Kingdom Hearts: Harmonic Connections

by Mr Curious Writer

Chapter 36: Quality Time

        Just outside of the war room where Chrysalis and Maleficent currently resided, a corridor of darkness opened up. Out of it stumbled the portly henchman, Pete, and he was worried. Sent on a special mission from maleficent herself, he had all the self-confidence needed to believe he could get things done. Given his track record, it was amazing that he still had enough of an ego to believe in his own success. Now, however, that confidence was wavering. Things, unsurprisingly, did not go as well as he’d hoped during his time in Manehatten, and it was about the time where he had to deliver his report on what happened there. Knowing from past experience that delaying the bad news would only make things worse, (a lesson he wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon) he heaved a sigh and dragged his sorry self over to the entrance where two changeling guards stood by. They gave him one look before allowing him to enter the short tunnelway leading to the war room proper.

        Once he reached it he held onto the side of the wall and peeked his head in. “Uuuh, hello?” he called out reluctantly.

        Maleficent’s voice was the first to be heard. “Ah, so you’ve returned, Pete.” He could see she was sitting by the table.

        Pete cringed when Maleficent called his name. “Uh, yes, Maleficent.”

        “Splendid, then I trust that you have a report for me on what happened?” She asked almost offhandedly as she seemed busy looking at a large map on the table. Meanwhile, Chrysalis was nowhere to be seen.

        “Uh, well, ya see… It-it was all going as well as you had planned and victory was just within reach… and… uh.” Pete tried to ease into his failure as gently as possible, however, Maleficent decided she wanted him to get to the point.

        “I am not concerned about your failures or bumbling, you great oaf. All I care about is what you saw after you administered that concoction to the heartless.”

        “...Oh… Oh, is that all?” Pete felt relief in seeing that she didn’t expect him to win but at the same time the way she’d said it seemed to lower his already wavering self-esteem. “Well, the potion worked just as you expected, Maleficent! The Heartless acted like it was all supercharged or something and it went nuts on the little twerps, they could hardly do anything to it and they were getting pummeled. I thought we’d actually destroy the chump and his chump friends, but then they had to go and do that transforming thing and-”

        Pete then regaled her with the details, eventually leading up to the point of the heartless’ defeat.

        The Heartless was on its last legs. It was impaled, on fire, being force fed light, and Pete even noticed that sickening green aura from before had diminished greatly. He could only guess that whatever the potion did was wearing off. Pete shook his head, knowing there was nothing worse than being in the position the heartless was in at that moment.

 ...Or at least that’s what he’d thought before a voice managed to echo and reach his ears. “I’MMA BLOW IT UP!” ...Needless to say, he was wrong.  

It was like nothing he’d ever seen. From one end of the battlefield came a barrage of what looked like fireworks, but there were so many that they took on the appearance of a dense storm, almost completely blotting out the sky above, and with every last rocket aimed straight for the already struggling Heartless. Back at the launch site Applejack and Rainbow watched in amazement as Pinkie moved her hooves over all the buttons and levers on her panel so fast that it looked like a blur. As smoke from the rocket launches and trails slowly started to obscure their vision of her they barely noticed as she put her goggles on and continued firing.

The constant assault was brutal. The beast couldn't even respond to defend himself because of the previous attacks. It could do naught but stand there rooted to the spot as it was pelted by the rain of explosions. It was so intense that Rarity and Twilight had to stop their attacks because they couldn’t see anything through the explosions and smoke now obscuring their target. It was some time later before Sora eventually flew toward the area where Pinkie was last seen and started calling out for her. “PINKIE! PIIIINKIE!” At this, the onslaught finally came to a stop as silence reigned throughout the area.

…. And then Pinkie’s head popped out of the smoke, slightly covered in patches of soot. “Did I get it?”

“Uuuh, yeah…. I think you got it.” he gestured over toward the sky above the large smoky cloud that once held the heartless, where they could see a large heart float into the sky before vanishing.

“Oh.” Pinkie replied, then immediately started cheering “HOORAY!  Good work everypony! Woohoo!”

Sora just smiled and rolled his eyes as Fluttershy spoke within his mind That’s Pinkie Pie. It was at that moment where both Sora and Fluttershy decided now was a good time to separate, as the other girls gathered.

Meanwhile, Pete had decided that he’d overstayed his welcome and made a quick exit via portal before anyone noticed him.

“And that’s what happened, ma’am.” Pete finished reporting what he saw, a bit nervous and unsure with how she would react to this bad news. However, he was surprised how she seemed so calm about the whole. Heck, she didn’t even look up from what she was reading. It was somehow actually more unsettling than if she’d gotten visibly upset.

“So the mixture is potent but temporary… I see I’ll be sure to set some time aside in the days to come to see if we cannot improve upon it. In the meantime-” she snapped the book closed loudly, causing Pete to flinch before standing up, fully expecting her wrath. “Good work, you have done exactly as I have ordered.”

…He slowly cracked open one of his eyes, which had been squinted shut since he was still in his cringing pose… “I did?”

“Indeed, we required a field test of that particular potion created from the formula found in this book.” She held up the very book they’d stolen from Canterlot’s library. “A truly fascinating tome, whoever wrote this definitely had a knack for taking what this world had to offer and weaponizing it. It’s really quite a waste how this book was just hidden away like that.”

“Uh, yeah, a real shame, ma’am.” Pete blinked a few times. He wasn’t fully following, so he decided to just nod his head during her explanation. As long as he wasn’t in trouble he couldn’t care less.

“Very good work, Pete. with your task done,css it is time to make our next move.” Maleficent said.

“Oh, really? Does that mean ya’ found one?” Pete perked up seeing her give a rather sinister grin.

“The Queen’s subjects are quite useful for reconnaissance, what with that hive mind feature they possess.” she turned her attention to one of the changelings that was stationed in the room as a servant, apparently in case she needed anything. Of course, Maleficent was smart enough to know that there was another reason for its presence. With that hive mind, it was easy to deduce the true reason for the creature’s presence was to spy on her and Pete. “She is a very cautious woman… or I suppose I should say mare?” she asked casually.

“Uh, I thought she was a big bug?” Pete scratched his head in confusion.

Maleficent just laughed “Careful where you say such a thing, oaf. We are still in her domain after all.” Hearing this, Pete immediately covered his mouth with both his hands in worry. “Now then, off to your next mission.” at this point she opened a dark portal by the wall “This will lead you to where IT was last spotted. Find it and subdue it. Remember, we need it alive, so do. Not. Destroy it!”

Pete immediately saluted “You got it, Maleficent! I won’t let you down!”

“You’d best not…” She said ominously. Causing the hair all down Pete’s back to stand up.

He gulped “Well uh… I’ll be going now.” he said before immediately rushing through the portal as it closed behind him.

“Hmph…” she then turned to the changeling in the room. “Inform your Queen that I shall be arriving shortly. I’ve learned some rather interesting things today.” as the Changeling nodded she made her way out of the room.

Sora slept really well that night. The fight was a hard one, so it made that night’s rest all the more pleasurable. Which was why it was SO annoying that the hotel room window had to have it’s blinds up, letting the sunlight shine onto his face and rouse him from his slumber. With a groan, a mutter, and some rather pathetic flopping and hiding his face with a pillow, he regrettably came to the realization that now that he was up, he wouldn’t be getting back to sleep anytime soon.

And so he inevitably gave in, slowly rising from the lovely embrace of his mattress and pillow and rolled his sorry self out of bed.

THUD

Literally…

“Ow….”  Ok, NOW he was up. Casually getting to his hooves he let lose a big yawn as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to let his brain rev up and decide what he should do next. However while his brain was still booting up, his stomach got impatient and decided to answer for him by growling. “Mm… Breakfast sounds good right now.” It was no wonder, considering that he and the girls had all missed dinner. A quick trip to the bathroom and a splash of water to his face and he was wide awake as he used one of the hotel towels to dry himself off. When he was on his way out he opened the door only to be surprised to see Fluttershy already at his door and about to knock on it. With a squeak, she instinctively tensed up and backed up a few steps before her mind caught up with her and she blushed at her silly reaction.

“Oh! Uh, good morning Sora.” she gave a small smile. “I was just about to see if you were up. Everypony else is already downstairs and having breakfast. I wanted to see if you’d like to join us.”

Once again, his stomach answered for him, as another growl was heard. With a laugh, he nodded “That sounds great. Come on, let’s get moving, otherwise, all the good stuff will probably be in Rainbow’s stomach before we can get any.”  He made his way out and walked beside her. “So how is everypony? I figured they would be sleeping in, what with what happened yesterday.”

In the hotel lobby, the receptionist was in for a bit of a surprise. It had been a dull day for her shift and news had been sent out saying there was a large heartless in town, doing battle with the Elements of Harmony and the alien from outer space. despite being so dangerous she would’ve loved to watch that, but unfortunately, she still had a few more hours left on her shift. Then suddenly, the front doors burst open revealing a spiky haired stallion pulling a wooden cart as a shy looking yellow pegasus hovered right next to him, making their way toward the front desk.

When they finally arrived the receptionist’s mind was running several questions back and forth, so her body reacted on instinct from working this job for so long. “Uh, welcome. How may I help you today?”

At this, the Pegasus hovered over to her and gently placed a full sack of bits on the counter as the Stallion spoke to her. “Four rooms please… It’s been a long day.”

...Four? “Uh, yes sir.” she turned around and prepared the keys that led to 4 vacant rooms. “Fortunately there are four rooms available on the same floor, the room numbers are attached to their respective keyrings.” She then turned to the cart. “I’ll send word for the bellhop to assist you with your luggage.” but as soon as the pegasus mare picked up the rings the stallion shook his head and kept walking. “No luggage here, just my friends.” As he walked past her with the pegasus in tow she finally got a glance of what was in the back of the cart. In it was a pile of heaving and exhausted bodies, and after looking for a bit longer she realized they were all mares.

Then her mind took a wild turn. A stallion, a group of mares, a “Long day”, renting out hotel rooms to sleep away their exhaustion…. Her face slowly started turning red from the neck up. “Oh, wow, and he can still carry them to bed? What stamina...” she held her face with her hooves getting all flustered.

Meanwhile, for some reason, Sora felt a chill run down his back. Someone had the wrong idea about him, he could just tell.

“Everypony seems to be just fine, like nothing ever happened to them. It seems like that nap was all they needed.” Fluttershy smiled and sighed with relief.

“That energy crash had you pretty worried, huh?” Sora looked to her as they continued walking.

She nodded, “I know it was for a good reason, but-”

“You didn’t want anyone getting hurt or making things worse. I know, and you didn’t. In fact it was exactly what we needed.”

“...I know…” she said quietly “I just wanted to help them without making consequences for them.”

The two of them were silent for a moment before Sora spoke again. “Then we’ll just have to practice with it.” when she looked up at him he continued “We’re still new to this, and I have been meaning to find more time to practice the fusion weapons. I’m sure we’ll figure out more about what we can do. However, in the meantime I think you did a really great job the other day Fluttershy.” he looked at her. “AND I don’t think it was all that bad when we used those last spells.”

She smiled a little “...Perhaps. I guess I just need some time to think about it.” she then shook her head. “But it’s too early in the morning for this. Lets just focus on filling our bellies.”

Sora groaned “Augh! I second that! My gut feels like it’s trying to eat itself right now!” Another groan from his stomach confirms this, eliciting a giggle from Fluttershy. “Come on! Let’s get going!” he started into a trot to forge ahead and Fluttershy took flight to catch up.

After going down a flight of stairs and passing the lobby, they arrived at the Hotel’s dining area where a complimentary breakfast was being served buffet style. It wasn’t hard to find the rest of the girls as other than Rarity, and for the most part Twilight, they were digging into their food like it was going to be their last meal. Both Sora and Fluttershy were a bit stunned by their ravenous appetites. Sora had to wonder if it was another side effect of that boost yesterday.

Eventually, they were noticed by Pinkie Pie who was chatting and eating at the same time. She then gave a wave and a muffled “HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!” with her stuffed cheeks. So naturally, they had to make their way over.

“Morning, girls. You got enough food there?” he stared at each of their plates, they were full and each mare had more than one in front of them.

“Dude, how can you not be in our situation?” Rainbow asked as she shoved some buttered toast in her mouth.

“That fight did take a lot out of us. Plus, skippin’ a meal last night sure didn’t help none either.” Applejack added as she was halfway through her plate of pancakes.

Although Rarity was in the same boat, her personality made sure she would at least look dignified as she stuffed her face. So her table manners and use of silverware was modified to give her larger portions with each bite. As she dabbed her lips with a napkin she took that moment to speak her mind. “It is quite unheard of for me to eat this much, but my body demands it this time. Oh, I do hope this doesn’t ruin my figure down the line.”

“I think the world can excuse you just this once, Rarity,” Twilight said after finishing off one of her plates and taking a swig of her drink. “I think this is a special case.”

“How so, egghead?” Rainbow asked, with a mouthful of pancakes.

“Rainbow, PLEASE. I expect as much from Pinkie but please do not copy her, swallow before you speak.” Rarity cringed from the flying pancake pieces coming from the pegasus’ mouth. Rainbow simply rolled her eyes but decided to focus on eating.

“Well, since Rainbow asked, I guess today is a special case because of what happened yesterday.”

“Well, we did fight really hard. That heartless was really annoying!” Rainbow groaned.

“No argument there. It seems Maleficent and Chrysalis sure have been busy since last we saw them. I never knew you could actively create items for Heartless to use.” Sora replied before making his way to the buffet, soon followed by Fluttershy. When they returned they each only had a single plate and somewhat smaller proportions on it. While the other girls took notice, Twilight’s mind seemed to be already be figuring out the reason behind this.

“Ah, I think I see now.”

Fluttershy was the first to ask. “See what, Twilight?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure due to the skipped meal and long nap, but us being this hungry while you two have a more moderate amount on your plate? I’m fairly certain your fused magic was a factor in this.”

Sora nodded before taking a bite of his eggs “First thing that came to mind when I noticed it.” Fluttershy meanwhile seemed disappointed upon hearing that.

“I’m sorry everyone. It was my idea to even use those spells in the first place. I only wanted to help.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy with the self put-down there.” Sora turned to her. “It was just as much my fault as it was yours, and it was the best decision we could make at the time.”

“Yeah, don’t go beating yourself up about it.” Rainbow added. “Besides, we were getting our flanks kicked, we needed that power up.”

A round of reassurance and agreement was heard among the other girls which helped cheer Fluttershy up. Then Sora continued “Bottom line Fluttershy, we were all desperate for a trump card and you supplied it. Granted, we didn’t know about the after effects, but it was our first time using it. Also, I’m sure if you knew it was dangerous you would never have suggested it.”

She gave it some thought, and everyone quieted down to let her think on his words… Then she started to eat her breakfast. Seeing that as a good sign, the others smiled and continued eating as well. As she ate she mumbled to herself about “more practice”.

Some time later, the random chatter started up again as everyone was enjoying themselves for breakfast. Dash, Pinkie and Applejack even grabbed seconds. It made sense considering all that happened the other day, they had been the most active so they would need the most food. Their table was started to get looks from the other guests, and more noticeably the cooks, who were really being put through their paces to replenish the buffet line.

Twilight looked up, watching her friends chatter amongst themselves and genuinely have a good time just put a smile on her face. “You know, this is nice. It’s just all of us together, having fun. I like this… We should do it more often.”

“You mean where all of us are doing something together?” Rainbow asked, “Don’t we do that all the time when heartless show up?”

This caused Twilight to grumble. “No Rainbow, that’s not what I mean. You may find it fun, but I find times like these more enjoyable.”

Rainbow just rolled her eyes, How could the egghead not find stomping on heartless fun?

Rarity decided to speak after taking another sip from her drink. “I have to agree with Twilight… We have been busy with our own separate things and the heartless, I guess we haven’t really enjoyed our time together since Sora’s first trip to Canterlot.”

Sora recalled that memory. “Oh right. After the fight and the story we all went down to the city for some fun, then had dinner with the Princesses.”

“I love tables!” Pinkie blurted out. “Everyone HAS to sit there to eat their food and talk with one another!” she hugged the rather large table they were using not caring that one of the muffins on her plate went into her mane when her head laid against the table. Strangely enough, it seemed to just vanish when her head went back up.

“Ah guess Pinkie has a point there.” Applejack stated. “Ah know mah family always shares meals together, and always trade stories about how our day went.”

“Well… We still need to stick around in case another crazy event happens with the pylon construction. The guards will notify us if something does happen, soooo... why not have some fun with all of us together while we’re here?” Twilight suggested.

Sora was the first to speak. “I like that idea, any excuse to spend more time with you guys is a great idea in my eyes.” Whether or not he was aware of it at the time his words had the effect of giving each girl a bit of color to their cheeks, along with a somewhat faster heart beat.

“Ahem, t-then it’s agreed.” Rarity stated, trying to continue the conversation before the heat rising to her cheeks would become noticeable.

“Uh, yeah! Totally! Let’s just have some fun today!” Rainbow picked up on the gesture and aided Rarity, as well as the others.

“Sounds good here.” Applejack replied, along with some nodding from Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy.

Twilight then spoke “S-so, ahem. Sora, there’s a brochure stand at the front lobby. Perhaps you could look at them for something fun we can do?”

“Just me?” Sora was confused by the suggestion.

Twilight tried to make something up. “Well, it’s just that we would all end up fighting over where to go with our different tastes, so it’d be better that you pick since everything you do always seems to end up being fun for us too.”

After a bit of thought, he eventually shrugged “Uh sure, I’ll be right back!” he took one last drink of his orange juice before trotting off to the lobby.

Soon all of the girls finally relaxed. Now that the “elephant in the room” was gone Twilight decided to just cut to the chase. “Ok, so I’m pretty sure I know what everyone here is thinking.” and now that tense feeling returned. “We all saw each other’s looks, so I think we should finally talk about it….” She looked up at the others and lifted a hoof into the air “Raise your hoof if you have a crush on Sora.”

…..It took some time, but eventually five other hooves joined hers.

“Oh boy…”

        Somewhere in a secluded, abandoned building, two beings were conversing within what used to be a common room. “Ugh, look at what this world has become in my absence.” one of the beings cast their red and yellow-eyed gaze out the window to see a bright sunny day. “Where’s the excitement? Boooring...” he grumbled.

        This was when the other person in the room started speaking. “Generally that’s what the average light dweller would prefer, everything bright, orderly and predictable.” He would then close the shutters to gain the other’s attention.

        “And that’s what makes this world SO drab… *sigh*... Though I suppose given your travels you’ve seen enough to prove my point.”

        “I wasn’t on vacation you know. Now, how about we just get straight to it, and remember, behave yourself.” A hatch door opened from the floor boards showing a staircase into the dark unknown.

        “Yes yes, I know. Can we just get on with it? I’m not overly fond of this “leash” you’ve placed on me.”

        “Would YOU trust you?”