Kingdom Hearts 2.7: Friendship Is Magic

by KHXhero


Trials

Chapter 04: Trials

Pretty soon, while the stars were in the nightsky, shining the way for the ponies, the group then found themselves in front of the Everfree Forest, where it is said to be a mysterious place that is the home of a variety of creatures and animals, possessing a quality that allows these animals and plants to thrive without pony intervention, something that ponies consider... unnatural.

"So... none of you have been here before?" Sora asked.

"Heavens, no!" Rarity said as she shuddered. "Just look at it. It's dreadful!"

"And it ain't natural." Applejack said.

"Well actually, my cottage is actually outside near the forest." Fluttershy said.

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Of course." Fluttershy said. "Some of my animal friends live there, and I do go inside her to find some things for them. But I stay on the safe path."

"Then, should we take the safe path?" Sora asked.

"Oh no, it doesn't lead anywhere near the castle." Fluttershy said. "At least I don't think."

"Then... the dangerous path it is." Sora said.

"Let's go." Twilight said, as the group departed on the path. All of them begin looking around, seeing different things, different plant life from all around.

"So... you say this place is unnatrual." Sora said. "And that the plants grow and the clouds move on their own. Does this world act a bit different?"

"Oh yeah." Applejack said. "You see, the way things work around here, it's a lot different than all the places you've been here. We Earth Ponies are in charge of growing crops and making food."

"And pegasi control the weather." Rainbow Dash said. "I work at the Weather Factory, where we make clouds of all kinds so when it needs to be cloud, it's cloudy."

"Oh... and unicorns?" Sora asked.

"Help keep the magic in balance." Twilight said.

"Ooohhh..." Sora said.

"What about your world though?" Twilight asked.

"I... dunno if I can say." Sora said.

"It's alright sugarhog." Applejack said. "There's no need for secret keeping." The boy only sighed, but a smile formed on his face.

"Well, I actually came from a world that has lots of islands." Sora began. "My whole life growing up there, I've always thought that the world revolved around my home. That is until I met Kairi. When we were kids, she just washed up upon the shore out of nowhere. She had no memory of where she came from, only her name. You would like her. She's so caring, kindhearted. She even traveled to other worlds just to find me after we were separated for so long. If anything, she means so much to me." Hearing that made Rarity lean in a bit.

"Ooooh, sounds like you really like her..." Rarity said. The boy thought for a second, but then realized what Rarity was talking about.

"Oh, no no no no!" Sora said as he blushed. "She's... just a friend..." Despite saying that, he couldn't help but blush even more, and think on the subject. "Then again..."

"Oh it's so obvious darling." Rarity said. "But don't worry, we won't say anymore."

"So, what happened next?!" Pinkie Pie asked. Then the boy continued on.

"Years later, when we were old enough, we decided to build a raft to see the world beyond our's." Sora said. "But then when it was finished, a storm fell upon our islands, and the darkness consumed it. I was separated from Kairi, along with my friend Riku.

"Riku?" Twilight asked.

"My best friend growing up." Sora said. "He's pretty much the mature one out of all of us. During my first adventure, I had to clash with him several times. We had one goal; to find Kairi. But he was doing it much differently, and he had done a lot of bad things, even giving in to darkness. But I couldn't blame him. We both had a rivalry growing up, and those we fought against, used that against us. In the end, he helped us by staying in the Realm of Darkness."

"Really?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah..." Sora said. "But I went looking for him, for almost a whole year until we reunited. He was willing to sacrifice everything, even his own form, to help me. And I was willing to do the same for him. That proved that even though we fought, our friendship has grown so much. Now he's a keyblade master, and I couldn't be happier for him." Twilight was quite touched by this story. Despite how much Sora and his friend had been through, they were able to make it through, all thanks to their friendship.

"Wow..." Twilight said.

"That is SOO Beautiful!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Sounds like my kind of friend." Rainbow Dash said. "You should bring your friends over sometime."

"Yeah... I'll think about it." Sora said. Pretty soon, the group found their way to the edge of a cliff. Looking down, they saw a vast view of the deep forest, so many trees, so much plant life.

"Oooooo!" The girls said. Sora took a quick scan of the view, but then something caught his eye. Far in the distance was an old looking castle, that appeared to be in ruins.

"Hey, look over there!" Sora called out, pointing at the castle. "Is that it?" The girls looked forward and saw the castle.
"Yep, that's it!" Applejack said.

"But... how are we gonna get over there?" Twilight asked, with the entire group completely unaware of a blue misty spirit behind them, and going deep into the ground, permeating the rock surface.

"I can fly there within seconds." Rainbow Dash said as she was about to take off.

"Hold on there Rainbow." Applejack said. "You can't just fly there all on your own."

"She's right." Twilight said. "We need to stick together." The pegasus only sighed.

"Ok, we'll take the long way." Rainbow Dash said.

"Down the cliff?" Rarity asked.

"It's the only way down." Sora said.

-CRACK-

The ground below them began to rumble around them, startling the ponies and boy on the cliff.

"Um... is this cliff strong enough to hold all of us?" Sora asked. But the suddenly, the edge of the cliff they were on began to crumble away, taking him, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity down. Fluttershy quickly flaps her wings in surprise, her flying saving her from the fall. Rainbow Dash sees the five falling down.

"Fluttershy, Quick!" She shouted as she dives down in.

"Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness!" Fluttershy squeaked as she followed. While the others keep going down with the rockslide, Sora quickly summons his keyblade, and stabbs it into the wall neck to him, allowing him to slow his descent and preventing from falling.

"Girls!" He called out. But then Rainbow Dash flies down and grabs Pinkie Pie, who was smiling and giggling as she was saved. And Fluttershy snaps her teeth onto Rarity's tail to hole the brakes.

"Thank you, darling!" Rarity said. Applejack was able to stop herself from sliding by grabbing an exposed root with her mouth, but Twilight, on the other hand, continued to skid toward the edge. With her forelegs, she held on, with her hind legs dangling over the cliff. Seeing her new friend in trouble, Applejack lets go of the root and slides dow.

"Hold on, I'm a-comin'!" Applejack called out, reaching the edge, grabbing Twilight's front hooves to prevent her from falling.

"Applejack!" Twilight cried out. "What do I do?!" Applejack could only squeeze one eye shut from the strain of her muscles. She couldn't hold on for much longer. But then she looked around, until she stared up for a moment, as if she saw something. Glancing back at the unicorn she spoke.

"Let go." She said.

"WHAT?!" Twilight asked. "Are you crazy?!"

"No, I ain't." Applejack said. "I promise you'll be safe."

"How can I believe that's true?" Twilight asked.

"Now listen here." Applejack said, showing assurance. "What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Just let go, and you'll be safe." Twilight could only look at the pony before her. But somehow, something inside her was telling her to let go and trust her. Whatever this feeling was, it was right. She needed to believe the farm pony. Instinct finally winning over her panicking brain, she lets go, and plunges screaming over the side with her eyes closed.

She felt no impact.

Opening her eyes, she saw that she was still in mid-air. Looking to her side, she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy holding on to her. She was safe. Twilight let out a sigh of relief, until she slipped out out Fluttershy's grip, but the pony quickly grabbed Twilight again, and the three began to descend slowly to the ground, where Rarity and Pinkie Pie watched safely out of harms way.

"Sorry, I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two." Fluttershy said.

"Don't sweat about it Flutters." Rainbow Dash said. "You did awesome." Twilight glanced back at the farmpony, who was leaping down from one ledge to another, back to solid ground.

"Wow... thank you Applejack." Twilight said. "How did you-"

"I saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the air, and I knew they would catch ya." Applejack said.

"Thanks Applejack." Twilight said. "You were really honest. Thanks."

"Yeah, that was pretty cool!" Sora's voice called out. Glancing their heads up, they saw the boy dangling onto the keyblade he drove into the side of the wall.

"Oh Sora!" Twilight said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Sora said. "Be right down." With his feet and hands, he pulled the keyblade out of the ground, and he slid down the wall, and then to his surprise, he jumped and dash forward, surrounded in light-blue energy. With his keyblade, he latched onto the tree branch near by and swung in a circle before jumping off and landing safely on the ground.

"Ooooo!" The girls said. The boy lifted himself up, surprised.

"Whoa..." Sora said.

"Wow!" Rainbow Dash said. "That was cool!"

"Looks like yer power is comin' back." Applejack said. "What was that?" The boy began to think, and remembered his recent adventure in the Sleeping Realm.

"I think that was Flowmotion." Sora said. "Something that I learned back while I was in the Sleeping Realms."

"Well, you should do hat more often!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Come on girls." Twilight said. "We should be able to get to the castle from here." The girls and boy agreed and they followed the unicorn into the forst, unaware the mysterious blue mist above watching. It must be the spirit of Nightmare Moon, as it whisks away and pours herself into the silhouette of a hulking creature away, which it then gives a lion-like growl.


"So wait... you're friends with the King's subjects?" Twilight asked as she, the girls and Sora kept going forward.
"Yeah." Sora said. "I met Donald and Goofy on my first adventure, and they've been by my side on almost every adventure. Say, how do you know King Mickey?"

"Well, Princess Celestia and the King write letters to each other." Twilight said. "She'd sometimes ask Spike to deliver them with his dragon flame. But how'd you become friends with the King?"

"He and Riku are pretty close friends too." Sora said. "The king helped Riku face against the darkness while I was... sleeping I think."

"Sleeping?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah... it's a long story." Sora said. "While I was looking for Riku and the King, me, Donald and Goofy went into some creepy castle. And according to them, my memories were taken apart by Namine."

"Namine?" Twilight asked.

"It's hard to explain..." Sora said. "From what I've seen, she's Kairi's nobody."

"Nobody?" Twilight asked. "You mean those... creatures in white?" The boy glanced back at her.

"Did you read that in a book?" Sora asked.

"Pretty much." Twilight said.

"Told ya." Rainbow Dash said. "Egghead." That got a whack in behind by Applejack, making the rainbow maned pegasus to keep her mouth shut.

"Namine was forced by members of the Organization to take apart my memories." Sora said. "But we defeated them and Namine was able to restore my memories, though I forgot about my experiences in the Castle."

"The Organization?" Twilight asked.

"Organization XIII." Sora said. "They're the bad guys we've been fighting. They were once led by Xemnas, who is actually the nobody of an old keyblade wielder named Xehanort." Twilight gasped.

"Wait, you mean Master Xehanort?!" Twilight asked, with the group looking back at the girl.

"Wait, you know Xehanort?" Sora asked.

"Not really, but I've heard about him from Celestia." Twilight said. "She said that he gave into the darkness in his heart and was trying to recreate a powerful weapon to bring darkness across the world. That was until he was defeated by three young keyblade wielders, and in the process, nobody survived. But how did Xehanort survived?"

"I don't know." Sora said. "But it turned out he became an apprentice of Ansem the Wise, and used his experiments to bring about the Heartless across countless worlds. But we were able to defeat his heartless and his nobody. But that also brought his physical form back."

"Of course." Twilight said. "When a heartless releases the heart is has, and the nobody containing the soul are both destroyed, the two can become whole again, restoring the person who has lost both."

"Yep." Sora said. "And now he wants to pick a fight with us. That's why me and Riku took the Mark of Mastery, so we could become strong enough to fight against them. We have a big fight ahead of us."

"Well I think you can take him." Rainbow Dash said. "And hey, maybe I can help."

"Sorry, but we're not suppose to bring other people from other worlds to the next." Sora said. "That would be meddling."

"But aren't you meddling by being here?" Rarity asked. The boy started thinking.

"Yeah... but I'm actually helping at the same time." Sora said. "Is that any different?"

"Not really." Twilight said. "You're not causing that much trouble."

"Yeah... I guess-" The boy said, but suddenly a loud growl is heard ahead of them. Looking forward, they saw a huge beast blocking their path. It had a lion's face and body, but it also had bat ears and wings, and on it's behind was a scorpion tail!

"What is that?!" Sora asked.

"A manticore!" Twilight shouted as the beast roared before them. "We have to get past him!" Fluttershy on the other hand began to back away in fear, seeing the monstrous beast. Speaking of said beast, it leaped toward Rarity for a swipe of its paw.

"Rarity, Look Out!" Applejack called out. The manticore swung, but the fashionista ducked and countered with a buck to the face that knocks the monster back.

"Take that, you ruffian!" Rarity spoke.

-ROOOOAAAR-

The beast roared in Rarity's face, leaving her mane frizzled up by the moisture of the manticore's breath.

"My Hair!" She shouted as she took off screaming behind Twilight. The manticore attempted to go after her, but it stops, feeling something jump on its back. Looking up, he saw Applejack on top. It then began to move around, trying to get her off.

"Yee-Haa!" The farmpony cried. "Get along, little doggie!" But one good heave sended the cowpony off, and sending her tumbling past Rainbow Dash. "All yours partner!"

"I'm On It!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she dashed forward, and with her fast speed, she trapped the foe in a rainbow striped twister, similar to the Rainbow-Dry used eariler, making the manticore dizzy instead of dry. But the beast then lashed tail, swatting Rainbow Dash toward the trees with a yell.

"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted. She then meets face to face with the manticore, who gave a growl. But then, Sora stepped between it and Twilight.

"Don't worry, I got this!" He said, summoning his keyblade. He then pointed forward.

"FIRE!" He called out, but the keyblade didn't give off any magic. He spoke a worried noise as the manticore prepared to charge itself.

"Um... BLIZZARD! Thunder!" Sora called off again, but nothing. The manticore then charged foward.

"Uhhh... Water?" He asked, pointing his keyblade into the sky. Then suddenly, the keyblade began to glow, and a mystical wave surrounded Sora, and went up to his keyblade, summoning a water sphere, which then shot out onto the manticore, splashing all over him, and making him tumble back. The boy smiled.
"Wow!" Sora said himself.

"Whoa... that was... amazing." Twilight said.

"Yeah..." Sora said. "I didn't even that was a spell!" A smile came across the pony's face, but then, a growl got their attention. Turning forward, they saw the beast get back to his senses, and roared once more. But then, his front paw began to limp, and he winced a bit in pain. Fluttershy, who was watching from the distance, noticed something about that paw, and her eyes widened.

"I think that weakened!" Rainbow Dash said as she, Applejack, Rarity, who's mane was quickly fixed up, and Pinkie Pie, huddled up to Twilight and Sora.

"Then Let's Get It" Applejack called out.

"Got it...!" Twilight said with a snort. Looking back at Sora, who gave a smile, her horn began to light up, and the group charged, while Pinkie Pie only hopped toward he unbalanced manticore.

"WAAAIIIT!" Fluttershy screamed, causing the group to come to a halt in surprise.

"Flutters, what are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Just wait." Fluttershy said. She then looked back at the manticore, and walked toward the manticore. It then rose its meaty paw, ready to strike her on the spot, making the group cringe. But then suddenly, the pegasus touched the beasts' face and began to pet it, finally calming it down.

"Shhh... it's ok." The pegasus said, while the beast then gave a bit of a whimper. Fluttershy then glanced at the paw, and nods at the manticore, who then un-clenches its paw to reveal a large thorn stuck in it.

"Oh, you poor, poor little baby." Fluttershy said.

"Little?" Rainbow Dash asked, while the yellow pegasus gently placed her hoof on the manticore's paw.

"Now this might hurt for just a second." She then leans her head on the thorn, and with her teeth, she pulls it out. Within that second, the manticore begins to roar.

"Fluttershy!!!" The girls and Sora called out, but then tilted her heads in confusion, seeing the manticore craddling and licking the pegasus in his arms, thanking her for pulling the thorn right out.

"Aw, you're just a little old baby kitty, aren't you?" Fluttershy asked as she petted the manticore. "Yes, you are. Yes, you are." The group watched with amazement, seeing that the beast is actually friendly.

"Wow... she must be really good with animals." Sora said.

"Yep, she sure is." Rainbow Dash said. Soon, the manticore places the pony back on the ground gently, and then allows her and her friends to past on without trouble.

"Wow, thanks." Sora said as he and the girls passed the beast, giving a wave of thanks as the manticore nods. Twilight then approached Fluttershy, who's mane has swept up into a thick cowlick by the manticore's show of affection.

"How did you know about the thorn?" Twilight asked.

"I didn't." Fluttershy said. "Sometimes we all just need to show and be shown a little kindness." As she walks on with the group, Twilight begins to ponder for a second, and smile. The pegasus was right. Fighting doesn't always solve any problem. Only giving kindness can help in the toughest times. Giving a smile, the unicorn followed the group, unaware that the discarded thorn began to spin in place, turning into the nightmare's mist and follow the group.


The group continued to make their way through the forest. There is actually no telling how much time has passed, especially with the moon still out and no sun. It could've been minutes, or hours, probably. Neverless, the group continued onward. Rarity found herself giving a shudder.

"My eyes need a rest from all this icky muck." Rarity said. As they kept going, the view around them began to darken, as the trees around them began to block out the moon's light, so no light is seen at all.

"Well, I didn't mean that literally." The fashionista said, while the group continued on, unaware of the blue nightmare wisp snuck past them, and wrapped itself into a twisted old tree as they continued on.

"Hey Sora-dude, ya think you can light the way for us?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, I'll try." Sora said as he summoned his keyblade, and pointed it forward. Then then gave a bright light, only to dim out. The mares groaned in disappointment.

"Sorry." Sora said.

"Hold on, let me try something." Twilight said as she closed her eyes. Then, her horn began to light up with magic, and then, it gave off a bright light, like a flashlight piercing through the dark.

"Now we're talking!" Rainbow Dash said. "I guess I underestimated you Twi."

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said. Applejack kept going, but then she felt something under her hoof.

"Oh, wait." Applejack said. "I think I stepped in somethin'." She glanced down, but then sighed.

"Oh, nev'rmind, it's just mud." Applejack said.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" a scream came from Fluttershy as she glanced at Applejack.

"What?" Applejack asked. "All I said that it was just mud."

"No.... Look!!!!" Fluttershy screamed. The apple farmer turned her head, and right before her, she saw a massive tree trunk in front of her, with a gruesome face that had a gaping, toothy maw formed from an opening in the bark and two glaring knothole eyes.

"WHOAAAUUH!" Applejack shouts as she bolts while the other ponies watched. Then around them, more trees began to emerge from the shadows, all of them showing leering snarling visages. The ponies began to shout and run, while Pinkie Pie only stood there and saw the trees with a gasping face. While the others hid, Sora stepped forward.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Sora said as he broughtout his keyblade, ready to fight the trees. Then to his surprise, he saw the trees surrounding him, ready to fight or scare him.

"Though... it would be nice if I had fire magic though." He said. But then he heard something next to him. It sounded like... giggling. Turning his head, he saw Pinkie Pie, on her back, rocking back and forth, laughing and giggling at the sight of the scary trees.

"Pinkie Pie, get out of here!" Sora said. "The trees will get you!"

"Oh silly!" Pinkie Pie said as she continued to giggle and hop. "They're not that scary. In fact, they actually look pretty funny!" She continued the laugh, and the trees came to a halt, surprised that the pony was not scared of them.
"Oh!" Pinkie Pie said. "I can do funny faces too!" She then began to make a few goofy faces of her own right in front of the confused trees. Sora looked at the party pony, surprised that she's not scared.

"You're... not scared?" Sora asked.

"Of course not!" Pinkie Pie said. "Just look at them! They're so funny!"

The boy glanced up at the tree, and stared at it's face. After taking a second to look, he then realized that they don't look monstrous at all. They actually look... pretty funny. A smile formed right on his face.

"Yeah... you're right!" Sora said as he approached the tree. "It doesn't look scary at all. They look hilarious!" The boy then found himself laughing, chuckling along with the pink pony next to him. He then turned his head, seeing the other five in the background.

"Hey girls, it's ok!" Sora called out. "They're not so bad at all!"

"What?" Twilight asked as she was the first to approach them. "You're not afraid?"

"Nope!" Pinkie Pie said. "When something looks scary, just giggle at the ghostly." Then she started tapping her hooves, getting ready to sing.

When I was a little filly,
and the sun was going down

"Is she...?" Twilight asked.

"Yep, she is." Rainbow Dash said.

The darkness and the shadows,
they would always make me frown.
I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I saw
But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way to deal with fears at all
She said Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall, learn to face your fears
You'll see that they can't hurt you, just laugh to make them disappear

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Pinkie Pie giggled at the tree, and just like that, the tree's face vanished, only leaving a normal old tree before her. The others gasped in surprise, and then found themselves laughing at the menacing apparitions. Though Twilight felt unsure, Pinkie Pie and Sora pushed her to find her spirit, and seeing the tree, which was actually not scary but funny, Twilight began to laugh. And as everypony and Sora continued laughing, the faces began to disappear as Pinkie continued singing.

So giggle at the ghostly
guffaw at the grossly
Crack up at the creepy
whoop it up with a weepy
Chortle at the kooky, snortle at the spooky
And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna...
LAAAAAAUUUGH!!!

As Pinkie finished with a long high note, the remaining faces began to disappear. With all the faces gone, the party pony flops on her back next to Twilight for another long laugh, and the lavender unicorn and the others, along with Sora, continued laughing.

"Wow... Pinkie Pie, you sure know how to put ponies in a good mood." Sora said as he lifted himself up.

"Thank you!" Pinkie Pie said. "Sometimes we all just need to smile and laugh!" As she continued laughing, Twilight heard the words she said. She was right. Everyone needs to laugh and smile, something that Twilight has hardly done for most of her life. And for the first time in her whole life, she was having fun, with the ponies and boy around her.


Through the forest, the group continued singing the song as they continued onward in forest, with Pinkie Pie and Sora leading the group onward with smiles and songs. For Twilight, it was very enjoyable. She had never had this much fun in her whole life. Probably because she spent most of her time studying and training with her magic. It was really a fun time, and even though they didn't know where they were going, they didn't care. As long as they had each other and had fun, that's all that mattered to her. And it was grand.

Then suddenly, Sora and Pinkie Pie stopped, with Twilight bumping into Pinkie's rump, followed by Rainbow Dash, then Rarity, then Applejack, then Fluttershy. The five poked their heads out from behind Pinkie for a good look, seeing a river before them, and the land on the otherside blocked by the torrent of water.

"A river." Sora said. "And it looks pretty wild."

"How are we gonna cross this?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Me and Flutters can fly over it." Rainbow Dash said. "Hey Sora, can you do that cool Flowmotion thing?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if I can make it across this with it." Sora said.

"Maybe we can use magic to get us across?" Applejack asked, looking at Twilight.

"I suppose, but I don't know how much magic is needed though." Twilight said.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" In the distance, there was moaning and wailing.

"What was that?" Sora asked.

"Over there!" Twilight said, pointing to the side of the river the water was moving from. Taking cover behind the bushes around them, they saw a long, scaly tail thrashing about. The color of the tail was a grayish mulberry, going all the way to the source. Along the river, there was a immense serpent with skinny mulberry arms and long brilliant orange hair, mustache, and eyebrows with yellow highlights. His entire body was grayish mulberry, just like his tail, including the beard tuft on his chin, except for his belly, which was a light sapphire blue. But what was interesting about him was that... he was crying.

"Oh, what a world!" He said. "What a world!" The girls and Sora looked with confusion. Curious, they approached him.
"Excuse me sir, are you alright?" Sora asked.

"Why are you crying?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I don't know." The serpent, Steven Magnet said. "I was just sitting here, mindig my own business, when this tacky little cloud of blue smoke just whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off!" He then showed his mustache, to everyone's surprise, his left side was completely off!

"Oh." Sora said. "Ok?"

"And now... I Look Horrible!!" Steven shouted, his tail makes a flop into the river, splashing all over the ponies, except for Sora and Rarity, who quickly moved to the side. The serpent continues to make a fresh hissy fit and assorted groans.

"Oh, give me a break." Rainbow Dash said.

"That's what all the fuss is about?" Applejack asked.

"Why, of course it is!" Rarity said as she walked past the group. "How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him." She approaches the serpant as he lowers his head on the ground and begins to stroke his snout.

"Such lovely luminescent scales." She said.

"I know..." Steven said as he sniffed.

"And your expertly coiffed mane." Rarity continues.

"Oh, I know, I know...!" Steven said as he began patting his mane down.

"Your fabulous manicure!" Rarity said.

"Oh it's so true!" Steven said with a gasp.

"All ruined without your beautiful mustache." Rarity finished.

"It's true... It's true, I'm hideous!" Steven sobbed.

"Well, I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" Rarity said resolutely. She then turned to Sora.
"Sora, I need a favor." Rarity said.

"Um... ok." Sora said as he approached the unicorn. He leaned forward, and the fashionista unicorn whispered into his ear. He then looked shocked as she finished.

"What?!" Sora asked.

"Please Sora." Rarity said. "We must put him out of his misery." Sora looked at her, then at the serpent, then back at her. He scratched his head.

"Ok... if you insist." He said, summoning his keyblade. "This won't hurt, will it?"

"Nope, not at all." Rarity said as she turned around to show her flank.

"Ok..." Sora said and raised his keyblade into the air.

"Wait, what are you guys doi-" Twilight asked.

-SLASH-

The five other mares shocked at what was done, and Steven Magnet fainted as he saw what happened. Sora... cutted Rarity' tail... right off! Not all of it though, for only the ragged nub remained. Then using her magic, the fashionista levitated the cutted piece of her curly tail and then attached it to the ruined half of the blond mustache. The serpent awakens and sees this new piece of hair on his mustache. He then gives a jubilant laugh.

"Oh, My Mustache Is Fixed!" He said. "And it looks perfect! Oh thank you!"

"No problem at all." Rarity said. "And thank you Sora."

"You're welcome." Sora said. "But your tail."

"Oh don't worry, it's fine." Rarity assured him. "Short tails are so in this season. And besides, it'll grow back."

"So would a mustache." Rainbow said to Applejack and the others. Twilight then looks forward to see the river has completely calmed down. Turned out Steven's crying rant was making the river wild. But now he's calm and happy, and the river was calm too!

"Look, we can cross now!" Twilight said as she made her way to the river edge. "Let's go!"

"Oh, allow me!" Steven said as he moved in front of them. Then, he dived straight down, using the coils of his body to serve as stepping stones!

"Thank you sir!" Sora called out as he and the ponies used the coils to make it to the other side. As they made it across, Twilight glanced at Rarity.

"That was very nice of you to do that for him Rarity." Twilight said.

"Of course darling." Rarity said. "I just love doing things and giving things to ponies. It's all part of being friends, helping them for nothing in return." Twilight smiled at Rarity's gesture. She gave up her own tail to help someone in their desparate time for nothing in return. That was very generous of her to do. Hopefully Twilight can learn from that.