//------------------------------// // Leap of Faith // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// It was a beautiful sunny day out in Sweet Apple Acres, and with all the chores done on the farm early, the Apple family decided to take a little time off and enjoy the day. They headed down to the lake in the orchard and go for a swim, cooling off from the hard work and the warm air of the spring season. Applejack and Big Macintosh were already in the water, the red stallion wearing the same small duck inner tube around his neck like their trip to Golden Delicious's to see if Pinkie was related to them. Sora had no idea if Big Macintosh didn't feel confident enough to swim or wore it in place of his yoke as if he felt naked without something hanging around him, but with the fun they were having, it was better not to ruin it with a personal question. Apple Bloom jumped into the lake, bounding off of Big Mac, then launched in the air by Applejack, cannonballing in the water. Sora took off his clothes and laid them down by a tree, passing by Granny Smith as she napped in the sunlight. "Alright, you three! I suggest you all get out of the way, cause I'm gonna make a splash!" He flew up high into the air, landing on a small cloud hovering over the lake. Standing up his hind legs, he stretched his forelegs out in front of him, bending his back ones to prepare for a dive. "A-one-" He jumped a small bit, letting the cloud absorb his bounce and launch him a little higher. "-two-" He leapt again, fluttering his legs to gain a little more height and bounced off the cloud again. "-and a three!" Sora leapt away from the cloud, diving down at the height of his latest jump toward the water below. The Apple siblings quickly swam away from the center as they saw him flip and twirl as he fell. The moment he was several yards away from hitting the water, he let out a whoop and curled into a ball, splashing into the lake and creating a large wave. Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac were sucked into the tide, reappearing above the surface after getting submerged, but Sora's flashy cannonball wound up splashing water on Granny Smith. "Gah!" the elder mare shouted, spluttering and looked panicked. "We're drownin'! Get the life preserver!" Sora poked his head up out of the water, resurfacing in time to hear Granny Smith begin panicking in her lawn chair. "Oops. Sorry, Granny! Guess that was too big of a splash." "That was amazin'!" Apple Bloom cheered. "Even though ya almost threatened to splash out all the water in the lake," Applejack commented. "Well, at least I made a better entrance than Apple Bloom." Taking offense to his claim, Apple Bloom swam out to Sora and tried to dunk his head in the water, but couldn't since she was still too small and weaker than the teen. While the filly climbed up on his head and stomp him down into the water, he pushed her off, sending her flopping right back into the water. "Hey, Granny! Come and join us!" "Sorry, dearie, but Ah just can't bring mahself to go near that there swimmin' hole," Granny Smith said. "Why?" Sora asked. "Nothing dangerous in here." Apple Bloom resurfaced, spitting a mouthful of water at the pegasus. "Except for the evil water squirting fillies that lurk these waters." "Well, Ah wasn't exactly afraid of the water back then." Ignoring the filly wrestling with his head to try and pull him into the water, Sora swam close to the shore to hear another of Granny Smith's stories about her past. "When Ah was a young filly, Ah used to be an aquapony all-star. Matter of fact, Ah was the only Apple who ever came close to Equestria's high-divin' record! Though, fallin' six stories into a deep dish pie pan sure does take a toll on the hindquarters." "...Into a pie pan???" Sora was amazed. Not at the record or the elder Apple's attempt at beating it, but how ridiculous that was. "That's incredibly dangerous! No wonder your hip acts up at times. I feel like my own butt broke just from listening to that." "But don't ya always land on your hooves from high heights without usin' your wings?" Apple Bloom asked, clinging upside down around Sora's neck. "I've fallen from taller heights, and as long as I'm landing properly, I won't break my legs," Sora explained vaguely, tickling Apple Bloom's sides, making her lose her grip and land on the shore with a splash. "It took me years for me to so much as look at the water again after bein' so sore," Granny continued. "Just the idea of swimmin' makes mah whole body ache. Besides, these old legs of mine won't be able to paddle fast enough to keep me afloat." Granny Smith got up from her chair and began to head back to the house. She wound up stepping on a puddle left behind by Sora's tidal wave of a cannonball, causing her to panic and nearly slip off her own hooves from another traumatizing episode. After keeping herself from falling over, the old mare stayed clear away from any other puddles and avoid another slip up. "Wow...Good thing she isn't where I was born," Sora said to himself. "She would have wound up at the top of a mountain on the mainland to steer clear of the water." "Ah wouldn't know what Ah would do if Ah was scared of the water," Apple Bloom said. "Ah like swimmin'...Hey! Maybe Ah can get a cutie mark for swimmin' across the ocean!" "Don't count on it, Apple Bloom," Sora said, patting the filly's head. "I hear there are crocodiles that swim in salt water." "T-There are?" she asked fearfully. "Oh yeah." Sora grinned impishly as he recalled seeing one and almost getting eaten by one around a certain pirate captain's ship. "In fact, I had a close brush with one before, but I managed to fly in time before it snapped its jaws on me. What's scary about this particular croc is that you can hear him approaching, no matter where you go, no matter what boat you're on. It can even get you on land, wandering anywhere if there's a body of water to swim in" He began to flick his ears back and forth in a rhythm, like the ticking of a clock, scaring Apple Bloom to backing away as he mover forward. "You can hear the ticking of a clock in his stomach, going tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...And it's RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Sora timed his prank just right as the filly's back leg touched the trunk of the tree, making her scream in fright as she ran past him and right back into the water. Apple Bloom thought she had gotten away, but swimming up alongside her was what looked like a crocodile head poking up out of the water, a ticking sound coming from under the water. She turned her head to the ticking, screaming again and fled the water, clinging onto Sora tightly as she shivered in fear. The crocodile stood up, which was Big Macintosh wearing a crocodile hat, holding up a waterproof clock that ticked in his hoof. Apple Bloom heard Sora snicker, the teen holding back his laughter at the reaction she had from his fake out and the actual prank. "That wasn't funny!" "Oh yes it was!" Sora and Big Mac began laughing, Apple Bloom letting go of Sora and glared at him. Applejack sighed and shook her head. "Colts..." After their swim, the Apples and Sora began heading down to Ponyville to pick up some groceries for the house. Apple Bloom sat on Sora's back, occasionally hitting him on the back of the head to get back at him for pranking her. "Hey, while you're up there, can you get my neck?" Sora asked. "Maybe you can get a cutie mark as a chiropractor." "Ok, Sora. Y'all had your fun, so stop teasin' Apple Bloom," Applejack chided. "Eeyup," Big Mac agreed, even though he had a smirk on his face. "That was really mean to do, ya big dummy," Apple Bloom scolded, giving Sora one more bonk on the head. "Ah don't even think a crocodile can even eat a clock." "Well, that story actually is true," the teen said. "I almost did get eaten by that ticking croc, but it was in the mood for pirate captains a lot more, and it did have something ticking with the way its tail twitched like a metronome." He twitched his ears while counting down each second that passed in his head, Apple Bloom jumping off his back and walking alongside Applejack. "But the weirdest story is Granny Smith being a diver. I know you have a lot of tales to tell, but you were also an athletic swimmer and diver as well as a farmer?" "Ah am a mare of many talents when Ah was a youngin'," Granny Smith admitted. "But Ah'm stayin' clear away from anythin' with water unless Ah can drink out of it from a glass. Made the dumbest and most dangerous thing Ah ever done with that divin' record. Even if Ah were young and confident again, Ah'd be leavin' the flyin' to the pegasi." "Ah guess Ah'm gonna be crossin' divin' off the Crusaders' list after hearin' all that," Apple Bloom said. As they reached the hill, they stopped when a group of injured ponies with various ailments or injured limbs passing by them. Clearly, some kind of epidemic had occurred, though what had caused these injuries and sicknesses was beyond them. And most of them didn't seem to be the usual ponies from Ponyville, noticing a few from other cities across Equestria. "Wow. What the heck happened?" Sora asked. "Can't be a Heartless attack if they're all still around." "Where's everypony headed?" Applejack asked. Forgetting their errands, the earth pony family and Keyblade wielder followed the crowd to see where they were going. They began to hear music up ahead in the fields not too far from town, coming from a red and white striped tent that must have been set up some time ago. From the sound of the song being played, it was as if the circus came to town, though most of the audience attending don't look well to even move, let alone watch a traveling performance. "Is there a traveling circus that comes around?" Sora asked. "Not one with all these ponies goin' to," Applejack said, her ears twitching as the music sounded strangely familiar. "Let's see what's goin' on!" Apple Bloom shouted as she ran on ahead. "Apple Bloom!" the farm mare called out. "Oh, quit your worryin'," Granny Smith said. "Can't let a foal's curiosity get crushed over somethin' festive. 'Sides, Ah'm a bit curious to see what's goin' on down there." The elder mare followed the young filly down to the tent, Applejack letting out a dejected sigh. The remaining two Apple siblings and Sora followed them and walked inside the tent, the sick ponies all gathered around a stage. There was a blue curtain set up, and on the stage was what appeared to be a wagon with a crank that rolled a screen meant to show images placed inside for a presentation of sorts. Spotlights flicked on and aimed at the curtains, silhouettes of two skinny and lanky stallions appearing both sides of the stage. "Thank you, one and all, for your attendance, and we guarantee that your time here will not be spent in vain!" the stallion on the left said, the voice very familiar to Sora as he got a better look at the silhouettes, more specifically what they were wearing. "In fact, we think it will prove to be the most valuable time you've ever spent!" The curtains rose after the second stallion announced, revealing, to Sora, Applejack, and Big Mac's shock, Flim and Flam, the same unicorn stallions who nearly ran the Apple family out of their home and life work. "The Flim Flam Brothers! Ah knew this looked fishy," Applejack grumbled. Sora summoned his Keyblade, the flash of his blade's appearance dimmed out by the bright lights on the scamming unicorns. "Want me to bust up their tent? I'll do it." "Let's see what scheme they have first before ya break somethin' of theirs, Sora. Don't want ya to get in trouble if they're sellin' instant apple cider makers." The teen grumbled, but he dismissed his weapon, knowing he'll have to wait and see what money making scam they have in their crooked minds. "Welcome, one and all, to the demonstration of a lifetime!" Flim said. "A demonstration of a better life!" Flam added. "A demonstration of a better time!" Sora rolled his eyes, wishing the swindlers would get on with what they were selling to a bunch of sick and injured ponies. "And if we haven't captured your interest yet, by the time we've finished, an unfortunate phenomenon practically guarantees that we will!" "A phenomenon? What's that?" Flam asked in feigned astonishment, playing off their little play to get the crowd going, and it already was getting them interested with their sideshow performance. "It's a circumstance perceptible by the senses!" Flim stated, the music growing louder as a Flim and Flam song was about to intrigue everyone more. "But in this case, it's the simple fact that:" [Flim] There's ailments all around us in everything we touch and see [Flam] A sickness that lies waiting there in every breath you breathe [Flim] Disease will up and grab you as it crawls from land and sea [Flam] It's amazing how infected that the natural world and all its things can be "Oh boy," Sora muttered. "A health scam. This ought to be good." "Eeyup," Big Mac agreed with a spiteful tone. Flim and Flam stepped down the stage to a few random ponies in the audience, continuing their sales pitch. "Now, I understand that some of you might not think you really are sick." "But twisted hooves and aching joints don't heal all that quick!" Flam stated as he pointed to a few ponies that did suffer from some aches, mostly elderly ponies with their frailer bodies. "Consider just how dangerous this world is!" Flim added, which made Sora cross his forelegs, knowing full well there's a lot more danger than getting sick by bacteria in the air or ground. "You might-" [Flam] Slip and fall, break or sprain something here tonight [Flim and Flam] But luckily for you, we've got the thing you need And it's easier when all you need's the cure The Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic Is just what the doctor ordered, I'm sure On the wagon, their supposed healing tonic's picture appeared at the crank of the handle on the side. It was a large glass bottle with a green liquid inside it, branded by their silhouettes right on the front of the label. Everyone was eating up the ridiculous notion of the healing potion, which irritated Sora since he knew for a fact medicine like that doesn't instantly cure anything. Sure, his own potions he uses can give him a small boost of energy and regenerate any injuries he had sustained in a fight, but they weren't the kind to ingest as the ingredients inside them were clearly not from anything those two unicorns could get their hooves on. But aside from the healing properties they had, they don't exactly fix serious injuries like a broken limb, or any serious medical ailments that really harm someone if not taken care of right away. "Now I know our claims seem fantastical," Flim said. "Impractical!" Flam added. "Improbable!" Flim included. "Highly impossible," Sora muttered, his right hoof gripping onto his jacket's sleeve tightly as he grew more and more disgusted by whatever lies they were telling, Flam saying the exact same word he used aloud. "And magical!" the brothers said simultaneously. "So we welcome anypony suffering to make their way upstage to see for themselves, showing proof just how special our tonic truly is!" As Flim spoke, Flam was already seeking out someone in the audience before his brother finished his statement. "You, there!" Flam pointed before anyone had their hooves up, his hoof pointing at a silver earth pony stallion wearing blue overalls, a gray mane and tail, big, circular glasses, and a hat. He was also on crutches, struggling to stay up with his weak back legs, surprised to be pointed out by the flimflamming twins. "Yes, you! Come up here good sir!" "You must be tired to walking around on those crutches, my good stallion," Flim pondered as the stallion made his way up the stage. Flam pulled out a bottle of their tonic out from inside of the small wagon on the stage. "Try taking a sip of this." The mustachioed twin uncorked the bottle and poured some of the green liquid into the handicapped stallion's mouth. As expected for medicine, he grimaced at the foul taste as the crowd waited for the tonic to take effect. The stallion took off the crutches attached to his hooves and began to stand on all fours, her forelegs shaking a bit until he was fully standing. As amazed as everyone else was at the full recovery he had made in only a few seconds, Sora was the only one who was skeptical of the medicinal miracle out of the suspecting Apple siblings. [Flim and Flam] That's why you're so lucky we've got the thing for you The now fully cured stallion grabbed his crutches, joining in the cancan dance with Flim and Flam Just come on up, we've always got some more Of the Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic The silver stallion leapt off the stage, threw away the needless crutches, and danced his way out of the tent. [Cured Stallion] I won't need these crutches to dance out the door "Well, how do ya like that!?" Granny Smith asked, already interested in buying a product made by the same unicorn twins that almost got them kicked out of their family home. "I don't," Sora said, leering at the flimflamming FlimFlam Brothers. "Yeah. There's somethin' funny goin' on here." Applejack could tell something was off, but she couldn't put her hoof on it. "Granny Smith, you're planning to buy something from rivals who, need I remind you, almost destroyed your family's legacy?" the teen reminded the elder Apple, but she was too enthralled by the tonic's power to hear him. "Granny!?" "Hush, child," she said while lazily waving her hoof at him, making Sora more sour as the swindlers managed to win Granny Smith over with their lies. The lights dimmed as the music began to soften, Flim wearing a blue cloth tied as a bonnet on his head as the tone of the song was a bit somber. He approached an elderly stallion, using him as an example that everyone would end up having trouble with when they reach their senior years or any pains they might have at the moment. [Flim] Now some of you may suffer from feelings of despair You're old, you're tired, your legs won't work, there's graying in your hair [Flam] Just listen and I'll tell you that you don't need to fear The music went back to its upbeat and catchy tune, Flim taking off his temporary headgear to put back his usual one, holding another fresh bottle of tonic in his telekinetic aura. Your ears will work, your muscles tone, your eyes will see so clear [Crowd] Luckily for us, you've got the thing you need The answer to our problems in a jar The Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic Is the greatest ever miracle by far! The ponies began to chant "tonic", irritating Sora greatly as the audience was eating up Flim and Flam's musical presentation. "This is just great. It's the stupid cider squeezing machine all over again, only instead of your family they're going to ruin, they're going to cheat everyone out of their money for a fake product." "But...what if it does work?" Applejack asked herself out of Sora's hearing, Flim and Flam beginning to show the "many" ailments their tonic can also cure. "It cures the reins, the spurs, and the Clydesdale fur blight!" Flim began the list of ailments as they showed theses odd diseases from their wagon. "Hooferia and horsentery cured in just a night!" Flam added. "You've got swollen hooves and hindquarters or terrible bridle-bit cleft!" Flim stated, pointing out some of the ponies in the audience with the ones he spoke of now, which was a bit disturbing to see. "Saunter sitz and gallop plop will give your tail some heft!" Sora began tuning out all the other symptoms, pains, illnesses, whatever nonsense or actual Equestrian sickness they could name as they only fired the sick ponies up. "I'd love to see them test out their wonder tonic on themselves with twisted limbs, a shattered rib cage, and a crushed brain," the teen growled, pulling his jacket sleeve so hard he would wind up tearing it off at any moment. "You heard it here, folks!" Flim exclaimed. "This is the only place in Equestria where you'll find it!" [Flim] It can make you shorter, taller, or even grow old [Flam] But who'd want that? [Flim] When with one drink Sora was ready to explode, snorting angrily as he held his hoof out to summon his Keyblade. [Flim and Flam] You can be young again- "SOLD!" Granny Smith yelled out, holding up some bits in her hoof, catching everyone's attention. "WHAT!?" Sora shouted in utter shock. "Congratulations, Granny Smith!" Flim said, levitating a bottle of their tonic to her while taking her bits in exchange. "You just made the purchase of a lifetime!" Sora was unable to process any words. He brought his hooves to his hair, tugging slowly and painfully, unable to believe that Granny actually believed the Flim Flam Brothers's scam after all they did to try to take over her family's farm. Applejack and Big Macintosh were highly concerned, unsure if what the unicorn twins were saying about their tonic is true, even if it was too true to believe. After leaving the tent with Granny Smith's purchase, the Apple siblings and Sora stood by the river to contemplate what had just happened. The pegasus mumbled to himself, rocking back and forth on the ground, his spiky hair more disheveled than normal as he questioned so many questions with answers he demands to know. "Sora, are ya ok?" Apple Bloom asked. "...Guys...please tell me your grandmother didn't just get short-term memory loss an hour ago," he pleaded, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks as he pulled his cheeks. "Please tell me she knew what those two tried to do to you, your home, and your family's legacy here in Ponyville...Because...I am at a loss for words at how she was sucked into that stupid tonic they made when they tried to run you out of your home! Your home! Your hard work! Everything your family has done for this town!" "Maybe they...really did make a cure-all?" Big Mac thought aloud. "They are unicorns. Maybe they know a healin' spell like your magic?" "My Cure spell heals minor injuries and regains stamina, in combat or with small scrapes like a bruise," Sora explained, sitting up with his forehooves trembling. "Serious injuries, like broken or sprain limbs can be numbed with the spell, but not permanently heal it. When Aqua and Kairi had their legs broken, it took time for those to heal. I'm not a magician or a doctor, but I know full well that if I have a broken bone, that needs to be mended in a cast for about a month or two...or, in Equestria, a few days, because medical magic can heal faster than what I know of." "So, Granny Smith was wastin' her money?" Apple Bloom asked. "Yes. Yes she did, little Apple Bloom," Sora said, patting the filly's head. "In fact, my own potions I keep stocked on me have stronger and instant healing power than a liquid medicine claimed to cure every single medical problem, or even making someone grow older or younger! And it has the same effects as my Cure spells, just varied on their strengths!" He dug into his pouch and pulled out his healing items, a Potion, Hi-Potion, Ether, Hi-Ether, and an Elixir. "These green ones regenerate lost energy and heals injuries made in fights. The blue ones regenerate mana. And the gold one is able to do both, completely rejuvenating someone in health and magic. And since they're magical-" Sora put away everything except for a potion, tossing it up, the bottle disappearing and reappearing over Apple Bloom as green energy, the filly shuddering at feeling herself being given a boost of energy from the magical powder. "-these can't be drunk." "Howdy, y'all!" Granny Smith said as she was doing the backstroke going downstream in the river, wearing a red and white polka-dotted bathing suit with a red swimming cap. "Hi, Granny," Sora called out. "Now, I think that Flim and Fla-" His jaw dropped, he and the Apple siblings looking down at the water, shocked at seeing the elder mare in the water. "Granny Smith!?" "What in tarnation is she doin' in the water!?" Worried for the mare's safety, having no clue why Granny Smith was swimming when she had a fear of it and had a bad hip from her diving career in the past. Big Macintosh took off his yoke and threw it toward her, but she continued swimming by the stallion's neck piece. Sora flew on ahead, called forth his Keyblade, and fired a barrage of Blizzard spells up ahead, creating an icy bridge in the water for her to stop at. "Granny, grab on!" Sora called out as he landed on the end of the ice platform, only for Granny to swim around it, not even bothered by the chilled ice in the water. "Uhh...Granny Smith???" After she continued swimming for a while, the elder Apple reached the shore and climbed out, her grandfoals running down to the shore with grave concern for her. "Granny, Ah thought ya were too afraid of the water to swim!" "Well, Apple Bloom, that would have been quite a problem if it weren't for this here Flim Flam Tonic!" Granny Smith held out the bottle she bought from Flim and Flim, already half drunk. "Granny Smith, I don't think that tonic can heal physical, or mental, injuries," Sora explained, trying to keep himself from blowing up on the elder mare as he held out another one of his Potions. "My own Potions can do a far better job at numbing pain than what those two con artists had made." "Nonsense, ya worry wart!" Granny took a swig of her tonic, not minding the taste. "If it didn't work, then could Ah do this?" She began dancing around, feeling more spry and mobile than she had earlier. She even began break dancing, surprising the four younger ponies, which only confused and frustrated Sora more. "...Well, at least we know you're feelin' better," Applejack said. "But, how do ya know it's the tonic workin'?" "When Ah looked out at the water today, I began feelin' them aches and pains Ah used to have from mah injuries. But now, with this here elixir, one sip made me feel like a teenager again!" Sora just shook his head, still in utter disbelief that con artists like Flim and Flam were able to make a potion, a cure-all, that can immediately cure anything that ails anyone. "Ah'm feelin' up for some apple buckin' as well! What do ya say, Mac-a-doo? Care to see how your Granny bucks in her day?" "Uhh, nnope," Big Mac said, feeling mortified and greatly worried to see his grandmother buck a tree of its apples. "Oh, don't bellyache, sonny!" Granny Smith insisted, dragging the poor stallion off against his will, surprisingly strong enough to pull a stallion like Big Mac at her elderly age. "Wow. Their potion really does work," Apple Bloom said in awe, but Applejack and Sora were not all that convinced, mainly Sora. "Alright, that's it. I'm confronting those money-grubbing punks and find out what scheme they're playing at!" He marched off to head straight back to Flim and Flam's little tent, Applejack and Apple Bloom hurrying after him. "Sora, don't be too rash," Applejack warned. "Ah know them brothers aren't trustworthy, but Ah don't want ya to bust up their stuff and get into trouble." "I was caught by the guards here over a superstition from Rainbow Dash claiming I was creating the Heartless. If they throw me in jail for busting up a false advertisement for a cure-all, which is highly impossible because not one thing can really heal every single problem in the world, then good luck keeping me locked up when I have a weapon that's basically a skeleton key for every kind of lock anyone makes!" Applejack now began to fear Sora would wind up going too far with his suspicions, even though she feels like what Flim and Flam were doing was entirely wrong. Sora, Applejack, and Apple Bloom arrived at the top of the hill where they could see Flim and Flam's tent. Apparently, it seemed like another crowd of ponies decided to take a look at what they were selling as they heard the same song they sang to win over the others they were with, including Granny Smith. "So, are we gonna ask them how they made their tonic?" Apple Bloom asked. "They're not going to tell us a recipe if it's too good to be true," Sora said, glowering at the tent. "They sure as heck aren't going to tell their paying customers what's in it as long as they get them sucked into the product their selling. Zecora made potions similar to what I carry on me after Twilight and I were kicked out of Ponyville when Trixie came back to cause trouble. At least hers did help me after I got beaten badly, but large doses and with rest, not immediately. And she's an expert on healing potions and tonics, so if we give her one of these Flim Flam Tonics, she can easily tell what they used." "And if you're right, you're gonna break their stuff?" Applejack asked. "Yes...Oh yes indeed," Sora said. "And give everyone their money back." The pegasus lead the way while the two Apple sisters followed him, Applejack a little worried to know just how far Sora will go to get rid of the Flim Flam Brothers. She knew he wouldn't kill them, just vandalize their devices for the sake of others being conned into a losing deal, but she was going to have to pull the reins on him if his buttons were pressed. He was just as concerned about Granny Smith like she was, only looking out for her and her family as an honorary Apple family member. As they got closer, the song they heard reached the point where they had seen the stallion on crutches cured of his physical handicap and danced out. Ironically enough, that same stallion came dancing out of the tent, singing the same lyrics in the performance. As soon he was far enough away from the entrance so the audience inside didn't notice him, he took off his hat, only to spot the trio leering at him. "That was the same pony who was cured earlier!" Apple Bloom obviously stated. The stallion gasped and ran away, already caught. "Hey, don't run away from us!" Sora shouted as he ran after him, far faster than the faking stallion. He tackled the earth pony around the back of the tent, slamming him hard to the ground as he brandished his Keyblade. Looking around, there were several different outfits, disguises, and crutches, the silver stallion's ailments nothing but an act, and he was working with the conniving unicorn twins. "I knew it! You're working with Flim and Flam, you sick son of a-!" "Sora!" Applejack pulled the teen off of the frightened stallion after catching up with them. "Ah know you're mad, but don't threaten him!" "Applejack, he's working with the Flim Flam Brothers!" Sora exclaimed, waving his hoof at the many costumes around them. "This guy's clearly fine and he had no serious physical condition, which means that tonic is nothing but a disgusting liquid that doesn't even do anything! I knew it was a fake the moment Flam began searching out a specific someone from the audience, and it's their accomplice standing alongside the other really sick ponies!" "Sora, calm down," Applejack calmly said, sitting the furious pegasus down. "Stay put," she ordered, Sora willing himself to obey as she approached the shivering stallion. "Who the hay are ya?" "S-Silver Shill," he answered, backing away from the farm mare. "W-What do you three want?" "Were ya fakin' bein' sick to help Flim and Flam with their get rich quick scheme?" she asked. Silver Shill didn't respond, stammering as he stalled, his hoof reaching out to something behind him. "Answer Applejack or you're going to answer to me!" Frightened, Silver pulled a lever, activating a steam whistle that blinded Sora, Applejack, and Apple Bloom. He slipped away and ran back inside the tent after the new audience left with their fake tonic. As soon as the steam cleared away, Applejack glared at Sora for his threat. "Real smooth, Sora," she said. "Let's find him!" Apple Bloom said as she ran on ahead to find out where he went. Sora and Applejack checked the tent while the filly wound up leaving the back and searched elsewhere around it. Inside, the two found Silver cowering behind Flim and Flam, both stallions surprised to see them, especially Sora as he slowly approached them with his Keyblade dragged along the ground, acting like a predator sizing up its prey. "Well, seems like you two are up to more trouble after I slashed up your cider machine," he growled. "And what trouble have we gotten into?" Flim asked, not even afraid of Sora's threat. "Your stupid tonic you wound up selling to Granny Smith!" the pegasus reminded them as he pointed his Keyblade at them. "It's making her act like she's seventeen again, and I know it doesn't do a thing because of that coward hiding behind your legs!" Silver shivered more, avoiding Sora's death glare while Flam brought his attention to him. "And how exactly is that a bad thing? Our tonic heals anything, including making a pony feel young again." "You charlatans are gonna get her hurt or heavily exhausted with that tonic!" Applejack said. "And ya have somepony workin' with ya to sell your tonic, where he pretends to be sick!" Both unicorns hummed in thought until Flim spoke up. "Well, that is quite the accusation. But, if it were true,-" "Hypothetically speaking," Flam said. "Granny Smith used to be a famous aquapony back in her heyday," Flim continued, making Sora hate how these twins can practically read each other's minds and know when to say what. "But she hasn't set hoof in the water since that incident, correct?" "...Y-Yes," Sora said. "Until earlier today..." "We see," Flam said, brushing his mustache with a sly grin. "Well, even if our tonic is nothing but a blended mix of apple juice and beet leaves,-" "Theoretically speaking," Flim said, grabbing a blender, tossing in a few apples, thankfully not from Sweet Apple Acres, and beet leaves in, activating it to turn it into the same green liquid in their bottles. "-Granny Smith is a lot more happier than she has been before trying our tonic, yes?" Flam continued. Their statements began conflicting Sora and Applejack, the teen lowering his hoof as their guesses were clearly spot on. "...Y-Yeah...she has..." "So, I think there is a really important question you two should be asking yourselves," Flim said. "Do you want to be the ponies who would dare take Granny Smith's happiness away?" Flam asked. As much as Sora hated to admit it, Flim and Flam did have a point. Just this morning during their swim, Granny Smith freaked out after getting splashed and slipping on a puddle of water. Now, after drinking the placebo of a health drink, she was back in the water, she felt alive again, and she felt like she could do anything without the fear of her old age taking away the fun things she wanted to do, whether on her own or with her grandfoals. Even if Granny was happy, what would happen if she really got herself hurt and the tonic didn't work to heal her? As much as he didn't want to ruin his pseudo grandmother's happiness, having her and other ponies buying a fake product that won't do anything to help with their serious injuries and steal their money decided his answer. "As long as it works, I guess...it doesn't matter." Sora glanced over at Applejack, utterly shocked at her answer. He growled, pointing his Keyblade at the smug flimflamming twins. "It does to me! You're nothing but a bunch of thieves!" "Sora, no!" Applejack shouted, forcefully pushing his hoof down. "Ah want Granny Smith to be happy." "But, Applejack-" She pressed her hoof against his muzzle, silencing his complaints as her eyes begged him to hear her out. "Ah know. Ah can't trust Flim and Flam," she admitted. "Ah don't want them doin' this as much as you do...but Ah don't want to disappoint Granny..." Sora couldn't believe his ears. Applejack, the Element of Honesty, the mare who's a terrible liar, and whose family followed the rule of honest, hard work, was actually considering lying to her grandmother, the mare who looked after her and her siblings when their parents had died, just to keep her happy over a scheme made up by the duo who almost ruined their family legacy and the starting point of Ponyville's founding. "Please, Sora...Ah don't want ya to tell her. She can't know." "...You're actually going to lie? To your own grandmother?" Sora's question stung Applejack deeply, knowing full well her decision wasn't exactly right for anyone. She didn't want Granny Smith to lose her confidence with the "miracle" tonic bought by Flim and Flam, but at the cost of everyone else falling for their ploy for to have their money taken by a fake cure-all. Sora looked at Flim and Flam, ignoring Silver Shill trying to sneak away to avoid his wrath, seeing their winning grins on their faces. They knew the Apple family cared deeply for their family, and with Sora as a part of their family after sticking up for them when they came to their farm, he wouldn't want to hurt his family either. He let out a frustrated sigh, dismissing his Keyblade in defeat. "...I won't tell her..." "Thank you, So-" The Keyblade wielder held his hoof up, stopping Applejack for accepting her wishes. "I'm not going to feel right knowing I'm going to have to lie to your family about this, Applejack," he said with disappointment. "I'll lie so she can be happy, but if she gets reckless and relies too much on that liquefied gunk, I will not hesitate to tell her the truth, which is exactly what your Element is supposed to represent: Honesty." Her ears drooped, feeling ashamed as she looked down at the ground, her hat veiling her eyes as it pained her to have to be dishonest to the mare who raised her, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom after that horrible instant as a filly. Sora leered at the Flim Flam Brothers, stomping his hoof down on Silver Shill's tail as he tried to sneak past him, the earth pony accomplice yelping in fear as the teen dragged him in front of him. "You two wipe those smirks off your face! "If anything happens to Granny Smith because of your tonic, you'll regret it if she gets severely hurt because of your lies!" Flim and Flam shrugged off Sora's threat as they carried the large sack of bits they "earned" with their "helpful product. He then looked at Silver Shill, moving closer to the scared stallion as he dared not move. "If I were you, Silver Shill, I would stop working with a bunch of petty thieves like them. You don't get anywhere in life if you take advantage of others and sell something you claim can do whatever you say, when all it is is just a watered down protein shake that only gives you stomach pain the more you drink it." Silver Shill gulped, Sora's words either sinking in or scaring him away from his advice didn't matter to him anymore. He let go of the stallion's tail, Silver immediately fleeing as he scurried behind the unicorn twins. He turned around and began heading out of the tent, passing by Applejack without giving her a passing glance. "Have a nice day," Flim said. "Come back anytime," Flam added, both swindling stallions grinning mockingly as they watched Sora leave. The teen froze as his ears twitched, gritting his teeth angrily before he continued on. He didn't follow the road back to Sweet Apple Acres, needing time away from Applejack, utterly disappointed in her for going through with telling Granny Smith a white lie. Apple Bloom spotted him after searching around the tent to find Silver Shill, wondering where he was going as she ran after him. "Sora!" She caught up with him, but he didn't stop moving. "Where are ya goin? Did ya find that stallion?" "Go back home with your sister, Apple Bloom," he said, hiding the anger in his voice so he wouldn't scare the filly. "She'll tell you everything..." "But where are-?" Sora stopped and stomped his hoof hard, startling Apple Bloom. "...I just...want to be alone right now..." He waited and listened, not turning his head to look at her. Apple Bloom didn't say anything, only nodding her head as she turned away and made her way back to where Applejack waited for her outside the tent. He continued on his way, heading out into the empty fields where his, Riku, and Kairi's Gummi ships were parked, but he had no intentions of sleeping this today's disastrous events off. He was angry. He needed to release all of the pent up rage against the Flim Flam Brothers for forcing him and Applejack to lie while also receiving a benefit for taking away their money for their distasteful tonic. Sora smacked his pauldron and donned his Keyblade armor, summoning his Keyblade and transforming it into his glider. He leapt on and flew out of Equestria, turning back into a human as he made his way to the Mirage Arena. Once he arrived, he approached the console, not even caring what level of difficulty any of the preset challenges he skimmed through were, picking one and making his way to the transporter to the arena down below. He didn't care which of the Unversed in the matches he would face are as he summoned his Keyblade in his hand. As soon as the match began, he screamed at the top of his lungs and ran head on into the enemies in the simulated fight that laid in wait for him. By the next day, Sora couldn't stand what had transpired. He spent the whole night in the Mirage Arena, fighting the difficult matches without any rest as he mowed down the Unversed set up in each match, using all of his fury on them and each challenge's boss. At one point, he did wind up reverting into his Anti Form when shifting to any of his Drive Forms, not even caring if his Heartless had a bit of fun being free for a short while until its time ran out, letting it release some of its anger for him. Despite reverting back draining him for a short time, his adrenaline still pumped through his veins as he continued fighting. He returned back to Equestria after finally exhausting himself as morning rose. He was tired, his body demanded sleep, and he didn't feel satisfied unleashing his anger. He was still pretty sore with Applejack as he made his way back to Sweet Apple Acres, not wanting to let the Granny Smith, Big Mac, or Apple Bloom worry about where he went. He found them down by their swimming hole, the elder swimming with her grandfoals, except for Applejack as she sat on a swing set up under one of the trees nearby. He turned his head away from her when she looked at him, not liking keeping the tonic Granny Smith drank a secret as she saw someone else in place of the honest mare he thought he knew. That day started innocently enough with the other three Apples swimming, but then Apple Bloom brought up a swim meet here in Ponyville she wanted to take part in, and had a crazy idea of having Granny Smith join her to compete. Applejack made the mistake of saying that a swim meet sounds safe if she could handle swimming in a river or a small lake. That lead to the elder mare to want to buy more tonic, which meant going back to Flim and Flam's tent of lies, and buying a whole case of the stuff in front of more sick and injured ponies. And yet again, Applejack had to open her big mouth, saying that it did work for Granny Smith, where the Flim Flam Brothers capitalized on her slip up and basically slapping Sweet Apple Acres onto their bottles as if she actually approved selling their tonic to the public. The next day was the swim meet, and Sora was more irate than yesterday after Applejack's "confirming" statement in front of several witnesses about the Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic. He came to watch the meet, somewhat supporting Apple Bloom and Granny Smith with what they would be competing in, but he couldn't bear keeping this lie for much longer as the meet also had a diving tower along with the different smaller heights of diving boards by the pool. At some point, the old mare will think about diving again, the tonic like an elixir of life that makes her feel younger and younger the more she drank. It didn't help that Flim and Flam were selling them several yards away from the bleachers, more ponies believing the cure-all could do anything with Applejack's unofficial seal of approval. "Sora?" He looked at Applejack, having finished making sure Apple Bloom and Granny Smith would be safe with their event in synchronized swimming, their routine forgotten as they both had their own problems to deal with. "Look, Ah know you're mad at me, but can ya at least talk to me." "What's there to talk about?" Sora grumbled. "Just from this lovely little endorsement deal you made with Flim and Flam, everyone's buying their tonic...Oh wait, you aren't getting a profit out of it, because they had your word the moment you opened your mouth in front of them yesterday and used you and your family farm's name." "Ah know...Ah'm makin' things worse." Applejack sat beside the teen, but he moved away from her on the bleachers. She looked down at the ground, struggling to cope with lying to her own family, but it was difficult for her to do this if it meant keeping her grandmother happy. She looked over at Sora, the stallion blankly staring out at the pool, noticing the bags under his bloodshot eyes. He hadn't slept in days, just as torn up about lying to Granny Smith as well, and he wanted nothing more than to stop this madness before it got worse the moment they saw Flim and Flam back in Ponyville again. She should have let him knock those unicorns out and tell everyone the truth and give back the bits they wasted. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith's routine finished, the audience applauding as the judges gave them a perfect ten across the board, although the one in the center, a blue-green unicorn mare named Lyra Heartstrings, accidentally held the ten card upside down that made it look like a one. The filly and elder mare climbed out of the pool, suddenly bombarded by reporters as they took their pictures and interviewed them. "That was some of the most amazing aquabatics I've ever seen!" one reported commented. "How did you do it? Hard work? A lot of practice?" "Eeyup, but it's mostly the tonic!" Granny Smith said, holding up a bottle of Flim and Flam's tonic. "That's Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic, to be precise!" Flim suddenly said as he and Flam squeezed into the shot to promote their product. "Buy it now while supplies last!" Flam added as the reporters snapped their pictures with Apple Bloom and Granny Smith. Sora growled, his legs fidgeting as Flim and Flam were going to have their fake tonic known throughout the world at this rate. "Great. Everything's going to fall into chaos. Where's Discord when you need him?" Applejack winced, burying her face in her hooves, regretting the choices she made in the past couple days. While news ponies crowded the old and young swimmers, the mare looked over and noticed Silver Shill going around the bleachers, wearing a black and white striped shirt like those worn by referees, a cap with sports pins on it, and carrying a case with several bottles of the Flim Flam Miracle Curative Tonic around his neck. He wound up selling one to a stallion, taking the bit for it and giving the unsuspecting customer a fake product. She needed to set things right, fed up with the lies and marched up to the swindling unicorn twins's accomplice. Silver turned to approach any new customers, yelping in surprise as he almost bumped into Applejack. "You're still workin' with Flim and Flam?" "W-Well, they gave me a promotion," he said. "Just made my first bit as a salespony. So, no more costumes for me." Applejack raised a brow at the stallion, finding it hard to believe the outfit he was wearing wasn't considered a costume. "...Uhh, this is actually more of a uniform." "Sure it is." As she leered at Silver, the stallion peered over her shoulder, spotting Sora sitting on the bleachers. "Don't worry about him. Worry about me." "H-He's not going to hurt me...is he?" Silver Shill asked. "Not unless you get in his line of sight seein' you sellin' that," she said, pointing at the bottles in the case held around his neck. "...Am I doing the right thing?" the stallion asked, catching Applejack off guard. "I mean, after you two left the tent the other day, Flim and Flam told me I did a good job, even though we were lying about the tonic...They said that honesty wasn't the best policy, and I should learn more about that from you and your own lies to your grandmother." "They said what!?" Silver Shill shrieked and turned around to see Sora standing behind him. He didn't even see or hear him, the tired and furious pegasus grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him toward the Keyblade wielder. "You really believed those idiots!?" "Please don't hurt me!" Silver Shrill begged. "Sora, stop!" Applejack grabbed Sora and pulled him away from Silver Shill. "Y'all need to take a dip in the pool and cool down!" "This idiot is still working for those two cheating money grubbers!" Sora shouted. "You and the Flim Flam Brothers are a liability to other ponies, and as soon as someone does something stupid, thinking they're invincible after drinking a bottle of that sludge, you won't show your face anywhere unless you want to be ridiculed as a liar!" "Y-You mean like...up there?" Silver Shill pointed up to the diving tower, Applejack and Sora looking in the direction where he pointed. Climbing up the ladder was Granny Smith, making both ponies' jaws drop in horror. "GRANNY!?" "What the heck is she doing!?" Sora exclaimed. "Granny's gonna break the Equestrian high-divin' record!" Apple Bloom said after she placed a pie tin filled with water underneath the board from the tower. Both pegasus and farm mare gaped in utter shock at the filly as she said that with excitement. "That tonic sure can work wonders! Ah think Granny can do just about everything!" Sora slowly turned his head to look at Applejack. "...What...did you tell Apple Bloom...after I left!?" The grimace on her face explained it all, making him groan as he turned back to the filly, grabbing her and shaking her. "Apple Bloom, what made you think Granny Smith could survive diving into something that small at her age!? Did you encourage her!?" "She said she could do it!" she said, the teen stopped shaking Apple Bloom, her eyes rolling around in her head. Granny had already reached the top of the tower and began to take a swig of her tonic, about ready to jump off and dive to her death. Sora let go of Apple Bloom and shot up off the ground, everyone on the ground watching either in awe or shock at what the elder Apple was going to do. Before Granny Smith even dove an inch off the board, the teen grabbed her, being careful not to squeeze her too hard with her frail body. "Hey! What in tarnation are ya doin!?" Granny asked as she tried to squirm out of Sora's grip, failing heavily as he was far stronger than her. "No offense, Granny, but have you gone senile!?" He hovered back down to the ground, lowering the old mare on the ground. "Granny, what were ya thinkin'!?" Applejack questioned with worry. "Ya can't go and do a dive like that!" "Oh, don't y'all get your saddle in a bunch!" Granny brushed off the concern. "Ah had enough tonic in me to do a dive ten times that high!" "Twenty times, by my count," Flim said as he and Flam barged in. "Thirty, with a favorable breeze," Flam estimated, handing Granny another bottle of tonic. "Oh, shut up!" Sora shouted. As the elder mare chugged down the tonic, the light reflected off the bottle and liquid, flashing rainbow for a brief second. Sora noticed the light, momentarily forgetting about the Flim Flam Brothers as he looked at Applejack, her eyes flashing rainbow, which meant another piece of powerful light for Twilight and a D-Link form with Applejack. Unable to hide back the truth anymore, she began to speak. "Ah hate to disappoint everypony, but there was no way Granny could have made that dive! This tonic is a fake!" The crowd gasped, Sora finally relieved to have it all come out and trash Flim and Flam's credibility around Ponyville even more. "She's right! This gunk is nothing but a worthless placebo that can't heal any wounds, injuries, or ailments!" "But Applejack gave it a stamp of approval!" one pony said. "No, she didn't!" Sora argued, pointing a hoof at Flim and Flam. "These two morons slapped an false endorsement of Sweet Apple Acres approving this stuff to sucker you all into buying the tonic and take your money!" "And we both lied," Applejack added, making everyone gasp even louder as the Element of Honesty had lied, knowing about the tonic this whole time. "It was more mah fault for lyin'...Everypony was happy, and Ah didn't want to let anypony down, so Ah couldn't say anythin' about it right away...Ah just hope y'all can forgive me..." Silver Shill looked down at the case of tonic hanging around his neck, feeling highly responsible for an elderly pony for nearly diving from the height of the diving tower to her doom. He should have listened to Sora and quit working for Flim and Flam, even though he was nearly scared straight from the stallion. He took off his glasses, merely a cosmetic accessory he wore since working with the twin unicorn stallions, and he regrets teaming up with them and causing this fiasco. "But how come Granny Smith was able to swim again if the tonic really was fake?" Apple Bloom asked. "Like I said before: a placebo," Sora repeated. "It didn't do anything to help her in any way, but hearing what it 'could' do would help give her a boost in her confidence, help her get back into the water and face her fears head on." He looked at Applejack, the mare nodding in agreement to his explanation. "After a traumatic experience, it can be tough to get back into what you like doing. If you want to do what you love again, you need to have enough confidence to get out there and try." The crowd murmured with each other, taking Sora's words to heart. He gave Applejack an apologetic look for acting so harshly toward her the past couple days, but they both know they've forgiven each other after finally letting this lie go and tell everyone the truth. Granny did look a little disappointed that the tonic didn't do anything for her, and though her grandfoal had lied to keep her from losing the confidence she had to get back to swimming again, she realized she did feel like a foal thinking she could really do everything she did as if she were a teen again. "But, Sora said that our tonic gives a confidence boost!" Flim's claim made Sora's eye and one of his ears twitch, the brothers STILL trying to sell their tonic after their lies were exposed. "And there's a lot more that it can-" Flam was interrupted as Silver Shill had enough, throwing his hat at the mustached unicorn's face. "Don't listen to anymore of their lies!" he said, flinging off the case as he decided to do the right thing: being honest with what he was selling. "In fact, it's not even a tonic at all! I know, because I helped them make the stuff!" Flim and Flam balked as their employee betrayed them, the others gasping at Silver Shill's admitting to their product. "It didn't feel right to lie like that at first, but it began feeling right, and it made me feel like a horrible pony. Hearing Applejack and Sora telling the truth, it made me realize that, if I were to ever sell something, I'll be sure to make sure it's actually a believable product that's beneficial, not fake and over-exaggerated." "Exactly," Sora said as he approached Silver Shill. The stallion did wince when the teen held his hoof out to shake hit, though with how he treated him earlier, he did kind of go a little overboard with scaring him to changing. "Uhh, sorry about the freak outs. Applejack and I had a little issue with Flim and Flam involving them taking over her family's land, and I had no sleep for the past couple days hiding the secret about the tonic, so I'm a little on edge and really tired." "Yeah, I kind of got irritated myself hearing their advice on being a salespony, so I can understand." Silver took Sora's hoof and shook it, putting aside what had happened. He then approached Applejack, taking her hoof and giving her the bit he didn't truly earn. "Here, Applejack. I want you to have this. I earned this bit dishonestly, but that's a mistake I won't make ever again. Thank you for helping me realize the truth." "Uhh, I don't know," Applejack said, not sure if she could take the bit he got from the one bottle of fake tonic he sold. "Don't worry," Silver assured. "I'll find the pony I sold that tonic to and pay him back another bit to replace that one. I swear." "Well...ok, then. Thanks, Silver Shill." Applejack looked at Granny Smith, worrying about how she'll fare knowing her miracle tonic was what made her go back to swimming again. "Ah'm really sorry, Granny. Ah hope, after all this, ya won't stop swimmin'." "Why would Ah do that?" Granny asked. "Ah can't believe Ah believed them salesponies, makin' me think Ah could darn near fly!" She turned to give the twin stallions a stern talking to, but there was no sign of the swindlers in the crowd. "Hey! Where'd they go!?" Sora had been watching Flim and Flam like a hawk, spotting them sneak away from the crowd and haul away their wagon filled with their tonic's two ingredients and the money they swindled off of everyone who bought any. "Just giving them a little head start..." Flim pulled the wagon while Flam pushed it, getting far enough away from the angry mob that would demand a refund. "Darn it, Flim! I thought for sure we would have gotten away with this!" "I didn't expect Silver Shill to join with Sora and Applejack!" Flim said. "If we keep moving another few towns over, we'll be home free with what we've got!" Before they even reached the other side of Ponyville, Sora dropped down in front of their path, the twin unicorns skidding to a halt as they shrieked in surprise. "And where do you two think you're going?" "Sora!" Flim and Flam chuckled nervously, sweating dripping down their brows as they saw the manically frustrated eye twitch coming from the pegasus. "H-How are things with the Apple family?" "Granny Smith's not missing her tonic that much, is she?" Flam asked. "Even though it's not exactly a cure-all, it sure does the digestive tract well, eh?" "Oh, no no no no nooooo," Sora said, shaking his head, enjoying the panicked expressions on their nervous faces. "I think you owe some ponies compensation for your false advertised product. Kind of like before, when you two tried to kick the Apples off their land and destroyed some of their apple trees." His grin turned into a frown, slowly holding his hoof out to the Flim Flam Brothers. "Give me the bits you stole from everyone who bought your green slime. They deserve a refund for all the lies you two made, and I want to pay you idiots back for causing us to lie for your petty scheme." "B-Bits?" Flim asked. "W-What bits?" Flam asked. "We...We must have left it back at the pool when we-" Sora summoned his Keyblade, aiming it at them. "Actually, we do have the bits!" "Yes! Yes, we do!" The brothers levitated the large sack of bits they took from every pony who came to see their show, including the bits Granny used to buy the several bottles. "It's all there! Every single cent from every single bottle we sold!" Sora opened the sack and looked inside, definitely seeing the money inside and not a bag filled with apples. After seeing how he easily destroyed their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, he could do a whole lot worse to them if he wanted to. He closed the sack and tied it up, hefting the heavy bag over his back. "So, we're good right?" Flam asked. "You can let us go, right?" Flim asked. "N-No need to cause trouble..." "Hmmmmm..." Sora didn't let them go, slowly raising his Keyblade back up, aiming it at their wagon. A ball of fire began to form at the tip of the blade, Flim and Flam both screaming as they ran away from his line of sight. The Keyblade wielder shot a Firaga spell at the wagon, igniting the flammable wagon like a campfire, burning away the ingredients and their small storage carrier. The pegasus took in a deep breath through his nose, then let out a long sigh of satisfaction, dismissing his Keyblade as he cantered past the terrified stallions with the sack of bits resting on his back. "Now we're good." As Sora happily disappeared, making his way back to the pool to give everyone their refund, Flim and Flam looked at each other in shock. They looked back at the burning remains of their wagon turning to ashes, their tonic scam ruined and possibly unable to work anywhere else if the press releases their falsified claims for their miracle elixir. "...Let's not do anymore sales ideas around Ponyville again," Flim suggested. "And nowhere near that dangerous kid again," Flam added, both brothers shaking hooves in full agreement, their eyes glued to their burning wagon. Everyone who had bought Flim Flam's Miracle Curative Tonic received their refunds as soon as Sora returned back to where the thieving unicorns last were. The rest of the tonic was thrown out, nothing but useless, distasteful juice that did nothing for anyone's health. Silver Shill took what he had learned from Flim and Flam, though he was going to earn whatever sales he makes through honest means, never again lying and making claims to an item to steal money from his customers. He even paid back the stallion he sold a tonic to with his own money before heading off to find good, honest work as a salespony. As it got late into the afternoon, back in Sweet Apple Acres, the Apples set up a small swimming pool outside, where Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were having fun, the elder mare taking it easy with her advanced swimming now. Sora napped under a tree as the pool was set up, his exhaustion and lack of sleep for the past two days taking its toll on him, even the long, countless times he fought in the Mirage Arena to let off some steam. Applejack sat under the same tree, watching her grandmother just to be sure she isn't doing anything too dangerous in the small pool as she wrote down the last couple days over her learning experience. She hated lying, she was terrible at lying, and white lies can be just as bad if not rectified before it got worse. Sora leaned a bit too far, accidentally bumping into Applejack as he woke up with a snort. "Gah! Twenty-four!" She giggled at the odd wake up response he made, lightly shoving him back up. "Ah didn't ask ya a math question, Sora." He responded by sticking his tongue out at her, stretching out his limbs before leaning back against the tree again. "So, did ya hurt them?" "Smashed more of their property, if that's what you mean," Sora said with a grin. "I would have loved to pummel those two for making Granny Smith nearly jump off that diving board thanks to their fake tonic, but they didn't do any physical harm to anyone themselves...At least I hope they don't, or else I'll go all out on them." They both looked over at the pool, Granny jumping into it from an attached diving board, thankfully at a safe height for her, her and Apple Bloom getting into a splash fight. Sora looked at Applejack, noticing the journal they Mane Six had been sharing, telling their different stories that had happened in the last year, and the bit Silver Shill gave her sitting on the page. "Wrote down the insanity that was of major importance in our lives?" "Eeyup," she said, finishing writing down the lesson her white lie had given her. "...Hey. Sorry about the last couple days," he apologized. "You know, I wasn't really mad at you. Flim and Flam caught us in a tough corner, blackmailing us with Granny's happiness so they could make a profit, and maybe get back at us for the competition they lost." "Ah know. Ah'm sorry for forcin' ya to hide their secret with me," she said. "It's ok," Sora assured, placing his hoof on her shoulder. "You guys are family to me, and I wanted your grandma to be happy AND safe. Although, more on the safe side since she is in her senior years and can get hurt pretty easily." "Right." They both hugged, forgiving each other as their bond as surrogate siblings was still kept. Applejack got up after she pulled away. "Wanna join me with Apple Bloom and Granny?" "Eh, I'm still a bit sluggish after more days lacking sleep and exhausting myself," he said. "When I left, I blew off some steam elsewhere to get rid of my pent up frustration after Flim and Flam caught Granny Smith in their scam, and I spent the entire night out there constantly fighting." "All right, then," Applejack said. "But, don't push yourself too hard if you're gonna end up killin' yourself." "Guess I'm just as stubborn as the Apple family after all." They shared a laugh at the light jab, even if what Sora said did seem true with his headstrong heroism and rivalry against Riku. Applejack ran ahead and leapt into the pool to join the filly and older mare, leaving Sora to rest under the shade of the tree. Before he fell back to sleep, he felt another power of light, very close by. He noticed the bit Silver Shill gave Applejack flash rainbow for a second, his gift another D-Link for Twilight to give her more strength and energy to continue fighting if his guess was right. "Seems like Twilight got herself another set of skills to use now." Sora yawned, his eyes closing as his body demanded more sleep. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow..." Later that evening, out in the fields, Aqua overlooked Twilight's training as she sparred with Ventus. She wanted to make sure the young pegasus wasn't too rusty with his fighting skills against a sentient opponent, but he still held the same experience as before, maybe even learning more after being in Sora's heart for so many years. Twilight was already standing her ground quite well without her D-Links activating against her will. Though she was still a little sloppy with her swordplay, she was improving steadily as an apprentice, and she could move up to learning to use magic spells, considering magic is her forte. "Keep it up, Twilight!" Aqua encouraged as the alicorn and pegasus clashed blades, struggling to push each other back. "Don't let your stance falter! Push back!" "Urgh! I'm...trying!" Twilight grunted, keeping her hooves slightly bent and wide as she tried to push back. Ventus was surprisingly strong for his age and skinny frame, skidding her hooves across the ground with his back-hooved style of Keyblade fighting. "How are you this strong!?" "A lot of practice." Ventus continued pushing Twilight back, the alicorn struggling to push back, but failing even with a small bit of strength she gained from turning into an alicorn. "And you know what they say: big things come in small packages." Twilight resisted the urge to facehoof as she groaned at the terrible pun, but Aqua did it for her as the mare shook her head. "Ironically enough, he and Vanitas were able to forge the X-blade, although not completely..." As she kept trying to push back, her Keyblade's chain began to glow again, this time making the orange apple gem shine brightly. Feeling this overwhelming surge of power within her, Twilight managed to stop Ventus from pushing her. Now, Ventus was the one straining to push back, even forcing to use both forelegs to keep going, but he couldn't budge her now. Aqua noticed the light as it came from another gem on Twilight's keychain, which meant Applejack must have been given a gift that allowed the alicorn to use it. Twilight began pushing Ventus back, making his hooves skid across the ground as she was able to casually step forward, barely feeling the stallion pushing back. Utterly surprised, Ventus backed away and lunged forward to attack. She managed to block it, but the teen was momentarily stunned as he wound up backing away, nearly breaking his foreleg from the sudden iron-like defense Twilight had. She moved in to attack and he prepared to block it, the force of her strike ten times more powerful than her usual strength as it sent Ventus flying back a few yards away. "Ow!" he yelped, shaking his leg, nearly feeling it break from the impact. "What the heck was that!?" Twilight charged forward and leapt up into the air. She dove down, slamming her Keyblade down on the pegasus. Ventus managed to avoid it as he flew back, but when her blade struck the ground, it caused a small earthquake and left a pretty big crater of cracked earth, reaching a couple yards in radius to the point of impact. Aqua gaped at the sizable hole around Twilight, Ventus began sweating bullets as he probably would have ended up pancake pegasus if he didn't get out of the way in time, and Twilight stared with wide eyes at the crater she made. "...Well...Now we see Applejack's D-Link definitely has strength in mind," Aqua muttered to herself. The duel over, Twilight hovered out of the hole, surprised to not notice her own strength. "Whoo-whee! Boy howdy, Ah didn't know Ah could be that strong!" Twilight brought a hoof to her mouth, now talking like Applejack with her southern drawl. "What in tarnation!? Why am Ah talkin' like Applejack!?...And why do Ah have a cravin' for apple pie?" "Applejack's D-Link," Aqua said, stopping Twilight from clutching her throat as she wondered why her accent changed. The alicorn looked down at the keychain hanging off her Keyblade, now seeing where it was coming from along with her overpowered strength. "Well Ah'll be...Slap mah saddle and call me a buckin' bronco..." Twilight grumbled, even saying country statements to compare her shock with something odd. "Mrf! Can ya make me stop talkin' like this!? At least it's better than behavin' like Pinkie Pie, but it's still annoyin'!" As if obeying her, the glowing stopped, weakening Twilight back to her normal strength, making her fall over in exhaustion. "T-Thank you..." "Those D-Links sure take a lot out of you, unless you were using Fluttershy's link." Aqua helped Twilight back on her hooves, the alicorn sitting down to take a breather before she felt she was going to pass out. "We're going to have to be careful with that one unless we encounter tougher Heartless. You're getting a lot better, and now we'll need to find your piece of light." "I wonder what Applejack was up to," Twilight wondered. "There was a lot of commotion going on with all the sick ponies that came to Ponyville the past couple days." "Yeah, that was kind of odd..." When they didn't hear Ventus make any response, both mares looked at where he still stood, looking very pale as he held onto his sore leg. "Ven? What's wrong?" "Is it safe to stop training tonight?" he asked, practically begging. "If I swing my arm anymore, I'm afraid I'm going to pop off my shoulder." "Don't worry, Ven. I think we've got enough practice in for today." Hearing that, the stallion flew off with a nod and headed off to Rainbow Dash's home to rest and put a bag of ice on his leg. Aqua turned back to Twilight, feeling quite sore herself from today's rigorous workout. "Well, I think you're ready to move on to the next lesson for tomorrow: magic spells." "Magic!?" Twilight asked excitedly, no longer feeling tired. "Really!?" "Yes. And there are a lot more magic spells than what you may have been taught by Sora, Riku, and Kairi." Aqua held her Keyblade in her hoof, rearing it back as the blade began to emit an icy aura around it. She flung it and let it hit the ground not too far from them, causing a patch of ice to appear where it struck as she called back her Keyblade. "Like the spells you were able to cast using Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy's D-Link abilities, there are several more you don't know about, both physical with elemental affinities and more unique magic spells that can be surprising and extremely powerful." "Can I get a list of the different spells!?" Twilight asked, teleporting a quill and some paper in front of her with an eager grin as the scholar in her begged to know. "You'll learn about them tomorrow," Aqua chided, making the alicorn whine. "I suggest we get ourselves a lot of Ethers from the Moogle shop outside your library if we get to practicing what we like best." "Yes!" Twilight cheered. "I'll be up bright and early for tomorrow! I can't wait!" The alicorn squealed and bounced back to her home to prepare herself for the fun part of her lessons that she will soon experience. Aqua shook her head and let out a small chuckle, quite eager herself to begin teaching Keyblade magic to someone with the same thirst for magical knowledge like herself. She made her way back to Rarity's home to get some rest and create a list of the many different spells she will teach her.