My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

School Raze (Part 2)

"WHAT!?" The Mane Six, Spike, Donald, and Goofy exclaimed as Sora uttered Tirek's apprentice.

"Cozy Glow's been behind all this!?" Twilight asked, struck with disbelief just as much as Sora was.

Tirek laughed at their shock, especially Sora as he was paralyzed, sitting on the ground as tears rolled down his face. "I'm not usually a fan of ponies, but draining your precious world of magic so she could trap you all here in Tartarus is inspiring!"

He laughed even harder, breaking down into hacking coughs as he nearly choked. "Cozy really did expect all of us to come here," Twilight muttered. "But the others are still at the school. They'll stop her."

"Please. She outsmarted all of you, I'm sure she'll outsmart the rest of your friends," Tirek stated. "She easily fooled Sora. She even told me her sad little backstory to make her more believable and innocent." Neither Tirek nor the others noticed Sora clenching his fists as his eyes shifted from distraught to enraged. "The so-called hero's heart is so easily manipulated if all it needed to metaphorically take his heart and toy with it like her little play-"

Suddenly, Sora shot up and dashed toward Tirek's cave with a yell. He kicked the cage hard, sending it flying off the hill. Tirek yelled as the others gasped in surprise at what Sora just did, hearing the centaur grunt and the stone cage tumbling down to the ground. Before they asked why Sora did that, he jumped down after Tirek, calling his Keyblade back in his hand. Tirek groaned, rubbing his head as he tried to stand back up. Sora landed by his cage, fuming with anger, smacking the stone bars hard to make the whole cage vibrate harshly.

"Liar!" Sora shouted. "Cozy Glow CAN'T be the one doing all this! Tell me who it really is!"

Tirek winced as his cage rattled, startled by Sora's aggression escalating this high. Up on the hill where his cage used to sit, the others looked down at them, including Cerberus as the three heads were a bit concerned seeing one of their master's enemies getting this mad.

"Sora, what are you doing!?" Donald asked.

Ignoring his friend, Sora walked around the cage, finding the keyhole that keeps Tirek trapped inside. "...You want to be out of your cage that badly?" he asked darkly. Slowly taking aim with his Keyblade, his actions made the others worry as they could see a dark aura begin to radiate from his body. Confused, Tirek watched Sora's Keyblade begin to glow, building up energy to release a beam of light at the lock. The beam fired, unlocking the door with a click. "If you want to be free, you're going to need to pay the price, Tirek."

"What is wrong with him!?" Rainbow shouted. "Why is he releasing Tirek!?"

"I don't think Tirek should get out of his cage at all," Twilight uttered.

Sora grabbed the door to the cage, slamming it open, then stepped inside toward the centaur menacingly. "Come on, Tirek. Out of your cage."

"W-Why are you-?" Sora quickly grasped Tirek's throat in his free hand, choking the old centaur for a few seconds, then flung him out of the cage with a thud.

"That's what you want to help us, right!?" Sora yelled, jumping out and slamming his feet into Tirek's back. Tirek let out a yell, unable to scramble away with his older, frail body. "We free you from your cage, you tell us how to fix the stolen magic! SO START TALKING, YOU BASTARD! WHO'S REALLY BEHIND ALL THIS!?"

Sora stomped his foot on Tirek's head, making him grunt in agony as his face was smashed into the ground. Everyone quickly scrambled down the hill, Donald and Goofy pushing Sora off of Tirek with Rainbow and Applejack helping hold the enraged wielder back.

"Sora, stop! You're goin' way too far!" Applejack shouted as she, Rainbow, Donald, and Goofy struggled to keep Sora away from Tirek.

Despite getting tossed and his face and ribs threatened to be broken, Tirek was able to get back on his hooves. He was freed, but it wouldn't last long when he heard Cerberus growling, looming over the monstrous villain as if daring him to take any other step out of his cell. Tirek was too weak to outmatch the three-headed dog, even as Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike cornered him. Neither of them were risking his escape, even if the gates of Tartarus were unable to be opened. Knowing he won't win, Tirek backed away slowly, avoiding Cerberus's wrath, returning back to his cage. Pinkie hopped over and closed the door while Twilight resealed the lock.

"Don't put him back in there!" Sora yelled. "I'm not done with him yet!"

"Sora, snap out of it!" Goofy yelled. "You need to calm down!"

With Tirek back in his cage, Cerberus stepped over the ponies, the two side heads lifting the cage up, and leapt up on the hill to set his cage back where it belonged. The dog snarled at him, warning him not to get any ideas.

"Yeah, whatever," Tirek grumbled. "Where was I even going to run off to with my world's magic fading away?"

Sora continued to struggle, barely finished with battering Tirek more than he deserved. He eventually fell over, pinned down by Donald, Goofy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, panting heavily. The dark aura faded away, much to the others' relief, but if he wound up turning into his Anti-Form again, they wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Have you calmed down now?" Twilight asked.

Sora shook his head, still upset. "He's lying," he muttered. "Cozy Glow would never..."

"Sora...Ah don't think he was fibbin'," Applejack said. "If he thinks he's beaten us, why would he hide somethin' we've been wantin' to know?"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Sora shouted. He surprised Applejack, Rainbow, Donald, and Goofy as he managed to push them off of him, getting back on his feet as he stumbled to his feet. "He's lying! Cozy Glow's just a little filly! How could anyone like her even think about something that horrible!?"

"He's in denial~!" Tirek called out.

Sora looked up at the hill with a scowl, but Twilight flew in his way and shoved him back. "Sora, stop it! You're letting him get to you!"

"He shouldn't even be given a life sentence down here for stealing Equestria's magic twice!" Sora exclaimed.

"But what if he really is telling us the truth, Sora?" Twilight questioned. "If he is...then...that means we can't trust-"

Sora pointed his Keyblade at her, making her wince as she backed away. "...Don't you dare say it," Sora growled. "It's not Cozy Glow. It has to be someone else!"

"Then who, Sora?" Twilight asked. "Tirek doesn't know who Xehanort is. It can't be either of us. And if it was M, then...I don't know what else he has in store for us when he was once a part of Celestia and Luna's lives over a thousand years ago."

The questions M asked Sora played over and over in his head. He still didn't know if M was testing him, but the thought of Cozy Glow being an accomplice of Tirek's, and a villain, he refused to believe it. He had to find proof. Putting his free hand up to his ear, he tried to reach out to the others with his communicator, hoping the magic within their enchanted crystals were still active.

"Guys, is there something happening back in Ponyville?" he called out desperately, but after a while, no answer came. "Guys?...Riku? Terra, Ven, Aqua?...Kairi!?"

"By this point, Cozy Glow probably finished them off to keep her plan in motion," Tirek goaded, further aggravating Sora.

"Shut up!" Sora was quickly held back by Donald and Goofy when they saw him try to rush up to Tirek and attack him again.

"Calm down, Sora!" Goofy scolded. "Don't do anything reckless!"

"Sora, we get that you care a lot about Cozy Glow, but if Tirek is telling us the truth, we can't trust her until we find proof!" Twilight exclaimed.

Sora stopped struggling, getting more frantic as his friends were accusing Cozy Glow and trusted Tirek's words over the filly's young and innocent behavior throughout the year. "Proof...Proof! I'll prove she's not doing this!" he said.

"Did Sora's mind snap or something?" Spike asked.

"And just how exactly are you going to find proof that the filly who's working for me is innocent?" Tirek questioned. "I think you're too delusional to understand you're stuck here with no way out."

Sora sprinted off, ignoring Tirek as he ran off down a path further in Tartarus. "S-Sora!" Donald squawked.

"Where are you going!?" Goofy called out as he and Donald tried to chase after him.

"I'm going back to Equestria!" Sora said. "Beat up Tirek for me when I show him Cozy Glow is not his apprentice!"

Unable to keep up, Donald and Goofy slowed down, growing more and more concerned as their friend really is suffering from denial. With Tartarus connected to Olympus's Underworld, they knew he could get back to Equestria in time with his glider, but he was so focused on Cozy Glow, their future ally becoming their biggest threat, he forgot about leaving everyone else stranded here. He also seemed to have forgotten that their other friends were in trouble, especially Kairi, whom he had just gotten married with a couple weeks ago.

Twilight had to think of a way for them to break out of Tartarus. She could go after Sora, but she didn't want to leave her friends behind in this place. Just being here with the air making them feel weak makes her feel uncomfortable. Glancing back at the door, her eyes shifted to all the dangerous creatures contained in their respective cages. She then got an idea, and though it might not work, she was willing to give it a shot and try to catch up to Sora before he gets hurt, whether physically, emotionally, or psychologically by Cozy Glow.

"...I think I know how we can get out of here," she said.

"How?" Donald asked, he and Goofy returning to the others while hoping Sora would be ok on his own.

"Even though those creatures have lost their magical abilities, they still have a magic within them that makes up what they are," Twilight explained as she pointed to the creatures.

"They still have magic within them?" Goofy asked.

Donald squinted at them curiously, eyeing the cockatrice as it silently sat in its cage. "Huh...Like a latent magic in them that keeps them from being differentiated from what they're mixed up as?" Donald asked. "A Cockatrice is a mix between a chicken and a cobra, so that would mean taking the magic that melds their DNA as one species, and split them."

"Exactly. And I'll only be borrowing just enough to open those doors," Twilight said. "Once we get back the magic, they'll return back to normal."

"You think that'll work, Donald?" Goofy asked curiously. "I'm not much about magic since that's your schtick. But Twilight, you can't use your magic to take others if unicorns and alicorns can't use their magic at all."

"Which is why I'll be borrowing it," Twilight reiterated. "If creatures willing give their magic to somepony, then I can temporarily use a spell."

"Sounds crazy enough to work," Donald said. "Let's just hope these wild beasts can trust you enough to let us out of here."

With a plan in mind, they hurried over to their friends to relay their idea. Tirek overheard them, rubbing his neck after Sora began to choke him earlier.

"These ponies really think they can find a way out of here," he grumbled. "There's going to be no magic left. How else is that foolish boy going to get out of Tartarus?"

"Well, here's a funny little story!" Pinkie said, startling Tirek as she suddenly stood beside his cage without so much as a peep. "See, Sora, Donald, and Goofy actually came to this world before! Well, another section of this world not a part of Tartarus, called Olympus. Cerberus got out of here, which I'm sure you know about since you escaped when Cerberus escaped, but he's actually from Olympus since he's a big, three-headed Doberman demon dog. In Equestria, he's got three bulldog heads, and looks much more cuter there than what he is now. So, technically - wow, Mud Briar's catchphrase really is catchy - Sora can just leave here another way and make it back to Equestria in time before you can say, 'These worlds are connected!?'"

"...Wait, what does that even mean?" Tirek questioned. Pinkie shrugged and hopped back down to her friends, letting the information sink in. "Hold on...Tartarus is linked to Equestria, but she said that there's another part of this realm connected to another world...Is she saying that...Both these worlds are connected?"

"EXACTLY~!" Pinkie sang, surprising Tirek from not only hearing him mutter under his breath, but that Cozy Glow had never mentioned it in her letters, and she also had a Keyblade.

"...Well, that's...not what I expected," Tirek mumbled. "Let's just hope Sora's broken spirit stays that way and all the magic disappears forever..."

---

Panting, Sora continued running, following the cavernous path to find the way back to the surface of Olympus. He didn't know where Tartarus ended and the Underworld began, but he didn't have time to waste. Equestria's magic was going to disappear at the end of this day, and he had to find Cozy Glow and figure out who was really the one acting upon Tirek's plot. As he made his way around a bend, he didn't notice Hades sulking by, accidentally ramming into him as the God of the Underworld and Key bearer fell to the ground.

"Ugh! Of all the-! Who in the nine circles of Hell is running around down here like it's a-!" Hades stood back up in a puff of smoke, sneering at who bumped into him. His anger drooped and only increased when he saw it was Sora, the wielder staggering back up to his feet, ignoring the God. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. You again!? You are really starting to get on my nerves like Jerkules, you little-!" Sora ran off, causing Hades to stammer, aghast that he was just brushed aside. Growling, he snapped his fingers, disappearing in a puff of black smoke, then reappeared in Sora's path. "Hey, what am I!? Last week's news!?"

"I'm not in the mood, Hades!" Sora exclaimed.

He tried to run past Hades, but the God grabbed Sora's head, holding him in place. "Hey, hey, hey! You don't just bump into me without any particular reason in my domain, kid," he chided. "Why are you here, and where's the fire? Besides me."

"I said I'm in no mood to deal with you!" Sora snarled.

"No no no no no no no. That's not how this negotiation works, kid," Hades said. "Anytime I've seen you these last few years, you've been nothing but a big pain in my side. Any of my plans were thwarted because of you and your meddlesome duck and dog buddies, and you show up at the worst times when I was always so close to ending Hercules's career and life! So, you are going to give me answers, and tell me what you're doing back here, in my realm, before I lose my temper!"

Hades waited for any snippy comeback or a legitimate answer, but his anger slowly ebbed when he noticed how tense Sora was. He heard him growl, then noticed the familiar aura of darkness billow from Sora. Before he questioned what was happening to him, Sora grabbed Hades's wrist, squeezing it tightly.

"I said...BACK OFF!" Hades flinched as Sora's body unleashed a shockwave of darkness, but with Sora keeping a tight grip on his hand, it prevented him from flying off.

His jaw dropped when he saw Sora having changed into his Anti-Form. His darkened form was met with a pair of glowing yellow eyes as Sora twisted his head to look back and glare at him. Sora's grip tightened, making Hades wince as he felt Sora's nails, now sharper and longer, dug into his pale gray skin. He couldn't question what was happening when Sora suddenly flung him, then zipped off with a dark aura trailing behind his every movement as he summoned his Keyblade, also shrouded in darkness, and began slicing and slashing him wildly. Hades was unable to retaliate as he was tossed around by the swift wielder using a dark form he was unaware he could transform into.

After a powerful blast of dark energy, Hades was sent flying across the cavern and smacked into the wall. As he slumped to the ground, surprisingly in pain and took damage from a mortal like Sora while in his domain, he watched the Anti-Form Sora dash off toward more of the Underworld.

"What just happened?" Hades questioned to himself. He stood up, taken aback by what transpired. "Was he...a Heartless? Did I miss something after my big plan with the Titans shattered like a poorly crafted urn?" Glancing back toward the direction he came from, his confusion turned to irritation, letting out a tired sigh. "Let me guess; something's going on down in equine rainbow land and they went through those gates." Much to his chagrin, Hades headed toward Tartarus. "Please tell me the world's on fire and no amount of water in the world can drench it."

Further down the path, Sora recognized the craggy rock walls of the Underworld and the pit of miserable souls floating in a swirling mass of deathly green energy below. His body changed back to normal after using most of his form sprinting this far, ignoring the sights and dashing down the corridor until he found a familiar three-way path with a distant view of Hades's Underdrome. Finding his exit, he grabbed his pauldron and quickly activated his armor as he ran up the stairs back to the mortal world. Tossing his Keyblade behind him, his glider came zooming after him, jumping on it and flying up the rest of the stairs, out of the entrance to the Underworld, and out of Olympus's atmosphere.

"Cozy Glow's innocent," Sora told himself, disregarding anything Tirek had told them. "There has to be someone else doing this...There has to be..."

---

Cozy Glow smirked as she watched Riku try to bash out of the magic-syphoning sphere with his fists. Whether he or the other wielders could summon their Keyblade, it was impossible for them to get out.

"Good luck trying to escape," Cozy mocked. "Only one more day left. I would let Sora or the Elements of Harmony join you to all meet the same fate, but I'll have to leave them trapped in Tartarus until it's all over. So, either way, I'll take what's mine."

The evil filly flew off, leaving the six trapped wielders and unicorns alone. Riku growled, giving up as he was just wasting his time trying to break free.

"Damn it. I can't believe it was her doing this the whole time," Riku grumbled. "How did she manage to get the jump on us!? She wasn't allowed to learn anything until she was old enough!...Unless Sora trained her more behind our backs."

"Sora knew he wasn't supposed to train her any further," Aqua said. "If she knows about the world's heart, she clearly knows much more about the Keyblade than we thought."

"Oh man...Sora," Ventus uttered. "He's not gonna be happy when he finds out about this."

"Uhh, assuming he can find us down here!" Starlight exclaimed. "We've been knocked out for all of the second day, and there's only one day left until all of Equestria's magic is trapped with us, and we're banished to...What's the world's heart supposed to be, exactly?"

"It's the place Heartless try to invade," Kairi said. "And if they succeed in crawling through a special keyhole linked to the world...Equestria would be thrust in the Realm of Darkness."

Starlight winced, recalling the one timeline Sora and Twilight dragged her through during her revenge; an Equestria that was scattered to pieces and floating in a dangerously dark void where they were attacked by a Demon Tower. "...Oh...So, that's what would have happened...I think I fully regret my selfish actions back then."

"So, I'm gonna take a wild guess and say Equestria's heart is directly beneath us under that glowing symbol," Lea said, pointing down.

Everyone looked down, and though it was barely concealed under the glowing lights of the magical absorbing glyph, there was a faint outline of a keyhole in the ground. "Yeah. That's definitely a keyhole," Terra agreed.

"All of these crystal roots have to be connected to the Tree of Harmony," Aqua pondered. "It would make sense for it to be somewhere close to it so it can protect it from Heartless. M must have known exactly where to plant it if something did happen."

As they waited for the inevitable, Sandbar, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo crept inside the room after making their way around to the other entrance. "Sandbar? And the Crusaders!?" Ventus called out.

The others noticed the four ponies walk closer, all of them trying to tell them to find help, but their voices went unheard while trapped in the stolen magic. "How did Cozy Glow manage to do all of this?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Who cares?" Scootaloo said. "Let's get them out of here and bust Cozy Glow!"

The Crusaders ran toward the glyph, making the prisoners panic as they shouted and waved their respective limbs, warning them to stop. "Wait, girls!" Sandbar called out, noticing his mentors' frantic movements.

The three fillies skid to a halt, Sweetie Belle stepping a hoof into the circular glyph. The sphere suddenly reacted as the edges warped into three ethereal hands and lunged straight toward the unsuspecting unicorn filly. Sandbar gasped, unable to warn Sweetie Belle as the hands grasped the filly's head. She screamed as she felt two of the hands grab her head while the third went for her horn, all of them lifting her up, absorbing what magic she had left in her and began to pull her into the sphere with the others.

"Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cried out.

The two fillies quickly ran in to save her, Scootaloo biting down on Sweetie's tail, but began to get pulled in as well, as well as Apple Bloom as she bit on Scootaloo's tail. Sandbar sprinted forward, grabbing Apple Bloom's tail and pulled, keeping all three fillies from getting pulled in as he was fighting in a tug of war against the ethereal hands. The others could only helplessly watch as Sandbar was putting up a good fight, but he was going to tire out at some point.

Thinking quickly, keeping his stance steady and pulling as hard as he can, Sandbar summoned his Keyblade with his tail. Taking careful aim, he gave it a sharp flick, sending it twirling as he sent it flying at an angle. His Keyblade changed direction like a boomerang, flying straight toward the arms of the magic syphoning hands. It sliced through them, dissipating the hands grabbing Sweetie Belle's face, head, and horn. With a quick tug, Sandbar pulled all three Crusaders out of the short range of the glyph, sending them crashing into him as they all collapsed in a heap. Sandbar's Keyblade returned to his hoof, the fillies sighing in relief after that close call.

"Wow. Thanks, Sandbar," Sweetie Belle said. "Not a smart idea getting that close."

"So this really is where all the magic's bein' taken' to," Apple Bloom said.

"And Twilight, Master Sora, and the others traveled to Tartarus for nothing," Sandbar uttered. "If they got through the gates in time, there's no way they can get out."

"Well, we gotta find help somewhere!" Scootaloo said. "W-What about Xion!? She's not trapped in there!"

"She can't come back to Equestria right now with the magic being absorbed by this spell Cozy Glow crafted," Sandbar said. "Her body was made from Equestrian magic."

"And we can't get a word out to Princess Celestia either," Sweetie Belle mumbled. "We're on our own."

Sandbar didn't want to give up now, but there might be a way they can stop this. "Not for long. If I can rescue my friends, then maybe we can overpower Cozy Glow and get her to stop this."

"You sure you can stop her if she managed to beat them?" Apple Bloom asked as she pointed to Starlight and the Keyblade wielders.

"She attacked us from behind like a little coward!" Riku exclaimed, despite the four ponies having no way of hearing them.

"Riku, just give it up," Ventus said. "Sadly, it's all up to the Young Six to save us right now."

"What did Sandbar mean by rescuing them?" Aqua questioned. "Did she trap them? Or...?" Remembering Cozy Glow mentioning Neighsay being here, the woman frowned in frustration. "Oh. Oh, hell no. If that braindead unicorn did something to my pupils, I am going to slice off his useless horn and shove it up his-!"

"Yes, Aqua, we know," Terra interrupted. "I think he's also trying to take over the school as well without us present. We're all in the same boat if he does anything rash to spark a world war in Equestria, especially at the worst possible timing with the magic getting swallowed up here."

Aqua fumed, but there was nothing she could do at the moment. They watched Sandbar and the CMC hurry back to the surface, counting on them to hopefully save the day. Little did Cozy Glow even realize was that, despite the gates of Tartarus permanently closed from the fading magic, Equestria was connected to Olympus. Twilight and Sora could make it back and help stop Cozy Glow, but they didn't know if Sora was aware of who the real culprit was. Kairi clasped her hands together, worrying for Sora's mental state if he ever discovered the truth. And, learning what M had asked Sora a year ago, she hoped he could find the strength to let go of Cozy Glow and put an end to her plot of world conquest.

---

Neighsay went over all of Twilight's curriculum and class synopses for each Element. Everything the alicorn strived to teach was far from any EEA guidelines, and he wasn't going to let her status as a royal princess overrule the correct educational system in the kingdom. He knew what would happen, warned them all of the consequences, including Celestia, and it was worse with magic disappearing. Hearing a knock at the door to the office, he ignored it, even as it opened and Cozy Glow walked inside, putting on an innocent facade.

"Uh, excuse me, Chancellor Neighsay?" Cozy said.

"You might as well call me Headstallion Neighsay," the stallion corrected. "I plan to be here for quite some time."

Irritated, Cozy didn't show her ire as she approached the desk. "Gee, it sure is a relief to have somepony in charge, what with the magical crisis going on," she said, hoping her sweet and innocent words would butter the strict stallion up. "And we're all so grateful to you for taking care of those...non-ponies. But doesn't the EEA need you?"

"What the EEA needs is somepony to protect this school from the threats at Equestria's borders instead of gallivanting off on adventures beyond them," Neighsay snorted while still rifling through the papers.

"And what about any of those terrible, scary dark monsters with those awful heart motifs?" Cozy asked.

"We do not need the humans. We never have," Neighsay said. "Even if young Sandbar is new as a wielder, I am confident he will do a fine job protecting Equestria far better than them. Even more than Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony."

"But they all didn't just run off willy-nilly," Cozy Glow said. "They left me in charge. I am Princess Twilight's right-hoof pony, after all."

She hopped on the desk and showed Neighsay her assistant's medal and Sora's necklace, but the stallion wasn't amused. "Another in a long line of mistakes the Princess of Friendship has made," Neighsay said. "Rest assured, from now on, this school shall be run according to strict EEA guidelines." He stood up from the desk and approached the door, opening it and ushering Cozy Glow out. "The way it always should've been."

Her ploy didn't work, but she kept her innocent grin and left the office. "Well, that sounds just peachy!" Neighsay closed the door on Cozy Glow, the filly's smile turning into an annoyed scowl as she stormed off to plan a way to get rid of the chancellor from getting in her way. "'Headstallion' Neighsay...Pth. What a joke..."

Cozy began to make her way back to the castle to prepare to give Neighsay the shocking surprise of his miserable life. Through the halls, Sandbar, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo exited the caverns, making sure to avoid getting spotted by Cozy Glow or Neighsay. They didn't want to avoid causing suspicion with Neighsay if they broke the other young wielders out of the room through the door. Stepping outside, they approached the window of the room they were held captive in. Inside, Sandbar could see Gallus and Smolder trying to break free, but Yona, Ocellus, and Silverstream seemed to have given up.

He opened the window, getting Ocellus and Silverstream's attention as they were tied closely facing it and surprising them. "I'm breaking you guys out of here," he said, startling the other three, Yona happy to hear Sandbar as he came back to rescue them. There wasn't a lock on the ethereal chains, but he hoped he could break through them without setting off some kind of alarm from Neighsay's amulet. Summoning his Keyblade, he gave it a swift, downward slash where he wouldn't accidentally hurt them, breaking them as they dissipated into the air. Now freed, the rest of the Young Six pulled or tore off the muzzles bound to keep their mouths shut. "Sorry about earlier. I had to-"

Sandbar was cut off when Gallus dove toward him, pinning him and holding a set of his claws up to the teenage stallion's face. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't give you a good pounding, traitor!"

"No hurt Sandbar, Gallus!" Yona headbutted Gallus off of Sandbar, then picked up the stallion and gave him a bone-crushing yak hug. "Yona knew Sandbar not give up on friends!"

"What if this is supposed to be another trick to get us in more trouble with Neighsay?" Smolder questioned.

"But why did he come back to save us if he lied?" Silverstream asked. "Being a pony, maybe he actually did that to figure out what was going on."

With Sandbar too busy getting death-hugged by Yona, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo climbed into the room. "That's exactly what he did," Apple Bloom said.

"But that Neighsay isn't our biggest problem," Sweetie Belle said. "It's Cozy Glow."

"She's the one responsible for stealing Equestria's magic," Scootaloo added.

Taken aback, the Young Six all stared at the CMC in shock. Yona dropped Sandbar, making him grunt as his bones strained under the powerful grip of a very friendly yak.

"Cozy Glow? Seriously?" Gallus questioned skeptically. "That little pegasus is the one who's causing all this?"

"I-It's true," Sandbar said, standing back up after cracking his back into place. "We saw it being gathered right underneath the school. And what's worse, she even trapped our masters and Counselor Starlight inside the stolen magic."

"What!?" the other wielders exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, that is so evil!" Silverstream exclaimed.

"My bits were gonna go to the chancellor dude since he's been blaming us for stealing all the magic," Smolder said. "But that little twerp...I thought something was weird when she claimed she was put in charge by our actual teachers."

"So, what do we do to stop this and free our teachers?" Ocellus asked.

"Well, this might not be a good idea between the six of us, but we're going to need Chancellor Neighsay's help," Sandbar suggested. The sour looks on his friends' faces told him it was a much worse idea than he thought, and he couldn't blame them. "I know it's a long shot, but we have to at least warn him. I think he's the only one who can get help in Canterlot with that amulet of his. Assuming we don't convince him in time and the magic in it dries out."

Gallus, Smolder, Yona, Ocellus, and Silverstream didn't really want to be anywhere near Neighsay after all he's done. But, considering there was no choice and the only ones who could save Equestria was them, they reluctantly agreed with Sandbar's plan. They all snuck back out of the room and followed the CMC to Sweet Apple Acres. For the time being, the Young Six would have to hide out in the Crusaders' tree house to avoid having their plan ruined if either Neighsay or Cozy Glow saw them.

---

The next morning, all the students gathered in the foyer for another announcement, though where they thought it was another motivational friendship speech by Cozy Glow, they were surprised to see the head chancellor was here as well. Since Sandbar was free after his convincing lie, he came to school to pick the right moment to talk to Neighsay.

"Everypony, thank you all for coming," Neighsay said. "I am sure you are all concerned about the magic situation. But I want to assure you that this institution is safe, despite the absence of your headmare. As your new headstallion, let me be the first to say that the reign of Princess Twilight Sparkle is over! From now on, this school will adhere to EEA doctrine, as it should have from the start!"

Sandbar wasn't surprised when all the students began to question Neighsay's decision. Many of them who were here since the school first opened up saw just how miserable it was following the EEA's educational guidelines, and they were glad it was gone when it reopened. Even Cozy Glow wasn't amused, knowing full well he wasn't going to win anyone over. She could let the student body voice their complaints to him, and with how well she won over everyone yesterday while she was in charge, he could easily be run out with his tail tucked between his legs.

Just as Cozy was about to make the students rise up against Neighsay's horrible change in the School of Friendship's lessons, the doors to the school suddenly slammed open. "COZY GLOW!"

Startled, everyone turned around when they saw Sora making his entrance, panting heavily, his spikey mane more disheveled than it seemed, bags under his eyes from lack of sleep on his space trek back to Equestria. While most of the students were glad to see him return, Neighsay and Cozy Glow were astonished, the former having no clue where he had been all this time while the latter questioned how he got back.

"Master Sora?" Sandbar uttered.

Ignoring the crowd, Sora spotted the pegasus filly. She thought he found out, but the stallion had a relieved grin and flew over the crowd, swooping down and held the little filly in his hooves.

"Thank goodness I found you," he said as he hugged Cozy tightly to his chest.

"S-Sora...You're...You're back," Cozy nervously greeted, squirming out of his hooves as she put on a fake, convincing grin. "...W-What happened?"

"Yes. I'd also like to know where you and your cohorts have been," Neighsay added.

Sora finally noticed the chancellor, his joy quickly turning to ire as he dropped to the ground and glared at him. "Why are you here?" he questioned.

"Considering Princess Twilight had left the school unattended with her friends tagging along, nopony was watching the school in either of your absence," Neighsay said.

"We left Starlight and our other friends to watch things," Sora argued. "I went along with them to find Tirek in Tartarus to find out who was stealing Equestria's magic!"

"So where are your companions and Starlight Glimmer!?" Neighsay barked. "This young filly said Starlight went along with you all while the other bearers were off dealing with a certain infestation!"

Confused, Sora looked at Cozy Glow. Seeing a perfect opportunity to get Neighsay off her back, the filly innocently shrugged, keeping silent as the other students knew what she told everyone yesterday. Furious, Sora sneered at Neighsay.

"My friends have mysteriously vanished, leaving the school alone, and you being here seems incredibly coincidental," Sora uttered.

Neighsay's eyes widened, taken aback by Sora's statement. "What? Are you implying that I did something to Starlight Glimmer and your fellow outsiders!?" he questioned. "I had arrived last night to inform the princess about the magic, and none of you were to be found!"

"And he wants to make the School of Friendship run the way a normal, boring EEA doctrine school would," Cozy added. "I mean, Chancellor Neighsay is the kind of stallion who believes what he says, and means it. That would also mean no more lessons from the Princess of Friendship, too." The other students began to mumble among themselves, not wanting what was meant to be a fun learning experience go back to being dull and boring. Sora refused to let that happen as well, and he seemed to be further convinced that the true culprit might actually be Neighsay all this time. "And Princess Twilight decided to run her school outside of the EEA guidelines. He even tried to stop her, despite also having full support from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

Their voices grew louder as they all began to bash Neighsay's strict system. The unicorn stallion suddenly grew nervous, fearing the revolt that was beginning to sprout with Cozy's statements and Sora glaring daggers at him. Before he could attempt to backpedal, Sora stepped forward, making Neighsay step away from him.

"We found Tirek and he told us he had an apprentice on the outside causing all the magic to disappear," Sora added, making Cozy's heart drop, knowing the centaur ratted her out. "He said it was Cozy Glow, but that's just the stupidest excuse that old fart had to say to us! She's only a kid, the sweetest, adorable, and lovable filly anyone could ever meet! After finding out who's really doing this, I'm going to make sure he pays, and I'll give Tirek more than a piece of my mind for putting the blame on this little angel!" Cozy inwardly relaxed, emphasizing Sora's point as she put on a sweet smile. The students all voiced their agreements, giving Cozy an even stronger alibi. Neighsay wanted to know how Sora got out of Tartarus if the gates were shut, but Sora suddenly slammed him into the back of the wall, snout to snout as he suddenly grew terrified of the increasingly haunting gaze in the friendly stallion's eyes. "Maybe the one responsible is standing right in front of me."

"W-What!? H-Have you lost your mind!?" Neighsay exclaimed.

"It makes sense; my friends aren't here, you said Starlight joined us when we left her in charge, my friends were here as well, but they had to go off somewhere to stop a Heartless invasion, and you show up to take charge AND change how this school runs!? You set up this scheme, working with Tirek right under our noses, and just to get back at us for screwing up how Equestria teaches ONLY ponies and no one else, so that you can run this school yourself and ruin teaching friendship to everyone because you think it'll be used as a weapon against Equestria!" Sora shouted. "You're an idiot for thinking that the power of friendship can be used like that when you're just as worse as the Heartless I fight on a daily basis!"

"No! Why would I want to get rid of my own magic!?" Neighsay asked, hearing the other students all rallying behind Sora and wanting him gone as well. "Wait, I'm not the one who did all this! I swear, I am only doing this to keep Equestria's education from being tainted!"

"By creatures?" Sora growled under his breath. "You even called me and my friends that exact same racist tone like our apprentices, and even the delegates of the other kingdoms. After what we did to keep your world safe, you know nothing about us, who we are, the Keyblade, everything...As an enemy of mine once told me before I was thrust on this journey of mine, one who knows nothing can understand nothing. And clearly, you know nothing." Keeping Neighsay pinned to the wall, Sora looked back at the student body. "Do any of you want to go back to the EEA guidelines when you learn about friendship!?" They all shouted in disagreement, giving Neighsay the answer Sora wanted to hear as he looked back at the stallion. "Then I guess you're not in charge anymore. And you'll be talking to the princesses for this and the reason for all the stolen magic."

"But I'm not doing this! How could I!?" Neighsay's pleading fell on deaf ears as he flung the stallion into the angry crowd of students.

"Everyone, why don't we 'help' Neighsay and keep him in his new office until I inform the princesses and the royal guard about the magic-stealing suspect?" Sora asked.

They needed no convincing and surrounded Neighsay, keeping him from escaping even as he continued to claim he was innocent. They began to push him further down the hall and toward Twilight's office to tie him up for the royal guard to arrest him. Cozy Glow contained her glee, surprised to have Sora do the work for her instead. Sandbar, however, slipped out, needing to tell the others the bad news, even though the best he could give was Sora's return. To help further Sora's theory, Cozy Glow approached Sora.

"You know, you do have a lot of valid points about Neighsay," she said. "It all makes so much sense why he would do this."

"Yeah...but I still need to find proof he was working with Tirek so I can rub it in his face and tell him it was never you from the beginning," Sora said.

"Golly, I would never even think about doing something so horrible," Cozy said.

"I know you wouldn't," Sora agreed. Scooping the filly up, he hugged her tightly, which she returned, her muzzle hiding the sinister grin on her muzzle. "You're too pure of heart to even begin to think of a thought like that." Feeling reassured that he had been right all along, he lowered Cozy back to the ground. "I'm going to let the princesses know what happened. I just hope we can find where he's kept the magic before it's too late."

"I can try to ask him politely," Cozy offered. "And I better make sure nopony else roughs the former chancellor up too much. We all want to be friends, even to our enemies. Right?"

"...Well...If they deserve a second chance, at least," Sora reminded Cozy. "Though with him, I don't think he deserves to be redeemed."

"I think he does. Go and hurry and let the princess know." Sora nodded, rubbing Cozy's head, then made his way out the door. She fixed her mane as Sora left, giggling devilishly as soon as he was out of earshot. "Well, that sure was close. But luckily, Sora is way too gullible to believe somepony like me being bad." She flittered off down the hall to Twilight's office, making it just in time as the students tied Neighsay up to the chair with chains. "Ooh. Not too tight, everypony," she advised. "We don't want him too comfortable before he's taken to a nice, comfy prison cell in Canterlot."

Grabbing a padlock, she clasped the lock between the tightly bound chains around Neighsay, ensuring he doesn't try to slip free as he struggled. Cozy informed the students to go ahead and start class without the EEA butting into everything again. Neighsay gave up, completely powerless as he couldn't use his magic, nor activate his amulet to give him any temporary spells to cast.

"I don't understand why you're doing this," Neighsay said as Cozy closed the door, giving them some privacy as she hummed and grabbed a little box she had stashed in the corner. "I thought you wanted somepony to lead the school. And I swear to the princesses themselves I'm not really the one causing our magic to disappear."

"Oh, I know," Cozy said, placing the box on the desk. Neighsay looked inside, finding several dolls that looked like the Mane Six and the Keyblade wielders sans Xion. "But, you weren't who I wanted running this school; I'm going to be running it, like I said over and over." She then snatched Neighsay's amulet from around his neck, tossing it away in the nearby trash can along with the student reports on Yona, Smolder, Silverstream, Gallus, and Ocellus. "I also know you're not the one taking Equestria's magic."

"Then free me! I do not know what is going on through Sora's head, but he is not in his right mind!" Neighsay pleaded as he wriggled in the chair.

"...That's exactly the point." Cozy dug through the box, pulling out a framed picture of herself looking all sweet and adorable with some flowers in her hooves, setting it on her new desk. She then grabbed a Sora doll, carefully running a hoof through the spikey yarn mane. "You see, Neighsay, I learned quite a few things since I arrived here in Ponyville, both from Princess Twilight and Sora. Friendship can be the most powerful magic of all, as well as strength. Something that Sora holds very dearly and makes him the greatest hero of them all. Sadly, Sora doesn't fully use that potential as much as I will as the new headmare of the School of Friendship."

"...What are you talking about?" Neighsay asked, feeling a little uncomfortable knowing a filly like Cozy Glow is suggesting using friendship as a source of power.

Cozy smirked at Neighsay. "Who do you think is the one really taking Equestria's magic, and is working with Tirek?" Neighsay was confused, but the puzzle pieces suddenly began to click. His jaw dropped, staring at the devious filly in abject horror. "That's right. It's me."

"...N-No...But...You?" he uttered. "...H-How?"

"Well, it took a bit of time to get things ready, but I can be a very, very patient mare," Cozy said.

"Mare? But...But you're just a-" Cozy held out her hoof and summoned her Keyblade, shocking the chancellor. "Y-You have a Keyblade!?"

"Yup. Have been since I was ten," Cozy flaunted, twirling the chesspiece-shaped Keyblade in her hoof. "I may look like a filly, but I'm actually just as old as Sora is. Maybe a year off, but with a cute face like this, and talented acting, who could really say?" Neighsay wouldn't have believed Cozy Glow was older than she seemed, even if she was gloating and monologuing like she really was going to succeed in her plans. "Sadly, I had to be self-taught since I couldn't train for my size. Luckily, I'm a very quick learner with magic spells, and I've been on the run for so long, the ones who pursued me can't even keep up with me."

"...You're...a stunted pony?" Neighsay uttered in disbelief. "And...On the run from who?"

"I can't really say. An important rule about being a Keyblade wielder is that you cannot reveal who you are and the outside world," Cozy Glow lectured with a shrug. "Which, by the way, you don't know anything about the Keyblade, so you shouldn't have known from the very beginning. But one thing I can tell you is that the magic is being held beneath the school, under a cavernous passage nopony's even aware of existing. You'll see where it is when you get tossed down there along with the other bearers and Starlight Glimmer."

"If Sora finds out about this, he's going to-!" Cozy Glow began to laugh, cutting off Neighsay's threat.

"Sora can't do anything to me! He's like putty in my hooves." She cradled the Sora doll, emphasizing how she's easily got him wrapped around her hoof. With how much he cared about her back in the main hall, Neighsay's bluff was all but fruitless. "And once he's served his purpose as the overprotective 'big bwother' he is to little ol' me..." Her cute face quickly turned to dark and sinister as she held the doll in front of Neighsay, then ran her Keyblade straight through the toy's chest, leaving a giant gash in its torso while scattering fluff all over the desk. "There'll be nothing he can do to stop me, and I'll be the strongest wielder and ruler of this weak-minded world."

She flicked her blade, sending the torn doll flying into Neighsay's face. The stallion flinched as it smacked him, shaking off the bits of stuffing that clung to his muzzle. He tried to call out for help, but the unicorn's mouth was quickly gagged by a Lea doll shoved into his open muzzle. Cozy left her belongings on the desk, hopping down and leaving the chancellor to sit and wait to be placed under arrest. Neighsay grimaced, now realizing the mistake he made, and with Sora dead set on believing he was the culprit, their world was doomed, and no one would believe him for all he had done to Twilight and their friends, including the young students from the other kingdoms.

Cozy dismissed her Keyblade before walking out of the office, closing it up as she prepared for the last few hours to tick by. Hiding in one of the rooms near the hall, Sandbar peeked through the crack in the door, his friends and the Crusaders hiding with him.

"There she is," Sandbar said.

"I can't believe Sora really thinks it was Neighsay," Ocellus whispered.

"I didn't have a chance to tell him," Sandbar apologized. "He seemed out of it, and he even said that Tirek told them that it was Cozy Glow."

"Of course he wouldn't believe him with how close he is to Cozy," Scootaloo grumbled. "Well, not for long. Operation: Distraction is a go!"

While Cozy wasn't looking, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo crept out of the room, keeping it open a crack for the Young Six to hear and watch them leave. The Crusaders approached the pegasus filly as she was about to make her way to the library.

"Hey, Cozy Glow!" Apple Bloom greeted.

Startled, Cozy turned around, forced to keep up her facade. "Oh, hello, CMCs!" Cozy greeted back. "What are you doing here?"

"We heard you've been making the school much better than Twilight or Starlight could," Sweetie Belle said.

"And it's so cool you're able to run it by yourself," Scootaloo added.

"Maybe we can help with somethin' if you're havin' some trouble," Apple Bloom suggested. "We got all day to go around, follow ya, and help out."

Cozy Glow resisted the urge to grimace at yet another setback, knowing these three are terrible liars and are trying to distract her. She can't deal with them personally, otherwise Sora would get suspicious. All she could do was get them off her back.

"Actually, there is something you three could do for me," Cozy said.

Cozy led the Crusaders through the hall, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo silently cheering as their distraction was already working. After passing the room where the Young Six were hiding, the group snuck out once the fillies were far enough away. They approached Twilight's office, making sure the coast was clear before stepping inside. Closing the door behind them, they were shocked to see Neighsay tied up in chains with his mouth stuffed with a stuffed doll of Lea, sharing the same imprisonment punishment as he gave them.

"Well, would you look at that. Karma really can bit somecreature in the plot," Gallus said. Neighsay began to sweat nervously, uncertain of his fate now that the Young Six were all freed thanks to Sandbar. In hindsight, he should have realized Sandbar had fooled him, but he was too egotistical to notice the young colt's ploy. "Maybe we should just keep him locked up like this."

"Gallus, come on. We know he's not really the one at fault," Silverstream reminded the griffon.

Gallus rolled his eyes, knowing she was right. Neighsay tried to explain, but with his mouth stuffed, his words were completely muffled.

"Seems like they locked his chains," Sandbar noted.

"Ooh! Yona want to try something!" Yona eagerly said.

Her friends all muttered their agreement. The yak grinned, then summoned her Keyblade. Neighsay's scream was muffled, pleading desperately for them not to hurt him. He saw Yona aim her blade at the stallion, along with a glowing light that appeared at the end. He flinched and shut his eyes, awaiting the deadly magic spell that would incinerate or shock him to death. A tiny beam of light shot out and aimed for the padlock, making the keyhole in it shine before the latch clicked and opened up. Confused, Neighsay looked down, unharmed, then looked up as the Young Six came over and helped untie him. Once his limbs were freed, he grabbed the saliva-soaked doll out of his mouth, dropping it, and looked at the teens he insulted in guilt, shame, and loss.

"...You...You're saving me?" he asked. "...Why? After I had outright insulted your kinds, blamed you for everything, and even tied you all up...I thought you would have retaliated against me for all I had done to you, your teachers...Even your...human masters."

"You know, I could have easily torched you, especially since you have no magic," Smolder said. The others had a similar idea of getting back at the unicorn for treating them as lesser sentient creatures, Neighsay could clearly see on their expressions. The dragoness let out a sigh and shook her head. "But, after learning about friendship from the pony princess who came up with the idea, sometimes you have to give others a second chance once you get to properly know them."

"Yeah! Some of us actually didn't like each other when the school year started, but the six of us have become the best of friends!" Silverstream said, pulling Ocellus and Gallus into a mini group hug.

"And it was thanks to you for making Princess Twilight use the EEA guidelines of teaching that made us grow closer, even when you forcefully closed the school down after the damage we did," Sandbar said. "Plus, I was also responsible for that accident, too. So, if you blamed my friends, then you blame me, too."

"Don't forget how good of a friendship teacher Sora is," Ocellus added. "I knew he never liked the changelings at first after the Canterlot wedding invasion, but that was only because of what our former queen did to him and everypony else. He didn't want to trust Thorax, but he gave him another chance, and all of us after we changed. Sora can forgive his enemies, even if others don't think they deserve a second chance."

"Even if yak and friends no like nasty pony, nasty pony met even nastier pony, so maybe nasty pony not be so nasty," Yona said.

Neighsay couldn't believe his ears. It was obvious he was the one who was ignorant about how to properly teach friendship, and the Young Six were giving him the benefit of the doubt despite his racist remarks. Twilight was right in believing that all creatures should learn and understand the magic of friendship. Though he had been right that friendship could be used as a weapon, he didn't expect the very creature to do it would be a pony, whom he believed should be the only species in all the world who should learn about it. He didn't deserve their forgiveness, nor the other wielders, but he would apologize to them all later once they all stopped Cozy Glow.

"...Well, I don't know how you six will be able to stop Cozy Glow," Neighsay said after a long period of silence mulling over their sagely wisdom for their ages. "That filly is no ordinary filly."

"We know. She has a Keyblade," Gallus said. "Youngest one to have one, apparently."

"No, neither of you understand," Neighsay said. "She's not a filly; she's a fully grown mare trapped in a filly's body. She's as old as Sora, but she has stunted growth syndrome."

"Stunted what?" Smolder questioned, the only one of the bunch who's never heard of that word.

"She's older than she appears. Her developmental growth has halted after a certain age, leaving her looking as young as a foal," Neighsay explained. "Even though she seems healthy, there could be another reason as to why she's the way she is for being at a mature age." Walking around the desk, Neighsay dug through the trash can Cozy dropped his amulet in. "I have to warn the princesses. And Sora...if he will listen to me."

"But how? There's no way you'll be able to make it in time before the magic's completely drained," Silverstream said.

"I may have lost my unicorn magic, but the most potent magic in Equestria is housed in our artifacts." Digging through crumpled papers and pulling out the Young Six's student reports out and back on Twilight's desk, Neighsay found his amulet. "The EEA medallion allows me to travel to different parts of Equestria, along with other magical feats. Even powerful enough to stop the magic of...Keyblade wielders. I hope it still has enough magic inside it to transport me to the castle."

Placing his amulet back around his neck, Neighsay tapped into its power. The magic flickered slightly, but it fully charged and flowed magic into his horn. Urging the Young Six to step back, he aimed his horn toward the center of the room, creating blue portal. He began to step forward, pausing slightly as he looked back at the six teens. He opened his mouth, wanting to apologize, but he didn't know how long the portal would stay open. Giving them an apologetic, remorseful gaze, the stallion stepped through, which slowly disappeared as he passed completely through.

"Well...this might be harder than I thought," Sandbar uttered. "Cozy Glow's older than she looks."

"And she has more experience than all of us combined," Ocellus added. "No wonder our masters were bested so easily."

"There's six of us and only one of her," Gallus said. "I think all of us can take her."

"So what are we standing around for!?" Smolder exclaimed. "Let's save the others and stop that brat!"

"Right!" the others agreed and raced out of the hall to the library to rescue their mentors.

---

Cozy Glow tuned out Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo's cheery attitude, suggesting all sorts of different ways they can "help" around the school. They were wasting her time, and she was so close to getting what she desired. Though Sora returning to Equestria from Tartarus still baffled her. Either there was something the centaur never mentioned to her, or Sora managed to find a way out without going through the permanently closed gates of Tartarus.

"It's actually really excitin' to have a foal around our age runnin' things," Apple Bloom said. "We should have an ice cream social every day!"

"That's a splendid idea, Apple Bloom," Cozy agreed. "But, to tell you girls the truth, the thing I need help with most is cleaning."

"Say no more," Sweetie Belle said. "Just take us around the school and show us everything you want cleaned."

"Well, actually, you can start right here." Cozy stopped at a janitor's closet, opening the door for the Crusaders.

The three fillies went inside, unaware of the smile on Cozy's face turning into an unamused frown. "Looks clean in here to me," Scootaloo said. Cozy swiftly slammed the door on them, startling the CMC. Cozy summoned her Keyblade, aiming it at the door's lock, and kept it locked with a swift beam of light. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo ran to the door, unable to open it, leaving them trapped inside. "H-Hey! What are you doing!?"

"You think I'm that stupid!?" Cozy exclaimed. "I know a diversion when I see one!"

With the jig up, the fillies stood defiant despite being locked in a closet. "We know what you're up to, Cozy Glow!" Apple Bloom said. "Ya won't win!"

"Yeah, Sora's gonna punish you harshly when he finds out it's you taking Equestria's magic!" Scootaloo added.

"And if he doesn't, then his pupils will once they break the others out of that magic!" Sweetie Belle squeaked, quickly closing her muzzle as her friends gawked at her.

Cozy's ears perked up, glaring harshly at the door. "So, they know, too..." She let out a small laugh, the Crusaders making her job that much easier. "Well, I don't think Sora will be able to do anything to me. He may have grown close to you, but he's also grown very fond of me. You think he can stop me when he wouldn't be able to so much as harm a single hair on my head?" Inside, the CMC grimaced, knowing full well Sora wouldn't have the heart to hurt Cozy Glow. "He even spoke with Tirek, and admitted that he said I was the one who was stealing all of Equestria's magic, but he quickly put the blame on Neighsay instead. So, all I gotta do is bat my eyes, give him the cute face, and I'm immediately off the hook. Thanks for letting me know someone was onto me. I'll be back to free you, then throw you in a prison once the magic's all gone."

Cozy flew off to catch up with the Young Six before they could foil her plan. Sweetie Belle winced, possibly messing up their own plan. They could only hope the younger wielders can stop her if Sora can't.

---

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, then back to Sora after relaying who the one responsible for taking away Equestria's magic was. They hardly believed him from the state he was in, even explaining what they learned from Tirek and disregarding it, even if the centaur was telling the truth.

"...So, you truly believe Chancellor Neighsay is the one working for Tirek, and helping him steal and destroy Equestria's magic?" Celestia questioned.

"And as you escaped from the realm connected ours to this 'Olympus', you left your comrades, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and the other Element Bearers back in Tartarus?" Luna added.

"Twilight's still with them," Sora reasoned, completely ignorant to having Twilight's name mentioned and leaving everyone behind. "But I spent all night trying to figure out where to go. Olympus is WAY farther away than I thought it was, and I usually had access to a navigator when exploring worlds in a Gummi ship. I got so turned around, it took me all night to find where Equestria was on the near outskirts of the galaxy! If there was a way Equestria could move the planet closer to the others, we wouldn't have that issue!"

Sora laughed, almost insanely as his eye twitched and grinning widely. Celestia and Luna thought Sora's brain snapped and he finally lost his mind, choosing to ignore everyone else around him and focused solely on keeping Cozy Glow innocent in this crisis.

"...Sora, I believe you need some rest," Luna suggested.

"Not until I find those dumb letters Neighsay kept while pen-paling with Tirek!" Sora exclaimed. "Where does he live? Because when I'm through with him, Tirek's gonna be next!"

"Sora, you are being completely irrational right now," Celestia said. "I will admit Neighsay has pushed a few of my buttons during his initial decision to shut down Twilight's school and threaten an all out war against Equestria with the other kingdoms. I was even astonished to learn he had accredited a Friendship University run by a pair of unicorn twins who embezzled funds by forcing students to pay for the lessons while giving them free tuition."

"Oh, Flim and Flam are next on my list after that little stunt they pulled, along with all the other times they tried to endorse AND run out Applejack and her family from their home!" Sora shouted, snorting angrily as his rage began to boil.

"They tried to what!?" Celestia shrieked, startling Luna as she never heard her sister explode in shock like that. "I personally helped the Apples a century ago by agreeing to give them much needed land for their apple orchards after they've traveled for a place for generations! The Apple family orchard is a landmark of Ponyville!"

"And they nearly destroyed the orchard with their stupid cider squeezing machine and almost got Granny Smith killed with a fake tonic, and falsely endorsing it with the Apple's name on it!" Sora agreed, rubbing his hooves together deviously. "I think that's enough grounds to book those two into the slammer when they tried to swindle an Element of Harmony, right?"

As much as Celestia would agree, she really couldn't enforce something like that without any physical proof. Though Sora punishing them in his own way was more than enough to knock them down a peg, they haven't done too much serious harm to anypony besides greed. Before Celestia spoke up, a portal suddenly appeared between the princesses and Sora. Neighsay stepped out, his amulet sparking before the magic within it died out, the portal closing up behind him.

"Princesses! I have grave news from Ponyville!" he said.

"How did you get out of that school!?" Sora exclaimed, making Neighsay wince and glance behind him.

Sora approached him as the unicorn stallion began backing away from him. "N-Now, Sora, I understand you're upset with me, but there's something important all of you should know."

"I'm done hearing whatever bull comes out of your mouth!" Sora exclaimed, summoning his Keyblade as he continued menacingly approaching him.

"Sora," Luna warned, but Sora wasn't listening.

"Save me the trouble of throwing you in a dungeon cell myself," Sora growled. "Maybe I'll put you across from where the Dazzlings are! I hope those three siren songstresses will be glad to have a neighbor!"

Neighsay stumbled against the steps leading up to the thrones, falling on his rump as he scrambled to the princesses for safety. "Please! I know you have every right to suspect me, Sora, but if we don't get back to Ponyville immediately, Cozy Glow will succeed and leave all of Equestria completely magicless!"

Roaring, Sora jumped forward, pinning Neighsay to the steps with his Keyblade pointed at his face. "SHUT UP! It's you, not Cozy Glow!"

"Sora, that is enough!" Celestia ordered.

She and Luna tried to help Neighsay, but Sora swung his Keyblade, shoving both alicorns back with Aero, startling them. "I'm telling you, it's Neighsay! He was going to take over the school, and he kidnapped my friends! He's the one doing this!"

Swallowing nervously, Neighsay had to try to explain. "Please, I implore you to listen to me," he begged. "Your pupils helped to free me. They know it's Cozy Glow as well, and they gave me the opportunity to come back here and inform you of what I just discovered." Sora growled, rearing his weapon back. If he wasn't careful with his next few words, Equestria would surely be doomed without magic. "They forgave me. Even after I insulted the delegates from the other kingdoms for not being ponies, and after I locked them up to have them taken back to their homes, the were willing to forgive me and look past what I have said and done to them and their kinds...I do not deserve any forgiveness. Not from them, nor from you. But...isn't that what you and your friends taught at a school for friendship? To find forgiveness in somepony, even if they do not deserve it, and give them another chance?...Something you had taught them?"

Sora went quiet, silently leering at Neighsay. Celestia and Luna didn't dare move, not wanting to agitate Sora and risk him doing something he knows he'll regret. Neighsay laid completely still, afraid any sudden movements would get him killed if what he said too much and struck a nerve. Sora still didn't want to believe him, refuse to believe that Cozy Glow was the one doing all this, but he hated how the stallion mentioned something about him that made him a warrior with righteous and good-natured morals. Even to his opponents, he was willing to learn why they did the things they did and offer them a second chance if they truly deserved it. And, much to his chagrin and tired mind and body, he was going to give Neighsay one last chance.

Digging into his pocket, he pulled out his memory ornament, knowing there has to be some magic left inside it to see if Neighsay really was telling the truth. "You're lucky I'm far too nice for my own good," Sora grumbled, holding the orb out to Neighsay. "The magic in this shows your memories. Do not waste this chance."

Shoving the ornament into Neighsay's chest, he let out a pained grunt as his hooves grasped the enchanted orb. Sora backed up, giving him a stern glare, warning him not to test his patience. Nervous, and deathly afraid of how Sora would react, Neighsay focused his memories on what he learned not even an hour ago. Celestia and Luna joined to see as a small window replaying what happened back in Ponyville, the playback staticky as the Equestrian magic within the orb was beginning to get sucked away.

While Neighsay was tied up and left alone with Cozy Glow, they could hear their conversation, and the filly's cause for doing this was clear enough to hear among the two princesses, the chancellor, and the slowly disheartening Keyblade wielder. She had explained her plot to Neighsay, dumping his medallion in the garbage bin, and, to their shock, how old she really was. Sora knew of a few adult ponies who were much smaller than they appeared, though they had looked as old as they sounded, like Big Daddy McColt when he came around Ponyville to help Fluttershy build her animal sanctuary. There was even Short Fuse, the midget stallion with a literal short fuse of a temper, someone Sora never wanted to see again along with the other Washouts. But Cozy Glow acted like such an innocent little filly, and to know he had been manipulated, and that Tirek and Neighsay were right, the reality of the situation finally kicked in.

They at least know where the magic was being syphoned to, neither of them expecting an underground passage beneath the school. Sora slowly shook his head, backing away as he watched Cozy Glow petting a stuffed doll of himself, symbolizing just how easily she was able to trick him with her size and incredibly convincing acting. What struck a blow to his heart was that she was going to milk his heart until she got what she desired, and he winced when the filly stabbed the doll through his chest with her Keyblade. The memory began to flicker and shift into static, the magic inside the ornament completely drained and left as nothing but a piece of plastic.

"Another wielder, but with foul intentions," Luna growled.

"She had even fooled me, but I believe there is still time," Neighsay said. "The younger wielders are off to rescue the others, and if Sora could-" As he and the alicorns looked at Sora, they noticed he had distanced himself, his face twisted with confusion and misery as he began to shed tears. They could see in his eyes that what he had witnessed really was true, and he was either going to break down crying or go on a rampage. The denial was gone, but it was hurting him more than suppressing the truth for this long. "...Sora?"

"...She...She really...I-I can't..." Sora dropped his Keyblade, letting it clatter before it disappeared in a flash of light. He began to hyperventilate, memories of him and Cozy playing, learning, even the small bits of training they did, all of them clashing with the monstrous little mare disguised as an angel. "...No...Please, no...S-She can't...She can't...!"

"Sora, what Neighsay had seen...was enough proof," Celestia said. Sora shook his head as his tears fell. Before either Celestia or Luna could provide some modicum of comfort to the distressed stallion, Sora quickly turned tail and sprinted out of the throne room and down the hall. "Sora!"

He was already long gone. As much as they wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself, they needed to stop Cozy Glow.

"I will assemble the guards," Luna said. "We may not do much to another bearer with our magic gone, but we can outnumber her."

Neighsay glanced down at the ornament still held in his hooves, then looked up at the Celestia while Luna flew on ahead to alert the guards to prepare themselves. "Your Highness...I...I deeply apologize for disrespecting you, and Princess Twilight and the delegates who brought their wards to learn at the School of Friendship," he said, bowing his head to them in shame. "...If I had not been so...blind by Equestria's old ways and the rules enforced by the EEA, I-"

"Another time, Neighsay," Celestia interjected. "Once this is all over, you can express your remorse to everyone that was involved in your bigoted hate crimes."

Celestia walked toward the doors, leaving Neighsay to wince, gulping nervously as he would have to face the wielders, especially Aqua, and hope they accept his apology. "...Yes...Of course..."

Placing the ornament in his robes to return to Sora later, he hurried after the princess, intending to see this threat vanquished.

---

Back in Tartarus, the Mane Six, Donald, Goofy, and Spike managed to gather the dangerous creatures of Equestria and borrow what little magic they had left to get them out of Tartarus. Tirek watched them try, finding their scheme to be a waste of time. Though it was hard to tell the time of day, he had an internal clock in his brain telling him that they were getting close to running out of time.

"You all are just wasting your energy at this point," Tirek commented. "By sunset, my protégé will have succeeded in taking every last vestige of Equestrian magic and make it disappear forever!"

"Ah, pipe down up there!" Donald said. "We won't let her win!"

"Do you even know what that'll mean if Equestria's magic is gone forever?" Twilight asked the centaur.

"It means that all of you will be trapped here forever!" Tirek answered with a laugh.

"Well, Twilight can actually leave this world if she wanted to," Goofy said.

"But I'm not leaving my friends behind," Twilight said. Looking back at all the creatures, Twilight didn't know if they had enough magic to let her open the gates. And she couldn't get Cerberus's help since Cerberus originated from Olympus, not Equestria. The only other creature that could possibly help them would be Tirek, but he wouldn't help them. But his answer made her smirk, flying up to the centaur's cage. "Also, Tirek, you are right. We would be trapped here. But that also means you'd be trapped here. With us."

"...What are you implying?" Tirek questioned.

Twilight had a devious grin, glancing down at Pinkie as she was using a Chimera's fire breath to roast some marshmallows that survived in her saddlebags. "Hey, Pinkie! Tirek just told me he wants to be your friend while we're stuck in here forever!"

Pinkie gasped, twisting her head around as her body followed with a wide grin on her face. She then zipped up the hill and stopped in front of Twilight.

"Really!?" Pinkie squealed. "A new friend to have for all eternity!"

"Uh huh. He has been lonely in that cage for quite some time," Twilight said, her sly tone making Tirek worry. "He could use a...'lifelong friend'."

The alicorn gave Pinkie a wink, the party pony quickly nodding her head, understanding her little ploy. "Wait a minute, I said no such thing!" Tirek exclaimed.

Pinkie suddenly appeared in the cage with Tirek, giving the old centaur a Pinkie death hug. "Yay! I get a real forever friend!" Pinkie cheered. She dropped Tirek, gagging as he tried to get the oxygen back in his lungs while Pinkie hopped around him. "We're gonna have so much fun! It'll be great! I have lots and lots and LOTS of fun game idea, and they can go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and-!"

Pinkies constant rambling was already starting to wear on Tirek's patience. He was completely powerless to silence her, or kick her out when she somehow snuck her way inside of the stone cage that was tightly locked by the power of the Keyblade. He realized how terrible of an idea it was getting his revenge by trapping the Elements of Harmony in Tartarus with him, especially when the worst of it is an energetic pink earth pony who's able to break the laws of physics, yet makes even less sense than the Lord of Chaos, Discord. He glanced at Twilight when Pinkie wasn't trying to randomly inspect his face, noting the amused grin on her smug muzzle.

"That's right, Tirek. Out of all of us you shouldn't be locked up with, it's Pinkie Pie," Twilight said. "And she really doesn't stop, even if you ask her nicely."

Dread fell on the centaur's face, hearing Pinkie pouring some tea she got out of nowhere while she sat on his back. "Best friends for all eternity~!" Pinkie sang.

Tirek screamed, feeling more tortured than spending a millennium trapped in Tartarus. "Alright, fine! I'll give you the last of my magic!" he cried out. "Just get this crazy pony away from me!"

"Well, that's not very nice," Pinkie pouted. "But it's ok. I forgive you, new bestie!"

"Please start taking our magic and leave! NOW!" Tirek begged, avoiding another death hug from Pinkie.

"Good to see you cooperating with us," Twilight said. She flew back down to the others, the Equestrian creatures all ready to give Twilight their magic, including Tirek while Pinkie continued to pester him, just to be sure he will cooperate. "Alright, everycreature. Let's see if this works."

"And that's your cue, evil centaur dude," Pinkie said.

"Just shut up and get back down with your friends!" Tirek exclaimed.

Using up the last of his magic within him, Tirek launched it into Twilight's horn. She grunted as she aimed her horn toward the large doors, shooting Tirek's magic in a beam at the seal. The other creatures followed suit, transferring their inner magic to the alicorn. The increase in magical energy began to make Twilight falter, but she relented and poured more into the seal. The creatures all began to split into separate animals, the last of their magic completely drained as they gave everything they had to the alicorn. Finally getting a hold of it, the combined multitude of magical auras combined into a dark purple one, then unleashed all the magic into the door. With a grunt, she pulled the gates open, the others cheering as Twilight's plan worked.

"I-It worked!" she cheered. Sadly, the strain of keeping the door open was beginning to tax on her as she was losing her grip. "Ugh! G-Go! Hurry! I can't keep it open too long!"

"Let's go!" Donald squawked as the group ran or flew out of their exit.

Cerberus let out a small whine, watching Fluttershy leave as the pegasus waved goodbye to her. The giant guard dog sat, disheartened, then looked down and noticed Twilight's struggle. With the last of her friends finally freed, all that was left was her, but she wouldn't be able to make it in time. As the last of the magic faded, the middle head lowered itself, and headbutted the alicorn, sending her screaming and flailing as she was sent flying through the door seconds before it closed on her. Twilight rolled to a hault, not expecting the guard dog to help her out, but thanks to Fluttershy's kindness toward the scary demon canine.

The other two heads praised the middle head's quick thinking, but their joy was quickly diminished when they turned and spotted their master strolling in. "What is going on around here!?" Hades demanded. He was about to scold Cerberus for not doing his job, but his rage didn't come out after spotting the freed Equestrian creatures, though split apart into two or more animals. "Huh? What is going on here?" The only Equestrian prisoner who could provide any answered was Tirek. He poofed himself up to the centaur's cage, eyeing the exhausted villain. "Hey, Tirek. Any chance you might provide me some answers? Because I just ran into trouble, and that trouble was an annoying little brat with a giant key for a sword. Ring any bells?"

"Do you really want to know?" Tirek questioned.

"Hmm...Yes. Yes I do," Hades said, surprisingly calm, but then startled Tirek when he erupted into red flames. "Because I am sick and tired of something stupid happening within my realm! You tell me what just happened before I toss your cage into my pit of tortured souls and leave you trapped in there for all eternity!" Not wanting that kind of fate, Tirek explained to Hades his backup plan, his apprentice helping cause trouble in Equestria, and who was here and how they managed to get out of the permanently locked gates of Tartarus. It did explain why Sora was here to Hades, though it didn't answer what he witnessed when he tried to stop him. "...Huh. So, a little pony brat, as your little troublemaker, who Sora is very attached to, is destroying the magical energy out in pony world."

"Yes," Tirek uttered.

"...Don't you devour magic?" Hades questioned. "What exactly was your master plan for getting rid of it if you can't eat it?"

"...To trap the mares who defeated me here in Tartarus forever," Tirek said. "A big mistake with...the pink one."

"Uh huh. Interesting," Hades quickly said, not caring about who the pony was just as long as it wasn't the alicorn who joined Sora and Hercules to stop him. "And...Sora kinda went a little dark on me and turned into a Heartless. Do you have any idea about that?"

"What? He turned into what now?" Tirek mumbled.

"Obviously not." Hades rubbed his head, getting a migraine after all this madness today. "That explains why these beasts are split apart..." He let out an exhausted groan and began to walk away. "I'm not going to bother anymore. Just as long as they are out of my hair, I'm good. I've had enough insanity to last me several lifetimes."

Hades teleported back to his lair, leaving Tirek alone with Cerberus and the split creatures. "Heartless...Those were the monsters that I've seen out in Equestria when I had escaped. And Sora could turn into one...Would that be good or bad news?"

---

Outside the gates of Tartarus, Twilight was relieved to know her plan worked. "If I ever see that three-headed dog again, I am getting him an airship's worth of dog treats," the alicorn uttered to herself.

"You did it, Twilight!" Rainbow cheered.

"Thank goodness. I didn't know how long I could take feeling absolutely exhausted in that place," Rarity said.

"Uhh, guys, the sun's starting to go down!" Spike exclaimed, pointing to the horizon.

The others gasped, having lost so much time trapped in Tartarus, and the third day was nearly over. "Uh oh! This isn't good!" Goofy said.

"We're too late," Applejack uttered.

"Wait! What if Sora made it in time!?" Donald said. "Twilight, contact him! There might still be some magic left in your communicator!"

"R-Right!" Twilight pressed a hoof to her ear, hoping there was still some lingering magic left inside. "Sora! Sora, where are you!?" she called out, but there was no response. "...Oh no. Are we really too late?"

"T...-lig...?" Twilight gasped, getting a response, but it wasn't from Sora.

"Xion?" she uttered, shocked to hear from her, but from the crackling and scattered noise, their communicators must be losing their magic. "Xion! Can you hear me!? Are you alright!?"

"I...-n't h-...ou. It-...lmo-...-hree da-..." It became too hard to hear Xion until the sound completely clipped out of existence, the magic in them completely gone.

Horrified, Twilight wasn't able to know if Xion was in danger of disappearing, and there was no time left. "Oh no...We need to try to get back!"

"But how?" Fluttershy asked. "We won't be able to make it!"

"Twilight and I could!" Rainbow said.

"But what about the others!? And Cozy Glow!?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow grimaced, almost forgetting Cozy Glow was a wielder as well, and incredibly dangerous. "You go on ahead of us, Twilight," Applejack said. "We'll try to catch up."

"A-Are you sure?" Twilight asked.

"We'll keep an eye on them!" Goofy promised.

"Sora's going to need help," Donald added. "If he hasn't stopped Cozy Glow by now...If he could even think about stopping her..."

Twilight nodded. Summoning her Keyblade, she flung it high into the air, watching it transform into her unique glider. With her Keyblade vessel faster than her wings, she hopped on, wishing her friends luck getting back home, then sped off to help stop Cozy Glow.

"Man, I wished we had Keyblades, too," Rainbow groaned. "We get super cool gliders like that."

"Let's hurry before it's too late!" Spike said.

The group raced down the path they came from, sparing no time as their world's magic could end up being lost forever if they can't save it.

---

Beneath the school, Sandbar guided his friends through the catacombs to where the stolen magic was being held. The trapped wielders and Starlight could only watch, unable to communicate with them as the six pupils examined the glyph and the artifacts creating the magical pull. Sandbar had warned them not to get too close to avoid getting sucked in and trapped along with them, neither of them having a clue to break them out of it.

While going around the circle, each teen stopped in front of an artifact that was related to their species: Yona before Yksler's Helm, Sandbar before Clover the Clever's Cloak, Smolder before Knuckerbocker's Shell, Gallus before King Grover's Crown, Ocellus before Mirage's Talisman, and Silverstream before Aurora's Amulet. "Huh. This reminds me of chapter twelve in 'Kanthaka's Facts and Artifacts' from Twilight's class," Gallus said aloud. The others looked at him, surprised he knew of that lesson, which made him furrow his brow at the stares he was receiving. "What? Finals are coming up, so I've been studying."

"Actually, I remember that, too," Ocellus said. "Cozy must have linked these artifacts to act like a mystical magnet, attracting all the magic in Equestria in that orb."

"But our masters aren't ponies while they're in there," Smolder pointed out. "Does that suck up our Keyblade magic, too?"

"I think we still have it," Ocellus pondered. "If Cozy was just stealing Equestrian magic, these symbols around here must only apply to certain kinds of magic."

"Really?" Silverstream asked. Touching her pearl, she gasped when she was still able to transform into a seapony. "Hey! I can still transform!"

Ocellus shapeshifted, her magic working just fine as she turned into a double of Kairi. "So can I." Both shapeshifters turned back to normal as the changeling teen looked at the artifacts. "I bet Cozy didn't want to steal every type of magic, otherwise she wouldn't be able to use her Keyblade."

"So, how do we shut this thing down?" Smolder asked. "Just grab the artifacts and pull them out?"

Smolder reached for Knuckerbocker's shell, but Ocellus grasped the dragon's claws with her aura. "It might work, or doing so could cause a magical feedback loop and destroy the whole school!"

Wincing, Smolder quickly pulled her hands back. "And probably us along with the magic and our teachers."

"And that wouldn't be the smart thing to do, now would it?" Gasping, the Young Six and imprisoned Keyblade wielders and Starlight faced one of the entrances to the room, finding Cozy Glow innocently smiling at them.

The Young Six frowned, those on the opposite end making their way around the glyph as they stood side-by-side, calling forth their Keyblades as they stared the stunted mare down. "Cozy Glow, tell us how to stop this!" Sandbar demanded.

"Hmm...I don't think so," Cozy said.

"Tell us, or we'll make you!" Gallus warned.

Cozy Glow rolled her eyes. "Really? How? By bullying a little filly like me?"

"Nasty not filly not a real filly!" Yona snorted. "Not nasty unicorn told Yona and friends what Cozy Glow really is!"

"Oh. So you freed that moron. Oh well. I'll deal with him myself when this is all over," Cozy said.

"You won't get a chance!" Smolder said. "Rush the brat!"

All six wielders charged forward, ready to strike Cozy Glow down. The stunted pegasus smirked, summoning her Keyblade in her mouth, then dashed straight through the Young Six with a wide swing. The delayed swing of Zantetsuken took effect, knocking all six of the teens back toward Cozy Glow, stunned by her attack. Without even turning to face them, Cozy spun and flipped as they flew past her, slashing at them as they passed, adding a harsh kick to Yona to send the yak rolling into the other five. They tumbled into a pained heap, but they weren't down and out as they managed to get back on their feet, surprised by how skilled Cozy Glow really is.

"Uhh, she's...better than we thought, huh?" Ocellus asked.

"Far better," Cozy said.

"Then try this on for size!" Smolder unleashed her elemental dragon breath, igniting Dragon's Fury with a mix of fire, ice, and lightning magic.

She ran forward, slicing her Keyblade into the ground toward Cozy Glow, releasing blade-shaped shockwave of elemental magic at her. Cozy easily dodged them without flinching, planting her Keyblade to the ground as she watched Smolder come closer. With a bright flash, Cozy created magical mines in a line in front of her, hopping back as Smolder failed to see them. The moment she made contact, Smolder was launched in the air by an explosive force. Cozy flew after her, slashing her and sent her flying back into the mines, repeatedly knocking her around from both heights.

Silverstream and Ocellus flew up to help Smolder, nearly getting slammed by the dragon as Cozy sent her flying toward them. Sandbar and Gallus quickly caught her while the hippogriff and changeling fought back by using magic. Combining their spells, they cast every element they knew, but with how weak in level they were, Cozy was either able to deflect them or zip away before they struck her. She showed them how a real spell worked, spinning her Keyblade as fire began to engulf the tip. Twirling in the air, she swung her blade, releasing several fireballs that flew off and redirected their trajectory at the two. Silverstream and Ocellus dove down to avoid them, but the fireballs continued following them like heat-seeking missiles. Unable to escape, they quickly turned and blasted the homing Fire spells with their own Fire, making them explode.

They didn't have time to breath a sigh of relief when Cozy Glow suddenly appeared behind Silverstream, knocking her up to the ceiling. "Silv!" Gallus cried out as she let out a grunt. Cozy smirked, her Keyblade shrouded with ice as she planned to hit the dazed hippogriff with a dangerous Blizzard spell. "Get away from her, you runt!"

Gallus shot off and swung, but Cozy managed to flip out of the way, hitting him with the side of her Keyblade instead. Gallus grunted, his body instantly freezing in a block of ice, then was smacked back to the ground. The ice broke on contact, sending the griffon tumbling back with a yell. Silverstream snapped out of her daze, growling angrily as she dove down toward Cozy Glow. With her back turned, Silverstream had a clean hit, but the little pegasus raised her Keyblade, blocking her strike without getting pushed back.

"This runt clearly has more strength than a mistake of nature," Cozy mocked Gallus, then swiftly flipped and heel-kicked Silverstream in the back of the head. Silverstream squawked in pain as she was sent crashing to the ground. Her ears twitched when she heard Ocellus transform, quickly spinning around and blocking the changeling, who had turned into her, along with her Keyblade. The real pegasus smirked at the changeling's impressive shapeshifting. "Even you were a mistake, you copycat bug."

"S-Shut up!" Ocellus yelled.

The two pushed each other back and swung wildly at each other, blades clashing and sending sparks flying. "Copying my speed, my moves, maybe even my magic spells," Cozy commented. Seeing how frustrated the double was getting, Cozy blocked Ocellus's next swing, purposefully losing her grip on her Keyblade. Feigning shock, Ocellus pointed her Keyblade at her. "Oh no. Looks like you outmatched me...But, can you do this without your Keyblade?"

Raising her hoof, her sweet, mocking grin turned malicious as a massive ball of glowing orange and red non-elemental energy appearing in front of her. Ocellus gasped in shock, having no time to react as the ball shot at her and instantly exploded in a flash of light. Blinded, everyone looked away as they heard Ocellus cry out in pain and land with a painful thud across the room. When they could see, the wielders trapped in the sphere were stunned to see Cozy pull off a powerful Megaflare spell without her Keyblade. Surprisingly, Ocellus was still conscious, turning back to normal as she winced while trying to stand back up.

"W-What was spell tiny pony used?" Yona asked Sandbar.

Cozy floated back to the ground, calling back her Keyblade as she faced the last two standing wielders. "Something that's far out of your league, cow," she stated.

"Yona not cow! Yona yak!" Yona bellowed and charged the stunted pegasus.

Cozy grinned, standing her ground. Yona swung her Keyblade, which Cozy blocked, and though the pegasus remained as still as a stone, her power outmatched Yona's and sent her flipping over her. With an elegant backflip, Cozy followed after Yona, then dashed rapidly around her in a pink and blue blur, slicing away as the yak flinched and grunted with each strike. As she was about to slam Yona into the ground, Sandbar flung his Keyblade at Cozy Glow. Dodging at the last second, she turned to glare at the stallion as he ran in to save Yona.

He leapt after her and swung, both blades clashing, then began clashing some more once they hit the ground. Yona landed on the ground, given enough time to recover and rejoin the fight. Cozy leapt away from Sandbar, and as she planned to rush him, Yona's heavy, overhead swing made her skid and leap back even further. Growling, she was going to send the yak and stallion flying, but was intercepted by Silverstream diving down toward her, followed by Smolder's ice breath and Ocellus's Thunder spell. Cozy managed to avoid them, growling angrily at the defiant newbies. Suddenly appearing around the Young Six were golden heal bell flowers, sprinkling regenerative energy down on them, healing their wounds and exhaustion instantly. Flying in from above, Gallus smirked as he landed beside his friends, given enough time to cast his unique Cure spell.

In the sphere, Aqua was worried that Cozy Glow would be too much for them, even with the knowledge that this filly was really a young mare with a growth defect, but working together, they might have a chance to beat her and save Equestria. "Give it up, Cozy Glow," Gallus said. "You won't put us down that easy. We're stubborn like that, just like Master Aqua."

Aqua rolled her eyes, but she grew more confident in their combined skills. Her amusement died when she saw someone appear from behind Cozy Glow. The others noticed, the last person they expected to see being Sora. The Young Six noticed and lowered their guard, confusing Cozy as she glanced behind her. They all saw the messy state he was in, his bloodshot eyes staring down at Cozy Glow as tears continuously flowed down his cheeks. His eyes would flicker to the Young Six, the sphere of stolen Equestrian energy, his friends and lover trapped inside it, and the magical syphoning circle absorbing every last bit of magic it can. They could see he was finally coming to terms with reality, and he already looked broken and defeated.

"...Cozy...?" he mumbled.

Cozy Glow shifted her gaze back slightly, then tried to play innocent as she began to cry crocodile tears and flew to him. "Oh, Sora, they were being so mean to me!" she cried, making everyone else grunt at her fake bawling. "You were wrong! It wasn't Neighsay doing all this! It was them! The non-ponies were so jealous of us ponies and wanted to take away all of our magic! They even trapped their masters, too! I tried to fight them to stop them, but they were too strong for me!"

"Sora, don't listen to her!" Sandbar shouted. "She's lying!"

"Neighsay must have told you what's really been going on if he made it to Canterlot in time!" Ocellus said.

The experienced wielders and Starlight all tried to shout their protests as well, but they still couldn't be heard. Sora swallowed the lump in his throat, his heart being squished by Cozy's fake crying and warring against the knowledge he was afraid of learning. He shakily placed a hoof on her head, making Cozy grin as she thought she had him, but he forcefully pushed her away from him. She looked up at him, her big eyes making him waver, forcing himself to shut his own in the hopes of not seeing the innocent filly he thought he knew.

"...You lied to me," he uttered, his voice cracking. "You...You tricked us. You stole all of...A-And you were going to..." He opened his eyes, looking at the stolen magic and the worried look on his friends' and wife's faces. He felt so stupid, shrugging off Twilight, the girls and Spike, even Donald and Goofy, truly believing in his heart that Cozy Glow was innocent. He left them in Tartarus while he selfishly ran off to return to Equestria, and in the end, he was wrong, and the trust he gave to Cozy Glow was immediately broken. "...Why? Why did you do this?"

Since her facade wouldn't work, Cozy Glow furrowed her brow. "I think it's obvious what someone would want," Cozy said. "You taught me that friendship brings you power, and Twilight teaching a school about friendship is just as better. I've made so many friends in Ponyville, I feel I can do just about anything. And without magic, I would be the one ponies would look up to as their new queen of friendship."

Dumbfounded, Sora shook his head as he looked at Cozy. "That's...That's not what I meant," he said. "When I say my friends are my power, they grant me the strength I need to fight! It doesn't really make you stronger! Just the will to fight for them!"

"And it shows you've failed to harness friendship's real power!" Cozy added. "You're supposed to be the one wielder everypony relies on because you're supposed to be stronger! Turns out you were nothing but a sham who only got lucky against every villain you crossed!"

"Hey, Sora's stronger than you by a mile!" Smolder exclaimed.

The other Young Six voiced their agreements and jeered Cozy Glow for putting their master down. Sora was still struck with disbelief at her reason for doing this, which only disheartened him more.

"Cozy...I can't believe you," Sora said. "You lied to me about everything...You're not even a filly. You're just...a mare...trapped in a filly's body..." He shook as more tears rolled down his cheeks. "I felt so sorry for you! I took you in, gave you a home, I helped train you and made you my apprentice, I gave you my full trust! I even let you be one of the flower girls at my wedding! And you used me!" Sora choked back a sob, not getting any sort of sympathy from the pegasus. "...I hate people who use and manipulate others...You know that..."

Cozy smirked. "I know." She then dashed forward, kicking Sora hard in the chest. He doubled over in pain, then got smacked up into the air by the stunted mare's Keyblade. She leapt after him, relishing the shock on the stallion's face. "And you are no longer a Keyblade Master in my eyes."

Cozy grabbed Sora's hoof, then spun him around and sent him flying into the magic sphere. His body changed back into a human as the others caught him, the Young Six distracted as Sora was too depressed to try to fight back. Cozy landed back on the ground, catching the Young Six off guard and began slashing at them, giving none of them time to retaliate or recover.

"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed with worry. The pain he felt paled in comparison to what he felt in his heart. "Sora..."

"...He was right...Tirek was right all along," Sora whimpered. "...And I didn't believe him, because...b-because..."

"Sora, don't beat yourself up about it," Aqua reassured the trembling wielder. "She fooled all of us. We never would have suspected her even if we all did confront Tirek together."

"But I defended her!" Sora shouted. "I thought...I thought that she couldn't..."

He finally broke down, failing everyone else for helping the villainous filly. Kairi held him, comforting him as best as she could, but sadly, it seemed as though Cozy was going to win. The Young Six stood no chance now, getting outmatched in speed and power by the stunted mare. One by one, she sent each of them toward the glyph, letting the ethereal claws grab them as they got close, and sucked them inside along with the others. Sandbar put up one last valiant effort to stop Cozy Glow, but she tripped him off his hooves, kicked him hard in the gut, then smacked him into the sphere with the others. Having dealt with them, she fixed her curly mane and yellow bow as she leered with sadistic glee at her prisoners.

"See? I'm far more powerful than you all think," she mocked. The glyph began to shimmer, signaling that the last of the magic is finally absorbed. "And right on time." With a flick of her hoof, she aimed her Keyblade at the center of the circle. Light began to build and unleashed a beam straight into the keyhole hidden beneath it. The glyph faded and revealed it as it shimmered brightly, then began to grow larger, wide enough for the magic and the artifacts to drop down into. Everyone but Sora gasped and began to panic as they looked down into the swirling void of light that was Equestria's heart, the sphere slowly beginning its descent inside of it. "Now, no more magic will exist in Equestria, trapped forever deep within the heart of the world. Along with all of you. Don't have too much fun writhing in eternity in the light!"

Cozy laughed and turned away to return back to the surface. "Ok, we're totally screwed!" Lea shrieked. "Is this like the Realm of Darkness or something, Aqua!?"

"How should I know!?" Aqua shouted angrily. "I never once thought about diving into the heart of a world like this!"

"T-There's gotta be some way to get out of here!" Ventus cried out as he tried to push his hand out of the sphere.

Terra grunted, wondering if Eraqus had some way of contacting the Tree of Harmony to help them. Luckily, there was no need as the roots around the room began to glow, each one corresponding to the color of the Elements of Harmony, and one glittering a mix of rainbow colors. They reached the ceiling and shot down a rainbow of light into the sinking sphere.

"Hark, young warriors of light." In the Young Six's minds, and in Sora's, the Equestrian wielders looked up in awe. Sora removed his face from Kairi's shoulder, the feminine voice echoing in his head unknown to him. "The battle is far from over. The magic must be freed."

"Who...Who is that?" Ocellus asked.

"What's going on with the roots?" Riku asked.

"Did anyone else hear that voice?" Gallus asked.

"What voice?" Aqua questioned.

"Do not lose faith, my hidden Element." Sora gasped as the voice solely spoke to him. "Stand your ground and fulfil your duty as a Bearer of this world."

"W-What?" Sora mumbled.

"Sora, what's happening?" Kairi asked.

She gasped when she saw Sora begin to glow a bright and colorful aura around him. Similar lights from the other branches shrouded the Young Six in a glowing aura as well; Gallus's purple, Ocellus's white, Sandbar's yellow, Silverstream's pink, Yona's orange, and Smolder's blue.

"Whoa. What is happening to them?" Starlight asked.

"They're...glowing like the Elements of Harmony," Terra said as his lips curled to a grin.

The magical aura began to move the Young Six and Sora, slowly pulling them out of the sphere of magical energy. The light also rejuvenated teens, healing their injuries as they floated back to the ground. Sora's body changed back into a pegasus as he too was lowered back to the ground, his exhaustion fading away. The bright lights caught Cozy Glow's attention, causing her to turn around in confusion and gawk at the glowing aura around the escaped wielders.

"What!? What is happening!?" she shrieked in shock.

The Young Six landed in front of the artifacts belonging to their respective kingdom's famous idols in history. Sora was left standing in front of the sphere, facing Cozy Glow. Sora looked back at them, having no clue what was happening.

"I don't know what the voice wanted, but I think maybe it was hinting for us to grab the artifacts!" Smolder said.

"But what about the magic backlash possibly destroying the school!?" Silverstream asked.

"If we don't try, then we could lose the magic forever!" Ocellus said.

Cozy snapped out of her stupor, snarling bitterly at the Young Six. "Oh, no you don't! None of you are taking this away from me!"

She flew off, heading toward Sandbar. The stallion flinched, but just as Cozy was about to smack him back into the sphere, the crack of a whip sounded, and Cozy was suddenly yanked back, getting slammed into the ground. Shocked, Sandbar and the others looked at Sora, the stallion using the Keyblade of Kindness's Formchange, the end of the transformed whip wrapped tightly around one of Cozy's hind legs.

"...Please...don't make me do this," Sora pleaded.

Cozy glared at him, smacking the end of the whip to detach itself from her leg. "Grab them! Now!" Gallus shouted, startling Cozy Glow as she looked beyond Sora.

All six teens grabbed the artifacts and held them up high. They each began to sparkle and shimmer, popping the magical energy making them float, disrupting the flow from the sphere above them. Cozy Glow screamed and flew after them, but Sora latched onto her with his whip and sent her flying out of the room. She came back, only this time going straight for him.

"STOPGA!" Sora shouted, his whip flailing wildly and catching Cozy Glow in the time freezing spell.

He panted heavily, staggering back, grimacing to himself. He couldn't hurt her. His form reverted back to normal as his Kingdom Key suddenly flashed in his hoof, confusing him. When he looked back at the Young Six, his friends, and the slowly shrinking magic, he noticed the glowing lights coming from the artifacts. It had been so long since he had seen this, surprised to even see this in Equestria. He glanced back at Cozy Glow, frowning slightly at the enraged expression on her face, reluctantly turning back around as he widened his stance, Keyblade held firmly in his maw.

Light began to shimmer around his Keyblade, creating a crown-shaped light beneath him. An invisible wind blew around him, making him wince and close his eyes as his hair and clothes rustled in the breeze. The world around them shifted to a similar realm from previous worlds he's visited, an endless void of bright light reflecting off the light and dark browns of the ground around them. The Young Six watched in awe as the lights in the artifacts shined, releasing a beam of light above them as all six beams connected and created a massive keyhole, matching similarly to the one at their feet.

"Whoa. That is so cool," Sandbar uttered.

The Young Six's Keyblades reacted as a similar light appeared below them like Sora. However, the symbols beneath them were similar images of the Elements of Harmony, and each one they stood on represented the Element that matched the similar glow they were shrouded in earlier. Gallus stood in the center of a fuchsia six-pointed star, Sandbar stood on a pink butterfly, Smolder stood on a red lightning bolt, Yona stood on an orange apple, Ocellus stood on a purple diamond, and Silverstream stood on a blue balloon.

"Do we...seal it?" Ocellus asked nervously.

They all looked at Sora, who silently nodded as he leapt back, giving his Keyblade a twirl, and aimed up at the keyhole. Following his lead, the Young Six did the same, using their own flashy flair before they took aim as well. Together, all seven Keyblades began to build light at the end and fired simultaneously. They crossed, sending two beams going up and down. The bottom one reached the keyhole leading to Equestria's heart, while the upper caused the magical energy that was stolen to react to the bright light shining out around them. Cozy was freed from the spell, too late to stop them as everyone was blinded by the bright light.

The magical energy suddenly expanded, phasing through the earth, out of the school, and encased Ponyville before it safely exploded in a flash of bright lights. Wisps of magical energy flew wildly through the night sky, flying all over Equestria as the magic began to return to the world. Halfway down the road from Canterlot, Celestia and Luna led their guards on foot to Ponyville with Neighsay tagging along. They all paused when they saw the wisps of Equestrian magic fly over them like shooting stars. Many flew down toward them, returning the magic to the princesses, all the unicorns, and even back to Neighsay's medallion.

"Our magic! It's back!" one of the unicorn guards cheered.

"They did it," Neighsay uttered. He looked down at his amulet, activating it and creating a portal to Ponyville. The princesses led their pegasi guards while Neighsay gestured to the earth pony and unicorn brigades to follow him. "This way! They'll catch up to us! We have a villain to capture!"

They all dove through to Ponyville and wait for Celestia, Luna, and the pegasi guards. At the opposite end of town, Twilight was hoping she wasn't too late. Noticing the odd wisps coming from Ponyville, she slowed her glider down and gazed at them curiously. A purple wisp zipped down and flew straight toward her, making her gasp as her horn lit up, her magic returning.

"Oh my gosh! They did it!" she cheered. Flapping her wings, she flew off her glider, reverting it back into her Keyblade's normal form, then teleported back to her friends. She was a little far off from where they were on the road, but she caught them just as they stopped to look up at the mysterious light show scattering in the sky. A white and pink wisp flew down, no doubt returning magic to Rarity, and the pink one flew right down to Pinkie Pie, she didn't question it, nor did she care as she regrouped with her friends. "Guys, the magic's back!"

"I know! I never want to part from it ever again!" Rarity cheered.

"Didn't ya say the same thing about your tail when ya cut it off for that sea serpent back in the Everfree Forest years ago?" Applejack questioned with a grin.

"You try growing up all your life with magic and not have it for three whole days," Rarity scoffed.

"So, does that mean Sora finally snapped out of it and stopped Cozy Glow?" Spike asked.

"...I...I hope so. Gather round, everypony. I'll take us back home." Everyone gathered around Twilight as she teleported them all back to Ponyville.

In Tartarus, magic returned to the creatures and changed them back to their dangerous, hybrid selves. While they were glad to return to normal, Cerberus gave them a warning growl, letting them know they weren't free and to return to their cages. Tirek witnessed the magic and tried to reach out to grab one of the floating wisps, only to get smacked back in the cage by his own borrowed magic returning to him.

Outside the school, Ponyville was in awe at the colorful lights, many of the unicorns cheering as their magic returned to them. In the main courtyard, a shimmer of light appeared, teleporting the Young Six, the Key bearers, and Starlight back to the surface, saved from the magic backlash by the Tree of Harmony. The wielders regained their pony bodies, the magic back to where they truly belonged.

"Alright! You guys did it!" Lea praised. "Not bad for a few beginners who saved the day!"

"Don't let it get to their heads," Terra warned Lea.

"MASTERS!" Yona came charging toward them, targeting Aqua first, but Aqua quickly stopped the yak with her magic.

"Easy, Yona," Aqua chided the excitable yak. "We're glad to see you, too."

"I really thought we were going to have the whole school blown up, but we really did save it and Equestria," Sandbar said.

"We're big heroes!" Silverstream cheered. "Just like Master Sora!" The mention of Sora suddenly drained all of the energy around the group. Everyone looked to the stallion, who blankly stared up into the sky, watching the last of the magical energy being freed. "...Oh..."

Despite having won, Sora had no reason to celebrate. Even though he did save Equestria again, everything involved with Cozy in the last year was tainted. He saw how evil she was, but his heart couldn't stop looking back at the innocence she portrayed the last several months. He didn't know why she did this, or who she really was, or even why others were looking for her to take her into custody. She was a pony, proven physically when she went through the portal to The Land of Departure, but what was she running from?

Kairi approached Sora, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Sora?" she called out. He didn't look at her, but his ear twitched, showing her was listening. "Sora...It's not-"

Suddenly, a Firaga spell came flying toward the couple. Thinking quickly, Kairi cast a barrier around them, letting the shield take the brunt of the blast. When the smoke cleared, the others had no time to relax as Cozy Glow stood before them. Panting heavily, seething with rage, her curly mane was a shaggy mess, the friendship assistant medal was torn from the magic backlash while Sora's necklace remained unharmed. The wielders summoned their Keyblades, but Sora stared at her, wanting this to end so he didn't have to harm her.

"You," she growled, slowly walking toward Sora and Kairi. She stomped forward, dropping her Keyblade, focused solely on Sora. "You had to ruin everything. You and those stupid greenhorn creatures."

"Oh, come on, just give it up already!" Gallus exclaimed. "You lost!"

"Shut up!" Cozy shrieked, her face scrunching in pure, unadulterated fury at the Young Six. She glared back at Sora, Kairi cautiously backing away while she looked at Sora, who remained stock still. Cozy continued breathing heavily, reaching Sora and grabbed his clothes, clutching them as if trying to hoist him up while she practically climbed up to his face. "Stupid, lucky, wannabe hero! How did you even escape Tartarus!? Those doors should have been permanently sealed without magic!"

"Tartarus is connected to another world, Cozy Glow," Terra answered. "We have the ability to fly to other worlds with our Keyblades. Equestria's prison for dangerous creatures is connected to another world's Underworld. Your plan to trap him there wouldn't have worked anyway."

Cozy's eye twitched as she twisted her head toward the earth pony stallion. "...C-Connected? Another...world?...Are you KIDDING ME!?" she shrieked. Beside Sora and Cozy, the Mane Six, Spike, Donald, and Goofy teleported just in the nick of time. All of them glowered at the stunted mare, who looked around nervously and tried to mask her rage with her innocent filly persona. "Umm, yay! You're back! I'm so glad everypony's ok!"

Neither of them were buying it, especially when they saw the dejected look on Sora's face as Cozy tried to hug him. "Get away from him, traitor," Twilight warned, her Keyblade appearing in her magic and aimed at the little pegasus. Scowling, Cozy pushed off of Sora, grabbing her Keyblade and prepared herself for another fight. "Why did you do all this Cozy Glow? What was it all for?"

"Ugh. Must I have to tell everypony who isn't in the loop!?" Cozy questioned. "Because friendship is power! All of these friends you make, especially Sora, you're supposed to be the strongest out of any wielder! If I was the headmare of this school, and the new ruler of a magicless world, I would have more friends than the both of you combined and be unstoppable!"

Taken aback, Twilight and her companions gawked at the stunted mare's horrible greed for power. "Clearly, you misunderstood what we've been teaching you, young filly," Twilight scolded.

"Uhh, Twilight, just so you know, Cozy's not really younger than us," Riku mentioned to the alicorn. "She's a year younger than Sora."

"Huh!?" the group trapped in Tartarus exclaimed in surprise.

"She's...a mare!?" Donald squawked in surprise.

"Well, Donald, you and her kinda share a similar trait when you're a little griffon," Goofy mentioned with a small chuckle, getting a stern glare from the mage.

"I'm not that short!" Donald angrily retorted.

Snapping out of her shock, Twilight leered at Cozy Glow. "Friendship may be powerful, Cozy Glow, but power isn't why you make friends."

"She's right," Ventus agreed. "Sora has made many friends in the past. Even if he's not strong enough physically, he's able to win because he's fighting for what's really important in his heart. We all made a mistake in thinking you could learn like everyone else, but you didn't."

"But we have," Smolder chimed in.

"Sora taught us more than enough and proved to you that you could never beat us with your filled with that kind of darkness," Gallus added as the Young Six surrounded Sora.

"Don't let one bad apple make you think you failed us," Silverstream said to Sora.

"And all of us couldn't have stopped her if we hadn't learned what you all taught us about friendship," Sandbar added.

Despite the encouraging words, Sora didn't feel motivated to give Cozy Glow any form of lecture. "Ugh! Honesty? Loyalty? Generosity? Blah blah blah!" Cozy exclaimed, not listening to either of them, nor did she seem encouraged to try to redeem herself. "I can make more friends without using either of them! And if I can't do it here, then I'll do it somewhere else!"

Cozy Glow tried to flee near one of the exits, only to be blocked by Aqua teleporting in her path. "You're not leaving."

Growling, she turned tail and tried to make for another exit. The other wielders barred her escape, forcing her to take to the air. Ventus and Riku kept her from flying off, along with the royal guard pegasi and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna joining them. Cozy screamed as she was about to blast everyone away with Megaflare, only for a beam of magic down below shooting her, making her spasm and drop to the ground as her magic failed. Countering the mare, Neighsay and the rest of the royal guard filed out from his portal, the chancellor tapping his medallion to charge it again and dispel Cozy's Keyblade magic.

"Neighsay?" Twilight uttered, shocked to see him helping them rather than reprimand her or her friends.

"Hello, Princess Twilight," he greeted.

Cozy grunted, standing back up once her muscles stopped twitching, looking up to leer at Neighsay. Looking around herself, she was completely surrounded by guards, three alicorns, one being a Key bearer, and several other experienced and new, outnumbering her by a couple hundred. Her Keyblade in her mouth, she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Cozy Glow, for your heinous crimes attempting to steal and destroy our magic and attempted murder toward several others, you will be forever banished to the pits of Tartarus!" Luna exclaimed.

"And as a Key bearer, you will relinquish your Keyblade to us as well!" Aqua added.

"Sure! Like I'm going to just give up that easily!" Cozy said. "What good will an army without powers like mine can do!?"

Celestia and Luna summoned their ethereal weapons, staring down the defiant pegasus. "This is your only chance to stand down and turn yourself in," Celestia warned.

"...Fine. Then I'll kill the princesses as well," Cozy snarled.

Everyone was ready to fight until Sora rose his hoof. "Wait," he said, getting everyone's attention. Confused, they all glanced at him as Sora slowly stepped forward, standing before Cozy Glow. She tilted her head, wondering what crazy scheme was going on in his broken heart. Sora clenched his jaw, trying his hardest to remain stoic despite the despondent frown on his muzzle. "...I'll deal with her..." Though Sora wasn't in the right state to make any rational decisions, they let him speak, keeping their guards up just in case. Cozy wasn't amused, crouching low as she glared at the stallion. "...Cozy Glow...As your master...I challenge you to a duel. One-on-one...And no one must interfere."

Gasps rang out, shocking everyone, including Cozy. "Sora!? What are you doing!?" Riku shouted. "That little backstabber doesn't stand a chance with all of us surrounding her!"

"I think he really did lose his mind," Spike uttered.

"We have her right where we want her, and you want to fight her by yourself!?" Sandbar exclaimed.

Others soon began voicing Sora's poor decision, the only ones quiet being Kairi, Aqua, Terra, and Ventus. Cozy Glow grinned, already willing to take the offer and show Equestria how weak Sora really is compared to her. Though he heard all the negative comments pertaining to the duel, Sora refused to take back his decision. Terra knew full well what Sora was thinking, including Eraqus; Sora felt like he truly failed to teach Cozy Glow everything after seeing her as a part of his family, whether as a younger sibling or, worse, a daughter. It was tugging at Sora's heartstrings, but if was willing to go through with this, he needed to cut his ties with Cozy Glow to outmatch her in a battle between the two. His battle was more against his heart than the stunted pegasus mare smirking cockily at the idea.

Aqua, Terra, and Ventus looked at each other, seeing Sora was not going to change his mind anytime soon. "...Alright, then," she said, startling and silencing the crowd. "Sora, you and Cozy will fight without us getting in your way."

"H-Hey, hold on a second!" Lea exclaimed. "You're just gonna let them duke it out!?"

"Sora is still Cozy's master, regardless of which road she walked," Terra said. "His apprentice, his rules."

"Oh, that's a bunch of horsefeathers!" Rainbow shouted. "Throw her in Tartarus and lock her up for eternity! She doesn't deserve any mercy or sympathy!"

Neighsay knew Sora was much smarter than this, questioning his morals while he had risked his life for Equestria more times than not. He approached Sora, keeping wary of Cozy Glow as she eyed him as he pulled out the memory ornament he left back in Canterlot.

"Sora, you are right to tell me that I knew absolutely nothing about who you are, your friends, your Keyblade, everything that didn't define you as a normal Equestrian," he said, then held the ornament out in front of Sora. "But what I know is that you understand exactly what was at stake for our world, even if you did not wish to see the truth. Just like I have when Equestria could really grow stronger with the bonds made by the other kingdoms. You should not let her gain the opportunity to escape and do it all over again."

Sora's gaze never shifted away from Cozy Glow, taking back his ornament, stuffing it in his pocket, then gently pushed Neighsay away. Neighsay's eyes widened as he was ignored, now growing more concerned that Cozy could very much succeed again and destroy the world with her power.

"Hmph. Very well, 'master', I will gladly fight you," Cozy agreed. "But, I'm sure there's a little catch. What do you win if you can beat me?"

"I will denounce you as my pupil, you lose your Keyblade...and you leave this land forever," Sora said.

"Fair enough...And, if I win?" Cozy asked curiously.

Sora lowered his head, closing his eyes as his muscles tightened. "...Then you're free to do whatever you wish." Horrified gasps echoed around them as everyone gawked at Sora like he had grown several heads, and one of those heads were the most terrifying things ever to be imagined. "...You would clearly be stronger than me...No one could stop you if you beat me..."

"Yup! He's definitely lost it!" Pinkie screamed. "His cocoa's really gone loco now!"

Cozy giggled, already loving how defeated Sora sounded before the first blow was even swung. "Ok. I accept your conditions, 'master'," she said.

"NOW do you guys think it was a good idea?" Lea questioned Aqua and Terra, both of them starting to regret not butting in to stop this dangerous agreement.

"So, should we just fight here? Or maybe somewhere with less collateral?" Cozy asked curiously, itching to go all out and show their audience how powerful she really is.

"...Out in the fields," Sora said. "...Where we trained."

Cozy shrugged. "Fair enough," she said, then turned and began to walk out.

"Guards, you keep a close eye on her," Celestia advised her soldiers. "Try not to engage. Just make sure she doesn't try to pull a fast one and flee."

"Yes, Your Highness," the captain said with a salute, silently ordering four pegasi guards to follow Cozy Glow and watch her from above.

Sora sighed heavily as he began to follow her, only to be stopped by Riku, grabbing his friend's jacket and forcing him to face him and his friends. "Sora, what is the matter with you?" he hissed, angry and shocked at his best friend. "You realize that if you lose, she thinks she can get away with this!"

"Riku, stop!" Kairi scolded. "I know this wasn't smart to do, but you have no idea how much Sora's suffering right now! Just look at him!"

"He cares too much about her," Twilight added. "...He doesn't want to give up on her. He didn't give up on you when you were tricked by Maleficent."

"What happened to me was different! I was tricked by that witch!" Riku shouted. "Cozy Glow did this by her own free will, choosing to work with Tirek, and doesn't care who she hurts or kills to get the power she wants!"

Riku turned back to Sora, the stallion showing no reaction as he was being yelled at. Slowly, he grabbed his friend's hooves, moving them from his clothing, and set them down.

"...I can save her," he mumbled. "I can...change her."

Leaving his best friend confused, Sora continued following Cozy Glow. "He can 'save' her? How?" Riku questioned. "There's no saving someone like her."

Kairi worried for Sora. She thought back to the question M had asked him, and the choices he was given. She never thought Sora would face such a situation like this, and the heartbreaking decision he had to make toward someone he thought he knew well enough. Blinded by Cozy Glow's made up story and the mask she wore to hide her true intentions, Sora ignored what happened to them all and left Twilight, her friends, and even his two other best friends in Tartarus to race back to Cozy Glow. Even though he chose to save everyone, his focus was left on the first option M offered: to keep trying to save the villainous mare and lose his other friends in the process.

"...Sora..." Silently praying he'll pull through, she, all their friends, the princesses and their army, and even Neighsay followed after him, dreading to see the climactic battle between a hero who's on the verge of breaking and a stunted pegasus mare who deceived and manipulated him to make him a broken warrior of light.

Comments

[Vakama95096]

Poor Sora. Cozy used him all this time and he didn't know. I feel sorry for him.

[Postwarmonkey50]

Oh boy, my heart is definitely beating.

Sora is definitely hurting...

I wonder if he'll kill Cozy out of his own anger.

[shining paladin]

11696633
the thing about betrayal it never comes from your enemy

[shining paladin]

great chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter

[Flamewarrior02]

OK, on one hand I fail to see how Cozy deserves any mercy or forgiveness when she isn’t the least bit sorry for what she did.

On the other hand: Sombra has a different fate here than in canon, so there is a chance the same could happen to Cozy.

Either that or Sora’s an idiot who just endangered all of Equestria. I doubt it’s this, but you never know.

[ChazMLPFIM]

I feel sorry for Sora for what Cozy did. She'll pay for this.

[BenictheHedgehog]

Sora is gonna have a hard time recovering from this. But I understand his choice. He wants to try to save Cozy from making the choice she did, and try to have her not be blind by her dark desires. But I have a feeling he will do what needs to be done in the end. After all, he needs to not hold back against Cozy to proof her wrong.

My only question is, will his heart recover after he does what needs to be done?

If not, it may take Kairi, Riku, Twilight, and those closest to Sora to heal his heart & repair it after Cozy shattered it.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Betrayal comes not from your nemesis, nor your rival, but from those you would least expect...

[dar88]

Now that would have made more sense marking Cozy older then she look then it wouldn't look so bad when Cozy was sent pony hell seening she was adult trap in a child body

[Wanda92]

Kairi narrating the end of School Raze - Part 2.

Sora and the Young Six managed to stop Cozy Glow from letting all of the Equestria's magic disappear forever. But as for Sora, he made a very hardest decision yet. He must fight one-on-one with his apprentice-turned-villain. But will Sora be able to defeat and save Cozy? Or will Cozy gain all the power and let Equestria fall into her hooves? Find out in the next episode of My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria! School Raze - Part 3!

[Garuda IV]

Kinda wishing I had waited to read this until the next chapter was released so I would read them back-to-back right away.

And poor Sora. At this point, other than Kairi telling him that he's gonna be a father, I can't think of how he's gonna bounce back.

[MLPFanForever]

Oh man... How will this end?

Dude, thank you for continuing this amazing story! It's always a fun read when there's an update. Keep up the great work.

[DeathRider2021]

Sora better get over it & win in the end! I'll be seriously ticked off if Cozy Glow wins.

But now that Sora knows the truth about Cozy, do you think he'll end up putting her down?

[SoraFan23]

Sora is going to have trust issues after this.

[SoraFan23]

11697989
I know Sora is very conflicted on Cozy Glow. Part of him wants to save her because he thinks she's being controlled by the darkness, but the other part of him is wanting her to face the consquences. I remember how angry Sora was when he confronted Starlight the first time. However this time this is different. The fact that Cozy Glow is a Filly and Sora cannot bring himself to even harm her. He trusted her, took her in, and treated her like a family, but its all been thrown away.

I've seen the show (My Little Pony) so I know what is going to happen to Cozy Glow regardless of whatever the outcome between Sora and Cozy Glow. At the end of the day Sora is going to have to face the harsh reality that Cozy Glow is an evil entity. He's going to have a rough time recovering from this and might develop trust issues.

[Wanda92]

11698715
Hopefully, Sora will get over it right after what happened with Cozy Glow. Maybe his friends will try to cheer him up while he's heartbroken.

[SoraFan23]

11700703
Yeah he'll have to have a lot of support from his friends. It may take a long while for him to recover but as long as he has their support then he can slowly recover. Of course that is going to make him become more cautious going forward.