New Gear, Rides, and Locations
Autumn had passed as snow began to fall on the first day of winter. Aqua's leg had healed, now out of its cast a week after the qualification events at Rainbow Falls, the mare staring out the window in Rarity's home as she watched the snow fall to the ground. It was odd to see the weather being controlled by the pegasi in this world, always knowing it acts on its own in any other world. Though the weather was colder and temperatures would drop to freezing, seeing the snow gently floating down to coat the land in fluffy whiteness was always calming to her.
Her attention was brought to a clattering coming from upstairs in Sweetie Belle's room. It stopped a moment later, and coming down the stairs was the filly herself, donning a purple scarf, a pair of boots, and a blue and white striped beanie, all set to go outside and play around outside.
"Rarity! I'm going down to Sweet Apple Acres to play with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!" she called out. Sweetie didn't wait for a response as she began heading over to the door, noticing Aqua watching her with amusement. "Hi, Aqua!"
"Hi, Sweetie Belle," she said.
"Wanna come along and play with us?" Sweetie asked.
"...Actually, I think I will come along." Aqua stood up and walked over to the door with Sweetie Belle. "I need to get Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Twilight. I've spent far too long resting, and I need to give them a few lessons."
"With their Keyblades?" the filly asked. "How did Twilight get one anyway? Does it just...show up?"
"I'm refraining from answering that," Aqua said.
"You think we can get a cutie mark as Keyblade wielders if we had one?" The mare's eye twitched as she looked down at the overly curious filly.
"Absolutely not!" she shouted. Wincing at her outburst, Aqua controlled her temper before she made the temperature inside the boutique colder than it is outside. "J-Just...stop asking questions about the Keyblade. None of you are supposed to know what it is in the first place. I'm going to have to give a certain spiky-haired hero extra, back-breaking training sessions for blabbing about it."
They left the warm building and stepped out into the cool, snowy air, making their way through town to the apple orchard. There wasn't much snow on the ground yet, but within a couple hours by the look of all the snow clouds, there would be at least a couple inches of snow blanketing the ground. Other ponies were out in winter gear, some shoveling snow off the pathway to their homes or shops, while most of the fillies and colts ran around, catching snowflakes on their tongue while waiting for the snow to build up for snowball fights.
Once they reached the farm, all the trees were bare of their fruit and leaves as most flora can't survive in the colder weather, every single leaf swept up as the ground was all the snow would land on. They reached the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse, where there was already a heavy amount of snow over the area courtesy of Sora, sneaking a couple snow clouds over the area while Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were in the middle of a snowball war. The two fillies laughed, throwing snowballs as they tried to hit each other, but Sora up above grinned menacingly as he hefted a large snowball from the insides of the clouds over his head.
"Bombs away!" he called out, dropping the massive snowball down on the battlefield. The two fillies looked up as a they saw a shadow getting bigger in between their battle zone. They screamed and tried to flee, but as it slammed into the ground, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were swept under a wave of snow. They popped their heads up out of the mini avalanche, getting hit by a couple smaller snowballs as Sora floated down and stood on the top of the snow hill he made. "I love being a pegasus."
"Hey, no giant snowballs!" Scootaloo said.
"There's no rulebook in snowball wars. It's anyone's game, and it doesn't matter how big or small a snowball-" Sora was suddenly smacked in the head by a snowball out of nowhere, the culprit being Sweetie Belle as she bounced up to them.
"I win!" she cheered.
"Ok, THAT wasn't fair." Sweetie Belle helped pull her friends out of the snow as Sora noticed Aqua on the sidelines. "Hey, Aqua! Wanna join in? You girls against me. Just to make it fair."
"Actually, Sora, I came by to get you," Aqua said. "Gather Riku, Kairi, and Twilight, and meet me outside of town. You guys are going to undergo special training under me today."
The mare left and left the Crusaders and Sora, the teen scratching his head in confusion. "'Special training?'...Is she going to teach us what I think it is?"
Aqua sat patiently in the center of the open fields, silently meditating as snow built up around her. During her time recovering, she had gotten her hooves on some metal alloy, the four perfectly identical blocks sitting in front of her, ready to be used as the young generation of Keyblade wielders' armor. After they craft their armor, she'll teach them how to transform their Keyblades into gliders, then train them to a location she knew of that was perfect for them to get used to their new armor's weight and even evaluate their techniques. Twilight was incredibly new to fighting, only knowing as much as she could from the three teens with the basics of weapons combat.
Her ears perked up as she heard multiple hooves crunching against the snow and approaching her. She opened her eyes, finding the young Keyblade wielders arriving as they talked with each other, wondering what the unicorn had planned. Aqua stood up as they stopped in front of her, her serious expression prompting the three teens to stand at attention while Twilight simply stood in confusion.
"Right on time," she said. "After getting caught up on what I missed, and a little R&R from fifteen years fighting in the Realm of Darkness, I think it's time for you four to finally be taught more about the Keyblade. Sora, Riku, Kairi, you three have had prior experience on your own and learned on your unfortunate adventure, whereas Twilight is still a bit green behind the ears when it comes to combat in general." Twilight grumbled at Aqua's evaluation of her skills, even if it was true. "But, one thing you four did not know is that potential Keyblade wielders have the ability to travel through different worlds that didn't involve those...large, blocky ships of yours.
"But going through the vacuum of space can be a problem when flying from world to world on your Keyblade gliders." Sora's eyes widened as Aqua was going to be teaching them what he thought she was going to, waving her hoof at the four blocks of metal in front of them. "The first thing we're going to do is craft your Keyblade armor."
"YES!" Sora cheered as he leapt in the air, Riku, Kairi, and Twilight stared at the mare in surprise and confusion.
"Wait, we're actually going to make our armor?" Riku asked.
"Correct," Aqua said with a nod, Sora falling back to the ground as he bounced excitedly in place like Pinkie Pie.
"And we're going to make them out here instead of a forge?" Twilight questioned, but Aqua couldn't answer it in time as the alicorn continued spouting logical questions. "We're out of Ponyville in the snow, and we're supposed to make them without a fire or tools? Or do we use Fire spells to heat up the metal? How exactly does making one small piece forge an entire suit? Is it because of the-?"
Riku covered his girlfriend's mouth with his hoof, silencing her questioning as their answers would be given by Aqua. "Yes, that is true that, when crafting armor, it's always made in a forge. However, Twilight, the armor I have and the ones you'll make for yourselves is actually quite simple. It's created through your Keyblades, and your inner light. No other tools necessary."
"Think you can leave the questioning part of your brain at home, Twilight?" Riku asked teasingly, earning a hard punch in the shoulder by the alicorn.
"I have a right to ask questions when somepony actually KNOWS about something you don't fully understand," Twilight argued. "None of you knew about the armor until Aqua appeared in the Everfree Forest and saved me."
Sora stopped bouncing as he realized something that Twilight left out. "Wait. King Mickey knew Aqua back then and fought with her. How come he didn't tell us about the armor earlier?"
"...That's...actually a good point..." While the four pupils under Master Aqua pondered why Mickey forgot to tell them about that detail, the blue unicorn nearly forgot about the mouse king who had helped her in the past.
"He was trained under Master Yen Sid, so that might be the reason," Kairi thought aloud as the wizard had forgotten about the method to craft Keyblade armor or transform their Keyblades into gliders.
Aqua cleared her throat, snapping her students back to attention, reminding herself to stop by Mickey's home world and see him again after so long. "Now, the process is quite simple, but concentration is the key." She levitated the blocks of metal over to her four students, setting them down in front of them. "Call forth your Keyblades, aim them down at the alloy, focus your power into your Keyblade, and keep a steady, concentrated focus on balancing the light from your heart to the blocks until it is complete. How your armor will look is determined by the unique strength of your light."
Understanding their instructions, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Twilight called forth their Keyblades in their forehooves. The three teens lowered their weapons and aimed it at their blocks of metal, closing their eyes in concentration as they began focusing their light into the tips of their blades. Twilight was still knew to feeling and sensing her own light, figuring it was like her own magic as she aimed her Keyblade down and concentrate as well, searching for the power of light within her. As she struggled to find that light, the others had already began unleashing their light into the metal, a slight wind forming around as they balanced their power, their hair and clothing billowing in the invisible winds while brushing snowflakes away from them.
Twilight began to panic, not wanting to let Aqua down. "Come on, light...I don't know how to do this. They didn't teach me."
"Twilight, relax." The alicorn jumped in surprise as Aqua stood beside her, not even paying attention to the Keyblade Master as her focus was directed on her objective. "This isn't a test. Every new Keyblade wielder back then would always have their armor crafted as soon as they were chosen or found accepted by previous masters. Sometimes, it takes days for new wielders to forge their armor, mostly out of anticipation and stress over how good they'll make it or how silly it will look, or being unable to forge it at all."
"...R-Right," Twilight said, taking in a shaky breath. "I'm always so used to being Princess Celestia's pupil and always knowing what to do from what I learned in books, but this Keyblade stuff is still really new to me. I've mostly been learning how to fight and working on my strength and stamina that I don't even know how to use the light inside me."
"That's understandable. To be honest, I had a hard time learning about that as well." Aqua looked over at Sora, Riku, and Kairi, mainly at the two pegasi stallions. "Terra managed to figure it out before I did. Boys can sometimes learn about the Keyblade a lot faster than us girls, but at least we're able to keep a level head and keep them in line."
"Heh heh...Yeah. I'm not always that level-headed," Twilight murmured. "If you saw me freaking out over a friendship report I thought I had to send every week when I was a unicorn, I looked like I escaped from an insane asylum...and made all of Ponyville end up under a spell that made everypony want and need Sora instead of my old doll I had kept since I was a filly. And I have no idea where she went after that."
Aqua stared dumbly at Twilight, her mouth agape, quite shocked to hear the embarrassing moment in her life and finding it hilarious how Sora was swarmed by everyone. "...Wow. You freaked out over a little report you could have made up if you didn't find anything? Even I don't take my studies THAT seriously." The alicorn grumbled as her ears drooped. "I guess we both need more days to relax than we like to think."
"I get that enough from Sora ever since I met him," Twilight said, the spiky-haired stallion grinning as he overheard them.
"Terra always dragged me out of the library back in the Land of Departure and goad me into dueling him to get me outside and blow off some steam," Aqua said as she reminisced on the past, quickly shaking away her thoughts before she wound up depressed again. "Ok, back on topic. I'll help guide you, because those three seem like their close to creating their armor by now." She grabbed Twilight's hoof that held her Keyblade, aiming it at the block of metal in front of her. "Now, close your eyes and clear your mind. Look into your heart."
Twilight did as she was told, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, clearing her mind of her worries as she tried to look into her heart.
Twilight felt like she was floating down through an endless sea, but she was able to breath as she fell weightlessly through the darkness around her. She began to open her eyes as her hooves began to move on their own, almost as if she was landing from a leap she made. She landed on a platform, despite seeing nothing but darkness around her. Looking around in confusion, she stepped forward, only for a bright light to blind her as the darkness underneath her turned into a glowing pillar, doves made of light flying all around her as they disappeared in the vast darkness.
As soon as she was able to see, Twilight looked down at the ground, her eyes widening in surprise at what was beneath her. It was like she was standing on one of the many murals in the castle in Canterlot that showed the memorable events of Equestria's history, but it was a lot more detailed and different. In the center of the several hues of purple was her: eyes closed and wings spread, her Keyblade pointing down as the Element of Magic on the end of the chain floated in front of her chest. In between the gaps her body made were the faces of her friends with their respective Elements of Harmony beside them: Fluttershy on the top left, Rainbow Dash on the top right, Pinkie Pie on the left, Applejack on the right, and Rarity on the bottom. This mural pillar she stood on was the only source of light around her, which only worried her as she was trapped in this one single lit up area.
"Where the hay am I?" she questioned.
Don't be afraid. Twilight yelped as she looked around, hearing Aqua's voice but not seeing any sign of her. You are inside your heart right now.
"I am?" She looked back down at the mural, not exactly expecting the inside of anyone's heart to look like this, organically or the kinds of hearts the Heartless take. "...I didn't think it was a world itself. And this...image I'm standing on?"
I believe they show those who are important to you. I don't understand it all that much myself. Twilight continued looking down at herself with her friends around her, these five mares were indeed very important to her. Without them, she never would have thought friendship was important in her life, and because of them, she had ascended to an alicorn. And without Sora, Riku, or Kairi, their world would have been destroyed by darkness, having started so long ago and caused two ponies to suffer from that darkness. Now that she had a Keyblade, she was destined to help them protect her world from the Heartless along with her duties as a princess, though she hasn't had much to do for the latter. You should be able to move forward and find the small spark of light deep in your heart. Find it and reach out to it, and it should be easier for your to utilize its power a little more. With more training, you might be able to do much more with the power you have.
"Ok, but there's nowhere for me to-" Suddenly, a trail of steps began to appear at the edge of the platform, leading up higher as another pillar appeared in the distance. "...Never mind. I found a way."
Twilight began to climb up the only path she could go, the stairway made of solid stained glass winding up to the next platform. As she reached the top, this platform was a mix of yellows, only this time showing herself as a unicorn filly with the Element of Magic resting on her head. Around her in this one were the faces of her parents, Shining Armor, Cadence, and Princess Celestia, the only ponies she was ever close to as a filly. In the center was a spotlight that shone down through the darkness, the light growing warmer as she walked toward it. Her Keyblade appeared beside her in her aura as it moved on its own, aiming up at the light shining down on her. She seemed to have found her spark of light, finding it similar to the spark she felt when she realized the mares she met in Ponyville were her friends after embarking on a very dangerous adventure to save Equestria from Nightmare Moon.
Aqua waited patiently for Twilight to find her light, Sora, Riku, and Kairi already close to finishing their armor as the metal and their Keyblades shone brightly. Light began to form at the end of Twilight's Keyblade, the alicorn keeping her focus on it as the blue unicorn watched.
"There you go, Twilight. Keep your focus on the light and keep it balanced until you feel your armor's fully forged." Aqua left Twilight to herself as she began to create her armor and observed the others' progress.
The blocks of metal shined brightly, the light from their Keyblades fading as they managed to create their armor. The teens opened their eyes to see what they created, Sora being the most excited as he looked at the pauldron. Sora's was a mix of black and white, its outer edges forming the shape of a crown like his chain necklace and the chain on his Keyblade. Riku's was dark gray and black, simple in design like normal suit of armor's pauldron. And Kairi's was white and light pink, shaped like a heart as it was fitting, being a Princess of Heart.
"Sweet." Sora picked up the shoulder piece, examining the crown design thoroughly. Riku and Kairi did the same, both of them amazed by how they seemed to be perfect for them to wear. Sora looked at Riku's, letting out a snort at the blandly normal pauldron his best friend had made. "Wow, Riku. Very creative."
"Like yours is?" Riku questioned, pointing at the crown hanging around his chain necklace, the crown hanging on the chain of his Keyblade, and the crown-shaped teeth on the blade. "I have a feeling you have a strange fascination for crown designs. Very creative."
Sora pouted and leered at him. "Touché."
"You two fight over everything," Kairi commented as she began fitting her pauldron over her left shoulder.
"Do not!" they both said.
"See? We can agree on things," Sora said as he and Riku placed their armor on their left shoulders.
Aqua rolled her eyes, unable to believe how childish Sora is when he's an incredible Keyblade wielder. The pony-transformed humans turned to Twilight as the light she focused grew brighter, the metal block slowly changing into her Keyblade armor. The light faded away, revealing her pauldron: colored dark purple and light fuchsia, the shoulder jutting out six small points, shaped just like her star cutie mark on her flanks. Twilight opened her eyes, feeling a little dazed after exiting the confines of her heart where she wasn't a jealous mare trapped inside while her darkness took control of her. She looked at her pauldron, levitating it up as she examined the familiar star-shaped design.
"I am going to look ridiculous wearing a piece of armor in front of everypony," Twilight said as she equipped her new armor, moving her shoulder around to get used to the odd feeling of wearing half a pair of pauldrons. "I'm an alicorn, I wear a crown, and everypony sees me as a princess. I don't think I'm going to wear this in public and summon it with my magic whenever I need it."
"Well, now you're a warrior princess," Sora commented. "Just like Celestia and Luna. Never thought those two could actually hold their own against the Heartless with those epic weapons they can use."
"Now you four have your own Keyblade armor, and each one looks good so far." Aqua brought their attention back to her as she stood before them. "In order to call forth the full suit, just give the pauldron a hard smack and it'll appear on you, like so." She slammed his hoof against her own armor on her shoulder, light shining around her in a bright flash, disappearing as quickly as it appeared as Aqua was now in her full suit of armor. "Suit up and we'll move on to forming your Keyblades into gliders."
"Yes, ma'am!" Sora immediately exclaimed, slapping his pauldron and activating his armor. As the light faded away from his body, the spiky-haired teen was now covered in black and white armor, his wings left uncovered for him to freely fly as a pegasus, but unlike Aqua's helmet, the horns were pointed up on top of his helmet. He looked down at himself, his eyes covered by his helmet's visor, but they gazed at every inch of the surprisingly light armor. "Oh yeah. This is so cool!"
Sora began moving his limbs around, able to maneuver in the clattering armor as if he wasn't wearing it at all. Riku, Kairi, and Twilight smacked their pauldrons as they shifted into their armor, their bodies surrounded in light as they activated its power. The light faded as the rest of them were suited in their armor: Riku's gray and black armor with the horns similarly pointed up like Sora's, Kairi's white and light pink, the horns pointing downward like Aqua's only curved slightly as if trying to form the shape of a heart, and Twilight's dark purple and fuschia, only with four pointed horns jutting out at the angles, forming a five pointed star with her own horn fitted inside the helmet. They shifted their bodies around, feeling no restraint or extra weight from the protective gear.
"Amazing," Twilight uttered. "I think my brother would feel a little jealous if he saw me in this perfectly mobile suit of armor. And if protects every part of the body, too."
"Not only was this armor necessary for travel through space, but across the Lanes Between that connects all the worlds, it also protects the wearer from darkness," Aqua explained. "Remember, this armor may protect you from physical harm and the darkness, but that doesn't mean you won't sustain injuries from dangerous forces like the Heartless forever." The four students nodded their heads, understanding that their new armor only kept from from getting hurt too badly. The armored teacher held out her hoof and summoned her Keyblade. "Now I'll show you how to create your glider from your Keyblade.
"Each one is relatively different, depending on your preference to travel to and from distant worlds. Focus your light again into your Keyblade, but once it's fully charged, toss it high into the air. If you see a flash of light in the sky, the transformation works and you'll see your glider." Aqua lowered her Keyblade to the ground, preparing to toss it up into the air as the tip of the blade began to form.
She then threw it up, the weapon spiraling as it was sent soaring past the clouds, the four Keyblade wielders looking up and seeing how far it went. They saw a small flash of light, and a second later, Aqua's glider flew down and hovered down beside her, the Keyblade Master hopping on and settling into it. Even more excited, Sora held his Keyblade and built light into it, throwing it up high into the air and watched to the shimmer of light. He managed to succeed as another flash of light shone, and flying down toward him was his glider: a white waveboard with gold wings to make it aerodynamic, reminding Aqua of Venus's glider.
"Ohhhhh ho ho ho ho ho, yes!" Sora leapt up onto the glider and stood on his hind legs, riding around on it as if it were a skateboard, only better as it could fly over any terrain and through space. "Christmas came early for me! Whoo hoo!"
"And Sora's showing off," Riku mumbled. As his friend flew close to them, the dark armored stallion grinned under his helmet, sneakily thrusting his Keyblade in front of Sora's path, making it suddenly jerk and toss Sora off his glider, making him tumble to the ground as he slid across the ground in a heap. "Oops. I was just trying to create my glider, but Sora got into my way."
Aqua rolled her eyes, despite how hilarious Sora's fall was and how he deserved it for his overexcited eagerness to try out his glider. Twilight, Kairi, and Riku began forming light into their Keyblades, each of them simultaneously throwing them up into the sky. Lights flashed as they transformed and flew down, each one different to suit their preferred likeness to transport: Riku's glider was like a speeder, where he would ride on it as if it was a bike as it was purple and red, Kairi's was like a wind surfing board used to glide around the surface of the water through the wind pushing into the sails, the sail shaped in a yellow star like her seashell charm she made while the board was a mix of oranges and blues, and Twilight's was similar to Aqua's, but aside from it colored like her own Keyblade, instead of there being a bow-like handlebar, it was more star shaped as her friends' cutie marks hovered around the glider.
"Ok, these are actually really interesting," Kairi said as she hopped up onto her glider. "Never really rode a wind board, but it doesn't seem that hard."
"I may be excited as Sora, but I can at least control myself with how awesome mine looks," Riku said as he leapt onto his glider, his hooves twisting the handle to rev it a little. "Though mine is a lot better than a hover board."
"In your dreams, Riku!" Sora shouted, his glider returning to him as he sat up and rubbed his head. "And you tripped me on purpose!"
Twilight was unsure how she was supposed to seat herself on her glider. Even seeing how Aqua was in her own, it seemed a bit awkward for her to just stand on it with two legs. She reared up on the handlebars and grabbed them with her hooves, then lifted herself up to stand on the thin V-shaped glider. As she was settled into her oddly designed space vehicle, the shapes began to activate and glow their respective owners' colors, surprising the alicorn as she could manipulate them by her will.
"This is so strange," Twilight said to herself. "What do these even do?"
"Follow me, guys," Aqua said. "You can give your gliders a real test run out in the cosmos, and I'm also going to show you guys a special training ground that'll test your skills in combat. It'll give me a better evaluation on how you fight, but Twilight, you're going to stay with me and watch as you're not quite ready for what lies ahead."
Aqua began controlling her glider, flying up into the air, the others following suit as they handled using their new mode of transportation. Twilight had a bit of trouble compared to Kairi, Riku, or Sora, not one who studied up how to drive any kind of vehicle that was far too advanced for Equestria's current magical/technological contraptions. She even feared she would fall off with how much there was a lack of safety barrier there was with her glider, but she was quite surprised that, no matter what direction she was in, she felt like she was always parallel with the ground, which would be a little bit disorienting since it wasn't the same as flying with her wings.
As they breached through Equestria's atmosphere and flew out into space, Aqua, Sora, Riku, and Kairi reverted back to being human in a flash of light, their armor also changing like their owners. The only difference aside from their transformed height were the lack of wings and horns, and their armor looked a lot better on them as humans than as ponies.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Kairi asked.
"Have any of you guys ever fought in a gauntlet or coliseum?" Aqua asked.
"I have!" Sora said. "Fought in many different tournaments around the Olympus Coliseum. Won a lot of trophies to prove it too, but they're back in the world for...reasons."
"So in other words, no," Riku paraphrased, Sora looking at him with an irritated glare behind his visor.
"I have so fought in coliseum matches!" he argued. "The world there even considered me as a hero, along with Donald and Goofy! And I'll have you know I fought titans that were as tall as a skyscraper!...And Sephiroth." Sora shuddered, remembering his last few confrontations with the one-winged, long katana wielding man back in the coliseum and Radiant Garden, barely surviving as he had to fight him alone on both occassions. "I hope we don't see him again...I wonder where he and Cloud disappeared to in their fight."
"Who's Sephiroth?" Twilight asked.
"Not a friend, that's for sure," Sora said. "If you see someone with a long katana that's twice the length of an average one, long silver hair, and a black angel wing, stay away from him. He's a lot more dangerous than he seems."
The five Keyblade wielders spent the next half hour flying across space, the gliders definitely a lot faster than a Gummi ship, even with modifying it to go faster by adding more thrusters on the back. They soon found the place where Aqua was leading them, a world that neither Sora, Riku, or Kairi had ever seen. It was a gigantic blue sphere of energy, surrounded by large rings to keep that energy centered along with a couple towers attached to it. As they flew into the sphere, they saw a large circular arena down at the bottom as they landed on a platform that was a centralized hub of sorts. After climbing off their gliders, disappearing in a flash of light as they dismissed them, they stepped into the central lobby, where a circular indention laid in the center with neon rings floating around it, and on the other side was a computer console and a holographic Moogle floating beside it. As Aqua stepped forward to the console, the others looked around this strange world, finding it odd to see no living beings were around that lived here.
"Whoa..." Sora looked down at the arena, a perfect view to see any contenders who participate, eager to see how difficult this place might be. "What is this place?"
"This is the Mirage Arena," Aqua explained, her hands tapping away at the machine as a holographic screen lit up in front of her. "I stumbled upon this place a few times, though it wasn't a world that I thought needed any saving. I have no idea if this world was built naturally or by others, but however it was made, it's basically a kind of coliseum with different challenges for those who enter."
"You mean there's no history of this world's creation?" Twilight questioned as she watched Aqua tapping away on the console. "Is there even anything in the-?"
"I did try to check on the console, but all there are is a list of gauntlets, the challenges set with each one to earn Medals, and this Moogle who can give you some stuff with the Medals you earn." Twilight reached out to touch the floating Moogle, only for her hoof to phase through it as it was just a hologram. "The Moogle's also a part of the machinery here, too. It's not the real thing."
"That's too bad..." Twilight nearly leapt back in surprise as a monitor appeared in front of her, showing the available list of goodies one can buy with the Medals they win. "Oooh. I wonder if there's a Moogle plushie prize. I still want to buy one after running into one of them with Riku in Whitetail Woods."
"I don't think you'll be able to find any dolls on display here," Aqua said, making the alicorn wilt in sadness. "Though, admittedly, they are kind of cute." After searching through the system's database, she found some of the harder challenges she had faced before, rated four to five stars as the highest level of difficulty. She avoided those ones and picked the first of the easiest ones at one star, titled "Day of Reckoning". "Ok. Sora, Riku, Kairi, enter the central ring over there, and I'll transport you three to lower area where you'll have to work together to take out your foes. Twilight, you'll stay here and watch with me from up here."
"Bring it on!" Sora said as he ran into the middle of the circle, lighting up once Aqua chose the event.
Riku and Kairi joined him, and once they were together in the middle of the indentation, the rings lowered down and transported the trio away and down into the arena, where they appeared on different sides. Aqua and Twilight stood by the side as they looked down as a screen above the arena lit up with the words "Round 1" displayed, and as it began, Unversed appeared in the center of the arena.
"Unversed, but no Heartless or Nobodies?" Twilight asked.
"That's what the majority of the fights have," Aqua said as Sora, Riku, and Kairi charged in after the first wave. "I have heard of Nobodies, but I myself have never seen one in person. It was pretty rare to see one, seeing as they're a lot smarter than Heartless and build up their numbers before attacking. The Unversed are a bit different, though they act similarly to the Heartless. They're the negative feelings that come from one's heart...especially their darker sides." She was reminded of Vanitas, Ventus's darkness of his heart extracted by Xehanort when he used him, finding out that the two were one and the same a surprise to her and Terra before their fight against their enemies. Aqua clenched her fists, pulling herself out of the painful and drawn out battle in the Keyblade Graveyard as she focused on the arena match down below. "Like light and darkness, positive and negative emotions can result with conflicts as well."
"But how come we haven't seen them elsewhere if that's the case?" Twilight asked. "Those creatures only appeared in the Keyblade Graveyard through those magical twisters in that canyon. If negative emotion creates them, then why aren't the Unversed appearing in the worlds now?"
"...I don't know." Aqua had a theory in mind, but wasn't able to find any proof. She had gotten word on them after her Mark of Mastery exam with Terra, but that same negative feeling from the Unversed also came from Vanitas, constantly pestering Ventus and tried killing her several times. His appearance, despite hidden underneath his armor, radiated darkness, and his voice was cold and menacing, an embodiment of the negative feelings that came from Ventus's heart. She looked down at the arena, Sora, Riku, and Kairi already quickly beating the first round of weaker Heartless without any trouble, as she expected. "I just hope they don't show up elsewhere..."
At the start of the second round, the trio rushed forward after being warped back to where they had appeared once the last round was beaten, just a couple waves with Shadow, Soldier, Large Body, and Red Nocturne look-alikes, just as simple to kill as if they were normal Heartless. Aqua could probably teach them the names of these Unversed and easier methods to kill each one after their first encounter with them in those twisters. This round had a few of the same ones they fought before, only without the small, shadow-sneaking Unversed, along with some that were plant-like tops that spun around and tried to lash at them with their vine-like arms. They were taken out fairly easily as Sora, Riku, and Kairi worked together to finish them, barely breaking a sweat.
The next round added in some rabbit looking Unversed, small miner Unversed that had picks for hands and a lantern hanging over their heads, and black crow Unversed that stayed in the air and swooped down on them when they weren't paying attention to the reluctant foes. The rabbits proved to be a little difficult as they used their ears like fists, especially when they lunge forward and slam into the ground as they smacked their ears in front of them to hit one of them. The crows were the worst as they kept out of their jump height, but Kairi made short work of them with her magic, blasting them out of the sky with Thunder spells while Riku and Sora leapt at them as they fell, slashing through them and getting rid of them before they became a tedious nuisance.
"Yeah!" Sora cheered. "Nothing can stop us!" He, Riku, and Kairi were soon teleported back to their starting positions, waiting for whatever was coming for them next. "Bring on the next wave!"
"Don't get too cocky, Sora," Aqua muttered as she waited for what lied in wait for them as they reached the finale of the event. "This final round may have one of the toughest Unversed you three will ever face, and thankfully only here in the Mirage Arena."
"One of the toughest?" Twilight asked.
"And it's only the first form they're going to fight." The alicorn looked back down, fearing what would come next.
As the three Keyblade wielders down in the arena waited for the Unversed to show up, the ground beneath them shook, surprising them with the sudden quake. From the center of the arena, blue flames shot out like a volcano as their final match for the event appeared, and just from looking at the Unversed, it was a bit terrifying to look at. Its lower half was kept inside of a black gibbet, its black armored body bound in chains with its arms crossed against its chest, the helmet two shades of gray split on two sides, and two horns jutting out from its head: the left horn hooked upward while the right was somewhat more horizontal. Its body shook with rage, Sora, Kairi, and Riku somewhat glad to see this Unversed was bound up, but it was still able to move as it floated before them.
"Oh boy," Riku uttered. "Sora, you might have jinxed us!"
Sora let out a nervous chuckle as the Unversed stared at him, Twilight's jaw dropping in her helmet as she stared at the highly menacing foe. "What they hay is that thing!?"
"That is the Iron Imprisoner," Aqua said calmly. "Its first phase."
"'First phase!?'" Twilight repeated. "This thing has more forms!?"
"In the events you fight it in, its appearance and strength will differ," the Keyblade Master explained. "This is practically its weakest form. It has three other forms, and with each phase, it gets tougher and looks like it'll break free from its bindings at any given moment."
As the final round began, Sora quickly made a break away from the Iron Imprisoner as it flew toward him, dodge rolling out of the way as it began to swing the gibbet around its lower half at him, blue flames sparking around it to burn its victim while also injuring him. Riku and Kairi rushed forward to help Sora as he continued avoiding the barrage of swings, but it soon stopped and summoned a couple cages. They sunk into the ground as blue flaming auras and began chasing after the remaining two teens. As it reached Kairi, the cage shot up around her and trapped her inside, while Riku managed to avoid the one after him after seeing what happened to her. The Iron Imprisoner sensed one of them got caught, spinning around violently as blue flames spiraled around it, heading straight for the trapped Kairi to deal a lot of damage to her.
"Oh, that is not cool!" Sora tapped into his Drive Forms, the his light exploding outward as his armor began to shift colors just like his clothing.
Aqua gasped in surprise, never seeing this kind of power come from anyone she knew. She may have seen his feats in the past through that potion, but she had never seen, or felt, anything like this. His armor was now mostly silver with black edges around the pieces of his suit, and floating around him were not one, but two Keyblades, one replacing his own while another appeared beside him: Oblivion and Oathkeeper.
"What in the world...?" Her eyes never left the transformed teen as now hovered a couple inches off the ground, speeding off across the ground. Sora swung his arms, commanding the Keyblades to fly ahead and strike into the Iron Imprisoner, pushing it back to stop it from reaching Kairi as she struck the cage to break herself out. He flew up in front of it, pushing his arms forward and shoved the Unversed back, shooting a barrage of swift Blizzaga spells at it and extinguishing its fire while simultaneously freeing Kairi from the cage. "Two Keyblades at once? How is that possible?"
"Sora is able to use Drive Forms, and he has several different ones he can use," Twilight explained, though with the knowledge of each of his forms, she was lucky one specific one didn't show up yet. "You should see his Harmony Form, where he can use seven Keyblades at once. And six of them have similar properties to that of the Elements of Harmony back in Equestria."
"He has other forms?" Aqua continued watching, beginning to grow interested with Sora's other Drive Forms he could transform into.
Down below, Riku kept the Iron Imprisoner distracted while Sora freed Kairi from the cage, shattering it and making it disappear in a puff of blue sparks, the teen holding out his hand to his girlfriend. "Must I always save you from getting captured by something?"
"My hero," Kairi said sarcastically as she slapped his hand away. "Goof around after we're not in the middle of a battle against something as dangerous as this."
"Hey, guys!" Riku called out as he flipped away from another cage shooting up underneath him. "Can you continue your banter later!? Need some help here!"
"Looks like you're going to have to take my hand anyway," Sora said as he grabbed her hand and began floating with his Final Form's ability. "Time to fly!"
Kairi yelped as they flew off, going along with whatever crazy idea her boyfriend had as the Oblivion and Oathkeeper Keyblades spiraled around them. Sora tossed her up into the air as he made his way toward Riku, snatching him up as the Iron Imprisoner was about to slam the gibbet down on the evasively exhausted teen, bringing the two of them up to join Kairi. All together above the Unversed, Sora took both Riku's and Kairi's hands, unleashing his magic into a powerful Limit Break with two people he was very close to and trusted with his life: Trinity.
"Sora, what are you planning?" Riku asked, looking at Kairi to get any idea, but she shrugged her shoulders, just as confused as he was.
"Let's see how much damage we can do with the three of us. Together." Sora dismissed his Final Form as he poured everything into the Trinity Limit, all three teens glowing brightly, along with their Keyblades. "Let's go!"
The trio dove down, Keyblades in hand, immediately swarming on the Iron Imprisoner as they slashed away, moving too fast for the Unversed to break away or swat them away. They soon hovered in front of it in a triangular formation, Sora on top while Kairi and Riku were on the bottom, and thrust their arms forward. A barrage of Drive Orbs shot out from between them, smacking the large foe and pushed it back, hearing it growl out in irritation at the annoyingly painful orbs striking it. After the barrage ended, the Iron Imprisoner lunged at them, only for the teens to simultaneously thrust their Keyblades in the air, casting Ultima, which created a powerful sphere of clear energy that exploded around the Unversed, damaging it greatly.
Sora, Riku, and Kairi got together for the finishing blow, pointing their Keyblades up in the center between them, unleashing a powerful orb of light from their Keyblades. The orb blew up in a flash of light, a powerful shockwave striking the area. Twilight and Aqua were blinded by the light, but they could clearly hear the Unversed roaring out in pain as the light was too much for it to take, disintegrating it into nothingness as it fell to the ground. The Mirage Arena felt the defeat of the event's toughest foe was beaten, the screen above the arena reading "Clear!", dropping Medals down to the contenders as their prize.
While Sora celebrated, spinning his Keyblade around and holding it over his shoulder, and Riku and Kairi recovered from the sudden rush of the powerful Limit Break, Aqua was quite stunned to see just how skilled Sora truly was. The teens disappeared and reappeared back on the teleportation indentation on the platform, Sora casually walking off with his hands behind his head, a smirk on his face after giving the Keyblade Master a good show.
"So. How was that for an evaluation?" he asked.
Twilight suddenly flew forward and rammed into Riku, sending him falling on his back with a loud clatter, the alicorn hugging him tightly and squeezing the life out of him. "OhmygoshRikuareyouokIthoughtthatthingwasgoingtokillyou!"
"T-Twi! Can't...breathe!" Riku gasped, Kairi quickly pulling the frantic mare off him as he cough, already having the wind knocked out of him by an armored alicorn tackling him. He sat up and checked to see if his ribs were broken before standing up. "I know the armor's light, but it's still made of metal."
"Heheh...Sorry," she apologized as she squirmed out of Kairi's grip. "But that thing could have killed you! I was really worried!"
"Relax, Twilight," Aqua said, Twilight finding it a little annoying when someone always has to tell her to relax or calm down. "Here in the Mirage Arena, if you're beaten by the challenges set in these matches, all you lose is a little bit of dignity...if an audience was watching. This world knows when to stop as soon as you, or your party, are defeated, and it'll bring you back up here fully refreshed."
"Why didn't you tell us that before that Iron Imprisoner thing showed up!?" Twilight exclaimed.
"I just now remembered what would have happened if they lost just now." Twilight groaned and lowered her head in annoyance. "But either way, I knew these three would be able to pass, though I didn't expect to see what happened just minutes ago." Aqua looked at Sora, knowing underneath his helmet was a wide, toothy grin, expecting a lot of appraisal from the woman. "Sora...You can be a little bit too cocky when you goad on a challenge from the enemy." He winced and nearly fell over from her harsh evaluation, laughing nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "But despite your eagerness, you can prove that you're able to handle a difficult situation against a powerful foe. Including aiding your allies when in dire need of assistance."
"...Well, I don't ever let my friends or anyone I care about down when they're being attacked," he said. "I've had so many times I felt hopeless whenever any of them were in trouble and I had no idea what to do. I don't want to let anyone down, even if they could fight back." Sora looked back at Kairi, who approached him and hugged him, touched by the heartfelt sentiment, returning the hug in kind. "And even though Kairi has a Keyblade now, I still had to save her from certain doom."
"And I repeat with bland enthusiasm; my hero," Kairi said.
Aqua shook her head and chuckled, having already seen Sora was hero material with all he had done. "Anyway, you have a lot more potential than I thought. I'm a bit curious to see these other Drive Forms Twilight told me about when watching your fight against the Iron Imprisoner."
Sora, Kairi, and Twilight flinched, wanting desperately to tell Aqua and Riku that was a bad idea with the unfortunate luck he could have and turn into Anti Form, but they, especially Sora, were afraid to know how they'll react when he attacks them against his own will. "...Uhh...M-Maybe later? I kind of need to build up my Drive Forms every so often so I can shift into them."
"Oh. I see." Aqua understood, Sora, Kairi, and Twilight mentally sighing in relief. "You're full of surprises, Sora." She looked over at Kairi and Riku, able to see their worth as Keyblade Masters, though it surprised her to see that Sora wasn't yet. "Riku, you're quite skilled and very powerful. I can see why Terra gave you the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony. You had a lot of potential back then, and even though you had lost your way in darkness, you fought back and showed me how far you've come since you were little."
"Thank you, Master Aqua," Riku said with a bow in respect.
"And Kairi, you're quite skilled too with the lack of experience you've had compared to Sora and Riku," Aqua continued. "You were able to hold your ground out there, your magic your greatest attribute in battle. And being a Princess of Heart as well, you might be able to channel your light into your magic and take care of Heartless easily in the future."
"I was kind of able to do that once." Twilight wilted at the reminder of her jealousy and her darkness taking control of her. Without Kairi using her light to free her, she would have wound up turning into a Heartless, even if it had taken a lot of energy from her using it fully for the first time. "I got really exhausted using my light like that though."
"Then we'll both work on your stamina and practice getting used to using your light along with your magic." Kairi nodded, feeling a little excited to learn how to use her power as a Princess of Heart with her Keyblade productively. "I think we'll end today's lessons. Just don't go and show off your armor and gliders to everyone like it was a brand new toy no one else will have. Sora," Aqua chided as she looked at Sora, the teen wilting as he felt her strict gaze on him through her visor. "Let's head back to Equestria and get some rest. Twilight, you and I will work on your combat tomorrow. I expect you to meet me outside of Ponyville bright and early."
"Ugh," Twilight groaned. "Yes, ma'am."
The group left the Mirage Arena and headed back to Equestria. Twilight was able to get used to riding her Keyblade glider the second time around, finding it a lot easier to handle flying through space compared to the Gummi ship's warp function. As they entered the alicorn's home world, the humans changed back to ponies as they reached the atmosphere, landing back in the fields they began their training outside of Ponyville. Their gliders disappeared as well as their armor, the day already turning to evening as the sun was about to set.
"Man, that was pretty exciting," Sora said. "I'm going back there to try out the tougher challenges in the Mirage Arena when I get the chance. And this time, I'll do it solo."
"Good luck with that," Aqua said. "It was a challenge for me to complete them all on my own."
"I've gone solo in the coliseum matches in Olympus. I can handle it." Sora looked down at his shoulder, unable to keep his grin from growing on his face as he looked at his new pauldron. "This has been the best day of my life."
"Better than our first kiss?" Kairi questioned, Sora flinching as he turned to see the playful scowl she gave him.
"Second best!" he blurted out. "I meant to say second best day of my life!"
"Mhmm..." The pink unicorn walked past her nervous boyfriend, using her magic to pull him by the collar of his shirt as they headed back into town. "I'm going to ask the Apples if I can stay over for the night."
"Uhh...why?" Sora asked, but didn't get a reply as he was forcefully dragged along. "Are you mad at me? Is it what I said about us finally being together together not better than a piece of metal on my shoulder?...Kairi?" She remained silent, her neutral expression and lack of a response beginning to frighten Sora. "Guys!? Help! I think Kairi's gonna kill me!"
"Sorry, Sora! You're on your own!" Riku said as he, Twilight, and Aqua laughed at the flailing pegasus unable to break away from Kairi's telekinetic grasp. As they disappeared heading down to Sweet Apple Acres, Riku stretched his limbs, exhausted from the intense battle against the Iron Imrpisoner and the excitement of their new armor and gliders. "I'm beat. I'm gonna hit the hay soon."
"And I guess I need to go to bed early," Twilight said with a sigh. "I hope training with Aqua won't be as tough as with you, Riku."
"It's going to be tough," Aqua said. "You're going to be facing a lot more dangerous Heartless in the future. And whenever Xehanort shows himself, we may need all the help we can get. Your magic from your world mixed with your new Keyblade magic could aid us greatly, and if we can outnumber him, there just might be a chance we can finally end all of this and keep the light within all the worlds."
"...Right..." Twilight looked down at her pauldron, levitating it off her shoulder. "But, I'm also a princess in this world. If I have any royal duties here, I don't want to disappoint Princess Celestia and abandon my home."
"That is understandable, Twilight." Aqua approached Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I know you have a lot of responsibility for two different sides. I'm not pressuring you into helping my-I mean, our fight, but I just want you prepared just in case another attack like what happened last month doesn't occur again."
Twilight nodded her head, understanding how important it was to stop Xehanort and the Heartless, or anything else that would want to threaten her home. She was destined, along with her friends, to be bearers of the Elements of Harmony, six mystical gems that could defeat the greatest of evil. She can handle fighting against the darkness alongside her new friends with the proper training from master who can teach her the ways of combat.
"I won't let either of you down," Twilight said, using her magic to teleport her pauldron back to her home. "I can call my armor back when I need it. And...I'm looking forward to more training with you, Master Aqua."
Twilight bowed her head in respect to her new teacher, Aqua still finding it strange to be called a master when she herself was still new to the recent changes in the past several years she had been trapped in the Realm of Darkness. Twilight and Riku began making their to the Golden Oak Library, while Aqua stayed in the fields for a while longer. The unicorn looked up at the sky, the sun already setting as the moon began to rise, the stars beginning to shine above her. She was now a teacher, and her pupils, three already great as Keblade wielders with Sora left out as a Keyblade Master, and one novice eager to learn and prepared to learn under her guidance. She held out her hoof, calling forth Master Eraqus's Keyblade, her eyes glued to the weapon of her former teacher slain by Xehanort.
"Master Eraqus...I won't let what you taught me go to waste," she uttered to herself. Aqua lowered the blade down, tapping her forehead to the black-gray blade, giving a silent prayer to her fallen master. "Your memory will not be forgotten, nor Terra's or Ven's..."
She opened her eyes and dismissed the Keyblade, beginning to make her way back to Rarity's boutique to get some rest for the morning to begin Twilight's combat training. Her thoughts began drifting toward Ventus and all the random times he saw him whenever Sora was around. And in an ironic twist, now that she thought back on it, Sora almost sounded like Vanitas, though his was lighthearted and filled with enthusiasm rather than the deep and sinister tone from her young friend's darkness made incarnate. She shook her head, finding it as a mere coincidence, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Ventus really was here, reincarnated as Sora, somehow able to feel his heart come from the teen who sacrificed a lot for the sake of his friends.
"Ven...I don't know if I have gone crazy and I'm seeing things...but, if that really is you...I'll find a way to bring you back to your old body...somehow." Aqua pulled out her Wayfinder, pressing it to her chest. "I promise..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
994 users online
1,484,337 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
awesome chapter my friend I'll b waiting for more uploads when u find the time
Wow! now that was awesome and I am glad that Aqua will be teaching Twilight so that way she can at least be ready should they ever need her help. but I do have one question. Why did Kairi decide now to want to stay over at the Sweet Apple Acres with Sora and not the times when they kept sleeping in one of their ships?
Nice work there. Good luck with future chapters
7733100 Judging by Sora's reaction and Kairi's calm demeanor, what do you think was the reason she decided to stay over at the Apples' for the night?
7732436 Thanks! I really hate delaying releasing another chapter after over a week, but life is fickle sometimes...and sometimes the internet. I couldn't get on this site months ago when the internet was shut off at my old place before I moved, and I hated the network provider we had for allowing me YouTube, but not FIMfiction...
Very weird offline network connections to specific sites...
7733100 if it wasn't for the fact this story is rated e/teen (not sure off top of my head due to action scenes) i would think Kairi was going to do some naughty teasing to sora, or just make his life hell at the apples place.
Oh the iron imprisonor, how you made me rage so hard. Never actually fought armored eracus or Xehanort in mirage arena. Usually just used it for grinding and didn't really focus on it too heavily as some of the battles were ridiculously hard at low lvls (latest time playing i usually get to between 40s and 50s by time i get to the end of the story)
That last scene worries me. I don't want Aqua to destroy Sora so she can bring back Ventus.
7733580 Aqua's not the kind of person to kill Sora to bring Ventus back, if she ever finds out his heart is in Sora's. Even if it was the only way, she wouldn't want to stoop as low as Xehanort when he extracted Vanitas out of Ventus's heart. I hope in KH 3 he finally freaking dies. For real. No more Heartless/Nobody lookalikes, no more time rewinding like a cheating prick, just stabbed straight through the heart, dead, with blood...But since Kingdom Hearts is a T-rated game, they're probably going to slice his heart in half.
Can you eventually put in a chapter about Aqua meeting Cloud? Cloud should probably be the one to give her the bad news about Zack's murder by Sephiroth's blade. It's sad, but she really needs to know. Having her be told at least in here will make up for the game just giving us a damn teaser scene during the end credits of Birth By Sleep showing Zack disappear from the Collesium with nothing left but a demonic black feather.
7734537 Cloud doesn't even know Zack in the Kingdom Hearts series. There was never any mention of the two ever meeting at some point, so sadly, that scenario won't be a possibility at all. The only way Aqua would find out is if Sephiroth appeared out of nowhere and told her face to face, but since he and Cloud are fighting somewhere, no clue where the hell they might be, that might not happen...Or will it?
Boring.
7734755 I just kind of thought of it as an interesting emotional scenario when I officially found out in Final Fantasy lore that Zack and Cloud were best friends until Sephiroth killed him and Cloud lost all of his own memories and replaced them with Zack's memories and then took Zack's army buster sword.
7741345 It would, but since Cloud or the rest of the FF gang from Radiant Garden were around in Birth by Sleep, then there wasn't any indication that Zack and Cloud had ever even met each other in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Zack didn't even have the Buster Sword at all, and Cloud had it since first meeting him several years later in the Olympus Coliseum. I know Zack was introduced in FFVII in the cutscenes, but there was so little information about him until Crisis Core. I didn't even know who he was until I actually played through FFVII on a playstation emulator and got to that point where we saw Zack in place of Cloud when he gets Mako poisoning and we see the actual memories that had occurred in the past. But for the Kingdom Hearts lore for the FF characters, their stories are either a part of the world they're in or the main storyline. Examples: Seifer and his gang, Vivi, Setzer (Why him and not anyone more memorable from FFVI?), even Auron. Though, Setzer was mostly out of place since he was a gambler, and doesn't really fit into being a Struggle fighter...
I don't even know why Square put him in Kingdom Hearts 2 in the first place...
7742517 The Kingdom Hearts does make it spooky though when we see FF characters that aren't around anymore. I get goosebumps every time I see Aerith knowing about her death in Final Fantasy. Her death in Final Fantasy is probably one of the most well known and prolific video game character deaths. About their mistakes, yeah I do have to agree that Square Enix has had a few successes and fails here and there with their last two games. Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 weren't too bad though. They made me giggle at the possibility of Aqua meeting Lightning who looks pretty much exactly like her except with pink hair.
7744567 Eh. FFXIII and XIII-2 were ok for their music and simple battle system...but don't get me freaking started on Barthandalus. Oh dear god, why the hell does he exist!? For a storyline boss, he's worse than the Long Gui, and that's an optional adamantoise you can fight that can kill you with one stomp if it wanted! Barthandalus, you fight three times, and each fight was a slap in the face, a kick in the balls/ovaries, takes mostly luck just to kill the bastard with his heavy hits, and you have to fight him at the maximum crystarium level you currently have! Oh, and the big kicker is what happens after you beat him the first time: an accessory that can lower all elemental damage by a percentage...and a crystarium level up for more stat upgrades and/or moves that would have been useful.......
I like FFXIII, despite its flaws, especially no Gil rewards after combat and random item drop chances, but screw that Fal'cie, screw the difficulty curve, and screw that point-blank shotgun shot to the freaking groin for that reward!
7745098 Were those girl vendors wearing skimpy outfits in XIII-2 always there in the past games? Also those weird looking ostrich-like creatures I think are called Chobocos were those always in the FF games too?
7749830 Chocobos began appearing in Final Fantasy 2, I think. I really didn't like that game because how you raise your stats is ridiculous. Just keep a normal lvl up system, fighting in random battles to earn experience, and that's fine, not get hit to raise your defenses or health, attacking physically or magically to raise strength, and more of that nonsensical bull.
And by vendors, do you mean Chocolina? Always appearing in the different timelines, but sells different things depending on the level of difficulty in the time period and location? I won't spoil who she actually is if you haven't played Lightning Returns, and it was a surprise twist when I found out about her, but I'll just say you already knew her from the first part of the FFXIII trilogy. You just don't realize it until it clicks after going through the trilogy. Besides, she's the only unique kind of shop npc in FFXIII-2. Plus, vendors sell their wares in buildings in past FF games. You know, like how businesses mostly run unless they're a traveling agency, selling their stuff on the go.
7749890 You have to wonder if she's supposed to be from the same world as the Moogles. She certainly does have similar powers. The Chocobos were like animals you could ride right?
7749906 Oh, you'll be surprised who Chocolina actually is in Lightning Returns during one of the main storyline quests I think. You can tell something is off in FFXIII-2 with one of the characters, but I'll let you find that out when you figure it out either there or the final part of the FFXIII trilogy.
And yes, you can ride chocobos, though each game had a different way of riding on them: either finding them in a forest (or in specific locations where only chocobo were able to roam), paying to ride one in specific areas of the world, and sometimes, having to use gysahl greens to let them give you a ride. They're faster for traveling in an area or world map and can avoid battles, some specific ones can allow you to walk across water, mountains, or fly like an airship when in a forest area on the world map (FFVII involved annoying breeding sidequests to get the legendary chocobo for Knights of the Round summon materia, which I never got because of the tedious chocobo hunting). Now, Moogles I think appeared first in Final Fantasy 3 or 4, not going to include 3's DS remake since the job class changing mechanic is garbage by lowering your stats for several battles until you're all better.
Square's kinda making FF games crummier, and delaying FFXV...again. The only FF games I haven't played at all are 11 and 14, since those are MMORPGs.
So quick question, is Sora's Armor a black and white version of Ven's? Also, have you played KH3D yet?
The Mirage Arena was meant to be run by a man named Kain Highwind, but at the time Brith By Sleep was being made, the new Dissida was also being made. they wanted Kain there more than in Birth By Sleep, so he was quietly cut out and Mirage Arena was set up empty and (likely) automated, created by person or persons unknown.
also, during the Keyblade Armor creation part, I found playing The Promised Beginning, the main music of The Land of Departure, to be quite fitting. also, it is an interesting concept for creating the armor, implying that the armor and the Keyblade are, in a sense, connected to each other. admittedly, this is the first story I've read that actually explains how it is made.
I feel like things are going to turn bad with Aqua and Sora with that last line Aqua said.