My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

Master Vs. Monster

Cozy hummed cheerfully, her Keyblade in her mouth as she fixed her curly mane with her hooves. Being watched by four pegasi guards as she skipped happily made them cautious, knowing full well the stunted pegasus mare could knock them down before they could react. She long since got rid of the friendship medal that signified her as Princess Twilight Sparkle's assistant, no longer need it, but kept Sora's necklace he gifted to the traitor around her neck.

Following several yards behind, Sora silently led their audience, his heart hanging heavy with sorrow. He actually agreed to fight Cozy, on his own, and the innocent moments he shared with the persona she made ran through his mind and heart, which only hurt all the more. His friends and the princesses worried he was going to lose, seeing just how deeply he cared for Cozy Glow and refused to see her for the villain she truly was. The air was filled with nothing but the sounds of hooves crunching the grass, a silent tension that weighed heavily among them as Equestria's fate rested on the broken wielder's bout against Cozy Glow.

No one was able to convince Sora to change his mind. Riku leered at the back of his friend's head, but he didn't have any choice but to wait and see if he'll snap out of his funk and put an end to Cozy Glow, or watch him fail and die at the hooves of the pegasus who almost doomed an entire world of its magic. His heart may be strong, but at the same time, it's at its weakest, and Cozy Glow extorted it enough to come to this point.

"You know, I don't need an escort!" Cozy Glow said to the pegasi above her. "I am a big filly, after all! I was able to take care of myself for a few years!"

"We should have taken her out when we had the chance," Riku grumbled.

Twilight hurried over to Sora, hoping he'll find it in himself somewhere to listen to her. "Sora, you don't have to do this," she said. "She can't fight all of us on her own. She attacked our friends when they weren't looking, so...as underhoofed as it might be, we could strike her down while she's-"

"I'm not letting her fall down this path," Sora said. Twilight flinched, not liking how he himself wasn't even convinced he could do it. "I'll make her see...I'm not giving up on anyone..."

Twilight sighed, unable to convince Sora to change his mind. "We can't change his mind, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Sora's like family to me, but he's more stubborn than an Apple. He really ain't gonna let it go."

"No...No, he won't," Twilight mumbled.

Cozy came to a stop, seeing they were far enough away from Ponyville. "Ok! This should be far enough without me blowing up any buildings!" she said, turning on her heels, then looked up at the guards. "You boys might want to go waaaaaaaaaaay far back over to them! It's gonna get real messy!"

The pegasi winced, not taking any chances and flew back to their platoon. "I really hope he knows what he's doing," Neighsay mumbled worriedly.

"Sora rescued me when I turned to darkness, he faced the Lord of Chaos, the Heartless of my once beloved Sombra, stood up to Tirek, and vanquished the Pony of Shadows," Luna said. "He must have some form of plan...Right?"

Celestia had no response as Luna glanced in her direction. Cozy Glow began to stretch her limbs, ready to knock Sora down several pegs. Sora felt sick to his stomach, unable to believe this was really happening. He felt Kairi hug him, trying to offer some assurance and encouragement. He sighed, resting his head against hers, torn by the outcome of what would happen. Once she let go, Sora steeled himself as best he could, but instead of stepping forward, he started to unzip his jacket. His friends watched him strip out of his jacket, taking it off and folding it in his hooves.

"Sora, what are you doing?" Kairi asked. Ignoring her question, he then pulled off his shirt, folding it on top of his jacket. His hoof went to his neck, subconsciously forgetting that he gave his necklace to Cozy Glow. His hoof shook, his face scrunched as he held back his tears, he lowered his hoof down to the pouch tied around his hind leg. "Y-You need those. You can't use your forms without them."

He set the pouch on top of his folded clothes, placing them into his confused wife's hooves. He didn't even make eye contact with her, finally stepping forward without any means of using his most powerful of forms. Before any of them can ask him why he's handicapping himself, Sora summoned his Keyblade, spinning it in his hoof, then slammed it down to the ground. A bright flash of light appeared behind him, startling everyone as it split him from his friends and the royal army. The light circled around the field in a massive radius, sealing him and Cozy Glow in a massive battlefield, where it domed above them several thousand feet high.

"What kind of magic was that?" one of the guards asked.

"No! Sora, you set up THAT kind of barrier!?" Aqua exclaimed.

"W-What kind of barrier?" Neighsay asked.

"An impenetrable one," she said with a nervous grunt. "One that can only be disabled if one of them yields...or dies."

The Equestrians all gasped in horror, basically being told they were witnessing a fight to the death. Their battlefield set, Sora closed the distance between him and Cozy Glow a few more yards before coming to a stop. Cozy laughed at the barrier, plenty of space for them to take their fight in the air and over a mass distance.

"So you really want to make this fight deadly?" she asked with a snicker. "Golly, I really must have made you snap if you're that upset." Sora remained mute, trying to find any part of Cozy Glow that was willing to change what her heart desired. He was just grasping straws at this point, lowering her head in anguish. Taking a breath, he steadied his nerves, placing his Keyblade in his mouth, and slowly crouched low into his stance. He gave her one last pleading look, giving her one more chance, but Cozy readied herself as she prepared to launch forward. "I'm going to enjoy this more than I should."

The two stared each other down, rising the anticipation for the crowd watching as the guards slowly fanned out to see the battle unfold. The agonizing minutes passed until both Sora and Cozy Glow sprinted toward each other. They both swung their blades, sparks raining in their clash, giving each other one last gaze before they began to swing their weapons. Both wielders were evenly matched, strikes blocking left and right as they leapt and dashed all over the field. The guards couldn't even catch up with how fast they were moving, far more skilled in speed than the most athletic of Wonderbolts. Despite her disadvantage in size, Cozy Glow was much swifter, trying to get around Sora and strike him from behind. He ducked and flipped around as she tried to find his blind spot, blocking each swing, but couldn't bring himself to retaliate as he shoved her back.

The Young Six cheered Sora on, hoping to rally him up and stop Cozy Glow, the others watched in dreadful silence. Cozy really was far more skilled than she appeared if she was able to keep up with Sora, but they also noticed he was holding himself back. Aqua had her suspicions toward the stunted pony during the obstacle course, even when Sora helped 'train' her. Donald and Goofy held their breaths, unable to do anything to help Sora.

"Dohhh! Why did he have to fight her alone!?" Donald exclaimed. "He needs us!"

"But what can we do, Donald?" Goofy asked. "We can't break this barrier. No amount of magic can."

"Hey! Maybe if I bring my sister Maud to help us!" Pinkie suggested. "If she can punch an impregnagentable shield from a Heartless, maybe she can punch through this!"

"I don't doubt her strength, but this isn't like any ordinary barrier, Pinkie," Aqua said.

"Uhhh...H-How about...digging a tunnel underneath it, and Twilight or you could use...magic traps?" Pinkie grinned nervously, though she knew her idea was dumb, her mane deflating as she lost her smile. "We...really can't do anything, can we?"

"I'm afraid not, darling," Rarity said.

"Guys? Can anyone hear me?" The wielders looked up in shock as they heard Xion's voice. "Is the magic back? I couldn't hear Twilight through the static."

"Xion! You're ok!" Lea exclaimed, almost forgetting about her.

"I-I'm fine! I was so worried about everything when the third day came!" Xion said. "I didn't feel any different or any pain, but I think I'm unharmed. Did you guys save the magic?"

"...Yeah, we did," Ventus said. "But...the pony responsible for the stolen magic was...Cozy Glow."

Xion let out a gasp, not expecting the culprit to be someone like her. "...Oh no...W-Where's Sora right now!?"

"Fighting her," Riku answered with a growl. "And he's putting the fate of Equestria in a fight to the death with her."

"What!? What did I miss!?" Xion questioned.

"I'll come get you and explain everything," Lea said.

Lea sprinted back to Ponyville and headed to the castle to get Xion. Sora and Cozy Glow's fight took to the air, both pegasi flapping their wings and rising higher and higher, never ceasing their attacks. Sora pushed Cozy Glow back again, but as the mare steadied her hover, she cackled and began flying around Sora. She sped up, moving faster and faster and created a cyclone, trapping Sora in the eye. The wind made it hard to see her, his ear twitching when he heard movement behind him. Cozy shot out of the spiraling wind, narrowly hitting him as he flapped his wings hard to avoid her. She repeated the lunging dive over and over, reappearing in a different spot within the twister. Sora ducked and weaved, unable to escape as the cyclone followed his every movement. She suddenly stopped, Sora anticipating her to attack him from behind again, only to reappear at the top of the eye, her Keyblade sparking with electrical energy.

Thrusting her Keyblade down, she shot a dangerously powerful arc of lightning magic raining down on Sora. He looked up too late, getting struck as his body convulsed while screaming in agony. The force of the spell sent him shooting out of the eye, Cozy diving down after him while her blade continued sparking with electricity. The cyclone dissipated as she escaped, leading a trail of sparks behind her. Sora hit the ground hard, grunting from the impact. Squinting his eyes, they widened as Cozy was fast approaching. Rolling to his hooves, he dove out of the way as Cozy slammed her Keyblade into the ground, creating a large area of electrical energy to build up several yards around her. Sora made it out of the range as a massive lightning bolt shot down from the heavens, causing the whole world to shake as thunder rumbled loudly from several miles.

Sora panted, touching down as he tried to see through the blinding flash of light. It began to die down, where he could faintly see Cozy Glow in the center of a field of sparking aftershocks. She stared directly at him, then suddenly warped behind Sora, dashing into him repeatedly from all angles, letting her Keyblade drag her about as a trail of light followed her swift movements.

"Oh no! She knows how to use Shotlocks!?" Ventus exclaimed.

"What's a Shotlock!?" Gallus asked.

"A special kind of ability wielders are able to utilize," Aqua explained. "With enough focus, you can unleash a barrage of energy, dash through foes without injury, something Terra, Ven, or I have taught anyone yet. And she's using Photon Charge. How does she know about them?"

Sora was being battered around, unable to keep up with her. When he thought it was over, Cozy Glow appeared above him, her body radiating a bright light, then repeatedly dove down on top of him. Sora yelled as he was struck, rolling away as the last dive hit the ground. The air suddenly grew cold, spotting ice magic radiating around Cozy. He avoided a Deep Freeze spell too late, turning into a frozen block of ice, leaving him open for her to unleash Firaga and blast him in an explosion of flames. Sora was sent flying back, landing on his back with a groan.

"Yona no understand!" Yona said. "Master Sora fight better! Why he not attack nasty non-filly!?"

"Kick her tiny butt, Sora!" Silverstream screeched. "Don't let her put you down!"

"He's too busy thinking with his heart," Riku said. "...That idiot knew he didn't stand a chance by himself."

Sora grunted, shakily sitting himself up. "Really? Is that the best you can do?" Cozy Glow questioned, getting bored doing all the fighting. "You're not making this exciting for everypony watching."

He got back to his hooves, panting slightly. "Cozy...You didn't have to do this," he said, trying in vain to reach out to her despite the stakes he made. "Why did you even want power so badly?"

"And you're going to try to talk me into changing my ways," Cozy scoffed, rolling her eyes in disdain. "How many times am I gonna have to put it in your useless brain? I wanted to be powerful and show everyone I'm more than just a cute face."

"Then why steal Equestria's magic!?" Sora asked. "Why did you become Tirek's pupil!?"

"You really think I'm that dumb to be under the wing of THAT old centaur?" Cozy asked. "I know exactly how devious he is. I even heard he tricked Discord into helping him gather every bit of magic from every pony in Equestria, then went and ate his! When I told him about my Keyblade, he offered a deal where if I free him from Tartarus, he and I could rule the world together! Like I'm going to really fall for the oldest trick in the book! You never trust somepony who has a taste for power, too, idiot."

"Whatever really happened to you, I could have helped you!" Sora pleaded. "I don't want you to do this to your-!"

Cozy growled, thrusting her Keyblade into the ground and gave it a hard twist. The earth beneath Sora shook, making him stagger, then a few chunks of earth shot up around his front left hoof, almost crushing it as it embedded itself deep into his limb. Sora let out a cry of agony, feeling the bone around his hoof felt like it either crack or shatter from the swift crushing vice of the stunted pegasus's spell.

"You really just don't give up or shut up, do you?" Cozy asked, getting fed up with his repeated begging and pleading. Pulling her blade out, she hovered over to Sora, struggling to pull himself free, which only made the pain in his hoof flare up intensely. "You are way too nice for your own good, Sora. That is one of the biggest things about you that makes you weak. I'm actually really disappointed; you got a Keyblade because you were lucky to have one, and all this time, you've been lucky because you always fought your battles with help. Friendship really is powerful, but it fails if you're not strong enough to really show your opponent you actually have it."

"C-Cozy, please," Sora continued to beg, getting slammed to the ground with a hard smack from Cozy's Keyblade.

He winced as his trapped hoof twisted as he fell, his head suddenly flicking up as Cozy grabbed his mane, forcing him to look up at her. "You really don't get it, do you?" Cozy asked. "You think you can try to win me over with promises to 'show me the light' and 'guide me down the right path'. I don't care about any of that when I just want to prove I can be strong while looking this cute." She let out a small giggle with an innocent tone, making Sora's ears press against his head as it echoed in his head from the false moments they spent together. "I've waited months for this day, and all that hard work was ruined thanks to you and your meddling friends.

"I wouldn't have found the heart of the world if your pupils didn't happen to stumble upon those catacombs under the school," she continued. "Who would have thought that Keyhole would have been there, near the Tree of Harmony, this whole time? It's amazing how the Heartless never found it and destroyed the world. And to gather more time to study up on the magic-stealing enchantments Tirek suggested along with his instructions, those two unicorns I informed anonymously with copies of Twilight's lesson plans for the Friendship University was brilliant enough to have other students try it out and leave Twilight's school."

"...Y-You...You helped Flim and Flam with that?" Sora uttered.

"Yes I did," Cozy said, letting go of Sora's mane and mockingly pet his head. "They immediately went for the idea, but got a bit too greedy with their little scam. I'm actually surprised they didn't get caught sooner." She removed her hoof from his head, baffling the stallion. "There's quite a lot of things I know about that you don't, or even what Aqua, Terra, or Ventus even know of. Like you told Neighsay: one who knows nothing can understand nothing. And neither of you know that there are far more wielders out there that you will never find out. At least after I kill you and your friends, then try to steal the magic again and finally rule this world!"

"O-Others?" Sora uttered. Cozy flew back, laughing maniacally as she moved a fair enough distance away from Sora. Raising her Keyblade, energy began to build at the end of her Keyblade, swirling in a vortex of bright orange and yellow energy. The energy formed into a small sphere, which suddenly expanded more and more until it hovered over Cozy Glow, having grown ten times bigger than her. Sora winced as he struggled to stand, unable to look away from one of the biggest Megaflare spells he's seen. "W-What do you mean by that!?...W-Who...Who are you...?"

"Sora! What are you doing!?" Riku shouted. "Stop standing there and stop her!"

"Move, Sora!" Goofy called out.

"You have to fight her, Sora!" Donald said.

"I've never seen a Megaflare build up at that size," Aqua uttered. "With that mass, she could destroy the whole world with it."

"Sora, you can't lose to a punk like her!" Rainbow yelled out.

"SHE'S A LITTLE DEMON! YOU CAN'T LET HER WIN!" Pinkie shrieked.

Everyone behind the barrier tried to shout some sense into Sora to snap him out of his stupor. Sora stared at the giant ball of non-elemental energy, which brightened the area in a terrifying, pale yellow glow. He really couldn't convince her. She really intends to kill him and take over the world.

"Bow before your new ruler, the Kingdom Queen!" Cozy cackled, then slashed her Keyblade forward, sending it hurtling toward Sora.

"No! Sora, move!" Twilight yelled.

"Oh, I can't look!" Fluttershy whimpered, covering her eyes with her hooves and mane.

Everyone else winced and braced themselves, neither of them unable to escape if the barrier somehow manages to shatter from the explosive magical impact. Sora gasped, knowing there was no chance for him to escape. He shut his eyes and winced, bracing himself for the painful explosion that would hit him at point blank range.

"Stopza."

With the sound of a echoing hoofstep, time warped and slowed immediately to a halt around the fields outside of Ponyville. Sora grimaced, still waiting for the impact, but none came. Squinting his eyes open, he gasped when he saw how close the Megaflare was to him. It was massive, almost like a fraction of the size of the moon while it stood a few yards from him. He then noticed the air around him was eerily silent. Glancing behind him to his right, still trapped by Cozy's painful hoof lock, his friends and the Equestrians were all looking away before the spell struck him, but they were frozen solid.

"...W-What...What...happened?" he mumbled.

"Well, you are in quite a big pickle, aren't ya, kid?" Walking up on Sora from his left, Sora quickly turned to see the mysterious wielder M come into his field of view. He moved in front of him, eyeing the giant Megaflare, letting out an impressed whistle. "Although, I don't think pickles are meant to be big, glowing balls of magical energy. I guess it is true what they say: big things come in small packages."

"...M?" Sora uttered. "...Y-You're...?"

"Here and in the flesh? Why yes, yes I am," M said, turning himself around to face Sora.

"...You came to...help me?" Sora asked.

"Hmmmm...Well, if I was helping you, that would mean I would be interfering with your little duel with pint-size back there." M pointed around the Megaflare, emphasizing Cozy Glow, but Sora couldn't see her from where he stood. "And, as a Master of Masters, I enforced the very rules Keyblade wielders strive to be, including confrontations dealt between master and student. This is quite a big battle you decided to pick, and, to my shocking disappointment, you are failing to the highest degree right now."

"W-What? But...then why are you-?" M got in Sora's face, forcing him to lean back, yelping slightly as his hoof continued to be crushed by the enclosed earth around it.

"I came to hear your answer about what I asked you personally back in Ponehenge," M said. "But, from what I saw that happened in the last two days, you're really blowing my expectations out the water." With a flick of his hoof, M created a sheet of ice from the ground, aiming the reflection so that he could see Cozy Glow on the other side of the Megaflare spell. He forced Sora's head to look at the reflection, at the manic glee coming from Cozy as she was also frozen in time, having finished flinging her spell at Sora. "I asked you what you would do if you ran into someone who refused to seek any help changing their ways from bad to good, as I paraphrase my own words because, to me, it could have been eons ago where this vision keeps popping in my head.

"Now, I gave you two options, and clearly, you're going with option numero uno, kid. These two choices, and I quote, you either keep on fighting to 'save' the individual who you want to save, thus leaving all of those who DO care and whom YOU care about in the dust and to their untimely demises, or you drop the lost cause and keep the others you are SUPPOSED to cherish more." As M continued to emphasize Cozy Glow and all his friends who were watching him fail, his question seemed to be aiming specifically toward Cozy Glow.

M has had visions of everything in the future, which meant he must have known exactly what was going to happen to him, about Cozy Glow, her plan to destroy Equestria's magic, everything. "...You...You knew it was going to be her?"

"Stating the obvious, Sora. I eluded to WHOM on purpose, because otherwise, this moment would never have happened between us," M said. "But not everyone can be saved, kid. Not everyone is able to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Sora wrenched his head out of M's hoof, refusing to let him dictate how he was going to save Cozy Glow. "I'm not losing anyone! I can get her to-!"

M swiftly smacked Sora in the face, knocking him to the ground and startling the stallion. "You don't get to make a third choice!" M scolded. He stomped on the ground sealing Sora's hoof, then picked up the stunned pegasus, dragging him around the Megaflare toward Cozy Glow. "Look here, you stubborn little brat. Take a good, long look at that runt's face! Do you really see a precious little angel in those eyes of hers!?" M questioned, practically bumping Sora's snout against Cozy's to get an up close, personal look at the crazed stunted mare's face. "She basically admitted, right to your face, she enjoys being powerful! She gets OFF on breaking you down to be her little plaything, and she is winning right now because your heart can't bear to harm the FACE hidden behind what lies UNDERNEATH!"

Sora struggled to push himself away, unable to look at Cozy Glow, but M's hold was much stronger. "Stop it! I'm not going to-!"

M let out an exasperated groan, pulling Sora away and dragged him around the spell again, this time leading him to his friends' flinching forms. "Is that little demon more important to you than everything else in the world?" he questioned. Sora struggled to break free, but with him being dragged by his right foreleg and his left hoof still throbbing in pain, he couldn't escape the stronger master's grip. M then slammed Sora's face against the barrier, forcing him to look at his friends worrying to death about his safety. "All of these people, these ponies in this world, are you really going to tell me they mean NOTHING TO YOU!?" Sora grunted as his face was pressed harder into the barrier. Not waiting a millennia for a response, M pulled Sora back and slammed his face harder into the barrier. "ANSWER ME, DAMN IT! DO THEY MEAN NOTHING TO YOU!?"

"N-No! They mean a lot to me!" Sora cried out.

M slid his face over, forcing him to look at Kairi. "Does this young woman, who you have pined for almost a decade and a half, who you have married not even two weeks ago, means less than the monster you're still trying to protect?" M snarled.

Kairi was holding his clothes and pouch tightly in her hooves, burying her face in them as she looked away from the explosion that hadn't occurred yet. "...Kairi...Kairi means more to me...than anything in the universe," Sora answered as tears rolled down his face, feeling traumatized by what his heart was struggling to see as M forcefully made him see the truth far more clearly than anyone could. "I-I...I don't want to lose her..."

"So then why are you insisting on giving them all up for a midget little pegasus who tried to KILL them, along with Equestria's magic?" M questioned. "Are you trying to tell me that what you're doing right now, picking the first option from my questioning, is going to really help your case? Because, if I were you, I wouldn't even have a second thought getting rid of that one tainted link in my heart if it meant saving the ones who really do matter, and who are willing to have that second chance they deserve."

"...I...I can't," Sora whimpered.

M rolled his eyes, expecting the pitiful response. "You really think you can be the kind of hero who can save everyone from certain doom? Save them from the dark path they walked down for years?" He leaned closer, moving his veiled muzzle closer to Sora's ear. "Did you save Luna's lover, Sombra, when he was a Heartless for a thousand years?"

"Y-You...You turned him into a Heartless," Sora weakly argued.

"DID YOU SAVE HIM!?" M repeated, making Sora wince and tremble as he felt completely powerless against the powerful wielder. He silently shook his head. "No. Of course not...And what about your father? Did you save him in that storm where he supposedly lost his life, along with his friends and crew out at sea?"

"...No," Sora mumbled.

"Exactly. You couldn't," M hissed. "You tried to change history to save him. But, in the end, you were meant to be part of that history, and in the end, your father sacrificed his life to save his son from the future, who tried desperately to save him and bring him back home safe and sound. Your heart may be in the right place, but your heart is also wrestling control of your judgement." M let out a haunting chuckle in Sora's ear, making him press against the barrier in a vain attempt to shy away from him. "That's why your heart is so unique...but it's also your biggest weakness. And right now, little Cozy Glow manipulation tactics have your heart squeezed tightly in her tiny hooves."

M pulled Sora away from the barrier, this time gently yanking him back over to the giant Megaflare. Sora weakly reached his broken hoof out to Kairi before M stopped, tossing the stallion back where he originally stood before time was stopped. He looked up at the cloaked master, unable to see his expression beneath his hood. He rolled onto his stomach, lowering his head and grabbed M's forelegs, shaking in fear.

"...Please...tell me what to do," Sora begged.

"I already gave you two choices," M said, pushing back Sora's groveling hooves. "You chose to do this on your own, so now, you find the right answer yourself. Fight for Cozy Glow and lose all your friends, or fight against her to keep them safe." They both heard a faint sound of warbling, M's Stopza spell slowly wearing out and continuing the flow of time. "Time's running out. Best decide now before it's too late."

Sora gasped as a flash of light appeared around M, and he vanished before he could try to grab him again. "No! Wait! M! I can't do this!" he cried out. The flurries of light disappeared, leaving Sora alone as time was gradually picking back to normal speed. Panting heavily, he frantically looked around, seeing all of his friends, hearing their voices calling out his name in expressive worry. Behind him, behind the massive sphere slowly approaching him, the sheet of ice M made was still there, showing Cozy's maniacal expression. He really only had two choices to make, neither one best for himself. The ice soon shattered, scattering the reflective pieces and melted to the ground below. His mind flashed back to meeting Cozy, all the happiness and joy he gave her, but between them, visages of who she really was underneath slipped through. She didn't care about him and used him, and in his blindness, M's mentioning of her killing his friends by forcing them to be lost along with Equestria's magic finally snapped sense into him. Numb, he lowered his head, one final tear trickled down his cheek. "...I'm...sorry..."

The tear dripped off his chin, the salty drop splattered to the ground in the shape of a broken heart before the earth soaked it up.

---

"No! Sora, move!" Twilight yelled.

"Oh, I can't look!" Fluttershy whimpered, covering her eyes with her hooves and mane.

Everyone else winced and braced themselves, neither of them unable to escape if the barrier somehow manages to shatter from the explosive magical impact. The Megaflare hit its mark, unleashing a massive explosion that blinded everyone as they preemptively covered their eyes. The shockwave of the explosion shook the world, managing to knock everyone off their feet away from the barrier. As the mass of energy began to fade, everyone stood up and squinted through the slowly returning moonlight. Eyes shot open and jaws hung, spotting the massive crater left in the ground, taking up nearly half of the contained battle arena. Flying toward the shocked group, their hearts sank as the Kingdom Key clattered to the ground, blown back by the explosion. There was no sign of Sora anywhere, only Cozy Glow remaining as the victor.

"...No," Riku uttered.

Coming from town, Lea and Xion raced to the battlefield, noticing the blindingly bright light that came from there after leaving the castle. They both panted, wondering what happened.

"Guys, what was that!?" Lea asked.

The stunned and silent looks on their faces made them worry. When Xion got closer to Kairi, she gasped when see saw Sora's Keyblade laying several yards from the edge of the barrier, scorched from the blast. Cozy Glow laughed as she celebrated her victory.

"I win! Sora is nothing but ashes now!" she cackled deviously.

"No...Please, no," Twilight uttered.

"He...He couldn't do it," Ventus mumbled, hanging his head along with Aqua and Terra, mourning their greatest warrior and friend's loss.

The Young Six were at a loss as Silverstream and Ocellus teared up. "H-He...He can't be..."

Pinkie's eyes welled dangerously full with tears, unable to hold them back and began sobbing loudly. The others were no longer to hold back their tears, unable to believe Sora was really gone. Pinkie held Rarity and Fluttershy as they cried, Applejack's muzzle quivered as she lowered her hat over her face as her tears flowed, Rainbow's face was scrunched, trying and failing to show her grief as she wiped her face while glowering angrily at the stunted mare who killed one of her friends. Twilight choked back a sob, wishing she could have done more to prevent this.

Celestia and Luna bowed their heads, paying their respects to the young warrior who selflessly did so much for their home and for each other. Neighsay was at a loss for words, frowning to himself as he would never properly apologize to Sora along with his friends for his behavior. Lea and Xion couldn't believe Sora was gone, but his fallen Keyblade said otherwise, which also meant Roxas had perished along with him. Donald and Goofy were far from mad, both their weapons at the ready while their eyes were filled with tears after losing the young boy who quickly grew to be their closest friend. Cozy Glow flittered over toward them, flaunting her victory as she saw the misery and sorrow from the loss of the greatest wielder and friend to everyone.

"It's too bad he was as weak as his heart," she gloated. Riku's body tensed up, glaring daggers at Cozy Glow as tears began to stream down his face. She stopped before Sora's Keyblade, picking it up, eyeing it and judging its strength. "Eh. It's not even all that special. Oh well! I could use a trophy in my new throne room."

Breathing heavily, Riku had enough, yelling in anguish as he summoned his Keyblade. "That's it! I'll kill you myself!"

His outburst startled everyone as he began to fly toward her. Terra quickly caught him, holding back the grieving pegasus as he struggled to get out of the stallion's stronger grip.

"Riku, don't lose your head!" he warned.

"You killed my best friend!" Riku shouted. "I'll destroy every part of you so you can never come back!"

"If Sora didn't try to get me to fight him on his own, maybe he would still be here," Cozy Glow said with a small shrug. "Too bad I had him where I wanted him the whole time."

Riku screamed, but Terra kept his grip on him. They already lost someone when they weren't in the right state of mind, and he was not going to afford losing his own successor the same way. Riku's struggles lessened as he exhausted himself, stifling back his sobs as he wilted and scowled at the little pegasus. Xion growled, summoning her own Kingdom Key and aimed it at Cozy Glow. Though Sora was killed by the blast, there was still a part of him within her that she hadn't destroyed yet. Her moments with Cozy while still within Sora were brief, but not enough for her to be swayed by her adorable looks or charm.

She was about to blast Cozy Glow back for revenge, but Kairi gently pushed her foreleg down, making her look at the alicorn in confusion. "Kairi? What are you-?" Out of all of them, Kairi should have been the most heartbroken. She loved Sora, and they both had just gotten married not too long ago. But, somehow, there was not a single tear. She stared at Cozy Glow, more concerned than sad, still holding Sora's clothing in her forelegs. "...Kairi?"

"You won't win, Cozy Glow," Kairi said, surprising everyone with how calm she was throughout this whole ordeal.

Cozy burst into laughter, finding the princess's claim hilarious. "You're still in denial!? Just like him!" she cackled. "You two really deserve each other after all! Either way, one of you was going to wind up dead, even if it had to be you, Princess of Heart!"

"Your battle with him isn't over," Kairi added sternly, though her tone was trying to caution her rather than determined against her.

Cozy stopped laughing, letting out an annoyed groan as she waved Sora's Keyblade around. "Hello!? He's dead! Not even so much as a single chunk of him left to scrap up! All that's left was his Keyblade!"

Holding Sora's clothes to her chest, Kairi raised a hoof. "...Then why is his barrier still up?"

She moved her hoof forward, tapping on the tangible barrier. The echo of the light tap caused the entire field to grow silent in shock. Cozy Glow gawked in disbelief, flying forward, only to smack against the perimeter of the barrier.

"W-Why is it still up?" Twilight asked as she looked at Aqua. "Did...Did he permanently trap her in there?"

"No. Only one person can get out if anyone has been beaten," Aqua said, just as shocked as her.

"T-That's impossible!" Cozy exclaimed. "I killed him! Not a single trace! No one could have survived a Megaflare with all that mana I put into it!"

Suddenly, Sora's Keyblade suddenly vanished from Cozy's hoof in a flash of light. The wielders gasped, Cozy's scowl dropping when she noticed the weapon wasn't in her possession any longer.

"W-Where did it go?" Neighsay asked, confused. "Did it vanish along with him?"

"No. I've seen it happen before," Celestia said. "Keyblades return to their original owners if anypony else takes it."

"But...that means that..." Up above, Neighsay thought he saw something glint in the sky. Glancing up, his jaw dropped, spotting a silhouette floating in front of the moon, and at its side was the familiar shape of the Kingdom Key under the moonlight. "Up there!"

He pointed to the sky, prompting everyone to look up. Their sorrow quickly turned to joy as they recognized the blade, the spikey hair, and the splayed out wings hovering under the moon's glow.

"He's alive!" Pinkie cheered. "HE SURVIVED!"

Relief washed over everyone as the crowd cheered at Sora's incredible survivability. Cozy Glow quickly turned and looked up, shock at his appearance quickly turning into rage as her pink faced turned completely red. Pinkie began chanting Sora's name, the guards all doing the same as they all watched the stallion slowly float down to the ground and landed in the center of the battlefield.

"I can't believe he actually made it out of that in time," Ventus uttered.

"He managed to come back after turning himself into a Heartless. He really is something else," Aqua said.

Riku stared wide-eyed, Terra letting him go and patted the distressed pegasus's back. "...Damn it, Sora," he grumbled. "When this is over...I'm punching that idiot so hard, he'll be seeing stars."

Cozy was getting fed up with the constant cheering, looking back at the ponies and wielders who were only going to be disappointed when Sora fails to survive her next spell once her mana recharges. She looked back at Sora, who was just standing there, head down slightly, his mane drooped as his bangs covered his upper face.

"How?" Cozy snarled. "HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THAT!? There was no chance for you to even find any cover! It took up the entire dome you made!" Sora didn't respond. "...Silent treatment, eh? Fine, then. If you just hold still this time, then I'll make it much quicker and VERY PAINFUL!"

Cozy sped off and flew straight toward Sora. He didn't move. Not even a twitch of his ears, wings, or tail. She swung down at him with a yell, but mere inches from the Keyblade striking his head, Sora's left hoof shot up, grabbing Cozy's foreleg. Startled by his surprisingly strong grip, she tried to free her leg, but he refused to budge. Hearing him let out a growl, making her pause when it almost sounded guttural, she got another look at his face. His eyes were concealed by his hair, unsure if he was even looking at her. She could feel how badly messed up his left hoof was, the one that was grabbing her, and he didn't flinch from the pain. Sora slowly brought his Keyblade to his mouth, grasping it tightly in his teeth, then tilted his head up to leer at her.

Expecting his eyes to look broken and defeated, she gasped when his blues eyes were suddenly yellow. His pupils shrank as they made eye contact, making him growl louder, tightening his grip on her dominant foreleg and caused her to wince in pain. She was then yanked forward, Sora rearing back his right hoof, and out of nowhere, gave Cozy Glow a swift punch to the side of her face. The sucker punch and the force of the impact created a loud smack that drowned out everyone's cheers. Sora released Cozy Glow after socking her, sending her flying back across the field at close to Mach speed. Smiles quickly turned to exasperated shock, watching the stunted mare hit the ground, tumbling painfully across the grass, then slam her back into the barrier. She fell forward, landing with a dazed groan, her Keyblade dropped beside Sora.

"...Uhh...Yay! He...got her!" Silverstream tried to cheer, but her excitement dwindled at the stunningly cheap shot Sora gave Cozy. "...Is that allowed in Keyblade duels?"

"...Not...really any specifics by using your own hands or feet, but...for Sora? That was...underhanded," Aqua uttered.

Cozy Glow woozily stood back up, rubbing her cheek as she felt it swell up in pain. She didn't offer any snappy comeback or explosive complaint, slowly looking back at Sora as his eyes glowed under the moonlight. He was breathing heavily, glancing down at the mare's Keyblade. His breaths grew heavier, snarling as he picked up the chess-piece designed weapon. His hoof grasped the hilt tightly, darkness beginning to billow around his body and flicker wildly. As the darkness began to grow more unstable and visible to everyone, all of Sora's friends who knows about his Anti-Form gasped.

"No," Twilight uttered. "W-What's happening to him?"

His eyes shifted back to the dazed pegasus, his mind snapping as he let out a blood-curdling yell. "COZY GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

His body was suddenly enveloped by an explosion of darkness, creating a powerful shockwave that shook even beyond the barrier preventing the rest of the onlookers from getting hurt. Everyone braced themselves, including Cozy Glow before she was shoved back into the barrier. They looked on in horror as the darkness swirled around around Sora in a massive sphere before it finally scattered, revealing in a much more monstrous version of his Anti-Form. His body was completely black, blue veins protruding along his face, hooves, and wings. His mane was longer and wilder like that of a Darkside's, claws physically sprouting from his front hooves, his left hoof's digits clenching Cozy's Keyblade tightly to the point of almost snapping it off. When he shot his head down after roaring to the heavens, his glowing yellow eyes were the size of pinpricks, piercing through the dim moonlight as he snarled, bearing sharp fangs at his target. Between his teeth, his Keyblade was darker and shrouded with an aura of darkness flickering along the blade.

"He turned into his Anti-Form!?" Terra exclaimed.

"H-His what!?" Neighsay questioned, baffled as his mind tried to understand just what was happening. He turned to the princesses, neither of them knowing anything about Sora's prior transformations in this dark, deadly form. "H-He turned into...a Heartless...And you all knew about this!?"

"Are you really going to chastise us right this very moment, Neighsay!?" Aqua exclaimed as she turned to glare at the stallion. Realizing his mistake, Neighsay shied away, hiding behind a couple of stunned guards who weren't able to look away. Sighing, Aqua grimaced as she looked back at the battle. "...Yes. We knew. Sora has the ability to shift into many different forms to gain an edge in a fight. This is what he's been calling his Anti-Form, a powerful transformation that he wasn't able to control before when he first turned into it by complete accident. With the power of the Elements of Harmony keeping that darkness of his in check, he has been in complete control of it, but he's ever rarely used it...unless he's enraged, then it just...comes out."

"...Oh. Ok. And, you're perfectly fine with him turning into a monster, then?" Neighsay asked nervously.

"Look, without Sora being here, none of us would be alive today," Aqua explained to the worried chancellor. "Like it or not, whether you respect him or us, or if you don't, Sora is the very person throughout every world you've never been to who can save us." She looked at Cozy Glow, completely dumbstruck as she stood back up, paralyzed with fear as she was now trapped in Sora's barrier with a monster she didn't expect to see in him come out. "But what I don't understand is that Sora cannot access these forms without his clothes. They're enchanted to grant him those abilities, including his Anti-Form."

"...Anger," Kairi mumbled. Everyone looked at her as she held his clothes tightly, fearing not just for Cozy Glow surviving, but also for Sora, his broken and twisted heart, and the repercussions of his actions while unleashing his full wrath on the pegasus who manipulated him. "He didn't hold himself back when Kaito's Nobody first appeared. He was mad...confused...upset...His heart refused to let go. And with all of this, with Cozy Glow...the sorrow from his darkness is turning him into something else."

Panicking, Cozy Glow looked back at her enemies. "What is happening!? What just happened!? Somepony tell me what's going on with-!?"

Sora roared and threw Cozy's Keyblade at her. The blade struck the ground, mere inches from hitting her at the deadly spin and speeds it reached. Jumping, Cozy focused on Sora, left with fight or flight instincts against something the likes of which she's never fought before. She grabbed her Keyblade, a bad choice to make as Sora crouched low, then sprinted off from his position, bridging the gap between them in seconds. She gasped, diving out of the way as Sora barely pounced her, slamming his hooves into the side of the barrier and startling his friends at how fast he moved. Cozy immediately fled, flying off as Sora pushed himself off the barrier and chased her.

She didn't get far as he spun, slashing his Keyblade and struck her with a slicing wave of darkness. She yelled and hit the ground, rolling herself over to watch Sora dive onto her. His hooves struck her torso, making her gag as he forcefully pressed her harder into the earth. Cozy smacked his Keyblade against the side of Sora's face, making him pause before he swiftly turned his neck back down to glare at her with a furious snarl. He then thrust his hoof into her face, gripping it tightly, then flung her across the field. She flipped wildly, flapping her wings to try to reorient herself, only to be met with Sora flying at her, slashing her while dashing through her at every angle with his claws. He warped above her, gathering darkness in a ball of energy, then thrust his hooves down, making it blow up in Cozy's face and send her slamming into the ground.

He dove down to pounce her, but Cozy managed to counter him with an Aeroga spell. Getting caught in the wind, Sora flailed about as he tried to reach for her like a rabid predator killing anything that move. She managed to get some distance from him, wincing slightly after getting battered around.

"This is really bad," Goofy said. "We gotta stop this."

"But how!? We can't break through the barrier!" Donald said.

"He's really lost it," Riku uttered. "I don't think he's even in control of himself anymore."

"But the Elements inside of him are keeping his darkness trapped in his heart," Twilight said. "It shouldn't have failed."

"Well, either way, we're gonna have a big problem if he can't calm down if he 'wins'," Terra said.

Cozy growled, raising her Keyblade up in the air again. "I'm not...dying here," she muttered. "Not to you." Her spell died out, letting Sora fall to the ground, landing on all fours and turning to snarl at her. She created another Megaflare, smaller than her last one, but it held enough built-up magic to potentially harm Sora. "Let's see if you're lucky this time!"

She flung the Megaflare forward, sending it hurtling toward Sora. He growled, watching the sphere approach him, standing his ground and refusing to move. The audience was astonished seeing Cozy have so much mana to spare, but they were horrified watching Sora just standing there. He stood up on his hind legs, his black wings stretched out, then held up his hooves with a yell. The spell didn't implode, physically pushing it back with his back hooves digging into the dirt. He struggled to push it back, but with another loud roar, his claws dug into the sphere of powerful magic, causing it to surge with dark energy. The Megaflare began to warp and shift, about to implode in itself as it randomly expanded and shrunk. After an anxious struggle, they all gasped when the spell began to deflate and was being absorbed by the enraged Anti-Form.

Another ear-splitting shriek rang out from Sora as his dark aura increased exponentially, granting it a blood red hue that surged several dozen yards in the sky. "D-Did he just...absorb that!?" Lea exclaimed.

"Whoa...This...This is starting to not look good," Sandbar uttered, he and his friends unable to look away.

"And I thought what he told me about my own anger issues was bad," Smolder mumbled to herself.

Cozy's jaw dropped, her strongest spell failing and only made Sora stronger. Overwhelmed with power, Sora flicked his head down, his eyes now glowing red. Suddenly, he warped out of existence, making Cozy panic before she felt a swift blow to the back of her head, sending her flying forward. Sora continued warping around, smacking Cozy Glow around like a helpless ragdoll, moving faster and faster as he teleported far too fast for anyone to keep up with. Kicking her back to the center, he headbutted the stunted pegasus high into the air, her body too wracked in pain to move. Dropping his Keyblade from his mouth and into his hoof, he reared his limb back, imbuing all the absorbed energy into the shrouded blade, extending its reach as it turned from dark purple to blood red.

Sora gave his Keyblade a hard toss, sending it hurtling toward Cozy Glow. It struck her, sending her spiraling out of control, but instead of returning to Sora, it changed trajectory, leaving behind an afterimage of itself and aimed at the little pegasus. It struck her at another angle, repeating over and over multiple times while leaving behind ethereal remnants that focused on her. Everyone couldn't look away, watching the sky grow darker as more and more dark copies of Sora's Keyblade appeared and surrounded Cozy Glow. With no way she could escape from this, even if she could, Sora called back his Keyblade, launching himself up in the air. Stopping halfway up the scattered sphere of Keyblades, he aimed his at the Cozy Glow, a tainted version of the Keyblade's sealing light beginning to form as it took on a very dark purple hue.

Once enough power was built up, the dark beam shot forward, connecting to one of the ethereal copies, which then spiderwebbed all across the sphere, making the glow in a dark aura until they formed a massive ball of darkness. Cozy was trapped inside, watching as she floated helplessly, then yelled when she felt a beam of darkness suddenly hit her. More and more shot from the dark Keyblade copies, hitting her at every angle, each shot coming in faster and faster until each one was firing at blinding speeds. Though she tried to deflect them, it did nothing while she was constantly struck by the seemingly endless barrage of dark magic beams. After running out of energy, the blades all shot down at her in quadrants, the last quarter of Keyblades sending Cozy Glow flying back toward Sora.

He gave the mare a swift knee to the gut, knocking the wind out of her, then teleported behind her, a ball of dark energy growing in his outstretched hoof. It blew up with intense force as it touched Cozy, sending her falling down to the ground toward his horrified friends. Cozy bounced off the ground, ramming into the barrier, but Sora warped toward her, slamming his hoof into her abdomen, pinning her while she helplessly gagged in agony. With his other clawed hoof, he grabbed the top of her head, squeezing tightly as he kept her held up, growling darkly.

Seeing this go on for far too long, Kairi flew up to Sora, getting as close as she was able to with the barrier still up. "Sora, stop!" she begged. His ear twitched as his eyes quickly shifted to look at her. The menacing look almost made her waver, but for the sake of her lover's sanity and heart, she needed to calm him down. "...You've done enough...She can't fight anymore. It's over..."

His eyes slowly drifted back to Cozy Glow, who was surprisingly still conscious after the beating she endured. She had hope that he was going to reconsider and change back, but when he looked at her again, there was no change in his eyes.

"...No...I'm not done with her," his voice rumbled, the kindness in his voice long gone and replaced with something much more sinister. "I'm going to do what I was supposed to do to the ones who hurt my friends...Who tried to kill my wife..." Sora snarled, gripping his claws around Cozy's head tighter, making her cry out in pain. "I won't be turning her into a Heartless, or a Nobody; I'm going to tear her limb from limb until NOTHING can put this bitch back together!"

Sora pulled Cozy back, then slammed her hard into the barrier. Everyone winced as they heard the loud thud from the impact along with Cozy's pained grunts. He didn't stop, continuously slamming her over and over, truly intending to kill her in the most painful ways possible. They were all mortified, especially his close friends as his morals while turned into this monster have flipped upside down. He was angry, he was upset, but if he really did go through with killing someone he once trusted in such a gruesome way, it'll truly break him down even more.

"Sora, don't!" Kairi pleaded desperately. "This isn't you! You're not a monster!"

"You've already injured her enough to the point where she can't fight back!" Aqua exclaimed. "Drop the barrier immediately!"

Sora paused, snarling angrily as he eyed his friends. "...You...want me...to show her MERCY!?" he roared. He slammed Cozy back into the barrier, this time facing everyone and forcefully pressing her hard against the intangible wall. "After I gave her so many chances because of her size, her voice, everything my eyes saw that my heart didn't want to believe were lies!? You want me to give her another chance when she kept refusing, and I kept giving her more and more because I'm that stupid and gullible!?"

"We aren't saying that!" Twilight exclaimed. "She doesn't deserve to be reformed like Discord or Starlight! But that doesn't mean she should suffer this badly to where she dies!"

"You are not a killer, Sora!" Goofy said.

"You gotta stop before it hurts you even more than you're feeling now!" Donald added.

The others all voiced their concerns as well, pleading for Sora to stop and end the fight. From few who know of him to the many who don't know him all that well, his heroic actions throughout Equestria revered him as an honorable warrior, vanquishing foes, but was willing to grant those who were deemed worthy to be shown mercy. To the Mane Six, he was their light, like many others he's met and grown attached to. And to see him plummet down this path made them worry that he might not ever return if he keeps going.

Kairi thought he could see his eyes second-guessing what he was doing, but as his growl increased, he let out an ear-splitting roar, silencing everyone. "SHE DESERVES NOTHING!" he said, then continued slamming Cozy Glow even harder against the barrier, grunting heavily more and more. "I fell for your deceitful looks! Your innocent charm! The crocodile tears of your worthless past! You toyed with me, just like every other monster everywhere I met who only played with others' hearts like chew toys!" As his slams increased, everyone gasped when they all heard cracks coming from the barrier. They could even see the cracks along the barrier, splitting more and more each time Cozy hit the same spot as she yelled out and grunted, unable to escape Sora's wrath. "I gave you too many chances! Far more than anyone else who harmed my friends! YOU TRIED TO KILL THEM ALONG WITH EQUESTRIA'S MAGIC!"

"Sora, please stop!" Kairi shouted as tears rolled down her face.

"YOU EVEN TRIED TO KILL KAIRI, THE GIRL I LOVE, WHO I GAVE MY HEART TO, TURNING MYSELF INTO A HEARTLESS TO FREE HER FROM HER COMATOSE STATE!" Sora continued. After one more slam, he peeled Cozy Glow away from the barrier, clutching her skull tighter and began to spin around rapidly, increasing his speed as he grew more and more angry. "NO ONE DESERVES TO LIVE IF THEY THREATEN ANYONE I LOVE! EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

With a mighty roar, Sora flung Cozy Glow hard back toward the barrier. Her face struck the cracked fragments of the barrier, finally breaking after the intense strain on the "impenetrable" magic barricade, shattering like glass as the whole dome broke apart and faded into the ether. Everyone stared in shock, watching Cozy flying over them, completely frozen and speechless. She hit the ground, tumbling uncontrollably, her Keyblade clattering behind her until they both rolled to a complete stop. She laid completely still, her Keyblade resting a couple inches away with the hilt facing her. To their disbelief, Cozy Glow let out a weak cough, still alive, but far too injured to move.

Slowly, everyone turned back to Sora. He panted heavily, his eyes still glued on Cozy Glow's body, but he didn't transform back. He began to step forward, startling the royal guard nearby backed away, not chancing engaging or instigating Sora with that much power. They could see he was heading straight for Cozy Glow, still not satisfied with beating her to a near bloody pulp or possibly giving her severe internal injuries. He had the mindsight of a deadly predator, hellbent on taking his prey no matter what else gets tossed his way.

Kairi stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "...Sora...don't do this..."

He growled, gently pushing her aside, being surprisingly gentle with his sharp claws. "Don't stop me," he warned. He continued on, making Kairi grow even more worried about his psyche. He barely made it a few feet before all of his other friends blocked his path, even the Mane Six and Young Six. They were nervous, terrified even, and even though he could simply fly over them, they didn't want him to keep going either. "Don't get in my way."

"We have to," Riku said. "This isn't you, Sora. You're better than this...We all know you are."

The others silently nodded, refusing to let this new Sora be the one they'll see for the rest of their lives. Sora began to tense up, ready to fight them, but his posture loosened as he closed his eyes. They thought he was finally calmed down enough, but he teleported behind them, his Keyblade in his hoof as he swiftly turned and sliced the ground. A giant wall of dark flames shot up, surrounding the Element Bearers, all the Key Bearers, Starlight, Spike, Donald, and Goofy. The royal guard, Neighsay, Celestia, and Luna backed away from the sudden flames, not wanting to get burned, but on the inside, his friends weren't being incinerated alive; just trapped inside the wall of dark fire to keep them from stopping him as they looked beyond the flames at him in horror.

"Then neither of you know me that well anymore." Sora turned and continued to approach Cozy Glow.

"Sora, no!" Xion cried out.

"W-W-What should we do, Your Highnesses?" the captain asked, unable to figure out what they can do in this situation.

"...I do not know," Celestia mumbled. "Neither of us would stand a chance against him like this..."

Everyone helplessly watch Sora close the distance between him and Cozy Glow. He bared his fangs, seeing Cozy Glow still moving as she struggled to roll to her side, reaching out to grab her Keyblade. Just as she was about to touch it, Sora kicked her in the stomach, forcing her on her back as she wheezed. Standing over her, he leered at the stunted pegasus. As she looked up at him, she was shaking in fear, badly wounded and defenseless, cowering under his powerful, dark form.

"N-No," she whimpered. "P-Please...d-don't hurt me. I-I'm...I-I'm sorry. I'll be...I'll be good..."

Sora's throat let out a low rumble, staring at her with a bitter, stoic expression. He gazed into the mare's eyes, catching a small glint in the innocent and apologetic plea that made him sneer with disgust. His left hoof shot to her neck, choking her as she gagged and struggled to breathe, her hooves pawing uselessly at his strong grip.

"Shut. Up," Sora growled. "Why should I believe anything you say after what you did to me? Why do you think you DESERVE to live when you were going to ruin and end many lives in this world without any remorse?" He wasn't going to give Cozy any chance to answer or continue pleading for her life. Raising his Keyblade, he hovered it over face, her body frozen in fear as she stared at the dark Kingdom Key pointing at her. "Because of you...I almost let you get away with this...Not anymore. I'm ending this, right here. Right now."

"Sora!"

---

Roxas stood behind Sora within their heart, watching him in the same position he's got Cozy Glow in through his eyes. His Oblivion and Oathkeeper Keyblades were already summoned in his hands, prepared to fight back against his other half for dominance if needed.

"That's enough, Sora," Roxas scolded. "It's already over. She can't do anything to you anymore."

"Shut up, Roxas!" Sora yelled. "I'm not letting her get away again! I'm going to take her life, and none of you are going to stop me!"

"So you're going to kill us if we keep getting in your way?" Roxas questioned. "Do you even realize what you're saying at this point? You want to hurt your friends, or take them out if it means killing off our biggest threats!?"

"You don't know anything about what she's done to me!" Sora roared, standing up and facing the Nobody as he crouched down in his stance.

"I do know, because I am you, you idiot!" Roxas exclaimed. "I know you don't want to do this. And what M told you with your choice, and him intimidating you into picking who you were supposed to save is not helping with your mental and emotional state right now."

Flinching, Sora took a step back. "...Y-You...You saw...?"

"Of course I did. He gave you more time to choose what to do before we both got destroyed by that spell," Roxas said. "He may have gone overboard by dragging you around to etch it in your head that Cozy wasn't meant to be given any second chances, but he was right, you know? All of your friends would have gotten hurt if Cozy Glow was successful. If she beat you, she would have done it again, or did so much worse."

Sora lowered his head, turning around to look at Cozy Glow again. The painful memories continued plaguing his mind, making him tear up. Roxas lowered his guard as Sora started to get emotional again, a part of him still refusing to let her go, even after he had snapped.

"...I really can't save everyone..." Sora shuddered as he brought his left hand to his face.

"...No," Roxas uttered. Dismissing his Keyblades, he approached Sora, still being cautious, but he was at least getting through to him. "Maybe, if we knew Cozy Glow sooner, then maybe you could have helped her. And, even if you can't save everyone from their fates, you at least gave it your all and tried. Sombra's light is still in Luna's ring, even when all seemed lost when the Crystal Heart destroyed the darkness in his heart and his body. And part of your dad is still alive in his Nobody when you went out of your way to attempt to change the past, despite whatever paradoxes could have affected the future if he was saved from that dark storm.

"You may not have been able to save them in the moment, but in time...you have. I'm not so sure about Cozy Glow, though." Around them, Sora's fond memories of the filly persona Cozy Glow made appeared. Sora refused to look at them to be hurt again, but Roxas knew Sora still cared, regardless. "One thing I know about you, Sora, is that you have a way of connecting with people that can really change lives. Your whole personality, your compassion, your courage, your heart, all of that makes you more special than all of us can imagine. And I know you don't have it in your heart to kill someone, even in your blind rage."

Flashes of Sombra and his father raced through Sora's mind, and heart. The unicorn tyrant had once been a loyal warrior and a devoted lover, his journal entries expressing his true personality that was pushed back by the darkness that made him a monster. Though his body was lost, his heart still remained within the engagement ring he planned to give Luna a thousand years ago, and if possible, his heart may return to a vessel with Ienzo's help. Sora lost Kaito years ago, and tried to see if he could bring him back, but history didn't change and he watched his father sacrifice himself for his future son, losing his heart, became a Heartless, but also created the Nobody that adopted his name. Sora didn't want to believe his father was still alive, but his Nobody showed his heart was strong enough to retain his old form, and though subtle, he did have the fatherly instincts his real self had when it came to looking out for Sora like a son. Though he did save Sombra and Kaito's lives some time later, but they were still some of his greatest failures.

He looked up, watching through his eyes choking Cozy Glow, ready to strike down the stunted pegasus mare and end her dangerous schemes. Sora fell to his knees as his tears began to flow, the window also getting blurry as he shed tears on the outside, too. Despite Cozy Glow's crimes, and as his rage threatened to take over again and cause more harm, Roxas was right; he can't kill her, not even in his heart.

---

Sora's hoof shook, his Keyblade struggling to keep it aimed at Cozy's head as he began to hyperventilate, torn between his sorrow and anger to choose what to do with her. He could faintly hear everyone watching to stop and reason with him. Cozy was still struggling to breathe in his harsh grip, but still able to breathe enough to remain alive. His tears trickled down his cheeks, internally struggling with himself and his darkness to make a choice. M's words echoed in his head, forcing him to decide to keep Cozy alive or be rid of her once and for all.

He shook his head, clenched his eyes, threw his right hoof up, and with an anguished scream, he thrust his Keyblade down hard. The moment they heard the Keyblade hit, a deathly silence fell as Sora's cry echoed all throughout the fields. The dark flames around his friends died out, fearing the deed had been done as they all watched Sora continue standing over Cozy Glow. They waited for a heart to appear and fly out from the stunted pegasus, but the agonizing seconds made them more anxious of the outcome Sora chose.

Beneath Sora, Cozy Glow clenched her eyes, waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. Squinting them open, she could barely turn her neck as she saw Sora's head hanging low, his hair covering his eyes and feeling his tears drip down on his hoof and chest. Glancing beside her as best she could, she let out a weak gasp in shock, finding his Keyblade stuck in the ground, though she couldn't tell how close it was as it would have possibly gone straight through her head. The darkness around Sora's body disappeared, turning him and his Keyblade back to normal.

Feeling his left hoof shake, Cozy glanced up at Sora, where he tilted his head up, leering down at her with his natural blue eyes. They showed how hurt he was as tears well and rolled down his face. He spared her, even with the beating she took and the wrath she surprisingly managed to endure.

"...I'm giving you...one last chance," Sora uttered, his voice shot from his Anti-Form's rage-induced roars and screams. "Leave. And if you come back...I will not hesitate again." His hoof gripped his necklace, forcefully unclasping it from the back of Cozy's neck as he yanked it off of her. He held the metal chain over her, his hoof shaking in from the physical pain it endured earlier and emotionally from what he intended to give this to her as. "...You don't deserve my trust...You don't deserve my friendship...You don't. Deserve. Anything..."

Pulling his Keyblade up from the ground, Sora raised it the air, closing his eyes. Cozy thought he was going to blast him with a spell, but he only cast Cure around them. Feeling some of her injuries lessen, she gawked at him, confused by the kind act despite having completely disowned her for good now. He didn't look down at her again, turning away as he dismissed his weapon, and limped back over to others, dragging his necklace in his left hoof across the ground. Sora stumbled slightly, ignoring the pain in his hoof, stepping aside long enough for everyone to see Cozy Glow was still alive. Relieved, they were glad Sora finally stayed his Keyblade and didn't continue on his monstrous rampage. The look on his face didn't give cause for celebration; his eyes blank as tears continued to stream down his face, his expression somberly stoic, and his spiked mane drooped, having lost its energy along with him.

Cozy sat up, grunting slightly while straining to move her limbs. She watched him leave, scowling at his weak-heartedness after going berserk on her. She reached for her Keyblade, but as she lifted it by the grip, it felt a bit lighter, and startled her when she saw that the blade on it was missing. Looking back, her jaw hung open, finding the rest of her Keyblade sitting in the grass, cleaved cleanly in half right at the other end of the hilt. Sora didn't miss her on purpose; he thrust his Keyblade down on hers, splitting it and destroying her weapon instead. Everyone saw Cozy shocked by her broken Keyblade, astonished by Sora's choice to cut off her tie as his apprentice by also rendering it completely useless.

"He...cut her Keyblade," Gallus uttered.

"That's harsher than any punishment a wielder could have," Ventus said. "And we know she doesn't have a backup, so now she's no longer a Key Bearer."

"Hmph. Good riddance," Smolder grunted.

"At least it was better than...what Sora was going to do to her," Ocellus mumbled.

Cozy stared at her broken Keyblade. Everything she worked so hard to achieve was dashed by the stallion who she was sure she could easily fool, and he disrespected her by destroying her weapon and made it completely useless. Her expression hardened, scowling intensely as she gripped the useless guard in her hoof.

"...How?" she growled. "This...makes no sense. How...did I lose to someone like him?" Looking at the broken blade, the teeth were still there, and it could still be used as its own weapon. And healing her only made her despise him all the more. Fighting back her sore body, she got up and grabbed the broken blade in her teeth, biting down angrily as she looked back at Sora. "Next time...you finish...WHAT YOU STARTED!"

Sora froze as his ears perked up, Cozy shooting off and flapped her wings hard. Everyone gasped when they saw her go after him again, and Sora's expression darkened as he summoned his Keyblade in his mouth, her last chance immediately wasted. Not risking another deadly battle, Neighsay quickly tapped his medallion, gathering the magic to his horn, then fired a quick beam of electricity. The arcing electrical spell whizzed past Sora's head and struck Cozy Glow, instantly freezing her and causing her body to shudder and collapse to the ground several feet behind Sora. She lost her grip on the two halves of her Keyblade, unable to move as her muscles spasmed out of her control. Aqua was surprised by Neighsay's quick thinking as the stallion let out a sigh of relief to himself.

"I do not wish to see another battle like that again for the rest of my life," he said. "Gentlecolts, arrest that 'filly'. She will no longer cause anymore trouble. Not in Equestria. And not in any of our neighboring kingdoms, either."

Several guards ran over to arrest Cozy Glow, some being a bit wary as they gave Sora a wide berth as he still seemed a bit on edge from Cozy's attempted back attack. Luna flew over to help assist the guards, stopping in front of Sora and rested a gentle hoof on his withers.

"Ease yourself, Sora," she gently ushered. "You have won the battle..."

Seconds ticked before Sora dropped his Keyblade from his mouth. It faded in a flash of light after hitting the ground, his muscles loosened as his face scrunched up. His ears drooped, avoiding hearing Cozy grunting as she was being apprehended by the guards behind him, then slowly continued his limp toward his friends. He could feel everyone's eyes gazing at him, whether judging him, terrified, concerned, he didn't know, nor did he care. He didn't look back at them as he finally reached them. If they wanted to offer words of encouragement, neither of them spoke. They didn't even know what to say after such a horrific display of his anger through his Anti-Form, though it was obvious on his face that he was exhausted and emotionally torn apart inside.

He approached Kairi, expecting her to yell at him for acting so cruel and monstrous. Instead, she stepped forward, dropping his gear, and hugged him tightly. The assuring embrace snapped him out of his blank stupor, breaking down into sobs as he hugged her back, dropping his necklace at their hooves. Kairi was happy to have Sora come back to his senses. She knows his heart might not recover from the emotional turmoil, but she wasn't going to leave him, nor will his friends.

The others silently watched Sora's shoulders trembling as he buried his face in Kairi's neck. They wanted to comfort him as well, but he needed a lot of time to get himself back together. He was alive, he was back to normal by appearance, but they also thought his heart and his trust in other new friends he will encounter my falter and lose the upbeat and joyful personality he once had. Like Pinkie and her bubbly happiness, Sora's misery had washed over the group, feeling sorry for him and wishing they had stopped his judgement to prevent a near deadly battle from ensuing.

Aqua looked back at the guards holding down the defiant pegasus villainess, scowling bitterly in her direction. "Er, Miss Aqua?" Aqua groaned in annoyance, looking to her left to find Neighsay approaching her. He momentarily looked at Sora as Kairi tried to console him, then back to Aqua with an apologetic frown. "...I was wrong."

"...About everything you thought you knew about us?" Aqua questioned. "About the Keyblade? The Heartless? Things that you have no right to even learn about?"

"Y-Yes...Everything," Neighsay mumbled. He cleared his throat, readjusting his cloak as his eyes avoided staring into the Keyblade Master's. "Including Princess Twilight's school and teaching friendship to...all creatures. I apologize, to you, your friends, and even to your pupils studying to combat true threats for the safety of our world." Aqua looked back at the Young Six, most of them concerned about Sora while Sandbar looked at them. "I had tried to...impose at the school and take control when I learned you all were not there. The whole student body disliked the idea, and while no one was willing to trust me after shutting it down semesters ago, those six students of yours were willing to look past my actions and unfair remarks about their kinds, even as I had threatened to force them back home to their respective kingdoms."

"So, they forgave you after you tried to 'deport' them?" Aqua asked. Neighsay gulped nervously, trying to make it sound less offensive with his description. "After giving us so much grief, blindsided by Equestria's old ways, you expect the rest of us to easily forgive you when you could have ended your nation for more than a thousand years by bigotry and discrimination, just like ponies have done to each other in ancient history?"

"I-I didn't think of the repercussions until I realized that the one stealing our magic was a pony," Neighsay explained. "My only concern was with the educational system within the pony communities, and I severely overlooked the present and the future of the knowledge for every creature who is willing to learn what we can-"

Aqua's magic suddenly enveloped his goatee, yanking the stallion's chin hard and toward the mare. She turned to glare at him, shutting him up before his mouth could cause anymore injury, whether to himself or someone else. He expected Aqua to turn him into an icicle with her Keyblade magic, and he would accept it without using his medallion to provide a counter spell, but she let go of his facial hair and sighed.

"...You're lucky that our students learned from one of the very best that can teach them," Aqua said, startling Neighsay. "I think having them teach you and seeing the error of your ways is barely enough to convince me to give you one more chance."

Neighsay let out a sigh in relief. "Thank you, Miss Aqua. I do hope that we can start over and-"

Aqua quickly shot her hoof up, silencing Neighsay again. "I haven't fully forgiven you for everything just yet. I said I'm giving you one more chance, so if you push my buttons again, I can show you what a real master is capable of." Gulping, Neighsay silently nodded in agreement. "Besides, after the hell I went through in the past, trust is something that I'm not going to take lightly if I know I can put it all on anyone." Glancing over the stallion's shoulder, she needed to have a little chat with Cozy Glow. "Speaking of trust, I'm going to help the princesses deal with the little troublemaker."

"You don't think she'll escape if we banish her to Tartarus, do you?" Neighsay asked.

"She has no Keyblade, so I doubt she'll free herself if she forges a skeleton key out of what remains of it." She began to walk past Neighsay, but stopped a few feet away from him and looked over her shoulder. "And if you're looking to apologize...I would wait until Sora's feeling better. Now's not really a good time for forgiveness. For him, at the moment."

"...I suppose that is fair," Neighsay mumbled, giving one last look at Sora before he followed her.

Aqua approached the princesses and the many guards keeping Cozy Glow from escaping. "You're all lucky my Keyblade's broken by that lucky idiot," Cozy growled. "I could send all of you flying from here all the way to Las Pegasus."

"Still thy tongue, you troublesome miscreant," Luna scolded. "If we were to banish you to the sun, we would let that be a welcoming punishment for thine actions tenfold."

"How about you speak modern Equestrian, you old hag!?" Cozy exclaimed.

"Ironic, as you seem to have the shrieks of a banshee," Aqua said. Some of the guards parted, letting her through as she stared down the stunted pegasus mare, struggling under the weight of a pair of earth pony guards. "An eternity in Tartarus should be more than enough for you along with losing your status as a Key Bearer."

"Oh, goodie," Cozy Glow grumbled. "I'd rather have been killed, but Sora still couldn't do it after all of that."

"Then let's hope the princesses can find a cage big enough to fit you inflated ego and big mouth." It didn't take long for some of the guards to find the perfectly sized cage for Cozy Glow. Dropping it in front of her, Cozy tried to break free, but Aqua grabbed the mare in her magic aura, forcefully tossing her inside. She tossed in Cozy's broken Keyblade inside with her, slammed it shut, then sealed the lock on it with her Keyblade, ensuring she can never escape from it. "Now, before we send you off to join you with you 'pen pal', I want answers."

"About what, exactly?" Cozy asked, mockingly sounding innocent before scowling at her.

"I think you know exactly what they are," Aqua said. "You clearly earned your Keyblade in some way, but having it appear mysteriously when Heartless appeared and killed your family is a load of horseapples. Where and when did you get your Keyblade?"

Cozy gave the unicorn a smirk, laughing maliciously as she approached the bars. "You really think I'm just going to tell you?" she questioned. "Isn't there a golden rule about being a Keyblade wielder where you cannot get involved with the affairs of another world? Because that would be meddling."

"There may be many who know about us, but only a select few who truly know the real me," Aqua said. "Besides, others who aren't wielders have broken this rule many times already. If we have to bend around those rules to keep the peace, then screw the rules. And you have done more than enough meddling stealing Equestria's magic."

"Whatever," Cozy groaned.

"Now tell me where you really came from," Aqua demanded.

Cozy rolled her eyes, leaning against the bars like she believes she's won despite being locked in the cage. "...It's a secret," she stated.

"Like another world hidden among the stars?" Aqua questioned.

"Trust me, you're not going to find it flying around in the vestiges of space," Cozy said. "But, all I can say is that there are a lot more wielders out there than you might think there are. I've been running from those very same wielders trying to hunt me down the last couple years."

Though the guards, Celestia, Luna, and Neighsay had no idea what Cozy was talking about, Aqua was astonished. "There are more?" Neighsay questioned. "H-How many, exactly?"

"Enough to trump Equestria's army a thousand-fold," Cozy exaggerated.

"But you're a pegasus!" Aqua exclaimed, startling the other ponies. "Even when we traveled to The Land of Departure, you were still a pegasus! You're an Equestrian pony!"

Cozy scoffed and let out an amused giggle. "Did you really think Twilight was the FIRST Equestrian pony to have a Keyblade?" she questioned.

Confused, Aqua looked to Celestia and Luna. They seemed just as clueless, knowing not a single Equestrian in their world to have had a Keyblade aside from Twilight. They didn't even know M was one, nor was he someone from a completely different world in another time period. Aqua didn't know if Cozy was making it all up to throw her off and rile her up, or she really was telling the truth and, if they could find it, there was another world where there were Equestrians living there, and had the capability of wielding a Keyblade.

Since Cozy was just going to continue being vague and avoid answering her questions, Aqua had gained just enough to unravel more mysteries around her origins. "Fine. If you won't tell us where this world is, I think we're done here."

"Wouldn't tell ya even if you tortured me!" Cozy laughed.

"Let's take her to Tartarus already," Aqua growled.

Neighsay nodded, tapping his medallion and created a portal to Tartarus. He left it open, letting Luna step through while Celestia stayed, two guards to carry the cage, and Aqua following behind. On the other side, the portal left them on the same hill Tirek's cage was sitting on. The centaur watched them curiously, but when he saw what was in the cage they were delivering, he was surprised to see Cozy Glow inside it. He began to grin, but seeing Aqua come out after them made him grimace bitterly.

"Tirek," Luna greeted snidely.

"LORD Tirek," he corrected.

"You're no lord in anyone's eyes, Tirek," Aqua said. "Hope you'll play nice with your pen pal you've been chatting with. She was quite a troublesome catch." He let out an annoyed groan, but he gazed at Cozy in her cage. Knowing exactly what he was thinking, Aqua waved her hand in front of his face. "Yeah, don't even think about coming up with a sneaky plan to break out of here with your 'apprentice'. Sora broke her Keyblade, so your freedom has been permanently revoked forever. For both of you."

Confused, Tirek took another closer look at Cozy's cage. Inside, by the mare's hooves, was her Keyblade, split in two between the blade and the hilt. His jaw dropped, his mind racing with so many questions as to what happened after Cozy's plan failed.

"Let's get out of here," one of the guards said. "This place gives me the creeps, and I feel like I'm gonna-" They heard a trio of barks by the gates of Tartarus and heavy footsteps. Cerberus ran up to the small hill, snarling at the intruders before they paused and looked at Aqua. "AHHHHHH! IT'S CERBERUS!"

The frightened guard jumped in his comrade's hooves, trembling in fright and nearly knocking him and the smaller soldier over. "Ugh. You are such a foal," the other guard grumbled.

Luna had no idea what Cerberus was doing, her horn igniting in self defense as it continued to stare at Aqua. All three heads lowered down, giving her a curious sniff, recognizing many of the different scents from the ponies who were trapped here. They also recognized her hairstyle nearly identical to Kairi's years ago, though they didn't know if it was the same girl or someone else.

"Uhh...Nice doggies," Aqua said. "Just...stay. Good boy?...Boys?"

The three heads looked at each other, neither knowing what to make of Aqua. She decided not to overstay her welcome, going back through the portal with Luna and both guards, the frightened one quickly scrambling back through before they got eaten. With them gone, Cerberus focused on the new prisoner, snarling menacingly as they inched their muzzles closer to Cozy's cage.

"Oh, go chew on a stalactite, you mangy mutt!" Cozy scolded, gripping the blade half of her broken weapon and smacked all three of them hard in their snouts.

Cerberus let out a yelp, shaking their heads as they backed away with a whimper. Left alone without the Underworld's guard dog looming over them, Tirek leered at the stunted mare.

"What happened out there?" he questioned.

"I lost. What's it to you?" Cozy questioned back.

Tirek groaned, running his hand down his face in irritation. "That's the last time I trust a pony to take over the world..."

---

The Young Six returned to the school as it was getting late. The excitement from the last couple days, especially the worst of it, has worn out everyone in different ways. Kairi escorted Sora back to the castle along with their teachers while they made their way back to their dorm rooms. With Cozy now defeated and imprisoned in Tartarus, the princesses and their guards returned to Canterlot. Neighsay had also returned to Canterlot, back to the EEA to see about making some improvements of their guidelines with their educational system and the inclusion of other creatures outside of Equestria who moved from their homelands and wish to learn about their culture, history, etc. They should have a reason to celebrate, saving the world from a mad little tyrant and rescuing Equestria's stolen magic, but it was hard to do so when Sora was in such a terrible state, having to deal with Cozy Glow by himself and the emotional and mental turmoil he suffered.

"Do you think our masters will let Sora continue teaching us?" Sandbar asked.

"They shouldn't, but they believed he was able to control...that transformation," Ocellus mumbled.

"Master Sora mentioned...he turned into a Heartless when he rescued Master Kairi," Silverstream said aloud. "I thought that's impossible to come back from. But he did it anyway."

"Training's not gonna be fun for a while, is it?" Smolder asked.

"Hey! Somepony get us out of here!" The teens froze, hearing Apple Bloom's voice and a rapid pounding of hooves against a door.

"Wait. Was that Apple filly's voice?" Yona asked.

"I think it came down this hall," Gallus said. They went down the hall he pointed to, where the pounding grew louder, and they could hear the other two Crusaders calling out for help as well. The sounds came from a closed janitor's closet, making them wonder why they were in there after they distracted Cozy Glow earlier. "Uhh, girls?"

"Gallus!? Get us out of here!" Scootaloo cried out.

"Cozy Glow locked us in here!" Sweetie Belle added. "My magic came back, but we're stuck! Did we make it in time!?"

"Y-Yeah. Hang on a sec." The griffon summoned his Keyblade and unlocked the door with a quick beam of light.

The lock clicked, making the door swing open as all three fillies yelped and fell to the floor. "What happened!?" Apple Bloom asked. "Where's Cozy Glow!?"

The Young Six grimaced, none of them willing to speak up to talk into great detail about what happened after Cozy's plan was foiled. "Well!? Did you guys beat her!?" Scootaloo asked.

"Or maybe Sora did it," Sweetie Belle mumbled.

"...We stopped her," Sandbar said. "...She's in Tartarus, where she'll stay imprisoned for the rest of her life."

As excited as they were to hear the good news, the morose expressions on the teen wielders' faces told them there was bad news along with it. "Well...what did we miss?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sandbar looked at his friends, then back to the Crusaders. "...Sora chose to fight Cozy in a duel. He won, and even hacked her Keyblade, so she's completely powerless now...But...It was...tough for him to do."

"Oh...He still cares about her," Sweetie Belle sadly said. "I don't understand how such a sweet filly like her could be so evil."

"Good thing she's not, because she's actually a fully grown mare trapped in a filly's body," Smolder growled.

"Huh!?" the CMC exclaimed.

"You mean she was older than us!?" Scootaloo asked in shock.

"Where's Sora!?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Back at the castle," Ocellus said.

"We gotta see him!" The Crusaders tried to run off, but Yona stepped in their path, moving in front of them as they tried to step aside with a shake of her head.

"He's not really in a good mood for company besides Master Kairi's right now," Gallus said.

"And it's late. You three need to head back home before your families find out you're missing," Silverstream said.

"W-What happened to him?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What did Cozy Glow do to him?"

"Just go on back to your homes, girls," Sandbar said. "Maybe you'll find out tomorrow."

The fillies wanted to protest, but they didn't want Sora to get more upset if they were near him and reminded him of Cozy Glow. Scootaloo frowned angrily, wishing she was able to sock the pretend filly in the face, or if she had a Keyblade like her, go all out and show her not to mess with her big brother and his heart. With no choice, the fillies left and returned to their homes, hoping Sora will feel better soon.

As soon as they were out of sight, the Young Six returned to their dorms. They were lucky to have made it from their bout against Cozy, but they were still too weak to take on someone as skilled as Cozy was. Before they split into their respective room, the all looked at each other, understand what each other were thinking of without words: to train even harder and prepare themselves for any tougher opponents they come across, whether it be someone from the Organization, a powerful Heartless, or a rogue villain like Cozy Glow. Silently nodding to each other, willing to train their hardest tomorrow, they went to their rooms and got themselves some rest. They will not let their masters down, especially Sora, a master they still respect, even after seeing him in his darkness-imbued Anti-Form.

Comments

[Postwarmonkey50]

"...I'm giving you...one last chance," Sora uttered, his voice shot from his Anti-Form's rage-induced roars and screams. "Leave. And if you come back...I will not hesitate again." His hoof gripped his necklace, forcefully unclasping it from the back of Cozy's neck as he yanked it off of her. He held the metal chain over her, his hoof shaking in from the physical pain it endured earlier and emotionally from what he intended to give this to her as. "...You don't deserve my trust...You don't deserve my friendship...You don't. Deserve. Anything..."

Oh boy. I'm scared. I've never seen Sora snap like that. Makes me wonder what his future will be.

[Vakama95096]

11700866
He's been through hell so many times. But what Cozy did to him really crossed the line.

[Postwarmonkey50]

11700878
Yeah, no kidding. I hope the others help him out of his funk, especially his mother.

[Edward Sapphire]

Good to see that Cozy Glow got what she deserved.

[shining paladin]

11700866
me too im worry like m said you cant save everyone

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Jesus, if that's what Sora's capable of when he's pissed off, I'd hate to to see when he's fully enraged....

[Princespeedywhooves]

Hope Sora’s going to be okay as long he has Kairi then he should be alright.

[DarkLord of Fire]

11700919
foreshadow for the keyblade war and what happens in said fight.

[BenictheHedgehog]

Oh boy. Something tells me that Sora will need time with Kairi to fully recover after he let his Rage form make its first appearance & almost fully change him if Roxas was not there in his heart to speak to him heart to heart.

I feel like it might be best for Riku & Twilight to step up. Espacially Twilight, since she may have to carry the mantel of the “My friends are my power” and up her training for Sora to take it easy. Though I wonder how master Yen Sid would feel about what happened?

[MLPFanForever]

Wow…! Not gonna lie. I actually thought Sora was going to make Cozy Glow see the error of her ways. I’m curious to see what happens after all this.

[SoraFan23]

WOW! Holy shoot! This was so intense...... I feel bad for Sora.

[SoraFan23]

11701064
Sora is going to be in deep thought after what "M" aka the Master of Masters said to him. He's going to need a lot of therpy and support after this.

[OF29]

Imma just leave this here:

[PHONEGUYhello]

Well I guess now this story is now starting to get near the end. This story is transitioning into season 9 for mlp side of the story and it is the last season for g4 mlp. I mean there's probably still be plenty of additional chapters planned for the Kingdom hearts side of the story. But on mlp side of it there not much left to go through. I know it's not over yet but this story has been a grand journey. Had lots of laughs lots of happy moments sad moments and very tense moments. But a lot of us fans of this story has stuck through this from the very beginning and planning to continue reading it to very end. Once this is over i say I'm looking forward for the next big fanfiction if any more is planned in the future from this amazing author.

[DeathRider2021]

I hope the next adventure in another world will happen soon.

[Codex92]

11701587
Thanks for enjoying. I do plan to make a sequel, where I believe it would be a bit more original, assuming my brain can come up with some interesting adventures in between what I already have in mind for the major plots. And maybe a spin-off sequel with G5 MLP, although I'm gonna have to do a looooooooooot of binge watching for the series, and even rewatching the movie over and over. I only know a little smidgen of the comics, featuring the long-lost Discord and causing more chaos for the G5 heroes, though he's much more of a sympathetic anti-villain after centuries without Fluttershy in his life...No spoiling, because I only read the second part of that, and I'm sure there's a whole lot more after that could either be good or bad, but I'm indifferent and ok with the next generation. Except for Sprout. He's a whiny, cringy, momma's boy who was never told no in his youth.

[Wanda92]

Next episode preview for My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria.

Xion: Sora is in deep despair!

Lea: Yeah! Right after Cozy Glow has done to him! Making him for what he has become, in his darkness form of all; the Anti-Form.

Riku: That was disturbing for what we've saw, and the betrayal is a very hard thing for Sora to get over with.

Goofy: Gwarsh, poor Sora... But there has to be something we can do to help.

Donald Duck: Yes, but how? What's the idea?

Kairi: I don't know, you guys. But we have to give Sora some time alone to cool himself down. I hope he's okay...

Donald Duck: Me too...

[Petor]

11702002
Funny you mention G5, cause for some time whenever I watch the movie and the shows (Tell Your Tale and Make your mark), I've been thinking that the first keyblade weilder for that one could be a descendant of Sora arranged to find a way to restore the magic as a test and, a while after the movie, decides to move to Equestria to start over on their training.
Also instead of Sprout, the Heartless can be the real villains in the movie using the ponies' fear to get stronger somehow, so someone has to offer protection for the world's citizens.

Just a thought really, and it's up to you on what to do really.

[JesusG0987]

11702002
If you want, you can ready my stories of my G5 stories base on Sunset in it.

[Codex92]

11702718
...How the hell did you got into my mind with that idea? But I already had an idea like that, but slightly different with the reason why Sora's descendent is in G5 Equestria. I usually wing the writing I do at times while putting some thought into the plots for certain situations. I won't explain in detail what'll happen, but I might change around how it'll eventually go.

[Xepher-Cross]

YO! Congrats on completing Season 8 codex! Definitely an awesome ending chapter. Also, I freaking love the G5 reference too within it. You clever little sneak. How do you feel now that you're on the final season?