“So, it looks like we’re down to our last errand, Kairi. If I remember correctly, we need to get some dog food from a yellow pegasus named Fluttershy,” Lea said. “I guess the name Flutterbold was taken by someone else.”
“Well, we better get going, Lea. We need to finish up and head to Canterlot to meet with the princess,” Kairi reminded Lea.
“From what we were told, this looks like the place,” Lea said as the duo approached a small yet beautiful cottage with what looked like plenty of little abodes for a variety of different creatures from birds to ferrets to bunnies.
“It’s beautiful! Well, one thing I can say about this Fluttershy is that she really knows and loves her animals!” Kairi said in awe.
“Remember, we’re here to get the dog food and go. We don’t have all day to chat,” Lea snarked.
“Right. We’ll try to keep it short,” Kairi said as she blushed. As she made it to the front door and knocked, she could hear noise on the other side of the door but after a minute or two of waiting still couldn’t see the pony in question. “Um, Lea? Where do you think Fluttershy is?”
“I don’t know, but it looks like she really lives up to her name. I mean, seriously? We’ve been waiting for quite a while now and still nothing!” Lea yelled in frustration.
Suddenly, the door opened to the sight of a white fluffy bunny. Kairi was quick to react. “Hey little fella. Do you know where Fluttershy is?” At this, the bunny started to frown with a bitter scowl.
“So much for being a sweetie pie, huh Kairi?” Lea whispered snarkily.
“Now, come on, Lea! Just try and be a little patient. Sorry about Lea here. You see, we’re here because we need to get some dog food from Fluttershy here. If you can just get her out here, we’ll be out of here and you can calm down and smile,” Kairi said. At this, the rabbit went back inside, closing the door behind him. Soon, the duo could hear the sound of much movement from inside the cabin. After a minute or so, a yellow pegasus was pushed outside along with some dog food and the door was slammed shut behind her due to said rabbit.
“Finally. So, Fluttershy was it? It’s nice to meet you. The name’s Lea. Got it memorized?” Lea introduced himself.
“And my name’s Kairi. So, how are things going today?” Kairi curiously asked.
For some reason that neither Lea or Kairi could tell, the pegasus didn’t give a response right away. Or a minute later. Or two.
“Um, look, if you don’t wanna talk then we can just grab the food and go,” Lea suggested, trying to be patient.
“Lea’s right. We’re just here to get the dog food that Applejack ordered. You can just give it to us and we’ll be out of your beautiful hair,” Kairi complemented.
“O-Okay,” The timid pegasus whispered as she handed over the food bag and turned to head back inside. “Angel? Can you please let me back in? I-I know you want me to talk to these two, and they do seem nice, but I’d rather not today.” Fluttershy was in luck as the door opened as Angel, the bunny from earlier, opened up the door. In response, Fluttershy darted back in as Angel rolled his eyes, annoyed by his owner’s lack of backbone.
“Well, that was interesting…,” Lea commented.
“Sometimes people-er-ponies don’t want to be social. We should respect that. Though I do hope that she’ll come out of her shell one of these days. Come on. We should head back to Sweet Apple Acres,” Kairi said.
“At long last. It’ll be great to get some more food to eat before we head off for Canterlot,” Lea said back.
“It’ll also be great to see the Apple family one more time before we leave,” Kairi commented.
“Yeah, as for Canterlot, maybe it’ll be a party up there,” Lea joked.
“Did someone say party?!” A voice suddenly yelled out. As the duo turned, they saw a pink pony with a cutie mark consisting of three balloons. “I’m so excited to finally meet you two! I saw you both earlier and I’ve been trying to learn more about you so that I could throw you both a party! After all, you’re both new to Ponyville and you’re likely to become new friends with me and the rest of Ponyville when the time comes! So, would you both like to have a free cupcake from Sugarcube Corner or some other confectionery treat?!”
“Um, I suppose so?” Lea awkwardly agreed.
“Yeah. It would be nice to get a treat before we leave for Canterlot,” Kairi said.
“You mean you’re leaving? Well, I guess we can throw that party for you both tonight before you leave Applejack’s! Oh, the name’s Pinkie Pie by the way! And your names are… Lea and Kairi, right?” Pinkie Pie asked.
Both red heads were confused as to how she knew both their names already. “Um, sure. I guess we can have a party before we leave. So, I take it that you love treats?” Kairi asked, trying to be nice to this weird but well-meaning pony.
“Love them?! Of course! Anyone can be made happier with the right treat! In fact, I believe that any pony can be made friends with! You just need to find the right things about them and the path to friendship will surely be made present! So, what are your favorite treats anyway?!” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Uh, well, my favorite treat is sea-salt ice cream. I didn’t like it at first, but my friend Roxas helped me to enjoy them. Though, aside from that, I’d say that my favorite treat would be a strawberry tart,” Lea answered a bit awkwardly, still not entirely on board with this strange pony.
“As for me, my favorite treat is peanut butter fudge. I don’t get to have it often, but I can tell you that it is indeed tasty,” Kairi explained.
“Great! I’ll be sure to have it done in a jiffy! I’ll see you both at the party tonight!” Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced away from the confused duo.
“So, we both agree that she is weird, right?” Lea asked.
“Come on, Lea! You gotta admit she was very nice. I mean, throwing a party for two ponies she just met isn’t something just anyone would do,” Kairi reminded.
“True. Still, while I plan to enjoy myself at the party, I also hope to not have to talk to too many of these ponies. While they do seem nice enough, they also are very weird.”
“Can you at least give them a chance? After all, we should be nice to the denizens of this world.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll give them a chance. Just don’t expect me to be buddy buddy with everyone,” Lea agreed.
“Good. Now, let’s head back to Sweet Apple Acres. We need to help prepare for a party,” Kairi said as Lea followed after her.
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When Kairi and Lea returned to Sweet Apple Acres, they returned to see that Applejack and her family were hard at work bucking trees and collecting the apples into buckets. They also noticed that Pinkie Pie was nearby starting to prepare a party.
“Well, looks like everyone is hard at work. So, should I go rest for the party or should we give them a hand?” Lea asked curiously.
“I’d say we help out Pinkie after we tell Applejack that we finished the chores,” Kairi said.
At this, Applejack noticed that Lea and Kairi had returned and walked over to them. “So, I take it that you’ve finished the errands?”
“Yep. Sure did. Here is the dog food and weather schedule,” Lea said as he handed over both items.
“So, I notice that Pinkie Pie is starting work on a party for us. Does she do this for everyone or are we just a special case?” Kairi asked curiously.
“Pinkie Pie loves to throw parties for just about everyone and everything. She loves making others smile and be happy from what I can tell. She is one of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet. She can be a bit much at times though,” Applejack explained.
“Good to know. So, should Lea and I help her set up the party?” Kairi asked, wanting to be helpful.
“No thanks! I just want you two to enjoy yourselves and make some new friends here in Ponyville! I just hope you two will come by and visit sometime once you both are situated back in Canterlot,” Pinkie Pie answered with a cupcake in her hoof, which she devoured in one bite.
“Okay then. So, what should we do in the meantime then?” Lea asked.
“How about we head over to the local library and read up on what we can’t remember?” Kairi suggested.
“I guess you can do that. I’ll go and get some rest so that I’ll be ready for the party. After all, I still need to catch some Z’s after being woken up so early,” Lea decided.
“Well, at Sweet Apple Acres, we think it’s best to be early to bed and early to rise,” Applejack said.
“Well, I’ll see you all later, okay?” Kairi said as she left Sweet Apple Acres in order to read up on the land of Equestria.
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It took Kairi some time, but she eventually found the town library, which was a cozy looking treehouse located in the middle of town. When Kairi got there, she found that the library was empty. She was confused as to why there was no librarian, but seeing as there was a sign saying to come right on in, she decided not to think about it too much for the time being.
Throughout the afternoon, Kairi read up on the history of Equestria and also on some of the more common knowledge of this strange world. This included that weather was controlled by pegasi, that there was a princess that was the niece of Celestia named Cadence, and even some of the holidays such as Hearts and Hooves Day, which was like Valentine’s Day.
Kairi was amazed by what she read, finding all of this new information to be enchanting and intriguing to figure out. Eventually, she found a book that detailed that there were originally two princesses that ruled Equestria. However, after the younger sister grew envious of the older sister for their daytime being loved and cherished while the younger sister’s night was slept through, she became corrupted into a being known as Nightmare Moon who wished to make nighttime eternal. The older sister, however, used these special gems known as the Elements of Harmony in order to stop Nightmare Moon and seal her into the moon.
“Whoa! This is just… overwhelming! I wonder if this story is true. If so, then I kinda feel bad for the younger sister. After all, maybe if things were different then she wouldn’t have been corrupted by darkness,” Kairi muttered to herself.
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In the early evening, Kairi decided to return to Sweet Apple Acres after learning a fair amount about the land of Equestria. She couldn’t wait to inform Lea about all that she learned about this strange land. Upon reaching Sweet Apple Acres, she saw a group of ponies partying around the barn. Upon noticing Kairi, the many ponies cheered with thunderous applause for the unicorn.
Kairi was happy to be greeted by the many partygoers. However, wanting to talk to ponies that she knew, decided to look for Applejack and Lea. It took some searching, but she eventually found Lea standing near Applejack, who was competing with Rainbow Dash in bobbing for apples.
“So, it took you long enough to get back from reading. The party has been going on for nearly an hour,” Lea jokes.
“Sorry, I just was so engrossed in the history of this land! Did you know that there were originally three different pony tribes that learned to finally get along when they were nearly frozen solid by windigos?” Kairi asked.
“No, I did not. I have to say, from the sounds of it this world is incredibly strange sounding,” Lea commented.
“Maybe, but this world is still incredible! I wouldn’t mind finding myself a home here to stay part-time,” Kairi gushed.
“Hold on. You guys don’t live anywhere here? What is wrong with you two? Do you live on the road or something?” Rainbow Dash asked, suspicious as to why Lea and Kairi were talking about history that was common knowledge like they were just learning it.
“Oh, we were looking to move into either Canterlot or Ponyville. Nothing strange going on here,” Lea lied.
“Look you two. I don’t know what is going on with you both, but just know that I don’t trust you. After all, why would you only lose some memories rather than all of them?” Rainbow Dash warned. “I don’t want the ponies of Ponyville to be hurt, so just make sure that you don’t try anything funny. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to fight you!”
“Rainbow Dash! Don’t accuse them of being bad! They helped defend Sweet Apple Acres from these dark creatures called Heartless,” Applejack defended the duo.
“How do you know they didn’t summon them to look like heroes?” Rainbow Dash countered.
“I doubt they did that! Besides, they were willing to help set up the party but Pinkie Pie said they didn’t have to,” Applejack pointed out.
“Well, um-,” Rainbow Dash stuttered.
“Look. I know we just met them and we don’t have much reason to trust them yet, but they seem to be genuinely nice ponies. I think we should give them a chance,” Applejack pleaded.
After a moment of thinking, Rainbow Dash decided, “F-Fine. I’ll be nice. For now. But if they do anything to hurt anypony I will stop them, understand?”
“Trust me, that won’t happen, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said.
Just as Rainbow was about to stand down, many ponies started to run away from the party. One of the ponies was Pinkie Pie, who looked scared.
“Whoa! Pinkie Pie? What is the problem?” Kairi asked.
“There are these strange shadow creatures looking like they are going to attack everypony! Run!” Pinkie Pie screamed as she began to run away.
“Come on, Lea! Looks like the Heartless are attacking. We should defeat them before somepony gets hurt,” Kairi said as she summoned her Keyblade.
“Alright then,” Lea agreed as he also summoned his Keyblade.
“Wait! Are those-,” Rainbow was shocked to see the Keyblades.
In an instant, the duo ran to start attacking the Heartless, cutting through them one by one with their Keyblades. Lea started to generate flames in order to burn the Heartless, being mindful not to burn down anything. Kairi also began to use her magic to attack the Heartless. Thankfully, the duo were able to fight off most of the Heartless without much trouble. However, just as they were about to finish off the last of them, a Heartless snuck up behind them and was ready to strike. However, before it did, Rainbow rushed the Heartless while holding a cloud and rainbow lightning covered Keyblade, much to the duo's shock.