Whoa, so, 2019 really turned into something in terms of TV animation. In fact, you could say that about the past few years. Regular show, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and more recently, mlp, have ended. In the words of Fluttershy, it feels like an end of an era.'
Some shows I got into since the very start and stayed by for years, some I only got into halfway through it's run. Whatever people might think about the fandom, mlp fanwork is what got me into the show to begin with, stuff like Lullaby for a princess and the Discord song, and of course, fanfiction. I have a big respect for the fandom this show has created.
So now I'm starting a big one with this fic to show my appreciation for not only mlp, but the shows I like in general, mainly the ones that just ended. Enjoy.
At the far end of the multiverse, nothing was there. Inky blackness was the only occupant. No moon, no stars, just a black canvass for an almighty cosmic force.
An artist cannot paint without the proper equipment, so peeking ever so slightly into the infinite realities, he finds inspiration.
Colors of various shades, shapes of all sizes, characters of similar and different qualities. Some so similar they could be identical, other's so contrasting you'd wonder how they could occupy the same space without destroying each other.
And yet, that dreadful question was key to this little experiment. So many people and creatures, so many talents, so many abilities. Would it be possible for them to occupy the same space? Can such a world handle staying together, or would it all blow up in the multiverse's non existent face?
Only time could tell.
The color white was all that could occupy Sunset's vision as she regained her consciousness. The last thing she could remember was Princess Twilight telling her all about the events leading up to her coronation before everything became blurry. All she knew was that she was laying down on a hard, marble like substance as she tried to stabilize herself.
"Hold on guys, we got another one." A boy's voice, sounding just a little older than her, called out. The next thing she knew, a pair of rather noddle like arms were picking her up. "You okay?
"Yeah, just peachy." Her sarcasm returned to her. "Because it's normal to wake up with no idea where you are."
"So that happens to you too?" The voice said with full sincerity. "Have you ever woken up in an entirely different dimension where you have no idea what the glob is going on?"
"Ah, no." A little freaked out that he seemed too calm about that statement. "I've been to another dimension before though. Lived in it for years." Her vision fully returned to her, and she was able to get a better look at the boy. Light blue shirt, dark blue shorts, and a white bear hat covering everything except his face.
"Cool. Name's Finn. Now that you're awake, you can meet the rest of us." He began leading her in another direction, though she stay put.
"Okay, no. I'm not going to just follow somebody I just met. Especially somebody in a weird hat."
"Oh, you're one of those reluctant types, are you?" Finn raised an eyebrow, though he shrugged it off quickly. "Ehh, don't worry, we have quite a few of those right now. And for the record, my silly hat has a purpose. You can't slay a dragon or vampire if your head's unprotected from the teeth."
"And I suppose you just happen to fight vampires on a daily basis?" Really, she didn't have room to talk, considering she was a horse turned human, but this guy didn't look or sound like he was Equestrian.
"Eh, dragons mostly, only got to slay vampires the one time. One of my closest friends is one actually." He stopped walking. "Ah, here we are, just be sure to watch out for.." Out of nowhere, he grabbed her from the back of her head and pulled her down to duck some sort of blue fireball. "That. A few of us here a little more.." A grappling hook was shot into the air. "Excitable."
"Sorry Finn, KO really wanted to show off for all of us, and I can't just say no to the little guy." Another kid, around 16 with curly brown hair, a black shirt with a pink letterman jacket and matching pink sandals. "He's too pure for this universe."
"Understandable Steven. Gotta get that adventurous spirit rolling somehow." He kneeled down to the ground and confronted another boy, around 6-11 years old with a blue jacket and a read headband, though for some reason he didn't wear shoes. "KO, what do we establish about using our powers?"
"That if we're going to use them, they need to be either out of harm's way or towards evil butt." KO respectfully saluted. "Sore-ree Finn, but Mabel said I could take a ride on her grappling hook if I showed her what I could do."
"And a Mabel always keeps her word, no matter what! That's the Mabel guarantee!" A 13 year old brunette swung in on said device, wearing a bright pink sweater with a shooting star in the middle of it.
"Calm down Mabel, you've given enough head-trauma to everyone here. Try saving it for any baddies along the way." Finn ordered, and Mabel stashed away her grappling hook with a roll of her eyes.
Watching the group made Sunset slightly unnerved, giving as to how well they were taking the circumstances. "You guys are talking like you've been here for a while."
"Some of us have been here sooner than others. Me and Finn were the first one's to get here around a week ago." Steven explained. "KO was the next day, and Mabel's arrival was yesterday. You actually came right after our other three guests today."
"And haven't you guys tried to escape or anything? This doesn't exactly seem like a place I'd like to stay in permanently."
"Yeah, we thought of that too, until we decided to look up." KO pointed above them, and what she saw made her jaw drop. They seemed to be in some sort of dome, and on the outside of the glass semi-circle was an inky void that was only lit by the dozens of stars glittered across it. "And no, we checked, it isn't just nighttime.
"We're, we're, we're..." Sunset's voice was escaping her.
"WE'RE IN SPACE!" Mabel shouted, getting Sunset out of her trance. "Seriously, how are you guys not more excited about this?
"I've traveled to space before, and even got to fight a planet eating super-villain!" KO answered. "That was a little more fun than being stranded in one spot, no offense to you guys though, you're all great."
"None taken, I've been to space as well. That's how I met one of the greatest presidents of all time." Finn responded.
"I travel to space pretty much every other Sunday to see my.." Steven paused for a second. "..aunts. Really, it's like breathing by this point."
"Okay." Sunset shook her head. "Okay, can I at least get an explanation for why this is all happening right now before I start assuming that this is all some sort of hallucination brought on by one too many drinks of bad apple cider."
"Trust me, I thought the exact same thing. Then I realized I should give Applejack's family a little more credit than that." A much more familiar voice came from behind her, and Sunset practically fell over at the sight of her friend.
"Twilight!" She rushed over to give the new ruler of Equestria a hug, only to realize she was grasping on to air. Her friend was still in her pony form. Feeling silly, she knelt and wrapped her arms around her. "You are the Pony-Twilight, right? This isn't some magical mayhem gone awry?"
"Well, if it is, I have no idea what caused it." Twilight said with much forlorn. "But I can only assume that neither of us changed forms because whatever brought us here didn't use the mirror's magic. As for everyone else.." She stares at the others. "They're more complicated to explain."
"Not really. Considering what you've told me and how you two know each other, I think the explanation is pretty simple." A raspy voice called out, making everyone else turn their head. This time, two more figures showed up. A blonde 14 year girl old with a devil horn headband and blue dress walking beside a hovering girl in a purple cloak, shrouding the majority of her face in the hood's darkness. "It's obvious that.."
"We're all heroes from other worlds and we've been chosen to come to this dimension in order to combat an evil cosmic force that has chosen us to fight in some sort of sick game!" KO shouted cheerfully. "Just like last time, right Raven?"
Everyone, except Raven, was lost. "KO, remember that little talk we had about doubles?"
"Ohhhhh yeah, forget about that." KO blushed. "Well, a while back an evil guy named Strike summoned me and a bunch of other guys into some sort of city to fight us because he was super evil and probably a little bored."
"One of those people summoned was another version of me, smaller and with a bobble head." Raven takes over. "She lives in a really weird place. I don't recommend it."
"Another one of those guys happened to be my friend Garnet." Steven chimed in as KO eyes sparkled at the mention of his one time teammate. "So it's really not hard to imagine something similar is happening now."
"Champions from different realities, what kind of being has the power to do this sort of thing?" Twilight pondered with worried. "I swear, if this is Discord's idea of motivation again.." She stopped for a second. "No, Discord would've done something to show his hand by this point, and he would've included all my friends. KO, you don't think it's this Strike guy?"
"No, Strike main thing was to beat up heroes for the sake of it. This feels too complicated for a one-note character like him."
"And it isn't anybody I know either." The blonde right beside Raven chipped in. "I only know one, maybe two people who could do something like this, and they're both dead."
"Yeah, same here." Mabel said with a relieved breath. "If Bill was involved, he would've already obliterated us the second he had the chance."
Before the discussion could dove in further, the white glimmer the room had became a dark red. Sunset panicked while the others stood still knowingly, already aware of what the red flash meant. "Ah, I take it that's normal around here?"
"Normal for these circumstances, yes. Anywhere else, that's about a fifty-fifty chance concerning these guys." Raven waved to the group as a whole, making Sunset blush a little in embarrassment. "It's nothing to worry about, we're just about to have even more guests."
The red lights flashed more for another 10 seconds before finally releasing a blinding while flash. Once everyone's eyes adjusted to the light again, the group surrounded the three newcomers. The first two were definitely the most normal looking out of them, obviously being human, thought the girl had blue hair and was covered in some sort of red with black polka-dot onesie with a matching mask. The other wore some sort of leather outfit with a cat-like aesthetic to it, even having a little bell around the neck. The next one was more out there, looking like some sort of kid's drawing gone awry, being made up of several animal body parts. They could only describe his look as random, though in Twilight's case, it was more like.."
"DISCORD!" The previously unconscious trio were shocked awake by Twilight's realization, though the human pair were knocked immediately down by the alicorn's rush to her sorta-friend. "Discord, I don't think I've ever been more happy to see you show up out of nowhere!"
"Wow, ouch Miss-Sparkle, just ouch." Discord voice held it's usually sarcasm. "I know honesty is an important part of friendship, but that just hurts. You know underneath this chiseled exterior there's a heart or 12 under here." He summoned an x-ray to show 11 healthy hearts, with the 12th having a bandage on it.
"There's no time to be pleasant. Can you use your powers to get us out of here?" Twilight pleaded, with everyone else lining up behind her with a slightly hopeful look in their eyes, except for the costumed duo, who looked beyond lost.
"I'd say you're only using me for my powers, but I see we're far away from Fluttershy, so I know how urgent this is." Discord rose from the ground and snapped his fingers, only to get a loud buzzer sound in its place. "That's odd." He did it again, and again, and again, and by the 20th time, the entire group had practically fallen deaf. "Hm. That usually doesn't happen."
"I was afraid this might happen." Twilight sighed. "I haven't been able to cast a spell to get us off of this dome, and Raven hasn't had better luck either."
"Normally I could use my magic to portal us back to my world, but something's off." Raven sighed. "It seems anything trying to breach the barriers of this reality are rendered inert."
"No, it's, it feels like more than that, at least to me." Discord voiced his concerned. "I've had my magic drained more times then I would've liked in my life, I know when something taking it away." He summoned a small cloud of cotton candy and waited for something. "See, I can't make it rain chocolate milk!"
"But you can make a mean piece of cotton candy!" Mabel said with glee as she took a giant bite out of it. Steven, KO, and the blonde girl also took pieces till it was all gone.
"Not the point. So your saying that something is draining your power?" Twilight asked.
"Not exactly. My chaos powers are still here, but they're being restricted." Discord began sweating a little. "Like I'm sharing my power with someone else."
Twilight looked like she was about to go into panic mode. Sure, at the moment it didn't look as bleak as the time before her coronation, but things were approaching there. And back then, at least she had all of her friends by her side. Now it was just a select few of them with a bunch of strangers she just met.
Sensing the tension the pony was putting off, Sunset merely petted her back to ease her mind. She felt a bit reluctant, but she calmed once she was able to look at Sunset in the face without crying. "One problem at a time, Twilight."
"Thanks." Twilight smiled back. "I suppose we should get the other two up to speed on things." She turned to the costumed duo, who kept trying to talk, though the words that came out were gibberish on her pony ears. "Anyone know what they're saying?"
"Sorry." Finn answered, with a bunch of shaking head very almost everyone else. "It's all Greek to me."
"French, actually." Raven corrected, floating towards the two. The boy had his claws popped out while the girl frantically observed her surroundings while holding a yo-yo. "Hold on just a second. Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Her entire body glowed in dark shadow, saver for the white glow in her eyes, and a blast of dark energy was zapped on the two costumed people, who despite flinching, felt no discomfort or harm. "Whoa, that was, in all honesty not the weirdest thing I had happened to me, but pretty close." The cat boy spoke in seemingly perfect English.
"Whoa, you can speak English now?" Steven asked.
"No, it sounds like you're speaking French to us." The polka-dot girl responded.
"Instant translation spell." Raven explained. "With my magic surrounding you, we'll be able to understand what you're saying despite the language gap.
"Sounds good, because I think we need to clear up a couple of things around here." The polka-dot girl said back. "Like what are we doing here?! Why are we here!? How come there's a unicorn and a goat monster here!? And why is no one freaking out over the unicorn and goat monster?!"
"Yeesh, it that how I use to freak out? Because, it looks kind of cute to be honest." Twilight said out loud accidently, making Sunset smirk. "Okay, it occurs to me that there's still a few of us here that don't know each other. I say since we don't seem to have any more arrivals coming.." She pauses just in case. "..that we take this time now to introduce ourselves properly. "I'll start: My name is Twilight Sparkle, ruler of the land of Equestria, and the Princess of friendship. This here is my friend, Sunset Shimmer. She's from a counter-world similar to my own."
"Equestria, as in horses?" Raven raised an eyebrow, not knowing if that was lazy or clever.
"Ponies actually. 3 types, Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth ponies. I just happen to be all three, an Alicorn." Mabel eye's glimmered as she looked like she was holding something back. "Yes, you can pet me."
"AWESOME!" The little girl wasted no time pouncing on the Princess, petting every inch of her mane. "You're a lot more friendly then the Unicorns in my universe. Those guys were snooty and self-absorbed, so I had to put them in there place." Twilight's heartbeat stopped the moment the possible threat to her life began petting more. "Oh, I'm Mabel Pines, and I love knitting, kittens, sparkles, and knocking down whatever gets in my way!"
Cautiously, she separated herself from the girl with her magic. "Okay, anyone else want to go now?" Mabel kept trying to get past the magic. "Please."
"Ehh, I'll go." The blonde girl causally rolled her eyes. "Star Butterfly, former princess of another dimension, until I destroyed magic and merged my world with my Earth." Once again, the funny stares were aplenty. "Seriously, I thought I was done with magic screwing with my life."
Steven was next. "Hey, my name is Steven Universe, I'm half human, half Gem, and I'm the co-leader of a team called the Crystal Gems, and as of recently we're more or less diplomates, helping other gems migrate peacefully to life on earth."
"That sounds great, except I'm a little confused on the gem part." Sunset inquired. "So you're saying you're half rock?"
"Exactly. They're this race of Rock people from space that're all women for some reason, and my Mom rebelled against her planet to protect earth. 6,000 years later, she meets my dad, she gives up her form to give birth, and poof, I am born." He lifts his shirt to reveal his bellybutton, except in its place was a shiny pink gem.
"So let me get this straight." The cat boy was trying to puzzle things together. "Your Dad had a relationship with a rock, and that rock became you?" The poke-dot girl nudged him in the arm. "What?"
"That's it in a nutshell. It's really given me some identity issues, especially when I was 14." All of them had a 'yeesh' moment, especially Star, who nodded in understanding. "The nightmares never really go away."
"Ooh, me next, me next!" KO jumped up and down in anticipation, his eyes becoming impossibly bulgy as he continued to beg. The others just nodded their heads, signaling him to go ahead. "Thank you! My name's KO, and I'm a hero!" He struck a heroic pose that was awesome in his mind, but just came off as cute and cheesy to the others. "I work at Mr. Gar's Bodega and with the help of my friends, I defend Lakewood Plaza Turbo from robots and villains that dare cross it's path!"
"Finally, an introduction that doesn't cause me some level of unease!" Twilight blurted. "Oh! Did I say that out loud?"
"Yes, yes you did." KO said with pure innocence to the situation. "And don't worry, my backstory has plenty of angst to it! Like how my dead Dad turned out to be alive and became a supervillain, or how I've struggled with the darkest parts of my personality which nearly killed everyone that I love!" Everyone took a step back. "But I got better."
"Ugh, I hate when that happens." Raven, strangely enough, sympathized with the kid. "Anyways, I'm Raven. I'm magic, and part of a team called the Teen Titans." Everyone looked at her, expecting a little more. "The less you know about me, the better."
"Come on, it really couldn't be that bad." Mabel urged. "Especially after what KO said."
"Well, my Dad was a demon.."
"Okay, you two in the silly costumes, I'd like to hear your stories now!" Twilight interrupted. The last thing she needed was to worry about demons from a girl who's voice sounded all too familiar.
"Well, after what you guys just told us, I suppose it's only fair we tell our own tails." While the Cat boy, Steven, and KO laughed at the bad pun, everyone else just groaned, especially Raven who muttered something about 'another one'. "Me and my Purr-fect partner here are superheroes, powered by magical artifacts called miraculous. I'm Chat Noir.."
"And I'm Ladybug." Ladybug interrupted before her partner could spill anymore details. True, his trusting nature was an admirable trait, and one of the better things about him as an ally, and these virtual strangers were at least open about themselves, but the situation seemed to call for more caution than usual. If she could, she would've kept a tight lip on the miraculous's, but she suppose for now they weren't in immediate danger. "Together, we fight supervillains created by our enemy, Hawkmoth."
"Short and simple, love it." Twilight turned to Finn. "Anything you like to add?"
"My names Finn Mertins. Hero, adventurer, flute master, master beat boxer." Finn smiled. "With my best bud Jake, I travel all over the land of Ooo and do pretty much everything I can to help anyone in need. Saving Princesses, stopping wars, feeding ducks, normal hero stuff."
"Well, guess that's everyone. Now we.." Sunset tried to move on, before her mouth was gagged by a suddenly appearing piece of cloth.
"Dang it, I was trying to zip her mouth shut." Discord muttered. "Anyways, you forgot about me! Discord! Reformed spirit of chaos. The most powerful being in this room. Remember him?"
"Okay, now that we got that out of the way.." Twilight tried to speak next, only for her mouth to be gagged too.
"That wasn't my introduction, that was my intro's introduction!" Discord complained. Unimpressed, Twilight blasted the gags off of her and Sunset, and blasted Discord's claw before her could snap them back. "Rude."
"So many heroes from so many places!" KO shouted for joy. "It's great to know I'm surrounded by so many good guys! Oh, I wish we were back on my world. I'd could get you all Pow Cards and add them to my collection."
"That's good KO, but right now, our primary concern should be wondering how long we're going to be here." Twilight turned to Finn. "You said you've been here a week? How have you survived that long in such an empty place?"
"It's not completely bad. Whenever we get hungry or thirsty, food just kind of pops up, usually something we want. Sometimes it appears even before we think we want it." A small flash appeared on the floor. "And apparently, we all wanted Lightning Nachos, again." A small wave of monotone 'yays' were shouted.
"Ooh, my favorite!" KO gobbled an entire handful, as did Mabel, not minding the shocks of electricity that came with every bite. "You guys sure you don't want some? They're shockingly good."
"Yeah, the burns beg to differ." Star scooted her plate away with her foot. "I'd prefer ones made by my boyfriend."
"Tempting, but lightning not good for a healthy diet, and I'm trying to change that." Steven kindly turned down.
"No." Raven said flatly.
As they all declined to eat the other worldly food, the entire place began to shake, sending everyone tumbling to the ground. "Ah! We broke the dome and now we're going to die!" Star panicked. "I'll eat the freaky nachos, mysterious force that brought us here, just please let us live!"
"Guys, I'm pretty sure it isn't the Nachos." Sunset pointed up to space. "It might be that!" Looking outside, the inky blackness that covered them saw a little more light, as chucks of meteors began to collide together, growing more and more in mass and size.
"What are they doing?" Twilight asked no one in particular, though her head turned to the draconequus as she did. "Discord, do you have any.." Her mouth was shut as she saw the chaotic being fallen over, aching and moaning in pain. "Discord?!"
"Ah, ow, For once, I'm-ACH, I'm not faking it!" He groaned louder and louder. "It's, it's too much, I, I.." His yellow eyes rolled over before he collapsed.
"DISCORD!"
"No time to worry about your friend, keep looking!" Raven turned Twilights attention back to the meteors, which had now began forming shades of green and bloom. "It looks like whatever force brought us here is doing more than collecting. They're terraforming the rocks."
Steven, who had heard that term many times before, had his eyes widen. "Wait, so we're seeing an entire planet being created?"
"It looks more like copying, look." Finn pointed. The planet, indescribably big in size, was shaping out nicely, except the landscape of the planet looked very, off, like a bunch of different sized puzzle pieces smashed together to stick. The one place on the planet's surface that didn't have any real coloring to it was the upper left side of it, which seemed to have been blasted off. "My world has a piece of it missing in the exact same spot. There's no way that's a coincidence."
"So wait, this guy, whoever it is, didn't just take us from our worlds." Sunset concluded. "They took pieces of our world, and created a new one?"
"Looks like it." Mabel answered as her head tilted. "Should I react as if this was really good, or really bad?"
The ground below them shook violently one more, shaking the heroes all over the place, increasing the already high panic they were feeling. "Bad, bad, definitely bad!" Twilight answered.
"Noo! There's still more I haven't done with my life!" KO screamed. "I haven't said bye to mommy today, and I still haven't cleaned my room! What kind of son does that make me!?"
"I've made peace with the galaxies most powerful dictators, and I still don't know if it was the right choice!" Steven shouted. "I feel guilty for not really treating them like family, but come on! They act like nothing happened between us, and they're super creepy about it!"
"I destroyed magic and everyone made out of magic in my world!" Star went next. "I'm pretty sure I've committed genocide, and yet no one questions it!"
"I've wasted almost half the year pinning for a boy I still don't have the guts to talk to!" Ladybug screamed. "No matter how many times we talk, I always go back to a blubbering mess!"
"I haven't thought about dating at all!" Twilight freaked! "And I just now realized I'm probably immortal! I'm never going to forge a meaningful relationship like that without that piece of reality boiling in the back of my mind!"
Seemingly, the only ones keeping a calm head were Raven and Finn. "So, you have any regrets you'd like to spill out?" The hooded girl asked the boy.
"Hm, nah. I had a full life. I'm already spent in terms of drama. Trauma has a way of doing that to you." Finn calmly said. "You?"
"My only regret is ever telling Beast Boy he was funny." Raven sighed. "Would've saved me a lot of headaches." As everyone else fell into mass hysteria, Raven stood still as everything began to fall, and fall, and fall. "Wait, the dome's moving."
Indeed it was. The newborn planet's surface became closer and closer. The blanket of the depths of space disappeared, being replaced by a mostly clear blue sky. "What's piloting this thing?" Steven wondered.
"I don't know, but it looks like we're not the only one's landing." Twilight pointed to above them. Another dome, identical to theirs in every way. At first, they were fearful of it colliding with them, resulting in a fiery but arguably cool crash, only for it to move away from them, floating away from them to another destination. "Was that always right next to you guys?"
"If it was, they did a good job at cloaking them." Raven pondered. "A few friends of mine have also been in a situation like this before. If we're really heroes plucked from other realities, then what's stopping whatever force that brought us here from bringing our enemies as well."
"Well, that shouldn't be too bad." Mabel did her best to be optimistic, sensing everyone else's suddenly rise in worry. "I mean, it's not like all of us have powerful and vengeful enemies, right?" Everyone gave out an uneasy groan. "Oh come on, really?"
"Well, Equestria's most powerful enemies have been turned to stone." Twilight tried to rationalize. "But after Discord's, incident, and seeing how powerful this being really is, I'm not feeling too confident at the moment.."
"I've saved the galaxy from the most powerful dictatorship in the universe, though I can't be sure how happy Homeworld is about that happening.." Steven winced.
"Hawkmoth usually finds a way to bring back most of our enemies in some shape or form, and almost every person in Paris has become a villain at least once." Ladybug shoved another elbow into Chat Noir's stomach. "What? We're all being honest about how much this stinks."
"Ughh, is there anything good about what's happening?"
A sudden boom erupted from beneath, and the dome finally stopped shaking. The sky no longer held it's eternal blackness over them, making a few of them share a small smile. "Well, we've finally landed. That's a good thing?" Star asked more than stated.
The all powerful force delighted in their first masterpiece. Big, colorful, bringing together so many similar and different elements. The pieces were set. The stage was ready.
Time to start the show.
