The Cutie Re-Mark (Part 5)
After falling onto the map once they reached the end of the time stream, Starlight coughed as she got her breath back. She felt Sora behind her, his forelegs wrapped around her, growling angrily as she was struck and forced to go back to the present.
"Get off of me!" she yelled, squirming out of his grip and kicking him hard in the stomach, sending Sora tumbling off the map with a pained grunt. She rolled off the other side, getting her bearings as Twilight sat up as well. Starlight looked around, only for her jaw to drop in shock and horrified awe: Equestria was no longer bright and happy, the only light the barely illuminated lanterns on the poles, the town of Ponyville broken apart in certain areas, the holes leading to nothing but a dark void leading nowhere, and there didn't seem to be any sign of life anywhere. Starlight heard Twilight gasp in horror, turning to face her in confusion. "...Where are we?"
Twilight didn't give a response, too shocked to see Ponyville in such a devastated state. They heard Sora grunt from behind the table, the alicorn looking over to check on him, only to gawk in surprise at him. He reached up to the map, a hand instead of a hoof grabbing the edge of the crystal table, lifting himself up on his feet. Starlight's eyes widened at Sora, now reverted to his human form, Equestria no longer around in this timeline for his magic to conceal his identity. He rubbed his chest where Starlight kicked him, glaring at the shocked unicorn not out of pain, but at what attacking Rainbow did to their future.
"Welcome to the future, Starlight," Sora said. "Our present timeline."
"But there's nothing here!" Starlight argued.
"Exactly. This is what you did for all of us," Sora continued. He looked around, recognizing the same darkness he and Riku were in before after defeating Xemnas. "Equestria's gone...We're in the Realm of Darkness, with what remains of Equestria."
"T-This is...the Realm of Darkness?" Twilight asked fearfully. "Was this...what Aqua had been through in the last decade and a half?"
"Afraid so," Sora said, looking back at Starlight, who was still staring in disbelief. "Every little change we kept making made our futures worse and worse, and you failed to see what we had. Didn't you tell me before, 'Even if you win, you still lose?' Well, congratulations, Starlight. You succeeded, and destroyed Equestria in the process."
"...I don't believe you!" Starlight exclaimed, only angering Sora further as he yelled in frustration.
"Look around you, Starlight!" he shouted. "Equestria's been cast into darkness! All your changes to that one point in time kept leading to alternate timelines, where Equestria ends up falling by someone's hands, and for some reason, I end up killed at some point in my past, which is somehow connected to you trying to stop Twilight and her friends getting their cutie marks!" He stomped around the table, Twilight using her aura to hold the young adult back. "You caused your own world's destruction because of your selfish desires!"
"I-I don't get it! And what the hay are you!?" Starlight questioned. "What happened to you!?"
Sora flicked Twilight's horn, making her yelp as her hold on him was released, then ran at the unicorn and picked her up by the scruff of her neck, holding her up at eye level. "Take a good look at me, Starlight. I'm not a pegasus! I'm not even from Equestria, and there are plenty of other worlds out there that you don't understand! To make matters worse, not only have you endangered Equestria several times, but every other world, and killed me every single time! I thought maybe if you saw what your actions have done, maybe you'd consider changing your mind and let this go, but apparently, you're not smart enough to see that we're living in a dead world!"
"Change my mind!?" Starlight asked, barely startled by being picked up so roughly. She then shot Sora back with her magic, making him skid across the ground as he dropped her. "You two don't know anything about me! I was happy before you and your FRIENDS ruined what I built!"
Sora growled, balling his fists at the mare's stubbornness to realize what was at stake. Twilight rubbed her horn and was about to try to stop them, only to flinch when she saw something in the town. It looked like several Heartless were gathering around, hundreds of Shadows swarming together as they came right for them, their eyes and bodies glowing red as they swirled together like a mad tornado.
"Uhh, Sora, we have a problem!" Twilight called out, catching both Starlight's and Sora's attention as they faced the Heartless swarm.
"What in Equestria is that!?" Starlight screamed in fright.
Sora grunted and summoned his Keyblade, ready to face the incoming Heartless swarm. "If you value your life, I suggest you stay here! Twilight, watch our backs!"
The alicorn nodded, summoning her own Keyblade in defense. Starlight finally listened, hiding behind Twilight as she saw the Heartless for the first time in her life. Sora ran forward to meet them halfway, the tower of Shadows glowing red as they lunged forward. He quickly blocked their attack, sliding back as he was surprised by how strong a group of Shadows were when they actually combine their strengths together. He dodged another swooping swipe, only for the Heartless crawling up to keep the tower formed to claw at his legs. The twister then hit the ground, all the Shadows disappearing into the ground before coming back up, swarming Sora faster than he expected them to move as they dogpiled and slashed him repeatedly.
"Sora!" Twilight called out, taking aim and blasting the Heartless with a Firaga spell.
Getting struck by the explosion of flames, the Shadows quickly turned their attention to the two mares and rushed them. "Oh, great job, princess! Now they're gonna kill us!" Starlight sarcastically commented before shrieking in fear as they appeared around them.
Twilight quickly tapped into her Harmony Links, using the Element of Kindness's power to create a pink barrier around her and Starlight. The Shadows struck, causing them to get chomped by small wolf maws, but none of them were disappearing in a puff of mist like they usually do. As she kept her protective barrier up, Sora ran forward, his clothes scratched up from the swarm as he cast Thundaga spells, raining lightning down on the assailing Shadows.
They then reformed into the twister of a tower they took before, their limbs wildly flaring about like an actual tornado. The Heartless then slammed down on Twilight's barrier, only for it to shatter and send a dragon head lunging at them, letting out a roar and chomping down painfully on the tower of Shadows. Sora leapt up in the air, avoiding the Shadows constantly spawning around the base that kept it stable, slashing away at the curling tower to hopefully cut down some of their numbers, but they were more resilient than any normal Shadows.
"What the hell is this thing!?" Sora questioned, only to be slammed down into the ground by it again and swarmed by the Shadows yet again.
They scratched him even more, trying to kill him and the bane of their existence. Sora growled and used Reflect, the defensive shield releasing a powerful shockwave that sent the Shadows flying back. Before they could jump him again, he vaulted up and leapt into the air, watching them form back into a tower to try to thrust themselves at him. He aimed his Keyblade at them, but instead of engulfing them in fire or ice like he attempted to try, he grunted in confusion as he felt something else come out from his weapon. Suddenly, chains of light shot out, hitting the tower and blinding the area in a flash of light. Sora landed after he had shut his eyes from the flash, and when he opened them, he gasped when he saw the Shadows trapped in a ball, chains of pure light keeping them contained as their limbs flailed about to try and escape.
Twilight and Starlight were just as shocked as Sora was, no more Shadows popping up from the ground to help their trapped companions. "Sora...how did you do that!?"
"I have no idea, but it worked!" Sora said with a slight chuckle, only to yelp as he suddenly felt his Keyblade being yanked forward. Despite the Shadows being held in the chains, it was connected to his Keyblade like it was a fishing line, and they were fighting him as he struggled to reel them back. "Whoa! Ok, this is really weird! Where's the giant net to catch this haul!?" Joking aside, he was really struggling to keep the invisible line under his control, the trapped ball of Heartless floating around as they tried to break free. "Twilight, I could seriously use some help! I'm gonna lose it!"
"What should I even do!?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know! Shoot light chains at it or something!?" Sora suggested, yelping as he was being yanked around.
Ignoring Sora's crazy idea, having no idea how to shoot those kinds of chains like he did earlier, Twilight went all out with magic spells, firing elemental barrages at the captured Heartless ball. They seemed to stop flailing as they were hit, but Sora's hold on them broke, shattering the chain as he was sent flying back from the heavy amount of pulling he was doing. The Shadows broke free, but instead of attacking, they retreated back into the empty town within the Realm of Darkness, regrouping to regain their strength.
Now alone and free from danger, Sora let out a heavy sigh, panting heavily as he looked down at his clothes. "Is it gone?" Twilight asked.
"I hope so," Sora said. "And Rarity is gonna kill me when we get back..." He stood up and walked back to the map with Starlight and Twilight. He looked down at the cowering unicorn, crossing his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. "I think you owe us a thank you for saving your life, even though you don't deserve it."
Starlight grumbled, then sat up. "As if I'm going to thank you. You brought me here to try to get me killed!"
"I brought you here to show you what kind of future you would leave us because you keep lingering in the past to wait for the day you think you've won!" Sora argued.
"Sora, stop!" Twilight quickly stepped in, trying to keep Sora calm so neither him or Starlight let their anger bring more Heartless to try to attack them in the Realm of Darkness. "Starlight, look, we have no idea what happened to you that lead to creating a village without cutie marks, and I'm sorry we took that away from you, but we had to stop you because it wasn't right."
"You two want to know what happened to me!?" Starlight exclaimed angrily, jumping up onto the Cutie Map and lighting up her horn. "Fine! I'll show you!"
Starlight cast the same time travel spell she created, striking the map as it began glowing. The time portal appeared beneath the unicorn, sucking them in as they traveled back in time. With Equestria no longer considered lost to darkness, Sora had transformed back into a pegasus, though he still sported his injuries from fighting those Shadows. They reached the end of the time stream, but instead of ending up in Cloudsdale, they arrived in a part of Equestria where a small town rested, one Twilight or Sora have never been to before.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked.
"That map of yours is connected to every part of Equestria, and this part was my home growing up," Starlight explained.
She lead them around the town, avoiding being seen by the ponies living there as she made her way to a specific house. When they reached the windows, they could hear giggling coming from inside, Starlight leaving the alicorn and pegasus room to see inside.
"Higher, Sunny! Stack them higher!" a young filly said, encouraging the other pony in the room excitedly.
Inside, Sora winced as that twinge of cuteness came to him, and it conflicted him: a filly Starlight Glimmer, her mane in pigtails of all styles, clapping her hooves as she watched an orange unicorn colt around her age with his mane a two-toned shade of orange with white patches of fur around his hooves and the bridge of his nose using levitation to stack several books into a tower. Sora hated Starlight, he had to, but seeing her as a filly was metaphorically stabbing him in the heart from adorableness. He looked at the unicorn, his mouth agape with a sad look, which began unnerving the adult Starlight.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
He pointed his hoof at the window, looking back and forth between the cute scene inside and his enemy beside him. "...You had pigtails," he finally said, making Starlight puff out her cheeks angrily with a light blush.
"Yes, I know," she grumbled. "Why's that important to your shock?"
"But...just look at you!" Sora said. "How did something as cute as that turn into...an equalist, power-hungry dictator?"
Ignoring the surprising change in the pegasus's behavior and the comment toward her younger self, Starlight began explaining why she became who she was today. "That colt in there with me was my best friend, Sunburst. He and I did everything together. In fact, I don't remember us ever being apart...until today."
Looking back inside the house, filly Starlight used her magic to try to pull one of the books from the bottom of the tower out. Sunburst tried to warn her, but she pulled it out too quickly, causing the tower to fall over and onto her. She flinched and covered her eyes, but Sunburst grabbed all the books with his magic, a yellow aura holding all of the books above Starlight. He strained and moved them away, surprising the filly as he began levitating himself in the air, the books circling around him in an orbit in his aura. His horn flashed brilliantly, blinding the filly, Sora, and Twilight briefly, his magic quickly organizing the books they took down from the shelves to build their book tower.
Once all the books were placed, Sunburst hovered back down to the ground, and a flash appeared around his flank. He got his cutie mark from that amazing spectacle, which was a sun shining rays down, sparkles surrounding the orange sphere in a brilliant fashion. The colt noticed his cutie mark, letting out an excited whinny.
"I got my cutie mark!" Sunburst said excitedly, running past Starlight, who was at first happy for him, only to feel upset that he seemed to have ignored her. "Mom! Dad! Look! I got my cutie mark!"
Sunburst's parents heard their son, proud of him for such an achievement. He told them how he got his mark, impressing them as they carried him back home to plan for his future as a potential wizard. Filly Starlight watched her best friend leave as she stood at the doorway, hurt by her friend ignoring her over his newly gained cutie mark.
"...Sunny?" she weakly called out, tears welling up in her eyes as she sniffled.
The filly sadly walked back inside the house, miserably sulking as she cried in the middle of the room, losing her friend over his cutie mark. Now Sora and Twilight saw why Starlight despised cutie marks, but her actions were still unjustifiable, at least to Sora. It was understandable that she was heartbroken, and a child's imagination could make them over-exaggerate a scenario if it bothered them greatly.
"And just like that, my friend was gone," Starlight said as she was forced to watch herself relive that tragic memory. "His family recognized his magical talent and sent him away to Canterlot...without even telling me..." Her ears drooped sadly, looking away at the window to avoid the tears beginning to appear in her eyes. "I never saw him again."
Sora and Twilight looked at each other, confused by Starlight's continued misery. She could have at least taken the time to see how Sunburst was doing, maybe visited him in Canterlot, or wrote letters to him to keep in touch. Instead, she kept the thought that if anyone got a cutie mark before her, they would immediately forget about her.
"...Why not?" Sora asked curiously, which only seemed to anger Starlight as she turned around and glared at them.
"Because of his cutie mark!" she exclaimed. "He got his, and I didn't! He moved on, and I didn't! I stayed here and never made another friend because I was too afraid another cutie mark would take them away, too!"
Starlight panted heavily after explaining her fears, which only confused Twilight why Starlight would give up making friends too soon over a lingering scenario she was afraid would happen. "Starlight, that's ridiculous. A cutie mark can't take your friends away."
The unicorn wiped away the tears in her eyes, Twilight's words only fueling her anger as she gave the alicorn a death glare. "Not everypony's lucky enough to get her cutie mark at the same time as her friends!" The time travelers were sucked back into the portal as it appeared above them, finished playing back the moment Starlight wanted to show Sora and Twilight. They soon reappeared back in Cloudsdale, long before the moment Rainbow Dash was to race her bullies and create the sonic rainboom, Starlight landing on one cloud while Sora and Twilight landed on another. "You two have no idea what it's like to lose a friend because of a cutie mark, but when I stop the rainboom, you will!"
"Starlight, this doesn't have to be like this!" Twilight tried to reason. "If you do this again, you'll only make the future even worse than how it is!"
"I don't care!" Starlight screamed, the Keyblade wielders thankful that they were pretty far away from the Junior Speedster's Flight Camp. "There's bound to be one change that'll make things perfect, so I'll keep trying, even if it kills me!" Suddenly, a dark aura began shrouding Starlight, the unicorn unaware of letting her anger and sorrow get to her and unleashing her darkness, having enough of Sora and Twilight's warnings. She fired a beam of magic at Sora, catching him off guard as it was coated in a dark aura along with her light blue, smacking him in the chest and sending the stallion flying off his feet, falling to the ground as he seemed unconscious. Twilight tried to call out to him, only for Starlight to appear in front of her and slam her down onto the cloud, snatching away the scroll needed to keep them in this time period. "And when I destroy this scroll, there'll be no way for you or Sora to change it! And if you try to stop me, I'll just kill you myself!"
Summoning an ethereal blade with her magic, now coated in a dark aura, Twilight gasped and summoned her Keyblade, blocking the downward thrust that would have struck her heart if she didn't react fast enough. "Starlight, stop! You need to calm down!"
"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" Starlight yelled, pushing back to try to stab the pinned alicorn. "You think you're some expert on friendship? You barely even had friends when you were a filly, only figuring out how 'special' they were only a couple years ago! You and Sora are absolutely pathetic, I don't know how everyone sees you as special heroes!"
"You're letting the darkness in your heart begin to control you in your hatred toward me and Sora!" Twilight continued reasoning. She quickly teleported away, reappearing on a far enough cloud, watching Starlight encase the scroll in a barrier to destroy later. "I know I can never understand what you've been through, but you know I can't let you do this! We've all seen what happens, and things don't turn out well in Equestria and every other world beyond ours without my friends! Or even Sora!"
"Just shut up!" Starlight screamed, flying toward Twilight as the mares' blades clashed. They continued arguing, even as they swung their weapons, Twilight mostly defending and still trying to calm the enraged unicorn down before darkness completely engulfed her heart. "What's so 'special' about your friends!? How can a group of ponies so different be so important!?"
"Our differences are what makes our friendship strong!" Twilight answered, continuing staying on the defensive as she flew backwards, avoiding Starlight's swings and magic spells. "Sora's made so many friends, and many of them are different in their own ways! His bonds with us and everyone around him gives him the strength to fight for the ones he's willing to protect!"
Starlight screamed, unleashing a sonic shockwave that stunned Twilight as she clutched her ears in pain. Defenseless, Starlight struck the alicorn repeatedly, then slammed her down hard, making her slam through a few clouds before her momentum slowed enough to land on one. The unicorn dove down, slamming her forelegs down on Twilight's abdomen, knocking the air out of her as she gasped in pain before quickly slamming her face into the cloud, her ethereal blade pressed against her neck. Twilight squinted her eyes, seeing a small hint of pain as a small memory of her and Sunburst flashed through the unicorn's thoughts.
"...I thought that Sunburst and I were the same...But we turned out different, and it tore our friendship apart," she uttered, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.
"You could have tried again. Tried making new friends. And if nothing goes right, then try to work it out as best as you can," Twilight said once she caught her breath. "Sora's knowledge on friendship is better than mine. He may not have known what it felt like to lose a friend over a cutie mark, but he almost lost his best friend to the darkness once...But he never gave up so easily. He kept fighting to save him, and he even sacrificed himself to wake the love of his life from a heartless coma."
There seemed to have been a faint glimmer of hope, that her words may have reached out to Starlight. Unfortunately, the darkness didn't want that to happen, the unicorn shaking her head as the aura around her grew, pressing the blade tightly to Twilight's neck.
"Liar!" Starlight growled. "It would be pointless trying if it always ends up failing! And if Sora's so great at making friends, he's also great at keeping his enemies alive! I met somepony named Maleficent, apparently an enemy of Sora's, and she's fought him several times, lost, but he didn't kill her! He's probably tried to befriend her, and he kept failing every time he did so! He's no hero; he's a pathetic, immature, highly optimistic little colt trapped in an adult's body, who's only going to ruin everypony else's lives by leaving his enemies alive after defeating them!"
Both mares' ears perked up when they heard the sound of glass shattering. Twilight gasped and tried to look around, unable to do much with the dark blue blade pressed down at her neck, but Starlight moved away from the pinned alicorn and looked over the side of the cloud. Suddenly shooting up from the cloud, six Keyblades struck through Starlight, shocking her slightly before a Keyblade was held against the left side of her head, held by Sora as she noticed the significant change in his appearance. The pegasus was now in his Harmony Form, his clothes shimmering a sparkling rainbow with his hair sporting white and black streaks along with his wings turning white and black as well; white on his left while black was on his right. His Ultima Keyblade was held firmly in Starlight's view as the six Keyblades of Harmony hovered around the stunned and confused mare.
"I'm ending this," Sora uttered. "This is your last chance to back down, Starlight. I don't want to use all my power just to stop you."
"...Then show me what you're made of," Starlight goaded, unleashing her magic as she created several more aura swords, aiming them at the pegasus.
"...So be it." All the floating blades flew down toward their designated opponents, Sora and Starlight teleporting out of the way before rushing forward and clashing their held blades together.
Twilight rubbed her neck and sat up now that Starlight was distracted fighting Sora, but she didn't want him to go that far using his Harmony Form to attack her. She watched them teleport around the sky, Keyblades and ethereal swords connecting in an explosion of light and dark sparks like fireworks, only they weren't a spectacle to behold and it was a life or death fight. Starlight may have lacked any combat experience, her blades shattering under Sora's Keyblades, but her overwhelming magic power with her anger and repressed sorrow coming to light fueled her mana, constantly summoning more blades to try to stop the stallion.
Sora and Starlight continued their endless rushing, slashing at each other while avoiding their opponent's, warping around the sky, even switching what weapons they were using as their blades fought each other as well. Starlight tried pushing back against Sora as their blades met again, her dark aura growing wild and desperate as she was beginning to give in to it, making the stallion worry as she was on the cusp of turning into a Heartless. He needed to stop this, feeling pity for the poor mare who forced herself to stay alone to avoid getting hurt by losing her friends.
They teleported away from each other, Starlight growling as she charged her magic in her horn, sparkling with dark energy as she summoned thousands of aura blades around her. Bringing the Keyblades of Harmony back to him, he was ready for the barrage of magic swords to rain down on him. With a flick of her head, Starlight sent the swords down on him in a deadly storm. Sora flapped his wings, racing toward the mare, his Keyblades spinning rapidly as they deflected the blades coming down on him, even the ones that missed him and flipped around to chase after him.
"Why! Couldn't! You! Have! Just! Left! Me! ALONE!?!?!?!?!?" Starlight screamed, summoning more blades as Sora got closer.
He didn't give a response, continuing his pursuit through the rainstorm of dark blue blades. He finally reached Starlight, but instead of using any of his Keyblades, he punched Starlight hard in the gut, making her gasp and double over in pain. He then slapped her horn, dispelling her magic, making the magical swords disappear and her levitation fail, diving after her as she fell. The darkness was still festering in her, but he was glad her eyes hadn't changed colors unlike what happened to Twilight and Sunset. Bringing his Keyblades together, they aimed for the unicorn's heart, unleashing a barrage of light that pierced her chest, expelling the darkness in her heart from growing too out of control.
The aura disappeared, and with her no longer in danger of being turned into a Heartless, Sora caught Starlight and lowered her down on a nearby cloud. He dropped her, poising his blades around her as he held the Ultima Keyblade over her chest. Starlight grunted in pain, looking up at Sora with a pained leer before looking away, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Just do it," she said. "What's the point anymore...? I can never be happy..."
Twilight managed to find them, losing track of them warping around the sky and tried to chase them down. She gasped when Sora had Starlight down underneath him, his seven Keyblades aiming right at her.
"Sora, don't!" she called out, but before she could try to stop him, the Keyblades of Harmony flipped around and aimed at her, warning her to stay out of Sora's way. "Sora, she doesn't have to die!"
"It doesn't even matter anymore!" Starlight said. She teleported the time travel spell to her, only for Sora to swipe it away and smack her horn again, making her yelp. He gave her a stoic glare, keeping her pinned down. "I lose my best friend, he forgets all about me, you all ruined my perfect village, and now I can't even get my revenge anymore because you two just wouldn't let me be happy!" She began sobbing, accepting her fate knowing she would always end up alone. "Just once...I want things to go my way...but it never happens..." Starlight looked back at Sora, using her hoof to help aim his Keyblade at her heart. "So, go ahead. Take my life. Turn me into a Heartless. Whatever you do, just end me."
Sora hesitated as everything that had happened with him and Twilight flashed through his mind: going through these different timelines, seeing the states of their futures along with what could have happened to their friends and families, and finally understanding why Starlight did all this in the first place. He could understand how it felt to lose a friend, but unlike Starlight, he never gave up on them. Especially on Riku; he fought him to break him free from Ansem's control, and even continued onward to find him and bring him back home. But those futures made his hoof shake, recalling the devastation left in Equestria when Sombra returned, the depressing and broken state Kairi was in while trapped in Equestria with the changelings' successfully invading, Riku using his darkness to permanently change him into Ansem after suppressing it for so long before reaching Equestria, and the several tales of what became of him in those alternate timelines.
Part of him wanted to just end Starlight Glimmer right here and now, ending these time traveling shenanigans where he had to hear everyone he knew suffer from how he died and who was destroying Equestria. He was so fed up with Starlight's ridiculous philosophies, had enough of her thinking he and Twilight felt more important than anyone else around them, but instead of seeing the upset unicorn mare awaiting her fate, he saw the unicorn filly he just learned about, lost and alone while believing her heart would always break if anyone got their cutie mark before she did.
Sora slowly lifted his foreleg back, readying his aim to dive his Keyblade through. "Sora!" Twilight called out in a panic, but the Keyblades of Harmony kept blocking her path. "Don't do it!"
He let out a yell and thrust his blade forward, both alicorn and unicorn flinching as he moved...After a moment of silence, Twilight peeked through her hooves, gasping in surprise. Starlight opened her eyes too, but when she looked down, his blade missed, his thrust sticking it in the cloud a few inches away from her. She looked up at him, his eyes staring down at her sadly, pitying the unicorn.
"...I can't do it," he said. He reverted back to normal, the Keyblades of Harmony disappearing and freeing Twilight, the alicorn letting out a huge sigh of relief. "I want to, after everything you put us through, what you put my friends through in those alternate futures...what you made Kairi go through with my deaths...but I just can't."
He let go of his Keyblade, now changed back to his Kingdom Key, backing away from the confused unicorn. Starlight grit her teeth in frustration, sitting up and leering at the pegasus as if he was insane for letting her go.
"You're a bucking idiot!" she screamed, grabbing Sora's Keyblade with her mouth, then ran toward him as she prepared to swing it at him. It disappeared from her maw in a flash of light, making her trip as his Keyblade reappeared in his hoof before he dismissed it. She growled and yelled in frustration, getting back up and tried to punch him, but Sora dodged her hooves, occasionally blocking with his own. "You're just going to let me go!? Forgive me just like that because you feel sorry for me and my past!? You're no do-gooder of a hero if you keep letting the bad guys get away, and it only makes your life more difficult if your forgive your enemies!"
He blocked another punch, only to twist her hoof painfully and flip her over on her back. "I am not forgiving you!" Sora exclaimed. "I am far from ever forgiving you after that second time going back to the future! I saw how devastated my girlfriend was when I died, how it affected her life without me around, and to make matters worse, she was trapped in Equestria, manipulated by Chrysalis, and physically, mentally, and psychologically raped by that giant roach queen and her hive! I thought Sombra taunting me while holding her heart in a container was bad enough, but to see her suffer with that much pain from losing me and being abused like that by a love-sucking parasite was my breaking point! I wanted you dead so I didn't have to see Kairi suffer like that again, nor do I ever want her to experience that pain in our time!" Sora panted after his tirade, taking deep breaths to calm himself before he accidentally let his rage fuel his darkness again. He made it this long without giving in to the darkness, and he wasn't going to let it win again. "...I don't feel bad for you right now, Starlight. I felt bad for the filly who was scared of making new friends.
"Things could have gone differently if you just gave making new friends a chance instead of just giving up, thinking everything would crumble under the tiniest of things like a cutie mark." He let go of her hoof, leaving her lying on the cloud in shock at his bottled up anger finally let out on her. Twilight hovered down and helped the mare up, both of them watching Sora as he looked up at the sky. "...But, if they did, then I guess this fight would have never happened...Everything would change, just like what we've been doing for what feels like forever, which could result in a terrible future as well. This is why the past should never change, because our fates our always destined, no matter how you try to change it." He looked at Starlight, pressing a hoof to his chest. "I'm letting you live because part of me believes everyone deserves a second chance. Even those who were my enemies deserve one, even if they're confused by what they've been doing or who they really are, but not if they live on making others miserable. Xehanort is one of those people who deserves no mercy." They soon looked up as they heard what sounded like Hoops mocking Rainbow Dash, the pegasi racing and leading up to where Rainbow would perform the sonic rainboom. "This is your last chance.
"Whatever you decide, it had better be the right choice. Either you give this all up, move on from your grudge, and try, emphasis on the word 'try', to be a better pony, or you stop Rainbow Dash again, but the next time you see us, I will not hesitate to kill you. And I mean it this time, even if I detest the thought of doing this to someone who should have at least given a shot of making friends more tries instead of giving up after losing her first, and only, friend." Sora then held his hoof out to Starlight, awaiting her choice.
Starlight's eyes shifted from Sora to Rainbow Dash, wanting to have her perfect life of happiness, but she didn't want to lose her life while she had nothing. She looked to Twilight for some kind of advice, but the alicorn remained silent under Sora's glare, the decision the unicorn's to make only. Rainbow was close to reaching the point where she would pull off the sonic rainboom, her time frame running out as a decision was needed right now. She approached Sora nervously, fearing he would trick her and thrust his Keyblade in her chest, tentatively lifting her hoof. She eyed Rainbow for another moment, then made her choice; she reached her hoof out to Sora's and grabbed it, giving up her endeavors to seek revenge and admit defeat. She looked at Sora again, who seemed to relax a little, but he still wasn't happy, still unable to trust her.
Rainbow finally unleashed the sonic rainboom, the timeline secured as nothing was changed, the rainbow shockwave spreading out all over Equestria. The trio watched Rainbow fly at breakneck speeds with a trail of rainbow following behind her, the rest of the filly Mane Six eventually getting their cutie marks, finding their special talents, and would connect their friendships in the years to come.
"You made the right choice," Twilight said happily.
"She's not getting out of this with a slap on the wrist, Twilight," Sora reminded, dashing away any joy the alicorn had for Starlight's decision. "The others are going to help decide her fate, so you better hope they can forgive you. I doubt it after you took away all of our cutie marks and imprisoned us in your 'perfect' town." His verbal lashing only made Starlight feel worse, wishing she took the other road instead. The time portal opened up, signalling their time to return back. "Let's get out of here."
Sora flapped his wings and flew into the portal, Twilight grabbing hold of Starlight to bring her with them as they returned to the present. They exited the portal, back in the throne room of their current timeline in the castle, everything back to normal with no repercussions. The portal was still opened, however, Sora feeling the scroll being tugged in his grasp. Knowing this spell was far too much trouble to begin with, he flung the scroll toward the portal. It began to glow as it unfurled itself, and before it was sucked off into the timestream to be forever trapped in its void, it unleashed a bright light around the castle and all of Ponyville, the portal gone as the light faded.
"Are...are we back home?" Twilight asked hopefully.
The doors to the throne room opened, revealing the rest of the mares and Keyblade wielders as the strange light didn't go unnoticed. "What in Equestria was that?" Rarity asked.
"Do it again! I missed it!" Pinkie said.
Starlight tried to hide behind Sora to avoid being seen by the rest of the group, but he stepped aside so they could. When Twilight saw Riku, she immediately ran to him and hugged him tightly, surprising the stallion a little.
"Twilight, what's going on?" he asked. "Where did you disappear to?"
"Please tell me you love me," Twilight begged.
"Uhh, I love you?" Riku said in confusion, again caught by surprise when Twilight kissed him deeply as if they were separated for years. He pulled himself away from his clingy girlfriend, reeled back by her strange behavior. "Twilight, what's gotten into-?" He finally noticed Starlight trying to hide herself from everyone, quickly defending Twilight as he summoned his Keyblade. "Starlight! What's she doing here!?"
Ventus, Kairi, Aqua, and Terra called their Keyblades as well, rushing into the room to face the unicorn and defend the girls. "Up to no good, I bet."
"Wait, hold on!" Twilight quickly said, leaping in front of everyone and rushing to defend Starlight, to their confusion. "I can explain...It's a really long story."
Kairi noticed Sora hasn't said a thing, shocked to finally realize his clothes were shredded as he wore a serious, moody expression. "Sora, what happened to you?" she asked as she approached the quiet pegasus. He looked at her, staring at her sadly. "Sora? What's wrong?"
He remained silent, but his actions told her everything; Sora wrapped his hooves around Kairi, surprising her as he kissed her, hugging her tightly as if he just lost her. She was unable to reciprocate, utterly confused as she hugged him back and unsure of the sudden romantic gesture. Twilight's behavior was strange at first, but Sora's began to concern everyone as they could see tears rolling down his cheeks. He broke the kiss, looking at his lover in the eyes, relieved to be back with the Kairi he grew up with, but still sad to know how she would have been in those alternate timelines.
"...You have no idea what Twilight and I went through," he finally said. Sora hugged her again, not wanting to let go as his hooves roamed her back, giving her loving kisses along her neck and nuzzled her. "I love you, Kairi."
Kairi looked over at Starlight, giving her a dirty look while she tried to console the silently weeping stallion. "What did you do to Sora?"
"...Do you mean the physical part or emotional part?" Starlight asked nervously with a small laugh, only making the pink unicorn's stare turn icy cold. "...I'm just going to...shut up now..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.054 seconds
Total duration
1,081 users online
213,610 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hmmm...that was handled better than the show. Though to be fair, at least Starlight does get redeemed in a more believable way than 'Rainbow Beam solves everything'.
I'm glad she's not gettin' a slap on the wrist like in canon, but she's gonna be screwed so hard that she's gonna wish that she should have been killed by Sora. I honestly hope she gets a fate much worse than death... like being stuck in Wonderland without any magic whatsoever while having to deal with the Queen of Hearts or having to write "I shall not use time to break ponies" in rows on a massive, Titan-sized chalkboard in the Underworld using her mouth!
Okay, fine I'm getting over my head, but while I don't hate Starlight enough to want her dead, I still want her to be punished severely for her shenanigans; NOT by becoming Twilight's student. *sigh* I should really watch Season 7...
And now we get another part for this episode that will cover everyone learning of the time loop, Starlight's time with everyone after they decide what to do, and hopefully an answer as to how the Friendship Games will be covered. SERIOUSLY, I want to know how the Kingdom Hearts characters will be involved with that because of the time loop.
I hope you're not too hard on Starlight because she is easily one of my favorite characters.
No like, intense and epic way to deal with the Starlight debacle. Hmmm, kind of hoping to see Trixie still come in and get some good character in. When the Changeling thing goes down, Sora is going to hug the heck out of them for helping deal with Chrysallis after what her timeline did to Kairi.
8630514
I agree with you 100 percent on that. The punishments were a nice touch.
I would have gone with having a mental spell that made Starlight see every timeline and the consequences of what she had and could have done to Equestria and all the other worlds with her foolish actions but have the spell be on a loop so that it would pound it into her head how much she has F-D up with her petty and blinded reasons leading her to do what she did.
I am fully cought up love the story
*xions theme plays* I WAS NOT READY FOR THESE FEELS!
Just flash out the next chapter you devil and take a break. You need it.
8632700
I take a break when I go to work, or procrastinate, or work on another story. I'm actually hoping to get through the end of this season before KH3 comes out, which I can't wait for. COME OUT ALREADY, GAME!
8632901
You still got time. The game will out somewhere in 2018.
8632901
I hear it will be out in 2018, but what day we will never know. but I have a feeling you want to know that way you can put your all into this so that this could lead up to what happens in Kingdom Hearts 3 and any other adventures with them. right?
After finally setting things back the way they are and getting Starlight to end her revenge plan, Sora & Twilight have made it back their timeline. But even though Starlights life was spared, Sora was still physically and emotionally hurt by the timelines she caused with everyone at worry. Will Twilight be able to convince everypony to forgive Starlight? How will Kairi take it knowing the horror Sora went through and suffer from? Will Sora ever recover from the time travels with what it has effect on his heart? & what punishment will Starlight have to take for the harm that she has done? The conclusion and Starlights judgement takes place, Next time on My Little Pony Soras misadventures in Equestria!
8632901
8633209
8633387
I heard a rumor that an announcement will happen in February. Other rumors place a release month at sometime around July to September. we'll see soon.
Yeah that's not a threat at all; what'd he do, kill her? Kill his best friend's girlfriend and the Element of Magic bearer, and one of the princesses?
I doubt he'd even injure her, because of Riku and the girls, and because of losing Twilight's trust.
So yeah, pointless threat display.