My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

The Kingdom of Corona (Part 1)

In The Land of Departure, Aqua faced the Young Six as they stood at attention. "You guys are progressing pretty well with your training. You're mastering the basics of swordplay quickly, even with your additional classes at the School of Friendship." The group of apprentices all grinned, feeling proud of themselves, although Ocellus was a little bit unsure of herself. She might have gotten the grasp of wielding her Keyblade, but her fighting style keeps changing and throwing her off slightly. "For today, I think you're all ready to learn the next lesson in your training: magic."

"Yes!" Silverstream cheered, the others joining her and eager to learn their first Keyblade magic spell. "What spell are we gonna learn!? Burning fire? Freezing ice? Raining lightning!?"

"As useful as an offensive spell can be for your first lesson, I think something helpful for your protection, and others, would be more important." Silverstream whined in disappointment, but she perked up since they were still getting their first magic lesson. "Sometimes, in battle, you'll get injured, and some of the foes you encounter will cause some serious harm. From the Moogle shop, you can acquire curatives like Potions to heal your injuries on the fly. But let's say...you don't have any on hand..." Aqua summoned her Keyblade, standing silently for a brief moment. While the Young Six wondered what she was going to do or tell them, she suddenly dashed toward them and, to their shock, slashed at each of them faster than they could blink. They all yelped or winced in pain as they were given a cut on their forelegs/forearms; not too serious of an injury, but enough for it to sting. As they all looked at the cuts on their respective limbs, Aqua stood before them, her Keyblade resting in front of her while she leaned against it like a crutch with a coy grin. "You have a magic reserve within you to regenerate yourself, or your comrades. And in exchange for all your current mana, you can heal yourself by using Cure, whether your reserves are full or nearly drained from constant spellcasting."

"Hey, a little warning would have been nice!" Smolder exclaimed as she clutched her arm, surprised to know her scales aren't tough enough to protect her from a Keyblade's slash.

"Heartless and Nobodies won't hesitate to attack you, and will do anything to inflict serious harm on you," Aqua explained. "There will be no warnings when you're out in real combat, so best to keep your guard up at all times."

"Agh. Didn't think this would sting so bad," Sandbar grunted.

"When can master teach Yona and friends magic Cure spell?" Yona asked pleadingly.

"Call forth your Keyblades," Aqua instructed. The Young Six did as they were told, summoning their Keyblades, even as they winced from the pain of their harmless cuts. "Now, casting these spells is more than just saying the spell, aiming, and firing. Each spell gathers power from an element they're based around. Cure is a spell around nature and natural healing. It's a powerful spell, which is why it expends so much magical energy and the injuries you heal for yourself or your allies are repaired rapidly, hastening the healing process. It can revitalize lost stamina and energy and heal bruises and cuts, but it won't help with serious internal injuries or broken bones."

Gallus raised one of his wings in place of his free hand, which was busy clutching his injured arm. "If Cure is supposed to heal certain injuries, that sounds like it's useful if any of us get...I don't know, stabbed in the gut? Impaled by sharp fangs? How useful is Cure supposed to be if we break a leg or suffer internal, life-threatening injuries?"

The tone Gallus had when questioning the Cure spell made the other apprentices grimace, some leering at Gallus to not act so snarky toward Aqua's instructions. Instead of expecting the worse, Aqua was calm, taking in his statement and contemplating his opinion.

"A very astute question, but as I explained about how Cure rapidly heals injuries, it only heals the outer physical injuries," Aqua explained. "As an example of your bodies' structures, when you break a limb, it doesn't heal up on its own. It needs to be splinted and set so the bone can heal at a slow, natural pace. You try to fix a mending bone too quickly, that'll only make it worse, and could possibly shatter the entire bone." Aqua then held up her left arm to the Young Six. "During Nightmare Night a couple years ago, Ponyville was attacked by a large group of Heartless. One dangerous Heartless I had the misfortune of running into, the Dark Hide, overpowered me, and knocked me hard into the side of a mountain in our fight. My left arm broke from the impact, and I was left in a cast for a few weeks until it healed naturally. If I used Cure, it wouldn't do anything to hasten the broken bone in my arm.

"Hopefully, that gives you enough to know to be cautious when fighting and avoid getting serious injuries like that." Gallus rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh in annoyance. He wasn't one to follow a lot of rules, considering how much of a broken mess Griffonstone was, but there were a lot of strict rules for casting something as simple as a healing spell. "Now, let's see you heal up those scratches on your own."

Aqua raised her Keyblade, giving the Young Six a demonstration on how to cast the spell. She lifted her blade above her, called out the spell, and let the magical bellflowers "ring" and sprinkle green healing powder around her. The sight of the bellflowers made the apprentices stare and marvel in awe at the pink and yellow flowers appearing above their master, then disappearing after they did their job. Sandbar started first, focusing on the natural magic of the spell, which felt easy since he was an earth pony, who were a lot more attuned to nature and the earth compared to pegasi and unicorns. Raising his Keyblade in the air, he called out the spell, and succeeded in casting it. His bellflowers sprinkled their magic over him, and the pain in his foreleg disappeared along with the cut Aqua gave him. Sandbar laughed in triumph, amazed that he can use magic as an earth pony now.

The other apprentice teens then tried their paws/hooves at casting Cure as well. Ocellus and Silverstream cast the spell without issue, the former Aqua can see has an affinity toward magic like herself. Yona had a little trouble raising her Keyblade over her head with her bulky body, but she was able to cast the spell with ease. Smolder was successful as well, even if she grimaced at the strange magical energy powder being sprinkled on her. As amazed as she was by seeing what the spell looked like, she was going to try her hardest not to be seen around others and creating magic flowers over her head.

Finally, Gallus was up next, seemingly nonchalant as he raised his Keyblade in the air. "Cure," he called out. He expected the healing process to begin, but his arm still hurt and he didn't feel better. The griffon looked up, finding no bellflowers above his head. "The hay? I did it right." His friends and Aqua stared quizzically, wondering why Gallus's spell didn't go off. "Cure...Cure!" He continued calling out the spell, even thrusting his Keyblade up in the air, but there wasn't so much as a petal or leaf that appeared to heal the griffon's wound. Getting frustrated, Gallus waved his arm frantically before giving up with a growl. "Why isn't it working!?"

"Gallus, are you sure you're focusing on where the spell comes from?" Ocellus asked.

"Of course I am! Nature and natural healing, I'm feeling it!" Gallus shook his Keyblade around, thinking it would wake up so it could cast spells.

Aqua approached the angry griffon, gently grasping his wielding arm so he didn't smack her with his Keyblade by mistake. "Gallus, calm down and try it again," she said.

Gallus grunted, took in a deep breath to try to relax himself, then calmly raised his blade to the sky once more. "Cure," he said, but the spell didn't activate.

"...That's odd," Aqua mumbled curiously.

"Why Cure no work for Gallus?" Yona asked.

"Maybe his mana pool inside him is so shallow, he's not the spellcasting type," Silverstream pondered.

"Terra can use Cure, and he prefers his strength more than spells," Aqua stated. She could see Gallus was still flustered and getting riled up, but he should be able to cast Cure like everyone else. "Let's see if you can try another spell. We'll try Fire." Gallus sighed in annoyance, but any other spell would be better than healing if it's failing him. "For Fire, it comes from the obvious element: fire. Imagine the heat and flames building up, then release that energy from the tip of your Keyblade."

Gallus nodded, lowering his aim to the empty space of field in front of him. "Fire," he called out, and much to his and his friends' surprise, a ball of fire shot out from his Keyblade and flew across the field, only to disperse a few yards away instead of exploding. He was shocked at first, but when he stared at his Keyblade, he gave it a leer in disdain. "I think this thing's broken."

"It's not the Keyblade that's the problem," Aqua said, which only bothered Gallus as she claimed the fault was his inability to cast spells. She noticed the disgruntled scowl on his beak, quickly placing both her hands on his shoulders, getting her to look up at her. "But it's not your fault, either. Whether you have a massive mana pool or if it's even a puddle barely a couple centimeters deep, it's possible for any wielder to cast spells like Cure..." She sighed, a thought coming to her that she hoped wouldn't be the case for Gallus. "...However, not all wielders can be proficient with certain elements of magic, and sometimes, they can't cast any spells at all.

"You were able to cast Fire on your first try, so it is possible that you can master other spells. Don't discourage yourself if you can't pull it off without practicing enough. You can't master everything on the first try." She let her words sink into Gallus's thoughts, even though it didn't help him much that his friends could cast Cure while he couldn't. Aqua pulled out a Potion, then tossed it, letting the healing curative wash over the teenage griffon and heal his cut instead. Gallus looked at his healed arm, feeling disappointed in himself for failing his master. "For now, Gallus, practice using Cure when you have the time, along with Fire for your first spell you've learned."

"Aww! Gallus got to learn two spells!?" Silverstream whined. "Well, he pulled off one, but he's got two! I want to learn Fire, too!"

Aqua stifled her laughter with the hippogriff's excited, yet overly childish complaints as she faced her. "Do you think your mana's fully recharged after you just used Cure a while ago?"

Silverstream opened her beak, only to let out a confused noise while looking around, deep in thought. "...Is there a way to tell? Like, a fever? Nervous sweats?"

"Try casting Cure again," Aqua suggested.

"Oh, ok! Cure!" Silverstream squawked as she raised her Keyblade high, but no bellflowers appeared. She looked up, confused, then lowered her Keyblade. "I think my Keyblade's broken, too. Can I get another one?"

"You can't cast spells while your Keyblade magic's trying to fill itself back up, Silverstream," Ocellus stated. "Cure uses up all of your mana reserves, so it'll take a while until you can use any other spell again."

"Ohhhh. That makes sense," Silverstream said. "But I still wish I knew when I was magically drained. Maybe we can make a pair of magic glasses that shows a bar that rises and falls when we use magic!"

"Or just don't use it too often and waste it all at once," Sandbar suggested.

"Well that's kinda hard to know," Silverstream mumbled.

"That is a fair point," Aqua agreed with the hippogriff, even as she felt amused by her intricate ideas made up on the spot, matching Pinkie Pie with her wild imagination. "You might not know if you're able to cast a few spells or dozens without gauging how big your mana pool is. For now, I'd suggest you keep practicing Cure and time how long it takes for each of your mana to regenerate and cast the spell again. And if you ever run into any Heartless, only use that spell as a last ditch effort." All the Young Six sans Gallus nodded, understanding Aqua's advice as they were also given permission to leave, their lesson over for today. Gallus sighed and was about to turn and leave, but Aqua rested a hand on his shoulder. "Gallus, can we talk?"

"About how I suck at using a simple healing spell?" Gallus questioned.

"There are actually several different levels of spells, and Cure is an easy spell to learn compared to Cura and Curaga." The griffon blinked, unsure what the difference was with the power of each spell aside from the suffix changing the names to something that didn't sound like actual words. He didn't question his master as she knew a lot more about magic than he did. "I can see your a bit upset that you weren't able to cast Cure like the others. The good news is that you can use other spells, so, with a little more practice, you can cast Cure eventually."

"Yeah, sure. In a million years," Gallus grumbled.

"Just keep trying. I believe in the six of you, and I know you can all be masters of your generation." Aqua dug into her pockets and pulled out a few more Potions. She grabbed Gallus's claw, held it open, and gave him the bottles of green healing liquid. "Keep these for now, and only use them when you're seriously injured. At least until you can manage casting Cure on your own. Practice with Fire for the time being, and you let me know when you're able to cast Cure."

"Is there any easy way for me to help feel 'natural' for the stupid spell to work for me?" Gallus asked.

"Try to find a way to relax and feel at one with the earth at your feet," Aqua suggested. "Meditation, relaxing on the grass while staring at the clouds, something that makes you feel comfortable."

"...Alright. I'll...try, I guess." Gallus bowed his head slightly, clutching the bundle of potions in both arms as he flew toward the portal to join up with his friends.

Aqua could tell Gallus felt disappointed for failing her, even after the Young Six promised to not let her down as they willingly chose to be her apprentices. Despite how aloof and rude Gallus can be, she could tell through his frustration and distress that there was something troubling him deep down, and it didn't stem from their training.

"Aqua, we've got some activity on the map," Terra called in through her crystal communicator. "It's in a new world none of us have explored."

"Alright. On my way," she responded, then made her way to the portal back to Equestria.

---

Gallus laid in his bed in his and Sandbar's room at the school. He'd been leering at his previously injured arm for a long while, still feeling the sting from the practice injury despite it being healed by the Potion Aqua used on him. After lounging in silence while stewing in what he believed was failing a simple assignment, he growled and slammed his fist down to his side on his mattress.

"I feel so humiliated," Gallus grumbled.

"About what?" Sandbar asked.

"You know exactly why," the griffon grumbled bitterly. "One very important spell we're supposed to learn for our safety and health, and I'm the only one out of us who can't cast it! I expected Yona not to pull it off because...well, yaks don't seem to have any magic!...I think."

"Maybe it was just a fluke," Sandbar guessed.

"Fluke, shmuke. Ever since those Keyblades came to us, you can't deny that there was some sort of magical force that was included along with our swords. And I couldn't make a single spritz of health rain down on me, or materialize a healing stick to whap me on the head." Gallus huffed as his scowl softened to a frown. "Master Aqua tried to give me some advice, but I think she's disappointed in me deep down."

"Come on, Gallus. Master Aqua isn't like that," Sandbar said. "Even if you can't use Cure yet, she still thinks you've got what it takes to be a Keyblade wielder. You can still fight with or without magic." Gallus grunted and rolled on his side. "Besides, it's all about teamwork in the end. Cure can heal others, although you gotta stand really close to them with the first level from what Ocellus says." His friend didn't so much as twitch. Sandbar approached Gallus's bed, trying to look at him to try to convince him his lack of casting Cure wasn't a bad thing. "At least you're allowed to learn Fire before us. That's pretty cool."

Gallus finally turned around, only to give Sandbar a deadpanned leer. "Smolder can breathe fire. Using Fire magic isn't all that special when there's someone among us who can use fire at will." The griffon sat up, still leering blankly at the earth pony. "I'm more ticked that I have to rely on using these-" He pointed to the small pile of Potions Aqua gave him, lying on top of his side table. "-and how much it'll cost me just to feel safe enough to not get murdered by a massive Heartless. I barely have enough bits for myself, and none of this Munny currency to buy anything from that weird flying dog-bear thing with a fuzzy antennae in the castle."

"I think that dog-bear thing is called a Moogle," Sandbar corrected.

"Don't care what it's called; that thing is a cheapskate!" Gallus exclaimed. "Did you even see how much he sells just one of those Potions? Forty Munny! That's more expensive than buying groceries in Equestria!"

"To be fair, bits and Munny have different currency values, and you can get a lot from Heartless," Sandbar said. "...Although, we haven't got the chance to take any on just yet, so..."

"So we're broke, and I'm gonna be more broke if I can't so much as make a little flower sprinkle healing powder over me, for free," Gallus reiterated, then flopped back on his bed with a huff.

Sandbar wanted to help reassure the moody griffon, only to be interrupted by a knock on their dorm room door. Without any permission, the door opened as Sora waltzed right on in with a grin.

"Hello, boys," Sora greeted.

"Master Sora!" Sandbar quickly turned to Sora and stood at attention.

"Sheesh. Don't be such a stiff," Gallus scoffed, lazily sitting back up. "He's probably just casually visiting us."

"Actually, this is official Keyblade business," Sora corrected. Gallus sighed and was about to stand at attention next to Sandbar, awaiting a proper scolding from the experienced wielder. "Gallus, it's your lucky day. You're coming with me, Donald, and Goofy."

"Uhh...To where?" Gallus asked.

"To a new world in need of exploring and saving," Sora said. Sandbar gasped as he glanced at Gallus, feeling genuinely happy for his friend for being the first of them to go with one of the Keyblade wielders to a new world to explore. Gallus, however, grimaced in confusion. He was chosen when he hadn't learned how to use Cure, which was something Aqua had instructed them on today should they travel anywhere outside of Ponyville or Equestria and run into any Heartless, and he was baffled if Aqua was the one who decided to pick him out of his friends. "Pack up some stuff. It might be a huge world."

Sora left and waited outside in the hall for Gallus to get ready. Sandbar grinned, giving the stunned griffon a nudge to snap him out of his stupor.

"How awesome is that!? You're going with Master Sora to a new world!" Sandbar cheered.

Gallus was speechless, though not in a good way. With the training he's had, maybe he might stand a chance surviving in a new world, but if there were foes and creatures of darkness that were tougher than he thought, he wasn't going to last for an hour at most. Gallus wasn't going to question these decisions, but he let out a disgruntled sigh and went with it. He needed to blow off some steam for being the class "magic dunce", and some experience slaying Heartless for the first time might do him some good. He grabbed a sling bag, travel packs made especially for him and the Young Six to bring along while off in new worlds that were comfortable to wear and wouldn't get in the way while fighting. Glancing at the Potions on his side table, Gallus contemplated bringing them for a moment before grabbing each bottle and stuffing them safely in his bag.

"Might as well take them since Master Aqua gave them to me," he mumbled to himself, then headed out the door while given a light smack on the shoulder from Sandbar.

"Good luck, Gallus," Sandbar said.

Gallus grunted in response. Before walking with Sora, the door to the girls' dorm room slammed open with an excited Silverstream beaming widely. "You're going off on an adventure!?" the hippogriff squealed. She zipped over to Gallus, Smolder, Yona, and Ocellus peaking out of their room, clearly overhearing Sora when he informed Gallus he was called to join him and his friends. Silverstream caught Gallus in a tight, spine-crushing hug, knocking the wind out of him, and his face turning red not from the asphyxiation he undergoing for the few brief seconds. "Gallus, you are SO lucky! You got to learn two spells AND you get to travel to a new world! I wish I was you right now!"

She finally released Gallus, letting him breathe as he cleared his throat, failing to hide his blushing cheeks. "Y-Yeah, well...I still only managed to fire one spell," he corrected.

"Ha! 'Fire' one spell!" Silverstream laughed at the unintentional pun Gallus made. Gallus's blush quickly died out, groaning slightly at the hippogriff's amusement to just about anything. "But Fire is a pretty cool spell to learn first, too! It would be better if, instead of shooting it from your Keyblade, you shot it out of your claw! Ooh! Or your mouth!"

"Hey, Silverstream?" Smolder called out. She got the hippogriff's attention, reminding her who she was as she blew out a small puff of fire. "I'm the only one out of all of us allowed to breathe fire. And trust me, if you can't control your fire, you're gonna burn everything."

"Oh yeah. Dragons. Doi!" Silverstream facepalmed, feeling silly despite how ditsy and overly excited she is. When she looked back at Gallus, her smile faded to a concerned frown when he seemed to be a bit down. They all knew how upset he got when he failed to cast Cure, but she had a little idea to help perk him up a little. "So...if you're still struggling with the Cure spell, you want some help with it?"

"Like what?" Gallus asked. "Master Aqua already gave me advice: relax, do something I like, something I'm comfortable with. Kinda hard to do that with the stress of friendship school and training."

"Well, maybe some more advice might help. Instead of focusing on casting the spell, I just think about stuff that makes me happy," Silverstream said. "If anyone else got hurt, healing them with magic makes me happy, too, because it feels good doing something nice for someone."

"...I'll...keep that in mind," Gallus mumbled. The girls wished Gallus luck as he walked off with Sora, leaving the school and heading out to the fields where the Gummi ships are. "So, where are we going, and why am I lucky enough to join?"

"Let's leave the where a surprise," Sora said. "And having you come along is Aqua's idea. She's already let me know how you guys did with learning Cure." Gallus grumbled and turned his head away from Sora. "Hey, don't sweat it. Magic was a weird concept for me when I started my journey. Donald taught me how to use the spells I've learned, and with enough practice, I got the hang of it pretty quickly."

"Still really embarrassing and disappointing," Gallus grumbled to himself.

The rest of the walk was left in silence as they arrived at Sora's vessel, Donald and Goofy already inside the cockpit preparing for liftoff. The duo stepped inside the ship and entered the cockpit, Gallus finding a seat to strap himself in while Sora took the pilot's seat.

"Coordinates all set, Mr. Sora!" Goofy announced with a mock salute and his signature chuckle.

"Excellent, Mr. Goof! Quackers, engine status!" Sora said as he pointed to Donald.

"Quackers!?" Donald questioned. "Why am I called that!?"

"Ok, fine. Engine status, Mr. Quackers," Sora corrected, which made Donald grumble more.

"...Engines up and running," Donald said, glancing at Goofy when he heard the guard captain snickering.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you," Sora teased, holding a hoof up to his ear. "Engine status?"

Donald huffed, still bitter about the playful nickname. "Engines up and running, Mr. Sora," Donald said again, to Sora's satisfied, toothy grin.

Gallus rolled his eyes at the weird banter the three shared. They may have been friends longer than his relationships with his new friends, and despite the banter, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were as thick as thieves. It was still weird for he griffon to even make friends, even after sharing a common interest when the School of Friendship followed the EEA rules and the school got boring. He grew up in the worst kingdom to ever live in, where no one wanted to be friends. All the other griffons cared about is bits and ripping off customers for even more bits. Gallus would rather prefer living with his friends than in Griffonstone any day to avoid living there again.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the Gummi ship jostled as it began its takeoff. The spaceship hovered higher into the sky before its engines flew them out of Equestria and onto their assigned world to explore. Gallus was a bit anxious to finally get some fighting experience, clutching onto his satchel of Potions, hoping to avoid using at least one while they were exploring. With a warp to a world that was close to their actual destination, the jump not being so bad for the griffon teen after experiencing the first one, it was just a small, easy, ten minute flight to their new world. When they got a good look at it, Gallus was baffled by what he saw: at the top was a tower that had something long and flowing coming from the window at the top, almost like it was hair, a craggy mountain surrounding the base of the tower as if to conceal it from the lush forest around most of the middle section of the world, and at the bottom was a kingdom with paper lanterns alight and floating away from the castle and town residing there.

"And I thought Equestria looked weird as a planet," Gallus mumbled to himself.

Sora drove the Gummi ship down to the world, heading straight toward the massive forest to land, and hopefully avoid getting caught by whoever lives in the tower or kingdom. Landing in a dense patch of shrubbery, Sora activated the cloaking device to keep it hidden from passersby before he and his entourage got up from their seats. Gallus tailed behind Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they pushed their way through the bushes and out to an open area of the forest. The sun was shining, not a cloud blotting out the light through the leaves above them, and the weather was warm enough to stay outdoors for the whole day.

"Seems pretty peaceful out here so far," Donald said.

"We could have a picnic if we weren't sent here to stop the Heartless," Goofy added.

"Uhh, this place doesn't have strange magic or dangerous creatures around, does it?" Gallus asked, feeling a bit cautious after running into the pukwudgies at the castle ruins in the Everfree.

"We won't know unless we run into any," Sora said. He looked back at Gallus, who suddenly realized that the blue griffon teen hadn't changed like he, Donald, and Goofy had. "Oh boy. This was something I didn't think through."

"What?" Gallus questioned.

"Well, whenever we visit new worlds, to keep the world order, we have to blend in to keep from arousing suspicion," Sora explained. He let out a nervous chuckle as he looked down at Gallus. "The weird thing is, when we transform from Equestrian to normal, our magic works to help us fit in. But the strange thing is that you, Twilight, and the rest of your friends, as Keyblade wielders, you still stay the way you are."

Gallus looked at himself, unsure if he should be offended or not. "...So, what does that mean? Do I have to learn transforming magic, or was that supposed to be a completely different lesson after Cure?"

Sora hummed in thought, feeling uncertain about how to describe their transformations since it was odd how Twilight remained the same despite her countless travels to other worlds. "Maybe I can help give him a temporary form while in other worlds," Donald suggested. "I used to do it for you and Goofy for some of them, Sora. Shouldn't be that hard."

"Uhh, I don't know if that'd be a good idea," Sora quickly said. "Gallus isn't wearing any clothes. Riku told me about the...mishap when she transformed into a human to fit in, only for her to come up...well...'exposed'?"

Donald quacked while Goofy gulped in shock, both of them getting what Sora meant as they looked around awkwardly. "So what if I'm not wearing clothes?" Gallus questioned in annoyance. "Just change me so we can protect the world order or whatever."

Sora grimaced as he glanced at Gallus. "...Gallus, there's...kind of a reason why people like me, Kairi, Aqua, and the others wear clothes," Sora tried to explain. "It's not just for a fashion statement. So, if we were to magically transform you into a human..."

Gallus's brow quirked, slowly understanding what was being implied, though wishing he didn't as his beak scrunched up in a perturbed grimace. "...Oh...That's why you wear clothes?" Gallus ceased his thoughts, quickly shaking his head as he desperately wanted to change the subject. "Ok, so what do we do about me? I can't just stay in the Gummi Ship."

"Maybe griffons exist in this world, so you might fit in," Goofy guessed, giving Gallus a positive outlook.

Gallus was about to question how Donald and Goofy are going to fit in, seeing how they're nothing human like Sora was, but his thoughts were interrupted when they heard someone screaming in terror. As it got closer, the screams turned into yelps and grunts, like they were tumbling down a hill after fleeing from something dangerous. At a cliff not too far from them, they heard a thud, quickly looking toward the sound, where they found a man sitting on the ground hunched over while rubbing his back. The man wore a pale white undershirt with a teal green vest, light pale pants, a brown belt with a bronze buckle around his weight, and a pair of brown boots. He had a scruffy goatee, and despite his fall, his short brown hair remained neatly styled, making him look like the handsome adventuring type. Luckily, none of the girls went along with Sora, otherwise they would have swooned at his appearance, whether he was suave or in severe pain.

The man quickly looked up, prompting the four visitors to do the same as a group of Heartless jumped down, which was what this person was possibly running away from. "Ahh!" the adventurer yelped, quickly getting up on his feet and ran toward the wielders, guard captain, and mage. The Heartless were definitely new to Sora as a few were either short and bulb-like plants leafy arms and yellow flowers on their heads or looked like small archers with bows and arrows as they wore black tunics, orange shoes, red pointed caps, and comically huge white gloves. "Make way! Make way!" Sora stepped to the side as the adventurer ran through the group, leaving the Heartless to them instead of himself. He quickly hid behind a rock, giving them the slip, but as he looked back to wonder what the mysterious creatures were, he balked when he stared at Gallus. "...Is that a griffon?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy immediately got into their fighting stances as they summoned their respective weapons, stopping the Heartless from advancing. "You hurt over there!?" Sora called out.

"Uhh, yup! Just fine!" the man said. "You four seem quite capable! Mind if you take care of those things!?"

"We've got this, just get to safety!" Sora said.

The man sighed, glancing back at Gallus for a brief moment before shaking his head and running far away from the Heartless. "As if a horse and those monsters on my tail weren't bad enough. I must have hit my head harder than I thought from that fall if I'm seeing a mythical beasts."

"Now's a perfect time as any for you to get some real Heartless experience, Gallus," Sora said to the griffon.

Gallus nodded as he got into his own stance. Lifting his upper half up to hover slightly in the air, Gallus pulled his right arm back as he summoned his Keyblade, which he decided on naming Griffon's Pride when Aqua asked him and his friends to give their Keyblades fitting names. Mimicking Riku's stance while making it his own by "standing" in midair about a few inches from the ground, the griffon teen was ready for a fight. The archers took aim at the group and fired arrows at them, Goofy and Sora quickly deflecting them to protect Donald and Gallus.

Before Sora could instruct Gallus to be a bit cautious around Heartless that can attack from long range, the griffon yelled and charged forward, thrusting his Keyblade into one of the bow-wielding Heartless. He managed to stagger it back and slash at it, completely forgetting about the floral Heartless beginning to surround him. They leapt up and toward Gallus as they spun around, attempting to smack the griffon with their leafy arms, but Sora quickly intervened and blast them away with a Firaga explosion, immediately eradicating the Heartless weeds.

"H-Hey! You almost blew me up!" Gallus exclaimed, his distraction costing him as one of the archers hidden behind a nearby tree fired an arrow at him. The arrow struck, causing the griffon to stagger as he grunted in pain. "W-Where-!?"

Sora quickly leapt in front of Gallus, deflecting another arrow aimed at him, then shot the Heartless with Blizzard and killed it in one shot. "Don't drop your guard for anything," Sora instructed, then gave the griffon a light bonk on the forehead with the pommel of his Keyblade. "And don't rush in when you're sure to get surrounded by a group this big. Got it?"

Gallus grumbled, but he got the message loud and clear. Sora rushed off to handle anymore archers while the griffon looked at the arrow that struck him, which had quickly disappeared, leaving behind a small, piercing sting. Hearing a squeaking noise, one of the flower Heartless came after him. Gallus readied himself, keeping his distance and waited for his chance to strike while being aware of his surroundings for the other Heartless. Thankfully, Donald and Goofy kept some of the others at bay, leaving Gallus with enough room to fight his own Heartless, even though Gallus wished to have a couple more to take on. Finding an opening after the Heartless tried to smack him with its arms, Gallus lunged forward and sliced his Keyblade down on it. It flinched back as he continued to hit it until it was defeated, poofing away in a puff of smoke while a heart flew out from inside its small, stumpy body.

"Got it!" Gallus cheered. "Where's the next weed to pluck!?" He looked around for his next target, only to find no more Heartless. Sora, Donald, and Goofy already made quick work of the group that attacked the fleeing adventurer. Out of all of them, Gallus only slayed two, which disappointed him as he expected more. "Aww, come on. That's all?"

"Let's hope that was all," Donald said. "You should be more careful, Gallus."

"You barely ran into any Heartless since you started your training," Goofy added. "You could have gotten much more hurt."

"How else am I supposed to learn how to fight a bunch of Heartless?" Gallus questioned angrily. "When Master Sora got his Keyblade, he had to fight back loads of them on his own!"

"You're getting the proper training so you don't risk getting injured like I had," Sora scolded the griffon. "I was lucky I had run into help when I did, otherwise, I wouldn't be standing here. You may be allowed to fight alongside us, but you are my responsibility if you decide to get reckless. You understand that, Gallus?"

Gallus grumbled, hating being talked down to like he was a hatchling, but he sighed in defeat to avoid being lectured again. "Yes, sir," Gallus mumbled.

"Good." Sora lifted his Keyblade over Gallus and cast Cure over him, healing up the small injury he got from the Heartless archer. Gallus scowled at the spell, wishing he was able to pull it off with such ease. Sora dropped the scolding mentor act as he knelt down to the griffon's level. "This is an important learning experience, Gallus. Aqua thought coming with us would give you a chance to train and improve your skills, maybe enough to finally be able to cast Cure."

"Yeah, I know," Gallus sighed. "They looked weak enough for me to handle without getting a scratch."

"That's why you don't judge the Heartless by their appearances," Sora advised. "You never know what they can be capable of, whether alone or in a group that size." Gallus understood with a nod, then was given a pat on the shoulder from the Keyblade wielder before he stood up and looked around the forest. "Now, let's see where that guy ran off to. If there were Heartless chasing after him, there could be more waiting around in these woods."

Sora took the lead while Donald, Goofy, and Gallus followed him. Gallus was probably going to be in a lot of trouble if Sora reported his recklessness while under their supervision, which would mean a lot more rigorous training as punishment.

"Now, don't look so down, Gallus," Goofy said as he noticed the griffon's demeanor. "We're just trying to look out for you while you learn and grow from the experience."

"Yeah. Sora's made plenty of mistakes in the past, but unlike you, he's never learned a single thing," Donald said teasingly with a snicker.

"Oh, ha ha, Donald!" Sora called out. "At least I don't forget my planned dates with my sweetheart, unlike you!"

Sora gave the duck mage a cocky smirk, getting back at Donald for his lack of remembering his dates with Daisy. And from the grimace on his beak and stammering for a witty retort, Sora laughed, seeing Donald must have forgotten another promised date with Daisy.

---

At an outdoor cafe in Disney Town, Daisy Duck tapped her foot impatiently as she sat at a table by herself, wearing a casual purple shirt instead of her dress along with a bow on her head and heels of a similar color for a casual date with her beau. "I can't believe this. He forgot again!" she exclaimed, slamming her fists on the table, then leaned against it with a huff. "Of all the nerve. At least call me if you're too busy saving the day to remember our date."

A moment later during her sulking fit, a waiter came up to the duck's table. "Are you ready for your order, miss? Or are you still waiting for your 'friend'?

"...Just get me the usual," Daisy said. The waiter nodded and headed off, knowing the duchess well enough with her forgetful boyfriend and choice courses to eat when she's upset with Donald Duck. "And put it on Royal Magician Donald Duck's bill."

"Of course, miss," the waiter agreed as Daisy's beak curled to a smug grin, hoping the steep drop in his royal stipend will teach him a lesson or two."

---

While exploring the woods, Donald felt a chill as he shuddered, even though the weather was pretty warm. Sora wondered where the runaway adventurer fled to, tracking his footprints in some of the patches of a dirt path along the grassy forest. He led the group to a rocky cliff, some leaves growing out from the wall like a curtain, but where his tracks went, it led to this dead end.

"You sure that guy ran this way?" Gallus asked. "Hope he wasn't a ghost and phased through the wall."

Sora approached the wall, humming curiously before turning around with his arms over his head. "Well, at least we know he's ok, right?" He leaned back, only instead of pressing his back to the wall, Sora gasped and fell through the leaves, winding up in a hidden cavern veiled by the leaf curtain. Quickly sitting up, Sora moved the leafy drapes aside, Donald, Goofy, and Gallus barely noticing his tumble into the hidden cave. "Hey, guys, there's a secret passage through here. He must have gone this way."

"Wow. Pretty sneaky," Goofy commented.

Sora held the veil aside to let his friends through. When Gallus began to follow them, his eyes widened as he looked inside the cave, his legs locking and freezing up. The passage might have been pretty sizable, but unbeknownst to anyone he's met, no one knew that he was claustrophobic. Not even his new friends back in Equestria.

"Come on, Gallus. We gotta catch up to make sure he's ok," Sora said, ushering the griffon inside.

Gallus gulped nervously, beads of sweat running down his head as he tried to ease his slowly increasing hyperventilating pants. "U-Uhhhhh...A-Actually, w-what if there's...Heartless waiting to ambush us at the top of the cliff?" Gallus suggested. "I should...probably fly up there to make sure nothing's going to get the jump on us!"

"I don't think the Heartless are that smart to-" Sora tried to say, but Gallus already took off in the air and flew past the forest canopy. "H-Hey! Gallus!"

"Good idea, Master Sora! I'm on it!" Gallus quickly exclaimed before flying out of sight. When he reached the top, he landed on the cliff, pressed a claw to his chest and breathed heavily until he calmed down enough. "Ok, Master Aqua didn't tell me we might have to explore CAVES! I thought Heartless would just be out in the open. They thrive in darkness, and caves are like a breeding ground for those-!" He paused in his rambling when he looked out in the distance beyond the cliff. "...Whoa...Is that...?"

Flapping his wings, Gallus approached the opposite side of the cliff. Inside the bowl-like center of the small mountain range, there was a hidden glade it concealed around its walls: green grass with some nearby trees and flowers, a waterfall gently falling into the pond on the far end of the area with a river flowing around the few hills and out through a small, thin passage leading out of the mountain, and sitting tall in the center was a very familiar tower they saw as they entered this world's atmosphere. The stone pillar rose up several stories to the hand-built tower up at the top with white walls, brown framing, and a weathered purple spire roof. There was no entrance at the base from where Gallus could see, but there was a singular window looking out to the horizon, where the elevation was much lower than the taller mountains concealing the tower behind it.

Curiosity taking over his caution, Gallus flew up toward the tower, keeping out of sight of the window to avoid getting spotted if someone was living there. Landing softly on the roof, he crouched down and peeked his head down to look inside. To his surprise, he found the man they saved from the Heartless, tied up in a chair by what looked like long, golden hair, which was an odd way to use for rope. Approaching him as the man looked around in confusion was a young girl, maybe a couple years older than Gallus, wearing a purple dress with white sleeves, long golden blonde hair, which matched the bindings around the helpless adventurer, and she wielded a frying pan as a means of defense. The strange thing Gallus noted was the hair bindings as he trailed them, where it seemed to go on a lot longer until he finally found the source, which actually came from the girl. He was impressed to see the impressive length of this girl's hair, and if those golden locks were strong enough to hold a man tightly to a chair, she must have some crazy magical conditioner if her hair is that strong.

Despite being held hostage, the adventurer tried laying the charm on her with an alluring grin. "How you doing? The name's Flynn Rider. How's your day going?"

At least Gallus got the name of this suave, confident adventurer, although the girl seemed a bit puzzled by how to respond. He watched the girl grip her frying pan, cautiously approaching Flynn with her weapon held right up to his face.

"Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?" the girl questioned, interrogating the man who intruded in what appeared to be her home.

"Alright, hang on, Blondie," Flynn said, seeming a bit too nonchalant despite a frying pan close to meeting his face with a good enough whack.

"Rapunzel," the girl instantly corrected, technically introducing herself.

"Gesundheit," Flynn said, ignoring Rapunzel's correction. "Here's the deal. I was gallivanting through the forest when I stumbled upon a-" He suddenly gasped, realizing something was missing on his person as he looked around as best as he could with the hair binding him to his seat. "Oh! Oh no no! No no no no no no! Where is my satchel!?"

"I've hidden it. Somewhere you'll never find it," Rapunzel said with a smug grin on her face.

"Is she some sort of kidnapper?" Gallus mumbled to himself.

He continued watching from his hiding spot as Rapunzel began circling Flynn, ready to smack him with her frying pan. "So, what do you want with my hair? To cut it? Sell it?"

Gallus balked a bit, even Flynn was a bit perturbed by the sudden accusation Rapunzel made. "What? No!" Flynn said.

Rapunzel's leer turned to confusion in less than a second. "Wait, you DON'T want my hair?" she asked.

"Why on earth would I want your hair?" Flynn questioned, along with Gallus as he wondered why anyone would find something like hair worth any value. "Look, I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it, ok? End of story."

Rapunzel looked at Flynn skeptically. Suddenly appearing from beneath her hair was a green chameleon, who gave Flynn the stink-eye, judging the man if he was telling the truth. After a moment with some reptilian grunts coming from the camouflaging lizard, it flicked its tail out and pointed over to the doorway to Rapunzel. The girl nodded and moved away to converse with her little friend.

Seeing his chance to rescue Flynn, Gallus quietly climbed inside, creeping carefully to avoid making noise. The large room had quite a lot of different murals, mostly involving a sun-like symbol, along with some other furniture that makes the tower livable like shelves, cabinets, tables, etc. Gallus approached Flynn, startling the man for a moment before the griffon quickly clasped his claws around his mouth to keep him from shouting.

"Quiet," Gallus hissed. "I'm getting you out of here, so keep that big mouth of yours shut."

Flynn blinked, now completely unsure if he was hallucinating after he got knocked upside the head when Rapunzel held him hostage. While Gallus contemplated cutting off Rapunzel's hair, unable to find the knots to untie them, he was unaware of the chameleon spotting him, silently gesturing to Rapunzel about the other intruder, which made her flinch, then scream, and throw her frying pan at Gallus. The Griffon turned around, only to meet the flat end of the cooking utensil with a loud clang. It fell, revealing a dazed-looking griffon with his tongue out and eyes crossed, slowly staggering sideways until he tripped over Rapunzel's hair and landed on his side with a groan.

Both humans and chameleon stared at Gallus, then each other, the room in complete silence aside from Gallus's breathing for a brief moment. "...Is...Is that a griffon?" Rapunzel asked Flynn, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Ok, so I wasn't suffering from several concussions after all," Flynn mumbled to himself.

Not taking any chances, Rapunzel made sure to tie up Gallus before he regained consciousness, though she used regular rope on him, being wary of his claws cutting off part of her long hair. Once Gallus came to, he shook his head and tried to rub his face, only to find himself tied up as well while laying on his side. Rapunzel loomed over him, frying pan poised to strike.

"Who are you, and who else knows about me?" she questioned, her chameleon friend climbing on his face and giving him a "menacing" glare.

Unlike Flynn, Gallus wasn't going to try to distract this determined girl with his charisma. "I'm Gallus, and that really hurt," he said. Rapunzel gasped after hearing him talk, but before she could smack him with her frying pan out of fearful instinct, Gallus quickly rolled away, flinging the chameleon off his face, then bit through the rope bindings. He stood up, hearing Rapunzel grunt as she tried to attack him, but he flapped his wings and hovered out of her reach. "Relax! I'm not going to hurt you! Or steal your hair, or whatever weird thing you're going to accuse me of!"

"Then what were you here for? Food? Possibly fresh meat?" Rapunzel asked, ready to throw her frying pan at the griffon again.

Gallus facepalmed with an annoyed groan, then pointed to Flynn. "I was trying to break him out," he said. "You're holding him hostage, took his stuff?"

"He invaded my home, and I don't trust strangers I've never met." Gallus opened his beak, glancing at Flynn for a moment before seeing her point.

"...Fair enough," Gallus shrugged. "We'll leave right away if you let him go, and we won't bother you or tell anyone else about this place. Or your...freakishly overgrown hair."

Rapunzel looked at her chameleon companion, who still found the duo untrustworthy, but let out a grunt, where Rapunzel agreed with a nod. "Well, unless Flynn Rider wants his satchel back, I'm willing to offer him a deal."

"A deal?" Flynn questioned. "I'm not agreeing to any-"

"Ok," Gallus interrupted, getting a dirty look from the bound man. "What's the offer? Munny? Jewels?"

"Look this way." Rapunzel grabbed her hair and pulled, causing Flynn's chair to spin around while tipping over, finally making him fall forward after a couple whirls. Gallus ignored the man's grunt as his face was squished to the ground, watching Rapunzel climb up on the fireplace's shelf, then pull back a curtain with some artistic mural on the wall. It showed a bunch of lights in the night sky over a similar landscape beyond the hidden field the tower was in. "Do you two know what these are?"

Gallus only shrugged, having no clue what to say besides stars. Flynn looked up from his angle, knowing the layout of the land in this world better than the griffon teen.

"You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?" Flynn questioned, his answer making Gallus's eyes widen, remembering seeing the lower section of the world with lanterns floating away from the kingdom's castle and city.

"Lanterns? I knew they weren't stars." Rapunzel grinned as her guess on those mysterious lights were right. She looked back at Flynn and Gallus, pointing her frying pan at them. "Well, tomorrow evening, they will light the night sky with these 'lanterns'. You two will act as my guide, take me to these lanterns, and return me home safely. Then, and only then, will I return your satchel to you, Flynn Rider. That is my deal."

"Oh boy," Gallus mumbled. "Is this the meddling thing Master Aqua warned us not to do?"

"Well, no can do anyway, toots," Flynn said. He grunted as he tried to pick himself up with what freedom of movement he had in his hands. He at least managed to lift and turn the chair on its side so his face wasn't getting smooshed against the floor. "Unfortunately, the kingdom and I aren't exactly 'simpatico' at the moment, so I won't take you there."

Not taking no for an answer, along with a bit of guidance from her reptilian friend, Rapunzel climbed down from the awning, grasped her hair, and yanked Flynn's chair back upright, tugging it to drag him closer while she in turn walked toward him. "Something brought you here, Flynn Rider. And call it what you will: fate, destiny, dumb luck, but I have made the decision to trust you and Gallus."

"A horrible decision, really," Flynn sarcastically commented.

"I am serious," Rapunzel insisted. She yanked his chair hard, causing him to fall forward again, but Rapunzel caught it, staring the man straight in the eyes.

Sighing, Flynn gave the girl a skeptical frown. "So, let me get this straight. I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home...then you'll give me my satchel?"

"I promise," Rapunzel swore, but Flynn was still skeptical. "And when I promise something, I never, ever break that promise." The bound man quirked a brow, silently questioning if she was being truly honest. "Ever," she stated firmly with a serious expression.

Flynn thought over his answer, this strange request for his belongings a lot tougher than he would have liked. With the mysterious creatures he ran into when he fled from the kingdom, there was a very, very slim chance the both of them would be safe traveling through the woods. Just as he thought about the three guys and Gallus who took on the monsters for him, Gallus spoke up.

"Ok, we'll do it," the griffon said, making Flynn balk and stare at him, feeling betrayed despite only knowing Gallus for a few minutes. "But if we're going to take you, we'll be bringing along a few others who are accompanying us on our travels."

Thinking quickly, Flynn looked at Rapunzel and nodded in confirmation. "Er, yes: our three sidekicks must come along with us. If that is ok with you, then we have a deal," he said with a not-so-convincing grin.

Gallus gave Flynn an odd look, calling Sora, Donald, and Goofy their sidekicks when they're clearly the least experienced with the Heartless. Regardless, Rapunzel agreed with Flynn's terms, satisfied with her answer, then untied Flynn from his seat. Even though Gallus wasn't that fond with hair, seeing the incredible length and how Rapunzel was able to manage it was a feat in and of itself. There didn't even seem to be any knots; just a seemingly endless, flowing length of perfectly combed hair, even as it's dragged or trailing around the floor. And she didn't even tear it up when she freed Flynn from the incredibly tight bonds she made with them.

"So, how exactly are you two going to get out of this tower?" Gallus asked curiously. "I mean, I can fly, but there's no entrance at the bottom to climb up here. Not even a ladder or staircase."

"I figured out how to climb up. I can climb down..." Flynn approached the window Gallus used to sneak in, only to look down with a sigh. "...With a lot of effort."

While Rapunzel gathered her hair, Flynn pulled out a pair of arrows before carefully climbing out the window. Carefully, using his upper body strength, he gripped an arrow tightly, then jammed it into the stone tower. After it was secure enough, he began his slow descent, stabbing the arrow in his other hand into the tower, repeating the process after yanking out the higher arrow and jamming it to a lower section. Gallus hopped out the window and flapped his wings, watching Flynn struggle in amusement.

"Need some help there?" Gallus asked smugly.

"Ugh. Can it, you flying blue cat with a beak," Flynn grunted, ignoring the mocking griffon teen and focused more on climbing down.

While watching Flynn struggle, Gallus realized Rapunzel needed a way down. He was about to try carrying her and hover her down, but he flapped himself back when her hair was flung outside the window, creating a makeshift rope that hung just a few inches off the ground. Rapunzel flung leapt out and slid down with a firm grip on her hair, startling Gallus and Flynn as they watched her ride down her incredibly strong hair. She was excited to be outside, only to gasp and slow herself to a stop a couple feet off the ground, staring down at the grass while wondering if the ground would be like lava to her bare feet.

"Oh, great. She takes the fun way down," Flynn sighed, continuing his slow, exhausting descent down the tower.

Gallus forgot about Flynn and hovered down to the wary Rapunzel. "It's called grass," he said, practically stating the obvious as he landed on the ground. He pat it, showing Rapunzel it wasn't dangerous to step as his claw smoothed out the grass, even plucking a few clips with his fingers. "It's not gonna bite or anything."

Rapunzel looked down again, lowering her feet, letting the soft blades tickle against her skin and run between her toes. She gasped after spreading her feet along the small patch she stood on, the knelt down to feel it with her own hands.

"It's so soft," she uttered, then laughed as she stood up and began to frolic around the glade. "I'm free! I'm finally free!"

Gallus watched Rapunzel, losing his grip on the handful of grass he plucked. She reminded him of Silverstream with how excited she was, marveling at the outdoors around her tower while running down to the pond reaching up to the girl's ankles. It was almost like she never once stepped foot outside of that tower and experiencing everything beyond her home for the first time in her whole life. Strangely, he imagined Silverstream in Rapunzel's place right now, knowing the hippogriffs had been in hiding for years with the Storm King's attempt to take over the whole world with an iron fist. It was kind of funny, but also kind of sad, feeling like a prisoner in a safe place and never once knowing the joys of anything else beyond their home.

"Gallus!" Snapping out of his thoughts, Gallus looked toward the cave at the other end of the tower, which must have connected from the same secret passage Sora discovered. Racing up to the tower was Sora, Donald, and Goofy, all three of them frustrated, but relieved to find the griffon after he flew out of their sight. "There you are! What were you thinking!?"

"You had us worried sick flying off like that!" Donald exclaimed.

Nearly forgetting about his excuse, letting out a nervous chuckle as his eyes darted left and right. "Uhh, at least there was no ambush," he said. "That's some good news, right?" Donald growled, then gave the griffon a harsh whack upside the head with his staff. "OW! Geeze! What was that for!?"

"You know exactly why!" Donald scolded.

"Don't go off on your own like that again. Who knows what you might run into? And it might not even be a Heartless," Sora said. Gallus grumbled and hung his head, rubbing the slight bump Donald gave him. Looking behind the griffon at the tower, he spotted Flynn finally reaching the ground. "Hey, it's that guy from earlier."

Hearing him being mentioned, Flynn turned to face the outside adventurers and grinned. "Gentlemen! You've arrived just in time!"

"We have?" Goofy asked. "I don't even think we introduced ourselves after running into you."

"This is Flynn Rider," Gallus said, introducing his mentors to Flynn for him. "Flynn, that's Master Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"Master?" Flynn questioned curiously. "You his pet or something?"

"His fighting instructor, actually," Sora corrected Flynn. They looked out to the water when they heard Rapunzel splashing around and cheering for her freedom. "And...who is that?"

"That would be Rapunzel," Flynn said. "Something definitely tells us this is the first time she's ever been outdoors. We'll give her a few minutes to get used to it."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy gaped in shock at the unfortunate news. "First time EVER!?" Sora exclaimed.

"Yeah," Gallus confirmed. "Almost like Silverstream."

"Who's Silverstream?" Flynn asked, then smiled slyly at Gallus. "A griffon girl?"

Gallus gave Flynn an annoyed leer, refusing to respond for the sake of the world order after already showing himself to the man. Eventually, they finally left the hidden glade with Rapunzel running on ahead and barely noticing the Keyblade wielder and his companions, though Gallus had to stick by Sora, Donald, and Goofy through the cave so they didn't get separated from him again. Gallus tried to remain calm, even as the walls seemed to shrink smaller and smaller around him in his mind. They eventually made it through, the griffon letting out a quiet sigh after making it out.

Rapunzel looked around the forest, finally stepping foot outside of her home and observing the world around her in a mixture of emotions. "I can't believe I did this!" she cheered happily, only to quickly regret it and look worried. "I can't believe I did this." Rapunzel then went back to being excited as she danced around with glee. "I can't believe I DID this!"

Her emotions continued to flip around constantly, feeling fine one moment, only to be worried or upset about leaving without her mother's permission a moment later, then back to being happy again. The guys all watched her having this existential crisis while exploring the small section of the woods: from a nearby pond, in a nearby cave, a few small hills, and around a couple trees. Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched Rapunzel having fun or freaking out in silence, slightly amused and worried about her mental state. Flynn was a bit annoyed, as if he was escorting a five-year-old girl on a sugar rush. Gallus just stared blankly, definitely seeing Silverstream in this crazy, long-haired girl, though mostly with the energetic fun bits she flip-flopped between while using her hair like a swing around a tree and tumbling down a hill while wrapping herself up in a golden-haired cocoon. She and Rapunzel would definitely be fast friends if she was chosen to come to this world before he was.

While Rapunzel was sobbing after going through what seemed to be the last of her emotional whiplashes beneath a tree, the guys approached her, hoping she was done. "I notice you seem a little at war with yourself," Flynn commented.

"'Little' sounds like an understatement," Gallus added.

Rapunzel looked up at Flynn and Gallus, finally noticing Sora, Donald, and Goofy behind them. Shocked, she quickly stood up and pulled out her frying pan, aiming it at the confused trio.

"Who are you three!?" Rapunzel questioned, her chameleon friend coming out from his hiding place in her hair and perching on her shoulder while eyeing the three experienced warriors.

Flynn and Gallus quickly stood in front of Sora, Donald and Goofy, sparing them from Rapunzel's frying pan wrath. "Hang on, they're with us: our sidekicks we told you about," Flynn stated.

"Sidekicks?" Sora questioned as he and his battle buddies gave Flynn and Gallus confused looks.

"Yup! Our lackeys!" Gallus said, relishing the feeling of being in charge, much to Sora, Donald, and Goofy's chagrin. "Rapunzel, meet Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

The trio gave Rapunzel a small wave, though they were definitely going to have a few words with Gallus. "Sora, Donald...and Goofy," Rapunzel repeated. She could tell they weren't so bad, and quite friendly, lowering her guard and giving them a small smile. "It's nice to meet you." Rapunzel's chameleon friend let out a small grunt, getting a small pat on the head from the girl. "And this is Pascal. He's been my friend after I rescued him when I was little."

"A fitting name for the little chameleon," Flynn commented.

Before Flynn could run his mouth some more, Sora quickly turned him and Gallus around, lowering his voice so Rapunzel didn't hear him. "Since when did we establish we became your sidekicks?" he questioned as he, Donald, and Goofy leered at the two troublemakers.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about that at Rapunzel's tower," Gallus said, pointing to Flynn with his thumb. "This guy called you our sidekicks."

"And you went along with it?" Sora asked suspiciously.

Flynn let out a sigh, having wasted enough time letting Rapunzel enjoy the world while also wallowing in her worries, fears, and even guilt for leaving. "Look, she really wants to see the lantern show tomorrow night," he said. "And, since we're both nice guys, we decided to help her. But the biggest problem are those monsters I ran into and when they'll show up again. Doesn't make a good impression letting her have fun and be free when those things are out there and could attack at any moment."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy hummed in thought for a moment. With Heartless roaming around this world, they didn't want Rapunzel to fear the outdoors if wild animals were supposed to be the only things in the woods to be wary of. The trio then looked down at Gallus, who went along with the white lie he and Flynn made up to get on Rapunzel's good graces.

"Just play along until we get to the kingdom where this lantern show is being held. Please?" Gallus begged.

Sora sighed after being pressured by the little pout Gallus made. "Alright, fine," he said, then approached Rapunzel. "We'd be happy to escort you to the lantern show, Rapunzel. We'll keep a close eye on you...as Flynn and Gallus's loyal sidekicks."

Rapunzel nodded, then followed Flynn as the two led the four warriors down the path. He was definitely going to give Gallus an earful later as the griffon took the lead among the quartet with a swagger in his step. Holding off on scolding Gallus at a later date, he watched Rapunzel looking around curiously around the woods, her fears and anxiety constantly feuding with excitement and awe as she discovered a whole new world beyond what she knew in her tower. He felt just the same way when he was taken from his home, though his worries for his mother, from how she was faring to how worried she might be for his own safety, were a lot more powerful than Rapunzel disobeying hers. He was glad he brought it up with Manami after hiding those dreadful feelings for so long. And he was able to bump into Donald and Goofy, who he became very close friends with to help him focus on the road ahead and not the traumatic ordeals he's had from losing his home and mother.

While walking down the road, Rapunzel's long hair seemed to be a bit of an issue as it dragged in a trail behind the girl. She managed to bundle her hair and carry it around her and her arm to avoid getting it tangled up on a stray branch or root, or accidentally get stepped on by someone. The boys were all surprised to see how many clever ways Rapunzel used her hair, whether for recreational use like a swing, or for practical use like using it as a rope or a pulley, able to lift herself up with her hair having as much tensile strength as the thickest of ropes. Rarity would probably kill to figure out how to get a mane like that so she didn't fret over her curls getting ruined.

After climbing up a hill, in the middle of a field of flowers was one of the biggest dandelions the group had ever seen, the fluffy white seeds forming a massive ball of softness. "Oh, look! What is that? It's so fluffy!"

Rapunzel ran up to the plant curiously, staring at it in awe. She reached her hand out to touch it, but upon contact, some of the seeds popped up mysteriously and floated down around the massive dandelion. As soon as the seeds touched down, they turned into the same floral Heartless that chased Flynn. It turned out the fluffy dandelion was more than an ordinary weed; it began to move, tilting itself up to reveal a pair of yellow eyes, then popped up out of the ground to reveal itself as a much bigger version of the smaller Heartless with longer arms and a flowery yellow collar.

"Heartless!" Sora called out, summoning his Keyblade along with Donald, Goofy, and Gallus summoning their weapons. Rapunzel quickly fled and hid behind Flynn for safety. "You two stay back! We'll handle them!"

Sora rushed the massive fluffball Heartless while Donald, Goofy, and Gallus handled the smaller ones. Gallus made sure to focus and strike when he found an opening and none of the other Heartless got his blind spot. He even practiced using Fire on them a few times, which seemed pretty effective knowing plants and trees can be quite flammable. The dandelion sprouting Heartless continued spawning more of the smaller ones, which quickly gathered and formed a tower with the bigger one on top. Since they seemed so light, they practically flew around the group, the fluffy afroed plant Heartless attacking by flinging sharp needles within its "hair" by the thousands. Sora and Goofy managed to deflect them with their weapons while Donald used his Fire spells to burn away the needles and the fluff on its head.

Flynn and Rapunzel watched from a distance, though as he noticed how terrifying Rapanuzel looked, he grinned, thinking he found an out to her earlier deal. "Alright, I hate to say it, but I'm lettin' you out of this deal," he said to her.

"What?" Rapunzel questioned.

"It's way too scary out here," Flynn said, gently pushing her away from the battlefield and back toward her home. "Let's just turn around and take you home."

Not like the idea, Rapunzel turned around and punched Flynn's chest, stunning him for a moment. "No. I am seeing those lanterns," she insisted, gathering up her hair and, to Flynn's shock, ran out to join the four warriors in stopping the Heartless with her frying pan ready to strike.

"Oh, come on! Are you crazy!?" Flynn exclaimed.

Gallus used the last of his mana to destroy one of the smaller plant Heartless, turning to face another, spotting Rapunzel charging in to try to help. He flew toward her as some of the Heartless took notice of her, quickly snatching her before the Heartless attacked her and bringing her back to Flynn.

"Rapunzel, just stay back and let us fight these things!" Gallus scolded, then glared at Flynn. "What did you tell her to try to help us!?"

"Hey, I was suggesting we turn back if she was scared, but like that frying pan of hers, she's too dense to realize these aren't the fluffy, skittish woodland critters she's read about in her little tower!" Flynn argued, Rapunzel taking offense at the man's comment.

"Nothing is stopping me from seeing those lanterns fly in the sky tomorrow!" Rapunzel exclaimed to Flynn.

"Then just stay back until we get rid of-!" While distracted, Gallus didn't notice more bigger dandelion Heartless popped up from the ground behind him. One of them lashed at him with their leaf arms, smacking the griffon as he yelled in pain. Quickly getting back on his feet, he gasped as they unleashed a barrage of needles at him. At least he distracted the Heartless away from Flynn and Rapunzel, finally deciding to let them handle the plant-like monsters and stay out of the fight. He tried to block them with his Keyblade, some of them slipping through and piercing through his shoulders, unable to block them fully like how Sora was able to with his own. "Ahh! How many more of these weeds are there!?"

"Firaga!" Donald shouted, blasting the attacking Heartless with an explosion of flames. The flames were strong enough to burn away all the fluff on their heads, leaving behind a slightly bald head with only a small bit of dandelion fluff connected to the hair-like stem on its head. Another Firaga blew them to smithereens, leaving nothing but temporary scorch marks from the magic spell. The mage ran up to Gallus to check on his injuries while Sora and Goofy took care of the rest of the Heartless. "You ok, Gallus!?"

"Y-Yeah," the griffon teen said, wincing a little from the searing pain of the sharp needles that went through his exposed body. "I lost focus again, but it wasn't my fault this time."

"Just as long as you're the one getting hurt when there are innocent people involved, diverting the Heartless's attention is better than anything worse," Donald reassured Gallus, then healed the griffon's injuries with Cure.

Regardless whether he prevented Heartless from harming those defenseless to their power, Gallus let his guard down and didn't pay attention to his foes, thus getting injured once again and could have possibly lost his heart all to swiftly to the creatures of darkness. Sora and Goofy finally dealt with the last of the Heartless, plucking out the last of the deadly weeds in the field.

"That takes care of them," Sora said. "More new forms of Heartless, though, just like those archers. I think Puffballs and Chief Puffs sound like a fitting name for them. And...Bizarre Archers for the creepy little huntsmen from earlier."

"Am I really going to write those names down in my journal?" Popping out from Sora's chest pocket, Jiminy held his journal in one hand and a pen in the other, giving Sora an exhausted look. "Anytime we run into new foes, you make up such strange names for some of them."

"Hey, they fit perfectly," Sora said with a grin. "Can't blame me if I have a much better imagination."

Jiminy sighed and shook his head, writing down the "creative" names a five-year-old could come up with as he hopped back inside Sora's pocket. With the threat gone, the group continued on their trek through the woods to reach the kingdom. Rapunzel hoped they would make it in time and they didn't run into anymore monsters. She felt a bit guilty for getting Gallus hurt, but he was perfectly fine now. Flynn grumbled to himself, wondering if this was worth the trouble and how much of a bother this journey was going to be.

---

"Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" Back in the hidden glade, an older woman in a blood red robe with black, curly hair stood at the base of the tower of Rapunzel's home. After some time, the woman got a little irritated waiting for a response, or even a glimpse of the young girl's long, flowing locks flying out the window for her to climb up. "Rapunzel!?" she called out again, but no response.

Sighing with a sneer, the woman had a backup plan for climbing up the tower without much effort. Going around, there was a rope pulley system with a wooden bucket wide enough for a foot to step in. Placing her foot inside, she expertly balanced herself as she pulled the rope, elevating herself up to the house at the top where the "front" entrance was located. She opened the door, intending to give Rapunzel a stern talking to, but as she entered the living room, there wasn't a trace of her nor her hair strewn around the floor.

Panic began to set in as the woman searched every room, calling out Rapunzel's name as she looked around every piece of furniture, even tearing down one of the curtains to one of the windows, feeling dread as she expected the young girl had been kidnapped. She began hyperventilating, wondering what to do until something glinting in the room caught her attention. She turned to the small flight of stairs leading to a bedroom, where she found something gleaming in the light seeping through the window. Rushing toward the mysterious glint, she knelt beside the base of the stairs, pulling away the first step to find a hidden compartment and a strange satchel.

Inside, she pulled out a tiara, only to realize the design of it and drop it in terror. Anxiety skyrocketing, the woman rummaged through the rest of the mystery bag, finding a folded up poster. She unfurled it, revealing it to be a wanted poster of a man bearing a cocky smirk and a quirked brow, a clean and suave hairstyle, and a goatee, but the nose seemed a bit off putting with the rest of his facial features. The man's name at the bottom, Flynn Rider, was wanted dead or alive, issued by the royal guard of the Kingdom of Corona.

"Missing someone?" The woman gasped and turned around, unaware of the unwanted guest who was hiding in wait for her.

"Who are you?" she questioned as she faced the assailant.

She caught a brief glimpse of a dark portal fading away where the voice came from. Standing at the other end of the room was a man wearing a black coat, gloves, and boots, where the only features she was able to make of him were his face and long, ruffled pink hair: Marluxia. The woman dropped the poster, staring at Marluxia in shock, even as the Nobody approached her.

"She's such a precious gift," he said, raising one of his hands as a rose petals began to appear around the frightened woman. "Allow me to assist you in getting her back."

Marluxia smirked as his spell began to take effect, watching her brown eyes slowly turn pink while the petals faded away and turned to dust. As the woman calmed down, Marluxia paused when his foot stepped on something. Lifting his foot away, he spotted something odd in the middle of the floor. As he knelt down to grab it, the woman got back on her feet, dusting off her robe, her eyes back to normal as she stared at the man with a calm, yet snide grin.

"You are willing to help find my daughter...? There must be a catch," the woman stated. "What do you want? Money? Jewelry?"

"Oh, I have no monetary gain for wanting to help." Marluxia grabbed the object he spotted and held it up curiously. Between his fingers was a cerulean feather that turned to an yellowish amber color from the base to the tip. He might not be an expert on birds, but the way this feather looked didn't seem like any ordinary avian feather. Pocketing the feather in his coat, he glanced back at the woman as he stood back up. "I'm looking for someone who's very important for me to find as well. You may call me Marluxia."

The woman eyed Marluxia, unsure of his true intentions, but she was willing to trust him to bring back Rapunzel to her. She leaned down to pick up the poster and the tiara, putting them back in the satchel to take with her and "return" them to their rightful owner.

"Gothel," she said, introducing herself to her new acquaintance. "Mother Gothel."

Comments

[JesusG0987]

Looks like repunzel is there this time and awesome job with the new chapter, keep up the awesome work

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Was actually wondering when Rapunzel would pop up, lol

[MagicLover2128]

Oh man, Sora will definitely be not happy to see that sadistic rose petal bstrd.

[Kreotre]

Let's see how Marluxia handle Sora now😎

[MLPFanForever]

Ohhhh! I was wondering if this world would make an appearance. Awesome job as always! Looking forward to see where this is going!

Call it wishful thinking, but I hope in the future chapters, the Tangled word is more faithful to the film.

[Codex92]

10823977
I might not know all the events that come from the union cross mobile game's story with the actual early lore of the Kingdom Hearts series, but I have seen who Larxene and Marluxia were and their original names at the very least, even though they're a bit forgettable and hard to recall since there's not much background of them from the mainstream games I played. Luxord is definitely a trump card (pun intended ) and had a bit more of an important role in the story, even though there was not much background to his own motives from the games. And if his and Demyx's original selves back in the unicorn cross game have been revealed in what I believe is that game's last update on the series, then I'm curious to know what their true names were (I'm not good with anagrams using jumbled up words to make a name or word. I may like some puzzles, but my brain is a bit derp when the simplest of puzzles give me a brain fart.), and just what their intentions for the story were.

As for Sora's mother's living status just from the games, she would probably be brought back along with the world. We got Selphie accompanying Kairi after they got off school, so that showed everyone whose hearts were lost or swallowed by darkness came back after Sora and the gang defeated Ansem. No one ever truly dies in this series; just coming back as a Heartless, a Nobody, or themselves again after said Heartless and Nobody are destroyed, not even from a whole world getting destroyed and engulfed by a dark void leading into the Realm of Darkness.

Speaking of parents, if I were to ever do anything involving bringing Riku's parents and Kairi's foster parents just as a cameo, idk whether to just come up with names and descriptions for them, or just to be nuts with Square's series cameos, make them either Final Fantasy characters or some other rpg reference from the same company. Aside from Final Fantasy, they brought characters from The World Ends With You in Dream Drop Distance, even referencing the premise of that game with their death clocks. (I even got the final mix version of the game for the Switch, but I've only beaten the first chapter mostly due to me being a god damn completionist and wanting to upgrade all the attack pins to their maximum to cheaply win against my foes. Not sure if you've ever watched former Viners years ago, but if you've ever heard of Thomas Sanders, there was a skit he did involving the first boss for a video game doing a monologue, only to finally meet the player, who's already beefed up with experience as he proclaims he's, "Someone who did all the side quests first," after being questioned who he was.

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Awesome chapter.

[DeathRider2021]

I hope it doesn't take too long to make chapter 2. Because I'm sure it's going to be exciting & I already can't wait!

[karmathewriter]

Hands up, who here thinks this is kingdom hearts at its fullest. Make it into the codexverse at that.

[Nightingale15]

I have only read about 50 chapters so I have to ask few questions. is this story going to be mostly mlp episode based with small tweaks here and there and is sora going to be a pony/or any other inhabitant all the time while he is in equestria?

[Codex92]

10832707
There will be more chapters later on that will take place outside of Equestria, but a major part of the story will take place in Equestria, going through most of the episodes that do have major significance to the MLP story, or unless there's something I can think of with the KH cast being involved in certain episodes for their character or filler for the story later on. There will be brief synopses of other episodes I mention at the start of some chapters, just to gloss over certain events, while others that involve certain holidays or seasonal skips, I try to go in a timely order instead of flip-flopping between seasons like the show usually did. And with KH3's release, I've included putting the events of the game as well, which includes the worlds, the plot, though changed around to fit with the story I've created, along with some new characters introduced later on that will play bigger roles in the future.

Hope you're in for the long haul, because this freaking story's over 2 million words, and counting, and close to 200 chapters long (I had to go back and count just how many chapters I've made, including multi-parters, and so far, it's around 186-187 chapters as of this comment. I am a madman! Somebody freaking stop me!). Hope you enjoy the rest of this incredibly long story, because, even though it'll eventually end, I do have plans to make a sequel. Assuming I finally get to the end and life doesn't keep me from procrastinating.

[AetherToast]

This chapter is odd. Kinda interesting about the whole healing issue.

[TheFVguy]

Holy crap you're fast!

---

"Actually, this is official Keyblade business," Sora corrected. Gallus sighed and was about to stand at attention next to Sandbar, awaiting a proper scolding from the experienced wielder. "Gallus, it's your lucky day. You're coming with me, Donald, and Goofy."

"Uhh...To where?" Gallus asked.

"To a new world in need of exploring and saving," Sora said. Sandbar gasped as he glanced at Gallus, feeling genuinely happy for his friend for being the first of them to go with one of the Keyblade wielders to a new world to explore. Gallus, however, grimaced in confusion. He was chosen when he hadn't learned how to use Cure, which was something Aqua had instructed them on today should they travel anywhere outside of Ponyville or Equestria and run into any Heartless, and he was baffled if Aqua was the one who decided to pick him out of his friends. "Pack up some stuff. It might be a huge world."

This is a direction I did not expect, but I warmly welcome it. Gallus to me was a character that always seemed to have more going on than what he seems to be. If I were, to be honest, he's possibly the most developed and interesting out of the Young Six. Gallus is somebody who's trying to play off as the cool, and chill dude who couldn't care less about stuff but in reality, he has fear and a lot of insecurities, coming from a broken home, no parents, only grandpa Gruff, the leader of his village to take care of him who seems pretty neglectful in terms of emotional support. Seeing him accompanying Sora and co. was a great surprise.

This also leads to the idea will most of the world travel episodes include one character from Equestria? I personally would love that, but what I love more about this chapter is that it gives unique purposes to travel to each world. For Olympus, it's to seek info about the Keybalde War from Zeus, who is eons old. And for King of Corona, it's to stop heartless but mainly about training Gallus as a wielder. That put these visits in a new light and makes me excited to see more visits for other worlds.
Cause it's not just visiting new Disney worlds, it also serves as a development to a specific character, and I really love that idea, and I cannot wait for more of this in the future. Heck, I personally would love if you even had the idea of add in new worlds on your own that we haven't seen in the Kh series yet.

I like the detail of Gallus not being transformed into a human or other creature. I know you're probably following the in-game logic, but Tangled is a universe with plenty of magical elements, and even magical creatures if we follow the show itself.
I would add here how excited I would be to see their reaction to Rapunzel's magic hair, but the new chapter already came out, so forget that, lol.

"Gallus, you are SO lucky! You got to learn two spells AND you get to travel to a new world! I wish I was you right now!"

Wholesome content we need. Sandbar is best bro.

---

"...Just get me the usual," Daisy said. The waiter nodded and headed off, knowing the duchess well enough with her forgetful boyfriend and choice courses to eat when she's upset with Donald Duck. "And put it on Royal Magician Donald Duck's bill."

Not too much to comment here other than I love Disney character's interactions, make them all the more part of this universe. I really hope we see more of the Disney characters this season, I would love to see stuff such as Mickey and Celestia interacting with one another, discussing how they rule their kingdoms. Goofy maybe being a dad for Gallus at one point, there's plenty of unique potential there. Nothing large in terms of the story, just these wholesome interactions between them.

---

"Yup! Our lackeys!" Gallus said, relishing the feeling of being in charge, much to Sora, Donald, and Goofy's chagrin. "Rapunzel, meet Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

[You did it]

---

Great start for The visit to Corona, love the interactions, and now off to read the second part!

[TheNewFrederick]

Yay! Rapunzel chapter.