Shattered Souls

Chapter 38: Rebirth

It was cold and dark, but that was to be expected. Duskfall was sitting alone overlooking her runic array in the unprotected courtyard of the Castle of the Two Sisters. The Winter Solstice was fast approaching. Only a few more minutes now…

Duskfall was acutely aware of every beat of her heart. It was funny to her, how hard it was working to keep her alive when she was intending to end her life. She had long overstayed her welcome. She shouldn’t have lived 6 months, never mind over 3 centuries.

When Duskfall had left the castle in secret an hour ago, she had seen Harmonia. The Greater Spirit of Harmony watching her leave with sad, baleful eyes. Even so, Duskfall didn’t stop. Harmonia would be happier to have Twilight back. Happier to have the proper Bearer of Magic returned to the land of the living.

It was only one minute now, before midnight and the Winter Solstice. Duskfall stood and made the final preparations. 15 seconds…it was finally, finally over…10…9…8…7…6…5… Duskfall prepared the ritual knife to spill her own blood into the runes…4…3…2…1.

Duskfall’s eyes snapped open. It only took her a moment to realize something had gone wrong. Or maybe it had gone right? All around her, all Duskfall could see was a white void. Was this what non-existence was supposed to be like? There was a lot more ‘intact sense of self’ than she was expecting, if that were the case.

No. Duskfall had to face facts. She had somehow failed. Worse yet, she was either unconscious, in a coma, or this void was some sort of divine punishment. Duskfall felt tears forming and then escaping from her.

“Dammit…DAMMIT!” Duskfall screamed, her eyes screwed shut and her ears pinned back as she put everything into that anguished shout.

“There’s no need to be so loud,” A masculine voice said. Duskfall sprang back in surprise. Suddenly there was a bipedal figure in a black cloak with a hood that completely shrouded his face. Somehow this figure felt even more powerful than Lady Fate.

“Who…” Duskfall felt tongue tied. She tried to force more words out, but they wouldn’t come.

“You did try to summon one of my subordinates, did you not?” The figure asked before turning and walking a short distance before what looked like an old wood desk appeared for him to sit at.

“Death?” Duskfall asked hesitantly. How had she overshot a god and gotten Death himself?!

“One would have supposed, with how spectacularly your Twilight Sparkle’s summoning backfired, you would have been more cautious at the very least. Instead you cast your net for any powerful being with even a passing association to me. I am aware of your connection to Insanity, but Insanity is not the same as stupidity,” Death said pointedly and Duskfall got the impression he was glaring at her. Duskfall wilted under the oppressive feeling of the Concept’s ire.

“I’m sorry…” Was all Duskfall could think to say. Any words to defend herself with turned to ash in her mouth.

“Fortunately, your recklessness was anticipated. There will be consequences, of that make no mistake. But Equuis will be spared the worst of your foolishness. In the mean time, the contract has been written up and signed in your blood,” Death told her and Duskfall dared to perk up.

“You mean…I didn’t fail? Tom and Twilight can come back?!” Duskfall asked hopefully, rushing up to Death’s desk.

“Yes, they will return. I will even have one of my top lieutenants take care of the details,” Death promised and waved a bony, skeletal hand that peeked out from under the cloak. A portal opened and from it floated what looked to be a young man, human, who was asleep. Yet Duskfall knew there was more to him than met the eye. Even asleep his power was palpable to Duskfall. Not as strong as Death, but not completely outclassed either.

Getting a better look at him, he had a mop of unruly black hair, was probably a little over 6 feet tall, and was wearing a white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. He was clean shaven and he looked like he kept in shape with a thin, decently muscular frame. Given he was asleep, Duskfall couldn’t see his eyes.

A snap of Death’s fingers and suddenly there was a bucket hovering over the sleeping figure. Duskfall could see where this was going and couldn’t suppress a wicked grin. The bucket poured its contents, cold water, onto the young man.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” He screeched at his abrupt return to the waking world. He turned to snarl at Death, “DO YOU HAVE NO DECENCY BOSS?!”

“No,” Death replied bluntly.

“Motherfuc- you could at least have had the decency to use hot water! Or better yet, lava! You know how I feel about cold water!” He ranted, as if he weren’t talking to the Concept of Death itself. A flash of intense heat evaporated the water off of the young man.

“Do I? I’ll have to make a note of it for the future,” Death replied blithely, evoking a frustrated grow from his lieutenant who put his hands on Death’s desk and leaned on it.

“So what was so important that you couldn’t even wait for me to wake up?” The young man demanded. Death pointed at Duskfall, who suddenly felt like a deer caught in the headlights. He turned and Duskfall was greeted to eyes such a deep royal purple that they were almost black.

“A Twilight Sparkle? You dragged me out of bed, away from Setsuna, woke me up with a bucket of cold water, for a… wait a second. Is this that Duskfall everyone’s been talking about recently?” He came closer to Duskfall, inspecting her with interest.

“She is and as such I’m giving you a special assignment. You have four objectives. First, restore Tom Williams and Twilight Sparkle. Second, teach the Alicorns of Equuis how to properly connect with their goddesshood. Third, defend Equuis from whatever or whoever Duskfall’s foolishness has brought upon them until such time as you think they are ready to stand on their own. Fourth-”

“What would Equuis need defending from?” Duskfall asked warily, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

“To explain it as simply as possible, when you preformed your ritual, it shattered the barrier Discord and Harmonia had set up. Given the amount of various arcane energies it has stored over the eons, when it broke, it caused quite the disturbance. It was enough of a disturbance to alert almost the whole of Creation to Equuis’ location. Anyone with sufficient means will almost certainly be visiting in the near future. Heroes and Villains, Monsters and Demons, potential allies and sworn foes, all those and more will be arriving on Equuis’ doorstep. Congratulations, Duskfall, you’ve just vaulted your entire world onto the interdimensional stage,” Death informed her calmly, steepling his fingers.

Duskfall froze for a moment as she processed what he said. Then she began trembling, feeling the beginnings of a panic attack coming on. Her breathing was shallow and quick, her vision blurring. How could she have done something like that?! The whole world was in danger because of her! Before she could spiral out of control, she felt a hand on her head, gently petting her.

“Easy there, kiddo, sometimes things go bad, but going to pieces isn’t going to help anyone,” The young man said in a soothing voice as he continued petting her, “Things can’t go back to the way they were, but we can keep things from going to hell, at least.”

“Which brings me to your fourth objective,” Death said before Duskfall could reply, “Keep Duskfall Sparkle out of further trouble.”

“Understood,” The young man replied, standing up, “Anything else I should know before I head out to start working on getting Twilight and Mr. Williams back?”

“Yes, one last thing. You are authorized to use whatever means you deem necessary to protect Equuis. If any of the other Concepts have issue with that, I will deal with them directly,” Death informed him. The lieutenant gave an appreciative whistle.

“It’s been a long time since I had full clearance. I know this Equuis is strategically significant, but all this?” He sounded surprised. Duskfall couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by ‘strategically significant’.

“The selfsame cascade of released energies that caused this to be necessary also upgraded this Equuis from a Class B to a Class S,” Death replied quietly. If the lieutenant was surprised before, now he was downright shocked.

“Right then, the chips are really down on this one. I’ll try and keep the usual shenanigans to bare minimum,” The lieutenant promised.

“And I’ll let Fate know that her usual antics will not be tolerated, at least not until you’ve established yourself on Equuis,” Death replied in turn, “You have your assignment and I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do this properly. I’ll arrange with Lady Time to give you enough room to do whatever you need to do in regards to getting Twilight and Tom back.”

“You know me, Boss, nothing less than my best,” The Lieutenant snapped his fingers and suddenly a door appeared. It looked like it wouldn’t be out of place on a Star Trek style space ship, except the frame had runes on it Duskfall couldn’t recognize, “Come along, Duskfall. Just because we have limitless time doesn’t mean we should waste it.”

Duskfall felt so far out of her depth she followed without a word. Really, what other option did she have when being told by beings as all encompassing as Death that she had fucked up in such a fantastic way? Duskfall had half a mind to ask she be allowed to remain a little longer to at least try and repair what she had done. Yet it seemed the wheels were already in motion. Duskfall felt like an insignificant speck before these titans. She had asked for their help and had graciously agreed to do so. Who was she to make further demands? She felt bad leaving things as they were for Tom and Twilight to clean up, but if these beings had decided her end would be enough of a punishment for her deeds, then so be it.

Duskfall entered the door and to her great surprise, the room looked like some kind of foyer. It was almost indistinguishable from something she might find on Earth for a particularly well to-do townhouse. The almost came from technology that certainly wasn’t 21st century Earth that was visible on the walls.

“Welcome, Duskfall Sparkle, to my home away from home,” The Lieutenant said grandly. She got the impression he enjoyed showmanship and leaving a lasting first impression.

“Thank you, mister..?” Duskfall trailed off. He facepalmed in response.

“Right, didn’t introduce myself. Name’s David Thomas. Obviously, I’m one of Death’s Lieutenants and that’s the only relevant title for right now,” David introduced himself.

“Do you have many titles?” Duskfall asked teasingly.

“When you live to be a little over 17 million years old, you tend to pick up at least a few monikers,” David replied drily, with a smug grin. Duskfall blinked a few times, but otherwise remained composed. Then his word choice began to wriggle in her mind.

“What do you mean ‘live’? Aren’t you a god or something? Or are you just using the term to set me more at ease?” Duskfall inquired, her head cocked in curiosity.

“Nope, I was born mortal and I still am mortal. My hearts beat red blood and everything,” David’s grin grew even wider when he saw Duskfall pick up on another word used.

“Hearts, as in plural?! Are you a Time Lord?!” Duskfall demanded, evoking a chuckle in David.

“There are plenty of other species with more than one heart. However, you are in the same galactic ballpark,” He admitted, leaning up against a wall.

“You’re not going to tell me until I guess right, are you?” Duskfall asked petulantly, crossing her forelegs as she pouted.

“That would be extremely unfair as I find it exceedingly unlikely you’ve heard of my species. And yes, I do know about your little sojourn to your future where you encountered quite a few different species. I’m just keeping both of us amused while we wait for someone,” David confessed and before Duskfall could ask who he was waiting for, what looked to be a magnezone, as in the pokémon, of all things floated into view! It beeped and booped at David for a moment.

“Yes, I know. The Boss Man needed me for a special assignment involving that very thing. Are any of the C-class Labs in use?” David asked of the steel/electric type that Duskfall couldn’t believe she was seeing. It beeped some more.

“I’ve been meaning to have a chat with them, but that can wait. Lady Time wouldn’t care for us dilly dallying. We’ll be in Lab 3-F if anyone needs me,” David informed it and with a few more beeps, it hovered away, “Well, let’s get going.”

“Was that a magnezone?!” Duskfall exclaimed while following David down a hallway.

“Yes, yes, I know, most people would choose a metagross or a porygon to keep their household in order. But that magnezone has been with me almost since the beginning and I’ve never regretted putting it in charge. It does, however, have four metagross and a baker’s dozen porygon that answer to it, so it isn’t doing everything by itself,” David explained as they stepped into an elevator, purposefully misinterpreting Duskfall. So the young Alicorn tried another track.

“So what’s a living mortal doing working for Death? Especially given that, well, you don’t feel exactly ‘death-like’ to me. Actually, come to think of it, you feel more like a souped up version of me with all that Darkness and Insanity wafting around you!” Upon Duskfall’s shouting, David’s smile turned from one telling a joke to one you might see on a teacher proud of their student. A smile Twilight had seen on Celestia’s face often enough to recognize it.

“You are exactly correct. If I were going purely off of my own alignments, Darkness would have most likely been my patron Concept, with Insanity coming a close second. Truthfully, there are a number of Concepts that fit me better than Death. Chaos, Laughter, even Life would have been a better match for me, purely off of what powers I align most closely with. Yet I choose to continue in my service to Death. Sure, the perks are nice, but that’s not why I do it. It’s not even because at this point I’m almost certain the whole of the bureaucracy would come crashing down without me. The reason I continue to be Death’s Lieutenant is because I feel it’s the right thing to do. Much like how you felt you were doing the right thing when you preformed your summoning ritual,” Somehow David’s little speech coincided with the elevator opening to let them off. It felt suspiciously well timed, but Duskfall let it go.

“So is this a ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ lesson or a ‘do what you think is right, no matter what’ lesson?” Duskfall asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“Well, that depends. Knowing the consequences of your actions, would you repeat them?” David asked as he led her down another hallway.

“I…does it make me a terrible person to say I would? I mean, at the end of the day, Tom and Twilight are coming back and you’ll be around to protect Equuis from whatever Pandora’s Box I’ve opened. So, yes, I would do it again,” Duskfall decided as they walked.

“Well then, going off of what I’ve heard about you and what little observations I have, then I’d say you shouldn’t torture yourself for doing what you believe to be right,” David replied as he stopped at a door with a hand scanner. He opened the door and the pair walked in. Along the back wall there seemed to be a trio of large tubes, easily big enough to even fit someone of Celestia’s size. Near them on an adjacent wall was a vat of what looked to be disturbingly familiar crystalline hearts. There was also various computer interfaces and technology along the walls. In the center was an admittedly comfortable looking reclining medical table. Feeling the moment of her end was close at hand, Duskfall decided to be selfish one last time.

“David…how many pokémon do you have?” Duskfall asked as she took a seat on the table. If David was surprised by the non-sequitur, he didn’t show it.

“Probably every pokémon you know of and a couple hundred you don’t. Why do you ask?” David wondered as he started typing something into a computer.

“I was wondering if I could hold a mew before…the end…” Duskfall’s voice grew unsteady as she finished her request. He turned to her with a slightly baffled look on his face.

“The end? The end of what?” He asked with clear confusion.

“The end of me! When you pull Tom and Twilight’s Souls apart and I cease to exist!” Duskfall shouted. Comprehension dawned on him and was mirrored in his expression.

“Oh! You thought- but why wouldn’t you? You can relax, Duskfall. You’re not going anywhere for a long, long time. There are different ways Souls can fuse together and you’re one of the ones who will stay stable even after I separate Tom and Twilight out of you. I can still ask Mew if she’ll let you cuddle her,” David offered as if he hadn’t just shattered Duskfall’s worldview. She was going to survive? She wouldn’t have to sacrifice herself to bring back Tom and Twilight?

“I think…I still want that cuddle…” Duskfall admitted as tears started spilling from her. She didn’t know if they were tears of relief or shock or what. She was grateful he didn’t comment as he pulled out something that looked like a smart phone and put it to his ear.

“Hey, Mew? I’ve got someone who’s in desperate need of cuddles…. We’re down in Lab 3-F… Thanks, love, I know she’ll appreciate it,” With that he hung up.

“‘Love’? You don’t sound British,” Duskfall joked, but was admittedly also very curious.

“It’s probably salient to tell you my species now. Technically we’re called Galfionians, but no one’s called us that for eons. Heck, we don’t even call ourselves that unless we’re being extremely technical. Our much more common name is Pokémorph, short for Pokémon Morpher. We’re a species of shapeshifters who descended from a mew fucking up a teleport bad enough to wind up on a planet over 250 million light years away from Earth and a few billion years in the past. That mew quickly died in the alien environment, but their DNA ended up contaminating the genetic soup that hadn’t yet evolved beyond single celled organisms. Fast forward and you have a species who at base can transform from a humanoid base to 1 to 3 pokémon forms. We can train ourselves to be more comprehensive shapeshifters, if we so desire. Given that, I should hope it’s not surprising that taking pokémon as mates isn’t all that odd for us. They are sentient, after all. S’not like we’re breeding with animals or anything,” Duskfall hadn’t said anything to suggest that, but it sounded like this was a mild sore spot for him.

“So then this Mew is your wife?” Duskfall asked as David used a needle to draw blood for some reason.

“No, and don’t tell Cadence I said this, but Pokémorphs don’t do marriage. There are a whole host of reasons the kind of bond marriage implies just wouldn’t work for us. Marriage is the practice of binding two Souls in love forevermore. Or at least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. It’s a promise to have and to hold, to be loyal, etc and so forth. One of the most prominent issues with this, for a Pokémorph, is that it is extremely common to be shunted without warning from dimension to dimension. So if we tried to strike up the kind of relationship one would find in a healthy marriage, but then suddenly find ourselves in another dimension with little hope of ever seeing that loved one again… it would just cause a lot of pain on both sides,” David answered as he injected the blood into the ports of two of the tubes.

“Then what is Mew to you?” Duskfall asked.

“The closest translation of the word would be ‘Life Mate’. It is a promise that no matter where we go, who we meet, or if we never see each other again, they will always have a piece of our heart and a place in our thoughts. It is also an understanding that a Pokémorph will love again, because being Life Mates isn’t a chain that binds, but a string that connects us all through eternity,” David replied, his words filled with a sort of happy conviction.

“That sounds kinda sweet, when you put it like that,” Duskfall replied, her own thoughts turning to romance. Now that she didn’t have a guillotine hanging over her head, might not she find her own love? Her thoughts turned to a certain Pegasus.

“I’ve had a lot of time and reason to think on it. I’ve also been told I can get a bit flowery when the mood strikes me. I’m just eternally grateful I’m in a position that allows me to stay in pretty regular contact with Mew in particular. It’s rare we don’t see each other at least a few times a millennia. She is the oldest of my living Life Mates, both in terms of age and how long we’ve been together,”

*I heard that crack about my age!* Suddenly a telepathic voice cut in and Mew appeared.

“You were supposed to,” David replied cheekily while not looking away from the computer screen he was working on. Mew responded by whacking him upside the head with her tail, “I’m working here!” He protested.

*If you’re working so hard, then you wouldn’t have time to comment on a woman’s age,* Mew replied primly, floating over to Duskfall, *I heard someone needs cuddles?*

“Er, this isn’t rude or anything is it?” Duskfall asked hesitantly, her face betraying her sense of wonder at seeing the adorable pink pokémon.

*Of course not! This is completely consensual cuddling. Besides, you were afraid you were going to die because someone neglected to mention this procedure would include absolutely no danger to you,* Mew shot a sideways glance at David.

“That is completely fair and I take full responsibility for the miscommunication,” David replied just as two fully formed purple Alicorn bodies plunged into the tubes… cloning tubes, to be more specific. Mew floated into Duskfall’s reach and the Alicorn began to cuddle. If anyone had asked Tom what pokémon he would have wanted to interact with, it would have been swampert. Twilight would’ve answered with Eevee, had she known of the option. But for whatever reason, Duskfall was partial to mew and despite it no longer being her dying wish, she was glad for the physical comfort the small legendary provided.

“So, I know why you’re cloning an Alicorn body for Twilight, but why are you making a second for Tom instead of a human male body?” Duskfall asked as Mew playfully nuzzled her head under Duskfall’s chin.

“The long and short of it is a paperwork snafu. Tom ascended in the body of a female Alicorn, so all the paperwork says he’s a female Alicorn, goddess of Magic and Willpower,” David replied, sounding exasperated.

“Paperwork? Can’t you, I don’t know, fix it?” Duskfall asked indignantly.

*We only call it paperwork to make it easier to understand. It’s a frame of reference most people can grasp. The truth of the matter, which you’ll be better able to comprehend once you fully get in touch with your goddesshood, is much more complicated and a lot more fragile,* Mew answered.

“Reality is held together by chewed bubblegum and duct tape. Trying to change something as integral to Reality’s functioning as the status of a god or goddess is delicate at best, disastrous at worst,” David replied apologetically as he continued typing, “As much as this sounds cold, trying to fix something as minor as species and sex would be grossly irresponsible.”

*Fortunately, there are alternatives, once Tom is properly settled into his new existence. Shapeshifting spells, while not perfect, will at least let him use his old form for a majority of the time, should he so choose,* Mew comforted.

“And how long would that take?” Duskfall asked warily, petting Mew from the top of her head down her spine.

“Best guess is about 500 years, but it could be longer or shorter depending on the state of his Soul after I separate you,” David replied. Duskfall bit down on her initial outraged response.

“Is that the best you can do?” She tried hard to keep any accusation out of her voice.

“Souls are delicate business. Souls that have been converted from Mortal into Immortal are even more so. Tom is going to need a stable physical vessel to anchor him for a long time,” David answered softly as he stepped away from the computer and towards the vat with the Hearts.

“Tell it to me straight; is it my fault their Souls are in such a bad state? Did my Insanity hurt them?” Duskfall asked with a notable warble in her voice. She didn’t want to believe it was true, but why else would they be hurt?

*It wasn’t your Insanity, no. It wasn’t even your Darkness. It’s just the fact that they’ve spent so long together that they’ve somewhat ‘forgotten’ how to be apart,* Mew comforted with words and action. It actually did make Duskfall feel better to know that she hadn’t directly hurt them, even if her bout with madness and the resulting exile likely hadn’t helped.

Meanwhile, David popped the top on the vat of Hearts and fished one out. He inspected it closely before holding it out to one of the cloned bodies, the Heart vanishing into it. He then grabbed a second Heart, but was clearly displeased with something about it. David then whistled as if summoning a dog and a Shadow Heartless appeared!

“Share this amongst yourselves,” David instructed as he gave the Heart over to the Heartless. The Heartless seemed to look at the Heart and then back at David.

“Yes, I’m fine; I think I’m just going to have to rebuild this thing from the ground up. This is the third dud Heart it’s created in the last few years, even with the other maintenance I’ve done with it. Thank you for the concern though,” David replied. The Shadow gave him one more look before dissolving into the ground, taking the apparently worthless Heart with it.

“You can talk to Heartless?!” Duskfall exclaimed as David pulled out a third Heart and found it to his liking.

“Only Purebloods and even then the vast majority of them are still hostile. It’s really a generally useless party trick, all considered. It’s much easier to just bend the Heartless to your will, but I tend to enjoy the conversation when I get lonely,” David admitted, a sheepish smile on his face.

“And people call me crazy,” Duskfall giggled before pulling Mew closer. She could never cuddle like this with Owlowiscious and if she tried it with Spike…well that was just a lot of awkwardness waiting to happen. The stuffed animals Fluttershy had gifted her with were nice, but there was nothing quite like holding a living being close.

“Well, in any case, their Bodies, Minds, and Hearts are ready. All we need are the Souls and the Memories to complete the work. Unfortunately, while I can handle the Souls, Memories aren’t my strong suit. It’ll be a few days local time before I can get an expert in here to do the job properly,” David informed her. Duskfall let out a long sigh.

“I’ve waited this long, what’s a few more days?” Duskfall finally replied. It stung, but it would give her more time to play with pokémon before she had to go back to Equuis and face the music.

“Alright, I’ll just get the Souls taken care of and we’ll be done for the moment,” David assured her. He put a finger on her forehead, directly on her ‘third eye’. As he pulled the finger away, two motes of light followed. As what Duskfall guessed were Tom and Twilight’s Souls left her, she suddenly felt very tired.

*You’re fine, Duskfall, you’ll just need a bit of rest and you’ll be feeling back to normal this time tomorrow, I promise,* Mew said, picking up on Duskfall’s weariness and the spike of fear that came with it.

“If you say so…” Duskfall then yawned, “I’m just…I’m gonna…sleep now…” Duskfall curled up with Mew and fell asleep.

“Thanks for coming on so little notice,” Duskfall heard David say. Duskfall guessed the Memory expert was finally here.

“Don’t mention it, I’m always happy to help,” Replied a feminine voice that Duskfall was sure she recognized. Sure enough, as Duskfall rounded the corner, she was face to face with someone who could only be Naminé. This Naminé was much older, looking to be in her mid 30s, but unmistakable as the Memory Witch of Castle Oblivion. She was even wearing her classic one piece white dress.

“Duskfall, Naminé, Naminé, Duskfall,” David said by way of introducing the two to each other.

“Pleased to meet you, Duskfall,” Naminé said politely, with a small curtsey. Death had said all of Creation would know about Equestria. Duskfall supposed this was her wakeup call that things were about to get very interesting on Equuis.

“Pleased to meet you as well, Naminé,” Duskfall replied with barely contained excitement.

“Well, let’s get started putting those memories back where they belong,” David said as he opened the lab and the trio stepped in.

“Oh, speaking of Memories, are you sure you’ll be able to handle my more…extreme memories?” Duskfall asked with worry. She didn’t want to break Naminé with her Insanity fueled memories, after all.

“Your concern is appreciated, but unneeded. Not to sound like I’m bragging, but I am a Level 5 Memory Witch, I’m one of the best at what I do in all Creation,” Naminé replied. Something about hearing the quiet self-confidence from Naminé as she sat was immensely comforting to Duskfall.

“This isn’t going to take a whole year, is it?” Duskfall questioned as she sat back on the medical table.

“We should be done in an hour or two. You’ll be talking with Tom and Twilight soon,” Naminé promised and they got to work. When all was said and done, Duskfall felt it was surprisingly painless. Naminé did most of the heavy lifting, sifting through memories and determining who owned what.

Then came the discussion of what should be done with Duskfall’s memoires. Naturally, Duskfall wanted to keep her dirty secrets just that, secrets. Unfortunately, both David and Naminé insisted that some memories had to be passed on for the sake of stability. Fortunately Duskfall was able to convince them both to keep her 350 year long exile out of Tom and Twilight’s memories.

Once they were done, the liquid emptied out of the tubes and they opened. David lifted them both out telekinetically while also summoning towels to dry them off. As they were being toweled off, the pair began to stir.

“Oh, my head…what happened?” Given her voice was slightly higher than Duskfall’s own, Duskfall assumed that one was Twilight. She sounded disturbingly similar to Harley Quinn, minus the played up Brooklyn accent.

“Last thing I remember is Tirek threatening the others,” Said probably Tom, given the voice was slightly lower. He sounded almost identical to Raven of Teen Titans. The pair slowly opened their eyes. Sure enough, the one with higher pitch had Twilight’s purple eyes and the Raven sound alike had Tom’s green. Duskfall couldn’t hold herself back.

“YOU’RE ALIVE! You’re alive! Oh my God, you’re alive!” She cried as she jumped at the pair and wrapped them in a bone crushing hug.

“Duskfall! Need! Air!” Twilight gasped. Duskfall loosened her death grip on the pair, but not by much.

“What the heck is going on? Where are we? How did we get separated? Why do we know your name?” Tom asked in bewilderment.

“Try poking around your memories a little more, sometimes it takes a few minutes for them to settle fully,” Naminé suggested, drawing attention to her. Tom and Twilight gaped at her for a moment.

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Tom?”

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“If you’re seeing a blonde woman who bears a striking resemblance to an older version of one of your video game characters, then yes,” Twilight replied. Naminé just giggled in response.

“That isn’t an uncommon reaction. But I can assure you I’m the real Naminé, or at least, a real Naminé. The multiverse is a big place, after all,” Naminé told them with a gentle smile.

“I can vouch for her; she’s even managed to touch my memories, which shouldn’t be possible,” David spoke up before approaching the pair of freshly cloned Alicorns.

“But only when you let me,” Naminé countered modestly, clasping her hands in front of her.

“This is still impressive because I can’t even Obliviate myself and heaven knows there have been plenty of times I wished I could,” David clarified for the group as he pulled out that phone device and started scanning Tom and Twilight.

“So why do Tom and Twilight sound different?” Duskfall asked curiously as she continued to hug her originals, who were still in a state of mild shock.

“As amusing as it would have been to make you all identical, I didn’t want to make your lives more difficult than it needed to be for the sake of a joke. I modified the genetics a bit to lower Tom’s voice and raise Twilight’s. Unfortunately, that and the eyes were about all I could get away with,” David apologized as he continued his scan. What he was looking for, Duskfall didn’t know, but it seemed the results were good thus far. Suddenly Twilight choked on air.

“Twilight?!” Duskfall asked in concern. Was something wrong with her?! Had the cloning process glitched?! Fear gripped Duskfall’s Heart once more.

“Duskfall…why do I remember you doing the dirty with an alternate version of me?” Twilight asked hesitantly, her face turning red. Tom looked shocked before his face too became red.

“That did happen, didn’t it?” Duskfall felt like a child who was just caught in the cookie jar. She also couldn’t bring herself to regret what she had done.

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?!” Twilight, stamped her hoof in frustration. This was Insanity! Twilight had no idea how to handle this.

“That version of you was a pretty good lay?” Duskfall said, being purposefully unhelpful. Maybe it was her Insanity talking, but Duskfall felt she had always expressed herself best through Song and Sex. She refused to be ashamed of that part of her.

“I can’t be the only one here who thinks this is wrong!” Twilight polled the room. She sounded on the verge of a classic Twilight freak out. Duskfall wanted to hug her to try and calm her down, but given the subject matter, that was almost certainly going to be taken the wrong way.

“I’m still processing all of this…ask again in 10…15 minutes,” Tom replied, his eyes unfocused as he tried to take in the totality of the memories they had gotten from Duskfall. Twilight turned to David.

“You are asking someone from the wrong species to find incest morally objectionable. Incest taboos are a byproduct of the genetic instability that comes from inbreeding. That’s not an issue for us; otherwise we would’ve gone extinct a long time ago. Even still my species is counted in the millions. And how do you think the human race propagated? Adam and Eve had two sons. Even if you claim Adam and Eve doing it wasn’t incest, given Eve was created from Adam’s rib, there’s still the issue of the next generation. Either they had an unnamed daughter or, well, you get the picture,” David pointed out, adding even more existential horror to Tom’s current healthy dose of it.

“I’m afraid I don’t have a leg to stand on either. I was made from Sora and Kairi. Technically that would make me their daughter and I had a pretty bad crush on Sora once upon a time,” Naminé shrugged helplessly. Twilight blew a gasket.

“I AM SURROUNDED BY CRAZY PEOPLE!” She yelled, her mane and tail exploding into flame.

“Duskfall is the Alicorn of Insanity,” Tom noted after Twilight literally burned herself out. Twilight just muttered darkly under her breath.

“Sounds like the three of you are going to need to have a nice, long talk about a lot of thorny subjects. Unfortunately, I need to get you three back to Equuis ASAP. Lady Time is an impatient woman and I doubt she’d appreciate being held up for your heart to heart. Since Tom and Twilight both have a clean bill of health, I can’t justify keeping you here any longer. So I’ll just go fetch my companion and we’ll be off,” David informed them and walked out of the lab.

“Companion?” Duskfall asked. She had noticed David had a habit of being choosing what words he used when deliberately. Especially when he had used similar words in the past…a companion would imply a long and trusting bond. It could also be defined as a long term sexual partner that they weren’t married to. But he had also used the word mate to describe people he cared about and had had sexual relations with.

“There is only one being in all creation David would refer to as ‘companion’. His most trusted friend and loyal partner. They’ve known each other longer than even Mew has known David,” Naminé replied, savoring the buildup of the reveal.

“Tell us, woman!” Duskfall exclaimed, unable to take the suspense.

“His very first pokémon, a pikachu nicknamed Pikablue, for his family’s unique blue eyes,” Naminé told them, a smile playing across her lips.

“A pikachu? How is he still alive? David said he’s 17 million years old and I might buy Mew living that long, but certainly not a pikachu!” Duskfall protested and Tom was voicing his own disbelief.

“There’s a certain ritual that can bind the Life Force of a Pokémorph and a pokémon. So long as I live, barring the complete incineration of Pikablue’s body, Pikablue too shall live. Unfortunately, it only works between a Pokémorph and a pokémon and even then only those that trust each other absolutely. It has tried and failed to be adapted many times,” David answered, leaning in the doorframe with a blue eyed pikachu perched on his other shoulder. He then hopped off to stand before them.

“I am the pikachu who walks through the ages! My clan is that which gave birth to the first Alolan Raichu! Know my power and tremble in fear!” The electric mouse pokémon then cackled manically.

“Why are you like this?” David pretended to groan, but his snickering was too obvious.

“They do say pets take after their masters,” Naminé noted with a look of pure innocence.

“I’m/He’s not a pet!” They both shouted. To Duskfall, this sounded like a well worn argument.

“Of course, of course, he’s your most faithful companion, how silly of me,” Naminé giggled, “And not at all an emotional support animal~”

“Naminé, you are exceptionally lucky we don’t have time to continue this. Thanks for your help and don’t let the door hit you on your way out,” David growled, but his eyes betrayed his amusement. Naminé walked out of the room, but before she vanished, she pulled down an eyelid and stuck her tongue out at David.

“I swear she gets more impudent every day,” Pikablue huffed, trying to keep his frown from flipping upside down in vain.

“You would know about impudence, wouldn’t you?” David poked his pikachu’s cheek, “Anyway, that’s enough banter for now, let’s get going.”

The trio of purple Alicorns, all deep in thought, followed the pair of aliens. Tom had stumbled upon the memory explaining why he was still a female Alicorn. He didn’t like it, but he had survived like this before and now it truly was his own body. It was tolerable. He glanced at Twilight. It wasn’t hard to guess she was still obsessing over what Duskfall had done in the alternate dimensions, both in bed and otherwise.

Tom, much to his surprise, found he wasn’t too fussed. Sure, he found the sex with the alternate Twilight squicky and he certainly could have lived without the actual memories of the deed, but Duskfall was her own person. The fact she had survived the extraction of himself and Twilight was more than enough proof of that.

The thing that really had Tom’s attention for the moment was the centuries Duskfall had apparently lived that he had no memories for. Why would they leave an intact, if muted, memory of the abominations Duskfall had sent against that version of Tirek but completely remove a whole chunk of memories spanning such a long time? Tom intended to find out.

The group made it to the door of David’s domain, it opened and on the other side was Equuis, the Castle of the Two Sisters. Unfortunately, it was not as Duskfall had left it. The runic array was, of course, seared away into uselessness. That wasn’t the issue. The true issue was the small army of Ponies, Changelings, a Greater Spirit of Chaos, and a Greater Spirit of Harmony who were there as well.

“I am going to have some serious words with Lady Time later,” David sighed, “Unlimited time my ass.”

Other than David and Pikablue, it seemed time was, in fact, still frozen. The three purple Alicorns took in the sight of their friends and their friends took in the fact that there were now three purple Alicorns.

“Tom..? Twilight..?” Pinkie was the first to speak, her voice filled with a terrible, fragile hope. She took one step closer, then another.

“Hi, Pinkie,” Tom replied softly, his throat constricting with emotion.

“It’s been awhile, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight greeted warmly, tears spilling at the sight of her friend safe and sound. Her sacrifice, no matter how unintentional, was not in vain.

That broke the floodgates. Suddenly all three purple Alicorns were swarmed with people looking to reunite with friends thought lost. No words could hope to convey the overwhelming joy experienced that day. The dead had been restored back to their proper place amongst the living. Unfortunately, even joy such as that could not last forever.

“Tom, Twilight, how did you come back to us?” Celestia asked as the jubilation died down.

“And does it have anything to do with our barrier shattering like so much glass?” Discord inquired, his body wrapped around the group like an overlong snake.

“Ask that guy over there,” Twilight pointed to David, “He’s the one who made us our new bodies and extracted our Souls from Duskfall.”

“Don’t give me all the credit. I wouldn’t have been able to do a thing had Duskfall not taken that first, suicidally idiotic step,” David deflected the conversation onto Duskfall for the time being.

“For a long time now, I’ve been intending to summon some sort of god of Death to break me back into Tom and Twilight. I chose the Winter Solstice since I didn’t know when the Equestrian version of Samhain was. Only instead of a god, I wound up catching the attention of Death himself. He then called forth David to restore Tom and Twilight as well as help clean up my mess,” Duskfall confessed. She felt bad for the secrets and deception, but seeing the end results, she couldn’t bring herself to regret her actions.

“You intended to die then..?” Luna’s voice was glacial, but a sliver of hurt still came through loud and clear.

“Luna, stop, I know what you’re going to say and-”

“How is this any different from my Tantabus?” Luna’s whispered words pierced Duskfall’s heart. Still, she fought on.

“My suffering had purpose! I intended to give myself for two who deserved life so much more than I ever did!” Duskfall snapped.

“Is that really how you’ve felt this whole time?” Moon Dancer asked, her own voice pained and her face trembling with sorrow.

“This is different! Your parents didn’t die to give birth to you! They had a choice! A choice to meet! A choice to get together! A choice to get married! A choice to have sex! A choice to carry you to term! But Tom and Twilight NEVER HAD A CHOICE!” Duskfall screamed.

“Duskfall Sparkle you are not a rape baby,” David suddenly spoke up, his words like icy water splashed on them all. Duskfall in particular reeled as if slapped.

“But- Tirek… Twilight and Tom…they didn’t have a choice…” Duskfall couldn’t finish her words for her sobbing.

“‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’.” David quoted.

“John 15:13,” Tom noted, surprised for a moment but then realized he shouldn’t have been. 17 million years would have been a long time to not hear about one of Earth’s most famous books.

“You may have been born of rage, Duskfall, but that rage was in turn born of a love for friends. Was the sacrifice unintentional? Yes, it was. Would they do it again, known for certainty that this time there would be no going back?” David asked, looking at Tom and Twilight.

“Of course,” Tom answered instantly. He still remembered his promise to Shining Armor. Now that he and Twilight were separate, he may no longer be bound by the letter of it, but he fully intended to continue following it in spirit.

“Obviously we hope it never comes to that, but if it does, then I would be willing to die for my friends,” Twilight responded, standing firm in her resolve. It was too much for Duskfall. She drunkenly stumbled over to Tom and Twilight, pulled them in close, and cried her heart out. It didn’t take long for a chain reaction to start and soon there was a weeping dog pile.

“You know, there’s nothing stopping you from joining in,” Pikablue said mildly, easily able to read his trainer and friend after so long. David shook his head.

“It is far too soon for me to have a place in this picture. No matter how much I would like to be there comforting Duskfall with them, I am still an interloper, I would be an intruder. You know this as well as I do,” David rebuked gently. Thus, they stood quietly by as the group cried themselves out. In time, the group dissipated and with no new drama to keep them distracted, attention turned to the alien.

“We thank you for returning two of our number to us, but who are you?” Celestia asked of David as she resumed the demeanor of a ruler, even if the tear tracks on her face somewhat ruined the image.

“He’s one of Death’s, as evident by his power and what Duskfall has said,” Discord observed, a pair of binoculars over his eyes.

“Allow me to introduce myself as properly as I can in a reasonable amount of time. I am David Thomas, Lieutenant of Lord Death, Head of the 13th Clan of the Galifonian People, Master of the Keyblade, and a whole host of less salient titles I have collected over the 17 million years of my life. It is by my Patron Concept’s orders that I restored Tom Williams and Twilight Sparkle. It is also by his orders that I prepare Equuis as a whole for the imminent storm that Duskfall’s shattering of the barrier will bring upon you,” David was the perfect picture of formality, standing at attention and opening his introduction with a bow.

“What is this storm you speak of?” Luna asked, concern on her face and in her tone.

“When Duskfall shattered the barrier, it announced Equuis’ location to almost all Creation. Anyone with the ability and a speck of curiosity will be on your doorstep soon enough. Beings of all shapes, sizes, languages, creeds, and more will come. Thus, until you are able to defend yourselves from those who wish you harm and stand on even footing with those who would be ally, Equuis will be my home,” David explained. Could he have done it more concisely, more bluntly? Certainly, but in situations like this, he felt a little pomp and circumstance was called for.

“I see…if what you say is true, then all the leaders of Equuis must convene to decide how to deal with this. How much time would you say we have?” Celestia asked. Her face was rigid and her stance was tight, both ears facing forward.

“If we’re lucky, we have three days tops. If we’re not, we might have four hours minimum,” David answered promptly. Celestia let out a long sigh at that response.

“In either event, there is no time to gather us all before the first arrivals. Mr. Thomas, it seems regardless of what happens in the future, we must rely upon you for our safety for now,” Celestia finally said, with Luna nodding in agreement.

“Well, that’s what I was sent here to do in the first place. I have no intention of shirking my duties until they are complete,” David’s stuffy demeanor broke as he gave the sisters a small, comforting smile, “We’re all gonna be alright, you have my word.”

“We thank you for all you have done and all you will do,” Luna replied respectfully.

“It’s my pleasure, now, if you’ll all excuse me, I need to start setting up a home base. Is there any place you’d prefer I set up? Because while I usually set up shop about a klick north outside of Ponyville, given the more militaristic and diplomatic bent of my mission here, if you want me someplace else, I can be flexible,” David inquired. Celestia and Luna thought it over.

“It’s probably best you do keep close to Ponyville. That town is a hotbed for trouble and I’m sure it’ll only get worse,” Celestia answered hesitantly. If this was the strength of their defender, then what was the power of their adversaries?

“Thank you, that’ll also let me be better able to keep an eye on Duskfall,” David remarked and Duskfall groaned. He grew a smirk as he elaborated, “The Boss wasn’t happy with Duskfall’s little stunt so I’m babysitting her for the foreseeable future.”

With plans made, the group started the trek out of the Everfree and back to Ponyville.

“If you think you’re wiggling out of our little chat, missy, you’ve got another thing coming!” Twilight glared at Duskfall. To say Duskfall was unaffected would be a lie, but she was also nowhere near as intimidated as Twilight was probably hoping. Even so, Duskfall agreed that she, Twilight, and Tom needed to talk. Duskfall wished they could have had a moderator, but the only one she’d think of to trust those kinds of secrets would be someone who already knew them and David was likely going to be busy.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mom,” Was Duskfall being petty? Probably. Was Twilight’s shudder of disgust worth it? Definitely.

“Now sweetie, you shouldn’t tease your mother like that,” Tom’s voice was remarkably even for how much of a shit eating grin he was wearing while he said that. Their back and forth was eliciting some giggles from those gathered.

“You two are impossible!” Twilight cried, looking skyward for comfort.

“But at least we’re impossible together, right?” Duskfall said as she nudged up against one of her originals.

“Oh, I suppose. But I have my eyes on you, missy!” Twilight growled, but this time it was more playful. Duskfall rolled her eyes.

“You have sex with a look alike one time and you’re marked for life. Relax, Twi, I try and limit my partners to the consensual kind. You have the memory of how it blew up in my face last time I did otherwise,” Duskfall noted as the group continued walking.

“I’d like to think I’m a rather pretty explosion,” Lightning snarked from her position in the air.

“Maybe I’m hearing this wrong, but that almost sounds like you’re saying your Rainboom looks better than my Rainboom,” Rainbow noted as she shot her fellow Pegasus a challenging smirk.

“I guess we’ll just have to do a side by side comparison, won’t we?” Lightning replied and the two Pegasai took off for higher elevations.

“Will those two ever learn?” Rarity sighed fondly as Rainbooms quickly cracked the sky.

“I do not believe it is in either of their natures to turn down a chance to show off. Just as I do not believe it is possible for me to go on any longer. Carry me, Duskfall,” With no further warning, the pipsqueak Alicorn teleported herself onto Duskfall’s back.

“The millennium old Greater Spirit of Harmony is a needy, clingy child. Duly noted,” Duskfall teased as she adjusted herself to better carry the new weight.

“It is your fault I am like this, Duskfall Sparkle. You have left without warning one too many times. I will stick to you like glue until I am satisfied you will no longer leave us,” Harmonia replied petulantly, her face a perfectly childish pout.

“And I’ll be assisting you in that endeavor. Duskfall is clearly a trouble magnet and needs to be minded for her on protection,” David got in on the ribbing, an easy smile on his face.

“So sayeth the King of Trouble Magnets,” Pikablue couldn’t resist getting his own jabs in when the chance arose.

“Um, would it be OK if I..?” Fluttershy trailed off hopefully, having been gazing longingly at the pikachu ever since she had assured herself that Tom and Twilight were indeed really there.

“I’ll do you one better. I have a whole menagerie of pokémon for your perusal, should you so desire,” David offered, knowing full well offering something like this to someone like Fluttershy was like offering crack cocaine to a drug addict.

“And I don’t mind the extra attention either,” Pikablue assured. With an eager squeal, Fluttershy snatched up Pikablue and began gushing about how adorable he was. Naturally the lagomorph adored the praise heaped upon him.

The group traded banter and just generally talked all the way to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Once they were clear of it, Celestia preformed her duty of raising the sun. Just as it was a dawn of a new day, so too was it a dawn of a new chapter in their lives. Where the night before a single, shattered soul walked into the Everfree, now friends old and new exited. There was no telling what lied ahead, but they would be able to face it so long as they were standing united.

Author's Note

Thus ends Book 2. I honestly expected this chapter to be a lot longer than it was, but then I realized about 3,000 words of it were just info dumps I could save to sprinkle about in Book 3 and then another couple of thousand words that had no business being anywhere but Book 3 to begin with.

Throwing subtlety out the window for a second, Book 3 is currently being planned with a title of Standing United! I'm not sure when I'll start writing it. As with Book 1, there will be some post book snippets and bonus scenes.

I hope I've made it clear enough in the past that the Multiverse will come knocking on Equuis' door sooner or later. I just didn't specify how violent that knock would be. I mean, I'd like to think I was pretty blatantly arming Chekov's Gun when Harmonia mentioned that she knew Nanoha way back when.

Which leads us to who I'm afraid will be a controversial character: David. He is my original OC from way back when I was 10 and didn't have the first clue on how to properly devise an alien species and culture and whatnot. I'd still say, 15 years later, I don't have the first clue on any of those things, but I've gotten better at pretending I do, at least.

Anyway, given the role he's slated to play, he's going to be showing up a lot. The story will primarily be around Duskfall, Twilight, and Tom and how they deal with issues at home, abroad, and extraterrestrial. I just hope I can keep him at 'wise, reliable mentor with a silly side' and not 'overbearing presence that smothers the main cast'. There are certain things about his experiences and culture that will influence how he gives advice and what advice he gives. Telling this exposition without being clunky will probably be my greatest challenge of Book 3.

In other news, for those of you who thought Duskfall banging the NMM dimension's Twilight was going to be without consequence... THINK AGAIN! For my own personal opinions, incest is a no-no only insofar as doing so might hurt the offspring and as I've made clear before, anything that intentionally hurts children is on my shit list. Otherwise, while I might find it strange and mildly disturbing, I'm not here to judge who you find attractive. Fun Fact: Moses was an incest baby.

Also, also, I was reasonably proud of the scene with Luna calling out Duskfall. Especially since it reveals a key point of Duskfall's whole tangled mentality. She's always seen herself as the unwanted child of two people who were forcefully assaulted. Naturally it isn't a one to one comparison, but it was close enough in Duskfall's mind that it ate away at her subconsciously.

My closing thoughts overall will be posted in a blog post sooner or later. Some time before I begin work on Book 3 at least. Until then, I thank you all so much for sticking with me through thick and thin. Mere words can't describe how grateful I am to have built such a loyal fanbase. I love reading the comments and seeing faces both old and new.

Well, I've rambled here long enough. Until we meet again in the snippets, this is The Dimension Traveler, signing out.