• Published 28th Oct 2013
  • 10,511 Views, 487 Comments

Kingdom Hearts: Friendship's Turmoil - Superdale33



Kingdom Hearts x Equestria Girls. Sora travels to a world that holds a powerful magic, which he must protect from the impending Darkness while searching for his lost friend, Riku. Takes place after Dream Drop Distance.

  • ...
20
 487
 10,511

Chapter 19: Peace with Conflict

Kingdom Hearts: Friendship’s Turmoil
Chapter 19: Peace with Conflict

The town was fairly quiet as Roxas and Lea walked along the sidewalk. There were hardly any cars driving along the roads, and the people they had passed were few and far between. Lea didn’t really care, glancing around with an air of boredom. Roxas, on the other hand, walked with intention, his eyes focused straight ahead. Lea could tell he was dedicated in finding the sweet shop Pinkie Pie worked at.

And it made it all the worse that they had no idea where they were going.

Lea sighed, stopping as he put a hand over his eyes. Roxas took no note, continuing on without hesitation. “Let’s just admit it,” Lea groaned, “We’re lost.”

Roxas merely grunted, not sparing a look back, “If we keep going, we’ll find it eventually. It’s always in the last place you look.”

Shaking off his sour mood, Lea turned back to Roxas with confusion. He ran after him, and walked by his side, leaning forward to speak with him face to face. “That’s what people say to make themselves feel better when they find what was lost,” Lea explained, before standing up straight, gesturing to the path. “And the sweet shop isn’t what’s lost, we are.”

At last, Roxas stopped next to an outdoor table, and Lea along with him. It was evident that Roxas was growing as agitated as Lea. They didn’t know where Pinkie worked, and they didn’t know where they were. It wasn’t a good combination, and Roxas rubbed his forehead, trying to sooth his frustration as he leaned against the table.

“What do you think we should do then?” Roxas snapped, whipping over to Lea with his eyes furrowed. Lea was unaffected by his sudden yelling as he crossed his arms with a bored expression. Roxas jabbed a thumb to his chest, “My plan is to wander around until we find it. It’s better than just waiting for it to appear.”

Lea remained silent, allowing Roxas to glare up at him. Roxas stared at Lea waiting for some sort of response, but getting none. Eventually, Roxas groaned, falling down to a sitting position on the ground, defeated. “So yeah,” he said dejectedly, “We’re lost.”

Lea had to suppress a smirk, knowing it really wasn’t a victory to win a meaningless argument. Off the top of his head, he couldn’t recall a specific time when Roxas was stuck on something like this, but Lea knew that with a little patience, he could get Roxas on his side. The only problem was that Lea wasn’t the patient type.

Lea shifted over to stand in front of Roxas, crouching down afterward with a small grin. “Hey, come on now,” Lea said, consoling the best he could. “Chin up. The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one.”

“I don’t know,” Roxas said with a shrug, avoiding making eye contact with Lea, “We’ve been searching the town for a while. How do we-?”

“What are you guys doing out here?” Pinkie suddenly asked, standing just off to the side. Lea and Roxas recoiled in shock from her sudden appearance, their eyes shooting open. They stared at her a moment as she smiled weakly, looking quite tired. The flour powdered apron she wore showed she was already busy baking.

“Pinkie?” Roxas asked in astonishment, getting to his feet. He kept his eyes solely on her, afraid she would disappear if he looked away. “Where did you come from?”

“From Sugarcube Cafe,” Pinkie replied like it was a simple fact. Lea looked past Pinkie to the building, his eyes widening further as he took a few steps back to get a better view. His expression slide from surprise to reluctant acceptance, closing his eyes.

“Of course,” he said, turning away from Roxas and Pinkie, hands on his hips, “The one place we don’t look…”

Roxas shelved his shock a moment, tilting his head with a raised brow before looking back to the building. His mouth fell open as he stared at the white building with a pink canopy. A sign hanging near the entrance read ‘Sugarcube Cafe’.

“So…” Pinkie said, tapping both of her index fingers together, “Are you two going to catch bugs in your mouth, or are you coming inside?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lea waved off, turning back to face her with a small scowl. “Roxas and I just have to… talk for a moment.”

Pinkie smiled brightly, “Okie dokie lokie!”

As she stepped back inside the cafe, Lea walked to Roxas, whose eyes still wandered around the building like it was actually an illusion. He turned to Lea, hoping he wasn’t the only one still shocked that the building they were looking for was where they had stopped. Lea just had an annoyed expression, prompting Roxas to look at him warily.

“What’s the matter?” Roxas asked, “We found the sweet shop.”

“The sweet shop isn’t what concerns me,” Lea said sternly, glancing at the door leading inside before turning back to Roxas. “It’s Pinkie Pie.”

“What about her?” Roxas questioned, somewhat upset that Lea would think unkind things about an innocent friend.

Putting a hand on his chin, Lea hummed in thought, thinking over his words carefully. “I have a strange feeling about her,” he admitted, shaking his head, “What I mean is... She comes off as… weird. And loud, very loud.”

Chuckling, Roxas gave a broad smile, heading for the door while still addressing Lea. “That’s Pinkie Pie,” Roxas said, “She isn’t hiding anything if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“It did cross my mind,” Lea muttered with a nod, following Roxas inside, “Multiple times…”

As the two entered, they were instantly greeted by a mass of people and ambient chattering, both of which filled the small room. Every table and chair was occupied by a person, each eating different types of pastry from cakes to pies. Everyone else was clustered around the counter, hiding it completely from view.

Lea watched the chaos within, scratching the back of his head nervously, “Maybe we should come again some other time.”

“Lea…” Roxas strained, eyeing him with a hint of anger. Lea simply rolled his eyes, never really intending to leave.

The two of them made their way through the crowd, occasionally having to push by people. After the night club, Roxas had a resentment towards large amounts of people in one place. Being in a packed area put him on edge. He must have been too used to the quiet serenity of Twilight Town. Even the World That Never Was had always been bare and calm.

Brushing past two smaller kids, Roxas and Lea made it over to the door to the right of the counter, leading into the kitchen. Quickly, he opened it up and went through, knowing he was trespassing. But they were friends of Pinkie Pie. That had to mean something, right?

The kitchen was free from people, eliciting a sigh of relief from Roxas and Lea, but it definitely wasn’t clean. Every open spot on the counters were taken up by bowls, dough, cooking ware, and white powder. Even the island in the center was filled to the brim with cooking ware, with a few more hanging above it. The four ovens in the corner were on, making the room a couple degrees hotter than usual.

Lea whistled, scanning over the room, “Haven’t seen a place this bad since the old mansion.” He sniffed the air, releasing a content sigh, “But I do like the smell.”

Roxas looked to the left, seeing Pinkie hastily move around the kitchen. She’d jump from a kitchen counter, to a register, to an oven, and repeat. Her hair was sticking up in places, and her exhausted expression showed she was being worn down, badly. How she had the time to pay Roxas and Lea a visit outside was anybody’s guess.

“I don’t think we should bring up that we wanted Sea Salt ice cream,” Roxas said to Lea, feeling bad that Pinkie was in such a condition.

“It can’t be helped,” Lea agreed with a nod. Roxas glanced over the kitchen again, then over to the large crowd before smirking. He may not be able to get his ice cream at the moment, but there was something else he could do. He motioned for Lea to follow him, which Lea responded with a puzzled expression.

Roxas rushed over to Pinkie and exclaimed, “We’ll help you out, Pinkie.”

“Really?” Pinkie said excitedly, receiving cash from a customer. “That…” She quickly looked around the room before laughing nervously. “That would be really helpful.”

Lea groaned, looking away when Roxas shot one of his glares at him. “I was really looking forward to just spend some time with you, Roxas,” he explained, his expression softening as his gaze fell to the floor, “It’s been a long time.”

Roxas’ glare lessened as he felt sympathetic for Lea. Roxas had no feel for time when he was a part of Sora, so for him, it may have been a couple hours, possibly more. For Lea, however, Roxas could only guess how long he wanted to eat ice cream with him again. Delving into his memories, Roxas tried to think of something that would cheer Lea up a bit, and he was thankful Pinkie remained quiet with their exchange.

Roxas grunted in amusement before holding out his arms, “The sooner we finish, the sooner we can hang out!”

Taken aback by that statement, Lea blinked before chuckling a little before laughing. Quickly settling down, he held up a fist as he smiled confidently. “Yeah, alright,” he said, “I mean, if I can save Sora from becoming one of Xehanort’s pawns, then helping Pinkie Pie should be a piece of cake, right?”

“Speaking of cake,” Pinkie pipped up, pointing over to the trays full of uncooked muffins, “Could you put those in the oven? There’s a really big order by Derpy.”

“Derpy?” Lea questioned to himself before shaking it off, making his way over to the muffins with a smirk. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned one of his chakrams, twirling it a bit as he walked. “Cooking muffins, huh? If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s using heat.”

Roxas smiled at Lea’s newfound determination. He could only hope Lea didn’t accidently burn the muffins, considering he had only used his powers for fighting. Like back in the Organization…

A thought struck Roxas, like it had always been on his mind. He was surprised he hadn’t spoken to Lea about it earlier. “Lea,” Roxas asked, his voice far softer than he intended. Lea stopped just as he was holding his Chakram back, glancing over to Roxas and prompting him to speak. “Do you know a girl named Xion?”

Lea flinched at the name, lowering his chakram as he stared at Roxas. Lea had no signs of recognition, yet he looked like he was conflicted. There was no doubt he had a feeling similar to how Roxas felt; he didn’t know Xion, but had a notion of her existence. Roxas had yet to figure out what that meant exactly.

“It doesn’t ring any bells,” Lea admitted, “Are you looking for this girl?”

Roxas frowned, sighing deeply, “No, I just wanted to ask.”

The sorrow radiating from Roxas told a different story, though Lea could only guess what could be the cause of that. Turning back to the muffins, Lea thought more on Xion, and why he was feeling sad too. He felt he should know that name, that he should remember it like was an old friend, but he couldn’t. And he hated himself for that.

Gripping his chakram, Lea clenched his teeth as he swung his arm back. His chakram was laced in fire, growing intensely as he clutched it tightly. The name had stirred something inside of him, and it forced him to get some aggression out. It was as if the name had caused him some sort of pain some time ago.

***

Lines of apple trees surrounded Riku as he walked along the worn path. He glanced at each tree he passed, feeling fond of the tranquil atmosphere. He had spent a long time alone, traveling the worlds, especially when helping with Sora’s awakening. This solitude prompted him to enjoy his solo outings. After all, being around friends was a bit tiring; Riku didn’t know how Sora did it all the time. Not only that, but Riku’s dabbles in Darkness didn’t make it easier being around other people, afraid his past would cause a fair amount of awkwardness. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant line of thought, and Riku decided to change it.

He questioned why he was heading for Applejack in particular. He had no other plans to meet the others girls that day, and if he was told correctly, Applejack would be busy picking apples. Perhaps that was his reasoning: he would rather stay busy than hang around doing whatever girls did together. Even Kairi would rather help with Riku’s training than any of the other girls on Destiny Islands.

In some way, Riku interpreted hanging out with Applejack as training. And he was completely fine with that.

“Riku!” the voice of Rarity called behind him, and when he looked back, Rarity was running up to him, waving a hand enthusiastically. Riku waited for her to catch up, and when she did she stopped a moment, catching her breath.

“I didn’t expect to run into you here, darling,” she said, putting a hand to her chest to ease her panting.

Riku shrugged, showing no emotion except boredom, “I thought I could get some training down, stay ready when the Organization make their move.”

Rarity smiled, “Truly exceptional; how you put away your fun for the sake of your friends.”

“Thanks,” Riku said, genuinely glad Rarity had phrased it that way. He needed a reminder that what he was doing was for his friends, and for all of the worlds out there. He turned around to walk along the path again, briefly wondering what Rarity could be doing here.

“But,” Rarity spoke up, and Riku halted as he ceased up his shoulders, knowing that some sort of lecture was coming his way. “You should really take the time to have some fun. If what Sora said is true, you should be fairly powerful already.”

Remaining silent, Riku barely shook his head, wishing he hadn’t bumped into Rarity. “I can spend my time the way I want, can’t I?” he asked, keeping his tone as friendly as he could muster. He didn’t want to outright snap at her.

“By all means,” Rarity replied with a small smirk, “But at least have me come along.”

Somehow, Riku knew if he denied that, Rarity would have tagged along anyway. Accepting that, he closed his eyes with a shake of his head. “Alright, you win,” he said, allowing a small smile to emerge, “But why stick around boring old me?”

Rarity studied him up and down before looking over his shoulder. Afterwards, she crossed her arms confidently, “For certain reasons.”

Sighing, Riku refused to question further. He felt that Rarity was toying with him, and after being manipulated by Xehanort’s Heartless, he didn’t want to deal with that. After all, Rarity was a friend, or at the very least, a friend of a friend. He could play nice for a day.

Rarity brushed by Riku with a giggle as she continued down the path. Riku followed along, wondering how his day would go with Rarity thrown into the mix. Not wanting to be rude, he jogged up until he walked alongside her. At that moment, Riku was anxious of what Rarity would bring up. She was unpredictable, and didn’t seem fazed by whatever awkward questions she would bring up. That’s the impression he got from her, even if it was an inaccurate assumption.

“So are you seeing anyone?” Rarity asked out of the blue, looking up to him with a sly smile. Riku held back a groan as he faced away from Rarity, scolding his mind for being so spot on. Rarity could only widen her smile at his reaction.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Riku emphasised, glancing up to the sky as if the question was nothing but small talk. “but no, I’m not seeing anyone.” A thought crossed his mind as he found a way to retaliate. “What about you?”

Rarity stumbled a bit, stammering as her eyes fell to the floor, “W-What about me?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Riku teased, nudging Rarity with an elbow. She barely recognized the gesture, still distracted by his question. “A pretty girl like yourself must have lots of boys chasing after you.”

Rarity was silent as the two finally reached the end of the road, a red barn house standing in the center of the orchard. It matched perfectly with the apple motif of both the family and the area. Riku scanned the trees and house for anything important, and when he found none, turned his attention back to Rarity.

She cleared her throat as they stopped again, with Riku crossing his arms at getting his payback with Rarity. “It only seems fair,” Rarity muttered to herself, her eyes furrowed as she stared off to the side. However, when she faced Riku, she dropped her attitude with an elegant smile, closing her eyes for effect. “As pretty as you claim I am, I await a boy that is perfect. And I can say for certain that it isn’t you.”

She spoke with a hint of humor to continue with their playful banter. However, when Rarity looked back to Riku she saw how saddened he was. She wasn’t sure if it was from what she said, or that he genuinely liked her.

“Have I said something wrong?” Rarity questioned, unsure how to handle the situation.

“You’ve heard how I fell to Darkness,” Riku replied, his expression growing dark. His eyes were nearly hollow, staring just to the side of Rarity in deep thought. “And because of it, I’m really not perfect. I guess it’s something I should expect.”

Rarity blinked in confusion before it clicked as she covered her mouth, “Oh my, darling. I didn’t mean it like that! We all know you were… less than friendly with Sora when you had all that Darkness. But it isn’t something we would hold against you. After all, you and Sora saved all of the worlds together. You made up for it.”

Riku shook out of his stupor, giving a soft smile at Rarity’s praise. “Right,” he said, rubbing his forehead with a hand. He didn’t show any emotions, but Rarity could tell he was still upset with what he did years ago. “I shouldn’t jump to dumb conclusions like that, huh?”

“Heads up!” a voice to the side yelled, startling the two. Riku whipped his head over to look at the source, only to summon his keyblade and swipe at something that was thrown at him. Rarity yelped in surprise before she saw two halves of an apple by her feet. She could only tilt her head to the side while Riku raised his brow. It was an odd attack, and given that it wouldn’t have done a lot of damage to him, he felt the perpetrator wouldn’t be very hostile.

His suspicion was correct as a little girl came bounding out of the trees, giggling to herself. Riku didn’t know who she was, but Rarity huffed as she crossed her arms. “Apple Bloom!” Rarity scolded, “Hasn’t Applejack taught you that throwing apples at people isn’t nice?”

Apple Bloom wasn’t wavered in the least as she stopped in front of Riku. She was far more excited than Riku expected, and he also noticed that she wasn’t looking at him. Following her gaze, he found she was fascinated with his keyblade.

“That was so cool!” Apple Bloom praised, causing Riku to smile in appreciation. Rarity, on the other hand, scowled at Apple Bloom for having ignored her. “You guys must have the bestest lives ever!”

Riku had never had any praise outside of his world, and to receive it from a little girl boosted his confidence quite a bit. Though, it did sadden him knowing that another person had been dragged into this world’s affairs. Apple Bloom shouldn’t have to deal with the Organization and the trouble they caused. Plus, Maleficent was roaming around too, with Pete cornering them just a few days ago.

“Where’s your sister?” Riku asked, crouching down to her level. He had to concentrate on the reason for coming to Sweet Apple Acres, and letting Applejack know of his presence was the first step.

Crossing her arms, Apple Bloom huffed as she turned away, slightly amusing Riku. She must not like being treated like a kid. “She’s in the orchard,” Apple Bloom answered, jabbing a thumb over to the apple trees. “She likes ta work alone sometimes.”

Riku nodded as he stood back up, “I’ll let her know we’re around. Wouldn’t want to scare her.”

As Riku wandered into the orchard, Rarity tapped her chin in thought. She could have just as easily informed Applejack of their arrival, and Riku could have gotten started on his training. He must have a good reason, and as his adventures had shown, he prefered to do things on his own. As remarkable as he was, he was pretty dense when it came to friendships, since he always relied on himself.

“He’s nice,” Apple Bloom commented as she picked up the two halves of the sliced apple, offering one to Rarity.

“Certainly,” Rarity agreed as she accepted it. Studying the food, she was disgusted to see a bit of dirt and grass had landed on the apple. Glancing to Apple Bloom, she saw her dig into her apple with vigor. Rarity scrunched her face up, turning back to the trees that Riku had disappeared through. “Though he could still learn a thing or two from Sora.”

***

Standing on a step ladder, Applejack picked apple after apple before tossing each one into a vacant, wooden bucket on the ground. It wasn’t uncommon of her to work monotonously, and the repetitive labor allowed her mind to drift. Of course, instead of thinking about the looming threat to friendship, Applejack found herself thinking about school, especially with the new reputation she had gandered, courtesy of Sunset Shimmer.

It was already bad enough she was teased for who she was, but to add a boyfriend problem into the mix made things complicated. First people made fun of her for actually getting one, then after rectifying that claim that she never had one, everyone figured Sora had dumped her. Applejack had never brought it up with her friends, and how could she? The boys already had a lot on their mind, and the girls didn’t need another reason to fret over her.

Pulling off an apple with a little unnecessary force, Applejack gazed at it, seeing her reflection on the red skin. Her face was what it had always been, yet it carried a tinge of regret. It was a feeling Applejack hadn’t felt since she was a Freshman at Canterlot High. She was supposed to be strong, but with all of this bullying, she didn’t think she could last very much longer.

Clamping her eyes shut, Applejack threw the apple to the ground, missing the bucket. She didn’t care, as long as she got some of her frustration out. Though, it didn’t help very much.

“What was wrong with that apple?” a voice asked behind Applejack, causing her to jump with a yelp. She tried to hold on to the step ladder, but the support beam was just out of reach as she tumbled backwards. Two arms attempted to catch her, but proved futile as she crashed into the person.

Landing on top, Applejack groaned as the person underneath her did the same. She quickly shuffled off of him, finding that it was Riku. Seeing a friend pop by made her push aside her personal problems, giving a big smile.

“Well, howdy, Riku,” she greeted, to which Riku grunted in reply, massaging his stomach. “Fancy meeting ya this deep in the orchard.”

A brief smirk emerged from his face as he sat up, using a hand to support himself. “Yeah,” he said, “I just thought I’d let you know me and Rarity were here. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Ah, shucks,” Applejack waved off, getting to her feet as she brushed off her skirt, “Ya just surprised me. Takes a bit more than a friend visitin’ ta scare me.”

“Glad to hear it,” Riku said with a shake of his head. Applejack offered him a hand and he took it, standing back up again. He glanced over to the lone apple on the ground as he frowned, and Applejack knew what he was thinking. “What was wrong with that apple?”

Sighing, Applejack turned away from the apple in question, feeling the sadness from before set in. “Bruised, nothin’ more,” she explained dryly. Riku raised a brow before stepping over to the apple and picking it up. He tilted his hand to look at it from every angle, all the while Applejack faced away from him tensely. She didn’t need him getting worked up over her.

“Looks fine to me,” he said before turning to her.

“Well, I’m the expert,” Applejack retorted, still not looking at him, “I know when an apple ain’t right.”

“Then I guess you won’t mind if I have it,” Riku said with a smirk, causing Applejack to finally face him with annoyance.

“I ain’t stoppin’ ya,” she said with a shrug, watching as Riku took a bite out of the fruit. She didn’t want it going to waste anyway. Fiddling with her hat, Applejack waited for Riku to take a few more bites before she asked, “So what brings you around these parts?”

“Training,” Riku answered, tossing the apple lightly to himself. He rolled his arm around his socket, grimacing slightly. “After being manipulated by Xehanort, I don’t want to be put in the same position again. Figured your farm would be a good place to practice a bit.”

Applejack smiled, “Be my guest.”

An apple suddenly came sailing through the air, and Riku summoned his keyblade in his free hand without a second thought, cutting through with an upward strike and making two halves fall on either side of him. Applejack blinked, surprised by how fast he had moved. She barely even realized an apple was thrown at him. Turning to where it had emerged, Applejack furrowed her brow, spotting the culprit.

“Apple Bloom!” she scolded, stomping a foot, “You better come out and apologize!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Riku waved off with his free hand, and Applejack growled, seeing Apple Bloom take off giggling. It was like she had no respect for visitors. “She’s keeping me on my toes.”

“It ain’t nice,” Applejack retorted, putting a hand on her hip.

“Yeah,” Riku said, eyeing his keyblade, “but I need the training. Every little bit counts. I need to be stronger.”

It might have been that Applejack wasn’t a keyblader, but she didn’t think having apples thrown at him would help improve his fighting ability. Walking up to Riku, Applejack snatched the apple away from him as she smiled reassuringly.

“You’re plenty strong already, Sugarcube,” she said, causing Riku tighten his hold on his keyblade, “Ya just gotta focus on what matters most.”

“I already have a someone beating friendship into my head,” Riku joked, snatching the apple right back, “And he’s lazier than you.”

“That must be sayin’ somethin’,” Applejack said with a smug look. The bucket of apples was only a few feet away, and a small plan formed in her head that would be beneficial for her and Riku. “And, uh, do you mind cuttin’ up more apples?”

***

With the animal shelter in front of him, Sora was confident he had reached where Fluttershy was most likely at. Rainbow stood beside him, simply staring at the building intently. Sora was glad he had ran into her as he walked the streets. He had no way of navigating, and getting lost in this town would have been a waste of time.

“So, Rainbow,” Sora asked as they both tore their eyes away to look to each other. “You’re not mad that I turned into that form back at the club?”

Rainbow shrugged, a smile growing, “How can I? It wasn’t like you did it on purpose.”

As reassuring as it sounded, Sora was still grim as he remembered Rainbow and Applejack when he got out of his form. “But you looked scared,” he said, causing Rainbow to look to the ground with both anger and fear. “You and Applejack had to go through my Darkness.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Rainbow stated, gripping her arm tightly, “It was… scary. It was so lonely, and cold, and just not good. And to know that Darkness could come back if you go into Valor Form again makes my stomach churn.”

Her words were all too familiar with how Sora felt when he turned into a Heartless back in Hollow Bastion. Of course, he had been forgetting things when he was being consumed, and he was immensely grateful Rainbow had not gone through something similar. It probably had something to do with her connection with the magic of friendship.

Rainbow pointed a finger right at Sora’s face, causing him to flinch, “Don’t tell that to anyone, got it?”

“Y-Yeah,” Sora answered before taking a deep breath, eyeing the door leading into the animal shelter. As much as wanted to resolve the conflict between himself and Fluttershy, he couldn’t find the strength to take a step forward. At the moment, Sora would rather face off against Xemnas again. At least then, he knew what to do.

Rainbow was respectively quiet as she crossed her arms. She tapped her foot impatiently before asking, “So are you going to talk to her or stand here all day?”

“What would you do?” Sora asked, bowing his head.

Growling, Rainbow shifted behind Sora before pushing him along. “Say I’m sorry then hug it out!” she stated, giving one last shove, causing Sora to nearly lose balance as he caught himself at the door. “Now I don’t want you leaving until everything is sorted out!”

Her encouragement was blunt, but it did make Sora smile, knowing someone had his back. Thinking it over, Sora knew that the one true way to get Fluttershy back as his friend was to be himself. He was never one to plan, and when things got tough, he used what all of his friends taught him. Even still, as Sora reached for the doorknob, he wished he could remember those lessons.