• Published 18th Apr 2013
  • 6,695 Views, 213 Comments

Kingdom Hearts: Friendship is Magic - Mudkipman98



The final battle between Sora and Xehanort was a failure. Sora is on his last legs and his friends have all been captured. When he refuses to help Xehanort, he is sent into darkness. What he finds on the other side surprises him above all else.

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Traverse Town part 1

When Sora and the ponies disembarked and entered through Traverse Town's massive First District doors, they found the area to be completely void of life. The nearby restaurant had no customers, and not even the candles at the tables were lit. Huey, Dewey, and Louie's shop had a closed sign on it, and the Accessory Shop lights were out. Even Gepetto's gummi ship workshop had its windows boarded up.

"This place is an absolute ghost town," said Rarity, stepping forward to stand next to Sora. "What could have happened here?"

"I'm not sure," said Sora. "This used to be a great world. Everything was good here, but now it all looks deserted."

Across the way, in the Accessory Shop window, Applejack noticed a slight disturbance. It took her a second to make it out, but it appeared to be a man beckoning the group to the shop. "Uh, Sora?" asked Applejack. "Who's that in the window?"

It took Sora a second to recognize the face, but he eventually made it out. "Cid," he said. "Come on everyone. Let's hurry." Sora ran forward and was soon followed by the ponies to the Accessory Shop where the door opened to allow entry.

Once inside, the door shut behind them and the lights turned on to reveal Cid, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Tifa(1). "Sora?" asked Leon. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to fight Xehanort."

"I did, but I couldn't beat him," said Sora in regret.

"So that's why all the heartless are stronger," said Cid. "They've been attackin' everyone left an' right ever since that big one showed up."

"How big?" asked Twilight.

"Very," said Cid. "It showed up in the Second District up on the Gizmo Shop, and it hasn't left since."

"We've been working hard to determine what caused it to show up, but so far, we've got nothing," said Aerith.

"Tifa, Leon and I have been fighting the heartless in the streets," said Yuffie. "It's a good thing you showed up, Sora. By the way, who are your friends?"

"Oh, right. This is Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie," said Sora, motioning to each of them as he introduced them.

"Hiya!" said Pinkie in her normal enthusiastic voice.

"Hey, Tifa?" asked Sora. "Any sign of Cloud?"

Just then, the door opened to reveal the aforementioned swordsman standing with his sword hooked to his back. "Sora?" he said, slightly in surprise.

"Cloud!" he said back. "Did you beat Sephiroth?"

Cloud hung his head. "No. I lost him when we teleported in Hollow Bastion. I was searching for him, but I gave it up and decided that the next time I saw him, I wouldn't let the fight drag out. Cid found me on another world and brought me here, so here I am. What about you? Did you find your friends?"

"Yeah, but I kind of lost them again," said Sora, scratching the back of his head while he spoke. "I just can't keep track of 'em."

"Is that so?" said Cloud sarcastically. "So I take it you're here to help us with the heartless problem?"

"Sure," he said back. "What do you say guys? You think we can stick around to help?" he asked the ponies.

"I don't see why not," said Twilight.

"Yeah. It sounds like you'll need all the help you can get," said Applejack to Cid.

"I guess. Well, that is, if it's alright with you," said Fluttershy quietly.

"Let's do it!" yelled Pinkie.

"Then let's go and be done with it," said Rarity. She turned for the door when Sora stopped her.

"Hold on, Rarity," he said. "I need to talk with Cid for a second." Sora then turned to the gummi engineer. "I think I know why the heartless have been more active." Sora went on to explain what happened with Xehanort and fill in the rest of the group as to what happened in Equestria.

"So there's a whole world of these ponies out there?" asked Cid, almost in disbelief. "Humph, now I've seen everything."

"And what in the hay that supposed to mean?" asked Applejack, stretching her neck out and raising an eyebrow (2).

"Nothin'," said Cid dismissively. "So Sora, what's yer plan?"

"Well, I've got none really. I guess we should just head over to the Second District and fight it. Unless there's a way to weaken it first," said Sora. He crossed his arms and lowered his head in thought.

"There might be a way," said Leon. "When it appeared, these balls of darkness started showing up on the walls and streets. They're big blobs of the stuff, and I bet that's where the heartless is getting most of its power. If you destroy those, it should weaken the heartless in the town and the big one all at once, not to mention slowing down the flow of darkness through the town."

"That makes sense," said Twilight, now deep in thought herself. "Cid, can I see a map of the town?" Cid proceeded to give Twilight a simple map which detailed the outline of the four districts and the paths that connected them. "Let's split up. Applejack, you lead Rarity and Pinkie Pie into the Fourth District and the Fountain Plaza. Sora and Fluttershy, we'll take the Third District and that hut out in the cave. Leon, Cloud, and Yuffie, you guys handle the Gizmo Shop's heartless, but don't go to the roof. We'll need everyone's help to beat it. Aerith, Cid, and Tifa, head to the Second District and destroy the balls of darkness there, if any. If not, head to the alleyways that connect the Fountain Plaza to the First District. There might not be as many heartless there, but the more we defeat, the better. If that heartless decides to attack you, though, leave as soon as possible. Sound good?"

The gang responded with a simultaneous nod.

"Good luck," said Cid as he, Aerith, and Tifa left through the front doors.

"See ya'll back here," said Applejack, leading her team out the doors and to the Fourth District.

"See you soon," said Sora as he led Twilight and Fluttershy out into the First District. As he started descending the steps in front of the Accessory shop, Leon came out of the doors and stopped him.

"Sora, be careful. The heartless are much stronger now than they've ever been," he said.

"Thanks, Leon," said Sora back.

"Also, the moogles in the top of the Accessory shop are back in business. I suggest you stop by and synthesize a few things before moving on. They might come in handy," said Leon. He then handed Sora a bag of synthesis items and went back inside, no doubt to prepare his team.

"Maybe we should take a look," said Twilight. "If we had more equipment, we might stand a better chance of beating the heartless."

"Okay," agreed Sora. "Then let's go." Together, Sora, Twilight, and Fluttershy walked up the stairs wrapping around the Accessory shop until they reached its back entrance. When they stepped inside, they were greeted by a moogle.

"Hey, Kupo," it said to everyone. "We'll be happy to assist you on your journey. Just talk to the moogle by the fireplace to get started."

Sora walked over to the fireplace and spoke to the moogle standing there while Twilight and Fluttershy marveled at the creatures in the room. They watched Sora hand the moogle a bag of items and then take another bag from it. He then returned.

"Hey guys, I got us some items," he said. He handed Twilight an Angel Bangle, Fluttershy a Mage Armlet, and for himself, another Angel Bangle. With the stat boosts that came with the accessories (stamina and magic power increases), he and his team were now powered up and ready to keep moving. "Just one more minute," he said. He then ran back to the moogle and synthesized a set of elixirs. He passed them out to the ponies and held a few for himself. "If you get stuck, don't hesitate to use them."

"What do they do?" asked Twilight as she swirled the golden liquid around inside the container.

"They'll instantly heal you like a Cure spell and they'll give you more energy to cast magic. They've helped me through some of my toughest challenges in the past, and they could help us even more on our journey."

"Okay," said Twilight as she accepted his answer. She made a mental note to test it as soon as she needed it. With that, the group made their way back into the open space of the First District. They advanced to the Third District doors and pushed them open, moving into the small area on the other side.

The Third District hadn't changed much. It was still an open area with lamp posts near the walls and a fountain in the back right corner that depicted Lady and the Tramp. The back left corner led to a door with a glowing fire emblem on it and to the party's immediate left was a staircase that led up to another set of doors leading to the Second District. Though, to say it hadn't changed at all would be a lie.

Several shadow orbs clung to the walls and one orb with tentacles seemingly made of darkness blocked the flame door. There were also a few shadow heartless crawling around in the floors.

"Come on," said Twilight in determination. "Let's waste 'em."

Sora was a little shocked to hear Twilight say 'waste them', but he went with it, nodding his head and saying, "Right." Together, the group summoned their keyblades and then lept forward, drawing the attention of the shadows. When they decided to surface, Sora and the ponies were already prepared to strike them down. One by one, the shadows fell with flashes of blades and strikes of magic. The group's defenses were impenetrable. Each member covered the other, creating a perfect defense. By mid-fight, the group stood back to back to form a triangular defense pattern.

When most of the shadows had been defeated, they backed off and melted into the ground, disappearing completely. Fluttershy relaxed, closed her eyes for a second and said, "Oh, thank goodness." It was a huge mistake to say the least.

The oversized shield of a defender slammed into her, cloaking her in darkness and sending her over Twilight and Sora's heads to crash into the fountain, denting the golden artwork and twisting the metal. When Sora saw Fluttershy's impact, his heart sank.

He turned on his heel and pointed his keyblade at the defender heartless, shouting, "Graviga!" The defender instantly compressed into a paper thin, cardboard cutout before dissolving into darkness, leaving its shield behind in a large, green chest. Sora turned again to find Twilight had left him and was already near the ruined fountain and Fluttershy.

Sora quickly rushed over to his fallen friend and watched Twilight begin to panic. "No..." he said quietly. Fluttershy had been covered in so much darkness that it had distorted the metal to form a cage of gold around her limp form. Twilight had no idea how to get her out. Sora thought fast and called out, "Fire!", launching a ball of superheated magic at the metal, dissolving it instantly.(3) He rushed forward and scooped up Fluttershy in his arms, who winced as he set her down.

Twilight rushed to her side. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy, speak to me," she said, fear deeply seated in her voice.

She opened her eyes ever so slightly that only a slit of bluish green could be seen. "Twilight?" she said slowly and weakly. Her breathing had become shallow and slower.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" asked Twilight, now frantic.

Fluttershy summoned her keyblade from its position next to the broken fountain into her hoof. She held it up and whispered, "Seal." The end of the keyblade released a stream of blue magic that found its way directly to Fluttershy's heart. She suddenly dropped the keyblade as her foreleg went limp and she fell unconscious. When her keyblade struck the ground, the flowers wilted and the vines turned a dark brown. It splintered and shattered into several pieces before disappearing into pure light.

"Fluttershy?" said Twilight with tears in her eyes. "Fluttershy? Fluttershy!" she yelled out as she shook her friend in a desperate attempt to wake her up, unfortunately getting the attention of the heartless. As they appeared through the darkness, Twilight continued to sit by her fallen friend, her body refusing to move. All sound became slurred and everything but Fluttershy's limp body in her hooves became blurry. She began to hear a voice calling out to her through the haze, and she did her best to focus on it.

"Twilight!" shouted Sora, desperate to get her attention. When Twilight turned her head, her eyes still wet, Sora kept talking. "Get her back to the Accessory Shop! I'll hold off the heartless!" When Twilight didn't move, Sora shouted, "Go!"

Twilight finally snapped out of it and picked Fluttershy up, putting her on her back and running towards the doors, pushing them open with her magic and proceeding back to the First District.

Sora, meanwhile, prepared himself for the massive horde of heartless that stood in front of him, ranging from shadows to large bodies to dark balls to air soldiers. He quickly thought about the technique that Fluttershy had used. She'd said "Seal" before she passed out. Sora guessed that she had sealed her heart like a keyhole, but he couldn't understand how she knew it. He had never learned or even heard of a technique like that, but he made a mental note to get back to it.

He instantly cast Reflect and watched as the heartless piled on his shield which he fought hard to maintain. After a few moments of standstill, the heartless were flung off of the barrier, most exploding on contact with the District's walls. Those that survived rushed back in, only to be met by several Thunder strikes. Few survived the lightning, so Sora ignored them and moved right onto the balls of darkness that still hung on the walls and in front of the fire door. He blasted them over and over again with Gravity spells and his homing Blizzard spells in an effort to quickly end them, but to no avail. He eventually destroyed several of them, but not before taking heavy damage from the balls' own defenses of Fire and arcing Thunder.

The heartless that he had left alive were also giving him trouble. While trying to destroy the balls of darkness, he was forced to guard or reflect the attacks of a few large bodies and dark balls. It was tough, but he managed to fight back the heartless and destroy most of the balls. Finally, the only ball of darkness that remained was that in front of the fire door. It began to glow with a fierce darkness, completely smothering the door behind it and creating more dark tentacles.

It was almost as if it knew the other balls had been destroyed and it was trying to make up for their lost power. Sora noticed this and opted for a new strategy. He held out his keyblade at the final dark ball, reaching deep inside his heart, and shouted, "Light!" From his keyblade, a light which burned with excellent brilliance arced towards the shadowy ball to pierce it like a massive needle. Darkness spread from the wound in the ball until it had deflated to half its size.

At that point, it took action. The massive tentacles that still stuck from the smaller dark ball suddenly lashed out, striking Sora before he had time to block. They left a bruise that would surface the next day across his chest in the shape of an X. Sora was knocked back hard and crashed into the far wall near the stairs that led to the Second District's entrance.

He looked up to see the ball had regained its size and was now putting out more darkness. Sora stood up slowly. He let his rage build as he thought about Fluttershy. The excellent pony he had come to love over time. Her timid voice and her rare instances of speech were one of the sweetest things about her. Sora wasn't ready to give her up. Not now, not ever. He would never give up his friends without a fight(4).

Sora cast Aero on himself before charging forward, casting Thunder all the way. As he ran forward, the Aero spell protected him from the fireballs while the Thunder spells he continued to cast destroyed the tentacles that were again lashing out at him.

Finally, he reached the dark ball and shoved his keyblade through its surface. He watched a light begin to grow in the deep darkness before seeping through the ball's surface to cause an explosion of light that bathed the entire district in warmth. When it cleared, Sora dismissed his keyblade and ran back towards the doors to the First District at breakneck speed.

/)*#*(\

As Twilight broke into the First District in a run, she started thinking about all the times she had spent with her shy friend. Could she really be gone just like that...?

No. No, that was impossible. She couldn't lose an Element of Harmony. Her friend. She was too important, both to Equestria and especially to Twilight and her friends.

As Twilight tried to make sense of the situation, she arrived at the Accessory Shop doors. They were locked, as to be expected. No heartless should get inside since it was Traverse Town's temporary place of safety.

Twilight set down Fluttershy and summoned her keyblade. She didn't do the logical thing; no, she was in no state to think logically. Instead, she started beating at the door with her keyblade in an attempt to break it open. Over and over she pounded the door, slowly but powerfully. Finally, she struck the door hard enough to break the lock and burst her way in, keyblade at the ready.

Inside, she was met with the shocked faces of the Traverse Town crew. She could even see her friends there, but something was wrong. They weren't moving.

"Twilight?" asked Leon curiously. She ignored him and turned around to pick up Fluttershy. She brought her unconscious friend inside and set her down next to the fireplace, leaning her up against the red brick. "What happened?" Twilight didn't say a word. She looked around at her friends that were leaned against the walls. Each one of them had scratches and bruises, and their chests were barely moving as they appeared to be struggling for breath.

"What happened to all of them?" asked Twilight coldly.

"We found them like this," said Leon. "We barely managed to clear the Second District of those orbs, so we decided to check how everyone else was doing. Since we had as much trouble as we did, we couldn't be sure if anyone else would need help. When we found the other groups though, they were like this. Unconscious and beaten."

Twilight moved to inspect each of her friends. Pinkie Pie's mane had deflated and Rarity's was a mess. Applejack had several long scratches down her side and, of course, Fluttershy wasn't moving. She didn't appear to have any sort of visible problems, though Twilight could feel the darkness around her heart.

Twilight backed up from Fluttershy and walked towards the door. "Twilight?" asked Aerith slowly. "Where are you going?" Twilight didn't answer as she left the Accessory Shop and shut the doors behind her. When she stepped out into the night air of Traverse Town's First District, she ran into Sora.

"Oh, Twilight," said Sora in surprise. "Is Fluttershy okay?" Twilight didn't respond. She shook her head no and ran off for the Second District, tears beginning to run down her face. Sora chose to enter the Accessory Shop instead of chase after her. She could handle herself against the garden variety heartless, right?

When Sora stepped into the shop, he ran into Aerith on her way out. "Where are you going?" he asked her, but she didn't respond either. He took a look around the shop and noticed the ponies propped against the walls. "What happened to them?" he asked Leon. Leon then told him of finding each of them and the struggle with the orbs.

Sora checked them over and came to the same conclusions as Twilight; they were all in terrible shape. Fluttershy seemed to be the worst off though. The darkness clouded her heart, making it almost impossible to reach. Almost. "Guys, I'm going away for a while," said Sora to the Traverse Town crew.

"What do you mean?" asked Yuffie.

"I took the mark of mastery exam with Riku a while back, and we learned a trick to let us dive into the dreams of sleeping worlds and hearts. I'm going to try to save Fluttershy. She was smart and sealed her heart away from the darkness with her keyblade. I'm going to unlock her heart and fight off the darkness."

"That's crazy!" said Leon. "If you're not careful, you could lose your heart!"

"Trust me," said Sora, putting on a cheesy smile. He summoned his keyblade and held it out towards Fluttershy's heart. He charged it with light and a portal appeared next to the yellow pegasus. "Protect everyone while I'm gone, okay?" he said to the group. They looked unsure, but they eventually nodded their heads. With that, Sora walked towards the portal, put his hand into it, and turned into small pieces of light that found their way into the portal.

/)*#*(\

Sora started falling right off the bat. No, he wasn't falling. He was diving. Diving into Fluttershy's heart to save her from the darkness that tried to swallow her.

As he flew, he encountered aerial nightmares that attempted to stop him and halt his fall. He quickly dealt with them by diving faster into them, either knocking them out of the sky or destroying them then and there. When Sora thought he had avoided all of the nightmares, he pulled his arms closer to his body and fell faster and faster until he began to slow and eventually come to an automatic stop over a stained glass window platform.

The stained glass depicted Fluttershy sleeping and holding her keyblade in her hoof, if that was at all possible for an animal with no opposable thumbs. Except, her keyblade was wilted and brown like it had been after Sora had freed her from the fountain and she was loosely wrapped in thick vines that were covered in long, sharp thorns. She seemed to be leaning against the edge of the platform, much like Ventus was in his heart. Near her head, a grouping of pictures in circular frames showed a butterfly, her pet rabbit Angel, a pink flower, and a broad leafed tree.

Sora touched down lightly on the edge of the platform and looked out over its surface. There didn't seem to be any heartless, and it looked peaceful overall. He took a few steps forward and soon found himself in the center of the platform. He stopped when he heard a voice.

"Sora?" asked the timid and soft voice of Fluttershy from behind him. He turned to see the pegasus standing by herself where Sora had landed.

"Fluttershy!" yelled Sora, pleasantly surprised. He broke into a run to reach Fluttershy, but when he got close, his joyful expression left his face. Fluttershy was definitely there and it was definitely her, but she was transparent. He could see that she wasn't physically effecting her environment. When Sora reached out to try and touch her, his hand passed through her cheek, leaving no mark but attracting the pegasus's attention.

"Sora, what's happening?" she asked, a slight hint of fear in her voice.

Sora hung his head, suddenly depressed. "You're fading away," he said. "That heartless did something to your heart, and now your seal is breaking. You've managed to hold on this long, but as soon as that seal is broken, the darkness will be able to reach your heart and you'll...you'll..." Sora couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. He felt close to tears when he felt a hoof touch his shoulder. He looked up to see Fluttershy had fully materialized.

"No," she said as she smiled at Sora. "I won't give up. I can't afford to. My friends need me."

"But, your heart... It's already fading," said Sora. He turned around to see that part of the platform had eroded away, leaving it without the four pictures next to Fluttershy's head.

"I'm not ready to go yet," she said, now filled with determination. She backed away slightly from Sora, being careful not to fall off the edge, and she held out her hoof. In a large flash of light, her keyblade appeared in it. Though, it wasn't the same. It had the same general look of the vines forming the blades and with pink flowers blooming on the ends, but it was bigger than before. The flowers were larger and there were more vines. They appeared to be thicker, and overall, the keyblade had increased 10% in size.

"Fluttershy, this is amazing," said Sora. He turned back around to see the platform gradually rebuilding itself. His hope that his friend would survive was beginning to strengthen.

A thin line of white light suddenly appeared across the platform, cutting it perfectly in two. The whole platform shook as the two pieces split apart, leaving a wide chasm in the middle. Fluttershy suddenly fell on her knees and dropped her keyblade. She began gasping for breath before finally regaining control. She stood up slowly and picked up her keyblade, shouldering it and looking at the destruction that had just racked her heart.

She and Sora now stood on one half of her heart. The other was about thirty yards away, but it was still standing.

Out of the chasm floated a figure in a black cloak. The figure had two large, red eyes and it had purple and pink designs on the end of its arms. "The Nightmare," said Sora to himself. Fluttershy managed to hear it.

"The what?" she asked, afraid again.

"The Nightmare. It haunted me in my dreams as Riku and I took our Mark of Mastery exam. But Riku destroyed it and saved me. What's it doing here?" The Nightmare summoned its dark sword and held it at its side. It then summoned a second sword, much larger than the last, in its free hand. This sword was very similar to Xehanort's keyblade, though it was dark purple and didn't have the same strength of darkness.

The Nightmare suddenly rushed forward, gliding over the air toward Sora and Fluttershy. Sora summoned his keyblade and guarded the Nightmare's attack, allowing Fluttershy to strike at it while Sora kept its swords occupied. Fluttershy landed a clean strike against the Nightmare, knocking it back through the air. As soon as it reached the chasm in Fluttershy's heart, it fell in.

"Come on, Fluttershy," said Sora. "We have to stop it."

"Are you sure?" asked the pegasus as she shook in fear. "Can't we just leave it alone?"

"If we leave it in your heart, you won't recover. We have to destroy it now before it's too late! Now come on." Sora ran toward the chasm and jumped straight in, going for a headfirst dive. Instead of diving, he fell flat on his face on the wall of the chasm.

"Are you okay?" asked Fluttershy as she peered over the chasm.

"I'm fine," he grunted in pain as he cast a Cure spell on himself. "Be careful. The gravity changes when you get here." To Fluttershy, he appeared to be standing on the wall. She quickly put together how it worked and took a few steps off of her platform, immediately stepping onto the wall.

As Fluttershy joined Sora further down the wall, they could see the Nightmare hovering even further down. "Ready?" asked Sora with a confident smile.

"Yes. I mean, if you are," she said sheepishly.

/)*#*(\

The Nightmare started by melting into the ground like a shadow. Though, black on black made it impossible for Sora and Fluttershy to see it. "Aero," said Sora as he cast it on Fluttershy and himself. He cast it was just in time. The Nightmare came up under Fluttershy and struck her with both of its swords. She was knocked into the air and couldn't correct herself. Had it not been for the Aero spell, she would have gone down then and there. While she was suspended, the Nightmare teleported away and summoned a red pillar of darkness under her. The darkness struck her repeatedly in the air, making her scream in pain before knocking her out cold. She dropped to the surface of her own heart, not moving.

Sora looked out toward the Nightmare as it attempted the same attack on him. He dodged rolled out of the way in time and countered with a homing Fire spell that struck the Nightmare in its chest. It was stunned for a moment, giving Sora a chance to Strike Raid it a couple of times before it regained its balance and tried a different attack.

It summoned a pool of red darkness under Sora which quickly covered him, beating him harshly and leaving him out of breath on the ground. He cast Cure on himself and then looked up to see the Nightmare running at him, both of its swords pulsing with red darkness.

Sora could barely guard its attacks in time. He quickly lifted his keyblade to guard the first couple of strikes, then jumped back and into the air to guard the rest.

As the heartless knocked him higher and higher, he began to build up energy in his keyblade. When the Nightmare lost its ability to keep flying to attack Sora, it began to fall back down to the ground, giving Sora the chance to counter while it was in midair. As the Nightmare fell, Sora pointed his keyblade at it and unleashed a blast of light from the end, creating a beam that lanced through the Nightmare. When it struck the ground, it simply melted into it instead of taking damage from the fall.

Before Sora could touch down, he was met with the same pillar of red darkness that had caught Fluttershy. He held on as he was attacked from every direction at once by the darkness.

When it stopped, he found himself on the brink of passing out. He quickly used one of the elixirs he had created earlier to heal himself as he continued to search for the Nightmare. It was nowhere in sight.

Sora quickly gathered that it was behind him when he felt the Nightmare's swords continuously strike his back. He was pushed forward by each blow until he could no longer stand. At that point, the Nightmare knocked him into the air, teleported above him, then slammed him down hard into the ground.

All of the air left Sora's body as he lay there, motionless. He was still conscious, but he couldn't find the strength to move. As he shut his eyes, preparing for the end, he suddenly felt a warmth reach his heart.

He was filled with energy and he jumped high into the air in one fluid motion of moving into a crouch and then a jump. In mid air, he dove down on top of the Nightmare and struck it into the ground with his keyblade. It stopped moving momentarily, allowing Sora to focus on the source of the power. He soon found it. The power was coming from Fluttershy.

When Sora looked over to her, she was standing again, even though she had to lean on her keyblade for support. She glowed with a green aura that was also surrounding Sora. She suddenly disappeared and before Sora knew it, he was surrounded by a hexagonal barrier and hovering in place. He knew what was going on, but he was mainly curious to know what he would look like and what new power would be granted.

When the barrier exploded away from him, he touched back down on the ground. When he looked at his clothes, they had turned a bright green with brown accents. His keyblade had also changed. He was now holding Fluttershy's keyblade. A voice seemed to whisper in his head, "Gaia Form."

The voice continued to speak, explaining the workings of the new drive form. "This form revolves around supportive skills and earth based magic, a skill you have yet to master. For now, you may only use Earth magic while in this form."

"Great. So now I'm getting advice from voices in my head," said Sora to himself.

"Here it comes!" warned Fluttershy frantically, getting Sora's attention from inside his heart. Sora took notice of the Nightmare now charging toward him, both swords yet again covered with a fierce darkness.

Sora reacted quickly by casting Aero on himself followed by a dodge roll to the right and a counter attack. He landed a solid blow to the Nightmare, knocking it back a little. Sora then decided to give the new Earth magic a try.

He started to focus his energy into his keyblade until he felt it had built to a good level. When it was ready, he stuck Fluttershy's keyblade into the ground and called out, "Quake!" Where the Nightmare stood, a pillar of rock and dirt erupted from beneath it to impale the dark creature. It stopped for a moment, frozen in mid air. Then, it slowly dissolved into darkness and fell apart, disappearing from Fluttershy's heart.

/)*#*(\

Fluttershy and Sora separated, leaving them both out of energy. The inner surface of Fluttershy's heart began to shake as the two pieces started to move closer and closer together. "Come on, Fluttershy! Run!" yelled Sora. They immediately started running for the top of Fluttershy's heart where the stained glass was. As they ran, the gravity seemed to change back to normal ever so slightly until Fluttershy had to fly and Sora was only still running up the 'wall' because of his inertia.

When Fluttershy reached the top, she couldn't see Sora anywhere. She looked down into the now rapidly closing crack to see Sora hanging onto his keyblade that was stuck into the 'wall'. "Sora!" she yelled down to him.

As Sora hung on for dear life, the rumbling of the moving 'wall' behind him began to grow louder and louder until it drowned out all other sound. He had to act fast or he'd be trapped in the depths of Fluttershy's heart, unable to escape.

Thinking quickly, he shifted his hands until he hung onto the blade of his keyblade. He then began swinging back and forth, building up speed until he managed to swing straight up in the air into a handstand. At this point, he let go and flipped in mid air so that he was standing on his keyblade that still stuck into the 'wall'. He crouched low and, at the last minute, launched off of his keyblade up through the remains of the chasm and high into the air above. He watched from the air as Fluttershy's heart sealed and he began to fall back down again.

Sora touched down lightly on the surface of Fluttershy's heart once again. He was soon met by a hug from the yellow pegasus who was greatly worried about him. Not sure how to react, he simply waited for Fluttershy to stop before taking a natural step back. "Are you okay?" asked Fluttershy.

"I'm good," he said back. "How about you?"

"I'm okay," she said in response. She looked around at the black, shadowy expanse that surrounded her heart. "How do we get out of here?" she asked worriedly.

In response, Sora turned away from her and summoned his keyblade. He then used it to open up a portal back to the real world. "All you have to do is wake up," he said. "I'll be using this portal to get back. See you topside," he said with a smile.

"Okay," said Fluttershy calmly. "See you there." She shut her eyes and before she knew it...

/)*#*(\

Fluttershy woke up leaning against the brick fireplace in the Accessory Shop. She had no idea how she had gotten there from the Third District, but it didn't matter. She could see Leon, Yuffie, Cloud, Tifa, Cid, Aerith, and all of her Ponyville friends nearby. They were all out cold, but they were alive, all except Twilight who was nowhere in sight.

Fluttershy finally noticed Sora who was face down on the Shop's floor. He stood up and was greeted by the FF crew. Fluttershy stood up and walked over to her friends. She summoned her keyblade and said "Curaga" out loud. Multiple flowers bloomed over her friends heads, covering them with healing energy that soon had them standing up again as well.

"Thank you, Fluttershy," said Rarity. "Where's Twilight?"

"I'm not sure," said Fluttershy. "I just woke up. The last thing I remember was being in the Third District when a heartless attacked me."

"A heartless?!" yelled Applejack. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now, thanks to Sora," she said. The keyblade master was busy talking to Leon about the state of the other districts.

"We got beaten badly," said Leon. "Some new type of dark balls are outputting large amounts of darkness. We can't handle them on our own."

"Well then what should we do?" asked Sora, going deep into thought.

"I got it," said Leon after a minute's thought. "Your keyblades are full of light, a property that our weapons don't have. What if all six of you worked together to attack them with light? That might be enough to bring them down."

"Maybe," said Sora. He thought back to the Third District and its powerful dark ball. He had pumped it full of light until it exploded. If he could amplify that power with the other five ponies that were in the town, he could form a powerful attack that could wipe out any heartless, big or small.

"Sounds like might work," said Sora. He turned towards the ponies who were listening to Fluttershy's tale of the battle for her heart. "Everyone, come here. I've got a plan."

Author's Note:

(1) If, for whatever reason, you don't know what these people look like, type in KH2 followed by the names of each of the characters.

(2) Look up 'nope applejack' in google images.

(3) Due to the magical properties of Sora's fire spell, the metal dissolved instead of melting.

(4) THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE ROMANTIC. As we've seen from nearly every game, Sora cares very deeply for all of his friends, often telling his enemies "My friends are my power." When it says that he's come to love Fluttershy, it's not in a romantic way. He loves her as a friend. Sorry, but human/pony shipping is not my thing, especially on a rated "Everyone" fic.


The FF cast here saw Donald and Goofy and didn't seem to have any sort of reaction, signifying that it isn't out of the ordinary for them to see sentient animals. That's why no one's asking what's up with the talking horses. An explanation similar to this will appear in the author's notes of any chapter that does not feature people freaking out over the multi colored ponies. Also, when describing the equipment and its upgrades, I decided to substitute health for stamina. I got feedback on another story telling me that it felt too much like a video game due to the character visualizing a hit points number. Stamina is more realistic than 'health'.