Hello again. For some time I was thinking about doing a special Halloween/Nightmare Night chapter, but decided against it. I didn’t think I would make it in time, and I didn’t have a good idea of what story I wanted to do. So I decided to just do a normal chapter. But at the last minute I decided to make a compromise and do both! It turned out rather well I think.

This chapter of Guardians of Magic is a perfect example of how NOT to do exposition. It feeds you everything at once instead of having it slowing explained to you during the story. Nobody likes an infodump. Making it a very painful chapter and hard to riff for. Not entirely happy with the results, but I think I did the best I could.

If you have a fanfic recommendation, comments, or criticisms please leave a comment or PM me at my fimfiction account or my blog on Tumblr. Please NO clop or fanfiction with extreme violence. I am not going to do those. I want to do a more family friendly series and it is going to be relatively clean. Besides everyone else does them. Okay, I might do one for a special occasion. But otherwise no clop or extreme gore fics. Ok, enough rambling. On with the fic!

Special thanks to Shire Folk for letting me use his story.

Doctor and Ditzy’s Science Theater

by Rixizu

Episode 4

The Doctor was humming to himself an appropriate song for the holiday, ‘The Monster Mash.’ One of his favorite holiday songs. The Doctor adores Halloween, or in this case Nightmare Night. It gave him the perfect excuse to not only gorge himself on candy, but dress up. This year he decided to dress up as Frankenstein’s Monster. His outfit consisted of a raggedy torn suit with a fading green color, green fur dye, fake stitches on his face and legs, and bolts on his neck. It was his favorite classic monster. He also thought it was a good tribute to his dear friend Mary.

The Doctor surveyed the decorations around the main room and smiled. “Not a half bad job.” He thought.  The Doctor and Ditzy had spent most of yesterday setting up decorations. Webs, bats, and fake ghosts hanged from the ceiling. Tombstones and Jack-o-lanterns could be found the floor. The entire room was lit by candlelight. A table with punch, cake, and candy was in the center of the room. The Doctor loved getting in the spirit of things. After the experiment the Doctor and Ditzy were planning on carving pumpkins, which should be interesting.

“Sorry I’m late. I..uh…needed to use the little fillies room.” Ditzy walked into the main room with her Nightmare Night outfit. When the Doctor saw it, he frowned.

“You’re going as that again?” The Doctor said dryly. Ditzy was wearing the same costume she wore last year. She wore a paper bag on her head with a paper bag on each one of her hooves. “A paper bag wizard?” The Doctor guessed.

“No silly. I’m a knight!” Ditzy said proudly. “How can I be a wizard when I’m a pegasus?”

“Right. I see…” The Doctor decided to drop the subject. He didn’t want to get into argument over her costume again this year.

“So what sort of horrifying fanfic do you think we will be reading for the experiment?” Ditzy asked while stealing some candy from the table.

The Doctor shrugged. “Probably some fic that turns Pinkie Pie into a serial killer and has her kill one her best friends in her basement or something.”  The Doctor joined Ditzy in her candy munching.

“She better not.” Ditzy said in annoyance. “I will have to give her a stern talking to if she does.”

The Doctor nodded. He started unwrapping a tiny candy bar, but dropped it when the ground under him shook for a moment with a gigantic boom accompanying it. He almost fell to the floor.

“What the hay was that?” Ditzy said in surprise.

*boom* The ground shook again.

“It sounds like something gigantic is stomping above us.”

“Another Ursa?” Ditzy said apprehensively. She hoped her friends and Spike were ok.

“It is nothing my little test subject.” Dinky’s voice came from the main screen.

“Are you sure?” The Doctor said raising an eyebrow.

*boom*

“Yes, I’m sure. Twilight and her friends will solve the problem quickly.” Dinky said with confidence.

“If your…” *boom* ”sure.” Ditzy’s teeth rattled with last shockwave.

“Today’s experiment will be the third chapter of Guardians of Magic by Shire Folk.”

*boom*

The Doctor and Ditzy looked at the screen in confusion. “No horror themed story this time?” The Doctor said while raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah! It’s Nightmare Night! How can you not give us a horror story?” Ditzy asked incredulously.

*boom*

“Well. I was going to…but I couldn’t find a good one. So…this will have to do.” Ditzy said hesitantly.

“It subverts our expectations I guess.” The Doctor said rolling his eyes. A less profound boom reverberated through the room. “I think that thing above us is going away.”

 “This is ridiculous.” Ditzy mumbled to herself.

The experiment alarm went off.  “I hope everypony above us will be ok.” Ditzy still looked worried.

“It will be fine. Twilight and her friends can handle it…probably.” Ditzy nodded and the two rushed to the theater.

------------------------------------------------------------

I’m going to keep beginning author’s notes short, but I need to say this. I know that Rei’s a little irritating right now,

Doctor: Is that so? I haven’t noticed.

Ditzy: Cute, but hyperactive.

but you have to realize that she’s a freaking ten-year-old girl who just got changed into a unicorn and put into a land of ponies.

Doctor: Alright. I’ll give you that.

This isn’t entirely her personality; this is a reaction to a stimulus.

Doctor: Now let’s see how subject Rei reacts to a world of talking insects.

Thank you.

Incoming info dump.

Ditzy: Ponyfeathers!

Doctor: Dinky was wrong about this being a horror story!

Bear with it Kingdom Hearts people.

Ditzy: Well, it at least keeps the Doctor on the up and up about what is happening in Kingdom Hearts.

Doctor: That would be great...if I actually cared.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and My Little Pony are owned by Square-Enix, Disney, and Hasbro, not me.

        Twilight Sparkle was silent as the group walked through the halls of Canterlot Castle up from the dungeons. Her mind was abuzz with more questions than she could count, and she wasn’t entirely sure who she should direct them to.

All: (Waves a  hoof in the air)  Ooooo! Ooooo! Me! Me!

Everything these ponies had said seemed so outrageous that it couldn’t be possible,

Doctor: Heartless, other worlds, humans, keyblades, hearts of worlds. It sounded like something out of a fairy tale.

but the way they had said it all just made her want to believe that it was all true. Besides, those shadows that Sora had called Heartless had been real, so it was quite possible that what he said was just as real.

Doctor: The fact that Celestia believed them gave some credibility to their story.

        And what Rei said, that I’m one of ‘them’. What is that about? What does she mean, ‘them’? 

Ditzy: Their apprehension about telling her frightened her. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

Directing her attention towards the unicorn filly, she saw that Rei was occupied with asking Spike the latest in a string of questions.

Doctor: (Rei) She’s so cute. Where did you come from?

Ditzy: (Spike) You see Celestia found my egg and… Wait a second, I’m a guy!

        “Can you breathe fire?”

        “Well, yes,” Spike answered proudly, glad to see that somepony was excited to talk to a dragon.

Doctor: (Spike) It’s finally my time to be in the spotlight!

“Want to see?” Rei nodded her head eagerly, and Spike took a deep breath before exhaling. A tongue of green fire, only as long as the baby dragon’s body, leapt from his mouth. Rei’s face lit up

Doctor: Because Spike accidentally lit it on fire.

in excitement.

        “Sora-nii-chan!” she shouted. “Look! He can breathe green fire! Green!” He laughed.

Ditzy: (Rei) Can you do other colors?

        “Green, huh?” he asked. “I wonder how Mushu will react to a dragon that breathes green fire.” Rainbow Dash leaned close to Twilight.

Ditzy: (Mushu) Ha! That’s nothing! He’s half the dragon I am! Just look at these muscles! He can’t even compare to a dragon like me.

        “What does that mean anyway?” she asked.

        “What does what mean Rainbow?”

        “That…nii-chan thing that she says.” Twilight shook her head.

Doctor: (Twilight) It must be a customary honorific used by young foals to address a sibling.

        “I have no idea Rainbow Dash,” she answered truthfully. “There are a lot of things that they’ve said that I don’t quite understand.”

        Rainbow Dash groaned. “You’re telling me. Still, that Keyblade thing was pretty cool.”

Ditzy: (Rainbow) It would make me 20 percent more awesome.

        “Onii-chan means ‘big brother’,” Rei said suddenly, turning around and walking backwards. “So that’s what I call Sora-nii-chan, big brother Sora.”

Ditzy: Ok, but why? You aren’t Neighponese...technically.

        Sora turned his head around from where he walked close to the front with Kairi and Princess Celestia. On his face was a weary smile. “And I’m the only one she uses honourifics for. Doesn’t call Kairi ‘Kairi-chan’ or Riku ‘Riku-kun’ or Riku-san, or nee-san or nii-san, just me.” He sighed. “Sometimes I regret showing her that anime channel.”

Ditzy: (Sora) At least she has stopped saying ‘Desu’ after every sentence.

His marefriend giggled slightly to herself.

Doctor: (Kairi) He isn’t one to talk. He likes to randomly insert words and phrases he hears from anime whenever he talks, regardless to how much sense it makes.

Ditzy: (Sora) Kairi-san! NAN DESU KAN? Domo Kawaii arigatou Mr. Roboto!

        “So, Riku, you wouldn’t happen to have a marefriend, would you?” Rarity asked from behind Twilight, the marshmallow-white unicorn walking next to the turquoise one.

        “No,” he replied flatly, “and I’m not looking.”

Ditzy: (Rarity) Oh well. How about you Sora? Would you like to have another mare in your herd?

Doctor: (Sora) No. Wait...what?!

        Twilight tuned out Rarity in the back and turned

Doctor: To radio 95 FM.

her attention back at the filly. Rei was still walking backwards with a warm smile on her face, and she was staring up at Twilight. “What is it?” she asked. “Do I have something on my face?” Rei shook her head.

        “No, I just still can’t believe that I’m here,” she answered cheerily. “This place is like a dream.”

Doctor: Is it really so strange from the other places you have visited?

        “And why’s that lil’ missy?” Applejack asked, amused. “You don’t have ponies where you and Sora are from?”

Doctor: (Rei) Yes, but we use them to make glue.

        Rei shook her head. “No, we do, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of them, they don’t talk, none are unicorns or pegasuses—I mean pegasi—and none of them have candy-coloured coats like you guys do.”

Ditzy: They’re really really creepy. There is something really unnatural and off-putting about them.

    “Hm, sounds pretty lame to me,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Doctor: (Rainbow) Ponies that can’t fly? How lame is that!

“But, if there are so few ponies,” Fluttershy asked in genuine concern, “what about all of the animals?”

Ditzy: (Rainbow) And who takes care of the weather?

Twilight could see Rei looking at the pink-maned pegasus in confusion. “What about them?”

“How do they survive? Who looks after them? It must be such hard work for so few ponies to take care of them all.”

Riku appeared to have been listening in from behind them, answering with, “They look after themselves?” as if it were obvious.

Doctor: (Riku) In my world, it’s kill or be killed. If you’re weak, you die. Only the strong survive. The weak are eaten and their corpses are left as a reminder what happens to those that are too pathetic to survive.

Neither Twilight nor her friends could withhold gasps. All six of them stopped in their tracks and stared at the four other ponies, all gathering around each other and gazing at Twilight’s group with perplexed expressions. “What?” Riku asked.

“They take care of themselves?” Spike asked. “But—but that’s not right!”

Ditzy: No kidding. Somepony should do something about that.

Doctor: It’s not that simple Ditzy.

“Their world must be like the Everfree Forest,” Rainbow Dash said, chewing slightly on her hooves, “and we all know how creepy that place is. It just doesn’t work the same as Equestria.”

Ditzy: Creepy true, but it isn’t so bad once you get used to it.

The four human-turned ponies looked at one another. “Everfree Forest?” Sora asked.

Twilight began to explain, although she was now suddenly wary of them again.

Ditzy: Something about them seemed untrustworthy.

Animals looking after themselves, and without anypony lifting a hoof to help? She wasn’t the best with animals,

Doctor: Just remember what happened during her first Winter Wrap Up.

not like Fluttershy or even Applejack, but even Twilight knew how important it was to look after Equestria’s wildlife. “The Everfree Forest is a place where—”

Doctor: Trouble always seems to pop up. It always seems to hide some evil waiting to wreak havoc on ponykind. Cults, ancient evils, two-bit sorcerers, you name it.

Ditzy: Somepony should really fence it off.

“Here we are,” Princess Celestia cut her off, opening a door with her magic. “Come on in everypony. We can talk here in more comfort than those dank dungeons.”

Ditzy: (Celestia) Sorry about the mess. Luna isn’t a very tidy pony and refuses to let somepony clean after herself.

“Uh, Princess,” Applejack pointed out, “this here’s the infirmary.”

Doctor: And how is this a more comfortable place to talk? It might be if you enjoy terrible food and the smell of antiseptic.

“You’re right Applejack, it is,” Celestia said. “I recall that you and Captain Cloudhammer came across a pony being attacked by the Heartless, correct? I think that she would like to know exactly what those creatures that attacked her were when she wakes up.”

Doctor: (Celestia) We needed a convoluted reason to keep her in the story.

“You do have a point, Princess,” Rarity agreed. “I know that if that had been me, I would have liked to know myself.”

Doctor: Ok, sure. But why now of all times?

“Yeah, same here,” added Rainbow Dash. Princess Celestia nodded and all of them filed into the room. A light grey unicorn stallion in a white doctor’s coat with a stethoscope around his neck and salt and pepper mane was examining Trixie as she lay on one of the beds. He turned around at the sound of their entrance and smiled slightly.

Ditzy: (Doctor) Thank Celestia! Five more minutes with this mare and I think I would have gone crazy!

“Ah, good afternoon Princess Celestia,” he said. “What brings you here?”

Doctor: (Celestia) Shire Folk insists on keeping her in the story for some reason.

“Good afternoon Doctor Checkup,” the Princess greeted. “How fares our little pony?”

Ditzy: (Doctor Checkup) Fairly well. Unfortunately we had to heavily sedate her just to shut her up!

“She’s doing quite well, considering,” he answered, his smile not leaving his face. “Only a few scrapes and bumps, and it looks like she pulled a muscle in her front left cannon, but beyond that it’s a textbook case of magical exhaustion. However…” he sighed,

Doctor: (Doctor Checkup) She won’t stop ranting about Twilight Sparkle and how her agents won’t get her alive. I am afraid she is suffering from serious delusions.

and this time the smile did slip from his face. “She also appears to be suffering from dehydration and the first effects of prolonged malnutrition. Look at how tight her skin is to her ribcage.

Doctor: (Trixie) Trixie is on a diet! A very strict diet!

She’s lost quite a bit of fat and muscle tissue.”

Ditzy: (Celestia) We will be sure to give her a twenty bit gift certificate to Wacky Hut after she leaves our care and gets back on her hooves.

“So what are you saying doctor?” Twilight asked. “Is Trixie going to be alright?” She turned her violet eyes onto Trixie and couldn’t help but feel pity for her. What could have happened to the proud mare after she’d left Ponyville that could end up leaving her on the ropes like this? Even Rainbow Dash and Rarity were looking at one another in concern.

Doctor: ...Okay fine. You’re right, she doesn’t deserve this no matter how much she had it coming.

Ditzy: (Nods)

“She should be fine Miss Sparkle,” Doctor Checkup told her, “but I recommend that she gets plenty of rest, water, and nutritious meals for the next week, and be confined to this bed for the rest of the day when she wakes up. Don’t let her overeat though. Suddenly gorging herself after living off what looks to be minimal food could upset her system just as much as not eating would.”

Ditzy: Woah. How long has she been starving? I didn’t think she was that bad off.

Doctor: Several months at least.

Ditzy: Poor Trixie...

Princess Celestia nodded. “Thank you Doctor Checkup. We’ll make sure that your recommendation is followed. Would you be a dear and go down to the kitchens? I’m sure that our friend here would love some black bean and carrot soup and a fresh loaf of bread when she wakes;

Doctor: (Checkup) Dammit Celestia! I’m a doctor, not a waitress!

and get some food yourself. I know that you’ve been worrying yourself since Luna brought young Starshine and Moondancer in last night.”

Doctor: Why? Their injuries didn’t seem so bad to me.

Checkup smiled and nodded his head. “As you wish, Your Highness. I’ll be sure to send some up.” As he trotted away, Rei slowly walked up to the bed in which Trixie was lying asleep. Twilight had to admit, Trixie didn’t look anywhere near as haughty while she was sleeping.

Ditzy: (Rainbow) Want to drip her hoof in warm water?

Doctor: (Twilight) Rainbow!

Ditzy: (Rainbow) Hey, it would be funny!

“Onii-chan,” the little filly said quietly, her eyes still on Trixie’s face, “she’s another one of them.”

Doctor: Oh dear.

Ditzy: I don’t like the sound of this one bit.

“What? Two of them?” Riku asked, stunned. Rainbow Dash hovered above him and turned him around. Circles of aquamarine stared into frustrated, brilliant, rose.

“Two of WHAT?” Rainbow Dash countered. “What is going on here?”

Doctor: (Rainbow) How long are you going to put off explaining this?

“I’d like to know that too,” Twilight said, glancing at each of the Keyblade ponies. “What did Rei mean when she said that I was one of them? I’m one of what? What’s this about?” She looked to Princess Celestia, but her mentor didn’t say a word and only watched.

Sora sighed. “I think it’s time we told you our story.”

All: Ugh.

Doctor: Here we go.

Twilight and the others listened patiently as mostly Sora, Riku, and Kairi told them about how they’d lived on tropical islands in peace for years,

Doctor: In excruciating detail.

Ditzy: (Sora) And then I beat Riku in a race to a tree across the island so I could share…

Doctor: (Applejack) That’s mighty nice Sora, but do ya think ya might want to get to a part that got somethin’ to do with the Heartless?

Ditzy: (Rainbow Dash) Yeah! Jeez, we don’t have all day!

with Riku feeling trapped and confined, struck by wanderlust to go out and explore other worlds,

Doctor: I can relate.

and how in his need he opened the door to the heart of their world and accidentally let the Heartless in to destroy it.

Ditzy: (Gulps) I really hope this doesn’t cover Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. We will be here all day!

Doctor: Why can’t you just briefly summarize what happened and explain the more intricate details when they become relevant?

They listened to Sora’s tale of how he’d adventured across numerous worlds with two people named Donald and Goofy,

Doctor: Now you’re explaining things off screen? Why not sooner?

trying to find both Riku and Kairi while they searched for their king, and of how Riku fell in with a witch named Maleficent

Doctor: (Twilight) A witch? Really? Are you…

Ditzy: (Sora) For the hundredth time, stop interrupting me everytime you disagree with something! You can ask questions later!

and betrayed Sora because of his jealousy and their rivalry over Kairi’s affections.

Ditzy: (Rarity) Oh my Riku. You were involved in a love triangle? How tragic! How romantic! Two stallions fighting bitterly for Kairi’s love! Fighting an epic duel to death with their keyblades while the love of their life watches helplessly. Unable to stop the two most important stallions in her life from killing each other.

Doctor: (Riku) Uh, no. That’s not what happened.

Kairi’s tale of how her heart had come to rest within Sora’s to keep it safe had them hanging on to every word, and she explained that she was one of seven ‘Princesses of Heart’, maidens with pure hearts of light who when brought together were the key to opening the door to darkness,

Doctor: If you need to hide the key to an ultimate power, why not make it as convoluted as possible?

beyond which lay Kingdom Hearts and the Realm of Darkness. Maleficent had used Riku to assist her in gathering the princesses,

Ditzy: Pete was on vacation.

but they’d needed Kairi’s heart to make their keyhole to the darkness complete, and it couldn’t be completed or the keyhole sealed while her heart was within Sora’s.

“Wait just a minute!” Rarity exclaimed. “You stabbed yourself?”

Doctor: That’s the part you’re taking issue with?

Sora reared up onto his hind legs and pointed at a thin line in his chest.

Ditzy: It... left him a scar somehow? Huh?

“Right there,” he said solemnly. “When I stabbed myself with the Keyblade of Captive Hearts to unlock Kairi’s heart, it came out and was returned to her, but it also caused my heart to fall into darkness.”

Doctor: (Sora) I started wearing all black and wrote angsty poetry.

“Right in front of my face,” Kairi sighed. “Ansem then turned up and would have ended us, but Riku was able to regain control long enough for us to run. Ansem sent a bunch of Heartless after us, but Sora’s Heartless turned out to be just a little Shadow that followed Donald, Goofy, and me all the way through Hollow Bastion. I knew it was him when it looked at me and refused to attack us.”

Ditzy: (Kairi) That, and it looked like a complete sap. I knew it had to be him.

“And I still need to pay Donald back for whacking me on the head with his staff,” grumbled Sora.

Kairi had seen through to Sora, and when the other Heartless surrounded and jumped them she’d shielded him with her body, and the light in her heart took out the Heartless and brought Sora’s heart back into the light.

Doctor: Which caused some interesting side effects. He started wearing Kairi’s outfits and adopted her mannerisms for a few weeks.

They’d all left Hollow Bastion and returned to Traverse Town for a short while, before Sora, Donald, and Goofy returned to Hollow Bastion to seal the keyhole and continue on to save Riku from Ansem.

Doctor: Thanks for the pointless information.

They ventured all the way to the End of the World, where they saw all that remained of the hundreds of worlds shattered and taken by the Heartless, before they found and confronted Ansem. In an epic battle, Sora and his friends emerged victorious in front of the Door to Darkness, but Ansem opened the door. To his dismay, Sora revealed that Kingdom Hearts wasn’t everlasting, eternal darkness, but light, and the light of all the worlds destroyed Ansem.

Doctor: Something he should have seen coming really.

Behind the door to Kingdom Hearts lay the Realm of Darkness, where thousands upon thousands of Heartless gathered,

Ditzy: For the most awesome rave party ever.

prepared to leave the Realm of Darkness and invade the Realm of Light. They were able to shut the door, but it required Riku and King Mickey to stay behind in the Realm of Darkness in able to do it.

Ditzy: Which was surprisingly not that big of a deal.

Then, as all of the worlds whose hearts had been taken were restored, Sora remained behind to search for Riku while Kairi returned to the Islands to wait for them.

Doctor: (Kairi) Not my proudest moment.

Spike was blowing his nose on a tissue Rarity levitated to him, and Twilight rubbed her eyes with a hoof, feeling them getting a bit misty too.

Ditzy: (Sniffs) That and ‘Simple and Clean’ gets me everytime.

Trixie’s soup had arrived even though the unicorn showed no signs of waking yet,

Doctor: Maybe you should have ordered it after she woke up. Now it will just get cold.

and Twilight admitted privately that she was getting a little hungry too;

Ditzy: She stole Trixie’s soup when nopony was looking.

but the story wasn’t over though, and the five little ponies, Princess Celestia, and Spike continued to listen as Sora and Riku each explained about how they both came upon Castle Oblivion and their exploits within,

Ditzy: Wait a second. Only Riku remembers what happened in there!

Riku trying to master the darkness still within him in the form of Ansem, and Sora dealing with his ever-changing memories at the manipulation of a girl named Naminé.

Ditzy: Wait, you explained Kingdom Hearts 1 in painful detail, but only briefly explaining Chain of Memories? The more plot intense game?

Doctor: Thank goodness for small mercies.

“Naminé?” Spike asked. “Wait, didn’t you mention her before, Kairi.”

She nodded her head. “I did. Naminé is my Nobody. Roxas is Sora’s Nobody, and all of the people in black cloaks that Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and King Mickey were meeting were Nobodies.”

“Then, what is a Nobody?” Celestia asked.

Ditzy: A miserable pile of…

Doctor: Ditzy, we already did that joke.

Ditzy: Oh, right.

“If a Heartless is the heart consumed by darkness, the Nobody is the body and soul left behind by a strong heart,” Riku answered. “Because all Nobodies are born from strong hearts, even the most basic Nobodies are stronger than about half of the Heartless varieties we’ve come across, and the more powerful the Nobody the more they look like what they were in life.”

“There were once a group of thirteen powerful Nobodies led by one called Xemnas,” Sora explained.

Doctor: Wait a minute. Xemnas? If you rearrange the letters,  you could also call him… (Bursts into laughter)

Ditzy: Xemnas is really lucky that he will never meet you.

“They called themselves Organization XIII,

Doctor: How original. Did it take long to come up with it?

and their goal was to collect hearts with the Keyblade in order to make their own Kingdom Hearts, and use its power to make themselves whole again.”

Ditzy: Come to think of it...whatever happened to that thing?

“Well, that sounds reasonable,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, if I didn’t have a heart, I’d want mine back too.”

Ditzy: Which is why they are so popular.

“You’d think it sounds reasonable,” Sora sighed, “but the thing is that without a heart, Nobodies aren’t able to feel emotion. The end completely justifies the means when they have no ethics holding them back.

Ditzy: Though it turned out to be completely pointless considering they would have just grown a new heart anyway.

Their thirteenth member was Roxas, my Nobody, and because he was a part of me he could use the Keyblade, so they unleashed Heartless into the worlds for Roxas to defeat and collect hearts, not caring about anyone they hurt in the process.

Ditzy: And Xaldin had this creepy fixation on the Beast.

Once Riku, DiZ, and Naminé fixed up my memories

Doctor: Wait a minute. You never explained why exactly Naminé did that in the first place.

and forced Roxas to merge back with me,

Doctor: How heroic of them.

Ditzy: Blame DiZ. He’s a complete plothead!

the Organization continued by using me to gather hearts for them, and they also kidnapped Kairi to ensure my obedience.”

Doctor: When will bad guys realize that is never a good idea? That justs adds fuel to the fire.

“Despicable,” growled Rarity.

“Preaching to the choir there, Rarity,” Kairi agreed. “The only nice ones from what I’ve heard from Naminé and Roxas were Axel and Demyx,

Ditzy: Yeah, they were kinda jerks, and almost everypony in the group was a backstabbing traitor.

while the others could be nice when they tried. Saïx,” she spat his name like it was poison, “certainly wasn’t that nice to me.”

Doctor: (Kairi) He made me do his chores and laundry! Whenever we ordered a pizza, he never let me choose the topping, and he made me pay for the it and the tip to the delivery driver!

“How can you have heard from these two?” Twilight asked before Rainbow Dash could ask the same question. “I thought that at the end of this story you would have beaten Xemnas and the rest of the Organization, rescued Kairi, been reunited with all of your friends, and returned home? And since you’re here, you’re obviously whole, so Roxas and Naminé shouldn’t exist at all, right?” Her friends all looked at Twilight and she flattened her ears sheepishly. “Well, that is the logical conclusion.”

Doctor: (Twilight) According to my calculations, that is the 98.53267 percent most likely conclusion.

“And it’s almost right,” Rei exclaimed. “Sora-nii-chan did beat the Organization and come home with Kairi and Riku and the others, but because Roxas-nii-chan and Naminé merged with Sora-nii-chan and Kairi, they aren’t gone and live instead inside of them.”

Ditzy: Though the cheap jerks refused to pay rent, play loud music late at night, and leave pizza boxes all over the place.

“Huh?”

The three older ponies laughed. “We’ve got them living inside of us,” Sora explained, pointing a hoof at his chest. “We can talk to them telepathically and when Kairi and I are in close proximity they can talk to each other.

Doctor: Doesn’t this mean you have almost no private time to yourself now? And they know what you are thinking at all times.

Ditzy: (Sora) Must not think dirty thoughts. Must not think dirty thoughts. Must not think dirty thoughts.

We essentially have real alter-egos, and with a little effort Kairi and I can switch with Roxas and Naminé, and they’ll appear on the outside and have control of our bodies. We’ve been able to figure out so far that Roxas and Naminé have the ability to remain the dominant personality in control for as long as a week before they tire out and need to go back inside, but we’ve also learned that at any time Kairi or I can hijack their control and put them back.”

Ditzy: Imagine how weird and awkward it would be if those two tried to get frisky while in your bodies.

“Interesting,” Twilight said, rubbing her face with a hoof. “Do you think we could meet them?” Sora and Kairi glanced at one another,

Ditzy: (Kairi) Is this such a good idea? Last time I did this, I gained almost 5 pounds after Naminé gorged herself on sweets!

and then they bent their heads down and closed their eyes. A slight wind blew around them in the room, rustling their manes and coats of fur. From their hooves up their colours began changing. Sora’s mahogany coat darkened into a dark grey colour, and his tail and mane shifted from their chocolate-brown into a golden-blonde. Kairi’s light pink colouring softened until she was just as white as Rarity, her own mane and tail becoming a mix of white-blonde and platinum blonde. On Naminé’s snow-white cannons were pink hoof bands, but the most startling change was that the wings Sora and Kairi each had vanished as their colours changed. A horn grew out of Roxas’ head, while Naminé stood a resplendent earth pony, still wearing the raspberry beret Kairi had been wearing. Roxas’ cutie mark was a pair of crossed Keyblades one white and beautiful and the other the black one Sora had used earlier, while Naminé’s was of an artist’s palette.

Ditzy: But-but that makes no sense! They are technically the same pony, so their cutie marks should stay the same!

Doctor: The fact that they changed into a different race is equally puzzling.

“Hey there,” Roxas said, his cerulean eyes the exact same shade as Sora’s.

Ditzy: (Roxas) Do you want to know why the ladies call me a work horse?

“It’s nice to meet you,” Naminé added, bowing her head slightly. Twilight Sparkle just stared at them in awe while Riku started to snigger, and both Roxas and Naminé turned to look at him. “What is it, Riku?”

“He’s a unicorn and you’re an earth pony,” he answered.

Doctor: Why exactly?

Naminé did not seem to be very amused. “Really? I’m an earth pony?

Doctor: What’s wrong with being an earth pony?

Ditzy: I really think I’m not going to like Naminé.

I’m the most magical one in this group and I become an earth pony while the two who can barely use magic become unicorns?

Ditzy: (Naminé) Why am I a filthy mud pony when I could be a beautiful and graceful unicorn instead?

Doctor: Now now. I don’t think she means to be so flippant about earth ponies.

Ditzy: I can spot a bigot a mile away.

How does that make any sense?”

Ditzy: I still think Sora should have been an earth pony. It suits him.

Doctor: What does it matter? It isn’t like you are going to be in that body for long anyway!

“Naminé, it makes perfect sense,” Roxas answered her. She trained her indigo eyes onto him in complete skepticism. “Sora and Kairi are the most athletic of us, so they get wings and become pegasi, able to run and fly and do all sorts of cool tricks.”

Ditzy: What? There are a lot of earth ponies and unicorns that are athletic too! Being a pesasi doesn’t make you a natural athlete!

Doctor: By your logic, I should be a unicorn because my intelligence and studiousness. Except, I’m not...at all.

“Naturally,” Rainbow Dash agreed, puffing her chest out proudly on behalf of all pegasi.

Doctor: (Rolls his eyes) Of course.

“Tell me how they’re the most athletic when Riku’s the one on the Maechen Manticores’ Blitzball team and Sora and Kairi are only second-string for the Basch Justiciars’ senior boys and girls teams?”

Ditzy: (Riku) Heck, Sora’s nickname on the team is ‘The Bench Warmer’.

“Ever see me doing those crazy flips and acrobatics that they’re always using?” Riku asked.

Doctor: (Roxas) True. I’ve always thought you would make an excellent ballet dancer.

“Hmm,” Naminé grumbled, “point taken.”

Doctor: It’s almost as if your theory is based on groundless assumptions.

“And remember what horns are?” Roxas asked her. “What do animals use their horns for?”

Ditzy: Roosting marshmallows?

“Establishing male dominance and proclaiming their strength and ability for all eligible females and for rival males to take note of when searching for mates,” Naminé supplied dryly.

Doctor: Except none of that applies to ponies.

Ditzy: Did she read that from a Ponypedia article?

Roxas rolled his eyes. “They’re weapons Naminé, used for competing with each other and defending their mates and herds.

Ditzy: I’m pretty sure ancient mares didn’t fight over stallions with their horns. They are too short.

Riku and I are the best swordsmen of the group—no, Sora, I’m still better than you—so it’s only natural that we get them.”

Ditzy: Did it ever occur to them it might just be random chance and there is no reason?

Doctor: I suspect their transformations might be personality based, not ability based.

Spike looked up at Fluttershy. “Is that really what they’re for?”

Doctor: (Fluttershy) Indead. It is quite fascinating to watch a deer defend itself from a wolf. Though, it usually doesn’t end well for the deer. It’s a shame, but the wolf does need to eat.

“I believe so,” she said, “but I know that I’ve never seen any of my deer friends fighting one another over a doe before. When one of them takes an interest in a doe, they just go for a stroll in the meadow together, not compete with another male in a way they could get hurt.”

Doctor: They play chess confusingly enough.

“And you,” Roxas said, “you, well…”

Doctor: Naminé has blue eyes and blond hair right?

Ditzy: Yes.

Doctor: ...That’s unfortunate….

Naminé sighed. “I’m not the most athletic or very good with a sword. My art can be just as magic as my magical arts are, but I’m not physically strong.”

“Well now that doesn’t make very much sense at all, dear,” Rarity said. “Most earth ponies are stronger physically than unicorns or pegasi.”

Doctor: (Naminé) Those worthless unmagical earth ponies actually have something going for them?

“And while they can’t actively use magic like us unicorns can,” Twilight added, “they do have a stronger connection to the earth when it comes to growing things or taking care of animals than other ponies.

Doctor: And I have noticed that there are many earth ponies have talents in metal work, mining, and construction.

But it does make some sense too; a lot of earth ponies have a variety of talents besides looking after the land or animals.

Doctor: It just goes to show that you can’t judge other races and species with stereotypes and preconceptions.

Ditzy: I’m looking at you Roxas and Naminé!

Pinkie Pie’s a real party pony, and both she and the Cakes are pastry chefs. I don’t think any of them are anywhere near as strong as Applejack.”

Doctor: And Big McIntosh can drag a house! A house!

“Aw, shucks Twi, yer making me blush.”

The colouring of the Roxas and Naminé started to revert as Sora and Kairi reasserted control. “Well, that was short-lived,” Roxas said dryly.

Ditzy: (Roxas) Our minutes are up.

“It was nice seeing you all personally!” Naminé added.

Ditzy: Good riddance.

Doctor: Indead.

“I do see why Kairi keeps that beret though,” Rarity called. “It looks lovely on you Naminé!”

Ditzy: (Rarity) Though I have no idea why Kairi insists on wearing it all the time.

“Thank you!” Naminé answered just before her head became light pink once again.

Ditzy: I just thought of something. Did it bother you when you realized that you wouldn’t be able fly or use magic like pegasi and unicorns when you first became a pony?

Doctor: It was a bit disappointing, but it didn’t bother me too much. Sure it would have been nice. Being able to fly sounds fun, but I don’t need either to get by. I’m happy the way I am.

Sora shook his head, now fully in control once again. He looked at Riku. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to head-butt Roxas.”

Ditzy: (Riku) I was worried that he would use that horn of his to poke my eye out.

“Meh, he had a horn too. Would’ve taken us hours for me to get the better of him.”

Doctor: Not surprising given the size of their horns and they aren’t usually that sharp.

Ditzy: Why do they keep thinking of their horns as weapons?

“He says that he agrees, except you’d be the loser.”

“When we have a free day, he can come at me and prove it himself.”

Rarity sidled up to Twilight and began whispering in her ear. “Now that’s something I wouldn’t mind watching,” she said.

Doctor: (Rarity) Maybe they can fight in Jello or mud.

Twilight sighed.

Ditzy: (Twilight) Typical macho stallion behavior.

“So, you guys got back home,” she said. “What happened then?”

Ditzy: (Sora) Our story when on hiatus for about 10 years, and they released about a half a dozen prequels and remakes instead of continuing the story.

Kairi answered. “King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Jiminy all went back to Disney Castle, and we returned home to our daily lives. Rei was really excited to see Sora back,

Ditzy: Who was never mentioned and shown before this.

and all of us were grounded for two weeks.

Ditzy: Two weeks!? He was gone for years!

School started up again,

Doctor: Unfortunately, Sora had to start at the 8th Grade.

we got a letter from King Mickey thanking us for all of our hard work and sacrifice, and time passed peacefully. However, we knew that we certainly hadn’t seen the end of it, and I had just gotten my own Keyblade and wasn’t that good with it, so Sora and Riku trained me both in swordplay and magic.”

Ditzy: (Kairi) Well, mostly Riku. Sora slept through most of our training sessions.

“We could notice her getting better and stronger every week,” Sora said proudly. “In five months, Kairi was almost on par when it came to fighting with her Keyblade to me and Riku,

Doctor: So either Kairi is really talented at using a sword, or you guys really suck.

Ditzy: Kairi grinded like crazy.

and she’d already surpassed me in her ability to use magic. We started dating six months after we got back to the islands—”

“About fricking time too,” Riku muttered.

Ditzy: (Riku) If I have to hear ‘It’s not like I like you or anything’ one more time...

“—and while her dad wasn’t the most supportive of us training her to fight after he found out, he did understand the need for it and both of our feelings in the matter.

Doctor: (Sora) He, however, did not support me being Kairi’s boyfriend and chased me with a shotgun.

Kairi didn’t want to be a damsel in distress anymore and help me and Riku out without being a burden,

Ditzy: Ironically, Sora ended up the burden of the group because of his poor base stats.

and more than anything I wanted to make sure she was safe, so keeping her close but able to stand on her own two feet were the best things to do,” Sora continued, smiling at his marefriend.

“That was almost seven months ago,” Kairi said. “We kept on training and doing schoolwork, hanging out and having fun, but then, just over a month ago, something happened that told us our peacetime was over.” She looked at Rei.

Ditzy: (Rei) I-It wasn’t completely my fault really!

The filly gulped and looked at Twilight Sparkle. She glanced once to Princess Celestia, and then to her older brother. He nodded, and Rei turned back to Twilight. Apprehension filled every limb in Twilight’s body.

Doctor: Is Twilight destined to destroy the world or something? Out with it already!

Now she would learn just what it was that Rei had mentioned. Rei opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get more than two words out a groan from the bed interrupted her.

All: (Groans) Thanks Trixie!

        Trixie opened her eyes slowly, seeing everything in a fuzzy haze while consciousness returned to her. Dull pain wracked her body, and she felt incredibly weary. Her stomach ached from its now chronic emptiness, and Trixie regretted having eaten that last cinnamon-coated pinecone as a late-night snack instead of saving it for a time when she needed it, like right now.

Doctor: If only grass wasn’t a hard to come by commodity in Equestria!

Ditzy: Doctor, have you ever tried to eat grass off the ground?

Doctor: Well...no...

Ditzy: It isn’t pleasant.

        She closed her eyes again, and remembered what had happened before she blacked out. Those shadows, what were they, and where was she for that matter? She couldn’t have gotten rid of all of them, and even if she had, shouldn’t she be lying on the road? This certainly felt like a bed beneath her back.

        Trixie opened her eyes again. There was a white ceiling above her. “Where am I?” she asked aloud.

        “Ah, so you’re awake now.”

        That voice! There was only one pony in all of Equestria who had such a maternal and majestic voice like that.

Doctor: Twilight Velvet?

Ditzy: Berry Punch?

Trixie turned her head in a little bit of shock to see Princess Celestia herself standing beside her bed.

Doctor: Oh, right.

Ditzy: Yeah, that should have been obvious.

“P-Princess!” she stammered. “To what does the Great and P—I mean, to what does the humble Trixie owe the pleasure?”

        Sweat began beading on Trixie’s face

Ditzy: (Trixie) Maybe if Trixie quickly jabs her in the face, Trixie can make a run for it.

as the questions continued to assault her mind. Obviously she was now in Canterlot Castle with the princess here, but how did she get here, and why would Princess Celestia be here, waiting for her to wake up?

Doctor: (Trixie) That’s it! She’s going to brainwash Trixie so Trixie can’t go after her student!

        The Sun Princess’ gentle voice touched her ears again. “You have no need to be afraid, Trixie,” she said. She lowered a wing to softly brush against Trixie’s face. “The castle is safe from the shadows that attacked you earlier. Please, be calm; you’re among friends here.”

        Trixie felt herself calming down at the soft words Princess Celestia spoke. Her touch felt like a warm sunbeam,

Ditzy: (Trixie) That feels really nice. Ok, getting little hot now. Stop it or Trixie’s face will melt off!

and Trixie let a small smile come to her face as some of her worries were swept away for the moment.

Doctor: Like where will she find a good cardboard box to sleep in after she leaves the hospital?

Ditzy: If Donut Joe’s dumpster will have partly fresh donuts for her to salvage.

“Thank you, but Princess Celestia,” she had to ask, “how did Trixie get here?”

        “You could thank us for that.”

        Trixie’s eyes widened at the voice.

Doctor: (Trixie) (Venomously) You! Twilight Sparkle!

She’d heard it before, but it had certainly belonged to one of the ponies that she had humiliated when she’d performed in Ponyville.

Doctor: (Trixie) Oh no. Twilight and her minions are on to me!

Princess Celestia still smiled warmly and stepped aside, revealing several other ponies in the room, and Trixie could immediately recognize most of them as Ponyvillians. It was the blue pegasus who had spoken, and even though she sounded a little annoyed, she did look somewhat concerned.

Ditzy: (Rainbow) Are you ok? Not that I care or anything. Idiot.

        “Are you alright, Trixie?” the lavender unicorn asked her. Trixie’s eyes darted between the unicorn and Princess Celestia. Trixie had heard more about this particular mare and her friends since she’d left Ponyville. She was undoubtedly Twilight Sparkle, the Bearer of the Element of Magic of the six Elements of Harmony, a pony that had saved Equestria from eternal night and chaos along with her friends, and was the personal protégé of the white alicorn standing beside Trixie’s bed.

Ditzy: (Trixie) What a shameless Mary Sue that Twilight Sparkle is! What next? Becoming a Princess?

        And Trixie had…

Doctor: Only a baby pin, a paper clip, and a piece of gum. It would more than be enough to escape with.

        A small unicorn filly looked up at a brown pegasus stallion. “Sora-nii-chan, why is her face turning white?”

Doctor: Trixie could see several blunt objects in the hooves of the ponies in front of her. They looked eager.

        “Trixie, you don’t have to be scared,” Princess Celestia said in understanding, drawing the azure unicorn’s attention back to her and away from the Ponyville ponies.

Doctor: A mistake she regretted when they pounced on her.

“I have heard about you from my faithful student, and I want you to know that neither I nor Twilight harbour any ill feelings towards you.”

Ditzy: (Celestia) Everypony else on the other hoof...

        Trixie blinked, and some of the colour returned to her face. “You…you don’t hate Trixie for what she did?”

Doctor: Hate is a strong word.

Ditzy: Hate you? No way. A little annoying maybe.

        Twilight shook her head and smiled softly. “No Trixie. Although your boasting about things you never did was a bit much, nopony could have expected Snips and Snails to actually go and bring an Ursa Minor to town.”

Ditzy: (Twilight) Although I can blame somepony else for giving them the idea in the first place!

Doctor: (Spike) Hey! I never meant for them to take the challenge seriously!

        Rarity stomped a hoof on the floor. “You turned my mane green!”

        Trixie bit her lip and lowered her head. “Yes, well, Trixie does feel a little foalish for her conduct in Ponyville.”

Doctor: (Trixie) And Baltimare, and Manehatten, and Van Hoover, and...

        Applejack huffed. “A little? Are you hearing this Twi?”

        “Applejack,” Twilight hissed.

Doctor: (Twilight) Can’t anypony let go of a grudge around here?!

        “In fact, it was not only Ponyville that gazed upon the Great and Powerful Trixie as some of you did,” Trixie admitted in a quiet voice. “Fillydelphia and Baltimare were…less kind to Trixie than the rustic Ponyville was.”

Doctor: (Trixie) Where did the crowd even get all that rotten fruit?

        Spike rolled his eyes. “Gee, why am I not surprised?”

        Trixie shot the baby dragon a look.

Ditzy: (Trixie) Do you think it is fun being booed and pelted off a stage!?

“If you must know, the Great and Powerful Trixie’s feats of unparalleled magic show ended in Ponyville.

Ditzy: The loss of her cart and everything she owned probably had something to do with it.

The Ursa Minor showed Trixie that she was a fool to trumpet feats she had never accomplished;

Ditzy: (Coughing) Horseapples.

that sooner or later her she would get herself into situations too big for her if she continued, or turn ponies she couldn’t best against her and possibly get herself hurt.”

Doctor: What did you expect when you go from town to town humiliating and insulting everyone you come across?

        Princess Celestia nodded kindly. “It sounds like you learned an important lesson about friendship.”

        “Friendship?” Trixie laughed.

Ditzy: (Trixie) You believe in that load of nonsense? Friendship is for the weak!

“Princess, you give the Great and Powerful Trixie too much credit. Trixie only remembered to be honest and a bit more modest to other ponies.”

Ditzy: (Rolls eyes) Somehow I doubt that.

Doctor: Right modest, of course. That’s why you still call yourself ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ and refer to yourself in third person in normal conversation. In front of a Princess no less.

        “But honesty is an important part of friendship,” Fluttershy said softly, coming closer towards Trixie and earning the unicorn’s attention for the first time. “Why, if nopony was honest with anypony else, then the foundation of trust many friendships are built on couldn’t exist.”

Doctor: Insert politician joke here.

        “You must be Fluttershy, Bearer of the Element of Kindness.” Trixie noted that the yellow pegasus took a half-step back at her blunt tone.

Doctor: How does she know that? Celestia suppressed as much information as possible about the Elements of Harmony and its bearers so she could to protect them.

Ditzy: Either Trixie really is out for revenge, or she’s a stalker.

        “Why, yes, I am. It’s nice to actually meet you, Trixie, but I don’t really think we should keep you talking very long. You just woke up after all, and I’m sure you’re very hungry.” Trixie’s traitorous stomach growled loudly in agreement, and she defiantly raised her head, daring any of them to laugh.

All: (Laughs)

Ditzy: Ok, maybe that was a bit rude.

        Twilight’s horn glowed with magenta light, and a bowl of soup flew towards Trixie’s bedside. “Here,” said Princess Celestia. “I had the doctor looking after you send this up from the kitchens. Eat up my little pony, and don’t hesitate to ask for more when you’ve finished.”

Ditzy: (Trixie) Wait a second...this is almost empty!

Doctor: (Twilight) (Whistles innocently)

A loaf of fresh bread was also levitated towards her, and Trixie felt a smile come to her face when she saw that none of them were now giving her looks of distrust.

Doctor: (Trixie) What idiots. All Trixie needed were a few words of apology and Trixie was able to completely gain their trust! This is far too easy.

        “Thank you,” she said, her horn now glowing with violet light as she grasped hold of the bowl of soup and spoon. “Trixie is…grateful for your kindness and understanding, Twilight Sparkle, but she…I must know. How did I get here? The last thing Trixie saw were those shadow things surrounding her.”

Doctor: (Twilight) After noticing that flash you created, we saw that you were in danger. We rushed down to save you. After defeating the Heartless, we argued for about 5 minutes about whether or not we should leave you to die. Rarity was especially adamant about leaving you. In the end we did the right thing and rescued you.

Ditzy: (Trixie) ...Thanks...real heroes all of you.  

        “Princess Celestia summoned us to Canterlot and had one of the Pegasus Guard captains assigned to get us,” Twilight Sparkle answered. “We saw a big flash of light below us and saw you surrounded by Heartless, so that’s when Captain Cloudhammer and his team flew us down to your rescue.”

        Trixie paused in eating her soup to raise her eyebrow at Twilight. “Heartless?” she asked snidely. “Is that what we’re calling those things?”

        “It’s what they are,” spoke up one of the other ponies in the room, a brown pegasus with a wildly spiked chocolate mane, “and unfortunately, you and Twilight are going to be seeing a lot more of them.”

Ditzy: (Sora) They are going to have a convention soon.

        “And you are?” Trixie asked.

        “I’m Sora,” he replied, “and this is Kairi, Riku,

Ditzy: (Trixie) Hubba-hubba! (Wolf whistles and howls)

Doctor: (Riku) Oh for Zeus's sakes! Can I go anywhere without some girl drooling over me!?

and Rei. We came to Equestria by accident, but we’re here to deal with the Heartless, and we’d like you and Twilight to accompany us when we leave.”

Ditzy: Unfortunately, Trixie ended up as one of those gimmick characters nopony ever uses and spent most of her time out of the main party.

        Trixie narrowed her eyes. “And why should the Great and Powerful Trixie go with you?”

Doctor: (Sora) We offer very good benefits. We pay travel expenses, have matching 401k, offer health, dental, and life insurance, and have employee stock purchase plans. We also have very good opportunities for promotion.

        For some reason, all the ponies looked at the little filly. She sighed, took a deep breath, and came closer to Trixie. Rei glanced at Sora, then Twilight, and finally settled her gaze on Trixie. “About a month ago, I had a dream,” she said. “I was standing on a platform with a floor of stained glass in the middle of a dark place.

Ditzy: (Rei) Typical Kingdom Hearts dream stuff.

Painted on it were me and my brother, and at first I didn’t know why I was having this dream, but then a voice spoke to me. It told me that dark days were ahead,

Doctor: Aren’t they always? Why can’t nice days be ahead for once?

and that my brother would need my help to overcome them. The voice showed me flashes of people that would be the key. I can’t really remember what they look like now,

All: How convenient.

but I know that I know who they are, and the voice told me to gather them, the Keepers of the Art.”

Ditzy: Sora and his friends need to gather hip-hop artists?

        “Keepers of the Art?” Rainbow Dash asked.

        “Well what in the hay are they supposed to be?” Applejack wondered, glancing around.

Doctor: A plot device to get Twilight and her friends on adventures in other worlds.

        Princess Celestia, however, gasped and leaned towards Rei. “Are you sure? Are you sure you were told to gather the Keepers?” Rei nodded, apparently surprised at the sudden earnest of the alicorn.

Doctor: Is it really such a good idea to trust some unknown voice in your head?

        “Princess Celestia, what is it? What are the Keepers of the Art?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

        “And what do Twilight Sparkle and Trixie have to do with them?” Trixie asked. She took another sip of her soup, but she had to admit that the filly’s tale was intriguing. Preposterous for all of this fuss because of a dream and a voice, but Celestia’s reaction to it was no doubt intriguing.

Doctor: On the other hoof, Celestia overreacts all the time. It might be nothing.

        The Sun Princess turned a steady eye on her pupil. “The Keepers of the Art are said in legend to be six beings, united together in mastery of the arcane art that we call magic. Together, they can perform feats of magic impossible for a single unicorn to do alone, or even a hundred combined. Luna and I together would even be dwarfed by their combined power.”

Doctor: Wait a minute, this sounds familiar….

Ditzy: !

        “Really?” Trixie asked, the spoon dropping onto the white sheet and slowly beginning to stain it red. Princess Celestia nodded.

Ditzy: (Celestia) You’re paying for those sheets by the way.

        “Yes,” she said, “and it is also said that together they can divine the location of any magical artifact and summon it, or at least clear a path towards it, in an instant. They also uphold the universe’s flow of magic just by existing.”

All: (Jaw drops)

Doctor: H-how did you know that!?

Ditzy: I-I-I don’t know!

        Kairi nodded her head. “Yeah. Master Yen Sid said about the same thing to us. He also told us that new Guardians are born whenever the others eventually die, but that if all six were to be killed at once then the Realms of both Light and Darkness would be thrown into total chaos as magic went haywire without anyone to uphold it.”

Doctor: Um, is it such a wise idea to try and gather them then?

Ditzy: This can’t end well.

“Soon after Rei had the dream, Heartless appeared on the Islands and tried to take her,” Sora said. “But we were able to fight them off, and Rei got a Keyblade during the fighting. I…I honestly didn’t want to believe that she was the only one who knew who the Guardians were; that my little sister was to be my key to connecting everything, but she is.

Ditzy: I have a theory about this. I think I know what Rei is.

Doctor: A clumsily introduced OC character?

Ditzy: I think Shire Folk is too good of a writer to do something like that. I think Rei is a clone of Sora.

Doctor: A… clone?

Ditzy: She was created by Xehanort as a spy and he used some magic to insert her into his life with him none the wiser. He only thinks he has previous memories about her. Maybe something about Rei causes that in others. Then he gave her the power to find the keepers and sent Sora on a quest to find them for him!

Doctor: Uh huh.

Ditzy: I think it is awfully convenient that a previous unmentioned sibling of Sora not only can use a keyblade, but can find the Keepers of the Art as well! And was compelled by a mysterious voice to do it! She is also a perfect tool to manipulate and break Sora’s heart! Making it easy to make Sora’s heart fall into darkness allowing Xehanort the perfect opportunity to use his body however he pleases!

Doctor: That just sounds wrong. And you reading too much into this. It could just be plain old contrivance.

Ditzy: Nope, I’m sure there is something sinister going on here!

Thanks to her we’ve already found one of them, and now you and Trixie bring our count up to three, Twilight.”

“You said, ‘Guardians’ just now,” Trixie said. “I thought that they were called ‘Keepers’.”

Ditzy: Shire Folk messed up while editing this.

Sora smiled sheepishly. “Well, technically, yes. But, Keepers of the Art just doesn’t sound as cool or easy to understand as Guardians of Magic

All: Title drop!

does, because that’s essentially what they are.”

“So Sora’s taken to calling them the Guardians of Magic,” Riku clarified.

Ditzy: (Riku) He has already trademarked it and is selling t-shirts and coffee mugs on his website.

“You hear that Twilight,” the baby dragon said. “You’re a Guardian of Magic! How cool is that?”

Doctor: (Spike) Maybe you can get on in this sweet merchandising deal!

“But what makes you so sure that Trixie is one of them?” Trixie demanded before anypony else could speak. “Tell me you have more to go on than a filly’s dreams! It is true that Trixie’s talent is magic,

Doctor: Illusion magic to be precise.

but she has not the power of Twilight Sparkle or the princesses. Trixie cannot defeat an Ursa Major, or even an Ursa Minor, and has never channelled the magic of the universe before.

Doctor: Except that is exactly what magic does.

Though Trixie has good mastery and understanding of magic, all she has for tricks are minor conjurations and illusions, though she has—”

Ditzy: Sora kissed her to shut her up.

A flash of light silenced Trixie as her voice continued to drop. In front of the mare hovered something that she had never truly seen before, but thought she glimpsed before fading into unconsciousness earlier.

“There was only one other thing that Master Yen Sid gave us to go off of when finding the Guardians besides Rei’s half-remembered dream vision,” Sora said. “Each of the Guardians has the potential to summon a Keyblade.”

All: …

Ditzy: Maybe a certain wall-eyed pegasus will turn out to be a Guardian too and get a keyblade of her own too?

Doctor: The story isn’t going to change itself because you plead it to.

Ditzy: It’s worth a try.

So yes, Trixie has a Keyblade and Twilight will be getting one as well.

Doctor: Wonderful. Now we will never be rid of Trixie!

The astute will note that this means that Zelda has one too.

Ditzy: Why a keyblade? Couldn’t Shire Folk come up with something more original?

Please leave your feedback if you wish, and I hope you’re all enjoying the story.

Ditzy: Can something happen already? Please!

Doctor: Somehow this chapter felt even longer than the last one and that one was twice as long!

Shire Folk

-------------------------------------------------------------

The Doctor and Ditzy left the theater groaning. “That took forever!” Ditzy whined. The Doctor nodded in agreement.

“I want to like the story. I really do.” Ditzy waved her hooves in the air for emphasis. “But it won’t let me!”

“It would help if Shire Folk didn’t feel the need to explain every little thing.” The Doctor shook his head. “It’s like he constantly afraid his audience will get lost if he doesn’t make everything perfectly clear.”

“It’s a shame. I think it has the makings of a good story.” Ditzy sighed. “Hmmm… Is it even still Nightmare Night?”

The Doctor glanced at a nearby antique cuckoo clock that came from his TARDIS. “It’s only half past seven.”

“The night is still young then!” Ditzy clapped her bagged hooves together in glee.

“So what do you want to do first?” The Doctor asked. The two had several activities planned for tonight: watching horror movies, eating all the candy they want, playing Nightmare Night games, carving pumpkins, telling scary stories, and playing some horror games Ditzy picked out.

“Well...how about…” Ditzy was interrupted when the ground once again shook for a moment. The Doctor and Ditzy froze. “That thing again? I hoped it was taken care of by now!”

The ground continued to shake and it sounded like the thumping was getting louder. Decorations were starting to fall off the ceiling. “This can’t be good.”

The sound got louder and louder until a giant foot crashed through the ceiling. Dust flew in all over the place. The Doctor and Ditzy instinctively dove under the table for protection.  Something cried out an unearthly scream of surprise. The Doctor and Ditzy looked from under the table and could only stare in surprise at the eldritch thing in front of them.

It was gigantic and was covered with grayish brown tentacles that appeared to be its fur of sorts. On its toes were giant black talon like claws. It was nothing like the Doctor had even seen before. After recovering from the shock of seeing it, the Doctor couldn’t help but smile.

“Looks like we found a way out of here.” The Doctor grinned wickedly.

        “Finally!” Ditzy returned the smile.

Next Chapter: Episode 5 - Part 1 - Guardians of Magic - Chapter 4 Estimated time remaining: 28 Hours, 27 Minutes