My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by Codex92

Winter Training

Snow gently fell across the town of Ponyville as the early morning sun began to rise in the distance. Inside the Golden Oak Library, Twilight was sound asleep in her bed, nice and warm under the covers, along with Spike in his little bed, his legs randomly kicking out as he snored. The alicorn was having a nice dream, apparent with the smile on her face as she rolled over to get even more comfortable. Unfortunately, her peaceful dreaming was interrupted by an alarm clock ringing loudly by her bedside table, forcing her awake from the constant ringing that ruined her good night's sleep.

Grumbling and squinting her eyes in annoyance, Twilight smacked the alarm clock, silencing its pestering ringing and falling back to sleep. Suddenly, her bedroom door slammed open, alarming Spike as he yelped and fell out of his small bed and waking Twilight again. Riku walked in, already up before the alarm as he carried a plate of toast on his back.

"Gah! What's happening!?" Spike asked as he flailed his arms in a panic. "Danger!? Heartless!? Earthquake!?"

"Just a wake up call, Spike," Riku said, placing the plate down on the bedside table. "And since you quieted the alarm clock I set for you, I'm gonna have to get you up by force. Up and at 'em, sleeping beauty."

"Go away," Twilight groaned, pulling the covers over her. "I'm still tired."

"Well, you should have gone to bed earlier, then." The stallion grabbed the covers and swiftly pulled them off, the cold air making the alicorn curl into a ball to keep whatever warmth was left. She squinted her eyes open as the cold bothered her, along with Riku jumping up onto the bed, standing over her. "Twilight, you have practice with Aqua this morning. You need to learn how to fight."

"The sun's barely up," Twilight grumbled.

"And the day's already being wasted by you complaining, and I did warn you to go to bed early so you could get a good amount of sleep." She grabbed her pillow and covered her face, ignoring anything Riku said. "Don't make me flip this mattress, Twilight. I will do it, and I will face your wrath head on. Besides, you don't want to be late for anything you have scheduled."

"Today's an exception after learning a lot yesterday and going to the Mirage Arena," Twilight mumbled, her voice barely audible with her muzzle buried under her pillow.

"The where?" Spike asked, never hearing of the coliseum-like world.

"Alright. Your choice." Riku leapt off the bed and grabbed a side of the mattress with his hooves. "Mattress pulling on the count of three! One! Two-"

"Ok, fine! I'm getting up!" Twilight shouted as she sat up, throwing her pillow at her coltfriend's face. She sat on the edge of the bed, blowing a strand of her bed head out of her face as she grabbed a piece of toast, taking a bite to give her some energy for the day. "That's the reason why Sora picks a fight with you. You're more annoying and aggravating than he is."

"Me? Annoying?" Riku scoffed, flapping onto the bed and sat beside her. "I was trying to get you up so Aqua doesn't get all up in my case, questioning how I failed to get you up and about."

"At least with Sora, being silly is his personality with all the random stuff he does and says," Twilight explained, taking another bite of her breakfast. "You're trying to be funny, but you keep failing and it gets annoying. And waking me up like that was irritating and made me want to beat you up with my pillow."

"Well, you did hit me in the face with that sheet full of feathers, so you kind of did." The alicorn grumbled, punching his arm, taking her time to wake up for her first day of training with a veteran Keyblade Master.

"Next time, I'm gonna throw the alarm clock," she promised as she finished her first piece of toast. "Did we have to get up so early? And during winter? It can get freezing at times, depending on what the scheduled weather the pegasi have to make for the day...Or any worse, Windigos."

"What the heck's a Windigo?" Riku asked.

"A spiritual entity that brings an everlasting flurry of blizzards that could easily destroy environments whenever they sense negative conflicts among ponies." The stallion raised a brow in confusion at Twilight's explanation of the dangerous ghosts in Equestria. "I know it's hard to believe, but those spirits helped unify the three pony tribes and created Equestria, along with the holiday we celebrate here called Hearth's Warming. Sora said it was similar to a holiday you guys celebrate...What was it again? He even showed us in Ponyville how it works."

"Christmas?" Twilight nodded, recognizing the name now. "Huh. You know, Sora's always bothered me with the fact that Santa Claus actually exists, but I really don't think he's real. Can you imagine someone actually breaking into your home, through a chimney, and leave behind presents? I grew out of that childish stuff when I was ten, and he's still insisting he exists, but he lives in another world that's practically a world of holidays."

"Yeah. Christmas is a weird holiday." Twilight grabbed another piece of toast and began munching. "Nopony can physically fit their way down a chimney unless they're skinnier than the chute itself. And somepony with Santa's weight couldn't possibly make it through a millimeter down, especially when eating all those cookies foals leave out...Well, Sora was able to do that with a pillow in that red coat he wore last year."

"Santa's just a story made up to get kids to behave themselves to get presents," Riku explained. "If he does exist, I'll do whatever humiliating things Sora wants me to do for a whole year. But, that's not going to happen in a million years." Riku stood up and used his wing to gently push Twilight off as well. "Now, finish your toast and head outside to meet with Aqua. You've got a lot of training ahead of you."

"Wait, let me at least get my scarf! Or my boots!" Twilight complained, but Riku kept pushing her forward out the door and down the stairs.

"You'll warm up when you start moving." As they left, Spike closed the door and crawled back into his bed.

"Guess I better get used to sleeping early too if Riku's gonna start waking Twilight up this early." The baby dragon plopped his head down on his pillow, falling back to sleep with his snores muffled by the pillow.

---

Twilight let out a yawn, her body shuddering as she walked alongside Riku out to the fields to fully begin her Keyblade training. "You didn't even make any coffee. I'm not fully awake without that."

"You don't need that much caffeine in your system to wake up. Besides, if you're going to improve your stamina, you're going to need to be hydrated, not dehydrated." Twilight began whining as her training was only going to get worse, far worse than Riku's easier lessons. "You'll get used to it after a while. You just have to keep on doing it, and it'll be as simple as breathing. Or walking."

"I'd rather read how to do anything first," the alicorn grumbled. She soon sighed as any kind of literature involving the Keyblade is all gone or barely exists anymore after what Xehanort had done in the past. "Is there a way to bring back the Land of Departure? Where Aqua, her friends, master, and several others before us trained?"

"I'm not sure," Riku said. "Many of the worlds lost to the darkness when Ansem possessed me had returned after Sora managed to stop him, but since neither of us had ever heard about it before we met Aqua, I think she might have a clue how to bring it back...She never even mentioned what the world is like now, or where it's located."

While Riku pondered what the Land of Departure had become and what possible ways there were to bring it back, they met up with the Keyblade Master as she was meditating out in the snowy fields. Aqua was balancing on the hilt of her Keyblade, the blade buried in the ground, standing on one back leg as she retained a perfect balance atop the weapon. She opened her eyes as the crunching snow got closer to her, seeing her new alicorn student in her presence bright and early.

"Right on time." Aqua flipped over, landing on her Keyblade with her front hooves, pushed herself off while pulling the blade out of the ground into a spiral flip, landing perfectly on her hind legs. "We can get started right away."

"Uhh, shouldn't we wait for Sora and Kairi?" Twilight asked.

"This is basic weapons training right now, and you're the only one I see who is in need of learning the fundamentals of swordplay," Aqua explained, making the alicorn wilt, still too tired to get motivated. "Besides, if one of my first few students is a pony, I'm also going to have to learn how to use my mouth if I'm handicapped from using magic while in this world. It'll be a learning experience for the both of us." She placed the Keyblade in her mouth and assumed her fighting stance, beginning to practice her own combat as a quadruped mammal. "Now, attack me."

"...Ok." Taking her own Keyblade in her maw, Twilight readied herself to show her master how she fights, even though she had seen a small glimpse of it back in the Everfree Forest.

The alicorn rushed forward, remembering to keep a firm grip on her blade as she swung her head to slash, Aqua blocking it expertly. Twilight continued, swinging her head again in the opposite direction, then thrust her blade, but they still struck Aqua's Keyblade as the unicorn continued her defense. Twilight knew she couldn't really hit someone who was already skilled in combat, but she kept going, using what she had learned when sparring with Riku. As she flapped her wings, leaping in the air for a downward slash, Aqua parried Twilight's blade, knocking her Keyblade out of her mouth out of surprise from the sudden shift in movement, swiftly knocked back by a powerful shove made by the unicorn.

Twilight lost her balance and fell, groaning in pain, not expecting her master to parry and send her weapon flying out of her gripped teeth. "That wasn't too bad. Basic combo followed by a thrust, but the aerial attack made you a bit too vulnerable to parry. Using your opponent's momentum to throw off their balance during their strikes can easily send their weapon flying across the battlefield. Also, minimize some of your windups for your own strikes, otherwise your opponent will be able to telegraph your moves and breach through your defenses far too easily."

Twilight nodded as she stood back up, taking that lesson to heart. "Can you go a little bit easy on me? I'm not exactly savvy with physical combat all that well."

"Not a chance. Anytime you spar with a trainer, you have to have some pain so you can learn and get better, grow stronger and work on any weaknesses you have from any failures you experience." Riku nodded in agreement as he watched, knowing he still had a lot of flaws, not just in combat, but also with his choices in the past couple years. "Now, get yourself in a fighting stance with your Keyblade."

"Ok, then." Twilight levitated her Keyblade back to her, grabbing the hilt with her mouth, ignoring the slight chill it had from hitting the cold snow. "So, am I going to-?" Aqua suddenly lunged forward, surprising Twilight as she quickly blocked her Keyblade, the unexpected attack knocking Twilight over and back to the ground. "Hey! You didn't tell me you were going to attack me!"

"In battle, you can never expect an attack all the time," she explained. "You'll never know who or what will come out of nowhere and strike you with your back turned. Always be aware, even if your environment looks safe for the time being." Aqua helped the irritated alicorn back on her hooves, another important lesson she'll have to take to heart, especially after all the times she and her friends had encountered a villain out of nowhere. "Now, show me your stance again."

Grabbing her Keyblade, Twilight stood back in her stance, only this time, she was ready for another surprise attack. Only this time, Aqua was assessing her posture, circling around her.

"Uhh...I'm ready?" she questioned, wondering when the next strike will come.

"I'm not going to attack you...at least not yet," Aqua said, standing before Twilight again. "Your stance is pretty weak. Even without catching you off guard, it would be easy to knock you down." The Keyblade Master began moving Twilight around while telling her what to do to improve her stance. "Keep your hooves planted to the ground. Grip your Keyblade tightly, shoulders straight, knees slightly bent, and face your charging foe head on."

"What about if I'm attacked from behind?" Twilight asked. "Should I do the same thing if they're too close?"

"Let's just start with one opponent for now, then we'll move on to multiple enemies when you get better." After fixing Twilight into a better grounded stance, Aqua backed away, nodding her head as she was now prepared to stand her ground for a perfect defense. About a minute of nothing, she lunged forward again unexpectedly, swinging her Keyblade at Twilight. Twilight was ready this time, turning her head to block the vertical slash, her bent knees and firmly grounded hooves only pushing her back slightly from the impact, but she still stood and didn't fall. "There. Keep a stance like that and you won't become a defenseless target when you're under attack. We'll work on evasion once we're able to get your stamina up."

As Aqua continued to teach Twilight, working on their basics, Sora slowly slumped his way across the fields and sat next to Riku, his hoodie hung over his face. "Hey, Sora," Riku greeted, surprised to see him with his hood on, which was never a thing he did when he wore his clothing. "You ok?"

"...No," he said. "Riku. Please kill me."

"Uhh...why?" Riku asked, very confused with his best friend's depressing mood. "What happened?"

"...Kairi embarrassed me in front of the Apple family last night...I can't be around them without all of them teasing me with what she did." Sora fell on his stomach, clutching his forehooves over his head. "Even Big Macintosh said more than 'Eeyup' and 'Nope' for a long while!"

"...What did she do?" the white pegasus asked.

"Something a parent should do to embarrass their kids with their significant other," Kairi said as she walked up to the two stallions with a satisfied smirk on her face. "I got back at him for all those comments of me being a damsel in distress yesterday, and revenge never felt any sweeter."

"Kairi, I beg of you, PLEASE don't tell Riku!" Sora begged, clutching one of the pink unicorn's forelegs. "Don't even tell Twilight or Aqua! I will literally die of embarrassment!"

"Ok, I'm growing curious as to what you did last night." Sora whimpered, quickly standing up and grabbing Kairi's shoulders.

"Please, I will do anything you say, Kairi!" he pleaded. "I'll buy you anything you want! Candy? Jewelry? Vacation!? ANYTHING!"

"Hmmmm...Nope. I'm just going to show them." The panicking pegasus squeaked in anguish, leaping back and calling his Keyblade.

"Kairi, I don't want to, but I will fight you for those pictures!" Sora twitched nervously, but Kairi remained calm and summoned her own Keyblade.

"Stopga," she said.

"NOOO-!" Sora was hit by the spell, an ethereal clock surrounding him and freezing him in place as he tried to rush forward.

Kairi stepped around him, the teen's screaming disturbing Twilight and Aqua's training. "What is going on?" Aqua asked, giving Twilight a little break as both mares approached them. "And why is Sora inflicted with the Stop status?"

"Sorry for the interruption, but I wanted to tease him after yesterday," Kairi said. "So, at the Apple family farm, they allowed me to stay over for the evening, provided we didn't do anything too crazy while alone in Sora's room when we went to bed." Riku snorted, earning a punch in the shoulder by the pink unicorn. "It was just cuddling, you pervert. Well, I did most of the cuddling. Sora was just lying in bed, acting like his life was in jeopardy."

"And he mentioned 'pictures'," Riku said as he quoted the key word that was probably what got him so flustered. "What exactly were they?"

"Well, when I stopped by his mom's place back home on Destiny Island, she showed me a few photos of Sora before I met you and him...and she gave me copies of his baby pictures." Kairi pulled out the pictures from her pockets with a cheeky grin. "Surprisingly, but also thankfully, they seemed to have changed as well, so instead of seeing Sora as a baby in human form, he looks like a cute little colt."

"Ok, first of all, that is quite convenient," Twilight said. "We don't want everypony else to see what a human looks like. And second, SHOW US!"

Kairi levitated the several photos out to Riku, Twilight, and Aqua, the stallion snickering and holding back his laughter, Twilight gushed at how adorable Sora looked if he was a baby pony, and Aqua smirked in amusement. Each picture had Sora as an infant to a toddler, though due to the Keyblade magic that must have rubbed off on Kairi, the photo's had changed his appearance to that of a colt. His baby pictures had him looking at the camera curiously while he was on his belly, sleeping soundly while nibbling on a stuffed bear's ear, or making a mess as he ate his food. The ones where he was about three to four years old, he was running around outside having fun, doing something silly as his parents took a picture of the moment, nothing really different compared to the teen's personality now as he's frozen in time.

Riku fell over and laughed at how ridiculous Sora looked, flailing his legs ashe guffawed uproariously. "Well, I guess that explains why he still hasn't matured completely yet," Aqua commented. "He does look cute as a pegasus colt, though."

"You should have heard the Apples when I showed them his baby pictures," Kairi said. "They were teasing him and he was blushing so hard in embarrassment, I thought his head was going to explode."

Sora finally began moving again as the spell on him wore off, slamming into the ground as he regained his bearings. He heard Riku's laughter and looked, his cheeks turning red as he tightened his hoodie until only his muzzle is the only thing sticking out as Kairi showed the others his embarrassing baby pictures.

"My life is ruined!" he cried out and sank to the ground. "Mom, is this payback for me not cleaning my room all the time!? Why have you and Kairi forsaken me!?"

"Oh, stop complaining," Kairi chided. "You look adorable in your pictures."

"I'm not adorable!" Riku laughed even harder at Sora's reaction to his girlfriend's comment, rolling around and picking up snow all over his white fur, unable to control his breathing.

"Ok. Show and tell's over. We need to get back to training." Kairi put away the pictures for safekeeping and use for embarrassing torture fuel for Sora for the fun of it. Aqua gave Riku a hard kick in the side, knocking some of the wind out of him as the stallion coughed and chuckled, finding it harder to breathe with the pain from laughing and the swift hit in the ribs. "We've got a lot of work to do, and if things get worse, Twilight's going to need to master everything I'm able to teach her soon. Xehanort could show up at any moment, and we can't afford to goof off for too long."

"I'd rather have Xehanort appear than be embarrassed by those pictures," Sora grumbled.

Kairi approached Sora and pulled his hood away from his face. "I'm done teasing you now. Besides, your mom showed me a lot more pictures that I'm sure you don't actually want others to see." His face paled, slightly relieved she didn't have anything else too embarrassing to show anyone else, but now he would have to be careful with what he said around Kairi from now on. "Come on, you big baby. Let's get some hot chocolate down at Sugarcube Corner."

"Please don't say 'baby'," Sora begged as Kairi helped him back on his hooves.

As the couple headed back into town, Aqua resumed training Twilight, continuously going over the basics with her until she was ready to move up to harder challenges. She wasn't strong enough yet to take down a group of Heartless on her own just yet, but by the months end, she was sure to get her at least situated with Keyblade combat. It was a shame that any tomes weren't saved when she transformed the Land of Departure, but Aqua would have to just teach everything she knew from memory alone and her prior experiences in the past.

---

Through the next week, Twilight followed the same routine each day for her training: waking up early, get herself ready, head out into the fields, do some drills, take a break and get some food in her stomach, then back to training, and finally heading home and collapsing in bed. She always arrived back home sore and exhausted, wishing she had some royal duties to do to avoid a day of constant working out. Rainbow Dash and Applejack could handle tough physical training like this, even her brother could do it without breaking a sweat, but Twilight wasn't one for any physical activity unless it was required, whether by a failing grade she didn't want or when the fate of the world could be at stake.

Her alarm clock rang, her hoof instantly shutting off the annoying ringing as she lifted her head off her pillow. Riku didn't barge in and force her awake this time, which was a relief for her. Even though it was sweet of him to make sure she was up and made her a little breakfast to perk her up, it does get annoying at times when he coddles her too much. It didn't seem to fit Riku that much with the way he looks, but like when it came to anyone new she's never met, appearances aren't exactly everything. She got herself ready for the next exhaustive training session with her master, her limbs still pretty sore from yesterday's combat training.

Just as she reached the door to head out, the front door opened, Aqua standing on the other side. "Oh. I didn't think you would have been up right now."

"Well, I have another day of training," Twilight said. "I won't get any better until I'm fully prepared. So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Actually, I came over to tell you there's no training for today." The alicorn tilted her head in confusion. "I think you deserve a little bit of a break, and today's a holiday in this world. I just noticed this morning checking Rarity's calendar, and today was something called 'Hearth's Warming'. An odd and early day to celebrate a Christmas-related holiday."

"Wait, Hearth's Warming is today?" Twilight gasped in shock, quickly scrambling up the stairs and into her room. She searched through her calendar, and in an ironic twist, today was Hearth's Warming, and on yesterday's date, it was circled with the words "Hearth's Warming Eve Dinner w/ Family" in the square. The alicorn screamed in shock, waking up Spike and alerting Aqua downstairs. "I can't believe I missed Hearth's Warming Eve dinner with my family in Canterlot yesterday! No, no, nononononono!"

"Twilight, what's going on?" Spike asked groggily.

"Why didn't you tell me about yesterday, Spike!?" Twilight asked in a panic. "We missed dinner with our family yesterday! I can't believe I lost track of what day it was!"

"I did tell you for the last few days, but you were always so tired coming back, so I didn't want to disturb you." Twilight fidgeted, already disappointing her family for not showing up or even sending a letter telling her she probably wouldn't make it, especially when her brother and sister-in-law were going to be at her old home for the holiday.

"Oh, this is bad!" Twilight exclaimed. "How can I manage my life as a normal pony, a princess, and a Keyblade wielder all at once!? What if I have other parties or events to go to when I'm in the middle of training!? What if something dangerous is happening and I'm too busy hanging out with my friends, family, or important dignitaries from across the world for royal business!?"

While Twilight was in a panic upstairs, Aqua heard a knock come from the door. She had no idea if ponies actually came to the library on holidays, or if the library was even opened. Since Twilight was in the middle of a panic episode, the unicorn opened up the door as she saw four ponies wearing scarves in the light, snowy air outside: three were unicorns while the other was a pink alicorn.

"Excuse us, miss," the older stallion said, his coat a dark shade of cobalt while his mane was darker. "We were looking for Twilight Sparkle, and this library was where she was staying when she left for Ponyville. Is she here?"

"Yes, she's upstairs," Aqua said, but as she got a look at the unicorn mare beside the blue stallion, she almost looked like Twilight, but with a pale white coat, though her mane was purple with white streaks. "Are you by any chance her family?"

"We are, yes," the unicorn mare said. "I'm Twilight Velvet, this is my husband, Night Light, her brother, Shining Armor, and our daughter-in-law, Cadence."

"Huh. What luck. I think she was shouting something about family earlier upstairs." Aqua looked at Twilight Velvet, thinking she must have been Twilight's twin or older sister with how similarly they both looked. "I can see where your daughter gets her looks from. You two are practically twins."

The mare giggled at the compliment, even though they had never met the Keyblade Master. "I tend to get that as soon as she got older. But, how do you know my daughter? Are you an employee here?"

"Actually, no. I don't work here," Aqua admitted. "I was...just here looking for a couple books to read."

"I didn't think Twilight would have the library opened on Hearth's Warming," Shining commented. "Still hard at work, even on a holiday."

Aqua invited them in from out of the cold, the Sparkle family taking off their scarves as they made themselves comfortable. Twilight began scrambling down the steps as she was about to rush off to Canterlot to apologize to her parents, only to freeze on the steps as she saw them all inside the Golden Oak Library.

"Twilight! There you are!" Cadence said, pulling the shocked mare into a hug and down the stairs as she began doing their little greeting when they were younger, Twilight too stunned to mimic the motions. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Aqua stared in astonishment at the odd greeting the fully grown pink alicorn did, looking to the rest of Twilight's family for some kind of answer. While Cadence grew confused as Twilight didn't join her, knowing she always wanted to greet her favorite foal sitter now sister-in-law, Shining gave the Keyblade Master her answer.

"That's something Cadence and Twilight used to do when my sister was a filly," he explained. "It was cute back then, but it gets a little awkward whenever I see my wife do that last part at times. Being the Princess of Love and the Crystal Princess, she can be a bit of a tease around me."

"Odd...and I didn't need to know that much about your marital life." Spike soon came down the stairs to find out what the commotion was, surprised and excited to see their family had come for a visit.

"Hey! What a surprise!" the baby dragon leapt down the stairs and ran up to Twilight Velvet and Night Light, catching them in a group hug.

"There's the big dragon!" Night Light said. "You must have grown a couple inches after we last saw you at the wedding."

"Hopefully, you're not burning any books by accident," Twilight Velvet said.

"Well, maybe a couple times by pure accident. What are you all doing here?" Spike asked.

Finally snapping out of her shock, Twilight brushed past Cadence and approached her parents, wearing a nervous grin as she began to sweat. "Yes! I was just wondering that as well! Why are all of you down here? And not in Canterlot to scold me for missing out on dinner yesterday?"

"We were a little bit concerned as to where you had been last night, sweetheart," Night Light said. "Usually, you're not one to be late for anything. But, seeing how many friends you have down here and that strapping young lad of a coltfriend as your noble knight, we thought you were having a bit too much fun and finally getting out and having a good time. Several years late, but you're having fun with others instead of your books."

"Speaking of, where is you 'strapping young lad of a coltfriend'?" Twilight Velvet questioned, her tone suddenly a bit darker compared to earlier, frightening Aqua a little bit as the mare was in "overly-protective mother" mode. "He's not trying to sneak out of your bedroom through the windows, is he?"

Twilight blushed heavily as her mother insinuated the two of them had an intimate night together. "Mom!"

"I do know a little spell after seeing your brother washing his already cleaned sheets whenever Cadence came over for a 'study date' before they suddenly got messy, so don't lie to me, Twilight." Shining Armor blushed while Cadence stifled her giggles at the mention of their teenage years when Velvet and Night Light were out and were alone, aside from Twilight, which they were thankful for her being too engrossed in her books and studying.

"Mom, Riku wasn't even here to wake me up this morning," Twilight argued, unable to get rid of her blush as she would one day consider having him stay over and sleep with her, mostly because of how cold it could get in the winter if a blizzard was scheduled this year. Velvet raised a brow and gave her daughter a death glare, confirming her suspicions, making the lavender alicorn flinch at her poor explanation. "He has his own place and makes sure I wake up early in the morning! He doesn't live here!"

"Mhmm. And you are sure he isn't here right now, trying to hide from me knowing full well if he hurts my baby, I'm going to hurt him twice as hard?" Twilight Velvet said aloud as she looked around to find where Riku might be hiding.

"Mom. Seriously. He isn't here," Twilight said.

"What exactly was he waking you up so early for?" Night Light asked.

"Fitness training," Aqua immediately said, prompting the family to look at her. "Since Twilight is a princess, I thought I would offer my training sessions to her so she stays in shape. It would do her well to look her fittest in front of her subjects and away from all the books she needs. We started training just last week and she's already looking a lot trimmer with the regiments I had planned."

Twilight's family looked back at the alicorn, Aqua giving her a wink as she hid her true intentions of training her in front of ponies with no knowledge of the Keyblade. Twilight Velvet did notice her daughter looked a little bit slimmer, and as she approached her and touched her legs, she did seem to grow a little bit of muscle.

"My goodness. You did look a little different," she said. "I guess you chose the right pony for the job, even though her choice in apparel is quite...foreign."

Aqua's eye twitched in annoyance, her clothing the appropriate attire for a Keyblade wielder. Shining Armor and Cadence had noticed Aqua's clothes, finding it to be out of place in Equestria just like Sora, Riku, and Kairi's clothing.

"That's because...she's from the far east," Twilight said, taking a moment to try to give Aqua a fake backstory to her origins that won't get her in trouble for revealing to her parents that other worlds exist outside of theirs. "It's a uhh...a tradition to wear clothing like hers for everything, including training, formal events, and even combat!"

Twilight immediately slapped her hoof against her mouth, regretting having her panic run her mouth before her brain could tell her to shut up before releasing unknown information. "Combat? She doesn't seem to be the fighting type."

"Looks can be deceiving, Night Light," Aqua said, deciding to take over for Twilight's fake background for her before she had a heart attack. "I actually am skilled with a blade, my family coming from a long line of soldiers. Even the mares are born with the skill to fight back home."

"And you are also our daughter's bodyguard?" Twilight Velvet asked curiously.

"No, no. Just her fitness instructor. My name is Aqua, by the way." The mare bowed her head. "Nice to meet you all."

As Aqua talked with Night Light and Twilight Velvet, the parents wanting to know a bit more about the unicorn, Shining walked up to Twilight, curious to know if his theory with who Aqua was correct. "So, is Aqua another...'otherworlder' like Sora and his friends?"

"Yeah, and she has a Keyblade, too," Twilight whispered back. "She's also a master who was lost in the Realm of Darkness for almost fifteen years, so she's teaching us about what we didn't know about the Keyblade."

"...Wait, what do you mean by 'us'?" Twilight giggled nervously, surprised to know Cadence didn't tell Shining Armor about what happened during her visit to the human world. The stallion soon caught on to his little sister's nervous laugh, his jaw dropping in shock. "You have one too!?"

"It's a long story. Just don't tell mom and dad about it. I was already Princess Celestia's prized pupil, I ascended to an alicorn princess, and now I'm also a protector of light with my own Keyblade." Shining Armor was understandably frustrated, his little sister getting herself into more trouble than expected.

"I don't believe this," he muttered. "Those Heartless monsters are dangerous enough as it is, and now you're learning how to fight using one of those Keyblades? How did it even happen!? You're not suited for combat unless it's with magic, and even in that kind of fight, I still don't want you getting yourself hurt!"

"Well, whether you like it or not, I have to learn how to defend myself with a Keyblade and help defend our home from those same Heartless. And I am still really sore just from training all of last week, out in the cold, learning the basics of swinging it around." Twilight groaned and rubbed her forelegs "Aqua's not a teacher to take things likely when it comes to fighting. Now I know how you felt during your days at boot camp for the Royal Guard."

They soon heard Night Light yelp, hearing him get slammed into the ground as he groaned in pain. The siblings turned to see their father was on the ground in a daze, flipped over by Aqua as she grabbed his hoof and held him down.

"Whoa," the stallion said, quite impressed by the blue unicorn mare's strength despite her figure. "You could probably pin my son down, and he was Captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot."

"What just happened?" Twilight asked.

"Your father was judging her appearance as a soldier and wanted to see how tough she was," Cadence said. "Needless to say, I think he was proven wrong. Very quickly."

Twilight face-hooved at her father's overzealous curiosity, probably breaking his back with that throw Aqua gave. "So, why are you guys here? Besides wondering about why Spike and I didn't show up in Canterlot yesterday?"

"We thought it would be a great idea to spend Hearth's Warming with you and your friends," Twilight Velvet said as she helped her husband back on his hooves, the older stallion rubbing his sore back. "It would be better to get to know everypony else you befriended. And see how you and your coltfriend are doing."

"...Oh...Great," Twilight said, chuckling nervously, her friends spending the holiday with her family not really a good idea. With all the random amounts of trouble Ponyville can get into, along with a possible Heartless attack, it was a mystery as to what was going to happen, and she didn't want her parents, brother, and sister-in-law to get caught in the middle of the chaos that ensues. That, and she didn't want to call forth her Keyblade to help fend off a Heartless attack and have her parents panic with her already being a princess, not to mention explaining how she gained a sword shaped like a giant key. "That's...fun?"

"And what fun it will be!" Pinkie shouted as she hung upside down above everyone.

Everyone leapt back in surprise as the party pony landed on the ground, with no indication she came in or was hanging off of anything on the ceiling. "Pinkie, what are you doing here?"

"My Pinkie Sense told me some new ponies were here in Ponyville, and lucky for me, it's Twilight's family!" Pinkie explained. "Don't worry! I already told everypony else to come on down to have a superly-duperific Hearth's Warming party! They should be arriving soon!"

Twilight's eye twitched as Pinkie had planned a party, at her home, with her family, for the holiday, all without her permission. "Where did she come from?"

"An excellent question, Mr. Twilight's dad!" Pinkie pulled out two dolls of her parents from behind her, baffling Twilight's parents even more as they questioned how an earth pony like her was able to do stuff like this. "When a mommy pony and a daddy pony love each other very much-"

"No no no, dearie," Twilight Velvet interrupted, already knowing exactly where she came from in life and quickly avoiding the embarrassing topic. "We meant how did you get in here?"

"Ohhhhh...The front door was open." The lavender alicorn behind Pinkie slapped her forehead, her answer highly implausible from where she arrived.

"...But...you came from-" Twilight shook her head as she approached her confused parents.

"Don't bother questioning Pinkie Pie, mom, dad," she said. "Just...Just don't..."

---

Hearth's Warming came and went, and to Twilight's surprise, it went pretty well. There was no random disaster that came from the Everfree Forest, no Heartless, no sudden appearance of a diabolical villain thought to have been beaten a thousand years ago, nothing. It was a usual Pinkie Pie Hearth's Warming party, the rest of their friends joining the soirée with Twilight's family and Aqua. Unfortunately, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were out using their new gliders and trained at the Mirage Arena together to try to beat some of the other challenges, either solo or teamed up. They had missed the party as they returned after training and flying off to other worlds, especially one where Sora wanted to rub his thoughts in Riku's face.

Early the next morning, Twilight got herself ready for more training and began stretching, a bit of advice from Shining Armor before doing any physical activity and would help leaving her less sore after each training drill Aqua put her through. She was glad to have her older brother want to be a part of the Royal Guard, even though notes from any health and physical educational books could tell her the same thing. Before she left, the library door opened as Riku sulked his way inside, an irritated expression on his face as he collapsed on the couch.

"Where were you yesterday?" Twilight asked.

"...I...hate...Sora..." The alicorn sighed and sat down next to him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well, we spent most of the day at the Mirage Arena, getting some training in and fighting the Unversed in those challenges," Riku explained. "Then, as soon as we were done for the day, he wanted to take us to a detour to a place called Halloween Town. I saw where he got his Nightmare Night costume idea from, but the magic to make us fit in actually makes him look like an authentic...vampire, bat-thing?"

"...So, the outfits you wore were terrible?" Twilight questioned, not seeing the point of Riku's spite toward Sora.

"I was a living skeleton while Kairi was a werewolf. That was actually the best part." Riku sat up and began pulling at his mane. "What's worse is where we went after we got there. He lead us to a circle of trees that had holiday symbols on them, lead Kairi and I to a Christmas tree door, and we wound up in a winter wonderland, our costumes changed to fit the theme with festive clothing. But it was in that little town, that one sign that read 'North Pole', and walking into a large building...There he was."

"Can you please just clarify what it was that's got you so-?" Riku suddenly grabbed Twilight's shoulders, bumped his muzzle against hers, and stared into her eyes with his bloodshot ones.

"Santa Claus is real!" he exclaimed. "I was actually in the North Pole, in Santa's workshop, AND I met him! And he knew everything about me: my full name, my birthday, what presents I got from him on Christmas when I was little, everything! And Sora kept constantly bugging me the whole time we were there, on the way back, and until we split up to go to bed! I barely slept a wink last night because...because he's real! And Sora was right all along!" Riku slowly sank into the couch, his head falling in Twilight's lap as he stared off into space, both still in shock and mad at Sora for being right. "My name was on that list...In his handwriting...I thought he was just a fairy tale, but he really does exist..."

Feeling awkward with Riku's mental state at the moment, Twilight gently lifted his head up, stood up from the couch, and laid his head back down on the sofa. "Ok...I think you need some sleep. I need to do some more training." She levitated a blanket and covered the stunned stallion, giving him a light peck on the cheek. "I'll be back later this evening. Or you can come out and watch when you're...done with your episode."

Seeing Riku was content lying on the couch, mumbling to himself as he switched from irritation to anger to fear over what he experienced yesterday, Twilight made her way out of the library to meet up with Aqua. Since her family was staying over after the party, Twilight Velvet made her way out into the living room as she stepped out of the guest room she and Night Light were staying in. She spotted Riku on the couch and was about to give him a mouthful for not being with his marefriend for Hearth's Warming, but after seeing the shuddering frame of the young stallion as he muttered to himself, she decided to let it slide, feeling pity for whatever dangerous mission he must have been on that put him in such a state.

---

"Agh!" Twilight skid across the ground as she sparred with Aqua, her teacher knocking her down fairly easily as she tried to hit the unicorn. Twilight stood up, panting heavily after the last half hour trying to land a hit on Aqua. She was getting a little better with the constant training, but if she was able to use magic in her fights, she could have a chance of hitting her at least once. "This is a lot harder than I thought."

"Are you done, Twilight?" Aqua mocked, goading the alicorn into fighting more. "I barely broke a sweat. Do I have to go easier on a princess who focuses more on her books than her subjects?"

"I didn't say I was going to give up!" Twilight gripped her Keyblade tightly in her mouth and rushed forward. "And don't disrespect my love of books!"

Aqua smirked, blocking another strike from Twilight as she began to fight harder, urged on by the taunt she gave. If there was one way to get someone to give their all, they had to pinch a raw nerve a little bit, and with how aggressive Twilight was with her swings, but her eyes showing focus on the battle and not the taunt goading her to fighting, the unicorn can tell she was getting better after the training they did so far. But Twilight was still a beginner and still learning the ropes.

Twilight began to defend as Aqua struck back, making sure to shift her Keyblade perpendicular to her teacher's strikes. Unfortunately, the alicorn's stamina may have been increased due to her ascension, but not by much, and she was tiring out too quickly. She backed away, evading a slash from Aqua, the Keyblade Master lunging forward and thrusting her blade at Twilight. Time slowed around the alicorn, her new instinct happening just like before when she tried to break through the vines made by Discord to give the Tree of Harmony back the Elements of Harmony.

Reacting quickly, Twilight surprised Aqua as she swiftly blocked the thrust and parried, throwing the unicorn off balance. Taking the advantage, Twilight struck Aqua's Keyblade out of her mouth, then spun around as she used one of her hind legs to sweep her master's hooves out from under her. Aqua fell and spun on her back, not seeing the swift leg sweep that was faster than she could blink, only looking up to see the snow falling down on them and an exhausted alicorn panting heavily, her Keyblade aimed right at her face. The older mare was speechless, staring at Twilight in shock and awe at how she managed to subdue her after only a week into her training.

"...Ok...I think we can take a break," Aqua said.

Twilight let out a heavy sigh and collapsed on her side, dropping her weapon as she caught her breath. She was still surprised at how she was able to do something like that again, a useful latent instinct she never knew she had, but how to utilize it to its full potential was a mystery. She figured that they only occurred during certain moments in combat or whenever she was in danger, seeing as it gave her athleticism similar to Sora's or Riku's with how fast she moved doing that.

"H-How...did I...do that?" Twilight asked as she panted.

"I should be the one asking you that," Aqua said, sitting next to Twilight. "That looked like something Sora or Riku could possibly do with how fast you moved."

"Maybe..." After Twilight began breathing normally, she sat up and winced, her muscles sore from the sparring they did. "It happened before, back when Discord's plunder-seed vines attacked Ponyville and kidnapped the princesses, Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Those vines struck me and flailed me around, but suddenly, time began to move slow, and some part of me told me to react in some way. I followed that instinct and avoided getting slammed into the ceiling of the cave, using the momentum to slice through the vines and save the Tree of Harmony."

"Immediate reaction timing," Aqua muttered, pressing a hoof to her chin as she thought. "As a Keyblade wielder, some may have abilities and magical powers only they can use unlike others. Each one of us has a unique strength and weakness, and sometimes, latent powers can be unleashed with the right timing or with guidance from an expert with the same skill." She looked up at the sky, watching the snowflakes fall as they land on and around her. "Mine was more around powerful magic spells, most of them based around Blizzard.

"When I was a novice, I was a master with casting spells, but physical combat wasn't my forte. I tried to raise my stamina as best as I could, but even though I can't really hit as hard as Terra could have, I didn't get exhausted after several minutes in battle." Aqua sighed and shook her head, unable to get rid of the memorable moments in her past after losing her friends and suffering in darkness for so many years. "I can't seem to get all these memories out of my head. It's sad to remember them now, but I can never forget how we got where we are now."

"You really miss Terra and Ventus." Aqua nodded sadly, Twilight lowering her head, never once experiencing the same feelings the older mare had. "I guess I'm lucky. I never started making any friends until a couple years ago, and I'm learning more about friendship every day. I thought of it as nothing more than a report to make, but after meeting my friends, they mean a whole lot to me...I'm actually glad Princess Celestia sent me here during the Summer Sun Celebration that day, otherwise I would have been living a boring life reading my books every day."

"Both our mentors cared greatly about our futures, huh?" Twilight nodded her head in agreement.

"Pushing us to learn new things, making us better in our abilities, while also guiding us in the right moments," Twilight said, which Aqua agreed wholeheartedly.

"I wish you all would have met him," Aqua sadly said. "He was very wise and quite skilled...but after hearing from Terra what he tried to do to Ven and after his death..." She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head, throwing away the thought of her master attacking his own students by force. Even if Ventus was meant to be Xehanort's vessel for the X-blade, she didn't want to believe that Eraqus would ever do any harm to those he treated like his own children. "I don't want to believe he would have ever hurt us intentionally...But Terra said he attacked Ven...because he knew Ven was used to make the X-blade...He had a reason...but..."

Xehanort's words mocked her, giving them a history lesson to the ultimate Keyblade that many other wielders lost their lives in achieving, leading to his plans for them to give them such misery and strain on their friendship.

Behold...These lifeless keys used to be full of power; united with the hearts of their masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat...as a great Keyblade War raged. Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me... X-blade!

Seeing the crazed look in the old man's eyes as he pointed at Ventus angered Aqua, vowing to him that she would never let anything happen to him with Terra helping her. But they couldn't; Terra had lost his heart and body to Xehanort, Ventus was taken over by Vanitas as the unfinished X-blade was held in his hands, only for Ventus to finally beat his darkness, destroying his heart in the process as it was lost somewhere beyond her reach, and she stupidly saved Terra after defeating him with Xehanort's power, trapping herself in the Realm of Darkness in his place and causing more pain to three other friends, as well as more worlds. She wanted nothing more than to inflict the same pain he brought upon everyone, get revenge in any way. She wanted to burn him alive, stab him repeatedly through the heart with her master's Keyblade, strangle him after impaling him with a large icicle made from a Blizzard spell-

"Aqua?" The mare gasped, so lost in her thoughts and plans for vengeance to control her anger. Already, the air around her felt colder, some of the snowflakes around her turned to hail that rested on the ground around her. She looked at Twilight, seeing the frightened expression on her face the moment the temperature around her dropped heavily. "Are-Are you ok?"

Aqua tried to calm down, breathing deeply and shifted her thoughts elsewhere, but it was impossible to get Xehanort out of her mind after what had happened back then. "S-Sorry...I just-" It was getting harder for her to control her anger, the illusion of Xehanort's words while she was knocked for a loop during Nightmare Night after losing against the Dark Hide invaded her mind, both fearing the possible darkness she could have just from her rage against him alone that were controlling her mind and frustrated at him mocking her as she was close to giving in to her fate dying to the monster that hunted her for so many years. "I-I have to go!"

Aqua quickly ran, wanting to be far enough away before she exploded and unleashed another magical surge. "Aqua, wait!"

Twilight was about to run after her, but Aqua cast Stop on the alicorn, not wanting to accidentally hurt her as soon as she lost control. She ran as fast as she could, Xehanort's voice constantly echoing all around her, mocking her and inviting her to succumb to the darkness she fought against. Her ears pressed hard against her head, wanting to tear them off and deafen herself just to stop hearing his voice over and over.

"Darkness will prevail over the light."

"Join your friends."

"All worlds began in darkness, and all will end in darkness as well."

"Don't fight the darkness. Embrace it."

"Your light is weak and will soon be consumed by darkness."

Aqua managed to run out into the same clearing she fought the Dark Hide in before her lungs burned for oxygen, falling to the ground and covering her ears with her hooves as tears streamed down her face. She grew more angry and began to grow scared, unable to focus enough to transform her Keyblade into her glider to leave and prevent the magic surge from happening. Her mind snapped as an image of Terra and Ventus appeared before her, only to be turned into Terra-Xehanort and Ventus-Vanitas.

---

A moment later out in the fields, Twilight began to move again, the spell disorienting her from the sudden time stop as she fell to the ground. She shook her head of the cobwebs and stood up. As she looked around to find out where Aqua had run off to, she suddenly had chills down her spine, not from the cold, but from a very powerful source of magic about to be unleashed not too far from Ponyville. She heard the sound of a million icicles shooting out from the ground and turned to where it came from, her jaw dropping in shock at the sight of a massive pillar of ice, its apex reaching several hundred feet in the sky, about as tall as Canterlot Castle. She flinched as a shockwave of blistering cold air flew out in the radius of where the ice pillar stood, making the temperature drop heavily for a moment before it slowly warmed back to its original temperature for the day.

"Oh no," Twilight muttered. "Another magical surge...and it's worse than the last time."

Twilight quickly flew back into Ponyville, needing some help to control Aqua's emotional rage before her magic surge caused any danger if she moved closer to the town. She didn't blame her master for freezing her with a Stop spell; she didn't want to harm or destroy anyone around her, memories of her past that haunted her and forced her anger out of control as she knew she wasn't able to calm down this time. Twilight hoped Aqua won't hurt herself in the process, and with the others' help, they might help her before she unleashes a dangerous blizzard like the Windigos of the Hearth's Warming lore.

Comments

[timbo8]

aqua is hurting :(

[ShadowLight96]

Poor aqua. And kairi is evil.

[BenictheHedgehog]

At least we now know why Kairi was smirking and I can't say sora did not deserve it when it was the best payback for her to keep him in line. though Sora did get his own on Riku from when he saw those pictures. but the one out of them all that is suffering the hardest was Aqua and I feel like she needs them now more than anything.

With Aqua's anger unleashed and in control for destruction, it was on a rampage to destroy those within its path. Will Aqua ever recover from the cold darkness inside her that Xehanort and the Realm of Darkness has left in her heart? How will Sora and the others stop her magic surge from hurting others? and can Twilight's friendship of light be strong enough to save Aqua? Find out next time, on My Little Pony Soras Misadventures in Equestria!

[Spettro138]

imagesmtv-a.akamaihd.net/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/captain-cold-1425040446.gif
Leonard Snart (Captain Cold): Trying to steal my act huh? Sweetheart, I made freezing things cool before it was popular.

[Codex92]

7768173 And then we have fifteen chapters of constant fighting and random dialogue in between, delaying the story further with at least six hours of combat and world destroying!

[JRPG FAN]

Next chapter it is happening, Aqua has hit the boiling point or freezing in this case.

p.s.
Do you realy try to make up some abilities for Twilight even though i don't think they have anything to do with the keyblade but with the individual evolving in combat.

[BenictheHedgehog]

7768226 lol good one. plus I figure the moment needed it to kinda get people pump for the next one you have planned. and I am sure that sooner or later Twilight will want to meet Riku and Sora's parents along with seeing their real home sooner or later. since you know when Twilight's mom and dad start to ask about Riku's parents and they need a cover up for it.

[timbo8]

codex92 are you going to make another orginal christmas chapter?

[Codex92]

7769030 I think it's more around how far Twilight's come to growing into combat with her Keyblade that her own abilities shine through with enough training. Plus, considering she's the link to activate the Elements of Harmony, she could inherit some strengths from her friends that could aid her in the right moments.
7769636 Oh boy. That's going to be an awkward moment for Riku when that might come up (or not). Imagine telling your parents, "Hey, mom, dad! I'm dating a horse! She's actually intelligent and adorable and we've been going out for a while! Do you like her!?" And then chaos ensues.
7770149 I'm not entirely sure, but not likely. I don't really have any ideas for one at the moment, what with life, school, and maybe finding a job up where I'm living now. But maybe in the next season's chapters, after "Hearthbreakers", maybe I'll be able to make one. Very delayed christmas special will be very delayed.

[BenictheHedgehog]

7770502 well the only way around that is if Twilight had herself be a human in their world. hm, I wonder if their is a spell that she can use that turn her human? maybe one that she can use from a certain key episode when we get to it. ;)

[Codex92]

7772501 If there's going to be a spell for anything that's useful, Twilight will obviously find it. And she kind of did with transforming Sora and Kairi into dragons during Dragon Quest...Sounds intriguing with that idea now brought back to me. Maybe because, at the moment, I am on loopy medication to help me sleep and am on the verge of fainting...Don't do drugs! They is bad! Unless they're medically approved by doctors for medical reasons!

[PrinceDuskRiser]

"Santa's just a story made up to get kids to behave themselves to get presents," Riku explained. "If he does exist, I'll do whatever Sora humiliating things he wants me to do for a whole year. But, that's not going to happen in a million years."

At that moment Murphy knew it was time.

[Codex92]

7778943 A little bit, yeah. Not really good when trying to be creative through description, but both Sora's and Riku's armor are designed a little differently beside color scheme. And I have not played KH3D just yet, but when 2.8 comes out, I will most definitely go through it. Even if Aqua's presence and how she escaped the Realm of Darkness won't exactly be like how everything will go in the Final Chapter Prologue, that game won't be canon in the story, but I'll at least get a better understanding of 3D without constantly seeing spoilers of the game in the comments, especially when linking videos when discussing different matters. To quote Rarity in "Saddle Row Review", " NO SPOILERS! "