My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

Viva Las Pegasus

Sora woke up beside Kairi, fully rested, but still a bit groggy. He had a dreamless sleep, mentally exhausted from his long week of drama, misery, and frustration. It only seemed to be getting worse after encountering a mysterious person who not only sounded like his father, Kaito, but also fought like him, too. Sitting up, being careful not to wake Kairi from her slumber, he stretched his limbs, then grimaced as he got a whiff of himself. He didn't have much of a chance to clean himself up after several days out at sea, spending an evening unconscious out at sea before being "rescued", and hanging out with Donald, Goofy, Max, P.J., and Bobby in Disney Town all day yesterday.

Climbing out of bed, Sora walked into the bathroom, stepping into the shower after turning on the water. He winced as the cold water hit him, waking him up more before it started to warm up. Letting out a sigh, Sora leaned against the wall as he let the shower head spray down on him, his thoughts racing as he contemplated how this last month has been nothing but a roller coaster of emotional torment. He was connected to everyone he meets, basically the "key" to those connections that also affected their lives after witnessing the events that could have been in the times he had died in the alternate timelines. It still bothered him, and now it only got worse as he traveled back in time again to find out the truth about his father's fate along with meeting this man who spoke and fought just like his father.

"Ugh...What is happening to me?" Sora questioned. "Why can't I just have a simple, normal day without something going wrong?" He let out a heavy sigh as he ran his hoof over his soaked mane. "I think I need a vacation..." As if he had just tempted the Goddess of Fate herself, his winced when he felt that all familiar buzzing coming from his flank. He didn't need to look down to see his cutie mark was glowing, signalling the map calling him for another friendship mission. "I guess I don't deserve a vacation right now."

"Sora!" Kairi called out, barging through the bathroom door. Sora let out a high-pitched scream, trying to cover himself, realizing a second later that A: he was a pony, already used to walking around with nothing on, and B: he and Kairi were highly intimate with each other, so walking in on each other naked wasn't a problem between them. "The map's calling me, and I am a mess! Scooch over!"

Without getting any response accepting sharing a shower, Kairi jumped in, making Sora slip and fall over. He was in close proximity to get a closeup of her flanks, her cutie mark glowing like his. Sitting back up while trying his hardest not to imagine what he would do with her plot, he grumbled a little as his girlfriend hogged the shower head.

"Am I not allowed to take a manly shower now?" Sora asked.

"Is there a difference between how men and women shower?" Kairi answered with her own question. "You see, Sora, I actually USE a bathroom to get cleaned. Not the ocean."

"Huh?" After Kairi get her body soaked, she turned to face Sora and glared at him.

"Where did you go yesterday?" Kairi questioned. "And I don't want you lying to me! You smelt like saltwater last night!"

"What are you talking abo-?" Sora paused, then grimaced, recalling the scent that was on him this morning. That man who drenched him with that wave back in Disney Town still lingered on him after yesterday. Sora didn't want to lie to Kairi about meeting someone in a black coat, because as of now, aside from Lea, Xehanort's other vessels all wore those black coats, and that cutlass-wielding man could very well be one of them. He didn't want her or the others to worry about him meeting someone who could actually be one of Xehanort's thirteen seeds of darkness, but even he didn't know if that was true or not. "...Ok, before you jump to conclusions, I swear to you I did not go to Destiny Islands yesterday. I really was at Disney Town."

"They why do you smell like you swam in the ocean and didn't even rinse yourself off?" Kairi asked skeptically.

"There was a beach not too far from Disney Town," Sora lied, though unlike his surrogate sister, Applejack, he didn't scrunch his muzzle or look anywhere but at who he was talking to while making up anything. "We wound up spending more time in the water than on the beach unless we wanted to eat something."

Kairi raised a brow skeptically, silently judging his facial expressions for any subtle twinges that could lead to him lying. "...Alright, then. But you could have at least cleaned yourself off before plopping on the bed," Kairi said. "I bet your clothes need a wash as well." Using her magic, Kairi levitated Sora's jacket into the bathroom, dragging it in the shower with them and running it through the water from the shower. "No time to run it through a washer and hang it to dry since you're being called as well."

"So the shower's now a makeshift washing machine?" Sora asked.

"I don't want us to be late!" Kairi scolded, tossing Sora the bottle of shampoo. "Now, rub some soap in my hair."

"...You sure you wanted this to be quick?" he asked, a sly smirk growing on his muzzle. "Because it sounds like you want to-"

Sora's lips were suddenly sealed shut, Kairi's horn glowing as she levitated his clothes over the bathroom sink, wringing it dry as she leered at him. "You're on thin ice, mister," she growled. "You still owe me for scaring the heck out of me yesterday with your you-know-what form, and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt for where you went yesterday. So, zip it, get those thoughts out of your head, and wash my hair!"

Gulping heavily, Sora nodded his head and obeyed his beloved, lathering his hooves with enough shampoo and began running it through Kairi's mane and tail while also being quick about it. He hoped cleaning her off would be enough to repay her for scaring her when he used his improved Anti-Form in front of her, but the glare told him that wasn't going to be enough. Once they were both cleaned, and magicked dry through the pink unicorn's magic, they both got dressed and hurried down to the throne room to see where their cutie marks were leading them. Inside, Twilight was already there, along with Applejack and Fluttershy as their cutie marks glowed as well, all four called marks floating over a cloudy city, though this wasn't Cloudsdale as it seemed much bigger than the cloud city Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were raised in.

"The map is takin' us where!?" Applejack asked.

"Las Pegasus?" Fluttershy asked, just as astonished as the farm mare.

"We're going to Las Pegasus?" Sora asked curiously. "I don't think I've ever been there."

"Las Pegasus is wild vacation spot," Applejack briefly explained. "It's just one big party that never ends over there!"

"All those lights and sounds, not to mention the crowds..." Fluttershy whimpered, clearly evident that both she and Applejack were adamant on going to a rowdy city, the complete opposite of how they live their daily lives. "Just the thought of it is overwhelming!"

"I know that Las Pegasus doesn't seem like either of your cups of tea, but I have total faith you wouldn't have been called there unless you were the perfect ponies for the job," Twilight said to Fluttershy and Applejack, then looked at Sora and Kairi. "You two don't have a problem with that, right?"

"Considering how many worlds we go to, small towns or large cities, we can adapt pretty well," Kairi said.

"So...we're going off to a city that's a major vacation spot?" Sora asked. "...Is the map telling us to take a break and head off on a vacation?"

"Sora!" the girls exclaimed, making the stallion wince.

"Yeah, yeah. Friendship mission. I'm kidding," Sora said. "...Sort of..."

"What was that?" Kairi questioned.

"Nothing, dear!" he immediately said innocently.

While Sora was looking forward to going to Las Pegasus, Applejack and Fluttershy were unsure of themselves. Both their lives were basically out in the countryside, where it was quiet and peaceful as they relaxed in what nature gave them, or what they built for Applejack's case.

"...Well, it's probably not as bad as we think," Applejack said, looking on the positive side of the situation. "It can't be a loud, obnoxious party all the time...right?"

---

"Uhh, Applejack? It isn't as bad as we thought," Fluttershy said.

"You're right," Applejack agreed. The group of four had already arrived in Las Pegasus, and unfortunately for Applejack and Fluttershy, the grand city in the sky was not so quiet in the middle of the day. Ponies from all over Equestria coming for a vacation, or even those who are local, were loud as they went from one building to another: food courts, casinos, rollercoasters, hotels, everything and anything with flashing lights to catch tourists' eyes and get them to spend their bits at the many attractions for their leisure. "It's worse!"

"Wow. Talk about a city that never sleeps," Sora uttered with a whistle, avoiding ponies running past them to another attraction for their day of fun. "Are we absolutely sure that the map isn't messed up right now and actually sent us on a vacation, not a friendship mission?"

"Twilight and Starlight fixed it and the last mission involved Ven, Aqua, Pinkie, and Rarity sent to solve a friendship problem," Kairi reminded her boyfriend irritably. "Let's focus on solving the problem, and if you're thinking of splurging and having a good time, you're going to splurge over what I want."

"Kairi, can't I take a little break!?" Sora argued. "Aqua took a vacation! Terra had technically been on a long vacation! You stayed in bed when you got sick your first winter in Equestria! Why not have some fun while we're here!?" Kairi glared at him, her gaze warning him not to cross her. She had that look that told him she was going to tell Applejack and Fluttershy something he didn't want anyone else to know, and he folded, letting out a sigh and slumped in defeat. "...Alright. We're here on business, not pleasure."

"Good." As Kairi moved on ahead to the main hotel, Applejack and Fluttershy couldn't help but notice the strangely frustrating tension between the couple.

"Sora, is Kairi ok?" Fluttershy asked.

"...Yeah...I think...she's just mad at me," Sora said.

"What did ya do?" Applejack asked.

"We...uhh..." His cheeks began to turn pink, nervous and embarrassed about explaining how the situation started. "I woke up and got in the shower, and when we were called by the map...she kinda...jumped in and we took one together." Now it was Fluttershy's turn to blush, while Applejack smirked and raised a brow at Sora curiously. "She was rushing me, and when I tried to tease her, she sealed my mouth shut and subtly threatened me not to pull any funny business...Although, that's not what she's mad about."

"What did she mean by that?" Applejack asked again. "She said ya went to see Donald and Goofy in Disney Castle yesterday. Ya didn't go elsewhere, did ya?"

"Or...elsewhen?" Fluttershy added nervously.

"No, no time travel. I swear," Sora said. "...I don't think she really believes me, though."

Sora, Applejack, and Fluttershy hurried after Kairi before getting lost in the massive crowd. The group entered the massive doors to the giant hotel, where they could see just about everything involving entertainment that could make anyone of any age to stare in awe: there were more casinos, a game corner with different varieties of arcade games, a few coasters that snaked their way around every part of the hotel aside from hotel rooms, an auditorium with several different performances that play every day, and much more that made it feel more like an inside amusement park.

"Maybe the map might be on the fritz on who they sent," Fluttershy said. "This place seems more suited for Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie."

"If Twilight trusts the map, then so do Ah," Applejack said. "All we gotta do is solve the friendship problem and head on back home. Of course, we have to find it first."

"And make sure to experience our signature show, Ponet Fantastique!" a stallion said at a nearby podium, showing off portraits of the performances and the ponies doing them. "Trust me when I say you haven't seen anything like it! Unparalleled acrobatics! Unique animal antics! Your only regret will be that you didn't see it sooner! And like everything at this amazing, incredible, I-can't-believe-it-even-exists hotel, Ponet Fantastique is brought to you by the chairman of kindness - Gladmane himself!"

Already, the guests couldn't wait to see this fantastic show held in the hotel as many of them gathered over to see the performers and the titles of their acts. The announcer had even pointed to a gold statue that rested in the center of the main lobby, which showed an earth pony stallion on his hind legs, his mane styled in a pompadour as he wore a shirt and cape that flowed behind him. The cutie mark was hard to tell with the gold-crafted statue, but it looked like a couple of bits with sparkles around the coins.

"Wow," Fluttershy said in awe. "This Gladmane sure seems impressive."

"Well, it is a little embarrassing." Surprised, the group turned around to see Gladmane himself standing behind them, the statue matching his looks as the stallion had a purple coat and his mane a light indigoish and light mulberryish gray. He wore a blue formal jacket with a white undershirt, a flashy, sparkling blue cape, and wore an orange and yellow polka-dotted bow tie around his neck. "The crowds sure do seem to like it, though."

"Mr. Gladmane?" Applejack asked.

"Just Gladmane'll do," the stallion said. "And it is quite a pleasure to meet the actual cohorts of the Princess of Friendship! And Equestria's toughest warriors with those famously unique weapons! Thank you all for coming."

"You know about us?" Sora asked curiously.

"I'm what you call a friendship connoisseur, so naturally I'm familiar with the friends of the great Twilight Sparkle and Sora!" Gladmane said. "Applejack, Fluttershy, an honor to have you here." The stallion chuckled, then turned to Kairi, taking her hoof and kissed it. "And Kairi, the marefriend of Sora and magically gifted."

"Uhh, thank you?" Kairi said, a little surprised by Gladmane's gentlemanly greeting toward her. She noticed Sora looked a bit miffed, feeling envious as he watched the older stallion. Pulling her hoof away, she cleared her throat, getting to the bottom of their visit than getting buttered up by the hotel owner. "You don't seem to be the type of pony who...fits in with the excitement of Las Pegasus."

Gladmane laughed at the others expectations of him. "Well, my guests may be looking for lights, music, and parties, but working hard and making friends is how I turned this hotel into what it is today, and how I plan to make it even bigger." He chuckled again, Sora finding his laughter unsettling, along with his hair. "Excuse me for a moment." Gladmane cleared his throat, pushing a button he held on him that lowered a microphone down to him, grabbing it with his hoof as he lowered it down to his muzzle. "Wise ponies may say the folks that come here are customers, but I can't help but thinking of each and every one of you as friends," he said, his voice coming out through the intercoms set up all around the hotel. "That's why there's a three-for-one special on apple fritters in the cafe in the next hour! Enjoy!"

Everyone in the hotel cheered and chatted with each other over the great deal, surprising the visiting friendship problem solvers at how good of an owner Gladmane was. "Hope them apple fritters are as good as Applejack's," Sora murmured to himself.

Pushing the mic back up, Gladmane looked back at his VIP guests. "Would you all like a tour of the place? I was just about to make my rounds and check on my friends who work here."

Sora, Kairi, Applejack, and Fluttershy looked at each other, this opportunity giving them the chance to find any signs of a friendship problem within this grand hotel. "Well, I guess we can't so no to that," Applejack said. "Lead the way, Mr. Gladmane!"

"Just Gladmane now, you hear?" Gladmane insisted.

---

Gladmane lead the way as he showed the four ponies around his hotel. The first destination was in the auditorium where the shows were held, guided backstage where they found an earth pony mare busy doing some stretches. She looked like the mare who was on one of the posters back in the main lobby who was on the flying trapeze, her coat a light yellow with her ocean green mane curled in a stylish fashion, wearing a pink leotard with a missing sleeve for her left foreleg. There were all sorts of props and backdrops, used for the scheduled performances Gladmane had set up for the shows.

While stretching, the trapeze performer spotted Gladmane and his guests, suddenly giddy at the sight of the owner and ran up to him. "Gladmane, you are just in time to see my newest move!"

"New moves or not, I'm glad to have a star like you working for me, I'll tell you what," Gladmane said, making the acrobat giggle.

"Oh, don't make me blush!" she said. "Watch this!"

With surprising strength, she leapt up onto the trapeze bar high in the air, swinging for some momentum and performed a stylish flip, landing on the bar and posed on one foreleg. Sora blew a raspberry, not impressed with how agile he was, either on the ground or in the air. Kairi punched him in the shoulder hard, warning him to keep his mouth shut and not discourage the performer in front of Gladmane.

"Stellar!" Gladmane complimented, letting out his usual, three-pronged chuckle that made Sora cringe.

Walking onto the set, a light blue unicorn stallion with a blue and light azure mane, along with a bushy beard and a pair of small glasses on his muzzle stepped in, who must be the director of the trapeze show. "Oh! Monsieur Gladmane himself is here!" the stallion gasped in surprise. "Let's run through the whole routine!"

"Now, don't make a fuss for ol' me," Gladmane said, declining seeing the practice run for the routine for tonight. "I'm just going to keep on giving a tour to my new friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Sora, and Kairi."

"When did we establish we were friends?" Sora asked, earning a hard nudge in the side by Kairi. "Agh! What!?"

"Just stop talking or you're going to dig a bigger hole," Kairi grumbled.

"What hole? I was asking a question." Sora rubbed his side, confused by his girlfriend's bitterness toward him.

"If zis pony calls you friend, you're welcome backstage anytime!" the director said. "I owe him my entire career."

"Aw, shucks. No need to owe me anything," Gladmane said. "Well, let's leave the artists to their work and continue onward!"

As they moved on to the next part of the tour, Applejack leaned over to Sora and whispered to him. "Doesn't look like there's any friendship problems here."

"So far," Sora whispered back. "I kinda wish there isn't and give a good excuse to stay here for a while."

"Sora, we got a lot of work on the farm to do," Applejack chided.

"I know, but I need something bigger to distract myself after what happened to me yesterday," Sora uttered.

Before Applejack could ask why, fearing what Sora had really done yesterday, Fluttershy gasped when they saw several cages in the distance. At the other end of the stage, inside those cages were prairie dogs with pink fur, an odd and rare sight to see as the animal-loving pegasus fluttered over to the cages excitedly.

"I've never seen a pink prairie dog before!" she squealed, flying up to each cage to greet the prairie dogs, who immediately took a liking to her as they squeaked and yipped.

"I like the folks that come here to have a unique experience," Gladmane said.

"Und we love him for it!" Looking over to the door that lead to the green room, Sora shrieking in shock at the two stallions posing with an elegant flair.

These two unicorn stallions were also seen in posters in the main lobby for their own performance, although their outfits and makeup made them look oddly feminine despite their squared muzzles and other masculine features. They both wore different outfits, though they matched with their white and pink coloring, one of them in a white tux with pink tiger stripes, a pink, floofy undershirt, and a matching pink bow, his coat a light blue with magenta and light pink hair, the other in a white suit, with pants, the shirt bearing similar pink tiger stripes with the shirt opened to show off his chest, and a gold chain necklace, this stallion's coat a slightly darker shade of lavender with darker magenta and pink hair. Their faces made Sora cringe as they seemed to have had a facelift, making Granny Smith's own temporary lift more professionally done than what these two had. There was one more prairie dog with them, these two unicorns apparently the owners of the pink ones, although this one was pure white with pink tiger stripes on its face, back, and legs, which made Fluttershy squeal harder at the more unique critter.

"With Gladmane's help, we've been able to take care of all these little guys!" one of the stallions said, having the same accent as they both pet the white prairie dog.

"Now this place is overwhelming in a good way!" Fluttershy said excitedly, managing to find a positive outlook on Las Pegasus's party-hard lifestyle thanks to the prairie dogs.

"Glad you like it," Gladmane said, taking the compliment in stride as he continued along to show the group more of the hotel.

Before the others could follow, they heard the prairie dogs squeaking, finding Fluttershy had let them out as they all climbed over her as she seemed to be having the time of her life. "Uh, Fluttershy?" Applejack called out.

"Oh!" the pegasus exclaimed, nearly forgetting about the tour, the two unicorns levitating their animal performers off Fluttershy, highly amused by her fascination with their pets. "Coming!"

The tour continued, and to the visitors' surprise, there didn't seem to be any friendship problems around. Gladmane didn't seem to have any issues, his employees are doing well, and other guests aren't complaining about the hotel with all the different specials the owner gave out after an inspiring announcement throughout the whole building. After the end of the tour and getting a good look around, Gladmane left Sora, Kairi, Applejack, and Fluttershy to their own devices during their stay.

"There really doesn't seem to be anythin' wrong here," Applejack said. "Ah figured lookin' for a friendship problem in Las Pegasus would be like tryin' to find a needle in a stack of needles, but everypony's gettin' along just fine."

"Guess it was a false alarm," Sora said. "How about we spend the rest of the day enjoying it here and head back tomorrow morning?"

"No, Sora," Kairi scolded. "The map said there was a friendship problem here, and if it takes us a month to figure it out, we're focusing on that. NOT wasting time doing something we're not supposed to be doing."

"What is the matter with you, Kairi?" Sora questioned, getting irritated by his girlfriend's sudden hostility toward him. "Ever since this morning, you've been rioting me when I tried to be all flirty when you jumped in the shower with me. And when did you start getting so serious on focusing on the mission we're on?"

"Oh, nothing," Kairi said, her tone seething with sarcasm. "I just want to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to. What I swore I was doing so I don't look stupid when I lie to someone's face."

"What!? When did I lie to you!?" Sora exclaimed.

"As if I believe a thing you said to me this morning!" Kairi yelled. "I know what Disney Town's layout looks like! And you said you went to the beach with Donald, Goofy, and whoever else you were with yesterday? Pth! There's no beach anywhere near the town!"

"So we could have been to another part of their world where there is a beach! Why are you getting defensive about that!?" Applejack and Fluttershy felt uncomfortable as the couple argued, never once hearing them go at it with this much ferocity.

"Then maybe Applejack can clarify for you. You know, being the Element of Honesty, she can easily see through someone else's horseapples," Kairi growled.

"Now, hold on a second, y'all," Applejack interjected. "Ah don't know what happened between ya this mornin', but this is gettin' ridiculous."

"I'm not lying," Sora grumbled. "I was just hanging out with Donald and Goofy yesterday. And Goofy's son and his friends. End of story!"

While they argued, they heard a stallion near the entrance to the theater where the Ponet Fantastique show was being held announcing one of the shows. "Ladies and gentleponies, despite what my competition might say, I know you've come to this fair city to be entertained, and I assure you there is nothing more entertaining than the astounding acrobatics in Gladmane's Ponet Fantastique!"

Sora's ears perked up, along with Applejack's, both of them clearly recognizing the owner of that utterly convincing voice. "I swear, Sora, you are such a-" Sora quickly shoved his hoof against Kairi's lips, ticking her off more as she wanted to bite him for interrupting her like that.

"That voice," he uttered. "There's no way that's-"

"Now, I suppose that might be true if it weren't for the existence, and far superiorly entertaining presence, of the show-stopping exotic animal act that Ponet Fantastique includes!" another stallion said, and yet again familiar, only making Sora and Applejack's fears worsen.

"No," Applejack uttered. "It can't be..."

Kairi let out a confused noise, still muffled by Sora's hoof as all four ponies turned to the auditorium entrance. "...It is," Sora growled.

"Flim and Flam," Sora and Applejack said, recognizing the twin unicorn brothers with their barbershop quartet sans two attire as they stood on opposite ends of the entrance, which was odd considering these two are usually never apart when stating a pitch in their get-rich-quick schemes.

"Why, I won't even dignify that assertion with a response!" Flim said, levitating several tickets in his green aura to the acrobatic show. "Except to say that if you were to consider buying your tickets from ME, I might consider offering them to YOU at a substantial discount!"

"But I've always thought you get what you pay for!" Flam argued, holding up tickets for the exotic prairie dog show in the same fashion his twin is. "And in my humble opinion, THESE tickets are a value at twice the price!"

"Don't let this price-gouging charlatan take you for a ride!" Flim exclaimed, making his brother gasp in legitimate shock.

"Charlatan? How dare you!?" Flam yelled.

"Oh, how dare I!?" Flim yelled back.

The twins then began arguing with each other, completely ignoring the hotel guests and their pitches altogether and focused on the sudden feud they now had. Sora and Applejack looked at each other, none of them sure why the FlimFlam Brothers were fighting with each other, but they didn't seem to mind as Sora began to grin.

"Yes. Yes!" he exclaimed. "Sweet, sweet redemption!" Kairi rolled her eyes, shoving Sora's hoof out of her mouth as he celebrated in the feuding twins squabbling. "Those two have had it coming for years, and now they're fighting each other!"

"Aren't they usually able to get along with each other?" Fluttershy asked as she recalled the last time Flim and Flam came to Ponyville. "...You don't suppose we've been brought here to help them, have we?"

Sora's grin melted away, his cheering silenced as he and Applejack looked at each other again, this time in horror. Neither of them liked the idea of the map asking them to fix the friendship of the two brothers who tried to run the Apple family out of their farm with their Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 and almost got Granny Smith killed after convincing the sick ponies in Ponyville their tonic was a miracle cure-all.

"Absolutely not!" Applejack exclaimed angrily.

"Applejack, I know you and your family, including Sora, have had issues with them in the past," Fluttershy reasoned. "But they're definitely having some trouble. And solving a friendship problem is important, no matter who's having it."

"Anyone but those sleazy salesponies!" Sora shouted, earning a smack in the back of the head from Kairi. "Agh! Will you stop hitting me, Kairi!? I'm not going to help them, no matter what you try to do to guilt trip me!"

"Then what if I said I know something that you don't want the others to know about, because you're so self-conscious about your own strength to believe you're not weak?" Kairi asked, glaring at her boyfriend with her forelegs crossed against her chest.

Sora stammered, getting too frustrated and let out a yell. "You know what!? Go ahead and tell Applejack and Fluttershy! Tell the others! I'm already having a stressful enough time as it is, and you verbally and physically beating me up isn't helping me with what I've already been through! I don't care anymore!"

"You sure are stressed after 'going to the beach with your friends' like you said!" Kairi yelled.

"Uhh, is this a bad time?" Gladmane said, overhearing the couple's argument after breaking up Flim and Flam's a few seconds ago. Sora and Kairi leered at each other, dropping their argument with a huff and looked away from each other. "I do apologize about Flim and Flam. I don't know why, but those two have been fighting ever since they got here. I thought giving them these jobs might help, but I guess it only made matters worse."

"Sounds like a good thing, if you ask me," Sora grumbled.

"Trust us, Gladmane. Sora and Ah know those ponies, and you're better off with them apart," Applejack said. "The two of them together will cheat the hooves right out from under ya!"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Gladmane said, able to tell just from their ways of winning over guests to buy tickets for his shows. "Flim is such a showpony, and Flam has such a head for business. Why, if they ever did work together, they'd be running the place in two shakes! Ah, speaking of which, I need to get back to work. Y'all enjoy your stay now, you hear?"

With that, Gladmane headed off to continue keeping his hotel running smoothly, leaving the quartet of guests alone. As Sora and Kairi looked at each other, they only gave each other a glare, clearly lacking any trust between each other over where Sora had gone yesterday.

"I'm pretty sure we should help Flim and Flam," Fluttershy suggested, going with her gut instinct that the unicorn twins were the friendship problem they needed to solve.

"No. No way, no how!" Sora exclaimed. "After all they did, they don't deserve to even be together again! Let them hate each other until they're old farts! There's gotta be another friendship problem that DOESN'T involve them!"

"And if it is, you'll only make yourself look more like an idiot when you're entirely wrong!" Kairi said. "Isn't that we're supposed to do? Help others and do our job to bring peace, both in the world AND between others? Remember?"

"You don't have to get cynical with me, Kairi," Sora growled. "Besides, those two don't deserve any retribution."

"Fine, then! Fluttershy and I will talk to Flim and Flam and fix their relationship, whether you like it or not!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Good for you! Applejack and I will find the ACTUAL problem, and you'll feel so silly when you realize you're hoping for a lost cause!" Sora argued back.

"Good!" Kairi shouted.

"Good!" Sora shouted back.

"FINE!" they both yelled before storming off, Sora pushing his surrogate sister while Kairi dragged Fluttershy with her magic to where Flim and Flam were.

Applejack and Fluttershy looked at each other, both of them having the same idea as the one forcing them along, though giving each other a worried glance as they believed another friendship problem might need to be solved.

---

"Ungrateful, stupid idiot," Kairi muttered under her breath. "He promised he wouldn't hide anymore secrets from me, and yet he still does. Can't even be honest with me, but he can when it involves Applejack and the rest of the Apples, the others, but not his own girlfriend..."

Fluttershy didn't want to interrupt Kairi, fearing the unicorn's wrath as they searched for Flim and Flam. Unfortunately, the twins were split apart, though they weren't hard to find as they definitely stood out among the other unicorns with their attire. Once Kairi was calm enough to try to get the brothers' situation settled, the mares split up and found them, Kairi spotting Flim at one of the booths in the food court, Fluttershy finding Flam wandering about at the opposite end of the room. As they got to questioning the two, their answers were quite hurtful toward their sibling.

"Well, Kairi, I hope you didn't travel all the way from Ponyville for nothing," Flim said to the unicorn. "Though knowing Sora is around, I'd rather hang out with him rather than my no-account brother."

"Brother?" Flam questioned Fluttershy, scoffing at the mention of Flim. "I don't believe I HAVE one of those."

"No!" Flim exclaimed after Kairi tried to consider the twins reconcile. "I already know what he thinks of me! All show and no substance! Well, if he's so smart, he should have no trouble becoming a big success on his own!"

"'Ooh, why, he's the greatest salespony that ever lived, of course!' Just ask him," Flam grumbled to Fluttershy. "He'll tell you ALL about it."

"I'm sure you can work out your differences if you just sat down and talked to each other," Fluttershy suggested.

"I'm never speaking to that pony again!" the FlimFlam Brothers said to the mares who approached them, Kairi and Fluttershy letting out a sigh as they ended their questioning and regrouped.

"Well, that didn't work," Kairi said as she and Fluttershy sat at a booth, exchanging what notes they gathered from each brother. "Flim thinks being around Sora after he holds a grudge against them is a lot better than being around Flam." She blew a raspberry and muttered angrily. "He needs to learn to grow up."

"Umm...Are you going to be ok?" Fluttershy asked. "I've never seen you and Sora fight like that...ever."

"Well, he's going to get a lot worse if he doesn't start telling me the truth," Kairi grumbled. "He thinks he has me fooled, but I've been in his heart before. I know when he's pulling the wool over my eyes or hiding something he doesn't want me to know. And I don't want him hiding anymore secrets from me if they keep bothering him. He says he went to the beach yesterday with Donald, Goofy, and Goofy's son and his friends, but that's a load of bull when that saltwater scent on him smelled exactly like how the water was in Destiny Islands!"

"Was it really?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"Yes, and I don't need an enhanced sense of smell as a pony to pick up that homely hint around him that evening," Kairi stated. "There's no beach near Disney Town, and if there was a beach, I didn't see any from the Galactic Map that was even close to less than ten miles away from the castle."

"So...he went home?" the pegasus asked nervously.

"Possibly, and if he so much as tried to do anymore time traveling to try to fix his mistake and lie to me about never doing it again, I'm going to zap him so hard with lightning that he's going to be permanently sterile!" Kairi yelled, her horn glowing as she began losing control of her anger. A slight wind picked up around her, making Fluttershy whimper as she felt a breeze coming from indoors. Kairi took in a deep breath, unaware of her magical surge almost being let out, focusing on the subject at hand than dealing with Sora being dishonest with her. "Let's just find a way to get Flim and Flam together and get them to talk. I'll even do it by force if necessary."

"...Oh dear," Fluttershy mumbled to herself, scooching away from Kairi slightly while she was engrossed with what they had gotten so far.

---

Sora and Applejack strolled through the arcade, passing by several different arcade cabinets that many of the ponies were busy playing while others gathered around to watch or wait in line for their turn. As much as Sora wanted to have fun, he was too upset to distract himself with the hotel's massive game corner after Kairi had been acting so harshly toward him over what he told her. He was being honest about where he went, just not what really happened when that mysterious "friend" came to his and his friends' rescue. Applejack could see the irritated tension on his face as she walked alongside him while they tried to find other friendship problems that didn't involve the FlimFlam Brothers.

"Ya feelin' alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Ah don't think Ah ever saw the two of ya go at it like that. Doesn't really count when most of the physical stuff is with trainin', but...this seems real serious."

"She thinks I'm lying to her," Sora said, letting out a frustrated sigh. "And she's right."

"What!?" Applejack exclaimed. "Then why didn't ya admit it!?"

"Applejack, I don't want to believe what I saw yesterday at Disney Town," Sora said. "I don't even know if it's even possible for him to be around again."

"'He'?" Applejack asked.

Sora let out a groan, hating keeping secrets like this, especially when all he wanted to do was forget everything that happened yesterday and his time traveling discoveries and move past all of it. He already leaked out there was someone else, and Applejack knew that it wasn't Donald or Goofy he was talking about. They both stopped outside the backstage entrance to the theater, no one thankfully around to overhear them.

"...Alright. I know it's impossible for me to lie around someone who's practically an Element of Harmony who always follows the route of being truthful, and can easily tell if someone's lying around her, so...I'll tell you," Sora said.

"And why not Kairi?" Applejack asked, worried about their relationship if he doesn't tell his girlfriend what truly happened.

"Because...I don't want to believe it myself," he admitted. Taking in a deep breath, Sora let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his hoof over his face. "...At Disney Town, Pete attacked us from out of nowhere. He surrounded us with Heartless and several hundred bombs, and someone came out of nowhere to save us from three giant bombs that could have not only blown us up, but also take out a big part of town...He wore a black coat, the same kind worn by Organization XIII, or Xehanort's vessels as of right now."

"What? One of them 'helped' you?" Applejack asked, utterly confused by the information.

"Yeah, but I don't even know if he's really an ally or an enemy...because..." Sora grimaced, unable to get the figure's voice and fighting style out of his head.

Just as he was about to tell Applejack who he thought it was, they heard something coming from behind the curtains that lead backstage. "No! You are ruining my show!"

Curious, both Sora and Applejack poked their heads through the curtain, despite the sign on the wall showing that only authorized personnel were allowed through, wholly or partially. They found the trapeze acrobat and the director, the mare wearing a magician's hat as the duo appeared to be arguing about something.

"It isn't just YOUR show, and I'M improving it!" the mare argued.

"You don't pull a rabbit out of a hat ON the trapeze!" the director exclaimed, finding the acrobat's improvement was absurd.

"That is the point; to give the audience something they've never seen before!" she defended. "Acrobatic magic!" The acrobat leapt up onto the bar again, swinging herself hard enough to flip up on top, then took off her hat with a pose. A gray rabbit popped out and posed on cue, the short performance not impressing the stallion as he rolled his eyes. "It's called 'blending genres', and it's awesome!"

"You know, I could watch that," Sora uttered, imagining a magic show while a trapeze artist flips and swings several feet in the air.

"Shouldn't we try to do somethin'?" Applejack asked.

"They've been doing this since they started working here." Sora and Applejack yelped, neither of them noticing another pony who was backstage as well. From the clipboard and headset, they figured the stallion was one of the stagehands, making sure everything was all set for the upcoming shows. "It's too bad, really. If they ever stopped yelling at each other, we could take the show on tour. They'd be way more successful than staying at Gladmane's."

"Really?" Sora asked. "This sounds like a friendship problem. Hah! Kairi's going to feel dumb when she thinks helping Flim and Flam is the right solution!"

"Wait, before we try to fix this, what were ya about to say earlier?" Applejack asked, getting them back on topic with what Sora was about to tell her.

They were again distracted by the exotic prairie dog performance being practiced at the other end of the stage. One of the stallions of the pair levitated a hoop for their pets to jump through, then climbed on top of each other to form a tower. The other came in and saw the formation, letting out an irritated huff as he approached his partner.

"Stop! What are you doing!?" the lavender stallion exclaimed. "It's supposed to be a pink prairie dog PYRAMID! It's alliterative!"

The prairie dogs broke out of the tower and clambered around to form a pyramid. "Wha-You said a tower!" the light blue stallion argued. "Why do you keep changing everything!?"

The prairie dogs let out a squeaky, exhausted sigh as they reformed the tower formation. "I'm not changing anything! YOU said pyramid!"

The light blue unicorn let out a feminine shriek of frustration and stormed off. "You are driving me crazy!"

Even though there was yet another friendship problem, it struck Sora and Applejack odd as they saw these two flashy stallions had gotten along pretty well. Maybe out in the open, but behind closed doors, it was a whole other story. They could even tell the prairie dogs were a bit frustrated with their owners' constant bickering and arguing.

"What's gotten into you two?" Applejack asked the lavender stallion. "Ah thought you two got along."

"We used to, but we just can't seem to agree on anything anymore," he said. "We used to perform all over Equestria, but if we can't agree on a new act, we may as well stay at Gladmane's forever."

The other stallion walked off to try to cool down, stomping his hoof in command to have the prairie dogs follow him. Now the situation became an odd coincidence. Both sets of performers would probably do a lot better with their shows held in other parts of Equestria, but their fighting has forced them to stay here at Gladmane's extravagant hotel. As much as Sora and Applejack hated to think it, but Flim and Flam also did their best work scamming ponies throughout Equestria as well, and since they wound up here, they've been constantly arguing with each other for some strange reason, unable to leave and find other potential suckers to buy their over-exaggerated products.

"Something strange is going on here," Sora uttered. "Two other friendship problems, and they're stuck here because of their fighting when they could be more successful going on tour..."

"Ah think we should find Fluttershy and Kairi, see what they managed to get from Flim and Flam," Applejack suggested, making Sora groan, but he nodded his head in agreement.

---

Sora and Applejack made their way to the food court, getting themselves a bite to eat before seating themselves at Kairi and Fluttershy's table. The other two mares got their food as they sat to think, though Sora sat at the other side of the booth, the couple giving each other the cold shoulder as Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged information.

"So, that's three friendship problems in the same place if we include Flim and Flam's," Fluttershy stated, Sora giving Kairi a smug grin while the unicorn fumed in anger at his arrogance.

"Ah ain't countin' Flim and Flam since those two not bein' friends ain't a big deal," Applejack said.

"It isn't for Gladmane," Fluttershy said. "It sounds like he's better off with them fighting. All three pairs."

Sora dropped his ego as his hunch was on the ball. "...Yeah, that's true," he said. "Both the trapeze act and the animal act would be a lot better on the road, but because of their fighting, they're not getting anywhere."

"Does he even know they're fighting?" Fluttershy asked.

"Not sure, but Ah think we should find out." The group nodded at Applejack's suggestion, finishing up their lunch before heading back to the theater to speak with the performers one-on-one.

Sadly, they had nothing good to say about their partners, though they had plenty of positive praise for Gladmane. They all claimed Gladmane was a genuinely nice and sincere owner, though with how poorly they spoke of their partner after addressing the stallion, it was like he was only extremely friendly to each of them when their teammate is not around. While talking to both pairs of performers, Fluttershy got some more info from the animals that are part of their acts. When they returned to the food court, they barely got anywhere as they got the same exact response from each pony.

"Guess it's back to the drawing board," Sora muttered.

"Gladmane is definitely benefiting from their feuding, but he's basically everyone's best friend," Kairi added. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Well, Bernard - the adorable bunny from the acrobat's act - claims that every morning, Gladmane tells the director that the star wants control of the show, and every afternoon, he tells the star that the director wants to get rid of her," Fluttershy said, surprising the group at the animal-lover's findings. "But neither of them are true!"

"What?" Sora asked.

"And the Flying Prairinos - the pink prairie dog family - say Gladmane keeps changing their act to make each trainer think the other is doing it!" Fluttershy added.

"...So that explains it," Applejack said, irritated at how Gladmane's "friendliness" is more of a ruse, forcing pairs in a performance or any other profession that could benefit his hotel to argue with each other and stay so he can keep making money off them. "All his talk of friendship is nothin' but a load of moldy applesauce! He's gettin' them to fight with each other on purpose!"

"I knew something was off about him the minute we saw him," Sora said. "Never trust anyone with a crazy hairstyle, an overly-friendly attitude, and a laugh that grates my eardrums!"

"So does that mean we can't trust YOUR hairstyle, Mr. Porcupine Hair?" Kairi questioned, making the stallion's eye twitch in irritation.

"Ok, this is drivin' us nuts!" Applejack exclaimed. "Sora, Kairi, whatever problems ya both got, suck it up so we can fix this problem, then we're gonna fix yours!"

"She keeps hitting me and keeps telling me I'm lying to her!" Sora exclaimed.

"Ya just told me earlier that ya were and ya didn't finish what ya wanted to tell me!" Applejack yelled back, making Sora flinch as his surrogate sister outright called him out.

"Ha! I knew you were lying to me!" Kairi exclaimed. "You can tell Applejack, but not me!? You trust her more than me!?"

"Everypony, stop!!!!" Fluttershy screamed, stopping the spiteful bickering. Clearing her throat, Fluttershy calmly spoke to them. "Sora, Kairi, Applejack is right. You two need to settle your problems and stop yelling at each other. But right now, if we want to help both pairs of performers and Flim and Flam, all four of us need to work together to expose Gladmane for the liar that he is. So, you two grow up, stop acting like foals, and talk out your problems when this is all over. Ok?" Sora and Kairi growled, but Fluttershy expected them not to heed her advice. "Do I have to use the Stare on both of you?"

"But-!" the couple began, only to be cut off when Fluttershy widened her eyes and glared at them, the Stare easily able to work on others aside from her uncooperative animal friends.

Sora and Kairi remained quiet, looking down as they obeyed Fluttershy's disapproving glance. "Good. Now, we're going to need a bit more help. And I think I know a pony who knows how to trick a trickster." They soon heard Flim and Flam bickering with each other again at the entrance to the auditorium, back at their positions to promote the acts forced to stay because of their own problems. Sora and Applejack began to dread who Fluttershy was talking about, but it did make sense, knowing how easy the twin unicorn salesponies can be with their persuasion and business tactics. "Or maybe a pair of ponies?"

"Please, don't," Sora begged. "Anyone else? Anyone but them???" Fluttershy shook her head as the only solution was the two stallions who caused so much trouble for the Apples and pegasus stallion. Sora grumbled, planting his face on the table. "...Fine...Maybe they are the friendship problem we need to solve..."

"Yeah. Maybe," Applejack disappointingly agreed.

The group stood up and approached the FlimFlam Brothers, putting an end to their fighting and getting them back together, to Sora and Applejack's dismay. "Excuse us, Flim and Flam," Fluttershy said.

The twins stopped and looked at the group, immediately wincing when they saw Sora among them. "Well, even though I hate you, I think we both still agree that being around Sora still gives me chills," Flim said.

"Yes, unfortunately so," Flam agreed.

Sora rolled his eyes and let out an irritated groan. "You don't have any crazy invention or a cart with a get-rich-quick scheme, so nothing of yours is going to get broken," he said. "...Unless its your bones, but that's only if you get hit by strike number three on my 'hurting-my-surrogate-family' list."

Both stallions gulped audibly, not wanting to strike out and risk feeling the pain of their last two failed plans while visiting Ponyville. "Anyway, threats from him on our friend's family aside," Fluttershy said, quickly changing the topic while gently pushing Sora a little further away from Flim and Flam. "We're here to help you resolve your issues with each other."

Flim and Flam raised a brow, looked at each other, their gaze turning into a glare before they turned away with a huff. "Sorry if I don't take the word of somepony off the street, even if that street is in Ponyville." Sora growled, giving Flim a death glare. "...Hehehehe! But it's a lovely street!"

"Gladmane's behind all sorts of friendship problems around here," Kairi said, getting back on topic as she pulled Sora's hood over his face with her magic. "Including yours."

"Impossible," Flam said.

"Improbable," Flim added. "Because the only problem I have is standing right there."

"Same here, buster!" Flam exclaimed, the brothers glaring at each other again.

Sora growled, pulling his hood off his head as he ignored Kairi still mistreating him to teach him a lesson. "Do you two even have any idea what you're fighting about?" he questioned. "Kairi and I know why we're fighting."

"Because you're turning into a pathological liar and hide so many secrets you'd need a vault to store them in?" Kairi asked.

"Look, Kairi, I will tell you everything, and Applejack will prove to you if I'm lying or not," Sora said. "Just please stop rioting me when you know I've already been through too much as it is!" Flim and Flam smirked as the young stallion was getting whipped by his girlfriend, only to melt back into worried grimaces when he glared at them. "Don't you dare laugh. And answer my question: do you know why you two are fighting?"

"Well, Gladmane let me know that EX-brother of mine thinks I'm just a mouthpiece without a single good idea!" Flim said, surprising Flam as he looked at his brother.

"What!? When did I say that about you!?" Flam questioned. "Gladmane told me that YOU think I couldn't sell heat lamps to yaks!"

"I did what?" Now it was Flim's turn to look shocked. "I never said that! Yaks would probably jump at the chance to buy heat lamps with your persuasion." As both brothers finally heard from their sibling at the appalling claims they "heard" from each other, they realized that neither of them had said those things at all. It came to them when they realized that Gladmane had lied to them, splitting them apart by talking to them one-on-one, making it seem like their own sibling wanted to stab them in the back. "...Gladmane...lied to us?"

"But, he couldn't have...He said we were his friends," Flam uttered, both brothers looking at each other as they now felt silly for thinking their own twin would disrespect them after all the ideas and plans they shared to get a lot of money.

"Why did you even believe Gladmane over your own brother?" Applejack asked the twins. They couldn't come up with an answer, feeling foolish as they always trusted each other and let the lies of a pony they met in Las Pegasus who offered them jobs to promote his shows override their trust and turned them against each other. "Ya seriously never told each other how ya felt about each other when somepony ya barely know tells you how your brother thought about ya?"

"...W-Well...I guess not," Flam uttered, his brother nodding bashfully in agreement. "We got so mad at each other that communicating never crossed our minds."

"And keeping secrets from someone you care about and hiding your feelings from them is a good way of losing them forever if it keeps going," Kairi said as she looked at Sora.

Sora's ears drooped, already regretting being dishonest with Kairi. He knew the affects his secrets and bottled up emotions can lead to, and he fears what could happen if they found out. It's already happened several times, most of them with his own darkness coming out when accessing his Drive Forms and hurting everyone around him, and the worst thing he would ever want to happen out of all this was losing his relationship with Kairi. She had every right to be mad at him, but not mad enough to want her to think about breaking up with him. Not after all they've been through together, what he had suffered through in the last couple months from both his times traveling back to the past.

"But...why would he lie to us?" Flim asked.

"So he doesn't have to worry about you two finding a way to swindle him out of this resort," Fluttershy answered.

"And if Ah'm tellin' ya he said it, you'll know it's true because..." Applejack paused, waiting for the twins to finish her sentence.

"You never lie," the FlimFlam Brothers said.

Applejack nodded, getting it right as they both looked at each other again, this time apologetically. "Brother, I'm sorry about...what I said to you," Flim said.

"Me too," Flam said. "I should have known you wouldn't have talked bad behind my back. All the years we worked together when we discovered our talents-"

"We've never been able to succeed if we're apart," Flim finished. "Can you forgive me, brother?"

"I already have, if you can forgive me as well," Flam said.

Both brothers came together and hugged, fixing their relationship after failing to communicate with each other about their problems because of the anger they had from Gladmane's lies. Despite them getting back together again, Applejack kind of felt glad, even if they had caused all sorts of trouble for her and her family.

"So, what should we do for some payback, brother?" Flim asked after the twins broke their hug. "Should we try the Canterlot Two-Step?"

"Mmm, we don't have any chickens," Flam said, making the others wonder why they would need chickens for one of their strange plans. "How about the Baltimare Flair?"

"Ah, my flair isn't what it used to be," Flim said.

"Listen here, y'all!" Gladmane said as his voice was heard over the intercoms. "If you're a friend of mine, you're entitled to a free night's stay, and everypony is a friend of mine! Thank you. Thank you very much."

They could hear the guests roar in excitement at the free deal, but Gladmane's announcement gave the twins the perfect plan as they gave each other a cheeky grin. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Flim asked.

"The High Roller Hustle!" Flam said, both brothers clapping each other's hooves.

"Ok, what in the hay are these plans?" Applejack asked.

"Trust us. When we're done, there won't be a pony in town who doesn't know the Applejack-iest truth about Gladmane!" Flam said. "...That is, assuming the four of you are willing to help us."

"As long as it can expose Gladmane for the rotten liar that he is, I'll suck it up and work with you two," Sora said. "What's the plan?"

"Well, can Kairi use her magic to turn herself invisible?" Flim asked.

"...I can...why?" Kairi asked curiously.

"Great!" Flam exclaimed. "And, Fluttershy, what size gown are you?"

---

Gladmane hummed as he walked about his grand resort, making sure everything was going just as he planned to keep his hotel a success. He soon heard ponies chatting in the main lobby and snapping pictures at someone they were crowding around.

"What's all the fuss now?" he asked.

"It's the grand matriarch of the Rich family, Impossibly Rich!" Flim said as he approached Gladmane. "She's one of the wealthiest ponies in Equestria. And she's taking pictures with Sora, one of Equestria's greatest heroes, who just so happens to be a close friend of Filthy Rich."

Gladmane hummed curiously, already seeing dollar signs as a very rich guest was in his establishment. "Well, why didn't somepony tell me? You know how I like to give VIP guests my personal touch."

"Actually, she's not a guest," Flim said. "Word is she's planning a resort of her own. I think she's here to scout the competition."

"Oh, really?" Gladmane uttered, suddenly beginning to feel nervous.

"And with her bits, she could take over the whole strip, hire away anypony she wants!" Gladmane growled at Flim and his claim. "Uh, not me, of course! I love it here! My good-for-nothing brother, on the other hoof..."

The owner huffed, Flim grinning as soon as the stallion turned away as his plan was already working. Gladmane approached the crowd, spotting "Impossibly Rich" with Sora, though the mare was actually Fluttershy in disguise. She wore a green wig to hide her pink mane, a pair of diamond-embedded glasses to hide her eyes, a purple dress with sparkling sequins that covered her tail, wings, and cutie mark, and a furry blue scarf around her neck.

"Oh, hey, Gladmane!" Sora greeted as he spotted the stallion. "I want you to meet Impossibly Rich! I was just talking to her about Filthy Rich's daughter, Diamond Tiara, and she is such a delightful little filly!"

"Why hello, Impossibly Rich," Gladmane greeted. "It is an honor to have you at my humble five-hoof resort. I was actually hoping Flam was around to show you around, but I'm sure Sora showed you enough after I personally gave him, his friends, and lovely marefriend a tour, though nothing can beat a personalized tour from the mane himself."

"Impossibly Rich" whispered to Sora, the stallion nodding despite all he heard from her was gibberish as he kept up the act. "Sorry if Ms. Rich doesn't speak. She only saves her voice for when she talks about money and business." The mare whispered to him again. "And she'd love a personal tour! How about in an hour?"

"Well, that sounds right pleasant," Gladmane agreed. "And if I can break away for a moment, I need to bring Flam in my office so I can get ready." Pressing the button to lower his microphone, he spoke into it and let his voice ring out in the hotel. "Flam, meet me in my office in five minutes, please. Flam, my office, five minutes. Thank you."

Pushing it back up to the ceiling, Gladmane walked off to his office, leaving the group as ponies dispersed from the VIP guest. "Phase one, done," Flim said.

"You sure this is going to work?" Sora asked. "This feels...too easy."

"Trust us, Sora. Gladmane has already taken the bait, and now all we need to do his hook him," Flim said.

"I hope you two know what you're doing," Fluttershy said nervously.

"When it comes to throwing ponies off their game-" Flim said confidently.

---

"-no two ponies do it better than us!" Flam said, reassuring Kairi and Applejack of their plan after hearing Gladmane ask the stallion to report to his office.

"Well, can't argue with that," Applejack said as she looked around the corner for Gladmane.

She spotted the owner, waving to Kairi as her cue to use her magic. Summoning her Keyblade, surprising Flam as he saw Sora wasn't the only one who could call a weapon like that, the pink unicorn used Vanish, turning herself invisible in a brief flash of light. Applejack hid behind the corner and waited for Gladmane to pass, then snuck around when his line of sight was away from her to regroup with Sora and Fluttershy. Without a word, Gladmane stepped into his office, Flam following suit with Kairi tailing right behind them, making sure to not make any sound as she made her way to a section of the office she hoped Gladmane wouldn't go near. It was a nice office, to say the least, and it had a nice view of the main lobby, where Gladmane could easily keep track of his employees if they were still fighting.

"So, boss, what did you want to see me about?" Flam asked curiously.

"Actually, there's something I want you to see - the Grand Plan." Gladmane pulled out a blueprint from one of his desk drawers, rolling it out to show the unicorn twin the floor plan of the entire strip. "Every hotel on this strip as amazing as this one, and every one of 'em mine." Flam let out a whistle, amazed by the number of spots that were filled up in this section of Las Pegasus. "And all it'll take is a little salesponyship, like this." On his desk, Gladmane pressed a button on the microphone, his voice echoing throughout the hotel again as he let out yet another deal for his guests. "Hey there, friends. Uh-huh-huh. If you think my resort is fantastic, wait 'til you see Ponet Fantastique! Tickets are on sale now. Two for the price of one! Thank you. Thank you very much."

"Oh, please," Kairi quietly uttered with a roll of her eyes.

Gladmane let go of the button, making sure everything else he says isn't heard to the public. "Now, I'm not sure where you were, but your brother believes you're not on board with my hotel. Has Impossibly Rich sought you out as a hired hoof?"

"Uhh...now that you mention it," Flam uttered nervously.

"As your friend, Flam, I'd never tell you what to do," Gladmane assured. "But nopony's gonna stand in the way of my plans, no matter how rich she is! And I sure wouldn't want you to end up on the losing side. Think you might consider staying here?" Staying in character, Flam hesitated before nodding his head. "Well alright then."

Gladmane left his office with Flam following after him, the unicorn con artist looking back and tipping his hat, not sure where Kairi is at the moment but knowing she was there. Now all Kairi had to do was play the waiting game and wait for the right moment, assuming they'll get Gladmane in his office and confront him for his lies and use that microphone to let the entire building know. After they expose Gladmane, she was going to hear what Sora had been hiding from him. As much as she loved him, she gets so frustrated with Sora for not telling her his problems, what he's feeling or even discovered by himself, and why he was withholding the truth about what he had done. She sighed and stewed in her thoughts, feeling a little worried that Sora was hiding something she dreaded to find out.

---

Within an hour, Gladmane gave "Impossibly Rich" a tour of the resort with Sora in tow, Flim, Flam, and Applejack waiting in the backstage of the theater for the end of the tour. Applejack kept a lookout for them, spotting them as they made their way to the theater.

"Here they come," Applejack warned as they got into position.

"And last but not least, Ms. Rich, the jewel in my crown," Gladmane boasted as the trio walked into the room.

"Impossibly Rich" whispered to Sora, translating for her due to "not using her voice unless it's about money". "Impossibly's really impressed, but she doesn't think that you can keep a big hotel like this for very long."

"And why is that?" Galdmane asked curiously, the VIP mare whispering to Sora yet again.

"She says you have incredible talents in the industry working for you," Sora said for the mare. "What stops them from leaving to join other competitors? Or maybe even go off on tour and advance their talents?"

"Well, there's a little trick I have that I must confess," Gladmane laughed. Getting their chance, Flim and Flam used their magic, lowering down a microphone that connected to the intercoms throughout the hotel. They left it hanging above them, right over Gladmane so he didn't notice it. "And it all has to do with how I handle my employees."

"And how is that?" Sora asked.

Gladmane took a moment to pause, straightening his bow tie as he grinned. "...Well, like friends, of course!" he said. "And I treat every one of my employees with the kindness they deserve."

Sora's grin faltered, not exactly the right response they were looking for. Flim and Flam quickly levitated the microphone back up, their plan failing as Applejack grew worried.

"...And...that's it?" Sora asked nervously. "Nothing else?"

"Nope. Just friendship," Gladmane said. "But you know all about that...don't you, Fluttershy!?"

He quickly snatched away Fluttershy's wig and glasses, disrobing her from her disguise. Sora let out a shocked gasp, trying to milk out their plan as long as possible.

"Fluttershy!? You were dressed as Impossibly Rich!?" he exclaimed. "J'accuse! I've been tricked!"

"Cut the act, Sora. I know you're in on it," Gladmane said. Sora gave up and groaned as the owner walked off smugly. "Never try to con a con-pony, kid. You'll only lose in the end."

The stallion laughed mockingly as he foiled their plan. But it wasn't over yet as they had an ace up their sleeve that Gladmane doesn't know. Fluttershy discarded her outfit as she, Sora, and Applejack made their way to Gladmane's office. They barged inside, the owner busy counting his bits at his desk as he tallied up how much he's earned today.

"We're not done with you, Gladmane!" Sora said.

"I thought you all would have hightailed outta here by now," the smug stallion said.

"Whether we were able to fool you or not, you can't just go on keeping ponies from getting along!" Fluttershy said. "It's just...mean!"

"Maybe it is, but it's a meanness that works," Gladmane admitted.

"That's not how you make and keep friends, you jerk," Sora growled.

"Is it, now?" Gladmane questioned. "Tell me, Sora, earlier today, you and your little marefriend were having a little spat when I came to find you four. And don't think I didn't see her hitting you and accusing you of things. A bit of an abusive little mare, don't you think?"

"I've been hit by worse," Sora said. "That's part of my job...And Kairi has a right to be mad at me for lying to her about a few things."

"...You're too nice, Sora," Gladmane said. "For a stallion who fights monsters who have begun appearing in the kingdom, you don't even have the backbone to turn some ponies down. They'll walk over you. Just like your marefriend."

"What!? Are ya insane!?" Applejack exclaimed. "Sora and Kairi-!"

"No, Applejack," Sora interrupted, stopping his surrogate sister from lashing out at Gladmane's accusation. Sora approached the desk and leaned a foreleg against it, staring the stallion straight in the eyes. "I want to hear what you have to think about her."

"She thinks you're making up stories, lying to her about where you've been and what you were doing," Gladmane continued. "But if she thinks you're unfaithful to her, it's like the pot calling the kettle black if she doesn't tell you anything she does behind your back." Hiding right beside the desk near the microphone, Kairi's eyes widened, still invisible, but close to dropping her Vanish spell to smack the stallion for accusing her of cheating on Sora. "Or rather, WHO she does behind your back."

"...Oh really?" Sora asked, surprisingly calm, which bothered Gladmane, though he didn't show it physically.

"Oh, yes," Gladmane said. "This little falling out you're having with her, it sounds like she's more interested in some other stud who she likes more. Because you're so easily trustworthy, she has her fun with you before tossing you out like garbage when she's done. How you manage to make friends, or even find a lover, with your gullible ways, I'm shocked you're not in denial by how pitiful you are as a stallion."

Sora remained quiet, unnerving Gladmane as he continued staring at him. No anger, no frustration, not even a shred of sadness from the thoughts he tried to give the Keyblade wielder. After a long moment of silence, Sora let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head as he tapped Gladmane's desk.

"You're quite the comedian, Gladmane," Sora said. "If your hotel runs down, you'd do a good job at making others laugh...at how stupid you sounded right now."

"What?" the owner questioned in annoyance.

"You don't know Kairi like I do," Sora continued. "In fact, you don't even know anything about us. You have no idea what sorts of things the two of us have gone through. Far worse than imagining how much money you can't make if your business doesn't get enough guests to spend their bits on your 'great deals' and 'promotional values'." He placed his hoof over his chest, keeping his stern, serious gaze on Gladmane. "You may find this hard to believe, but I literally gave up my heart to wake her from a coma. Impossible, yes, but it was. Because, back where we're from, we have this legend about a star-shaped fruit we call a paopu fruit. It says that when two ponies share this fruit, and they care for each other so much, their hearts intertwine and become one...Our hearts did connect, and no matter where I went to try to find her, she was always right here in my heart.

"So go ahead and tell me whatever lies you want to make up about her," Sora continued, slamming his hooves down hard on Gladmane's desk. "Tell her whatever lies about me you can imagine to get her to hate me even more. I'm not going to fall for your horseapples when I know she still loves me, and even though I can get on her nerves, I deserved to get yelled at and clonked on the head for doing something stupid, or not telling her everything out of fear of what she'll think of me. I keep her safe from harm, and she keeps me in line. Even if I'm being too stubborn to give in, she'll keep fighting back until I do tell her...And tonight, I Pinkie Promise I will tell her absolutely everything I did yesterday. No lies, no secrets, everything to the exact detail."

Sora finished his monologue by performing the motions of the Pinkie Promise, knowing Kairi was in the room with them all. While Kairi grinned slightly, Gladmane wasn't swayed as he stared at the pegasus stallion, holding his hoof over his eye at the end of the patented Pinkie Promise.

"Maybe I can't, but that doesn't mean the others aren't able to see through my secret to my success," Gladmane admitted. "Your little ploy was going to fail. I practically invented the 'High Roller Hustle', but I am impressed by your effort to trick me. It takes a lot of work keeping everyone fighting, but as long as I keep 'em convinced that I'm their ONLY friend, all of Las Pegasus will be mine! And you will never be able to trick a confession out of a pony like me! I'm ALWAYS one step ahead of you!"

Sora leaned away from Gladmane's desk, crossing his forelegs as his scowl soon began to turn into a smirk. "Oh really? We'll never be able to get you to confess?"

"Exactly, so wipe that smirk off your face and go on home," Gladmane said as he waved his hoof, gesturing them out of his office.

"Well, Gladmane, you better check yourself, because we just got ourselves a confession!" Gladmane yelped when he heard a voice beside him, Kairi appearing before him as she dropped her spell, revealing herself and her hoof pressed on the button that activated the speaker.

"W-What the!? Where did you-!?" Gladmane stammered. He gasped when he noticed her hoof on the button, clasping his hooves to his mouth as he looked out the window. Down below in the main lobby, all the guests looked up at his office booth, including the owner's employees, from the performers to the rest of the staff in the other sections of his resort. "No! No, w-w-wait!"

"Was that clear enough out there?" Kairi asked through the speaker.

"Never better!" Flim and Flam both confirmed, Gladmane seeing the disappointed and angry expressions on both performing groups' faces.

"You see, Gladmane, Flim and Flam knew you wouldn't fall for the fake rich pony bit, so I was the incentive for when you decided to gloat to my boyfriend, Applejack, and Fluttershy how much of a genius you were at the con game," Kairi said, her voice echoing through the speaker.

"Y-You snuck into my office?" Gladmane asked.

"Since you called Flam into your office," she said. "So when you thought it was your word against ours when you stroked your ego, it turned out to be YOUR word against yours as I pushed this little button." Gladmane's jaw dropped, having been tricked all along. "It's called a hustle, sweetheart. You should have seen this coming...Oh wait, you didn't even see me, or even bothered to ask where I was all this time."

"Oooooh! Burned!" Sora exclaimed.

"N-No! Wait, I can explain!" Gladmane pleaded, though his begging wasn't going to save him this time.

"I think you've done enough of that!" the director said, the trapeze artist letting out a huff as the pair strolled off hoof-in-hoof.

"I cannot believe we let him almost ruin our friendship!" the light blue stallion of the prairie dog act said.

"And our act," the lavender stallion agreed. "Good like finding another one!"

They soon left as well, bringing their prairie dogs' cages as well to perform elsewhere than the disgraceful hotel owner's resort that was probably built on lies and deceit. "Wait! No! Come back!" Gladmane pleaded, to no avail. "I'll give you all a bigger salary! I'm gonna be ruined!"

"You're already ruined," Kairi said, taking her hoof off the speaker's button.

He growled and glared at the unicorn mare. "You little tramp. You and your friends are gonna pay for-"

Gladmane went silent as Kairi summoned her Keyblade, the tip of her blade pointed within mere inches of the stallion's face. "What did you call me, you gigantic prick?" Kairi questioned, Sora, Applejack, and Fluttershy backing away while Gladmane stammered, sweating buckets as his pupils shrunk and stared at the mysterious ocean-themed weapon held in the unicorn's aura. "You have no room to talk down to me after you tried to convince Sora I was cheating on him. You clearly have no idea about us at all if you think you can stoop that low to break us apart."

"W-Wha-B-B-Bu-But I-I-W-Who said what now?" Gladmane stuttered, terrified out of his mind as he backed up against the window.

"And this is why I don't tick off my girlfriend to THAT level," Sora stated. "Girls, cover your eyes. I think there's going to be an immediate castration surgery about to take place."

Gladmane whimpered, instinctively moving his forelegs down to protect his lower regions. "He's exaggerating," Kairi assured, making the stallion sigh in relief, only to let out a choked gasp when her Keyblade was swiftly pressed against his neck. "But I'd be glad to 'tenderize' them first before I decide to beat you to a pulp. So, before I get the chance to do that, I'm going to give you a ten second head start to vamoose out of here, and never show your cheating, lying, disrespectful, and outright sexist face in Las Pegasus ever again. And if you ever show up in Ponyville...I'll be sure to give you a 'Welcoming Party' before Pinkie Pie does."

"B-But t-this is my-" Gladmane stammered, but Kairi wasn't looking for excuses.

"One," she began counting, dropping the terrified stallion. "Two." Gladmane staggered to his hooves and scrambled his way out of the office. "Nine!"

"What about three to-!?" Gladmane tried to ask, only to get a harsh zap from the unicorn, making him scream in pain, his mane turning into a frazzled mess as he fled.

"And Gladmane has left the building," Applejack said.

Applejack and Fluttershy's cutie marks began glowing, signifying their mission was completed. Even though they were excited about the outcome, Sora and Kairi noticed theirs weren't glowing yet, which struck them as odd.

"Uhh, we managed to solve the friendship problem, right?" Sora asked. "Why aren't our cutie marks glowing?"

"Yeah, that doesn't make any sense," Kairi agreed.

The group made their way back to the lobby, figuring out what was wrong with Sora and Kairi's cutie marks while the staff still working at the hotel tore down Gladmane's statue. They were successful with Applejack and Sora's disdain for the FlimFlam Brothers to figure out Gladmane's plan and Kairi and Fluttershy giving the twins a chance to pull off their plan to out con the con-stallion. They approached Flim and Flam as they swept up the remains of the golden statue that crashed to the ground.

"Well, Ah guess it must be nice for you two to finally put all your connivin' and cheatin' skills to good use," Applejack said to the brothers.

"In fact, we might think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Flam said.

"Emphasis on 'once'," Flim elaborated.

"...Wait, what do you mean by that?" Sora questioned suspiciously.

The FlimFlam Brothers gave each other that all-familiar smirk Sora dreaded to see on their faces, then lowered the microphone down to them. "While this establishment undergoes a slight change in management, my brother and I want to assure you that it remains the pinnacle of Las Pegasus entertainment!" Flam announced to the resort. "Which is why we invite each and every one of you to experience the wonder of the Ponet Fantastique Theater - at half the normal cost of admission!"

"And while you're appreciating the historic venue totally devoid of any performers of any kind, we do invite you to a special autograph signing in said theater as our special VIP guest, one of Equestria's greatest saviors, Sora, is here to give you all his autograph, absolutely free of charge!" Flim added, making Sora wince as he heard several feminine gasps ring out around them.

"Oh no," Sora groaned, his ears perking up as a huge crowd of ponies began storming into the lobby, everyone's focus on the pegasus stallion while Kairi, Fluttershy, and Applejack backed up into the wall to avoid the stampede of fans. Sora flew up in the air to avoid most of them, though he forgot about the pegasi who were visiting or were locals as they swarmed him, spotting the sly smirks on Flim and Flam's faces as they bumped hooves. "CURSE YOU, FLIMFLAM BROTHERS!!!!!!!"

The girls watched as Sora was swarmed, yelping and screaming as he was being pushed by the crowd into the theater, Flim and Flam levitating several sheets of paper and a few pens for Sora's binge signing. "Umm, should we try to help him?" Fluttershy asked.

"Ah'm not sure," Applejack said nervously.

They both looked at Kairi, the unicorn just as unsure what to do as they could hear screaming mares and Sora crying out for help, his fans no doubt trying to grasp a few "souvenirs" of his aside from autographs. "...Uhh, I think he can handle it," Kairi said.

"KAIRI! HELP!" Sora cried out, trying to drag himself out of the auditorium, but the mares wanting his attention were pulling him back. "I can beat up a Behemoth on my own, but several crazy fanmares who keep pulling my hair and wings is too much! Somebody save me!"

He screamed in agony as he disappeared back inside. "...Yeah, he can handle himself," Kairi reassured, giggling nervously. "I need to contact Twilight back at the castle. I need to figure out if there was a glitch with the map if mine and Sora's cutie marks didn't glow." Leaving Fluttershy and Applejack, Kairi found somewhere quieter in the hotel to contact Twilight through her crystal communicator. "Twilight, are you busy?"

"Hey, Kairi!" Twilight said. "I'm not really doing anything. What's up? How's your mission in Las Pegasus going?"

"Well...that's the thing," Kairi said. "We found the problem and fixed it, but only Applejack and Fluttershy's cutie marks glowed. Mine and Sora's didn't for some reason."

"...Huh...That's odd," Twilight said after a moment of silence. "Hang on. Let me check the map." Kairi waited as the alicorn made her way to the throne room to confirm with her if their mission was truly done. "...Uhh, ok, this is definitely odd."

"What is it?" Kairi asked.

"You said you solved the friendship problem and Applejack and Fluttershy's cutie marks were the only ones that glowed on your success, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah," Kairi said.

"Well, I don't see Applejack's or Fluttershy's cutie marks over Las Pegasus, but yours and Sora's are still there. Is there a different problem you two specifically needed to solve?" Twilight asked, sounding conflicted and astounded by this strange discovery.

"No. We fixed all the problems that were here," Kairi said. "There's no one else here who has any problems with their relation-" She paused as she figured out what exactly the problem was. The map must have called them to help resolve Flim and Flam's problem, but it appeared that the map sensed a problem between her and Sora with their own arguments and changed it as soon as they had arrived. "...Oh..."

"'Oh'? What do you mean 'oh'?" Twilight asked.

"...I think I figured out what our friendship problem is," Kairi muttered.

---

Later that evening, Kairi, Applejack, and Fluttershy sat in one of the more luxurious rooms in Gladmane's former hotel, Flim and Flam willingly letting them stay for free as thanks for bringing them back together. Applejack was a bit suspicious about this gift of theirs, wanting no unwanted loopholes or any hidden deals they end up making upon accepting the room, but Kairi made sure that the brothers didn't swindle them with a well-placed warning and a flash of her Keyblade. They waited patiently for Sora to return from his sudden autograph signing, taking the time to relax a bit and enjoy what features the suite had: two soft beds, a jacuzzi in a corner of the large room, luxurious couches to recline on, and an incredible view of the strip through the windows as it lit up the night.

"Well, Ah ain't sure havin' Flim and Flam run this hotel is a good idea, but they'll at least run it better than Gladmane," Applejack said as she lounged in the jacuzzi. "At least Ah hope so."

"I wish I was able to say goodbye to the Flying Prairinos before they left," Fluttershy said. "Those pink prairie dogs are so cute."

Though Applejack and Fluttershy were able to relax, the peace and quiet in the hotel room making up for staying in a busy, never-ending-party of a city like Las Pegasus, Kairi fidgeted as she sat on one of the beds waiting for Sora. He made that Pinkie Promise to explain everything the other day, but didn't expect this long of a wait after Flim and Flam sprouted the celebrity signing to get their own way of revenge for Sora's destruction to their last two schemes. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long as the door to the room opened, revealing Sora in an exhausted state, his hair and feathers all ruffled and out of place, some lipstick marks on his face as some of the mares managed to sneak him some kisses while he was hounded by them, none on his lips to Kairi's relief, and as he walked in, he looked like he was about to collapse at any moment as he made his way to the nearest bed.

"Thanks for the help," he grumbled, plopping his body down on the soft mattress as he let out a loud groan. He muttered something about the FlimFlam Brothers, stripping out of his clothes as they seemed to reek of different types of perfume that got rubbed off on him, then used it to wipe off his face of the kiss marks some lucky mares left behind. Letting out another groan, he rubbed his muzzle and winced. "I think I've got lockjaw from signing all those papers."

"Ya have fun with your fans?" Applejack asked with a chuckle, stepping out of the jacuzzi and toweled herself off.

"And I thought the mares in the Crystal Empire were clingy," Kairi commented.

"I'm sorry, do any of you girls want a bunch of colts running up to you and acting like dorks while trying to ask for your autograph while giggling nervously that makes them more awkward than usual?" Sora asked.

"So, I'd have to deal with fanboys who acted like you when you first met me?" Kairi paraphrased. "I think I can manage that." Sora groaned while Applejack and Fluttershy giggled at the jab toward him. After Sora's face was wiped clean of any lipstick, he tossed his clothes aside, making a note to get them cleaned again tomorrow when they head back to Ponyville. Once he had enough time to relax, Kairi was ready to hear Sora out, knowing he full well Pinkie Promised her he would tell her what happened yesterday. "...Ok. So, what happened the other day?"

"Hmm?...Oh...right..." Sora sighed, having no regrets making such a serious promise, though he dreaded Kairi wouldn't believe him after not only smelling like saltwater no thanks to that man who might or might not be his father drenched him with the power of his element and how Applejack blurted out what he was about to tell her before they overheard the acrobat performer arguing with the director. Luckily, Applejack was like a pony lie detector, so he was thankful she was sent by the map as well. "Applejack, if Kairi doesn't believe me, can you-?"

"Sure," Applejack said without hesitation. "Ah've been wantin' to know what y'all were tryin' to tell me earlier today anyway."

"You really think I won't believe you?" Kairi asked, slightly hurt that Sora wasn't able to trust her when he finally told the truth.

"When you were skeptical about me since this morning?" he answered. Kairi opened her mouth to retort, but immediately closed it and looked down, seeing his point. She did lash out at him every time he spoke, unable to let him get a word in edgewise to try to explain himself. Sora let out a sigh as Applejack and Fluttershy sat with Kairi, ready to hear his story, feeling like he should write a book about his messed up days with how much explaining he's done in the past few years. "So, after our walk through Ponyville as I tried to clear my head about what happened to my father in the past, I did go to Disney Castle to hang out with Donald and Goofy. And I met Goofy's son, Max, and his friends, P.J., and Bobby."

Kairi looked at Applejack, the mare confirming that Sora was being honest. "Ok...So you didn't go anywhere else...And you didn't go to a beach, did you?"

"I'm getting there," Sora said, getting through his story from start to finish and not skipping anything because Kairi demanded to know one specific detail that bothered her. "Anyway, we all hung out in Disney Town, I got to know Max and his friends a bit more, and Max and I goaded each other into a little friendly duel. I was kinda surprised by how well Max fought with his shield. Did a much better job than Goofy, and with some tricks of his own that I didn't expect."

"I'm surprised Goofy's actually a father," Fluttershy said. "How old is he?"

"I...don't think I asked," Sora admitted. "I was still in shock knowing he actually had a son and I never knew until now. Speaking of fathers and sons, I also found out that P.J.'s father was Pete."

"Pete? That fat minotaur who tried to kidnap your ma?" Applejack asked. "He's a parent???"

"Yeah, and he showed up to cause trouble," Sora continued. "He interrupted my duel with Max and sent an army of Heartless after us while also throwing bombs around to blow us up. I guess the Heartless can still be around the Disney Kingdom, though not too close to the castle and the Cornerstone of Light. They were a bit weaker because of the light from that majestic sphere, but any closer and they probably would have died out."

"And you easily beat him and knocked all his bombs back at him," Kairi said.

"Actually...someone else was there...and that's what I was about to tell Applejack before we got distracted." The girls were now even more confused at his statement, neither of them expecting a new face to come to Sora's aid. "...Someone in a black coat came out of nowhere and saved us...but...the worst thing about it was...he sounded and fought like my dad."

All three mares gasped in shock. They looked at each other, Applejack's expression clearly telling Kairi that Sora wasn't lying, even though he had recently come back from the past to learn of his father's fate to know that he would never have been seen again.

"...W-What?" Kairi asked. "Y-Your father?...Kaito was in Disney Town?"

"...I don't know if it really was him," Sora said, rubbing his foreleg sadly. "His hood was up, but I wasn't imagining things if the others saw him fight and heard him speak..."

"B-But...wasn't he...dead?" Fluttershy asked.

"He lost his heart to the Heartless," Kairi uttered. "...Which means...did you encounter your dad's Nobody, Sora?"

"I don't know!" Sora exclaimed, bringing his hooves to his head as he began to get a headache. "Maybe it is...maybe it isn't, I just don't know..."

"...And...the saltwater stench on you...?" Kairi asked.

"...His element was water," Sora answered. "...And...it had that salty sea air to it...almost like he took the water from Destiny Islands himself." He lowered his head, burying his face in his hooves. "I didn't go to a beach...I lied because...I didn't want to believe that it was really him...and I didn't want you to know."

"But why?" Kairi stood up and approached Sora. "Why didn't you tell me instead of hide it?"

"Because I don't know whose side he's on," Sora mumbled. "He was wearing a black coat, Kairi, the same coat Organization XIII, and now Xehanort's seeds of darkness wear...If whoever it is is working for Xehanort...he could take advantage of me and trick me..." He looked up at Kairi, tears welling up in his eyes. "I just watched my dad die, turn into a Heartless, and killed him to save him from losing himself to darkness...I had lived over a decade without him in my life, and now I meet someone who sounds and fights just like him, who could possibly be my dad's Nobody, and spontaneously knows me in a confusing way, which only made things more complicated for my own mental health after my dad's death is still clear in my mind."

Kairi could see the stress on Sora's face, looking down in shame at how she treated him all day today. It was obvious he didn't want to tell anyone because he wanted to forget it ever happened and move on, and it all came to a boiling point because she didn't trust him and pestered him, calling him out on the white lies he was giving her. He didn't lie to protect her; he lied so he didn't want to be reminded of what happened.

Everything he's done for everyone in the past several years, fighting the threat of darkness, nothingness, and even nightmares of dreams, so much pressure was on his shoulders since he was chosen by the Keyblade. And even if Kairi and Riku were Keyblade wielders as well, Sora was the one who did most of the work, rescuing the both of them several times, keeping the worlds safe, and all while caring about everyone else's safety over his own body and mind were finally taking its toll on him when he realized just how important he was during Starlight's revenge plan to change the future. Even if he has the ability to travel back in time, he knows not to tamper with it because of how delicate the space time continuum was and can't change any unfortunate events that made him fall to despair, otherwise he'd change the present and possibly lose everyone regardless.

"...I'm sorry," Kairi apologized, tears beginning to trickle down her face as she felt guilty for hurting him when he was already in enough pain as it was. "I-I shouldn't have...Sora, I'm so sorry..."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," Sora said. "I should have just told you, but...I didn't know what to believe after yesterday."

"I shouldn't have treated you like this today! It's my fault!" Kairi insisted. "I-I don't...I don't know what came over me...I know this is going to sound like a stupid excuse, but...part of me thought...that you..."

"...What?" Sora asked. Kairi didn't respond, placing her hooves in his lap. He caught on to what she wanted to say, part of her worries about him when he's off to try to get better leading to jealousy as she overthought what he would do behind her back. He was too exhausted to be mad, but he understood why she went off on him because of his lies. "...Kairi, I would never leave you for someone else."

"...I know...I couldn't help myself," she uttered with a sniffle. "After what happened with Twilight, I get nervous and wonder if there's some other girl out there who you like more than me when you're running off somewhere in another world...I didn't mean to act so harshly toward you today, but I got so frustrated when you smelt like the ocean last night, my mind raced and I could barely sleep without thinking there was someone else..."

Sora stared at his beloved girlfriend, unable to help himself from letting out a small laugh at her wild imagination. Confused, Kairi looked up, feeling his hooves grab hers.

"Kairi, my heart belongs to you, and you alone," Sora said with a smile. "I wouldn't give you up for anything. Not after all we've been through."

"...I know...I feel so stupid," Kairi said, looking down and squeezed his hooves. "...I don't know how I can make up for my dumb behavior..."

Sora had the perfect apology acceptance. Pulling one of his hooves away, he gently lifted her chin up, then surprised her with a deep kiss. Kairi let out a surprised gasp, her eyes slowly fluttering closed as she kissed him back, pulling herself closer to him as their hooves moved to embrace each other. Despite one of the biggest fights they've ever had, their love was still true when it seemed as though their relationship would end over Sora's lack of being one hundred percent honest with Kairi. Applejack and Fluttershy were relieved to see the couple still together as they made up, Sora and Kairi's lips separating with a light smack as they looked into each other's eyes.

"I'll always love you, Kairi," Sora said.

"And I'll always love you, Sora," Kairi said back, both lovers gently nuzzling each other. Their cutie marks began glowing, snapping them out of their make-up daze as they looked down at their flanks. Sora was still a little confused by their delayed success, but Kairi had a feeling that their friendship problem was theirs after they exposed Gladmane. "...Looks like we solved our own friendship problem."

"Huh?" Sora asked, raising a brow in confusion. "I don't get it."

"Ah think it was obvious from the start," Applejack said, the couple forgetting about their two friends in the same hotel room. "Turned out it wasn't just Flim and Flam or the two performin' acts who were havin' problems after all."

"Seems like all of you didn't calmly talk to each other about your feelings and kept finding excuses to keep arguing," Fluttershy added. "And...umm, I don't think Kairi being mad at Gladmane was the angriest she's ever gotten."

"It...wasn't?" Kairi asked.

"When we finished talking to Flim and Flam the first time, you got a bit frustrated, and...well, I know what element of magic you have when you get that angry," Fluttershy nervously said. "There was...a slight breeze around us, but we weren't near any windows, and it was about to build up like a twister."

"A breeze?...My magic surge's element is air?" Kairi pondered.

Sora's eyes widened as he remembered the story the alternate Kairi in the changeling timeline told him and Twilight. The scars on that Kairi's body were from her reflected Aero slashes she swung at Chrysalis, when she lost control of her emotions and went berserk on the changeling queen's soldiers after breaking out of those pods they used to trap their victims for their love. He did not want that to happen to his Kairi, neither the magic surge or getting any scars if her spells in that state bounce back and hit her.

"Right...Remember those scars the other you had?" Sora reminded Kairi. The unicorn nodded her head, putting the pieces together as she cringed. "Yeah...As a unicorn, try not to lose your cool. But when we're humans, you can lash out at me and beat me up to your heart's content if I annoy you."

"Sora," Kairi scolded, unable to believe how her boyfriend could spontaneously bounce back from his sadness by acting like a goofball. He gave her a toothy grin playfully, making her sigh, shake her head, then gently bonk him on the head with her hoof. "What am I gonna do with you?"

"Love me?" Sora answered cheekily, sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oh, if I must," Kairi said with a smirk. The couple then began to giggle, but as they nuzzled again, Kairi winced, smelling that strong mix of perfumes some of the mares who "captured" Sora for his autograph that had rubbed off on him. "Uhh, you need a shower. Not only are you a mess, but you reek of like seven different overly-fragrant perfumes."

"Right." Sora sniffed himself, gagging at the mixed fragrances assaulting his nostrils. "Ugh! How do you girls like wearing stuff like this!?"

"Same reason why we question why men spritz on cologne when it's so strong," Kairi muttered. "Thankfully, you don't."

"Yeah. Too strong for my tastes. I'd rather go au naturel." His hooves tried to roam over Kairi's hips, but the unicorn telekinetically moved his hooves away, giving him a glare and pointed her own hoof at the bathroom. "What? You don't want to join me this time?"

"Applejack and Fluttershy are right here, you perv," Kairi chided. "Go shower."

"Alright, alright, 'mom'." Sora smirked, then flipped Kairi over on the bed, making her squeal before they were muffled as his pressed his lips against hers. Applejack and Fluttershy rolled their eyes, the Sora they knew was back, even if only for a brief moment. "You know, if Applejack and Fluttershy weren't here, this would be a good honeymoon suite."

"Sora, you haven't even proposed to me," Kairi giggled, playfully pushing him off of her while he continued assaulting her with kisses.

"Well, not yet," Sora said, making the unicorn freeze up in surprise.

Before she could ask, he snuck another kiss, then leapt over the bed and swaggered off into the bathroom. Kairi blinked, her cheeks turning bright pink at the small hint of them being boyfriend and girlfriend to eventually becoming husband and wife.

"...'Not...yet'?" Kairi mumbled. "...D-Did he...mean...? Is he gonna...?"

"And I think Sora broke Kairi," Fluttershy said, both her and Applejack laughing at the stunned unicorn's shock.

"There might be another weddin' we'll be attendin' sooner or later," Applejack said. "Ah wonder who's gonna be the bridesmaids."

---

Later that evening, the group of four went to bed, Applejack and Fluttershy sharing one of them while Sora and Kairi shared the other. The curtains were drawn to block out the lights still shining in the city of Las Pegasus since it never sleeps. While the mares slept soundly, Sora had a little trouble as he woke up, unable to stop thinking about that man. Letting out a quiet sigh, he looked down at Kairi, the mare cuddled close to his chest as he held her in his hooves. He needed some air, maybe taking a stroll will exhaust him enough to get a decent night's sleep. Despite carefully pulling himself away, he ended up waking Kairi as she stirred, letting out an annoyed moan as her body pillow was moving away from her.

"Sora?" she mumbled, her eyes tiredly opening.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Go back to sleep, Kairi. I'm just going to take a walk around Las Pegasus and get some fresh air."

"No," she uttered, grabbing his hoof and tried to drag him down on the mattress with her. "Stay."

"I promise I'll come back when I'm finally going to pass out," Sora promised. He didn't need to Pinkie Promise this time, but Kairi whined miserably. "What can I do for you to prove I'm being honest?"

"...Kiss me." Sora happily obliged, leaning forward and gently pressed his lips against Kairi's in a soft, passionate kiss.

Kairi let out a soft moan as her eyes closed, his tender caresses and warm lips assuring her as she was lulled back to sleep. Sora leaned back once he was sure she was back asleep, giving her another kiss on the cheek for reassurance. Quietly making his way out of the hotel room, he walked through the halls, exited the lobby and headed out onto the strip. There were still some ponies out, most of still partying as a few of them were pretty hammered from the alcoholic drinks that were served at any of the late night bars. He ignored some of the drunk partiers who tried to wave to him or get him to join on their night of debauchery, just casually strolling down the road and drain what energy remained in his system.

He wasn't surprised to see every single building was still opened, whether or not they were hotels or bars. One building that caught his eye that usually wouldn't be open at this time of night was what appeared to be a jewelry store. Curious to see what kind of gems Las Pegasus would sell, he made his way inside the twenty-four hour store, where an older stallion was busy dusting the many jeweled accessories on the shelves. When he heard the door close, he looked up from his work, surprised to see a customer at this hour, though he easily recognized the young stallion.

"Ah, hello there," he greeted Sora. "You must be Sora."

"If you want an autograph, ask me when my jaw doesn't cramp up when I clench my teeth," Sora interjected, rubbing his jaw as it was still sore from all those signatures he made today.

"No, no," the stallion assured. "I've heard of you in the papers along with Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends. And I had heard you were visiting the resort that's owned by Gladmane. Word on the street is that owner had hit the road, scamming his employees by causing them to fight and force them to stay working for him."

"Well, that's true," Sora said. "Exposed that liar for the con artist he is, and now the performers who worked for him are off on their own tours to better their acts."

"Good for them," the stallion said. "They deserve to improve their careers instead of being lied to, otherwise Gladmane would ruin himself if the acts split up and did their own thing." He put his duster away as Sora approached the counter, looking at the assortment of rinks, necklaces, bracelets, all manner of accessories that a Moogle could add to their long list of stocked goods. "What can I do for you, young colt?"

"Uhh, just browsing," Sora admitted. "Been having a bit of trouble sleeping. Had a rough couple months."

"Sorry to hear that," the clerk apologized. "Hope things get better for you."

"Same here..." While Sora lazily glanced over the jewelry in the display cases, one of them caught his eye. Sitting on top of a golden ring was a pure cut diamond formed in the smooth shape of a heart. The lights inside the building seemed to phase through the diamond, which would make it shine brightly if hit at just the right angle. If it wasn't a gem, Sora could have mistaken it as a small pure heart, just as pure as Kairi's. "Whoa..."

"Yeah, she's a real beauty, isn't she?" The clerk snapped Sora out of his daze, gently tapping his hoof against the top of the glass display case. "A rare pure white diamond, seven carats, and hoof-cut by yours truly in the shape of a heart."

"You made this?" Sora asked in amazement.

"Sure have," the stallion boasted. "It's quite an expensive little gem, and no matter how many mares try to pester their rich studs to buy it for them, I can't sell it to them."

"You mean you don't want to sell it?" Sora questioned. "Then why is it on display?"

"Oh no, no, I'd be more than happy to sell it, but this special diamond is more than it looks," he said. Opening the case from his end, he carefully pulled out the pillow it rested on and gave Sora a better look at it. "You see, this diamond has a beautiful sheen and shimmers in the light when hit just right. Almost makes it seem translucent. However, the ponies who wanted to buy this in the past...Well, let's just say that it can tell when somepony with an impure heart so much as reaches out to it."

"Impure heart?" Sora asked.

"Greedy, spoiled rotten, demanding, whining, take your pick on the meaning of 'impure'," the stallion elaborated. "When a pony holds that ring, that diamond can tell who's only interested in buying it because they want it to look fancy or impress their friends while hiding their insecurities. And when it senses that selfishness, it loses its luster, making it useless for them to buy as they complain about it being a fake imitation. But, as soon as they storm out, mostly the mares, the diamond brightens back up as if it was never tainted by their grubby hooves." He held the ring in his hooves, the diamond not losing its color and gleam as he held it to the light, showing Sora how it actually looked transparent. "I'm proud of this work I've done, but no matter what customers I get here in Las Pegasus, whether it be a local or a tourist, they all turn it down the moment it shifts to a shade of gray."

Fascinated by the mystical gemstone, Sora silently gestured to hold the ring to see if it would dull in his hoof. The stallion obliged and handed it to him, and after a moment of waiting, the gem didn't lose its luster. It was a beautiful gem, and with Kairi's pure heart, it would be a perfect gift for her. His heart pounded in his chest as he knew exactly what kind of gift it would be, the salespony noticing the slight tint of pink on Sora's cheeks as he started to get nervous, swallowing a lump in his throat as he imagined how Kairi would react.

"...Can this ring...fit onto a unicorn horn?" Sora asked curiously.

"Adjustable to fit any size on a unicorn, although I can fit the gem on a bracelet for non-unicorns," he answered. "You planning on getting something like this for a special somepony on your mind?" Sora balked slightly, his shocked expression making the older stallion chuckle. "I know exactly what that look was on your face the moment you kept staring into the diamond. She must be pretty special if you're looking to give her a magnificent gem like this."

"...Yeah," Sora uttered. "...She sure is..." Gently placing the ring back on the small pillow it rested on, he looked at the master craftspony who created this special ring, who had a feeling he was about to make a sale, and he was right as Sora reached into the red bag attached to his hind leg. "...How much for it?"

Comments

[MagicLover2128]

Yes, now that is a good chapter.

Bit dramatic and angsty in some parts but overall good.

Loved the quote used from Zootopia.

I hear wedding bells in the future; I bet ya that the other Princesses of Heart will be attending as either Bridesmaids or as guests of the bride.

Ohh just imagine what they’ll look like as Ponies.

[Garuda IV]

I know Sora told Cadence that he'd wait until Xehanort was defeated before proposing to Kairi, but now that he's bought an engagement ring, I'm not so sure anymore.

Can't wait to see how the next chapter will follow this up.

[Megaskullmon]

Oh I loved it. What is next though?

[Archivist Nightwatch]

You have no idea how much I was dancing around at the end of this chapter. I KNOW whats comming and I am really REALLY looking forward to it.

[KingJoltik]

About time. Chrysalis is about to happen, right? I'm guessing she's gonna ruin this wedding too.

[ArcanaMaverick7]

Loved the Zootopia quote and everything else that happened in the confrontation!

That ending was very emotional. Beautiful work on the chapter!

[ArcanaMaverick7]

And with this chapter done, it seems that Terra and Riku are going to be the ones heading off to the Wonderbolt Academy with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. As long as you aren't repeating characters on missions that would fit them.

[Mourningmist]

9024407
Now there’s a thought… but I’d like some closure to the whole “Sora’s dad is Nobody” thing first as that is going to way on Sora’s mind a lot.

[Codex92]

9024464
Well, you can never be too prepared for such a big proposal. Imagine the constant searching to find the perfect gift when someone finally sums up the courage to propose to their loved one, and with the situations Sora's been through and the uncertainties of how the future will go, he wouldn't want to lose the chance of a lifetime if something were to go wrong now. You never know when you'll lose someone you hold dear to your heart, and the longer you hold something this big off, the closer it'll be for a certain someone to ruin everything.

[Sora Hikari]

Wedding day boys *dabs* Okay so everything is set!

[BenictheHedgehog]

lol!!! I can tell this was a good chapter and love the foreshadow of you made of Sora getting a Diamond heart as either a present or an engagement ring/Bracelet for Kairi. Probably best for a future Hearts and Hooves day. But til then, I look forward to how all the info about Sora's dad having a nobody will do to Kairi to help him. Especially when Twilight & Riku find out and when Twilight meets Riku's parents.

[Vakama95096]

Oh, Sora, you sly dog.

[Dusk Star Shine]

OH YEAH, Sora is going to propose to Kari and now it's THEIR turn to get married, I can't wait to see how this works out, but where will it be held at?

[MLPFanForever]

Awesome chapter! Ohhhhhhh! Sora finally got an engagement ring!

I always imagined Sora and Kairi getting married at Radiant Garden with all of Sora's Disney and Final Fantasy friends attending.

If you are gonna have those two finally tie the knot, please have the wedding take place there and having Sora's friends from all over, as well as the ponies in their respective original forms, attend. I know it's your story and all, but to me, it makes sense that way. Just a suggestion.

[Noctis Prism]

I think Sora just found his proposal ring! Awesome!

[KingJoltik]

I just realized something...if Sora is getting married to Kairi, doesn't that mean Roxas is technically marrying Namine?! And why haven't we seen Namine in this story?!

[Codex92]

9042224
Namine was in the story...briefly. It was the scene with the mirrors when Sora faced his darkness, who happened to be Vanitas when most of the group went to the Mysterious Tower. It was before the Slice of Life chapter.

[KingJoltik]

9042629
Oh...yeah. Still, is there technically a second wedding happening here? I mean, Sora and Kairi are technically both two people in one.

[Eight Bit]

9042224
because kairi never fell into the mirror pool

[SharpNote the FABULOUS]

"And make sure to experience our signature show, Ponet Fantastique !" a stallion said at a nearby podium, showing off portraits of the performances and the ponies doing them. "Trust me when I say you haven't seen anything like it! Unparalleled acrobatics! Unique animal antiques! Your only regret will be that you didn't see it sooner! And like everything at this amazing, incredible, I-can't-believe-it-even-exists hotel, Ponet Fantastique is brought to you by the chairman of kindness - Gladmane himself!"

Antics....?

[AetherToast]

9042639
Well if you really want to make it as weird it would actually be 3.5 people marrying 2.5 since you could say that Xion is both since she is made of Sora's memories of Kairi. If you want to make it uncomfortably weird you could also say that Xion makes it so that Kairi is Bi since she is a part of Sora and is well female.

[iAml3g3nd]

What was the Zootopia quote?

[Bronyshot2020]

10238669
Yes it was heh

[LucarioFan2066]

they realized that neither of them had said those things at all.

You sure Gladmane isn't just evil-Sunset in disguise?