Finding a placeby orioncoreyChaptersPrologue1: Down the Rabbit Hole2: Background3: "Time" for a meet and greet4: The show's starting5: The afterparty6: Darkness and death7: Hell's Gates8: AwakeningPrologueAuthor's Note I KNOW that the displaced hype is wearing off. So what? I like displaced stories, so I'm writing one! Sorry, Meeester. Anyway, now that's over with... This is my first story, for fimfiction or otherwise. I hope that you'll provide honest feedback if you read and find a spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistake. Thank you, and enjoy the show! Prologue I tugged back up the way, way overlarge and floppy hat as it fell over my eyes again. "Come on, I know part of my costume is Big Hat Logan," I began to my friend, Andrue, as we walked to Comicon, "But this hat keeps falling over my eyes and I can't see! Couldn't we have done another part as Big Hat Logan? Like his robes! Those are cool!" I finished, bumping into people as we walked up to Phoenix Comicon. Most of them were staring at me, so I grinned at them as a sign that I was as sane as them. I don't think they saw my grin through the hat, now that I think about it. "The hat is one of the more recognizable aspects of Logan! Plus, it's amusing to watch people stare at your hat." He chuckled to me. I sighed. "Oh, shush." I was dressed as a myriad of Dark Souls characters mixed together. I had Big Hat Logan's hat, a standard cleric's talisman, and Laurentius of the Great Swamp's robes. I had no props, sadly, except for the talisman, since I hadn't had enough time. I hoped to buy some props there, so I had brought $150, since I figured stuff was expensive. We finally reached the building and walked in. I was so excited, I was bouncing on the balls of my feet and grinning. We got admission after a while, walked into the main part of Comicon, and I caught my breath. It was amazing, so many people walking around, showing off their nerdiness and admiring other's inner nerd! I could hardly wait, and I guess it must have showed, since Andrue laughed and said, "Don't worry, we'll get down there in a minute. We've already talked about yours, but what about my costume?" I smiled. "It's cool! Did you make it, or what? The designs are cool!" He was Medic from Team Fortress 2, and had a near perfect costume. he even had a medi-gun that had some red lights in the muzzle, the lucky bastard. "No, I found it on Ebay for 60 bucks, including the Medi-gun. It is pretty cool, isn't... it... " He said, trailing off and looking behind me. "What?" I said, looking behind me and finding a pretty girl smiling at him. I sighed at him. "Already? Seriously?" "Yup! Look, I'll meet you here in... um... 3 hours! I've got some... business to take care of." He walked away, towards the girl, striking up a conversation. I chuckled to myself at his behavior, and left to look around. I decided to go to the vendors first, to see if I could get some props with my money. I was walking through them, finding a few cool things, but nothing Dark Souls. That is, until one of the vendors commented on my outfit. "Nice outfit! Matches mine. Say, where's you props and whatnot?" He was dressed in... was that the Undead Merchant garb from Dark Souls? Cool! His shop was pretty cluttered, with stuff occupying every available space. He had multiple fandoms worth of stuff, everything from Resident Evil to Harry Potter. I saw a few Dark Souls items in his shop, and started feeling giddy. "I don't have any except for this one, " I said, holding up my talisman, "since I didn't have enough time." "Well, today's your lucky day. Everything's half off today, and I happened to stock up on Dark Souls before I got here. Hmm... In fact... I think I know just the thing you want..." He said, rummaging under his makeshift counter, until he came out with a mini chest. "What's in the box?" I said, wondering what he had. He only smiled and prized the lid open. Curious to see what he had, I looked inside when he opened it and gasped. This was AMAZING! Since I'm a nerd, I recognized everything he had in the box. He had Velka's Talisman, a fake Pyromancy Flame, Quelagg's Furysword, Manus' Catalyst(I loved this item in game since I had the same name as the character), and a book that I couldn't recognize from the game, but still looked cool none the less. While I gaped at how much he had, I suddenly realized a possible snag. A very, very bad snag. "How much are these, " I said, fearing the worst, "since I only have $150?" He chuckled. "Like I said, today’s your lucky day. Usually, this set is $200. Today, it's $100, since everything is half off." I could hardly believe my luck. I grinned and said, “Cool! Here’s the $100! Can I have the box now?” He lightly chuckled and took the money, then handed the box over. “Enjoy. This is a pretty good deal. I mean, that stuff’s… well, let’s just say that it’s very good quality.” I waved to him as I walked away. “You’ve made my day! I’m going to find my friend, see ya!” I walked around, trying to find Andrue. He’d gone off with that girl, and I had no idea where he was. As I was giving up and walking back to the entrance, I started feeling sick to my stomach. I barely registered this at first, but I started to panic a bit as it steadily ramped up into a stomach ache. It went even farther, and I quickly got into a bathroom to throw up in private. By then, it felt like I was having an ulcer, and I was really panicking. How had I gone from fine to throwing up repeatedly in 10 minutes? And then, suddenly, everything was going black at the edges, and I felt myself slipping. I dimly wondered, Am I dying?, and thought that I must be. And with that thought, my consciousness faded and I fell into deep sleep. 1: Down the Rabbit HoleSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.2: BackgroundAuthor's Note This is just some background on Manus, if you have some time to kill and want to know more. You don't have to read this, it's just an optional chapter. 2: Background Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Day 11: I’ve been studying for a week or two, now. And, let me tell you, this magic stuff is hard. I’ve been studying the whole time, and I’ve learned 2 spells, Fireball and Flash Sweat. Fireball is a small fireball, and Flash Sweat makes you sweat magically and resist fire. In other words, I’ve learned how to make the tiniest fireball ever and how to make people sweat a lot. Yippe. I’ve also realized that either this is the longest drug trip ever, I’m dead and in heaven and/or hell, or this is real. I don’t know what to think, I want it to be real, and I’m a magician, like Harry Potter, but, still…my old life was good. I was an ordinary person, but I was cool with that. If this is heaven or hell… Then I don’t know what to think. Well… I’m not making much sense at all. I feel like my mind is just too cluttered, and I’m unfocused. I must just not be getting enough sleep, or something. Yeah… or something… Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Day 27: I feel a lot more focused now! I haven’t been able to make an entry since the last one, since I was so busy, but I’ve learned a crap-ton more spells, and I’ve successfully cast one intermediate pyromancy, Iron Flesh. I’ve got all of the beginner pyromancies except for poison mist close to mastered. I’m going to continue the intermediate section for pyromancy, and hopefully be at least a quarter of the way done by next month. Lauren is still pretty excited about the prospect of me helping her. I’ve been telling her, though, that according to the book, it’ll be a while before I can help. She’s a pretty good friend, too. But, I’m still thinking… Is this real life? Or is this just fantasy? Am I dead, or comatose in a hospital, or… something else? Whatever. This place is still here, might as well enjoy it while I can. On an unrelated note, my mind almost short-circuited when I woke up the day after my arrival, when I realized that this might be real, but not because of how ridiculous or insane it seemed. It was because I felt like I could finally have some power over others, for once. I feel like this life is more than just a redo. But, I’m rambling now. I’ll write again as soon as I have something interesting. Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Day 60: I’d almost forgotten about this thing, since I was so focused on my training! Anyway, I’m progressing a lot faster than the book says I should be! I guess I’m a fast learner, even though I probably should have known this, what with me being top of the class in everything before. I’ve completed almost half of the intermediate section, when I should only be, like, a quarter of the way done. At this rate, I’ll be done with all of pyromancy in a couple months! Speaking of, pyromancy is pretty cool. It’s pretty scoffed at by sorcerers and miracle workers, since it's so “simple”. However, it harnesses the body’s powers, and it’s chemical properties, as well as fire’s properties, to make ridiculously amazing results. I can make columns of fire appear from nothing except willpower. I can say this, though: I’ve kinda skimmed through sorceries and miracles, and they’re pretty complex. I would even say, too complex. I’ll just probably make a monthly update, now. I’ll write a new entry next month. Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Month 3: I’m moving ridiculously fast in my magic. I’ve already completed the intermediate and beginner sections in three-quarters of the time recommended as the minimum. I’m starting the advanced section soon, and I’ll gonna try seeing if I just have a gift at magic, or what’s going on. But, now to address the elephant still in the room. I’ve decided that this is reality for me now. I’ve been here for going on 3 months, and I like it here. It’s peaceful and calm, and I’m going to help create Equestria, setting of My Little Pony, my favorite show. I feel like I have a part to play, instead of being one of billions of useless pawns back on Earth. Manus’ journal POV, start of time, 6.4 billion B.P., UNKNOWN location Month 4: I got to witness an amazing thing today. Lauren had enough charge to create a primordial “god”, so she created one of the fundamental aspects of existence, Time. Time was a mare, with an hourglass as a cutie mark. She had a tan, almost peach colored coat and a pitch-black mane, with spots of white. Her eyes were a piercing sky blue, with a look in her eyes that made them seem to just go through me, like an X-Ray. She held herself with an air of elegance, but still showed that she wasn’t afraid to get dirty when needed. Lauren created her by focusing with her horn and simply thinking about her and how she would look, act, and think, and what her job was. She came to being like one of those 3-D printers, but sped up, forming in horizontal layers, and finishing in seconds. When Lauren had finished, she asked, “Do you know your job?”. Finally, Time opened her eyes, and said, “Yes. I am Time. Shall I start the sands of Me turning?” Her voice was very melodious, sounding, for all the world, like sand falling through an hourglass. Lauren had smiled. And said, “No, not yet. First, I’d like to introduce myself and my companion. I’m Lauren Faust, and this is Manus. We are creators, and we would very much like your help making the Universe. What do you say?” Time had seemed to need to think for only a second, before saying, “Yes.” “Then, start time turning, at the beginning. 6.4 billion B.P.” Manus’ journal POV, 6.4 billion B.P., UNKNOWN location Month 5: I didn’t say anything at all about my training last month! Well, I suppose it is logical, since I had just witnessed the birth of a primordial god. Speaking of, she’s been hanging out with us in the house. I think she’s just hanging out since she doesn't really have anything to do. Anyway, my training. I’ve mastered all beginner and intermediate pyromancies, and about half of advanced. That should have taken, like, 9 months to do, but I did it in 5! I guess I do have a gift for magic! These advanced spells are pretty dangerous. They’re usually hot enough to produce lava on impact! I haven’t learned Power Within, Black Flame, or Acid Surge yet. I expect Power Within will be the hardest, if my skimming when I’m bored and the warnings about it are any clue. I’ll start sorcery soon, as soon as I have every pyromancy mastered. Manus’ journal POV, 6.4 billion B.P., UNKNOWN location Month 6: I have everything except Power Within done. It’s being a right pain, since it’s probably the most dangerous and the most complex spell, all at the same time. I’ll just have to work on it. Lauren said that she’s going to create the sun, moon, and Space next month, if I can learn Power Within by then, so I can help her. This is going to be like an assessment in school! She said I might need to use my pyromancy to fuel the sun, by pumping chaos fire into it. This is going to be so cool, so my entry will end here for now. Oh, and also, from now on, I’ll make an entry only when I have something important to say. I must say, these entries are becoming increasingly sparse. Manus’ journal POV, 6.4 billion B.P., Epicenter of nothing Month 7: What I saw when Faust created Time was just leveled by the past day. Well, first, I mastered Power Within. It takes a half hour after using it to recharge if I use it for 5 minutes, though. When I told Faust that I’d mastered it, she was so excited. She took me outside, and told me to stand next to Time. Next, she had me start giving power to Time, and they started to channel power to make the sun, moon, and Space. Faust focused on the moon and Space, and Time and me focused on the sun. I pumped in power through Power Within, and sent Chaos Fire storms, balls, and surges flying out, as far as I could get them to reach. I kinda remember casting Flash Sweat to help us get through the unbearable heat. After that, it was almost half an hour of constantly draining my life power with small breaks and summoning chaotic fire. When we had finished, I almost passed out. Faust started rotating the sun and moon, and introduced me, her, and Time to Space. I couldn’t see too well, then, but now I know, since I’ve talked to him a few times, that Space is a stallion, with a white coat and brown dapples across it, with a light brown mane. His posture wasn’t elegant, like Time’s, but… well, gritty. He emitted the sense that he wasn’t afraid to get dirty, like Time, but this was a hundred times stronger. In short, I passed my test. I powered the sun, and I helped the embodiment of time create it. I did it. Space and Time will team up and make the rest of creation, except for Ponies, which Faust will make herself. She says that she’ll go dormant after that, until she's needed. And me? I plan on being the best magician that has been, or ever will be. I swear on that. I swear. 3: "Time" for a meet and greet3rd person POV, the day after Luna’s return and purification, Royal Castle “This is so cool!” Luna said, walking back into her room with her sister, Celestia, while also slipping from Royal Speech. She hadn't been in there in a thousand years, since her banishment. She noticed that her figurines were still here, albeit covered in dust. She also noticed other things in her room, but she mainly focused on the action figures. She zoomed in on her favorite action figure: the Unknown. It was a bipedal character with a flame in one hand, a sword in the other, with an overlarge, smooth stick and a few strands of hair tied together on the belt. They had a large hat that obscured their face from view, and some light green and brown clothes, like robes. She liked it since it seemed, even sculpted in plastic, powerful and mystic. Luna had been trying to figure out where he was from for a long time, but no one knew, and she’d looked through a lot of books. On occasion, she’d thought she slightly recognized him, but that was quickly gone. Her sister noticed her looking at him and smiled. “Hey, I’d forgotten about him. You never found out where he was from? ” “We were just thinking about that. No, but we did occasionally feel like we know him from somewhere… ” Luna said, trailing off, “But no matter! Our room, after so long!” Suddenly, there was a bright light, emanating from Luna’s display. It intensified, until it was like having the sun right outside the window. When it faded, the Unknown’s figure was gone, but a bipedal, smooth-skinned creature was kneeling in front of the display. It looked exactly like the Unknown’s figure, but alive and moving. As it stood up, Luna and Celestia gasped and stared at it. They started backing up, towards the door. The Unknown stood up and looked in their direction, then they heard a small *snap* and he was gone. “Wha… What just happened?” “I… uhh… I don’t know.” They stood there for a second, then Luna said, “We should probably investigate this.” “Oh, you think?” Manus’ POV, same time, Old castle in the Everfree Forest Well, I’d freaked out Luna and Celestia already. I’d meant to wake up a day before Luna came back as Nightmare Moon, but I’d came back a day after instead. Whoops. Of course they were in there when I came back. Murphy’s Law, I hate you. Well, not like they can do anything to kill me. I’ll just come back after they do. After Faust made me a primordial, by boosting my magical powers and reserves, as well as my strength and intelligence, she named me “Wisdom”. That’s my official title, but I still go by Manus. Well, I go by that with those who still are aware of my existence. That’s a grand total of 2 - no, 4 now, even if the additional 2, the royal sisters, don’t know who exactly I am. I guess Faust would count, if she wakes up. I mean, take a couple million year nap, and no one even remembers you. I used to be respected by the ranks of beings! I was one of the elder Primordials, the embodiment of Intelligence and Wisdom! The alicorns and other old creatures that Faust, Time, and Space made while I was learning respected me after I was made a god. I learned all the types of magic and mastered them, making new spells left and right. I learned how to use my catalyst to utilize Unicorn magic to it’s maximum potential, hundreds of times stronger than even Starswirl the Bearded dared to imagine. Now… I’m just a tiny bit pissed off. I’m not even remembered, when Faust definitely is, and probably so are Time and Space. I created the Abyss and Tartarus, to trap the things that shouldn’t ever be free, and will never be because of me! Well, I’m the least conspicuous, since I’m just a little-thought-about concept. Time and Space are fundamentals of existence that are more noticeable, unlike me, who you have to look for to see. At least I’m back now. So, back to business. The royal sisters will probably try and track me down, so I’ll make it easy and let enough of my cloak off for them to sense me, and then go down to the Royal Castle so they can meet me. I’ll let Time and Space know that I’m back at the same time, since they’ll be able to sense me, too. All right, let’s hope this goes well, I successfully negotiate with the ponies, and they don’t try to kill me. Happy times! Celestia’s POV, 5 minutes later, Courtyard of the royal castle “Alright, we’re searching for a mysterious creature. Me and Luna saw it, and it was tall, bipedal, and has a large hat with green robes. It is, as far as we can tell, powerful. It teleported without a horn, and we can’t track it with magic. “You soldiers are going to canvas every place within 50 miles to find it. If you do find it, do not approach, but call me and Luna. We’ll bring the rest of the guard, and trap it, then find out what it is. We’ve also called in the Elements of Harmony to help, if it’s evil, so we can trap it.” I paced along the front side of the courtyard, giving orders as I went. There were 200 Royal Guard in front of me, Day and Night guard mixed together. They were the elite only, since I figured that we’d need it if this turned sour. Not to mention, I had all 6 Elements of Harmony, users and artifacts, there, too. They were inexperienced, only learning about them being the Elements yesterday, but were there to trap it if needed, like with Luna. They looked slightly hesitant to head out and look for this thing, even Rainbow Dash. “But, Celestia, shouldn’t we at least try to get an idea of what we’re looking for? It could be dangerous!” Twilight said, looking very worried about the prospect of looking for something possibly dangerous, especially without any research at all! I sighed and thought about it for a second. “Me, your friends and you, and Luna will research here while the guard looks for it.” As Twilight was about to answer, I felt a sudden disturbance in the air. It felt like pure magic, leaking out from a strong source nearby. This was too much of a coincidence that the creature had appeared, and now this was happening. It must be nearby, possibly coming to the Castle. I yelled, “Something’s coming our way! Get in position!”. Then, it popped up in the courtyard entrance, just like when it had disappeared from Luna’s room. It stepped forward, as every other thing there stepped back, almost none of them in position. I looked at it and said, “What are you?”. It looked back at me, and said, “I’m Manus, also known as the Primordial god of Wisdom, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. Appreciate it if you don’t attack me. Shall we step inside for a chat?”. Manus’ POV, 3 minutes later, Royal Castle throne-room Well, these ponies are… skittish. When I magically teleported to the gate and stepped forward, I apparently scared all of them, since they started backing up, away from me. When I said my part, I stood there for a second, waiting to be invited in. They just sat there and stared at me, so I invited myself in, and they all followed. Now, we’re here in the throne-room. Celestia and Luna, as well as the Elements, were looking at me very suspiciously. I could tell that they were nervous, possibly because I still had the super powerful aura escaping out. I put my magical cloak back on, and they visibly relaxed a bit. Oh, wait, Celestia’s about to talk now. “So, again… What exactly are you? A… god? I seriously doubt this.” Oh, come on! Didn’t they feel my aura? Well, they aren’t bound to take the arrival of a god well, I suppose. I responded, “Yes, I’m a god. The primordial god of Wisdom, to be exact. Do you want me to show you?” She smiled. “Oh yes, show us your wisdom godliness.” So arrogant. Well, that was about to change. “I’m not just god of wisdom. I’m also affiliated with magic. I’ll show you a fairly simple sample of my magic.” I summoned a Vow of Silence with my talisman, and grinned. “Try casting a spell.” Celestia smiled back at me and did… nothing. Her eyes widened in shock, and she felt her horn. “What have you done?! I can’t cast magic! My horn isn’t even pooling any magic!” I responded, still grinning, “I used a Vow of Silence. It limits all magic being cast, except mine since it’s so powerful, within the effect area. You can’t use any magic for another… 20 seconds, now. Now, watch this…” I cast a Fire Whip, and made sure not to hit anyone, but threw it around a few times, then put it away. “See? My magic should be negated by that spell, but it doesn’t even affect me.” Her eyes widened, and she seemed a bit scared. “Oh, uh, okay…” I sighed. This wasn’t going well. I’m going to do what I thought about doing before, and this’ll definitely get Time’s attention. “Well, you’re not taking it that well. I’m going to reverse time, go back and blend in with the populace for a bit. I’ll get Time’s attention, too, and let her know I’m back. ” Twilight looked like she was going to explode. “Wait! You know how to time travel? That’s supposed to be super hard!” I smiled. “That’s easy, for my powers at least. It would take about 3 highly magical alicorn’s magic at the same time to cast this spell. See ya!” Celestia seemed like she was about to protest at being left behind, but I had already left. I went back about 48 hours. I sighed as I landed, since I could feel her coming. Great. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU DICK!?” I sighed, yet again. “Hi to you too.” Author's Note Next chapter coming soon! Proofreader needed. 4: The show's startingAuthor's Note Yay! It's up! Sorry it's such a short chapter, I'm going to make an extra-long next one to compensate. Enjoy! 4: The show's starting Manus’ POV, day before Nightmare Moon’s return, random Ponyville alley “Again, where have you been? You’ve been just… wandering? AGAIN!? GIVE SOME WARNING OR… SOMETHING NEXT TIME!” Time was mad. I’d explained that I’d been wandering again, just searching for some quests and doing universal maintenance. For example, I’d tracked down an Unspeakable from the Abyss that had gotten into Tartarus. It was scaring the shit out of all the prisoners, even the ones that had murdered dozens, or raped, or tortured. I vividly remember Tirek screaming like a filly as it walked by his cage. Remember when I said that ‘I created the Abyss and Tartarus, to trap the things that shouldn’t ever be free, and will never be because of me’? Those are the things I’m talking about, the Unspeakables. I spent 3 of the 4.3 million years that I was gone slumbering, though. When I wander every 800 million years or so, I get into a deep, philosophical mood. Those 3 million years were spent pondering knowledge, and meditating in a sleep state. It’s ridiculous, really, that mortals have such small lives. I mean, I spend about 500,000 years in a nap, yet they have less than 100 year lifespans. “Okay, just… just relax. Okay? Relax. It's not like I spent 30 million years out there, only 4. Besides, I’m back now, and for a very specific reason. “See, the Elements of Harmony are here, right now. They’re in this city, and Nightmare Moon is coming back, too. I know a lot of things about Destiny and Fate’s ideas and workings, seeing as how they’re practically my daughters.” I tried to calm her and simultaneously convey what my plans were. Time knew the importance of the Elements, and also especially of Nightmare Moon’s return. I felt tempted to tell her everything I knew. Discord, Tirek, Starlight Glimmer, Chest of Harmony, the Dazzlings, all of it, but I knew better than to interfere with stuff like that. I’d have to keep it a secret, or at least for now. She visibly relaxed a bit at first, but tensed back up as I told her about the Elements and Nightmare Moon. She held a tiny grudge against Nightmare Moon. Against any Nightmare, actually. She despised evil in any shape or form, and I mean despised. “Wait, Nightmare Moon is coming back? And the Elements are here, too? All 6? That hasn’t happened in… a long time, and, ” She said, slightly frowning, “Does Celestia know of this?” I shook my head and said, “No. She doesn’t know, but I am sure that Nightmare Moon is coming back, and tomorrow, and that all 6 Elements are here. Even they don’t know, but they’ll be brought together, and a chain of events will lead to Nightmare Moon being purified and restored to Luna.” She was silent for a count of ten. Then, she said, “I guess I won’t smite that bitch, then. I kinda missed her, anyway. But, ” She glared at me, “You wouldn’t know her, would you, being gone for 4 million years?” I winced. “Um, I kinda did a quest for them a couple thousand years ago, in disguise as a powerful unicorn. I hunted some Chimeras and Manticores whose populations were getting out of control, plus some other small things.” Her eye twitched. “You could talk to the Royal Sisters, and do a quest for them, but YOU COULDN’T TALK TO ME!?” I sighed. “Just tell Space to watch the Summer Sun Celebration, and to do it ethereally. You show up, as well. We don’t want any incidents happening with us being revealed, though.” She growled. “I guess. But I demand a full apology. Now.” “I hate you, but fine. I, Manus, God of Wisdom… ” Night of the Summer Sun festival, 23 hours later “Sup, Space. You miss me?” “What? Oh… wait… ” Space grinned and turned to face me, “Manus! Wazzup? How was your adventure?” I’d met up with Space, Time, and a few assorted gods and goddesses to whom the word had gotten out to about tonight. I recognized some of them, like Fate, Destiny, Death, and Gaea, but there were some new faces around. They must have come during my absence. I smiled. “It was pretty cool. I learned all sorts of new things, and met a whole bunch of ponies, but, ” I pointed at the newcomers, “Who are they? The new ones, I mean.” He glanced over at them. “Oh, we had an explosion of gods, since you were gone, and Ponykind needed more wisdom. They were taking up the space that you left. I don’t think they’re too happy to see you, though, since you’ll be taking their job. That’s Illusion, Mind, Intelligence, Intuitivity, Curiosity, etcetera, etcetera.” I noticed a few of them eying me, and some of them looked a bit pissed as they glared at me. If they tried to jump me or kill me, they were in for a surprise. “Whatever. They look like they’re going to try and jump me. Let them. Anyways, let’s watch the show… It’s beginning in 3… 2… 1… NOW.” 5: The afterpartyAuthor's Note Sorry if you noticed that I was late with this one. I'm taking a lot longer than I thought, but I'm upping activity and lessening wait time. Yay! 5: The afterparty Manus’ POV, 1 minute before Nightmare Moon’s return, Summer Sun Celebration I’m just looking at the scene below me, and reveling in it. I’ve been waiting for 6.4 billion years for the events of the show to unravel, and it’s finally here. Based on my knowledge and calculations I made, there are alternate universes, though, so I wasn’t sure any of MLP: FiM would happen at all. Happily, it has, and I get to watch as an immortal god with near-unlimited power! This is pretty great. I might intervene, but just as a helper disguised as a powerful unicorn, or an alicorn prince lost to the sands of Time, or something. Hey… that last one actually sounds pretty cool. I think I’ll do that. Anyway, they’re about to call Celestia up. The curtains have opened and she’s not there, Nightmare Moon’s making her “villain speech” to them...Oh wait, I forgot. I need the popcorn first! Okay, now I can continue. Um, so she’s fled to the castle, and they’re talking about going after her. You know what? I’ll just watch and enjoy, instead of commentating. After all this is over with, I’ll be “discovered” as an alicorn. Ooh, I just can’t wait, this’ll be so much fun! The most fun I’ve had in millions of years, probably. I’m walking back from watching the show, now. Watching them purify Nightmare Moon and figuring out the Elements of Harmony were pretty entertaining. Perhaps I’ll let them know that I created the elements, when I do that alicorn thing. The best part right now is the gods who are trying and failing miserably to be slick and tail me. They tried covering their magical tracks and aura, but it’s only about half-covered. I can feel them a half-mile away. Right now, they’re about 100, 200 feet behind me right now. They’re using half-assed invisibility, too. Oh, this will be so much fun to beat the crap out of them when they, inevitably, try to jump me. Oooh… they’re getting closer. They’re right on top of me. “Hey, guys! Didn’t really think you could magically sneak up on the god of Magic, did you? I could tell you were following me since you started. Just show up, so we can fight and you guys can get beat up.” They were so surprised, they stopped and just stood there for a few seconds. Then, they uncloaked and came towards me. The one that looked like the leader said, “Ya looking for a fight, dude? Cuz we’ll happily oblige and beat you up. You’re just a hippie with a few powers. We, on the other hand, are all-powerful together, and not afraid of nuthin.” …Really? They actually believe that? What’s up with his grammar, too? Aren’t they supposed to be intelligent gods, not hillbilly gangs? I smiled and contemplated how to approach this. “Better back off, or you won’t get to share the job with me, since I’m so generous. I’m more than ‘just a hippie with a few powers’, too. I’ll destroy you if you try and fight me.” I looked at the others. “Again, just to clarify, if any of you fight me, I’ll eviscerate you. I’ll tear you and your sanity apart, and I’ll do shit that can't be undone. So, back up.” They looked pretty surprised and a few even backed up. Then, the leader rounded them up and said, “Pshaw! You can’t do nothin! There’s 50 of us, and 1 of you! We’ll do the killin’ and evisceratin’ here, not you! Attack!” Only about 10 of the 50 attacked, though. They bomb-rushed me, and I smiled in anticipation. I’m not a pushover, and I’ll prove it to them. I dodged all of their initial attacks, and said, “A lot smaller than your supposed ‘50’, isn’t it? Your odds just went from 1*10^-30% to 0%. You have one more chance and then I’m letting nothing hold me back from smiting you, completely and totally. One last chance. Don’t screw this up.” 2 of them backed up, and stopped. I sighed, but nodded at them. “Good choice, you two. Alright, I warned the rest of you.” I stepped forward, casting a multitude of spells. I cast a Vow of Silence, a Tranquil Walk of Peace, a Wrath of the Gods, and a few others to stop their incessant flailing around. “I’ll toy with you a bit first. How about a visit to my realm?” I waved my hand, sending me and the gods attacking me to the Abyss. They’re going to be an example not to mess with me, and to say one crucial thing I need everyone to understand. I’m back. I floated down through the primordial black mist to the bottom layer, where the gods had fallen. I could feel their fear from here, and I could sense Unspeakables, about to swarm them any second now since they love fear and pain, and can sense it. Ok, wait one second. I need to describe the Abyss. I created it about 5 or 6 billion years ago when primordial evil started seeping into the mortal world and causing trouble, tainting it. They needed a place to go, so I crafted a truly horrible, immoral and deadly place of fear and insanity for them. They loved it. It’s very foggy and misty, but it’s black and almost impossible to see through without magic. There are always screams in the distance, and the atmosphere make anger and despair permeate your mind. The feeling of the place makes you suicidal in 10 minutes, homicidal in 30 minutes, and insane in an hour. The only things that can survive for more than a day in there are ultra-powerful gods, Unspeakables, and mortals that are already insane. The weird thing is, when an insane mortal goes to the Abyss, it acts to get rid of their insanity. It’s essentially filling their mind to the brim, then washing it out. There are multiple different species of Unspeakable, too. The weaker ones are more spiritual and small, the Spiritum class. They are ghosts and demons, like Wendigos and Bubaks, and at about the size of an alicorn. The middle ones are like not-as-powerful gods, the Potentia class, and about the size of a one-story house. The stronger ones are gods, the Deus class, like the Seven Deadly Sins, Succubi, and Jorogumos. Then, there are the big evils, the Malo class, the smallest about the size of a city block. These include the Lernaean Hydra, Charybdis, Echidna, and Typhon. After that are the true Unspeakables, the Vetus class. They’re usually about the size of New York State, back in the Human world, and include Erebus, Chaos, Nyx, Gaea, Mania, etc. They’re primordials turned sour. They were normal primordials once, but they were corrupted by their own element(like Erebus) or other actions(like Gaea) and imprisoned in the Abyss. Speaking of, I can sense a Potentia or two coming for the gods. They’re on the lower end of the power spectrum, even for Potentia, though. Ah… a much higher lifeform is coming this way. A Deus, if I’m correct. Yes… Pride is coming. These guys are about to get their asses handed to them. Pride has a reason to be so prideful of himself and his power level. He’s the most powerful Deus, and stronger than half of the Malo. Still has nothing on me, though. This’ll be a much better show than watching Nightmare Moon’s return. 6: Darkness and deathAuthor's Note I'm posting this chapter early, since I finished early. Major plot twist may/may not happen next chapter!! A very gory chapter. Like, almost M-rated gore levels. I will mark the beginning of serious gore with red stars, and the end with green stars, so I don't have to switch to M rating. There's also depression and violence. Happy times! Again: DO NOT read after the red stars and before the green stars if you are against scenes of gore and violence. 6: Darkness and death Manus’ POV, time-space continuum, The Abyss These D-list gods were getting their asses handed to them. Pride is slapping them around like a toddler might smash building blocks, and some other creatures had showed up, too. Lilith was “having fun” with one of the gods off to the side, which is Sucubus code for… Well, I’ll let you just imagine what she’s doing. I could feel their mental fibres snapping, one by one. I should probably get them out soon while they could still tell the tale - in between shuddering and spasms, that is. We’ve been in here about 15 minutes in normal time, and I’ve taken the time to think about my approach to the whole “approaching the ponies” thing. I’ve decided that there are too many things that can go wrong with the Alicorn thing, and there are some other things that just bother me. I’m just going to blend in with the local populace of Ponyville, for now, and get a feel for how the sisters act, their habits, etc. when they visit. I can also keep an eye on the Elements, too, and I’ll be low-key enough. I’m still deciding on specifics for appearance and what-not, though. I’ll muse on that later, it’s time to get them out or their brains will be mush. “Hey! Evil deities! I gotta get these guys back, thanks for the assistance. Lilith, ” I said, nodding at her as I spoke, “good job on that guy over there. I don’t want to know what you did to him, and his mind’s blasted to shit, but still… good job.” Lilith looked proud of herself, and so did the others participating. Especially Pride. He always looks proud, though, so go figure if he was actually proud right now. His smug smile was even worse than Celestia’s holier-than-though smile she wore when she was feeling smug. That’s a record, in itself. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “I.. The… They… Why… Would you… Do this...” One of them was stuttering to me, what looked like the former leader. He was beaten badly, bleeding and coughing, with, from a magical scan of him, 2 punctured lungs, internal bleeding, his heart about to give out, and his stomach torn open and spilling acid inside him. I looked at him without pity. I had a sudden idea, and it would convey the message even more. I grinned, and somewhere in me, I was aware of my receding morality. I’ve got a serious dark side, and this place always brings it out. I didn’t care, right now, though, and I was going to do things that no sane person would be able to watch, and even psychopaths would balk from doing. I snapped my fingers, and his neck snapped sideways so fast his entire spine broke apart in his back, spilling spinal fluid through the torn skin. His neck was torn and cracked so brutally that his head was hanging from the remnants of his spine, and blood spewed everywhere and all over his friends. “Because I can do it, and I want to do it.” My eyes turned black, and I felt evil, impure thoughts racing through me, along with a burst of energy. As powerful as I was regularly, when in Dark mode my power doubles. I wanted to fucking kill these little cunts, and I was going to. I snapped my fingers again, and another had his eyes implode in his head, causing him to scream in pain and shock, and I felt his pain seep into me, fueling me to snap again, causing another’s belly to slash open, spilling stomach acid out of his exposed stomach. I could see his intestines spilling out of him, and I was loving it. I shaped rats out of the primordial black mist, and pushed about 10 of them inside of his organs, then made them panic. They further ripped him apart, and he screamed even louder. I turned to another, a girl, and had a sudden, wicked thought. E.R.F.A.V.C was about to happen. Entrails Ripped From A Virgin’s Cunt. A quick scan told me that she was, in fact, a virgin, so I proceeded to take her clothes off. I walked up to her, and… well, you shouldn’t know details. I ripped her sexual organs out, along with a fistful of intestines. She screamed and twitched, eyes bugging out, and fell to the floor. She twitched and juddered, until her actions slowed and she made no more movement. I turned and shoved my fist, with her entrails still in my hand, in another’s throat and pulled his skull apart. I then ripped it out, spine and all. The remaining 4 were freaking out. One was sobbing, and the others were apparently in shock still, staring at their friends’ bodies. The one that was sobbing was covered in blood, and her mind was shattered, but she could still make sense of the situation, unfortunately for her. I had a sudden impulse to end her. She didn't have to tell the story. I could always tell it myself, and I could get even more excitement by tearing her body apart, LIMB BY FUCKING LIMB. Wait... No... She would be the one spared, and sent back to tell the story. The reaction would be better this way. “You, ” I said, pointing at her, and she backed up, shaking her head and mouthing ‘no’. “You get to go home. I’m sparing you, and you get to tell the tale. Don’t be afraid to leave anything out. Or else. Meanwhile, these 3… Well, they’ll be much worse off than the others. Much worse.” I snapped my fingers, sending her back to Equestria, to the alley we’d been in before. I then turned to the other 3 still left. “We’re gonna have a little fun. Who likes flaying?” * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ah, great. I went dark again. Well, at least I didn’t cause mass destruction. Last time, I blew up several dozen square miles of (mostly)uninhabited land. Fire and miasmas of dark energy had razed everything, preventing anything growing for a century or two. I was pretty mad. Like, really mad. Since time doesn’t exactly function correctly in the Abyss, I came back at exactly the same time as when I sent the survivor back, as well as the time that we’d originally left. She was… devastated. She started crying and fell to her knees when she got back. All the other gods had cried out and rushed to her. She was bleeding from about 20 bad gashes all over her. She also had bad internal bleeding and other major injuries. I felt bad, now, so I healed her lethal injuries, but still kept anything non-life-threatening. I still had a message to convey, after all. She said, between sobs, that I’d killed them all. She slightly described how each had died, not going into copious details, and how I had seemed to relish in it. I’d gotten a little bit too into it, but I’d refrained a bit. She’d lived, after all. Anyway, the other gods seemed shocked. Then, they comforted her and told her it was okay. She seemed lost, and scared. She calmed down, bit by bit, until she was asleep. When she was asleep, the other gods had a small conference. The 2 that had stopped and had been spared seemed very glad that they’d stopped. The rest decided to not mess with me anymore, but to tell the other gods, notably Time and Space. They’ll be mad at me, but they’ll live. Unlike all those ponies and people I’ve killed when I get mad. It’s in the millions, and they almost always died horribly and in pain. This is one of those times when I hate my own immortality. I’ve seen a lot of things, but some of those have been the exact wrong things to witness. I’ve done a lot of things, but some of those have been the exact wrong things, too. I’m going to work on my disguise, now. I want to blend in readily, after all. I’ll deal with Time and Space’s wrath later. Not like they can actually kill me, for good. Lots have tried. And lots have failed. 7: Hell's GatesAuthor's Note I'm getting a huge thing set up right now, and it's happening soon. Keep your eyes peeled, and enjoy! Also: if you have a displaced story, and want to do a crossover with me, I'll happily oblige. 7: Hell's Gates Manus’ POV, day after incident in Abyss, Time’s home “How many times have I told you to NEVER, EVER go dark! They didn’t deserve to die, and she didn’t deserve to see it!” Time was yelling at me, and if she was pissed before, she was indignant now. She was going purple in the face, and was screaming so loudly, she put the Canterlot Royal Voice to shame. We were in her home, a massive palace, twice the size of the Royal Castle, floating in a pocket between the Abyss and the mortal plane with all the other homes. This pocket is where most of the gods live, and it’s pretty much a city. Her house is, no doubt, the largest in Civitate, the name for the area that the city took up. It has 20 bathrooms, 25 guest bedrooms, 2 master bedrooms, and over a hundred other sections, with 4 different wings to it. It has crystal, gold, silver, stainless steel, aluminum, and a dozen other precious metals and gems making up the composition of the outside and inside, so it sparkled and shined. She always had a taste for the elegant and expensive things in life. As expensive as the outside was, though, her furniture and toiletries cost about a million bits apiece for what they were made of. I shrugged nonchalantly. “I wanted to send a message, and they attacked first! Plus, he sounded stupid!” She facepalmed and slouched away, muttering, to her favorite plush armchair. She sank down in it and filled a shot glass with some hard cider, then drained it in one gulp. She then sighed and set the glass down. “Just… tell me it won’t happen again.” I said, “Okay… Maybe. No guarantees.” She just shook her head and filled the glass again, also draining it again. “Whatever. Just go, already. I’ll be here, trying to forget this ever happened with my pal here, cider. Scratch that, I’ll probably break out the vodka.” I chuckled in spite of the situation. “You do that. I need to do something.” I turned and walked out of her home, then teleported away when I was out of the door. The survivor was huddled in her home, shaking and refusing to be comforted by her friends who were nearby. She’d seen me earlier when I was heading to Time’s palace, and had freaked out. I’d felt so bad, and I decided to show everyone another message: that I can be as nice and peaceful as I can be ruthless and sadistic. Her house was one of the less fancy ones, almost on the poor side for gods. I’d figured out that her name was Raritas, meaning curiosity. I put on my magical cloak that concealed me from any others in all ways possible, and I walked up to her. I put my hand on her forehead, and sent a bit of my spirit energy through, into her mind. I cleaned up her mind, repairing mental strands and synapses, deleting all memory of the massacre. But, I still left behind a message that they were dead. She visibly shuddered a bit, then relaxed and went into a deep sleep, courtesy of me. I sighed, and felt all the weight of what I’d done slam into me. I haven’t been a mortal in over 6 billion years, so I could need reminding of mortal feelings every once in awhile. I actually felt the regret and pain, so I decided to do something that I’d done only once, in a very serious situation. I’m going to bring back her friends. It’s pretty easy. I just need to battle some creatures that, together, are nearly as powerful as me. Malphas and Abbadon. Two demons that are, in order, second-in-command of Hell, behind Satan, and the demon of destruction. Great. They’re terrifying, too. Abaddon Malphas This better be goddamn worth it. I showed up at the Epicenter of the Abyss. Malphas and Abaddon together guard the underworld, Hell. I sent out pulses of energy as a call for them, waiting for one or both to show up. I only don’t like fighting them since I tire myself out a lot during it. The last time, I had to put out a quarter of my strength to beat them. That’s about the magical total of 1,000 alicorns. I had to use some spells that would destroy galaxies. The kame-hame-ha from DBZ would be nothing compared to those spells. Ah, they’re approaching. They seem a bit apprehensive of me. Reasonable, seeming as how I beat them to the ground last time. I started the conversation, ending the rather awkward silence. “Hi. Would you like to battle for some souls, or could you just let me by?” Abaddon grunted. “No. You will not gain access to our souls if you do not earn it.” Malphas stayed quiet. He usually stays that way, unless he needs to speak. I sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll need to beat both of you, again, and, ” I said, starting to grin, “I trained. Those old spells were about the half power of these new ones, as well as at half the mana cost. Let’s fight… if you’re ready.” They looked at each other. They muttered to each other a bit, then Abaddon said, “Fine. Give it your all, we’ve trained a bit, too.” “Great. You get the starting move, here.” They struck at the same time, faster than the naked eye can see. They both tried physically hitting me, their swings faster than a NASCAR racecar. Too slow for me, though. I dodged, being sure to stay close to them by dodging underneath their arms. When they stopped, I turned and said, “Good try. Now, I’ll obliterate you!” I charged my spell for a fraction of a second, then fired it at them, while I teleported a few hundred miles away. I’d toned down the area of effect, so that it concentrated the power on the center. It was a blast of every type of energy: magical, chemical, kinetic, nuclear, etc, into a sphere about 100 miles in radius. Needless to say, it was intense. It lit up everything within a thousand miles of the ground zero, and imploded after about 5 seconds, sending waves of pure energy about 100 miles more and a mushroom cloud about 500 miles up. This was my first field test, and it had worked perfectly. I narrowed my eyes after a few triumphant seconds, though. The two had somehow survived, and were still at half life force. Huh. Apparently they had trained, a lot. I teleported back, and whistled. “Dang, you guys are much better than I thought. That should have pretty much killed you both.” Abaddon winced a bit and stretched. Malphas was getting up from a kneeling stance he’d taken to protect himself from the blast, so he was the least damaged. “Same to you. You barely dodged our punches last time, but you’re dodging with ease now.” I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted by a rumbling. It started small, but quickly grew. All 3 of us looked around for the source, until it suddenly stopped. We stood in silence for a minute, then I said, “Well, that was weird.” As if waiting for a cue, the fabric of what reality there was left in the Abyss split, opening a huge portal. 4 strange figures flew out of it and lined up in front of it. The portal closed, and I had already recovered from the minor shock and was observing them. They looked familiar, but I didn’t… know… why... Oh shit. They… they weren’t real. They couldn’t be. They weren’t real. They were from Dark Souls, though. I was here, with the spells and equipment, why couldn’t they be here? Oh, no… Malphas and Abaddon. They’ll get messed up if they fight them. They might be demons, but they are still important. I turned to them, and said, “Run. You have no chance against them.” They shook their heads, and Abaddon said, “Why? We can take them. Who… are they, anyway?” I sighed and turned back. “They’re the 4 kings. And you CAN. NOT. FIGHT. THEM. They outmatch me, right now.” One of the 4 kings “But not for long.” I initiated something I hadn’t had to do in a long time. I was leveling up, something I’d found out I could do about 2 billion years ago, and it’s reserved for fights between primordials. There are 7 levels, and they’re ridiculously, extremely OP. The final level is at over 5000 times my normal power level, at about 20,000,000 alicorns’ magic. But for now, I was only doing level 2, with a power of 8,000. I recited the ritual in my head, feeling the power aura around me strengthen. Malphas and Abaddon seemed shocked and stared at me. “You didn’t even need to fight us. You just needed to do that, and we would have been destroyed easily.” I ignored them and stared at the 4 kings for a moment, then grinned and motioned for them to attack me. They obliged, and flew at me much faster than Malphas or Abaddon. I barely dodged, already charging a spell much, much more deadly than the spell I used before. It was like comparing a hand-thrown baseball to a ballistic missile, and it was going in their faces. I wanted to end this quickly, then get the souls. I screamed at the demons behind me, “Run! NOW!” Then, just as they turned to go, everything went to shit. Well, even more than it already was. A second rift opened, and Gravelord Nito stepped out. GODDAMN GRAVELORD NITO. Gravelord Nito Gravelord Nito pic 2 Well, this is great. 8: AwakeningAuthor's Note It's FINALLY OUT!!!! I'm very, very sorry for the long wait, but the next chapter is out, and I'll update it every week to a month now! Enjoy the story, and stay tuned! 8: Awakening Nito started walking forward, focused on me. I cursed and leveled up once more, going to 24,000 power and level 3. I looked at the demons again, who were frozen with shock. I SAID LEAVE. I said, almost unconsciously, in my “serious” voice; a thing that makes most run in fear, seeming almost to pierce the air with it’s volume. They snapped out of it and turned into smoke, going back into the underworld. I turned and pointed my hand, still holding the spell at the 5 creatures before me. They had been slowly approaching me, but stopped when I pointed my spell at them, looking apprehensively at it. Okay, a bit of conversation, to buy time. “Why, hello, Nito. ” I said while staring him down, for I was sure that he was at least semi-intelligent; the 4 kings were mad, and could likely not speak. “And, why are you here?” Nito answered in a deep rumble, not opening his mouth. Well, his discernable, frontward-facing mouth, that is. Straight to the point, eh? We are here to stop you, Manus. You’re long overdue to be taken down a couple notches, back to the bottom of the totem pole. I groaned. Of course he wanted to fight. I’d always hated his battle, even if the memories I have of him seemed like they were from another timeline. It is true that I’m getting a bit out of hand. Let me just say one thing: going Hollow is not enjoyable, and scares me more than Nito does. It also has no cure. Believe me; I’ve searched for 4 billion years, and I’ve found nothing but dead ends and discouraging results. For now, I’d focus on these guys, and then go from there. I need to focus on the situation now. I turned my attention to the spell I’d been charging, a spell I’d been making for such an occasion as this; Cleansing Inferno. “Well, you are very powerful, but not enough. I can take you all out with one hit, ” I said, bringing up my hand, ”That you have been kind enough to stand there and let me charge.” They noticed my hand, holding the spell that had charged while we spoke, and immediately started to move. They tried to get away, but they might as well have been moving in slow motion. I let the spell loose, making a shield around myself that would protect me, so I could actually observe the effects in the eye of the storm. Said effects were instantaneous. The fire reached just about the temperature of a supernova, incinerating the creatures that were luckily weak to fire, as well as the imbued divine magic in the spell. I was sure they were dead because of the savageness of the explosion, and the divine might of it. However, when the dust cleared, they were still the better for wear. Only 1 king had been killed, and the others were just beat up. Nito was barely banged up, as well. I was in shock still when Nito came up and slammed me with his Gravesword, sending me flying. After I’d landed nearly a hundred yards away, I groaned and stood up, cursing under my breath. I don’t understand. That explosion should have destroyed anything below my… level. Oh, come on. I didn’t check their level before we started, I just assumed they were weaker based on the energy around them. What level are they? I did an actual scan of their powers, which I should’ve done before, and they’re much more powerful than my current level, which should be impossible. After all, it’s 24,000 alicorn’s total magic packed together. Well, I can go much higher than that, so… It’s not technically impossible. I guess I just need to level up. They’re about 120,000 power right now total, so… level 5? Yeah, that’s 480,000 power. I recited the ritual mentally again, leveling up to 4 for now. There was a time limit of about 4 minutes between level ups, which is kinda annoying. I would need to hold them off for a bit. I was strategizing on how to do that when Nito spoke again, startling me. THAT’S your great attack? Don’t make me laugh. “I thought it would be enough, ” I said, stretching. “I guess I thought wrong. I based the amount of power on your emitted energy via a raymond-gauss differential P/c^2 leakage rate with a helium-oxygen medium, but turns out you’re much more powerful than I thought you were.That’s a habit of mine I actually need to work on: underestimating.” Nito was staring at me as I spoke, likely because of me going a bit too in-depth. Afterwards, though, I heard a sort of rumble. Well, actually, heard isn’t the right word. It was more like I felt it. I turned to look around the landscape, then looked at Nito and his friends. “Please tell me that was you.” Nito's attitude had turned sober now. ...No. I’m guessing that wasn’t you? I grimaced, looking for the source. Who knew what kind of stuff had happened: either just normal things that happened here in the abyss or… things awakening due to Nito and the Kings showing up, things even I don’t want to mess with; things that had been locked up since before I came, and some even before Faust had came? I’d fought and met all of them, and they were mostly just powerful, but one of them made these guys right now seem like children, playing with a gun they’d watched their dad use. He was eventually taken down, after 10 straight days of fighting and several hundred gods, including Time, Space, Death, me, and Faust. True, he was the biggest and the strongest of them all, and I hadn’t put all my strength in, but most were just below his strength. Then, it happened. Just a quick note: On the immortal level, the fabric of space-time isn’t really that strong. I mean, only about a dozen gods can bend it in one move, but a lot more can bend it, too; it just takes a while. Only three beings in all of existence can rip it, however, which is an almost unimaginable feat: Faust, myself, and the being awakening, Letum. I’d sunk him several hundred thousand miles beneath the fabric of space-time, below the Abyss, and down deeper below even that, but he was coming, drawn by beings he could use to fuel himself back to his full power. He ripped the continuum apart in an instant, breaking the wards that had bound him for over a billion years, which I realized too late that I should’ve strengthened since their original casting. He was almost 2 miles tall at his strongest, but is about 20 feet tall right now, which is one one of the main reasons why he was so hard to bring down. The worst part? He’s at his weakest right now. Maybe I should’ve stayed gone… It always seems like everything screws up when I come back… Maybe it’s a good thing if I stay forgotten. Okay, this is no time to go into philosopher mode; I have to focus. I need to stop Nito, the Kings, and Letum, now, though, so this is going to be ridiculously difficult. I leveled up again, now being level 5. Now, of course, I’ll have to strain my powers to deal with Letum at first, but Nito and the Kings will be easy to beat now. If my powers aren’t enough by level 7, my max, then I’ll have to take drastic measures I don’t want to have to. And if that isn’t enough... Letum finished surfacing, having broken all of the wards and binds, and stood up, stretching out his fingers, savoring the feeling of the air on him. His physique was similar to that of a human, but he had 4 arms. He was muscular, with biceps that seemed to ripple when he moved due to their sheer size. He was white-skinned, but was still wearing his armor from his last battle, a gold that somehow shone blue when the light hit it. It had an ancient-roman centurion plume helmet, which he carried under his arm. His armor had been made by the best smiths that he could force into working for him, and had almost no chinks or weaknesses in it. It was magic, healing as soon as you cut it, and was adhered to his skin, which by itself would have counted as armor, a thick scalemail. His armor had an ancient-roman feel to it, as well, and lended an overall impression of power and strength. He leaned over, reaching for his side, and pulled out his sword; Lifebane, an evil abomination of a sword that had been cooled in the blood of the same smiths he’d had make it. It was double-edged, but also serrated, designed to deal as much damage as possible. As he pulled it out, it never caught on the sheath, being imbued with the power to shrug off any negative effects, whether they be rust, dents, spells, or anything. It only let one thing touch it; blood, which it readily absorbed during battle, giving its holder more strength. He was bald, and had only one eye with a brown pigment to it, yet tarnished by the occasional dash of black Darkness; he’d given the other eye up for his powers. His lips were tight, and his nose was the only ordinary thing about him, being a normal shape and size. He noticed me on the ground, and his eyebrows furrowed in anger; he apparently hadn’t forgave me. As his one good eye swept across the scene, he seemed confused for a second; however, his confusion turned to glee as his lips curled into a menacing smile, surveying the kings and Nito, sources of future power. “Having a party, without me? How rude of you, Manus.” As he spoke, his voice was like a loudspeaker, at an unbelievable volume. “And I thought we were friends. Other than the imprisonment part, of course. I hope you’ll understand that I might be a bit mad about that, but having a get-together without me, on the site of the deed? Now, that’s just intolerable.” His stance changed, and he lifted his helmet, putting it on his head. Letum lifted his sword, gripping it with both hands and holding it at the ready. “Now, to finish what I started; destroying this world, and it’s puny inhabitants, starting...” I could only see a bit of his face, but it had turned into a grimace of anger. “WITH YOU.”
PrologueAuthor's Note I KNOW that the displaced hype is wearing off. So what? I like displaced stories, so I'm writing one! Sorry, Meeester. Anyway, now that's over with... This is my first story, for fimfiction or otherwise. I hope that you'll provide honest feedback if you read and find a spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistake. Thank you, and enjoy the show! Prologue I tugged back up the way, way overlarge and floppy hat as it fell over my eyes again. "Come on, I know part of my costume is Big Hat Logan," I began to my friend, Andrue, as we walked to Comicon, "But this hat keeps falling over my eyes and I can't see! Couldn't we have done another part as Big Hat Logan? Like his robes! Those are cool!" I finished, bumping into people as we walked up to Phoenix Comicon. Most of them were staring at me, so I grinned at them as a sign that I was as sane as them. I don't think they saw my grin through the hat, now that I think about it. "The hat is one of the more recognizable aspects of Logan! Plus, it's amusing to watch people stare at your hat." He chuckled to me. I sighed. "Oh, shush." I was dressed as a myriad of Dark Souls characters mixed together. I had Big Hat Logan's hat, a standard cleric's talisman, and Laurentius of the Great Swamp's robes. I had no props, sadly, except for the talisman, since I hadn't had enough time. I hoped to buy some props there, so I had brought $150, since I figured stuff was expensive. We finally reached the building and walked in. I was so excited, I was bouncing on the balls of my feet and grinning. We got admission after a while, walked into the main part of Comicon, and I caught my breath. It was amazing, so many people walking around, showing off their nerdiness and admiring other's inner nerd! I could hardly wait, and I guess it must have showed, since Andrue laughed and said, "Don't worry, we'll get down there in a minute. We've already talked about yours, but what about my costume?" I smiled. "It's cool! Did you make it, or what? The designs are cool!" He was Medic from Team Fortress 2, and had a near perfect costume. he even had a medi-gun that had some red lights in the muzzle, the lucky bastard. "No, I found it on Ebay for 60 bucks, including the Medi-gun. It is pretty cool, isn't... it... " He said, trailing off and looking behind me. "What?" I said, looking behind me and finding a pretty girl smiling at him. I sighed at him. "Already? Seriously?" "Yup! Look, I'll meet you here in... um... 3 hours! I've got some... business to take care of." He walked away, towards the girl, striking up a conversation. I chuckled to myself at his behavior, and left to look around. I decided to go to the vendors first, to see if I could get some props with my money. I was walking through them, finding a few cool things, but nothing Dark Souls. That is, until one of the vendors commented on my outfit. "Nice outfit! Matches mine. Say, where's you props and whatnot?" He was dressed in... was that the Undead Merchant garb from Dark Souls? Cool! His shop was pretty cluttered, with stuff occupying every available space. He had multiple fandoms worth of stuff, everything from Resident Evil to Harry Potter. I saw a few Dark Souls items in his shop, and started feeling giddy. "I don't have any except for this one, " I said, holding up my talisman, "since I didn't have enough time." "Well, today's your lucky day. Everything's half off today, and I happened to stock up on Dark Souls before I got here. Hmm... In fact... I think I know just the thing you want..." He said, rummaging under his makeshift counter, until he came out with a mini chest. "What's in the box?" I said, wondering what he had. He only smiled and prized the lid open. Curious to see what he had, I looked inside when he opened it and gasped. This was AMAZING! Since I'm a nerd, I recognized everything he had in the box. He had Velka's Talisman, a fake Pyromancy Flame, Quelagg's Furysword, Manus' Catalyst(I loved this item in game since I had the same name as the character), and a book that I couldn't recognize from the game, but still looked cool none the less. While I gaped at how much he had, I suddenly realized a possible snag. A very, very bad snag. "How much are these, " I said, fearing the worst, "since I only have $150?" He chuckled. "Like I said, today’s your lucky day. Usually, this set is $200. Today, it's $100, since everything is half off." I could hardly believe my luck. I grinned and said, “Cool! Here’s the $100! Can I have the box now?” He lightly chuckled and took the money, then handed the box over. “Enjoy. This is a pretty good deal. I mean, that stuff’s… well, let’s just say that it’s very good quality.” I waved to him as I walked away. “You’ve made my day! I’m going to find my friend, see ya!” I walked around, trying to find Andrue. He’d gone off with that girl, and I had no idea where he was. As I was giving up and walking back to the entrance, I started feeling sick to my stomach. I barely registered this at first, but I started to panic a bit as it steadily ramped up into a stomach ache. It went even farther, and I quickly got into a bathroom to throw up in private. By then, it felt like I was having an ulcer, and I was really panicking. How had I gone from fine to throwing up repeatedly in 10 minutes? And then, suddenly, everything was going black at the edges, and I felt myself slipping. I dimly wondered, Am I dying?, and thought that I must be. And with that thought, my consciousness faded and I fell into deep sleep.
1: Down the Rabbit HoleSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
2: BackgroundAuthor's Note This is just some background on Manus, if you have some time to kill and want to know more. You don't have to read this, it's just an optional chapter. 2: Background Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Day 11: I’ve been studying for a week or two, now. And, let me tell you, this magic stuff is hard. I’ve been studying the whole time, and I’ve learned 2 spells, Fireball and Flash Sweat. Fireball is a small fireball, and Flash Sweat makes you sweat magically and resist fire. In other words, I’ve learned how to make the tiniest fireball ever and how to make people sweat a lot. Yippe. I’ve also realized that either this is the longest drug trip ever, I’m dead and in heaven and/or hell, or this is real. I don’t know what to think, I want it to be real, and I’m a magician, like Harry Potter, but, still…my old life was good. I was an ordinary person, but I was cool with that. If this is heaven or hell… Then I don’t know what to think. Well… I’m not making much sense at all. I feel like my mind is just too cluttered, and I’m unfocused. I must just not be getting enough sleep, or something. Yeah… or something… Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Day 27: I feel a lot more focused now! I haven’t been able to make an entry since the last one, since I was so busy, but I’ve learned a crap-ton more spells, and I’ve successfully cast one intermediate pyromancy, Iron Flesh. I’ve got all of the beginner pyromancies except for poison mist close to mastered. I’m going to continue the intermediate section for pyromancy, and hopefully be at least a quarter of the way done by next month. Lauren is still pretty excited about the prospect of me helping her. I’ve been telling her, though, that according to the book, it’ll be a while before I can help. She’s a pretty good friend, too. But, I’m still thinking… Is this real life? Or is this just fantasy? Am I dead, or comatose in a hospital, or… something else? Whatever. This place is still here, might as well enjoy it while I can. On an unrelated note, my mind almost short-circuited when I woke up the day after my arrival, when I realized that this might be real, but not because of how ridiculous or insane it seemed. It was because I felt like I could finally have some power over others, for once. I feel like this life is more than just a redo. But, I’m rambling now. I’ll write again as soon as I have something interesting. Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Day 60: I’d almost forgotten about this thing, since I was so focused on my training! Anyway, I’m progressing a lot faster than the book says I should be! I guess I’m a fast learner, even though I probably should have known this, what with me being top of the class in everything before. I’ve completed almost half of the intermediate section, when I should only be, like, a quarter of the way done. At this rate, I’ll be done with all of pyromancy in a couple months! Speaking of, pyromancy is pretty cool. It’s pretty scoffed at by sorcerers and miracle workers, since it's so “simple”. However, it harnesses the body’s powers, and it’s chemical properties, as well as fire’s properties, to make ridiculously amazing results. I can make columns of fire appear from nothing except willpower. I can say this, though: I’ve kinda skimmed through sorceries and miracles, and they’re pretty complex. I would even say, too complex. I’ll just probably make a monthly update, now. I’ll write a new entry next month. Manus’ journal POV, UNKNOWN time, UNKNOWN location Month 3: I’m moving ridiculously fast in my magic. I’ve already completed the intermediate and beginner sections in three-quarters of the time recommended as the minimum. I’m starting the advanced section soon, and I’ll gonna try seeing if I just have a gift at magic, or what’s going on. But, now to address the elephant still in the room. I’ve decided that this is reality for me now. I’ve been here for going on 3 months, and I like it here. It’s peaceful and calm, and I’m going to help create Equestria, setting of My Little Pony, my favorite show. I feel like I have a part to play, instead of being one of billions of useless pawns back on Earth. Manus’ journal POV, start of time, 6.4 billion B.P., UNKNOWN location Month 4: I got to witness an amazing thing today. Lauren had enough charge to create a primordial “god”, so she created one of the fundamental aspects of existence, Time. Time was a mare, with an hourglass as a cutie mark. She had a tan, almost peach colored coat and a pitch-black mane, with spots of white. Her eyes were a piercing sky blue, with a look in her eyes that made them seem to just go through me, like an X-Ray. She held herself with an air of elegance, but still showed that she wasn’t afraid to get dirty when needed. Lauren created her by focusing with her horn and simply thinking about her and how she would look, act, and think, and what her job was. She came to being like one of those 3-D printers, but sped up, forming in horizontal layers, and finishing in seconds. When Lauren had finished, she asked, “Do you know your job?”. Finally, Time opened her eyes, and said, “Yes. I am Time. Shall I start the sands of Me turning?” Her voice was very melodious, sounding, for all the world, like sand falling through an hourglass. Lauren had smiled. And said, “No, not yet. First, I’d like to introduce myself and my companion. I’m Lauren Faust, and this is Manus. We are creators, and we would very much like your help making the Universe. What do you say?” Time had seemed to need to think for only a second, before saying, “Yes.” “Then, start time turning, at the beginning. 6.4 billion B.P.” Manus’ journal POV, 6.4 billion B.P., UNKNOWN location Month 5: I didn’t say anything at all about my training last month! Well, I suppose it is logical, since I had just witnessed the birth of a primordial god. Speaking of, she’s been hanging out with us in the house. I think she’s just hanging out since she doesn't really have anything to do. Anyway, my training. I’ve mastered all beginner and intermediate pyromancies, and about half of advanced. That should have taken, like, 9 months to do, but I did it in 5! I guess I do have a gift for magic! These advanced spells are pretty dangerous. They’re usually hot enough to produce lava on impact! I haven’t learned Power Within, Black Flame, or Acid Surge yet. I expect Power Within will be the hardest, if my skimming when I’m bored and the warnings about it are any clue. I’ll start sorcery soon, as soon as I have every pyromancy mastered. Manus’ journal POV, 6.4 billion B.P., UNKNOWN location Month 6: I have everything except Power Within done. It’s being a right pain, since it’s probably the most dangerous and the most complex spell, all at the same time. I’ll just have to work on it. Lauren said that she’s going to create the sun, moon, and Space next month, if I can learn Power Within by then, so I can help her. This is going to be like an assessment in school! She said I might need to use my pyromancy to fuel the sun, by pumping chaos fire into it. This is going to be so cool, so my entry will end here for now. Oh, and also, from now on, I’ll make an entry only when I have something important to say. I must say, these entries are becoming increasingly sparse. Manus’ journal POV, 6.4 billion B.P., Epicenter of nothing Month 7: What I saw when Faust created Time was just leveled by the past day. Well, first, I mastered Power Within. It takes a half hour after using it to recharge if I use it for 5 minutes, though. When I told Faust that I’d mastered it, she was so excited. She took me outside, and told me to stand next to Time. Next, she had me start giving power to Time, and they started to channel power to make the sun, moon, and Space. Faust focused on the moon and Space, and Time and me focused on the sun. I pumped in power through Power Within, and sent Chaos Fire storms, balls, and surges flying out, as far as I could get them to reach. I kinda remember casting Flash Sweat to help us get through the unbearable heat. After that, it was almost half an hour of constantly draining my life power with small breaks and summoning chaotic fire. When we had finished, I almost passed out. Faust started rotating the sun and moon, and introduced me, her, and Time to Space. I couldn’t see too well, then, but now I know, since I’ve talked to him a few times, that Space is a stallion, with a white coat and brown dapples across it, with a light brown mane. His posture wasn’t elegant, like Time’s, but… well, gritty. He emitted the sense that he wasn’t afraid to get dirty, like Time, but this was a hundred times stronger. In short, I passed my test. I powered the sun, and I helped the embodiment of time create it. I did it. Space and Time will team up and make the rest of creation, except for Ponies, which Faust will make herself. She says that she’ll go dormant after that, until she's needed. And me? I plan on being the best magician that has been, or ever will be. I swear on that. I swear.
3: "Time" for a meet and greet3rd person POV, the day after Luna’s return and purification, Royal Castle “This is so cool!” Luna said, walking back into her room with her sister, Celestia, while also slipping from Royal Speech. She hadn't been in there in a thousand years, since her banishment. She noticed that her figurines were still here, albeit covered in dust. She also noticed other things in her room, but she mainly focused on the action figures. She zoomed in on her favorite action figure: the Unknown. It was a bipedal character with a flame in one hand, a sword in the other, with an overlarge, smooth stick and a few strands of hair tied together on the belt. They had a large hat that obscured their face from view, and some light green and brown clothes, like robes. She liked it since it seemed, even sculpted in plastic, powerful and mystic. Luna had been trying to figure out where he was from for a long time, but no one knew, and she’d looked through a lot of books. On occasion, she’d thought she slightly recognized him, but that was quickly gone. Her sister noticed her looking at him and smiled. “Hey, I’d forgotten about him. You never found out where he was from? ” “We were just thinking about that. No, but we did occasionally feel like we know him from somewhere… ” Luna said, trailing off, “But no matter! Our room, after so long!” Suddenly, there was a bright light, emanating from Luna’s display. It intensified, until it was like having the sun right outside the window. When it faded, the Unknown’s figure was gone, but a bipedal, smooth-skinned creature was kneeling in front of the display. It looked exactly like the Unknown’s figure, but alive and moving. As it stood up, Luna and Celestia gasped and stared at it. They started backing up, towards the door. The Unknown stood up and looked in their direction, then they heard a small *snap* and he was gone. “Wha… What just happened?” “I… uhh… I don’t know.” They stood there for a second, then Luna said, “We should probably investigate this.” “Oh, you think?” Manus’ POV, same time, Old castle in the Everfree Forest Well, I’d freaked out Luna and Celestia already. I’d meant to wake up a day before Luna came back as Nightmare Moon, but I’d came back a day after instead. Whoops. Of course they were in there when I came back. Murphy’s Law, I hate you. Well, not like they can do anything to kill me. I’ll just come back after they do. After Faust made me a primordial, by boosting my magical powers and reserves, as well as my strength and intelligence, she named me “Wisdom”. That’s my official title, but I still go by Manus. Well, I go by that with those who still are aware of my existence. That’s a grand total of 2 - no, 4 now, even if the additional 2, the royal sisters, don’t know who exactly I am. I guess Faust would count, if she wakes up. I mean, take a couple million year nap, and no one even remembers you. I used to be respected by the ranks of beings! I was one of the elder Primordials, the embodiment of Intelligence and Wisdom! The alicorns and other old creatures that Faust, Time, and Space made while I was learning respected me after I was made a god. I learned all the types of magic and mastered them, making new spells left and right. I learned how to use my catalyst to utilize Unicorn magic to it’s maximum potential, hundreds of times stronger than even Starswirl the Bearded dared to imagine. Now… I’m just a tiny bit pissed off. I’m not even remembered, when Faust definitely is, and probably so are Time and Space. I created the Abyss and Tartarus, to trap the things that shouldn’t ever be free, and will never be because of me! Well, I’m the least conspicuous, since I’m just a little-thought-about concept. Time and Space are fundamentals of existence that are more noticeable, unlike me, who you have to look for to see. At least I’m back now. So, back to business. The royal sisters will probably try and track me down, so I’ll make it easy and let enough of my cloak off for them to sense me, and then go down to the Royal Castle so they can meet me. I’ll let Time and Space know that I’m back at the same time, since they’ll be able to sense me, too. All right, let’s hope this goes well, I successfully negotiate with the ponies, and they don’t try to kill me. Happy times! Celestia’s POV, 5 minutes later, Courtyard of the royal castle “Alright, we’re searching for a mysterious creature. Me and Luna saw it, and it was tall, bipedal, and has a large hat with green robes. It is, as far as we can tell, powerful. It teleported without a horn, and we can’t track it with magic. “You soldiers are going to canvas every place within 50 miles to find it. If you do find it, do not approach, but call me and Luna. We’ll bring the rest of the guard, and trap it, then find out what it is. We’ve also called in the Elements of Harmony to help, if it’s evil, so we can trap it.” I paced along the front side of the courtyard, giving orders as I went. There were 200 Royal Guard in front of me, Day and Night guard mixed together. They were the elite only, since I figured that we’d need it if this turned sour. Not to mention, I had all 6 Elements of Harmony, users and artifacts, there, too. They were inexperienced, only learning about them being the Elements yesterday, but were there to trap it if needed, like with Luna. They looked slightly hesitant to head out and look for this thing, even Rainbow Dash. “But, Celestia, shouldn’t we at least try to get an idea of what we’re looking for? It could be dangerous!” Twilight said, looking very worried about the prospect of looking for something possibly dangerous, especially without any research at all! I sighed and thought about it for a second. “Me, your friends and you, and Luna will research here while the guard looks for it.” As Twilight was about to answer, I felt a sudden disturbance in the air. It felt like pure magic, leaking out from a strong source nearby. This was too much of a coincidence that the creature had appeared, and now this was happening. It must be nearby, possibly coming to the Castle. I yelled, “Something’s coming our way! Get in position!”. Then, it popped up in the courtyard entrance, just like when it had disappeared from Luna’s room. It stepped forward, as every other thing there stepped back, almost none of them in position. I looked at it and said, “What are you?”. It looked back at me, and said, “I’m Manus, also known as the Primordial god of Wisdom, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. Appreciate it if you don’t attack me. Shall we step inside for a chat?”. Manus’ POV, 3 minutes later, Royal Castle throne-room Well, these ponies are… skittish. When I magically teleported to the gate and stepped forward, I apparently scared all of them, since they started backing up, away from me. When I said my part, I stood there for a second, waiting to be invited in. They just sat there and stared at me, so I invited myself in, and they all followed. Now, we’re here in the throne-room. Celestia and Luna, as well as the Elements, were looking at me very suspiciously. I could tell that they were nervous, possibly because I still had the super powerful aura escaping out. I put my magical cloak back on, and they visibly relaxed a bit. Oh, wait, Celestia’s about to talk now. “So, again… What exactly are you? A… god? I seriously doubt this.” Oh, come on! Didn’t they feel my aura? Well, they aren’t bound to take the arrival of a god well, I suppose. I responded, “Yes, I’m a god. The primordial god of Wisdom, to be exact. Do you want me to show you?” She smiled. “Oh yes, show us your wisdom godliness.” So arrogant. Well, that was about to change. “I’m not just god of wisdom. I’m also affiliated with magic. I’ll show you a fairly simple sample of my magic.” I summoned a Vow of Silence with my talisman, and grinned. “Try casting a spell.” Celestia smiled back at me and did… nothing. Her eyes widened in shock, and she felt her horn. “What have you done?! I can’t cast magic! My horn isn’t even pooling any magic!” I responded, still grinning, “I used a Vow of Silence. It limits all magic being cast, except mine since it’s so powerful, within the effect area. You can’t use any magic for another… 20 seconds, now. Now, watch this…” I cast a Fire Whip, and made sure not to hit anyone, but threw it around a few times, then put it away. “See? My magic should be negated by that spell, but it doesn’t even affect me.” Her eyes widened, and she seemed a bit scared. “Oh, uh, okay…” I sighed. This wasn’t going well. I’m going to do what I thought about doing before, and this’ll definitely get Time’s attention. “Well, you’re not taking it that well. I’m going to reverse time, go back and blend in with the populace for a bit. I’ll get Time’s attention, too, and let her know I’m back. ” Twilight looked like she was going to explode. “Wait! You know how to time travel? That’s supposed to be super hard!” I smiled. “That’s easy, for my powers at least. It would take about 3 highly magical alicorn’s magic at the same time to cast this spell. See ya!” Celestia seemed like she was about to protest at being left behind, but I had already left. I went back about 48 hours. I sighed as I landed, since I could feel her coming. Great. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU DICK!?” I sighed, yet again. “Hi to you too.” Author's Note Next chapter coming soon! Proofreader needed.
4: The show's startingAuthor's Note Yay! It's up! Sorry it's such a short chapter, I'm going to make an extra-long next one to compensate. Enjoy! 4: The show's starting Manus’ POV, day before Nightmare Moon’s return, random Ponyville alley “Again, where have you been? You’ve been just… wandering? AGAIN!? GIVE SOME WARNING OR… SOMETHING NEXT TIME!” Time was mad. I’d explained that I’d been wandering again, just searching for some quests and doing universal maintenance. For example, I’d tracked down an Unspeakable from the Abyss that had gotten into Tartarus. It was scaring the shit out of all the prisoners, even the ones that had murdered dozens, or raped, or tortured. I vividly remember Tirek screaming like a filly as it walked by his cage. Remember when I said that ‘I created the Abyss and Tartarus, to trap the things that shouldn’t ever be free, and will never be because of me’? Those are the things I’m talking about, the Unspeakables. I spent 3 of the 4.3 million years that I was gone slumbering, though. When I wander every 800 million years or so, I get into a deep, philosophical mood. Those 3 million years were spent pondering knowledge, and meditating in a sleep state. It’s ridiculous, really, that mortals have such small lives. I mean, I spend about 500,000 years in a nap, yet they have less than 100 year lifespans. “Okay, just… just relax. Okay? Relax. It's not like I spent 30 million years out there, only 4. Besides, I’m back now, and for a very specific reason. “See, the Elements of Harmony are here, right now. They’re in this city, and Nightmare Moon is coming back, too. I know a lot of things about Destiny and Fate’s ideas and workings, seeing as how they’re practically my daughters.” I tried to calm her and simultaneously convey what my plans were. Time knew the importance of the Elements, and also especially of Nightmare Moon’s return. I felt tempted to tell her everything I knew. Discord, Tirek, Starlight Glimmer, Chest of Harmony, the Dazzlings, all of it, but I knew better than to interfere with stuff like that. I’d have to keep it a secret, or at least for now. She visibly relaxed a bit at first, but tensed back up as I told her about the Elements and Nightmare Moon. She held a tiny grudge against Nightmare Moon. Against any Nightmare, actually. She despised evil in any shape or form, and I mean despised. “Wait, Nightmare Moon is coming back? And the Elements are here, too? All 6? That hasn’t happened in… a long time, and, ” She said, slightly frowning, “Does Celestia know of this?” I shook my head and said, “No. She doesn’t know, but I am sure that Nightmare Moon is coming back, and tomorrow, and that all 6 Elements are here. Even they don’t know, but they’ll be brought together, and a chain of events will lead to Nightmare Moon being purified and restored to Luna.” She was silent for a count of ten. Then, she said, “I guess I won’t smite that bitch, then. I kinda missed her, anyway. But, ” She glared at me, “You wouldn’t know her, would you, being gone for 4 million years?” I winced. “Um, I kinda did a quest for them a couple thousand years ago, in disguise as a powerful unicorn. I hunted some Chimeras and Manticores whose populations were getting out of control, plus some other small things.” Her eye twitched. “You could talk to the Royal Sisters, and do a quest for them, but YOU COULDN’T TALK TO ME!?” I sighed. “Just tell Space to watch the Summer Sun Celebration, and to do it ethereally. You show up, as well. We don’t want any incidents happening with us being revealed, though.” She growled. “I guess. But I demand a full apology. Now.” “I hate you, but fine. I, Manus, God of Wisdom… ” Night of the Summer Sun festival, 23 hours later “Sup, Space. You miss me?” “What? Oh… wait… ” Space grinned and turned to face me, “Manus! Wazzup? How was your adventure?” I’d met up with Space, Time, and a few assorted gods and goddesses to whom the word had gotten out to about tonight. I recognized some of them, like Fate, Destiny, Death, and Gaea, but there were some new faces around. They must have come during my absence. I smiled. “It was pretty cool. I learned all sorts of new things, and met a whole bunch of ponies, but, ” I pointed at the newcomers, “Who are they? The new ones, I mean.” He glanced over at them. “Oh, we had an explosion of gods, since you were gone, and Ponykind needed more wisdom. They were taking up the space that you left. I don’t think they’re too happy to see you, though, since you’ll be taking their job. That’s Illusion, Mind, Intelligence, Intuitivity, Curiosity, etcetera, etcetera.” I noticed a few of them eying me, and some of them looked a bit pissed as they glared at me. If they tried to jump me or kill me, they were in for a surprise. “Whatever. They look like they’re going to try and jump me. Let them. Anyways, let’s watch the show… It’s beginning in 3… 2… 1… NOW.”
5: The afterpartyAuthor's Note Sorry if you noticed that I was late with this one. I'm taking a lot longer than I thought, but I'm upping activity and lessening wait time. Yay! 5: The afterparty Manus’ POV, 1 minute before Nightmare Moon’s return, Summer Sun Celebration I’m just looking at the scene below me, and reveling in it. I’ve been waiting for 6.4 billion years for the events of the show to unravel, and it’s finally here. Based on my knowledge and calculations I made, there are alternate universes, though, so I wasn’t sure any of MLP: FiM would happen at all. Happily, it has, and I get to watch as an immortal god with near-unlimited power! This is pretty great. I might intervene, but just as a helper disguised as a powerful unicorn, or an alicorn prince lost to the sands of Time, or something. Hey… that last one actually sounds pretty cool. I think I’ll do that. Anyway, they’re about to call Celestia up. The curtains have opened and she’s not there, Nightmare Moon’s making her “villain speech” to them...Oh wait, I forgot. I need the popcorn first! Okay, now I can continue. Um, so she’s fled to the castle, and they’re talking about going after her. You know what? I’ll just watch and enjoy, instead of commentating. After all this is over with, I’ll be “discovered” as an alicorn. Ooh, I just can’t wait, this’ll be so much fun! The most fun I’ve had in millions of years, probably. I’m walking back from watching the show, now. Watching them purify Nightmare Moon and figuring out the Elements of Harmony were pretty entertaining. Perhaps I’ll let them know that I created the elements, when I do that alicorn thing. The best part right now is the gods who are trying and failing miserably to be slick and tail me. They tried covering their magical tracks and aura, but it’s only about half-covered. I can feel them a half-mile away. Right now, they’re about 100, 200 feet behind me right now. They’re using half-assed invisibility, too. Oh, this will be so much fun to beat the crap out of them when they, inevitably, try to jump me. Oooh… they’re getting closer. They’re right on top of me. “Hey, guys! Didn’t really think you could magically sneak up on the god of Magic, did you? I could tell you were following me since you started. Just show up, so we can fight and you guys can get beat up.” They were so surprised, they stopped and just stood there for a few seconds. Then, they uncloaked and came towards me. The one that looked like the leader said, “Ya looking for a fight, dude? Cuz we’ll happily oblige and beat you up. You’re just a hippie with a few powers. We, on the other hand, are all-powerful together, and not afraid of nuthin.” …Really? They actually believe that? What’s up with his grammar, too? Aren’t they supposed to be intelligent gods, not hillbilly gangs? I smiled and contemplated how to approach this. “Better back off, or you won’t get to share the job with me, since I’m so generous. I’m more than ‘just a hippie with a few powers’, too. I’ll destroy you if you try and fight me.” I looked at the others. “Again, just to clarify, if any of you fight me, I’ll eviscerate you. I’ll tear you and your sanity apart, and I’ll do shit that can't be undone. So, back up.” They looked pretty surprised and a few even backed up. Then, the leader rounded them up and said, “Pshaw! You can’t do nothin! There’s 50 of us, and 1 of you! We’ll do the killin’ and evisceratin’ here, not you! Attack!” Only about 10 of the 50 attacked, though. They bomb-rushed me, and I smiled in anticipation. I’m not a pushover, and I’ll prove it to them. I dodged all of their initial attacks, and said, “A lot smaller than your supposed ‘50’, isn’t it? Your odds just went from 1*10^-30% to 0%. You have one more chance and then I’m letting nothing hold me back from smiting you, completely and totally. One last chance. Don’t screw this up.” 2 of them backed up, and stopped. I sighed, but nodded at them. “Good choice, you two. Alright, I warned the rest of you.” I stepped forward, casting a multitude of spells. I cast a Vow of Silence, a Tranquil Walk of Peace, a Wrath of the Gods, and a few others to stop their incessant flailing around. “I’ll toy with you a bit first. How about a visit to my realm?” I waved my hand, sending me and the gods attacking me to the Abyss. They’re going to be an example not to mess with me, and to say one crucial thing I need everyone to understand. I’m back. I floated down through the primordial black mist to the bottom layer, where the gods had fallen. I could feel their fear from here, and I could sense Unspeakables, about to swarm them any second now since they love fear and pain, and can sense it. Ok, wait one second. I need to describe the Abyss. I created it about 5 or 6 billion years ago when primordial evil started seeping into the mortal world and causing trouble, tainting it. They needed a place to go, so I crafted a truly horrible, immoral and deadly place of fear and insanity for them. They loved it. It’s very foggy and misty, but it’s black and almost impossible to see through without magic. There are always screams in the distance, and the atmosphere make anger and despair permeate your mind. The feeling of the place makes you suicidal in 10 minutes, homicidal in 30 minutes, and insane in an hour. The only things that can survive for more than a day in there are ultra-powerful gods, Unspeakables, and mortals that are already insane. The weird thing is, when an insane mortal goes to the Abyss, it acts to get rid of their insanity. It’s essentially filling their mind to the brim, then washing it out. There are multiple different species of Unspeakable, too. The weaker ones are more spiritual and small, the Spiritum class. They are ghosts and demons, like Wendigos and Bubaks, and at about the size of an alicorn. The middle ones are like not-as-powerful gods, the Potentia class, and about the size of a one-story house. The stronger ones are gods, the Deus class, like the Seven Deadly Sins, Succubi, and Jorogumos. Then, there are the big evils, the Malo class, the smallest about the size of a city block. These include the Lernaean Hydra, Charybdis, Echidna, and Typhon. After that are the true Unspeakables, the Vetus class. They’re usually about the size of New York State, back in the Human world, and include Erebus, Chaos, Nyx, Gaea, Mania, etc. They’re primordials turned sour. They were normal primordials once, but they were corrupted by their own element(like Erebus) or other actions(like Gaea) and imprisoned in the Abyss. Speaking of, I can sense a Potentia or two coming for the gods. They’re on the lower end of the power spectrum, even for Potentia, though. Ah… a much higher lifeform is coming this way. A Deus, if I’m correct. Yes… Pride is coming. These guys are about to get their asses handed to them. Pride has a reason to be so prideful of himself and his power level. He’s the most powerful Deus, and stronger than half of the Malo. Still has nothing on me, though. This’ll be a much better show than watching Nightmare Moon’s return.
6: Darkness and deathAuthor's Note I'm posting this chapter early, since I finished early. Major plot twist may/may not happen next chapter!! A very gory chapter. Like, almost M-rated gore levels. I will mark the beginning of serious gore with red stars, and the end with green stars, so I don't have to switch to M rating. There's also depression and violence. Happy times! Again: DO NOT read after the red stars and before the green stars if you are against scenes of gore and violence. 6: Darkness and death Manus’ POV, time-space continuum, The Abyss These D-list gods were getting their asses handed to them. Pride is slapping them around like a toddler might smash building blocks, and some other creatures had showed up, too. Lilith was “having fun” with one of the gods off to the side, which is Sucubus code for… Well, I’ll let you just imagine what she’s doing. I could feel their mental fibres snapping, one by one. I should probably get them out soon while they could still tell the tale - in between shuddering and spasms, that is. We’ve been in here about 15 minutes in normal time, and I’ve taken the time to think about my approach to the whole “approaching the ponies” thing. I’ve decided that there are too many things that can go wrong with the Alicorn thing, and there are some other things that just bother me. I’m just going to blend in with the local populace of Ponyville, for now, and get a feel for how the sisters act, their habits, etc. when they visit. I can also keep an eye on the Elements, too, and I’ll be low-key enough. I’m still deciding on specifics for appearance and what-not, though. I’ll muse on that later, it’s time to get them out or their brains will be mush. “Hey! Evil deities! I gotta get these guys back, thanks for the assistance. Lilith, ” I said, nodding at her as I spoke, “good job on that guy over there. I don’t want to know what you did to him, and his mind’s blasted to shit, but still… good job.” Lilith looked proud of herself, and so did the others participating. Especially Pride. He always looks proud, though, so go figure if he was actually proud right now. His smug smile was even worse than Celestia’s holier-than-though smile she wore when she was feeling smug. That’s a record, in itself. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “I.. The… They… Why… Would you… Do this...” One of them was stuttering to me, what looked like the former leader. He was beaten badly, bleeding and coughing, with, from a magical scan of him, 2 punctured lungs, internal bleeding, his heart about to give out, and his stomach torn open and spilling acid inside him. I looked at him without pity. I had a sudden idea, and it would convey the message even more. I grinned, and somewhere in me, I was aware of my receding morality. I’ve got a serious dark side, and this place always brings it out. I didn’t care, right now, though, and I was going to do things that no sane person would be able to watch, and even psychopaths would balk from doing. I snapped my fingers, and his neck snapped sideways so fast his entire spine broke apart in his back, spilling spinal fluid through the torn skin. His neck was torn and cracked so brutally that his head was hanging from the remnants of his spine, and blood spewed everywhere and all over his friends. “Because I can do it, and I want to do it.” My eyes turned black, and I felt evil, impure thoughts racing through me, along with a burst of energy. As powerful as I was regularly, when in Dark mode my power doubles. I wanted to fucking kill these little cunts, and I was going to. I snapped my fingers again, and another had his eyes implode in his head, causing him to scream in pain and shock, and I felt his pain seep into me, fueling me to snap again, causing another’s belly to slash open, spilling stomach acid out of his exposed stomach. I could see his intestines spilling out of him, and I was loving it. I shaped rats out of the primordial black mist, and pushed about 10 of them inside of his organs, then made them panic. They further ripped him apart, and he screamed even louder. I turned to another, a girl, and had a sudden, wicked thought. E.R.F.A.V.C was about to happen. Entrails Ripped From A Virgin’s Cunt. A quick scan told me that she was, in fact, a virgin, so I proceeded to take her clothes off. I walked up to her, and… well, you shouldn’t know details. I ripped her sexual organs out, along with a fistful of intestines. She screamed and twitched, eyes bugging out, and fell to the floor. She twitched and juddered, until her actions slowed and she made no more movement. I turned and shoved my fist, with her entrails still in my hand, in another’s throat and pulled his skull apart. I then ripped it out, spine and all. The remaining 4 were freaking out. One was sobbing, and the others were apparently in shock still, staring at their friends’ bodies. The one that was sobbing was covered in blood, and her mind was shattered, but she could still make sense of the situation, unfortunately for her. I had a sudden impulse to end her. She didn't have to tell the story. I could always tell it myself, and I could get even more excitement by tearing her body apart, LIMB BY FUCKING LIMB. Wait... No... She would be the one spared, and sent back to tell the story. The reaction would be better this way. “You, ” I said, pointing at her, and she backed up, shaking her head and mouthing ‘no’. “You get to go home. I’m sparing you, and you get to tell the tale. Don’t be afraid to leave anything out. Or else. Meanwhile, these 3… Well, they’ll be much worse off than the others. Much worse.” I snapped my fingers, sending her back to Equestria, to the alley we’d been in before. I then turned to the other 3 still left. “We’re gonna have a little fun. Who likes flaying?” * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ah, great. I went dark again. Well, at least I didn’t cause mass destruction. Last time, I blew up several dozen square miles of (mostly)uninhabited land. Fire and miasmas of dark energy had razed everything, preventing anything growing for a century or two. I was pretty mad. Like, really mad. Since time doesn’t exactly function correctly in the Abyss, I came back at exactly the same time as when I sent the survivor back, as well as the time that we’d originally left. She was… devastated. She started crying and fell to her knees when she got back. All the other gods had cried out and rushed to her. She was bleeding from about 20 bad gashes all over her. She also had bad internal bleeding and other major injuries. I felt bad, now, so I healed her lethal injuries, but still kept anything non-life-threatening. I still had a message to convey, after all. She said, between sobs, that I’d killed them all. She slightly described how each had died, not going into copious details, and how I had seemed to relish in it. I’d gotten a little bit too into it, but I’d refrained a bit. She’d lived, after all. Anyway, the other gods seemed shocked. Then, they comforted her and told her it was okay. She seemed lost, and scared. She calmed down, bit by bit, until she was asleep. When she was asleep, the other gods had a small conference. The 2 that had stopped and had been spared seemed very glad that they’d stopped. The rest decided to not mess with me anymore, but to tell the other gods, notably Time and Space. They’ll be mad at me, but they’ll live. Unlike all those ponies and people I’ve killed when I get mad. It’s in the millions, and they almost always died horribly and in pain. This is one of those times when I hate my own immortality. I’ve seen a lot of things, but some of those have been the exact wrong things to witness. I’ve done a lot of things, but some of those have been the exact wrong things, too. I’m going to work on my disguise, now. I want to blend in readily, after all. I’ll deal with Time and Space’s wrath later. Not like they can actually kill me, for good. Lots have tried. And lots have failed.
7: Hell's GatesAuthor's Note I'm getting a huge thing set up right now, and it's happening soon. Keep your eyes peeled, and enjoy! Also: if you have a displaced story, and want to do a crossover with me, I'll happily oblige. 7: Hell's Gates Manus’ POV, day after incident in Abyss, Time’s home “How many times have I told you to NEVER, EVER go dark! They didn’t deserve to die, and she didn’t deserve to see it!” Time was yelling at me, and if she was pissed before, she was indignant now. She was going purple in the face, and was screaming so loudly, she put the Canterlot Royal Voice to shame. We were in her home, a massive palace, twice the size of the Royal Castle, floating in a pocket between the Abyss and the mortal plane with all the other homes. This pocket is where most of the gods live, and it’s pretty much a city. Her house is, no doubt, the largest in Civitate, the name for the area that the city took up. It has 20 bathrooms, 25 guest bedrooms, 2 master bedrooms, and over a hundred other sections, with 4 different wings to it. It has crystal, gold, silver, stainless steel, aluminum, and a dozen other precious metals and gems making up the composition of the outside and inside, so it sparkled and shined. She always had a taste for the elegant and expensive things in life. As expensive as the outside was, though, her furniture and toiletries cost about a million bits apiece for what they were made of. I shrugged nonchalantly. “I wanted to send a message, and they attacked first! Plus, he sounded stupid!” She facepalmed and slouched away, muttering, to her favorite plush armchair. She sank down in it and filled a shot glass with some hard cider, then drained it in one gulp. She then sighed and set the glass down. “Just… tell me it won’t happen again.” I said, “Okay… Maybe. No guarantees.” She just shook her head and filled the glass again, also draining it again. “Whatever. Just go, already. I’ll be here, trying to forget this ever happened with my pal here, cider. Scratch that, I’ll probably break out the vodka.” I chuckled in spite of the situation. “You do that. I need to do something.” I turned and walked out of her home, then teleported away when I was out of the door. The survivor was huddled in her home, shaking and refusing to be comforted by her friends who were nearby. She’d seen me earlier when I was heading to Time’s palace, and had freaked out. I’d felt so bad, and I decided to show everyone another message: that I can be as nice and peaceful as I can be ruthless and sadistic. Her house was one of the less fancy ones, almost on the poor side for gods. I’d figured out that her name was Raritas, meaning curiosity. I put on my magical cloak that concealed me from any others in all ways possible, and I walked up to her. I put my hand on her forehead, and sent a bit of my spirit energy through, into her mind. I cleaned up her mind, repairing mental strands and synapses, deleting all memory of the massacre. But, I still left behind a message that they were dead. She visibly shuddered a bit, then relaxed and went into a deep sleep, courtesy of me. I sighed, and felt all the weight of what I’d done slam into me. I haven’t been a mortal in over 6 billion years, so I could need reminding of mortal feelings every once in awhile. I actually felt the regret and pain, so I decided to do something that I’d done only once, in a very serious situation. I’m going to bring back her friends. It’s pretty easy. I just need to battle some creatures that, together, are nearly as powerful as me. Malphas and Abbadon. Two demons that are, in order, second-in-command of Hell, behind Satan, and the demon of destruction. Great. They’re terrifying, too. Abaddon Malphas This better be goddamn worth it. I showed up at the Epicenter of the Abyss. Malphas and Abaddon together guard the underworld, Hell. I sent out pulses of energy as a call for them, waiting for one or both to show up. I only don’t like fighting them since I tire myself out a lot during it. The last time, I had to put out a quarter of my strength to beat them. That’s about the magical total of 1,000 alicorns. I had to use some spells that would destroy galaxies. The kame-hame-ha from DBZ would be nothing compared to those spells. Ah, they’re approaching. They seem a bit apprehensive of me. Reasonable, seeming as how I beat them to the ground last time. I started the conversation, ending the rather awkward silence. “Hi. Would you like to battle for some souls, or could you just let me by?” Abaddon grunted. “No. You will not gain access to our souls if you do not earn it.” Malphas stayed quiet. He usually stays that way, unless he needs to speak. I sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll need to beat both of you, again, and, ” I said, starting to grin, “I trained. Those old spells were about the half power of these new ones, as well as at half the mana cost. Let’s fight… if you’re ready.” They looked at each other. They muttered to each other a bit, then Abaddon said, “Fine. Give it your all, we’ve trained a bit, too.” “Great. You get the starting move, here.” They struck at the same time, faster than the naked eye can see. They both tried physically hitting me, their swings faster than a NASCAR racecar. Too slow for me, though. I dodged, being sure to stay close to them by dodging underneath their arms. When they stopped, I turned and said, “Good try. Now, I’ll obliterate you!” I charged my spell for a fraction of a second, then fired it at them, while I teleported a few hundred miles away. I’d toned down the area of effect, so that it concentrated the power on the center. It was a blast of every type of energy: magical, chemical, kinetic, nuclear, etc, into a sphere about 100 miles in radius. Needless to say, it was intense. It lit up everything within a thousand miles of the ground zero, and imploded after about 5 seconds, sending waves of pure energy about 100 miles more and a mushroom cloud about 500 miles up. This was my first field test, and it had worked perfectly. I narrowed my eyes after a few triumphant seconds, though. The two had somehow survived, and were still at half life force. Huh. Apparently they had trained, a lot. I teleported back, and whistled. “Dang, you guys are much better than I thought. That should have pretty much killed you both.” Abaddon winced a bit and stretched. Malphas was getting up from a kneeling stance he’d taken to protect himself from the blast, so he was the least damaged. “Same to you. You barely dodged our punches last time, but you’re dodging with ease now.” I opened my mouth to respond, but I was interrupted by a rumbling. It started small, but quickly grew. All 3 of us looked around for the source, until it suddenly stopped. We stood in silence for a minute, then I said, “Well, that was weird.” As if waiting for a cue, the fabric of what reality there was left in the Abyss split, opening a huge portal. 4 strange figures flew out of it and lined up in front of it. The portal closed, and I had already recovered from the minor shock and was observing them. They looked familiar, but I didn’t… know… why... Oh shit. They… they weren’t real. They couldn’t be. They weren’t real. They were from Dark Souls, though. I was here, with the spells and equipment, why couldn’t they be here? Oh, no… Malphas and Abaddon. They’ll get messed up if they fight them. They might be demons, but they are still important. I turned to them, and said, “Run. You have no chance against them.” They shook their heads, and Abaddon said, “Why? We can take them. Who… are they, anyway?” I sighed and turned back. “They’re the 4 kings. And you CAN. NOT. FIGHT. THEM. They outmatch me, right now.” One of the 4 kings “But not for long.” I initiated something I hadn’t had to do in a long time. I was leveling up, something I’d found out I could do about 2 billion years ago, and it’s reserved for fights between primordials. There are 7 levels, and they’re ridiculously, extremely OP. The final level is at over 5000 times my normal power level, at about 20,000,000 alicorns’ magic. But for now, I was only doing level 2, with a power of 8,000. I recited the ritual in my head, feeling the power aura around me strengthen. Malphas and Abaddon seemed shocked and stared at me. “You didn’t even need to fight us. You just needed to do that, and we would have been destroyed easily.” I ignored them and stared at the 4 kings for a moment, then grinned and motioned for them to attack me. They obliged, and flew at me much faster than Malphas or Abaddon. I barely dodged, already charging a spell much, much more deadly than the spell I used before. It was like comparing a hand-thrown baseball to a ballistic missile, and it was going in their faces. I wanted to end this quickly, then get the souls. I screamed at the demons behind me, “Run! NOW!” Then, just as they turned to go, everything went to shit. Well, even more than it already was. A second rift opened, and Gravelord Nito stepped out. GODDAMN GRAVELORD NITO. Gravelord Nito Gravelord Nito pic 2 Well, this is great.
8: AwakeningAuthor's Note It's FINALLY OUT!!!! I'm very, very sorry for the long wait, but the next chapter is out, and I'll update it every week to a month now! Enjoy the story, and stay tuned! 8: Awakening Nito started walking forward, focused on me. I cursed and leveled up once more, going to 24,000 power and level 3. I looked at the demons again, who were frozen with shock. I SAID LEAVE. I said, almost unconsciously, in my “serious” voice; a thing that makes most run in fear, seeming almost to pierce the air with it’s volume. They snapped out of it and turned into smoke, going back into the underworld. I turned and pointed my hand, still holding the spell at the 5 creatures before me. They had been slowly approaching me, but stopped when I pointed my spell at them, looking apprehensively at it. Okay, a bit of conversation, to buy time. “Why, hello, Nito. ” I said while staring him down, for I was sure that he was at least semi-intelligent; the 4 kings were mad, and could likely not speak. “And, why are you here?” Nito answered in a deep rumble, not opening his mouth. Well, his discernable, frontward-facing mouth, that is. Straight to the point, eh? We are here to stop you, Manus. You’re long overdue to be taken down a couple notches, back to the bottom of the totem pole. I groaned. Of course he wanted to fight. I’d always hated his battle, even if the memories I have of him seemed like they were from another timeline. It is true that I’m getting a bit out of hand. Let me just say one thing: going Hollow is not enjoyable, and scares me more than Nito does. It also has no cure. Believe me; I’ve searched for 4 billion years, and I’ve found nothing but dead ends and discouraging results. For now, I’d focus on these guys, and then go from there. I need to focus on the situation now. I turned my attention to the spell I’d been charging, a spell I’d been making for such an occasion as this; Cleansing Inferno. “Well, you are very powerful, but not enough. I can take you all out with one hit, ” I said, bringing up my hand, ”That you have been kind enough to stand there and let me charge.” They noticed my hand, holding the spell that had charged while we spoke, and immediately started to move. They tried to get away, but they might as well have been moving in slow motion. I let the spell loose, making a shield around myself that would protect me, so I could actually observe the effects in the eye of the storm. Said effects were instantaneous. The fire reached just about the temperature of a supernova, incinerating the creatures that were luckily weak to fire, as well as the imbued divine magic in the spell. I was sure they were dead because of the savageness of the explosion, and the divine might of it. However, when the dust cleared, they were still the better for wear. Only 1 king had been killed, and the others were just beat up. Nito was barely banged up, as well. I was in shock still when Nito came up and slammed me with his Gravesword, sending me flying. After I’d landed nearly a hundred yards away, I groaned and stood up, cursing under my breath. I don’t understand. That explosion should have destroyed anything below my… level. Oh, come on. I didn’t check their level before we started, I just assumed they were weaker based on the energy around them. What level are they? I did an actual scan of their powers, which I should’ve done before, and they’re much more powerful than my current level, which should be impossible. After all, it’s 24,000 alicorn’s total magic packed together. Well, I can go much higher than that, so… It’s not technically impossible. I guess I just need to level up. They’re about 120,000 power right now total, so… level 5? Yeah, that’s 480,000 power. I recited the ritual mentally again, leveling up to 4 for now. There was a time limit of about 4 minutes between level ups, which is kinda annoying. I would need to hold them off for a bit. I was strategizing on how to do that when Nito spoke again, startling me. THAT’S your great attack? Don’t make me laugh. “I thought it would be enough, ” I said, stretching. “I guess I thought wrong. I based the amount of power on your emitted energy via a raymond-gauss differential P/c^2 leakage rate with a helium-oxygen medium, but turns out you’re much more powerful than I thought you were.That’s a habit of mine I actually need to work on: underestimating.” Nito was staring at me as I spoke, likely because of me going a bit too in-depth. Afterwards, though, I heard a sort of rumble. Well, actually, heard isn’t the right word. It was more like I felt it. I turned to look around the landscape, then looked at Nito and his friends. “Please tell me that was you.” Nito's attitude had turned sober now. ...No. I’m guessing that wasn’t you? I grimaced, looking for the source. Who knew what kind of stuff had happened: either just normal things that happened here in the abyss or… things awakening due to Nito and the Kings showing up, things even I don’t want to mess with; things that had been locked up since before I came, and some even before Faust had came? I’d fought and met all of them, and they were mostly just powerful, but one of them made these guys right now seem like children, playing with a gun they’d watched their dad use. He was eventually taken down, after 10 straight days of fighting and several hundred gods, including Time, Space, Death, me, and Faust. True, he was the biggest and the strongest of them all, and I hadn’t put all my strength in, but most were just below his strength. Then, it happened. Just a quick note: On the immortal level, the fabric of space-time isn’t really that strong. I mean, only about a dozen gods can bend it in one move, but a lot more can bend it, too; it just takes a while. Only three beings in all of existence can rip it, however, which is an almost unimaginable feat: Faust, myself, and the being awakening, Letum. I’d sunk him several hundred thousand miles beneath the fabric of space-time, below the Abyss, and down deeper below even that, but he was coming, drawn by beings he could use to fuel himself back to his full power. He ripped the continuum apart in an instant, breaking the wards that had bound him for over a billion years, which I realized too late that I should’ve strengthened since their original casting. He was almost 2 miles tall at his strongest, but is about 20 feet tall right now, which is one one of the main reasons why he was so hard to bring down. The worst part? He’s at his weakest right now. Maybe I should’ve stayed gone… It always seems like everything screws up when I come back… Maybe it’s a good thing if I stay forgotten. Okay, this is no time to go into philosopher mode; I have to focus. I need to stop Nito, the Kings, and Letum, now, though, so this is going to be ridiculously difficult. I leveled up again, now being level 5. Now, of course, I’ll have to strain my powers to deal with Letum at first, but Nito and the Kings will be easy to beat now. If my powers aren’t enough by level 7, my max, then I’ll have to take drastic measures I don’t want to have to. And if that isn’t enough... Letum finished surfacing, having broken all of the wards and binds, and stood up, stretching out his fingers, savoring the feeling of the air on him. His physique was similar to that of a human, but he had 4 arms. He was muscular, with biceps that seemed to ripple when he moved due to their sheer size. He was white-skinned, but was still wearing his armor from his last battle, a gold that somehow shone blue when the light hit it. It had an ancient-roman centurion plume helmet, which he carried under his arm. His armor had been made by the best smiths that he could force into working for him, and had almost no chinks or weaknesses in it. It was magic, healing as soon as you cut it, and was adhered to his skin, which by itself would have counted as armor, a thick scalemail. His armor had an ancient-roman feel to it, as well, and lended an overall impression of power and strength. He leaned over, reaching for his side, and pulled out his sword; Lifebane, an evil abomination of a sword that had been cooled in the blood of the same smiths he’d had make it. It was double-edged, but also serrated, designed to deal as much damage as possible. As he pulled it out, it never caught on the sheath, being imbued with the power to shrug off any negative effects, whether they be rust, dents, spells, or anything. It only let one thing touch it; blood, which it readily absorbed during battle, giving its holder more strength. He was bald, and had only one eye with a brown pigment to it, yet tarnished by the occasional dash of black Darkness; he’d given the other eye up for his powers. His lips were tight, and his nose was the only ordinary thing about him, being a normal shape and size. He noticed me on the ground, and his eyebrows furrowed in anger; he apparently hadn’t forgave me. As his one good eye swept across the scene, he seemed confused for a second; however, his confusion turned to glee as his lips curled into a menacing smile, surveying the kings and Nito, sources of future power. “Having a party, without me? How rude of you, Manus.” As he spoke, his voice was like a loudspeaker, at an unbelievable volume. “And I thought we were friends. Other than the imprisonment part, of course. I hope you’ll understand that I might be a bit mad about that, but having a get-together without me, on the site of the deed? Now, that’s just intolerable.” His stance changed, and he lifted his helmet, putting it on his head. Letum lifted his sword, gripping it with both hands and holding it at the ready. “Now, to finish what I started; destroying this world, and it’s puny inhabitants, starting...” I could only see a bit of his face, but it had turned into a grimace of anger. “WITH YOU.”
