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

johannvanguard: We shall see soon enough.

Nisha: I try very hard to make sure the interactions are on point. I'm glad I can do setups well enough, so I hope they pay off. Makes sense as he's the oldest, dude always looking out for them. Plus that bashful side was shown in DDD while talking with Shiki.

Mind elaborating how I cracked the code? I'd like to keep it memorized in the future. I mentioned that the Mane Six in the movie were portrayed poorly, so I hope this is a more accurate representation. Like Sunset, it'll be fitting if we had the classic trio on the last visit, as they started this story.

I'm glad you're excited for it, I have lots of ideas in store for said redux. Thanks for the support!

Guest: I appreciate you doing this. I was confused as to why that was happening, but if this guy is doing it... why is he doing it?

For context to the audience, I've recently found this man on YouTube who does audiobooks for fanfics. I enjoyed his work, so I requested that he does a video for this story. For some reason though, whenever I tried linking him to here, my comment would get deleted. I eventually succeeded, as he recently posted a video of Visit One.

For those who want to hear said audiobook, look up 'Arthur Blackwell' on YouTube. He's also done another KH x EG story, along with a KH x Fairy Tail crossover. Give it a listen, as I enjoyed how it turned out!

Thanks for the feedback! Now let's continue!

Visit 5-2: A Storm is Approaching

The entire group arrive at the main stage, where the strange zeppelin appeared. It soon parks near the rails, placing a ramp for its passengers to exit from. The princesses stood in front of the group as a creature begins walking onto said ramp.

It soon reaches the end, placing a crate down that soon transforms into a speaker. With a better view, Fluttershy discerns that the creature was a hedgehog of sorts. Said hedgehog held a mic before starting an announcement:

"Ponies of Equestria! We come on behalf of the fearsome, the powerful, the almighty... Storm King!"

Upon saying the name, a banner unfurls on the zeppelin to reveal this king. Commotion stirs among the crowd as the hedgehog continues:

"And now! To deliver his evil message, put your hooves together... for Commander Tempest!"

The group look at the top of the ramp, watching as they see a pony walk out. Though, there was one detail they immediately noticed:

"Is that a unicorn?" Twilight questions.

"Yeah, but why's her horn gone?" Spike adds.

This goes unanswered as the princesses step forward to address the commander, starting with Celestia:

"Tempest, is it? How may we help you?"

Tempest lets out a small chortle, "Well, I'm so glad you asked. How about we start with your complete surrender?"

If the entrance wasn't a red flag, now it's clear they are a threat. While the others were bracing themselves, Twilight steps in to try easing the tension:

"T-There's no need for hostility. I'm sure we can talk and come to an understanding."

The commander smirks as she mutters, "Oh goody, all four princesses..."

The group see her start to walk down the ramp as she speaks up, "Here's the deal, ladies. I need your magic. Give it up nicely please... or we'll make it difficult, for everyone!"

"For what!?" Sora suddenly shouts, "In case you haven't noticed, you literally dropped in and started making demands without ANY reason!"

"He does make a good point." Riku adds, "So go ahead and tell us your evil plan that we'll obviously stop."

"How confident of you to say."

The ponies were unfamiliar with this other voice, excluding Sunset, as the others immediately knew who it was. They soon saw a familiar figure walk down the ramp, wearing a black hooded coat to hide his appearance. They brace for a fight as the figure spoke:

"The storm has arrived, soon to consume this world in ruin. I doubt even you can fight nature itself."

"We'll see about that!" Sora calls out, keyblade in hand.

Riku, Kairi and Mickey summon their keyblades as Donald and Goofy summon their respective weapons. Sunset knew what they were up against, but it's clear the rest didn't as they were uneasy during all this. Although the princesses knew enough as they ready themselves, which was what he expected:

"Have it your way."

Tempest smiles before admitting, "I'm glad you chose difficult..."

Xehanort then snaps his fingers, casting a barrier wall between the princesses and the rest. Said barrier also appears behind them, effectively making a makeshift arena. The princesses soon realize their predicament as Mickey calls out:

"Princesses!"

Twilight presses on said barrier before jumping back, firing a magic blast on it. Seeing that there was no clear damage, she starts to panic:

"I-Isn't there a way we can get pass this!?"

As the group tries to figure it out, Xehanort soon summons his keyblade and points it at the princesses:

"Your people revere you as if you're some sort of deity, yet all I see is horses playing dress up. Care to show me why you're 'goddesses' here?"

The trio got ready to fight as Luna glares at the hooded man, "Your mockery will NOT be tolerated!"

Objective: Defeat Tempest and Xehanort! (BGM: No Surrender - KH3)

Luna was the first on the offense, firing off a large Waterga towards their enemies. Xehanort returns in kind by slashing the sphere in half, dispersing it into droplets as Tempest fires off a wave of electric magic. The princesses were quick to take flight, dodging the shockwave as they try to gain the upper hoof.

Xehanort soon fires a barrage of icicles, having them hone in on the trio. Cadance was quick to counter, blocking them with a barrier before firing off sparks of light. Tempest notices their tracking and runs, revealing her flexibility as she dodges the sparkling lights. At the apex of her last dodge, she pulls out a strange green ball and kicks it to her nearest target.

Celestia proves her reflexes to be quicker, teleporting away from said sphere's flight. Upon reappearing, her horn lit ablaze before conjuring a flock of fiery phoenixes, sending them down upon the battlefield. They were numerous, flying around them like a tornado before swooping in rapidly. Tempest finds herself dodging them frequently, using her bolts if any got too close.

Xehanort remains calm though, casually slashing some around him before dashing in to close the distance. He didn't pull his punches, swinging hard and fast upon the lunar princess who was taken aback. Narrowly dodging another swing, she conjures an electric barrier to block another flurry of slashes. Once she saw an opening, she charges in horn first, pushing him back towards the barrier wall.

Tempest sprints through as she has her horn charged up, making a makeshift barrier to block the swarm of phoenixes. Her eyes were set on Celestia, who was focusing on keeping her spell active, before pulling out a green ball and kicks it. Cadance appears to intercept it, casting Reflega to try bouncing it back, only for it to stay on the barrier. In fact, it was penetrating the spell!

Before she knew it, the orb hits her dead on and covers her in a green mist. As it lingers, her body stiffens from the stone spell it had.

"I-I can't stop it!" Try as she might, her magic wasn't strong enough to cease it.

Celestia notices too late that she was turned to a statue, now falling towards the ground. She quickly levitates her to stop her momentum, ceasing the phoenixes and leaving herself vulnerable. A bit further away, Xehanort smirks under his hood as he holds off Luna:

"Falling for a simple taunt, princess? How foolish."

She stops her attack to question him, "What are thou speaking of!?"

He points behind her, which she follows to see her sister letting down a statue of-

"Cadance!?" She was processing the sight before seeing Tempest throw an orb.

Said orb headed to Celestia, who was distracted to see it coming. Luna teleports to her and warps again, getting both of them to safety in mere moments.

"What happened to Cadance!?" Luna asks the obvious, which Celestia tries to figure out:

"I-I'm not entirely sure..."

"You'll find out soon enough."

The two move to stand back-to-back, now caught in the middle of Tempest and Xehanort. The former couldn't help but mock them:

"Surely this isn't all you have."

"Why do you even want our power!?" Celestia demands, as they literally don't know.

Tempest rolls her eyes before answering, "The Storm King wants it."

"And with it, Equestria will be his." Xehanort adds, "That or destroyed, whatever he seeks."

Finally getting their answer, the air around the sisters shifts from tense to intense. Their respective auras start to glow around their bodies as Celestia spoke:

"That. WON'T. Happen."

To their opponents' surprise, they fired a full-on beam at their respective targets. Tempest instinctively leaps away, rolling back up to her hooves just as a large fireball came at her. She fires a powerful bolt from her horn, clashing with said fireball to cause an explosion. She flew back from the blast, slamming into the barrier before falling onto the ground.

On Xehanort's side, he reflexively conjures a barrier to block the beam. Despite his spell's strength, the beam manages to break it and blasts him back. His boots slid across the concrete as he held a firm stance, only for a sudden tidal wave to sweep him off. The wave slams him into the barrier, soon washing away as he falls back down.

Tempest got back up as Celestia was charging a spell, the former taking the chance to attack. Pulling out a green orb, she throws it dead on right before Celestia casts a powerful Aeroga. The winds blows the orb skyward before forming a whirlwind, trapping Tempest inside.

Xehanort gets up, soon noticing the odds against them now as Luna glares at him:

"Is thou convinced of our power now!?"

"...Yes. Now I can end this."

Before she knew it, he casts Stopza to freeze time around himself. Readying his blade, he warps past the sisters before slashing the whirlwind, freeing Tempest. The commander returned to normal soon after, noticing the still world around her:

"W-What is this?"

"Doesn't matter. Best you take advantage of this." He gestures to the princesses, who were still frozen.

Seeing what he means, she quickly takes out two more orbs and kicks them at the sisters. Xehanort then snaps his fingers, ending the spell right as the orbs hits the alicorns.

During this entire fight, the group were evacuating the citizens to safety. The only ones who stayed behind were Mickey and Sora, in case things went south for the princesses. With the barrier gone, it reveals that it has come to that with the sisters turned to stone.

"Yeah! That's what we are about!" Grubber cheers from the sidelines.

Tempest then notices that the fourth princess was nowhere to be seen. Seeing their obstacles, it's clear that she got a head start during their battle. Before they engaged into another fight, they heard voices calling out their way:

"Your Majesty! Sora!"

Donald, Goofy and Kairi had come back to assist their friends. Xehanort sighs as they group up against them:

"You are getting more and more tiresome to deal with..."

"If you don't like it, you can go back home!" Sora taunts.

"Oh no, I have a better idea." Xehanort then shoots his hand out with a spell:

"You can stop."

Back with the group, the Mane Six were resting by a river bank while processing what had happened. Spike, Sunset, Starlight, and Riku were doing the same when they heard Twilight mutter something:

"Queen of the Hippogriffs..."

Applejack overheard some of what she said, "What about hippos?"

"I'm thinking about what King Mickey told me." She corrects her.

"The last resort, right?" Riku recalls, "He did mention Celestia thinking of it upon hearing of the Storm King."

"Then why didn't she have some sort of countermeasure?" Sunset points out.

"They found out about him only two days ago, during our Friendship Festival preparations..." Twilight reveals.

"Don't dwell on it. No one expected him to appear now." Starlight points out.

"With Xehanort in tow, no less." Riku adds before standing up, "Come on, we can't waste anymore time."

The rest of the Mane Six were a bit hesitant, as Rarity points out something:

"Where are we going exactly?"

"Somewhere south, likely past the Badlands from the sounds of it." Twilight estimates.

"Outside Equestria, huh?" Rainbow wonders before smirking, "All right, bring it on!"

"Yeah, let's save Equestria... Again!" Pinkie cheers.

The group then went on their way, with Spike catching up to Riku as the former asks a question:

"So, it's clear that you know more about Xehanort than us. What's with that guy?"

The latter lets out a heavy sigh, "...It's a long and confusing story."

"We got time. Besides, it'll help us be more prepared to face him." Spike does bring up a good point.

Riku can't argue with that. He then picks up the baby dragon, placing him on his shoulder as they continue on their path:

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Throne Room, Canterlot

Back at Canterlot, Tempest stood on the balcony as she looks down at the deserted party. Some of the Storm King's minions were removing the decorations, annoying her a bit as some balloons flew into the sky.

"All this power... wasted on parties." She mutters.

She then senses someone approaching, turning her head to see Xehanort. He now stood next to her before speaking:

"It's sad, isn't it? People like them are born with great power, while others like you are forced to survive with none."

"Don't remind me..."

Her tone hinted at a sour memory, which he takes a note of, as she returns to the throne room. He follows her inside, walking past the statues of their previous opponents, when they hear the doors open. Grubber enters with two of her personal guards following, one carrying a potion that was... ringing?

Tempest gives them a blank stare before speaking, "Well, answer it."

The guard opens the bottle and pours into a small cauldron, conjuring a blue fire as they heard... static. Not electricity, more like static from a machine. Xehanort wasn't sure how to process that before hearing a voice from said fire:

"Where am I supposed to be looking? I never understood this spell... Tempest!?"

"Over here, Your Excellency." She answers.

"Where?"

"Over here, to your right. Look right."

"My right?" His face then moves into view, "Oh, there you are. Here's the deal, I'm in the middle of a big rebrand here. The 'Storm King' is moving intensely and intimidating, but you know what it needs to really sell it? A STORM!"

"Yes, I'm aware."

"And you said once we have the princesses' magic, this staff or stick I'm holding will allow me to do just that and much more."

Xehanort sees him casually wave what he was holding during his sentence, which Tempest clarifies:

"That's the Staff of Sacanas, which is said to be able to absorb alicorn magic. Once it does, you will have the power of the world in your grasp."

"Uh huh, sounds nice. So have you captured those alacon princesses yet?"

"We captured three of the four. Give me three days and I will have the last one, with everything set up for you."

"Good, good. You better not be wasting my time-" The Storm King cuts himself upon seeing Xehanort, which Tempest catches and introduces:

"He is an ally, Your Excellency. He helped me capture the princesses I've just mentioned. He calls himself Xehanort."

"Xe- Xeha- what's with names these days? Well if you needed assistance with a simple task, then I guess those royal ponies are stronger than I thought."

The Storm King then turns his attention to Xehanort, "So, who are you and what do you want?"

The hooded man smirks under his hood, now knowing who he's dealing with as he answers:

"The princesses have made an alliance with those that oppose me. As if now, our goals are aligned."

"Well it's clear you know who's side to be on, but DON'T try anything funny. I have a habit of breaking traitors."

Right after he said that, the fire dies out into the cauldron. After a moment of silence, Tempest then turns to Grubber:

"Prepare my ship. We will find that princess, no matter what."

"Got it!" The hedgehog runs off with the guards in tow, leaving her and Xehanort alone.

The latter stays quiet, thinking about what he's observed. This 'Storm King' is clearly just a title, as he apparently lacks any magical power. However, it's likely his intellect that made him the leader, with the magic-nullifying material made into armor and weapons. And yet his personality doesn't show that, reminding him a bit of Hades with none of the charisma.

Either way, he can easily take advantage of this. It's clear Tempest is loyal to this false king, so let's see how much that holds true... When the time is right, of course.

Meanwhile, outside Equestria

Riku leads the way with Sunset and Starlight following suit. Spike was still on his shoulder, scoping out any area of civilization before he points in a direction:

"Town!"

The three stop to see what he means, with the Mane Six catching up soon after.

"Where, Spike!?" Twilight asks him, looking to where he's pointing.

The group saw the sight of a rather interesting structure for said town, which was comprised of raised cliffs and wrecked ships. Interesting combination.

"A city! Who do you think lives here?" Pinkie wonders.

"I hope they have a spa or some sort of relaxing spot." Rarity comments, making the group look at her. "What? Nothing wrong with a little R&R."

"True. Still, our main priority is finding that queen." Starlight reminds them.

"From the looks of it, I doubt they would have a library or museum." Sunset admits.

"We'll soon find out. Come on." Riku said, continuing to lead the way as the group head to the town.

Once they entered, it was clear that it was more of a 'grimy' atmosphere. Though its marketplace vaguely reminds him of Agrabah... vaguely. The citizens were bipedal animals, from pigs to even sharks as they walk past them. Unfortunately, they didn't walk by unnoticed.

"Ooo..." A salesman mutters before asking, "Hey, silver hair. You selling?"

Riku shoots him a glare, making said salesman cower as they continued on. Walking out onto a bigger path, they see a large turtle-like reptile packing barrels onto a carriage. However, his method causes them to roll out, which Twilight couldn't help but assist:

"Sorry, but let me help you with that."

Upon her finishing stacking the barrels, the reptile turns out to be not so grateful. "Hey! No magic around my merchandise!"

As he raises his arms up to intimidate, Riku sweeps him off his feet in an instant. Before realizing what happened, the reptile finds himself stuck on his shell before feeling a boot stomp onto his torso. Looking up, Riku glares straight into his eyes before speaking in a stern tone:

"I believe what you meant to say is, 'Thank you'."

The girls were kinda taken aback by this, even Sunset who has never seen him like this. Spike was mainly thinking about how he's now on Starlight's back, only to soon notice why. The reptile slowly retreats into his shell as his voice echoes out:

"T-Thank you."

"Your welcome."

Riku removes his boot before turning to the group, "This place isn't like Equestria. We need to be more careful."

"R-Right." Twilight said with the others nodding in agreement.

Unbeknownst to them, a bipedal cat was nearby as he watched the scene unfold. Moving his paw to his chin, his index claw taps it while observing the newcomers:

"Hmm, very interesting..."

The group continue on their way as Applejack couldn't help but wonder, "Ya'll think this place has a clue for our search?"

"It doesn't seem like it..." Twilight admits.

"Right now, let's stick together. Who knows what these guys might do if we're caught alone." Starlight adds.

"And it's impossible to blend in, we stick out like sore hooves!" Rarity points out.

"Yeaah, everyone else sees that." Rainbow said, gesturing to the small crowd gathering around them.

Riku stood firm as the others stood near him, seeing that the crowd had cornered them. One of them then points towards Spike:

"How much for the giant gecko!?"

"Gecko!?" Spike repeats out of disbelief.

"Sorry, but he's not for sale." Starlight politely declines as best she could.

"I want that fancy purple hair! I'll give ya two stone bucks!" One of the female sharks offers.

Rarity was rather offended, "Two stone bucks!? It's worth much more than that!"

The others were getting annoyed as the crowd kept talking like it's an auction:

"Ten for the rainbow hair!"

"Twenty for the stetson hat!"

"Fifty for the pink pony!"

"One-hundred for the two unicorns!"

The feline stranger was watching from the sidelines, seeing the crowd shoot out offers as they close in. It wasn't until he sees the silver-haired warrior suddenly swing his arm, sending a shockwave that pushes said crowd back. Now he held a strange blade in his hand, soon pointing it right towards the crowd with a growl:

"NONE of my friends are for sale! Now I'm only saying this once; You leave us alone and walk away... or you're not walking away at all."

The crowd gladly left the scene to anywhere far away, leaving them in peace for now. Riku takes a deep breath to calm his nerves, flipping his blade into a reverse grip before they heard clapping. The sound slowly approaches as they look to who it was.

"Mighty impressive, good sir. It's quite rare to see someone like yourself around these parts." The feline then introduces himself, "Capper's the name, by the way."

"Well Capper, I know your game." Riku casually blurts out, "Someone who offers 'help' to someone else, only for the deal to have a catch that benefits you alone. So how about you just be on your way?"

"Whoa, whoa! You're presuming quite a lot, my friend. I can't offer something if I don't know what you want. Plus, it's clear that you aren't from these parts. Let me guess, your group is from... Equestria?"

"How did you know!?" Pinkie blurts out, "Are you psychic!?"

"No, I'm no fortune teller. I've only heard about ponies with these 'cutie marks' on their flanks."

Wanting to move things along, Starlight decides to lead the conversation. "Look, we came all this way to find the Hippogriffs. Have you heard of them?"

"Hippogriffs... I have seen the name before in one of my books."

"Does it say where they are!?" Twilight asks him.

"Yes, but the name slips my mind at the moment." Capper admits before turning around, "How about we find out? Come, it's at my place."

Riku was understandably on edge, only to feel his leg getting touched. He looks down to see Sunset with her hoof on it:

"I know you're suspicious, but this is the only lead we got. Let's just see where this goes."

Looking back at Capper, he stares for a moment before eventually dismissing his keyblade. However, he made sure that their new 'ally' knew what's up:

"You try anything funny-"

"I'm very aware, good man. Only a fool would tempt such a fate."

"...Good. Lead the way."

With that said, Capper does just that as the group follows close behind. It didn't stay quiet for long as he does strike up a conversation:

"Oh, I just realized you never introduced yourselves."

"Sorry about that, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight went first as she moves her wing to gestures to who's who, "This is Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Riku."

"Huh, all of you have interesting names."

"Are you from here, Capper?" Fluttershy wonders.

"For as long as I can remember. This town is not exactly a great place to live in, so we have lots of visitors just passing through. I make my living escorting them around."

"So you know this place like the back of your paw, right?" Rainbow quips.

"Hehe, indeed I do. You can ask my clients that in this town, I'm the friend that you need."

After he said that, the group soon reaches his place as he opens the door. He held it open and motions for them to go first, which they accepted. The last to enter was Riku, who was still skeptical about him, before eventually going in with the others. Capper closes it soon after before turning to a small raccoon nearby, pulling out a slip of paper to slip into its scarf:

"Here. Tell Verko, my place in twenty minutes. I have something that will magically erase all my debt."

He then slides right through the doors, meeting up with the group before hopping onto a slow-moving cogwheel:

"Hop onto the express elevator. It'll take us right to my humble abode."

They do just that as the cogwheel moves up towards the windmill tower. However Riku now has a strange feeling in his gut, and will likely know why soon enough.

And done! OK, sorry for the long wait on this one! I had such a headache on how the Canterlot fight should go:

I wasn't kidding with the cast being... well, overpowered. Then I eventually realized 'Hey, Young Xehanort has time powers!" In short, I had to push through that part in order to progress, so I apologize for a drop in quality.

Passing that, we now reach a decision I felt was needed. Our cast is large, which will make it hard for me to give them proper time for dialogue. So in order to reduce the cast, I have some of them get captured. As for who remains, I personally wanted Riku to go on this adventure. You'll see why I did this later on.

This is the first time I've written for the Storm King, so the dialogue is based on what I've gathered. Dude's basically Hades, just with no powers. And considering Xehanort's past history, it makes sense that he comes to that result.

Also first time writing Capper, but I think he's more interesting to write for. If you're wondering why I didn't do the song, it's because it won't fit into my take of this movie. He sings in order to convince them that he's a 'friend they need', but with Riku here and his past experiences, they would be more aware of his game.

On an unrelated topic, as this chapter is being posted, it's my birthday! For the occasion, I was thinking of doing a separate story from Harmonic Hearts. Don't know what exactly, but it'll likely be a self-contained story. We shall see in due time.

With all that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you all next chapter!