A Tropical Christmas Vacation
Christmas Eve was here at last, to Sora's excitement, only one day left until Christmas finally comes. And he was going to be celebrating the holiday at his home in Destiny Islands with his mom, Riku, and Kairi, along with the Mane Six coming with them. Unfortunately, Sora wasn't going to be able to spread Christmas cheer in Ponyville like the last couple years, but he had Ventus volunteer to play the role of Santa Claus for every foal in town. As much fun as it would have been for Aqua, Terra, and Ventus to come along, someone had to stay behind to keep watch over the other worlds in the castle.
As soon as everyone was up and motivated, the mares packed a couple things and headed out to the Gummi ships. The only one who didn't get the memo was Rarity, who had brought several suitcases filled with clothes she didn't even need.
"Rarity, we are not carrying every single suitcase you own to Destiny Islands!" Riku scolded. "We're only going to be there for a couple days, not moving there! And it doesn't snow because it's a tropical climate!"
"You can never not look fabulous wherever you go," Rarity assured, though her reasons weren't winning Riku over.
"...Need I remind you of the pointless amount of luggage you brought when we went up to save the Crystal Empire from Sombra?" he said. "It's a waste of time bringing so much clothes for a simple visit."
"I think if Rarity had come along with Applejack, Rainbow, and the Crusaders on that camping trip if Sweetie Belle didn't ask me to come along, I bet she would have brought everything with her," Sora said. "Including the kitchen sink."
"I would not!" Rarity argued.
"No luggage," Riku said sternly. "It's not like you girls wear bathing suits since you don't always wear clothes in public."
"Can we just get going already!?" Rainbow shouted. "If I want to relax on a beach, I want to do it while there's still daylight!"
"Fine, then." Rarity gave up and left her belongings behind, walking into Kairi's ship with a huff.
While the others boarded their ships, Sora and Kairi stayed outside as they bade farewell to Aqua, Terra, and Ventus for the next couple days. "Are you sure you guys don't want to come along?" Kairi asked. "I'm sure you guys need a little vacation too."
"As much as we want to, someone has to stay behind to watch the map back in the castle," Aqua said. "Heartless never rest, and neither should we."
"We all know you want to keep the worlds safe, but you need to relax every once in a while," Terra said. "I'll keep a watch for any Heartless activity on the map today. You take a break, do some reading, or take a nap, and not worry about anything."
"Easy for you to say," she said with a slight groan. "It's hard for me to relax unlike the rest of you. I still feel on edge, and it doesn't help knowing Xehanort could be planning something somewhere. We don't know when he'll strike and we can't afford to fool around for too long before it's too late."
"We'll be ready for him," Sora assured. "His plans had always failed several times, and we save the day in the end. There's no way he can handle all of us if he shows his face again."
"You guys haven't actually fought against him one-on-one," Terra said. "He's far stronger than you might think. If it weren't for Vanitas teaming up with him at the start and exhausting me, I still probably wouldn't have stood a chance against Xehanort."
"...Yeah, I guess that's true," Sora said as he had only fought against his Heartless, his Nobody, and Riku had defeated Xehanort's past self with his ability to travel through time. "I have no clue just how strong he is when he's actually wielding a Keyblade. And there's also his new Organization XIII with his other eleven minions, four of them we do know are his Heartless and Nobody brought back from their times when they were alive, Xigbar, and Saïx, or Lea's friend who's real name is Isa."
"And with Sora almost ending up as the thirteenth seed of darkness, we have no idea who the other seven seeds are," Kairi added.
"Sora! Kairi! Hurry up!" Pinkie shouted from Sora's Gummi ship. "We missing our fun in the sun!"
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" Sora yelled back. "Better get going before someone else gets impatient. See you guys in a couple days!" He and Kairi began heading toward their ships, only for Sora to quickly turn around, pulling out a long, rolled up list. "Here, Ven!"
Sora tossed it toward the younger pegasus, who caught it and stared at it in confusion. "What is this?"
"My naughty/nice list of all the foals in Ponyville," Sora said. "I checked that thing several times the past week and made sure all the good foals get presents, including Diamond Tiara. Thanks for filling in as Santa for me!"
"Yeah. No problem," Ventus said. Now that Sora, Riku, Kairi, and the mares were situated in the Gummi ships, all three ships' engines roared to life. Ventus, Aqua, and Terra watched the ships hover up in the air and fly out of sight, all three of them catching a glimpse of three sparks of light in the sky as they warped from outside Equestria to Destiny Islands. Ventus looked down at the list and opened it up, reading through all the names of the nice foals in town with their deserved toys, one of them including Diamond Tiara now that she's changed for the better. "Well, better get ready to play Santa. You two want to be my helpers?"
"Sorry, Ven, but I think you're going solo," Terra said, draping his hoof over Aqua's withers. "I'm going to try to get Aqua to loosen up a little before she starts getting gray hairs."
"I'm not stressing out that much," Aqua argued, giving the stallion a harsh elbow in the chest, making him wheeze and slump over in pain. She moved his leg off of her and made her way back into town. "I'm going back in the castle and looking over the maps. No single world is safe from the Heartless, and we can't rest with what's at stake."
Terra rubbed his chest as he and Ventus watched Aqua walk back. "I better make sure she doesn't overwork herself." He gave the pegasus a pat on the back and hurried after the unicorn. "Save us some cookies tonight if you can't gorge on anymore while you're making your rounds!"
"I can't guarantee that!" Ventus called back, looking down at the list again while slowly making his way to the castle to get in his outfit and check the sack of toys Sora packed. "I kinda wonder how Santa can eat so many cookies in one night without getting sick of them every year."
Out in the recesses of space, the trio of Gummi ships reappeared before the world of Destiny Islands after warping across several thousand light years to reach the world in only a few minutes. The ponies looked out of the domes once they regained their senses from the light speed warp, all of them except Pinkie gasping in awe as they flew in closer to Sora, Riku, and Kairi's home world.
"Oh my," Fluttershy uttered. "It's beautiful."
Sora, Riku, and Kairi steered their ships over to the island they played on, knowing that the town was going to be filled with their neighbors walking about, getting last minute gifts, visiting family, heading off to Christmas Eve parties, etc. It was a tight fit, but they managed to park their Gummi ships in the back area of the island where Sora and Riku's makeshift obstacle course for their races were held, where there was nothing but ocean out in the distance. Surprisingly, the raft the trio had made before was still there, though with how many years it's been, most of the wood had been rotted away by the elements or picked off by seagulls to use for their nests.
"Well, so much for getting any use out of that raft," Riku said to himself. "Heh. As if we would be able to see every world beyond ours across an ocean."
"You really thought a raft was going to help you reach other worlds?" Twilight questioned skeptically.
"Hey, I knew it was impossible, but I had some feeling I was going to see other worlds at some point," Riku argued. "I just didn't expect myself to be swallowed by darkness as the first, more dangerous method of transportation when the island was destroyed."
The ships turned off and the ramps were lowered, letting the girls stretch out their legs and walk out into the warm tropical air. It was an odd feeling for them to be in a warmer climate in the middle of winter, but it felt a little better than wandering about in the snow back in Equestria with its dropped temperatures, and any possible snowstorms if the weather team slacked off.
"It feels like we walked onto a tropical resort," Rarity stated in awe.
"You girls are only seeing the back end of the island," Sora said. "This side is where Riku and I usually come to to see who's the fastest." He then leered at Riku, recalling the weird bet he made about naming the raft after changing it from sharing a paopu fruit with Kairi. "I went all out when you made that stupid bet at the last second, Riku."
"What? Over naming the raft?" Riku asked.
"Don't play dumb!" Sora argued. "You were messing with me! Before we raced that day, you said the winner would share a paopu with Kairi! That nearly tripped me up when Kairi counted us down! And as soon as I won, you said, 'Lighten up. It's just a name,' and you confused me!"
"Well, at least you won," Riku reasoned with a grin. "And you did share that paopu with Kairi...eventually."
He and the girls laughed as Sora let out an exasperated groan, slumping his shoulders as he stared at his best friend with confliction. "You always torture me with stuff like this..."
"And that's fun for me," Riku said. Sora let out a grunt, quickly distracted from his disgruntlement by Kairi as she approached him and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Ok, girls, before we actually head over to Sora's place, we need to check and make sure our other friends aren't here on the other side of the island, or anywhere near his house. We'll be back with our boats to carry you all across the water into town."
"Uhh, or we could fly there?" Rainbow flapped her wings, emphasizing the obvious. "We don't need any boats to get over."
"And risk getting spotted by someone in town when they see a real-life pegasus flying over the ocean?" Riku grabbed the pegasus, setting her back down on the ground, to Rainbow's disappointment. "Stay on the ground. As much damage as we've done breaking the world order, we do not want everyone on Destiny Islands to know about the other worlds, or the fact we brought colorful, talking ponies with wings and horns exist and are walking around here."
"I'll stay here with the girls while you boys scout the other side of the island and the shore on the mainland," Kairi said as she volunteered to watch over their Equestrian friends. Sora and Riku ran on ahead, making their way around to where the docks were to head back to the mainland if there were any spare boats, or swim across if needed. "So, what do you all think about our home so far?"
"It's a nice little get-away from all the snow we've been gettin'," Applejack said. "Best place to be when the winters get too harsh. Especially when Ponyville gets bombarded by a blizzard because somepony didn't place enough snow clouds when they were scheduled."
Applejack leered at Rainbow Dash, the pegasus letting out a groan with a roll of her eyes. "That was one time I messed that up. That was the first time I ever lead the weather team in sorting the clouds that year, too."
"Uh huh. Sure, Rainbow," Applejack uttered.
"Hey, everypony! Lookie here!" Everyone's attention turned to Pinkie, who had managed to slip by Kairi in her usual way, standing on a tower in the distance that held a zip line that ended to a platform near the top of a tall post several yards away. "It feels like forever since I had fun on this thing!"
"What are you talking about, Pinkie!?" Rarity called out, to the confusion of the other mares.
"Pinkie's actually been here before. By accident," Kairi answered with a shrug and shaking her head. "She stowed away in Sora's Gummi ship when he came back home after feeling homesick."
Pinkie let out a squeal of excitement as she rode down the zip line, this time letting go just as she reached the end so she didn't crash unlike last time. "Who else wants to try it!?"
"Eh. I get a better thrill divebombing to the ground," Rainbow said, finding the zip line boring.
Pinkie shrugged and ran back toward the tower to slide down the zip line again. The others wandered around the beach while being sure not to go too far from Kairi and risk getting caught. Rarity and Rainbow Dash decided to rest under the shades of the trees, the cyan mare pulling out her pair of sunglasses she always kept on hoof when sunbathing. Pinkie continued having fun, getting Applejack interested in trying the zip line, although she lost her grip near the end and fell, the sand thankfully cushioning her fall as she landed hard on her abdomen. Twilight was busy studying the different kinds of flora in the world while Fluttershy flittered around to try to make new friends with some of the fish, crabs, and seagulls in the area.
While waiting for Sora and Riku to return, Kairi found herself walking over to the old raft the trio built a few years ago. Nostalgia came flooding back to her mind with all the fun activities they did. One particular memory she was fond of was when she made her seashell wayfinder for Sora, a symbol of their connection and a good luck charm for the boy she fell for. She never knew her life would have been so adventurous since that day she met Aqua, but despite losing what memories she had as a little girl before arriving on Destiny Islands, she had a feeling something exciting would happen one day.
"Care for a cruise, madame?" Kairi yelped when she heard Sora behind her, quickly turning around to see him with his goofy grin.
"Sora!" she exclaimed, letting out a heavy sigh of relief as she tried to steady her heart rate. "I was just about to smack you with my Keyblade!"
"Just getting some payback for you always scaring the daylights out of me with your sneaking up on me in the past," he said.
Kairi let out a huff, hitting Sora regardless with a slap on his arm. "Very funny, you goof. So, aside from scaring me into almost killing you, are the girls clear to leave this part of the island?"
"The island's inhabitant free and the others are back on the mainland with their families for the holiday. From here to my place, we're in the clear," Sora said. After relaying the news for Kairi, he looked at the weathered out raft, more worried about its condition back then when the Heartless attacked their home. "Man. We never got much use out of this thing after we built it. So much for searching for other worlds on this thing while stuck in this world."
"Yeah," Kairi said with a giggle. "We've got better ships, for groups and going solo."
"Actually, our gliders are so much better than a Gummi ship," Sora stated. "As fun as it is cruising around space and exploring other worlds, they take a lot of abuse when we're attacked by Heartless ships."
"Yeah. And it's so difficult trying to customize it with the Gummi blocks we salvage from them to make them stronger, powerful, or creative while still being aerodynamic. But they look a lot better than this travesty of a raft." Sora nodded, both of them laughing at the now useless raft they had spent a long while working on. "So, where's Riku?"
"He went to check in on his folks and bring back a couple boats to carry the girls across," he said. "Thank goodness I know how to glide and avoid getting wet. Riku...well, he didn't make it far with a leap before splashing in the water several yards away from the docks."
"You didn't bother carrying him across as he flew over the water?" Kairi asked.
"I could have...but I would have dropped him if he made any sarcastic remarks or teased me." Kairi rolled her eyes at his response.
"Boys," she said to herself, not even surprised that Sora and Riku can still be immature little boys, even if they're full grown adults at this point.
After a bit more time reminiscing, Sora and Kairi gathered the Mane Six and told them the good news, now free to go about the island without getting spotted by their friends. They went around to the side where a wooden wall and door were made so long ago to allow access around both sides of the island without swimming around. Excepting Pinkie, the rest of the Mane Six got a look at the rest of the island, where they saw the small island that held the paopu fruit tree, the tree house, the dock for the small boats, and the viewing deck out in the distance. They even saw the mainland out across the ocean, and rowing across the water was Riku, towing two more boats along with a rope connecting them.
They met up with Riku at the docks, looking pretty miffed as he leered at Sora. "Thanks for the help," he said as he docked, tying the boats on the posts to keep them from floating off.
"No problem!" Sora said innocently, earning a hard pound on the head by Riku, slamming him into the boardwalk. "Ow..."
"If I'd have known you were able to fly over the water, I could have waited until for you while you got the boats for us," Riku growled.
Sora sat up, rubbing the bump on his head with a groan. "Well, I told my mom we're here with the girls. You could have used a swim, anyway."
"And my parents wondered if I crash landed in the ocean when I came back after finding me soaked and irritated." Riku refrained from giving Sora another beating, even though he really wanted to for being made to do the hard work of towing two boats for them by himself.
"Oh, so Sora can fly around without getting any attention while I can't!?" Rainbow complained. "Yeah, that's fair!"
"I don't stand out as much as you if I'm not too high up in the air," Sora said, poking Rainbow Dash's muzzle. "No double standards."
The pegasus grumbled and pouted at the unfairness of her situation, despite how obvious she would stand out if she ever set hoof in town.
Now that they had some boats to get to the island and the mainland, Kairi took one to head back to her home to grab her swimsuit. Sora and Riku had already gotten theirs when they went to their homes earlier to check in on their family and make sure their other friends are too busy to make it to the island. Both boys used the shed nearby that had a stairway leading up to the upper area that connected the small island with the paopu fruit tree by a bridge as a changing room, switching into their bathing suits with Riku's a pale blue with white stripes and Sora's a bright red like his old shorts many years ago.
"It's kind of nice to finally get out of our clothes every once in a while and into something new," Sora said as he and Riku exited the shed.
The mares noticed them come out while they waited, Twilight staring at Riku in awe as she got a look at him half naked as a human. Her eyes roamed over his muscular build, far different from how he's built as a pegasus, the intriguing difference in species begging to be thoroughly explored by her curious side. And she could reason with herself that she would mostly do that for the sake of science, learning about the difference in anatomy between ponies and humans, especially with the opposite sex. The others noticed the alicorn's silent staring, her mouth slightly agape as she drooled at her scientifically perverse thoughts ran through her head, wings slowly flaring out from her sides and stiffening.
"Uhh, Twilight?" Riku said, trying to get her attention, but she was too deep in her trance to hear him. Ignoring the knowing giggles coming from the girls, he knelt down in front of the entranced alicorn, gently closing her muzzle shut and forcing her eyes to look at his. "Hi. I'm up here."
"Huh? What?" Finally snapped out of thoughts, she wiped her muzzle as soon as Riku got her attention. "...What happened?"
"You spaced out while checking Riku out," Sora teased.
"N-No I wasn't!" Twilight quickly said, her cheeks turning bright red. "I-I was...looking at something else!"
"You were looking pretty low for looking at 'something else'," Sora said, snickering as Twilight's face turned completely red.
She glared at him, her horn lighting up and grasping his entire body with her aura. He yelped as the embarrassed and angry alicorn flung him far out into the water, keeping him from gliding back to shore as he flailed and screamed before splashing into the ocean. He floated to the surface on his back in a daze, spitting out salt water that got in his mouth. The calm waters shifting woke him up as Kairi rowed toward the island, hearing Sora unexpectedly scream and went to investigate. She wore bright pink bikini bathing suit with a short skirt that stopped a few inches from her knees.
"Sora? What happened?" she asked.
"...I made Twilight mad," he said. "She was ogling Riku and I poked fun at her for it, but she was in a trance! She was practically undressing his bathing suit off with her eyes! Ask the other girls; they'll vouch for me!" Kairi said nothing as she looked down at Sora, then smacked his forehead with one of her oars. "Ow! What was that for!?"
"Because you deserve it," she said.
"Getting thrown wasn't enough?" Sora questioned. "And why do you always hit me!?"
"Because I can. Now get up in the boat before I leave you behind to swim back to shore." Sora grumbled, taking the offer and climbed into the boat before Kairi went on without him.
"You know, you're quite abusive in this relationship of ours," he said. "Not once have I hurt you on purpose, not including duels or my Anti-Form going out of control, but you've hit me several times."
"Well, someone needs to knock some sense into you," Kairi said.
"Like that dream I had that felt real and foreshadowed what we would go through?" Sora pointed at the back of his head, reminding Kairi how she clonked his head while he tried explaining to her almost getting swallowed by darkness in his dream a couple days before the Heartless attacked.
"Ok, that time, I thought you were actually goofing around," Kairi stated. "Not my fault I thought you imagined it all."
As they approached the dock on the island, Riku was the only one waiting for them, a smug grin on his face with his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at Sora. Pinkie was busy making sandcastles on the beach, Fluttershy assisting her to make them into homes for some curious crabs, Applejack and Rainbow Dash gathered some coconuts in the dozens of trees and opening them for everyone to have as drinks when they get thirsty, and Rarity was on the viewing deck looking out at the sea. Twilight was seen on the small island with the paopu fruit tree cooling down after Riku calmed her down enough so she didn't blow up the whole island with her magic.
"Hey, Sora. Have a nice swim?" he asked rhetorically, getting back at him for his ability to glide while he swam toward town.
"Ha ha. That's so funny I forgot to laugh." Sora climbed out of Kairi's boat and tied it up while she stepped up on the short boardwalk. "At least I'm in my bathing suit."
"Ok, you two, cut it out," Kairi said, stopping the fight before the two ended up getting in a sword fight. "We're here on a little Christmas vacation and we're going to have fun with the girls. So no fighting, no teasing, or else I'm going to knock some sense into the both of you."
"...Fine," Sora and Riku both said.
"Good. Now, you come with me, Sora." Kairi grabbed Sora's hand, dragging him off toward a part of the island the both shared together.
Riku knew exactly where they were going, leaving his friends be as he made his way across the sandy shore. "Boy, for a second, I thought those two were going to end up in a duel to the fake death!" Pinkie said, focusing on perfecting her sandcastle she was working on after watching the Keyblade wielders.
"'Fake death'?" Fluttershy asked with concern.
"Fake death! Kind of like getting knocked out, only without the dying part that happens everywhere else except in a safe environment," Pinkie explained, only confusing the yellow pegasus more as she looked down at one of her new crustacean companions.
Riku made his way across the bridge and joined Twilight by the curved tree, still fuming as she leered out at the ocean. He sat beside her, gently pressing his hand against her head and gave her ears a slight scratch.
"Don't try to make me feel better with that," Twilight grumbled, even though part of her needed it as she cursed how wonderful fingers felt scratching that sweet spot behind her ear.
"You know Sora was just teasing you, right?" The alicorn growled, not the joking type despite how much more she's opened up with her friends after all these years. "Although, I think I noticed it too when you started salivating like I was a delicious sweet you couldn't wait to sink your teeth into."
"I was not!" Twilight exclaimed, her cheeks burning again with that image Riku just gave her in her head. She growled in frustration, then smacked his chest with her wing. "You're not helping at all!" Riku couldn't help but laugh at her meltdown, which only made her more irate. He wrapped his arms around the alicorn and pulled her closer, who flailed her legs as she failed to break free from his comforting grasp. "You boys are such bullies sometimes, you know that!?"
"Sorry, but I find it cute when you get angry," Riku said, making Twilight turn her head and leer at him. "See? You can't be menacing with a face like that." He gave Twilight a boop on the nose, earning a deadpanned glare from her. "But, yeah. Sora deserved to get flung out in the water after saying that...Unless you actually were trying to undress me with your eyes..."
Twilight's head could have looked like it would explode with how red her blush was, her eyes widened in embarrassment as she looked away from her beloved. "I-I wasn't!"
"You're not a very good liar," Riku said. Twilight let out a pitiful whine, begging for the torment to stop, which he gladly obliged with a small laugh and a kiss on her cheek. "Ok, let's change the subject." He then heard the alicorn's stomach grumble. "...Food's a good choice."
"Yes. Food is-" Twilight paused, her hunger and Riku's earlier comment on her eyeing him came back to her head. She squealed and buried her face in her wings, squirming away from the Keyblade wielder. "No! Not sweets! Anything but sweets or else I'm going to be assaulted by those thoughts for the rest of the day!"
Riku shook his head, letting go of Twilight so she can curl up in a ball of embarrassment. "I was thinking of something sweet, but nothing filled with tons of sugar." He stood up and walked over to the edge of the island, looking at the fresh paopu fruit growing on the trees branches as it hovered over the water. Calling his Keyblade, he held it out toward one of the star-shaped, destiny-bonding fruits of legend, pulling his arm back swiftly as he cut it off while sending it toward him with the momentum and caught it in the other hand. He dismissed his blade and crouched down beside the blushing alicorn, gently tapping her muzzle to get her attention. "Would this be enough for a snack?"
She peeked between her wings and saw the fruit, timidly nodding her head. "No more teasing?"
"No more teasing," Riku promised. "At least until tomorrow." Twilight growled and swiftly swung her hoof against his heels, making him trip and fall on his back. "Ow! Ok, ok! Until next month!"
"Thank you." Twilight sat up, swiping the paopu fruit out of Riku's hand and sliced it in two with her magic.
Taking a bite out of her half, she plopped the other on her lover's chest. "You need to lighten up a little more," he muttered, sitting up as he held the second half of his snack. Twilight remained silent, focusing on eating as she looked out at the sea. He moved closer to her, draping his arm around her as he bit into his half of the paopu fruit. "You know I love you, right?"
"Mhmm," Twilight mumbled, leaning her head against his shoulder with a sigh as she felt his hand rubbing her side. Looking out at the scenery with Riku holding her distracted her from her thoughts, along with eating the delicious fruit that helped sparked their relationship. After several minutes of content silence as they ate, she looked up at Riku, a question that made her curious after he met her parents last year. "...Say, Riku, you think I'll be able to meet your parents?"
"...Uhh, unless you want to be caught by anyone at this time," he said nervously. "I live a little closer in the middle of town than Sora does. The only way I could get you to meet them is to bring them to the island."
"...You didn't tell them about us?" Twilight questioned. Riku stammered, trying to find the right words to say, which only lead to the conclusion that Riku's parents don't even know their son is dating someone. "Riku-"
"I haven't gotten around to telling them yet," Riku explained. "Plus, how am I supposed to tell my folks I'm dating a pony from another world? You know how awkward that sounds?"
"I told my parents about you in my letters," Twilight argued.
"Did you tell them I'm a human from another world?" Riku asked, the alicorn's response utter silence, now realizing how strange it sounded to tell one's parents they're in a relationship with someone of a different species that doesn't exist in their world. "Exactly...At least I mentioned hanging out with colorful ponies that could talk, use magic, and fly to them, and they were ok with it aside from the awkward stares and silence I got..."
"...Right..." They both knew it was nerve-wracking to have to tell their parents they're in love with someone and were afraid of knowing if they approved of them or not. It was worse when it was with someone they never expected to go out with, like someone of another race, but with someone of another species is another bit of worry altogether. Twilight nibbled on her fruit, her thoughts racing over how to lay this information down to both of their parents without the growing fear of disappointing them. "...We're going to have to tell them as gently as possible, aren't we?"
"Yup," Riku said, holding Twilight tightly. "Let's not worry about that for now. We'll get to it when we cross that bridge."
"Assuming we're brave enough to begin that trek," Twilight added. "...Ironic how we can face threats like the Heartless and those like Tirek, but when it comes to our parents, we're scared of what they think about what we do."
Riku nodded his head, giving Twilight a scratch behind the ears to ease her nerves and keep her mind off the inevitable reveal for their parents and their love for each other.
Kairi pulled Sora by the hand over to where their Secret Place was "hidden" by the waterfall. They both entered the small cave, surprising how they can still fit through there after growing up. All the drawings they made together brought back a lot of fond memories the two of them shared.
"Ok, back here in this place," Sora commented. "There a reason why you brought me here? Alone?"
"I just like looking back on the fun we had as kids," Kairi said, looking back at Sora with a suspicious gaze. "Why? What did you think I had in mind?" He gave her a sultry grin with a raised brow, making Kairi roll her eyes at the perverted idea he assumed. "Sora, you're a goof."
"Hey, first thing to come to mind," Sora admitted, putting his arms behind his head. "Besides, it doesn't help that you look good in that bikini."
"I'll take that as a compliment, but no funny ideas, mister." Kairi poked his chest, warning him to not try anything. He took the warning to heart and continued following her as she looked over all the carved drawings on the rocky surface. As soon as Kairi got to the drawing that proved she meant a lot to Sora as more than just a friend, she stared in awe at the added heart between their faces. He noticed her staring at the extra piece of their work, wrapping his arms around her waist. "...Sora..."
"Yeah, I knew you'd like it," he said. "If only I did a better job with your portrait, then it would be a masterpiece."
Kairi giggled as Sora made fun of his terrible artwork as a kid, turning her head to look at him as she brushed a hand against his cheek. "It's perfect the way it is." She leaned closer, meeting Sora's as their lips came together in a passionate kiss. Her hand caressed his cheek and slowly moved to the back of his head, one of his own moving up to cup her cheek and deepen their kiss. Kairi moaned a little as Sora's other hand caressed her hip. He slowly turned her around to face him, keeping their lips locked as they embraced each other properly, his hands slowly roaming over her back while hers locked tightly around his neck. She peeked her eyes open to look at Sora, only to be distracted by something new she didn't remember being in their Secret Place behind him. She pulled away, to his confusion, as she looked at the colorful drawings compared to the grayed ones all around them. "When was that added?"
"Hmm?" Sora looked behind him, spotting the colored cutie marks of the Mane Six made by a certain pink pony that stowed away with him a while back. "Oh yeah. Almost forgot about that. Guess who made those."
"Pinkie. Of course." Letting go of Sora, she approached the wall of cutie marks Pinkie made. "She used colored chalk? Where did she even-?...Never mind. Not going to question it."
"Smart call." As they admired Pinkie's artwork, Sora looked over at the strange door that was a part of the cave long before they were even born.
It was strange to think that this door began his journey, and where he believed the Door to Darkness was located once he, Donald, and Goofy fought their way through the End of the World to face Ansem. And, by a sheer stroke of luck and irony, the Door to Light was also connected to Destiny Islands. Destiny seemed to be connected to this world in some way, even its own destruction when this door had opened, sending Kairi flying toward him and disappear into his heart, and beginning his journey as a Keyblade wielder. He wondered if he parents ever found this cave and noticed this door.
"Something wrong, Sora?" Kairi asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Oh. It's nothing," he assured, wrapping an arm around her waist in a hug and kissed her cheek. "I'm just worried that door's going to open up again and send you soaring out of the cave into me."
"I hope that doesn't happen again," Kairi said. "I felt so ill with all that darkness seeping out."
"That doesn't happen anymore, right?" Sora asked.
"No, thank goodness, but I still get uneasy if there's a powerful darkness around...Kind of like with Sombra." Sora nodded his head in agreement. Of all the Heartless he's faced, of all the villains who used the power of darkness to try to take over a world or several worlds at once, Sombra's darkness was far more powerful than anything they've come across. If it weren't for the pure light of the Crystal Heart returning to its alter underneath the castle, there would have been no force powerful enough to stop him, dooming Equestria and any other worlds, too. "At least he's ok now that he's returned as Luna's Dream Eater."
"I still wonder who was responsible for doing that to Sombra back then," Sora said. "The Keyblade War ended up killing thousands upon thousands of wielders in the Keyblade Graveyard, but there had to still be Keyblade wielders out there after that war. We wouldn't be able to use the Keyblade if there weren't anymore, right?"
"That is a good point..." Kairi sighed and looked at the door, all of them wanting to know the answers to their predecessors' past many years ago. "We might not know what happened back then, but all we can do is keep the worlds safe from darkness like they had...At least the ones who sided with the light."
"Hey, Applejack, there's a cave over here!" The couple heard Rainbow Dash, then found her trot in out of curiosity. "Wow. That's a lot of drawings," she said, suddenly stopping when she spotted Sora and Kairi. "Oh, there you two are. What were you doing in this cave?"
"...You think we should really call this our Secret Place if someone like Rainbow Dash can find it?" Sora asked Kairi. "It's not really that hard to find."
"Shush, you," Kairi said, pressing a finger to his smirking lips. "I'm calling it our Secret Place."
"Doesn't look like much in here for anything secretive," Rainbow commented. She then noticed a door behind them, but there wasn't a handle or a lock on it like she would expect one to have. "What's behind that door?"
"It's...nothing important," Sora said, nervously scratching his head. "Just the heart of Destiny Islands is all."
"...Oh." The pegasus stared at the door for a moment, contemplating how the heart of this world looked. "...So, does Equestria have something like that somewhere? The heart of our world a strange door in some random place?"
"Not exactly," Sora said. "It's mostly a keyhole, though they're pretty conspicuous even though they're hidden in specific places. Equestria's keyhole must be pretty well hidden if the Heartless haven't found it yet."
"Or it's already been locked since they didn't start appearing until you arrived," Kairi said.
"...I guess that might be possible," Sora agreed. "Boy, I end up causing some trouble wherever I go, huh?"
"Ok, don't remind me about trying to put you in jail again," Rainbow said, only to facehoof as she was the one to mention her stupid mistake. "Ugh! Ok, I'm bored. Nothing interesting in this cave. I'm going back outside to catch some Z's."
Rainbow left the cave in a huff. Sora shrugged his shoulders, seeing the pegasus had been reminded enough times for putting away someone who could better protect them from the Heartless. He and Kairi followed after her once they were done reminiscing, continuing enjoying their Christmas vacation with the others.
The rest of the day was spent with everyone doing usual fun activities to do on the beach. Most of them played around in the water, got themselves a tan as they laid on the beach, or watched Sora and Riku have a friendly duel while the girls cheered on the victor. Soon, the sun began to set, all of them relaxing on the small island while watching the scenery of the ocean. Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy even got a taste of the paopu fruits, even if they don't have a significant other to share with them, or not with them for Pinkie as she saved hers for when Cheese Sandwich ever stops by in Ponyville again for another epic party.
With the day ending and the sun setting on the horizon, it was time for them to spend the rest of Christmas Eve at Sora's house, the three humans getting dressed back up before leaving. Sora, Riku, and Kairi each took two mares on their boats and rowed them across the water to the mainland. Sora's house could be seen in the distance, Christmas lights and decorations on and around the building to make it look festive for the holiday. The coast was clear on the shore as the boats arrived at the docks. Once they were tied up, everyone hurried over to Sora's home before anyone from town walked by.
"Hey, mom!" Sora announced, knocking on the door as he opened it. "We're here!"
"I'm in the kitchen!" she called out. Pinkie immediately ran past Sora and headed for the kitchen, making the woman yelp as she must have been caught in a hug. "Pinkie Pie! Goodness, you startled me."
The other ponies walked inside, getting a good look at the average-looking household. "Your home is quite nice, Sora," Fluttershy complimented.
"I actually expected a human house to be a bit...different," Rainbow said as she hovered around the living room in boredom.
"It's not like Master Yen Sid's tower," Sora said. "Just an average home in an average world. Nothing special."
"Not unless you count the heart of Destiny Islands is less than a mile away from town," Riku said.
Applejack spotted some picture frames on a dresser and walked over to look at them. In them were pictures of Sora and his parents, many of them when he was younger as a rambunctious kid. She saw where Sora got his looks from, sharing similar facial features as his father, including the spiked hair, even though his father's hair was a lot shorter. He had tanner skin, proof of his occupation as he mostly spends his time out at sea fishing, but just from the photographs alone, it was obvious where Sora's personality came from. It only made it all the more depressing knowing he was no longer around, making the farm pony curious to meet him if he were alive.
Sora's mother walked out of the kitchen with Pinkie Pie, both of them carrying several trays of food she cooked up for Christmas Eve with her Equestrian guests. "Looks like you all just arrived in time for dinner. It's nice seeing you girls again." After placing the vegetarian dish on the dining room table, she looked around, noticing a few faces were missing. "Where are Aqua, Terra, and Ventus? They didn't want to come?"
"Someone had to stay at the castle and look over the other worlds," Kairi said. "Aqua could sure use a vacation, but she can be a little stubborn when it comes to her duty as a Keyblade Master."
"I see. Well, I'll make them some plates before you all leave tomorrow." Pinkie set the rest of the trays down as the woman set up the table with plates and silverware, giving utensils to those with hands or use of magic. "That Aqua needs to relax every so often. It's not healthy for her to stress over everything, even if the fate of the worlds are in her hands."
"We try to tell her, but I think she's just trying to fill in for her old master after he was killed by Xehanort," Riku said.
"She did lose almost everything she cared about back then, after all," Twilight added. "Not to mention over a decade of solitude and survival in a dangerous realm..."
"Yes, that would cause a lot of psychological trauma, wouldn't it?" Sora's mother let out a sigh and shook her head. "Anyway, let's not ruin tonight with terrible pastimes. Let's all dig in!"
"No need to tell me twice! I'm starving!" Rainbow said, plopping down by the table as her eyes roamed over the food.
Following Rainbow's example, everyone gathered around the table and picked their seats, stacking their plates with everything Sora's mom cooked. Even though Sora, Riku, and Kairi would appreciate eating something else aside from fruits and vegetables, but since the Mane Six were their world's guests, especially for Fluttershy's sake, they'll continue their vegetarian diet for a little while. As they ate, they told Sora's mother what happened since her visit to Equestria, about Hearth's Warming and the historical impact it had in the kingdom, and some stories they shared in the past. Sora's mom even showed the girls the Keyblade wielder's baby pictures, which ended up embarrassing him and gave Applejack some teasing material after he saw her baby pictures and birth certificate.
After everyone had their fill, including seconds and some apple pie Sora's mother had baking during dinner, the group relaxed around the house, the sun long since set as it was night, stars shining in the clear sky above. Sora and Kairi sat outside and stargazed, an old pastime the couple and Riku would sometimes do when there wasn't a single cloud blocking the view of the millions of worlds far from their own. Sora's mother came out carrying a couple mugs of hot chocolate, even if Destiny Islands wasn't cold enough for a warm beverage.
"Hey, arm's width apart around this house, you two," she said, only to giggle as she joked with them. She gave her son and future daughter-in-law their mugs and sat in one of the few patio chairs with them. "I hope you two aren't getting TOO intimate, though."
"No, not really," Sora lied, but his mother caught his lie as he saw that familiar nervous grin he bears when he's trying to hide something.
"Sora, I can read you like an open book." Sora blushed heavily, feeling nervous with his mother knowing how active he and Kairi were in the privacy in the bedroom. "You two are using protection, right?"
Sora stammered, unable to find the words to not get a lecture from his mother, but Kairi stepped in to rescue him. "We are with some unicorn spells back in Equestia. I always made sure to cast a contraceptive spell on the both of us before getting too into it."
"And those spells are a one hundred percent guarantee that it works?" Sora's mother asked.
"The spell can last for a whole day before it wears off," Kairi added, leaning into Sora's side while he remained flustered and grinned nervously while dumbly nodding, praying his girlfriend was right. "I'm not planning on having a baby while the worlds need as many Keyblade wielders as they can to protect them."
The older woman looked at the two of them, noting how nervous her son was while Kairi seemed confident about the magic spells she used. "...Well, at least someone's being responsible when it comes to fooling around."
"H-Hey, it's not my fault she's the one seducing me, mom!" Sora exclaimed in defense. "It doesn't help that she's even more adorable when turned into a pony."
"Yup. I'm too cute and irresistible," Kairi said with a giggle. "His heart's too soft, but it's strong where it counts."
"Oh, how true that is," Sora's mom said.
Sora sipped his hot chocolate, ignoring his mother and girlfriend's laughter at his kindheartedness, knowing he can be a bit too nice to anyone unless they were evil villains who had no redeeming value. Speaking of villains, he thought more about Starlight Glimmer back in Equestria, who was still on the lamb out there. It was bad enough that she tried forcing ponies to lose their cutie marks and being equal while being a hypocrite and keeping her magic so she could steal more cutie marks, but she could be planning something else, and she's done a pretty good job staying in hiding. Who knows what other poor souls lives she's ruining by taking away what makes everyone special and unique, spouting lies about how they're evil and ruin friendships. So many questions ran through his mind: Was there a reason why she hated cutie marks? Did she only want to feel powerful over everyone or was there a traumatic experience when she got hers? Even though she was wanted, he felt like there was some part of her that was suffering, and he wanted to know why she created that town, assuming he can get the answers from her stubbornness.
"Sora?" Again, Kairi snapped him out of his thoughts as she and his mother both noticed him staring at the sky silently. "You really need to quit daydreaming."
"Sorry. I was actually wondering about Starlight Glimmer," he said.
"Wait, wasn't she the pony who tried making others all the same?" Sora's mother asked. "I think one of you mentioned her while I was in Equestria."
"Why would you worry about her?" Kairi questioned. "She stole our cutie marks against our will, and if we didn't get them back, every single world would have fallen into darkness. Because of her, she not only endangered everyone, but she's a thief mad with power."
"I know, but there had to be some reason why she stole cutie marks in the first place," he said. "I just don't understand why she did it...Something must have happened to her..."
"And there's the heart of gold talking," his mother stated. "Everyone doesn't always start out bad. There's always a reason for their actions, even if some don't deserve mercy like that Pete fellow who kidnapped me."
"Or Xehanort," Kairi added. "Everything he's done to us is because of him, and he doesn't deserve any mercy. And he's doing all this just to obtain Kingdom Hearts and the X-blade..."
"And it was odd to know that Xehanort, Master Yen Sid, and Aqua, Terra, and Ventus's old master, Eraqus, used to be friends back then," Sora said.
It was an odd thing everyone knew when Yen Sid told them of his former relationship with the old Keyblade wielder who wants to destroy everything. If Xehanort was nice at some point, why did he focus on gaining more power and betray everyone? Again, they probably won't be able to find any answers like with what happened before the Keyblade War, but they couldn't help but wonder what changed him.
Back in Equestria, Ventus looked himself in the mirror as he wore his Santa outfit. Despite being smaller than Sora when he pulled off this job, he seemed to be a perfect copy of the stallion as he wore the suit. Throughout the day, he made sure to check which toys would go to which foal in the giant bag Sora left for him. Now that he was ready, he hefted the bag up on his back and made his way out of his bedroom and through the halls of the castle. Aqua was still in the throne room, looking over the worlds' geological maps for Heartless activity with Terra trying to pull her away from the map to get her to relax some more.
With it being this late at night, every foal should be asleep by now, unless there were some eager ones wanting to take a peek at Santa climbing down their chimney. Thankfully, the weather ponies didn't make a blizzard tonight, so getting to each house wouldn't be a hassle. Ventus flew off and went to each house, landing on the rooftops, grabbing the toy or toys for the children in the house from the sack, then slid right down the chimney, which was a lot easier than he expected. Once inside, he snuck through the living room, keeping quiet with any foals who passed out on the couch waiting for him as he set the presents down by the Christmas tree nearby, sneaking a couple cookies they left out for him. He even brought a separate bag to store any leftovers he knew his stomach couldn't handle.
So far, he didn't get caught, his sack of toys slowly getting smaller and smaller while the bag of sweets filled up more. "Sheesh. Santa must have an iron stomach if he can eat millions of cookies in a whole night. Just a few houses, and I'm done by at least five dozen different cookies, and a couple muffins from Dinky's house." Ventus only had one last house to hit, and he saved Diamond Tiara's for last. Making his perch on the mansion's roof, he set the bag down and pulled out the ex-bully's gift: a simple little doll that probably wouldn't mean much to her with how rich she is and able to buy any toy she wanted, along with a little letter from "Santa Claus". "Let's see if Diamond's still up trying to catch a glimpse at Santa again."
Being cautious, Ventus summoned his Keyblade and casted Vanish on himself, turning invisible before swooping down to peek in the windows. He didn't see her in her bedroom, at least what he expected was her bedroom on the upper floors before checking the first floor where the Rich family's fireplace was located. Luckily, he was right to turn invisible as he saw Diamond sitting on the comfortable couch, staring at the fireplace with Silver Spoon, having yet another Christmas sleepover with her best friend. At least there wasn't several gallons of soda she consumed, or even several pots and pans scattered around the fireplace like the first year Ponyville celebrated Christmas.
"When is he coming?" Diamond Tiara asked curiously.
"I don't know," Silver said with a yawn. "But I fell asleep when he must have come." She then held up the letter she got that year, showing Diamond "Santa's" hoofwriting. "He gave me this instead of coal when we tried to pull a stakeout that year. If Sora says he's real, then I believed him after I got this when I woke up the next morning."
Diamond let out a nervous grunt, rubbing her forehooves together in frightful anticipation. "Is Santa going to give me more coal again? I mean, I have changed, but I don't know if he knows I have."
"Maybe he checked his list again before leaving," Silver assured.
"If Santa did that, he'd be worse than Princess Twilight with all the times she rechecks everything." Ventus snorted at the funny jab at the alicorn, quickly covering his mouth before he got caught. It would be ironic if Santa ever stressed over which kids where naughty and nice, but he's done his job for possibly several millennia, so he wouldn't panic all that much. Diamond sighed, rubbing her eyes as sleep was slowly catching up to her. "I hope he can find some forgiveness in me."
"Well, I have. And so has everypony else at school," Silver said. "Even Sora has, and he didn't like us after seeing us pick on Apple Bloom and Twist."
"And he was the first one to forgive me..." Diamond's worries lessened as she let out a small laugh. "Maybe you're right, Silver. But I wish my mom would stop acting high and mighty. I really can't believe I behaved just like her to not only keep her attention, but for my 'social standing' as well. I'm just a filly, for pony's sake."
"Heehee, yeah. Let's worry about that when we're adults." The two friends laughed, only to yawn as they got more tired the longer they stayed up. "I don't think I can stay awake any longer."
"Me either," Diamond agreed. Silver Spoon took off her glasses and placed them on the coffee table, both fillies grabbing their blankets as they laid down. "I don't think it'll be worth it staying up all night just to see Santa anymore. Real or not, I'll believe if you do."
Both fillies bid each other good night and fell asleep, letting dreamland take them. Ventus smiled, happy to give Diamond Tiara a better Christmas than the previous two years when she was still the school bully. He flew back up to the roof, disabling his spell as he shimmied his way down the chimney. Once he reached the bottom, he snuck over to the couch, making sure both fillies were sound asleep before making his way to where they placed the tray of milk and cookies for "Santa". Shrugging his shoulders, apologizing to his already full stomach, he grabbed a cookie and ate it, taking the letter and placed it beside the tray for Diamond Tiara to see. He then gently set the doll down beside her after drinking the glass of milk.
Snatching the remaining cookies for Aqua and Terra, he crept back to the fireplace. He froze when he heard one of the fillies yawn, quickly turning his head to see Diamond only rolled around in her sleep. Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Ventus climbed back up the chimney. His job done, he shook off whatever soot had gathered on his fur and costume, rubbing his full belly with a note to himself to avoid sweets for the next month.
Ventus made his way back to the castle, an empty present sack on his back and a bag full of goodies for the rest of his friends to munch on. As he flew, he didn't pay attention to where he was going as he rammed into something that appeared in front of him.
"Merry Christmas!" Discord greeted, wearing a matching Santa outfit like the pegasus, though without the fluffier white beard and any pudge from his serpentine body.
"Discord? What are you doing here?" Ventus asked.
"Well, I thought I'd do a little something for the holiday, and I'm probably not going to have my second episode show up for the current season on this story because of the wasted time a certain writer is using up," he explained, only to have an invisible force make him lose the ability to fly as he began plummeting to the ground. "AHHH! I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Now able to fly again, Discord floated up with an irritated scowl. "I hate when I don't have any control."
Ventus ignored the odd statement after being helpful for Christmas with a shake of his head. "Whatever. But I'm done for the evening. All gifts given."
"Aww, seriously!? No fair!" Discord pouted. "I like sliding down chimneys. They're better than slip and slides!" Ventus rolled his eyes at the chaotic deity's idea of a fun slide, but, then again, he expected a strange reason. "...Were there any cookies left?"
"Yup," Ventus said, holding out the large bag of mixed cookies. "Help yourself. I'm stuffed."
"Ooh!" Discord swiped the bag and grabbed a handful of assorted cookies, tossing them up and opened his maw wide. They fell in his mouth and he ate them all in one bite, licking his lips in delight. "This Santa Claus has got a good gig. Break into ponies houses and leave behind gifts, and you get cookies and milk as payment."
"Try doing all that in a single night where there's millions of billions of children in the trillions of worlds out there," Ventus said.
Discord scoffed and blew a raspberry. "Oh, please. I could do all that in a few minutes. Santa's way too slow if he takes at least six hours to do all that."
"You know he gives gifts to those who have been good and coal for those who were bad, right?" Ventus said.
Discord opened his mouth, only to close it and hum in thought. He materialized a book in front of him with a snap of his fingers, which had the Christmas stories snatched from the memories of the Keyblade wielders.
"Oh, right. What an odd gift for the naughty foals." The draconequus dismissed the book, creating a piece of coal with his magic. He squished it with both hands, turning it into a diamond. "With the right heat and pressure, they could probably turn a punishment into a reward all too easily. Or maybe something to stoke a fire on a cold day without any wood to burn."
"It also reminds foals who get coal that they don't get what they want if they misbehave. You would have probably been on Santa's permanent naughty list if he ever came to Equestria," Ventus said.
"...He has a permanent naughty list?" Discord asked out of curiosity. Ventus answered with silence and continued flying, Discord following after him as he now worried about the possibility of Santa having a permanent list of naughty children/people/sentient creatures. "You can't be serious, right? I'm not that naughty, am I? I'm not really on it, though, am I?...Ven, answer me!...Ventus!"
The next morning back on Destiny Islands, everyone was up and about as they gathered in the dining room for breakfast. Sleeping arrangements were a bit difficult with her guests, but Sora's mother was able to make it work as mares slept in the living room on an air mattress, Riku and Twilight shared the couch, and Sora shared his bedroom with Kairi. Even though there was a lack of gifts everyone had forgotten about, Santa did stop by and dropped off presents under the tree for them, including the Mane Six.
"I'm still really shocked to know Santa Claus really is a real person," Sora's mom said as she looked under the Christmas tree from the table. "I would have known if I put gifts there, and I didn't have time to find anything for you all."
"And I blame Riku for making me lose my belief in him," Sora said, reminding Riku as he let out an irritated groan.
"You really can't let certain things go, can you?" Riku asked rhetorically.
"But why did we get presents?" Twilight asked out of curiosity. She levitated her gift from the tree, wondering what she had gotten. "Equestria doesn't really celebrate Christmas, at least until Sora brought up the holiday a couple years ago."
"Maybe Santa found our names when we left Equestria yesterday and made last minute gifts for us!" Pinkie theorized, somehow managing to grab her present under the table, shaking it to hear what was inside.
"I don't know, but we'll take a trip to Christmas Town one day when Santa's not too busy," Sora said. "I hope Jack hasn't caused too much trouble, or tried taking over another holiday out of boredom from Halloween planning."
"Cool! More gifts for us!" Rainbow said.
After breakfast, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and the Mane Six gathered their presents as they prepared to head back to the island, board the Gummi ships, and return to Equestria. They wished Sora's mother a merry Christmas, Sora giving her a hug goodbye as well before leaving, taking the covered plates of food for Aqua, Terra, and Ventus with him so they could try some of her cooking. He also promised to bring her back to Equestria next Hearth's Warming so she could see how similar it was to Christmas, though with a different kind of cause of celebrating in the pony world. Taking their boats and rowing over to the island, being cautious of anyone in town that might be out and about, they hurried to the Gummi ships, stacked the gifts and food in the cargo bays, and buckled up for the return trip home.
With a warp through space after taking off and exiting Destiny Islands, they arrived in Equestria and landed out in their usual docking fields. Gathering their belongings from the ships, they made their way back to the castle, watching some foals running around and having fun in the snow, some of them with their gifts they got from "Santa Claus" last night.
"Sora! Sora!" Diamond Tiara ran up to Sora, apparently overly excited as she nearly rammed into his leg to hug him. She had her new doll in her saddlebag along with the letter she got, probably having shown it to almost every pony in Ponyville. "You were right! Santa really is real!"
"Oh, really?" Sora asked with a grin, patting the filly on the head. "You didn't believe me at first. Why now?"
"Because of this!" She showed him the letter with "Santa's" signature, but she waved it around too much for him to read what was written. He didn't need to know since he was the one who wrote it. "And he didn't give me coal! I got this doll, which I don't think matters much, but the letter does! He knows I've changed!...How does he know?"
"Oh, Santa has a way of knowing," Sora said with a chuckle. "He is magical after all. And I'm happy to hear he put you on the nice list this year." He hugged Diamond Tiara, happy to see her happy as she finally got the chance to experience a nicer Christmas day. "And you're going to stay on that side of the list, right?"
"Yeah!" Diamond said. "No more of the old bully me! I'm the new, better, and friendlier Diamond Tiara!"
"Attagirl!" Sora let go of Diamond and watched her run off toward Silver Spoon, both fillies going back to enjoying their snow day.
"It's kind of weird seeing Diamond Tiara like this," Applejack said. "But at least Apple Bloom won't keep complainin' about how terrible she is. Or was after she, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo helped her.
"Yeah, but it's a good kind of weird," Sora said. "Speaking of good, I hope Ven, Aqua, and Terra didn't eat all those cookies. And he better have saved a muffin after going to Dinky's house. Derpy's muffins are better than Sugarcube Corner's."
"Hey, I resent that!" Pinkie exclaimed angrily, her face softening as she hummed in thought. "Actually, Derpy's muffins are a lot better than mine, or the Cakes'. Never mind."
"Come on! Let's not stand around all day!" Rainbow said, holding up her present. "I wanna see what Santa got me! I hope it's something awesome!"
Eager to open up their gifts, they hurried off to the castle. Once inside, they made their way to the throne room, where they found Aqua passed out on the crystal table map with several pieces of paper scattered around the room. It seemed like Terra was unable to get the unicorn to budge and take a day off from studying the Cutie Map/Galactic Map.
"...Uhh, Aqua?" Twilight called out.
Aqua snorted as she woke up with a start, standing on her hind legs and calling her Keyblade to her from her throne as she looked around in a panic. "Where are they!? Where's the Heartless!?" she shouted. Looking around, she realized she fell asleep in the throne room, lowering herself back on all fours with an embarrassed blush. She cleared her throat, casting off her panic as if nothing happened, even though the others nearly burst out laughing. "So...how was you holiday?"
"Probably a lot more fun than how yours was," Riku said.
Aqua didn't make a retort, only to hear her stomach growl. "And you skipped dinner, too." Sora grabbed one of the covered plates with his wing, setting it down on the map in front of Aqua. "Mom made a lot of food and saved some leftovers for you, Terra, and Ven."
"Oh. Thanks." Aqua lifted the plate up with her aura, using her magic to heat up the food before taking off the foil, digging into the bevy of mixed vegetable dishes to sate her hunger. "Mmm. This is good...Maybe I do need a little break from this map."
"Yeah, you sure do," Kairi said, picking up the scattered pages of notes, diagrams, and all sorts of magical algorithms the blue unicorn had made.
Terra soon walked into the throne room with a yawn, having slept in a bit. He saw Aqua was no longer looking at the map and eating the Christmas dinner Sora's mom had made.
"Oh, sure. NOW you decide to take a break," he said sarcastically. "I try to get you out for a nice stroll around the park in the snow, made hot chocolate, distracting you with fictional novels, and even a massage, and that last one didn't phase you until you passed out." Terra was about to complain more, only for Aqua to shove a plastic fork with some of Sora's mother's cooking. Silenced, he chewed and swallowed his mouthful, licking his lips at the home-cooked veggie meal. "Wow, that's delicious. Who made that?"
"My mom," Sora said. "If you guys came with us, it probably would have been a lot more fun. And you'd get a better look at the world than just on the island."
"Someone had to watch the map," Aqua said after another bite of food. "But, it was pretty boring. Not a lot of activity anywhere."
"Maybe the Heartless are taking a vacation too?" Pinkie questioned with a shrug.
"I doubt that's the case, but I think I'll take some time off." Aqua climbed down from the map and walked past everyone, using her magic to drag Terra with her. "Merry Christmas, guys. I'm gonna enjoy this food with Terra."
"Uhh, am I being kidnapped?" Terra asked before the veteran Keyblade wielding couple disappeared down the hall.
Poking their head around the doors, the others were surprised to see Discord had come to visit. "There you all are!" He lower half slid around inside the throne room before the upper half, casually strolling toward them with a bag full of gifts hung over his back. "You missed a fun Christmas Eve party last night!"
"Party!?" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Actually, it wasn't much of a party," Discord said, making Pinkie whine in disappointment. "But I brought gifts!" Lowering the bag, Discord pulled out several presents, all of them strangely wrapped up objects instead of boxes. They floated over to each pony, all except Fluttershy a little worried about what kind of gifts Discord got them all. "Well? What are you waiting for? Open them!"
"I'm not sure I want to," Rarity said, looking at the odd lamp-shaped present Discord gave her.
Fluttershy didn't hesitate and opened up the giant butterfly present she was given, which turned out to be a finely crafted birdhouse. "Oh my! This is lovely, Discord! Thank you!"
"I figured there might be some more birds that'll come flittering around when Winter Wrap-Up comes around, so I thought about another little home for them. And look!" Discord lifted the roof of the birdhouse off, revealing a plush, interior space for a nest. "It'll be like a five-star hotel for them!"
The others looked at their gifts, none of them sure what mysterious present lies under the chaotically wrapped gifts. "...I think I'll pass."
The rest of the group agreed with Sora, which upset Discord. "Oh, come on! None of them are pranks! I worked hard on making all your gifts!"
"You think we can trust you with anything you give us?" Twilight asked.
"Fluttershy did!" the draconequus argued.
"That's because she considers you a friend and you like her," Kairi pointed out.
"And the last time you gave me that tea, you shrank me down to the size of a Breezie," Sora added, pushing the triangular-shaped present away from him. "Who's to say there's a hand with a pie that'll shoot up at me and slam it in my face as soon as I open it?" Discord silently stared at Sora for a moment, then slowly reached his arm out and just as slowly pulled it back toward him. "See? I knew it! It was going to be a pie in the face!"
"And I thought you liked practical jokes," Discord muttered, stashing Sora's present back in his bag.
"When I'm pulling them," the pegasus corrected. "And not to make fun of someone when pranking them."
Noting the rest of the ponies' skepticism toward Discord's Christmas gifts, the draconequus huffed and took the other gifts back. "Fine, then. See if I do anything nice to you all. I was going to plan on hanging out with you all and have fun while leaving out Twilight when she has her book-sort-cation and make her feel jealous and think I'm reverting back to my evil ways!"
"Wait, what?" Twilight asked, catching everyone's attention as they stared at Discord in confusion.
"Oh, none of you will even remember it happening," he said, hefting the sack of unopened gifts over his shoulder. "It's not even going to happen in this story because not all of you will forgive me so soon. I'm going to see if the Smooze will take these, because we're actual pen pals now!...But I need to work on my slime language a bit more."
Discord left the room, teleporting elsewhere to drop off his "presents" for them to the Smooze, wherever it lived. The others slowly looked at Twilight, who was slightly confused with what the draconequus had said.
"...How did he know about my book-sort-cations?" she asked.
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Kingdom hearts and mlp?
Say no more, and count me in! 
8501794
What did you think of the season 7 finale?
Considering the ending for season 7 it practically screamed Kingdom Hearts
8521125
Best finale ever, even if I hated Starswirl for a moment after talking down to Twilight after botching his plans to keep him and the other pillars in limbo with the Pony of Shadows/Stygian, but it was reasonable for him to be mad at her. That, and the Sirens made their appearance in the show. 
Curse you, procrastination/work/boredom/random excuse!
...They actually brought Starswirl and the ponies from the legends told in the last half of the season where they were mentioned, explained where the Tree of Harmony came from, brought back the Elements of Harmony, and now we have two sets of Elements to better protect Equestria from evil with possibilities for new episodes in later seasons...
8521273
I already have a very strange twist for the finale, but I can't do it yet until I actually get there in this story!
Was kinda curious as to what Santa got for them at the end there, but oh well.
Well, that answers my next question. Looking forward to the next one.
"Christmas Eve was here at least"? Um Codex, do you mean Christmas Eve was here at last.
8521774
...The first sentence...The first...sentence...
Well, I feel like a dummy for that mistake...
If there was a wall, I'd be slamming my head against that instead of my hand/fist/nearest blunt object in my room.
I really liked the moments that Twilight had with Riku & the ones that Sora had with Kairi for this one. Not to mention, Kairi bring up a spell that she and Twilight know so they don't get babies. Smart, beautiful, & cuteness makes Kairi a lady not to mess with.
I...finished it?.... What have I just done? I MEANT TO LEAVE A FEW CHAPTERS! NOOOOO!
8525387
That and I also have another story I'm working on, and I'm alternating back and forth between the two.
I know the feeling. I hate doing that, too. You want to stop, but you just can't, and then you reach the end of the latest update. You don't know when the next chapter will be up, then the impatience kicks in and you go insane until it finally comes out. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but I'm far more busy than how my past uploading schedule was in the last year.
Xehanort's reasons for the x-blade. maybe a dose of that memory potion can be used, to see a certain talk between Eraqus and Xehanort. His reasons for wanting it and a new Keyblade War are nothing but selfish, twisted by the dark part of the Darkness.
8590300
Till the end of KH3.
The better question is do you mind?