My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

Surf and/or Turf

Outside of Ponyville in the vast fields, Kairi watched a Gummi ship descend at a safe distance. Once the vessel landed, she approached it, eager to see their guest Sora was bringing to Equestria. As the ramp opened up, the pegasus stallion trotted down the slope, carrying a couple suitcases on his back as his guest following him was none other than his mother.

"You sure you want to spend your vacation here?" Sora asked. "It's not exactly the safest tourist spot."

"Sora, if I can handle facing you when you went on an uncontrollable Heartless-transformed rampage, I can handle anything else exciting in this world," Manami said. Sora just sighed and continued onward, Kairi meeting the two halfway. "Kairi! My future daughter-in-law!"

Manami kneeled down and pulled Kairi in a tight embrace, being called the woman's daughter-in-law a bit awkward. "I'm not sure if I'm still ready to call you 'mom'. Sora and I aren't married yet."

"You better start calling me 'mom' and get used to it before the big day," Manami playfully scolded with a small laugh. Sora rolled his eyes before setting down his mother's belongings. Kairi then aimed her horn at the woman and her suitcases with her Keyblade appearing and floating beside her, using both her styles of magic to transform her and packed clothing. Manami let out a small squeak as her body transformed, still not used to the transformation despite barely flinching when flying in the Gummi ship as it warps to and from both worlds. After shuddering from the aftereffects, the woman-turned-pegasus looked through her luggage, seeing her clothing changed as well, though it seemed to lack the shorts, pants, and undergarments she packed. "Ugh, I brought my swimsuit just in case with all this. I hope the bottoms didn't disappear with that spell."

Sora grimaced, gagging in disgust. "Mom, I don't need to hear that!"

"Oh, what, you walk around as a pony without your pants on," Manami chided. "Beachwear should be a necessity for modesty's sake, even with a tail only partially covering the unmentionables."

Sora grumbled while Kairi snickered at his reaction. "Let's just get your stuff in the castle," Sora muttered, closing the suitcases, taking both of them, then quickly flew off to avoid anymore embarrassing clothing discussions with his mother.

Kairi and Manami headed back to town on hoof to catch up on things. "I hope Kaito doesn't feel left out with you coming back by yourself," Kairi said.

"Oh, he'll be fine. It's not like he's going to burn the house down. Besides, I've been meaning to get out of the house," Manami said. "And what a better place to take a huge break from chores and work than being in Equestria."

"As long as we don't get attacked by anything again, you shouldn't have to worry about surviving while on vacation," Kairi said.

"So, aside from the disastrous invasion from this Storm King Kaito told me about, anything else new?" Manami asked. "Like, is the big day coming up soon?"

"Well, we found the best place for the wedding," Kairi said. "It's in an almost lost world Aqua, Ven, and Terra used to live in where they trained to be Keyblade wielders: The Land of Departure. Sora thought it was perfect. I did, too."

"Oooh, I have to see this world for myself, provided I'm allowed to," the older mare said.

"Then there's Twilight's School of Friendship. We had a slight hiccup the first couple weeks, but it's been packed, and we've been getting new students coming there to learn about friendship," Kairi added. "We help out from time to time, but we've also got some new wielders training under us."

Manami glanced at the pink alicorn in surprise. "Really? Aqua's accepting her own pupils? I thought you guys said she was against it."

"At first, she was, but with how dangerous the New Organization XIII is getting, Aqua wanted to ensure that we have the next generation prepared if anything happened to us," Kairi said. "Besides Twilight being the first pony, we've got another pony named Sandbar, a yak named Yona, a dragon named Smolder, a changeling named Ocellus, a griffon named Gallus, and a hippogriff named Silverstream as wielders."

"Oooooh. Quite a diverse group of new warriors," Manami uttered in awe.

While making their way to the castle, Manami could see Twilight's school off in the distance. She would have to explore the building and see for herself how the gang ran the school. And from hearing about the different species the new apprentices were, she was dying to see them personally. Most specifically, a hippogriff. No thanks to Kaito telling her what happened during the Storm King's invasion, she was jealous that he got to see a hippogriff, who were also able to turn into hippocampuses; seaponies. If the ponies in Equestria weren't adorable enough, she wanted to so desperately meet a baby seapony far to the east of this kingdom.

The two mares went through the halls of the castle and entered the throne room, where Twilight was sitting at the Cutie Map observing the kingdom. Hearing the door open, Twilight looked up, gasping in surprise when she saw Manami.

"Manami, what are you doing here?" the princess asked as Kairi and Manami approached the map.

"I'm on vacation," the pegasus mare said. "And I wanted to come here as an excuse to be around my childhood dream world some more." Twilight giggled at Manami's reason. As the mare looked down at the map, noticing how much wider it's gotten, she yelped as one of the wielder's thrones appeared as the door opened up. Sora walked in after setting his mother's belongings in her guest room. "Goodness. Does that happen every time you walk in here?"

"You get used to it after a while," Sora said.

"I probably won't if I'm going to be here for a while," Manami mumbled. "Where are the others?"

"They're busy training the new apprentices," Twilight said. "I just hope that they don't also shirk off on their friendship homework with all the training they want to do. As much as they want to help us, their education also comes first."

"I guess I shouldn't bother them if training's really important." Manami looked back down at the map, curious about the other locations throughout Equestria and beyond. While pondering where she'd like to go first, she yelped as she felt something tickling her flanks in a strange way. "Whoa! W-What's tickling my butt!?" She was about to scold Sora, but when she looked at her rump, she noticed her cutie mark was pulsing outward and glowing. The others noticed, gawking in surprise as an illusion of the palm tree on an island flew from the mare's flank and hovered over the map. "Umm...What's...happening?"

"No way...Is the map calling my mom?" Sora questioned.

"Calling me?" Manami repeated, confused and nervous as she watched her cutie mark floating in the center of the map.

Suddenly, the doors burst open again as the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran inside. "Princess Twilight! We're glowing!" the trio shouted excitedly.

They skid to a halt when they spotted Manami, the adults looking back at the fillies and saw their cutie marks glowing just like the pegasus mare's. "Them as well?" Kairi uttered.

"Miss Manami's here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Hey, look, she's glowing, too!" Scootaloo said as she pointed to the mare's cutie mark.

"Well, that's what happens when the Cutie Map summons you," Twilight explained, though still in shock seeing Manami being called, and she wasn't a native of Equestria, nor was she a Keyblade wielder.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean, 'summoned'?" Manami asked.

"The map's calling you to solve a friendship problem," Kairi said.

"It is?" Soon, the Crusaders' cutie marks joined Manami's, the palm tree and the three unique shields swirling around the map until it orbited somewhere in the eastern part of the map. The cutie marks circled Mt. Aris and the ocean the mountain island was surrounded by. "And...the girls are going to be doing this same friendship problem I'm being sent on?"

"Yup," Sora said, still reeling in shock.

"This is amazing!" Apple Bloom cheered. "We get to solve a friendship problem with Sora's ma!"

"But where at in Equestria?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The Crusaders lifted themselves up on the crystal map's edge to get a better look at the magical hologram of Equestria and its bordering neighbors. "Seems like you're all being called to Mt. Aris: the Hippogriff Kingdom," Twilight said.

Manami's ears perked up at the name, then looked at Twilight. "Hippogriffs?" she asked. "...And...is that also the kingdom of the hippocampus' as well?"

"They are one in the same, so, yes," Twilight said.

Manami's expression slowly morphed from awestruck to a wide, giddy grin with an excited, faint squeak. "Sora, get my bathing suit!" she shouted with her hoof pointed to the sky. "Momma's gonna go swimming with the seaponies!!!!"

"Ugh! Mom, you don't need a swimsuit!" Sora whined, not wanting to go through his mother's clothes while the Crusaders giggled at the grossed out expression on his face.

---

Manami pouted on the train, having lost the fight with Sora for him to grab her swimsuit. She sat with the Crusaders, along with Sora and Twilight as they joined the group called by the map, the three fillies looking out the window as they waited to see Mt. Aris in the distance.

"You couldn't just grab me my bikini so I'd look decent on the beach," Manami grumbled to her son.

"I am not going through your clothes, because I would either have to carry them with my wings, my hooves, or my mouth," Sora argued.

"Oh, you're such a big baby," Manami mumbled. Sighing in defeat, she looked at Twilight. "Why are you and Sora coming along with us? I'm sure I can keep an eye on these three just fine on my own."

"We know, but we've got some business at Mt. Aris," the alicorn said as she pulled out a slip of paper. "I have to meet with Silverstream's parents to they can sign this permission slip. No signatures, no future field trips for the school."

"And I need to talk to their folks for Aqua about her training," Sora added. "And I need to see Queen Novo to update her on Silverstream's training, along with some protocols if Silverstream's on break and Heartless appear and go after her. We can keep our students' homes monitored with the Cutie Map, but if they get into too much trouble, everyone there might get attacked by the Heartless, too."

"I've also been curious about how the hippogriffs are doing now that some of them have moved back to Mt. Aris," Twilight added. "Silverstream's brother is going to meet with us and take us to their houses."

"Wow! They have more than one house?" Apple Bloom asked.

"They have been living under the ocean since the Storm King's reign over the continent," Sora said. "Two homes in two different worlds. Reminds me of Ariel in Atlantica."

"Sora, are you seeing another girl behind Kairi's back?" Manami questioned, giving Sora a teasing smirk with her forelegs crossed over her chest.

"M-Mom! She's just a friend I helped in that world!" Sora explained. "She was a mermaid, but fell in love with a human, and now she's living on land with him as a human thanks to her dad's magic."

"That sounds romantic," Sweetie Belle sighed. "Two ponies from two different worlds, falling in love and getting married."

"Doesn't that sound like Sora and Kairi?" Scootaloo asked. "Kairi's a princess in one world, and Sora lives in a different world."

Sora grinned sheepishly as he scratched his cheek with a hoof. "Heh. Weird coincidence," he said.

"And you two are adorable together," Manami cooed. "You better marry that girl fast and give me a grandchild."

Sora yelped and fell out of his seat, completely flustered by his mother's request. The fillies and alicorn laughed at his reaction as he sat back up, blushing heavily while looking around nervously at the other passengers in the train car they sat in.

"Final stop: Mt. Aris Station!" the conductor announced.

Sora breathed a sigh of relief from the distraction as the Crusaders and Manami looked out the window. The four gasped in awe as they saw the glorious mountain in the distance. In the light of the sun, it was a much more amazing sight to see as it looked like pair of massive wings curling inward, "protecting" the green hills and the village and castle from the peak all the way down to the base of the island mountain. The train rolled down to the shore as a set of train tracks traveled across a stretch of a land bridge in the ocean, safely traveling over the gently lapping waves. The train station on the rocky shore was the last stop, only stopping near the base of Mt. Aris, but the beach was just as lively as the hills up above with piers and huts along the beachfront.

As the group disembarked with the other tourists, the Crusaders and Manami stared in awe at the hippogriffs walking or flying around. "This is incredible," Manami said. "Now, where are the seaponies?"

"Miss Manami, we need to find a cutie mark-related friendship problem to solve," Sweetie Belle reminded the excited pegasus mare.

"That's gonna be a problem, since hippogriffs don't really have cutie marks," Twilight mentioned.

The Crusaders glanced at the nearby hippogriffs' flanks, finding no such marks despite them being part equine like they are. "Huh. Interestin'," Apple Bloom said. "Still, the map called us, so it must be a problem that only we can solve."

"Go, Crusaders!" the Crusaders cheered and bumped hooves, hyping themselves to help a friend in need.

"Uhh, one problem: the map didn't give us anything about who needs help," Manami noted. "Our cutie marks just showed us the general area: no address, no names, not a single clue."

"Yeah, that's what sucks about the map giving us a friendship mission in a big place like this," Sora said. "You'll just have to look around, and you'll find out who needs help when it finds you."

Manami sputtered in annoyance, then let out a low groan. "Perfect. I'm on a working vacation," she grumbled.

"Might as well get to searching and asking," Scootaloo said.

The group walked down the boardwalk, the fillies asking some hippogriffs they passed if they're having some trouble with a friend. Sadly, they didn't get anything as they all said no or shrugged, unsure if they even had a problem at all. They traveled a little ways off from the station when, out in the water, a seapony breached the water and waved to them.

"Excuse me! Miss Sparkle!?" the seapony called out. When they looked out to the water, Manami gasped with joy as she saw her first seapony. He was young, though probably in his pre-teens as he appeared to be a bit older than Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. His skin was an apple greenish white, his flippers and fins a cyan color while his head fin were cyan and pale turquoise. He had a necklace around his neck with a pink gem shard similar to the one Silverstream wore, along with some of the other hippogriffs in the area. "Sorry I'm late. I'm Silverstream's brother Terramar."

"Oh my gosh! He's so CUTE!!!!" Manami squealed.

Before she could dive in and hug the seapony, Sora grabbed his mother by her tail, reining her back before she frightened the young seapony. "Chill out, mom. You'll get to see more of them later."

"Uhh, how does that even work?" Apple Bloom wondered aloud. "A hippogriff can have a seapony for a brother?"

Sweetie Belle nudged Apple Bloom with a hiss. "It's rude to ask questions like that!"

Terramar touched his necklace, making the gem glow as magic began to swirl around him. Within seconds, the seapony seemed to leap out of the water, and in a small flash of light, he was now a hippogriff, his smooth aquatic skin turning into fur and feathers while keeping his color scheme. The hippogriff hovered over to the group and landed before them, making the three fillies stare in awe as Apple Bloom's question was answered.

"Wow. Still cute!" Manami said.

Sora rolled his eyes, making sure to keep his mom from jumping Terramar. "I think I need to get mom a leash or something," he mumbled to himself.

Terramar laughed at the fillies' reactions. "I know, it's a bit strange. After the Storm King was defeated, the seaponies didn't have to hide anymore. So some of them changed back to hippogriffs and went home to Mt. Aris."

"But others got used to living under the water and stayed in Seaquestria," Twilight added to Terramar's explanation.

"And me? I kind of go back and forth with this." Terramar showed the fillies his necklace. "It's a tiny piece of the magic pearl. It was split up among our kingdoms."

As the Crusaders took in the information. "That's so cool!" Scootaloo said.

"Well, I'm pretty eager to see the hippogriff village," Twilight said, only to blanch when everyone gave her an odd look. "Er, you know, to...get this form signed!" She quickly waved Silverstream's permission slip in her aura. "A-And research on hippogriff customs! Hehehe..."

"Ah think somepony else wanted to go on a vacation, too," Apple Bloom whispered to her friends, making all three of them snicker.

"I'll take you guys to my dad," Terramar said as he walked up the path, giving the ponies a tour of the rebuilt village.

While taking a look at the buildings and shops along the way, Apple Bloom ran up to walk alongside the hippogriff. "Hey, Terramar? Does anygriff you know up here has a problem they need help with?"

"On Mt. Aris? Heh, no. Evergriff is pretty happy up here." The grin on Terramar's beak turned to a frown as he let out a small sigh. "It's a great place to live..."

Manami noticed the hint of sadness in the young hippogriff's voice. She wondered what was wrong with him if he and the other hippogriffs loved living on this mountain. They soon reached the main village proper up at the top of the mountain. Passing through the stone hippogriff arches, now fully rebuilt along with the buildings Sora and Twilight had seen that were once dilapidated and abandoned, the hippogriffs were throwing a celebration of some sort.

"Man, this place looks so much better than the last time we arrived here," Sora said.

"Queen Novo thought it was important to return our village to its former glory," Terramar said. They soon heard the sound of trumpets playing some fanfare tune, and through the crowd ahead, Sora and Twilight recognized a pair of hippogriffs in the middle of the large crowd. "Speaking of, there's Her Highness and Princess Skystar right over there."

After the trumpeters stopped playing, the queen cleared her throat to make her announcement. "I hereby officially open the 'Glad to Be a Hippogriff' Festival!"

The crowd cheered as the trumpeters played some more fanfare. Between the crowd, there were two male hippogriffs bowing to each other, both of them wearing what appeared to be guard armor for the hippogriffs, one in gold while the other's was a light purple. The first had pale, purplish-blue fur and feathers with a white and white gray mane and tail while the other had red fur and feathers with a purple and pale gray mane and tail. The two then took off, flying around through the sky in a strange competition of sorts. It was like a game of tag as they tried to chase each other down and tackle each other from the air. It looked exciting, despite it being dangerous, but Scootaloo was excited to see some flight performances no matter what sort of creature did it.

The hippogriff with the gold armor was the victor as he managed to swoop around and tackle his opponent, both flyers then touching back down, ending their little show. "Wow. That hippogriff's pretty good," Sora said. "But I could beat him in a heartbeat."

"We picked a good day to show up, huh!?" Scootaloo asked before cheering some more.

"Not really. We do this every weekend," Terramar said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Hippogriffs REALLY like being hippogriffs."

While Novo was congratulating the victor, Skystar looked out in the crowd, letting out an excited gasp as she spotted Sora and Twilight. "Oh my gosh! Sora!" Skystar called out. She got her mother's attention as she flew off and nearly divebombed Sora, catching the stallion off guard with a death grip of a hug. "It's been forever since we saw you!"

"Y-Yeah. Nice...seeing you too, Princess Skystar," Sora greeted, finally able to breathe after the hippogriff princess let go of him.

Queen Novo and the guard from the competition passed through the crowd. "Well, well, well, ain't this a sight for sore eyes," Novo said with a chuckle. "Welcome back to our kingdom. Please tell me it looks better than a few weeks ago. It was a mess, I was stressing to a point where I needed three seaweed wraps to even focus on reconstruction."

"It's definitely much livelier than the empty ghost town we saw before," Twilight said.

The guard took off his helmet, grinning widely as he looked at Terramar. "Terramar! There's my boy!" he said.

"'My boy'? This hippogriff's your father?" Manami asked Terramar curiously.

"Indeed I am, miss. Name's Sky Beak," the hippogriff greeted the pegasus mare, then focused back to Terramar. "Haven't seen you in days, son. Wish you'd come around more often."

"Heh. Yeah," Terramar mumbled nervously.

"Oh! Uncle Sky Beak, I wanna introduce you to some friends of mine!" Skystar draped both her arms around Sora and Twilight's necks. "These are our friends from Equestria: Sora and Princess Twilight Sparkle. They're the ones teaching Silverstream friendship at school and-"

Sky Beak's jaw hung open in a loud gasp. "Princess Twilight Sparkle!" He then suddenly let out a hawk-like screech, startling the ponies as their ears pressed tightly against their heads from the shrill sound while getting the other hippogriffs' attention. "Attention, everygriff! Princess Twilight Sparkle is here! She's Silverstream's teacher!"

A lot of excited commotion came from the hippogriffs as they surrounded the group of ponies. There were even some hippogriff foals who ran up to them, their small size and cute faces making Manami internally squeal and want to just take them all for herself.

"Wow! You two are so popular with the whole kingdom!" Skystar said. "Well, if you don't want to mention Twilight trying to take our pearl while Sora and the other ponies threw a big party for us as a distraction, but mom and I let bygones be bygones now that the Storm King's gone!"

Twilight winced as she was reminded of her "brilliant" idea several weeks ago. "Sure. That's not going to be forgotten anytime soon," Novo said with a blank stare, which only made the alicorn grimace more. "But, yes, we'll let it slide, since you all went through that trouble for the whole continent to stop that monster."

"Hehehe. Desperation makes us do...stupid things," Twilight said bashfully.

"So, now that you guys came back, you gonna look around Mt. Aris the way it's supposed to be?" Skystar asked curiously.

"Sort of, but we've also got some things to talk about," Sora said.

"Namely, a permission slip needing to be signed for Silverstream to take part in any class field trips at the School of Friendship," Twilight said as she showed Sky Beak the form.

"And her progress in an 'advanced' course she's been taking," Sora hinted.

"Ah, yes. General Seaspray let me know about my niece's 'advanced' lessons," Novo said, wearing an annoyed frown. "He also informed me about going to war when Silverstream ran away with her friends after the school had closed down. Why is it that I am the queen, but every other hippogriff makes all the decisions I don't approve of and escalate things to stress me out more? Is my word no longer law within my own kingdom anymore!?" In the middle of her outburst, the other hippogriffs stared at her. Novo let out a heavy sigh and slumped her shoulders in exasperation. "Story of my life." Clearing her throat, Novo composed herself back to her regal posture. "We'll talk about Silverstream's extra curricular activities in private."

"And I'd be glad to sign whatever Silverstream needs to keep learning her friendship studies," Sky Beak said. "But first, let's show the princess and her companion some real Mt. Aris hospitality! To the refreshment tent for a stein of salmon juice!"

The fillies grimaced and stuck their tongues out in disgust. "Eww. Salmon juice?" Scootaloo gagged.

"Oh, it's so good! Come on, Sora! You gotta try some!" Skystar grabbed Sora's hoof and dragged him off to the nearby refreshment stand.

"Uhh, guys?" Sora called out nervously. "Help? I'm being held hostage?"

Twilight snickered and shook her head in amusement. "Might as well give it a try for research's sake," she said, then looked at Manami and the Crusaders. "Good luck finding your mission, you four."

Twilight then walked off with Sky Beak, the two discussing Silverstream's progress at school while Skystar excitedly jabbered about the salmon juice to Sora. "Finally, someone else is getting annoyed by my daughter besides me," Novo said to herself with a chuckle. She then looked back at her other pony guests and her nephew Terramar. "I'm sorry. You all know who I am, but I wasn't introduced to you."

"Ah'm Apple Bloom, Your Highness," Apple Bloom greeted. "And this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and this pony's Sora's ma, Ma-"

"Er, Ocean Breeze!" Manami quickly interrupted, laughing sheepishly as she patted the farm filly's head. Despite some of the ponies knowing her real idenity, she wanted to help her son keep the world order from being breached in other parts of this world. "My name is Ocean Breeze. I'm Sora's mother."

"Really?" Novo asked curiously. "Goodness, I thought you were his older sister."

Manami giggled and blew a raspberry at the compliment. "No, no, I'm not THAT young," she brushed off. Then again, when she looked at herself in a mirror while she was in Equestria, she did seem to look younger than she felt in her reflection, though it was hard to tell with pony ages. "I think I'm getting on in years."

"Honey, if you think you're not old, then Celestia should be a shriveled up prune being over a thousand years old," Novo said with a laugh. Manami never met Celestia or Luna, but if there were ponies who lived over a thousand years, she burst out laughing as she imagined a mare who was so old that her wrinkles had wrinkles on their wrinkles. "I'll let you four enjoy the rest of the festivities. I gotta make sure Skystar doesn't try to drown Sora in salmon juice. Ponies might not actually enjoy it as much as we do."

"Thanks for having us, Queen Novo," Manami said as the queen hurried over to the tent to rein her daughter back from her high-energy excitement. "As regal as she seems, she doesn't seem to act like how royalty's supposed to behave around her public."

"And Terramar's dad's really outgoing, too," Sweetie Belle added.

"Yeah, my dad's a great guy," Terramar said. "All my relatives are nice..." The young hippogriff had a forlorn expression on his face, and Manami noticed the change in his tone. "That's kind of the problem-"

"Wait, stop," Sweetie Belle interrupted. Through the sounds of the festivities going on, Sweetie Belle perked her ears up, hearing some sort of music playing outside of the village. The other fillies and the older mare tried to listen, hearing the same faint music the unicorn filly was listening to. "What's that wonderful sound?"

"Those are the Harmonizing Heights," Terramar explained, impressed by the filly's hearing as he pointed to a forest outside of the village. "Legend says that-"

Before being given a lecture on what the Harmonizing Heights were, Sweetie Belle's horn lit up, and she suddenly zipped off down the road faster than the hippogriff and three ponies could blink. "W-Whoa!? Sweetie Belle!" Manami called out as she and the others chased after her. "How did she do that!?"

"Sweetie Belle's been gettin' better with magic lately," Apple Bloom said. "She must have used some sort of spell that made her run as fast as Rainbow Dash could fly."

"But Rainbow's a whole lot faster," Scootaloo reminded Apple Bloom. "And Sora. Mostly Sora."

Sweetie Belle came to a stop at the entrance to Harmonizing Heights. It was a huge field up on the peak with several lush trees and foliage, a babbling brook, many different creatures that reside in this peaceful environment, and with the wind blowing through the trees, it seemed to play a harmonious melody in the air. Sweetie Belle looked around at the beautiful scenery, enamored by the peaceful valley near the kingdom's capital. Her ears twitched with the melody played on the wind, like natural windchimes creating an enchanting, whimsical song that was so serene and peaceful. She then ran off giggling, thankfully without her sudden burst of magic superspeed, splashing around in the water while taking in the landscape.

"This place is awesome!" she cheered, prancing and twirling around on her hind hooves or as she leapt around the others after they caught up with her.

"Uh, is she ok?" Terramar asked with great concern.

"Well, she's being adorable, for one," Manami said as they watched the unicorn filly bouncing around joyously. "And I think she loves the Harmonizing Heights. It's quite eye catching and peaceful here."

"This is absolutely the best place ever!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, finally ceasing her happy jumps and twirls. "Terramar, you are so lucky!"

"And you get to swim in the ocean!" Scootaloo added. "You have two great places to live!"

"How do ya make up your mind which one to stay in?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I can't. That's the problem," Terramar said with a conflicted gaze.

The Crusaders gasped, then grinned and began cheering as they discovered the problem the map sent them on. "Yes! We found our mission!" Sweetie Belle said.

Terramar glanced at the excited fillies in confusion while Manami gave them a disappointed leer. "Girls, settle down right now," she ordered, all three fillies quickly silencing themselves, wilting and grinning sheepishly under the mare's gaze. As much relief as she had when they seemed to have found the problem they were meant to find, she could tell Terramar was troubled with something, and it wasn't meant to be celebrated. She turned to Terramar, her gaze softening. "Sorry. They're just very excited that we found the hippogriff in need of our help. We were called by a map back in Ponyville to solve a friendship problem, and, to our shock, you seem to have the problem we're looking to solve. So, mind telling us what's wrong?"

"...Well, Mt Aris is a great place to live," Terramar said. "That's why Silverstream and my dad and some of my cousins came back here. But Seaquestria is another great place to live. That's where my mom is." The ponies looked at Terramar in shock. They never even saw a female hippogriff with his father, thinking nothing of it if his mother was elsewhere in the kingdom. But after hearing Sky Beak mention it's been a few days since he last saw his son, Manami felt sorry for the poor pre-teen, thinking his parents had split up, explaining why his parents lived in different worlds. "So no matter where I am, I feel like I'm letting someone down."

"Gosh. No wonder you're having such a hard time choosin'," Apple Bloom said.

"And I have to choose soon," Terramar added. "Every other griff my age already knows where they belong, but I'm still not sure."

"Oh, you poor thing," Manami cooed. She hugged the hippogriff, surprising him, but he accepted the embrace from the mare. "We'll help you figure this out."

"And when in doubt, chart it out," Scootaloo said, the other two Crusaders nodding their heads in agreement. Manami and Terramar looked at the three fillies curiously at their idea. The trio got to work, running back to the village, then coming back a moment later with a piece of paper and some crayons. They drew out Mt. Aris and Seaquestria on top, and on the bottom, they created a checklist box. "Now, we put down everything great about each place and everything not so great. Compare them, and then you get the best choice for you!"

"Wow. That's...pretty smart of you three," Manami complimented. "When'd you come up with this plan?"

"Huntin' for cutie marks before we got these," Apple Bloom said as the Crusaders showed off their shield cutie marks, then went back to their checklist. "So, what's great about Mt. Aris?"

"Well, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? Mt. Aris is the best of all possible worlds." Sweetie Belle grabbed a crayon with her magic and checked a couple boxes under the drawing of Mt. Aris. "Pro: it's beautiful. Con: too far from Equestria. I think that pretty much sums it up."

Manami immediately regretted the Crusaders' idea being a good choice with Sweetie Belle barely making any comparisons for Seaquestria. "Sweetie Belle, we haven't even seen Seaquestria yet," the mare chided. "Maybe we should see what the ocean kingdom looks like first before rushing to conclusions."

"Ehh...Fine, I guess," the unicorn shrugged.

"Hey, everypony!" Twilight called out. She approached the group, carrying a big trophy with her. And following behind her was Sora, who looked deathly pale and nauseous. "The festival is incredible! And I won this at the ring toss booth!"

"That's a big trophy for a simple ring toss game," Scootaloo noted. The others then looked at Sora as he let out a weak groan. "Uhh, Sora? Are you ok?"

"Ugh...no. No, I am not ok," he moaned, letting out a hiccup, then grunted as his stomach curdled. He held a hoof to his mouth as his cheeks puffed out, but he tried to resist the urge to vomit as he gulped, his saliva not helping his upset stomach. "Skystar challenged me to...a salmon juice drinking contest...I lost after just one stein. I didn't think those cups would be that big."

Sora's stomach let out an audible groan. The stallion's cheeks bulged, unable to hold his stomach's contents back any longer as he quickly ran to the nearest bush and hurled into it. The ponies and Terramar grimaced as the Keyblade wielder threw up the liquid he ingested, hearing him whine and groan in agony. Manami walked over to her son and rubbed his back to help soothe his upset stomach.

"There, there, sweetheart. Just let it all out," she said, wincing as Sora let out a belch-like retch.

After he was done emptying his stomach, Sora turned to look at his mom, wiping his muzzle with her hoof. "Don't even take a sip of that salmon juice," he warned. "It's...horrible."

"I didn't think it was that bad," Twilight said.

"Then you've got some kind of cast iron stomach, Sparkle," Sora groaned, only to quickly turn back to the bush as another wave of nausea hit him.

"My cup was actually smaller," Twilight whispered to the fillies. "Skystar downed five of those steins like a champ." Sora let out another loud groan, hunching over as he was about to hurl again, but struggled to keep whatever he ate this morning down. The alicorn looked over at Terramar, trying to distract herself from the pegasus stallion's cries of anguish. "So, I've got Sky Beak's signature. I just need your mother's. Is she around?"

"Um...she's a seapony," Terramar said. "In Seaquestria. We were about to head down there now."

"Oh. Great. Into the water," Sora groaned as he took in slow, deep breaths. "That'll help my stomach."

"Uhh, question, Sora. How exactly are we supposed to find Terramar's mom if she lives underwater?" Manami questioned. "We need air to breathe. We're not fish."

Coughing a bit, Sora glanced back at his mom with a weak smirk. "You're in for a surprise..."

---

After Sora's stomach settled enough, the ponies and hippogriff pre-teen made their way back down to the beach. At the shore, they all stepped into the gentle, chilling saltwater until they were treading water.

"Ok, now what?" Apple Bloom asked curiously.

"Everypony hold hooves, and Terramar will do the rest," Twilight said.

Manami was a bit skeptical, but joined in as she held Sora's hoof in hers. She might know a lot about magic, but from seeing how Terramar used his piece of the magic pearl to transform, it should only work on one person. Once everyone held hooves, Terramar touched his necklace with his free hand, channeling the pearl's magic as it spread from him to each pony connected in the chain. As the magical energy flowed through the ponies, the Crusaders and Manami gasped and squirmed as their bodies transformed. The energy faded in a flash of light, startling the newcomers to the seapony form as they sank down in the water. They gasped, taking in their first breath, and weren't drowning, then again in awe as they looked at everyone and themselves. Their fur was now smooth skin, their lower halves sporting only an aquatic tail with fins matching their hair color, and a dorsal fin on their lower back that bore their cutie marks. Sweetie Belle still had her horn, but when Manami spotted Twilight, Sora, and Scootaloo's backs, their wings turned into translucent back fins matching their natural wing colors. Curious, she looked at her own wings, her jaw dropping as she swam around in a circle while observing herself.

"Oh my goodness. This is so gorgeous!" Manami laughed as she and the giggling Crusaders began swimming around. "I feel like a mermaid! I've gotta get me one of those pearl pieces!"

In her excitement, the mare swam out of control and smacked into an underwater boulder. Dazed, Manami shook her head as Sora swam up to his mom.

"Maybe you should take a moment to figure out how to swim with your fin before freestyling," he suggested.

She stuck her tongue out at her son, refusing his hooves to help teach her how to swim. "I'll figure it out. I learned how to walk on four legs as a pony. I can swim without legs."

"Alright," Sora shrugged.

While Manami practiced how to swim, the fillies were already getting the hang of swimming in their seapony forms. Scootaloo was having a blast as she swam loops and twirls at quick speeds.

"Whoo hoo! Awesome!" Scootaloo cheered. She slowed to a halt as a realization hit her. "This must be just like flying!"

Sora flinched as he heard Scootaloo comparing swimming freely as a seapony to flying as a pegasus. They all knew Scootaloo still had trouble learning how to fly, and despite her practicing when she wasn't hanging out with her friends, Sora was worried her wings might not grow or be strong enough to be able to fully lift her off the ground and feel free like other pegasi. Sora knew just how self-conscious the filly was about her wings and lack of flight, and it would break his heart if the filly gave up if she was going to be permanently grounded the rest of her life.

"This way, guys," Terramar said, snapping Sora out of his thoughts as the group followed the seapony deeper into the ocean.

Manami gazed at the aquatic life as they swam through the water. While living on Destiny Island, she had always wanted to explore the ocean, but she wasn't great at scuba diving. She only watched from the surface with goggles and a snorkel as a child, but thanks to this transformed body, she could see everything this side of Equestria's oceans had to explore. There were schools of fish they passed by, none of them scrambling out of their formation as they passed each other like they weren't being disturbed, but the aquatic animals in the deep blue couldn't compare to the underwater kingdom of the seaponies. The newcomers marveled at the underwater palace and the many homes inside the alcove Terramar led them through. If viewing the aquatic animals up close was exciting, Manami couldn't contain her glee when she saw the other seaponies who resided here. Mostly, it was the little foals swimming around and playing with each other.

"Even cuter!" Manami squealed.

"Come on, mom. You can play with the kids when we're done," Sora said, dragging his mother away before she exploded from cuteness overload.

Terramar guided his guests up toward the ceiling of the underwater cavern kingdom, swimming up to one of the glowing, hanging lantern-like homes the seaponies live in. Inside, there were a few seapony mares were having a little get together.

"Mom!" Terramar called out, getting one of the mares' attention.

The who turned to him had pale yellowish skin, her mane two shades of purple with her hooves and tail fin sharing the dark shade while her translucent fins shared the light shade. "Terramar!" the mare greeted back and caught Terramar in an loving embrace. "Welcome home, baby! And no excuses. This time, you're staying for dinner."

As cute as the interaction between Terramar and his mother was, Manami found it odd that the seapony "welcomed" back home and playfully demanded he stay tonight for dinner. It was almost like how Sky Beak didn't see his son for a few days, yet the young colt didn't seem to be living with his mother during that time frame.

"Guys, this is my mother, Ocean Flow," Terramar introduced. "Mom, this is Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Ocean Breeze-"

"And Sora and Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Ocean Flow interrupted, immediately recognizing the two ponies who came to their home weeks ago for their queen's help. "It is such an honor to meet you two! Silverstream's raves so much about you both."

"Well, she is one of our hardworking students at the school," Twilight said. "In fact, I brought a form for you to sign so she can-"

"Both my children are so smart," Ocean Flow interrupted again, the two wielders clearly able to see Silverstream gets all her energy and talkativeness from both parents. "Would you like to see their baby pictures?"

At the mention of baby pictures, Manami let out a loud gasp, then swam up to Ocean Flow. "Yes! Please do!"

"Mom!" Terramar whined in embarrassment.

"Oh boy. She said the secret words," Sora mumbled.

"I'd like to see them," Twilight added. "I'm curious about aquatic pony early development. For the research."

The Crusaders giggled at Twilight claiming seeing Terramar and Silverstream's baby pictures were all for the sake of scientific research. "Terramar, would your friends like a snack while we're doing some business?" Ocean Flow asked. "Some kelp chips? Fish oil tea?"

Sora grimaced, clutching his stomach protectively. "Uhh, I'll pass on...'fish oil' tea if we're gonna be here a while," he said.

"No thanks, mom," Terramar said. "I'm gonna show the girls around Seaquestria."

"Ok. Have fun, sweetie." Terramar then guided the Crusaders out of his underwater house to explore more of the ocean, though Sweetie Belle didn't seem all that excited like Scootaloo was. Ocean Flow poured out some fish oil tea for her guests, though Sora refused to keep his stomach from melting with another fish-based beverage that didn't approve with his digestive tract. "How are you all enjoying Mt. Aris so far? I heard the village up top is back to its former state."

"It's beautiful, but the ocean is just incredible," Manami said. "I mean, I grew up in a tropical village all my life. I love the sea, but I've never actually gone down even further to explore it."

"Oh, yes, Seaquestria is one of the most beautiful kingdoms of the ocean in the whole world," Ocean Flow said. "I used to like being a hippogriff, but undersea life fits me so much more."

"I wish I could stay as a seapony forever, but I'm just on vacation, enjoying my break and teasing my son to annoy him," Manami giggled.

"Who's your son?" Ocean Flow asked curiously.

"You're looking at him," Sora said with a raised hoof.

Stunned, Ocean Flow looked at the stallion, then back at Manami. "Really? You're his mother? You look like you could be his older sister."

Manami giggled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Do I really look that young? I'm practically in my forties."

"I couldn't tell," Ocean Flow giggled. "Speaking of age, who wants to see those baby pictures?"

"Yes, please get your baby book!" Manami cheered. "Oh, I should have brought mine with all of Sora's baby pictures!"

"Mooom!" Sora whined, now being the target of embarrassment.

"Well, we do have memory crystals," Twilight said cheekily. Sora's eyes widened, slowly glancing at the alicorn. "We can view baby memories and see all the cute baby moments in motion."

Both Manami and Ocean Flow gasped, then looked at each other with wide, open-mouthed grins. "Yes, please!"

"Twilight, no! Don't do this to me!" Sora begged, but the alicorn ignored him as she summoned her memory crystal, placing it on the table along with the permission slip for Silverstream.

"Just sign this form for Silverstream to be allowed permission to go on my school's field trips, and we can get started," Twilight said.

Sora winced, unable to swipe the form as Twilight kept the stallion still with her magic. Ocean Flow quickly skimmed over the form and then signed her name underneath her husband's. With a burst of magic, Twilight activated the crystal, making Sora groan as he was subjected to embarrassing videos through his mother's memories of him as a baby.

"I want to go back to the surface and drink salmon juice," Sora groaned, wanting to suffer a stomach ache more than his embarrassing baby moments.

---

Outside the seapony kingdom, the fillies and Terramar explored the deep sea floor to find the pros and cons of Seaquestria. Scootaloo has having a blast, swimming fast as she pretended to fly through the air. And she didn't have to use her wing fins to move freely through the water aside from changing direction. She played tag with a few schools of fish, chasing and being chased by them, clung onto the backs of tortoises or dolphins for a fun ride, even partied with a few seaponies as they played musical instruments crafted from coral or shells from the sea.

Sweetie Belle, however, was not having fun. She found the ocean a bit boring and preferred being in Harmonizing Heights. The lack of sunlight shining from the surface up above made the atmosphere underwater a bit dull and gloomy, the aquatic life wasn't all that exciting or interesting for her to look at, and she was bored shifting her tail fin to swim around or just float about lazily while wondering how she keeps herself from being pruney while transformed as a seapony.

She swam up to Terramar and Apple Bloom as they watched a jellyfish idly swimming by. "Ok. I've seen everything I need to," Sweetie Belle said. "So let's find Twilight, Sora, and his mom, finish the chart, and head back up the mountain? I've got some serious field twirling to do."

"Uhh, ok," Terramar said, unsure what more evidence they got to help his decision.

They didn't have to get far when Sora swam toward them, Twilight and Manami following after him as they had a little conversation amongst themselves. "Alright, back to the surface. We got what we need," he said with a disgruntled frown.

Scootaloo stopped blowing bubbles into a conch shell she found before glancing at Sora. "Huh? Why? I want to stay some more."

"I've just been utterly embarrassed seeing myself as a baby pony doing baby stuff through a memory crystal," Sora explained.

Twilight and Manami caught up with them, the two laughing as they talked about what they saw. "Sora was so adorable!" Twilight said. "Good thing I helped modify the memories to keep both yours and Sora's real identities a secret."

"I've got to keep videos of Sora as a baby pony after seeing all that," Manami giggled. "It's the big blue eyes and the tiny legs! Ohh, and Terramar and Silverstream were just as adorable!"

Terramar blushed in embarrassment, wondering what his mother showed them. "Oh, goodness gracious," he grumbled.

"OK. Surface time," Sora quickly said. "I want to drown my misery in salmon juice."

"Aww, come on, Sora! You're gonna do the same thing when you and Kairi have a baby!" Manami said. Sora grumbled, then swam up to avoid talking about giving his mother a grandchild. "He's still such a big baby. I doubt he's ever gonna really grow up."

"Nope," Twilight agreed with a small laugh.

The others swam up to the surface to rejoin Sora, Terramar transformed everyone back to their pony forms with his necklace. The moment they were back on land, Sora flew off to find the refreshment stand and kill his intestines with Twilight following after him, leaving the Crusaders and Manami with Terramar. The fillies pulled out their chart, ready to fully give both Mt. Aris and Seaquestria a fair comparison for the young hippogriff to choose where to live.

"Let's add some positives to Seaquestria!" Scootaloo said, grabbing a crayon and listed her positives. "Swimming is like flying, multi-color fish...Did I also mention the flying thing!?"

"That is a neat comparison," Manami pointed out. "Swimming around underwater definitely feels like you're flying."

"You forgot the cons," Sweetie Belle said in a deadpanned tone. "Dark, wet, sea monsters."

"Uhh, sea monsters?" the mare questioned.

"I didn't see any sea monsters," Scootaloo said. "What about you Ma - er, Ocean Breeze?"

"Hmm...Well, both places seem equally great to live in," Manami said. "Harmonizing Heights has lush fields and delightful music literally played by the wind. Very peaceful for a day of quiet relaxation. But Seaquestria's just as vibrant and teeming with underwater life. It just makes me want to explore the vast depths of the ocean, see all the different types of fish and mammals that thrive in the ocean. And it's just as beautiful as Harmonizing Heights in its own way." The mare hummed, tapping a hoof to her chin. "...I can't decide which place is better. And I don't have any cons to think of."

"Well, that means it's up to you, Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said, hoping she could break the tiebreaker for Terramar.

"Me?" Apple Bloom asked, looking just as undecisive as Manami. "Well...both places do have a lot of good things about them. I can understand why it's hard for you to decide, Terramar."

Manami's ears perked up, hearing what sounded like music beginning to play, but there was no one playing instruments or a radio nearby. It was like music was being played in the air, yet the source didn't come from the wind or nature around them. It was almost like how she just joined in with everyone in Ponyville when she celebrated the winter holidays at Twilight's castle.

[Apple Bloom]
Your heart is in two places, you can only live in one
You're torn between the hilltops and the tide

[Sweetie Belle]
Thank goodness that the Cutie Mark Crusaders have begun
To give you hope and help you to decide

They headed back up the mountain and into Harmonizing Heights, the song growing more whimsical and light as they stepped into the mountainous fields. Manami was impressed with Sweetie Belle's singing voice as they wandered through the fields again.

These hills, they call to you, they say "Harmonizing Heights"
This is your home, simple and serene
The sun-dappled leaves or a mountain terrace
You can see twenty-three different shades of green

To dare to compare anywhere to there
Is unfair and just plain wrong
Colt or mare or you wear feathers, fins, or hair
This is where you belong

Scootaloo wasn't impressed as she scowled irritably at Sweetie's praises to Harmonizing Heights. They see trees and animals on land all the time in Ponyville, unable to find anything else interesting with the landscape. Scootaloo then guided Terramar away from the twirling unicorn filly, leading him to a low cliffside overlooking the vast ocean.

"Well, on the other hoof, I can think of a place that's way more exciting and cool, not to mention more you!" Scootaloo said to Terramar. Sweetie Belle noticed the others leaving, irritating her now as they looked down at the water. "Come on, you know exactly where I mean!"

Scootaloo grabbed Terramar's claw and dove down into the water. Manami yelped, quickly grabbing Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, diving down after them to avoid losing track of the filly if any of the Crusaders wandered off on her watch. Luckily, as Terramar activated his pendant, the magic affected the mare and the two fillies in her forelegs, turning back to seaponies as they swam through the ocean as Scootaloo took the reins of the song, which was now much more upbeat and and adventurous compared to Sweetie's part.

[Scootaloo]
Seaquestria's the most, you're supposed to be there
Underneath the sea where you can feel at home
Swimmin' with your friends, you can spend all day here
Playin' in the bay here, splashin' in the foam

Sailin' through the wavy blue
You'll view a slew of tortoises
Forget the rest, the sea's the best
For all intents and "porpoises"

Manami snorted at the clever pun Scootaloo gave at the end of her line, even high-finning a dolphin that joined in on their swimming exploration. Manami was about to commend both fillies' points about Harmonizing Heights and Seaquestia, but before she could ask Terramar what he thought, Sweetie Bell dragged the pre-teen back up to the surface. Scootaloo was not happy with this and swam after them.

"This doesn't look like it'll end well," Manami uttered to herself as she and Apple Bloom chased after them, getting dragged back and forth between the land and sea with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo fighting over which place was better throughout the rest of the song.

[Sweetie Belle]
Build your nest here on Harmonizing Heights

[Scootaloo]
Live it up here in Seaquestria

[Sweetie Belle]
Nothing compares to Harmonizing Heights
The eagles are regal

[Scootaloo]
But the schools are cooler

[Sweetie Belle]
Their claws are so awesome

[Scotaloo]
With their sweet maneuvers

"Uhh, ok, girls, I think we get it," Manami tried to say.

[Sweetie Belle]
Star wishes every night

[Scootaloo]
Starfish by eel light

[Sweetie Belle]
Better

[Scootaloo]
Wetter

[Sweetie Belle]
Shinier

[Scootaloo]
Brinier

"That's enough, you two!" Manami called out again, seeing the two fillies getting a bit more aggressive with their favorite locations to one up each other.

Seaquestria!

[Sweetie Belle]
Harmonizing Heights!

[Scootaloo]
Seaquestria!

[Sweetie Belle]
Harmonizing Heights!

"GIRLS!" the mare shouted, but was unable to get their attention.

[Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo]
That's it! This is the end!
Don't ever talk to me again!

Manami groaned, having to hear what was supposed to be such a wonderful duet only turn into a music battle. She looked at Terramar, who seemed just as frustrated and exhausted, constantly being forced to go back and forth on land and sea. He began to march off, walking by the sulking unicorn and pegasus fillies, who had their backs turned to each other and refused to make eye contact with each other.

"Terramar, where're ya goin'!?" Apple Bloom called out.

"If you can't all agree amongst yourselves, how am I supposed to make up MY mind!?" he questioned angrily. "It's hopeless!"

He flapped his wings and flew off in a huff. "Terramar, wait!" Manami called out and flew after him. "Hold on a second, honey! Maybe I can help you-!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Terramar screeched. "I don't want anyone's help anymore!"

Manami slowed to a halt, watching the pre-teen hippogriff fly off. Sighing in defeat, she decided to leave him alone, let him be by himself and cool down from the unneeded stress no thanks to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Disappointed in those two, she was definitely going to give them a stern talking to. She flew back to the beach where she left the Crusaders, watching Apple Bloom relaying messages between Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, even though the two were only a few feet away from each other.

"Sweetie Belle said to tell you it's your fault Terramar ran off," Apple Bloom said to Scootaloo.

"Well, you tell Sweetie Belle that if it weren't for her, our mission would have been over by now!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "AND a success!"

Apple Bloom sighed, then walked a few feet over to Sweetie Belle. "Scootaloo says the whole thing is your fault."

"Well, tell HER that I'M not the one who dashed all of Terramar's hopes and made him give up on the world!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed back. "BOTH worlds!"

Before Apple Bloom could give Scootaloo Sweetie Belle's message, Manami had enough and landed roughly on the sand in front of the Crusaders. "It's BOTH of your faults!" The mare startled the fillies, scolding them like they were her own children. "You two kept fighting over which place was better and just made the decision worse for Terramar! What happened to working like a team and comparing both worlds for an easier choice for him!?"

"But Harmonizing Heights is a beautiful place, and the hippogriffs lived on land before they fled in the ocean!" Sweetie Belle argued.

"No, Seaquestria's more awesome, and they should have lived there!" Scootaloo argued toward Sweetie Belle.

"Harmonizing Heights is better!" Sweetie Belle growled, the two fillies starting to bump heads with each other.

"Seaquestria!" Scootaloo shot back.

Manami shot her wings out between the two fillies, pushing them away from each other. "ENOUGH! If you two keep fighting, you're both heading straight back home to Ponyville!" she warned. Her tone made Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo wince and slump their heads in shame, even Apple Bloom, and she'd been quiet this whole time. "Honestly, you two should be ashamed of yourselves. You two had valid points for each world, but you were fighting over which was better and what you two thought was perfect for yourselves, not for Terramar. This was about him, not us."

"...Y'all kinda were gettin' a bit too much for both places," Apple Bloom agreed.

"Apple Bloom, don't get involved or I'm taking you back, too," the mare warned. Now that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo weren't fighting with each other, Manami began to pace back and forth. "I don't think we're going to be much help if we're thinking about Harmonizing Heights and Seaquestria as places for us to want to live in. We can give our opinions to others, but that would only make a choice harder to make if they're both too perfect in our eyes." Manami looked up at the mountain, where the hippogriffs were busy having their celebration, then toward the ocean, where the seaponies were having their own kind of fun. The nagging thought that's bugged her since meeting Sky Beak and Ocean Flow and what they said to Terramar after seeing them for what seemed to be days came back to her. "...Maybe...Terramar's fears of living somewhere stems out more than just location."

"Umm, what does that mean?" Sweetie Belle asked nervously, afraid to speak up if the mare was going to scold her.

Slowly, Manami turned to face the girls with a sorrowful look. "Terramar's parents living in two different worlds. He said he didn't want to disappoint either of them with his decision, and his folks haven't seen him around for days. I don't know where he's been living during those last few days, but I don't think Sky Beak or Ocean Flow even realize he's been lying to them about who he's living with during that time."

The Crusaders gasped, surprised by Manami's theory. "You don't think he plans on running away if he can't decide, are you?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm not sure, but I hope it doesn't come to that," Manami said.

"Ocean Breeze!" In the water, the group looked over to see Ocean Flow floating near the shore with a couple of her friends she had over, waving to the pegasus mare. "We're about to have a seashell-crafting circle. Want to join us?"

"Oh, good. Just the seapony I needed to talk to." She was about to step into the water when Sky Beak landed on a nearby cliff with some other hippogriffs.

"Hey, pony guests! The flag-folding ceremony's about to begin! Care to join in?" the hippogriff asked. Manami blinked, wondering what the odds were that she could have a talk with both of Terramar's parents to bring up the issue their son's been having. Although, the one dread she did have with the two adults that had been weighing on her was a possibility, especially when Sky Beak and Ocean Flow looked at each other. There was a moment of silent tension between both sides, the three fillies and mare standing on the sand anxiously. Oddly enough, Manami's expectations were thrown out the window when Sky Beak and Ocean Flow smiled. "Hello, Ocean Flow! You're looking well, hon!"

"And hello to you, too, dear!" Ocean Flow said.

The hippogriffs flew down and chatted with the seaponies with friendly greetings and conversations. Manami and the Crusaders could see there wasn't any sort of animosity between the shapeshifting creatures living in two different world, which blew the mare's theory out of the water as she saw Sky Beak and Ocean Flow hug and kiss each other. Snapping out of her stupor, she approached the couple.

"Uhh...well, this...wasn't what I was expecting from you two," Manami said.

"Expecting what? A hippogriff and a seapony in a romantic relationship?" Sky Beak asked.

"N-No, not that. You're both technically the same. Just...living different lives in different worlds," Manami said awkwardly with a laugh. "I just thought...you two were...apart?"

"Oh. Interested in my husband?" Ocean Flow teased, making her hippogriff husband laugh with her remark and the mare's shocked, blushing face.

"No! No no no no! I'm seeing someone!" Manami exclaimed. Flustered, she tried to compose herself, trying to focus back on what she wanted to talk to them about. "I just...Are you two living in a...well, not exactly a long-distance relationship since both kingdoms are next door, but in a...separated relationship?"

"Well, Sky Beak always has his head in the clouds," Ocean Flow said with a playful roll of her eyes. Sky Beak grinned and nuzzled his wife, taking the playful jab in stride. "But I love him. We just prefer to live where we feel much more comfortable. I got used to the ocean after all the years we've been hiding from the Storm King."

"And I wanted to help rebuild our former kingdom and show our hippogriff heritage to our neighboring kingdoms throughout the continent," Sky Beak said. "Just like the glory days when I was a colt."

"...So...you're not...divorced?" Manami's question appalled the couple as they looked at each other, then back at the mare.

"Divorced!?" Ocean Flow exclaimed.

"Who said a thing like that?" Sky Beak asked.

"I-I just assumed that you two were split up!" Manami quickly explained apologetically. "When Terramar showed us around, you two were happy to see him like you haven't seen him in days, and you were in some custody battle with him when he mentioned Silverstream lived with Sky Beak. You two never even talked about each other when we first met."

"Why, that's silly," Sky Beak said. "Terramar's been in the ocean living with his mother the last few days."

The hippogriff's claim made Ocean Flow quirk a brow as she looked at her husband. "What? I didn't see him at all the last few days. I thought he was staying with you."

Now Sky Beak was confused. "Uhh...no. I thought he was staying with you..." Ocean Flow shook her head. Both parents started to grow concerned for their son now, looking back at Manami. Her hunch was right: Terramar had been lying about where he'd been staying from his parents to avoid upsetting either of them while struggling to choose which world to live in. "...Miss Breeze, is something wrong with our son?"

"I think so, and if he's afraid to tell you why, then that's kind of why we're here," Manami said, then gestured to the Crusaders behind her. "These three fillies and I were called by a magical map in Ponyville to solve a friendship problem here around Mt. Aris, and your son was the only one we saw who's got a problem."

"And...is part of that problem involving us?" Ocean Flow asked worriedly.

"Not intentionally, but he feels pressured deciding where to live where other hippogriffs and seaponies his age already know where they...'belong'," the mare explained. "We've been trying to help him with the best qualities for living up on Mt. Aris and down in the waters of Seaquestria, but...two little fillies got a bit too competitive-" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo lowered their heads in shame as the mare looked back at them for a brief moment. "-and didn't take into account of Terramar's feelings and his own thoughts from what all of us collectively gathered."

"Oh no," Sky Beak uttered. "Have we pressured our son too much?"

"I hope we didn't," Ocean Flow said tearfully. "Oh, how did we not see this?"

"He seemed to hide it pretty well," Manami said. "My son had his little moments when he was upset, but didn't want to burden me with his problems unless he was ready to tell me. And he still does, even as a young adult. Terramar was afraid to let the both of you down if he had to choose to live either on land or sea; to permanently live with his mother or his father."

Ocean Flow and Sky Beak gasped in shock. "Is that what he thinks?" the seapony asked.

"That's not what we want at all," Sky Beak added. "We just want him to be happy wherever he chooses to stay. It didn't have to be one place forever. That's why Queen Novo split the pearl for all of us to live in both worlds whenever we please."

As Sky Beak and Ocean Flow held out their pendants to emphasize their two worlds' unity, the Crusaders looked out to the other hippogriffs and seaponies. Despite the split in the kingdom between land and sea, they were all still the same. Terramar was more worried about choosing where to live that he never thought about a third choice: living in both worlds.

"I think I have an idea," Sweetie Belle said.

"Hmm?" Curious to hear the filly's idea, Manami approached the Crusaders. Sweetie Belle whispered her idea to her friends and the mare. "...Huh. That's actually not a bad idea. You girls go find Terramar, and I'll get us some help setting things up." The Crusaders nodded and hurried down the beach to find Terramar. Manami headed back to Sky Beak and Ocean Flow with a grin. "Can you two help me gather every hippogriff and seapony to the beach?"

"Umm, why?" Ocean Flow asked.

"We're going to help Terramar make his choice," Manami said.

---

"Terramar!" Apple Bloom called out.

The three fillies searched around the shore for the runaway hippogriff teen. "I thought he flew off this way," Scootaloo said.

"He did," Sweetie Belle said, pointing over to the end of the shoreline.

Sitting on a small tree's branch, the tree growing at quite a steep angle, Terramar moped as he looked down at the water a few feet below him. "And I'm staying here, too!" he said, overhearing the fillies as they approached him. "That way, I don't have to be on land or in the water!"

"We're sorry, Terramar," Scootaloo apologized. "We were supposed to help you, and..."

"We just ended up confusing you more," Sweetie Belle said, finishing Scootaloo's statement as they were both responsible for upsetting the hippogriff. "It's all our fault."

"Oh, great. YOU'RE sorry, and I'm still confused!" Terramar sulked with a huff, turning away from the Crusaders. "I'm staying in my tree."

"Well, we might have somethin' worth comin' down for," Apple Bloom said.

Terramar looked over his shoulder, seeing three wide-eyed, pleading faces on the three fillies. He caved in with a sigh, fluttering out of his tree and following the Crusaders back down to the opened beach near the train station. After the long walk along the sand, they finally arrived, and what they saw surprised the hippogriff. Along the shore and out in the water, many of Mt. Aris's denizens from land and sea were having a huge gathering. Blankets had spreads of food from both worlds, hippogriffs sitting by the shore to share with the seaponies, and vice versa out on the water's surface on floating picnic boards. Manami was out by the water, playing with both hippogriff and seapony foals as they chased each other around or played catch or volleyball.

"W-What...What is this?" Terramar questioned.

"We thought we'd get every creature together for a picnic on the beach," Sweetie Belle said.

"And we mean EVERY creature," Scootaloo added.

"Heads up!" The Crusaders and hippogriff pre-teen yelped as a beach ball nearly struck them as it slammed into the sand. Sora flew over to pick it up, and looked out to the sea, where Skystar and Novo were floating in their seapony forms near a volleyball net. "Sorry, guys. I didn't think Skystar was this competitive. Terramar, wanna show your cousin a thing or two on my team?"

"COME ON, SORA! GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK YOUR FLANK!" Skystar shouted while Queen Novo shook her head.

"Skystar, he's winning by five points, and he's beating us by himself," the queen stated. "I don't think we stand a chance."

"If I can beat him in a drinking competition, then I can beat him in volleyball, one way or another!" Skystar's enthusiasm never wavered as she wore a silly, determined scowl.

"Then game back on, princess!" Sora called out, smacking the ball back over to the net and flying back to his side before Skystar could hit the ball back.

As they watched Sora fly back over the water, Terramar saw both of his parents not too far away with Twilight Sparkle, having their own little conversation. Sky Beak spotted him and waved his son over to them. Feeling nervous, he approached them with the Crusaders following behind. In the midst of her playing tag with the foals, Manami saw them walking over to Sky Beak and Ocean Flow, calling a time out for herself and made her way over to join them as well.

"There you are, son," Sky Beak said. "Miss Ocean Breeze told us how you were feeling."

"S-She has?" Terramar stammered.

He glanced back at the pegasus mare. "Kind of hard to be subtle when I've got a son who I always need to keep an eye on to keep him out of trouble," Manami said.

"And we're sorry if we ever made you think you had to choose between worlds," Ocean Flow said. "That wasn't our intention, honey."

"Or choosing to stay with me or your mom the rest of your teenage years," Sky Beak added. "Your hippogriff heritage is definitely something to be proud of."

"But you're more than just where you're from or who you live with," Ocean Flow said, reassuring her troubled son with a nuzzle. "We love you because you're you, no matter where you choose to be."

"I...I know you do," Terramar said. "I was just so afraid of...disappointing either of you. I'm sorry I lied about where I was to both of you the last week."

"Oh, Terramar, you have nothing to be sorry about," the seapony reassured once more as both parents hugged Terramar. "We should have paid more attention to how stressed you were."

"We would have been really worried if you made the choice to run away from here and try to live on your own elsewhere," Sky Beak added, gently ruffling his son's hair feathers. "You don't have to decide. You can keep doing what you've been doing; going back and forth."

"And enjoying both places," Ocean Flow concluded.

Terrarmar smiled, feeling a heavy weight finally lifted off his shoulders. He finally found the answers he needed to make his decision, and he would continue to live between both worlds without the fear of upsetting his family. He cheered as he flew out of his parents' embrace, diving into the water as he transformed into a seapony, then breaching the water and turning back to a hippogriff to fly around before repeating it a few times more. After Terramar returned to his parents and hugged them both, Manami looked at the Crusaders, taking their checklist.

"I think in our little pros and cons list, we forgot one very important aspect that both worlds had." Grabbing a pink crayon, the mare drew a heart around the drawings of Harmonizing Heights and Seaquestria. As she showed the Crusaders, she looked out at the water, watching Sora effortlessly beating Skystar and Queen Novo in their volleyball match. "Friends and family who love you, no matter where you are or choose to stay."

"Ah knew that's always important," Apple Bloom gloated. "The Apples are all about family."

"So where were your ideas when we shared ours for both worlds?" Scootaloo questioned.

"A-Ah couldn't get a word in with y'all fightin' over the land and sea!" Apple Bloom reasoned, though with her family heritage, she was far from honest with her argument.

"Uh huh. Sure you couldn't," Sweetie Belle teased.

"Oh, it was VERY hard to say something with you two bickering," Manami interjected. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo grimaced as they looked at the mare, then to each other. "Don't you two need to say something to each other?"

"Right. Sorry, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo apologized to the unicorn filly.

"Yeah. Sorry," Sweetie Belle said back.

"Good. No harm done." Manami grabbed all three fillies and pulled them into a group hug. "And I just can't stay mad at you three. You're all so adorable to be upset with!"

The fillies giggled in response as Manami squeezed them. Terramar approached them after breaking from his own group hug with his parents.

"Thank you guys for helping me," Terramar said. He then looked confused as he angled his head, looking at something beside the mare and fillies. "Umm, are you...glowing?"

The four finally noticed that there was a slight tingling sensation around their flanks. Manami let the Crusaders go as they all looked down at their cutie marks, which let off the same pulsating glow before when the Cutie Map called them.

"We definitely are," Manami said. "...Does this mean we have another problem to solve here?"

"Actually, that means your mission was a success," Twilight said as she walked over to the group, watching everything quietly as Terramar had his talk with his parents. "It's a weird feeling, but you get used to it after a while."

"I'm not sure I will," Manami said.

"Does this mean we have to leave now?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I want to run around in Harmonizing Heights some more."

"And I want to swim in the ocean!" Scootaloo added.

"We'll come back tomorrow, and if your sisters give you permission, we'll stay here all day if you want," Manami promised.

The fillies cheered, hoping their older siblings will allow them to come back to Mt. Aris. "That's a bit strange," Twilight said. "You want to spend some of your vacation around the ocean when you live near one back home?"

"Well, what do you think, Twilight?" Manami questioned. "I can get a sun tan whenever I wanted back home. When will I ever get the chance to play with so many adorable foals? Especially little hippogriffs and seaponies!"

"Hey, what about us?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Oh, I can see you girls all I want while I'm here," Manami said, giving each filly a playful boop on their snouts. "Other baby creatures, however, I want to see them all, and try to take them home with me before Sora tells me no." The Crusaders giggled in response. "And speaking of kids, TIME IN!"

Manami then flew off to the hippogriff and seapony foals, hearing her shout and playfully screamed as she chased after them. "Sheesh. I'm starting to wonder who the real foals are," Sweetie Belle said as the trio laughed at the older mare's childish antics.

---

The next morning, Manami and the Crusaders were on the train to Mt. Aris, saddlebags packed with beach supplies and snacks, along with some bits to buy any souvenirs. After stepping off the train, the fillies laughed and jumped around in excitement while waiting for Manami to follow them.

"Welcome back, everyone." The fillies stopped jumping as all four ponies were surprised to see Queen Novo flying down to personally greet them.

"Queen Novo. Hello again," Manami greeted, giving the royal hippogriff a bow.

"Oh, please, Miss Breeze, no need for that," Novo said, waving off the mare's respect for her royal stature. "My nephew Terramar heard about your plans for another visit today. You're honorary guests here, along with your son and his other friends."

"Cool!" Scootaloo cheered. "Uhh, that is a good thing, right?"

"Of course it is!" Sweetie Belle said. "I can't wait to frolick in Harmonizing Heights again!"

"I wanted to thank you along with my sister and brother-in-law for helping ease Terramar's worries," Novo said. "I didn't even know he was having trouble deciding where to live, either. Spending so long under the sea in hiding and coming back to the surface to return to our roots as hippogriffs, it shouldn't have been such an ordeal for any of the foals."

"Well, we were glad to help him out," Manami said.

"While you're here, I'd love to hear more about you," Novo said to Manami. "And I do mean 'everything'." She gave the mare a sly wink, obviously hinting that she seems to know about who Sora really is and about the other worlds. It would make sense since her niece, Silverstream, was a Keyblade wielder now, and the safety of Mt. Aris and Seaquestria involving the Heartless needed to make itself known so none of her subjects were harmed by even worse monsters than the Storm King. "Also, as you're given access to both my kingdom's land and sea, if you want to explore the waters, I think these are necessary."

Queen Novo then pulled out four pendants, each one bearing the same piece of pink crystal that was a part of the artifact of the hippogriff/seapony kingdom. "Whoa! Awesome!" Scootaloo cheered. "I want to be a seapony again so bad!"

Novo chuckled and placed a pendant around each of the fillies' necks. "I will want these back before you leave, though," she warned her visitors. "There still might be some suspicious creatures out there who may want to use the pearl for their own devious schemes."

"Sure thing, Your Majesty," Apple Bloom said politely as Novo handed Manami her pendant.

"Thanks so much," Manami said with a bit of glee. "I can't wait to have a chat with Ocean Flow again. How about we have a chat about 'me' around lunch?"

"Perfect. And Skystar will be around, too," Novo added. "Just make sure she stays out of trouble if you see her."

"Yes, ma'am," the mare said with a mock salute. Novo nodded silently, then flew back up to the top of Mt. Aris to her castle. Manami looked down at the fillies, each of them testing out their pendants to transform into seaponies, only to turn back a moment later when they realized they couldn't travel well on land with their tailfins. "Now, girls, you're free to go wherever around Mt. Aris, but check up on me at the beach in about an hour. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the Crusaders said simultaneously, now giving the mare a mock salute.

"Ok. Have fun!" Manami watched the fillies run off to do their own thing before walking down to the beach to pick a nice spot to relax.

She passed some hippogriffs on her walk, giving them a wave before stopping at a decent spot not too far from the hill leading up the mountain. She set her stuff down and pulled out a beach towel, laid it out on the sand, then grabbed an umbrella for some shade to avoid getting sunburnt. While wondering if ponies could get sunburns with fur covering their skin as she grabbed some sunscreen, she didn't hear someone approach her from behind.

"Need a hand there, miss?" Startled, Manami quickly turned around, finding a blue earth pony stallion with a pale brownish-tan mullet-style mane greeting her with a wide, toothy, and cocky smile. Just the hair alone made the mare cringe, making her wonder who even wore their hair like that in this day and age, even in Equestria. She was about to decline his offer, but he didn't give her a chance to speak as he went over to help "fix" her parasol. "Just line this up at this angle, and there! Perfect for sunbathing and getting a good eye at the view."

The mystery stallion wiggled his eyebrows, not even noticing Manami's umbrella fell over from the awkward angle it was shifted in the sand. "...Sorry, buddy, but I'm already taken," she said, pushing him aside with her wing as she fixed her umbrella back up. "I'm just here to relax, and you're invading my personal space."

"Aww, come on. A cute thing like you by your lonesome? You need some company." Manami rolled her eyes, hoping that ignoring the dimwitted stallion would get him to leave her alone. Sadly, that wasn't the case. After setting her umbrella back in its proper place, she looked back, finding him going off to where his spot on the beach was, then come back with a strange-looking guitar colored in different shades of blue. "How about a little song?"

"How about back off before I call the queen's guards and kick you off the beach for bothering me?" Manami threatened.

"Just one little song? How about a few notes? My tunes are...quite enchanting," the stallion promised with a sly wink.

Manami growled in annoyance. "Ok, you know what? I'm gonna pummel you myself instead." She raised a hoof up to knock the wannabe musician's lights out, but before she could even throw her punch, the stallion squealed like a girl and cowered in fear. His cowardice barely amused her as she swung at him, watching him scurry away backwards like a crab until he crashed into his own beach gear. She shook her head, hearing him let out a weak grunt while he was buried under his stuff. "What a wimp..."

Before she went back to relaxing, she noticed something odd in the stallion's belongings. While he was still dazed, Manami approached the stallion, looking at something black that was hidden under his overturned cooler. Grabbing it, she pulled it out, her eyes growing wide in shock at the strange article of clothing. She recognized it immediately: a black coat with a hood that covered every inch of the wearer. The very same one that Kaito wore, along with the group from Organization XIII who was after her son. Her eyes quickly glanced back at the stallion, who began to stir from his clumsy crash, quickly storing the coat back where it was. Manami tried to compose herself, looking annoyed despite being utterly terrified that she was in the presence of one of the Organization XIII members, and was being hit on by one of them.

"Ow. Smooth move, Demyx," the stallion mumbled as the mare heard him mentioning his name. When he got up, he looked at Manami, then yelped and cowered again. "H-Hey, I'll be out of your hair, ok!? Please don't hurt me!"

Manami wondered if she should even BE frightened of this pony. He was flirty with her for a moment, then acted like a coward when she was about to punch him. Either he was trying to pretend he wasn't tough or had some strange personality disorder. She didn't want to take her chances after learning about what Marluxia did with the foals in Ponyville last year.

"Maybe next time, if a mare says no, then that means no," she advised.

"Right, got it. Cool." Demyx sighed and rubbed his head. "Why can't I ever catch a break? I just want a vacation."

Manami stared at the awkward stallion for a moment, curious to see if she can be of any help getting information from this klutzy foe. "You're on vacation? From what, if I may ask?"

"Ugh, my higher ups are such sticks in the mud," Demyx said. "All the work I do for them, and I'm not given a single day off. All I want to do is just play some tunes and chill out, but they keep making me do stupid, boring recon or something I don't want to do. They have other guys to do those jobs. Why me?"

"So...are you working for some...secret service in Equestria or something?" Manami asked.

"Huh?" Demyx looked at the mare with confusion, only to grimace as he seemed to forget he was speaking with someone who SHOULDN'T know about who he was supposed to be. "O-Oh! Y-Yeah! Secret service! Exactly! Top secret, too! All on the down-low, zip-the-lip kinda deal!"

He laughed awkwardly, clearly not a very good liar. "Well, my son's part of a 'secret service' too, but I'm not sure if it's the same group that you're in," Manami said while crossing her forelegs across her chest, giving the stallion a skeptical leer.

"Oh, it's the same one! Serving the...rulers of this land right here!" Demyx said, pointing to Mt. Aris.

Manami quirked her brow, shaking her head subtly. "No. This place is home to the hippogriffs and seaponies," she corrected, making the mullet-haired pony grimace. "You're a pegasus, and the capital YOU serve is somewhere far to the northwest from this kingdom. Why would someone from Equestria want to spy on the hippogriffs when both kingdoms are allied together?" Demyx began to stammer, trying to find an excuse, but Manami didn't give him a chance to speak. "What exactly IS your secret service? Some...'Organization' with their own agenda?"

Demyx gulped nervously, biting his lower lip while shifting his eyes anxiously. "O-Organization? I-I don't know any Organizations of any kind," he mumbled. As he looked at the mare, the cross-hooved pose she was in dropped his worries as he then grew curious, squinting his eyes slightly as he leaned forward a little. "Wait a sec...Do I know you?"

"...Excuse me?" Manami questioned, taken aback by the weird question. "You have no idea who I am, and I don't know you. How could I look familiar when we've never even met before?"

"No, no, no, no...It's just...Your face looks...similar to someone else I know," Demyx pondered while tapping his hoof to his chin. "Same blue eyes, same color hair, the same scrunched up, annoyed face in that pose when I talk..."

"You recognize someone standing like how I am, even if they don't have any other descriptions you mentioned?" Manami let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her hoof against her forehead from the incoming migraine she was starting to get. "You're so bizarre...Are by any chance talking about my son, Sora?"

"Yeah! Sora! You look exactly like-!" Demyx stopped his excited rant as his grin quickly turned into a shocking, mortified expression. Staring at the mare, who gave him a cocky smirk, Demyx lifted a shaky hoof and pointed it at her. "Y-Y-You...Y-You're...his m-m-m-m-m-mom?"

"Mhmm," Manami hummed with a nod. Deep down inside, she was scared out of her mind, but she didn't show it as Demyx balked and looked just as terrified. She only hoped her bluff would help her. "My son's told me all about you and this Organization he fought before. And the new one that you're in while trying to take him away from me to forcefully join you. Right now, he's meeting with the queen of this kingdom as we speak. If you try to harm me, all I have to do is scream, and he'll come flying down right now and tear you apart, starting with your outdated hairstyle." Demyx gasped, quickly covering his hooves and wings over his mane. She approached him threateningly, making the stallion back away in fear until nearly fumbling over his stuff again. "If I had a weapon of my own, you'd be lucky if it was my son who whupped your sorry butt. You don't ever mess with a momma and her babies, because if you ever try to take my son away from me, I will maul you until there's not a single piece of you left to be found."

Demyx whimpered in terror, though Manami wasn't sure if it was genuine or if he was mocking her, she didn't care as long as she felt satisfied standing up to one of many tough evildoers for harrassing Sora and his friends. "...Uhh, oh! Would you like at the time!?" Demyx asked, looking down at his hoof, pretending to have a watch when he wasn't as he let out a fake, exaggerated laugh in surprise. "My vacation's already up! I better...get back to work before my bosses...chew me out!"

As quick as the stallion's tongue was, Demyx grabbed all of his stuff and sped off down the beach while yelping and panting in fear. After watching the Organization XIII lackie disappear down the train tracks, Manami took in a deep breath, and heavily exhaled a sigh of intense relief.

"Holy cow!" she exclaimed, feeling her heart hammering in her chest as the adrenaline she held back finally caught up in the intense moment. "I can't believe I was face to face with one of them, or that I called my bluff and it worked!" Manami panted, trying to get her breathing under control. Once she was calm, she went back to her beach spot. She was definitely going to need a vacation after that. "I was lucky that guy was so incompetent...Why's he even part of that group if he's that pathetic?"

---

Running up the cliff as he reached the mainland, Demyx panted while carrying all of his stuff on his back, including his sitar despite being able to call it forth at will. After reaching the top, and making sure no one was around, he let out a huge sigh and flopped to the ground, dropping everything beside him.

"That was way too close!" he exclaimed. "I can't believe I almost had a run in with Sora again! I'm not gonna get skewered by those word transforming key things like the last time!" After catching his breath, Demyx stood up and put his coat back on. "And running into his mom of all things. That's even worse."

While he was fully dressed and picked up his stuff, he yelped when a portal of darkness appeared behind him, and someone in the same black coat came out with their hood shrouding their face. "Demyx, there you are."

The musician let out a sigh of relief. "Saïx. Don't scare me like that," he said irritably.

"I should if I had to find your sorry tail in this world," Saïx said. The hooded stallion looked at Demyx's gear, giving the blue stallion a deadpanned, irritated glare. "You were supposed to be gathering more intel elsewhere, and you're having a beach party instead?"

"Hey, lighten up. Just getting a bit of R&R," Demyx reasoned. "Don't we all need it after most of us got pummeled?"

Saïx growled, then without warning, dashed into Demyx, grasping him by the collar of his jacket as he held him over the cliff's edge. Demyx yelped in surprise, but what startled him more was Saïx's growl suddenly turning more monstrous, and he could feel his body radiating some sort of powerful fire inside his coat.

"How Master Xehanort decided to bring you and the other traitors of the old Organization back among our ranks eludes me to this very day," Saïx grumbled. "You and Vexen are still just backups for when we find the last remaining seeds, and even then, you're still just as lazy and incompetent as you have been since you became a part of this group!"

"W-Whoa, whoa! Hey, I did a little bit of recon around here!" Demyx tried to explain. Saïx's growl grew even deeper, and Demyx could see blue fire beginning to form within the dark veil of his hood, which didn't seem to look like how he appears in his berserk rage. Demyx stammered, unsure if Saïx even knew if there was anything happening to him until he recalled who he just met not that long ago. "W-Wait! I met someone!"

"I swear, if you're going to explain which of these equine creatures you hit on-!" Saïx raised his free hoof and summoned his claymore.

"No! Nonononononono! It's Sora's mom!" Demyx quickly said. The moment he mentioned their enemy's mother, the heat around Saïx quickly faded, along with the flames he saw. "I'm dead serious! His mom is here! In this world!"

"...Sora lives in a different world. He, nor his family, are creatures of this world," Saïx explained.

"T-Then...he must have brought her here for something!" Demyx pointed out to Mt. Aris, down to the beach where he last saw her. "She's seriously down there on some summer vacation!...And, in a weird way, I thought she was really hot...Well, for being a pegasus, at least. I still can't believe I hit on a chick who's supposed to be a bit older than me."

Saïx silently leered at Demyx before letting out a frustrated sigh. "I don't have time for your shenanigans," he uttered. Tossing the musician Nobody behind him, Demyx yelped and smacked the ground with a painful thud. A portal of darkness appeared behind Demyx as Saïx turned around, pointing his claymore at the stallion. "Get back to work, or I'll personally deal with you the next time you loaf off. Master Xehanort doesn't care if you're a worthless vessel, but you're required for something. I do not know what, but do NOT shirk off on your missions again."

Demyx grumbled, grabbing his beach gear and slumped toward the portal. "Sheesh. You really need to chill out," he uttered before passing through the portal.

Saïx huffed, growing tired of dealing with Demyx's laziness. "He's wasting enough of my time as it is. Sora's mother? In this world? Nothing but excuses with Demyx." Before heading through to portal to ream Demyx even more for his lackadaisical behavior, he noticed smoke coming from beneath him. Looking down, he saw a scorch mark around his hooves, along with blue embers that were burning the grass around him. Lifting a hoof, he hummed curiously. "Strange. Vexen mentioned how much different our powers can be while in this world...Too bad I'm far too busy to see what else I am capable of as one of these creatures in this world..."

Ignoring the smoldering embers and the wide scorch mark from where he stood, Saïx passed through the portal, intending to severely punish Demyx for his going AWOL and making up lies to get out of his self-given vacation.

Comments

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up this is my favorite episode of season 8 sora's mom is one woman/mare i salute to she remind me of my mom cant wait for the next chapter

[Delta38]

Demyx learned the hard way, you don't mess with a Momma bears cubs.

[JesusG0987]

Haha! Talked about Momma bear instincts. Demur learned the hard way to never mess with Momma bear Cubs and friends. When that happen, you better run for the mountains. Even without a keyboard in her hand/hooves, she still packs a punch. I guess we know where Sora got part of his attitude from. Nice job with the new chapter, keep up the great work

[ponyrule1995]

Love Sora's mom, she is boss.

[Master of Ice]

Why'd would do my boy like that poor demnyx he can never get a break.

[Komodo Dragoon]

So Saix turned into a kirin, huh? That oughta prove interesting with his berserker powers.

[MagicLover2128]

Wonderful chapter, I really enjoyed it.

[Moonlight_Mist]

"Oh, I can see you girls all I want while I'm here," Manami said, giving each filly a playful boop on their snouts. "Other baby creatures, however, I want to see them all, and try to take them home with me before Sora tells me no." The Crusaders giggled in response. "And speaking of kids, TIME IN!"

Considering both this statement about seeing other kinds of baby creatures, and the kind of trouble a certain dragon has in Season 9 that would be right up a compassionate mother's alley to help with, looks like plans are already in the works to have Manami be in the Dragonlands for The Hatching.

[BurningLance]

yikes dont mess with momma.

tho i wonder a little would Manami if given the choice end up moving from her island and live in Equestria permanently due to all the cute stuff in the world and that other thinks she is much younger than she is etc?

also poor Demyx... couldnt he just quit the organization (if opportunity comes) and just live a carefree life as a musician like in Equestria for example.. he probably would go well with Octavia Melody, Vinyl Scratch and possibly Lyra in the music department.

[MLPFanForever]

Excellent chapter!

[Paulli]

Manami being mistaken by seaponies for Sora's older sister, hmm?
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRa99d4xa-ZCUXpHaHaAJm9-wWTgecdBQR2nyvOuYMJfxLMGO5vN9zHxgo&s=10

[karmathewriter]

Hmm out of curiosity, are we still going to see sora disappear as he did in KH3 (still find that to be a "c**k" moment), if so would it be possible to see the mane six searches for sora in other worlds. Or not

[XLR8 Fox]

Man this was awesome! I was half expecting a heartless attack or maybe Unversed with how much negative emotion Terramar was experiencing, also Demyx tells the truth and yet nobody believes him

[TheFVguy]

Damn, I'm super late. I'm sorry

---

"I'm on vacation," the pegasus mare said. "And I wanted to come here as an excuse to be around my childhood dream world some more." Twilight giggled at Manami's reason.

"Oh my gosh! He's so CUTE!!!!" Manami squealed.

Manami is back! Something I never touched upon is your take on Sora's mom, and this is a pretty fun interpretation of her. I'll admit, it's nothing super interesting or new, but giving her a enthusiastic personality that knows when to be a mom is really fun to read.

I did not expect for the map to call her on a mission, that was a huge surprise and, but a great one too.
She served more of a protagonist role in this chapter, which I found pretty bold of you to write to have such a minor character as the main focus.
She didn't receive huge character development, but it was still fun seeing her interact with the other characters.

Her interaction for the crusaders, and acting as their mom was fun, but I was expecting some unique dialogue between her and Apple Bloom, since her parents died when she was super young, I imagine Apple Bloom would grow deeply attached to Manami as a result of that motherly love she's possibly been missing her whole life. I know you could say Applejack kind of filled that role, but it would have been unique chemistry, but I digress, Manami is still a minor character overall, so it's not like I'm complaining.

Though I especially love her interaction with Demyx, who I'll get to later. Seeing her be completely annoyed and afraid of him, was really unique for a character like her. Demyx is a pretty non-threatening villain, but Manami doesn't know that, besides, he's still way more powerful than her. Seeing her trying to bluff her way out of the situation is was both funny but also a bit suspenseful. It really plays into her character, and also shows where Sora got most of his personality from.

I hope we see her again in future stories, it's always a fun time seeing Manami again.

---

"Well, Sky Beak always has his head in the clouds," Ocean Flow said with a playful roll of her eyes. Sky Beak grinned and nuzzled his wife, taking the playful jab in stride. "But I love him. We just prefer to live where we feel much more comfortable. I got used to the ocean after all the years we've been hiding from the Storm King."

Not gonna lie, I really like this change.
In the original episode, it's implied that the couple is separated, but here, there are obviously, and I really like it. It's a unique situation, but honestly believable, it feels really nicely written. It was very cute and heartwarming reading their interaction with Manami.

---

"Right, got it. Cool." Demyx sighed and rubbed his head. "Why can't I ever catch a break? I just want a vacation."

My boy, the myth, the legend, Demyx.
He was great here, and seeing him hit on Sora's mom of all thing, possibly made him go through a mental crisis, which was hilarious.
While he served more of a comic relief here, there's actually some untapped potential for him here.

Demyx is a character that's one of the few nobodies he haven't seen the original body of, but also how he seems more reluctant to do the Organization's bidding than anybody. He's a wimp that simply follows orders, not caring whether they'd be for forces of darkness or light. He's a character who's ultimately not a fighter, but a guy who refuses to fight because he knows he's weak and wants nothing to do with conflict. He surprisingly looks down on himself, admits that he's a coward and sees no future for him in the conflict, it's a character I found interesting to look at. Maybe some interaction between him and someone like Pinkie would be nice.

Makes you think why he joined the organizations in the first place, or he's in the new one at all, well, it's because of one simple fact that I have not seen fully established yet (I have not played the KH3 dlc, or Memory of Melody yet), his"ancient Keyblade legacy" that Xemnas established. Whatever this means, is really important, as it can mean anything. Either Demyx and others are direct nobodies from warriors from the Keyblade War, descendants from keyblade wielders, or have actual potential to wield one. While I don't want Demyx to all of the sudden have a keyblade, I do think you can do more stuff with him, especially with him and Vexen's plans to turn their back on the organizations.

Demyx could be a recurring character in later arcs, helping the heroes in some situations after Vexen's plan begin, which would confuse them on why he's helping them, but this could lead to him temporarily join the heroes at one point, only for specific situation if needed.
We could get brief back story for him, and the idea of him being in the organization for their "keyblade lgeacy" might bring up questions that Aqua and Terra might be interested in looking to.

I would also love to see him battle alongside the MLP characters, if there's one thing we know, is that he's pretty much on their level in terms of fighting, lol.
I just want to see more Demyx, since he kind be helpful on the heroes side, not to mention, you can maybe create more for him, and tell us where he is now, considering we have no idea where he is at the moment after the story's conclusion.

---

And so that's it, overall, this chapter was fun to listen, I apologize for not finishing this analysis sooner, I can't wait for the next chapters, shine on!

[AetherToast]

10680892
The real question that I have been wondering for a while though is whether or not the keychains count as separate Keyblades or if they are all the same Keyblade but with different expressions of itself? Cause that does really affect the answer you gave.

[Animatorsnake]

10682759
Diamond dogs were a thing? This story was published ahead of S1 - which was when diamond dogs became a THING - I'm pretty certain any one who watched the first S1 of the show would know this.

[Justin Mershimer]

Are you going to do the Rainbow Roadtrip movie?

[Kreotre]

Are there gonna be Mlp Shorts in the story, like Twilight having an Alicorn allergies and Twilight scared of ladybugs?

[Codex92]

10693817
I actually have a funny sort of short chapter in mind around the Ail-icorn short and what happens after that short ended until the potion that cured Twilight finally wears off. Guess who'd be stuck taking care of baby Twilight?

[Kreotre]

Riku is gonna take care of baby twilight

[Codex92]

10694427
Oh yeah. A little role reversal for them when Trixie turned him into a baby when she had the alicorn amulet in this story. There's gonna be some hilarious baby hijinks in that chapter.

[karmathewriter]

10694427
Riku taking care of baby twilight. If its gonna be like what happened with flurry hearts, I'd pay to see the comedic potential.

[Unseenvision]

Have you any plans to send the gang to Toy Box? Pinkie would love it!

[Codex92]

10701659
Yes, but not the whole gang. I plan to do something a bit differently with who goes to the worlds in KH3.

[Codex92]

10723532
Well, hope you enjoy a reading marathon. This is my longest series, and it's not even close to being done...and I plan on making a sequel.

[karmathewriter]

10726703
It may be the longest, but it's one of the best stories I've read. would definitely recommend this to anyone

[RainbowRaptorDash1]

Keep going... I LOVE IT! Add events of Kingdom Hearts 3 too!

[gfr091702]

When are you going to post the next chapter? I have been waiting forever now.

[Codex92]

10757721
Work's been really stressful recently, and aside from trying to de-stress from the madness when I get back home, I procrastinate, or I want to work on my other stories. I've got the start of the next chapter underway, but I want to finish another story's chapter first, then I'll get to work on updating this one. I don't want to rush or delay updating for too long, but life is just complete chaos at work with annoying customers not making things easier.

[ZeoSilver]

10758730
Real life; the kryptonite of any online content creator.

[branix]

10771206
Ain't it the truth?

[DeathRider2021]

I hope codex92 continues writing this series. I've really enjoyed this fanfiction. 🌟👏

[SpiritD3t3ctiv3]

What chapter was it when they made Sora an honorary member of the Apple Family? I can't remember

[Codex92]

10804921
it's been a long while since I can recall at the top of my head. But I think it was either in the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 chapter, or the Apple Family Reunion. Probably more the latter as a fully accepted member, though officially being an honorary Apple might be the former after Sora and the rest of the Mane Six helped the Apples with the FlimFlam Brothers. Love their songs, unfortunately, but I love to see them make asses of themselves and get caught with their metaphorical pants down when their get rich quick schemes are uncovered.