Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Harmonic Hearts, where we go into our final visit! Real quick, what do we have:
johannvanguard: We shall see that soon enough.
Nisha: I know, right? If I got magical clothes like those, I would brag about it. That's the main intention with my stories, having a simple narrative while having fun with it. Yeah, I can see Vanitas and Midnight becoming this way, it shows that those born in darkness can grow their own light.
As I've said, the redux will use Equestria much more because of the many tales that are there. I figured why not, gotta show that his threat is still looming about. Oh, that's an idea for later! Glad you're enjoying the story!
Thanks for the feedback! With that said, let's go!
Visit 5-1: A Friendly Reunion
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A unicorn had found what she was looking for, placing a magical staff on the table as her 'second-in-command' spoke:
"So this staff is capable of absorbing even alicorn magic?" The hedgehog wonders.
"Yes. The Storm King needs it if he wants to take Equestria." She explains, "Those princesses aren't using their magic for anything beneficial anyway."
"Oh, so we'll be taking it off their... uh, hooves."
"If only it was that easy."
A strange voice echoes in the room, making the two look around in full alert. It wasn't too long before they see a hooded figure fade into existence. The unicorn narrows her glare, fully on edge as she questions the stranger:
"Who are you, and how you'd get in!?"
"I have my ways. As for who... you may call me Xehanort." The figure casually answers.
"OK Xeyacort! You have five seconds to speak or Tempest here will show you the door!" The hedgehog threatens, to no effect.
"Just don't, Grubber..." She mutters before Xehanort chuckles:
"No need for a fight. In fact, I came here to extend a proposal of an alliance."
Tempest raises an eyebrow at this, "For what purpose?"
"As we speak, there are keyblade wielders who will stop you from your goals. They are immensely powerful, capable of saving or destroying worlds on a whim."
"Keyblade..." Tempest mutters before recalling, "You mean those weapons from the stories of Starswirl the Bearded?"
"Yes, but rest assured..." Xehanort then holds out his hand and summons his own keyblade, "They are very real."
"That's one big key!" Grubber points out the obvious, much to her annoyance as she takes over the conversation:
"So those keyblade wielders are your enemies, who currently stand in the way of our conquest. If we allow you to assist us, you will offer us the means to defeat them?"
Xehanort smirks under his hood, "Straight to the point, aren't you... But yes, that's my offer. What do you say?"
Tempest stares intently at the hooded figure, not entirely sure if he's even telling the truth. But even the Storm King would be a fool to not take such an offer.
Meanwhile, at Canterlot...
The train arrives at the station, where its passengers soon exit out. Among them was the Destiny Trio, followed by Sunset and Spike, as Riku told them what had happened:
"So Xehanort's already here. You think he's likely behind this new threat?" Kairi questions.
"Knowing him, I'd take what he said with a grain of salt." Riku answers.
"So the usual." Sora casually adds.
The group soon look around to see the citizens setting up for the festival, which kinda resembles that of a carnival. Spike was leading the way as he spoke:
"Twilight's likely meeting with the princesses right now, so let's stop by the main stage first. That's where the others are."
"The counterparts, right?" Riku recalls.
"Yeah, so don't be surprised if they act similar." Sunset answers.
"I'm expecting it."
Speaking of the counterparts, they were setting up the stage. Pinkie was doing balloons, even shaping some of them as balloon animals. One was made to resemble their friend Discord, but it didn't stay long. Literally, it went flying off.
Pinkie was blown back a bit, but kept herself steady and sees the balloon fly by between Fluttershy and her bird choir:
"Sorry Fluttershy!" She quickly apologizes as she runs by.
The shy flyer's surprise soon recovers in order to ease the birds. Pinkie's balloon chase continues as Applejack was approaching with a cart in tow, which was filled with a barrel of apple cider and some mugs:
"Howdy, y'all!"
She quickly ducks as Pinkie leaps over her, but pays her no mind as she continues. "Anypony up for free samples of my family's apple cider!?"
Right after she said that, a rainbow blur flies by to snag the mug and soon returns it:
"Thank you! Loved it!"
As this was happening, Rarity was adjusting a gem on a ribbon while humming to herself. AJ puts her cart in park before walking over:
"Wow Rarity, I like your work. Unfortunate that it won't be finished until AFTER the show."
The fabulous unicorn wasn't that worried, "Applejack darling, anypony can do fine. But since Twilight asked me, I want to make sure it's just right."
"There's taking your time and there's taking FOREVER!"
Rainbow had flown down nearby after clearing the clouds, who happened to have overheard the conversation. Rarity paid her no mind, but it doesn't stop her from taking over. In a fast lap around the stage, the ribbons were tied on with gems in tow.
"There we go! Now it's ready for the show!"
Rarity was shocked at the bare minimum done, "No it's NOT! This looks wretched!"
She wasn't wrong as the ribbons were just looped around the curtains, some even missing gems that had fallen off. Rainbow rolls her eyes with a shrug:
"Come on, it's fine!"
"If you were raised in a barn!" Rarity soon realizes what she said, "Oh um, no offense Applejack."
AJ was nearby as she fills a mug with apple cider, which Rainbow gladly helps herself to with speedy sips. The former spoke as she refills the same mug occasionally:
"None taken, especially since I wasn't raised in a barn. My family just happens to have a barn... where I was born... and spend most of my formative years..."
"Raised in a barn!" Rainbow finishes as she flies by, leaving AJ to think.
Pinkie had finally caught the runaway balloon, casually putting it in her puffy mane before seeing Twilight flying on over. She soon zooms over to the others to get their attention:
"Here comes Twilight! Think she got the princesses on board!?"
"By the look on her face, it's pretty clear." Rainbow casually points out.
The Princess of Friendship soon lands near them, showing a smile on her face. "The princesses said YES! Rara's show is gonna be spectacular!"
"Yeehaw! Talk about the icing on the cake, as Pinkie would say!"
"I would say that!" Pinkie gladly agrees.
Meanwhile, Starlight had finished up rehearsal with her friend Trixie. The latter was planning to meet up with Sunburst and Maud later, giving the former time to meet up with the Mane Six. As she walks pass the various stands, she stops upon seeing two familiar faces:
"Spike, Sunset!"
"Hey Starlight!" The young dragon calls back as the two approach.
As she sees them come over, she notices a trio of strange bipedals following them. She wasn't sure how, but there was something familiar about them.
"Already finished with Trixie's show?" Sunset wonders.
She was quick to notice Starlight's attention was elsewhere before she answered:
"Oh, yup! I was just heading over to see how the girls are doing."
"Interesting, we were heading there ourselves." Sunset then leans in to whisper, "By the way, they are the keyblade wielders I told you about."
Starlight's eyes widen at that, "Really!? No way!"
"You must be Starlight Glimmer, right?" Riku asks her.
"Yes I am. Guess they told you about me?"
"Kind of. I'm Riku, this is Sora and Kairi."
"Hiya!" Sora greets with Kairi doing a small wave.
"Don't worry, we didn't say much." Spike clarifies before leading the way, "Now come on, Twilight and the others are expecting us."
Their walk there was anything but quiet, as Starlight had questions she wanted to ask. Some were hard to answer due to the trio's limited knowledge, which was understandable. The trio had their share of questions about her, leading up to her past endeavors:
"You traveled through time too!?" Sora blurts out, "That's amazing!"
"I know, thank you-" Starlight stops herself upon catching what he said. Before she could point it out though, she hears Riku speak up:
"You must be pretty strong too, facing both Twilight and Mickey."
"Well I'm no slouch with my magic, but it actually took a small conversation for them to stop my petty revenge."
"Wait, you time traveled to get back at them... out of pettiness?"
Starlight nervously chuckles before clarifying, "Well, I became a dictator that wanted equality by removing others' individuality, which Twilight and her friends stopped me from doing. All of that started... after I lost a childhood friend when he got his cutie mark."
"So, you lashed out at the world for being left behind. I kinda get that."
Starlight's now curious at what he means, "How so?"
Riku was quiet for a moment before answering, "Well I didn't become a dictator or did time travel, but I know that feeling. At least you didn't fight your friend out of jealousy, partly manipulated into that just to be used by someone else."
"That sounds like another story, I take it?"
"A long and confusing one. Long story short, what I'm saying is we have something in common."
As they converse, the Destiny Trio got to learn more about their new pony friend. Speaking of pony friends...
The Mane Six were also checking out the festivities. After finishing the main stage, Twilight needed to make sure everything else was right. Although, the others notice that something was on her mind:
"Whatcha thinking about, Twilight?" Pinkie asks her up front.
"Are you worrying about the festival?" Fluttershy adds.
"No, it's something else." Twilight admits, "It's just that I'm hoping for someone to show up today."
"Ooo, is this someone we know?" Rarity teases, thinking she's hiding something.
"Actually, yes. You remember Sora, the keyblade wielder I met at CHS?"
"Yeah. I take it ya invited him over here?" AJ deduces, which Twilight nods to:
"Uh-huh. I managed to send him an invite, thanks to this powerful wizard that knows him, but I think he's too busy to see it..."
She then hears Rainbow zoom over, who places her hoof around her back as she joins the conversation:
"Oh come on! He showed up when you went over to stop Sunset, help the Rainbooms, AND Sunset mentioned he showed up during those Games and even a camping trip! What I'm saying is, he's someone who's there when you need him."
Twilight knows her friend makes good points, but that feeling was still there. Before those thoughts continued though, she suddenly hears Pinkie call out while waving her hoof really fast:
"Spike, Sunset! Over here!"
The others turn to see the two was heading their way. However, it was the trio following them that got their attention, especially Twilight:
"SORA!"
Her call echoed as she took flight, zooming right for her spiky-haired friend and gives him a joyous hug. Sora was caught off guard, but recovers thanks to Riku keeping him from falling:
"Look who's excited to see you." The latter casually points out.
"Yeah, I noticed." The former deadpans before he gladly returns the hug, "Nice seeing you too, Twilight."
The rest of the Mane Six were thinking the same thing as Rainbow brags:
"What I tell ya..."
"No kidding. We were just talking about ya'll." AJ adds.
Twilight eventually ends her hug as she was just so giddy, "I'm just so glad you made it! It's been SOO long!"
"We've been busy lately, so we didn't get your invite until recently." Riku casually mentions.
"It's fine, you're here now! OH!" Twilight then flies up to hug him too, "Good to see you too, Riku!"
He was honestly caught by surprise as heat rise into his cheeks, "N-Nice seeing you too."
Sora and Kairi giggle at his bashful side surfacing a bit before the hug ended. From there, Rarity continues the conversation:
"So we know that you know us by association thanks to the Rainbooms, but don't worry about introductions. Sunset assisted in helping us learn more about you three."
"Really?" Kairi wonders, which Sunset answers:
"I've been visiting Equestria more often after the Games. We exchange stories every time I come over."
"Which is how I learned about you three." Starlight adds.
"In that case, how about we get to know each other more over some festival games?" Spike suggests, which the others didn't see why not.
And they go to do just that. Ranging from horseshoes to the Hoof Stomper, the group were enjoying their time while sharing friendly banter. There were many conversations, including but not limited to:
"You must tell me who does your clothing. I've never seen such an interesting style." Rarity insists to the Destiny Trio, of which Kairi proceeds to tell her:
"These were made by the three Good Fairies. I'm not entirely sure how they make them, but they are able to give them magical properties."
"Well these fairies are quite the seamstresses. Are they able to transform like Sora's?"
"As far as we're aware, he's the only one that can." Riku then smirks, "But that doesn't mean we can't learn it in time."
"So these give you access to those Drive forms?" Rainbow recalls from what Sunset mentioned.
"Pretty much." Sora casually answers before shifting the topic, "This festival is great by the way, Twilight! How'd you come up with it?"
Twilight took a moment to recall the events, "Well, I was spending an afternoon with Celestia and Luna discussing the new allies we've made. After some back and forward, we decided to make a new event to celebrate said allies. I came up with the name."
Riku holds his laugh at that last sentence, "W-We noticed."
"So this is all for us?" Kairi questions.
"The three of you, King Mickey and his friends, Dragon Lord Ember, King Thorax, and many more from beyond Equestria." Twilight answers with a smile, "However, they've yet to send a letter back to answer our invitations..."
Before Kairi can ask about that, a voice gets their attention as they see the princesses land nearby:
"Glad to know you three got the invite as well." Cadance said.
"Princesses! Meet my friends from CHS!" Twilight introduces before gesturing to who's who, "This is Sora, Riku, and Kairi."
"You three know them as principals back in the human world, but they are rulers here in Equestria." Sunset clarifies.
Sora was the first to happily greet them with a small bow, "Nice to finally meet you, princesses!"
"The feeling's mutual, keyblade wielders." Luna greets back, "How goes the celebration?"
"It's really fun!" Kairi answers, "Great games, great food, great people-"
"Gosh, that's a lot of greats." A familiar voice comments.
Turns out, it was the Disney Crew as they approached. Riku was the first to greet his friend:
"Mickey! Should have known you'd get an invite too."
"The princesses were rather insistent, so I couldn't refuse." Mickey reveals, "Nice to see you three."
Sora shares a big hug with Donald and Goofy, which is always expected. Once they finished, Sora was the first to speak:
"How've you two been? Anything new?"
"Nothing as of late..." Donald admits before perking up, "Until this festival, of course!"
"How's your new relationship with Kairi?" Goofy wonders.
"It's not too different, but we have been traveling the worlds together." Sora casually answers, "She's gotten stronger since."
"Gawrsh, it's great to know you two are going strong!"
"It's about time..." Donald mutters.
As the rest of the group divulge into their own conversations, the classic trio was approached by Celestia personally with a warm smile:
"How wonderful it is to finally meet you, Sora."
"Same to you, your highness." He agrees before Goofy reveals something:
"She makes sure to ask about you every time we're here."
"Really?"
"Yup. Now she can thank the three of us personally." Donald mentions.
Celestia simply nods before speaking, "Very true. Twilight spoke about you three helping her stop Sunset, if which I'm deeply grateful for. I held out hope that she would find her way back on the right path. And now that she has, allow me to say from the bottom of my heart... Thank you."
They show big smiles at such gratitude as Sora simply said, "Always happy to help!"
The festival continue on as the group decide to split into smaller groups, mainly to make it easier for some to share time together. Riku chose to form a group with Spike, Sunset and Starlight as the four start with a ball throwing game. The boys watch as the girls went first:
Sunset starts it off, nailing a bullseye on the four targets easy. Starlight goes next, matching her shot for shot. Although, her last throw was strong enough to break the target in half:
"Oh! Sorry, sorry." Starlight quickly apologizes.
As the owner of the stand replaces it, the two switch out for Spike and Riku to go. Once it was ready, the young dragon went first. He made sure to aim them before throwing, but only one of his shots landed.
"Aww..." He sulks a bit before Riku pats his head:
"Just takes practice. Watch."
To Riku, the balls were pretty small in size, which gives him an idea. Grabbing three of the four, he holds them in one hand before flicking them at the targets. To their surprise, his triple shot actually hits them dead on!
He then casually flicks his last ball, which was just ever so slightly off the mark:
"Also takes a bit of luck." He shrugs off with a chuckle.
"That was awesome dude!" Spike compliments.
The two share a high five right as they heard a stomach growl. Riku then realizes something:
"I never did eat anything before coming here. How about we get some food?"
"In that case, I did see a food stand earlier that we passed by." Sunset recalls, "Come on."
"And that's how we got home."
Sora was currently telling Celestia stories about his adventures, with Kairi and Twilight listening in. The princess of the sun was the most invested as he finishes his last big adventure:
"While I enjoy traveling to different worlds, I was relieved to find Riku after so long. Now I mainly visit them every now and then, occasionally dealing with a Heartless invasion or two."
"That's quite the tale. It's nice to know how loyal you are to your friends." Celestia compliments.
"He's always been like that." Kairi adds, making Sora rub his head at how true that is.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle at that, "We can tell."
Their conversation was soon cut short as they hear thunder off in the distance. Turning to where it came from, they saw dark clouds starting to roll in. Twilight was understandably confused:
"I ordered clear skies for today!"
"Uh, those aren't normal clouds..." Kairi points out.
She makes a good point as the clouds reveal its source, that of a large zeppelin. Sensing trouble is coming, the group go to the plaza where the main stage is, hopefully ready for whatever it might be.
And done! Sheesh, this took much longer than I thought. This chapter was gonna be a lot more in-depth, having the characters interact more and stuff, but my mind wasn't working with me. So instead of being stuck for however long, I'll just post what I got and go from there.
So here's what I'll be doing. While I didn't mind the movie itself, I did NOT like how the Mane Six were portrayed. So the plot involving them will be changed quite a bit. Honestly the only thing I didn't change much was their introduction here, which has my favorite part. That barn joke was well done.
After that, we have our small reunion between Twilight and Sora. It has been quite awhile since they interacted. Then Starlight meets them, which I can easily see her and Riku connect over some similar points of their pasts. And finally the princesses meet Sora, who is pretty much what they expected.
And yes, Xehanort will have a bigger role. Kinda has to, we have a very strong cast this time around. Don't worry, I have an idea or two to even the odds.
With all that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!