How Love Kills
By Fictionary88
Designation: Prologue
In the vast emptiness of The Ether, there was a hooded figure. No one knew he was there, just as he wanted. Tears clung to his face, unable to fall in this weightless world he now resides in.
He failed.
He did everything in his power to make things right, only to have it end in destruction.
I’m sorry. Said his only friend, a voice in his head. His friend was real, even if she couldn’t be seen or heard by others. But her voice was no comfort. Even her help wasn’t enough.I’m so sorry. But there was nothing we could do.
“I know.” He said. “I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t change my fate. I killed the one who sought to end my happiness, but only after she killed him. I have no one to blame but myself.
You couldn’t have known. She said.
“No I couldn’t have. But that doesn’t make it any less my doing. There are millions of solutions to every problem, even if they aren’t obvious to the one approaching it. If I don’t blame myself, I cannot learn from this experience. I made a mistake, I acknowledge that, but I won’t let it happen again.”
The figure reached a hand out of his robe, revealing a red exoskeletal gauntlet wrapped around it. The hand sizzled and sparked with dark magic, building and building until it burst in a flash of black light. An entryway to another world formed.
It was a portal, suspended in space. Its rim shimmered and swirled with the stars of the multiverse visible in its ripples. Looking through the portal, the figure saw familiar yet foreign stars. These stars belonged to a different Equestria than the one he formerly called home. It was a whole new world, a whole new opportunity. In that world was a series of familiar yet foreign faces. Dead ponies were now alive. Ruined castles stood tall. And most importantly, the love of his life was still here. Hopefully this would stay true.
Milord, are you certain? This is a big risk. There may be no going back.
“I don’t care.” The figure responded. “It’s my only hope of getting him back.” He gazed into the vortex that was his new salvation, feeling a sensation of inevitable doom. “I need him. I need his arm around my shoulder again. My life isn’t worth living without him in it.”
There was a moment of pause. It was the kind of hesitation a wanderer faced at the beginning of every journey. The feeling of dread that came with having to take those first two steps. This dread wouldn’t go away after the steps were taken though. This was a sensation of fear that would now doubt haunt him for the rest of his life. “Be ready.” He said in a weary voice. “Be ready for war.”
***
The sensation of moving from weightlessness to the gravity of Equestria was jarring to say the least, yet this human was not in a weightless world for long.
“Better get started.” He said, as he prepared himself for what was yet to come.
He knew this peace wouldn’t last long. His lover told him stories of the MDP. They were a seemingly omnipotent police force that looked into any form of dimension jumping. He would be noticed, he would be hunted down, but he wouldn’t get killed.
This is why he needed to prepare himself as soon as possible. Not only did he have to prepare himself for a meeting with the MDP, but Discord, god of chaos and anarchy, would easily notice an anomaly in his home dimension. Unlike the MDP, Discord was truly omnipotent, at least in his homeworld.
The figure used his dark magic to conjure a dining table of black crystal, as well as a set of chairs. “Nightmare.” He called.
From his shadow rose a silhouette of sparkling purple mist. “Nightmare.” He said to the mist. “My dear dear friend. It feels good to see you, rather than simply hear your voice.”
It was Nightmare Moon who stood before him. Or rather, it was her remnant. This creature was known as The Pony of the Shadows, a ghost created from Nightmare Moon’s leftover magic. She and the figure had been friends for some time now.
Milord. She started. It brings me comfort to know I can make you happy, even for a moment.
“You do.” He said. “You really do. But I need to do something for me.”
Your wish is my command. She said.
He pointed to the horizon, where the sun was rising. “Not far from here is the town of Ponyville. I need you to get together a meal for our meeting with an old friend. The usual of course.”
Perhaps if she had a face it would be more obvious how she felt, but her hesitation was more than enough. Milord, are you sure? We do not know how long we can be apart, especially now that you’ve lost everything.
“I understand your concern.” He sat down in a crystal chair he formed. “But we need everything to be just so. Besides-” He looked up the the stars above him. “In this place, he lives. I can feel content knowing I will see him again.”
He turned to his ethereal companion. “Go. Steal what you can without being seen. You know our favorite meal, so I know you can get it done quickly. I’ll maintain my composure for as long as I can.”
Very well milord. She flew away, disappearing into the distance.
The figure pulled down his hood, revealing a young caucasian male, with long blonde hair, and blue eyes. His skin was pale, his eyes had dark rings that showed his exposure to dark magic, and one look would tell you he was weary from his journey. He would no doubt pull the hood back up again to make himself more presentable for his date, but for now he wanted to feel the cool air of dusk. For now he wanted to enjoy the sensation of being in his homeworld again, even if it wasn’t really his home.
Similar as this world may be, it was not the same universe. There were subtle differences, like trees that were in different places, and a new arrangement of stars. But there were also obvious differences, like the fact that this world was not burning after the sun had crashed into it. The place he once called home was gone, and so were his loved ones. And yet, they were all perfectly fine. In this world, the apocalypse never happened. In this world, the dead were now living.
And in this world, the dark wizard who stood in the Everfree had a date with Discord.
Many stories begin with something along the lines of “It was a sunny summer morning.” Or “It was a dark and stormy night.” But such descriptions are unfitting for this place. This is not a plane of existence you would be familiar with. There is no star to provide the world its needed light. Not in a traditional sense anyway. The light that radiated on the buildings of this lone city was referred to as Pseudo Sunlight. It came from a blue dwarf star that was suspended just above the city at the top and center of its dome. This blue ball of light was tiny in comparison to a natural star, hardly larger in diameter to a “football field” if you are familiar with the concept.
This city is called “New Pandora” the spiritual successor to the space faring vessel Pandora that served as the first colony in The Ether. It is a city contained within a spherical construct, with millions of forms of plant life providing food and oxygen to the traditional life forms that lived there. Not all of the civilians eat food. Some prefer to have all necessary nutrients injected into their systems via the suits that are a part of their culture. Eating is often considered inefficient. But the food is there for any who want it. As previously mentioned, needed sunlight is provided by Alpha: the Pseudo Sun of Beginning. Or just Alpha if you prefer.
This foreign concept of a city serves a purpose far greater than scientific discovery, though that was the original intent of its creators. Balance. Specifically the abstract concept of balance in the multiverse. With an infinite number of universes, each with their own politics and history, there are millions upon millions of ways vigilantism could be done. But these watchers of the Ether, the MDP (Multi-Dimensional Police) have a strict code they follow. When an organic or inorganic life form attempts to jump from dimension to dimension out of a desire for any form of higher existence, they must follow one of several procedures.
Procedure Alpha: Join the MDP. The advantages of this are obvious. Live a comfortable life in New Pandora, and travel to new and interesting worlds on assignments that help keep the multiverse in check.
Procedure Sigma: With the assistance of an MDP officer, find an ideal universe to live in. The subject is to be given a sufficient amount of time to determine if said universe meets their expectations. If the subject is not satisfied, repeat Procedure Sigma until the subject finds a suitable universe.
Procedure Delta: If the subject has broken a substantial amount of the laws in whatever universe they are currently in, the subject is to be arrested, and taken into custody by several MDP officers. A punishment will be determined by a jury of neutrally inclined life forms.
Procedure Omega: The subject may place themselves beyond the jurisdiction of the MDP by “binding” themselves to the universe they are currently in. This will leave them incapable of leaving said universe. The legal systems of said universe will be left to decide how to proceed.
This simple yet effective code helps prevent warfare caused by dimension jumping, while also keeping interaction between multiple dimensions to a minimal. And, of course, these are the procedures that were to be used against the law breaker mentioned in the previous chapter. This document is being written for historic and educational purposes, and will tell both sides of the story to ensure no detail is left out.
We at the MDP hope you enjoy the tale.
Opportunity Alpha
A pony, Equestrian in origin, slowly woke up to the gentle tones of his room’s wake up protocol. It was a series of gentle, long notes that would slowly play one after another until he got up. This was a day he had been waiting anxiously for.
His name was Ut Daret. In a language known as Latin in most variations of Earth, it translates to “to give life.” This was the name he chose for himself after joining the MDP. Many life forms change their names when coming to New Pandora. Some do this to leave their previous life behind them, others may have already planned on doing so but didn’t have the time to fill out the paperwork in their homeworld, but most do it because their birth name is hard to pronounce.
For Officer Daret, it was the first reason. His previous life was no longer relevant to his interests. He no longer needed to hold himself to the standards of his old society, feeling comfort in the open minded community of New Pandora. He felt that, as long as he lived here, his previous life didn’t matter. He was Ut Daret, plain and simple.
He got up from his bed. Beds were common, but this was a bed given to him in preparation for an assignment. For the best possible sleep, a New Pandorian would get a sleeping pod. This pod would suspend them in midair with quantum locking (quantum levitation if you prefer the less accurate term,) and uses lights that help the subject have a more soothing sleep, as well as soft music, and small traces of nitrous oxide. This is good for sleep, meditation, and self hypnosis, but isn’t available in most universes. So, whether out of preference, necessity, or paranoia, many choose to sleep in a bed. For Ut Daret, it was mostly a bed meant to simulate the beds that exist in the world his next mission takes place in.
However, he also didn’t want to distract himself with a machine that he found rather… stimulating. It’s common knowledge Ut Daret has a hypnosis fetish, hence why he isn’t sent on missions involving psychic life forms.
Ut Daret was preparing himself for a rather strange assignment. Strange compared to previous ones that is. He was an Alicorn, a tall unicorn with wings and a proficiency in magic. His mane was a long blonde that complimented his light grey coat. His birthplace was a world where the population consisted mostly of Alicorns, with the only exception being lesser quadrupeds, like buck and goats. For all previous assignments, he was sent to universes of similar structure. But the Equestria he was going to didn’t have many Alicorns. In fact, Alicorns were worshipped as gods in this particular world. They used their powerful magic to dictate the position of the stars, the phases of the moon, and even the orbit of the sun. Needless to say, the laws of physic vary from universe to universe.
With all this in mind, why not assign a more fitting species to the mission? There were plenty of Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi to choose from. And even if this assignment required diplomacy, there were other Alicorns with much more experience in royal espionage. Ut Daret didn’t see himself as a politician, making his assignment even more strange. But his superiors said that he was the ideal choice, and that all his questions would be answered at the workplace.
After getting up, Daret walked out of his room, and into the living room. It was your standard New Pandora living room, although it was made bigger to accommodate for his flatmate.
Said flatmate was a species called Audrey II. He was a sizable pod plant, resembling a venus fly trap, but with teeth similar to the Piranha Plants of the Mushroom Kingdom. He was as tall as the walls of the apartment, approximately 3.048 Meters, or 10 feet, in height.
If you are familiar with his species, you may have seen a musical in which he was the main villain. This is a common occurrence. In the vast infiniteness of the Multiverse, what is fiction in one world is fact in another. With that said, his species becoming associated with the MDP is a story of its own.
After conquering the human race of his universe, they looked for new worlds to feed off of. Normally universal domination fell outside of MDP jurisdiction. However, one of the worlds on their list already made contact with us. One universe filled with hemovore plantations is fine, but a multiverse invasion is prohibited. So we offered a new lifestyle for them. Several negotiations, and a few scientific inventions later, the Audrey II’s were provided symbiotic synthetics to provide all the blood they need. After neutering them first of course, letting them grow out of control is just asking for trouble.
The Audrey II that lived with Ut Daret decided on the name Big Babba. Like many species, Audrey II’s don’t need names. They’re all essentially clones of the same base plants, and generally think the same way. But since names are commonplace in New Pandora, and referring to individuals by their species name is considered rude, Big Babba begrudgingly agreed to be given a fitting name.
“Mornin’ Derry.” The former threat to all mankind greeted. “I don’t suppose you have any more info about that mission of yours?”
Ut Daret wasn’t all that satisfied with the nickname his new friend gave him, but went with it anyway. “Nothing. But if it turns out I’m supposed to do some political stuff for a species that worships my kind, expect me to turn it down and spend some more quality time with you.”
He chuckled. “Come on, politics isn’t that hard. Look at me! I’m a representative for my whole species, and you don’t hear me complaining.” He was always making himself out to be perfect.
“Your entire species thinks the same way you do, of course it’s easy. But me? If I go to that world, those damn primitives will worship me like a god and expect me to keep their world safe from celestial beings.”
Daret had a particular stigma towards life forms of low intelligence. He considered it to be a major turn off. Not that he was looking for a relationship or anything, but he’d prefer to be around life forms that at least knew the basics of quantum mechanics, or how to write poetry, or even life forms who dare to believe that there is no afterlife, making immortality preferable to oblivion.
“What’s wrong with worship? Isn’t that what Procedure Sigma is for?” Big Babba asked.
He gave Big B. a condescending look. “Not every specimen who follows Procedure Sigma goes to a world where they are worshiped as gods. If anything, that’s one of the more dangerous choices to go with. And it may seem fun, but having the fate of the world on your shoulders is extremely stressful.”
Big B. grabbed a television remote from a nearby table. “Like you would know. My ancestor had to go through a lot to make sure we took over Earth. It was only through sheer luck that that stupid human discovered our taste for blood. It was a classic survival of the fittest scenario. We were a dying species before he took action. My kind would have gone extinct if he didn’t go to the right place at the right time.” He turned on the TV to his favorite channel. “And as a clone of that very same plant, I can tell you that, as stressful as that kind of task may be, the reward is well worth the pain.”
Daret sighed in defeat. “I guess I can’t argue with experience. Doesn’t mean I’ll take the assignment though.” He glanced at the TV to see a fight scene between two Mobius Hedgehogs. Big Babba always enjoyed stories with lots of action. “Still a fan of those hedgehogs I see.”
“You know it.” He said with pride. “These guys know how to fight. Nature’s very best vs a scientist’s very worst. Magic artifacts, robots powered by animals, and worldwide jeopardy? This is definitely in my top ten.”
Ut Daret payed attention to the design of the world they were fighting in. “Don’t the environments look more geometric?”
“You’re talking about places like Green Hill, not every location looks the same.”
“I know.” He said. “I just find Green Hill to be appealing to the eye. And also ironic considering the central theme of that place is nature. Makes Robotnik's plans to fill the world with machines look like not much of a change in comparison.”
Babba put a vine to his chin in contemplation. “I always did wonder what it would be like to be one of those Green Hill plants. What with all the spinning petals and shifting stems. Not sure if they’re dancin’ or warding off prey.” He giggled a bit. “They’re kinda cute.”
Ut Daret smiled at that comment, going into the kitchen to prepare himself breakfast. Eating in New Pandora was unnecessary, unless an MDP officer has to spend several days in another dimension. He familiarized himself with Equestrian cuisine several weeks ago. It wasn’t much different from the food of his homeworld. All he had to do was remove all traces of magic plants and incorporate a few apples and flowers into his former diet, and he was ready. Meat was also optional, but most Equestrians prefer a vegetarian diet. Take the food he was making for breakfast for example. It was a classic eggs, bacon, and pancakes breakfast from his homeworld, minus the bacon. He was able to substitute it with hay fries, a snack food he still had yet to fully understand.
As the pancake batter was put into his skillet, Ut Daret tried to calm himself with the knowledge that, if he was really the ideal choice for this assignment, maybe the world he was being sent to wouldn’t be in any major danger. As long as Discord stays a good guy, Luna keeps herself in good terms with her sister, the windigoes are kept at bay, the smooze doesn’t come back, Sombra doesn’t come back…
Yeah, this assignment was going to be a stressful one.
