Voided Light

Daring sighed, it had been a month after the incident with the rings and Rainbow Dash. While at first, the mare had been very annoying, she had been helpful in the end, that's why Daring had sent her the book.

She sighed, looking at her map of artifacts. "Let's see... Nothing there... Wait... Ponyville! That's where it has to be. The Princesses said it had vanished from their old castle just a few months ago, so it'd be best to start nearby, and Ponyville is the closest."

Satisfied, Daring reached back towards her ear and, using her hoof, removed a small earring. As soon as she did, her disguise disappeared and she stood in her human form, popping her back. "Man, the change sure has been awhile." The last time she had removed it had been after the first time Ahuizotal had appeared. Looking around the room, Daring or, Alice, as the princesses knew her, snapped her fingers and all her stuff lifted up and dropped into her suitcase.

Despite preferring the normal fashion, actually physically going there, Alice decided it'd be best to go as quick as possible. Picking a place near Ponyville, she picked up suitcase and prepared herself for the teleportation, before thinking mentally, as loud as she could, And so I find myself in the Everfree, near Ponyville. This was followed by a feeling of being stretched, twisted, torn apart, and put together all at once.

Alice's feet hit the forest floor and she took a deep breath, "Goddess, that feels terrible..." She popped her neck and reattached her earring, returning to her pony form. She quickly removed her cloak from her suitcase and threw it over herself with her mouth. Once she had done this, she looked around and squinted into the dark, noticing a light off in the distance.

"Must be Ponyville," she said, trotting towards her destination. As she got closer she slowed to a walk and peered out towards the light. In it were a few dark shapes, rather normal despite what they happened to be. She was looking at a campfire surrounded by lamia, empousai, lamiai, and several other creatures.

Or not, she thought to herself. As she watched, the creatures began chanting. The chanting became louder and darker, the flame turned black and a woman walked out of the fire. "My lady," the empousai said, bowing low.

"Get up," the woman's said, her voice malevolent. "Have you found the human girl yet?"

"No, lady Hecate, sssshe knowssss how to hide very well," a two tailed lamia answered, tongue forked and long as it flicked out from her mouth.

"Zeus is getting impatient, his Jupiter form is arguing with him as well. It seems he cannot find the traitor Poseidon either," Hecate deadpanned, she walked towards Alice's hiding spot and peered through the darkness. "Ever since we took the place of the old gods, Poseidon has been acting oddly. It would seem a hundred million years will not change him. He knows humans will never return. We were the last, and now, we're all that must be."

Alice watched as she held up an orb of darkness and threw it at a tree, warping and twisting it. She began to back away slowly, only to bump into a young-looking man. As she opened her mouth, he held his hand up to his lips and pointed at Hecate.

The woman turned around and stepped into the fire, "Find her. The Titans have agreed that we may take the place of the gods but only as long as humans stay gone. I have gifted you more than my predecessor would have ever. Remember that," she finished and disappeared from the fire which returned to its red-hue.

The man motioned for her to follow, leading her to a small pond. He motioned towards it and as she stepped in, the water was forced away from her body, making a bubble. She walked down into the water and was followed quickly by the man who sighed and began to talk. "Sorry about this. Once you heard, I couldn't let you stay there to get killed by her."

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Why and what do you mean?"

He bit his lip for a second before continuing, "You heard what she said, right?"

"Of course," Alice answered, frowning at him.

"Well, I'll re-establish it real quick. As I'm sure you know, humans went extinct on Earth long ago. The problem is, they had only left and the ones that didn't died off due to limited resources, eventually the population becoming too large. Well, in the end, we were the ones left. Zeus, Hecate, me, and all the others. However... They wanted more, they wanted revenge. They sought out the gods, all in their hiding places, and using powers granted from the Titans, sley them and took their powers. I was supposed to slay Poseidon, however, when I got there, I found an old man, smiling. He told me he knew why I had come. I, and a few others, were pretending to ally with the others. As I watched, he got off the chair and waved his hands, bringing forth multiple other gods and goddess. The ones me and the others were supposed to slay. Moments later, my friends walked through the doors and were shocked, like me, by Poseidon suddenly speaking. He said, 'We are the last Olympians. Your friends have already slain the others, and its time we give this world a chance for once." And so I watched as he, and all the others, gave their powers to a star which then entered each of us. When it was Poseidon's turn, he leaned forward and told me something, he said, 'Do better, save this world from itself,' and then, the star gave me his power."

Alice raised an eyebrow, "Are you monologuing?"

"Right, sorry," he chuckled and put his hand to the back of his head, "Anyways, ever since then, we've been planning to trap Zeus and the others with the Titans. However, the plan went a little askew when you appeared," he said.

"How's that?"

"You're the last human," he said, "Or the last Earthling at least. The Titans have control, through different means, of the ponies. You, however, they can't control."

Alice nodded, "Then why are the other gods hunting me?"

"The Titans lost their powers back when humans began building civilization. They got it back and managed to prevent it with the ponies," he smiled, "My creations, I meant for them to be... More free. Anyway, with you here, their powers have been fading for the last millennia. They finally found you a few years ago but you disappeared."

"Back when I started writing," Alice said, bringing her suspicion to light.

"Yes. I however, checked with Celestia, and discovered your secret," he said, smiling. "Its a good thing too..."

"I still need to go to Ponyville for that artifact, Celestia needs me to find it as soon as possible," she said, frowning at the god.

"That may be my fault," he said, chuckling nervously, "I told her I needed it."

Alice's expression went flat as she contemplated that before frowning at him, "I hate you."

"What? Why?" Poseidon asked innocently.

"You're the reason I had to fight through the ruins of Tokyo, fighting demonic plants and other animals. You're the reason I've been fighting through hundreds of ruins," she said, giving him a bit of humph.

"Sorry about that... I needed the key to Tartarus..."

"And you couldn't look yourself?" Alice growled.

"You try running away from power-hungry crazed lunatics with the powers of deity! I only just days ago decided to separate myself from them! Its a good thing I left out the facts of the undersea castle in the darkest part of the ocean otherwise, I'd be dead!" He answered just as angrily.

"Whatever. If it means danger and adventure, I'm in. I've gotten a bit addicted after all my crusades," Alice said, grinning.

Poseidon let out a relieved sigh, "Good, because I've got something for you," he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small jar with a little star inside, "I got this from one of the Muses. They're on our side. They said, about a half a millennia ago, an old Muse appeared and held out the jar. She said 'Give this to the next human. The power of Music will guide her,' so..."

He held out the jar which Alice took. "I swear if she has anything to do with this..."

"Who?" Poseidon asked.

"No one," she popped the lid off and watched as the star floated up and into her forehead, causing an image to appear in her mind, something like a video call.

HELLO! Is this thing on?, a woman's voice called out as Alice flinched. Poseidon raised an eyebrow and leaned in towards Alice.

"Is this that 'her' you were talking about?" he asked.

"Probably," Alice said, sighing as the picture cleared.

Good, you got it. Now, so you know, he's the only other person hearing this. Anyways, I've gifted you a new ability. It has to do with Sound, enjoy it. I'll call back later. The woman vanished and Alice's vision returned to normal.

"So... A friend of yours?" Poseidon asked.

"You could say that..." Alice muttered.

Zeus looked upon the basin in the middle of the room with a frown. The human girl was still missing, someone or something was hiding her. Hecate had returned and given her report, the monsters were now looking for her as well. If only that traitor Poseidon hadn't vanished, then he'd have all he needed to bring forth a wave. He knew from experience that many humans would sacrifice themselves for others. Others, like he had been, were selfish, cruel, and strong.

"My lord?" a voice called out.

"Come in Aphrodite," Zeus answered, voice cruel and dead as always.

"I've discovered the gods allied with Poseidon," she said, smiling.

"Who?" Zeus demanded.

"Hestia, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Athena, Thanatos, and a few others here on the list," she held out a piece of paper. Zeus accepted it and began reading off the names, his anger gradually boiling as he realized that half of the gods were gone, allied with a traitor. He finished the list and lightning cracked behind him as his anger boiled over. With a roar he released a storm which crashed down across the land they were currently over, devastating the inhabitants.

"Get the others," he growled, "It's time we make sure who's on who's side."