Everybo- pony was properly seated. Twilight provided me a crystal ball like I asked so I could use less magic. If I was gonna tell my life story, then I wanted to do it with the least amount of effort.
Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. “Dude, what’s with the get up?”
Grunting, I responded thusly. “Would you kindly shut up about my get up? I’ve heard that question too many times already.” I looked over at the white unicorn. “Besides, Twilight told me Rarity could get me a new outfit later on, so I won’t be looking like a clown forever.”
Rarity rubbed her chin in thought. “Making an outfit for a newly discovered species?” She gasped. “That could make my business flourish.”
“Ahem.” I interrupted. “Now then, I’ve learned your names, and how you fit into the general story of this world.” I did a little magic trick, and pulled a card out of my hair. The card in question had an image of the wide grassy field in the Realm of In Between. “It’s time you learn about me.”
I put the card of memories into the crystal ball, watching as the image swirled into it. Sora and his friends were walking through the grassy field. “Believe it or not, outside of the boundaries of this world, the fate of all worlds was in danger. But much like you Elements of Harmony, there were a chosen few destined to keep that fate safe.
My story begins after they had finished saving the worlds. The Door to Darkness was now locked on both sides, with the chosen heroes trapped on either side. Riku was trapped in the World of Darkness, and as you can see, Sora was left to wander the Realm of In Between. He and his friends, Donald and Goofy, were searching for a way out.
On their way, they met someone who would later prove to be their worst enemy.”
“Woah woah woah!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Spoiler alert much? Whatever happened to suspense in a story?”
Me and everyb- I mean everypony else stared at her. “What?” She reacted. “If he’s gonna make a story sound this awesome, he should try and keep it suspenseful.”
“Fine.” I said. “I won’t spoil anything else.”
“A man in a black coat arrived. He claimed that the road Sora was walking had something he needed. But in order to get it, he’d need to give up something dear to him. Believing that he may find his close friend Riku, he followed the path.”
I changed the scene to show Riku, with Ansem the Seeker of Darkness behind him. “You see, Riku had just begun his struggle against Ansem. Ansem was an evil creature called a Heartless, a form of life that preys on the hearts of others. He strung the events that nearly brought the worlds to ruin, and chose Riku as his vessel. Even now that he was defeated, Riku would still struggle with his darkness, and Sora knew this. As optimistic as Sora was for his friend, he knew he couldn’t leave Riku to fight this out on his own. Sora felt he owed Riku for letting him be trapped in the Realm of Darkness, and was willing to trust anyone that may lead the way to him.
I know you must think I’m talking about myself given how similar Riku looks to me. But actually, I’m his copy. Truth of the matter is, I wasn’t even born yet while all of this was going on.”
Fluttershy raised her hoof. “Yes?” I asked.
The butter yellow pegasus hid her face a bit more behind her pink mane. “Oh, um, sorry. I just wanted to ask, um, that is to say- I was wondering, how old are you exactly?”
Dear Kingdom Hearts above she was a shy one. “I’m honestly not sure. It’s been a long time since I was there, maybe a year? Your guess is as good as mine.”
*gasp* Pinkie reacted. “You’re not even a year old!? That’s amazing! You’re like, way smarter than I’d expect from something that’s essentially a baby! Do you still sleep in a crib?”
This of course got a laugh out of Zexion; and everypony else for that matter. I grunted, not enjoying the others laugh at my expense. “No, I sleep in a bed like everyone else I know. And I’d prefer you stop laughing.” Some of them continued to giggle, so for good measure I pulled out my sword. Yup, that shut them up.
“Yeesh, can’t you take a joke?” Pinkie asked.
“Guess not.” I responded. “Now if I may continue-”
The Crystal ball showed Riku floating in the Realm of Darkness. “At the same time Sora was being drawn into a trap, Riku was sleeping on the other side in the Realm of Darkness. He was greeted by a strangely familiar voice. The voice explained that Riku was too weak to stay awake after he’d been possessed by Ansem. He had a choice to make. Either he’d continue sleeping shrouded by the Darkness, or he could begin taking the path of truth.”
“So wait-” Twilight Sparkle interrupted. “Is ‘Truth’ a magical force like Light and Darkness too? Or is it just symbolic of Riku growing as a person?”
“It’s symbolic. Riku had a lot to learn, and this is where he began.”
***
She sat there, in a corner deep in the confines of Repliku’s mind. This was exactly what she wanted. She was barely even mist at this point, almost nothing left, but that didn’t matter. Repliku was aware of her existence, and that meant they would meet again.
The lone remnants of this enchanting mistress waited patiently for her powers to replenish. “I will see you again, but not yet... Not yet.”
***
The sun would meet the horizon soon. I had told the ponies all that happened, from Namine altering of both mine and Sora’s minds, to Riku’s accepting of the Darkness in his heart. All that’s left was to answer a question.
“Hey-” Rainbow Dash started. “About Namine, do you hate her for what she did?”
I looked at them. All the ponies in the room had watery eyes, even if not all of them noticed it. They felt bad for me, but I didn’t want their pity. I was better off moping on my own about all of this. Zexion gave me some more advice.
“You may as well tell them.” He said.
I sighed, pulling out my wayfinder. I held it out and let the ponies take a good look at it. They saw this golden star charm several times in my story, as the fake charm given to both me and Sora by Namine. “I love her for what she did.” I said, catching the ponies off guard.
“You... Love her for it!?” Rainbow Dash responded.
Applejack followed spoke next. “Sugar cube, that little romance between you and her was cute an’ all, but she filled yer head with lies.”
“I have to agree.” Twilight said. “When all is said and done, didn’t she end up giving you your existential crisis to begin with? Before your memories were replaced, you couldn’t care less wether you were real or not.”
“You don’t understand.” I started. “She gave me a life I could never hope to have. She gave me a childhood where I had friends, and a home. And when she shattered my heart, destroying all of Riku’s memories in my mind and showing me who I was again, all that was left was the memories she gave me. And I loved thinking about them. Lies or not, she gave me childhood memories, and that is the most amazing gift you could ever give to a worthless clone like me.”
I made Namine’s face appear in the crystal ball. “She may never accept my love because of the guilt she feels, but that doesn’t mean I won’t still give it.”
To my surprise, Rarity hugged me. She was crying as she spoke. “I must have read hundreds of romance novels, but yours is the greatest love story I’ve ever heard. I’m so sorry you had to be separated from her.”
That had finally pushed me over the edge. I had never cried before, but here I was, fighting to keep my self from doing just that. “N-no. I don’t... Stop making me cry damn it!”
Zexion sat next to me. “You’ve been holding it in long enough. You’re among friends, so just let it go.”
I gave up, and hugged Rarity, not even holding back the tears at this point. “Promise you wont tell anypony about this.”
Everypony else in the room joined in a group hug around me. And for the first time in my life, I felt truly content.
***
The tears had stopped being shed, and the ponies were ready to go about their business. Twilight said goodbye to all of her friends as they went home. They all seemed hesitant to leave, but I reminded them it was getting late, and that they could meet me again tomorrow.
After Twilight closed the door, I asked her something. “So what happens now?”
Twilight turned her attention to me. “Well, you can consider tomorrow a free day, because I will be at a town meeting tomorrow explaining to the denizens of Ponyville who and what you are. The rest of my friends won’t be attending for obvious reasons, so you have 5 potential friends to spend time with!” She finished that last part with a bit of enthusiasm.
I hummed in thought, thinking of who I would like to spend time with first.
Namine
I felt a tingling in my mind, and asked something else. “Where’s Spike anyway?”
Twilight put up the crystal ball she’d put on the coffee table. “He’s away in Canterlot on official business. Meeting with a few friends in fact! He seemed so excited to leave the house on his own for one-” She stopped what she was doing and turned to me sharply. “How did you know anything about Spike!”
I winced, surprised by her reaction. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I knew. One moment I was unaware of his existence, then a shiver up my spine later I question why he isn’t here. How does that make any sense?
Zexion jumped between us. “You make a very good point Twilight. You hadn’t mentioned to him your pet dragon once since we met, and yet here he is asking where he may be.” He looked at me sharply. “Just like how he knew Lyra’s name despite never asking her what it was. Have you any idea why this is Riku?”
I stepped back further, freaking out over the sudden accusations. “What about you Zexion!? How do you know any of this!?”
His expression darkened. “I’m your conscience, I know nearly all that you do. What I don’t know is this; Do you know why you know these things?”
I was sweating now. How did I know any of this? “I don’t know!” I responded.
He stroked his chin in thought. “It is as I suspected.” He looked at Twilight. “Do you remember what I said before? I don’t know what has invaded Riku’s mind, but I think I know how it got there.”
We both relaxed a bit at this. Twilight was less suspicious at this point and more concerned. Zexion spoke again.
“Repliku didn’t end up in this world without reason. He did indeed die when he faced his other, but something put him back together. That something was powerful in terms of magic, but didn’t have a body of its own and sought to remedy the problem by bringing one to its self.” He looked at me. “You, Riku, have a powerful parasite inside of you, and no doubt it has something to do with your new abilities.”