Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep: Kingdom of Harmony

by Dawn Flower

Ventus

Ventus was currently riding his Keyblade Glider through the Lanes Between, after leaving Radiant Garden. Even after all this time, he kept thinking about what that boy in the mask said about Terra being a different person. Terra was like a big brother to him and he didn’t want to lose him, but when he asked him to take him along, he refused and just said that when he really needs him, he knows he’ll be there.

What did that even mean? Why couldn’t he take him along, or just tell him what everything was about? Why did Terra and Aqua and everyone else always treat him like a helpless, little kid? He wasn’t just a kid; he could take care of himself. He wanted to prove it to everyone. He wanted to get stronger. Then he could fight alongside his friends again.

Then, there was suddenly a bright light up ahead as a new world came into view. This world’s icon showed a small town, a forest, an old castle, and clouds in the sky. As he drifted in closer, he also felt a warm light coming from this world.

Deciding that he needed to get stronger and see more worlds, he headed straight for this new world.

A shimmering portal opened up on top of a cloud, high in the sky, and Ventus walked out. His Keyblade Armour disappeared as he stepped out of the portal, and as soon as he did, he felt strangely different.

He looked down at himself to see that his whole body had changed. He now looked like a pony, with a bright, aquamarine coat, and a blonde, spiky mane that matched his usual hairstyle. As he examined his new body, he looked over his shoulder to see that he also had a pair of wings on his back, and even more strangely, his Wayfinder was now stamped on his flank like a tattoo.

As he examined his new body all over, he suddenly started breaking out into a huge smile. “Wow.” He said in a manner of childhood wonder. “This is so cool.”

He lifted up his front and back hooves one at a time, getting used to how his new body moved. He also looked back at his wings and flapped them a little. When he was done with that, he looked down and saw that he seemed to be standing on a cloud. His beaming smile never dropping for a second, he then started hopping up and down in place on the soft cloud, enjoying its fluffiness beneath his hooves.

When he was done with that, he then walked over to the side, to look over the edge. Directly beneath him was a small town, and there was a large forest further to the south. When he was finished enjoying the view, he stepped back from the edge to look around at his current surroundings. His eyes then widened and his mouth open even more, though he still stayed smiling, when he saw that he was not just standing on a single cloud; there was an entire city made of clouds in the sky.

“This is amazing!” He shouted out. “This is definitely, by far, the coolest world I’ve been to yet.”

His moment of jubilation was cut short however, when he suddenly heard a sound that he had become very familiar with recently. He turned to his left to see several Flood Unversed suddenly appear on a cloud next to him.

Ventus gasped. “It’s more of those monsters.” He then put on a serious expression and moved to summon his Keyblade. His expression briefly slipped when he saw that his Keyblade appeared in his mouth, but he didn’t dwell on it for long.

He then started running towards them and jumped when he reached the edge of the cloud. The other cloud was right next to him, so there wasn’t any chance of him falling down. When he was in mid-jump, his wings opened up and he glided down to the adjacent cloud.

When he landed, all of the Unversed noticed him appear and got ready to fight him.

The battle begun.

Ventus made the first move and quickly charged the Unversed in front of him, striking it before it could move. He hit two Unversed with the attack, though neither of them were defeated by it.

After he had landed the attack, one of the other Unversed rushed to attack him. Because Ventus was too focused on the other Unversed, and his inexperience fighting on four legs, the Flood’s attack hit him and knocked him back. “Aaahh.” He cried out.

After the Flood had hit him and knocked him back, he recovered quickly and then moved back to strike it. He reared his head back and delivered several consecutive hits with his Keyblade, and the Flood was destroyed.

He allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction for doing that, but it cost him dearly as two more Unversed advanced on him and each hit him once. “Aaaahhhh. Aaaahhhh.” Ventus grunted.

He was now starting to get irritated because of these creatures. Firstly, he had to put some space between them and him, so he turned in the opposite direction and quickly rolled away. However, he couldn’t roll right in this form and just ended up falling on his back.

While he was lying down on the cloud, the remaining Unversed advanced on him. When they were all ready to pounce on him, he quickly thrust his Keyblade into the sky and yelled, “Thunder!” Several small lightning bolts than appeared above him and knocked all of the Unversed down.

Getting back to his feet, he breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was over; however, all of the Flood’s were still alive. Letting out a different kind of sigh, he then gripped his Keyblade tightly in his mouth and attacked them all very fast, while they were down and took them all out.

After he had defeated all of the Unversed, Ventus banished his Keyblade and sat down on the cloud, with a disappointed look on his face. “I can’t believe how weak I am.” He said quietly to himself. “If that were Terra or Aqua back there, they would have been able handle those things no problem.” He then sighed in frustration. “I really am weak.”

After just sitting there for a few seconds, feeling sorry for himself, he then pulled his face into a more serious expression. “I have to get stronger. It’s the only way I’ll be able to keep up with my friends.”

“Hey, are you okay?” Ventus’ ears suddenly snapped up when he heard someone call out to him. He turned around to see a pegasus mare, with a long, lime green mane tied back in a ponytail, flying down towards him. She then landed on the cloud, next to him.

Ventus looked surprise that someone had called him, but then quickly put on a smile before responding. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

The pegasus mare brightened up. “Yeah, I should have known. You managed to handle those monsters just fine. Sorry about them, by the way. They used to be a big problem around here, but now they’re just a small nuisance. Still annoying, though.” She concluded.

Ventus then looked away a bit so that he was barely looking at her. “Thank you for your kind words, but I really didn’t handle those things so well. I’m really not all that strong.” He said, sounding dejected.

The pegasus, however, just looked back at him strangely, and then with a big smile on her face. “Huh? What are you talking about? You did a great job against them. In fact, I was pretty sure that you came here to take part in the tournament because you’re so strong.”

“Huh?” Ventus looked back at her, looking intrigued. “What sort of tournament?”

Now it was the pegasus mare’s turn to look confused. “Oh, you mean you haven’t heard? They’re holding the Best Young Fighters Tournament here in Cloudsdale. My guess is that they’re trying to find some strong ponies in case we’re ever attacked by monsters again. They’re even using the monsters as enemies in the tournament.”

Ventus now stood up fully. “A fighting tournament?” He whispered to himself. “That would be a great way for me to get stronger.”

When he was finished with that thought, he then turned back to face the pegasus mare in front of him. “Hey, where is this tournament being held?” He asked her.

The pegasus just turned to the side and pointed to a large cloud structure in the distance. “The tournament is being held at the Cloudeseum.” She then lowered her hoof again. “But you should hurry. The sign up for the tournament is ending soon.”

Ventus then snapped to attention, and his wings flared up at his side. “Okay, then I better hurry up.” He then ran off in the direction of the Cloudeseum. “Thanks for your help!” He shouted to the pegasus mare that helped him, as he was running away.

Lightning Dust scowled angrily as she walked out of the registration office for the Cloudsdale’s Best Young Fighters Tournament. “I can’t believe they refused to let me enter the tournament.” She said to herself. She then rolled her eyes lazily. “Geez, you cause one tornado that ends up endangering ponies that you didn’t even know would be there and you’re marked for life. Now how am I supposed to one-up Rainbow Dash and prove to everyone that I’m better than her?”

As she was walking along, talking to herself, she wasn’t looking where she was going and she suddenly bumped into somepony. When she looked at him, she saw that it was a pegasus, with an aquamarine coat, even lighter than hers, and a blonde, spiky mane. “Oh, sorry about that. I didn’t see you there.” He apologized.

Lightning Dust, however, just spat back, “Well, why don’t you watch where you’re going then?” She then stormed past him and continued walking away, in the direction that he came.

Ventus watched as the pony left. She was obviously being rude, but decided not to dwell on it. He just faced forward again and continued running along, into the registration office.

When he entered the registration office, he simply walked up to the front desk and spoke with the pony there. “Uhhmm, excuse me. I’m here to sign up for the tournament. Is there still time?”

The pony behind the desk simply grabbed a piece of paper from a pile on her desk and handed it to him. “Sure thing. Just answer the questions on this form and hand it in.”

Ventus took the piece of paper with a smile and slid it towards him. He then tried to pick up the nearby pen, but he just couldn’t pick it up with his hooves.

After a few seconds of seeing him trying and failing to pick up the pen, the pony behind the desk facehooved. “Look, if you can’t hoof write, then just used your mouth.”

Ventus looked up at her in response, but she just turned away again and started reading a magazine. Taking her advice, he picked up the pen in his mouth and went through the questions.

1. Name:

He wrote down ‘Ventus’.

2. Height and Weight:

He then put down the appropriate measurements.

When he reached the third question, he looked at it strangely. “What’s this? Favourite Princess?” After thinking about it for a moment, he put down ‘Aurora’.

When he was finished with the application, he handed it back to the pony behind the desk. Without turning away from her magazine, she took his application and then handed him a piece of paper with the number twelve on it. “Here, put this on your flank and wait until your turn is called.” She also said without looking at him.

Ventus just took the piece of paper, put it over his flank and then walked away. As he was walking, he saw a large group of pegasi that all numbers on their flanks, who he deduced were the other competitors, and walked over to them.

Twenty minutes later, after all of the other competitors had had their go, Ventus’ number was called out. When he was sure he was ready, he then stepped out into the Cloudeseum.

Ventus stepped out into the arena area of the Cloudeseum, ready for his first match. The arena consisted of a huge flat surface area of clouds. At the edge of the arena, spread all around at every side, was a wall that marked the boundary of the arena. Just above the wall was the audience area. The audience area was composed of several large clouds, large enough to hold several ponies each. There were three columns of clouds, each one just above the other, spread evenly around the arena. On one side of the arena there was a much larger seating cloud that was currently empty.

After Ventus was done looking around the arena, he then faced forward to see his opponent. For the first round, he was up against five Flood Unversed. In each round, he had to defeat all of his opponents within the given time limit.

When the signal was given, Ventus summoned his Keyblade and the round began.

Ventus started this round by charging right at the group of Unversed and immediately fired an Aero spell to group all of the Flood’s together in the air. He then jumped into the air and started bashing them all with his Keyblade, using his wings to stay in the air as he hit them repeatedly.

After nine seconds, they were all defeated.

This time, he was up against three Flood’s and two Archraven’s. When the match began, he charged forward quickly and started bashing the Flood’s with his Keyblade, and quickly defeated the three of them.

One of the Archraven’s then fired an attack at him, but he dodged out of the way before it could hit him. After he had successfully dodged the attack, he then jumped up and shot a Fire spell at it, destroying it immediately.

When there was only one Unversed left, he just jumped up and beat it with his Keyblade.

He defeated this round after eighteen seconds.

For this round, he was facing three Flood’s and a Bruiser. When the round started, he ran towards them quickly and used a Thundara spell. The lightning bolts called forth immediately destroyed all of the Flood’s and damaged the Bruiser.

The Bruiser then started charging at Ventus, but he was slow and Ventus got behind him quickly and started whacking him with his Keyblade. After several hits, the bruiser was destroyed.

He defeated this round in seven seconds.

Round four had him face off against four Flood’s and two Scrappers. As soon as the match started, he charged forward and quickly used his Thundara spell to destroy the four Flood’s.

One of the Scrappers then jumped away from him and the other jumped forward and attacked him. Ventus was hit by the Scrapper’s attack and was knocked back a bit. However, Ventus recovered quickly and proceeded to bash the Scapper with his Keyblade. After two separate combos, the Scrapper was defeated.

As soon as Ventus had destroyed the first Scrapper, the second one jumped forward and attacked him again. Then the exact same thing happened again. Ventus recovered quickly and defeated the Scrapper by bashing it with his Keyblade.

He defeated this round in fourteen seconds.

For round four, he was up against two Bruiser’s. When the matched started, he quickly ran to the side and started hitting one of the Bruiser’s with his Keyblade. As soon as the first combo was finished, he then hit it with a Fire spell and finished it off.

The second Bruiser began charging at Ventus before the first one was defeated, so he didn’t have enough time to dodge and he got hit. He managed to recover quickly, however, and jumped to the side so that he could get a better shot at the Bruiser. He then simply started hitting it with his Keyblade until it was defeated.

He defeated this round in seventeen seconds.

For this round, he was pitted against three Spiderchest’s. When the matched began, he charged towards the Spiderchest on his left and proceeded to hit it with his Keyblade, but it quickly jumped away to avoid being hit. Then when Ventus missed the attack, the middle Spiderchest attacked him on his side. The force of the blow knocked him back a little. “Aaaaahhhh.” He let out a screech.

Ventus quickly turned back around to attack the Spiderchest that just attacked him, but before he could move, he was attacked again by the first Spiderchest that had dodged him. This attack again knocked him towards the middle Spiderchest; however, before it could attack him again, Ventus quickly jumped up into the air to avoid the attack.

Once he was in the air, he used his wings to stay up for as long as possible. He then raised his Keyblade up into the air and said, “Heal.” The Cura spell opened up on top of him, restoring a bit of his health.

As he was slowly drifting back down to the cloud floor, he looked down and saw all three Spiderchest’s trying to bite at him. Ventus was now starting to worry. He was running out of time and he still had all of his opponents left. Putting on a strong look of determination, he gripped his Keyblade tightly in his mouth and fired a Blizzara spell down at all three of the Unversed, freezing all of them.

Once they were all frozen, he then glided down to clouds, directly in front of them. As time was running out, he quickly shot a Fira spell at them and they were all destroyed.

He defeated this round in thirty three seconds.

For round seven, he was up against two Shoegazer’s and a Spiderchest. Once the matched started, he began by shooting a Fire spell at the Spiderchest. It found its mark, and the hit was enough to keep it in place until Ventus ran up to it and started bashing it with his Keyblade.

After Ventus had defeated the Spiderchest, both of the Shoegazer’s had activated their impenetrable defence. When he saw this, Ventus simply walked to the side and waited for them to become vulnerable again. Five seconds later, their defences dropped and Ventus just cast a Fira spell and destroyed both of them instantly.

He defeated this round in thirteen seconds.

This round was against one Flood and four Jellyshade’s. Ventus started by immediately running up to the Flood and hitting it with his Keyblade, destroying it with just a single combo.

As soon as he was finished with that, he then immediately followed up with a Thundara spell. The lightning came down and destroyed three of the Jellyshade’s immediately, and Ventus simply jumped up and hit the last one with his Keyblade. He only needed one hit.

He defeated this round in seven seconds.

This round was just against a single Flood. However, time was still of the issue. As soon as the round began, Ventus charged towards it as fast as he could and defeated it with just a few swings of his Keyblade.

He defeated this round in three seconds.

The final round was Ventus versus three Bruiser’s. Even though he had plenty of time, Ventus didn’t want to take any chances now that he was this close to winning. As soon as the round started, he got in close and used a Blizzara spell on all three of them. He then followed that up with a Fira spell for extra damage, and then immediately followed that with a Thundara spell.

He defeated this round in nine seconds.

After the three consecutive spells had subsided, all three of the Bruiser’s had been defeated. Ventus then banished his Keyblade and let out a sigh of relief and tiredness at using three high level spells in succession. After he was finished catching his breath, he turned around and walked back into the Cloudeseum.

Up in the stands, another green-coated pegasus regarded Ventus closely. After he had exited the arena, she then shifted her expression to a devious smile. “Oh yeah, he’ll do just fine.” She then turned around and walked back inside.

After Ventus had re-entered the Cloudeseum, he was told that he was advancing to the finals, and to be back in ten minutes. He decided to just hang out in the registration office until the finals began.

“Yo! Champ in making!” Ventus’ ears twitched when he heard someone calling out to him. He suspected that that pony was addressing him because the ‘Champ in making’ would refer to him getting through to the finals, and also because the voice sounded familiar.

He turned his head in the direction that he had heard the voice coming from, and he saw a pegasus mare, with a light turquoise coat and an amber coloured mane walking towards him. Ventus stayed where he was and she caught up to him in no time.

“So, hey, congratulations on making it to the finals.” She now sounded much chipper and happier than before.

Ventus took note of her sudden change in attitude and scrunched up his nose at her slightly. “Aren’t you the one who bumped into me earlier and then tried to pass the blame off on me?” He asked in a straight forward tone.

Lightning Dust immediately changed her tone again, as if she were giving in, and she scratched the side of her cheek. “Yeah, that was me, and I’m really sorry about that. Honest, I am. But I really do want to wish you luck in the finals.” She then lowered her hoof again.

Ventus could see that she meant it from the look on her face and how she sounded. He then smiled back at her. “Well, thanks for that. I’m Ventus; my friends call me Ven.”

“Lightning Dust,” she responded with a smile. However, she then frowned when she moved to continue. “Although, while I wanted to wish you luck in the finals, I also wanted to warn you about your opponent.”

Ventus now looked confused. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Lightning Dust inwardly smirked; however, outside she still looked like she was worried for him. “You see, the other pony who made it to the finals is a really mean pony. She’s also extremely competitive and will do anything to win. I should know. She got me kicked out of the Wonderbolts Academy just because I was doing better than her. You need to be careful in your next match and you can’t hold anything back, because she won’t either.”

“Is she really that bad?” Ventus asked her, looking a bit unnerved.

“Absolutely,” Lightning Dust responded immediately. “You need to take her down hard so that she learns her lesson and pays for what she did. You’re the only one here strong enough to put her in her place. Will you do it?”

After listening to everything that Lightning Dust told him, he quickly played everything out in his head before coming out with an answer. He then put a strong expression on his face and looked back at her. “I’ll do it.” He nodded.

Lightning Dust just smiled back at him. Then there was an announcement over the intercom. “Attention. The final round is about to begin. Will both competitors please make their way to the arena? Thank you.”

Once the announcement was over, Ventus turned to face Lightning Dust again. “I have to go now.” He then turned back around and ran towards the arena entrance. After he took a few steps forward, however, he then stopped and turned back towards her. “Oh, by the way, what’s this pony’s name?”

Lightning Dust turned to face him and simply said, “Rainbow Dash.” She said in a scowl.

With that bit of information, Ventus then turned back around and continued towards the arena entrance.

Lightning Dust just waved back at him as he left, with a smile on her face. However, as soon as he was gone, she then snarled evilly. “All too easy.”

Ventus stepped back out into the arena. The crowd was cheering loudly. On the other side of the arena was his opponent. She was a cyan pegasus, with a rainbow coloured mane. Ventus figured she must be Rainbow Dash.

The two of them walked a bit out from their gates and then stopped a few feet away from each other. “Hey kid, good luck out there,” Rainbow Dash said to him. She then added, with a sly smirk on her face, “But try not to lose too early, okay? These ponies here are expecting a show, so let’s give ‘em a good one.”

Ventus, however, just bore down and sneered at her after seeing how arrogant she really was. “Don’t underestimate me.”

Rainbow Dash just bore down as well and smirked back at him in response. “Bring it.”

As the two pegasi stared each other down, the announcer stepped up on his cloud, to address the crowd. “Fillies and gentlecolts! Welcome to the final round of the Cloudsdale Best Young Fighters Tournament. Please rise and join me in welcoming our beloved Princess Celestia!”

There was then a huge cheer from the crowd, and Ventus turned his head in the direction of the commotion to see a huge, winged unicorn fly down on to the large seating cloud, alongside two armoured pegasi. “So that’s their Princess, huh?” Ventus thought to himself, remembering the three other princesses that he met; Aurora, Cinderella and Snow White.

After Princess Celestia had landed down, the announcer then moved to speak again. “And now, let the final round… begin!”

Ventus then turned back to face Rainbow Dash, and the two pegasi got into their fighting positions and Ventus summoned his Keyblade. Celestia seemed to notice this and looked at Ventus, intently.

The battle begun.

As the battle was commencing, Ventus gripped his Keyblade tightly in his mouth and stared down at his opponent across from him, with a strong look of determination on his face. He was not going to lose this battle. He was determined to defeat this pony and make her pay for what she did.

Rainbow Dash bore down on all four hooves, in a fighting stance, and also stared down her opponent, trying to unnerve him. Her wings twitched slightly in anticipation.

As soon as the battle had begun, both pegasi suddenly put on a burst of speed and charged towards the other one, intending to make the first attack. Ventus was surprised by how fast this pony was; however, when he saw her coming at him quickly, he managed to stop and raise his Keyblade up just in time to block. Rainbow Dash was knocked back a little from the block, and Ventus immediately followed up with a Keyblade combo.

After Ventus’ Keyblade combo had ended, Rainbow Dash quickly sped off to the side to put some space between the two of them. Ventus turned back around to see where she had sped off to, but as soon as he had turned around, she had moved away again, out of sight. The cyan pegasus was moving too fast for Ventus to keep up with.

After speeding around the arena for several seconds, Rainbow Dash then suddenly charged towards Ventus to attack him. The Keyblade Wielder wasn’t able to react in time and got hit. Rainbow Dash released a flurry of hoof punches into the light green pegasus.

As soon as Rainbow Dash’s combo ended, Ventus immediately leapt into one of his own. Rainbow Dash was unable to dodge in time, getting hit several times with his Keyblade. When his combo ended, Rainbow Dash then quickly jumped back and then started dashing around the edge of the arena again.

As Ventus watched the cyan pegasus speed around the arena, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hit her, so he decided to use one his shotlocks. Concentrating hard, he kept his eyes locked on the cyan pegasus as she moved all around him, quickly spinning around to make sure that he didn’t lose sight of her. When he successfully charged up his shotlock, he then released it and shot his Flame Salvo at her.

At the same time that Ventus was ready to release his shotlock, Rainbow Dash decided to come in and attack him. Unfortunately for her, as soon as she dashed towards him, Ventus released his Flame Salvo, and launched several fireballs at her. The first fireball hit her straight on and knocked her back, out of her charge. When she was stopped, she was then immediately hit by all of the other fireballs, dealing a lot of damage.

As soon as his shotlock had ended, before Rainbow Dash could recover, he quickly ran over to her and got her in another Keyblade combo. When his combo ended, Rainbow Dash then quickly moved to dash away again, but just as she passed him, Ventus quickly shot a Fire spell at her, hitting her as she passed him.

After she had been knocked out of her dash once again, Ventus quickly took his Keyblade and proceeded to hit her in another combo again. “Aaaaaahhhhh.” Rainbow Dash screamed out as she was struck.

Rainbow Dash wearily took a step back after that last attack. She was feeling very weak and could barely stand. Looking back over at Ventus, who was still going strong, she started panting heavily. One of her injuries was suddenly aggravated and she lifted her hoof to her chest. She then tipped over on one side and shut her eyes. She then collapsed on to the cloud floor, defeated.

After Rainbow Dash had gone down, Ventus banished his Keyblade and picked his head up again. There was then a huge cheer from the crowd. Ventus dropped his battle face and looked around the cheering crowd.

A moment later, he then looked back over at Rainbow Dash, who was starting to open her eyes and picked her head up slightly to look at him. When she looked back at Ventus, she winced a little in pain, but then she faced him again and she said, “Good game.” She then gave him a friendly smile.

Ventus at first looked confused at this. From what Lightning Dust had told him about her, he was certainly not expecting her to compliment him like that. Looking back at her now, he could tell that she meant it. He also thought back to their fight, and he didn’t think that she was that bad. She also didn’t seem to be that competitive; at least no more so than him. She had been a good sport. Maybe Lightning Dust was wrong about her.

Putting on a warm smile, he nodded his head back to her. “Yeah.” Rainbow Dash just closed her eyes and grinned widely back at him in respect, showing her teeth.

Ventus then looked back around at the crowd cheering for him. It felt good and he started to smile and wave back at them. He then suddenly heard a thump against the cloud behind him and turned to see Lightning Dust, with an angry look on her face. “Well, what are you waiting for? Finish her off!” She scowled.

Ventus regarded her strangely. “But the fight’s already over.” He reasoned.

Lightning Dust just brushed off his concerns and took a step forward, with a devilish smile on her face. “Exactly, and she’s weak. This is the perfect moment to get revenge on her for what she did to me.”

Ventus stared at Lightning Dust carefully and then briefly looked back over his shoulder at Rainbow Dash lying there helpless. She strained to move and she still couldn’t pick herself up. With a sorrowful look on his face, Ventus turned back to face Lightning Dust. “No.” He stated thusly.

Lightning Dust looked surprised. “No?” She questioned.

Ventus then turned fully around to face her. “While I was fighting her, she didn’t seem like a bad person, or as competitive as you said. And when she lost, she was friendly and accepted it and congratulated me.” He gave her a reasonable look. “Is it possible that maybe you projected your own illusions on to what happened and it was all just a misunderstanding?” He tried to reason with her.

Lightning Dust just gritted her teeth in anger. “No!” She shouted out. “It’s all her fault! Everything that happened was her fault! She was just jealous that I was better than her and went behind my back and sabotaged me!” She ranted. All this did was convince Ventus that she had lied to him about Rainbow Dash.

Lightning Dust then suddenly started radiating a dark aura. Ventus took a step backwards in shock. He then looked to the side and saw several Unversed appear. As the dark aura surrounding Lightning Dust grew, the nearby Unversed then started melting away and were absorbed into her.

Lightning Dust gripped her chest with her hoof, in pain, as the Unversed flowed into her. Her eyes then went wide and she threw her head up towards the sky. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

She was then engulfed in a huge pillar of dark energy, which shot into the sky. She then released a huge wave of dark energy across the entire arena. Ventus raised his hoof up to his face to try and shield himself. Rainbow Dash had been knocked unconscious by the force of the dark energy that Lightning Dust was exuding and was blown back against the wall of the arena.

All of the pegasi in the seating areas became scared and flew away. Princess Celestia looked around at her little ponies fleeing, worriedly. She then looked down towards the arena, at the large pillar of dark energy forming. She unfurled her wings and was about to race down there, when suddenly, one of the cloud pillars next to her collapsed on top of her. She was alright, but she was completely pinned down. Her two guard escorts then tried desperately to get it off her.

Lowering his hoof from his face, Ventus then looked around at the state of the arena. All of the audience had fled, and parts of the arena and the audience area had been damaged. There was also a big pillar of dark energy shooting into the sky, creating several dark clouds above the arena, darkening the sky.

Ventus then followed the pillar down, right in front of him to a small whirlwind of darkness. A few seconds later, the whirlwind subsided, revealing Lightning Dust, but she now looked different. Her coat was now a much darker shade of green, and she stood almost twice as tall as before. Her mane now waved about on her head, like flames, and her eyes were blood red. Her face was completely blank and devoid of all emotion. When the wave of darkness dissipated, she then spread her wings out wide at her sides, threateningly.

Ventus took a step back from her in fear, but then he stopped where he was. He looked down at the ground hesitantly. After a second in thought, he then hardened his gaze. “I have to be brave.” He said to himself. “I have to be strong.” He added. He then looked back up at the demon pegasus in front of him, put on a strong look of determination and summoned his Keyblade.

The battle begun.

As the battle was beginning, Lightning Dust stared back at Ventus, with a cold and empty look on her face. She was being eerily quiet as she stared back at him, like she was completely different from the raving pegasus a minute ago. She didn’t even blink.

Ventus, however, bit down on the Keyblade in his mouth hard, in frustration, for everything she did. He stared back at her with a fierce look that said that he was going to win this battle and stop her.

As soon as the battle started, Lightning Dust immediately hopped up into the air. “This is the power of darkness.” She said. Her whole body was then surrounded in a thin, dark aura, and she touched back down on the clouds again.

As soon as Ventus stepped closer to her, he was immediately blasted back a little by a sudden wave of darkness. Ventus managed to recover quickly, however, and jumped towards her again and bashed her with his Keyblade. Once the combo ended, Lightning Dust released another wave of dark energy and knocked him back again.

When Ventus landed down on the cloud floor, the dark aura surrounding Lightning Dust suddenly got bigger for a second and she charged towards him, faster than he could follow. Ventus managed to raise his Keyblade up to block in time, to avoid the damage, however, Lightning Dust was moving so quickly that she still knocked him back, and she kept going and stopped on the other end of the arena.

Ventus turned back around to face her again and started running towards her. However, as soon as got close to her, he was knocked back again by another wave of darkness that she released. Once he had got back to his hooves, he raised his Keyblade above his head and said, “Heal.” The Cura spell then appeared above his head and restored some of his health.

While Ventus was healing himself, the dark aura surrounding Lightning Dust got bigger again, and she closed her eyes to concentrate. She then spread her wings out at her sides and she released two spheres of dark energy. They then started moving around the corners of the arena, in opposite directions.

Once Ventus was healed, he then started focusing on Lightning Dust again. Remembering that every time he tried to get close to her, he was knocked back by a wave of dark energy, he decided to try and keep his distance from her from now on and attack her at a range. Once he had come up with his strategy, he then pointed his Keyblade at her and yelled, “Fire.” He shot a Fire spell at her, that hit her and did some damage.

After Lightning Dust had recovered from the Fire spell, she then unfurled her wings far out at her side. Her total wingspan was now greater than she was tall. She began flapping her wings hard and began pushing Ventus back. Ventus couldn’t resist against the force of her wings and was blown back against the wall of the arena.

After he had been pushed back against the wall, the two dark spheres that she had released earlier, both hit him, causing damage. As soon as both spheres had disappeared, Lightning Dust’s dark aura grew bigger again and she created two more dark spheres. They appeared behind her and started moving against the wall, in opposite directions.

While Lightning Dust was busy creating more dark spheres, Ventus raised his Keyblade up again and said, “Heal.” He used a Cure spell this time, so it restored less health than last time.

As soon as he was healed, he started running towards Lightning Dust again. Once she saw him running towards her, she again started flapping her wings and tried to push him back. However, Ventus was ready this time and quickly jumped into the air, out of her range, before the force of the gust could hit him. He then unfurled his wings and started gliding towards her.

When he was right in front of her again, but not so close that her dark wave could push him back, he pointed his Keyblade towards her and used a Blizzara spell. The spell made contact and froze her in place. Ventus touched down on the cloud floor again and ran up to Lightning Dust. The ice kept her from releasing a dark wave, so he raised his Keyblade and started bashing her with a combo attack.

The Keyblade shattered the ice after the last attack and a dark wave immediately pushed him back. However, he managed to recover quickly and shot a Fira spell at her. The spell hit her before she could move and she was burned for more damage.

Ventus then approached her again and started hitting her with his Keyblade. He got in another three-hit combo before he was pushed back by another dark wave. He then immediately followed up with a Thundara spell that hit her before she could move. It was a good thing that he had gotten used to casting several high level spells in succession.

After she was hit by the Thundara spell, the dark aura surrounding her got bigger again and she quickly charged forward. Ventus was in the middle of trying to attack her again when she charged, so he was hit by her attack and knocked back slightly.

Recovering from her last attack, Ventus then looked over to the other side of the arena, where she had stopped. She then unfurled her wings again and started flapping hard, but Ventus managed to jump up in time and glided over to the side, to avoid the attack, staying away from the wall.

When he was on the ground again, he then turned to face Lightning Dust, who was still flapping her wings at where he had just been. Deciding to make a move before she noticed that he had dodged, Ventus quickly activated his shotlock and started targeting her.

Lightning Dust then folded her wings back in and turned to face Ventus again. She then unfurled her wings again; however, before she could attack him, Ventus finished targeting her and shot his Flame Salvo at her.

Lightning Dust was unable to dodge and was hit by every fireball that he had fired at her. When the shotlock ended, Ventus then started quickly running towards Lightning Dust while she was recovering. When he reached her, he swung his head back to hit her with his Keyblade, but he was interrupted by another dark wave that pushed him back.

Lightning Dust then proceeded to move into another attack; however, before she could, Ventus quickly ran at her again, immediately after being knocked back. It had been too soon since she had released the last dark wave, so Ventus was able to get close to her and whacked her with his Keyblade.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!” Lightning Dust screamed out after being hit.

Lightning Dust raised her head up towards the sky and started screaming. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” She was then suddenly engulfed in a darkness so dark, that she couldn’t be seen inside it. A few seconds later, the darkness disappeared around her, shattering away like glass. She was then returned to her normal form and her eyes were closed. She wavered on her hooves for a split second and then collapsed straight down on the ground.

Ventus was panting hard after the battle ended. When he saw her go down and return to normal, he banished his Keyblade and breathed a sigh of relief. He then winced on his left foreleg and started falling over, but he managed catch himself in time and stayed standing up.

When everything was over, he looked up and around the arena to check for anything. Behind him, at the back of the arena, Rainbow Dash had managed to pull herself up on to her hooves. Once she was standing back up again, she looked over towards Ventus and smirked at him.

Ventus happily returned the smile, now knowing that Rainbow Dash wasn’t as bad as Lightning Dust had led him to believe. He even considered her a friend. He then looked up at the sky, seeing that the dark clouds had disappeared and the Sun was shining down brightly on them again. His smile then brightened as he felt the Sun’s warmth pour down on him.

His ears then suddenly twitched when he heard the sound of a pair of wings flapping. He turned around in the direction that he had heard it and he saw the same winged unicorn from earlier, fly down towards him, with the guards that had managed to get the column off of her, behind her.

As she touched down on the cloud floor and approached him, Ventus remembered that she was a Princess and bowed to her, respectfully. Celestia simply stared down at him and then laughed, playfully. “There’s no need for that, Ventus.” She spoke in a caring tone of voice, like a doting mother. He then looked back up to look her in the eye. “You have saved all of us. If anything, we should be the ones bowing to you.” She then took a knee and bowed to him. The two guards behind her immediately followed suit.

Ventus simply stared back at the ponies bowing to him, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He then turned to the side and Rainbow Dash next to him. She just gave him a sly grin and then she bowed to him as well. After seeing this, Ventus now felt more comfortable and smiled. He then turned back to face Celestia. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Celestia picked herself back up and looked down at Ventus, warmly. “There’s no need to be so formal. You can just call me, Celestia.” She then suddenly remembered something from earlier. “Ventus, that weapon that you used… That was a Keyblade, wasn’t it?” She asked him.

Ventus suddenly looked surprised. “You know about the Keyblade?”

Celestia smiled again. “Yes, I do.” She replied softly. “Terra and Aqua both wielded one as well.”

Ventus was now even more surprised and his eyes snapped open at the mention of his friend’s names, and he gasped. “Terra and Aqua? They were here?” He asked her frantically, taking a step forward.

Celestia could see that he sounded worried at the mention of Terra and Aqua, and realised now that the three of them were definitely connected. With a warm smile on her face, she raised her hoof in front of him, as if to tell him not to worry, and continued speaking. “Yes they were, and they were both a big help to us, just like you were. The three of you are very strong, indeed.”

Ventus took a step back and lowered his worried expression, but it was then replaced by a look of uncertainty. He briefly looked to the side before facing Celestia again. He then asked her, “Do you really think that I’m strong?”

Celestia’s expression didn’t change one iota from before when she responded. “Of course I do, Ventus; but also remember that there are many different kinds of strength. What matters most of all is having faith in yourself, and the bonds of friendship between you and your friends. I’m sure that you will find what you’re looking for eventually and that everything will be alright.”

After hearing everything that Celestia told him, he simply smiled in response.

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash chimed in, next to him. He then turned to the side to face her. “And come back soon, okay? That way we can hang out some more; and we can have a rematch too. What d’ya say, Ventus?” She then held her front hoof out to him.

Ventus just looked at her outstretched hoof strangely for a moment, but then he realised what she meant and gave her a hoof bump. “Yeah. You got it.” He smiled and nodded back at her. “And you can call me, Ven. All my friends do.”

After his brief exchange with Rainbow Dash, he then briefly turned to face Celestia, but then he quickly looked away from her again and turned around to his other side and saw Lightning Dust still lying there unconscious, breathing gently.

Looking back at her now and remembering their earlier conversation, he knew that she wasn’t all bad and deserved another chance. Gathering up the courage to voice his concerns, he then turned towards Celestia again and said, “What about here?” He gestured to Lightning Dust. “You won’t go too hard on her, will you? I know what she did was wrong, but I think that she’s just lost and confused, and I really think that she can do better if she’s just given the chance.” He spoke with worry in his voice.

Looking down at Ventus’ worried face, Celestia then looked over at Lightning Dust. She still had that caring smile on her face. “Don’t worry. I know all too well what the Unversed can do to a pony, so I won’t hold anything she did while she was like that against her.” She then frowned slightly, but quickly returned to her smile again.

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash chimed in again. She then also frowned. “Although, she was already pretty brash beforehoof. Whether or not she’ll change and become a better pony will ultimately be up to her. But I’m sure that she’ll come around eventually, and when she does, we’ll be right there to embrace her.” She then turned back towards Ventus, smirking again. “She can be a pretty awesome pony when she wants to be. I’m sure we could become friends someday, just like the two of us are friends.”

After hearing the verdict, Ventus smiled back at Celestia as well. “Thank you.” He then turned back to face Rainbow Dash, who gave him a friendly grin. After returning it with one of his own, he then turned back around and started walking away.

After he had taken a few steps, he summoned his Keyblade and pointed it out in front of him. A small beam then shot out of his Keyblade and created a shimmering portal just a few feet away.

Ventus took a few steps closer to the portal and then turned back one last time to see his new friends off. They all smiled and waved back at him as he left, and with that, he turned back towards the portal again and walked through. The portal then closed behind him.

Rainbow Dash’s smile changed to an awkward one as soon as she saw him create a magic portal out of nowhere. She then stayed frozen in place, mid-wave, until after Ventus had left. Her eyes then suddenly shot open and she started waving her hooves all over the place. “Whoa, whoa, what? What just happened?” She started freaking out, flying all over the place, frantically.

Celestia looked over at Rainbow Dash, with a blank expression for a few seconds. She then suddenly started laughing to herself, gleefully. When Rainbow Dash noticed her laughing, she stopped in mid-air and looked over at Celestia, confused.

“Come on, Rainbow Dash.” Celestia spoke up. “Let’s go.” She then unfurled her wings and started flying away, with her two guards in tow.

Rainbow Dash simply watched as Celestia and her guards left, still confused. “Wait, what did you mean by that?” She asked Celestia, flying off after them. “What do you know about what just happened? Where did Ventus go? How did he do that? What’s going on?” She continued raving at her.

Celestia, however, didn’t respond and just giggled to herself, as Rainbow Dash continued asking her questions as they flew. This had certainly been an interesting day.