Canterlot: Residential Quarters- Sora’s Room…

Sora couldn’t remember the last time he slept so peacefully in his whole life. He couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly as he snuggled up against the silk laden comforters of the royal bed, pulling his soft furry pillow towards him as he did so. He could feel the heated beams of Celestia’s early morning sunshine upon his new furry features but paid it little mind, finding the extra warmth more comforting then anything. With a contented sigh the stallion blissfully pulled the pillow in even closer, allowing it to do the same to him as they both nuzzled into each other affectionately.

It was then that his sky blue eyes snapped open in realization to find ocean blue orbs staring right back at him.

The blush on the stallion’s faced reached a new peak as he found himself face to face with the party pony herself, the one and only Pinkie Pie, starring back at him with half laden bedroom eyes. She leaned into the stallion and nuzzled under his neck affectionately.

“Strawberries~.”

“Sweet Yuna!!”

So startled that he was, that in his vain attempt to pull away from whatever predicament that he had suddenly found himself in, caused Sora to tumble out of the bed in a jumble of silk and fur, landing upside-down, slumped with his back against the side of the bed and his golden-crown-marked hindquarters straight in the air. In between his legs comfortably rested his chocolate brown tail.

Pinkie peered over the side of the bed with a look of genuine concern upon her features. Though, every so slightly, there was a hint of mirth behind her eyes. “Gee Sora, are you ok? That one looked like it hurt.”

Sora was at a loss for words really. He had prided himself on knowing his way around a castle. He knew what to do to make sure he would never get lost, even in the deepest part of any dungeon. It was a skill he loved to use to its fullest. So with that logic in mind there was no way that he could have ended up in Pinkie Pie’s room, even if he was tired from last night’s talk with Celestia. So how, in the name of all that is Holy Beam did he end up in the same bed as Pinkie Pie?

The pink pony in question had hopped out of bed and had made her way towards the downed stallion. She twisted her head in an unbelievable manner so that she could see him from his point of view. “Looks like ya could use some help, hmm?”

Without waiting for a response, Pinkie Pie placed her head against the side of his flank and gave him a slight nudge. His body tilted to the side before falling over, allowing his now thoroughly aching neck to have some relief. With some difficulty the stallion rose to a vertical base, and slowly began to stretch each of his sore limbs. When he felt that nothing was seriously damaged he turned to the pink party pony, his blush still quite evident on his furry features about what had just transpired.

They were in bed together, and by the looks of the room he was in, they were in his bed together. He needed to approach this in the most logical way he could muster without coming off as a total jerk. After a deep calming breath, the stallion opened his mouth and began to speak.

“Why in Zack’s name were we in bed together?!”

“Who’s Zack?”

He paused before saying, “Just…answer the question Pinkie…”

Pinkie blinked once before placing a hoof on her chin and humming. It looked as though she was in complete contemplation. “Let me think…” After a few long moments the hyper pony raised a hoof in the air. “Oh yeah, now I remember! I had gone into the royal kitchens to obtain my mid-midnight snack. I think I had…two cupcakes, a chocolate bar, a bowl of ice-cream…and…a cup of sprinkles. I decided to cut back last night. I need to keep my girlish figure after all.

“Anyhoof, I think I lost my way back to my room. Which is strange because usually I never lose my way around the castle, but I did last night for some reason. I must have been very tired. Maybe I should’ve had that extra piece of lemon pie. Well since I was lost I decided to just go into any old room and sleep in the bed there. I’m sure nopony would have minded. That’s when I came into this room and found you in the bed of all ponies. That’s when it hit me. I said to myself ‘Pinkie. You must have ended up in Sora’s room’ and I answered myself saying ‘well duh. Of course I did. What other pony has a mane as spiky and chocolate looking as him’.”

Sora held up a hoof to his head, his eyes closed. “Pinkie…None of that explains why you were in bed with me…”

The pink pony smiled sheepishly “Well you see…I was going to leave but...”She trailed off to look at the bed. “Looking at you sleep made me sleepy even more, so I just climbed in bed with you.”

The stallion’s blush on his face brightening by degrees. “You jumped in bed with me?”

“I jumped into bed with you.” Pinkie’s innocent smiled conveyed nothing but the truth.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Sora pinched the bridge of his muzzle with his hoof, which he was surprised that he could do. It was a completely childish and innocent reason to be sure, not that he was one to judge, but still, it was one that Sora could not even hope to comprehend.

Also, she had cuddled him. CUDDLED HIM! He had done the same to her too, but he didn't know it was her. Still, her soft fur felt really good against his own. He could even remember the scent of bubble gum shifting up into his nostrils. It felt very-

The blush returned to his cheeks with a vengeance. He needed a supject change. “Ok, that aside Pinkie, why did you say Strawberry?”

The party pony shrugged. “Not too sure why. I think he thought it would have been funny.”

Sora raised an eyebrow. “He? He who?”

Pinkie tilited her head. “Who?”

Sora deadpanned. “Yes. Who?”

“Who is on first silly.”Pinkie Giggled

“Wait," Sora was really confused now "…What?”

“No. What is on second. Who is on first.” Pinkie said matter-o-factly.

Sora stared blankly at her for a few seconds before turning towards the bathroom. “I’m going to go take a bath.”

Pinkie clapped her hooves together happily. “Oh goodie! I think I’ll join-“

Sora quickly shoved her out of his room on her haunches before she could even finish what she had wanted to say. “See you downstairs Pinkie.” With that he closed the door and locked it for good measure.

“Oh. OK.” Pinkie called after him smiling brightly. “See ya later Sora!”

~

Canterlot: Public Dining hall…

After the little run in with the pink mare Sora took a nice not shower and he had to admit that he felt a little better. Still, with this morning’s events still playing fresh in his mind, he was anything but composed. The caramel stallion sighed as the blush on his face returned, remebering the feel of her soft fur and the touch of her hot breath againts his neck. If anyone caught wind of this then there was bound to be trouble, whether it was innocent or not. The smell of food caught the stallion’s attention soon though and he decided to deal with everything later.

Following the lovely scent of pancakes and other baked goods, Sora found himself in a rather large dining hall. Many ponies, both in armor and service attire, were busy lining up to gather a plate full of breakfast for themselves. It kind of reminded Sora of his school’s cafeteria, but with much more edable looking food.

Not one to pass up a free meal, the stallion set off to gather a tray of vittles. His breakfast of choice: three stacks of pancakes, an apple, a donut, and a cup of orange juice. He balanced the tray quite easily between his teeth, smiling broadly as he did so. Maybe some food would get his mind off of-

“HEY SORA! OVER HERE!!”

The stallion turned to find a very excited Pinkie Pie waving him over quite enthusiastically. He also noticed that the pink pony had surrounded herself with a ridiculous amount of food. On her left was a now blushing Fluttershy, who seemed to have just now caught wind of the stallion’s presence, and was slowly inching herself under the table to hide said blush. In front of the pink pony on the other side of the table was Rarity, who was smiling, ableit less then the pink mare, and patting the seat next to her, indicating where he should sit.

“Ah...Hey..." He had not wanted to meet the pink party pony so soon after their ‘morning’ together, especially since he really didn’t get a chance to explain to her why she shouldn’t tell anyone about it. Heck! He didn't even know where to begin. Hopefully she was kind enough to not say anything about it. With a nervous whimper, the stallion sat beside the white unicorn, trying his best to avoid eye contact with the pink pony as much as possible.

Rarity gave the stallion a coy smile as he sat, her eyeslashes fluttering a little as she spoke. “So did you sleep well darling?”

Sora went rigid. W-What’s with that question? She doesn’t know does she? Sweet Shinra, Pinkie didn’t tell them did she? Please tell me Pinkie didn’t tell them. “Ah! Y-yes…n-no…I did…didn’t….It was…ah…Interesting…”

Rarity looked over at the stallion with concern. “Darling? Are you ok?”

He nearly dropped the fork he was holding before looking towards the white mare. “Y-Yeah, everything is fine. Nothing weird happened at all.” His eyes shifted back and forth after he had talked.

Rarity tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure darling? You’re acting a little funny?”

He sunk into his chair a little mumbling something incoherently under his breath. He really felt he was screwer then screwed at this point and he decided that the truth would be for the best. He was about to open his mouth to tell just what had happened this morning but was beaten to the punch by the pink party mare.

“Aw don’t worry about him Rarity. He’s just sulky that he had to leave the bed early that’s all.”

Sora turned to face Pinkie Pie who, in turn, had a bright smile on her face directed towards him. She didn’t tell them about what happened. More than that, she had covered for him. Dear sweet mother of Vincent, the endless stream of contemplations that her lie provided not only about her, but the entire event that morning as well.

Sora’s eyes went wide as she winked at him and giggled.

He turned to face with food and eat automatically, a tinge of pink evident on his cheeks from both embarrassment and irritation.

Before Rarity could inquire any further on what the heck was going on between the two ponies, a bundle of cyan fur had made her way to the table and sat beside Pinkie Pie, cutting off any conversation prier. As Sora finally took notice of her, he could see, just by looking at her,that she didn' take mornings very well. Her mane was still unkept and frazzled and her eyes were still a bit bloodshot.

“Oh! Well good morning sunshine.” Rarity cooed. “And did we have a restful night.”

The cyan pony grumbled incoherently, waving a dismissing hoof at her friend.

Sora smiled broadly. “Not really a morning person, are ya?”

Rainbow’s scowl depend at the sound of Sora’s voice. “Nopony asked you Spikey.”

Yep. Sora said within his mind, his smile become a bit more forced. She still hates me for reasons.

Fluttershy, who had been quiet up until now, raised her hoof indicating that she wanted to speak. “Um, If you don’t mind me asking, has anypony seen Twilight and, um, Applejack?”

“Applejack set off to wake up Rainbow Dash and retrieve Twilight from the Library.” Said Rarity before shaking her head disapprovingly. “We told her not to stay in there all night but I doubted she listened.”

“I guess Twilight really likes to study, huh?” Sora said with an amused smile. He had already figured out that the unicorn was one to always hit the books. While impressive, late night studying was never really his thing.

Rarity giggled. “Well that’s our studious little Twilight for you. Applejack should have her back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, so do not fret.”

Sora nodded and he turned to face Rainbow. To his surprise, she had been staring at him. Having catching her in the act had caused her brow to crease in an angry scowl as well make her cheeks turn a lovely shade of red.

“What?!” Her voice was as sharp as ice. More then likely at being caught by him then anything else.

“Uh, N-nothing…” Sora stuttered before an ideal clicked. “Actually, I was, ah, just wondering what you do.” When her brow creased further he looked away, letting the tip of his hoof scratch at his cheek. “I-I mean what do you do for work. I know Twilight is a librarian. I think Applejack works on that apple farm. Pinkie Pie works in a bakery. Rarity works in fashion and Fluttershy…” He turned to the yellow pegasus in question. “Actually what do you do Fluttershy?”

The yellow pegasus blushed bright red as she met the stallion’s sky blue eyes. “Uh…Well…I take care of animals.”

Sora raised an eyebrow. “Really? You mean like dogs and cats?”

“Well y-yes among other things…Like bears and hedgehogs and tigers…”

“What? Really?” Sora smiled brightly. “That’s amazing Fluttershy! Being around all those animals must be pretty cool.”

Fluttershy’s ears perked up and she smiled as well. “Oh yes, it is amazing. I take care of the ones that are hurt or sick you see. If an animal is hurt, they really need tender loving care or else they don’t heal their wounds correctly.”

“Wow, so you’re an animal nurse. That’s pretty sweet.” Sora tapped a hoof to his chin. “I actually became friends with a few animals as well. There was this lion named Simba. He was pretty cool. Oh! And a deer foal named Bambi. Oh and-“

“Hey!” Rainbow cut him off. “I thought you wanted to know what I did!”

Sora’s focus turned from the yellow pegasus to the cyan one, whose glare seemed to intensify by the second. “Oh! Ah, S-sorry Rainbow.”

“Gah! Just forget it. Not like I was going to tell you anyway.” Rainbow Dash huffed coldly.

Rarity’s eyebrow shot up. “So why bring it up at all darling?”

Rainbow’s eyes bulged. “I...Ah...W-Well…F-Forget it! I’m outta here!”

She slammed her hoof on the table, apparently trying to make a point, but in doing so, she hit the edge of Sora’s tray, causing his cup of juice to rocket upward. All eyes followed the glass until they all cringed as the cup landed face down upon the cyan pony, spilling its contents all over her head.

Sora blinked a few times before getting up. “I, ah...H-Here let me get you some…”

“Forget it!” Rainbow Dash zoomed away in a hurry, leaving a slightly damp rainbow trail behind her.

The stallion sighed as he watched her go. "Somehow he known that this is going to be my fault isn’t it?" He said as the other three mares gave him an apologetic look.

~

Canterlot Train station…

Rainbow yawned and stretched as she waited with the others at the train tracks. “Geez. I could have flown to Ponyville and back with the time it’s taking the stupid train to come.”

“Oh stop your belly aching RD.” The southern drawl of Applejack told her, causing Rainbow to huff impatiently. “The train will get here when it gets here. Besides, riding together is a lot more fun right?”

“Yeah it would be…” She scowled. “If it weren’t for him…”

Their gaze fell upon a caramel stallion, who was conversing with three of the other Elements of Harmony, plus one familiar female guard. He was attempting, and failing miserably, to pull away from Dream Drop's grasp while both Fluttershy and Rarity were trying to assist the stallion in any way that they could. Pinkie sat back on a bench and enjoyed the show, eating her way through a bag of popcorn.

“Now that ain’t fair Rainbow. Yeah he’s a little odd but you’re not even giving him a chance. He really seems like a nice pony.”

“But he’s hiding something from us!” Rainbow said, gritting her teeth together. “Colts who hide something are the worst.”

Applejack had never seen her friend act in such a manner before. Sure she knew that she had some trouble with the colts from Flight School, but this seemed different. “Rainbow…are ya’ll ok? It’s not like ya to treat somepony like this.”

Rainbow turned to face the farm mare, her eyes widening slightly. However, they quickly turned into a glare, hiding whatever she was thinking. Just as she was about to retort, the sound of a whistle signaled the coming of their ride back to Ponyville. Rainbow, seeing this, closed her mouth and turned away from her friend, walking towards the slowly approaching train. Applejack reached out to call her back, to know if her suspicions were true, but her voice failed her.

The way Rainbow looked just then, it was almost like the way ah looked when…

“ALL ABOARD!!”

Applejack looked towards the now opening train doors. With a heavy sigh she followed after her friends. She was never one to pry in somepony’s business, but she couldn’t leave her friend the way she was. Still she felt some time was needed before she even tried to talk to her again. With that line of thought she boarded the train, allowing the doors to close behind her.

~

The train ride back to Ponyville was, in Sora’s opinion, the most uneventful thing to happen to him since he came to Equestria. Being curious, and a little bit bored, he decided to have a talk with Twilight to find out if any new piece of information surfaced in her late night venture. It was all for naught however, since the only information Twilight gathered was the fact that Heatless were indeed seen in the earliest years of Equestrian history, or at least that’s what the book she found had led her to believe.

With a sigh the stallion sat himself upon one of the chairs, lowered his head, and closed his eyes. His thoughts turned to the white alicorn he had spoken with last night. He had gained only a little information from their encounter and it was his own fault. He hadn’t expected her to say what she said. That he wasn’t a failure.

Sora scoffed. Of course he wasn’t. But then why didn’t he say that? Deep down he knew that he wasn’t, but that was in the past. He had failed the keyblade exam, nearly losing his own life in the processes. Sure nobody could have known that Xemnas would have been there but still, if it wasn’t for Riku back then…

Actually if it wasn’t for Riku back during their first fight with Xemnas he would have lost for sure. If he was being really honest with himself; Riku had helped him almost throughout his journey, even when he had took the form of Xemnas’s heartless. Riku had always been there to protect him.

Sora hung his head down, sighing softly. Was he being...Selfish for hating him?

“Um…”

Sora looked to his side to find a yellow pegasus looking up at him from behind her pink mane. Where did she come from?

“Oh! Hey Fluttershy." He smiled gently towards the mare."Can I help you?”

Fluttershy’s gaze shifted down and she scuffed her hoof along the floor nervously. “Um,w-well, that is...I…What I mean is…”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Sora, are you ok?”

“Ah, y-yeah. Don’t worry about me Fluttershy.” He forced a smile. “I’m right as rain.”

“Oh...Ok. But...I-I’m sorry but you just seemed so, well, down…”She lowered her head even lower. “I guess I was wrong…sorry for bothering you…”

Sora felt a stinging sensation in his chest. Here he was being, well, sort of a jerk to a girl that just wanted to make sure that he was ok. Without saying a word, the stallion shifted over, letting a bit to room for her to sit next to him. “Well, I guess I’ve been pretty down.”

Fluttershy looked back up at him, her eyes gazing deep into his own. “R-Really?”

“Yeah, maybe I’m homesick…I’m not too sure.” It wasn’t a total lie.

She looked at the seat and then slowly climbed to sit next to the caramel stallion. “Well, if you want, we can talk about where you come from. It helped me when I first moved to Ponyville. All my animal friends made me feel so welcomed.”

Sora smiled. “If your sure it would help, I guess I can tell you a bit.”

“Oh yes I promise it will.” She leaned in a bit towards him, the blush on her cheeks brightening. “I mean, um, if that’s ok with you…”

“Hmm…ok then…so where to begin...?”

~

Ponyville Train station…

Sora jumped out the door of the train, stretching both his front and hind legs. “I love riding trains but geez was it cramped.”

Fluttershy smiled at the stallion as she followed after him. She was happy to have at least a little peek into what his life was like where he had lived; she wasn’t even mad that Rarity had made herself a part of the conversation soon after spotting them together. She was just happy to see a notable difference between how the stallion was feeling before and now. Still, she couldn’t help but feel that something was still bothering him a great deal.

Rarity followed suit, exiting after the butter-yellow pegasus. “Yes a bit confining indeed. Still, it beats having my mane ruined when carried in a pegasus chariot.”

“Says you!” Rainbow quipped, hovering just above the white unicorn. “Nothing beats flying Rarity. Nothing!”

“A day at the spa beats flying any day of the week my dear Rainbow Dash!” Rarity retorted.

“That girly fru-fru stuff?! Flying beats that, hooves down.”

Rarity huffed. “It is not girly fru-fru. Being prim and proper is just natural for a lady my dear Rainbow Dash. ”

“Naw. I’m pretty sure I'm ok not being in a dress all the bucking time.”

Before Rarity could even come back with a proper retort Twilight stood between them. “Girls, we can save the debate for later. For now I just want to get home and rearrange my books.” She turned to Sora smiling. “Sora, I think a place for you to sleep is in order too.”

The stallion raised an eyebrow. “Well, can’t I just sleep on your couch like last time?”

The lavender unicorn shook her head. “I am sorry Sora, but I need that work space for my research. Besides, I’m sure you don’t want to sleep on some old dusty couch.” She placed a hoof to her chin. “Now then where can you sleep...?"

“WITH ME!” Rarity all but screamed. She paused, noticing how loud she was, and then coughed politely into her hoof. “What I mean is, I have more than enough room. He can sleep in the boutique’s guest chambers. It’s just piling up with dust anyway.”

Applejack gave her a look, a look only reserved for her, before looking between the other mares. “Anypony else feel like that’s a bad idea? Anypony?” Everyone, including Pinkie Pie, raised their hooves in response.

Rarity huffed and looked away. "Well I never!"

“Both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are out of the question. They already have full houses as it is.” Applejack added soon after.

Pinkie nodded. “It’s true. The Cakes take up the other seventy-five percent of Sugarcube Corner.”

“N-not that I would have minded it….but I do have too many animals at my place.”

“What about Rainbow Dash’s house? He is a pegasus after all. He can walk on clouds.” Twilight asked.

Before Rainbow could even hope to shoot down that suggestion Sora spoke up first. “Sorry Twilight, but if her house is in the clouds, then no can do.” He pulled at one of his wings. “Not really a flying pegasus you see.” Though it did hurt him a bit to say so. Walking on clouds really sounded cool.

Rainbow scoffed and looked away. “W-Well whatever. Not like I was gonna let you anyway.”

Applejack gave Sora a gentle look. “Well since everypony else is out of the question, ah guess that just leaves me. We can put ya up at the farm. Got an extra room in the attic for when our relatives come over. You can use that’un.”

“It’s no bother is it?” Sora asked in an uncertain tone. “I don’t want to put you out of your way.”

Twilight deadpanned. "It was ok to bother me though?" She mumbled under her breath.

“Course not Sugarcube. Besides its not like you’re gonna be living there for free. We at the Apple farm work for our vittles, and since you’re gonna be living there, you’re gonna do the same.”

Sora wasn’t expecting that. Still, pulling his own weight was only fair. He was never really one to just mooch off somebody anyway. “Alright, Applejack. I’ll make sure to work as hard as I can.”

The farm mare smiled. “That’s what I like to hear. Well then come on. We’ll get you settled in all nice and comfy like.” She turned to wave to her friends.” See ya’ll later ya hear?”

With Sora in tow, Applejack made her way from the train station, leaving the rest of the girls to their own devices.

“Well, it’s off to Sugarcube corner for me!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I missed some serious playing time with the twins and promised them a full two hours of patty-cake when I got back.”

“I must be off as well.” Rarity said, though there was still evidence of her being a little ticked off about Sora not being able to stay with her. “I have some ideas I want to try out and they won’t design themselves now will they?”

“Yeah and I’m gonna go and take a nap in a tree somewhere.” Rainbow said with a yawn. “My shift was covered for today so I have the free time.”

“I guess I’ll go to.” Fluttershy took off into the air. “Angel bunny might be getting angry right now about me being gone so long.”

“And I must get back to the library. I have some serious rearranging to do.” Twilight smiled at each of her friends. “We’ll convene at a later time?”

Everypony nodded before splitting up, to their respective places of living.

If they had stayed a little longer however, they would have noticed a dark cloaked pony figure stepping from behind the train, a devious smile the only thing visible under their hood. She had turned to face the direction Sora and gone.

“Sleep tight little Keyblader. Come morning, you and that sorry excuse for a magic user will feel the full weight of what it means to cross my master’s plans…” She chuckled, chilling the air in cold displeasure before disappearing in a mass of darkness.