Just to clarify, this will not be a SoraxTwilight ship fic. I just thought I should preface that.
—
The next morning, Sora reconvened with the six mares to discuss what he and Celestia talked about the day before. Of course, he was vague with the details and left out the part with Celestia's keyblade. When he presented his ticket for the Grand Galloping Gala, Sora was met with a bombardment of excitement, they had tickets to the Gala as well. Sora figured those golden tickets Celestia shoved in the envelope yesterday must have been for the mares. When asked about why they all received their own tickets, Twilight simply remarked, "It's a long story... You wouldn't believe the day I had yesterday," To which the others could only rub their heads in shame.
Apparently, Twilight received two tickets for the Gala the morning before, Spike declined the offer because he claimed he wasn't into "that girly frou-frou stuff." Twilight's friends caught notice and wanted to accompany the purple unicorn for their own reasons. Applejack wanted to sell food there, Rainbow Dash wanted to meet up with the Wonder Bolts (who would be attending the event), Pinkie wanted to go because the Gala was the biggest party of the year, Fluttershy wanted to meet all of the critters in the Canterlot gardens, and Rarity wanted to go to meet a prince in the hopes he would fall in love with her. The five mares spent the day hounding Twilight, doing her favors and such, so that they could get a shot at going to the Gala. Twilight snapped from the pressure, causing the others to realize the error of their ways and apologize to the purple unicorn. Twilight decided to return the two tickets back to Celestia because they caused so much trouble. Then the Princess sent seven tickets, one for each mare and Spike, who was visibly excited.
A few days passed, and in that time Applejack had been overworking herself. Applebuck Season began a few days ago. Right around that time Big McIntosh was injured, meaning he couldn't work the fields. Applejack took it upon herself to harvest the orchard herself. Curiously, she specifically told Sora to not intervene in the harvest. He agreed, wanting to honor her wishes. Unfortunately, Applejack also agreed to do favors for a few of her friends. Because of her lack of rest, every favor ended in disaster. Pegasi were flung long distances, ponies were given food poisoning, and baby bunnies were sent rampant on some poor defenseless flowers. Needless to say, Applejack had unintentionally caused some havoc on Ponyville, and Sora and Twilight were set to put a stop to it. The two entered Sweet Apple Acres with the intent of talking things out with Applejack.
"Time to snap A.J out of it," Sora stated, skimming his eyes trough the acres of trees for any sign of the orange mare.
"How did all of this even happen anyway?" Twilight asked, "I know Big McIntosh was injured, but why didn't she ask you to help? You work here, don't you?"
"I think it's a pride thing," Sora answered, "My first day on the farm, Applejack was arguing with Big Mac about not being able to do Applebuck Season by herself. I guess she wanted to prove him wrong," He sighed in disappointment, mostly at himself, "I should never have let her take on Applebuck Season on her own."
"Well regardless, I'd say it's time for Applejack to swallow her pride," Twilight said with conviction.
"Yeah, enough is enough if you ask me," Sora agreed. He scanned the perimeter once more. In the distance, he saw Applejack trudging through the tree line setting up buckets around a lone tree that still had it's apples. She looked exhausted, her movements were lethargic and eyes were heavy, "Over there."
"Must... keep... buckin'... just... a few... more," She spoke through ragged breaths, gasping for air after each word, "Must finish harvestin'."
"A.J!" Sora called out, getting her to turn her head to him and Twilight, "We need to talk!"
"Applejack, your applebucking hasn't just caused you problems," Twilight spoke, "It's over-propelled pegasus', practically poisoned ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say, you. Need. Help."
Applejack grunted in denial, using what strength she had left to buck the tree free of it's apples, "Ha! No, ah don't. Look, ah did it. Ah harvested all of Sweet Apple Acres without help. How d'ya like them apples?"
"What, you mean those apples over there?" Sora sarcastically shot, pointing towards a large swath of apple trees not yet harvested. The farm mare didn't understand for a minute, unable to process how she could've missed those acres of trees. Applejack's will and determination abandoned her as the reality of the situation dawned on her.
"Where'd all the apple...?" Applejack's exhaustion finally took it's toll and she collapsed in a heap.
"Applejack. Applejack."
"A.J, you okay?"
"Huh?" The farm mare slowly opened her eyes to see the source of those blurry voices. She had no idea how long she passed out but it couldn't have been that long.
"Oh, good, you're okay," Sora cheekily stated, a smirk prevalent on his face.
"Now Applejack, I completely respect the Apple family ways. However, you're clearly in over your head, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you," Twilight didn't expect Applejack to agree whatsoever. She was shown to be overly stubborn to a fault. However, the purple unicorn was ready to debate the earth pony on the subject for hours on end if it came to that.
"Okay," Applejack agreed.
"I am not taking "no" for an answer—what?" Twilight didn't think Applejack would agree that easily.
"Yes, please," The farm mare repeated, "I could really use your help," Her tone drastically shifted after seeing that she was nowhere near done harvesting.
"That's a relief," Sora said, "So, you want me to get to work then?"
"Yes please," Applejack replied.
"Okay, you get yourself some rest. You need it," Sora moved his attention to Twilight, "Cmon, let's pick up where A.J left off."
"You're eager to get started, aren't you?" Twilight took note as she and him trotted to the trees
"I'm always willing to help a friend out," Sora stated proudly. Twilight couldn't help but admire his conviction. He and Twilight were more than capable of harvesting the rest of the apples, considering Applejack collected every other apple from the orchard.
—
The next day, Spike and Twilight were spending their morning in the library, as they would be for some time. The studious unicorn was in a spree of obsessive information gathering; however, she wasn't very successful as nothing she read gave her any clues, or mention, of the Keyblade.
"Twilight, will you calm down now?" Spike asked in a deadpan tone. The purple unicorn was frantically skimming through book after book.
"There's nothing in these books that mention anything about a 'Keyblade,'" Twilight ignored Spike's words, causing the little drake to roll his eyes, "How come nopony ever recorded the Keyblade throughout history?!" Twilight cried, slumping in irritation, "I'm used to having the answers at my disposal."
"Aren't you taking this a little personally, Twilight?" Spike suggested, "Is it really that big of a deal?" He got his answer when Twilight rushed over to him and invaded his personal bubble.
"Spike! Don't you understand? "That weapon has to date back as far as thousand years and nopony seems to know about it," Stands of Twilight's mane began to go out of place as she grabbed Spike's shoulders, which didn't alleviate his current worry, "When Sora fought against those Heartless, he was using elemental magic spells. A pegasus casting magic! That shouldn't happen! But that Keyblade gives him the power to do so!" Twilight then stopped herself as inspiration hit her, "That's it! Sora!" She let go of Spike and began gathering blank scrolls and other miscellaneous items.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Spike asked.
"I'm going to compile data about the Keyblade," Twilight excitedly stated, "I'll be the first pony in Equestria to do so!"
Spike still wasn't following what she was saying, "And how does that involve Sora?"
"Sora has a keyblade of his own," The mare explained, "Surely he must know it's capabilities and it's history. He'll be the cornerstone of the research. I'll have him go through some experiments and a questionnaire so I can learn more about the Keyblade."
"And you're sure Sora will help you?"
"Spike, Sora's my friend," Twilight reasoned, "He'll be more than willing to help me advance magical research," She recalled what he said to her yesterday, Sora always helps out a friend.
"Are you sure about this, Twilight?" Spike still wasn't sure about this endeavor.
"Spike, just trust me. He'll understand."
—
"Seriously?" Sora questioned. Twilight and Spike found Sora on the apple farm and relayed her plan to the caramel pegasus, that she wanted his help to research the Keyblade.
"Yes, I would very much appreciate your help in this project," Twilight replied with a pleading look. Spike was standing next to her, carrying quills, scrolls and a blank expression. Sora considered this prospect for a moment. He knew that he shouldn't reveal his other-worldly status, but showing Twilight the ins and outs of the Keyblade should be acceptable.
"Okay, I'll help out if I can," He answered.
"Oh, thank you so much, Sora!" She expressed her gratitude with a tight hug, which cut off Sora's air circulation.
"Can't breath..." He managed to say. Thankfully, Twilight released her hold on him, allowing him to refill his lungs. Just then, Applejack trotted up to the trio.
"Say, what's goin' on?" The farm mare asked.
"Hey A.J," Sora greeted, "I'm just going to help Twilight with some tests."
"Tests? What kinda tests?" She questioned.
"He's helping me better understand the powers of the Keyblade," Twilight explained, "I just need him to perform a few actions, cast some spells and answer a few questions is all."
"Hold on," Applejack interrupted with a stern expression, "Ya'll ain't doin' any of those crazy stunts near mah trees, ya hear me?"
"Don't worry, Applejack," Twilight assured, "I've picked out a good spot for this research project."
Twilight took Sora to an open field past the boundaries of Ponyville. Twilight, Sora and Spike were standing in the middle with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie standing to the side; Twilight invited them to bear witness to the research project. The mares were more than interested in seeing what Sora could do, so they agreed to the invite. Twilight had with her numerous scrolls, ink bottles and quills as well as a wooden chest.
"Okay, first order of business is for you to summon your keyblade," Twilight began, telepathically preparing a quill and scroll.
"Alright," Sora's keyblade appeared in the maw, the silver shaft radiating in the sunlight.
"Amazing," Twilight's eyes twinkled in amazement, "How do you make it appear like that?"
Sora spat his blade from his teeth into his right hoof, "I kind of just will it to appear to me."
"Fascinating, so it answers to your beck and call?" Twilight inquired.
"Something like that," Sora answered. Twilight scribbled down some notes then addressed the caramel pony.
"Okay, first order of business," Twilight started, "You said that the Keyblade has the power to open any lock, correct?" Sora remembered he told the mares that.
"Okay, so you want me to show it," Sora surmised.
"That's correct," Twilight nodded her head, "So, if you can please demonstrate this ability to me, that would be great," Twilight telepathically lifted the wooden chest in front of Sora, "This treasure chest is locked, if what you say is true, then you should be able to open this chest no problem."
"Watch and learn," Sora lifted his keyblade and brought the shaft down on top of the chest. In an instant, there was a click and the lid swung open. Sora eagerly looked inside the box while Twilight widened her eyes.
"You didn't even mack contact with the lock and it still opened!" Twilight stated in shock, "I had no idea it worked like that," Twilight then notice of the disappointed look in Sora's eyes after he looked inside of the chest, "What is it?"
"The chest is empty," Sora slumped.
"Uh, yes, it is..." Twilight didn't follow his train of thought, "Were you expecting something to be inside?"
"Yes," Sora pouted.
"Why is that?"
"There's always something inside of a treasure chest!" He crossed his fore-hooves.
"Sora, I only brought this here so you could demonstrate your keyblade's lock opening magic," Twilight replied, "Why would I have to store something inside it?"
"You could've at least told me before I got my hopes up," Sora crossed his fore-hooves. Twilight sighed in annoyance while the others snickered at the mare and stallion's little argument.
"Sora, I need you focus," Twilight requested, "This is very important!" She took a deep breath and continued what she wanted to say, "So the Keyblade opens anything, correct?" Sora got over not getting any treasure and nodded to the unicorn's question, "Does it work the other way around? Can you lock anything?" She closed the lid on the box.
"Yeah," Sora replied. He pointed the tip of his keyblade at the lock. Magic energy emanated from the blade, creating a beam of light the impacted the lock. Everypony (and dragon) watched in awe at the display, hearing a resounding click sound. Once the light died out, Twilight tried to open the lid again but it wouldn't budge.
"This is so incredible!" Twilight had the biggest grin on her face as she wrote her thoughts "Um, Sora, do you think I can I hold it?" Twilight asked with clear excitement in her voice. Her enthusiasm dwindled slightly when Sora twisted his expression in uncertainty.
"Well, that's complicated. The Keyblade has a mind of it's own. If it senses someone other than it's chosen wielder using it, it goes back to it's wielder," The purple unicorn scribbled down what he was saying.
"It does?" Rainbow Dash spoke, taking this revelation with disappointment, "Aww man, I was hoping you would let me take it for a spin sometime."
"Rainbow Dash's desires notwithstanding, can I hold it anyway?" She requested, "Just to see how this system works."
"Okay," Sora was happy to oblige, presenting his keyblade to Twilight so that she could grab the hilt with her teeth. It was strange, she could sense the magical energy within, but for some reason she could feel those powers being blocked away from her. Just as Sora said, his keyblade vanished from her grasp and reappeared back in Sora's hoof, "See. What do want to know next?"
"Hang on," Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, "I'm curious, what if I were to grab it with my magic. Would it still return to you?" That was an interesting question.
"Hmmm, That does seem like something I wanna try out," Sora presented his keyblade to Twilight again, who grabbed hold of the hilt with her unicorn magic. Just as before, the weapon vanished from view, reappearing in Sora's possession, "Well, that answers that question."
"This is so fascinating!" Twilight's eyes were practically sparkling, "So the keyblade is capable of detecting any kind of outside influence. This is so amazing!"
"So, what's next?" Sora asked, pleased that the purple unicorn was enjoying herself.
"We can't move on yet," Twilight said, "That's not how the scientific method works," Sora was confused. What else was there to discuss on this current topic?
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"We need to gauge the average time I can hold your keyblade before it returns to you. To do that, we need to run multiple tests and time each attempt so we can measure a basic average. We'll need to run more tests, ten for hoof held and magic held. We'll compare both averages and see if there is a difference between the two."
Sora didn't follow this line of logic at all, "Is that really necessary?"
"Of course it is," Twilight assured with a wave of her hoof, "Spike, get the stop watch ready."
As the test runs were underway, ten times Twilight grabbed the keyblade with her teeth and ten more times with her magic, Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack, "What does this prove exactly?"
"Ah don't know," The farm mare replied, "The result is the same either way."
After a sufficient number of test were completed, Twilight addressed Sora again, "I think that should do for this topic. I didn't immediately notice a time discrepancy between hoof held or magic held, but a closer look at the data might reveal something. But that's for later, now it's time to move to the next subject, your keyblade's magic."
"What about it?" Twilight's insistence on those small time tests made Sora more skeptical about this whole project.
"I saw you use fire, ice, wind, lightning and curative spells in the short time I've known you," Twilight pointed out, You're a pegasus, so casting magic is something you shouldn't be able to do
"We already know that, Twilight," Spike chipped in with his deadpan commentary.
"Well, yes, anyway," Twilight shot her assistant a glare, "I was wondering if there are any other spells you know," Sora figured that this should be an easy one to get past.
"Well, I can only perform a few spells," Sora went through his mental list of magic that he knew, "I can use fire, water, ice, wind, thunder and cure."
Twilight listed the spells Sora named off, "So are all of these spells combat oriented?" The caramel pegasus nodded his head.
"So, do you want me to show off each spell?"
"You catch on quick, don't you?" Twilight complimented, "I'd like you to show me what each spell does. There's plenty of open space around us, so you don't have to worry about vandalism or anything like that."
"Okay, here goes," Sora brandished his keyblade and went to work demonstrating his magic. He launched a great ball of fire that scorched a large patch of grass. Sora than raised his keyblade in the air and shouted "Water!" Two streams of water spiraled around Sora, forming a large sphere of liquid at the tip of the blade. The sphere flew towards where the fireball landed, creating a magnificent splash of water that sent droplets everywhere. Everypony went slack jawed amazed watching such a spectacular display, getting sprayed from the massive splash. Sora then proceeded to create a small tornado of blustery wind, a blast of ice that expanded into a spiked crystalline formation, and a bolt of electricity that created a brief but noticeable flash of light. The mares and dragon all awed in amazement at the sight of such magic.
"How was that?" Sora asked his audience. Their wide eyes and gaping mouths were proof enough that they thought it was incredible.
"That was awesome!" Spike exclaimed, "Man, that was even cooler than I imagined!"
"Hold on," Twilight interrupted, "You didn't show us your cure spell."
"Oh, yeah, I didn't think it was important to show off," Sora said.
"Not important?!" Twilight raised her voice, "Sora, you carry the most incredible weapon in the history of Equestria! I must be shown anything it can do!"
"But, you've seen me use cure before," Sora said, "When I fought Nightmare Moon," Twilight pondered what Sora was saying.
"True," She shook her head, "But I would like to see another demonstration, if you will."
"Okay, if you insist," Sora lifted his keyblade and casted cure, summoning the bellflower that sprayed him with green dust.
"Oooo, pretty," Pinkie stated.
"How does that work, exactly?" Twilight inquired.
"Well, I use cure to heal any injuries I have during battle," Twilight lowered her expression, that much was obvious.
"Does it apply only to physical injuries or can it heal anything else?" She further questioned.
"I know for a fact it doesn't work on stomach aches," Sora rubbed the back of his head nervously, "So I think it only works on physical injuries," The purple unicorn took little note of his stomach ache comment, but she did understand Sora
"Well, do you think you could show us those spells again?" Twilight was writing down notes as she spoke.
"I don't think I can do that," Sora admitted. Twilight accidentally pushed a hole in the scroll with the quill upon hearing this.
"What?! Why not?"
"My mana reserve is out," Sora explained.
"Mana?" Twilight repeated that word with confusion, "You mean magical energy, right?"
"Well, it's called mana where I'm from," He replied, "Should I have said that?"
"Hmm," Twilight furrowed her brow in thought, making a mental note to bring up this 'mana' term later, "Anyway, I understood what you meant, your magic runs on a limited supply, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Sora confirmed, "When my mana runs out, it goes into a recharge period."
"Meaning you won't be able to use any magic until it recharges," Twilight finished.
"Exactly," Sora affirmed.
"That means we'll have to wait until you have your magic back until you can show your spells again," Twilight announced.
"What?" Rainbow Dash whined, "I don't wanna wait around for Sora's magic to come back. I wanna see Sora pull off some of his cool moves."
"Rainbow Dash," Twilight scolded, "This is meant to be serious research project."
"Come on, Twilight," Pinkie Pie spoke up, "You can't just have periods of time where nothing happens, it's bad entertainment."
"Well, I suppose we could start the questionnaire portion of the project," Twilight conceded.
"Questions?" Rainbow whined again, "This is the most boring demonstration ever!"
"Stop complaining!" Twilight fired back at the cyan mare, then she readdressed Sora, "I'm sure you'll answer my questions accordingly, correct?"
"Well, I'll answer to the best of my abilities," Sora put on a friendly smile. Inwardly, he was nervous. What if Twilight asks a question that would need him to reveal the truth?
Twilight brought out a scroll already written with a few pre-conceived questions, "First question: Who taught you how to fight?"
"I'm pretty much self taught," Sora answered. The mares and dragon all blanched in surprise.
"Self taught?!" Twilight repeated in shock, "You taught yourself all of those crazy abilities?"
"Yeah, mostly," Sora spoke as if it wasn't a huge deal.
"Mostly?" Twilight knew base on that phrase that there was more to his answer. She decided to push further, "That indicates that there were others that influenced your fighting techniques."
"Well, I did learn a few things from other people," Sora inwardly cringed, having realized he didn't say 'pony,' thankfully Twilight didn't seem to notice.
"So you did have some outside help," The purple unicorn confronted, "Can you name off anyone?" Sora quickly became conflicted. He knew he couldn't reveal much information about himself or his past, but it felt wrong to deceive these ponies who he viewed as his friends.
"I can't say," He answered with a hint of remorseful truth.
"Huh? You can't say?" Twilight repeated. That sounded like a flimsy excuse to her. Even the others thought Sora's reasoning sounded vague.
"Yeah, sorry," Sora drooped his ears, speaking in an apologetic manner. Twilight was skeptical, why would Sora have to hide the identities of ponies he's learned from? It was that big of a deal so she moved onto another topic.
"Okay then, let's try a different question," Twilight kept asking questions for some time, some of which included:
"Can the Keyblade open anything other than locks?"
"Who taught you how to use magic?"
"Where did the Heartless really come from?"
"Who or what created the Keyblade?"
With each of those questions, Sora gave a vague response that didn't entirely satisfy the unicorn's curiosity; having Sora say 'a wizard' taught him what knows of magic wasn't very helpful. Twilight continually hounded Sora to give further details, but he kept saying that the information was meant to be secret. There were a few questions that Sora answered with no restrictions, such as why his clothes changed when he fought Nightmare Moon. It was something Sora could do if he was fighting well enough; he called the change Second Form, and it gave him an assortment of new powers. The move where Sora shot beams of light from his keyblade was a technique he called Ragnarok, an attack that requires a great amount of focus to achieve. For the most part, however, Sora was stingy with details that might reveal his otherworldly status.
"Are we done yet?" Sora asked, exhaustion prevalent in his voice. Twilight ignored him and kept scribbling down notes.
"Not even close!" Twilight hysterically shouted. She was getting really annoyed with his omitting of details, "Apparently, you're not a very reliable source."
"Now that's not fair, Twilight," Applejack fired, trotting over to the unicorn. The others did so as well.
"Honestly, darling, surely you must have enough information by now," Rarity expressed her opinion.
"Are you kidding?" Twilight seemed to completely miss the point, "He's given not telling me crucial details," Her eyes began to twitch in annoyance, bringing her attention fully to Sora, "I get it, you want to keep all the Keyblade's secrets for yourself, don't you?!" Her accusation earned her a round of gasps from her friends, especially Sora.
"What?!" He cried out, "I am not doing that!"
"Then why aren't you spilling any crucial information, huh?" Twilight continued her heated argument, "You're purposely hiding details so you can discredit my research! Some friend you are!" Sora flinched. He was trying his best to help her, but he couldn't answer everything she was asking of him.
"Twilight!" Spike called out, "This is getting out of hoof!" He couldn't stand hearing Twilight talk like this, so he decided to call her out on it. The other mares were looking at her in contempt for how she was acting.
"Why is everypony against me all of a sudden?!" Twilight cried out. All she wanted to do was leave her mark on the magical landscape of Equestria, but these ponies were treating her like a villain for doing so.
"Twilight!" Spike did not let up, he was getting sick of seeing her treat Sora so poorly, "You're going out of line! Sora isn't trying to discredit you!"
"Spike!" Sora stopped the purple dragon, "Just one more question, then I'm done," Dealing with Twilight's accusation, along with her less than pleasant attitude, left him in an agitated state. It was taking all of his being to not blow his lid at the purple unicorn, "I said I was going to help, and I'll do it."
"Alright then," Twilight primed another fresh scroll, "This is a question I know you can't worm your way out of. How and when did you get your keyblade?" Sora's eyes widened.
"W-what..?" Sora didn't expect her to ask that particular question. It was the same problem, he couldn't completely answer this question, doing so would reveal that he came from another world.
"Yes, I want to know all about your first experience with your keyblade," Twilight asked with a sly smile, "That's perfectly reasonable, right?"
"Um—well..." Sora wasn't sure how he should answer. As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. He didn't want to answer.
"Surely you would remember the day where you received such a powerful tool," Twilight reasoned. She wasn't wrong, Sora clearly remembered what happened like it was yesterday, and it was making him uncomfortable.
"I-I don't know..." Sora stammered, facing away from Twilight, but she was determined to get an answer.
"Come on! Of course you know!" Twilight prodded, determined to get an answer out of Sora. The caramel pegasus in question felt something inside of him, something heated. He didn't want to answer this question, but the demanding unicorn wouldn't let up, "I just need you to tell me the exact circumstances, preferably in great detail," Sora started breathing very heavily, "Learning the circumstances that leads to a Keyblade's appearance will greatly help my—" He turned to her.
"SHUUUUT UUUUP!" Sora screamed at the top of his lungs. Twilight dropped her magical hold on her scroll and quill in shock. The others all flinched back hearing Sora raise his voice so much. His face was one of pure anger, directed fully to the purple unicorn who had the gall to call him a bad friend, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I'm done helping your dumb research! How about you leave me alone, quit it with your stupid questions and mind your own BUSINESS!" Sora turned his back to Twilight and stormed off in a furious trek.
"Sora, hold on," Applejack called, trotting up to the caramel stallion.
"GO AWAY!" Sora yelled, not facing the others, "I wanna be alone right now!" He continued on his way, not caring where he was going so long as it was away from Twilight. Everypony stood stunned over what had transpired.
"I didn't think Sora could get that angry," Spike commented.
"I don't get it," Twilight said after she recovered from her shock, "What could've made him snap like that?"
"Well, Twilight," Rarity approached, "I for one believe he was tired of all of your attitude."
"Attitude?" Twilight began to take a closer look at her actions. Pinkie then threw in her two cents.
"Yeah, you were kind of acting like a condescending jerk to Sora near the end," The pink mare said, "Even then, he still wanted to help you."
"Quite frankly, Twilight, that kind of attitude is unbecoming of you," Rarity shook her head.
Fluttershy then decided to pitch in, "You—well... You were acting like a great big jerk."
Twilight drooped her ears in shame, "I only wanted to contribute to the study of magic."
"And that made it okay?" Rainbow Dash called out. Twilight could only cringe in response. It did seem like a lame excuse.
"Twilight, when you saw the chance to do your own research, you let it go to your head," Spike shook his head, "I know how much you like to study, but I felt like you took it to far," Twilight could feel her heart breaking at her friend's words.
"I... Am I really like that?" She stammered.
"No!" Spike tried to console her, "I know you Twilight, I know that isn't like you at all."
"If I could say sumthin'," Applejack brought all attention to her, "Ah've known Sora for only a short time, but that boy's got himself a heart of gold. If he weren't givin' ya straight answers, then he musta had a reason. Seemed to me that he was being as honest as he could be," A reason to hide information?
"And I called him a bad friend. That's why he yelled at me," Twilight reiterated. In hindsight, it sounded like such a mean action, how could she not have noticed it herself?
"Actually, ah think there was another thing that made Sora snap like he did," Applejack said, "Ya notice he went off when ya asked him how he got his keyblade? Call me crazy, but ah think he lashed out cause it was a painful memory."
"A painful memory?" Twilight repeated, "What do you mean?"
"Take it from me, Twilight," Applejack took her hat off and placed it over her heart, "Some ponies don't like talkin' about certain things."
Twilight became uneasy. What Applejack said made sense, Sora was increasingly hesitant to answer when he received his keyblade. He was getting far more agitated as the questions continued. Twilight was adamant to getting those questions answered, pushing Sora to do so until she resorted to guilt-tripping him. It all crashed down on her painfully, she was a terrible friend. Here she was supposed to be studying the magic of friendship, and here she was destroying her own friendships. The only thing she could do was cry.
"I'm awful..." She sobbed, collapsing onto her haunches. Twilight's friends all hated to see her like this, "What am I supposed to do? Now Sora hates me."
"Now hold on there, sugarcube," Applejack took on a softer tone, "Ya'll don't know that."
"He does!" Twilight was in full hysterics, "I called him a bad friend. I'm the bad friend!"
"Twilight, darling, it's not the end of the world," Rarity consoled, gently rubbing Twilight's back, "It might make you feel better if you talk to him."
"He won't talk to me!" The purple pony shouted. This time it was Rainbow Dash who spoke up.
"You wont know unless you try, right?" She said.
Twilight began to calm down now that her initial tears were let out. Lethargically, she rose to all fours and wiped her eyes dry.
"Spike, can you get the data back to the library?" Twilight asked her assistant.
"Okay, sure, but what are going to do?"
"I'm going to apologize to my friend," Twilight stated in solemn determination, trotting off to find Sora and try to make amends. Her friends could only watch her trot off, hoping she could make peace with the Keyblade wielder.
—
Twilight searched Ponyville for any sign of the caramel pegasus. Along the way, Twilight considered what Applejack had said. Maybe the day Sora received his keyblade was a day he doesn't like to remember. Even if it wasn't, Twilight still had to apologize to Sora for how she acted. She let her ambition drive her to take advantage of Sora's good will, now she had to pick up the pieces.
When arriving at the park, Twilight found exactly who she was looking for; Sora was lying on a lone park bench, facing the opposite direction of the unicorn. Twilight was awash with conflicting emotions, she had no idea what to say. All that she understood right now was that her and Sora's relationship was fractured. Knowing this, Twilight willed herself to step forward to the shaking pegasus. She fell into even further despair when she heard Sora crying.
"I can't get home," He sobbed, burying his face in his hooves. Twilight felt her heart sink. The unicorn's normally over-studious nature would compel her to press for more information, but that drive was gone. Sora The message was clear, Sora's first experience with the Keyblade was anything but a happy memory. Twilight felt her own eyes tear up. She drove him to this state. She didn't feel deserving of his friendship, but there was one thing she still needed to say.
"Sora," The purple unicorn called with shaky breath. Sora jerked his head up and tilted his head towards Twilight. She dived into even further despair, Sora... I am so sorry," Twilight could barely see through her tears, "I am so ashamed of myself for how I treated you," She had wipe her rolling tears away with a hoof as she continued, "I should never have insulted you the way I did," Sora just looked at her with a somber expression. Finally, he lifted himself off the bench and trotted to Twilight.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said in earnest. Twilight couldn't believe her ears.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Asked the distraught and now bamboozled unicorn, "You should be furious with me."
"I was angry with you," Sora kept speaking, "Look, about why I wasn't completely honest with you, there really are some things I'm not supposed to say as a Keyblade wielder, but there are some things I don't like to talk about," He sighed in deep thought, "Listen, I'm going through some things right now, but I don't want that to stop us from being friends. I'm willing look past what happened if you are. If you really do need to know, I'll tell you," Twilight felt like dirt. There was no way she could ever except this offer, considering what transpired earlier.
"I don't want you to tell me," Twilight couldn't stop herself from shaking uncontrollably, "It wasn't right for me to be so demanding. I put my desires over our friendship. If you really do need to keep these secrets, I won't push you to tell me," She looked away from Sora as fresh tears spilled out, "I'm such an awful friend," She half expected the caramel pegasus to walk away in disgust with her. Instead, the opposite occurred.
"But you realized your mistakes," Sora pointed out, gently tilting Twilight's head so that she made eye contact with him, "Twilight, you're being too hard on yourself. What matters is that you can learn from your mistakes to be a better pony. Call me strange, but I know that you're a good pony deep down."
"Sora..." Twilight blubbered.
"Twilight, I forgive you. Can you forgive me?" Sora asked. He got his answer when Twilight lunged at him and hugged him. The caramel pegasus could hear her cry tears of relief. He did the only thing he could do in a situation like this, he hugged her back. Today was a roller coaster of emotions for both of them, but they still remained friends through it all.
—
Evening rolled in, and Twilight and Sora went about the rest of their days. The purple pony returned to the library where the data she collected was waiting for her. She didn't feel like sorting through it. She only had one thing on her mind, and it was eating away at her.
"Twilight, are you alright?" Asked a worried Spike. Twilight barely said a thing to him since she got back.
"I'm not alright, Spike, I feel awful," She slummed on top of her desk. Twilight was still beating herself up over how she acted today, treated Sora like a lowly lab rat instead of a pony.
"Didn't Sora forgive you?" Spike tried to cheer her up, "Isn't it okay now?" Twilight turned herself to face the little dragon directly.
"Sora taught me just how amazing friendship is, and I almost threw it away," She drooped her ears in sadness, "I should have known better than to take advantage of his friendship," Twilight took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts, "I don't want to lose my friends," Celestia sent Twilight on a mission to discover the magic of friendship, and she was doing a poor job at being a friend.
Spike was at a loss for words, he wasn't used to seeing Twilight in such a state. The Twilight he knew was a diligent student always ready to do her best, not a mopping slump. She did leave her desk to look at her assistant with a determined gaze.
"Spike, take a letter."
Dear Princess Celestia,
I've learned an incredibly important lesson in friendship. I asked Sora to help me when I wanted to learn more about the Keyblade. When he didn't meet my expectations, I accused him of being a terrible friend. In the process, I strained my relationship with Sora, driving him into a depressive state because of my actions. Even though he still views me as his friend, I do not feel deserving of his forgiveness. Through this experience, I have learned that I should never take my friendships for granted and to always be conscious of my friend's feelings.
Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.
"Do not lose faith in yourself, my student," Celestia spoke after reading the letter, "You have a strong heart."