A couple weeks have passed after Sora met Princess Celestia, life in Ponyville pretty quiet. Thankfully, for the Keyblade wielder, the Heartless haven't shown themselves during the time, either waiting to ambush him or gather more of a horde to try to take the town over. Even if they did attempt to do that, Sora could easily take care of them.
During that time, it's been a pretty uneventful two weeks, if he didn't count Pinkie's belated surprise party the next day, the whole town officially welcoming him as a member of Ponyville. The party was a blast, one of the best ones Sora had ever had. As childish as most of it had been, he didn't care as long as he enjoyed himself. At least he finally found out what Pinkie Pie was making that day he first met her: a large cake in the shape of his Keyblade, or his cutie mark as she explained, several hearts similar to the ones the Heartless steal or release made out of pink frosting were randomly placed around the cake, and a star-like charm at the tip of the Keyblade. How Pinkie knew exactly how Kairi's charm looked without even noticing it, he didn't question it, taking earth pony mare who ran Sugarcube Corner's advice to not question how she works.
While partying that day, several of the fillies and colts from Apple Bloom's class, who had watched him fight the Heartless, all surrounded him and begged to see his awesome moves again. He had to sadly turn them down, already garnering too much attention and saying more than he should have to a few who knew about what little he did say about himself. Along with the young Apple celebrating, Sora spotted Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle, though every time he looked at her, she would hide somewhere with a big blush on her cheeks. She must have been as shy as Fluttershy, which was a little disappointing for Sora, since he barely got a word out of the timid pegasus when they first met, and she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe one day, she might warm up to him in time.
At least the party was great. Fun games, though most of them were meant for kids, delicious food, especially that cake Pinkie made, and making some new friends. It was an exhausting day of fun, but it was one of the greatest days of the teen's life. But, as all good days come to an end, it's back to the old grind the next day, helping the Apple family with their chores.
The days passed, many with no dangerous threats, which was good for Sora's case, nothing too special that went on. Today, though, was going to be exciting. While the teen was busy cleaning up the barn, Apple Bloom came running in and rammed into him.
"Sora! Ya'll aren't gonna believe what Applejack heard in town hall!" Sora had to press the bouncing filly back down to the ground before she shot up off the ground.
"Apple Bloom, what sugar did you eat that's going to lift you off like a firework?" he asked, wondering why she was excited.
"Ya know how tomorrow's gonna be our family reunion, right?" Sora nodded, Applejack telling him of their upcoming reunion with their relatives, gladly helping them set things up for the family. "Well, the day after is the Summer Sun Celebration, and Applejack said that Ponyville was picked for Princess Celestia to come down and raise the sun!"
"...Uhh...'Raise the sun?'...I thought the sun and moon moved on their own...or do they?" Sora mentally scolded himself, forgetting to study up on Equestria's differences compared to his world.
"Nope! Princess Celestia moves both the sun and moon every day!" The teen whistled, amazed to know the alicorn was a lot stronger than he expected. It seemed that this world had their own sun and moon, which she actually controls. "And the Summer Sun Celebration is a holiday where we celebrate the defeat of Nightmare Moon, and it's been almost one thousand years since that day."
"A-A thousand years!?" Sora exclaimed, surprised to know how old Celestia really was.
"Uh huh! And there's a story around it too, but it's just an old pony tale." As much as Sora wanted to laugh at the unintentional pun Apple Bloom made, he quickly grabbed the filly and placed her on a pile of hay while he laid on his stomach, resting his head on his forehooves.
"You have got to tell me this story!" Sora said with excitement, curious as to know what had happened.
"Ok! Now, let's see..." Apple Bloom though, making the teen anxious. "Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two sisters who ruled the land: the oldest sister, who raised the sun and brought the day, and her younger sister, who raised the moon and brought the night."
"Sister?" Sora questioned, never knowing Celestia had a sibling.
"The two sisters maintained balance in the kingdom and all their subjects," Apple Bloom continued, obviously memorized by heart. "As time wore on, the young princess became resentful as ponies slept through her night and played in her older sister's day. One day, the youngest sibling refused to lower the moon. The older sibling tried to reason with her, but she didn't listen, and let the bitterness in her heart transform her into the most dangerous pony in all of Equestria; Nightmare Moon.
"She threatened to shroud the kingdom in eternal darkness, makin' the night last forever. But before she could do that, the eldest princess used six powerful jewels that banished Nightmare Moon straight to the moon. Those gems were known as the Elements of Harmony, the most powerful magical items in all of Equestria." Hearing this part of the story, Sora thought back to that mural of Celestia fighting again that dark mare, those six gems around her and the visage of the moon with that same dark mare on the surface. Those gems had to be the Elements of Harmony, and, sadly enough, that mare was Nightmare Moon, Celestia's younger sister. Where the story seemed exciting to the others, it was really a depressing tale from a thousand years ago, retelling the distressing events of her confrontation with her little sister over their status as rulers of the kingdom. "And since that day, Princess Celestia has raised and lowered both the sun and moon, and we celebrate Nightmare Moon's defeat on that day, where a lucky town or city is chosen for the princess to raise the sun for all of us to see her amazin' magical power, bringin' a new dawn to another peaceful year. The end."
While Apple Bloom smiled as she shared this story, Sora wasn't. It seemed like he wasn't the only one hiding secrets from everyone. He remembered seeing how upset she got after he explained what the Heartless were, probably reminding her of her banished sister. He couldn't blame her for being scared, watching her sister transform into something sinister, and casting darkness on the land could have meant her heart might be shrouded in darkness, her anger and resentment festering deep inside of her.
"...Wow...That's uhh...That's quite a...pony tale." Apple Bloom frowned, expecting him to have stayed excited throughout the whole story. Sora stood up, lost in thought, rubbing the back of his head, feeling sorry for the princess. "...I'm uhh...I think I got...some other chores to do..."
"Oh. Ok." As Apple Bloom ran off to help her siblings prepare for their family reunion, Sora flopped into the pile of hay, staring up at the barn's ceiling.
"...That's not a good story..." he whispered, unable to believe how Celestia was able to cope with the loss of her sister. As he pondered the alicorn's heart-wrenching past and the difficulties she must have faced, his Keyblade suddenly appeared without his command, forcing his hoof to point it in the air as a small light sparked from the tip. Appearing in a flash of light above him, a rolled up scroll fell and landed on his chest. "...What the heck? That's new..."
He looked at the scroll, branded by Celestia's cutie mark as its seal. Curious, he opened it up and read it to himself.
Dear, Sora,
Sorry for the surprise message. If you are wondering how I was able to send you this scroll, when I held your Keyblade, I memorized the magical energy inside of it, making it easier to send to you than through the mail system. I will be sending you anything I wish for you to do for me to help protect our world and my subjects this way, keeping it confidential between us.
If you have heard, within two days is the Summer Sun Celebration, and I have a bad feeling something terrible will happen. Tomorrow, I will be sending my pupil, Twilight Sparkle, along with her baby dragon assistant, Spike, to Ponyville to oversee the preparations. I want you to watch out for her and five others. I believe they, and you, can save my sister. Just make sure nothing goes wrong for me until then.Princess Celestia
At least Sora now knew exactly how that happened, Celestia's magic far more vast than his own. But he could see the scratched out line she had crossed out, having a feeling he knew what she wanted him to do. Though how he would save Nightmare Moon sounded impossible. His Keyblade destroys the darkness, and if the princess's heart was too far gone in the darkness of her hatred toward Celestia, it might be too late to save her. That doesn't mean he was going to back down, wanting to reunite the sisters together after a thousand years of separation and banishment.
"Don't worry, Celestia. I'll find a way to free your sister from the darkness inside of her." Sora rolled up the scroll, but had one big question in mind that the princess was cryptic about. "What did she mean about me, her student, and five others being able to help her?"
Early the next morning, Sora headed into the center of Ponyville to meet up with Celestia's pupil, Twilight Sparkle and her assistant, Spike. It shouldn't be that hard to find them if he had to look for a baby dragon, but as long as he wasn't as dangerous as Maleficent in her dragon transformation, he wouldn't have to worry. As soon as he had gotten up, Applejack's relatives from across Equestria had already begun arriving. Apple Bloom wanted him to stay and meet the rest of their extended family, he didn't want to impose, not exactly a member of the Apple family.
After waiting around for a while, he spotted a pair of pegsi guards carrying a chariot behind them through the air, a lavender unicorn mare and a purple and green scaled baby dragon sitting in the chariot. As soon as they touched down, the passengers climbed out, though Sora received a glare from the two guards, probably being a couple of the several guards that tried to arrest him.
"Ok, so Princess Celestia told me we're supposed to be meeting a stallion in a black jacket to guide us around-" As the unicorn mare turned to look in Sora's direction, the teen grinned and waved at her. "-...Ponyville...?"
"Well, he seems like a nice guy," the dragon said as he carried a scroll in his claws.
"And he looks like that weird stallion in that terrible drawing over that red herring of a threat." She thanked the guards for carrying them across the sky as the duo approached Sora. "So, you're the pony Princess Celestia assigned to us to go through everything for the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration?"
"Yes, ma'am. My name's Sora." He held out his hoof to her, though she didn't accept it, staring at him skeptically. "...What? Not the friendly type?"
"...No...You just look like a horrible description the princess was given about a dangerous stallion a couple weeks ago," she said.
"Aww, don't listen to her," the dragon said as he approached the teen. "She's just a little mad about the princess not listening to her 'premonition' about Nightmare Moon. "I'm Spike, and that's Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's pupil."
"Well, glad to meet a friendly dragon in these parts," Sora said as he shook Spike's claw, though he felt a little jealous since he had digits on his hands. "Welcome to Ponyville! One of the friendliest places in Equestria!"
"Let's just get this over with," Twilight mumbled as she passed the two males.
Sora swiftly appeared in front of the unicorn, making her yelp in surprise as she bumped into him. "Come on, Twilight. The least you can do in a new town is to make a new friend." Twilight said nothing and kept leering at him. "Ok, maybe not with me, but how about someone else?" Sora looked around to find a suitable new friend for the grumpy mare, luckily spotting Pinkie Pie approaching them. "How about her?"
"Yeah, come on, Twilight," Spike said, helping Sora. "Just give it a try."
Twilight let out an annoyed sigh, getting it over with so she wouldn't be bothered by the two boys. "Uhh...hello?" Pinkie leapt into the air and let out a loud gasp, speeding off somewhere in a pink blur. Even though Sora had met Pinkie a few times, and all of those times involving random bits of nonsense and unexplainable actions, it was just a normal thing around here. "...Well, that sure was something."
"Ok, Pinkie might not have been the best choice..." Sora felt something off with his clothes, moving his hoof around until he found something he didn't remember putting in one of his pockets. He pulled out a party invitation, chuckling to himself, knowing exactly who's party it was going to be for. "At least someone's going to make a new friend."
"She gasped and ran off," Twilight said in monotone. "Can we please move on with this so I can get to the library?"
"...Alright then. Where to first?" Sora asked, a little disappointed with Twilight rushing to check on the Summer Sun Celebration.
"First, is the food for the banquet," Spike answered as he looked at the list. "Down at Sweet Apple Acres."
"Hey, I actually work with the family on the orchard! Right this way!" Sora lead Twilight and Spike down the road leading to the apple orchard. "You guys are going to love the food the Apple family makes. Best tasting apple recipes you'll ever sink your taste buds into." As they reached the white picket fence along the road, seeing the large number of apple trees across the orchard, they spotted Applejack run up to a nearby tree and buck it, sending all the apples falling into the buckets underneath its branches. "And here's one of them right now. Applejack!"
The farm mare looked over, waving at them as she approached Sora along with the two new arrivals. "Back so soon, Sora?"
"Just for a little. I'm giving a couple of guests a tour of the town as they make sure things are going well for the Summer Sun Celebration." Using a wing, he pushed Twilight forward, surprising the unicorn with how much strength he had for being so lanky. "This is Twilight Sparkle. She's looking into the food for the banquet tomorrow."
"Err, yes, I am, and-" Applejack grabbed Twilight's hoof and began shaking it hard.
"Well, howdy, Twilight! Pleasure makin' your acquaintance!" The moment she let go, Twilight couldn't stop shaking, both her foreleg and her body. Sora assisted the unicorn, keeping her still as she rubbed her sore leg. "Ya'll came by just in time for some good eatin', perfect time to taste what we got in store for tomorrow!" Applejack approached a hanging triangle resting on a nearby post as they headed for the barn, ringing it rapidly. "SOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!"
In a controlled stampede, all of Applejack's relatives ran up and surrounded them, Sora whistling in awe at the amount of Apples in this massive family. "Were there more of them that came here before I left?"
"I'd rather be in and out before she starts-" Applejack quickly stuffed a ripe apple in Twilight's mouth, silencing her unheard complaints as the mare began introducing her family.
With each one she named, they all had an apple dish related to their names, and each one sounded more and more delicious to Sora with each bit of food piled on the nearby picnic table. Applejack saved her blood-relatives for last, introducing Big Macintosh, then Apple Bloom, and finally Granny Smith, who was sleeping in her rocker nearby.
"Granny Smith, we got guests!" Applejack shouted, startling the elder mare awake as she mumbled to herself, her creaky limbs guiding her over to the table. "Now, ya'll are a part of the family, just like Sora."
Twilight spat out the bits of apple that was thrust in her mouth, completely horrified at the idea. "Uhh, well, I can see the food is all handled well," she said with a nervous chuckle. "We better get going!"
"But don't ya wanna stay for brunch?" Twilight turned to Apple Bloom, giving the unicorn a sad looking pout.
That struck Sora as he felt his heart explode in sadness, comically falling over, but it didn't seem to affect Twilight. "Sorry, but I have a lot of stuff to do before the day ends."
The teen quickly sat up, appalled at how heartless Twilight was being to the Apples' hospitality. "Oh, come on, Twilight! How can you say no to that face!? I can't!" Sora flapped over to Apple Bloom, holding the filly up to her chest as she still gave those sad puppy dog eyes that would easily win him over several times. "You can't just turn down free food, or the depressing look of sadness from a filly like her."
He mimicked the same pout Apple Bloom had, quivering his lower lip for added affect as he affectionately pet her mane. Twilight glared at the random stallion, behaving almost as strangely as Pinkie Pie earlier, if not more awkward. With all of the Apple family's eyes on her, and her guide refusing to continue moving through her list of preparations to check on, she gave a sigh of defeat.
"...Fine. We'll stay." The whole family cheered, even Spike as the little dragon made a beeline for the food.
While Twilight was dragged by the earth ponies toward the table, Sora held out a hoof out to Apple Bloom, giving him a high five. They joined the rest of the family and indulged themselves on the delicious apple morsels laid out for them all.
After eating a brunch of apple goodies, Sora walked along the road with a satisfyingly full Spike, but an overly stuffed Twilight. "Urgh...I think I ate too much pie..."
"You can't deny it was delicious, right?" Sora asked as he looked back at the unicorn. She only glared at him, groaning in agony as her full belly was distended from the food she ate. "...I'll take that as a maybe. So, what's next on that list?"
"Uhh..." Spike opened the scroll after checking off the first item on the list with a quill. "The next thing is a clear sky, a pegasus named Rainbow Dash in charge of that."
Looking up, they saw it was not indeed clear, clouds littering the skies of Ponyville. "...Well, seems like Miss Rainbow Dash is shirking off on her duties. Princess Celestia will surely hear about this."
While Twilight complained, Sora's ears perked up as he heard the pegasus they were talking about flying in low. "Look out!"
Sora shoved Twilight out of the way just in time, Rainbow tackling into the teen hard and knocking them both in a mud puddle. Both pegasi groaned, Sora more than Rainbow Dash after breaking her fall. The cyan mare slowly sat up, shaking off some of the mud in her hair.
"Messed that up again," she said.
"You really love to beat me up, don't you, Rainbow Dash?" Sora asked as he sat up himself, cracking his back, the sound making the mares flinch at the disturbing sound.
"Wait. She's Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.
"Yo," Rainbow said, raising a hoof up. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you had an assignment to do for the Summer Sun Celebration by clearing the skies for tomorrow, yet you have barely done anything. Lousy, reckless, and outright irresponsible." While Twilight spoke, Rainbow ignored her while she helped clean Sora off, grabbing one of the rain clouds and drenching him clean of the mud.
He shook himself dry, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. "Actually, Rainbow Dash could clear the sky pretty quickly. She could do it in about a minute."
"A minute?" Rainbow scoffed. "I can clear this sky in ten seconds flat!"
"That's physically impossible," Twilight said, going with logic more than Rainbow's agility.
"Oh yeah? Wanna bet?" Rainbow goaded.
"I don't need to bet. There is no possible way anypony could move that fast and clear a town of this size's cloud cover in exactly ten seconds," the unicorn argued, not noticing Sora appear behind her, carrying a stopwatch.
"Well, how about we see just how much time it takes. I'm warning you though, she is a lot faster than you think." With the timer ready, Rainbow Dash crouched low as she prepared for takeoff. "Ready!? GO!"
As soon as he pressed the button, Rainbow sped off and destroyed every cloud throughout Ponyville, a rainbow blur zooming across the sky. After taking care of nearly every single cloud, the pegasus mare had to show off, flipping around as she destroyed the last cloud and touched down next to the stunned unicorn. Sora had stopped the timer and showed Twilight, making her jaw drop as it read ten seconds exactly.
"See? What did I tell ya? Ten. Seconds. Flat." Twilight was speechless, staring into space, completely dumbfounded.
"...I think we broke her," Sora said, putting the stopwatch away. "Speaking of 'breaking', what were you doing that caused you to almost send Twilight to the hospital?"
"I was practicing a trick to show off to the Wonderbolts when they show up for the Summer Sun Celebration!" Rainbow excitedly said.
"...Uhh...Who are the Wonderbolts?" Sora asked, though regretting to ask as he saw the shocked expression on the pegasus's face.
"You...don't know...who the Wonderbolts are!? Have you been living under a rock!?" The teen stared blankly at Rainbow Dash, the mare remembering he never had a clue about anything from the day they met. "...Oh...Right. Uhh, the Wonderbolts are a group of stunt flyers, performing all across Equestria pulling off awesome moves. I've always wanted to be a Wonderbolt ever since I was a filly, and once they see what I can do, I'm sure to be one in a heartbeat."
"Oh. I'd actually like to see what they can do." Even though Sora could probably run rings around flight performers, he was interested to see what kind of routines they could do.
"Yeah. It's gonna be epic! I'm going back to practicing. I'll see ya later, Sora!" Rainbow flew off to continue working on her own performance, Sora hoping she won't crash into something again.
"Alrighty. Let's get back to the little tour and the next agenda on your list." As the spiky-haired teen turned back to Twilight, she was still frozen in her shock. He walked up to her and waved a hoof in her face, but no reaction. "I think we did break her."
"That was amazing though!" Spike exclaimed. "Can you do any of that, Sora!?"
"Maybe. But, I don't think I want to try and one-up Rainbow. Now, let's see how we can wake up sleeping beauty here." Sora tapped his chin with his hoof, but he couldn't come up with anything. "Eh. I'll just carry her." He wrapped his forelegs around Twilight's barrel, flipping her over belly up and carried her in his hooves, the act making her yelp and snap back to reality. "Oh! Good afternoon! Finally awake?"
"What are you doing!?" Twilight slapped Sora in the face, causing him to drop her by accident.
With her face blushing madly, she stormed off to the center of Ponyville, Spike following after her as he laughed at both Twilight's embarrassment and Sora's failed attempt at being chivalrous. "Is this what I get for being a gentleman?" he questioned himself, rubbing his cheek.
As they reached town hall, the next thing on Twilight's checklist was the decorations. As soon as they entered the main building of the town, the trio spotted Rarity on the far end of the room, going through several decorations to put on for Princess Celestia. The moment Spike caught sight of the unicorn fashionista, the little dragon began seeing hearts, immediately infatuated with the mare.
"Well, decorations are suitable for the princess," Twilight said, both ponies ignorant of the flustered baby dragon fixing his spines to make himself look good.
"Yeah. Rarity's also a pretty good fashion designer. You should see her clothing line." As the lavender unicorn noticed Sora standing too close to her, she used her magic, pushing the pegasus far from her. "...And you're still mad at me for trying to carry you over to the next location."
"Yes. Yes I am." After putting up another ribbon to make the aesthetics of the room to the standards of a princess, Rarity turned to the front door of town hall and saw Sora.
"Sora! Wonderful timing, darling!" Rarity said. "Don't you think this is perfect for Princess Celestia?"
"I think so. Seems like we can cross that off the list, huh, Spike?" Hearing no response from the baby dragon, he looked down at Spike, seeing him lost in a trance as he stared at Rarity with a big, goofy grin on his face. "Oh great. Now we lost Spike."
"What list are you talking about?" the white unicorn asked.
"Oh, just something for Twilight to check on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. She's actually from Canterlot, and I'm showing her around while they-" Sora was immediately flung into the other end of the room by Rarity, making him crash into the wall while she got up in Twilight's personal space.
"Canterlot!?" she asked with excitement. "You live in Canterlot!?"
"Uhh, y-yes?" Twilight slowly backed away from Rarity as she got way too close to her liking.
"Oh, I am so envious! The glamour! The sophistication! The livelihood! It's always been my dream to go there!" Rarity soon began rambling on and on about what she expected in the city, gushing heavily over what she would do, meeting the elitist ponies that thrive in the popular city, and so on.
As Sora pulled himself together, he shakily walked up to Twilight and Spike, grabbing the love-struck dragon and placing him on his back. "I think we're done here."
"I agree," Twilight nodded as the two slowly backed away and out of town hall, leaving Rarity to ramble to an invisible audience.
As Sora lead Twilight to the outskirts of Ponyville, the next and final thing on the unicorn's list was the music. The only pony Sora knew who was going to be providing music was, ironically, Fluttershy. How someone as shy as her would have the music for Princess Celestia was a mystery to him. They walked up the hill along the path to the shy pegasus's cottage, hearing the sounds of birds tweeting a fanfare in perfect harmony. Leading the birds singing in the tree was Fluttershy, hovering before them with a conductor's baton.
"Huh...Music sounds good. And an actual bird choir, too," Sora said.
"You mean you had no idea what she was going to do for music?" Twilight asked.
"Actually, I don't know much about Fluttershy. She's a pretty timid pony." Sora scratched the back of his head. "I think she finds me intimidating or something."
"She probably dislikes stallions. Especially ones like you who think sweeping a mare off her hooves will get them to like you." Twilight walked past him, smacking his snout with her tail as she approached Fluttershy.
"It's not like I was hitting on her," Sora said. "Maybe she's the one who doesn't like guys."
"Twilight's actually been more...secluded most of her life," Spike said, having snapped out of his love-struck daze. "She doesn't really have any other friends she hangs out with. Always studying, learning magic, studying, giving lectures to me when I say something incorrect, studying."
"...Wow...That's pretty sad...She has no idea what she's missing." Sora and Spike watched as Twilight tried to strike a conversation with Fluttershy, only scaring her bird choir and the pegasus. She tried to introduce herself and get her name, but like how Fluttershy acted around him, she was quiet and hid behind her mane. Twilight eventually gave up as the birds came back to their perch, slouching back to the amused teen. "Guess it didn't work out, did it?"
"Shut it. We're done. Let's get to the library." As Twilight walked on ahead, the moment Sora turned to follow her, Fluttershy saw Spike and immediately pounced on his back, pinning him down to the ground.
"Oh my gosh! A baby dragon!" Fluttershy exclaimed, being the loudest Sora had ever heard the mare speak. "I've never seen a baby dragon before!"
"Well, now you have," Spike said.
"And he can talk!" the pegasus gasped. "What's your name?"
"I'm Spike," he introduced himself.
"Hi, Spike. I'm Fluttershy." Twilight groaned in annoyance while Sora slowly began waking up from his daze. "I must know everything about you!"
"Ok. I don't mind giving an autobiography on my life so far." As Spike began talking about his life from the moment he was born, Sora didn't move, not wanting to spook Fluttershy sitting on his back.
"Well, she made a new friend, at least," he said, though Twilight grew furious with the delays, her eye twitching as she growled.
While Twilight and Sora headed down to Ponyville's library, Spike, sitting on the teen's back, continued telling Fluttershy, following them, about his life. It was pretty interesting and hilarious with some of the details he described, especially with some of them involving Twilight when she was a filly. The unicorn, however, was getting fed up with everything as the sun was setting and what she wanted to do had been constantly delayed by the preparations taking longer than she expected. As soon as the library was in sight, which was a large, hallowed out oak tree named the Golden Oak Library.
"Finally! We're here!" Twilight exclaimed, silencing Spike's storytelling. "It's nice to meet you two, but I think it's time for me to put Spike to bed. He is just a baby dragon after all."
"I'm not tired," Spike said, only for Twilight's faint aura to shove him off Sora's back.
"Oh no! He fell down! Poor wittle guy too sweepy to stay up!" She picked up the dazed baby dragon and carried him inside the dark library, leaving the pegasi outside.
"...Well, that was a bit rude." Sora and Fluttershy looked at each other, the timid mare looking away and moved her bangs over her face. Guess she still needed some time to get to sum up the courage to talk to him. They both soon heard a whistle come from behind the library, spotting Pinkie ushering them into a back window. "Guess it's time for Twilight's 'Welcome to Ponyville' party."
Sora ran up to the window first, then Fluttershy after he disappeared inside the dark library. He was glad he didn't see any glowing yellow eyes, otherwise this surprise party was going to be the horrible kind and not the fun kind.
"You know, you didn't have to do that," he heard Spike say.
"Sorry, Spike, but I had to do that so I can at least get some studying done to stop Nightmare Moon." Sora's ears perked up as he heard Twilight talk about Nightmare Moon. "We've been constantly delayed all day today by these crazy ponies, and that...Sora pegasus was a bigger nuisance than the others!"
"Ouch," Sora whispered, his friendliness not intending to steer her away from him.
"Where the hay is the light switch?" Twilight felt around for the lights, but as she turned them on, everyone hiding inside jumped out from their hiding spots.
"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted, shocking Twilight as she groaned in irritation.
Pinkie popped up in front of her, throwing confetti from her hooves. "Surprise!"
"Oh for the love of Celestia..." Twilight rubbed her forehead, feeling a migraine coming on.
"You were surprised, weren't ya!? Huh!? Huh!?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down as she followed the annoyed unicorn. "At least my surprise party for your is being described unlike Sora's, only mentioning the delicious cake and the party games and Sweetie Belles infatuation with him! Ugh. Sooooo boring!" As Sora heard Pinkie rambling, he was going to question what she was talking about, but knew better than that. Twilight approached the buffet table, where she poured a bottle of something in a cup, ignoring Pinkie Pie as she continued talking. "But I threw this party because you needed new friends! And making new friends means having more fun, and more fun means even newer friends! That's why I gasped real loud and ran off cause I had to invite all of Ponyville! And Sora was lucky enough to be the pony to guide you around and distract you while I set this all up!"
"...Yeah. Sure, Pinkie. Let's go with that," Sora chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. As Twilight put the bottle she poured down, the teen's eyes widened at the label of the bottle, showing a picture of a fire burning intensely with the words "Hot Sauce" written above it. "Wait, Twilight! Don't drink-" Too late. Twilight began sipping out of the cup of hot sauce, unaware of the spicy condiment she mistook for a beverage. "-that..."
The moment she realized what she drank, her face lit up as her cheeks were puffed out. She yelled out in pain and ran into a bathroom, dousing out her burning mouth in the faucet. Sora sighed, hating the fact that someone like Twilight was this antisocial. Fluttershy had at least come along, even though she was more of a wallflower and too timid to talk, but the unicorn didn't seem to be interested in having any friends in her life at all. He didn't even notice Pinkie pouring some hot sauce on a cupcake and ate it, not bothered by the spicy taste over the sweet icing of the pastry.
As the party lasted for hours, only until it was almost time for the sun to rise, Twilight holed herself up in one of the library's private rooms, used for the residents that live there. Since no one lived in the library, she didn't care about the rules. Sora walked in the room and found the grumpy unicorn looking out at the window, a pillow over her head to drown out the noise going on downstairs. He brushed off some confetti that got in his hair and hovered up to the ledge where the bed rested.
"Not much of a partier, huh?" Twilight didn't answer, too focused on staring at the moon. Sora looked out the window and saw the image of Nightmare Moon, Celestia's younger sister, trapped on the massive hunk of space rock for over a thousand years. "...I overheard you earlier before the party started. About Nightmare Moon."
"So? Why would you care?" the unicorn questioned.
"Well...it might be due to the fact that Celestia herself has given me a task of my own. Before you even arrived in Ponyville yesterday." She looked at him in confusion, appalled at disrespecting Princess Celestia's title. "I'm curious to know as to what you meant. What did you mean when you said you needed to stop Nightmare Moon?"
"...I-It's none of your business," Twilight said, only to have the pillow gently taken away from her as she tried to cover her ears from the loud noise.
"Twilight, if this is serious, then I need you to tell me." Sora hopped up on the bed, blocking her view of the window for her to focus on him.
Seeing he won't let up until she gave in, Twilight sighed and told him. "The other day, I was reading through the tale of Nightmare Moon. What was peculiar about it was that, as of today, it has been exactly one thousand years since her defeat. I looked through every book in my library in Canterlot, and there was something referenced with the Elements of Harmony and the Mare in the Moon. 'Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aide in her escape, and she will bring about everlasting night.'"
"...So, you're saying that Nightmare Moon is coming back?" Sora asked. "Today? As of this moment?"
"Yes...but Princess Celestia disregarded my warning and sent me to Ponyville to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration..." She looked out the window again, staring at the mare shining from the moon. "She told me to come down here and make friends, when she should be preparing for Nightmare Moon's return...Or...maybe she was right all along, and I shouldn't worry."
"I think she's right about one thing; making friends." Twilight looked back at Sora, giving her a grin. "You may not know much about me, but I've made many friends in the past, long before I even arrived in Ponyville. Sometimes, in situations, whether they're dangerous or calm and peaceful, you can't really do everything on your own. Spike told me you never really made any friends when you were little."
"I do have friends," she argued.
"Give me some names, then," Sora challenged, crossing his forelegs over his chest.
"Ok. There's...Umm..." Twilight began thinking, unable to make up anything as the teen saw through her lie. "...There's...uhh...Spike?"
"He doesn't count." She was about to open her mouth, only for Sora to stay one step ahead of her. "Celestia and your family don't count either." Twilight fell silent, giving up. "You've spent too much time studying and learning things that you missed out on hanging out with others and having fun. And sometimes, the best way you can make a new friend is to give them a chance and look past their faults. Try me, for example. What fault of me do you see that you can't stand?"
"...Your...weird and goofy personality." Sora chuckled, knowing that would be the first thing she would mention.
"Well, you better get used to that. Cause that's me in a nutshell." The teen rubbed the back of his head, giving Twilight a goofy, toothy grin. "At least I'm not as wild as Pinkie Pie. She's so random that she could really mess with your head."
Twilight gave a small smile, shaking her head slightly. "I also don't like your mane. It looks like a brown porcupine is sitting on your head."
"Hey! Don't dis the hair!" Sora complained, running his hooves through his hair.
"You said to find faults, and I did," the unicorn said.
"I meant about my behavior, not my do." Sora pouted and finally got Twilight to giggle a little. He began to smile as she warmed up to him a little. He looked out at the sky, nearly time for the sun to rise. "I think it's about time for the Summer Sun Celebration to begin."
"But...what if Nightmare Moon does come back?" Twilight asked.
"Then let me handle that when the time comes." Sora hopped off the bed and hovered down to the doorway, Twilight following after him, the party outside having died down during their conversation.
The two made their way to the town hall, where everyone else in Ponyville waited patiently for their princess to make herself known. The bird choir began to sing, lead by Fluttershy, and Ponyville's mayor stepped up to the balcony to address the town.
"Fillies and gentlecolts!" the mayor said, her name being Mayor Mare, which was an odd name when Sora had seen her in the past. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration for this year!" The crowd cheered and stomped their hooves, though Sora had a funny feeling something was going to go wrong. "In only a few moments, we will witness the magical sunrise on the longest day of the year! And now, I introduce you all to our ruler, the pony who rises the sun and moon each and every day, Princess Celestia!"
The birds sang as the curtains opened, but there was no sign of Celestia. Everyone began to murmur to each other, wondering what was going on. There was a window that was behind the curtains that showed the moon, but when Sora saw it, his eyes widened as there was no image of the mare on the moon's surface.
"Oh no. Twilight, I think your hunch was right," Sora whispered to the unicorn, who began panicking.
Suddenly, a maniacal laughter rang out in the building as swirls of the night sky appeared on the balcony. The foggy form began to shift into a physical shape, turning into a tall alicorn mare. Her coat was a dark black, the starry visage that made up her mane and tail were ethereal as they were like the night sky, and she wore blue and black armor. She flared out her wings and looked down at the terrified ponies staring at her.
"My subjects," the alicorn spoke, her voice intimidating to everyone trembling under her gaze. "It has been such a long time since I have seen your precious, sun-loving faces. Now, after a thousand years, I have returned to reclaim my throne, and make the night last forever!"
As Nightmare Moon laughed, thunder struck behind her as she reveled in her subjects' fear. "Nightmare Moon..." Twilight uttered. "She's here..."
"Yeah." Sora stared at the alicorn, Princess Celestia's little sister, now returned from her banishment after a thousand years.
He could sense the darkness within Nightmare Moon, which thankfully isn't strong enough to fully corrupt her, but if any Heartless could sense it, then everyone would be in trouble. He had to find some way to destroy that darkness in her heart without killing her, not wanting to make Celestia mourn for the loss of her sister for good. The only problem was how he was supposed to do it with the Keyblade if its light can only eradicate the darkness.