Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Harmonic Hearts! First, what do we have:
Raximus: Thanks. I don't get the walker bit, though. They do exposition quite a bit in the original game, so it's not too far off.
johannvanguard: We shall see, won't we?
Thanks for the feedback! With that said, time to close the first visit!
Visit 1-4: Power of the Heart
The sun starts to set once the group reaches the boutique, where they got ready for dress-up. Rarity definitely helped in getting the best results for each of them, but it took some time. The trio waited during this period, mainly since they can't dress up for the occasion. The Heartless can strike at anytime, so they have to be ready.
"OK, we're ready!"
They turn around to see five of the girls in really nice dresses, each one suiting them quite well.
Applejack wore a blue dress with red apples circling around the skirt, a white ascot, formal cowboy boots, and a neat stetson hat with a red rose.
Rarity wore a shimmering blue dress, a gold bracelet, a pair of white boots with a blue diamond on both and light pink soles.
Fluttershy wore a light blue and yellow dress, a pair of light blue boots with pink laces and soles, the former tied with white butterflies.
Rainbow wore a simple dress, a rainbow striped design on the upper half with the bottom half being blue with a red trim. A purple sash was wrapped around her waist, a gold cloud and lightning bolt badge holding it in place. Finally, a pair of red boots with white laces designed to have wings on their sides.
Pinkie wore a purple dress with a lighter shade for the trims, the upper half being light blue with a yellow bow on her waist. A balloon trio was designed on the skirt, a pair of dark purple boots, and a small light blue hat on her head.
The trio was pretty impressed before Goofy notices two of them were missing:
"Where's Twilight and Sunset?"
They heard Spike clear his throat before speaking, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the new Fall Formal Princess, Twilight Sparkle!"
Opening the curtain, it reveals Twilight in her new dress. Magenta in color, the left side of the skirt has a trio of bright white stars, a white bow on the waist, and a pair of magenta boots with purple soles.
"How does it look?" She asks.
Compliments across the board, with the trio giving a thumbs up to it. Now all that's left is Sunset:
"Sunset? How are you holding up?" Rarity calls out.
"Fine!" She calls out from her dressing room, "I want to keep my jacket, but this dress isn't working!"
"I've got you!"
Some time passed, leaving the others to do other things to keep them busy before they heard:
"She's ready!"
Rarity got their attention as she goes in front of a closed curtain, "Here is the current Fall Formal Princess, Sunset Shimmer!"
Opening the curtain, she reveals Sunset's new look. She wore her current jacket over a red dress with a yellow trim, the skirt touching her knees that resembles a curved flame, and black red-laced boots with gold flames on the sides.
She was honestly surprised at their compliments, the trio also giving a thumbs up as Rarity looks at the clock:
"Excellent! We have time, and we finished just in time for our ride!"
"Ride?" Twilight wonders.
"We're going to the dance, in style!" Rarity opens the door to reveal a limousine waiting outside.
"Whoa. Not bad, Rarity." Sunset admits.
"Let's go!" Sora was about to go first before being stopped by Donald and Goofy, "Huh!?"
"Don't be rude, Sora!" The former scolds him.
"Ladies first." The latter adds.
"Oh, sorry." Sora nervously smiles as he gestures to the limo, "Ladies first."
The girls do just that, entering inside with Donald and Goofy going next with Sora being last. The limo driver raises an eyebrow upon seeing the trio, but just shrugs and drives them to their destination.
The girls notice Twilight and Spike being rather fascinated by the limo. Sora was also intrigued, which Rarity asks him about:
"Have you ever rode in a limo, Sora?"
"Huh? No, I grew up in a small town." He answers, "We didn't really have cars like this."
"Makes sense, I guess. You said you live on an island, right?" Rainbow recalls.
"A set of islands, yeah."
"Sounds boring." Sunset comments.
"Maybe, but I do feel a bit homesick. Do you miss your home, Sunset?"
"H-Huh?" She was a bit put off by the question, "Uh, not really."
Twilight sees this as an opportunity, "I'm kinda wondering that myself."
"You're from there." Sunset points out.
"No, I mean... what was it like, before you became Princess Celestia's student?"
Sunset was honestly surprised at the personal question. Noticing the others were wanting to know, she eventually answers:
"All right. I was born and raised in Canterlot. Not the castle, the local districts near the edge of the city. Even as a filly I was fascinated with magic, studying it as much as I could and learning all the spells I can. It wasn't until I went to the School of Gifted Unicorns that I found out the potential I had. It was also when I met the princess."
"Funny. I had to pass my entrance exam to get in and that's when the princess saw my potential." Twilight mentions.
Sunset notes the parallel, "Interesting..."
"What was it like as her student?" Twilight brings up, "That's the one thing I'm having a hard time imagining, what you said about her."
"Either you're blind, or she mellowed out after I left." Sunset jabs before clarifying, "She wasn't a tyrant, if that's what you think I meant. Just... very strict."
"How strict?"
"Besides the mirror part... she was strangely insistent on me making friends. It wasn't a suggestion, it became an order where I was unable to even study in the library. I've tried to make friends again and again, but I just couldn't figure out how. Eventually... you know the rest."
"I get it. I didn't care much about friendship either. It wasn't until I was sent to Ponyville to check on the Summer Sun Celebration. That's where I met my friends and we stopped Nightmare Moon."
Sunset was taken back by that, "Wait, YOU took on Nightmare Moon!? THE Mare in the Moon!?"
"N-Not in combat, but me and my friends worked together to defeat her with the Elements of Harmony."
"...Guess I may have misjudged you." Sunset mutters.
The limo arrives at the school, parking in front of the entrance before they exit said limo. Sunset was the last one to leave this time, making Sora stop to see what's up:
"Something on your mind, Sunset?"
"Just that this is the first time I went to a dance with... anyone, really." She answers.
While she walks up the steps, he leaps towards the top before turning to her:
"Well, you have us here. So let's go and have some fun!"
"Fun... all right."
The two enter the gym to see the dance going underway. The others waited for them to catch up before Rarity spoke:
"It's gonna be some time before they announce the Fall Formal Princess. What do you want to do?"
Twilight looks around before seeing the photo setup, "I'd like to have a picture to take back home with me."
The group head over to said setup, where one of the students had a camera placed for it. Noticing them, she recognizes the trio:
"Such style on these boys! I, Photo Finish, must kepture... da magicks!"
Next thing they knew, she starts doing a small session with said trio. Donald and Goofy were first, each getting captured in various silly poses. There were some rather cool shots she got though, like Donald 'surfing' on his staff and Goofy catching his shield in a 'perfect cast'.
Sora was next up, who was engaged. Along with stylish stunts, he even threw in his Valor and Wisdom forms with equally slick poses. However...
"AH! Something's missing! What could it be!?"
He was confused as Twilight walks over, "So, can we get a picture now?"
"HALT! That's it, his HEART! It shines brighter with others! Show me. da. LIGHT!"
Now the girls got into the mix. Sora got one with each girl, Donald and Goofy, and even Spike before props was thrown into the mix. It was quite extravagant, ranging from masks and capes to even doing a small 'who's done it' mystery.
Fluttershy then gave Rarity a pair of butterfly wings, which she gladly showed off with proper lighting. Unfortunately, the light wasn't nice to them as they were about to catch fire! Luckily, Rainbow was quick enough to move her out of the way!
Once all those photos were taken, Photo Finish was finally satisfied:
"Enough! That. was. EVERYTHING! I cannot top this work, I GO!"
She and her assistant left soon after, leaving them with a bunch of photos that they took a set to keep. Despite what happened though, Rarity decided to keep the wings as well. With that done, they went to refresh with some drinks after quite the photo shoot.
Once they were replenished, they heard the song change to one AJ recognizes:
"Hey, this is the song I requested! Ya'll wanna cut a rug?"
They went on the dance floor to do just that. They don't know how it got started, but AJ and Rainbow soon got into a dance-off. The former shows off fancy footwork while the latter shows off athleticism with breakdancing.
It eventually got intense enough for watchers to be either confused or lose interest. Their mashed-up song was then changed into a new one, one that the trio was prepared for. Goofy actually leads the way as they start an insane dance number.
The girls soon join in on the fun, and it wasn't very long before the entire gym was into it. The dance floor felt like a crazy concert, all the way to the end. The audience gave a roaring applause as the trio were quite proud, sharing high-fives before Pinkie hands them a neat trophy.
Twilight understandably questions this, "Where did you get that?"
"Emergency trophy in the event of an epic dance-off, which then leads to a dance number for Disney fans to enjoy!"
"That's oddly specific." Sunset points out.
"I know!" Pinkie just smiles, making her wonder before Twilight simply said:
"It's Pinkie being Pinkie. Trust me, I save myself a headache just saying that."
Sunset raises an eyebrow before seeing the principals set foot on the stage. Celestia gets the mic for a special announcement:
"Thank you for the spectacular dance, you three! It looks quite fun!"
The trio take a small bow as she continues, "But now, it's time to announce the winner of this year's Fall Formal Princess!"
Twilight and Sunset awaits the result to be called, the others listening intently as Luna held said crown and gives Celestia an envelope:
"We made sure to check the total votes twice, as there were two candidates running this year." She starts to open said envelope, "And the winner is..."
The trio lean in close waiting, the audience dead silent as the principal pulls out the paper and calls out:
"Twilight Sparkle!"
The gym roars in cheers as Sunset simply takes her leave, Twilight going on stage soon after to receive her crown:
"Congratulations, Twilight."
"Thank you!" She was just giddy about finally getting it back, placing her crown upon her head.
The trio was glad to see this before something else catches their eyes:
A high-flying heartless!
A Hook Bat swoops into the crowd and grabs a certain pup's collar, carrying him away to the outside!
"Spike!" Twilight calls out, running after him with the girls trailing behind.
The trio was about to follow before more of them start to spawn. Donald made the decision first:
"Sora, go save Spike! We'll handle them!"
Sora simply nods before running off to save the pup. Going through the halls where he saw the bat go, he sees a girl struggling to get something from a vending machine. Briefly stopping, he taps his keyblade on it to release what she wanted:
"There! You're welcome!" He said, quickly picking up the pace to the outside.
Spike didn't know where he was going. All he knew was this Heartless has him in its... hook, and he was losing air. Before he knew it though, someone caught him as a familiar voice spoke:
"Are you all right?"
The pup turns to see Sunset, who somehow has him in her arms now. "Sunset, I didn't think I'd be glad to see you. Where did that Heartless go?"
A simple glance to her left, turns out it was just flying next to her. That was enough to raise a red flag:
"Oh... Oh."
"Sorry, it's personal." She clarifies.
"Oh, right. I know you want the crown but, would doing this actually make you feel better?"
She actually took a moment to think about it. Before she could answer, they heard Twilight calling in the distance:
"Spike!"
They saw the girls approach them, followed by Sora exiting the school, and stop upon seeing the Hook Bat flying near her. Sunset notices their staring and turn to the bat:
"Leave."
Said bat does just that, which gives away that something isn't right. Twilight immediately assumes the worst:
"Don't hurt him!"
Sunset just gently puts Spike down, "I'm not heartless, you know."
The pup goes over to Twilight's arms as Sora reaches them, "Sunset! What are you doing!? Why side with the Heartless!?"
"To answer your second question, I'm not. I did say Maleficent was responsible for bringing them here."
That was a hard pill to swallow for the group, which Rainbow points out:
"Hang on! You mean to say that everything today was a LIE!?"
"It was, at first. But right now, we're low on time." Sunset then picks up a sledgehammer that leaned against the statue, "Twilight, this isn't your world to begin with. Give me the crown, you can leave tonight. Don't, you can say goodbye to Equestria."
The girls were shocked at this, but Sora calls her bluff:
"You're gonna destroy the portal with that? I doubt it can even crack it."
"Clearly you don't know much about magic." Sunset retorts, "It needs a proper conduit to be focused and controlled, such as a unicorn's horn and especially that Keyblade you wield. Without one, it'll just go haywire. For example..."
Without warning, she swings the sledgehammer into the corner of the pedestal! The magic within it pulsed for a moment, but remained intact. The others were stunned at the suddenness as she just carries on:
"See? I give it about four or five hits before getting distorted completely. You don't give me the crown, forget thirty moons. You'll just be stuck here forever. So, what's your choice?"
The silence was heavy as the others wait for Twilight's decision. The new princess lets Spike down on his paws before standing up and answers:
"No."
Everyone was flabbergasted, especially Sunset:
"WHAT!? Y-You- Equestria! Your friends, lost to you forever! You think I WON'T destroy the portal!?"
"No, but I also know what you're capable of without magic. Equestria will find a way to survive without my Element of Harmony, this world has nothing to defend itself if I gave my crown to you! So go ahead, destroy the portal! You're not getting my crown!"
"...Fine, you win."
They were thrown off by her graceful defeat before Twilight felt her crown leave her head, "Hey!"
The Hook Bat from before was the culprit, holding the crown with its hook before dropping it into Sunset's hand:
"Didn't I say I wasn't working alone?"
A green flame appears beside her, fading soon after to reveal the evil fairy. Sora braces himself for a fight as said evil fairy spoke:
"You stand before Equestria's new ruler. How improper of you to not bow in her presence."
Twilight realizes what that meant, "Ruler? THAT'S your plan!? Overthrowing Princess Celestia!?"
"Is it that surprising to you? I said that the mirror showed me who I could be. She was afraid of me realizing that, of being replaced by her better! I'm so close to reaching it now..." Sunset then puts on the crown, "I'll finally fulfill my destiny!"
"How can you even use it!? You're NOT the Element of Magic!" Twilight brings up a good point.
"According to you, the Elements of Harmony are the strongest artifacts in Equestria. Makes sense that they would have magic from the get-go, similar to a keyblade when it chooses a wielder." She then waves her hand, "Observe."
In an instant, the group was levitated off the ground before being pushed away. Sora was quick to recover as the others land on the ground, slowly getting up to their feet.
"Keep his friends busy. I'll handle them personally." Sunset holds her sledgehammer close as the evil fairy warns her:
"The boy is a nuisance. Take him out first."
With a simple nod, the sorceress takes her leave in a flash of green flames. The girls were back up on their feet as Sora turns to them:
"Stay back. I got this."
"Careful, Sora. With my crown, who knows what magic she can use." Twilight warns him, who nods in agreement.
Turning back, he sees Sunset approach and goes to meet her halfway. The two soon stood in silence as he notices her face was not smug, but conflicted. He soon recalls something she said earlier:
"You said that getting close to us was an act at first. When did it stop being that?"
"Honestly, it was when we spoke at the bleachers." She answers, "You called me a friend, despite being hated by others. Now I want to know..."
She looks straight in his eyes, "After all this, would you hate me too?"
"Of course not!" The immediate response was jarring to her, "Friends fight, even over the smallest things, but we look out for each other. Whenever someone starts going down a dark path, we'll be there to bring them back no matter what. I understand why you're doing this, which is why I'm stopping you... as a friend."
She is still put off by his sincerity, but only lets out a sigh:
"I see. In that case..." With a snap of her fingers, three flashes of light happened at once.
First, her attire changed back to her outfit when they first met. Only difference was she now has black full-fingered gloves, along with the crown on her head.
Second was the sledgehammer, now changed to a rapier. It shared the same color scheme as said sledgehammer too, having a gold guard and even a black blade.
Finally, a barrier was conjured to form an arena around them, ranging from in front of the statue to the entrance of the school where the girls currently were.
Sora readies himself for the fight, Sunset holding her rapier steady as she finishes:
"We're done talking."
Objective: Stop Sunset Shimmer! (BGM: Desire for All that is Lost)
The two stood for a moment before Sunset went on the offensive. Sora was quick to react, deflecting each thrust while backstepping to gain ground. She kept up the pressure, adding swipes into the mix to throw him off. A quick deflection of a strong swipe, he retaliates.
Landing two full combos, she then retaliates back. A magic burst knocks him off balance, allowing her to land a strong flurry of thrusts that knocks him away. He recovers as she adds magic to the fight. Two fast swipes of her rapier fires a Firaga X-wave at him, which he counters with a Blizzard to cancel it.
He tries to close the distance as she follows up with a Blizzaga barrage. Right as she fires however, he slides in with a Reflect that bounces the damage back. Ready this time, he lands one combo before backing off to cast Thunder.
She uses the burst to disrupt the spell and fires bolts of Thundaga back. Her bolts was tracking his position, forcing him to dodge as she doubles down. She uses Blizzaga to make it rain icicles, followed by swiping her rapier to fire waves of Firaga.
Sora uses Magnet in a brief moment of levity, throwing her off her feet and stopping the spells. His spell lasted just long enough to close the distance, catching her in the air for a full combo. Ending with Aerial Finish, she unexpectedly did a midair burst to push him away.
The crown on her head glows as she raises her rapier, conjuring the three elements she's used to converge around the blade itself. He was on point with guard as she lunges with a quick fiery slash, followed by fast thunderous thrusts. She quickly leaps back and zooms towards him, similar to Sonic Blade, as an icy trail goes under her feet.
Each time she passed Sora, it was either a thrust or a slash in a graceful dance. Despite her efforts, he kept on point with his guard against her attacks. Angered by this, she zooms by one last time before stopping on the other end of the arena:
"Block this!"
She channels the elements into her blade in a shimmering light, readying a powerful strike. Sora takes this chance to challenge her, channeling energy into his keyblade for an equally powerful strike. The two brace themselves before launching at each other, thrusting their blades in an earthshattering clash!
Sunset expected to win it, but briefly saw something that shocked her. In that moment, she realized Sora actually channeled a Reflect spell into the tip! Right as she saw it, the spell went off. The reflected damage broke her blade and sends her flying into the barrier.
Sora lands on his feet, seeing her fall to the ground before noticing the crown falling from above. Catching it, he soon hears Sunset speak:
"W-Why? I- had my magic again! How can I lose?"
Before he can answer, he hears a familiar voice do it instead:
"Your heart has grown weak."
A green flame appears before fading to reveal Maleficent, who continues to ridicule her:
"You allowed them to invade your heart, weakening your mind. But, I can make you stronger..."
"Not this time!" Sora leaps at the sorceress for a strong swing, only for her to block with a barrier and pushes him back:
"Silence. You always have to meddle with everything?"
"Ironic coming from you." He retorts.
"Are you saying... I lost, because of them?" The two heard Sunset say, which Maleficent quickly follows up on:
"Yes. Despite the boy's words, friends only make an individual weaker by relying on them."
"That's not true!" Sora tries to interject, but the evil fairy made sure to keep the upper hand.
She summons a tower-high wall of green fire, separating him from the two. As he attempts to breach it, the evil fairy continues her manipulative speech:
"The only way you'll reach the power you need is to discard that light in your heart. By doing so, you can defeat anyone who stands in your way without effort. You WILL finally achieve you sought for so long."
Sunset took that moment to consider. While having a friend is nice, she can't just drop her plan now. She's literally SO close, she just needs her crown back. However, the only way she can do it is...
"...Fine."
With that answer, Maleficent went to work. Sora was trying to breach the flames, only for them to slowly fade as they now swirl around Sunset. He jumps through the weakened flames and tries to stop it, only for a harsh wind to cease his advance.
The flames grew stronger as they shoot into a pillar, reaching the sky above while rising Sunset into the air. She felt the darkness in her heart, revealing to be much more than she realized as it painfully overwhelms her. The fresh tears in her eyes evaporate as her body transforms, the green flames turning to a crimson red.
By this time, the girls weren't sure what was happening before hearing the doors behind them open. Donald and Goofy had finished up on the heartless, coming to help out while the rest of the school stayed inside for safety. The two soon realized the barrier was up, preventing them from assisting Sora right now.
Maleficent smirks at the result before seeing Sora run towards her, ready to swing. Her job done, she simply fades into green flames before another shockwave stops him in his tracks. Turning back to the red pillar, it fades away as a dark aura frames the new Sunset Shimmer.
Her appearance now resembles that of a demon, wings and all as she looks over herself in glee. A fiery dress with black boots, she even had a tail similar to a pony. Her eyes, now having black scleras with her cyan irises, land on Sora and glares:
"I've had done so much to get that crown. I WILL have it back!"
He clenches the crown tight in his left hand as Sora held his keyblade in his right, ready to fight. The two stare each other down before she suddenly changes her tone:
"You know what? I am feeling a bit generous. I'll admit this to you, Sora. I do consider you as an actual friend."
Right now, he's taking whatever she's saying with a grain of salt since she's likely deceiving him:
"No one was ever so sincere to me, I seriously doubt you can even lie. It's unfortunate that we have to fight, but I have a solution to that."
"Stopping your quest?" He suggests, to only hear her boastful laughter:
"No, you silly boy! It's something far better."
In an instant, he saw a glimmer in her eyes... before feeling his body turn stiff! She casually moves her hand up as she continues:
"I'd rather have you fight WITH me! Of course, this does kinda mean you have to pledge your allegiance. Say yes, I'll allow you to keep your free will as we take over Equestria! Say no..."
He felt the aura's grip briefly tighten before she finishes, "Well, you know. So what is it going to be, Sora?"
He didn't hesitate to answer, "NO! I said it before, Sunset! I'm stopping you from going through with this!"
She was surprisingly quiet after hearing that, only for an aura to surround her hand:
"Fine, your choice."
The aura tightens around his body, eroding the darkness inside to consume him! It came out a rapid rate before suddenly ceasing-
SHING!
Twilight's crown, he still had it in his hand. A strong light shines from its star, blinding Sunset as the aura releases its hold on Sora. He now feels something from the crown, a familiar warmth soothing his heart. In that instant, it was strong enough to activate his Drive.
The light eventually fades, allowing Sunset to see what had happened:
"What!?"
To her, and everyone's surprise, Sora unlocked a new drive form! Donald and Goofy immediately recognized the colors, now updated with the current outfit's style along with a crown emblem on the pants and sleeves.
To Twilight's surprise, her crown actually transformed into a new crown on his head. So many theories went through her mind, but only one could make possible sense. At this moment, her crown's power is working in unison with Sora's power to stop Sunset's new power!
That's a lot of power.
"H-How!? You're not even FROM this world!" Sunset shouts in disbelief.
"My strength come from the bonds I have, from those I connect with!" He answers, "That's what you fail to understand!"
"NO! You weaken yourself by relying on others! What's the point of having all those bonds when you can't even protect yourself!?"
"I learned before that one person can only do so much alone. I got this far because they support me, no matter how far we will be!" Sora then got into his battle stance, "Now I will show you OUR strength!"
Sunset simply growls in rage, a dark aura flaring around her frame as she readies for battle.
Objective: Defeat Sunset's demon form! (BGM: Vim and Vigor)
The fiery demon went on the offense, summoning dark fireballs to throw at the keyblade wielder. He quickly blocks them, scattering the shots back towards her who conjures a barrier. The shield absorbed the shots, using that to charge up her next attack.
Sora goes to close the distance as she fires Dark Thundaga beams, sweeping them across the battlefield to strike him down. He timed his Dodge Rolls to escape damage before reaching her barrier, going on the offense. The barrier proves to be tough, but two full aerial combos manages to break it.
She falls to the ground stunned, allowing him to use one of his Limits for heavy damage:
"Take this!"
He goes in with Ars Arcanum, bathing his keyblade in light while unleashing a strong combo. Throwing in a couple more swings for good measure, the final one sends her flying back. She retaliates soon after, flying back into the air to conjure Dark Blizzaga.
This time though, she summons icy pillars in homing waves towards Sora. They only had slight homing properties though, so a well-timed dodge was enough to pass them. She follows it up by cloaking her claws in shadow, diving down right for him.
Sora was caught off guard by her speed, getting hit into the air as she swoops in again and again. On the final strike, her body flares dark energy before diving straight down, slamming her boots into the ground. The result was a powerful shockwave, pushing her opponent into the barrier wall.
He manages to recover as he hears Sunset laugh, taking the opening to attack with Strike Raid. Throwing his keyblade at the unsuspecting demon, it knocks her into the air just enough to stunlock her. He feels his health gradually restore with each throw, ending with Judgment that hits her skyward.
He manages to land a quick Hurricane Period before her aura bursts, pushing him away to conjure her barrier again. Knowing its resilience, he immediately attacks it with Ragnarok. Timing the last attack just right, he activates Giga Impact for a swarm of light rays.
The barrier shatters again, leaving her stunned as Sora uses Sonic Blade. Zooming around her, he lands each strike in rhythmic succession until the last one sends her skyward. Recovering in midair, her aura flares wildly as a shockwave pushes him back:
"I WILL NOT LOSE!"
Sora braces himself as she unleashes a desperation move. She starts by launching across the battlefield multiple times, making him guard each time before slamming into the ground for a shockwave. He Dodge Rolls that before she launches into the air, unleashing a barrage of powerful spells.
First was Dark Thundaga, summoning continuous lightning bolts from above to sweep through the arena. Unlike before, they were on a set path that allowed Sora to effectively dodge. Next up was Meteor, firing waves of scorching fireballs down like comets upon him.
Again though, he manages to outpace the attack with his Dodge Roll ability. Annoyed at his persistence, she conjures Dark Blizzaga to bring out pillars that surrounds him. Now trapped inside, she takes advantage by throwing a massive fireball straight down to take him out.
Thinking quickly, he charges up energy before easily shattering the spells with Ripple Drive. She resorts to channeling all her remaining power and dives down in a dark energy dome. Sora counters this with a well-timed Zantetsuken, taking her right out of the sky.
Sliding across the ground, she soon stops her momentum to recover. Stumbling to her feet, she was livid:
"WHY!? Why won't you just stay down!?"
The keyblade wielder swiftly turns to her, revealing a rainbow aura surrounding his frame:
"I told you, this is the power my heart possesses! Doesn't matter how great the darkness becomes, there's always a light that'll shine within!"
With a quick spin, the aura courses into the keyblade's tip:
"This, is OUR POWER!"
Raising it skyward, the aura pulses into a beam to summon a rainbow tornado. Sunset tries blocking it with her barrier, only to prove futile as she was consumed by the tornado. Her demonic form lost its hold, reverting her back as the rainbow turns into a bright light.
He watches the light slowly fade away, along with the darkness she had as she floats down to the ground. With that over, he takes that moment to catch his breath. The barrier finally goes down, allowing the group to reach him:
"That. was. AWESOME!" Rainbow shouts, the others agreeing before Twilight points out something:
"I hope this doesn't mean I lost my crown to you."
"Hehe, does this mean Sora is a princess now?" Donald joked.
"I think it would be 'Prince Sora'." Goofy corrects.
Sora thought about it before shaking his head, "Nah. I'm not cut out for that, remember?"
His drive form soon reverts, returning him and the crown to normal. Taking it off his head, he gives it to Twilight:
"There's your answer."
She puts it back on her head as the group then heard a groan. They saw Sunset regain consciousness and getting up to her feet, Sora and Twilight approach her before seeing that she still retain her injuries. The former didn't hesitate to use Cure on her:
"Heal!" A green aura surrounds her, healing her wounds. "There you go. You should be fine now."
Standing up straight, she turns to face them as they saw tears in her eyes:
"I became so focused on my revenge, I threw away what I never had... and became a monster. It won't mean anything now, but I'm so sorry for what I've done."
The two glance at each other before Sora responds, "No hard feelings."
Sunset wasn't sure how many times Sora had surprised her at this point. She could only stammer her next words, "H-How, w-what-"
"I agree. You've learned your lesson, that's good enough. We can start over, if you want." Twilight adds, making her more baffled:
"A-All I've done is drive people apart, I don't even know the first thing about friendship."
"Don't worry, we didn't start out knowing all about it." Sora assures her.
"And you have the best teachers to learn from." Twilight gestures to the girls, who nod at that.
Sunset decides to stop questioning them, accepting that this is who they are. They then heard cheering, realizing that the entire school saw the battle when Twilight realizes something. Looking at the moon, she saw that she still have some time before the portal closes.
"Let's celebrate! We still have the dance going on!" Pinkie suggests.
"Sure, I guess. We got some time." Twilight mentions.
"Really? I thought the timer was more dire." Spike adds, "In that case, let's party!"
Returning to the party, and after explaining what had happened, the group didn't lose time to start their fun. Sunset simply stand off to the side though, not feeling up for dancing. From dance-offs to even a conga line, the group easily livened the party back up.
Some time passes before Photo Finish reappears, wanting to take their picture once again. Getting together for a simple group shot this time, Sora remembers Sunset and gestures for her to come over. She hesitates a bit, but the others encouraging her too was enough.
Joining in the group shot, Photo Finish takes several pics of them before taking off once again. There were enough for most to keep as a souvenir, Sora keeping one for the trio with Twilight having one to take home.
Once that was all said and done, they return to the statue to say their goodbyes:
"Do you have to return home now?" Fluttershy wonders.
"I have to return sooner or later. But don't worry, this isn't forever. I'll come back to visit, whenever the portal opens again." Twilight answers.
"We have to leave too." Sora chimes in, "We still have to find our friends, they're out there somewhere."
"I hope ya'll find them soon, sugarcubes." AJ agrees.
"And don't worry, we'll keep an eye on Sunset." Rarity chimes in, "Knowing you two, you'd likely be concerned about that."
They couldn't deny that notion, which Donald and Goofy teases Sora about:
"We know he would." The former said.
"It's OK. Sora's always like that, especially around girls." The latter adds.
"W-What!? Where did that come from!?" Sora was flabbergasted at such a comment.
The girls couldn't help but laugh though, leaving him flustered before Twilight's crown starts to glow. As it starts to float, Sora's keyblade appears to give away why. The others simply watch as Sora does his thing.
Holding his keyblade steady, an image of a crown appears below him before a swirl of light surrounds him. Transporting him elsewhere, the crown shines before sending a beam up to reveal the keyhole. Twirling his keyblade, he then points it forward to lock it in a flash of light.
Returning back to the courtyard, Twilight made sure that her crown was back on her head before asking:
"What just happened?"
Sora casually puts his keyblade on his shoulder, "Now you don't have to worry about your world getting destroyed."
"Oh, that's great to know! On behalf of Equestria, thank you very much."
"It's what we do."
Quickly looking back at the moon, she realizes that she's running out of time. "Nice meeting you all, hope to see you again!"
Just as quick as she spoke, she picks up Spike before darting towards the statue. Thankfully, she manages to enter it before the moon's shadow aligns with itself, closing the portal.
"We better skedaddle as well." Goofy mentions.
"We need to find Riku and the King!" Donald reminds.
"Right." Sora then turns to the girls, "We'll see you all later!"
"Alrighty, take care of yourselves!" AJ tips her hat to them.
"I'll look forward to a rematch!" Rainbow mentions, likely referring to their soccer match earlier.
"Don't be strangers." Fluttershy chimes in.
"We'll throw you a welcoming party when you get back!" Pinkie just came up with that idea.
"Thank you for many wonderful ideas for my new fashion line!" Rarity was quite excited about that.
The last one left was Sunset, who has a small smile on her face. "Thank you, for everything."
Sora gladly smiles back, "Always happy to help!"
The trio wave goodbye as they were transported back onto the Gummi Ship, ready to tackle the next world.
And done! Wow! Buckle in, readers! We have quite the chapter to unpack here:
First, the inclusion of the Summertime Shorts. I remember there were three shorts they made that took place during the first movie, so I decided to add them for some bonding time with the group. Two of the three got in though, as I couldn't come up with ideas for 'Make Up, Shake Up'. As for the other two:
Photo Booth was wild to imagine. Disclaimer real quick, this is the first time I wrote for Photo Finish, who is quite the character. Like as soon as I heard the line 'See not with your eyes, but your heart!', I was on board. There are some easter eggs here, such as Sunset's solo pic with her masquerade mask from her toy line, along with her 'folded arms' pose with Sora's signature KH2 pose where he does a similar pose. And that's just two I immediately thought of for that scene!
Raise the Roof... when I got to this scene, I looked up Donald and Goofy dancing for visual references as I already knew Sora dances. During that, I ran into two specific scenes from the two Goofy movies when it clicked in my mind. Not only was the trio dancing gonna reference the disco scene, they will do the 'Eye to Eye' dance number with the entire school as dancers! I landed a Perfect Cast on gold here!
Rewinding back a bit, I included the scene in the limo to add more on Sunset's backstory. Plus, it helped Twilight and her find some sort of ground, adding to the confrontation later.
If you're wondering why I'm focused on Sunset more, I'm approaching this story with this mindset:
You're a KH fan who finds this new world during their first KH2 playthrough. You vaguely recall seeing a trailer of some MLP-related spinoff, titled Equestria Girls, to promote a movie. Pretty neutral on that series, you're surprised Disney and Square Enix included such a world. During the first visit, you find this world's villain to be... some sort of mean girl/bully? Sounds boring until you learn there's more than meets the eye.
When I watched the first movie, I was surprised at the more subtle details with her. When you see them, you get the idea that she was testing Twilight, which is why she accepts her defeat until unfairly rubbed in that fact. If the movie was better paced and took out one or two ideas, she could have been a more interesting villain before she starts her redemption.
Back to the chapter, we reach the confrontation. I had a lot of ideas on how to go about it, but I decided to keep it simple. No pony transformations for the Rainbooms, but instead Sora obtains his Limit Form thanks to Twilight's crown. From there, it was a two-phase duel between him and Sunset.
First is Sora. During the second phase, he obtains Limit Form with special rules in this fight only. With Twilight's crown:
His Limits cost half, allowing more to be used before MP recharge. Even when you enter that, it triples the recharge speed to regain access to your limits. This keeps up an aggressive playstyle while keeping you in the game, also encouraging challenge runs like no items or Limits only. It also prevents Drive consumption and Anti-Form from emerging. By the way, the crown's design is temporality changed to Sora's KH2FM crown with the tiara's colors.
Now for Sunset, I decided to be more creative and changed the sledgehammer to a rapier. That alone helped in making her moveset more flexible. I'll keep it short and sweet:
First phase gives her access to third-tier elemental spells, a combo finisher, a hard-to-avoid revenge value burst, and a DM.
Second phase changes her third-tier elementals to their dark variants, two dark-elemental attacks, a power-up state, a barrier for armor, and a DM.
First phase's RC is called 'Reflect Blade'. Using it, you reflect her attack in a powerful clash to deal massive damage. Most likely the finishing blow on your first go. Can be blocked, reflected, and even dodged with proper timing.
Second phase's RC is called 'Demon Slayer'. If you get trapped in the ice pillars, it activates this sequence. Succeeding in it stuns her heavily afterwards, or more likely the finishing blow, while failing it will heavily damage you. If you avoid the pillars, you can finish the fight in a simple fashion.
Storywise, if I was focused on one idea, is that I wanted it to be Sunset's choice to turn into that demon form. I did make it Maleficent's moment to 'convince' her, but she ultimately makes the choice without realizing the consequences. I just find that more interesting than her forcing Sunset into it.
Along with some altercations, I think this chapter came out nicely. Now for the second visit! This is gonna be interesting as the sequel is more music-heavy, but I have an idea for that aspect. You'll see what I mean soon enough.
With ALL of that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!