//------------------------------// // Bonus Chapter: a get together among Bronies // Story: Kingdom Heart next generation: Friendship is Omniversal // by Starry Eyed //------------------------------// A cloaked earth pony walked through dimensions. It wasn’t much different from when Pinkie Pie would open the 4th wall, except that this pony lived in the “hallways” between the 4th walls. This was his special talent, and was similar to the way that Luna could walk through dreams. Under his cloak, all that could be seen of him was his Starry Eyes. They shone rose-colored like the center of a Galaxy. Starry Eyed warped his surrounding as if they were just a dream, and his surroundings changed so that he now stood in a grassy clearing. The clearing was in the middle of a forest under a starry sky. Though it was night, Luna’s moon was at its brightest tonight, so the field was well lit. It is debatable whether this place was ‘real’ or not; it was as real as a dream, but was something else entirely. Starry couldn’t help but smirk. This was a place only he could reach unless he allowed someone else in. “Hi Starry, you’re late.” Starry quickly turned to see Pinkie Pie, Lilly Moonthunder, and a white Alicorn with black hair, feathers, tail, and horn named Sora (no relation to the one from Kingdom Hearts) sitting around a round, mirrored table. Starry was shocked, “How did you get here? I thought only I could get to this place.” Sora’s horn began to glow, and he pulled a Keyblade wrapped in magic out of thin air before twirling it about, “Hard to keep a Keyblade master locked out.” Lilly slumped in her seat a little, “Oh I’m sorry. It’s just that this place is kinda like a dream, and well, I am pretty good friends with Princess Luna.” Pinkie Pie pulled a cake out of nowhere, “And I got here because I’m Pinkie Pie”, and with that she swallowed the whole cake. Starry was a little disappointed, but was glad his friends could attend, so he just shrugged it off, “Well, I’m glad you’re here. We’ll get started as soon as I call my other friend.” The others looked like they had no idea who was missing. Starry merely turned his head, looking into the forest, and called out, “Over here.” As though it was Starry’s dream, at his call somepony stepped out of the forest, called by Starry’s magic. This fifth pony was wearing the same full body cloak as Starry, but also had a spell cast on himself that made it impossible to notice his features, so even though those gathered could see him, as soon as they looked away they would forget what he had looked like. Starry was again disappointed, “Really? You cast the ‘unknown features’ spell on yourself? Are you really THAT much of a closet Brony? Come on, we’re in good company.” ‘Unknown’ greeted his friend, “I told you, I will help you out, but I have to remain anonymous. That’s the rule.” Pinkie rushed over and pulled Unknown’s hood down to get a better look at him. She exclaimed “AH-HA!” but to no avail. Even with his face exposed, the ‘unknown features’ spell made it impossible to realize any of his features. “Oh, you’re really good” Pinkie had to admit. Unknown pulled his hood up and smiled, “Always good to see you Pinkie, and nice try.” Pinkie returned to her seat, “Wish I could say the same about you.” Starry laughed a little, “Well, we should get down to business anyway. Unknown, this is Lilly Moonthunder. She is a fruit-bat vampony that works for Princess Luna. She has the powers of a Baku, which means she can eat bad dreams, leaving of course, only good dreams. She really helped me get my act together recently and finish the story. And this is Sora, but not the one from Kingdom Hearts, a different Sora. He’s a fellow dimensional traveler like us. Sora here may look like an Alicorn, but he’s actually just a dimension traveling shape shifter. His cells regenerate indefinitely, giving him an infinite lifespan and perfect health, as well as the ability to shape-shift. He’s lived so long he has a whole lot of different magics from across the universe. I call him Keybrony. He’s been helping me edit the story Pinkie gave me, you know how bad I am at Grammar. And you’ve already met Pinkie Pie. Everyone, this is Enigma. The poor guy is a little too humble, but has been my friend for a long time. He helped me build this place. Pinkie motioned them to sit down, “So, what’s on the agenda for today Starry?” Starry and his friend took their seats, “I have been in contact with someone named Cloud. She is from the future, and gave me a memory she got from Twilight in the future. A memory that, from our perspective of time, hasn’t happened yet. And I’d like to share it with you.” Lilly spoke, “Um no offense Starry, but if you sit here and just tell us it’s going to be a little boring.” Starry smiled, “None taken. Remember, I’m a Green Mage. My power is that I make other people, er ponies, stronger or more knowledgeable. Let me show you what I remember. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kai and Princess Twilight ran side by side. They were in the fortress of Senza, but unlike when Luna had come here as a dream, they were actually there in person. They had broken all their great enemy’s lines of defense, and were making their way towards him. Twilight, ever watchful, was worried, “This is way too easy. Shouldn’t we have run into some guards by now?” Kai kept looking forward, “Senza is omnipotent now, he doesn’t need guards.” Twilight had lines on her face from where she had been crying, but she was all cried out. She wanted to scream, or cry, or sleep, or something, anything! But right now the whole omniverse hung in the balance, so she just ran alongside Kai, trying to stay prepared for anything. She couldn’t help but ask again, “Kai, I know you’ve said it before, but you really don’t have a plan do you? You’re just counting on Kingdom Hearts being right, and you winning with a miracle like the prophesy said aren’t you.” Kai simply nodded. Twilight looked down the long hall they had just entered, “But Senza is omnipotent now. Do you really understand what that means? It means that the whole Omniverse combined can’t beat him anymore. It means that he has surpassed infinity itself. Senza can do anything, and everything! How are we going to fight that?” Kai half smiled and glanced adoringly at Twilight, “You worry too much. Kingdom Hearts said it would be okay, so it will. Everything will be alright.” Twilight didn’t know whether to hug Kai or to kick his teeth in. She both loved and hated how he never worried about anything, even the fact they were about to have a death match against an almighty foe. They exited the tunnel they had been running through, and came out in a giant arena. It would have been totally dark if the ‘moon’ in the sky hadn’t been on fire, spreading its eerie firelight over the world. And like all coliseums, there was a booth were the king sat. And in it was Senza, now in his strong form. They all just stood there and looked at each other for a few moments, starring each other down. Twilight thought she had no tears left to cry, but hot angry tears did begin to gush down her cheeks again. She let out a sound that was something between a whiny, a scream, and a roar. It was a hard sound to imitate, but its message was clear: anger and frustration. “You evil freak!” Twilight screamed. She would have broken into sobbing if her anger wasn’t focusing her. “It’s all your fault! Equestria is gone! The whole Omniverse is gone! There isn’t anything left! This twisted world of yours is all that still exists! Kai and I may be the only living things left in the Omniverse! Everything else is one of your monsters! I had to destroy the Enforcers that you turned all my friends into personally! Do you have any idea how much that hurt? Of course not, what am I saying? You couldn’t know because you killed all your friends for power! You… YOU FREAK!” Twilight lowered her head and panted. What little comfort she had obtained from getting that off her chest was washed away by the gravity of the situation. Kai was filled with empathy, “Oh Twilight.” Senza yawned, “Is that all you have to say?” Kai shot Senza a disapproving look, “Senza, be a bit more sensitive at least. Twilight is hurting right now, don’t make it worse.” Kai then turned to Twilight, “Calm down Twilight. I’ll end this quickly; and everything, and everyone, and everypony that Senza ‘Enforced’ with come back. Senza raised an eyebrow, “You say that like you can erase me at any time.” Kai turned towards Senza, “It isn’t a question of whether I’ll win or not, it’s a question of how much pain can I help my friends avoid. You will lose, and everyone and everything you ‘Enforced’ will come back. But I’d like to save everyone if possible. Even you.” Senza couldn’t be provoked. Having infinite power tends to make you cocky. But if one thing did bother him, it was whenever Kai would talk about redeeming him. “I’ve let you squirm long enough. But you really are a fool.” Senza fluxed down into the ring, just a few inches from Kai’s face, “Let me tell you how this will work. I will give you any weapon you want. It’s the least I can do since I destroyed your Keyblade earlier. You may even chose a Keeper’s Mantle if you want. Think of it like being granted a wish. I will then fight you on equal terms to whatever you have chosen. But the difference will be that unlike you, I have infinite power. I will take no damage as this otherwise equal fight drags on, nor will I grow tired. In time you will grow so weak that you will die of exhaustion. Then I will fuse all worlds together, and rule as a deity over all existence for all eternity. No matter what, you lose. Now choose fool.” Twilight looked up to see hundreds of billions if not trillions of Keeper’s Mantles, all of which currently belonged to Senza, floating like stars in the heavens. Also, thanks to Senza’s magic, they could distinguish all of them form each other, and tell what they all were, even though there were billions at least. Twilight looked at her friend, “Choose wisely Kai.” Senza looked back at Twilight, “Ah yes, Princess Twilight. If you want I could give you the Keeper’s Mantle of Equestria and let you and your friend fight together. It really wouldn’t matter anyway. You won’t add anything to power level difference.” Twilight actually thought that was a good idea, “What do you think Kai? Sounds good.” Kai looked like he was thinking something else, “Twilight, you can get Equestria’s mantle if you want, but as for me.” Kai faced Senza, “Nothing. I choose nothing. I don’t want it to be remembered that I beat you with power I took from you, that proves nothing. I want to fight you as me.” For the one and only time, Twilight and Senza agreed, and spoke together, “Are you insane!?” Twilight rushed over and literally begged at Kai’s feet, “Please Kai! Pick better than that! I know you’re confident, but he’s omnipotent. He’s an evil, omnipotent, omniverse conqueror!” Kai smiled and looked Senza in the eye, “That may be. But Kingdom Heart is Light. And that’s a whole lot stronger.” Senza was furious, “Fine you fool. Have it your way.” Senza snapped his fingers and Twilight was warped to the booth to watch the fight. Senza flew into the air, absorbing billions of Keeper’s Mantles. Senza looked over his shoulder at Twilight, “Sora had a mouse king, and you have a pony princess. You’re as big a fool as he was.” Kai nodded, “Thanks.” Kai cracked his knuckles and approached his archenemy, “It all ends here and now Senza.” And so began the fight for the Omniverse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Starry ‘awoke’ from the ‘memory’. The others likewise came to. Pinkie blinked a few times, “Does, that mean I die?” Starry frowned, “No, Yes, Kinda’. But if Kai wins then everything will come back.” Sora looked around, “Where’s Lilly?” Starry rolled his shiny eyes, “Pinkie, could you…?” Pinkie reached under the table and pulled Lilly out from under it by the tail. Lilly looked around, “Is…Is he gone?” Pinkie pated her friend on the back, “Was never here. It was all a time travelers’ memory.” Lilly looked around, “I don’t like scary stories; I like them to be sweet and nice.” “It’s not scary.” Starry insisted. “You know the good guy always wins at the end of the story anyway.” Lilly felt better, “Well, I suppose if everyone is safe and happy at the end, then I guess it’s okay.” Sora conjured a clock, “Well, it’s time for me to go. I have an appointment with the Doctor.” Starry asked, “Who?” Sora put the clock away, “Yes.” Starry was confused, “What?” Sora answered, “Doctor Who.” Pinkie tried to help, “Doctor Whooves is on a date with Derpy today, you’ll have to wait till tomorrow.” Sora corrected, “Not Whooves, Who.” Starry got frustrated, “That’s what I’m asking you!” Enigma finally spoke, “No what’s on second.” Starry was really confused, “Who?” Enigma corrected, “No Starry, What’s on second, Who’s on first.” Lilly asked, “Who are we talking about?” Enigma liked messing with Starry, but was nice to Lilly, “I think he means Doctor Who.” Sora confirmed, “Yes.” Starry slamed a hoof down, “That’s what I’m asking!” Pinkie corrected, “No Starry, What’s on second. Who’s on first.” Starry quit trying, “I don’t know.” Sora joined the game, “He’s on third.” Starry asked, “Who is?” Pinkie corrected, “NO! Who’s on first, I don’t know is on third.” Starry asked, “Then why are you asking me?” Lilly looked concerning at Sora, “You poor thing. You aren’t sick are you? I could get Luna’s physician.” Sora facehoofed, “I appreciate your kindness Lilly, but I have infinite regenerative powers. I’ll live forever unless I’m killed instantly, never age, and never get sick. I might look 20ish but I’m over a thousand.” Starry asked, “Then what do you need a doctor for?” Sora snapped, “I don’t need a doctor.” Starry leaned back in his chair, “Then this doctor is strange.” Enigma corrected, “No, Doctor Strange is form Stan Lee and Marvel.” Starry couldn’t think of what to say, “Wha?” Enigma put an end to this, “Lilly, is there any of Matsu’s food left?” Lilly turned back to face the others, “Oh yes, of course. Would you all like to come eat some over at the castle? I’m sure Luna wouldn’t mind.” That sounded like a great idea. Everyone agreed, “Yes please.” Pinkie bounced on ahead, “Oh boy! Party at Luna’s place!” Sora thought for a moment, “Well, I suppose I could spare another hour.” Starry waved to the others, “You all go ahead. I have one last thing to do.” The others all walked through a portal Enigma made, and were at the castle. Starry turned to the spirits that had found their way to that place. “Thank you everyone for seeing this story through to the mid-way point. Kai and his crew still have a long way to go, but you may rest assured that not only will they put everything back the way it was, but also that once everything is restored, there will be an infinite number of stories to tell. For every story that has a good heart, there is a world in the omniverse. And every one of those worlds has new friends to make, and thus, new adventures to go on. Worlds vary tremendously, and the laws and magics of those worlds vary even more. But Friendship is Omniversal, and we should always hold such things in our hearts. I’ve been friends with Enigma for a while, but I met Lilly and Keybrony over the course of this story. If you would like to join us around this table in the future, I will try to find a way to invite you, just like Lilly got a chance to be in the story for winning my contest. But I’m busy dealing with the affairs of many worlds, so it will be a while. Until then keep the elements of Charity, Benevolence, Devotion, Integrity, Optimism, and of course, Magic, close to your hearts.” And with that Starry rushed through the portal, eager to join his friends.