//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Harmony and Light // Story: Kingdom Heart next generation: Friendship is Omniversal // by Starry Eyed //------------------------------// Luna had been in hundreds of thousands of dreams. Even during her time in the moon, she had always been able to roam dreams. More than just roam, she could change them to her will. She had seen the worst of nightmares and had gotten to the point where even the worst dream wouldn’t frighten her. In the years to come, Luna would have occasional nightmares about Senza. Senza was here, somewhere in Ponyville. Luna looked about trying to find him. “You don’t need to look dear, I’m everywhere. Nothing is faster than light, but nothing is as large as darkness. Darkness is everywhere. It spreads to the end of the Omniverse. Darkness is everywhere that light is not. Without light, there will be darkness. Without hope, there will be despair. Without love, there will be hate. I am everywhere.” Celestia also looked about, but often looked back to Kai to see what he was going to do about this. The black rain all floated up off the ground and flowed into a single point. It materialized into Senza. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but laugh a little at the sight of this boney little guy being Senza. Applejack didn’t know what to think, “Y'er kiddin'! Even Applebloom has ten times as much meat on her bones as this guy.” Fluttershy felt sorry for him, “He doesn’t look healthy.” Rarity was thinking how tacky his baggy clothes were. Sol pulled the baggy clothes look off, but Senza did not. Twilight was calculating how it was impossible that the amount of black rain that had fallen could fit in a small lake, let alone in this scrawny brat. Celestia was looking to her left, taking notice that Kai was prepared for war, and that Luna was terrified. Celestia also underestimated Senza, but knew to be wary of anyone that Kai and Luna both feared. Celestia spoke, “Everypony stand back. This man is not our friend. Twilight, get the Elements. Kai put everything back; that means they should be in Canterlot again.” “Oh, that would take too long. Here you go, have your precious Elements” said Senza. And with a snap of his fingers the Elements of Harmony were already being worn by their respective bearers. Senza couldn’t help but laugh, “Pitiful. Simply pitiful. To think that such weak magic is your world’s trump card; but I suppose I couldn’t expect any better from a filthy half-species.” The ponies already didn’t like this guy. Senza had just insulted everything they stood for: their Elements, their world, their race - everything. Senza summoned six copies of himself. Each one was wearing a copy of the Elements of Harmony, but instead of the gems that were normally set in them, there were black coals burning with black fire. Each of these coals had the Keeper symbol on it, burning scarlet. Senza spoke to the ponies as if he were a narrator, “Gather around Everypony! We’re going to reenact a timeless tale.” Senza’s voice sounded almost like mocking, “Once upon a time, there were two princesses who took over control of the sun and moon. They brought peace to the three pony tribes, defeated Discord, and civilized the backward ways of the tribes.” Senza addressed Kai, “Kai, would you be willing to play Luna in this reenactment?” Senza didn’t wait, “Good. So, anyways, the princesses ruled the land in peace and harmony. But, even though the younger princess worked just as hard as the older, not just in moving the heavens but also in other royal affairs, the ponies would not love her. So in time, she gave into her torment. You see little ones, when someone is hated, they grow to hate the ones who hate them. Everyone hated Luna, so Luna hated everyone.” Kai had heard enough, “Stop it Senza!” Senza kept going, “So Luna, hated by all, went to the one pony that might still help her - her beloved sister.” Luna tried to stop this ‘reenactment’, but found that she could not move, which probably meant no one could move. She couldn’t speak either. Senza’s clones approached Kai as Senza continued, “But Celestia could not help her. By then it was too late. Luna had become a threat to the whole world. She had to be stopped, no matter what.” Sure enough, only Kai could move or speak, “ENOUGH SENZA!” Senza activated his ‘Elements’, “So the eldest exhausted the only remaining option - to seal her away!” Senza’s ‘Elements’ mixed into a spinning wave of darkness, wrapped around Kai, and shot him towards the moon like a black meteor with a white core. All spectators felt their hearts sink at the sight of Kai being banished to the moon. Senza took a bow as he finished, “And that Everypony is how Celestia banished Luna to the moon.” Senza released everyone from his total paralysis, “Now then, who can tell me who the villain of this story is? Luna? No, Luna was a victim. She did her best and only received hatred. Celestia? What would you have preferred she do? Let all Equestria freeze just to save one pony? Discord? Fools, he was already lifeless stone! But someone is to blame. Now we can stand around pointing hooves all night, and certainly some are guiltier than others. But, if you really want to know who is guilty, you need only look around you. It was your kind that hated Luna without justification. It was your kind that convinced Celestia to abandon her sister. It was even your kind that created Discord with your squabbling. I’m not justifying anyone. I’m condemning everyone.” Senza approached the ponies. The humans tried to run surround Senza and defend Ponyville from him. Many ponies tried to run away. But for some reason, no matter which way or how fast they ran, no one ever got closer to or farther away from Senza. It was like time and space were looping around so that everyone only got into a better position to see or hear Senza, and anyone who spoke was only heard as background noise. Senza now stood in the middle of the crowd, all eyes facing him, the humans in the distant background. Senza was always nonchalant. He barely cared enough about anything to keep breathing. Although he never became tense, at least it was clear he was sincere. “The truth, little ones, is that hearts are the source of all pain, fear, and corruption. Each and every heart is a seed of such things. Good and Evil? Perhaps hearts are capable of both. But I don’t see how that matters. As long as hearts exist, pain, fear, and corruption will also exist. Hearts may be capable of good, but what good is goodness if you must also have these afflictions? I am working to create a world without hearts, without Kingdom Hearts. A world of happiness. Why would you want to oppose such a world?” Rainbow Dash stepped out of the crowd, “Because you’re giving up on everyone, throwing everyone away just to be happy. Being loyal means sticking up for your friends and never giving up, never giving up on what you know is right!” Applejack couldn’t let Rainbow stand alone, “Because the world you’re talking about is a lie! Even if you don’t like the way things are, you have to realize that it is the way things are. By being honest with others and accepting their feelings allows you to make a real peace and happiness. Rarity stepped in, “Besides, you’re just trying to make yourself happy. Sure the world is filled with needs that sometimes go unmet, but that gives us the chance to be generous to others.” Fluttershy fluttered in, “It’s true that everyone misunderstands one another, and that sometimes it can be heartbreaking. But when we see others hurting, it compels the goodness in our hearts to be kind to them.” Pinkie bounced in, “Joy isn’t being happy because everything is great; it’s being happy despite the fact things aren’t. Sometimes overcoming hardships with others helps you to laugh alongside them, which can lead to greater friendships.” Twilight completed the Elements, “And the world you’re trying to create has none of those things, Senza! But your world will never exist, because we’re going to beat you with the power that your world can’t have: Harmony.” The bearers of the Elements joined their powers and when the magic had converged, it showered over Senza. Senza sat totally still and allowed himself to be turned to stone. Everypony breathed a sigh of relief. Senza was beaten. Twilight turned to the Princesses, “We have to try to get Kai out of the moon.” The humans had encircled the statue of Senza now that they could move again. Sol spoke, “Get out of here! Senza isn’t beaten! Kai can get out on his own, RUN!” Rarity reassured her friend Sol, “Oh don’t worry dear, we got him with the Elements. Nothing can…” “Nothing can what?” asked Senza, who was sitting right behind her. Twilight stuttered, “You, how, but we, you can’t.” Senza’s muscles began to grow. They grew until his clothes were no longer too small for him. With the sweep of his hand he combed his hair back and it flowed jet black again, hanging like icicles down behind his head. Not only his body, but also his magic grew again. Senza’s power level of 10,000 was only the level he had in ‘sickly’ form while the rest of his power cultivated top class Enforcers. With his power restored, his level was one-million, and he hadn’t even used Keeper power yet. Senza marched towards Twilight, a hand outstretched as if to strangle her. Twilight ran away, but Senza was warping the laws of distance again and thus no matter how Twilight ran she never got farther away from Senza, but he still got closer. Matsu channeled all his magic, “Ultimate Tool Make: Vongola Forchetta” Matsu had created a seven foot trident, overflowing with magic. Matsu threw it at Senza with all his might, so fast that it produced a sonic boom. Senza caught it in his teeth. “Beg your pardon; but isn’t the chef supposed to put a cheese cube on the toothpick before giving it to the taster?” mocked Senza. Celestia was desperate, “Do something!” Sol answered her, “We can’t, he’ll just warp Time-Space, and even Santo can’t outdo him in that kind of battle.” Twilight had been running at top speed and was now exhausted. When she looked up, she was standing exactly where she had started. She looked back to see Senza reaching out to grab her. But someone grabbed his arm, “I said; enough Senza.” Celestia was shocked, “How did you!” Kai bowed, “Forgive me Princess. I would have broken out of the moon another way, but there was no time. Don’t worry, I’ll put it back.” Even Senza looked up with the others to see that the moon had been sliced in two! Kai addressed Senza, “Let’s take this somewhere else Senza.” Senza thought for a moment, “…sure. Why not?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Senza snapped his fingers and all seven humans, both Princesses, and every pony that had been on the Gummi ship at one point or another, were standing on a great white field. The field stretched on as far as they could see in all directions, and was perfectly flat. It looked like white chalk, but was just rock. About a hundred miles above them was a ceiling that was identical to the ground, and stretched on similarly. It was also cold, deathly cold, but the ponies felt as though they were wearing a full body, invisible mantle of warmth that made them all feel safe and made it so that they barely noticed the cold. Not only could they feel the invisible force around them, they could breathe it. Every breath was of clean, warm, somehow confronting air saturated with magic. They could feel that it was Kai producing these invisible mantles. Luna was shivering, but not because of the cold. “I never thought I would come here again, especially like this.” Luna turned to the others, “We’re standing on one of the halves of the moon that Kai cut open. That thing above us is the other half.” Poor Twilight’s brain was tired of continually encountering impossible things. She just turned to her brother, “I think we got mixed up in something bigger than we can handle.” Twilight’s brother and friends just looked back, “Ya don’t say.” Senza summoned back his six ‘Element bearing’ clones, took the ‘Element of Magic’ off the clone that had it, and wore it before that clone disappeared. Senza spoke, “Alright, this is what we’re going to do. As I’m sure you guessed, none of these are the real me. The real me is still at home, taking a nap. But for the purposes of this game, we’ll say that the ‘Magic Element’ me, is the ‘Real’ me. The rules of the game are simple: draw blood, or in this case poison rain, from ‘Real’ me. I suppose significant damage of any kind will also do. My clones will attempt to stop you. You don’t get any sort of reward for beating one of the other ‘Elements’. We will refer to them as ‘Deceit’, ‘Cruelty’, ‘Despair’, ‘Selfishness’, ‘Treachery’, and ‘Real’. With ‘Real’ being me. But be careful. Even though we are just fakes, the Keeper’s Mantles we are wearing are real. As you know; A Keeper has a standardized Level of 1,000,000,000 On top of that, Keepers also have infinite mana, and control over nature. But you already know that, don’t you Kai.” Kai sighed like he really didn’t want to do this, “If we must. I don’t understand your sense of ‘fun’ Senza, but if it’s the only way to pacify you.” Kai lunged at Senza like a meteor. White blasts of pure energy already flying at his clones at light speed. But no matter what speed they shot at, Senza just predicted the future and warped Time-Space so that they never reached him. ‘Deceit’ blocked Kai, but Kai managed to spar with him effectively enough to push him back and run by him. ‘Selfishness’ then swept a horizontal swing at Kai with the same force that Kai had used to cut the moon in half. Kai ducked, only to get hit by an uppercut by ‘Despair’, who had tunneled under the ground where Kai was. As Kai was sent rocketing up by this hit, ‘Treachery’ flew up and exchanged fierce blows with Kai in close range combat. This distracted Kai, and he didn’t see ‘Cruelty’, who was already standing on the other half of the moon, ready to cut Kai in two when he arrived. Kai somehow managed to realize this, and managed to deflect the blow at the last moment. This took all his concentration though, and he was not able to block ‘Deceit’, which had also caught up, from smiting Kai with all his might, driving him straight into the moon. ‘Despair’ and ‘Selfishness’ were also there, and combined their powers to fire a beam of magic down the hole they had blasted Kai into. The blast hit Kai and pushed him straight through the moon and out the other side of this half. Here he was caught by ‘Treachery’, which proceeded to resume hand-to-hand combat with him. 10 seconds had pasted since this fight had started. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not even the humans had been able to keep up with what was going on. All they knew for certain was that with Kai now far away, they had been left with ‘Real’ Senza. Senza was very far away, but when he spoke everyone heard him as though he was beside them. “Pretty impressive right? Kai may be Keeper of this world, but I’m Keeper of many, many thousands of worlds. If I want I can clone myself and give each one a Keeper’s Mantle. If I wanted to I could have thousands of clones like this. Power like what I have has never been matched, not even before the purge. I’m omnipotent. You should just give up.” Dea wasn’t putting up with this loser, “Oh please. If you were really omnipotent you wouldn’t have had to trick the Alliance into agreeing to the purge. You’re just a cowardly thief who swindled and lied to remove everyone you were afraid of from the power. And none of this awesome power you’re using is your own. It’s all power you stole from the people you tricked and the worlds you exploited. And you’re going to ruin everything good about life just because you’re too weak willed to endure the bad in life. Suck it up loser, bad things happen, deal with it! No one has a higher opinion of you than I do Senza. And I think you’re the lowest, foulest, most pathetic, poor accuse for a lifeform in the omniverse!” Everyone took a step away from Dea. They totally agreed with her, but didn’t think it was smart to antagonize the man who nearly destroyed the omniverse. Senza noticed their fear, “Don’t worry, I’ll spare you.” Senza then magically scooped out a ball of rock from the moon as big as the barrier that Shining Armor had put around Canterlot (not a coincidence), and rolled it at them. Senza laughed, “Spare you. Get it? It’s a pun.” Pinkie Pie yelled back, “IT’S NOT FUNNY!” The humans didn’t speak. They were such a well-oiled fighting machine they didn’t need to. Soran gave Dea the power to fly coupled with perfect ‘footing’. Musica ‘sang’ his first song; endowing her with the speed and force of lightning. And Sol mind linked her, maximizing her concentration and thus her magic power. Matsu had summoned his ultimate tool, Vongola Forchetta, but he and Santo were standing back, ready as backup. Dea flew at the mountain sized rock, stabbing it. It was instantly turned into ruble which was sent reeling back towards Senza from the force of the blow. The display had distracted ‘Real’ Senza long enough for Kai to lunge at him from above. It wasn’t good enough though, because ‘Selfishness’ flanked him, sending him back to where he started. The other dark Elements also resumed their original positions. The fight was right back where it had started. Senza spoke mockingly and half-yawning, “Oh no, Kai is losing. Whoever could have predicted this turn of events? It’s so strange that the guy with six Keeper’s Mantles and no weaknesses is beating the guy with one Keeper’s Mantle and a herd of ponies to protect on the side. Whatever shall we do? Oh wait I know. Let’s give him the Heart of Equestria and the Keeper’s Mantle that goes with it. Then he’ll let us go. Who cares about ponies anyway?” Celestia was in despair. Senza was just too strong. She looked at the other ponies and saw that they felt the same way she did. She decided to say nothing at all. She wanted to order Kai to keep fighting, but it was pointless. At this point, no one could hold it against Kai if he did give up. After all, it was hopeless. Kai laughed. Not like mock laughter or gone crazy laughter. Real, bright, warm laughter, though it had some pity in it. “You actually think that sounds like a good deal don’t you Senza? Man; I really pity you. You think I would sell my friends to save myself? You think I’d be afraid of you just because you have infinite power?” Senza answered, “Yeah. Duh.” Kai just laughed to himself, “I love my friends a lot more than I love being alive. Offering me escape in exchange for betraying them isn’t a good deal to me. Plus, what do I have to be afraid of? Kingdom Hearts promised me I would beat you, and that any damage you caused would be undone, and that everything would be made right. What do I have to worry about?” Senza rolled his eyes, “Oh please. Kingdom Hearts is just an old relic from the past. You don’t really believe everything it tells you do you?” Kai smiled warmly, “100% I do.” There you have it. Kai had no doubt at all. They were in checkmate, yet he was sure they were going to win. Fluttershy turned to Matsu, “I see what you meant.” This got everyone’s attention, even Senza’s. “You said that you all felt like giving up, that you couldn’t find the strength to push on. But that the boss inspired you, that he refused to give up. I see what you meant Matsu.” The crew smiled. That smile spread to everypony. Kai’s confidence was contagious. Senza facepalmed, “Stupidity must be contagious. You can talk all you want, it changes nothing you know.” Kai flashed over to his friends, “You’re right Senza, talk is cheap, action is where truth is. Twilight, let’s use the Elements on him.” Twilight shook her head, “Won’t work. We already…” “Let’s try again.” All six Element bearers stepped into formation after a moment, “OK.” Senza groaned like a kid that had lost all patience, “Oh fine, but hurry up! I may be a clone but I don’t have time for pure stupidity!” Twilight flew up beside Soran, who was now floating at the top of a hexagon formation with the other Elements. Kai was in the center of this Hexagon with Celestia. Celestia asked her student and her friends a question, “So everypony, what have you learned about friendship form these humans?” Twilight started, “Soran taught me that before friendships can being, someone has to make an attempt to understand each other. Friendship is Magic, but it has reason to it. By coming to understand one another, Harmony is created.” Applejack held her hat to her heart, “I learned from my friend Dea that there is more to Honesty that just being straight with others. Ya gotta know the Truth in order to be trustworthy. If it anin’t the truth, then it’s a lie. We should just be trustworthy with one another, that way we won’t find ourselves trapped by what we’ve said or done, because the truth will set us free.” Fluttershy spoke up, “I learned from Matsu that being kind sometimes takes hard work. It’s not always easy to be kind to others, either because of who they are, or because you just find it hard. But that we should always be kind to others, no matter what, we should be unbiasedly kind. Even if it’s not easy.” Pinkie Pie spoke more calmly than normal, “I learned from Santo that you can be happy even if things aren’t going so well. That if you have something worth believing in deep down inside of you, that it will keep you brave when you’re scarred, joyful when you’re sad, and serene when you’re angry. And that if you can persevere through all those things, then you can endure just about anything life throws at you.” Rarity chimed in, “I learned from Sol that giving things is good, but it’s not enough. We have to give of ourselves to others. Sometimes they just a moment of your time, your care, and your help can do more good than all the material things in the world.” Rainbow Dash spoke with pride, “I learned from Musica that you gotta be careful who you’re loyal to. Anyone can change, and everyone is in the wrong sometimes. So if you’re just blindly loyal to anyone or any group, they are definitely going to do the wrong thing sooner or later. Having a well-tuned moral compass and the ability to think for yourself allows you to not just follow along when others do something you know is wrong. And we should be Loyal to what is right more than we are loyal to anyone in particular anyway; that’s honor and integrity.” Kai’s mantle a resonated with the Elements, “Now let’s and pure Light energy to the mix. Let’s add love. “First, there is parental love; the bonds between parents and children. Santo has always been like a dad to me.” A stream of magic flowed from Santo to Kai, and the magic of the Elements seemed to mix with it. “Second, there is brotherly love, the bonds between siblings. Big bro Soran has been by my side my whole life, and I know he will be for the rest of his life.” Another stream of magic began to flow, and the Princesses exchanged a knowing look. “Third, there is love between friends. Matsu is my best friend in this life. We don’t have to stay by each other’s sides, but we want to because we are friends.” The Elements really seemed to react with the stream of Matsu’s magic, and the mixing created a whole new type of magic. Brighter than they could describe. “Forth, there is caring love, the love between those that want the best for each other. Sol is my student, but he is also my teacher. We have always nurtured each other to be the best we can be.” Celestia exchanged a look with Twilight as another magic stream converged. “Fifth, there is romantic love, the love between partners. I love you Dea, I always have. This love springs up when all you can do is think of is giving your heart to another.” Everypony let out a ‘Daww’ as Dea’s magic converged. “Sixth, there is respectful love, the bonds between people that acknowledge others as their equals Musica and I don’t get along well, but we acknowledge and respect one another, and treat each other as equals; as we would treat ourselves.” Musica’s magic completed the circle. There was more magic than any of them could comprehend. Kai turned to face Senza, “And finally, there is unconditional love. Love that is given regardless of whether someone deserves it, unbiasedly to everyone.” Kai flew out towards Senza, “Senza; I’d really like to do something about all that bitterness in your heart someday.” Senza scowled, “You can’t ‘fix’ me Kai. Nor do I want to be changed. There is no light left in my heart. Lest you forget, I’m the man who betrayed your ancestors Sora and Kairi.” Kai seemed sad but hopeful, “Maybe so, but to betray anyone you had to have been their friend at one point. That means that at one point you were their friend Senza. You sure have turned corrupt, but you must have had some light in your heart at one point, otherwise Sora wouldn’t have called you friend. I believe that you just lost faith at some point. I’d really like to help you get it back.” Senza finally got mad, “Don’t mess with me brat! I’m Senza! I’ve destroyed tens-of-thousands of universes. I’ve corrupted trillions of sentient lifeforms. I betrayed everyone that Sora ever loved and all the heroes of the old alliance. I’m trying to destroy Kingdom Hearts! Why do you care so much?” Kai looked up at Senza with no doubt in his eyes, “If I ever lose my faith, I sure wish someone wouldn’t give up on me. I sure hope they would help me. If I were you, I would want someone to help me; therefore I want to help you. I want to help everyone, just because it’s the right thing to do. That’s what unconditional love means.” The Elements of Harmony resonated. Their lights mixed together, creating a sphere of light identical to the kind that Kai was wearing; white light with a prismic rim. But it was different, infinitely warmer and brighter than can be imagined or described. Twilight realized that this magic was truly unfathomable, “This Light. This power is infinite.” Dea responded, “Oh course Light is infinite. Kingdom Hearts is Light. This is Kingdom Hearts mixed with Harmony. Of course it’s infinite.” Rainbow basked in this power, “I can’t believe we ever doubted that we would win. There isn’t even a chance Senza could win.” Kai stretched out his hand, gesturing the power towards Senza, “See you in the next universe Senza.” Senza’s clones tried to block the Light, but it was fruitless. All parts of Senza were reduced to nothing. But not before he got in one last word, “Light may scatter darkness, but when Light goes out, darkness will be there again.” Nothing was left of the clones. Kai flew the whole company back towards the planet below. When the had made it a significant distance, Kai turned his focus on the moon, and put it back the way it was at the dawn of time; with no hidden keyhole, no prison for Luna, and no battle scars. Kai put the two halves of the moon back together like closing double doors behind them. Kai, turned to everyone, “Let’s go home.”