After a few days of rest, Riku was back to full health. The potions were nasty, wondering how Sora was able to tolerate them when he had suffered far worse injuries. While on leave, there were times he needed some fresh air. He noticed the CMC had set up a camp to help other foals around their age or slightly younger discover their talents and their cutie marks. It was a great idea, and it had started to work with all the different activities they had set up, but a certain pony started some trouble and ruined their plans. And no, it wasn't Diamond Tiara anymore, the trio of troublesome fillies now friends with the former bully after discovering it was her mother, Spoiled Rich, who forced her to act like one because of their higher social standing.
That pony who messed with everything was actually Rumble, Thunderlane's younger brother, and, from what Riku could tell, Scootaloo's crush. He recalled on Hearts and Hooves day seeing the CMC with dates, although Sweetie Belle was left out, Apple Bloom with Tender Taps and Scootaloo with Rumble. The pegasus colt didn't seem to like the camp idea all that much, content with being a blank flank while telling others they won't do the things they like once they get their cutie marks. He was like a reverse bully from Diamond Tiara, which not only upset the fillies who had a perfect plan to help others, but Scootaloo felt more hurt that the colt she likes wasn't giving it a chance and managed to steer the other foals away from their camp to avoid getting a cutie mark if they get a talent they don't like.
Luckily, Riku managed to save the CMC's camp by getting not only Thunderlane, who had been a new Wonderbolt for a while, he also got Sora involved. Both stallions collaborated to luring the foals away from Rumble's "camp", already bored enough doing nothing and sought something to stimulate their pent up energy. Thunderlane pulled off a few tricks in the air while Sora showed off his skills on test dummies. Rumble's idea didn't work out as well as he thought, getting bored himself when he saw a Wonderbolt's obstacle course, watching his older brother and Sora fly through the course with ease since it was a beginner's setup for the pegasus foals. And since Rumble looks up to his brother greatly, he was confused when he saw his brother cooking up some stew for everyone, admitting to his little brother that he liked to cook, even though he was a stunt flyer and flying was his passion in life. The colt's mind changed pretty quickly, apologizing to the CMC, and, following his brother's hoofsteps, tried out cooking first instead of flying through the small obstacle course like everyone expected him to.
Riku hoped Twilight still wasn't a little bit miffed with him with the weight comment he gave her after being cured of Swamp Fever. Entering the library, he found Twilight at the table, tiredly going through several stacks of documents. Spike was there to assist, carrying a case of quills on standby if any of them broke. As she continued signing away at the seemingly endless papers, the tip of the quill in her magic snapping off.
"Darn it," Twilight grumbled, tossing aside the broken quill and took another from the case Spike opened up on cue.
"Yikes. When did you get all this paperwork?" Riku asked.
"Yesterday," Twilight grumbled. "And I'm not even halfway done..."
"So, no working out today?" Riku asked, the answer quite obvious as Twilight gestured to the mountain of paperwork in front of her.
Spike's cheeks bulged, letting out a flaming belch, startling the two as the smoke teleported a scroll. "Thank goodness. I thought I had too many deep-fried gems," Spike said with a sigh of relief.
"How long's it been since you got a letter that way?" Riku asked curiously.
Twilight opened the scroll, gasping with joy as she read it to herself. "It's from my parents! They won a zeppelin cruise and get to take the whole family!" Her excitement began to fade as she looked back at the papers she still needed to finish going over and/or signing. "I wish I had time to go with them, but there's just too many princess duties to take care of..."
"Come on, Twilight. Even Princess Celestia takes a break sometimes, and she raises the sun," Spike said.
Twilight was about to protest, but Riku was way ahead of Spike, dragging the alicorn away from the table. "You know, a vacation isn't really all that bad," he said. "All work and no play makes Twilight a dull pony, as they say."
"Who says that?" Twilight asked irritably.
"Me," Riku said with a smirk.
"I can handle the work while you're gone," Spike said. "I can keep track of the friendship log, boost community morale, and answer fan mail for a few days."
"But, Spike, you're as much a part of my family as anypony!" Twilight stated, feeling a pang of guilt for leaving out someone she considers a little brother. "I can't just leave you here to do all that work?"
"What!? I can't hear you! You're on vacation!" Spike exclaimed sarcastically with a smirk, taking Twilight's spot and continued her work.
Looking at Riku, she saw her coltfriend wasn't going to let her say no. "Come on, Twilight. It won't hurt to spend some time with your family. Besides, if Shining Armor's coming along as well, that means Cadence and Flurry Heart will be there. You can finally play with your niece."
"Well...maybe I could take a little time off," Twilight uttered, her mind quickly changed with Flurry Heart involved. "Thanks, Spike! You're the best!"
"I know," Spike gloated.
"I'm gonna go pack everything in one suitcase!" Twilight ran off to get her things packed, leaving Riku and Spike alone, both dragon and stallion giving each other a knowing look.
"Three, two, one..." They both pointed to the doorway at the end of their countdown, right on cue.
"Cruises have activities, right!?" Twilight shouted. "I should probably make a schedule!?"
Spike and Riku chuckled, calling out Twilight's obvious nature with perfect timing. "You sure you don't want to come along, Spike?" Riku asked. "I mean, Twilight wants me to come along, but you're basically family to her."
"Yeah, I know, but it's fine," Spike reassured. "I may have been adopted in Twilight's family, but I want it to just be about her, her parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece, and future brother-in-law for this trip."
Riku snorted a little at the last member he mentioned being himself. "Brother-in-law, eh?"
"I know you two are gonna get married eventually," Spike said. "Plus, I overheard what happened when you guys went to Hayseed Swamp after getting that Swamp Fever disease." Riku grimaced, still feeling the electric jolts from Larxene's daggers all over his body. "She doesn't want to let you out of her sight after that scare."
"Right...But, are you absolutely sure?" Riku asked again.
"I'm sure. I am Twilight's number one assistant, after all," Spike said. "Go have fun, but not too much fun."
Riku laughed, shaking his head at the sly remark. "Alright. I'll get you a souvenir when we get back."
"Ok," Spike said, waving to Riku and got right back to work while the Keyblade wielder made sure Twilight didn't go too crazy with the family fun schedule she was making at this very moment.
After a train ride up to Canterlot, where the aforementioned zeppelin cruise would begin its takeoff, Riku and Twilight exited the train station and headed toward the air docks. Her parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, spotted them and waved them down. Shining Armor and Cadence were already there, along with Flurry Heart in her basket carrier. When the baby alicorn saw them, she squealed happily, flying off and ramming into her Uncle Riku's chest to give him a big hug.
"Well, glad to see you, too, Flurry," he greeted, a bit taken off guard by how strong her tackle hugs were for a baby.
"Don't forget your Auntie Twily!" Twilight said. She got her hug from Flurry Heart, but she went right back to her favorite uncle. Riku gave her a cheeky grin, teasing her and silently gloating he was her favorite relative, earning a death glare from the lavender alicorn. The couple gathered over to the rest of Twilight's family, who she greeted with a hug. "I'm so glad to see you guys again!"
"We didn't think you'd come with all your princess duties lately, hon," Night Light said. "But we're happy you're here!...And, your coltfriend, of course."
"Oh, Nighty, relax," Velvet chided her husband. "Riku's a part of the family now, and I'm sure they'll get into some 'mischief' in private." The older mare chuckled, embarrassing her daughter, Riku covering Flurry's ears in case she decided to be a bit too specific. The group got in line to board the zeppelin, Flurry content to ride on Riku's head instead of the carrier, levitating her new Riku plushie with her. "I am looking forward to a relaxing vacation."
Night Light slowed down, walking alongside Riku. "Watch out, kid," he uttered under his breath, making sure his wife didn't hear him. "She won't admit it, but when Velvet says 'relaxing vacation', she means 'doing something crazy'."
Riku did a double-take, not expecting to hear Twilight's mother being a thrillseeker after last meeting them. "Wait, really? Miss Velvet going nuts on vacation?"
"Last time, she ended up bungee-jumping over Luna Bay," Night Light added, making Riku snicker as he imagined the mare bunjee-jumping off of a cliff, screeching in excitement.
"What was that, hon?" Velvet asked, startling the older stallion.
"Oh, I was just telling Riku about my...new bingo strategy book!" Night Light lied, laughing nervously, barely avoiding trying not to be suspicious. "It's, uhh, quite the page-turner!"
Velvet wasn't buying it, rolling her eyes in response. "I wonder where you get your excitement," Riku asked Flurry, who pointed at her grandmare with a giggle.
"I can't wait to get on this zeppelin and fly like a pegasus!" Shining excitedly said.
"Really? I remember you getting airsick on Admiral Fairweather's Wild Ride at Pony Island," Twilight stated.
Shining scoffed, getting a surprised reaction from Riku, and even Cadence, neither of them knowing he got airsickness. "Oh, please! I grew out of airsickness a long time ago."
"Being part of the Royal Guard, didn't you fly on airships to watch over cargo or protect the princess when she travels?" Riku questioned curiously.
"I was mostly stationed around the castle, so I never really left unless it was by train," Shining said.
Riku looked at Twilight, trying hard not to laugh as she shook her head at him. The family finally boarded the massive airship, waiting for the rest of the passengers to board. The speakers on the zeppelin let out some feedback as the captain made an announcement.
"I hope you ponies feel welcome aboard, because you are!" an burly, almost aggressive voice rang out along the ship, startling everyone with the "welcoming" message.
"That was...weird..." Riku mumbled. While waiting for other passengers, he noticed some of the ponies on board were staring at his group with glee, which was a little disturbing. "...And so are some of our fellow cruise gatherers..."
Once everyone with their tickets on the zeppelin, the captain announced their takeoff, sending the ship away from the docks and off on its scheduled destinations for the week. The family followed a staff member as he showed them to the room they were assigned to to drop off their belongings. Velvet tipped the young stallion before walking inside, the room fitting for a large group and was considered the royal suite. Ironic with there being four royals in the group.
"Guess this is what it's like to be big-time prize winners," Night Light said with a laugh after admiring the luxurious room. "I just wish I could remember what contest we won."
That bothered Twilight and Riku after hearing that, Riku almost dropping Flurry when he set her down to let her explore the room. "Wait, you don't even know where this prize came from?" Twilight asked.
"When somepony offers you a free vacation, you just sign the paperwork and don't ask questions!" Velvet reasoned, shooting up red flags from an overly generous offer like that.
Riku found this a bit fishy, figuring there had to be some kind of catch to get a free vacation for a cruise on an airship that would have probably cost hundreds of dollars just for one ticket. He didn't want to ruin the excitement Twilight's parents were having, but he was going to keep a lookout if their "free" trip was a huge scam they got suckered into.
"I managed to categorize the ship's activities and make a schedule organized by each of our interests," Twilight said. She pulled out a schedule out of her bags, stretching out the five yard sheet that had everyone's names and the activities listed in a timetable from the beginning of the cruise up until the end. Riku groaned, seeing Twilight still went overboard with her planning. "Dad, you're easy. Bingo competition right here."
"Oh, I just love how the numbers and letters are organized in their little boxes," Night Light said. "It's so satisfying."
Riku snickered, seeing exactly what personalities Twilight got from her parents: the nitpicky organization of everything from her father, and the over-reactive excitement from her mother. "Shining Armor, they've got a tiny boat race in a tiny pool here," Twilight continued.
"Aw, sis. Only you would remember I love tiny things," Shining said, emphasizing his point by snatching up Flurry Heart and nuzzled the filly, making her giggle.
"And Cadence, there's a Peewee Princess Playtime here that Flurry's gonna love!" Twilight added, making the baby alicorn excited to play with other baby ponies.
Riku was a bit skeptical with the name of the play area for foals, wondering why exactly it was specifically called "Peewee PRINCESS Playtime". Twilight Velvet looked at the different activities from their stops on the cruise, humming with intrigue at one that peaked her interest.
"This barrel jumping at Neighagra Falls sounds interesting," she said, Twilight including that in her mother's list of to-dos for their week-long cruise.
"I want to make sure you all have a good time," Twilight said. "And this all works out perfectly!"
"Uhh, hey, what about me?" Riku asked, feeling hurt seeing his whole schedule was blank. "Your boyfriend doesn't deserve to have any fun?"
"You will, since there's all sorts of activities the both of us can enjoy," Twilight assured. "And we'll have room for something I want to do, and it'll be a perfect moment for us to see!" Pulling out a book, because obviously she had to bring something to read or show someone while going into full detail about its contents, flipping the pages to an illustration of what appear to be shooting stars zooming across the sky in a region of the world. "Our ship passes the Frozen North at sunset, which is the only time you can see the astrological phenomenon known as the Northern Stars. It's like the stars are shooting out of the setting sun!"
Riku and Twilight's family were actually interested in seeing this occurrence, which sounded like a marvel and quite possibly romantic. "We don't want to miss that," Cadence said.
"Ok, but judging from you 'complicated' schedule,-" Riku teased, Twilight pouting in annoyance as she pulled away her schedule as he tapped the starting point in their trip. "-we don't have anything to do now. What should we do first?"
"Attention, cruise ponies!" the captain announced. "Don't let this zeppelin be a bore! Leave your room and see the tour!"
Riku was already starting to get annoyed by the captian's gruff announcements, and random rhyming. "...If he makes a random warning or announcement in the middle of the night, while we're sleeping, I'm breaking those speakers."
"At least we got a suggestion," Velvet said. "Let's go see the tour!"
The rest of the family agreed and headed back out on the deck to view Equestria from high in the sky. Shining Armor approached the edge, spreading out his forelegs while acting silly to entertain Flurry Heart.
"Whoohoo! I'm flying! I'm-" Shining suddenly lurched forward, his face turning green, gagging and trying not to lose his lunch.
Riku snorted in amusement. "Someone's looking a little green around the gills," he teased, earning a sickly death glare from the Crystal Prince before his cheeks bulged, his nauseous stomach about to expel its contents over the zeppelin.
"Hon, I'm afraid Flurry might be airsick," Cadence said, which was a lie. Flurry Heart was perfectly fine, and she didn't want her husband to embarrass himself if he threw up on account of his airsickness. "Since I know that isn't a problem for you, would you mind taking her below?"
Shining nodded with a grunt, taking the alicorn filly, who was in awe at how quickly her daddy's face could turn colors. Riku burst out laughing after heading inside, impressed by how hard the unicorn stallion tried his hardest not to hurl. He calmed down enough to hear the speakers' static feedback, the captain beginning his cruise tour.
"Far to our right, you can just make out the white tufts of Cloudsdale,-" Everyone immediately looked out in that direction, where they could see the cloud city in the distance. "-where Princess Twilight Sparkle once toured the weather factory."
While the cruise-goers were chatting among themselves at the intriguing facts, Twilight raised a brow in disbelief. "How'd he know that?" she questioned. "And why announce it on a cruise?"
"Yeah, that is weird," Riku added.
The group decided to look over to the other side, ignoring the awed looks from the other ponies. "We are now high enough to see all of Canterlot, even the royal tree where Princess Twilight and her brother Shining Armor were born!"
Twilight blanched, ignoring her home after this strange captain decided to pull up that "fact", which everyone else was eating up. "That's not right," she uttered. Her ears twitched when she heard her own parents struck with awe after that announcement while looking down. "Mom, dad, you two know that's not where I was born. What are you so excited about???"
"Well, it IS a really nice tree, sweetheart," Night Light said.
Riku facehooved, groaning at the ridiculous comment while seeing where Twilight sometimes got her obliviousness from. After pulling his hoof over his eyes, he glanced to his left, where a random mare was gawking at him and Twilight, getting a bit too close in his personal space.
"We just wanted to say how excited we are to be here!" the mare practically shouted, accidentally spraying the Keyblade wielder with her saliva in her ecstatic state.
"...Yeah, so are we," he said, wiping his face while trying to ignore the awkwardly grinning face of the random fan. "...Please back away."
"On our route north, we will pass the spires of the Crystal Empire, where Princess Cadence rescued her alicorn baby Spike from a monster made of fire!" the captain announced once more, his lack of facts and making things up on the fly getting irksome to Twilight, Cadence, and Riku.
"Ok, that doesn't even make any sense," Cadence said.
"And the Empire held the last Equestria Games, where their greatest hero, Sora, bested his best friend, Raikou, in a foam bat fight to the death known as Struggle!!" Riku's eye twitched, ponies suddenly surrounding the stallion as he not only felt humiliated at the bold-faced lie, but that he and Sora never had a match in the tournament when Terra, who hid himself during that time, beat him.
"My name is RIKU!" he shouted, seeing spots when ponies began to take pictures of him with ponies posing next to him, the bright flashes nearly blinding him. Growling, he flew away from the crowd, about to blow up on everyone when he looked up, getting a hint as to why everyone was going nuts being around a couple famous princesses, their family, and one of Equestria's heroes. Ponies wore souvenir shirts with Twilight, Cadence, and Riku's faces, wore fake wings and wigs of the two alicorn princesses on board or carried around poor replicas of Riku's old Keyblade, Way to the Dawn, and when he looked down after feeling a hoof tap his leg, he saw a filly wearing a mask of his face, holding out a notebook and pen, silently asking for his autograph. Letting out an annoyed huff, he gave the young filly his autograph, not wanting to disappoint her. "I need to have a little chat with the cruise director."
"Same here," Twilight agreed after pulling herself away from their admirers. Getting directions to where the captain's deck was, who appeared to also be the cruise director, the couple entered the room to meet with him. "Excuse us, sir."
"You can call Iron Will 'Iron Will'!" The captain/cruise director was a tall blue minotaur with silver horns, sporting more muscle than Pete's flabby fat, wearing a ship captain's hat, a small black tie that looked like it could be torn off if he flexed his neck muscles, and an earpiece with a microphone hanging down toward his mouth.
Riku was a little surprised to know the person in charge wasn't a pony, but hearing him speaking in the third person reminded him of Trixie. "...Uhh, Iron who?"
Twilight seemed to recognize his name, giving the minotaur an annoyed leer. "What are YOU doing here?"
"You know him?" Riku questioned.
"Not personally, but I heard a minotaur named Iron Will taught ponies how to be assertive with a seminar a few years ago, and Fluttershy was one of them," Twilight said. "She was more aggressive than confident, and kept acting like a bully while quoting his ridiculous 'assertive advice'."
"...He taught Fluttershy...to be a jerk?" Riku stared at Iron Will, baffled, and highly confused, unable to see Fluttershy acting that mean. "...Well, by his build and how rugged his voice is, I can somehow see him doing that..." Pushing aside that thought, he got back to the real reason why they barged into the minotaur's cabin. "Anyway, what's with the random announcements you've been making on the tour about Twilight, her family, and even me? And by the way, it's RIKU, not RAIKOU!"
"The assertiveness seminar market dried up, so Iron Will started a new career organizing themed vacation packages!" Iron Will said.
"And the theme of this vacation is...?" Twilight asked, waiting for the minotaur to elaborate.
Iron Will approached a microphone, which was used to make his announcements through the speakers. "Everypony, stomp your hooves if you are here for the premiere of the special double deluxe Cruise of the Princesss and Keyblade Warriors Experience!"
Twilight and Riku heard cheers roaring from outside, eating up Iron Will's surprisingly convincing package deal with two different themes on one cruise. Frustrated, Twilight dragged the minotaur, unfazed from being dragged around as the alicorn gathered her parents and sister-in-law, taking them back to their room while escaping from their "adoring fans". Quickly shutting the door on them and locking it, Shining walked out of one of the bedrooms in the royal cabin with Flurry in his hooves.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.
"Dealing with the ship captain for being dishonest by offering us a free cruise without informing us that we're basically the stars of his creative theme to make a profit!" Riku said.
"Iron Will outlined all the details of the cruise in the Prize Acceptance and Consent Form that YOU signed," Iron Will said, pointing to Twilight Velvet and Night Light as he held out the very same form the couple had signed up for.
"Give me that!" Twilight demanded, reading over every single intricate detail listed in this convincing scam, even the fine print for the offers.
"Well, when somepony offers you a free vacation, who reads the fine print?" Velvet asked sheepishly, making her daughter and future son-in-law gawk at her in shock.
"Miss Velvet, if someone offers you a free vacation, odds are that there's obviously a huge catch for it to be free," Riku argued. "And other vacationers meeting with two alicorn princesses and a Keyblade wielder like me, where I have no idea how this muscle-headed bovine found out about the Keyblade or even me, IS THE CATCH!!!!!"
"Well, Iron Will does read the paper for an inspiration," Iron Will stated, pulling out an old news article of Twilight's coronation as a princess. The front page image had a perfect shot of her and Riku kissing after announcing to Equestria of their relationship. "Word got around in Ponyville about your friend, Sora, and Iron Will saw him in action with those swords you call Keyblades. In Iron Will's profession, Iron Will makes sure to research everything to make a profit."
"And yet you couldn't even say my name right?" Riku questioned.
"And Iron Will thanks you for correcting Iron Will!" The pegasus stallion facehooved, letting out a low growl in disdain. "Iron Will does pride himself on providing a quality vacation experience. But if you, Twilight Sparkle, and her family don't WANT it, Iron Will can cancel the cruise and break the hearts of every princess-adoring and celebrity fan-foaling pony on board."
And there was the catch behind the catch of the free vacation; blackmail by disappointing the ponies who paid a lot of bits for a ticket to enjoy a vacation with their presence. The whole family seemed a bit disappointed, and Cadence didn't seem able to handle entertaining a bunch of fans while she was also taking care of Flurry Heart. Twilight grimaced, but she was willing to do anything to make sure her family had an enjoyable vacation, even barter with Iron Will.
"What if I offered you a deal?" Twilight suggested to the minotaur. "If I agree to do whatever princess activities YOU want, will you promise that my family gets to do the activities THEY want?"
"Sis, you don't have to do that," Shining said. "We want you to enjoy yourself, too."
"I don't want this vacation to end now or let down everypony who was looking forward to seeing us," the lavender alicorn said. "What do you say, Iron Will? Do we have a deal?"
"Well, Iron Will did specify this was a special double deluxe cruise line, with royal princesses and a strong warrior who protects the light from the evil shadow monsters attacking the land," Iron Will mentioned while flexing in different poses to emphasize the latter, making Riku wonder how thorough the minotaur was when doing his "research" on him and his fellow warriors of light. "If Riku agrees to do the planned activities for the other theme, Iron Will will strike a deal."
"Oh, come on," Riku groaned. "I just recovered from getting stabbed and shocked by a psychotic lightning ninja in a black coat while also suffering from a disease that we thought didn't have a cure!" He was about to refuse, and Twilight was about to give him a hard nudge to plead with him to do it for her family's sake. Flurry Heart whined, fluttering over to her uncle, babbling in baby talk with a sad look, wanting this fun vacation with her whole family to keep going. Those big blue eyes won him over, to his chagrin, sighing heavily, then reached his hoof out to the minotaur. "...Whatever you want me to do for this cruise...I'll do it without hesitation."
Iron Will gripped Riku's hoof, making him wince from the strong grip the minotaur had, then shook Twilight's hoof as he accepted the alicorn's deal. "Great! And it looks like we have some time before dad plays bingo!"
"Actually, we have just enough to pick the winner of our grand-prize raffle," Iron Will interjected, pushing Twilight along, already starting with HIS scheduled planning for his cruise themes.
Riku grumbled as he watched Iron Will "guide" Twilight out of their room, then turned to face the innocently smiling baby alicorn who adored him. "...You're lucky you're cute and won me with that face of yours," he said to Flurry Heart, who giggled innocently and nuzzled his nose. "And Cadence thought Twilight spoiled you with all those presents."
Riku and Twilight's family hurried after her and Iron Will, just to get this scam they got involved in over with, hoping it passed quickly and there wasn't a lot of activities that would keep them from relaxing. Passing by the crowd who had been waiting outside their room to meet them, they gathered back out on the deck, where everyone waited eagerly for the prize raffle. Iron Will pulled out a microphone, where Riku could continue hearing this odd, "motivational speaking" minotaur in surround sound, grating his eardrums even more than before confronting him.
"All right, cruise ponies! When the zeppelin flies, it's time for a prize!" Iron Will announced, letting the crowd cheer excitedly.
"I'm getting really annoyed with his rhyming," Riku grumbled.
Ignoring her grumpy coltfriend, Twilight took the mic Iron Will offered her, clearing her throat to speak to their public, a bowl with slips of paper that carried several different ponies' names on them. "Thank you all for being so gracious and respectful to me, my family, and coltfriend. And now, without further ado, the winner is..." Mixing the bowl with her magic, Twilight pulled out a random slip to see the name she picked. "Star Tracker!" Ponies cheered and applauded with hoof stomps, the pony who won being a young teen earth pony colt with dark blue-ish purple fur, a messy mowhawk of gold with white streaks, his bangs tilted slightly, and his cutie mark was a gold star with three horseshoe prints underneath it. The colt beamed widely in nervous excitement after recovering from the shocking win. "Congratulations, Star Tracker! Enjoy your prize!" Placing the mic on the stand, Twilight quickly grabbed her dad to take him to where the "rousing" game of bingo would be held. "Ok, dad! Bingo ti-!"
Out of nowhere, Star Tracker somehow managed to reach the upper deck where Twilight announced the prize winner, the alicorn accidentally bumping into the colt. Standing before them, Riku noticed the younger teen wearing a necklace that had Twilight's cutie mark at the end. It didn't help that this colt was awkwardly grinning and staring at his lover, warning him he was going to be that creepy kind of fan who'll just keep getting in the way while acting like a dope.
"No idea how you got up here so fast, but we don't have your prize," Riku said.
"Congratulations to Star Tracker!" Iron Will announced, taking back his mic as he reiterated his already congratulated win. "He wins the grand prize - spending the day with Twilight as an honorary member of her family!"
The shocking prize Iron Will told them NOW made Twilight and Riku blanch, ignoring the fireworks being shot out after the announcement and more cheering from the cruise-goers. "THAT'S the prize!?" Twilight exclaimed, looking back at the giddy colt.
"Uh huh," he managed to say before breaking out in a nervous giggle.
Riku growled. "Well, so much for trying to spend quality time with my girlfriend's family, or any time with her alone," he muttered irately. Twilight hesitantly welcomed Star Tracker as an honorary family member, leading him to the bingo table with her father. He was about to follow them, only for Iron Will to grab his tail and drag him off elsewhere on deck. "Let me guess, I get my own fan to tag along with me while doing a bunch of menial activities that'll eat up my 'vacation' time?"
"Nope. You're gonna be showing some ponies how you fight in a demonstration," Iron Will stated. Riku raised a brow, not expecting to show off his skills to others who actual idolized him, like the filly from earlier. He expected Sora to be the one Iron Will would have wanted to drag along, but instead, he was chosen for the second half of the double deal cruise. Maybe because he was dating Twilight and was considered just as important as his friend, who had done more heroic deeds in Equestria than he had, or maybe the minotaur was intrigued by his own skills and branched out to the other Keyblade wielders. Or he was too interested in the bits he'll earn regardless of who he managed to snatch in his get rich quick schemes. Arriving at the more spacious section of the deck, where fans of his were already anticipating the event, Iron Will flung the stallion in the wide space, surprising him he flipped onto his hooves, giving the minotaur a deadpanned glare as he held up his microphone to his lips. "Alright, cruise ponies! Who's ready to see a Keyblade warrior's skills in action!?"
Ponies cheered, some with his old Keyblade replicas waving about excitedly. He was kinda thankful those things looked like they were made of foam, otherwise the sharp blade would have really hurt any foals if it was made of plastic. Iron Will gave him the signal to prepare himself as a pair of unicorns stood on the sidelines, part of the cruise staff with their horns glowing. They created magical constructs of Heartless, each in either blue or red auras, surprising Riku with how accurate they appeared when it seemed like Iron Will had never seen any of them up close. There were some Shadows, Soldiers, and a couple Large Bodies, with accurate movements, even getting the slightly dazed actions that came from the tough, fat Emblem Heartless. He would have to question him later with how he got this information.
"Might as well try to make the best of this," Riku mumbled to himself before standing on his hind legs and stood in his fighting stance, summoning his Braveheart Keyblade in his hoof. Everyone stared in shock, not expecting him to have a different Keyblade. Even Iron Will was startled, scratching his head while looking at his new blade. Figuring everyone would be confused, Riku sighed. "My other Keyblade broke while I was fighting a dangerous Heartless, so I have a new one I'm using while still protecting Equestria."
"Hmm...Iron Will didn't know about this," Iron Will muttered. "Iron Will is going to have a word with his research team about this missing detail..." Making a note to himself, he cleared his throat, getting back to the show while hoping the foam Keyblade merchandise will still sell with this revelation. "Let's not delay and see some Heartless slain!"
Riku readied himself, zoning out the cheering ponies watching him as the unicorn performers made their constructs attack. The Shadows sank in the ground and headed toward him while the Soldiers ran about to distract him. The Large Bodies slowly waddled their way over to him, trying to be intimidating, but these common Heartless weren't much of an issue, even as enchanted magic spells. Watching a Soldier, it lunged at him with a rapidly spinning kick. Riku backflipped away, heading for a Large Body, then pushed off its armored belly, shooting himself into the attacking Soldier. He managed to make the Large Body stumble while slashing through the Soldier, then swung through the Shadows that popped up behind him and made a leap toward him.
The unicorns continued making more Heartless constructs after cutting through each one, trying to guide him to the Large Bodies so they could punch him. Riku wasn't going to fall for their lure, far too agile to get hit, even with the erratic movements they gave the shiftier Heartless. Blocking the closer Large Body's punch, he leapt over the Heartless, slashing upward against the unprotected backside and sent it flying. Jumping after it, Riku spiked the Large Body down like a volleyball with a flip kick, sending it crashing down on the other Heartless, flattening the Soldiers like pancakes. Hurt badly, the Large Body quickly got back as an aura radiated from it, enraged and going all out. As Riku landed the mad Large Body slid toward him on its belly like a penguin on ice.
With perfect timing, Riku swung his blade, stopping the sliding Heartless and spun it in place. When its back was turned to him, the stallion gave it a hard buck, sending it sliding back to its brethren, crashing through the Shadows and non-flattened Soldiers like pins, slamming right into the other Large Body. Even though the crowd was enjoying the show, Riku did appreciate the small bit of training he was given, though he wished they were tougher Heartless. Riku kept at it, using magic to add to his combos, flawlessly destroying each Heartless construct without breaking a sweat or being touched. With the unicorns exhausting their magic, Riku stood in his stance, barely even winded once the last of his foes faded away.
"What a fantastic show!" Iron Wills said over the loud cheering from the crowd. "You lucky ponies witnessed skills no normal warriors could ever hope to have, and with magic, too! Iron Will wishes he had skills like this stallion!"
Riku dismissed his Keyblade, landing on all four hooves, using a wing to flick back his bangs with a smug grin, showing off to his admirers. Young mares swooned and fell over fainting, making him shake his head with a light chuckle. Colts and fillies ran up to him, asking him how he was able to fight like that, use magic when he was a pegasus, why his Keyblade was different, and many more interesting questions he couldn't answer over their excitement. After hearing their praises, promising the foals they'll see more later on the cruise, he signed whatever they offered him as souvenirs, approaching Iron Will, who had a smug grin on his face when he saw Riku was actually enjoying his share of entertaining his passengers than he thought.
Riku noticed, quickly frowning and glaring at the minotaur. "Don't think that this is buttering me up to performing for any of your other schemes," the stallion stated. "You still scammed Twilight's folks into bringing her family here."
"As Iron Will stated before, the fine print explains it all," Iron Will countered. "Iron Will was also going to try to send you one of his sweepstakes for a free cruise, but one was enough since you and Princess Twilight are together."
Riku huffed, forgetting trying to find a loophole in Iron Will's surprisingly accurate conditions and warnings for the free cruise. "Fine. What else do you have for me?"
"Nothing just yet. Iron Will needs to check on the bingo game, then we'll move on to the tiny boat race on the pool deck!" Iron Will said, randomly flexing while explaining. "I'll send one of my crew to gather you for the next Keyblade Warrior event."
"Uhh...Ok, then..." Seeing he had nothing to do for now, Riku headed over to the pool deck. Too bad he couldn't go for a swim at the moment, some of the crew, a few of them goats who wore the same kind of headset that Iron Will wore, were setting up the tiny boat racing. A divider was set up to split the lanes for the race, a paddle boat in each lane sitting at one end of the pool, and already waiting there were Shining Armor and Twilight Velvet. Shining was getting a life vest on, although he looked a bit sickly, still feeling ill from his "outgrown" airsickness. "Hey, Miss Velvet, Shining."
"You don't have to call me that," Velvet insisted. "You can just call me mom if you want, Riku."
"Heheh. Not until Twilight and I get married," Riku said respectively. He looked at Shining after hearing him groan, shakily climbing into one of the paddle boats. "And your son is not all that bright by climbing into a boat sitting on water while suffering from airsickness."
"N-No way. I'm not airsick," Shining insisted, but he wasn't fooling anyone if the white fur on his face turned as green as a chameleon's skin. "And being in the water cancels it out."
Shining's cheeks puffed out, pressing both his hooves against his muzzle to keep himself from blowing chunks. "I'm here! I made it!" Twilight exclaimed, running here from the bingo area. "I'm ready to give Shining the tiny boat race of his life!" Riku silently waved to her with a deadpanned stare, seeing she didn't bother to greet her boyfriend. Then he pointed to the airsick, and now seasick, brother of hers. "...Is he ok?"
"Physically, no. Mentally, he thought one sickness would cancel the other, and he looks like he might blow at any moment," Riku said. He was about to drag the stallion out of the boat before he made a mess, bumping into Star Tracker, making him yelp as he never even heard the colt behind him. "Gah! Don't do that!"
"I wished the same thing when he snuck up on me and whispered creepily in my ear when I tried to hear what my dad was saying during the bingo game," Twilight grumbled under her breath, letting Riku hear, but not her honorary family member.
The alicorn quickly grabbed a life vest, only for Iron Will to snatch it out of her magic aura. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, you're going to be officiating the princess paddle boat race," he said.
Disappointed, Twilight sighed, left out of another activity as she oversaw another instead. "Oh, well. As long as my brother gets to race, I'm happy."
"Yeah, he's not gonna race on my watch," Riku said. "Come on, Mr. Guard Captain. Get your sick butt out of that boat."
Shining grumbled, but complied, giving the Keyblade wielder a dirty look. "Fine. But just so everypony knows, I'm getting out of this boat because of how NOT sick I feel."
The stubborn unicorn stallion shakily reached the edge of the pool, his nauseous stomach making his legs give out, falling out of the boat and in the shallow end. Soaking wet with a look of irritation, he let out a groan of annoyance and queasiness, forcefully dragged out by Riku.
"Cadence, get your husband before he shows everyone what he ate for breakfast today!" Riku called out.
"She's with Flurry Heart for Peewee Princess Playtime," Twilight said.
"I've got him," Night Light said as he came around, helping guide his son back to the room. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try a boat race on an airship while it's airborne, eh, son?"
"Oooh! Riku, how about you and I take the first race!?" Velvet suggested.
"Uhh, sure. I've apparently got a bit of free time for something." Twilight flinched, baffled at the statement her coltfriend made as he and her mother climbed in the boats, but luckily, Star Tracker distracted her, bumping into him as he stood like the dumbstruck fancolt he was while getting herself ready to start the races at the other end of the pool.
"S-Sorry," Star Tracker apologized. Twilight tried to ignore the colt, but he interrupted her again before beginning the race. "I'm gonna write about this race tonight in my journal! It's just so exciting!"
Sighing, Twilight continued pretending Star Tracker wasn't there with his nervous, giddy excitement, holding up the checkered flag with her magic. "On your mark, get set-"
"GO!" the honorary Sparkle family member shouted, snatching the flag and waved it for Twilight in one hoof while his other was draped around the alicorn's neck.
Riku barely got to start paddling when a huge wave in the other lane drenched him. Twilight Velvet whooped, speeding off faster than anyone expected a paddle boat like these ones could go on the surface, splashing other ponies in the process. Twilight protected herself with a barrier, which made Star Tracker geek out seeing her magic in action. Riku was still at the start, frozen in shock as he not only lost, but was beaten by his girlfriend's adventurous mother.
"Whoo hoo! Oh, my word, that was exciting!" Velvet squealed. She looked back, finding Riku still sitting at the starting line, too stunned to respond. "Sorry, dear! Better luck next time!"
Riku's boat slowly flipped over, sending him under the water before his head resurfaced. "...Twilight, your mom is starting to scare me! What did you say her profession was again!?"
Velvet only giggled, climbing out of her boat and walked around to the shallow end, levitating Riku out of the water. "I'm sure you just went easy on me, dear," the older mare said, trying to be modest, but Riku was suspicious of all that pent up energy this unicorn had inside her.
Twilight was about to check in on them, but Iron Will got in her way, blocking her from being with her mother and coltfriend once more. "That was just the first heat! Of ten!" the minotaur announced through his headset's microphone. The number of races made Twilight grimace, losing track of her mother and Riku as they headed elsewhere. "Now, who's ready to see a princess face when they win their race!?"
The ponies cheered as the next pair got themselves ready to race, Twilight putting on a forced, stressed smile, getting a little aggravated doing all this work while Riku was given a break after doing whatever Iron Will made him do.
After drying himself off, Riku wandered around below deck. He felt bad knowing Twilight was probably jumping through hoops to keep their vacation free more than he was, but hopefully, Iron Will can give her some time to hang out with her family and enjoy at least one activity with them. He found the Peewee Princess Playtime room, thinking he should check on Cadence and his favorite niece. Inside the play area were lots of different toys the foals could play with that won't hurt them or make them choke, a small playground safe enough for them to play on, and there were a few changing stations in case the babies needed a diaper change. There were a few other infant foals with Flurry Heart, all their parents watching from the sidelines, and to Riku's shock, Flurry was stacking her playmates in a tower with her magic, then let them fall as she dropped her magic.
"Whoa!" Riku quickly dove toward the tower right as the foals began to fall, catching the ones higher up before they got seriously hurt. Cadence grimaced at her daughter's dangerous stunt, but somehow, the parents all seemed to applaud, disregarding their own foal's safety after seeing the alicorn baby stacking them up like that and fall. She was grateful Riku showed up when he did, the stallion lowering the babies safely to the ground while looking at his giggling alicorn niece with a stern glare. "Flurry Heart, that's a big no-no."
"Wiku!" Flurry squealed, ignoring the scolding and crawled to him.
"No," Riku said firmly, picking the filly up while feeling the other foals trying to crawl up his leg, or gnaw on his tail. "We don't use magic on others like that. They can get hurt, and you'd be in very big trouble." Flurry Heart's smile turned into a frown, looking down sadly and let out a tiny babble in apology. Riku should be mad, but being around all these babies while trying to get his attention and seeing Flurry sad made his heart melt, letting out a sigh and gently rubbed his niece's head. "Just only use your magic if you're in danger. Like bad me and those scary monsters, ok?"
Flurry Heart nodded, getting a big hug from her uncle, knowing she was really smart for her age. He let the filly down to play some more, getting distracted by the other babies as they wanted to be picked up, too.
"Oh my gosh, what a loving father he is," one of the mothers commented, causing Cadence to wince.
"Uhh, actually, that's her uncle," the Princess of Love corrected with an awkward laugh. "My husband is Shining Armor...and he's a unicorn."
After a few awkward moments of silence aside from the babies gurgling, giggling, or babbling baby talk, Twilight walked in, wearing a brown stetson. "Cadence, I'm so glad you got in the Peewee Princess Playtime!" She noticed Riku was here as well, playing with some of the babies and Flurry Heart. "...And...so is Riku...Did...Iron Will tell him to entertain the foals as well?"
"I don't know, but Flurry's having a wonderful time," Cadence said.
"Great! I was just on my way to take some old-time Appleloosan photos!" Twilight said loud enough for Riku to hear.
"Themed photoshoots are the best," Star Tracker commented, he himself wearing a smaller orange cowboy hat, making Twilight groan and push the annoying tag-along away from her.
"And then do a quick question-and-answer session on becoming an alicorn before mom's barrel ride at Neighagra Falls!" she added. "I really hope I don't miss that."
"Twilight, are you sure you don't mind doing all of these activities?" Cadence asked, feeling concerned when she noticed how overly stressed her sister-in-law was getting.
"Mind? What? Absolutely not! I mean, you guys are having fun, right?" Twilight asked, grinning nervously, and also gritting her teeth when she heard Riku playing peek-a-boo with the babies. Cadence looked at Riku when she saw the spiteful glance of her eyes, clearly overworked by Iron Will and Riku didn't seem to have that many activities around his side of the double-themed cruise. Riku stopped his playing, opening his wings to startle another baby when he saw the fake, strained, toothy grin she gave Cadence. Realizing she was getting jealous and frustrated, Twilight sighed, trying to keep her composure. "Besides, I have to make sure these cruise ponies are happy if I want to be a good princess."
Leaving the babies to play with each other, Riku approached Twilight, overhearing her worries. "Twilight, you're already a good princess," he assured. "I know I only did one thing for this cruise, but Iron Will will give you a break and let me keep everyone else entertained."
"Honestly, as long as I get to see the Northern Stars with everypony, I'll be happy," Twilight reassured, giving Riku a light peck on the lips. "I'm trying not to flip out and yell at everypony."
"It'll get better soon, Twilight," Riku promised, leaning forward to give Twilight another kiss, only to see Star Tracker grinning nervously, watching the couple VERY closely. He leered at the colt, clearing his throat to get his attention. "Do you mind backing away, kid? And out of our sight for a few minutes to talk?"
"No," Star Tracker said. Riku grumbled when he didn't even move, but Star Tracker realized what he meant, giggling sheepishly. "Oh, oh! Right, uhh...I'll be...waiting for the pictures..."
The colt quickly left, waiting for Twilight and continue enjoying his grand prize later. "...He's a bit too clingy," Riku grumbled.
"Oh, like a certain stallion who can't keep his hooves off me?" Twilight teased.
"Will Riku please report to Iron Will to begin a tutorial on his Keyblade and magic powers at the bow of the zeppelin!?" Iron Will said through the speakers, ruining another small moment between the couple.
"Better get moving before Iron Will throws an iron fit," Riku uttered, making the lavender alicorn giggle.
They both exchanged a small kiss before heading out to their assigned activities and finishing them before reaching Neighagra Falls. Cadence hoped Twilight didn't go too over her head trying to please everyone as she watched her and Riku leave.
"Why don't you play and make a princess friend?" one of the mothers said to their foals.
Cadence looked back, finding all the parents in the room pushing their babies, surrounding Flurry Heart with an uncomfortable amount of attention. Quickly snatching the alicorn infant away from the other foals, and away from the parents, she gave them a fake smile as she held her baby.
"I'm so sorry, everypony, but it looks like Flurry Heart needs her nap." Flurry wasn't even remotely tired as the protective mother exited the play room, an agitated look on her face when her back was turned to the parents. "I doubt any of those mares or stallions were interested in watching our kids play and wanted to find a way to have close ties with royalty if their foals are friends with Flurry."
"Wiku?" Flurry said curiously, making Cadence giggle.
"Yes, you're going to make friends like Uncle Riku, and like ponies in Ponyville," she said, giving Flurry a little boop on the nose.
Neighagra Falls had fast approached too soon to Twilight's liking. It didn't help that a lot of ponies asked her a lot of questions, which she couldn't deny responding to every single one, including a last second two-parter about her ascension as an alicorn princess. Riku was actually far more content detailing everything about his Keyblade, even though he was missing out on the barrel ride and witness Twilight Velvet being an adventurous nutjob after seeing her zoom off in a paddle boat. Even though he wasn't going to make anymore Keyblade wielders, making sure to warn everyone not to touch Braveheart since the blade is "sharp", and despite witnessing some Keyblades that are blunt, they can still slice through objects. It was tough explaining the magic portion, seeing as he gained magic prowess upon wielding Way to the Dawn, but when he said a Keyblade can unlock anything, his fans demanded a demonstration. Someone who had a locked box held it out to him, and he showed them. Just a light tap on the top of the chest, they all heard a lock click, and the top opened up to reveal the pony's stash of bottle cap collection.
After that, Iron Will set Riku up with a photoshoot, having him pose in his battle stance with lots of young fans who did their own or tried to mimic his stance. While enjoying himself, even taking a few silly ones with the foals, Riku noticed Twilight was getting stressed out. Her folks returned from the zeppelin's first stop at Neighagra Falls, Velvet a soaking we mess with her drenched mane, clearly having a blast after the barrel ride. He watched Iron Will lead Twilight off to the other end of the ship to sign autographs, spotting Star Tracker tailing behind her like a lovestruck puppy. He had no idea why this colt was so enamored with his girlfriend; it was either a crush he had on her, or he was dying to meet the Princess of Friendship, and his over-excited nervousness could be the result of any of those two options.
Once he was done taking the last picture, the sun was just starting to set, signing one more autograph for another young foal before grouping up with Twilight's family. Flurry squeed, fluttering over to him and sat on his back.
"Having fun over there?" Twilight Velvet asked.
"I thought it would be a bit of a nuisance handling fans of mine," Riku said. "And I thought Sora had it worse in the Crystal Empire. There were ponies who saw the Struggle tournament in the Equestria Games, and I didn't know a lot of them were rooting for me to win in the next one."
"Well, good on ya!" Night Light said. "We read in the paper that your friend won in the end, but the quarterfinals aren't all that bad."
Riku gave the blue stallion a blank stare. "...I had far more advanced swordplaying skills that not even normal soldiers in Equestria could master in a few years, and the one who beat me was actually Terra in disguise," he stated.
"Maybe you should have practiced more," Shining teased.
"Look down," Riku said.
"Huh?" Shining stupidly obeyed, looking over the edge, then felt his stomach churn as his airsickness kicked up again. Cadence rubbed his back, helping keep his mind away from how high up in the air they were. Once his face went back from green to white, he glared at the smug pegasus. "I hate you."
"Don't insult my skills over yours, then," Riku warned, then mocked the stallion's attempt at pretending to fly, his forelegs held out while leaning side to side. "'I'm flying! I'm flying!'"
Flurry Heart giggled at her uncle's silliness, joining him and made fun of her sick daddy. Shining grumbled, wishing he didn't have such a poor stomach when it came to flying. Suddenly, someone on the ship pointed out to the sky, prompting everyone who heard to look up. Staring at the sky, they watched in awe as stars seemed to fly across the air, looking like they were shooting out of the setting sun on the horizon. As the sky went from an orange to blue and purple, the shooting stars flew across the horizon, separating themselves from the bigger star and off in the distance in the cosmos.
"Wow. It's so beautiful," Velvet said.
"This is amazing," Cadence added. "These must be the Northern Lights Twilight mentioned."
"Yeah. It's quite a sight to-" Riku paused, gasping in shock at mentioning the Princess of Friendship. "Oh no! Twilight's missing-" He set Flurry down with her parents, but just as he was about to run off to find her, the stars finally stopped, and Twilight stood at the other end of the ship, held up too long and missed the phenomenon that she had been wanting to see all trip. And she was understandably upset. "...Oh no..."
He walked over to Twilight, seeing her tear up and start crying. "I missed them? I missed the Northern Stars?"
"Twilight...I'm so sorry..." Twilight sobbed, burying her face against Riku's shoulder, the stallion feeling incredibly guilty for not reaching her in time to witness what she wanted to do on the cruise.
Her family came up to them, ignorant how upset she felt. "You were right, Twilight. They were breathtaking," Cadence said with Flurry Heart babbling in agreement.
"We wish you were here to see it, sweet-pea," Night Light added. Twilight looked up from Riku's shoulder, her sorrow turning to fuming anger, pushing her lover away while he was about to console her. "I'm sure you were making a whole lot of cruise ponies happy."
"Oh, yeah?" she questioned indignantly. "The cruise ponies are happy. My family is happy. My COLTFRIEND is happy. Even Iron Will is happy!" Looking up on an upper deck, Riku's jaw dropped, seeing the minotaur cruise director sitting in a lounge chair, along with one of his goat associates, both of them sipping out of a fancy-looking beverage. It was like he had planned for Twilight to not have fun, whether it was intentional or not, and seeing his girlfriend upset got him very upset. "You know who isn't happy!? ME!!!!!"
Twilight turned to storm off, bumping into Star Tracker, who has the worst habit of appearing behind someone, both ponies smacking their heads, and Twilight stomping down hard on Star Tracker's hoof by mistake. "AHH! My hoof!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Twilight sarcastically apologized. "But maybe that wouldn't have happened if you weren't practically standing on my tail! My real family doesn't even stand so close! Not even my coltfriend, and he's clingy!!!"
Letting out a frustrated yell, she grabbed a camera Star Tracker had carried with him, attached to harness used for earth pony tourists who want to take pictures without worrying about the angles, then threw it down to the deck, shattering it to pieces. Star Tracker trembled, hiding under his hooves in fear of the princess he idolized as she stormed past him. Even though Riku didn't like the kid at first, that didn't excuse her for snapping at him. He chased after her, blocking her path.
"You went too far with that kid, Twilight," he said. "I get that he was just starstruck, but he doesn't deserve to be lashed at when you agreed to keep trying to please everyone on this cruise!"
"You agreed, too!" Twilight argued. "Apparently, you must have struck a deal with Iron Will behind my back, because any 'activities' he had you do, you were enjoying yourself and having more fun than me! In other words, you were enjoying your own vacation while I had to do more work!"
"Excuse me!?" Riku exclaimed. "I agreed to the same terms, but Iron Will didn't put a lot of thought in the Keyblade Warrior theme of this cruise than the princess one! I didn't like having to work as much as you do, and I WANTED you to have a fun vacation! That's YOUR fault for stressing yourself out!"
"MY fault!? YOU WERE HAVING FUN WITHOUT ME!!!" Twilight screamed, shoving Riku back, startling him as she listed the different times he was enjoying the vacation more than she was by counting with the primaries of her wing. "You were entertaining everypony by fighting illusions of Heartless, and one mare I overheard said you 'looked so cool with the flip of your hair after it was done', you raced my mother in the paddle boat race, even though I knew my brother couldn't handle it because he got more sick in the pool while we're up in the air on an airship, you were having fun with Flurry Heart and other babies during Peewee Princess Playtime, AND you saw the Northern Lights without me, and I wanted the two of us to watch them together and share at least ONE romantic moment on this stupid cruise, but I got too held up SIGNING STUPID AUTOGRAPHS!!!!!!"
Riku was taken aback by the shove, leering at his irate alicorn lover. "I thought I wasn't going to enjoy it at first," he admitted, hurt in his girlfriend's assumptions that he forgot about her own needs. "I wanted you to have fun on a family vacation, Twilight. I agreed to help lighten that workload to keep you from getting more stressed out. It was all bad timing, and Iron Will's at fault for scamming us, your whole family, and everyone else on this airship for a get rich quick scheme! Even if the writing was legitimate for the vacation grand prize! Don't go blaming me for HIS poor planning and dragging you around like the little princess slave he turned you into, because guess what, DEAR, you can't please everyone in this whole world in a fortnight if you tried!"
Twilight uttered a gasp, her lips quivering before scowling at him with a hurt glint in her eyes as tears welled back up. "Then...I guess I can't please you either."
She ran past Riku, nudging him out of the way. Stunned by the heartbroken statement, Riku was left dumbfounded as he watched her flee. Grumbling, he decided to let her vent and cool down by herself, nearly bumping into Cadence, worried about Twilight and her outburst.
"Let me have a talk with her," she offered. Without a word, Riku nodded with a grunt. Before he walked past her, Cadence blocked him with her foreleg. "Just so you know, Riku, from her perspective, she believed you were having fun without her. You were enjoying yourself when you didn't want any part of Iron Will's deal, and with how stressed out she can get..."
Riku frowned, sighing heavily while slumping his head. "...Right," he mumbled.
"Take a little time to yourself as well," Cadence suggested. "Twilight needs to realize there are boundaries that need to be set when she's a princess. I'd bet Keyblade wielders have boundaries as well, like trying to keep their skills a secret so no one tries to gain that power for the wrong reasons?"
Riku grimaced, having too much fun and concerned with Twilight overworking herself to remember not to show off all of his talents as a Keyblade wielder. Even though this world did have different types of magic, if Aqua were here with them, he'd be given an earful about breaking more of the world order, be forced to do weeks of menial training exercises until he was finally sore enough to learn his lesson, or be suspended as a Keyblade wielder for a few months or brought back down to an apprentice. It was doubtful that any of these things could happen, but was sure to be in trouble spreading more information about Keyblade wielders. Cadence let him go, watching him sulk away before making her way over to Twilight.
Sitting on the edge of the railing, Riku watched the scenery below him. Someone else sat beside him, glancing over to see the Riku Replica.
"Bit for your thoughts?" he asked. "As they say in this world..."
"...You think Twilight doesn't trust me?" Riku asked.
"What? She thinks you cheated on her when you acted suave to those mares after your performance earlier today?" Riku Replica chuckled in disbelief. "She overreacted."
"She's obviously hurt about that, and when she said she wasn't able to please me either after telling her she couldn't please everyone with their requests to her, it makes me feel bad making her think that," Riku growled. "I mean, did you even SEE the amount of papers she had in the library she was working on?"
"Yes, I did," the replica stated. "And just like her, you're going to overreact, too."
Riku ran a hoof through his hair, letting out a deep sigh as he contemplated what to do. "I was trying to help," he muttered. "I tried calming her down, but I blew up on her, too...So much for a romantic getaway on a cruise...And the idea of the best, short, romantic moment she had planned had passed, and she missed it..." Pulling out an enchanted ornament, he sighed again. "Not even seeing it through a memory will help her. She wanted to see it with her own eyes, not someone else's..."
"It's only been one day. There's still the rest of the week." Riku looked at the replica in shock. Riku Replica took the ornament out of the confused stallion's hoof, holding it out while replaying earlier today with Twilight showing everyone her planned schedule. He pointed out the time table, which went by with each hour since the start of the voyage, for Day 1. "Twilight got a little too excited planning when she found out that tonight was the night those Northern Stars would happen. So, one day may be ruined, but the rest of the week will give all of you the opportunity to have plenty of quality time."
Riku stared in awe. He was a little bit grateful that another part of him, though formerly a puppet used by the old Organization, was actually pretty wise. It was just one bad day for Twilight, but Iron Will wasn't going to ruin the next six days, planning to tell him off and explain to the other cruise-goers that they actually wanted to enjoy their own vacation as well.
"Umm, Mister Riku?" Riku turned around, spotting the filly he met earlier today who silently pleaded him for an autograph. "Who are you talking to?"
Turning back to Riku Replica, the stallion had disappeared back in the recesses of his heart, now holding the enchanted ornament in his hoof again while it was held out. "...Just...myself," he said, even if he did sound insane talking to himself out loud. Pocketing the plastic decoration away, he stepped back on the deck. "I...had a little fight with Twilight."
"Princess Twilight?" the filly gasped. "Is she mad at you?"
"I guess, but, to be honest...Twilight and I didn't want to be a part of everyone else's entertaining experience on this cruise," Riku said. "We wanted to enjoy the cruise as well. But, in order for the free vacation Twilight's parents won to be free, Twilight and I agreed with Iron Will to leave the rest of her family out of being caught in the fame while they enjoyed the vacation they wanted."
"But you looked like you were enjoying entertaining everypony, so it wasn't bad for you, right?" the filly asked.
Riku grimaced, seeing what he was like from another's perspective. "...Yes...but I hated the idea at first," he admitted, letting out another depressed sigh. "...I was kind of bedridden for the last few days, and...I wanted to do something after I had just fully recovered...I really messed up, and I need to make it up to her."
Leaving his fan behind, Riku headed off to find Twilight and apologize for being inconsiderate of her feelings when she just wanted to be the best princess she could be to her subjects. He didn't realize how much time had passed while conflicted with his own thoughts, finding the Sparkle family getting ice cream from a vendor on the deck. He saw Star Tracker was still there, no longer worried about angering Twilight if she apologized and made up with him for taking out her frustrations on him. Whatever pep talk Cadence gave her, especially about setting boundaries between her duties as a princess and plans with her friends and family, Twilight was looking a little more relaxed.
While her family enjoyed their frozen treat together, Shining getting sick at the thought of eating ice cream while riding on the zeppelin to make his airsickness worse, Twilight turned to look at her parents, her smile dropping when she saw Riku approach them. There was still that slight bit of tension between them after their argument, apologetic glances while looking away the moment they made eye contact.
"Hey, there's my future son-in-law," Night Light teased, dragging Riku over and wrapped a foreleg around his withers. "Can't have an unscheduled family ice cream treat without you."
"Unscheduled?" Riku asked.
"Yes. Twilight wanted to do something off the schedule for once, to our shock," Velvet said with a giggle.
Riku could say he was just as surprised, though he didn't have it in him to tease his girlfriend if she was still upset after their fight. Night Light gently shoved the stallion toward Twilight, Cadence doing the same to her sister-in-law, knowing these two needed to make up. The couple avoided each other's gazes for several long, agonizing moments until Riku finally said something.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I wanted to help, but instead of getting upset from wanting to try and relax, I was having fun doing the things Iron Will wanted us to do for his cruise themes to earn him more bits...But after being cooped up in the castle while I was recovering from another Organization XIII member attacking me...Entertaining everyone WAS like a vacation for me." Lowering his head in shame, he couldn't dare look at his princess. "...I should have just taken up all the burden so you could enjoy spending time with your family. You deserved a vacation, and I feel like I took it away from you..."
Twilight was silent, which made Riku worry as his ears drooped. A lavender wing gently lifted his head up, forcing him to look at her, and she gave him a small smile.
"I'm sorry, too," she said. "I should have just just said no to Iron Will and end the cruise to plan ourselves a new, unpaid vacation for us instead. I wanted everypony to be happy, but I wasn't making myself happy, and then I pushed you and...felt a little jealous when I heard those mares talking about you."
Riku bit his lower lip, regretting acting like that after his performance. "Heh...You know I wouldn't...you know, leave you like that, right?" he asked sheepishly. "You mean everything to me, Twilight." Twilight nodded, understanding him while she herself felt stupid for being that jealous when she knows Riku has a tendency to be a tease and show off just like Sora. "Can you forgive me for being such a mule?"
She responded with a kiss on his lips, then gently resting her forehead against his. "Of course I do, if you can forgive me, too," she said.
"Always," Riku said, both ponies embracing each other as they accepted each other's apologies. Flurry Heart flew out of Shining's hooves, squeezing her way between her favorite Aunty Twily and Uncle Riku, making them laugh as the filly tried to join in. While the infant alicorn nestled herself in the couple's hooves, Riku almost forgot that Star Tracker was still here, this time standing on the sidelines while watching them. "...Your hoof ok, kid?"
"Y-Yeah, it's fine," Star Tracker said. "I-I know I was...a bit of a bother, but Twilight and her family were so nice to include me. I don't want to interrupt your vacation together, but...I'm actually really glad I met you."
"Well, you are weird, and a little annoying," Riku said, making the colt frown a little at the harsh comment. "...But I have a best friend who's far more annoying and stranger than you are. So, I'm used to it."
Star Tracker giggled at the turnaround, fearing Riku would continue disliking him for the rest of the trip. Riku held out his hoof, the colt happily shaking it, then got surprised when Twilight pulled him into a hug, both of them accepting him as a family friend. Star Tracker let out a fanboyish squeal, but reeled it back in, content with the day he spent with his favorite princess. He was about to leave the family to enjoy their vacation in peace, only to smack into Iron Will, falling on his back and dropping his ice cream.
"Attention, cruise ponies!" he announced through his headset, lifting up the nearby ice cream cart over his muscular frame. "If it's your dream, come to the deck for ice cream!"
Riku sighed, hearing all the passengers scramble over to them to buy an ice cream with Princess Twilight and her family. "Here we go again," the pegasus muttered.
"Oh, no! Leave the princess alone!" Star Tracker demanded, only to quickly cower when the large minotaur dropped the cart, easily towering him with a glare.
"What did you say to Iron Will?" Iron Will questioned.
"It's ok, everypony," Twilight said. She snatched Iron Will's headset, placing it on and cleared her throat to make her own announcement. "First, I want to thank all of you for coming. It means a lot that you'd spend your hard-earned bits just to be with us. But I honestly came on this cruise to take some time off being a princess. I'm a pony, too, after all. And even though I want everypony here to be happy, I'd really like to spend the rest of the cruise relaxing with my family." She looked at her parents, brother and sister-in-law, her niece, and Riku. "And a little private quality time with my coltfriend, Riku."
The crowd mumbled to each other as the princess took off the headset, some mares swooning when they saw Twilight nuzzling her lover. "Why, of course, Princess Twilight," one mare said.
"But why was this trip advertised as a Cruise of the Princesses and Keyblade Warriors if you just wanted to get away?" another asked.
"Ask the director," Riku said, pointing a wing at the minotaur.
Everyone looked at Iron Will, who was whistling nonchalantly, but the looks on everyone's faces practically demanded an explanation. "...Iron Will's Cruise of the Princesses and Keyblade Warriors makes no guarantees as to the participation of actual princesses or warriors," Iron Will quickly stated holding up the papers on the listed details of the cruise, magnifying the even finer fine print about that "important" detail. Everyone was exceptionally upset, basically promised the princess and warrior experience, even IF Twilight, Cadence, Riku, or any of the other princesses and wielders didn't bother to show up. All the passengers complained, demanding a refund for such a horrible scam that they all got suckered into. "But Iron Will learned his lesson before. Satisfaction not guaranteed." He then vaulted over the edge, leaping off the zeppelin. "NO REFUUUUUUUNDS!!!"
Everyone quickly scrambled to the edge, watching the minotaur freefall, somehow wearing a parachute before leaping to his death, pulling the cord and unfurled the chute, which had an image of himself splashing around in a pile of bits. Riku wasn't going to let him get away with this, diving after him, reaching him within seconds.
"Oh, no you don't," Riku growled.
"Ahh! How did you-!?...Oh. Pegasi," Iron Will said. "...You know, Iron Will thought it was strange how pegasi want to enjoy a zeppelin cruise, but can freely fly wherever they please."
"Well, Riku is fed up with Iron Will's scam, and Riku's glad it backfired in Iron Will's face," Riku said, mimicking Iron Will's annoying third person mannerisms. Summoning his Keyblade, he brought it to the strings of his parachute, threatening to let him drop like a rock. "Everyone up on that airship deserves a refund, and if you don't hand it over all the money you swindled, it's bye bye to another career change to turn a profit while causing more trouble." Iron Will grimaced, pulling out a huge sack of bits, holding it out to the stallion, which he gladly took. "Thank you. Now, Riku bids you adieu, and don't show up in Ponyville unless you want a personal 'demonstration' of my skills."
"I-Iron Will swears he will not come to Ponyville and cause you or any of your friends any trouble," Iron Will promised.
Nodding in satisfaction, Riku dismissed his blade, then flew back up to the zeppelin with the large bag of coins in tow. He had his doubts that Iron Will would actually follow his word, but as long as he didn't pull a stunt like his cruise idea to anyone else more gullible than Twilight's parents, he wasn't going to bother. Once back on the ship, Riku gave back the refund all the passengers were owed for the false advertisement Iron Will promised if he didn't lure a princess or Keyblade wielder to take a "free" cruise while also working for him.
"Well, it looks like this ship's running without a captain," Night Light commented. "Anypony know how to fly an airship?"
"I could give it a shot," Riku said. "And everyone will still enjoy the rest of their cruise that we were all promised to enjoy." The passengers cheered as they still got to continue their cruise instead of ending it at the next city's air deck. Twilight gave Riku Iron Will's forgotten headset to make his announcement as the new, temporary captain. "Attention, cruise-goers, we hope you all enjoy the continuation of your cruise, without any sort of themes whatsoever, on the S.S. Highwind!"
He took off the headset as the ponies cheered again, turning to face Twilight, who raised a brow at him with an unamused frown. "The S.S. Highwind?" she questioned.
"Well, this airship doesn't have a name, so I'm calling it the Highwind," Riku reasoned.
"Uhh, no. We're not calling this ship that," Twilight argued.
"Then if you've got any better names, lay it on me, princess," Riku goaded.
"The Shooting Star," Twilight said.
Riku stared blankly, then turned away and made his way to the captain's deck. "Nope. It's the Highwind."
Twilight growled, chasing after her stubborn coltfriend. "Sounds way better than 'Highwind'!"
"I'm the captain now, so it's temporarily my ship, so I name it!" Riku exclaimed.
Everyone watched the couple bantering over the name of the zeppelin, the family who knew them well laughing at their childish bickering. "Uhh, they're not gonna fight again, are they?" Star Tracker asked.
"No, of course not," Cadence assured, Flurry shaking her head in agreement with her mother. "But I do like the name Highwind for an airship."
Through the rest of the week, the cruise continued on, the staff on board who worked for Iron Will paid by Riku with his "salary" as a Keyblade wielder. It didn't take long for Riku to understand how to navigate the airship, docking it in different locations for some off-board fun, and even set it on autopilot when he wanted to take a break and relax with Twilight and her family. No crazy-themed activities, no autograph signing or celebrity pictures, and no distractions to split anyone up from a fun time. Twilight kept to her word after her blowup, staying off the schedule and making the best of this cruise with whatever comes up. She and her family, along with Riku, made up for all the lost fun Iron Will dragged the alicorn through: relaxing by the pool, exploring a huge tourist spot, or eating a meal made by the staff while chatting about what they saw or anything from the past they found interesting.
On the last day of the cruise, Riku wanted to plan something special for Twilight, both as an apology for his selfish behavior and a surprise that he knew she was dying to want on this airship. Setting his course to the Frozen North after researching the Northern Stars, he had talked to Twilight's family in private, along with a few others to set this up.
Cadence distracted Twilight for the entirety of the last day of the cruise, which made her a little bit suspicious. "I was hoping Shining got over his airsickness," the pink alicorn said. "I did have an idea that would help make up missing the Northern Stars, but he really just can't handle heights."
"Ok, Cadence, what's going on?" Twilight asked. "You've been dragging me around the ship, Flurry Heart's been pestering me to play with her, even though I'm not complaining when Riku hogs her." Cadence chuckled at that remark since Flurry apparently loves Riku a whole lot. "It's obvious I'm being distracted for something. What is it?"
"Well...I think it's almost time. You're in for a real treat, Twilight." Twilight raised a brow in confusion, wondering just what this treat was.
Cadence finally led Twilight outside, the sun beginning its descent on the horizon. Most of the passengers were lounging around the pool, some watching the scenery from the railing, though most were looking up instead of down. Around the corner, Twilight spotted Star Tracker, who appeared to be wearing a red bowtie around his neck. He grinned when he saw her, approaching the two alicorns, bowing to Twilight.
"Good evening, Your Highness," he greeted.
"Uhh, Star Tracker? What are you doing?" Twilight asked nervously.
"Good luck, Twilight," Cadence said, leaving her surprised sister-in-law with a giggle as she joined her family.
"W-Wait, what!?" Twilight exclaimed. She glanced back at Star Tracker, groaning on the inside, hoping this wasn't a random blind date for her biggest fan. "W-What's going on?"
"Allow me to escort you to your reserved table, princess," Star Tracker said.
He turned away, walking around the corner. Sighing with disdain, Twilight followed Star Tracker, hoping this wasn't one of Iron Will's hidden loophole promises that gave the winner of that raffled a date with her on the last day of the cruise. Making their way to the stern, Twilight noticed not many of the passengers weren't hanging out around this section of the zeppelin. Around the corner, the wide and empty space had one single table, lit candles enhancing a romantic atmosphere, two sets of silverware sitting together where the occupants for said seats would face the direction of the setting sun. Thankfully, her worries were put to rest and her heart fluttered, Riku standing by the table waiting for them, a sly grin on his face.
"There you are, Twilight," he said. "You're late. You're supposed to never be tardy. Oh, wait. You're going off the schedule this cruise. My mistake."
Even though she wanted to bop him for commenting on her anxiety over being late to anything, whether big or small, she was still a bit confused. "What's...What is happening?" she asked. "I-I...Were you planning...a date?"
"Yeah. For us," Riku said. His grin widened at her surprise, then he burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh. Did you think you were going on a date with Star Tracker?"
"Uhhhhh..." Twilight's shifty gaze and embarrassed blush made Riku laugh harder. Even Star Tracker snickered, the colt knowing he stood no chance at being the alicorn's lover compared to the stronger, much more calm and collected warrior, just content with hanging out with her for a day than anything else. Twilight fumed, her cheeks burning hotter, leering at the two stallions. "W-Well, why is Star Tracker wearing a bowtie!?"
"I'm your waiter for the evening," Star Tracker said, startling Twilight, giving him a dumbfounded look.
"Huh!? B-But you...!You're a...!W-We can't just-!" Twilight quickly snapped her head toward Riku with a deadly glare. "Riku!"
"I asked him, and he wanted to help," Riku calmly explained. "Hell, I even offered to pay the kid, but he refused, telling me he's already gotten what he wanted; spending the day with his favorite princess on this cruise." Twilight looked back at Star Tracker, who nodded his head with a sheepish grin. "And to make up for annoying you constantly by creeping up on you and stepping into your personal space."
"...Really?" she asked the young colt.
"Y-Yeah," Star Tracker uttered.
"And while he goes to get our meal-" Riku wrapped a wing around Twilight, guiding her to the table while motioning with his head to Star Tracker. He got the message and hurried off to get their dinner while Riku sat Twilight down in her seat, giving her the best view possible. "-we'll enjoy a lovely evening together. Alone. With no one to bother us." He sat down in the other seat, waving his hoof a little. "Well, Star Tracker might, but not all THAT much."
"So that's why Cadence kept distracting me. You were planning a romantic dinner for us?" Twilight asked. "That's...really sweet of you."
"Yeah, but I did this to make up for the lack of helping you relax a little bit on the first day of our cruise," Riku added.
"It was more my fault for agreeing to try to please my subjects, even with my hooves full, tied, and jumbled up in knots," Twilight said, giggling slightly. "I do appreciate having one of my plans for this cruise to happen, though."
"Well, a thank you would be nice." Twilight rolled her eyes, giving her pouting stallion a kiss on the cheek. "...That works, too."
Star Tracker came back with the couple's courses: some salad for an appetizer, a plate of fettuccine alfredo with a creamy white sauce as their entree, and ending their meal with a slice of red velvet cake. Riku made a joke about how differently her older dietary habits were as a unicorn compared to the much more sophisticated meals she could have today, earning him a playful nudge while Twilight commented that a simple daffodil and daisy sandwich would be all she needed back then to keep her going. After finishing up dessert, Twilight let out a content sigh, leaning back in her seat while rubbing her full belly.
"That was delicious," Twilight said. "Not as good as Remy's cooking, but still really good."
"Who's Remy?" Riku asked curiously.
"A rat in Twilight Town, who's actually quite a very skilled chef for a rodent." Riku was glad he had finished eating, otherwise he would have choked in shock. "I know it's...odd, but Fluttershy can attest to that."
"I hope he doesn't have any diseases," Riku muttered.
"He has a passion for cooking, and he's germ free," Twilight promised. Riku just shrugged, taking her word for it, but if he ever went to Twilight Town, he hoped that rat had a crew doing all the cooking. "We're going to that bistro if we stop by to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette again."
"Alright, fine. If it'll get you to stop whining about it," Riku mumbled.
"But I liked this dinner just fine, you big baby," Twilight teased with a giggle. "I'm glad we did this."
"Oh, it's not over just yet." Twilight looked at him curiously, now learning there was a bit more to their romantic evening.
"What else is there?" she asked.
"Just look right over there," Riku said, using a wing to gently turn Twilight's head, making her face the setting sun. During their time eating, Twilight didn't notice how low the sun was setting. She stared out at the landscape, wondering just what Riku wanted to show her. "Should be happening in five...four...three...two...one..."
Twilight was about to ask what was going to happen until she saw it. Flying out from the sun came several shooting stars, zooming through the incoming night sky. She gasped, witnessing the Northern Stars, and she wasn't missing it this time.
"T-The...The Northern Stars???" Riku silently nodded. Twilight looked at Riku, quickly glancing back at the Northern Stars, not wanting to miss a single moment of this beautiful phenomenon. "I-I...H-How...?"
"Well, we'll be returning to Canterlot by morning, so I planned out a route that would take us back around on a round trip," Riku said. "And you never mentioned in the book you brought that talked about these stars is that they happen quite often around the Frozen North. Must have been so excited to see them that you left that part out, or, in a really rare case, forgot about how often it happens."
Twilight's eyes welled with tears of joy, feeling so lucky to have what she wanted on this cruise after such a horrible start to her vacation. And she'd never felt so lucky to have a coltfriend who, at times, picks on her and riles her up, but shows that he does care about her, tending to her every need, make up for what mistakes he's made, and open up to her about what he hides on the inside to avoid those insecurities from the outside. Watching the Northern Stars with him after such a romantic evening, this was the best part of this cruise, her tears flowing down her cheeks as she turned to face him with the most heartfelt of smiles she's ever given.
"I...I don't know what to say," she said.
"A thank you would be nice," Riku said, not like in the playful whiny tone when he used that same phrase earlier, giving Twilight a sincere grin. Twilight sniffled, letting out a small laugh at the "witty" remark before leaning toward him and holding him, planting her lips on his in a loving, passionate kiss. Riku held the alicorn and kissed her back in kind, the couple slowly breaking apart after several long minutes, staring deeply in each other's eyes. "That works, too."
Twilight kissed Riku again, then cuddled closer to him and continued watching the Northern Stars fly through the air. This was definitely the best way to end their vacation, and in the future, try not to get involved in a get-rich-quick scheme by someone using their status to lure customers to their ploys. After the last of the Northern Stars faded away, the couple headed back to their luxury room with the rest of Twilight's family, turning in early for the night to steer and dock the zeppelin in the morning. They returned to Canterlot, safely anchoring the airship at the air docks, saying their farewells to their fellow passengers, and eventually the lavender alicorn's family, her parents returning to their home in the city and Shining, Cadence, and Flurry Heart at the train station back to the Crystal Empire.
After the train ride back to Ponyville, the couple strolled through town, fully relaxed and ready for anything. "So, what do you want to do?" Twilight asked.
"Probably not sit around the castle and read a bunch of books," Riku teased, which earned him a light slap on the side from the alicorn's wing.
"Riku? Twilight?" Aqua called out through their crystal communicators.
"What is it, Aqua?" Riku responded.
"Seeing you two are back from your little airship cruise, I've got some Heartless activity that needs to be looked into," Aqua said.
She gave them the location of the world needing protection. "Ok, we're on our way," Riku said before ending their contact. He looked at Twilight, who teleported her Keyblade armor pauldron over her shoulder. "Ready for some more training?"
"More than ready," the alicorn said.
Both ponies slammed their hooves into their armor, suiting up in their full-body suits, shifting their Keyblades into their respective gliders, then quickly climbed on. "After you, Your Highness," Riku said.
Twilight grinned behind her visor, shooting off into the sky with her coltfriend following behind her to train harder while protecting the world from the threat of darkness.