• Published 10th May 2016
  • 33,598 Views, 4,228 Comments

My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria - Codex92



After failing his mark of mastery exam to be a Keyblade Master, Sora must continue his training on his own. Unfortunately, he crashes into the world of Equestria, and his friends don't know he's stranded in this far off world.

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Uncommon Bond

Down at the train station in Ponyville, Starlight waited excitedly and impatiently, dancing around with a titter as she looked down the tracks. Aqua was dragged along, shaking her head in amusement at how anxious the unicorn was.

"Starlight, relax," Aqua said. "Sunburst is going to be arriving on the noon train."

"I know, but I'm just so excited!" Starlight squealed. "He's my oldest friend, and I've had the biggest crush on him, which was crushed, but now it's been rekindled, and we're friends again, and maybe one day, we'll actually be a couple!"

"Yes, I think everyone in Ponyville got that since you proudly announced it to the town just last week," Aqua mumbled.

"I mean, I don't want to rush things TOO far," Starlight continued. "We have so much in common. We basically know everything about each other: magic, games, jokes, EVERYTHING!"

"Some differences can make up for the tedium of doing the same things," Aqua said. "Or did you not learn that after your plan to make Equestria completely equal?"

Starlight stopped her happy dancing, chuckling sheepishly as she turned to face Aqua. "T-That's different. No more magic for evil. Pinkie Promise," she said as she went through the patented Pinkie Promise motions. "...Say, you never mentioned how you and Terra ever got together. You two were best friends and partners in combat, but...lovers? I wouldn't have guessed."

Aqua winced, her cheeks turning a light pink in embarrassment. "...W-Well...I guess, like you, I picked up a crush on him," Aqua admitted. "...At least after the first several weeks I was brought to the Land of Departure to start my training. He...was a bit of a jerk my first day. Then, months passed, and I tried being subtle, but I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship back then."

"And now you two are together as a couple," Starlight stated. "So...what brought that spark back?"

Aqua was silent for a moment, her embarrassment quickly turning to sadness. "...Losing everything...Feeling too weak to save the ones you love, or a home that was destroyed..." She grimaced, gritting her teeth as memories in the Realm of Darkness resurfaced. "Surviving over a decade and a half in a place where no living person should ever be trapped in...That burning hatred for the man responsible for taking everything away eating away at your heart and change you into a completely different person, and it's something you never intended to be, but can't help it because the pain is too much to bear, and you try to set things right, only for the decisions you make turn out to be the worst out of any, your mind clouded by the heartache to think rationally or look past certain people because that trust you had with that one person who destroyed everything you held dear took away that trust in anyone who didn't deserve it for their villainous schemes and don't even DESERVE a second chance after they realized just how wrong their own decisions were because you're just trying to protect the only ones who are left that you care about!" Aqua panted heavily, tears of repressed emotions rolling down her face as she vented angrily. She didn't realize her magic was going to flare into a surge, the temperature turning frigid and snow already beginning to fall around her. Seeing the look of shock on Starlight's face, several feet away from her, along with other ponies awaiting visitors they were expecting, Aqua quickly took control of her inner rage before she ended up turning into Torrent again. "...Sorry...I...It's hard for me to...let all that go."

"...Yeah...That's...a lot more than I was expecting as an answer," Starlight said. "But, from what I could gather...You felt alone, felt responsible for failing, but when you found Terra again, you didn't want him to leave your sight and jumped at the chance for his affections?"

"...A much better summary, but don't forget about Ven," Aqua said, wiping away her tears. "I promised I would come back once I found his heart, but when I tried to save Terra, I couldn't keep it and wound up stuck in the Realm of Darkness for years...They're both all I have left, and I thought I lost them forever..." Looking down at the snow that formed around her, Aqua picked some of the quickly melting white powder in her hoof, frowning at it as the near loss of control of her emotions reminded her of how broken she was. "...Isolation in a dangerous world for so long...it changed me for the worst. I have anxiety, I panic if I so much as see a glint of the Dark Hide that hunted me, and I can't be as trustworthy like Sora is and give everyone I meet or fight with a second chance because I'm scared they'll stab us in the back if they go back to doing harm..." The snow melted, trickling down her hoof and getting her foreleg wet. "I'm a broken woman, Starlight, and it'll take me years to recover, even if I'm trying my hardest to turn back to who I used to be."

"I understand, Aqua," Starlight sympathetically said. "My pain losing Sunburst wasn't as bad as what you went through, but that's why we have friends to help us come back down to earth and see that silver lining in the clouds. Or, perhaps, that speck of light in the darkness?"

Shaking her hoof dry, Aqua gave Starlight a small smile. "You're right. I sometimes feel like I'm burdening Terra with my problems, but he surprises me with how calm he's always been around me when I'm troubled. Or, if I've really lost it, he scolds me like I'm a child and gets really strict with me until I calm down."

During Aqua's tirade and admitting her emotionally troubled mentality, the noon train arrived. Starlight was back to being ecstatic for Sunburst's visit after being sure Aqua was ok. Passengers left the train, but Starlight didn't find any sign of her friend/crush, though she hoped to upgrade their relationship to lovers after reigniting their friendship. The last of the passengers getting off trickled until there were none left, disappointing Starlight when the doors closed and the train chugged off to its next destination.

"Did...Did he get held up?" Starlight uttered.

"At the other end," Aqua pointed out.

Starlight looked across the other side of the station, where Sunburst stood and waved to her, a couple suitcases sitting beside him. "Sunburst!" Starlight greeted, running over to the stallion and hugged him. "You made it!"

"Well, of course! I've been looking forward to this visit for a while," Sunburst said.

Starlight offered to carry the stallion's bags, only to grunt with exertion, struggling to levitate one of the suitcases. "H-How long are you staying for?"

"Uhh, that's just...a little light reading for the train," Sunburst said with a sheepish giggle.

He opened the suitcase, showing a lot more than just light reading material inside. "Heheh. Same old Sunburst," Starlight laughed, closing the suitcase and tried to carry it again. Aqua decided to just do the heavy lifting, using her own magic to easily carry the heavy suitcase. "It's going to be so great spending time together. Just like old times. You and me doing the stuff we like; games, magic-"

"Antiquing," Sunburst interrupted.

Starlight paused, surprising her, along with Aqua. "Antiquing?" Aqua asked curiously.

"Yeah. Starlight, you know I love antiquing," Sunburst said.

"You do?" Starlight questioned, obviously not knowing her crush as well as she thought.

"Obviously! Historical knickknacks, ancient relics! You're so lucky you live here in Ponyville!" Sunburst excitedly stated. "This town is antique central!"

"It is?" Starlight asked.

"How have we not talked about this in our letters?" Sunburst asked himself, letting out a small laugh. "We are going antiquing, and you're gonna love it!"

"Kinda sounds like fun myself," Aqua said. "The Keyblade Graveyard has thousands upon thousands of fallen wielders' Keyblades, each of them with different designs, lengths, and possibly stories that I want to know who they were before the Keyblade War ended many of their lives. Let's get your things to the castle and we'll head to the nearest antique shop."

"Ok! Only, eheh..." Sunburst pointed behind him, showing several more bags of luggage the stallion brought with him in a large pile. "Maybe we'll need to take a few trips?"

Starlight and Aqua's jaws dropped, wondering what exactly Sunburst had brought with him with all those bags.


After dropping off all of Sunburst's belongings at the castle, the trio of unicorns made their way to Ponyville's antique store, where it holds all sorts of ancient relics, artwork, books, furniture, etc. Most of them may have been replicas of actual artifacts back then, but antiquing connoisseurs like Sunburst have an appreciation to these types of art with how far back their history went, whether from this town or in other locations across the world.

"This is so great! Who knew I'd be the one showing you the cool sights of Ponyville, Starlight?" Sunburst asked.

"I'm a little surprised myself," she uttered, obviously not all interested in the items she sees as just old junk.

Sunburst pulled out a couple different bricks, staring in awe despite how similar they appeared to be. "Wow! What a difference between the hoof-molded bricks and the extruded ones, right?" he asked excitedly.

Starlight merely muttered in agreement with a nervous laugh, frowning slightly when his back was turned. Looking up, Aqua noticed some beautiful chandeliers with crystal fixtures, very delicate and breakable if something so much as plinked off of the fragile gems.

"Wish I could take one of those and hang them in our room," Aqua said to herself, then looked at Sunburst. "You know crystals can hold magical properties?"

"I know! It's amazing, especially in the Crystal Empire!" Sunburst agreed. Aqua pulled out her crystal communicator, making the stallion gasp at the pure crystal. "Oh my gosh...Is that what I think it is?"

"Yup. A white crystal with the purest properties," Aqua explained, Starlight letting out an annoyed groan as she stood behind them, bored and starting to feel a bit jealous. "Rarity helped me find the right kind of gems in order to make these. With the right magical enchantments and testing, along with carving them to fit in the right owner's ear, we use these as a way to communicate with each other from anywhere outside this world. And they do work."

"Oooooooh. I'd like to try," Sunburst said with glee. "B-But, well, Princess Cadence told me a little about Keyblade wielders and...trying to keep the world order."

"Yeah, but...You know what? I'm gonna say it; screw trying to protect the world order." Sunburst and Starlight's jaws dropped after hearing Aqua make that claim. The blue unicorn placed her communicator back in her ear, ignoring the shocked expressions on the other ponies' faces. "The world order's been out of balance for eons. Heartless show up and take lives or the hearts of worlds, Keyblade wielders usually have no choice but to reveal their Keyblades and protect the innocent from them, and eventually, someone's going to realize there are other worlds outside of their own with just those two facts alone."

".............Who are you and what have you done with the Aqua who just about turned the train station into a popsicle minutes ago?" Starlight questioned.

"Hey, guys!" At the other end of the aisle, they saw Twilight Sparkle in the store, waving them down as she approached them. "Sunburst! I'm glad you're here!"

"In the antique store?" Sunburst asked.

"In Ponyville!" the alicorn corrected. "Starlight's really been looking forward to your visit. Though I'm glad you're in the antique store, too. I'm usually the only one."

"That's crazy! Who doesn't love antiquing!?" While the two studious brainiacs continued going around the antique store, Starlight grumbled in disdain.

She and Aqua followed the princess and Crystaller down the aisles, admiring ancient works of art while discussing all about their origins, detailed designs, even who made them. Aqua was intrigued, but Starlight was already bored, trying to pretend to be interested whenever Sunburst looked her way. It was obvious to the alicorn and other two unicorns that she was clearly disinterested, but she assured them she was, wishing that the antique store wasn't massive inside compared to how it looked on the outside. After what felt like hours of admiring artifacts and even buying some that interested them, Twilight and Sunburst carried their haul back to the castle. The two went over everything they got, all the while Starlight sat across from them, irritated by the first day Sunburst came to visit being spent on antiquing with her mentor in friendship.

"Did you see this Palominian letter opener?" Sunburst showed Twilight the old-fashioned letter opener.

"Wow! That goes well with this ancient phoenix feather quill!" Twilight said with glee, showing the beautiful red and orange feathered pen. "We could write to each other!"

"PEN PALS!!!" Sunburst and Twilight cheered.

Aqua snickered and shook her head in amusement, somehow enjoying the nerdy quirkiness of overly excited geniuses. Then again, she had a penchant for studying all sorts of things, especially involving the Keyblade, magic spells, discovering any lost piece of history from warriors of light from the past, even techniques wielders have unique to them compared to an average wielder, if there were any. While the two new pen pals laughed and bonded, Starlight tried to join in, but sighed, feeling completely left out.

"Uhh, I really like this old-timey barrel," Starlight said, tapping the nearby barrel that Sunburst got.

"Actually, the stuff I bought is INSIDE the barrel," Sunburst stated. "But I can't wait to see what it is!"

"Wait. You don't know what you bought?" Starlight questioned.

"Nope. It's a blind buy," he explained. "Sometimes shops get too busy to go through everything, so they load up a box or barrel and sell it without knowing what's inside."

"Buying one is sort of like a treasure hunt," Twilight added.

"Once, I found a first edition History of Equestria in the original Olde Ponish," Sunburst said.

"Hliet foresettan pliht!" Twilight said before she and Sunburst laughed. Starlight had no idea what she even said, nor did Aqua. The Keyblade Master had seen some books around the library about the Olde Ponish language, but she found it a bit too difficult to understand, even with beginner's guides to help understand the unused language today. "It means 'reward prefers risk'."

"Eh, a little lost in translation, though," Sunburst added. Starlight mumbled, uninterested. Twilight and Sunburst finally stopped going through the rest of their findings, the stallion saving his "treasure box" of antique goodies for a bit later. "So, Starlight, what do you want to do?"

Perking up, Starlight was finally ready to enjoy her quality time with Sunburst. "Well, I don't know if you're gonna remember this, but..."

Starlight teleported a board game in front of her, surprising Sunburst as he recognized the cover on the box. It showed a volcano erupting with two dragons roaring while looking up at the mountain, and the title above the volcano read "Dragon Pit".

"Dragon Pit? Sounds...interesting for a board game," Aqua noted.

"I remember this game," Twilight said. "You two used to play this?"

"Pretty much any time we weren't working on magic," Sunburst said. "I can't believe you found a copy!"

Starlight giggled nervously when he mentioned that, even though it looked like the box had seen its wear and tear for a long while. All four ponies set the game up, the board able to have up to around six players with each dragon beginning at the edge of the board, following a path to reach the base of the volcano, which sat dead center on the board. It seemed a bit dull at first, just normal spaces with a few special ones scattered about on the paths, and a die was rolled to move each colored dragon piece. Starlight was clearly heavily invested, though Sunburst, Twilight, and Aqua weren't really feeling that same enthusiasm.

"Sunburst would get so excited whenever his dragon got trapped, he knocked the whole board over," Starlight recalled with a giggle.

"...How adorable," Twilight said, wishing there was some more activity in this slow-paced board game.

"Uh, well, it is an exciting game," Sunburst said, though he was trying to make the game sound interesting. "But I have a little more control over my horn now."

Aqua was next to move her piece, rolling the die and moved the number of spaces it gave her. Her dragon landed on one of the special spaces, sinking slightly in the board as a puff of steam shot out from the fake volcano.

"Uh oh! Somepony's dragon's gonna get trapped!" Starlight announced.

The volcano shot out a marble colored to look like a lava rock, landing down on one of the paths Aqua was on and knocked into her dragon piece. "...Yeah, I don't think this game's really all that-" Suddenly, the space flipped down like a secret hatch, dropping her dragon and the "lava rock", trapping her dragon. "HUH!?"

Caught off guard, Aqua's horn lit up, accidentally flipping over the board in her surprise. Everyone stared at the Keyblade Master, who looked extremely embarrassed as she seemed to mimic how Sunburst reacted as a colt when his own dragon was trapped in the pit.

"Still recovering from earlier, Aqua?" Starlight asked sheepishly.

Aqua giggled bashfully, clearing her throat as she tried to regain her composure, righting the board game back up with a flash of her horn. "...So, uhh...do I lose, or go back to start?"


After the small round of Dragon Pit, Aqua let Starlight and Sunburst be to hang out some more alone before the day ended. Brewing herself some tea, she sat in the lounge, still feeling a little shaken up from what happened at the station. It feels like a challenge trying not to lose control of her own magic while she was a unicorn, and it couldn't be helped when her thoughts drift to her mistakes, the depression she felt from her loneliness and losing Ventus, Terra, Eraqus, and their home, and the anger she still felt boiling in her chest toward Xehanort. Her stress and anxiety keep getting to her, that instinct to keep her eyes open while she slept still lingering, even though she no longer had to fear getting attacked while feeling so defenseless. And it didn't help that she still felt Torrent was still there within her heart, threatening to come out if she blows up in her stressed and frustrated rage in her magic surge.

During the night, she downed several pots worth of calming teas, even tried to meditate to control her nerves. When those didn't work, she tried to take a stroll around the castle to wear herself out. While rounding the corner, she bumped into Starlight, who didn't look like she even went to bed hours ago as it was almost six in the morning at this time.

"Aqua? You're still up?" Starlight asked curiously.

"Couldn't sleep," she said. "Same with you?"

"Well, I want to show Sunburst more of town, but after antiquing with Twilight, we barely spent enough time together," Starlight said. "He wanted to suggest Twilight what the best sights there are and not me..." As Starlight pouted, Aqua, despite being a bit tired, smirked at her. "...What?"

"Are you starting to get jealous?" Aqua asked slyly.

"J-Jealous!? Of Twilight!?" Starlight exclaimed, quickly being shushed by Aqua, seeing how everyone's still asleep. "...I-I am not jealous. Riku's her coltfriend."

"But you were jealous of her spending more time with Sunburst than you, even after you told me how much in common you two shared," Aqua reiterated. "Just from his love of antiquing, you clearly don't know what other things he enjoys compared to what you two used to like when you were kids."

"W-Well...maybe there's a few things we don't have in common, but I know him better than anypony else," Starlight said, still in denial about her jealousy and still holding onto the childhood she cherished with Sunburst.

"Are you sure?" Aqua asked.

"Absolutely," Starlight said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna wake Sunburst up to start our day right."

Aqua watched the determined mare head off to the guest room Sunburst made himself comfortable in, then headed off to hers and Terra's room. Quietly walking inside, she found her lover still asleep in bed. She snuck over to the bathroom, stripping out of her clothes and hoped a shower would help settle her nerves. Turning on the shower head, she stepped in once the water was warm enough. Exhaling deeply, she let the water run over her, closing her eyes to try and fall into a serene calmness, pretending she was under a gentle waterfall in a quiet forest.

While in her trance, she didn't hear the door open, completely forgetting to close the curtains for privacy. "Stayed up all night again?"

Aqua was startled out of her zen-like state, quickly looking to find Terra standing in front of her, having just woken up with his mane sticking out with a nasty case of bedhead. "T-Terra, don't do that!" Aqua scolded, blushing madly, then yelped as her blush brightened, covering herself when she realized she forgot to move the curtains.

"Sorry," he apologized. "And...you know we've been alone together in the nude. Why are you acting shocked?"

"P-Privacy, for one," Aqua grumbled.

Terra snickered at the poor excuse when it came to them in their own bathroom. "Well, since you're already in the shower, I'll join you to save some time and water," he teased, climbing into the shower with Aqua, closing the curtains behind him. "And close these so we can have some...'privacy'."

"Shut up," the unicorn muttered with a pout, hearing the stallion laugh behind her.

Terra hugged Aqua, helping her relax, but he could feel how stressed she was from the tense muscles on her back. "You ok?" he asked. "Did something happen yesterday?"

Aqua's ears drooped, leaning back against Terra with a silent nod. "...I...almost had another magic surge...I was with Starlight waiting for Sunburst at the station when it happened..."

"What did she do to tick you off?" Terra asked calmly.

"Nothing. She just...asked me a question about how we got together with each other, my old crush I had on you when we were younger...but then I started going on an emotional tirade," Aqua said, trembling slightly as her long-winded rant about her failures and losses came back. Terra held her closely, letting her calm down a little while he helped console her, gently grasping one of her hooves and giving small kisses on her neck and shoulder. Tears streamed down the unicorn's face, masked by the water pouring down over them, fearful of turning back into that dark side of her that tried to take over and anger toward herself for her past mistakes. Terra could tell she was trying to go back to being the old Aqua he knew as they grew up, but the deep scars left behind from those events had left her so vulnerable, even terrified as she dreads to make the same mistakes all over again. "...I'm so psychologically and mentally broken, Terra...I-I can't...I'm t-trying to forget, but-"

"Shhhh," Terra gently shushed, turning her around and pulled her closer, her forelegs quickly embracing him as her emotional dam crumbled, quietly sobbing into his chest. Terra gently rocked back and forth, rubbing her back, letting her know she was safe in his hooves and she wasn't alone anymore. "It's ok. You're ok." He continued uttering calming words until Aqua had managed to calm down from her emotional breakdown. "You take all the time you need. I know it wasn't easy with what you went through and what you're going through now. I'll be there to help you every step of the way. Even after we stop Xehanort."

Aqua moved her face away from Terra's chest and looked up at him, a small smile on her lips as he gave her one in kind. "...How can you be so patient with me?" she asked.

"Because, the first day we met, I didn't have that kind of patience toward you until you kicked my butt several times," Terra said.

That managed to get Aqua to laugh a little at the not-so-friendly meeting the two shared, followed by an embarrassing lesson of humility that Terra learned the hard way. The couple shared a small kiss, cuddling each other while still under the shower head. Aqua's smile faded, letting out a sigh as she rested her cheek on Terra's shoulder.

"I'm such a mess," she mumbled. "Maybe if Master Eraqus and Master Yen Sid never met Xehanort, I wouldn't be such a wreck." Terra slowly rubbed the mare's back, keeping her calm as she continued to vent. "I don't even know what he saw in that man...I understand that you can't always pick your friends, but if any of them deserved a sliver of mercy, Xehanort doesn't. Those like you, Riku, or even Starlight Glimmer who were misunderstood about the result of their actions or tricked by someone manipulative, I'm willing to let slide...even though Starlight was much more harder for me to accept with how difficult it is for me to trust anyone..."

Terra said nothing, staring into space while his hoof continued to subconsciously rub Aqua's back. She let out another sigh, burying her face against Terra's shoulder, resting her eyes while relaxing in his embrace.




I'm sorry, Aqua...

Aqua's eyes quickly shot open, lifting her head away from Terra's shoulder and looked around the shower. "W-Wha...?"

"Aqua? What's wrong?" Terra asked, confused. She didn't answer, letting go of him and peeked around the curtain, only to find no one but themselves in their bathroom. "What is it?"

"...Did you...hear something?" she asked. The stallion shook his head, only able to hear the water running down from their shower. She tried to listen for that voice again, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Running a hoof over her eyes, Aqua mumbled tiredly, believing she was hallucinating. "I think I'm losing my mind again..."

"What did you hear?" Terra asked curiously.

"...I thought I heard...Master Eraqus," Aqua said. Terra was a little surprised at her claim, but Aqua shook her head. "I'm probably hearing things..."

"Do you think you need a little nap after you dry off?" he suggested, noticing the tired look in her eyes.

"I meditated for a while a few hours ago," Aqua reassured. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk. Get me some fresh air."

Aqua stepped out of the shower, drying herself off with a towel, then headed out, leaving Terra to finish his shower. "Ok," he uttered. While sitting under the shower head, he rubbed his head in befuddlement. "...Did I...black out for a few seconds?"


Aqua decided to take a stroll around Sweet Apple Acres. The vast acres are a good place to just get a little lost while breathing in the country air along with the sweet scent of the ripe fruit hanging from the branches. Even though she's been freed from her entrapment in the Realm of Darkness for a few years, it still feels so alien to her to be around such a tranquil land with brighter colors that didn't involve grays, blacks, and blues. Since Applejack or her family doesn't seem to mind loafers like Rainbow Dash when she finds a tree to take a nap in, she hoped they didn't mind her wandering about an act of trespassing.

Her ears perked up when she heard laughing out on the road as she walked toward the picket fence lining the boundary for the Apples' orchard. Aqua spotted Trixie's caravan parked not too far from the road, and along with the magician was Sunburst and Starlight. Trixie and Sunburst were practicing some magic tricks, though more in the prestidigitation sense than using their own magic, the two apparently having a blast as they performed some tricks while also revealing the tricks behind them. Aqua was surprised these magic tricks Trixie performed were able to wow any guests with how easily they could be seen as hokey, amateurish tricks a foal could do. But while they were having fun, Starlight clearly wasn't. Aqua figured Starlight must have tried to show Sunburst something, ran into Trixie, and like with Twilight yesterday, Sunburst had something in common with the showmare and Starlight wasn't able to spend much alone time with him.

"Starlight, why didn't you tell me how much Sunburst and I had in common?" Trixie asked.

"Gee. I don't know," Starlight grumbled sarcastically. As she turned away after giving her longtime friend/soon-to-be coltfriend, she noticed Aqua leaping over the fence and walk over to them. "Hey, Aqua! Sunburst, why don't we go for a walk with Aqua!? Sound great!? Ok!"

Not giving the stallion a chance to respond, Starlight dragged Sunburst off with her magic, then did the same to Aqua. "Umm, hello to you, too?" Aqua said. After a ways down the road where Trixie couldn't be seen anymore, Starlight finally let Aqua and Sunburst go, guiding them toward the forest to where the next location she wanted to show her future lover and continue bonding with, and with no one else eating up her time with him. "Starlight, what was that about?" Aqua questioned, both mares walking ahead of Sunburst to talk privately.

"Well, a quarter of the day was spent with those two doing a whole bunch of magic tricks, which I really did not want to happen," Starlight growled. "I woke up Sunburst, brought him to Sweet Apple Acres after waiting for him to get dressed, which was dumb because we don't normally wear clothes anyways."

"Wait, was staying up all night and waking Sunburst up part of your plan to see him without his cloak on?" Aqua asked with a snort.

Starlight blushed and stammered, glancing back at Sunburst nervously in the hopes that he didn't hear Aqua say that. "N-No!" she exclaimed, relieved to see the stallion was too busy looking around the foliage. Aqua gave the heliotrope unicorn an impish smirk at her reaction, Starlight letting out a frustrated growl. "I-I don't know why he's so adamant on wandering outside without his cloak now. He was just fine when we were foals."

"Maybe he's trying to hide something," Aqua continued to tease. Starlight's blush intensified, then grunted in embarrassment as she gave the Keyblade Master a shove, making her laugh at the mare. "Did you even bother asking him why he feels more comfortable wearing clothes than walking around without any?"

"No," Starlight mumbled. "Why are you messing with me?"

"Sorry. Just trying to distract myself from yesterday, and I find it funny that you mentioned him going to sleep 'in the nude'," Aqua said with another snort at her comment, making Starlight grumble as she was continuously being picked on. "Go on."

"I'm dreading to," Starlight muttered, but she continued on despite being teased. "Anyway, I brought him to Sweet Apple Acres while reminding him how much we both loved drinking apple juice as foals, and I wanted him to try one of the best apples around Equestria to help jog his memory. We didn't know Trixie was under one of those trees, using the orchard as a place to practice her magic. And use as a sleeping ground if she passed out. Then Trixie showed Sunburst a trick where she escaped from being tied up in chains, only to get stuck, Sunburst trying to untie her, which resulted in me just teleporting her out to keep her from further embarrassment, and then they got distracted doing all sorts of dumb magic tricks."

"...So, yet again, no alone time with Sunburst," Aqua summarized. "And he has an interest in sleights of hand types of magic that you didn't know he enjoyed."

"I swear we have a lot in common," Starlight insisted, gritting her teeth angrily. "And I know he loves discovering things with a lot of interesting lore, so I'm going to take him to the Mirror Pool."

"Wait, what!?" Aqua exclaimed. Creating a barrier with her magic, Aqua made Starlight smack into the wall of blue aura, glaring angrily at the mare before quickly turning to give Sunburst a fake grin. He had stopped when he heard Starlight yelp in pain, wondering what happened. "Excuse us. Just a little girl talk for a quick moment."

"Oh. Ok," Sunburst said.

Aqua dragged Starlight off further ahead, where ironically enough, was at the entrance Pinkie found that lead to the enchanted pond underground, the boulder blocking the entrance was now gone. "...You're taking Sunburst to the Mirror Pool?" Aqua questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah. I know he likes stories and lore about certain places, so why not take him here and wonder why it's there?" Starlight answered, making Aqua groan.

"Need I remind you that, from Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Twilight, they mentioned something that happened with this very same enchanted pond involving a few dozen Pinkie Pie clones causing trouble in Ponyville some time ago?" Aqua reminded Starlight. "And a clone of Pinkie's was responsible for creating fun-loving pink ponies to bounce around like giant pests, while the real Pinkie thought it was a great idea to clone herself so she could have fun with everyone without missing any time with her friends."

"...Ah...That...sounds like something Discord would do for a prank," Starlight pondered. "But I wasn't going to have us create a clone to see if it works." Aqua gave the mare a blank stare, finding her excuse hard to believe. "But...I have to wonder. If Sora made a clone of himself, could his Nobody, Roxas, come back?"

"...Actually, that did happen," Aqua admitted, surprising Starlight.

"Really? Well, that should help you guys bringing him and Xion out of Sora," Starlight said. "Why isn't Roxas here now if that was possible?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Aqua said. "Many things could possibly interfere with his body if it was created in this Mirror Pool. It's a magical construct, not an empty shell, but Sora confirmed that he was completely stable. Twilight even mentioned his ability to dual-wield two Keyblades, so that also confirmed that Mirror Pool clone sensed Roxas's light and chose him as Sora's 'duplicate', but kept his personality and traits unlike the fun-crazed Pinkie clones. There's also the fact that his body is more magic than physical, and if he were to ever leave Equestria, in theory, the magical energy wouldn't keep his body stable and return his heart back into Sora's while the body fades away."

"Oh...So, if the Mirror Pool has a certain limit, or Roxas needs to stay in Equestria to keep his body, it's not a good idea to bring him back permanently, huh?" Starlight theorized.

"Yes. So, our best bet is to have a vessel for Roxas, just like how some past Organization XIII members seem to be coming back despite being defeated," Aqua added. "We'll have to wait until Ienzo updates us on that matter." She looked down the hole, catching the sunlight reflecting off the pond down below. As much as she wanted to experiment with a clone of her own, she didn't want to risk dealing with another her that might not think for themselves, or at worst, bring Torrent back. Aqua looked back at Starlight, who was giving her a pleading look with an innocent smile. The Keyblade Master grumbled, rolled her eyes, then sighed heavily. "...Fine. You can bring him down here. But no clones."

"Thank you!" Starlight cheered, giving Aqua a deathly squeeze of a hug before running off to bring Sunburst over.

As soon as the two unicorns made it back, all three of them made their way down the sloped path into the cavern. Sunburst saw the Mirror Pool, going on an excited rant about the lore behind the enchanted pond. Starlight even made a comment about her and Sunburst making a clone to make up a year's worth of hanging out in a day, but a stern glare from Aqua made her retract that thought. While looking at the normal, peaceful water, the unicorns heard a tapping sound somewhere further down the cave.

"Do you girls hear that?" Sunburst asked.

"I hope it's not a leftover Pinkie Pie," Starlight uttered.

"Or a Heartless..." Aqua summoned her Keyblade, looking down the cave where the tapping was coming from. "Or anyone from the Organization. You two stay behind me." Starlight and Sunburst nodded as Aqua lead the way, the mare cautiously stepping forward while listening for any signs of an ambush. The sound grew louder as they approached a corner. Aqua signaled Starlight and Sunburst to stay put, then peeked around. There was a light and a shadow against the wall, the creature banging against the rocky surface for something. Aqua pounced and yelled, ready to swing her Keyblade, only to freeze when it wasn't anything that was threatening. "...M-Maud?"

The emotionless mare stopped tapping the wall, turning her head to look at Aqua with her usual blank stare. "...Oh. Aqua. You startled me," Maud said.

"...Did I?" Aqua questioned, dismissing her weapon. The earth pony was wearing a miner's helmet to help her see in the dark caves, and since she was incredibly strong, strong enough to bust through a Defender's shield, she probably didn't need a pickax to tap through the walls. "I completely forgot you live around here now that you're done with school for geology."

"It's actually a rocktorate in rock science, but geology works, too," Maud said.

Starlight and Sunburst came around the corner after hearing Aqua talking with Maud Pie, seeing it was a false alarm. "Maud. How did you get in here?"

"This cavern's actually connected to mine," Maud said, then went back to tapping the wall she was working on.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Sunburst asked curiously.

"Tapping," Maud responded bluntly, which made Aqua chuckle at her unintentional dry wit.

"Maud isn't super chatty," Starlight said to Sunburst. "I mean, you and I could sit around and talk all day, but she looks pretty busy."

She turned to look at the stallion, but Sunburst ignored her and approached Maud, making Starlight groan silently, having a gut feeling that he was going to be distracted by yet another one of her friends and their favorite hobbies. "Are you taking some sort of core sample?" Sunburst asked Maud.

"Not exactly," the emotionless Pie said. "I'm uncovering this section of strata for closer study. You might want to step back." Sunburst did as he was told as Maud tapped different sections of the wall, everyone able to hear the lighter taps from the weaker section. With a hard punch, Maud caused the section to crumble, revealing a wall of glittering purple as the dust cleared. To their amazement, it was a wall made of crystal, left completely intact thanks to Maud's expert hooves. Sunburst examined the beautiful wall of a literal gem, struck with awe. "I'm studying this area's metamorphic-"

"-foliation," Sunburst finished, making Starlight fume as, once again, her crush had something that he liked that she didn't know, and she had no interest in. "Is this gneiss, phyllite, or slate? The pressure above must be uniform to get the planar fabric to be this consistent."

"You know about geology?" Maud asked, though it was deadpanned, she was a bit surprised.

"Eh, I dabble," Sunburst admitted.

"You live in the Crystal Empire," Aqua reminded the stallion. "You're around all sorts of crystals, and seeing how much of a bookworm you are compared to Twilight, you'd be interested in studying gems and minerals in a heartbeat."

While Aqua, Sunburst, and Maud continued going through the cave and discovered more gems while talking about geology, Starlight didn't bother staying around and left, fed up with her time with Sunburst constantly being taken by another friend of hers. The spelunking trio went about finding some more gems hidden throughout the underground caverns, but after nearly half an hour, Sunburst turned to show Starlight, only to be shocked not to see any sign of her.

"Uhh, Starlight?" Sunburst called out. "Where did she go?"

"Maybe she got claustrophobic and went out to fly a kite to calm herself down," Maud guessed. "She loves to fly kites."

"Really? I didn't know she was interested in kites," Sunburst said.

"That sounds familiar," Aqua uttered to herself in amusement. "But I have a feeling I know why she left."

"What was the reason?" Sunburst asked, completely clueless.

"Then let's find her," Aqua said. "We'll see you later, Maud. And I'll stop by to visit later to ask you something about certain crystals."

"Ok," Maud said, continuing with her gem hunting while Aqua and Sunburst made their way to the exit of the caverns to find Starlight.

They stopped by the castle to see if she was there, and luckily, they found her in the throne room. Aqua figured she'd be pretty upset after her time with Sunburst was laid off again, but she seemed surprisingly ok. On the Cutie Map was a scroll, writing something on it with a quill.

"Starlight, what happened?" Sunburst asked. "Aqua, Maud, and I found some fascinating sedimentary stratum, but when I turned to show you, you were gone."

"Maud does have a way of making rocks really interesting, but I wanted to work on something a little more 'us'," Starlight said. Getting up from one of the Mane Six's thrones she sat in, she showed Sunburst and Aqua the scroll, which looked like some sort of spell. "This is a little spell I just whipped up, and I know that we both like magic."

"Wow! That's incredible!" Sunburst praised after reading through the spell. "What's it do?"

Starlight flicked the scroll up in the air, then fired a magic beam at it. The words on the paper glowed and released a blue whirlwind of aura around the entire room. When the magic vortex disappeared, the throne room changed into a living room in a small house.

"...Uhh, that's it?" Aqua questioned as she observed the room: a small coffee table in the center, some shelves against the wall, and a couple couches. "It's just a normal living room."

"It's actually Starlight's house," Sunburst corrected. "That's amazing. Almost like I never left."

"But there's more!" Starlight interjected.

She fired another beam on the same scroll, the same aura whirlwind shot out from the paper and surrounded all three unicorns. When it faded away, Aqua stared in awe; Starlight and Sunburst had reverted back to their childhood ages. Sunburst lost his favorite cloak, glasses, and messy goatee, and Starlight had pigtails, which made her a lot more adorable as a filly with that beaming grin of hers.

"An age spell? That's-" Aqua paused, jolting in surprise when she heard her voice. It definitely sounded a lot younger, almost like she was a little girl. Looking down at herself, she realized that Starlight's spell affected her as well, shrinking her down from an adult mare to a young filly. Ignoring the two other ponies, she found a mirror in the room to get a better look at herself. In the reflection, she stared at a young blue unicorn filly, still wearing her usual outfit, though it shrunk to fit her smaller frame, but her hair was much shorter compared to how long she's grown it to this day. "...Wow...I'm...actually quite adorable. I wonder how Terra will react if he sees me like this..."

While Aqua looked over herself, and enjoyed it after she was planning to scold Starlight for getting her wrapped up in the spell, Sunburst was a little unnerved being a colt again. "Pretty cool, huh!?" Starlight asked him.

"Um...sure," Sunburst mumbled with uncertainty.

"Now we can play Dragon Pit! Just like we used to!" Starlight brought out the their favorite board game and began setting it up.

"Actually, I kind of thought we could go with Maud and-" Sunburst tried to say.

"I mean, nothing was better than just you and me playing this game when we were foals, right?" Aqua stopped admiring herself and focused back on the awkward tension Sunburst was feeling, even though Starlight was adamant on bonding with each other with fun activities they had when they were children.

"Starlight, I think you're-" Aqua tried to interject, but Starlight wasn't listening as she picked the game pieces.

"Do you want to be red or blue?" Starlight asked Sunburst, completely ignoring Aqua and frustrating Sunburst.

Sunburst finally snapped, slamming his forehooves on the table, making the board game clatter from the hard thump. "Starlight! I don't want to play the game at all!"

Shocked and heartbroken, Starlight averted her gaze from her friend/crush. She changed everything back to normal with one more beam of magic on the floating scroll above the room. The scroll landed between the trio, Starlight kicking it away as tears welled in her eyes.

"I thought we could have fun doing the one thing I thought we still had in common, but I guess we don't even have that anymore," she said depressingly before running out of the throne room crying.

"S-Starlight, wait!" Sunburst called out, but she was already gone. Sighing heavily, he looked at the board game of their childhood, perplexed by Starlight's odd behavior, or at least odder than their reunion not that long ago. "I don't understand. Why was she obsessed over this old game?"

Aqua picked up the scroll with the spell Starlight made, placing it down on the table next to the Dragon Pit game. "She's been trying to impress you and spark something to further your relationship with her to being lovers," Aqua explained. "But with how badly she was going about it with childish stuff, it was more like catching up with lost time after you moved."

"S-She...wanted us to be a couple...and..." Sunburst processed Starlight's motives with her plans for his visit, and after learning how she really felt toward him after seeing each other again after many years, he felt stupid not realizing it. "...Does she think that...if we had tons of things in common...we'd be the perfect match and go on an official date?"

"I believe so," Aqua said. "But her plans got derailed when Twilight, Trixie, and Maud kept getting your attention with all the hobbies they liked that you also enjoyed."

"Uhh, isn't Princess Twilight already in a relationship with Riku?" Sunburst questioned, making the Keyblade Master facehoof, misunderstanding what she was talking about.

"Not THAT kind of attention," she grumbled, then sighed heavily. "I swear, sometimes, you boys let the obvious go WAY over your heads."

Sunburst blushed, realizing his mistake. "O-Oh. B-By the common activities...S-Sorry."

"My point is that there's something that you two still have in common, and despite any different things you and her like that the other doesn't, you two can still be in a romantic relationship," Aqua reiterated. "Starlight doesn't believe that because she's afraid of losing you again, and it showed with her trying to do fun activities or recall fond memories that you two enjoyed as foals, not something new meant for both your ages."

"Yeah...That spell putting us back in younger bodies in her old home...That was awkward," Sunburst mumbled while staring at the scroll. "We knew each other as foals, but that doesn't mean we have to BE foals to just talk or hang out."

"Not sure if you know about Starlight, but she overdoes just about everything when she panics," Aqua said. "Just like Twilight...or me."

"You? I don't see you as the type who gets overly stressed under pressure," Sunburst said.

"You're lucky you didn't see me turn the train station into a winter wonderland when I waited with Starlight for your arrival yesterday," Aqua said. Sunburst grimaced, getting what she meant after learning about certain powerful unicorns having really dangerous magical surges if they get too stressed or enraged. "I've spent years surviving in a dangerous place without any way of escaping, so I've been on edge for quite a while, and there's been points where I snapped or lost control of my emotions and made winter come earlier than scheduled in the year. I even snapped at Starlight when she was stopped from her time travel fiasco and I was the only one who demanded she face severe consequences for her actions than being rehabilitated."

Sunburst's face turned pale, dreading to know just what kind of consequences the Keyblade Master had in mind during that time. "...Uhh, Starlight...never mentioned that in her letters..."

"Probably a good thing, then, because I was in a dark place, and I feel like I still am." Aqua shook her head, getting back on topic. "Anyway, despite having made a connection with Twilight, Trixie, Maud, and even myself a couple times, there might be other things you two might have had in common that she isn't aware of."

"Right! We do!" Sunburst said, but his enthusiasm quickly disappeared as he began thinking, bringing a hoof to his chin. "As soon as I can think of anything..."

"Ok...How about I list some examples from what Starlight has in common with Trixie and Maud?" Aqua suggested. Sunburst nodded his head, unable to come up with anything else he and Starlight liked. "With Trixie, they both did some bad things they weren't proud of, felt self-conscious as they tried to show they've changed...Well, Starlight definitely has. Trixie's got so much of an ego that it's kind of hard to tell if she's being sincere or not. As for Maud..." Aqua pondered a little about Maud and Starlight's friendship, though they don't usually see Pinkie's older sister often unless she goes into town for groceries. "...Huh...Not much, actually. But they're content being friends regardless of Maud being less chatty and lacking emotion."

"That doesn't help me much," Sunburst sighed, defeated. "Starlight and I spent so much time apart. Even with letters to try to catch up on things and see how we're doing, I'm afraid we don't have anything to connect with anymore...And, if we can't connect over anything...maybe we aren't meant to be friends..."

"That's not true," Aqua quickly said. "Terra and I are in a relationship, and before we even started dating, we were friends, and we were split apart from each other after Xehanort tricked us and Ven. Every single day I was alone in the Realm of Darkness, I constantly worried about him, not knowing his heart was already lost and possessed by the man who destroyed everything between us. After finding Terra again, freed from Xehanort's grasp, I've had my regrets about what I did to drive him away from me back then, but I never regretted letting my feelings out to him moments after reuniting with him." Aqua began to tear up, overwhelmed by her past mistakes and the relief she felt having Terra and Ventus back in her life, even with how messed up she was in mind and heart that she expected Terra to get upset with her whenever she lost her cool. "Not all romantic relationships can start off that well if you just bluntly express your feelings by just blurting out 'I love you' to them, or catching them by surprise with a full kiss on the lips, but despite how differently we are as Keyblade wielders, as people, our friendship we had never faded, and it only grew from there. Where I was the more focused and driven one between us and him being hard-headed and not thinking rationally first before acting, our roles had reversed in our traumatic experiences, which made our bond grow more, even if we had different things we like now compared to back then.

"Starlight was afraid of being rejected and alone after you left, and losing you had forced her to cling on to what you two shared as foals so she didn't forget you and feel this desperate to be with you again. And, trying to move your friendship to the next level, it frightens her because, if there was no spark of love between you two, then she'll feel just as dejected as she did back then." Sunburst was a little shocked seeing Aqua so emotional, especially the brief summary of her past explaining how she went from being calm and level-headed to overly worried and temperamental.

"...I broke her heart before, and she's going to have it broken again if our friendship had completely faded away, even after we got back together," Sunburst uttered. He took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes, still feeling guilty for leaving his best friend like that after that surge of magic he experienced that earned him his cutie mark. "I really don't want to hurt her again, but if there's nothing we can do together, it's only going to hurt her more...What do I do to make it up to her?"

Aqua wiped her eyes, composing herself as she helped Sunburst figure out how to get him and Starlight to bond with something common they liked and was new that they could experience as adults. Her eyes trailed to the Dragon Pit board game and Starlight's spell. Looking at the scroll, Aqua read over the magic equations, getting an inspiration from it and the old board game.

"Sunburst, find Trixie and Maud and bring them to the library," Aqua said. "I'll get Twilight and Starlight. We're all going to play a different type of game."


After getting her new game set up in the library, Aqua searched the castle to find Starlight and Twilight. She found them going through the halls, the alicorn possibly seeing her upset as she passed and tried to help calm the unicorn down. Starlight wasn't crying, but she was still upset.

"Hey, there you two are," Aqua said. "You ok, Starlight?"

"No," Starlight mumbled. "I think I'm just kidding myself at this point. It's clear Sunburst and I have grown too far apart, and my feelings for him are just desperation to keep us together. No wonder crushes are called that."

"I know how that feels," Twilight said. "But, at least there isn't somepony else Sunburst is interested in, so there might still be a chance for you."

The alicorn laughed nervously, but Starlight wasn't amused as she gave her mentor an irritated leer. "You're not helping."

"I wouldn't give up so easily," Aqua said. She ushered the two mares to follow her to the library, where Sunburst, Trixie, and Maud were testing out her version of Starlight's transformation spell. "It's ok to reminisce on fond memories of our youths, good or bad, but forcing those same memories to reconnect might not work out as well as you think. We get older, and some of our interests change. Not everything stays the same, no matter how much you try to enforce it."

Starlight took in Aqua's advice, but she grimaced as she hinted at what she did in Our Town. "I guess I'm still a little dead set on keeping things the same way because I wanted them to," she said sheepishly.

"And you're learning...a little at a time, but it's a start," Twilight said. "So, where exactly are we going, Aqua?"

"The library," Aqua said. "I thought we'd play a game to bond some more."

"More Dragon Pit?" Starlight asked worriedly. "Sunburst said he didn't want to anymore."

"Not exactly Dragon Pit, but it's a new game I'm sure you girls will like as much as the others are right now." Starlight and Twilight looked at each other curiously, wondering what this new game was. Once they reached the library, Aqua opened the doors, both Starlight and Twilight staring in awe at what was inside. The whole room had changed to look like a massive board game hovering over a living map of Equestria several thousand yards up in the air, Sunburst, Trixie, and Maud taking their turns as they played this strange, live-to-scale board game. The spaces formed into a seven-pointed star, those spaces actually being cubes of a variety of colors: most were set up like districts with the same color borders, some with blank white spaces in the middle of them while most had symbols in the shape of a key, a wizard's hat, or a crown, one was golden with a keyhole, which was the starting space, four fully colored blocks scattered around like checkpoints in red, blue, green, and yellow, cubes shaped like presents as they hovered over spaces with dangerous-looking voids while using it to safely roll it across the bad spaces, purple cubes with gold borders and heart symbols, and black cubes with a red arrow pointed up in an explosion along with a counter with a percentage number underneath. "Welcome to the Equestria Command Board."

Both the princess and her student looked down at the kingdom in awe, barely noticing Aqua walk in the room and calmly walk in midair, the illusion still keeping a floor toward the board spaces. "Wow. It's exactly like the whole map of Equestria," Twilight uttered in amazement. "There's Canterlot, the Crystal Empire in the north, the Dragon Lands, everything's exactly where it's placed on a real map. And...I think I see movement in the cities!"

"Almost like we're literally standing-" Starlight gulped nervously, suddenly feeling a wave of vertigo despite the "air" underneath them was completely solid flooring. "-really high up in the air?"

"It's just an illusion, with a little inspiration to your spell you made," Aqua said, pointing to the scroll hovering high above them in the center of the board map. "If there are any board games you have that's similar to monopoly, this is kind of similar, with a few twists here and there."

"Yeah! It's actually really fun!" Sunburst called out, rolling a magic dice block that appeared in front of him and moved that number of spaces when it stopped. His movement lead him to the gold keyhole space, a bright light shining around him as he earned several thousand points, which was shown above his head, along with four diamonds on the corner of the ethereal panel, and five card spaces. Some of the cards he had had the same symbols as the ones on the other panels on the board, a couple spaces empty, but he was given a full hand of cards when the light faded. "Alright! Just a couple thousand more GP and I win!"

"How many times have you gone around this board!?" Trixie exclaimed angrily, stuck on the present box in the middle of the void path she was on. Maud's turn was next, using two cards to give her an extra dice to move further, moving the number on the dice blocks. The direction she went was past Trixie, taking away the present and made her slip on the void space, making her lose GP with a frustrated yell. "MAUD! You're making me lose more!"

"Sorry, but you should have tried going in another direction when you had a chance," Maud said. While she still moved, a counter near the present reached zero. The present went flat, gifting the monotone Pie several thousand GP before rising back up as the counter reset to eighteen, which must have been the number of spaces in order to earn the gift. "Hooray. More points. I'm catching up to Sunburst."

"That was MY present!" Trixie whined, then took her turn. Sadly, she rolled a one, landing on the next void space. "AHHHHHH! Darn it! How has the Great and Powerful Trixie kept rolling so many low numbers!?"

"This definitely looks exciting," Twilight said.

"Yeah. And...different," Starlight added.

"Isn't that what makes anything interesting? No same, boring routines that have lost interest for years?" Aqua asked the unicorn, who let out a small, sheepish laugh. Sunburst rolled again, this time landing on the gold and purple space. "Ooh. Wonder what event Sunburst is gonna get." The room dimmed out slightly, the moon appeared in the sky, and in a puff of smoke was Nightmare Moon. Even though this was all just an illusion, it was still a surprise seeing the Mare in the Moon come back. Nightmare Moon cackled as she hovered over Sunburst, then fired a beam of lightning down on the stallion. The magic blast didn't harm him physically, but it still shocked him, paralyzing him in place and also taking some of his GP. "Oh boy. Nightmare Moon stunned him for a couple turns and he lost a couple thousand GP. Bad luck there."

"Nooo! I was going to reverse my direction after I got to that checkpoint!" Sunburst cried out in despair.

"And I'm going to win if I roll the right amount," Maud said. "...Yay."

Nightmare Moon faded into the darkness as the lighting returned to normal. "Is that the only event that happens on that space?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Sometimes, Princess Celestia will hover in from the sunlight on those spaces and grant you a double roll next turn along with some GP," Aqua explained. "I'll tell you guys the rest of the mechanics of the game when we start playing. So, hurry up and win, Maud, so all of us can play!"

"Maybe next game, Trixie won't keep losing all her points and spaces," Trixie grumbled spitefully, stomping on the awful void space she stood on.

Starlight looked at Sunburst, and despite whining over his eventual loss, he was having fun playing this life-sized board game. It may not have been Dragon Pit, but this peaked her interest greatly, even her competitive side since she always won in the old game she loved playing.


The next game came fairly quickly with Maud winning the last, to Sunburst's ire after that bit of random luck on the event space. At least he didn't fall down a pit and get stuck down there until he clambered his way back up. With all six players, it was a bit chaotic as they were able to choose which direction to go in at the start, using the cards in their hand to place on their landed spaces to buy and take others' GP if they land on them or performing different boosts to help them move farther, stun opponents, earn more points, etc. It was all about strategy in Command Board, knowing when to buy a space to own with the GP they start out with if it'll help them in the long run, and reaching each checkpoint to earn a colored diamond and return to the starting space, earning a bonus with how many spaces they owned, cards in their hand, and just by making a lap around the large board. It was hilarious as well when Trixie got stuck on those dangerous voids after everyone else kept snatching the present box from her, dropping her into those "pits" that took away GP even when her turn wasn't up yet.

With the point amount to win being as low as possible, there were several games, and almost everyone got a win. All except Trixie, who focused too hard on trying to get around the board, refusing to buy a space until she was satisfied with enough to buy one like she was on a budget, and stayed in last place every single round because of her stubbornness to try to get an edge on her opponents while lapping around the board. Day soon turned to night as the group continued playing Aqua's board game idea, tallying up their wins while expressing their enjoyment as all six of them bonded while having a good time. Sadly, this was Sunburst's last day of hanging out with Starlight since he had to go back to the Crystal Empire to return to his Crystaller duties.

The next day, Starlight, Twilight, Maud, Trixie, and Aqua saw Sunburst off at the train station, all of the stallion's luggage and most of his antiques he bought carried on by the unfortunate staff member who had to handle his overabundance of travel necessities. "This has been an exciting time," Sunburst said. "I hope we can play that kind of board game some more in the future."

"Yeah," Starlight agreed. "Kinda wished I didn't constantly worry about us not having anything in common."

"I don't think that matters as long as we enjoy each other's company," Sunburst said, though both ponies' grins turned to frowns. "Although, it's hard to be in each other's company if we're always far apart from each other physically."

"Mhmm. It feels just as bad as when you left me when we were foals, and I sometimes doubt that what we had isn't able to be recovered," Starlight admitted sadly.

"Then why not make planned visits to each other more often?" Twilight suggested. "I'm sure Shining Armor and Cadence appreciate you foalsitting for Flurry Heart and dealing with her magic surges. They should let you enjoy some time to yourself, or hang out with Starlight some more."

"And, Starlight, you've basically graduated as Twilight's student in friendship," Aqua added. "So, there's no friendship assignments you need to do. You could go wherever you want, make more friends, build up that relationship with Sunburst some more so you two can see if you two really are made for each other? Just a little bit of advice if you two are still into each other."

"You two should just kiss and see if sparks fly," Maud said. Her statement startled Sunburst and Starlight, making them blush as they stammered and looked at and away from each other nervously. "That was a joke," Maud stated, though it was hard to tell if the mare ever joked around with her usual bland tone. "Just don't rush it, or the bad kind of sparks might fly."

"What sparks?" Trixie asked.

"Magic sparks. Because their unicorns," the earth pony explained.

"...Was that the joke? I don't get it," Trixie mumbled.

Aqua, Twilight, and Starlight laughed, knowing Trixie wasn't going to get Maud and her monotone, yet very witty comments. The train conductor called all boarding passengers before the train was scheduled to leave, Sunburst and Starlight promising each other to visit, and maybe go out for a planned out date to see if they were ready to commit to a much more romantic relationship than their platonic friendship. Sunburst boarded the train, waving bye to the girls through the window as the whistle blew and the locomotive chugged off.

With his blind buy sitting beside his seat, Sunburst opened the barrel lid and pulled out a book, reading through its contents while enjoying the ride and the prospects of going on a date with Starlight some time in the future. While engrossed in what he nabbed, he didn't notice that, underneath it, was an old worn out book with a darkish-gray cover. On the front was a hexagonal pattern, and inside it were two sets of spirals with a few stars scattered around, almost like it was a magical aura shimmering and swirling about.


Star Swirl paced around in his study in the recently built castle overlooked by his old observatory, greatly agitated as he seemed to be waiting impatiently for something, or someone. "Where is he?" the stallion questioned.

He got his answer when a bright light flashed in his home, nearly blinding him as M appeared in the fading light. "Hey, Beardy. Sorry I'm late," the cloaked stallion apologized nonchalantly. "I had quite a day."

"I've been meaning to have a chat with you, and my patience is wearing thin, M," Star Swirl said angrily. M just sighed, taking a seat in one of his friend's chairs as he felt like a teenager about to be scolded by their father. "When am I going to meet the ponies who are going to be Equestria's pillars? It has been far too long! Celestia and Luna are already alicorns, and they're in the process of learning how to be royals by Princess Platinum!"

"At least I didn't miss their coronation," M said, sniffling a little and wiped a hoof over his eyes. "I'm so proud of those two. Almost like they were my own daughters."

"Quit diverting the subject!" Star Swirl shouted, slamming his forehooves on his desk. "You've given me the names of the pillars, but this last pony you mentioned has not been given a name, nor his importance!"

"And you'll meet your pillars very soon," M stated, still being vague, which aggravated Star Swirl more and more from lacking the answers he sought. "You'll even see the other pony is not only important to you, but to everyone."

"But when!?" Star Swirl demanded.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, startling the wizard. "...Uhh, you gonna get that?" M asked. Star Swirl leered at him, still peeved at his lack of giving him details despite knowing he can't give out everything that he knows. M sighed and stood up. "Alright, fine. Let the guest get your other guests for you." He made his way to the door and opened it up, inviting Star Swirl's guests in. He walked back to the fuming stallion, whose ire quickly faded as M stepped away to reveal his guests. "Beardy, meet your pillars."

Standing before Star Swirl were the five ponies M went out to find for him to protect Equestria: Somnambula, Rockhoof, Flash Magnus, Mist Mane, and Meadowbrook. The five ponies were curious about their meeting, holding out letters written by M to meet with him at the the castle far from the small village in this part of Equestria.

"So, uhh, what are we all doing here?" Flash Magnus asked first, then looked at the other stallion and mares who met up in the same spot as him. "Did you all get summoned here, too?"

"Aye, by the looks of it," Rockhoof said.

"Great seeing you guys and gals again," M said, patting the two stallions' backs as he brushed past the group.

"Master of Masters, what is going on?" Mist Mane asked.

"I think it's better to call me M for short, Miss Mist," M said with a wink. "Now, as to why I wrote a letter to you all, my visit to each of your homes wasn't just mere coincidences. Star Swirl the Bearded, A.K.A, Beardy, has been looking into a way to keep Equestria - no, this world - safe from the dangers that threaten to destroy the light and peace from evil and darkness. And you lucky five are chosen to join Beardy as the six pillars of Harmony, to ensure peace reigns and light prevails." M paused as he let the pillars take this all in, and when he looked to Star Swirl, the unicorn stallion was baffled by this surprise meeting. "...Hey, Beardy, you wanna chime in? I'm not gonna do this whole speech myself, you know. This was YOUR idea, remember?"

"Err, right," Star Swirl mumbled, then cleared his throat and composed himself. "What M has said is true. And my friend also has some more to explain to you about...other matters not of this world. You five are trusted not to mention any of this to anypony, for it would further upset the balance of the world order than the Heartless have in the times they have appeared."

"Heartless?" Meadowbrook questioned. "Ya mean...that strange mask ya made back home...A creature like that exists???"

"Yeah, exa-DOH! Ahh, I completely forgot about my mask!" M exclaimed, remembering he left his medicine mask back at Meadowbrook's home. "If we go back to the swamp, remind me to take that thing back. Ugh. I'd lose my head if it weren't attached to my neck."

"M, please focus," Star Swirl growled, knowing time was of the essence, and if he was stalling, he'd better explain before something he does know when something is going to happen.

"Right, right. Keep your hat on, old timer," M brushed off, making Star Swirl huff angrily. "But, yes. There are creatures called Heartless that search the lands to destroy worlds, plunge them into darkness, and create more, powerful heartless from those with strong hearts. And of the three of you,-" He pointed at Flash Magnus, Mist Mane, and Rockhoof. "-you've seen them before when I 'coincidentally' arrived to recruit you all. They just happen to appear out of the blue, and I've been helping this world for quite some time now."

"...Was the Sphynx a...Heartless?" Somnambula asked.

"...Ehhhh...No. But that heart you saw, that's what the Heartless are after," M explained sheepishly. "Got a bit carried away with that giant cat."

"So it'll turn into a Heartless!?" the pegasus mare asked worriedly.

"No, no, no! You won't have to worry about that thing coming back as a Heartless!" M assured while waving his hooves wildly and chuckling nervously. "At least for about a thousand or so years..."

"What did you say?" Star Swirl asked, hearing M mutter something under his breath.

"Nothing!" the cloaked stallion quickly exclaimed, then composed himself with a small cough, holding out his hoof and summoned his Keyblade. "You guys better take some notes, because what I'm going to tell you five isn't gonna be on the quiz."

The other pillars listened closely as M explained everything about who he was, his Keyblade, the Heartless, and the other worlds far beyond Equestria. They were intrigued, all but Meadowbrook knowing about the strange-looking blade and his skills in combat despite his mostly goofy nature and cocky demeanor. After being told of his origins, he made them swear to keeping his identity a secret, and if Heartless appeared around them, he should deal with them and they should stay away as best as they could. Without any question, the other five ponies nodded, promising to keep this new information a secret for the sake of their world's order.

After learning everything M was willing to explain, Star Swirl stood up from his desk after his friend was finished and the other pillars discussed about this new information about their world. "Now that all that is out of the way, I hope you five will accept such an important position for the sake of our world," he said.

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm in!" Flash Magnus said. "Anything to keep our new kingdom safe from any threat!"

"Aye! You'll have me and me shovel to aid ye in keepin' the peace!" Rockhoof added, tapping his trusty spade against the ground.

"And spread hope to the land, even in its darkest hours," Somnambula said, with Mist Mane and Meadowbrook nodding in agreement with the mare.

"Great! I knew you five wouldn't pass this down," M said with a cheeky grin hidden under his hood.

"Of course you knew," Star Swirl mumbled.

"What? You mean M knew we wouldn't say no?" Mist Mane asked.

"Yes. M has a special power of clairvoyance that spans far longer than just days or weeks," Star Swirl explained. "He knew everything about all of you before meeting you personally, although, he prefers to keep the exact dates to himself."

"I'd prefer NOT disturbing the future I foresee until I believe it's the right time to tell you and not disturb the balance in what I see," M explained. "But am I a unicorn? Or not?"

The stallion waved his forelegs around, making ominous noises to sound mysterious. "We know you're a foal trapped in a grown stallion's body," Star Swirl grumbled, making the mares giggle. The wizard cleared his throat, levitating a glass case covered under a starry tarp similar in style to his outfit. "Now, in the time I've been waiting for your arrival, no thanks to a certain Keyblade wielder-" M shrugged his shoulders, acting aloof despite given a death glare from the unicorn stallion. "-I have been working on something special that requires all six pillars."

Star Swirl unveiled the tarp, revealing inside the case was a seed made of crystal. "Wow. What is it?" Meadowbrook asked.

"While waiting for M, I decided to travel a little on my own, finding this in the frozen north in the snow," Star Swirl said. "I believe this would be perfect as a medium to grow an enchanted tree that holds all of our magic, so that when our time comes, Equestria will be safe when we can no longer protect this land from the likes of foul demons who threaten to destroy this land. Like that centaur, Tirek, who tried to take over this land. I can only pray Skorpan is faring well after warning me of his brother's attempted takeover."

"I've heard of that monster invading that day," Flash growled, pounding his hoof into his shield, Netitus. "He nearly sucked out the magic of every town in Equestria until Star Swirl outmatched him and sent him to Tarterus."

"I was heavily exhausted from that battle, but protecting this world alone won't be enough," Star Swirl said. "This will be our backup plan in case something should happen to any of us. And with M seeing your strengths, along with my own, it should be enough to grow a protective tree of harmony for Equestria."

"And just to make it even stronger, I'll add a bit of my own enchantment idea to help," M butted in, twirling his Keyblade to emphasize his own unique magic before placing it over his shoulder. "Let's find a spot to plant this baby and give it some extra-strength TLC."

Leaving the castle, the group followed Star Swirl, knowing the perfect location to plant the crystal seed and grow it as their endless source of peace and harmony. It wasn't far from the castle. Just a walk across the wooden bridge over the chasm, down the natural slope leading safely down, and into a cavern directly underneath where the castle was built. Rockhoof used his shovel to dig a sizable hole for the seed, burying it back up when Star Swirl placed it inside.

"Everypony, join together as I perform the spell to transfer our magic inside the seed," the wizard said. All the pillars joined hooves, Star Swirl standing between them as he closed his eyes and lit up his horn. His aura spread out among the other mares and stallions, M standing back as he watched them begin to hover in the air. The belongings they had on them began glowing brightly as well: Rockhoof's shovel, Flash Magnus's shield, a flower Mist Mane created with her magic, Somnambula's blindfold, Meadowbrook's mask, and Star Swirl's own personal journal. "Entrust our magic unto you, the elements of harmony pure and true: sorcery, strength, bravery, beauty, hope, and healing."

While Star Swirl continued his incantation, the items and ponies shined brighter with the unicorn's horn, soon radiating a beam of white aura down on the planted seed, like sunlight shining down on the fertile soil in an enclosed cavern. The pillars hovered to a landing as the spell ended, Star Swirl feeling satisfied that it worked and only time will tell if the future sapling will respond.

"I've never seen a seed made of crystal before, but I can only hope our power will give it the nutrients it needs to grow," Mist Mane prayed.

"Trust me, it'll be quite a beautiful sight to see," M assured. "And now, it's my turn to contribute." With his Keyblade in hoof, he stepped in front of the pillars. "Relax and keep still, focus deep within your hearts, and, just a little warning, this might pinch a little."

All but Star Swirl winced nervously, but glancing at the wizard's calm stature, he silently nodded, reassuring the other pillars that M knows what he's doing. Rockhoof, Flash, Meadowbrook, Mist Mane, and Somnambula closed their eyes, trusting M to work his magic as they did as he requested. With a flick of his hoof, M summoned his Keyblade, then took aim at the six pillars. Light built up at the end of his blade, unleashing a small beam that headed for Star Swirl, only to split up in five other directions, each one hitting each pony's chest, directly at their hearts. The pillars let out a gasp at the odd sensation welling in their chests, feeling no pain, but a strange warmth coming from within their hearts. M gently pulled his Keyblade back like a fishing rod when he felt what he sought, the beams of light connected to each pony changing to different colors as they were pulled out and shifted into orbs of light: Rockhoof's orange, Flash's red, Meadowbrook's pink, Mist Mane's purple, Somnambula's blue, and Star Swirl's fuchsia.

Guiding the slowly swirling orbs over to his hoof, he let out a small amused chuckle as he turned around to face the planted seed. Individually, he grabbed each orb and "buried" them around the disturbed dirt, saving the fuchsia one directly over the seed. Set in a star patter with the fuchsia one in the middle of it all, with a flick and a twirl of his Keyblade, he unleashed another beam of light, letting the lights of the pillars sink into the ground while adding his own power in the mix, giving the future tree a powerful vitamin to keep it strong.

"My goodness," Somnambula said. M turned around, seeing the pillars were a little shocked as they brought a hoof to their hearts. "Such warmth...Was this the light that came from our hearts?"

"Yes it is," M said. "Feels great, huh?"

"Aye. I feel I could dig a trench from start tah finish around the world," Rockhoof said while flexing his muscles.

"Or face one of those giant Heartless dragons you slayed head on," Flash said, his wings twitching as he anxiously waited for danger to come to them.

"Uhh, no. You leave any Heartless to me, Magnus," M sternly said. "Even if you're able to fend them off, you won't do much except annoy them. The Keyblade is their bane, but, as much as I'd love to have some wielders come around to keep your world safe, I'd rather keep this world a secret from everyone except for those I can entrust my secrets to. Like my own apprentice, Luxu, but he's not keen on visiting a world of talking technicolor ponies." He sighed and shook his head in disappointment over his apprentice's thoughts on a world he thinks is one of the greatest places to explore. "He probably thinks little girls would enjoy seeing equines like you in a colorful, vibrant world. I'm a grown man, and I don't care if this world is like a little girl's fantasy come true."

"Because ya scream like a filly?" Meadowbrook teased, making M blanch and step back, trying to stammer out an excuse while the other pillars looked at the healer. "When he tried helpin' me get honey from the flash bees to cure Swamp Fever back in mah home, he got stung, and his screams were so high-pitched, he sounded like a mare."

The other two mares giggled while Rockhoof and Flash Magnus guffawed at the hilarious story, Star Swirl giving M a blank stare, silently asking him why he would do something that stupid. M grumbled, a hint of a blush on his cheeks that was thankfully veiled by his hood.

"W-Well, at least I let them take out their aggression on me instead of you, so you're welcome, Brook," M countered with a huff.

"Uh huh. Sure ya did," Meadowbrook said with a smirk.

"Ok, everypony, let us return to the castle," Star Swirl said. "There's still much to discuss. There is another pony who is meant to join us, but not as a pillar. At least from what M claims."

"Another one?" Mist Mane asked. "Who could it possibly be?"

"M knows all, but he's is always vague on the details, and though they are good intentions, he keeps them vague to prevent certain events in the future from happening soon or changing," Star Swirl explained before glancing back at the Keyblade Master. "For a long while, I've been constantly wondering who else it could be while anticipating all of your arrival. I can be a bit impatient, but in my age, I cannot wait forever, even when I wish to discover new magic spells, uncover more mysteries, and so forth."

M let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead with a shake of his head. "Alright, alright. Since you keep pestering me so much, 'old timer', I'll tell you." That caught the unicorn wizard off guard. All six pillars stared at M as Star Swirl was finally going to get his answer after their last meeting with the brief mention of a seventh member of their group. "But, you'll have to figure out just who it's supposed to be on your own."

Star Swirl's eye twitched, letting out a frustrated groan. "Just tell us, M! I don't care how cryptic you're being right now, but for the love of the maker, just give us something!"

"Keep your hat on, Beardy," M said. "Sheesh. Maybe you need to find a marefriend before you get a heart attack. You do need to get out of that dusty clutter you call a study...although my own is a bit of a mess." Star Swirl lit up his horn, sick of his stalling and going off on a tangent. "Ok, dim down the horn. I'm done beating around the bush. I'll give you a hint on his name."

"So it's another stallion?" Flash asked, making M sigh.

"Ok, two, then," M muttered. "His name..." He glanced back at the planted seed, foreseeing an event that would happen with the pillars and their seventh unofficial member, smirking at the irony. "...Starts with an 'S'."

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