Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Harmonic Hearts! And well... let's do the reviews first before I explain what happened:
Nisha: Glad to know my struggles paid off. I know Sora is a leader, but I'm a Riku fan and I didn't think it would clash that much. Plus, I can see Sora being capable of also following orders if need be.
I want to do more with Ventus, so consider that a little sneak peek. Though, please clarify the 'Kairi' part as I'm a bit confused. It's the first time I'm writing Xehanort in general, so I'm still figuring out my interpretation of him. Either way, glad to hear you liked it.
johannvanguard: You're about to find out.
Thanks for the feedback. With that said, let me explain what has happened:
I literally tried THREE separate revisions on the previous headcanon, but none were working. NOT. ONE. So, I went back and edited the previous chapter, changing the last scene to go more in-line of the original film. This gives me more freedom for the final fight and for later chapters. For those wondering what the revisions were:
The first draft had Sunset and Midnight transform into ponies, making the wormhole work similar to the portals. Sora and Riku fought alongside the former against the latter at the Castle of the Two Sisters. I had some good moments there, like Riku comparing Midnight's curiosity to that of Ansem SOD. However, I eventually replaced that with the second draft:
Said second draft was a grand battle, which included the Mane Six, Spike, Starlight, and King Mickey in the fray. Sunset and Midnight were still ponies here, but the latter uses her magic to separate the group into four teams. Three of the four teams fought a clone of Midnight as King Mickey fights the real one, where he gets assistance from the Mane Five and Spike in order to get an edge in the battle. Sadly, I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by this, which caught me off guard.
Due to this, I replaced that with the third draft. Here, Sunset and Midnight kept their human forms as Sora goes one-on-one with the latter. He uses Final Form to overwhelm her, rivaling her magic with his and outclasses her in close combat. I'll be frank though, this one came out boring for a final battle.
SO NOW, after changing the last scene last chapter, this should be much more interesting. With ALL that said, let's wrap this up!
Visit 3-4: Dreams End at Midnight
In the Skies of Equestria
Midnight flies down through the rift, seeing the grand land of the parallel world through her own eyes. This view didn't last long though as she notices something at the corner of her eye, turning to see Ven flying on his glider:
"What are you doing!?" She questions.
"Stopping you!" Ventus answers, straight to the point.
"Ha! With my new power, I doubt you can!"
"Wanna bet!?" Ven then activates his Fever Pitch style, gaining a light aura with a light breeze surrounding him.
"Gladly!" Midnight then stops in her tracks with him doing the same:
"This will be the perfect chance to see the strength of a keyblade wielder!"
Objective: Stop Midnight Sparkle! (BGM: Tension Rising)
Ven knows his power still isn't as strong as before, but that hasn't stopped him yet. Leaping off his glider, he summons his keyblade as he goes on the attack. Midnight conjures an Aeroga spell to surround herself in a barrier, protecting herself from a flurry of strikes that pushes her back.
He lands a trio of thrusts before getting interrupted by a barrier burst, allowing her to retaliate. She rains down a Firaga-tier swarm of fireballs upon him, which he intercepts with a blast of Aeroga. The two spells clash, creating a firestorm that she tries taking advantage of, using her telekinesis to create another projectile from the blast. Catching on to this, he performs Strike Raid to destroy her attempt.
Midnight took small damage from the disruption and barely avoids the keyblade as it came flying back. Activating his Cyclone style, Ven controls his keyblade with the wind to continue the pressure. Each time she dodges or even outran it, he finds a way to keep it on track. Growing annoyed by the persistence, she uses her telekinesis to catch it in her magical grip.
She smirks at the new advantage and casts an icy whirlwind, attempting to freeze him solid. He quickly casts a large Aeroga barrier, managing to blow the whirlwind away from himself. Though it proves quite cold as the surrounding clouds froze, soon dropping down towards the ground below. Holding his hand out, he calls back his keyblade, releasing it from her telekinesis.
Midnight was surprised by this, allowing Ven to perform his finisher. Channeling light and wind as one, he held his keyblade in a normal grip before launching himself towards her. His aura forms around him as he spins like a twister, slamming into her with great speed. With one last spin slash, his aura emits a shockwave to send her flying.
Once he stops spinning, Ven activates Glide to greatly slow his descend as he sees her recover. She raises her head to reveal a grin with a wild look in her eyes:
"Fascinating! Show me MORE!"
He wasn't expecting that reaction, making him realize too late she charged up an attack. He puts up a quick guard as she fires a beam, but it dissipates before reaching him. Turns out, it was stopped by another keyblade.
He recognizes it as he hears a familiar voice coming from above:
"Ven! You all right!?"
He turns to see Sora and Riku, the former in his Final Form as the latter asked him how he was.
"I'm holding up! I'll let you two take over, I'll provide support!" He answers, calling his glider out to stand on.
"Gotcha! Ready, Sora?"
"Ready!" The spiky-haired boy assures his friend as the two got ready to fight.
Midnight was staring right at Sora, enamored by the powerful magic his Drive form emitted as her grin grew wider:
"Come forth, Sora! Show me that power of yours!"
Objective: Stop Midnight Sparkle! (BGM: Vim and Vigor)
The duo went on the offensive, making Midnight fly back to gain distance. She then casts Thundaga, firing bolts upon them to try slowing them down. Sora easily flies around them, soon flinging the keyblade Riku rode on towards her. The latter grabs said keyblade to perform a dual-wielding combo, forcing Midnight to block with a barrier.
Riku pushes her back with a cross slash, flipping back as Sora uses Strike Raid to break said barrier. The former tosses the second keyblade to the latter, allowing his friend to unleash a proper combo. Finishing with Final Arcana, he landed serious damage as it sends her flying back.
Realizing that she doesn't have a chance on her own, she decides to even the odds:
"Shadow!"
She conjures a shadowy doppelganger by her side, covered in black outlined by a violet aura. The most prominent features it had was around its head, where it had green eyes with the flames and horn to match. She smirks as they went on the attack this time.
Sora needed both keyblades to dish out his best as Riku calls Ven over, landing on his glider to ride on. The former took on the real one as she starts casting Waterga, firing wave projectiles towards him. He counters by performing Final Arcana again, flinging his keyblades through them like a buzzsaw. She dodges by flying upward, gaining distance as he gives chase, moving his keys back to his side.
Riku was putting on the pressure against the doppelganger, rapidly firing a string of Dark Firaga flames. It turns to attack back, firing an Aeroga blast to blow them away. Ven was quick to blast his own Aeroga, causing the two blasts to collide and create a whirlwind. He tries to keep his glider steady as Riku sees the doppelganger charge up an attack:
"Look out!"
His warning was just in time as Ven raises his glider upwards, dodging a beam of energy. It took a moment to rest, which Riku takes as a chance to strike. He uses Dark Aura to warp, reappearing in front of the shadow to land a fast combo. Ending it with a lunge, he uses Dark Firaga again for extra damage before warping back to the glider. The shadow recovers soon after, retaliating with Graviga to bring them down.
The two felt the pressure suddenly rise, making the glider struggle to stay afloat. Ven quickly charges up light, soon unleashing a powerful burst that conjured columns of lights around them. It managed to break the spell, even healing the two a good amount as the attack was large enough to hit the doppelganger. It was left weakened by it, which gives Ven an idea.
He activates his Wingblade style before turning to Riku, "Let's team up!"
"Yeah!"
The two leap up into the air, where the former throws his blades down to surround the doppelganger. The latter then charges up Dark Aura into its fullest, warping in at each blade to lunge at the shadow multiple times. Ven conjures another blade as Riku reappears next to him, the two diving straight down to finish it off in a burst of dark and light energy.
Ven calls his glider soon after, bringing it to them to land on. Once they did, they took a moment to recover before realizing something:
Where did Sora and Midnight go?
Speaking of the two, they were high in the sky as they clash. Midnight had conjured ethereal orbs in her hands, using them as makeshift weapons to deflect the keyblades away when they came. Each time she fires a magic spell, he deflects or dodges in response. It's very clear that he surpasses her in skill, and even power.
In a desperate attempt to land something resembling damage, she pushes her orbs together before firing a beam. Sora spins his keyblades in front of himself like a propeller, casting a barrier to block the blast. It didn't last long before she got flown back by a sudden blast, disrupting her attack.
He returns to his battle stance as he wondered what happened, only for a familiar face to float down next to him:
"Sorry I'm late."
He turns to see Sunset, now dawning a new look that can be best described as angelic. It's like the reverse of Midnight's form.
"Sunset, when did you-" He was soon cut off by her as she stays on topic:
"Save it for later, we gotta get her back to the school!"
"Right!"
Midnight recovers as the two flew towards her, grabbing her by the wings before flying towards the rift. Ven and Riku gives chase soon after, where all of them arrive back to the school courtyard. Midnight realizes where they are and quickly shakes them off, trying to fly back into Equestria before being stopped by Sora:
"Sorry, you had your fun!"
As he blocks her off, Sunset charges up energy before firing a beam, sealing the rift up permanently. Midnight didn't take this well as she grits her teeth:
"NO! You all ruined EVERYTHING!"
In her anger, she takes on a slightly altered form. They were surprised as her pupils are now yellow, with black scleras surrounding them as her flame frames and horn change to a dark violet. A dark fiery aura surrounds her body as the four ready themselves for another fight:
"Fine, you want to stop me!? I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
Objective: Defeat Midnight Sparkle! (BGM: The Dread of Night)
The first thing she did was expand an orb of darkness around them, trapping her foes in a large dome for an arena. Sora was starting to feel his Drive fading at this point, due to how draining Final Form is compared to his other forms.
"Sunset, we need to end this now." He tells Sunset before reverting to normal.
She was a bit surprised at his serious statement, but agrees as she summons her rapier. The only difference this time was the blade itself, which now glows a beautiful white aura. Once she did, she takes flight on the offense.
Midnight tries stopping her with a swarm of ethereal orbs. Sunset does her best to maneuver around them before resorting to a barrier, pushing through to close the distance. Midnight tries pushing her back with a beam, but Sunset's barrier refuses to budge. As the two clash, the boys saw an opening to take.
Not holding back this time, Ven starts it off by activating Multivortex, surrounding himself with blades of razor wind. He flies right in, disrupting the struggle as he lands a flurry of slashes on Midnight. He cuts it short this time, finishing with an Aerial Spiral to send her upwards, leading to Sora and Riku's team attack.
"Together!" The two call out before activating Eternal Session.
They wasted no time, landing a seamless team combo before entering their phases. Cycling through Last Saber and Dark Cannon, followed by Master Hearts and XIII Blades, ending it with All's End. While all that did severe damage, Midnight wasn't ready to just fall like that.
She warps to the top of the dome, holding her hand up high before the ceiling of the arena lit up like stars. She then swings it down, firing literal shooting stars upon them. Sunset quickly flew to the boys, protecting them by conjuring a barrier around the group.
The stars were much more damaging than she thought, making her struggle a bit to maintain it. Thankfully, the boys assisted by reinforcing the barrier with their magic. As this was happening, Midnight was charging up a massive orb above her, it appearing like a new moon in the sky:
"Block THIS!"
The four heard her claim as she throws it down towards them. Sunset was quickly thinking of some way to deal with it, but Sora got them covered:
"Back at ya!"
Turns out, Sora actually casted Reflega when the stars attacked, absorbing their damage. Pointing his keyblade towards the 'moon', he releases his spell to fire back, blowing it up right before it touched them.
"Nice!" Sunset compliments, which Sora smirks at.
Midnight was livid as she summons two ethereal blades to dual wield, warping right in with a swing to shatter their barrier open. Sunset was caught off guard by this, barely recovering to block one of her blades. As if time slowed down, she saw the other blade lunge for her head before it got deflected.
Sora used the 'teeth' of his keyblade to grab the blade, pulling Midnight back as she starts attacking him instead. Riku quickly jumps into the fray, easily overwhelming her before she casts Aeroga, blowing them back. She turns to try attacking Sunset again, only to get stopped by Ven, who activated his Wingblade style.
While he had six blades of light total, he mainly used two while the rest acted like shields when needed. As these two clash, Sunset can sense the disruptive darkness inside Midnight, only to feel something else within it. It's faint, but it wasn't like the dark aura she felt. Could it be...
She quickly flew over to Sora and Riku, who had recovered from the wind blast:
"I need you three to hold her off! I have a plan!"
"Got it!" Sora answers with Riku nodding.
She flies off to try leaving the dome as the two go to assist Ven. Midnight was rather persistent, but he easily kept up with his speed and skill. Once Sora and Riku jump back into the fray, that's when she had to back off. Flying upwards, she summons two doppelgangers this time to try evening the odds again.
She was gonna use them to distract the boys as she took Sunset on her own, but didn't see her anywhere in the dome. Growling to herself, she decides to divide the boys up and finish this fight. She sends her shadows to attack, one pushing Ven back as the other does the same to Sora. This left Riku on his own as she floats down to face him:
"Interesting... I thought Sora would be the strongest, but now it's clear that form he had was why. You on the other hand..."
"...Didn't think I get interest from a girl like this." Riku mutters to himself before she continues:
"I have to know your secret. Show me!"
She then flies right for him, conjuring her blades again to attack. He fires a burst of Dark Firaga, mainly as a distraction before he warps with Dark Aura. She slices through the fireballs before realizing he disappeared, only to get hit by his Dark Break finisher.
Gradually annoyed now, she retaliates with a pulse of kinetic energy. It manages to trap Riku in its grip, allowing her to unleash a barrage of spells upon him. Firaga, Blizzaga, Waterga, Thundaga, and Aeroga before finishing with Graviga. The last one slams him into the ground, making a cloud of smoke on impact.
It didn't remain long before it disperses from a shockwave, caused by Riku who fires a blast of light. She quickly blocks it with her blades and was thrown off balance by the force, allowing him to land a direct hit with Dark Impulse. She was sent flying by the impact, eventually planting her feet into the ground, skidding to a halt.
He continues his assault, warping in with Dark Maelstrom to keep up the pressure. She quickly conjures her Aeroga barrier to reduce the damage before bursting it, countering with a condensed Graviga orb to try pulling him back in. To her surprise, he delivers a heavy slash into said orb, causing it to explode!
BOOM!
A little bit earlier...
Sunset rips open a hole near the top of the dome, making herself a quick exit to the courtyard. She quickly flew over to where the students were, flying down in front of Levin's group who were just shocked by all this:
"What's happening in there!?" He questions.
"I'll explain later! I got an idea to stop her, but I'll need Spike to do it!"
"Spike? Her pup?" Stylite repeats, "Why?"
"He may be able to snap her out of this. Where is he?"
"Here." Pixel walks over holding Spike in his arms, "We recently found out something during the fight."
"And that is...?"
"When I got hit by that magic earlier, it allowed me to talk!" Spike answers.
"I still don't know how that's weirder than... this stuff." Ventus points out, gesturing to the dark dome.
Sunset would retort with something, but lets it be as she took Spike into her arms:
"During our fight, I was able to feel Twilight's heart inside Midnight. If you spoke to her, it may help her wake up."
Spike didn't hesitant on deciding what to do, "Then let's go!"
The group then heard an explosion from the dome, essentially seeing a black hole briefly expand inside it before being replaced by a bright light.
"Now what!?" Shade rhetorically asks.
Sunset held Spike close as she takes flight, ripping another hole to enter back into the dome.
The Present
Once she was in, she flew over to where she sees Sora and Ven, who were catching their breaths:
"Guys, what happened!?"
"I don't know! We defeated Midnight's doppelgangers when we saw an explosion!" Sora points to what he means, showing her a strange sight:
A large pillar of light, reaching up to the top of the dome as swirls of darkness surrounds it.
It was then that Sunset realizes something, "Wait, where's Riku and Twilight!?"
Sora and Ven just realized that too, looking around for any sign of them. Sunset got worried and looks back at the pillar, connecting the dots on what could have happened:
"Come on, they need our help!"
"Right!" The two agreed as they follow her right into the pillar.
After a blinding flash of light, the trio find themselves floating in a white void. They quickly found Riku and Midnight, both being out cold from the explosion earlier. Sunset quickly flew over to the latter as Sora and Ven went to help the former, Spike being the first to speak out of concern:
"Twilight!? Are you OK!?" She slightly moves at his voice before he continues, "Twilight!?"
Her eyes slowly open, revealing themselves to be back to normal. "...Spike?"
"Twilight, you're back!" He hops into her arms as she processed his ability to speak:
"You... talk now?"
"Magic. Cool, right?"
She couldn't help but have a small smile as the two embrace. Sunset look over to where Riku was, who was fully awake and healed by now, as the boys float on over. Sora was the first to ask her the obvious:
"Do you remember what happened?"
Her smile fell as she stays quiet, as if she didn't want to answer. The boys were concerned as Sunset was about to ask her the same question, only to pause:
Tears started to flow down her cheeks.
"Y-Yes... I saw it all. My dark side took over, and all I can do is watch as she attacked you. What's worse, is that I can't help but believe... t-that this is all my fault. I never should have been tempted to find the magic! I didn't want ANY of this! I-I-!"
Spike only comforts as she cries, letting more tears fall down her cheeks. The others heard all her words, feeling the pain and guilt on each one, until Sunset finally places a hand on her shoulder. This got her attention as she simply said:
"I've been there too." Twilight only listens as Sunset told her story:
"I wasn't the best person I could have been. I was too ambitious for my own good, believing that I was capable of something I'm... not really ready for. When I wasn't given what I wanted, I let myself be consumed by revenge that I also lost myself to the magic. I... became a monster of my own heart as well."
She then shows a small smirk, "It was thanks to Sora here, and the Rainbooms, that I found myself on a much better path. Trust me, you still have the chance to fix what you've done."
"I-I don't know..." Twilight remains skeptical, which Riku decides to chime in:
"Not as bad as what others had done for less."
"A-And how would you know?" With a deep sigh, he tells them a summary of his story:
"Cause I also let myself fall to darkness. My curiosity to see other worlds lead me to... willingly let my home get destroyed in order to reach them. When I did however, the only thing on my mind was finding my friends, leading me to find Sora first. However, he found himself other friends before we met up again, which made me believe he was leaving us behind. My jealousy and resentment from that made us eventually clash... where I lost."
"In some desperate attempt to beat him, I let this... being named 'Ansem' possess my body to gain more power. We clashed again soon after, yet I still lost. However, 'Ansem' now had my body to control and eventually casted me to the Dark Realm. By some strand of luck, I met King Mickey in there, which lead to my long... 'road to dawn' and reunite with my friends again."
He then casually places a hand on Sora's shoulder as his friend floats beside him, "I never said it before but, thanks for having my back."
Sora smirks as he returns the gesture, "Come on, you should know me by now."
Riku smirks back before they heard Ven clear his throat, "In short, everyone makes mistakes. You have people around you to help, you just have to be willing to make amends. So how about it?"
Twilight was just surprised at all she heard. Her silence lasted for a bit before Spike assures her, "I know this isn't what you want, but it doesn't mean it can't be what you need."
Her pup's words were just enough as she wipes her tears and answers:
"...OK."
The others were relieved as Sunset holds out her hand, which she takes, before a sudden shine appears. When their hands touched, they emitted a glow of red and violet respectively before the group were blinded by the lights.
From the outside, the students and teachers watching saw the dark dome start to fade away. As it did, the pillar of light within grew bigger until it shines and fades to reveal their heroes. The boys land on their feet as Sunset and Twilight revert back to normal from their transformations. They weren't entirely sure what happened, but were just relieved it's over.
After some time of recuperating and explaining, they return to CHS the next day as Principal Celestia sums up the recent events in one sentence:
"I can definitely say this was the most interesting the Games have ever been."
"Despite it being interrupted, and thus left unfinished." Principal Cinch adds.
"I think it'd be best to say we had a tie this year." Vice Principal Luna retorts, "That's what the rules say, of course."
"I can agree with that." Dean Cadance said, which Cinch eventually agrees with a small nod.
Twilight sat on the steps with the Rainbooms and the keyblade boys, conversing among themselves before being approached by Levin's group:
"Hey, Twilight. Nice to see you being cheery today." Levin smiles at such a sight.
"Hopefully, the only thing that remains strange around here is the talking dog." Shade casually states, which got him a quick elbow from Visor.
"D-Don't worry, I plan on staying with science from now on." Twilight assures them, petting Spike's head who sat beside her as she did.
"Good, nothing wrong with starting over." Visor agrees.
"Man, this is the best field trip I've been on!" Ventus blurts out, "I can't think of how Crystal Prep can top this!"
"No field trip should be THAT dangerous, dude." Stylite retorts.
"Frankly, school life over there is gonna be mundane compared to here." Pixel admits, "With all the magic and stuff."
"Unless..." Shade vaguely said, getting their attention.
"Something on your mind, Shade?" Levin wonders.
"Well, since we know the magic's here and the school is much friendlier than CPA..."
The others were catching on as Rainbow said it out loud, "Funny, Twilight was thinking of transferring too."
"Well, that works out for everyone." Riku comments.
"Which means our work here is done." Ven adds.
"Oh, are you three leaving?" Rarity questions.
"Yeah, we have to check up on our friends." Sora answers, "Don't worry though, we'll be back to visit soon."
"And hopefully just relax. I honestly want to get to know you all better." Riku admits.
"Same here." Sunset agrees, with the others agreeing in unison soon after.
The keyblade boys said their farewells before heading to the center of the courtyard, where they wave back one last time before leaving in a portal of light.
And done! FINALLY, I've done it! As I said at the beginning of this chapter, this took a lot out of me to finally settle on an idea. I'll admit it, this may feel like a combination of resurfacing motivation and the vibe of 'just getting it done'. Although, this struggle made me realize something:
The way this timeline is structured won't bring out the full potential of what I have planned. There are too many factors out of place for me to properly execute those ideas. Don't worry, I still plan on finishing this timeline, but it's gonna be cut short to just Legend of Everfree and the 2017 movie. Maybe an interlude or two to have a natural transition between them, but that's the extent of it.
When I do finish this timeline, I'll start back at the beginning with a redux of sorts. It'll start with the first EG movie again before going into the Season 4 premiere. And even then, the first visit will be different enough from my previous attempts. Once those two visits are done, I'll continue that timeline that'll combine both sides of Gen 4 into one overarching narrative.
It's still in planning as I want to figure out how to do that, but that's what I got so far. I want to make that story my way of properly showing my love for these two series, so stay tuned for that!
With all that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!