Xion knew that he deserved better. A single, unmarked grave in the middle of a barren wasteland that no pony would ever visit was not where Sombra, the pony that took Xion under his wing, taught her everything he knew and then saved her life, should have been buried. But Xion also knew that the ponies would not accept her story. Even the princesses had trouble believing that Sombra had been the one to save her. So his grave would be a lonely one. But Xion knew what he had done for her. And she would never forget his sacrifice.
She knelt next to his grave by herself, with the Ambassador and the princesses having left hours ago. Sorrow was all that she felt in her heart, a sorrow of having lost another person close to her. She had tried to go back in after him, tried to go back and save him from the Maestro's wrath. But before she could the keyhole on the tree vanished. Or, according to Celestia, was destroyed. From within. By a dark pony's magic that felt all to familiar to her. It didn't take a Sombra to piece together what he had done.
'Why?' Xion found herself asking once more as she stared at the gravestone, tears pouring from her eyes. 'Why did you have to pick that moment to grow a conscious? Why did you have to return at the last possible moment like a hero and then sacrifice yourself to save me?'
The grave did not answer her, causing Xion's heart to sink even further. She could almost hear Sombra laughing at her, calling her weak and a fraudulent excuse for a puppet, before he would tell her to get her crap together and figure out a way to do something. But she knew that the words were just echoes and that Sombra was truly dead. Because if he wasn't, he would have made sure to rub it in the princesses faces, never letting them forget what he did to help save the world.
A light breeze blew over the wasteland, catching Xion's hair and causing it to get in her eyes. She growled with frustration as she reached up to move the hair from her eyes, as it temporarily blinded her. When she cleared her hair from her eyes, she looked back down at the grave to see that something had changed. Her eyes widened with shock when she found that there was now a keychain resting upon the grave, a keychain with a black crown at the base of it.
Xion picked up the keyblade with disbelief, knowing that she was holding the keychain that had been on the end of Sombra's keyblade. The moment after she picked up the keychain, a letter appeared next to her, a letter written by a pony that was long gone.
'Hello Xion. If you can read this it means I am dead. Which isn't that surprising, given what I'm about to do, but I still kinda hope I'll survive this encounter. I mean, I'm me, so if anypony could survive it would be me. But nope. Dead. Like a doornail. Stupid expression, but get's my point across. And with me dead, you're probably thinking about how terrible things are and how badly you failed and you're wondering how you can go on without your super cool and amazing teacher? Am I right?'
"You arrogant, egotistically..." Xion whispered with tears in her eyes, but Sombra's words did bring a small smile to her face.
'Well sadly, you will have to go on without me. Because of the whole dead thing. But honestly...you don't need me anymore. You're already far better with dark magic than I will ever be. You can use light magic, whereas I don't touch the stuff. And you've got a good head on your shoulders. Should keep you out of most trouble. Who am I kidding, this is you we're talking about. That head will get you into trouble, but it should also get you through that trouble. Yeah, that's better.'
'Also, if you're getting this message, then you're probably holding the keychain to my blade, which I have dubbed the Dark Kingdom. You're also probably wondering how is it there when I brought the keyblade with me into the keyhole, right? Well if everything went according to plan, then the keyblade I brought with me was a fake. Just like the one you first wielded when you came here. That's right, I got both a real keyblade and then built a fake copy, which I brought with me to fight Maestro. How's that for smart?'
"You clever bastard," Xion whispered with a chuckle.
'Which brings me to the keyblade I'm giving to you. The Dark Kingdom. It will give you an insane magic boost and allow you to draw out your dark powers even further. However, I would recommend keeping the Perfect Harmony as your primary weapon. Overall it's better than mine, but not by much, and it's a better weapon for you. But if you ever feel like the light isn't working for you or you want to unleash the darkness within, give this bad boy a try. I promise you won't be disappointed. And whenever you use it, feel free to think of me.'
"I will. I promise."
'Okay, think that's about everything and this death message is running out of paper...ugh, guess I'll finally say it. I'm proud of you, kid. Despite having me, the Maestro and so many others try to get you to give in, to either accept that you are nothing more than a puppet or a mistake, you chose to be someone better. Someone who your friends would be proud of. Hell, I'm proud of you and I nearly vomited the last time you gave me your hero speech. You're an amazing mage, an incredible warrior and a master of learning. But most importantly, you're a good kid. Never let anypony else tell ya otherwise.'
'So I won't be that worried about you. Not just because I know you'll be safe and that you have friends to rely on, as well as two awesome keyblades. I won't be worried because I'll be dead. And that I know you're safe. But mostly because I'm dead. All that's left for you now is to decide what you're going to do next. Are you going to enjoy life in Equestria, now that you can finally stop doing what others were telling you to do. Or, if I know you, will you try to do more? Will you be the hero we both know you are? I look forward to find out, Xion. Because you always do what everypony least expects.'
'P.S. If you were wondering where I was the entire time, I was in your back pocket. Didn't think to look there, did you? Haha, truly I am an evil genius!'
The letter than burned away into darkness, leaving Xion alone with the keychain in her hands. Yet she didn't feel as sad as she did before. The sadness was still there, but she knew that Sombra would be with her in spirit. In the form of the keychain that he had given her. She was tempted to attach it then and there, but she recalled his words and decided to save it for a special occasion, when she really needed it.
Xion rose to her feet and placed the keychain in her back pocket, just to honor Sombra's memory, before she looked at the grave one last time. The gravestone had been blank, so that nopony would be able to figure out whose it was, but a smile crossed Xion's face as an idea came to her. She summoned her keyblade and used a beam of light to carve some words onto the front. Words that would make Sombra happy.
'An A+ villain.'
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No. XIV
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Being surrounded by her friends made Xion feel better slightly, but as she and the ponies looked through the glass at Sora, who lay upon a table in the middle of an operating room, she couldn't help but feel pangs of regret beat through her. Pinkie placed a hoof on Xion's shoulder to try and comfort her, while Twilight told her what she had been told by the princesses.
"Luna told me that she's doing everything she can to help fix his memories to the best of her abilities. She can go into the dreams of others and use her powers to help fix anything that is wrong with them," Twilight explained, pointing to the alicorn of the night that sat in a chair at the end of the room. Luna's eyes were glazed over and her horn was glowing slightly, telling Xion that she was working.
"Will she be able to help Sora repair his memories?" Xion asked.
"Sadly, no. All she really has to work with are the memories that you gave to him, along with which few terrible ones that he still has left," Twilight said with a shake of her head. "In time we may be able to get his old personality to surface and he might be able to start living again, but he will never be who he used to be. At most, he'll be...a blank slate."
"Heh, just like me, huh?" Xion asked, the irony not lost on her. Then she tightened her grip on the railing she was leaning on and she felt rage course through her body. "And he's suffering because of Maestro. Because of somebody that treats the lives of others like their just...toys to play with. To use as he sees fit."
"Xion, you stopped Maestro. You and Sombra both. You trapped him within the keyhole, where he'll never be able to escape. It's over...isn't it?" Fluttershy asked.
"For this reality, yes. But there are countless others out there, all of whom are faced with a Maestro just like the one I fought," Xion muttered to herself. "He's out there harming others, ruining their lives like he tried to ruin ours. And I'm here."
"You've done all you can," Rainbow said to Xion, but she shook her head and resumed watching Sora through the glass.
"Guys...can you promise me something?" Xion asked the ponies around her, turning all of their eyes towards the girl. "If I'm not here when Sora regains his personality, can you guys help him? Give him friends and good memories for him to have, not the terrible memories that he currently has."
"Xion, the way you're talking makes it sound like that you will not be with us much longer," Rarity said to Xion, who avoided eye contact.
"I've made up my mind," Xion said after a few moments of silence, lifting her had with confidence in her eyes. "All my life I've been doing what others want me to do, be it in the Organization, with the Maestro or even with Sombra, even though he eventually became my friend. I've been thinking about what I want to do and who I want to be. And who I want to be...is someone who helps others. A protector. A protector like Sombra was."
Xion then glanced around at her friends, waiting for one of them to try to talk her out of it. But to her surprise, all of the ponies smiled at her and nodded their heads. "Yeah, that's about what we expected you to say," Applejack said.
"Are you kidding? You want to be a protector? You're already a protector. Heck, you're a hero, Xion," Pinkie said. "You've fought the Heartless and beat the Maestro! What about that doesn't already make you a hero?"
"You guys don't get it. The kind of hero I want to be...might be the hero that won't be on this world much longer," Xion admitted. "There are so many other worlds that need help out there, worlds that are suffering under cruelty and darkness like the Maestro. I can't just sit by and do nothing. That's not what Roxas, or Sora...or Sombra would do. They'd do something about it. And so will I."
"We understand, Xion. While we love nothing more than to have you on our world...you have the heart of a hero. Which means you've got to go out there and fight," Rainbow agreed. "I admire that."
"As do I. But we just want you to know that no matter where you go or what you run into, you'll always have a place here with us," Twilight said. "And we'll always be out there with you as well. Your keyblade shows that you'll always have a little piece of us with you. So I hope you know that you're not alone."
"I won't. I will always have my friends with me. Both you guys and my old friends," Xion said with a nod of her head. A blinding flash of light then went off behind them and the group turned to see Princess Celestia standing behind them, a look on her face telling them that there was trouble.
"There is an attack by a small band of Heartless near the edge of a small town not far from here," Celestia told the group. All eyes turned towards Xion, who gave the princess a smirk before she extended her hand and summoned her keyblade into her hand. "Alright, Princess. Lead the way."
Celestia's horn glowed once more and Xion vanished in a flash of light.
=========
No. XIV
=========
As the last of the Heartless fell to Xion's keyblade, Xion allowed herself a moment to look around. The ponies of the town had come out to watch her fight the Heartless and when Xion had finished off the last one, the ponies began to applaud her, with genuine smiles on their faces. Xion couldn't help but smile at the praise, amazed on how quickly the ponies perception of her had turned around.
'Of course, it doesn't hurt that Twilight and the other princesses are telling everyone about what I did to save the world,' Xion thought to herself. She gave a small wave to the ponies before she turned and walked away from the village, sighing in relief to be away from all the applause. 'As nice as it is, though, I'm still not used to it. But it is nice to not be feared anymore. Twilight was right. The ponies here really are good deep down.'
"Alright Celestia, I'm done," Xion said to the sky, waiting to be teleported back. She waited a few minutes, her face falling when the teleportation never came. "Celestia, come on. As much as I like it out here, I need to get back to work. There's a lot to be done."
"Indeed there is, Xion."
Xion spun on her heels and lashed out at her keyblade at whoever had snuck up behind her. Her keyblade strike collided with a silver bracelet, one that didn't budge under the power of the keyblade. Yet while the bracelets themselves were impressive, it was who was wearing them that made Xion's eyes widen.
A woman stood before Xion, a woman with jet back hair and muscles that made her look like a Greek warrior. Her face was strong, but caring and her expression was one of interest, yet unlike Maestro there was no evil in her expression. She wore a shield and sword that hung from her back and she had a strange, star spangle coloring to her outfit. But Xion could sense the power that she had, a power that Xion had never felt in her life.
"That is you. You are Xion, correct?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, who wants to know?" Xion asked as she back up, still waiting to see whether or not she would have to fight her way out of this.
"I am called Diana. I am a hero from another world, a world that was attacked by a being that perhaps you know well. The Maestro," Diana said, her words making Xion narrow her eyes. "Ah, so you have met him."
"I did more than meet him. I fought him. I fought him, got broken and beaten by him and lost someone I cared about deeply to him," Xion clarified. Diana's expression softened upon hearing Xion's words, an action that wasn't lost on Xion. "So why are you here? If you're here for him, you're in the wrong place. There's only a fragment of him here. I don't know where the real one is."
"That's fine. We do," Diana told Xion, whose eyes widened at her words. "The problem is, the world that the coward is hiding on is locked up tight. And we don't have a key to get in. But, from what I heard, you do."
Xion glanced down at her keyblade, knowing what Diana was asking her. For a brief moment she thought about staying on Equestria, staying with her friends and finally living a peaceful, semi-normal life. And then she remembered what Maestro had done to her and Sombra. And the choice was an easy one.
"You need me to unlock his front door?" Xion asked as she spun her blade around, placing it on her shoulder. "You've come to the right person for the job."