//------------------------------//
// A Royal Problem 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria 
// by Codex92 
//------------------------------//

"Mmm. Delicious," Kairi mumbled, having taken a bite of a juicy apple Sora packed for them on their picnic date, enjoying the peaceful day in the park. After getting back to Ponyville when they helped Big Mac get together with Sugar Belle, they told the others what had happened outside of Our Town, where Sora got an earful from Aqua about confronting the Organization on his own, like he had done before with Marluxia. She made sure to craft Donald and Goofy crystal communicators in case they get separated from Sora, and had them keep close tabs on him from now on. Anywhere he goes, they go regardless. Even on this little date he had set up for him and Kairi to make up for worrying her that day, Donald and Goofy watched from afar, kind of ruining the private date with someone keeping an eye on them. "Sora?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry," he apologized. "I was kind of hoping for us to be...alone..." He glanced over at Donald and Goofy, the latter waving at him while the former had a pair of binoculars, keeping a close eye on any suspicious activity. "I feel like I'm being babysat like a little kid."

"Aqua's just taking precautions; we all are," Kairi assured. She levitated an apple up to the pouty stallion's lips, gently tapping the fruit against his muzzle. "Just pretend they aren't there and eat something. I can't eat all this food you packed us by myself, you know."

She continued prodding his mouth with the apple before he finally gave in, opening his mouth and biting a big chunk of the red fruit. "Hard to ignore them when the lens of those binoculars are reflecting the sun's light," Sora said with his mouth full. He swallowed his load, then yelped when he felt something odd tickling his sides, giving Kairi a sly grin. "Or you trying to grope my butt with your magic out in public. How scandalous."

"Uhh, I'm not touching you," Kairi said, noticing Sora's cutie mark glowing familiarly. "I think our date's gonna be cut short today."

"What!? Why!?" Sora exclaimed, disappointed and irate at the odd statement. Kairi grabbed Sora's face with both hooves, then forced him to look down at his flanks. "...Ohhhh. The map's calling me...Still a case of bad timing, though."

Donald flew up to them, squawking nervously with Goofy not too far behind. "What's going on with Sora!?" the griffon mage exclaimed. "Is he being tracked!? Why is his butt glowing like that!?"

"Uhh, Donald, I think it's just the marks on his sides that are glowing, not his whole rear end," Goofy corrected with a slight chuckle, making Sora grumble as his face turned red in embarrassment, Kairi giggling at his reaction to Donald's last question.

"The Cutie Map's calling him," Kairi explained, stifling her snickering. "If there's a friendship problem, it calls one of us by flashing our cutie marks like that."

Donald and Goofy looked at Sora and Kairi's cutie marks, Sora a bit upset that Kairi's weren't glowing. "Aww, man...I wonder who I'm partnering up with on this friendship quest," he muttered, standing up and hurried off to the castle.

Kairi, Donald, and Goofy followed him, the alicorn teleporting their picnic stuff away after packing it up. Once they reached the throne room, they found Twilight, Spike, Starlight, and Aqua already there. Sora's Keyblade cutie mark floated over to the map, but the only other cutie mark on the map was Starlight Glimmer's, and to all of their shock, both marks hovered around Canterlot, more specifically around the castle. Twilight let out surprised, strained gasping noises as she tried to process what she was witnessing, while Aqua just stared at Starlight's cutie mark on the map in stunned silence.

"...Uhh, what is going on?" Sora questioned while Spike gently closed Twilight's mouth before she caught flies.

"I know!" Starlight said excitedly. "I can't believe it either! The map has NEVER called me before!"

Aqua snapped out of her stupor after slapping herself in the face, confirming she was not dreaming and what was on the Cutie Map was indeed real. "No, I don't think that's why it's unbelievable," the Keyblade Master said. "The map has only called us, those who have thrones in this very room, and mostly in groups of four. But, now, it's only asking for two, and one of them is someone who doesn't have a throne with their mark..."

"Are we not going to mention that Starlight and Sora are being called to the royal palace!?" Twilight exclaimed, finally finding her voice with a look of fear. "What in Equestria could be going on there!? Should I tag along just in case?"

"Twilight, you know only those called by the map are supposed to go to better resolve whatever issues are going on," Kairi said. "But, this is kind of interesting. It seems like the map can call anyone besides us to solve a problem."

"Even us?" Goofy asked.

"...Possibly," Aqua said. She then groaned, smacking her head on the table. "I am never going to figure out how this stupid map works with new stuff like this popping up out of nowhere!"

Sora stared at the castle on the map curiously. "So, what exactly is the problem there if it just needs me and Starlight to solve it?"

"Maybe it's a mistake," Twilight quickly said, startling everyone with her harsh response. "Ah, b-but not because of you, Starlight!"

"Nice recovery," Spike said bluntly, giving his surrogate sister a blank stare.

"Well, I am a bit nervous about what it is we have to do," Starlight said.

"Don't worry. For all we know, it could be something small," Twilight assured her student. "Like cooks are fighting over who has the best butternut squash soup, or the royal hairdressers are fighting over a silly comb."

"Or...Celestia and Luna are having some problems with each other," Sora theorized, making Twilight gasp in terror, quickly grasping the stallion and patting his back hard while laughing off his "uneducated" guess.

"No, no, no, Sora! That's crazy!" she said, Sora wincing with each hard pat. "Celestia and Luna would never fight...again."

Sora grabbed Twilight's hoof before she decided to break his spine, gently lowering it on the map's surface. "I may not have siblings, even if Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom are kinda like my brother and sisters, but I think siblings always fight."

"Shiny and I never fought!" Twilight argued. Sora and Kairi both gave her a blank stare, Kairi lowering down an ornament from the tree chandelier, replaying the argument Twilight had with Shining after trying to expose Chrysalis disguised as Cadence before the wedding as an evil pony. "...T-That was different! He was under a mind control spell, and Chrysalis had us fooled back then!"

"You are kinda biased, Twilight," Spike said. "You may have had a perfect sibling relationship with Shining Armor, but I've seen other siblings fight. Like the Cake Twins."

"But they're toddlers," Twilight reasoned.

Sora sighed, shaking his head. "Regardless, we don't know what it is until Starlight and I get there."

"And you're not leaving us behind again," Donald said, making Sora giggle sheepishly after heading off to Our Town without telling them.

"What!? No, you can't!" Twilight insisted. "T-This is a friendship problem, and only ponies called by the map are supposed to go!...Maybe I should go instead? J-Just to visit and see how things are going, not solving the problem!"

"Twilight, they're allowed because we need to protect Sora," Aqua said, raising her head up despite the map's more conflicting actions added onto what she slightly knows about it. "So far, the map has been calling ponies, and I pray that's all this magical abomination to my brain does involving friendship problems...Besides, you are biased; you grew up around Celestia, and if both princesses are the ones having a problem, you'll only make things worse if you side with her over Luna."

"We don't want to bring Nightmare Moon back, too," Sora added, reminding the lavender alicorn of their first big, dangerous adventure together. Twilight sighed and gave up, even though she still worried about the outcome. "Let's hurry to the station and get on the train to Canterlot."

Donald, Goofy, and Starlight nodded, heading off to the train station to their destination, Kairi giving her fiance a kiss on the cheek to wish him luck. Once they left, Kairi and Twilight turned to the Cutie Map when they heard thumping, Aqua repeatedly banging her head slightly on the crystal table.

"I hate this map," Aqua grumbled after each slam. "I hate this map. I hate this map. I. Hate. This. Map."

Kairi and Twilight looked at each other, neither of them not so heavily focused on figuring out every single bit of both maps in the room out like Aqua, just letting its magic do its work naturally. Kairi approached the groaning unicorn mare, tapping her shoulder.

"Wanna do some training?" Kairi suggested.

Aqua lifted her head up, weary and frustrated, then looked at Kairi. "...Ok."

"Mirage Arena?" Kairi asked.

"...Mirage Arena," Aqua agreed, contemplating whether to leave these maps alone or take a long break after discovering something new no one didn't suspect.

"Want to join us, Twilight?" Kairi asked.

"Uhh, you go on ahead," Twilight said. "I have some...princess duties to do today." Kairi shrugged, leading Aqua out for them to do some training to help get her mind off the Cutie Map. Twilight looked at the map, fidgeting nervously. "Even though I'm not supposed to, if it does involve the princesses...I need to find out for myself!"

She teleported away, making Spike sigh. "Here we go. Hope whatever she's planning doesn't blow something up in Canterlot..."





After the ride up to the mountain city capital of Equestria, Donald and Goofy looked around Canterlot while Sora lead them and Starlight to the castle. Most of the snooty nobles they passed sneered at them, mostly at Goofy and Donald, neither pony appreciating seeing someone other than their own kind or of equal or higher nobility in such a grand city. They ignored the odd looks, reaching the castle gates, where the guards recognized the Keyblade wielder and allowed him and his friends inside.

They soon reached the throne room, where, surprisingly, both Celestia and Luna were there by themselves, probably taking a breather from their royal duties. "Hey, Celestia, Luna!" Sora greeted.

"Sora, what a surprise seeing you here," Celestia said. "And Starlight as well. And...I believe you two are Donald and Goofy?"

"Yes, ma'am," Goofy said, both he and Donald bowing to the two royal sisters. "Been quite a while, but we're here to stay to watch over Sora."

"Stuck to him like glue, and he isn't getting rid of us," Donald added, making Sora sigh dejectedly.

"Ah, yes. The incidents involving Organization XIII that had occurred recently, including assisting the changelings kidnapping everyone," Celestia said. "I wish our own guards could provide you much more protection, but...Heartless are not the simplest creatures that can be dealt with."

"Oh, there are a lot worse I've seen when I was evil," Starlight said. "In fact, I never thought there was that swirling vortex of Shadows here after seeing one in a...destroyed future of Equestria. Heheh..."

"Well, regardless of the troubling situations, what brings you all here?" Luna asked.

"Starlight and I were sent here on a friendship mission from the Cutie Map," Sora explained. "It lead us here to the castle. Has there been some issues between a pair of friends?"

"I don't believe there's anything wrong here," Celestia said. "Right, sister?"

Luna, however, bore a disgruntled frown, barely looking at Celestia. "No. Everything's perfect as usual, sister," she said, slightly grumbling in disdain.

Sora and Starlight looked at each other, definitely finding their problem ponies, and it just so happened to be the royal sisters after hearing Luna's response. Celestia may be content, but she's always used to hiding behind a mask to hide her true feelings, mostly out of instinct when dealing with political aspects in ruling a kingdom, while Luna greatly expressed her ire, though that was because of her own past feeling neglected and being out of touch with present times. They both decided to stay quiet, assuming the benefit of the doubt and wait until they got some more information from both sisters.

"Ok...So, if you two don't mind, can we stay here for a bit until we find and solve our friendship problem?" Sora asked.

"Of course," Celestia said with a nod. "We'll have the guards escort you to your guest rooms until the friendship problem's solved."

Luna leered at Celestia for a brief second, quickly looking away when she looked at her little sister. A pair of guards soon arrived at the princesses' command, leading Sora, Starlight, Donald, and Goofy to the guest quarters in the castle. Donald and Goofy were given a room across from where Sora and Starlight stayed, the rooms both having two beds for each of them to sleep comfortably in. An odd request as it was from Sora and Starlight, but the assured it was just to elaborate on their friendship mission and in no way a private bachelor party for the Keyblade wielder, which was what the guard assumed at first.

"I think it's easy to see that Celestia and Luna must be having some sibling issues," Sora thought aloud.

Starlight plopped down on the bed with a heavy groan. "My first friendship mission, and it has to be with the two rulers of Equestria," she grumbled. "Aren't you the least bit nervous?"

"Well, I am friends with them, and that's what I do best in any new world," Sora boasted.

"Psst!" Sora and Starlight's ears perked up from someone hissing to get their attention.

They looked at the dresser, where the sound came from, their jaws dropping when they saw a music box on top of it, but the pony ballerina slowly spinning as it played a tune looked like Twilight. "...Twilight?" Starlight asked.

"How did you even get here?" Sora questioned, giving the alicorn a blank stare.

"I'm not. I'm still at the castle!" Twilight quickly said, her "body" attached to the small turnstile for the ballerina figure with one hoof, but she was able to move her upper body with ease. "It's a pretty easy spell. Maybe I'll show you later, Starlight."

Sora groaned with a facehoof. "Breaking your own made up rules about the Cutie Map friendship missions, and you just so happened to find a spell that allows you to transfer your...spirit, mind, or whatever to an inanimate object?"

"I...was just checking on your two!" Twilight reasoned with a nervous laugh. "Not in a meddling kind of way; more a friendly 'how's it going?' kind of way." Sora raised a brow skeptically while Starlight stared blankly at their "not meddling" alicorn friend. "...So, how's it going?"

Sora banged his head off the dresser, letting out a frustrated groan of disappointment. "Why don't you spy on me and Kairi in our bedroom in the middle of the night to get some tips on how to please Riku using this spell you're using?" he said sarcastically. "You don't seem to have anything else better to do with all your books."

"Might as well just tell her what we think, Sora," Starlight said. "We think the problem is involved with the princesses."

"Oh, no, that's terrible!" Twilight exclaimed. "What makes you think that!?"

"You know when a pony says nothing's wrong, but you can tell there is something wrong?" Starlight asked.

"...Nooooooo," Twilight said, giving a sheepish chuckle.

"Yes you do," Sora stated, keeping his head pressed against the top of the dresser while raising a hoof. "You're that kind of pony in a nutshell."

"Says the pot calling the kettle black," Twilight countered bitterly, making Sora lift his head up as the two ponies leered at each other. Twilight cleared her throat, ignoring the pouting stallion and turned to Starlight. "Wish I could help, but I can't."

"Twilight, we've got this," Sora grumbled. "This is OUR mission, not YOURS."

"But this is big, Sora!" Twilight exclaimed. "Like, REALLY BIG!!!" The stallion rolled his eyes, but when Twilight looked at Starlight, she seemed to wince and grew worried about their situation. "...But I'm here if you ever need to talk about the possibilities. Or listen to music." The music box began playing, Twilight spinning around slowly while grinning sheepishly. "Heh. Comforting, right?"

Starlight groaned, going back to her bed and plopping down on the mattress. "And you aren't helping," Sora uttered. "Go bother Riku, or do something with Kairi."

"She went with Aqua to the Mirage Arena for some training," Twilight said.

"And you couldn't have gone?" Sora questioned skeptically.

"Well...I said I had princess duties to attend to, and...this is kinda important?" Sora continued staring blankly at Twilight before he turned around after a moment. Twilight didn't know what he was doing, bringing a hoof to his ear while muttering something, then he turned back to her with a smug grin. "What did you just do? Why are you-?" Twilight suddenly turned her head away from Sora, looking surprised as she saw someone or something that barged in on her in the middle of her spell. "R-Riku?"

She realized what Sora did, looking back at him to see him give her a toothy grin and waving at him. Before she yelled at him, she squealed and began laughing, squirming in place as Riku on the other end began tickling her. She begged Riku to stop before the spell was interrupted, the figurine returning as the alicorn disappeared.

"There. That should keep her distracted until tomorrow," Sora said with a laugh.

"And you all thought I had devious ideas," Starlight said, unable to help but smirk as she imagined what Riku was doing to Twilight right now. "So, what are we going to do about our friendship quest with the princesses?"

"I guess we'll start gathering some intel tomorrow with both Celestia and Luna," Sora said as he made his way to his bed. "We find out what they both don't notice is an issue between them, then we get them together and we try to have them voice out their problems with each other and rectify it."

"Sounds a lot easier said than done," Starlight uttered.

"It's just a bit of sibling fighting," Sora assured, plopping on his bed with a sigh. "What's the worst that can happen?"





Early the next morning, Sora, Starlight, Donald, and Goofy sat in the dining hall with Celestia for breakfast. In front of everyone's seats at the long dining table were stacks of pancakes with all types of berries framing the plates, even laid on top of the stacks in a smiley face with whipped cream hair.

"Oh boy, this sure looks delicious!" Goofy complimented. "And quite adorable, too. A-hyuck!"

Donald dug in before showing any manners, making Sora roll his eyes when he's scolded by the duck-billed mage for showing respect to royalty. "Mmm-mmm-mmm! Whoever cooked these pancakes deserve a raise, because they're perfect!"

"Actually, I made these myself," Celestia admitted.

"Wow, really?" Starlight asked. "I thought you always get served by other ponies with everything you need."

"It gives me something to do in the morning after raising the sun, and I really enjoy doing this," Celestia said as she walked over to her seat at the far end of the table. "It's a small way to say I care." Luna soon walked in not long after Celestia sat in her seat. She had bags under her eyes, extremely tired, barely paying everyone in the room any mind as she shuffled over to the table. "Good morning, Luna! Join us?"

Celestia held up a plate of her delectable decorative breakfast, made special for her little sister. "Too tired," Luna grumbled, grabbing a pineapple from the fruit bowl, making everyone cringe as the dark blue alicorn bit into the slightly prickly fruit, barely bothered by its skin. "Please excuse me."

Luna walked off, munching on her snack as she made for her room to get some sleep. Celestia was disappointed at her sister barely noticing the nice breakfast she made for her after what seemed like a tough, stressful evening. As she set Luna's plate down, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Starlight felt bad seeing Celestia all dejected.

"Wow. Luna must have had a pretty bad night," Sora said. "If there were a ton of Nightmare Dream Eaters, she could have asked us for help."

"Perhaps, but she is like this every morning," Celestia said. "Even before the Dream Eaters made their presence known in Equestria's dreamscape."

Celestia took Luna's plate, hovering it over a waste bucket nearby, having expected her sister to ignore another of her wonderful breakfast masterpieces. "If Luna's not gonna eat that, can I?" Donald asked.

She took a moment to think about it, but she relented, not wanting to waste food. Once the plate reached Donald, he scarfed down both plates greedily. Ignoring the noisy munching, Sora and Starlight took note of Celestia's minor dilemma to tell Luna later.





"So we think Luna's hurting her sister's feelings without even realizing it," Starlight said to Twilight back in the guest room, giving in to telling her what happened this morning to avoid the alicorn pestering her or Sora.

"Poor Celestia," Twilight said sympathetically for her mentor. "That's so sweet that she makes her sister pancakes every morning."

Sora gently pressed his hoof on Twilight's head, swiveling her enchanted form to face him while giving her a blank stare. "Whatever you say to try to convince us, it's biased," he said. "Celestia's like a second mom to you aside from being a former teacher."

Twilight sighed, seeing his point. "Fair enough. But what are you two going to do?"

"Nothing just yet," Sora said. "We're gonna see what Luna does at the start of her evening when she and Celestia change shifts."

"Gotta get all the facts first before we can fix their problem," Starlight added.

Once the sun began to set, Sora and Starlight met up with Luna at her bedroom, Donald and Goofy joining to see what the princess of the night does as well. They all followed the alicorn into the halls, pulling a cart filled with several bouquets of lavenders, replacing the withered ones placed on the sconces with the fresh ones.

"Do you do this every night, Luna?" Sora asked curiously.

"Indeed," Luna said. "Lavender's calming scent is known to aid dreamers in achieving a restorative sleep."

She offered her friends a whiff of a bouquet's aroma, all four sighing blissfully, already feeling relaxed from the pleasing scent. "I sure feel like I can rest comfortably," Goofy said.

"That's so thoughtful of you," Starlight commented.

"I try my best to make sure the ponies in this castle sleep peacefully," Luna said.

As if on cue, Celestia walks out from the throne room with a group of dignitaries, clearly in the middle of one of the mare's stories as they made their way down the hall, passing Luna, Sora, Starlight, Donald, and Goofy. "And so, then I said, 'Touring? More like boring!'" the mare said, followed by a grating sort of laughter that was fitting for a rich noble who loved to flaunt their wealth and mock the commoners below their social standing, reminding Sora of Diamond Tiara's mother, Spoiled Rich.

The other ponies in the group laughed, along with Celestia, but the others could tell she looked like she was zoning the mare out, barely interested in what happened in the story that lead to the "hilarious" outcome. "Oh, you really are a card!" Celestia said to the snooty pony.

Luna frowned, Celestia barely paying her lavenders any mind as she let out a sigh. "But as always, my sister is too busy having fun with dignitary ponies to acknowledge anything I do."

Letting out a frustrated grunt, Luna finished placing the rest of her fresh lavenders on the rest of the sconces, then left to perform her royal duties for the night. Sora could see this was becoming a repeat of history for Luna; being denied any attention from her older sister and her actions going unnoticed to be acknowledged by everyone. Leaving the alicorn alone, Sora and Starlight headed back to their rooms while Donald and Goofy returned to theirs, the ponies letting Twilight know about Luna's side of the friendship problem.

"So, it looks like both princesses have been hurting each other without realizing it," Starlight said as she paced around. "And instead of talking about it, they're just getting colder and more distant."

"And they're Celestia and Luna, so it's not like you can just confront them," Twilight added.

"Actually, that's what we should do," Sora said, shocking Twilight.

"What!? Are you crazy, Sora!?" Twilight shrieked.

"Hey, this is our mission, Twilight! We've got this covered!" Sora argued. "You don't believe I can team up with Starlight to solve a problem?"

"I trust the both of you, but I don't want another incident with Luna turning into Nightmare Moon again and having either princess banish the other!" Twilight reasoned.

"Well, we can't just do nothing, Twilight," Starlight said. "The princesses aren't the best at communicating with each other."

Twilight let out a startled gasp, almost like she was in agony. "Sorry, it's just, you said 'princesses' and 'aren't the best' in the same sentence, and it's making me nervous!" Starlight smacked her head against the dresser, getting a little irritated with the lavender alicorn's "assistance". "...I'm not much help, am I?"

"Gee, I wonder why you think that?" Sora said sarcastically.





The next morning, everyone had breakfast with Celestia again, more pancakes with fruity smiley faces, this time with pineapples and oranges. While they dug in, Luna came into the room, just as exhausted as she was last night. This time, after Celestia offered her to have some pancakes with them, she ignored the decorative breakfast plate, grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl with her magic, and ate the peel instead of the actual banana in her tired delirium. Sora and Starlight silently nodded, getting up from their seats and approached the shuffling blue alicorn.

"Wait, Luna," Sora said. Luna paused and turned to glare at the Keyblade wielder tiredly, wanting nothing more than to get some sleep. "I know you're kinda tired, but I think Starlight and I figured out which ponies were having an issue with their friendship."

"Oh, you have? That's wonderful!" Celestia said, standing from her seat and standing beside her sister. "What is it?"

Sora wanted to let Starlight tell them, but after a moment of silence, he noticed she seemed a bit nervous to even speak. He figured talking with royal deities like Celestia and Luna was a bit overwhelming, even knowing that they have a lot of magic at their disposal and are quite powerful despite their royal stature. He sighed, needing to take the reins, but as long as Starlight also figured out what was wrong, their mission should end easily and quickly.

"It's you two," Sora said to the alicorn sisters. They were admittedly shocked, staring at him quizzically while feeling insulted. Starlight grimaced, fearing getting banished, but Sora remained calm, having made friends with royalty before and not once making a remark that punished him with a severe sentence. "Now, before you think Starlight and I are crazy, you two are accidentally hurting each other's feelings without realizing it."

"Yeah. We've seen it, too," Goofy confirmed, Donald nodding with his cheeks stuffed full of pancakes.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, both confused by what they had done to each other. "Celestia, doesn't it bug you when Luna doesn't notice the amazing breakfasts you try to make for her?" Sora asked, holding up Luna's plate so the younger alicorn sister could finally see the heart and soul Celestia put into them.

"Uh...Y-Yes," Celestia admitted after a bit of hesitation. "It does..."

Luna rolled her eyes, not even interested in eating so much before going to bed when her duties are done for the day. "And Luna, aren't you a bit hurt that Celestia never notices the new bouquets of lavenders you hang in the castle halls every night?" Sora asked, making Luna flinch and mutter to herself.

"I-I...Well, it's...not the best feeling..." Celestia and Luna stared at each other once more, Luna letting out a sigh as she began the apologizing. "I'm sorry I never noticed that you make fruit faces on pancakes, but nights are long for me. You might be a morning pony, but I am half-asleep."

"You don't think I get tired? I'm exhausted!" Celestia exclaimed, Sora's grin faltering as what he envisioned was slowly about to spiral downhill. "Oh, I apologize for not noticing flowers in a wall sconce. But by the time I get to retire for the night, I can barely see straight! Even so, I still make an effort to smile!"

Proving her point, Celestia put on a convincingly genuine smile, despite how agitated she was with Luna being more tired than her. "Like smiling is that hard," Luna grumbled bitterly.

Sora chuckled nervously, quickly flying in between the princesses before harsh words got worse and turned into flying hooves and magic beams. "I don't think that's what she-"

"Is that what exhausts you?" Luna questioned. "Smiling and being adored by everypony?"

"And you have it much worse, do you!?" Celestia exclaimed. "You've spent your evenings flitting around giving ponies lovely dreams! Oh, it just sounds so awful!"

"Actually, Celestia, with the Dream Eaters appearing in Equestria's dreamscape-" Sora tried to explain, only for Luna to telekinetically fling Sora out of her way.

"Don't presume to know what it is like to govern the dream realm!" Luna shouted.

"And yet you know exactly what it's like to be ME!? Oh, please!" Celestia countered, prodding her hoof hard against Luna's chest.

Starlight had been cringing since the argument began, laying prone on the floor with her hooves covering her ears while Donald and Goofy ran up to Sora to see if he was ok. "ENOUGH!!!" Starlight shouted, quickly standing up, her horn glowing as she unleashed a magical shockwave matching her magic's aura, shoving the princesses back as they were bathed in the spell the unicorn cast. Once the sisters landed, a light flashed around their flanks, Starlight's spell swapping around the princess's cutie marks. Sora, Donald, and Goofy exclaimed in shock, and when Celestia and Luna looked down to what they were seeing, their jaws dropped as they now bore their sister's cutie mark. Everyone stared at Starlight, the mare grinning nervously, realizing she acted before thinking and was going to get an earful, and possibly a trip to the moon. "T-There...Now you'll know exactly what it's like to be each other..."

"W-What have you done!?" Celestia exclaimed.

"Yes, Starlight, WHAT did you just DO!?" Sora asked.

"I...went with my gut?" Starlight answered poorly.

"...Your gut...told you...to TAKE THE PRINCESSES' CUTIE MARKS!?!?!?!?!?" Sora shrieked, grabbing the mare's shoulders and violently shook her. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time involving cutie mark stealing!?"

"I didn't steal them!" Starlight stated, shoving Sora off her with her magic. "I...swapped them around...along with their magic?"

"Then switch our cutie marks back this instant!" Luna demanded, nearly headbutting Starlight.

"M-My apologies, your majesties!" Starlight apologized, backing away from the tired princess of the night, then bowed to both alicorns. "But I can't, even if I wanted to!"

"Oh no," Sora groaned, Celestia and Luna both astonished as they glared bitterly at Starlight. "Please, please don't tell me there isn't a counter spell and this is permanent?"

"No, there isn't. But it lasts twenty-four hours," Starlight said with a sheepish grin.

"That doesn't sound like it helps them in any way," Donald stated as Sora let out a frustrated groan.

"You couldn't have run this by me, or even the princesses BEFORE casting the spell!?" Sora asked wearily.

"I-I know this is a bit extreme,  but...I think it's still a good idea?" Starlight insisted.

"What?" Celestia asked, her tone completely serious as both hers and Luna's duties and powers are thrown off.

"Y-You two have said it yourself!" Starlight tried to reason. "Neither of you believes your sister knows how hard it is to be in each other's horseshoes. So this is your chance to prove it."

Celestia and Luna grew silent, shifting their gaze from Starlight to each other. "...Well, I could use an easy day, followed by a good night's sleep," Luna said confidently.

"You can try," Celestia mocked. "I haven't had an easy day in, well, ever! But now, I get to sleep, and tonight will be a breeze." Luna didn't seem fond now, knowing she wasn't going to be up even longer and not get the chance to sleep until later this evening, but she was willing to go through a whole day of no sleep if it meant showing her sister how easy it was doing her job while Celestia struggled to do hers. "All right, Starlight Glimmer. We will do this."

"Good choice! Not like you had one," Starlight said with a lighthearted chuckle.

Sadly, no one else was as Celestia, Luna, and Sora leered at her. "Yeah. I think maybe you did quite enough this morning," Sora said.





Twilight hyperventilated after hearing what had happened no more than half an hour ago. Sora and Starlight knew she would react that way, Sora in the same boat as the purple alicorn as he and Starlight stared into space, waiting for Twilight to finally say something before passing out.

"You switched their cutie marks!?" Twilight finally said, nearly shouting to the heavens in disbelief. "The actual princesses' cutie marks!?"

"Yes, we get it," Sora said. "I already gave Starlight an earful."

"I thought it was the right call!" Starlight complained. "At least, I hope it was."

"You 'hope'!?" Sora exclaimed. "Are you absolutely sure this spell lasts for only a whole day?"

"That's what the book said when I saw it," Starlight said. "At least I didn't keep them in jars or a magic vault."

"Like you did to ours?" Sora questioned rhetorically, raising a brow while giving the unicorn a skeptical glare.

Starlight looked away with a sheepish giggle. They were suddenly startled by a knock on their door.

"Is everything ok in there?" a guard asked, having heard the yelling from earlier and approached the bedroom door.

"Y-Yes! Everything's fine!" Starlight called out. "Just...discussing different book topics!" They waited for the guard to leave after trying to diffuse what was happening, Starlight letting out a heavy sigh as she slammed her head down on her pillow. "That guard's going to think we're nuts!"

"He's not the only one," Twilight commented wearily.

"Alright, that's it." Sora flew over to the dresser, grabbed the music box, making Twilight yelp as he moved it over to the bedside dresser, opening a drawer and tossing it inside. "You're done 'helping' us. We're gonna finish the rest of this on our own. So, thanks for the help, or lack thereof."

Before Twilight voiced her complaints, Sora closed the drawer, no longer being pestered by the alicorn who constantly fretted about the relationship between Celestia and Luna spiraling down to a repeat event one thousand years ago, but even worse. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Starlight joined back with Luna in the throne room after the alicorn got herself some caffeine to keep herself going for the day. Despite being tired, Luna mustered the energy to do her sister's "easier" duties. When the royal staff came into the throne room, they were a bit surprised to see Luna rather than Celestia on the throne.

"Greetings, loyal guards and servants," Luna said. "Do not be alarmed. As you can see, Celestia and I are switching places today." The staff murmured to themselves in confusion, wondering what was happening to warrant this odd change. Luna raised a hoof to silence them to continue her explanation. "I assure you, I am more than capable of handling all of Celestia's duties. Dismissed."

The castle staff shrugged, slightly interested in how the sisters would fare in opposite roles before leaving to do their own jobs. "You sure you can handle this without any sleep?" Goofy asked curiously. "I can't imagine going around Disney Castle doing rounds any longer than half a day, let alone a whole one."

"Exhausted, though I may be, it shall be worth it to see how difficult Celestia will find taking over my duties in the night while I simply waltz through her own," Luna said confidently with a laugh. "Now, what is the first on my sister's to-do list?"

Starlight unrolled Celestia's schedule, looking over the many different events she was supposed to partake in today. "It says you have a few public appearances. Store openings, judging the royal rose contest, and a few others."

"Hah! I knew today would be easy, but I didn't think it would be THAT easy!" Luna gloated.





"...I was...mistaken," Luna uttered miserably as she looked down at the recent paper with the headline of her latest appearance. Today was not so easy as she thought it was. The whole day, she kept a strained smile as she went about her sister's duties, which was so much harder than it seemed to do after several hours keeping a wide, toothy grin. Sora, Starlight, Donald, and Goofy were there to help silently coach her for some events, but each one seemed stressful. There was the opening ceremony to a new store, but Luna wasn't able to cut the ribbon with the faultiest scissors even made and just simply used her hoof to tear it. Then came the royal rose contest, where she had to judge not a few, but dozens of different bouquets, judging them by artistry and fragrance. The nail in the coffin that's distressed her the most was the newspaper article, showing a picture of herself next to a school filly, taking part in a picture for a fundraiser, only instead of smiling, she was scowling irritably, the foal beside her looking scared of her. "'Princess Luna Unhappy with Student Fundraiser'? B-But I wasn't unhappy!"

Starlight grabbed the paper, the quartet wincing at the headline photograph. "Well, you are scowling in the shot," Donald said.

"Kind of a bad time after the photographer took his time getting the best shot for the photo op," Sora added.

"I didn't mean to make that face!" Luna exclaimed. "I've been smiling all day! My cheeks hurt! I only stopped for one second, and that's when he took the picture!"

"Guess smiling all day isn't as easy as you thought?" Starlight said sympathetically.

"It's not so hard when you get used to smiling a lot," Goofy said. "You two should have seen the smile Sora showed us after we first met."

Donald and Goofy laughed at the memory, making Sora cringe and let out a groan. "Hey, it was hard to be happy when I learned my home was gone, and I worried half to death about Riku and Kairi," he chided.

Luna took back the newspaper, her aura golden yellow thanks to Starlight's spell as she had Celestia's magical energy along with the sun cutie mark. "It says here that, because of me, the school didn't raise enough funds to go on their field trip! I-I didn't mean for that to happen!"

Luna smacked her head against the table with a groan, feeling disappointed in herself. "We know, but you can't dwell on that now," Starlight said. She unrolled the incredibly long list, its length reaching the same distance as the dining table. "According to the list, some delegates are about to arrive for a luncheon. You need to dispel rumors of timberwolves in the White Tail Woods. The nearby towns have been in a state of panic for weeks."

"B-But I have to fix this!" Luna insisted, unable to rid herself of the overwhelming guilt she felt about the foals whose fun field trip she ruined.

"Sorry, Luna, but you've got other things to take care of," Sora apologized. "Celestia would have put on a brave face and help the ponies who need her right now. I'm sure the kids will eventually have another chance later in another fundraiser."

Luna frowned, but she tried to put on a strong face, standing up from her seat and headed for the door. Upon opening, those same delegates Starlight mentioned had arrived on time to discuss the rumors of the timberwolves. She took a deep breath, composing herself from her guilty conscience to address them of the spread tales of the timberwolf attacks.

"HELLO! GREAT NEWS! THERE ARE NO TIMBERWOLVES!" Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice. Unfortunately, that did nothing to assuage the ponies as they all ran off screaming, believing the timberwolf rumor. The princess winced at their reactions, letting out a heavy sigh, feeling Sora gently pat her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop thinking about those poor students. Normally, I have all the time in solitude I need to work through my problems at my own pace."

"But seeing how long her schedule is, it doesn't look like she has that luxury," Donald said. "Trust us; the king would have a lot on his plate, and there were times where he wanted to take a break, but couldn't."

"Not so easy doing your sister's job, huh?" Goofy asked.

Luna didn't want to admit it, but after today, she could see just how frustrating and tiresome it was going about Canterlot, doing everything ponies want the princesses to take part in while keeping a straight face. The next thing on her list was settling a long-winded argument from a couple local mayors, which they could all hear coming from the meeting room as they walked down the hall. Sora, Starlight, Donald, and Goofy wished Luna luck as she walked in to deal with the matter.

Several hours had passed until the issues were finally resolved, the two mayors walked out satisfied, being quite friendly with each other over the loud shouting match they had earlier. Luna shambled out, looking like she was about to die from exhaustion as the lack of sleep, conflicted feelings of a problem she desperately wanted to fix more than any other event she had to take part in, and dealing with two stallions acting like foals fighting over a toy that couldn't have been settled by anyone else of equal power or neutrality.

"Well, you made it to the end of the day," Starlight said. "Yay?"

Luna almost nodded off, barely hearing anything the unicorn said. "Oh. Yes-" Luna let out a yawn, ready to get some well deserved sleep. "-I'm just going to turn in, then. Good light, Starnight, Soba, Dolan, and Gooby."

The princess retired to her bedroom, the others feeling awful about how tired she seemed. "Yikes. I know what that's like," Sora said, recalling how terrible he felt after liberating the Crystal Empire, watching Sombra fade away after promising to bring him back to Luna, freed from his darkness. "Except I stayed awake for days out of guilt."

"Hello, everypony!" Celestia greeted as she approached them. "I don't know about you all, but I'm feeling very well-rested." After stretching her wings, she looked around for her sister. "Where's Luna?"

"She already turned in for the night," Goofy said.

"Oh, did she, now?" Celestia asked with an amused grin. "It seems like my duties were harder than my sister expected."

"You have no idea," Donald mumbled.





Later that evening, Celestia stood on the balcony of her room, raising the moon with the temporary power of her sister's no thanks to Starlight, her golden aura now blue. "And the moon has risen," Celestia gloated. "Used to be a pain doing both for a thousand years, but the moon is much easier to rise than the sun." She chuckled to herself, then turned to face Starlight, only to see the unicorn was asleep, snoring loudly with an occasional limb twitch. Donald and Goofy were also passed out, but Sora was still wide awake. "Ah. I forgot everyone's asleep at night. Are you not tired, Sora?"

"A little, but I can manage staying up a while longer," he said. Celestia moved Starlight, Donald, and Goofy over to the bed with her magic, making sure they slept comfortably as part of Luna's job for her nightly duties. Sora grabbed Luna's schedule, a little shocked that it was definitely shorter than Celestia's overly long list, but he knew she was in for a surprise about the dream realm. "Seems like all you have to do is watch over Equestria, visit the dream world, and protect everyone from their nightmares."

"That's all? That's nothing. My list was three times as long!" Celestia laughed again.

"Doesn't mean it won't be a breeze," Sora stated. "It's not just subconscious nightmares you have to stop. There are the Dream Eaters as well that have started appearing frequently in those nightmares."

"Right, but that should be nothing if they're like the Heartless, only from what Luna told me, they're cute, colorful, and some can be quite friendly," Celestia said. "...Do you think Sombra will be there to meet us?"

"Hmm...He is Luna's Dream Eater thanks to her ring..." Sora summoned his Keyblade, wondering if they actually will see Sombra around if Luna has no power to freely roam the dreamscape. "Maybe he can exist on his own without her there. Ready to dive in?"

"I've wanted to try this for so long!" Celestia said giddily.

Sora twirled is Keyblade, aiming it in front of him as he blade fired a beam of light, creating a portal into the dream world. He walked through while Celestia used her magic to project herself into the dreamscape, the world around her fading to black until she felt herself floating in emptiness. The world of sleep began to appear as Celestia opened her eyes, staring in awe at how peaceful this realm was, almost like floating in the night sky itself with small orbs of light, showing the dreams of slumbering ponies all throughout Equestria. Before admiring the dream realm further, a light above her shimmered, nothing like the small spherical windows of ponies' dreams. Sora appeared in the light, diving down before his descent slowed and floated alongside her, giving Celestia a chance to see the Keyblade wielder in his true form.

"Whoa," Sora said as he looked around. "This is...different. I thought the dreamscape had long corridors of doorways leading to ponies' dreams."

"Is that what Luna sees?" Celestia asked. "Hmm...I guess it must be different between Luna and I how we prefer to view this realm. But, regardless, this is amazing." She examined Sora's human form, just as thin as his pony form with more features to his new clothing like his pants and shoes, but even with the body difference, he still had the same face that showed he was strong, determined, and easily approachable to befriend. "Hmm...As I expected. Although, you being around my height is a bit awkward."

"Not used to looking up at someone when talking to them, huh?" Sora joked, the two sharing a laugh before looking at the floating dreams passing them. One that made Sora burst out laughing was one where Flurry Heart and Cadence were having a party, and the baby alicorn was the DJ, mixing the turntables while wearing a pair of sunglasses. "W-What the heck is going on here!? Whose dream is this!? Please tell me that's Shining Armor's!"

"I don't know," Celesta said, unable to stifle her giggling when she noticed the wild dream party pass by. "At least this will let us see which ponies are having a bad dream instead of guessing behind closed doors."

"True," Sora said, snorting a little as his giggles started to die down.

While looking around for any troubled dreams, Sora heard laughter in one of the dream bubbles, sounding like a couple adoring something. He found the dream while curiously discovering others, letting out a light gasp at what was inside. Hovering over to the slowly rising orb, he gently cupped it in his hands, getting a closer look. Inside were Applejack's parents, both Buttercup and Bright Macintosh together as they both held a baby Applejack in their hooves, the infant filly sleeping soundly while being cradled by her mother and father.

"She's just so precious," Buttercup said. "Ah bet you're gonna spoil her rotten when she gets older, hon."

"Darn tootin', Bright Macintosh said with a chuckle. "But she'll make for a strong worker, just like her daddy. Ain't that right, Applejack?"

Bight Mac leaned forward, giving his sleeping filly a kiss on the forehead, making her stir with a coo, trying to rest more on her father's foreleg. As Sora watched the dream, whether it was just a fantasy or a subconscious memory as a baby, he teared up a little as he continued viewing Applejack's dream. They sounded like the perfect couple, loving their newborn daughter, and it was a shame that they had both passed away in an accident, their three children left to be cared for by their grandmother while learning how to take over the farm in their stead.

"You must really miss them, huh, AJ?" Sora asked himself, shedding his tears as he gently held the dream bubble. "I wish I got to know them...To see what they were like...They still live on in your heart, Applejack, and even though they're gone, I'm sure they still love you, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith."

Baby Applejack opened her eyes, the content, blissful smile was replaced with a frown, having heard Sora speak to her while the real Applejack dreamed. Their eyes met, surprising Sora as she heard him, but the infant smiled with a tear-filled gaze, the dream bubble glowing a bright white before it faded, the dream changing as Applejack was now her current age, but beside her was a dream pegasus Sora, along with the rest of her family behind them.

"Ah bet they would love to have ya around if they were here, Sora," Applejack said as his dream self draped a hoof around her shoulder in a comforting embrace. "They'd accept ya as an honorary Apple in a heartbeat after all y'all have done for us."

"Heh, I don't doubt it," Sora said. "I'll let you get back to dreaming. I'm helping Celestia see how hard Luna's job is."

"Twilight told us about what Starlight did today," Applejack said, giving out a small chuckle with a shake of her head. "Good luck with your friendship mission."

Sora nodded, then gently tossed the dream bubble out of his hands, letting Applejack continue dreaming. When he turned around to join back with Celestia, the alicorn had a sympathetic look on her face, overhearing what he was talking about with Applejack.

"I knew the Apples when they were just a traveling family nearly a century ago," Celestia said. "Selling and sowing their seeds, I knew I made the right choice giving them land for their apple trees in what would eventually be Ponyville. I had even heard of what happened to Granny Smith's son and daughter-in-law the day when they..." She paused, frowning at the unfortunate news back then, but didn't need to elaborate more since Sora was told of what happened his first Apple Family Reunion. "...I cannot imagine how Applejack had fared with that, being a witness to their final hours."

"I know exactly how she feels," Sora said, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. "I found out what happened to my dad when I was a kid...I couldn't save him when I went back in time, that storm turning out to be a Heartless invasion...and he got in my way to save me from getting skewered by a Pirate's sword...I would have survived, but dad..." He sighed heavily, the memory of Kaito's sacrifice replaying in his mind, a parental instinct to protect their child despite how dangerous and deadly the situation was. "At least I discovered what truly happened...and I never expected my father's Nobody to be born after that night."

"A Nobody?" Celestia questioned. "And...he is on your side?"

"Yeah." Sora giggled sheepishly as he scratched his cheek. "Took me a while to realize that from my disbelief seeing him again." Celestia understood much of what was happening from Yen Sid and their fight against Xehanort, but knowing the Nobody of Sora's father acted on his own like a normal person was surprising after learning about the former Organization XIII ran by Nobodies. "Anyway, enough of my rambling and emotions. Let's see if we can find-"

Celestia and Sora suddenly yelped as they pulled by some mysterious force, flying into a dream door that appeared out of nowhere. The two grunted as they hit what felt like a carpeted floor, confused and wary as they looked around the slightly dimmed room. Candles began lighting up, trailing over to a royal-sized bed at the end of the room, drapes veiling the bed frame as the silhouette of a stallion was seen laying on his side.

"Finally decided to drop into the dream world," the stallion greeted, his tone sensual and alluring. Sora cringed as that stallion was none other than Sombra, and he doesn't seem to realize there were two people in the room with him, and none of them were his beloved fiancee. Music began to play to heighten the mood, Sombra sitting up as he tossed a rose, letting it explode into petals as they floated down to guide his love to the bed. "You've been working hard, my dear Luna. Why not let our Spirit companions handle the nightmares for tonight and spend the evening with me?"

Celestia was a bit embarrassed, apparently being hit on by her sister's lover, but she suppressed a snicker, deciding to pull a prank on the stallion. She looked at Sora, raising a hoof to tell him to stay quiet before she slowly sauntered forward, swinging her hips to entice Sombra, making him think she was Luna.

"Oh no," Sora uttered quietly, covering his mouth as he struggled to keep his laughter silent. "Celestia, you really are a troll."

Sombra perked up, taking the bait as he stood up on the mattress. "What say you, my dearest?" Sombra asked. "Shall we engage in sensual activities, or would you like to role play with me as the evil King Sombra and dominate the princess of the night and make her my queen?"

Celestia stood by the edge of the bed, ready to see his reaction the moment she spoke. "Why don't you surprise me, Sombra 'dear'?"

The music scratched as Sombra flinched, the mood ruined as he heard Celestia's voice, not Luna's. He scrambled to the edge where Celestia stood, pulling away the drapes to meet the princess of the sun, giving him a sultry grin while giving him an air kiss.

"C-CELESTIA!?" Sombra shrieked, his gray cheeks quickly turning a dark shade of red, then he heard Sora finally lose it as he guffawed in the background, his whole face burning red in embarrassment. "S-S-Sora as well!?" Celestia couldn't contain herself and laughed along with Sora. With a flash of his horn, Sombra erased his private room from the realm's existence, leaving the three of them floating in the dreamscape. Sombra growled angrily, confused and feeling humiliated, as well as ashamed that he tried to flirt with Celestia, even though he swore he sensed her magic. "What is the meaning of this!?"

"It's nice to see you personally again after all these years, Sombra," Celestia said after composing herself.

"...I do not understand," Sombra said, then looked around as he noticed the dreamscape was not like what he expected. "And what happened to the dream realm?" Sora and Celestia explained what had happened this morning, which only baffled and upset Sombra more. He gave them a blank stare, his eyes trailing to Luna's cutie mark plastered on Celestia's flanks, making him shudder as not only did he see that the black splotch was also part of his lover's moon cutie mark, but it was ON his future sister-in-law's flank. "So, yet again, Starlight Glimmer has caused more trouble. No wonder I felt Luna's magic aura...And you are positive this isn't permanent?"

"I confirmed it with Starlight after I gave her quite an earful," Sora said.

"If you are certain." Sombra then sighed, giving Celestia a harsh glare. "So, this is what you and Luna are doing to avoid talking your problems about? And you two fought over how difficult their jobs are while the other's was far easier this morning?"

"Yes, and it seems Luna got only a taste of the hard work I do," Celestia boasted, her words making Sombra snort bitterly at her arrogant tone. "Keeping peace in ponies' dreams is going to be a piece of-"

"SILENCE!!!" Sombra stomped his hooves, summoning sharp crystal blades around Celestia from out of nowhere. She and Sora gasped in shock, the alicorn keeping still or else she would get stabbed by the enchanted crystals. "You best cease your arrogance this instant, Celestia. This attitude has what caused you and Luna to split apart, turning her into a monster and banishing her for a thousand years!"

"Whoa, Sombra, ease up!" Sora quickly ran up between Celestia and Sombra, trying to ease the stallion before he did something drastic.

"I'm going to give her a stern complaint, not skewer her," Sombra assured, taking deep breaths to calm his rattled nerves. He walked past Sora, forcing Celestia to lower herself down on the intangible floor for them to see eye to eye with his blades slowly ushering her to lay down on her stomach. "You truly believe what Luna does is going to be simple? An easy day for you to regale to her, proving you're much better than her in the most painful way possible? Getting hit might go away, but words can scar, and most of them never heal or go away."

"But...This is the easiest thing I've ever done so far," Celestia reasoned, never intending to hurt her little sister like that again, but Sombra knew more about her than she did, seeing how dead serious he was about the matter at hoof. "I deal with delegates all the time, ponies who don't even know how to settle a simple argument that never needed my opinion from the start. Traveling through dreams sounds more fun, and I'm no slouch when it comes to defending myself, despite how busy I am during the day."

"It may sound like fun and games, but a nightmare can easily harm one's mind in a psychological sense: troubled pasts, guilt eating away at them, mistakes that they believe can never be mended," Sombra explained. "What's worse is that Dream Eater Nightmares can cause even more harm to a pony's psyche. They may be cute at first, but they are just as terrible as the creatures of darkness, only less severe than taking away your heart for you to join their brood." The two stared at each other in silence for a while, Sombra eventually breaking it with a sigh, dismissing his crystal swords. "...I do not want Luna to feel like her only family has turned away from her again over something this petty. Sibling banter or not...I do not wish to lose her again."

"Sombra, I swear, I had no intentions of mocking Luna, nor do I want to lose her again, too," Celestia said apologetically, standing up and rubbing her hoof along her neck, thankfully spared of getting pricked by the sharp, enchanted blades. "Starlight's idea was out of the blue and caught the two of us off guard, but I believed it was a decent idea to see just how our lives were. I knew Luna would have a hard time with what I do, but I wasn't going to honestly rub it in her face."

"You learned to think before you speak your mind," Sombra muttered. "I figured the same could be said toward family if what you think can greatly hurt their feelings."

"I understand," Celestia said, lowering her head in shame. "After tonight, if watching over ponies dreams and battling Nightmares is too much, I will apologize to her for thinking she had it easy. And if it was simple...I won't say anything at all."

"You'd best keep your word," Sombra warned, Celestia immediately nodding in response. The stallion sighed again, along with Sora in relief. "Apologies for the scare, but your claim struck a nerve. Luna had confided in me her problems about you outshining her, and it bothered me just as much as it did her since no one else back then had cared about her."

"Heh, how about we take out some of that pent up aggression toward each other on some nightmares?" Sora suggested before Sombra thought about "scaring" Celestia again. He looked around at the floating dream bubbles, having no idea which ones would be considered nightmares or pleasant dreams. "...Uhh, any ideas where we should start and fight some Dream Eaters?"

They soon heard a familiar scream in a nearby dream sphere, which happened to be Starlight's dream. She was flailing around, falling quickly through an infinite sky, and suddenly, out of nowhere, Celestia's smiley pancakes had come to life and hovered around the unicorn.

"I care," they repeated, getting closer before their smiles turned to angry frowns, their last chant turning distorted as Starlight covered her eyes.

"We could start with the mare who ruined a perfectly planned dream for Luna and I," Sombra said drolly, unable to believe the unicorn he helped before could cause a whole lot more trouble than it was worth.

"But I don't see any Dream Eaters," Celestia said. "And my special breakfasts are not horrible enough to be nightmare fuel."

"Well, Nightmares don't exactly have to be like the different types of animals Luna may have described to you," Sora said. "Sweetie Belle had a Nightmare version of myself and Rarity, and Apple Bloom had one of herself when I helped solve their dreams. Here in Equestria, I think they can be just about anything other than the ones I knew of my first time dropping into dreams."

"Then let us make haste and dive into Starlight's dream," Sombra said. "This feels like the nightmare's about to get far worse than normal."

Sombra struck a beam of magic into the dream sphere as Starlight fell into a pit of lavenders, creating a doorway with Starlight's coat and mane colors and cutie mark. He lead the way as Sora and Celestia followed.





Starlight opened her eyes, unable to move her body after falling through the massive bed of lavenders. Looking down at herself, she was wearing the same white ballerina outfit the figurine on the music box wore, stuck in its one-legged pose as she was slowly turned around. There was no music playing as the turnstile moved, her nightmare only beginning as she saw a massive Twilight looming over her.

"This is big!" Twilight exclaimed, repeating the exact same phrase she said earlier today. "Like, REALLY big!"

Her eyes shut and reopened, her right eye now showing a starry sky with a crescent moon while her left had a sunny sky with the sun. Starlight suddenly felt herself teleport out of her frozen state, panting heavily in fear as she wound up in the distorted version of Canterlot Castle's hallway.

"Starlight!" Sora called out, he and Sombra running up to the mare while Celestia flew on ahead, helping Starlight up on her hooves.

"We're here now," Celestia assured. "Tell us what's wrong."

"Going with my gut was the wrong call!" Starlight exclaimed. "I was supposed to bring you two closer together, but I've only driven you apart! If you two can't see why you need each other, then-!"

"Then I am back!" Quickly turning around to the sound of the familiar voice, through an invisible void came Luna's darkness: Nightmare Moon.

The dark alicorn cackled maniacally, changing the dream around her to a starry sky. Sombra flinched, seeing the nightmare of his beloved's dark side for the first time, but he didn't back down, knowing this wasn't his Luna. Sora and Sombra called forth their weapons while Celestia cast a barrier around all four of them, keeping what little ground was left for them to stand on.

"Of all the things to be considered Nightmares, it had to be Luna's darkness," Sombra uttered, gritting his teeth as he stared down Nightmare Moon.

"Don't worry, Sombra," Celestia said, glowering at the dream Nightmare Moon. "I know how to handle her."

"Yes!" Gasping, everyone turned around as they heard another Celestia, a silhouette in environment veiling its appearance, though it appeared to be as tall as the princess of the sun. "But can you handle...ME!?"

In a flash of fire from the mare's mane and tail, the alicorn's body was revealed under the waving, blazing hair, shocking Sora, Sombra, Starlight, and especially Celestia. With a white coat and an alicorn like Celestia, she wore red-orange armor similar to Nightmare Moon's, though her armor was more wild like a fire, the boots trailing up her legs like licking flames, and her helmet had three jagged points rising up at an angle with a red ruby attached to the forehead of the headpiece. Her cutie mark had also expanded with dark orange rays coming out from the inner sun's, whereas Luna's had never changed when she was Nightmare Moon. And her eyes, unlike Nightmare Moon's reptilian green ones, they were a fiery red and orange, her pupils shaped like a flame as her irises in the black sclera almost make it seem like it was glowing in the darkness. Celestia was looking at herself; her own darkness, if that was what she turned into if hers and Luna's roles had been reversed.

The dark Celestia laughed evilly, intimidating Starlight, Nightmare Moon glaring at her "sister" with spite, and Sora, Sombra, and Celestia stunned by the Nightmare's presence. "This...This can't be," Celestia uttered.

"If Luna can turn into Nightmare Moon, you can absolutely turn into me: Daybreaker!" the burning alicorn said as she addressed herself. "The better, prettier, and more powerful version of you!"

Celestia shook her head, unable to believe this mare was truly her own darkness. "No! I will never turn into you! You're just a dream!"

"Am I? Then why don't you take a look in a mirror!?" Flames appeared around the group, dispelling Celestia's barrier.

As they were blinded by the flames, inside the small patch of land came a mirror that appeared out of nowhere. The light from the fire dimmed down, allowing everyone to see their reflection, gasping in shock at what their reflections turned out to be. Starlight saw herself possessed by darkness, her cutie mark replaced with the equal sign from her days as a horrible dictator trying to rid the world of cutie marks and talents. Sombra stared at the former tyrant his darkness transformed him into: red curved horn, a royal red cape, and silver gauntlets on his hooves, his eyes leaking a purple mist while the sclera of his eyes green and red irises. Sora saw himself in his Anti-Form, his body completely dark with glowing yellow eyes, but thankfully, it was his controlled form he was looking at. As for Celestia, she saw herself as Daybreaker, Starlight's imagination she conjured up perfectly accurate to the mirror's representation of each of their dark sides.

"W-What manner of trickery...?" Sombra asked, feeling dread in his heart as he stared at what he turned into. He then looked at Starlight, who was just as startled. "...Starlight, what nightmare are you experiencing?"

"I-I don't know if I'm dreaming anymore," Starlight uttered, looking away from the mare she could have been.

Celestia stared at her reflection, the mirror mimicking her shocked expression as she looked at herself. "This frame looks familiar," Sora muttered. "Is this...the same mirror like the ones in Master Yen Sid's tower?" As Sora looked at the frame, the size of the mirror, and recalling standing before the different ones that showed off his Drive Forms with only one left out that showed someone's darkness from within. "T-This is...This can't be-"

"Oh, but it is!" Daybreaker said. "You know these, Celestia. This is one of those special mirrors hidden under those dusty tarps in that wizard's private room."

"That's impossible! Starlight's never even heard of these mirrors!" Sora said. "There's no way this one should exist here!"

"But a dream can reflect one's own thoughts and fears, manifested into a subconscious scenario, just like this," Daybreaker explained. "Including looking into your own inner self." Daybreaker pushed the mirror toward Celestia with her magic, bringing her dark reflection closer as she backpedaled away from it. "Deny it all you want, Celestia; I am what you are, lying deep in your heart." The mirror disappeared in a burst of flames, Daybreaker standing before her other self with a wide grin. Sora and Sombra backed away from her appearance, the evil alternate sun princess poking Celestia's chest with a hoof, directly over her heart. "Deep down, you know just how powerful you really are. You never even needed Luna to begin with."

Celestia's stunned gaze quickly turned into a glare, smacking away the Nightmare's hoof. "That's not true!" she said. "Even when we were apart, I knew I needed her!"

Daybreaker cackled at Celestia's argument. "Oh, please! You don't need anypony! You didn't even need that spiky dimwit with the giant key to fend off your own sister!" Sora grunted at the comment, but kept his cool, not knowing just what the solar alicorn was capable of. "You can do whatever you want if you. And all you have to do is get rid of anypony that stands in your way!" Daybreaker's horn lit up, flapping away as Sora lunged forward to swing at her. Backflipping away, she then fired a dangerously powerful beam of magic at them. Sora and Sombra quickly dove out of the way, Celestia ducked while protecting Starlight, but Nightmare Moon, who had been watching from a distance, was caught off guard as it was aimed straight for her. The alicorn of darkness yelled as she flew back from the explosion, quickly righting herself as she growled at her sister. "I never should have banished you to the moon!" Daybreaker rose one of her forelegs up to her burning hair, pulling out Celestia's choice of weapon: a broadsword with a flaming blade, though the fire was much darker and exuded an aura of darkness as well. "I should have destroyed you!"

Ignoring Sora, Sombra, Celestia, and Starlight, Daybreaker flew toward Nightmare Moon, who summoned her crescent scythe as both princesses fought with both their weapons and magical power. "No, you can't do that!" Starlight exclaimed. "Day, night, sun, moon - Equestria needs both of you!" Celestia looked down in sorrow, witnessing what felt like a reenactment of her fight with Luna a thousand years ago, only made worse as both princesses were in their dark forms. What Starlight had tried to reason with the two Nightmares fighting each other struck her heart, her ignorance back then nearly getting them both killed. Nightmare Moon retaliated with a magic beam, missing Daybreaker as it headed straight for the group, Celestia barely paying any mind as her lingering guilt still haunted her, even after making amends with Luna after so many years. Sora and Sombra quickly acted, combining their magic to create a defensive crystal barrier, keeping them safe from harm. "Without balance, there's no harmony!"

Daybreaker lit herself in a fiery aura, charging into Nightmare Moon like a comet, knocking her hard with a slash that sent her spiraling through the air. "Who needs balance when you can have it all!?" she questioned with a demonic laugh, too distracted from her gloating as she got struck back by several sharp crescent shockwaves Nightmare Moon sent toward her.

"You can't get rid of me so easily, sister!" Nightmare Moon said. "Unless you plan on 'smiling' me to smithereens!"

Sora and Sombra dropped their barrier, looking back at Celestia, who was greatly depressed from everything her dark self told her. "Celestia, you have to do something!" Sombra called out, trying to snap some sense into her.

"Don't listen to Daybreaker!" Sora said as well. "You know that's not who you are, even if that's what you would be if you lost your heart to darkness!"

Celestia snapped out of her daze, quickly shaking her head. Looking up, she saw Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker start charging toward each other. Quickly teleporting into the air, she got between them and released a shockwave, pushing them back.

"ENOUGH!" Celestia shouted, but the pleading look she gave both Nightmares made Daybreaker laugh mockingly.

"I told you I was more powerful than you!" Daybreaker said. Nightmare Moon growled, an aura of darkness billowing around her. "Ugh. So much black. We get it, you're sad," she said to Nightmare Moon, mocking her dark sister. "You could really use some...SUN!!!!!"

Daybreaker unleashed a blast of fire from her mouth like a dragon, Celestia gasping as she dove out of the way. Nightmare Moon created a dark barrier around herself, protecting her from the intense heat of the solar alicorn's flames. Huge embers from the attack spilled down beneath it, striking the small piece of land in the dream, some nearly hitting Sora, Sombra, and Starlight as it began to burn away.

"Jump!" Sora shouted, Sombra quickly leaping off while Sora picked up Starlight and followed, the unicorn screaming as they fell down into the infinite sky. Sora brought his fingers to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle, summoning a pair of Dream Eater Spirits to help them: a Pegaslick and a Ryu Dragon. The dream pegasus and dragon let out cries as they swooped down, the Ryu Dragon catching Sombra on its back while Sora landed on the Pegaslick's back. "Starlight, are you ok?"

"No! The princesses are fighting, and it's all my fault!" the unicorn cried. Up above, Daybreaker released a powerful nova blast, blinding the entire world as she tried to blow Nightmare Moon up. "I shouldn't have gone on this mission! Equestria is doomed!"

"Sombra, can we get some ground or something?" Sora asked.

The stallion nodded, using his magic to recreate Canterlot Castle, giving them something out of the endless night sky Nightmare Moon created. They flew down into the throne room, Celestia joining them as Sora lowered Starlight down on the floor. Celestia didn't know what to do as the fighting got worse outside. Even if Sora and Sombra helped her, there was no way they could possibly deal with both Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker, the latter far stronger than any of them would have ever expected. There was someone who could help, though. Giving up pride for the sake of a mare's sanity, Celestia used her magic to find Luna's dream.

"Celestia, what are you doing?" Sombra asked.

"I'll be right back," she said before transporting herself into her sister's dream.

"Celestia!" Sombra called out, but she was already gone. While muttering under his breath, Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon crashed through the window, startling him and Sora, Starlight too busy crying as she concealed herself in a magic barrier to see the outcome of her mistake. "Curses. They're taking the fight in here."

"And Daybreaker definitely wants us," Sora added. They both watched the dark alicorns flying around, weapons clashing as sparks flew on contact, though Daybreaker seemed to overpower Nightmare Moon. "...So, you take Daybreaker while I handle Nightmare Moon. Ok? Cool."

"Wait, who said we were taking whom solo!?" Sombra argued.

"Well, you looked like you wanted to hit Celestia earlier, so Daybreaker's a decent substitute, right!?" Sora reasoned. Their argument was cut short when Daybreaker flung Nightmare Moon across the room, nearly slamming her into the Keyblade wielder and stallion Spirit. They looked at the groaning dark night princess, then each other, and finally at Daybreaker, twirling her sword as she eyed the two. "...Ok, we fight both of them together."

"Agreed," Sombra said, both warriors dreading the fight of their lives with Sora's two Dream Eaters alongside them, and without Celestia to help them and deal with her first Nightmare Dream Eaters.





Luna felt awkward as she wandered the empty castle conjured in her dream, along with sleeping at night. She was so tired she passed out immediately in her bed, only to wake up, feeling a strange sense of dread like a nightmare was going to happen. She found an empty room with a mirror in it, looking into her reflection. Still feeling horrible she let those foals down with her picture perfect scowl after smiling for so long, she practiced her fake smile to make it look genuine without making her cheeks sore.

"That smile's too wide~..." Out of nowhere, one of the foals at the school fundraiser appeared, and then another as they pointed out how fake her smile was in the creepiest sing-song she had ever heard. "It's obviously not real~...

Luna turned around, finding no sign of the foals that moved in and out of the mirror's reflection. She looked behind and walked around it, finding no sign of any foals, but when she got back around the front, she saw the class standing there with sad eyes, which made her feel more guilty.

"Why don't you want us to go on our field trip?" the same filly from the picture in the newspaper asked with tear-filled eyes.

"I don't-" As Luna spoke, her teeth began falling out, startling her as she covered her mouth. "I-I mean, I do!" The foals slowly began walking toward her, chanting their earlier comments about her fake smile as the alicorn kept her mouth covered, continuously losing more teeth the more she spoke. She was backed up against the mirror, unable to escape, but help came in the nick of time, Celestia popping in through the mirror behind her. "Celestia! I'm so glad you're-!"

Grabbing Luna, Celestia pulled her through the mirror, taking her out of her nightmare and into Starlight's. Luna's teeth came back now that she was no longer trapped in her own dream, feeling completely helpless without her magic to defend herself. Her relief turned to surprise, narrowly dodging a magic beam in the dream version of their castle. When she saw what was fighting, she was astonished seeing a dark form of Celestia battling her own darkness, Sora, and Sombra in a crazy free-for-all. Luna also saw the protective magic bubble Starlight kept herself in as she wept.

"Die, sister!" Daybreaker shrieked, unleashing another torrent of flames on Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon raised her scythe up to block the flames with a rapid twirl, only for Sombra to warp in and create a crystal shield around them. "Why do you keep trying to save me!?" Nightmare questioned. "We are enemies!"

"I know...I-I...cannot help myself," Sombra said. "You may be a Nightmare, but do you...recall memories of us?"

"...I do," Nightmare said, her tone filled with sorrow. He reached a hoof out to her, and she took his with a small smile, only to grip him tightly as her grin turned sadistic. "But you were foolish to deny who you once were!"

Sombra grunted in shock, feeling stupid falling for such a trick, then yelled as Nightmare spun and flung him back into his barrier, shattering it, and getting hit by Daybreaker's fire breath. Nightmare Moon flew away as Sombra fell back toward her, hitting the ground hard, his body slightly singed as he groaned in pain. Sora jumped in with his Pegaslick and Ryu Dragon, riding on the Spirit pegasus's back as they flew toward the dark alicorn sisters. Ryu Dragon roared, unleashing a barrage of fire blasts from its maw at them. They were separated from their clash, narrowly avoiding the fiery projectiles. Pegaslick dashed off toward Daybreaker, Sora swinging his Keyblade to hit the alicorn at near supersonic speeds. Daybreaker stopped the colorful pegasus with her magic, making it whinny as it struggled to break away.

"Not quite so speedy against somepony with magic, are you?" Daybreaker teased the Dream Eater.

Sora was still able to move, leaping off his Spirit companion's back, slamming his Keyblade down on the alicorn, who blocked it with her flaming broadsword. "Then try me!"

Daybreaker shoved the Keyblade wielder back with her blade, Sora flipping away as he aimed his Keyblade at her. Casting several Blizzaga spells, he hoped that would freeze the alicorn, but the ice magic melted and turned into steam before it even got mere inches from her body.

"You honestly thought ice could cool me down? I'm a goddess of the sun; I melt ice before it can even freeze!" Daybreaker began shooting fireballs down on Sora with several swings of her sword.

Sora ran for his life, explosions raining down as the fireballs hit the tiled floor of the throne room. he eventually got caught in a blast, sent flying toward the wall, but he quickly flipped himself around, landing with his feet against the wall. But just as he pushed off to fly back to Daybreaker, Nightmare Moon dove into him, sending him crashing to the ground. Luna never thought any nightmare like this could be bad, but the two Nightmares of her and her sister's darkness causing havoc in Starlight's dream was becoming a serious threat to her.

"I've seen a lot of nightmares, but I have never seen this before," Luna said.

"It's Starlight Glimmer," Celestia said. "She's afraid this is what will happen if we continue fighting!"

"What was I thinking!?" Starlight lamented tearfully. "I'm never going with my gut again!"

Sora and Sombra grunted as they were smacked back by the dark alicorn sisters, slamming into Starlight's barrier. "S-Starlight, you gotta-" Sora tried to say, but quickly brought his Keyblade up to block Nightmare Moon's scythe, Sombra doing the same with his sword as Daybreaker went for him.

Pegaslick and Ryu Dragon flew down to save their friends, tackling the evil princesses away from them as they fell to their knees. "S-Such powerful Nightmares," Sombra uttered. "She's...traumatized by her mistakes."

"Celestia, if you don't fix this soon, it could have grave consequences on Starlight's psyche," Luna explained.

"I know, but my magic isn't strong enough to even stop Daybreaker alone!" Celestia exclaimed in distress. "That's why I brought you here! If we worked together-!"

"But I have YOUR magic!" Luna reminded her sister.

"So!?" Celestia questioned.

"It won't work in the dream realm," Luna explained. "Even before when the Tantabus tried to free itself, I had connected all of Ponyville's denizens dreams together into one, where anypony's dream-like power could fight it back to keep it from escaping the dream realm. You have to fight alongside Sora and Sombra!"

Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon flung the two Dream Eaters off of them, swinging their weapons at Pegaslick and Ryu Dragon, unleashing crescent wind blades and waves of fire at them. Pegaslick whinnied while Ryu Dragon roared, both of them taking excruciatingly painful barrages as they were sent flying back, tumbling across the ground before stopping before Sombra and Sora. They let out a final cry until their bodies blew up in a puff of smoke, leaving behind dream materials that helped create them.

"Slick! Ryu!" Sora called out, sad to see more of his Dream Eater companions die.

"Inferior beasts," Nightmare Moon scoffed, then faced Daybreaker. "No one interferes with my fight against you, sister!"

"Well, thank you for reminding me, Lulu!" Daybreaker said, creating a spiral of flames around herself. Nightmare Moon growled, building up dark magic around her horn. She fired, but Daybreaker countered back with her spiral flames, managing to push her sister's attack with ease, engulfing Nightmare as she screamed in agony. The flames sent her flying back toward the end of the throne room, smacking into the small steps leading to the single throne, knocking the alicorn unconscious. Daybreaker laughed triumphantly, gliding down to the throne and sat down in it, looking down at her defeated sibling. "There's only one pony allowed to rule this kingdom, and that pony is me. Farewell, sister."

Using her magic, Daybreaker levitated her sword, hovering it over the unconscious dark alicorn. With a swift flick of her hoof, she sent the fiery blade diving down, piercing Nightmare Moon's body as she let out a strangled gasp, shocking Sora, Sombra, Celestia, and Luna. Nightmare let out a final breath as Daybreaker pulled her blade out of her sister, her heart flying out from her chest as her body faded into black mist.

Celestia began to panic, seeing just how powerful Daybreaker was after not only knocking down Sora and Sombra, but she was appalled after witnessing her killing Nightmare Moon, her own sister of darkness. "Celestia!" Luna called out, unable to snap her older sister out of her distress. "Celestia, do something!"

"...I-I," Celestia stammered. Tears began welling up in her eyes as she stared at Daybreaker, the mare she was in the darkness of her heart as the dread of losing herself like to this monster would destroy everything in her world, including her own sister. "...I can't do this! Luna, I was wrong! Your job is so incredibly hard! Without Sombra, I can't even imagine how you managed to do this on your own: battling nightmares, working in darkness...and...struggling with it with because of..." Celestia sobbed, covering her face with her hooves as her tears flowed. "You gave into your darkness because of me. I was never Equestria's hero after banishing you a thousand years ago; I'm nothing but a coward...I'm terrified of that doppelganger of me, terrified of knowing if that's what I really am in my own heart's darkness. It takes such a brave, strong pony to do what you do..."

Luna was surprised to hear this coming from her sister. She never knew she still felt guilty for shutting her out a millennia ago, the loneliness and neglected adoration from her and their subjects, along with the loss of the only pony who truly understood her woes, changed her into the Mare in the Moon. Not once has her own heart been clouded with darkness, and whatever lies Daybreaker had spouted, they got to Celestia, truly believing that alicorn sitting smugly on her throne, watching Sora and Sombra struggle to stand, was her true darkness. Luna saw just how much of a toll it was for her older sister to do what she does nightly, gently grasping one of Celestia's hooves with both of hers.

"You ARE strong, Celestia," Luna reassured, forcing Celestia to look at her. "Today, I walked in your shoes, and I was just as wrong as you are about my duties. I thought all you had to do was smile and be adored all the time, but there was so much more to it than that." Daybreaker stood up from her seat, lazily twirling her sword beside her in her telekinesis as she approached Sombra, Sora, and Starlight. "In order to defeat Daybreaker, you need only to trust in your own strength, as I do." Shocked, Celestia stared at Luna, hearing she believed in her ability to stop Daybreaker. "And if there is one thing I'll allow you to gloat about, it's that you can admit you faced your own darkness, and succeeded in stopping it, unlike me, where I gave into its power."

Down on the ground, Sombra thrust his sword into the ground, sending a wave of crystals at Daybreaker as a last ditch effort to do some harm to the alicorn. "Foolish stallion," she mocked, slicing at the crystals, stopping the trail, then flung Sombra hard to her left, smacking him against the wall. The stallion fell to a heap, snapping Celestia out of her daze as she and Luna looked down at Daybreaker's slow approach to the Keyblade wielder. "As well as you. Why that wizard thought sending you to Equestria was the best solution to our world, I'll never know. In fact, I heard you were lucky to even wield that Keyblade, just coming to your aid rather than by a traditional ceremony like the others."

"So what?" Sora asked, not letting this Nightmare's words get to him. "I've saved plenty of worlds and dreams."

"By yourself? As if," Daybreaker scoffed. "You always had your companions around to help you in a tight pinch."

"My friends are my-" Sora stated, only for Daybreaker to swing her sword at him.

Sora quickly blocked the burning broadsword, the alicorn suddenly appearing in front of him, giving him a hard buck in the chest that knocked the wind out of him, sending him crashing into Starlight's barrier, the mare watching in horror as her nightmare was going to kill him. "Yeah, yeah, 'My friends are my power,'" Daybreaker mimicked mockingly. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. A poor excuse to tell us you're nothing without someone to save you from a life-threatening battle! True power won't come in the aid of your friends spiritually giving you moral support. You had to be rescued how many times compared to the times you saved Riku, Kairi, or anypony else you met?" Sora coughed, struggling to breathe as he fell on his knees. That last bit managed to get to him, recalling how many times he's saved his friends in the past, which seemed outnumbered by his more recent troubles being taken hostage or fighting a losing battle by himself. He looked up, sitting up with his back against Starlight's barrier, Daybreaker aiming her sword at him as the fire turned darker as it grew bigger. "Too bad no one will save you in the dream realm this time. Not even Celestia has the guts to face me as she hides behind her own band of warriors, letting them deal with her kingdom's problems instead of on her own!"

Sora winced, holding up his Keyblade in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Sombra looked up, trying to get back up after being tossed aside, watching Daybreaker unleash a massive fireball of darkness from her sword. Sora quickly shut his eyes, bracing for impact as the deadly fire spell made contact, blowing up in a cloud of dust that took up almost half of the entire room. Sombra grimaced, bowing his head, knowing Sora wouldn't have been able to survive such a spell. Daybreaker let out a small laugh, then turned around to sit herself back on her throne. In the cloud of dust, a blue light shimmered, then a beam of magic of the same color shot out, striking Daybreaker as she yelled out in shock, sent flying toward the throne and crashing into it, shattering the tough, royal chair to pieces.

"Never turn your back on your opponents, Daybreaker." Flapping her wings, Celestia cleared the dust, saving Sora before he was blown up. Daybreaker let out a roar, an inferno of flames shooting up around her, burning away her throne as she stood up, glaring daggers at Celestia. "I won't let you destroy Starlight's psyche, and I won't allow you to harm my friends any longer."

"You dare get in my way, coward?" Daybreaker growled. "You're messing with the wrong queen of this land!"

"There shall be no queen!" Celestia's horn lit up brilliantly, the aura turning into blue flames. She then shot her hoof up, calling forth her favored weapon, but unlike the red flames she and Daybreaker had billowing around their ethereal swords, with Luna's magic, the fire was a light blue with what appeared to be stars blinking in the flames. "This nightmare has come to its end!"

"You think you can destroy me!?" Daybreaker questioned, holding her sword out to unleash another powerful fireball. "I'm everything you ever wanted to be!"

The dark alicorn fired, but Celestia stood her ground, watching the fireball as it got closer. With one swift downward swing, she cleaved through the deadly ball of dark fire, slicing it in half as the two pieces flew in opposite corners of the throne room, blowing up safely with half their power at the other side of the grand room. Sora, Sombra, and Starlight stared in awe, Luna silently cheering her sister as she watched from above, and Daybreaker winced, surprised by the sudden amount of power and newfound confidence Celestia had uncovered. Twirling her sword above her, Celestia unleashed two trails of blue flames, one flowing behind her to Sora while the other went over to Sombra. The flames engulfed the two warriors, but instead of pain, they felt their injuries healing, fully rejuvenated as their bodies absorbed the fire.

"Sora, can you still fight?" Celestia asked.

Stunned for a brief moment, Sora smirked, getting back on his feet and stood beside Celestia, crouching low in his fighting stance. "Yeah. I just needed a second wind. Thanks for the healing."

Sombra warped beside them, his crystal sword hovering in front of him as he took his stance as well. "I concur," he said. "This nightmare has gone on for long enough. Time to bring peace back to this dream and end this creature's existence."

Daybreaker growled, her eye twitching as her frustrated growls turned into an ear-piercing shriek, pillars of fire charging down toward the trio as her voice shattered all the windows in the room. Sora, Sombra, and Celestia dove away from the flaming pillars, then charged forward. Daybreaker continued summoning pillars to try to stop them, but the trio dodged and weaved around the burning columns. Sombra warped through the dark alicorn's magic in a flash of light, suddenly appearing in front of her and thrust his blade at her. She blocked his sword, increasing the heat of her flames as she shoved the Dream Eater stallion back. As Sombra flew back, he slammed his hooves into the ground upon landing, summoning a crystal pillar in front of him. Slashing wildly against the mass of crystal, he unleashed several sharp shards heading toward Daybreaker.

"Oh, please!" Daybreaker said, slashing through the barrage of crystals. "Is that the best you've got!?" She noticed Sora trying to rush up behind her, creating a wall of fire to protect herself from Sombra's crystals as she turned and blocked the Keyblade wielder's blade. "Not a clever distraction!"

"You sure about that!?" Sora taunted.

Daybreaker looked at where Celestia was as they rushed her, but she wasn't on the ground. Up above her, Celestia swooped down with her sword aimed at the solar alicorn, Sora and Sombra keeping Daybreaker distracted enough for her to get to a blind spot. Daybreaker looked up, leaping away as Celestia landed where she stood, quickly standing up and lunged for her darker self. Daybreaker tried to fly away, only to get pulled back toward Celestia and Sora, the latter casting Magnega as it sucked her into the opponent-sucking gravity field. Unable to right herself, Daybreaker was caught spiraling helplessly as Sora and Celestia slashed away at the defenseless Nightmare.

Sombra regrouped with them, launching Daybreaker up to the ceiling of the throne room with a swiftly rising crystal pillar. "You should have spared your sister, Daybreaker!" Sombra called out. "You stand no chance against us now!"

Daybreaker's eyes widened, her dark pupils shrinking to pinpricks. "I SPARE NOPONY!!!!!" she shrieked, engulfing her body in flames as she pushed herself out of the imprint of her body, diving down on the two ponies and human.

"Uh oh! Fireball incoming!" Sora warned, he, Celestia, and Sombra leaping back, narrowly avoiding the wide explosive blast of Daybreaker's fiery landing.

Daybreaker growled, her horn glowing an ominous red and black hue, the flames around her billowing around her, rising up to the tip of her horn. Celestia gasped as the fireball grew far bigger than her earlier spells or attacks, releasing a sweltering heat and began sparking wildly with electricity.

"Sora! Sombra!" Celestia tried to warn.

She was too late as Daybreaker flicked her head down, sending the massive sphere of fire and energy to the ground. Celestia quickly cast a barrier around herself as the sphere hit the floor, creating a blinding light that erupted in a dangerous explosion of fire and lightning. Sombra and Sora were sent flying back as their bodies burned from the powerful dual elemental blast, both of them hitting the walls and falling to the ground. Celestia managed to protect herself, but when the light faded, she saw Sora and Sombra were paralyzed from the solar bomb Daybreaker unleashed. The Nightmare panted heavily, her spell taking a heavy toll on her, having planned to face Celestia on her own without anyone else to interfere.

"Relying on your favored warriors to try doing me in while you assist them," Daybreaker said, her steps staggering slightly as she moved forward, dragging her sword along the floor. "What's the matter? Afraid to face me alone? Afraid to die?"

"...I am afraid," Celestia admitted, copying her other self's movements, though she still had plenty of energy to spare as she walked calmly toward Daybreaker. "But I have my sister behind me all the way. Everypony is counting on me to lead Equestria to a brighter tomorrow, and I will not lose to a mere dream, thinking she's my inner darkness."

"I am you!" Daybreaker shouted, her staggering turning into a gallop, Celestia following suit as both alicorns meeting and clashing swords, sparks and embers of red and blue rained around them with each connected swing. "I'm far better than you! Looks! Strength! Ruling a nation! You're pathetic!"

Celestia and Daybreaker pushed each other back after the latter spat insults at the former, readying their swords once more as they charged toward each other again. They both thrust their blades, the sound of a sword running through a body echoed in the dream throne room, making Sora and Sombra gasp in shock as they looked up, still paralyzed from Daybreaker's desperation attack. Both alicorns of the sun stood frozen in place, Celestia grimacing with clenched eyes, slowly opening them to stare at Daybreaker's wide-eyed, shocked expression. Daybreaker looked down, having missed running Celestia through with her sword, barely even grazing her side. Celestia's sword hit her mark, struck through the dark alicorn's chest, sticking out through her back.

Daybreaker gagged as the pain finally coursed through her fatal wound, dropping her sword as it clattered to the ground, fading away into a puff of embers. "It's over," Celestia said. "I'm not perfect, but neither are you. You're just a Nightmare; a pony's imagination gone wild because of one little mistake that has been slowly eating away at her conscience. And if this is how I would act if I lose myself to darkness-" She pushed her sword deeper into Daybreaker, making the dark alicorn gasp and wince in agony. "-then I don't ever want to be you. I lost my sister to her own darkness once, but I refused to destroy her like you did to your own...For over a thousand years, I blamed myself for what happened to her. I still do." A tear rolled down Celestia's face, even as she glared at the Nightmare "acting" as her dark half. "But I will never give into the darkness in my heart, from the sorrow and guilt that I had kept for many years because I was a selfish young mare, choosing to be blinded by my subjects' adoration than my own sister's feelings. I will NEVER be you, and I will keep you from ever existing in the real world. Your lies will not phase me anymore."

Daybreaker let out a strangled gasp as Celestia dug her blade all the way to the hilt in the alicorn's chest, but to Celestia's shock, the Nightmare weakly chuckled, looking her straight in the eyes. "You...really think...I don't exist...in your heart?" she asked, confusing Celestia. "...If you think I was lying...about who you would become...why don't you...look in that very same mirror...in your wizard friend's room?" Celestia flinched slightly, the dreaded curiosity in her eyes making Daybreaker laugh more. "But...then again, what do I know? All I am-" Daybreaker closed her eyes, but when she opened them, her irises changed to the round red color that lacked pupils, similar to Nightmare Dream Eaters' eyes. "-is just a Nightmare..."

Daybreaker faded away from existence, satisfied at the contemplating gaze Celestia had as the last seeds of doubt she sowed were planted in the real sun princess's mind. Sora and Sombra finally felt the numbness in their bodies fade away, relieved to have the fight end and Starlight's nightmare resolved, the two walking over to Celestia, Luna joining them as she flew down beside her.

"Sister, you did it!" Luna cheered. Celestia didn't acknowledge her, staring at where Daybreaker stood as she contemplated what the Nightmare said was really true or just to get under her skin before fading away. "...Celestia?"

"Huh?" Snapping out of her thoughts, he looked at Luna.

"Is something wrong?" Luna asked.

"...No, it's nothing," Celestia assured with a shake of her head. "Daybreaker...said a lot of things that got to me. I'll be fine though." She then sighed, dismissing her weapon in a puff of blue embers. "I can't imagine how you used to do this all by yourself in the past."

"I guess you were lucky we were here to help you know how it feels fighting Dream Eaters," Sora said.

"Maybe you should get off your throne more often and do some proper training," Sombra teased. "All your fascination with cakes has made them go down to the royal hindquarters."

Celestia took offense to that comment with a sneer, but she smirked, deciding to tease him back. "Oh, and you don't seem to have much trouble with the 'royal hindquarters' when you saw Luna's cutie marks on my flanks," she said, turning to her side and wiggled her hips.

Sombra snorted with a wince, cursing his eyes for glancing at Celestia's behind, and all while his own lover was right there, enjoying his expression as her own sister teased her future husband. "N-No! T-That was because you-!" Sombra continued to stammer, cheeks blushing heavily as he tried to backpedal out of the mess he got himself in. "I-I-I swear, Luna, my love, I-I felt your aura enter the dream realm, b-but no thanks to Starlight and swapping both your cutie marks and magic, I-I didn't mean to try to-!"

Celestia and Luna burst out laughing, Sombra feeling highly embarrassed as he fumed miserably. "I think Celestia's just messing with you," Sora pointed out.

Sombra grumbled with a huff. "Please let this day end so things go back to normal," he muttered.

Starlight finally released her barrier, still worried despite the dangerous Dream Eater was taken care of. "Uhh, is this really happening?" she asked, noting Celestia and Luna were no longer feuding against each other. "Or am I still dreaming?"

Sora and Sombra looked at each other, then stared blankly at the unicorn. "You think seeing Sombra and human me is considered being awake?" Sora questioned.

"Speaking of waking, I believe it's almost dawn," Luna said.

Celestia nodded, her horn shimmering as she transported herself out of the dream realm, returning Luna to her own and sending Sora and Sombra out of Starlight's. "Didn't realize how much time passed after fighting Daybreaker," Sora said, then let out a yawn as his exhaustion from the whole day was catching up to him. "Oh boy. Better not fall asleep here, otherwise I'd wind up getting an even worse Nightmare to take over."

"Rest well, Sora," Sombra said. "Hopefully, the next time Starlight Glimmer pulls a stunt like this again, let her know from me that if she ruins another moment I had planned for Luna and myself, the next Dream Eater to give her a nightmare is going to be me."

"I think she's learned her lesson," Sora said with a slight chuckle.

Creating a portal back to the real world, Sora walked through, waving bye to Sombra until their next venture in another's dreams. He appeared back beside Celestia on the balcony with the sun rising in the distance, the alicorn opening her eyes, looking heavily exhausted after her first trek in the dream realm.

"Welcome back," Luna greeted, landing on the balcony, then held out a plate of pancakes she made to Celestia, although they were burnt and the presentation of the copied smiley face Celestia makes was a bit sloppy. "I know you had a long night, so I made you some pancakes!"

Celestia and Sora cringed at the horrible looking stack. "Oh...How...nice," Celestia said nervously, trying not to upset her sister's first attempt at making her some breakfast. She levitated one of the pancakes and took a small bite, instantly regretting it, practically tasting the wrong ingredients used to make the batter. She swallowed the mouthful, trying not to spit it out and insult Luna's first time cooking. "T-They're...delicious!"

Luna laughed after seeing Celestia eat the worst thing she's ever cooked in her whole life. "I know that face! They're not," she said. "I know you have to be perfect for everypony else, and you do an amazing job. But you don't have to do it for me."

"In that case, they are terrible!" Celestia said, taking the plate and tossing it aside as both sister's laughed. "But it means a lot that you tried. I love you, sister."

"I love you too," Luna said back, both her and Celestia hugging each other, which looked like a mission accomplished for Sora.

They heard Starlight yawn, climbing out of bed and joined Sora, Celestia, and Luna on the balcony. "So, they really did make up?" she asked.

"We have," Celestia assured. "It was the right call going with your gut."

"The map was wise to send you along with Sora, Starlight," Luna added. "Nopony else would have been so bold as to do what you did."

"Although, next time your gut tells you to do something, let me know so we don't have another time traveling misadventure that risks changing anything," Sora reminded Starlight, making the unicorn grin sheepishly.

"But it was just what we needed," Celestia said, draping a wing over Luna. "The experience has made us closer than ever."

The two princesses flinched, feeling an unseen magical force coming from their flanks. It hadn't been a full twenty-four hours yet, but their cutie marks were being swapped back to their original owners, which confused Starlight. She and Sora flinched as they felt their cutie marks glowing, signalling their mission was a success.

"Yup. Apparently, that whole mess was the solution after all," Sora uttered.

"Wow! I can't wait to tell Twilight!" Starlight excitedly said.

Suddenly, appearing beside them was none other than the Princess of Friendship herself. "I already know!" she exclaimed. "I mean, I don't know everything. I just got here to bring you your toothbrush!"

Twilight held out a toothbrush, but when Sora got a closer look, squinting through his tired eyes, this obviously wasn't Starlight's. "This is Spike's toothbrush," he said.

Ignoring him, Twilight poofed the brush back home and addressed the princesses. "This is just a friendly visit! Not interfering because I was worried! I wasn't!" Twilight assured, but no one bought it for a minute. Not even Celestia. Twilight nearly tackled Starlight, hugging her proudly. "I knew you could do it, and I'm so, so, so, so, so proud of you! TELL ME EVERYTHING! Start from after I hyperventilated, and don't leave out any details!"

Twilight had her quill and paper ready after her sudden aggressive desperation to find out what happened, then dragged Starlight off, who had an unamused look, completely helpless under the lavender alicorn's magic. Sora let out a heavy sigh, tapping the communicator in his ear.

"Riku, if you're awake, you're fired," Sora said.

"...What are you talking about?" Riku questioned tiredly, sounding like he was just woken up from his sleep.

"Your girlfriend's off her leash again, even though our mission is complete," Sora stated. "She's torturing Starlight with questions right now."

"...I didn't even know she disappeared...Well, I tried. I'll probably see you guys a bit later," Riku said, probably going back to bed.

"Oh, uh, by the way, sister, there's a field trip you need to make happen," Luna mentioned to Celestia. "And a - ahem -timberwolf issue you need to address."

"Wait, what?" Celestia questioned with a suspicious glare.

"Oh! Look! There's the sun! Time for me to turn in!" Luna quickly said, then flew off back to her tower.

"Wait a minute! Luna, what do you mean!?" Celestia exclaimed. "LUNA!...Ugh, unbelievable. I haven't slept, and she gets to sleep in?"

"It does seem fair," Sora said with a yawn. "Luna barely got any sleep before you two swapped duties, so this seems like it'll balance out."

Celestia wanted to argue, but she sighed in defeat. "I guess that is fair. But, what did she mean by timber-?" Her ears perked up when she heard something fall, then saw what collapsed. Sora passed out and fell asleep on the floor, letting out a snore and a few mumbles. "...Never mind. I'll find out myself..."





Later that evening, Celestia regaled the past few days events with Yen Sid, completely exhausted, but needed to vent a little before going to bed. Before she headed off to perform her duties for the day, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Starlight headed back to Ponyville after Twilight was done "interrogating" her pupil about the princesses' job swap. Hopefully, they put Sora to bed, not letting him sleep on the floor and wake up with stiff limbs. If not, then Kairi would have done it after returning home. Yen Sid was amused by what happened, though it was a bit surprising to hear Celestia's first Nightmare Dream Eater encounter was quite a powerful version of herself.

"So, I guess you had a blast with your first time experiencing Dream Eaters firsthand," Yen Sid remarked. "Not so easy compared to the Heartless, aren't they?"

"I'll leave dreams to Luna from now on," Celestia said. "But, I at least had a little fun teasing my future brother-in-law while I had Luna's cutie mark."

"Your age is over a thousand years, and yet you have the mental age of a young woman," Yen Sid commented.

Celestia chuckled, hearing several different comments like that from admirers through the many ages she's lived. "Sadly, that secret to our eternal youth and beauty is going to stay a secret," she said.

"Perhaps that would be for the best, otherwise Xehanort might come after you and take those secrets for himself," the wizard added.

Celestia shook her head at the thought with a small laugh. "I'm sure he'd be very pretty if he discovered it," she said. Her grin faded, Daybreaker's final words bothering her all day, almost nearly distracting her from her duties. Yen Sid noticed the distant gaze in her eyes, wondering what she was troubling her. "...Yen Sid, those other mirrors in your study. They show the reflection of one's strength with their magical enchantments on them, right?"

"Yes," Yen Sid answered.

"...And...out of all of them, one is able to show...the reflection of somepony's darkness?" she asked.

"...Yes?" Yen Sid said, concerned with where the alicorn was going with her questioning.

"...I wish to see my reflection...in that mirror." Yen Sid frowned a little, shocked by Celestia's request.

"...You are...certain you want to see what darkness lies in your heart?" Celestia nodded, her expression slightly terrified, but she was determined to face it. Yen Sid hesitated for a moment, letting out a sigh after the few seconds felt like hours, waving his hand to magically pull the mirror over to him. Setting it up in front of their magical communication mirrors, Yen Sid put his hands on the tarp, pausing for a moment to look at Celestia. "...Before I reveal its reflection to you, can you tell me why you want to know? There seems to be something you withheld from your adventures last night."

"...Daybreaker created a mirror, reflecting the darkness in our hearts," she said. "She said she would be me if I turned to darkness...I don't know if Dream Eaters can be as deviously sentient as Daybreaker was, but...she was created by a pony's nightmare, blaming herself for going with her gut instinct, causing my sister and I to fight as our dark sides for power over Equestria."

"And you want to prove that Nightmare wrong by seeing if what she was saying was true?" Yen Sid asked. Celestia nodded, steeling herself for what she was about to see. "...Very well..." Yen Sid removed the tarp, revealing the enchanted surface to Celestia as it showed her reflection. Her breath hitched in her throat the second she saw what it was. Yen Sid walked around to see what it was, a bit shocked at what Celestia's darkness looked like. Looking back at the princess, he noticed the horrified look on her face. "Celestia? Is this...?"

"...Yes," Celestia uttered. It was as she feared, a tear rolling down her cheek as her darkness in her was revealed to her; it was the exact same Nightmare that mocked her and almost killed her friends and sister in Starlight's dream. "...This is...Daybreaker..." Her ears drooped, practically hearing her darkness laugh mockingly at her disbelief. Yen Sid covered the mirror back up when the alicorn fell to her knees. "...That...would have been me...if Luna was given more attention than me back then...She was right..."

Yen Sid moved the mirror back in its place, part of him wishing he didn't keep this mirror if it weren't for his own research purposes. "Whatever that Nightmare had told you, regardless of what your darkness is on the inside and the what if scenarios that could have happened, don't let it win by making you doubt who you are, Celestia," Yen Sid assured. "You spent a thousand years mourning over your guilt from banishing Luna to the moon, but you didn't let that despair change you into that Heartless mare." Celestia nodded, knowing how hard it was to stay strong as she lost her sister. It was a miracle she didn't hide away in her depression, leaving everyone in Equestria to fend for themselves, thus destroying the entire kingdom in the process without a "deity" like her to lead them. "You should get some rest. You have had a long, sleepless day."

"...I will," Celestia mumbled, wiping away her tears with a wing as she stood up.

"If you are still troubled, you know I'm willing to listen and offer some advice," the wizard said.

"Thank you, Star Swirl." Celestia gasped, shocked by who she just called Yen Sid. She silently stared at him, Yen Sid barely phased as he was accidentally called her friend's old mentor. "...I-I'm sorry. I...I must be more exhausted than I thought...It also doesn't help that you almost resemble Star Swirl."

"Do not fret; insomnia can lead to tired ramblings, blurred vision, and mistaking someone for another," he reassured. "I'll see you in the morning before you perform your royal duties."

"A-Alright," Celestia uttered, Yen Sid nodding before the mirror rippled and went back to normal.

Celestia made for her bed, climbing onto the soft mattress, then used her magic to blow out the lights in her room. She rested her head on her many pillows, letting out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. Outside her balcony, she didn't notice Luna had been listening in at the end of Celestia's conversation with Yen Sid. Seeing she was going to have some troubling dreams, she levitated a vase filled with fresh lavenders in her room, gently and quietly placing them by her bedside table, hoping their fragrance will give her pleasant dreams to distract her from her past mistakes and her inner darkness.

"Sweet dreams, Tia," Luna said, lifting off with a flap of her wings and flew off to her tower. "I'll see you in the morning for breakfast."