My Little Pony: Sora's Misadventures in Equestria

by xinbra

Sora is sent into the land of Equestria after his failure at the Mark of Mastery. Along the way, he will face all sorts of challenges coming towards Equestria. Credit goes to Codex92.

239. Chapter 239

The Last Laugh

Spike roared as he swung his Keyblade down on Smolder. The dragoness flapped her wings and dodged her opponent's heavy slam, spitting fireballs at him as she made a tactical retreat. With a swift hop, Spike avoided the fireballs, appearing behind Smolder, then rammed into her, making her grunt as she tumbled across the battlefield and flipped back up onto her feet. Both dragons charged each other, swinging their blades as they clashed and caused sparks to scatter around them, lighting up the mountain peak in The Land of Departure. Sandbar, Silverstream, and Yona cheered them both on in their duel, Gallus and Ocellus watching Spike's surprisingly swift movements in awe, and Aqua, Terra, and Freya watching the duel in silence. Even though Spike insisted Freya she isn't allowed to help train him considering her emotional and psychological state, that didn't mean she couldn't watch and offer some pointers provided she didn't give a hands-on approach to them.

"How is he moving that fast!?" Gallus exclaimed. "He just makes one hop, and it's like he teleports wherever he wants!"

"That's a unique skill we dragoons have. With enough training," Freya said.

"Spike's only been like this for a week, and he's already as skilled as we are," Ocellus said.

"Similar to what happened to Twilight and the others, some of Sora's experience was passed down onto him through the light of the Crystal Heart, but with that knowledge, he discovered his own technique," Aqua pondered. "The transference of skills and power are surprisingly beneficial."

"With all of us, we're more than an even match against Xehanort and his Organization," Terra added. "Let's just hope the seven of us he actually needs doesn't require any of us to fall."

Freya wanted to speak up and willfully join their cause, but she couldn't utter a word. She knew she was in no state to fight. Her anger and rage fueled her seemingly endless wrath after believing she had lost everything. As her emotions settled, with fears and nightmares of the devastation she experienced in the past and not even a week from today, she dreaded relapsing and becoming the monster that was forcefully extracted from the darkness of her wrath from within her heart again. As long as Spike didn't volunteer to risk his life in this upcoming Keyblade War, her sanity might hold true.

Smolder exhaled a mix of her enchanted dragon breath on her Keyblade, mixing the blade with fire, ice, lightning, water, and wind. Spike smirked, taunting her as he stood in his dragoon stance, which she fell for and grunted and swung her blade, unleashing a shockwave slash of each element at him. Spike jumped around, avoiding each slice as he closed the distance, getting in her face, then leapt again when she tried to swing at him, only to be slammed down to the ground on her back, grunting in shock with Spike pinning her down.

"Gotcha," Spike teased.

"...You love jumping around like a grasshopper, don't you?" Smolder questioned. Spike grinned in response, but his reaction distracted him, giving her time to slip her legs beneath him, giving him a harsh kick to the gut, sending him flying off her and on his back a few yards away from her. Spike gagged as he clutched his stomach while Smolder got back up on her feet, rubbing her back from the impact. "Not bad, but you can't get distracted if this was a fight to the death."

"Y-Yeah...Part of Sora's cockiness took over, there," Spike wheezed as he sat up.

"I think we can call this a draw between dragons," Aqua said.

She summoned her Keyblade to heal Smolder and Spike, but Smolder held up her hand. "Wait, can I try something?" she asked. "Since I've learned Cure, I've kinda wondered what it would look like if I mix it with my dragon breath."

"Wouldn't it just be spitting out rocks?" Silverstream asked. "Cure is kinda an earthly element, right?"

"Well, I guess we'll see," Aqua said. "I'm kinda curious myself."

Spike got back on his feet, rubbing his abdomen as Smolder walked over to him. "I may be in a new body, but I still feel like I'm as fragile as a baby dragon."

"Ah, Gar-Gar told me you belly-flopped in a pool of lava and managed to stay conscious," Smolder chuckled. "You'll live from a little kick to the gut."

Spike rolled his eyes, bracing himself as he prepared to be another guinea pig for some more, hopefully harmless, magic. Smolder focused on the elements of casting Cure without her Keyblade, closing her eyes and taking deep, calming breaths; inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. After the first few breaths, each exhale she released started to expel a green mist. As the mist began to spread out around Smolder in a radius of a few feet, it hovered around the two dragons like a singular patch of fog. Spike scrunched his nose, expecting the mist to hold a faint odor of her breath, but to his surprise, it was almost flowery. While standing in Smolder's healing "smog", the pain they felt from their injuries didn't heal right away, but the pain was numbing until, after about half a minute, it vanished.

She stopped breathing and opened her eyes, marveling at the mist that still lingered. "Is that supposed to be smoke? Or mist?" Terra asked.

Aqua hummed curiously, stepping toward the mist with the two teenage dragons. Reaching her hand out to grasp at the mist, she could feel it against her skin. Grabbing Smolder's hand, she forced one of her claws to prick one of her fingers, watching the blood begin to trickle out. While inside the mist, the slight pain from pricking herself slowly faded, and after a few seconds, she wiped away what blood dripped out, amazed as she watched the prick slowly vanish until it eventually healed like she'd never gotten hurt.

"Regenerative healing smog," Aqua said. "Interesting."

"Egh. That's kinda gross," Gallus commented. "I'd prefer waiting before I heal us with my Cure spell."

Yona walked over to the mist to check it out for herself, sniffing at the air around it. "Mmmm...Sweet flower smell. Not like real dragon breath."

"Did you brush your teeth with honey or something?" Spike asked curiously.

"No. It shouldn't smell like this." Smolder exhaled into her hand and smelled her own breath, grimacing slightly from the mix of the aromatic smog and how terribly her own breath stank. "Blegh. Maybe brushing my teeth doesn't sound so bad after all."

"I have a couple nice minty flavors you can try," Spike said. "And keeping your teeth clean can prevent your teeth from chipping on gems." Smolder gawked at Spike, forgetting that he's still the same innocent and overly friendly little dragon beneath his bigger, taller frame. "...What?"

"I can't see you like this while still being your usual dorky, sensitive self," Smolder remarked. "It's weird."

Spike looked at himself, humming in thought. "...I guess I do need a taller apron when I cook or bake now."

All the Young Six but Smolder laughed at his response, the dragoness shaking her head and giving Spike a light punch in the arm. Seconds later, Smolder's healing smog finally disappeared. Aqua noted the time it lasted from Smolder first unleashing her curative dragon smoke to its end, which lingered for a long minute.

"Aqua, where are you and Terra?" Sora called through the communicator.

"We were evaluating Spike's training in The Land of Departure. What is it?" Aqua asked.

"Pinkie's got an important message, and she wants all of us to meet in the throne room," Sora said. "Not sure what it is, but she's definitely excited to tell us."

"The usual excited or more excited that she may just burst from how overwhelming it is?" Aqua questioned with a small laugh. "We'll be there in a moment."

"What's going on?" Sandbar asked.

"Seems like Pinkie has some kind of message and wants to tell everybody," she said.

"Like big party?" Yona asked.

"If there's food involved, count me in because I did not eat breakfast and I am starving," Gallus said.

Everyone returned to the realm's courtyard and filed through the portal back to the library. They made their way to the throne room, where everyone else had already gathered. The only ones missing were Rainbow Dash and, with no surprise, the very pony who had a message to deliver. Within minutes, Rainbow Dash burst through the throne room doors, sitting down in her throne, looking around and finding a lack of bouncing pink earth pony in the room.

"Where the hay is Pinkie?" Rainbow asked. "She zipped off after telling me there's a big, important meeting and a super important message that was majorly important."

"She sure seemed in a hurry when she told me to call the others," Sora shrugged.

"We should scour for some more crystals to craft more earpieces," Aqua pondered. "But, whatever this message is, hopefully it's nothing serious."

"So why is she not at the meeting she called us to?" Lea questioned.

"I know! She's taking forever!" Lea's eyes widened before he squinted them in a leer, glancing up to find Pinkie Pie, having somehow snuck in out of everyone's view, and was balancing on his spikey mane with her tail. "Just kidding!" she giggled, vaulting off of him and landing like a feather on the crystal table. "You guys are not going to believe what I'm going to show you, because it is going to blow your minds and throw your ideas of perception right out the window!"

"Uhh, what exactly is it that's got you so...giddy?" Xion asked, trying to steer Pinkie from going off on a tangent. Pinkie giggled some more, then with a twirl, pulled out what she wanted to show everyone: a cupcake. It was a pretty sizable cupcake with an orange-yellow frosting and a cherry on top, though the entire pastry seemed a bit too solid to look appetizing. "...A cupcake?"

"Yes! But wait; there's more!" Tapping the cherry down, it unlocked and the frosting part of the cupcake tilted open, a party favor blaring, sprinkling out confetti as a spring inside the base popped out, where a picture of Cheese Sandwich in an invitation postcard was attached to the end. "It's an invitation to visit the Cheese Sandwich Amusement Factory!"

Baffled, everyone gawked at Pinkie, Kairi taking the invitation in her aura and looked at it closer. "Cheese Sandwich opened a factory?"

"A factory of rubber chickens?" Ventus questioned.

"Gawrsh, that's pretty impressive," Goofy said.

"Pth! That's ridiculous!" Pinkie scoffed. "They make more than rubber chickens!"

"So it's a gag factory," Terra mumbled.

"Wait, Cheese wanders all over Equestria to throw all sorts of parties," Sora said. "Why would he want to build a factory and make all sorts of different gag toys instead of what he's best at?"

"Well, I can't wait to see what it looks like inside and out!" Pinkie cheered. She flipped giddily, snatching the invitation from Kairi, planting a kiss on her coltfriend's picture. "I know it's only been a few months since he showed up at Sora and Kairi's wedding, but I can't wait to catch up for some more lost time that was all off screen, have him tell me my life's purpose, swap gag tips-"

"Huh? 'Find your life's purpose'?" Twilight questioned as everyone stared at the party pony of Ponyville, bewildered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sandbar asked.

Pinkie sighed, placing the photo back on the spring. "Well...I know it's a teeny-weeny itty-bitty weird to say, but all you guys have found your life's purpose," she said, her reasoning making absolutely no sense to the others. "Twilight's going to rule Equestria, Rainbow Dash is a Wonderbolt, Fluttershy has her animal sanctuary, Rarity has her boutiques, Applejack has her family farm and a legacy that founded Ponyville, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Terra, Venny, Lea, and Xion travel and protect the worlds from darkness, Goofy's a captain of the knights, and Donald's a court mage."

"...I don't know if being a Key bearer is considered a 'life's purpose' sort of thing," Aqua said. "Some of us take the job on a whim, if we have the potential, or we feel it's the right decision."

"And you're also a Key bearer like us," Sora added. "Plus, you're Ponyville's personal party pony. You live to make others happy, remember? Element of Laughter?"

"Yeah, I know. We're big heroes as well, but I never had a personal goal I wanted to accomplish like the rest of you," Pinkie said, sighing sadly, and to everyone's shock, she chomped on the invite cupcake. "Anypony can make another pony laugh or smile if it's not me. I'm also a little jealous of Cheesey when I saw this invite. He's moving higher and higher up the party food chain and making all sorts of funny gags to bring laughter to everypony around the world." Her somber attitude faded and she returned to her chipper self. "So, I'm gonna accept the tour and ask him to help me find my purpose!"

The room was dead silent, Lea slowly slipping out of his seat and flopping to the ground. "...Did she just completely ignore that Sora just mentioned what she liked to do as her life goal: making others happy?" he questioned.

"I...think we're just gonna go with Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie on this one," Applejack mumbled.

"Regardless, I think it's a good idea for you and Cheese Sandwich to spend some time together," Twilight said. "But the only one who can find your life's purpose is you."

"I know, silly! That's why I'm going to visit Cheesey's factory so I can ask him to help me!" Pinkie reasoned as Lea groaned loudly as his brain began to hurt.

She took another bite of the cupcake, everyone wincing as they could hear her biting the foam or plastic the invitation was made of. "Pinkie, for goodness sake, stop eating that!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Is that even edible?" Fluttershy asked.

"I have no idea!" Pinkie went for another bite, but Sora snatched it away from the bottomless pit of a pink pony.

"I know you mentioned eating cardboard before after eating a dozen and a half of Sugar Belle's awful muffins," he said, pausing in his scolding when Pinkie suddenly huddled in a corner, the corner looking incredibly gloomy as her pink coat and mane darkened drearily.

"Don't mention those muffins," she groaned miserably.

Sora grimaced at the mention of Our Town's equality muffins, the Mane Six, Kairi, Riku, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus recalling how sick Pinkie looked after devouring them. Aside from Xion who shared the same sympathy, Lea, the Young Six, Donald, Goofy, Spike, and Freya stared at Pinkie, clueless.

"Uhh, was she talking about those muffins she and Applejack made when Applejack was delirious during applebucking season a few years ago?" Spike asked curiously, Pinkie groaning even more as she hunched over at the reminder of THOSE particular muffins as well. Applejack wasn't proud of that horrible week of stubborn pride, lowering her stetson over her face in embarrassment. "I kinda wanted to get the recipe to that. They were a waste to throw in the trash."

"You did what!?" Freya exclaimed. "Spike, that's disgusting!"

"Spike, them muffins got ponies sick, and Pinkie wasn't payin' attention to what Ah was grabbin' when makin' them awful things," Applejack said. "Ah misheard what she wanted me to grab, takin' potato chips instead of chocolate chips, soda pop instead of bakin' soda, lemons when I mistook her sayin' 'a cup of sour' when it was supposed to be flour, and then wheat germ for earthworms."

"Grgh! Baked...bads," Pinkie whined as she crumbled over in the fetal position.

Everyone else had a disgusted grimace on their faces, but Spike shrugged in response. "Not sure what the big deal was."

"That actually sounds pretty good," Smolder agreed. "Wanna try baking some of those kinds of muffins now that Applejack gave that botched recipe?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Freya shrieked. "Spike, you ate WORMS!? You said you never ate any other creature before trying cooked fish!"

"Cooked what?" Fluttershy uttered in shock.

Twilight looked at Freya, the dragoon's mouth hanging open in shock by what she blurted out. "...You two come with me this instant," she quickly said, grabbing one of Spike's ear frills and Smolder's horn, dragging them out of the throne room as they winced at her harsh tugging.

"Ow! Mom!" Spike cried out as he flailed about.

The door slammed shut behind them, leaving Twilight confused. "...Did she say she fed Spike fish?" Twilight asked. "When did she...?"

"Maybe when they had their little camping trip?" Riku guessed.

"Is it really that shocking?" Gallus questioned. "I think dragons can eat more than just gems since they're considered predators. Griffons eat meat, too."

"Ooh! Hippogriffs sometimes eat fish, too!" Silverstream chimed in. "I mean, way before the Storm King threatened to invade us and we didn't hide under the sea. It gets a little dull eating seaweed for every meal after several years."

"Freya also mentioned how she ate all kinds of meat, so why did she seem startled letting that slip?" Ventus asked.

"Maybe to spare Fluttershy," Rarity guessed, the animal-loving pegasus nodding after learning what types of meat Freya listed that she normally ate from her home world.

Sora glanced at the invitation, pushing the cherry and popping the photo out. "Think this invitation will allow a few extra guests? I kinda want to see what kinds of crazy stuff Cheese has in his new factory."

Pinkie suddenly popped up behind Sora, snapping out of her miserable funk like the flip of a coin. "That's a great idea! I think having a few pluses is fine! The more ponies to help me discover my life's purpose, the easier it'll be to find it!"

Ignoring Pinkie's complete ignorance to what she had strived to do for so long, and had done so many times, the others just played if off as Pinkie being Pinkie.

Finding the address where Cheese Sandwich's factory was located, Pinkie hopped along merrily, carrying her cupcake invite in her mane. Since it was still a school day, not everyone was able to attend with classes going on, along with some more training for the Young Six and Spike. Joining Pinkie were Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Ventus, and Xion. They began to wonder what sorts of crazy party and gag ideas Cheese came up with when they finally arrived at their destination, but the factory was nothing like how it would look if it was run by Pinkie's coltfriend.

The walls of the perimeter was a dull gray, despite the colorful and excitable posters depicting Cheese's factory beyond them. They approached the entrance gate, guarded by a couple large earth pony security guards, one male and one female, but past the iron gate was just a bland and boring factory. Pinkie was clearly eager, but the others expected it to be more of a wild, colorful, and entertaining building that was just as whacky as the party pony couple were.

"Uhh, is this really the right address?" Riku questioned. "This looks nothing like what a factory that makes hilarious inventions for parties should be."

"In Equestria or any other world?" Ventus asked.

"At least this place seems more welcoming than that bright white castle the Organization used to have their base in," Xion mumbled.

Pinkie hopped over to the gate, both security guards standing in her way and leering at her. "Excuse me! Just gonna walk on through!" she said and hopped to the gates, only to be barred and nudged back from the gate.

"Can we help you?" the stallion guard questioned gruffly.

"You sure can! We're here to see Cheese Sandwich!" Pinkie said. "He's my coltfriend, and expecting me. If you know what I mean."

She waggled her eyebrows with a sly grin, but the two guards weren't swayed by her intentions. "Cheese Sandwich doesn't 'see' anypony," the female guard stated. "The factory's locked tight. Nopony ever comes out, and nopony ever goes in."

"Huh? You mean Cheese hasn't told any of his employees about Pinkie Pie?" Sora questioned, pointing to the pink earth pony. "Equestria's party pony and Ponyville's party pony are dating? She even helped find Cheese's cutie mark and made him into the famous traveling party planner in the entire world! Without her, he wouldn't have built this factory, or hired you two."

"Beat it," the stallion guard ordered.

Sora fumed, baffled by Cheese failing to shout to anyone in his own factory about his relationship with Pinkie. "You know, some of us have wings. We can just fly over the wall."

"I've got this," Goofy said. He took Pinkie's invitation from her, another bite mark made in it from Pinkie's weird eating habits as he popped open the cupcake, revealing the endlessly raining confetti and the photo inside. "Pinkie Pie received an invitation from Cheese Sandwich to take a tour of his factory. Along with a few guests he allowed to join her. Can't deny him sending a personal invite to someone he knows dearly, can you?"

The two guards were shocked, completely unaware of the invite. "That's his invitation," the stallion guard said in awe, surprising the group that they recognized the makeshift jack-in-the-box cupcake.

"Why didn't you say so sooner? Come right on in!" the mare guard said.

Returning to their posts at the security booths, one of them pushed a button on the wall, the iron bars slowly sliding apart, allowing them entry with alarms ringing and a red light above the posts between the gates flashing for a few seconds. "Probably should have just showed them the invitation first before claiming you're going out with Cheese Sandwich, Pinkie," Xion said.

"But who doesn't know Cheesey and I are dating? The whole world knows!" Pinkie said.

"I thought it was just us, Maud, and her weird stick-loving boyfriend, Mud Briar," Riku grumbled.

"Oh, the world knows we're a couple," Pinkie stated, looking at the fourth wall and giving the audience a knowing wink.

"Is it weird to say she's being even more strange than we think she is today?" Donald asked.

The others shrugged, entering the factory's empty, lifeless courtyard and toward the massive building up ahead. Aside from a few small crates and supplies left on the side, there was nothing that depicted anything comical, hilarious, or fun. Approaching the steps to the entrance, the doors suddenly slammed open, startling the guests, and a giant red carpet began to unroll itself and head straight toward them. They all leapt back from the surprisingly lengthy roll of carpet, and popping up right at the end of the roll in comical fashion was Cheese Sandwich. Or, they thought it was Cheese; the carpet has stopped in front of Pinkie, looking at her with a wide grin, but his orange coat and his yellow polo shirt he loved to wear was replaced by pale blue-gray fur, his tail a dark gray color that was unlike his brown and curly mane, and he was wearing a dark aurburn-black suit jacket with white sleeves.

"...What in the world?" Ventus uttered.

"Cheesey!" Pinkie squealed, tackling the stallion and crushing him in one of her certified Pinkie death hugs. She began repeatedly kissing him, his face barely reacting or reciprocating aside from the startled eyes shifting around nervously. Pinkie ceased her amorous assault when he didn't kiss back, and feeling rubber on his cheek rather than fur. "Huh? Why does your face feel...latexy?"

"T-This...was not the reaction I expected at all." Hearing a completely different voice through Cheese's permanent toothy smile, Pinkie shrieked and hopped off of him, brandishing her Keyblade and scowling at the imposter. The greeter sat back up, pulling off the mask to reveal his true face. Blushing slightly, he cleared his throat, readjusting the glasses he had been wearing beneath the mask. This strange stallion seemed more like a strict businesspony that seemed to fit the landscape of the factory, even his mane where he was mostly balding with his hair starting behind his ears and down his neck, and he looked to be half the age he appeared. "Instead of a big laugh, I was crushed by Mr. Sandwich's marefriend, confusing her with the mask matching his exact facial features."

"...That was supposed to make us laugh?" Xion questioned.

"I need to work on the comical entrance a bit more," the stallion said, handing the latex Cheese Sandwich mask to a unicorn employee.

When he turned to face their guests, Pinkie was suddenly in his face, tapping the tip of her Keyblade against his side with an angry scowl. "Who are you, and why did you pretend to be my Cheesey Wheezey?"

Gulping nervously, he backed away and composed himself. "My apologies. My name is Sans Smirk, vice-president of amusement integration," he greeted. "And my entrance was meant to be a hilarious welcome to my boss's marefriend and any accompanying friends who have come to visit his factory."

Pinkie gave Sans the stinkeye, but Sora pulled her back before she could do something crazier than usual with the stallion. "Well, your 'entrance' definitely surprised us, Sans," he said. "I guess someone in the company at least knows Pinkie Pie. I'm-"

"Sora," Sans said, holding his hoof out to the pegasus. "Mr. Sandwich has told me about you and your friends from what Pinkie has described. She even shared tales of the comical pranks you pulled with her and Ms. Rainbow Dash." Sora stammered, glancing back at Pinkie, then back to Sans and shook his hoof awkwardly. "And the rest of your companions are Riku, Donald, Goofy, Ventus, and Xion."

"So you have heard of us," Riku said. "Guess Pinkie didn't spare a single detail out when she blabbered to Cheese Sandwich."

"Well, obviously off screen. Do you guys have any idea how long this story's been going?" Pinkie questioned, blowing a raspberry. "The fans already know enough from so much exposition, and so does Cheesey."

"Uhh, 'fans'?" Goofy asked.

"Inside joke," Pinkie brushed off.

While they just let Pinkie's randomness go, they were perturbed to see that Sans barely batted an eye at her nonsense. Probably working with Cheese Sandwich, who is just as wild and bubbly as her, had made him numb to whatever insane hilarity the stallion did.

"Mr. Sandwich has been expecting you," Sans said. "If you'll all just follow me, it's a short trip through the factory to his office."

"Are there gonna be anymore fake Cheese face masks other ponies are gonna wear to confuse me?" Pinkie questioned.

"No. That mask was just a prototype," Sans assured. "Though I'd say it was a success if you were convinced. I knew I nailed the nostril flare perfectly."

"...Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie mumbled, dismissing her Keyblade, being cautious of Sans as she returned to her excited, bubbly self. "Let's go and see the fun inside!"

Sans led the group inside, but to Pinkie's disappointment, the interior workings of the factory were just as boring as the outside. Many of the workers on the floor were going about the factory, some wearing white gowns with their manes bundled in hair nets as they worked on some of the new gags in the R department while others were yellow vests and hardhats on the assembly lines. On the conveyor belts, there were tons of different gags that were being produced as ponies inspected them to make sure there were no mistakes or possible hazards for customers to hurt themselves on.

"Well, my expectations for a factory full of goofs is shot," Sora mumbled.

"What else did you expect?" Xion asked.

"I don't know. Everyone playing around with the gags instead of just...inspecting them?" Sora said.

"Maybe the fun is behind all this boring factory stuff," Pinkie pondered as she approached one of the conveyor belts, settling her forehooves on it, then got herself carried away, startling a nearby worker, and wound up flopping in one of the shipping boxes sitting at the end.

"The fun IS the factory," Sans said. "We take a fairly serious approach to comedy here. Observe." Pinkie bounced out of the box, shaking off the packing peanuts and followed Sans along with the others to another assembly line. One worker was inspecting a plastic flower, a funny gag toy Sora recognized right away as the mare held the flower out to the vice-president. "Oh, look. A pretty flower."

He leaned forward to give it a sniff, only to get squirted by water right in his face. The prank would have been hilarious if Sans had actually put a little more effort in his bit, but they couldn't deny it was a classic.

"Oh man. It's been forever since I've seen the squirting flower," Sora said.

"Ooh! I know how to make it funnier!" Pinkie chimed in. "What if the flower was part of a shirt, but the flower didn't squirt; the shirt does!"

Everyone gawked at Pinkie's weird gag idea, but to Sans, his jaw hung open, amazed. "...That is literally the funniest thing I've ever heard."

"Doesn't sound like you're convinced," Ventus said.

"Ah, that was just something off the top of my head," Pinkie said. "I bet Cheesey has like seventeen thousand other ideas he could come up with every minute."

"How would making something like that even work?" Donald questioned.

"We'd have to use a series of interconnected tubes in the fabric," Sans mumbled as mentally planned the squirting shirt prank for R . He grabbed a whoopie cushion and held it out to his guests. "What do you think this is?"

"A whoopie cushion," Goofy said with a chuckle. "Those are hilarious."

"Or...maybe it would be more hilarious if the embarrassing tooting came from somepony else!" Pinkie suggested, giving Sans another interesting idea.

"I sit on it, and but the sound comes from you instead...We could call it the 'ventrilioquoppee cushion'." Sans' pitched idea was highly agreed upon by the nearby workers as they too seemed excited about the hilarious, unexpectedly unexpected prank.

As much as she liked to pitch in her own thoughts on hilarious pranks, Pinkie wanted to see Cheese and wonder why he wanted to invite her to his factory in the first place. While going through some of the other gags, Sora found a particularly odd item set on a pedestal with a glass covering around it. Raising a brow in confusion, Sora was staring at a simple banana peel, baffled by it being held on display.

"Uhh, why is there a banana peel sitting on this thing?" he asked.

"Oh! That is our super-slip banana peel," Sans explained. "Still in development, but we think it's pretty special."

"I know the classic banana peel pratfall, but I don't know how you can make it special." Without thinking, Sora took off the case, and before he could touch it, the peel suddenly slipped away and began sliding into him. His hoof got caught, dragging him as he yelped and began to slide around along with it, flailing his hooves to try to balance himself. "Whoa whoa whoa! Ahh! What's happening!?"

Sans stepped aside as the peel seemed to have a mind of its own, leaving a trail of slick, slippery banana oil behind it. Hearing Sora panic, Riku, Ventus, and Xion managed to get out of the way, but Donald and Goofy were too slow as Sora crashed into them, carrying them as they were helplessly dragged around by the rogue banana peel. All three of them yelled and teetered left and right, sliding all over the assembly floor. Workers leapt out of the way, startled at first, but then began to laugh at the comical trio slipping and sliding helplessly by the rogue peel.

"WAAAAAH!" Donald shrieked, clinging onto Goofy while he was sitting on Sora's shoulders, his hands covering the stallion's eyes while he tried to keep their weight balanced as they were yanked all over the factory.

"Look out!" Goofy yelled out.

"I can't!" Sora exclaimed. "Someone stop this crazy thing!"

The peel suddenly jerked hard, as if it heard Sora, sending him, Donald, and Goofy flying into a box full of packed whoopee cushions. They crushed the box, followed by several loud, hilarious flatulent noises coming from them, scattering the toys while the trio were piled on top of each other. Everyone except for Sans burst out in uproarious laughter, the peel still on the hunt and slipped up Riku, then Xion, and Ventus, sparing them from getting dragged as they just slipped on the floor. It slid off a 2x4 that was angled against the wall, bouncing off said wall back to Sans, who timed its return to its pedestal and placed the glass dome back on top of it.

"Super slippery, and being carried off while fumbling and staggering to regain balance," Sans commented. "Followed by a hilarious pileup. Ingenious."

"Wow. That is special!" Pinkie praised.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy groaned, Sora being pinned down underneath his friends just like the first time they met each other back in Traverse Town years ago. "Ugh...Note to self: don't touch anything in this building invented and patented by Cheese Sandwich."

Once they were back on their feet, pressing down on more whoopee cushions, Sans led the group to Cheese's office while the workers cleaned up the mess made in the slippery crash. Climbing up the steps to the second level, Sans stopped at the entrance to Cheese's office door. Pinkie opened it, letting herself in, suddenly feeling a little nervous from the gloomy atmosphere inside her coltfriend's office. The room was barely lit with only the light illuminating through the large window behind Cheese's desk, where the stallion was seated with his chair turned away from the doorway.

"Cheesey?" Pinkie called out as the others filed in.

"Pinkie?" Spinning his chair around, Cheese faced his guests, though he didn't seem cheerful. Through the faint lighting, they could see his mane was tied back in a bun, and he was wearing a turtleneck sweater. "I'm...I'm glad you're here."

"Ok, this is a little...scary," Sora mumbled. "...Hope Cheese doesn't have a 'Pinkamena' side and we're not seeing it now."

"Everything ok, Cheesey?" Pinkie asked. "Why do you sound...gloomy?" Cheese lowered his head, afraid to respond. "When you sent me an invitation to see your factory, I was super duper excited to see it and you again. Well, except when Sans wore that mask with your face and I wound up kissing him, but thankfully, not full lip contact, except I STILL found it very awkward when I ended up kissing another stallion."

"I did warn Sans not to do that, but I'm not mad at you for mistaking him for me," Cheese mumbled. Though he seemed to forgive Pinkie, his miserable tone seemed to say otherwise. "...I...I actually need your help, Pinkie."

"Why?" Pinkie asked.

"I..." Cheese clapped his hooves, his office lighting up and brightening the gloomy atmosphere. In the corners of the office were a whole bunch of different types of his creative comedy gags, toys, blueprints for his next creative inventions for fun and hilarious entertainment. "I've completely lost my laugh!"

Pinkie gasped in horror while the others were shocked, only for Riku to grow a little suspicious as to how someone could lose the ability to laugh. "You...lost your laugh? Really? Is this supposed to be a prank?"

"No, it's not a joke," Cheese assured. "Even if it was, I wouldn't be able to laugh at it."

Humming curiously, Pinkie eyed a can of peanut brittle sitting on his desk. She had a feeling it was anything but a normal can, slinking over to the desk and snatched it.

"Well, how about we continue this discussion over some delicious canned peanut brittle?" Pinkie suggested.

She then opened the can, aiming it at Cheese, sending a bunch of rubber worms to spring out from the gag can at him. One of them slapped the bridge of his muzzle and slumped over his snout, but the stallion barely made any reaction to the surprising gag.

"That didn't work," Xion said. "He's probably seen that so many times."

"We need something that he's probably never seen or heard that'll get him to laugh," Sora pondered. Donald and Goofy instantly had an idea, giving Sora a sly smirk as they looked at him. He looked back at the others, noting the diamond dog and griffon's grins. "...What?"

"Oh, I think you know what you can do, Sora," Donald hinted with a snicker.

Goofy chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. Getting the hint, Sora slumped over and sighed, grimacing at his two friends, then to Xion and Ventus, who both smirked at him just like Donald and Goofy were.

"Go on, Sora. Show him the 'funny face'," Xion said. "That should do the trick."

"The 'funny face'?" Riku questioned.

From the doorway, Sans walked in as he, too, grew curious about Sora's "funny face". "Ugh...I blame you two," Sora scolded Donald and Goofy, then turned back to Cheese. "...Alright, Cheese, prepare to laugh like the two clowns who I am regretting calling my friends for bringing the 'funny face' up."

Pinkie grew interested as she rose up behind Cheese's desk, sitting beside him as the two earth ponies waited. Sora exhaled, lowered his head, then shot his head up, putting on the same forced smile he gave to Donald and Goofy to accompany them on their journey a few years back. Just the strained grunt and the goofy expression on his face made Pinkie burst out laughing and fall over on her back. Riku frowned slightly, a little perturbed by the weird face, far weirder than what he did that got him to laugh back in The World That Never Was after they thought they defeated Xemnas. Sora lowered his gaze after rolling his eyes back with his forced smile, his cheeks wilting into an awkward, dumbfounded frown; Cheese was still stoic, not even a single twitch of his muzzle curling up to get a reaction.

"That is a hilarious face," Sans commented, getting beside Sora and jotted down what he examined from his facial features. "Cheeks strained upward at a twenty degree angle, wide toothy grin to express joy while also comically forced, and eyes rolled back to add to the hilarity of the expression to prompt a laughter, or even the delay when the muscles are too stressed and droop into a look of disappointed stupor."

The hilarity of Sora's "funny face" was sucked dry by Sans' descriptions and not laughing along with the others, but the fact that Cheese didn't so much as crack a smile was more upsetting. Especially to Pinkie when she sat up and looked at the mopey frown that couldn't be turned upside down.

"Oh no. You DID lose your laugh," she mumbled.

Sora growled and leered at Sans. "It didn't help that you examined how I make that face like some kind of science experiment," he complained. "Comedy isn't meant to be serious; it's meant to be COMEDIC! Funny! Hilarious! Gut-busting laughter!"

"Well, he did offer that weird ventriliquist whoopee cushion idea from Pinkie's thoughts," Goofy said. "I can imagine that being hilarious for someone to try to prank someone with that and backfiring on them."

"Goofy's right; that's why Sans and I make a great team," Cheese said, baffling his marefriend and guests. "He's always been able to eke every last laugh out of my gags. Which has been a great help since I haven't come up with any good ones in a while."

Stunned, everyone slowly glanced at the dead serious vice-president. "...Seriously?" Ventus questioned.

"Doesn't look like he's got a single funny bone in his body," Donald grunted.

"Wait. So you can tell if a gag is funny or not; you just can't laugh at it?" Pinkie asked.

Her question began to upset Cheese as he teared up. "YES! And it's torture!" he cried, hugging Pinkie tightly as he buried his face in her neck.

"Aww, Cheesey. How did this happen?" Pinkie asked, rubbing her miserable coltfriend's head to console him.

"I-I don't know," Cheese mumbled. He leaned back, wiping his face with his sleeve. "When I was a party pony, I laughed at everything. I spread my party cheer wherever it was needed. I even started making individual, one-of-a-kind novelty gags for each and every one of my parties." Pushing a button underneath his desk, a star-shaped piñata dropped down in the middle of the office, startling Ventus as it almost bonked him on the head. Getting up and leaving his seat and Pinkie's embrace, he pulled out a bat, walked around his desk and approached Ventus, handing him the bat. "Give that a whack."

"...Uhh, ok," Ventus mumbled. "Is the piñata going to pour out cheese and crackers instead of candy?" Testing the swing of the bat, he noticed the bat felt a little strange despite it feeling like a normal bat. He then swung and hit the piñata, only for the bat to break apart and spill out candy, surprising all but Cheese and Sans. "The bat's the piñata?"

"Wow. Didn't see that coming," Xion uttered in awe.

"Made that specially for a little filly's birthday party that was as dull as a pebble," Cheese said, grimacing slightly when he recalled Maud's pet rock after getting to know her and her coltfriend, Mud Briar. "N-No offense to Boulder."

"Ah, I'm sure he'd take it in stride," Pinkie assured her coltfriend.

Back in Ponyville, Maud was spending some time with Mud Brair at a cafe. Their pets, Boulder and Twiggy sat together, but a moment later, Boulder suddenly shifted slightly, catching the deadpanned Pie's attention.

"Hmm?" She picked up Boulder, slowly running her hoof in circles. "...Boulder feels offended."

"Hmm? What?" Mud Briar looked at his pet stick, confused. "They were playing just fine."

"It's not Twiggy. It was...something else," Maud said. She held Boulder to her ear, her eyes opening slightly before drooping back to their deadpanned gaze. "...I wonder when Pinkie will bring her coltfriend over again."

"So how come you haven't produced any of these in your factory yet?" Sora asked as he munched on some of the sweets from Cheese's unique bat piñata.

"It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea that worked out, and the foals' parents at the party asked if they could buy unique piñatas made by me," Cheese continued. "Soon, more and more ponies commissioned more party ideas, which became too much for me to handle alone. I didn't want to disappoint all those smiling faces, but then I bumped into Sans, and seeing my creative party gags, he suggested we make a factory. I keep up with the demand and everypony would be happy, and within a month, gags were being shipped all over Equestria.

"But then, one day, my laugh was just...gone." Cheese hung his head, sighing miserably. "I haven't left the factory since. I don't want anypony seeing me like this. I mean, look at me! Boneless 2 doesn't even recognize me anymore!"

Pointing to a corner, his trusty rubber chicken Boneless 2 sat in a swivel chair, but it turned away, offended by how unfunny his companion was. Ventus didn't know what to feel about the rubber chicken, or his earlier counterpart who was turned into a key for the chest from the Tree of Harmony. He was afraid the thing was going to stand up and walk out of the office after seeing Boneless 1 "dance around" during the Goof-Off at his and Rainbow's combined birthday party.

"Gawrsh, this is very serious," Goofy said.

"You'd think a Heartless or some kind of weird spell sucked the joy out of this place," Riku said. "But, since no one's been in any danger, aside from a runaway banana peel and Cheese being the only one who can't laugh, that's thrown out the window."

"And Sora couldn't make Cheese laugh either," Donald added. "Such a shame. I think Sora's lost his touch."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Sora exclaimed.

Seeing Cheese in such distress, Pinkie couldn't imagine if it was herself who ended up losing her laugh. She'd be mopey and bring frowns to everyone in Ponyville. And he had never cracked a smile upon seeing her, the mare who helped him discover his talent, his purpose, and brought him so much joy and happiness that he couldn't replicate when throwing his parties across the world.

"Well, Cheesey, I got two words for you," she said. "Knock knock."

"Who's there?" Cheese asked.

"Boo," Pinkie responded.

"Boo who?" he asked.

"Don't cry, because we're gonna help you get your laugh back!" As bad as that joke was, the others were willing to help the stallion get his laughter back and snap out of his funk.

"This shouldn't be that difficult," Ventus said. "How hard can it be to make even the most serious of people laugh?"

It was more complicated than they thought. For the next couple hours, they tried just about anything to get even a chuckle out of Cheese Sandwich. Pinkie tried off her own patented silliness with some physical humor: using a pair of googly eyes, zapping Sans with a joy buzzer, even pratfalling into a banana cream pie face first. Donald and Goofy tried their luck with some of their own faces like Sora, but not even their expressions made Cheese's frown budge. Not even a simple joke or hilarious story did anything.

Then Pinkie tried getting Cheese to loosen his smiling muscles. Weirdly, it takes a lot let muscles to smile than it does to frown, and smiling exercises might get him to warm back up to it. Unfortunately, his forced smiles were far more strained than Sora's "funny face", his muscles contorting his face that made his grins look more awkward or unnerving. Pinkie assisted by pulling on his cheeks to really loosen them, which only made his skin flop and drop after enough pulling. Her last ditch effort was to kiss her stallion deeply, hoping a bit of amorous affection will get him to grin. Sadly, while she enjoyed it and so did Cheese, his lips drooped back into a frown.

Their next idea went toward creating some of the new prank ideas in the research and development section of the factory. Though bringing science into something meant for comedy felt like it would have dragged the funny down, Sans was actually right about that when it came to the crazy, out of nowhere pranks or gags to spark some sort of chuckle. Combining two normal pranks into a third, they managed to come up with some really mind-blowing inventions. Cheese watched as the employees assisted Pinkie in crafting their pranks while the others tested them. One was the bucket over the door prank that spills water on someone when they open it, only instead, water splashes up from beneath them through a vent next to the door while the bucket plops on their head. They made the ventriloquoopee cushion, where Xion sat on the inflatable flatulating balloon, and the sound came out from behind Donald. Retesting it, the sound came from a different person whoever was in the room, which made it all the more comical as more than one victim of the prank could be caught in it. Another was the disappearing ink trick, which was far more tricky as it was meant to splotch on someone's clothes or fur, then disappear, only to reappear on someone else nearby.

No matter what they did, Cheese just couldn't laugh or smile. Pinkie was wracking her brain on what to do to bring her cheerful coltfriend back, but nothing was working. They've exhausted every single ounce of comedy they could come up with, and Cheese was starting to feel hopeless.

"We've tried everything, and not a single thing worked," Xion said.

"It's like his laugh really did vanish," Ventus uttered. "How's that even possible?"

"I guess that's it, then," Cheese sighed. "I appreciate all you tried to do, but if neither of you can make me laugh, nopony can."

"Does...does that mean we're...breaking up?" Pinkie asked, pouting sadly as she expected the worst.

Cheese winced, his heart refusing to let that happen, but how can he bring Pinkie any joy if all of his no longer exists. "...I...I don't want us to be apart," he said. "But...I don't think I have a choice. I need to figure out how to live without a laugh. And you deserve somepony who can laugh at your silliness and bubbly personality."

Pinkie felt devastated. She watched with a broken heart as Cheese sadly walked back to his office. She didn't expect this to be the end of their relationship if she couldn't make him smile. She always kept trying to make a new friend smile or laugh, even if she got to the point of being annoying until she discovered what would be perfect way to see their lips rise up and grin with happiness. She got someone as grumpy as Cranky Doodle Donkey to smile after being reunited with his long lost lover Matilda.

"Oh dear. This is not good," Sans said. "I don't have as much innovative hilarity Mr. Sandwich has. He can't just give up. Not after how far we've come."

"This factory isn't gonna shut down, is it?" Sora asked. "You and Cheese wanted to build this place."

"Yes, but it's only a matter of time before the old ideas we retool through R run out and we have no new gags to make and sell," Sans stated. "Spreading laughter was definitely his life's purpose, as was mine when formulating every strong laugh that can be made from a gag or joke. Especially when he saw how much joy they brought to ponies first-hoof."

Pinkie snapped out of her depression, suddenly zipping up to Sans and grabbed his shoulders. "What did you just say?"

"Uhh, Mr. Sandwich enjoyed watching ponies laugh at his gags?" Sans repeated akwardly.

A loud ding rang out in the R department as a light bulb hanging over Pinkie suddenly lit up, her frown immediately turning upside down. "That's it! Sans, as dull as you are emotionally, you're a genius!" She gave Sans another bone-crushing hug, baffling him as she released him and sprinted out of the testing room and after Cheese. The others hurried after her as Pinkie reached Cheese's office, slamming open the door and surprising the miserable stallion. "Cheese Sandwich, I know why you lost your laugh! And when you're all smiles and laughter, I'll make sure you don't try to break my heart again like that!"

"W-What?" Cheese mumbled.

Sora, Riku, Ventus, Xion, Donald, Goofy, and Sans entered the office while Pinkie hopped over and draped a leg around Cheese's withers. "I know whenever I make ponies smile, I always love seeing them do it when I make them feel happy! And since you love to do the same thing, you can't laugh because you aren't seeing ponies enjoying everything you've made in your factory!"

At first, the others were a little confused by Pinkie's theory, but it all started to seem plausible. "I think she has a point," Sora agreed. "When I help someone, I'm not satisfied until everything's alright for them and anyone else that were involved."

"And staying here in this factory, you can't see how happy you make everyone who buys all your funny props and toys," Goofy added.

"He also mentioned he didn't want to see disappointed faces when he couldn't mass produce all his unique ideas," Donald added. "You also probably don't know if they're working or not."

"You and Pinkie both like to spread happiness, which is why you two are perfect for each other," Xion said.

"But this factory does spread happiness," Cheese reasoned.

"Except you don't SEE it," Pinkie reiterated. "You became a party pony just like me when we were foals, and exactly like me, you need to see those smiles in person!" Pinkie hopped over to her friends, grabbing Riku and pulling him toward Cheese, to his confusion. "Give it a try! Make Riku laugh!"

"Huh? Why me?" Riku questioned.

"You always were a sad sack," Sora teased.

"I am not! I'm not always in a sour mood twenty-four seven!" Riku argued. Sora grinned smugly at him, and as he glanced around the room, Xion and Ventus gave him odd looks, as if they knew his personality better than he did. Everyone's eyes were locked on him, making him grumble and growl in disdain. "...Whatever. Just...hit me with something."

"Ok. Why did Boneless 2 cross the road?" Cheese asked Riku, who responded with a silent shrug. "To prove to Boneless 1 he wasn't a chicken."

With Cheese's morose delivery, Riku barely smirked or chuckled. "Very good, sir," Sans complimented, everyone turning to the vice-president with a scowl. Realizing he verbally expressed how good of a joke it was, he grimaced at the leers he got, grinning sheepishly. "Er, I mean...ha ha...ha?"

"You know, when something's funny, you LAUGH!" Sora exclaimed.

"Seriously, did you get your funny bone removed when you were a kid or something?" Ventus questioned.

"I may have been created as a puppet, but I can sure as heck express my emotions better than that," Xion scolded.

"S-Sorry. Not much of a laugher," Sans admitted, causing everyone aside from Cheese to fall over in exasperation.

"I think we got the idea when you used science in comedy," Riku grumbled.

While busy figuring out what caused Cheese's lack of laughter, they weren't aware of some of the employees peering around the door to figure out what was happening when some of them overheard their boss was going to quit. "How about telling a joke to me?" Pinkie suggested.

"Pinkie, you laugh at everything," Cheese said.

"What!? I do not!" Pinkie denied. She looked at her friends, Sora giving her a deadpanned expression as he reached a hoof out to Donald, the griffon bearing the same expression as Sora flicked his beak, making it wobble. Pinkie snorted and giggled a the way Donald's beak shook, only to pause, frowning slightly with a huff. "Well, at least it's better than having everypony laugh at every single word I say that isn't meant to be funny. THAT day where Twilight shared our journal wasn't a good idea in the end. Lessons flew right over everypony's heads."

"Look, I really do appreciate what you guys are doing for me, but I think it's a cost lause," Cheese said, stammering slightly when he accidentally flubbed up his words. "I mean lost cause." Suddenly, from the doorway, Cheese's ears shot up when he heard a snicker coming from one of his employees. The others heard it to, looking back as Cheese gawked at the uniformed stallion covering his muzzle, the one who released that bit of laughter from Cheese's accidental mix-up. "What. Was. That???"

The suspect winced as he felt like he got caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. "Uhh, sorry. When you swapped the letters of those words, it was just a bit..."

"Funny?" Cheese asked, finishing the nervous employee's sentence for him as he nodded sheepishly.

To have invoked a laugh from someone over a simple slipup of his speech, Cheese's lips began to curl into a small smile. He started feeling like the weight of his loss was lightened, to actually make someone else laugh, even just a snigger, felt good to do; something he didn't realize that's what he was meant to do while being in charge of his factory.

[Cheese Sandwich]

So you're saying it's a mix-up

Of the sounds that I just made

That coaxed that snicker from your throat

In a delicate cascade?

If I did it one more time

If I reproduced that feat

Mixed up some letters here and there

You'd 'lelly-baugh' tout suite?

Purposefully mixing up his words in his song, that got his employees to laugh, tearing off the gloomy veil that had been cast over him for the last few months. His smile was genuine, his eyes lit up with euphoria; Cheese Sandwich was back, and Pinkie was happy to see the silly stallion she helped inspire.

Then that's all I need to do

That's who I need to be

I thought I needed laughter

But it has to come from me

Cheese hopped on his desk, spinning rapidly as he did a swift wardrobe change. No longer wearing the gloomy turtleneck and tying his mane back, he now wore a bright yellow suit and top hat to match his crazy, professional personality.

Squirting flowers and knobby knees

Rubber chickens my expertise

If you want laughter, then stick with Cheese

"There's the Cheese Sandwich I love!" Pinkie cheered.

"Oh, Pinkie, I'm just getting back in the groove!" Cheese said as he zipped out onto the factory floor, his bouncy energy affecting the staff as they watched their boss begin making a fool of himself, spreading laughter and excitement to the dull atmosphere.

I suppose now I should amp things up

To get the thing I'm after

Move whole syll-AB-les around

And change em-PHA-sis to get laughter

Can't stop now, I'm on a roll

I've almost got it back

Bright folks like you aren't subject to

My play-on-words attack!

With something else, I'll have to play

To get me where I'm going

"What're you gonna do?" Xion asked curiously.

[Falsetto] Some Commedia dell'arte

To get the laughter flowing

And it's what I need to do

It's who I need to be

I thought I needed laughter

But it has to come from me

Follow right behind, if you please

Walk this way and I guarantee

While following goofily behind Cheese, Donald snickered and unleashed the super slippery banana, letting it run amok and slide across the factory floor. It soon got in Cheese's line of ponies, slipping up some while others managed to hop out of the way to avoid a comical stumble. Donald started laughing at the unfortunate ponies, only for karma to get back at him as the banana swept him off his feet and sending him flopping in a box filled with balloons, but those balloons sent the griffon bouncing up and down as they popped. Sora noticed and was astonished by the odd balloons Cheese's factory made was just like the prank he pulled on Pinkie years ago with his Balloon spell. If Pinkie mentioned it to him, how Cheese managed to recreate it without magic was an impressive feat.

If you want laughter, then stick with Cheese

"Time for an accordion solo, baby!" Pinkie said, tossing her coltfriend the musical instrument.

Catching it with ease, Cheese hopped around while jamming on the accordion and dodging some baked pies being flung by an automatic launcher. He avoided most of them, though he purposefully got hit by one, splattering his face in warm filling and crust, which he licked up with one swipe of his tongue.

And it's what I need to do

It's who I need to be

I thought I needed laughter

But it has to come from me

Whoopee cushions and Dungarees

I know jokes like my A-B-C's

If you want laughter, then stick with Cheese

His employees enjoyed Cheese's antics and were laughing along with him. So far, Cheese had managed to tickle everyone's funny bone, intentional or not, except for one. Sans Smirk may have been happy to see his boss back to his old self, but he hadn't once laughed at anything Cheese had done. Claiming not to be a laugher despite how much he wanted to incorporate as much funny in any of Cheese's inventions, Cheese was going to find that funny bone and pull it out for the world to see. The lights dimmed as a spotlight hovered over Sans, confusing the vice-president while another lit up above Cheese.

And now my biggest test

The hardest fish to fry

[Pinkie Pie]

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

[Cheese Sandwich]

A mind so analytical

A sense of humor dry

[Pinkie Pie]

So dry!

[Cheese Sandwich]

To make you laugh would prove to me

That this experiment's done

[Pinkie Pie]

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

[Cheese Sandwich]

Something ridiculous and not too smart

Something like a pun

"A pun?" Riku questioned, then scoffed and shook his head. "If Sans can't laugh at anything, I doubt something as dumb as a pun will."

Cheese wasn't deterred and got right up to his second-in-command to tell his joke. "Hey, Sans! How did the laughing bird's eggs hatch? They cracked up!"

On the side, Pinkie sat in front of a drum set and performed a rimshot. The pun was terrible and obvious, but Sans was stunned, his muzzle scrunching up.

"Sir...that is so...ridiculous!" he said, and to everyone's stupor, the unlaughable stallion began busting out laughing.

Sora, Riku, Ventus, Xion, Donald, and Goofy were astounded. "...I can't believe that got a laugh out of him," Ventus mumbled.

"And it had to be something as lame and simple as a pun," Riku uttered with a disgruntled sigh.

Regardless, whatever kind of joke, prank, or funny story can make anyone laugh, Cheese Sandwich was officially back in business.

Then that's all I need to do

That's all I need to see

I thought I needed laughter

But it had to come from me

[All]

Squirting flowers and knobby knees

Rubber chickens and Dungarees

If you want laughter, then stick with Cheese!

The factory was filled with laughs and morale boosted greatly with Cheese back to his old self. Now the ponies' work is more fun than all seriousness, cracking jokes and testing some of the gags themselves, or on each other. Sans had to catch his breath, never having laughed this much or hard in his life, his outlook on the creative gags now far better than his own analytical view on bringing out the hardest of belly laughs. He wiped the tears from his eyes and approached Cheese after he hugged his marefriend tightly, thanking her for getting his funny and laugh back with kisses that made her giggle from his affections.

"It's so good to have you back sir," Sans said, interrupting the couple. "Finally we can get the factory back to how things used to be."

"Sans, my good stallion, I don't think I can run this factory anymore," Cheese said, his response baffling his business partner, even more so when Cheese pointed at him. "But you can!"

"M-Me? Without you?" Sans asked, suddenly nervous about this surprise promotion. "I-I don't understand."

"Pinkie was right; THIS is what I needed." Cheese waved out to the factory, showing Sans the amount of joy he brought to his employees from his little musical number. The factory had never been this lively since both stallions built it from the ground up and found rapid succession. The laughter grew when the runaway super banana peel carried Goofy away as he let out a comical scream, sliding into Donald, Ventus, and Sora. He finally slipped, dropping them all in a dogpile while Xion caught the peel in the glass dome, carefully setting it back on its pedestal, then leered at Donald for letting it loose again. "I just can't have funny ideas. I need to wander the land and see ponies laugh at them." Spinning around with Pinkie still in his hooves, he was now wearing his wandering attire, his yellow top hat now sitting atop Pinkie's head. "You can run the factory while I go out and do what I do best!

"And don't think I forgot about you, little buddy!" Boneless 2 and his swivel chair had somehow wound up on the factory floor, no one having moved him at all since they all left Cheese's office. The rubber chicken turned around, wearing a tiny little Stetson, ready to hit the road with his friend and forgiving him for being a sad sack. "I knew you'd be onboard."

Cheese grabbed Boneless 2 and settled him on his back. "Sir, are you...sure about this?" Sans asked.

"I'm not gonna leave you high and dry without sending you some new ideas," Cheese assured. "I trust you'll make them just as hilarious as I would make them, and more!"

"Just no more weird and goofy masks with Cheese's face," Pinkie warned.

"Duly noted, Ms. Pie," Sans said.

With the factory now fully entrusted in his hooves, Sans wasn't going to let Cheese down. As he returned to join the merriment with their employees, Cheese faced Pinkie and held her hooves.

"Pinkie, this is the second time you helped me be the stallion I am," he said. "I feel like I'm never going to make up for all you've done for me."

"Aww, Cheese. Just making ponies happy and seeing their smiles is all I need," Pinkie said. Glancing around the factory, it slowly dawned on her as to what her life's purpose was meant to be. Though she hadn't made such a big achievement to the eyes of the public, doing what she loves to do with the ponies she's met and befriended had been her purpose in life all this time. "Heehee. Boy, I feel silly trying to wonder what my life's purpose was, and I wanted to come see you anyway to ask your help to find mine."

"Really? What was it?" Cheese asked curiously.

"Making everyone smile and laugh," the wielders, Donald, and Goofy answered, standing behind the couple with deadpanned expressions.

"Hey, how did you know that?" Pinkie asked, causing the outworlders to fall over with an exasperated groan.

"It wasn't obvious when you and Cheese officially met each other back during that birthday bash!?" Ventus questioned.

"Or what about all the times before that when I first met you!?" Sora added.

"...Oh. I guess it was all this time," Pinkie giggled sheepishly. "I never thought of it that way because I always love to make my friends happy."

The others sighed and shook their heads, but that was Pinkie Pie for them.

Returning to the castle, Pinkie regaled to the rest of their friends what happened. Cheese decided to stick around to spend a little time with Pinkie before his Cheese Sense called him to travel to a party in need of his comedic and wacky twist to liven it up. As a gift for what they've done for him, Cheese let the saviors of Equestria have a few of his patented gags as a reward for getting his laugh back, including some of the creative inventions Pinkie came up with during their visit. Twilight spotted the ventrilioquoppee cushion, unaware it wasn't any ordinary whoopee cushion and tried to prank Riku with it. She swiftly set it under him as he sat by the crystal table, but her eyes widened in shock when the sound came from underneath her instead, catching everyone's attention. Flustered from the backfired prank, she looked under herself, baffled by the lack of a gag cushion beneath her, then back at Riku, who smirked at the attempt to get back at him.

As the sun started to set, Cheese and Pinkie took a stroll around Ponyville on a little date. "You know, I think this spot right here might be where I first met you," Cheese said.

"Really? This specific spot?" Pinkie asked.

"It's been a while. All I could focus on was the filly juggling rubber chickens and balancing on a rubber ball making others laugh," Cheese flirted cheekily, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Pinkie giggled in response. "I don't know how I didn't notice you back then. I was probably too busy entertaining everypony," she said. "You used to wear glasses."

"Yup. Switched to contacts so they wouldn't fall off when I attempted to pull off some of the same silly stunts you did," Cheese said. "Took a lot of work, and discovering the wonders of the fourth wall, but, without you, I wouldn't be where I am." He stopped walking, pulling out a large box he was able to stuff in his polo. Curious, Pinkie watched him open it, which held a smaller box of the same type, repeatedly opening each new one inside before a small box was all that was left. Tossing aside the other boxes from his silly antic, Pinkie's jaw dropped, her eyes flicking between Cheese and the small box while he bent down, holding the box out to her. "Pinkamena Diane Pie, would you be the melted cheese to my bread and be a gooey, ooey mess with me?"

The box opened, revealing a bracelet with a diamond carved in the shape of a balloon. Caught by surprise from the proposal, Pinkie's hung open jaw closed as she smiled as widely as she ever did, tears welling in her eyes as she choked back an overjoyed sob. Cheese could see what her response is as he smiled back at her, only to yelp when Pinkie tackled him, sending the two party ponies tumbling across the road along with the ring as it was launched in the air. It dropped down where the couple stopped, Pinkie kissing Cheese deeply with him on his back, his hoof reaching out to catch the box just before it touched the ground. Pinkie peeled her lips from his with a wet smack, giggling and snorting with glee.

"Yes, yes, a million bajillion fafillion times YES!" she squealed, kissing Cheese again. With one quick swipe of her hoof, she latched the bracelet around her right hoof, a perfect fit as the diamond sparkled in the setting sunlight. "This is the happiest day of my life!...Although, you are aware we were going to be together forever at the end of the season, right?"

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to make it official to the audience that we were definitely going to wind up being married and have a foal when they shipped us together," Cheese said. "Thanks, Hasbro!"

"Thanks to who?" Cheese let out a shriek, hopping in the air before crashing on top of Pinkie.

Behind them, Maud stood with her usual thousand-yard, deadpanned stare, neither of them hearing her approach them or had been standing there for a while. "Maud!" Pinkie cheered, flipping Cheese off of her and ran to hug her favorite older sister. "Look! Cheese proposed to me!"

Pinkie showed off her engagement bracelet, making Maud's eyes widen by a slight margin in surprise. "He what?" she asked.

"Cheesey and I are gonna get married!" Pinkie rephrased.

Maud looked at Cheese, who seemed a little nervous while the neutrally emotional mare silently judged him. "...Congratulations," she said. "I'm happy for you Pinkie." Cheese sighed in relief, but Maud didn't avert her gaze from him and walked over to him. "You take good care of my sister, Cheese Sandwich."

"Heh. O-Of course," Cheese said. "After what she did to make me the party pony of Equestria, I would never take her for granted."

"Good. But since you're here, we need to have a few words," Maud said, her monotone response holding an air of dread, despite how hard it was to read the mare. Cheese gulped loudly, already sensing the impending overprotective sibling act. Maud pulled Boulder out from her dress, holding the pet rock out. "Boulder felt insulted by something, and he claimed it was you."

"Err...What did I-?" Cheese mumbled, then grimaced, perturbed that his comparison earlier at his factory about his depressed mood was somehow sensed by Maud's pet. "...H-He was able to...hear my description of a birthday party I saved?"

"Boulder Sense," Maud explained.

Cheese stammered, literally tongue tied, but luckily, Pinkie came to his rescue. "He didn't mean it. He has a laugh factory and lost his laugh because he wasn't making ponies laugh, but now he's got it back. He was in a really dark and sad place, and he would NEVER leave a party that was boring without making it fun."

Maud quietly stared at the couple, then down at Boulder, holding her pet rock up to her ear. "...Boulder forgives you," she said, relieving Cheese. "But he says not to let it happen again without his approval."

"Y-Yes, of course! Forgive me, Boulder," Cheese apologized. Boneless 2 wilted slightly, causing Cheese to leer back at him. "Oh, stop. I swear, Boneless 1 behaved better than you."

"'One'?" Maud questioned.

"Oh, I gave Pinkie Boneless 1 a couple years ago when I threw a big party in Ponyville," Cheese explained.

"And he also turned into a key, which also became my new Keyblade that was actually Sora's, but it's now passed on to me," Pinkie added, summoning the Keyblade of Laughter in her hoof.

Shocked, Cheese's jaw dropped as he stared at the weapon. "...When did you get that?" Cheese questioned.

"Uhh...A couple months ago?" Pinkie answered sheepishly. "When Sombra came back and almost took over Equestria?"

Speechless, Cheese slowly began to worry. Even though he was aware of where their future would go with their fourth wall-breaking powers, to know Pinkie would get hurt left him fearful if something off script did happen.

"Pinkie, why didn't you tell me either?" Maud questioned, her gaze slightly hardened as if she was scolding her sister. "After what happened the last time those monsters showed up-"

Behind Maud, a Defender popped into existence through a flash of darkness, the shield's face snarling and rearing back by the Heartless' hand. Pinkie quickly grabbed Maud, leaping away as the shield missed chomping down on her. Scowling, Pinkie flicked her Keyblade, thrusting it in the air, surrounding the Defender with dozens of magical mines on the ground.

"Not today, you creepy Heartless thing!" Pinkie exclaimed, then with a yell, she jumped and landed on the top of its shield, followed by a light boop to the shield-bearer's nose, making it stumble back into one of the mines. Pinkie hopped away as the mines blew up in a colorful chain reaction. Each explosion splattered its body in several colors, shifting around status ailments while blasting it into another mine to inflict more damage to it. Cheese and Maud watched the Heartless getting juggled while Pinkie just casually watched, pointing with her Keyblade the next one that would blow up wherever it landed. After the last one was set off, the Defender flopped on its stomach in front of Pinkie, shakily glancing up, staring at the tip of her Keyblade with her eyes glazed over in a deadly leer. "Hasta la vista, baby."

A swift flash of light shimmered from her Keyblade before a giant explosion directly underneath the Defender destroyed it. After it faded away, leaving colorful sparks to rain down behind Pinkie, she turned to her fiancé and sister with a wide grin. Stunned, Cheese and Maud glanced at each other.

"...Well, I guess I don't have much to worry about after seeing that," Cheese said, chuckling nervously.

"You're right," Maud agreed. "Pinkie will break you far worse than I would if you upset her."

"And all the more reason not to!" Cheese said.

Pinkie hopped between the two ponies, draping her legs around them. "Now that that random interruption to assure the both of you I'm not as helpless as an itty bitty Pinkie Pie, I can't wait until I introduce you to the rest of my family!" she said to Cheese. "I think my mom will love you!"

"And Limestone will get more jealous," Maud said, a tiny smirk appearing on her muzzle.

Cheese was shocked to hear Maud give an impish jab toward one of their siblings, but he was both excited and nervous to meet with the rest of her family in the future.

Back in Valhalla, Lightning sat in her grand throne in the Keyblade Masters' meeting room. She glared at the scenery as she used the crystal's memoria enchantment, replaying all of Sora's supposed accomplishments hundreds of times over. In her hand, she delicately held the piece of paper from the Book of Prophecies depicting the events to come, along with the fate of the worlds resting in the hands of the very same boy who dared to argue against her and goad into a fight. She wanted to crumple the paper, but it was an important part of the wielders' history, passed down from Foreteller to Foreteller since the Dandelions founded Valhalla.

"Why is he so important?" Lightning questioned. "Everywhere he's gone, each world he's been to and 'saved', he's revealed his Keyblade numerous times to the public, got some of those inhabitants from those worlds to fight back against the Heartless, and constantly meddles in the worlds' affairs when he's not supposed to." Growling, unable to find an answer, she got up from her seat, swiping her hand to dispel the enchantment in the room, stomping her way toward the crystal to warp back down to the ground. Exiting the building, she walked down the road, making her way toward her master's manor. "I'm gonna get some answers one way or another. And she's not going to leave me with another of her stupid riddles."

Lightning ignored the greetings from the other Valhallans. She'd been too focused on trying to figure Sora out and why her mentor believed in a wielder who's gone and broken the world order far too much to be considered one of them. Standing at one of the stalls, Laguna was loading up some cases of supplies for the ranch, mostly some of the chocobos' favorite food, a root-like vegetable called gysahl greens. Setting the last of the cases down, he wiped his brow, spotting Lightning walking his way.

"Hey, Light. Haven't seen you in a while," Laguna greeted.

"Not in the mood, Laguna," she huffed, fast-walking past the ranch handler.

"Hmm...What's got under her britches?" he mumbled. "I'll be right back." The shopkeeper nodded, watching Laguna's cart as he hurried after the frustrated Foreteller. "Yo, Lightning! What's got under your skin this time!?"

"Laguna, if you want to permanently limp around Valhalla the rest of your life, you stop talking to me this instant!" Lightning exclaimed.

"You've been holding yourself up in your little tower, and most of the Valhallans are incredibly worried," he said as he walked beside her. "Ever since our esteemed guests left, you've been in a more sour mood than your mount when it's time for him to take a bath."

"This has nothing to do with you," Lightning growled. "You're not even supposed to be involved in any of the concerns we bearers are trying to focus on!"

"I think all of us should be concerned," Laguna reasoned. "Especially this second Keyblade War. If this Xehanort guy is that crazy enough to repeat it to take full control of Kingdom Hearts, who's to say that with this mass genocide they think he's going to commit, he'll wipe out Valhalla and all of us along with it? We all have reasons to be concerned, not just you or any of the elders trying to keep the peace with the news outside this realm."

Lightning stopped, turning her head to glare at Laguna. "...You have a lot of nerve," she uttered. "Years ago, you had as much potential as I did. You were one of the few strongest wielders in our generation, but when it came to our Mark of Mastery exam by Master Poppins, we were chosen to be tested that day, but you just raised your hand and forfeited! So to make up for you quitting like a coward, I had to dedicate all my time to PROVE I would become a master over winning by default! Because of you and still sticking your nose in everything like you still belong, you're just a nuisance who shouldn't have been chosen as one of us!"

The road grew silent as onlookers watched the Foreteller verbally assault the friendliest man from the ranch. Some of them expected them to get into a shouting match, or worse, Lightning would threaten him with her power. Instead, Laguna remained calm, stoic, brushing off her insults as if he wasn't offended.

"...You want to know why I gave up?" Laguna questioned, baffling Lightning. "Yeah. It's true. I wanted to train hard and be a master. I knew I had the skills to be one...Maybe even surpass you."

"Tsk. Yeah, right," Lightning scoffed.

"But the reason why I forfeited? It wasn't because either of us was going to lose," he said. Looking around, he noticed the audience standing there, watching the two. "...It's what you said to Sora and why he didn't deserve to be a Key Bearer; I would have meddled in any world I've been to to protect them from the Heartless." Lightning didn't react to his answer, silently glaring at him. "I'm way too nice and helpful. Even with all my training, that important rule we weren't supposed to break when protecting the world order, I knew I was going to break that the first minute I set foot in another world.

"Everyone in Valhalla greets me like I've been their friendly neighbor for years. And anytime someone needs help, I agree without hesitation. Since we need to follow those very specific rules involving the world order, I knew I wasn't going to pass our exam regardless. So, yeah, I quit, but that didn't mean I gave up on everyone when I turned in my Keyblade. Just like Sora never gave up on saving those worlds, rules be damned." Lightning grunted, offering no retort as she turned her head away from his direction. "I knew you'd rise to the top. But you seem to have given up your own morality and became a stuffy rule-enforcer, not a Foreteller." Still silent, Laguna shrugged and began to walk back to where he left his cart. "Perhaps Sora did have a point; you're too self-centered and care so much about these rules, we all left the worlds to be swallowed by the darkness years ago. Luckily, we had someone who was able to pick up your slack."

Lightning grit her teeth, looking back at Laguna as he calmly walked down the road. "...Like hell he could..."

Leering at the group who watched their tiff, they quickly went about their business, avoiding her gaze. Lightning huffed, continuing on her way until she reached her master's manor. She didn't bother waiting for one of her servants to greet her at the gate, leaping over with a grunt and stormed into the yard unannounced.

"M-Master Lightning," one of the former Foreteller's servants uttered in shock. "W-What brings you by?"

"Where's Poppins?" Lightning demanded.

"I-In the garden, but-" Without hearing the reason, Lightning stormed past the flabbergasted servant. "W-Wait! S-She's in the middle of a lesson!"

"Don't care." Knowing her way around the manor, she walked into the garden, pausing when she found her master, along with several children as they were each paired with a dance partner with classical music playing in the background.

"That's it, children," Mary praised, watching each couple following the tempo of the song that was playing. Keeping an eye on their steps to be sure they were stepping in sync with their partner, she walked alongside them, helping correct their stances with a gentle nudge. The boys felt a bit awkward, but the girls all seemed giddy and rarely needed any guidance to fix their postures. "Follow the rhythm. One, two, three, and one, two, three." She passed by a pair with an abyssinian girl and a diamond dog boy, righting the canine's posture so he was more upright. "No slouching, dear."

"T-This is weird," the diamond dog mumbled sheepishly.

"Because you're dancing with a cat?" the abyssinian teased with a playful purr.

"N-No! The dancing!" he argued. "Why is this important?"

"If you are to be future bearers, when in combat, it is highly important to find yourself in perfect synchronization with your partner, or your opponent," Mary explained, making sure the other children heard her if they also questioned her lesson. "With your partner, if you are able to connect and work together, you won't need to verbally announce what you plan to do and let your foe know what you are going to do. Proper teamwork and synchronicity will help to aid you against the most powerful of enemies. Same goes against your opponent; if you can read their movements, you can seize the opportunity to be one or two steps ahead of them."

Lightning groaned; she despised this lesson, despite how ingenious of an idea it was. It was more horrible to experience because her "dance partner" was Laguna, and though he had rhythm, he was still a pain to deal with as her assigned partner. Although, he did suffer from unexpected leg cramps, and Lightning wasn't the cause for them when they were younger due to him failing to properly stretch his leg muscles. Shaking her head, she interrupted the dance lesson as she approached her mentor.

"Master, I need a word with you," she said.

"Ah, Claire. I wasn't expecting you," Mary said.

"'Claire'? I thought her name was Lightning," one of the boys mumbled, making the Foreteller stifle a grumble at the remark.

"Claire is her real name, but she seems to prefer to call herself by her new name," Mary Poppins explained. To hear the most powerful wielder of Valhalla had such a nicer name made the children giggle. "Now, what do you wish to discuss? We're in the middle of a lesson."

"I need to talk to you in private," Lightning insisted.

"About what?" The Foreteller pulled out the time-worn page, subtly hinting at the secretive foresight written upon it. Mary Poppins hummed, silently nodding her head, then walked over to a phonograph that was playing the music, taking the needle off the record. "Alright, children, I believe now's a good time for a short rest. Go on inside and help yourselves to some tea and cakes." Excited, Mary's young students cheered and filed inside the manor for some snacks. She gave one of her servants overlooking them a nod, who bowed back and kept an eye on the kids in her stead. Alone in the garden, Mary Poppins looked back at Lightning. "Now that there are no prying ears, I assume you've been exhausting yourself trying to figure out what makes Sora so important."

"I've been spending the last few weeks going through everything in that kid's life as a bearer," Lightning grumbled. "I've witnessed him constantly breaking every world's order, getting involved in their affairs, and what's worse, he's gotten some of the inhabitants of those worlds to fight back against the Heartless! Only the Keyblade can destroy them, and he's putting more lives at risk than just mentioning their existence!"

"I am well aware of his rule-breaking, but is there anything in particular of his past you noticed that explained why that page expressed his importance?" Mary Poppins asked.

"No! Nothing he's done has been right ever since he acquired that Keyblade!" Lightning exclaimed angrily. "If you're talking about his feats bringing back the lost worlds, stopping several threats, and causing all sorts of trouble, I know that! Nor do I even give a damn! He was lucky he didn't get himself killed for being so reckless!"

"It's not just what he's accomplished." Lightning clenched her fists. She was sick and tired of beating around the bush, and she wanted answers, not vague responses to force her to discover the actual answer for herself when she couldn't find one. "Before, Sora had mentioned using a spell to travel back in time to rescue his father from his fate. Though he had failed, I grew curious about his traversal through time and the other attempts he's made while, surprisingly, not altering the future."

"The hell does that have to do with anything?" Lightning questioned.

"One such incident in Equestria involving time travel, Aqua explained how a former villain now ally, a Miss Starlight Glimmer, used a similar spell to try to alter one moment in the past to ruin the futures of her enemies," Mary stated. "Granted, Miss Glimmer's rage stemmed from a childhood loss of her friend over a cutie mark, and was rooted deeply in her heart to turn her to such a heartless act in her misery. The event she altered was where the Elements of Harmony did not earn their cutie marks by Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. Over and over, she, and the ones who could stop her, Sora and Princess Twilight Sparkle, changed the future; their present day. And each alternate timeline that was created, though the world of Equestria was only seen in dire straits, stopping the sonic rainboom had done more harm than good as it wasn't just the Elements of Harmony that were afflicted by the change; Sora's life was also involved, as well as every other world in the cosmos."

"...What?" Lightning uttered, shocked. "That's impossible."

Pulling out a green crystal from her pocket, Mary Poppins used her magic to make it glow. In front of them, matching similarly to the crystal in the Masters' council room, images began to appear involving Sora's memories, the crystal immediately copying and storing any wielder's memories as long as they were within range of it. Bringing up the time traveling fiasco, Mary showed Lightning the alternate futures Sora and Twilight found themselves in, along with the different actions involved with changing how Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom was stopped. Everything that was said between Sora, Twilight, Starlight, and the alternate universes of Sora's allies and enemies were heard, and what they spoke when it came to Sora and startled by his presence when he was allegedly deceased in those timelines, Lightning couldn't believe this as a mere coincidence. Each timeline, Sora had met his end in some way where he managed to come out with only a few scrapes and bruises, and most of the worlds suffered, including Sora's closest friends.

"It is hard to believe at first glance, however, it is very clear that Sora plays a very integral role in keeping all the worlds from harm," Mary stated. "Yes, he broke many rules, but whether he followed them or not, one thing is certain involving his 'meddling' and interacting with every world and inhabitant he comes across." She then made every single moment of every world Sora's been to, befriending and talking with the friends he's made, even his many interactions throughout Equestria with the Mane Six, all their friends and families, the princesses, every single creature he's ever met, bewildering Lightning as each image surrounded her. One last image appeared directly in front of her with Sora in his Ray of Hope Form, staring defiantly at her just like in their duel when she thought he had him beaten. "This is why that page specified him specifically as the very wielder who will put an end to the second Keyblade War. His heart is linked with the hearts of so many to grant him the power to make it possible; Sora is the key to all of our futures."

Lightning stared at the image of Sora, wanting to refuse to believe this was the reason why he was so important to the one who wrote that entry in the past. Logically, she shouldn't even look past the chaos he's wrought by meddling in the worlds, revealing his Keyblade and the intentions of the Heartless to those who aren't supposed to know to avoid bringing more darkness through the fear of their existence. Her gazed shifted to the alternate timelines hovering behind Ray of Hope Sora, highlighting just how significant his life impacted those timelines; why he needed to be there to prevent these alternate futures from happening.

"...This...This can't be the reason why," she mumbled.

"It's only one of the many reasons why Sora is important to all of us, not just his friends," Mary Poppins said. "We may very well be in peril should Xehanort succeed in harnessing the power of Kingdom Hearts. Valhalla is in danger as much as the rest of the worlds." She dismissed all the images, leaving her pupil dumbfounded. "You claim he was 'lucky' to be a Key Bearer. That may be true, however, that wouldn't have mattered if your fight with him resulted with you laying in the sand in defeat. He also has something that you've completely neglected over the years."

"Do not tell me it's the same response he gives to anyone who questioned his strength," Lightning growled.

"No, though that is another you've tossed aside." The Foreteller frowned in response, still thinking Sora's power comes from his friends is nothing but a phrase to boost his own morale. "Tell me: while you two zipped around Valhalla, did you not take into consideration of everyone in the realm?"

"They all gave us a wide berth," Lightning said.

"Oh? Did we?" Mary asked, quirking a brow curiously. Lightning suddenly felt timid by her mentor's gaze. "I was at the park with those children. You altered the gravity, lifting pieces of earth as your platforms for your high-speed slash and dash, and then you decided to drop one of them down to the ground with him on it, completely oblivious to all of us beneath that very chunk of earth to crush him, and crush us. Despite that, he ignored you for the time being and destroyed it, AND protected us from the smaller pieces that rained down over us. From that carelessness to prove your point and spare your own ego from being bruised by him speaking his heart, you did not consider our safety."

"...I-I..." Lightning couldn't come up with any argument to back her anger.

"He at least has a sense of morality and will drop his focus on his opponents if innocents are in the line of fire. For years, even after your Mark of Mastery Exam was retaken after Laguna conceded, you gave that up and solely focused on yourself," Mary said. "In my opinion, both of you had what it took to be masters, even to be my successor as the next Foreteller. If Laguna did not turn in his Keyblade, I would have chosen him in a heartbeat." Shocked, Lightning's eyes widened at her master's immediate decision if things turned out differently. And she had a feeling she knew exactly why that was after being talked down to and given yet another lecture from her retired master. "Mhmm. The look on your face explains it all. And, that should give you the answer you've been searching for. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss, or must I paint you another picture?"

"...N-No...No, Master," Lightning mumbled.

"Very well. Now, I must continue with the lesson." Lightning subtly bowed her head, Mary Poppins turning to make her way back to her manor to bring the next generation of wielders

The Foreteller turned to take her leave, her pace sluggish, reeling from the reflections of her actions. Once she exited the manor walls, the servant who greeted her wishing her a good day, she slumped against the wall. She couldn't stop herself from imagining the alternate outcomes in her life. If Laguna hadn't given up his right as a bearer, he would have made a much more better and friendlier Foreteller, maybe even risk their safety to stopping the worlds from being swallowed by the darkness. They'd help stop the likes of Ansem, Xemnas, and Xehanort without any casualties, at least to those who are defenseless to the Heartless or the foes controlling them. Then there was her confrontation with Sora; she really was lucky her Zantetsuken managed to hit him and end the fight. If it missed, Sora's Ray of Hope Form would have easily slammed her to the ground, all her bravado and display of power quashed by the power of his unwavering determination. She didn't underestimate him as a warrior, but she did underestimate just how strong his heart was compared to hers.

Hearing a small 'kweh', she glanced to her right, finding Odin standing there, gazing at her in silence. Lightning didn't even hear her grumpy companion, leaving him back at the ranch to his own business. He never even came to seek her out while she holed herself in the council room. He then looked out toward the fields in the distance, staring specifically at the chocobo ranch.

"...What are you trying to tell me, Odin?" she questioned her mount. He glanced at her, then turned his side, lowering himself, silently telling her to climb on his back. Lightning sighed, her companion sensing something had happened between her and Laguna, and Odin didn't like anyone except for her. Not even Laguna when he tried to groom him, or even clip his messy feathery head. "...Have I really been so stubborn to work this hard for power, only to be left the weakest wielder in the realm?"

She approached her chocobo, hopping on, letting him sprint off to bring her down to the ranch. On the ride, she stared at the ancient page, the excerpt written that foretold everything that happened so far up to the moment where Sora would be the one to spare all the worlds from a mass genocide. Odin slowed down as it came up to the fence holding the pasture for the ranch. She spotted Laguna out with some of the chocobo, feeding them gysahl greens, and she even saw her pupils, Mane Allgood and Snap Shutter were here, the latter grooming Boko and plucking some of his overgrown feathers to make room for new ones to grow in. Hopping off of Odin, she hopped over the fence and approached Laguna.

"There we go. Eat it up, girl," Laguna said to the chocobo he was feeding, who let out a happy squawk at the delicious greens. When the chocobos noticed Lightning approach, they scurried backward, startling Laguna. "Huh? Hey, these are the freshest gysahls from the market."

"Laguna," Lightning called out.

Without needing to turn around, Laguna uttered a grunt. "...Hey, Light," he greeted. "Did Mrs. P give you what you've been searching for?"

"...I was out of line," she said. "I know an apology isn't going to make up for putting you down and acting like an ass. I don't even have an excuse for being...cold. Stubborn." Confused, Laguna turned around to face Lightning. "...If we hadn't been so dead set on following the rules our forbearers had laid out for the Dandelions...you really would have made a better Foreteller than I'm being right now."

Stunned, Laguna glanced at Mane, Snap, and Boko, who were just as surprised hearing the Foreteller being a lot nicer than she had ever been. "...Who the hell are you and what have you done with the real Lightning?"

Lightning growled, clenching her fists in irritation. "I'm trying to tell you I'm sorry, you-!" Stopping herself, she took a deep breath and exhaled to calm herself. "...Look, I've been struggling to find answers, and it took Master Poppins pointing out what I apparently wasn't paying attention to. There's...a whole lot more about the second Keyblade War the others are going to risk their lives for. And...I still think it's hard to believe, but Sora has an important role in putting an end to this war." She lowered her head, feeling bitter, but she was already proven wrong by her master before. "...He IS stronger than I am...I was the one who was lucky, not him."

"...Ok...A humbled Lightning Faron," Laguna uttered. "I don't know whether to be scared of this side of you or your usual mood."

"Can you please be serious?" Lightning begged, getting fed up with his remarks.

"Sorry, but...as much as I appreciate the apology, it's just...really weird hearing you be nice," he said. Lightning was beginning to regret trying to make amends with Laguna with his lackadaisical and snarky personality. "And I don't think it's just me you need to apologize to as well. If you fully believe in Sora now, you got some words to say to him."

"Yeah, I know. But after last time, I don't think he'd be willing to hear me out," Lightning mumbled.

"Come on. We've seen how he is. He's the friendliest guy second to me," Laguna said cheekily. "He doesn't hold a grudge against anyone."

"...You didn't see what he did to Cozy Glow," Lightning muttered.

She grew curious as to how Sora managed to take down her former apprentice, and what she saw was not what she expected. The look of manic desperation in his face trying to get her to change, and her refusal making him so upset, she could swear she could hear his heart cracking further and further. Then he snapped, unleashing the hurt and rage as his heart for the stunted pegasus finally shattered, and he unleashed a darkness no one had ever thought could exist. The brutality he unleashed, turning himself into a demon, the exact opposite of who he was as a person, showing no mercy as Sora nearly killed Cozy Glow. But even with all that rage, there was still a part of his heart that did spare her, a huge mistake if Lightning had been in his place, but he was already broken by her betrayal, and taking her life would have destroyed him. Using the power of darkness, intentional or not, that would have cost him his Keyblade, but after witnessing his Anti-Form in that stage, she was really lucky he didn't resort to using that in their fight.

"So...is that all you wanted to say?" Laguna asked, snapping Lightning out of her thoughts.

"...There is...something else, actually." Holding out her right hand, Lightning summoned her Keyblade. Flipping the weapon around, holding it backhanded, she held the guard's side out to Laguna. "Master believed you were able to surpass me if you didn't give up your Keyblade. If you want to get back into it, it's up to you."

"Huh?" Baffled, Laguna stared at Lightning, dumbly pointing to himself. "...But...What about the rules involving no meddling? What if I...can't help myself?"

She could see Laguna had his doubts and would wind up losing his Keyblade again if he meddled and shattered the world order. "...Well, Master told me that rules are meant to be followed," Lightning said. "...But some rules are made to be broken if your heart tells you what the right thing to do is. And, looking back on these rules we've all followed for thousands of years, perhaps we can make some changes to truly prevent more harm than sitting around doing nothing." She then grinned at him, waving the hilt of her blade at him. "Plus, you and I still have a duel to see who truly deserved to be called a Keyblade Master. I'm still mad at you for denying me a challenge."

"...Heh. Sora didn't challenge you enough?" Laguna teased. He thought over the offer to be reinstated as a Bearer, looking back at the chocobos and the ranch. "Hmmm...I'm probably gonna be very rusty...but I'm sure it's like riding a bike after several years." Facing Lightning again, he grasped the guard. "I just hope the other old coots won't get too upset if we break our old-fashioned traditions for the greater good."

"I'm still not confident about doing this myself, but if Valhalla's also at stake, it's my job to protect this realm whatever it takes," Lightning said.

Laguna released Lightning's Keyblade, breathing in deeply, then held his right arm out to his side. In a bright flash of light, a Keyblade appeared in his hand, holding the grip tightly as if it was friend he'd missed for decades. It was pitch black in color, some slight silver ridges along the blade that gave it a key-like design, the guard was square with the top corners at the base of the blade extended like short wing blades, and the keychain hanging off the end was silver with a reddish-orange lion's head with a spiked back mane. He stared at his Keyblade, giving it a few test swings.

"I may have to change my occupation again once I get some practice in," Laguna said.

"We can help with that if you want," Mane suggested.

"Alright. But go easy on me. Gotta get used to all this again," he laughed. "And, when I'm in top shape, I'll be ready for that rematch, Light."

"Just make sure you stretch your legs," Lightning advised.

"Hey, I haven't had any of those leg cramps not caused by you in years." Laguna did a few more test swings, hopping from side to side, only to grimace and yelp as he fell to his knee. "Ah! Ahhhh...Cramp!...Of all the odds."

Lightning groaned, slumping her shoulders in disbelief. "Good grief, how did you last that long during training?"

Mane and Snap laughed awkwardly, watching Laguna grunt as he stood back up, walking off cramping leg muscle. While he tried to warm up, Lightning subtly pulled out the page from the Book of Prophecies. She really hoped Sora did have what it takes to save every world from an insane old man's quest to gain limitless power and destroy everything.