One week later, not much happened aside from from an incident where Rarity was mare-napped by a group of gem loving dogs. The humorous part was that they let her go after she annoyed them too much. Rarity got more than her fair share of gems for her designs after the ordeal. Right now, Sora was trotting down the cars of a moving train, where Rarity and Applejack were having an argument.
"Applejack, I must protest to you giving your tree a room of it's own," Rarity complained to the farm mare, motioning to an apple tree laying on the back cushion and draped with a quilted blanket.
"Sorry, Rarity," Applejack replied, "Bloomberg here is special cargo. Ah ain't taking any chances," Rarity sighed in response, then taking notice that Sora had entered the car.
"Sora, please tell me you object to this nonsense," Rarity pleaded.
"A.J really likes her trees," Sora stated matter of factly, making Rarity gasp in disbelief, "You're not gonna convince her either way," With that, Sora exited back the way he came in, leaving Rarity in bewilderment and Applejack in smug satisfaction.
"Guess yer jus' gonna hafta deal with it, Rarity," Applejack commented.
"Unbelievable!" Rarity shouted, storming off after Sora, "Darling, why are you encouraging this behavior? She was reading it a bedtime story!"
"Bloomberg is A.J's favorite tree," Sora explained, "I've seen her read to him plenty of times," Sora was speaking as if this situation was normal.
"Ugh, I swear, you've spent far too much time with the Apples," Rarity commented.
The reason for this train ride was that Applejack was planning to plant Bloomberg in the town of Appleoosa, a frontier town headed by members of the Apple family. Above all else currently, Sora wanted to make sure that Bloomberg was delivered safe and sound. After all the hospitality the Apples had given him, Sora felt inclined to repay them any way he could. If that meant letting Bloomberg take first class, then so be it. The train ride began near dusk, so the trip would take until morning. Luckily, the group did have sleeping arrangements in the train itself. Rarity, however, felt miffed about sleeping with others in such close proximity. She preferred to have her "beauty sleep" in private.
—
Sora was having trouble sleeping. The rumble of the train had a large part to do with it, but there was also the issue of Pinkie and Rainbow arguing over something. Taking matters into his hooves, Sora got up so he could break up the conversation and get some sleep.
"What's going on?" Sora asked, rubbing his droopy eyes, seeing the faces of the two mares through the light of a candle.
"Rainbow Dash thinks Fluttershy's a tree!" Pinkie blurted out.
"I do not think she's a tree!" Rainbow corrected, "I was just—"
"Did you say she was a tree?" Sora, who was more than a little confused, questioned Rainbow.
"No. Well.. Yes. But not exactly—"
"Ya know Fluttershy isn't a tree, right?" Sora asked, not exactly understanding the context.
"She's not a tree, Dashie!" Pinkie continued.
"I'd like to be a tree..." Fluttershy inserted herself into the conversation.
"I don't wanna be a tree," Sora responded, "Sounds boring."
"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Yelled Spike. He had been listening in on the conversation and decided that he had enough. The little drake grabbed his blanket stormed out of the car to the one in the back, slamming the door behind him.
"Someone's a little huffy," Sora commented with a smirk.
"Huffy the magic dragon!" Fluttershy joked, causing the others to laugh.
"Would you all be quiet... now?!" Rarity demanded, having been kept awake because of this silly argument. The light of the candle illuminated her face, which looked like a freaky green faced monster with even greener eyes. The sight of this horror brought out screams from the four ponies, prompting Sora to blow out the candle as fast as possible.
—
The sun started to rise over the horizon. Sora cracked his eyes open, growing quite used to waking up early as of late. Since there were no immediate chores needed to be done today, Sora closed his eyes to get in a little more sleep. At least, he would have. It was faint, but Sora could feel underneath the telltale sign of a stampede.
"What's going on?" He questioned, sitting up straight. Curiosity taking over, the caramel pegasus looked out one of the train's windows to find a heard of bulky creatures galloping nearby. Upon closer inspection, Sora noticed that these creatures had horns and were wearing headbands with feathers sticking out. Twilight, having woken up herself, looked out as well to see what the commotion was.
"Oh my gosh!" She cried excitedly, "A buffalo stampede!"
Now Rarity looked as well, "Oh, I just love their accessories."
Something seemed off about this, it seemed as though they were gaining speed, and they were heading towards the train.
"Hey, are they getting closer?" Sora asked. It was true, the buffalo were getting closer, stampeding adjacent to the train. Two buffalo steered into the car the group was in, making the car tip over. The group all rolled back as their footing was elevated at an angle. Thankfully, the buffalo steered back, allowing the car to regain it's balance.
"Hey, what was that for?!" Sora grew angry.
"Ooh, a circus act!" Pinkie blurted, looking out the back window. Outside, a smaller, younger female buffalo was standing atop another buffalo, standing atop another buffalo, and getting closer to the train. The little buffalo in question had orange fur, a gold mane and a purple and white headband with two black and white feathers in the back. The small buffalo propelled herself up with a front-flip and landed on top of the train. She ran along the top of the car towards the caboose. It was a straight path until both Rainbow Dash and Sora flew on top of the train car.
"Hey!" Sora confronted the nimble buffalo, "What's the big idea?!" The buffalo did not respond, she merely smirked and galloped forward. Rainbow and Sora were about to intercept, but the buffalo jumped high in the air with incredible skill, performing multiple front flips before she landed.
"Hey, get back here!" Rainbow shouted, giving chase.
Sora was about to follow, but something kept him from doing so. He could've sworn he heard Rarity shrieking. Sora knew Rarity enough to think that it was probably nothing, but he couldn't possibly ignore a cry for help.
"Where in Equestria did they come from?!" Twilight exclaimed, she and the others facing off against a group of Shadow heartless. Their sudden appearance inside the train car was enough to make Rarity shriek in fright. Twilight released a shockwave of magical energy from her horn, pushing the Shadows back to the end of the car.
Sora rammed himself through the back door to assess the situation. Seeing the Shadows, Sora immediately brandished his keyblade and began slashing away at the heartless, dispatching 3 of them before the remaining two dipped into the ground.
One of them re-emerged in front of Fluttershy, who shrank back in fear as far as she could. Thankfully, Applejack was there to apple buck the heartless with enough force to send it flying straight through the window. The other one appeared in front of Twilight, only for the purple unicorn to blast the heartless away with a magic bolt from her horn. Even after the Heartless were dealt with, the ponies were on edge, until Sora broke the silence.
"Everyone alright?" He asked.
"I think so," Twilight answered, "Where's Rainbow Dash?"
"I think she's still up top," Sora responded. Just then, the train rumbled for a brief second, not enough to throw the group off balance but still plenty noticeable, "What was that?"
"That came from the back," Twilight said. Applejack's eyes went wide, a terrible thought suddenly occurring to her. She bolted down the train cars, the others following her till they reached the door to the caboose. What had happened was that the female buffalo had galloped to the end of the train and dislodged the caboose from the rest of the train. The stampeding buffalo now were pushing the caboose away from the train.
"They got Bloomberg!" Applejack yelled. That wasn't all, there was someone inside the caboose crying for help as he was being whisked away.
"And they have Spike!" Twilight exclaimed in pure horror. Before any of them knew it, the caboose was long gone. This was certainly an unexpected turn of events, and it made Sora nervous.
"If the Heartless are here, then that must mean something's wrong."
—
The train—pulled by horseback of all things—arrived at it's destination, a small bustling town in the desert where the buildings were wooden and simple in their design. Earth ponies were milling about on their daily routines, oblivious to what had occurred to the group. Greeting them was an earth pony stallion with yellow fur, a two tone dirty orange mane and tail, lime green eyes, and a simple Apple cutie mark. The stallion wore wore a brown stetson and a leather vest.
"Hey there!" He greeted enthusiastically with a wide smile, "Welcome ta A-A-PPLEOOSA!" He reared up his fore-legs as he uttered the town's name.
"Braeburn, listen—" Applejack said, but the pony called Braeburn interrupted her.
"Cousin Applejack, mind yer manners,," he scolded, "You have yet ta introduce me to your compadres! Shame on you!"
"Listen, Braeburn was it?" Sora interjected, "Something terrible happened."
"Terrible is right," the country pony replied, "Yer train is a full seven minutes late! That's seven minutes less for you to delight in the pleasures and wonders of... A-A-A-PPLEOOSA! Boggles the mind, we settler ponies built all this in just the past year, don't it?!" Sora had to take a step back from Braeburn's more than abundant energy, which did not stop, "And as you can see, we have all of the finest comforts. Like horse-drawn carriages!" He motioned to a carriage where a pony was pulling and another pony was riding passenger.
"Okay, you pull now," The pony pulling the carriage said.
"Aww, we just switched," The other complained.
"And those there are horse-drawn horse-drawn carriages," Braeburn motioned to a pony drawing the carriage.
"...Listen, Braeburn, I—" Suddenly, in a move that would make Pinkie Pie envious, Braeburn moved everypony to a well.
"And here's our local waterin' hole, the Salt Block."
Now they were in front of the Sheriff's office.
"Over there's the office of Sheriff Silverstar," Braeburn pointed to a light brown earth pony stallion with a dark brown mane and tail, a black mustache and blue eyes. He wore a black stetson, a red ascot paired with a blue vest and a silver sheriff's badge (which also was his cutie mark). The Sheriff tipped his hat to the ponies.
Then in the span of a few minutes, Braeburn showed the group the town's wild west dances, as well as the mild west dances.
"Braeburn, we—" Before Applejack could finish, the group was suddenly overlooking a wide and long stretching field of apple trees.
"And here's the most wonderful sight in all of... A-A-A-PPLEOOSA!" Braeburn declared with great pride, "Our apple orchard."
"Braeburn!" Applejack was quickly losing her patience, but Braeburn just kept going on his tangent.
"First harvest should be any day now."
"Braebu—"
"Good thing too!"
"Brae—"
"'Cause we need that grub to live on."
"BRAEBURN!" Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs. The volume and tone of her voice was enough to startle everyone.
After such a loud outburst, Braeburn responded sheepishly, "Uh, yes, cuz?"
Seeing as now she at last had his attention, Applejack composed herself, "Ya'll have a very nice town an' all, but we have a hu-uge problem! Some of our friends are missin'!"
"We were delivering a tree, but a bunch of buffaloes stole it from us," Sora further elaborated, "They even got one of our friends."
Almost at the drop of a hat, Braeburn's attitude seemed to change dramatically. Well, his eyes contorted into a whacky expression, then he shifted into a more somber disposition.
"Ya don't say," He said, overlooking the orchard, "Them buffalo want us settler ponies to take out all these trees, and they sure as spit don't want new ones added in."
"Why?" Sora asked, "What do they want?"
"Ah don't rightly know," Braeburn admitted, "But we can't just get rid of these here trees, this town needs 'em to feed our families and our foals. Now the buffalo want us ta get rid of 'em? T'ain't fair if ya ask me," The stallion let out a long winded sigh, "Ah tell ya, between the buffalo and them monsters, ah'm not sure 'bout the future of this town."
"Wait," Sora interrupted, "What monsters?" He had a feeling what Braeburn was talking about.
"Well, they're these pitch black creatures with terrifying glowing eyes," Braeburn described.
"I knew it," Sora's face grew stern, "Those heartless we ran into weren't just a coincidence."
"Heartless?" Braeburn repeated, "Is that what they're called? Well, in any case, folk are starting to worry with the buffalo harassing us and them Heartless up and about. The Sheriff's been on edge lately on account a' everything that's been goin' on."
"Can I say something?" Twilight chimed in, bringing everypony's attention to her, "I noticed that the heartless on the train appeared around the same time as the buffalo. You don't think there's a connection, do you?"
Twilight's theory did have some merit. It was hard to ignore the timing of each event.
"If that's the case, then Spike and Rainbow could be in serious danger," Sora concluded, his voice filled with dread.
"Um, excuse me..." Fluttershy timidly injected herself into the conversation, "Wasn't Pinkie Pie with us a second ago?" Fluttershy brought up an interesting point, Pinkie was missing. Sora could've sworn he saw her just a second ago.
"Oh no..." Twilight trailed off, "She must've tried looking for Rainbow Dash."
"It's not safe out there," Sora said, "Not with the Heartless. I'm going after them."
"What?!" Shouted everypony else.
"Sora, do you even know where to start looking?" Rarity asked.
"No," He admitted, leading to sighs of dejection from his friends, "But it's not like I can just sit here and do nothing."
"I'm going with you," Twilight stated.
"No, you should stay here."
"Sora, Spike's out there with the Heartless," Twilight reminded, "Who knows what kind of danger he's in. I have to find him," The purple unicorn's features displayed clear worry. Sora picked up on Twilight's concern.
"Think about it, Twilight," Sora said, "What if the Heartless invade the town? There needs to be someone here to defend this place," Twilight scrunched her face. Sora had a point, but leaving the potential fate of her number one assistant to somepony else felt wrong.
"Twilight," Applejack placed her hoof on the purple mare's shoulder, "Ya'll can trust Sora will bring our friends back safe," She gave Twilight an encouraging smile.
"I promise I'll bring him back safe," Sora told Twilight with stern conviction. After taking in a deep breath, Twilight gave Sora small smile.
"Alright, I'll leave this to you," She said.
Sora gave Twilight a curt nod before flying off. Braeburn, more than anypony else currently, looked utterly confused.
"Ya'll won't need to worry 'bout a thing, cuz," Applejack patted Braeburn's back, "Sora will set this right."
"Ya'll got alot a faith in 'im, doncha?" Braeburn said.
"Sure do," Applejack replied, "Sora's one a the most dependable ponies ah've ever met."
—
Sora traveled through the desert for hours. He encountered numerous heartless along the way, but he was more than capable of dispatching them. His vision reached a considerable distance when he was up in the air, getting a good look at the jagged terrain. While he was galloping along, he ran into a familiar cyan mare—literally. The two pegasi rolled on the ground where they ended up sprawled on the ground.
"There you are, Rainbow," He greeted in a relieved tone.
"What are you doing here?" Rainbow questioned in a hushed tone as she got up.
"I was trying to find you, Pinkie and Spike," Sora answered in a normal tone. The cyan mare shoved her hoof into his mouth.
"You need to be quiet."
Sora wrestled Rainbow's hoof away, "What for?"
"If you keep talking, it'll give away my position," Rainbow replied.
"BOO!" Said Pinkie Pie, scaring Sora and Rainbow out of their wits, resulting in the two pegasi falling on their backs. The pink mare giggled, seeing that her prank worked.
"Ugh, thanks for the heart attack, Pinkie!" Sora scolded in a raised voice as he picked himself back up.
"You have to admit, I got you both good," Pinkie smiled.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow rushed over to the pink mare and clamped her jaw shut, "Be quiet, you're gonna give away our—" As she was talking, the three ponies were suddenly surrounded by a circle of angry looking buffalo. In response to the immediate threat, Sora and Rainbow both stood in battle stances.
"Rainbow, I hope you're ready," Sora said brandishing his keyblade in his mouth.
"Hey guys!" Yelled a familiar voice. Both Rainbow and Sora lessened their stances when they heard that recognizable voice. It was Spike, he was perfectly fine and atop one of the buffalo's back, "It's okay guys! They're with me!" He informed the buffalo, who all eased themselves.
"Spike? You're okay!" Sora blurted, dismissing his keyblade.
"Sure am!" The purple drake replied, jumping off the buffalo's back, "The buffalo have major respect for dragons," He then bumped his fist with the hoof of the buffalo he was riding.
"That's great and all, but what's going on?" Sora questioned.
"Why don't we explain it on our way to the buffalo camp?" Spike suggested.
—
"So you're not in any danger?" Sora asked to Spike again. It was a long trek to the buffalo camp, but now the ponies were sitting at a fire enjoying the best food the buffalo had to offer.
"They only wanted the tree," Spike explained, "Once they found out they kidnapped me by accident, they felt so bad that they treated me like an honored guest."
"Well, that's pretty nice of them," Sora admitted.
"I say we get outta here!" Rainbow suggested.
"Are you joking?!" Pinkie shouted, having stuffed her face full of mushy food the buffalo had given her," "Before we finish eating? Can I get some more of this mushy stuff?"
"Certainly," A female buffalo replied, bringing over a bowl full of sapphires, "And more gemstones for you, yes?" She gave the bowl to Spike who eagerly dug in.
"This is Little Strongheart," Spike then gestured to the ponies, "These are my friends, Sora, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash," Both Sora and Rainbow shot up, as did Strongheart.
"Hey!" Sora pointed at Strongheart accusingly, "You're the thief!" The buffalo shrunk back as Sora flew in closer, "Where's Bloomberg?!"
"Who is Bloomberg?" She asked.
"That's it, we're outta here!" Rainbow cooperated.
"Wait," Strongheart pleaded, "Please forgive me. We meant you no harm. We only wanted the tree."
"Why are you guys so fixated on getting rid of the trees in Appleoosa?" Sora felt the need to ask, his face locked in a stern gaze.
"If you will allow me to explain," Strongheart gave Sora his request, "The Appleloosans have thoughtlessly planted their trees on our sacred stampeding grounds."
"Huh?" Sora tilted his head, "Sacred stampeding grounds?"
"Perhaps it's time you met Chief Thunderhooves," Strongheart suggested.
Chief Thunderhooves was a tall and massive buffalo with dark brown fur wearing a headdress completely adorned with feathers. Sora could not help but feel intimidated by the chief's demanding presence. When his gaze met with Sora's, the buffalo leader bore into Sora, studying him carefully.
"What is it?" Sora nervously asked.
"I can see see it in your eyes," Thunderhooves spoke in a booming voice, "Your heart burns with the fire of a warrior in your heart."
Sora's ears perked up, "Really, you think so?" The chief nodded his head, making the pegasus smile in response.
"Quite the feat, considering how weak and frail you appear," The Chief added, making Sora do a double take. Rainbow and Pinkie laughed to themselves, mostly from Sora's reaction.
"Did I just get insulted?!" Sora sighed in dejection, desperate to change the subject, "So, Little Strongheart said something about a stampeding ground?"
"My people have a path that we tread upon. Our ancestors have treaded on that ground for generations," Thunderhooves said, "My father trampled on that ground, and my grandfather, and his father before him, and his father before him, and his—"
"Chief, I think they get the point," Little Strongheart interrupted. The chief cleared his throat.
"Every year, we travel along the sacred path, but now our sacred grounds have been overtaken by the Appleloosans and their trees. To make matters even worse, dark shadows now infest these lands," Thunderhooves features fell into dread.
"Dark shadows?" Sora repeated, "You mean the Heartless?"
"Heartless?" Chief Thunderhooves repeated, to which Sora nodded, "So, they are creatures without hearts? An omen such as this can only spell disaster," Hearing how Thunderhooves expressed his concern, coupled with the buffalo's hospitality towards Spike, Sora concluded that the buffalo were not responsible for this Heartless epidemic, "I hope you now understand our plight, warrior," The buffalo let out a long winded sigh, "Do you understand how disheartening and frustrating it is to have something precious to you taken away?"
Sora did not answer for a while. After hearing what Thunderhooves said, the caramel pegasus lowered his head and breathed evenly, insinuating he was deep in thought. His friends took notice of this strange behavior, wondering what might be wrong. Finally, he lifted his head to address Thunderhooves.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sora asked. A simple question, but it told the chief all he needed to know.
"I don't suppose you could do anything about those shadows," Thunderhooves requested.
"Those shadows, the Heartless, are drawn to the darkness in someone's hearts," Sora informed, "Has anything happened that might have attracted them?"
Chief Thunderhooves snorted in response, "Those beasts had not arrived until the settler ponies did. The only thing that can be done is to remove all of those trees those Appleloosans have thoughtlessly planted."
Sora choked back a response. He knew that the trees nor the Appleloosans were not responsible for the Heartless epidemic, but he was not sure how to tell that to Thunderhooves.
"What am I supposed to do?" Sora contemplated, "I want to help the buffalo, but I can't just make the Appleloosans suffer."
"Those trees gotta go!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "It's the only way the buffalo can get their stampede grounds back!"
"Wait, hold on!" Sora said, desperate to keep someone from doing something rash, "Maybe you guys should just talk to the Appleoosans," Thunderhooves looked at Sora with raised eyebrows, "It can't hurt to try. Maybe you guys can work something out."
"I think we should go with his idea, chief," Little Strongheart agreed, "I'm not particularly fond of resorting to theft. Perhaps diplomacy is the best option."
Thunderhooves pondered for a brief moment before letting out a sigh, "Very well, I will hear what the Appleoosans have to say."
"Good," Sora nodded his head, happy that the chief agreed. Deep down, however, the caramel pegasus felt something might go wrong.
—
"I don't like this," Twilight said, "He's been gone for too long."
"You don't think the Heartless got him, do you?" Fluttershy fearfully asked.
"Don't be ridiculous, Fluttershy," Rarity dissuaded, "Sora's far too strong for that to happen."
"If anything, ah bet Sora knocked them buffalo down a peg," Applejack vouched. She would be validated when she saw Sora flying towards the front of town. He was joined by Spike, Rainbow, Pinkie, Little Strongheart and Chief Thunderhooves. The latter two were a shock for the ponies, but a certain purple unicorn was not very concerned with that at the moment.
"Spike!" Twilight cheered, galloping towards her number one assistant so that she could graciously embrace him. Applejack was far less enthusiastic, she was more so confused.
"Sora, what are they doing here?" Applejack questioned with a leer towards the buffalo.
"We brought our new buffalo friends here so that they could talk things out with the Appleloosans," Sora explained.
Braeburn looked to be very accepting of the idea, "Well, that would be quite help—"
"That's weird," Applejack interrupted, giving Sora a casting glance, "'Cause my cousin, Braeburn here wants to explain to the buffalo why they should let the apple trees stay."
Little Strongheart seemed to be open to the idea of negotiation, "That would be a useful thing to—"
"The land is theirs!" Rainbow interrupted, "You planted the trees on their sacred stampeding grounds. Honest mistake. Now, you just gotta move 'em, that's all."
Braeburn rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Well... heh..."
"They busted their rumps here!" Applejack argued, "An' now they're supposed ta bust their rumps again, just 'cause some buffalo won't stampede someplace else?"
"Plant the trees somewhere else!" Rainbow demanded.
"Where?!" Applejack shouted back, bringing her face closer to Rainbow's, "It's the only flatland around these parts!"
"The buffalo had it first!"
"The settler ponies need it to live!"
"Stop it!" Sora threw himself between the two mares and pushed them away from each other, "Fighting about it won't solve anything!"
"Well, what do we have here?" Spoke a stallion's voice. It was Sheriff Silverstar, who was approaching Chief Thunderhooves with contempt, "You thieves dare show yer face in mah town?"
"You dare call us thieves?!" Thunderhooves roared in offense, "It was you settlers who stole the land from us!"
"Ya'll expecting us to starve jus' cause ya can't run somewhere else?" The sheriff fired back.
"I expect you to show respect for the land!" Thunderhooves shouted. As the two leaders traded verbal blows with one another, Shadow heartless emerged all around the area.
"Heartless!" Sora shouted, immediately brandishing his keyblade to slash away at the dark monsters. The sheriff and chief both widened their eyes as the monsters circled around. Sora wasted no time slashing away the Shadows with ease. The others helped as well, dispatching heartless as they were able. The chief and sheriff, however, viewed this scene with anger boiling inside the both of them. When Sora destroyed the last Shadow, he breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, things were only about to get worse.
"Ah knew ya'll couldn't be trusted!" Sheriff Silverstar spouted, pointing an accusatory hoof at Thunderhooves, "Ya'll went and siced yer monsters on us!"
"Our monsters?!" Thunderhooves shouted, "You have some serious nerve to say that! These lands were safe until you Appleloosans came along! If you wont remove your trees, we will do so by force!"
"Is that a threat ah hear?!" The Sheriff leered at the Chief.
"If you will not leave in peace, then we will drive you out ourselves!" Thunderhooves challenged.
"No," Sora breathed. It was something the others probably would not have caught onto, but Sora could more than make out the black wisps emanating from the sheriff and chief.
"If that's how ya want it, then we throw down tomorrow at high noon!" Silverstar proposed.
"No, no, no!" Sora shook his head, "Listen to me! You can't keep fighting like this!"
"Stay out of this!" Both the sheriff and chief yelled at the pegasus, who shrunk in shock.
"We accept your challenge!" Thunderhooves replied, turning away from the sheriff and trotting off, "Come, Little Strongheart, we must prepare for battle."
"But chief..." Strongheart spoke in an unsure voice.
"That is final!" He roared, silencing any protests she might have had. The two buffalo left the town, leaving behind a grim atmosphere. The sheriff left the group so that he could prepare the town's defense.
"Well, that went terribly," Pinkie broke the ice, "And I had such a great idea how to bring them all together."
"Nice going, Sora," Applejack rolled her eyes sarcastically. All eyes were on Applejack for uttering such a derogatory remark.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora questioned.
"Near as ah can tell, you've just gone and made a big mess of things!" Applejack retorted, "Y'all haven't solved Appleoosa's problem at all."
"What?" Sora felt insulted, "What was I supposed to do? You tell me? Kick the buffalo out? That's just cruel!"
"Seems to me like ya turned yer back on this town!" Applejack spouted.
"Applejack, that's not fair," Twilight interjected, but Sora continued the argument.
"I'm on everyone's side," He said, "You act like there's only two ways this can end."
"Well, ah'll tell ya what ah want," Applejack said, "Ah want to make sure mah family can keep Appleoosa thrivin', but you can't make that happen, now can ya?"
"I'm doing the best that I can," Sora said, turning away from Applejack.
"Well, yer best ain't good enough," Applejack responded, "I'd just about say yer worthless," Something ticked in Sora's brain as soon as he heard that. All of a sudden, he grew angry.
"Okay, fine!" Sora yelled, "If that's how it is, then deal with it yourself!" With that, Sora stormed off, away from town. Applejack hadn't changed her expression as Sora trotted off. It was not until she glanced to the disapproving looks of her friends that her attitude shifted. She had gone from miffed to regretful in almost an instant.
—
As it was nearing dusk, the Appleoosans were building up their defenses for the buffalo's attack tomorrow afternoon, setting up barricades and harvesting apples for some strange reason. Twilight surveyed the preparations as she sighed in contempt.
"Ugh, why won't anypony listen to reason?" She whined.
"Twilight?" The purple unicorn turned around to find Applejack, "Ya haven't seen Sora around, have ya?"
"I haven't seen him anywhere," Twilight shook her head. The farm mare sighed.
"Ah would probably leave too if ah were in his hooves, after ah chewed him out the way ah did," Applejack's ears slumped, "Ah don't think it'll ever be the same between us. Serves me right for being so stubborn."
"Applejack, you're being far too hard on yourself," Twilight attempted to console.
"Ah wish he was still here," The farm mare lamented, trotting away in sadness. Twilight saw this scene and could not help but recall when she made Sora upset all those months ago. Her guilt nearly ate her alive, and now Applejack was feeling the same thing. Twilight hoped with all her heart that the two would reconcile soon.
—
The stars were so serene, so peaceful. They invited a world of infinite potential to those who looked upon them, yet very few knew of what they really offered.
"I wonder which one of those stars is my home?" Sora pondered, "How long have I been here? A few months? Why does it feel like I've been here forever? I wonder if my friends are even looking for me. What would I even say to them if I ever see them again?" He reached out into his pocket and pulled out his wayfinder, holding it up with both his hooves as he starred into it, "What would I say to her?" He placed the charm onto his chest, tears beginning to form in his eyes. His heart felt heavy. Both the Appleloosans and the buffalo would fight tomorrow, and he could not do anything to stop it. 'Worthless,' he hated that word.
"I've fought so hard, but I'm still separated from the people I care most for," Sora shook his head, "My heart is crying out in pain, but that means I haven't forgotten what's important. I've always followed my heart, and right now it's telling me to not give up."
After a hard sigh, Sora sat up and declared with vigor: "I'm a keyblade wielder. That means I have to protect this world from the darkness, no matter what!"
—
It was a tense atmosphere as the Appleloosans stood ready behind their spiked wooden barricades. They had their choice of weaponry, apples and—pies? It was five minutes till noon and the ponies were anxious. Twilight and her group were off to the sidelines, as was Braeburn, for they did not want to participate in this battle. In the distance, the buffalo could be seen in a large grouping, preparing to charge. Little Strongheart was among them, yet she did not seem to like this situation one bit.
The clock struck twelve, twelve chimes sounded off. After the last, Thunderhooves reared up and roared in a war cry. The buffalo charged forward with reckless abandon. Their thunderous stampede caused the ground itself to rumble. The ponies prepared themselves for the inevitable clash, bracing for impact. However, that impact did not come to fruition.
A massive gust of turbulent winds blustered in between both armies. A great amount of dust was spread across the entire area, forcing everyone to cover their eyes from the whirlwind. Just as quickly as it appeared, the tornado died down in an instant. The lingering cloud of dust pervaded for some time, further delaying the upcoming battle. The dust eventually did settle, enough so that everyone was able to open their eyes again. Both sides looked forward to find something new in between, or more accurately, somepony.
"Sora!?" Twilight exclaimed. The caramel pegasus stood between the two armies, his face bearing a stern and fierce gaze.
"What are you doing here, warrior?" Chief Thunderhooves roared in anger.
"I'm here to stop this," He declared.
"What in tarnation are you sayin'?" Silverstar spouted.
"I'm saying that I won't let you fight!" Sora stated.
"You have no right to interfere in this affair!" Thunderhooves boomed, "Leave or face the consequences!"
"If it means stopping everyone from hurting each other, then I'll gladly interfere," Sora retorted back.
"T'aint no other way this could go!" Sherrif Silverstar retorted.
"No," Sora denied, "I refuse to believe that. I know that there's a peaceful way to end this."
"And what makes you so sure about that?" Thunderhooves questioned, "How could we coexist with one another?"
"Both of you only want what's best for those closest to you," Sora said, "Isn't that enough common ground? If you all keep fighting, it'll lead to more heartbreak."
"There cannot be peace between us," Thunderhooves shook his head.
"Because neither of you will let it," Sora responded.
"This is ridiculous," Silverstar said, "Get outta the way!"
"I'm not leaving from this spot!" Sora stated. Both Thunderhooves and Silverstar glared at the caramel pegasus. At the same time, the buffalo and the Appleoosans were looking unsure. Was this fight really necessary.
"If these settlers stay, the land will continue to be bathed in darkness," Thunderhooves argued.
"Don't pin this on us!" Silverstar interjected, "Those beasts belong to you!" The chief snarled.
"Stop it!" Sora yelled, "This is exactly what the Heartless want. Both of you are giving in to the darkness."
"Be silent!" Thunderhooves roared.
"Ya'll are playing a dangerous game here, boy," Silverstar warned.
Before any more insults could be thrown, swarms of Shadows appeared all around, near the ponies and near the buffalo. The heartless counted in the dozens, and they were soon supported by numerous Soldiers and a few Large Bodies. The ponies and buffalo were thrown into a panic, running off in random directions. Sora, however, summoned his keyblade and immediately began hacking away at the heartless, throwing out magic spells as needed. The mares (sans Fluttershy) jumped into the fray as well.
The town turned into a chaotic war zone, with most trying to avoid the heartless. During the chaos, new heartless entered the fray. They emerged from the ground itself, resembling hedgehogs but with spines that were made of rock. Applejack backed away, wary of what this heartless was capable of. Applejack reared up her hind-legs and kicked this new heartless square in the face, sending it sprawling into a hapless Soldier.
Rainbow dropped down on one of the hedgehog-like heartless from the back, only for her hoof to bounce right off.
"What the heck?" She questioned.
"Rainbow!" Sora called out, dispatching a Large Body, "You have to attack those heartless from the front!"
"Gotcha!" Rainbow nodded, flying up to the heartless' face so that she could kick it.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Silverstar was observing the chaos unfolding, taking note of a particular fact that was hard to ignore, "Those buffalo ain't working with them beasts!"
Thunderhooves was having a similar epiphany, seeing the Appleoosans trying to protect their own, "They truly do look out for their own," His pondering did not last long. A Large Body charged into a stand carrying pies, trying to hit Pinkie, sending pies flying. One pie hit Thunderhooves square in the face, sending him tumbling backwards with apple pie bits plastered on his features. He ended up sprawled on the floor in a daze with his tongue hung out. Some of the mush from the pie landed on his tongue, now he could taste it. Thunderhooves eyes shot open; it was delicious.
Back to the battle, Sora activated his Second Form, unleashing multi-hitting combos on any heartless close to him. One of the hedgehog-like heartless dissolved into sand. That was not the end of it as it re-emerged into a large worm, made entirely out of sand, with the swirly eyes and jagged mouths the heartless normally had.
The sand worm fired stones from it's mouth towards Pinkie, who joyfully dodged each stone. Having skipped near a tray full of pies, Pinkie made a lightbulb appear over her head. The pink mare began chucking pies at the sand heartless, knocking it back with each pie that made contact. After the last pie hit, the worm was dizzy. The assault was not yet over as Sora flew over to the worm's head and dashed through it with his keyblade pointed forwards. Sora followed up with six consecutive lunges, the last of with made the heartless dissipate into sand.
With Applejack, she was lassoing a Soldier when a Large Body charged into her, sending her flying towards the town's orchard.
"Applejack!" Sora cried out, having seen the farm mare get launched. After quickly dispatching the Large Body with fire magic, Sora bolted towards where Applejack landed, near the edge of the orchard. When Sora reached her, he quickly casted a cure spell on her.
"Applejack, you okay?" Sora said in concern, helping the farm mare on her hooves.
"Ah'm fine," She answered, her vision blurry but was unharmed all things considered.
"There's less and less heartless showing up," Sora noted, "We should be able to keep the town safe."
An ominous roar, coupled with a few booming steps made Sora reconsider his statement. The stomps were coming from the orchard. Whatever it was, it was knocking trees out of the ground like they were sticks. As the stomps were getting closer, Sora took the initiative and pulled himself and Applejack away from the edge of the orchard.
A giant axe swung forward, taking off four trees from the ground. Sora and Applejack were pelted with wooden shrapnel and stray apples as the newcomer made itself known. It was another heartless, far larger than the ones the ponies had seen thus far. Sora's seen it before, and it was still just as intimidating as before. It was a large humanoid wearing armor that was made of rock. It had broad shoulders with spikes protruding from it's sides and short stubby legs. It's back was hunched, the neck surrounded by an overlapping chain. It carried a massive, jagged, short handed axe that had a carving of a heartless face on it's side. The massive heartless flex as it was surrounded by a red aura. The ponies and buffalo who were nearby gawked in fear at this giant heartless. Applejack in particular froze in fear since she was so close to it. Sora, however, gritted his teeth in determination.
The towering heartless stepped forward, cause a slight tremor with each step. The heartless swung its axe overhead, intending to dispatch of Sora and Applejack quickly, only for Sora to defect it with his keyblade in an impressive display of strength. He went to work, Slashing the heartless' head while it tried to swat him away.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Rainbow were cleaning up the small fry heartless in the middle of town. As The purple unicorn fired another magic bolt at a Soldier, her ears picked up a commotion coming from not so far away. She turned her head and gasped at the sight of Sora battling a giant heartless.
"What in Equestria?!" She yelled, getting the attention of Rainbow, who unleashed an uppercut on a hapless Shadow. The cyan mare looked towards the giant heartless as well, her jaw dropping in shock.
Sora unleashed a raknarok volley on the giant heartless, making it stagger backwards. Sora lunged forward to strike, but the heartless swung in a retaliatory effort, sending Sora flying back towards the center of town.
"Sora!" Applejack called out, chasing after the caramel pony.
Rarity was busy kicking away a Shadow when Sora crashed near her, his body aching in protests to his movements. Rarity gasped and galloped over to Sora; Applejack joined them not soon after.
"Sora, are you alright?" Rarity asked out of instinct, of course he wasn't alright. Applejack helped Sora back on his hooves as he shook his head to clear his blurry vision.
"I'll be fine," He said, reaching into his saddlebags with his wing. He pulled out a blue bottle with a strange green liquid. Rather than drink from the bottle, Sora threw the bottle into the air were it exploded into a shower of green dust and leaves. Almost immediately, Sora showed signs of better health. Rarity and Applejack widened their eyes. That wasn't Sora's cure magic, but it provided a similar effect.
The heartless were more or less taken care off, except for the big one, who was lumbering into the town proper. The other mares soon joined up with Rarity, Applejack and Sora as they faced the massive heartless.
"That guy's preeeety big," Pinkie commented.
"So what?" Sora responded with a smirk, "There's more of us," Sora prepared himself for another clash with the heartless, until...
"YEE HAW!" Screamed a stallion's voice. The massive heartless perked up at the sound. Before it could respond, twelve lassos wrapped around it's left wrist, making the heartless jerk it's head to the side and drop it's axe. The group all widened their eyes as they saw this unfold.
Braeburn and some of the town's ponies had the heartless tied up. The monster turned towards them so that it could deal with this issue, but another round of lassos entangled it's right wrist, forcing it to pull it's arm back. Now the Apploosans had the monster in a lock. The giant heartless squirmed in protest, but it could not break it's arms free from earth pony strength.
"Now!" Braeburn yelled. Almost instantly, a swarm of buffalo with Little Strongheart leading the charge stampeded towards the heartless. The ponies released their hold on their ropes just in time for the buffalo to crash into it, forcing it to fall on it's back while the buffalo trampled all over it.
After the attack finished, everyone carefully kept their eyes on the heartless. It was not moving, but it had yet to disappear. To the disappointment of everyone, the heartless lethargically pulled itself out of the ground and stood back up. Everyone readied themselves as the behemoth grabbed hold of it's axe. It placed it's axe over it's face like some sort of mask. The heartless overflowed with some sort of red aura as it roared in rage.
"Oh come on!" Rainbow yelled. The heartless gave a heavy stomp on the ground, pushing out rock spikes that scared away anyone near them. The heartless continued this trend, pushing out pillars of rock that made everyone scatter in an unorganized mess.
While Applejack was avoiding the pillars, she unknowingly wandered right in front of the heartless. When she realized her mistake, she was frozen in terror as the heartless reared back it's fist.
Sora jumped in front of Applejack and held his keyblade in front. While he was spared the brunt of the attack, the sheer forced knocked him into Applejack, leading to both ponies being tumbled away a fair distance. The two ponies were able to recover themselves shortly.
Despite the severity of the situation, Applejack could not help but feel her guilt eating away at her.
"Sora," Applejack choked, "I..."
"Applejack," Sora shook his head, "Just forget about what happened," The farm mare was taken aback at how he could just forgive her so easily, "Right now, we have to save the town. Are you with me?" He held out his hoof for her to take. Applejack hesitated for a brief moment, but a quick look at Sora's determined smile gave her all the confidence she needed.
With a stern nod, Applejack responded, "Okay, ah'm with ya!" With that, she slapped her hoof with his. In that moment, both ponies were enveloped in a bright light for just the briefest of seconds. In that one moment in time, Sora and Applejack's thoughts merged into a single purpose. All of a sudden, they knew what to do.
Applejack grabbed hold of Sora's other fore-hoof and began to spin at a fast rate. Steadily, Applejack spun faster to the point where both ponies were a rotating blur. The giant heartless took notice of this and began to lethargically stomp it's way towards them. The ponies did not falter in any way. Eventually, after so much spinning, Applejack released her hold on Sora, launching him towards the heartless. Sora traveled at breakneck speed. In the few moments where he traveled, he reared up his hind-legs as if he was preparing to apple buck a tree. With perfect timing, Sora kicked his legs outward, impacting the heartless' mask.
The result was instantaneous. The impact created a shockwave that pushed a circle of dust that plumed outward. The axe shattered in pieces, rendering it unusable. The heartless felt the most from the impact, being sent flying twenty feet backwards and sliding another ten. Everyone who witnessed this attack had to cover their eyes from the amount of dust that was thrown out. When the dust settled, everyone could see the result of the attack. The heartless was struggling to stand up, it's frame swaying while it's arms lagged. And then there was Sora, keyblade in mouth and prepared to strike. In a flash, Sora struck, ending up on the opposite side of the heartless in the blink of an eye.
The heartless stopped moving. Letting out a low whine as it's body fell forward, the behemoth landed on the ground with a loud thud. The tone was silent as the heartless lay there. Finally, the beast began to dissipate as the crystalline heart trapped inside was released, floating away until it vanished.
The celebration was immediate, with pony and buffalo alike jumping for joy, the Appleloosans throwing their hats up in the air. Sora dismissed his keyblade and sighed in relief.
"All clear," He said, then Pinkie grabbed hold of him.
"Wow! That was the most impressive limit I've ever seen, I mean I've only ever seen you do a limit one other time but this way better than the last," Pinkie Pie gasped over-dramatically, "What would my limit with you be like, my head's spinning just thinking about it—"
"Pinkie, can you let go please?" Sora requested politely. The pink mare obliged.
"Geez, no need to be such a drama queen," She retorted, making Sora slump in dejection.
"Wooee!" Braeburn exclaimed, "That was some fight!"
"A battle worthy of song!" Little Strongheart.
"We would've been hosed if it wasn't for you two," Sora complimented the two of them.
"Aw, shucks," Braeburn modestly replied, "It was just something me and Little Strongheart thought of real quick."
"But you must admit, it was amazing," Strongheart chuckled.
"Yes it was," Spoke Chief Thunderhooves spoke as he and Sheriff Silverstar approached Sora.
"Ya'll really think we can work something out?" Silver asked Sora.
"Braeburn and Little Strongheart just proved that buffaloes and Appleoosans are more than able to work together," The caramel pony answered, "If they can do it, there's no reason you can't."
Thunderhooves and Silverstar both looked to the floor in unease.
"You might not have known it, but both of you were giving in to the darkness," Sora explained, "That's what drew the Heartless here, all of your fighting. If you keep going at each other's throats, you'll be lost to the darkness. I honestly don't know how you can come to a comprise, but you both owe it to those you lead. They deserve better than being caught in the crossfire."
With everything that has happened, coupled with Sora's brief speech, both leaders addressed each other.
"Chief, ah'm sorry fer vilifying ya the way ah did," Silverstar apologized while placing his hat over his chest, "We mighta done so without knowin', but we still robbed ya."
"I was under the impression you Appleoosans were disrespectful heathens," Thunderhooves spoke solemnly, "While you may not have been born here, you've made this place your home, and you look out for each other."
"For the sake a your folk and mine, let's see if we can work something out," Silverstar proposed.
"Agreed," Thunderhooves said, but then reverted back to his usual stoicism, "On one condition," The grew tense as the chief paused, making everyone nervous. The tension was dropped when Thunderhooves cracked a wide, "If you'd share your delicious pies with us!"
Silverstar tipped his hat, "Heh, done!" With that, everyone cheered for joy at the newfound peace between Appleoosa and the buffalo.
While everyone was cheering, Sora pulled Braeburn aside, "You guys were seriously gonna use pies as weapons?" He whispered.
"Ya'll don't know the true power of a freshly baked Appleoosan Apple Pie," Braeburn responded.
Sora blinked multiple times, trying to comprehend what he just heard. He decided to go with the Pinkie Pie method: Don't question it.
—
When negotiating a solution that would benefit everyone, Twilight proposed a brilliant idea. Twilight's plan was to cut a path through the orchard large enough for the buffalo to stampede through. This way, the Appleloosans could keep their town while the buffalo could keep their tradition. The process took the rest of the day to complete, with the project ending near dusk. Sora stood near the orchard where he saw the buffalo stampede through the path that was made, a smile etched on his face.
"Say, Sora?" Spoke a familiar country drawl. Sora turned his head to find Applejack approaching.
"Hey, A.J, what's up?"
"Ah wanted to thank ya, Sora," She said, "For everything. Ya'll risked yer tail fer this town, even after ah blew ya off the way ah did," The farm mare let out a chuckle, "Ah guess that's just the kinda pony you are, helping others no matter what they say."
Sora wanted to say something, but the words were not coming to him, so he decided to do what he's always done, listen to his heart.
"I had to do something," He responded, "I know how much this town means to your family, and I didn't want the buffalos to lose something close to them. If they just kept fighting the way they did, then it would've ended bad for everyone. I'm just glad everything worked out."
Applejack smiled at that answer, it sounded exactly like what Sora would say, and he meant it too.
Applejack let out a short sight, "Ah'm sorry for what ah said yesterday. Ah had no right ta say the things ah did. Ya'll are anythin' but worthless."
"You don't have to apologize, A.J," Sora replied with a smile, "Helping you out is the least I could do for you and your family."
"Whadaya mean?" The farm mare asked.
"I was a stranger and you guys took me in just like that. You didn't need to do that, but you showed me such great hospitality," Sora rubbed the back of his head, "I feel like I have to repay you in some way."
"Sora, let me stop ya right there," Applejack interrupted, making Sora give her his full undivided attention, "Don't ya'll ever think that ya owe me or mah family anythin'. We were more than happy ta give you a place to stay. Besides, you've more than payed yer worth to us. When you showed up all those months back, our farm's been doing better than it ever has. We used to have issues meeting our daily quota, but with you around we've harvested more apples than we know what to do with. On top a that, Apple Bloom's been more cheery than ever since ya showed up," Applejack paused for a moment before continuing, "you've done alot for mah family, Sora. Matter a fact, ah'd darn well say your like a part of the family."
Sora was taken aback by such a statement. She considered him family? "Do you really mean that?" In response, Applejack wrapped her hooves around Sora in a hug.
"This answer yer question?"
Sora let out a small chuckle before returning the gesture, "Yeah."
"I'm really lucky to have friends like these."
—
For those of you wondering why there is no explicit Pocahontas reference in this chapter, here is my argument: I've never seen Pocahontas.
Also, I'm really excited for Re:Mind.