It had taken a while, but Aqua managed to destroy the large ice pillar of a fortress created by her own uncontrolled magic, along with traces of darkness she swore wasn't there before. Her own magic was enough to take it down bit by bit, considering she made it in the first place, until there was nothing left but the snow that blanketed the ground where it stood. She had even destroyed what had remained of her Wayfinder as well in the fortress, but she no longer needed that one and could make another if she wanted. It was only the memories of her past that kept weighing her down that made her miserable, and despite the pain, she needed to move forward for the sake of all the worlds out there, freeing them from darkness and keeping them safe.
The group took the unconscious teens back to Twilight's library, her family still there as they waited for her to return and whatever threat they managed to stop. They managed to tell the alicorn's parents that they were just exhausted from what had created the pillar of ice out in the distance, but Shining and Cadence knew that it was far worse than a wild beast that was the cause of its creation. Now that it was safe to leave, Night Light and Twilight Velvet said their goodbyes to their kids and headed to the station to return back to Canterlot, the Crystal Empire royals staying behind until tomorrow and wondering what had happened. They, including Spike, were told of what had happened as they waited for Sora, Riku, and Kairi to wake up.
"You actually created that giant ice structure?" Shining questioned Aqua, the unicorn nodding her head. "I knew you looked as different as Sora and his friends, but...How much power do you have?"
"Quite a lot, sadly," Aqua said. "Magic is my forte, after all, but keeping control of my emotions was a bit...difficult for me."
"Well, Kairi could handle herself fine," Cadence said.
"That's because you two have no idea how hard it was to survive in a world with nothing but Heartless and darkness for almost fifteen years." Shining winced in shocked as he and his wife pitied the Keyblade Master. "I can't seem to get away from all the trouble I cause, and hiding all that pain away got to me. I'm actually grateful for Sora, Riku, and Kairi for doing their all to save me, and I'm feeling a lot better now that my mind, and my heart, are a bit clearer."
"It didn't help that a certain somepony put my sister's life in more danger by giving her a Keyblade," Shining grumbled, looking over at Riku as his head rested in his sister's lap.
"It's not his fault, Shining," Twilight chided. "I didn't know I could get one just by touching his. But if I'm trained enough, I can help protect Equestria if any Heartless show up. Without the Elements of Harmony anymore, the only way to save anyone here from darkness would have to be the power of light, so that's going to be an extra bit for me to do as well as being a princess." The lavender mare scowled, realizing she barely had any duties being a princess since her coronation and Discord's failed plan a thousand years ago surfacing to this day. "Speaking of, I've done more practice with the Keyblade than being a princess."
Cadence chuckled at Twilight's irritation. "Twilight, be thankful you don't have any princess duties. At least not yet. You have no idea how boring it can be just sitting on a throne all day listening to ponies' requests or hearing trade deals."
"Or annoying business ponies thinking they can tear down a landmark of Equestria's history just to build another building," Shining added with annoyance. "I miss being a captain sometimes."
"Well, I was kind of expecting a kingdom to rule, but I have no idea when that might happen," Twilight grumbled, gently running her hoof through Riku's mane. She dropped the topic and will figure out her place as an alicorn princess at some other time. Though, she did recall something that happened earlier, mainly her strange power that made her seem like a fighting expert and what Aqua and Torrent were talking about. "Aqua, what were you and Torrent saying before she disappeared?"
"I actually want to bring this up when the others are awake," Aqua answered. "I think it's important for all of you to hear, but don't worry. It's actually more good news than bad."
"Then tell us the bad news!" Pinkie interjected. "At least the evil ice mare won't come back anymore! Dead Heartless are dead!"
"Actually, Torrent's not truly gone." Aqua's statement shocked everyone, her darkness not truly defeated.
"But she disappeared!" Twilight exclaimed. "I saw everything! You killed her!"
"Yes, but a part of her is still in me. She's just dormant, and she'll stay that way now that I no longer feel burdened by my past." Even though she had been separated by Torrent thanks to Kairi's light, she couldn't still be alive and who she is without her. Aqua pressed a hoof to her chest as she continued. "Our hearts have both light and darkness. Some may choose one side, but we can't live without both of them. Even though Torrent was pulled away from me and gained her own body, she was more incomplete than I was.
"If your heart is filled with light, there's a tiny smidge of darkness that's still there. The same with those with more darkness. If I had killed Torrent, then I would have died as well, losing my heart in the process. What had happened to Ven many years ago was a lot different." She looked at Sora as he rested sitting up on the couch, Kairi resting alongside him as her head leaned against his shoulder. "His darkness, Vanitas, was every single piece of his darkness. There wasn't a single trace of darkness in his heart, both of them a physical example of Yin and Yang: positive and negative."
"So, Ventus ended up killing himself in the end when he defeated Vanitas?" Rainbow asked. "That's dumb. He should still be alive then, if that was the case."
"Xehanort's plan was to use Ven to create the X-blade, pitting himself against his darkness. I thought for sure I couldn't win, seeing the incomplete X-blade in his hand and feeling all that power...but Ven managed to pull through and win his heart back, his body now just a shell while his heart was lost in darkness." Aqua sighed, running her hoof through her mane as she continued looking at Sora. "I never thought I would find him, but I think I have."
"Well, we won't be seein' that Torrent mare again, right?" Applejack asked, Aqua shaking her head no. "Good. The last thing we need is another one of our friends gettin' all messed up with darkness again."
"I don't think Twilight looks like she'll let her jealousy win her over to darkness again with Riku around," Rarity teased, making the alicorn blush in embarrassment.
Riku began to stir and open his eyes, letting out a groan as his whole body seemed to ache. Sora and Kairi did the same, the spiky-haired stallion falling over Kairi as he stretched, making her yelp in surprise and slight pain. As the teens recovered, Aqua told them what had happened after they fell unconscious. To all of their surprise, they heard Twilight had actually held her own against Torrent, but with how little training she had, it sounded impossible.
"How the heck did Twilight manage to do that!?" Riku asked, greatly worried. "She's not strong enough to handle anything more powerful than a Shadow!"
"You know, I'm right here, Riku," Twilight growled, punching Riku hard in the shoulder. "I even saved all three of your skins using those small white magic Heartless! You're welcome."
"Silver Rocks are dangerous, and you shouldn't have even collected them all at once like that!" Riku argued. "You're still not ready to fight Heartless, let alone pick a fight with Torrent!"
"Yeah, I kinda forgot that Kairi's Heart Beam pulls a Heartless out of one's heart when taken control of and have a second wind, not killing them." Sora chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head bashfully. "Oops."
"My 'Heart Beam'?" Kairi asked, questioning the odd name of Kairi's spell.
"That's the best name I could come up with," he said with a shrug.
"Either way, that was incredibly reckless," Riku continued. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"She was coming after Kairi and I stepped in to help save her!" Twilight countered, the others remaining silent as the couple fought. "It was your fault for not paying attention. And you call yourself a Keyblade Master when Sora's beaten you several times, possessed by Ansem or not, and getting knocked around by a giant block of ice."
"That is not the point! And I thought Kairi's spell actually killed it since Torrent wasn't moving when Sora and I went to check on Aqua!" Before their spat could continue any further, Aqua teleported in front of them and placed her hooves on their shoulders.
"Ok, both of you cut it out," she scolded with a serious glare. "If Twilight didn't intervene, ALL of us would have been killed. She may be new to actual combat with a Keyblade, but her Keyblade showed a potential I saw that made her shine in that fight." Riku wilted and looked down at his hooves, still angry that Twilight put herself in harm's way, but ashamed to hear Aqua had praised her for her help, even if it was life threatening. He felt Twilight's hoof on his, apologizing for letting him worry as the blue unicorn turned in the alicorn's direction. "Speaking of, what happened during that fight with Torrent? Your style was a bit different, along with your confidence. And the fact you moved so fast, it was hard to keep track of you."
"...I-I don't really know," Twilight said. She held out her hoof and summoned her Keyblade, examining her weapon from the crowned teeth of the key to the chain hanging off the hilt. "When I was in danger, it felt like time began to slow down and I was able to plan a strategy to avoid it with the extra time...That happened earlier during training and when those plunder-seed vines tried to slam me around the cave where the Tree of Harmony is...Then, I saw one of these begin to glow-" Twilight pointed at the chain, more specifically at the small red lightning bolt that signified the Element of Loyalty. "-then I...suddenly felt more limber and confident, as if I could actually beat her."
"But also act all cocky like Rainbow Dash when she wants to show off," Applejack added, making the rainbow-maned pegasus leer at the apple farmer.
"Hey!" she exclaimed.
"And don't forget super fast!" Pinkie said. "We needed to get a slo-mo of how speedy she was! She could even beat Dashie with that speed!"
"Ok, knock it off!" Rainbow shouted, irritated and jealous of Twilight's speed back in the now destroyed pillar. "She wasn't that fast..."
"And then another one began glowing too," Twilight continued, this time pointing at the blue diamond that was the Element of Generosity's design. "I noticed I actually enchanted fire in my Keyblade, and evaded more like I was dancing."
"Fighting is similar to dancing, though you were definitely dancing around Torrent with that added speed boost," Aqua commented, grinning a little at the specific little "dance" she did to tease her darkness that she found adorably hilarious. She suddenly gasped, realizing exactly how Twilight's sudden change in attitude along with her differently expert battle style fit perfectly compared to her beginner combat style during training. "Wait...Twilight, I think I can explain how you were able to do all that."
"How?" Twilight asked, growing the others' curiosity as well.
"You must have performed a Dimension Link." With the room completely silent, Aqua looked around her, seeing only confusion on the ponies and baby dragon's faces.
"Uhh, 'Dimension Link'?" Spike asked.
"Dimension Links, or D-Link for short, are powers that you obtain that you yourself can't master," Aqua explained, growing a bit excited at Twilight's version of it. "If you have a close bond with someone, whether from a best friend, lover, family member, or anyone outside of this world that you established a very close connection to, you can use skills, magic spells, anything that fits the traits of the one bond you desire to use while in D-Link mode, and it feels like you are that bonded friend!"
"I...performed a D-Link?" Twilight asked. "Sora, Riku, or Kairi never told me about that."
"We didn't even know what it was until hearing about it just now," Riku said.
"What do you mean by 'feeling like the bonded friend'?" Rarity asked.
"Twilight's attitude and sudden increase in speed, moving so fast that she appears from one point to another within a fraction of a second. Her evasive dancing and flair, along with using spells I haven't even began teaching her when she used Fire Strike to not only burn Torrent, but also melt away the icicles around me with a shockwave of it, which is something I've never seen before. She was able to perform two D-Links at once when you could only perform it with one!" Aqua squealed in delight and began bouncing up and down. "This is amazing! A double D-Link for the first time ever done by any Keyblade wielder in history!"
After dropping down from the excitement of a skill never before done by any Keyblade wielder, not even herself, she noticed the looks she was given. Rainbow, Applejack, Sora, and Riku tried not to burst out laughing at her joyful bouncing of discovery while the others grinned in amusement. Her cheeks turned red as she straightened out her clothing and cleared her throat, letting out an embarrassed giggle at her childish behavior.
"Oh boy. We got another Twilight around us," Shining commented. "Better hide your books before Aqua finds them, Twily."
Everyone except Twilight and Aqua laughed, the former blushing heavily and hiding her face in embarrassment while the latter scratched her cheek in confusion. "I don't act like that..."
"Oh yes she does," Cadence said, adding fuel to the fire as she giggled. "As a filly, every time she gets excited about anything, she bounces around and chants 'Yes!' over and over."
"No I don't!" Twilight whined.
"She still makes book forts whenever she has a late night study binge," Spike added to the teasing, making Twilight groan in frustration and hide behind her wings and Riku's back.
"You are a dork," Riku commented.
"Shut up," she mumbled.
"Anyway...teasing aside, it's actually really astounding to see two D-Links combined together," Aqua said, quickly changing the topic before her student's face began to explode with how red her cheeks were. "I didn't think it was possible, but strangely enough, the D-Links are made by the wielder, not the Keyblade."
Twilight quickly sat up, her face back to normal as she looked at Aqua in utter bafflement. "What? The wielder uses D-Links?"
"Yes...I would have been able to tell if you, Sora, Riku, or Kairi activated a D-Link with someone, but none of you know how to actually activate it and have never heard of it until now..." Aqua began pacing around the room as she began to think, growing more curious with Twilight's fighting earlier and the Keyblade's chain making parts of it glow and forge the D-Link. "From the fight, she had Rainbow Dash's taunting and agility, while also wielding some spellblading and evasion from Rarity..."
"Wait, Twilight actually was me AND Rarity back there?" Rainbow asked, her brain unable to process how Twilight was able to do what she did.
"I don't know how to use a sword," Rarity said. "I'm not that much of a fighter, but I can defend myself around brutes who want to be all over me."
"Wasn't that what you wanted from Blueblood back at the Gala?" Sora asked.
"He was uncouth and ungentlecoltly toward me, and he's a prince!" Rarity complained. "I wanted to get to know him, but he had the audacity to care about himself more than a lady gracing his presence."
"Twilight doesn't actually become you entirely," Aqua continued. She levitated Twilight's Keyblade and examined the six gems on the chain. "She gains some traits of yours, but it's mostly how you would fight if you took Twilight's place instead. The behavioral actions, that's unheard of, but interesting." She began remembering the lights that shone from the lightning bolt and diamond, the same type of light she felt from somewhere after returning from Manehattan and Rainbow Falls. "The one thing I don't get is that her Keyblade was the one giving her those combined D-Links...It's a lot different from any other Keyblade I've ever seen, but it's filled with light...but it's like pieces are missing in that light for it to be at its strongest."
Aqua held Twilight's Keyblade out, the weapon disappearing and reappearing back to its rightful owner's hoof. "Torrent said the same thing. She said it was incomplete..." She looked down at her Keyblade, unsure if there was anything wrong with it. From the states of the others' Keyblades, most of their power came from them and there were no faults about how they were designed. "What did she mean?"
"...I'm not sure," Aqua said. "We may have to wait a while until we finally see what it can really do." She theorized that the lights from their recent trips throughout Equestria might have been the key to Twilight's growing abilities, but brushed that thought aside for later as she looked over at Sora. "Anyway, now that Sora, Riku, and Kairi are awake, I can finally tell you all the actual good news from me."
"Yeah. You were going to tell us what Twilight said about yours and Torrent's conversation, but wanted to wait for them to wake up," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah! Tell us!" Pinkie demanded as she bounced up and down.
"Ok, ok. Just sit down, Pinkie Pie." The earth pony obeyed and sat down, wagging her tail excitedly like a dog's. Aqua just shook her head at Pinkie's odd moments before beginning to tell them what she had just found out. "Ok...Now, I know this may sound crazy...and some of you might still think I am-" She looked over at Rainbow Dash, reminding the pegasus's earlier comment as she told them to leave the ice pillar. "-but I managed to take back some control of myself before Kairi separated Torrent and myself. I heard a voice, just as I was about to fade away permanently in the darkness of my heart...That voice...was Ventus."
"You heard him?" Sora asked.
"Yes...and I saw his light, too. I found his light; his heart." Everyone gasped in shock, Sora leaping up onto his hooves, happy to hear Aqua had finally found Ventus.
"That's great!" he said. "We can probably wake him up now! Where is it at?"
Aqua walked up to Sora and placed a hoof on his chest, directly over his heart. "Right here."
Their excitement soon turned into more confusion let again, Pinkie breaking the silence with a giggle. "Silly Aqua! That's Sora!"
The mare didn't look away, dead serious with her statement as she continued looking at Sora. It took a moment, but for the young Keyblade wielders sans Twilight, their jaws dropped at the realization. Sora looked down at his chest, at Aqua's hoof, where it rested over his heart.
"...No way," Sora finally uttered. "My heart?"
"Yes," Aqua answered. "I can't believe I didn't see it when it happened over and over. I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I found it odd how I kept seeing Ven in your place, and it wasn't just because you two are almost alike. Ven's light reached out to me, saving me from my own darkness, and he helped me regain what little hope I had bringing him back. His heart lies within yours, Sora."
Sora put a hoof to his chest as Aqua moved hers away, the others utterly speechless. Sora broke out of his shock first, giggling lightly as he looked up with a grin.
"Am I some sort of vessel for carrying hearts or something?" he joked. "First with Kairi, and now Ventus...But, I don't think I ever met him before."
"Are you sure?" Aqua asked, the teen nodding in response. She looked at Kairi and Riku, the other two never knowing him either or remember meeting him when they were only five years old. The Keyblade Master began pacing again, trying to figure out how and why Ventus's heart went to Sora's while hers and King Mickey's light would help guide him through the darkness. "Our fight against Xehanort and Vanitas happened a couple days after I met you and Riku...Did something strange happen that you can remember back when you were kids?"
Both pegasus stallions began to think back on that day, though with all their adventures, battles, and other games they played as little kids, it was hard for them to remember every detail that happened. Sora remembered he and Riku were down by the shore back near their hometown in Destiny Island, looking up at the stars before heading back home.
Sora and Riku, both around the ages of five laid in the sand as they stargazed. Sora wore a white T-shirt with a blue collar with red shorts and a pair of sandles on his feet, while Riku wore a yellow vest with black shorts and a pair of blue and white shoes. The two boys were relaxing after another highly competitive day, the waves gently rolling onto the shore on the cloudless night sky. Riku soon stood up and stretched, having had enough stargazing.
"Hey, I'm gonna head on home," he said.
"Yeah, me too," Sora said as he sat up, brushing off some sand on his clothes.
As they began to head back into the town, Riku looked over at his friend, seeing a tear suddenly roll down his cheek from out of nowhere. "You ok, Sora?"
"Huh?" Sora saw Riku point at his face, and when he raised a hand to his cheek, he gasped as he felt the tear. Riku began to look a little worried, while Sora felt sad for some odd reason. "This is...weird...It feels like something's squeezing my chest tightly."
"Somebody up there must be sad." The spiky-haired boy tilted his head in confusion at Riku's odd answer. He then pointed up at the starry night sky and began explaining. "They say the world is connected by one great big sky. So, there might be someone out there in any of those worlds who's hurting, and they might be waiting for your help."
"Gee..." Sora scratched his cheek in thought, wondering who would be calling out to him for help. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Hmm...Maybe they want you to open your heart and listen." Sora scratched the back of his head in confusion, finding it weird how Riku had been talking about other worlds ever since he talked to that one man and the blue-haired girl.
"I don't know, Riku," Sora said. "You say some really weird things, but I'll give it a shot." He and Riku both looked up at the sky, Sora closing his eyes as he began to reach out to whoever was calling him.
After a moment of waiting, Sora opened his eyes, the sky suddenly completely black except for one shining star slowly lowering down toward him. He had no idea where he was, but that didn't matter as his interest was on the star.
"Hey...Can you hear me?" he called out.
I heard your voice. Sora gasped in surprise, hearing a teenage boy's voice come from the star. It cut through the darkness around me. The boy smiled happily as he helped the mysterious voice, reaching his hands out to grab the star, which looked more like a sphere with a warm light inside. All alone, I followed the sound into a sea of light, and found myself here, with you. Sora caught the light, unsure of what the voice was talking about, but he listened intently. You gave me something back when I needed it most. A second chance.
"I did?" Sora asked.
But...now I have to go back to sleep again, the voice said tiredly.
"Are you sad?" Sora asked with concern.
Would you mind if I stayed here, with you? the voice asked Sora, the young boy nodding his head happily.
"Ok, sure. If it'll make you feel better," he said.
Thank you. The light floated up to Sora's chest and went in, the boy allowing the mysterious voice into his heart, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply at the odd, yet warm feeling it gave him.
Sora opened his eyes again, finding himself back on the beach under the starry sky. "Well?"
He turned his head, Riku standing by him and waited to see if his plan worked. "You know...I think it did," Sora said as he looked back up at the sky, placing his hands behind his head as he grinned widely.
After his little trip down memory lane, Sora gasped as he finally remembered being in that strange realm, both in that dream he had a couple days before Destiny Island was engulfed in darkness and when he fought Roxas outside of Organization XIII's castle in The World That Never Was. It all came back to him as it was a memory forgotten as a little kid: feeling the pain in his chest as someone cried out to him for help, the voice of a teenager speaking to him, and him willingly letting their light, their heart, in his own. Now it started to make sense with how Roxas was supposed to be his Nobody, yet he looked a bit different compared to how Lea and Axel were similar; Roxas may be his Nobody, but he took the form of who Ventus looked like, both voices sounding alike, but Ventus's was more nicer and younger than Roxas's rougher and slightly deeper voice.
"...Oh my gosh." Everyone turned to Sora as he was the only one of the two teens still lost in thought. He looked at everyone, greatly shocked at his discovery, and it explained so many questions he didn't bother to seek the answers to. "I do remember something."
"What is it?" Aqua asked.
"Riku, that night we were stargazing when we were little, after meeting Aqua back then. You remember what happened?" Sora asked.
"...Well, not much," Riku said. "All I know is that you shed a tear and said something was trying to break your heart or something."
"Yes! But I did see and help someone when they called out to me! It was a he, he said he felt tired, and I let a light into my heart...That must have been Ventus!" Sora ruffled his mane as the others were awed by his realization. "And that explains why some things didn't add up with me in the past few years!"
"What do you mean?" Aqua asked.
"My Nobody, Roxas! He doesn't look like me because he was born from someone else's heart while being a part of me!" Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Spike, Shining Armor, and Cadence looked at each other, the latter two having no idea who this Roxas was, but the name rung a bell with the former five.
"Wait...Didn't we meet a feller named Roxas back when Pinkie made them clones of herself?" Applejack asked, suddenly gasping and slapping herself in the forehead. "Oh, consarn it! Ah knew that pegasus looked familiar!"
"Wait, that pegasus who showed up in Ponyville during that Pinkie clone rampage was your Nobody!?" Rainbow exclaimed. "How the hay did that happen!?"
"You can thank Pinkie for bringing him back for a day with that very same Mirror Pool she used to make her several selves," Sora blandly said as he pointed at the culprit, Pinkie giggling nervously as she literally sunk into the couch to hide from the embarrassing moment.
"...That...did explain how I found it difficult to track him down that year," Riku mumbled to himself. Even though Roxas was the reason for him to use his darkness after fighting it off in Castle Oblivion due to his dual Keyblade wielding that was a surprise to him, he never thought he could have been right back then when Sora thought he felt someone calling for help. That also explained something else about Sora, something he wasn't given unlike him and Kairi. "So, how you obtained a Keyblade...Ventus's heart must have given you the power to wield one since you didn't have the Keyblade Inheritence Ceremony like Kairi or me."
"Wait, who's Roxas?" Aqua asked in confusion. "I know a little about the Nobodies and saw the fight against the leader with that potion. What does he look like?"
"Well, his hair's all spiked like mine, though a little bit different and a shade of a lighter...brown or a darker blonde? And he wore a white-gray jacket with a black shirt underneath, though that was the last time I saw what he looked like when he was in this world as a pegasus." After Sora gave his vague description of his Nobody, Aqua was highly convinced the moment he talked about his hairstyle.
"That's exactly like Ven's hairstyle and clothing..." Aqua soon began to get antsy, desperate to wake Ventus back up, but she didn't want to cause him, or Sora, any pain without a safe way to transfer his heart back into his body. Sora had already given up his heart once to save the one he loved, Kairi, and she knows he won't want to do the same thing again and turn into a Heartless again. Maybe, at the very least, she could at least show them what he looked like as he rested where she last left him. "After all this time...Ven, you made Sora a Keyblade wielder to repay him for saving your life..."
"...Ok, a whole lot of confusing things aside with Sora, Roxas, and Ventus being one pony, can you bring Ventus back now that we know Sora has his heart?" Rarity asked.
"...I-I...I don't know..." Aqua sat down and rubbed her head, having no idea what to do.
"Last time I gave up my heart for Kairi, I plunged a Keyblade made out of the other six Princesses of Heart to release it," Sora said. "And I don't want to be like Maleficent when she kidnapped them from their worlds. Can't just waltz up to each of them and ask if I can swipe their hearts for just a little while."
"Maybe...I could possibly transfer Ventus's heart from Sora?" Kairi suggested. "I'm one of the seven Princesses of Heart. If I can purge darkness from one's heart with the Keyblade, maybe I can do that as well."
"Kairi, you nearly fainted after rescuing me," Aqua said. "I don't think it's safe after you've exhausted yourself today. You could end up making Sora comatose like Ventus in the process, or lose both of their hearts..." The mare wrapped her hooves around herself, terrified at making a horrible sacrifice for the sake of her selfish desires. "I'm not going to risk Sora's life, even though I promised Ven I would find a way to bring him back..."
"Maybe it will work." Aqua looked up, seeing the serious expression on Sora's face. "If he called out to you when Torrent took control over you, then I'm sure he's had enough time resting and wants to see you again." He walked up to her, grabbed one of her hooves, and brought it against his chest. "I think he's ready to come back now. And if I lose my heart again, I'll just find Kairi's light again."
Aqua shook her head, gently pulling her hoof away. "I'm sorry, Sora. I can't do it now. I want to find a safer way so you don't-"
"Then take us to him," he quickly said, surprising the mare. "Show us where he is, and we'll also see what the Land of Departure looks like now...Or are you still going to hide where he's resting because it's not allowed to be known by others that you can trust?"
It hurt Aqua hearing that question, clearly able to trust Sora and everyone else in the room to keep the location of the Land of Departure's new form a secret. She looked at the others, some of them just as curious about it and wanting to see Ventus for the first time. She wanted to say no to them, that she only wanted to bring Sora whenever she found a way to safely extract Ventus's light from Sora's, but it had been so long since she had actually seen her friend after she left. Completely outnumbered, Aqua sighed heavily, giving in to Sora's stubbornness.
"...I'll take you to him," she said. "But only to see him. Understand?"
"...Yes, ma'am," Sora responded, Pinkie popping out of the sofa as she cheered.
"Time for another space trip!" she exclaimed, grabbing an empty fish bowl from between the couch cushions and placed it over her head. "To space!"
While Rarity and Twilight facehooved, the others laughed at Pinkie's enthusiasm and her silly air helmet, even making Aqua's frown turn upside down, unable to be upset with her wild antics that come completely out of the blue.
The group began to depart in the Gummi ships to reach where the Land of Departure once was to see Ventus. Twilight said her goodbyes to Cadence and Shining Armor if they wouldn't make it back in time by tonight, hoping they'll see each other again soon. Once everyone was settled in their seats, Aqua suited up in her armor and riding on her Keyblade glider, she moved on ahead, but not before giving Sora, Kairi, and Riku a close location for them to warp around where her home world was. She showed the other mares just how fast her glider was compared to a customized Gummi ship's as she took off, both in awe at how her glider looked and astounded by the speed she went, making Rainbow Dash jealous of the fact Aqua was faster and got to ride on a cooler mode of transportation.
Aqua arrived several minutes before the ships as she waited for them at the marked location to meet up at. Once she saw the ships began to appear from one of the nearby worlds, she guided them through, though there were barely any worlds within several thousand miles.
"Ok, so where's the world at?" Rainbow asked impatiently. "All I see is black and lots of stars."
"Aqua had to hide it from anymore threats, so it must be invisible somewhere," Sora pondered. "It might only appear if you actually ram into it, or something like that."
"You don't think she forgot about where it was, do you?" Twilight asked over the speaker from Riku's ship.
"She's the only one who knows where it's hidden," Kairi said from her ship. "She does look like she knows where she's going."
A while later, Aqua soon disappeared through an invisible void, surprising the ponies and teens as she went through without flinching. They followed after her, thankfully not winding up in a black hole or an infested Heartless Gummi ship ambush, arriving at what seemed like an empty void. Looking down, Aqua had flown down to a stretch of gray pathway, the only source of land able to be seen. As she landed, she dismissed her armor as it was safe to breathe down there. Sora, Riku, and Kairi thought they would have to land their ships awkwardly for them to land safely, but to their surprise, the ships were able to land on a large chunk of invisible land by the end of the pathway.
Once everyone was off the ships, Sora couldn't help but somehow find this place familiar. He could remember walking down a pathway with an endless grassy plain to find Riku and King Mickey after locking themselves in the Realm of Darkness, then after following a mysterious person in a black cloak similar to the ones from Organization XIII, he recalled walking on a gray path like this and after defeating Ansem, but the rest was a complete blank to him.
"Is this really it?" Rainbow asked, sounding disappointed. "There's nothing here!"
"It's actually further up ahead. It's cloaked in case anyone does stumble on it by mistake," Aqua explained.
The Keyblade Master lead the way while her entourage followed after her, Sora scratching his head while deep in thought, swearing he remembered walking down this path before. Riku, however, remembered this path as he escaped from what would be up ahead while fending off Ansem's darkness, his eyes widening in shock as the place where Ventus rested and where his and Aqua's home were this place.
Once they passed through the cloaking spell, the Mane Six and trio of young Keyblade wielders gasped at the sight of bronze castle with green roofs, though its design was something that Discord could have come up with as some of the structure had sideways chimneys or buildings, even sticking out from underneath the gray platform the building stood upon. "Wow. This place...is weird..."
"This place was my home," Aqua said. "This used to be the Land of Departure, the world made for Keyblade Apprentices to train and become fully fledged Keyblade Masters...Darkness took the land once Xehanort killed Master Eraqus, and was on the brink of destruction..." Aqua began walking forward as the others followed her, unable to believe that this palace and this realm used to be the Land of Departure. "Now, after being instructed by Master Eraqus before I left to bring Terra and Ven back home, I turned this world into what is now known as Castle Oblivion."
"Castle Oblivion?" Sora's head began to ache, somehow knowing the name, but he never even knew about this place before. "...Why does it feel like I've been here?"
Aqua quickly turned around before reaching the doorway, surprised to hear Sora say he felt like he had been to this place. "Have you?"
"I...I don't know..." Sora tried to think back to when he ever came here, vaguely remembering seeing this castle before everything else beyond that became a blur.
"...You must have if you think you have," Aqua mumbled before speaking up. "Castle Oblivion has a power that prevents those who don't know its secrets would lose their memory of ever being here. It can even take memories of yours and forge them into long, simulated rooms, messing with your head and sense of direction. It's meant to keep those with no right to be here confused with slight memory loss until they're far enough away for them, completely forgetting about its existence."
"W-Will the same thing happen to us?" Fluttershy asked timidly.
"Not with me around. The moment I turned the Land of Departure into Castle Oblivion, I know the ins and outs of the entire place like a photographic memory." She turned back around and faced the door. "Just follow me, and you will be fine."
"I actually know this castle," Riku spoke up, stopping Aqua from opening the door as she turned to look at him. The silver-haired teen stepped forward and looked up at the castle. "After King Mickey and I wound up in the Realm of Darkness, right after Sora, Donald, and Goofy closed the Door to Darkness, I wound up down in the lowest basement floor of this place."
"You had?" Aqua questioned, both out of curiosity and shock.
"Yeah...I don't have any memory loss, and I can recall the moments I had to fight Ansem back from taking over my heart again, along with some members of Organization XIII that had taken over the place." Everyone gasped at the information, Aqua gripping Riku's shoulders tightly, demanding answers while also on the verge of panicking.
"Those Nobodies were here in this place!?" she asked.
"I only saw a couple of them, but I also knew that Sora was here as well, but he climbed up, tricked by the Organization XIII members that were stationed here," Riku continued as he looked down.
"What!?" Sora exclaimed as he ran up to Riku in shock. "I was actually here in this place!? And Organization XIII was here too!? Why didn't you tell us, or even remind me!?"
"You couldn't remember what happened, Sora. And thankfully, you never will." Riku moved Aqua's shaking hands off his shoulders as he turned to his friend. "You remember Kairi's Nobody, Naminé?
"Naminé?...Yeah...I saw her back on the castle in The World That Never Was, and that name appeared in Jiminy's blank journal after I woke up from a long sleep," Sora said, clearly remembering the sudden conversation both his and Kairi's Nobody had with each other. "Waking up in that strange lab after trying to find you and King Mickey was...actually a bit bizarre..."
"That's because, while you were climbing up Castle Oblivion, Organization XIII used Naminé's powers to replace your memories that higher you climbed." Sora gasped in shock, the others' jaws dropping as they heard Sora's memories were being tampered with. "Organization XIII had thirteen members in total, but you only remember meeting with eight of them and fighting them, those we know well are your Nobody, Roxas's, Lea's Nobody, Axel, and Xemnas. The other five had perished here, either by you or me."
"...That...does make sense now that I think about it," Sora said, always wondering why Organization XIII was called that when he saw a few of them missing in a group made of thirteen Nobodies. "And...my memories?"
"Naminé put them back together," Riku said. "You were asleep for a whole year so she could put your memories back into place. After I left, I decided to help find any of the missing memories that were remaining in Roxas, assisting Diz, or Ansem the Wise, which was why I was wearing that black coat after I changed back to normal from using the power of darkness to knock him unconscious." Sora was silent, staring at Riku in utter shock as the teen sighed. "After you woke up, I wanted to keep my presence around you to a minimum so you wouldn't see me as Ansem. I have no idea what had been altered in your memories while you were here, but those are completely forgotten thanks to Naminé."
"..................I was asleep for a whole year?" Sora's question made Riku balk in confusion, quickly turning to anger at his oblivious response.
"That's the first question that pops into your mind after telling you all that!?" Riku exclaimed.
"Well, that kind of explained why my old clothes didn't fit me all that much back then." Riku groaned and facepalmed, his best friend more focused on why his clothes shrunk more than the fact his memories were altered.
"You're hopeless sometimes, you know that?" Riku asked rhetorically.
"I know," Sora agreed. "But, Naminé put my head back together, and everything's back to normal." He looked at Aqua, seeing the utter terror on her face at the news of Nobodies being inside Castle Oblivion. Sora winced, forgetting that she had left Ventus inside this chaotic looking castle to keep him safe, though it Organization XIII was here before, then they could have possibly found him. "...Sort of..."
"Oh no. Ven..." Aqua turned back to the door and opened it, rushing inside.
"Hey! Aqua, wait for us!" Sora called out as everyone hurried after her, entering the bright white foyer of the ground floor of Castle Oblivion.
Summoning her Keyblade, Aqua ran up the steps to the golden door and aimed her Keyblade at it. A Keyhole appeared in front of it, quickly firing a beam of light into it to unlock the safe passage through the massive building. The doorway disappeared into a long hallway, the woman running through just as it faded away, the others giving chase before they lost sight of her.
"Aqua, slow down!" Twilight exclaimed.
"We don't want to lose our brains!" Pinkie said. "I want to keep remembering how yummy cupcakes taste!"
"They might not have found Ventus in here!" Riku shouted to try to ease Aqua's worries, but she didn't listen. "Their plan was to get to Sora, not him!"
They kept chasing after Aqua as they rounded several corners down different pathways. Even though Aqua was present in Castle Oblivion, having others in the enchanted building meant having to run through numerous halls to reach the right room, and each direction to go in instantly came to her, praying that Ventus remained where he was and was left unharmed by the Nobodies. She figured that, since they were beings with no hearts with memories of who their former selves were, they weren't able to be manipulated by the defensive spell left in the transformed world because they were empty shells, not random, wandering explorers.
She turned the next corner and stopped before a door, having reached her destination. The others soon followed with Sora appearing from the hallway as he almost kept running forward, only for Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack to run into him, sending the four of them into a tangled heap on the ground in the middle of the intersection of the halls. The rest skid to a halt in front of the tripped ponies and teen, thankful to see Aqua had stopped running and found what she was looking for.
"Is there any reason why, at any random moment, I'M the one who gets crushed by one or more people?" Sora asked himself, swatting away Pinkie's tail hanging over his face.
"But you're the comical, yet sensitive hero, Sora!" Pinkie answered his rhetorical question. "Besides, you should have said stop."
"Good advice," he grumbled before pushing himself up, making the mares that collided into him roll off his back. Sora stretched his back, hearing it crack back into place after having three small equines land on him. He noticed Aqua standing before a doorway, no longer leading them around the endless maze of Castle Oblivion's confusing twists and turns. "Aqua? Are we here?"
She didn't answer as she approached the door. She aimed her Keyblade at the keyhole in the door, unlocking it, hoping she wouldn't see the worst case scenario that would pop into her head. Her anxiety made her slowly open the doors, her eyes closed until they were fully opened. When she opened them, Aqua let out a sigh of relief.
"He's still safe," she said, slowly entering the room.
As the rest of the group stepped inside the white room, walls depicting several symbols similar to what an Emblem Heartless has, and sitting on what appeared to be a throne that matched the room's color was a teenage boy. The strange thing to Sora, Riku, and Kairi was that the teenager looked exactly like Roxas: the same dark blonde, spiky hair, the same build, even his clothing was almost similar in color scheme, just slightly different with how they looked. His pants were a dull gray, though his jacket was white on the right side and black on the left, a gray vest and black shirt underneath, his shoes more like armored boots that were a dull green and blue, along with the pauldron on his left shoulder colored the same way. It was so odd to see just how similar Ventus looked like Roxas, or even Sora, and he hasn't even aged a day after losing his heart. The Mane Six walked around the surprised teens to see Ventus, surprised to see the similarities between Roxas during Pinkie's cloning escapade and the comatose teen in the middle of the room.
"...Wow...This feels...a little weird," Sora said, being the first to speak after a while. He rubbed the back of his neck, still in shock at how similar Ventus looked like his Nobody. "I might accidentally call him Roxas at some point when we wake him up."
"And...he's still a teenager?" Riku asked.
"With his heart gone, his body stopped aging," Aqua answered as she approached the throne. She knelt down on one side of the seat, taking Ventus's hand in her own. "I thought maybe he would have grown while unconscious, but I was wrong...Still the same as when I last left him..."
Sora felt the sudden urge to grasp at something in his right hand, a reaction from Ventus in his heart, practically feeling Aqua's hand on his. He stayed still, frozen in place, while the others got closer to look at him.
"He looks like he's around fourteen," Kairi noted. "Ventus could have probably passed as Sora's older brother if we met him back then."
"I think one Sora's good enough," Riku remarked. "Roxas was bad enough when I had to hunt him down, but actually having a Roxas look-alike who behaves like Sora is too much for me to handle."
The group giggled at the thought, though Sora had remained quiet. He wanted to get a closer look, but part of him couldn't move. He slowly moved his right hand and placed it over his heart, feeling Ventus's light inside of him growing stronger. He wanted to return to his body and be reunited with Aqua again, but what could they do to free his heart and place it back in his body?
"He's still breathing, even though he doesn't have a heart," Twilight noted.
"Ooh! Is he!?" Pinkie bounded up to the front of the throne and placed her head against Ventus's chest as she leaned on his lap. Sora practically felt Pinkie's weight on his own legs and felt her ear twitching against his chest, an odd sensation to feel what the unconscious teen felt. "Yup! He's breathing! But I don't hear a normal organ heartbeat. Did he lose that too?"
As the mares and Keyblade wielders examined Ventus, Sora's eyes began to close as he clutched his chest, feeling Ventus calling him.
When Sora opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a platform in a dark abyss, the same place where he fought Roxas before confronting Organization XIII's lair. Beneath him was the image of himself and his friends: Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi. He turned around, spotting Ventus standing behind him, his body mostly surrounded in light.
"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Sora asked. "Or are you ready to return back to your own body?"
"A little of both," Ventus said. "My heart's recovered by now, and I really want to be back to normal again...Not that being a part of you was a bad thing."
"Oh, gee. Thanks." The two chuckled for a bit at the playful banter. "But Aqua told us she didn't want to bring you back at the cost of my life...I'm not sure how we can get you out of me and back into your body without killing me." Sora sighed in frustration as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot in thought. "Kairi could, but she's exhausted so much energy from earlier."
"Yeah...I know." Ventus looked down in sadness. "I had no idea how much pain she was in...When her darkness, Torrent, got that close and touched your face, I needed to do something. Both to save you and Aqua. So, I tried to reach out to her from where her hoof had touched your cheek, and I found my way into Aqua's heart...If I didn't do anything, she surely would have been gone for good."
"So that's why she acted out like that," Sora pondered. "She began fighting back because you gave back her hope of getting you back."
"Right...And, I think I may have an idea to bring my heart back in my own body without anything happening to us." Sora tilted his head, feeling interested in what Ventus had in mind.
"Aqua's gonna throw a fit if we do whatever you have planned, but I'll do anything and face serious consequences after knowing you're back to normal and she can be a bit happier again." Sora grinned, placing his arms behind his head. "What do you have in mind?"
"Ok. Now, Kairi's one of those seven Princesses of Heart, and even if she's exhausted herself from saving Aqua, she still has some energy left," Ventus said. "Maybe if she uses her light to help guide my light from you to me while you're in contact with me, I could find my way back in my heart and wake back up."
"If you were desperate enough to save Aqua to call out to her, then that might be crazy enough to work." Sora believed Ventus's plan could work, but if not, they'll still keep finding a way to bring him back. "It's worth a shot. I'll see you on the other side, Ventus."
"Same here," Ventus said. "And call me Ven."
Sora chuckled and nodded his head. "Ok...Ven."
Sora opened his eyes, back outside from his heart and in the room where Ventus's body rested. His friends didn't notice him still standing where he was and away from Ventus. He took in a deep breath and stepped forward, approaching his friends, ready to bring Ventus back to the waking world and put his heart where it belongs. He saw the longing sadness in Aqua's eyes, still keeping a gently hold of his hand, promising him to herself that she'll find a way soon. Sora hoped this plan would work, but he had to try. He had an insane idea to wake Kairi back up knowing her heart was in his, and this was just as insane.
Applejack noticed Sora had finally joined them, giving him some room to get a closer look at Ventus. She could see the seriousness in his gaze as he looked down at the young teen sitting on that throne.
"Y'all alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"...Yeah. I'm going to try something crazy." He stood on the other side of the throne, the others wondering what he was doing. Aqua looked at him, a pleading look on her face, telling him not to disobey her orders back in Equestria. He was going to do it anyway, at least giving it one shot before going back to the drawing board. "Aqua, I know you said no, but I'm going to give bringing Ventus back one try."
"Sora, I said no," she said, quickly standing up and letting go of Ventus's hand.
"Ventus wants to come back," Sora replied. "It's not just me who wants this for you and him. Ven wants to do this for you." He held his hand back up to his chest. "I just talked with him a moment ago. He thinks he can return to his body, safely, but I'm going to need Kairi's help."
"Kairi's used up too much of her power of light," Aqua stated. "She hasn't had any magical training on it yet, and I want to wait until she can properly manage it without nearly fainting or exhausting so much physical and mental strain it will take on her."
"Then I'm doing it anyway." The woman stepped back, appalled and starting to get irritated with Sora's stubborn attitude. "Punish me when we get back to Equestria. Or-" Sora held his other hand out, calling forth his Keyblade. "-we can have a duel to see what happens. You win, I won't do anything. I win, I will try out Ven's plan and see if it works."
Aqua grunted, not willing to hurt Sora to do something for her when there were no options to perform a transfer of Ventus's light from Sora back into his body. He was already tired from fighting Torrent, but he always had the energy to keep fighting, even when the odds were against him. She looked down at Ventus, wanting to bring him back after so many years of being separated from his body, but she didn't want any repercussions that might happen if this fails or backfires. After seeing what he was capable of in the past, and even now, a part of her believed he could do this and succeed on the first try.
Aqua soon sighed, giving up trying to argue with Sora, even if she decided to take the dueling route, which she would lose easily to someone with incredible power like him. "...Alright...I'll give you one chance."
The teen nodded, prepared to pull off Ventus's plan. The others stepped back, having no idea what he'll do as he rested his right hand against Ventus's chest. Already, he could feel Ven's light pulse in his heart, ready to move on to the next step to move back inside.
"Kairi, I'm going to need your help," he said. Kairi nodded and stood next to Sora. "Do you think you can create light in your hands without your Keyblade?"
"I don't know, but I'll try," she said. "What do you want me to do?"
"Your light will be a guide for Ventus: from my heart, through my arm, and into his," he explained. "If you feel his light, try to guide him slowly through until he reaches his heart."
"Are you sure this might work?" Kairi asked.
"It's Ven's plan," he said. "I believe this will work."
"...Ok..." Kairi soon began to concentrate, pouring what remaining light she had remaining in her heart out into her hands. After a moment, her hands started to glow, using as much as she could without passing out on Sora. She then brought a hand out and gently pressed it against Sora's chest, gasping in surprise as she felt another light inside. It resonated with her hand, following the stronger light like a beacon. "I can...feel him...He's following my hand."
"Great. Now, slowly trail a path down my arm to his chest." Kairi nodded and slowly moved her hand across Sora's chest, feeling Ventus's light follow as it left Sora's heart.
Everyone gasped in awe as a light came from Sora's chest and followed the light in Kairi's hand as she moved over to his shoulder. Sora let out a breath, keeping his hand pressed against Ventus's chest as he felt his light leave his heart, watching it slowly trail down his arm. Aqua's eyes widened in surprise, watching her friend's light move down Sora's arm until it reached down to his hand. Kairi pressed her hand against Ventus's chest alongside Sora's, the light shining brighter until it entered the comatose teen. Feeling the light had left him, Sora slowly moved his hand away, quickly catching Kairi as she began to faint.
The room was silent as they waited for a moment, the anticipation killing some of them, including Aqua. "Did...Did it work?"
"I think so," Sora said as Kairi recovered from her fainting spell.
A few seconds later, Ventus began to groan and stir, Aqua gasping in surprise as she watched him move. The others watched curiously with jaws agape, Sora's, or rather, Ventus's plan had worked. The teen opened his eyes, the same shade of blue as Sora's, flexing his fingers as he looked down at himself. He looked up, seeing the many shocked expressions on the faces of the ponies, Riku, and Aqua. He lifted a hand up and touched his chest, his heart back to where it belonged. Ventus let out a weak chuckle and looked at Aqua, the woman's eyes filling up with tears as he finally awoke.
"Hey, Aqua," Ventus said tiredly, his voice sounding just like Roxas's.
"...Ven..." Unable to contain her tears, Aqua lunged for the throne and grabbed Ventus, pulling and lifting him into a tight embrace. She was so overjoyed as she sobbed, never knowing when she would have ever done this again if she waited too long. She felt his arms wrap around her, his returned hug a bit weaker as he had just woken back up in his comatose body. "Welcome back..."
"Good to be back," he said.
Aqua fell on her knees as she let out her happiness, holding Ventus tightly as she cried. While he waited for her to calm down, a shock to him ever seeing her break down and cry, he looked over her shoulder and looked at the others. Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Pinkie teared up at the sight, the latter of them bawling a waterfall of tears from her eyes at the heartfelt reunion. Rainbow Dash struggled not to shed a tear with her face scrunched up, trying to act strong, and Applejack had lowered her hat and wiped her hoof over her eyes to hide hers. Sora grinned widely as he held Kairi, the tired girl smiling as well, though Riku was happy to see him awake, he was still unsure about what to feel about someone who looked like his best friend's Nobody.
After Aqua let everything out, she let him go, only to quickly grab him as his legs gave out on him. "Ven!?"
"I-I'm ok," Ventus assured. "My body's still a bit rusty." He let out a chuckle, though it didn't ease Aqua's worries. He found his footing and stood up, his legs shaking a little before he was sure he wasn't going to fall again. "Maybe I should start crawling first before I can walk again..."
"Did you take all of Sora's humor with you on your way back?" Riku asked, making Sora grumbled as he turned to leer at him.
"Maybe...His cheerfulness can be a bit contagious, though." Gently pushing Aqua away, reassuring her he wasn't going to fall again, Ventus stretched out his body, still feeling stiff in the uncomfortable position he was in for nearly fifteen years. Once he regained some feeling in his muscles, he grabbed his pauldron, still feeling it enchantment to give him his armor. "My armor's still here...That's a good thing."
"Ven, are you sure you should be moving about right now?" Aqua asked with worry.
"My body's been in here for several years. I need to stretch and get myself back into fighting shape." Ventus stretched his back, everyone hearing his spine snapping back into place as he let out a groan of relief.
"...Alright..." Aqua wiped her eyes with her sleeve, even if she wanted to constantly coddle him after so many years being apart.
"Group hug pile!" Pinkie shouted happily, bouncing over to Ventus and leaping onto him, sending the teen on his back. "Hi, Venny! Welcome to being awake again!" She looked back at her friends as they dried away their tears. "Come on, guys! Group hug for Venny!"
Ventus laughed and sat up, patting Pinkie on the head. "Just call me Ven, Pinkie."
"You know my name?" she asked.
"Being in Sora's heart, I remember the names of others he's met." He pointed at each mare and said their names respectively. "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. You six are the Elements of Harmony, saved your world several times from Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis and the changelings, and Discord, alongside Sora."
"Ooooooh...You're good." Pinkie rubbed her chin and stuck out her tongue, deep in thought. "What's my favorite color?"
"...Uhhh...pink?" he guessed.
"Yes! What's my favorite food!?" Pinkie asked again as she pressed her muzzle against Ventus's face, only for her question to remain unanswered as Twilight dragged the mare off him with her magic.
"Ok, Pinkie, we get it," the alicorn said. "Ventus knows who we are from Sora's memories."
"You guys think we can get acquainted with Ven after we get out of this room?" Rainbow asked. "This whole place is white and it's burning my eyes just being in here."
"...Yeah...Let's get out of here." Ventus stood up, knowing this place was once his home transformed to protect the secrets of the Land of Departure, a painful experience for both him and Aqua.
Aqua lead the way, making sure Ventus stayed by her side in case he wasn't able to stand up on his own completely yet. This time, there wasn't a massive maze they had to traverse to make it back into the main foyer of the enchanted castle, leaving Castle Oblivion and down the pathway back to the Gummi ships. Ventus had the same reaction as Aqua had at the sight of the spaceships: blocky, slow, and more like a downgrade compared to their Keyblade gliders. Though he felt confident to move around on his own, he had no choice but to ride in the ship, still needing some time to rest from resting after all these years. He rode in Sora's Gummi ship with Aqua in tow, the woman wanting to keep a close eye on her friend like an overprotective mother.
After a warp jump exiting Castle Oblivion's location, making sure to keep no record of the transformed world in case anyone managed to steal their ships and take a joyride, they arrived back in Equestria's atmosphere. The humans transformed into ponies again, Ventus similar to Roxas yet again as a tan pegasus with his dark blonde mane, though his upper clothing stayed the same. He was a little surprised at the transformation his magic instinctively activated, hearing about worlds where it was necessary to do when fitting in with the locals of the world, but it was the first time he had ever turned into anything.
"Ok, this is weird," Ventus said as he looked at his hooves. Once the ships landed, he stood up on his legs, only to fall as he quickly lost his balance. "Urf!...Ok, walking like a horse is gonna be a problem."
"Actually, the term is pony," Sora corrected as he helped him up. "But you can also fly too since you're a pegasus."
"I am?" Ventus turned his head, noticing the extra appendages on his sides. He used muscles he never knew he had, his wings moving with those muscles. Past his tan feathers, he got a look at his flanks, shrieking in surprise at his cutie mark, which was his Keyblade with half of a white heart in the background. The weapon was a bit shorter than a regular blade, just a few inches longer in length compared to a dagger, the blade was gray and slightly curved, three bronze stripes wrapping around the center, the teeth five bars that shorten the further down it went, almost like a wing. The guard was misaligned, one side still gray that connected with the blade, though the other side was bronze, the keychain token hanging off the end a pair of silver wind spiraling a green gem. "When the heck did I get a tattoo on my butt!?"
"It's called a cutie mark," Sora answered, the younger teen instinctively moving his tail to cover her flanks, now freaking out as he realized he wasn't wearing pants. "Yeah. You're going to have to get used to not wearing shorts or pants as a pony."
"Urgh..." Ventus shakily made his way out of the ship, finding it troublesome to walk on all fours. As soon as he reached the ramp, he lost his footing and tumbled down, landing face first into the snow. Grumbling, he lifted his head up and shook the snow out of his hair. "Ok, I had enough fun being a pony. I wanna be human again."
"You'll get the hang of walking like this, Ven," Aqua said, helping the teen back up on his hooves and brushing off some snow that still clung to his head. "Some worlds, as Keyblade wielders, we have to get used to the forms we take to fit in with the world's inhabitants."
"How did you get used to doing this?" Ven asked, mostly out of curiosity than irritation.
"I've been to some worlds Master Eraqus had Terra and I go to for some training outside the Land of Departure," she said. "One of them a vast savannah desert world ruled by a pack of lions."
"You've been to the Pride Lands?" Sora asked. "Did you meet a lion named Simba?"
"I actually didn't much of the savannah." Aqua began giggling in embarrassment as she rubbed the back of her head. "I was...way too distracted with how cute Terra looked as a lion cub." Sora and Ventus rolled their eyes as she basically acted like any girl when they saw something small and cute. "I was ten when we went there that day. It was mostly training us to walk like any quadrupedal creatures that inhabit the worlds...Don't judge me..."
"Too late." Both teens chuckled, each earning a snowball in the face by the embarrassed unicorn.
Later that evening, Pinkie threw Ventus a party in the Golden Oak Library to welcome him to Ponyville and Equestria while also throwing one for him and Aqua reuniting with each other again. Even though Ventus had seen Pinkie's wild antics, he still couldn't believe someone like her was able to set an entire party up in only a few minutes. The confusing thought slipped his mind the moment she brought out freshly baked pastries she pulled out of nowhere, not questioning how she does it as his stomach demanded food. Sadly, for Twilight, Cadence and Shining Armor had left back to the Crystal Empire earlier that afternoon, though she was going to see them again once the Equestria Games arrived.
Since the party would last all evening, it would also be a sleepover, Twilight's second one and a lot bigger than just with Rarity, Applejack, and Sora. Sora sat on the balcony outside of the second floor, taking a breather from dancing to the music going on downstairs. Pinkie had also made some Sea-Salt ice cream for the party as he had one in his hoof, even if they were more salty than sweet. The doors to the balcony opened, the teen turning his head to see Ventus walking out with his own salty-sweet popsicle in his hoof, his face scrunched up in bitterness after taking a bite out of it.
"Eck!" he groaned with a smack of his lips. "Isn't ice cream supposed to be sweet?"
"Yeah, but this kind's a bit different," Sora said as Ventus sat up on the railing with him. "Sad thing is, they aren't supposed to be THAT salty."
"Then why are you eating one?" Ventus asked.
"Eh. Been a while since I had one." Sora took a bite of his ice cream, shuddering at the salty flavor. "Bleck. Pinkie needs to quite putting so much salt on these...I mean, I know equines like salt licks and all, but I think she put in a full package of salt in these things."
"At least there were tons of cupcakes and cookies the ponies here eat. Best treats I've ever tasted in a long while." Sora nodded his head in agreement. The two stallions sat silent as they watched the snow fall in the calm evening. Ventus looked down at his popsicle, though he had a nervous look as his eyes shifted to Sora once in a while. There were a lot of different things he had seen through his former host's eyes in the past few years, especially the struggles he had faced against the Heartless and Nobody that looked a lot like Terra. Not only that, but he looked a lot like Vanitas, but he thankfully wasn't his darkness. Even Sora had his own darkness, though it came in the form of his Anti Form when his Drive Form backfires and releases the darkness in his heart. "Hey, Sora?"
"Hmm?" Sora said as he took another bite of his frozen treat.
"...Do you fear your darkness?" Ventus asked.
"...W-What are you talking about?" Sora asked back, suddenly growing nervous.
"You know what it is," the dark blonde-maned stallion said. "Your Drive Form that appears when your transformation turns you into...that."
Sora's ears wilted, looking down at his hooves in shame. "...Yeah...but..." He cringed as memories turning into that wild beast flooded his mind: the wild and erratic behavior, swift movements with slashes from his clawed hands, and even turning into that thing in front of his friends and almost killing them. "...It's impossible to fight back against it...And...I almost-"
"I know...You don't need to explain..." Sora rubbed his forehead, sighing heavily in distress. "I know exactly how you feel...Your own darkness a burden on others and could cause a lot of destruction..."
"Vanitas?" Ventus nodded his head.
"Xehanort planned on using the both of us to fight against each other, just to create the X-blade..." Ventus gripped the stick of his ice cream tightly, ignoring how he was able to do that as Vanitas's taunting echoed in his head. He attacked his friends, pestered him, tormented him for being weak and not able to fight him, but he at least proved his darkness wrong and succeeded, killing them both by killing him, separating his heart where his light found Sora. "He was a part of me, claiming to be my better half...I proved him wrong, and I kept Xehanort from getting the X-blade...I just hope I don't see him again, but I might eventually."
"...Seems like all of us had dealt with our darkness and had a struggle to fight back," Sora said. "...Well, except Kairi. Her heart is pure light, so she can't have a Heartless." His ears perked up, turning his head to Ventus and pointing at him with his half eaten popsicle. "Don't go getting any ideas trying to woo her, Ven. You were in my heart for several years, and I don't know if you have any feelings for her that came from me."
"Don't worry. I'm not interested in romance just yet," Ventus said, though Sora kept an eye on him as he brought his treat back into his mouth. "Though, considering how finding you would have meant never being able to save her with the power of the Keyblade, maybe she should be all over me instead of you."
"You're younger than all of us!" Sora exclaimed.
"Technically, I'm supposed to be thirty, so aside from Aqua, I'm older than the rest of you," Ventus argued back with a smirk. "So respect your elders, Sora!"
"As soon as you start sprouting gray hairs, then I can respect you as an old man, kid!" Sora butted against Ventus's head as the two pegasi leered at each other.
They couldn't hold their gazes for long as they began snickering, bursting out laughing as they were unable to hold back on the hilarity of their banter. Sora wound up falling off the ledge and on the balcony as he laughed too hard, but Ventus kept his hold on the railing. The two calmed down a bit, letting out small chuckles as they finally caught their breaths.
"I think Riku might have been right earlier," Ventus said. "I probably inherited some of your humor while in your heart."
"At least you didn't steal it all." Sora flipped back on his hooves and took his seat back on the railing, finishing the rest of his popsicle as he held the stick in his mouth. "It's kind of odd how close we are after just finally meeting each other again after all these years. We're kind of like long-lost brothers that we never had."
"Yeah. That's true," Ventus agreed. "I was an orphan, just like Terra and Aqua, but they felt like older siblings to me..." He sighed and took a bite of his ice cream, ignoring the salty taste. "...There's no way we can bring Terra back, though...Aqua was such a wreck without us, and she blamed herself for not saving us...And being stuck in the Realm of Darkness for that long...I'm still so surprised she kept fighting for me with how much stress she had been in. Thanks for being there to try to help her, Sora."
"Well, in a way, you were there with her too," Sora corrected. "She saw you in me when she was having a mental breakdown, and you helped free her from Torrent. But now, you're back in your own body, and we have another ally to help stop Xehanort. Our numbers just keep growing while he's scheming something after his failure in the dream realms with his younger, time-traveling self."
"Which is why we need to stop him as soon as possible." Ventus finished his ice cream and looked at the stick in his hoof. "He's already caused so many problems and brought many worlds to almost be swallowed by darkness. For the sake of every world out there, Terra, and Master Eraqus, his plans will not come to fruition again."
"Right." Sora leapt back down on the balcony and began to head inside. "I'm going back inside and see if Pinkie's got any other games she brought besides Pin the Tail on the Pony. You coming?"
"I'm gonna stay out here for a little bit longer. You go on ahead." Sora shrugged his shoulders and headed back inside to return to the party. Ventus now alone, he looked up at the sky, wondering where his old, malicious teacher was and what he has planned to obtain the X-blade and Kingdom Hearts again. "Xehanort...You'll be in for a rude awakening when we meet again. This time, you won't win again. All of us will stop you." Raising a hoof up to the sky, a flash of light appeared in it as he summoned his Keyblade, Wayward Wind. It was held backhanded, his style of fighting with it against his opponents, spinning it around in his hoof until he pointed it to the sky. "I swear, Terra's life won't be in vain. And tricking Aqua like that to trap her in the Realm of Darkness by taking his body, wasting many years of her life, will not be wasted."
Ventus dismissed his Keyblade, leapt off the balcony, and headed back inside. Even though the old trio would never be the same without Terra, he and Aqua have plenty of other friends, and with their teamwork, he believed there was no way for Xehanort to stand up to them and win this time.