Courses Laid
And here we go with another chapter of the story. Thank you all for the comments and I’m glad you’re enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it! 
In other news, KINGDOM HEARTS: DREAM, DROP, DISTANCE JUST CAME OUT! Goodbye world, hello gaming!
Addendum: This did not go through my beta as we have been having technical issues regarding e-mails between one another. If you grammar and Old English Nazis out there would be so kind, I would appreciate it.
Disclaimer: “E4”
“(GASP) You SUNK my ownership of MLP!”
-G-M-
Guardians of Magic
Chapter 8: Courses Laid
“Come on now, you can do it! Are you pegasi or porcupines?” Rainbow Dash pumped her forelegs up and down as she flew backwards above Sora and Kairi, encouraging both of them to get some use out of those wings of theirs that she hadn’t seen them flap even once! For a moment she wished that she had her hat and whistle with her, but she didn’t so she’d have to double her efforts with just her voice. “You call that flapping? Harder!”
“Um, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said quietly, fluttering up to her on her own wings, “I don’t think they’re quite getting it.”
Rainbow Dash snorted and peered down at the two pegasi, each of them flapping their wings while they walked towards Celestia’s throne room and audience chamber. It looked as though no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t get enough lift to propel their bodies into the air. “Reminds me of Scootaloo,” Dash muttered to herself, thinking of the orange filly and how all she could attain was a buzzing hover of just her abdomen. However, Scoots was just a filly, and these two were grown pegasi for Celestia’s sake! If Horsepower was able to fly with 9.8 Wingpower with his tiny little wings propelling his huge body, then these two certainly should be able to get off the ground! “Harder! You’ll never get anywhere with weak flapping like that!”
She had wondered which one of them would snap at her first, considering how hard they were working and how little progress they were making, and Sora proved to be the one to break. “Weak flapping!? I’m busting my wings off trying to take off and you’re just sitting there lazily hovering with butterfly strokes! Why in Tartarus is this so damn hard?”
Dash scoffed and dropped onto the ground. She flared her wings out, making sure to showcase every single feather on both, and deliberately preened them. “Because you’re doing it wrong, aaaand, check out these babies. I’ve been training to make them the strongest, most powerful wings in Equestria since the day I first heard about the Wonderbolts, which was the day I was born! I am the fastest thing alive thanks to these babies.”
“Rainbow Dash…” Applejack interrupted.
“I can pump out Sonic Rainbooms just by gliding,” Rainbow Dash continued undaunted.
“Rainbow Dash…” Rarity tried to begin.
“You first timers can’t compete against me when it comes to wing strength.”
“Dash!” Twilight barked.
Rainbow looked at her, annoyed that so many ponies were interrupting her awesome moment. “What?”
“None of that boasting about your own ability is going to help them fly,” Twilight told her, the unicorn apparently almost as frustrated at Rainbow as she was with Twilight for interrupting her. “You can’t just command them to fly and expect them to obey. And you can’t do Sonic Rainbooms while you’re gliding either!”
Not yet anyway, thought Rainbow Dash.
“Twilight’s right Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy commented. “They’ve never flown before. You need to treat them as though you were teaching a tiny little foal who’s just starting to learn.”
“Ugh,” Dash moaned, “a foal? Seriously?” Fluttershy nodded her head, and when she saw that all of her other friends were doing likewise Rainbow Dash facehoofed and sighed. She turned her attention back to Sora and Kairi, both of whom were panting from the exertion of rapidly beating their wings and getting nowhere fast from it. Sweat beaded their coats and saliva lathered in their mouths. “Alright, look, your wings aren’t that strong yet, but give it time and practice and you’ll be flying before you know it. Just feel the natural air currents as they flow around your body, and…this part’s kinda hard to explain or understand, but for the first little bit you need to kinda ask or even will them to help you. Our wings aren’t big or strong enough at first to generate the lift we need to get off the ground, so we need that extra teensy bit of help at the start, but soon you’ll be up in the sky without any help easy-peasy-one-two-threesy.” To demonstrate, she took off with one quick flap of her own wings, and hovered easily above the group once more.
Both new pegasi glanced at each other, sharing a look for a long moment, and then Kairi said, “We’ll work on that. Thanks Rainbow Dash.”
“Heh,” Dash laughed, not even sure if her advice made sense to anypony, including her, “no problem. Just...try not to tire yourselves out too much. I don't want to have to do any daring and heroic rescues because you're dropping like a stone four hundred hooves off the ground.”
“Alright,” Twilight said, coming up to a pair of double doors guarded by two unicorns in the golden armour of the Royal Guards, each carrying a broadhead spear, “we’re here.” Twilight turned to one of the unicorns, a golden orange mare with a red and yellow mane, and smiled at her. “Captain Fire Opal, we’re here to see Princess Celestia.”
The unicorn guard smiled back at her, and her horn lit up with teal light. “I gathered that, Twilight Sparkle. Go on in. You caught her at a good time; the Princess just resumed court fifteen minutes ago.”
“I thought the guards were being deployed across Equestria?” Rainbow Dash asked, peering at the unicorn while her magic opened the doors.
“Most, yes,” the Guard Captain answered, “but we’re all divided into different companies and divisions. I’m the Captain of Princess Celestia’s personal guard.”
“And how many of you are there?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Four,” divulged Fire Opal. Pinkie placed a hoof to her mouth in thought.
“Hm, guess I don’t need to throw as big a party as I was planning then.”
“Is the pay good?” Dash asked. Captain Fire Opal gave her a look, and then she nodded her head towards the open door.
“Go on.” Everypony could hear the sudden chill in her voice, and quickly entered the audience chamber.
“Nice going RD,” Applejack muttered as the doors swung closed behind them.
“Hey, it was an honest question!” Dash fired back. “Personal guard to the Princess? Why wouldn’t it pay well?”
“How come there are so many captains?” Fluttershy asked meekly, glancing back at the doors.
“Captains are like mice,” Twilight answered. “They’re everywhere, but many consider them the most important rank a pony can have because they lead and command their ponies right alongside them as they do their duty. Most ponies of higher rank sit back and plan operations while captains and their lieutenants implement them.” Everypony looked at her incredulously. She lifted a hoof and jerked her head back in bewilderment. “What? My brother’s a captain. You think he wouldn’t make sure I knew exactly what his job and rank in the Royal Guards detailed, did you?”
“Well that makes sense,” Applejack said, “but would you look at this line? It’s gonna take us forever to see the Princess like this.”
Rainbow Dash landed and frowned, shaking her head. Applejack was right. There were at least twenty other ponies in front of them to petition Princess Celestia with their concerns.
“Should we come back later?” Spike asked.
“No Spike,” Twilight answered. “We’ll just have to wait our turn in line.”
“But Twilight,” Rarity began, “you’re Princess Celestia’s own personal student. Surely you have a direct line of communication to her.”
“Of course I do Rarity,” Twilight answered, “but I’m not going to abuse that privilege just to cut in line of other ponies who may have legitimate concerns on their hooves. It’s Princess Celestia’s royal duty to listen to her subjects and hear their opinions and concerns.”
“Your world’s in danger,” Sora said simply, “I’m pretty sure that absolves you from ‘abusing’ your connections.”
“Wow Sora,” Riku commented dryly, “you used the word ‘absolves’ correctly. I didn’t even know that you knew it.” Sora rolled his eyes.
Rainbow leaned in towards Twilight. “Hey, what does ‘absolves’ mean, anyway?”
Twilight groaned and facehoofed, to which Dash couldn’t help but feel somewhat insulted. “He meant that I wouldn’t be taking advantage of my closeness to Princess Celestia since it’s an emergency.”
“Oh,” Dash said. “Why didn’t he say that in the first place?”
“He did, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity mumbled, “you just didn’t understand him.” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to fire back some snappy line that she was sure she would come up with in time, but couldn’t as a louder voice beat her to the punch, echoing throughout the audience chamber.
“Presenting Mr. Jet Set and Mrs. Upper Crust.”
“A thousand pardons for interrupting your royal affairs, Your Majesty,” Jet Set said after bowing before the solar diarch of Equestria, “but my wife Upper Crust and I were dining, quite peacefully, at Three Horns café along Silver Jewel Road earlier today when the most hideous black animals ran by and began terrorizing all of the patrons. My wife was in such a state of shock that she almost tore her Lacella Fursace gown while we were leaving before they could knock over our table. We would like to see these barbaric miscreant animals removed from the Canterlot Gardens before next year’s party.”
“Lacella Fursace,” Rarity whispered, diamonds in her eyes as she stared at the dress and jewelry ensemble Upper Crust was wearing.
“Who?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Why she’s only one of the most well known and talented fashionistas in Canterlot!” Rarity almost shouted. “Her designs are some of the most stunning every season on the runway.”
“I don’t think that matters much right now, Rarity,” Twilight grumbled.
“I understand your concerns,” Princess Celestia said to Jet Set, the princess’ voice carrying across the chamber even to where Rainbow Dash stood. “I ask you not to overly worry. The Royal Guard has been dispatched to deal with these animals and the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony have been summoned.”
“The Elements of Harmony?” Upper Crust asked.
“You mean those barbaric ruffians from Ponyville?” Jet Set clarified.
“Barbaric ruffians?” Rarity growled, Rainbow approving of her sudden change in attitude. “Oh, it is on.”
“Don’t rise to the bait, Rarity,” Sora said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Guy’s not worth it.”
“But he just insulted us!” Rainbow Dash argued. “You expect us to take that lying down?”
“What a party pooper,” Pinkie muttered.
Princess Celestia’s voice overrode everything else. “I think you might want to be a bit more careful around whom you say that to,” she told Jet Set. “One of them is my personal student, and she and the rest of her friends are right behind you.”
Dash loved the smirk she gave when all other ponies in the room turned and looked at them.
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, it’s good of you to come,” Princess Celestia called, beckoning for them to come closer. They did as she bid. “I see that you’ve retrieved the Elements from Canterlot Tower. The spell worked, then.”
“Actually Princess, I have no idea if the spell you taught me would work or not,” Twilight apologized. “Kairi unlocked the door to the chamber where the Elements were kept, not me. I didn’t arrive until after the others had already recovered them.”
“You unlocked it?” Princess Celestia asked, turning her head towards the pink pegasus. “But how did you—? Never mind, Kairi. I see that the Keyblade is a more powerful tool than I first took it for.”
“You betcha,” Kairi replied, beaming with pride.
“Princess Celestia,” Jet Set began again, though more cautiously this time, Dash noted, “I see that your…Bearers of the Elements of Harmony have arrived, but who are these ponies with them? I believed that there were only six Elements of Harmony, not nine.”
“And what is with that hideous chapeau?” Upper Crust queried, looking positively revolted at the beret on Kairi’s head. Kairi snorted angrily and looked about to start a fight when somepony else spoke.
“Well I should say that they’re with them because they are more than likely assisting them,” a completely different voice with the accent of Canterlot’s elite speculated. “Considering how friendly they’re being with one another and the Princess, they must be quite special ponies as well.”
“Fancypants!” Rarity exclaimed cheerfully. “How wonderful it is to see you again.”
“The pleasure, I can assure you, is mine, Rarity,” Fancypants greeted. He turned towards Princess Celestia. “If you will excuse me, Your Highness, my concerns have been allayed for the moment.”
“Very well my friend,” replied Princess Celestia, nodding her head at him. “I look forward to our next meeting. Give my regards and well wishes to Fleur; I hear she’s expecting.”
“That she is,” the well-dressed stallion replied warmly, “and we’re both very excited for it.” Fancypants nodded at Princess Celestia, and then he gave a cheery smile and nod towards Rarity and her friends before leaving. Princess Celestia turned to Jet Set and his wife. “Do you have any more concerns to bring before me today, Jet Set? Upper Crust?”
“I suppose not,” drawled Jet Set, turning his eyes onto the group of ponies that had come forward at Princess Celestia’s summons.
“You may take your leave then,” Celestia answered, a subtle hint of firmness in her voice. Both opulent ponies’ eyes widened and they made haste to exit. Rainbow couldn’t help but smirk superiorly after them, especially after Kairi subtly half-tripped Upper Crust and bumped into her, only to apologetically help the uptight pony back to her hooves so that she could leave.
“You sure showed them who’s the boss here, Princess,” Rainbow Dash said smugly.
Princess Celestia gave Rainbow Dash what the pegasus assumed to be a humoured smile from atop her throne, and turned her attention towards the other petitioners. “I must apologize, but I shall be taking a short recess to consult with the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and direct them as we deal with this upsetting turn of events. I must ask you to leave the audience chamber for the moment. You will all be re-summoned shortly so that we may continue.”
It took a minute for all of the other ponies to leave the audience chamber, leaving only two Royal Guards behind at the base of the stairs leading to Celestia’s throne. She began to stride down the stairs towards them, speaking as she went. “It is good that you’ve retrieved the Elements,” Celestia told them, “for I fear that we’ll have need of their power soon.”
“What do you mean, Princess?” Twilight asked. Celestia shook her head.
“I’m not sure, and that’s what worries me.” She looked at Sora, Riku, and Kairi. “We know very little about the Heartless besides what you three have told us. So far, it appears as though my little ponies have only encountered some of the weakest strains of their species, correct?”
“Well there was a pair of stronger Heartless that I’m sure are specific to your world that attacked us in the ballroom,” Sora mentioned, “but for the most part it looks that way.” Celestia nodded her head.
“I’ve received several reports already from Royal Guard teams that were dispatched,” Celestia announced. “It seems as though none of the settlements in Equestria have been bothered by these creatures besides Canterlot so far. This does not meet with my expectations. Sora, is this normal behaviour for the Heartless?”
Sora hung his head for a few moments, and pawed at the ground while he came up with an answer. “In a way, it sort of is,” he said at last. “The Heartless seek hearts, so they would go to major population centres, but they go after stronger hearts above others. Since me, Kairi, Riku, and Rei are in Canterlot, and Trixie, Twilight, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony, and you and your sister are here, Princess Celestia; the only other place that they’d really concentrate around would be the keyhole when they find it.”
“So that’s it then?” Twilight asked loudly. “It doesn’t matter where I go, I’ll just draw them to me like I’ve got a big bullseye painted on my flank!” She glanced around. “I can’t go back to Ponyville, or head off to Las Pegasus, or hide in a bunker underneath Hoofington, or even run to Zebrica or the Great Tundra! They’ll just keep following me.”
“Don’t think about it too much,” Kairi said quietly. Rainbow kept her gaze on Twilight Sparkle as the unicorn rounded on Kairi, Twilight’s eyes wide and nearly hysterical.
“Don’t think about it!? How can I not think about it? I’ll have twisted creatures of darkness coming at me from out of thin air! It’s not like you’ve been…” her voice suddenly trailed off at the solemn looks she was receiving from the trio. Rainbow Dash felt a pit open up in her gut as the three Keyblade-Wielding ponies gazed quietly at the unicorn that would soon join their number. Pity wasn’t something Rainbow was comfortable feeling, and she couldn’t imagine the fear that must stay with them day-in, day-out, knowing that they were constantly hunted by the creatures that they hunted in return.
“Don’t think about it too much,” Kairi repeated. She was just as quiet the first time as now, but now her words reverberated ‘round the hall as though she’d shouted. “They leave us alone, for the most part, because no matter how mindless and instinctual they are, they know that they can’t beat us unless there are hundreds of them or one or two really big ones. So they ignore our hearts, and go after the powerful and strong hearts of different worlds to get at Kingdom Hearts. However, when we show up to put them down and stop them or their masters from meddling, they come after us in force. So, don’t think about it too much. It’s a circle. We try to stop them from doing terrible things, and they try to stop us from stopping them.”
“Well you won’t do it alone,” Rainbow Dash said quickly, trying to evict that pitiful feeling she was experiencing in her stomach. “So long as we’re here, we’ve got your backs.”
“You said it,” Applejack added. Rarity and Fluttershy agreed. “And that goes for you too, Twi’,” Applejack reminded her. “Even if we’ll never fully understand everything, Ah can tell ya that we’ll still be here for you sugarcube.”
Twilight hung her head, and Rainbow Dash could see a smile slowly appearing on it. “Oh you guys,” she mumbled. Sora placed a hoof on her shoulder, drawing her gaze up to his.
“And we’ll be with you every step of the way,” he told her with a reassuring grin. “Our friends are our strength; we don’t go it alone if we can help it.”
Princess Celestia nodded her head. “That is a very wise sentiment, Sora, and I believe I agree with your assessment.” She looked over the assembled ponies, and nodded to herself. “Even with the Royal Guard dispersed, we should be safe enough here in Canterlot with myself and the Guard that’s remained. Therefore, though I have no authority over you or your friends, Sora, I ask that in the morning you depart Canterlot with the Elements of Harmony as escort and search for this world’s keyhole.”
Pinkie Pie gasped. “Really! We get to go with them? That’s so cool! Our first stop can be Ponyville and oh my gosh, there are so many exciting things that I can show you! First we have to go to Sugarcube Corner so you can meet the Cakes and I can show you their twin foals Pound and Pumpkin Cake and get you to try some of Mrs. Cake’s delicious cupcakes. Then we can go to Vinyl’s studio and she can give you a tour of her DJ equipment and we can record a couple of tracks with you all, oh! Lyra would totally love to meet you guys so you can have a nice long chat about humans, but oh! And then there’s Daisy’s flower shop and the bowling alley and Twilight runs the library and Rarity’s got a fashion boutique, or we could just go back to Sugarcube Corner and make sweets that we can surprise the foals in Cheerilee’s class up at the school or—”
“How do you make her stop?” Riku asked with his hooves in his ears.
“It’s really difficult,” Rainbow Dash answered, eyelids twitching. Pinkie Pie continued to babble uncontrollably, her words spewing out of her mouth at a rate that was making it hard even for Rainbow Dash to understand where she was at now in her list of ‘Ponyville attractions to newcomers’.
“PINKIE!” Twilight roared.
“—and then Gummy jumped out of the meteor and fired a laser beam from his mouth that totally destroyed the rogue rampaging cupcake and I went HAAAH! Yes, Twilight?”
Rainbow Dash blinked. She’d never heard any of Pinkie’s rants end like that one. However, none of them got a chance to answer her after she’d finally shut up as the sudden sound of cymbals and a quick drum beat changed all thought in Dash’s mind to what the hay is that?
"Please don't say 'you are lazy'
datte hontou wa Crazy
hakuchoutachi wa sou
mienai toko de BATashi suru n desu.”
“What is that sound?” Rarity asked, watching as Sora quickly dug his nose into his right saddlebag, which appeared to be the source of the rock ‘n roll song.
“I’m not sure,” Rainbow said, bouncing slightly on her hooves, “and I’ve got no clue what they’re singing, but I like the tune.”
“It’s his phone,” Riku answered as Sora pulled out an object in his teeth and quickly raised a hoof while it continued to play the song, “and that music means that Rei’s calling him.”
“Phone?” Fluttershy asked.
“Dang it,” Sora muttered, trying to work the odd device with his hooves. “Stupid…need fingers…aha!” The music stopped playing, and Sora raised the rectangular device up to his face. “Yes Rei? Uh-huh. Okay, we’re on our way.” He pulled it back from his face, and the heavily determined but somewhat confused expression he wore as he tried to press something on the device was simply priceless in Rainbow’s opinion.
“Touch-screen cell phones were not made for ponies,” he muttered when finally finished, the device back in his saddlebags. He placed a necklace bearing a three-pointed silver crown around his neck, then dropped down onto all four of his legs. “There, that’s better. I was wondering where it was.”
“You don’t look like you without it,” Kairi agreed.
Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “So, if that was Rei speaking to you on that device, then what does she want?”
“She’s in the infirmary with Trixie, and apparently she has something amazing to show me.”
-G-M-
Rei paced back and forth by the door to the infirmary. Sora was coming, she knew he would, and that would mean that she’d get to show him what Trixie had just taught her. She’d never seen Sora do what she’d just done; she’d never seen Kairi or even Naminé do it either. He had to be impressed with her.
But what if it doesn’t work this time? What if I can’t get it to work like I just did? What if I freeze up and forget everything I just learned? It’s not that much, but it’s still a lot more than I could ever do before.
Rei glanced at Trixie, the mare lying on the bed and watching her with something like an amused smirk playing across her face. Rei looked at her anxiously for a couple of seconds before she continued her pacing. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the seconds ticked by with the soft clip-clop of her hooves.
It doesn’t matter what she said, about how I picked it up so quickly from her instructions. Wait, maybe I should take a couple of deep breaths first and remember the steps. Breathe in…breathe out…breathe in…breathe out. She gave a shuddering sigh and glanced over at the spoon on the table. Okay, first search inside for the focal point of my energy. There, got it, just between my eyes. Now, grasp inside at the arcane font and draw its energy out through my horn. Rei’s eyes were closed, so she couldn’t see that her small cyan horn was now being surrounded by a faint yellow aura. Now, feel for the object in your mind’s eye, and take hold of it.
She felt the spoon atop the bedside table that Trixie’s empty soup bowl was resting on. It felt as though she had covered a hand in warm liquid and was picking it up with that limb, even though she knew that she was still standing several feet away from the spoon. Her limbs were beginning to tingle and a slight pinching sensation was occurring right between her eyes, but she ignored it and opened her eyes anyway. Giddy with pride was the only way she could describe how she felt when she saw the spoon floating in the air in a yellow cloud of magic light.
“Wow. That is impressive!”
The spoon fell to the ground, Rei’s concentration broken. That’s Sora’s voice. The filly whirled around, surprised to see her brother standing at the door, Kairi beside him and the other ponies coming through after. She stood in shock for a second, her mind running in circles. He saw it! He saw it! I wasn’t ready to show him yet! Wait…he saw it!
“Sora-nii-chan!” she exclaimed, cantering towards him in a sudden blur. “Did you see it? Did you see me levitating the spoon?” He chuckled.
“I did. I’m impressed. It’s something that I’ve never been able to do. Maybe I should ask Donald if he knows any levitation magic.”
“You honestly think that Donald knows magic like that?” Riku asked. Sora shrugged. Twilight Sparkle walked closer to the bed and stopped a respectful distance away.
“How are you feeling Trixie?”
The other unicorn smiled bashfully and nodded her head. She turned her head to the side, but still met Twilight’s eyes. “I am doing much better, thank you for asking Twilight Sparkle. I admit that I should probably thank you for the kindness you and Princess Celestia have shown me, so thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome, Trixie,” Twilight answered. “Did you teach Rei that, or did she figure it out on her own?”
“She learned from me,” Trixie answered, looking at the beaming filly. “She is an excitable student and quickly grasps the basic concepts, but my first apprentice has done well today.” Rei felt another bubble of pride well up at the praise, and blushed when she felt Sora’s hoof stroke the top of her head.
“I’m glad that I’ve been able to spend a bit more time around you, too,” Twilight continued. “You’re not as bad a pony as I had first figured after all of the false boasting you did. I’m sorry I judged you.”
“It’s alright, Twilight Sparkle. You were right to pass judgement on me if you did not like my act. I also apologize for the words I spoke to you when I left Ponyville. I was confused and angry at being upstaged by a pony who’d run away from my challenge.”
“Well then,” Riku spoke up, “since we’re all going to be travelling together and it seems that you’ve gotten a couple of things straightened out between you two, why don’t you give being friends a shot?”
Rei smiled as Trixie gasped, a bit of shock, and was that hope, evident in the unicorn’s voice when she next spoke. “I would…I would like to be your friend, Twilight Sparkle, if you’ll have me.” She extended a hoof.
Twilight frowned. “All right, but on one condition.”
Trixie gulped, and Rei held her breath.
“I remember a pony coming into Ponyville named ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’, and I would like to make friends with her.” She smirked. “You just don’t sound quite the same being melancholic instead of snarky.”
Trixie raised her head, and snorted. “The Great and Powerful Trixie felt that her heartfelt appreciation would be music to your tender heartstrings, Twilight Sparkle, but Trixie must have assumed wrongly.” All was silent for a few seconds. Trixie lowered her head only slightly from its haughty position, and a crooked grin spread on her face. She extended her hoof once more, and Twilight bumped it.
Sora chuckled behind her, and Rei looked up to see him rolling his eyes. “Glad to have you aboard, Great and Powerful Trixie. Perhaps you’d be interested in learning where we’re off to in the morning.”
“If Trixie is being forced to leave this bed and the care of Canterlot Castle’s physicians, then yes, Trixie would like to know to where she shall be journeying.”
Applejack groaned. “This is gonna get old fast,” she muttered.
“We’re heading to Ponyville,” Kairi told the showmare. Trixie’s eyes shrunk perceivably. “So rest up.”
“Twilight Sparkle! Trixie Lulamoon!”
Rei nearly jumped to the moon at the volume of the voice that now assaulted her ears. Whirling around yet again to face the door, she spotted Princess Luna. Everybody's manes blew in the wind generated from the voice of the Princess of the Night. “Aha! We have found thee at last! We require thy measurements!” Her horn glowed dark blue, raising a measuring tape and making it emit a snapping sound as she tightened it.
Trixie gulped. “The Ursa Minor was nothing. Now Trixie is frightened.”
Princess Luna grinned manically, rushing into the room with her tape measure levitating in her grasp. Rei leapt away from the alicorn’s hooves, watching in bewildered horror as Princess Luna rapidly took the measurements of the two unicorns, both Twilight and Trixie struggling in surprise at the assault of the fiendish tape measure. Luna’s eyes were practically glittering, and when she was done and about to leave they settled on Twilight’s friends, and an excited flame leapt into them before she wordlessly galloped from the room, shouting something about hammer and tongs.
-G-M-
There you have it everypony, chapter 8. I want to work on wrapping up the Equestria bit soon, but there’s just so much to do and explore in this world! It’s going to take some effort on my part, or song long chapters, to get through it without too many chapters going by or my chapter outline’s going to be thrown out of whack. 
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
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I know I should have gone to bed since I have work in the morning, but I couldn't resist. Damn you, Shire. Damn you. But, it was worth it.
Rainbow Dash's teaching methods seem to be well within character for her. Very impressive. That's something that I've noticed a significant amount of authors fail to grasp when they have her instructing others in the art of aerial ability.
This chapter served as a nice break from the action, despite the feeling of impending danger that looms overhead.
Poor Sora, trying to use a touchscreen phone with hooves. Heck, I'm surprised the phone even worked. Though I'd hate to see the roaming charges they must get. Yeesh.
Glad to see Trixie falling back into the third-person (pony?) speaking character many of us love. Having her act... well, normal, seemed a bit off-putting to me from time to time.
Also, blacksmith Luna is best Luna. Just saying.
Keep up the good. work!
Aspicio, diluculo Infinitas Noctis.
Shadow Horizons
Extremely happy Luna scares me. Her enthusiasm alone has toppled buildings... and now she's going to do a Rarity. Oh dear.
What's worse, the keyhole of the world is apparently NOT in Canterlot. That begs the question... where? and why doesn't Twilight have her blade yet?
Extraordinarily outstanding job!
That's it, Blacksmith Luna is now canon in my head...
Great chapter! Fancy Pants is one of my favorite characters, and I'm glad you gave him an appearance. I also like that bit with The Great and Powerful Trixie and Twilight making good after the incident in Ponyville, as well as becoming friends. And that bit with Luna at the very end was hilarious! I'll have to record this and the next chapter soon (I've been kinda slacking off).
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Two words. Dramatic Timing. It's the key to being A Fated Badass. Twilight doesn't want to be a badass, but she's going to end up being one anyway. At the time she's in the worst danger she's going to summon a ridiculously awesome Keyblade and annihilate everything in reach.
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And most things that aren't, too.
Hahaha! I've waited for this for a while, and I have not been disappointed! I wouldn't mind waiting for long chapters either, I have plenty of content to go through in the mean time. I recently got to 5.5 Mil for the word mark, and I don't think I'm even 2% of the way through. And it is glorious.
Good job with Rainbow's coaching as well.
And it goes without saying that Blacksmith Luna is best Luna. Ever. Even better than Gaming Luna.
~With regards, the Current Student of the Second True Magic.
[img] http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c145/xxbirdxgirlxx/i-need-an-adult-2.jpg [/img]
Should be "We have...require thy..."
The first is because "hast" is the conjugation attached to "thou", and thy/thine functions like a/an in that thine goes in front of words that begin with vowels or the letter "h" while thy goes with words beginning in all other consonants.
Sincerely,
Your friendly neighborhood Early Modern English Grammar Nazi.
Good Guy Fancypants
Is Simply Himself
Rarity really needs to chase after Luna and her tape measure. No way she'd let any potential designing happen without her.
Getting beyond Equestria I am looking forward to... but no rush really. Between Cloudsdale, the Everfree, Tartaros, the Griffons, Zebras, Diamond Dogs, the Ursas, Dragons, changelings, and any backstory you create for Trixie's family, not to mention whatever Luna cooks up, and any more surprises from Coltinster Equestria could easily be one of the most epic worlds Sora and crew have visited.
Also, are you taking suggestions for Equestria's keyhole? (Gosh that sounds like a sexual euphemism...)
The cave from Hearth's Warming seems like a good idea to me... Giant heart made out of pure friendship after all...
Also, not super keen on the muscle cord in the tail thing.
Makes the time Rarity cut her own tail off extremely traumatizing to me...
1096164 Hahaha. There are enough stories out here that keep me from sleeping when I know that I need to work in morning. I'm glad that mine became one of them.
Rainbow Dash is Rainbow Dash. Is she going to be any different when training a grown pony to fly? Probably not. As serious and technical as she can be about flying, there's no way that she'd jump into being the greatest and kindest coach ever.
Remember Star Command's communicators from AoD? Their phones are somewhat like that. It makes me wonder why King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy haven't called any one of them yet, but perhaps they can track the signal anyway. Either that, or I just haven't found the right tense, important situation for Rock You Like A Hurricane to start playing loudly like it did when Yuffie called during the Council of Elrond.
I like writing Blacksmith Luna. I had considered Gamer Luna as well, with Celestia interrupting Luna gaming instead of napping, and it's possible that she still is Gamer Luna too, but I may not be able to convey all fanon sides of Luna.
1096253 You'll just have to find out where, and Auora Dimmet is very correct. Dramatic Timing for when Twilight gets her Keyblade. It's not just going to randomly pop into her hooves at the drop of a hat just because it can instead of waiting until the last possible second to reveal itself. Come on, that would suggest that Keyblades are sentient and have personalities, thinking that they're too cool to appear for their Wielders until they're really needed...
1096255 Thank you very much!
1096608 I'm quite tickled that she's now your head canon.
1096745 Eh, you're allowed to slack off and do things at your own pace. Besides, you still need to record the last two chapters first.
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Yeah, that's a problem I have. Every time I get my hands on a character I can't stop myself from turning them into a badass. Twilight and Trixie are no exception to this rule. Heck, I'm turning a ten year old into a Little Miss Badass character.
1097927 Thank you!
I'm glad that you and the others are appreciating Blacksmith Luna. I think if this story ends up getting big, Blacksmith Luna might just end up catching on like my Riku/Yuffie pairing did.
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THANKS! Fixed!
1099962 I was thinking the same. Even if this may end up being Fancypants' only appearance in the story, he still must be the most interesting pony in the world, and just a generally good guy.
1101332 Oh yes. This is most certainly probably the strangest yet most epic world Sora and co. have ever visited. There is so much to do but so little time!
It'll be hard for me to decide what to fit in and what needs to be cut. I can guarantee, though, that you haven't seen the last of Coltinster.
I've actually got an idea in mind for where the Keyhole should be, but if you want to throw a suggestion my way I won't immediately snub it. Also, the muscle tissue in the tail...it's factual but you just made me squeemish by reminding me that Rarity cut her tail.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
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Hahaha! I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Blacksmith Luna also being Gaming Luna on the side would make sense as well, as much fun as smithing can be, sometimes you need another source of unwinding. The question that would raise though, would be what level of gaming technology Equestria has at the moment.
As for the Dramatic Timing, well, we all know that magic as a whole seems to have a flare for the dramatic. It'll only appear when its most convinent to the situation, such as a whole horde of Heartless attacking her. Wait, actually, it would make more sense if it was one of her friends under attack wouldn't it? And since her element is "Magic" as well. . . I suspect something epic poping up.
~With regards, the Current Student of the Second True Magic.
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I'm also a bit concerned about Sora and Kairi trying to fly. Rarity had no problems after being given her wings despite never flying before. Perhaps, like Rei, they just don't have the ability to draw on their natural magic. Maybe Twi would be better help there than Dash, unless something like ambient magical infusion from a Sonic Rainboom does something.
Actually I did make a suggestion:
The cave from Hearth's Warming where Clover, Cookie and Pansy awoke the Magic of Friendship for the very first time, generated a giant heart made out of pure friendship that banished the cold between the pony races in their hearts. It is literally the spot and the moment that "Equestria" was born, before Discord, before the princesses, ponies had been nothing but 3 tribes of jerks, it was that moment in that cave where the world which grew into the Equestria we love was foaled. And considering that the KH "worlds" are fragments based on their intellectual properties, rather than full planets... If you have a more interesting idea I'm sure it'll be awesome.
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I'm sure once
Tabitha St GermaineLuna is done smithing the armorTabitha St GermaineRarity will make it more fabulous by covering it in sparkly gems.Overexcited blacksmith Luna is best Luna. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Luna_lolface.png
Great story! Well done crossover, and I look forward to seeing where this goes.
My money is on the Equestrian Keyhole being hidden beneath the old castle in Everfree.
Quick question... if the ponies leave Equestria and venture to say a human dominated world... would they stay ponies, or change into human forms much like Sora and company did upon entering Equestria?
Or would just those with keyblades change form?
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I believe its when the World they're visiting operates on different rules than the bodies they currently have are. Perhaps the world lacks the "template" for that body type, and thus they're shifted into the most identical body type they have to theirs. So perhaps. I dunno. Its magic. Best not to try and think to hard about it.
Dream Drop Distance was great.
I especially like the part where it turns you around and kicks your ass for thinking you had any idea what was going on.
That Youtube link is broken.
Oh and HELL YEAH AWESOME CHAPTER.
1115012 Thanks for alerting me. It's fixed now.
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I hope for human bodies and can´t wait for them to leave for another world. <3
I am not ashamed to admit that I actually backed away from my computer screen when I read this.
Pony Sephiroth and Cloud? Please? PLEASE?
Man, we need at least 9 more chapters of Equestria, then you can take us to any place in the multiverse.
ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING JOB!
My favorite part of this chapter? It's the YE OLDE CAPS LOCK. Best part of any Luna scene. But, ya, great chapter Shire; can't wait to see how this turns out and how AoD:LG will end after Sora
**SPOILER!!**
Makes his first kill.
Hey there. I just wanted to say, Great story so far! As a KH fan, I've really been enjoying seeing a crossover like this. You've really got me hooked. I can't wait to see where it goes.
Also, I wanted to add that deciding to read your story got me in the mood to go through Kingdom Hearts 2 again. It's one big Kingdom Hearts/MLP binge.
Sorry for taking so long to read this. Should of gotten around to reading it again.
I simply like the character interactions here, as well as Luna's excitement to be smiting,
The strongest material in the world is nothing compared to the will of a good smith
1104365 When Twilight gets her Keyblade, will she be able do to something like this?
Also, please give Twilight and Trixie a combination attack, something like, say, I don't know, this:
1112794 Hah, TRUE!
Also, nice pic.