Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes
Interlude: War's Aftermath
Previous ChapterNext ChapterAfter Sombra beat Tenebris, and released all of her stored hearts back into the World, the next logical thing after winning the Keyblade War was to celebrate their victory over the darkness that had threatened to devour everything, as Twilight and all of the Time Wardens discovered.
"You know, I never knew you were such a talented cook." Twilight commented, because once the war was over she found that several of the people immediately brought out some cooking items and Sombra went to work instantly, and it wasn't long before burgers and other easy to make items were produced, plus there were multiple areas that people were cooking in, like this had been their intention, "Tastes great, actually."
"Oh yeah, we were surprised to learn that as well. Said she had to train herself, since she didn't like what was served to her in the past." Sora remarked, which he had to remind himself was when Sombra had been the evil king of the Crystal Empire, so it was entirely possible the subjects had been trying to kill that version of her with poison, before Sombra learned how to cook for herself, a wise decision in Sora's mind, "And if you think this is good, just wait until you taste her desserts... back during our first adventure Sombra used the loss of desserts as punishment for Donald."
"Please, don't remind me... a whole year, no desserts. A living nightmare." Donald said, but even he had to admit that it had whipped him into shape almost instantly, having to watch as the others enjoyed the cakes and other desserts Sombra made, while he just sat there with a frown all the time, and he had learned his lesson.
"I appreciate the compliment." Sombra replied, though after cooking the first batch of food she moved away from the grill and let someone else tend to it, allowing her to relax with her friends, even though there were other ponies in front of them now, at least two versions of Twilight from what she could tell, "I must thank you for the timely aid in repairing the damage my brother had done to the fabric of reality... Sairozormi told me we were getting close to a 'Dimensional Cataclysm'."
"Yes, the literally breaking of the barrier between dimensions, or timelines if you prefer, and it can get... messy. Remind me to tell you about Rivet's tale, it's quite a doozy." Twilight replied, where she noted that her time dragon variant was hanging out with the rest of the Time Wardens right now, which was fine because her marshaling of her forces had alerted her to what was going on, but she would be having words with her later on, "Anyway, my other reason for coming here was to find the three, now four, of you. Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, Seras, you four are part of the Displaced, ponies that were sent to new worlds, often in another portion of our universe... or our World, if you prefer... and I'm afraid that I bare bad news for all of you and your friends."
"Let me guess: there's a threat out there and we were gathering allies to face it?" Radiant remarked, as she had spent more than enough time with Sombra over the years, both before being displaced by their own actions and after she chased her friend all the way to Ponyville and caused this whole series of events to happen in the first place, so she was smarter than some people gave her credit for.
Twilight, despite herself, chuckled a little as Radiant said that, because it was nice to see people who understood what might be going on and could guess what one's information might be, where she finished off her bacon cheeseburger and wiped her mouth, before palming the dark relic she had taken.
"That's right, actually. There is a demonic empire out there and, according to the slumbering soul inside our home planet, we are going to be one of their next targets." Twilight replied, though it had been some time since they discovered that piece of information and had to wonder what was keeping their enemies from attacking, as part of her wanted to end this war now, but she knew that being patient would be rewarding, just like how she had taken this relic, "Each Displaced was sent out to learn new skills, gain allies, and even solve problems in the planets they were sent to... no, I'm not joking either... and once we reach a certain point Discord tracks down the missing and brings them home."
"But... where is he?" Fluttershy asked, because based on what Twilight just said Discord should have arrived by now and she had been interested in having him meet Seras, since her having a twin was no going to freak him out to some degree, which was when she noticed that Twilight was thinking about something, "Twilight... where is Discord?"
"Gone. He went looking for you, found a number of the other Displaced, and was starting to become desperate after finding some of the others... but not you." Twilight said, as that was the truth, because after locating the last Displaced, which was her own niece, Discord just vanished entirely and she suspected that he was now one of the missing that went to one of the other worlds, but which one she had no idea, "Sairozormi and my other selves have been looking for him, but we haven't seen even a trace of him or his unique power... I'm sure we'll find him at some point, but now I've focused some of my time on doing his job, of tracking the Displaced and bringing them home."
"So, what happens now?" Seras asked, because she was curious what was going to happen now that they were done with the Keyblade War, even though their Xehanort had exiled himself from the party and was watching from one of the cliffs, no doubt rethinking about his life and actions.
"Once we're done I'll warp us back to Equus, let you see the state of things, get to know some of our allies and our people, maybe clear up a few things," Twilight said, where Sombra noted that she was even more eager to learn about the Umbrum now, because there were more of them here than what she was expecting to discover and that made her interested in them, their culture, and anything else they might have to share with her, "Sombra, maybe you'll help me learn about this relic? It's Void in nature, something unheard of for the ponies and species of our planet... just thinking about it is making me realize that I'm going to need to observe the ancient past of Equus now, just to see what else I might have missed."
Sombra stared at her for a moment, as the Hungering Maw was a dark and foul artifact, possessing a hunger that was unlike anything that the Umbrum had seen over their many years, and right now she was sure that it had been the cause of her brother's hunger for power. Of course that meant that Tenebris might have stolen it years before their father might have noticed that it was missing, and could possibly explain why he was so confident in controlling it's power, but in the end such a thing had been the downfall of her fallen brother. She also knew that destroying the relic was out of the question, she had tried that with the detonation and had discovered that it just survived as it nothing had happened, so she couldn't get rid of it nor could she return it to the vaults that it was stored in, not until her father secured the vault. In the end it seemed like the best course of action was for the relic to be handed to someone who might be able to watch over it and contain it's dark power without falling victim to the Void energy that was trapped inside it.
At the same time she really didn't like the idea of Twilight, of all ponies, having possession over the Hungering Maw, but for the time being it looked like she was ignoring the dark whispers that were coming from it, something that was very faint for Sombra and was likely the same to the rest of her people.
"Might as well. Keep you from falling victim to the Void... like we need that sort of mess right now." Sombra remarked, as she was serious, the woman that was in front of them was incredibly strong, she could tell that at a glance, and if she fell to the whispers of the Void, and let it consume her, they'd have a real monster on their hands, something that caused Twilight to chuckle for a moment, "What's so funny?"
"It's funny that you would make such a comment, as I've located a timeline where two others and I are servants of the Void, and we've done some interesting things." Twilight stated, where Sombra wasn't sure if she was pulling her leg or if she was telling the truth, though given everything she had seen since the figure had shown up, and that included the fixing of the damage done to the fabric of reality, she assumed she was being truthful, before the figure got up, "Tell you what, you can think it over and get back to me later. I won't force anything upon anyone... just like that I'm not forcing you guys to come home, as you're free to return to this portion of the universe, if you prefer it as your home. I just ask that you come home for a few hours, take in the sights and information that's available, before you make your decision."
Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras nodded as Twilight got up and walked away, the relic floating around her while she did so, allowing them to relax and really enjoy their victory celebration, though at the same time Sombra had to wonder what the future might throw at them next.
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