Author's Notes:

This goes without saying but Spoilers for Showstoper's A Heart Eclipsed

[The Void]

Sora sighed in contentment as he lay in bed with Luna. The gummi ship was much larger than he’d expected, with living chambers for the two of them, Sol, and a half dozen others should they need it. Tomorrow had been set aside for exploring the rest of the ship, but for now Sora was content to cuddle with his wife as they drifted through the void.

“Sora?”

Sora sighed, rolling his eyes. Well, I was content. “Luna,” he said, poking the dozing mare in the wing. “Luna, I’m getting a displaced call.”

“That’s right!” Sora and Luna leapt to full wakefulness as a high-pitched voice disturbed them. “Signal’s comin’ from an unidentified world. Looks like it isn’t anyone that’s contacted you before.”

Sora and Luna shared a bemused glance before Sora replied, “Yeah, I could tell that from not recognizing their voice. Who are you?”

“I’m Chip’n’Dale, this gummi ship’s AI. Nice to meetcha!”

“That is… interesting,” Luna muttered, curling back up on the bed. “Go ahead and answer it, Sora. I’m going to sleep for another hour.”

Sora nodded, rolling out of bed and onto his hooves. He let out a huge yawn, stretching his wings as he did so. “Might as well get this show on the road.” He looked up, nodding. “Beam me down, Scotty!”

“Roger!”

[Equestria]

A circle of green light suddenly appeared on the ground in front of Gwen, glowing with a soft energy. A figure faded into existence within the circle, opening its eyes as the light faded to a simple circle of energy on the ground. The figure was a dark tan pegasus, his mane and tail a light brown and his cutie mark bearing a Kingdom Key keyblade. He looked around for a minute, taking in his bearings before smiling at Gwen. “Hey there,” he said, extending a hoof. “Sora, Warrior of Light. You rang?”

“I did what now?” Gwen asked, staring at the pegasus.

“Gwen, who is this? And where did he come from?” Twilight asked, stunned.

“I don’t know.” Gwen said, ignoring the pony for the moment.

“You’re the one who used my token, right?” Sora asked, confused.

“Token?” Gwen asked before holding up the keychain. “You mean this?”

Sora sighed, shaking his head. “Another newbie, eh?” He chuckled before nodding. “Yeah, that’s it. And if I’m the first guy you’ve summoned, then let me welcome you to the crazy multiverse of the Displaced. Tell me, did you get turned to stone for a thousand years, or did you just arrive in Equestria recently?”

“Why would she be turned to stone? She’s just a kid!“ Twilight said.

Sora shrugged. “A lot of us have been. Some misunderstanding or another led to…” He paused, frowning. “Wait, a kid?” He looked at Gwen, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “You mean, you’ve been turned into a kid, right? When you were sent here?”

“No. My tenth birthday was last week,” Gwen replied.

“Tenth…” Sora’s look of shock turned to one of burning hatred. “THAT YAYING PIECE OF BUYSOMEAPPLES!!!” He snorted and stomped, glaring up at the sky. “YOU HAD NO RIGHT, YOU HEAR ME! I KNOW THIS IS ALL A SICK JOKE TO YOU, BUT A KID?!?!?!”

“DId he just say buy some apples?” Twilight asked.

“Who had no right?” Gwen asked. “I received this” she held up the ultimatrix “as a birthday gift. Speaking of which, hold on for a second.” She fiddled with the watch for a moment before scanning Sora.

Sora eyed the watch curiously. “Another Ben 10 displaced, huh? That makes three so far.” He gave one more snort of anger before visibly relaxing. “Sorry about that outburst. Most of us are stuck in this situation because of a guy called The Merchant. We were sent to our various Equestrias after buying something from him at a con. Either he’s changing his tactics, or there’s more than just him out there kidnapping people.”

“So he might have given my Penpal the watch to give to me,” Gwen said. “By the way, you never answered Twilight's question.”

Sora thought for a moment before nodding. “Right. Who and how I’m here.”

“That wasn’t the question I was referring to. Did you seriously say Buy some apples as a swear?” Gwen asked before pausing. “But that other stuff would be helpful too.”

“Ah, that.” Sora chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “That seems to be something unique to my Equestria. I’ve lived there for so long, I kind of fell out of the habit of using my old swears. And before you ask, three thousand years, twelve-hundred of those trapped in stone.

“As for how I got here,” he pointed at the keychain in Gwen’s hand, “Gwen summoned me when she used my token. It’s an artifact of sorts that we displaced use to communicate with and summon each other.”

“Okay...” Gwen paused. “What are you displaced as?” she asked. “You don’t look like a digimon trainer.”

Sora laughed for a moment before holding one of his forehooves to the side. “Not a chance, though I have met a group of Digi displaced. Nah, I was displaced…” In a flash of light, Oathkeeper appeared in his outstretched hoof. He rested the blade on his shoulder, grinning at Gwen and Twilight’s stunned looks. “...as Sora from the Kingdom Hearts games. My original name is something else that I forgot over the millennia.”

“Alright then...” Gwen said. She hesitated a moment, thinking of what to ask next, when Spike spoke up.

“So what’s different in your world?” Spike asked.

Sora’s grin dropped immediately. He stared off into the distance for a moment before answering. “The heartless,” he finally said. “Living shadows that hunt people down and devour their hearts. The keyblade is the only thing that can destroy them.” He sighed before allowing his smile to return, though more subdued than before. “Also, Twilight, Bolero, and the Royal Siblings are no longer alicorns, and it looks like a good number of ponies are the opposite of the gender they usually are.” He smile morphed into an evil grin. “On that note, I’ll be right back.” The circle of energy grew brighter for a moment before Sora vanished.

“Wait, who’s Bolero?” Twilight asked as Gwen shrugged. “And how did we turn form alicorns into non-alicorns?”

“And more importantly, why are a number of ponies in his world the opposite gender?” Rarity asked.

Sora reappeared in another flash of light, something tucked beneath his wing and the beginnings of a black eye forming over his left eye. “Sol should really have learned by now that I have these hidden everywhere.” He held out his wing to Gwen, giving her the most ridiculous photograph she’d ever seen. It was a picture of a male Celestia, dressed in a frilly pink dress with yellow bows and wearing the most annoyed expression she’d ever seen on a pony. “Make copies, and pass one along to every displaced you meet,” he said. “We’re trying to make it so no-one in the multiverse takes Sol seriously.”

Twilight was speechless as Spike laughed a bit. Rarity fainted at the tackiness of the dress. ”Alright then,” Gwen said before asking “Hey, you want to fight?”

Sora hesitated, looking Gwen up and down. “You sure? Not to underestimate your watch, but I’ve been the High General of the Equestrian Keyblade Army for more than two thousand years. I’m not sure you’re in my league.”

“I have Alien X,” Gwen countered. “I think I can handle you.” She spun the watch, transforming into “Bloxx!” She grabbed Sora and threw him into the air.

“Gwen what are you doing?” Twilight shouted.

“What? It's the only time I can get some good experience with the watch,” Gwen defended.

“Though to answer her question better,” Gwen and Twilight looked up to see Sora hovering a few yards above Gwen’s head, an unamused eyebrow raised and Oathkeeper back in his hoof, “what she’s doing is getting into a fight above her weight class.” He grinned before aiming his blade down at her. “So I’ll go easy on her. Thunder!”

A bolt of lightning shot from the blade, aimed directly at Gwen’s head.

Gwen dodged the attack before swapping to “Athena” and flying up to Sora. “Bet you weren't expecting an Alicorn,” she said as she weaved through a few more of Sora’s lightning bolts.

Sora just grinned, dismissing Oathkeeper in favor of Oblivion. “Kid, I spent the better part of three centuries sparing against two alicorns. And that was before I had wings.”

“What about an Ultimate Alicorn?” she asked as she turned the dial on the Ultimatrix, transforming in a flash of green light. She began to grow in size her wings and horn extended as armour formed on her chest, head and legs. Twilight was in shock she only saw this form once before in Nightmare Moon.

Sora looked the new creature up and down before shrugging and summoning a scythe-like keyblade to his other hoof. “Eh, not impressed.” He vanished in an instant, appearing behind Gwen and slamming Oblivion down between her shoulderblades and sending her hurtling towards the ground. “Especially when I haven’t even brought out my transformations yet.”

Gwen just chuckled as she teleported behind Sora, firing off a blast of magic that caught him off guard.

Sora spun as he fell, flinging Oblivion up at Gwen. He slender-walked again while she was distracted, appearing by her side just as she dodged. He tapped Mysterious Stalker to her wings before muttering, “Phantom.” Bands of ghostly mist shot from the tip, wrapping around Gwen’s wings and binding them to her side. He slender-walked away again as she began to fall, struggling futilely against the bonds of spectral energy.

Gwen tried to think of a way to escape. As she struggled, she managed to use her magic to switch aliens. “Alien X” she shouted as the chains broke. She landed on her knees, looking up at Sora as the sky filled with red laser blades which shot immediately for him from every direction.

“Really?” Sora asked, boredly spinning his blades. “This old thing from the KH2 final battle? You really think I’m going to down from this? First of all, Reflega.” A sphere of light appeared around Sora, deflecting the incoming bolts of light. “And second-” He was cut off by Gwen launching herself upwards, sending him flying through the sky with just one punch. She followed him up, another blow sending him sailing all the way to Canterlot. He impacted on the mountainside, the ground cratering beneath him and his left wing snapping.

“Great,” Sora muttered, switching out for Ponderer and casting a quick Cura to take care of his wing. “She’s got a god-mode.” He sighed as he pulled himself from the crater. “Right. No more holding back.” A great flash of light consumed him, fading to reveal a full set of white clothing. Sora hovered in the air, Ponderer, Reaper, and Biter hovering around him as Rave stepped into action, spreading under Sora’s clothes into full armor form, spinning into spikes on his joints and shields on each of his forelegs. “Let’s get serious.”

Gwen soon landed in front of the crater looking around for Sora. Sensing something coming, she turned around and blocked an attack from Biter. She just stared at him before hovering into the air to his level.

“That’s some pretty impressive power,” Sora admitted, zipping higher into the sky, “but I’ve taken down Titans solo.” He looked around, ensuring that there was nopony nearby before pointing his hoof at Gwen and grinning. “And I think I’m done holding back.”

A minute-long series of flashes lit the sky as an army of keyblades appeared above Sora, casting the entire mountain into shadow. With a single nod, Sora sent the barrage of Keyblades straight for Gwen, throwing up a gigantic plume of dust that obscured the area. After three minutes of constant onslaught, the keyblades finally ceased flying, leaving only Sora’s original three hovering around him and Mysterious Stalker in his hoof. “Maybe I overdid it,” he muttered.

Gwen burst from the cloud of dust, flying straight for Sora with her fist cocked back. Sora slender-walked out of her path before pointing his three blades at her back. “Guess not.” The blades began to glow, giant orbs of light forming at the ends. “Let’s see how your defences compare to an Ultima!” The three orbs shot out, spiraling around each other before striking Gwen. She didn’t even flinch as the blast sent her flying, recovering quickly and shooting straight for Sora again. He brought up his shields to block, grunting as she plowed him through the sky.

This isn’t working! Sora thought, gritting his teeth as he dismissed his three hovering keyblades, summoning one more to his free hoof. If this doesn’t do it, I might be in trouble. He slender-walked one more time, appearing above Gwen when they were a few miles away from the base of Mount Canter. He spun his new blade down, the massive sword glowing red and distorting the air with heat. “TASTE PRIMORDIAL DRAGON BREATH!” Sora shouted. “FIRAGA!!!”

A stream of fire shot from Elemental Might, consuming Gwen and more than an acre of the ground below. The fire billowed and sloshed against the ground, almost liquid in its intensity. A full minute passed before the stream died down, Sora slender-walking to the edge of Equestria’s newest glass crater as he gasped for breath, glaring into the steam.

“Di- did it work?” he gasped.

The steam faded away, revealing a black, star-spangled figure standing at the bottom of the crater, apparently unharmed. Sora’s ears lowered, his eyes widening as he dismissed Elemental Might and clutched Mysterious Stalker all the tighter.

“Oh, buysomeapples.” he muttered. Gwen rushed up to him and grabbed him by the throat, her grip getting tighter and tighter by the second.

“GWEN STOP!” a voice shouted. Sora barely was able to turn his head to see where it came from.

“Twilight, stay back,” he gasped out, slender-walking out of Gwen’s grip to stand between her and the newly arrived Twilight. “I don’t think she’s in control anymore.”

“Gwen, please stop! You’re not a killer!” Twilight shouted. “Please stop.” Gwen simply took a step forward towards Sora. “Gwen, remember a week ago! You could have destroyed Canterlot by digging down as your drill pony. But you didn’t! You listened to Celestia and you changed back, letting her talk to you!” Gwen paused, her attention turning to Twilight. Slowly, haltingly, her left hand reached up for the Ultimatrix. Her other hand reached up and grabbed it, trying to stop it, but she got to the dial and hit it, returning herself to Gwen.

Gwen then fell to her knees sobbing uncontrollably. ”I’m sorry! I couldn’t control myself!” she cried. She ran to a nearby bush, vomiting violently.

Sora sighed, rubbing his sore neck before walking over and patting her on the back. “Yeah, I figured. No ten-year-old fights to kill like that.” His eyes went to her watch and he blinked, his eyes glowing white when they opened. “Yup, there’s another heart in there all right. And it doesn’t look too friendly.” He blinked back to normal, dismissing his form and keyblade and allowing Rave to return to his left foreleg. “You can’t summon him again. Not unless the fate of Equestria is at stake.”

“Alright,” she said looking at the ground before, reeling back as she realized she was staring at her vomit.

“Come on Gwen, let's head back to Ponyville,” Twilight said before turning to Sora. “I believe you should go too.”

Sora hesitated before nodding. “Sure, just two more things I need to do.” He turned to Gwen. “If you ever need help, just call for me and I’ll be here as soon as I can. You also might want to consider making a token of your own. Just take something that represents you, imbue it with a bit of power, and the craziness that keeps us together should take care of the rest.”

Gwen looked at him before saying, “Alright.” Twilight’s horn began to glow.

“We’ll see you, Sora,” Twilight said.

“Hold on,” Sora said, reaching out a hoof to Twilight. “I have something to say to you too. Alone.”

Twilight shot Gwen a concerned look before nodding. “I’ll just be over there,” she told her, pointing to a burnt tree nearby.

Sora took to the air, flying for the tree as Twilight followed. As soon as they landed, Sora turned to face Twilight, his expression hard and serious. “Don’t tell Gwen what I’m about to tell you,” he said. “Not yet, at least.”

“Alright, what is it?” Twilight asked, taken aback.

“She isn’t the only thing that came here.” Sora gave Gwen a glance before continuing. “Every Displaced has found their Equestria attacked by whatever villains or antagonists existed in the game, TV show, or book that they originated from. Don’t ask me what I mean,” he added, holding up a hoof to forestall Twilight’s inevitable questions. “Gwen can explain that bit later. The important thing is, you’re going to be facing some nasties in the near future. The only one I remember is a group called the Forever Knights. In the story her watch is from, they were a group who dealt in illegal alien technology. In another Equestria, they staged a coup and killed or kicked out every non-pony in Canterlot, and had plans to do the same to all of Equestria.”

“That's horrible!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I wish I could say that that’s the worst of it,” Sora said, “but I honestly don’t know what else you might face. Gwen could probably tell you, but…” He sighed, shaking his head. “A ten year old girl. No child should ever be thrown into this mess.” He gave another sigh before looking back at Twilight. “Just… try to figure out what sort of villains exist in the story her watch is from. You should tell her that they might show up eventually, but… let her settle in first.” His eyes went back to Gwen as they began to tear up. “I’m… afraid she’s probably stuck here forever. I’ve only met one other displaced who’s been able to find his way back to his Earth, and he’s an extremely unique case. When it comes time to tell her that, make sure you’re there for her. She’ll need a shoulder to cry on. Maybe several.”

“I’ll try,” Twilight said hesitantly. “She’s only with me because Princess Celestia is currently on business in the Mino’s isles, but I’ll tell her about this so she can help her.”

Sora nodded. “Good, that’ll work. Solari- Celestia and Luna will be good for her.” Sora took a deep breath before donning a cheerful grin. “Well, let’s not keep her waiting or she’ll think we’re talking about something bad. Just pretend I was telling you about how your BBBFF and former foalsitter are genderswapped.”

“Wait. what?” Twilight asked.

Sora just laughed as he launched himself into the sky, flying over to hover above Gwen. “Well, I’m off. Call me if you’re ever in a jam. If you’ll excuse me, I have a save-spot to find.” He pulled a single loop before flying off in the direction of Ponyville.

“What were you two talking about?” Gwen asked.

“Oh, he was telling me about how my big brother and his wife were the opposite genders,” Twilight lied. “Let's head back.” Twilight lit her horn and they teleported back to Ponyville.