//------------------------------//
// Toy Box (Part 3) 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria 
// by Codex92 
//------------------------------//

At the display window, Smolder kicked it open with a grunt. They were done in the Babies and Toddlers store, and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. She hopped down and walked on ahead on the third floor with Sora, Donald, Goofy, Woody, Buzz, and the recently rescued Hamm followed her warily. After seeing her practically destroy the large maid doll without any restraint, the toys thought she was a much more dangerous toy to be around than the Heartless or any other toy.

Despite the scare, Buzz was growing increasingly worried about the possessed toys, and how frequently they've been appearing and attacking them. "This is turning into madness," he mumbled.

Woody stopped and looked at the space ranger. "Buzz?"

"What if we end up like that doll?" Buzz asked. "What if we...forget ourselves, and start attacking each other?"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Hamm paused and looked at Buzz as well. "No way, Buzz. That's never gonna happen," Sora assured.

"How can you be so sure?" Buzz questioned. "What if I get taken over and attack you?" He then pointed to Smolder, who thankfully didn't go too far ahead as she leaned back against the balcony wall, still fuming from her rage. "What if the same happens to her? You've seen what she did back in there."

Sora glanced back at Smolder. He needed to figure out what's on her mind since the start of her first outing in another world. She definitely has a lot of power to show off, but with her ire and anger, it was going to end with very explosive results. While Buzz was still fretting, Woody placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Buzz, you're overthinking it," Woody said.

"He's right," Donald said. "Heartless can creep into your heart if it falters. You'll be fine as long as you don't lose heart."

"Yeah, trust us," Goofy added. "We've seen it happen to a lot of our enemies in the past. But if it's any of our friends, we can help pull them back from the darkness."

"Well, that's good," Woody said in relief, even helping calm Buzz down a little bit. "And I know you, Buzz. You'll never lose heart when it comes to your friends."

Buzz smiled a little and nodded, trusting in his companions. "True enough, cowboy," he said to Woody. "Sorry for worrying you all." He looked back at Smolder, crossing his arms with a bit of concern. "But Smolder, though...I'm glad Rex didn't see her like that."

"Kinda glad I stayed far away from that, otherwise she would have turned me into a pork roast," Hamm said. "I'm gonna go wait by the entrance if that's fine with you guys. All this loose change I'm carrying's gonna slow me down."

"No problem, Hamm," Woody said. "Just be safe going back."

"Hey, thanks, buddy." Hamm walked on ahead to find a way back to the ground floor, wishing the group luck finding the last of their friends.

Taking a little breather from the battle with the doll, Sora decided to confront Smolder about her issues. He walked over to her, but she refrained from making eye contact with him. Her arms were crossed over her chest, leering forward, though her breathing was a bit calmer now. She was a little scuffed up from the fight, barely showing much sign of injury if she's trying to hide it.

"Smolder, are you feeling ok?" Sora asked.

"Yes," she grumbled. "I'm fine."

"After what happened in Babies and Toddlers, I don't think you are," Sora said.

"I said I'm fine!" Smolder insisted. Sora summoned his Keyblade and used Cure, healing her scuffs and fatigue, which was a bad move as she growled in annoyance. "I could have done that myself!"

"Do you even have any mana left in you?" Sora's question made her scowl. She gave up with a huff, turning away from her superior. "Smolder, you're clearly getting frustrated and getting more aggravated with each passing minute. Something is bugging you, and I just want to know what's wrong."

"How many times do I have to say that I'm fine!?" Smolder exclaimed angrily.

"Smolder," Sora calmly said. She grumbled, keeping her back to him. "Was it because of what Aqua said about your aggression? How you should be a bit nicer or...be a bit...less than a tomboy?"

"The hay is a 'tomboy'?" Smolder questioned.

"A girl who likes to do things boys normally like doing: roughhousing, sports, getting dirty. Kind of like the things other dragons like you do," Sora explained. She didn't ask for more details, getting the idea, but still refused to look at him. Getting down to one knee, Sora gently placed a hand on the dragoness's shoulder. "Hey, I'm just trying to help. That's what friends do. I know you're still learning a lot about it, and it's still pretty foreign to you in some ways. We're just concerned about what's going on in your mind." Sora couldn't see the grimace on Smolder's face, but her muscles tensed up a little bit from what she was afraid of revealing. "If this relates to something about dragons we don't know about, then we need to know so we can prevent it from happening."

"...I just...didn't want to be there," Smolder mumbled.

"Why?" Sora asked, being patient and let her explain at her own pace.

Sighing, she moved Sora's hand off her shoulder and turned around, keeping her head low. "...Dragons don't do non-dragon stuff," she said. "We don't do or like anything ponies do or like. Just...being in that place, with so many...girly, baby things...I don't like that stuff."

"Neither did I, or even Donald or Goofy, but all that stuff is just items to be sold or set up for display," Sora reasoned. "They didn't do anything to you."

"You want to ask that doll who grabbed me?" Smolder grumbled with a scowl.

Standing back up, Sora crossed him arms as he looked up in thought. "Well, aside from that," he uttered. He looked down at Smolder, getting a couple ideas as to why Smolder's so anxious and moody lately. "Is it because your dragon pride is being challenged because Aqua asked you to do something you don't want to?"

"...Maybe," the dragon teen mumbled awkwardly.

"Spike told me once about how he has this 'Dragon Code' of his a couple years ago," Sora said. "If anyone saved his life, he felt he owed a lifetime debt and would do anything they asked of him. In a way, his 'pride' was being an assistant to someone, an he's done that for Twilight ever since he was little. And after meeting the dragons during the dragon migration, most of them had this sense of pride like they were better than every creature around them. Even their own kind."

"If we dragons have no pride, then we're not dragons; we're gutless reptiles," Smolder said. "I'm not weak, I don't show weakness, and if I don't need help, then don't help me."

"So your pride's been damaged because we're trying to keep you safe from harm while you learn how to survive in other worlds beyond Equestria?" Sora asked. Smolder rolled her eyes, wanting this conversation to be done and over with, but she hated how much Sora's trying to pry into her logic. "Look, you may be strong, but there are others out there who are a lot stronger than you. I mean, Buzz managed to flip you on your back when you challenged him. You have the tough dragon look, but you also underestimate how much stronger, smarter, or skilled your opponent really is just from looking at their appearance. This is why you need to learn to be patient, don't rush your enemies, and carefully plan how to react to their movements."

"So I just stand back and do nothing!?" Smolder argued. "Gallus got to fight tons of enemies when he went to a world, and he even took down a giant Heartless with you!"

"We got separated, and Marluxia was around, forcing us to split up with him!" Sora argued back. "He didn't have a choice but to fight back for his own survival! You are within sight of us, but you're putting yourself at risk by not following directions and brute forcing your way through enemies you clearly underestimate!"

"Then let me do what I want and I'll learn MY way!" Smolder shouted. She summoned her Keyblade, then pointed it at Sora. "If all I'm doing learning from you, who I thought would be a cool master to be taught by, is to just sit back and watch you do all the work, I'd rather be taking notes about some boring subject back at the School of Friendship!"

Sora closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes, he completely caught Smolder off guard: he swiftly rushed her, smacked her Keyblade out of her hand, swept his leg behind hers, causing her to trip onto her back, and before she could attempt to make a move, Sora dropped down, planting a knee on her chest, and summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at her. Smolder stared in shock, barely able to process what just happened to her within the few seconds she got disarmed and pinned. Shifting her gaze from the tip of the Kingdom Keyblade to Sora, she saw the dead serious look in his eyes. All her anger was gone. She had no retorts to give, no excuses to make. For the second time today, she got knocked over and pinned down by someone, thinking she could beat them in her own way.

"Is this a good lesson for you?" Sora asked, his friendly tone gone after tolerating enough of Smolder's ignorance. "Instead of a lecture, does a physical demonstration help paint a big enough picture for you, Smolder? Because your silence and the look on your face tells me it worked. At least, I hope it did." Smolder's mouth opened, but she had no words. She watched Sora's Keyblade aim further down her body, aiming it over her chest where her heart is. She flinched when he gently tapped her chest with his blade a couple times. "One wrong move, one misstep, and a complete lack of focus will cause you to lose your heart faster than you can say 'Oops'.

"You getting angry and frustrated will only get yourself killed much faster, especially when you rely too much on your dragon culture's ideals of pride and not the lessons and warnings from a teacher who is also concerned for your health and safety." Slowly, Sora stood up, dismissing his weapon, then held his hand out to the stunned dragon. Blinking through her daze, Smolder reached her hand up to grab his, and was helped back up on her feet. "I don't know what got you so wild back in that store, but if you don't control that temper of yours, it's not just your enemies that are going to get hurt."

Smolder felt her disarmed Keyblade return to her hand after the tough physical lesson Sora gave her. She looked up, expecting some apologetic gaze for the rough treatment, but his expression was hardened, and he made no eye contact with her. Smolder wanted to shout, but she bit her lip, clearly outmatched by a veteran wielder who saved dozens of worlds. She huffed, feeling humiliated from the swift defeat, but it was much less than what would have happened if Sora knew how much she actually enjoyed wearing a dress and pretending to be a princess for a few minutes.

"Sora! Smolder! Heads up!" Woody hissed.

Sora quickly glanced back at Woody, he and the others hiding behind a nearby balloon cart, then looked up. Floating around the ceiling, there was a giant UFO toy flying around, the underside equipped with a three-armed claw that would be seen in crane games. Darkness radiated from it, while riding inside the spaceship was a toy alien with glowing yellow eyes and a glowing antennae tip. Sora quickly grabbed Smolder and dove around the corner of the railing, avoiding the Heartless possessed UFO's sight. They kept quiet as it hovered past their hiding spots, making its way over to an area on the third floor that seemed to house an indoor play area for children.

"More possessed toys," Sora uttered.

"And I have a feeling I know who it might be headed for," Woody said. "Let's follow that UFO."

Sora nodded and ran on ahead, Woody, Buzz, Donald, and Goofy following after him and chased down the UFO. Smolder was still reeling from the lesson she was given, along with seeing just how far she had pushed Sora's patience. He was right, but her stubbornness didn't want to show any weakness. She clenched her fists, shaking her head in frustration, then hurried after the others. She'll show him that she won't need his help, or anyone's help.

The entrance to the play area had a sort of mini play area, seeing there might have been a limit of children to be in the actual play place beyond the gates and the viewing windows. There were two different sized slides, some mini trampolines, little pedal cars, building blocks, and some board games stacked around the tree-shaped shelves. The UFO entered the area, and around the corner behind one of the shelves, they spotted the three little aliens waddling forward, looking up at the possessed toy spacecraft.

"They have come for us," the one in front said.

"The mystic portal awaits," the middle one said.

The UFO stops, hovering over the aliens, and dropped its claw down to grab them. "Oh no!" Buzz exclaimed.

"Wait, stop!" Woody called out, but they knew the aliens toys were a weird bunch with their behaviors.

The aliens got caught, all bunched together as the claw raised them up to the UFO. "Farewell!" they said, completely unaware of the danger they're in.

"Oh no you don't!" Sora dashed forward and leapt toward the UFO, barely missing it as it suddenly teleported higher in the air out of their reach. He was suddenly surrounded by Toy Troopers, along with some Pole Cannons appearing on the empty shelves nearby. Smolder slid to a halt, just barely touching the carpet marking the section of the play area, watching Sora miss the UFO while it hovered up near the ceiling. With Sora, Donald, Goofy, Woody, and Buzz surrounded, they fought off the Heartless while the possessed mothership was about to fly away. "Smolder, try to stop the UFO!"

"How!? I can't fly with these wings!" she exclaimed, flapping her fake, toy body wings. Suddenly, a loud, metallic thud landed behind her. Quickly turning around, she found herself towered over by a blue Gigas. "Oh for the love of-!" The Gigas reared an arm back and threw a punch at the dragon. Smolder quickly lifted her Keyblade, blocking the punch with all her strength. Her feet skid back the length of the Gigas's arm, feeling it pushing her more and more. Grunting, she stood her ground, pushing back with all her might. If it was a red Gigas, should would have probably been knocked all the way across the room, but she was managing to push the Heartless controlled mech's fist back. "I'm...so...gonna...gut you...when I...drag you outta there!"

Not willing to be a pushover to a scrawny Toy Trooper in a mechanized battle bot, Smolder's muscles burned as she mustered every ounce of strength she had to push the Gigas back. She watched the other arm take aim at her, about to fire her with laser bullets a point blank range, but she was not going to take that lying down. With a roar, she thrust the fist she was holding back upward, causing the mech to stagger back, its shots aiming harmlessly at the ceiling. She ran toward it and rammed into it, tackling it down to the ground. She then thrust her Keyblade into the faceplate, piercing through it, then pulled, ripping off the piece. The Toy Trooper inside it pulled its arrow gun at her, but she grabbed it by its face, dragged it out, set it on fire with her fire breath, then tossed the burning Heartless aside. She nearly ripped out the Gigas's torso so she could climb in and take control, but it opened up for her, leaving only the faceplate to be the only broken part of the mech.

The controls for the blue Gigas were the same, but the trigger that was once used for the shoulder charge was now for the mounted mortar cannons on its back. She didn't bother testing that, but when she controlled the Gigas back on its feet, it moved much faster than the red Gigas did. She'll take the increased speed as long as she gets to bash in some more Heartless skulls. Sadly, with the others caught in the middle of the battlefield, the only thing left was the UFO beginning to fly off with the three little aliens. She aimed the Gigas's cannon arm and began firing at the UFO, startling it as it shook from getting shot down and tried to escape. Smolder continued firing lasers at it, smacking aside Heartless that began going after her now. She hopped over some that created a measly blockade, discovering something about the Gigas she didn't realize until now: they can hover and fly around in the air, but temporarily.

Startled by the discovery, her lips curled into a grin of manic glee. Ignoring the Toy Troopers behind her, Smolder jumped up and activated the thrusters, giving her more lift and reaching the fleeing UFO. She slammed both Gigas's arms down on the toy, sending it falling to the ground while it shuddered and tilted about, trying to correct its orientation. She was too busy beating it up that she forgot the little aliens were still being held by the claw, yelping and yelling in surprise as they were jostled around. Leaping back, Smolder aimed the mortar cannons while the UFO stalled, launching the energy bomb volley upon it. The cluster of energy mortars struck the toy spaceship, short-circuiting it, causing the claw to release the green aliens. Luckily, the possessed UFO was close enough to the ground for the toys to drop safely, their bodies bouncing slightly with a squeaking sound.

Hopping out of the Gigas, Smolder pushed off the uninhabited mech and lunged for the stuttering, smoking toy. She added more with a Fire spell right at the dome, then dropped down and slammed her Keyblade down onto the dome, breaking the piece and squishing the toy alien head into its seat. The impact caused the UFO to crash to the ground. The Heartless symbol and glowing eyes disappeared as another Marionette popped out and tried to escape. Smolder didn't let it get far, slicing through it with her blade and killing it.

"I'm getting really sick of those things," Smolder grumbled.

She turned around, Sora and the gang finishing off the last of the remaining Heartless to clear the area, and in front of her were the little aliens, all three of them looking up at her. "You have saved our lives," they said in unison. "We are eternally grateful."

They waddled up to the dragoness, a bit too close to her liking as she gently shoved them away. "Uhh, right. Even though you three just let it take you," Smolder pointed out. They waddled right back up to her in admiration as the others regrouped with her. "Ok, cut that out. You're being really freaky...even though you're supposed to be as toys."

Woody and Buzz saw the wrecked state the UFO was in thanks to Smolder's rescue of the alien trio. Buzz even noticed the forgotten Gigas Smolder had used and the snapped off face plate. He just shook his head at the dragon's destructive behavior, especially when the alien toys were being held in the possessed mothership's grip and they were caught in the crossfire of her rampage. At least they were unharmed, and they found the last of their currently missing friends, but with no sign of their other friends from their real world.

"Couldn't have been a lot less destructive against that UFO, Smolder?" Sora questioned.

"You told me to take it down, and you were too busy playing around with the Heartless," Smolder responded snidely. "Are you going to scold me for actually FOLLOWING your orders now!?"

"You have saved our lives. We are eternally grateful," the aliens chanted to Smolder again as they moved closer and huddled the dragon teen's legs.

"Yes, I got that! Will you stop saying that!?" Smolder exclaimed, starting to get a little irritated with the clingy aliens praising her.

"Mr. Potato Head's got a little competition with these little guys' hero," Woody joked. "Although, they look up at him like a father with Mrs. Potato Head."

"A potato as a toy?" Goofy asked curiously. "Gawrsh. People will make toys out of anything."

"Well, now that we've found the little green aliens, I think it's about time we head back home," Buzz said. "We've been in this toy store long enough."

Sora looked at Buzz as the space ranger began to move forward. "Wait, Xehanort said that room isn't even Andy's real room," he reminded Buzz.

"Can you prove that any of that nonsense is true?" Buzz asked.

Pushing past the aliens, who were still worshipping her, Smolder was still frustrated with Buzz and his ignorance and denial. "How about there's been no humans anywhere since we walked from that house!?" Smolder exclaimed.

"That doesn't mean Andy or his family aren't somewhere in this world with us," Buzz retorted. Smolder huffed, unable to get it through Buzz's head no matter what she or the others tried. Sora gave her a warning glance, still on thin ice with him for her attitude. "I'm going home to wait for him. No more debate. Are you with me, Woody?"

Woody closed his eyes, contemplating what to do next. "...You're right, Buzz," he said. "Now that we're all accounted for, we should meet up at the entrance and head back home."

Smolder grumbled under her breath. She was about to tell them how insane they were coming down here and then going back home after the arduous trek, but Sora quickly placed his hand on her shoulder, gripping it tightly, before stepping in front of her.

"If that's what you guys think is best," Sora said. "Let's see you guys off. We can handle things around here." Woody gave Sora a nod, then began walking with Buzz, and the aliens as they reluctantly left their second savior's side. Smolder opened her mouth, but Sora quickly shut it, giving her a stern glare. "You're going straight to the Gummi ship and staying there until we get Young Xehanort out of here."

Smolder glared back, but she remained quiet. If anything, she'd rather leave this world and be back home in Equestria to get chewed out for her poor behavior. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked ahead of Smolder, letting out a huff as she followed behind them. They made their way back down to the first floor's main lobby, using the grind rail leading from the Space Capsule to the third floor next, which wound its way up at the railing next to Babies and Toddlers. Making it safely down the rail, they found Hamm and the green army men waiting for them in the center of the massive lobby.

"Sarge, roll call," Woody ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Sarge said with a salute. He rushed over to the other toys, all of them having a system of checking who's here and not missing as some sort of missing toy protocol. "Roll call! All toys, fall in!"

The toys lined up in a row as Buzz began to do a headcount. "Sarge...Army men times four...Hamm...Aliens 1, 2, and 3..." As Buzz walked past them, Sarge and his army men soldiers saluted the space ranger, Hamm raised his snout, and the aliens all lifted their hands. Even without a roll call, everyone could see someone was clearly missing in the lineup. "Wait a minute. Where's Rex?"

"Please tell me he didn't just get randomly kidnapped again," Smolder grumbled.

"He took off," Hamm said. Startled, everyone looked at the piggy bank. "He said he wanted to prove to you that you can trust Sora and Smolder, Buzz. He's up there by the video games."

Hamm pointed toward the third floor, where the group just was, to a store that was just named "Game Store". Smolder's eye twitched, clearly annoyed after being on that floor, and now they had to climb back up to find the gaming dinosaur.

"Well, here we go again," Buzz sighed, seeing it couldn't be helped with Rex and his personality.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy didn't think Rex would go so far to get Buzz to trust them and fully understand that the world they're in isn't their own. But with Heartless running around, he was in danger in this massive toy store. And with Smolder in deep trouble for her aggressive and overly violent behavior, Rex would have a hard time proving Smolder's trustworthy, assuming he didn't see the mutilated doll they fought back in Babies and Toddlers. Sora didn't want to do this right now, but he had no choice.

"Rex is not safe anywhere in this store," he said. "He could get jumped by Heartless at any moment."

"You're right," Woody agreed. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Smolder, any chance you can help us one last time?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded, though Smolder hesitated slightly before vocalizing her response with a sigh. "That dumb lizard toy is definitely getting a lashing when we find him," she grumbled.

"This is your last chance to keep your temper in check, Smolder," Sora warned. "We can't leave Rex alone. So don't say anything if you can't say anything nice."

Smolder rolled her eyes, but complied. She'd rather stay quiet and continue fighting than sit all by herself in the Gummi ship in boredom. With the other toys staying put, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Smolder, Buzz, and Woody headed back to the Space Capsule, climbed up to the top, and took the rail back up to the third floor. Smolder found it tedious going back and forth up and down these floors. She really wished she could fly right now so she could not only climb up to the third floor faster, but also find Rex faster and give him an earful, Sora's warning be darned.

At the top, they walked past Babies and Toddlers, casually strolling toward the Game Store. There was another store they walked past, which seemed to just be another toy store for kids from what they could see through the windows, but the doors shutters were down. Smolder barely glanced at what was inside; she just wanted to get this day over with, take whatever punishments she would be given, and forget about her first experience in a new world. They reached the game store, which had exactly what it was selling: video games, video gaming consoles, gaming magazines and strategy guides, and even a few toys marketing for collectibles for certain games within the store. Up on one of the shelves, they saw a familiar green plastic tail waving about, looking around for something.

"Hurray!" Rex cheered. He stood up, carrying a video game case featuring his favorite game: Verum Rex. Spotting his friends, who were relieved to see him unharmed, Rex hopped down from the shelf and ran right up to Sora, nearly shoving the case in the wielder's face in his excitement. "Look! I found it! See, Sora!?"

"H-Hey, hold on a second!" Sora exclaimed. He took the case from the dinosaur and examined the cover, Donald, Goofy, and Smolder getting a closer look behind him. On the cover was who Rex mistook for Sora as the young man Yozora, leaning back on a flight of stone steps in a dark city. He seemed to be around Sora's or Riku's age, wore similar black clothing that Sora wore, spiked silver hair resembling Riku's hairstyle, wielding a crossbow in his right hand while his left held a sword gleaming with a red energy blade, and upon closer inspection, Yozora's eyes were different colors: his right eye light blue while the left was a dark red. If anything, Yozora looks almost exactly like Riku more than Sora is, despite his clothes matching the video game protagonist's. "Huh. That's really weird."

Buzz and Woody walked past them to see a large poster of the game, which had a much bigger version of the cover. "Well, whaddya know! They ARE video game figures," Woody said. "See? I told ya, Buzz. They're toys, just like the rest of us."

Buzz looked over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, definitely seeing the slightly perfect resemblance between Sora and Yozora. "Well, I suppose," he mumbled.

While Buzz and Woody looked around the store, Rex glanced over to a shelf of strategy guides, squealing with glee as he ran over to look at them. "I don't see how Sora could be mistaken for this guy," Donald said. "You two look nothing alike."

"Hey, I've got the black clothes!" Sora argued.

"And?" Donald asked, wanting more examples than just his outfit as a toy matching Yozora's.

"He looks a lot like Riku," Goofy pointed out. "Maybe he would make a great action figure!"

"So would I!" Sora exclaimed.

Smolder just stared blankly at the cover of the game. She didn't care if Yozora looked like Riku or Sora. He was just some made up character, and through their magic, the trio were based off the characters that were from Verum Rex. And after Rex's excitement in mentioning Smolder and Equestria, she was apparently based off some toy who looks a lot like her. Hearing Rex shuffling, she looked up and saw the dinosaur toy rummaging through the strategy guides. Smolder walked over to him, ignoring the magazines he tossed aside.

"Oh, there has to be one for Verum Rex somewhere," Rex muttered. "I need to know how to beat Bahamut." He finally found the strategy guide, jumping for joy. "Yay! Here it is!"

Smolder quickly grabbed the book, yanked it away from him, getting his attention. "Seriously? You couldn't stay put?" she questioned.

"But I was helping you guys so Buzz can believe you," Rex said sadly. "And...I just wanted a little peek. I wasn't going to cheat through the rest of the game."

"I think Buzz has a little problem trusting his eyes," Smolder said. "Plus, did you forget how dangerous it is around here!? Going off on your own is just stupid! Any of the toys in this store could come to life and attack you!"

"...Oh. I'm sorry," Rex mumbled.

Smolder frowned, surprised to feel bad for scolding Rex. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily.

"Just...don't do that again," she said. "The first time, you actually got kidnapped, so that's a pass." Rex lit up, but just as he was about to express his My Little Pony fan side, Smolder smacked her hand over his mouth. "Don't. Let's just get you back down to the others and get you guys home."

Rex nodded as Smolder removed her hand, but then gasped. "Oh! I haven't shown you guys where the toys are for My Little Pony! I really hope they have your character around so we can see the names of the other new characters!"

Rex ran back to rejoin Sora, Donald, Goofy, Woody, and Buzz. Smolder sighed and shook her head, kind of dreading to see another version of her in toy form, or even her friends or professors. She slowly walked back to the group, neither of them aware of a pair of black boots softly landing on the ground several meters away from them.

"Oh, but you needn't rush off." Everyone turned to face the voice, Young Xehanort calmly standing before them.

"Xehanort!" Sora exclaimed. He quickly summoned his Keyblade, rushing forward a bit to keep his friends covered with Donald and Goofy at his side, staff and shield respectively at the ready. Smolder even summoned her Keyblade, finally getting a chance to face the coward who let his Heartless minions do all the fighting for him. She began to step forward, but Sora looked back at her. "Smolder, stay back! You can't fight him!"

"Seriously!? We outnumber him!" Smolder exclaimed.

"I can't let you all leave just yet," Young Xehanort said. "I have more to observe."

"It's us you want!" Sora said. "You leave the others out of this! And I won't let you take Smolder!"

Young Xehanort smirks at Sora, taking a small glance at Smolder before looking back at him. "You WOULD say that, champion of light." While distracted by the young man, no one noticed a Marionette stealthily sneaking up behind them, approaching specifically behind Buzz. "Very well. Why don't we just skip to the final stage?"

The Marionette hovered behind Buzz, then lifted its arms and swiftly flung them down on his shoulders. The Heartless phased into the space ranger, making Buzz gasp and stiffen in surprise before his eyes closed and his head hung down slightly. Rex heard Buzz, looking at him curiously, unaware of the darkness beginning to shroud around him.

"Buzz, what's the matter?" Rex asked.

Buzz's eyes opened, half-lidded and entranced, he looked at Smolder. Lifting his arm, he aimed his laser at the dragoness. The buzzing hum of the laser being aimed caught Smolder's attention as she turned to face him. The red dot that aimed at where the laser would strike was aimed at her chest.

"...Hey, what are you-?" Buzz fired his laser, hitting his mark as Smolder yelled out and fell back in pain.

Gasping, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Woody looked at Smolder, then to Buzz as his sights were now set on Woody. "Buzz, what are you doing!?" Woody exclaimed.

Seeing he was about to fire another shot, aiming right between Woody's eyes Goofy quickly lunged forward. "Look out!"

Goofy blocked the laser with his shield right on time. Woody took cover behind the knight, aghast by what happened to his best friend.

"I can't believe it! Buzz has been taken over!?" Woody exclaimed, quickly ducking behind Goofy as Buzz fired another laser at them.

Rex panicked and tried to pull Buzz away, but the possessed space ranger barely budged. Donald quickly ran over to Smolder to check on her while Sora glared back at Xehanort.

"Smolder!" Donald called out. He heard her groaning, so she was still ok, but he couldn't imagine how much that hurt. Using Cure, he healed the dragon teen, then helped her sit up. "Are you ok!?"

"Ugh...He...He shot me," Smolder growled. "The hay is his problem?"

"Xehanort, what did you do to him!?" Sora rushed toward Young Xehanort and swung at him, but the young man phased away in the blink of an eye.

He soon reappeared near Smolder and Donald, startling the two as Smolder scrambled back to her feet. "I thought I made it clear," Young Xehanort said as he looked back at Sora. "I'm testing the strength of their bonds." Smolder yelled and lunged at Young Xehanort, but he phased away and reappeared closer to Sora, walking casually away while the dragoness flopped on her stomach, baffled. Sora chased after him, but his swings keep missing as Young Xehanort keeps warping around. "In this world, toys have hearts. And those hearts come from a powerful bond." Smolder got back up and charged Young Xehanort again, but he disappeared before she got close enough to him. "So what happens when those bonds are stretched to their limit?" Sora and Smolder looked around, finding Young Xehanort up on a high shelf with some stacked games and a flat screen TV used to promote different games being sold or announced in the future. Smolder was getting sick of Xehanort's monologuing, but Sora glared at her to stay put before he took the charge, leaping up onto the shelf to swipe at him. He missed, swinging wildly as Xehanort phased through each swing while calmly walking away from the wielder. "When they are worlds apart, can cloth and plastic hold on to their hearts?

"All I needed was a wedge to widen the divide; someone like you to fill them with distrust and doubt. And that chasm you created can be filled with vast darkness." Young Xehanort soon reappeared on the ground after making a fool out of Sora. Sora leapt down and slammed his blade down on him, only missing him as his Keyblade smacked against the floor. "Witness if for yourself."

Sora looked around for any sign of Xehanort, but he was nowhere to be found. "Where'd he go!?" Smolder asked.

"Sora!" Donald called out.

After checking Smolder, Donald ran over to help Rex subdue Buzz, but the space ranger was still continuing to try to attack Woody. Goofy's shield was able to block each shot while Woody stayed behind him. Sora ran over to help, only for Young Xehanort to appear near him, grasp his right arm, and held him up, surprising the wielder.

"Not this time!" Young Xehanort said.

Bringing his free hand against Sora's waist, he created a concentrated energy blast, making it explode and sent Sora flying across the store. He fell toward a video screen, but instead of smacking into it, he phased through it like it was a portal.

"Sora!" Smolder exclaimed.

She watched as the screen rippled, changing to a selection screen, then chose a random event that was listed on its own. The screen went black for a few seconds, then came back to a futuristic battleground, where Sora crashed to the metal floor with a grunt.

"Where...am I?" Sora asked.

"Haven't you heard, Sora?" Young Xehanort said, letting Sora hear him. "In this world, you come from a video game. So now, you can watch my experiment from inside that screen. That is...if you manage to find a moment's rest."

Smolder turned and glowered at Young Xehanort, who gave her a smirk before he phased away. "Hey! Get back here!" she called out.

"Smolder, look out! Buzz is aiming at you now!" Goofy shouted.

Quickly looking back at the possessed Buzz, she yelped as a laser nearly grazed one of her horns. She couldn't find a chance to retaliate or defend with how fast those laser blasts were. Smolder ducked and sprinted away from the laser fire, diving behind a shelf for cover. She didn't dare peek around the corner, even when Buzz returned to attacking Woody. Smolder tried to catch her breath, standing back up while trying to come up with a plan with Sora trapped in a video game.

"Having fun?" Startled, Smolder turned around to see Young Xehanort standing behind her. She stepped back, gripping her Keyblade tightly. "Or do you want to play a different game?"

"How do you keep doing that!?" Smolder exclaimed.

"Did Sora not tell you?" Young Xehanort asked curiously, though his grin showed he already knew what the answer was. Smolder yelled and ran at him, slicing him, but missing him as he warped back a few feet. "Now, that wasn't very nice. If you want to play rough, you'll need to play elsewhere."

"Are you mocking me!?" Smolder asked. Young Xehanort warped away again, this time appearing by the entrance to the video game store and walking off in the same direction they came from earlier. "Hey! Get back here!"

She ran after him, slipping past the possessed Buzz while he was still dead set on shooting Woody. Donald squawked as he saw Smolder running off.

"Smolder, where are you going!?" Letting go of Buzz, Donald ran after her, knowing Goofy will try to keep Woody from getting shot. Buzz quickly looked at the fleeing duck mage, rapidly firing his laser at Donald's feet. Yelping and quacking, Donald hopped about in a dangerous dance of laser fire. "WACK! Now he's shooting me!?"

"No, Buzz, stop!" Rex pleaded, trying his hardest to pull Buzz's arm away. "They're our friends! We're your friends! Snap out of it!"

Buzz elbowed Rex off of him and sprinted toward Donald. Too distracted in relief from the forced hotfoot dance, Donald quacked as Buzz grabbed his arm, then flung the mage back into the store. Flopping on the ground with a grunt, Donald stood back up as he, Goofy, Woody, and Rex watched Buzz standing guard at the entrance with his laser arm aimed at them.

"He stopped Donald from going after Smolder?" Goofy uttered. "Why?"

Outside the store, Smolder continued pursuing Young Xehanort. Every time she got closer, he would always phase out of existence and reappear several yards farther away. Getting frustrated with the young man, she tried using magic to slow him down, but he just phased through them while continuing his stride. He approached the closed off store's shutters, glancing over his shoulder and watched her come closer.

"Stop running away from me!" Smolder shouted. He warped away, appearing inside the closed store, causing Smolder to smack into the metal shutters the moment she was right on him. She fell back, rubbing her sore snout with a groan. Growling, she got back on her feet, approached the shutters, gripped the bottom, and grunted as she tried to force them up. She strained her muscles, but with her size as a toy, she had no real muscle to lift something that was literally hundreds of times her size. She gave up with an exasperated grunt, nearly throwing out her back. "Darn it. There's gotta be a way to smash through this stupid thing."

Looking around, she found her solution to her hunt: a red Gigas standing idly by one of the many balloon stands scattered about the store. Smirking, she ran to her favorite colored Gigas and hopped inside. There was no chance for Young Xehanort to take her on in a mech, even if it was a toy. Staring down the door, she charged her Gigas, putting as much power into its shoulder charge as she can get it. The moment she was about to ram into the shutters, she activated the boosting shoulder charge. The Gigas and its strength in this separate toy world somehow managed to breach through, leaving behind a torn through opening of a large behemoth of a toy.

Just as she cheered for getting in, she got a good look at what was inside this closed store. She blinked in confusion, seeing shelves and registers in the back of the store, but the whole room seemed to look like a toy recreation of Ponyville. She may not have been in the town that long, but she could recognize some of the familiar locations, and in almost exact detail to where they were placed. There was a Sugarcube Corner, a Carousel Boutique, a small toy cottage way in the back that was Fluttershy's home, a smaller depiction of Sweet Apple Acres, the Castle of Friendship towering over the toy town, and an exact replica of the School of Friendship. Seeing the toy version of this world was eerie, and the Gigas just towered over the rooves of the houses, which made her seem at normal height as a toy.

"You could have just knocked," Young Xehanort said. Glancing up on one of the toy houses, the man stood on the roof and looked down at Smolder and her mech. "The staff won't be happy to see a robot-sized hole in their door."

"Are you done running away like a wuss!?" Smolder exclaimed.

"I'd say I was luring you here rather than running away," Xehanort corrected.

"You kept teleporting around like a unicorn from me and Sora!" Smolder said. "You must be scared of me, and even more now that I'm in a Gigas!"

Young Xehanort just scoffed, phasing himself down to the ground, standing several yards away from Smolder. "Hadn't Sora warned you not to come close to me?" he asked. "You should have heeded his warnings."

"You just let the Heartless do the dirty work for you while you just run away and hide like a coward!" Smolder exclaimed. "Either you face me now, or I'll have to keep coming after you until I smash you into the ground!"

Young Xehanort chuckled and shook his head with a shrug. "You still insist on fighting?" Placing his hands behind his back, Young Xehanort gave Smolder a goading smirk. "Fine. I won't 'teleport' away, and I'll even refrain from using my hands. That sound fair for you, little dragon girl?"

"Oh, you're really gonna be that cocky?" Smolder snickered, gripping her controls tightly as she steeled herself. "Good. All the better to break your bones to tiny pieces!"

Moving forward, Smolder charged Young Xehanort. He offered no verbal retort, calmly watching the Gigas stomp closer. Smolder threw a punch, thinking she was going to hit him, but Young Xehanort swiftly leapt to the side. Smolder staggered, causing her Gigas to stumble and fall forward, crashing into one of the houses in the toy replica of Ponyville. Growling, Smolder forced her mech to stand back up, not caring if she tore any of the plastic houses to pieces. Turning around, she saw Young Xehanort watching her, his arms still kept behind his back. His gaze was practically mocking her, like he was staring right at her from inside the cockpit and frustrated her even more.

She yelled and charged him again, but he turned and sprinted off down the replica neighborhood faster than she expected. She chased him, firing laser bullets at him. Each shot missed as he jumped or ducked, swiftly changing his course faster than she could turn Gigas to keep up with him. Instead of taking the open roads, she decided to take a detour to catch up to him by charging through the houses, smacking them aside and tearing them apart like cardboard. Smolder even picked up one of the houses and threw it at Young Xehanort, but her aim was off and the house struck the toy Carousel Boutique, turning it into rubble.

She finally had him cornered in an alleyway, raising her Gigas's fists up in the air. "Hold still!" she shouted, then slammed her mech's fists down on him. Young Xehanort dashed between the mech's legs, narrowly getting struck as Smolder ended up smashing another set of houses around her. Growling in frustration, she was beginning to see red as she turned and chased him some more. "You're getting on my last nerves! Fight me like a dragon!"

Young Xehanort stopped in front of the Sugarcube Corner toy house. "I can fight you like a man, but not like a dragon," he said.

"WHO CARES!?" Smolder yelled and shoulder tackled Young Xehanort, but yet again, she missed, ramming through Sugarcube Corner, smashing it to pieces.

Young Xehanort led Smolder all over the fake town, barely winded as he leapt and ran from the rampaging dragon controlling a toy robot. Smolder was getting more angry every time she missed, beginning to see red as her nostrils snorted out smoke. She tore through every single building that got in her way, smashing them aside to find where he was hiding to pulverize him. She eventually destroyed everything in the town, even flinging pieces of plastic debris into Fluttershy's cottage and Applejack's farm and farmhouse, despite them being so far from the toy town proper.

Leaping up to the top of the Castle of Friendship, he stood on the top spire, watching Smolder catching up to him. She didn't bother attempting to shoot him off his perch. Making her Gigas grasp the base of the plastic toy castle, though it was much smaller as a replicated model of the actual crystal tree castle, she lifted it up and tried shaking Young Xehanort off. He jumped off, backflipping onto the roof of the School of Friendship toy structure. He waited patiently with a sly grin on his face as Smolder found out he was already gone, and with a yell, she charged toward him with the Castle of Friendship held firmly in her mech's grasp. She slammed the castle down on Xehanort, intending to crush him in between both fake playhouse buildings.

Both castle and school were smashed to pieces, leaving nothing but rubble. There was no sign of Young Xehanort among the wreckage, or anywhere else in the store and the ruined toy town of Ponyville. Growling, Smolder looked around, unable to find him.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" she shouted. "Where is he!?"

Out of nowhere, something punctured through the back of her Gigas, sliding just mere inches from the left side of her head. She froze in shock as she glanced at a blade that appeared in her peripheral vision. The blaring alarms fell on deaf ears when she could have gotten impaled by this sword that quickly destroyed her mech, feeling the controls locking up on her.

"Right behind you," Smolder heard Young Xehanort behind her Gigas.

The sword was quickly pulled out, making the Gigas lurch forward. The chest plate opened and her seat thrust out, kicking Smolder out of her destroyed mech. She fell on her stomach with a grunt, startled after being the one getting ejected from a Gigas. Grunting, she climbed back to her feet, looking back at her decommissioned ride, along with Young Xehanort strolling around it, revealing the "sword" he used to stab the robot toy. To her surprise, the sword was actually a Keyblade: the blade had a neon blue glow from the base like it was an ethereal laser blade, though the tip of it resembled a clock with the hour and minute hands connected to diamond-shaped teeth connected by a web structure, the guard and hilt were black and gray while keeping its clockwork theme, and at the end of the keychain was an hourglass with neon blue sand or energy inside.

Smolder grumbled, undeterred by the young man revealing his weapon as she summoned hers. "Are you finally going to fight? Or is that Keyblade just for show?" she asked.

"You know, you put up quite a display of bravado after nearly getting impaled and shot at," Young Xehanort said. "But, I suppose that's your dragon pride doing its hardest to suppress that fear in your heart."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Smolder shouted. "Why should I be scared of someone who runs away from a fight!?"

Young Xehanort remained silent, frustrating Smolder from his lack of a response before he finally spoke up. "You really want to fight me?" he asked curiously. "Do you even know who you're up against? Or even how strong they actually are when your biasing your judgement on my appearance?"

"I know enough from the moment I first saw you!" Smolder said. "Screw what Sora says! You're not tough for being such a wuss!"

"So, you wish for me to go all out, and not be a 'wuss'?" Young Xehanort asked, raising a brow at the dragon teen. Her glare told him yes. He widened his stance, raising his right hand with his Keyblade up with his left arm held out, a bit differently to how Riku would stand in combat. "Don't say you were never warned."

"Just shut up and fight!" Smolder roared as she charged Young Xehanort. She swung her Keyblade at the Gigas, knocking it out of the way, then went for an overhead swing on Xehanort. He sidestepped to her right, avoiding her swing, and to add insult to injury, he shoved the dragoness with his free hand, causing her to flip on her back from the momentum of her swing. Stunned, her face hardened into a scowl, quickly getting back up and rushed Young Xehanort again without any thought. "I am getting sick and tired of being flung on my-!"

She went for another swing, which was avoided by another dodge, only Young Xehanort flicked her dominant wielding hand up. Smolder staggered backward as her hard swing was parried, leaving her open as the man swiftly sprinted toward her. He slashed away, knocking Smolder back as she cried out in pain with each strike. Smolder opened her mouth and spewed her fire breath to give her some breathing room, but Young Xehanort leapt over her flames, landing behind her. He delivered a swift kick to Smolder's back, sending her tumbling across the toy Ponyville rubble.

Smolder rolled back to her feet, quickly aiming her Keyblade at Young Xehanort to blast him with magic. He reacted much faster, his weapon transforming into a whip, and lashed it at Smolder, wrapping the end around her wrist. She thought she had the power advantage and tried to yank him toward her, but her body was suddenly lit up with powerful shocks of electricity, making her scream out in agony. The pain lasted for a few seconds, disorienting her long enough for Young Xehanort to take the reigns he placed on her. Flicking hard, the whip sent her launching into the air, and with a sharp tug, he sent her crashing down to the ground. Pieces of the plastic town were flung all over from the rough landing, nearly knocking the wind out of Smolder. She couldn't get up in time as she was suddenly dragged through the debris, heading straight toward Young Xehanort.

She thought of using her claws to slash him as she was about to ram into him, but he jumped high into the air, taking her with him. Young Xehanort released Smolder's wrist, reverting his weapon back to its normal state, then swiftly phased and dove toward Smolder in all directions, slashing her and confusing her anticipation to where he was going to strike next. Smolder tried to freeze him with Blizzard when he got closer, but he just kept warping all around her, missing her shots while being helplessly flailing about in midair. Unsure where up or down was anymore, she got reacquainted with the ground after getting slammed back down with a harsh kick to her back.

Groaning, Smolder shakily got on her knees while Young Xehanort floated down to the ground like a feather. "Done already?" he asked. "I barely worked up a sweat." Smolder growled as she was mocked, gritting her teeth as her rage began to unleash itself again. She let out a loud grunt, slamming her fist into the ground. Standing up on her feet, she turned around, her throat rumbling in a low growl as she bared her teeth and leered at Young Xehanort threateningly, her eyes narrowed and filled with bestial fury. "What? Did I touch a nerve?"

"...You're...DEAD!!!!!" Smolder roared, throwing her Keyblade at Young Xehanort.

He leaned away from the spinning blade flung at him, missing him by centimeters, which infuriated Smolder. She roared, spewing flames, catching some of the torn down pony playset around her on fire, then sprinted forward with every intention to kill the past version of her masters' mortal enemy. Swinging her claws wildly, Young Xehanort backed up away and dodged her frenzy of swipes and punches. Smolder tried to grab him, burn him with her fire breath, constantly chasing him down as he continued to retreat from her advances and avoiding her attacks flawlessly. Her misses only made her rage worse, practically screeching with rage as she huffed and panted heavily while trying her hardest to land a single scratch on him.

Flipping backwards, gaining some distance between them, Young Xehanort shifted his blade into a whip again. Snapping it to the ground, he flicked it at Smolder, wrapping it around her neck. It tightened enough to grip her, but not enough to choke her unless she struggled. Her hands went to the energy whip around her neck as Young Xehanort tugged, making her gag slightly and fall down on one knee. She glared at him like a wild animal, gripping the length of the whip and tugged back in a tug of war. Young Xehanort remained calm, making it seem like he was struggling to pull her back with her berserk strength. Smolder growled, grasping the whip tightly, and let out a grunt as she pulled with all her might. Young Xehanort loosened his footing, forcing himself to fly toward Smolder and her open maw searing with flames. Releasing his hold on her neck, his weapon returned to normal, then phased out of Smolder's fire breath as she roared.

Reappearing behind her, Young Xehanort grabbed one of Smolder's arms and swiftly pulled it around her back in an arm lock. Smolder grunted, feeling the strain of her arm being uncomfortably bent behind her, but she tried to reach at him with her other arm to claw at him. Even as he increased the pressure to the point where he could break her arm, she didn't let up and continued fighting back. He suddenly let go as she tried to spin around to untwist her arm from his grip, she staggered when she suddenly turned to face him, only to feel him grab her purple spines and thrust her head down. Her face smacked into the ground, though she fought against the pain in her muzzle, reaching her arms out to grasp one of Young Xehanort's legs. He stomped on one of her arms, leaping over her as she grimaced, then yelped when she felt him grab her tail. She couldn't get up in time as he spun her around by the end of her tail. Xehanort released his grip, sending Smolder flying across the store and into the wall of the counter by the registers.

Smolder slid to the ground, panting heavily, her body crying out in painful agony, but her anger refused to let her lay back down. Shakily, she leaned her hand against the counter, using it to keep her balance as she got up on her feet. Young Xehanort walked over to her, lightly kicking aside some of the plastic debris, burning or not.

"Not a bright idea always rushing in with brute force," he said. Smolder growled, lifting her head up, her eyes still glaring daggers at him. "I'm starting to think your pride is worth more than your own life if you go barging into danger to prove your strength."

"S-Shut...up," Smolder growled.

Young Xehanort stopped and held his arms out, dismissing his Keyblade. "I feel bad for you, so I'm going to be nice and let you have a free shot," he said. He confused Smolder, knowing full well that this has to be some sort of trick. He was just going to avoid her and knock her back down again. "I promise. I won't move a muscle."

"...Why should I...believe you?" Smolder questioned.

"Not all villains go back on their word. Some of us do have a few morals we keep, despite our faults," he said. "But, if you do, make sure you hit me as hard as you can. Make it hurt."

Smolder grunted as she pushed herself away from the wall, staggering slightly before she regained her footing. She had enough playing cat and mouse with Young Xehanort, and he was able to pummel her without any effort and show his true strength. She didn't care if she was outmatched; her pride as a dragon and a warrior of light was on the line, and she refused to let it get taken away from her.

"...Fine, then," she uttered. She summoned her Keyblade, gripping it tightly. Taking a deep breath, she blew her fire breath along her blade. Her Keyblade was coated in her orange fire, flickering as wildly as her ire for the man insulting her. "You want it to hurt? I'll make sure it hurts...and burn you into a pile of ashes!"

Smolder yelled as she ran toward Young Xehanort, gripping her weapon in both hands tightly. The young man grinned, staying completely still with his arms still spread, leaving his body exposed for the hit. Smolder swung her arms as she reached him, slashing him as hard and as fast as she could, finally landing a good hit on Young Xehanort dead center in his abdomen. Her fire seared through his coat as the impact sent him flying back, hearing a painful grunt coming from him. Smolder smirked, believing she's won, but as Young Xehanort fell back a few yards away from the dragoness, he had his own smirk on his face.

Time immediately came to a halt, the flames around the destroyed Ponyville set and Smolder's Keyblade freezing along with the two. Slowly, Young Xehanort suddenly went back, reversing the impact as he seemed to float back to where he stood in the few seconds of Smolder's swing. Back on his feet, landing only a couple feet from Smolder, their backs facing one another. Glancing down, he watched his burnt coat mend itself back to normal with time reversing itself for him, the burning pain from the blow nonexistent. He let out a scoff, keeping his snarky grin as time began to move forward again.

Smolder's lips quickly turned into shock when she saw Young Xehanort suddenly disappear in the blink of an eye. She saw him fly off. She actually landed a hit on him. She didn't dare make a move, her heart dropping and her anger turning to terror when she heard his boots against the floor as he turned around.

"Well, that actually was quite painful." Smolder gulped nervously, slowly turning her head to look over her shoulder. There he was, standing behind her, the burns she left on his abdomen were gone, completely unharmed. Young Xehanort brushed off some dust along the front of his coat, giving her a look that he warned her not to press her luck. "Too bad Sora never told you about what my special power is. Or, you never bothered to ask about me or listen to anything he said because you believed I was a 'coward' who 'used Heartless to do his job'."

The flames around her Keyblade were quickly snuffed out, turning her whole body around to face her as she shakily backed away from him. "H-How...? H-How did you-?"

"You claimed I was teleporting like a unicorn from Equestria. Sadly, little Smolder, you're not even close." Young Xehanort approached her as slowly as Smolder was backing away, keeping their distance between each other at an even pace. "Have you never wondered why my name is Xehanort, the same name as the one your masters are fighting against? What could the reason be for me, himself at a young age, to be here in your present?" Smolder shook her head, clearly not wanting to know the answer. "Since the dragons of Equestria aren't the brightest species of your world, I'll put it in the easiest way you can understand." He phased out of existence, reappearing behind the terrified dragoness. She yelped when he grabbed her by the back of her neck, feeling sweat bead down her face as he easily lifted her up in the air. "I came here to this time by traveling through time, leaving my original body in the past, and I have the ability to reverse time to undo any damage unto me, whether it be a few seconds ago to even an hour. In other words, your most powerful strike you just did to me did absolutely nothing."

Smolder couldn't believe it: she really WAS outmatched. She got her tail handed to her, and she was completely powerless to protect herself. She expected Young Xehanort to take her away, bring her back to the Organization's lair, and make her into one of their members by force. While anticipating going through a portal of darkness that'll appear in front of her, he instead turned them around, overlooking the Ponyville toy town set she wrecked while he brought her to the rubble with the Castle of Friendship and the School of Friendship. She wondered what he was up to, only to be unceremoniously dropped to her knees.

"...What are you doing?" Smolder asked, watching him walk around her and step over the plastic debris. "Aren't you guys...after me and my friends?"

"I've explained how this world has toys that are alive earlier," Young Xehanort said, ignoring Smolder's questions. "They have hearts. They have souls. But, the irony is that they have those things when they 'realize' they are alive, and no other people notice them move on their own. Just imagine the chaos it would cause if a person saw walking, talking toys that were programmed to do as they were built." Smolder stared at him, having no clue what he was rambling about. "This store had a bit more merchandise meant for children, but I did a bit of remodeling. Although, you did ruin all my hard work by destroying a perfect replica of Ponyville.

"I guess dragons just love to destroy things without any repercussions. And when things don't go their way, they throw a temper tantrum and do whatever they want." Young Xehanort crouched down, picking up a shattered piece of a star that was part of the Castle of Friendship's spires. "Then again, isn't that what every creature in your world fears about dragons? They're terrifying beasts who can breathe fire and raze towns, all while gathering a horde of jewels and gems, treasures in any valuable mineral they can get their grubby hands on. And without feeling remorse for the lives they ruin or take just to get what they desire."

"The hay are you talking about?" Smolder questioned, feeling insulted about her culture. She also felt like she heard something similar to what he was saying. Or, though it was summarized, it was what she said about how she thought about her own kind to Aqua back at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Young Xehanort glanced at her for a moment, tossing aside the piece of the castle as he looked around the debris some more. "...Why are you-?"

"This was also more than just a recreation of the small, friendly little town just by the buildings themselves," he added, once again ignoring Smolder and continued his explanation. "It's amazing how worlds never know about others existing beyond theirs, but they can create a fantasy world, and not realize that what they envision for the public might also exist in another world. There were more than just dollhouses of the more memorable hotspots in town; the people of this world also made pretty decent representations of the denizens who resided there. Specifically, Princess Twilight Sparkle, her friends, her little dragon...Even..." Standing up, Young Xehanort thrust his hand to the ground, releasing a shockwave that flung all the debris out of the crumbled heap. Smolder brought her hands up to her face to shield herself, but when she put them down, her jaw dropped at what had been lying underneath. The young man turned around, relishing the look of horror on Smolder's face as, scattered around them, were toy versions of the Mane Six, but there were also toys of Gallus, Ocellus, Silverstream, Yona, and Sandbar, all of them broken to pieces with limbs burnt or parts littered around their bodies or missing altogether. "...the other next generation of wielders."

Despite being toy replicas, Smolder was mortified. She didn't know there were any toys hiding in the toy sets. She didn't even know if any of them had been alive. She couldn't look back at the destruction behind her, unable to imagine other pony toys that resembled the other Ponyvillians she met or saw. But what was worse was that Young Xehanort, having created this secondary world that split Woody, Buzz, and their other friends from the rest of Andy's toys in their real world, had known all this time about who the other remaining wielders were for the Organization to hunt down. These toys may not have been her real friends, but they would have probably had the same personalities as the originals.

"...N-No...I...I didn't do this," Smolder mumbled. "You...You're the one who-"

"I had my hands behind my back the whole time you were chasing me. Or do I need to refresh your memory in your blindsided pursuit to stop me?" Young Xehanort asked. Smolder didn't want to believe it was true, but of course she knew she did all this. She had proven to herself that she was just as bad as every other dragon in her homeland, a part of her she didn't want to be when she learned how much fun friendship was. She wrecked everything just to get to Xehanort, and she didn't care if any of those toys "found" their souls. "Maybe that's the reason why you live in a craggy, mountainous region. So you don't destroy any lives, even though you do that by taking and hoarding treasures."

Gritting her teeth, Smolder clenched her eyes, getting back on her feet. "S-Shut up...Shut up!" she shouted. "I'm not like this. You made me do this!"

"You had all the common sense you needed to stay put and ignore my words, but you refused out of your stubborn pride," Young Xehanort explained, taking down any kind of excuse she made to lie to herself. "Dragons are a dangerous creature, no matter which world has them. You get too greedy, your grow and take more and more to sate that greed. Your pride is challenged or undermined by something that makes you feel inferior, you remain stubborn and lash out while proving you aren't weak. And when you get too angry or frustrated, all sense of reason fails as rage and primal fury boils your blood, turning you into a wild animal."

"SHUT UP!" Smolder shrieked, her fists clenching tightly as she glared at him.

"Do not deny that it is in your nature to be nothing more than a beast only meant to be feared by those who appear weaker than you," Young Xehanort continued, despite Smolder's protests and her rage quickly returning. "But, what can bring you down is your own ignorance and hubris. You may underestimate a pony who's smart enough to lead you into a trap, or a city prepared to repel a dragon who's itching to invade them to steal all of their gold and treasures. That is all you'll ever be." Smolder's body shook, breathing heavily, ready to snap and lunge at him again, but she knew she was going to lose, and she hated it and only got more frustrated and upset. Young Xehanort reached into his coat and pulled something out, making Smolder's breath hitch and her eyes widen. In his fingers, he held onto a familiar plastic tiara she tried on back in Babies and Toddlers. "You can pretend to be whatever else you wish, like a key bearer, or even a pretty little princess, but in the end, all you will be in the end is a dragon."

Smolder gasped. She thought she was alone when she tried on those dresses, only to have gotten spooked by a Marionette possessing a cat plushie. Only she would know where that tiara was right now, and Young Xehanort had been watching her try on those dresses and act like a princess from a distance.

"...Y-You...You..." Smoke flared from her nostrils with each heavy puff, her breathing rapidly increasing. She felt humiliation, but it was flung out the window and replaced with a bloodlust rage that couldn't be contained any longer. "You...! YOU'RE GONNA-!" Just before she could even think of taking a step forward, Young Xehanort suddenly phased in front of her, giving her a swift, powerful knee in the gut. "GAGHK!!!!!"

Smolder lost all the air in her lungs, gagging in an open-mouthed, silent cry of agony as all her injuries finally caught up with her. It hurt to try to breathe, held up by the young man's knee as she uttered weak grunts. He slowly lowered his leg, watching the dragoness teen crumble to the ground, dropping her Keyblade, disappearing in a flash of light beside her. Her arms clutched her abdomen as her struggles for oxygen left her to weakly cough, only worsening the pain. Dragons may have had a high tolerance for pain, but every strike inflicted on her and her fatigue dropped it down significantly with her remorse and the overwhelming agony she was currently in. Young Xehanort loomed over the dragon, broken physically and psychologically.

"Just so you know, Smolder, you were a part of another experiment of mine," he said. "I had been watching you ever since you all arrived at this shopping mall." He knelt down, turning her head so she could look at him through her pained expression while she still writhed in pain. "It was to see if dragons from your world were nothing but heartless monsters, and you proved my thesis was spot on."

Despite her predicament, Smolder weakly gasped, closing her eyes to avoid eye contact with him. "...J-Just...do it," she croaked shakily. "...Y-You...beat...me...You know...about...my f-friends..."

"Oh, you're asking me to take you back to the Organization to be forcefully chosen as the other me's vessel, along with the other new wielders," Young Xehanort said. Smolder grimaced, but she nodded her head. It was bad enough to be beaten, but it felt worse knowing she was just as responsible as Gallus in revealing who their other four friends were, whether it was a coincidence that there were toys of them made in another world just like her world or not. "I'll tell the others about you, but I'm not going to be taking you or your other friends."

Smolder's eyes shot open at the response, though Young Xehanort's expression made it hard to tell if he was being honest or lying to her to get a rise out of her. "W-What? W-Why?"

"We may still be searching for our last two remaining vessels, but I know exactly who will take those final two spots in our ranks," he said. "So, you can rest assured that you and your fellow apprentices won't be chosen. It doesn't mean the rest won't continue hunting you down to play Luxord's game of 'Guess Who'." Smolder's confused gaze shifted from Young Xehanort to the plastic tiara he still held in his hand as he waved it around. "As amusing as it was watching you play dress up, why pretend to be a beauty-" Gripping the other side of the tiara with his other hand, Young Xehanort bent the plastic accessory, snapping it in half. "-when all you are and ever will be is a beast?"

He dropped both pieces in front of Smolder, letting the realization for her sink in. He then stood back up, casually stepping over her curled position, and with a snap of his fingers, created a concussive blast that snapped the emergency fire sprinklers on the ceiling to drench the store and douse out the dragoness's fires before phasing away. Smolder stared at the snapped tiara lying in front of her, barely caring about getting soaked by the sprinkler system. Her breathing was still a bit labored, but the disaster she caused made her mind reel.

If this toy replication of Ponyville was real, if she truly lost her temper around others and lashed out in a rage, she really would have hurt innocent ponies. Maybe that was the reason why Sora warned her to control her temper, and she should have listened to him. She blindly pursued Young Xehanort to prove she was strong enough to handle anything, maybe even more than what Gallus had, but she really was too stubborn and blinded by her pride. She could have harmed anyone if she wanted to, but with Ember's clear instructions, she had no choice as dragons always obeyed the Dragon Lord, no matter who held the Bloodstone Scepter. When she looked at the scattered pieces of the "My Little Pony" toys, her heart dropped in her stomach as she imagined them as the real ponies and her real friends, their lifeless bodies among the rubble, standing over them as a bigger, monstrous version of herself, panting heavily like a feral demon admiring the devastation she caused.

Smolder never once had shed a tear, even in pain when she wrestled or got into fights with any other dragons her age. She felt them begin to form and spill down her cheeks, concealed by the water sprinkling down and soaking the store to save it from getting burnt down by the fire she started. Her hand reached out to the tiara pieces, despising herself. She didn't understand why she liked dressing up in that moment, but Young Xehanort knew. And he was right; she was only kidding herself pretending just for that moment that she could be something else besides a moody, temperamental dragon with poor self-esteem for looking weak by doing something dragons would never do. Dragons were always feared for thousands of years, and her lessons at the School of Friendship opened her eyes, seeing how much of a danger her kind really was, from stealing jewels, to raiding phoenix nests and smashing their eggs.

Her lower lip quivered as she shakily reached a hand out, grabbing the pieces of the tiara. Her grip tightened on them as she began to pull the halves closer, but she wound up snapping them into more pieces. She flinched, clenching her fist tightly as she ended up turning the rest of the toy crown to dust. Gritting her teeth, she glared at he claws, hating what she had just turned into. She shut her eyes as more tears flowed down her cheeks, slamming her closed fist into the ground with an angered, emotionally hurt grunt. Her master was going to see the destruction she caused when she came back, disappointing Aqua, her other teachers, and even Dragon Lord Ember, seeing how the new leader of the dragons entrusted her out of all the other dragons around her age to learn and teach friendship to her kingdom. Smolder wasn't a warrior of light, or a student of friendship. She was just like her ancestors and the other teenage dragons who didn't care about any other creature; she was a monster.