Chapter 130: Heart of the Puppet Part 3: A Real Boy
During the dead of night, on the stage coach that was said to be there waiting for Honest John to bring some boys to be taken to Pleasure island, loading up all the children onto a steam boat before casting off, leaving the main land to make the journey to Pleasure Island. Right behind them, Mayas was using her aquatic abilities to chase after them, riding a wave with everyone with her, riding all the way to the dock that they had left, running along the wooden dock, but hissing as they failed to get tot he boat.
"Shoot!" Maya said. "We didn't make it!"
"We're sorry." Apple Bloom said. "We should have come to you sooner when Honest John stopped Pinocchio."
"Don't blame yourselves Apple Bloom." Maya said. "You did the right thing coming to us when you did instead of trying to handle it yourselves."
"Well, not what?" Applejack asked. "We missed the boat, and we can't go back to the ship, can we?"
"I wish we could." Maya replied. "Teleporting ourselves to the ship and then to Pleasure Island would be the quickest way, but since we haven't been there yet, we can't do that. Leaving us with having to get a boat and going after them."
"But we don't know where the island is." Sweetie belle pointed out.
"We don't, yes." Maya replied. "But that doesn't mean we can't find out. Rainbow Dash, think you can follow the steam boat and come back once you have the route to the island?"
"You kidding?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I can do this in my sleep! Be back before you know it!"
Rainbow Dash then flew after the ship, flying high enough in the sky to not be spotted, keeping up with the ship as it made its way to Pleasure island. After a couple of hours, the ship finally landed on the dock of the island, the boys all running off the ship and into the island, Rainbow Dash landing on a nearby cloud and looking down to see all the little boys run into the island, which was one massive amusement park with many sections on it, however, it was upgraded and had sections with Indian Cigar men mechs, grabbing cigars and throwing them into a crowd of children to smoke, a mansion the kids were allowed to destroy, a place where children can fight and rough it up, and other places where children could be naughty and make total jackasses of themselves. Having seen enough, she took off back into the direction of the mainland, flying as fast as she could back to her friends so they can make their way to Pleasure Island.
Back on the mainland, Maya managed to find a boat she could sail onto Pleasure Island, just waiting on Rainbow Dash to come back, seeing her fly8ing in and landing on the dock, but she looked exhausted, bags under her eyes and panting heavily, collapsing onto the ground as everyone ran over.
"I found the island." Rainbow Dash said, out of breath. "It's only a couple of hours north by northwest. It's complete chaos."
"Nice work Rainbow Dash." Maya said, picking her up. "We're getting ready to cast off. I hope we're not too late. Rainbow, lead the way."
Rainbow Dash saluted, flying into the air and staying within sight so that Maya can see her as she piloted the ship. A moment later, Maya took command of the steam boat she managed to get, moving in the direction that Rainbow Dash gave them, hoping to find their friend and hoping they weren't too late. On Mobius, the Overlord was in the control center, his pet project developing rapidly during the last few days, now developed into a pre-teen pony, moving around and wiggling while in the container, her eyes still closed as she remained in the container, the Overlord watching her.
"You seem troubled Viper." The Overlord said, looking to his right. "What's wrong?"
"Sir, some of the other Conquerers are starting to deviate from their programming." Viper replied. "They cannot compute the reasoning for having this, thing, here. They believe it should be destroyed."
"Negative." The Overlord replied. "They just don't see the big picture." He then turned around and walked to the console, pulling up an image of the Egg Carrier. "Dr. Eggman is closing in. I believe he will be here in the next couple of days and there is a high probability he has a plan. Which, I'll be ready for him."
"Explain." Viper replied.
"I have found something in my last diagnostic scan of one of the Conquerers that the doctor has a small device planted into his machinery." The Overlord replied. "From what I can find out, it's a kill switch."
"A kill switch?" Viper asked. "Ah, the calculations are now coming together. We'll utilize the asset to fight the doctor as she'll not be affected by the kill switch, granting us a fighting chance against the rogue doctor."
"Affirmative." The OverLord replied. "She'll be invaluable to the plans I have. Come Viper, we have work to do."
The Overlord deactivated the monitor and walked with Viper, moving out of the room, but as they left, the serpent/demon shadow appeared again, slithering to the container and starring at the pony, seeing she was almost ready and smiling.
"Soon my friend, soon." The shadow said. "This world is out of balance. It will soon collapse and once it does, I shall awaken and you... you shall be my vessel of destruction. Soon little one, soon."
The shadow then disappeared, leaving the sleeping pony alone in the chamber, but as it disappeared, the pony started to stir a bit, moving around as it felt something was changing, almost waking itself up when it suddenly felt something grab her shoulder, calming down almost instantly as if it felt safe around whoever it was.
"Your path is your own." The being said. "Darkness holds much temptation, but you are the mistress of your own destiny. Listen to your heart and let it be your guide, for only when you listen will you know what your destiny is."
He then removed his hand, leaving the pony alone as she rested, feeling comfort from the words she heard, reaching up to her shoulder and holding it as if expecting the hand to still be there. Back in Pinocchio's world, Maya was piloting the ship and had arrived at Pleasure Island, finding it was walled off and there was a gate, barring their way as they approached.
"Great, a massive gate." Rainbow Dash said. "Now what?"
"Well, there isn't a lock on it." Maya said. "The whole thing is blocked off with a wooden bar."
"And it's locked." Rarity said. "Over to the right, there's a lock on it."
Everyone looked up to the bar and saw what she was seeing, an old rusty lock at the end of the wooden bar, keeping it from being lifted up by anyone without a key.
"Good eye Rarity." Maya said. "Hold on a moment."
Maya called her Keyblade and lifted it up to the lock, stars flying into the tip of the blade before a beam of light shot out and hit the lock, making it click and fall off. Rainbow Dash then flew over and lifted up, unlocking the door and giving them access to the entire island, opening the doors to find the entire place was trashed, garbage everywhere, a destroyed mansion, Indian Cigar idols without any cigars and destroyed boxes, and most of all, there were no children at all, concerning them.
"It's quiet." Apple Bloom said. "Really, really quiet."
"Well, we better start searching for Pinocchio." Maya said. "We're not going to find him on just standing here."
"Don't bother looking!" Jiminy said, walking past them.
"Jiminy?" Maya asked. "Where's Pinocchio?"
"He's at the Pool Hall with his new friend Lampwick!" Jiminy replied. "He's smoking, drinking, playing Pool, it's the complete opposite of being a good boy! And that Lampwick, who does he think he is!? Pinocchio's friend,BAAH! He's nothing but a good for nothing delinquent!"
"So why are ya here instead of with Pinocchio talkin' sense into him?" Applejack asked.
"I tried, but he took Lampwick side!" Jiminy replied. "If he's going to listen to him instead of his conscience, then so be it!"
"Jiminy." Maya said, watching as he stormed off. "AJ, why don't you take the fillies and go talk some sense into Pinocchio? We'll see about calming Jiminy down."
"Ah'll try." Applejack said. "But this place kinda gives me the creeps. Girls, stay close and don't wonder off."
They split up into separate groups, Applejack taking the fillies with her to get their friend and see if they could talk some sense into the little puppet before it was too late while Maya walked with Rainbow Dash and Rarity, following him to another door.
"Jiminy, you can't abandon Pinocchio now." Maya pled. "He still needs you."
"What he needs is someone to smack him with some common sense!" Jiminy exclaimed. "Conscience or no conscience, he should know from last time not to trust people that are dishonest or disobedient!"
"But Jiminy darling, he's just a little wooden boy." Rarity said. "He needs somepony to teach him the difference between right and wrong."
"Yeah, you can't quit now!" Rainbow Dash said. "He needs you!"
"More like he want's to listen to Lampwick and not his conscience!" Jiminy replied. "I've had enough of this! I'm taking the next boat home!"
They arrived at the door, which Jiminy knocked, wanting out when they all heard what sounded like a bunch of donkeys on the other side, Jiminy sliding under to get a better look while Maya saw another lock, this time it was on the gate itself, so she pointed her Keyblade at the lock and opened the door, walking in to find that the entire area had a bunch of crates and hundreds of donkeys, confusing everyone about why this section would be locked if it was to just transport donkeys.
"Where did all the donkeys come from?" Jiminy asked, scratching his head.
"You're asking us?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking to some men pulling one out and tossing it to the coachman, which the donkey was wearing clothing. "Hey wait a minute, do donkeys in this world wear clothing?"
"No they don't." Jiminy replied. "They don't wear clothing."
"Strange." Maya said, scratching her chin as she watched the coachman rip the clothing off and then toss the donkey into a crate, a thought coming to her mind as she felt her blood run cold. "Jiminy, where are all the boys?"
"No idea." Jiminy replied. "One minute, this place was booming with a bunch of boys, the next they were gone."
"Maya, what's wrong?" Rarity asked. "You seem... worried."
"I just had a thought, and I hope I'm wrong." Maya said, watching as another donkey was tossed to the coachmen.
"And what's your name?" The coachman asked.
"Alexander." The boy replied, shocking everyone.
"Did that donkey just talk!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Do they usually talk in this world!?"
"They don't." Maya said, realizing what had happened. "Oh no, the curse."
"What curse?" Rarity asked, the coachmen tossing the donkey into a pen.
"This island has a curse on it." Maya replied. "Should a boy or girl misbehave enough and for long enough, this island will turn them into literal jackasses. Meaning those donkeys aren't donkeys. They the boys!"
"What!?" Rainbow Dash asked, shock by the revelation. "Great, and I thought the cursed Aztec Gold was bad, this is just ridiculous!"
"But that means... PINOCCHIO!" Jiminy exclaimed, turning and running back to Pinocchio.
"Rainbow Dash, go with Jiminy and get Pinocchio out of here!" Maya said. "Tell Applejack what's happening and tell her to get the fillies back to the ship! Rarity, get to the ship and get it started!"
"What about you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I'm going to see what I can do to free the donkeys before they get onto those ships." Maya replied.
Without waiting, the ponies ran out from the cave, running and flying out of there while Maya ran down the steps, hoping to do what she could to save the boys before they were sent away. At the ship, the Coachman's men were loading the first batch of donkeys onto the ship, the coachman rubbing his hands as he thought of the fortune the transformed boys would make for him as Luxord walked up next to him, crossing his arms.
"You sure the puppet isn't amongst these donkeys?" Luxord asked. "I'd rather not have to try and sift through them all just to find him."
"Don't worry my friend, he's quite safe, for the moment." The Coachman replied. "You might want to hurry though, because it won't be long before he too shares their fate."
"Then it's a good thing I'm here to stop that." Maya said.
They all turned to look at the Keyblade warrior, which she had her blade out as the henchmen surrounded her, ready to capture her.
"May, what a surprise." Luxord said. "Or, should I call you Maya now? Either way, i didn't expect to see you here."
"And I didn't expect you to stoop so low Luxord." Maya replied. "Turning innocent boys into donkeys? That's low, even for you."
"All I did was make a deal with my friend here." Luxord said, waving his hand as multiple Gamblers appeared around Maya, which she didn't seem too bothered by it. "And that deal doesn't involve you."
"Well it does now." Maya replied.
She waved her hand, lifting it up as a wall of water shot up, covering their two escape routes and blocking their ship in, surprising the Coachman.
"She can use magic?" The Coachman asked.
"She can do a lot more than that pal." Luxord replied. "And she's after the puppet. Go get him before she and her friends do. I'll deal with her."
Without saying another word, the coachman ran out of the room, leaving Luxord with Maya and the Gamblers as she dodged an attack and fought back, engaging the gamblers first before dodging Luxord card attack. Applejack was walking along the road going further into the island with the fillies, looking for this Pool Hall, but they failed to ask Jiminy what it looked like or where to go, so they were walking in a random direction to find the hall.
"Ah hope nothin' bad happened to Pinocchio." Apple Bloom said.
"Me too." Sweetie Belle said, looking around and feeling chills run down her back. "This place gives me the creeps. And where are the other boys? This places seems deserted."
"Yeah, kinda spooky." Scootaloo said. "Where the heck is the Pool Hall?"
"Ah don't know." Applejack replied. "But we gotta be gettin-"
"Pinocchio!" Jiminy shouted.
The four of them turned around and saw that Jiminy was running past them, going in the direction they were going and leaving them confused.
"What in tarnation's going on?" Applejack asked.
"AJ!" Rainbow Dash shouted, skidding to a halt. "AJ, the boys, they've been turned into Donkeys!"
"Wait, what!?" Applejack asked. "Ya serious!?"
"Dead serious!" Rainbow Dash replied. "The Coachman brought these boys here to turn them into donkeys and sell them!"
"Oh Karabast!" Scootaloo said. "We need to help him!"
"Maya told me to get Pinocchio and to get him out of here." Rainbow Dash said. "You need to get the fillies and get back to the boat!"
"No, Ah'll get Pinocchio." Applejack said. "You get the fillies back to the boat. You're fast, so you'll get them to safety quickly."
"You sure AJ?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Positive, not get them out of here!" Applejack said, running after Jiminy.
At the Pool Hall, Pinocchio was sitting in a chair, listening to Lampwick as he got ready to take his shot before taking a swig of beer.
"Heh, to hear that beetle talk, you'd think something was going to happen to us." Lampwick said, donkey ears popping up. When Pinocchio saw the ears appear, he looked down at his cup and put it on the table, pushing it away as Lampwick put his cigar back in his mouth. "Conscience. Ah, phooey!" he took a shot and when he did, a tail popped out of his rear, spooking Pinocchio and making him toss the cigar away. "Where does he get this stuff? 'How do you expect to be a real boy?' What does he think I look like, a jackass!?"
Lampwick took another shot and turned back to Pinocchio, his face the literal face of a donkey, making Pinocchio chuckle a bit.
"You sure do!" Pinocchio replied, laughing before he brayed like a donkey, covering his mouth.
"Hey, you laugh like a donkey!" Lampwick said, laughing for a bit before he brayed like a donkey as well, covering his mouth. "Did that come out of me?" Pinocchio nodded his head, Lampwick putting his hand on his nose, tapping it before moving his entire hand over his face, reaching his ears and grabbing them, pulling them down. "W-what's going on!?" He then ran to a mirror and saw he looked like a donkey, screaming in terror. "I've been double crossed!" He then started running around in a panic, terrified of what was happening, screaming for help before stopping at Pinocchio, pleading for help. "Please, you gotta help me! Be a pal! Call that beetle! Call anybody!" As he said it, his hands turned into hooves, both he and Pinocchio horrified of what's happening. "Mama! MAMA!"
As he screamed for his mother, he fully transformed into a donkey, braying like crazy before kicking everything, destroying the room as Pinocchio hid, not wanting to get hit by his hooves when donkey ears sprout out of his head, terrifying him.
"AH, what's happening!?" Pinocchio asked.
Outside, Jiminy was running as fast as he could to the Pool Hall, praying he wasn't too late as he heard hoof steps behind him, turning to see Applejack was running in his direction.
"Applejack!" Jiminy shouted.
"Jiminy, hop on!" Applejack shouted, the cricket jumping onto her back and holding on.
"I hope we're not too late!" Jiminy exclaimed. Applejack was running ahead of them, looking around for the Pool Hall when Jiminy saw it coming up, jumping to Applejack's head. "There, straight ahead! Take a left!"
Applejack did as Jiminy asked, turning to her left and finding a building looking like an eight ball, running in to find Lampwick was fully transformed into a donkey while Pinocchio was going through the process, a tail now springing from his rear and scaring him.
"Pinocchio!" Jiminy shouted.
"Jiminy!" Pinocchio replied, running to them. "Applejack, please help!"
"Pinocchio, we gotta get outta here!" Applejack said.
"Yeah, the kids, the boys, they're all donkey!" Jiminy said, seeing the ears on Pinocchio's head. "Oh, you too!"
"Quick, hop on sugarcube!" Applejack said, Pinocchio getting onto the ponies back. "We got a ship, we're gettin' outta here!"
"Oh no you're not." The coachman said, appearing in the doorway. "Well, a talking pony, now this will make me a fortune. Now, be a good little pony, and hand over the puppet."
"I'm sure as possum spit not doin' that ya double crossin' varmint!" Applejack exclaimed.
She ran towards the coachman and turned, kicking with her back legs and knocking the coachman out of the doorway, giving them a clear cut pathway out of the hall and running towards the door where they came from, but skidded to a halt, finding it was locked again and there were a few Nobodies in the way, forcing them to take another way.
"Applejack, follow me!" Jiminy said, hopping off. "I know of another way out! Come on!"
Jiminy jumped off and Applejack followed him, which the Coachman was right behind them, following them as he ran, but then stopped, watching ads Applejack was jumping up the side of the cliff with ease, not being bothered by how steep it was until they reached the edge, looking down to see the water below them and back to see the coachman catching up, climbing up the cliff side to catch them.
"Shoot, now what?" Applejack asked.
"We jump!" Jiminy replied.
"Jump!?" Applejack asked, looking down at the water. "Ya crazy Jiminy!?"
"It's the only way out!" Jiminy replied. "Don't worry, you're going to be ok. Unless you can't swim that is."
Applejack looked down the edge of the cliff and back to the coachman, finding he was getting closer, so she took in a deep breath and jumped right as the coachman reached for them, just missing the farm mare as she splashed down in the water, the coachman looking down and seeing them surface, swimming away as he yelled in frustration, turning and climbing down the cliff. As he reached the bottom, he ran to get his men and found Luxord there, breathing heavily after climbing up and down the cliff.
"Well, where's the puppet?" Luxord asked.
"It... got away." The coachman replied, displeasing the Organization member. "But... it just jumped in the ocean with the orange pony. If we get into the boats now, we can-"
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Luxord replied. "Maya got away and has blocked off all exits. This island is surrounded by ice, courtesy of the Water Dragon."
"Well we'll just run after them on the ice!" The Coachman replied. "They aren't far, we can-"
"Unfortunately for you, I don't have time for such frivolous efforts." Luxord said, pulling a card out. "I'm a gambler and as one, I made my bet and lost. And so did you."
He turned the card and it revealed to be a blank, confusing the coachman at first, but Luxord threw the card at him, which it grew bigger and bigger until it passed over him, sucking him into a dark abyss as he screamed in fear, reaching for something to grab onto, but failed as he flew into the card, making it shrink and fall to the ground, revealing him, but as a joker. Luxord smiled to himself, turning to find the rest of the coachman's men were frightened, opening a corridor and walking through it, snapping his fingers as the gamblers appeared, attacking them as they yelled in terror. In the ocean, Applejack was swimming as fast as she could, wanting to reach land before she got exhausted when they heard a steam boat, looking over to see Maya piloting the ship they were on towards them, swimming in place to let the boat catch up, the boat stopping and a latter extending downward to let the three of them on, climbing up and onto the boat.
"Ya got here just in time." Applejack said, letting Pinocchio off before shaking the water off herself. "Ah kinda thought Ah'd be swimming the entire way."
"Well we couldn't let ya go do that, now could we?" Apple Bloom asked, getting her mane ruffled by her sister.
"Pinocchio darling!" Rarity said, walking up to him. "Your ears."
"Heh, looks worse than it is." Pinocchio replied. "I got a tail too!"
He then started laughing before he brayed like a donkey, spooking everyone as he covered his mouth.
"Well, at least we got you out of there just in time." Maya said. "The islands curse can't reach us all the way out here."
"Maya, did you do that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
They all looked out to see the island and found it was surrounded by polar ice, spikes extended outward to deter anyone from coming in, snow clouds above the island and producing snowflakes and freezing winds, making them shiver.
"I did." Maya replied, turning the wheel. "That was something Spyro taught me. The Eternal Winter spell. Want to make sure no one went back there again."
"But the other boys." Pinocchio said. "What about them?"
"There's nothing we can do." Maya replied. "I'll inform the authorities about what happened, but that's as much as I can do. I'm sorry, but there is no spell strong enough to reverse what happened to them."
Everyone looked to the island, thinking about the children and how they suffered, even though they brought it upon themselves, there was not much they could do to help them when APple Bloom thought of something.
"Ah got it!" Apple Bloom said. "Pinocchio, ask Spyro!"
"What in tarnation ya'll talkin' about Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked.
"No, she's right!" Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly. "Back in Stromboli's carriage, Spyro said Pinocchio and ask for help from him one time. If Pinocchio asks him for help, he can help."
"And how the heck can he help?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We're already out."
"But not the others." Pinocchio said. He walked to the edge of the boat, hopping up onto the ship and looking to the island, taking in a deep breath as he looked to the cursed island. "Spyro... I don't know if you can hear me, but I need to ask you something. It's not for me, but for the other boys trapped on Pleasure island. They've been turned into Donkeys and have no way to get out. If you can, can you get them out, please?"
They waited for something to happen, hoping that Spyro had heard them and looked around to see if anything happened, but unfortunately, they didn't see a thing, looking away from her island, but Pinocchio kept looking to the island, praying something would happen before turning to jump down, but saw Spyro leaning on the wall, smiling at the wooden puppet as he nodded his head, disappearing. Pinoccchio then turned back to the island and seeing a purple star appear above the island, shouting excitedly and getting everyone's attention, looking to the island and seeing the star, all running to the edge in disbelief.
"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle." Jiminy said. "He heard you."
"Ah'll say he did!" Applejack said, watching the star.
They all watched as the star spun faster and faster, releasing a tendrils of purple magic into the island, that magical tendrils piercing the ground and digging through the cave wall until it reached the cavern with all the donkeys, all braying in a panic as the light filled the room, turning all the donkeys into light and pulling them out of the cave, the lights flying into the sky and back towards the main land along with the donkeys still in the park turning into lights, flying away as into the sky. As the last light flew into the air, the star then turned into a dragon, Maya's boat reaching the dock as they watched the dragon pull it's head back, purple clouds radiating from it's mouth as it released a beam of energy into the island, destroying it and releasing a shockwave, almost knocking everybody down as it disappeared, the island no longer there as Maya got a telescope out to see what had happened.
"The island... it's gone." Maya said.
"Gone?" Sweetie Belle asked. "How?"
"Spyro... destroyed it." Maya said.
They were all in disbelief, looking out to the sea before Pinocchio looked down, seeing a card floating on the surface of the water. Pinocchio reached down and picked it up, finding it was the joker card and it had a resemblance to the Coachman.
"Look, the coachman!" Pinocchio said.
"Where!?" Maya said, she and the ponies calling their Keyblades. She looked down and saw Pinocchio had a card, reaching down and taking it, finding it was the coachman dressed as a jester, chuckling as she dismissed her Keyblade. "Well, well, well, looks like karma caught up with this guy. Though I'd have like to have seen some poetic justice and see him as a donkey."
"Why?" Pinocchio asked.
"Because he made all the boys into Donkeys, so it would only seem fitting to see this Bantha fodder get turned into one." Maya said, putting the card into her pocket. "No one's going to miss this guy. Come on, let's get you home."
The group walked through the town, moving throughout the streets at night all the way to Geppetto's house, finding it and Pinocchio running towards it excitedly as everyone held back, looking to the streets to see all the boys from the island running home.
"Looks like everything's going to be alright from this point forth." Rarity said. "We got Pinocchio home, the boys from the island are boys again, and that disgusting cursed island is gone."
"That's for sure!" Rainbow Dash said. "And now that Pinocchio's back home, maybe we can focus on making him a real boy and get the Heart Piece!"
They watched as Pinocchio was knocking on the door, moving to the window and looking in, but looking upset, making them worry.
"Something's wrong." Maya said. "Why isn't Geppetto opening the door?"
"Ah don't know." Applejack replied. "We better go see."
They walked over to the house right as Pinocchio sat down, looking depressed as Jiminy sat with him, everyone kneeling down to him to see what was wrong.
"Hey Pinoke." Apple Bloom said. "What's wrong?"
"Father isn't home." Pinocchio replied.
"Wait, seriously!?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"It's true." Jiminy replied. "Geppetto isn't home."
"And Figaro and Cleo aren't home too." Pinocchio said. "Maybe something awful happened to him."
"Aw, don't worry son." Jiminy said. "I'm sure he hasn't gone too far."
A moment later, a letter floated down from the sky, surprising everyone as it landed in the ground, showing it had golden letters on it.
"Wow, where did that come from?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"From the sky." Scootaloo said, everyone giving her a dirty look and making her smile. "Sorry, bad attempt at humor."
"Definitely an atrocious attempt." Rarity replied. "At least Spyro had some good jokes from time to time."
"Well what does the message say?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Well... it's about Pinocchio's father." Jiminy replied.
"Where is he?" Pinocchio asked.
"Well, uh, it says here he went looking for you and got word of a wooden boy going to pleasure island." Jiminy replied. "So he rented a boat and went looking for you, and ended up getting swallowed by a whale."
"Swallowed by a whale!?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, uh-huh." Jiminy replied. "A WHALE!? A whale named Monstro! But... wait, he's alive!"
"Where?" Pinocchio asked.
"Inside the whale at the bottom of the sea." Jiminy replied.
"Then let's go get him." Scootaloo said.
"Right!" Pinocchio said.
They then went with Pinocchio to help him find his father, though Jiminy seemed hesitant as they reached the cliff, watching Pinocchio tie a rock onto his tail.
"Um, why don't we take the boat we used to get to pleasure island to find Monstro?" Apple Bloom asked.
"That's actually a good point." Applejack said. "Shouldn't we use it to find him?"
"He's at the bottom of the sea." Maya replied. "Taking the ship to find him would be pointless."
"Not to mention Monstro's a whale of a whale!" Jiminy added. "He can swallow whole ships! It's dangerous."
"Well unfortunately none of us can breathe underwater." Rarity said.
"Actually, you three can." Maya said, pointing to the bigger ponies. "The Keyblades magic can let you breathe underwater."
"Wait, seriously!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "The Keyblade can let us breathe underwater!? Since when!?"
"Since always." Maya replied. "Sora first discovered it can do that a while ago."
"Well Ah'll be horn swaddled!" Applejack said. "If the Keyblade can do that, wonder what other kinda magic is has we don't know about?"
"More than you can imagine." Maya replied. "However, the fillies are another story."
"That's no joke." Scootaloo said. "How are we gonna help find Monstro? We can't breathe underwater."
"Well, I can use my magic to grant you temporary water breathing." Maya replied. "It'll last as long as you're underwater."
"Really!?" Apple Bloom asked. "Well what are we waiting for!? Let's go!"
"Goodbye Jiminy." Pinocchio said, wanting to shake his hand.
"Goodbye?" Jiminy asked. "Listen here, I might be live bait down there, but I'm with you all one hundred percent." He then jumped onto the rock Pinocchio was holding, holding his nose. "Let's go!"
As he said it, Pinocchio jumped over the cliff, Maya summoning her Keyblade and tapping it onto the fillies heads, making them glow blue before they jumped over the ledge, Maya following close behind with the bigger siblings and everyone hit the water, Pinocchio sinking down as Maya and the ponies swam down, touching the surface and looking around.
"Wow, this place is beautiful." Sweetie Belle said, looking around.
"And it's mighty big too." Apple Bloom said. "How the heck are we gonna find Monstro?"
As soon as Apple Bloom said Monstro, the curious fish that was around them got spooked and swam away, confusing them.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack asked. "Why the hay did they just swim away?"
"I do believe they got frieghtened when Apple Bloom said Monstro." Rarity said. "I believe the little dearies are frightened of this Monstro."
"Well from what Jiminy said, Monstro's pretty big." Applejack said. "Maybe they're afraid of him."
"Ah, I don't believe he's that big!" Rainbow Dash said. "He's probably not that big at all!"
"Not from what I heard Rainbow Dash." Jiminy said. "He's huge!"
"Well we're not going to find him talking here!" Scootaloo said. "Come on, let's go!"
The group followed Pinocchio into the sea, walking through coral reefs and through forests of seaweed, calling out Geppetto's name as they were followed by fish all the way to the darkest parts of the ocean, where all the fish stopped and watched as the group went deeper and deeper into the sea looking for Monstro. As they searched, they were swimming and walking down a dark and rocky terrain, walking down the uneven terrain until they reached an arch, looking around for Monstro, but not having any luck finding him.
"Geez, how hard is it to find a big fish!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We should have brought Pinkie with us. She'd have found Monstro instantly."
"Well it is a big place." Maya said. "The sea is not like your home, so we just gotta keep looking."
A moment later, a school of Tuna fish swam past them, almost knock them down.
"Geez' what's their hurry!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "They're acting like they're scared of something!"
"That's because they are!" Applejack exclaimed, everyone looking to her and seeing the fear in her eyes. "They're scared of that!"
Applejack pointed in the direction of where the fish were swimming away from and everyone's eyes bulged out, seeing Monstro, who was twice if not three times the size of a regular whale.
"MONSTRO!" Pinocchio shouted.
Without hesitation, everyone swam away as fast as they could, following the Tuna as they swam as fast as they could, Pinocchio freeing himself from the rock that was tied onto his tail to make him swim faster as they swam away, heading straight for the surface until they broke the surface of the sea, the Tuna jumping into the air, but Monstro was close behind, leaping out of the sea and swallowing them whole, closing his mouth as he splashed down onto the ocean surface, floating there and not doing anything. In Monstro's mouth, the ponies were treading water, floating around as they tried to stay above the waters surface, holding the fillies up as a fishing line came down and hooked Pinocchio, throwing him and another fish into the air and onto a ship, which everyone swam to in order to get to it, but Maya used her power over water and lifted them all out of the water and onto the boat, seeing a happy Geppetto hugging Pinocchio.
"Pinocchio my boy, I'm so happy to see you again!" Geppetto exclaimed.
"Me too father!" Pinocchio said, Figaro jumping over to them. "Figaro! Ah Figaro." A second later, he heard Cleo jumping from her fish bowl, equally happy to see him. "Cleo, you're here too!"
"Yes, we're all together again!" Geppetto said, Pinocchio sneezing and spooking him. "Oh, you're soaking wet!"
"He's not the only one." Maya said, getting Geppetto to turn around and see them.
"May?" Geppetto asked.
"It's Maya actually." She replied. "And yes, it's been a while."
"Well, it's good to see you again old friend." Geppetto said, looking to the ponies as they shook the water off. "And who are they?"
"My friends." Maya replied. "Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo. We came looking for Spyro's Heart Piece?"
"Heart Piece?" Geppetto asked. "What is a Heart Piece?"
"A piece of Spyro's heart, that's what it is." Applejack replied. "He sacrificed himself to save a friend and his head is scattered into multiple pieces. We already have nine of them and Pinocchio holds the tenth."
"He does?" Geppetto asked.
"I do father." Pinocchio replied, Geppetto setting him down on the barrel. "He trusted me to keep it safe and there was a glowing symbol on my head!"
"Really?" Geppetto asked. "Well let's have a look at it then, shall we?" He removed Pinocchio's hat, surprising him and making Figaro jump into Cleo's bowl. "Oh Pinocchio!"
"What's the matter?" Pinocchio asked.
"I think he's walking about your ears darling." Rarity said, using her magic to remove some seaweed. "Ugh, I'm going to need a hot bath after today. And a spa day when we get back home."
"Oh, that's nothing!" Pinocchio said. "I got a tail too!"
"Uh, don't go laughing again little guy." Rainbow Dash said. "The first time was more than enough."
"What happened to you?" Geppetto asked.
"Well, I... uh..." Pinocchio said, trying to come up with the right words.
"Oh, it doesn't matter now." Geppetto said. "Now that I have my little wooden head back."
Geppetto walked over and hugged him, Pinocchio hugging him back, everyone smiling at the two of them as they were happy for their reunion.
"It's great that you two are back together again." Maya said. "But I think right now we should think about trying to escape from this behemoth."
"Escape?" Geppetto asked. "No, no, I tried everything. I even built a raft."
"Then when he opens his mouth, we can sail on the raft and get out of here!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"That's a great idea!" Pinocchio said.
"No, no, that won't work." Geppetto said. "When he opens his mouth, it's only to eat, everything comes in, but nothing comes out."
"Shoot, shot that down." Scootaloo said.
"Anyway, come now, we'll start up a fire and cook some of the fish." Geppetto said.
"Uh, you got any hay or something?" Rarity asked. "Us ponies don't eat meat."
"Wait, fire?" Apple Bloom asked, an idea forming. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Applejack asked.
"We start a fire and make it nice and big!" Apple Bloom replied. "The smoke will rise up and make him sneeze, giving us a way out!"
"That... might actually work." Applejack replied. "If we can get a fire started, we get onto the raft and paddle our way out of here!"
"I can use my powers over water to give us the needed boost to get us out of Monstro's Mouth." Maya said. "But if we're doing this, we better do it now while he's still on the surface."
"Quick, get any and everything that will burn!" Rainbow Dash said.
Everyone then got to work collecting everything that can burn, chairs, oil, blankets, any and everything they could, loading the fillies onto the raft before everyone else got on, Maya calling her blade and pointing it at the pile of flammable materials before releasing a fireball, setting it ablaze as the flames started up. Maya got back into the water and used her power to make a small wave for her to ride on as she moved into position, moving the raft close to the mouth as the smoke rose up, going out the blow hole and causing some irritation, Monstro opening his mouth and getting ready to sneeze, making it difficult for Maya to push them out as she had to force the water to move them and as they moved closer, Monstro sneezed, throwing them out, but tossing Maya a little farther than the raft, splashing down further away from them.
"It worked!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Not for long!" Geppetto replied, Monstro getting another sneeze ready and pulling them in. "He's pulling us back in!"
Pinocchio and Geppetto both grabbed an oar, trying to moved the raft out from Monstro's mouth until he sneezed again, throwing them farther away than before right as Maya surfaced, watching them skip along the water. She summoned her wave again and rode after them, catching up a second later and riding next to them.
"We did it!" Sweetie Belle shouted. "We escaped!"
"Look!" Scootaloo shouted.
They all looked out Monstro and saw he extinguished the flames and looked around, finding them, charging towards them, seeing red as he charged.
"Oh boy, he's angry!" Geppetto exclaimed.
"Get going, I'll slow him down!" Maya shouted.
She then went towards Monstro, using her power over water to create multiple orbs large enough to kill a man, turning them into ice and launching them towards Monstro, hitting him in the head and getting his attention as he changed targets, going straight for Maya. However, she was ready for him and as he attacked, she launched herself into the air, creating multiple spikes of ice and sending them into Monstro's head, making him yell in agony as he dove, but when he did, he used his tail and smacked Maya hard and sending her into the water, sinking as she fell into unconsciousness.
"Maya!" Rarity shouted. "We have to go back for her!"
"Don't worry, I got this!" Rainbow Dash said.
She took off to go and get Maya, but Monstro jumped out, roaring in anger as it set its sights on the group, making them gasp collectively as he approached.
"Rainbow, push the raft to shore, quick!" Applejack shouted.
Not arguing, Rainbow Dash got onto the raft and pushed as hard as she could, getting them away from Monstro as quickly as possible, managing to keep their distance from him as the massive beast dove, hidden from sight.
"Wait, Monstro's gone!" Scootaloo said.
"Seriously!?" Rainbow Dash asked, stopping. "Where the heck did he go!?"
A moment later, he shot out from underneath them and made the raft slide down it's back, everyone tumbling down the massive monster's back until they got back on the raft, Rainbow Dash pushing them again and getting them away from Monstro as fast as possible. Meanwhile under the water, Maya was continuing to sink, unconscious from being smacked by the massive beasts tail, trying to wake up, but her body wasn't responding, fear taking hold over her.
"You're still holding back." Spyro said, Maya opening her eyes to see herself with Spyro, training at the Mysterious tower. "You're not using your full strength. There's more to you than you're letting on."
"I am using my full strength." Maya replied, remembering that day. "What else is there that you want to see? I can turn water into solid, liquid, and gas, I can make water out of thin air, that's the full extent of my power."
"I believe there is more to it than that." Spyro replied. "You hold more power in you than you probably realize or you're not wanting to see. You're allowing the past to dictate who you are."
"Then what do you think I should do then?" Maya asked. "I'm not as powerful as you and I can't transform like you can."
"You don't need to be as powerful as me and you can certainly change yourself." Spyro replied. "For you only need to be confident in yourself to find the change around you and in yourself and you certainly can't let the past rule your future." Maya felt something in her did change, closing her eyes again as she felt something awaken inside of her as a light shined from her chest. "It's time you unleashed the true dragon within you."
Back in the real world, everyone was still trying to stay ahead of Monstro, which a massive wave appeared and slowed them down before they went down the wave, Monstro going over them and landing in front of them, but it's tail came down, making everyone jump off the raft to avoid being killed and smashed the raft, everyone popping their heads up above the surface of the sea.
"Father!?" Pinocchio shouted, looking for Geppetto. "Father!? Father!"
"Pinocchio, swim for shore." Geppetto replied. "All of you, swim for shore." A second later, Monstro jumped out, looking very angry as it charged towards them. "Save... yourselves."
Geppetto was about o go under the sea, but Pinocchio went back for him and pulled him above the surface, finding that Monstro was getting closer to them, looking around for a place to hide in until he saw a hole in the side of a massive cliff near the shore, swimming for it as everyone else followed him, though Monstro was getting closer.
"We won't make it!" Apple Bloom shouted.
"Just keep swimming'!" Applejack replied.
Monstro was right on them when the water shot out again and a massive ice spike shot out, nearly hitting Monstro, but he turned away, swimming away from the spike when the water erupted and from it, a large blue dragoness appeared, a red underbelly with red membrane in her wings, several horns on it's head the same color, roaring out as she unleashed another breath of ice, creating a makeshift barrier to block Monstro.
"Where did that come from!?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Who cares!" Rainbow Dash asked. "Just keep swimming!"
They kept swimming towards the hole, which Monstro coming back at them again, but the dragon flew around, unleashing a storm of ice at the massive whale, slowing it down , but it dove down, avoiding it before it leapt towards the group, which they already got into the cove, but Monstro slammed into wall, sending water into her cove and throwing them everywhere, the water receding and everyone was scattered everywhere, slowly stirring as the blue dragon landed in the cove.
"Ugh, that hurt." Rainbow Dash said, shaking her head and looking up to the dragoness. "Oh great, first a whale and now a dragon? This day just keeps getting better and better."
"Aw come on Rainbow Dash, it ain't that bad." The dragon replied.
Rainbow Dash looked up to the dragon, surprised it could talk and recognizing the voice as it started to glow, changing back into a human and revealing it was Maya, smiling at her.
"MAYA!" Rainbow Dash said, everyone stirring awake. "You can change into a dragon too!? Since when!?"
"Well, guess I always had the potential to do it." Maya replied. "But I allowed the past to drag me down and make me feel like I wasn't good enough or couldn't succeed. But Spyro, he was there to help me overcome my past." She then put her hand over her heart, feeling her heart beating against her chest, smiling. "He was always there for me."
"Ugh, let's not do that again." Rarity said, collapsing back on the ground. "I... really need a relaxing bath."
"For once Ah'm actually in agreement with ya Rarity." Applejack said, shaking the water off. "Is everypony alright?"
"Yeah, we're good." Apple Bloom replied, the crusaders shaking the water off. "Where's Pinocchio and Geppetto?"
"He's over here." Maya replied, kneeling down to Geppetto and helping him up. "He'll be a little sore, but he should be ok."
"Pinocchio!" Jiminy shouted in horror.
They all looked over tot he cricket to see what was wrong and to their horror, they found Pinocchio lying in water, his face in the water, not moving. A little while later, during the dark of night, everyone was at Geppetto's house, Geppetto kneeling at the bed and crying just like everyone else, everyone crying for the brave little puppet who gave his life to save his father from drowning, the fillies all crying together as they huddled up, Applejack taking her hat off and putting it against her chest, closing her eyes as she sat there, mourning his passing while Rarity wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, her mascara running while Rainbow Dash hovered in the air, closing her eyes and bowing her head for their little wooden friend.
"My boy." Geppetto said. "My brave little boy."
They all had a moment to mourn their friend passing away, everyone closing their eyes while the ponies hugged the fillies, trying to cheer them up, but a moment layer, a blue light appeared above the wooden puppet while everyone had their eyes closed.
"Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy." The blue fairy said.
A second later, her magic appeared and surrounded Pinocchio, turning him from a wooden boy into a real boy, fulfilling Geppetto's. A moment later, Pinocchio woke up, rubbing his eyes as he sat up, seeing everyone was crying and wondering why.
"Father." Pinocchio said. "What are you all crying for?"
"Because... you're dead Pinocchio." Geppetto replied.
"No, no I'm not!" Pinocchio replied.
"Yes, yes you are." Geppetto replied. "Now lie down."
"But father, I'm alive, see!?" Pinocchio replied, getting everyone to look at him, seeing he was a real boy now. "And I'm... I'm real. I'm a real boy!"
"You are alive!" Geppetto replied, picking him up. "And you are a really boy!"
Everyone cheered as they saw their friend was alive and well, the fillies screaming for pure joy as Geppetto got the music playing, eveyrone dancing, celebrating not only Pinocchio being alive, but also for him becoming a real boy, Geppetto getting an instrument out and playing it, but as Pinocchio danced, his forehead started to glow, everyone noticing as a purple light appeared from it, floating to the middle of the room before it expanded, revealing it was the symbol as the triangle spun, stopping on the Earth Pony head as the keyhole appeared, Applejack's Keyblade appearing, so she did a little square dance, tossing and spinning the blade around before she pointed it at the Keyhole, stars appearing at the tip of the blade before an orange and red beam of light shot out of the tip of the blade, entering the keyhole and making a clicking sound, which the dragon's eyes glowed orange before opening it's mouth, roaring out as a golden light shot out, flying into the air and everyone gathering outside to watch it fly into the night sky.
On the ship, everyone was getting ready for bed, waiting for Maya and the rest of their friends to come back when the book started to glow, Twilight taking it out of her saddle bag and a moment later, the golden light appeared and went into the dragon's head, the eyes glowing orange as the symbol for the puppet glowed, turning into the same colors that Pinocchio was when he was a puppet, clothing and all, making her smile as she hugged the book. On the surface, everyone was starring at the night sky, Geppetto and Pinocchio wondering what had happened while the others smiled, turning to their friends.
"Well, guess it's time for us to move on." Maya said.
"Why?" Pinocchio asked.
"We have the tenth Heart Piece now." Maya replied. "We have only two more to find now."
"Two more until Spyro can finally come back!" Apple Bloom said excitedly.
"So, guess this is farewell then." Jiminy said.
"For now little guy." Maya said, kneeling down to him. "But don't worry, it's not forever. We'll see each other again."
"Will we?" Pinocchio asked.
"We will." Maya replied, hugging the little boy.
She then ended the hug and stood up, walking to the ponies and a moment later, summoned her Keyblade and raised it up, surrounding them in a golden light before shooting into the night sky, Geppetto picking Pinocchio up and watching as the light flew into, twinkling in the starry night sky along with the other stars, waving to them as they flew away. On Mobius, the Overlord was watching the pony in the machine, seeing she was now an adult pony as he scratched his chin, coming up with plans for the future as Viper entered, looking to the pony and then to the Overlord.
"Overlord, Eggman has arrived." Viper said.
"Took him long enough." Overlord said, pressing a button. "Protocol: 001. Subject, awaken."
A second later, the tube started to drain itself, the green liquid disappearing as the pony's hooves touched the ground, stirring a bit before opening her eyes, revealing they were ruby red. Outside of the tower, the Egg carrier was floating above the tower, Eggman was smiling as he types in a special code, pressing the red button and immediately, the Conquerers that came out to attack deactivated, several of them falling and exploding, making the doctor laugh.
"Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, success!" Eggman said. "The kill switch worked!"
"Excellent work doctor!" Decoe said. "Now that the Conquerers are offline, we can-"
"Wait, what's that?" Bocoe asked.
They all looked to the tower and standing atop of it was the pony, the wind blowing in her mane as she stood atop of the tower, glaring at the carrier.
"Is that... a horse?" Decoe asked.
"More like a pony." Bocoe answered. "And it doesn't seem to be affected by the kill switch."
"That's because it isn't a robot you pile of scrap!" Dr. Eggman replied. "It's flesh and blood like myself! Get the Egg-bots ready and-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the carrier started to shake, dipping to the right as everyone held on for dear life.
"What's happening!?" Decoe asked.
"We've been hit!" Bocoe replied. "But by what!?"
They looked to the screen again and to their surprise, the pony's horn was glowing red, her eyes glowing as well as she charged a bolt of magic and fired, hitting the carrier again, causing it's engines to explode and catch fire, alarms blaring on the carrier as it went down.
"Brace for impact!" Eggman shouted.
The carrier fell onto the ground, breaking in half before the bridge hit the ground, snapping off as the rest of the carrier exploded, sending the bridge to the tower and crash landing on the ground, throwing the doctor out and making him roll to the door of the tower. A moment later, he looked up and saw the pony standing before him, looking to his right to see the Overlord was there as well, kneeling down and glowing as if grinning.
"Well, I see you've met my new friend." The Overlord replied, picking the doctor up. "And you revealed your little trump card, though I noticed it earlier and knew what you had planned."
"So... you knew?" Eggman asked.
"Of course I knew." The Overlord replied, multiple new Conquerers arriving and tossing him to them, the largest one grabbing him. "I knew what your plan was and planned accordingly. Take him back to his cell. And this time, keep an eye on him." The larger Conquerer turned and dragged Eggman on the ground, the doctor groaning as he was being dragged away, the Overlord looking down to the pony. "You did well my little equine friend. Tell me, what's is your name?"
"I have no name." The pony replied, looking to the Overlord.
"Well then, we can't have that, can we?" The Overlord asked. "Tell me, what you like to be called?"
The pony looked to the Overlord and then to the scenery before her, seeing the shadow that was talking to her earlier, but didn't fear it.
"Soon, little pony." The shadow said. "Soon, a new era will dawn on this world. A dawn in which not even the Celestials can stop me."
The pony didn't flinch or even show signs of seeing the shadow, turning back to the Overlord as she gave it a smile.
"Dawn." The pony replied. "Celestial Dawn."