The Infinum Chronicles

The

I N F I N U M  C H R O N I C L E S

04: E m e r g i n g   D a w n

Twilight Sparkle trotted to her house, ready to collapse from a long day showing Exon around the town of Ponyville and introducing him to all of the town members. Twilight looked up at Exon only to find that he was wide awake!

Twilight took a breath and said, "How is that even possible!"

"How is what possible? That I'm here in the first place?" Responded Exon with raised eyebrow.

The two stopped outside Twilight's house. "No! Well, that... But why you don't even show the slightest hint of being exhausted! We've been walking around town nearly all day, and you're not even tired?" Twilight said with a hint of concern.

Exon blinked and looked at her for a few moments with a blank, confused look. "My people are a sleepless race, we only sleep when we are completely deprived of energy, which usually takes three planetary rotations. If I were still back on my home world, it would be about 7:00 pm!"

Twilight just sighed and rolled her eyes before opening the door to her tree-house. As Exon followed Twilight, Spike the dragon ran down the stairs to greet his pony friend and Equestria's new stranger.

"Twilight! Is he here?! What does he look like?" Spike shouted with glee as he reached the bottom of the stairs. When He looked up at Exon from across the room, Spike became silent and awe struck. The two males studied each other for a moment, deciding what to make of their appearances. Twilight broke the silence with a nice tone, afraid that tension could build between the two at any second.

"Spike, this is Exon Phosilophate, our new guest to Ponyville. Exon, this is my assistant and friend, Spike."

"He's... So cool," Spike began. "He has wings and everything! He also looks kind-of like a dragon!" Spike's face lightened with a growing smile.

"It's an honor to meet you too, Spike! I never thought that such a creature like you would exist, but this is amazing! I'm in a world that has talking ponies, talking baby dragons, and magic. I can only imagine what could come next!" Exon said with profound excitement.

"Well, it's best to find out tomorrow. I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted." Twilight said with a gaping yawn.

"That's true, we better get some sleep before it gets any later." Exon admitted.

"Aww... But Twilight, Exon just got here! Can't we stay up a little longer, please?" Spike begged while he grasped Twilight's leg.

"Spike, we have to get up early if we want to attend the town hall celebration tomorrow. Come on, Exon and all of us will have plenty of time to socialize in the morning..." Twilight said while trying to gently shake him off.

"But Twilight, I NEED to learn more about Exon! He could even be part dragon!" Spike insisted with a hint of whining in his voice.

“Sorry Spike, but we all need to get some rest.” Twilight said with rolling eyes.

Spike’s mood lightened and said, “Exon and I could have a sleepover, If it’s ok with you. Can we?”

“Well, I don’t see any harm in it, but only if you promise not to stay up all night.” Twilight said with a warm smile.

Spike jumped up and yelled with glee,  "Yes! Gotta sleepover with Exon!"

“What’s… a sleepover? No offence, but it sounds ominous.” Exon spoke up.

“None taken. It’s where…” Twilight struggled to find the words, but she was too deprived of energy to think about it. “...Well, you'll see, it’s fun!”

==================================================

As Exon settled for bed, Spike was brushing his teeth and humming a song Exon wasn’t too familiar with. Then again, Exon wasn’t too familiar with anything in this world.

Exon un-cuddled himself from the guest-blankets and stuck his head out at spike. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you humming?”

Spike looked over at Exon with his mouth full of bubbling toothpaste. “Oh… nevermind, I guess.” Exon squeezed back into his new blankets, but without slumber or fatigue from a long day. His eyes felt very tired, but the rest of his body was fine. Exon was almost hyped for the most part, but this was normal for his age and race, not like he was still maturing or anything.

A couple moments later, Spike came over and shaked Exon’s arm. “How come you're not tired like everyone else?”

Exon peeked from out of the covers and grinned. “I get that a lot… Even I’m considered a ‘night-owl’ by my species.”

“Your point? No offence.”

Exon took in a breath. “None taken, I don’t exactly know why this happens, but we can randomly tap into the deeper thoughts of our mind. From that our brain releases a rare type of caffeine, which is why I am so mentally hypergetic right now.”

Spike just stood there for a moment while the darkness loomed over them.

“Wow. So, you’re basically amped up just because you're thinking a lot?” Spike questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Exactly.” Exon smiled.

“Then, what are you thinking about? If your face wasn’t so hard to read, I’d almost say you were worried.” Spike said as he sat down next to Exon.

Exon was surprised how observant other people were, whether they came from his reality or another. Exon stopped for a moment, seeing that Spike was beginning to frown. “Should I tell him the dangers we’re all going to face in a manner of days?” Exon thought to himself. The two of them just breathed for a while as the deafening darkness continued to eat away at their sight.

“Exon? You alright buddy?” Spike said with compassion. Exon felt like he was beginning to scare the dragon with his silence.

Exon inhaled a deep breathe. “I’ll risk it.” He thought to himself.

“Spike, I need to tell you something, something extremely important that I will tell the other ponies in time.”

Spike looked up. “What’s that?”

Exon felt a sudden urging force of hope, causing him to hatch an idea. With what he was thinking, maybe he could stop the impossible from destroying everything.

Exon smiled. “I’ll tell you everything, but I have an idea how to fix what I’m about to tell you!”

Spike stood up. “What’s your idea?”

Exon began to stand as well and said, “I’ll tell you the whole story, but one thing first…”

Spike’s face became confused. “Cool, but what’s that?”

“Spike, I know your Twilight’s assistant, but I may need some help with what we’re about to do.”

Spike smiled. “Uhh… Ok, no problem. What is my mission?”

Exon began to head out the door. “Our mission, and it won't be easy…”

Spike sighed and muttered, “Oh boy… what did I sign myself up for this time?”

Exon silently opened the front door and turned to Spike. “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough. But I can promise you It will be like nothing you’ve ever seen… I don’t think.” Exon stood up straight and stared into the distance with a strange look, almost as if he was going cross-eyed but he wasn’t.

Exon spoke slightly faster. “Wait, could there have been any extreme technologic advancement these ponies went through or is it just me? Could they have invented steam power? Well they have coal-powered trains so they could have already invented silicon chips and malay-ware. No, malay-ware came 100 years or so after our industrial revolution, so could they have a educational field for quantum-mechanics? Wait, they haven't even-*”

“EXON! Your head is going to explode if you don’t stop!” Spike yelled as he hit Exon on his back.

Exon jumped and turned around like he had just seen a ghost. “Oh… sorry about that. I tend to get like that sometimes.”

“You just kept going on about technology and quantum-stuff, I almost think your people should make some kind of medication for that!” Spike rolled his eyes. “Besides, one of us are about to wake up Princess Twilight before we can even sneak out of here.”

“Right…” Exon began to walk out of the door before turning back around to Spike.

The guest had a priceless look on his face. “WAIT. Did you just… say… ‘Princess’ Twilight?”

“Yah, what’s wrong with that?” Spike asked defensively.

“Nothing! Explains the combination of wings and a horn… but I mean… there are princesses who rule this system? No offence, but that is just ridiculous!” Exon almost laughed in Spike’s face.

“Don’t be a dip-cord, Exon…” Spike said with his arms folded.

Exon suddenly felt ashamed. “Oh… my mistake. Anyways, If we’re going to ever leave here, I might as well get on with my story.”

Spike lightened up and said, “Yah, how exactly DID you get here?”

Exon developed a warm smile. “Well, it all started with this black, rectangular device…”

Spike followed the Micron out into the night as he lit the way. Exon began his story right where everything went ‘wrong’.

==================================================

The entire Micron Fleet was getting their ass kicked. They should have never deployed for battle, never the less signed up for a cosmic war with the Grenex Empire. Nearly everyone was injured, hundreds upon hundreds were dead, and only a fifth of their ships were operational.

Exon thought all this as he smashed in his enemy’s head with his sophisticated bionic suit. It wasn't a pretty site to look at, but there wasn't a quicker way. He heard his radio activate as he took in the scene, and the news wasn’t good.

“EXON, get your bionic ass over to wing seven right now! The troops need you there, pronto!” Xylophon barked with distress.

“Right on it, I’ll be there in 2 minutes top.”

As Exon deactivated the radio, he looked at the slender metal suit of his. One could mistake it for being the equivalent to tin-foil armor, but the metal was far beyond strong. You could lift something close to the weight of a freight-train with this armor. Basically, it was beyond the lazy term “bionic”.

Exon continued to look at the suit as he ran towards the bay area. As he ran, his eyes fell onto his blood-stained metal arm. It reminded him what he “accomplished” twenty seconds ago.

“Uhh… what does this even consist of?!” He said to himself. He was interrupted when his radio beamed on again.

“EXON!” Xylophon yelled into his headset.

“WHAT? You realize it’s completely unnecessary to speak that loudly, right?!”

“Sorry... If you're still running to the Bay, I have a new mission for you…”

Exon blinked as he rushed down the corridors. He stopped and gathered up enough breath to talk.

“I’m listening…”

………...............

When Exon reached the room holding the RRS, he was awestruck at how big the room was. sure enough, the device laid right in the center, suspended in air by beams powered by dark-magnetism.

“Well, this is neat-o…” Exon murmured with bafflement. He activated his radio and said, “Well, what now, doc?”

“Please don’t call me that at a time like this, Exon…” You could almost feel him roll his eyes through the space-crackle. “Anyways… we detected not a slight, but a significant disturbance coming from the electrode-networking covering the support columns holding the device in place. You need to find who the hell is in there, because who knows what could happen if that equipment is tampered with!”

Exon broke in. “Obviously something bad… very bad…”

“Well… no shit something bad could happen. The whole universe could be blown apart for god’s sake!!!”

“Oops, wrong number, you grump. I get what could happen! Look, if I find someone, should I bring him back alive?”

“Alive if all possible, even if the culprit is one of our own. But if there is no other option, we advise you use deadly force. But be damn careful around the RRS, you hear me?”

Exon grinned. “Loud and clear, sargent. Over and out…”

Exon powered down his radio as he looked around the reddened room. There were some crates about, so that was one obstacle. Another was the fact that he could be dealing with practically anything. Grenex, one of his own, droids, or even worse, an Grenex-branded genetic experiment that had been trained to kill anything that lives.

Exon slowly activated his arm-cannon, the noise of it’s activation bouncing off the walls. Well, if anything is still here, he just gave away his position. Broke rule one, ALWAYS be careful, no matter where or when.

“Might as well check that off the list…” Exon thought to himself. His arm-cannon illuminated the ground around him, but at least he would be ready for anything.

“Show yourself, you sickening scum! If you didn’t notice, I don't have very good patience, so just come out and surrender!!!” Exon screamed the last word with irritation. Just as Exon was about to give up, a dark, clicking voice came from right behind him.

“They say patience is a virtue, Micron.” Exon knew exactly who he was dealing with.

“You!!!-”

Exon swung around and activated his “gun”, releasing an enormous amount of blinding energy. As the shock-wave of the cannon pounded against his chest, Exon flew backwards. After he quickly regained his strength, the Micron realised his foe was still alive, not to mention barely scorched.

“But that’s IMPOSSIBLE. You should be a stir-fried crisp right now!” Exon said out loud.

The Grenex captain clicked it’s teeth and beamed a creepy smile. “Silly Micron, notice the armor vapor-fields around me.”

“Oh… dammit!” Exon yelled as he tried to run away from the slimy devil.

The captain screeched as it charged toward Exon, but the Micron didn’t give up the fight. He turned around and fired multiple rounds of ammunition, but the captain just batted the plasmatic streams away like they were snowballs.

Just when the captain was a few meters away, Exon detached his cannon’s ammunition and threw it at his foe’s horrid face. Exon had less than seconds to back away before the transparent canister shattered. As the captain’s face made contact with the canister, plasma and energetic vapor exploded everywhere.

The ugly creature screamed with agony and fell to the ground, plasma sissling all over the floor. Exon was tired of this race harassing and killing off other beings across the cosmos. In fact he was so sick of it, he would take all of his rage out on this freak of nature.

Exon picked him up and began to crush through the Captain's armor with his bionic fingers. It was hard to tell who was screaming more, Exon or the Grenex Captain. Exon turned around and faced the dark-electromagnetic beam in the center of the room. He wanted to prove his point and his hatred to the Grenex race. With every single ounce of strength in him, Exon threw the Grenex at the beam.

A moment before the leader would hit the beam, he suddenly remembered the consequences he would face in less than a second. The limp commander hit the upper beam with such force, the super-metal dented with fierce noise. The grenex leader fell down with a low thud, signifying he was dead. Even though the entire enemy fleet would be after him, that wasn't the worst of his problems. As the device was powering up and sucking in massive amounts of energy.

“Oh SHIT. What have I DONE?!” Was all that Exon could manage.

Before he could contemplate the gravity of events, an old friend of his entered through the main doors. Markis's voice sounded like it was on the edge of sanity.

“EXON! What the hell are you doing!?! you're going to kill everyone in the galaxy if you don’t stop this!!!”

“I’M SORRY! I couldn't help it!” Exon yelled in desperation.

“Now you say that!!! Look, because your now dead "friend" over there raised the alarm five minutes ago, everyone has pretty much left the ship, but the enemy fleet now wants you dead more than anything! I hope you realise they will stop at NOTHING to kill you...”

Exon lowered his head. “I think I've discovered that fact already, thanks for your input.”

Markis stared at him with urgency. “Stop that. Now let’s just get out of here!!! NOW!!!"

Exon faced the device, seeing it as his race’s only hope for survival. If he didn’t fix this, the Micron race and the entire galaxy would be doomed. Exon stepped toward the device and knew what he had to do.

“It’s ok, Markis. We have them exactly where we want them…”

Markis’s eyes began to water. “Exon, don’t you even DARE!!! I'm warning you… Our government and military had absolutely NO idea what that thing  will do. We can only begin to imagine it’s power and devastation. I’m telling you to DROP IT.”

But Exon barely heard what he was saying. The device… it was so, powerful. No, it knew something, if not omnipotent.

“PLEASE EXON!!! I’m begging you to no end, that device will be the end of everything. Everything we hate and hold dear…”

Exon finally spoke with his back to him. “It doesn’t have to be that way…”

Markis paused for a moment. “What the hell do you MEAN it doesn’t have to be that way!?! Activating this will be the equivalent of hitting the -delete- command on everything! Don’t you see? If you run that, everything we know and could have ever known will un-fabricate into NOTHING! We can only BEGIN to imagine the consequences!!!”

Exon turned to him, with tearing eyes. “We can also begin to imagine the impossible become possible! Besides, if you think deeper about your statement, it proves this event has already happened!”

Exon began to cry as he turned back to the device, now fully powered up. He was just a few feet away from the slab. All the thing needed was a ignition… a pilot.

“EXON, SNAP OUT OF IT!!! It’s too dangerous for any life form to handle! JUST FUCKING LEAVE IT!!! THERE’S NO TELLING WHAT -*”

Picoseconds before Exon held his finger/claw to the illuminated screen, the entire universe went silent, and a omnipotent white roar erupted from the device. Exon’s scenes went blank white as the energy became calmer and fiercer. How is this possible? There was almost an invisible friction or dimension that separated the two powerful streams of energy. As the tension between the mind and reality became thinner, Exon lost all perception of time and space.

As a final force of energy collapsed on itself, Exon felt the most peace in his mind, despite the enormous polarity between the physical and the metaphysical tugging at his brain. From that point on, his mind’s eye would be forever touched by this event.

==================================================

As Exon wrapped up the end of the story he had told his pony-friends, he had the exact same effect on Spike. The two remained silent for a while as a familiar meadow began to come into view. Now that Exon had told him his whole story, Spike seemed farther out of reach than the ponies did when Exon told it to them.

Spike finally spoke up. “Wow…… that’s unbelievable. I can’t believe that actually happened to you…… that’s just… crazy.”

Exon wore a reassuring look on his face. “Don't worry about it too much, and I’m terribly sorry to weigh this all down on you all.”

Spike looked up and smiled. “It’s ok Exon, we all need someone to lean on when were going through stuff. Now instead of overthinking it, let’s just focus on the… what was it called again?”

Exon looked at him with compassion. “it’s a Reality Rift Simplifier.”

“Yeah, that thing.” Spike giggled until both of them broke out into a laugh. It seemed like the perfect night to have a good time, as the stars hung in the sky.

As they entered the meadow, laying right in the middle of it was a foot-deep crater. As the two began to rush toward it, they found that it still contained heated soil. Despite how dark it was outside, both of them could tell what laid in the center of the crevice.

Spike nearly jumped with excitement. “The Simplifier! There it is!”

Exon stood proudly. “Indeed it is, Spike! Now comes the assisting part of the mission, if you will so kindly help me.”

Exon bent down and felt the surface of the device, trying to find something. Spike wondered if Exon was accidently going to touch it the wrong way, killing them both. With no success, Exon stood back up and groaned.

“Since the straps appear to be missing, I suppose we will have to carry it… all the way back to the hub.”

“Totally… Wait, hub?”

Exon turned towards Spike. “Oh, oops. I mean, back to the house.”

Spike looked back down at the device. Exon was right, you could almost feel it’s power emanating from a higher dimension. Almost like… he couldn’t place it.

Exon cracked his back and did a quick stretch. “Ok, let’s do this.”

“I'm on it.” Spike said as he ran to the other end of the black slab.

“Ok, on seven…” Exon began only to have Spike in a state of confusion.

“SEVEN? What?”

“Well, that's what we..." Exon paused as he struggled to find the words. "Bah, nevermind...on three…” he rolled his eyes and readied himself to pick up the slab of technology.

“One…”

Spike winced, scared to slip and drop it. How heavy was it?

“...Two…”

“Here comes the pain” Spike thought.

“...Three!”

As they lifted together, Spike noticed it was heavy, but not as severe as what he expected. He thought about what could happen if he dropped it, and decided it would be best to keep a tight grip on the thing.

Morning was only a couple hours away, so if they wanted to get back in time, they had to leave now. Besides, Even Exon knows it’s not safe to stick around in the everfree forest.

“Here, I’ll walk backwards, you walk forwards…” Exon said as he positioned himself.

“Ok, you da boss.” Spike said with enthusiasm.

As the two of them walked back to Ponyville with their cargo, Exon knew exactly how he could stop the unstoppable from happening. He could stop whatever laid ahead of them without causing a paradox. All he needed to do was fix the device, considering it was in pretty crappy condition. Although there were only a couple of irreplaceable scratches on the outside of the device, the inside of the device needed major attention.