//------------------------------// // The Cutie Mark Chronicles // Story: My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria // by Codex92 //------------------------------// Sora laid in his bed early in the morning, feeling a bit bored. There weren't any chores needing to be done on the farm, Twilight and Kairi are having a mare's day out, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were busy trying to get their cutie marks, and failing in the process with whatever crazy ideas they have, and there were no sign of Heartless anywhere in Ponyville. Thankfully, Celestia had informed Sora that no other sightings of the Heartless were seen in other parts of the world, only showing up around him, Kairi, or the other girls. Having the Keyblade as a magnet to attract them to him was a good thing at least, since no one else would get hurt. Winona was in his room, bumping her nose against his hoof to get his attention. He lazily patted the collie on the head, the dog yipping with satisfaction as she got attention. He rolled over on his side, looking at the Apple family pet, her tail wagging excitedly. "You know, Winona, you're lucky you don't get bored so easily. You just eat and sleep, and whenever you get excited, you run around trying to chase your tail." To prove his point, Winona began running around in circles, trying to chase her tail. "Like that." Sora sighed, leaning over his bed in boredom, looking at the room upside down. The hyper puppy licked his face, making him sputter. "I'm so bored! Winona, give me some ideas!" She licked him again. "...Good try." The bored teen sat up and wiped his face of the dog slobber. Laying down on his side, his ears and tail twitched in rhythm to a ticking clock, almost like that creepy crocodile that has a hankering for evil pirate captains in Never Land. He looked down at his sides, staring at the Keyblade cutie mark. He always did wonder why cutie marks were important in this world, aside from showing everyone what their special talents are. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are going nuts trying to get their cutie marks, and that show they put on for their school's talent show was a terrible example of them thinking they had a talent with comedy. Their true talents were staring them in the face when he helped them fix up Applejack's old clubhouse, making it their new clubhouse and meeting spot for their little group. "Hmm...I didn't really 'find' my cutie mark. It was already there." Sora blew a raspberry, thinking that he had gotten a forced tattoo when he woke up in Equestria. "I'm a jack of all trades, but my real talent is keeping the worlds safe from the Heartless. The Crusaders don't have theirs, and a colt or filly gets them when they discover their talents." The teen hummed as he laid upside down over the edge of his bed again, Winona having left his room a while ago as he pondered how the other girls got their cutie marks. "Wonder how they got their cutie marks. And when." Suddenly, his Keyblade appeared in his mouth as a light shone from the tip, making a book appear from the light and dropped down on his stomach. Sora groaned, wishing there was a better way for her to transport letters or objects that didn't involve his Keyblade appearing against his own will just to tell him something. Maybe she heard his boredom and gave him something to read to entertain him, even though he wished for something that didn't involve reading. Curious about this mysterious book, he sat up and looked at the cover, or what lack of a cover there was on the pink and purple book. "Huh?" There was no illustration, but there was a title. "'The Cutie Mark Chronicles'? That's an...interesting title. Is it some sort of adventure story?" Setting the book down on the dresser, he opened it up to the table of contents, but there was none. No words, no other illustrations, nothing but blank pages. As he was about to give up trying to figure out what kind of terrible, blank book this was supposed to be, he finally found something of interest that were in the center pages: it looked like a map of Equestria, though there were certain locations that were more defined than the rest of the kingdom, and there were the gemstones of the Elements of Harmony, one over each specific location. As he questioned what this all meant, the book's pages began glowing. His body was soon engulfed in the light, his eyes widening in shock before he was turned into an orb of light, floating down into the book. While Sora had disappeared, Winona ran into his room with a squeaky ball in her jaws, wanting to play fetch with the stallion. She let out a confused whine, finding no sign of him when she clearly knew he was here just a moment ago. Sora fell, looking down at the pages of the book as its magic had shrunk him down to a smaller size, just like it had done for him with Pooh's storybook in the past. It did surprise him when Twilight finally told him she actually went in the 100 Acre Wood with Celestia, knowing that honey pot was familiar to him. He touched down, landing gently, but there was a big difference with him; he wasn't a pony anymore. The teen stood up at his actual height as a human, looking down at his original body, flexing his fingers and his toes hidden in his black and yellow shoes. "Huh. Finally glad to be back to how I used to be outside of Equestria." Sora started stretching out his human limbs, somewhat happy to get out of a four-legged magical form for a short while. After warming up his muscles, he looked around at the opened pages. "This feels kind of like the storybook. I hope no one tears the pages out. I really don't want to find them spread out across the world, or worlds, just to piece it all back together. Two times is already enough." On the eastern portion of the illustrated map of Equestria, one of the locations had popped up like the homes of his friends from the 100 Acre Wood. What stood up was a city near the coast, Applejack's apple cutie mark hovering over the skyscraper buildings, but the colors were dulled gray. Seeing no other location popped up, Sora walked up to the paper cutout of the city and walked through. The Keyblade wielder opened the barn doors, which was odd from where he figured he was supposed to enter in the city, finding himself on Sweet Apple Acres. Sora scratched his head in confusion, wondering why he was here in Ponyville, far from where the city was. He saw some ponies up near the entrance of the orchard, but as he got closer, he was surprised by what he saw. Standing near the archway at the end of the dirt road was Granny Smith, a younger Big Macintosh, and a filly Applejack. The orange filly didn't have her hat, she had a pair of small saddlebags on her back, and she didn't have her trio of apples cutie mark. "What is going on?" Sora walked up to them, though none of them seemed to have noticed him as Applejack talked to her granny. "Applejack, are ya sure ya want to do this?" the senior asked. "Ya won't like the big city of Manehatten." "Don't worry, Granny! Ah'll be fine!" Applejack said. "Besides, ah wanna try and be sophisticated like Aunt and Uncle Orange! Ah don't know if Ah really like workin' on the farm." Sora gasped in shock. Hearing Applejack actually say she didn't like being on the farm, with her family, that was unlike her. But seeing she was a filly, maybe she was like Apple Bloom, just as confused as what her special talents were. "Ah might come back soon. Tell Apple Bloom big sister's gonna be a city pony!" Granny Smith and "Little" Macintosh watched her go as she headed east, all on her own. "What is Applejack thinking?...Is this some kind of memory from her past? How did something like that even get into an enchanted book?" Sora looked around, no sign of Apple Bloom, desperate to know what the filly looked like as an infant, or even the Apple siblings' parents. "And where the heck are her parents!? They shouldn't even allow this to happen!" Sora ran past the weeping earth ponies, completely invisible to them as the teen wasn't part of the story, and chased after Applejack. As he followed the dirt path she took, the environment took a drastic change of scenery as he was now in the city he originally entered. Applejack was right in front of him, admiring the sights of Manehatten, passing by the tough city ponies. She was definitely out of her element. She soon arrived at a posh apartment complex, heading inside and up the stairs to a door with an orange on it. The door opened, revealing two earth ponies on the other side, an orange stallion with a green mane, and a pale yellow mare with a brown mane, both of them having cutie marks that represent oranges, clearly Applejack's relatives. "Why, if it isn't little Applejack!" Aunt Orange said, the couple letting their niece in. "Thank ya'll for lettin' me stay with ya, Aunt and Uncle Orange!" The two relatives chuckled at her accent while the filly lowered her saddlebags next to the door. Sora had to duck as he stepped inside the elite apartment building, his height far taller than the door frame. Since he could actually touch the walls, he didn't want to smack his head on anything. He watched quietly as Applejack was now in a fancy gathering of rich ponies for a dinner party, her mane done up in almost the same style as her Aunt Orange. When the older mares and stallions asked questions about the filly, she spoke like them, completely dropping her southern accent and talked about how she lived on the farm. The teen groaned and facepalmed when one of them asked what a rooster was. It made him want to find this pony, drag him down to the farm before the crack of down, point his head in the direction of the bird and open their ears to hear it crow as the light of the sun comes up. After the horrible party, with food portions that disappointed the filly, too small for even a termite to munch on, Sora sat next to Applejack as she looked out at the window of the guest room at the crack of dawn. As soon as the sun peeked over the mountain where Canterlot rested, she let out a rooster call, though sad, feeling homesick. "Yeah. This kind of life isn't for you, Applejack," Sora said, feeling pity for the filly. "I wonder what made you change your mind and go back home..." Suddenly, they heard a small explosion out in the distance, both of them watching a rainbow trail light up the morning sky, heading straight in the direction of Ponyville. Her home in Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack made her decision, running for her belongings, placing her saddlebags on, and left her Orange relatives' home. Sora followed after her as she ran through the streets of Manehatten, and back into Ponyville. Her older brother and grandmother saw the filly run up along the path as they were about to begin the day's chores, both of them meeting Applejack halfway and hugging her tightly. Now she was back home, where she truly belonged. Sora noticed her flanks shine brightly, and right on her blank flank were her trio of apples. Her earned cutie mark. The teen exited the city and was back on the book. Looking up, he saw the apple-shaped gemstone regain its orange color, now looking like the Element of Honesty. He then heard another section of Equestria pop up, this one being a field filled with animals, a gray butterfly gem hovering above it. "Are these...memories of how the girls got their cutie marks?" Sora asked himself. "Celestia, if you somehow heard me...You're probably going to kill me with cuteness, seeing all of them as fillies...Well, I hope Equestria has insulin, cause I might get diabetes if I have to see all of them be as adorable as the Crusaders." Sora walked into the fields of animals, but now found himself standing on a bunch of clouds hovering above the world. From the formations of the cloudy ground and buildings, it almost looked like some kind of flight school. There were large, soft clouds down below a group of smaller ones high above to get young fliers to learn how to use their wings in a freefall, and there were also several cloud rings littered about as an obstacle course for coordination and precision flying. Several colt and filly pegasi were flying around while being guided by the teachers either flying with them and encouraging them. "Wow...This must be the flight camp Rainbow Dash talked about." He looked down at his feet, standing on the clouds as if he was still a pegasus. He didn't know if it was because his ability of being a pegasus was the reason or if it was just a memory and the rules of logic for Equestria didn't apply to him. "Hmm...I wonder if I can still..." Sora leapt up high in the air and tried to hover in the air. Luckily, he still held onto the abilities he had mastered with mastering his Drive Forms, his Glide ability thankfully not lost to him. "Yeah. This is perfect! Now I won't have to worry about falling too far from the sky and make it to the farther clouds!" He soon heard a yelp from a familiar voice, turning just in time to see a filly fly into one of the flags, knocking it off its post as she fell to the cloudy surface below. She untangled herself from the flag, revealing the pony to be a younger Fluttershy. She was pretty lanky, and even more adorable than she was fully grown. "Oh gosh," Sora mumbled, feeling a heart attack. "I think I just got diabetes just from looking at filly Fluttershy! Why is she so cute!?" His gushing was halted as he heard familiar male voices, though slightly younger, coming from two of Rainbow's and Fluttershy's bullies back in Cloudsdale, though they were young too. "Good job, Klutzershy!" "My baby brother can fly better than you can, and he's an infant!" The two colts laughed, Dumbbell and the orange colt the only ones there, making Fluttershy cry. "Picking on adult Fluttershy, that's a big no," Sora said. "Picking on filly Fluttershy is not right!" He flew down and tried to grab the two colts and pick them up, but his hands phased right through them as if they were holograms. He lifted his hands up, unable to make any changes with the memory playing out. "You two are lucky. But not in the future." "Hey! Leave her alone!" A blue blur flew down and slammed down into the cloud the three ponies were on, a young Rainbow Dash standing up for Fluttershy. The rainbow-maned filly's hair was a frazzled mess, far more messy than it looked when she was older. Sora noticed both fillies didn't have their cutie marks yet, and he couldn't help but grin as he now got a look at what Rainbow looked like when she was younger: small, adorable, and huggable. "Oh, I am so going to tease Rainbow Dash after this." The teen rubbed his hands together with a sinister smirk on his face, a good way to get payback on her if she ever uses him as a cushion when she crashes. Soon, the two bullies and Rainbow met up at a starting line for an obstacle course, their other peers watching as the loyal filly was going to race the two colts to defend Fluttershy. The timid filly was on a cloud ahead of them, holding a flag in her mouth to signal their race. As soon as she waved it, the three sped off and zoomed past her, making Fluttershy spin and send her careening off the edge, falling to the ground several miles below. Sora gasped in shock and dove down after Fluttershy to save her. She couldn't flap her wings, too scared to open them and save herself. He tried to grab her, but his arms just phased right through her. He couldn't bear to watch as he clasped his hands over his eyes, not wanting to see her fall to her death...only realizing that the real Fluttershy was still alive. He peeked through his fingers and watched from above, and by some miracle, a huge flock of butterflies caught the filly and saved her. Sora breathed a sigh of relief and fell to the ground, landing softly as he watched the filly being carried by the butterflies stare at everything the ground had in awe, music suddenly starting to play around them as he felt a song coming on. [Fluttershy] What is this place Filled with so many wonders? Casting its spell That I am now under Squirrels in the trees And the cute little bunnies Birds flying free And bees with their honey Hooooooneeeeeeeeeey! As Fluttershy sang, Sora watched as she began flying, without any fear or trepidation. Animals all came out from their burrows, nests, any home they were in and came up to the pegasus filly, immediately taking a liking to her and her song. Ohhh, what a magical place And I owe it all to the pegasus race If I knew the ground had so much up its sleeve I'd have come here sooner, and never leave Yes, I. Love. Everythiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Despite having nearly fallen to her death, Fluttershy's fascination with the ground had dispersed her fears, being around so many animals. Suddenly, a large explosion and a shockwave of rainbow lights lit up the sky, startling everyone, including Sora, the animals all fleeing from the loud noise and hiding in their homes. The teen looked up and saw the sonic rainboom, shocked to see that again. "Wow. Rainbow really did create the sonic rainboom when she was a filly. How fast was she going in that race?" Sora groaned as he shook his head. "I was too busy worrying about Fluttershy that I completely forgot to see. Maybe when I see how Rainbow got her cutie mark, I'll see who won." Looking back at Fluttershy, he saw her whispering to the frightened critters, urging them to come out now that the rainboom had ended. With all the animals now out of hiding, a bright light shone from the filly's flanks, her trio of butterflies appearing from her love and care for the timid creatures. Sora laughed at the irony; the timid and shy pegasus taking care of the timid and frightened animals. Back on the pages of the book, Sora looked up and watched the gray butterfly gem turn pink, the Element of Kindness glowing brightly. Another location popped up, this one featuring a quarry with a large boulder on a hill with a small crack in it, the large dull diamond hovered above the area. Sora began to think after going through two of his friends' memories, how they got their cutie marks, and why their elements were floating above where they got those cutie marks. "This is pretty strange," he said. "Do any of those other illustrations have something to do with the Elements of Harmony in some way?" Sora grew curious, wanting to know a bit more before he could make a guess. "Guess I'll have to wait and see, while also trying not to keel over from cuteness overload." Entering the next memory, finding himself in Ponyville, Sora saw a stage set up at the schoolhouse, where a rehearsal for a play was taking place. The fillies were wearing hoof-made costumes, and the Keyblade wielder could see the designer of the outfits behind the stage with the class's teacher; a filly Rarity. Even when she was little, her mane and tail had a slight curl. "Oh my, Rarity," the teacher said. "These costumes you made are really good." "Good!?" filly Rarity asked. "I want them to be spectacular! Nopony's going to like them, and the performance is tomorrow! They need to look better!" Rarity ran off the stage, Sora quickly following after her as she headed inside what looked like her home growing up. It seemed like the Carousel Boutique wasn't owned by the young fashionista yet. He entered the filly's room, watching her working on remaking the costumes she had just made, trying to make them better than they already were. "Wow. Even when you were little, you kept striving for perfection," Sora said, though he knew she couldn't hear him. Suddenly, Rarity's horn began glowing, her head being forced to follow as whatever spell she had subconsciously cast dragged her outside. "Ahh! What is my magic doing!? Stop, horn!" Sora chased after her as Rarity was dragged comically across and out of town. He tried not to laugh as he ran after her, seeing the bored, annoyed look on the filly's face as her hooves were dragged across the ground, her magic pulling her out to a rocky mountain range, which was thankfully not too far away from Ponyville. She finally stopped, slamming into a large rock near the edge of a cliff. "...Her horn lead her to a rock?" Sora asked. "A rock!? That's my destiny!?" Rarity shouted. "You dragged me away from my costumes to bring me to a stupid rock!?" She kicked the big rock, groaning in annoyance. "Dumb rock." A large explosion shocked both the unicorn and Keyblade wielder, a shockwave of rainbow light spreading out across the sky. The large rock in front of them began to crack from the explosive force, Rainbow's sonic rainboom close enough to break it in half. Inside of the halves of the boulder, they both gasped when they saw the large amount of gems and diamonds that were trapped inside it. "Whoa! That must have been the spell Rarity mentioned when she needed to find gems for her fashion lines." Sora stared at the many sparkling gems of all kinds resting inside. "And I have a feeling these are going to be used for her new costumes." Sure enough, time had skipped forward to tomorrow evening, where the play was underway. The fillies performing had worn their updated costumes, the gems Rarity found sewed into them making them all sparkle and shimmer under the spotlights. The crowd enjoyed them, even Sora was impressed. He looked over at Rarity, beaming as everyone enjoyed her costumes, her flanks glowing and her three blue diamonds cutie mark appeared. Back outside "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" book, the diamond above Rarity's memory turned purple, the Element of Generosity shimmering brightly as the crack in the rock began sparkling a rainbow of colors on the inside. The next location to pop up from the pages was up in Canterlot, a paper sun peeking up from behind the large spire on the castle, a gray star hovering above the city and castle. "Did Rainbow Dash make a second sonic rainboom?" Sora questioned as these events seemed coincidental. "She said she only pulled it off once though...Did all of them see the sonic rainboom?" Walking up to the popped up city on the book, Sora was now in the city of Canterlot, though it looked like it was pretty early in the morning. All the nobles living in this grand city were grouped up around a stage, a golden sun resting on a pole at the top was what they were all staring at, along with Celestia herself. He heard some of the ponies grunting as someone tried to push their way forward to get a closer look. "Excuse me! Pardon me!" he heard a filly say. "Wait...Is that Twilight?" Sora leapt up and glided over the mass of ponies, noticing a carnival being held in the city. This must have been the Summer Sun Celebration if the sun hasn't come up yet and the princess herself has made an appearance. Landing gently on the stairs, he looked out at the crowd, and standing right at the food of the steps was a filly Twilight, staring at the princess with anticipation. "It is, and ow my heart!" he exclaimed, clutching his chest. The teen looked at Celestia and pointed a finger at her. "You are so evil for being so nice!" Celestia hovered up into the air and floated in front of the pole, her horn glowing a golden aura as she raised her hooves up, metaphorically raising the sun up beyond the horizon. The crowd was really astounded, but when Sora looked down at Twilight, her eyes sparkled as she gazed up at the princess. Watching the sun being raised by her future teacher must have inspired her to study and learn about magic. The scenery soon changed to a library, where the lavender filly was reading through stacks and stacks of books while also practicing her magic. "Twilight!" Sora and Twilight looked over at the entrance to the library, a unicorn couple walking in, and judging by how similar the mare looked like Twilight, they were her parents. Twilight's father had a blue coat, a darker blue mane, and his cutie mark was a crescent moon, while her mother had a pale gray coat, her mane purple with white highlights, and her cutie mark a trio of purple stars. "We have a little surprise for you." "A surprise?" the filly asked, ignoring what she was reading and approached her parents. "We know you have been studying and want to learn more about magic, and are advancing pretty quickly," Twilight's father said. "But, we think you might be special enough to maybe...enter Princess Celestia's School for Magically Gifted Unicorns?" Her mother pulled out some enrollment papers from behind their backs, and it showed that Twilight was approved to be a part of the school. "Really!? Yay!" Twilight cheered, bouncing around her parents. "This is the best day ever!" The library soon turned into a classroom, where the prestigious school was. Twilight's parents were on the sidelines, giving her their support, a group of ponies in the seats as they would watch over what appears to be an entrance exam. The filly, unfortunately, was really nervous. "This is the most stressful day ever." "Miss Sparkle, for your entrance exam, you will be hatching this dragon egg, using only your magic," one of the judges said as a stallion pushed a cart with a purple egg resting on some hay. "And I'm guessing that egg must be Spike." Sora could see Twilight was getting stressed, not knowing she had to pass an entrance exam to enter the school. He helplessly watched as the filly tried to spark her horn to life, but her nerves made her lose her focus as she struggled to try and hatch Spike's egg. After about twenty minutes, she gave up as the judges wrote down negative reviews on Twilight's magical potential. "And, let me guess. Sonic rainboom?" As Sora predicted, the sonic rainboom exploded, the shockwave able to be seen outside the window in the distance. Unfortunately, the sudden blast spooked Twilight as her horn lit up and shot a beam at the egg, hatching the infant baby dragon. The lavender unicorn's magic went haywire and her eyes glowed white, her aura surging out of control as beams of magic struck everything around them. She turned her parents into plants, levitated the judges, and made Spike grow to gargantuan size, making his head burst through the roof of the building. Before Twilight's magic could cause anymore trouble, Celestia had walked in, having sensed the magical surge, gently resting a hoof on the filly's shoulder. As she looked up at the alicorn, her magic calmed down as all her sporadic spells had ceased: the judges flopping to the ground, Twilight's parents were back to normal, though her father seemed scarred, and Spike reverted back to his infantile form, suckling on his tail. She winced and lowered her head, thinking she was in trouble. "Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said, Twilight's ears pressing down against her head as she waited for the possible scolding she was about to receive. "You have an incredible gift. I have never come across a unicorn with latent magical power like yours." The filly's jaw began to drop lower and lower, confused and shocked as the alicorn praised her. "But, seeing how unstable it is at this moment, you will require a lot of focused studying in order to fully harness that potential. Which is why I would like to make you my personal student at this school." Just the expression on Twilight's face made Sora laugh, too stunned to speak or even move. "Do you accept?" "YES!" she cheered, and as she jumped for joy, Sora noticed her cutie mark had appeared, probably when her body began glowing under her powerful aura. "One more thing, Twilight." Celestia ceased the filly's cheering as she pointed out her flanks. Twilight gasped, her eyes sparkling more as she looked at the bright pink star and six small white ones. "My cutie mark! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!" she cheered again, bouncing around Celestia with excitement as she was now the princess's pupil and earned her cutie mark in magic. The pink star for the Element of Magic regained its colors, leaving only two more mares to see how they got their cutie marks. The next of the locations popped up, which looked like a dull looking farmhouse, but it was livened up with confetti shooting everywhere, balloons tied to the fences and house, and even pastries lying on a picnic table, a gray balloon gem hovering above the oddly lively farmhouse of boredom. "They had to have seen the same sonic rainboom," Sora pondered. He looked around at the map of Equestria, each location being the spots where Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight saw the sonic rainboom. The last one that still remained drawn onto the pages was the same flight school, which must have been the center point of the incredible shockwave, able to be seen from the farthest portion of the kingdom, which happened to be the party on the farm. "And...if that balloon is supposed to be for Pinkie Pie...What made her get her cutie mark, and why did she live on a farm like Applejack?" Sora walked along a dirt path, where all he could see on this dreary farm was nothing but rocks. Big ones, small ones, some as big as his own head. If Pinkie lived in an environment like this, she shouldn't be happy all the time. She would have been miserable, seeing nothing but dark and gray colors. Speaking of misery, he spotted little Pinkie Pie, and as he expected, she was indeed a miserable little filly. "Oh no." Pinkie was pushing a stone with her hooves, setting it in a certain part of the land, and she was far different than she was as a grown mare. Her coat and mane colors seemed dull, a dark pink color, she didn't look like she was having any fun, and her mane and tail weren't as frizzy and poofy, instead draped down and straight in a boring and lifeless style. "Aww, Pinkie looked like this??? That's not cute. That's sad. "Sad Pinkie is making me feel sad." Before the teen could shed a tear, pitying the used-to-be happy mare, an explosion from the sonic rainboom shocked the filly, and the shockwave of rainbow lights seemed to nearly knock Pinkie off her tiny hooves. Her mane and tail were now in the frizzy state Sora remembered seeing, and her colors brightened up a little as she looked up at the colorful rainbow that flew by. "There's the Pinkie I know," he said, only to have his grin turn into a shocked expression at the creepy, happy smile growing on the filly's face. "...And that is going to be nightmare fuel for the next year." Little Pinkie looked over at the teen and waved to him, somehow able to see him. "Hi, Sora!" "...And I'm not going to question how she's the only one who can see me in a memory...Or, what if I did go back in time and this is more than just a retelling of what happened to them when they got their cutie marks, but I'm invisible because I don't exist to them?" Sora immediately got a headache, rubbing his hair with his hands. "Stop questioning logic when it comes to this filly, me." "Yeah, and you need to stop talking to yourself." Pinkie was not helping matters as she approached him, trying to touch him, but her hoof went through his foot. "Aww. I wanted to get hugged." "You have no idea how much I wanted to for all of you," he said, kneeling down to the filly. "So, how exactly did you get your cutie mark?" "I don't know." Sora groaned and fell on his back comically. "But I do know I want to spread my new happiness to my family! My sisters and parents need some fun, and I know just what to do! Follow me!" Filly Pinkie bounded off to her family's farmhouse, bouncing off to the silo not too far from her home. Sora stood up and ran after her as he began hearing some odd construction noises coming from inside the storage building. "Is she using power tools?" Sora asked, about to open the door to the silo, only for a pink hoof to try to slap his hand away. "No peeky!" She closed the door, the teen giving up as he waited outside. Eventually, Pinkie's family began to come out of the farmhouse, hearing the same odd noises, which now turned into party music, the party crazy filly having finished preparing whatever was inside. He got a better look at the four ponies approaching the silo, her father's coat a tannish-brown with a gray mane, his cutie mark a hammer, her mother's coat a dull grayish color with a grayish-green mane tied in a bun, her cutie mark a trio of rocks. Pinkie's two sisters seemed to have had the same droopy hairstyle she used to have, but one of them was a dull purple with a gray mane while the other was gray with a darker gray mane. They both didn't have their cutie marks yet. "Pinkamena Diane Pie!" Pinkie's mother called out, Sora snickering at hearing the filly's full name. "What are you doing in there?" "Mom, dad, Limestone, Marble, come inside! I got something to show you!" The door finally opened up, the Pie family curious as to what Pinkie was doing. As they walked inside, Sora peeked around the corner, all of them seeing a private party set up by the energetic filly. How she managed to create a big cake, some cupcakes, other sweets, and set up the decorations without having any supplies to set everything up. The teen was a little frightened to know if Pinkie had the ability to defy logic at birth or if the sonic rainboom did something to her. "Surprise! It's called a party!" Pinkie's parents and sisters were surprised alright, though their facial expressions told her they didn't like what they saw. They looked at all the colorful decorations that was blinding compared to the lifeless, dull land they lived on, almost as if it seemed alien to them. Sora walked inside and saw their lips quivering, no clue if they were trying to stay stoic or they were about to scold the party-throwing filly. "I don't think they like it," Sora said. "...P-Pinkamena," her father said, Pinkie wilting as she prepared for a scolding. "T-This...This is..." Suddenly the entire family instantly beamed a big smile, which was less awkward than Pinkie's big grin earlier, though it did seem out of place for a serious family like hers. "Amazing!" "Really!? Then let's party!" Soon, the family began to enjoy the party, dancing, listening to the upbeat music, and eating the delicious sweets Pinkie had somehow made without even using an oven. Sora just shook his head as he watched the Pies having fun. He noticed Pinkie's flank shine as she earned her cutie mark bringing happiness to her family, her three balloons making themselves known. As much as the teen wanted to enjoy the festivities, he really couldn't since this was just a memory, and everything that wasn't a solid wall would just phase through his hand. The balloon gem turned blue and brightened up the depressing rock farm, the Element of Laughter raining confetti down on the land. Sora looked over at the flight school, watching it pop up from the page as the last element appeared above it, the dull lightning gem hovering above the cloudy school. "...I think I get it now," Sora said. "The moment Rainbow Dash pulled off that sonic rainboom, every single one of them had seen it, or heard the explosion. They all got their cutie marks at around the same time, their talents or unique skills realized to them...It was like fate wanted the girls to be friends since the day they were born." He looked over at the other hovering gems glowing over where the Mane Six had been when they saw the sonic rainboom, where their elements were known since they were little. "Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Magic, Laughter..." He looked up at the dulled Element of Loyalty, where Rainbow Dash defended Fluttershy from their bullies, their race ending up with the filly pulling off a sonic rainboom. "...Loyalty." Back in the flight camp, Sora was now going to see the race between filly Rainbow Dash and the two colt bullies. As much as he hated to see Fluttershy fall again, he knew she was going to be ok with the butterflies catching her down below. The race began, the timid yellow filly fell off from the racers' start, and Sora chased after them, gliding as fast as he could while using the clouds as an extra boost of height if he was about to fall out of the sky. He watched them zoom around the cloud rings, Rainbow's smaller frame giving her a better advantage of speed and dexterity than the two colts. One of them had managed to lose control and slammed through a cloudy pillar, that colt being Dumbbell, the bully knocked out for a loop. Rainbow Dash was out in front, but the other colt caught up with her and bumped her off course, sending the filly spiraling wildly. "Later, Rainbow Crash!" the orange colt mocked, speeding on through the rings. "Hey! You cheater!" She sped off after him and managed to catch up without any effort. "Yeesh! And I thought she was fast as an adult," Sora groaned, unable to keep up with the young pegasi as he sat down on one of the clouds. "She's a speed demon." He had no choice but to watch them race, but he got a good vantage point of their race. Rainbow was too busy focused on winning the race, she didn't notice she had let out a sonic boom that knocked the other colt off balance, slamming him headfirst into a cloud. Sora watched as the filly dove down to a cloud ring next to the surface of the ground down below, his eyes widening as a mach cone formed tighter and tighter around her. As soon as she reached the ring, she broke through the the sound barrier, and light spectrum, unleashing the sonic rainboom. The instant she pulled off the legendary move, she flew up at a perfect ninety degree angle before she hit the ground, a rainbow trail flying after her as the shockwave of prismatic lights spread across a huge radius of the land. He could hear her cheering loudly, along with the other fillies and colts in the flight school as they had witnessed her make a sonic rainboom. Dumbbell and his bully friend must have been still knocked out, both of them the only ones who didn't see it happen. Even though it was hard to see, Sora could tell Rainbow Dash had earned her cloud and lightning bolt cutie mark as she flew past him. Back on the book, Sora watched as the Element of Loyalty turned from gray to red. A sonic rainboom shot out from the red lightning bolt, the shockwave reaching out to hit the other elements. All of the Elements of Harmony began to shine brightly as they were pulled closer to the lightning bolt gem, uniting them as if they were long-lost friends finally together again. "...Did Celestia know they would become the Elements of Harmony?" Sora questioned as he watched the gems floating together above the map of Equestria. "She knew Twilight had the potential to wield powerful magic. And, the others actually showed some form of their element in the memories: Applejack now realizing where she truly belonged, Fluttershy's kind heart to the animals that were scared, Rarity's dedication to her work to show how much effort she puts into making her designs, Pinkie bringing a smile to her family and lighting up the dreary lifestyle they lived, and Rainbow Dash sticking up for Fluttershy against their bullies and beating them... "They were destined to be the Elements of Harmony." The Elements of Harmony began to shine brightly, their colored lights meeting together in the gap between them, his Keyblade appearing in his hand. "...They were destined to be best friends." Taking hold of his Keyblade, he aimed it up at where the lights met, forming a prismatic keyhole. Light appeared at the end of his weapon, firing a small white beam up to it. As it entered the keyhole, it began to form an orb as it disappeared, slowly floating down to Sora as the Elements of Harmony went back to their original places where their bearers saw the rainboom. He reached his hand out and caught the mysterious orb, glowing a prismatic array of colors as he lowered it to get a better look at it, the colors shifting about the sphere like an aurora. Inside the orb were the silhouettes of the Elements of Harmony. "Is this...a Drive Form?" The orb slowly sunk into his hand, merging with his enchanted clothing as he felt a powerful light come from it. He wanted to know what it looked like, but he couldn't gain any access to it. It was as if something was missing that was required to activate this new form, but that key to unlock it wasn't given to him. Sora shrugged it off, hoping one day he'll find it, heading over to the green circle of light in the bottom right corner of the page, using it to exit the enchanted book. In Sora's room on the farm, Winona sat on the teen's bed, chewing on her ball, hearing it squeak with each clamp of her jaws. The book began glowing, catching the collie's attention. An orb of light flew out and began to shift into a pony, bringing Sora out and back into his pegasus form. As soon as he had returned, Winona yipped and leapt off the bed, pawing at his legs as if worried about him. He gave her a scratch behind the ears, calming her down before she could leap up and lick his face. The book closed on its own as it flipped back to the cover. The teen watched as the cover glowed and created an illustration underneath the title. Now taking the blank space's place were the Elements of Harmony, and inside those gems were their bearers, their eyes closed with content smiles on their faces. The magical artwork was similar to those platforms Sora remembered seeing when he wound up in that dark realm before he acquired the Keyblade. A rainbow frame made up the edge of the cover, signifying the sonic rainboom, the same rainbow also connecting each mare's gem to the others, all of them having been connected before they ever met each other as fillies. Sora smiled, picking up the book as he looked at the cover. "Pretty interesting stories, Celestia." "Sora!" He looked over to his doorway as he saw Scootaloo panting heavily, strangely enough without Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom with her. "Please please PLEASE tell me how you got your cutie mark!" "Uhh, why?" Sora asked. "And where's the rest of the Crusaders?" "Never mind that!" the pegasus filly shouted. "You have no idea how crazy today went! Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and I went around Ponyville to know how everypony else go their cutie marks! We went to Applejack, then Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, and FINALLY Rainbow Dash, but all of their stories were so boring! Even Rainbow Dash's story was sappy as they all saw this sonic rainboom she made and talked about being friends before they met!" The Keyblade wielder laughed at the irony as he had just finished reading about their cutie mark stories in the enchanted book Celestia gave him. Scootaloo ran up to his forelegs, looking up at him as she begged. "So PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE tell me your cutie mark story is full of action and awesomeness with no sappy stuff!?" "Well..." Sora looked down at his own cutie mark, though how he could have gotten his could have been from any point in the past couple years: fighting the Heartless in that dream, getting the Keyblade as his home was destroyed, saving the worlds, stopping Ansem or Organization XIII. But, seeing as he had no clue and he couldn't tell his story without the other two Crusaders around, he ruffled Scootaloo's mane. "Sorry, Scootaloo. I can't exactly tell you." "Why not?" she asked. "Just tell me how you got your cutie mark." "To be honest, I really have no idea how I got mine." Scootaloo gasped in shock. "When I arrived in Ponyville, I just woke up and saw my Keyblade cutie mark was already there. The only thing I can tell you is that your cutie mark will appear when you discover what it will be. Time and patience is a virtue, young pegasus." Sora patted the filly on the head, ruffling her hair some more as she groaned. "That's just great. I'm gonna try and get a cutie mark in zip lining again." "Wait, did you just say 'zip lining'!?" Scootaloo ran out of the room and out of the farmhouse. "Scootaloo, stop! That's way too dangerous for you!" Sora quickly set "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" back on his dresser and chased after the daredevil of a filly. He could swear that Scootaloo was Rainbow Dash's little sister if they really were related, both pegasi reckless and always looking for trouble. While the two ran off, Winona chasing after Sora, the enchanted book disappeared in a flash of light. Princess Celestia read through the latest friendship letter from Twilight about the odd coincidence that she and her friends had both witnessed Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom, where their destinies had been intertwined before they even met. She heard a light thump in front of her, looking up from the letter. "Ah. So he's read through my prototype book." Celestia lifted up "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", looking at the illustrated cover. "A beautiful cover. I guess I can say that this little experiment for enchanted books is a success." She levitated the book on one of her shelves in her room. "It's a shame this book wasn't as interactive as 'Winnie the Pooh', but I hope he enjoyed himself, nonetheless."