Void

Hours later, Celestia sat amidst her Council of War. It was a rarely called delegation, if only because evildoers these days preferred short, immediate victories to drawn-out fighting. The Elements of Harmony were there, as was tradition for any who had saved Equestria once, as well as Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, who had teleported in the moment they had learned something was amiss. Her sister Princess Luna was present, sitting at the head of the table as she looked around bemusedly. It occurred to Celestia that the last time Luna had headed this table, they were amidst a protracted conflict with Discord – the original Chaos War, more than fifteen hundred years ago. Discord, too, was present, looking bored as he floated just above his chair. Finally, Starlight Glimmer was there, looking nervous as she tried to decide between making eye contact with various members or studying the notes Princess Twilight had provided her.

The other delegates of the Equestrian Council of War were those nobility that had served in the Guard, and various others that had earned their way on through various methods. These were largely ignored in favor of the ‘celebrity’ members – the alicorns, the Elements, and Discord, who were the subject of much attention.

Finally, Luna cleared her throat. “May I have your attention, please,” she began icily, and all chatter died faster than a mayfly in spring.

Celestia had to admire Luna’s ability to instantly lead a group – there was, after all, a reason she had once been referred to as “the Princess of War.”

Luna gazed about, surveying her audience. “Perhaps I should start at the beginning,” she began, commanding absolute attention.

“That is where most ponies start, yes,” Discord agreed, inspecting his claw absentmindedly with a nail polisher.

Luna shot him a look, which was missed on the Lord of Chaos, and promptly went back to her speech. “The demon Baphomet has been confirmed to be behind some, if not all of the attacks we have been experiencing lately. Tirek and Sombra especially were influenced by him, though we do not know about Queen Chrysalis. The last time I saw him, Baphomet was a minor demon, of little threat to Equestria’s prosperity, and firmly unable to escape Tartarus. However, things have changed: He now is in possession of the Crown of Darkness.”

Blank looks greeted her from the nobility, and most of the audience, and Celestia sighed inwardly – had they not read the briefing? Luna glared back at them, daring them to speak their ignorance.

“I know this one,” Starlight spoke up nervously.

Surprised, Luna glanced over at Starlight. “Then please, enlighten us,” Luna allowed.

“The Crown of Darkness, long known as the most powerful evil artifact in existence (though that has been debated ever since the introduction of the-“ Starlight began, but was interrupted by Discord groaning.

“Without Sparkle’s commentary, if you please,” the draconequus irritably interjected, and Luna could see many of the nobility quietly agreeing with him.

“Okay… um… right. The Crown of Darkness, as the name implies, gives the user full control over any Dark creatures, artifacts, knowledge, and abilities. It is passed down between each ruler of Tartarus, the prison of all demonic entities and major threats to Equestria,” Starlight hurriedly paraphrased.

“All Dark creatures, et cetera – does that mean any creature of Disharmony, regardless of affiliation, can be controlled via this crown?” a noble unicorn asked, surreptitiously glancing at Discord, who crossed his forearms and pouted.

“No, it can’t. Only specifically Dark creatures are susceptible, meaning creatures of Chaos, Harmony or Light are immune to the effects,” Starlight answered.

“So, this ‘Baphomet’ now has an instant army of any Dark creatures nearby… nearly all of which call the Pit their home,” Twilight added.

“Can we destroy the Crown?” one noble wondered.

Starlight shook her head. “You’d have to get it off his head first… and even then, the thing has millennia of magic inside it. Destroying it is going to be next to impossible.”

Luna nodded in agreement. “A good idea in theory, but poor in practice. There was a previous, less-enchanted Crown, and it was destroyed – at the expense of a colossal explosion of dark magic. This is what created Tartarus in the first place.” The council shifted uncomfortably. “Furthermore, and more importantly, Baphomet openly admitted his involvement to my sister, Princess Celestia, and invited her to partake in a ‘game,’ presumably with Baphomet himself. This ‘game’ appears to consist of Baphomet bringing back every major threat to Equestria within the past few years, and ourselves doing everything we can to stop him,” Luna concluded.

“Why wait for him to bring them back? Just go over there and destroy him!” a noble thundered.

“They are already here, Ravenhoof,” Celestia spoke up. “There have been sightings and reports of them already from Equestria's distant, southern towns, which have been evacuated. Confronting Baphomet on his own ground will not aid us.”

Discord nodded. “Just so you know, Baphomet did recruit me for this task. I’m currently supposed to be ‘spying,’ but he can’t tell whether I am or not. Nor can he tell what is being said in this room – I redirected any scrying attempts to an alternate universe where a perfectly normal conversation is taking place.”

Twilight looked at Discord in surprise. “That’s… surprisingly well-thought-out, Discord,” she noted.

Discord snorted. “Baphomet’s no friend of mine. And with that crown on his head… well, he used to be funny. Now he's just bent on mindless destruction, which, contrary to what everyone thinks... isn't really my thing. There can be no chaos if the world is only an empty void.”

Starlight nodded appreciatively. “There has to be some way to stop all this. Don’t we have any magical artifacts to counter the Crown’s power?” Starlight asked the group at large.

Celestia thought for a while. “The Pheonix Amulet, while not able to provide any offensive capability, might provide adequate defense against the Crown’s Dark magic,” she suggested.

Luna sighed. “A thought I too had had some time previously. Upon checking this morning, the Amulet has gone missing.”

Celestia paled – their enemies had managed to steal such a powerful artifact from right under her nose. “That was in Canterlot! Sister, were they at least spotted?”

Luna shook her head. “No magical alarms were set off, and all the guards reported was a pile of what appeared to be used, purple clothing, which also went missing. Even for Baphomet or any of his followers, it was quite a feat.”

Celestia swallowed nervously. Purple clothing? That didn’t sound like any of the prior threats Equestria had faced. Had Baphomet found a new contender?

A few hours earlier, Void casually floated down the moonlit museum corridor, tripping alarms left and right as they embarked on Baphomet’s first ‘mission’ for them. Or they would trip the alarms, had they been alive. Baphomet had reassured them that the charms could only detect living thieves, which left the whole place susceptible to robotic, ghostly or otherwise artificial attack. A poor choice, in Void’s opinions, but the whole thing seemed rather poorly designed anyway. The museum had no entrance fee and little security, if the signs on the front door were to be believed. Curiously, Void looked around, rubbing the Pheonix Amulet between the fingers of their gloves. Still no sign of any Guards.

An exhibit caught their eye, and they floated over, brushing the glass with a gloved finger. Was this what they were looking for? The book certainly looked powerful enough. Runes glowed on the cover, the light swirling and flickering inside the glass casing in mesmerizing patterns.

“BOOK OF ILLUSION: ALLOWS USER TO CREATE MASS HALLUCINATIONS. NOT LIMITED BY SHIELDING, MAGIC TYPE, OR MAGIC LEVEL. UNUSABLE BY ANY BUT PRINCESS LUNA DUE TO MENTAL EFFORT OF CREATING AND SUSTAINING AN ILLUSION.”

The text scrolled across Void’s screen, silently paraphrasing the description. NOT BAD, Void decided. IT HAS POTENTIAL. Void tilted their screen-shaped face upwards, exposing the hole in the neck of their purple sweater that lead to the hollow interior. They reached out and opened the case, grabbing the book as silently as though they were an actual thief, and slid it inside, the book landing inside their hollow body with a small thump as they once again gazed forward, the TV making up their head sliding forward to close the hole. That done, they resumed their search, wondering if any other useful things could be found.

“And the other stallion was saying, ‘Wow, what a night! Three salted teenagers in one hour!” a Guard spoke up just outside his room, the laughter of another freezing Void in place. How had they not sensed two presences? Quickly, they scanned the room for exits, finding none.

“Hey, what happened to the Book?” a Guard noticed.

“Oh jeez. It probably just turned itself invisible again. Alright, let’s open her up,” the other, older Guard replied, sounding as though they were getting closer.

In the split second before the two Guards arrived, Void made a decision, and dropped to the floor, the light on his screen going out.

“Huh? Who left their clothing here?” the first Guard wondered, scuffing Void’s sweater with a hoof as Void lay motionless.

“The book’s gone,” the second reported, all joviality gone. “Looks like we have a thief.”

The first Guard scoffed. “And all they stole was the Book of Illusions? Nobody can even use that! It takes up too much mental space, remember?”

The second Guard made an uncertain noise. “Even so… The worst case, I think, is we’ll find some negligent thief in a serious coma. We’d better go see if we can stop them before they actually use the thing.”

The two quickly exited the room, and Void silently watched them go.

A while later, Void teleported back into Baphomet’s temporary headquarters. It was an abandoned palace, deep within the southernmost region of Equestria, and Baphomet had gleefully refurnished it in varying shades of black and dark colors. A section of the palace had been colored gray, for Void, another was green, for Chrysalis. A third was red, for Tirek, and another was silver, for Sombra. Nightmare Moon's was blue, and Discord's was brown. Baphomet himself was sitting on the ornate black throne in front of the other six thrones, looking bored, though his expression brightened as soon as he spotted the purple anomaly.

“There you are! Did you get it?” he asked eagerly, as Tirek and Sombra looked over in interest.

Sombra immediately scoffed. “I bet you didn’t, freak,” the shadow king scoffed. “If none of us could get in and out of there without alerting the Guard, what makes you think you…” Sombra trailed off as Void held out a familiar golden object, the red phoenix inscribed on the front winking in the dreary, orange lighting.

“What, indeed?” Baphomet parroted smugly, holding out a claw as the Amulet zoomed forward. “A word to the wise, Sombra – don’t underestimate Void. It will be the last mistake you make,” Baphomet teased.

Sombra looked nervously at Void, who gazed back impassively.

“Yes, sir,” Sombra nervously agreed.

Void took their place at their chair, a pale mockery of the thrones in the Castle of Friendship, and promptly stopped floating, body going limp like a ragdoll as their screen shut off.

“Is that… normal?” Tirek asked, watching Void warily.

Baphomet shrugged. “Recharging, maybe? Best to leave Void to his own devices.”

Chrysalis, who had been sitting at a throne as well, leaned over and poked Void curiously, to no reaction. “Hmph. Seems dead to me,” Chrysalis observed.

Baphomet laughed. “Very astute, Chrysalis! You’re quite right.”

“Void is dead.”