//------------------------------//
// Equestria Games (Struggle Tournament) 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria 
// by Codex92 
//------------------------------//

	The stadium was beginning to fill in once again, the scare of the Nobodies long since passed as the Equestria Games were able to continue with the last event of the Games. During the day, some slight renovation to the stadium was made with what damage was dealt to the structure, along with setting up the arena for the Struggle matches. The spotlights lit up the field for all to see, Shining Armor stepping up onto the crystal stage as the crowd cheered wildly.

"Mares and gentlecolts!" Shining announced. "We apologize for the sudden attack yesterday, and your patience will pay off tonight! We are back for the final event of the Equestria Games with a new event that will surely entertain you all! At Rainbow Falls, eight fighters passed through the preliminary qualifying rounds to compete in this grand tournament of the new sport, Struggle battles!" The audience cheered again, already anticipating who would be fighting. "Now, let's bring out our fighters!"

The crowd went wild as the contestants began to walk out into the field, four each exiting on opposite sides. Sora and Riku walked out on the same side, along with a zebra stallion with a short mane and a gray unicorn mare with long blonde hair, wearing a green leotard and a white cape over her shoulders. On the other side were three ponies and a minotaur: the first two earth pony stallions, one blue with a messy light brown mane, the other green with a short black mane with red highlights, the third pony unknown as they wore a brown cloak that covered their bodies, but his build was like a stallion's, and the minotaur was brown with muscular biceps. They stepped onto the stage and stood in a line as everyone cheered for their favorite contender, Sora waving his hoof as many of the ponies saw more favor in him winning with his feats.

Up in the stands, Twilight sat with the princesses again in their royal booth, but thankfully the others were a row ahead of them. "Oh boy! This is so exciting!" Pinkie shouted, wearing two different colored foam fingers, one black with Sora's face and the other white with Riku's. "I can't decide who's going to win! I want both of them to win, but there can only be one winner!"

"It's obvious Sora's going to win," Rainbow said.

"Rainbow Dash, Struggle fights aren't the same as usual one-on-one matches," Twilight said. "From what the rules state with this sport as Sora explained, the only way to win is being taking as many orbs from your opponent before time runs out. Anything can happen depending on the fighters' skills and strength...Though, I'm going to think that Riku might win."

"You're only pickin' Riku cause y'all are a couple." Twilight blushed at Applejack's claim, her friends laughing at her embarrassment.

"W-Well, I really don't know who will win either!" the alicorn defended. "I'm siding with Riku because he has a bit more...maturity than Sora and he's far more advanced as a Keyblade wielder than him."

"After he saved worlds how many times?" Rainbow asked. "Including ours?"

While the Mane Six talked among each other, Celestia and Luna were getting better acquainted with Aqua and Ventus. During the day before the tournament began, Aqua told them of what she and Ventus had been through several years ago, what had happened to them, and how dangerous Xehanort truly was. They were informed a bit more on the Nobodies, especially the ones that had attacked everyone in the stadium, which made Luna sick to her stomach when she and Cadence found out what they were.

"I'm still amazed at how resilient you were being trapped in a world with nothing but darkness for nearly fifteen years, Aqua," Celestia said. "How you didn't lose yourself in isolation and surrounded by Heartless every single day is beyond even me."

"I nearly lost myself to darkness a while ago, but I was reminded by the others I wasn't fighting this never-ending war against Xehanort by myself." Aqua rubbed her head as the events of her breakdown and unleashing her darkness, Torrent, nearly letting her take control and destroy Equestria. "I had to keep fighting, struggling to find any way out of the Realm of Darkness and stop Xehanort...I'm the only Keyblade Master left who has most of the knowledge from the Land of Departure that can never be recovered again. And there's probably a lot more I don't even know about training as an apprentice."

"But it is better to keep that knowledge locked away forever," Ventus said. "We don't want anyone else to discover the secrets of the Keyblade or any history around it who might abuse its power...Xehanort is the only one we know who was probably one of those kinds of people."

"Right..." Aqua sighed, regretting never seeing Xehanort's evil intentions before it was all too late. She looked down at the stage, seeing the other contestants that would fight in the tournament aside from Sora and Riku. One of the fighters down there, the mysterious hooded stallion in the brown cloak, tilted its head up to the crowd, revealing a brown muzzle slightly sticking out beneath the hood that veiled his face. He seemed to be looking directly at her in the stands of ponies, which felt unnerving to her. She must not have paid attention to the qualifying rounds, not knowing who was hiding under that cloak, but if it was Xehanort, he wouldn't have been able to pass through the protective barrier around the empire. "...Is he...looking at me?"

"What was that, Aqua?" Ventus asked, distracting the mare from the mysterious stallion.

She turned back to the arena, the stallion now looking forward as Shining Armor brought up the Struggle bats. "...N-Nothing...Just talking to myself..." Aqua could feel his gaze on her, even through the hood that veiled his eyes. "Who is this guy?"

"Strugglers, you all know the rules of the matches! Even if you're knocked out, you're still in, but left vulnerable to lose against your opponent! Now, without anymore waiting, let's see who will be facing whom in the random selection process!" Two unicorn officials used their magic together, creating a large ethereal screen for the audience to see as the images of the Strugglers' faces rapidly rolled under the eight brackets. After a few agonizing seconds of anticipation, their places were set to fight in each round, Sora and Riku on opposite ends where they would fight each other in the finals. Sora was up in the first match against the only mare contender first, then he would have to face either the zebra or one of the stallions that entered from the other side, while Riku's match was against the minotaur, followed by either the other stallion and the cloaked one. "And we have our set brackets!"

"Alright!" Sora cheered as the crowd went wild. "Riku and I are gonna fight in the finals! Better not go too easy on your opponents."

"As if," Riku said with a smirk. "You're going to be the only challenge in this tournament."

"Let's begin the first match: Sora versus Celes! Everypony else, please leave the arena and wait on the sides of the arena!" At Shining's instruction, the other six contestants made their way off the stage while Sora and Celes stayed. He approached the two with a pair of Struggle bats, handing them off to them. "Here you two go. And no low blows or cheap shots."

"I don't think that rule applies to this kind of duel if we can beat our opponents while they are down, Shining Armor," Celes said.

"Do you two know each other?" Sora asked, finding it odd how Celes was acting so calmly around an ex-captain of the Royal Guard and now prince of the Crystal Empire.

"Yes, unfortunately," Shining grumbled. "We were in the same troop back in basic, but she was the best of our unit..."

"And how he wound up becoming a captain of the Royal Guard with the first few weeks of sloppy training sounds inexcusable, but he made up for it later on." Celes held out her hoof to Sora. "Special Operative Celestial Star of Princess Celestia's secret elite forces, but I prefer to be called Celes. Expert in weapons combat and medical magic."

"'Secret elite forces'?" Sora asked, looking at Shining in confusion. "So, where exactly were they when Nightmare Moon returned, Discord was free, the changelings attacked your wedding, and Sombra came back?"

"Well, we had other missions we were focused on by making sure no other kingdoms would plan on attacking Equestria," Celes answered. "There are few that live in cities and towns that keep a lookout for any serious threats, like these Heartless creatures that had appeared within the last couple years. I was stationed out by the border checking for both kinds of threats, but thankfully, the only places I've heard where the latter appeared were around where you and your other friends are."

"Heh. What an odd coincidence," Sora said with a cheeky grin. "Good thing we can take care of that while you're busy sitting in a tower making sure no one gets through border patrol."

"I'm no slouch when it comes to fights." Celes twirled the Struggle bat around with her aura, glowing a pale yellow. "I continue training even if nothing goes on in a day of patrols. I've also been sent on missions to take out creatures considered far too dangerous for any normal Royal Guard soldiers to take on...solo."

Shining Armor wilted as his old recruit buddy gloated about her feats as a better soldier for the princess. Sora was intrigued, his face stoic as he absorbed the knowledge of the mare he would be facing.

"...I believe this will be a fun fight," Sora said. "Just don't expect me to go easy on you because you're a mare."

"You don't have to. I'm dying to see just how well you fight after hearing how you assisted the Elements of Harmony in those battles against such dangerous villains." The two fighters bumped hooves, swearing to give it their all and not pull any swings in this competition.

"Thank you two for making me feel inferior as a soldier," Shining whispered before clearing his throat to officially begin the first match. "Strugglers, take your places and we will begin on my mark!" Sora and Celes turned away and walked a good enough distance away from each other before turning around to stare each other down. Shining Armor stepped back, using his magic to drop one hundred orbs each down on the pegasus and unicorn mare, the magical spheres absorbing into their bodies as the unicorn referees set the timer using the same magical screen, along with their orb count. "Combatants ready!?" Both ponies nodded, Sora gripping his bat in his mouth while Celes held hers tightly in her aura, remembering to keep it within a leg's distance away from her in this friendly competition. "Let's Struggle!"

The timer began counting down as Sora began to move first. Celes waited patiently as she observed his movements, quickly blocking his swift strikes while keeping her distance as he leapt around to try to get behind her. She wasn't at all surprised to see he was a skilled fighter for his age, but actually witnessing his style of combat was another story. Their bats clashed, both ponies still holding onto their one hundred orbs as they pushed back against each other.

"Impressive," Celes complimented. "Your speed is admirable, as well as your strength."

"I was self-taught," Sora said. "I've had a lot of practice since I was a kid."

"Interesting. However-" Celes managed to sweep one of Sora's legs, catching him off guard as he kept his focus on her. He tried to regain his balance, but the expert swordsmare got in a few good hits, smacking several blue orbs out of Sora, few landing on top of her as her orb count grew higher while his lowered. After a hard strike that sent Sora flying across the arena, he had nearly lost half his orbs while Celes began casually walking around, picking up orbs as they flew into her as soon as she got close to them. "-without proper training, you have a few flaws!"

The crowd cheered Sora on, not wanting to see him lose that easily after watching him fend off the Nobodies yesterday. The stallion wasn't at all surprised by the sudden leg sweep, not entirely against the rules to trip someone up as long as they deal damage with their bats.

"Oh, I know I have some flaws, but you haven't seen nothing yet." Gripping his Struggle bat tightly in his maw, he ran around the arena, picking up any of his lost orbs that were flung far away from where he was hit.

As soon as he got enough, he charged forward again, Celes scoffing in amusement as he was about to rush in again. Sora leapt forward, flipping rapidly as he grabbed his bat with his hoof, turning into a whirling brown and blue saw blade. Celes leapt out of the way, swinging her weapon to get his back, but he blocked it, now holding his bat with his tail, holding the same strength as he had with his mouth.

"W-What!?" Sora had stopped his spinning as he blocked, standing on his forelegs, then pushed off and flipped back.

Tossing the Struggle bat from his tail to his hooves as he pushed toward Celes, Sora caught the mare off guard and smacked her repeatedly, the mare unable to block or evade from the surprising lunge. The crowd went wild as red orbs flew out of Celes, kept trapped in the seemingly endless onslaught of a combo, his friends cheering louder as they rooted for him.

"Go, Sora!" Kairi cheered.

"Kick her butt!" Rainbow shouted.

As Celes had lost around seventy orbs from her count, she managed to block the heavy blow, sending her skidding back across the arena. Sora ran around to the many clumps of orbs around him, gaining the lead now as he was winning 110-50, the elite soldier's count slowly going up as the lost orbs around her flew back in her. With only a minute left, Celes tried to get her bearings, not expecting such a random, but clever, strategy to throw her off her expectations.

"Not bad...but I still have enough time to take the lead." Sora and Celes ran around the field to pick up the last of the orbs, the score now at 135-65.

She ran forward to attack, but Sora blocked each one and narrowly dodged each swipe from her telekinetically flailing Struggle bat. Thirty seconds remained as they continued their clashing, the crowd going nuts as Sora's fans chanted his name. Celes decided to try and sweep Sora off his hooves again, but the moment she moved in to sweep her legs under his, he made a small leap, avoiding her foreleg as he stood on his forelegs again. Fearing getting hit by his bat with his tail, she lifted hers up to defend, but Sora still held his weapon in his mouth. He then spun around, sweeping his back legs down to knock her forelegs out from under her, almost like he was break-dancing. Before her face hit the ground, Sora smacked her up into the air as he pushed off, still spinning as he continuously struck her, sending red orbs flying out around them.

Sora flipped back up and flipped forward, sending Celes flying back down to the arena after a downward slash, keeping her from running into all of the orbs she had lost. Knocked for a loop, Sora took the opportunity to run and pick up the last of the orbs, the unicorn referees signalling the end of the match with a whistle as he grabbed all two hundred orbs, the timer stopping at seven seconds remaining.

"And that's the first match!" Shining Armor announced. "Sora wins with all two hundred orbs in his possession!"

Sora tossed his Struggle bat up high into the air, pumping his hooves in the air as the audience cheered for his victory. As his duel weapon fell, he caught it with his tail as he walked over to Celes, shaking her head as she recovered from the overwhelming beating. She looked up to see Sora, flipping the bat around with his tail as he gave her a friendly smirk.

"So, how was that for a self-taught weapons fighter?" he asked, holding his hoof out to her to help her up.

Celes grinned, taking his hoof and stood up. "Agile. Strong, despite your scrawny appearance. Unexpected fighting style that even took me by surprise...No wonder you're considered a hero among Equestria." Sora chuckled, placing his forelegs behind his head. "You should consider being a part of her Highness's elite squads."

"Well, I kind of already am," Sora said. "I'm more in the super secret elite forces."

"...I see." The mare brought a hoof over her chest and gave Sora a bow. "Congratulations on your victory, Sora. Good luck in the rest of the tournament. You got some tough competition from the look of them."

"Thanks, Celes." Celes stepped down from the arena, levitating her Struggle bat back to Shining Armor.

Sora stepped down as they were preparing the second match, the zebra and one of the other stallions taking their place as the orbs were taken from the pegasus and the timer reset with their images on the screen. Sora sauntered over to Riku and the other waiting participants with a content grin on his muzzle.

"Showoff," Riku said.

"What? I wanted the crowd to see a little action," Sora said in defense. "Can't exactly look too overpowered and win a match in ten seconds flat..." He groaned and slapped himself in the forehead. "I can't believe I said that."

"I might have a little problem with who I'm going against first." Riku waved his hoof at the bulky minotaur, seemingly focused on watching the next match. "Strong minotaur against a small pegasus like me. How the odds are unfair."

"Yeah. I think the minotaur's going to win hands down." Sora earned a hard punch in the shoulder, finding the jab worth it just to get a rise out of his best friend and rival in the tournament.

During the second match, neither teen noticed the cloaked stallion eyeing them beneath the veil of his hood. He had watched Sora's battle closely, observing his fighting style and agility. Eventually, the fight ended with the zebra winning with the most orbs at the end of the time limit, one of his species many of strong warriors from his tribe. Many of the zebras in the audience cheered for their fellow fighter as he made his way off the arena while his opponent slumped off in defeat.

"On to our next match with Hunter Arrow versus...uhh..." Shining Armor looked over the name of the cloaked stallion. "...The Unknown...? Odd name. Let's have the contestants come up for the third match!" Cheers rang out as the Hunter, the green stallion, and the cloaked stallion calling himself "The Unknown" stepped up onto the stage. Shining Armor gave them their weapons and dropped their orbs down on them. As soon as they were in position and the timer was set, he began the match. "Let's Struggle!"

Hunter rushed forward to attack, but The Unknown stood where he was. As soon as the stallion got close, the mysterious pony swung his weapon hard, the audience gasping as he managed to not only knock out Hunter Arrow, but also sent all one hundred of his orbs flying out of him in one hit. The whole crowd went silent, even surprising the Keyblade wielders watching from the stands and by the arena at the amazing strength The Unknown had. While Hunter was still out, The Unknown slowly walked around the arena, picking up the blue orbs that littered the field. The unconscious stallion had regained a few orbs that he was around as he laid on his back, though with how dazed he was, there was no way he would be able to wake up for a long while.

After collecting the stray orbs, The Unknown approached Hunter, tapping him a few times with the Struggle bat to release the rest of the orbs inside the unconscious fighter. As he collected the last orb, the officials signaled the end of the match, winning with a perfect victory with a minute and thirty seconds remaining on the timer.

"...Uhh, the winner by collecting all two hundred orbs is...The Unknown," Shining announced, feeling a bit wary as the shrouded stallion tossed his foam weapon at the prince, making his way off the arena as the orbs left him. Medics had to take Hunter away, babbling nonsense as he was badly thrown for a loop in his delirious state. Shining Armor cleared his throat, focusing back on the event as the last match for the first round was up. "T-The final match for Round 1! Riku versus Crusher!"

"Wow...Just one hit." Riku and Sora watched The Unknown walk back toward them, not even providing any comments on his one-hit wonder of a win. "Think you can manage to beat him in the next round?"

"I'm going to have to be serious if I'm going to fight him." Riku took in a deep breath, feeling a little intimidated by the mysterious stallion, feeling his eyes watching his every move as he stepped up onto the arena.

Up in the audience, everyone recovered from the shockingly quick match as many ponies cheered for who they expected would win. Aqua felt on edge, knowing that whoever this stallion was actually held back on his real strength with that one swing. She saw him look back up at her again, the gaze under his hood piercing through her soul.

"Oh boy," Applejack said. "Riku and Sora might have a hard time fightin' that stallion."

"And calling himself 'The Unknown'? That's worse than the 'Mysterious Stallion'," Rarity said.

"Ugh! Please don't mention that!" Rainbow whined. "It was bad enough I had to be taught a lesson on humility that way when Sora dressed up in that black coat, but it's worse when it reminds me how stupid I was getting attention and getting it all too far into my head! And I'm always being reminded of getting Sora put in jail because I didn't think before I judged him that harshly!"

"Well, at least you aren't as egotistical as you were back then," Ventus said. "But you still like to show off a lot at times."

Rainbow was about to argue, but quickly shut her mouth, knowing he was right. "...I can't help it if I want to be a Wonderbolt. I know I'll surely be one when a spot's open, but after what happened in the academy and at Rainbow Falls..." She sighed and looked out across the stadium, spotting the Wonderbolts sitting on the rows of benches to watch the Struggle matches. "I didn't want to get kicked out or lose a chance to actually fly with the greatest flight team ever...At least Spitfire gave me some punishment for helping Lightning Dust make that tornado that nearly killed everypony after training that day was done: a thousand laps around the perimeter of the academy and a thousand wing-ups with no break."

"It was more Spitfire's fault for not paying attention her new recruits' safety and punishing them for talking out of line, disobeying orders, and doing something reckless that could have done serious damage to themselves or their teammates," Ventus said. "It's the same for Keyblade apprentices as well back in the Land of Departure. Aqua, Terra, and I never talked back at Master Eraqus or ignored him, otherwise we would all get in serious trouble if one of us caused trouble."

Riku and Crusher, the minotaur, approached Shining Armor as the unicorn gave them their weapons and one hundred orbs. Both fighters took a few paces away from each other, Riku taking in a deep breath as he focused on his first match, glancing at The Unknown as he continued watching him. As soon as they were far enough away, Riku stood on his hind legs and turned around, holding his bat in his hoof in his preferred battle stance. Crusher snorted, holding his Struggle bat tightly in his hand, preparing to charge into him like a raging bull leering at a red object to destroy.

"Fighters ready!?" Shining called out, not needing a confirmation as the pegasus and minotaur were already set to fight. "Let's Struggle!"

Crusher bellowed and charged forward, heading straight toward Riku. He stood his ground and waited for the right moment to strike. As the minotaur got close enough, he evaded with a spin, smacking Crusher hard in the side as he knocked out a few red orbs from his opponent. However, the bipedal bovine didn't even flinch, twisting himself around to strike the pegasus. Riku managed to block the attack as he picked up the orbs that fell by him, needing to keep himself far from Crusher's reach and avoid getting smacked by his powerful strength.

"Come on, Riku!" Twilight cheered, ignoring anyone else who may have heard the princess as she wanted to see Riku win.

He managed to avoid the large swings from Crusher, narrowly ducking his higher swipes and leaping over his low ones. Riku did land a few hits while he got behind him, but the orbs the minotaur dropped were so few and didn't make him stagger in the slightest. As long as he didn't get hit and lose any of his orbs while picking up the ones he managed to knock out, he could last the whole two minutes and win the match. He smacked Crusher hard in the face, making him lose more orbs, but the blow only infuriated the minotaur, letting out a roar and began wildly flailing in his rage.

Riku blocked and evaded the endless onslaught, backing away when Crusher slammed his weapon down onto him to actually crush him into the hard crystal battlefield. He kept up his evasion tactics, one minute remaining as he was winning 136-64. Crusher was still in a berserking rage, still wildly swinging his bat around to knock the pegasus unconscious, but Riku wasn't going to become the minotaur's sandbag to beat into a bloody pulp.

After another downward strike by the raging Crusher, Riku struck back and hit his face again. Instead of letting him get into an even worse frenzy, Riku leapt up onto the minotaur, giving him another hard smack in the back of the head as he vaulted over him. Landing far enough away, grabbing some orbs as lunged off Crusher, the minotaur turned around, his face turning red as he bellowed even louder, stomping his legs against the ground, preparing to charge into him again. The pegasus kept his stance, waiting for the right moment to knock this wild bull out. Crusher ran forward again, this time even faster than when he started, lowering his head to headbutt the stallion as hard as he could.

With perfect timing, Riku leapt up and flipped, using his momentum to increase the power of his swing, slamming his bat down hard on the minotaur's head. The impact sent Crusher's head slamming into the ground as well, the bull seeing stars as his body flopped across the arena, several orbs shooting out of him as he skid across the crystal tiles. Riku landed back on the ground as the red orbs that flew out were absorbed into him, but before he could run and gather more, the timer ran out as the unicorns blew their whistles.

"Time up!" Shining called out. Riku kept still as Shining Armor levitated the remaining orbs strewn about the arena, keeping them from being added to what both contestants already have on them. It was obvious by the score that Riku had won, winning with 146 to Crusher's 15, leaving 39 orbs left ungrabbed. "By a massive lead of one hundred and forty-six orbs, Riku wins!"

The crowd cheered as Riku sighed in relief. He could hear Twilight through the rest of the crowd, giving a small, nonchalant wave to the audience as he made his way off the battle arena, tossing his Struggle bat back to Shining Armor. Medical personnel came to take the unconscious minotaur, Crusher's eyes spinning in his head as a large bump had grown on his head where Riku had hit him into the ground. He stood by Sora and the other semi-finalists, ignoring the cheeky grin on his friend's face.

"See? I told you you would win," Sora said.

"Yeah, right. You were expecting me to lose." Riku suddenly wrapped a foreleg around Sora's neck, pulled his head down, and gave him a rough noogie, making the spiky-haired pegasus squirm in discomfort. "At least I didn't get hit once in my fight! Against a minotaur, no less!"

"AHH! My head! Cut it out!" Sora cried out as he flailed his hooves.

The Unknown watched the two teens messing around, a smirk growing on his muzzle as he saw how skilled the two young fighters were.





After a small break, the tournament continued with Sora's match against the zebra. The match didn't last long as the teen's fighting style was too much for the experienced warrior from his homeland far from Equestria. He gave it his all, but he was no match for the young Equestrian hero, barely hanging onto a few orbs before time ran out. The crowd cheered for Sora and his opponent, both stallions shaking hooves as they showed respect for their prowess. Once they left the stage, next was Riku and The Unknown's semifinal match, which the white pegasus was not fond of being in. After seeing him knock out his first opponent with only one blow, it was clear that whoever this stallion was, he wasn't any normal earth pony. Unless he was hiding a horn or wings, it would have been easy to tell from underneath his cloak.

As they approached Shining Armor, the prince handed them their Struggle bats. "Good luck to you two in this match." Shining leaned over to Riku as he dropped their orbs over them. "Be careful, Riku. He's...pretty strong."

"No kidding," Riku whispered, stifling his nerves as best as he can.

He then turned to take a few paces away from The Unknown, only to stop as he spoke. "Don't go easy on me, kid."

Riku's ears perked up at the stallion's voice. He turned back to look at him, watching him stepping back a few paces, unable to see his face under his hood. Somehow, he found the voice oddly familiar, as if he had heard it a long time ago. He turned around to face him, now a fair distance apart before the match begins, shrugging off how The Unknown sounded. He got in his fighting stance, staring down the mysterious stallion, his opponent not even bothering to ready himself as he held his Struggle bat in his maw.

"Both fighters ready!?" Shining called out, both stallions nodding. "Let's Struggle!"

The timer started counting down, but both stallions kept staring each other down, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Riku needed to be cautious if The Unknown was really as strong as he seemed in his last match. The audience began to get a little concerned as they haven't moved yet, wasting the first few seconds looking at each other with barely any movement.

"Come on, twinkle toes," The Unknown mocked, smirking underneath his hood. "Don't keep your elders waiting. I know you got more in you than just fighting that minotaur." Riku ignored his taunts, keeping himself ready to defend himself if he had any tricks underneath his cloak. "Fine. I'll go first."

The Unknown suddenly sped forward without taking a running start, his hooves barely touching the ground. This caught Riku off guard as the veiled stallion suddenly stopped in front of him. He swung his bat at the teen, but Riku managed to block it, being shoved back a few feet at the tremendous power his opponent had.

"How did he move that fast?" Riku asked himself, finding no time to get an answer as The Unknown lunged forward and attacked, his swings wide and powerful, and quite fast for his build.

As the two began clashing, the audience began to cheer as the fight finally began after ten seconds of nothing. The Mane Six in the stands cheered for Riku, despite how strong the other stallion was and how quickly he moved. Aqua, however, felt uneasy, only watching the mysteriously robed stallion's movements and fighting style. She couldn't see any part of him aside from his hooves and muzzle under that cloak, not even his tail as it was hidden underneath it, even as The Unknown was flipping around, managing to keep up with Riku's evasion and swift strikes.

"Hit him, Riku! Hit him!" Sora cheered on the sides. "You and I need to fight in the finals! Take his orbs!"

Riku growled, unable to land a hit on The Unknown as he managed to block each strike he made. High, low, dodge and swipe, everything was perfectly blocked, and when he couldn't find an opening, he was too busy flipping or leaping away from any of his attacks. It didn't help give him any distance when the stallion always wound up in front of him with that incredible burst of speed he was able to pull off. It wasn't magic since the referees didn't call him out on the dashing, and the fight was getting more frustrating as it had passed the one minute mark, both stallions still holding onto their one hundred orbs.

Riku and The Unknown clashed again, pushing each other back for dominance, but the younger stallion struggled to move the cloaked one back as he tried to look under his hood. "Who are you!? Why does your voice sound familiar!?" He didn't answer the pegasus, his lips curling into a grin. "...You're not a normal pony with moves like that; with that much strength."

"...You're right." Riku leapt back and lunged forward to thrust his Struggle bat in The Unknown's face. The stallion blocked it, parrying the pegasus and throwing him off, grabbing his weapon with his hoof. "I'm just really special when it comes to fighting."

He then leapt up and slammed his bat down into the ground, creating a powerful shockwave, both sending Riku flying back and stunning the crowd as they felt the quake from their seats. Riku's orbs went flying out of him, but The Unknown didn't care about them as he ran toward the teen. Riku landed on his back hooves, ready to counter as he got closer. He swung, only to miss as the robed stallion dashed past him, but instead of stopping, he flipped around and sped off again, this time spiraling as a cone of air formed around his body. Riku turned around too late as he was struck hard by the spinning bat, making him drop more orbs as he tumbled across the arena.

Sora's jaw dropped in shock at The Unknown's moves, looking at the score to see Riku had only twenty orbs left on him, the rest either spread out across the battle arena or getting picked up by the untouchable stallion. With only thirty seconds left, he quickly ran over to where his friend was struggling to stand, Riku's head reeling as he nearly passed out after getting struck by that dashing spiral.

"Come on, Riku! You're running out of time! You can come back from this!" Sora's encouragement looked like it was reaching Riku, but he was too dazed to hear his friend as his fighting instincts told him to get back up.

His legs were shaking as he stood back up, eyes rolling around in his head as his vision was blurry. Riku squinted as he saw three of the robed stallions slowly approaching him. He tried to move forward, staggering on his hind legs as he was forced back on all fours to keep his balance. Grabbing his Struggle bat with his mouth, he stumbled forward to meet The Unknown halfway and hit him at least once. Fifteen seconds remained, the crowd shouting loudly at Riku to make a comeback, do something, even grabbing the rest of the orbs knocked out of him.

As soon as he was face to face with the stallion, Riku weakly swung his weapon, finally getting a hit on him. Unfortunately, it only knocked out one red orb out of him with how weak it was. The Unknown lightly tapped Riku's forehead with his bat, pushing the pegasus back onto his hind legs, his body's momentum following the weak force of his push as he fell on his back. Time ran out as the referees blew their whistle, the audience groaning at the obvious score that decided the victor: Riku with 20 and The Unknown with 149.

"The Unknown wins the second semifinal match!" Shining announced to the dismay of the crowd, even he was a bit shocked by the outcome. He looked up at his sister and her friends, all of them disappointed to see Riku had lost, Pinkie taking off her foam finger for Riku off her hoof sadly. "Who the hay is that stallion?"

Sora's ears drooped, thumping his head against the arena. He was expecting to fight Riku and compete against him in the finals, but that doesn't seem to be the case as this powerful pony managed to best his friend. Riku slowly came to his senses, The Unknown standing above him, looking down at the beaten pegasus. He groaned, realizing he lost when he looked at the scoreboard.

"Alright, quit your whining," the stallion said. "I didn't beat you up that bad." The Unknown helped the teen up on his hooves. "Well, at least not physically. That score's not pretty, but you didn't lose all of them, so that counts for something." Riku didn't say anything, shaking his head as the stallion's somehow familiar voice kept escaping who he knew that had the same voice. The Unknown brushed off the pegasus's vest, patting him on the shoulder. "You're a lot better than I thought. But, I'm going to see just how well your friend compares to you. Great fight, kid."

"...Y-Yeah..." Riku slowly slumped his way off the arena, nearly collapsing as he lost his balance as he jumped off the side. Sora ran up to him and helped steady his balance until his legs weren't threatening to topple him into a crumbling heap. "He's too good...far stronger than a normal pony."

"I think some of us noticed," Sora said, looking up to their friends and the princesses up in the rows of seats. Everyone was really upset to see Riku had lost, expecting the two of them to make it in the finals and really compete in a duel in an official competition. "Either he's really talented...or he isn't from this world."

"You know the weird thing?" Riku asked. "...I think I heard his voice before."

"Seriously?" Riku nodded his head, looking back at The Unknown waiting for Sora to commence with the finals match.

"I can't recall who it belonged to...I think I heard it when we were kids..." He grabbed his head, still feeling sore after getting hit hard by that last blow. "I don't know. It was a long time ago and we were still clueless kids back then..."

"Hey, boys." Sora and Riku looked up, The Unknown standing by the edge of the arena as he looked down at them, his face still hidden underneath his hood. "We still got a finals match to finish, and I'm all ready to go against the 'Hero of Light' the ponies in this city love calling you. Saw the neat little statue of you out there when I got to this place." He grabbed his Struggle bat and balanced it on one hoof. "Let's see if you're as good at fighting a real opponent than those rubber monsters."

Sora grunted as he was goaded by the stallion. After making sure Riku was well enough to stand on his own, he leapt up onto the arena, where the crowd immediately chanted his name. He wasn't going to back down from a challenge, and he'll prove to The Unknown that he's dealt with far worse in the past.

"It. Is. On." The teen held his hoof out in Shining Armor's direction, taking it as a cue to toss him a Struggle bat. The unicorn tossed it, Sora catching it as he kept his eyes on his opponent, intending to win this for both him and Riku. "I don't know who you are, but you don't have any idea who you're going up against. I've saved this world from plenty of threats, even the psychotic Lord of Chaos: Discord."

"Oh, I've heard from the grapevine about you, Sora. Every single one of your heroic efforts in Equestria, including going up against Sombra here in the Crystal Empire." Sora flew over to the other side of the arena, taking his foam weapon into his mouth. "That also goes for the rest of the worlds, too..."

The Unknown stepped forward until they were at the appropriate distance apart from each other to begin. Shining Armor levitated their orbs over to them, the timer starting back at two minutes as their images and orb count appeared under it.

"Mares and gentlecolts, we will begin the finals of the Struggle tournament!" Shining announced as he silently rooted for Sora. "The winner will be this year's Struggle champion, going home with two items along with their victory: a trophy custom made for this new competition and a special belt proving the winner will hold the title until the next year, where another finalist will duel the champion and either proclaim a new champion or the reigning champ will hold it for another year!"

A unicorn official levitated a pair of items covered by a shimmering cloth, laying it down on a table standing outside of the battle arena. As the cloth was lifted away, everyone saw the trophy and champion belt for the Struggle tournament. The trophy was a lot like the one given in Twilight Town, but the blue crystal on the small brown pedestal was in the shape of a tight spiral in the shape of a Struggle bat, eight indentations around it that held eight different colored crystal spheres: red, orange, blue, pink, purple, fuchsia, black, and white. The belt was just as similar to the one from Twilight Town, but with the eight similar colored gems embroidered on the golden plating on the leather belt.

"Fancy," The Unknown complimented with a whistle. "Wouldn't mind having that belt around my waist. Bring out some color in this dirt brown cloak."

"How about you show us your face if you win?" Sora asked.

"Nah. I'm like a superhero," he reasoned. "I like to keep my identity a secret. Impress the crowd and make them wonder what I look like underneath the veil of his disguise."

"I doubt it," Sora muttered under his breath.

"Finalists! Are you ready!?" Shining asked, both nodding their heads as the crowd cheered and chanted Sora's name. Knowing this was going to be an intense Struggle match, the unicorn stallion leapt off the arena before he began the finals match. "Let's Struggle!"

As soon as the timer started counting down, Sora ran forward to attack The Unknown head on. The stallion smirked, dashing past the pegasus as he got closer, then righted himself to dash back and attack him from behind, spiraling in the cone of air around him. Sora had expected this attack, quickly leaping up and flipping backwards over the cloaked stallion. He struck at the apex of his leap, but The Unknown managed to quickly turn and block Sora's bat with his own, holding onto it with his hoof.

"Not bad," The Unknown complimented. "But you've only seen a small bit of what I know. And I know you have a lot more in you as well."

"You don't know the half of it." The two fighters leapt back and lunged forward, swiping their Struggle bats as they clashed, moving all over the arena while avoiding missed strikes.

The audience could barely see how fast they were moving, but they went wild as they cheered, watching the incredible fight before them. Neither side had hit each other once yet, but the match was only beginning. The Mane Six and Kairi cheered for Sora, all of them encouraging him to win and show The Unknown what for. Aqua was on the edge of her seat, but not from the tension of the finals match. She clearly recognized that familiar dash, and she couldn't believe what she was seeing was real. She wanted to stop the match and confront this stallion to find out who he is, but at the same time, she was afraid she was imagining things and thinking she knew who he was.

Ventus noticed how tense Aqua was, seeing her hooves trembling, only focused on the cloaked stallion. "Aqua? What's wrong?" She didn't answer him. "...Aqua?"

He waved his hoof in front of her face, only for her to swiftly grab it, tightly, making the teen wince. "...I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth, slowly lowering his hoof back down to his side.

He rubbed his foreleg, feeling as if she had grabbed him with a hoof made of solid ice. "Ok..." Ventus left Aqua alone for now, being wary in case she lost her cool and wound up having another magic surge.

Sora continued his attack, not letting The Unknown get the upper hand as he kept evading his hard strikes, swapping his bat around to strike back with his hooves, mouth, and tail. The other stallion seemed to grow a bit excited as the fight wore on, watching the teen flipping around as he dodged his swings, surprisingly blocking him when he saw an opening, and switching to defense when Sora went all out slashing away. They both swung, clashing their bats together as a minute had already past, both their scores still even.

"You got some skills, kid," The Unknown said. "I think I might actually break a sweat."

"Is it normal for you to talk casually with your opponent in a duel?" Sora asked.

"I just wanted to get to know you two better," he simply responded. "Two young fighters with so much potential both in strength and your hearts...At least I made one good choice back then."

"What?" As Sora questioned what the stallion meant, The Unknown shoved him back hard, sending the teen tumbling across the stage, but no orbs flew out since he wasn't struck by the Struggle weapon.

The teen slid to a halt on his back, looking up to see the veiled stallion jump up above him. The audience gasped as The Unknown came back down, swinging his weapon down on Sora and knock out plenty of orbs from him. Sora quickly tossed his Struggle bat to his tail, gripping it tightly, then vaulted backward. The Unknown's weapon barely missed his hind legs, the stallion gasping as everything moved in slow motion as he missed. He couldn't move out of the way in time as Sora flicked his tail, sending his weapon slamming under the stallion's chin.

Along with knocking several orbs out of him, he flipped backwards from the swift blow and sent back in the air. As Sora flipped back on his hooves after smacking The Unknown, he let go of his Struggle bat, leapt up at his opponent, grabbing his weapon in his mouth, then smacked the stallion around as he was dazed from the blow to his jaw. As soon as red orbs began raining the field, the crowd roared in excitement. He slammed the stallion down to the arena, who quickly flipped upright and landed hard on his hooves, shaking off the hits as he rubbed his jaw with a hoof.

"Heh...Didn't see that coming," he uttered. He looked at Sora, falling back to the ground, some of his orbs being absorbed into him as he landed around them or they fell on him after bouncing around. The teen didn't bother gathering the other orbs, seeing how much time was left in their fight: fifteen seconds. The Unknown had only 45 orbs left while Sora had 133, the rest laying about on the arena. He knew he wasn't going to land a hit on the agile and flexible pegasus, especially when his reaction timing was faster than his own. "Looks like I lose."

The Unknown waited for time to end, the referees blowing their whistles at the match's end. "Time is up! Sora wins the Struggle tournament!"

The audience cheered and applauded the teen, everyone chanting his name while his friends cheered at his outstanding victory. Sora relaxed from his stance, keeping his eyes on The Unknown as he, too, clapped his hooves for his win. Riku said that his voice was familiar to him, and the stallion sounded like he knew a lot more about him and Sora than he should. He was about to approach him and get some answers, only for Shining Armor to distract him as he levitated the trophy and belt to him. Not wanting to make it seem like anything was wrong, Sora grinned as he took his trophy, stood on his hind legs, and held it up for all the crowd to see, making them cheer louder.

The mysteriously named stallion took his leave, stepping down from the arena and began leaving, letting the young fighter have his moment. Aqua saw him leaving the field, but she wasn't going to let him get away. His power wasn't natural for a normal pony in Equestria, and it didn't help that his veil to keep himself hidden makes him look suspicious. The unicorn stood up and made her way down the aisle, passing by the others as she made her way down the stairs.

"Aqua!? Where are you going!?" Ventus asked.

"Just stay there, Ven!" she shouted over the loud cheering.

She went inside the stadium and quickly ran down the hall after passing through the magical dampening gates to gain control of her magic again. Summoning her Keyblade, she ran to the exit where he came out of from the field. As soon as she left the stadium, she looked around and found The Unknown heading away from the center of the Crystal Empire, out toward the barrier and in the snowy landscape outside.

Aqua shot a Blizzaga spell at the stallion, who quickly leapt out of the way as a large wall of ice barred his path forward. "Oh, great," he muttered under his breath.

Aqua ran closer to him, keeping her Keyblade aimed at the brown-cloaked stallion. "Don't move," she ordered. "Whoever you are, I know you're not someone who resides in this world...No ponies in Equestria have any abilities like that, not without any magical enchantments. And even then, unicorn magic inside the stadium is blocked by a spell, but you're an earth pony. They can't do what you can, and hiding yourself under that cloak only makes you more suspicious.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here in this world?" He didn't respond, slowly turning around to face her. He kept his face hidden under his hood, as well as his eyes from her, staring at the Keyblade held in her aura. She stepped closer, the air around her getting colder as she was about to lose control of her temper. "Answer me, damn it!" He kept silent, moving his hoof underneath his cloak to grab something. "Don't even think about-!"

Aqua rushed forward to attack The Unknown, not letting him pull a weapon on her when she demanded answers. He quickly pulled out what was hidden, tossing it down in front of him as a cloud of smoke blew out of a smoke bomb the moment it struck the ground, blinding Aqua as she inhaled the smoke and coughed heavily. Completely caught off guard, she tried searching for him, hearing something that sounded just like a Keyblade being summoned. She cast Aero, blowing the smoke away, but as her vision cleared, there was no trace of the stallion. She looked around: outside the barrier, back in the empire, even above her, but he had disappeared.

Unable to find out where he went, she gave up chasing the stallion. Whoever he was, he wasn't considered dangerous to the Crystal Heart, unless there was some way someone can suppress their evil nature from the magical heart's powers. Maybe she was still reeling from her paranoia after seeing that dash pulled off by Terra-Xehanort, thinking it was the sadistic man that had shown himself and it was actually a normal pony who hid his persona under a cloak as a performance as he fought. Aqua headed back to the stadium, in desperate need of something to distract her from the stress of her past.

As soon as she was out of sight, behind the large wall of ice, The Unknown reappeared as he looked around the slowly melting barricade. He let out a sigh and continued on his way, leaving the barrier and walking through the snow. The shift in temperature as he left didn't bother him, but what he felt when Aqua got frustrated really sent a shiver down his spine. He had stopped and looked back at the Crystal Empire, lifting his hood a little to see it with his blue eyes. After a moment, he turned his head and continued on his way, planning to one day meet with her again in the future.





Later that evening, Pinkie threw a private party in the castle for Sora and his title of Struggle champion. As fun as the party was, Sora, Riku, and Aqua didn't feel up to partying, their thoughts more focused on the mysterious stallion who calls himself The Unknown. The Struggle champ leaned against the balcony railing, looking out over the Crystal Empire as the guests who arrived for the Equestria Games celebrated the end of the event, the ending ceremony closing the Games with a fireworks show, the fuses all lit by Spike's fire breath. At least this time, he didn't worry about the crowd and managed to do his job perfectly.

That stallion's words still bugged him, almost as much as it was for Riku when he heard his voice. He tapped his hoof against the railing, wracking his brain over The Unknown's words, how he knew so much about them when they only met him for the first time. Kairi walked out on the balcony, searching all over for him as she levitated a slice of cake in her aura.

"There you are, Sora," she said. "I thought you would be celebrating your big win in the tournament with everyone else. I saved you some cake before Pinkie could eat the rest of it, even though she practically pulled that out of nowhere. But, that's Pinkie for you." Kairi set the plate down in front of Sora and sat next to him. She noticed the serious expression on his face, too deep in thought to hear her. "Sora? Are you ok?"

"Hmm?" He turned his head, now noticing Kairi beside him. "Oh. Hey, Kairi. Was the party getting to crazy?"

"Actually, I was looking for you. You didn't stay long to have fun after winning tonight." Sora grinned sheepishly, getting that concerned look from his girlfriend's eyes again.

"Uhh...right. I kind of...kept thinking about that pony Riku and I fought," he said. "He was...quite the fighter. He even beat Riku."

"Yeah. His fighting style was quite interesting. Like, 'Outside of this world' interesting." It was just as Sora had guessed from the others' reactions when they saw The Unknown fight. "He can't be dangerous if he's from another world. The Crystal Heart would have probably kicked him out, or kept him from getting inside."

"Yeah, you're right," Sora agreed. "But the weird thing is...I think that guy knows more about us when he talked to me and Riku."

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.

"Well, when Riku heard him talk, he said he remembered hearing The Unknown's voice before," Sora said. "He said he heard it when were were kids, but he's not even sure...And when he was talking casually with me while we fought, it sounded like he knew about the two of us, and tonight's the first time we ever knew met him." He sighed, looking up at the night sky. "Whoever he is, maybe he'll show up again. I do want to know who he really is...And who names themselves 'The Unknown' as a stage name? I'd come up with a better name then that if I wanted to hide my identity."

"I think you would be 'The Hyper Porcupine' if you wore a mask and a cape." Kairi giggled as Sora pouted at her with a blank stare.

"Very funny." He ran a hoof through his hair, making his spikes sway. "More dumb spiky hair jokes I know that will annoy me until I finally forget it existed."

"I'm just teasing, Sora," Kairi assured. She grabbed the plastic fork she brought along with Sora's cake, taking a piece of it and held it in front of his muzzle. "And since you're so distracted by your thoughts, I guess I'll have your cake so it doesn't go to waste."

She was about to levitate the piece to her mouth, but Sora quickly snapped his teeth on the fork, stealing it as he pulled back and chewed it. "My cake."

"Hmmm...I'm not so sure if you deserve any," Kairi teased as she began to levitate the plate closer to her.

"Really?" She nodded her head, taking another piece and quickly ate it before Sora made another lunge. He grinned impishly, spotting a bit of frosting on the pink unicorn's lips. "Well, if I don't get any cake, I'll just take the next sweet treat off the menu."

"But I only grabbed the cake." He leaned closer to Kairi, surprising her by slowly licking her lips free of the delicious frosting. He stuck his tongue out, watching her cheeks turn red. She leered at him with a sly grin, dragging him back over to her with her magic. "Well, if you wanted some sugar, you could have just asked."

"I'm I allowed one cup or two?" Sora asked, leaning closer to rub his muzzle against hers.

"You can have the whole bag if you want." They began giggling after a few seconds of silence with how silly their romantic bargaining turned out.

Kairi pressed her lips against Soras into a kiss, the stallion returning it in kind. He wrapped his forelegs around her as he deepened their kiss, Kairi leaned closer to him while held in his embrace. They pulled away and nuzzled each other, sharing the rest of the cake with each other while they stargazed on the balcony.

Inside the castle where the others were busy partying, Riku leaned against the wall with some punch in his hoof. He had no interest in celebrating, not for the fact that he had lost right before he was so close to fighting Sora in a competitive sport after all these years. What really bothered him was The Unknown, the stallion who had practically wiped the floor with him, but also had a voice he heard before, even if it sounded a little deeper. Maybe if he got a good look at his face, he might have been able to figure out who he was, but he was completely concealed by his cloak.

"Riku?" He looked up from his untouched drink, finding a very concerned Twilight standing in front of him. "You alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," he said. "Not exactly disappointed that I lost. Sora's been kicking my butt after I got jealous of him and used the power of darkness. That guy just caught me off guard."

"I thought you were going to win," Twilight said. "Everypony else said Sora would most likely win the whole tournament, but I voted for you...A-And it's not just because we're a couple. I actually thought you would have made it and beat Sora."

"Thanks, but I wouldn't care if you made a bet and chose Sora over me to win the title. I may have had more skill and power over him at first, but he eventually began beating me, even when I used the power of darkness and had a Heartless control me." Riku finally took a sip of his drink, even though it was now at room temperature and no longer chilled. "I guess I was a bit off when fighting that stallion after I heard him talk. He sounded like someone I met before when I was about five years old."

"Did you know him?" Twilight asked.

"I can't really remember," he said. "It's been so many years. I had barely remembered meeting Aqua and Terra before seeing her finally recalling that moment." He then looked over at Aqua, who had been standing by a window that looked out to where the stadium was. "Speaking of, Aqua's acting a little off. Is she alright, or is she about to have another meltdown?"

"I don't know," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "She left when everypony cheered for Sora after he won. She didn't even tell us where she was going until she came back a while later."

"Let's just hope she isn't going to create another ice castle and release Torrent again." Riku finished his beverage, his stomach now demanding food after he was done wallowing in his thoughts. "I'm starving. I better grab something before a certain pony eats the entire buffet."

"After you eat something, do you want to dance to some music?" the alicorn asked.

"...After watching you dance at your brother's wedding, I'd rather not get kicked when you're trying to do 'The Flailing Shuffle'." Twilight scoffed in resentment, nudging Riku hard in the ribs.

"I do not dance that badly!" she exclaimed. "And since I've been practicing with my Keyblade, I think my coordination and movement has helped to improve my dancing."

"And yet you still have a long way to go." Twilight growled and punched his shoulder, but Riku easily avoided it. "Nope. Not this time."

"Stop being mean to me!" Twilight whined as he laughed, trying to hit him while he kept ducking or blocking her hooves with his.

While Riku continued to tease Twilight as he went to get himself some food, Aqua continued looking out the window. The Unknown had really gotten under her skin when she watched him fight in his matches. His moves, powerful strength, wide and heavy swings. His whole fighting style was so similar to Terra's if he was a pony, but she knew there was no way he could still be alive. Xehanort took his body, snuffed out his light, and there was no way he could come back. And she could have sworn she heard a Keyblade being called when she was surprised by that smoke bomb the stallion threw. The only ones she knew who had a Keyblade were Lea, who was still training learning how to use his Keyblade over his chakrams, and his coat was black, so that had left him out as the mystery stallion. And the other was Xehanort, but due to his heart given in to the power of darkness, he wouldn't be able to stay inside the barrier in the Crystal Empire, not to mention he hasn't been seen at all after the others' last encounter with him.

Ventus approached Aqua, seeing she had calmed down after running off earlier, though she still looked worried. "Aqua, what happened? Where'd you run off to?"

She didn't look back at him, but she sighed as she continued staring out at the empire. "I went off to find...that pony."

"The Unknown?" he asked. "What for?"

"...I just wanted to know who he is under that hood," she said. "His attacks looked so familiar...or maybe I'm imagining things and freaked out over a relapse after being isolated in the Realm of Darkness."

"Oh...I see." Aqua had enough sightseeing, knowing she wasn't going to be able to track down The Unknown anytime soon as she finally moved away from the window.

"I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm probably just...exhausted. And hallucinating...I'm not really sure anymore." She pulled Ventus into a hug, surprising him a little. "Sorry about worrying you, Ven."

"It's ok, Aqua," he assured as he hugged her back. "You need a lot more rest after what you've been through."

"And yet I can't seem to really get any anymore." She soon let go and began making her way through the halls of the castle to her guest room.

Despite wanting to get some rest, she still can't get that stallion off her mind. Whoever he was, he had a Keyblade, but he wasn't a threat since he was in the Crystal Empire's barrier. He fought almost like Terra, but it couldn't have been him since his light, heart, and body were taken by Xehanort. One day, when he shows himself around any of them, she was going to get answers, no matter what it takes to find out who this mysterious pony was and why he was here in this world.