Chapter 7: Brave Return
Kingdom Hearts: Friendship’s Turmoil
Chapter 7: Brave Return
A figure in a black coat stood inside of a room on the second story of the school. With his hood up, he watched out of the window as Sora and Roxas gathered everyone onto the stands and talked with them. Though the figure couldn’t hear a word that was spoken, it didn’t take an expert to figure out what they were telling them.
“So, did those two imposters fail?” another figure said as he walked up to the first and leaned against his shoulder.
The first figure growled and shoved him off without so much as a glance, and the second figure took a few steps away to give him space. “Yes, it would appear so,” the first figure said with a hint of interest. “Though it is odd that they would come back to search for the magic of friendship.”
“I know, right?” the second figure said with a shake of his head, his hands on his hips. “I mean, weren’t they with Ansem’s other assistants?”
“It must have been something that we missed,” the first figure commented, gazing at the group of friends just outside. “And though they’re an irritance, they have shown us where we can find the magic of friendship.”
“Those six girls?” The second figure scoffed, “As if. They don’t even look like they can take care of themselves.”
“Yes, they do seem like insignificant girls,” the first figure agreed, crossing his arms, “But you and I both know how well Zexion can find someone. I am surprised that we didn’t see it sooner.”
“Early bird gets the worm, and all that,” the second figure quoted.
“True,” the first figure agreed, “And I believe it’s our turn to test an experiment of our own.”
“You mean…” the second figure trailed off, waiting for confirmation. The first figure looked over his shoulder and gave a nod, causing the second figure to give a deep laugh. “My, my, you really are rotten.”
Then the second figure perked up suddenly, “Oh, and that reminds me. Somebody paid us a visit, and they weren’t too friendly. But they did leave us a nice gift to use. You might even recognize him.”
The first figure grunted, turning back to the window. “I shall have to see it for myself,” he said, “But in the meantime…”
The two turned around to see another figure standing in the shadows, almost completely unseen in the darkness. “Eliminate them,” the first figure ordered, and the third figure nodded, stepping away from the two.
***
“Wow,” Twilight said quietly, sitting with her friends on the stands. Sora and Roxas stood in front of them, having explained everything about the Nobodies, Heartless, keyblades, and the other worlds. It had taken up most of the morning, and Sora was sure they had missed a class or two. Hopefully they wouldn’t be in too much trouble because of it.
“Wow indeed,” Rarity followed up, putting a hand against her forehead, looking a bit faint.
“Alright,” Rainbow said aloud, waving her hands exasperatedly while catching everyone’s attention, “You told us about all that stuff, but what about you guys? Why are you here?”
The other girls faced Sora and Roxas, curious to the answer as well. Sora took a glance over to Roxas, who did the same, and then the two faced the girls. “I was sent here to defend the magic of friendship,” Sora answered.
“Magic of friendship?” Twilight questioned with a tilt of her head, and the other girls suddenly became nervous, looking between each other.
“Yeah,” Sora said with a shrug, then pointed to Twilight, “I thought you would know about it, since you-”
Sora was suddenly stopped when Applejack ran over to him, clamping a hand over his mouth. “Heh, heh,” she chuckled anxiously, “We’ll explain all that later. For now, why doesn’t Sora go on?”
Applejack released Sora, who didn’t know why she stopped him from talking suddenly. Nonetheless, he shook it off and planned to ask about it later. “Well, I’m defending the magic of friendship from this group that calls themselves Organization XIII.”
“That’s a weird name!” Pinkie interjected, “Who names themselves with a number? Nobody that’s-”
She gasped suddenly, “They’re actually Nobodies!”
Sora suppressed a chuckle and continued when Pinkie had finished. “Anyway, they’re really determined to destroy this magic, and if they win, no one can be friends with anyone!”
“W-Wait, what?!” Rainbow exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “You’ve gotta be joking! There’s no way that could happen… right?”
Sora frowned and shook his head, “Sorry, Rainbow, but it’s the truth. That’s why it’s really important that I find this magic before they do. And I think you guys can help me do just that.”
“How so?” Rarity asked for the group, as Rainbow cooled down enough to sit back in her seat.
Seeing as Sora was still unsure about finding out about these six girls through his dreams, he hesitated a second before pounding a fist over his chest. “Just a feeling,” he said nonchalantly. “All that I know for sure is that you guys are connected to the magic of friendship.”
The girls were in deep thought after that, though less so for Twilight. For some odd reason, she was more confused than anything. Sora thought she’d understand this the best, but the other five behaved like they had more experience on what was being discussed. Twilight, after a moment of thought, glanced over to Roxas, and realized something, her eyes lighting up.
“What about you, Roxas?” Twilight asked, shaking the rest of the group out of their thoughts.
Roxas rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, facing the ground, “I’m not really sure why I’m here. I just… appeared. But I think it’s safe to say that, well, I’m Sora’s Nobody.”
The girls were oddly silent about that little piece of information, for they knew what the Nobodies were like from their stories. However, they didn’t give judgement straight away, their eyes showing evidence that they were in thought.
“Used to be my Nobody,” Sora corrected, crossing his arms with a grin.
Roxas turned to Sora with a confused and irritated expression, annoyed that Sora would either forget about who Roxas was or make fun of him because of it. “What do you mean by that?” he asked harshly.
“Well, you’re not a Nobody anymore,” Sora explained simply with a shrug, his smile falling when he saw Roxas’ expression. “From what my friends told me, Xehanort said that Nobodies could grow their own hearts in time.”
“Wait, are you serious!?” Roxas shouted, surprised as he took a few steps back.
“Yeah,” Sora said slowly, his smile returning, “It’s not something I’d make up.”
Roxas put a hand on his head, digesting what he had just heard. He was his own person. A unique individual that wasn’t attached to someone else. Growing his own heart, however, irked him for reasons he didn’t know. If he had his own heart, then why had he been stuck inside Sora?
“Roxas?” Twilight asked gently, walking over to him and shaking him out of his revery.
“I really am my own person,” he whispered, a cheesy grin on his face. Sora nodded with enthusiasm, glad to see Roxas finally knowing that he had a heart. He deserved it. And though the others didn’t know what Roxas went through, they were glad that he was smiling.
The sound of a burst of flame being shot off was suddenly heard, causing Roxas and Sora to look over curiously. That was when a blue fireball hit Roxas in the gut, sending him sprawled to the ground. Since Twilight was nearby, she stumbled a little from the blast, but was able to catch herself.
Sora instantly summoned his keyblade and looked for the attacker, only to see someone swing overhead at him. He brought up his keyblade and blocked the attack, and got a good view of who he was fighting.
Sora’s eyes widened as he lost a bit of his footing, “R-Riku?!”
It truly was Sora’s best friend, Riku. His unmistakable silver hair was the biggest give away, and the clothing supported it; a white vest over a black one, and blue baggy pants. As Sora looked into Riku’s eyes, he could only see an uncaring gaze devoid of emotion. Regaining his composure, Sora pushed back on his keyblade, and Riku retreated away from the group with a jump backwards, allowing them a minute to assess the situation.
Sora could only stare agape at Riku, his mind going blank at why he would turn on him. Taking a quick glance to Roxas to see if he was alright, he found Twilight helping him up. He didn’t look too bad, but he was still weak for some reason. Facing his friend again, Sora gave a hurt expression as he lowered his keyblade.
“Riku!” Sora tried, desperate for his friend to come back, “It’s me, Sora! Why are you doing this?!”
Riku didn’t respond, standing still as a statue in an intimidating way with his keyblade, Way to the Dawn, at his side. He seemed to be waiting for something, but Sora couldn’t think of what that could have been.
“Sora,” Pinkie said, bounding over to him with a pout, “I thought you said Riku was your friend!”
“He is,” Sora explained turning to facing her, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Unless…”
“The Darkness got a hold of him again,” Roxas finished, walking over to him, nursing his stomach with a grimace.
“No!” Sora said, looking both sad and angry, “Riku would never give himself to the Darkness again!”
“Maybe those Organization fellers are doin’ this,” Applejack put in, as the group from the bleachers briskly joined the others.
Roxas shook his head, “But what would cause him to turn on us like that?”
Sora grew silent, facing Riku again with sorrow. There was nothing in his mind that gave him an idea of what was causing Riku to be like this. There was the possibility that Riku had been captured by the enemy, and this was a form of mind control. It was a theory, but Sora had nothing to prove it.
At that moment, Riku began to walk forward, his steps even as he slowly approached the group. The distance between them was quite a ways, but that didn’t stop Sora from putting his guard up as Roxas summoned his own keyblades. However, Riku didn’t waver from his stride, making the two keybladers even more worried. Why was he just walking?
Then, they saw a dark haze walk beside him in sync. It was like a blurry human at first, but it began to solidify very quickly, and they knew exactly who it was. However, Sora and Roxas were so stunned by the figure that they were completely speechless. Not just them either; the other six girls were just as shocked, if not more.
It was Sora.
Not exactly though. His hair was black instead of brown, and his calm blue eyes were replaced with yellow ones that resembled Xehanort. He wore a black and red organic-looking bodysuit that reminded Sora of the one Riku once wore. Despite how flabbergasted Sora was, he knew he had encountered him before, back in the Dream Worlds. At the time, he figured he was just seeing things, but at that moment, it confirmed he wasn’t fake.
The two then stopped in their tracks, as if strolling towards the group was all that was needed to form the new figure. Riku blankly stared at them while the fake-Sora smirked superiorly, glancing around at them.
“Well,” he said with an amused grunt, “Isn’t this a surprise.”
Even his voice was the same as Sora’s, causing a shiver to run up everyone’s spines. It felt out of place to hear it come from someone so cold.
“W-Who are you?” Roxas asked for the group, nervousness laced in his tone.
The boy took a single look at him and threw his head back, laughing. “Oh, how I missed that clueless, idiotic face,” he said wickedly, turning back to Roxas. “It’s Vanitas, but I think you should already know that.”
Vanitas turned to Sora, not startled in the least that he was practically looking into a mirror. “Huh,” he muttered, “This is interesting.” He put a hand to his chin, “But when I think about it, it all comes together.”
“What are you talking about?” Sora asked, throwing a hand out. “What’s going on?”
“If you don’t know,” Vanitas said, gesturing to Sora, “Then I take it you don’t know why your Nobody is here either.”
Sora glanced at Roxas, his face betraying the truth as Vanitas chuckled darkly. “Do I have to spell it out for you?” he asked snidely. To have a version of himself act so mean made Sora sick to his stomach. It was like an imposter was giving him a bad name.
“This world brings out what lies in our hearts,” he explained, throwing his arms out as he turned towards the school. “The magic it holds allows it. And sometimes, if the right means are used, the magic can be manipulated, controlled. How do you think that copy-cat came here?”
Sora growled, knowing he was indicating Roxas, “He is not a copy-cat!”
“You’re special, Sora,” Vanitas announced, ignoring Sora’s outburst as he pointed a finger at him. “Your heart is strong, and it assists the magic here, allowing those that lie deep in your heart to come out.”
Vanitas gave a sideways glance at Roxas before dipping his head with a wicked grin, “And we’ve yet to meet the one person I despise the most.”
“Huh?” Sora said tilting his head to the side as he relaxed his body. What could Vanitas possibly mean? There wasn’t anyone else that could remain in Sora’s heart.
“Does the name Ventus mean anything to you?” Vanitas teased, crossing his arms.
“Ventus?” Sora and Roxas repeated simultaneously. Suddenly, something snapped inside of Roxas’ mind, causing him to double over, his keyblades disappearing as he clutched his head. He hadn’t experienced pain like that since finding out about the fake Twilight Town.
“Roxas, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked timidly, fearing that speaking would make Vanitas attack. Instead of answering, however, he cried out, making the others jump. In his bout of induced pain, Roxas looked at Vanitas, his eyes going in and out of focus. One moment, Vanitas stood with his snide smile, then in the next Vanitas was replaced with himself, in the very same suit as Vanitas. It was very jarring for him, and Roxas pressed his hands harder against his skull, wishing the pain would go away.
“Oh, It looks like it means something to you,” Vanitas chuckled, making Sora stomp a foot in frustration.
“Leave him alone!” he demanded.
“Not my doing,” Vanitas shrugged, lifting his right arm up in front of him , “But I might as well take advantage of it.”
A keyblade appeared in Vanitas’ hand, Void Gear, and he got into a combat pose that was scarily similar to Riku’s. Riku did the same, making the two seem like a duo in combat. Sora got ready for a battle, and though Roxas still had a bit of pain in his head, he got up as well, trying to ignore it as he got his keyblades out again.
“Are you sure you can fight?” Twilight asked, taking a few steps toward him.
“I’m fine!” Roxas snapped, making her flinch as she jumped a step back. Roxas took a deep breath. He couldn’t afford to be snippy in this situation, especially with his friends. “I’m fine.”
Sora leaned forward, just about to charge. “Sora,” Roxas called calmly, causing him to catch himself as he looked to Roxas curiously. “I’ll fight Riku.”
Sora was about ask for what reason, but remembered that the two had fought each other before. It made sense that Roxas would want to fight him again.
Sora nodded at Roxas, “Take it easy on him, alright?”
Roxas chuckled, “No promises.”
Sora gave a brief smile, and without hesitation surged forward towards Vanitas. Grinning widely, Vanitas brought up his keyblade, blocking Sora’s downward swing, and the two were quickly drawn into a exchange of swings. Riku took action as well, jumping up and striking the ground in front of Roxas. A blue wave of fire shot out like a shockwave on the floor. Roxas jumped over it, twirling in the air before swinging both of his keyblades diagonally as he landed in front Riku. Knocking the attack away, Riku ducked down and shot another blue fireball at Roxas’ stomach point blank. Unable to get out of the way in time, Roxas gasped as the air was knocked out of him, sending him back a few feet.
Landing on his back, Roxas forced himself to breathe as he tried to stand back up. He didn’t like feeling so defenseless against anyone, so nearly falling to his knees because of someone whom he held a grudge against didn’t boost his mood. When he was back on his feet, Roxas growling angrily, and rushed towards Riku, his rage fueling his mind. Unfortunately, he was also blinded by it, causing Riku to easily block or dodge his attacks. Add the fact that the pain in Roxas’ head was still prominent, and it was no wonder he was having a hard time.
After a few swings, Roxas was becoming light headed, his movements growing sluggish as his strikes became slower. Riku took the opportunity of weakness as he quickly slunk down and threw his legs out, tripping Roxas. As Roxas fell, Riku hopped back up and swung his keyblade down, hitting him in the chest.
Roxas cried out in pain as he made contact with the ground, his keyblades flying out of his hands from the impact. Now he was sore and injured, and as he attempted to get to his feet, Riku pointed his keyblade at him. Roxas bore his teeth at him, and remained there, deciding to wait for the right moment to strike.
Meanwhile, Sora and Vanitas were practically on equal grounds, jumping around the field while attacking. Vanitas always had a snarking grin on his face while Sora had a more serious expression. Vanitas proved nimbler and stronger than Sora had anticipated; he wasn’t even using any major physical attacks or magic. Neither of them noticed that Riku had taken down Roxas, but the other bystanders did.
“This isn’t looking too good,” Pinkie announced, tapping a finger on her chin, “Maybe we should do something?”
“Pinkie’s right,” Rainbow agreed, turning to the others, “We have to help them.”
“But how?” Twilight countered worriedly, “We don’t have magic powers like them.”
“Well…” Rainbow hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck, “I-I don’t know! But I can’t just leave them hanging!”
Sora broke away from Vanitas long enough to check on Roxas, only to find him on the ground with Riku bearing over him.
“Roxas!” Sora shouted, turning his body towards him.
“You shouldn’t let your guard down!” Vanitas yelled, charging forward thanks to the distraction. Just as Sora faced Vanitas, he had got a solid hit on Sora, followed by a swift side kick to the chest, sending Sora tumbling along the ground. Pushing a hand back, Sora caught himself and jumped to his feet near the girls, his keyblade ready for another attack.
Vanitas simply walked over to where Riku and Roxas was, and sneered, “And to think Xehanort said you would be an obstacle.”
With Riku looking over to the others, Roxas chose that moment to strike, summoning his keyblades in his hands. But when he swung his weapons, Riku moved out of the way, then reached out and grabbed Roxas by his shirt collar. Surprised, Roxas instinctively froze, unsure what Riku would do next. Lifting him up, Riku smacked him over the head with his keyblade before tossing him over to the others. Roxas landed on his back painfully, rolling a few yards before stopping on his stomach beside Sora.
(Stop music)
“Ah, come on,” he groaned, using his keyblades to push himself to his feet. Sora looked at him concerningly before facing the two they were fighting.
“Don’t give us that look,” Vanitas waved idly, “You should have known that defeating us was impossible.”
“Says you,” Sora shot back, “What do want anyway?”
“The magic of friendship,” Vanitas explained, making the girls grow a bit fearful. “Xehanort wants them gone, and I was more than happy to volunteer.”
“If you think I’m just going to hand them over,” Sora retorted, pointing his keyblade at Vanitas and Riku, “Think again.”
“I didn’t expect you to,” Vanitas replied with an uncaring gaze, “That’s why Xehanort summoned me through Riku. I was waiting for the time that I would be needed again.”
“Wait,” Sora said, his face softening as he lowered his keyblade a little, “You were sleeping inside of Riku?”
“My heart was,” Vanitas corrected, “A heart is still a heart, even if it’s pure Darkness, and so while Ventus took shelter in your heart, I rested inside of Riku here.”
To Sora, it made a bit of sense when he really thought about it. The fighting style, Riku’s fall to Darkness, the suit; there was too much evidence to say it wasn’t true. But who was this other person Vanitas kept bringing up? Sora had never even heard of someone named Ventus before.
“Now, make it easier on yourself,” Vanitas chided, stepping forward as Riku followed slightly behind, “and get out of our way.”
Sora shook himself out of his thoughts, “Not in your life!”
“Suit yourselves,” Vanitas said, getting his keyblade ready. Growing frustrated with herself, Rainbow nudged Applejack on the shoulder to get her attention. Rainbow nodded towards the battle, and Applejack understood what she meant. Winking, Applejack followed Rainbow as the two ran in between the heroes and villains, bringing up their hands defensively as they acted as a shield.
Nearly everyone was taken aback by their brash behaviour, uncertain if what they did was the right thing to do.
Puffing her chest out, Applejack announced, “You ain’t gonna hurt our friends without goin’ through us first.”
“What are you guys doing?!” Roxas shouted at last, “There’s no way you can stand up to them!”
“We don’t care,” Rainbow said, her eyes focused completely on Vanitas, “I feel so useless if I stand and watch while you guys do all the fighting.”
Roxas couldn’t think of a thing to debunk that argument, and simply ground his teeth, wishing it wouldn’t come to having his friends protect him. Sora, on the other hand, studied them with awe. He was so used to defending them, that he forgot that they were strong long before he had arrived. He couldn’t believe how oblivious he was of it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the Elements of Honesty and Loyalty respectively. It only made sense that they would feel obligated to put themselves in harms way for the sake of their friends.
He recognized their courage, their bravery.
Their Valor.
Feeling the power build up inside of himself, Sora retrieved that power and summoned it for his own use. Just as he was doing so, Applejack and Rainbow Dash saw a strange light surround them, causing them to look at themselves curiously. Sora felt the power at its peak and unleashed it, a bubble of light shooting out in all directions. Riku and Vanitas stumbled back from the wave, but the others were unaffected by the blast as it blew past them without a hitch.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash suddenly disappeared, a sparkle of light all that remained before it to dissolved away. Sora’s clothing glowed bright white as he threw his arms out, floating a few inches from the ground. It was very bright, making everyone cover their eyes, but it quickly died down, and everyone looked up again.
Sora was standing on the ground again, his clothing becoming mostly red instead of black, and he wielded two keyblades, one being his usual Kingdom Key, while the other was Oathkeeper. Everyone was surprised by his sudden change, staring at him with wide eyes and jaws dropped. But Sora was furrowing his brow at Vanitas, who for the first time, feared him.
Roxas then remembered what weapons he had and looked to his left hand, seeing it was empty. Annoyed, he turned back to Sora, and remarked, “Hey, you took my keyblade.”
Sora turned his head to him with a raised brow before lifting up Oathkeeper, as if he just realized that he held it in his left hand. Facing Roxas again, he gave a goofy grin and shrugged.
“W-Where’s Applejack a-and Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked, nervously playing with her hands.
Sora faced her with a soft smile, “They’re safe, Fluttershy. Don’t worry.”
Trusting Sora, Fluttershy nodded, a very small smile creeping up on her face. Roxas stared at Sora without blinking, “I’m guessing you can take them on your own?”
Sora gave a humorous grunt, “Yep!”
Roxas sighed with annoyance, but smiled. He wouldn’t admit it, but the pain in his head was still persistent. It was a relief that he could entrust Sora to finish the fight. “Go get ‘em then,” he said with a grunt.
Instead of responding, Sora closed his eyes, giving a calm expression as he took a deep breath. Then he turned back to Vanitas, opening his eyes as his face grew serious, his brow furrowed deeply. He twirled his keyblades in his hands before sticking to a pose.
Vanitas simply frowned, his usual snarky grin gone as he stared down Sora. Riku didn’t change in his demeanor, reinforcing the fact that he was barely acknowledging his surroundings.
“Some new clothing isn’t going to save you,” Vanitas said, his voice indicating that he was only faking being brave. Sora didn’t respond, knowing that it wasn’t needed. Instead, he charged forward, the power that coursed through him making him much more confident.
Riku was the first to attack, jumping up as he sent a barrage of blue fireballs Sora’s way. Smirking, Sora leapt up to meet the fireballs, and blocked them effortlessly as they dissipated to nothingness. Landing with a forward roll, Sora found Riku already going for a broad swing, but Sora stopped it with a keyblade and attacked with the other. Sora had caught him off guard, and it sent Riku stepping back because of it.
With the timing just right, Sora was able to attack with his two keyblades quickly and fluidly, knocking back all of Riku’s attempts at retaliation while still attacking. In a final attack, Sora blocked a high swing from Riku, then swung his other keyblade to knock Riku’s arm away to leave him vulnerable. Afterwards, Sora hopped, tilted to one side, and spun like a sideways stop, his keyblades landing strikes on Riku endlessly until he was thrown back to the ground.
Landing again, Sora turned to Vanitas, who was not one bit happy. With his hands, Vanitas set them at his waist and raised them, summoning strange dark creatures to form from the ground. Sora could only identify them as small blue, pointy creatures that somewhat resembled Heartless.
Vanitas crossed his arms, content to have a small group of enemies between Sora and himself. “You like them?” he asked, gesturing towards the monsters, “They are the Unversed. A horde of fledgling-”
Vanitas couldn’t even finish his speech before Sora launched himself towards the Unversed, slashing through them like they were nothing. The Unversed tried to put up a fight, but Sora easily outmaneuvered them, predicting their moves and compensating for them all in the span of seconds. By the time he was done, the Unversed were destroyed and it was back to Sora and Vanitas.
Irritated with Sora, Vanitas summoned his keyblade again and charged, Sora simply waited. When Vanitas was close enough, he attempted an uppercut but was stopped with a block of Sora’s keyblade. With ease, Sora hack and slashed away at Vanitas who could barely even move to avoid the onslaught. Finally, Sora spun around with keyblades held out, hitting Vanitas, and then finishing with a jump, slamming his keyblades to the ground. The small wave of light that emanated from the attack sent Vanitas falling back, his keyblade splitting in half from an attempted block as it dissipated into nothingness.
Vanitas fell onto his back, his arms outstretched as they rest by his side. Sora panted heavily, hoping it was over for once, and everyone in the vicinity watched Vanitas lying on the ground for any more tricks. Instead, they heard Vanitas’ sorrowful voice sigh as his body began to erode, black balls of Darkness radiating from him.
“So this is how I go out,” he muttered, “And to think most of my power was locked up because of Ventus. I guess he got the final laugh.”
Sora relaxed from his position, glaring at Vanitas, “Who’s Ventus?”
Vanitas remained silent for a time before speaking again, “My opposite, one that is pure light. I’m what’s left of his Darkness.”
“So why do you look like Sora?” Roxas asked, stepping over to Sora’s side, his head slowly feeling better.
Vanitas opened his mouth to speak, his mouth hanging open a moment as if he thought of something else, “I don’t want to go… Don’t take me away…”
And before anything else could be said, Vanitas disappeared completely in a burst of dark bubbles, each one fading away in the air. Vanitas was defeated, and probably gone for good. Sora and Roxas watched the sky in sympathy, slightly apologetic that Vanitas had to be destroyed. They weren’t sure why they were sorry either, it was just the way they felt.
“Sora!” Rarity cried from behind them, and they both whipped around in time to see a man in a black cloak stand by a Corridor of Darkness, Riku held in one of his arms.
“It’s a shame really,” the figure spoke, making Sora and Roxas’ eyes light up in recognition. “Darkness can be nasty business sometimes.”
“Xigbar!” they both said simultaneously, and the man waved a finger in front of them.
“Now, now, kiddies,” he said, reaching his arm to his hood and throwing it back. His dark pony tail and eyepatch were unmistakable, and his scar and one visible yellow eye only confirmed that it was Xigbar. “We don’t want to wake Riku here, now do we?”
“Let him go!” Sora shouted with a swing of his keyblade, already running towards him.
Xigbar chuckled before he emphasised, “As if.”
And before Sora could reach him, he backed into the black portal, disappearing and leaving nothing behind. Sora slowed to a walk and then stopped abruptly, falling to his knees.
“No,” he whispered, his eyes trained on where Riku once was. Without noticing, Sora’s clothing reverted back to normal in a flash of light as his keyblades disappeared as well. At the same time, Applejack and Rainbow Dash reappeared, looking quite dazed and confused.
“What in tarnation just happened?” Applejack asked aloud, but when she caught sight of Sora on the ground, she knew she could figure it out later. Plus, it made her sad to see Sora so down, it was like he indirectly affected how others felt. Kind of like Pinkie.
“He’s gone again,” he said, putting his hands on the ground as he faced downward. “I couldn’t save him.”
Rainbow walked over to him and knelt down to his level. “Hey, come on, Sora,” she said, “We may not have gotten your friend back, but there’s always next time.”
Sora sighed deeply, “I guess.”
The girls didn’t know what to do to cheer him up, although Pinkie had an idea, she was hesitant to go with it. It felt like it was a time to be quiet. Spike sat on his haunches, whining sadly as Twilight bent down to pat his head.
Though Roxas didn’t like Riku all that much, he knew he was Sora’s best friend, and he didn’t like seeing his other half look so blue. Thinking quickly, a blurry memory entered his mind, and it played before his eyes.
***
“You’re coming back with us, right?” Sora asked Riku, who was facing away from him.
“I had given in to the darkness,” Riku explained simply, making Sora feel crushed as he gaped at him.
“Riku!” Sora cried out in worry, not wanting his best friend to leave again.
“How am I gonna face everyone?” Riku asked turning to Sora with a sad and angry expression.
“Like this!” Sora said, squishing his face up with his hands to give a funny expression. Riku was taken aback, but laughed nonetheless, glad to have a good friend to have his back.
***
The mere memory itself made Roxas smile, and he had to hold back a laugh. Knowing what to do, Roxas walked over to Pinkie and whispered into her ear, explaining what he had in mind. Pinkie listened critically, nodding occasionally until Roxas pulled back with a grin. Smiling widely, Pinkie nodded frantically in agreement with his plan, and the two made their way to Sora, who was still on the ground.
“Sora,” Roxas said, suppressing his chuckles as Pinkie did the same. “I think I know what can cheer you up.”
“What?” Sora said slowly, lifting his head to look up at them. To his surprise, Pinkie and Roxas were crouched in front of his face, giving the goofiest faces they could pull. While Roxas pulled his mouth from both sides using his hands, Pinkie stuck her tongue out while making antlers with her hands.
Sora was shocked at first, but his lips grew into a smile as he laughed, pointing a finger at them. The others couldn’t hold back their giggles much longer, bursting into hysterics as they all laughed together.
When everyone eventually quieted down, Sora stood up facing Roxas and Pinkie Pie. “Thanks, guys,” he said genuinely, “I needed that.”
“We all need a good laugh sometimes,” Pinkie explained simply, and Sora was suddenly reminded why she was the Element of Laugher.
Stepping up, Fluttershy gave an appreciative smile, “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Sora.”
Sora nodded, putting his hands behind his head. “It could have been worse I suppose,” he said, his eyes wandering to the sky.
“Yeah,” Rainbow shouted, slapping him in the back and causing him to nearly fall down, “But then you're awesome moves came in!”
“Speaking of which,” Rarity put in, “Would you be a darling and tell us what that was?”
“It’s a Drive form,” Sora explained, “I use my friends to boost my own abilities. The one I used was Valor Form, I use the strength of my friend, Goofy, to change into it.”
“But how did it work this time?” Twilight asked, her bookish qualities coming through.
“I guess it was the strength in Applejack and Rainbow Dash,” Sora summed up, looking towards the two in question. “If you two hadn’t stuck up for me and Roxas, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“Ah, shucks, it was nothin’,” Applejack said humbly, tipping her hat.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said, putting her hands on her hips, “It was all thanks to me really.”
Sora chuckled while the rest rolled their eyes, though they gave a small smile as well.
“So, now what?” Twilight asked everyone, and at that moment the bell rang from the building, reminding them about something they avoided, though not purposefully.
“Maybe we should get to class,” Fluttershy suggested quietly, and the rest nodded somberly, knowing they would have to make up what they had missed.
Sora looked between everyone, “We’ll meet up during lunch.”
“Sounds good,” Twilight agreed while standing beside Roxas, “In the mean time, I can get Roxas registered for classes.”
Roxas jerked back, holding his hands up, “Wait, I have to go to school?” He slumped his body, “Great.”
Everyone got another good laugh from that, and the group of friends headed for the doors, feeling better than before. For Sora, he hoped that the villains would give it a rest for a day. Fighting two different factions on the same day? Who was next, Maleficent?
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Wonderful as always. Though, why did Sora need both Applejack and Rainbow Dash when he only needed Goofy before?
3844618 Twice the power.
Another good chapter as always, but don't worry about getting nervous, just pour your best into the story and you'll be fine.
Fighting two different factions on the same day? Who was next, Maleficent?
Never tempt fate in pony land.
Impossible. Simply impossible.
Ventus defeated Vanitas in the Station Of Awakening, and ever since, Vanitas returned to Ventus's heart, causing him to black out forever.
If Vanitas is back. I expect to see Ventus, Terra and Aqua back as well.
If only there was a way for Terra to reclaim his body.
And if only Aqua could cross dimensions to escape the realm of darkness.
*sigh* If only....
3844893 You should know by now that nothing is impossible in the Kingdom Hearts universe.
Great chapter, BUT you have a major plot mistake here. You said this is set after Dream Drop Distance. There was a game on the DS set before that though where Sora and Roxas both learned about Ventus, decently thoroughly too.
lol Sora HAD to ask that at the end, eh?
And I re-looked it up. The game I mentioned where Sora and Roxas learned about Ventus was Kingdom Hearts: Re-Coded. Well, technically, they didn't learn directly I guess, so I guess it's fine.
Just realized.... Sora should also be feeling the pain that Roxas felt. Though it was indirect, it was directly stated by Mickey that virtual Sora's heart was linked to the real Sora's heart, and him learning about Ventus would also be known by Sora's subconscious.
Damnit, Sora! I thought you would have learned by now! Never give the Universe an opening! Give it an opening, and it will bitchslap you!
3845440 yes it will, yes it will.....
3844945 true.
You're pulling this off splendidly. Honestly, this is the best writing I've seen for an KH/MLP fic. And trying to please everyone? You're doing good, slowly adding characters in without it all being a massive clustercuss. Keep it up, Dale!
Feels coming back from Ten's regeneration.
I just got the pun of the chapter title. Valor Form is called Brave Form in the Japanese version of KH2. That's very clever.
3851655
I thought that was a typo on my wallpaper.
Also...
YAY! MY FAVORITE DRIVE FORM IS BACK!!
Aw nuts, I was hoping you hadn't made up your mind for Riku yet. I was gonna suggest having him in a reverse-rebirth like storyline set in equestria, you know, to give him something to do. Oh well them the breaks.
You still need any other ideas though?
3853621 Ideas are always open, friend. I'm always open to thoughts.
3854377 Cool... are you after any in particular?
3855342 Ideas for school scenarios is ideal, or anything about the mane 6 is ideal. Anything else is open as well.
3855374 Weeellll... I already made a school suggestion in your journal, but as for interacting with the main 6 (Yes main, not mane. These are their human counterparts after all), for Rarity I would suggest something to do with her forc- I-I-I mean "convincing" Sora and Roxas to help her with some new outfits.
And Applejack, just have work on her farm and turn out to bite off more then they can chew.
And of course Pinkie would ask them to help in SCC, and naturally, it doesn't well.
With the right spin, your looking a 3 possible tales of comedy gold right here.
Vanitas is back!?
To quote Littlepip in Fallout Equestria:
Luna shitting moon rocks!
#3rdBestAntagonist
3855374
I definitely have an idea or two.
Sora/Roxas helping Fluttershy put up posters for the animal shelter, kind of like the poster duty mission in KHII was the first one I thought of.
Second, Sora using his Keyblade to cut fabric for Rarity. Not sure how that would work, but if anyone can pull it off, it's you.
Third, Roxas giving a course on Nobodies & Heartless, with Twilight being his only student.
Hope some of my ideas could work for you! If not, I could always come up with more...
3434318
That would be a dream come true for me. My favorite thing in the world combined with my favorite video game series of all time?
*SQUEE*
3430685
I thought Riku defeated Ansem in Chain of Memories...
The suspense is killing me
Keep up the awesome work^^
I wouldn't be surprised is Malificent showed up. Great story. I can't wait for the next chapter.
You turned riku evil gave sora a drive form and let in half of the BBS crew next kiari, lea, and king micky land to help sora and sunset activates her evil plan to take sora off of his pedastel right.
I find this kind of confusing. When Sora went Valor Form and gained Oathkeeper, you had Roxas lose his. Looking into the games, Sora and Roxas can both wield different Oathkeepers. Keyblade wielders can't wield the same blade, but can wield the same keychains. Riku took Sora's Keyblade in the first game, but not his keychains. This is why, in my opinion, the keyblade reverted to the default Kingdom Key form. Sora kept all of his keychains in his pouch during the first part of Hollow Bastion. Sora can also have Oathkeeper equiped when fighting Roxas in the second game. As long as multiple keychains exist, then the same keyblade can be wielded.
3938246 Well, of course Sora can use Oathkeeper while Roxas uses the same thing. The thing is that there is only three keyblades on hand; Sora's keyblade, Roxas' keyblade, and Ventus' keyblade. That's the reason why one of Roxas' keyblades disappears, because Sora took Ventus', since he's still sleeping inside Sora's heart.
3938408
Roxas has two keyblades however. Roxas absorbed Xion in 365/2 Days. When Roxas absorbed her, he gained her Keyblade and was able to use two from then on. So this should give at least four. Sora should also be able to dual wield keyblades as of the end of KH2, because he accepts Roxas, as a Nobody, back into himself. So Sora should be able to use more than one. This was actually evidenced by Sora dual wielding with Riku's Keyblade in the final Xemnas battle. This adds one more, so five. Roxas is now gaining his heart, which has proven to be worthy of a Keyblade, so that adds at least one to him. So now there are six keyblades total. So, I'm thinking that Sora, Roxas, and Ventus, whenever he appears, should have the ability to dual wield without the need for special cases such as forms. This at least makes sense to me. I would love to hear what you have to say about this. It's great bouncing KH ideas with someone.
3939217 The only time Sora ever dual wields is when he's in a form, and I'm sticking with that. Plus, I believe, when Roxas first came into existence, he was using Ventus' keyblade, not really his yet. Then, later on in 358/2 Days, he gains Sora's keyblade. My theory is that a keyblader can only have one keyblade to call his own. But keybladers can borrow other keyblades and use then in combat, like with Sora borrowing Ventus' Riku's. Plus, I believe Roxas' doesn't get his own keyblade yet until sometime near the end of KH2, since it's not told when, or even if, he gets his own keyblade. This is my theory though, so everyone's will probably be different. I had to think about this a lot too. So many things are going on that it's can be a bit difficult to keep track. Rest assured though that nearly anything that happens in the story has a purpose. Many things may have been added on later, but I have always been able to come up with a reasonable explanation for everything.
I expect to see Xigbar in this fic.
Also, why not call them by their human names?
They are human again after all.
By the way, their human names are:
Even (Vexen)
Ienzo (Zexion)
Braig (Xigbar)
This is pretty good. As a guy who has played Kingdom Hearts most of his life, this is easily the best KH fic I've read. It's surprisingly faithful to the games.
Side notes: Try using Kingdom Hearts Chi music. Daybreak Town would make for an awesome track for Canterlot High.
i wonder when the chapter gonna come out
4104363 I usually just find any video with music I'm looking for and stick 'em in the story. My only preference is Everglow's music, since it comes from the 1.5 HD collection, which sound a lot better. But I think I shall take your suggestion. It seems you know a bit about this then I do.
When is the next chapter coming?
4180317 SOON. But yeah, I feel terrible that I couldn't work on it at all. I took a bit of a break on it, and I'm working on it now. I'll hopefully get it done in a week or two.
4180778
I had this in my Read Later list, and I didn't have any homework to deal with today, so I gave it a read. I'm really excited to see what happens next! 
I'm glad that you're working on it again.
4214644 Don't worry about commenting. I like 'em, and eat 'em for breakfast! As for that Romance tag... I guess it should, shouldn't it, but I didn't plan ahead to have a Romance. Should I put it in?
3939217 No, actually. The keyblade Roxas gained after Xion's death was actually Ven's. And so Sora used Riku's blade. That proves nothing. There are only 3 keyblades to work with.
Oh and, note to the author. Vanitas's keyblade is named Void Gear, not Dark Void.
Here's a thought: what if the Riku Sora and the others saw wasn't the real Riku, but another Riku replica that the organization created to serve as a body for Vanitas. That would explain why Riku seemed completely unaware of what was going on.
I see I'm not the only one who wants a Sora vs. Vanitas fight in Kingdom Hearts III.
"I strongly disagree, darling."
5094511
you were half right