Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Harmonic Hearts! So, what do we have:

johannvanguard: We shall see.

Raximus: Thanks! I'm always happy to hear my efforts weren't for naught.

Thanks for the feedback! With that said, let's continue!

Visit 1-3: Shimmering Shadow

The group walk through the middle district as the trio and Twilight took in the sights. The latter was the most intrigued, due to comparing certain places to the ones in Equestria. They then heard Rarity speak up:

"We're almost at the Sweet Shoppe. It's just right down-"

"AAAHHH!"

The group heard a scream, turning to see someone run from a group of Heartless! The one being chased happened to be-

"Sunset!?"

The trio were on the scene, Donald casting Magnet just as Sunset trips on the uneven concrete. Sora uses Thunder on the swarm, followed by Blizzard as Goofy throws his shield. A few stragglers were left afterwards, which Sora takes out by smacking said shield like a baseball.

His shield was bounced back by a barrier, Goofy catching it as Sora recognizes the familiar sorceress:

"I knew you were here!"

Maleficent shows a scowl as she looks upon the trio, "How unpleasant to see you three again."

"Downgraded to just hurting people now!?"

"She's likely angry from failing to take over our castle!" Donald adds, much to her annoyance:

"Keep your pathetic castle. Far too cheery for someone like myself anyways." Upon saying that, she disappears into green flames.

The trio immediately turn to Sunset, who looks rather scratched up from the attack, as the girls ran over. Sora and Fluttershy help her up as the former asks:

"What happened?"

"S-She came out of nowhere... I tried fighting... too many..." She answers before almost falling over, which Fluttershy quickly holds to keep her balanced.

Sora knew just what to do, "Heal!"

Raising his keyblade over her, glowing green leaves surround her in a healing aura. It left as fast as it came, but it fully healed her wounds and stamina.

"There ya go."

Sunset straightens herself soon after, "Thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you here in the first place?" Rarity questions.

"Best we get somewhere safe first." Sora warns, "Just in case."

The group reach the Sweet Shoppe, taking a table upon entering before they took orders. The girls were a bit uneasy being around Sunset, but Sora helps to try easing that tension:

"So, why were you away from school today?"

"Figured the Heartless was only around school, now I know that sorceress is bringing them here." Sunset answers before recalling something, "You three sound like you know her."

"We've had to deal with her on several occasions. Who knows what her plan is this time."

Twilight was curious on their history, "If you don't mind me asking, what has she done?"

For the next few minutes, the trio gives them a summary of their journey so far. It was quite interesting, especially with the idea of traveling to different worlds. After they took down Maleficent's villainous group, they're now dealing with this 'Organization XIII'. After a quick question of seeing anyone in a black hooded coat, the girls shake their heads no:

"Good. That's one less threat to worry about." Sora said before taking a sip of his coco, which they got from ordering earlier during said storytime.

"Fascinating..." Sunset mutters, trying not to sound impressed.

"Anyways, let's get back on topic." AJ speaks up, "The dance's tonight and thanks to you-know-who, we need to think of how to get all those votes for Twilight."

"Why are you bringing that up in front of her!?" Rainbow warns her.

"I literally don't care what you do." Sunset admits, "I'm relaxing."

They were skeptical, but went with it as AJ continues:

"Right now, that video put Twilight in a bad light. We just need to show the students who she really is."

Sunset takes a sip of her coco as the others try to come up with ideas. It didn't take long before Rarity shot up to her feet:

"I'VE GOT IT!"

That was loud enough to get the restaurant staring at her. She clears her throat after realizing this and continues normally:

"I mean, perhaps I have a solution." She then goes into her bag, "I know this might be a preposterous idea, but what if we all wore these as a sign of unity?"

She pulls out a headband with pony ears and a pony tail, both colored in blue and yellow. The first reaction? Laughter:

"Really!? You're bringing those back!?" Sunset continues to chuckle, to no one's amusement.

"What are they for?" Goofy wonders.

"Oh, these were used to show a student's school spirit." Rarity explains, putting them on. "They were very popular during freshman year, until she discontinued them."

"Not my fault they make ya look stupid." Sunset mutters before sipping her coco.

"I haven't sold them in ages, but they still mean something. All of us are different, yet deep down we're all Canterlot Wondercolts." Rarity passes more of them out, the others putting them on as Sunset just sits there rolling her eyes.

Sora, Donald and Goofy put them on too. Needless to say, it looked really weird.

"Sunset's divided us, Twilight's the one who united us! And we're make sure everyone knows that!" Rarity puts the ears on Twilight before asking, "What do you think?"

The others were on board with it, Sunset finishing up her coco before standing up:

"Oh, I can't wait to see this backfire."

The group return to the school, where it was thankfully peaceful for now. Just making sure though, the trio decide to go searching as the girls go do their thing. Upon reaching the doors to the cafeteria, Rarity wonders:

"All right, everyone know what they're doing?" The others agree as Sunset leans on the lockers:

"I have several titles for this viral video..."

"Yeah, and they're all about kicking ya butt off the throne." Rainbow retorts, making her click her tongue.

"Now now, no need to get aggressive." AJ steps in, "Just proving her wrong is good enough."

The girls excluding Twilight went into the cafeteria, allowing Sunset a chance to ask her something:

"You know what I find funny? Rarity said you were the one to unite them, when it was clearly the doofuses."

"What? They helped, but it's clear you don't know what I can do." Twilight retorts.

"Is that right? Well since the plan involves you waiting for the cue, I'm going for a walk."

"Why?"

"Cause I can." With that said, Sunset goes to do just that.

Twilight isn't sure what her deal is, but ignores it to focus on the plan.

In the meantime, Sunset takes this time to look for the trio. Through the halls on the first and second floor, there was no sign of them. Seeing if they are outside, she goes to the rooftop to get a bird's eye view.

Turns out, they had the same idea as Sora sees her:

"Sunset? I thought you were-"

"I realized how long I had to wait, so I decided to see what you three are up to."

"Oh. You know, just making sure no Heartless are around. Looks like they're aren't."

Sunset then notices something behind him, "Too soon!"

Sora quickly swings his keyblade to deflect a large spear, revealing an Assault Rider. Before they knew it, they were surrounded by a group of them:

"Sunset, can you fight?"

"A-A little bit."

Despite having Donald and Goofy here, protecting someone in battle is always tricky. However, his Wisdom form can make things easier due to having magic and better mobility. Taking that into consideration, he takes the chance:

"Light!"

A burst of light comes from him, Sunset in awe at such a glimmer... before it became a sinister shadow. Donald and Goofy suddenly turn into orbs before getting absorbed into Sora, who was unaware before getting consumed into darkness.

Sunset stares in shock as it subsides, dark wisps now emitting off Sora's form that was cloaked in black with blue accents on his clothing. She felt her feet back away, seeing his hands now turned into claws as his head turns to her. His eyes were no longer blue...

But Heartless yellow.

"W-Wha-" Her breath leaves her body, unable to speak at such a sight.

Sora starts to approach her before one of the Assault Riders swings at him. In a swift motion, he disarms it of the spear and takes three of them out in one slash. Another leaps at him to attack from above, just to be killed by a javelin throw.

Sunset watches this thing go on a killing spree. He leaps over an Assault Rider charging him, pouncing with claws extended to rip it apart. Another tries lunging its spear, making him spring up and land on the polearm. A quick run down it, he grabs its arm to spin with the momentum and slams his knee into its head.

Leaping off it, the other rider attacks by spinning its spear like a propeller. He raises his claws to conjure energy before throwing them down, creating a dark orb that fires off in every direction. Landing on his feet, he then spins around one to finish it off with rapid strikes.

Another one tries setting him ablaze, but he manages to jump away in time. Swiftly gliding behind it, he attacks in a flurry of impossibly fast slashes to kill it. One remains as it leaps at him to attack, which he glides up and dives right through it like a drill.

Landing on all fours, he looks around for the prey he saw earlier. Turns out, she left as the rooftop door was open.

She was sprinting down the halls and turns the corner before catching her breath. She did NOT expect this at all. She knew that he was this 'keyblade wielder' and has an ability to transform, but-

SLAM!

Oh no, he's inside! Seeing the gym nearby, she quickly goes in right for the utility closet. She quickly closes the door just as 'Sora' enters, searching the decorated gym for his prey. Wandering inside, he searches through everything to find her.

Sunset just held her breath, hoping that he doesn't come this way. What's with this form? Wasn't the other one from the video like, a minute? Why is THIS one lasting so much longer!?

Reaching one of the tables again, 'Sora' twitches before smashing it in two! It just rampages, no decoration was safe as he rips and tears into them! Not even the disco ball, its rope snapping in his grip before throwing it towards the wall.

Sunset heard the impact shatter it in pieces, followed by heavy silence. Her heart pounds with held breath, unsure if the slightest sound will give away her location. It only got heavier with each passing second as she hears... nothing.

As quietly as she could, she turns the knob and opens it to take a peek. The gym was trashed like a tornado came through, but what surprised her was Sora. He was on the ground back to normal and exhausted, Donald and Goofy sitting nearby in a daze as the latter wonders:

"Wha... just happened?"

"I-I don't know... is the Heartless gone?" Sora slowly sits up before seeing the destruction, "Oh no, the gym!"

"Wha!? I thought we were on the roof!" Donald recalls.

"Yeah we were. I used my Drive to try to protect Sun-" He frantically looks around, "Sunset!?"

"Here." She exits the closet upon calling out.

The trio get up to their feet and approaches her, Sora asking the obvious:

"You all right!?"

"Y-Yeah." She answers before holding her hands out to stop them, "D-Don't come closer."

They were understandably confused, "Why?"

"Y-You honestly don't remember!? That transformation you did!? These two got- absorbed into you and that light turned to darkness-"

Sora vaguely recalls something, some sort of warning about 'overusing the Drives'... Was that what happened?

"I-I'm sorry. I was trying to protect you."

Sunset was speechless. Did he really risked turning into... that, just for her sake? And yet, he's still so sincere about it. With no words to say, she just exits the gym to the outside.

Sora wanted to say something, but what? He wasn't even sure how to explain it. Donald and Goofy comforts him as the doors to the hallways open, followed by a familiar voice shouting:

"WHYYY!?"

Sunset walks through the soccer field to behind the bleachers, where a familiar green flame appears to reveal Maleficent:

"I trust you've learned something about them?"

"Did you know Sora could do that!?" Sunset accuses, "Turn into that... t-thing!?"

The evil fairy raises an eyebrow, "What 'thing' do you mean?"

"He has this 'Drive' ability that makes him transform! He used it in a fight, just to become a Heartless himself!"

"A Heartless, you say..." Maleficent thinks about such a possibility.

"Yeah, he was a savage! Took out every heartless in his way and, even came after me!"

The evil fairy only smirks, "Is that right? Hmm, perhaps we can use to our advantage."

Sunset couldn't help but be curious at the idea.

Meanwhile, the trio was trying their best to explain to the girls what happened. From the fight on the roof to the gym, however vague it was due to a lapse in memory. They really want to make sure they heard the story right:

"You lost control?" Rarity repeats.

"Yes. I don't know what happened exactly, but I was told that I was consumed by darkness. I can only imagine what Sunset saw..." Sora answers.

"Wait, she wasn't-" Rainbow brings up, which Sora quickly debunks:

"Oh no, she's fine! She was thankfully not hurt. Still..."

Donald and Goofy can easily tell he's bothered by this, which the former tries to assure him:

"Perk up, Sora! It wasn't your fault!"

"Donald's right. It wasn't your intention to be transformed like that, it was just bad luck." The latter adds.

"Bad luck, huh?" Sora repeats.

"Yup! You were told the risk that came with it, yet you took that chance to protect Sunset! We don't blame ya for it."

"You would have done it for anyone else." Donald chimes in, "It's just like you anyways."

"H-Hey, what does that mean?" Sora wonders, making the two chuckle.

The others were glad the tension eased up, but Pinkie couldn't help but bring up:

"We still need to clean this up, or else they'll postpone the dance!"

Twilight realizes what that meant, "Oh no! No nonono!"

The others were confused at her sudden panic, AJ questioning it outright:

"Uh Twilight, ya all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine! Everything's fine!" She tries to assure them, to no avail.

The trio realize what that meant, Sora vocally pointing it out:

"Oh right, you wanted to win your crown back at the dance! Which I ruined..."

"Don't worry, darlings! If we work together, we can get this back up before nightfall!" Rarity assures.

"Really!?" Twilight was glad to hear some good news from this.

"It would be easier if I had, like a party cannon or something!" Pinkie suggests.

"How oddly specific of you to say, Pinkie." Spike comments.

"Come on now! We did it yesterday, didn't we?" AJ reminds her, "We can do it again!"

"You're right, we got this! Together!" Twilight holds her hand out, up to the task.

The others did the same, leaving the trio as the last ones. Sora went first, then Goofy, then Donald once they lower themselves to his height. Spike even puts his paw in before they all say:

"One, two, three! We got this!"

Going to the utility closet, they pull out the supplies they needed and got to work. Starting with the debris, they sweep that up into several piles to put in trash bags. Tying them up, Sora took them out to the dumpster as the others continue cleaning.

On their way back, he sees Sunset by the bleachers and stops. Still feeling bad for what happened, he goes over to resolve things:

"Sunset!"

She looks in his direction as he approaches. Upon reaching her, he starts:

"Look I understand if you're still mad about what happened, but-"

"Don't. I already thought about it and... you didn't intentionally become that, right?"

"R-Right! It was just bad luck on my end." He admits, rubbing the back of his head. "I only used my Drive form to try protecting you better, but that backfired."

"You kinda did. Just got a bit too... destructive."

"Yeah, I ruined the dance. But, me and the others are working together to fix it up for tonight! Wanna join?"

Sunset was surprised by this, "What? You do know no one likes me, right?"

He then reaches his hand out, "We're friends now. That's good enough for me."

She was... honestly touched by such a statement. Feeling a smile appearing on her face, she grabs his hand:

"You're a strange kid."

He smiles at that, "I get that sometimes."

Pulling her up to her feet, the two return to see more students were helping the others out. Donald and Goofy were doing balloons, AJ and Rainbow handled the heavy lifting while Rarity and Fluttershy did the streamers. Each group had some students helping them out.

They were surprised to see Sunset joining in the cleaning, but Sora assures them she's here to help. They thankfully accepted it, as any help is nice to have. Sora goes to help raise the disco ball as Sunset assists in the other activities.

She was precise with her streamer throws, strong on the heavy lifting, but needed practice with the balloons. She even showed off a more techy side, helping with the stage lights and equipment. With the band doing mic checks, the students finishing up decorations, and even setting the food, the gym was up and running in no time.

Looking over their work, they were quite proud which Pinkie solidifies:

"Now THIS, looks, AMAZING!"

They then heard clapping, belonging to Principal Celestia as she spoke up:

"Nice work, everyone! The dance starts in a few hours, so go get ready! And be sure to put in your ballots if you haven't yet!"

The group watch as the other students place their ballots in. To no real surprise, Twilight got a lot of their votes. Sunset didn't show it, but was impressed at the turnaround. Rainbow couldn't help but gloat though:

"Do you hear that? It's your crown, going further out of reach."

Sunset just smirks, "Whatever. I'll see you at the dance."

Before taking her leave though, Rarity stops her with an offer:

"I can make you a dress, if you'd like."

Sunset was a bit put off by this, "Why?"

"Well, you helped out as much as everyone else. Why not?"

Sunset was tempted to say no, but eventually relents:

"All right."

"Splendid! To the boutique!"

As the group head to their destination, they didn't know they were being watched by Maleficent from outside. Hiding behind the wall, she looks at her green orb to see something peculiar. Inside Sunset's darkness, she starts to see a glimmer of light flickering from within:

"Well, this will prove to be troublesome."

And done! This was a flip in the script, huh?

Quick side note, I noticed that after the cafeteria song, the movie transitions to the next day. Literally, the scenes afterwards have the dance that night. It caught me off guard at first, but I made sure to edit last chapter to line up the events properly.

Back to the chapter, I was honestly stuck up on the rooftop fight for a bit. Mainly because I was stuck on either using Wisdom Form now OR have a more interesting narrative with Anti-Form?

I eventually chose the latter. Not only for a better narrative foothold, but it's personally my favorite of the Drive forms. I LOVE how it's the antithesis of Sora as a character, feral and ruthless. OH, and why Anti absorbed the partners, here's how I interpret the Drives here:

When using a Drive, Sora's connection to his friends acts as a conduit to activate it (Ex. Limit). But much like any power, it corrodes the darkness over time until it erupts into Anti, which takes the physical forms of said connections (i.e. the orbs when you obtain them) for the power boost. Plus, considering Final counters Anti, you can argue that Roxas plays a part in reverting Sora back to normal.

Also, anyone else disappointed that the Drive forms weren't used in any narrative way in KH2? They got a mention... and that's it. That's sad.

By the way, the idea that Sunset was dealing with Anti-Sora while the cafeteria song is happening... talk about tonal shift, huh?

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter for the first visit's climax!