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Donald Duck was not the greatest in the friend department. He wasn’t very quick to heal or soothe. He didn’t have much patience and he certainly didn’t give compliments unless they were well-earned. Those who knew him called him a handful at best, a nuisance at worst. He wasn’t easy to deal with, either; he lost his cool upon hearing a single insult and needed to be held back from a violent rampage. He was too stubborn to admit when he was wrong, or to make amends after an argument unless he was approached first.
As such, Donald Duck didn’t have very many friends. And the ones he did have were those too good at heart to hate anyone – Goofy and Sora, of course, being the hopelessly naive idiots they were. Were they not so oblivious, humble, and kind at heart, they too would have passed on Donald for a travel-buddy, for a friend. But they were always happy to see him, sarcasm and teasing aside, and Donald couldn’t help but grow attached to them in return.
So when the time came, naturally, he had to protect them. He needed to have the strength to do so, even at the cost of himself. Because, really, what was he worth on his own? There were plenty of others who could wield magic just like he could – even Sora was becoming a master at using spells all on his own, from blizzard to cure to aero. Donald couldn’t just be a court magician anymore; he had to step up his game. What Donald needed to set him apart was something that could change the game, something that could end this war once and for all. And there was only one, singular, legendary spell that could do such a thing.
Thankfully, Donald’s curiosity as an apprentice magician had led him to study the spell early on out of fascination. Master Yen Sid warned him of the toll it would take on his body if he were ever able to perform it in the first place – the fact that he might even die as a result. Yen Sid never outright discouraged him from seeking knowledge, but he did overstep their master-pupil secrecy and let it slip to King Mickey just what Donald was dipping his webbed feet into – something Donald only found out years later, when he left his apprenticeship and began experimenting with his own spells, and Mickey warned him not to try anything beyond his power, because he was going to need Donald for a super secret mission soon.
Donald never attempted it himself, knowing it would likely be the last thing he ever did, something only for the gravest of emergencies. It wasn’t something he was sure he could ever do more than once. So, when he practiced, it was only the motions, only the beginnings of words. He found himself in the courtyard, magic thrumming through his body and tensing his muscles, making him nearly faint as the power he called upon blew right through his ill-prepared body. And when Goofy asked what he was working on, Donald stalled, lied, ignored him, distracted him – at first, Donald didn’t want him to know, just because it seemed ignorant of him, to assume he would even be capable of wielding such a powerful spell in the future.
Years into their companionship, after Donald was confident enough that he could pull it off, when the significance of what was at stake between the worlds became clear, when Donald finally accepted that they were doing something greater than themselves, Goofy asked again, and finally he told him in private.
Goofy’s reaction floored him. Goofy wasn’t the type to get mad unless something was really, really wrong. And when Donald explained what the spell would do, what had happened to more experienced sorcerers who had attempted it in the past, Goofy looked terrified, and then he looked mad.
“Don’t even bother learning it, Donald,” Goofy told him. “You’re never going to need it.”
“Oh, how would you know, you big palooza.”
“I know because we won’t let it get to that point!”
“Well, obviously I don’t want it to either! It’s for emergencies only.”
“Now, Donald, I’m sure the king doesn’t want you learning an emergency move that’s going to hurt you!”
“It won’t hurt. Probably.”
“Because it could kill you!” Goofy’s eyes were pained, and Donald felt his stomach twist, at the thought of the pain he was causing by trying to protect. But what was he supposed to do, stop? And then what would he do the next time Goofy almost died before his eyes? This was all he could do, and he couldn’t just not prepare himself for the worst.
Goofy and Sora were lights amidst the darkness, hopeful and loving and refusing to give in, even when logic and reality showed up to knock them down. But Donald couldn’t just trust that everything would be alright, not the way they could. He had to set up a backup plan. If that backup plan meant draining all the energy from his body, if it meant risking his life force as well… well, at least it wasn’t theirs. At least they could keep shining, keep smiling, and keep living.