Before this chapter begins, I want to make a formal request to you, my readers. Going forward, if you see any kind of typos in the story, I want you to point them out to me.
I looked over some of the earlier chapters in Volume 1 and noticed some glaring and outright embarrassing typos. I have gone and rectified most of them, but I'm sure there are more I missed. I'm kind of shocked these were never pointed out to me. I'm grateful to you all for your kind reviews, especially with how bad my upload schedule is, but I don't want to submit a half baked project. If I'm sucking, I need you guys to pick up the slack.
Also, if you do spot a typo, please point out where it is specifically. Just saying "there's a typo" and nothing else doesn't really help me.
It was a bitter-sweet moment for the group. While order was restored to Equestria with Discord's defeat, Sora sustained an immense amount of damage. He was alive but unconscious. Fearing for his safety, the mares transported Sora to the Ponyville hospital for immediate treatment.
The past hour was riddled with anxiety and uncertainty as the group sat in the waiting room. No pony spoke a word, each doing her best to individually kill time. Even Pinkie Pie was looking down, not making an effort to brighten the mood.
The entire mood of the room shifted completely when a new pony entered the room. Emerging from the double doors that lead to the examination room was a dark yellow unicorn stallion with a well combed mane and tail and a heart beat monitor for a cutie mark. He wore a typical white doctor's coat, a pair of round spectacles, and a stethoscope draped over his neck.
Rainbow Dash was the first to speak, "Give it to us straight, doc. Is he gonna pull through?" That was the question on everypony's mind for the past hour. Nothing else seemed to matter besides Sora's safety.
The doctor readjusted his glasses before answering with a warm smile, "He's going to be just fine," A chorus of relieved sighs emanated from the waiting room. All that anxiety and uncertainty seemed to vanish in an instant, "I must say, though, it's a miracle he's in as that good of a condition. The injuries he sustained would have been fatal to just about any other pony," That statement alone brought back some of the previous dread. The mere thought of Sora dying was too terrible to fathom.
Twilight spoke up, "Can we see him?"
"No," The doctor answered sternly, "He still hasn't woken up yet. I'll let you know when he's ready," With that, the doctor trotted back through the double doors, leaving the group to themselves once more. At the very least, they could rest easy. Just knowing Sora will pull through was enough.
"Alright, everypony," Twilight announced, garnering the attention of every pony in the waiting room, "Now that we know Sora will recover, I believe it's time we discuss a few things."
"You mean how Sora's really an alien?" Pinkie asked in a voice that was far too raised. All the other ponies outwardly flinched. Rarity took it upon herself to slam Pinkie's mouth shut with her magical aura.
"Would you please keep it down, Pinkie Pie!" Rarity scolded in a hush, "The last thing we need are ponies overhearing us and asking questions."
"Msooyrrmmp," Pinkie managed to utter with her moth closed. Twilight concluded the pink mare said "Sorry."
Twilight put the conversation back on track, "Pinkie is correct, however. Sora is clearly something not of our world. Even after seeing it for myself, I still find it hard to believe."
"What do think Sora even is?" Fluttershy asked.
Pinkie answered the yellow mare's question in a voice that was both hushed and loud at the same time, "I told you, he's a hairless ape!" Pinkie stopped speaking when a zipper appeared on her mouth and zipped shut, courtesy of Twilight. She simply couldn't trust Pinkie's impulsive nature to shout. She could accidentally leak information to any pony passerby.
With Pinkie struggling to unzip her mouth, Twilight continued the discussion, "Anyway, yes, It's clear that Sora is a creature none of us are familiar with. What I don't understand is why he looked like a pony to all of us."
"Whaddya mean?" Rainbow asked.
"Think about it. Up until recently, we've only seen Sora as a pony. When Discord brought us to that pocket dimension he created, we got a glimpse of Sora's 'true' form. Why is it we only saw that then? What was stopping us from seeing it before?" Twilight did raise a good point. In fact, if Sora's true form was in fact that strange creature, why wasn't that what every pony saw him as.
"Now that you mention it, it really doesn't make any sense," Rarity pondered, "I'm more wondering why he keep that secret from us?"
"Ah don't think he could bring it up in a regular conversation," Applejack spoke up. It made sense. Sora couldn't just say he's some strange creature without it being awkward.
"Speaking of," Rainbow Dash piped in, "Applejack, he lives with you right? Didn't you ever get the feeling he lied to you?"
"Whaddda think ah am, a lie detector?" Applejack questioned, "But since ya mentioned it, ah always did think there was more ta Sora than what he let on."
Rainbow continued to pry, "You never asked about where he came from or anything?"
"That weren't any 'o mah business. Whatever his past we're, ah had no right to pry into it. He ever wanted to bring that up, that was on him, not me," Twilight could only nod in understanding. She knew firsthand prying into some pony else's personal affairs was a recipe for disaster.
"Still, this whole situation does explain a few things," The purple unicorn muttered, "How he was able to use magic, his unprecedented athleticism, even his knowledge of the Heartless. But what does that have to do with—" Twilight stopped herself, realizing she was about to reveal her knowledge of Kairi. However, her sudden stop made herself more suspicious.
Rarity hazarded to pursue this slip of the tongue, "Twilight, darling, do you happen to know something we don't?"
Twilight sighed. She couldn't get out of this, "After the Grand Galloping Galla, I had a conversation with Sora. For some reason, he broke down when I told him to never change," Twilight still didn't know how this Kairi mare—no, she probably was whatever species Sora was—factored into Sora's past, but it couldn't have been pleasant, "I don't wanna say any more than that. It's a very personal matter to him."
Applejack gave Twilight a warm smile, "Sora must trust ya a whole bunch if he'd share something like that with ya."
Twilight looked to the farm mare, "Do you think so?"
Applejack nodded in assurance, "Sure, remember how tight lipped he was way back when?"
Twilight would never forget that incident, but it did paint a picture of Sora then vs Sora now, "I suppose you might be right. I know for a fact that I value our friendship very much. I want to help Sora as much as I can."
Fluttershy decided to pitch in, "All of us feel that way, Twilight."
"Yeah, I know."
His vision slowly started to focus as mental capacity seemed to come back. Everything ached, from his jaw to every joint on his legs. It was difficult to turn his head because of how stiff his neck felt. As his vision came into focus, he could hear a consistent mechanical beep.
With a great amount of strain, he lifted himself into a sitting position and surveyed the room. The walls were coated in a green wallpaper with floral patterns with a brown baseboard lining the bottom. The floor was made out of beige tiles. He was resting on a bed with a wooden frame, white sheets and a purple blanket. He was draped in a green hospital gown and had I.V cables strapped to his right foreleg.
Before he could further elaborate where he was, an opening door caught his attention. Coming into the room was the doctor, whose eyes shot open in shock seeing his patient awake.
"Well, I didn't expect you to wake up so soon!" He trotted his way over to the IV machine and looked at the numbers, "You're recovering at an unprecedented rate, Sora was it?" l
Sora rubbed his forehead, letting out a moan as he did so, "What happened?"
"From what you're friends described to me, you've been through quite the ordeal," The doctor stated, "Your injuries were very severe, I must say," Sora groaned and entered a coughing fit, "Seems as though you still need time to get your bearings. You should continue to rest for now. I'll tell your friends you're awake now. I'll let them visit after you start to feel better."
The doctor quickly checked Sora's vitals before he made his leave.
Sora spent a minute getting his bearings. It wasn't long until everything started coming back to him. He fought Discord in a brutal battle and got hurt badly. Twilight and the others must have brought him here.
It wasn't long until the doctor allowed the others to see him. Sora recovered enough to where every part of his body didn't ache. When the group entered Sora's room, he was met with a round of happy expressions.
"Sora!" All of them yelled. Pinkie was about to gallop ahead and hug Sora to no end, but a certain unicorn caught her in a magical aura.
"C'mon, Twilight!" The pink mare complained, "Why can't I have my big emotional moment with Sora?!"
"Pinkie, Sora still needs to recover," Twilight countered, straining as she held onto Pinkie with her magic, "The last thing he needs is his lungs to break."
Despite the near death of his breathing, Sora put on a wide smile for his friends, "Man, am I glad to see all of you," His smile was infectious, almost as if nothing bad ever happened to him.
"We're the ones who should be glad to see you," Fluttershy piped in.
"Ya'll gave us quite a scare, up an' faintin' like ya did," Applejack added.
Sora hung his head low, "Sorry about that."
"You don't have to apologize," Twilight comforted, "What kind of friends would we be if we got mad at you for saving us?"
"Yeah," Sora chuckled.
"I'm surprised to see you up already," Twilight continued, "From what I saw, Discord did a number on you."
"It wasn't fun, believe me," Sora rubbed the back of his head, only to stir when he felt a twitch of pain in his side.
Applejack approached Sora to ease him into lying down, "Ya'll need to take it easy."
Pinkie waved a hoof, "He'll be fine. His recovery's busted." Nopony was sure what she meant by that; however, considering this was Pinkie Pie, they decided to not pursue it.
"Well, I guess that's that then," Sora said. It felt good to be done with such a tense battle.
"Not quite," Twilight corrected
Sora looked at Twilight with confusion, "Why's that?"
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, "Well, Sora, now that Discord's defeated, we were hoping that you could enlighten us on a few things."
Pinkie then blurred out, "Yeah, like how you're a space alien."
"PINKIE!" The mares all scolded. She was still too loud.
Sora sighed, "Oh, yeah…. I did promise and everything."
"Well, we're all ears," Twilight said, yet Sora seemed hesitant.
"See, thing is, it's a pretty long story," He stated—then he shook his head, "Actually, scratch that, it's a very long story. If I started now, we'd be here all night."
Twilight looked over at Sora thoughtfully, "Are you sure it'll take that long?"
Sora gave a curt nod, "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Well, we only have half an hour to visit. That, and I'm sure you still need to collect your thoughts," All eyes were on Twilight as she considered what should be done, "Alright, I think we can put a rain check on your past for now. Besides, now that I think about it, we don't want any random passerby to overhear us. From what the doctor told us, you should be released by tomorrow morning. When you get out, we can all meet up at the library. You can tell us everything then. Is that acceptable?" Sora nodded in affirmation, "Alright, no objections?" Not a soul answered, "Okay, it's decided; However, I hope you can answer us one question. Why was it you couldn't tell us where you were from or what you were?"
Sora paused, not sure how he should proceed, "Um, well..."
Twilight could see that Sora was feeling uneasy, so she tried to calm his nerves, "Sora, know that we won't think any differently of you. Besides, all of us are more than a little curious."
That seemed to do the trick, as Sora answered immediately after, "See, thing is, there's this rule where I'm not supposed to tell other people I'm from another world. Something about order or something," Yeah, that was the reason—then again... "Actually, the real reason I didn't say anything was because—I wanted to run away and forget. Alot of things that happen to me aren't exact pleasant to remember."
The mares all listened intently to this explanation. What could be so bad that Sora, the one who's faced dangerous threats without hesitation, would want to forget. Twilight had an idea, and she didn't like it. She thought back to her argument with Sora all those months ago. He lamented how he couldn't return home. But she still had no idea what it really meant. Why couldn't he return home?
"Alright, that's all we need to know," Twilight said, every pony else nodded in affirmation, "Okay then, let's reconvene tomorrow."
Sora was feeling much better the next day. All his injuries seemed to miraculously heal themselves much faster than any pony. He was released from the hospital late in the morning, after the paperwork involving the transfer was done, something Sora found mind numbingly dull.
When he was thankfully released from that torture and escorted out of the hospital, the first thing Sora did was make his way over to the Golden Oak Library like he said he would.
When he entered through the front door, he saw all the mares and Spike sitting in the center of the room. All of their eyes diverted to him when they saw him enter. Sora took immediate notice of Spike.
"I felt Spike deserved to hear your story as much as we do," Twilight explained. Sora nodded in understanding.
"So, how long have you all been here?" He asked.
"All morning," Twilight answered.
Sora sat down in the circle and surveyed his audience. Sure, he promised he would tell his new friends his story, but it still didn't feel any less awkward.
"Well, we're all ears," Rainbow Dash spoke up.
Sora released a long winded sigh, "I'm not even sure where I should start," Sometimes, even Sora couldn't make sense of his life. The people he's met, the places he's seen, the enemies he's fought, it all felt overwhelming at times.
"Either way, we're here to listen," Twilight said.
Sora nodded and crossed his fore-hooves, "Well, I guess I should start at the beginning for me. It all started when I was just four years old..."
Sora then told them—everything. From the day he met Kairi to the day darkness consumed Destiny Islands. The various worlds he's visited, the friends he's made, the battles he's fought: he didn't leave out a single detail. He explained closing the door to darkness, battling Organization XIII, taking the mark of mastery exam, all to the point when he and the Guardians of Light confronted Master Xehanort and the Seekers of Darkness in the Keyblade Graveyard.
Sora also made sure to recount the experiences of those connected to him, like Roxas, Xion, Naminé, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. Their stories played an important role in his, so it was necessary to recount them.
The mares and dragon could hardly believe what they were hearing. Everything Sora was saying sounded utterly ludicrous. It all sounded like something a madpony conjured up. If they hadn't seen his real form, they would have denied it entirely. Then again, with everything Sora was saying, there was no way it could be made up.
For the entire day, Twilight and the others listened intently. There needed to be some clarification and further explanation at times from the others, especially Rainbow Dash, but Twilight was able to keep up without issue. Sora eventually got what was probably his least favorite part: the clash of the Seekers of Darkness against the Guardians of Light.
"Right then, a tornado of heartless, more heartless I'd ever seen before, showed up in front of us. Before I even knew it, everyone of my friends were swept away. Me and Riku were the only ones left. Seeing all of my close friends engulfed in darkness... I learned what real despair felt like."
The ponies and dragon all had their mouths agape.
"At that point, I gave up. Without my friends, I lost my will to live."
"But Riku didn't give up. When I lost all hope, he told me something I'll never forget, 'Sora, you don't believe that. I know you don't.' With the last of his strength, he shielded me from the heartless. At that point, I felt something inside me reignite. But at that point, it was too late. Darkness overtook both of us."
"Hold up!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, much to everyone's chagrin, "If that happened, how are you here now? Better yet, how is any of us here?"
"I'm pretty sure he's getting to that part," Twilight responded. Rainbow interrupted Sora more times than one during Sora's story, and it was frankly annoying.
"The next thing I know, I'm in a world with nothing but sea and sky. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. It was The Final World."
"The Final World?" Twilight repeated, disturbed by the implications of such a name.
"It's a world where nothing lies beyond. The last place where Hearts with lingering regrets come and stay. I met this really cute cat creature named Chirithy. He told he I had to reconstruct my body If I wanted to rescue my friends."
"Rescue?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Turns out my friend's hearts were taken by some special heartless. When I resored my body, I used the power of waking to find my friends. I chased that heartless through multiple worlds, freeing everyone's hearts one by one. After I defeated that heartless, young Xehanort showed up. He told me I was misusing the power of waking. It's only meant to awaken hearts, not restore them. Then he told I would pay the price for abusing my power. He wasn't trying to help me or anything. He just wanted to mock me."
"All of those cretins from the Organization sound horrid," Rarity reviled.
"Ain't that the truth," Sora scowled.
"So what happened after?" Pinkie questioned, "This is getting good!"
Sora obliged Pinkie's request, "As it turned out, the reason why I was able to hold a physical form in the Final World is because Kairi's heart reached out to me. When I traveled back to the Keyblade Graveyard, I ran into her. She never stopped believing that I could save everyone. All of a sudden, all of my worries faded away, like everything would be fine so long as I had Kairi with me. She makes me fell strong," The mares all felt their hearts melt at such a heartwarming story. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were even crying, the latter more profusely. Twilight, however, had a knot inside her chest. Based on her limited Knowledge of Kairi and how Sora acted after the Grand Galloping Gala, the magical prodigy felt there was a tragedy to all this.
Sora continued, "At that point, I realized something. I always did have feelings for Kairi, but when I was traveling with her back to the Keyblade Graveyard, I realized I truly loved her. I wanted to tell her that right then and there, but I had to finish the fight before I could focus on myself. Maybe after the Keyblade War was over, I could try and make it work between us. Soon enough, we both arrived back at the Keyblade Graveyard. We were back before we faced Terra. No one else seemed to remember what happened before I restored their hearts."
"Hold on," Twilight interrupted. She managed to comprehend the notion of how Xehanort time traveled when Sora explained it, but what he described just now had startling implications, "Are you saying you actually changed the course of history?!"
"That's right..." Sora answered.
"Wait a second, I remember now!" Twilight yelled, "Discord said something about you rewiting the fabric of history. Is that what he was talking about?"
"Yeah."
"That doesn't make sense! How could he have known about that?"
"He looked into my memory," Sora answered plainly. A pervading silence filled the room. It was disturbing to think Discord had that ability this whole time.
Twilight eventually broke the silence, "I suppose it makes sense. He did know about your true form after all. And I vaguely recall you mentioning that when we confronted him."
Sora then relayed the rest of the Keyblade War: destroying an immense amount of heartless with the light of the past, facing off against each member of the organization. Then came the part Sora was dreading. He relayed how Xenmas kidnapped Kairi, with great sorrow in his voice as he did so. Twilight felt her stomach tighten up, this couldn't be good.
"Master Xehanort was the only one left. All he need was one final clash between light and darkness. The worst part is, he knew exactly how to get me to attack him. He had Kairi with him, completely unconscious, and floated her in front of him. I'll never forget how scared I felt right then and there. I ran up as fast as could to try and save her, but Xehanort, He..." Sora's voice failed him as that traumatic memory replayed in his head. Tears formed in Sora's eyes as his heartache grew unbearable. The group became worried seeing Sora like this. After he got a hold of himself, Sora related the event that would always haunt him:
"He killed her..." An image of a transparent Kairi shattering flashed in Sora's mind, causing him to double over with a sob. The mares and dragon all gasped with pure horror, unable to believe what they just heard.
It took every fiber of Sora's being to not break down on the spot, "Even now, I still see it clearly. They way her body crystalized and shattered is burned into my memory. Just thinking about it is unbearable. I rushed in and attacked Master Xehanort. But it was too late. The X-blade was complete and Kingdom Hearts was opened."
Sora, after spilling a few tears, then relayed the rest of the battle against Xehanort, how the Guardians of Light trapped him within the past so that he, Donald and Goofy could confront the Keyblade master in one final battle.
"After I sealed Kingdom Hearts, we were all taken back to the Keyblade Graveyard. All of us were safe and sound—all except for Kairi. Somewhere out there, she was all alone. I knew what I had to do. I needed to use the power of waking one more time to save Kairi. So I traveled back into The Final World to get an idea of where Kairi was."
"But wait a minute," Twilight interrupted, "I thought the power of waking was meant only to awaken hearts, not restore them."
"Yeah," Sora confirmed, "Chirithy told me if I went ahead with my plan, I could be lost forever."
"WHAT?!" Everyone yelled. There's no way he just said that.
"Well, that didn't happen, right?" Applejack reasoned, "Ya'll wouldn't be here if ya up an' vanished," Sora didn't respond, he only closed his eyes and lowered his head, "Uh… Sora?"
He spoke up after an agonizing few seconds of silence, "Well, it's like this."
Sora then told the story of how he journeyed through his friends during the events of the Keyblade War to find the pieces of Kairi's heart Xehanort scattered.
"I was able to restore Kairi's heart and bring her back to life... but I already began to fade when I brought her to The Final World to meet Chirithy. So I decided to spend the last moments of my life with the one I love. We watched a fireworks show, ate ice cream together, I even guided Naminè's heart out of Kairi's. The last thing we did was watch the sunset on the paopu tree. I thought that would be the last time I ever saw her, so I told her 'I love you.' All she did was smile at me and cry. That was the last thing I saw before I faded away. I don't know how long I was lost before waking up in Applejack's house. The only thing I vaguely remember is waking up in a big city. Beyond that, nothing else comes to mind. I was calling out for something, anything to bring me back to life. Then I felt a warm presence; next thing I know, I'm in Equestria. And, well... you know the rest from there."
Everyone present was at a loss for words. How could they even react to such a story?
Spike was the first to break the silence, "Wow, that is some story," That was an understatement. From what Spike understood, Sora's gone through lifetimes of experience and turmoil.
Applejack held onto her hat, mentally digesting the information Sora provided. He knew full well what loss was like, going through things that would break most ponies. She felt closer to him than ever after hearing his story.
Rainbow Dash tried her best to compose herself, but even she couldn't help but cry slightly after hearing such a tale.
Fluttershy made no such attempt to hide how she was feeling, lightly and quietly sobbing as she comprehended the tragedy Sora told.
Pinkie was sobbing a waterfall of tears, blowing her nose into tissues she pulled from who-knows-where, "That is the saddest story ever!" She wailed, going into another crying fit.
Rarity's perfectly applied makeup was nothing more than messy paint on her face after such a tragic tale.
Twilight looked at Sora with a sympathetic gaze, tears leaking from her eyes as well. The purple unicorn saw him in a new light now. He seemed like a goofball at first glance, but underneath his childish tendencies was a warrior wizened through hardship and sacrifice. How could any-creature endure so much?
After so long, Twilight broke the silence, "Something still doesn't add up. If you had to cast away your existence to save Kairi, why did you end up here in Equestria at all?"
Sora looked to the floor, deep in thought, "You know what, I don't know. Nothing about this makes sense to me."
A tense silence filled the room for a good while. No one knew what to say next. What could be said next?
"You know, it feels like no matter what I do, me and Kairi are always separated. I don't even know where she is or what she's up to," Sora held his head low, "For all I know, she might've moved on by now," The thought was depressing, but if it meant that Kairi could lead a happy life, then Sora would accept it.
At least he would've, until a certain marshmallow unicorn snapped at him, "Now you stop that this very instant!" Everypony in the room jolted in shock from that outburst, none more so than Sora, "Sora, if this Kairi has the gall to forget about you, then she is an utter fool!"
"Huh?"
"You sacrifice yourself to save her life, TWICE, return her lucky charm to her, fought with her side by side, and shared an extended date with her; what girl wouldn't be smitten with acts like that?!"
Sora was too bewildered to speak. He never knew Rarity to get this passionate, "Who was it that Kairi entrusted with her lucky charm? It was you! Who did she decide to share that special fruit with? It was you! Who did she always believe would save the day in the end? It was you!" After Rarity finished her tangent, all eyes were glued to her in bewilderment. After a few deep breaths, Rarity managed to calm herself into a more calm disposition, "Sora, darling, don't you ever give up on your dearly beloved like that, because there's no chance in Tartarus she would give up on you."
"Rarity..."
"Say, didn't ya say before that that Riku fella spent a year tryna get ya to wake up? Ah wouldn't be surprised he was searching for ya now."
"Applejack..."
"They'd be some real lousy friends if they just left you out to dry like that! No way they've given up on you!"
"Rainbow..."
"Sora. You're, um... too hard on yourself. You really should have more faith in your friends."
"Fluttershy..."
"C'mon, Sora, You spent Celestia knows how long searching for you friends. I'm sure they'd do the same."
"Spike..."
"If I may say something," Twilight interjected, bringing all attention to her, "If I was in the position your friends were in, I would do everything in my power to find you. It's just this feeling I have."
"Twilight..."
Sora couldn't help but curl his lips into a wide smile, "Ya know, I'm really glad I ended up in your world and made friends with all of you."
"And we're all glad you entered our lives," Twilight responded genuinely, "Sora, there is one more question I want to ask you. You said that it was either your friend Donald or that special pair of clothes that made you change appearance in certain worlds. But, how are you a pony here?"
Sora tilted his head, "I don't know what you mean."
"What I mean is, you didn't have the means of changing your appearance when you first arrived in Equestria. How did you become a pony?"
"Oh, right. To be honest, I have no idea. That's a complete mystery to me," Sora let out a half-hearted laugh, "Just another to add to the pile, I guess."
"Maybe Equestria is filled with so much magic that it makes Sora look like a pony!" Pinkie blurted.
Twilight glared at the pink mare, "Pinkie, that is so unscie—" She stopped for a moment as she considered what the pink mare had said, "Actually, that sounds very plausible."
Rainbow Dash let out a groan, "Ugh, my head hurts!"
"Hang on!" Sora exclaimed, crossing his forelimbs as his brow furrowed, "There is one more thing."
"Don't tell me there's more," Rainbow complained.
"After I passed out yesterday, I had a dream I was fighting Master Xehanort in The Final World," Sora relayed.
"And what does that have to do with anything?" The cyan mare questioned.
"Thing is, this dream was really vivid, almost like it was real," The caramel pony lowered his head, "I'm not sure how to explain it."
"Was there any music?" Pinkie asked out of the blue. Everypony stared at her in confusion. What a strange thing to ask, even for Pinkie Pie.
"Uh, I think so," Sora answered.
Pinkie rubbed her chin in deep thought, "Yeah, I got nothing," everyone else slumped in exhaustion. Well, that proved fruitless.
"And that's not all," Sora continued, "There was something else about this dream. It had to do with Kairi."
Twilight spoke up, "You mean Kairi was in your dream?"
"That's the thing, I didn't see her at all. I had this feeling in my heart that Kairi was there, and she was in trouble. Suddenly, all I could think about was protecting her. It was as if I knew I had to defeat Xehanort, otherwise he would take Kairi away from me again."
"How in Equestria does that add up?" Twilight asked. What Sora just said was outlandish.
"I for one think it's romantic," Rarity threw in her two bits, "Even in your dreams, you're concerned for your princess' well being."
"Say, Sora," Twilight approached him, "Can I see that 'gummi phone' you were talking about?"
"Sure," Sora reached into his saddle bags and pulled out the square device for Twilight to envelope in her magic.
"This device is truly capable of contacting some pony else across vast distances?" When Sora brought it up in his story, Twilight could hardly believe it to be real. The existence of a device had major implications for the development of the world as every pony knew it. It's too bad Sora said it was broken.
"Yeah, but I have no idea why it isn't working anymore," He tried so many times to get it to start working again. He even tried hitting it against the floor in an attempt to jumpstart it.
"Could you contact your friends if it were to start working again?" Twilight asked.
Sora responded, "Yes."
That was all the purple unicorn needed to know, "Alright then, I'm going to figure out a way to fix this thing."
"Huh?!" Sora reeled back, as did everyone else.
Rarity was the first to speak up, "Twilight, darling, do you even know how that contraption even works?"
"Well, no," Twilight admitted, "But if I can reunite Sora with Kairi, then I'm willing to buckled down and lean a new technology to do so."
Twilight's pledge touched Sora to his core. But there was one lingering doubt, "Twilight, just promise me something. Promise me you won't obsess over this."
Twilight widened her eyes, "Sora... If I take my time with this, it could take me years. Don't you want to see Kairi more than anything?"
"What does that matter if my friend here gets hurt?" Sora replied sternly, "I don't want you to sacrifice your life for this, so promise me."
Everyone looked at Sora. He continued to surprise. He would postpone his own happiness to keep others from destroying themselves.
With her eyes threatening to spill tears, Twilight replied, "okay then, I promise. And this is a promise from me: Sora, we will get you home!"
It was now evening, and every pony went their separate ways for the night. Twilight left for her room to start studying the gummi phone. The only ones left in the library were Sora and Spike.
"Hey, Spike," Sora approached Twilight's assistant, "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure, Sora," Spike agreed, "What do you need?"
"I want to send a letter to Princess Celestia," Sora answered.
"YOU want to send a letter to the Princess?!"
"Yeah."
"But, only Twilight's ever sent letters to the Princess before."
"Well, Celestia said I could send letters to her if I ever needed anything."
Spike was still uncertain, "Uh... I don't know."
Sora gave Spike a stern yet earnest expression, "Look, Spike, this is something I need to do," The little drake studied that expression intensely. He looked serious. Besides, who would Spike be if he denied a friend?
"Alright."
Dear Princess Celestia,
It's not Twilight who's writing to you this time. It's me, Sora. I wanted to let you know that I feel alot better now. I took your advice and told the others the truth. I feel like a great weights been lifted off my shoulders, clichéd as it is to say. I'm really lucky to have friends like Twilight and the others. I'd do just about anything to help them, just as they would for me. I guess the Elements of Harmony chose them for a reason. Throughout this whole Discord situation, I learned I should never abandon my friends, no matter how I'm feeling. I forgot about that for awhile thanks to Discord, but I'll never forget it again.
Your friend, Sora.
"Okay, that should at least make this letter sound presentable," Spike said. Sora's original spoken draft was horrendous, so numerous edits had to be made.
"Just send it already," Sora sarcastically jabbed. Spike obliged and sent the message away in a puff of fire.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all. See you next year with the next chapter—hopefully.