"...Surely you still think about it."
"Leave… I have nothing more to say to you. That was years ago and I refuse to be reminded of it."
"You may have returned, but your older sister still gets all the glory. Kinda lame isn't it?"
"That's not true! The ponies of Equestria love me just as much as my sister!"
"Is that what you told yourself over a thousand years ago?"
"…"
"Now that I think about it… when was the last time people cheered your name?"
"..."
"See what I mean? Nightmare Moon was probably the best decision you ever made… relying on the darkness of your heart to take what you rightfully deserve: respect from your… not so loyal subjects."
"Tch… I can't just return to the way I was…"
"Sure you can… you just need a little push…"
"Wait, what are you--"
…
"Now open your heart to darkness once again, Nightmare moon…"
___________________
Sora, Donald, and Goofy were now floating in space on their ship, with Sora wearing a new outfit that the fairies had made for him. They were now looking at the map to see where they had to go. "Lets see... looks like there's only two other worlds to visit right now. Hollow Bastion, and... Equestrian?" Sora said that last one questioningly.
"There's no N at the end of that one, Sora!" Donald corrected.
"So... Equestria?" Sora asked.
"Gee, don't think I've heard of that world before." Goofy commented, scratching his head.
"Well it looks like it's the closest one, so let's go check it out!" Sora said excitedly about attempting to drive.
"Hold it!!" Donald shouted, pushing Sora away from the controls. "You're still too young to drive!"
"Aw come on, Donald!" Sora shouted. "I can do it!"
"What's the first thing you do when driving a ship then??" Donald asked, tapping his flipper on the ground, waiting for an answer.
Sora just crossed his arms as he thought; looking down at the ground. "Uh…" He muttered.
"Exactly!" Donald shouted. "Now sit down!"
"Alright fine…" Sora huffed going to his seat.
"Don't worry Sora. I'm sure you'll get the chance to try!" Goofy said.
"Yeah but how am I gonna learn if I don't try now??" Sora asked.
"Maybe next time." Donald said, already driving the ship towards Equestria.
It didn't take too long to get there. When they arrived, they landed behind what looked like a crystal like tree. "Whoa!" Sora said in awe at the structure.
"Huh?" Donald looked at the tree and then the rest of the town.
"Gawrsh… looks kind of out of place, don't you think?" Goofy asked.
"Now that you mention it…" Sora started. "Yeah, everything else is normal and then there's this huge crystal tree… wonder what that's about. But um… where are all the people? All I see are horses walking around."
"Hmm…" Goofy said looking at the ponies walking about in town. "You know, I think those horses actually are the people!"
"What??" Sora asked, looking at all the ponies as well. "That's different… Let's go check it out!" Sora exclaimed, running out of the ship first.
"Slow down!" Donald exclaimed, running after him with Goofy following close behind.
Upon exiting the ship, Sora quickly fell over on his face. "Ugh…" he groaned.
"We told you to slow down!" Donald exclaimed.
"What even happen--... huh!?" Sora exclaimed looking at where his hand should be. It had been replaced with a hoof. "I… turned into a horse??" he asked before looking at the rest of his body.
"Remember Sora; the ship changes how we look so we can maintain order!" Donald says.
"Then how come neither of you changed??" Sora asked as he slowly got on all 4's, wobbling a bit.
"I guess how we look is just normal for this world." Goofy says.
"That's no fair… I'd rather be myself!" Sora huffed.
"Quit complaining." Donald said. "The quicker we look around, the sooner we can leave, alright?"
"Right." Sora nods. "Let's see if we can find any clues that can help us find Riku… hopefully maybe even find him here."
The others nod and Sora leads the group, heading into the center of town where other colorful looking horses were walking around. Regular horses, horses with wings, and horses with a horn on their heads. "This place looks…" Sora started.
"Colorful?" Donald asked as he looked around.
"Happy?" Goofy asked.
"Peaceful… Doesn't look like anything's happened yet." Sora said.
"EVERYPONY RUN!!!" The three, along with the entire town hears someone shout.
"What the??" Sora asks. The three look over and see a pink pony with cotton candy-like hair, shouting into a megaphone. The three quickly run up to her.
"Stay in your homes! Lock your doors! Don't come out!!" The pink pony shouted.
"Um… Pinkie, I think we're only supposed to do that if we see one of them here." a yellow pegasus said to the pink pony.
"Hey, what's going on??" Sora asked as he was the first to reach the two.
"These creepy shadowy monsters with yellow eyes attacked us in the Everfree Forest!" Pinkie said… somehow imitating the heartless yellow eyes.
"B-but they aren't here yet! There's nothing to panic over!" The yellow pegasus said smiling nervously. "I hope…"
"You saw a heartless?" Sora asked.
"H-H-Heartless…?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah: Dark creatures with all black bodies, yellow eyes and 2 antennas coming out of their heads." Sora explained. "There are different kinds of heartless, but that's the basic one."
The yellow pegasus gulped. "I think I liked it better when I didn't know that…"
"Well it was more than just a heartless! There were a bunch of them!" Pinkie exclaimed going up to Sora's face…
She just stared for a moment before blinking. "Uhhh…" Sora let out.
Pinkie suddenly gasped. "Wait a minute!! Who are you!?" She exclaimed. "I don't remember seeing a unicorn with spiky hair like yours before!"
"O-oh! Right!" Sora let out. "You can call me Sora. And these are my friends; Donald and Goofy."
"Sora, Donald, and Goofy…" Pinkie repeated before giggling a bit. "Silly names! My name's Pinkie Pie! And this is my friend Fluttershy!"
"H-hello…" Fluttershy said nervously looking to the side.
"Well Pinkie Pie." Sora rubbed the back of his head as he said the name. "Think you could show us where you found the heartless? We could probably take care of them."
"You can?? What kind of magic can you do??" Pinkie asked.
"Well I wouldn't call it just magic but…" he says before summoning his Kingdom Key.
"Wowza! That's a huge key!! It must open a really huge door!" Pinkie exclaimed, examining the key closely.
"I mean you're kind of right." Sora chuckled a bit.
"What even is that…?" Fluttershy asked.
"That's the keyblade!" Donald answered.
"Key… blade?" Fluttershy asked, tilting her head a bit.
"It's what I use to fight the heartless." Sora nodded.
"You beat those heartless with a key?? That's all I need??" Pinkie exclaimed, pulling out a comically large keyring with hundreds of keys on it.
"Not exactly." Sora sweat dropped, chuckling a bit. Where did she pull that from…? Sora thought. "Why don't we just show you?" He asked. "Think you could take us to where they are?"
"Okie dokie lokie! Follow me!" Pinkie exclaimed running ahead.
"W-wait! Slow down!" Sora exclaimed… Donald laughed at the irony of Sora's comment just now.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot…
Crystal and Twilight were walking through the halls of the castle, passing by guards who saluted them as they walked by. "I wonder what Princess Celestia knows about those creatures…" Twilight says, pondering a bit.
"Must be pretty big if she wanted us to come right away." Crystal replied.
"That's what I'm worried about… I'm really hoping this isn't some big new threat." Twilight says.
"Well whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it." Crystal says smiling a bit.
Twilight smiled back before looking to the side. Then why do I have a bad feeling…? Twi asked herself mentally.
Eventually the two entered the main throne, seeing Princess Celestia and what looked like a short hooded figure with abnormally large ears. "Huh?" Crystal asked.
"Thank you for coming." Celestia spoke up. "Twilight, Crystal, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine." Celestia said smiling.
Crystal tilted her head a bit. Why does her friend look like Mickey Mouse? Crystal thought… until the figure removed his hood, showing mouse like features as he smiled. Crystal's eyes shrunk a bit. That is Mickey Mouse!!
"Nice to meet ya Twilight and Crystal! I hope the two of you aren't hurt." Mickey said.
Crystal shook her head a bit. "Wait, hurt?"
"Well from what was sent to Celestia, it sounds like you saw the heartless in that forest." Mickey explained.
"H-heartless??" Twilight asked. "Wait, how do you know what they're called? How do you even know this person, Princess?" Twi asked.
"Twilight, this is King Mickey." Celestia explained. "He along with a few more of his friends have had experience with the heartless." Celestia explained.
King Mickey!? Crystal thought. "Well… do you know how we can get rid of them?" Crystal asked, shaking off the thought in her head.
"Unfortunately, getting rid of them completely isn't that easy…" Mickey said. "The heartless come from the darkness that's inside a person's heart… and depending on how strong that darkness is, the stronger the heartless."
"The… darkness in a person's heart…?" Twi asked.
"Or pony's heart." Celestia added. "It can come from anyone. As long as someone has darkness in their heart, no matter how big or small, the heartless will exist."
"The only thing we can do for now is hold them off and keep others safe." Mickey added.
"Keep others safe…" Crystal repeated. "What would the heartless do to a person…?"
"The heartless act on instinct…" Mickey started. "They live to consume more hearts."
"C-consume hearts!?" Twilight shouted.
"Okay, this is a lot worse than what we've faced in the past!" Crystal exclaimed.
"Trust me… I haven't even gotten to the worst of it yet." Mickey said. "But we don't have much time to get into that… right now, we need your help; both of you."
"Huh?" Both Twilight and Crystal asked.
"Twilight, Princess Celestia tells me you're an extraordinary magic user." Mickey started before turning to Crystal. "She also tells me that your magic is powerful as well… we really need someone like you." Mickey says.
"But… I saw how many heartless appeared out of nowhere in that forest… I can't just rely on my magic to fight them!" Crystal exclaimed.
"No you can't." Mickey nodded. "You'll need a special weapon to help you as well."
"W-weapon? Is that even safe...?" Twilight asked.
"Trust Mickey… he's trained with said 'weapon' for a long time now… it's a weapon specifically used to fight against the darkness." Celestia says.
"What kind of weapon…?" Crystal asked.
Mickey then held out his gloved hand, before a giant golden key with a silver handle seemed to materialize in his hand. "The keyblade." Mickey says.
"What in Equestria--!?" Twilight exclaimed while Crystal just stared.
"The keyblade is a weapon that shares a link with its owner. It's a powerful weapon used to fight the darkness." Mickey explained. "It's also able to lock and unlock any lock you may find."
"...That's… convenient." Twilight says. "But… how do you expect us to use a weapon like that?"
"Well first we have to actually make sure you two can wield a keyblade." Mickey says.
"And… how do we do that?" Crystal asked.
"King Mickey is a keyblade master." Celestia answers. "If you are able to, he should be able to help draw it out."
"Right then… can both of you step forward?" Mickey asked. Twilight and Crystal looked at each other still a little confused before walking up to Mickey. Mickey then held out his own keyblade. "In your hand and hoof, take this key." Mickey started. "So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking... its wielder you will be. And you will find me. No world will contain you. No borders around, or below, or above. So long as you champion the ones you love." Mickey said. "Now both of you hold onto the key." Both Crystal and Twilight hesitantly held a hand and a hoof out, both touching the key. "Good." he says before dematerializing his keyblade.
"Wait that's it?" Crystal asked. "Isn't there anything else?"
"Do you feel any different?" Mickey asked.
"I… don't really know." She says. "Am I supposed to feel something?"
"Hmm…" Mickey crossed his arms a bit. "It might take a little bit… while I have some time, I'll try to help you call your keyblades out… if it worked."
"So what we just did might not have even worked on us?" Twilight asked.
"There's only one way to find out." Mickey says. "Let's get started then." he says smiling at the two.
Back with Pinkie, Sora, Donald, and Goofy…
The three were now standing in front of the Everfree Forest entrance. "This is the place!" Pinkie says.
"Looks kind of creepy…" Sora comments as he starts his way inside the forest with Donald and Goofy walking beside him. Donald seemed to be shaking a bit as they walked inside.
“Before our friends came and got us out of there, a bunch of heartless attacked us!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I have no idea why! We weren’t bothering them or anything!”
“That… doesn’t really matter to a heartless.” Sora says. “The only thing they want is to take a person’s heart.”
“Can’t they have a chocolate heart instead?” Pinkie asked as she pulled out a solid chocolate heart out of her mane.
“Gawrsh. I wish it were that easy.” Goofy chuckled.
“Don’t worry; we’ll take care of the heartless for you guys.” Sora says as he starts entering the forest with Donald and Goofy.
“Do you really think we’ll be okay in here?” Goofy asked.
“If they just saw the basic shadow heartless, it shouldn’t be that bad.” Sora smirked. It didn’t take long for said shadows to start appearing out of the ground. “See? Piece of ca--!”
“LOOK OUT!!” Donald shouted pushing the unicorn Sora down on the ground.
“What’d you do that for??” Sora asked.
“That!!” Donald shouted back, pointing at a tree that now had a blast mark.
“Huh…?" Sora looked at the mark and then over at the pony-like heartless. "Uh oh… looks like the heartless got some of the horses in this town…” Sora gulped. “Come on! Let’s take them down!” He exclaimed, now levitating his keyblade with magic.
“How are you doing that??” Donald asked.
“I don’t really know! I’m just… doing it!” Sora said charging in, swinging his keyblade and slashing away at the heartless.
Pinkie just looked from a distance. “Oooo…!” She let out as she watched Sora fight. Donald then raised his staff, using a thunder spell on one of the heartless. “Wooow!” She giggled, jumping a bit. Goofy could be seen bashing his shield into a group of heartless. “Woo-hoo!!... AAAHHH!!" She suddenly yelped seeing a pony heartless behind her. But quickly stopped as soon as she saw it freeze in place from a spell. Sora then quickly charged at the same heartless, finishing it off with a vertical slash. "Whew…"
"You sure you wanna be in here with us??" Sora asked, as he charged back in.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Pinkie smiled.
"But you almost got hurt just now!" Sora exclaimed.
"But you saved me, so it's fine!" Pinkie giggled.
"Cheerful, isn't she?" Goofy chuckled.
"She's too optimistic…" Donald huffed.
After a little while, all the heartless in the area stopped appearing. "You know, for a happy looking place like that town, I'm surprised at how much heartless there are…" Sora says.
"That was amazing!!" Pinkie exclaimed hopping in the air.
"Heh." Sora chuckled a bit. "We've had some experience."
"Come on! Let's go celebrate!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly picking up Sora onto her back.
"W-whoa! What are you doing??" Sora asked.
"Taking you to Sugarcube corner of course!" Pinkie said to Sora before turning to Donald and Goofy. "You should come too! We're gonna have a 'saved the town from heartless by my new friends' party! Just follow us!" Pinkie said before running back toward town.
"Wait! Don't run so fast!" Donald exclaimed as he and Goofy started running after her.
"You know, I'm startin' to see a pattern…" Goofy says.
Upon entering Ponyville, the two find that Pinkie had come to a complete stop and was looking up into the air. Sora quickly got off. "Something happened?" Sora asked.
"Is it night time already??" Pinkie asked, looking up at the now night sky.
"Huh?" Sora looked up seeing that the moon was up. "We weren't in there that long, right?"
"Uh-uh." Donald shook his head.
Pinkie looked up again when she heard something flying over. "There you are, Rainbow Dash!"
"Pinkie Pie?? What happened to everypony??" Rainbow asked.
"I evacuated everyone, just like Twilight said!" Pinkie said. "But everything's fine now! My new friends; Sora, Donald, and Goofy took care of it!"
"Wait huh??" Rainbow looked over at the three individuals who just awkwardly waved. "Don't think I've seen them before-- Wait, that doesn't matter! I'm glad you evacuated everyone already!"
"So now everypony can come back, right?" Pinkie asked.
"No! Don't let anypony back yet!" Rainbow exclaimed looking behind her… seeing what looked like a shadowy alicorn with glowing eyes, and wings of darkness.
"What is that!?" Sora shouted as the three looked over too, already getting ready to fight again.
"It… looks like Nightmare Moon but...!" Rainbow exclaimed. "This feels different… She isn’t acting the same, she’s just--!" She exclaimed before dodging a beam from the alicorn.
"We got this!" Sora exclaimed as he, Donald and Goofy ran toward the heartless.
"Are you crazy!?" Rainbow shouted.
"It's fine!" Pinkie exclaimed. "He has a giant key!"
"What the hay are you talking about Pinkie Pi--" Rainbow stopped before slowly looking back to Sora, seeing his levitating keyblade. "What the…"
The Alicorn took notice of the keyblade, lowered itself to the ground and launched a series of magic blasts from its horn at Sora. Sora dodged and rolled out of the way. He then charged in going in for a strike, but as he was about to hit the shadowy alicorn, it seemed the keyblade was knocked back by a magical barrier. "What the--!?" Sora let out before getting blasted back by them.
"Sora!" Both Donald and Goofy shout as they ran up to him.
"What just happened?..." Sora groaned.
"It looks like it's protectin' itself!" Goofy answered.
"Come on! Let's try to find an opening!" Donald exclaimed helping Sora get back to his hooves.
Back in Canterlot with Crystal, Twilight, and King Mickey…
Crystal huffed as she held out her hand… trying very hard to concentrate. Twilight was doing the same thing; so far, both of them have had no luck. Crystal just put her hand down. "Starting to think this didn't work…" Crystal said, looking to the side.
"Hmm… alright, try this." Mickey started. "Try thinking of everything that makes you happy."
"Well… being with my friends always makes me happy." Crystal says.
"That's perfect!" Mickey smiled. "How close are you to them?"
"Well… I've known them ever since I first came to Ponyville… we've done a lot together."
"And what would you do if they were in danger?" Mickey asked, suddenly having a serious expression on his face; the question catching Crystal off guard a bit. "You wouldn't just wait and let them get hurt, would you?"
"Of course I wouldn't!" Crystal exclaimed. "I'd never let my friends get hurt! Not just my friends; anypony!"
Mickey smiled for a moment while Twilight stared at Crystal in shock. "Look at your hand, Crystal."
"Huh…?" Crystal slowly stopped and looked at her hand… seeing that she was now holding a different looking giant key. The blade itself looked like a light blue spiral with a pink light going through the center and a crown at the end of it. "How did…"
"That is your keyblade, Crystal." Mickey smiled. "With that, it's proof that you are now a wielder."
"It looks different from Mickey's…" Twilight said observing the key closely.
"Not every keyblade looks the same." Mickey commented. "There are many different kinds out there.”
“But I still haven’t been able to draw out a keyblade myself yet…” Twilight said in a sulky tone.
“Sometimes it takes longer than others to draw it out.” Mickey says. “That was the case for a friend of mine.”
“What friend?” Crystal asked.
“His name is--”
“Your highness!” a royal guard pegasus exclaimed running in, approaching Celestia and bowing.
“Is something the matter?” Celestia asked, looking concerned.
“We just got word from Ponyville… the citizens have been evacuated due to an attack!!” The guard exclaimed.
“Is it a heartless already attacking Ponyville??” Twilight exclaimed.
"And there's more…" the guard said looking to the side. "Princess Luna has vanished…!"
"What…??" Celestia asked, looking worried as well. She quickly went over to one of the windows… seeing that the moon was now eclipsing the sun. "It can't be…"
“N-no way… you don’t think that--!” Twilight let out.
“We have to go back!” Crystal added about to teleport herself and Twilight.
“Wait!” Mickey exclaimed, taking Crystal’s hand. “You only just now brought out your key... Are you sure you want to go running in like that??”
“Well we can’t just do nothing!” Crystal exclaimed.
“Then I’m going with you! We don’t know how strong they are!” Mickey added.
“Alright.” Crystal nodded before keeping hold of Mickey’s hand, and placing another hand on Twilight.
“You sure about this…?” Twilight asked. “I don’t want you getting hurt…”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t.” Mickey nodded. “You can count on me.”
Twilight just stared at Mickey for a moment and sighed. “Alright… let’s go.”
Back in Ponyville…
Sora could be seen jumping out of the way from magic blasts coming from the alicorn's horn. "I can't get close enough without getting blasted by it!"
"And my magic isn't working either!' Donald exclaimed.
"..." Rainbow just stared at the being for a bit.
"What's wrong, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked.
"I don’t get it… why would be Luna acting like this?" Rainbow asked. "I've been thinking a lot about it… the elements of harmony changed her to good, for pony’s sake! But… now she’s attacking us like she doesn’t even recognize us… is this really her?”
"Well… we don't really know that many other alicorns!" Pinkie says. "And you're right! It’s totally strange! She acts like a totally different pony, but definitely looks like Nightmare Moon!”
The alicorn stomped on the ground with a snort, and a dark aura coming from it. "Because I am Nightmare Moon!"
"WHA!?" Both Rainbow and Pinkie exclaimed.
"Who's Nightmare Moon!?" Donald exclaimed.
"She's supposed to be Princess Luna!" Rainbow answered.
"A princess??" The three asked at once before readying for an attack. "Well what do we do now??" Sora asked.
"I don't know!" Rainbow exclaimed. "We used the elements of harmony on her to bring her back but they're gone now!"
“What do you mean they’re gone??” Donald asked.
“Look out!!” Goofy exclaimed.
The group braced themselves for a blast that was about to come from ‘Nightmare Moon’...
“Reflect!”
Suddenly a barrier appeared around the group, and the magic blast was repelled back at Nightmare moon, pushing her back. “Huh??” Sora asked, looking at where the voice came from, seeing a familiar hooded mouse. “Y-Your majesty??”
“His majesty!?” Both Donald and Goofy exclaimed.
“Glad I could find you all here!” Mickey smiled at the three.
“Giant talking mouse!!” Pinkie giggled.
“Not the time Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“What are you doing here, your majesty? Is Riku here?” Sora asked.
“I’m afraid not, Sora.” Mickey shook his head. “But I did bring a little back up from this world!”
“Wait, really? Who?” Donald asked.
“Uh… hey.” The group hears from within the barrier. They would look over and see a young girl that looked to be about the same age as Sora.
“...Huh!?” The three exclaimed in confusion.
“Crystal! You’re back!” Pinkie smiled.
“Wait a sec, how is she… a human??” Sora asked.
“Everything can be explained later, Sora!" Mickey says.
Crystal looked over at Nightmare Moon wide eyed as she got back to her hooves. "Princess Luna stop!" She called out.
"Do not address me by that name!" Nightmare Moon shouted. "My name is Nightmare Moon! And this time I will ensure the night lasts forever!"
"Night time forever…??" Goofy asked.
"People need the daytime too!" Donald shouted.
"Yeah! No one can always live in darkness!" Sora added.
"I've lived in it for over 1,000 years!!" Nightmare Moon shouted before firing a blast again at them. However this time Crystal reflected it upward.
"Huh? How did you do that…?" Sora asked Crystal.
"A spell that I learned from my mom…" Crystal answered. "...Uh… Mickey? It's not coming out…"
"Try focusing on that feeling you had when you first drew it out." Mickey said. "Once you get used to that, it gets easier."
"Right…" Crystal said. She then took a deep breath before closing her eyes for a moment to concentrate.
"Wait, draw what ou--" Sora asked before seeing Crystal summon her own keyblade in her hand.
"A keyblade!?" The three exclaimed.
"The organization isn't just threatening the worlds you know, Sora… but this one and those connected to it as well." Mickey explained.
"Wait, organization--" Crystal said before reflecting another beam. "Dang it, Luna!!'
"Crystal, use the keyblade to fight her!" Mickey exclaimed.
"I can't fight Princess Luna!" Crystal retorted.
"She'll be fine." Mickey said. "If you use the keyblade, you should be able to take away whatever darkened her heart again."
"But…" Crystal stammered.
"We'll back you up!" Sora exclaimed, levitating his key.
Crystal looked at the three again, then her key, then Luna. "And… this won't hurt her…?" She asked.
"Trust me… everything will turn out just fine!" Mickey says getting his key ready as well.
Crystal just stared at the group again and sighed before nodding. "Alright…" She says looking back to Luna. "Sorry about this Princess Luna…"
…
"You've gotta be kidding me… another one??"