The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows
Ventus walked through Ponyville early in the morning, making his way to Sugarcube Corner for some breakfast. The cute-ceañera for Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo yesterday was still fresh on everyone's minds, the three fillies finally earning their cutie marks after all their crusading. Even though he admitted it was an emotional moment, Ventus wasn't as emotional as Sora was since he was a lot closer to them than he was. He was at least happy for the Crusaders at least, as well as all of Ponyville, hoping they'll stop getting into dangerous crusades now that they have their cutie marks.
The young teen walked inside the bakery, spotting Pinkie Pie in the middle of icing what looked like hundreds of cupcakes set up on one of the largest multi-leveled trays he had ever seen. "Five hundred and sixty-six, five hundred and sixty-seven, five hundred and sixty-eight..." Pinkie let out a sigh and wiped her brow, her body covered in cake batter while wearing a baker's hat as she finished applying frosting to the cupcakes on the highest tier from a ladder. She slid down to take a break, Ventus staring at the numerous cupcakes in awe as his stomach wanted to sample a few of them with a grumble. "Hi, Venny! Look at all these cupcakes! I'm really close to breaking my personal cupcake-icing record!"
"I kind of don't want to know how many more you intend to decorate, because I'm a bit hungry," Ventus said. He soon heard babbling as Pound Cake came into the room, riding on Gummy's back. "Uhh, you sure it's safe for a baby to be riding on an alligator? Even without any teeth?"
"Pound Cake's having fun, and so's Gummy!" The pegasus teen could believe the young pegasus twin was having fun riding on Pinkie's pet, though it was hard to judge what Gummy does with how dopey he seemed.
Mrs. Cake walked in from the kitchen with a list in her hoof while Pumpkin Cake rode on her back. The unicorn filly spotted Ventus, squealing happily as she jumped off her mother's back and ran up to the pegasus.
"Sowa!" she cheered, hugging Ventus's leg.
"Heheh. No, Pumpkin, I'm Ventus," Ventus said.
The filly looked up at him, tilting her head as she looked at him. She didn't care, going back to hugging the teen's leg, thinking that it was Sora because of his spiky hair.
"Well, you and Sora look a lot alike," Pinkie reminded.
"My hair's more blonde and spiked differently," Ventus argued, only to let out a sigh and pat Pumpkin on the head. "Oh well. She doesn't even know any better. Might as well not ruin her beliefs."
"Oh boy, this is quite an order," Cup Cake said as she looked over the list again before looking up at Pinkie and Ventus. "Pinkie, can you watch the counter for me while I pop into the supply room? We just received a special order, and the ingredients need to be perfect."
"Okie dokie loki, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie said.
"Thanks, dear!" the mare thanked as she ran off into the back to check on her supplies.
In her haste, she dropped the paper she had, falling gently to the floor beside Ventus and Pumpkin. The stallion grabbed it and looked it over, reading it to himself. It wasn't until he got to who requested said order and what the purpose of the cake is for where he gasped in surprise.
"A baby!?" Ventus exclaimed.
"Baby? There's two babies here in the room, Venny," Pinkie said, pointing at Pound, who just shoved a pacifier in Gummy's muzzle, and Pumpkin, who wanted to be picked up by "Sora".
"No, the ponies ordering this cake! Shining Armor and Cadence are having a baby!" Pinkie let out a gasp, snatching the paper and looking it over before her eyes bugged out, ripping through the sheet in surprise.
"Oh my gosh! This is the greatest news ever!" Pinkie shouted, getting Cup Cake's attention as she poked her head out from the kitchen. "We need to tell everypony about this!"
"Actually, Pinkie, it's supposed to be top secret," the blue earth pony reminded before backing away into the kitchen again.
"Oh, I get it," Ventus said. "I guess Shining and Cadence want to surprise Twilight. She's probably going to freak out when she does find out." He looked down as Pumpkin brought a hoof up to her mouth and shushed him, apparently know that the order was meant to stay a secret and reminding him. "Don't worry, we're not gonna tell anyone. Right, Pinkie?" Ventus didn't hear a response from Pinkie Pie, who was busy panicking. "Uhh, Pinkie?"
"We have to keep this a secret...to ourselves!?" she asked. "I didn't even make a Pinkie Promise!"
"Do you always make a Pinkie Promise when it comes to any secrets you need to keep?" Ventus asked.
"Yes, otherwise it'll be impossible for me to keep my mouth shut and tell everypony!" Pinkie said.
"...It's not that difficult...unless it's something that's really important..." Ventus sighed, remembering how much about himself he didn't know until Vanitas kept pestering him, bringing back his memories while also weighing him down hiding it from Terra and Aqua all the while. At least things didn't turn out how he expected when he found them in the Keyblade Graveyard, their friendship too strong to let something like what had happened to him in the past affect anything between them. "Ok, maybe it might be hard, but this secret's easy to keep. Just don't say anything, or even think about it."
"Easy for you to say," Pinkie said with a groan.
Once Mrs. Cake got the best ingredients for the royal couple's special cake, Pinkie was free to leave as she and Ventus headed back to the castle. Pumpkin protested and wanted to play with "Sora", but Ventus promised her "Sora" would come by again, only this time it really would be Sora. He could understand if the toddler saw them as similar ponies, but everyone else thinking that they're related still baffled him when they see they look alike in several ways. Gummy rode on Pinkie's back, still holding onto the pacifier Pound gave him, but the earth pony was too worried about ruining the surprise for Twilight, or anyone else about the new arrival in the Crystal Empire.
"Pinkie, stop worrying about it," Ventus said. "It's just one little secret you can keep that doesn't involve a Pinkie Promise."
"But it's so simple to keep a promise with a Pinkie Promise!" she argued, speaking before Ventus could counter her reasons. "I can't make the Pinkie Promise now! It's too late! I have to be TOLD the secret from the pony who actually wants me to keep it secret, not by a piece of paper!" The pegasus groaned and shook his head, giving up with Pinkie's random logic for everything. Pinkie then heard Gummy sucking on the pacifier, though he probably didn't have any idea what he was doing in the first place. "Gummy, did you take that from Pound Cake again?"
"Actually, Pound 'gave' Gummy his pacifier," Ventus said.
Pinkie grabbed her pet and held him up in front of her. "Silly gator. Don't you know it's wrong to steal from a baby?"
"What's all this about a baby?" Pinkie yelped in surprise as Rarity approached them from behind.
"What!? Who!? Why!? Who said something about a baby!?" Pinkie questioned, failing to avoid suspicion as she already began to panic.
"You did, Miss Pie, just now." Pinkie responded by staying quiet, and she did so by snatching the stolen pacifier out of Gummy's mouth and put it in hers. She shrugged her shoulders and cantered onward, disturbing Ventus and Rarity a little by her random antic. "...Uhhh, ok?...Ven, darling, what were you and Pinkie talking about?"
"We were talking about Gummy 'stealing' Pound Cake's pacifier back at Sugarcube Corner," Ventus said calmly.
"Oh. But why was she-?" Rarity paused, then shook her head. "Never mind. It's Pinkie."
"And what she did was...unsanitary," Ventus added. "Does she even know what Gummy puts in his own mouth?"
"Well, despite the odd antics of our pink friend, let's hurry to the castle," Rarity said. "Twilight's got some interesting news to tell us."
Rarity and Ventus continued on their way to the castle and made their way to the throne room. Everyone else was already here sitting in their thrones, Twilight with a highly eager grin on her muzzle as she held a letter in front of her. Pinkie had gotten rid of the pacifier so she wouldn't seem anymore weird than she already is, but she was still anxious about keeping what she and Ventus knew a secret.
"Ok, everypony's here! I got big news!" Twilight said.
"You're finally going to stop reading?" Riku asked jokingly, only to have a book smack him in the face from out of nowhere. "Ow! Ok, do you seriously have a book stashed in every single room of this castle? I thought you got bored of reading during the last friendship mission."
"Ignoring my teasing coltfriend, somepony special is coming to Ponyville, and I'm going to need all your help," Twilight said before leering at Riku. "And you're helping too, Riku, or you're not getting any cuddling time with me this evening."
"You actually scheduled 'cuddle time' with Riku?" Sora asked quizzically, which lead to Riku getting smacked by the book once again.
"OW! I didn't say anything!" Riku protested, smacking the levitating book away from him.
"I just wanted to do that," Twilight responded, making the white pegasus growl in irritation. "Anyway, the ponies coming to visit are-"
"Shining Armor and Princess Cadence!" Twilight said as Pinkie chimed in with her, the earth pony grinning as if hoping the alicorn actually knew what she did.
"...Uhh, yes," Twilight said. "And they're coming-"
"Tomorrow!" Pinkie interrupted, her grin wider and more nervous as everyone else stared at her awkwardly, Ventus facehooving at her desperation.
"...Yes, on the-" The alicorn was interrupted again as Pinkie jumped up on the table and approached her.
"Friendship Express rather than the Crystal Empire train so as to not cause too much of a scene when they skip town to visit!?" Pinkie asked, letting out a squee as her grin grew even wider.
"........Yeah," Twilight finally said after a moment of silence.
"Aaaaaaaaand?" Pinkie goaded.
"And that's it." Pinkie's grin melted, apparently not knowing about her brother and sister-in-law's baby.
"Wait, how did you know about all this, Pinkie?" Terra asked curiously.
"Hehehehe. Uhh...Pinkie Sense?" the pink earth pony responded nervously, backing up to her throne with her neck stretching out weirdly before it snapped back to her body.
"Subtle, Pinkie. Real subtle," Ventus uttered to himself.
Surprisingly, everyone believed Pinkie and chalked it up to her being her weird self. They soon followed Twilight through the castle to help her with what she needed for her brother and sister-in-law's visit. Standing before one of the empty guest rooms, Twilight opened the door and revealed some of the decorations she made for it. It seemed to be more fitting to a nerdy colt's room with all the posters of fictional comic book heroes, an ant farm, a chest filled with random old toys, and several comic books, some of them in plastic bags that were kept in mint condition.
"Wow. And I thought Shining Armor was just a dork when it came to Cadence," Sora said.
"You acted the same way with me, Sora," Kairi reminded Sora, making his cheek turn pink in embarrassment. "But you're right. Shining Armor must have been quite a nerd before becoming a part of the Royal Guard...And is Cadence supposed to sleep in here with him in all this?"
"If Kairi can tolerate Sora's goofiness, Cadence can deal with Shining Armor's nerdy side if she loves him that much," Ventus said.
"Well, I started collecting some of the things Shining liked when he was a colt, so I wanted to give him a little surprise," Twilight said.
"Surprise!?" Pinkie shouted, somehow appearing out of the toy chest with a royal guard helmet on her head. Getting odd looks from everyone again, she giggled nervously, turning the helmet around to hide her face. While the others looked around at the old toys Shining used to love, Spike accidentally breathing fire on a mint comic book as he blew dust off the protective covering and placed the ashes in another one, Pinkie pulled out an old hoof-stitched doll that seemed to be like Twilight's old doll, Smarty Pants, only with red tights, yellow boots and a cape, a pair of sunglasses, and yarn stubble on its muzzle. "Hey, what's this?"
"That's Brutus Force," Twilight said. "Shining Armor used to carry him around like his baby when he was little."
Pinkie blanched at the word "baby", fumbling with the doll before dropping it back in the chest with a nervous grin. "Yeah! Really cute! Hehehehehehehe!"
"Does your whole family pass down genes that make you all dorks in some way?" Riku asked teasingly, Twilight's response zapping him with a beam of magic to his flank. "Yeow!"
"Call me dork again and I'm going to make it hurt more," Twilight warned. "But, the room's not exactly finished. I still need a few more things, and I'm going to need your help."
"Whatever ya need, we'll get it for ya, sugarcube," Applejack said, the others agreeing to help make Shining and Cadence's stay more enjoyable.
"Thanks, everypony," Twilight said. "I can't wait until they walk in and see everything, especially my B.B.B.F.F."
"Yeah. And watching somepony else be surprised by something is almost better than the one being surprised," Rainbow said.
"But...eh...what if the surprise is something so incredibly exciting that a pony can't keep it in any longer, and she has to tell the pony standing next to her what it is or she might explode!?" Pinkie asked, growing more panicked the more she spoke as she crawled out of the chest toward Fluttershy, hugging her neck and blocking her lungs for only a second before loosening her grip.
"I would say...no," Fluttershy said.
"The pony who ruins a surprise for somepony else has to live with that guilt. Forever!" Rarity said, only worsening Pinkie's fears keeping this secret a secret.
She giggled nervously, on the verge of blowing up already, needing to get out before it's too late. "Gotta bounce!"
Pinkie curled into a ball and began bouncing around the room, dinging sounds as if coming from a pinball table rang as she bounced off the walls. Everyone watched her with no clue what was going on with her, stepping out of the way before she smacked into them. She finally made her exit out of the window, Ventus quickly opening it before she smashed through it. The group looked out the window in confusion, unsure if this was unusual for Pinkie to be acting more unusual than she normally does.
"...Ok," Sora uttered while tilting his head.
"Anypony else think Pinkie Pie's acting weirder than usual today?" Rainbow asked.
"Define 'weirder' for Pinkie's case," Aqua said, looking over to Ventus as he shook his head in disbelief. "Ven, you know what's up with Pinkie?"
"I really have no idea," he answered.
A while later, Ventus headed back to Sugarcube Corner, both to check on Pinkie and actually get something to eat. He expected to find the pink party pony back to working in the bakery, but he found her wandering around pulling a cart with baked goods, apparently acting as the delivery pony for the Cakes. He decided to wait inside once he got there, getting himself a few assorted muffins for brunch. Luckily, he wasn't bothered by Pumpkin again as she and her twin brother were taking a little nap, and without too much waiting, Pinkie made it back with all the deliveries made in record time.
"I didn't know you were helping deliver orders for the Cakes, Pinkie," Ventus said.
"I made a Pinkie Promise to Mr. Cake that I'd be his backup delivery pony," she said. "I can't believe I said there wouldn't be anything that will interfere with something like a gigantic, emotionally exhausting surprise that would make it super hard to be around other ponies, and there had to be one today!"
"...Wow...Very specific foreshadowing," Ventus uttered. "So, now you're free?"
"Yup, but I hated not being around my friends. If only I didn't keep this a normal secret, it would be so much easier." Pinkie slumped over and rested her head on the table Ventus sat at. "But it's done, and now I'm aloney on my owney."
"Uhh, I'm right here," Ventus reminded the mare.
"You know what I mean." While Pinkie rested, Ventus heard something trying to munch on crumbled paper. Looking down beside him, he yelped and fell out of his seat as Gummy somehow stood on the table right next to him without even noticing the dopey alligator approach them. And he was trying to chew on a rolled up scroll, his toothless maw drenching the parchment in saliva as he failed to tear it to shreds with teeth he didn't have. "Great idea, Gummy! I'm starving too!"
Pinkie pulled out an apple and munched the whole fruit down, sating her hunger. Ventus sat up, eyeing the odd gator warily.
"How did he even get on the table!?" he asked. "He wasn't even anywhere on the ground floor!" The pegasus let out a frustrated sigh, giving up and adding any of Gummy's shenanigans as common normality like his owner's antics. Ventus took the paper the gator was gnawing on out of his mouth, unfurling it as he read what was written on it. "Pinkie, is this yours?"
"What ish it?" Pinkie asked with her mouth full, swallowing her apple and taking the parchment out of the teen's hooves. "Oh no! It's the list Twilight helped make for me yesterday so I wouldn't forget all my Pinkie Promises today! And I have three more things to do!...Er, make it four if you include bringing the snacks to the castle..."
"How many Pinkie Promises do you even make without realizing it?" Ventus asked. "You've gotten a bit too liberal with them."
"I know!" Pinkie exclaimed. "But I can't go out there and do these promises without blabbing about Twilight eventually going to be a you-know-what!" She began panicking more, but quickly calmed down when she looked up from her list to Ventus. "...Hey! Maybe you can come with me while I finish my other Pinkie Promises and help me not blow the secret!"
"You're taking this whole secret keeping thing way too seriously," Ventus grumbled. "All you have to do is not say anything, and don't think about the secret. That way, you'll completely forget about it until someone mentions it." Pinkie gave Ventus a sad look like that of a puppy wanting attention with big, sad eyes. "No. Not the face." She then whimpered, scooching closer to him with her ears drooped down against her head. "No no no no no! Stop with the sad face! Why is it when we see a sad animal, it breaks us humans!?" His will was eventually broken as Pinkie continued whimpering, looking up at him while she leaned against Ventus's shoulder. "Ugh. Alright. I'll help."
"Yay!" Pinkie cheered, hugging the teen tightly and crushing his lungs in the process. "Come on, Venny! Let's go and complete the Pinkie Promises I made so I can hide in my room until Shining Armor and Cadence tell Twilight the news!"
"Gummy, send help," Ventus begged the alligator, being dragged off by Pinkie Pie to fulfill the promises she had made, but Gummy did nothing and blinked, laying down on his stomach to continue doing nothing.
Their first stop was at the schoolhouse, where Pinkie promised the foals she would make them balloon animals. All the foals lined up as Pinkie worked her magic, though her skill might not be as matched as Party Favor's back in Our Town with his incredible talent of balloon crafting. Ventus gave Pinkie the balloons she needed while she blew them up and twisted them around to make whatever the kids wanted.
Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were in line, apparently having seen Pinkie earlier while making those deliveries with nothing to do. The unicorn filly was up next after a filly ahead of her got a giraffe.
"Ooh! I want a flamingo!" Sweetie Belle said, Pinkie snatching several balloons and, in a blur of hooves and squeaking rubber, she made a balloon flamingo, the legs tied to a string for the filly to carry.
Sweetie Belle took her balloon animal and left, Apple Bloom up next in line as she walked up to the mare. "Ah want a goldfish!"
Pinkie made a simple goldfish out of yellow balloons, the young Apple sibling snatching the string with her mouth and wandered off, Scootaloo up next as she put some thought in what she wanted. "Surprise me!"
"I'm gonna guess she'll want a balloon sculpture shaped like Rainbow Dash," Ventus said to himself with a laugh as he got more balloons ready.
While Pinkie did her work, a mare pushing a baby stroller passed by, the foal inside crying and demanding attention for something. Pinkie ended up getting distracted as the crying foal reminded her of the new royal arrival of Shining Armor and Cadence, Ventus dropping the balloons he was holding as he and Scootaloo stared at a baby bottle balloon sculpture.
"Uhh, is that a baby bottle?" Scootaloo asked questionably.
Pinkie looked at her art, shrieking in shock as she went back into panic mode. "N-No! It's a...a puppy! Woof woof!"
"Pinkie, you're not fooling her. That's clearly a bo-" Pinkie shoved the balloon bottle in Ventus's mouth, shutting him up before he made it worse.
"Play with your puppy, Venny!" she shouted, the young stallion growling as he spat the balloon bottle out of his mouth.
Pinkie grabbed some more balloons and created a colorful Rainbow balloon figure for Scootaloo to make up for the weird one she mistakenly made. The filly went off with her balloon, the last of the group of foals in line was a lanky pegasus colt named Featherweight, who was pretty good with a camera as he takes pictures for the Foal Free Press in the school.
"Uhh, a baby pony please," the colt requested, which seemed odd for someone to have something made out of balloons. "Unless, of course, that would be a royal pain."
Ventus wondered why the colt specifically asked for a pony-shaped balloon sculpture, and the choice of words he said made him even more suspicious. "Interesting choice of words, Featherweight," Pinkie said, leering at the colt with high suspicion.
"Uhh, was it?" Featherweight asked nervously.
"I don't know. Is it?" Pinkie questioned.
"...Uhh, maybe you'd better just make a giraffe." Pinkie slowly held out a hoof to Ventus, the stallion taking his cue and giving her the balloons to make the giraffe for Featherweight.
The next stop on Pinkie's Pinkie Promise list was at town hall with Mayor Mare. Pinkie volunteered to help sort out files on everyone in town, quickly dealt with as she and Ventus threw each file into the correct file cabinet like throwing stars. Mayor Mare came into the filing room and saw the incredible work the duo made.
"Well, you two did a phenomenal job," the mare complimented. "I didn't believe Pinkie had a great filing system, but knowing everypony in Ponyville seems to be a skill you've mastered for ages. You are Ponyville's best kept secret!"
Pinkie winced, the trigger word "secret" already making her freak out again. "No, I'm not!"
She quickly moved over to a desk, organizing a few papers to fit them in the right files. Ignoring the surprise Pinkie had, Mayor Mare walked over to her, making sure Ventus was out of earshot while he tossed some other files into the several cabinets in their right places.
"Speaking of secrets, have you ever known somepony else's secret?" Mayor Mare whispered, making Pinkie lose her grip on the pile of papers she was straightening out, sending them flying all over the floor.
"Nooooooo," Pinkie said, scrunching her muzzle as she struggled to keep her mouth shut, the mayor not making the secret-keeping easier.
"A surprise that was so big and exciting that it was all you could think about?" Pinkie puffed her cheeks, her face turning red as she held her breath, struggling to keep quiet as Mayor Mare only made it worse for the party pony.
"NOPE!" Pinkie shouted before zipping off, running far away from town hall.
Ventus looked back and watched Pinkie flee, Mayor Mare feeling a bit disappointed. "Me neither..."
"Uhh, Mayor Mare? What happened with Pinkie?" Ventus asked.
"I'm not sure," she said. "I just asked her if any secrets she may have kept from Pinkie Promises stay with her the whole day and if any of them were too exciting to keep a secret for long."
He facehooved and grumbled, letting out a sigh. "Oh, how exciting those secrets and promises can be. I better find her before she causes more chaos than usual. The rest of the files are stored away, so that's all taken care of."
"Thanks. You two were quite a big help." Ventus left and chased after Pinkie, knowing the last of the promises she had made and where it was.
The last stop on Pinkie's list of promises before making the snacks for Shining and Cadence's arrival was at a furniture store, of all places. Pinkie was setting up a strange inflatable tube pony with wavy forelegs that moved around with a surge of air blowing up from inside it, making the wacky inflatable device flail around as a means to attract attention. The owner of the store, a brown pegasus stallion with short black, scruffy hair and a five-o-clock shadow, chuckled as he came outside to see the wavy plastic pony.
"Thanks, Pinkie! This is just what I needed!" he said. "Say, you think you and your friend can help spread the word about the big crib sale I'm having?"
"Crib sale?" Ventus and Pinkie looked at the window, where an ad for a sale on baby cribs.
"'Treat your foal like...royalty!?'" Pinkie read the slogan aloud, which, yet again, made her panic at the choice of words for the ad's slogan, along with the fact it involves baby cribs.
"It's a pretty good slogan, right? Came up with it all by myself," the stallion said with pride. Instead of being praised, Pinkie shrieked loudly, mimicking the inflatable arm flailing tube pony before running off like the wind. "...Oh. I thought it was clever."
The inflatable pony suddenly deflated as the air keeping it flailing around stopped. "...Ok, this can't be a coincidence," Ventus said to himself, ignoring the stallion as he hurried after Pinkie. "First, Featherweight wanted a baby pony balloon animal, then Mayor Mare was asking about kept secrets, and now the furniture salespony's having a sale on cribs with a slogan saying, 'Treat your foal like royalty.'...Do they know about Shining Armor and Cadence's baby, too?"
After finding Pinkie Pie back at Sugarcube Corner, she had already made the snacks for the royal couple's visit and began making their way back to the Castle of Friendship. She carried a few plates on her back filled with assorted snacks, walking through the halls until they reached the throne room. The castle was already decorated to welcome Shining Armor and Cadence, the others getting things cleaned up for their arrival. Twilight spotted them enter, levitating the plates off of Pinkie.
"Wow, these look delicious, Pinkie," the alicorn said, placing them on the Cutie Map table and covering the platters up with lids. "But we better cover them before they spoil."
"Why would they spoil?" Ventus asked curiously. "Aren't we going to eat them soon?"
"Actually, Shining Armor and Cadence are being held up," Aqua said. "They might not make it until tomorrow."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Pinkie shouted, the unfortunate news giving her a full-blown panic attack as she leapt up onto the tree trunk chandelier above the room. She began hyperventilating and fanned herself with her hoof, the rest of the group down below looking up at her in confusion. "You mean...I have...to wait...another whole day!?" Pinkie asked, gasping between every few words, nearly making herself pass out from her hyperventilating. "I don't know if I can!"
Ventus grimaced, Pinkie already losing her mind just from keeping this secret they knew for several hours. Now that Shining Armor and Cadence were apparently going to arrive tomorrow, it was going to be a torturous twenty-four hours for her. The others were starting to grow concerned with the hyperventilating earth pony's behavior ever since she knew about the royal couple's arrival earlier.
"Pinkie, are you ok?" Twilight asked. "You seem like you want to tell us something you're keeping in."
Looking down, Pinkie shook her head and let out a strangled yell, quickly covering her mouth with her hooves. "We're here to listen," Fluttershy said in an assured, calming tone, but the pink earth pony shook her head in defiance.
"Come on, Pinkie, don't hold it in," Sora said. "Not exactly a good thing to hide something from your friends. Like with...well, my own darkness and fears of what might happen."
"And my own bout of depression when I was with you all," Aqua added. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, we won't judge you."
Pinkie still didn't respond, trying to control her breathing by blowing into a balloon she pulled out of nowhere. She kept blowing into it, making it bigger and bigger, the rubber stretching and threatening to pop if anymore filled it. Rainbow flew up to the distressed pony, wincing as the balloon popped, but ignored it when one of her best friends was having an emotional breakdown.
"Come on, Pinkie Pie," she said. "We're best friends."
Even though Rainbow was trying to be helpful, in Pinkie's head, she was having a hallucination from her panic attack. The pegasus's head was now on a balloon, like how Discord once tricked her when he was freed, only instead of laughing at her, she was being pressured into telling everyone.
"Friends! Friends! Friends!" the hallucination goaded, leering at her in spite as others with the rest of her friends' heads floated up and around her as balloons.
"Tell! Tell! Tell!" they all repeatedly chanted.
Pinkie tried to cover her ears in vain, but it didn't help as their tormenting chanting echoed in her mind. It was becoming a losing battle as her will was about to be broken, and Ventus could see it on her face; she's already cracked.
"Ok, you win!" Pinkie shouted before taking in a deep breath. "Shining Armor and Cadence are gonna have a-"
Ventus was about to fly up and stop her, but the doors to the throne room opened as everyone turned to see who barged in. "An awesome weekend with the best little sister in all of Equestria!"
To their surprise, Shining Armor and Cadence stood at the doorway, their bags set beside them for their weekend stay as none of them expected them to be here until tomorrow. "Hi, everypony!" Cadence said.
The distraction gave Pinkie some relief, sighing heavily as she fell off the chandelier and hit the ground. Even Ventus was glad they made it, at least for Pinkie's sake. Knowing what the pink alicorn had in store for everyone in the next several months, he could barely notice a slight bump in her abdomen, but it was barely noticeable if everyone else paid attention to her slim figure.
"Ok, I thought they were coming by tomorrow," Riku said what everyone was thinking, except for Twilight, who ran up to her brother and sister-in-law excitedly.
"You're both early!" she said. "I thought you wouldn't be coming until Saturday!"
"So did we, but it turns out we weren't needed in Maretonia until next week," Cadence said. "And the summit we were supposed to attend to today was rescheduled, so we got here sooner than we planned!"
"Surprise!" Shining said, though the real surprise for everyone couldn't come sooner enough as Pinkie sat up and glared at the unicorn stallion. He and Cadence then spotted the newest member of the group standing beside Aqua. "...Who's he? Is he a new guard you hired, Twilight?"
"Oh, you two never met him. This is Terra," Twilight said. "And...well, he's uhh...also like the others."
"He's a Keyblade wielder, too?" Cadence asked. "How many more of them are out there?"
"It's just us and King Mickey," Sora said. "And Terra's...kind of been 'lost' for several years, almost like Aqua."
"Yeah. It's a long story," Terra said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't want to get too into it. And it's pretty confusing with what happened."
"I see," Shining uttered as he and Cadence looked at each other, then back to Terra. "Well, nice meeting you, Terra. I like the hakama."
"Thank you!" Terra exclaimed. "Finally, someone who actually gets it right instead of calling it a dress! It is such a pain when no one understands what traditional warrior uniforms look like!"
"I know. I actually looked into different uniforms soldiers from different cultures wore in Equestria back then and now, both for formal events and combat," Shining said. "You never want to tick off the wrong soldier in their uniform, otherwise you'll end up in serious trouble. Is this a custom for Keyblade wielders from when you were in training?"
"Well...not exactly," Terra admitted. "Uniforms aren't really much of a thing nowadays, but we were required to wear these-" He pointed at the armor pauldron on his shoulder. "-for safe travel through the other worlds. I was given this outfit from my former master when I first arrived in the Land of Departure, so I stuck with it as my own uniform."
"Lucky. At least you didn't have to stand at attention while wearing heavy armor for hours while on the hottest day of the year in basic training." The two stallions were already getting along quite well as they talked about their training and other interests they both shared.
"Well, they're hitting it off well," Cadence said as she walked over to Aqua. "Is Terra a long-time friend of yours?"
"Yes, ever since we were little," Aqua said. "I thought he was gone, but he's actually been hiding here in Equestria the last few years."
"Huh...And I'm guessing you two are more than just friends now, huh?" Cadence asked with a sly grin.
Aqua blushed, surprised at the pink alicorn's spot-on guess and the knowing grin on her face. "H-How did you even know? Did Twilight tell you?"
"Please. I'm the Princess of Love for a reason," Cadence said. "I have a sixth sense for this kind of stuff. Even just from meeting Kairi and Sora for the first time, those two had a lot of chemistry together and are perfect as a romantic couple. I can even help spark those relationships to blossom with my magic, but I try my best not to interfere too much, no matter how much of a romantic I can be."
After Shining Armor and Terra became immediate best friends, the others escorted the royal couple through the castle. Twilight promised her brother a big surprise in the room she set up, skipping happily like a filly down the halls, though the unicorn lagged behind to walk beside Ventus and Pinkie, the latter still reeling from almost blowing the couple's own surprise.
"You guys were lucky we came when we did, huh?" Shining asked, keeping his voice down so the rest of the group didn't hear him.
"Yeah. Real lucky," Ventus grumbled. "I guess you know we know about that request you sent to Mrs. Cake. But you nearly gave Pinkie a heart attack."
"I'm actually quite impressed Pinkie was able to keep it a secret for this long," Shining complimented.
"So, does this mean you're going to tell Twilight now!?" Pinkie begged, the stallion quickly shoving a hoof against her muzzle as he looked back at the others walking ahead.
"You're going to have to wait a little bit longer," he whispered, watching the group disappear down a corridor as they got a tour of the Castle of Friendship. "We have something special planned for Twily. But it'll be worth it. I promise."
Ventus facehooved while Pinkie glared at Shining Armor, already suffering enough after being told he and Cadence wouldn't even be coming today after trying her hardest to not blurt out their future baby. "It had better be worth it..."
After a tour of the castle, Shining Armor and Cadence headed off into Ponyville ahead of the twelve ponies and baby dragon and meet them in town square in a little while. Pinkie grew nervous, puffing her cheeks while keeping her lips sealed to avoid spoiling the surprise, but every second that passed just makes it harder and harder.
"So, I take it Shining Armor liked his room?" Sora asked.
"Oh, yeah. The big nerd could be heard for miles when he acted like a five-year-old again," Riku said, rolling his eyes as he was forced to come with Twilight and watched Shining Armor geek out over all his old favorite stuff, although he screamed in utter horror when he found the burnt comic Spike accidentally inflamed. "Like I said before, dorkiness runs in Twilight's family, and it shows."
Twilight growled in annoyance, but didn't bother hitting Riku this time. "You know, you're just as much of a dork as Sora if you were so obsessed with adventuring, Riku."
"Hey, that's true!" Sora said. "Hypocrite! Adventure-loving dork in our presence all this time!"
Riku rolled his eyes, ignoring his friend as he pointed a hoof at him, though everyone's attention was on Rainbow as she let out an irritated grumble. "Where are we supposed to meet them again? I'm starving!"
"We're meeting them at town square," Aqua reminded the hungry mare. "They needed to take care of something in Ponyville, but what business do they have here aside from visiting Twilight?"
"They're gonna be taking care of something else soon," Pinkie muttered to herself.
"You say something, Pinkie?" Spike asked.
"NOTHING!" Pinkie said, quickly running off to town square ahead of the group.
As the reached the center of Ponyville by the fountain, they found no sign of the couple anywhere. "Huh. That's weird," Twilight said. "Usually they're quite punctual."
Rainbow grunted in annoyance, hovering up to the pony statue at the center of the statue, which seemed to hold a scroll in its mouth. "I need a hayburger in my belly! Right! Now!"
She smacked the statue's head a couple times to emphasize her hunger, making the scroll jostle around a little and catch Twilight's attention. "What's this?" The lavender alicorn levitated the mysterious scroll over to her and opened it up. She recognized the writing as it came from Shining Armor, gasping in excitement as a riddle was written inside. "Oh my gosh! A scavenger hunt!"
"A what?" Terra asked. "Who left something like that there?"
"It's from Shining Armor! He used to set these up for me when I was a filly!" Twilight explained. "And at the end, there's always a big prize, like a new book, or several new books, or-!"
"We get it! You like books!" Pinkie exclaimed, surprising the others as all of them expected Riku to interrupt her and tease her about her love of literature. Pinkie snatched the scroll out of Twilight's aura and read the riddle out loud. "'You've got a scroll, you're on a roll, why don't you take a peek where young ones spend their week? A piece of paper will continue this caper.'"
"...So, I'm guessing it's not going to lead us to lunch?" Rainbow questioned, her stomach growling and demanding food.
While the others figured out where the next clue was, Ventus had a feeling he knew where it would be. It wasn't a coincidence with Featherweight's suspicion earlier after all; Shining Armor had planned this hunt in advance for Twilight, and if the schoolhouse was the right answer, then the next locations had to be town hall, the furniture store, and Sugarcube Corner.
"I got it!" Twilight spoke up, already figuring out the clue. "'Where the young ones spend their week.' It's the schoolhouse!"
"That does make sense," Aqua said. "Kids during school days spend five of them in class out of the week. Even if this scavenger hunt is a little childish, I feel like the payoff reward at the end's going to be worth it."
"Because of the book prize at the end?" Riku asked, starting to make his way back to the castle. "This is just too silly for me."
"You're coming with us and suffering for teasing me," Twilight scolded, using her magic to drag her coltfriend by the tail as she made her way to the schoolhouse. "Now, let's go!"
They soon reached the school, to Riku's disdain as he crossed her forelegs and pouted while being dragged down the road. Pinkie immediately began sniffing around for the next clue, quite literally as she had her nose pressed to the ground and roamed around randomly around the area like a dog. She even scratched her ear like one after looking around in a bush and sneezed a leaf off her muzzle.
"Wow. Pinkie's pretty eager to win this scavenger hunt, huh?" Applejack said.
"You have no idea," Ventus grumbled.
"Ok, so the next clue is a piece of paper, right?" Terra asked as he looked at the clue. "'A piece of paper will continue this caper.'"
"Extra, extra! Get your Ponyville news!" Featherweight announced, holding a few newspapers as he wore a uniform, showing the article printed for the school newspaper.
Twilight thought about where the next clue was from the riddle and quickly discovered where to find it. "That's it! It's in the Foal Free Press!"
She approached the colt and asked for a newspaper, gladly giving her one and walked away with an excited grin on his face. The alicorn flipped open the pages as the others crowded around her, searching for what the next clue was.
"Ooh, look at that dress Mayor Mare is wearing for the social report," Rarity pointed out. "It's quite stunning!"
"Didn't you make that dress, Rarity?" Aqua questioned.
"Yes, what is your point, darling?" the white unicorn mare asked.
Pinkie suddenly burst through the paper, tired of the stalling and wanting to get this scavenger hunt over with. "FOCUS, EVERYPONY!"
"Uhh, I don't think there's a time limit for scavenger hunts, Pinkie," Sora said. "No need to rush."
"Aha! There it is!" Pinkie pointed at a part of the page that had the next clue.
"'Though this hall is rather small, in it you'll find files of all kinds,'" Twilight read aloud. "'Take a look on the back of the birth certificate of Applejack.'"
Everyone soon looked at the farm mare, who felt really awkward that the clue lead them to finding her birth certificate clearly in town hall. "...Ah'm not sure Ah like where this is goin'..."
Ventus now saw that the places where he and Pinkie did those promises she made were no longer a coincidence. Featherweight, Mayor Mare, and the furniture salespony all knew about Shining Armor and Cadence's baby, and they were helping them put this scavenger hunt to surprise Twilight, and possibly anyone else in Ponyville. They made it to town hall, where they saw Mayor Mare expecting them, overly excited as the large group made their way inside.
"...Baby," Mayor Mare uttered as they all went inside. "A royal ba-"
Ventus quickly ran out, hearing the mayor and pressing a hoof to her mouth to silence her. "...You knew, didn't you?" She nodded her head in response. "And you made Pinkie panic, and now she's on the verge of losing her mind...whatever she does have to lose with how weird she is, really close to blowing the whole thing for everyone. So don't you dare do it, too."
Using his free hoof, the teenage pegasus pointed it at his eyes, then at the mare, warning her he'll be keeping a close eye on her. He slipped back inside and caught up with the others, who tried to figure out where to find where the birth certificates are kept.
"Ok, so does anyone have any idea where we can find the birth certificates?" Twilight asked.
"Oh! I do!" Pinkie said. "You go down that hall, then you take a left, then a right, then another right, then a slight left, and it's the third door from the right!"
"Wow, Pinkie," Fluttershy said. "I didn't know you knew so much about town hall."
"...There's a lot of things I know! That you don't know I know!" Pinkie said, scrunching her face nervously at her own carelessness.
Ventus cringed and waited for the others to question her response, but luckily, they didn't seem all that suspicious. "Oh, how true that is," Sora said. "And some things you know, we're kind of afraid to know."
Ventus let out a quiet sigh of relief as they found the filing room he and Pinkie were just in a moment ago. Pinkie instinctively found the right file cabinet that held Applejack's birth certificate, seeing as she was the one who recognized it while putting the files away with Ventus. She pulled it out of the folder while Twilight levitated it out to the others, where they saw the date of Applejack's birth, the hospital she was born in and the doctor who checked her, her parents' signatures, Sora now knowing them as Buttercup and Bright Macintosh, and a little picture of the mare as a newborn filly.
"Oh my gosh, is that really you, Applejack!?" Kairi gushed with a squeal. "You were so cute!"
"I didn't see this picture in the Apple Family photo album," Sora said, embarrassing Applejack more with everyone else agreeing with Kairi's comment. "You hiding anymore baby pictures from me so I don't tease you?"
"C-Can we just move on with the scavenger hunt?" Applejack pleaded with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks, turning the certificate over, where a note was taped behind it that held their next clue.
"'This next place is where you can buy a table or chair, or some comfy beds to rest little heads.'" Pinkie immediately sped off while the others, except Ventus, were puzzled by what the riddle meant.
She poked her head back in the room a moment later when no one else was following her, groaning in frustration and facehooving. "Really!? None of you!?" Pinkie then grabbed everyone, pushing everyone out of the building and down the road to their next destination. "It's so obviously the furniture store!"
"Hey! Pinkie!" Terra exclaimed, digging his hooves into the ground to stop her shoving them all. Unfortunately, he sent the rest of the group flying forward, all of them tumbling forward, though they reached their destination regardless. Pinkie ran past the stallion, stomping down on her tail to stop her, only to be dragged forward by her suddenly surprising strength. "What is the matter with-!?"
Pinkie stopped, sending Terra smacking into the wall of the furniture store. "Come on! Come on! Go in, go in, go in!"
The fallen ponies and baby dragon stood up and brushed themselves off, but as they looked at the store, all of them sans Ventus didn't think the store was what the riddle was talking about. "I'm not really sure, Pinkie."
"Dagh! Fine!" Pinkie shouted as she marched inside, causing a ruckus trying to find the clue while no one else did. Terra managed to pull himself out of the wall, stumbling toward the group before shaking his head to clear his daze. She finally came out with a baby crib that had a note taped in front of it, the irate party pony pointing at it while leering at them in agitation. "See!? I told you!"
"...Ok, she's way too good at this," Spike said.
Pinkie looked down at the next clue and read it aloud. "'It seems we've saved the best for last. We hope that you have had a blast. Now it's time to take a break where you can get a slice of cake!'"
"Sugarcube Corner!" Everyone said within seconds of hearing the clue, Ventus groaning in exasperation with a shake of his head.
"Ok, that one was too easy," he uttered.
At Sugarcube Corner, the group found Shining Armor and Cadence waiting for them inside the bakery. They seemed to have expected them to arrive sooner than how the scavenger hunt should have gone, but they figured Pinkie had had enough torture for one day and end the charade until Twilight finally figured it out.
"Hey, everypony!" Shining greeted. "So, Twily, how'd you like the scavenger hunt?"
"It was perfect! Just like old times, only even better because, this time, I got to share it with all my friends!" Twilight said.
"Even though Pinkie ended up finding all the clues before any of us did?" Riku mentioned, earning a smack upside the head by the lavender alicorn's wing.
"We had fun, that's all that matters," Twilight quickly said before trying to look behind her brother, searching for something he might be hiding from her. "But there's something missing."
"What's that?" Shining asked.
"The book prize at the end!" she said, making the stallion laugh as he ruffled his sister's mane.
"Well, there is a prize, but it's a little bit different this time," he said, only confusing the mare.
"I don't understand." Pinkie grinned as they were finally going to unveil the secret everyone else will be dying to hear, giggling quietly as she couldn't bear the wait for much longer.
"All of the places you guys went to today had something in common," Cadence hinted as she and Shining Armor moved in front of a table that held something hidden under a cloth, the stallion's horn glowing as he slowly levitated it off while keeping it out of view from the others.
"Hmm...Well, first we went to the schoolhouse," Twilight said, the anticipation only making Pinkie's nerves go into overdrive as they ended up playing the guessing game.
"Then there was the Foal Free Press," Rarity added.
"Applejack's birth certificate," Kairi added as well, Pinkie's cheeks puffing out as she struggled with all her might to keep quiet.
"And the baby crib where the last clue was," Twilight said. Ventus could see Pinkie was trying to give the alicorn hints, holding up the Cake Twins, but she was too busy thinking to pay attention. "Hmm...School...foal...birth certificate...and crib..."
Pinkie looked like she was in physical pain, unable to believe how dense Twilight was at the obvious hints she was given. Thankfully, Pumpkin and Pound Cake were lowered down and scampered over to the others, Pumpkin running to the actual Sora to play with while Pound went to Kairi. Ventus quickly ran up to Pinkie, who felt like she was really going to explode, quickly covering her mouth as her cheeks bulged and her eyes spiraled in utter madness.
"No, Pinkie!" Ventus hissed. "Come on, Twilight, figure it out before she blows!"
Twilight gasped after what felt like an eternity, finally figuring it out. She looked at her brother and sister-in-law in surprise, their grins giving them the answer to her question, but she had to ask to be sure.
"Can it be?" Twilight asked. "Are you two...!?"
The couple looked at each other with glee, backing away as they showed the three-tier cake they hid, decorated with fondant rattles, baby bottles, and pink ribbons all around with a candy-sculpted carriage topper. "We're having a baby!"
It took a moment for the others to let the news come to them to react. "What!? Seriously!?"
"Cadence is pregnant!?" Rainbow asked. "No way!"
Now that the secret was out, Pinkie finally exploded in excitement, sending Ventus flying across the room as he yelled, slamming into a wall as he groaned, both in pain from the impact and relief for the news. "A baby, Twilight! It's a baby!"
Pinkie cheered as she managed to make it without ruining the surprise, bouncing around the room like a pinball just as she did earlier in the castle. "Yay," Ventus weakly groaned. "Finally."
Twilight gawked at the cake, her brother, and sister-in-law, unable to believe the exciting news, thinking this was all a dream. "You mean...I'm gonna be an aunt???" Her shock soon turned into excitement as Twilight grinned widely. "This is the best prize ever!" Shining and Cadence laughed at the lavender alicorn's childish excitement, knowingly expecting her reaction to having a niece or nephew to one day spoil. Twilight ran up to her siblings and hugged them tightly. "I love you guys! And I can't wait to meet your little foal!"
"Neither can we," Shining said as Twilight pulled away, hugging Cadence closely as he gently rubbed the slight baby bump his wife had.
"How long!?" Twilight asked Cadence, practically begging as she danced on her hooves excitedly.
"Sometime around late spring," Cadence said. "I wasn't feeling well one day, so we went to a doctor, and we got the diagnosis. Quite a surprise for us, too, but I kind of expected it during our one free night alone together at the castle."
"We haven't even told mom and dad yet," Shining said. "We wanted to surprise you first before mom, because, knowing her, she won't be able to leave Cadence's side until our baby's born."
While Twilight and Shining giggled as they imagined their mother's reaction, Pinkie continued cheering to her victory in keeping her promise without making it a Pinkie Promise, bouncing around Ventus as he sat up. "I did it, I did it, I did it!" She suddenly froze in the air, then fell to pieces beside the teen, quite literally as Ventus gawked at Pinkie in shock. "Go, Pinkie."
"...Well, at least that's all over," Ventus said. "I don't know what was worse: watching you suffer from keeping a secret, or unable to believe you stressed out over keeping a little secret we both stumbled upon and had to keep from the rest of our friends."
"Wait, you and Pinkie Pie both knew about this?" Ventus yelped and turned around, not expecting Aqua or Terra standing behind him.
"Uhhhhh...Y-Yeah...but, it would have ruined the surprise," Ventus reasoned.
"I guess that explains why Pinkie was-" Terra looked down at Pinkie Pie, who was a mass of several broken pink parts from her excited relief. "...Whoa...Uhh, can you pull yourself together, Pinkie?"
"I think I'll need a hoof," Pinkie said.
While the trio helped Pinkie put herself back together, the rest of the group celebrated the expected arrival in the following months. Even Cup Cake and Carrot Cake joined in the celebration, congratulating the future parents and hoping they won't have their hooves full if they end up with twins like them. Pinkie had finally gotten herself back together as she fixed her hair, making sure her curly mane was in the right place as she sat at a table. Cadence walked over to the party pony with a slice of cake, placing it down in front of Pinkie.
"You did it, Pinkie Pie! You kept it a surprise," she congratulated. "It wasn't all that much trouble, was it?"
"Piece of cake!" Pinkie said, only to look out beyond the fourth wall and shake her head in disagreement.
Later that evening, everyone retired to the castle after the party in the bakery, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy heading back to their homes to rest. Inside the throne room, Cadence grew curious of the two maps since she first set hoof in the room, looking at the entire map of Equestria below and the entire universe beyond their world above. While she tried to figure out how she to use the maps, she gasped when she heard one of the tall thrones magically appear in the room.
"You kinda get used to that whenever one of us steps into the room," Sora said as he waltzed up to the pink alicorn. She noticed his Keyblade was held by his tail, swinging it around nonchalantly before tossing it up onto the tall throne that had just appeared, landing on the seat and leaned against the back. "We have to remember to summon our Keyblades before walking in here, otherwise we'll get a surprise visit with an occupied mouth."
"Oh. Thank explains why it was out." Cadence looked back at the world of Equestria in the Galactic Map. "So, this is what Equestria looks like from out there, huh?"
"Yup. Weird on the outside, but a lot better when we land in a world." Sora reached a hoof out, moving it around to make the holographic planet rotate, showing Cadence the entirety of Equestria. "And the worlds are round, not flat."
"I think we all know about that," the princess said with a giggle. Sora then showed Cadence a few other worlds, the Cutie Map responding to the different worlds as they shifted to explored regions of the worlds either of the six wielders have visited before, even showing his home, Destiny Islands. "Wow. To be able to live in a beach town that gorgeous, I would trade that for the Crystal Palace any day."
"How about we switch places?" Sora suggested. "I'll rule a kingdom while you get a sunburn trying to get a tan."
"I'll gladly take that offer, 'Prince Sora'." They both laughed as they casually joked about swapping roles. Cadence soon had a thought as she subconsciously rubbed her abdomen, feeling her foal inside her growing belly. "Speaking of royalty, how are you and your princess doing?"
"Kairi and I are doing ok," Sora said. "She sometimes sneaks into my room to spend the night with me. I wouldn't mind if we shared a bed every night, just as long as I don't wake her up when I need to early in the morning. As an honorary Apple, I need to do my chores."
"Bringing your relationship further, huh?" Cadence asked, smirking as the pegasus giggled with a wide, bashful grin with flushed cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head. Whether that meant yes or no, she didn't pry further in what Sora and Kairi did alone in the bedroom. "So, when do you plan on proposing to her?"
Sora blanched, stammering nervously at the difficult question. "W-Whoa, whoa! Propose to Kairi!? I-I think that's a bit too early for the two of us to...well..."
"Nervous about popping the question?" Cadence asked.
"Well, when you bring it up out of the blue, that makes me incredibly nervous," he explained. "And I don't think even beginning to plan a wedding while we're still in danger with Xehanort still out there. Not to mention, saving worlds from the threat of darkness, splitting up while going to other worlds several light years away, training..." Sora rubbed the back of his neck, several thoughts of him trying to keep Kairi distant from him coming back to him before she knew anything about his Anti-Form. Their job as Keyblade wielders was always dangerous work, and Xehanort is their number one priority, needing to take him out before there's ever any semblance of peace. "...Maybe when we're both a little older, and if we finally stop the man who caused this mess in the first place and bring some peace to the worlds."
"Oh. I guess I can understand that reason," Cadence said. "It's hard enough to worry about those you hold close and the lives of millions in several worlds. I'm kind of surprised you're not feeling pressured doing all this on your own."
"I worry about my friends, but as long as they're in my heart, I don't need to worry about anything," Sora said, pressing his hoof over his chest. Cadence nodded, believing in the pegasus's confidence, knowing he's able to brave anything with that thought, even when he went against Sombra when he came back from the shadows. Sora's survived against the impossible and never backs down against those with darkness in their hearts. "So, you two know if you're baby's gonna be a boy or girl yet?"
"Hmm...I have a feeling we're going to have a little filly," Cadence said, going by her instinct as she rubbed her belly. "I'm going with my gut, even though Shining thinks it's going to be a colt."
"I'm kind of surprised an alicorn could get pregnant," Sora said. "I wonder if Celestia and Luna ever had kids back then. Or maybe they were too busy to even think about finding themselves a prince while they were running a kingdom."
"I'm not sure they have...although, Aunt Luna could have with Sombra if he never lost his heart to darkness..." Cadence shook her head, putting that dreadful moment aside as Luna and Sombra would have lived a happier life if things didn't turn out the way they had. "Anyway, with the news of the baby now out, I was wondering if any of you guys are willing to foalsit for me and Shining when we're a bit too busy."
"Sure! I've done pretty well with Pound and Pumpkin when Pinkie and I watched them. Twilight surely won't say no." Cadence giggled and nodded in agreement.
After having enough of her fill seeing the other worlds, Cadence made her way to an empty guest bedroom, letting her husband have his special room to himself during their stay here while Sora headed to his bedroom. As he walked in, Sora spotted a lump under his covers. Shaking his head with an amused grin, he snuck up to his bed, hovering up in the air and slowly descended down, standing over the pony-shaped lump.
"Nice hiding spot, Kairi," Sora said, pulling the sheet from over the pony's head, and it so happened to be Kairi grinning impishly at him. "Couldn't find a better hiding spot?"
"I was hoping you wouldn't notice so I could jump you," she said. "You've gotten too observant of your surroundings now."
"Mhmm." Sora lowered his head and gently pressed his lips against Kairi's in a kiss, the mare letting out a soft moan as she tried to squirm her forelegs out from the covers and her lover's hooves keeping her in place to hug his neck and pull him deeper into their kiss. She whimpered when he pulled away, squeaking slightly when he kissed her nose. "Was this your way of asking me if you want to sleep in the same room with me every night?"
"Maybe," Kairi answered, which was clearly a yes with those bedroom eyes of hers she gave him.
Sora hummed in thought, teasing the poor mare with his silence. "Ok. But, one condition." Kairi soon yelped as Sora flipped them both around rapidly, sending the covers flying up above them. She fell on her back, slightly dizzy, but when her focus returned, Sora was still on top of her, but now the covers slowly floated down on top of them and both their clothes were stripped off. She blushed as she saw the predatory gaze in his eyes. "You quit sneaking into my room just to sleep with me. Deal?"
Kairi could only nod in agreement before Sora leaned forward and kissed her again. She closed her eyes, sighing in bliss as her fur brushed against his, his protective forelegs wrapping around her in a safe and loving embrace. He pulled his lips away from hers again, to her dismay, only to gasp and shudder as they brushed along her cheek and neck, peppered with light kisses as he moved. While she ran a hoof through his hair while clinging onto his back with the other, Sora lingered around her neck and gave her little love bites, making her wince and groan in pleasure.
As Sora gave a lot of attention to Kairi's neck, he thought back to what Cadence's idea of him proposing to Kairi. As wonderful as an idea as it was, he really was unsure if there would ever be a good time to ask her to marry him. It was already bad enough that he nearly lost her while they were friends, but now that they were officially a couple, he couldn't imagine how much pain either of them would be in if any one of them died. Xehanort was still out there, and all the worlds were still in danger from whatever schemes he had to attain his goals. He had already sacrificed his heart once to wake Kairi and was lucky to come back thanks to her light, but what are the chances he could be brought back to life again? If he ever did decide to marry Kairi, it would have to be until it was peaceful enough for him to finally settle down with her.
He was snapped out of his thoughts with a light tug on his hair, Kairi dragging his head up away from her neck. "I-I think...my neck's gotten enough attention," she said, panting slightly.
"Sorry. Got a bit distracted," Sora said. "Where were we?"
Kairi giggled at Sora's silly response. "Come here."
She pulled him closer and brought her lips to his once again, helping refresh his memory as she rolled them over on their sides and pressed her body closer to his. Sora pushed aside furthering his relationship with Kairi, letting those plans fall into Future Sora's hands after Xehanort has officially been killed and most of the peace has returned to the worlds.
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Darn it Sora! As I commented before, just make foals with her already!
8377335
What did you think of last week's episode and the revelation that the cutie map can call on Spike for a friendship mission?
8390627
The Cutie Map can call anyone to do a friendship mission, proven by the fact it called Starlight, and she doesn't have her own throne. I was a bit surprised to know Spike was called, but I think the shock of seeing Starlight called in "A Royal Problem" was more impactful than Spikes since it was the first time the map called for anyone that wasn't the Mane Six, but also taking on a task all by themselves.
Sweet chapter, but I got to ask, how old are Sora and Kari anyway in the story, maybe Sora should have told Cadance both his and Kari's age to her and explain what legal adult age is to Humans even if they are currently ponies.
8390974
They're both around eighteen or nineteen at this point in the story, but Cadence suggests the idea since Sora and Kairi's bond is perfect enough for them to be life-long partners in marriage. I'm also sure that the legal age for pony marriages would be similar to humans since Granny Smith is over a century old, and still kicking.
Say, will any more Final Fantasy characters be in the story? Like cloud Strife or any others? Because Kingdom Hearts aren't just focus on Disney, they also have final fantasy too.
This was just as good as the actual episode. Great work.
lol I find this really romantic and cute scenes that you put in like Cadence sneaky idea for Sora to think on, and Kairi convincing him for them to share a room as a next step for them. Though I am kinda Surprised that Twilight did not tease Riku of pointing out that since she is going to be an aunt and he is dating her, that means so long as they are a couple that he is going to be an uncle for Cadence and Shinning Armor's baby.
Though, overall this was awesome and really hope that Riku will be able to enjoy time with Twilight before the baby comes and that he has to help her take care of Cadence and Shinning Armor's baby with her.
8391192
I did a couple FF characters in the Power Ponies chapter, although Sora, Riku, and Kairi were dressed and played the roles of those characters while I had a Kefka as a pony, and I also did Celes as a pony in the Struggle Competition during the Equestria Games. I'm also trying to think about which FF characters would be suitable to make a cameo, whether as a pony or as themselves in another world. Gets a little bland seeing the same old group of FF characters in the series sometimes, but that's just me.
8392635
Will any from FF15 like Noctic would be in here?
8392728
I'm not entirely sure. I don't think I have anything in mind for Noctis appearing in the story, or anyone else from FFXV.
8392929
If one of the main six can go outside to other worlds, will it happen?
8392982
The only one who can would be Twilight since she has Keyblade armor. The others would either need to learn how to use the Gummi Ships and its controls, while getting permission to drive them from Riku, Kairi, or Sora, or have them take them to other worlds. I'm not entirely sure what I'll make happen, so you'll have to wait and see what I come up with.
8394591
Okie Dokie.
8394591
Say, will Maxie be in this story?
8403690
Uhh, who was Maxie??? My brain's drawing a blank.
8404346
Maxie is Goofy's son.
8404881
Why didn't you just say Max!? That's Goofy's nickname for his son, and I was thinking you were talking about a Maxie from a Square game! Doi!
Oh!
And I'm not sure. Max hasn't been mentioned in the KH series, nor seen as a cameo...Not sure if he was in the mangas, at least with how far I got in those. I think I stopped in the middle of KH2.
8392635
If I may make a suggestion? How about Cecil and Kain from IV?
8421750
I did do Cecil as a pony in the Power Ponies chapter, though Riku cosplayed as him while they were part of the comic book and had a couple snippits of him encouraging Humdrum with Zidane in those pages once they were out.
8422025
I forgot about that. My bad. Well, a lot of stories have Equestria with airships, so there's always Cid. I'm actually kinda surprised none of them have popped up in a Kingdom Hearts game uet.
8422297
...I don't know what you mean by that, but if it's about a Cid in an MLP story crossed with FF, I have no idea if there ever was one someone made, but for the other meaning, there is a Cid in the Kingdom Hearts series: Cid Highwind from FFVII.
8423469
What i meant by the first part is that the Cid I'm most familiar with was the one from IV, who invented the airship. And where did Cid pop up in kingdom hearts? I don't remember ever seeing him.
8423496
Cid was in KH working at the Traverse Town Inn, and also the Gummi Block salesman. Sora first meets him when Destiny Islands was destroyed by the Heartless. That Cid is a bit more memorable than FFIV's, mostly due to how popular FFVII was a few years before Kingdom Hearts began.
8423898
In my defense, I never played VII, and IV is the first one I ever played.
I feel real special right now. He's also part of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee in two.
8424215
You could try to play FFVII on a PSX emulator. Good luck lasting through all the text dialogue, cringy lines, blocky textures of the characters when not in battle, and the overly long, tedious, and confusing directions the story goes through.
8424215
8424315
Compared to games now, FFVII would seem kinda harsh in the graphics department. The storytelling and all might seem a bit crude and confusing, but they did a lot more in terms of world building than many games of the time. Regardless, you may be interested to know that the game is being remade. The style of combat I've seen in the previews I've managed to see, interestingly enough, is closer to Kingdom Hearts than it's original.
Anyway, I'm loving this KH crossover and I can't wait to see where it'll end up. I still hope Xion makes a return like the others did. She's too precious not to be involved. She's arguably the most shafted character in the series, and deserves a second chance.
Ven be like:
Reading through these chapters, I have started to think that the Keyblade wielders are the embodiment of the audience.
I don't care; in fact, in the brand-new Batman movie, Batman faces off against the Riddler - and the Riddler gets arrested near the end! Also a bunch of people die!
Sora is like 15 or 16 in KH3. Where are we in the timeline? Because he was 14 in KH1 and lost a year in KhCoM so mentally he was still 14. Not a lot of time has passed at all in the game despite the game being over 20 years old
8391041
In the games they are 15 in KH3