Sora and Donald arrive at Canterlot High to search for a magical disturbance by the order of King Mickey, But when they get there, they get more than they bargained for.
A new world has opened up, and a magical disturbance has been located inside that world. King Mickey sends Sora and Donald to this new world to find the disturbance and deal with it properly. But when they arrive at this new world, more problems are added to them, the Fall Formal, keeping where they're really from a secret, and most of all, what's really on the line...
Takes place after Dream Drop Distance.
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls belongs to Hasbro Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix
Just outside of Master Yen Sid's tower, King Mickey was talking to Sora and Donald about an important mission. A new world has opened up and it was giving off a great magical disturbance, the king has also informed them of the Heartless gathering towards that same magical power. It is magical item so strong, that it does not belong in that world. The two are tasked with returning whatever is causing the disturbance to the world it originated from.
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" Sora asked.
"Yes. I don't what this means myself, but if Master Yen Sid says it's a problem, then it must be dealt with." King Mickey answered.
"Especially if the Heartless are involved." Donald added.
"Well, what about Goofy? Can't he come with us?" Sora asked.
"I'm sorry, fellas, but Goofy's with Kairi and Lea to accompany them while they're out training. They must learn to wield their Keyblades." King Mickey answered.
Sora and Donald groaned at that answer. They knew that saving worlds, along with its inhabitants was never going to be the same without the other third of their group.
"I guess we can try and manage without Goofy." Sora said. "Where is this new world, anyway?"
"I've marked the location in the Navigational System of your Gummi Ship." King Mickey replied. "It's ready to go whenever you are."
"Thanks, Your Majesty." Sora said.
"C'mon, Sora! We gotta get goin'! If the Heartless are there, who knows what could happen?!" Donald said as he rushed to the ship.
Sora was instantly put on high alert, "Oh, right! Bye, Your Majesty!"
Sora ran after Donald and jumped into the ship as it took off. The hatch closed just before Donald blasted off, with gravity forcing Sora against the wall. They flew far from King Mickey's sight, leaving him with his thoughts.
"Sora... Donald... I hope you two know what you're doing."
Sora made his way up to the cockpit of the Gummi Ship, after that, um, "surprise" that he was given, courtesy of Donald, he decided to give him a few choice words.
"NEXT TIME, WARN ME BEFORE YOU DO THAT!!" Sora shouted.
Donald chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry."
Sora took his seat in the cockpit as Donald drove the Gummi Ship to their destination. The new world was definitely far off, according to the coordinates the King gave them, which in turn, made Sora bored as soon as a good 10 minutes passed. Sora decided to occupy his mind with his thoughts.
"I wonder what this new world will be like? Maybe it's some kind of magical kingdom with a mighty king and queen! Or, an enchanted forest with talking animals!" Sora suddenly became excited about seeing a brand new world, with those thoughts in mind, he completely forgot about the Heartless that possibly could've infested it. Another thought reminded him of a couple memories, he'd already seen magical kingdoms, more than he can remember. Sora had also already seen an enchanted forest (of sorts) with talking animals, the 100 Acre Wood, in an old storybook. Sora deadpanned in his mind that he had already seen worlds like that, so seeing more of them would be cliché.
"Sora! We're here!" Donald declared, pulling Sora from his thoughts.
"It looks like... a castle?" Sora tried to guess.
"Uhhh, no, it looks too small to be a castle." Donald said.
"Then what is it?" Sora asked.
"There's only one way to find out!" Donald answered. "Prepare for landing!"
"Aye aye, captain!" Sora joked.
Donald sighed. "Sora, we're not in Port Royal, don't say that."
"Aww, c'mon on!" Sora whined.
The ship began to close in on the new world, with Sora strapping himself in, ready for landing.
***
As the ship came closer to the ground, Donald pulled up with all his might to avoid a crash landing. They looked for a place to park the Gummi Ship, away from wandering eyes. There weren't many places available, but there was one that could work for the time being.
"I'll park this thing on the roof." Donald stated.
It was the roof of the building that came into view from before as closed into the new world.
"Are you sure, Donald? Don't you think they're not gonna like a giant spaceship on top of their castl- er, building?" Sora hesitantly asked.
"Aw, don't worry about it, it's not like we're gonna be here long enough for someone to complain." Donald said.
"I... guess you're right." Sora said, giving up. "Still, we should be careful, we don't know who could come up here."
"Whatever." Donald said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Donald noticed the sun was setting on the horizon.
"We should probably get some sleep, we got a big day tomorrow." Donald said, hopping out of his seat.
"Yeah, good night Donald." Sora replied.
Sora yawned as he jumped into his bunk in the bedroom of the ship, and slowly drifted into a deep sleep with Donald doing the same in his own bunk.
***
Just below the building, a figure in a dark coat rushes to the statue of a horse with its forelegs in the air. It begins to reach out for the mirror on the statue, and begins to phase through it.
"You'll regret denying me my rightful place, Celestia." the figure said to herself.
She laughed to herself as she entered the mirror, unbeknownst to Sora and Donald.
Sora felt like he was falling. No, not falling. Feeling? He didn't know. It felt like both at the same time. He suddenly began to wake up, and noticed that he was laying on a glass surface, like the day he received his Keyblade, he had a dream just like this. But something was different. The air? The dream itself? No, it was the glass surface. Sora had never seen it before, so why is he seeing it now?
It appeared to have a girl in the center of the platform, with 5 other girls, a dog, and a crown in the circles above. Who are they? Do have some kind of connection to Sora's mission?
They will guide you.
As Sora got up, he heard a familiar voice. He snapped his head up to see where the voice was coming from.
The six elements.
"Six... elements?" Sora repeated.
They are the key to the magic you seek.
Sora remembered the mission he and Donald were on. A magical disturbance was found in a new world, they had to find the source and return it to its original world.
"Where can I find them?" Sora asked.
No response.
Sora never understood the voices riddles, and he was really getting tired of them.
The Magic of Friendship.
"The magic of what?" Sora half-repeated.
Then out of nowhere, a cloaked figure attacked Sora with a blue ethereal blade in its right hand. Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged into battle.
Sora got close enough to strike, but the figure disappeared, causing Sora to stop his attack. Then the figure reappeared behind him and sliced downwards, but Sora dodge rolled out of the way and took his opportunity and swung his Keyblade. Sora made a direct hit and kept the momentum while he had the chance. The figure broke free of Sora's endless barrage and tried to strike back, but Sora blocked every attack that came his way. The battle kept raging on, ahead one moment, and behind the next. Then the figure finally stopped and stood there, staring at the Keyblade Wielder. Sora swore he saw an evil grin on its face. Sora charged in while the figure remained motionless, but as Sora jumped in the air to slice from above, the figure disappeared. Sora expected another attack...
But none came.
A bright light enveloped the area around Sora, it was so bright that he had to raise his Keyblade in front of his face to see, but to no avail. The light was getting brighter and brighter, then the voice said one last thing before the light became too much to handle.
Sora was spooked out of a sound sleep and jumped out of bed, unfortunately Sora had the top bunk that morning. He fell out of bed after he slammed his head on the ceiling.
"Oww, Donald, what did you do that for?" Sora moaned.
"Look at me!" Donald said.
Sora saw that Donald didn't look like himself. He was a little smaller, his hands looked more so like wings, and he wasn't wearing his wizard's outfit.
"I guess being in this new world must've changed your appearance, like the others."
"I was the one doin' the changing, you big palooka!" Donald yelled.
"Eh, heh-heh, right, I forgot." Sora said while scratching his cheek and grinning sheepishly.
"Well, how come YOU haven't changed?!" Donald yelled.
"I don't know!" Sora said. "Let's do some walking around, we'll figure it out."
"Oh, all right." Donald said.
They opened the loading platform and exited the ship. When they did, Sora looked down at the front of the school, he saw a girl laying on the ground, he started to panic until he saw her move, she was waking up. "Who would fall asleep on the ground? Did the Heartless get here already?" Sora thought to himself. If the Heartless were here, he can't waste any time. Besides, she doesn't look like she had her heart taken. She should be fine. For now. Sora continued over to the staircase that was on the roof. They climbed down the steps and came into a hallway. To Sora, it seemed abandoned because there was no one around, but he knew better than that. Someone had to be here, an entire building can't just be empty (especially one so big and new-looking). Sora and Donald kept walking around, but still found nobody. Was it possible that no one was here? It doesn't make-
BRRRRRRRRRRIING!!!
It was obvious that this place wasn't abandoned. People began to pour out of the doorways, flooding the hall with teenagers. Sora and Donald were struggling to make their way around the others, but to little avail. They stuck it out until the hallway finally calmed down a bit, enough to walk through. He tried talking to the people around the building, asking them if they had seen anything strange lately; they all answered the same thing, "No". Sora and Donald were being to think that the Heartless hadn't shown up yet. At least they could relax for a while, knowing that trouble wasn't around the corner, they could continue their search for the magical disturbance. "Hopefully, we won't have any problems until we find the disturbance." Sora thought to himself.
Then Sora and Donald turned a corner in the hallway and-
"Thought this was over, didn't you?"
There was a girl with pink hair, white tank top, and a green skirt being harassed by a girl with red and yellow hair, black jacket, and an orange skirt, Sora and Donald quickly dove back into the corner, preparing to take action if things got too hairy.
"I... I didn't-"
"You are so pathetic! Don't you see that I rule this place? You'll never hide from me!"
"I... I..."
The pink-haired girl was on the verge to tears until Sora finally stepped in.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Sora shouted running in between the two, blocking them from each other.
"And just who are YOU?!" the red-yellow haired girl asked, annoyed. "Get outta my way!"
She tried to walk around him, but Sora kept cutting her off, making her frustrated.
"Rgggh! You're really getting on my nerves!" the red-yellow haired girl growled. "You know what? I don't have time for this!"
She started to walk away but stopped to turn to Sora and raise a finger to him, "This isn't over." she continued walking until she was out of sight behind the corner that Sora and Donald came from.
The pink-haired girl was astonished by the spiky-haired boy did, he stood up to her bully. He walked up to her with his hand held out, "Are you ok?" he asked.
She hid herself in her hair for a moment until she looked up at him, a blush was slowly coming onto her cheeks as she reached her hand out to grab his.
When Sora had a grasp of her hand, he pulled her up on her feet. She finally had the courage to speak to him, "I can't believe you did that."
Sora was confused for a moment, "Uh, did what?" he asked.
"What you did before, nobody ever stands up to Sunset Shimmer." the pink-haired girl answered.
"'Sunset Shimmer', so that's who that was." Sora said.
"I can't believe I was saved from her twice in a row." the girl said.
"Twice? Someone else helped you?" Sora asked.
"Yes, she was a new student. Um, did you come here from another school?" the girl asked.
"Ummm..." Sora was trying to think.
Donald elbowed his leg to get his attention, when he looked down, Donald nodded, telling him to play along.
"Yeah, I, uh, I did. I'm Sora." he answered.
"I'm... Fluttershy.
"Uh, sorry, I didn't get that." Sora said.
"It's Fluttershy." she answered again.
"'Fluttershy'? Well it's nice to meet you." Sora said.
Fluttershy's gaze drifted down to the white duck next to Sora.
"OH MY GOODNESS!" Fluttershy said, rushing past Sora. "Who this sweet little guy?"
"That's Donald, my, uh, duck." Sora answered.
"He's almost as cute as Twilight's dog, Spike." Fluttershy said, holding Donald in her arms.
"Twilight?" Sora asked.
"Oh, she's the new student I was talking about." Fluttershy answered.
"Ohh." Sora said.
Fluttershy began to scratch the back of Donald head, causing Donald to close his eyes and shake a flipper he had raised in the air. Sora couldn't help but chuckle at Donald, he was acting more like a dog than a duck.
"How do you do that?" Sora asked.
"Oh, this? It's a little trick I learned, ducks have a certain spot on the backs of their heads that if you scratch, they become very friendly towards you." Fluttershy explained.
Sora wasn't sure how that was possible, but it's a different world, so things tend to be a little, if not a lot, different.
"Attention students, due to a new student at Canterlot High, any and all other new students must report to Principal Celestia's office for orientation. That is all."
Sora, Donald, and Fluttershy heard the announcement, so Fluttershy let go of Donald and stood up.
"You should probably get going." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah. So I'll see you around?" Sora asked.
"Maybe... if that's ok with you, I mean." Fluttershy whispered her answer.
"Ok, bye!" Sora said, running off.
"Oh, wait!" Fluttershy called.
Sora and Donald snapped their heads back to Fluttershy, who had a backpack in her hand.
"You're not really supposed to have pets on school grounds, I have a spare backpack that you can tuck Donald into, I mean, if you want to." Fluttershy explained.
"Thanks Fluttershy." Sora said with a smile as he put on the backpack.
Donald quickly hopped into it and the two ran off into the distance. As Fluttershy watched them leave, she couldn't help but blush at the thought of her savior.
Sora and Donald were on their way to Principal Celestia's office for orientation, until Sora came to a sudden realization and stopped in his tracks...
He doesn't know where her office is.
Sora scratched the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly at the thought of being completely lost. "Guess I should've asked Fluttershy for some directions." Sora thought to himself.
"Excuse me, are you going to orientation?" a voice spoke behind Sora.
Sora turned around to see a women with pink and purple striped hair, wearing a white shirt with a brown vest, a green skirt with a flower pattern, and brown boots.
"Uh, yeah, I'm actually kinda lost." Sora said, grinning sheepishly.
"I can believe that." the women replied, "I'm Cheerilee, but you can call me Miss Cheerilee."
Sora smiled, "I'm Sora, do you know where Principal Celestia's office is, Miss Cheerilee?"
"It's to the next hallway, third door on your right." Cheerilee answered.
"Ok, thanks!" Sora called out as he ran in the direction Cheerilee described.
"No running in the halls!" Cheerilee shouted. "Teenagers."
***
Sora had found Principal Celestia's office and began to knock on the door.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in." a voice said from the other side of the door.
Sora walked into her office and greeted her with a smile. Principal Celestia motioned Sora to take a seat on the chair in front of him, Sora obliged and sat down.
"So, you're another new student, yes?" Principal Celestia asked.
"Yeah, my name's Sora." Sora answered.
"Well, let's get started, Sora." Principal Celestia said. "Where did you live before you came here?"
Sora hesitated at that question, but answered all the same, "Destiny Islands."
"Destiny... Islands?" Principal Celestia asked, confused.
"It's my home." Sora stated.
"Hmm... ok, then." Principal Celestia said, steering away from the subject.
Principal Celestia asked Sora another questions regarding his previous education. His school, his teachers, and his studies. Sora answered the best he could, he attended "Mysterious Tower High School", his teachers were "Mr. Mickey" and "Mr. Donald", he learned about fire, blizzards, and thunder... storms. Principal Celestia told Sora that she has everything she needs from him and dismissed him. She gave him directions to Miss Cheerilee's class, one of his new classes at Canterlot High.
"Ok, thanks, Principal Celestia." Sora said as walked towards the door.
Principal Celestia was going over Sora's orientation papers after he left, and she figured something out.
"Sora, you seem like a nice kid, but you're a bad liar." Principal Celestia said.
After a long teaching lesson from Miss Cheerilee, Sora was glad to be on his way to the cafeteria for lunch until something stopped him, he came across what looked like a gymnasium, in the middle his saw a girl with pink, fluffed up hair, blue eyes, wearing a white shirt with a heart a the middle, a blue jacket, a blue bracelet on each wrist, and a pink skirt with 3 balloons on it, 2 blue ones on the bottom and a yellow one on the top. She looked like she was pondering something.
"Um... hello?" Sora said.
The girl whipped around to see him and smiled, "Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie!"
"I'm Sora." Sora said. "I'm new around here."
Pinkie put her hand to her chin and squinted her eyes towards Sora, "Hmm, I thought you didn't look familiar."
"So, what's up?" Sora asked.
"I'm trying to decorate the gym for the Fall Formal, but I can't figure out how I wanna do it. I must have a really bad case of Party Planner's Block."
Sora noticed his stomach growling, he wanted to go to lunch and get some food, but he couldn't leave Pinkie Pie like this.
"Maybe I can help." Sora offered.
Pinkie gasped loudly, "You'd do that for me?!"
"Anything for a friend." Sora answered.
"ALLLLLLLLL RIGHT!" Pinkie declared, "In fact, how bout we make a competition out of it?"
"A competition?" Sora asked.
"Yeah! To get my creative juices flowing!" Pinkie answered. "Wait, what do creative juices look like? Oh, I'll worry that later, so whataya say Sora?"
Both Sora and Pinkie rushed to decorate the gym as fast as possible. Pinkie Pie started blowing up balloons at a ridiculous speed, like she was made of nothing but air. Sora grabbed a bunch of rolls of streamers and threw them towards the scaffoldings above them while running like his life depended on it. Soon, Pinkie ran out of balloons and grabbed an entire box of streamers and started throwing them like crazy.
"Fluttershy said she'd probably be in here."
A girl with dark purple hair with two streaks, one a lighter purple and the other pink, purple eyes, wearing a light blue button up shirt with a red bowtie, and a purple skirt with a picture of a starburst on the side. Right behind her was a purple dog with green eyes, dark green spiked up hair, light green ears, and a dark blue collar with spikes and a dog tag.
"INCOMING!!" Pinkie shouted.
An oncoming storm of streamers attacked the girl and her dog, completely covering them. They came out of their streamer cocoons and saw Pinkie rushing around the gym with more rolls of streamers in her arms.
"Hi, my name's Twilight Sparkle, and-"
"CAN'T TALK!! IN A COMPETITION!!" Pinkie said, frantically.
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie stopped dead in her tracks at the mention of her name from somebody she didn't know. She rushed over to the girl and asked with bulging eyes, "Are you psychic?!"
"Uh, no, I don't think so, unless, of course, that's something you can do here." Twilight replied, nervously.
Pinkie dropped Twilight on the floor, "Not usually." and went back to her competition.
"So, who are you in a competition with?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie pointed to Sora, "Him!"
Sora was bouncing off the walls (literally), using his skills as a Keyblade Wielder to hang the streamers, instead of throwing them.
"I gotta hurry! Wait, where's my box of-"
Pinkie saw a white duck, running with her box of streamers in its wings towards Sora.
"Hey! that's CHEATING!!!" Pinkie screeched.
Donald began grabbing rolls of streamers out of the box and threw them to Sora. Sora thought quickly and grabbed one of the foldable chairs, folded it up, and used to smack the rolls of streamers in the air towards the scaffoldings. Pinkie tried to hurry and hang the balloons.
"Don't look at me! Donald's the one who grabbed the box!" Sora tried to explain while smacking the streamers.
The competition continued on for 5 minutes until the two tired themselves out.
They laid down on the floor of the gym, panting heavily, completely exhausted from their competition.
"How... did you... do that?" Pinkie asked in between breaths.
"Do... what?" Sora asked back in between breaths as well.
"Nobody... is that fast... or nimble..." Pinkie answered, trying to catch her breath.
"Oh... that." Sora said.
"Well, um," Twilight began, "Fluttershy said this is where I could find the head of the Fall Formal Planning Committee."
Pinkie perked up at the mention of that name, "Fluttershy, huh?" Pinkie began picking herself up off the floor, "Don't let the whole shy thing fool you, she can be a real meanie."
Twilight looked surprised, "You two aren't friends?"
"We need to get your name on the ballot if you're going to run for Fall Formal Princess." Pinkie said, walking backwards towards Twilight.
"Hey, Pinkie, I meant to ask you, what's the Fall Formal?" Sora asked.
"Oh, yeah! I forgot you're new here." Pinkie said, "The Fall Formal is a dance that we have every fall here at CHS. Why do they call 'fall'? Why don't they just call it 'autumn'? That way it would be called, 'The Autumn Formal'! But then there'd be no play on words. OHHHHH! Now I get it!"
Sora looked completely confused at Pinkie's rambling, but got the message. Pinkie pulled out a clipboard out of her hair and held it out in front of Twilight, "Anywho, you just need to fill this out and you are officially up for the coveted Princess of the Fall Formal crown!" Pinkie also pulled a pen out of her hair, much to Sora and Donald's confusion.
"How did she put those in there?" Sora thought to himself. Just looking at Donald's expression meant he was thinking the same thing.
Pinkie was waiting for Twilight to take the pen, strangely, Twilight took it in her mouth with Pinkie still staring patiently, like she wasn't weirded out by that, but Sora and Donald were. Then Twilight took the pen out of her mouth and began writing.
"That was... odd." Sora thought to himself. Like before, Donald looked to be thinking the same.
"Wow! You have really bad handwriting," Pinkie said, pulling Sora and Donald from their thoughts, "It's like you never held a pen before."
Twilight laughed nervously, "Is it?"
Sora and Donald crossed their arms (and wings) and raised and eyebrow, "Hmmm..."
Twilight suddenly grew tense, knowing that the new student and his duck were becoming suspicious of her.
Wait, his duck?
"Somebody order a dozen cases of fizzy apple cider?"
a voice spoke out of nowhere, turning everyone's attention to the door.
"Ooh! Ooh! Me, me, me! Me! Yeah! Uh-huh! Me!" Pinkie said while flailing her arms about.
Bringing a case of cider was a girl with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, green eyes, wearing a stetson hat, white and green jacket, denim skirt with a belt with an apple-shaped buckle, and brown boots with 2 apple logos on each foot. She was wiping the sweat from her brow when Twilight saw her and looked surprised.
"Can you bring in the rest?" the blonde girl asked.
"Eeyup." another voice spoke, carrying in 4 more crates.
Pinkie bounced towards the guy carrying the crates and the blonde girl lifted the top crate from the guy's load, revealing what he looked like, he had green eyes and orange hair. He looked like he was her brother. The blonde girl walked with the crate until she saw Twilight and Sora.
"Hey, I know you two." the blonde girl said.
"You do?" Twilight and Sora asked simultaneously.
"Sure, you're the new students who gave Sunset Shimmer the what-for today!" the blonde answered while using her mouth to pop the top off of the bottle of cider she picked up and began to drink.
"Twilight Sparkle here is gonna run against Sunset Shimmer for Princess of the Fall Formal." Pinkie explained and began blowing one of the leftover balloons from the competition.
The blonde girl spit out her cider in surprise while Pinkie began float by the balloon she was inflating, "Ah'd think twice about that. Oh sure, she'll probably approach ya, all friendly like," the blonde girl grabbed Pinkie and pulled her down, took the balloon from and started drawing on it while Pinkie started to blow up another one, "I sure am lookin' forward to some friendly competition!" the blonde mimicked the balloon, drawn to look like Sunset Shimmer, even a simple drawing of her put a scowl on Sora's face, "That's so good to hear!" the blonde girl mimicked a different balloon, drawn to look like Twilight Sparkle.
"But then, here's comes the backstabbing." the blonde girl said with her normal voice, popping the Twilight balloon with a tack taped to the back of the Sunset balloon. "About the only girl at this school you can trust less than Sunset Shimmer is Rainbow Dash."
"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.
Sora grew more suspicious of Twilight, it's as though she knew who this "Rainbow Dash" was.
"What weird names this world has." Sora thought to himself.
"She's the captain of like, every team at Canterlot High." Pinkie explained while bouncing on a balloon that looked the size of an oversized exercise ball.
"Seriously, how does she do that?" Sora continued to think to himself.
"She's also the captain of the of saying she's gonna do somethin' for ya, but turnin' around and not even botherin' ta show up." the blonde girl remarked.
"Thanks for the advice, Applejack, but this is something I really need to do." Twilight said.
"Eh, suit yourself." Applejack replied.
Sora realized something, he was right to be suspicious of her.
"Wait! How did she-!"
"Hey, how'd you know my name was Applejack?" she asked.
"Uhh, I, uh, heh-heh, didn't you say?" Twilight asked nervously.
"Eenope." the orange-haired guy answered for Applejack while Pinkie was drinking a bottle of cider.
"Well, uh, it was sure nice meeting you both, I'm sure I'll be seeing you around!" Twilight said, rushing out the side door with her dog in tow.
"I, uh, gotta go too, I hope to see you guys again!" Sora said with a smile as he and Donald followed Twilight through the same door. "She knows something! And I'm gonna find out what!" Sora thought to himself.
"That one's trying to hide a secret, but I am totally on to her!" Pinkie said, and then she began to whisper, "she's psychic!"
Applejack looked confused, "Uh-huh, if you say so. Say, whataya know bout that Sora guy?"
Pinkie began, "Welllll-"
SLAM!
The sudden opening of the gym's main entrance interrupted Pinkie. Standing in the doorway, was 2 weird-looking teenage boys, one short, plump, and green skinned, the other tall, skinny, with orange skin, and standing in front of them was the girl that bullied Fluttershy earlier today, Sunset Shimmer.
"This. Looks. Terrible!" Sunset Shimmer commented as she stormed in. "There should be more streamers by the stage and fewer balloons!" she popped two balloons at once and walked away, much to Pinkie's dismay.
"Yeah! Streamers!" the plump teen said, ripping a streamer in half.
"And fewer balloons!" the skinny teen said, trying to pop a balloon with his arms, but failing miserably.
"Fizzy apple cider?! UGH! This is my coronation, not a hoedown!" Sunset said, disgusted.
"Well now," Applejack began, "It ain't necessarily gonna be YOUR coronation this time around!"
Sunset got in Applejack's face while Pinkie backed away, "Oh? Is that so?" Sunset began to flip Applejack's hat on her face, "You country folk really AREN'T that bright, must be why the other students say such awful things about you."
Applejack burned through the top of her hat with her anger alone, growling and her face turning red.
"Obviously it's gonna be my coronation. I'm running unopposed." Sunset said with confidence.
"Not this time! The new girl just signed up!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
"What?!" Sunset said, taking the clipboard from Pinkie.
"I know, her handwriting is really bad." Pinkie commented. "It's too bad you don't like the decorations, me and Sora worked really hard on them."
"Who?" the two teens asked.
"The new guy, you mean you don't know him?" Pinkie said.
Sunset lowered the clipboard from her face that revealed an angry scowl, "Where is this 'Twilight and Sora'?"
Sunset looked behind her and saw Applejack and Pinkie staring at her, she chuckled nervously and said, "I'm looking forward to meeting the competition."
Pinkie and Applejack just stared at each other.
"And I'm also looking forward to giving the new guy what's coming to him. I bet he forgot about what he did this morning, but I sure didn't." Sunset angrily thought to herself.
Twilight began roaming the halls with her dog in her backpack with Sora and Donald following her discreetly, until she came across a pitch-black dead end with the lights flickering slightly.
Twilight noticed someone was behind her, someone that she stood up to.
"Should've known Princess Celestia would send her prized pupil here after my crown, and her little dog, too." Sunset said.
Sora and Donald were listening in to the conversation to gather some information.
"PRINCESS Celestia?" Sora thought to himself.
"It's MY crown!" Twilight stated.
"The two of them must be from another world, but it doesn't make sense, how did they get here? And why is this crown so important?" Sora continued pondering in his mind.
"Whatever. This is just a minor setback for me. You don't know the first thing about this place, and I already rule it." Sunset explained, calm, cool, and collected.
"Rule? She's pretty full of herself." Sora thought.
"If that's so, why do you even NEED my crown? You went to an awful lot of trouble to switch it with the one that belongs here." Twilight said.
"The crown... Wait! Could that crown be-" Sora looked down at Donald, who gave a confirming nod. There was no doubting it...
That crown is the magical disturbance!
"Pop quiz," Sunset began, "What happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world?"
Twilight put a finger to her chin to think.
"Yup. They're DEFINITELY from another world. But, what's an 'Element of Harmony'?" Sora thought.
"You don't know? Seriously?" Sunset said and chuckled, amused, "And you're supposed to be Princess Celestia's star student?"
Twilight became upset, but quickly regained her composure. Sora grit his teeth at Sunset's words, while Donald was trying to get Sora to calm down.
"Then again, what were the chances she'd find somepony as bright as me to take under her wing after I decided to leave Equestria?" Sunset said.
"Equestria? And did she say somePONY?" Donald thought. Sora couldn't think about that, all he could think about was scorching that pretty little hair of hers with his Firaga magic.
"Bit embarrassing that YOU were the best she could do." Sunset commented.
Sora finally snapped.
"ENOUGH!!" Sora shouted, revealing himself and Donald.
Twilight, Spike, and Sunset were taken by surprise at Sora's out-of-nowhere objection.
"It's the new guy! What's he doing here? Was he eavesdropping?" Twilight thought.
"Him! Why must he play The Hero?! All he is, is a nuisance!" Sunset thought.
Sunset quickly regained her cool and walked over to Sora, "Oh, and I'd keep an eye on your spiky-headed friend," Sunset scratched Sora's chin, Sora just continued gritting his teeth, "Hate for him to be... taken away from you."
"Are you threatening me?!" Sora asked, enraged.
"Oh, of course not." Sunset mocked.
Sora whipped his hand back, summoned his Keyblade, and pointed it in Sunset's face.
"What's that?!" Sunset thought, panicked.
Sunset calmed down and pushed the Keyblade away with one finger.
"But I'd put your little toy away if I were you." Sunset said, "Don't want anyone to think you all don't belong here, now would you?"
"Grrrr!" Sora growled, gripping his Keyblade tighter.
"This kid's OBVIOUSLY from another world, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen him in Equestria." Sunset pondered.
Sunset turned to Twilight, "You wanna be a princess here? Pa-lease." Sunset began to walk away from them, "You don't know the first thing about fitting in."
Twilight, Sora, Spike, and Donald stared at each other until the light finally flickered dead. Then Twilight and Sora spoke simultaneously, "We need to talk."
***
Sunset walked through the hallways until she came across her two teen lackeys, Snips and Snails, completely wrapped up in streamers. She unraveled them and they both spun in a couple tornados, Sunset stopped them and they instantly became dizzy until they snapped out of it.
"I want you to follow her." Sunset ordered, "Bring me something I can use just like you did with that last girl who thought she could challenge me."
"You got it, Sunset Shimmer." Snips said.
"Oh, and keep an eye out for that Sora character, I seriously think he could be a threat." Sunset added.
"Right!" Snips said.
"Duh, what does he look like?" Snails asked.
"That's right, they don't know who he is... yet." Sunset thought.
"Brown spiky hair, black clothes, you can't miss him." Sunset said.
"Got it!" Snails said.
Sunset turned away from Snips and Snails, "When the crown and its power are mine, Twilight Sparkle will be sorry she EVER set hoof into THIS world. Not that she'd have been much safer if she'd stayed in Equestria."
Snips laughed, snapping Sunset back to reality, "Yeah. In Equestria."
"What are you still doing here? Go!" Sunset ordered.
Snips and Snails started to run, but slammed into each other and got dizzy again. They snapped out of it and ran towards the hallway Sunset came from. Sunset was alone, accompanied by her own thoughts.
"Sora... Just who ARE you? And why are you carrying some kind of magical weapon?" Sunset said to herself.
Sunset turned around to see a black portal, and emerging from it, a man with black and silver hair tied in a ponytail, wearing an eye patch, and what stood out the most was his black coat.
"Who are you?!" Sunset demanded.
"Why, I'm the answer to your questions, Kitten." the man answered. "Name's Braig."
"My name is Sunset Shimmer, not Kitten!" Sunset snapped.
"Heh. I like Kitten better." Braig joked.
"Just tell me why you're here already!" Sunset ordered, clenching her fists.
Braig feigned his startled motions, "Whoa! Kitty's got some claws!" Sunset just growled. "Okay, here's the deal, I'll give every bit of intel I have on Sora, IF you do something for me."
"Depends, what is it?" Sunset asked.
"I want you to defeat Sora and bring him to me." Braig said with a smile.
"Why do you need HIM?" Sunset asked, curiously.
"Cause Kitten, we need him to open Kingdom Hearts." Braig half-explained.
"Kingdom Hearts?" Sunset asked, even more curious.
"It is the door to all worlds." Braig answered.
"What?" Sunset said, completely surprised.
Braig chuckled, "Alright, it goes a little something like this..."
Braig explained about the Keyblade, how it chooses it's master and it chose Sora and it can only be used by a Keyblade Wielder. He also explained about the dark creatures known as Heartless, and how they have great fear of the Keyblade, so they'll keep coming after Sora and other Keyblade Wielders, no matter what. He finally talked about how Sora is the key component to revealing and opening the door to all worlds, Kingdom Hearts. But, he deliberately left out the part of the 7 of Light and 13 of Darkness to create the X-blade, the only Keyblade that can unlock the door.
"Well, I kept my end of the deal," Braig began to disappear in darkness, "You better keep yours, Kitten."
After Braig disappeared, a sinister smile crept its way on Sunset's face.
"The door to all worlds." Sunset said, turning back to the hallway she came from, "Maybe there's something special about that kid after all. If I can get my hands on that Keyblade of his, I could easily rule the entire universe, especially Equestria."
Sunset began to roam the halls, "I'm quite insulted that the Keyblade didn't choose me to be its master. No matter, once I get the crown, the Keyblade will, 'realize its mistake' and be forced to my command."
Sunset chuckled evilly as she walked through the hallowed halls of Canterlot High.
***
Twilight and Sora were in an empty hallway, talking about each other's situation.
"Ok, who are you and why are you here?" Twilight demanded to know.
"I'm Sora, I'm a Keyblade Wielder." Sora said, answering Twilight's first question.
"Keyblade? You mean that weapon you conjured?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, it's a special kind of weapon." Sora answered.
Spike and Donald were looking each other over, checking to see if either was a threat.
"So you're from another world?" Sora nodded. "But, why are you here?"
"We were ordered by the King to come to this world and find a magical disturbance that doesn't belong here, and return it to the world it came from." Sora explained.
"Magical disturbance? You mean my crown?" Twilight asked.
Sora nodded, "Me and Donald have to return your crown to your world before the Heartless get here."
"Heartless?" Spike perked up when he heard Twilight surprised.
Sora explained every detail about the Heartless, how they take people's hearts and turn them into Heartless themselves, and that the Keyblade is the only weapon that can truly destroy them. Twilight and Spike couldn't believe what they just heard. It turns out that they're in more trouble than they thought.
"Do you have your crown, Twilight?" Sora asked.
Twilight shook her head, "I have to become Princess of the Fall Formal in order for me to get my crown back after Sunset Shimmer stole it."
Sora scowled at the mention of that name, "So this is her fault. Surprise, surprise."
"It's ok, Sora. Once I get my crown back, Sunset Shimmer won't be able to use its power." Twilight explained.
Sora tried to calm down and he regained his composure, he was relieved that there was a way to stop Sunset Shimmer.
"Hey, what's that?" Twilight asked as she saw something behind Sora.
It appeared to be a type of machine, and it was chock full of snacks. Twilight wanted to have one or two, but there was a problem. The snacks were protected by a glass window. She pushed and pushed on the machine, but nothing happened. She pressed herself against the machine, she wanted a snack so badly.
"Um, Twilight? I don't think pushing on it is gonna do-" Sora tried to explain.
Twilight wasn't paying any attention to him as she turned her back to the machine, bent down, and readying her legs to smash the window open.
"Twilight?! What're you-!?"
"Excuse me."
Suddenly, a girl with silver hair and blue skin appeared and walked past the group to the machine.
"The Great and Powerful TRRRIXIE!" she declared while flittering her fingers and shifting her eyes back and forth, "Needs some peanut butter crackers." she finished with a coin in her hand.
She inserted it into the machine and retrieved her prize, "Violà!"
Afterwards, she left, smiling triumphantly.
Twilight immediately became depressed, "Sunset Shimmer is right. I don't know the first thing about this place."
Sora furrowed his brow, hardly believing what Twilight said. But he can't say she's wrong, either. Twilight is new to this world, and doesn't understand a lot of things. He quickly calmed down, put his hand on her shoulder, and tried to console her, "It's ok, Twilight. I'm sure you'll learn a lot about this place before you leave."
Twilight smiled at his attempt to cheer her up, "Thanks, Sora."
Sora smiled back, but it was short-lived as he remembered why they all were here, "So, now what?"
"If I'm going to really fit in and win votes, we need to do some research." Twilight said.
"Research?" Spike asked.
Sora and Donald were surprised to see Twilight's pet dog talking, "Oh yeah, they're not from here. Makes sense that she would have a talking dog... I guess." Sora thought.
"This place has a school. I have to believe it's got a..." Twilight paused as they came across an open set of double doors, "Library!" she declared as she rushed in.
"Guess she must be a Bookworm." Sora thought as he followed suit.
Out of nowhere, Snips and Snails appeared from behind the doors of the library.
"Got your phone?" Snips asked.
Snails held his phone in the air confirmation and asked back, "Got yours?" Snips did the same as they both chuckled.
The two snuck in the library, Snips along the walls and Snails crawling like a worm (despite his name), without anybody noticing a thing.
Twilight and Sora approached the nearest table and saw a computer monitor.
"So this place has computers too." Sora thought, which reminded him of his adventure in Space Paranoids.
Twilight just blinked several times, looked at her hands, put one of them to her chin, and put her hand down and stared at it intensely, which confused Sora and Donald.
"What's wrong? You're acting like you don't know what to do with a computer with your ha-"
"Shhhh!" Twilight cut him off by placing her hand over his mouth, "Other world, remember?"
"Oh. Sorry." Sora said, scratching the back of his head.
"So I just push the letters here, and then the words and moving pictures will come up here?" Twilight asked, curiously.
Sora noticed Miss Cheerilee get frustrated and wondered why. She was really nice when he met her. She took a deep breath and faked a smile, "That's right." she answered, taking the monitor out of Twilight's hands and setting it back on the table.
Twilight pressed a key with her finger and the computer chimed, "Maybe this place does have magic." Miss Cheerilee just rolled her eyes and walked with a cart full of books, revealing Snips and Snails. Unfortunately, no one noticed them before they slipped away. She continued walking until she caught eye of Sora.
"Oh! Hello Sora!" Miss Cheerilee said, cheerfully, "How was orientation with Principal Celestia?" Twilight and Spike were confused that Miss Cheerilee knew who Sora was.
Sora smiled, "It was ok, she asked a few questions and I answered them, no big deal."
Miss Cheerilee nodded, "That's good."
Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard loud hard rock music blaring from another computer, with 3 preteen girls dancing along to the music (if Sora or Donald or anybody else would call that music). The girl on the left had pink and purple striped hair with white skin, the one in the middle had yellow skin and red hair with a pink bow in it, and the girl on the right had orange skin and messy purple hair. Miss Cheerilee face-palmed at the group's childishness and she intervened by turning the speaker off.
"Girls, what are you doing?" Miss Cheerilee asked.
"We're just seeing how many hits our new music video has gotten." the white-skinned girl answered.
The yellow-skinned girl turned the speaker back on, piercing the eardrums of everybody in the room, except the three girls playing it. Miss Cheerilee turned the speaker back off and said, "No. Just... No! The school computers are for research purposes only." she took the speaker and left the three girls on their own.
"It's just as well, y'all." the yellow-skinned girl said in a southern accent, "Some of the comments about our song were really awful. 'Epic fail'. 'Funniest thing I've ever seen'?"
Suddenly, an idea popped into their heads and ran off.
Twilight tried to explain what that really meant, "Uh, I don't know that that's what you should take from-" but she was too late and quickly returned her attention to the computer.
Snips and Snails were hiding behind another table, recording Twilight pounding her fists on the keyboard.
"Uh, Twilight, I don't think that's how you use a-"
Sora's sentence was cut short after he saw a Heartless hiding behind the bookcases, it had dark red, gray, and black armor with a spike poking out of both kneecaps, and had orange twisted-like blades for hands. There was no mistaking it. It was a Stalwart Blade.
"Uh, I'll be right back, Twilight!" Sora said as he rushed towards the Heartless.
"Uh, ok?" Twilight said, confused.
"Duh, hey, where's that Sora guy goin'?" Snails asked.
"I don't know." Snips answered.
Snails followed Sora with his camera phone still recording without Snips noticing he left. Snails found Sora staring down an armored creature. He was astonished at the sight, and Sora didn't show any signs of backing down. Donald hopped out of Sora's backpack and pulled out a stick with a wizard's hat on it. Sora then summoned a key-like weapon. Snails was going to make sure he got every bit of the action.
"Duh, imagine the hits I'll get with this video!" Snails thought, excitedly.
Sora and Donald charged into battle, as did the Heartless. The Stalwart Blade tried a horizontal slash, but Sora jumped in the air over and behind the Heartless and arced his Keyblade upwards at it. It tried to retaliate, but Sora kept slashing not giving the Heartless an opening. The Heartless turned tail and ran, trying to lure Sora deeper into the library. Snails followed the two, needing all the footage he can get.
Twilight continued her research, but failing miserably as she dropped a huge stack of books in her arms and tried picking them up with her mouth until Spike corrected her, leaving Snips snickering as he continued recording her. Meanwhile on the upper levels, Sora, Donald, and the Heartless were still going at it. The Heartless performed a sliding thrust towards Sora, but he rolled out of the way, he slashed horizontally as he turned around, knocking back the Heartless.
"Wind!" Donald shouted as he cast an Aero spell on the Heartless.
The Stalwart Blade was stunned, but Sora and Donald knew that it would recover quickly, so they had to act fast! Sora charged up and performed one of his special abilities, Ars Arcanum. He attacked wildly with his Keyblade, flipping, spinning in midair, and swinging his Keyblade in ways unimaginable as the Heartless became weaker. Donald was throwing any spell he could think of at it, Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, and he quickly used Curaga and on Sora and himself. The Heartless snapped out of its trance and used a spin attack, which knocked Sora and Donald back. The Heartless ran once again, trying to advance much higher as the high levels of the library could allow. Sora and Donald chased after the Heartless, with Snails following them, trying not to be caught.
Twilight opened a door to a huge machine, wondering what it does. She examined it as Snips continued his recording, she rested her hand onto a button that she didn't see and the machine flashed, surprising Twilight and threw her backwards onto a pile of books. Snips readied his hand to high-five Snails, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Pssst! Snails, where are you?!" Snips whispered, calling for his friend.
Sora and Donald cornered the Stalwart Blade at the highest floor of the library, ready for battle. There's nowhere left to run, that much the Heartless knew, so there was only one thing to do.
Fight.
The Stalwart Blade started dropping bombs in Sora and Donald's direction, but they quickly dodged the explosions. Sora charged at the Heartless and just slashed and slashed, trying to defeat it before he and Donald were caught red-handed. Donald casted another Aero spell and stunned the Heartless once more, he nodded to Sora, indicating that it was time to finish it off. Sora nodded back and charged up his Keyblade, prepping his Ragnarok attack. The Heartless regained its senses, but it was too late, Sora let loose with his attack blasting the Heartless and anything else around him as a few shots missed the Heartless. It wasn't long until the Heartless dissipated into nothingness and in its place rose a glowing heart, which vanished shortly after. Snails can't believe he recorded every second of it.
"Snails!" Snips whispered, surprising his friend, "There you are! Did you get everything on your phone?"
Snails hesitated, knowing that he hardly got anything from Twilight, but he got something else to make up for it, "Uhhh, yeeeah, sure I got everything." he replied with uncertainty.
"Good! Now let's go!" Snips said, pulling Snails out of the library.
Sora and Donald were glad the battle was over, Sora let his Keyblade disappear and Donald put away his Mage's Staff, despite Donald's new form, he was still able to use magic. Sora and Donald looked at each other with worried looks upon their faces when Sora spoke up,
Sora and Donald immediately rejoined Twilight and Spike, panting heavily and dripping in sweat.
"Hey, where'd you guys go? And why do you look so tired?" Twilight asked.
Sora and Donald didn't want Twilight and Spike to worry about the Heartless invading the school, so they had to keep them in the dark for now and let them focus on their own problems.
"Uh, we went for a little jog around the building and, uh, forgot to bring something to drink. Heh-heh." Sora answered with a sheepish grin while scratching his cheek.
"Um... ok." Twilight replied.
Sora and Donald silently sighed of relief. Sora sat down with Twilight and picked up a book of his own, while Donald sat with Spike under the table, reading the same book.
"The library will be closing in five minutes." said a female voice on the loudspeaker.
Twilight closed she was reading and yawned in her hand, strangely Sora did the same. She perked up as she realized something, "I hadn't even thought about where we're gonna sleep tonight."
Spike and Donald looked up from their book at Twilight. Spike then trotted out from under the table with a smile on his face, "Way ahead of you."
Twilight and Sora raised an eyebrow in Spike's direction and turned to look at each other.
***
Twilight and Sora made to some of the higher levels of the library with a book in Twilight's arms and walked up to Spike with a tarp, concealing something. He reached one of his paws and removed the tarp with a cloud of dust filling the air, revealing a makeshift bed from a bunch of books, "It's a little *cough* dusty. But it doesn't seem like anybody comes up here."
Twilight sat on book bed and examined it, not finding any errors. She smiled and said, "It's perfect, Spike."
Spike stuck his tongue out like a dog should and Twilight scratched his head, and he fell to the floor from how good it felt.
Sora and Donald were whispering amongst themselves quietly enough to where the two other-worlders couldn't hear them.
"Can't we let them sleep in the Gummi Ship tonight?" Sora asked.
"No! We already told them about who we are, the last thing we need is to tell them how we got here!" Donald stated, sternly.
"C'mon Donald, look," Sora and Donald turned their attention back to Twilight and Spike and back to them, "she's sleeping on a pile of books. Can't we give them a real bed to sleep in?"
"Sora, what's more important? Giving a girl and her dog a place to sleep, or protecting a world that could be destroyed at the blink of an eye?!" Donald asked.
Sora slumped and sighed in defeat, "Fine." Donald smiled triumphantly at his victory. The two walked back to join Twilight and Spike.
"So, how did your research go?" Spike asked.
"I found this book. It's called a 'yearbook'." Twilight began, "It seems to be something they use to keep a record of things that have happened at the school." Twilight flipped the pages until she found something familiar, "Look. That's Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and I'm gonna bet the girl on the far right is Rarity."
Spike perked up and snatched the book out of Twilight's hands with his tail wagging, "There's a Rarity here?!" Spike soon caught on to his mistake and turned to give the book back to Twilight, "Uh, I mean, uh, interesting photo." Twilight just rolled her eyes at him.
"How do they know these girls? Isn't this their first time here?" Sora thought.
"It's interesting because they look like they're friends." Twilight said.
"They DO look like our friends. But I thought we figured that out already." Spike replied.
"I think I just got a headache." Sora thought to himself.
"No, I mean, they look like they're friends with each other. But it doesn't seem like they're friends now." Twilight said as sat the book down and resting her head on her hand, looking depressed.
"Not so much." Spike added.
Twilight plopped down on her bed, "I just can't help but get the feeling that Sunset Shimmer had something to do with it." Twilight said as she put her hands behind her head.
"I wouldn't put it past her." Spike began as he pulled up the tarp as a blanket, "But she wanted your crown cause she's planning on doing something even worse. If you're gonna stop her, you have to focus on making friends here. You can't worry about why these girls aren't friends anymore." Twilight looked at the photo once more and Spike began to yawn as he continued, "Even if they do remind you of your Ponyville friends."
"Ponyville?" Sora thought as he looked at Donald, who appeared to be thinking the same thing.
Twilight smiled, "You're right, Spike." she then sighed, "Eye on the prize." then she happened to think of something, "Hey, do you guys have a place to sleep?"
Sora suddenly remembered his bed back at the Gummi Ship, "Actually-" Donald elbowed (if ducks have elbows) Sora's leg, earning his attention, Donald shook his head, knowing that if they knew they had a place to stay, they would follow them to the Gummi Ship for better sleeping conditions. Sora sighed and replied, "No."
"Maybe you could make bed from all the books." Spike suggested.
Sora shook his head, "I don't wanna keep you guys up while I'm making my own bed."
"Oh, well..." Twilight trailed off for a moment, "Maybe..." she blushed as she continued, "We could share mine?"
Surprised was an understatement to describe what Sora felt at that moment. Still, it was better than no bed at all.
"Uh... Sure." Sora answered while scratching the back of his head.
Sora walked up the book bed, but stopped when he looked at Spike. He gave him a glare that said, "don't try anything funny", Sora quickly got the message and approached the bed slower than before, uncertain as to what Spike would do if Sora made a bad move with Twilight. He climbed in the bed and pulled the tarp/blanket over him with Donald laying on his chest.
"You okay?" Twilight asked Sora.
"Yeah, I'm fine." but Sora wasn't so sure he was. He was blushing to no end.
"Sora..." Twilight began, "What's your world like?"
Sora was surprised that Twilight asked that question, but answered all the same, "I live on an island with my friends, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, Riku... and Kairi." He suddenly remembered everything Kairi and him had been through, to where it first began up to the fight with Xemnas.
"How did you begin travelling to other worlds, Sora?" Twilight asked.
Sora saw that Donald was fast asleep and smiled, now Donald couldn't stop him, "Well, it's like this,"
Sora first explained about the storm that struck his island, how he received the Keyblade, fought the Heartless and a giant one called a Darkside. He also how he was soon whisked away from his home, including his friends, who he had to find. He said that he had to seal the keyholes of every world to prevent the Heartless from plunging them into darkness. Riku sided with Maleficent, an evil witch who was controlling the Heartless, and he was possessed by Ansem, who he defeated, and together they closed the Door to Darkness with Riku and King Mickey behind it. He then explained the events that took place afterwards, Organization XIII, the Nobodies, reopening the keyholes, finding more new worlds, making new friends, defeating Xemnas, the Door to the Light, and the Mark of Mastery exam, sleeping worlds and all. Well... except for Xehanort and the X-Blade. He didn't want Twilight to get involved with something so dangerous.
Twilight was amazed that Sora had saved the universe many times over and made new friends along the way, but she was also amazed that there were many other worlds beyond here and Equestria. She also noticed that Sora has gone through some hard times and couldn't help but feel bad for him. But she was glad that Sora had made a lot of friends in his journey, at least he wasn't alone. Spike had already fell asleep a little bit after Sora climbed in the bed, so Sora didn't worry as much as he did. Spike didn't think Twilight wouldn't notice the glare he was giving Sora, did he?
After Sora's finished his story, Twilight began to yawn.
"Tired?" Sora asked.
"Yeah." Twilight answered, "We should probably get some sleep."
"Yeah. Good night." Sora said.
"Good night." Twilight repeated.
As they both turned on their sides, Twilight began think to herself,
"Sora... how can someone so young accomplish so much in more than a year through a lot of dangerous situations? And yet... you survived it all."
Twilight almost lost herself in sleep before her words echoed in her head once more,
"You're so... amazing."
The Next Day...
Twilight began to stir, slowly waking from her sleep. She started to notice she was holding something, or someone. She blushed intensely when her vision finally came into focus...
She was cuddling Sora.
"AHH-" Twilight was silenced by Spike, who put his paw over her mouth.
He motioned her to get out of the bed and she nodded. She slowly let go of Sora and quietly got out of the bed, the blush never leaving her cheeks. When her body slumped to the floor, she was breathing quickly and heavily.
"I-I-I-" Twilight was having trouble trying to form a sentence.
"Shhh." Spike whispered, "You were asleep, you didn't know what you were doing, it's fine."
Twilight was still in shock.
"C'mon Twilight, let's go." Spike said, still keeping his voice down.
"B-But what about..." Twilight tried to say.
"They'll be fine, they can catch up to us later. Besides, I don't think they're used to getting up as early as us. Just let them sleep." Spike concluded.
"O-Okay." Twilight said.
The two walked away from Sora and Donald, allowing them to sleep in while Twilight and Spike leave the library to gather votes from the other students.
***
Sora found himself in an empty grassy plain. All that was there were a few trees and a person standing atop a small hill.
"Huh?" Sora said.
You have no idea how I really feel about you.
Sora heard a voice echo in his mind. But it wasn't the same voice from all of his other dreams, it was different. it was... comforting.
Do you feel the same about me?
Sora was trying to narrow down the voice to everyone he knew, but only one came up in his mind...
A certain purple-haired girl...
Sora started to run towards the person on the hill, then the person slowly turned around. Sora stopped in his tracks when he got close enough to see who it was.
It was Twilight.
Sora was surprised to see Twilight in his dreams, especially hearing her voice echo in his mind.
"Sora..." she cooed with a smile.
"Twilight?" Sora asked.
"Sora, I know I just met you, but after you told me about all of your adventures that you've had... I can't help but feel happy around you."
Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was no way Twilight would just open her heart to him after they just met. Twilight held her left hand out to Sora, the smile never leaving her face,
"Come back with me. To Equestria."
Sora stood slack-jawed at Twilight's words.
"We can be together... Forever." Twilight said lovingly.
Sora was having a hard time processing everything that Twilight said. This is just a dream. Twilight couldn't really feel that way about him. Could she?
Sora train of thought was cut off when he began to walk towards Twilight with his hand reaching for hers. Sora couldn't stop himself, he had no control over his body. It's almost like his heart is doing what his mind wouldn't. As Sora was about to grasp Twilight hand, another voice stopped him.
Sora saw everything plunge into darkness and him along with it, he screamed as he felt like he was thrown backwards. Sora woke up and found himself on a stained glass surface. But...
Something was wrong.
It wasn't the same one he was on last night. Sure Twilight and her friends were on there, but they look different. Their faces look... Conflicted. And then... The thing that scared Sora the most... Is that Sunset Shimmer was in the center.
Sora then felt angry, why was SHE invading his dreams?
"I can feel your anger and fear." the voice from before said.
Sora whipped his head around and saw a Corridor Of Darkness appear, and coming from it was the hooded man from his last dream.
"You!" Sora said as he summoned his Keyblade.
"I'm not your opponent." the hooded man said.
"What?" Sora asked, confused.
The hooded man pointed towards Sora, "She is."
Sora turned around to see someone he despised so much. He saw Sunset Shimmer. She just stared at him with an evil grin on her face, a grin that infuriated him more than ever. He gripped his Keyblade as tight as he possibly could.
"Yes, get angry. Let your anger take hold." the hooded man began as he disappeared in darkness, "For where there is anger... There is darkness."
The hooded man left without a trace. Sora prepared himself to attack, he didn't care if she didn't have anything to defend herself with, this is still a dream, so Sora's gonna take this chance to vent out some of his anger he has towards Sunset.
Sora wasted no time charging at Sunset. She sidestepped and tried to punch Sora, her grin never wavering, but he jumped out of the way and pointed his Keyblade in the air.
"Thunder!" Sora declared as he used his Thundaga spell.
The multiple lightning bolts created a dense smoke around the area. Once it cleared, Sora saw an unbelievable sight. Sunset blocked his Thundaga spell with a Keyblade of her own. It looked exactly like Sora's, but it was jet-black, except the bottom of the blade had a dark purple color to it.
This isn't a dream. It's a nightmare.
Sunset charged at Sora, Keyblade in hand. Sora did the same. Their Keyblades clashed together with the two of them pushing each other back, one trying to best the other. Sunset kept her grin while Sora was gritting his teeth, that smirk of hers was infuriating. Soon they jumped backwards and charged again, slashing at each other with no success of hitting their opponent. After at least 10 slashes, Sunset began to sweat and was breathing heavily, but her grin never weakened. It's almost as if she had no other emotion but pure evil. Sora took this opportunity and charged once more, jumped, spun in midair, and horizontally swung his Keyblade with the strongest slash he can muster. Sunset didn't react fast enough and took a hit to the face. She flew across the platform and landed near the edge with her Keyblade disappearing.
Sora walked up to the defeated Sunset to see his progress, but he was shocked to see someone else has taken her place. He saw an upset Twilight Sparkle, looking up at him with crying eyes.
"W-W-Why, Sora? W-Why d-did you attack m-me?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight... I... I didn't mean... I thought..." Sora could hardly form a sentence, he was still in shock.
"W-What did I-I do w-wrong?" Twilight asked, desperately trying to understand why Sora would hurt her.
"You did nothing wrong... I just..." Sora tried to answer as best as he could.
Sora let his Keyblade dissipate into thin air and walked over to Twilight, kneeling down and giving her the most meaningful hug he could give.
"S-Sora?" Twilight was more confused than before.
More tears began to form in Twilight's eyes as she returned Sora's hug with her own, sobbing into his chest. Sora couldn't understand why Twilight was there in Sunset's place. Then the hooded man's voice rung in his head,
"Get angry."
"Let your anger take hold."
"For where there is anger... There is darkness."
***
Sora's eyes snapped open and saw the sun blinding him. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting, when he did, he saw an impatient Donald glaring at him.
"SORA! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?!" Donald shouted.
"Sorry, ugh, guess I must've overslept." Sora said while wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"WE BOTH OVERSLEPT!! TWILIGHT AND SPIKE ARE GONE!!" Donald shoued even louder.
"What!?" Sora yelled.
He suddenly remembered his dream. Sora threw the blanket off of him and rushed to find the exit to the library with Donald following suit.
***
Sora slammed the double doors open, hoping to find Twilight and Spike somewhere around the school with Donald jumping into the backpack that Fluttershy gave him. As he was running through the halls, the other students stared at him with awe-like expressions and began to whisper amongst themselves,
"Look! It's the new guy from the video!"
"How did he take down that monster thing?"
"Isn't it weird that his pet can use some kind of magic?"
Sora slowed down to try and hear what the students were saying, "What are they talking about? I can hardly hear a-"
Sora's sentence was cut short by someone opening a door next to him, grabbing him, and pulling him into the room, "Whoa!"
"Hey! What'd you do that for-" Sora stopped mid-sentence when he saw who snatched him.
It was a girl with pure white skin, purple curly hair with a blue triple diamond resting at the front, she was wearing a light blue shirt, a light purple skirt with three blue diamonds, around her waist was a darker purple belt with a blue belt buckle, on both her arms were golden yellow bracelets, she was wearing long dark purple shoes with a lighter purple outline at the top and a blue diamond centerpiece on each shoe. She must really love diamonds.
Sora recognized her on the spot, "It's the girl from the glass platform in my dreams!" he whispered to himself.
She quickly approached him with a measuring tape, measured the length of his clothes, checked the size of his head, and examined his shoes.
"Um, what are you doing?" Sora asked, but got no answer.
The girl put her hand to her chin, pondering something. She put her finger in the air and smiled, as if she figured something out. She then rushed to her bag and bent down to dig inside. She threw aside a couple pieces of clothing and then she found what she was looking for.
"Perfect." she said.
Sora soon found himself wearing a yellow, white and blue jacket with a zip-up black shirt, a white fingerless glove on his left hand, a pair of dark blue pants with a black belt, and a pair of black, grey, blue, and white shoes with yellow laces, and the weirdest part is that he was wearing a long silver-haired wig. It's almost as if he looked exactly like his friend, Riku, except Sora has a tan, Riku's skin is somewhat pale.
"Ooohh yes! This is good. No one will recognize you." she said with a smile.
"Uh, what are you talking about-" Sora was cut off by the girl,
"And we'll need a disguise for your duck," she began while bopping his beak with her finger and scratching Donald's chin with both her hands, "which is too bad, he really is so adorable."
On the other side of the room, Donald caught glimpse of a girl with a light and dark green outfit and long blonde hair. What stood the most was the purple and green dog in her backpack, growling at Donald with a glare that could kill a Heartless with just one look. No doubt it was Twilight, wearing some strange getup, and her dog, Spike, who didn't look very happy.
Donald stared at Spike with uncertainty, "Uhhh-"
"You know, with a little work, I think I can make him look like a goose instead." the girl suggested, cutting off Donald.
"Wak!" Donald exclaimed as he fell out of Sora's backpack and hitting the floor with a "Thud!"
"A goose?" Sora asked, confused.
It was then a certain blonde cowgirl walked in the door, "Twilight! Sora! There y'all are!"
The purple, curly haired girl crossed her arms, "So much for the disguise."
"Ah've been lookin' all over for y'all." Applejack said.
Fluttershy then appeared just outside the door, "Me too."
Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared hanging above door with a smile on her face, surprising Fluttershy, "Me three!"
Twilight soon joined Sora when Pinkie rushed up to look them over, that smile of hers as bright as ever, "I like your new looks."
"I do have an eye for these sorts of things," the purple, curly haired girl commented, butting into conversation, "not that you seem to care."
"What?!" Pinkie exclaimed at that blunt remark.
"Why do you think she doesn't care?" Twilight asked, curiously.
Pinkie bit her lip in frustration, while Fluttershy put her hands over her mouth and Applejack desperately motioning to her not to ask.
"No, Never mind." Twilight said as she took off her wig, "Why were you all looking for me? What's going on?"
"Oh. She hasn't seen it yet." Fluttershy said.
"Seen what?" Twilight asked.
Pinkie pulled out her laptop and opened it, "Oh, it's really not that bad." she giggled nervously as she finished.
Sunset's voice spoke as Pinkie played a video from the internet, "Twilight Sparkle wants to be your Fall Formal Princess." as the video continued, it showed some embarrassing footage of Twilight, "But what does it say about our school if we give someone like this-" it showed an embarrassing freeze frame of Twilight with a book in her mouth, "such an important honor?" and one final freeze frame before the video ended.
Twilight gasped in shock at what she had just seen, "I..." she then closed the laptop.
"I take that back. It's pretty bad." Pinkie commented.
"But this all happened yesterday. At the library." Twilight suddenly became nervous as she turned to her friends, "Has everyone in the school seen this? Is that why they were all looking at me that way?"
"Mmmm..." the four girls hummed.
"Wait," Sora interrupted, "if this is about Twilight, then why am I wearing a disguise?" he then yanked the wig off his head.
"Well, since you were in the video, people would laugh at you for being friends with Twilight." the purple, curly haired girl answered, "Oh, my name is Rarity, by the way."
Sora rolled his eyes and went to sit in a different desk, away from the group. He laid his arms on the desk and rested his head, reminiscing about his recent dream.
"What am I gonna do? No one is going to vote for me after seeing this!" Twilight worriedly said, motioning to the laptop.
Fluttershy walked up to Twilight, "Not that it'll make any difference, but I'll still vote for you."
Twilight slammed her head into her desk.
"You were so nice to stand up for me when Sunset Shimmer was picking on me yesterday." Fluttershy added and suddenly blushed, "Especially you... S-Sora."
Sora didn't acknowledge her, he just kept his head on his desk.
"If you still wanna run, maybe there's something I can do to help." Pinkie offered.
"Word of advice; don't accept her help. She doesn't take anything seriously." Fluttershy advised bluntly.
Pinkie scoffed, "Why do you have to be so awful to me?!"
"Oh, pphht!!" Rarity remarked, brushing off what Pinkie said, "Don't play innocent, Pinkie Pie. You're no better than she is." she finished while pointing at Fluttershy.
"And what is THAT supposed to mean?!" Pinkie asked in a raised voice.
"I am happy to offer up my assistance as well. To someone who would APPRECIATE what I have to offer!" Rarity countered.
Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity began to bicker amongst themselves. Spike panicked, jumped into Twilight's backpack, and zipped it up for good measure.
Applejack finally spoke up, "Listen ta y'all carryin' on!"
All eyes were on Applejack.
"Git over it and move on!" Applejack said as she threw away an apple core, looking away with her eyes closed and her arms crossed.
"You mean like how YOU'VE gotten over what happened with Rainbow Dash?" Rarity accused.
Applejack's eyes snapped open, "She said she'd get the softball team to make an appearance at my bake sale, Ah tell everybody they're comin', and then not one of 'em shows up. She made a liar outta me. That's different."
"Is not!" Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity countered.
"Is too!" Applejack counter-countered.
The group continues their argument without showing any signs of stopping. Twilight was at her breaking point, she was about to intervene, but someone else beat her to it. As it turns out... With his last dream still playing in his mind...
"ENOUGH!!!" Sora exploded in pure anger with a wave of darkness pulsing through the room.
Everyone was surprised, shocked, and scared all at the same time. Sora just glared at them with an enraged scowl on his face. His expression soon softened as he just realized what he did and slumped in his desk.
"...Sora?" Twilight knew something was wrong.
"I... I'm sorry... I don't know what happened..." Sora tried to explain.
Sora walked over to Twilight's backpack and pulled out the yearbook that Twilight found. He sat down and opened the book to the photo of them.
"You guys were friends once." Sora said.
"The Freshman Fair. Y'all remember?" Applejack asked.
"Yes..." Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity sorrowfully agreed.
"But something happened..." Sora began, "...And I think that something was-" Sora hesitated for a moment, remembering who he fought in his dream, "Sunset Shimmer." he growled as he said that name.
"Well, it's a nice theory, darling, but Sunset Shimmer had nothing to do with it." Rarity replied.
Sora clenched his fists while gritting his teeth. Twilight saw Sora was really upset, then...
Something weird happened...
Sora turned into someone else...
A boy with light brown hair spiked in the front, wearing a white, red, and grey jacket with checkered lines on the arms and sides, just beneath the jacket was a black shirt with a spear-looking "X" for the zipper, on his left arm was a checkered bracelet and on his left hand was a black ring and a white ring on his first two fingers, he wore black pants with a tan colorization that went from his knees to his ankles, and on his feet were grey and white shoes with red straps. He also had Sora's sky blue eyes.
Somehow, Twilight's seeing Sora's other self...
Roxas.
"She's right." Fluttershy agreed, which made Roxas/Sora even madder, "Sunset Shimmer isn't the one who ruined my silent auction for the animal shelter by bringing firworks and noisemakers. It was supposed to be a serious event and Pinkie Pie ruined it."
"What are you talking about? I got a text from you saying that you didn't want a silent auction, you wanted a BIG party!" Pinkie retorted, holding her phone out in front of her.
"I-I never sent you a text." Fluttershy replied.
"You didn't?" Pinkie asked.
"You don't think she's the one who's been sending me those emails, do you?" Rarity began, "Every time I volunteer to help with decorations at a school function, I get an email from Pinkie Pie saying she has plenty of volunteers. And then I find out she's done everything herself."
Roxas/Sora's expression softened to at least a furrowed brow as he thought curiously about these anonymous messages.
"I never sent you any emails." Pinkie Pie said as she turned her head from her phone to face Twilight and Roxas/Sora.
"Maybe she's the reason Rainbow Dash didn't show up for my bake sale." Applejack suggested.
"Well, didn't you ever ask Rainbow Dash why she didn't show up?" Roxas/Sora asked in Roxas' voice.
Twilight was really surprised now. Even his voice changed with him.
Applejack smiled nervously, but then became depressed, took off her hat, and held it in front of her, "Ah guess ah kinda stopped talkin' ta her at all after that."
Roxas/Sora smiled as he got up out of his desk and walked up to her, "You know..." Roxas/Sora took her hat and placed it back on her head, "Maybe now would be a good time to start."
Applejack blushed as she chuckled, "Thank you... Sora."
As soon as Roxas turned to face Twilight, he turned back into Sora, still wearing his disguise. Twilight was WAY beyond confused.
"Uh, Twilight? Are you ok?" Sora spoke with his normal voice, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Twilight snapped out of her stupor, "Oh, me? No, I'm fine." she answered as she smiled nervously.
CHIME CHIME
"Ooh! Ooh! I got a text from... Vinyl Scratch!" Pinkie declared.
"What does it say?" Rarity asked.
"It says, 'check out the new video! Canterlot High Conspiracy Thoery' Weird." Pinkie said.
Pinkie went to her laptop, opened it, and typed in the name of the video. Luckily enough, it popped up right in front them. She clicked on it and it played.
"Thanks to a recent video uploaded by a user named, 'snailsrox126', we have found that a strange but dangerous creature was spotted in the Canterlot High Library." Sora and Donald were shocked that they were being spied on, but the video continued, "And the new guy, Sora and his duck named Donald were fighting the creature with some sort of key-shaped sword and something like a magic wand." Sora and Donald knew they were busted, so they tried to sneak away as the video kept playing, "Is Sora a friend? Or foe? We'll find out more as we gather intel. Good luck out there, fellow students."
The girls were completely astonished, more than Twilight and Spike. When they looked up from the laptop, they saw Sora and Donald tiptoeing to the door.
Crrreeee-SLAM!
Until Applejack stopped them, "An' just where do ya think y'all are goin'?"
"Uh, we were just, uh, going out for some fresh air, heh." Sora half-truthfully answered with a nervous smile.
"Ah don't think so." Applejack replied while making him back up.
"Yeah! What was that thing you were fighting?!" Pinkie asked, following suit.
"I concur! What was that strange sword you were holding?!" Rarity asked, joining in.
"Um, could you please tell us what's going on, if you don't mind me asking, Sora." Fluttershy said, staying behind the others.
Sora's back was against the back wall of the classroom.
"Well, start talkin'!" Applejack ordered while glaring at Sora.
"Uh, I, uh..." Sora stammered.
"HEEEEEELLLP!! THERE'S SHADOW CREATURES ON THE SOCCER FIELD AND RAINBOW DASH IS IN TROUBLE!!" a student shouted from the hallways.
"And that's my cue!" Sora declared as he yanked off the rest of his disguise, back to his usual clothes as he rushed out the classroom door.
"Wak!" Donald yelped as he jumped back into Sora's backpack.
"Sora, we're not done here!" Applejack yelled, "Ah'm gonna tell Big Macintosh on you!!"
Pinkie popped up in front of Applejack wearing a pith helmet and two thick lines of black face paint under both of her eyes, "C'mon! Let hunt 'em down!"
The girls ran after Sora with Twilight trying to catch up and Spike jumping into her backpack.
"Girls, slow down!" Twilight demanded.
"Hey Twilight," Spike began, "what was with that weird look you were giving Sora?"
"His body changed, Spike! His voice too!" Twilight answered as she ran.
"Changed? Sora's looked the same as he always has." Spike replied.
"What...?" Twilight couldn't believe her ears, he didn't see that other boy?
"You must be so stressed that you're becoming delusional." Spike suggested.
"But... I..." Twilight found it impossible to form a sentence.
"C'mon. Let's get to the others before they wring Sora's neck." Spike said.
"...Right." Twilight concluded.
Twilight kept running in silence, occupied by her own thoughts,
"Was I really... The only one who could see him?"
***
Meanwhile, in another hallway, Sunset was giving Snails the earful of his life.
"YOU IDIOT!!" Sunset yelled, "I told you to get some dirt on TWILIGHT, NOT SORA!!"
"Duh, sor-" Snails was cut off by a slap in the face from Sunset.
"Don't you 'sorry' me! Now Sora's the most popular guy in the school! HE might as well be running for Fall Formal Princess!"
It was then Sora was running in Sunset's direction.
"Hey, you!" Sunset called to Sora.
"Can't talk right now got lives to save bye!" Sora said quickly as he passed her.
Then Twilight's friends ran past her with Twilight following behind them.
"Hmm... Snails!" Sunset acknowledged.
"Duh, yes?" Snails asked.
"I think I know a way for you to redeem yourself." Sunset answered and ran after the group, "Follow me! And call Snips! We'll need him too!"
"Duh, yes ma'am!" Snails replied as he followed suit.
Sunset smiled sinisterly as she thought to herself, "You better hope whatever you're chasing gets to you before I do... Sora."
"WHAT!?" a familiar orange-skinned girl screeched.
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!" a student said.
The three girls from the library yesterday couldn't believe the news they were told. Their friend is in trouble.
"C'MON GIRLS!! WE GOTTA SAVE RAINBOW DASH!!" the orange-skinned girl yelled as she began to take off.
"Scootaloo, wait!" the white-skinned girl began while running after her with the yellow-skinned girl following, "What can WE do?! We're just kids!"
"Sweetie Belle, this is Rainbow Dash we're talking about! She's like a sister to me! I have to help her!!" Scootaloo screamed as she ran even faster.
"Ugh! C'mon Apple Bloom! Run faster!" Sweetie Belle ordered.
"Ah'm tryin'! Ah'm tryin'!" Apple Bloom whined.
"Well, try harder!" Sweetie Belle added for good measure.
They all rushed to the soccer field to save a friend in need.
***
Sora finally made it to the soccer field to see a girl on the ground, completely surrounded by tall black creatures with long antennae upon their heads and yellow dots for eyes. There's no mistaking it. Those creatures were Neoshadows. It looked like there were at least 10 of them. Easy out.
Sora charged in without a second thought, summoning his Keyblade, and Donald jumping out of his backpack, Mage's Staff in hand (or wing).
"S-Stay back! STAY BACK!!" the girl ordered, but to no avail.
The Neoshadow in front readied it's claws and lunged itself at the girl. She screamed and braced herself for the attack.
But nothing happened. When she dared to take a peek, she saw a boy with spiky hair with a strange weapon in hand where the Neoshadow once stood. He cracked her a reassuring smile and turned to face the Heartless.
"Bring it on!" Sora declared.
Another Neoshadow didn't hesitate and jumped at Sora, who, of course, slashed it and made it dissipate into nothingness. The girl was astonished by this, she gave those creatures every hit she could give them and she couldn't beat them, but this kid can? It doesn't make sense!
She snapped out of it when she noticed a familiar cowgirl pulling at her arm, "C'mon Rainbow! We gotta go!"
"B-But what about-"
"He'll be fine, trust me!" Applejack said, interrupting her.
She hesitantly nodded and they made their way to the stands, away from the battle. As they got away and gotten to the top of the stands, Sora had already taken out 3 more Neoshadows.
With 5 left, Sora thought of a plan to finish them off, looking at Donald, they both nodded. Sora pointed his Keyblade up in air,
"Gather!" Sora declared, activating his Magnega spell.
Once he did, the remaining Heartless were pulled into the spell, putting Sora's plan into action. Sora raised his Keyblade towards the Heartless and Donald did the same with his Mage's Staff,
"Fire!" Sora shouted, using his Firaga spell.
"Blizzard!" Donald shouted, using his Blizzaga spell.
"Thunder!" Sora declared, finishing off the Heartless with his Thundaga spell.
As the last of the Heartless vanished, Sora and Donald sighed with relief, glad that the battle was over. Sora let his Keyblade disappear and Donald put away his Mage's Staff. Just when they were going to see if everyone was alright, but it was then a certain cowgirl tackled Sora to the ground and pinning there while holding his arm behind his back.
"Applejack, you're breaking my arm! OWWW!" Sora shouted in pain.
"Ah'm gonna make it hurt worse if ya don't start talkin'!" Applejack stated.
"Applejack, let him go!" Twilight demanded.
Everyone made it back to the field when Applejack tackled him.
"Not until he starts explainin' himself!" Applejack countered.
Sora was struggling under her grip, she's definitely stronger than she looks. Sora sighed in defeat, "If I explain myself, will you PLEASE let me go?"
Donald shook his head and waved his wings furiously at Sora, telling him not to say anything, until Pinkie picked him up and held him tight, "That's enough outta you, ducky!"
Applejack raised an eyebrow, "Ya promise ya won't run away?"
Sora looked at Donald, who was still shaking his head like crazy, then Pinkie stopped him by grabbing his beak, "uh-uh-uhhh!"
All Donald could do was flail his legs about, hoping to break free from Pinkie's grasp.
Sora sighed again, "I promise I won't run away."
Applejack examined him closely, using her Apple Family trait to find any insincerity in his voice, "Hmm..." soon she realized that Sora was being completely honest, which she had to admit, was admirable. "Well, alright." with that, she let go of Sora and got off of him.
Sora picked himself up off the ground and brushed off his shorts. He opened his mouth, then closed it.
"Maybe we should sit down," Sora suggested, motioning towards the stands, "it's gonna be a long story."
The girls nodded to each other and headed for the bleachers, until something caught Rainbow Dash's eye, "Scootaloo?"
Three girls poked their heads out from under the bleachers, three girls that they all recognize too well, "Eh-heh. Hey, Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo smiled sheepishly.
"Did you guys see the whole thing?!" Rainbow Dash asked in a panic.
"Yes!" Apple Bloom said.
"No!" Scootaloo said, trying to maintain Rainbow Dash's reputation.
"Maybe?" Sweetie Belle sheepishly said.
Everyone just stared at the three, confused by their answers. Sora then broke the silence, "Why don't you girls take a seat? I have something to explain."
The three girls glanced at each other, then back to Sora and nodded.
Once everyone was seated, Sora explained his situation. That he was a Keyblade Wielder from a place called Destiny Islands, who travels to many worlds to maintain peace and harmony by defeating the Heartless, the creatures they saw before, and unlock the keyholes of the worlds. He then explained to them the Heartless, they take people's hearts and without them, new Heartless are born and they come in many shapes and sizes. He even rambled on about how he became a Heartless, but held on to his heart and turned back to normal, Sora didn't care if they believed him about that, it was a fond memory between him and Kairi.
After he was finished, everyone, but Twilight, Spike, and Donald, gave an amazed look.
"Whhooooooa." the three young girls said in awe.
"My word! You're almost like, a knight in shining armor!" Rarity said as she blushed.
"You're more amazing than I thought you were... S-Sora." Fluttershy said with her face turning a bright crimson.
"Yeah! You're like a super-duper superhero!" Pinkie said, the smile never leaving her face, as usual.
"Hmm..." Applejack looked him over again, looking for any lies he may have told, but came up with nothing as she stood there with her mouth agape, "Ya... Ya really are tellin' the truth."
Sora just chuckled while scratching the back of his head.
"Heh. You sound pretty awesome for someone like you." Rainbow Dash commented.
Sora didn't know whether that was an insult or a compliment.
"What was your name again?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I, I just said..." Fluttershy trailed off with slightly misty eyes.
Sora rubbed Fluttershy's back to calm her down, but answered all the same, "Sora."
"'Sora'..." Rainbow Dash drawled, "Sweet name, but it could sound cooler."
"Cooler?" Sora asked.
"I know! I'll call you 'Soar'! Now that sounds 20 percent cooler!" Rainbow Dash said while slamming her fist in her hand.
"'Soar'?" Sora was confused by his new nickname.
"You know, you breezed through those Heartless things like an eagle soaring in the sky! That's how I figured out a 20 percent cooler name for you!" Rainbow Dash explained.
"That, an' ya couldn't think of anythin' better." Applejack remarked with a devious smile.
"Whatever!" Rainbow Dash said, earning a chuckle from Sora, "What're you doing here anyway, Applejack?"
Applejack looked at everyone before turning back to Rainbow Dash, "Um, maybe we should talk about this in private?"
Rainbow Dash hesitantly nodded and left the bleachers with Applejack, they began to explain what really went on between them and why their friendship ended the way it did.
"They're actually talking! That's a good sign!" Rarity said while watching the two converse.
After they ended their talk, they hugged each other, which meant what happened between them is all water under the bridge now.
"Hugs! Hugs are always good!" Pinkie exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack walked back over to the stands.
"Somebody, an' Ah think we can all guess who," Applejack began, "told Rainbow Dash that my bake sale had been moved to a different day. Dash showed up with all the softball team and thought Ah'd cancelled on her."
Rainbow Dash walked up to Twilight, "So, you're looking to dethrone Sunset Shimmer and become Princess of the Fall Formal, huh?"
Twilight looked away for a moment but looked back to Rainbow Dash and nodded with a nervous smile.
Rainbow Dash began kicking a soccer ball in the air a few times, "Gotta say, I'd really love to see that happen." she let the ball fall back to the ground while placing her foot on it, "I'll totally help you out." Twilight had hopeful smile on her face, "All you gotta do, is beat me in a game of one-on-one."
Which turned into a worried frown, "What?"
"First to five goals wins." Rainbow Dash kicked the ball around her, bouncing it off her head, and kicking it in midair into the goal, "One-zip!"
Twilight had a shocked look on her face, but the two began their game.
Rainbow Dash charged at her goal, kicking the soccer ball, while Twilight was acting as a goalie with her legs shaking. Rainbow Dash kicked the ball right behind her with her right foot and spun in midair, kicking the ball towards the goal with her left foot. Twilight panicked and ducked before the ball hit her. Rainbow Dash scored another point on her end, 2-0.
Twilight and all her friends were nervous, especially Sora and Donald, without Rainbow Dash's help, they'll never return the crown to the world it originated from. Rainbow Dash walked past Twilight and threw the ball in front of her feet. Twilight had a confident smile and was about to kick it, but Rainbow Dash swiped it away with her right foot, tossed it in the air behind her, and kicked it into the goal again with the bottom of her foot. She smiled while throwing her arms in the air. The score's now 3-0.
"Hey, isn't that che-?!" Sora was silenced by an orange hand covering his mouth.
When Scootaloo took her hand off of Sora's mouth, all he could do was sigh in disappointment.
Donald patted his lap with his wing, "Don't worry, Sora, if things don't work out, I'm sure we'll find another way to get that crown."
"Yeah... I guess." Sora replied. "Twilight... I know you can do it."
The game continued on as the ball was now in Twilight's possession, as she ran towards her goal, Rainbow Dash came out of nowhere and took the ball away from the Twilight, who screeched to a halt as she turned to see her opponent give the ball a good high-kick, sending into the goal, making the score 4-0.
"It's not looking good." Donald said.
"She can do it. I have faith in her." Sora replied.
Apple Bloom turned to Sora with a raised eyebrow, "Why do ya have faith in her all of a sudden?"
Sora hesitated when she asked that, but still answered, "I just... had a bad dream about her."
Now it was Sweetie Belle's turn, "What kind of bad dream?"
The bad memories of that dream came flooding back to Sora, "I... I nearly... lost control of myself... and I hurt her."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gasped.
"But I didn't mean to! I thought I was fighting someone else!" Sora added.
"Shhhhh! I'm watching the game!" Scootaloo said.
Now Rainbow Dash was just playing around, kicking the ball into the air twice with her knee, the bottom of her foot when it was behind her, and high-kicked behind her, into Twilight's face and fell in front of her. Twilight smiled as she saw an opportunity and rushed the ball to the goal. Her friends quickly became excited, thinking that she could kick the ball into the net, especially Sora and Donald.
"C'mon, Twilight... You're almost there!" Sora thought to himself.
Twilight was confident that she score this time, but as she tried to kick, and too hard I might add, she just missed the ball and fell flat on her back. The ball rolled right in front of Rainbow Dash, who somehow made her way to the goal, looked down at it and gave it a good, powerful high-kick, and it sailed into the goal. The final score was 5-0. It was clear that Twilight lost.
Rainbow Dash was jumping with joy, while Twilight laying on the ground, panting from exhaustion.
"Huff... Huff... Huff..." Twilight panted.
"That's game!" Rainbow Dash declared while looking down at Twilight.
Everyone else came down from the stands and looked down at Twilight with frowns upon their faces.
"Now what are we gonna do?" Sora thought in defeat.
"I really thought you were gonna pull it off there in the end." Rarity said while laughing sheepishly, earning herself a glare from Applejack and Pinkie Pie, an upset look from Fluttershy, and a quizzical look from Rainbow Dash.
Rarity turned to Sora and Donald, still keeping her sheepish smile, when the two slumped their upper bodies downward with their arms dangling while giving an exasperated sigh.
Meanwhile, Twilight was still on the ground, panting.
Rainbow held her hand out to help Twilight up, "So what's the plan? How can I help you be Princess instead of Sunset Shimmer?"
Sora and Donald shot up as they heard what Rainbow Dash said and gave each other a confused look.
Twilight soon got to her feet when Rainbow Dash helped her up, "But... I... lost."
"Of course you lost, I'm awesome," Rainbow Dash began, "but I'm not gonna help just anybody try and beat Sunset Shimmer. The Fall Formal Princess should be someone with heart and determination."
Twilight had a bright smile on her face, knowing that there was hope.
Everyone cheered at Rainbow Dash's words, while Pinkie Pie was jumping ecstatically. Sora pumped his fists to both his sides and smiled broadly, while Donald use his wing to swipe the sweat from his brow.
As Twilight and friends were celebrating, they didn't notice that they were being watched the entire time, by Snips, Snails, and Sunset. Snips and Snails were snickering as they showed Sunset what was on their phones, which in turn, Sunset developed a sinister grin on her face.
However, Sunset returned her attention to the group when Rainbow Dash spoke up, "Hey, Soar!"
"Uh, yeah?" Sora said, unsure of Rainbow's "20 percent cooler" nickname for him.
"Wanna play?" Rainbow Dash asked while kicking the soccer ball in the air with her knees.
"You mean that one-on-one game you played with Twilight?" Sora replied.
"Well... not exactly." Rainbow half-answered.
"What?" Sora was really confused now.
"You remember when you saved me from those, um, Heartless things earlier?" Rainbow asked.
"Uh, yeah, that happened like 20 minutes ago, why do you ask?" Sora asked back, more confused than he was before.
"Ya know," Rainbow began, "I feel really insulted that YOU could beat them, and I couldn't."
Applejack shot Rainbow Dash an annoyed look, "Rainbow, just what are ya gettin' at?"
"Yeah, what are you getting at?" Scootaloo asked with an awe-like smile.
"What I'm getting at is, the Heartless had their fun..." Rainbow paused as she let the ball land in front of her and put her foot on it. She then pointed a finger at Sora, "So now it's my turn to take a crack at you!"
"W-What?!" Sora was shocked instead of confused.
"Scoots! Fetch me my gym bag!" Rainbow ordered.
"You got it, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo obliged as she ran towards the locker room.
Rainbow looked at Sora with determination, "My gym bag has all of my sports equipment in it."
Scootaloo rushed back with Rainbow's gym bag in tow and threw it over to her. When it hit the ground next to her, it gave out an audible THUMP!
"Here's the ground rules; no magic, no fancy-shmancy superpowers like I saw in that video of you,"
"You saw that, huh?" Sora said as scratched the back of his head, sadly.
"AND..." Rainbow drawled as she pointed at Donald, "your little duck friend stays outta this."
"Why I oughta!" Donald yelled.
Pinkie Pie grabbed Donald before he could charge at Rainbow Dash, "Oh no you don't! You be a nice ducky!"
Donald was flailing in Pinkie's arms yet again, trying break free so he beat the living tar out of Rainbow Dash.
"OHHHHHHH!! The thunder has been brought down!!" Pinkie Pie declared.
Sora gave Rainbow Dash a determined look, "It's on." he then summoned his Keyblade.
"Yeah! Now we're talking!" Rainbow exclaimed, "Scoots! Hand me my baseball bat!"
Scootaloo threw Rainbow Dash her bat and a few baseballs, Rainbow tossed a baseball in the air and hit it with her bat. The ball sailed towards Sora, but he knocked it back with Keyblade. Rainbow ducked just in time before ball hit her, at that time, she tossed her other two balls in the air, and hit them towards Sora one by one. Sora knocked back the baseballs with little to no problem, but Rainbow dodged them as they sailed back to her. Rainbow charged at Sora with her baseball bat in hand, Sora did the same with his Keyblade, and when they collided, the inertia pushed them back from other, nearly knocking Rainbow off balance, but Sora recovered like it was nothing and charged at Rainbow this time. When Rainbow recovered, she charged as well, but she jumped in the air with her bat over her head, ready to bash his skull with everything she had. Sora saw this however, and held his Keyblade diagonally above him and blocked Rainbow's attack. As soon as Rainbow touched the ground, she was off balance again, this gave Sora the opportunity to spin where he stood with his Keyblade and smacked the bat clean out of her hand, over past the fence. Rainbow freaked out when she realized she was defenseless.
"SCOOTS! SOCCER BALLS!" Rainbow shouted.
Scootaloo grabbed a bag full of soccer balls, opened it up, and swung it, allowing the soccer balls inside to roll out on the field. Rainbow ran behind the line of soccer balls and readied herself, "EAT THIS!!" with that, she began kicking the balls towards Sora. He rushed to Rainbow, knocking the balls back to the best of his ability, turns out the soccer balls are much harder to hit than baseballs. Mainly, Sora tried to dodge them at least until he got close enough or when Rainbow ran out, much to her dismay, and Sora's relief, it turned out to be the latter.
"Scoots! Golf Club!" Rainbow ordered.
Scootaloo tossed Rainbow the golf club and rolled a few golf balls her way. Sora charged at Rainbow, only to be met with a golf ball to his leg, "OW!!" Sora yelled as he was kneeling to rest his now-throbbing knee.
"How am I supposed to get close to her if she keeps hitting me with all her sports gear?!" Sora thought, frustrated.
He then turned his gaze to Scootaloo, "Sorry, Scootaloo, hope there's no hard feelings."
Sora stood up and turned to Scootaloo. He stretched the arm that held his Keyblade behind him and flung it in Scootaloo's direction.
"What the! WHOA!!" Scootaloo screamed as ducked.
The Keyblade missed by somewhat of a longshot and jammed itself into the bleachers. Scootaloo ran back to join her friends in the stands, shouting, "SORRY RAINBOW! YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!"
Rainbow turned to Sora with an angry expression, "WHAT THE HAY, SORA!?"
"I had to get her to stop, I wasn't TRYING to hit her!" Sora said, defensively.
Words could not describe the anger boiling in Rainbow's blood at that moment, "I OUGHTA PRESS YOU INTO JERK CIDER!!"
Rainbow charged furiously at Sora, swinging her golf club like a maniac. All Sora could was block her attacks, every last strike was coming in too hot.
"This is getting out of control! We've gotta stop them!" Twilight thought.
Sora had no other option, he was losing energy fast, so he has to resort to his last line of defense...
Magic.
Rainbow came in for another attack, her strength never wavering, when Sora put his new plan into action, "Defense!" Sora shouted as activated his Reflega spell.
Rainbow's attack bounced back, which almost knocks her to the ground, "Why you-! I said 'no magic'!"
"I had to do it, Rainbow. You were losing control. Just like... I did... I'm not fighting you anymore."
"You don't have that option!!" Rainbow shouted as she charged once more.
"Then I guess I'll keep defending till you tire yourself out." Sora stated.
Sora kept using his Reflega spell to cut off all of Rainbow's attacks, the battle continued for a good 10 minutes before Rainbow Dash became really tired, really quick. Twilight saw it as an opportunity to get to Rainbow and try to calm her down. By the time they got to her, she slumped to the ground with her head hung low.
"Move aside." Rainbow ordered, "I wanna talk to Sora. Alone."
Sora was surprised she didn't call him "Soar". She must be pretty mad. Everyone nodded in confirmation and stepped away from Rainbow Dash. As Sora walked forward cautiously to her, He caught something out of the corner of his eye. There was something spinning in the air, flying towards Rainbow Dash. Sora's instincts kicked into Autopilot, "LOOK OUT!!!" he jumped over to Rainbow and pushed her out of way as he held on to her. The object flying through the air thrust itself into the ground where Rainbow once stood, it had a blue shaft with a pair of bat wings at both sides and a demonic-like eye in the center, strange gear-like hand guards, and a keychain with an hourglass charm that hung from the handle...
Wait, hand guards? Keychain? It can't be!
"A Keyblade?!" Sora thought out loud.
He looked to where the supposed Keyblade came from, at another set of bleachers, there stood at the very top was a man in a black coat. Same height, same shape, there's no doubt. It was the hooded man who invaded Sora's dreams. With a displeased frown, he dissipated in darkness and his Keyblade along with him.
Sora couldn't feel angry at that moment. He almost lost a friend, if he hadn't noticed the attack in time...
Sora held Rainbow Dash tighter than he did before, "Are you ok... Rainbow Dash?"
"...I'm sorry."
"Huh?" Sora said.
"I'm sorry I lost my cool, and..."
Rainbow turned while in Sora's arms and returned the (somewhat) hug, "...Thank you. For saving my life."
"...You're welcome." Sora replied.
After a few moments, Sora tried to stand up with Rainbow still in his arms. As they both stood up, everyone tried to comfort them, until Pinkie spoke up, "Hey, um, why don't we get something to eat and try to cheer up, huh?" with that, everyone nodded in agreement and made their way off the field.
Confused, surprised, shocked, mesmerized, whatever word you can think of along those lines is the biggest understatement in the history of understatements to describe what Sunset, Snips, and Snails were feeling at that moment.
"Uhhhhh..." Snips said.
"Duhhhhh..." Snails said.
"Who WAS that guy?! He almost killed Rainbow Dash! Has that Braig guy lost his mind?!" Sunset thought.
It was then a Corridor of Darkness appeared behind the three snoops and Braig came from it, "Hey there, Kitten."
The three turned their gaze to Braig.
"Who are you?!" Snips asked, surprised.
"Yeah, you look weird, but in a cool way." Snails commented, as if he was oblivious to the fact that Braig just stepped out of a portal seeping with darkness.
"You! Have you gone crazy!?" Sunset asked, angrily.
Braig was beyond confused, "Nice to see you too..."
"Don't play innocent with me! What's the deal with that guy in the same coat as you nearly killing a student here?!" Sunset demanded to know.
"What guy? I never sent anyone here." Braig answered.
"About the same height as me, throwing a Keyblade at Rainbow Dash!" Sunset described.
"Oh. Him." Braig said with a look of disgust.
"So you DO know him!" Sunset yelled.
"Don't point fingers at me, The kid does whatever he wants." Braig said.
All Sunset could was scoff at him for even knowing a freak like that guy in the hood.
"On to a new topic, did you get Sora for me yet? You're kinda running outta time." Braig asked.
"Sunset Shimmer, do you know this guy?" Snips asked.
"Back off, tubby. There's a question already on the table." Braig insulted.
"Tubby?!" Snips half-shouted.
"No, I haven't got Sora for you yet, and yes Snips, I know him, he's the one who gave me 'special' details about our little heroic friend." Sunset answered both questions with a sinister grin as she finished.
"So, what're you just standing around for?" Braig asked, slightly annoyed.
"Because I have a social status to keep around here, and Sora can wait till later." Sunset answered, snidely.
"How much later?" Braig asked, trying to hide his annoyance.
"Just until I get my hands on the Fall Formal crown." Sunset answered with a determined, but still sinister smile.
"Seriously, Sunset, WHO IS this guy?" Snips said, asking the same question.
"Ah, the crown with the powerful magic I've been sensing, eh?" Braig asked with his usual cocky smile.
"Back off, cyclops. there's a question already on the table." Snips insulted with a chuckle as he finished, mimicking Braig's insult from earlier.
At that moment, he pulled out his Arrowguns and pointed them at Snips, "You may insult people for a living, but I doubt you got the muscle to back it up," Braig began to grin when he saw Snips having a mental freak out where he stood, "I wonder what'll happen if I pop your belly like a balloon... Tubby."
Sunset just stared for a moment, when she snapped out of her stupor, she began to grin, "So, THAT'S how you get your way. I just blackmail people, but you tend to threaten their lives. I like that."
Braig turned his attention to Sunset, keeping his Arrowguns pointed at Snips, "Heh, trying to butter me up? As if."
Sunset pretended she didn't hear that comment and answered both the questions asked, "Now, to answer your question, AGAIN, Snips, his name is Braig, and now for YOUR question, yes, it is the crown with the powerful magic."
Braig let his Arrowguns disappear, "How bout I give you a hand?" Braig snapped his fingers.
To his side, 3 Neoshadows appeared from the ground, "I'll give you the power to control the Heartless, so you can snag Sora for me."
Sunset examined the Neoshadows intensively, then she decided, "These Heartless won't do." Braig gave Sunset a look of confusion and slight annoyance, "Sora snuffed out this type earlier like they were nothing."
Braig began to think, then had an idea, "How bout these, then?" Braig snapped his fingers again and the Neoshadows turned into silver armored creatures with spikes at the kneecaps, blue twisted blades, glowing yellow eyes, and the Heartless emblem on its shoulders. They were Dual Blades. Once they were summoned, they clinked their blades one at a time in a line from left to right.
"Oh, those'll do just fine." Sunset said with an evil grin instead of a sinister one.
"Better hurry up," Braig began to disappear in darkness, "my 'superiors' are getting antsy." and then he was gone.
Snips turned to Sunset, "Uh, Sunset? Why are you helping him get Sora?"
"WE'RE not." Sunset said simply, "I'm keeping him all to myself."
"Duh, why?" Snails asked.
"BECAUSE," Sunset began, "Braig, and whoever he works for, need Sora and his Keyblade to open Kingdom Hearts."
"Kingdom Hearts?" Snips and Snails asked simultaneously.
"The door to all worlds." Snips and Snails gaped at what she said, but she continued all the same, "When the crown is in my possession, I'll use its power to gain control over Sora's Keyblade, and when I do, the entire universe shall bow to me!"
Sunset began laugh evilly, it started small at first, but with every second the volume intensified, leaving Snips and Snails a little scared of her, but they would never admit it.
***
As the group wandered through the halls, they just kept staring at Rainbow Dash and Sora, who remained in each other embrace; Rainbow was still shaken that she was almost killed, but she was so grateful to Sora, she didn't want to let go of him yet. She kept flashing back to the moment she nearly killed Sora out of anger, if he wasn't there, she would've been... She held him even tighter. Whereas Sora was shaken as well, he almost lost a friend because of a member of the new Organization XIII. He kept dwelling on it, knowing that he was the one the Organization was after. As long as he's here, these innocent girls will be in danger.
"The sooner we return the crown, the better." Sora thought.
Applejack then spoke up, "Hey Apple Bloom, why don't y'all head back home? We got some things we need ta sort out."
The three girls nodded somberly and headed home like nothing happened. Sora would bet 1000 Munny that those three are just as scared as the rest of the group.
When they finally made it the double doors, Rainbow let go of Sora, "Sorry, don't want anyone to think we're dating or anything." Sora nodded in understanding.
They were about to leave the school when Donald stopped him, "Sora?" Sora turned and looked down at Donald, "You remember our very first promise?" everyone turned to face Donald.
"Always smile!" Donald exclaimed with a smile, "Me, you, and Goofy made a promise that we'd keep smiling, no matter what!"
Sora smiled at Donald's words and of that fond memory, "Thanks Donald."
At that moment, Twilight and company were smiling as well, even Rainbow. Everyone was alright, so there's no point in worrying about "what if".
"Sora and Donald sure are something else." Twilight thought.
"Wait a minute! Who's Goofy?" Applejack asked.
Sora and Donald glanced at each other with their smiles still present, when Sora turned back to Applejack and spoke up, "We'll tell you on the way."
The group continued out the exit to the school to get some food in their stomachs.
***
Twilight was waiting for her drink while occupying herself with her thoughts, "I can't believe Sora's friends with the Captain of the Royal Knights in some kingdom named Disney Castle! And the Captain's name is Goofy! It's not really an intimidating name, but I bet he was Captain for a reason. My brother is the Captain of the Royal GUARD, and Sora knows the Captain of the Royal KNIGHTS, how can we be so different and so alike at the same time?" Twilight risked a glance at Sora, who was talking to the rest of her friends, probably about his previous adventures. Twilight returned to her thoughts with mixed feelings, "I don't even know what to think anymore." It's true, ever since Sora and Donald came along, everything has turned upside-down and all around for her. The Heartless, some evil organization, and now, the strange boy she saw in Sora's place that one time. Just who was that? "Maybe I'll tell Sora about that boy when we have a little more time alone." Twilight blushed at that thought, "NO! That's not what I meant! I meant when my friends aren't around, I could talk to him about that other boy I saw!" Twilight's blush went from red to a bright crimson, "GAH!! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT EITHER!! I DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM THAT WAY!! AND EVEN IF I DID, I WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT ANOTHER BOY IF SORA ACTUALLY HAD FEELINGS FOR ME!! ...Does he?" Twilight then realized something, "Why am I even trying to correct myself? No one can hear my thoughts!" Twilight shook off her mental berating and returned focus to the women at the counter, who was just putting the finishing touches on Twilight's drink, "Annnnd, can I get mine with extra oats?"
"Oats?" The woman asked, confused.
Twilight shifted her gaze nervously, "Uhh, scratch that," she stepped back and put her hands behind her back, "however you normally make it is fine." she finished as she blushed and smiled sheepishly.
The woman gave her a bland look and set the cup on the counter and walked off. Twilight picked up the cup and as she turned around, she bumped into somebody and spilled her drink on him and the floor. Twilight had a terrified expression on her face as she looked up to who she bumped into, somebody she recognizes all too well. He had blue spiky hair, blue eyes, a black jacket with white and red stripes at the center and the sleeves with a white shirt underneath that had a shield and lightning bolt at its center, where a stain had now been formed, light blue denim pants, and black and white striped shoes. He brushed off his shirt and spoke, "Whoa, we've gotta stop bumping into each other like this."
Twilight knelt down to pick up the cup she had dropped, when she put her hand on it, the blue, spiky-haired guy did the same and their touched. They looked at each other and Twilight quickly pulled her hand away while smiling nervously, and strangely, when the guy picked up the cup for her, he smiled nervously too. They both stood up and Twilight spoke while grabbing her hair, "You know me, always trying to make a big SPLASH around here. 'Cause my drink, kind of splashed, on the ground!" she laughed, smiled, and played with her fingers nervously as he stared at her, until Twilight finally found the courage to speak again, "I'm gonna go over there now." she concluded while pointing her thumb behind her towards her friends, bumped into the counter, and retreated to her friends. The guy just smiled at her antics and scratched back of his head.
Twilight sat on the arm of the couch three of her friends were sitting on, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, the only two who had drinks, and Rarity. Spike was laying on Rarity lap while she had her hands upon his back. Donald was sitting on Fluttershy's lap while she petting his head, which he liked a lot.
"Heh, I guess after we first met Fluttershy, Donald's taken a real shine to her." Sora thought in the back of his mind.
Her other three friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Sora were sitting in separate chairs, but Applejack was sitting in hers backwards, Sora had a large pile of food on his side of table, anxious to begin chowing down, and Pinkie Pie had a drink with a straw and a fruit wedge in her hand.
Twilight just blushed and played with her hair, when Rarity spoke up, "Don't even think about it," she began, "You're already trying to get her crown, who knows what Sunset Shimmer would do if you ended up getting her ex-boyfriend too?" Sora once again scowled at the moment of her name, but even that didn't put a damper on his appetite.
"I'm not trying to- I don't even know- We just accidentally- Ex-boyfriend?" Twilight stammered.
"Flash Sentry broke up with her a few weeks ago," As Fluttershy spoke, the guy from before, Flash Sentry as she called him, was paying for a drink of his own, "I can't believe she hasn't done something awful to him yet."
Flash Sentry walked past the group and looked at Twilight as she tried to hide from him with a kind grin on his face.
"Serves her right, if you ask me." Sora thought as bluntly as he could.
"Maybe she's just waiting until she has the power to do something really awful." Twilight said.
"I'm just saying, maybe you could date someone who wouldn't be a dangerously risky choice, someone like... Sora." Twilight blushed at Rarity's words, but much to Twilight's dismay, she continued, "He's kind, sweet, caring, protective, and granted, he can be reluctant to tell the truth," as Rarity spoke, it's almost like she was swooning over him. Twilight's blush deepened as Rarity continued on, "but still, he saved our dear Rainbow Dash from danger, twice, no less! Even if he put himself in that danger! How selfless!"
Rainbow Dash gumbled, "It wasn't THAT big a deal..."
"And fought all those dangerous monsters! How brave and daring! And-"
Rarity was interrupted by a loud, but strange sound. It was Sora, scarfing down every bit of food he could put in his mouth. He stopped for a moment and noticed the strange stares he was getting from the rest of the group. He'd never been in a situation like this, so it was a little embarrassing. Sora swallowed the food he had in his mouth and said, "What? I haven't eaten since we left the Tower." Donald, while still on Fluttershy's lap, nodded in agreement; Donald was in public and couldn't risk talking, so he tries to answer with a nod of his head.
"A little childish at times." Rarity concluded.
"Alright everyone," Applejack began as she stood up, "dance is tomorrow night, and we still don't know how we're gonna get Twilight the votes she needs to be named Princess. Right now, folks only knows the Twilight from the video Sunset Shimmer posted online." she came up behind Twilight, "We need to help 'em see her differently."
"Hmm..." they all pondered on what to do.
"I GOT IT!!!" Rarity screeched throughout the entire building, earning her the stares from everyone in the room.
She flashed a big toothy smile, darted her eyes around, and blushed in embarrassment. Choosing a calmer tone, she cleared her throat and said, "I mean, um, perhaps I have a solution." she walked over to her bag and reached inside, "Now this may be an absolutely preposterous idea, BUT what if tomorrow we all wore THESE as a sign of unity?" Rarity pulled out a pair of yellow horse ears with a blue handband and a blue and yellow tail.
The group stared at Rarity quizzically.
"Freshman year they were very, very popular, a way for everybody to show their school spirit." she continued as she put them on, "You know, 'Go Canterlot Wondercolts!'" she smiled in slight embarrassment before clearing her throat and deadpanned, "I haven't sold any in ages." she began to dig some more of them out, a tail and a pair of ears for everyone, "I mean, the seven of us are obviously very different, but deep down we're all Canterlot Wondercolts." they all put their ears and tail on, even Sora and Donald, "Sunset Shimmer is the one who divided us, Twilight Sparkle is the one who united us, and we're going to let everyone know it!" Rarity declared while putting a pair of ears on Twilight's head. "What do you think?" she asked.
She looked at all her friends, Pinkie smiled brightly, Applejack smiled with a thumbs up, Rainbow crossed her arms and grinned, Fluttershy put both her hands behind back and smiled brightly, and Spike looked at Twilight and Rarity with hearts in his eyes, more likely at Rarity. Rarity smiled as she nuzzled Twilight while she closed one of her eyes and smiled back.
It was a normal day for the students of Canterlot High, during lunch period the students were either chatting amongst themselves, playing with their phones, or showing off to others at their table, Flash Sentry and a group of people who looked like his bandmates were eating their lunch and listening to Flash play his guitar.
Rarity, who was wearing a blue sweater with a yellow horseshoe shaped to look like a "C", sat down at a random table and discreetly put on her Wondercolt ears in preparation for her and her friend's performance.
Rainbow Dash, who wore the same sweater, sat down at a random table as well and put on her Wondercolt ears too.
Pinkie Pie, unlike Rarity and Rainbow Dash, was standing in the lunch line, but she was wearing the same blue sweater and put her Wondercolt ears as well. And when she did, she picked up a lunch tray, and banged it on the counter in a certain rhythm.
Soon after she did, Rarity stomped her feet to imitate the same rhythm, but clapped her hands to add to it.
Then Fluttershy did the same, banging on the table with two empty glasses. She sat next to Sora, who banged his Keyblade on table, copying her rhythm.
Applejack with her hands, clapped and banged on the table she was sitting at, following the rhythm.
Rainbow Dash had an empty lunch tray and banged it on her table in time with the rhythm her friends were making.
Everyone was perfectly in tune when Spike and Donald turned on the radio next to them and watched them as they sang,
Hey, hey, everybody
We've got something to say
We may seem as different
As the night is from day
But you look a little deeper
And you will see
That I'm just like you
And you're just like me
Yeah!
**Instrumental Break**
Hey, hey, everybody
We're here to shout
That the Magic of Friendship is what it's all about
Yeah, we thought we were different as the night is from the day
Until Twilight Sparkle helped us see another way
So get up, get down
If you're gonna come around
We can work together
Helping Twilight win the crown
So get up, get down
Cause it's gonna make a sound
If we work together
Helping Twilight Sparkle win the crown
Hey, hey, hands up now
Hey, hey, hands up now
We're sending a message to the crowd
We're sending a message to the crowd
Hands wave up, then come down
Hands wave up, then come down
We party together all around
We party together all around
Generous, Honesty
Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty
Twilight helped us each to see
All that we can be
All that we can be
So get up, get down
If you're gonna come around
We can work together
Helping Twilight win the crown
So get up, get down
Cause it's gonna make a sound
If we work together
Helping Twilight Sparkle win the crown
I'm gonna be myself
No matter what I do
And if we're different, yeah, I want you to be true to you
If you follow me
We'll put our differences aside
We'll stick together and start working on that school pride!
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Canterlot Wondercolts
Help her win the crown
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Canterlot Wondercolts
Help her win the crown
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Canterlot Wondercolts
Help her win the crown
Jump up, make a sound
HEY!
Stomp your hooves, turn around
Start now, make a change
Gonna come around
Sora snuck out of the crowd and grabbed his backpack with Donald in it.
"Sora, what are you doing?!" Donald whispered.
"It's ok, Donald," Sora began as he looked back to Twilight and her friends and smiled, "I think they can take it from here."
And with that, Sora and Donald left the cafeteria and with all the commotion, nobody noticed him leave. He walked down the hall and came up to a corner when he and Donald heard something that took them by surprise, "Take those off!"
He knew that voice all too well, it was Sunset Shimmer. He and Donald took a peek around the corner and saw that it was indeed Sunset and her cronies, Snips and Snails.
"I have something I need you to do." Sunset said with a sinister grin slowly growing upon her face.
She walked down the hall while motioning Snips and Snails to follow her. She headed past the corner that Sora and Donald were hiding behind, but she didn't notice them, she must be so focused on what she has planned that she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. Snips and Snails didn't notice them either because they were too focused on following Sunset.
When they were out of earshot, Donald spoke up, "Let's follow 'em, Sora!"
"You took the words right outta my mouth!" Sora agreed.
They rushed to catch up with Sunset and her lackeys, so they can stop whatever Sunset has planned.
***
Sunset, Snips, and Snails walked into the gym with the decorations that Pinkie and Sora worked so hard on. Sunset grinned as she noticed that the three of them were the only ones there.
"Trash the place." Sunset ordered, "I want no streamer or balloon untouched, got it?"
The two saluted in conformation.
"Good. I'll be right back." Sunset said.
She left the gym as Snips and Snails prepared to carry out their orders. They furrowed their brows and grinned in determination.
Snips and Snails turned to see Sora and Donald with Keyblade and Mage's Staff in hand and wing. They readied their battle stances and glared at Sunset's lackeys.
"Duh, what're we gonna do Snips? Sora's here!" Snails asked in a panic.
Snips flexed his muscles (if he has any) downwards and replied, "We knock him down a peg!"
Snails nodded and put up his dukes while Snips did the same and bounced from his left foot to his right foot.
Sora charged first at Snips, he swung his Keyblade in an upwards arc and knocked Snips into the air, Sora jumped after Snips and spun in midair, hitting Snips again in the process with a horizontal slash, which flung him into a nearby table and crushed it.
Snails was astonished at Sora's skill, so much in fact, that he didn't notice Donald whack him in the head with his Mage's Staff. When Snails finally began to focus on his own battle, Donald was nowhere to be seen.
"Huh? Where'd he go?" Snails asked.
Then Snails smelled something unusual, "Duh, is someone cooking something? It smells like it's burning."
"Well, duh! IT'S YOU!" Snips yelled in a panic.
Snails looked behind him and saw Donald using his Firaga spell on him.
"AHHHHHHH!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!!" Snails screamed.
Donald was on his back laughing hysterically while Snails was running around the gym with his butt on fire, smashing anything he runs into, chairs, balloons, streamers, and then he finally stopped when he jumped into a punch bowl laying on top of another table.
"Ahhhhh..." Snails sighed in relief.
Meanwhile, Sora is knocking Snips every which way, it's obvious that Snips was fighting a losing battle. Now Sora was whacking him in the face left and right with his Keyblade, until he did another upwards arc, which threw him into the disco ball and smashed it. Snips and the disco ball fell to the floor, Snips was dizzy when he hit the floor and the disco ball cracked halfway open.
Snips and Snails regrouped together after they recuperated from their respective beatings, but unfortunately they let their guard down as Sora and Donald charged at them again. The battle continued on for a while...
***
Finally, the battle was over, Sora and Donald were panting heavily and Snip and Snails sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. How could a couple of tools like them put up so much of a fight?
"Well, at least we stopped them, right Donald?" Sora asked with a smile.
"Uhh, Sora? Look." Donald said, pointing at the gym.
Sora looked around and instantly became slackjawed. The gym was in ruins, broken tables, popped and deflated balloons-
CLICK!
-streamers torn up while still hanging and all over the floor, foldable chairs thrown everywhere-
CLICK!
-and the poor disco ball, smashed open beyond repair-
CLICK!
-okay, seriously, where is that sound coming from?!
"Well done, Sora."
Sora and Donald gasped in surprise and they turned to face Her.
"Thank you for giving me what I need to take down your beloved Twilight Sparkle. It's a bit much, but I'll take what I can get." said Sunset Shimmer with her cell phone in her hands.
Sora growled and said, "Why can't you just leave Twilight alone?! She didn't do ANYTHING to you!!"
"Oh, THAT'S where you're wrong, Keyblade Wielder," Sora was taken aback by those last two words, "that miserable excuse for a Princess took away MY rightful place, I'm just doing whatever it takes to get it back." Sunset grinned sinisterly.
"Quit the games!" Sora demanded as he readied his Keyblade.
Sunset snapped her fingers and much to Sora and Donald's surprise, Several Dual Blades surrounded them on all sides.
"Like my new henchmen?" Sunset asked, "Once I get the crown, your Keyblade will be next! Farewell for now... Hero."
Sunset laughed manically as she walked down the hall, leaving Sora and Donald to fend off the Dual Blades.
"Sunset!!" Sora shouted, "Urgh! Outta my way!!"
Sora tried to fight the Dual Blades, but they wouldn't budge, much to Sora's frustration. But it soon changed to confusion as the Dual Blades retreated by disappearing.
Sora and Donald viewed their surroundings, Sunset was nowhere to be found and Snips and Snails disappeared as well. Sora turned back to the disaster he and Donald created, he really made a mess of the place. Sora lowered his head in depression and let his body slump to the floor.
"Sora?" Donald asked with concern.
"What am I gonna do Donald?" Sora began, "I might have just ruined Twilight's chance to getting her crown back. And now, all of a sudden, Sunset wants my Keyblade. How does she even know about it?"
Donald was trying to figure out what to say to Sora, but he continued, "What am I gonna say to Twilight? What if she hates me? What if her friends hate me?"
Sora began to tear up, "What am I gonna do?"
Donald thought about it and furrowed his brow when he found an answer, "We have to tell them the truth."
Sora perked up and shifted his gaze towards Donald, who continued to speak, "Honesty is always the best policy, Sora. Hopefully they'll understand."
"And what if they don't, Donald? What if they think I MEANT to destroy the gym?" Sora asked.
"They won't." Donald said simply.
Sora just stared at Donald with a conflicted expression as he continued, "Remember what we agreed on, Sora? No frowning, no sad faces."
Sora lowered his head even more only to whip back up with the biggest smile he could muster. Donald began to laugh joyfully.
"Now that's the Sora I remember!" Donald said.
Sora and Donald shared a good laugh together, Sora felt like it was a long time ago since he laughed, everything has been focused on stopping Sunset and returning the crown. It felt good not to feel anger all the time for Sora. But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
Sora and Donald started to panic at that moment, if they were caught in a destroyed gym, game over!
"Let's get of here before someone sees us!" Donald exclaimed.
"Right!" Sora agreed.
With that said, Sora and Donald rushed out of the gym before they were caught red-handed. Their next course of action was to find Twilight and her friends and warn them about the gym... and maybe a huge apology to boot.
***
Students began to pour out into the hallways as the bell rang, each one of them wearing Wondercolt ears and tails.
"Doesn't everyone look just fabulous?" Rarity asked.
"It was a great idea, Rarity." Twilight said.
Applejack looked surprised at the look on Sunset's face as she and her lackeys walked through the halls, causing everyone to have panicked expressions, but Applejack's look soon turned displeased, "Don't know what she's smilin' about. Twilight's the one that's gonna be Princess of the Fall Formal."
Sunset walked past the six girls with Snips giving the "I'm watching you" motion with his two fingers and Snails quietly snickering to himself. Twilight and her friends just stared as Sunset and her cronies approached a door in the hallway; the troublesome trio gazed at them and turned their attention to the door, which Sunset knocked on three times.
The door opened to reveal a woman with dark blue and silver streaked hair, lighter blue skin, aqua-blue eyes, wearing a pink, white collared shirt with a moon symbol on the front of collar. She saw Sunset with a troubled expression as she spoke, "Vice Principal Luna, something terrible has happened!"
***
The woman known as Vice Principal Luna and Sunset Shimmer found the ruins of the once decorated gym.
"Isn't this just awful?" Sunset asked, feigning distress, "And after Pinkie Pie and Sora worked so hard to make things so perfect." Sunset gave Luna the "puppy dog eyes" look and continued, "Why would Twilight Sparkle do something like this?"
"Why would you think Twilight was responsible for something like this?" Vice Principal Luna asked.
"Because I have proof." Sunset said, pulling out a folder.
Little did the two know that Flash Sentry was spying on them. Flash had a suspicious look on his face and left the area.
***
Twilight found herself in the near-dark abyss of Vice Principal Luna's office, the only light being the sun barely shining through the half-open blinds.
Twilight was the first to speak, "But, but I don't understand."
Luna set the folder on her desk, allowing it to open on its own, "This is clearly you in the photographs, is it not?"
Twilight looked at photos in the folder; Twilight was kicking a couple of chairs in the first photo, the second photo has Twilight kicking a wooden plank in half, and in the third photo, Twilight had a smile on her face as if she was satisfied.
Twilight, horrified by this impossible evidence, tried to speak, "Yes, but-"
Luna used her hands to slightly, but briefly, open the blinds a bit to peer through them and return her gaze to Twilight, "I think it should be fairly obvious that the school cannot let someone who would do something like THIS, compete for the Fall Formal crown."
Luna walked over to her desk and put her hands down on it, glaring at Twilight while the latter was trying to explain herself, but quickly submitted when she put her hands over her face.
With two quick knocks, Flash Sentry barged in, "Vice Principal Luna," the two turned to face him, "I found these in a trash can in the library." he walked in to give Luna his own evidence, Twilight couldn't believe the scene unfolding before her, "I thought you should see them." Luna looked over the evidence given to her; three cut out photos. She put Flash's evidence over Sunset's, they were a perfect match! "Someone obviously combined these photos to make it look like Twilight was the one who trashed the gym."
"I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Flash." Luna said.
She turned to walk to her desk chair, sat down, and spoke to Twilight, "In light of this new evidence, you may of course continue your bid to be crowned the Princess of the Fall Formal."
Twilight smiled broadly and ran to hug Flash, opening the blinds and brightening the room in the process, "Thank you! You have no idea how important this is to me!"
Twilight soon realized what she was doing and let go of Flash while blushing and smiling nervously.
"What was I going to do? Not prove your innocence? Wouldn't be much of a Canterlot Wondercolt, would I?" Flash asked while shuffling closer to her.
"I am afraid enough damage has been done to the gym that we will have to postpone the dance until tomorrow night." Luna said as she was getting out of her chair, "If you will excuse me, I need to let my sister know about this latest development."
With that said, Luna exited her office and left the two alone. After a few short moments, Flash broke the silence, "So, uh, I was wondering... If you aren't already going with somebody, want to go to the Fall Formal with me tomorrow night?"
Flash and Twilight stared into each other's eyes, Twilight still blushing with a blissful smile on her face, put her head on Flash's chest and spoke, "That would be-" but it was then she finally a shocking truth, "Tomorrow night?!" Twilight began freaking out, saying "No!" several times, much to Flash's dismay. She grabbed her backpack and rushed out of Luna's office, saying, "I can't- The portal- It'll be too late!!"
Flash walked out of the office, cupped his hands over his mouth, and called out, "One 'no' would've been fine!"
Flash just roamed the halls with a defeated look on his face...
Twilight ran as fast as she could. Her friends were all at Rarity’s choosing dresses for the Fall Formal. The Fall Formal that would be too late to do any good. But even if the girls couldn’t help, she had promised to come, and the boutique was a good place to think. Twilight blew open the door and darted into a dressing room, oblivious to Fluttershy’s and Rarity’s worried glances. She set Spike’s backpack down on a stool, leaned against the wall, and took a deep breath. Rarity’s muffled voice came through the curtain.
"Everything okay in there?"
"Yes!" shouted Twilight, but her frantic whisper told the real story. "Only it's not okay. It's not okay at all. If I don't get my crown tonight, I won't be able to go back to Equestria for another thirty moons. Oh, what are we gonna do?"
Spike lifted a paw over his heart. "Hmm... We tell them the truth. Let them know what's really at stake if you don't get the crown tonight. They'll help us figure something out." He touched Twilight’s leg reassuringly.
"But what if they won't? What if when they find out just how different I really am..."
Twilight looked in the mirror and to her surprise saw the pony she was looking back at her.
"Twilight, these girls rallied around you because they saw what was in your heart." Spike sat up so Twilight could see him in the mirror. When she looked back to her own reflection, it was human again. "They aren't gonna feel any differently about you when they find out you're a pony princess in Equestria."
Twilight turned away from the mirror. "I'm glad you followed me here, Spike." She patted his head.
Spike wagged his tail. "Me too," Spike said, but he glanced at the ground. "Unless, of course, we get stuck here for another 30 moons."
* * *
Sora shoved the boutique’s door open and crouched in the threshold, panting heavily with his hands on his knees. He looked up to see the girls, all but Twilight, holding clothes and gathered around a drawn curtain. "Where's—Twilight—"
Rarity, the only one sitting down, flicked her eyes at the curtain. "She came running in here like there was no tomorrow, just like you. Do you know what could have upset her so?"
Donald popped his head out of Sora's backpack and he and Sora shared a panicked look. They knew, alright. But before they could say anything, Twilight whipped the curtain open. The girls turned to look at her, and Sora sighed in relief at being off the hook.
"What!?" Pinkie screamed, her eyes wide with shock.
"It had to be postponed because Sunset Shimmer had Snips and Snails ruin all of Sora’s and Pinkie Pie's decorations.”
"WHAT!?" Pinkie screeched. Sora and Donald cringed.
"But the Fall Formal has to happen tonight." Twilight insisted.
"Wha—?" Applejack put a hand over Pinkie's mouth.
Twilight sighed, "You see..."
Pinkie pulled free and took a huge breath. "You're from an alternate world and you're a pony princess there and the crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that helps power up other magical elements and without it they don't work anymore and you need them to help protect your magical world and if you don't get the crown tonight you'll be stuck in this world and you won't be able to get back for like a really, really long time!" She finished with a huge smile and a proud *squee*.
Twilight, Spike, Sora, and Donald looked slack-jawed at Pinkie, but Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure that isn't the reason."
"Nope, she's pretty much spot on." Spike said.
"He can talk!?" Rarity gasped.
"Oh, yeah” Twilight grimaced as Spike reared up on his hind legs. "And back where I come from, I'm not even a dog. I am a ferocious fire-breathing dragon!"
Fluttershy pushed Rarity and Pinkie aside to get at Spike. "This is so amazing! Tell me, what are you thinking right now?"
Spike sauntered over to Rarity and looked up at her longingly. "Sure would love a scratch behind the old ears."
"Gah..."
"Uh, maybe later."
"Hey!" squawked Donald. "How come you guys don't freak out like that when I talk!?"
Fluttershy picked him up and hugged him. Donald sighed.
"How did you know all that?" said Twilight.
"Just a hunch." Pinkie shrugged.
Applejack put up her hands. "Wait a minute! Lemme get this straight. You're a pony?"
"You're a princess?" Rarity chimed in, having found her voice.
"You're from another world?" added Fluttershy.
Twilight rubbed the back of her head, blushed, and gulped. "Mm-hmm."
"That...is...awesome!" Rainbow said.
All the girls gathered around Twilight, eagerly asking her about life in Equestria.
"See? Told ya." Spike said.
Twilight just smiled.
"Um, guys?" Sora hated to ruin the moment, but there was a chance the girls would accept his apology like they'd accepted Twilight.
Everyone turned their attention to Sora now, and Donald jumped out of Fluttershy's arms to stand loyally with Sora.
"Is somethin' the matter, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"We saw Snips and Snails go into the gym after Sunset ordered them to trash it. We tried to stop them, but..."
"But, you didn't?" Twilight guessed.
"No... We did... But in the process we destroyed it."
Sora could see the disappointment in their eyes, especially Twilight’s.
"I messed up, okay? I was just trying to help. I'm really sorry." Sora hung his head.
"It was my fault, too!" Donald said stoutly.
"Sora, I almost lost my crown because of you! If Flash hadn't found the evidence to prove I was innocent..." It was Twilight's turn to lower her head. "I would've failed my friends at home...and all of Equestria."
"...I was just trying to help." Sora repeated.
He and Twilight looked at each other for a long time. Sora could feel the others watching him, but he kept his eyes on Twilight, waiting for her answer.
"C'mon girls," she said at last, her brow furrowed in determination. "Let's do something about the gym."
She marched out the door, the other girls filing out behind her. Sora scooped Donald up and joined the back of the line, but barely made it out onto the sidewalk before Twilight noticed him, "And just what do you think you're doing?" she snapped, not looking at Sora as she walked.
"Uh, going with you guys?”
"I think you've done enough." Twilight kept walking.
"But Twilight—"
Twilight turned, and Sora backpedaled away from her glare. Sure he wouldn't follow, Twilight continued down the street, leaving Sora standing in the doorway. Sora looked desperately at her friends, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash peeled away from the group.
"It's alright, sugarcube. She jus' needs a little time."
"Yeah," Rainbow nodded. "If it makes you feel better, I still think you're awesome."
Sora forced a smile, which seemed to be enough for Rainbow.
"C'mon, AJ, if we run we can still beat them to the gym." She gave Sora a pat on the back and took off down the street. Applejack lingered a little longer, chewing her lip as if she wanted to say something, but eventually followed Rainbow, leaving Sora and Donald alone in the boutique.
"Sora..."
Sora turned to Donald, his fake smile replaced with a confident grin. "You know..." he said, "Twilight could use some help."
Donald's beak flapped open in confusion. "How are we supposed to do that?"
Sora gave Donald a devious wink. "Without getting caught."
Donald snickered knowingly. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" he declared, and jumped into Sora's backpack. Sora shut the door behind him and ran towards the school.
I just hope we're not too late...
* * *
The girls and Spike surveyed the damage done to the gym. Overturned chairs and tables littered the floor. The decapitated tips of streamers looked forlornly from the ceiling at their bodies on the floor. Somehow the disco ball had survived the fall from its fitting without smashing into a million pieces, but there was no hiding the jagged gash that tore across it like a mangled mouth.
"I simply cannot believe they did all this." Rarity said.
"If I only had some kind of...party cannon that could decorate everything super fast." Pinkie's voice fell when she realized she didn't.
"I know it seems impossible, but maybe if we all work together?"
"Now that's the kind of can-do spirit Ah'm lookin' for in a Fall Formal Princess!" Applejack stuck her hand into the middle of the group. "Let's do it, y'all!"
"Absolutely!"
"Rock on!"
"Yes, indeedily!"
"Yaaay!” One by one, Rarity, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy placed their hands on top of Applejack’s and looked expectantly at Twilight. She hesitated, but finally put her hand on top of theirs and joined them as they raised their hands in the air.
* * *
Sora and Donald poked their heads into the gym. He grimaced at the the mess, but the sight of Twilight and Spike carrying brooms and buckets out of a supply closet brought a smile to his face. She tossed the brooms to her friends, which worked about as well as Sora expected. Rarity’s hit her in the stomach, but she managed to grab it before it fell. Fluttershy flinched before her broom reached her. It hit her back and clattered to the ground. Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie, however, caught theirs easily, Rainbow twirling hers in the air.
"Okay, it's not too late, let's do this!" Sora whispered. Donald nodded vigorously. "We just can't let Twilight see us!" They tiptoed into the gym and ducked behind a table with bent and crooked legs.
Sora worked his magic under the cover of the table and the girls' sweeping.
"Wind!" he whispered, casting an Aero spell. Streamers, balloons, and shards of glass blew into a nearby garbage bag. Seeing it was full, Applejack tied the top and tossed it to Fluttershy, who tossed it to Rarity, who tossed it to Rainbow, who made a basket into a garbage pail held by Pinkie Pie.
Meanwhile, Twilight grabbed the edge of Sora's table, and he and Donald had to duck between the bleachers and a dented backdrop with popped balloons hanging off it. She struggled to drag it out the door, and Sora readied a Zero Gravity spell to help, but before he could cast, two athletic-looking boys appeared in the doorway. They each took an end, but stopped and stared as Applejack passed them carrying another table under her arm. Twilight giggled at that, and Sora, unbeknownst to Twilight, couldn't help but chuckle himself.
Seeing this, the other girls started trying to attract more help themselves. Pinkie started sweeping with her pink, poofy hair, holding her broom high in the air. No one came to help, and when she stood up her hair was covered in garbage, but still she giggled like she didn't have a care in the world.
Fluttershy and Rarity had more success tossing the streamers into the rafters, skipping and high-fiving as they worked. Two well-dressed girls noticed and decided to help. More students, from every clique in the school, followed, and gradually they started to forget their differences. A mustached boy wearing a headband and a shirt with a globe logo joined the fashionistas in hanging streamers. One of them used some leftover streamer to copy his headband; and they all laughed when another started handing out streamer necklaces. A petite girl with glasses joined one of the boys who had helped Twilight in carrying an amplifier onstage. They passed a boy with a bowl-shaped haircut trying to hang a new spotlight. He started to greet them, but overbalanced; he would have fallen if a burly boy hadn't steadied his ladder. He gave the smaller boy a thumbs-up. Twilight smiled proudly.
As more and more students came to help, Sora and Donald found it harder and harder to stay out of sight. Fortunately, someone had left a bag of balloons behind their hiding spot, so Sora started blowing them up while Donald used Zero Gravity to make sure they'd float. When the coast was clear, Sora poked his head out from behind the backdrop, tied them to the front, and ducked back under cover as quickly as he could. He'd seen a knot of students approaching with paintbrushes and hammers, and it looked like Applejack was with them.
"Just sit tight, Donald," he whispered.
"How come?"
Before Sora could explain, he heard Applejack's voice through the plywood barrier.
"Well Ah'll be..."
"You say something, Applejack?" said an unfamiliar voice.
"Nope, nothin'."
* * *
It was done. They'd fixed and decorated the gym in time for the Fall Formal. Even Flash Sentry's band was ready, despite Twilight bumping into Flash during soundcheck.
"This...looks...sooooo GOOD!" Pinkie said. She was right. It was a job well done, and they had done it together.
The sound of clapping came from the door, and all the students turned to see it was Principal Celestia applauding their work. Vice Principal Luna stood behind her, holding a locked blue box with a slot in the lid.
"Alright, everyone!" Celestia said. "Fall Formal is back on for this evening."
The students cheered, but quieted when Celestia spread her arms. "So you'd better get out of here and start getting ready. Oh, and don't forget to cast your ballots for Fall Formal Princess on your way out."
The students began to file out the door, scribbling on papers as they walked and slipping them into Luna's box. "You got my vote, Twilight." one said.
"Mine, too!" said another.
"Mine, too!"
"Mine, too!"
Applejack, however, hung back as her friends cast their ballots. "Hey, uh..." They turned to hear what she had to say. "Can Ah meet up with y'all later? I just wanna take care of somethin' real quick."
"Okie dokie!" The others nodded and murmured in agreement with Pinkie, and filed out behind the rest of the students.
"Vice Principal Luna? Could ya stay here for a moment?"
"Of course, Applejack," Luna said. "What is it you require?"
"You'll see."
Applejack marched up to Sora's and Donald's hiding spot, now painted a fresh white, festooned with balloons and flowers, and emblazoned with a bountiful cornucopia.
"Alright, y'all can come out now."
Sora looked up at Applejack. "We're caught, Donald."
"Awww, phooey!" Donald flapped grumpily into Sora's backpack.
Sora crawled out from under the backdrop, stood up, and dusted himself off. "Twilight didn't see us, did she?"
Applejack sighed. "I think so." Sora slumped his shoulders, but perked up when Applejack continued. "She still really likes you though. Ah can see it clear as day."
Slowly, her meaning dawned on Sora. He was suddenly acutely aware of Luna's presence, and blushed, but the Vice Principal seemed to be very interested in her nails. "Then… what should I do?"
Applejack looked hard at Sora. "You kinda like Twilight the same way, but you don't know how ta act on those feelings." It wasn't a question, but slowly, Sora nodded anyway. He could hardly believe, but Applejack made sense. Maybe he did like Twilight that way. "If it'll make ya feel better… maybe Ah could take ya ta the Fall Formal, and—"
Sora grinned, seeing a chance to turn the tables. "Applejack? Are you asking me to be your date?"
It was Applejack's turn to blush. "W-What!? No! Ah...Ah meant Ah could take you ta meet up with the others and—"
Sora and Donald burst out laughing.
"That wasn't funny!" Applejack barked.
"I was just trying to lighten the mood."
Her expression softened, and Sora figured they could start over. "Honestly, Applejack, were you asking me to be your date to the Fall Formal?"
She blushed again. "Ah... Ah guess so. Yeah."
Sora smiled. "See you tonight."
"Yeah... See ya..."
Applejack filed her ballot and left to meet her friends. Behind her, she could hear Sora begging a pen and paper off Vice Principal Luna.
Oh, Sora… she thought, If only it were me you were fallin' for...
* * *
Sunset Shimmer cracked open the broom closet door, letting her spy on the students casting their votes. She scowled and rounded on Snips and Snails, sitting next to her on the floor. "You're lucky she was able to pull this off. Next time I ask you to make a mess of things, try to show a little restraint!" She turned back to the closet door and grinned a wicked grin. "I need this Formal to go on tonight just as much as she does."
Their ballots cast, Twilight and her friends began their walk back to the boutique. They had only a few hours to prepare for the Fall Formal. In only a few hours, Twilight thought, I'll have my crown back. I'll be able to go back to Equestria. Sora and Donald can go back to their world...
Twilight realized she didn't want to see Sora go. Why? she wondered. He and Donald nearly lost my crown! But...I guess they were just trying to help. Maybe I was a little too hard on them...
Twilight was so distracted she barely noticed Applejack catching up with them outside the boutique.
"I still can't believe we pulled that off." Fluttershy remarked at her arrival.
"I can! We're awesome!" said Rainbow.
"Enough chatter, girls," Rarity interrupted. "We need to get ready, and we need to look fabulous!"
* * *
With that, they began to prepare for the Fall Formal. Fluttershy wavered for the longest time a green and orange dress while Pinkie tried on one gaudy ensemble after another, each different from the last and none of them satisfactory.
Rarity dressed Rainbow Dash up in a frilly dress with puffy sleeves and a pink bow in her hair. She would have moved on to pinning and fitting had not Rainbow fixed Rarity with her fiercest glare. Rarity smiled sheepishly. "Maybe hair first, then. Twilight?" She shoved Rainbow off the fitting dais to where Twilight stood, in front of a set of mirrors.
Twilight picked up a comb and got to work on Rainbow's tangles, but most of her mind was occupied with other thoughts. Getting the crown back is my responsibility, Sora shouldn't even be here... but if it wasn't for his help, I probably wouldn't have gotten as far as I did, especially with those Heartless creatures running around and that organization he was talking about... and saving Rainbow Dash's life. Twice, even... now I don't even feel like a princess OR a good friend... I have to make things right with Sora, and Donald too... I just hope they're not too upset to talk to me after the Formal...
Twilight was brought back to reality by Rarity jangling a chest full of accessories. Pinkie picked a pair of blue and yellow balloon earrings, Rarity a diamond necklace, Rainbow pink wings for her boots, Applejack a red rose for her stetson. Twilight applauded their choices, awkwardly aware in the back of her mind that she hadn't even dressed up yet. Fortunately, Rarity pulled her into a fitting room. "Try this, darling. I picked it out myself. Nothing but the best for our princess"
She left Twilight alone to try it on. It only took a minute, but Twilight could hear her friends gathering excitedly outside, just like this morning when everything seemed like it was going to go wrong. Well, everything had changed. Everything was going to go right: her dress, the Formal, Sora, everything. Full of confidence, Twilight pulled open the curtain and struck a pose. Her friends gasped and grinned with glee as they took in the sight of her, a vision in pink, purple, and sequins.
As if on cue, the limo Rarity had hired pulled up outside and honked its horn. "Oh, I do hope Sora and Donald will be able to make it," she said, gathering up a last few odds and ends.
"About that," Applejack said, "Ah'm meetin' Sora at Fall Formal, so Ah'm sure he'll make it."
Twilight's smile disappeared when Sora was mentioned. He's still coming? After what I said? I know I've got to make things right, but at the Formal? When he's with Applejack? Wait, APPLEJACK?
Rarity gasped. "Sora is your date to the Fall Formal!?"
Rainbow pounded Applejack on the shoulder. "Way to go, AJ! I never would've thought you and Sora had a thing for each other!"
"Oh, I'm sooo happy for you, Applejack! Not everyone can say they had a date with a Keyblade wielder! Or can they? Could there be other Keyblade wielders in town? Eh, probably not."
Twilight was still process the situation. Sora...Applejack's date?... When did this even happen? To buy herself time to think, she gestured toward the door. "I-I'm really happy for you too, Applejack. B-but can we get going, please?"
Rarity cleared her throat. "Yes, of course."
* * *
The moon shone brightly in the night sky, accompanied by three shimmering stars. The students of Canterlot High were approaching the school, all dressed in formal attire, excited to attend one of the biggest events of the year. But even as Vice Principal Luna observed the promenade, something nagged at the backs of her mind.
"Sister, I fear that something terrible may happen tonight." Her voice quavered, like she didn't want to speak an uncomfortable truth.
"So you feel it too, then," Celestia said. "A dark presence, similar to what we've encountered before."
"But those days ended a long time ago. Why now?"
Celestia closed her eyes in thought. "Hmm...I need to make a call."
Luna followed Celestia into her office.
"Whom are you calling, sister?" she asked, as her sister picked up the phone and pushed a few buttons.
"An old friend." Celestia pushed the last button, for speakerphone.
brinng...
brinng...
"Hello?"
"Good evening, my friend."
"Celestia? Gosh, I never thought I'd hear from you again!"
Celestia giggled. "Indeed. It's been too long...Your Majesty."
* * *
As the night wore on, one boy and his duck sat by the school, watching the other students pile in.
"I wonder where the girls are," Sora said.
"Aw, they're probably just getting ready." Donald waved his wing dismissively.
"I know, but it's been a while. They should've been here by now."
"You've got a lot to learn about girls, Sora."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
Before they could really start bickering, however, a black limo drove up in front of the school and Twilight and her friends and a dog stepped out.
"Hey guys!" Sora waved happily.
Most of the girls smiled excitedly, but Twilight crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"
"I know you said I couldn't help you, but you didn't say I couldn't come and support you." Sora smiled.
"No, what I said was that you've done enough." Sora's smile swiftly disappeared, and he bowed his head. "But..." Sora perked up, "it was really sweet of you to come, even after what I said."
"Look, Twilight, about the gym—"
"It's okay. I understand you were trying to help. I was trying be responsible a princess should be, but I wasn't being a good friend."
"Still...I'm sorry—"
Before Sora knew it, Twilight had him in a caring embrace. Caught off guard by the sudden affection, It took him a moment to get his arms to stop hovering at his sides and slowly wrap themselves around her.
"Awwww!"
Twilight and Sora quickly let go of each other, their faces a bright crimson.
"Well, I...um..." Twilight stuttered.
"Y-Yeah, uh..."
"WAIT A MINUTE!"
They turned to find Rarity gawking at Sora's usual outfit, a mixture of panic and horror on her face.
"You can't go the Fall Formal dressed in that! You don't even match Applejack's dress! Oh, this will not do, this will not do at all! There's no time to fix any of this! Why Me-he-he-he-he-he!?"
"I have an idea." Sora said.
"Oh, really? What?"
"Just... stand back."
The girls, Spike, and Donald stepped back as Sora crossed his arms in front of his chest. He began to float off the ground, and summoned his Keyblade in a burst of light. When it subsided, the Sora's clothes had turned from black, red, and yellow to black, blue, and silver, and blue flames had appeared on the cuffs. Donald was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, goodness..."
"Wow-wie!"
"Looking good, Soar!"
"Ain't that somethin'!"
"Oh, my... the color, the design, it's so... so..."
"Amazing? Dazzling?" Spike said.
"Yes! Exactly!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Sora...how...I mean, what is..." Twilight tried to find her words.
"It's the good fairies' magic. They gave me these to help fight Xemnas and the Organization." Sora let his Keyblade dematerialize, walked up to Applejack, and held his hand out. "Shall we?"
Applejack blushed and hesitantly reached for Sora's hand. "Y-Yeah, let's go."
* * *
The two walked up the steps into the school. Twilight and the others started to follow, but a black car with lightning bolts on its sides and hood pulled up, and Flash Sentry opened the driver's side door. "Twilight!" he called.
She turned her head as Flash ran up the steps. "Look, I know you said 'no' about going to the Fall Formal with me, but would you reconsider and at least have one dance?"
Flash blushed as Twilight gazed at him.
"I didn't say 'no!' I mean, I did, but...I didn't mean 'no' to you." Twilight could feel herself blushing as well. "I was... Well, what I mean is... yes. I'd love to dance with you."
Flash and Twilight linked arms and started toward the door, lost in each others' eyes. Flash was so lost he walked into a closed door. Embarrassed, he put his hand to his head, waving Twilight inside when she tried to see if he was okay. She did go in, and he soon followed, but not before Rarity pulled Twilight aside.
"What are you doing, Twilight!? You have to make a decision right now!" she whispered.
"What decision?"
"Sora or Flash? You can't have both of them."
"I know, I just don't know who to choose!"
"Well, you better do it soon, before Sora's taken."
"Right..."
* * *
Flash left Twilight early to play with his band, but she didn't seem to mind, waving every now and again to Flash whenever he finished a solo. In between songs, she would scan the gym. "Anybody seen Sunset Shimmer?"
"Maybe she was too embarrassed to show!" Rainbow had to shout to be heard as the music started up again. "She's gotta know you won by a landslide!"
"Maybe..."
Applejack swung Sora around, his new form making him magically light on his feet. It also, however, drained his energy, especially when he had to keep up with the music. "Hey, AJ, I'm gonna get a drink," he finally had to shout. "You want anything?"
"Alright!"
Sora skimmed over to the punch bowl, poured himself a cup, and finished it in seconds. As he poured two more, Flash's banned thrummed their final chord, and Principal Celestia took center stage. "First off, I want to say how wonderful everything looks tonight. You all did a magnificent job pulling things together after the unfortunate events of earlier." Vice Principal Luna walked onstage, a chest in her hands. "And now, without further ado," Celestia said, "I'd like to announce the winner of this year's Fall Formal Crown!" Luna opened her chest to reveal it.
Sora could see Twilight staring at the crown, and hoped for her sake that she won it after everything she's been through.
Celestia took an envelope from Luna and continued. "The princess of this year's Fall Formal is..."
Twilight and Spike started to tremble.
This is it... Sora thought.
Celestia opened the envelope. "...Twilight Sparkle!"
Every student in the gym cheered for Twilight. She and her friends hugged each other in celebration. Sora jumped for joy and pumped his fists.
Yes! She did it!
Unfortunately, two Dual Blades accompanied by a robed Barrier Master wearing a tall hat and levitating a giant spell book, snuck in under the cover of the celebration. As Twilight walked across the stage, they snuck up behind Sora.
"What the—"
They knocked him to the ground and started dragging him by his ankles.
* * *
"Congratulations, Twilight." Celestia placed the crown upon her head. It sparkled as she looked out at her friends, drinking in the pride on their faces as she waved to the exuberant crowd. It feels like nothing can go wrong…
She could barely see him being dragged out the gym, struggling against the Heartless, flailing his Keyblade uselessly. "Ugh! Let go of me! UGH! TWILIIIIIIGHT!"
SLAM!!
"They've got Sora!!" Twilight shouted as she ran after them.
She ran out into the hallway, sliding on the slippery floor and smashing into the lockers. Her friends rushed out after her. They found the doors outside hanging off their hinges, and stepped through to find the Heartless holding Sora by the horse statue, the portal to Equestria. Sunset Shimmer appeared from behind it, holding a sledgehammer. Twilight and her friends stopped when she raised it up above her head.
Twilight stood at the front of the group, watching Sunset Shimmer hold up a sledgehammer to the portal and the Barrier Master casting its protective spell on the two Dual Blades standing side by side each locking one of Sora's arms, keeping him from escaping.
Sora struggled against the Dual Blades, he got his left arm loose, and tried to reach for his friends, "Twilight!"
The Dual Blade on Sora's right clinked its blade-like appendage as it was pointed at his neck.
"Don't hurt him!" Twilight demanded.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, I'm not a monster, Twilight." Sunset shifted her gaze to the Heartless, "Let him go."
The Dual Blades looked at each other for a moment and released Sora from their arm-lock, and ran into Twilight's arms.
"Twilight!"
"Sora!"
The two embraced each other tightly, glad to be safe in each other's arms. Their friends just stared at the endearing sight.
"You don't belong here."
Everyone returned their focus to Sunset, who held her hand out, "Give me the crown and you can go back to Equestria, tonight."
Sunset clenched the hand she held out, "Or keep it, and never go home!" she put both hands on the hammer and readied herself to smash the portal.
Twilight gasped at Sunset's words.
"And Sora..." Sunset began as she turned her head to the other side of the statue, "the same goes for you and your Keyblade. If you ever want to return to your precious islands."
Everyone turned to see what Sunset was looking at. Sora and Donald were in shock. They saw their Gummi Ship, with TNT attached everywhere on the outside, standing next to the ship was Snips and Snails with a detonator. They raised the lever and got ready to push down, thus blowing the Gummi Ship to pieces if he didn't cooperate.
"GRRR!!" Sora growled loudly as he glared at Sunset.
"Tick-tock, lovebirds, we haven't got all night," Sunset looked up to see moon's position, "the portal will be closing on its own in less than an hour."
Sunset returned her gaze to Twilight and company, "So... what's your answer?"
Twilight took her crown off her head and looked at it with uncertainty. Sora held his hand out summoned his Keyblade, looking at it for a moment then turned to Twilight, who turned to him. They nodded their heads, knowing what to say to Sunset. They spoke simultaneously,
"What!?" Sunset glared at them for their choice of words, "Equestria, Destiny Islands, all of your friends, lost to you two forever! Don't you see what we're about to do to the portal and your spaceship!?"
"Yes, but we've also seen what you've been able to do here without magic." Twilight began, "Equestria will find a way to survive without my Element of Harmony, this place might not, if I allow it to fall into your hands."
"Yeah! And my friends have always been able to fight the Heartless without my me and my Keyblade! Even if they're attacking them right now, the Heartless don't stand a chance!" Sora exclaimed.
Twilight smiled at his bravery and turned back to Sunset, "So go ahead, destroy the portal, and destroy the Gummi Ship, you are NOT getting the crown OR the Keyblade!"
Twilight placed her crown upon her head as Sora and Donald readied their battle stances.
"Fine. You win." Sunset said as she dropped the sledgehammer behind her.
It was then the TNT fell off the Gummi Ship, but it turns out, the TNT was just pieces of cardboard painted to look like TNT with wads of gum on the backs of them, acting as a type of glue. Snips and Snails laughed nervously.
"I told you the gum wasn't gonna hold!" Snips whispered.
"Duh, sorry." Snails replied.
Twilight and Sora breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they were still able to go home.
"You... two... are... so awesome!" Rainbow said in amazement.
Applejack patted both Twilight and Sora on the back, the former cringed at the contact while the latter just chuckled, "Can't believe y'all were gonna do that for us."
"It's no wonder you're a real live princess." Rarity said.
Sunset held her arms while biting her lower lip.
"Yeah! And it's definitely no wonder why the Keyblade chose you, Sora!" Pinkie said.
Then she balled up her fists and growled with gritted teeth, and finally, she snapped.
With that said, Sunset charged at Twilight and pushed her and herself to the ground, knocking the crown off her head. Twilight tried to get it, but Sunset pulled her away.
"Get your hands off her!" Sora shouted.
Sunset crawled off Twilight and went towards the crown, but Twilight grabbed her left foot while Sora grabbed her right foot. Sunset tried to reach for the crown, but Donald jumped onto Spike's back and was riding him like a horse. The two jumped on and off Sunset's head and Donald snatched the crown with his wing.
"I got it!"
"Grab them, you fools!" Sunset commanded.
Snips and Snails rushed to catch Spike and Donald, the Heartless ran as well, but were stopped when Sora got in their way.
"I don't think so!" Sora said.
He charged at the Barrier Master and destroyed it with one strike, dispelling the protective barrier shielding the Dual Blades from Sora's Keyblade. The Dual Blades took a step back from Sora.
"Let's how long you last this time!" Sora said as he charged towards the Dual Blades.
Donald looked behind him and Spike to see Snips and Snails chasing them.
"Wak! Faster!" Donald yelled as he hung on to Spike's collar for dear life.
Spike was now beginning to outrun Snips and Snails, but then Sunset pushed her lackeys out of her way, knocking off Snails' hat while trying to catch the duck and dog. Snips and Snails recovered and kept running after them, shortly followed by Twilight and her friends. Spike and Donald made it to the front door of the school, Donald tried to open it, but his wings were slipping off the door handle.
"Stupid fingerless wings!" Donald cursed.
Spike and Donald looked behind them and saw Sunset with a mischievous grin and both her hands ready to grab them.
"Spike! Donald!" Rainbow called as she waved her hands above her.
Donald took his chance and threw the crown to Rainbow Dash, who flipped in midair while catching the crown. Snips tried to pull the crown out of her hand, but Rainbow yanked it away. Snails attempted to snatch it, but Rainbow pulled it away from his reach before he could and put her hand on his face, keeping him from getting any closer, but he still tried reaching for it.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow called as she tossed the crown over to her friend.
She flinched and the crown bounced off of her and she caught it in midair. She saw Sunset, Snips, Snails, Rainbow, Spike, and Donald rushing to get to her and the crown, which made her freeze up. Applejack readied her lasso and tossed it around Fluttershy, pulling her out of Sunset's way, but the crown flew out of her hand and Snips caught it.
Meanwhile, Sora just finished off both Dual Blades and rushed to help his friends. He saw Snips with the crown in his hands and charged at him, gaining his attention.
"Want some more?" Sora shouted.
Snips panicked for a moment, but realized too late that Pinkie snuck up behind him and took the crown out of his hands while Sora came up in front of him and used a vertical slash at Snips, who stepped out of the way at the last second. Pinkie gave the crown to Applejack, who tossed it to Rarity, then Twilight, but Snips and Snails got too close, so Twilight tossed the crown behind her, hoping that one of her friends caught it instead of Sunset Shimmer. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the latter.
"I'll take that!" Sunset said before she giggled evilly. "At last!"
Spike growled at Sunset, but Twilight picked him up before he could do anything else. Sora ran up to Twilight's side, glaring at Sunset with clenched teeth.
"More power than I could ever imagine!" Sunset said as she placed the crown upon her head while smiling triumphantly.
Suddenly, the crown began to glow black and green and rings of dark magic glowing the same color surrounded Sunset, who gripped the sides of the crown with a panicked expression. Then a pillar of dark magic appeared and engulfed her, levitating her in the air. The powerful wind was coming off of the dark pillar, which blew off Applejack's hat. All anyone could do was watch in horror at the sight, especially the students, who just came outside. Sunset was biting her bottom lip as she appeared to be crying from the dark magic surrounding her, which in turn, burned away her tears. Sunset's eyes and the crown began to glow as her body transformed; her hands turned into red claws, her legs grew and turned red as well, she grew a tail the same color as her hair, and her clothing changed. She couldn't stand the overload of power seeping into her, but then a bright light illuminated the area with a thunderous boom resounded as the transformation was complete.
As the light dimmed, the group saw that Sunset had completely changed; her hair looked like raging fire, the same as her tail, she was wearing a dress with yellow at the top, a black stripe in the center, and the bottom of the dress looked like a downwards fire, she had giant wings with a couple holes through both of them, her entire skin was red, she had pointy ears, her eyes were black with the iris's green, she had razor-sharp teeth, and was wearing black and red boots on her feet. It was clear that Sunset was longer human, she had turned into what appears to be a demon.
"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!" the demonic Sunset cackled as she admired her new form.
Twilight, Sora, Donald, and their friends gasped in fear at the new Sunset Shimmer, who put decided to put her new powers to the test by blasting Snips and Snails with black and green beams coming out of both her claws as the crown began to glow with dark magic, turning them into demonic-like creatures themselves, except they were wearing black, sleeveless jumpsuits with the top and bottom of Snips' outfit was dark blue, along with his now spiked hair and newly-grown wings, and he had light blue skin, Snails, on the other hand, had light orange skin with his wings both dark orange and light orange and the top and bottom of his outfit was dark orange. The only thing the demonic duo had in common was their unnatural red eyes.
"This is gonna be so cool!" the demonic Snips said.
They began to approach Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, who were backing away from them with the latter falling backwards on her butt. Before Sora could charge in and save them, Sunset spoke up,
"NOW, LET'S COMPLETE THE SET, SHALL WE?"
Sunset swung her open palm towards Sora and the Keyblade began to be pulled away as if Sunset was beckoning it to side with her. Sora pulled back with all his might, but the Keyblade disappeared from his hand and reappeared in Sunset's. The weird thing was that when it did, the Keyblade's appearance changed; the blade and the keychain became a dark red, the hand guards turned a dark yellow, the center where the blade and the handle meet turned orange, and it grew big enough for Sunset's large claw to hold it.
With that, Sora's Wisdom Form vanished as he changed back to his normal form. Twilight clenched her fist and growled at Sunset for what she's doing to her friends, but was interrupted when she heard the students freaking out at the monster in front of them.
Sunset turned to face them, smiling evilly as she screeched inhumanly, causing the students to run back into the school with one of them holding either door in an effort to keep Sunset from getting in. She flapped her wings and landed in front of the double doors.
"I'VE HAD TO JUMP THROUGH SO MANY HOOPS TONIGHT, JUST TO GET MY HANDS ON THIS CROWN, AND JUST LIKE THE KEYBLADE, IT REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE ALL ALONG!"
The students just stared in fear as Sunset balled up her fists while growling with her spiky teeth clenched and her right eye twitching. She calmed down enough to where she's not enraged, just evil.
"BUT LET'S LET BYGONES BE BYGONES," Sunset raised her newly-required Keyblade and the end of the blade was glowing with dark magic, "I AM YOUR KEYBLADE WIELDING PRINCESS NOW, AND YOU WILL BE LOYAL... TO ME!!!"
She twisted the Keyblade, crushing the double doors with her dark magic and swung the Keyblade, tossing the crumbled remains aside. She flew into the building as the students ran for their lives, she gripped the Keyblade with both hands (or claws) and held it in front of her with the blade pointing outwards, once again glowing with dark magic, she closed her eyes as she was focusing all her power at once, and whipped them open with green and black hypnotic swirls emanating from them. The students stopped in their tracks as certain parts of their bodies changed; some had black splotches on their heads with an antenna and a glowing yellow dot as an eyes on either side of their heads, some had black claw-like appendages on their arms or legs, and some had everything in between. It's as if they had become half-Heartless, or more specifically, half-Neoshadow.
Sunset stared in wonder at her work, all the students had become her half-Heartless slaves, they were moaning as they walked like zombies, looking for hearts to collect, even attempting to attack their own comrades for their hearts, but every time one attacked the other, the attack just bounced right off. Demon Snips and Demon Snails walked up to their leader with kind eyes to her and only her.
"ROUND THEM UP AND BRING THEM TO, I BELIEVE IT WAS CALLED, THE 'GUMMI SHIP'." Sunset ordered.
The dangerous duo saluted to her and did what they were told. Sunset began to walk outside when she was stopped by Twilight and Sora with their friends behind them.
"SPOILER ALERT: I WAS BLUFFING WHEN I SAID I WAS GOING TO DESTROY THE PORTAL AND THE GUMMI SHIP, I DON'T WANT TO RULE THIS PATHETIC LITTLE HIGH SCHOOL, BUT IT'S NOT JUST EQUESTRIA THAT I WANT EITHER."
Twilight was beyond surprised, "What!? What more could you possibly want!?"
"IT'S QUITE SIMPLE, REALLY, I WANT THE DOOR TO ALL WORLDS! I WANT KINGDOM HEARTS!!! AND WITH MY OWN HUMAN/HEARTLESS HYBRID ARMY BEHIND ME, I'M GOING TO GET IT!!"
Sora was shocked at Sunset's words, How does she know about Kingdom Hearts!?
Flash Sentry was in the crowd with the right side of his head turned black with an antenna sticking out and his right eye turned into a glowing yellow dot. Twilight was upset that Flash had partly become a mindless monster, but that just strengthened her resolve.
"No. You're not."
"Yeah!" Sora agreed.
Sunset hovered in front of them and cackled at their meaningless determination, at least, that's what she thinks, "OH, PLEASE, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE GOING TO DO TO STOP ME? I HAVE MAGIC AND THE KEYBLADE TO BOOT, AND YOU. HAVE. NOTHING!!!"
At that last word, Sunset's hair blazed brightly as she glared at the two heroes with gritted teeth.
Sora stared Sunset down as he spoke, "I don't need the Keyblade."
"PARDON?" Sunset dug her pinkie into her ear, like she was cleaning it out to hear better, and cupped her claw to that same ear, "I DIDN'T QUITE CATCH THAT."
"I have a stronger weapon: my heart." Sora placed his hand on his chest.
Sunset had a look of annoyance, "THAT WAS A JOKE, RIGHT?"
Sora continued to glared at Sunset. She began to chuckle at first, then it grew into a humorous cackle.
"YOU'RE SERIOUS! WHAT COULD THAT WEAK LITTLE PIECE OF FLESH DO FOR YOU?!"
"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone... it's grown with each new experience... and it's found a home with all the friends I've made, in this, and many other worlds... I've become a part of these girls' hearts just as they've become a part of mine... and if they think of me now and then... if they don't forget me... then our hearts will be one... I don't need a weapon, my friends are my power! And I'm theirs!"
Twilight stared at Sora in awe, never in all her life has somebody, or somepony, spoke such sweet words.
"Sora..."
Sunset just chuckled at Sora, "HOW TOUCHING. NOW, IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I—"
Her sentence was cut short as the Keyblade vanished from her claw in a flash of light.
"WHAT!?"
Sora knew what to do and swung his arm, summoning his Keyblade back to his side, and all its alterations have disappeared, returning it to its former glory.
"NO!! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!! I'M SUPPOSED TO WIELD THE KEYBLADE!!!"
"You're wrong. The Keyblade didn't choose you. You were never meant wield it."
"RRRGGGGHH! NO MATTER, AS LONG AS I HAVE MAGIC, YOU AND TWILIGHT SHALL PERISH ALONE!!"
"They're not alone," Rainbow spoke up as she and the rest of the group came up to Twilight and Sora, "because they have us!"
"That's right! All for one and one for all!" Donald declared as he readied his Mage's Staff.
Twilight and Sora smiled at them, knowing that they've really great friends.
"Thanks guys." said Sora.
Sunset's right eye twitched as she growled, but she soon cackled maliciously.
"GEE, THE GANG REALLY IS ALL BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!"
She laughed as wiped a tear from her eye. Then she created a small dark fireball with her claws, "NOW STEP ASIDE! TWILIGHT AND SORA HAVE TRIED TO INTERFERE WITH MY PLANS ONE TOO MANY TIMES ALREADY! THEY NEED TO BE DEALT WITH!!"
The dark fireball has grown bigger as Sunset raised over her head and threw at the only people standing in her way of world conquest. Twilight pushed Sora and Donald out of the way as her friends held her and braced themselves for the blast.
"TWILIGHT!!!" Sora screamed.
Sunset laughed as she assured her victory, but it was very short-lived when the light from the blast died down.
"WHAT!?"
There stood Twilight and her friends, unharmed, and somehow glowing in a pink light. They held hands in a circle around Twilight and they all smiled, except Twilight's was bigger.
"The magic contained in my Element was able to unite with those that helped create it!"
When Twilight said that, a light came from the crown and drifted over to her and her friends, causing them to float.
"Sora!" Twilight called.
"Yeah?"
"We need you and Donald to buy us some time while we charge up our Elements, don't let Sunset Shimmer come anywhere near us!"
"You got it!"
Sora and Donald readied their battle stances as Sunset scowled at them.
"YOU FOOLS! GIVE IT UP! IT'S HOPELESS!!!"
With that, Sora and Donald charged into battle. Sora jumped when he got close enough and began to strike Sunset, only to have done little damage. Donald casted Blizzaga at Sunset, who howled in pain upon contact.
"I'LL CRUSH YOU, YOU WORTHLESS BIRD!!"
"I'm not worthless! I'm the King's Court Wizard!"
Meanwhile, Applejack's ears changed and pointed upwards and her braided hair grew longer, as if she had a tail, and her dress shimmered as the transformation was complete.
"Honesty..."
Sunset charged up a small fireball and threw it at Sora, who swung it back to her, Sunset swiped her claw at the fireball, not only sailing it back at Sora, but made it slightly bigger and faster. Sora knocked it back again, then Sunset did with the same change in size and speed as before. This back and forth process repeated several times until the ball of fire was bigger than Sunset, at that moment, Sora swung his Keyblade with all his might and sent the oversized fireball at Sunset, which was too big for her to knock back and exploded right in front of her. She screamed in pain as she fell to the ground on her knees, breathing heavily.
Sora and Donald took their chance and attacked the weakened demon; Sora charged in slashing at Sunset and then casted Blizzaga twice before swinging his Keyblade again, Donald kept casting Blizzaga at Sunset to weaken her further.
Sunset stood up when she snapped out of her daze and swung her arms outwards, shouting, "BEGONE!"
Sora and Donald were blown a few feet away from Sunset, Donald lost his footing as he touched the ground, but Sora recovered in midair and landing firmly on his feet.
"Heal!" Donald casted Curaga on him and Sora.
Fluttershy went through the same transformation as Applejack, her ears changed, her hair grew as it was tied into a ponytail, and her dress shimmered, but one difference was that she grew wings.
"Kindness..."
Sunset tried a different tactic, she blasted her dark magic from her claws, trying to change Sora and Donald into demons to join her ranks.
"BECOME ONE WITH THE DARKNESS! MY DARKNESS!"
Sora and Donald tried to avoid Sunset's dark magic blasts, Donald even used his magic to stop her.
"Stop!" Donald casted Stopga on Sunset, but to no avail.
"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! YOUR FLIMSY SPELLS WON'T WORK HERE, COURT WIZARD!"
Sora began to float as pointed his Keyblade at Sunset, charging up his Ragnarok attack, "Give me strength!"
"WHAT—"
But Sunset was too slow to react as multiple lasers shot towards her, damaging her even more.
"AHH!! YOU LITTLE!!"
Pinkie noticed her ears, hair, and dress change like Applejack's and Fluttershy's, and bounced around in glee as she transformed.
"Laughter..."
"I'M GETTING REALLY INFURIATED!!" Sunset growled as her hair burned like fire. "JOIN ME!!!"
Sunset focused her magic and eyes became hypnotic once more, attempting to turn Sora and Donald into Heartless hybrids as well. Sora rushed to Donald's side and picked him up with his free hand.
"Defense!" Sora casted Reflega around him and Donald, preventing the dark rings from morphing them.
"RRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Sunset was becoming extremely mad that she can't beat her opponents.
Rarity watched as her body transformed, first her ears, then her curly hair tied into a ponytail, and her dress became more radiant than before.
"Generosity..."
"THAT'S IT!!! I'M THROUGH PLAYING GAMES!!!"
"Aww, That's too bad, I love games!" Sora said with a smirk.
"SILENCE, YOU FOAL!!!!!"
Sunset raised her right claw to Sora and Donald, enveloping them a dark green light, and threw her claw in the air, causing Sora and Donald to be flung into the sky. Sora looked down at Sunset charging at them with a giant fireball in her claws. He had a memory flash in his head, something that he remembers, but at the same time, he doesn't...
* * *
He was falling off a platform that somehow tipped over, as he fell, he noticed a large monster with sharp appendages and the Nobody sigil on its face. But another thing he noticed was that it was holding an ominous glowing orb and he was plummeting towards it. Suddenly he thought on his feet and flipped himself in an upwards position and threw his Keyblade at the orb, shouting, "Come on!" just before the Keyblade made contact with the orb and exploded in the monster's face, sending them falling back down to the platform that somehow repositioned itself to the way it was. With him motionless, he was about to smash his body onto the platform as it grew closer...
* * *
Sora snapped back to reality as he saw Sunset close the gap between them. Thanks to his unknown memory, he smiled as he knew what to do. He flipped into an upwards position and threw the Keyblade at Sunset's fireball.
"This is it!" Sora declared.
The Keyblade hit the giant fireball and exploded. Sunset was thrown backwards from the blast and slammed face first into the ground. Sora looked next to him and saw Donald flailing his wings and legs as he fell out of the sky, Sora grabbed him and used his Glide ability to guide them to safety and landed in front of Sunset.
Rainbow transformed as well; her ears pointed up, her hair grew and was tied into a messy ponytail, her dress dress shimmered, and like Fluttershy, she grew wings.
"Loyalty..."
Sunset picked herself up from the ground as Sora and Donald readied themselves for another rage-fueled attack. She flew into the air with an infuriated scowl.
"Magic..."
Twilight changed just like her friends, her ears, her hair, her dress, and she grew wings as well. She looked like her pony self and human self combined.
"Together with the crown, they create a power beyond anything you could imagine." Twilight began as Sunset grasping the sides of her head in pain, "But it is a power you don't have the ability to control. The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all—The Magic of Friendship!"
Twilight and her friends joined hands in the shape of a heart as their magic sparked to life and two halves of a rainbow swirled upwards adjacent to each other and when they merged, a bright light flashed as a giant rainbow came down towards Sunset.
"NO!!" Sunset said as the rainbow surrounded her in a tornado. WHAT... IS... HAPPENING!?
"Here, in Equestria, and maybe, just maybe, even beyond the worlds of Kingdom Hearts, it is the only magic that can truly unite us all!" Twilight said as her eyes began to glow.
Sora jumped backwards and landed right under the girls, he raised his Keyblade and pointed it at them, sending a beam of light from his Keyblade, with their magic combined, the beam went towards the students and changed them back to normal people, even Snips and Snails were enveloped in a rainbow tornado of their own.
Twilight closed her eyes and the light coming from her and her friends shined bright enough to light up the entire area.
* * *
Twilight felt like she was falling... No. It doesn't feel like I'm falling. Floating? Gliding downwards?
She didn't know what she was feeling, but she couldn't see either, she didn't have the strength to open her eyes. Then she felt that she landed softly on some kind of floor. Somehow, she was able to open her eyes, she saw only darkness. She began to sit upright to view her surroundings; still darkness, except for the floor, which she began to have a better look of. And when she did, she recoiled to her feet and put her hands over her mouth as she stared in fear at the sight before her: She was standing on what looks like a stained glass platform with an inverted Sunset Shimmer on the left and Twilight herself on the right.
Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing, was this the Elements doing?
Choose a side...
"W-Who's there!?" Twilight demanded with shakiness in her voice.
Each one will show you a different dream...
"D-Dream?" Twilight stuttered.
The dreams of one who deeply cares for you...
"Who?" Twilight asks.
No answer.
Sighing, Twilight looks at both sides of the platform, "Choose a side..."
Twilight takes a step to the right side of the platform and a light quickly lit up the area. Twilight raised her arms to shield her eyes from the blinding flash. As the light subsides, she lowers her arms and looks down at the platform to see it has changed: it was just Twilight and her friends in the small circles, including Sunset and her lackeys, Snips and Snails.
She was about to walk forward until a sound stopped her, the sound of clashing blades, she looked up and saw Sora fighting a man in a black coat, wielding two shimmering blue sword-like weapons.
"Sora!?" Twilight exclaimed.
He didn't respond.
"SORA!" Twilight shouted even louder.
Still nothing.
He cannot see you, nor hear you...
"Why?"
This is one of the two dreams from the previous two nights...
"What?"
Nothing can be changed, only viewed...
Twilight returned her attention to the battle only to find that the hooded man has disappeared, then another bright light came and it grew brighter as Sora and Twilight shielded their eyes from it.
Sparkle...
Twilight's eyes snapped open and found herself laying on the same platform as before, with her and Sunset on opposite sides in the center. She quickly stood up and remembered what the voice told her, this time, she stepped on the left side and yet another light flashed upon her.
She found herself in an almost empty grass field, only a few trees and Sora, who was running past her.
"Sora!" Twilight exclaimed.
She followed Sora up a small hill, only to find herself, holding her hand out to him.
"Sora..." Dream Twilight cooed.
"Twilight?" Sora asked.
"Sora, I know I just met you, but after you told me about all of your adventures that you've had... I can't help but feel happy around you."
"Wait, what!?" the real Twilight said in shock.
This can't be me! ...Can it? Do I really feel that way about Sora? More importantly, does Sora feel that way about me enough to dream of me declaring my love for him? Twilight was racking her brain out, trying to understand what she's seeing.
"Come back with me. To Equestria." Dream Twilight said.
Sora stood slack-jawed at Twilight's words.
"We can be together... forever."
"Okay, that's going WAY too far!" the real Twilight said, annoyed.
Twilight was blushing to no end, but regained her composure when she saw Sora walking towards Dream Twilight, reaching for her hand.
"Sora, what are you doing!?" the real Twilight asked, shocked.
Before Sora could grasp Dream Twilight's hand, a different voice spoke up.
"Okay, Fun's over."
The entire field was plunged into darkness, even Sora as he flew backwards from the force of the wind the darkness stirred up. The real Twilight was nearly swallowed by it, until she found herself in some type barrier of light. The darkness began to fade as a another glass platform appeared before her: Twilight and her friends were in the small circles, looking conflicted, while Sunset Shimmer was in the center with a sinister grin on her face.
"W-What is this?" Twilight questioned.
"I can feel your anger and fear." the new voice said.
Twilight and Sora turned to see a Corridor of Darkness and the hooded man who tried to kill Rainbow Dash appear from it.
"You!" Sora said as he summoned his Keyblade.
"What's HE doing here!?" Twilight asked.
"I'm not your opponent." the hooded man said.
"What?" Sora asked, confused.
The hooded man pointed towards Twilight and Sora, "She is."
They turned around to see Sunset Shimmer with an evil grin upon her face, similar to grin on the platform. She just stared at Sora, that grin of hers infuriated him more than ever. Twilight noticed that he gripped his Keyblade as tight as he possibly could.
"Yes, get angry. Let your anger take hold." the hooded man began as he disappeared in darkness, "For where there is anger... there is darkness."
The hooded man left without a trace and Sora prepared himself to attack Sunset.
Twilight began to think aloud, "Wait... I remember when Sora got angry when my friends were bickering... no..."
Twilight suddenly became afraid when she put two and two together. Sora charged at Sunset, who sidestepped and tried to punch him.
"Sora, look out!" Twilight warned.
Sora jumped out of the way and pointed his Keyblade in the air, casting his Thundaga spell, "Thunder!"
Several lightning bolts came from out of nowhere, attacking Sunset while covering the area in smoke. Once it cleared, Twilight and Sora saw that Sunset had blocked Sora's spell with a Keyblade of her own.
"How did Sunset get a—" then Twilight remembered a crucial detail, "Oh, yeah. This is a dream."
Sora charged at Sunset, clashing their Keyblades together. They jumped backwards from each other and kept attacking. They went at it for a while, until Twilight noticed Sunset was getting tired, despite her evil grin. Sora charged at Sunset one last time, he jumped and spun in midair, and horizontally swung his Keyblade as hard as he could, hitting her in the face and she flew across the platform, landing near the edge as her Keyblade disappeared.
Twilight and Sora walked up to Sunset, but Twilight gasped when she saw that Sunset wasn't there, it was Dream Twilight, looking up at Sora with tears in her eyes.
"W-W-Why, Sora? W-Why d-did you attack m-me?" Dream Twilight asked.
"Twilight... I... I didn't mean... I thought..." Sora could hardly form a sentence.
"W-What did I-I do w-wrong?"
"You did nothing wrong... I just..."
Sora let his Keyblade dissipate into thin air and walked over to Dream Twilight, kneeling down and giving her the most meaningful hug he could give.
"S-Sora?" Twilight was more confused than before.
More tears began to form in Dream Twilight's eyes as she returned Sora's hug with her own, sobbing into his chest.
"What is going on?" the real Twilight asked.
Then the hooded man's voice spoke,
"Get angry."
"Let your anger take hold."
"For where there is anger... There is darkness."
Once again, Twilight snapped her eyes open and quickly picked herself off the floor. Twilight looked down and she went in shock, she saw Sora on the platform this time instead of Sunset or any of her friends. She didn't know any of the people in the smaller circles, except Sora's pet, Donald.
"No way... this isn't real... this is impossible..."
"How did you get in here?"
"GAH!!" Twilight screamed.
She whipped her head around and saw a familiar face, the boy who took Sora's place, except he was wearing a black coat.
"You!" Twilight said, pointing a finger at him.
"Me?" the boy asked.
"You're that boy I saw!"
"And you're that girl he thinks about so much."
That took Twilight by surprise, "W-What?"
"Um... maybe we should start over." he put his hand to his chest, "I'm Roxas."
"Roxas?"
"I'm Sora's other half. His..." Roxas looked down in depression, "dark half."
"Dark half? Does that mean... you're the one who made Sora angry?" Twilight asked, her anger growing.
"...Yes." Roxas returned his gaze to Twilight, "But I didn't mean to. I can't help it most times."
Twilight furrowed her brow at Roxas, who look down at Sora's stained glass platform. Twilight's expression softened when she noticed Roxas upset.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"You know... for me and Sora," he motioned towards him and the platform, "this could've been the other way around."
Twilight gasped at his words, but he continued without noticing, "But it really has to be him. I'm a part of him, so he feels what I feel."
Twilight looked at him thoughtfully, wondering what she could do to comfort him.
"But then... he told me something really interesting... he said, 'No Roxas, we're not the same, you have every right to be your own person just as much as I do.'"
Twilight giggled, "Yeah, that definitely sounds like Sora."
Roxas chuckled, "You see? That's why it's has to be him."
Twilight then pondered something, "Hey, why are you wearing a coat like that evil organization wears?"
"Organization XIII?" Roxas corrected.
"Yeah, that's it."
"I was one of them, but I left..."
"Why?"
"Because of me." a feminine voice spoke.
"HUH!?" Twilight exclaimed as she whipped her head around to see where the voice came from.
She saw another person wearing a black coat, but her hood covered her face.
"Who are you?" Twilight asked.
Then Twilight heard what sounded like clattering footsteps. She turned to her right and another person, but this person was wearing strange-looking armor.
"You'll know who they are when it's time." Roxas said.
Twilight suddenly began to feel tired, she started to wobble as her legs nearly gave in, but Roxas grabbed Twilight's hands before before she collapsed.
"It's time to wake up now. Your friends need you. Go to them."
Twilight struggled to stay awake, but failing miserably.
"Don't worry," Roxas flashed her a smile, "we'll see each other again. Real soon."
Twilight couldn't hold on anymore and passed out.
* * *
As the blinding light died down, the students, healed of their half-heartless curse, gathered up at the threshold of the school's destroyed entrance to see their saviors awake after passing out from using the power that is unknown to them. The girls began to get up, except for one, who Sora ran up to and lightly shook her to wake her up.
"Twilight? Twilight?" Sora said.
Spike came up to them and licked Twilight's cheek, waking her up. Twilight held her arms out to Spike and jumped into them, the two nuzzling each other in their embrace.
Sora put a hand on Twilight's shoulder and said, "Good to have you back, Twilight."
Twilight blushed at his kind words.
"Hey!" Donald exclaimed.
Twilight and Sora turned to face him and became shocked at the sight before them: Donald was wearing his wizard's outfit, his size returned to normal, and his wings became fingers again.
Sora said, "Donald! You're back to normal! But... how?"
"I guess when my crown fell into this world, it must've corrupted any other magic that was around it." Twilight theorized.
"So THAT'S why that happened!" Donald said.
Sora chuckled, "Looks like helping Twilight helped solved that mystery, eh, Donald?"
Donald narrowed his eyes at Sora, "If we ever find Twilight's world, I'LL have the laugh." he concluded with an evil chuckle.
Sora suddenly grew nervous when Donald said that. The rest of their friends joined up with them and they looked down upon a massive smoking crater in front of the school that was created by their magic to stop Demon Sunset. Twilight and Sora stood up and walked to the edge of crater, with their friends right behind them. There, they saw a defeated Sunset Shimmer picking herself up off the ground, no longer a demon thanks to the Magic of Friendship.
"You will never have Kingdom Hearts," Twilight began, "any power you may have had in this world is gone." she gestured to the students gathering to the crater, "Tonight, you've shown everyone who you really are. You've shown them what is in your heart."
Sunset looked up at Twilight, tears dripping off her face, "I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I didn't know there was another way!"
"The Magic of Friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria, it's everywhere."
Pinkie jumped up and pulled Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy into a big hug, except for Applejack, Sora, and Donald, who just smiled.
"You can seek it out," Twilight's expression turned somber, "or you can forever be alone. The choice is yours."
Sunset climbed halfway out of the crater, leaning on the edge, "But... But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart. I don't know the first thing about friendship."
Twilight and Sora each grabbed one of Sunset's hands and pulled her out of the giant, magic-created hole and on her feet, gesturing to their friends, "I bet they can teach you." Twilight said.
Sunset looked briefly at Sora, who just gave her a kind grin. After everything that's happened, he's smiling at me?
"Those are my girls! Whoo-hoo!" Spike cheered.
"Way to go, Sora!" Donald shouted with glee.
A guy who took notice of the two said, "Did those animals just talk? Whoa, weird."
Spike and Donald showed looks of annoyance, until Spike spoke up, "Seriously? The talking animals are the weird thing about all this?"
"You said it." Donald agreed while deadpanning.
Rarity picked up Spike and scratched him behind the ears, "I, for one, think you're adorable."
"Oh yeah." was all Spike could say.
Fluttershy then picked up Donald and petted him on his head, "I think you're adorable too, Donald."
"Ah, that's the spot." Donald said in bliss.
Twilight and Sora smiled at their animal friends, until Principal Celestia came up behind them with Twilight's crown in her hands, "I think this... belongs to you." Twilight turns around and kneels, "A true princess in any world leads, not by forcing others to bow before her, but by inspiring others to stand with her." Celestia places Twilight's crown upon her head as she continued, "We have all seen that you are capable of just that. I hope you see it too, Princess Twilight."
Twilight looked up at Celestia and said, "I do."
Twilight stood up and the entire student body cheered, causing her to slightly jump in surprise.
"Would now be a completely awkward time to ask you for that dance?" Flash asked as he held his hand out to her.
Twilight turned to see his smiling face and blushed. She looked up at the moon and saw that she still has plenty of time before the portal closes. With that in mind, she reaches for his hand—
Everyone was taken aback from the sudden comment as a Corridor of Darkness appears next to the school statue and coming from it was a man with a ponytail, an eyepatch, and a black coat.
"Xigbar!" Sora shouted.
"Heh. It's Braig now, kiddo."
The former Xigbar turned his attention to Sunset Shimmer, who was hiding behind her new friends.
"Man, Kitten, you really screwed up, didn't you?" Braig sneered.
"Wait, what?" Sora asked.
"Ahh, so you haven't told them?"
"Told us what?" Twilight asked, which made Sunset tremble.
Braig chuckled, "I gave your little Kitty-cat over there every bit of information about Sora and his Keyblade, even gave her the power to control the Heartless, all to get her to deliver Sora to me."
Twilight's group broke away to see Sunset with fear plastered all over her face.
"But she went back on her end of the deal, and took his Keyblade, thinking that she could conquer Kingdom Hearts."
That got Sunset's attention, "W-What do you mean?"
Braig explained everything about X-blade, the 7 Guardians of Light, the 13 Seekers of Darkness, and how Sora was supposed to be the 13th Darkness. All of that information left Twilight, her friends, and the entire school in shock, since the latter heard the whole thing.
"Personally, I thought YOU could be the 13th Darkness as a back-up plan if this went south, but then you got blasted by those Elements of Harmony thingamajigs and lost the darkness inside you." Braig said to Sunset.
"Wait, you mean..." Sunset finally understood.
"You were NEVER gonna get Kingdom Hearts, Kitten, but luckly, you managed to wear Sora down enough for me to overpower him and drag him back myself." Braig sneered once more for good measure, "Couldn't have done it without you... sucker."
Sunset looked as if she was going to burst into tears again; she had just helped Braig reach his goal, just when she finally saw the light beyond the darkness that she built up within her for years. Her heart ached.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Sunset turned to see where those words came from, and she saw Sora, standing up for her.
"Hasn't she suffered enough tonight!?"
"You can't be serious." Braig deadpanned, annoyed, "After everything you just heard, you're STILL gonna play 'The Hero' and defend that pathetic excuse for a friend?"
Sora turned to Sunset, "She apologized for what she did, and allowed friendship into her heart with me, Twilight, and her friends," he smiled, "and that's good enough for me."
Sunset just stared at him in awe, no one had ever forgiven her quickly and meant it. She didn't notice that she subconsciously said, "Sora..."
"Ignorant as always, huh?" Braig asked, "Alright then, less talking, more fighting!"
Braig summoned his Arrowguns as Sora and Donald readied their battle stances and prepared to fight.
Braig began firing pink-colored arrows at Sora, who held his Keyblade in front of him and bounced them all back at him. Braig suddenly disappeared, leaving the entire school to search frantically for him.
Rainbow looked up towards the roof and saw him, "Sora! Up there!"
Sora and Donald turned their heads to see Braig combine his two Arrowguns into one.
"I see you!" Braig said as he took aim and shot at Sora.
Sora knocked the arrows back like last time and weakened Braig even further.
"You clever, little sneak!" Braig sneered.
He teleported back to the ground and separated his Arrowguns into two again, he charged them up and blasted a massive light blue arrow at Sora, who dodged at the last minute. But the arrow rebounded off of the side of the school, the ground, and at base of the statue, hitting Sora from behind.
Twilight rushed to his side to see if he was okay, but then Braig appeared in front of them.
"Let's see if your, 'Magic of Friendship', can save you now!" Braig declared as he charged up his Arrowguns again and fired.
Twilight jumped in front of her friend to protect him from blast, "SORA!!"
BOOM!
Twilight and Sora didn't feel any pain and they wondered why. Didn't they get hit? They looked to see someone standing before them; a man with red, spiky hair that could easily rival Sora's, wearing a black coat, and wielding a silver, red-lined chakram with spikes every which way, but the strange thing was that there was fire swirling all round him.
"Axel!?" Braig yelled.
He brought his head up to face Braig, "C'mon, we've been over this already. The name's Lea, get it memorized!"
"Why do you always have to get in our way!?"
"I told you, I'll always be there to get my friends back." he turned to see Sora, "You okay?"
"Yeah..." Sora replied, "Lea, how did you know we were in danger?"
"Heh-heh, well, the King told me you and Donald were going on a mission to return some kind of 'magical disturbance' to its original world, and I thought, 'Oh, this is gonna end in disaster', so he told me to come help you out and..." Lea motioned to Braig, "Am I wrong?"
It was at that moment that another Corridor of Darkness opened and another figure in a black coat flew out, summoned his Keyblade, and tried to strike down Lea, but was stopped by King Mickey, who emerged from the crowd.
Twilight instantly remembered who that figure was and pointed at him, "That's the guy that tried to kill Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow whipped her head to see the figure in the coat and immediately scowled. She charged towards and punched him as hard as she could while he was preoccupied by King Mickey. He stumbled over and fell on his back, when he got up, his hood fell off and they could see his face; long, silver hair with a spiked-up point at the top, deep tan skin, and piercing yellow eyes.
"Xehanort of the past!?" Mickey exclaimed.
That said, Young Xehanort jumped really high and landed near Braig, "It's time to go."
Braig glared at Sora and all of his friends, "Ah, that last attack took a lot outta me anyway."
Young Xehanort turned around and held his hand out, calling the Corridor of Darkness. He and Braig slipped through without a second glance.
Sora breathed a sigh of relief when the two left, he and Twilight picked themselves off of the ground, then Sora turned to face King Mickey, "Your Majesty, how did you know we were in trouble?"
King Mickey turned around and gestured behind him, "Principal Celestia called me."
Said Principal walked up to Mickey's side as Sora turned his attention to her, "You two know each other?"
Celestia giggled, "Oh, we go way back, but that's another story for another time."
Sora was confused, but nodded to her and looked at Twilight...
She had her arms crossed and scowled at him.
"Alright," she began, "I want the truth. All of it."
Sora faced the large crowd of students, listening intently to them before he faced Twilight again.
"Can we talk about this privately?"
"No. Right here, right now."
Sora sighed deeply at the situation he was in, he turned to King Mickey, who had a sad look on his face and nodded, giving Sora permission to tell her. Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike gathered to Twilight's side to hear his explanation.
"Okay... you win."
Sora explained everything about what happened at the Mark of Mastery exam; Xehanort and his plans, the Seekers of Darkness, how he almost became one of them, even about the X-Blade and how it was supposed to open the door to all worlds, Kingdom Hearts.
"And that's pretty much everything I haven't told you..." Sora concluded.
"What I don't understand is why you didn't tell us everything from the beginning!" Twilight shouted.
"Because I didn't want you getting involved!"
"And why not!?"
"Because I care about you!"
Twilight was taken aback by his last comment.
"I mean... you guys are friends... and I don't want you to get hurt."
After a moment of silence, King Mickey walked up to them, "Well, those two are gone now, and I don't they'll be coming back anytime soon..."
"So why don't head back to the gym and celebrate?" Principal Celestia added.
The crowd cheered loudly and slowly began to return to the gym, so did Twilight, Sora, and all of their friends, until Flash stopped Twilight.
"Hey, uh, would it be alright if I ask you for that dance? Hopefully, no more power-mad people are gonna jump in this time."
Twilight giggled at his choice of words and alternated her gaze between Flash and Sora, the latter giving her an encouraging smile, telling her, "go ahead and have fun". Twilight smiled and said, "Actually... I was thinking I could dance with both of you."
"HUH!?" Flash and Sora said, shocked.
Twilight giggled again, "What? You didn't think I was gonna choose one of you did you?"
Flash and Sora continued to gawk to Twilight like she grew two heads, even when she turned around and resumed her walk to the gym, but not before turning her head back at them one more time.
"I'll see you two on the dance floor."
When she left them alone, Flash and Sora closed their mouths and turned to each other, with Sora just giving him a shrug. Diverting his attention on the subject, Sora saw that his red spiky-headed friend was just standing there and made his way to him.
"Hey, Lea! You wanna come party?"
"Ehh, no thanks, that whole 'song and dance' just isn't my thing." Lea said as he began to walk away.
"Donald, grab his legs!"
"What the—!"
Sora and Donald charged at him, much to Lea's displeasure.
"Grab his arms!" Donald shouted.
"Hey, let me go!" Lea protested.
Sora and Donald picked Lea up and carried him to the gym while he was kicking and screaming for them to put him down. Flash just chuckled at the little scene they made. He remembered that he was supposed to give Twilight a dance (and apparently Sora too, for that matter), and rushed back to the gym.
* * *
As the students began to pile back in, Sora dropped the end of Lea that he had and rushed to the DJ's area, ignoring Lea yelling "OW!" when he hit the floor.
"Hey, um..." Sora pulled out a CD from his pocket, "Could you play this song? I forgot I had it with me before I came here, and I thought it would be a good song to dance to."
The blue-haired, shade wearing DJ smiled and took the CD. When everyone was accounted for, Principal Celestia made a quick announcement.
"Alright everyone, this next song was requested by our Keyblade hero, Sora!"
Pinkie jumped up in the air and declared loudly, "LET'S PARRRTTTYY!!!"
With that, everyone in the gym was dancing to the music; Fluttershy was dancing in the background, Applejack and her brother stomping their dance steps, Rarity and Pinkie were in a conga line with the former in the front and the latter in the back with party noise blower, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were having a great time too (even if their dancing is a little out of practice), then Rainbow Dash swooped down and grabbed Scootaloo, tossing her on her back and flying past the disco ball, Twilight's dancing was, in human standards, like she had two left feet, but in pony standards, like she had four left hooves. For a moment, the people around her stopped to see her strange moves, even Flash and Sora. But the two boys smiled and joined her, copying Twilight's moves with Flash forcing a smile while Sora's was a little more enthusiastic. Mickey, Donald, and the DJ were dancing to the music as well with the DJ thinking in the back of her mind that she really needs to ask Sora for another copy of the CD for herself. At that moment, a girl with pink shades and silver short hair held a camera up Twilight and Sora, wanting to take their picture. As Twilight and Sora's friends began to gather, Sora, Donald, and Mickey went to grab Lea, who decided to lean up against the nearest wall and chill, and pull him in for the group photo, despite his protests. Once everyone was altogether, the silver-haired girl took the picture; everyone had big smiles on their faces, except Lea, who sported an exasperated look.
* * *
After the Fall Formal, and after Sora got his CD back (but not before the DJ quickly copied it), Twilight's new friends were wishing her well in their group hug, which Sora got to join. Once they separated from their embrace, Twilight had to ask about Sunset Shimmer, "You'll look out for her, won't you?"
Sunset was standing at the threshold of the destroyed entrance, watching them when Rarity said, "Of course we will," then she crossed her arms, "although I do expect some sort of apology for last spring's debacle."
"I have a feeling that she'll be handing out a lot of apologies." Twilight said as Vice Principal Luna handed Sunset a cement spatula and Snips and Snails wheeling up a wheelbarrow full of bricks.
"We'd better get going." Spike said.
Twilight nodded, "I know we've only been friends for a short time, but I'm gonna miss all of you so much."
Her new Canterlot High friends either had a happy look, because Twilight became such a good friend to them, or had a sad look, because Twilight had to leave so soon. Before they left, Twilight approached Sora one more time with tears forming in her eyes.
"So... I guess, this is goodbye?" Twilight asked.
Sora shook his head, "No, not goodbye."
"Huh?" everyone said in confusion.
"After me and my friends report back to Master Yen Sid, I'll find you. And then, we can friends for real, for who you really are... Princess Twilight."
Twilight looked away as his words touched her heart, "...I'm not sure if you'll find Equestria."
"Of course I will! In fact..." Sora raised his pinkie, "let's make a promise right now."
Twilight returned her gaze to him, "A promise?"
"That no matter what happens, no matter where we are, as long as our hearts are connected, we'll always find our way back to each other."
Twilight stared in awe, letting a couple of tears freely glide down her face. Slowly, she raised her own pinkie and intertwined it with Sora's and shook it. After letting go, Twilight looked away again, her face telling Sora that she still isn't sure.
"Here," Sora began as he took off his necklace, put it over her head, and around her neck. "this necklace was given to me by a good friend, when I find Equestria, be sure to give it back to me."
To say Twilight was shocked was beyond an understatement, "Okay... I will."
"Promise?"
More tears ran down Twilight's face, "P-Promise."
Then, after a few moments, Twilight and Sora embrace each other into a very meaningful hug, they didn't even separate when their friends said, "Awwww!", or when Lea said, "Ugh."
Twilight leaned up to his ear and whispered, "I wish you could come back to Equestria with me..."
Sora lightly brushed her hair with his hand, "Me too."
Reluctantly, the two pulled away and stared at each other until Twilight spoke up, "Well, I'll see you later."
Twilight began to walk towards the portal with Spike in tow.
"That crown really does suit you, Princess Twilight." Spike said with a wink.
"You know what, Spike? I am starting to feel a little more comfortable wearing it." Twilight replied.
"And the wings?"
"I've been walking on two legs and picking things up with these." Twilight raised both of her hands, "Wings? I'm thrilled that's all I'll be dealing with back in Equestria!"
Twilight stopped for a moment to look back at Sora one more time, subconsciously gripping the silver crown around her neck, and continued on through the portal after Spike jumped in. The second they passed through, the moon rose higher in the sky and over one of the three brightest stars above it, and then the girls lost their pony ears, tails, and for Rainbow and Fluttershy, wings. When Pinkie noticed this, she frantically ran to the portal, only to bump into a plain old mirror, leaving her in a brief daze as she fell to the ground and on her butt.
"Oh, bummer." Pinkie said, defeated.
Then, a light began to shimmer from the center of the moon and when it died down, it revealed something that Sora knew all too well: a keyhole.
Letting his instincts take over, he jumped backwards, summoned his Keyblade, and pointed it at the moon with a beam of light coming from it and unlocking the keyhole, thus making it disappear.
"What in the hay was that?" Applejack asked.
"Hooray! The gate is open!" Donald declared.
"Gate?" Rainbow's eyes widened, "You mean..."
"I have a hunch that the gateway to Equestria is open now." Sora guessed.
"YAY! Sora can go see Twilight now!" Pinkie cheered.
Sora smiled for a moment, but then frowned when he remembered something, "Not yet."
Everyone looked confused at Sora words, but he ignored them and turned behind him, seeing Sunset and her more-than-likely-now former lackeys rebuilding the school.
"There's something I have to do first."
Sora didn't even give them a chance to speak when he ran back to the school.
"Vice Principal Luna!" Sora called.
Said Vice Principal turned see Sora running up the steps, wondering what he could need.
"Can I... borrow Sunset for a minute? I need to talk to her."
Luna, Snips, Snails, and especially Sunset was surprised by his request. Luna looked at Sunset for a brief moment before shifting her gaze back Sora.
"Are you certain?"
"Yeah."
Luna gazed at Sunset once more before letting out a deep sigh, "I'll give you five minutes."
Sora nodded in thanks as Sunset set down her spatula and followed Sora down the steps. The tension between them began to build up once they made it down the last step and on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Sora asked, concerned.
"...Why are you talking to me?" Sunset asked in a slightly cold tone.
Sora didn't respond.
"After everything that's happened," Sunset began to raise her voice as she continued, "after how I treated you and your friends, after everything HORRIBLE thing I've done to you, why are you talking to me!?"
Sora still didn't respond.
"How come you don't hate me!? You stood up for me when that jerk with the eye patch told you everything that I was trying to do, and you're standing here, asking me if I'm okay!?"
Sora began to walk towards her...
"What's wrong with you—"
...And gave her a hug. Sunset was in complete shock, so much that her body can't function properly to push him off and slap him. Sora backed away after a few moments, which to Sunset, felt like hours, and looked her in the eye.
"I know you can change, Sunset." Sora said suddenly, "If you ask me, I think you've suffered enough tonight."
Sunset was just staring at him, tears flowing freely now.
"I'll be back soon to visit, and I hope when that time comes... we can be friends."
Sunset's bottom lip started to quiver and sniffled as she began to wipe away her tears. Sora spread his arms, welcoming Sunset into a hug if she still needed to vent out her emotions.
"No hard feelings?"
Sunset stared for a moment, then walked up and embraced him, soaking his shirt with her tears, "None... whatsoever."
Sunset and Sora just stood there for a little while before they let go and the two saying their goodbyes. Sora turned to rejoin his friends and prepare for takeoff.
"Sora..."
He turned around and saw something that he never thought he would see from Sunset: a genuine smile.
"Thank you... for everything."
Sora returned her smile with one of his own, "...You're welcome."
He turned and rushed back to the Gummi Ship, where his friends were waiting for him. Sunset walked back to the school, only to be stopped by Vice Principal Luna.
"Why don't you go home for the night, Sunset Shimmer?"
Sunset was surprised at Luna's change of heart.
"Sora is right, you have suffered enough."
Sunset was now at a point where she couldn't stop smiling even if she tried. She turned to catch a glimpse of Sora before he left, tears of joy welling up and blushing at the same time. ...My hero.
Sora joined his friends and began to say his goodbyes as Mickey, Donald, and Lea prepped the ship.
"Y'all don't be a stranger, ya hear, Sora?" Applejack said.
"I won't." Sora said, smiling.
"Don't forget about us! I still need to throw you a 'Thanks For Saving The Entire School and All of Kingdom Hearts' party!" Pinkie said quickly.
"I'll keep you guys in mind."
"Do come back and visit soon, I would love to make some dashing new outfits!" Rarity said.
"I will."
"H-Have a s-s-safe trip, S-Sora." Fluttershy stuttered while blushing.
"Just don't let him drive." Donald commented.
"DONAAAAALD!" Sora whined.
Everyone laughed at their expense, though Sora knew they weren't laughing AT them. He smiled, knowing he's really going to miss all of them. Before Sora could even think about getting on the ship, Rainbow caught his attention.
"Hey, Sora..."
"Yeah?"
"If you ever come back—"
"You'll kill him?" Pinkie asked out of the blue.
"What—No! I was gonna say if he came back, could he bring Fire Spikes over there?" Rainbow pointed to Lea, who was leaning up against the school building near the ship, "He looks like he could be a fun guy."
Lea chuckled, "Ya hear that, Sora? This girl knows a fun guy when she sees one."
Rainbow looked away to keep her blush hidden from him.
"Sure thing, Rainbow." Sora replied.
"Well," Lea stood up straight and stretched, "we should get goin'. You ready, Sora?"
"Yeah, let's go." Sora answered.
Sora and his friends boarded the Gummi Ship, Donald turned it on and began to hover it above school and steering it upwards. Sora looked out of the cockpit window and saw his new friends waving goodbye, and Sora waved goodbye as well.
"BLASTOFF!" Donald declared.
The Gummi Ship rocketed into space, at an extremely fast speed.
"GAAAH!" Sora shouted as he was thrown backwards.
Everyone in the ship laughed as Sora tried to pull himself back into the room was tossed out of by gravity with an unamused scowl on his face.
"Didn't Donald tell you to strap in?" Lea smirked.
* * *
The girls watched as the Gummi Ship disappeared into the night sky, leaving them in their own world. They smiled at each other, knowing that they'll see their new friends again.
"Lea..." Rainbow murmured.
Applejack looked at her and grinned, "Ooooooh, somebody's got a crush on the fire guy."
"S-Shut up!"
Rarity brought Pinkie in close to her, "Isn't Lea a little too old for our dear Rainbow Dash?"
"Eh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Pinkie waved it off.
To Be Concluded...
OBTAINED Friendship is Magic
A keyblade that has an enormous amount of magic. The symbols are astrology, zodiac, and planet symbols.
Twilight's pony friends waited for her return with her crown, and some of them began to worry. Then, at the last minute, the portal flashed to life and out came Twilight, standing on her hind hooves and her crown upon her head.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy said.
Rainbow Dash flew up to Twilight face, "You're back!"
Rarity jumped in front of her, "You got your crown!"
Pinkie came up to her side and hugged her, "I knew you could do it!"
Applejack wiped away a stray tear, "Oh, we were so worried!"
"Sunset Shimmer, is she alright?" Celestia asked, worriedly.
Twilight smiled, "I think she's gonna be fine. I left her in good hands."
Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other in confusion, then Rainbow spoke up, "What are 'hands'?"
A blush crept up on Twilight's face until Spike flew out of the portal, bounced off Twilight, and hit the floor. Spike looked himself over and he and Twilight were glad to be back to their old forms.
* * *
"Where did you stay?" asked Fluttershy.
"What did they wear?" Rarity asked.
"Did ya have fun?" Pinkie asked.
"What'd ya eat?" asked Applejack.
"Would you say she's just as awesome as me?" Rainbow asks about her alternate counterpart.
Twilight sighs in exhaustion, "I wanna tell you everything. I do. But I'm just so exhausted from all the dancing."
"Dancing?" everyone, except Spike, asks in confusion and surprise.
Twilight, without looking, walks right into a royal guard, who flashes her kind smile. She blushes slightly when he helps her up.
"We've got to stop bumping into each other like this." he says as he walks past Twilight and her friends.
"Who was that?" Twilight asks.
"He's a new member of the Castle Guard, Flash Sentry, I think." Cadence replies, "Why? Do you know him?"
"Not exactly." Twilight said, smirking with half-lidded eyes.
"Oooh!" Applejack cooed, "Somepony's got a crush on the new guy!"
"No! No, I don't!" Twilight said too quickly.
Rarity gasped, "She does! She absolutely dooooes!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Twilight argued, "I don't even know him, he just—"
Pinkie intercepted, "—Totally reminds you of a guy you met in the other world who played guitar and was in a band and helped prove you didn't destroy all the decorations for a big dance so you could still run for princess of the big dance and then asked you to dance at that dance!?" Pinkie took a deep breath, "Right?"
Twilight and Spike looked at each other in surprise at Pinkie's words.
"How did you know that?" Twilight asked.
"Just a hunch." Pinkie asked then *squee'd*.
"Well... it's not him I'm into."
"Huh!?" everyone gaped.
"I like someone else." Twilight said, vaguely.
"Really? Who?" Rarity asked.
"Someone from another world."
"Who?" Fluttershy asked.
"Someone who's helped me from the very beginning, who's overcome many trials, faced great foes, all with his friends by his side."
"Don't keep us in suspense, Twilight, who is it?" Cadence demanded.
Twilight turned to face them, raised her right forehoof to her neck, and flashes a silver crown necklace; something that her friends didn't see when Twilight came back through the portal.
Twilight couldn't help but smile and let a stray tear glide from her left eye down her face.
"...Sora."
"Sora?" they asked each other.
* * *
After Sora and his friends returned to the Mysterious Tower, they began debriefing Yen Sid on their mission, which Jiminy recorded in his journal. After they finished, Yen Sid gave a nod to Sora and Donald.
"Congratulations, you two have successfully completed your mission." Yen Sid said, "If what Sora says is correct, then a new world must've opened up somewhere near the one you call, 'Canterlot High'."
Yen Sid was quiet for a moment while stroking his beard, "Hmm... I sense a great magic resonating from that new world. It is as if the world itself was crafted from pure harmony."
"Could it be Equestria, Master Yen Sid?" Sora asked.
"Hmm... It is very possible. Never in all my years have I found a world with very little hostility."
Sora smiled broadly. He felt a glimmer of hope in his heart that he would be able to see Twilight again.
"You all must be exhausted from your mission. Return to your sleeping quarters for the night. You must be well rested for tomorrow."
Everyone stood at attention and said, "Yes, Master Yen Sid!"
With that, they left the room and dispersed to their separate bedrooms.
* * *
Twilight returned to her library after her visit to the Crystal Empire, her and every one of her friends returned to their respective homes to get some sleep. Except Twilight, she couldn't sleep a wink that first night. She went out onto her balcony and stared out into the night sky, clutching Sora's necklace as she waited for his arrival.
* * *
When Sora retired to his quarters, he opened the window and stared out into the sea of stars in the sky, wondering where his new friend would be.
"Twilight..."
* * *
"Sora..."
* * *
"As you and I part ways—"
* * *
"—I continue to walk my own path without you..."
* * *
"To remake long forgotten promises—"
* * *
"—Just like the one you and I made..."
* * *
"And as I walk my path, hoping to see you again—"
* * *
"—through the passing days and nights...
* * *
"I will meet you at road's end, and keep the promise we made, my friend." "I will meet you at road's end, and keep the promise we made, my friend."
Spike woke up in the middle of the night, hearing a door creaking as it opened, like always, it was the balcony door. Twilight has been up for nights, waiting for Sora to arrive.
If she keeps this up, she's gonna collapse before he even gets here. Spike thought as he threw off the blanket on his basket bed.
He made his way to the balcony, where Twilight sat near the railing, watching the sky while she clutched Sora's silver crown around her neck.
"Twilight..." Spike began, "it's been a whole week, I know how much you want to see him again, but you need your rest."
She gripped the necklace's charm tighter as tears rolled down her face, "But... but..."
"It's okay. I doubt Sora's the kind of guy that breaks his promises. We'll see him soon, let's just go to sleep."
"...O...Okay."
Twilight was reluctant, but she knew Spike was right, Sora will get here when he gets here. She and Spike returned to their respective beds and slowly went to sleep.
* * *
Near the outskirts of Canterlot, stood three girls; one with orange, yellow streaked poofy hair, one with big purple, mint green streaked hair done in pigtails, and one with light blue, dark blue streaked hair done in a ponytail. They were viewing quite a spectacle outside of a restaurant ways away from them, unlike anything anyone has ever seen: two rainbows coiling together and shooting a beam of light.
The gem around the orange-haired girl's neck began to shimmer for a second, she touched it and gasped, "Did you feel that?" then a sinister, toothy smile crept up on her face as she motioned to the light show in the distance, "Do you know what that is?"
The other two pondered for a short moment and mumbled, "I don't know".
The orange-haired girl rushed up to the pig-tailed girl, "It's Equestrian magic!"
"But this world doesn't HAVE Equestrian magic." the pig-tailed girl retorted in a bored tone of voice.
"It does now. But... something feels different... there's another magic in the mix, but I can't tell what it is."
"Curious, my dear?" an unknown voice spoke.
The three girls swiftly turned to their right to see an old man with a bald head and strange clothing, the only sign of hair appears to be his goatee.
"Who are you!?"
"Why, I am Xehanort. And you are?"
The orange-haired girl spoke first, then the one with the pig-tails, and finally the ponytailed one;
"Adagio Dazzle."
"Aria Blaze."
"Sonata Dusk."
Xehanort sneered, "I know of the foreign magic you speak of, it is Keyblade magic."
"Keyblade... magic?" Adagio asked.
* * *
In the capital city of Canterlot, everypony sleeps in the most peaceful of nights, everypony, except two.
"What ails you, sister?" Princess Luna asks.
"It is what Princess Twilight told us after her return from the other world." Celestia answered.
"I see... if I recall, this 'Xehanort' character she spoke from the boy named 'Sora' certainly raises some red flags."
"I fear that with his ambitions, he'll not only endanger many worlds, but ours and our little ponies, as well."
"What do you suggest we do, sister?"
"...For now, we do what we always do; protect our subjects. If and when we make contact with this Sora, he must be the one to fend off Xehanort."
"Of course, sister."
* * *
"Now that you know everything... I assume that you won't let me down." Xehanort concluded as he disappeared in the Corridor of Darkness.
Adagio could see the darkness brimming from her fingertips.
"What did he do to you, Adagio!?" Sonata asked, worriedly.
"I don't know..." Adagio summoned small, blue creatures with antennae and menacing red eyes, and when she did, she grinned evilly, "...but I like it."
"What did he say those things were again? Unversed?" Aria asked.
"That's right." Adagio began, "And if what he said was true, with the power of this 'X-blade' and our magic combined, we'll make everyone in every single world... adore us!"
Aria and Sonata stood by Adagio's side, preparing for their greatest world conquest yet.
* * *
Inside the Mysterious Tower, Yen Sid still sits in his chair, channeling the stars beyond to find other worlds with little to no hostility. Even to him, a world like that is impossible to find, even after what had happened many years ago. He continued his search, slowly but surely sensing every world... until he felt a jolt of dark magic that vanished as quickly as it appeared.
He snapped his eyes opened and gasped when he knew what that dark magic was.
The party was really in full swing when Sora gave the DJ his CD; everyone was dancing in the gym as a celebration that the worst was over, Sora being one of those people as he danced with Twilight and Flash in a weird, but fun pony-like dance. But he noticed out of the corner of his eye that somebody was leaving, somebody familiar.
Applejack.
Sora followed her through the halls of the school, careful not to alert her to his presence, with the blaring music fading in the distance.
(stop music)
When Applejack finally stopped, it was at the steps in front of the school, where a demonically transformed Sunset Shimmer blasted the front doors open. She sat down and relished in the peace and quiet of the night, Sora didn't approach her right away, thinking that she just wanted a breather from all of the dancing students.
As he stood there, waiting for her to get some R&R, Sora took in some of her features: Applejack's Fall Formal dress sparkled when she, like the rest of the girls, transformed into magical pony/human hybrids, her newly-extended blonde hair slightly waving in the nighttime breeze, and her eyes... those beautiful emerald-colored orbs twinkled as the stars reflected off of them, but most of all, to Sora, what he truly enjoyed about her, was her heart; a heart that shows how honest she is with everyone around her, Sora bet she couldn't lie to any of her friends even if she tried, he remembered when he was having friendship troubles with Twilight, Applejack helped him through it, even helping him see his feelings towards her, but... there was something that he couldn't put his finger on, the way Applejack helped him with her honesty, the way she intertwined her fingers with his after he changed into Wisdom Form, created some sort of spark within him.
Shaking his head from his thoughts, he slowly approached Applejack and stood next to her, saying, "Hey."
Applejack jerked her head in his direction and smiled when she saw who it was, "Hey."
Sora sat down next to Applejack, his eyes never leaving her own, "So... some night, huh?"
"Yeah, it's been pretty crazy."
"Uh-huh."
"Eeyup."
The awkward silence filled the air as they began to shy away from each other, Sora decided to take the initiative and broke it.
"Applejack?"
"Yeah, Sora?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Do you, um... do you... like me?"
"Of course Ah like you, yer ma friend!"
"No, I mean, like me, like me."
"Oh... Oh! You mean, do Ah love you?"
Sora blushed at the word, 'love', "Y-Yeah, that."
Applejack couldn't help but blush herself, she didn't think Sora would just lay his feelings out like that. "Ah... uh... yeah, Ah guess Ah do."
He smiled, "I'm glad."
He and Applejack shared a loving embrace, their warmth overcoming the cool autumn breeze flowing against their bodies. Applejack couldn't help but smile, she hoped that would Sora love her back, and he did. After a while, they pulled away and looked into each other's eyes. Applejack decided to take the lead and aggressively pressed her lips against Sora's, making the latter's eyes widen in surprise. The kiss lasts for only a few seconds until Applejack pulls away.
"Wow." Was all Sora could say.
"Yeah." Applejack agreed. "So. How is this gonna work? We're both from entirely different worlds, it'd sure be one heck of a long distance relationship."
"It's okay, Applejack, our worlds are all connected, I'll come back and visit whenever I can."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
They reached for each other's hands and interlocked their fingers, staring into their eyes. Then they heard a commotion behind them; Twilight and the rest of her friends were coming out of the school.
Guess the Fall Formal must be over. Sora thought.
Applejack let go of Sora's hands and stood up, "We should prob'ly say our goodbyes to Twilight."
Sora stood up as well, "Yeah, we should."
The new couple made their way to wish Twilight well, but little does she know that two of her new best friends are in love and are preparing themselves for a relationship that keeps them connected, even when they're worlds away from each other.
The Alternate End
[Alternate Ending] When He's Around, I Feel Brave (SoraShy Shipping)
Sora's friends began saying their goodbyes to his new Canterlot High friends, but Sora pulled Fluttershy away from the group, so he could speak to her privately.
Fluttershy blushed, "I... don't know if... you can—"
"—Keep my promise? Fluttershy, there's a lot you don't know about me, and one of those things is, when I make a promise, I always keep it, and if I break it, I'll remake it and start anew. Whether you believe me or not, the promises I make always help me face the scary stuff that I get into."
"Yeah, you were always known for getting in trouble, Sora."
"Lea! We're trying to have a private conversation here!"
"Oh, sorry about that, I'll let say your goodbyes to your new girlfriend."
"LEAAAAA!"
He just chuckled and walked away, leaving a flustered Sora and Fluttershy to be by themselves. Luckily, Fluttershy was able to regain her composure.
"You'll really come back?"
Sora recollected himself and replied, "Yeah, of course I will."
"You won't break your promise?"
"I won't."
"...Okay. I trust you."
The two of them stood there in silence, staring into each other's eyes. Fluttershy acted on impulse and pulled Sora into a loving hug, which he happily returned.
"Hey, Romeo, can we get going now?" Lea interrupted.
Sora just scowled at him for ruining the moment, but softened his expression and let go of Fluttershy, "I need you to be brave, okay? I might not be back for a while, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Can you do that?"
"Y-Yes. I-I can try."
Sora smiled, "That's all I needed to hear. See ya soon."
He ran off and jumped in the Gummi Ship as it was lifting itself off the ground. It reached a good enough height and blasted off into space. After they left, Fluttershy was thinking of him, the promise he made... and his smile.
Just seeing that smile of his made her think that everything was going to be okay. She awaited the day that they would meet again.
"Hey, Fluttershy," Rainbow called out, "you okay?"
It didn't take her long to answer, "Yes, I'll be fine." I'll be brave... for you, Sora.
The Alternate End
[Alternate Ending] A Knight With Spiky Hair (Sority Shipping)
Everybody was dancing to the beat of Sora's CD within the gymnasium, celebrating the Fall Formal and the Elements of Harmony's victory over Sunset Shimmer. Sora was in the center of the crowd, dancing the night away, he deserved it after saving yet another world from the darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rarity sneaking away from the party and decided to go after her, hearing the music fade in the background as he went through the halls.
(stop music)
Sora made it to the entrance of the school and saw Rarity standing in the middle of the courtyard by herself, staring at the moon. He walked over to stand right beside her and said, "Hey, Rares."
"Oh!" Rarity exclaimed, slightly surprised, "Sora! I did not hear you come out."
"I came to see if you're alright."
"Yes, I am, I just needed some air, that's all. Dancing can work up quite a sweat, you know."
The two lapsed into silence for a while, not needing to say anything, just watching the moon and enjoying each other's company. When the silence had become unbearable, Rarity chose to break it.
"Sora?"
"Hm?"
"Do you...like me?"
"What? Of course, I do!"
"No, no, no, dearie, I mean, do you like like me?"
The question caught Sora off guard; Rarity liked him for more than a friend? And she wants to know if he feels the same?
Rarity soon felt disheartened when he didn't answer right away, "...I see...I'll just be going."
Sora grasped her hands, "Wait!" He stammered, trying to think of something to say with his face as red as a tomato, "I...I didn't...I didn't say I didn't...I...uh..."
Rarity, with renewed hope, giggled at Sora's bashfulness, "So then, you admit to your affections towards me?"
"Uh...Y...Yeah?"
"Was that a question, darling?" She teased.
"N-No, I...I do, uh, like like you, R-Rarity."
Rarity smiled as she blushed, "You just made me the happiest girl in the world...my 'Knight with Spiky Hair'."
"Huh?"
"Well...I've always told the girls how I've waited for that special someone to sweep me off my feet and take me to a faraway land, where we would live happily ever after, just like in the fairy tales." She pauses, "I was told that life wasn't anything like that...but, your being here disproved what they all said, there are other worlds out there, and quite a few of them ARE fairy tales! I wish, I really wish I could go with you, to those other worlds, even your own, but I understand your reasons; protecting the world order and all."
"Yeah, me too," Sora said, "so, I'm your knight in shining armor?"
"Knight with Spiky Hair, darling," Rarity corrected, "you don't wear armor and your clothing isn't technically shining, but you're my knight, nonetheless."
Sora chuckled, "I guess I am."
Soon, the two embraced each other tightly, enjoying the warmth they give while basking in the moonlight. They loosened their hug and stared into each other's eyes as they sparkle from the glowing moon and shimmering stars above.
"So..." Sora began, "what now?"
"I suppose...we could take it one day at a time?" Rarity suggests.
"Yeah. That works."
"You will come back, right?"
"Of course! Even if we weren't a couple, I'd still come back to see all my friends."
Rarity smiles sweetly, "Has anybody ever told you that you're too nice for your own good?"
Sora's face scrunched up in concentration, "That's funny...I actually remember somebody saying that...though, in a way, it was behind my back."
Suddenly, they hear voices coming from the school's destroyed entrance, it was their friends exiting the school and saying their goodbyes to a certain lavender princess.
"We should probably say our goodbyes to Twilight and Spike," Sora suggests.
"Yes...and our own, as well?" Rarity asks with the telltale signs of watery eyes.
"Not 'goodbye'...'see you later', you mean."
"Oh," Rarity smiles once again, this time gratefully, "yes, of course, that's what I mean."
"So, when I come back, how about we hang out and get to know each other better?"
Rarity giggles, "It's a date."
Sora and Rarity walk towards their friends to bid Princess Twilight and Spike the Dog farewell, the two lovebirds mentally and emotionally preparing themselves for the next time they meet.
