//------------------------------// // Friendship (and Light) is Magic (Part 2) // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// As Nightmare Moon continued laughing, Sora had decided he had enough hearing the corrupted mare flaunting her strength. Even though this was Celestia's sister, right now, she was a dangerous threat that could not only destroy Equestria by making night last forever, but her power could call the Heartless and try to steal her heart. But he didn't want to kill her. "You were all foals, not knowing the signs of my return," the alicorn gloated. "You shall all bow to me, now." "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Sora shouted, hovering up into the air, pointing a hoof at Nightmare. "What did you do with the princess!?" "A defiant little colt dares to question me? Do you not know who you are talking to, whelp!?" Nightmare questioned, stomping her hoof down. "Those who dare defy me will suffer under my wrath!" She aimed her horn at him, crackling with magical energy as she began charging her aura. As she fired a powerful beam at the teen, he summoned his Keyblade in his hoof and slashed through the magical beam. "And you don't know what I'm capable of." As the crowd began to cheer for Sora, Twilight stared at the stallion in shock, looking at his Keyblade. He pointed his Keyblade at the surprised alicorn. "I'm going to be giving you a choice, Nightmare Moon. You either stand down and come quietly, or I'll have to use whatever force necessary to knock you out cold." "What manner of witchcraft is this?" Nightmare asked, staring at the Keyblade. Some part of her feared it as it emitted some kind of power that was more greater than the mystical gems that had banished her. His magic was unlike anything she had ever known, and this power infuriated her. "Who are you?" "My name is Sora! And your eternal night will never happen!" Sora rushed at the alicorn, rearing his Keyblade back to strike the mare unconscious. Before he could even get close to her, a void appeared before him, as several Air Soldiers flew out and charged at him. "What!?" The ponies below screamed in terror, seeing the black monsters that were rumored to have attacked the schoolhouse a couple weeks ago were true. Sora was pinned against the wall, enduring the Air Soldiers' kicks and scratches as he tried to slash them back. Thankfully, they were all focused on him, their instincts telling them to get rid of their bane before it could kill them. While fighting, some other Heartless appeared around Nightmare Moon, the mare looking around at them in shock and confusion. "What are these creatures?" As she expected them to attack her like they were with Sora, they instead bowed to her, as if their loyalty was to her. Her confusion soon turned to manic glee, chuckling as these new creatures, unknown to her, already obey her command without any question. "How amusing. Whatever they are, they are right in being loyal to my whim!" Sora managed to give himself some breathing room, looking over at the Heartless bowing to Nightmare Moon. "No! Nightmare, stay away from the Heartless!" "Heartless?...That is what they are, eh?" Nightmare grinned as she cackled. "A perfect name for my new army! Heartless, kill the whelp who dares to defy me!" Immediately obeying Nightmare Moon, the Air Soldiers rushed Sora again, surrounding him as they repeatedly pummeled him. As he was slammed down, everyone below them scattered and hugged the walls tightly, staying away from the creatures. The alicorn laughed maniacally as she left to wreak havoc upon the rest of her subjects, turning into a starry mist as she escaped from the town hall. The rest of the Heartless that had bowed to Nightmare Moon leapt down from the balcony, Soldiers and Shadows joining the Air Soldiers in pounding the dog piled Keyblade wielder. Sora's friends all watched in terror as there wasn't any sign of him under the dark bodies on top of him. Growling, the teen tapped into his Drive Forms, a burst of light exploding from his body, scattering the Heartless as the sound of glass shattering echoed the room. His injured body was rejuvenated by the light surrounding him, his black jacket now turning red as he stood on his hind legs. He held out his left hoof as he summoned another Keyblade in his Valor Form, a purple blade littered with white stars, a yellow star that made up the teeth, and the guard a small pair of wings; the Star Seeker. Twirling both Keyblades around, he rested his Kingdom Keyblade over his shoulder, and the Star Seeker under his right arm. "He has two of those???" Twilight continued staring at the stallion, unaware of the danger the Heartless could be. She thought back to that terrible description of the pony that was brought to Princess Celestia's attention weeks ago, and strangely enough, Sora matched that description. His spiky hair, a key shaped sword, now having two, unexplainable magical power coming from him and those swords, the black creatures. "...What is he...?" The Heartless lunged at Sora again, finding him more threatening than ever. With the power of his Valor Form, his attacks were quick and relentless, his body nothing but a red blur as his flipped around with his combos, attacking from the ground and the air. With each Heartless slain, mainly the emblem Heartless like the Soldiers and Air Soldiers, hearts flew out from their disappearing bodies, while the Shadows died in a puff of smoke. As he heard some ponies scream on the sidelines, Air Soldiers flying in to take the hearts of the defenseless, Sora flung his Keyblades out to the sides, spinning rapidly like blades as they flew around like boomerangs. The unfortunate Heartless were pulled over to Sora, away from everypony as they hovered in a daze in front of him. His Keyblades returned in his hooves as he stepped forward and spun around rapidly, his blades unleashing a powerful spinning shockwave as they slashed through the remaining Heartless. Spinning back into his battle stance in his Valor Form, he looked around the town hall, finding no more Heartless in the area, and no sign of Nightmare Moon. "Darn it." He reverted back to normal, his second Keyblade disappearing along with his dismissed Drive Form. "Everyone alright!?" The ponies were all stunned, though they were all unharmed. "...I'll take that as a yes. Everyone, head to your homes and stay indoors! It's too dangerous at this moment! Now, all of you leave in a calm, orderly-" The ponies all began to panic and scream in fright as they all ran out of the town hall and back to their homes. Out of the panicked ponies of Ponyville, only Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash remained inside. "-...fashion...Why does that never work out?" "...So, when did you have a second one of those things?" Rainbow asked, though her question will forever remain unanswered. "That was amazing!" Pinkie shouted, bouncing up to Sora. "I don't know how you did all that, but you were all POW, BAM, SLASH, BLAMMO!" While Pinkie imitated Sora's fight against the Heartless, the teen looked around, finding no sign of Twilight. "Twilight?" Twilight slammed open the door to the Golden Oak Library, panting heavily as she looked over every book on the shelves to look for some kind of help to stop Nightmare Moon, while also completely baffled at Sora's true identity. As much as she believed Celestia when she said he wasn't as bad as he seemed, just a simple mistake when he was brought in, she couldn't believe how powerful his magic was. No pony should have magic like that, and he's a pegasus, able to call a weapon shaped like a key at will, or even several of them. And those black monsters were real too, but they attacked him, and they obeyed Nightmare Moon. She was so confused, she couldn't even focus on finding something on a way to beat the Mare in the Moon, throwing a few books to the ground in frustration. "What is going on!? What were those monsters!? What was that weapon!? Just who the hay is Sora!?" "Twilight!" Sora ran in the library, knowing she would have ended up here. "Twilight, why did you-?" He was suddenly grabbed by his shirt collar in a lavender aura, flung hard into a nearby bookshelf as Twilight pressed him hard against the wall. "You know something that I don't! I want answers about everything that had just happened in town hall!" "Twilight, calm down," Sora said, trying to stay calm, but it didn't seem like the confused and stressed out mare was going to at any point. "I can see you're confused and a little freaked out by what happened, but I'm not dangerous." "Dangerous!? Princess Celestia overlooked everything from that dumb description, which was YOU all this time, and you think you're not dangerous!?" Twilight shouted. "That magic you have...is unnatural. Something even I don't know about, and I've read every single book there is to know about every kind of magic known to Equestria! Pegasi can't use magic like that at all!" She pressed him harder against the shelves, keeping him from attempting to escape. "Tell me who you really are." Before he was able to say anything, Sora was thankfully rescued, Rainbow Dash and Applejack distracting Twilight as they pulled her away from him. "Now, hang on there, sugarcube! Sora ain't like that at all!" "Yeah!...And, I had to learn that the hard way, but he's not bad!" Rainbow said as Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy entered the library. "Not bad!? That magic he has isn't from this world! It's unstable, but he can control it! It doesn't make any sense!" She glared at the teen, slowly getting up as he brushed off Twilight's forceful hold on him. "Were you just trying to get on my good side today to try to avoid the topic of what you really are!?" "Hey, back off!" Rainbow shouted, averting Twilight's attention on her. "He just saved all of us from those things, so does it matter what he can do!?" "Well, Rainbow, ya thought the same way too when ya got Sora arrested cause he saved your sorry flank," Applejack said bitterly, still fuming at her for what happened a couple weeks back. "Can you stop reminding me of that!? I apologized to him, and he forgave me!" Soon, the three mares began bickering at each other, topics of Sora's strange power to Rainbow's mistaken accusation. Their fighting wasn't going to get them anywhere, and with Nightmare Moon on the loose, she isn't safe from the Heartless either. Even if they obey her now, as soon as she falls victim to her lust for power, with her back turned, she will become one of them too. And if her heart is strong, there could be a Nobody that might appear too, and those can be more dangerous than the Heartless. Twilight wanted to know the truth, as well as everyone else. Sadly, he was going to have to break that one rule about keeping the world order, both to regain some trust in the mare he was assigned to protect, and owing all six of them an explanation as to what is going on, even who he really was. "ENOUGH!" Sora shouted, silencing Applejack's, Rainbow's, and Twilight's arguing as he got all six mares' attention. "...If you guys want to know what's really going on with what happened in town hall, and a few weeks ago...I'll tell you. But whatever I say, no one else is supposed to know. Ever...I'm going to get in a lot of trouble for this, but if we stand idle for too long, Nightmare Moon taking over Equestria will be the least of our worries." And so, Sora explained everything to the six ponies. He told them of the Heartless, their intent on destroying everything in their path and taking hearts from living beings and the heart of the world, having to verify to all of them that he in no way is affiliated with them. Rainbow winced as he mentioned that to her again, reminding her of her previous accusations against him. Then, he explained everything about the Keyblade, its mystical powers, his ability to use magic and his Drive Forms, and the purpose of a Keyblade wielder. He didn't tell them exactly what he was, even though he had come from another world, far from Equestria, where the magic he has is unlike any in this world. After a long explanation, all six mares stared at the teen in shock. Sora held his Keyblade in his hoof as he had told them about what it was, laying it down on the ground in front of him. The knowledge of there being other worlds lingered in their minds, where other lifestyles were lived with different environments and creatures they have never known could exist. "...So...You're not going to take over our world?" Twilight finally spoke, asking the one question that bothered her as he talked about the other worlds. "Absolutely not. I was sent here mostly for training by my master, but I guess I'm gonna be staying here to help you get rid of any other threats besides the Heartless." Twilight picked up the Keyblade, looking at the odd design, unable to believe the practicality of a sword shaped like a key could be used as a weapon. "How did you even get here if you were from another world, Sora?" Rarity asked. "I don't think it's possible to travel through space." "Well, I did have a gummi ship I used to fly out here, but it kinda blew up after a strange malfunction," Sora sighed, scratching his head as he tried to remember if he missed any important components when he was building his ship. "Maybe I didn't give it enough of a cooldown after five straight days of flying on autopilot. But, I don't have any means of leaving at any time, since there don't seem to be any way to make gummi blocks in Equestria." "Your ship was edible!?" Pinkie explained, somehow the first to break out of her shock as she nearly bowled Sora over. "What kind of flavor of gummi did you use!? Strawberry!? Grape!? Green apple!?" "...Pinkie, a 'gummi block' isn't food. It's a building block." Pinkie wilted, backing away at the unfortunate gummi ship not made out of sugar. "And, after it blew up, I crash landed around Applejack's orchard...That explains the shooting star your family had seen, and I apologize for lying about...well, you know. Had to keep my identity a secret and all that." Applejack nodded, understanding his reasons to hide this from them. While Twilight kept examining the Keyblade, she gasped as it disappeared out of her aura and back in Sora's hoof. "...What kind of magic is in that?" the unicorn asked. "As much as I'd like to continue telling you more, even though I'm not supposed to, how about we save this until we stop Nightmare Moon before the Heartless stab her in the back?" Sora dismissed his Keyblade, getting to the important part of this dilemma. "Twilight told me earlier that she knew Nightmare Moon would come back after a thousand years of her banishment, which just happened to be today. From what I was told about the events that created the Summer Sun Celebration, Celestia had defeated her using the power of these gems known as the Elements of Harmony. If there was anymore information on them, then maybe we can find where they are and-" "Here ya go!" Pinkie said, thrusting a book in Sora's face. He looked at the cover that was shoved up against his snout, the title reading "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference guide. "...Where did you find this?" "It was under 'E'!" Pinkie answered as she bounded back to the others. Sora just shrugged as he opened it up to the possible location of the Elements of Harmony, and what they really were. "Let's see...'There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Loyalty. The sixth element is a mystery. The last known location of the five elements rests within the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters, which now resides in the Everfree Forest.'" The mares all gasped in horror at where the Elements of Harmony lied in the reference guide. The group of seven stood at the entrance for the wild and overgrown forest, Sora spotting Fluttershy's cottage not too far away. It just looked like an overgrown forest to him, having no clue why the girls were all trembling. At least Spike wasn't with them, the baby dragon having passed out after the party. "T-T-They're r-really in there?" Fluttershy asked, more frightened than the rest of them. "Seems so. But why are you girls freaking out? It's just a forest, with a non-threatening name." Twilight suddenly turned the teen around with her aura, making him face the aghast mares. "Just a forest!?" Rainbow questioned. "You have no idea what's in there!" "The plants grow out of control, untamed by anypony," Rarity said. "The animals inside take care of themselves," Fluttershy added, trembling more and more with each second. "And the weather acts on its own accord," Applejack finally added. "...Seriously?" Sora asked. "...That's exactly like my home. Wild forests and jungles, animals surviving on their own in the wild, and the weather rains or shines whenever it feels like it." They were so shocked to hear the stallion speak so casually about the unnatural events of the Everfree Forest like they were home to him. "...Wow. You guys really go through the lengths to control everything...No wonder it's so peaceful." "Sora, wherever you're from, you're insane for living in something that's like the Everfree," Rainbow commented, which the Keyblade wielder only shrugged. "I've been in worse worlds to live in. One of them is a world that defies all sense of logic and lives on insanity." Sora shuddered as he recalled the Queen of Hearts, a crazy woman who makes up the rules for anything. "You do not want to live there." Sora took the lead, the group entering the dangerous forest to seek out the ancient castle deep inside. None of them noticed a starry aura floating past them through the wild and unkempt foliage of the bushes and trees. While walking along a dangerous cliffside in the perilous forest, being careful not to walk close to the edge. With Equestria still dark, the sun having yet to rise, they had to watch where they stepped as the trees' branches blocked out the moonlight. "Everyone, stay alert," Sora said. "If you see any Heartless, stay far away from them as best as you can." "Why can't we fight them off?" Rainbow asked. "You have other Keyblades. Can't you just give us all one?" "It's not that simple, Rainbow Dash," Sora began explaining. "I can't just give away a Keyblade. Only those who are worthy to wield it can use one. Besides, none of you have any experience fighting the Heartless, and your hooves won't do much to even hurt them. No other weapon can kill them unless it's a Keyblade." "Then we're completely defenseless." Twilight accidentally bumped into Sora, who stopped suddenly, his ears twitching in every direction. "Sora?" He heard the faint sound of a void opening from somewhere, a sign of Heartless having appeared. "We got company." Sora called his Keyblade, looking around for the threat before it could reach them. He looked up at the top of the cliff, eyes widening in shock as he saw a Large Body, a heavy Heartless with a tiny head by a fat body, its front protected by armor, leaving its head and back mostly vulnerable. "Look out!" Sora quickly shoved the mares aside and leapt back right as the Large Body slammed its heavy frame into the ground. The impact caused the cliff they walked along to crumble, sending Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity sliding down the dangerous slope. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash swooped down to help the others, while Sora dealt with the Large Body. As soon as it got up on its stubby feet, it tried to punch the teen, but he easily avoided its wide swing. As the four non-pegasi mares slid down, Rainbow managed to save Pinkie while Fluttershy stopped Rarity from sliding too fast. Applejack grabbed onto a root on the way down, stopping her fall, but Twilight was unlucky as her lower half slid over the edge, desperately clinging on for dear life. Seeing the unicorn was about to fall, the farm mare carefully slid down and grabbed Twilight's forehooves. "Ah got ya! Just hang on!" she said. "I'd rather not!" Twilight shouted, struggling to find some footing to help her back up. "Ya'll are gonna be alright!" Applejack looked back up the slope, watching Sora deal with the Heartless. The Large Body began glowing as it lunged at the Keyblade wielder to injure him, but he's dealt with every Heartless he came across. She looked down at Twilight, scared out of her mind as Applejack couldn't find any leverage to pull the unicorn up because of the slope. "Ya'll are gonna be safe. Ah promise ya." Twilight yelped as the Large Body slammed his huge underside into the ground to try to crush Sora, causing her to slip more. "I'm slipping! Pull me up! Please!" "Ah'm tryin'!" She couldn't hold on for much longer, Applejack feeling herself begin to slide over. She accidentally dropped Twilight, watching in terror as the unicorn screamed in fright, falling to her death. A heart flew up from the top of the cliffside, the Large Body defeated, and Sora flew off and dove down to the flailing unicorn. He made it under her and caught her in his forelegs, gently hovering in the air as Twilight clung her forelegs around his neck tightly. "Don't worry. I got you." Sora floated down to the safety of the ground, Twilight shakily stepping her hooves back down on solid ground. He flew back up to the cliff side, helping Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy carry Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack down to the bottom. "Everyone alright? No serious injuries? Cause I can heal those in a heartbeat." "N-No," Twilight said, calming her breathing as she nearly fell to her death. She looked over at Applejack, having believed the earth pony that she would be safe, though not exactly how she figured she was supposed to be saved. "I think I'm ok...Thank you, Sora." "No problem. Let's keep going before all of us fall down anymore cliffs," Sora joked as they continued on their way through the forest, on the more safer pathway than the dangerous way they went. While passing through the shrubbery, everyone stayed alert in case they see any yellow eyes in the darkness. Twilight was still a little shaken up from the fall, but she knew she could rely on Sora to save her and the others. They soon heard a roar up ahead, the lavender mare immediately at Sora's side in fear at what might attack them now. "W-What was that!?" she asked. "Sounded like the roar of a lion." Sora was right on the money, at least a third of it, as a dangerous beast leapt out from the bushes in front of them. It was a lion alright, though with a pair of large wings on its back and a scorpion tail; a manticore. It roared at them, the mares quickly hiding behind the teen. "Whoa! Simba, what happened to you!? You got an upgrade!" "You know that manticore!?" Twilight asked in shock. "Actually, I was joking. Though, I do know a Simba from another world, a lion, and even I turned into-" The manticore lunged at them, Sora stopping his storytelling as he called his Keyblade again, pressing the blade back into the dangerous hybrid's jaws. It tried to gnaw its way through the metal, but to no avail as Sora pushed it back. "I should practice what I preach." While Sora was more focused on the sharp fangs and claws of the manticore, he forgot about the scorpion tail as it reared up above the lion. His reaction timing far faster than the thrusting tail of poison, he managed to spin around and avoid the poisonous sting by mere inches, climbing up on its back and holding the tail down between him and its backside. It tried to shake him off, but Sora was clinging on tightly, cheering excitedly as if it was a rodeo ride. While most of the mares just stared in dumbfounded awe, Fluttershy snapped out of it when she noticed the manticore's front left paw was trying to avoid stepping on the ground. Any time it did while Sora was riding on it, the roar it let out sounded more out of pain than anything. The timid mare stepped toward it, the others confused with what Fluttershy was going to do. "Sora, can you get off the manticore?" she asked politely, her voice surprisingly stopping the rampaging manticore. "Uhh, sure? What for though?" Fluttershy pointed down to one of its paws, confusing the teen, but he shrugged and leapt off. The beast growled as it was about to swat the mare away. "Shhh. It's ok," she assured it, nuzzling its limping paw. Sora was surprised to see Fluttershy was more calm with a dangerous animal like a manticore than she was with him or any other pony. It did make some sense, being around animals a lot from the large variety around her cottage, and the manticore reminded Sora of a certain Beast who looked threatening, but he had a heart inside that monster of a body. "Show me what's wrong." The manticore whimpered and showed its hurt paw, a thorn stuck deep inside of it. "Ow. Must have stepped through a pretty prickly thorn bush if it went in that deep." "The poor little guy," Fluttershy cooed, gently rubbing its aching paw. Sora raised a brow at her description of the manticore being "little", the beast at least three times their size. "Sora, you think you can pull that out of him while I keep him calm?" "...Uhh...sure." Sora dismissed his Keyblade, not wanting to show hostility to the now tame manticore. "I think this is the first time we had a conversation that wasn't one sided." As Fluttershy kept the wild animal's leg steady, Sora grabbed the thorn with his teeth. "Ok. One...two...three!" He pulled the thorn out all the way, spitting out the annoying, painful piece of bramble far into the woods. "There. That wasn't so-" The manticore suddenly pulled both pegasi in its paws, roaring loudly at them. The others watching gasped and looked away, only to hear the roar turn into purring and Fluttershy giggling. When they did look back, their jaws dropped to the ground, Pinkie Pie's literally dropping to the ground, seeing the manticore affectionately licking the two ponies that helped it. "Aww, you're just a wittle baby kitty, aren't you?" Fluttershy continued giggling as she was licked. "Little!?" Sora asked, sputtering as it licked him, his spiky mane slicking back with the manticore's saliva. "I'm afraid to know how big it gets when it's an adult!" The others carefully made their way past the tame manticore, either not wanting to rile it up again or get "attacked" by its tongue. "Ack! Pth! Down, Simba Two! Down, boy!" The "little kitty" finally let them go and wandered off into the forest, all of them hoping it will watch where it walks and not get grumpy from another thorn. Sora and Fluttershy looked at each other, the mare's mane stuck straight up thanks to the "thank you" grooming from her new friend. The two pegasi laughed at their ridiculous new hairstyles, the stallion feeling a little glad to know Fluttershy has warmed up to her after helping an injured creature. "H-How?" Twilight finally spoke, speaking for the rest of the group. "How did you two know there was a thorn in its paw?" "I don't think we did until I noticed how it was limping," Fluttershy answered, fixing her mane back to normal. "Sometimes, it helps to show a little kindness." "Especially helping those when they need it, even when they hide it." Sora shook his head, his hair back to the way it was. As they continued on their way through the forest, Twilight couldn't help but smile, learning that valuable lesson and taking it to heart. With the manticore now tamed, they headed deeper in the darkest part of the woods. It was hard to see in this small stretch of trees, everyone sticking close while Sora took the lead. "Consarn it. Ah can barely see a thing," Applejack commented. Sora yelped, feeling someone touching his flanks. "Hey! Watch your hooves, whoever that was!" "Whoops! Sorry!" Pinkie apologized. "Ick! I think we're walking in mud!" Rarity complained. "Rarity, we all walk on the dirt road," Sora said, rolling his eyes at the white unicorn's complaints about being dirty. She soon screamed, making him groan. "Rarity, come on. A little dirt's not gonna-" He soon bumped into a tree, but instead of it being like any of the normal ones, it had a really creepy face staring right at him. "...Well. That's a little disturbing." He soon heard the rest of the mares scream in terror, the teen facehoofing himself. "Seriously? Scary faces terrify them?" While they were huddled up in the center of the trees, Sora heard one of them laughing. They all looked in the direction of one of the trees, Pinkie giggling and making silly faces at it. "Pinkie!? What are you doing!?" Twilight exclaimed. "Get away from those trees!" "Oh come on, girls. Don't you see?" Suddenly, Sora began to hear music playing, his ears twitching a little as he enjoyed the little tune. [Pinkie Pie] When I was a little filly, and the sun was going down "Wait, is she-?" Twilight tried to ask as Pinkie moved to the next verse. The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown "Yes, she is," Rarity said as they watched Pinkie bounce around, Sora joining the group as his body swayed to the music. I'd hide under my pillow From what I thought I saw But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way To deal with fears at all "What's that, Pinkie?" Sora asked, the mare appearing next to him with a grin on his face. She said, "Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall Learn to face your fears You'll see that they can't hurt you Just laugh to make them disappear." "Like this?" Sora asked, approaching one of the trees. "Ha. Ha. Ha." Just like that, the creepy face disappeared in a puff of smoke. He looked back at the surprised mares, giving them a wink as he flew back to Pinkie and joined her with her song, the lyrics coming to him naturally. [Pinkie & Sora] Soooooooooo [Pinkie] Giggle at the ghostly [Sora] Guffaw at the grossly [Pinkie] Crack up at the creepy [Sora] Whoop it up with the weepy [Pinkie] Chortle at the kooky [Sora] Snortle at the spooky [Pinkie] And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you thenhesgotanotherthingcomingandtheveryideaofsuchathingjustmakesyouwanna-Hahahahahaha! Heh! [Pinkie & Sora] Lauuuuuuuuuuuugh During the song and after, the rest of the girls joined in with their laughing, getting rid of all the creepy faces from the trees. They fell into uncontrollable laughter, falling on their backs as they struggled to control their breathing. With the scary threat gone, they continued moving forward to reach the castle, only to pause as they were blocked off by a raging river. "Well, this is a problem," Sora said as he began thinking about how they were going to get the mares who could fly across to the other side. They soon heard crying coming from downstream, where they saw the source of the raging rapids. A purple sea serpent with orange, fancy looking hair bawled uncontrollably, half of his long moustache similar in color to his hair seemed to have been cut off by something. The group approached the upset serpent, being carefully not to get drenched by the crashing waves his flailing body was making. "Excuse us, sir?" Twilight asked, the sniveling aquatic reptile looking down at the ponies. "What seems to be the problem?" "My figure is ruined!" the serpent cried. "I was just minding my own business, when out of nowhere, some strange blue smoke flew past me and cut off my mustache! Now I look hideous!" He bawled again, splashing a wave over the group and getting them completely soaked. "That's it?" Sora asked, shaking off the water, needing the quick bath to rid his mane of manticore saliva. "What do you mean 'That's it,' Sora!?" Rarity exclaimed. "Don't be so insensitive. Just look at him. Those luminescent scales. His coiffed mane. That fabulous manicure." Rarity's compliments helped to lift the serpent's spirits up a little, feeling flattered by the unicorn's praise. "And it's all ruined without his beautiful mustache. "Oh, it's true! I just look ugly!" The waterworks came back as the serpent continued crying. "I cannot let a crime of such fabulosity go uncorrected!" Rarity approached the serpent and grabbed one of his scales. "Uhh, Rarity, what are you-" Before Sora could finish his question, the unicorn used the scale and cut off her tail, turning the long and luxurious appendage into a short, badly cut stub. "-...Oh." Sora quickly covered his face with a wing, looking away from Rarity's rear with a blush. Using her magic, Rarity took her tail, shuddering at what she had done to her beautiful tail, ignoring her loss as she tied her lavender tail to the serpent's cut off mustache. It was now fixed, though a bit mismatched and looked awkward, but the serpent felt better. "My mustache! Oh, thank you so much!" he exclaimed, twirling his new curly half mustache. "You're very welcome, darling." Rarity looked back at her tail, whimpering a little at the sacrifice she gave. "Well, short tails are in this season. It'll grow back." "Try saying that to a guy," Sora said, keeping his eyes averted away from Rarity's backside. With the sea serpent now calmed down, as well as the river, he offered to be a makeshift bridge to help the others cross over to the other side. As soon as they made it across, they said their farewells to the serpent and continued on their way, getting closer to the castle. Though what the serpent had said about a blue cloud of smoke flying past him bothered Sora. If that cloud was Nightmare Moon, then she was somewhere around the Everfree Forest, probably thinking of a way to stop them from finding the Elements of Harmony. "Look! There it is!" Twilight said, pointing a hoof to the ruins of a castle not too far ahead. The lavender unicorn ran toward it, wanting to find the Elements of Harmony before it was too late. "We're almost there!" "Twilight, wait!" Sora quickly flew up to her and stopped her just before she reached the edge of the cliff. "I would say 'Look before you leap,' but I think instead of leaping, it would be more like plummeting...again." "Oh." She let out a nervous chuckle after she saw the foggy cliff side, where a deadly drop would have waited for her. "Right...So, how are we going to get across?" "Looks like the bridge is out," Rainbow said. "I'll get it back up for us." Rainbow flew down to grab the other end of the rope bridge at the bottom of the chasm, rising back up on the other side and began tying the bridge back up. From the darkness in the woods, three ponies wearing dark uniforms and yellow goggles approached the pegasus. "Rainbow Dash," the mare in the trio spoke, alerting the cyan pegasus to them. "We have been expecting you." "Huh? Why me?" she asked, feeling a little wary of the mysterious ponies. "We are the Shadowbolts, the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, but we will soon be the greatest team in all of Equestria with a mare of your talents. A swift, brave, and incredible flyer in all the land." The mare's words began eating at Rainbow's ego as her grin grew wider and wider. "With you as our captain, we will be the most popular team in the world." "Really!?" Rainbow squealed. "Alright! But first, I need to set up this bridge for the others." "No!" the mare shouted, turning the pegasus around before she could finish tying up the bridge. "It's them, or us. Make a choice, Rainbow Dash." Sora growled, overhearing them and not trusting these ponies that seemed to look like Heartless by their uniforms. "Oh no they don't!" He flew off to get rid of them, but the mare saw him coming, her eyes glowing and bringing the fog up to shroud them. Instead of flying through it, the teen slammed into the fog as if it was a solid wall. "For the love of Kingdom Hearts..." He tried to slash his way through the physical wall of fog, but it was like cutting air. "Rainbow Dash! If you can hear me, don't listen to them! They're trying to trick you!" From the other side of the fog, Rainbow could barely hear Sora as she was stuck between a difficult choice. It was either stick with the others and help find the Elements of Harmony, or leave them and fulfill her dream of being a famous flyer. She finally made her decision, staring at the Shadowbolts' leader. "...Thanks, but no thanks," she said, shocking and angering the trio. Rainbow finished tying up the bridge, flying up in the air. "Saving Equestria's far more important than having my dreams come true. My friends come first before anything I want." She flew through the fog, the Shadowbolts disappearing in a blue smoke, fleeing deeper into the forest. As the fog lifted up, Rainbow almost bumped into Sora, the others relieved to see her still with them. While the non-pegasi walked across the bridge, the Keyblade wielder nudged the cyan pegasus mare. "Glad you didn't get fooled by them," Sora said. "Please. I never leave my friends hanging," Rainbow proudly said. "You were going to join them if they weren't going to trick you...but we're glad you're still sticking around." The two pegasi gave each other a hoof bump. "Just be thankful there weren't Heartless, otherwise I would have had to save your sorry butt more times than I should." "Right," Rainbow chuckled as they flew back to the ground with the others. The castle was just up ahead, and the Elements of Harmony were somewhere inside. Hopefully, they'll be enough to stop Nightmare Moon, and for Sora, he hoped he wouldn't have to use his Keyblade to end her life if they didn't work.