This chapter was written with the assistance of Show Stopper. A Crossover with A Heart Eclipsed. This takes place later in his story.

inFAMOUS Displaced
Chapter 1
Manehatten Mess (Part 2)

We waited until morning to “interrogate” the conduit. I put on the quotation marks because I knew why she did what she did, but I was wondering if she knew what she did in the long run.

When Stella, Obsidian, the conduit, and myself were gathered together, the conduit seemed hostile. “If this is an interrogation, you should know that Mister Blue Eagle,” she said, referring to me, “Already saw why I did what I did!”

I held up my hands to calm her down. “First off, I have a name, Delsin Rowe. Second off…” I didn’t get a chance to finish when the mare squeed really loud while bouncing around like Pinkie Pie.

“You’re Delsin Rowe!?” She shouted in excitement, “I wasn’t able to recognize you! The pictures of you in the history books look different than what you look like now.”

“Anyway, the sec…”

“Of course, I’m more of a fan of Smoke Shot. From what you saw, I take after her. Everything was taken from me through this Gang war and I want to end it!” She proclaimed almost gladly.

I looked at her with horror. “Do you...even...know...who makes up...MOST OF THE SKULLCAPS!?!” I bellowed at near Royal Canterlot Voice, “I understand that you lost your family in this senseless conflict, but you need to stop!”

“Why?! She lost everything and I’ve lost everything. She did what she could to end the war and I intend to do the same.”

“Since when does such actions lead to murder?”

“They murdered my husband and unborn foal!”

“You were caught in the crossfire!” I countered before I suddenly got in her face. “Not to mention the fact that you are killing innocents!”

“The Skullcaps…”

“Shut it!” I halted her sentence. “The members of the Skullcaps are kidnapped from their families and brainwashed to serve. As for the Steel Beaks, they have lives that involve loved ones. How does killing innocents serve to honor your family’s death?”

The mare looked at me with horror. “I didn’t know...Pencil...Fetch...Why?” She muttered to herself.

“There is a way to redeem yourself,” Stella said. The mare perked up at this.

“How!?” She shouted out, “I only wanted to right the wrongs done to me, but I don’t know what to do to right the wrongs I’ve done.”

“There are three steps to fixing that,” I said, “The first is to give us your name.”

“Neon Streak.”

“The second and third steps go hand in hand...or hoof in hoof to use pony vocabulary,” I said, “You have to admit your guilt and do your best to not do what you did wrong.”

“That’s it? Isn’t there more?”

‘Technically there is.’

“What...Ttthhhe…” Obsidian said as time seemed to slow down.

‘Sora is calling for you!’

‘What?! When?! Where?!’

‘Calm down. I’ll get you there in a jiffy.’

‘Make sure that everypony here comes with. I may need all the help I can get.’

‘Gotcha!’

Delsin’s POV

Getting summoned by a keyblade was a very different experience from getting summoned by token. One moment I was talking with Neon, and the next I was standing in a plaza on the other side of Manehattan, frozen in time along with Neon, Obsidian, and Stella. Thought the sun shined brightly, the situation was anything but peaceful. A pegasus in red armor floated frozen in the air nearby, his hoof outstretched as if to direct the ponies around him. To my side stood a cream coated earth pony with an artfully designed keyblade in her mouth, probably the one who summoned me. Finally, my eyes fell upon Sora, dressed in white and with several keyblades surrounding him, the one in his left hand raised and ready to come down on a familiar being armored in concrete.

Suddenly, time was in motion again. Ponies screamed as they ran, the armored pegasus directing them away. Sora’s blade fell upon Nisled, followed by a barrage of blows from the three that floated around him. The earth pony beside us turned to me, eyes hard even as tears streamed down her face. “Sora needs you,” she said, before summoning a large lion and running off to help coordinate the evacuation.

I looked to my three companions and saw their confusion. “Obsidian, Neon, I’ll explain later. In the meantime, Neon, I need you to get on the rooftops and begin sniping.” She nodded and rushed off at light speed. “Obsidian, barriers between Nisled and the fleeing ponies.” Looking at where Obsidian was, I saw a stone pillar instead. “As for you,” I said, turning to Stella, “Try to keep up.” I then sped to the fight at light speed, but because this was my first time in light speed, I overshot and ended up crashing through a window.

“Stop playing around and get fighting!” Sora shouted, dodging a punch by vanishing and reappearing a few paces back. “Coco! I need you back here the MOMENT everypony is out of range! Bring the Captain, too.”

“Yes sir!” shouted Coco from the other side of a stone wall.

I pulled myself back onto my feet and drained the neon from the sign hanging in the ruined window. I then sped to one of the golem’s legs and struck out with a neon covered chain, the neon allowing the chain to slice through it as if it was a light saber. The Golem stumbled a bit and turned its attention on me and was about to hit me, but a few neon bolts from a nearby rooftop knocked its aim off. Not that it would have done any good; I sped up the side of another building and jumped off, aiming a slam on top of the golem’s head. The blow knocked the golem to the ground and I sped to the side just as Sora took advantage of the sudden weakness.

“Graviga!” he shouted, and the ground cratered around the golem. Sora flipped into the air above it, switching out the keyblades in his hands even as one of the ones orbiting him took aim. “Firaga! Blizzaga! Thundaga!” The trio of magical blasts struck the golem at once, trapping it in a pillar of ice even as fire and lightning raged within. Sora landed next to me, barely sparing me a glance before glaring back at the golem. “Alright, soldier. How do we handle this guy?”

“Tear him apart, let him put himself back together, and then banish him,” I reply.

Sora nodded, a malicious grin forming on his face. “Let’s just focus on smashing away that concrete armor then,” he said. “Trust me, Coco’s going to want to do the ‘tearing apart’ bit herself.” He leapt into the air again as the pillar of ice began to crack. Floating above the golem, he summoned a small swarm of keyblades, the cloud about the size of a house. “Let’s see how you handle this!” With a wave of his arm, the swarm descended upon the pillar, shattering it and delivering a barrage of blows to the golem.

Neon and I fired neon bolts into the swarm, each shot enhancing a keyblade before it struck. After the attack, I charged up a shot and hit the head dead on, shattering the front and revealing Nisled’s torso.

Sora jumped in behind him, a scythe-looking keyblade in one hand while the other held a massive blade wrapped in bandages. He struck out at Nisled’s back, cracking the armor there. Before Nisled could turn to counter, Sora vanished and appeared at his side, striking one of his legs. Several slenderwalks later, Nisled’s armor was cracked and shattered in half a dozen places, a few pieces falling off entirely.

“One last blow should do it for the armor,” Sora said, grinning as he saw Coco approaching. “Delsin, finish off the armor and get out of the way. You don’t want to be caught in the middle of this.”

“Hit me with lightning,” I shouted out, “I know what I can do!”

“Thundaga!”

A bolt of lightning descended, striking me. I absorbed the electricity and let the lightning flow into my arms. I raised my arms to the sky and the distinct sound of thunder was heard. I let my arms fall and blue lightning struck Nisled’s armor several times, breaking it into pieces. Nisled fell to the ground and was hit a few times with a few spare bolts.

Sora grabbed my shoulder, slenderwalking both of us back several yards. Seeing my glare, Sora just shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in the splash zone.”

Several flashes of light drew my attention back to Nisled and my eyes went wide. A veritable menagerie of animals surrounded him, every one of them snarling and gnashing their teeth at him. Standing before them was Coco, her eyes cold as she stared Nisled down.

“Kill.”

The hoards descended, ripping, tearing and biting at every inch of Nisled that they could reach. Nisled howled in pain as his limbs were torn to shreds. A lion, a small dog, a scraggly wolf and an elephant grabbed his arms and legs, ripping them out entirely as a swarm of smaller critters tore into his chest.

“Down.”

All at once, it was over, The bloodstained animals sat back, as docile as kittens. Only Nisled’s head remained recognizable, and even that hadn’t survived unscratched.

I moved forward, working to try to keep my breakfast down. I gripped his head and pulled it off of the torso to examine it.

“Hi!” The head suddenly said. I yelped and chucked the head on the ground. I then sped to a garbage can and let my breakfast have freedom.

“Yeah, that’s what I expected,” said Sora, walking forward and picking up the head himself. “So, you’re the infamous Nisled.” He shook his own head, tossing Nisled’s up and down. “If that’s the best fight you could put up, I honestly don’t see what the big deal is.”

“That was only the opening act,” the head said.

“Of course it was,” Sora muttered. “Wow, you even talk like a cheesy villain. Hey Delsin!” He turned to look at the upchucking displaced over his shoulder. “You ready to get this yaying buysomeapples out of my world?”

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, PORCUPINE!” The head interrupted, “Is that a manhole cover you’re standing on?”

Sora leapt backwards, hovering in the air as he glared at the head. “I have no idea, but I’ve dealt with Discord many times before. Random changes of topic mean not to humor the likes of you.”

“There’s more to it than that. LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING!!!” With those words, the manhole cover was blown off of it’s cover by a smoky explosion. From the hole, came out a pony shaped figure.

“Firaga.”

The figure exploded into flame as Sora casually pointed his blade at it. “Thundaga. Blizagga. Firaga. Once again, dealt with Discord. You summon something, I blast it full force immediately. Thundaga. Blizagga."

“Yeesh, you’re lucky that wasn’t anypony important and just simply shared some of their DNA.”

Sora shrugged. “Didn’t sense anything but corruption and darkness from it. It was a pretty safe bet.” He looked over to see me walking over now that I’d finally gotten my stomach under control. “So, ready to make with the banishing?”

“You got it.” I pulled out a Banishing Key and let it float on it’s own. The head and the key glowed red and a beam from the key hit the head, shooting it out of Sora’s hands and into a nearby void portal.

Sora flashed back from Final Form, stretching out his back. “Well, that takes care of that. Now, I just fought a being from another world who killed at least six ponies, one of whom I knew and liked. I need some happiness therapy.” He turned, grinning and running to Stella, scooping her up into his arms. “Stella!” he cried, squeezing her tightly. “Oh, you’re just as cute as ever!”

Before Stella could respond to that, a grey blur headbutted Sora in the gut, but a neon blur knocked that off of him and dust was kicked up as a brawl between Obsidian and Neon began.

“General!” Sora looked up from where he lay, still holding Stella to his chest, as Thunder Kicker flew towards him.

“Stand down,” said Sora, waving him off as he stood. “Everything’s fine. Get some keybladers checking around here. That big guy was putting out enough darkness to attract a titan. There’s bound to be a few large heartless swarms nearby. And get the Chief. This whole area is going to need some serious reconstruction.”

“Sir!” The pegasus saluted before dashing off to follow his orders.

“Now then,” Sora muttered, stroking a disgruntled Stella’s mane. “One more thing to do.” He turned and walked over to Coco, who stared straight at where Nisled’s head had vanished. Her summons had tried to comfort her, but had vanished soon after the battle had ended. “How you doing, Coco?”

Coco sniffed, not even looking at Sora as the tears began once again.

“You’re right. Stupid question.” Sora knelt down next to her, smiling softly. “But hey, you know what would make you feel better?”

Coco turned to him, only to freeze as she locked eyes with Stella, who Sora held out to her.

“Hug the cute alicorn.”

“What?”

“WHAT!”

“Hush, Stella,” said Sora. “Coco’s hurting really bad, and hugging cute ponies helps people feel better. Now Coco, hug the cute alicorn.”

“Um…” muttered Coco, blushing slightly as Stella glared at her. “I- I don’t know if I-”

“Hug. The. Cute. Alicorn.”

Hesitating a moment longer, Coco slowly reached out and wrapped her hooves around Stella. Immediately, she burst into tears, holding Stella close and sobbing into her shoulder.

I stepped forward and tapped Sora’s shoulder, getting his attention and motioning for him to step back. He nodded, giving Coco one last smile before standing and stepping away.

A stray neon bolt suddenly hit Sora’s leg, causing him to be wrapped up in neon bindings. “Of course,” he muttered, falling over on his face as I turned to the brawl between the two conduits I brought along. I saw that Obsidian had pinned Neon down and the arm that had shot the shot was held behind her back.

*HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH!?* I bellowed in Skullcap, causing Obsidian to suddenly look up at me in embarrassment and Neon in confusion. He released her and stepped back. Neon wasted no time in rapidly spinning around and decking him.

“Ah, the wonders of having companions,” Sora said, his voice slightly muffled by the ground. “Could be worse. I had two who kept sneaking off for some lovey-dovey time and repeatedly threw off our schedule. Now, would you mind getting me out of here?”

I activated a small gigawatt blade and sliced off the binding. “There you go. Enough fiber for you,” I joked, helping him to his feet.

“Hilarious,” he muttered, looking around at the damaged plaza and sighing. “Man, this is going to take a while to fix. Not to mention explaining what that thing was, talking to the families of the ponies he killed… yeah, I’ll be staying in Manehattan longer than I’d thought.”

“I might stay for a bit as well,” I said, picking up a piece of debris and examining it, “I may be put to work, but it beats dealing with the paperwork involving a surge of conduit gangs.”

“Yeah, that’s the one good thing about the heartless,” admitted Sora. “Keeps organized and major crime away and even discourages minor crimes. Of course, then you have to deal with personified evil trying to devour the hearts of innocents everywhere you go, so, you know, it’s a trade off.”

“So, random conversation break off, do you know Flowmotion?”

Sora raised an eyebrow. “Well, I find that most motion flows pretty well. It’s really only the young or impaired whose movements are jerky and halted.”

I facepalmed. “How far into Kingdom Hearts did you get before being displaced?”

“1. 2. Chain of Memories. A bit of 358/2 Days. I forgot almost everything else about my old life before Equestria a long time ago, even before I was petrified.”

“Ah, okay. Dream Drop Distance must have either not come out, or you didn’t get a chance to play or watch it before getting displaced.”

“More likely the second,” said Sora. “I do remember the title, but very little else.” He looked over at the two conduits who were still rolling around and fighting. “So, what’s their story?”

“Obsidian Shard and Neon Streak,” I said, “Obsidian was a former member of the Skullcap gang. My first time being summoned freed him from neuro-tar influence.”

“And Neon?”

“A gang war between the Skullcaps and the Steel Beaks killed her husband and unborn foal. She wanted blood, but I had to remind her of the accidental circumstances of their deaths to pull her back.”

“I see.” He continued to watch the fight for a while before smirking and cupping his hands around his mouth. “Oh will you two just get over it and kiss already?!”

The two conduits froze, mid-punch. They stared at Sora with angry, yet blushing faces. They turned back to each other and nodded. Neon suddenly rushed forward, knocking Sora’s legs out from underneath him. When his back hit the pavement, an obsidian pillar shot up right next to his neck, barely a centimeter from it.

“Wow,” said Sora, unfazed as he grinned up at me. “Did you see those blushes? There’s no way they haven’t already fallen for each other. How long do you think before you’re having the same problem I had?”

“Ehh?”

“See? They’re not even denying it!”

“All teasing aside, in what way can I help here?”

“Depends on what you can do.” Sora and I looked over to see a light blue earth pony walking over. “Red Light. Chief of Police here in Manehattan. Thanks for the help with… whatever that was.”

“Let’s just say ‘Bio-Terrorist’ and leave it at that,” I said.

“Right,” Red Light said, shaking his head and dropping the subject. “Anyway like I said, it depends on what you can do. I know that Sora here has a few different spells, but they’re all better at destruction than rebuilding. Not to mention he’s a bit of a wimp compared to us ponies.”

“HEY!”

“Each of my elements have uses,” I began, “Smoke, I can fit through certain debris and get back out again. Light, illumination. Electricity, my kinetic pulse can lift debris. Neon, I can cut through most materials. I don’t even want to mention the last element.”

“Probably a good idea,” said Sora. “Even Luna doesn’t advertise that one outside of her own guard.”

Red Light raised an eyebrow but once again shrugged it off. “Well, the biggest concern here is checking out the damaged buildings. We need to make sure they’re structurally sound before we can send anypony in. That smoke thing should let you do that safely. Sora, you can… Well, I guess you could...”

“You know,” said Sora, his eye twitching a bit, “I think I’ll help out with the heartless patrols.”

“Hold up,” I said. I lit up my hand with Harmony magic and formed a Squirrel Noise on his shoulder. “That Noise will help you...support if needed.”

“...okay. What’s it do?”

“What you tell it,” I answer. I turned to the Chief, “You happen to have some smoke on hand...er...hoof?”

“Do I look like a unicorn to you?”

“Don’t you use pipes, cigars, or cigarettes?”

Red Light raised an eyebrow. “Sure we use pipes. How else are we supposed to transport water? But what does that have to do with smoke?”

“NEVERMIND!” I shout as I used a lightning tether to get to the top of a building’s chimney to absorb some smoke. Once that was accomplished, I dropped down in front of Red and said quietly, “Smoking is bad for you, anyway.”

“That’s it, boys! Time to wrap up for the day!”

“Aww!” I mockingly complained, “And I was just starting to have fun!”

“Speak for yourself!” I looked over to see Sora walking over, his clothes torn, his face scratched up, and his glare stuck on the squirrel on his shoulder, Rave peaking up through his shirt collar to glare as well. “This guy was pretty much useless when we ran into the heartless. Not to mention running off and drawing MORE swarms towards us.”

I facepalmed. “Did you tell it to?”

“My exact words were, ‘help me take out all of these heartless’. I think he heard it as ‘ALL’ of them. In the city. I had to pin him down to stop him after the eighth swarm.”

I smoke dashed at Sora, snagged the Noise, and reformed a few feet behind him. I examined the Noise for any ‘Programing glitches’ and found nothing wrong. “I guess you were a bit too vague.”

“Not my fault I’m used to dealing with real ponies. Even this guy,” he jerked his thumb at Rave, “is able to interpret orders.”

“I guess fashioning Noise out of scratch makes them like computers,” I said, squeezing the Noise until it burst into static, leaving behind a pin. “If I had a soul to work with, that would be a different story.”

“Maybe,” said Sora, shrugging. “I wouldn’t have recommended it, though. Soul magic is even more frowned upon here than shadow magic.”

“What’s that about soul magic?” Sora turned to see Twilight and the other Bearers walking over. “You do know that that’s the most horrible form of dark magic there is, don’t you?”

“Different world, different rules.” Sora stepped aside, gesturing to me. “Allow me to introduce you all. Bearers of the Elements, this is Delsin, the Equestrian Eagle. Del, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Elusive, Fluttershy, Rainbow Blitz, Applejack, and Berry Bubble, the former Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

“Yo!” I greet, looking them up and down with a ray sphere pulse.

“Nice to meet you,” Twilight answered. “You must be another of those ‘Displaced’.”

“Correct,” I congratulated.

“Sweet!” Rainbow flew up to my face, looking me up and down. “So, what can you do? Summon swords? Shoot lasers? Change shape?”

“Look down,” I told him. He did so just when a smoke grenade went off, covering the immediate area with smoke.

“You just love doing that one, don’t you,” Sora asked as Rainbow shot out, coughing and glaring back at me.

“No one really liked those grenades in the game,” I said, reabsorbing the smoke. “Gotta use ‘em when I can.”

Sora rolled his eyes, smiling as he looked around. “Well anyway, looks like you were able to get a lot done here. Let’s just find your companions and get you on your way. Where are they, anyway?”

I scanned around until I found Stella. Next to her was Coco, talking. I didn’t delve into their minds, but I could tell they were occupied. “Let’s wait on that, Coco seems into a conversation with Stella, and knowing Obsidian, he’ll still be brawling with Neon.” Just then a neon blur sped past, nearly knocking me for a loop. “Or being chased by her.”

“Weird,” said Sora, watching them chase each other around. “Usually it’s the stallion that chases the mare. But I’m glad to hear that Stella’s still with Coco.” He sighed and looked down. “Her heart is good, one of the purest I’ve ever seen. But it’s also fragile. Losing her father, especially after her mother fell to darkness a while back…”

“Don’t need to go too far with that,” I said, recalling what Dusk Spark showed me. “One a higher note, we still need to spar. I did mention that in the letter you sent, right?”

“You were serious about that?” asked Sora, looking up in surprise. “How long has it been for you since we last met?”

“It’s been a few months, all filled with paperwork and dealing with a tribalist gang.”

Sora smirked, crossing his arms. “And you think that’s enough time for you to catch up with me? Especially since I’ve spent the last year fighting heartless.”

“In Second Son, the protagonist was able to beat two conduits with their own elements, and that’s taking into account that he had only minutes of experience while they had roughly seven to eight years experience.”

“Yeah, but you’re not that guy,” pointed out Sora. “Just like I’m not actually Sora. It comes down to what you can do and what I can do. And personally, I’m not sure you can improve that much in six months. But if you’re so eager to get your but kicked…” Reaper and Ponderer appeared in his hands in twin flashes of light. “Don’t hold back anything.”

I unraveled the chain in my hand, smirking. “Good to hear.” I smoke dashed forward, sneakily placing a smoke grenade in his pocket and wrapping the chain around his leg. I reformed behind him and pulled his legs out from under him. I then drained a nearby neon sign and sped up the side of a building, shouting, “Race you to the park!”

The smoke grenade burst, shrouding Sora within a cloud of smoke. A moment later, Sora casually strolled out. “Good start, tripping me and messing with my senses. But you lost the initiative when you failed to attack. Aerora.” A pair of whirlwinds appeared around his feet, lifting him up and flying him off after me as he pointed Ponderer at my back. “And now you’ve lost that initiative to me. Thundara!"

Six shots of lightning shot out of the blade, twisting around each other before splitting up and coming at me from every direction. I didn’t bother dodging, letting the lightning hit me and switching my element. As I lost momentum, I turn to Sora letting electricity flow over my arms. “Oopsie on your part,” I said, grabbing him and pumping a few volts into him as we fell.

“Not so much,” said Sora, pushing away from me and flipping over. “Didn’t put much force into it. Still, good on you to absorb and counter. I expected you to choose a direction and dive towards it, taking one bolt rather than six. You took back the initiative, countered beautifully, and then let me talk.” Biter swung around from out of nowhere, slamming me the rest of the way to the ground. “Bad move, that last one.”

I managed to pull myself out the crater I was put in. “I hope you like math,” I verbally jabbed. I stood up and activated my spell, Reaper Creeper. A pair of Reaper wings appeared on my back and my power boosted a bit. “Zetta Slow!” I then warped behind him and zapped him in his kidneys.

Sora grunted, pointing Ponderer at the ground. “Firaga!” A fireball exploded at our feet, blowing us both back in opposite directions. “Nice one,” he muttered as Biter floated over to orbit around him. “Need to work on your taunts, though.”

“Invectorial!” I warped just behind him and fired off a few scatter shot lightning bolts. “Sine.” I warped to his left, and jabbed his neck. “Cosine!” I warped to his right and forcefully elbowed his ribcage. “TANGENT!” I warped behind him and pumped a few volts of electricity into his spine.

Sora quickly stabbed his blades into the ground, letting the electricity flow through them and out of his system. He swung them both up, flinging dust and dirt into my eyes. I stumbled back, reaching up to clear my vision, only to feel a blade striking me in the back. A series of blows struck me from all sides before a loud whooshing of air told me that Sora had jumped back. “Blizzaga!”

I back flipped away from the spell, summoning energy for another spell. “Smoke and Mirrors!” Instantly, my clothing went neutral and four smoke clones appeared. Four of us ran off to switch elements. #1 found a bright street light and drained it. #2 drained a nearby neon sign. #3 obtained smoke from the earlier fire blast. #4 just simply manipulated a few shadows, draining the absence of light from them.

“Having fun?” All five of us said, echoing each other.

Sora glared at #4 for a moment before shaking his head. “Definitely shadowmancy,” he said, smiling at the clones. “I will admit, I wasn’t expecting this. Clones though? Really? I deal with swarms of heartless all the time, many of whom use completely different attacks and elements. Aeroga. Reflera.” A whirlwind whipped up around Sora as a shimmering in the air surrounded him. Rave spread out, covering Sora’s whole body except his face, twin bucklers appearing on his arms. “I’ve had a long time to work on my defence.” He rushed forward, all three of his blades swinging for my head, chest and legs.

#’s 1-3, and 5 were dispelled from the wind attack and as my clothing reverted to Hero rank, Sora’s melee attack struck, sending me tumbling a ways away. I looked at him but then noticed something just behind him, my eyes opening in fear.

Sora looked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “Cyborg Twilight. That’s new.”

“THAT IS NOT MY NAME!!!” Dusk screeched, charging forward, just barely touching his cheek before he leapt away. Dusk landed just in front of me as I saw his somewhat shocked face.

Sora sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “That’s a pretty horrific past,” he said, opening his eyes to reveal twin orbs of light. “And yet, a heart that mostly strives for light. Impressive. Many ponies would have given into darkness long ago. Then again,” he blinked the heart-sight away, smiling at her. “Twilight never was an ordinary pony.”

“If you’re referring to me, let it be known that Twilight Sparkle died that day,” she sneered, “My name...is DUSK SPARK!!!” She fired off a shockwave, knocking Sora backwards into a wall. She teleported directly onto him, her cybernetic claw latched onto his face and electricity flowing into her.

Not thinking, but reacting, I fired off a dark plasma bolt that struck her on the side of the head. I then ran over to her stunned body and restrained her with dark thorns.

Sora sluggishly raised Ponderer. “Cura.” Green lighting coursed from the keyblade tip into his body. “So that’s what blue tastes like.”

“It’s not so bad. I’ve been struck by lightning nearly…” I silently tried to count, “I forget how many times, but I can barely feel it. The only thing I can compare it to is drinking a cool glass of water.”

“Guess lightning magic is different from actual lightning then,” said Sora, pulling himself to his feet. “Lightning from heartless and training with keybladers never tasted like anything but ash.” He walked over to Dusk, kneeling down next to her. “Sorry if that name’s a trigger for you. That second time I was referring entirely to your past. It takes a lot more than the death of your closest friends to change your heart.” His face darkened as he glanced up at me. “Trust me. I would know.”

“I can somewhat relate,” I said, “The best friend I had among the Akomish had to die, mostly because she couldn’t wait the full time I was trapped.”

Sora shared a glance with Dusk before looking back up at me, his face deadpan. “Watching your friends being torn apart and killed right before your eyes vs the inevitable passage of time which you can brace for. Yeah, you can definitely relate.”

“I was trying for optimism and evidently, I failed spectacularly,” I snapped. “She went MIA a year after I was trapped, so I don’t really know how she died!”

Sora stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” He shrugged. “Still doesn’t really compare, though. ‘A’ for effort. Why’d she attack me, anyway?”

“Do you really think I want ‘Her Royal Cake Flank’ breathing down my neck if you killed her fiance?” Dusk snapped.

Sora let out a chuckle. “I think Sun-butt would forgive me for roughing him up a bit in a sparring match.”

‘Depends on which Sun-butt you’re referring to,' Screwball telepathically said.

Sora scowled, projecting an image of Granny Smith shriveled up in the bathtub.

Suddenly, Sora’s clothing suddenly was transformed into the clothing of Neku Sakuraba, hairdo and all.

Sora looked himself over before shrugging. “Lame comeback. Probably a reference that I don’t get. Just stay out of my head, whoever you are. Only my Luna is allowed in there."

“Yeesh,” Screwball said, poofing into existence, upside down behind Sora’s head. “No need to scar a child in an adult’s body over it."

Sora looked over his shoulder and sighed. “Another chaos user. Great.” He looked back at me. “I assume that this one is on your side?”

“Despite being the ‘Princess of Chaos’, she was never on Discord’s side to begin with,” I said. “Thinking back on it, if she met Dusk’s Discord, she’d hang with him.”

“Good to know,” said Sora. “Now, no offence, but I suggest you get out of here soon. If my Discord senses you here, he’ll show up immediately. I’d rather not deal with that headache.”

“Too late!”

Sora whipped around, pointing Ponderer, Reaper and Biter at the draconequus who floated to his right. He inhaled slowly before lowering his blades. “Next time you sneak up on me like that, I’ll let my reflexes carry me through.”

“PTSD is the worst,” I mumbled.

“It’s not as bad as that,” Sora muttered, letting his keyblades vanish as Rave returned to his arm. “Just that I’m so used to striking out when I hear his voice that I have to actually restrain myself, ‘reformation’ or no.”

“I guess ‘His Royal Pink Frills’ didn't take you into account when he cooked up that idea.”

“Considering I’d threatened to smack him upside the head if he even considered it…” muttered Sora.

“Male or female, the Solar Diarch can be a pain in the neck,” Dusk agreed.

“On that, we can all agree.” Sora sighed, waving Discord off. “Go on, then. Have your fun with… whoever this is. I’m sure you’ll have a blast tormenting the sanity of innocent ponies while Delsin and I finish up here.”

Just as Discord was about to float off, I looked at him with a ray sphere pulse and noticed something. “Hold up!”

I felt talon and claw grab me from behind and lift me into the air. “Like this?” asked Discord, his face now that of a baboon. “Oh I do wish that summoner and her lion were here to see this!”

“First off, no. Please put me down, gently.” Discord grinned, summoning a syringe with a human skull and crossbones on it. I grabbed his goatee and roughly pulled his eyes to mine, “Without deathly results.”

Discord just laughed, dropping me to the ground where I landed painfully, despite the fall itself feeling slow and gentle. “Oh you humans are so much fun to mess with! Ponies get scared and start panicking, but you lot get angry at the drop of a hat!” The syringe turned into a top hat, which he dropped onto my head. “Now, what was it you wanted to say?”

“Did you eat a blast core?”

“Oh, that,” said Discord, summoning an X-ray machine and placing it over his body. Among the various pieces of assorted paraphernalia I saw it, the blast core resting between a tuba and a rabid chihuahua. “I must say, that was quite the delicious snack! Not as good as Star-butt’s ‘reforming’ spell, but a decent taste none the less.”

I looked at him weirdly, “Okay, interesting thought.” I then reached up and grabbed his goatee again and pulled him down to head level. “Also, I hope you don't mind.”

“You pulling on my beautiful beard?” asked Discord dryly. “I actually do.”

“Not that,” I said. I forcefully opened his mouth, “I was talking about this.” I then plunged my arm down his throat and began rummaging through whatever was there.

Discord rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. Manehattan was replaced with a desert at night, a giant version of Discord’s head made out of sand rising up from the ground. “Who disturbs my slumber!” he roared.

Sora facepalmed. “He just has to choose references that I actually get, doesn’t he?”

“Discount Robin Williams,” I agree, “Here goes nothing!” I then dove head first into the Cave of Chaos.

Sora’s POV

Discord stretched as Manehattan returned. “Well, I suppose we’ll just focus on what’s going on out here then. Goodness knows these authors aren’t nearly competent enough to describe what Delsin’s going through right now.”

Suddenly, voices were heard from inside him. “Oh! Hey, Mom. What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You never visit, you never call. Have you found a girl yet? I mean, Come on! You look skinny.”

Discord patted his stomach, grinning smugly. “And that’s just the beginning.”

I sighed, shaking my head and turning to the now free Dusk. “So, what’s Delsin been up to since last I saw him? And how do you figure into all of it?”

“He was tied up with trying to deal with some extremist gang known as the Descendants.”

“And you helped him out?”

“More like keep him sane,” she sighed, “I'm serious when I say this, he's tried too many times to make his job interesting with questionable results.”

“Everypony remain calm!” A voice shouted from inside Discord, “I am a Fire Marshal!...By the way, what's this do?”

“NO!!!” An explosion was heard and Discord belched smoke.

“...yeah,” said Sora awkwardly. “If you’re trying to keep him sane, letting him dive straight into a Chaos god’s mouth probably wasn’t the best idea.”

“Hey! Who turned out the lights?”

Discord looked down at his stomach, eyes wide. “Well, didn’t know I had that in there. Hey, Delsin! If you see any angel statues, don’t blink!”

“YAAAHHH!”

“Reeeeeeally not the best idea,” muttered Sora.

“Discord?” Discord, Dusk, the chaos pony and I turned to see Twilight and the others running towards us. “What are you doing here?” asked Twilight suspiciously. “And where’s Delsin?”

“Ah! Monkey Witch!”

They stared in shock at Discord’s stomach as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Yes, well, he did insist on getting that little trinket out of my stomach.” Seeing Fluttershy’s disapproving glare, he rolled his eyes. “Oh, fine.” He snapped his fingers and Delsin appeared before us, dripping wet with… something I didn’t want to contemplate. A plunger was clutched tightly in one hand and the other was gloved in a spiked gauntlet. His hair was now bright pink and his skin a pale purple.

“There, see? He’s fine!”

Delsin suddenly rushed forward and kicked Discord in the gut, causing him to cough up a glowing crystal. He then stuck the plunger on the back of his head, punched his left eye with the gauntlet, then pulled out a spiny sea urchin out of his hair and slammed over his right.

Disord leaned back, the urchin and gauntlet still covering his eyes. “Well, that was rude.”

I walked over and made to put a hand on Delsin’s shoulder, stopping when I remembered that he was soaked in unmentionable fluid. “Look on the bright side. You made it out with most of your sanity intact.”

“Wait until a trigger happy Dupe shows up with a minigun,” he said, eye twitching, “You'll be lucky to make it out without looking like Swiss cheese.”

I laughed and shook my head, thinking back to a few of the more trigger happy heartless I’d had to fight. “I can imagine. How about we get you home before goat-face here can cause anymore trouble.”

“I resemble that remark!” Discord bleated.

Delsin growled something at Discord, before turning to me. “Can I get cleaned up first?”

I smirked, stepping back and summoning Wishing Star before aiming above Delsin’s head. “Blizzara. Fira.” A ball of ice appeared above Delsin before being surrounded by a ring of fire. Ice cold rain poured down, washing the mysterious substance away. “Better?” I asked.

“Much, thanks,” he said, “And don't worry too much about Obsidian, Neon, and Stella. Dusk can take ‘em home when they're done.”

I nodded, putting up Wishing Star and clasping Delsin on the shoulder. “I guess our contract is complete, then. Send me a message the day before the wedding so Sol, Luna and I can be ready to attend.”

“Gotcha,” He said, turning towards the Void portal that opened up. He entered it, but a loud ding was heard and he came rocketing back out, hitting me and sending us into a lamp post.

“Lamp post,” I muttered. “Much more forgiving than a wall. Bends when you hit it and everything.”

“Is there an angry solar alicorn coming towards us?”

I looked up, seeing an alabaster alicorn approaching. “There is indeed. Hello again, Princess Sun-butt. Your half-sister should be over there talking with a friend of mine,” I said, pointing towards the plaza.

“Thank you, Sora. I'll trust Dusk with getting her home,” she then turned her attention to a dazed Delsin, “As for this one, he now owes me a cuddle session.” She then grabbed his pant leg and dragged him unceremoniously through the portal.

I shook my head as the portal closed. “Poor guy. Alicorn strength snuggles are nothing to be sniffed at. Hey, chaos pony! You think you can help me round up the others so Dusk can get them home? I think Coco should be alright for now.”

“My name’s Screwball. Got it memorized?” She then gave a loud whistle, after which, a bolt of neon struck Discord’s leg, wrapping him up in neon bindings and a rock missile missed his head by millimeters. Obsidian, Neon, and Stella were suddenly present.

“Why is it that everyone attacks me on sight these days?” Discord pondered aloud, sticking one end of the bindings into his mouth and slurping them up. “Really, is it that hard to believe that I’m reformed?”

“I was aiming at him/her!” The two earth ponies shouted, pointing at each other.

“Ah, young love.” I shook my head, turning to the assembled ponies. “Well, it looks like everything’s just about wrapped up here. Thanks for the help, even if it’s technically Delsin’s fault that there was a problem in the first place.”

“In his defense, he didn't know,” Dusk said, opening another void portal.

“Oh I don’t really blame him,” I said, shrugging. “He’s not the first to bring a villain to my world. Third, now that I think of it. Farewell, everypony. May you always walk in the path of light.”

“Whatever,” she responded, leading the ponies through the portal.

Screwball paused before entering. She dug through her beanie hat and pulled out a red and blue egg. “Karmic Eagle egg,” she said, tossing it to me. “Read the beginning chapters of the FanFiction to get a good idea of what it is.” She then dove through the portal.

Without even looking away from the closing portal, I held out my empty hand to Discord. Sure enough, he placed a manuscript into my hand titled “inFAMOUS Displaced”. “Well,” I muttered, making sure the Bearers couldn’t hear me. “That confirms that theory.”

Author's Notes:

Find the various references and post them in the comments.