//------------------------------// // Celestial Advice // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// It was quite an odd series of events to everyone when Sora and Kairi returned from their small trip to Las Pegasus, their findings coming up empty and with several more questions unanswered with the mysterious salespony no longer present in the big city. It was as Sora, Kairi, Aqua, and Twilight expected to see the others' reaction once they were gathered in the castle and saw the new alicorn among them: shock, awe, confusion, and excitement, the latter mostly with Pinkie as she wanted to throw a party for the newest alicorn princess. It was going to be hard trying to hide Kairi's wings from ponies, but if everyone in Ponyville didn't mind Twilight and her new royal status, then she shouldn't worry about getting attention from this town alone. Rarity helped modify her outfit to keep her wings from being constrained, along with Aqua and Twilight's help so that there weren't any holes for said wings when she reverted to her human form. Sadly, getting less notoriety was thrown out the window when it came time for the award ceremony for Equestria's bravest group and their efforts in defeating Chrysalis and saving everyone, and all the changelings, from her dastardly scheme. The ceremony was today, and important guests, pony and changeling, were arriving to attend. Kairi was given some time to figure out how to control her wings, with a lot of difficulty from Sora's teasing while he taught her. And if she kept her wings folded to her sides, her pink feathers matched her outfit enough to blend in, almost like they were an added addition to her redesigned clothes. Starlight was in her room getting herself ready, feeling much better after saving Ventus from Vanitas's sneak attack. She heard a knock at her door, Spike standing outside her room as she opened it up. "Hey, Spike. What's up?" she said. "Just, uh, wanted to make sure you're ready for the big ceremony today," Spike said, albeit a bit nervously for some strange reason. "I still can't believe we're getting medals of honor," Starlight said, still surprised even after a couple weeks ago when she, Trixie, Thorax, Discord, and Ventus stormed the changeling hive on their own with barely any means of defending themselves from an army of bug ponies. While distracted, Twilight teleported into Starlight's room, silently shushing Spike when he noticed so he didn't give away her presence. "A-Are you kidding? You totally deserve it! After all, you guys...save Equestria from..." Spike wasn't doing a good job as he paused, occasionally looking at Twilight to see what she was doing. Starlight noticed and tried to look back, but Spike continued stalling before she found the purple alicorn stalking her in her bedroom. "Uh, Queen Chrysalis! With help from Trixie, Thorax, Ven,-" "Yeah, I know what happened," Starlight interrupted. "I was kinda there." Twilight pulled out some measuring tape, taking measurements on the wall over Starlight's dresser, and taking her sweet time while Spike tried to come up with more distraction ideas. "R-Right...So...what are you wearing?" "Not sure. Why?" Spike mentally slapped himself, under a lot of pressure and gave her an excuse to want to go into her room to see what she should wear. "Am I supposed to dress up?" "No!" Spike abruptly shouted, startling Starlight. "Uhh, I mean, you could. It's like Rarity always says." Fixing up his spines, Spike managed to make them curl similarly to his crush's style as he spoke just like her. "'There's no such thing as overdressed, darling. You're just the best-looking pony in the room.'" Spike chuckled nervously, his spines flicking back up to their straight, pointed style, still looking at Twilight as she wrote down the measurements. "What are you looking at?" Starlight turned her head, making Spike panic as he quickly grabbed the unicorn's face, shifting her head back toward him. "No, don't look!" Twilight was finally done, signalling to Spike before teleporting back to her room. Relieved, he let go of Starlight's cheeks, giggling timidly. "T-There was...a spider there, but it's gone now. See ya!" Spike quickly ran off, leaving Starlight behind, confused while rubbing her face. "...What just happened?" The purple dragon ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, reaching Twilight's bedroom where the alicorn was busy looking at her notes, Riku laying on the bed waiting for Spike to return. "She had no idea," Spike said, panting slightly while reveling in triumph at their plan. "We're a good team, Sparkle." "Sparkle?" Riku questioned while Twilight laughed at the odd nickname Spike gave her. "You need to come up with better nicknames. Like 'Star Butt'." Twilight yanked the sheets from under Riku with her magic, sending him falling to the ground with a yelp. "Cool it, 'Emo Hair'," Twilight chided playfully, hearing him huff before climbing himself back on his hooves. "I hope Starlight likes what I'm going to get her. I want this present to say, 'I'm so proud of you both as a mentor and a friend. Equestria is safer thanks to you.'" "Oh. I thought you were getting her a mirror like yours," Spike said, slightly confused knowing what Twilight wanted to get Starlight. "I am!" Twilight said. Riku looked over at the mirror over Twilight's dresser, the frame covered with many different pictures of her and all her friends. There was a group photo with everyone in Ponyville, individual shots of the other Mane Six, Spike, Owlowiscious Discord and Celestia, Sora and Kairi posing with the Cake Twins, Aqua, Ventus, and Terra training together, and Twilight and Riku nuzzling each other. "I'm not sure a mirror can say anything a card could easily do," Riku teased. "But it's just what her room needs," Twilight reasoned, staring at herself in her mirror while looking at all the photos around her reflection. "The first thing she'll see when she wakes up is herself surrounded by all her friends. I plan on giving it to her after the ceremony." "Oh, so we're just 'friends' in this little picture?" Riku asked skeptically, tapping his hoof against their picture. "You know what I mean." Twilight gently booped Riku's snout, then gave him a peck on the cheek. "Ok, before you two get too romantic, shouldn't the castle get ready for the celebration?" Spike asked. "Pinkie said she's got it covered," Twilight said. "She knows how to prep a party, no matter what the occasion." "So, are you going to use your party cannon or something?" Sora asked, dragged along with Pinkie to help her set up the party. To answer his question, she reached her hoof up to the ceiling, pulling down a rope and gave it a tug, instantly setting up several tables with vases of flowers, flower banners along the sides of the room with a cloth banner, depicting a heart-shaped medal, balloons tied up to the crystal columns where the flower banners were hung, and topping it off with some confetti that rained down in the room. Pinkie breathed a sigh like she pulled off a job well done, wiping her brow as if she was exhausted as she bounced away. Sora blinked, looking up at the ceiling where the tables mysteriously fell, no longer seeing the rope Pinkie grabbed. "...Well...I guess that works...Must have been saving that for a party emergency or something..." The time for the celebration was here, the room filled with ponies and changelings as the brave heroes stood before the alicorn sisters and Princess Twilight on a small stage. On a small podium between them was a cushion holding five heart-shaped medals for the three ponies, changeling leader, and draconequus. "Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, Discord, and Ventus were brave in the face of danger, resourceful when things got challenging, and proved that the bonds of friendship, no matter how unlikely, are stronger than any adversity," Twilight announced. "By stopping Queen Chrysalis, not only did they save Equestria; they set the changelings free from her reign." Discord interrupted Twilight's speech, teleporting from his spot and out in the crowd, wearing a blue jersey, a two-toned blue wig, a foam finger, and a small flag with his face on it. "Go, Discord!" he cheered, making Trixie roll her eyes in annoyance, though Starlight as a bit amused as she stifled a snigger. "And that's why we're proud and honored to give them the Equestrian Pink Hearts of Courage!" Celestia continued, showing the audience the medals that would be given to their heroes. Discord teleported back with his comrades as they all bowed, lowering their heads to receive their medals. Luna was the one to grant them their rewards, using her magic to place the bands over their heads. Trixie, Starlight, and Ventus's weren't a problem, Discord popped his head off his neck for his knowing his antlers would make it hard to put on, but Thorax's was a bigger issue as the band wasn't able to stretch far enough for his wider, deer-like antlers. Pinkie preemptively cheered, giving her colored commentary while everyone watched Luna struggle to put Thorax's medal around his neck. Finally, the medal was around the changeling's neck, albeit a bit embarrassed with the troubling display as she backed away to stand beside Celestia. "We are so proud of you all!" Twilight concluded, the guests applauding as the party for the heroes began, Vinyl Scratch putting on some music on her mix table. As the party was in full swing, the guests congratulated the five heroes as they mingled, Trixie telling stories about how she was the one who saved them all from Chrysalis while the others reminded her that it was mostly Ventus, Thorax, and Starlight who managed to save the day. Along with that, the changelings were getting accustomed to how the ponies treated them in their more friendlier forms as they discover how to best make new friends while making some as well. Twilight watched Starlight, beaming with pride as her lessons with her paid off successfully. "It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it?" Celestia asked as she approached her former student. "Watching your student shine the way you always knew they could." "My cheeks are sore!" Twilight laughed, rubbing her face while greatly elated for the work she's done as Starlight's pupil in the magic of friendship. "I don't think I've ever smiled this much in my life!" "I can only imagine what that feels like," Celestia said, giving Twilight a wink before wandering off to chat with some more of the guests. Twilight turned to watch Starlight more, only to have Discord wrap his serpentine body around her, distracting her as she expected him to be his usual conniving self. "Yes, Starlight is student of the year, isn't she?" he asked. "So much potential...What are we going to do with her? And by 'we', I definitely mean 'you'." He emphasized his point, poking her snout while she growled in irritation. "Being her mentor and all that, her destiny falls squarely on your haunches." Teleporting out of Discord's bodily grip, Twilight wasn't going to be dismayed by the draconequus's teasing. "Oh, don't worry. I've planned enough friendship lessons to cover the next three years." Despite being prepared for the future of Starlight's lessons, Discord began laughing, confusing her. "What's so funny?" "No, no. Clearly, Starlight is beyond basic friendship lessons," Discord said. He then held out his medal as he explained. "She just won a medal, for Equestria's sake. I thought you were joking." Discord waited, but Twilight didn't have any kind of retort, dead serious about giving Starlight more lessons and now began to feel conflicted after she saved Equestria with the others' help. "...You ARE joking, right?" "O-Of course I was!" Twilight lied, sweating nervously. "Obviously, YOU should have a grand master plan for her the same way Celestia set YOU on the path that eventually made YOU a princess," Discord said, constantly emphasizing his words, which began to get under Twilight's skin. "Yup," the alicorn squeaked in response, bearing a fake grin while struggling not to kill Discord for messing with her like this. "Oh, good. I'm sure she can't wait to hear all about it." Discord teleported away to cause more trouble, leaving Twilight to go into her usual panic attack as her plans were completely derailed. Starlight walked along with Thorax, barely seeing him since ending Chrysalis's reign while she was mostly bedridden. "So, how's the whole ruling-a-kingdom thing going?" "It's a bit overwhelming," Thorax said. "But we're adjusting to it." The duo walked by one of the tables, where two other changelings were with Applejack and Rarity. "So, uh, you can't have friendship without makeovers?" one of them asked. "Eh, not...exactly," Applejack answered, though Rarity nodded her head, catching the farm mare's attention, not wanting the changelings to start turning into fashion divas like Rarity. Discord appeared beside Starlight, eager to get under more of Twilight's skin, letting the pupil know of her teacher's plan for her future. "Oh, Starlight. Princess Twilight has something very important to tell us...Well, just you, really, but I'm nosy-" Discord put on a pair of goofy glasses to emphasize his point of prying into Twilight's plans. "-and I want to hear." "Ok. Would you excuse-?" Without getting any consent to leave, Discord grabbed Starlight and teleported away from Thorax, his comical glasses flying off and landing on the changeling king's face. When they reappeared near Twilight, Starlight groaned as she was let down, hating getting interrupted. "Never mind...What's going on?" "Well, Twilight was just about to reveal her grand master plan for you," Discord announced loud enough for the other guests to hear, pushing Twilight toward Starlight all the while. Riku also overheard while sitting at the table with Shining Armor and Cadence, Flurry Heart on the table near him while babbling and patting her hooves against his. "Really?" Starlight asked, both curious and excited. "I was kind of wondering what we were gonna do next." "Yes, I'd say we're both fairly interested," Discord added, his mischievous grin catching the alicorn off guard, which bothered Riku seeing his lover was getting stressed by the draconequus. "Of course you are," Twilight said. "And I do have a plan, obviously." Still in the midst of panicking, she grabbed a glass of punch one of the hired waiters carried on a tray as he walked past. "But now is clearly not the time to do it. You should enjoy your party." Nearly dodging that bullet, she took a sip of punch to calm her nerves. Discord sneered, dissatisfied, but Starlight could wait until the time came. "Hey, guys," Ventus said. "The Ponyville Chronicle wants to take our picture for this week's headline." "No! Not including Discord!" Trixie exclaimed from across the room, finding the best pose to be in for the photo op. "They want all five of us, Trixie, so stop whining!" Ventus shouted back. "You asked for it when you said that 'when pigs fly' comment!" Discord chuckled, following Ventus with Starlight to get their picture taken for the press. Twilight sighed in relief, thankful for Ventus's distraction, but as she went to take another sip of her punch, Discord popped in her cup in a smaller size, bathing in it like a tub. "I see what you're doing," Discord whispered. "You do?" Twilight asked worriedly. "You already planned the perfect moment during the party to make a grand announcement to everypony about your plan." Now Twilight was considering turning Discord to stone and smashing his statue to pieces, getting more frustrated and terrified from what he assumed was her promised future for Starlight. Finding a plug in the cup, though not draining it of the now soap-filled contents of punch, Discord teleported out, back to his normal size, now wearing a purple two-tailed coat and top hat. "Bravo, Twilight! I can't wait to tell your plan to Fluttershy and the others!" "Discord, no!" Twilight exclaimed, unable to stop the teleporting draconequus as he disappeared. Feeling eyes on her, Twilight giggled nervously, dumping out her drink in a nearby vase before running out of the room, excusing herself as she desperately needed a backup plan. Riku grumbled irritably after watching the whole scene. Even though Discord was friends with the guys now, he can be worse than Sora when it comes to pestering someone just to get them riled up. Looking back at Flurry Heart, who was busy entertaining herself by clapping both Riku's hooves with her own, giggling playfully. "Ok, Uncle Riku needs to help your Auntie Twily before she goes bonkers...again," Riku said to the infant alicorn. Picking the filly up, he carried her over to Spike, who was about ready to scarf down on some muffins, placing her in his hands. "Play with Uncle Spike for a bit." "Huh? What about me?" Spike asked. "Discord's messing with Twilight. I'm gonna try to calm her down before she loses it," Riku explained, then walked off to catch up with his panicking girlfriend. Flurry whined, wanting to play with Riku more, making Spike sigh, wiggling his claws around in the baby's sight, serving as a perfect distraction as she grabbed his hand and toyed with his digits. "At least your crying won't break anything anymore after the Crystalling..." After a bit of searching, it didn't take long for Riku to find Twilight where she was in a state of desperation; the library. She was scrambling through dozens upon dozens of scrolls, each of them all the lessons she taught Starlight since she became the unicorn's teacher in friendship. "No, no, no! She's already good at that!" Twilight said to herself, tossing each scroll she picked up while skimming the lessons on them. "She mastered THIS!...She taught ME about this one!" "Twilight, Discord's gotten to you," Riku said calmly. "Why are you freaking out so much?" "I'm a horrible mentor!" Twilight exclaimed. "Why didn't I come up with a path for Starlight!? Princess Celestia had it all figured out for me!" Before Riku could try to get her mind off her dilemma, Twilight found her answer. "That's it!" "What's it?" Riku asked, being ignored as Twilight squealed, leaping out of the pile of scrolls and running off, one of the long sheets tailing behind her as it wrapped around the stallion's leg, dragging him off with a yelp. After getting himself freed while being carried off by his excitedly distressed lover, Twilight's idea for help came to her own mentor, Princess Celestia. Once she found the princess, the trio used the throne room to discuss Twilight's issues in private, the lavender alicorn not wanting unwanted ears hearing her, especially Starlight. "I had years worth of friendship lessons ready to go, but when we were captured by Chrysalis, Starlight took charge and really stepped up," Twilight said to Celestia. "I don't think friendship lessons are enough for her anymore." "So you have an overachieving student," Celestia paraphrased. "Sounds familiar." "Yeah, just like another former genius unicorn we all know," Riku added, staring at Twilight with an amused smirk. "That's why I wanted to talk to you," Twilight said. "You, of all ponies, would know what to do. I mean, you were me and I was Starlight. But, for now, I need you to pretend you're you and I'm me." Riku went cross-eyed at the confusing phrases Twilight said. "Wait, who's who again? And who am I? Spike?" Celestia chuckled, getting what her former pupil meant. "Go on," she ushered. "When I was your student, and you were in THIS place, you-" Twilight paused, recalling what happened to her when she learned all she could from her lessons with Celestia. In order to learn more about friendship, she had to be sent to Ponyville, and she decided to stay after stopping Nightmare Moon. Her joy suddenly turned to dread, the answer she was searching for hitting her like a ton of bricks. "...Oh no..." Celestia understood her plight, lowering her head with a small frown. "You sent me to Ponyville...Which means...it's time for me to send Starlight Glimmer away!" "What!?" Riku exclaimed. "I-I can't believe it," Twilight muttered. "It's really time for Starlight to go, isn't it?" "Only you can make that decision," Celestia said. "It's a difficult one, but your heart knows what's right, even as it hurts." Taking Celestia's words to heart, it still didn't help that she had to let Starlight go. Riku wasn't so sure of the idea, feeling like it was too soon to let Starlight go, especially after she used magic to turn the other mares into hypnotized mind slaves doing whatever she commanded them to do, with no context and taking them a bit too literally. "Twilight, you're not seriously contemplating this, are you?" Riku questioned. "I am," she said. "This is something I have to do...Oh boy..." "Oh boy!" Fluttershy said excitedly, Discord telling the rest of the group about Twilight's secret surprise for Starlight and her accomplishments. "Whatever Twilight's planning for Starlight is going to be so exciting!" Discord said. "If that's the case, then how come she didn't tell the rest of us?" Kairi questioned skeptically. "Are you making this up?" "Why, of course not! It's probably because you're not as close to her as you think you are." Most of the group leered at the draconequus at his comment, but he ignored their glares as he laughed, merely joking. "Just kidding. She wanted it to be a big surprise. And just between us, she's getting ready to make a big announcement!" Pinkie squealed, eager to hear what Twilight is going to say. "That's so exciting! And surprising. Usually, you tell your party planner about all your plans for your party." "Twilight's actually pretty good at coming up with plans," Rainbow said. "But on the fly and out of the blue? She needs to work on that a little bit, even while fighting Heartless," Aqua said. "At least she's able to defend herself now, thanks to my training." "And eventually, she'll become a Keyblade Master and start teaching an apprentice of her own," Terra added. "Should we consider maybe finding more apprentices and train them to save other worlds from darkness?" Kairi suggested. "If anything, it would help save us a lot of trouble if more Heartless show up in too many worlds." Aqua didn't like the idea, desperate to avoid losing anymore young wielders to darkness, whether they were slain or corrupted by it. But with there being several more worlds out there they've yet to explore and those in the new Organization XIII trying to hunt down Sora, it could help to have new apprentices carry on their teachings and continue protecting the light of the worlds from darkness. She noticed everyone was looking at her, waiting for her confirmation on the idea as the designated master among her other wielders. "...I'll...think about it," Aqua finally said. Back in the throne room, Twilight looked over the Cutie Map, showing the layout of Equestria as she tried to figure out where to send Starlight. "Oh, gosh...I don't know," she mumbled to herself. Celestia and Riku watched, the former calm and letting her student choose while the latter wasn't going to be able to calm her down no thanks to Discord and this odd revelation she came up with. "I just don't want to send her to the wrong place." "Then just let her stay and continue teaching her more, like you originally planned," Riku said. "I-I just don't know..." After much deliberation, Twilight finally found the perfect place. "I got it! Since defeating Chrysalis, Starlight's given the changelings an opportunity to revolutionize their society. Maybe I can send her there." "Or throw away my suggestions," Riku grumbled. "That works, too..." Twilight moved away from the table, then used her magic to perform a spell Riku didn't expect. The throne room shifted to the changeling hive, a special type of visual illusion spell, though leaving the two alicorns and pegasus transparent while everything else looked normal, almost as if they were ghosts. "...Wow. What is this, Twi?" "A little spell to let others see scenarios I have in my head," Twilight explained. One of the changelings in Twilight's scene passed through Riku, showing he nor the other two alicorns can manipulate anything in this spell. "If Starlight goes to the changeling hive, she can help them adjust to their new way of life." Across from them, Twilight's future outcome showed Starlight standing beside Thorax, changelings gathered around for a lesson from the unicorn mare. "Ok, Friendship 101. Thorax and I are going to show you how to compromise." "I want to have honeysuckle nectar for lunch," Thorax said, acting out their planned lesson, though the performance felt like they were reading from a script without any motivation to make the conflict believable. "I would like a sandwich," Starlight said in the same tone. "Oh, no. What should we do?" "Attack!" one of the changelings answered. "The winner gets to choose!" The others seemed to agree with the answer, going by their old ways, even if this is all just a fantasy theory in Twilight's head. "Or...Thorax and I can talk about it and come up with a solution that works for everypony," Starlight said. "Starlight, how do you feel about honeysuckle and peanut butter sandwiches?" Thorax asked, back to the obviously terrible acting in their continued lesson. "Why, that sounds dee-licious!" Starlight agreed, ending their promptu lesson with her and Thorax shaking each other's hooves. While the changelings all seemed to have learned a good lesson, Riku didn't think this was how something like this could really go if it actually happened. "Twilight, I don't think this is something Starlight or Thorax would do." "Well, this is Twilight's fantasy, Riku," Celestia said. "There is no wrong way to fantasize." "Like when I turned into a dragon to help Spike with the Dragon Lord's call, and Twilight wanted to role play with a big, tough dragon towering her and-" Twilight squeaked, slapping Riku's face with her wing, silencing him with a heavy blush. "Ha ha ha ha! What!? No! That's just...Noooo!" Twilight exclaimed nervously, nearly shouting trying to avoid having their "activities" in the bedroom belted out in front of Celestia and embarrass her to no end. Celestia smirked, able to piece what little of Riku's comment he was able to say. "Well, I think this is a lovely path for Starlight to take," she said. "The changelings have so much to learn about how to enjoy love through friendship. Starlight would be very busy for a very long time, but her work there would be rewarding." Twilight stopped smacking Riku's face repeatedly while Celestia wasn't looking, her glare toward her smugly grinning lover turning to worry as she looked back at the scenario before them. "...Or dangerous," she added. "It would only take one changeling to deviate from the pack..." The magical scenery suddenly shifted inside the caverns of the hive. Starlight was busy examining some changeling eggs, unaware of the "rogue changeling" Twilight mentioned as a bad possibility for her student to encounter while learning friendship on her own. The changeling transformed into Starlight, sneaking through the cave with an evil giggle and past the transparent ponies watching the fantasy scene unfold. The impostor approached a trio of fellow changelings, ready to make Starlight out to be a horrible racist toward them. "Hi, I'm Starlight Glimmer!" "Starlight" greeted. "What's your name?" "Uh, Cornicle?" one of them said, the three changelings confused seeing how she knows them. The fake laughed, insulting them. "What kind of name is that?" she questioned, then unfurled one of the changelings' wings from their back. "Your wings are so, um...see-through. I'm so glad I'm a pony. Are you, like, bugs, or what?" "Starlight" created a giant fly swatter with her magic, smacking two of them repeatedly into the ground with it while laughing darkly. Cornicle was lucky to not get struck, but the attack was so shocking to him as he helped his squashed friends up after the impostor left. The real Starlight walked in, unaware of what happened as the changelings glared at her. "There she is!" Cornicle exclaimed. "Get her!" Hearing the changelings jeering and shouting at her, Starlight winced and fled, having no idea why they wanted to hurt her. Twilight ended the scenario before it got worse, leaving Riku and Celestia a bit shocked by the lavender mare's train of thought so derailed. "Ok, that is not likely to happen if all the changelings are harmless now," Riku said. "But it COULD happen!" Twilight argued. "I can't just send her off to Celestia-knows-where without thinking it through!" "Hmm...I was not aware that I was an expression," Celestia said aloud, startling Twilight knowing her mentor had no idea everyone used her name when disgruntled about something. "An appropriate one, of course, for even I don't know the answer. This is a momentous decision, and you must consider all the possibilities." "And by possibilities, I think Celestia means no worst-case scenarios with your overreactive imagination," Riku paraphrased, knowing just how wild Twilight's mind can wander over the bad outcomes if she's too stressed. Twilight looked over the map again, hoping the next location would be better for Starlight. "What about the dragons? I can send Starlight to the Dragon Lands! She and Ember would totally hit it off!" She created the next visual scenario, changing the throne room into the mountainous region of the Dragon Lands. Ember sat on a ledge closer to the ground on the massive throne for the Dragon Lord, towering her by several dozen stories. Starlight teleported into the land, finding the young Dragon Lord apparently waiting for her. "Ember!" Starlight greeted, sounding more like a surfer or skateboarder meeting with their bros in a hyped way. "Starlight!" Ember greeted back in the same tone, leaping off her seat and walked over to the unicorn. The two gave each other a strong, aggressive sort of handshake, flexing their arms, then chest-bumped each other with a grunt. "Are you ready to do some death-defying dragon stuff!?" "Ha ha, totally!" Riku had to facehoof, cringing at the most awkward greeting he's even seen in his entire life, even if it was just an imaginative one. "Twilight, Starlight and Ember don't talk like that at all, and I doubt they'd really do that if they met each other for the first time," Riku groaned. "Who knows what their dynamic could be, Riku?" Twilight said. "Definitely not like two surfer bros ready to catch some waves as they meet up on a beach," Riku said. Despite his complaints, they continued watching as Starlight partook in some activities with the dragons: destroying rocks with fire blasts, or magic blasts for Starlight, flying through the skies, wrestling, et cetera. "Starlight is going to love it in the dragon lands," Twilight said. "In her letters, Ember said dragons do a lot of fun things: The Feast of Fire, the Dragon Bowl, Claw-chella!" "If only Ember would go into a lot more detail as to what the hell 'Claw-chella' was," Riku mumbled, ignoring the fantasy Starlight whooping as she rode on the former Dragon Lord's back while they flew through the air. "Starlight could be there for a really long time," Twilight added. Her grin began to turn into a frown, her mind reeling as negative outcomes began rearing up on the scenario again. "Then again, not all dragons like ponies as much as Ember does..." The scene changed again, an all familiar location on a dormant volcano to Twilight when she, Rarity, Rainbow, Sora, and Kairi followed Spike when he went on the Dragon Migration. Of all the dragons Starlight should never meet, she approached the red teenage dragon, Garble. "Hey, Twinkle Star!" Garble greeted, though too cheerfully, which was unlike the aggressive jerk they knew. "It's Starlight Glimmer," Starlight corrected. "Star-kle Light-star?" Garble said, confused and getting her name wrong again. Starlight blankly stared at the ignorant dragon. "Starlight. Glimmer," she enunciated, but it flew over Garble's head. "Yeah, whatever. You wanna hang with us?" Garble asked. Without getting an answer, Garble snatched Starlight, leaping over the ledge and down into the mountain. "What are we diving into!?" Starlight asked nervously. "Lava!" Starlight gasped as she finally looked down, finding the lava pool they were diving into and screamed. "Ok, stop!" Riku exclaimed, Twilight quickly ceasing the scenario before she watched Starlight burn alive in lava. He struggled not to blow up on his girlfriend, her distressed state clearly not thinking straight when her student is just as strong as her. "Twilight, this is crazy. Starlight has really powerful magic, like you...She could stop herself from falling into a pit of lava, while in the clutches of the dumbest dragon on the face of the world." "What if she didn't realize it was happening!?" Twilight exclaimed. "'While in the CLUTCHES of the DUMBEST DRAGON!'" Riku repeated. "How could she NOT notice!? Anyone who isn't Garble would notice if they were falling to their death!" Twilight growled, ignoring her inconsiderate coltfriend and went back to looking for another place for Starlight, much safer than the changeling hive or the Dragon Lands. "Gotta find someplace safe for Starlight. Someplace safe, someplace safe, someplace safe," Twilight muttered to herself. Her eyes fell on the Crystal Empire, one of the safest locations in Equestria provided the Crystal Heart wasn't stolen or broken. "Aha! I can send her to the Crystal Empire to continue her magical studies with Sunburst!" Twilight created the third, more safer scenario, bringing them to the grand library in the crystal city where the fantasy Starlight and Sunburst were busy with an experiment: a couple books on the table, a log, a glass water with a strange purple liquid, and both ponies wearing protective goggles as a precaution. "It'll be perfect! Sunburst's knowledge of magic is only matched by Starlight's abilities! And they can improve their relationship more while working together!" Sunburst looked through the pages of one of the books until finding the solution to their experiment. "I've got it! Try placing your horn directly on the potion and picture the clock you wish to make." Starlight followed Sunburst's advice, pouring the potion on the log before her, then used her magic on it while her horn made contact with both the log and liquid. In a flash, the log turned into a wooden cuckoo clock, perfectly crafted while a small Flurry Heart statue poked out as the clock chimed the same number as the hour. "Please keep any 'relationship building' with those two in your head, Twilight," Riku begged. "Don't want them leaping from friends to lovers in a millisecond." "W-Well I know that!" Twilight exclaimed with a blush. "Besides, it's rude to think about what couples do behind closed doors." She glared at Riku, emphasizing her point from his near blab about their one experience, the stallion feigning ignorance by looking elsewhere while whistling nonchalantly. "Aside from what they could do when NOT studying, they could challenge each other into becoming the most talented unicorns Equestria's ever seen." While the duo in the possible scenario continued pursuing more experiments to try, Twilight began to worry again. "Of course, the study of magic is a lifelong pursuit, and Starlight could be there for a while, especially once they start attempting the really complicated stuff!" Riku sighed, holding out a wing as he counted down from his primary feathers like it was hand. "Three, two, one," he said, then pointed to Twilight, cuing her panic attack. "What if they become too ambitious!?" Twilight exclaimed, shifting the scene to Sunburst's home, where the unicorn pair were researching something that Twilight was thinking would be incredibly dangerous. "I never would have thought to combine Star Swirl's apparition spell with Spacium Flexibus!" Starlight said. "But what would happen if we added Somnambula's Tempus Objectus?" "If we do it just right, it should allow us to materialize an object that was lost in the past," Sunburst concluded after some thought. They both got to work, making a big, circular glyph on the floor with chalk with different runic symbols placed in specific sections of their next magical experiment. "No, don't do it!" Twilight said, fearing the worst, but the unicorns weren't able to hear her as Starlight and Sunburst lit up their horns and cast their combined spell. Magical energy swirled into the glyph, causing it to disappear, but instead of a time hole, it created a black hole that began sucking everything in Sunburst's home straight into the endless void. Starlight and Sunburst tried to get away, Starlight unfortunately getting caught as she hung onto the edge for dear life, but her grip lost hold and she screamed as she fell. "Starlight, nooooooo!" "Starlight, nooooooo!" Twilight and Sunburst reached down into the black hole simultaneously as they watched Starlight plummet in the empty void. Sunburst was then sucked in, along with the entire building, and possibly the world as everything went black. Having had enough, Riku grabbed Twilight's shoulders, turning her around to face him. "Twilight, cut it out!" he shouted, ending the third worst-case scenario in a row and bringing them back to the throne room. Despite the panic and fear she just mentally created, Riku was getting fed up with her wild imagination, but he mostly blamed Discord for sparking this in the first place. "That's clearly not going to happen!" "But it could!" Twilight argued. "I don't think I can send her anywhere!" "Then let her stay!" Riku said. "Who said she needed to leave to continue her studies!?" "Then why don't you help me instead of berate me over what could happen to Starlight!?" the lavender alicorn shouted angrily. "Aren't you even the least bit worried about what she could get into!?" "She can take care of herself just fine," Riku assured, trying to calm down before they got into a fight. "Discord's really gotten into your head if you think she can't keep herself out of trouble. She managed to elude us back when she wanted to get revenge on you for ruining her philosophy. "She took a powerful magical spell Vanitas tried to use on Ventus, and it almost got her killed!" Twilight said, tears welling in her eyes as she got more upset. "I-I don't...If anything happened to her, and I sent her somewhere dangerous, I'd blame myself for getting my own student hurt..." Riku grimaced, that memory fresh in his mind after the changelings' reformed. He knew exactly how she felt, always worried about Twilight whenever they get into a fight with a horde of Heartless, but since her training with Aqua, she's gotten far better and could take on a large group fine on her own. He reached a hoof out, gently wrapping her foreleg around her neck and pulled her close into a comforting hug, which she definitely needed from her frazzled mind as an overly-worried mentor. "...What am I gonna do, Riku?" Before he offered an answer with what he suggested earlier, the moment was ruined when the couple heard Celestia laughing. It wasn't the soft, light-hearted chuckle she usually gives, but full-blown laughter, shocking the two of them as no one has EVER heard the princess of the sun laugh like that. As shocking as this was, Twilight looked back at her former mentor, taking her laughter as mocking, finding it hilarious that she was freaking out over something so serious. "...Why are you laughing?" Riku questioned. "She's laughing at me," Twilight muttered, lowering her head in misery. "I can't believe she's laughing at me..." Celestia managed to calm down, tilting Twilight's head back up. "Twilight, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because I had the exact same fears you're having." "What!?" Twilight exclaimed, utterly shocked to hear Celestia actually had similar worries about what would happen to her. "Oh, now I get it," Riku said, making Twilight turn and leer at him. "What?" "Let me tell you a story," Celestia said, sitting down as she began to regale her story to Twilight about her fears. "Once upon a time, there was a very bright young filly." Riku and Twilight sat down as well. "Wish we had some popcorn," Riku joked, earning a nudge in the side by his girlfriend. As Celestia told Riku and Twilight her tale, she thought back to those moments from Twilight's youth up until she had sent her to Ponyville. She taught the class Twilight was in as a filly, most of her classmates paired up as they tried to grow a flower in a pot with a bit of alchemy. Where the groups managed to create a small daisy with the proper instructions, Twilight went far and beyond as she brewed up a stronger growth potion, the finished concoction expelled a flowery smoke cloud. When putting a drop of it in her pot, she created a beautiful flower with a green bulb and long blue petals surrounding the stem like a veil. And it was more alive than any other flower as it high-hooved the lavender unicorn filly at her success before she went back to her book to find another advanced potion to try. As proud as Celestia was, she was a bit saddened seeing Twilight working by herself when she could have been partnered up and enjoy the team-building exercise. Many years later, as her student was getting older and the coming return of Nightmare Moon, she had contemplated what to do for Twilight to help her make friends as she lowered the sun and raised the moon on the summit of a mountain overlooking Canterlot. "Maybe I could close the library or throw a party in the castle," she said to herself. "Oh, she'd have to talk to the other fillies then!" It was a tough decision to make, and she couldn't keep her cooped up in her castle or her favorite library forever. Looking back up at the moon, she sighed sadly, a tear rolling down her cheek as she had to do the second worst thing in her life. "...I must send her away..." The next day, she had searched around for the perfect location to send Twilight to learn about friendship, which just so happened to be Ponyville. She found the five mares she would soon befriend and help save Equestria from certain doom, but when she returned to her room, she began to worry as she paced back and forth in front of her mirror, a couple guards making their rounds overhearing her as they past her room and peeked inside. "Oh, what if she runs into a manticore!?" she questioned nervously. "Or what if she gets pulled into Tarterus!? Or worst of all, what if she doesn't get along with anypony!?" "Are...we supposed to say anything?" one of the two stallions asked. "I don't think so," the other said, leaving Celestia to herself, neither of them realizing she wasn't just talking to herself. "I cannot believe you are nearly a millennia older than I am, and you worry more about your prized student than your kingdom." Celestia glared at the mirror, Yen Sid standing in the reflection of the specially enchanted mirror she discovered some time ago, first meeting the wizard when she accidentally activated it, surprising the two of them. Though they have become good friends, learning about each others' worlds and each other, she was a bit irritated that Yen Sid didn't take her seriously. "Surely, you can trust her to make her own decisions in life now that she's learned all you could teach her." "Did you forget about the other predicament I'm having with my sister's eventual return?" Celestia asked. Yen Sid nodded, knowing her plight as she told him about her sister's fate and felt pity for her. "You don't know what I'm going through right now." "I have had students of my own, one of them being the self-righteous king from his own world who was in over his head," Yen Sid explained. "Even then, I worried he might stray too far, but I had full confidence in him. Now, he is a full-fledged Keyblade Master, doing his part while sharing his knowledge with new wielders who have saved countless worlds in the past couple years." "You sure don't show it," Celestia grumbled, then sighed miserably. "I know Twilight is going to find out about the Elements of Harmony when the time comes, but...my sister could hurt everypony." Yen Sid stroked his beard, finding an idea after a moment of thinking. "It has been quite some time since Xehanort has shown himself again...If you would like, I could send one of my newest apprentices to Equestria to help aid you, your world, and maybe even your student." "Really? But, what about keeping the world order?" Celestia asked. "Wouldn't anypony else find out something's off if one of them arrives?" "They know not to give out too much information outside of other worlds," Yen Sid reassured the worried princess. "I will see which of them is best suited to helping your kingdom, and maybe even teach your student how to make friends." Celestia wasn't sure if she wanted someone else from another world helping, worried about her sister, but if they can help Twilight discover the magic of friendship, both for the Elements and for herself, she was willing to accept any help if it meant keeping her kingdom, her world, safe. There was a knock from Yen Sid's side, the wizard looking back, nearly forgetting he asked Riku to relay his message to the powerful wielder. "Hold on a moment. I shall return." He then draped a cloth over the enchanted mirror so anyone else didn't see the alicorn princess just yet. When he came back after speaking with Sora, Yen Sid assured the princess that his best student was set to arrive in a few days time. Although, those few days felt more like nearly a couple weeks after Sora's Gummi ship malfunctioned, stranding him in Equestria, getting him into shenanigans with the mares she wanted Twilight to befriend until finally meeting him after a little confrontation with a certain rainbow-maned pegasus and her royal guards, lead by the former captain, now step-nephew, Shining Armor. When the Summer Sun Celebration was about to arrive, she sent Sora a warning through his Keyblade after examining the mysterious weapon of light, then sent Twilight to Ponyville to oversee the preparations, make some friends, and find the Elements of Harmony so they can free Luna from the clutches of her darkness, Nightmare Moon. It was a tough choice, but she had to do it, otherwise her fears and anxiety would keep Twilight holed up in her castle until she was an old mare. "Eventually, I realized all the anxiety I felt was because I didn't want you to go," Celestia concluded, surprising Twilight once her story was over. "Really?" Twilight asked. "I loved having you as a student. You challenged me and taught me just as much as I taught you," Celestia said. "I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was afraid if you made friends...you wouldn't need me anymore." Twilight had tears in her eyes, touched to hear her mentor had worried about her, knowing exactly how she felt with Starlight, but she would never forget about Celestia or look to her for any answers she can't discover. "Princess Celestia, that's not true," she said. "I will always need you." "I think Starlight Glimmer might feel the same way about you, if that is what you're afraid of," Celestia said, Twilight chuckling nervously as she nodded slightly. "Here we are after all these years, Twilight. We are living proof that letting someone spread their wings doesn't mean you no longer have a place in their lives." "Kind of like me when we get into trouble, and I try to keep you safe when you now know how to defend yourself from the Heartless," Riku said. Twilight looked at him, raising a brow at his comment. "Hey, I still need to worry about you. Our relationship is far more than teacher and student, and that was before you were given a Keyblade." Celestia laughed a little, but seeing Twilight was now more relaxed and didn't have to worry as much as she was a moment ago, she felt ready to let Starlight continue her studies elsewhere. Where it would be, that would be up for Starlight to decide. They soon made their way back to the party, Twilight making her way up to the small stage, ready to make her announcement. Discord, however, wanted to "assist" getting the alicorn noticed, shining a light down on her, a camera pointing at her, and the draconequus holding a boom mic over Twilight while dressed like a camera crewman. "I may have let it slip that you'd be unveiling your big plan for Starlight tonight," Discord said, the lightshow blinding Twilight definitely getting everyone's attention. "Silly me, but we're all excited to hear what you've cooked up." Riku growled as Twilight's nerves began to act up again, no thanks to Discord trying to get her to crack. "You weren't coming up with a plan just NOW, were you? Oh, dear. That could be pretty-" "Alright, that's it!" Riku shouted, grappling his hooves around the draconequus's neck and pulled him back with a hard flap of his wings. Discord dropped the boom mic, then got suplexed into the ground, his body going limp with a groan, followed by a grunt as Riku pressed his hoof down hard on the top of his head. "You need to know when enough is enough, Discord. And I think you've done enough to Twilight, so I'm stopping this before you bring her anxiety to even worse levels." "You...could have just said...'please stop'," Discord mumbled. "Then quit while you're ahead." As a joke, Discord's body got up, though headless as it was still held under Riku's hoof. Riku growled, picking up the smirking draconequus head while his body danced mockingly. "You know exactly what I meant." "Well, I'm a head now, so I think I'm done," Discord stated, a big mistake as he was kicked far across the room, his body flinching surprise as it chased after its missing head. Thankful for Riku keeping Discord away from her, Twilight grabbed a glass and spoon with her magic, clinking the glass and getting everyone's attention again, ignoring the fumbling draconequus body trying to grab its head. "As you all know, Starlight Glimmer's been my pupil for a while now, and I'd hoped she'd be my pupil for a long time yet to come. But it turns out that's just not meant to be." The crowd gasped in shock, startling Starlight and making her panic, thinking she did something wrong. "Starlight, you proved yourself to be a kind, loyal, strong, honest, and truly magical friend. Just looking around this room at all the new friendships you've made, I know there's nothing more I can teach you. So we have a second reason to celebrate today. "Three cheers for Starlight Glimmer on her graduation day!" After getting over the shock when Twilight mentioned the good news for Starlight's studies in friendship ending, the crowd cheered for the unicorn. Starlight was still a bit surprised, thankfully relieved that she wasn't expelled, or was about to get banished for no reason. "The future's in your hooves now, Starlight." "Wow...I wasn't expecting this," Starlight uttered, still reeling from the great news. Discord managed to get his head, though it was placed upside down, twisting it around as he approached Starlight, disappointed with the announcement. "Darn it. I was hoping you would send her to my realm," Discord grumbled. "We could have been roomies." "How do you want to celebrate?" Trixie asked Starlight. "Girls' trip to Las Pegasus?" "We could throw you a changeling Gorbfest!" Thorax suggested, although the name of such a celebratory party baffled the two mares. "Uh, it's more fun than it sounds. Heheh..." "Or we could go cause a little mischief," Discord suggested. "I know a trick that'll turn Celestia's castle into cheese. Do you think that's a 'gouda' idea?" He laughed at his own pun, Trixie rolling her eyes, able to come up with something much funnier. "That's just the first of many cheese jokes if we go down this path." "More like 'cheesy' jokes," Trixie grumbled. "Well, that all sounds wonderful," Starlight said. "But, give me a minute, would you?" Starlight excused herself, making her way to Twilight. "Congratulations," the alicorn said. "How do you feel?" "Happy, surprised, overwhelmed," Starlight listed. "I mean, not that I'm grateful, but...are you sure?" "Believe me. I thought long and hard about this," Twilight assured. "Sure she did," Riku commented, Flurry clinging to his back while taking a ride. "Ignore him," Twilight said. "Trust me, Starlight. You're ready." "Heh. Yeah," Starlight said nervously. She was about to walk back over to Trixie, Thorax, and Discord, but after stopping for a moment, she turned back around. "No, I'm not." "Huh?" Riku asked. "I'm not ready to leave!" Starlight exclaimed, startling her friends and most of the guests near the stage. "Oh, good!" Twilight said with great relief, hugging her pupil tightly while Riku facehooved, worrying about absolutely nothing as his solution would have just been better from the start. Twilight teleported a present, giving it to Starlight. "Here! I got you this present!" Curious, Starlight opened it up, a wide grin growing on her face with a tearful gaze as she pulled out the gift. It was a similar mirror to Twilight's in her room, pictures on the frame showing her with all her friends: one with a group shot while the others were paired with each one posing or doing a shared activity. "It was going to be a 'congrats on getting a medal of honor' present, but then I was afraid it would be a going-away present, but now it's an 'I couldn't be happier you're staying' present! And it fits perfectly over your dresser! I know. I measured." Riku ran his hoof down his face with a groan, looking back at the alicorn baby on his back, who was mimicking him while blowing a raspberry, which was kinda funny as she tried copying his befuddlement. "Enjoy your youth, Flurry. Don't be like Auntie Twily." "Thank you," Starlight said, wiping away her tears. "I may not know what comes next for you, but whatever it is, I promise I'll always be there for you," Twilight said. Both mares hugged, happy to know that they won't be separated as Starlight continues learning on her own. Celestia watched from a distance, nodding to herself as she watched her former pupil feeling satisfied with the outcome of how her own student wanted to do. Just like what happened between her and Twilight, she made her choice to stay in Ponyville and further her studies with her friends, and Starlight made the same choice despite what her teacher assigned for her. She knew by then her student was ready, but that didn't mean they couldn't send letters to each other if they were ever far away and needed her guidance. And it didn't help to have someone be there to give them some helpful ideas that would work well in the end. After the party, Pinkie tidied up the room in her usual Pinkie way; using a special vacuum with a silly face, the hose acting as a nose, she pushed the button, making the suction hose go haywire as she remained perfectly still, cleaning up the mess while the face was all puffed up, nearly full to bursting. With the sun setting and the town winding down, Riku sat on the roof with Twilight as they watched the stars. "Hey, there you guys are," Sora called out. He and Kairi joined the couple, the newest alicorn thankful not to be crowded by other ponies when they noticed both her wings and horn. "So, Starlight's graduated AND seen as a national hero...Were you really going to try to send her away, Twilight?" "Blame Discord," Riku answered. "If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have gotten in that mess and just kept Starlight around to learn more on her own." "Of course he had to cause trouble," Sora groaned. "Well, luckily, there haven't been any Heartless for a while." "Don't jinx it," Kairi warned, nudging her fiance's shoulder. Sora chuckled, but knowing their luck, it was bound to happen. As they sat a bit longer, enjoying the peace and quiet, Sora grew a bit curious about something. Holding out his hoof, he summoned one of the Keyblades of Harmony instead of the Kingdom Key. Holding the Keyblade of Honesty, he felt something different about it with his new clothes. He never once used these Keyblades by themselves, only holding them out of curiosity while feeling their respective Element flow through him. From this orange, wooden-designed Keyblade, he could sense an incredible strength from it, fitting for someone like Applejack. "What are you doing, Sora?" Twilight asked curiously. "Just curious about the Keyblades of Harmony," Sora said, laying the blade down in his lap. "I've never really used just one of them in a fight...Not only that, but...I feel like there's more to my Keyblades, now...I can't shake this odd feeling..." "Sora, Riku, Kairi, Twilight, we've got Heartless," Aqua said through their communicators. "There's a lot of them coming from the Everfree Forest, and right on the edge. They could go after Fluttershy or her animals." "Alright, we'll check it out," Riku responded. "And Sora had to jinx it," Twilight said. Sora blew a raspberry, the quartet leaping off the castle and glided their way down to where Aqua spotted the Heartless on the Cutie Map. Luckily, the Heartless weren't anywhere near Fluttershy's cottage, but as they ran out of the forest, they saw the same types of Heartless Ventus encountered at CHS during the Friendship Games: Earth, Flame, and Water Cores. Kairi and Twilight dove down, summoning their Keyblades, and unleashed a barrage of Thunder spells down on the Heartless, shocking and stunning them as the four wielders slammed down into the group, sending a majority of them flying back. "Be careful, guys," Riku warned. "Ventus said these ones are a bit more tricky to fight than any other Heartless we've faced." "No promises," Sora said jokingly, using the Keyblade of Honesty to see how well it does on its own. The group split up and began fighting their own groups of the elemental Heartless from the Realm of Darkness, but the more they killed, the more the Cores seemed to appear. The Flame Cores light up in flames and become invulnerable after getting smacked around, becoming a nuisance as they flew around and dove down on them, fire erupting in an explosion around them. The Water Cores created shields of water, protecting themselves while shifting into water forms to evade or dive into them. And the Earth Cores' spiky backs were like impenetrable shields, keeping their backs turned until they bury their faces in the ground, spinning around like drills and either diving at them or spiraling like spiked tops, smacking their foes away. It soon became a bit overwhelming as their numbers continued to grow, and even with using opposite elements when firing magic to at least stall or stun the Water and Flame Cores, the Earth Cores kept becoming bothersome. Kairi was having trouble, trying to adjust her fighting style with her wings trying to flap out from her sides, which only helped fan the flames for the Flame Cores as they continued burning her. She was knocked back into Twilight by an Earth Core, sending both alicorns crashing to the ground. Sora and Riku were managing fine, turning to hear their respective lovers getting hurt. Sora growled, but before he could rush in, he felt something overflowing from the Keyblade of Honesty. Whatever it was doing, he was ready to unleash it. He slammed the Keyblade down, its form beginning to change as the earth seemed to crack under its might, and as Sora reared back for another slam, the sword turned into a massive hammer, creating an even bigger impact as it struck the ground. All the Heartless, even the Flame and Water Cores were stunned from the shockwaves of the powerful quakes. Hefting the blade-turned-hammer up, Sora stared in awe at its design now: the reach longer, the head of the hammer the shape of a red apple, and along with the weapon's change, Sora's clothes shifted color a little as well, now a dark orange with red apples patterned around his jacket. "Whoa," Sora uttered. He didn't have time to admire the new hammer long when he heard rushing water coming right toward him. Quickly diving out of the way, he spun around, swinging the apple hammer in a wide arc, smacking the Water Core as it rematerialized in its physical form. It struck the Core, kept trapped on the head as Sora swung it down, smashing it into the ground as it disappeared in a splash of water and black smoke. "Oh, yeah...It's hammer time!" Despite wanting to call Sora out for that ridiculous phrase, Riku was in awe, neither him, Kairi, or Twilight knowing the Keyblade of Honesty could do that. They watched as Sora swung away with this new style, cracking the earth with each slam and smacking Heartless away like bugs to a fly swatter. The hammer was even able to pierce through the Earth Core's tough spikes, staggering them and keep them from burying their faces in the ground like a scared ostrich. Feeling another similar power from the Keyblade of Harmony after wailing on the Heartless, he shifted to yet another different style. Tossing the hammer up in the air, it began to shine as Sora jumped up after it. In a small flash, the hammer split apart into two segments, both of them bearing red apples inside a golden frame that appeared to fit over a pair of hooves, similar to a pair of gauntlets. Pushing his forelegs out, his hooves touched the backs of the gauntlets, which began wrapping around his limbs snugly, then dove back down, slamming his hooves into the ground to unleash a shockwave that tripped the Heartless up. Slamming his hooves together as he stood on his hind legs, Sora released red sparks with a powerful clang, ready to pummel the Heartless. "What in the hell is going on?" Riku questioned. Sora lunged toward him, rushing past him and punching an Earth Core that was about to drill Riku from behind. The powerful punch broke through the spinning Heartless, even through its impenetrable attack, the blow creating a red apple-shaped explosion upon contact, destroying it instantly. "I don't know either," Sora said. "But this is awesome!" Sora continued lunging toward the Heartles, throwing several martial arts combos, piercing through the elemental Cores' defensive abilities, and not feeling any effects from the Flame Cores' burning bodies as he got closer. Seeing him as more of a threat, the Heartless went after Sora, but his reflexes far outmatched their numbers. Even his kicks with his back legs were able to do the same as his forehooves, releasing a small apple explosion with every hit that stunned and left the Heartless vulnerable. Finishing the rest of the horde off, he slammed his hooves into the ground, and with a heavy grunt, managed to sprout an ethereal apple tree rising several feet tall. Some Cores unfortunate enough to be in the tree's vicinity got flung up in the air. Sora flung the gauntlets at the tree, and with a country-esque whoop, he charged toward the tree, skid and turned around, giving the tree a hard buck where the gauntlets rested, disintegrated the bark, but dropped several magic apples down all around them. As they hit the ground, the apples exploded in magical sparks, blowing up around the Heartless and destroying every last one of them. The gauntlets disappeared, turning back into its Keyblade form as it reappeared in Sora's hoof, his new clothes back to normal as well. Riku, Kairi, and Twilight were stunned, the girls rendered speechless while Riku had a lot of words to say. "...How was I a Keyblade Master before him!?" he questioned what felt like the umpteenth time. Sora was all giddy, laughing with excitement as he held the Keyblade of Honesty. "This is so cool! I didn't know I could change a Keyblade to something else!" "...Can we do that?" Twilight asked. "I...don't think so," Kairi said. While Sora pranced around, imagining what else his other Keyblades could turn into, Riku slumped over with a heavy sigh. "...I'm gonna head back to the castle and report to Aqua about the Heartless," he grumbled, then walked back to Ponyville. "And...Sora's new abilities..." "I think he's jealous," Twilight guessed, Kairi nodding in agreement. Brushing off their injuries, Kairi approached the overly excited pegasus. "Kairi, you saw all that, right!? And you know the craziest thing? I sensed something as I kept fighting, then activated whatever it was that changed the Keyblade! It's like a Drive Form, but it changes the Keyblade...I'll call it Formchanging!" "Mhmm..." Kairi raised a hoof, then lightly bopped Sora's snout. "'It's hammer time?' Really, Sora?" Sora wrinkled his muzzle as he was chided. "What? It turned into a hammer. I thought it was clever." "And were you going to say something 'clever' when they turned into those gauntlets?" Kairi asked. Sora grinned nervously, making the pink alicorn sigh. "What was it?" "...'Now it's clobbering time'?" Sora said, tapping his hooves together timidly. Kairi said nothing, just staring blankly at Sora, which terrified him. She walked past him, Sora sighing in relief as he seemed to be spared, only to feel a hard yank on his ear by a white aura, yelping in pain as he was dragged by Kairi in her telekinetic grasp. "Come on, Sora, or I'm gonna show you how I'm gonna clobber you for those corny one-liners," Kairi warned, the stallion's hooves scrambling to catch up to her to avoid the painful ear tugging. Twilight looked down at her Keyblade, so many questions about it piling up with more and more. She figured each of them had different unique abilities, but Sora was more like a jack of all trades, master of all at this point. Hopefully, and soon, Sora might achieve that dream as a Keyblade Master, and maybe even herself if Aqua finds her ready to be one. Dismissing her Keyblade, she flew back to the others, needing a good night's sleep after the stressful day and tiring battle. She was also curious about Sora's new Formchanges, as he called them, and if each Keyblade has unique forms that stand out just like their designs.