Riku, Mickey, Fizzlepop and the young seven were walking among the dirt path to the Dragon Lands, while Lightning was riding on Silverstream’s back.
They’d just woken up a few hours ago and quickly had fried eggs for breakfast before continuing their way to Smolder’s home.
The group took a few more walks on the dirt path until they have reached their destination.
“Well, here it is,” said Smolder proudly, “My home, the Dragon Lands.”
The others looked around the volcano and lava place in wonder.
“Wow, Smolder!” Lightning said in amazed, “The Dragon Lands looks so awesome!”
“It sure is, cutie,” said Smolder before gently rubbing her boyfriend’s mane, “Wait till you meet my brother I told you about awhile back.”
“Come on,” said Mickey politely, “Let’s go find Princess Ember and see if we stay here for awhile.”
The group made their way towards the main way to enter the Dragon Lands and went on to find Ember while being careful not to slip or fall or touch any hot lava since only dragons can safe with lava.
On top of a medium wide rock with a rocky pathway down at the end, Ember, Spike and the three friends were watching down at the dragons training for, in case, a big fight with the Unversed will come. Ember was also holding her bloodstone scepter in her left claw.
Just then, they heard footsteps, hoofsteps and wings flapping coming from behind them. They turned and saw Riku, Mickey, Fizzlepop and the young seven coming towards.
Ember smiled while saying, “Smolder.”
“Ember,” the orange dragon replied happily as the group stood near the five.
“Welcome home. And what brings you and your friends here after that long journey from the Crystal Empire?”
Smolder looked at Spike, Roxas, Xion and Axel before looking back at the Dragon Lord and replied, “I could ask Spike the same thing.”
“It’s kind of a long story really,” said Roxas, “While we were at the Changeling Kingdom, Xemnas appeared out of nowhere and attacked us with his giant Nobody. We told to take Spike here so the lava can help heal him.”
Riku and Mickey let out a gasp of shock after hearing Roxas say Xemnas’s name.
“Xemnas? How is he here?!” Riku asked.
“We do not know for sure,” answered Axel, “But our theory is that this Xemnas is a replica from what was left his data like how Vexen did with Riku Replica.”
“So it could be a fake Xehanort’s Nobody made by Vanitas and Cozy Glow,” said Riku.
The three friends nodded their heads in response.
“So what about you?” Axel asked politely, “What’s your story for coming here?”
“Long story like yours,” answered Fizzlepop, “But with Storm Guard foalnapping poor Lightning Twister yesterday night and our plan to rescue the young colt didn’t go as planned.”
Xion let out a gasp of shock. “Oh dear! The poor pony!”
Just then, a new male voice was heard.
“Smolder? Is that you, sis?”
They all looked to the edge of the mountain, they were on, and saw four dragons flying towards them.
One dragon was dark red with dragon orange spikes. That’s Garble.
The second dragon was orange with tiny antlers, blue spikes and a medium size jaw. That’s Fume.
The third dragon was brown, fat, blue tiny antlers and red in his wings. That’s Clump.
And the last dragon was purple, skinny, yellow fur covering his eyes but he can still see, three black spikes on his neck and has yellow on his front and wings. That’s Spear.
Garble saw Smolder and let out a smile before saying, “Smolder! Welcome back!”
Garble flew towards his sister and the two did their brother and sister welcoming shake which was a fist bump, elbow bump, high five, two down below fist slapping and lastly a tail bump.
“It’s so good to see ya again, sister! I didn’t expect you to return today.”
“Well, let’s just say we need to place to lay low for awhile till we can return to the Crystal Empire without the Unversed trying to stop us,” replied Smolder.
The red dragon turned his head to see that Smolder’s friends were also with her along with Riku, Mickey and Fizzlepop. “And I take it those are the friends you made at the school you go to?”
“Yep,” answered the orange dragon politely, “These are my friends I’ve made at the School of Friendship. Sandbar, Gallus, Yona, Ocellus, Silverstream and Lightning Twister. This is Fizzlepop Berrytwist, a pony I’ve met during the legion of doom problem. And these two are Keyblade Masters me and my friends met three days back. Riku and King Mickey.”
Garble waved at them, as they waved at him back, before turning back to Smolder.
“So nice to see your friends here, sis. Did you also bring your boyfriend here? I so wanted to see him ever since you told me that you have a crush on a dragon back at Ponyville! I don’t think I ever seen him before, I can’t wait to show him my rhyming talent, my lava surfing skills and see how very strong he is at wrestling.” Garble let out a playful but friendly chuckle before looking at Smolder with a hopeful big smile, “So did you bring him? Did ya?”
Smolder looked at him in confusion, with a raised eyebrow, before saying, “Gar-Gar, Lightning Twister IS my boyfriend.”
“W-What?!” Garble asked in shock.
He actually thought Smolder’s boyfriend was another dragon that lived in Ponyville like Spike, and Smolder never mentioned another of her boyfriend’s name or that he was a pony after telling her brother she now has a boyfriend.
“Your boyfriend is a pony?” Spear asked with a friendly smile, “That’s so awesome!”
“Aww! And he’s so cute!” Clump said softly making Lightning blush.
The three dragons flew towards them and landed on their feet while looking at the little colt with friendly smiles on their faces.
Fume then saw Lightning’s cutie mark and happily said, “Oh look, guys! His cutie mark is speed and racing! That’s even more awesome!”
“Oh sweet!” Said Spear in amaze, “Racing’s our specialities! Maybe we can let him watch us do lava surfing one day!”
“Lava, surfing?” Lightning asked in confusion.
“It’s kind of what ponies do often for fun at the beach,” explained Smolder, “But when us dragons do surfing here, we do it in lava since it can’t hurt us. No offensive, you guys.”
“None taken,” replied the Young five, Lightning, Tempest, Mickey and the four humans softly.
“Anyways, kid, I’m Spear.”
“Name’s Fume.”
“Clump.”
“And I’m Garble, Smolder’s brother.” Garble was trying his best to sound happy to hide his true feelings about Smolder’s boyfriend being a pony.
“Nice to meet you all,” Lightning replies kindly, “I’m so glad I get to see the Dragon Lands. It looks so awesome.”
“Aw thanks, kid!” Fume said happily while giving Lightning a gentle punch in the hoof with a smile on his face, “You’ll even love the rest of this peaceful home.”
“Smolder, why don’t you show Lightning around the Dragon Lands while the rest of us keep a watch on things and make sure everything’s okay still?” Ember suggested kindly.
“That I was planning to do, Ember,” replied Smolder happily before looking at her boyfriend, “What do you say, Braveheart? Wanna see the rest of the Dragon Lands with me?”
Lightning gave Smolder a cheerful smile while nodding his head and saying, “Yes please, Smolder! I’d love to!”
Lightning gently jumped off Silverstream’s back and walked towards his girlfriend. Smolder gave Lightning a gentle rub on the head before they walked off to begin the tour around the Dragon Lands.
Riku looked at Ember and said, “Me, Mickey and Fizzlepop will stay with you so we can talk about the battle plan.” Ember gave the Keyblade Master a nod in understood before he turned to the three friends, “Roxas, Xion, Axel, look around and make sure no Unversed are about.”
Roxas, Xion and Axel nodded in understood before Spike flew towards them.
“I’ll come with since I don’t have anything else to do.”
The three smiled at the baby dragon as Roxas then said, “Sure! Always happy to have another friend to tag along.”
“Got it memorized?” Axel asked kindly while smiling and placing a right finger on the right side of his head.
Spike let out a chuckle before nodding his head at Axel.
“Good, you really are a quick learner,” Said Axel kindly.
The four then walked off to start searching around the Dragon Lands for any unversed leaving only Riku, Mickey, Fizzlepop, Ember and the four dragons alone.
Roxas, Xion, Axel and Spike were now at the far end of the Dragon Lands while still searching for any unversed. But none were found so far, which is good.
Roxas looked behind a boulder and saw no unversed behind it. He turned to the others while asking, “Found any unversed yet?”
The three stopped searching and looked at Roxas while replying, “Nothing yet.”
The four continued on searching just to be sure the Unversed are not hiding somewhere and ready to jump out on them for a surprise attack.
While still searching, a dark corridor appeared a few miles near them. They saw the corridor as they let out a small gasp of shock.
“Another one?!” Asked Spike in shock, “These guys just don’t give up when it comes to stopping us.”
“No, no they don’t,” replied Roxas.
The dark corridor disappeared to reveal a girl that’s tall like Axel, wears a black coat that hasn’t got a hood, black boots, a red cape and a black helmet covering her face. That is Fourth Shadow.
The four stood in battle mode while glaring at Fourth Shadow.
“Roxas, Xion, Axel. How predictable,” Said Fourth Shadow, “Oh, yes. I know your names... your past... and most importantly... about the Storm Pony. Tell me, is he here at the Dragon Lands?”
The three refuse to answer her question and summoned their Keyblades.
The guard of the Flame Liberator resembles the Eternal Flames chakrams, as well as the guard of the Bond of Flame Keyblade, with a straight hilt rather than a cross-shaped handle. The blade and teeth take the shape of a glowing translucent streak of yellow-orange flames, resembling those of the Frolic Flame; however, the teeth of the Flame Liberator form the shape of a hook, rather than a closed loop. The blade has a constant flowing flame effect. The Keyblade's chain links resemble the Eternal Flames; the token also resembles a pure silver version of the weapons.
“Outstanding,” She said while shaking her head at them before summoning her Keyblade.
Her Keyblade has a dark purple guard and handle. The rainguard is designed to resemble the thorny leaves of a rose bush. The blade is dark purple with the dark purple rose in the Keychain token and teeth more ornate.
“Spike, take cover,” ordered Roxas in a polite way, “We’ll handle her!”
Spike gave Roxas a nod before flying towards a medium size boulder and hid behind it. He peeked out a bit to see what was going on.
Fourth Shadow pointed her Keyblade at the three and shot a big darkness bolt at them. The bolt made Roxas, Xion and Axel fly back in separated ways but manage to land on their feet again.
Axel ran towards Fourth Shadow and clashed his Keyblade with her Keyblade ten times before she kicked him really hard causing him to groan in pain and fall on his back.
“Axel!” Cried Roxas and Xion worriedly in unison.
Axel manage to jump back onto his feet before glaring at Fourth Shadow. “Alright, if that’s how you wanna play it!”
He then held his Keyblade in both hands and turned it into his Eternal Flames chakrams. Axel started to throw them at Fourth Shadow one by one while flying back a bit as the chakrams hit her one by one causing her to groan in pain. The chakrams threw back to Axel and he placed them back together to turn them back into his Keyblade.
“Heh, I’ve suffered worst,” said the Fourth Shadow.
Roxas charged towards her and clashed his Keyblades with Fourth Shadow’s Keyblade eleven times before he kicked her really hard causing her to walk back a bit.
“You can’t kick me, I’m a girl!” Fourth Shadow shouted angrily.
“Sora fought Larxene once, and she was a girl,” said Roxas with a grin on his face.
Xion, Axel and Spike laughed at what Roxas just said to Fourth Shadow as Axel then said, “Good one, Roxas!”
Fourth Shadow growled angrily at them and swung her Keyblade to the left before swinging it right again making three fire balls appear and fly towards Roxas.
Suddenly, Xion jumped in front of Roxas and smacked the fire balls with her Keyblade making them disappear into orangey dust.
“Thanks, Xion,” Roxas said kindly.
Xion looked at Roxas while smiling and said, “That’s what friends are for, saving each other’s lives.”
Roxas gave his friend a happy nod before looking something in front of them and let out a gasp of shock.
“Xion, look out!” Roxas shouted before running to one side while pushing her as a electric blast from Fourth Shadow’s Keyblade hit on the spot where the two were once standing.
“Thanks, Roxas. That’s twice you now saved,” said Xion softly.
Roxas let out a small chuckle while smiling at Xion.
Fourth Shadow started to charge towards the two, but was stopped by a line of fire that appeared in front of her. She looked at the fire line before looking to the left and saw it was made by Axel as he pointed his Keyblade near the flame.
He moved his Keyblade away from the flame before it magically disappeared. Axel smirked at Fourth Shadow while walking to his friends. Spike flew towards them before standing next to Roxas.
“Roxas, Xion, Axel, are you guys alright?”
“Yes, we’re fine, Spike,” answered Axel happily.
Fourth Shadow’s Keyblade magically disappeared just before the four glared at her once more.
“You’ve learned well,” said Fourth Shadow while walking from right to left, “Not quite as gifted as Sora but not bad.”
“You’ve been keeping count on how many Seekers got defeated, haven’t you?” Guessed Roxas.
“I’m surprised Marluxia didn’t tell you. He was never good at remember things.”
“And you know him so well, Huh?” Replied Axel.
Fourth Shadow let out a bully laughter before standing near the flames while looking at the four.
“He was weak before he became a Nobody. Fought an evil witch. Surrendered himself to the superior to discover his true self. The Storm King would never have found me...”
Fourth Shadow took off her helmet and placed it next to her on the ground to reveal her face to the four.
She has long red hair that frames her face, with her bangs falling over her forehead down past her eyebrows. She also has fair skin and bright teal eyes. It was Strelitzia, the sister of Lauriam also know as Marluxia.
“If it wasn’t for him. He left me to die all alone.”
Roxas, Xion and Axel were in shock to see who was really behind the helmet. Spike was also shock but with confusion as well since he doesn’t know who she was.
“You’re Strelitza,” said Axel in shock, “The sister of Marluxia’s Somebody, Lauriam.”
“In the flesh.”
The four turned round and started to walk away while Axel said, “We won’t let you manipulate us.”
“So sure, are you?” Strelitza mocked making them stop in their tracks, “When faced with the choice to protect himself or his sister, he chose self-interest. You’ll be sold out too by one of your friends.”
The four turned round to face her again and walked a bit while Roxas grinned and replied, “Well, we can handle ourselves.”
Strelitza let out a snicker before saying, “Can you afford to take that chance? The young pony, Lightning Twister, harbors great unknown darkness. The look on his face when Tempest Plagueis was about to kill Silverstream when she refuses to join him. He feared. Exposing what he had never discovered before. He used... the darkness.”
Roxas, Xion, Axel and Spike refuse to believe Lightning would use a dangerous power of the darkness and kill Tempest Plagueis because he didn’t wanna lose Silverstream.
“He was scared of losing his big sister,” Xion said.
“Oh?” Strelitza continued to mock, “How long before he cracks and betrays you like what happened to me? Do you want to still be on his side when you fight The Storm King, Vanitas and Cozy Glow?” She looked at them with an evil shock look on her face, “What would Subject X say?”
“You have no right to mention her!” Shouted Axel angrily.
“I wonder... what would she think if she could see Lea now?”
Axel let out an angry growl at her.
“Fighting the darkness with a betrayer. Granting The Storm King’s access to a legion... of powerful Seekers of Darkness.”
“No,” replied Axel angrily through his teeth, “I won’t let them hurt the kid or any of my and Lightning’s friends.”
Strelitza stared at them one last time before picking her helmet up and walked away. “I thought the same thing once.”
A dark corridor appeared as Strelitza placed her helmet back on and walked into the corridor before it disappeared taking her along. The flames disappeared as well while the four glared at where Strelitza once stood before leaving.
Roxas let out a grunt before saying, “No way. Lightning Twister would never accept the darkness.”
Garble wasn’t continuing his training like he was suppose to. He pretended to say he needed a lava wash so he can sneak off and find his sister. Ever since he found out that Smolder’s boyfriend was actually a pony not a dragon, he refuse to accept that and believes Lightning Twister did something to her to make her love him.
While flying amongst the mountains of the Dragon Lands, the red dragon spotted the two lovebirds at a lavafall pool.
Garble quickly hid behind a medium size boulder and peaked out to see what was going on. There he saw Lightning sitting on his girlfriend’s lap while looking up into the beautiful sky.
“Today makes five hundred than twenty-five,” said Lightning.
“What’s that about?” Smolder asked softly.
“It’s been that long since I started having a better life,” replied Lightning, “How time flies.”
“So you got the days memorised, do ya?”
Lightning nodded his head in response.
“Yeah, I still even remembered the first time we met on the day I started school. Do you remember? I was a scared pony when meeting you guys.”
“Right, the first time you met us and wanted to be your friends since you didn’t have any before Fluttershy took you in.” Smolder playfully smirked and gently gave her boyfriend a pat on the back while saying, “But come on, you were such a cute pony when we met. And you still are.”
Lightning blushed and said, “Oh thanks!”
The two shared a laughter together before looking at each other once more.
“Hey, Smolder.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you think you can..?”
Smolder smiled at the colt while saying, “Of course I can, sweetheart.”
The two closed their eyes just before Smolder’s lips were connected to Lightning’s and they both shared a long semi-kiss together as the orange dragon slowly and gently laid on her back while gently rubbing her boyfriend’s back still kissing.
Garble looked on in deep shock after seeing what they were doing.
The kiss lasted for another two seconds before they broke the kiss and looked at each other while Smolder sat back up again. She gently placed Lightning in front of her and said, “Hey, I’m gonna go find some treats in my bag I brought on the journey. You stay here and I’ll be right back.”
Lightning gave Smolder a nod in response before she spread her wings out and flew off to find her bag which was near the main entrance of the Dragon Lands along with the other bags so they were nice and safe away from the lava.
Lightning continued to look at the beautiful sky until he heard an angry voice coming towards him.
“Hey! You!”
The colt looked onto his right and saw Garble stomping angrily towards him making him feel scared to what might happen to him.
“H-hey Garble. A-are you a-alright?”
“No! I am NOT alright!” He replied rudely and angrily making poor Lightning shake in fear, “What’s the big idea making my sister kiss you in that way?!”
“I-it was j-just a little l-love k-kiss.”
“A love kiss that YOU forced her to do!” Garble shouted.
“W-What? N-no I-I didn’t f-force her...” Garble wasn’t having any of that.
“Yes you did! You forced her to love you, have feelings for you and to kiss you whenever you want her to! How dare you do that to my own sister! A sister I helped her become a true dragon before she went that school!”
“B-But G-Garble, I d-didn’t f-force...” before Lightning could continue on, Garble smacked Lightning across the face very hard giving him a sore red mark on his cheek.
“Shut up with your stupid lies, Little Pony!” Snapped Garble.
Lightning placed a hoof on the red mark on his cheek and felt a sore pain from it. Tears began to run down his face as he started to cry and ran off.
“Yeah, that’s right! Run away! And never come near my sister again!” Yelled Garble before flying off.
Smolder was at the main entrance searching through her bag to find the treats she packed for her and Lightning. She took two chocolate muffins out and said, “Aha, there you two are. Lightning’s gonna love you the same way I love him.”
Just then, she heard crying coming from the distance that sounded like Lightning Twister. Feeling worried about her special somepony, she quickly placed the muffins back in her bag and flew off to find Lightning and see what’s wrong.
She spotted her boyfriend crying in his hooves near a big boulder near a medium size lava pool. Smolder flew down towards him and gently placed a claw on his shoulder.
“Lightning sweetie, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
While still crying, Lightning slowly looked up at his girlfriend with tears rolling down his cheeks. Smolder suddenly saw the red mark on his cheek and let out a gasp of shock. “Braveheart, how did you get that red mark?!”
Lightning sobbed and said, “A-After you l-left, G-Garble s-smacked me.”
Smolder was in shock after hearing that before angrily said, “He did WHAT?!”
“H-he s-smacked m-me and t-told me to s-stay away from y-you, b-because h-he thought I w-was f-forcing you t-to l-love m-me.”
Smolder was so not happy with this. She thought Garble was happy of her having a boyfriend after they’ve met for the first time, and now she knew he wasn’t in the first place.
“Well that brother of mine is gonna get it when I get to him.” She gently picked the colt up and held him close to her while gently rubbing his mane, “Come on, sweetie. There’s a mean dragon that needs sorting out from me.”
Smolder spread her wings out and flew off to find her brother while gently holding poor Lightning close to her and comforting him.