For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils
Sitting in her little workshop working on her secret project for her friends, Aqua carefully sewn in the next design for her many Wayfinders she was making. She had already completed the Mane Six's, similar to how she made Ventus's, but inside the white hearts in the center were their cutie marks. She began working on her own, using the same color of blue from her older one for the outside. As she began stitching in the white heart, she heard a crash come from upstairs in Rarity's room, knowing she was in the middle of an order from a famous singer in this world known as Sapphire Shores.
"What the heck is she doing up there?" Deciding to take a little break, she placed her finished Wayfinders and her materials in a small box, locking it up with her Keyblade to ensure it won't be opened by prying eyes.
She made her way up the stairs to Rarity's room, hearing Sweetie Belle inside as the door was opened slightly. "Sorry! I got carried away." Aqua looked inside, finding the filly covered in sequins in a heap, probably helping her big sister and got a bit too helpful. Rarity levitated all the glittering sequins off Sweetie Belle, placing them back in a box where they spilled out of, along with the rest of the assorted mess she made with her assistance. "I know how important it is for you to finish the wardrobe for Sapphire Shores and her backup dancers."
"Sweetie Belle, I appreciate your help, but I think I can handle it on my own," Rarity said. "Besides, this order has to be finished by tonight for Sapphire Shores and her Equestria-wide tour. I should probably get these finished up by then."
"So that means you have time!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "You think you can check on the stitching and the buttons on the dresses I made for me, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo? I want them to look perfect, and I might need your expertise."
"Well, I can't really say no after all your help this week. When do you need them?" Rarity asked.
"Tomorrow night for the show we're putting on." Both older mares stared at the filly, completely dumbstruck at Sweetie's request to have dresses she made checked a day before the event she planned on showing them to others in whatever show they had planned.
"Sweetie Belle, I'm already behind as it is!" Rarity said. "You should have told me about this sooner."
"But I made them a couple days ago after I worked on the script and directing." The filly wilted, playing the guilt card as she looked upset.
It unfortunately worked as Rarity sighed. "Well, maybe I can get some help from the girls if I-"
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Sweetie squealed as she glomped into Rarity's leg. "You're the best sister ever! The dresses are over there."
Both mares looked at the mobile hanger, their jaws dropping at the horrible dresses Sweetie Belle made. They were sewn poorly as if it were a mismatched patchwork quilt, some of the sleeves were too long to fit a small filly, and if this kind of work was sold, not even those who need clothing to survive would even want to wear these in public. Rarity spotted Aqua, mouthing the words "help me", but the Keyblade Master shaking her head in disbelief. They both knew it was impossible to even save those dresses and had to be remade from scratch.
"I'll get the fabric," Aqua said before she headed back downstairs, sighing in bewilderment at Sweetie Belle's crazy ideas, or even Apple Bloom's and Scootaloo's ideas to get their cutie marks. "How do none of those fillies give anyone gray hairs with all the trouble they start or get into? I'm surprised they didn't tear this town down after hearing what they do...or even try to do if they weren't stopped by anyone."
Thankfully the next day, before the Crusaders' play began, Rarity and Aqua had fully redone Sweetie Belle's costumes, though what exactly the play was, they have no clue. If this play the filly came up with was serious, they surely didn't want her or her friends to be laughed at with her "prototype" designs. While the Mane Six stopped by Rarity's boutique to help her finish Sapphire Shores's outfits for her tour, Aqua delivered the new outfits to the fillies before their show began. Since Sweetie Belle exaggerated how amazing this play was going to be, most of Ponyville came to see it at the theater, including the Keyblade wielders.
The play itself, to the sensible humans-turned-ponies, made absolutely no sense and was terrible. It was like Sweetie Belle, being the screenplay writer, director, and an actor, wrote a bunch of words she thought were sophisticated like their outfits from a thesaurus, their acting wasn't all that good, and the only saving grace that kept everyone else from leaving were the dresses Rarity designed and the after-party, surprisingly set up in advance by Pinkie Pie before she went to help the fashion designer. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, and Ventus stood by a table, contemplating the "interesting" show Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo performed in.
"...Well, at least we know those three won't get a cutie mark as actors," Sora said. "...Or anything involving entertainment through storytelling."
"Trying to write a play in the renaissance might be interesting, but not in that way," Kairi added.
"The only thing that saved them the humiliation of getting booed off the stage or having everyone leave was those dresses." Aqua rubbed her forehead, wondering just how Sora had been able to handle the Crusaders' antics since his time here. "Sora, you're close to those three. How do you handle what they do that well?"
"He's been hanging out with a talking dog and duck, both of which are expert fighters in their own class, and they made him more of a doofus than when he was five," Riku responded, the others chuckling as Sora leered at his friend.
"I know how to have fun," Sora explained. "And I'm also a kid at heart...Which is why I knew and still believed Santa Claus was real, and you still owe me presents for breaking my childhood dreams!"
Before Riku retort on the reminder of the jolly old man's existence, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo entered the room where the after-party was held. Each of them wore sunglasses, acting like important celebrities that were starving for attention as they sauntered inside.
"Here we are, the stars of the show!" Sweetie Belle announced.
"Y'all may tell us how much ya loved us," Apple Bloom said.
No one paid them much mind as they approached the Keyblade wielders, all of them wearing nervous grins, neither of them wanting to break their spirits. "So, what did you think? Are we not A-list actresses?"
"...Uhh, yeah. Great," Ventus lied, laughing nervously, quickly silencing himself with the punch he held in his hoof.
"Hey, where's Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked.
"And mah sister?" Apple Bloom asked as well.
"Well, your sister and idol had to help Rarity with the others for Sapphire Shores's outfits," Aqua explained. "She fell behind after Rarity and I...'touched up' your designs a little, Sweetie Belle. And it didn't help that you told us that the play was tonight out of the blue like that. Even I began to stress, and I'm not that good of a seamstress."
"Wait, I thought Sweetie Belle told Rarity about this weeks ago," Scootaloo pondered, the unicorn filly wincing at the statement.
"Well, I didn't want to bug Rarity," Sweetie explained. "I worked really hard on this play, and I directed, acted, and wrote the screenplay. But, at least you guys and everypony else enjoyed it!"
"Almost as enjoyable as a trip to the dentist's as he pulls all your teeth out of your skull," Riku muttered, earning a hard jab in the ribs by Kairi as he took a sip of his punch, making him splutter and cough as he winced in pain.
"You really love breaking kids' spirits if you made Sora not believe in Santa back then," Kairi hissed.
"So, which did you guys like better?" Sweetie Belle asked. "The writing? The directing? The acting?"
The five older ponies were absolutely silent, mostly not able to focus on the confusing dialogue of highly advanced or olden words since it was so terrible. The only thing that was memorable was how flashy the dresses were, and they were sure everyone else in the room would say the exact same thing.
"...Uhhhhhh..." Sora tried to find the right words to not break their spirits, unable to think of anything as the pleading eyes of the little filly begged him to tell her. "...You know what? The performance was so good, words cannot describe how...amazing it all was!"
"Great! Let's see what everypony else thinks!" The three fillies walked off to talk with the other ponies who watched their play, Sora stuffing his hoof in his mouth as he was going to bring their hopes down by other ponies' opinions.
"Sora, why did you say that?" Aqua questioned as his friends gave him a dirty look.
"Oh, like the rest of you had anything good to say!?" he asked back. "I didn't want to break their spirits like that! I'm not sure if you know this, but when Scootaloo was picked on by Diamond Tiara a few months ago when she made fun of her lack of flight, I hated seeing her so miserable! You can't just upset something that cute and feel good about yourself!" Riku and Ventus looked at each other, then looked back at Sora as if he had lost his mind. Kairi and Aqua, however, did think that it would be wrong to make something as cute as a little pony cry or see them sad or cry. "Don't you two look at me like that. Ven, you saw what I saw, and Riku, you're dating Twilight, and you tease her by calling her 'adorkable'. So, yes, I think the fillies are cute, I think they're adorable, and I am not ashamed to like anything cute that tugs at my heartstrings and make me go 'D'awwwwww!'"
"...I guess he does have a point," Ventus said, slightly baffled, but he did admit that seeing Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo through Sora's eyes that they were adorable for being innocent pony children.
"And...how did you know I call-?" Riku paused as he looked at Kairi, forgetting girls have a tendency to gossip about things, and whenever Twilight had a girls day out, they must have talked about a few things they did with their respective boyfriends or say to each other. "...Never mind..."
They soon heard Sweetie Belle scream in frustration, their attention averted to the irritated unicorn filly after she and her friends spoke to the other ponies who "saw" their play. "Did anypony else remember any part of the play BESIDES the dresses!?" With no answer from the rest of the crowd, Sweetie Belle was incredibly angry, stomping over to the Keyblade wielders and glared at Sora. "Were you lying to me about the play, too, Sora!?"
"I-I...W-Well, it's just that...T-The thing is..." Sora let out a sigh and looked down at the ground. "...The play wasn't...good...at all."
"But it was just the dresses, wasn't it?" He sighed as he nodded. "...Not again...Rarity did it to me again! It's just like my fifth birthday party all over again. Nopony cared about the play at all: not my directing, not my writing, and not even my acting!"
"Uhh, 'our' acting, Sweetie," Scootaloo corrected.
"She keeps ruining my life!" Sweetie Belle ran off, heading straight off to her sister's boutique to give her a piece of her mind.
"And that's what happens when you lie, Sora," Riku said. "You've been living with the Apple family, who are honest, hardworking ponies, and they follow through with honesty."
Grumbling in annoyance, Sora summoned his Keyblade, and before Riku could try to defend himself, he cast Stop on his friend, freezing him right as he got into position to fight. He gave his friend a swift, hard buck in the stomach a couple times, knowing he was going to feel the impact as soon as he could move again.
"At least it was a white lie so I wouldn't upset her!" he shouted at the frozen white pegasus.
He ignored the odd looks the others gave him as he ran off to chase Sweetie Belle and apologize to her for lying. As soon as Riku was able to move, he immediately doubled over in pain and clutched his stomach, groaning in agony.
"W-Why the hell did he...do that?" Riku asked, trying to catch his breath.
"Because there's a reason why everyone hits you: you're a bit too insensitive to any serious moments that can leave emotional impacts," Aqua stated.
"And some of us in mah family aren't good at holdin' back the truth much," Apple Bloom said. "Especially me."
"And he didn't want to upset a little filly who is younger than him and looks up to him like an older brother so she doesn't feel like her confidence in something is shattered into a million pieces," Ventus added. "He's an older brother to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and will do anything to make sure they have fun, they stay safe, and keep them from getting angry or upset. So learn the difference between sarcasm, mockery, and actual honest opinions you think of before you say something you might regret."
"Or do," Kairi said. "Just seeing how mad Sweetie Belle was and mentioning a terrible birthday Rarity 'ruined', she's not going to think straight or listen to reason."
They left Riku to himself as the pain started to go away, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo following them, eyeing Ventus curiously after noticing him appear in Ponyville a couple months ago. "Hey, is he related to Sora?"
"Ah don't know," Apple Bloom said. "He sure does look and sound like him a little bit, but he seems a bit more...mature than Sora."
"He turned fifteen at that awesome party a few weeks ago. Sora's way older than him." As they left the building, Riku managed to stand up, holding his abdomen as he felt a couple bruises begin to form.
"...Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut," he mumbled. "Anytime I say something, someone has to wail on me when I end up teasing them..."
After several hours of work, with the help of her friends, Rarity had finally finished the order for Sapphire Shores just in time before leaving for Canterlot tomorrow morning. After fixing up the headdress, the pop singer's theme based around an old civilization out in the deserts beyond Saddle Arabia long ago, Rarity put in the final stitch in the eye in the center.
"There. Finally done. Thank you for helping me, girls," Rarity said. "And without this final stitch, the entire headdress would fall apart."
"I'm still a little surprised all of this is one whole entire piece," Fluttershy said, being the model for the finally finished accessory for the rest of the wardrobe.
"If this one stitch is taken out, it would end up falling apart disastrously. Now we can finally relax and take a breather." The mares heard the front door to the boutique open and slam shut, followed by hooves stomping up the stairs, then the door to her room slammed open, Sweetie Belle storming in and throwing the dresses for her play on the floor. "Sweetie Belle? Did the play not go well?"
"No!" Sweetie exclaimed. "Not even close!"
"Oh. Was there something wrong with the dresses?" Rarity asked.
"No, they were perfect! And that was the whole problem!" As Rarity stared at her sister in confusion, the rest of the mares slowly slinked away, not wanting to get involved in the confrontation between the two siblings. Seeing as they were done helping Rarity, despite having to leave the awkward argument they avoided, they passed Sora as he rushed in, heading up the stairs to apologize to Sweetie Belle for lying to her. He stopped at the doorway when he heard the filly yelling at Rarity. "How could you do this to me!? 'Oh, what amazing dresses! I love those dresses! Dresses, dresses, dresses, DRESSES!'"
"...Oh. So they did like them." Rarity giggled after breathing a sigh of relief, patting her sister's head, but the filly was only more infuriated by her older sister's obliviousness. "Goodness. You had me worried, you silly filly."
"See!? I knew it!" Sweetie screamed. "You did it on purpose just like you did with my fifth birthday party! Stealing my spotlight after all the hard work I did to get noticed!"
"Wait, what?" Rarity asked, honestly having no idea what she was talking about.
"Oh, don't you dare act like you don't remember what you did!" Sweetie exclaimed, pointing a hoof at Rarity. "I wanted you to make my dresses a little better, not jaw-dropping amazing that nopony else cared about the play I worked so hard on making!"
"But I tried to make what I thought you wanted." The filly scoffed and stormed out of Rarity's room, bumping into Sora.
"Sweetie Belle, I don't think Rarity-" She stopped him, zapping his chest with a small beam of lime green magic, surprising him a little with her magic developing a bit more, but she didn't want to hear anything from him either.
"And you lied to me!" she yelled, making the teen wince at the scolding he was given by the unicorn filly. "You came to the play, but you only stayed because you liked Rarity's dumb dresses more than my ideas! 'Your performance was so good, words can't describe how amazing it was!' Amazingly horrible! You're just as bad as she is!"
"But I just-" Sweetie Belle struck him again, only with her anger fueled more, she managed to shove Sora into the wall in the hallway.
"You could have at least given me an honest opinion instead of lying to me and make me look like an idiot in front of everypony thinking we were good! Or maybe you shouldn't have said anything at all!" Though the magic blast didn't really hurt, Sweetie's words hurt Sora more, stomping past him to go to her room. "You're the worst not-related-brother ever!"
Those words hit Sora hard as Sweetie Belle slammed her bedroom door shut. He stood up and tried to open it, but she locked it on him. He could use his Keyblade and unlock it, but he wasn't going to get her anymore riled up than she already was.
"Sweetie Belle, please, just let me talk to you!" Sora pleaded as he knocked on the door.
"Go away, Sora! I don't want to see you again for the rest of my life!" she shouted.
Sora wilted, his ears drooping, having stopped trying to make amends with her after hearing her say she never wanted to see him again. She was still mad at her sister for ruining her birthday and doing it again at the play, which he never thought really bothered her much when Sweetie was around Rarity. Though, with how attached she was to him after getting to know each other and the ridiculous sibling spat the unicorns had during the Sisterhooves Social that ear, the filly does get a little irritated with her older sister's attitude, perfectionist and sophisticated behavior, and lack of attention due to Rarity's job as a fashion designer. After spending so much time in Equestria, he even considered Sweetie Belle like the sister he never had, along with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, caring so much for those three fillies like an older sibling would.
Now he felt horrible for getting her hopes up, only to have them crash down with other ponies' opinions on Rarity's designs rather than Sweetie Belle's own creative play. Sora leaned his head against the door, staring at the ground, unable to find his voice, wanting to apologize for getting her so upset. Rarity approached him, seeing the look of sorrow on his face.
"Sora, maybe I should try to talk to her about this," she said. "I really don't know what she means about how I ruined her fifth birthday. I was only trying to keep the other foals in her class entertained until she came down."
"After everything I did for Rarity this whole week!" Sweetie shouted as she ranted to herself, both ponies able to hear her from inside her bedroom. "'Sweetie Belle, get me some red ribbon! No, that's not red, that's CHERRY! No, that's CINNAMON!' It's all RED! What's the stupid difference!?" She screamed in frustration, plopping onto her bed as she continued rambling. "And Sora...Why did he even bother to show up if he and everypony else didn't care about my play!? 'Oh, we showed up to watch your play, but I could only think about Rarity's dresses because she's clearly got a talent and you don't yet! So, how about I say it's awesome when I have no idea what the major plot point of the play was because I'm a stupid, spiky-haired dolt of a colt who should have kept my mouth shut if I had nothing good to say about Sweetie Belle's artistic genius at all!' Why did I even have a crush on him before realizing he was already in a relationship with his own special somepony!?"
Sora and Rarity's jaws dropped, the pegasus never even knowing Sweetie Belle actually liked him that way before Kairi came to Equestria and thinking her behavior before was because of shyness, while the unicorn had no idea her sister actually liked Sora in that way before. Even though she took the news a bit better than Twilight, their relationship now more on a brother-sister bond that was now completely broken, it didn't help the fact that Sweetie Belle was really upset with both him and Rarity.
"...Well...I didn't know that," Rarity uttered, and from seeing Sora's shock, he didn't either, thankfully. She placed a hoof on his shoulder, his eyes still staring at the floor, but he was listening to whatever she had to say. "I think...we should let her burn out that anger. She'll come around and we can try to talk to her when she's calm enough."
"...Maybe...Maybe not..." Sora sighed heavily and slowly walked down the hall, out of the boutique, and back to Sweet Apple Acres. He didn't acknowledge the others as he passed them, too miserable to respond to their questions or explain what happened. Once he reached the farmhouse, he immediately headed upstairs to his room, fell on the bed, and looked out the window. "Good job, me...You try to make things better, but instead, you made it worse for you and Rarity..." Sora rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, knowing Sweetie Belle won't listen to anyone when she gets angry and frustrated when she doesn't get what she truly wants from her sister, and now her psuedo-brother. "I should have just said it was bad..."
Later that evening, Sweetie Belle tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall asleep. She was still upset that her sister ruined her moment in the spotlight again, and Sora had made her look dumb in front of everyone else after lying and saying how great her play was. She growled, unable to get comfortable as she climbed out of bed and paced around her room.
"Great, now I can't sleep because of my dumb sister and now-not-brother," she mumbled to herself. Sweetie Belle exited her room and went to the bathroom, getting a drink of water from the sink before making her way back to her room. "I wish I could take back all the work I did just to get back at her." As the filly reached Rarity's room, her sister's door was partly opened as she heard her snoring. She peeked inside, seeing the boxes that held Sapphire Shores's order laying not too far from the bedroom door. Then, she got an malicious, sneaky idea, grinning widely as she snuck inside and opened the one that held the major headpiece for the pop singer's outfit. "Even better."
Using her magic, she purposefully pulled out the importantly hidden stitching in the eye of the headdress, giggling quietly as her plan was perfect to get back at Rarity for all the pain she caused her. There wasn't much she could do to Sora since he doesn't live with them, but she would be better off without him. She probably only had a crush on him because he looked cool, mysterious, and really strong, and he really was, but after lying to her about her hard work being nothing but a joke, he just lost a non-related sister. After discarding the thread in the waste basket, she skipped along the hallway back to her room, hopping into bed and falling into slumber at last, feeling satisfied to know what will happen when her sister's design fell to pieces the moment she pulls it out.
As Sora slept, he felt the same weightless feeling of floating down in an endless abyss. When he opened his eyes, he was back in the dream realm, back to his human self as he saw the crossroads of floating doors, dreams of the ponies asleep in Equestria. Luna must be having another busy night and planned on asking for assistance in Ponyville's dream roads while she dealt with others from other cities or towns. His body flipped right-side up as he landed on the starry roads, the princess of the night waiting for him where he fell.
"Good evening, Sora," she greeted. Luna noticed his usual cheery self was replaced with sadness, growing concerned for his sudden depression like when he had felt bad for not saving her beloved. "Is everything alright, Sora?"
He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I...made a little mistake and wound up ticking someone off. Now she doesn't want anything to do with me."
"Kairi doesn't want you in her life anymore?" Luna asked, confused by Sora's vague description of the person or pony he was talking about.
"N-No! Not Kairi!" he corrected. "I...I meant Sweetie Belle."
"Ah...I see." Sora let out another sigh, this time in frustration at his own neglect at describing who was mad at him. "I was actually about to ask for your help to deal with her problem for me, though...what exactly happened that brought her to hate you?"
"Do I really have to say it?" Sora whined, mostly because he didn't want to remind himself how crappy of an older brother he turned out to be. Seeing as Luna was waiting for an answer, he had no choice, seeing as she needed to know what happened today. "Alright...Well, the CMC held this play that Sweetie Belle wrote, directed, and starred in...It was honestly the worst play I had seen and heard, but my friends and I watched it regardless."
"A terrible play? Of what, exactly?" Luna asked.
"Imagine the Ye Olde Equestrian speech you used the first Nightmare Night you celebrated, but it was used poorly and would even make you want to run for the hills." The alicorn winced, that old language long gone aside from any renaissance plays dedicated to stories from a thousand years ago or more. Just imagining hearing a foal today try and talk like that would definitely tarnish the time she grew up in. "Anyway, the only reason why everyone else watching the play stayed was because of the outfits Rarity made for them. She just wanted to help Sweetie Belle, and she got mad because everyone cared more about the dresses than her work...And, I lied, saying it was a good play so she didn't seem disappointed...Now...well, she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore...
"And she also had some sort of crush on me when we met." Luna chuckled at that last bit of information, making Sora blush in embarrassment at the fillies long lost infatuation toward him.
"Fillies always look up to the strong warrior who's called a hero throughout the land," she said. "And colts can look up to a strong princess like myself. I sometimes get letters from my favorite little subject after my first Nightmare Night."
"Pipsqueak?" Sora guessed. "And you respond to them?"
"When I can," she answered. "Although, no thanks to last Nightmare Night's sudden Heartless raid, he wasn't able to speak with me, but he saw how well I do with my scythe as I am not just a noble princess."
She called forth a little drawing that came with one of her letters from Pip in front of her, showing a crude drawing of Luna with her scythe, cutting down black splotches that were supposed to be Heartless. "Huh. Cute..." Sora sighed and looked down. "Although, I'm down one friend after Sweetie Belle disowned me as her brother...And she's really miffed at Rarity, saying she ruined her fifth birthday party, but Rarity had no idea what she was talking about."
Luna dismissed her fan's drawing she will forever cherish, nodding at the information as she sees the cause of Sweetie Belle's anger. "So, she is mad at her older sibling for stealing the spotlight after the hard work she had done...But it is a misunderstanding, and the young filly thinks otherwise, becoming too irate to realize she would regret seeking vengeance for her older sister's mistake when trying to help..." The alicorn sighed and began walking down the road, Sora following after her as they passed by the several doors to other ponies' dreams. "Sweetie Belle and I are so much alike."
"...Oh yeah...You and Celestia." It was odd for Sora to realize that Sweetie Belle hating Rarity was almost similar to how Luna had acted toward Celestia, though instead of a conflict over a dress, it was more on how the public saw each of the alicorn sisters. "No one appreciated you, and you felt your sister didn't either, turning you to hate and darkness, using that to overpower Celestia so you could show Equestria who deserved more attention."
"And it grew worse when Sombra had severed our relationship, leaving me alone with no support..." She looked up at her horn, the special crescent ring he made for her and their betrothal still worn on her to this day. "At least I know the reason why now...If he told me, he knew I would be in the Crystal Empire in a heartbeat to try to save him, but he would regret hurting me if that were to happen." Sora didn't blame himself anymore for failing to save Sombra, but he still wished he could have done something to keep him alive. "I always loved him, even when we parted ways and we both changed from the dreadful power of darkness...And he still loved me..."
"I know how much he meant to you," Sora said. "I really wished some part of him was still alive. We could have found a way to bring him back..."
"You did what you could, Sora. I'm sure Sombra would not want to remain alive if the monster that he became was still in his heart..." After walking down the long and winding path, Luna stopped in front of a white, light pink and light fuchsia door, the similar color scheme Sweetie Belle's coat and mane were. "Here is young Sweetie Belle's dream door."
"...You sure she'll listen to me after what happened today?" Sora asked, feeling unsure if he should be around Sweetie Belle if she's angry while dreaming.
"She cannot stay mad forever. If she and the other foals in Ponyville look up to you, she still does despite her unnecessary envy against her sister and distrust toward you over keeping her feelings from getting hurt." Sora looked at the door, sighing with trepidation as he placed his hand on it. "Dreams always show the answer to what one's fears or anxiety come from in the waking world. Some can even replay memories of the past they have experienced, even those with a similar memory, but from a different viewpoint." He looked at the alicorn, taking in her words as if she was giving him cryptic advice. "Some can show possibilities of the future of regrets they have made in life, though they are all over-exaggerated and just made up nonsense blow out of proportion. I'm sure with your unique magic, you can do such a thing and help change her mind."
"...So, you're saying...you want me to pull an Ebenezer Scrooge on Sweetie Belle?" Sora's question made Luna tilt her head in confusion.
"A what?" she asked.
"Oh. Right...That's a human story for Christmas..." He put a hand to his chin, thinking of the best way to describe what he meant. He also wondered, since Christmas and Hearth's Warming were similar in some ways, there might be some stories they might share. "Do you guys have a story for Hearth's Warming about some grumpy pony who hates the holiday, but gets visited by spirits to show them the true meaning of Hearth's Warming and break them of their terrible past that made them a grump in the first place?"
"...I do not believe I have heard of a story like that," Luna admitted. "The only Hearth's Warming story I know of is the holiday's birth and the unification of pony tribes calling the land Equestria."
"Huh...I should probably ask Twilight if she might have heard something like that story, then..." Sora turned to Sweetie Belle's door to her dreams, taking in a deep breath as he put his hand on the handle. "Well, let's hope I don't get myself kicked out of there like with Scootaloo."
"Good luck, Sora." The teen nodded his head and opened the door, stepping inside the bright light coming from it. Once the door was closed, Luna began to ponder about the interesting story Sora had mentioned as she flew off through the dream realm. "I'll have to ask Tia in the morning if there was ever a story of a mean-spirited pony visited by spirits on Hearth's Warming..."
Entering Sweetie Belle's dream, Sora found himself in the filly's bedroom, but she was nowhere to be seen. He heard a commotion outside along with flashing lights out the window. He opened it up and stuck his head out, finding what appeared to be an award ceremony in the middle of Ponyville for some reason. There were several ponies in the audience, easily spotting Sweetie Belle in one of the seats in a glimmering purple dress, looking confused as if she had just teleported there without even realizing it. On the stage were a mare and stallion, none of whom Sora had ever seen or known, about to present a gold pony trophy to the four nominees on a screen above them, one of those spots featuring the filly.
"And the winner of the "Best Writer, Director, and Actor in an Awesome Play Put on by a Pony and Her Awesome Best Friends" goes to..." Sora had to facepalm at the overly long award topic.
"I know this is Sweetie's dream, but come on," he muttered to himself.
"Sweetie Belle!" The crowd began cheering and applauding as the filly, so shocked that she quite clearly won in her own dream, approached the stage after shaking a few ponies' hooves where she had sat.
Sora shook his head, knowing she would wind up the winner, but when he looked back in the crowd, he spotted himself in the audience, though as a pegasus. Unlike the rest of the ponies, he was clapping slowly with a sinister grin on his face, Sweetie's sweet dream about ready to turn into a nightmare. Suddenly, clouds rolled in and began raining on the award ceremony right after the unicorn filly received her trophy. Everyone fled from the rain as Sweetie's trophy melted off its stand like as if it were made of wax. In the clouds was an image of Rarity's face, laughing at her as she literally rained on her parade. The Dream Sora, however, remained, unaffected by the rain as if the raindrops phased through his body.
"Stop it!" Sweetie Belle shouted at Dream Rarity. "Why do you have to ruin everything!?"
"Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle," Dream Sora said, climbing up onto the stage as he leered at the filly, still holding the smirk on his face. "I think you should have been more grateful that Rarity actually helped you get that little reward. You and everypony else in Ponyville-no, all of Equestria-knows your play sucked!"
"N-No it didn't," Sweetie argued, feeling very intimidated by the pony she looked up to as a big brother as he looked at her like that. "My play was perfect. I worked hard on it."
"More like you looked through a dictionary and put in a whole mess of words into dialogue and scenes to make it look like a five star feature, which wound up being negative ten on the ratings bar!" The real Sora curled his hands into fists on the windowsill, not the kind of person who would ever say something so harsh like that to someone he cared about. "Face the facts, Sweetie Belle: Rarity is by far better than you, and you have no creative talent at all."
"T-That's not true," she whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes as she was soaked to the bone from Rarity's rain. It tore the real Sora's heart as she thought of him as a heartless monster. "I-I do have a talent."
Dream Sora laughed maniacally, his fur slowly growing darker the more menacing he became. "Y-You think you have a talent!?" he asked as he pointed a hoof at her, his brown hair slowly turning jet black and his eyes blue to yellow. "You're absolutely pathetic without your sister saving your hide all the time! You're practically useless on your own, and she knows it!"
"S-Stop!" she pleaded, squirming away as she tried to take her dress off to flee from the monstrous Nightmare Sora.
She leapt off the stage after squeezing out of the dress, but Nightmare Sora immediately appeared in her path. She shrieked in fear as he forcefully picked her up by his hooves, crossing a line with the real Sora as he leapt out of Sweetie Belle's bedroom and ran straight at the dark pegasus intending to harm her.
"You wanted me to be honest, right!?" Nightmare Sora asked, his teeth growing into fangs, intimidating the filly more as she tried to escape from his grip. "Well, I'm being brutally honest right now, Sweetie Belle. You have no talent in anything: not art, entertainment, music, comedy, athleticism, nothing! Face it, Sweetie Belle. Your sister kept covering for your stupid mistakes just to keep you from looking like an idiot in front of your peers and anypony else. And me...well, I actually fell for cute little you because you was so pwecious and adowabwe with them big puppy dog eyes because I'm a complete sucker to the guilt trips you give to anypony when you want something you so desperately need."
"No!" Sweetie Belle cried out, smacking Nightmare Sora's hooves as they began to turn into sharp claws. "Leave me alone!"
"You have no purpose in this world, blank flank." Grasping Sweetie Belle tightly in one clawed hoof, the evil, monstrous Sora pulled the other hoof back, the sharp claws extending as he stared down at the terrified filly, his yellow eyes glowing in the darkness of the Rarity cloud taking over the sky. "Better to hear the painful truth of your failures now than to hear a white lie in order to make you feel like you're worth something...when you're obviously not!"
Right as Nightmare Sora was about to thrust his hoof through Sweetie Belle, the real Sora ran up behind the demonic version of him, thrusting his Keyblade from the stallion's back deep through his chest. Nightmare Sora let out a strangled gasp, mouth agape as he stared in shock, struggling to breathe. Sweetie Belle opened her eyes after flinching from the sudden pain she was about to receive, gasping in surprise at the odd two-legged creature that saved her, the familiar looking Keyblade's silver blade run right through the dark pegasus's body. The stallion looked down, stared at the key shaped blade that was thrust through his body.
"Drop her," Sora growled, the filly's ears perking up as she heard his voice. "I said drop her!" He dug his Keyblade deeper in the nightmare's chest, making it grunt in pain, sounding more like a monster than a sentient being, forcing his claws open and drop Sweetie Belle. She backed away and got a better look at him: the same spiky brown mane, blue eyes glaring venomously at the black monster, black clothing that matched the usual jacket she know Sora wore. He grabbed the fake's mane and pulled his neck back, forcing the nightmare to look at him. "I would never do or say anything like that. I lied to her so I wouldn't hurt her feelings and destroy her confidence to do whatever she can to find her cutie mark.
"So you leave her alone, and stop pretending to be me!" Sora pulled his blade back, shoving Nightmare Sora forward as it staggered, clutching the hole that was left in its chest. The nightmare didn't fade as Sora expected, the dark pegasus now as feral as a wild manticore as it roared and ran toward Sweetie Belle. The teen quickly got in front of her and blocked its claws with his blade. "I said stay away from her!"
Sora shoved Nightmare Sora back with a counter shockwave, sending it flying back. He quickly chased after it and continuously slashed it, not giving it a chance to recover and go after the filly again. The Rarity in the cloud growled as she began to float down to the ground and transform into a mare, only her appearance was far more sinister than her usual self. She looked almost like Nightmare Moon: black coat, glittering stars in her purple and white streaked mane and tail, and her eyes were like a reptiles with slitted pupils, but she was still a unicorn. She fired a bolt of lightning at the Keyblade wielder to stun him and get at the scared filly watching with fright and confusion.
Sora anticipated getting attacked by Nightmare Rarity, quickly grabbing his dazed dream self, using it as a shield to block the attack. Nightmare Sora was zapped instead, then was flung across the field and rammed straight into the unicorn. He ran forward as they scrambled to get up, flinging his Keyblade using Strike Raid, smacking them with the spinning weapon repeatedly as he called it back to his hand to fling it over and over again. Once he was directly in front of them, he leapt up and slammed his Keyblade into the ground beside the two nightmares, sending them both flying up into the air. Sora unleashed a barrage of Thundaga spells, keeping them up in the air and shocking them repeatedly.
Nightmare Sora growled, evading a lightning strike and dove down at the teen, roaring demonically as its claws honed in on him. Unfortunate for the black pegasus, Sora evaded the dive, grabbed its foreleg, then leapt up a few inches into the air and began spiraling rapidly. His firm grip kept slamming his dark self into the ground, keeping it dazed every time it smacked the ground. Nightmare Rarity recovered as she levitated herself in the air, her eyes glowing white as she charged a powerful and large sphere of dark magic from the tip of her horn. Sweetie Belle gasped at the sight of it, Sora hearing her as he stopped, keeping a firm grip on the dazed monster as he looked up.
Sora used another Strike Raid, this time aiming it at the growing sphere above the dark unicorn mare. His Keyblade struck the magical sphere and destroyed it, causing it to blow up on Nightmare Rarity and send her falling down to the ground hard. Nightmare Sora growled as it snapped out of the repeated slams into the ground, lashing out its claws at the teen. Sora leapt back, evading its swipes and lunges as it put more force into its attacks than speed like how his Anti Form behaves. As they got closer to where Nightmare Rarity landed, the mare was already back on her feet, grinning sadistically as she charged her horn for a point blank lethal shock as they got closer to her.
Sora tsked in annoyance, seeing the attack coming as he flipped backwards, getting closer and closer to the dark unicorn. Once he was close enough, Nightmare Rarity thrust her horn forward, but Sora flipped over her, quickly grabbed her neck while keeping far enough away from the crackling horn spurting out dark electricity, lifting her onto her back legs right as Nightmare Sora thrust its claws into the mare, straight through her chest and missing its real target by mere inches. Both nightmares were highly shocked, the mare unable to believe her partner stupidly struck her in its rage while the stallion didn't even pay attention to where she was at the time.
"Not exactly the smartest duo, aren't you?" Sora asked, holding his right arm out behind him, perfectly catching his Keyblade that was flung up in the air from the explosive blast from earlier. "You are not who Rarity and I are supposed to be. You're just her anger and jealousy turned into monstrous nightmares that won't leave her alone over a misunderstanding from her big sister and white lie that immediately broke her trust in me." Twirling his blade in his hand, he thrust his weapon straight through both nightmare's heads, their bodies going slack as the last of their life began to fade. "Now, stay away from her and crawl back to the darkness you came from."
Sora pulled his Keyblade back, both dark ponies exploding into clouds of darkness. They soon faded away and brightened the dream world, the nightmares destruction bringing Sweetie Belle a peaceful dream once again. He relaxed his stance now that the dangerous dreams were slain, looking over at where Sweetie Belle still sat, still staring at him even while he attacked the nightmares of himself and Rarity. Sora approached the stunned unicorn filly, lowering himself down on his knees with a nervous grin as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Uhh...hey, Sweetie Belle," he said.
"...S-Sora?" Sora nodded, confirming that it was indeed him she was actually looking at. Sweetie Belle rubbed her eyes, thinking she was dreaming, only she actually was and wasn't having a dream within a dream. She looked around her, the stage and rows of seats were now gone, along with the rest of Ponyville. She then looked back at the teen, her eyes examining every part of his real form, growing more confused as her brain couldn't process what had happened. "...Am I...dreaming?"
"Well, what do you think?" he asked.
"...Rarity was a cloud and you turned into a monster...Definitely a dream." She poked her hoof on his leg, looking up at Sora again. "...Are you a dream?"
"No. It's really me," he said. "To make a long story short, you're looking at what I really look like. I'm not a pegasus, I'm a human, I'm from another world far out in the galaxy, and I can also travel through dreams sometimes."
As the filly took in the very brief explanations, now knowing what kind of creature he was, never hearing of a human before, she noticed a lot of differences they had. He stood much taller than her, about maybe Princess Celestia's height, he wore more clothing than his shirt and jacket that covered most of his bottom half, his ears were on the sides of his head instead of on top, slightly hidden under his spiky hair, and he has no fur on his skin. Sora remained quiet as Sweetie Belle examined him, both letting her curiosity of his real self wander about and afraid to hear what she would say to him when she didn't want to anymore.
Just as he feared, as she was done looking at what a human looked like, her brow furrowed as she turned around and sat with her back facing him. "I said I didn't want to see you again..."
"Sweetie..." She didn't turn around to acknowledge him, the teen letting out a sigh. "I'm really sorry. I didn't want to let you feel bad that your play...wasn't exactly the best you came up with. I wanted you to feel like you made something incredible...but that ended up bringing your hopes up when you asked for everyone else's opinion, and they only commented on the dresses Rarity made."
"...Then why did you stay when you knew it was bad?" Sweetie Belle asked, keeping her back turned to him. "Was it the stupid dresses?"
"Because that's what an older non-brother does for his little non-sister." Her ears perked up at his answer, her head slowly turning to look at him. "Even if no one else paid attention to the play itself, whether it was good or bad, I stayed until the end of it so you, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo wouldn't be disappointed to see an empty crowd when you were finished." Her ears drooped, turning her head away as her eyes welled with tears. Sora wanted to stay despite how her play was forgotten over her sister's clothing, and she immediately regretted saying she hated him, striking him with magic, and disowned him as an older surrogate brother. Sora crawled up and sat down behind her, gently stroking Sweetie Belle's head. "Those awful things that nightmare of me said is not true. You are very creative, and I know you and the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders will find that special talent of yours, whatever it may be."
Sweetie Belle looked up at Sora, her lower lip trembling as her tears streamed down her face. With a sob, she turned around and leapt onto his lap, burying her muzzle against his chest as she tried to hug him, her small forelegs barely able to wrap around his waist. He heard her muffled apologies as he gently stroked her back, sighing in relief as their bond together wasn't severed by his one little mistake. As soon as she calmed down enough, Sweetie Belle sat in Sora's lap, wiping away her tears with a sniffle.
"I-I'm sorry, Sora," she apologized. "I didn't-"
"It's ok," he assured, gently scratching behind one of her ears, calming Sweetie more with the delightful sensation his fingers did to her sensitive appendage. "I've already forgiven you...Can you forgive me for being a 'stupid, spiky-haired dolt'?"
Her ears drooped sadly, feeling bad for saying that and having him hear that from behind her bedroom door. "You're not stupid..." Her eyes widened, her cheeks turning pink as she looked up at him. "Wait, did you also hear-?"
"That you had a crush on me when we first met? Yeah. I heard every single word of your rant." Her cheeks turned bright red as she looked down in embarrassment, Sora's laughter not helping along with the gentle scratching he gave her ears. "Dare I ask why you had a thing for me?"
"...I-I don't know...You were nice and funny, and I thought your mane was cool." Sweetie scrunched her muzzle, her eyes darting around as she spun around and sat with her back turned to Sora again, but still stayed in his lap. "And I heard you saved Apple Bloom from those Heartless things when it rained the first couple weeks you were here."
"Yeah. Word traveled really fast about my appearance, and it reached Canterlot no thanks to Rainbow Dash suspecting me of creating them like they were my pets." Sora stopped scratching Sweetie Belle's ears, the filly whining as the delightful feeling ended so soon, tilting her head up so she could look at him. "You realize you're like six-seven years younger than me, right? A little bit too young for me, and I'm already in a relationship with Kairi."
"I know. I got over it when I saw you two together at Sugarcube Corner when she first came here," she said. "...And...is Kairi like you, too?"
"Yup, as well as Riku, Aqua, and Ven." Sweetie Belle hummed in thought, quickly interrupted as Sora poked her muzzle with his finger. "But that stays between you and me, otherwise Aqua would chew me out about telling others who we really are. Got it?" The filly nodded her head, understanding the consequences for him telling her all this secret stuff. "Good. Now, how about we talk about you and your issue with Rarity today."
She lowered her head and grunted, crossing her forelegs against her chest as she pouted angrily. "I don't want to. Besides, she's gonna get what's coming to her in the morning. That way, we'll be even for her ruining my play and my fifth birthday."
"Sweetie Belle, do I need to remind you how frustrated you got with Rarity when she wouldn't let you do anything to help her, and you decided to try to get back at her by making me your permanent brother?" Sora questioned.
"That's different!" Sweetie argued. "That was when she didn't give me any attention or any thanks for helping her! She took the attention I wanted away from the most important moments in my life!"
Sora sighed, grabbing his Keyblade and gently bonked the filly on the head with the tip of the blade, a small light sparking at the end. "Welp, I'm going to have to change your mind and figure out what your revenge scheme against Rarity is." Confused by the strange light she felt after he tapped her on the head, Sweetie Belle yelped in surprise as he carried the filly in his left arm, standing back up on his feet and aiming his Keyblade out in front of him. He twisted it, a light flashing out as a portal leading to the dream realm opened up, but the doors to the other ponies' dreams were not there as it was more Sweetie Belle's subconscious where her memorable moments in her life were held, good and bad. "I'm gonna see what exactly happened on your fifth birthday so we have a third party witness what made you hate your sister taking your attention."
With the filly held in his arm, he jumped through the portal, both human and unicorn falling through the endless abyss of blue and shimmering white stars. After falling through the never-ending realm, the world around them began to shift to the inside of a two story house, Sora landing on the stairway, lowering the filly down to the ground.
Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked down the small flight down to the living room, where a bunch of foals she remembered that came over this day were waiting for her, the birthday filly. "This is it. This is the day Rarity began to ruin my time to shine."
"I don't recognize any of these foals," Sora said, seeing as none of the colts and fillies at the party looked familiar. "Did they move before I knew of your classmates now?"
"I don't know," Sweetie said with a shrug. "They probably did."
"Well, at least this was way before you met Apple Bloom and Scootaloo...and Diamond Tiara, thank goodness." Sora didn't see any sign of five-year-old Sweetie Belle with her little friends, but Rarity was there watching over them as she came in from what appeared to be the kitchen. "So, where's the birthday girl at in this little memory?"
"I'm upstairs in my sister's room right now, getting myself ready to look presentable." The Keyblade wielder tilted his head in confusion, watching Sweetie Belle climb up the stairs, following after her to see what she meant.
The filly lead him to a room nearby, and as he took a peek at what was inside, his heart exploded at what he saw. Getting herself prettied up for her birthday was Sweetie Belle at five years old, a bit smaller than her height now with a shorter mane, but she was even more adorable at the age she was. She wore a blue dress that was far too big for her to wear, a pink pearl necklace around her neck, and began putting on purplish-pink lipstick. The young unicorn filly was a bit messy with the lipstick, making a big splotch on her muzzle.
"Ah! My heart!" Sora fell over on his back as he clutched his chest, unable to bear the adorable cuteness of the five-year-old Sweetie Belle. The older filly grumbled with a blush as Sora sat up, quickly grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. "Oh my gosh, why are you ponies so darn cute!? I'm gonna have a heart attack if I see another baby pony or something as small as a puppy!" Sora stopped gushing, blinking a couple times after hearing himself. "...Wow. Maybe I do need a break from Equestria for a while."
"Do humans like cute things?" Sweetie Belle asked. "You're acting like Kairi when we met her."
"It depends on what we see as cute." He let go of the filly and slapped his cheeks, getting his mindset out of the colorful and bright world of Equestria and little ponies that made his heart stop. "Gotta stop! I am a man! I like sports! Swordplay! Fighting!" As he focused on retaining what masculinity he had left, young Sweetie Belle finished preparing for her grand entrance and stepped her forehooves in a pair pink shoes that were a tad bit bigger than her hoof size. She made her way out to meet her guests, winding up tripping and falling flat on her face from shoes she wore, but she stood back up and continued sauntering off to the stairway. Sora lost the rest of what testosterone he had after that adorable stumble. "...And there goes the rest of my man card."
"You're really weird," Sweetie Belle said. "Anyway, if you want to get back on topic and stop talking about my cuteness back then, I had gotten myself ready for my debut and waited on the stairs." She leapt out of Sora's lap after he dropped her from getting hugged and followed after herself. Sora did the same after he stood back up, the foals at the party surrounding Rarity as she opened a box filled with homemade party favors. "I tried posing to get their attention, but then...this happened."
Five-year-old Sweetie Belle posed, showing off her fabulous self to get her friends' attention, but they were too focused on Rarity and the party supplies. "These party favors are the coolest!"
One foal blew on one of the party favors, blowing out confetti as it made a honking sound. "Awesome! Where'd you get these?"
"I made them myself," Rarity answered to the colt, holding up a plate with a slice of cake. "And of course, you'll all want cake, won't you?"
The foals cheered, young Sweetie Belle feeling upset that her party was going on without her, and no one even noticed her dressed up like how her big sister would for any celebration. "You're the greatest, Rarity!"
"Who needs the birthday girl when you've got the birthday girl's amazing big sister?" Sora jaw dropped as one filly said that out loud, and Sweetie Belle heard that.
He looked down at the little unicorn filly, his heart breaking as she began to cry and run back up the stairs. "...Oh my god...That's just horrible!"
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle said. "That's when I learned never to try and shine around my sister, otherwise she'll end up taking everything I worked hard at doing and throw it out the window."
"Sweetie Belle, I don't think Rarity meant to do that!" Sora exclaimed. "Besides, I'm talking about that little brat who said that! 'Who needs the birthday girl?' She wouldn't even be here at the birthday girl's party after saying something like that!" He looked down at the frozen memory, seeing as Sweetie Belle didn't witness what else had happened after she fled up the stairs and cried her heart out, leering at the light brown filly with a purple mane wearing a pair of white glasses. "Oh, that little filly is lucky she isn't in Ponyville. She would be getting lots of coal for next Christmas after saying something that harsh!"
"But Rarity took everyone's attention," Sweetie Belle argued. "That was the whole point."
"Well, let's see this from a different perspective." As he dismissed his Keyblade, he held out his hand, this time calling forth the Keyblade of Generosity. If his guess was correct, he might be able to see through the same moment from Rarity's perspective. He gently tapped Sweetie Belle's head again with the purple blade's tip, the same light shining like before as he copied the same memory. The Keyblade began glowing as Sora held it forward and twisted it, rewinding the same scene, but a bit further along when Sweetie Belle was still upstairs getting herself ready. "Let's see what was happening before and after you left the room down here."
"You have a lot more magic than I thought," Sweetie commented. "...Then again, as a pegasus, I had no idea how you could use magic without a horn...Why didn't I ever question it?"
As the memory played out before them as they now stood in the living room, the party wasn't exactly as exciting as it was earlier. Rarity poked her head out from the kitchen to see how things were coming along, but with the bored foals sitting around waiting for her sister, they seemed to be getting restless.
"Ugh. I am sick and tired of waiting for her," one of the fillies lying lazily on the couch said with a bored yawn. "I say we get out of here before we die of boredom. Who's with me?" The other foals agreed, which made Sweetie Belle wince, never realizing how long she took to dress herself up. "Nopony's ever going to come to another one of her parties if it's going to be as lame as this again."
Rarity began to panic, quickly blocking the colts and fillies' way out of their family home, desperate to save her little sister's party. "Wait! Don't go just yet! You'll all miss out on the...party favors." She levitated the box filled with party favors she made and presented them to the curious foals. "I was actually hoping to save them until the end, but..."
Just as the foals dug into the box to pull out the fun party stuff, young Sweetie Belle had arrived, presenting her beautiful, adorable self for her public as the same scene they saw played out again. "These party favors are the coolest!"
The same filly from before blew that same party favor from before as the colt who asked Rarity said his line. "Awesome! Where'd you get these?"
"I made them myself," Rarity repeated as she held out the same slice of cake. "And of course, you'll all want cake, won't you?"
The foals cheered, and to his disgust, Sora had to hear the same filly who insulted Sweetie Belle behind her back said those heart-wrenching words. "Who needs the birthday girl when you've got the birthday girl's awesome big sister?"
It hurt having to see little Sweetie Belle run away as she cried again, but there was more to the scene as soon as she fled. "Oh, no no no, everypony," Rarity said as she shook her head. "Everything for the party was all Sweetie Belle's idea. I just helped out with the execution and decorations, that's all."
Hearing that, Sweetie Belle suddenly felt ridiculous, her grudge against Rarity made unintentionally as she ran away too soon. Seeing the regret on the filly's face, Sora kneeled down beside her and pat her head.
"I don't think Rarity even noticed you run back upstairs after getting hurt like that," Sora said. "She tried to save your party, keeping those so called friends you had back then entertained until you finally came down. And she did the same thing for your play, even though she had no idea how it would have turned out if she did show up to watch it."
Sweetie groaned sadly, feeling utterly silly for thinking her big sister kept stealing her attention when she was only doing what she thought was right to help her. "...I guess I kind of...over-exaggerated...Both times."
"Just a misunderstanding, and you were a little too upset to be reasoned with or hear us out to get the answers you needed." He gave her a small scratch behind the ears before lifting her up in his arm again. "Now, let's take a gander at how your sister is feeling."
Using the Keyblade of Generosity again, he made Rarity's dream door appear in front of them. Instead of going into her dreams, Sora fired a beam of light into the door, opening it up to see through the mare's recent memory that had happened this evening. He walked through, falling through the endless starry abyss again, but as they reached Rarity's memories, a pod of dolphins passed by them as if they were swimming through the ocean, releasing bubbles in their wake. The two looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, having no idea what that had meant as it didn't happen before. They soon touched down in Rarity's room, the unicorn pacing about as she looked over the outfits she had completed, Sweetie wincing at the box that held the headdress she sabotaged.
"Should I hem the cloaks now or until I get to Canterlot?" Rarity asked herself, pondering what to touch up. "I could do it now, but I might have to redo them all..."
"Hmm...This must have happened after your little spiel we overheard and when I headed back to Sweet Apple Acres." Sweetie Belle's ears drooped, only to perk back up after another wonderful scratching behind them as Sora saw her regretting her rambling. "Hey, don't worry. It's all water under the bridge, Sweetie."
"Yeah, but I still feel bad saying all that," she said. Rarity had continued muttering to herself, wanting to make sure everything with her outfits Sapphire Shores requested were perfect the way she wanted them. Sweetie Belle never really noticed just how stressful her job was when it came to designing dresses, always making them just as her clients wanted them to be while also wanting to put at least a little of her creative flair in them as well. "I never knew just how much my sister worried about stuff like this...Kind of like how I wanted to look pretty for my birthday, or rewriting the script for my play several times."
"Did you actually use a dictionary when you wrote those words you girls used in your play?" Sweetie Belle grimaced, but nodded her head with an embarrassed blush. "Thought so. It's one thing to write something, but it also needs to make sense for everyone else who wants to read it."
"I thought it was good," Sweetie mumbled.
"Oh, stop worrying so much, Rarity!" the fashionista scolded herself. "Everything's fine. You did your best and all that matters tomorrow is chance." She climbed into bed, pulled her face mask over her eyes and got herself comfortable for a good night's sleep. "I hope Sora will be ok. I'm sure Sweetie Belle didn't mean to say all that...He may be as silly as Pinkie Pie, but he can be just as sensitive with his feelings."
"Ain't that the truth." Before the memory ended, the Keyblade of Generosity, still in his hand, sparked a small light as it continued playing a bit later in the evening. The door to Rarity's bedroom opened as Sweetie Belle snuck in with a sinister grin on her face. "What the heck is going on here?"
"...Uhh...Well..." Sweetie Belle gulped as she watched herself sabotage the headdress in one of the boxes. "I was still pretty mad before I finally got to sleep...I pulled out an important piece of thread out of one of the headpieces for Sapphire Shores's order, and without it, the whole thing would fall apart."
"You did what!?" Sora exclaimed, watching the vengeance seeking filly pull out the important thread and threw it away. Soon, everything went dark, nothing to be seen except for their slightly illuminated bodies, almost as if they were in a backlight that kept them visible in the endless darkness. Sora put Sweetie Belle down on the invisible ground and kneeled down to her height. "You actually thought getting back at Rarity was a good idea!?"
"I was mad and hurt! I didn't know Rarity never meant to hurt me on purpose, and now I'm going to end up having her career ruined by the number one pony of pop herself critiquing her work if she puts that headdress on!" As the filly began to panic, a doorway of light appeared behind them, lighting up the dark void they were in. "...Uhh, where does this lead?"
"I didn't open that..." The teen stood back up as they both stared at the mysterious doorway that popped out of nowhere. "...Well, might as well see what's in there."
"Ok..." Both human and filly made their way to the door, Sora recalling his Kingdom Keyblade back in his hand in case there was something far worse waiting inside.
Before he reached the doorway, he felt something prod his left arm, looking at it in confusion. Sora, wake up! It's way past sunrise!
"Huh?" He looked around himself as Sweetie Belle went on ahead. "Was that Apple Bloom?"
I know how to get him up! This time, he heard Scootaloo's voice.
As he wondered what was going on, he suddenly felt something slam into his gut hard, sending him flying back and disappearing from the dark space he and Sweetie Belle were in. The filly turned back to find him mysteriously vanished, the doorway closing on her as she was faced with whatever was inside on her own.
The impact to his gut woke Sora up, making him gasp and cough heavily, not expecting to be thrust out of the dream world like that. The object that landed on him was Scootaloo, having leapt up high enough and fall right on his stomach, grinning proudly as she got him to wake up after Apple Bloom's poor poking failing to do so.
"See? He just needed a harder poke," the pegasus filly said.
"Ya body slammed him on the belly," Apple Bloom blatantly stated.
"And you two woke me up too early," Sora grunted, grabbing Scootaloo and dropping her beside Apple Bloom.
"But it's ten o'clock," Apple Bloom said. "Ya never wake up late after stayin' with us for so long, and ya weren't sick or anythin'."
"Ten in the morning!?" Sora looked out the window, the sun already up in the sky and shining down on the orchard. He had been in the dream world for that long, even though it only felt like a couple hours. He soon realized Sweetie Belle was left alone after going through that door, and if it was already morning, that meant Rarity had already left for Canterlot with Sapphire Shores's outfits, including the sabotaged headdress. "Oh no! I gotta get Sweetie Belle!"
"We were actually going to get her for a Crusader's meeting today," Scootaloo said. Sora leapt out of bed and out of the room, the two fillies chasing after him, wondering what's got him so panicky. "Hey! What's going on with Sweetie Belle!?"
He didn't have time to explain as he made his way down the road to the Carousel Boutique. As soon as he reached the building, he barged inside to wake Sweetie Belle up from her slumber, only to trip over the filly as she was about to run out the door. Sora rolled into a couple of pony mannequins after almost trampling Sweetie Belle, which had fallen on top of him as he tumbled into them.
"Sora!" Sweetie Belle ran up to him as he pushed the giant clothing displays off of him. "What happened!? Where did you go!?"
"Ask Scootaloo since she woke me up," he grumbled. "Are you alright? What was in that door?"
"A whole lot worse than my nightmare!" she said. "I think I saw the future, or what could probably happen! My sister's life is going to be ruined, and it's all my fault!"
"Well, we can fix this," Sora quickly said, calming the filly down from her hyperventilating. "We just gotta but that stitch back in."
"But Rarity's already gone to Canterlot, and she could be with Sapphire Shores right now!" With time running out as Sora tried to figure out how to get to Canterlot as soon as possible, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo entered the boutique.
"Sora, Sweetie Belle, what's goin' on?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Was there any danger? Heartless? Wild monsters? Heartless?" Scootaloo constantly asked, earning a nudge to the shoulder from Apple Bloom to silence her.
"We probably won't make it in time by train if she's met with Rarity around this time..." An idea came to his head, but if Aqua found out about what he had in mind, he was going to be in for it. "Come with me, girls!" He soon ran outside, the CMC following him. "Ok. Now, when you three see this, you don't tell anyone about how we're getting to Canterlot. Not even Aqua."
"Well, what exactly is it?" Scootaloo asked. Sora summoned his Keyblade, charged light into it, then flung it up high in the air. The fillies watched with curiosity, spotting a glint of light in the sky as something came back down. Instead of his Keyblade, it was a hoverboard glider, which looked a lot like the blade and guard's color scheme from his weapon. "That is awesome! Since when can you do that!?"
"No time to explain!" Sora grabbed each filly and placed them on the board, leaping onto it with them as they almost lost their balance. "Hang onto me tightly, girls. It's gonna be pretty fast."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle clung onto Sora's hind legs tightly, but Scootaloo stayed up front, eagerly excited at being on the new and awesome glider. As he sped off, the two fillies holding on for dear life screamed in fright, Scootaloo cheering as she began to experience flight in a whole new way as Sora hovered his glider up into the air. It didn't take long for them to reach Canterlot, arriving far faster than a train ride or flying to the mountain city. As he reached the perimeter of the city, Sora grabbed the Crusaders and leapt off, the glider disappearing in a flash of light as he hovered down to the ground, no one down below noticing the alien-like craft.
He put them down, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle unable to stay on their shaky hooves, but Scootaloo giggled excitedly, bouncing up and down. "That was so cool! Can we do that again!?"
"No. That's the only time you're ever riding on my glider." The pegasus filly groaned in disappointment with a pout. "Sweetie Belle, do you have any idea where Sapphire Shores was going to meet with Rarity at?"
"Uhh...I think it's her manor somewhere around here," Sweetie Belle said, finally finding her footing after the exhilarating ride that was more dangerous than a normal roller coaster's. "She has her own dance studio where she practices her dance routines for her tours."
"Ok, that narrows it down to the hundreds of buildings in this city. How exactly are we going to find it!?" Sora asked.
"Maybe we can ask that bodyguard in front of that blue sapphire colored mansion." Apple Bloom pointed at one of the nearby mansions, oddly colored in hues of blue like a sapphire, and standing in front of the doorway to enter was a tough looking stallion with a blue goatee, but had no mane, wearing a suit, an earpiece in his ear to communicate with other possible guards in the area, and a pair of sunglasses.
"...Well, that just might be the place," Sora figured. They approached the guard, remaining stoic as he kept his post, definitely someone who would look like a bodyguard. "Excuse us, sir. Is this where Sapphire Shores lives?"
"Sapphire Shores does not want any fans bothering her," the bodyguard said, confirming that the home was indeed the pop singer's.
"Actually, I'm not a fan," Sora said. "I don't even know her."
"I do!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both said, the spiky-haired stallion turning his head to glare at them, not helping their situation.
"Beat it, Spikey," the gruff stallion warned.
"Look, my little unicorn friend's older sister is in there. Her name is Rarity, Sapphire's fashion designer who made her clothes for her performance. Plus, I'm Sora, a friend of Rarity's and also a world famous hero alongside the Elements of Harmony. I'm sure you've seen my face on the castle murals in the windows." Sora tried to waltz his way in, but the bodyguard shoved him back.
"You're not coming in, kid." Sora growled, holding out his hoof to summon his Keyblade. "You pulling a weapon on me? You're messing with the wrong-"
"Stop." Sora cast the time stopping spell, freezing the bodyguard right as he stepped forward to rough the teen up for brandishing his Keyblade. He walked up to the Stopped bodyguard, lifted him up, moved him out of the way of the door, and set him down gently. "I know you're doing your job, but this is an emergency! A mare's career is at stake!"
The group of four ran inside, leaving the bodyguard until the spell wore off on him. "Wow. We're actually in Sapphire Shores's house!"
"This is the best day ever!" Apple Bloom excitedly said.
"Hey, focus, you two!" Sora said, snapping them out of their fangirling daze. "Anyone have any clue where Sapphire Shores's dance studio is?" Neither filly said anything, having no clue where it could be. "...Right. Stupid question. Ok, better plan: split up, check every room, and if we find it, nab the box with the headdress."
"Right!" They split up in random directions and began exploring the manor.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo took the upper floors while Sweetie Belle and Sora searched the bottom floors. While going through several halls and opening doors, Sora accidentally stumbled upon a room that had a lot of dolphins everywhere: plushies, posters, figurines, even some pictures of a filly riding on one out in the ocean. He figured this must have been Sapphire Shores at that age, a yellow earth pony with a sapphire blue mane and tail.
"Wow...Someone really loves dolphins..." Sora closed the door to the shrine room filled with aquatic mammal memorabilia, continuing his search for Rarity and the pop singer. As he got further down the halls, he heard pop music playing beyond a doorway, the song echoing in the large room beyond it. "This has to be the dance studio."
He gently opened the door a crack and peeked inside, the song ending as he spotted Rarity watching Sapphire Shores and her backup dancers practicing their routine for her tour on a stage. Rarity was already levitating the outfits, handing the other mares in the background theirs while giving Sapphire her unique outfit that stood her out among the others.
"Ooh, Rarity. I am liking the look of this," Sapphire complimented as she looked herself over in her attire. "Is that all there is?"
"Actually, I have saved the best piece for last," Rarity said giddily, grabbing the box that held the headdress.
Before the unicorn could open the box and show Sapphire Shores the final piece to her outfit, Sora burst in and grabbed the box, swiping it from the surprised mares. "HiRarityniceboxmindifIborrowitkaythanksbye!"
"Sora!?" The pegasus fled and ran out of the studio, stealing the headdress right in front of them. Rarity growled, having no idea what he was doing taking her client's accessory like that. She turned to the confused singer and her backup crew, giggling nervously with a grin. "Excuse me for a moment. I have no idea what my friend is doing." She chased after him, growing furious at the prank he was pulling on her. "Sora! Give me back that box!"
"Finders keepers losers weepers!" he shouted as he rounded the corner. Since he was a lot faster than Rarity, it was easy to lose her in the manor. Sora quickly entered a doorway into a hallway and shut the door, hearing the unicorn chasing him pass where he hid, losing track of him. On the other side of the hall, Sweetie Belle opened up the door, finding him and the box with the headdress. "Your sister is going to kill me after swiping this. You know that, right?"
"At least Sapphire Shores didn't put it on yet, right?" Sweetie asked as Sora placed the box down, opening it to see the headpiece was still intact. "Oh, thank goodness. It's still whole."
"Please tell me you managed to grab some sewing supplies before we left or found some around the manor?" The filly shook her head, making Sora sigh in annoyance. "Well, my Keyblade's not a sewing needle. What are we gonna do now?"
"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" Sora and Sweetie Belle both jumped at the unexpected voice. Appearing in the shadows in the hall was Princess Luna, smirking with amusement, apparently having watched the chase and holding out a knitting needle and some thread in her aura. "I was a little concerned when your presence in the dream realm had mysteriously vanished abruptly a while ago."
"Princess Luna?" Sweetie Belle said in shock. "Wait...you can travel through dreams too?"
The filly quickly covered her mouth, accidentally telling someone else about one of Sora's many things that was supposed to be kept secret. "Don't worry, Sweetie Belle, she knows everything about me. And so does Celestia." The pegasus crossed his forelegs over his chest as he raised a brow, leering at the alicorn playfully. "You couldn't bother helping us before it was too late?"
"Well, if I did everything for my subjects whenever they could handle it themselves, then they would have to depend on me to do everything for them every day," Luna simply explained.
"...Eh. Guess that's true," Sora agreed with a shrug. "Now, let's fix this thing up before Rarity actually kills me for taking this." As Luna gave Sweetie Belle the needle and thread, having some experience with sewing as she learned it from her older sister, Sora stopped the filly before she began stitching in the eye. "...Actually, Sweetie Belle, how about we make a little change to the design?"
"On one of the important pieces to Rarity's designs???" Sweetie Belle asked in fear.
"Don't worry. I'm sure Sapphire Shores will love it." He leaned down and whispered his idea in the filly's ear, both ears perking up with wide eyes as he explained.
Rarity panted, having searched through so many rooms in Sapphire's manor, and she couldn't find a single hair of Sora anywhere. "Darn it, Sora. If you cost me my credibility as a celebrity's personal fashion designer, I am going to buck you so hard where Celestia's sun doesn't shine!" As she turned a corner, she bumped into Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, both fillies unable to find Sapphire Shores on the upper floors. "W-What the-!? Apple Bloom!? Scootaloo!?"
"Uhh, hi, Rarity," Apple Bloom said nervously.
"What are you two doing here!?" the unicorn asked, only to figure that if these two were here, then her sister was here too along with Sora. "Wait...My sister is here in Sapphire's home, isn't she?"
"...Ummm...no?" Scootaloo replied, but Rarity could tell she wasn't hiding anything from her.
"I know Sora can be responsible watching out for you, but to bring you two and Sweetie Belle to another city without your family's permission is not acceptable. You two stay right by me, and until we find Sweetie, you four are in a whole lot of trouble." The two fillies gulped, knowing they were going to wind up getting grounded when they get back to Ponyville.
After passing through a hallway, she found Sora and Sweetie Belle with the stolen headpiece, the fuming unicorn stomping up to the grinning stallion. "Uhh...Surprise? It was a joke." His response earned him a slap in the face, leaving a red hoof mark on his cheek. "...Ok. I did deserve that."
"And a whole lot more, but seeing as we're around my sister and her friends, I will wait until they aren't around to give it to you." Sora gulped, his tail instinctively tucked between his legs at what else Rarity would do to him for stealing her creation.
"Wait, don't blame Sora!" Sweetie Belle quickly said. "He was only trying to help me fix a big mistake I made." The unicorn filly nudged the box to her sister. "I was really mad and took out the center stitch in the headpiece after I thought you took my spotlight in my play with your dresses."
"You did what!?" Rarity gasped in utter shock.
"But I fixed it after realizing I would have ruined your life and your job in the future," Sweetie explained. "I wasn't thinking straight, but Sora helped show me I was wrong...both for my play and my fifth birthday party...Please forgive me."
Fearing what her sister could have done to the headpiece, Rarity opened the box, staring at the odd change to the feathery, gem encrusted accessory. "...Wait...Why did you-?"
"That was my idea, but Sweetie sewed that in," Sora said, earning a glare from Rarity. "Trust me. Sapphire Shores is going to love it."
Deciding to take his word for it, Rarity closed up the box, levitated it onto her back, and made her way back to the dance studio. With the troublesome stallion and fillies following, they arrived back to the singer, the mare feeling a little annoyed by Sora after the sudden theft of her wardrobe.
"Rarity, I'm not sure if this is going to work out after this fiasco," Sapphire said. "You don't get to my level of success as an artist without reading signs of bad luck, and this little theft from him is proof of that."
"Heheh...Yeah, but I thought this last piece needed a little tuneup right at the last minute," Sora explained, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Hmmm...Now that I get a better look at you...and Rarity calling out your name, 'Sora'...You aren't the same Sora who assisted the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon, Discord, and other things from attacking Equestria?" Sapphire asked.
"Yeah. That's me." Sora opened up the box and pulled out the headdress. "The world would never be the same without my help, no matter how small the problem is."
Rarity levitated the headdress over the pop star's head, holding up a mirror for her to see it. "Hmmm...Well, it is attractive, but..."
"Take a look at the stitching," Sweetie Belle said.
As she looked closer in the mirror, she noticed in the eye on her forehead, there was a pink dolphin stitched in the middle as the iris of the accessory. "Oh my. It's a dolphin! I just love dolphins, and they're my lucky animal! Even when I'm not around the ocean on my vacations to see them, I sometimes see them swim in my dreams! It's perfect!"
As the singer skipped in delight like a filly over to her backup dancers to see the final piece to her outfit, Rarity was baffled to see that Sora's idea and Sweetie Belle changing the iris of the eye actually worked. "How did you even come up with that idea?"
"Let's just say...it came to me in a dream." Sora looked down at Sweetie and gave her a wink, the filly giggling slyly as they knew what they encountered. He moved closer to Rarity to whisper to her. "And while trying to find you girls, I wound up walking into a room in Sapphire Shores's mansion that had a lot of dolphin stuff. Kind of took a big guess on that."
"I see..." Rarity looked down at Sweetie Belle, her sister fearing whatever consequence she would face for nearly messing up her fashion career.
"I'm sorry I got so jealous, Rarity," the filly apologized. "I know you were only trying to help me with my dresses, but I got carried away and...didn't notice it right away."
"Oh, Sweetie Belle. I forgive you," Rarity said, pulling her little sister in a hug. "It was a shame I didn't get to see your play. Is there any chance I can get an encore performance?"
"...Actually, it wasn't really all that good after looking back on it," Sweetie said. "The dresses were actually the best part out of it."
"Aww, you." The two sisters cuddled, Sweetie Belle no longer upset with her older sister for taking her limelight with her ideas and making up with her for the misunderstood intentions. "Although, all four of you are in a lot of trouble."
"I think I can handle being grounded for a while," Sweetie said, despite Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's grumbling.
"Good. But, I'm going to start with Sora's punishment first." The pegasus stallion gulped nervously as Rarity approached him. "Sora, turn around and keep looking that way." He obeyed, turning around as his limbs shook, awaiting the inevitable fate of his punishment. With a hard, swift buck, Rarity kicked Sora hard right between his hind legs, sending him rolling across the tiled floor and into the wall upside down. He let out a very high pitched groan of utter agony, unable to move from the pain, Sapphire and her backup dancers wincing, glad to not be a stallion when struck down there. "Next time you have any insane plans that could wind up ruining my life's work, tell me about it beforehoof so I don't get more stressed out than actually making them!"
"Y-Yes ma'am," he whimpered, gasping for breath as he finally moved his forelegs down to tend to the badly kicked parts that is every male's weakness.
Later that evening, Sweetie Belle sat on her bed, everyone arriving safely back in Ponyville, this time by train and not on Sora's glider. She was grounded for a week for nearly sabotaging her sister's best client's headdress, but all actions have their consequences, and she figured this was the better outcome after fixing her mistake. As she thought of new ideas to get her cutie mark, crossing off acting, directing, and screenplay writing on the incredibly long list, she heard a knock come from her window. She looked outside and saw Sora hovering by her bedroom window, waving to her as he held a couple Sea-Salt ice cream bars in his hoof.
"Sora?" She leapt down off her bed and approached the window, opening it up to talk to him. "What are you doing here?"
"Just wanted to see how you were taking your punishment," he said. "I'm still pretty sore from mine...Your sister is not much of a damsel in distress if she can hit that hard." He handed Sweetie Belle her popsicle, taking a bite out of his. "Thought you could use that after going through whatever craziness back when we were asleep."
"But I'm grounded," she reminded. "I'm not supposed to have sweets."
"We'll keep it our little secret." Sora gave her a wink and took another bite, making the filly giggle as she dug into her treat like a rebel breaking the rules of her grounding. "So, seeing as you're over your little crush on me, is there anypony else on your mind or are you busy trying to find your special talent?"
"Mmm...I think I'm going to focus on getting my cutie mark...at least for a while." She nibbled on her ice cream, enjoying the saltiness more than Sora as he winced at the taste on his tongue. "But I promise I'll keep your real self a secret from everypony else."
"Good. I tried to hide my identity from your sister, but when Nightmare Moon attacked, all six of them cornered me, thinking I was some sort of spy for her." That night terrified Sweetie Belle, having witnessed the Mare in the Moon's return along with the Heartless that attacked. Even after her nightmare with Rarity ruining her good dream and Nightmare Sora scaring the life out of her, he own anger and imagination went wild and turned the Sora she knew as a monster. She knew he wasn't like that at all, a kind and caring stallion, no matter what or who he looks like, and he would fight to defend anyone from monsters like that. "I swear, I think it's my clothes and hair. Most of the ponies I met thought I looked like some kind of rebellious troublemaker just because of the way I look."
"Yeah, but your personality and your eyes show you're somepony...or, somehuman, who fights for anyone in trouble...Even me after I said I didn't like you anymore." They talked for a while, munching on their ice cream, staying quiet or else Rarity would hear them.
Once it started getting late, Sora took Sweetie Belle's finished ice cream stick to take away the evidence of her having any sweets to avoid getting her in more trouble. "Well, I'm pretty sure you have a curfew while you're grounded and need to get to bed soon. But, if you'd like this week, I can stop by in your dreams and we can have fun, with no consequences for either of us."
"Ok. That's sounds fun." Sora nodded his head, intending to visit Sweetie Belle again tonight through the dream realm so she can have fun while she slept. He was about to leave, but she wanted to say something before he headed back to the farmhouse. "Wait, Sora. One more thing." He hovered back over to the window, the filly ushering him to move his head closer. As he leaned over the window sill, his head reaching down to her height, Sweetie Belle surprised him by giving him a kiss on the cheek. His cheeks turned red, though the kiss was more like one a sibling would give another in appreciation for something. "Thanks for coming to Equestria. Even if it's been scary with the Heartless, I'm glad you came by and stayed for us...big brother."
He was slightly baffled for a moment, giving her a wide grin after snapping out of his befuddled daze. "Glad to have come here to your world...little sister." Sora reached a hoof out and ruffled Sweetie's mane. "I'll see you later this evening. Better have something fun planned for us, or I'll have to come up with something instead."
She nodded her head and watched him fly off, unable to wait for the best dream fun they'll have. She closed her window and headed to bed, shutting off her lights and fell asleep, waiting for Sora to arrive and have some brother-sister fun. She also wanted to feel his odd digits scratching her head again, and maybe even her back or belly, the wonderful feeling from her dream feeling so real as her ears flicked in anticipation.
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Interesting. Didn't expect you to do this episode...
7826771 For Trixie's redemption in that chapter, the Alicorn Amulet is a powerful and dangerous artifact. Trixie is pretty much unstoppable with the thing on, able to do anything as it gives her more power and influences her into becoming more cynical the longer she wears it. Her magic is limitless and can rival the power of an alicorn's, even against Sora and his expertise fighting the toughest of opponents and the biggest of Heartless. Sora may be a powerful Keyblade wielder, but that doesn't mean he's strong enough to take on everything that may overpower him, even if he got lucky.
As for the Heartless, they have existed long before Xehanort's notes on them, seeing as light and darkness have existed for eternity, so the Pureblood Heartless, like the Shadows and Darksides, were already created from the darkness itself. Emblem Heartless, like Soldiers, are created from hearts that were taken by the Heartless, creating more physical forms than their pure dark brethren with some able to use magic spells that many don't use as a means of attacking their victims.
And the Keyblade Inheritence Ceremony can happen accidentally if someone were to touch a Keyblade Master's Keyblade. Kairi obtained hers from Aqua when she touched Aqua's Keyblade when she saved her from the Unversed by accident, clutching her hand and her Keyblade in fear. And since Aqua was still alive after sacrificing herself to save Terra (along with Xehanort, not willing to lose her friend if his light was still in his tainted heart), and as ridiculous as it was for Riku to give her a Keyblade in Kingdom Hearts 2 during the final arc of the game, that will be her Keyblade. Aqua even gave up her Keyblade, along with her armor, when saving Terra, but she still has a Keyblade, her deceased master Eraqus's, and now uses it as her own in the Realm of Darkness. That whole theory where anyone who touches a Keyblade would become a wielder is basically busted since Sora never touched one. He gained his when he allowed Ventus's heart inside his after he defeated Vanitas, shattering his heart and leaving his body in a coma. Touching any Keyblade wielder's Keyblade while given the ceremony will give the one they feel is worthy of one can earn one. A master can willingly give the ceremony by their status, even giving it by accident if the Keyblade finds them worthy or wielding one depending on the potential they can feel. This topic raises so many questions, but that's just what I think how it goes down...At least until we get a little more lore when 2.8 comes out later this January. Answers to questions is a must in complicated series like these that raises many fan theories and such.
Also, darkness comes from negative feelings in their hearts, but only if they let their darkness fester if it's constant or overwhelming for them. Riku wound up using the power of darkness over Maleficent's persuasion, making him more angry as he truly believed his best friend was going to leave him and Kairi behind over Donald and Goofy. Terra wound up discovering his by accident and he tried to avoid using it, but by Xehanort's influence and acting like the elderly actor he sickeningly was in Terra's story, he was tricked as well and harnessed that power, but he only uses it in battles with specific commands and during the fight against Eraqus. Even Disney characters like the Beast, Clayton, Shan Yu, and Scar wound up using the power of darkness, whether it was because of their evil intentions and greed for power blessing them with this dangerous power or being influenced by someone to make their darkness come out to have their hearts taken and create powerful Heartless. It all depends on how emotionally enraged or distraught someone is and if they willingly accept their darkness to try to take over them. Plus, Riku had turned into Ansem in 358/2 days, using the power of darkness to beat Roxas to get Sora's memories back and wake him up, and by the explosive force of Ansem the Wise's machine failing to destroy Organization XIII's Kingdom Hearts, the blast turned Riku back to normal, and he no longer was able to use the power of darkness, at least not that much, so he didn't need to wear the blindfold or the black coat to protect himself from falling into that darkness again.
But again, just my thoughts. Any problems you see aside, I'm at least glad to know you enjoy this story.
7826879 Well, I did the one with Scootaloo's nightmares, so I had to do Sweetie Belle's dream episode, and I'll also be doing Apple Bloom's when we get around to it.
Great chapter my friend I can't wait for more uploads to this story I'll be waiting my friend and keep me posted on the story
7826903 In Brother Hooves Social, I have a feeling Maleficent will do to Big Mac what you just described during that episode.
7827268 Sadly, no. I'm not planning on doing that when we get to Brotherhooves Social. I have something in mind that'll make it probably more hilarious with Big Mac crossdressing as a mare and something else. Not going to say what it is, but cupcakes for anyone who's able to guess what else will happen.
7826903 may want to run over this chap again bro. U missed a couple of typos.like 2 or 3.sides that great chap.
7829340 Ok. I think I fixed them. I don't know how I ended up misspelling some of the words in the first part of this chapter. I wear glasses, yet I am blind.
7829873 lol. That's the rub with not having some look over your shit bro. You don't see some errors till there pointed out then your like "HOW THE FUCK DID I NOT SEE THAT!?" Hand meets face.
7830245 Well, I can see which errors I made if I'm not distracted. I've been uncomfortably itchy for the past few months, no skin allergies or bug bites, and it sometimes gets really bad that I end up not paying attention to what I wrote and miss those mistakes. I'm not saying I'm an expert writer or grammar enthusiast, but I'm a bit careful with any spelling mistakes since I practically have to be the designated speller for my family when they're trying to spell out something in a text or letter. That, along with math and finding where we parked at an amusement park.
7830268 lmfao.
If Sweetie sees Sora as a big brother does that mean we'll be seeing him in a dress come Brotherhooves Social?
7833728 What? Sora in a dress? Don't be ridiculous...But he will take part in the Sisterhooves Social with Sweetie Belle in "Brotherhooves Social", just in a different way.
That's fucked up. The fact that Rarity would pull that sort of depraved bullshit because of a perceived slight makes me hate her so damn much. You don't kick a guy there. You just don't. That's like punching a woman so hard there, that your hand gets stuck inside.
I'm no Timelord, but I think our wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff wobbled a little too far to the left.
.....................reading that made ME go cross eyed and grab my own jewels in sympathy pain while also letting out the same kind of noise Sora did here.
8711248
Same here buddy. Same here.
F in the chats for Sora's future children
Video isn’t available anymore
Well now I gotta
"Pulls stitch"
Hahahahahahahaha I just ruined all your hard work!
"Runs like hell"
Rarity: buuuuuuuck!
Please continue this fanfiction even after you get to the last episode of g4. Like keep g4 going forever!