My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

Hearthbreakers

Winter was here at last after one month, the autumn air getting colder as pegasi set up snow clouds and let them sprinkle millions of hoof-made snowflakes to the ground below. There wasn't much Heartless activity in Equestria, nor in any of the other worlds, but it didn't hurt the Keyblade wielders to check on some of them that required some defense from the darkness. Twilight had gone on a couple runs as well to the other worlds with Riku, not only getting a chance to see some other worlds, but also to hone in her combat skills against the Heartless. She found it odd that she didn't change to fit in with other worlds, still an alicorn as she wondered if her Keyblade magic didn't find it necessary to transform her to look like the residents of the world they were on or if she had to cast the spell herself. Riku didn't have an answer for her, even though their visit to Castle Oblivion and the Mysterious Tower didn't change the alicorn or her friends.

"Hey, Twilight!" Twilight snapped out of her thoughts on transformation through her ventures, returning to the present as she looked up from the decorations she was setting up in one of the rooms that held the fireplace.

Turning around, she saw Sora and Applejack walk into the room, the former wearing a black Santa hat on his head. "Oh, hey. What brings you two by?"

"Uhh, one of us lives here as a second home, thank you very much," Sora said in mock offense.

Before Applejack could explain why she was here, they heard a rumbling come from the fireplace, soot falling down from wherever the chimney was in the Castle of Friendship. "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve!" Pinkie said as she poked her head out from the fireplace, falling down as she lost her grip, completely covered in soot.

"Oh no. Pinkie Claus," Sora muttered with a shake of his head. "How wide is that chimney compared to every other one in town?"

"Pretty big!" Pinkie said as she got up on her hooves, not even bothering brushing off the soot staining her coat, face, and hair. "Hey, this room is all snazzy for Hearth's Warming!"

"And we were about ready to hang our Hearth's Warming dolls," Spike said as he held up the hand-made dolls of himself and Twilight.

"So, that's a thing on Hearth's Warming?" Sora asked. "I don't remember ever doing that the last two years since I was here."

"We were pretty busy durin' those times, what with the play and Aqua losin' it," Applejack said. "Anyway, Ah came by to wish y'all a happy Hearth's Warmin' before we go to Pinkie's family home for the holiday."

"And Sora's coming too since he's a part of the Apple family!" Pinkie added as she hugged Sora, her dirty coat rubbing soot all over the stallion.

"I think you should take a shower first before we get on the train, Pinkie," Sora said, shoving Pinkie off of him as he tried to brush off the remains of wooden ash off his body. "And so do I now. Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Pinkie said.

"I think it's really sweet your families are going to celebrate Hearth's Warming together," Twilight said. "It's a shame your mom can't join you, Sora."

"We'll be going to Destiny Islands for Christmas. A little summer vacation in the middle of winter if we end up getting a blizzard here this year," Sora said. "No need for any winter clothing, just a swimsuit and a towel on the beach."

They soon heard the sound of the train's whistle blowing out in the distance, their ride having arrived right on time. "Looks like that's our train. We better get going."

Right as Sora, Pinkie, and Applejack began to leave for the station, Spike walked up to Twilight with a pleading gaze. "Hey, Twilight, can we open presents now?"

Applejack paused and looked back. "But tonight's Hearth's Warmin' Eve, Spike. Everypony knows ya don't open presents until tomorrow."

"When Spike and I spent our first Hearth's Warming Eve together, he couldn't wait all night to open his presents," Twilight explained. "Ever since then, we always opened them the night before."

"It's kinda like our tradition!" Spike added.

"Well, that's not how our family does it," Applejack said. "And Ah don't think Pinkie does that with her family, right?"

"No sirree!" Pinkie said.

The farm mare then looked at Sora, who rubbed the back of his head and giggled nervously. "My tradition was trying to stay up all night for Santa when I was a kid on Christmas Eve. I really believed Santa was real, and he is, but I always ended up falling asleep a couple hours past midnight."

"No family traditions?" Twilight asked, getting a shake of the head from Sora. "Well, to each their own."

The train's whistle blew again, reminding Pinkie, Applejack, and Sora that they were going to end up missing the train. "Uh oh! We gotta go! See ya in a few days, Twilight!"

The trio ran off so they wouldn't risk being left behind, running past Riku as he carried a present on his back. Ignoring the rushing ponies about to be late for their train, he entered the room and found Twilight and Spike, the baby dragon grabbing one of the gifts with his name on it. He didn't need to ask Twilight to open one gift as it was part of their tradition, but after tearing apart the wrapping paper, his excitement faltered at the clearly obvious gift the alicorn gave him.

"Heheh...Just what I always wanted...A book." Spike held up his gift, which was some type of novel that Twilight seemed proud of getting for him, though he wasn't as enthusiastic as she was. "Thanks, Twilight."

"I know you're going to love it, Spike!" Twilight said. "It may not be like your comics, but it's filled with adventure and exciting action!"

"Did you give everyone books for Hearth's Warming?" Riku asked, startling the alicorn. "Kind of obvious what gifts you'll be giving for birthdays, too."

"S-Shut up," Twilight mumbled, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment while scrunching her muzzle. "Everypony could do a bit of reading every now and then."

"Yeah, every now and then. Not twenty-four/seven like you." Twilight grumbled, which made Riku laugh. Even though she looked away from him, he approached her and snuck a peck on the cheek. While she got flustered, he lifted the present off his back with his wings, holding the gift out to her. "Got you a little something for the holiday. And to give you a hint, it's not a book."

"Then maybe I won't open it," Twilight said with a playful huff. Riku shifted the box around with his wings a little to tease her, which worked as she gave in and took the present. "Ok, I will." Tearing away the wrapping paper revealed a box, quickly flipping the top off with her magic to reveal what was inside. Resting inside it was a silver chain-link pendant, the charm a black book bearing a symbol on the front similar to what the Nobodies have, though there were several silver dots that decorated the metal tome. "Wow. Interesting little necklace...How'd you make this?"

"Some materials from Heartless and Nobodies, and some assistance from our Moogle shopkeeper in the castle to forge it for me," Riku said. He helped place the chain necklace around Twilight's neck. "It's called a Shadow Archive, but it's an enhanced version of it. It's hard to notice at first, but any accessories the Moogles sell, or craft if you have the right materials, can increase your strength or magic, depending on which ones you wear."

"Oh." Twilight lifted up the book charm, astounded by how helpful the Moogle shops were aside from selling Potions and Ethers or any novelty items they may have in stock. "And you said there wasn't going to be a book. This charm is clearly a book."

"Ok. It's not a book you can read," Riku corrected with a smirk. "Was that a better hint?"

"Jerk," Twilight said, giving the stallion a light slap on the chest. "But I love it. Thank you."

She leaned closer and gave Riku a kiss on the lips, surprising him for a second before closing his eyes and kissed her back. Spike gagged as he watched them, deciding to engross himself in his opened Hearth's Warming gift if it meant avoiding seeing his surrogate older sister and one of his otherworldly friends making out with each other. Twilight pulled away, then rubbed her nose against Riku's, the couple staring into each other's eyes.

"Was that my Hearth's Warming gift?" Riku asked. "Or is it still gonna be a book?"

Twilight giggled, giving Riku a kiss on the nose. "Maybe."

"You need to think of better gifts. There's a lot more ideas for a gift than books, like jewelry?" Riku suggested, gently tapping Twilight's new pendant against her chest.

"Oh, hush," Twilight said, gently slapping the stallion's hoof away. "You try to figure out what the best gift to give somepony would be, even after knowing them for so long."

"Easy for you: books, books, books, more books, even more books...and books." The alicorn rolled her eyes, admitting maybe her preferred gift to receive was pretty obvious while ignoring the smug grin on Riku's face.

"Ok, fine. You're not opening your present early, Mr. Smarty Pants," Twilight said. She walked past Riku, giving his muzzle a teasing swat with her tail. "I'm going to make some breakfast. You boys finish decorating. And Riku, you might get your present later tonight if you behave."

Riku watched Twilight and her swaying hips as she left the room and made her way to the kitchen. He had no idea if what she had implied about his gift this evening was what he thought it was, but he was eager to know, even if he was let down that it was actually a book.

"You know it's going to be a book, right?" Spike said.

"And I don't care if it is," Riku said before quickly zipping around and finishing decorating the room.

Spike rolled his eyes and continued reading the novel, already interested in the first chapter to help Riku finish decorating, although he didn't think the pegasus needed much help at the moment.

---

The train was filled with many ponies in each car it could pull, either riding for business or for the holidays, particularly more around the latter. Sora and the Apples sat across from each other, Granny Smith passing out and taking a nap with Big Mac and Applejack sitting in the same row, while Sora, Pinkie, and Apple Bloom were in the other. The young Apple sibling noticed one of the ponies working on the train pushing a cart filled with sweets pass by them, quickly chasing after him to buy some snacks until they reach their destination.

"This is real excitin'!" Applejack said. "Related or not, it's gonna be a hoot havin' our families together under one roof!"

"Kinda wished we found out a bit more about the Apples and the Pies's family relations," Sora said. "If every single piece of information in your family trees elsewhere in Equestria got all smudged, we're going to be left with this mystery for the rest of our lives."

"Apples and Pies together for the first time!" Pinkie said, holding up an apple and a pie and splatting them together, getting bits of mushed up pie all over herself. "Maybe. Unless we're related!...Which maybe we're not." She rubbed her head, smearing more of the mess all over her face. "I think I just confused myself."

Sora was slightly taken aback by Pinkie's statement. "Pinkie Pie? Confusing herself? Uh oh. The world's ending, guys."

"Friends OR family, it's all about togetherness," Applejack said, not caring whether or not she and Pinkie really were distant cousins or not.

Apple Bloom came back, her cheeks stuffed and blue from whatever she was eating while carrying back a lot of candy. "Have you tried the Equestria flag crepes? The blue is blueberry!" She then leaned over to Sora, lowering her voice so Applejack didn't hear her. "And don't tell Granny Ah saw, but her trunk is full of presents!"

"Hey, little missy, sneaking a peek at your gifts is wrong," Sora chided. "What would Santa think if you knew what you were getting?"

"Kinda like you, Sora?" Applejack asked, making the stallion wince and chuckle nervously. "And Apple Bloom, ya know Hearth's Warmin' isn't just about candy and presents, right?"

The filly groaned, wiping her face of the blueberry juice with her foreleg and swallowed her mouthful. "Oh great. Here comes a borin' sisterly lecture."

"I think I remember how Hearth's Warming came to be," Sora said as he recalled the play he and the others took part in a couple years ago. "Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi weren't friendly with each other and feuded over everything. While they kept fighting, Windigos, spiritual equines with an affinity to ice, created a blizzard that only caused more fighting, nearly bringing the whole world to turning into a gigantic ball of ice and snow." He remembered seeing some of those Windigos after the play was done, too, though there hasn't been any sightings of them ever since. As he summarized the story of Hearth's Warming, Pinkie held up several gingerbread ponies to resemble the pony tribes and Windigos behind his head, making them bounce around and acting out what had occurred. "Eventually, as the leaders of the tribes found new land and fought over it, the Windigos found them, trapped them in a cave, and it was only by the friendship of their assistants that created a spark of magical fire, melting the land and driving the Windigos off. When the leaders were unthawed, they realized their mistakes, combined their tribes, created a new flag, and founded Equestria."

"That's the gist of it," Applejack said.

"And there's more to the holiday than just the story, gifts, and family togetherness, right?" Sora asked, looking up to see Pinkie's gingerbread puppets above his head. He quickly snapped his jaws at one of the Windigo cookies, chomping it whole and ate it. "Take that, Windigo cookie!"

"Hey, I wanted to eat that one!" Pinkie complained.

"Well, tomorrow we celebrate Hearth's Warmin' by raisin' the Equestrian flag in the mornin'," Applejack said as she explained what else happened on Hearth's Warming. "But startin' tonight, we have a traditional Hearth's Warmin' Eve dinner to remember the shared bounties of our ancestors."

"We do that too!" Pinkie said.

"Then we'll hang our Hearth's Warmin' dolls over the fireplace to remind us of the warmth shared on that fateful night," Applejack continued.

"That's what my family does too!" Pinkie said.

"And tomorrow, we open presents!" Apple Bloom finished.

"So do we!" Pinkie said yet again.

"Ok, it's weird how both your families do just about everything the same way for Hearth's Warming," Sora said, not sure if the Pies did everything similarly as the Apples by coincidence or Pinkie was just saying that out of excitement.

"Of course! We might be related!" Pinkie and Applejack both said simultaneously. "Hey, I was gonna say that! Stop saying what I'm saying! You stop it first!"

The two mares leered at each other as they copied every word they said, but it was only playful banter as the two laughed it off. Sora rolled his eyes, not even surprised if they were related after all. After only a few more moments riding the train, they arrived at the station close to where Pinkie's home was with the train's whistle alerting all the passengers on board. Grabbing their belongings, the Apples, Pinkie, and Sora stepped onto the platform of the small station, being the only ones disembarking as the train chugged off along its route once they were safely out.

Sora and Applejack recognized the landscape of the rocky wasteland, though there was some brighter color to it with all the snow that fell to the ground. "Huh. Nice to have at least a little color out here other than gray."

"I'm so happy!" Pinkie said. "I need to make up a new word for how happy I am! What about...'rooftastic'?"

"'Rooftastic'?" Applejack asked.

"As in, I'm gonna stand on the roof-" Pinkie quickly climbed up on top of the roof of the train station. "-and yell to everypony how rooftastic this is!"

Her weight shifted the snow that piled on top of the station, sending it falling down on the Apple family. Sora melted the snow off of them with a Fire spell from his Keyblade, the flames spiraling round him quickly turning the powdery fluff into a puddle of water.

"Pinkie, what if our families don't like each other?" Applejack questioned worriedly.

"We won't know until we actually meet them," Sora said, although he, too, was unsure, considering the only time he saw the rest of Pinkie's family was through the enchanted book where he learned how the Mane Six earned their cutie marks.

Pinkie bounced off the roof and landed between Applejack and Sora. "Do you guys know how many friendships are going to be made? The number of Apples times the number of Pies is twenty-four, minus my preexisting friendships plus one for Maud and you makes five from twenty-four, but add four with Sora joining us makes..." She then took a deep breath, and suddenly appearing around the trio were twenty-three pink forelegs that came out of nowhere. "Twenty-three new friendships!" Sora tried to count the many hooves around them, but they were sucked back through wherever they came from, only chalking it up to Pinkie's weird antics. He heard Pinkie gasp as a pony stepped onto the platform, which happened to be Maud Pie. "Maud!"

She then gave her older sister a hug, Applejack and Sora knowing the deadpanned mare was happy to see Pinkie on the inside as she hugged the pink mare. "I'm so excited to see you, Pinkie," Maud said. "You too, Sora, Applejack. I hope you had fun sledding yesterday."

"Uhh, how'd ya know that?" Applejack asked, a little surprised Maud had found out she and her family had gone sledding the other day.

The gray earth pony let go of her little sister and approached the farm mare, lifting up her hoof to show the tiny pebbles that could barely be seen by the naked eye. "Isn't it obvious? There are specks of extrusive andesite on your hoof." No one had any clue what Maud was saying, looking up at Applejack with her blank expression. "It's a mountain rock."

"Oh, she is good," Granny whispered to Big Mac, the red stallion nodding in agreement.

"Sora didn't come along with you, though," Maud said, apparently not done with her predictions. She lifted up his hoof, showing several different specks of minerals embedded in his hooves. "He was busy wandering around different parts of Equestria before returning back to Ponyville, the roughness of the specks due to the harsh steps he took while fighting those Heartless that might have ambushed him."

Sora stared at Maud, who only stared back at him in silence, the stallion blinking a couple times before he opened his mouth. "...Ok, that's way too good. You're way too into rocks to always look at minute details like that."

"It's a gift," Maud stated.

"So, how's school going?" Pinkie asked.

"If you thought quartz was high on the Mohs hardness scale, wait until I tell you about corundum." Again, no one had any idea what Maud was talking about with her rock studies, but the group followed her from the station to where their family farm was.

Once they reached the rock farm, the Apple family and Sora were surprised by the decorations set up around the bland-looking farmhouse, stopping in their tracks while Pinkie and Maud continued walking/bouncing. Aside from the simple lights wrapped around the silo and the house, there were crystals that glowed lightly on the sides of the walkway toward the Pie family home, either decorations as well or actual crystals the Pie family had found. After taking in the festive look on the supposedly dull farmhouse, the awed ponies walked down the trail to the house, where the rest of Pinkie's family exited the house to greet them.

Sora clearly recognized Pinkie's parents, the father with a dull amber coat, gray and light gray hair with long sideburns, wearing a black felt hat, a gray collar with a dark gray tie, his cutie mark a pickaxe, while the mother had a pale blueish-gray coat, her pale green mane tied in a bun, a pair of yellow-framed glasses on her muzzle with a chain wrapped around her neck to keep them from hitting the ground if they fell off, a small black checkered cloth around her neck clasped together with a yellow brooch on her chest, her cutie mark a trio of rocks. Next came one of Pinkie's sisters with a dark blue-gray coat, her grayish-opal mane and tail short as her hair hung over one side of her face while the back stuck out a little, her cutie mark a half-cut lime with a pair of stones underneath. Though while the parents seemed to have stoic expressions with more emotion than Maud, she looked incredibly moody. The last of Pinkie's family was more timid like Fluttershy, her coat a turquoisish-gray and her long mane a dark and light greenish-gray, her cutie mark three marble spheres. She tried to sneak back into the house, but Pinkie pushed her shy sister forward with the rest of her family to meet the others.

"Everypony, meet everypony!" Pinkie said as both groups walked closer toward each other, although the shy mare went in the opposite direction.

The head of the Pie household introduced himself first before the Apples and Sora. "Surely thy name is not but Granny Smith," he said to the Apple elder. "I am called Igneous Rock Pie, son of Feldspar Granite Pie."

"Thou shalt know me as Cloudy Quartz," the mother of the Pies said as she introduced herself next.

"May Providence favor thee well, and to thou comfort our humble homestead bring," Igneous added, though Granny didn't seem to know what they meant with their old-fashioned lingo as she scratched her head.

"Y'all gabbin' with words real funny-like," Granny Smith said. "What did ya say your names were? 'Iggy'? And Ah'm just gonna call ya 'Big Mama Q'!"

Sora snickered at the hilarious nicknames Granny gave Pinkie's parents. "Best nicknames ever."

He didn't laugh for long as the angry member of the Pie family got in his face. "Gaze into the eyes of Limestone Pie," she said.

"Uhh, can I gaze at them from a farther distance, please?" Sora asked.

"Ma and Pa may own this rock farm, but I keep this place running," Limestone said, ignoring the Keyblade wielder's plea and leaned toward him more, making him lean back to avoid her threatening stare. "If you cross me, you'll-"

Thankfully, Pinkie intervened, pushing Limestone away from Sora. "Aye aye, Captain Grumpy! No one's going to mess with your precious mine!"

Limestone smacked away Pinkie's hooves and pointed her own hoof at a massive stone boulder that sat not too far away from their home as it overlooked the nearby quarry. "Or Holder's Boulder!"

Pinkie sighed, as if it was an annoying lecture she heard a million times before, quickly sliding up beside the massive boulder. "Everypony stay away from Holder's Boulder." She walked back up to her irate sister after quickly explaining not to go near Holder's Boulder. "There, you happy now?"

"Is she ever happy?" Sora asked aloud, earning a growl from Limestone with an angry glare. "Ok, that answers my question. She wasn't this angry during your cutie mark story."

After getting acquainted with Limestone, Sora ignoring the angry gaze from her, Applejack approached the last of Pinkie's sisters, trying to hide herself beneath her mane while trying to stay as close to her house as possible. "And you are...?"

Pinkie bounced over to the shy Pie and forcefully brought her closer to her dismay. "This is Marble Pie, my baby sister who's only a few minutes younger than me!" Pinkie pat Marble on the head, then squished her cheeks as she introduced her twin sister, to the Apples' and Sora's surprise, the timid earth pony seemingly anxious and embarrassed. "But she'll always be a baby to me, right, Marble? She's just so excited to meet everypony! Oh, and she wishes you all a happy Hearth's Warming!"

Marble rubbed her cheeks once Pinkie let go of her face. Clearly, she must have been the quiet sibling, Pinkie being her voice due to her shyness earlier and unwillingness to meet the others' eyes. Hearing no response, Pinkie nudged Marble's shoulder.

"Mmhmm," Marble mumbled once she realized everything her twin said was what she did want to say, but she didn't have the courage to say anything to their guests.

"I think Pinkie might have taken Marble's voice when they were babies. No wonder why she talks so much," Sora whispered to Apple Bloom, both of them giggling at the thought.

Pinkie whistled to everyone, climbing up on top of Holder's Boulder despite telling their guests not to be anywhere near or on it. "Attention!"

"What did I say about the boulder!?" Limestone reminded harshly.

"I'll just be a second!" Pinkie said, not helping her sister's mood in the slightest. "Everypony get settled in! There's plenty of room upstairs, and then we'll have Hearth's Warming Eve dinner!"

After introductions were made, the Pie family lead the Apple family into their home. Sora walked in last, wanting to steer clear of Limestone seeing how she doesn't seem to trust him. Or the Apples. Or anyone. The inside of the Pie family home wasn't all that special, just a simple home like the Apple family farm, though it was bland in its decor as it was expected for a rock farming family. The Apples headed upstairs, following Pinkie to the guest room, but Sora stayed downstairs and walked over to Maud, who was petting her pet rock, Boulder.

"So, Maud, the rest of your family's...unique," he said, trying not to sound rude.

"Limestone intimidated you, didn't she?" Maud asked, the answer plainly obvious just from her and Sora meeting for the first time.

"I've fought Heartless that were scarier, but she kinda takes the cake for a spot in the top twenties," Sora admitted. "Is she always like that?"

"My big sister may look mean, but she just cares a lot about the farm," Maud said. "It's a lot of hard work running the quarry. Not a lot of ponies realize how important it is to make sure rocks are placed in the right spots in the fields, or when's the perfect time to mine for gems or minerals in the quarry."

"I figured it was just boring work when farming-" Sora paused, staring at Maud in shock. "Wait, Limestone's your BIG sister!?" The deadpanned mare nodded her head in agreement, which made him do a double-take, looking back at Limestone working in the kitchen with Cloudy Quartz making dinner for the evening. Sora's jaw dropped as he tried to find his voice, looking back at Maud while pointing a hoof at the moody mare. "L-Limestone...older than you??? I thought you were the older sibling!"

"No. Why did you think I was the oldest?" Maud asked, Sora completely unsure if she was curious or not with her monotone voice.

"Well..." Looking back toward the kitchen, then the stairway, making sure they were absolutely alone, he gestured Maud to lean closer. "Let's just say I kinda got a glimpse of your family in a specially enchanted book while learning how Pinkie, Applejack, and the rest of our friends got their cutie marks. Kinda hard to tell how old they were just from seeing them as fillies, but I didn't see you there when Pinkie went from dull to bright after the sonic rainboom Rainbow made that day, or even at her first ever party she threw."

It was hard to tell if Maud was surprised or not as she kept her blank expression, but Sora swore he saw her raise one of her eyebrows a little. "...Huh. That's strange. Maybe I was at home at the time, if you did see that happen, but I was probably sick in bed. I remember Pinkie saved me a cupcake, and it was delicious."

"I didn't exactly explore much of your home. Just outside and in the silo where the party was held. I was only allowed to see what the story told me." Sora quickly looked behind him, just to be sure no one was listening in, especially with Marble since she's the quietest of the Pies and could be anywhere, though she would most likely be hiding from them. "Don't tell anyone else about this...But I think Pinkie might know because...well, you know her."

"Ok," Maud said.

Sora headed upstairs to find the guest room after Maud kept her promise keeping knowing about Pinkie's family in advance a secret. Pinkie bounded past him and headed downstairs, telling him dinner was just about done despite only just arriving a few minutes ago. Their guest room had a couple bunk beds, the Apples already making themselves at home, although Big Mac was going to be sleeping on one of the top bunks above the one Apple Bloom picked, which didn't seem all that safe with how big he is and how fragile these kinds of beds could be.

"Hey, Mac, you're taking the bottom bunk!" Sora said. "You'll end up crushing Apple Bloom in the middle of the night!"

"Nope," Big Mac said in defiance.

"That wasn't a suggestion." Grabbing the bigger stallion by the tail, Sora pulled Big Mac off the top bunk, making him land on the ground with a thud. "Bottom bunk, mister. You'll end up breaking the supports with your build up there."

Big Mac snorted and leered at Sora, watching him flap up on the top bunk. "Oh, sure. Ah can't be up there, but you can?"

"Hey, I'm pretty light as a pegasus, so I'm the perfect weight for the top bunk," Sora said, sticking his tongue out teasingly.

"Ah'm sharin' the top bunk with Sora!" Apple Bloom cheered, jumping off the bottom bunk and ran up the ramp up to the top one with Sora. "And Ah can't wait for dinner! Mah favorite part of Hearth's Warmin' Eve dinner are the fresh sweet rolls!"

"Ah'm more of a six-layer bean dip filly mahself!" Granny said, finishing unpacking her trunk filled with the presents Apple Bloom claimed.

"Ah love that too!" Apple Bloom agreed.

"Hopefully you've got a bigger stomach than it seems," Sora said to Apple Bloom, ruffling the filly's mane. "You had all that candy earlier on the train, so you better not complain."

"Are you all excited for dinner!?" Pinkie asked, poking her head in the doorway. "Because guess who is! Spoiler alert - it's me!"

"Finally. I'm starving," Sora said as he and the Apple family followed Pinkie downstairs to the dining room. The table was set up for the group, several bowls laid out, but with no silverware, and a big pot in the middle, their expectations shot down when it appeared to be rock soup due to the large rock jutting out of the greenish liquid inside. They sat down at the table and were served their portion, a ladle of soup poured in their bowls along with a rock the size of their hooves. "...Uhh, waiter? There's a rock in my soup."

"But what about hot rolls?" Applejack asked, stating her family's confusion. "And mulled cider and double-baked pot pie?"

"What about six-layer bean dip?" Granny asked.

"We have rock soup," Maud answered, though they could clearly see what their entree was by the obvious rock sticking out of the soup.

"Potato, po-tah-to," Pinkie said. "Double-baked pot pie, rock soup! Dinner is dinner, am I right or am I right?"

"How are pot pie and rock soup even remotely close to being similar?" Sora questioned, only to wince as Applejack kicked one of his legs hard under the table.

"Ya know what, this is what we were expectin'! Right, everypony?" Sora glared at Applejack, trying his hardest not to lean over and rub his sore leg while the rest of her family didn't share the same enthusiasm, even if she was faking it.

The Pie family were already eating their soup, apparently a common dish for the rock farming earth ponies since they literally breath and eat rocks. And eating rocks was a thing with Pinkie's family and not just Maud, Igneous taking a bite out of the rock in his soup, which made Sora feel like his own teeth were cracking just from watching.

"Yeah, sure, if any of us are expecting a trip to the dentist," Sora muttered.

Pinkie slurped up her soup, rock and all, noticing Sora and Applejack barely sampling the soup, or the inedible rock. "Everything alright, guys?"

"Oh! Of course!" Applejack quickly said, snapping out of her disappointment. "Ah'm just bein' a rusty fiddle. Tune me up and let's get back to dinner."

As she reached her hooves out to her bowl, she looked at Sora and gave him a look that told him, "Just do it and don't embarrass us." He sighed and grabbed his bowl, lifting it to his lips and slurped up the lukewarm liquid. He had expected the soup to taste more like mineral water, with actual minerals from the earth, but it was bland and tasteless. He wondered just how Pinkie and her family actually lived on rocks and managed to survive for that long. He ignored swallowing the rock, but Applejack wasn't as careful and nearly choked, but she thankfully coughed it back into her bowl. Aside from Pinkie, the rest of the Pies were eyeing Applejack, but Sora could swear Limestone had an evil smirk on her face.

"Limestone, what's with that look?" Sora asked aloud, the mare quickly looking at him, her lips turning down into a scowl. "Did you do something with our bowls of soup or do you find it funny to watch others who never ate rock soup?" Limestone remained silent, glaring intensely at him. "...Or you can just leer at me and not say anything...That's fine, too."

"More rock, please!" Pinkie said as she got a second helping of rock soup, along with Applejack and Sora. "Eat up so we can get to our Hearth's Warming dolls!"

"Now that's somethin' Ah know all about," Applejack said, her enthusiasm returning.

"Well, not much of an artist, but I'm all in for the doll making," Sora said, but as he looked down at his second helping of rock soup, accompanied by a second rock in his bowl with the other one, he didn't feel all that hungry. "Uhh, I think I'm too full for a second helping..."

---

The two earth pony families and Sora were now outside in the quarry, where the Pies had taken them to make their Hearth's Warming dolls. Instead of making them through hoof-stitching or crocheting like Applejack had thought, the rock farming ponies' tradition of making dolls was out of rocks, each of them with a pickax and chipping away at them to form sculptures. Pinkie gave the confused Apples and Keyblade wielder a rock of their own and their own pickax.

"Who wants a Hearth's Warming doll!?" Pinkie asked cheerfully.

"...A rock for a doll," Sora muttered. "I should have seen that coming."

"No, don't be silly, silly!" Grabbing her own pick, Pinkie smacked it against her rock, instantly making a tiny rock sculpture of herself. "Our dolls are these little pieces, right Marble Pie?"

Startled from hearing her name being called she looked at her sister and nodded her head, mumbling her agreement before getting back to work on her Hearth's Warming doll. The other Pies were nearly done with their dolls already, Limestone's sculpture made out of a rock that was as tall as her compared to the tinier ones everyone else had. Curious, Sora grabbed his pick and studied his rock.

"Sculpting a doll from a rock. Interesting." Sora visualized his self-made sculpture in his rock and began chipping away. "Might not be an artist, but this is a fun Pie family activity for Hearth's Warming."

The Apples, however, weren't having much luck with their rock dolls: Granny's rock fell over from its rocky pedestal and missed hitting it, Apple Bloom barely made a dent in her rock, and Big Mac somehow ended up breaking the pickax off his rock. Applejack was slightly disappointed yet again, going along with Pinkie's family traditions and struck her rock, making it crumble to randomly sized pieces.

"Uhh, Pinkie? Y'all don't have traditional crocheted dolls passed down in your family?" Applejack asked.

"Aww, you're just a frown factory because you got a weird rock." Pinkie held up Applejack's "finished" sculpture, which was just a blob with a frowny face. "But cheer up! I'm sure you'll do great in the flag finding mission!"

"Wait, findin' the what now?" Applejack questioned, only for it to remain unanswered as Pinkie bounded over to Sora, who had finished his rock sculpture.

"Wow! Pretty good for a first timer, Sora!" Pinkie complimented as she held up Sora's Hearth's Warming doll Pie family-style.

"Kinda hard to get my hair right," Sora said as he messed with his spiky mane. "So, you said something about flag finding just now? What's that about?"

"All will be said back up by the house! Everypony bring your dolls, too!" Pinkie bounced on ahead, snatching her doll with her tail as she passed it.

Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny barely managed to finish their own dolls, but seeing how difficult it was, they gave up on it and proceeded to the next of the Pie family's traditions. Applejack was heavily conflicted as she believed Pinkie shared the same traditions as her family, but the lack of anything warm and filling for early dinner and crafting Hearth's Warming dolls out of rocks, and now a flag finding competition was not what she was hoping for. She didn't want to disappoint Pinkie Pie, knowing just how sensitive she is despite her cheerful demeanor twenty-four/seven, but it was getting harder to pull off this charade with each alien tradition she experienced compared to what she believed was better.

"Nice doll," Sora said, startling Applejack as he snapped her out of her thoughts. "You know, aside from dinner being the strangest thing I've eaten, sculpting a doll out of a rock was pretty unique."

"Uhh, right...Unique...Even though this ain't how Hearth's Warmin's supposed to be celebrated." Both families arrived back at the farmhouse, placing their finished or unfinished dolls inside before coming back out as Pinkie ran around, placing family members with others.

"Ok, Limestone Pie and Sora, you two are going to be judges!" she said, which baffled the pegasus and made the irate mare more irate. "Big Mac, Marble Pie, you're team one!" Pinkie pushed her younger twin and the eldest Apple sibling together, both of them looking away nervously as they were forced together into a team. "Apple Bloom and Maud are team two!" Apple Bloom was pushed over by Maud's side, another weird pair of teams to have the youngest Apple sibling join with the unemotional mare. "And Ma and Pa are with Granny Smith! But don't think of it as team old. Think of it as team three!"

"I don't think it was even implied at first, but after saying it wasn't, you kind of just did," Sora said.

"And I'm with Applejack because we might actually be cousins!" Pinkie finished, hugging her possible cousin from a few generations split apart.

"Ok. So, now that we're split up, mind tellin' us what we're doin'?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie let go of Applejack and leapt up on Holder's Boulder, again ignoring Limestone to her ire. "As you all know-"

"Stay off Holder's Boulder!" Limestone shouted.

"Alright! Sheesh." Pinkie jumped off the boulder and continued her explanation. "When the three tribes united to form Equestria, the first flag was sewn by Nimble Thimble. It's tradition to raise a flag on Hearth's Warming to celebrate that famous day." Everyone else agreed with the custom, something Applejack was relieved to hear. "But who gets to gets to put the flag on Holder's Boulder!?"

And then that relief only turned into more confusion for the farm mare. "You mean the flagpole, right?"

"No, silly, it goes on the highest point!" Pinkie corrected. "And who's gonna be the lucky pony!?"

"But, traditionally, it's the youngest pony who-" Applejack couldn't get a word in edgewise as Pinkie ran up to her and grabbed her.

"Onyourmarksgetsetgo!" Pinkie quickly said, dragging Applejack as they disappeared somewhere in the quarry.

The rest of the teams headed off to search for the flag that was hidden, though Sora was confused as he was stuck with Limestone and forced to judge whatever it was they were supposed to be judging. As the other teams disappeared to different parts of the farm, Sora and Limestone stood in silence, the Keyblade wielder unsure what to say to spark some conversation with the mare who didn't seem so happy to have him around. Bored out of his mind, he summoned his Keyblade and toyed around with it, balancing it on his nose or spinning it around in his hooves.

"...So...how's your holiday been?" Sora asked, only to receive silence. He sighed, getting nowhere with Limestone and her moody behavior. "Ok. I have a feeling you don't like me. Or Pinkie sucked the happiness out of all of you and gave you her other emotions in some weird way...Then again, I saw just how moody Pinkie got when she thought we didn't like her and her parties when we tried throwing her a surprise party, so I guess that's not true."

"It's not you," Limestone said. "Pinkie's written us letters about what she's been doing in Ponyville, that includes all the things you and her do."

"Then what's with being all grumpy today?" Sora asked. "Is it because I'm a pegasus? Or is my hat offensive?" He took off his black Santa hat, though he hoped that wasn't the reason since Pinkie's family didn't bat an eye at his extra piece that matched his clothing. "I don't know if Pinkie told you about a holiday called 'Christmas', but it's actually quite festive for that holiday."

"It's not the hat, either," she said. "I've just been working too hard because I'm gonna be inheriting the farm when my parents get on in their years. And, because Pinkie warned me about weird black creatures called Heartless, which only you and some other friends of yours with weird key sword things like that. I don't want any animals or monsters like that threatening our home. Or Holder's Boulder." Limestone let out a sigh, her expression softening as she rubbed her forehead. "I'm not sure how much Maud has told you about me before dinner earlier, but it really is a lot more work than ponies think when it comes to rock farming."

"I can understand the mining, but doing all this yourself has to take some toll on you," Sora said. "If you plan on finding a stallion to sweep you off your feet, he better be as tough as you guys."

"Oh, he better be tougher than me, and deal with what our family does. If he doesn't, I'm gonna knock some sense into him," Limestone said, slamming her hoof down hard on the ground.

"Hopefully not with your hooves," Sora said, backing away from Limestone slightly as he felt the ground quake around her for a brief second. "Maud managed to crack and destroy a Defender's shield alone, and I've learned never to underestimate Pinkie or any of her family after knowing just how wild she can be." Limestone let out a small laugh and actually grinned, Sora no longer feeling any tension between them now that he got to know her a little bit. "...Soo, what exactly are the others looking for?"

"An obsidian rock I hid earlier today," the mare said. "It's actually a drawing since none of us are crazy enough to find a volcano and quickly cool down a chunk of lava to bring back home...Well, Maud might be crazy enough to do something like that."

"I see...And the winners who find the 'rock' gets to put the flag on Holder's Boulder, yet no one's allowed to go near it or touch it?" Sora asked. "Might I ask why it's so important?"

Limestone looked at Sora as if he said something insane. "...You seriously want to know?" she asked.

"Well, I'm bored sitting here doing nothing while we wait for the winners. If you're that protective of a large rock like that, it has to have some importance to you, your family, this land, whatever it is that makes it important. I'm a little interested to know." Limestone blinked, staring at Sora as if he was joking, but he was honestly curious, so she decided to humor him and began to tell him about Holder's Boulder.

---

While Applejack searched in the quarry with Pinkie, she was worried her family and Sora wouldn't get along with each other. What she didn't know was that they actually were: Big Mac and Marble Pie might be the quietest members of their families, but they didn't need to say much as they searched for the obsidian stone, Apple Bloom and Maud discussed a few similar dreams they had about being inanimate objects, and Granny learned how Igneous and Cloudy Quartz got together by a special rock called the Pairing Stone, which interested the elderly mare in wondering if it could find mates for any other ponies aside from rock farmers. Applejack let out an annoyed sigh as she searched around the many shades of pink and lavender crystals jutting out from the ground and walls of the mine.

"Consarn it," Applejack muttered. "Ah think this is worse than that camouflage game with Maud's pet rock, Boulder, and Ah can't find any obsidian rock."

"Found it, found it, found it!" Pinkie chanted.

As she turned to face her possible cousin, she gawked when Pinkie held a piece of paper with a rock drawn on it. "A picture!? Pinkie Pie, Ah've been tryin' to find a real stone all this time!"

"...Umm, that would be weird." Applejack facehooved, feeling like she had been pranked by everyone as she actually tried looking for a specific rock. Then again, Pinkie wasn't specific, so it was more her fault for not being clear with what exactly they were looking for. "You know what that means? I get to raise the flag! Now it'll be time to hide the presents!"

"What!? Y'all hide your presents!?" Applejack asked in utter bafflement.

"Of course!" Pinkie said, ignorant of the shock on her friend's face. "What's more fun than getting a present? Finding a present! Although, most years, nopony finds one."

"Nopony gets presents!?" Applejack exclaimed, sputtering in utter disbelief at Pinkie's family's insane Hearth's Warming traditions. "L-Let me get this straight: y'all are only allowed to eat rock soup for dinner, then the pony who finds this rock gets to raise the flag, but not really 'cause ya don't got no flagpole, and to top it all off, ya don't even get presents!?"

Pinkie realized how strange it was to hear how strange their Hearth's Warming traditions were from another point of view. "Well, it doesn't sound very fun when you say it that way..."

"Well, how about picturing this?" Applejack suggested. "Both our families, openin' presents, raisin' the flag...?"

"...Picturing it...Loving it!" Both mares made their way out of the mine and headed back to the farmhouse, Applejack feeling slightly better to have Pinkie envision her idea of the best Hearth's Warming both families can experience, albeit getting on board pretty quickly. "Hey, wait. Isn't Sora gonna join us?"

Applejack let out a sigh. "Yes, Pinkie. He's joinin' us. He's part of mah family, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Pinkie said.

---

Later that evening, as the two families began to settle down for a good night's rest, Applejack told her siblings, grandmother, and Sora about the presents the Pies hid that they had to find to get them. "So, no presents?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Unless y'all can find them before the holiday's over, might as well not get any at all," Applejack said.

"Ok, so the tradition for Pinkie's family involving their gifts relies on an Easter egg hunting shtick?" Sora asked. The Apples looked at Sora quizzically about yet another holiday only he knew of. "Easter's about a rabbit who places colorful eggs in hidden spots all over the place, where they're filled with candies and chocolates for kids to find."

"...Ya have some weird holidays, Sora," Applejack said, quickly shifting back to the current topic. "But we need to do somethin'. Pinkie's family has never had a real Hearth's Warmin'."

"You sure that's what she said?" Sora asked.

"...Well, Ah think so," she said, scratching her chin in thought.

"But these are their traditions," Apple Bloom reminded her older sister.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

"Ah know that. They have their traditions, and we have ours, but Ah want to show them just how much better theirs could be." Applejack looked out the window as ideas began running through her head.

"Ok. No idea how you're gonna do that, but it'd be a bit rude to stamp over their traditions while we're the Pies' guests." Sora let out a yawn, resting his head down on his pillow on his top bunk while Apple Bloom got settled on the other end. "Try not to worry about it too much, Applejack. Tomorrow's Hearth's Warming, and we at least have the presents we brought, so we don't have to seek out any Pinkie may have randomly placed."

Applejack continued looking outside, ignoring Sora's words while she formulated her plan. Once her family was fast asleep, she snuck out of the guest room and made her way downstairs to give Pinkie and her family a big surprise tomorrow morning.

---

Bright and early in the morning, the sun shining through one of the bedroom windows woke Pinkie up, the overly excited earth pony acting like a foal as Hearth's Warming had arrived. "Hearth's Warming!" she cheered loudly, waking up Marble and Limestone while she shared a bed with her sisters. She ran all over the house, waking up her parents, then the Apples and Sora, startling the Keyblade wielder as he yelled and flailed himself off the top bunk. "Hearth's Warming, Hearth's Warming, Hearth's War-!"

As soon as Pinkie slammed the front door open to raise the flag, she froze in shock as she saw a drastic change to the yard. The rest of her family caught up with her, equally as shocked and confused with all the new decorations set up without their consent: more colorful lights strewn all over, giant candy canes jutting from the ground, wreaths hung up around the house, some festive stars lighting up on the house and on the ground, and a flagpole set up beside Holder's Boulder that already had the Equestrian flag risen up. While most of Pinkie's family, including herself, were speechless, Limestone was clearly not happy.

"What. Happened. To. My. FARM!?!?!?!?!?!?" she shouted to the heavens.

Applejack was already up and waited outside for them. "It's Hearth's Warmin', Apple-style!" she said. The rest of her family and Sora walked outside to see what the commotion was about, gawking in surprise at the work Applejack did. "We've been doin' everythin' your way, Ah thought we could mix it up a little bit!"

"...Applejack, what are you doing?" Sora questioned, feeling a little worried seeing the shock on the Pies' faces, anger for Limestone and neutrality for Maud, though the emotionless mare was probably feeling something deep on the inside.

Ignoring him, Applejack walked up to Marble, draped her hoof around the timid earth pony, and gently brought her over to the flag. "Marble, since y'all are the youngest Pie, you can raise the Equestrian flag up on this pole! Ma and Pa Pie, we'll cook ya up a Hearth's Warming breakfast y'all ain't ever gonna forget! And look! We all get presents!" She then pointed at a big pile of presents meant for all of them, which excited Apple Bloom, but Sora quickly grabbed her before she ran off to try to open one. "Without havin' to find them!"

Instead of seeing excited grins on their faces, the Pies stared at the setup in disbelief, their home and traditions practically brushed over while another's were forced upon them. Pinkie grew worried, something she had envisioned better in her head, but she knew it was a bad idea the moment she saw what was outside.

"...Uhh, yeah, this is gonna be great," Pinkie said nervously. "All the stuff she said...Right, everypony?"

"Pinkamena Diane Pie!" Igneous exclaimed, making Pinkie wince as her full name was used. "Truly thou cannot favor this madness!"

"Well, I want us to be one big family!" Pinkie reasoned, though it didn't really win her parents and sisters over well.

"But what about what we usually do!?" Limestone asked. She then looked over at Sora, glaring at him as she suspected him of assisting Applejack with these shenanigans, especially after learning about Christmas from him along with Pinkie's letters. "Did you-!?"

"I had nothing to do with this!" Sora said in defense. "I'm just as surprised as you!"

"Please don't make me choose!" Pinkie said, tears welling up in her eyes as she was stuck between siding with her family's customs or making Hearth's Warming better for both families.

"Ah didn't mean to cause a fuss," Applejack said, her plan already backfiring before everyone could truly enjoy the holiday. "How about we just open presents around the flagpole? It'll be fun, you'll see!"

"Excuse me," Maud spoke up, standing beside the flagpole and examined its position. "You planted your pole on a fault line."

"What's a fault line?" Apple Bloom asked.

"...Uhhh..." Sora couldn't get a word in as the ground around the flagpole suddenly began to rumble, cracking the earth around it.

The cracks extended and headed toward Holder's Boulder, to the Pie family's horror. It was far too late to try to stop the small quake, opening a sizable dent in the earth to cause the giant boulder to roll away from its resting spot and down into the quarry, hitting the bottom with a massive thud. It was deadly quiet now that the miniature earthquake ceased, but the damage was already done as the Pie family looked over the edge to see Holder's Boulder down in their quarry.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Limestone screamed.

"Oh, boy," Applejack muttered, having just screwed up all the bonding the two families had done yesterday.

Limestone turned back to the Apples, glaring spitefully at them. They didn't need to be told to pack up their belongings and get out, knowing full well Holder's Boulder was important, and Applejack basically broke that specific rule the moody Pie sibling had told them, even though it was an accident. As the Apples headed inside to grab their things, Sora stayed behind and walked up to the Pies, neither of them spotting Applejack sneaking out the back door of the farmhouse and running toward the quarry, her hat covering her face to hide her tears.

"Limestone, I'm pretty sure it was an accident," Sora tried to reason.

"An accident!? You call that an accident!?" Limestone questioned before thrusting her hoof at his chest. "What gave Applejack the right to do something like this!? Just look at the mess she's caused! We don't want ponies forcing their way into our family!"

"It was just a misunderstanding," Sora said. "She was trying to make Hearth's Warming better for all of us."

"By stamping all over our traditions and forcing hers on us!? Sure, it was a misunderstanding alright! We misunderstood how much she hated our traditions after trying to be good hosts!" Limestone exclaimed.

"But Applejack would never do anything bad to anypony," Pinkie muttered, which only further agitated her big sister.

"Look around you, Pinkie!" Limestone said, waving her hoof around to the overly decorated yard, the fallen over flagpole that caused Holder's Boulder to fall, and the cracked up earth that could have damaged part of their mine from the quake. "It's going to take me ages to get this farm back on track! And how are we going to lift Holder's Boulder!? It's too heavy for all of us to even push back into place, if it'll stay there with how damaged the ground is now! This is all her fault!"

Pinkie's mane deflated, her lips quivering as tears streamed down her cheeks. "...Then it's my fault too..."

She walked away sadly with her head hung low, making her way down into the quarry and inside the mines to be alone. Sora tried to chase after her, only for Limestone's hoof to forcefully shove him back toward the house, almost smacking him into the wall from the amount of force she used.

"You leave, too," she said. "You're part of the Apple family, so you should just go with them."

"Limestone, let me help-" Sora yelped when Limestone picked up one of the plastic candy canes and threw it at him.

Thankfully, he caught the plastic decoration, but that response and the look she gave him told him she didn't want his help. Sighing, he lowered the plastic candy cane and headed inside to help the Apples pack up. In the guest room, he could see the depressed looks on their faces, already finishing packing up their stuff.

"Ah guess ya weren't able to convince them it was an accident, huh?" Granny asked.

"Nope," Sora said with a shake of his head. "Can't even get them to accept my help and get Holder's Boulder out of the quarry. I guess the only thing we can do is just go, give them a bit of space, and maybe try to be friends again once this has cooled down." Just as he was about to lift up Granny Smith's trunk on his back to carry out, Sora noticed someone was missing. "Wait. Where's Applejack?"

---

Down in the crystal mines, Applejack sniffled as she ruined any chances of her family being friends with Pinkie's. "Ah really cracked the corn this time..."

While struggling not to break down, she heard Pinkie not too far from where she stopped to reflect, feeling just as upset as she was. "I really popped the piñata this time..."

"Pinkie Pie?" Pinkie yelped and turned around, spotting Applejack through the crystals.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, both mares walking around to confront each other.

"What are you doin' here?" Applejack asked as well.

"I came here to think!" they both said simultaneously. "You did? So did I!"

Applejack and Pinkie both let out a sad laugh, mimicking each other again, but it wasn't as funny as it was on the train yesterday. They both then sighed as the reality of the situation that just happened came back to them.

"Ah'm too ashamed to go back up there," Applejack said. "Your family, mah family, Sora, they all must think Ah'm a nincompoop."

"Nopony thinks that," Pinkie assured. "Maybe pushy, aggressive, mean..." Applejack gave Pinkie a dirty look, now realizing she wasn't helping her friend feel better. "Oh. Sorry. That wasn't helping..."

"Ah'm sorry Ah force mah traditions over yours," Applejack apologized. "Ah don't want ya to have to choose between the family you were born into and your friends who love ya like one. Ah wanted us to feel like one big happy family, but Ah ended up ruinin' it for all of us..."

"Don't say that!" Pinkie begged.

"Pinkie! Is Applejack in there!?" Sora entered the mine, finding both mares sitting together. He was relieved to see Applejack didn't end up going back to Ponyville by herself, but noting how miserable the duo were reminded him that he and the Apples needed to leave. "...You two ok?"

"...No...'Cause Ah ruined Hearth's Warmin' for all of us," Applejack said. Just before Sora could console her and tell her that wasn't true, they heard the train whistle in the distance as it arrived at the station. "...We got a train to catch."

Applejack slowly made her way out of the mine, her head hung low as she tilted her hat over her face in sorrow. "H-Happy Hearth's Warming," Pinkie said, her voice cracking sadly.

Sora sighed, looking back at Pinkie as he followed Applejack. "You too, Pinkie."

He caught up with his honorary sister, draping a wing over her withers as he guided her up the ramp out of the quarry. Applejack looked up slightly when they saw Pinkie's house, watching Limestone throwing away all the decorations she stupidly put up. She blamed herself for making what was supposed to be a fun, family holiday into a miserable mess, destroying what possible familial relationship they had with the Pie family.

They made it to the station where Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and Granny waited for them, boarding the train heading back to Ponyville. The whistle blew and the train began its slow departure, though where there were some ponies in the same car as them talking excitedly about today, the Apple family was depressingly silent. Applejack looked out the window, watching the craggy wasteland slowly pass by.

"...Ah'm sorry, everypony," Applejack said. "Ah shouldn't have gone off and done all that...Ah know that boulder was special, but Ah have no idea why Limestone was so protective of it...It's just a giant rock, right?"

"Did you even ask any of the Pies why it was important?" Sora asked. Applejack shook her head, never bothering to ask at all while she was too surprised by the Pies' different traditions on Hearth's Warming compared to what she knew all her life. "Well, luckily, I asked Limestone yesterday about it out of curiosity while waiting for the group who brought that 'obsidian rock'. Holder's Boulder was named after their ancestor: Holder Cobblestone. Apparently, the rock farm used to be a dragon's nest, and that boulder was older than Equestria's founding, or so she assumed, so he built the farm around it. It was used as the Pie family's good luck charm for their rock harvests, even if it seemed like a simple looking rock."

"A good luck charm?" Applejack asked, Sora replying with a nod. "Aw, crickets. That is important...Ah got so caught up in what they did Ah never even bothered askin' them why they do them in the first place! With y'all and introducin' us to Christmas, ya didn't even need to be asked since ya liked explainin' it to everypony, especially the foals!" She got up from her seat and kicked the wall in frustration. "Urgh, Ah'm so stupid!"

Suddenly falling down from the shelves above the seats for passengers to place luggage, a large, heavy present fell and smacked Applejack in the head. The others gasped in shock as the mare hit the ground, clutching her head with a groan.

"Applejack!" Sora exclaimed, quickly summoning his Keyblade and casting Cure on the poor mare. "Are you alright!?" He then lifted up his blade and showed the teeth of the key to her. "How many teeth on my Keyblade do you see?"

"Mrf...Three," she said, quickly shaking her head, thankful for Sora's healing magic to ease her headache. "What the hay landed on me?"

"A large present someone left behind," Apple Bloom said.

Applejack rubbed her head and made sure her stetson wasn't flattened, then looked down at the heavy object. Whatever it was inside, it was wrapped crudely as if it was nearly impossible for the pony to fully conceal under the wrapping paper, held together by tape along with the thin ribbon tied around it. There was a tag tied onto the bow, peaking her curiosity to see who got whom such a dangerously heavy gift.

"'To Applejack, from Pinkie Pie. Cousins forever.'" Applejack teared up again, ironically finding one of Pinkie's hidden Hearth's Warming gifts, and on a random train that they happened to take as well.

"Ok, that's an odd coincidence finding one of Pinkie's hidden gifts," Sora said, cocking his head in confusion. "And you're the first one to find one, too, even though it found you."

"Heheh. Only Pinkie Pie could hide a present on a movin' train," Applejack said. "What a great tradition..." She gasped, realizing how wrong she was with her prior thoughts the previous day, desperate to return back to the rock farm and make up for her mistake. "We need to get off this train! Ah can't let this holiday end like this!"

"Applejack, how are we gonna do that?" Apple Bloom asked. "The train's movin' too fast and we don't want to get in trouble askin' the conductor to stop it on Hearth's Warming."

"Uhh, hello?" Sora waved his Keyblade around, getting the Apples' attention. "I can use time magic. Though, I've only used Stop on enemies around me or someone, and in a smaller radius around me...And I'm not sure I want to ruin this train's time schedule if they are on time."

"Well, not all trains always arrive on time. And with the holidays bein' so busy, would it matter if it was behind for a couple minutes?" Despite how selfish of a reason it was coming from Applejack, Sora did understand just how hectic the holiday seasons can get, especially in this season when it involves Christmas parties, present hunting, etc.

"...Eh. It'll only last for about a minute anyway. They'll still have time to get to where they need to be," Sora said. "Ok, guys, stay really close to me. I'm probably going to use up quite a lot of mana and I don't want to end up freezing all of you as well." Heeding Sora's warning, the Apples got as close to him as possible while he took a deep breath, hoping his magical skills were strong enough to cast a powerful enough Stop spell. He thrust his Keyblade up in the air, pouring all his mana into the spell. "Stopja!"

A bright flash shimmered from the end of the Keyblade, releasing a shockwave that spread out all around him at a farther range than a normal Heartless a few yards away from him. There was no illusional clocks that appeared around them, only time slowing down to a crawl until it finally came to a halt. Sora grinned as he successfully pulled it off, though that along with the Cure spell he used on Applejack earlier had drained him. He made a note to himself to practice his magic spells a bit more so he can cast stronger spells without feeling mentally exhausted.

"Well, slap mah saddle!" Granny exclaimed, looking around the car at all the ponies frozen in time. "That's some fancy magic to have!"

"Eeyup," Big Mac said in agreement.

"Ya think ya can send me back a bit when Ah was in mah prime?" the elder mare asked Sora.

"I'm not going to meddle with time that much," the Keyblade wielder said firmly. "Stop is only used to freeze my opponents, and Stopja is an extremely advanced magic spell. Aqua could probably cast these powerful variations of magic spells a couple times before she tires herself, but don't tell Twilight about there being -ja spells. She's going to want to try them, and it can spell disaster."

"Duly noted," Applejack said. "Now, come on before it wears off and the train starts movin' again!"

Applejack lead the group as they ran toward the caboose, Sora carrying their luggage and Applejack's gift from Pinkie while Big Mac carried Granny on his back. Thankfully, the train hadn't gone too far from the station nearby Pinkie's family home as they were still in the rocky wastelands.

---

The Pie family struggled to push Holder's Boulder once all the unnecessary decorations around their home was thrown out. Unfortunately, even with all six of them, it barely even budged from where it fell in the quarry.

"Urgh! Come on...you...big...boulder!" Pinkie exclaimed, grunting as she put all her weight on the heavier boulder.

"I'm pushing as hard as I can too," Maud said in her usual deadpanned tone, barely making it move even with her insane earth pony strength.

They soon gave up, too exhausted to push. "This is hopeless!" Limestone said with a growl.

"Need some help?" Sora asked.

The Pies turned to see Sora and the Apple family had come back, Pinkie Pie the only one who was happy to see them return. "Why did you come back here?" Limestone questioned.

Applejack stepped forward, taking off her hat and holding it to her chest in an apologetic gesture. "Ah really am sorry about what Ah did earlier. Ah wasn't tryin' to take your traditions away, Ah was just tryin' to share ours. Ah got too focused on bein' one big happy family, Ah thought we needed the same traditions. What Ah should have done was learn about yours and teach y'all ours, and maybe we'd be able to make new traditions together."

She lowered her head, waiting for whatever response Pinkie's family would give her. The Pies all looked at Limestone, seeing how she was the one who made the decision telling them to get off their farm. She knew all eyes were on her, her angry expression never leaving her face as she looked at her family, then back at Applejack.

"...Well, don't just stand there," Limestone said. Applejack looked up, a little surprised that her apology was accepted so quickly. "If you want to make it up to us, then help us move Holder's Boulder."

"Y-You forgive me?" Applejack asked.

"...I guess it kind of was an accident, but don't go messing around with anything on my farm again, you got that?" Limestone warned. Applejack nodded her head, not needing to be told twice or else face the older Pie sibling's wrath again. "Now, come on! We've got a boulder to move!"

With no more bad blood between the two families, the Apples grouped up with the Pies and helped them push Holder's Boulder. With a heavy grunt, everyone pushed, combining their strength and managed to roll the massive rock forward. With Sora, Big Mac, Maud, and Limestone being the strongest of their families, they had their hooves pressed against Holder's Boulder while the rest of the two families pushed them. Slowly, but surely, they were able to get the boulder rolling up the slope.

"Hey, I think we just invented our first tradition: pushing Holder's Boulder out of the quarry!" Pinkie said with a squeal of joy as they continued pushing. "I can't wait for Applejack to knock it over next Hearth's Warming!"

"No, Pinkie!" everyone yelled simultaneously.

"This is not gonna be our first combined tradition!" Sora said, putting all his weight into his shoulder to keep pushing Holder's Boulder. "Jeez! How much does Holder's Boulder weigh!?"

"Just keep pushing!" Limestone said. "The less we complain, the easier it'll be!"

Eventually, after about twenty minutes of constant pushing, they finally pushed Holder's Boulder out of the quarry. They placed it in a safe section of the yard, away from the cracks of the fault line that was disturbed so they didn't risk it rolling off elsewhere. After a short break, they all headed inside to officially enjoy Hearth's Warming, this time using both families' traditions to better learn the other's ways of celebrating the holiday. Applejack and Granny Smith worked in the kitchen to make some of their traditional Hearth's Warming food for everyone, starting with fresh and warm sweet rolls as the appetizer. Once a plate was ready, Limestone brought them out, Apple Bloom being the first to snatch one and stuff the whole roll in her mouth while sitting by Maud.

The rest of the family talked as Applejack checked on the food, Granny Smith and the Pie parents teaching each other their ways of speaking and Big Mac and Marble Pie sitting together silently as they hung out like wallflowers. Sora had a sneaky idea involving those two, noting the chemistry that was built between the silent pair. Grabbing a sprig of mistletoe that came with the decorations Applejack had used earlier in the morning, tied it to a stick with a bit of string, and nonchalantly made his way over to the stairs. Acting like a mischievous kid, he stopped halfway up the stairway and hung his makeshift fishing line out between the rails, holding it over Marble and Big Mac's heads.

"Sora, what are you doing?" He yelped as Pinkie suddenly appeared beside him, nearly blowing his cover.

"Nothing," he lied.

"No. No mistletoe stuff with my baby sister and Big Mac," Pinkie said, snatching the crude fishing pole out of his hooves and threw it upstairs. "The MarbleMac ship has, unfortunately, sunk. And we're cousins! That's weird!"

"Your distant cousins, so it doesn't count," Sora argued. "And what are you talking about? Is Big Mac in a relationship? He hasn't told me anything."

"You won't find out until we get around season seven," Pinkie explained, slowly turning to stare at something, or someone, Sora couldn't see. "Assuming we can make it to that point if a certain somepony can get these chapters out quicker! Chop-chop, Mr. Writer! You're falling behind!"

"...Uhh, what are you talking about?" Sora questioned, scratching his head in confusion.

"Nothing important," Pinkie said, bouncing down the stairs to rejoin her family.

Sora tried to ponder what she meant, sounding quite serious about Big Macintosh's romantic life, even though he thought he and Marble would make a cute couple. "...I'm not even sure if Pinkie's own family can understand her..." Looking down, he noticed that the two silent ponies looked up at him, hearing him and Pinkie discussing something. He giggled nervously and walked back downstairs. "Weird to have a conversation in the middle of the stairs, huh!?"

"Mmhmm," Marble uttered in agreement.

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed as well.

"Yeah...I'm just gonna go over here...and stop being awkward." Sora sidestepped away from the two ponies, only making himself seem more awkward before turning toward the fireplace.

Once Hearth's Warming brunch was done cooking, everyone gathered around the table and enjoyed some Apple family vittles, which the Pies admitted tasted a little better than their rock soup. After eating, they exchanged gifts, Applejack opening the one Pinkie had hidden for her, which happened to have been a big rock. The Apples and Sora left out the part of how exactly it came to them and almost giving Applejack a concussion, but the thought of the gift mattered to her more than anything.

"Happy Hearth's Warming!" Pinkie said.

"Happy Hearth's Warmin', Pinkie Pie," Applejack said back, both mares giving each other a hug.

"Attention, everypony!" Apple Bloom announced. "Maud wants to sing some Hearth's Warmin' carols she wrote!"

"Let me guess: are they all about rocks?" Sora asked.

"Yes," Maud answered. "How'd you know?"

"Call it a hunch," he said as he and the rest of the family laughed.

---

Hearth's Warming seemed to have come and gone far too quickly as day turned to night. After celebrating with their new family friends, the Apples thanked the Pies for allowing them to stay, and coming back after Applejack's blunder in forcing her family's traditions over theirs. After gathering their belongings once again, along with any leftovers, gifts, and their Pie-style Hearth's Warming dolls, they said good-bye and headed to the train station, Pinkie coming along with them since she's got work to do at Sugarcube Corner. The only ones out of the group who were still awake were Sora and Applejack, both of them holding up their Hearth's Warming stone dolls.

"That is one weird Hearth's Warming doll," Sora said. "Maybe Pinkie was right; you did get a weird rock."

"Well, Ah made it, so Ah'm keepin' it," Applejack said.

"Ok." Sora snorted as he looked at the sad blob. "Were you a depressed blob in another life, though?"

"Oh, shut up, Sora," Applejack said, unable to help but laugh alongside Sora, giving him a punch in the shoulder for the playful jab toward her "artistic" doll. Their laughter died down, both of them sighing as they relaxed in their seats. Applejack's grin slowly melted into a frown, taking off her hat and staring at the accessory handed down to her. What she had learned about Sora and his father came back to her as Hearth's Warming was a holiday about family togetherness, reminding her of her own as this hat once belonged to him. She sighed again, unable to hold back how she felt about her honorary brother growing up with only his mother for most of his life. "...Sora?"

"Hmm?" Sora uttered as he looked at her. "Something wrong, Applejack?"

"...Do ya remember when we helped the Breezies get back home?" Applejack asked. Sora nodded, unable to forget that moment as it not only had one of the six keys needed to open the chest, but a cruel trick by Discord that made him shrink to the size of a Breezie. Applejack swallowed the lump in her throat, no longer keeping herself silent over a serious topic involving the stallion. "...Well, when we got to their home, Ah overheard ya talkin' to Kairi about your folks...Especially your Pa."

Sora's ears slowly drooped, completely forgetting he talked about that aloud. Applejack winced, regretting bringing it up and looked away.

"...I guess with Kairi around me, I can't keep lying to her about how I'm feeling, huh?" Sora asked rhetorically, letting out a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Or keep my voice down enough so only she could hear." He reached his hoof out and touched Applejack's shoulder, making her look up at him sadly. "It's alright, Applejack. I'm not mad at you for bringing it up."

"Well, ya should have," she insisted. "When ya talked about Ma and Pa after the Apple Family Reunion, Ah got upset and took it out on ya, and ya didn't even know what happened to them or asked about them until that point. Ah wanted to ask ya about it a few times, but Ah didn't want to bring up bad memories if it got ya upset..."

"Applejack, you did not want to know how upset I was when I heard the bad news about my dad back then." Sora sighed, recalling how selfish he was in his depression, falling through the stages of grief until it was just a fleeting memory. "I knew his job as a fisherman was going to be dangerous, but after knowing what happened after that horrible night, I didn't want to believe it. I hurt my mom with how I behaved while I was grieving, even Riku and Kairi...It was only when I nearly lashed out at Kairi was when I finally broke down, eventually accepting his death and learned to try to move on from it.

"But I feel bad for you, Applejack...Granny told me you saw what happened to your parents." Applejack winced and looked down at her hat again, tears welling up in her eyes as she had a flashback to that horrific day. Even if she tried to put it past her, it eventually came back again to haunt her. Sora moved closer, noticing the painful look on her face, her hooves shaking slightly as she held her hat tightly in her hooves. He wrapped his hooves around her and pulled her in a comforting hug, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Applejack..."

Her tears trickled down her cheeks, wrapping her hooves around him tightly while resting her head against his shoulder. No other words were exchanged, both ponies holding each other in silence. It took Applejack a while for her to calm down, hesitatingly pulling away from Sora, wiping away her tears with her hoof.

"Ah'm causin' all kinds of drama today, huh?" she asked, earning a lighthearted chuckle of agreement from Sora. "Sorry...Ah still miss them."

"I miss my dad, too," Sora said. "But they'll always be here in our hearts." He pressed his hoof over his chest, emphasizing his statement. "And even if we're without our families, our friends are like family. No matter what, we'll always be there for each other." Applejack gave Sora a sad smile, knowing just how true it was. All of their friends were like family, and she wouldn't change that for anything. Without them becoming friends, Equestria would have been doomed from either the threat of darkness or a villain bent on taking over the world. "If you want to talk about stuff like this, don't hesitate to tell me. I know we Apples can be stubborn with our feelings sometimes, but don't let anything that's bothering you stay trapped in that emotional jar."

"Says the stallion who hid his feelin's with his darkness." Sora gave the mare a blank stare, ruining the moment with her statement as she laughed at his reaction. "Ah'm kiddin'. Ah'll try to keep that in mind...What would we do without ya, Sora?"

"I could ask the same thing," he said with a grin.

A while later, the train finally arrived in Ponyville, Applejack placing her hat back on her head as she and Sora woke up the rest of their family so they could disembark. Once they gathered their luggage and gifts from the Pie family, they walked down the snow-covered roads to their homes. The Apples split up from Sora as they headed back to Sweet Apple Acres while he made his way back to the castle. He casually strolled down the path, taking his time to get back as he looked up at the sky, watching the snow from the clouds sprinkle down on the land beneath them. He could imagine the starry sky beyond the clouds, the stars not under Luna's control being the many worlds out there he has visited in the past.

He looked down at his pouch and dug through the endless void of items he's kept through his journey upon gaining his new clothes. He dug around and pulled out the magic scroll he found in Canterlot a long while back, which held the spell for him to freely travel through time at the expense of a majority of his mana being drained out of him. Sora had thought of trying to go back in time, meet Applejack's parents, and prevent their deaths, but he shook that thought out of his head. He didn't want to mess with history, knowing something bad might happen if one small change affected the timeline, along with the fact that he had no idea how much of his magical power would be used depending on how far back or forward in time he went.

He sighed, putting the scroll back in his pouch for safekeeping. Even if it was for Applejack's sake, and even Apple Bloom's with how she grew up without ever knowing her parents, it wasn't worth changing something in the past to risk a drastic change in the present. Xehanort had attempted that once during his and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam, luring them into a trap and not changing anything within the timeline, at least they hoped nothing had changed. The only thing they can do is keep moving forward, never linger too long in the past, and try not to think about attempting to change the past for what he thinks would be a better future. Even if it meant wanting to bring his own father back with this very spell he only used once.

"Sora!" Snapped out of his thoughts, he looked up, having arrived at the castle without realizing. Twilight and Riku stood on the balcony, both of them with mugs of hot chocolate as they watched the snow fall in Ponyville. "You're taking your sweet time walking toward the castle!" Riku teased. "You want to catch a cold!?"

"Hey, I can handle the cold!" Sora said. He flew up and stood on the railing, nearly knocking over Riku's mug on purpose as he scrambled to grab it before the warm liquid spilled. "I was just looking back on the fun I had at Pinkie's family home."

"What fun is there on a rock farm?" Riku questioned skeptically. He took a sip of his hot chocolate, watching Sora pull out his Hearth's Warming doll. "...Is that a rock?"

"A rock I carved myself making my Hearth's Warming doll," Sora explained. "Pie family tradition. The one thing you don't want to try at their dinners is rock soup...It's exactly what it sounds like."

"That's pretty neat," Twilight complimented while Riku rolled his eyes. "So, it went well?"

"At first, Pinkie's family traditions were strange, but I got into it and learned a bit more about them. Applejack kind of...messed up a little, but we made up with the Pie's and had a better time earlier today. We even sang Hearth's Warming carols written by Maud...They were about rocks." Twilight and Riku exchanged a look, as if they expected what kinds of songs or poetry Maud would make and share to everyone. Sora sat down on the railing, setting his Hearth's Warming doll beside him. "So, how was your Hearth's Warming? No random disasters? No Aqua having an emotional meltdown?"

"No, thank goodness," Twilight replied. "Just a peaceful day, opening presents and eating some good food."

"You gave Riku a book for his gift, right?" Sora asked Twilight with a smirk.

The alicorn giggled while Riku looked to the side and sipped his drink. "No. I gave him...something else. And it was his present he was allowed to open first last night."

"Huh? Really? What was it?" Sora didn't receive an answer as both ponies were silent, their cheeks turning pink as they looked at each other for a moment. Sora had an idea what it must have been, his grin growing with a sly chuckle. "Oh. I see what it was." He climbed off the railing, grabbing his doll and headed inside Twilight's room. "Well, I'll leave you two be. I'm gonna find Kairi and see if she's got any plans for me for Hearth's Warming this evening."

"She's waiting in your room," Riku said. "You're in for a surprise, though."

Sora quickly ran out of Twilight's bedroom and ran through the halls to his room, already eager to see what Kairi's got for him like a little kid wanting his Christmas present early. He slowed down upon reaching his door, not wanting to alert Kairi and try to surprise her before she surprised him. Slowly turning the knob, he opened his bedroom door and peeked inside. His jaw hung from his mouth, his room illuminated with soft glowing Christmas lights hung over his bed, a couple presents sitting in a corner, and laying seductively on his bed was Kairi, wearing a revealing red and green striped see-through nightgown that quickly caught his eye.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Sora," she greeted, staring at him with bedroom eyes. "You have any fun with Pinkie's family?" Sora couldn't utter a single word, his mind blank as he kept staring at the pink unicorn fluttering her eyes at him. Giggling at his speechlessness, she lit her horn and grabbed his jacket with her aura, guiding his hooves over to the bed. "Like what you see, Sora?"

He nodded dumbly, finally closing his mouth as it went dry and swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't notice Kairi levitate something between them over their heads, his peripherals finally catching wind of the object she held. The unicorn held a sprig of mistletoe above them. He looked back down at her, giving him a wink. His brain finally caught up with his eyes as he grinned and leaned closer.

"I think Christmas came early for me," he said, making her laugh. They gently bumped each other's muzzles before bringing their lips together into a kiss. Sora climbed into bed, rolling Kairi on her back as their lips remained locked in bliss, their hooves slowly roaming over the other's body. He slowly pulled away and looked down at the thin fabric she wore, which was quite festive and soft to the touch. "Did Rarity make this?"

"Mhmm," she said with a nod.

"Even though ponies aren't supposed to wear clothes, you look really good in this," Sora complimented, making his lover blush. "Beautiful, even."

"Thanks," Kairi said, wrapping her hooves around his neck. "I really missed you."

"I was only gone for a couple days," Sora said, rubbing his nose against hers. "We've spent longer apart when I was trying to find you...But I missed you too." He brought his lips back to Kairi's, her moans goading him further as he deepened their kiss. The mare's white aura engulfed his clothing, teleporting them off of him and setting them on his dresser, making him shudder at the sudden cold air around his chest and back. He pulled away slightly, both of them panting a little as he playfully glared at his girlfriend. "A little warning when you do that? It's kinda cold in here."

"Then let's warm each other up," Kairi said, pulling his head back down and resumed their make-out session, dragging the covers over them as their moans and smacking lips rang out in the bedroom.

Comments

[Noctis Prism]

Very nicely done:-)

[KingJoltik]

Once again, like the other times...make foals with her already Sora!

[zachary12]

nice work

[Dusk Star Shine]

Okay first off, LOVED the new chapter and how you had Sora mix into it was great, now for YOU Pinkie, NO MORE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL.......It's barely being held together with all the glue and duck tape that the author has to use to keep it together.

Awwwww.........But I'm so good at it.

[Codex92]

8473076
Yeah, good thing you corrected yourself. You should probably watch the episodes first before reading anything involving following the show's story from season one up to now. It would make more sense, but at least you'll expect certain scenes to happen. Also, commenting after going through a chapter might help too before jumping the gun at a certain point in the story.

[Codex92]

8473874
You think Sora can ever pull off a Sephiroth cosplay to scare the Mane Six? He doesn't have the build, even with an enchanted transformation, or know how to wield a katana that's twice as long as him. Besides, if I thought of bringing in the real Sephiroth, it wouldn't make much sense since he's still fighting this long, drawn out, yet epic battle against Cloud that never ends. What are the odds of them winding up in Equestria and destroying the land in their clash?

[Nova Blaze]

That was fun.

[Bahamut Omega]

So Riku... You finally had sex with Twilight. Not bad.

[BenictheHedgehog]

Aww this was a good chapter Codex, and its funny that Pinkie even wants you to focus on this series so that you could get it caught up lol. But I think my favorites so far in this one was when Sora figured out that Riku & Twilight did what couples would do, but kept it clean which I am sure Sora & Kairi will too for the sake of how both of the series are so far in them.

that aside, I look forward to how the Christmas on Destiny Islands turns out for Riku with Twilight & Sora with the others (mostly moments with Riku with Twilight, & AppleJack spend some time with Soras mom as like a bond moment).

[BenictheHedgehog]

After helping fix the Apples and the Pies traditions for Hearts Warming to work together, Sora has manage to make new friends in the Pie family and enjoy a romantic night with Kairi in their room. But even with Hearts Warming came & gone, Christmas is not that far away with Sora & Riku plan to spend it with those they care & Sora sharing a family bond moment with Applejack.

Will Sora & the gang be able to enjoy Christmas as they did Hearts Warming? Where will our Heroes all spend it this time? Does Riku have any special plans for Twilight on the Holiday? & Will that Time Travel spell ever come in handy for Sora in the future? Find out Next time, On Soras misadventures in Equestria!

[everydaygamer]

Good chapter. Gotta say after seeing the movie I'm really interested in seeing how you would adapt it, but I suppose that won't be for a long time.

[Codex92]

8475824
Yeah, and when I get to the movie if I have any free time. Haven't seen it yet, but I hope I see it somewhere on Youtube before I get spoiled everyone else in other sites, including here. There's already a few fics that are featured based on the MLP movie, and I'm avoiding them at all costs.

[everydaygamer]

8476228
Yeah I can understand how annoying that is. I wound up just checking out the leaked version myself.

[BenictheHedgehog]

8476228
Trust me Codex, going to see the movie in Theaters is worth doing since it helps show your support for it & might show that we would like more of them. Plus taking a break to go see it can be understanding so that way you can enjoy it too.

[HB_DS2013]

At the rate Pinkie's gonna break the fourth wall, the story might become an incoherent mess. She might be a living middle finger to physics, but I doubt she can cause a Time Crash. I'll bet the rocks in the Pie farm don't have any minerals whatsover.

[Codex92]

8476809
I can barely go anywhere about five miles away from where I live on foot alone. And there's no theaters within that distance either. And I don't want to ride the bus because I don't feel like riding one.

[SamusTheHog]

I just power read this entire series
I like what I've read so far... I just have a few questions codex
1: will we see Master Xenanort or the Organization any time in the future? I always thought they still wanted sora as there Darkness even after 3D, so they should appear sometime soon, it's even been a few years
2: during the Cutie Re-Mark are we going to see what ifs of failed kingdom Hearts futures? That would be interesting
3: I'm calling it now Starlight is getting a Keyblade. But as for my question, Any way you plan on using info from X or X back cover, and will we see some Disney World exploration, or will it all happen offscreen

[Codex92]

8483474
Well, to answer your questions:
1. Xehanort we will eventually see soon, but the rest of the new Organization probably won't since the only ones who we know are Isa and Braig while the others are unknown. I still find it impossible that Ansem and Xemnas end up coming back because they're supposed to be dead, and with Young Xehanort bringing them back and getting killed himself means that they, including Xehanort aren't supposed to exist, but... Urgh. Damn time travel bullcrap that makes no sense!
2. Yes, I'll be doing that along with what changes in Equestria in The Cutie Re-Mark. Prepare for the painful what-if scenarios when I get to it.
3. I am going to have to re-watch the Unchained X Back Cover several times over just to understand the actual lore of the beginning of Kingdom Hearts. I probably won't add much information about it since all of the madness back then sans the Keyblade War was lost in the present in the series. And I have done a couple bits of some of the Disney worlds, though not really exploring them. Maybe I'll do a couple worlds of exploration with Twilight involved, maybe even do other worlds Square hasn't done yet? I don't know. It'll be up to my brain to decide.

[SvenFoxx]

Noooooo! I've reached the end!

*Pouts in a corner.*

[Codex92]

8501762
Sorry. I'm trying to work on the next chapter, but because of work, procrastinating, other stories chapters I'm working on, and random errands I keep doing for my family, it takes me longer and longer to get at least one chapter up. That and running out of side ideas too between episode chapters.

[Helljumper206]

You know by how much these ponies get it on. I'm expecting Twilight and Kairi to be with foals really soon.

[Dark95191]

Jesus mate write a clopfic, You'd get 1000 Likes in day

[SpiritD3t3ctiv3]

Ahh boy.