Dead Space: Purpose

by Dragonman461

Chapter 30: Calm at last

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Discord watched with dread as the gates to Canterlot continued to be pounded on by the unrelenting forces of the horrifying machine. He knew that eventually, they would break those barriers down, and everything would be over. Yet he stood fast to the gates, keeping the Guards back in the Castle as the undead still roared at his attempts to keep them on the ground.

In the midst of the pounding, however, a single high-pitched whining could be heard growing from the distance. As it approached, more and more of the dark energies began to fade away. When it finally swept over the walls of the city, the undead roared in agony as they began to melt apart. Discord smiled as he floated upwards and watched the massive abominations began to fall apart.

"He actually did it," he smirked to himself.

With a snap of the fingers, Discord teleported the collection of decaying flesh far away, never to be seen again.

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Gilda held her left eye shut tight as she waited for the end. She could hear the growling form of her once mother, preparing to strike from the far end of the small cave she crawled into. She waited for a minute, not feeling the pain that she thought would be brought, and slowly opened her remaining eye. When she examined the source of the sounds, she watched as the undead monster began to fall apart and make a small puddle that hissed as it made contact with the cold rocks beneath it. The Griffon gathered all of her strength and lept for the exit to the cave, hoping to leave the nightmare behind her.

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Braeburn panted heavily, alongside most of the citizens of Apploosa, as the Buffalo all began to cheer, thanking every deity that they could think of. He managed to smile through his exhaustion as he took a look behind them to find that the shadows were long gone from view. The stallion collapsed onto his back as the Sun finally began to make its presence steady in the sky.

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"Shame." An overwhelming voice spoke.

Within the confines of the Reality Nexus, there sat a single entity, thinking. It had no singular outward appearance, and spoke with every voice. It was only known as the One. It could see and hear everything that could be and would be. Around it, planes of reality spun around like small discs, each one comparable to what a mortal would describe as a mere speck of dust.

Yet the One could watch them all with ease. It was connected to each and every single one, the infinite toll barely noticed by the mighty presence. However, when one of them had suddenly went dark, the One shifted its gaze to the universe without an ounce of worry.

"I try and bring them closer to me, to perfection, yet they still try and resist," it spoke to no one, yet everything. "I suppose I shouldn't fault them for it. They are merely mortal creatures."

It looked down at the singular plane of reality, watching as it began to fade from view as the power of the Markers died off. The Markers which it had always created for each and every reality before it. An idea of singularity that it had always gifted to the brightest of each reality.

"Isaac Clarke. You've broken one cycle. I feel as though congratulations are in order, but perhaps another time. I've not been bested since the Beginning. Well played."

As the single speck evaporated from its view, billions upon billions of more specks poured into its immediate range, as Marker signals began to spread and connect with one another, branching between universes within their own respective realities.

"That one may have broken their own cycle, but it is insignificant. There are far more that are in need of my gift, and if they wish to never know true meaning, then let them all expire. I have many more to attend to."

With that, the One ceased paying attention to the reality as more and more beings began to converge with it, departing from their planes by the means of ascension.

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Fluttershy blinked to clear the spots from her vision as she watched her friends descend from the Tree of Harmony. In the places of the branches were the symbols for their respective Element. When they made contact with the ground, the twin masses of tentacles by the base began to dissolve, releasing two familiar alicorns.

"Princess!" Twilight cried as she galloped up to the large white pony.

The group began to greet each other and converse the events of the past few hours. As they talked, Fluttershy looked around for someone in particular. Someone who needed her. She began to fly around the inside of the cave, ignoring the small light that began to trail from the roots of the tree. She searched for a familiar color, shape, or sound. After reaching the roof, she heard something begin to beep, slowly, steadily, and with a familiar pitch.

Her head whipped around as her ears rotated, trying to locate the source. In the mass of roots, there lay Isaac, his back up to the world, the bar on his back blinking red and shrinking fast. The pegasus raced down to him, screaming as tears began to pour from her eyes. The rest of the mares in the cave turned towards the beeping sound and all began to speed towards the form of the human.

Fluttershy landed by Isaac's face, ignoring the stump where his arm used to be. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and began to rock his form.

By the time the others came to her side, they felt as though they had gone deaf. Everypony present watched in horror as the light of the R.I.G. flashed out of existence.

The yellow pegasus felt herself unable to speak as she dropped to her knees. She gently wrapped her forelegs around him again and began to shake him.

"I-I-Is-ss-aac..." she barely managed to croak out.

The Princesses trotted to her side and tried to help the lugubrious pegasus back up. She offered no resistance as she stared at the lifeless form of Isaac Clarke.

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