERATIONS CLOSED FOR VACATION." I had no idea what the deal is with this "vacation" stuff, but I wanted to know more. And so, I walked through the castle until I found the only member I can trust completely, Discord. "Morning, Moondancer," he said. "You see the sign in the Grey Area? Thank Celestia we got a day off." "Yeah, I saw the sign," I replied. "But I've never had something known as a 'vacation.'" As I said that word, I used my hooves to make air quotes. "Seriously?" "Seriously," I repeated. "So what am I supposed to do on a vacation?" Discord shook his head in hopelessness, so I knew he would tell me something about a vacation. "Do what you want to do." His advice having been given to me, he went off on his way. I continued walking through the castle until I met up with Solaris. "Morning, Solaris," I said to her. "Morning to you too," she replied. "You saw the sign too?" I wondered that like all the other members, she saw the vacation post. She nodded her head yes, confirming my suspicions. "So what are we supposed to do on a day off?" I thought Discord's advice wasn't sound enough, so I thought I'd get more help. "I thought I'd practice with you." "Practice what?" "I just want to improve my Keyblade skills, and I thought you'd be a little practice buddy." I thought this over for a moment. I know she can still summon it and fight with it, but practice with her? I just want to know what I'm supposed to do today. "No, I'm cool." Despite my rejection, she didn't look disappointed. "Well, find me if you decide otherwise." After she took off, I returned to the Grey Area and stared at the sign again, wondering what I should really do based off of what I like. Eventually, the answer came into clear view in my head: ice cream. *** Upon finally figuring out what I want to do, I got a bar of ice cream and went up the clock tower to watch the sun set. Even though my friends weren't with me, I feel this setup was very peaceful as it allowed me to sort my feelings as well as the rushing memories of the lavender unicorn. My solitude was suddenly broken by a familiar voice. "Never thought I'd see you here." I turned around to see that it was Discord who said it and I myself was surprised to see him. "What have you done today?" I asked. "I just took a well-deserved nap." He stretched himself as he used his magic to produce various materials to help him stretch himself out. "And let me tell you, I slept like a rock." As he took his place next to me, he fetched out his bar of ice cream and began nibbling down on it. It wasn't long until Solaris came up to us with a surprised look on her face. "I knew you'd be up here!" she said. I guess hanging out here has started to rub off on her. After she got her ice cream out and took her place on the tower, we just sat there, eating our ice cream and watch the sun go down. "We're working again tomorrow, just so you know," said Discord, breaking the silence. I didn't want to even think about work right now, so I simply nodded my head yes. "Well, hopefully we'll get another day off soon enough." "I've got to tell you guys something important. I won't be seeing you again for a little bit." Me and Solaris turned to face him upon saying his piece of news. I thought I lost him the last time he took an extended leave, so I really wanted to know where he's going to. "Why?" I simply asked. "I'm going on recon for a couple few days," he said. "Where to?" asked Solaris. "It's classified," he simply said. "But I thought we were friends." "Look, I'm not going to tell you ALL of my personal business. Got it memorized?" Of course, we'll remember what he said. "I just have to keep my lips sealed, or Queen Chrysalis will get on me, for sure. You know how she is." I thought it was supporting enough, so we just nodded our heads yes. "Just try not to do any awesome until I get back." *** Discord just returned to the Castle That Never Was, ready to go back to the Everfree Forest until he was stopped by Queen Chrysalis. "What kept you?" she asked. "We're on vacation," he snapped. "I can do what I want. I don't have to check in, you know." "You're getting too close to them." "They're the closest thing I've got to a friend." He remembered how he lost everything in Equestria ever since his frame-up, and he thought Moondancer and Solaris would ease his pain. The Queen turned around. "You've changed." She then walked away from him as Discord summoned a Corridor of Darkness for the Everfree Forest and entered it, ready to do another search in the ancient alicorn castle. Author's Note Nice foreshadow at the beginning of the chapter, as well as what I wrote out about Discord at the end. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 125-Failure //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 125-Failure Day 125-Failure Over the next three weeks, Discord was gone, but that didn't mean that our visits to the clock tower had to stop. After our missions, we still meet up and have ice cream and watch the sun set. We always talk about how our missions went and when Discord would return. We were patient for his return, but I just couldn't wait to talk with him again, especially to talk about the WINNER stick I got several months back. I've been so distracted by recent events that I completely forgot about it. I can just hope I remember to tell him what I've won when he gets back. When I accepted my mission this morning, which was to observe some crossfire in a storage depot in Jasper, Nevada, I was wondering about my memories about the lavender unicorn. I'm still having dreams about her, even when I'm not sleeping. And these dreams are of her and her friends, and I don't know how to make them out. Before I could figure it out further, I heard a whirring sound and I went to check it out. I saw Optimus Prime and the blue and yellow Autobots on a lifting device and a figure in a piece of large armor. Out of the vortex came a car which looks very speed related and has the number "38" painted on the doors. It suddenly transformed into the white and blue Autobot I saw before. "Looks like the Autobots have a new recruit," said the figure, whose voice I recognized as the robot who can no longer fly. "And you must be Starscream," said the white and blue Autobot. "Weird, I thought you'd be taller." The robot, Starscream as the white and blue Autobot called him, growled in anger over this insult. "Smokescreen, stand down!" said Optimus. "You're no match for Starscream's Apex Armor!" I then saw the white and blue Autobot, Smokescreen as Optimus called him, activate something on his wrist. "Any last words, Smokescreen?" asked Starscream. "Only four," Smokescreen simply stated. "Kiss your armor goodbye!" He then ran towards Starscream and threw himself in a kick position, and I saw him go through the armor along with Starscream. Whatever technology he had on his wrist, it allowed him to phase through that object. I then saw Starscream destroy a crate on the lifting device and leave the Autobots behind, taking a red rock with him. The situation having died down, I thought it was enough to provide to Queen Chrysalis and decided to go to the clock tower. *** I just sat there, eating my ice cream all by myself, until I heard a voice break me away from my thoughts. "Hey, Moondancer." I turned, and sure enough, it was Discord. "You're back!" I said. I was so glad to see him again, it was like how I saw him again after I thought he was kicked out. "Just got back, yeah." He then took his place on the clock tower with his ice cream in hand. "Where's Solaris?" "I don't know." I saw that she wasn't here when I got here and I know that it's getting late and that we would have to RTC soon, but I wonder what's keeping her, because her mission should be done by now. "It's not herself to not show up after work..." *** Solaris was in her bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Finally though, she calmed down and wiped her eyes from her tears. "Why would she say such a thing..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered her battle between a mysterious figure wearing the same cloak as her and her compatriots, and how she failed at it. "I don't believe her. It's genuine... and so am I." Author's Note If you're wondering what Solaris is going through at the end of this chapter, read the next chapter and see for yourself. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 126-The Moon //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 126-The Moon Day 126-The Moon The mysterious figure was standing on the tallest tower in Canterlot as it looked back on her battle with Solaris. After it noticed some storm clouds arranged in a quilt-like pattern, it removed its hood to reveal itself as Princess Luna, letting her dark mane, glittering with moon and stardust, flow naturally in the breeze. "I hope she knows what she's doing," Luna wondered to herself. *** This morning, as I made my way to the Grey Area, I heard a familiar voice that sounded desperate. "Can I at least have another opportunity?" I turned around to see Solaris begging to Queen Chrysalis, but in vain. "There's no way you're repeating the same mistake twice," said the Queen coldly. "You're a mistake Lord Vanitas never should have decided on." She then walked off, and I approached her, hoping to console her in some way. When she turned to face me, I can see her eyes were already overflowing with tears. She then ran off so I won't see her crying. I don't know what happened, but I know that she'll tell me when she's ready. When I accepted my mission today, which is to exterminate a Heartless known as an Avalanche, I traveled to Twilight Town near the clock tower. As I looked up, I saw a white figure at the top, and recognizing who it was, I went up to see Solaris, with her mane blowing in the gentle breeze and her wings spread out. "Solaris!" I said, breaking her gaze from the town. "Moondancer, shouldn't you be on your mission?" she asked. "Yeah, my mission is in Twilight Town." "Me too..." I was surprised we're on separate missions in the same world, but I saw her trail off. Hopefully, she's ready to talk to me about what happened. "Look, I'm sorry I ran off on you this morning." "It's alright." Even though it was sad to see her run off, I thought it would help sort out her emotions. "It's just... I failed a mission." I was surprised that she failed a mission for the Organization, in fact, you can't even fail at a mission. "I was supposed to apprehend someone pretending to be one of us, but I couldn't defeat her. Queen Chrysalis was so angry at my failure, she called me a 'mistake.'" I remember the conversation between them, so I kept my mouth shut. "I'm sorry about it, then." I figured apologizing would help cheer her up, which worked. "It's cool. That royal pain can say whatever, but I can handle it." I was surprised to hear her insult Queen Chrysalis, but I kept my assurance for Solaris. I decided to cheer her up in order to help her get some closure, so I got an idea. "How about we work together?" It was some time since we worked together, and I saw a look of confusion on her face. "How do we do that?" "We combine our mission into one big mission. If we partner up, we'll cut our work time in half." Solaris thought this through and she turned to me with a smile lit up on her face. "Let's do it!" I knew that if we do this, we'll have more time for ice cream. After doing Solaris' mission, which was to gather Organization emblems to help test our capabilities for upcoming missions, we faced the Avalanche and destroyed it, setting its heart free. With both of our missions out of the way, we got our ice cream and took our places on the clock tower, however Discord hasn't shown up yet. "I think we got finished TOO early, eh?" I chuckled. I hoped Solaris would join in my laughter, but she didn't. I saw her stare at her ice cream as she appeared to be remembering something... *** Solaris remembered how she was assigned a mission to take out an impostor of the Organization, and upon finding her, she engaged in a fight with the impostor, however she didn't expect to find the impostor wielding a Keyblade, and quickly knocked her to the ground and the tip of her Keyblade hitting the hard ground. As the impostor walked towards the incapacitated alicorn, the impostor removed her hood as the figure removed her own to reveal herself as Princess Luna. Upon looking at her face, she was suddenly taken aback by her appearance and used her wings to fly backwards. "Your face..." she said as she was remembering who the face belonged to. "Who are you? And why do you have the legendary Keyblade." Solaris threw her hood back up over her head as she struggled to stand up. "I'd like to tell you," said Solaris. "But you tell me why you're wearing our coat." Luna turned around to walk towards Solaris' Keyblade. "To ensure my sister's most faithful student realizes her true destiny." She then used her magic to lift Solaris' Keyblade out of the ground. "I don't know who you really are. But... you can't fight fire with fire. This Keyblade, it's a fraud--useless." She then tossed her Keyblade toward Solaris, but didn't use her magic to catch it. "My Keyblade's not useless! Why the hell would you say such a thing?" Solaris was so angry, she regained control of her Keyblade and charged at her. Just as she was about to deliver a fatal blow, Luna flew up and used her hind legs to kick her to the ground, and when she was sure she won't attack again, returned to the ground. "Stay away from that place. I'm warning you; That guy used to be with someone who caused much trouble for me and my sister. Even my sister's student and her friends went through the same turmoil." She began to walk off until she was stopped by Solaris. "Why should I listen to you? If anything, you're the true fraud." Luna then pondered over what she just said and realized something. "You're right. You may say that I was... a traitor to my sister and our homeland." She then flew off to somewhere Solaris doesn't know about, but she didn't care as she screamed in agony over her failure at her mission to stop the Princess of the Night. *** "Solaris!" I shouted to Solaris, snapping her out of her trance. "What's bothering you?" I knew she must be still be thinking about her mission, but I wanted to make sure my question was subtle. "Sorry." she said, returning my question. "I'm just figuring something out right now. Moondancer, why are we have to do this work for the Organization?" I remember asking the same question before, and I was surprised that she was even repeating it. "So we can have a wish that can help us with our destinies, remember?" "But why do we need a wish?" I don't know what's gotten into her, but I should still answer her questions. "I don't know." That's was my weakest answer to her latest question, but I should still continue. "But I think that once we get our wish, we'll be in better control of our lives." "I only wanted to know what I was doing and how I even got here..." She was really starting to worry me right now. "I started having the weirdest dreams." I was wondering if they were the same ones I've been having lately. "I don't even know what they mean. I always wake up having this feeling that something horrible happened." "Well, I have the same dreams and feelings, too." I hoped that my statement would make an understanding for her, but I quickly regretted as she got up. "We might have the same dreams and feelings, but I don't think we're ALL the same." "Solaris, wait--" I wasn't able to stop her as she walked out of sight. I felt like beating myself up for driving her away, and I just sat there, alone, eating my ice cream, until Discord turned up and took his place with his ice cream. "Solaris didn't make it here again?" he asked. "She just left," I said in a dejected tone. I just stared out at the expansive field just as I had a memory of the lavender unicorn finding herself trapped in some cave filled with crystals, finding a pink alicorn, who has a crystal heart with gold lace as a cutie mark instead of me and Solaris' cutie mark, and together, trying to find a way out of the caves. Maybe Solaris might have been right about this. I really don't know what this, or any of my other dreams about this meant, but I'm starting to have this feeling that somewhere, something horrible has happened. Author's Note Quite a shocker at the beginning and near the end of the chapter with the fight between Solaris and Princess Luna, as well as the scene at the beginning of "A Canterlot Wedding Part 2." And that "something horrible" that Moondancer and Solaris were talking about, it's the cutie mark switch in the season three finale. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 150-Coma //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 150-Coma Day 150-Coma The next morning, I went to the Grey Area and met up with Trixie. "Good morning, Moondancer," she said. "How has your magic been improving?" I found that question rather vague, but I should still be respectful. "Alright," I simply said. "Queen Chrysalis just partnered The Great and Powerful Trixie with you today," she told me. I found it weird that she referred to herself in the third-person, but I know she's trying to do the best she can to impress me. "Trixie hopes that we'll conquer this mission like Trixie conquered the Ursa Major. And speaking of conquering, did you hear about Solaris?" I didn't like how Solaris was mentioned by somepony else, so I started to get worried. "What happened to her?" "She failed to conquer her last mission and is in a deep sleep like you once were. I think she'll never live up to the standards of The Great and Powerful Trixie!" I found that last part to hurt me greatly, especially after she said that Solaris was in a coma. I began to run for Solaris' room until I was stopped by the Queen. "Where are you going, Moondancer?" she asked. "To check on Solaris." I said, wasting to time to reason with her about why I'm running off before my mission. "Shouldn't you do your mission?" "I'm going to do it. I just have to see Solaris." "You can't help her out. She won't awaken." "I don't care. I should still be with her." I began to run off again, but I was brutally stopped again. "Why? The thing's damaged. Faulty." I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and of course, my anger flared up. "Don't you dare call her that!" My anger was so strong as I said that, my horn began to glow with its trademark magenta glow. "I can say whatever I want to say. How we can take care of Solaris is not your business right now." This comment still kept me enraged and my horn glowing with magical energy. "I don't care!" "Come on, Moondancer. You've got your hooves focused on a nopony." "Me and Solaris are Noponies!" I knew she was referring to something else and not our species, but I felt it was best to correct her. "Temper, temper. Solaris' condition won't affect you in any way. You'll be alright." "Won't affect my--" I can't believe she was being so optimistic about this, even when one of our own is incapacitated. "What the HELL is wrong with you?" My anger reached such a critical point that my eyes started to glow white and my horn sparking with magical intensity. However, upon seeing a memory of the lavender unicorn going through the same process, I calmed down and my magic returned to its dormant state. "Look, I'll do my mission--soon." I then ran off for Solaris' room, and when I got there, I saw she was indeed in a state of deep sleep. I felt despondent for her, seeing her like how I was, and I decided to do an act of kindness for her. I gave her the same apple she gave me while I was in my coma, which I kept to remind me of my missed days, although they started to become old and rotting, however, I saw a memory of the lavender unicorn witnessing a blue unicorn who somehow looks like Trixie using an age spell, which the lavender unicorn tried to replicate, to no avail. I decided to try it out for myself, and miraculously, it worked. Now, when she awakens, she'll see fresh, new apples, like she gave to me. I can only hope she awakens soon. *** After my mission, I went alone to the clock tower, where Discord later joined me. "Discord, about Solaris..." I began, but trailed off as I remembered my outburst this morning. "Queen Chrysalis told me about what happened," he said. I knew somepony would tell him about the fiasco. "Why does she hate her so?" "Come now, why are you talking like an actual pony?" "W-why?" I was confused about this until I quickly realized what he meant. "I guess I don't know how real ponies talk." "Because it sounds like you're missing something important." "It's just... when I see her lying there, I have this feeling that she may never awaken." "She will soon enough." His assurance lifted me up a little, but I had another thing flowing through my mind from this morning. "The Queen said she was 'damaged.'" "Well, if it'll get you out of the dumps, my life before the Organization was much more damaged than hers." I hear him say that a lot, but I can't help but follow along. "Chrysalis knows something about her that I don't. Why we're special Noponies." "You know, if it'll also make you get a good night's sleep, I'll ask her." That response was enough to get me off of the ground, literally. "Seriously!?" "I'm seriously serious. Just calm yourself. I can ask, but don't get your hopes too high. Straightforward answers aren't really her thing." "Well, she's more than likely to just tell me." "Touché." I then turned to look at the sunset. "I just hope she awakens soon." Even though I said it already, I felt it best to tell Discord personally. *** "...What the hell were you thinking!?" Discord was really annoyed about how Queen Chrysalis mocked Solaris' condition to Moondancer that as soon as he saw her, he didn't hesitate to call on her. "I told you it's none of your business," said the Queen. "And I told you I won't. I have to know what's up with Solaris. Why won't you tell me what's up?" "Like how you were always honest to your friends." "Alright, now that's just cold." Her statement was enough to cause him to remember what happened to him during the Heartless invasion on Canterlot. "Solaris isn't meant to be with us." Discord was suddenly taken aback by this. "Why ever not?" "What do you and Moondancer see in Solaris that I don't. Take a better look at her. *** Solaris continued sleeping peacefully in bed as I brought to her a freshly restored apple to put alongside the first one I gave her this morning. Hopefully, when she comes out of it, she can know that those apples represent how much I missed her awake. Author's Note I decided to skip the mission between Trixie and Moondancer as I want this story to center mostly on characters affected by the previous story's events. Also recall Queen Chrysalis' last thoughts to Discord (hint hint). //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 175-Remembrance //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 175-Remembrance Day 175-Rememberance The Elements of Harmony having failed to activate, Discord skated off on the soapy roads while Twilight's now fully-corrupted friends parted ways, with Twilight herself losing all faith in her friends, her body losing all of its color in the process. Upset by the injustice of it all, she shed a single tear, which ran down her cheek and hit the ground, forming a cracked heart upon impact. *** For three weeks, Solaris was asleep while I lay freshly regenerated apples by her side, hoping she would awaken soon. As I was about to leave after laying a freshly renewed apple by her, I saw her eyes open wide and suddenly jump out of bed, surprising even myself. "Morning," I simply said. I was waiting for my heart to stop racing so I can speak calmly. "Morning..." Solaris repeated. "You nearly scared me." "Sorry about that." She then turned to see my pile of apples for her. "You brought those for me?" I saw her levitate one close to her mouth and took a big bite, making a relieved sound upon tasting it. "You like it?" "Yeah, even after all this time, they still look and taste good." I decided to keep how I kept them fresh a secret. "How long was I out?" "Three weeks." "You waited THAT long?" "Of course. Me and Discord wanted to make sure you were alright." I then saw her face fall. "I'm sorry I put you through all that. It's actually weird that we can feel like this, given the fact that we're Noponies." I understood what she meant. Ever since those images of the lavender unicorn kept flashing through my mind, I also began to have these strange feelings, even at the worst of events. I then saw Solaris wonder something. "Shouldn't you do some work?" "I was just about to depart." "Can I go, too?" I can see she was eager to get back in the field, but I began to worry again, which was slightly annoying. "Don't you want to rest some more?" "I think three weeks is more than enough rest. Let's just go." Again, she had a good point. You always need enough sleep in order to have enough energy for the day. "Alright. Come on." We walked together to the Grey Area, where upon arriving, we saw Queen Chrysalis walk towards us. I was still resentful to when she insulted Solaris when the news about her condition broke out. I could see she felt weak against the Queen, so I placed a hoof in front of her. "So, it awakened," said Chrysalis, again igniting by bitter rage when she called her an "it." "There's just no stopping you, is there?" "Your Highness, I want to go on a mission with Moondancer today," said Solaris, her voice shaking in nervousness. "The only place you're going to is your room." My anger was about to snap again when I saw Discord walk in. "Morning, Solaris!" said Discord. It's great that you're out of bed." "Morning, Discord," said Solaris. "Moondancer will be with Discord today," the Queen said to Solaris. "Solaris, I'm afraid you're not on the signup sheet." "You can't keep me here forever," said Solaris, her voice having taken a brave resolve. "I need to do my part for our group." "I'll keep an eye on her," assured Discord. "I'll make sure she'll have no trouble at all." Chrysalis pondered what Discord just said and simply turned around. "Very well then," she said. "Go, if it's all right with you." We then saw her walk away, my anger between her dying out. I was glad that not only do I get to work with both Solaris and Discord, that after our mission, we can go to the clock tower with ice cream together. *** After taking our mission, which is in Twilight Town (highly a coincidence, since we're going to hang out here afterward), we took a Corridor of Darkness straight to the world. "Isn't this awesome, teaming up like this?" asked Solaris. "Yeah," I agreed. "I think this is the first time that I had two partners." "Don't get too excited," warned Discord. "We still have our priorities." "We know," said Solaris. "I'm just glad that I get to work again." "Again, don't push the envelope too far. We'll pick up on what you've been missing." With that in mind, we began our mission, which is to destroy two giant Heartless. After successfully dispatching a Heat Saber, which was one of our targets, we went to the station plaza where I heard a slight thud on the ground. When I turned around, it was Solaris who fell. "Solaris!" I was so worried about her, I just don't know what to do. *** After seeing a lying Applejack, a bitter Pinkie Pie, a hoarding Rarity, a rude Fluttershy, and an unloyal Rainbow Dash desert her, Twilight simply lost all faith in her friends in her friends, her lavender coat losing all of its color in the process. "With friends like you, who needs...enemies...?" Twilight said while her color faded away. *** As I saw her in her comatose state, I saw our final target, the Destroyer appear before me. "I'll be with Solaris," Discord assured me. "Just take out the target." With that in mind, I took on the Destroyer and killed it single-hoofedly. After our mission was complete, I ran towards Solaris, who was still sleeping and cradled into Discord. "Twilight Sparkle..." I heard Solaris mutter, which I saw Discord raise his head in response. I don't know what she's talking about, but I still want her to be alright, so I shrugged it off for now. "It's alright," Discord said. "She's not hurt." "But Discord--" I was cut off. "Let's RTC, m'kay?" I felt disappointed upon hearing that we won't be able to hang on the clock tower, having ice cream and watch the sun set, but we have to take care of Solaris, of course. *** As they returned to the Castle That Never Was, they were greeted by Queen Chrysalis, and Moondancer knew what would happen next as her horn began to glow. "Well, there's a shocker," the Queen said. "Did it malfunction again?" As she said this, Moondancer's horn began to glow brighter as her anger continued boiling. "Dammit!" shouted Moondancer. "She's not an 'it!'" I was about to snap when Discord kept walking with Solaris in his arms and turned towards Chrysalis with Moondancer trailing behind. "Shut the hell up," Discord told the Queen. As they left, Chrysalis turned to them. "You're different..." she said. "Something about those ponies have caused you to become who you're not meant to be. Do your antics from before mean nothing anymore?" *** As me and Discord saw Solaris lie in bed, I started to have concerns again. "Are you worried, Discord?" I asked. "Well, of course," Discord simply said. "Well, that's something." His comment appeared to lift my spirits a little. "What ever do you mean?" "You don't like what'll happen later." I then saw Discord looking away, wondering about something, and then turned back towards me. "Moondancer...I meet you two for ice cream after work, right? Now, why do I do that with you?" "What do you mean?" "Just think for a moment. I don't have to go out of my way, right?" "Not really, no." "Do you why why I do that?" I just didn't respond as he continued talking. "Because you're my best friends. Us three...we can never be torn apart." "Really?" "Yeah--just get it memorized. And you know? Best friends are willing to handle what the future may hold." I thought over what he just said and realized that if we always stick together, nothing will ever happen to us. "You know, you're right!" We then heard a chuckle and turned to see it come from Solaris, discovering that she just awakened. "Thanks, Discord," she said. "You're very kind." "Are you alright?" I asked her, wondering if she had any more signs of fatigue. "I was only woozy. Sorry to trouble you." "Well, try not to freak us out like that again, alright?" asked Discord. "Okay," said Solaris. "And take it easy tomorrow." "I will. Thanks." I know that after Discord and Solaris' assurances, I know things will be alright from now on. *** Having altered the cutie marks and destinies of her friends, Twilight retreated to her room and thought about how her friends swaps would affect their lives, as well as everypony else. Not knowing what to do, she buried her face into her forelegs and began weeping, with Spike hoping to console her some way. Upon seeing him pat her, she raised her head to reveal her tears streaming down her eyes. "Oh, Spike, what have I done?" she asked Spike, although it's very clear about what she had done. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 200-Complications //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 200-Complications Day 200-Complications On a balcony on the highest tower of the castle of Canterlot, an alicorn with a pink coat with the same cutie mark as Moondancer and Solaris was looking out at Ponyville, which is filled with a flurry of storm clouds in a quilt pattern. Suddenly, Princess Celestia approached her. "What's troubling you?" she asked. The pink alicorn lowered her head in concern. "I have a feeling that a Nopony is starting to interfere," said the alicorn. "A Nopony?" "I keep hoping that she'll figure out the spell based off of what she's learned, but what if that crucial piece were lost? There would be no way to complete it. If that happened--and the spell would never be finished--she'll never be able to restore her friends." "She's my most faithful student. She can figure out the last piece in order to be ready." "But what if she needs her memories in order to figure out the spell? What if it's the key to her true self and power?" "Caelum...you are a special Nopony, as you have the special talent to see and feel Twilight Sparkle's memories and those connected to her. Do you sense something else?" "If Twilight's memories become her memories...she might not be able to withstand it." "She?" *** Today's mission was to exterminate a giant Heartless with some help with King Sombra. After my mission was over and done with, I decided to have ice cream at the clock tower and watch the sun set. Over the past three weeks, things appear to have gone back to what they should be. I'm glad to have both Solaris and Discord with me after work again. Upon arriving at the tower, I could clearly see Solaris alone, her ice cream levitating with her magic. "Hey Solaris!" I said, getting her attention. "Get here early?" "Yeah," she said. "I completed my mission with no trouble." After taking my spot and fetching out my ice cream, Solaris turned to me and asked, "So how'd your mission go?" Of course, my mission went swimmingly, of course there was one detail that she'd love to hear. "Well, you won't believe what King Sombra did..." I was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hello there, Solaris," said Discord. "How's it goin'?" "Fine," said Solaris. "Can't complain really." After he took his spot, we took a few bites of our ice cream until Solaris turned her head again, this time to Discord. "Hey, Discord?" "Yeah?" "You've been to the Everfree Forest, correct?" I found this question obvious, but I let her continue. "Pretty much." "What's it look like?" "Like a forest. A haunted one." This time, I decided to speak up. "Well, it looks like ponies are going there all the time," I said. "You especially." I then saw Solaris lower her head. "Yet, they never send me or Moondancer," she said. "Maybe they don't want you there," said Discord. "No big deal." I took another bite out of my ice cream until I heard Solaris again. "Maybe," she said. I kept looking at her because she started to sound curious. I know she doesn't know anything about the Everfree Forest as much as me, but this is starting to get serious. And then, all of a sudden, I saw her promptly get up. "I got to go." "What?" Before she could respond to me, she lifted her hoof up to her head, like she had a headache, but then she started to stumble and fell off of the ledge. Although she's an alicorn, I didn't see her use her wings to fly back up. I feared what would happen to her, so I used her magic to catch her hoof and lift her back onto the tower. "Are you okay? Maybe you should rest up a little." "No, there's nothing wrong." "How about this?" asked Discord. I knew Discord, and whatever he would say next would be interesting enough to get us on board. "About what?" I asked. "Let's go to a lake in Equestria the next time we get a vacation." "A lake in Equestria?" asked Solaris. "How'd you get that?" "I thought we'd go somewhere else for a change," said Discord. "I like to shake things up sometimes." "So...it'll be just the three of us, then?" I asked. "Yeah. I mean, the lake's practically hidden in plain sight, and there's a tree we can lie on, and we'll help you onto the branches, Moondancer." I know I don't have wings like Solaris and Discord, so I knew they'll help me up, or I can just teleport. "I'll join you..." Solaris began, but paused for a moment. "...if I can." "Of course you'll join us, Solaris," I assured. "Why wouldn't you?" "It'll be the time of your life, for real," said Discord. We then saw a smile form on Solaris' face. "Okay then," she said. "Let's do it!" //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 225-Discovery //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 225-Discovery Day 225-Discovery Over the past three weeks after we agreed to go to Equestria the next time we got a day off, I've been seeing Solaris less and less, mostly just showing up and promptly leaving afterwards, which happened today. After taking some nibbles out of my ice cream, Discord arrived and took his spot on the tower, ice cream in hand. "Where's Solaris?" he asked. I found the answer was obvious, but I should still tell him. "She left," I solemnly said. "And you know, she's been rather distant lately, and I'm starting to worry." If there's something involving my friends, I start to become flushed with worry, and right now, I'm worried about Solaris. "Maybe she's not feeling alright." "She's cool. Don't get your tail all up in a knot." "Okay." I couldn't help but agree with him. "I just hope we get another vacation soon. We might really need that trip to Equestria." "Yeah..." *** Solaris was in the computer room, which is unusable except with permission, but she had no time as she had to look up something important. She kept typing away until she found the file she was looking for: Project: Replica Version Nopony... //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 255-Origins //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 255-Origins Day 255-Origins Three Organization members--Vanitas, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra--have gathered in Where Nothing Gathers on their respective thrones to discuss important developments occurring in their group. "I sent Discord to the Everfree Forest last night on short notice," said the Queen. "in order to investigate the situation we keep hearing about. I also asked him to clear out our projects from the ancient castle of the regal alicorn sisters. He should RTC as soon as we know it." "And Twilight Sparkle?" asked Vanitas. Chrysalis shook her head. "She hasn't figured out what to do with her friends yet." "Well, of course that accursed unicorn hasn't fixed her friends yet," quipped King Sombra. "I mean, what is she doing, crying her eyes out? Whenever I think about her, I think of her sobbing that all of her achievements would turn to dust." "Why, Your Highness..." pondered Chrysalis. "It's almost as though you know her very emotions." The King mumbled under his breath. "Anything else?" asked Vanitas. He was trying to get them off of their experiences with Twilight. "Somepony has accessed our mainframe without our clearance," said the Queen. "'Somepony'?" asked Sombra. "Let's not pretend we don't know who that somepony is. Solaris is starting to become trouble--and I think you must know what I'm talking about." The King didn't hesitate to hint about how he enslaved the Crystal Empire a millennium before. "Please. I see no problems with that alicorn." "Well, obviously you don't!" "And just where are you going with this?" "Well, if ponies see with their hearts, Your Majesty, then you wouldn't have been blasted out of Canterlot in the first place." "Our plans will stay on course," announced Vantias. Again, he was hoping to change the subject of their pre-Organization lives. "Discord, Moondancer, Solaris, and the Elements of Harmony will play the roles Kingdom Hearts has bestowed upon them." "But, my liege, Solaris..." Queen Chrysalis hesitated to think about what would happen next. "If we don't take matters into our own hooves--" She was cut off. "Take matters into our own? Do you not see how perfect this is playing out? Solaris is beginning to walk right into her true destiny, as is Twilight Sparkle. All we have to is watch, wait, strike. When Solaris magic is at her peak, Twilight won't stand a chance, even if she is ready." *** Solaris, finally determined to figure out the truth behind herself, traveled to the Everfree Forest and braved the many dangers the forest put in front of her and arrived at the castle of the regal alicorn sisters. Upon entering the castle, she can clearly see how dilapidated the castle has been even after a thousand years of neglect. There was weeds covering the walls, grass growing through patches from the stone ground, and full sunlight pouring through the windows as they have shattered off, with the stained window frames having corroded away. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head, hoping it would ease the pain. Suddenly, she saw herself outside of the castle, with Queen Chrysalis in front of her. "This will be the last time you'll see this wreck of a castle, Solaris," said the Queen. She then walked off, with Solaris following behind. The sharp pain still wasn't going away, though, and after she saw herself with Chrysalis, she fell on her belly, her hoof still rubbing on her forehead. While she was attempting to relieve her pain, a Corridor of Darkness opened in front of her and Discord stepped out of it and was surprised to see her. "Discord..." said a weak Solaris. The pain was now no longer as sharp as it was before, but her head feels as though it's still throbbing. "Why are you...here...?" "Work," Discord simply said. "Nothing involving you, though. But come to think of it, though, I never thought I'd see you in a place such as this." "Don't lie like you did to your former friends!" Discord became shocked as to how she knew this. "I know this is my origin! The answers that I'm looking for are right here." "Don't you have another mission to work on?" Solaris didn't respond, and he knew that she did have a mission, but didn't do it at all. "Look, you can't blow off missions, Solaris." "Why? Will they turn me into a Dusk?" "It's worse than that. They may skip that penalty and just destroy you on the spot." "Because I'm a mistake?" "I didn't say that." Solaris stood back up, knowing that the intense pain in her head has gone. "Head back, Solaris." "Discord, I'm starting to remember...about who I am." "Well, can you stop it? Coming here won't solve anything about it." "I have dreams every night about this land. You're in them, Discord!" Discord thought fast for a suitable response for Solaris. "They're just dreams--figments of your imagination. Try to focus on the real world." He hoped it would change her mind about what she said about him. It didn't, though. "Stop messing around. We've met before, Discord, in Ponyville, or as you called it 'the chaos capital of the world!'" This is bad... thought Discord. If she found out what he's done before, then their friendship would be over. "No we haven't. Just RTC, Solaris. Don't make Moondancer worry again." "Discord, help me, please! I must know!" Instead of waiting for him to answer, she galloped past him as she ran for the doorway of a chamber. "No, Solaris! Don't go in there!" His efforts were futile as she went into the doorway. *** Over the past three weeks, Solaris has stopped coming to the clock tower altogether and Discord has only shown himself. Every day, I hope she sorts herself out and return to us, but my hopes don't turn out as well as I thought. Today, after my mission, I was alone at the clock tower, ice cream in my magical grip. Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice. "You're early." I turn to see Discord standing right behind me when I turned to him. "No, you're just late," I said as he took his spot next to me with his ice cream in hand. He nibbled through his ice cream fast, without the feeling of a brain freeze, while I took mine slow. "Today marks 255." "What do you mean by that?" "It's been that long since I first joined the Organization. Time just flies fast, you know?" "So, you remember the time you've been with us?" "Pretty much. I just gotta remember something. I don't really have memories from before joining. You remember how I acted like a zombie pony?" I then felt Discord put his eagle-like hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, during that first week you only formed fragments. But don't worry about it, because you're still sorta like a zombie pony." "Oh, thank you." We then laughed together at our sarcastic remarks. "Hey, Moondancer. You wanna know why the sun sets red? See, light is made of several colors, and out of all the colors, red is the farthest of them all." "Like I asked, smarty-pants." With another remark like that, we couldn't help but keep laughing. Later, after my stick has been nibbled clean of ice cream and Discord lying on his back, I started to get impatient. "Okay, where the hell is Solaris?" Discord then promptly sat back up and gave a sigh. "Moondancer...I don't think she'll be here today." I suddenly got worried again. "Did she have another blackout?" "No, she..." His voice then took on a more happy tone. "Wait, you don't know? She's on a really big mission. Isn't that great?" Me and Solaris are never given missions like those, so I decided to give support on this. "Ah...so when will she be back, then?" "That depends on how she does her work, right?" "Huh, alright then." *** Solaris was standing on a pedestal where a rainbow-colored aura is floating above her. She was looking through the aura and slightly gasped in shock. "No...so...I didn't...come from somepony else...neither of them." //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 275-Missing Again //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 275-Missing Again Day 275-Missing Again After three weeks, I keep on believing that Solaris would finish her mission and RTC, yet, just as before, they always turn up fruitless. Today, though, all of us have been summoned to the Round Room for an important announcement, and I must say, the Round Room looks a little bit lonely without all thirteen of us, but whatever Vanitas has to give out will put it out of my mind. "Solaris is gone," announced Vanitas. Immediately, all of us were surprised by this news, while I was surprised and shocked, because she must have lost track on her mission again. "Now, wait a minute," said Prince Blueblood. "Are you saying she's neglecting her responsibilities?" "As if," scoffed Diamond Tiara. "We don't know why she chose to leave us." "It doesn't matter," said Vanitas. "What matters is this: nopony is to look for her without my consent." I saw his statement like we're shunning her, yet me and Discord respect her. "Why not?" I asked, hoping I'd get a real reason for why we can't find her. "Your 'friend' is to be left alone for the time being," said Queen Chrysalis, my horn beginning to glow upon hearing her put some type of emphasis on the word "friend." "Or do you want a punishment, perhaps?" The magic emanating from my horn began to fade as she said it, because I don't want to be turned into a Dusk for attacking one of our own, but my mind was still focused on one thing. "I just want us to look for her!" "Why would we do such a thing?" I decided to drop the arguement, because right now, it's getting me nowhere. "All will be told when it's time," resumed Vanitas. "Meaning, if the time doesn't come, things may go back to normal..." mumbled Discord. I don't know what he meant, but I remember him telling me that I should stay out of one's personal business, so I ignored my eavesdropping on him. "Lord Vanitas has spoken," announced the Queen. "Do as he says, or else." I really didn't want a punishment, so I should do what I'm told and just wait for Solaris to return on her own. *** Moondancer was on a mission and found herself in Ponyville, which right now is filled with angry and bitter ponies and a variety of percipitation. There, she had a memory of Twilight Sparkle expressing her desire to stay with her new friends and Princess Celestia announcing that she is to study the magic of friendship in her new home of Ponyville. After the memory ended, she found a rotten apple in a cart and levitated it with her magic and used it to rejuvenate it back to freshness, making her remember the apples she brought to Solaris when she was in a coma. "Solaris..." she solemnly said. Then she saw a figure out by the lake where they agreed to hang out the next time they got a vacation. Although the hood was up, she quickly recognized the figure as Solaris and galloped over to her. When her hood was removed, what Moondancer saw wasn't really Moondancer, but a hunched old balding man with golden eyes. "Apparently, you should have known about this," said the old man. Moondancer was confused until she heard another voice. "Why should I?" She turned around to see Princess Luna approach the old man and began to circle around her. "Because, if you can remember, you traveled to various worlds before returning here." As he continued talking, Moondancer began to suffer a sharp pain her head, like his words are starting to pierce her brain. "And in all those worlds, all you ever saw was the darkness in those worlds. That's been in your heart all this time: the dark side of those memories. Your memories of your parents are gone--all of them." As she was down on her hooves, she transformed into Solaris, but talking with both her voice and Luna's. "You're lying! I remember my parents as I remember them now. They were...were..." As she choked on the last word, she morphed into the Princess of the Night. "the only ones we ever cared about." She was on her side now, attempting to ease the pain in her head which won't go away. "Then who was responsible for your loss? Maybe you didn't realize it yet. It was you who killed your parents." Luna then turned into Twilight and then passed out, unable to take it anymore. *** Luna found an unconscious Solaris out by the side of the lake, and wrapped her forelegs around her, with her head resting on her chest. "Who am I?" asked Solaris mid-sleep. "What is my...purpose in this world?" Luna moved the red locks from her shut eyes as she remembered an important meeting... *** Luna was sitting at a table designed with regal adornments sitting across Caelum. "I'm grateful to talk with you again," said Caelum. "I made a promise with my sister," said Luna. "To see Twilight Sparkle complete the spell. I know. Truth is...I don't see her doing it yet." "What do you mean?" "Part of Twilight's memories are lost." "How is that possible? Her memories are still intact, even after turning into a Heartless and back again." "They're escaping from Twilight's Nopony into a third pony--and they're beginning to take place in her." Luna pondered something over. "Can't you just retrieve the memories?" "If they're separate...then it'll be possible to use one of my memory-related spells to send them back to Twilight. Yet, if they join with her existing memories, things'll just get worse. I'd have to unravel her memory before Twilight restores her friends...what's supposed to take a day here may take weeks. Celestia would be worried." "What do we do then?" "If I just go ahead and fix her memory...then I only see Twilight returning to Ponyville to discover that her friends won't remember her anymore. I just can't do that to her. We've got to hurry, though. She'll figure out the spell once she fixes her friends. I just can't get over how Twilight's Nopony and the other one are trying to become actual ponies. Sadly, the only way to this...is for both of them to return to Twilight. You saw her face was featureless at first, right? But now you saw somepony. That means part of Twilight's memories are within her. Part inside her, most, if not all of them, inside Twilight...others, if not the same inside Twilight's Nopony... I just can't do it. All I can do about it is pick up what's left behind once the spell is completed." "Okay." *** Luna suddenly saw Moondancer run to a stone bridge to Ponyville, but used her magic to open a Corridor of Darkness and entered it, causing the Corridor to fade away. She then looked down at Solaris again, who was still in a deep sleep... *** The sun was starting to set in Equestria and Moondancer, Solaris, and Discord were sitting on one of the branches of a tree near the lake, watching the splendor of the sunset, being much more breathtaking than the sunsets in Twilight Town. Out of all of them, Solaris is filled with concern. "Was I not meant to exist after all?" asked Solaris. "Well, what do you really want, Solaris?" asked Discord. "I just...want to be with both of you." Solaris then put her hooves together, with Moondancer placing her hoof on top of the alicorn's. "Then return with us," said Moondancer. "No..." Solaris solemnly said. "Not the way I am right now. But...what'll it take to be just like you?" All three of them struggled with this question as they tried to enjoy their last remaining minutes of the setting sun. *** After my mission, I went to the clock tower, and to my surprise, Discord was there, nibbling at his ice cream. "Hey, you're really here," I said. To tell the truth, I haven't seen him up here much, either. "That long, eh?" asked Discord. I ignored the fact that I haven't seen him at the clock tower for three weeks and took my spot on the clock tower. "I went to the lake in Equestria today for my mission. I saw a mare who looked sorta like Solaris...but I didn't get up close enough to figure out if it were true. I think I was seeing things. And you know, I'm not even sure my mission actually happened. It felt like it was a dream or something. And this is going to sound insane, but you know how we promised we'd go to the lake? Well, I think I saw her there because I wanted her to be there with us." I then saw Discord stand up on the ledge. "Wanna find her?" I suddenly got worried. "What!? But Vanitas' orders..." "Screw Vanitas' orders. Starting tomorrow, we're using our spare time from work to come here and instead use that to find Solaris." I then stood up as well, knowing that we'll be sacrificing our time for something that's actually important to us. "Yeah, let's do it!" //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 296-Searching //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 296-Searching Day 296-Searching For two weeks, me and Discord have looked far and wide for Solaris, not allowing anypony else to catch on, but so far, we've had little success. I always hope every night after every search that she'll casually turn up, but like every lookout, she won't show. *** Today, my mission was to investigate a mysterious gathering in a forest nearby Jasper, Nevada. Upon arriving, I heard an explosion and upon finding a safe observation place, I can see Starscream running from Optimus Prime, Ratchet, and Bulkhead, who I can see has already recovered from his injuries, holding three key-shaped artifacts. Starscream typed in something on a remote device and a portal opened in front of him, which he went through and disappeared before the Autobots could catch up, with Optimus giving out a scream of defeat. "We'll get 'em back," assured Bulkhead. "The Keys are of no use to Starscream while he's roaming the wild like some Scraplet," said Ratchet. "There must be something we can give him." "The fate of Cybertron now rests in Starscream's hands, whatever his intention," said Optimus. I don't know what's happening here, but I know that I shouldn't be involved in matters such as this. In fact, after roaming this area, there's still no sight of Solaris, so I decided to just give up for today and just go to the clock tower. *** "I beg of you, my liege, release me from this absurd predicament." Knock Out was trapped within a wall during an Autobot escape, and Megatron and a blue-colored Decepticon known as Dreadwing was able to notice. "No," said Megatron. "You shall serve as a constant reminder to those who dare fail me." They then walked away from him and back to the bridge of the Nemesis. "I cannot allow Optimus to be the one to restore Cybertron. We will find the Autobot base, invade it, and retrieve the Omega Keys." "Been there, done that." Both Megatron and Dreadwing turned to see Starscream standing next to the control panel. "Please, pardon my unannounced visit, Lord Megatron, but I've come bearing a peace offering." Starscream lifted up all four Omega Keys to show to his leader. *** Me and Discord were sitting on the clock tower, with no ice cream, contemplating our search efforts. "What are we gonna do?" I asked. "We may never find her." "You certain you didn't forget someplace to look?" It was Discord who asked the question, and I knew the answer. "I looked everywhere I know where to get to." "Yeah..." "The only place I didn't look is the Everfree Forest. Solaris was talking about that. And the day before she disappeared, you said she was on some big mission." "I know, but...the place was cleared. There's nothing left." "Solaris may be there." "Actually...that's where she came from. The Everfree Forest." I jumped in surprise, only I literally didn't get up. "Seriously!?" "That's why she was asking about it." "I never knew that..." "Hey, I didn't know, as well. I only knew about it some time back myself." "She really wants to answer something important. Oh, Solaris..." //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 297-Encounter //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 297-Encounter Day 297-Encounter "The imposter was discovered again?" I went into the Grey Area to hear Queen Chrysalis mention the imposter that Solaris failed to capture. I turned to see the Queen and Discord talking about it. "You mean the one Solaris..." I began, but trailed off when she turned to me. "She's traversing the Everfree Forest right now." "I'll go and stop her." I figured if I went on the mission, I'll finally find Solaris. "Not by yourself. The target is dangerous." "Why don't I go along?" asked Discord. "I know the Everfree Forest and the castle of the regal alicorn sisters better than everypony else here." "Okay," said Chrysalis. "Go and teach the imposter for what happens when she wears the coat." *** After arriving in the Everfree Forest, we went straight towards the castle of the regal alicorn sisters, which upon seeing it, outside and inside, looked rather derelict. "So, this is the Everfree forest and the ancient castle ruins..." I said. I suddenly received a sharp pain in my head which I tried to soothe with both hooves at my head. "Moondancer!?" asked Discord. He must have known what I'm going through, because he turned to me. I suddenly fell onto my belly as the shear pain in my head won't fade. "My head...it hurts!" "Don't worry. Let's just retreat for the moment and we--" I cut him off. "No...we must...find Solaris..." I felt something rushing into my head now. "What's...happening to me?" "Moondancer!" I didn't hear him as I began seeing pictures of the lavender unicorn and her friends. "All of these...images...flowing through my head." "We must leave!" Suddenly, I began seeing something else, something that feels like it hasn't occurred yet. "Wait...there's something...I think it's..." I saw magenta lights swirl around the lavender unicorn with a white light coming from her center. With this much energy, I saw the lights cover her and I saw something develop on her sides, but I blacked out, unable to handle the pain and memories anymore. I felt Discord pick me up and take me away from the Everfree Forest, costing me my chance to find Solaris. *** "Harmony in Equestria is officially dead. Discord rules, Celestia drools." I heard this mocking voice belonging to Discord and I promptly sat up, feeling angry. "DISCORD!" I found myself in Twilight Town with Discord standing over me. "You alright?" "What happened?" "You collapsed just as we entered the castle ruins, remember?" "I remember going in, and that's pretty much it." I then stood back up. "Whoa, you should rest up a bit." I felt rested enough, because we still need to find the imposter, and more importantly, Solaris. "I'm okay. We need to return to the Everfree Forest." "I'm not sure about that." Suddenly, he felt the skid of hoofsteps behind him. "Who's there?" We turned to see two pony-like figures with their hoods up. One of them had white wings, while the other had dark blue wings. I decided to take a guess on the one with white wings. "Solaris?" I then saw the figure open a Corridor of Darkness and walk through it. "Solaris, wait!" I ran for her, but the figure with dark blue wings stood in front of her, allowing her to disappear. I was anxious to figure out the identity of the white-winged figure. "Get out of the way!" The figure was unresponsive as she ran away from me. "Get back here!" I ran after her, hoping that she can tell me where the other figure ran off to. "Wait for me!" I heard Discord teleport behind me so he can catch up with me. Before you know it, we went into the underground passage in Twilight Town where we were chasing the figure here and there, trying to catch her. Ultimately, we saw a Corridor of Darkness disappear, meaning the figure was gone. "I thought the imposter was found in the Everfree Forest. What the hell's she doing here?" I didn't care about that because I lost the only closest link to Solaris. "Solaris..." "I'm not sure that was her." "I meant the other one. The one that escaped before the other one." I hoped he knew what I was talking about, but my other comment caused me to become saddened. "But I don't understand. Why would she run from me? From us?" *** Solaris heard what Moondancer and Discord were talking about just as Princess Luna approached her and removed her hood. "You want to return to them?" she asked. Solaris began to ponder as she took one last look at her friends before taking off with her. *** We sat on the clock tower, eating our ice cream, watching the sunset, and pondering over the current situation. "Why did she do such a thing like that?" I asked. "Look, what matters is she's alright," assured Discord. "She'll return when she wants to." "Will they turn her into a Dusk?" "Not really." "Then who's the mare she was with? Why was she with her?" Those questions were left unanswered as we continued to eat our ice cream in silence. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 298-Damages //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 298-Damages Day 298-Damages As I was walking down the hallway, I saw Queen Chrysalis with Discord, and I know it mustn't be good. "Wait, WHAT!?" asked Discord. Based off of his emphasis, he must be surprised. "You know something must be done, now that Solaris encountered the mare in the black coat," said the Queen. When she saw me approaching, she just left, leaving me with Discord. "Discord, what's going on?" I asked. He looked to his side, giving a concerned look on his face before leaving me as well. I don't know what's going on, so I followed him to the Grey Area, where Chrysalis was expecting us again. "Solaris has betrayed us," said the Queen. "What!?" I was confused over how my own best friend would betray me, or rather, our Organization. "You two witnessed that thing accompanying the impostor. What else?" My horn briefly flashed when she said "that thing," but there must be more to this situation. "That's not proof enough! There must be a reason why she was with her." I turned to Discord in the hopes that he'll come up with another logical reason to back me up, but he lowered his head, still with a look of concern written on his face. "Maybe we know, but maybe you don't want to accept it." "She must have been forced to." That was a lame opinion. "Puh-lease! I don't have time to hear some sympathetic remarks from you." It sounds like she's wrapping up the argument, but I refuse to give up. "They aren't sympathetic! Why don't you understand my doubts?" Discord came to my side and shook his head, meaning I should give up reasoning with her. Oh well, I was running out of inspiring comments to throw at her. "The impostor has reappeared in Twilight Town. You are to find and destroy her--like I asked you to do yesterday." I accepted my mission with doubts still in my mind. "Discord, you are to retrieve Solaris. Hopefully, she won't be much trouble for you to handle. But if she is, you can use an effective way to stop her." My heart jumped a beat when she said that. I didn't want my best friend to harm another. I thought about talking to her about it, but because of my previous performance, I just backed out as she walked away. "This is quite the doozy, eh?" asked Discord. "You're not going to follow what she said, are you?" I asked, wanting to make sure Solaris is returned safe and sound. "No worries. I'll think of something when I find her. Just worry about the impostor, because it looks as though she won't go down without a fight." "Alright." *** I walked around Twilight Town, hunting for the impostor, while thinking about what I know was Solaris yesterday, and who the other mare was with her. I just don't understand why she didn't get away from her. Suddenly, I saw a figure in a black coat, which I believe is the impostor. I chased her all over the town square, until finally finding her in an empty lot. I saw her remove her hood to reveal herself as Solaris, and I was lucky not to kill her. "Where were you?" I asked her. "Discord and I were looking all over trying to find you." "You were?" she asked, trying to sound surprised, but depressed instead. "Sorry about that." "Let's just RTC. If you return voluntarily, Queen Chrysalis will drop this matter. She must." She didn't cheer up when I told her how I thought the Queen would handle it. "Look, I don't care what she said about you. I'll be with you the entire time. Me and Discord will ensure that--" I was cut off when I reached out for her and both of her right legs skidded back, as if she's trying to avoid me. "I can't right now." I came all this way of finding her, so why is she saying that she doesn't want to go home. "Why? It'll be all right, I swear." She then started to walk away, but I was desperate. "Don't go!" I used my magic to get a hold of her tail, but when she summoned her Keyblade, my magical grip faded away. She then held its tip straight at my face, like the Keyblade would fire a magical spell at me. It moved away from me when it deflected another Keyblade that stuck to the ground. I recognized the features of this particular type of Keyblade and turned to see Discord approach us. "Nice to see you again, Solaris," he casually said. I know he was supposed to find Solaris, but how could the search lead him to our current position. However, before I could ask him, Solaris ran at him, her Keyblade trailing behind. Discord teleported his Keyblade to him and both engaged each other in a heart-breaking Keyblade Duel, with me only watching, trying to find a place to tell them to stop it. When both were a great distance apart, Solaris began to charge at him, when I decided that this must stop now. "STOP IT!" My shout was enough to distract Solaris with a passing glance to me when I saw Discord teleport behind her and slap her on her neck, knocking her out and her Keyblade disappearing. Solaris was now being held by Discord and carried on her shoulder. I ran for her, but Discord gave me a sad glance and snapped his fingers, causing a Corridor of Darkness to swallow them up and fade away. I was worried about Solaris and angry with Discord, so I used my own Corridor to return to the Castle to find Discord in the Grey Area. "Discord!" He heard me and turned around to face me. "Hey, Moondancer," said Discord, sounding like everything is alright when I know it's not. "Where's Solaris?" "She's alright, don't worry about it." That's not a place, it's a condition, and even though I know she's okay, I still wasn't finished with him. "Why'd you do that?" "I've done nothing." Some fancy clothing appeared on him with a flash of light. "Why, I'm not as harmful as you think." That act didn't fool me. "There was no reason to use force." "Wasn't there?" "Of course there wasn't! We're supposed to be friends. You know that." His calm expression fell as his fancy clothing teleported away. "It's not about friendship." I was about to say something else, but how was I supposed to compete with that statement? He should know that friendship is being civil to one another, not with violence. "Well, I gotta go." He then walked off, leaving me with unanswered questions and comments. I don't know if I should continue my friendship with Discord or I shouldn't. Either way, I hope he never harms Solaris, or to a lesser extent, me ever again. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 299-Twilight Sparkle //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 299-Twilight Sparkle Day 299-Twilight Sparkle "You sure everything will be better off like this?" Discord was talking with Queen Chrysalis about how things have turned out yesterday. "I never thought you'd still be concerned," said the Queen. "If you could save either one... why choose that Replica?" Discord looked down with concern over this troubling question. "Or how about this? Which friendship would you lose: the fake one you've got going right now, or the one you already lost in Equestria?" Of course, this question concerned him greatly, due to the fact that his current friendship is to help him cope with losing his friendship with the ponies of Ponyville, especially Fluttershy. "Things are back to the way they used to be. Yes, things are better off like this. Vanitas is tired of all the 'repairs' we've done. Something must be done. There's too much we can't lose right now... Ash." With that, he started to become much more concerned about his origins. He hadn't been called "Ash" ever since his current name was given. With those thoughts in mind, he walked away from the Queen. *** I spent all morning trying to ask everypony what happened to Solaris, to no avail. I realized nopony knows where she is, unless Vanitas did. So I used a Corridor of Darkness to travel to my throne in the Round Room where, sure enough, Vanitas was there, on his higher-most throne. "There's something I must ask you," I began. "And that is?" he asked. "What happened to Solaris? Don't you know?" "No worries. Solaris is an important member to our Number, but she needs to rest up." That was my last source to know that she's alright and recovering, so I just thought about everything that had led up to this, when I saw my memory of talking with Vanitas on the Dark Margin, and his final words when left me caused me to say them out loud. "...Twilight Sparkle. Who is Twilight Sparkle?" "She's the reason." "What do you mean?" "She's why you and Solaris exist at all. Like she is the reason I even put Solaris in the Organization. And if you want her to stay in that condition, I must ask that you take your mind off of that matter. I'll make sure Solaris returns to work tomorrow. Today, you focus on your own." I figured that's all I can get about Solaris and this Twilight Sparkle, so I gave a simple head nod and used a Corridor of Darkness back to the hallway, where I found Discord. I was still upset about how he had harmed Solaris, so I walked past him, not even giving him a passing glance. *** Vanitas was still in Where Nothing Gathers when Queen Chrysalis appeared before him. "Are you sure we took the necessary measures with Solaris and Moondancer?" she asked. "Actually, Solaris has been far from the original design. But this behavior is proving to have an amazing side effect." "Which is?" "We needed the Key. Solaris' exposure to Moondancer has proven a transfer of power and magic, just as we had planned. If things had stopped from there, Solaris wouldn't have had much success. But, through Moondancer, Twilight Sparkle herself began to shape 'it' into 'her,' giving Solaris an identity. I was almost about to stop this project when I heard of its original failure... but then I realized: Solaris is keeping Twilight's memories trapped by claiming them as her own. Keeping her close to Moondancer at all times will keep Twilight from completing the spell and fulfilling her destiny." "Interesting. And what about Princess Luna?" "That traitor to the Darkness? See that she stays away from Moondancer. She'll only continue to be a threat if she's always around Solaris." "Then things are back to normal." *** Princess Luna was standing atop of the Memory's Skyscraper, wondering how things have turned out as she turned to the Castle That Never Was. *** Solaris was lying in her bed as she was thinking about recent events. "What should I do, Luna?" she solemnly asked herself as she looked out the window to look at Kingdom Hearts, which is getting progressively bigger due to the hearts having been collected. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 325-Decline //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 325-Decline Day 325-Decline Ever since Solaris' return three weeks back, things haven't been the same. My friends don't even come to the clock tower anymore. I don't even bring an ice cream to nibble on anymore. I always hope we'll get over what happened between us, but we never do. Also, ever since Solaris came back, I dream every night now, and most of these are traumatic ones, like this morning, I had a dream of the lavender unicorn accusing a pink alicorn with a crystal heart for a cutie mark, leaving her friends, a white stallion, and the white alicorn greatly disappointed in her actions and leaving her behind in a room, leaving her with great sadness which I felt, because when I woke up, tears were streaming down my eyes, which I wiped off with my sleeve. I tried to shake this out of my mind, worried about what others would think of me if they saw me crying. *** My mission in Jasper, Nevada was to find a giant Heartless and destroy it with the help of Solaris. I was glad that we can finally work together again, but there was depression in my mind, because after we arrived in Jasper, I started thinking about that intense argument the lavender unicorn had with the white stallion in my dream when Solaris started looking at me with concern. "Are you alright?" she asked. I started looking for an answer to help her get off of my problems and put on the best smile I could pull. "Yes, I'm fine." My voice gave me away though. "Are you sure? You sound sad..." "You just worry too much. Let's get going." "Okay..." Her voice was still unsure, but she turned her back, allowing me to return to my feelings about the lavender unicorn. After walking around, we entered a volcano, which on the inside is much more metallic, and when we reach the center, we saw nothing but two spires on top and bottom. "Dead end." Solaris then approached the spires. "I remember this..." I was surprised as to how she would remember this, considering how she never traveled this far in Jasper. "It's a Keyhole. Can you feel it?" *** Twilight shot out a beam from the tip of her Keyblade to the Keyhole, creating a swirl of light and a locking sound, indicating that it was sealed. *** Solaris was sitting down, with one hoof on her head. It was now my turn to ensure that she's alright. "Are you okay?" I asked her. "I think so..." she said, but when she looked at me, her voice trailed off. "You look a lot like her." I didn't know what she was talking about, but we were cut short by the arrival of our target, the Spiked Crawler, and we took battle with it. However, during the battle, I suddenly became weak and tired, while Solaris destroyed it in one slash of her Keyblade. She herself was wondering how she was able to do that just now, but then she rushed to my side. "Are you alright?" It felt weird that our roles are constantly changing each time we don't feel right, but of course, I need to give her assurance. "Yeah, it's just...using the Keyblade recently...I don't know what's going on--I just get tired in an instant." "Really?" I suddenly realized something. "Actually, don't worry about it. I think I'm overworking too much." "You certain about it?" "Of course. Let's just RTC." Suddenly, we felt the ground shake and rushed outside to see a beam hitting the ground and disappearing. We didn't know what happened there, but we've had enough worry for today. Now is a time for happiness. *** Both of us were enjoying ice cream on the clock tower once more watching the glorious sunset. "You're seriously alright?" asked Solaris. Her nagging is really starting to get annoying. "Okay, you're really creeping me out right now." "Why?" "Well, when did you start worrying over me?" "S-sorry." "It's alright. It's just weird, that's all. Because, normally I worry over you, but I never thought I'd be the other way around." "You must understand...I worry about you too, you know." "Either way, I'm glad you're back, Solaris. I just wish Discord wasn't hard on you." I was still upset about what happened between them. "Well, he's not showing today." "You want him to be here?" I was surprised she would want such a thing. Of course, I'd like all three of us to be together once more, but I'm not sure about Discord right now. "Did you guys have an arguement?" "No...It's just...I can't believe he'd actually harm you." "You think he's a jerk now?" I don't think of him as a jerk, but I still had my doubts. "Look Moondancer, I wouldn't be with you again if Discord didn't attack me. He's you're best friend, you know." She was right about what Discord did to bring her back. "So are you." "But, it's not the same without all three of us..." *** Discord was walking through the Castle That Never Was when he stopped by a familiar voice. "Discord!" He turned around to see Solaris running up to him, apparently in a panic. "What is it?" he asked. "Nothing...I-it's just...something's up with Moondancer. I thought you would know what's going on. She says the Keyblade tires her whenever she uses it. And somehow, I fight and use the same magic as her..." She trailed off as she tried to piece together what's going on, as Discord finally turned to face her. "You know her better than me." "What do you mean?" "Do you really know what's doing this to her?" "I don't know." "Wait, what? Did they not construct you with common sense?" She gasped in shock when she heard this. "C'mon, don't be like that. Don't you know you're a Replica? You're a puppet whose purpose was to copy Moondancer's powers. And if she's getting weaker, and you're getting stronger...that means you're taking in more than you should." Solaris is devastated that she's a Replica, but she also cares for Moondancer and want to do something for her now that she's weakening thanks to her. "What do I do? "I can't do that. You're not a puppet to me. You're my best friend. Mine and Moondancer's. Got it memorized?" "Yeah..." That raised her spirits a little, but something else was on her mind. "Can I ask you something else?" "What's that?" "I saw a mare today who looks a lot like Moondancer. Is she who I think she is?" //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 352-Decision //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 352-Decision Day 352-Decision In Where Nothing Gathers, Vanitas, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra have gathered. "Twilight Sparkle is having a powerful effect on her," said the King. "Yes," said Vanitas. "It wasn't meant to gain a mind of its own--nor become the pony that we see. But in the end, the puppet is the more worthy vessel in our plan. At last, the time has come." He turned to the Queen. "My Queen, is the device ready?" She nodded her head in response. "It will be ready in a couple of days." "Perfect." "What should we do with Moondancer?" "Both of them are connected to Twilight, but there can be only one. Let Solaris take what's left of Moondancer...or let her destroy her first and get it back. I don't care. Either way, the power of the Element of Magic will be ours." *** Solaris was lying in her bed, crying into her pillow, contemplating recent events. "I'm going to ruin everything...what should I do? I mean, Luna would know..." *** Solaris awakened with her being propped up by a set of hooves and turning to see the dark blue alicorn holding her. She instantly recognized who she is, but wanted to make sure. "Aren't you..." She trailed off as she was figuring out her name. "Princess Luna." she said. "Twilight Sparkle's friend." "Twilight Sparkle?" Solaris immediately sat up at the mention of the name. "You know Twilight?" "Indeed." The Princess of the Night got up and helped Solaris up from the ground. "Thanks. You rescued me, but I don't know why...you did." She remembered how Luna defeated her when she was tasked in her elimination. "It is the duty of a princess to help somepony in need." She began to walk off until Solaris stopped her. "Luna, wait...tell me more--about Twilight and those ponies she's always with." "You mean my sister, Celestia, and her friends." "Yeah...that's it. Celestia's the one that looks much like me." "To Twilight, they're ponies very important to her." "Well, it's just...I keep having dreams about them. But I'm nothing but a puppet--something that somepony created. So why would I have...her memories?" She then looked out at Ponyville, which is covered with an array of percipitation. "Do you know what Twilight and her friends are up to now?" "That secret stays with me and my sister." "Why is that? "Solaris...your memories...they actually belong to Twilight." "You mean...I'm a part of her?" "When her memories got scattered when she sacrificed herself to save my sister, most of them returned to her when she was revived, some of them found their way into your friend, her Nopony, and part of them...found their way into you. Now, Twilight has cast a spell that has switched the cutie marks and destinies of her friends and is working to restore her friends and complete the spell so she can fulfill her true destiny. Except..." "She can't, because part of it's inside me. Which means...she won't fix her friends, finish the spell, and reach her destiny." "Yes. You're right. But, if you come with me to my sister right now, we can help you give the memories inside you back to Twilight." "So, do you hate my other friend Discord for nearly taking your sister away from you?" "...No. I think...I was sad then." "Sorry, but...I can't go with you. My friends--they need me and I need them more." Luna placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Actually...you should take time to think this through. Figure out who needs you the most and where you truly belong." "How do I decide where I really belong? I don't know if I can promise you that I'll come up with an answer soon." "Well, the answer you come up with may not be right for you. It must be one that works for everypony--you and your friends and everypony else." She then spread her wings and flew off for Canterlot with Solaris looking on. "I'll try. Thank you, Princess Luna." *** Solaris wiped her eyes and fetched out an apple she got during her time in Equestria, her magic keeping it fresh. "I have to make the best of the time she gave me." She then looked out the window for Kingdom Hearts, which is almost at its full strength. *** I entered the Grey Area and saw Solaris looking depressed and went over to her to give her the best smile I could give her. "Hey, Solaris, good morning." "Morning," she simply said. I don't know if this is about me getting weaker, but I must tell her I'm okay and always will be. "Listen--" I was cut off by her. "Look, I gotta go." I don't know why she's so depressed but my thoughts were cut off by Queen Chrysalis. "Moondancer, how are you this morning?" she asked. I didn't know why she would want to know about how I am, but I must respond to my commanding officer. "Same as ever." "I have a very important mission for you and you alone. A Heartless has surfaced in the forest outside of Jasper, Nevada and I was hoping if you'd destroy it for us." I was wondering why my mission is a solo one, but I have a duty for the Organization and I'm hoping my target is an easy one, because over the past three weeks, I've been getting weaker with each passing day and my dreams are the sad ones involving the lavender unicorn. "Alright then. I'll do it!" Discord then approached us, and I suddenly became uneasy of him, possibly due to what happened over a month ago. "Wait a minute!" he said. "Are you sure about this, Moondancer?" I became confused by what he meant, as well as why he looks concerned. "Why not?" "Because, you're--" He was cut off by the Queen. "Aren't you going on your mission as well, Discord?" she asked him, giving him a look of assurance. "Yeah, I gotta get going, too. See you soon!" Hopefully, I will mean it, because I've got to catch up with Discord. *** After I arrived in the Jasper forest, I started looking around for the Heartless target, but nothing really stood out and I began wondering if my mission will take me all day. Suddenly, my target, a Pureblood known as an Orcus appeared before me. I summoned my Keyblade and began my onslaught. During my fight, I started to grow tired, my muscles aching and my magic faltering. I attempted to deliver the coup de grâce before it attempted to weaken me further, but I was stopped by two sets of Keyblades belonging to Discord. "STOP, both of you!" he said while snapping his fingers to cause a flash in my eyes allowing me to no longer see the Orcus, but Solaris in its place. "Solaris!?" I asked in surprise. "Moondancer?" she also asked. "Why are you here? That Heartless I was fighting--that was you?" I paused when I realized that what I saw was the same thing, as well. "This mission was a setup from the start," Discord explained. "It was all rigged by the Organization so both of you would battle each other." Both me and Solaris were shocked that the Organization would make us battle each other, but because Discord was able to stop us before we could kill each other, I realized he really is a true friend to me, to us. *** After we sorted out why we were blindly battling each other, we went back to the clock tower in Twilight Town, the first time we were actually together with happiness. "Brain freeze," Solaris said, placing a hoof up to her head as a way to take away the cold sting. "You know, it's been quite some time since we've been together like this," I noted. "Well, we had our conflicts to deal with," said Discord. After taking another bite out of his ice cream, his face suddenly lit up. "Oh, I just realized--were you checking your ice cream sticks?" "Why?" asked Solaris. "Because when you're done with the bar, check the stick. It may say WINNER." What he just said suddenly made me remember the time when I first found that stick, but I kept quiet about it, because I had another question in mind. "So, if you found a WINNER stick, what do you win?" I asked. "Don't know, really," Discord admitted. "But it must be something awesome, it you're a WINNER!" Discord said the "WINNER" part, while using his magic to make a small soapbox and a ringleader suit appear before him and announcing the word through a bullhorn, causing both me and Solaris laugh the loudest we ever did before. After his act was done, we turned to the sunset. "The sun looks amazing today," said Solaris. She wasn't kidding; The sun looked more lovely than it ever had before. "I know we saw a lot of these sunsets, but today's is the best of them all. I just wish things were like this forever." "What if we just run away?" I asked. My question must've been serious, because Solaris and Discord turned to me with shock and surprise. "I mean, the three of us could always be together, no matter what." "But we have nowhere else to go." "Sorry, I was only thinking out loud." I was right; My outburst must've stemmed off of previous dilemmas. "Don't worry, Moondancer," Discord assured. "If things do change for us, we'll never be apart--" He was cut off by Solaris. "So long as we remember each other," she finished. "No worries, Discord. We have your advice memorized. I'll have these moments remembered. Forever, hopefully." "Me too. Forever..." I said. All of us are right. After we complete our mission for the Organization, no matter what'll happen, or where we'll go, wherever our path takes us, we'll always remember each other. Forever. *** "Twilight..." Caelum was standing alone in the Hall of Harmony, in front of a stained glass image of Twilight and her friends wielding the Elements of Harmony. Princess Celestia then approached her, with her sister by her side. "It looks as though she's restoring her friends," said the Princess of the Day. "Yes," said Caelum. "Her time has almost come." Celestia turned to her sister. "Luna...you know what must be done." "Of course," said the Moon Princess. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 353-Revalation //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 353-Revalation Day 353-Revalation Discord was walking to the Grey Area until he was stopped by Queen Chrysalis. "You interfered again," she said. "Sorry, what was that?" Discord asked, apparently not caring. "We don't need both of them. We only need one. And not caring will fix that." Discord turned to his side as he thought about what he just talked about with his friends yesterday. As the Queen prepared to left, she turned to Discord. "Think about it." *** As I entered the Grey Area, I saw something I'd never expect in my entire life. "Now this is interesting," said Discord. "Me, King Sombra, and Solaris?" "Are you worried that I'll boss you around?" asked the King. "Uh, no! It's just that we don't usually have a mission with the former monarch of the Crystal Empire. Right, Solaris?" Solaris nodded in response, leaving Sombra to growl in anger. "So, you three are paired for the day?" I asked. "You have a mission of your own, Moondancer," Queen Chrysalis told me. "Is it alright if I trade with King Sombra?" "You are such a six-year old. You want Discord to take you everywhere?" I'm starting to lose my patience with the Queen's attitude, but I just backed out of that offer when she said that. The King summoned a Corridor of Darkness that he, Discord and Solaris went through. I'm sure they'll be alright, because I'm sure their target is an easy one. *** King Sombra was engaged in a Keyblade Duel between Solaris, with Discord watching the entire thing. "Well, well," said the King. "Never thought I'd see you again." "Solaris, stop this now!" shouted Discord. "Of all the mares in Equestria... why must it be you?" Through his eyes, he saw Solaris as Twilight Sparkle with a crystalline coat. "Why must you try to blind my eyes with your pretty coat?" With a step of her hoof, Solaris teleported out of his sight. When Sombra turned around, to find her directly next to her, she struck him down with her Keyblade. Discord stood there shocked and disappointed in Solaris as she summoned a Corridor of Darkness. "Sorry about this, Discord," she said. "Why did you do that?" asked Discord. "I have to go now. Because if I don't--just look." She put her hood down and Discord was taken aback by what he saw until she put it back on. "Please, Discord. You have to look after Moondancer until it's time." "But how will you..." Discord couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. "Please!" Discord had no choice but to nod. "Thank you. And if you see Twilight Sparkle, tell her that she's a very special pony." She then fled through the Corridor, leaving Discord with an unconscious King Sombra and thoughts about Twilight Sparkle. *** When I returned from my mission, I saw Queen Chrysalis with Discord and King Sombra, but Solaris isn't with them and I'm wondering why she's not here so we can go for ice cream. "Tell me what happened, Discord," the Queen demanded. "I didn't do anything," said Discord. "The King has to see about that purple mist coming from his eyes. Either way, she wasn't taking no as an answer." "He's got a point there," said Sombra. "I wasn't able to blame him when I didn't stop her, too." I don't know what's going on, so I approached them, with Chrysalis looking at me with a disappointed look on her face, even though I didn't do nothing wrong. "And now we have the one who's not the worthy vessel..." she said as she stormed off. Now I'm getting confused and concerned. "What just happened there?" I asked. "And where's Solaris?" "She left us," said King Sombra. "Ol' Goatface here wasn't able to cuff her down." I ignored the nickname he gave to Discord and got worried. Did Solaris really leave us again, and Discord wasn't able to stop her? "Is he kidding, Discord?" He didn't answer as he stood there with a look of concern. "Yeah right. He just relaxed on his cloud hammock he created with a snap of his fingers while Solaris just trotted away. See you tomorrow." The King walked away, leaving both of us alone. I wanted to know why my own best friend would let Solaris go. "What happened out there?" I asked him. "It's nothing, alright?" said Discord. That was not a good answer. "Solaris disappeared! Why is that nothing?" "It's like the King said. I wasn't able to stop her from taking off." "Don't give me that crap! Why not?" I wanted a real reason. "Moondancer...Solaris is only a reflection of yourself." "What?" Why would he say such a thing? "The Organization created her to replicate your powers. She's a puppet." I completely lost it there. First, Queen Chrysalis and now Discord...they're referring to her as a thing and not a pony. "Have you taken the Queen's side now? She's no puppet, she's a pony." "She's smoke and mirrors, Moondancer." I'm starting to get sick and tired of this as my horn began to glow in anger. "Because when I looked through the mirror...what I saw wasn't you." This was the last straw as a beam of energy shot out of my horn and hit Discord on his shoulder. "What the hell are you talking about!? Solaris is Solaris, and you can't say she's me." "I didn't say that." He rubbed his shoulder from my blast. "It was a matter of time before somepony had to shatter that mirror." "You mean destroy her?" If I hear him say yes about this, I'm not going to take it anymore, but he didn't answer as he looked beside himself. "Answer me!" "Moondancer, if somepony doesn't, you..." He didn't want to finish his sentence as a tear came from his eye, but I didn't want this emotional display. Luckily, he started up again. "You won't be yourself anymore." "I'll always be myself! Your best friend--just like Solaris!" "Moondancer...your're not seeing the whole situation. None of it." He's right, because I lost a friend and now, I lost two. "Screw this!" I galloped back to my room with Discord calling out for me, but why should I care? I can't trust him with Solaris, and I should have proved a point to Chrysalis this morning, that way she won't leave us. But it's too late now. Solaris is gone, and Discord lost my trust in me. *** As Solaris arrived, she found Princess Luna waiting for her. "Luna!" she said in joy. "I assume you found the right answer?" asked the Princess of the Night. "I did. I'm about to lose everything I know and love. I can't let that happen. What should I do?" "Go to Canterlot. There, you'll find my sister, Princess Celestia and a mare known as Caelum." "I know who Celestia is, but who is Caelum?" "You'll know when you get there. I hope you won't have trouble finding Canterlot." "Okay. Thanks, Luna. And goodbye..." She then returned to the Corridor of Darkness, ready to meet Princess Celestia and Caelum. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 354-Doubt //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 354-Doubt Day 354-Doubt We were summoned to the Round Room for an important meeting, and everyone was in attendance, except for Solaris, whom Discord let go yesterday. We all turned our attention to Vanitas. "Solairs has disappeared again," he announced. This news was, of course, nothing new, considering that Discord and King Sombra told me just yesterday. "Like, don't you even know where she ran off to?" asked Diamond Tiara. "'It,' not 'she.' Solaris is only a Replica...a puppet." My horn glowed as he said puppet, but I kept my emotions bottled, considering the dire consequences I'd be given if I were to attack our leader. "A puppet?" asked Trixie. "You mean somepony made her?" "The Replica Program used to be one of the projects of the original incarnation of the Organization," said King Sombra. "What's the Replica Program?" asked Prince Blueblood. "The goal was to replicate the memories of the Element of Magic," Vanitas explained. "And through them, her powers--thus making them our own. It was originally overseen by our original Number IV, Vexen. However, the previous efforts were complicated by his tragic demise. And our current Repica--the one we call Solaris--came to have an identity of her own." "That caught us off guard," the Queen continued. "If that happened before, no one at the original second base, Castle Oblivion, ever reported this." "Luckily, the puppet has no way to leave our plans now, even if she's able to pull her own strings. However, she knows too much. We must shorten the leash...and maybe tighten it." I suddenly grew worried by what he meant by that, and what he said was true, and was wrong to not believe Discord, especially now that Vanitas has turned to face him. "Discord, seeing as to how she escaped on your watch, you shall be the one to find her and bring her back. I'm cool with looking at any damages possible. Just make sure she's functioning upon return. Dismissed." With that, he used a Corridor of Darkness to teleport out of the Round Room. "Oh, this is better than those blank flanks at Ponyville," said Diamond Tiara, before she left as well. "I was talking to a puppet all this time?" asked the Prince. "Rather uncouth of me." He left. "No way we'll scrap the project now," said the King, before he left. "A puppet would never compete with the authenticity of the Great and Powerful Trixie," she said when she left. All that were left now were me, Discord, and Chrysalis. "Discord," she said. "The orders are absolute." With that, Discord took his leave, leaving me to ponder over what Vanitas just said about Solaris is true. Is she really a puppet and not a true member of the Organization? As I thought about this, the Queen turned to me. "Why are you still here, Moondancer? You have an important mission to do today." "Solaris is one of us," I finally said, unable to keep my feelings in anymore. I hoped my feelings of sympathy would finally get Chrysalis to get on my side, but she laughed it off. "You honestly believe that a puppet could be one of us? Count the thrones, all of them." I did, and all I counted all thirteen with no fourteenth throne for Solaris. "No member has been ranked Number XIV. Never has, and never will." Her statement and her departure made me realize that there is no safe haven here anymore. When I teleported to the Grey Area, Discord was about to step through a Corridor of Darkness when I stopped him. "Discord, wait!" I said. "I'm afraid Solaris isn't safe anymore. But, you're not gonna do what Vanitas said, are you?" "I've gotta," Discord admitted. "Or I'm not safe either." "Can you at not harm her?" "That's her decision to make. Moondancer...Solaris is dangerous." Here we go again. "Why is she dangerous? "Have you regained your strength?" "Not really..." I still have muscle aches and I get tired after I'm done with missions, but another thought crossed my mind. "How long have you known about Solaris?" He didn't respond as he turned his back on me, causing me to think the worst about him. "You've known all this time but didn't tell me?" He didn't answer that as well as he left for his search for Solaris. Why won't he tell me the truth if he's my best friend? *** My mission was to place a special device within the center of the volcano in Jasper, Nevada. I traveled through the dark metal hallways and made to the center room containing the two metal spires and put the device between them, the device opening and activating on it's own. As soon as I did, a pack of Heartless appeared and began to go after the device, but I was able to use my Keyblade to destroy them. After I did, thoughts started to come to my mind. Why was I getting all worried over a device I don't even know what the Organization uses it for? But everything's a mystery to me. They even didn't tell me the truth about Solaris from the start. But the biggest mystery is me--the foal who continues to do what she's told. As I was leaving, I saw a huge metallic tower that reached as far as the atmosphere of this world and laser blasts attack the Autobot base, and I teleported inside to see what was going on inside. "Ratchet, prepare to bridge everyone out of here," Optimus Prime told Ratchet. "We're abandoning the base?" he asked in shock. "The base is lost. Wheeljack and Agent Fowler can only buy us time to escape. Bumblebee, Rafael, you will depart first." "You're splitting us up?" asked Raf. "Shouldn't we stick together?" asked Jack. "All for one and one for all?" asked Miko. "We must disperse to avoid capture," said Optimus. "Only then will we reunite and launch a counterattack. Survival is our only option now." As I saw a tragic departure of Autobots and their human allies through the Ground Bridge, Ratchet and Optimus were the only ones to leave. "What will you do?" asked Ratchet. "I will ensure the Decepticons do not follow." "I...never imagined it would end like this." With these words, he left through the Ground Bridge. "Neither did I, old friend." As the Autobot leader turned to the controls for the Ground Bridge, I teleported out to a safe distance where I saw a laser weapon extend from a Decepticon ship and when enough energy was built, it fired upon the base, creating an explosion which when it subsided, reduced the base to rocks and twisted metal. This was the worst sight I've ever seen in my entire life, because when I was about to RTC to a peaceful home, that's when I started to think again. Why was I even returning to the Castle? There's actually nothing good there. I mean, why should I continue working for them if they don't tell me what's going on? Wait, what am I even thinking about right now? It's not about them or Solaris. It's about me, whoever I am. It's like I'm the only pony who doesn't know. Don't I have anything at all? Any place I truly belong? Any friends...I still have? Solaris is gone again, and Discord wasn't able to stop her from leaving, losing my trust in me. All of this was too much for me as I began to cry. To ensure nopony looks at me, I put my hood over my head as I returned to the castle, concerned over the biggest mystery: Who am I? *** Megatron and Starscream flew down to the remains of the Autobot base to inspect what's left of it. "This is the place, all right," said Starscream. "This was the place," Megatron noted. "Yes. United we stand, divided they fall." *** As Princess Celestia enter her private quarters, she saw a hooded mare inside. As she removed her hood, she never expect to see her again. What she saw was Nightmare Moon, the corrupted form of her sister, Princess Luna. She got into a defensive stance and was about to attack her until Nightmare Moon used her magic to create dark swirls all over her body reducing her height, restored the color of her coat to a darker shade of blue, and her armor fading away. At this, the Princess of the Day couldn't help but hug her sister in relief. "Oh, sister!" said Celestia. "Why were you like that?" "I was training to control my Nightmare Moon form--while we wait for Twilight Sparkle to complete the spell," Luna explained. "I'm sorry, but don't scare me like that again. You nearly made me attack you, like before." She didn't have to elaborate what she did to Luna a thousand years ago. "Don't worry about it. Ever since the Elements of Harmony banished the darkness from my heart, I can turn into Nightmare Moon and still keep the light within my heart." "That's good, but you said Twilight isn't finished with the spell...is there more?" "Yes, there's a reason we haven't seen Vanitas since our final battle against him--and it's not because we've weakened his strength. What he did before wasn't just to launch another invasion of Heartless upon Equestria, they did it so another pony with Twilight's memories could be extracted for his own personal gain." "But that means..." "That's right. He wants Twilight's memories...which means Caelum isn't the only one observing Twilight's progress. And so long as he has Twilight's most precious memories--the ones of her friends--I'm afraid she may never complete the spell." "Luna, there must be some way I can help out. I can just go and find this pony." "I'm already on it, Celestia. But maybe you can do something for me? "What is it, sister?" "I'm about to face one of Vanitas' Organization members soon. I may not make it through this battle. But if I do, it may be due to fact that I saved myself with the very form Xehanort gave me all those years ago. This means you'll be the only one who shall be there for Twilight Sparkle--the only one who can help her when she reaches her destiny." With this horrifying knowledge, Celestia held her sister tighter. "Luna, don't say such things." "Sister, promise me this, at least until I find the pony. You must be there for your most faithful student." After pondering this heartbreaking decision, she decided she must be there for the unicorn when she reaches her true destiny. "I promise, Luna." //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 355-Farewell, My Friend //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 355-Farewell, My Friend Day 355-Farewell, My Friend I awoke this morning feeling saddened and confused, because after what happened yesterday, I realized that now I need to know more about what I already know. Solaris was part of the Replica Program, having been created to copy my abilities...and when she left us, Discord let her go, almost like he wanted her to leave. But if he knew, why didn't he tell me before the time came? Is it because I'm the same pony? I know me and Solaris are special Noponies, but what if I'm a Replica as well? But I remember Vanitas telling me that Twilight Sparkle was who connects us. But who is Twilight Sparkle? And who am I to her? I don't know, but maybe Discord knows. I think he has a whole lot of secrets this entire time. Yet, he's not capable enough to tell me the truth about myself...but I have no other option. I went to the Grey Area to find Discord, as I figured he would be. I figured that if he didn't have the answers, then I'll find them somewhere else. I approached Discord, ready to learn the truth, if he has it. "Discord," I said. "Hey, Moondancer," said Discord, acting like there's nothing wrong. He should know that I want answers. We stood silent for a minute or two until I broke the silence. "You find Solaris yet?" "Not yet, but I'm getting close, at least." "I know, but...have you kept the truth about her from me all this time?" "Not all this time." "When did you know?" "I think...when it became obvious." I think that's the only best out of what I want. "You didn't memorize it, then?" I think it's time. "Discord...Who am I, really? Because I'm special, like Solaris. I know that. But the Organization didn't want me around anymore." "Yeah...they did do that." "Well, is it because Solaris copied my powers and they don't want me anymore? And do you feel the same way?" That was a heavy thought about him. "That's not true. You'll always be my best friend, no matter what." Why would he say that after all what had happened over the past two days? With that, my anger began to bubble up. "Best friends are supposed to be true with each other! Who am I, Discord? Vanitas said Solaris and I are connected to Twilight Sparkle. Who is that?" He didn't answer as my mention to Twilight Sparkle made Discord ponder, which is really starting to annoy me. "Tell me! Am I a Replica like Solaris?" "No..." "Well, what?" "If you really think the truth will make you feel better, it won't." That's it, I've had it up to hear with Discord denying everything. "Why wouldn't it make me feel better? I have a right to know who I am! How did I get here in the first place? Why am I special than everypony else? Where did I learn to use my magic and Keyblade? Those are the answers I deserve!" "Moondancer..." He didn't even try to finish, but I must know. "Will you tell me or not? Discord...who am I?" "Just trust me on this, all right, Moondancer?" What the hell is he saying? I lost my trust in him the moment he lost Solaris. I turned my back on him in response to his question. "I can't." "Moondancer, please..." I think it's over for me now. "If the answers aren't here, I'll find them elsewhere. Someone must know where I came from. That someone will be the only one I can actually trust." I then left the Grey Area, my search and my friendship with Discord having ended. As I was in my room, my magic was holding up a fresh apple and my WINNER stick. I feel ashamed that I didn't ask about the stick to Discord. I tried, but...there's nothing for me here anymore. The answers are out there somewhere. I'm leaving the Castle That Never Was, and I'm leaving today. After leaving my apple and my WINNER stick in Discord's room to remind him of our former friendship, I went through the various hallways of the Castle, battling my way through Dusks and Samurais. As I reached the exit, I saw Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra near the exit. "We don't accept resignations," said the Queen. How did they know I'm leaving, but don't want me to leave. However, the Queen isn't my commanding officer anymore, and neither is the King my comrade. "I don't have anything to say to you," I said. "Then it's time to finish what I should have done to that clever unicorn," said King Sombra. With a glow of their magic, they trapped my hooves inside green goo and black crystals, however, but I used my teleportation skills to free myself and used my Keyblade and my magic to create a power so great, it quickly brought them down on their knees. Knowing they won't recover in time, I walked away from them, and the Organization. As I walked away from the Castle, through the dark cityscape of the World That Never Was, I was stopped by Discord. "You made up your mind?" he asked. "Why do I have these magical abilities and the Keyblade? I must know." "You can't betray the Organization! If you dare get on their bad side, they'll simply destroy you on the spot!" "Nopony would ever miss me." I then continued on my way, knowing that Discord will miss me, although I only care for the answers I want about myself. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 356-Retrieval //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 356-Retrieval Day 356-Retrieval Within the Canterlot Tower, sunlight poured through the stained glass windows of the history of Equestria and down to the floor as Caelum was with a hooded figure who revealed herself as an alicorn mare with a red flowing mane. "Nice to be with you...Solaris," she said. "Do you see my face, Caelum?" asked Solaris. "Of course I do." "Well, what should I do about this?" "What do you want?" "I thought I knew when I first got into the Organization. I wanted Moondancer and Discord to be with me forever. But I know these memories aren't really for me." "That's because you're Princess Celestia. At least, the Celestia Twilight knows her as." "And the more I know, the more I feel that I don't belong here...like I should go back." "Back to Twilight?" Solaris nodded in response, but Caelum's expression fell. "You realize that if you return Twilight's memories, you'll disappear. And because everything that made you came from those memories...nopony will remember you when you leave. There won't be anything of 'you' to remember. We can't help you, Solaris--even a memory of yourself." "I know. I want to do this. Why else would I be here? Besides, Moondancer belongs with Twilight, too. But...I'm not sure if she understands that. Not yet." "She just can't feel Twilight. But in time, she will." "Caelum, will the Princess watch over Moondancer when I'm gone? She won't be alone, though. I asked somepony else to look after her, as well. It's just...there's nothing I can do for her." "Okay." "Thanks..." She thought of other words of advice to give her, but it looked to her that her brain is exhausted of anything good. "If you're ready, we'll give you a spell to take you to Twilight." Before she could, a bright light shined in the hall until it faded to reveal Celestia. "Caelum, they found us." she said. "One of their members will be on their way soon." She then turned to Solaris. "I'm sorry, Solaris, but we'll have to wait until we can find a way to stop them." "No, Twilight needs me!" said Solaris. "I'll stop them!" "Solaris, no!" The Princess of the Sun tried in vain to stop her, but she was already out the door and looking where the member is at until she found a Corridor of Darkness manifest and out of it was Discord. "Why am I always stuck with the heartbreaking jobs?" he asked himself. As Solaris came down the steps, she felt saddened to see him again, especially when she had decided what must be done now. "Discord..." she said. "Solaris...what are you doing?" "I decided that I must return to my true place in life." "Actually, I thought that was the right decision when this all began. Yet I don't get one bit of it. Something about this just doesn't feel right." "It's for the best of everypony." "How do you know for sure? Everypony thinks this is the right decision..." "This is right." "They'll destroy you for this!" He was suddenly taken aback when he saw Solaris summon her Keyblade. "Don't hold back, Discord. Alright?" He thought to himself why she would fight him again. He thought about his previous fight with her and how he lost his previous friends, even Fluttershy, because of what he knew who was responsible for this heartache. At this, he held back his tears as finally let out his frustrations once and for all. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Vanitas...he believes he can mess you up and then betray me on the spot? Well, I'm sick of it. I lost enough friends already. I'm not going to lose you, too." When he snapped his figures, his Keyblade suddenly appeared before him. "Go on, run as much as you want. But I'm the one who'll take you back!" *** "Damn...why must he always ruin...everything for me...?" Discord had just defeated Solaris and brought her back to the Castle That Never Was, however, the battle was long and exhausting as he passed out beside her. Vanitas found the pair and picked up Solaris, taking her away. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 357-Friendship Without End //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 357-Friendship Without End Day 357-Friendship Without End When I arrived in Twilight Town, I saw the group of friends running for ice cream, with the last one having to buy them. Although, it looked annoying to them, I'm sure not all friendships never fall apart. That reminded me I should go to the clock tower, which is the only good place around here. I went up there, it felt lonely not being with Discord and Solaris anymore, and I figured that I made a mistake with leaving the Organization, that it was a completely stupid move on my part, and if I returned, Discord would have proven me right with them destroying me if I return. As I thought over my current situation, I heard someone approach me and sit beside me, and I turned to see Solaris with her hood up. I don't know why, but I'm glad to finally see her again. She offered me an ice cream, which I immediately accepted. We sat up there eating our ice cream and watch the sunset. We didn't say anything while we were together, only when Solaris finally spoke up. "Moondancer...I don't have much time." I don't know why she would say that, but she got up and removed her hood, and I was shocked and confused by what her face looks like than what it normally looks like, only that I recognize this from my dreams. "Even though I can't do it, I must make this decision. You gave me so much of your memories...giving me too much of them...that they may break out at any moment. Tell me, Moondancer. Who do you see in this face? If you see the face of somepony else...the face of a mare...it means I'm nearly ready. This Replica should play her part. Moondancer...this is her. This is Twilight Sparkle." I never realized that this is the name that belongs to that lavender unicorn I keep having dreams about. As I realized this, she began walking on thin air, even though her wings aren't keeping her in midair. As she raised her hood, she turned to me. "You're next, Moondancer. I must make you a part of myself." With her magic, dark swirls began to circle around her. "You see, this is why I was created." When the dark swirls cleared, I saw a mare who barely even looks like Solaris anymore. Her coat is dark with red stripes all over, her mane and tail are moving like a flame, her wing no longer have feathers, and her hooves are flowing like melting rocks. Her horn glowed and suddenly we were transported to the center of the volcano in Jasper, Nevada, where I saw that the device I planted was feeding energy to Solaris, causing more swirls of darkness to flow around her and expelling the energy all over us. I found myself in a dark area where I found Solaris back to her normal self, and I wanted to know if she is alright and as I ran for her, the shadows and herself faded away and I found myself standing on the same invisible ground on Station Plaza. When I turned around I saw Solaris now three times bigger than she usually is having an appearance similar to Twilight Sparkle, but now has majestic wings. I realized that the only way to stop her is to attack her, even though she's my friend. I attacked her, despite my weakened strength, and when she held herself in pain, a light shot out of her and dark swirls began to form around her again. As I took a moment, a zing of light went to my head, causing a great jolt of pain, and the invisible ground to crack and shatter below me, falling only mere inches to the ground. When the darkness cleared, I saw a tall white mare with a flowing red mane, looking very weak. And there's something I know about her, but I can't put my finger on it. "Who are you...again?" I asked. "It's just weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something important to me." "You'll be...alright from here on out...Moondancer." she said. I don't know how she knows my name, but when she fell over, I caught her, holding her in my forelegs, as white sparkles began to float up from her. I was worried if I was the one that hurt her so badly. "Was I...responsible for this?" "No...I was the one who decided...to leave this world. It's better this way, than doing nothing...and let Xehanort and his apprentice continue. I belong to Twilight Sparkle. Now, I'm going back to her...to help her and be with her and her friends." Then, she placed a hoof on one of my hooves, as a sign of support. "Moondancer...I have one last thing...to tell you. All the hearts we collected...Kingdom Hearts...you must release them." "Release...Kingdom Hearts?" I don't know why I have to destroy all that I've worked hard on, but what's more concerning is that her hind legs are crystallizing. "It's too late...for me to fix what damage I caused. But Vanitas...won't have Kingdom Hearts. He just won't. Farewell, Moondancer. See you soon. I'm lucky...to meet somepony like you. Oh...and Discord, as well." How did she also know who Discord is. "Both of you are my best friends." How is she my friend already? As I wondered this, her hoof moved to my shoulder. "Always remember that. It's the truth." It was true that me, Discord and Solaris were best friends, but--wait now I know who that white mare is. It's Solaris! How could I have not seen it until now? When I remembered who she is, her hoof fell from my shoulder to the ground, but I held it up with my magic. "No! Solaris...who'll I have ice cream with now?" That was the worst thing to tell her, but when I realized she didn't hear me, I knew she was gone. The crystals suddenly formed all over her and she faded in a flash of light, and of course, being a Nopony, she didn't leave me anything to remember her by, except for a fresh apple I gave her. I then broke down, fresh tears falling from my face and onto the ground of the Station Plaza. I lost my best friends, my home, and my life. I won't let Vanitas take anything else from me. I will release Kingdom Hearts, meet Twilight Sparkle and I will have my best friends back at my side! *** As Discord saw what happened in Twilight Town through a magical orb, he wondered how this all went down until he saw an apple and an envelope, which upon opening it, contained a WINNER stick, realizing these were from Moondancer. Tears came from his eyes when he saw that this is all she ever left him. Screw this place, he thought to himself, as he used his magic to teleport himself away with just a snap of his fingers. *** As Twilight hugged her friends upon restoring her friends cutie marks and their destinies, Solaris' voice echoed through her mind. "A mark of one's destiny, singled out alone, fulfilled." said Solaris. Twilight realized through her voice that she knows the answer now. "Wait a second, that's it!" said a surprised Twilight. "I understand now! I know how to fix the spell!" Twilight and her friends headed for the Golden Oaks Library and fetched out the journal containing Star Swirl the Bearded's incomplete spell and a quill pen, writing out the missing piece of the spell as she said it out loud: "From all of us together, together we're friends. With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end." When she finished writing out the missing portion of the spell, her Element of Magic began to glow and expel a white light, with her friends Elements of Harmony shooting out beams at Twilight, creating a sphere of light surrounding her, causing a blast of light filling the entire library. When the light faded, to her friends shock, Twilight was gone and in her place, was a scorch mark in the shape of her cutie mark. *** In Where Nothing Gathers, Vanitas, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra have gathered. "Solaris is no more," said the Queen. "And what about Twilight Sparkle?" asked Vanitas. "She's completed the spell and has fulfilled her destiny," said King Sombra. "I knew we should have stopped her when we had the chance." "It's possibly for the best." Vanitas admitted. "Although she's ready for her true destiny, she won't be ready for what's to come. But first things first, bring me my Keyblade Wielder. Get me Moondancer." //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 358-Determination //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 358-Determination Day 358-Determination When Moondancer returned to the World That Never Was through the Fragment Crossing, her hood was raised up and she summoned two copies of my Keyblade, the second one she had inherited from Solaris, ready to take on whatever would be in her way to the Castle That Never Was. When Moondancer saw a pair of Neoshadows in her way, she didn't hesitate to cross her Keyblades and create the Oathkeeper and Oblivion, allowing her to destroy them with ease. When Moondancer made it to the Memory Skyscraper, it began raining down on her and when she stopped, she found myself surrounded by numerous Neoshadows, which she began to destroy. As she did, Moondancer saw Princess Luna atop the Skyscraper, and ran up the Skyscraper, throwing out her Oblivion at the Princess of the Night. When Luna flew down and caught it, though, she had a flash of memories of her time with Solaris. When Moondancer realized that the dark alicorn is the one from her memories, she withheld her attack and passed each other and landed on top of the Skyscraper with Luna landing on the surface. Realizing that the Night Princess needs help from the Neoshadows, Moondancer teleported down to the ground and together destroyed the Heartless surrounding them. As they did, Luna had more memories of Solaris, but they began to fade away from her mind. As she snapped out of it, she and Moondancer took a leap back from each other. "What are you doing here?" asked Moondancer. "I'm bringing you back," said Luna. "Well, why are you keeping me from the Castle?" "Because I need you to return to Twilight Sparkle." "Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle! Stop all this Twilight Sparkle!" "Do you have something else in mind?" "I'm gonna release Kingdom Hearts! Then everything can go back to the way things were! Me, Discord, and..." Moondancer tried to figure out Solaris' name, but didn't. "...and her can go back to having ice cream together..." When Luna discovered who Moondancer was talking about, she looked at the Oblivion. "Her? You mean Solaris? It's difficult to remember even her name now. But I'm afraid I can't let you do anything you may regret." "I must find this Twilight Sparkle pony, and releasing Kingdom Hearts is the only answer! I want Solaris back. I want my life back!" "If you attempt to make contact with Kingdom Hearts, the last you'll get is your life back. The Organization will destroy you for this." "Enough!" Moondancer and Luna engaged in an epic Keyblade Duel, using all of their magical powers through their Keyblades. "When it looked as though the Princess started to look weak, Moondancer had a memory of herself with Discord and Solaris on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town, enjoying ice cream and good laughs. "Why!? Why do you have this power?" "Shut up already!" As Moondancer charged, Luna used a blast from her horn to knock her unconscious, blowing her hood off. As the Night Princess approached her, she drove the Oblivion into the earth, next to Moondancer. She was about to take her back to Canterlot with her, but the Nopony regained consciousness and regained her Oblivion, attempting to attack Luna with it, with little accuracy. "Why don't you give up?" "BE STILL!" Luna was shouting in the Royal Canterlot Voice, and the voice was enough to pound against Moondancer's eardrums. "Princess, remember! Watch the screaming." Moondancer suddenly realized that this came from Twilight Sparkle from one of the memories she had of her. "I knew it. You are her Nopony. Looks like my sister was right all this time." "What the hell are you talking about? I am me. Nopony else!" Moondancer resummoned her Oathkeeper and charged at Luna again, but this time she gave a cut to her foreleg, causing great pain. Luna then heard Solaris' voice within her head. "Luna, please! You must stop her!" "How many times must I keep you down?" asked Moondancer. She was clearly tired of being held up from her goal. "Very well, then. You leave me no other option." As she was talking, her horn glowed and created dark swirls around her. "I have to use what's left of my power--the dark power Xehanort gave me a millennium ago. Even...if I have to face my past." When the dark swirls covered her, the shadows turned into a purple sparkly mist, which unfurled to form the mane and tail of her Nightmare Moon persona, now taller than she usually is, her coat now a blacker color, and wearing body armor. Luna then faded into the purple mist and covered Moondancer. Moondancer became disoriented over where Luna is now, but when she became face to face with her, the Night Princess used her enhanced magic to take hold of Moondancer, squeezing her into unconsciousness again, but this time, her Keyblades fell to the ground and faded away. As Moondancer had a dream of Discord and Solaris again where Solaris fades away, Princess Celestia arrived in the World That Never Was, allowing Luna to return to her original form. "Sister, she could feel Twilight," Luna told the Sun Princess. "She told you how she felt?" Celestia asked. "Impossible. Most species of Nobodies can't feel anything." "But if she met Twilight, things would've been different." "Luna, about Twilight...she did it. She fulfilled her destiny." "I'm so proud of her." "Me too. Her celebration is tomorrow." "What about her Nopony?" "We'll take her back to a safe place in Canterlot from Vanitas until she's ready to return to Twilight." The Princess of the Day stroked the mane of Moondancer. As she was sleeping, she heard Solaris' voice one final time. "Moondancer, don't be upset. I came from you and Twilight Sparkle. I'm you...the same way I'm Twilight Sparkle. You'll forget me, but the memories will never fade. Memories of us will always be together...forever, inside her." //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 359-Coronation //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 359-Coronation Day 359-Coronation It was a beautiful morning Princess Celestia's sun provided for Equestria. Everypony was flocking into the Ceremonial Hall in Canterlot for a special event. This hall was used before for the Royal Wedding between Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, however everypony wasn't gathering for another important wedding, no this was something important when all three Princesses entered wearing special regalia for the occasion. "We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion," Princess Celestia began. "My most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, has done many extraordinary things since she's lived in Ponyville. She even helped reunite me with my sister, Princess Luna." Both sisters exchanged caring glances at each other before she continued. "But today, Twilight Sparkle did something extraordinary. She created new magic, proving without a doubt that she is ready to be crowned Equestria's newest princess. Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present for the very first time, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" When the main doors opened, Twilight, now an alicorn, walked down the aisle with a royal procession singing a hymn of her celebration as she approached the three princesses and presented a new version of her Element of Magic tiara, which Celestia lowered onto her head, officially making Twilight Sparkle a princess of Equestria. As the newly-crowned alicorn stood over the balcony, she waved to the hundreds of ponies she's now a leader of. As she waved, her teacher approached her. "Say something, Princess." She was surprised to be addressing everypony already, but it was an important opportunity to tell everypony how she came this far. "A little while ago, my teacher and mentor Princess Celestia sent me to live in Ponyville," Twilight announced. "She sent me to study friendship, which is something I didn't really care much about." She then saw her friends by the entrance and gestured them to the balcony, their eyes welling up with tears of joy. "But now, on a day like today, I can honestly say I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you. Each one of you taught me something about friendship, and for that, I will always be grateful. Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria. Thank you, friends. Thank you, everypony!" Her first official address must have been great, because when she finished, she gained an uproarious applause. As Twilight and her friends returned to the hall, she was approached by her brother, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. "Twilight!" he said as he caught sight of his sister. "I'm so proud of you." Twilight can see as she hugged him, she could clearly see a tear roll down from his eye. "Are you crying?" she asked. She knew her brother was a tough stallion, but didn't expect him to be sensitive on the best of days. Shining Armor wiped his eyes. "Of course not. It's liquid pride. Totally different thing." They shrugged this off with a laugh and another hug. Her friends then came to her to join in a group hug. "Way to go, Princess!" said Applejack. "Best coronation day EVER!" said Pinkie Pie. "We love you, Twilight," said Fluttershy. "I love you too, girls!" Twilight said. She was right about giving her undying gratitude to her friends, because without them, she wouldn't have been able to figure out that friendship is the answer to Star Swirl the Bearded's spell. With these in mind, she will never lose her knowledge in magic, nor will she ever lose her friends. She will cherish these for now until the end of time. *** As I awoke from the comfort of my cottage bed, I felt like I had the same dream about that lavender unicorn, but when I opened my window and saw how beautiful today was, I put it out of my mind as I got ready, left my home, and took off for my friends usual hangout spot, having high hopes that maybe today will be the day we finally head for Canterlot to meet Princess Celestia for the first time ever. However, I know it'll happen soon. Only seven days to go, then my summer vacation's over. Reconnect. KINGDOM HEARTS //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 8-Icing of Success //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 8-Icing of Success After seven days of hanging on to a number and a name, I had trouble doing anything else. I couldn't have told you who the people in black coats were, or why they wanted me in the first place. Day 8-Icing of Success The next morning, when I got out of bed and made my way to the Grey Area, I was suddenly greeted by Queen Chrysalis. Being Vanitas' second in command, I had to respect her wishes, no matter how horrible. "Moondancer, your work starts today," she told me. "I will give you missions, which the Organization wants you complete." I was concerned by what would happen if I fail at a mission, so I just kept my mouth shut. "Think of these early missions as workouts. You have much to learn before you take the real test." I was having a hard time figuring out what this "test" meant, therefore, I didn't respond. "Discord will be with you on your first mission. Right, Discord?" Here, she turned to Discord, who was lying on the window view of the Grey Area, before getting off of it. "Oh, Celestia..." he said in a bored tone. "You're saying I have to mentor her?" "You do fine teaching our young one how Lord Vanitas expects things to go down here," said the Queen. "Moondancer, come to me when you're ready." "Hear that?" Discord asked me. "Starting today, I'm your foalsitter." I didn't respond to his little comment about him being a foalsitter to me, because I think I can take care of myself, but I must respect Chrysalis' wishes. "Celestia... Quit being a zombie pony and let's blow this pop stand." I then approached the Queen and told her I was ready. "Teach her good, Discord," Chrysalis told my new partner. "No worries, my queen," said Discord. "I'll make sure she gets the grade." I then turned my head to Number XIV, not listening to his promise, before turning to me. "Ready to go?" I didn't respond, and Discord saw why as he turned to our new recruit. "What is it? Are you worried about the new kid? What was that name..." His voice trailed off as he was trying to remember the name. "Number XIV, Solaris," The Queen reminded her. "I knew that," said a slightly annoyed Discord. "Solaris," I say to myself, though I wasn't the only one to be heard. "Got it memorized, eh?" asked Discord. I was surprised that he heard me that I had to respond to keep myself from becoming a freak, even though I'm already a unicorn, a pony with a magical horn coming from my head. "...Yeah," I said to him. I was trying to get him to move on with our mission. It didn't work, however. "Oh yeah? Then what's my name?" "It's Discord," I replied. "And our boss' name?" "Vanitas." "Nice, Moondancer!" said a proud Discord. "No way you'll forget a name such as Vanitas, right? Now, let's roll." He then snapped his fingers and summoned a Corridor of Darkness and we went through it to our first mission together. *** We were transported to the tram station of Twilight Town, my "birthplace." I didn't know why we're here, but I have to get my education in some other way. Discord then turned to me and began to instruct me, using his magic to instantly put on a suit, quickly replacing the black coat he's wearing. "Okay, let's begin by going over what we do on missions," said Discord, using his best professor voice possible. "Missions are... uhh... they're, you know... hrm." His voice trailed off again as he was trying to explain what a mission is. I lowered my head in concern over what I'm supposed to even do on these missions. He then used his magic to return to his black coat. "You know? Buck this. Let's just go and get our hooves dirty, shall we? Follow me." Discord flew up to a platform while I made my way, though I wasn't able to jump there, but I have a feeling in my horn that I'm supposed to use a magic spell to get up there and so, I closed my eyes and I pictured myself on the platform with Discord as my horn began to glow with a pure white aura, like my cutie mark, and in an instant, I zapped away from the ground and onto the platform. "That's one way of doing it. Good job." "Thanks," I said without my usual hesitation, which surprised even me. "But don't think you can just, run, jump, or teleport your way through every misson," warned Discord. "You've got to BE AWARE." I was taken aback by his last piece. "What... what do you mean by that?" I asked to him, again putting a brief pause in between. "You're supposed to look around," he explained. "Sometimes what you're really after may be sitting underneath your muzzle. Got it memorized?" I didn't understand what he meant by that, but my lesson had to continue. "Y... yeah, I think so," I said, putting a pause between me and my response again. "Okay, time for a road test," announced Discord. This got me worried. I mean, a test? Already? I'd better be on top of my game if I'm going to pass it. "There's a treasure chest somewhere in this station. I want you to find it." "That's all?" I was surprised that it's all I have to do for such a big test. "I know, don't worry yourself," assured the draconequus. "Just be sure to look around." With these words, began to look around the passageways until I came across a mysterious black barrier intersecting to form an "X." "Discord... What's this?" I was hoping he would have a logical answer. "This is a form of blockade, meaning you can't go that way," Discord explained. "So, there's nothing there?" I asked him. I wanted to make sure my confirmation was sound. "Yep, that's the point," he replied. "They're here to keep us on track. That, or out of trouble. I mean, look at that thing. Big, menacing X. I'll take the path with no worries, thank you." I shrugged off that last comment and continued on our way, stopping until I reached a chest-like object. "Is this it?" I asked Discord. I wanted to be certain that this was what I was looking for. "It is," he replied. "Congrats." We just stood there staring at the chest until Discord spoke up. "Well?" I was wondering what he wanted me to do. "The mission was to find this chest." I was trying to get a point. "Aren't I done?" "See, Moondancer, the thing about these chests is they have stuff in them," Discord justified. "So, I should open it?" I asked. "Yes, that's just what we do," Discord replied. And so, by opening the chest and discovering a potion, which I drank with no ill effects, I have completed my road test. "Nice work! You get to keep what you find. Time to RTC." I instantly became confused by what he meant when he said "RTC." "RTC?" "Return To the Castle," Discord stressed out. "Go on and lead us back to the Corridor of Darkness that got us here." Indeed, I retraced my steps and got us back to the portal with no trouble. As soon as we reached the portal, Discord used his magic to create an audience that applauded for me, which quickly disappeared just as it appeared. "Bravado. So, how about it? Getting used to this?" "Yeah," I said. "What was that?" I was getting frustrated that he didn't hear me, though he must have been toying around with me, as usual. "I said..." I trailed off for a moment. "Hm?" "I would've done that without my horn." I admit, this is my worst substitution to my previous answer, but I wanted to show Discord that I was the greatest at my mission, with or without my horn. Then, I saw Discord stumble off for a moment. He must be remembering something from his past he's trying to get away from. "What is it, Discord?" I wanted to make sure he's alright. "Y-yeah... It's just... what you said reminded me of a horrible deed I've done." I was right on what Discord nearly fainted on. "Well, forget that, you excelled. And for that, you deserve a reward. Let's go." He then turned around and began to walk away from the portal. "But... shouldn't we RTC?" I didn't want to get in trouble with Chrysalis. "Later," he assured me. "Remember our spot?" *** After we had taken our spots on top of the clock tower, Discord gave me a bar of ice cream, with Discord having already used his magic to summon two bars, one for himself and the other just for me. "Here," he said. "The icing of success." I was confused by what he meant when he said "icing of success." "You remember what this ice cream is?" "Umm..." I was struggling to figure out what the ice cream was, to no avail. "It's sea-salt ice cream. I told you once already. Get it memorized, alright." I felt slightly ashamed that I'd forgotten, but upon taking the first bite, I'd already forgotten that I'd forgotten. "It's salty, but sweet," I said. Discord chuckled at my comment. "That's the same thing you said the first time you had this." "Really? I don't remember." I then began to hit myself in my mind, as I had forgotten another detail about me having this ice cream. "Come now, it's been, like, a week since you got here." "I know." As I said before, I've been having trouble taking in everything since holding on to my name and my number. "'I know?'" He was surprised by my answer that he wanted to know more about me, like more than usual. "You must remember that much." I just lowered my head, nibbling away at my ice cream. "It's cool. Besides, today is what matters." "Really?" I was amazed that he understood my slight pain and that last part. "Yeah! You, outside, working.... He trailed off as he was finding the epic words he's been looking for. "Today, you're a part of us." "That's good," I said, staring out at the sunset, munching down on my ice cream. I don't know what else the Organization will give me next, but either way, I'm ready for it. Author's Note Like Discord said, Moondancer's role begins on this day. Hopefully, you'll get used to this, because this will be all a part of Moondancer's development. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 25-The True Name //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 25-The True Name Day 25-The True Name I saw myself wearing my hood over my face walking towards another cloaked figure sitting on a rock near the shore of a beach-like area known as the Dark Margin. "I've seen her before," the figure said. "She looks a lot like you." "Who is he?" I ask the figure. "He was a kind person," the figure just said. "He taught me how to create a perfect world before he left me forever." "I meant his name." "His name is no concern. How about you? Do you remember your true name?" "My true name is..." I found myself struggling to remember my actual name, even though it was presented to me before being restructured as my current name. "You've been with us for six days now." The figure then got up off rock and removed the hood, revealing himself to be Vanitas. "It's time." He then walked past me and patted me on the shoulder and said something to me, which I couldn't hear. And just like that, he was gone and I stood there hearing the waves crash onto the shore. *** Vanitas, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra were staring down on Moondancer, who was laying in bed in a deep sleep. They were seeing her being completely unresponsive as she was sleeping. "Twilight Sparkle must have cast the unfinished spell of Star Swirl the Bearded..." said Queen Chrysalis, her voice trailing off. "Will she awaken from this?" asked Vanitas. "I was informed she will," said King Sombra. "Under the condition that she works on restoring her friends." "Well, much is happening in Ponyville," Vanitas commented. "But we shouldn't stop gathering hearts," said Queen Chrysalis. "Number XIV is gaining power over the Keyblade and the Element of Magic, just as you planned." "Ergo, Solaris will be able to fill in for Moondancer for the moment she awakens," King Sombra summarized. "What about the chamber in the ancient castle of the regal alicorn princesses?" asked Vanitas. "Sadly, my liege, we haven't found it yet," Queen Chrysalis admitted. "If progress were actually made, I would be the first to tell you." The King and Queen then left Moondancer's room, leaving Vanitas alone with her sleeping body. "Sleep has taken another one..." said Vanitas. Author's Note Again, another switch between the first-person to the third-person to focus on other dark developments. And the conversation they were having, as well as the cause for Moondancer's deep comatose state, is based off of the beginning of Magical Mystery Cure. There's also another thing you should know: although this is structured in the same manner as 358/2 Days, this is slow in order to take in the events of what's happening in the season 3 finale. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 50-A Similar Spell //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 50-A Similar Spell Day 50-A Similar Scene For the next three weeks, I felt I was trapped in a deep slumber that I couldn't awaken. I felt I was disappointing the Organization by not doing my missions due to my slumber. And the worst part is, I couldn't know if Discord was kicked out of the Organization or not. However, I heard somepony come in and I figured it would be Vanitas or our fellow members. But I recognized that voice as being soothing and understanding, and I knew what it was. "I just got back from a new world today," said Solaris. I knew the voice was familiar. "I just wish you saw it with me. It was breathtaking." I then felt her laying something by my bedside. "I'll see you tomorrow." I then heard her leave and then I saw something that's confusing and astounding. I saw a lavender unicorn speaking some important brave words to an armored alicorn with the same cutie mark as the dark alicorn, and upon saying an epic word, some stones that were circling around then transformed into jewelry, five gold necklaces for the ponies accompanying her and a gold tiara for the unicorn, which then shot a rainbow-colored beam at the armored alicorn, wrapping her up as I saw the unicorn open her eyes, now glowing white as the room was filled with a pure white light... I then snapped awake as I saw what Solaris laid by my side were apples, and I counted them. Each one of them was a reminder of every day I was out. I remembered that Solaris would be hanging out on the clock tower in Twilight Town, so I decided to go there, where indeed, she was there. "Moondancer!" said a joyous and relieved Solaris, so relieved in fact, that she went to hug me so much, she nearly crushed me. "What happened to me?" I wanted to know what just happened when I was leaving Jasper. "You were asleep for a long time. Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra told us not to get ecstatic, because we thought you wouldn't--" she choked on the last word. "But you're awake now, and that's what matters now." "Well, there's things that even a nap can fix." We then laughed at my remark. She then fetched out a vial containing a pint of water. "Use your magic on this water. See what happens." I made my horn and the water around it glow and the water flowed out of the vial and turned into a sphere of water. I then saw the lavender unicorn standing weightlessly on a puddle of water using the same spell on three balls of water, with a zebra with fancy jewelry watching on. Author's Note I actually like the first memories that I used for Moondancer, specifically scenes from Friendship is Magic Part II and Magic Duel. There will be more flashes of memories later on. //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 300-Restoration //-------------------------------------------------------// Day 300-Restoration Day 300-Restoration After my mission, I went to the clock tower to enjoy the sunset in Twilight Town as usual, however, I didn't think of getting myself some ice cream to enjoy it with. Discord showed up to do the same thing, and after that, Solaris too. Neither one of us had ice cream, we didn't speak a word to each other, hell, we didn't even look at each other. Because of what happened two days ago, I'm afraid that our time of happiness and laughter have long since disappeared. *** "Oh my..." Caelum was seeing through her eyes what was happening in Ponyville, and became surprised by what she saw. Princess Celestia then approached her side. "What is it?" asked the Princess of the Day. "It's Twilight... She figured out what her friends mean to each other and help them find the parts they've lost. "Really?" "Yeah, but unless something's done, she may never be able to complete the spell and keep her from making the same mistake twice." "You're right. The horseshoes are coming off." Caelum gasped and turned to Celestia. "But... you don't mean..." "Vanitas was never meant to survive the final battle--as you well know, Caelum." "Right..." Caelum closed her eyes again, hoping to see if what she saw in Twilight will be right.