Hello, fellow readers! Welcome to a proper redux of Harmonic Hearts! Now I know what you're thinking, so I'll cut to the chase:

I don't really know why I do it, but I really need to stop thinking too far ahead. The previous attempts were too ambitious, as the structure in them actually changed much more than I intended. Because of that, I couldn't compensate by giving them the proper quality they needed.

Which will lead us to the new rules I've set for this story:

1. The FiM show will NOT be included... most of it, at least. I do have some ideas involving Equestria, but they'll only be in more self-contained parts that help add to the overall narrative. This way, the flow of the story won't be so wonky.

2. The previous story had a solid structure, which was one of the reasons why I enjoyed writing it. That structure will still be here, since it worked before, but I'll try to keep it more focused this time. The only difference this time are the expansions, leading us to...

3. Along with the EG movies and the MLP movie like before, I'm also including the EG specials and shorts into the mix as well. Biggest reason being that when it comes to the KH characters, we rarely see them in more mundane situations. Plus, I do have ideas for certain characters when it comes to these, so look forward to that.

4. Considering the positive feedback I got for my OCs, I wanted to include them in a bigger role this time around. Don't worry, they'll only be included when they are needed. Some of them have changed a bit from last time, so don't expect the exact same thing from before.

5. This story may start out similar, but will be more of its own thing as the story goes on. Even the prologue will have changes that'll be seeds for what's to come, so keep an eye out for those.

With all of that said, let's get started!

Prologue: Dark Sun

The trio warp in from their Gummi Ship to appear in a courtyard of a high school. They scan the surrounding area to find it rather normal, which they comment on:

"Not gonna lie, this place is kinda..." Sora politely starts with.

"Bland?" Donald finishes for him.

"It may look like it, but there's always more than meets the eye." Goofy chimes in.

Sora agrees with that notion, "Good point. Let's check it out."

The three enter into the foyer and saw that it was indeed a school. Specifically a high school with lockers adorning the halls, interconnected into two floors worth of classrooms and more. It was rather empty, which it was likely cause class is in session. Soon they heard a voice coming from one of the halls:

"Why didn't you tell her the crown was yours?"

"Oh, I was going to." Another voice answers, revealing themselves as a human walking into the foyer.

Although, said human wasn't like Sora. She was rather colorful by appearance alone as she was talking to a puppy in her backpack.

She had pale orchid skin, violet eyes, and dark sapphire hair with two streaks colored purple and raspberry respectively. She wore a light blue blouse with a pink bow under a purple jacket, a dark blue backpack, a purple skirt with a six-pointed star on it, blue leggings underneath, and purple ankle-high boots.

They then watch her do weird gestures while explaining something to her pup:

"But then I imagined what if they came to Equestria, and said that they came from a world with tall figures and THESE? We would think they're crazy!"

The first voice they heard actually belonged to the pup as he spoke, "I guess that's a good point. So, how are you gonna get it back?"

"Simple. I'm gonna run for Fall Formal Princess!"

"OK. How?"

"...I have no idea!"

The trio weren't sure what just happened, but it sounds like a problem. So, they do what they do best.

"Excuse us." Sora calls out, getting their attention.

The two actually didn't notice them there until now, which their surprised expressions gave away.

"Sorry for eavesdropping, but what's this about a crown?" Goofy mentions.

"Uh..." Her mind was still processing what she's seeing.

The pup casually took over talking in her place, "Looks like I'm not the strangest one here."

Sora decides to give introductions to ease the situation, "I'm Sora, he's Donald and he's Goofy."

"I'm Spike, and she's Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight finally utters something in response, "Duck... Dog... here?"

"You mean from here? Nope, we're from... somewhere else." Sora corrects.

Her shock then shifts to intrigue, "Wait, are you two from Equestria too?"

"Equestria?" Donald repeats, "Is that this world is called?"

Before Twilight got the chance to clarify, Spike notices something from the corner of his eye:

"What's that!?"

The group follow his gaze to see a familiar sight of moving shadows. Sora summons his keyblade as Donald and Goofy summon their weapons, ready to fight the incoming horde.

"Heartless! Take cover!" Sora orders.

Twilight nods before going to do just that, finding a spot for her and Spike to watch the fight go down.

It was a simple swarm of Shadow heartless paired with a few Soldiers, easy to take on. The Shadows immediately went in the floor as the Soldiers charge in, with one attacking from above that Sora sidesteps before smacking it away.

Donald then calls down bolts of lightning, stunning the other Soldiers as Goofy follows up with tossing his shield that bounces between them. The stray Soldier tries to hit Sora again, only to miss and get swiftly countered with a fatal slash. The hiding Shadows emerge to attack, but he's quick enough to knock them away one by one.

Goofy calls back his shield in time for Donald to cast Blizzard, freezing the Soldiers before the former charges in by sliding on his shield. The knockback on contact sent them flying to the latter, who uses Fire to surround himself and burns them away.

"Gather!"

Sora casts a Magnet spell, gathering the Shadows before following up with Thunder to strike them down. Once they were gone, a smaller wave of Heartless appears that consists of five Neoshadows. Donald and Goofy group back up with him as said Neoshadows go on the offense.

Twilight and Spike were watching from afar, seeing them perform feats they didn't expect in a place without magic. Those 'Heartless' are rather creepy-looking, like something they would imagine from Tartarus.

"Donald!" Sora calls out, signaling a Limit with his partner.

The court mage floats in the air as a burst of fireworks hit the creatures, stunning them to allow free hits for Sora. The two watch as they combine the fireworks with swift swings to juggle them. Sora then swats them away just as Donald finishes with a spinning ring of fireworks, defeating the remaining Heartless in style.

"All right!" Sora cheers, high-fiving his friends in celebration before they realized something.

They caused quite the commotion during the fight, likely not hearing the bell ring to signal the end of the class period. Many students saw what happened with some recording the fight on their phones before they heard someone call out:

"What's going on here!?"

Twilight recognizes the human counterpart of Princess Celestia with someone beside her, most likely Luna, who's the principals of the school. They walk through the crowd to get into the foyer, where they see the strange trio and ask the same question everyone else was thinking:

"Who are you three?"

Unbeknownst to them, a certain student saw what happened and grew quite curious of the new arrivals.

Sora, Donald and Goofy were called into the principal's office to discuss what happened. Thanks to the students who recorded the fight, they got footage of the Heartless fight and in turn what they are about.

"Just so I heard you correctly, you three are here to find your missing friends?"

"Uh huh."

"As well as lock these keyholes of the worlds you visit, stopping the Heartless from destroying them?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Vice Principal Luna lets out a sigh, "So, it's not just our world then."

The three were kinda confused by that before Principal Celestia clarifies:

"This isn't the first time those creatures showed up here. We're not entirely sure when or why, but our world has been invaded by them for some time. So much so that we had to form a private force to deal with them. It's strange though, they haven't appeared in Canterlot for years."

The trio's curiosity leads to Donald asking an interesting question, "Are any of them keyblade wielders?"

"Unfortunately, no. In fact, you're the only one we've seen in years."

"Then there were keyblade wielders from here?" Goofy wonders.

"Starswirl the Bearded wrote about meeting one during his travels, though there were two versions of what transpired. One was him meeting a peaceful wielder, one who went from world to world to see their wonders. The other spoke of the wielder as a wild card, creating chaos wherever he went."

The trio couldn't help but compare that story to an entry from Ansem's journal back in their first journey, which was also brought up when King Triton confronted them in Atlantica. Could it be possible that Ansem knew about this world too?

Luna then brings them back into their conversation, "No matter the story, it ends with the wielder disappearing without a trace. But with what you told us, they must have went to another world."

The last part actually reminded Sora of their search, "Sorry to be rude, but I must ask. Have you seen our friends around here? Their names are Riku and King Mickey."

"What did they look like?"

"Riku's kinda like me, but he's a year older and has green eyes and silver hair. King Mickey's a mouse who's around Donald's size and wields a keyblade too."

Celestia wrote those details down before speaking up, "OK, we'll look out for them. In exchange, may I ask something of you?"

"Sure."

"I know you'll be here for a bit to find the world's keyhole, so I request that you prioritize the safety of our students when the Heartless show. We don't want them to get caught in the crossfire."

The trio weren't hesitant with their answer, "No problem, ma'am."

"Thank you. You're dismissed."

As the three were about to take their leave, they heard a stomach growl that came from Sora:

"Hehe, I guessed I missed a meal. Mind if we use your cafeteria?"

"Of course." Luna answers, who goes with them to lead the way.

Celestia was now alone in her office when she pulls out her cell phone to call a friend. After a minute of it ringing, the friend answers:

"Hey, Celestia. It's been a while. How you've been?"

"I'm doing all right, but we have a bit of a situation at CHS." She admits.

"Of what variety?"

"Well..."

The trio arrive at said cafeteria in no time thanks to Luna, seeing the students eating and hanging out within their groups as they headed for the food. Once they got a tray for themselves, plus an apple from the lunch lady, they then find Twilight walking with another girl to a table:

"That's the one not from here, right?" Sora recalls.

"Yup. I wonder who's her friend." Goofy wonders.

"Maybe someone like her?" Donald suggests.

"Let's go see."

The trio go to approach them and overhears Twilight in their conversation:

"Why is everypony-"

Her pup Spike briefly pops up to smack her head for the mistake, which she corrects:

"I mean everybody, separated this way?"

The two sat down at an empty table as her friend answers, "I'm not sure how it was at your school, but we stick to our kind here. If there's one thing here that's certain, Sunset is gonna rule this school until we graduate."

"Not if I can help it!" Twilight declares before chewing on her apple.

The trio weren't sure what they walked in on, but her chewing on the apple itself was weird. She notices the confusion on her friend's face before holding it properly, which was when Sora finally chimes in:

"Hey, Twilight."

She lets out a small yelp when he spoke, quickly calming herself as the trio sat down with them. Their arrival had a question pop in her mind:

"H-Hi. I guess it worked out with the principals?"

"Yep. We just came here to get some food. That and we haven't finished our conversation earlier."

"We came here cause he got hungry." Donald clarifies.

"Who's your friend?" Goofy asks her.

Twilight does a quick introduction in response, "This is my friend, Fluttershy. Fluttershy, this is Sora, Donald and Goofy."

The three wave at her, who slowly waves back as she was processing the sight.

Her appearance was colorful like Twilight, but clearly different. She had pale olive skin, opal eyes with light magenta eyeshadow, and long pale rose hair that held a butterfly brooch in it. She wore a pink jacket, a yellow backpack, a green dress with three pink butterflies on the skirt, and equally green shoes with pink stockings.

"She likes animals, so her seeing talking ones are basically a dream come true."

"Oh, she knows about Spike!?" Sora blurts out.

Fluttershy stares right at Twilight in response, giving away that she didn't as he lets out a nervous chuckle:

"Or not. Sorry."

Unbeknownst to them again, a certain student was watching from afar as she takes a bite of her apple.

The bell rings to signal the end of lunch, allowing the students to wander the halls in the meantime. After answering some questions Fluttershy really wanted to know, Twilight asked her where the party committee was located and headed there.

However, one thing was on her mind. Or rather three things, which were the trio following her right now.

"So, why are you following me exactly?" Twilight questions.

"Whenever we visit a world, there's always a problem." Sora answers, "Since it usually includes the Heartless, we help find the solution and that'll reveal the keyhole we need to lock to keep the world safe."

"Oh, that's what I forgot!" Goofy blurts out, "You mentioned something about a crown earlier. What's that about?"

Since they already said that they're not from here, she might as well tell them the truth:

"It's a bit of a story. Like you three, we're not from this world. Me and Spike come from a parallel world called Equestria, where I recently became a princess. We went to the Crystal Empire where my brother and sister-in-law rule to celebrate my first 'Princess Summit'. That night, Sunset came through a magic mirror to steal my crown."

"Was that the 'Sunset Shimmer' Fluttershy was talking about?" Donald recalls.

"Yes. And apparently, she rules this school with an iron hoof."

Sora catches something at the corner of his eye, turning to see three portraits on the hall wall. "Is this her?"

The others follow his gaze to said portraits. Twilight recognizes the fiery-haired girl, dressed up and wearing a crown in each one.

"Yeah, that's her all right." She then reads the labels on said portraits, "Fall Formal, Winter Wonderland, Spring Fling... these must be those contests she won."

While they showed quite a progression, Sora finds himself focused on the first one. If she's the 'ruler' of the school, then why does she look so genuine here? What caused such a change? As if she somehow read his mind, Twilight gave them some backstory:

"She was Princess Celestia's student before me, but eventually left due to not getting what she wanted. Over that time, she became cruel and dishonest. Despite that, the princess still hoped that she realized her mistakes and came back. Obviously not."

"Sounds pretty petty to me." Donald comments.

"True. Anyways, let's find that gym."

The four soon found said gym, entering to see it decorated for the Fall Formal already. It was quite nice as streamers hang from the rafters, balloons by the stage, tables set for the food to be placed on later, and so forth. There was a student in there, one that Twilight recognizes, as she... pulled a balloon design off her sweater and makes an actual balloon from it.

Not something you see everyday.

"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight mutters, yet somehow the girl heard it after finishing the balloon.

In an instant, the girl pops up in front of them and grabs Twilight's collar:

"How'd you know!? Are you psychic!?"

"N-No, I don't think so! Unless it's something you do here?"

"Not usually."

The trio raises an eyebrow at that statement, but has heard and seen stranger things. Looking over her appearance, it fits for someone who hosts parties.

She had pale cerulean eyes, light pink skin and rather puffy rosy pink hair. She wore a pink sweater with three balloons on the front, two blue with the middle one yellow, white pants and pink boots with white laces.

Upon seeing the trio, she lets out a loud gasp while pointing at them:

"Ohmigosh, it's you three!"

"Us?" Sora repeats.

"Yeah, you three are in that new video from today!" She pulls out her phone, showing them a clip of the Heartless fight from earlier. "Everyone at school is talking about it! It went viral so fast!"

"Oh... great?" The three weren't sure how to feel about that before Twilight changes the topic:

"So, you are the head of the party committee?"

"Yup! Let me guess..." Pinkie rubs her head a bit before pointing at her, "You want to sign up for Fall Formal Princess!?"

"Yeah, I assume that Fluttershy told you already?"

The party girl's face turns sour at that name, "Fluttershy, huh? Don't let the 'shy' part fool you, she can be pretty mean."

"Wait, you aren't friends?"

"Nope!" Pinkie's answer left Twilight puzzled as she switches topics, "By the way, are you three new around here? I definitely would have remembered you guys."

"We're new in town, actually." Sora answers.

"Ooo, from where!?"

"We're travelers, miss. We've been to so many places, it's hard to keep track." Goofy chimes in.

"That's right, so-" Donald then gets interrupted by some loud noises, which came from Spike playing with a loose balloon. "Hey, knock it off!"

Pinkie sees the pup, which pops another question into her head towards Twilight. "Wait! Do you have a twin sister by chance? One that lives in the city with a dog that looks juuust like that one?"

Twilight wasn't sure how to answer that, "...Uh, maybe?"

"Thought so. Any who..." Pinkie then reaches into her hair to pull out a clipboard and a pen, "Just sign your name on this and you're good to go!"

It was at this point that Twilight realizes something. The only experience she has had in her new body was basic movement and grabbing with her hands. Seeing Pinkie holding the pen, mouth is not the main method of writing. Luckily, she sees an alternate solution:

"Sora, can you help me with something?"

He walks over after hearing that to see her concern, "What's up?"

"I have HORRIBLE writing and I'd rather not embarrass myself, so would you mind writing my name for me?"

"Sure." He shrugs before being handed the pen and clipboard.

As he does this, the doors to the gym open as another student enters and calls out:

"Somebody order a dozen cases of fuzzy apple cider?"

"Oh, me! Memememe!" Pinkie rapidly cheers.

The student walks in to place the cider near one of the tables before noticing the trio, "Well, I'll be! The new heroes of the school!"

Sora finishes writing Twilight's name on the clipboard, handing it back with the pen to Pinkie as Goofy spoke up:

"It's just what we do, miss. Hyuck!"

Pinkie zooms over to the cowgirl before whispering, "I'm not sure why, but I think they are kinda her bodyguards."

Said cowgirl looks at Twilight before recalling something, "Wait, I know you. You're the one who stood up for Fluttershy, right?"

"Uh, yes. I guess she told you?" Twilight wonders.

"Yup. Said you gave that Sunset the what-for!"

"The 'what-for'?" Sora questions aloud, which Donald and Goofy shrug at.

The cowgirl pulled out a bottle of apple cider to drink soon after, giving them a moment to process her appearance:

She had moderate green eyes, pale gamboge skin with white freckles on her cheeks, and long pale olive hair. She wore a brown stetson hat, a white collared shirt that's green from shoulders to chest under a brown jacket, blue jeans with three red apples on the side of her thigh, a brown belt with a red buckle, and brown cowboy boots.

"Oh! Guess what, AJ? Twilight here is gonna be running for Fall Formal Princess!" Pinkie mentions.

That made AJ do a spit take before speaking, "You should have thought twice. That Sunset will pretend to play nice-"

She stops as the group watches Pinkie float from a balloon in her mouth before she pulls her back down. She then takes said balloon and another one for a demonstration:

"Oh my, I sure love some competition." The Sunset balloon said.

"That's great to hear!" The Twilight balloon agrees.

The Sunset balloon then turns around to reveal a nail taped to it, using it to pop the Twilight balloon.

"That's not nice." Donald comments.

"Sadly as much as I don't like her, the only one worse than her is Rainbow Dash." AJ mentions.

"Who's that?" Sora asks.

"The captain of the soccer team!" Pinkie answers while bouncing by on a big balloon.

"Add 'hypocrite' to her resume too." AJ adds.

Twilight stood there shocked hearing familiar faces talk bad about each other when they should be friends. Or, were they ever friends in this alternate world?

She eventually shakes that off to speak up, "I appreciate the advice Applejack, but I have to do this."

"Suit yourself." AJ then realizes what she said, "Wait, how did you know my name was Applejack?"

Thankfully, her suspicion didn't last as Sora came in to cover her. "Must have guessed it from the apples on your pants."

Applejack glances at said apples before getting the picture, "Huh, guess that makes sense. What's your names, by the way?"

"I'm Sora, that's Donald and Goofy."

"Nice to meet ya."

Another student comes into the gym with four more cases of apple cider, "Where do you want these?"

AJ points to where as she answers, "Put those next to the other table!"

Said student does just that before noticing the trio. AJ takes that moment to introduce him:

"That's my brother, Big Macintosh. Big Mac, that's Sora, Donald and Goofy."

"Yup." Big Mac simply said as the trio just wave hello.

It was here that Pinkie notices something, "Hey, where did Twilight and Spike go?"

The others soon notice the same thing, meaning that she quietly left for some reason.

"We'll go find her." Sora assures them, "That and we gotta make sure there's no Heartless running around."

"Alrighty, we'll see ya later." AJ understood before grabbing a couple of apple cider bottles, "Oh, here. In case y'all get thirsty."

"Thanks."

After taking the bottles into their inventory, the trio took their leave to find Twilight and Spike. Unbeknownst to them once again, a certain student was watching from outside before leaving earlier to follow the two as well.

"Why did you walk out on them?"

Spike questions this as Twilight was going down an empty hall. The latter lets out a sigh before answering:

"I didn't want to, but we are on a time limit remember? If we're gonna figure out how to fit into this world better, I think we'll learn more in the school library."

"I suppose so. Although, Sora and his friends look like they've done this plenty of times."

As they ponder that, the two took a wrong turn and finds themselves at a dead end. It was kinda odd as it looked abandoned, having a flickering light and a few open lockers. The two then heard footsteps behind them as a certain voice spoke up:

"Should have known you follow me here."

Twilight and Spike turn to see Sunset Shimmer standing there, arms crossed over her chest in a confident pose.

She had long red hair with yellow streaks, light amber skin, and cyan eyes. Her outfit consisted of a black leather jacket with a sun on the back that match her hair colors, a dark pink top underneath, black jeans, and black boots.

"Then again, it would make sense that you would come after 'your' crown."

Twilight notes the sarcastic emphasis and corrects it, "Yeah, it IS my crown. You're just a thief!"

"Oh please, you really think you deserve it?"

"Yeah, I earned that crown and my title with it."

Sunset shows a toothy smirk at that before slowly walking around her:

"Oh, is that right? You mean how you accidentally switched your friends' cutie marks with an unfinished spell, which you then had to fix? Frankly, I find it funny that you had to do that when anyone else in Ponyville could have done the same."

Twilight was kinda concerned by her oddly specific jab, "How do you know that?"

"You really think last night was the first time I came back to Equestria? Once I found out the portal can reopen and learned about its time limit, I used the previous times to go over and see how my old teacher's doing. Should have known I'd be replaced, it's just like her."

"Don't talk that way about her!"

"Ha! Oh please, don't tell me you're blinded by that idol worship molasses! Hate to break it to you, but she's not perfect. Nopony is."

"Wow, nice burn on yourself." Spike jabs.

Sunset didn't take kindly to that as she stops in front of them, "Quiet, kid. The grown-ups are talking."

"Says the spoiled 'princess of the castle'."

"Says the dragon who got jealous of an owl and hates their own species, the latter of which to the point of making up your own 'code of honor'. So really, you're no dragon, just an annoying little child. So like I said, shut up."

OK, THAT was very specific. Though the only way she would know is-

"You read our friendship journals, didn't you?" Twilight accuses.

Sunset lets out a chuckle before answering, "Sheesh, you're slow. I had to find a way to know my competition somehow."

"Then that's how you knew about the crown."

"You mean the crown that's essentially the cornerstone of the Elements of Harmony? Pretty much."

"Then why did you bring it to this world?"

"Like I said, it's the only way you can use the Elements. Without it, your world is doomed. One of many unfortunate facts you have to deal with."

"The real fact is that for someone so proud of being a 'princess', you resort to dirty tactics to win your battles!"

Sunset pauses for a moment before showing a more serious face, "Oh, you wanna talk facts? Very well. Let's discuss the REAL facts I know about you and your friends."

She holds up one of her hands clenched into a fist as she counts each friend on her fingers:

"Rainbow Dash, one who's ego is so big and frail that even Fluttershy can break it. Speaking of Fluttershy, such a fitting name for someone who's scared of ANYTHING you can think of. Pinkie Pie wears a smile so fake, she has gaslit herself and everyone else around her into thinking they can be happy. Rarity is the living embodiment of irony, as the 'generous' unicorn has a name that rhymes with Vanity. And then poor Applejack, who's stubborn pride can rival Rainbow's and has to live with the very Element that everyone hates to hear."

Sunset then folds most of her fingers back to point at Twilight, "And then there's you. Someone who doesn't realize what position she's in."

Twilight and Spike were just silent, processing all that Sunset had to say about them. Speaking of her, she took a deep breath and lets it out as she approaches them:

"Twilight Sparkle, you are nothing but an introverted bookworm who would rather read a book then go to some party. Someone who if it wasn't for DESTINY, would still be reading books in that lonely little tower in Canterlot. Destiny is why you replaced me as Celestia's pupil, destiny is why you even have those 'friends' you care about, and destiny is why you can use the Elements of Harmony. Everything that you claim that you 'earned', you never did. You had everything given to you, because DESTINY had to replace... ME."

The two girls stared each other down, both with bubbling anger as neither backed down. The hall was silent to where you can hear a hair hit the floor, much less a pin. Eventually, Sunset turns away to walk off before Twilight spoke up:

"Aren't you missing one?"

Sunset stops with a roll of her eyes before turning back around, "...What?"

"You heard me. You wanna talk facts, yet you missed one. Yourself."

"Myself? You literally don't know anything about me."

"I know just enough."

"Is that right? Feel free to enlighten me, oh introvert with no social skills."

Twilight does her best to calm herself before beginning her own little speech:

"Sunset Shimmer, you fail to realize that you're no better than Rainbow or Applejack. At least they KNOW that their behavior can harm others. Fluttershy has more courage than you think to face those fears. Rarity may come across as 'vain', but she's generous in that she never asked for anything in return. Pinkie may be energetic, but she knows that everyone deserves at least one happy moment in their lives."

Twilight then starts to approach Sunset as she continues, "And now that you mention it, perhaps you're right about me being destined for more than I thought I would ever get in my life. But unlike you, I understand why."

She stops in her tracks as the two were face to face again, "Destiny chose me as your successor, because it sees you... as a FAILURE."

The two stared down again, but Sunset's face was trying to hide an angry twitch with her eye... before she began to laugh. A toothy grin appeared on her face, which honestly was starting to freak both Twilight and Spike out a bit. The laugh soon ends as Sunset stared down:

"Not bad, for an understudy. Unfortunately, you should have learned that mouthing off to royalty... will cost you dearly."

SHING!

Twilight saw it happen in an instant. Sunset somehow pulls out a sword from nowhere and lunges in to swing at her, only for Sora to suddenly appear between them to block her attack. As the two were in a deadlock, Donald and Goofy came to her side with their weapons ready to protect her.

"You all right, Twilight?" The captain of the knights asked.

"Y-Yes." She answered, "Thank you."

Sunset was still ticked as she spoke up, "Well, well. The keyblade wielder and his friends. Has anyone ever told you to mind your business?"

"Sorry, but meddling is a bad habit of ours." Sora retorts.

The two then push off each other, landing a few feet away as Sora got into his battle stance. With Sunset standing still for the moment, they got a better look at her weapon:

It was a sabre rapier, modeled off the ones used in fencing. It was rather distinct though, as the bell guard was colored gold with a red sun circling the center and the steel blade was colored an obsidian black.

The tension has yet to leave as the group was ready for any attack she might pull... but she doesn't. In fact, it seems like she was calming herself down.

"No... not yet." Sunset mutters, barely caught by them before she desummons her weapon and walks away.

The group was just confused as they saw her go out of sight, but leaves it be for now as the trio turn to Twilight:

"You're not hurt, are you?" Sora asked.

"No, I'm fine. You three came just in time." Twilight assures them.

"But, we found out how big our problem really was." Spike admits.

"Let's go find the library. I'll explain on the way."

With that said, the group head off to their destination as the trio are informed on the situation.

And done! Well, this turned out really good. Now to what has been changed:

The biggest one is Sunset's motivation. If there was one thing I recently found odd, is that she treated Twilight as another obstacle. Frankly her finding out that not only was she replaced, but her successor got to become what she wanted and much more... I feel like she should have taken it more personally. With their new exchange here, it recontextualizes her reason for taking the crown and expands her plan of revenge.

Another big one is the added lore in the human world. Not just the Starswirl story this time, but we'll get there in later chapters.

There are other ones, such as removing a Heartless fight cause it didn't really add anything. Honestly, most minor changes are getting rid of redundant dialogue. That's something I noticed in the previous one, so I'm trying my best to avoid that habit.

With this said, I hope you enjoy the proper start of Harmonic Hearts Redux! Thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!