Everywhere and Nowhere

“We have finished with the preparations,” announced Lord Grimmwald as he, Twilight, and Oona walked over towards Beatrix and Flurry Heart. The young alicorn leaped off the window ledge to fly into her aunt’s arms, excitement glittering her eyes.

Beatrix exclaimed, “You guys missed an amazing fight!!”

“Oh really?” The purple alicorn questioned. “Has the threat been neutralized?”

Beatrix turned to her lover and nodded with a reassuring smile. “Come see for yourself~!”

Everyone gathered by the windows, watching everyone clean up after the impressive battle. Dion and Shadow Scythe helped the paladins remove the debris while Rheneas and Cerise assisted the injured. Midnight and Zeloph worked together in restoring rooftops with the aid of flight. Whatever prejudice the citizens of Canterlot showed had all but been washed away, thankful for the heroes rescuing them from the Vice Lord’s mind tricks.

“Things were looking very ugly until Zeloph finally had his glow up,” noted Beatrix, who admittedly felt a tang of panic over the demi-human’s resurgence. But seeing him and the reaper looking genuinely happy together while engaging the townsfolk helped ease those worries.

Two of her biggest adversaries had finally turned over a new leaf. And she couldn’t be more ecstatic to call them friends! “With Doppia gone and Cerise back in her own body, things might be looking up at last!”

A loud rumbling overtops challenged the witch’s statement. Despite everyone’s efforts, nothing could keep the skies from splitting apart. The fissure had grown larger, hints of the cosmic realm peaking through the rends.

The dream faun momentarily fizzled out of existence, losing her footing and falling into Beatrix’s arms. “H-hang in there, Oona!”

“A-A’m tryin’,” she weakly assured.

“We must open the portal,” the minotaur said. “Quickly now! Not a moment to lose!”

With haste, the witch helped her wooly lover down the corridor until she could walk on her own again. The group hurried before reaching the throne room, where the heart-like beating of the life-bearing tree pulsated throughout the room. Before the throne was the ceremonial circle, tiny fractions of the crystal heart laid scattered around to resemble a clock’s face. All that was left was the source of dark energy combined with pure alicorn blood.

Brutus stood before the ritual, declaring, “It all comes down to this. Abadonna’s fate… The fate of life itself! They rest in your hands, Belladonna.”

“I’m ready,” replied Beatrix, who sucked in a deep breath and summoned her Onoma to support her. She briefly glanced back at the palace entrance. Everyone had endured so much for her to reach this point. Yet, everything felt different now from when they began. And now, in one final ritual, Beatrix’s journey, her promise, would be fulfilled.

Flurry accepted a knife from Twilight and winced when she sliced into her palm. The thin line of red bled steadily. Then, holding out her palm, she allowed scarlet droplets to dribble over the center, staining the shard.

Instantly, temporal radiance arose from the infused piece as the air before them twisted.

“Now, Ceann Oga!” Oona softly urged.

Beatrix concentrated her energy to strike at the inner circle; the massive archaic power waved through the shattered crystals. Slowly, they lifted into the air, spiraling faster and faster until a pillar of magic burst through the castle roof. The energy chimed upon reaching the atmosphere, waves pulsing out in rheumatic succession. The ripples caused the shattering dimension to halt. Beatrix held onto her hat as wind and sound flurried out from the cosmic portal, hearing a melodic tick echo around her.

“W-whoa… it’s so beautiful!” She exclaimed, her voice nearly drowned out.

Flurry tugged at her half-sister’s arm, wrapping a banged around her hand. “I wish we could have hung out a little longer…” She shouted.

Smiling sadly, the witch knelt and held the alicorn by her shoulders. “We’ll have more time when this is over. There’s so much I want to know about you!”

“Spare your goodbyes!” Brutus urged, watching as the rift started to shrink. “You have to go!!”

Pulling Flurry Heart into a short hug, Beatrix gazes back into the temporal gate. Her heart was beating erratically, wondering how she would help her daughter’s fragile state. From what the violet mare saw from the Nightmare Stag, Abby blamed her heavily. And deep down, she accepted it to be true.

While she never visibly showed it, Tatyana’s words flooded her mind with doubts. How many more worlds and lives would she unwillingly change just due to her anomalous nature?

Would Beatrix have been better off never forging any bonds with anyone? With her original purpose fated by the Necronomicon gone, was she meant to live her immortal life alone..?

The violet mare’s fears fled when a hand wrapped over her own. She looked into the warm honey-brown eyes and determined smile of Oona, who proclaimed once more, “A’m wit ye tae th’ end!”

“Thank you,” replied the teary-eyed witch, who squeezed tightly. “So long as I have the woman I love, my daughter, and my friends, I’ll always be able to find my way home!”

With nothing left to lose, the pair jumped into the time portal, disappearing into the arcane pillar as it collapsed on itself. Almost all of Equestria’s inhabitants viewed the phenomenon. From the cold conditions of the Crystal Empire to even distant shores that lead into unknown seas.

Everyone outside paused to stare in awe at the spectacle. Dion, Midnight, Cerise, Shadow Scythe, Zeloph, Rheneas, and all the people Beatrix and Oona had come across who knew of their quest, spiritually offering the pair their best wishes.

It was as if no time had passed when the couple appeared on the other side. One second, Beatrix and Lady Ewe were in Canterlot. The next, this mysterious new realm where billions of stars and cosmic essence decorated the blackness of space. Beatrix looked around to behold the breath-taking sight.

But her eyes widened most of all at the fabled library lost to time. Or… what remained of it.

Instead of the clockwork monument filled with books and passages like she’d envisioned, the witch instead gazed upon the distorted ruins of Enock’s home. Cogs, shattered glass, stone statues, and still ticking clocks orbited around the crumbling establishment.

Beatrix curiously grabbed one book to look at its pages, only to find writing rescrambling and glitching on itself. “Ohh, Abby…” She lamented, dreading the thought of fighting her daughter to undo this mess.

Oona released another pained gasp, collapsing as her entire body frizzled, static highlighting her delicate features. But the moment the violet unicorn got within a radius of her beloved, she found herself back where she started.

“H-huh? What the-!? No!!”

She tried again, only for the same effect to happen twice. Then thrice. Yet no matter how many times Beatrix tried, she always found herself back in her original position. “S-stop this!”

“I-it’s a time loop, Ceann Oga,” weakly brayed Lady Ewe, holding over her stomach while taking deep breaths. “Ye can’t brute force yer way out ov it!”

“I did not come all this way just to be beaten by some stupid trick!” Beatrix groaned in frustration, stamping her heeled boot on the rocky surface.

“Then you came for nothing,” a faint voice echoed, causing the mare to stop together.

Her head turned to at long last find the Child of Lightendark, floating alongside the legendary Curator of Time. And, just as her nightmare had prophesied, her daughter held a scornful expression. The celestial owl-griff was altered to her monochrome pallet, acting more a bestial pet than the wise spirit the mystics portrayed them.

“Because soon, there won’t be anything..!”

“Abby,” Beatrix openly wept, falling to her knees. “We don’t have to do this! I’m here now, I-I didn’t abandon you!”

“Oh, but you have, mother,” dejected the distorting filly. “You abandoned me the moment you tried erasing my existence!”

“No, that’s not true!” She protested. “We’re trying to help you! I-I know I’ve been careless, but-”

The child laughed dryly. “That’s the understatement of the century! You who have recklessly left a swath of destruction wherever you travel! Don’t try and deny it, mother. I’m a part of those results!”

“That may be true,” added Oona, who met her gaze while pressing her weight onto her staff. “But we’ve saved many lives too! We only want tae save yers… Please, Mo Leanabh!”

“I am not your baby!!” Abadonna shrieked, sneering at the shaman’s belly. “You’re just as bad, trying to make amends for your mistakes by giving yourself to a monster!”

“We’re far from perfect, Abby,” admitted Beatrix, who stood and folded her arms. “But we didn’t come here to fight. No matter what happens between us, even if you hate me. You are my daughter! And you will always be my daughter! So please…”

The witch opened her arms up towards her child, pleading from the bottom of her heart, tear-stricken. “... come home with us!”

There was a brief pause in the monochrome mare, her eyes filled with tears, wanting to believe her future parents. But she shook it off and turned her back, muttering, “It’s too late. There’s nothing back there to call home…”

The Child of Lightendark began to venture into the scattered remains of the library while Enock spread their massive wings and crept towards the two, blocking Beatrix’s way.

“Damnit, Abby, stop!!” demanded the violet unicorn, freeing her Onoma and launching over the spirit. But her motion came to a sudden halt, Enock channeling temporal magic to freeze time around her. Then, with a twist of their claws, Beatrix blinked back to her jumping point, where the owl-griff swooped down and raked outstretched talons into the mare’s shoulder. She yelled as a bloody strip of skin tore free.

“Beatrix!” cried Oona, swinging her dreamcatcher staff to launch a misty wave to bat the celestial back. Then, clutching her torn shoulder, she unleashed her spells at Enock. But the projectiles slowed to a stop before they flipped them around and returned the witch’s casts at a faster pace.

Beatrix barely had time to erect a barrier as one bolt struck through, zapping the witch. “Guugh! They are one tough owl!!” She yelled, her mane fizzled in places, singe marks staining her coat. She couldn’t help her pride in Abby’s skill.

“Enock processes one ov th’ most powerful Onomas, called Khronos,” explained Oona, who also wasn’t fairing well from the more frequent glitching. “Wit it, time is theirs tae command on a whim.”

The owl griff let out a loud screech, conjuring portals to try and suck the couple out of the realm. Using Erebus to lasso a floating statue, Beatrix tugged Oona away from the time rift as the owl followed, flapping their majestic wings.

“There’s gotta be a weakness, isn’t there!?”

“A’m afraid not,” Lady Ewe said, shaking her head. “No matter how fast we attack or how much we stall, we can not hope tae match their power!”

“So they’ll just toy with us while Abby destroys reality,” noted Beatrix, who watched her daughter steadily approach a cliff. And there, to her dismay, stood the prophetic doomsday clock, made from brimstone and fire, floating aimlessly. The Child of Lightendark struggled to conjure her powers, trying to change its course towards herself.

“No, worse. We’ll go through this pointless battle over an’ over fur th’ rest ov eternity.”

Enock looped them right back when he sank his claws into Beatrix as if to demonstrate this ability. The witch shrilly screamed anew once the owl-griff ripped the same hunk of raw flesh from her shoulder in a bloody spray.

“I-It is fu-u-utile, Belladonna,” the curator managed to say. “O-our end is i̸̷͢n̢͠e̵̡-͜͏į̷ņ͠͡e̢̛-̸͠i̴n̛͡evi͜t̴̀a̧̢͝b͡l͏̢̡ȩ͡-͢b̕͝ĺ͞é̵͟..!”

Beatrix winced and cradled her wound. “Like hell it is! I wouldn’t be here if not for my friends. My lover! I don’t care how powerful you are, Enock! I’m taking my daughter home!”

The witch continued to hold her ground, allowing the Demiurge inside her to unleash its unlimited potential. Before the great owl-griff could manipulate time, she altered the space around them, warping it into tendrils to secure Enock’s limbs, legs, and wings. The celestial screamed, struggling to break loose of their spacial bonds, when a wounded and battered Beatrix turned to her lover and shouted, “Now! Hurry!!”

With what strength she could muster, Oona conjured her own Onoma, her horns brightly blue. A bubble formed around Enock before bursting into dust, managing to knock the immense spirit out for a few minutes.

Abby fell to her knees, screaming as her control over Enock released, the curator of Time slowly regaining saturation while they slept.

“Hold on, Abby! I’m coming!!” Beatrix proclaimed, rushing past the sleeping owl-griff into the field of stone, clocks, and drifting books.

“B-Beatrix, wait-t-t!” Oona called after but stumbled down. The pain contorted her shape, making it difficult for her to breathe. “Aaagh! There must be a way tae get through tae her..!”

“O-Oona…” The Curator of Time murmured, their eyes opening slightly. Grunting, the sheep sage crawled over to the tired owl-griff, their starlight body dimly lighting up.

With wet eyes, she whimpered, “O-Oh, Enock… A’m sae sorry aboot all ov this.”

"Do not despair, Dream Faun. It is not your fault-"

“But it is!” insisted Lady Ewe, who held her hefty bosom. “Had Ah been stronger, wiser, none ov this wouldn’t hav-”

“No…” They reaffirmed. “I am the one at fault. Instead of believing in your cause, I selfishly sought to spare all existence from the Burning King’s wrath. Yet instead, I heralded his return by allowing Abadonna’s fragile state to continue. A poor oversight on my part, to believe everything can be dictated or controlled.”

Lifting their head slightly, Enock requested, “You must go; help your lover. Save your child!”

Tears poured down her face when the azure sheep bawled, “Ah am a horrible teacher! Ah do not deserve tae be her mother! A’m not a warrior like mah brother, nor a powerful caster like Beatrix! How could Ah possibly raise her?!”

“You are more than what you believe, Oona,” encouraged Enock, a small smile plastered on their beak. “Mistakes are an important part of life’s lessons. Had things have gone differently, you would have followed the path Grogar set out for you. But Instead, you repressed the fae blood floating through your veins to nurture others in need. You are generous, noble, and above all, kind. Gifts that can aspire the Child of Lightendark to prosper with goodness. You are her mother, Oona. You must give Abadonna the future she has longed for.”

Wiping her drenched sleeve, she nodded and replied, “O-okay…” The azure sheep leaned on her staff like a crutch, walking with renewed resolve towards her lover and child. She hated to leave Enock alone, but with so much at stake, she couldn’t afford to let woes weigh her down.

Their words rang clear through her mind when she struggled to pick up the pace, fighting the distortions hampering her physical body. Oona conjured the magic left inside, channeling it through her curved horns until a second pair began to sprout from her wooly head.

“Hang on, mah child,” Oona groaned, her brows furrowed and eyes glimmering with determination. “A’m on mah way!”

Pushing away from the levitating debris, Beatrix finally made it to where her daughter was, Abby, rising on shaking legs. Dispelling her rapier, the witch cautiously approached the weeping filly.

“Abadonna, come on,” the unicorn pleaded once more, thankful the inky darkness flowed over and cooly sealed her wound. “You can’t keep this up! You’re only hurting yourself. Let me help you!”

But once she reached her hand out, a wall glitched in front of the witch, who yelped from the electrical pain jolting her slender arm.

“Go away!!” She demanded, pushing her potential mother with unseen force, her physical form growing more and more unstable.

“No, I’m not leaving you! Not now, not ever!!” The violet mare insisted, rending the distorting barrier apart with the Demiurge.

“Then I’ll force you!” Abadonna spat, her horned appendages glowing while she threw the floating debris at Beatrix, who summoned her own shield to deflect them. But the moment her defenses lowered, glitching copies split apart from her to fly around and fire jolts of disorienting magic.

“A-aaaagh! A-Abby, stop!!”

“Not until you’ve suffered as I have!”

“N-noo, you’re not like that! This isn’t you!! Let mommy help you!”

“S͏̴H̢͢͞-̕͟S̨͘͟͟͠-̵̨̕͢S̕̕͟͞H̷͜͡͝-̵̀̀Ų͜͢T̵̀͞͡ ̴͜Ừ̕P̶̶͢͠-̸̀P̸͟-̶̢̛͟͝P̨̀͟-̨̀̀͞͠P̛͢͡͠!̸̨̢͟!͏͡” Bellowed Abby, whose clones spiraled around to form a distortion tornado until it enclosed her mother. Beatrix collapsed onto the rocky ground, limbs twitching as anti-energy sparked all over her.

While she had recovered from her previous skirmish, Beatrix refused to cast any spell aimed at the Child of Lightendark. She couldn’t. The agony the witch felt wouldn’t compare to the overwhelming trauma of hurting her only daughter. “I-I’m sorry,” she weakly whimpered. “I-I’m so sorry, Abby. F-forgive me…”

“You think forgiveness will make up for the time spent away?! That it’ll make up for all the anguish, I had to endure!?!” Abby conjoined parts of the library into a massive pillar, ready to crush her stricken mother underneath.

“N-noo... Of course not…”

“You want to make it up to me so badly? Then just Ḑ̷͢͠-̸̧͘͠D̷̀͞-̕̕Ḑ̶I͏̧̨̢S̸̀͝A̶̸͝͞P̴̕͜͠͠P͜͡͝E̶̕͢Ą̴̡̕͞R̨͘͟͞!̸̡͡͞!͢͜͡”

Abadonna cried out when she commanded the monolith to fall onto Beatrix, who closed her eyes and accepted her fate, hopeful her death would at least spare the multiverse and all those she had met. But before impact, a blast of mystical light obliterated the collection of building parts. The monochrome filly shifted to focus on Oona Ewe, who walked towards them. “H-huh!?”

Beatrix’s eyes opened in surprise before turning her head and gasping. “Oona!?”

The sheep sage wore a crown of extended horns protruding from her head, her eyes golden shining. Cloud-like wool shimmered white, covering her nude physique. Then, with a gentle, firm voice, she called out, “This has gone far enough, Abadonna.”

The child sneered when she launched a wave of anti-matter. Despite being forced back, Oona continued her approach through the blast, runes glowing off her horns and body. “Ah know ye don’t want tae push us away,” she intoned calmly. “Ah understand ye’re deeply upset.”

“You know N̡̧͟O̴̷̢̢T̴͘͢H̷̷͘͢Ì́N̕͟͡G̸͝!͏!̵̷̨” Abby yelled, firing bolts of distorted beams at the dream faun, who leaped out of range. She fired more projectiles, only for Oona to evade direct hits, jumping closer and closer to their child. “S-s-stay away!!”

“But why?” Questioned Oona, whose hands flared with runic energy, blocking her future daughter’s next round of attacks.

“Because… be-because..?” Abby clutched her head, her magic scattering around her, becoming more and more transparent.

“Because ye want us tae hurt just as much as ye are,” she answered, willing her magic to become stepping stones, each step bringing her closer.

Fearfully, Abby summoned more of the library remains to bridge closer towards the ticking doomsday clock. Beatrix watched from afar, trying with all her might to get up. “Ý̶͢O̵̧̕͝Ų͟͞͏͘ ̴͟͢ÁB̨͘A͢͞͏Ǹ̸̛̛͞D̴̶͢͟͝Ǫ̶̷͡͞N̵͘̕͘͡Ȩ́̕͝͝Ḑ͟͜͟͞ ̷͠Ḿ̨Ę̀͢!̸̧́”

Beatrix cried, “So it’s alright for you to abandon us back? After all, we’ve done to reach you?!”

“Yes! No… I-I mean! You deserve it! After leaving me alone for so lo-lo-long!!” In distress, the monochrome filly erected more glitching walls to distance herself from the pursuing sheep.

“Is this what ye want tae become, Abadonna?” Oona yelled, overwhelming each barricade with a touch to dissolve the distortions. “Angry? Spiteful? Just like the Burning King!?”

“N-nooo! I-I’m not like that! I-I-!”

“In solitude, ye’ve become mean an’ horrible, just like him,” Lady Ewe rebutted, closing the gap with one last bound. They now stood on the rocky area that held the final piece of the Omega Prophecy. She bit her lip. One wrong move now, and it would all be over! “You have tae stop, Mo Leanabh! It doesn’t have tae end like this!”

“Yes, it does!” She wailed as unstable energy pulsated off her incorporeal vessel. “Ev-everything feels so-so awful!!”

“That doesn’t mean you have tae be too!” She took Abadonna’s hand and pulled her into a tight embrace without hesitation. “Give me yer sorrow. Yer anguish. Let me bear all yer pain!!!”

“Ņ͠AA̷͜AÁA̕͝͞A̕A͘͠A͘A̛A͠A̷͜A͏̕͝AA̛AÁA̸H̢̕A̵͘H͟A͘͟͜H̛͝!!̡͡” Abadonna bawled, all the negative energy dispersing around them in an explosion of light and darkness.

“ABBY! OONA!!” Screamed Beatrix, shielding her vision with an arm when the lumination consumed the whole void.

In that brief moment, time didn’t flow, and space was entirely white. Opening her eyes, Beatrix looked around, lost and confused. Then, the sound of gentle weeping pulled her attention towards two silhouettes. With haste, she hovered over to find both her lover and her child cradling each other. Oona brushed her hand through the filly’s black curly mane while she buried her choked sobs into her warm, motherly bosom.

“I’m sorry,” she cried, gripping onto her wool for comfort. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!”

“Shhhh!” Oona soothed gently, resting her head on top of hers. “Let it all out, baby. Mommy’s here…”

“I just felt so horrible. S-so alone… I thought if I ended it all, the pain would stop…”

“Ah know, sweeting. Even now, ye still feel that ugliness inside, yes?” The filly nodded with a sniffle. “Do not fear, my child. That repulsiveness will fade eventually. An’ no matter what happens now, we’ll always be here tae protect ye.”

Turning to her beloved with a smile, she loosened her hold to let Abadonna shift her gaze to her other mother. Then, with watery eyes, she ran up to the violet mare, who dropped and pulled her child close into her own heavy, warm chest.

“Abby~!” Beatrix openly wept in happiness, running her gloved fingers through her wooly head. “I’ve missed you terribly!”

“I missed you too, mommy,” Abby cried, nuzzling into the witch, who opened an arm to bring Oona into the shared embrace. After so much time, the Child of Lightendark at last safe. Her figure shimmered, essence slowly being assimilated into the fae shaman. Abby gazed at her parents with dismay, clinging onto them tightly. “I-I’m still scared,” she confessed. “I-I don’t want to go just yet!”

“Ye’ll be okay,” reassured Oona, who placed her lips over her gold-colored horn. “Yer memories will live on through us.”

“And no matter how you turn out, we will always love you,” promised Beatrix, brushing her fingers through the young mare’s wooly mane. “I can’t wait until you’re born!”

Offering a sad smile, Abadonna closed her eyes and allowed the rest of her energy to be absorbed, vanishing completely. Oona let out a deep sigh, her body feeling warm while she rubbed her bare belly. Her head turned to Beatrix, who couldn’t hide the wide smile. The pair took their arms together and shared a long, passionate kiss, keeping the other close as the void returned to the crater floating through time. Pulling away with a breath, Beatrix exclaimed, “Oh, thank the heavens we did it!”

“Aye,” nodded Lady Ewe, who looked over to where Enock was still recovering. “Come, Ceann Oga. Let us go an-”

But she cut herself out as her ears perked, her eyes dilated when she heard a sound that made her blood run cold.

The sound of a bell chiming.

The couple slowly looked around to see the ominous brimstone clock, fuming with smog and hellish flames. Crimson energy pulsated, growing brighter and more extensive to envelop the area.

“W-what!? No, no, no, NO!!” Beatrix sputtered in disbelief. “We stopped Abby from breaking the seal! Why is it going off!?”

“Abadonna used what remained ov her magic tae undo all th’ distortions she caused,” explained Lady Ewe, whose honey-brown widened with unbridled fear. “But by restorin’ reality, she also undid th’ seals in the process!”

“But then that means--!”

The clock exploded after the final chime, knocking the couple onto their backs. They watched in horror when a wall of flames full of agonized faces screamed forth. The hot beam pierced the star-filled space, igniting the atmosphere with smoke and ash. The books disintegrated instantly, the stone remnants of the library scorched, a brimstone stench left to waft. Raising his battered body, the Curator of Time gazed up at the blazing skies with widened pupils. "Oh no..!"

And out from the closing portal came a terrible sight. Two sharp hooves dug into the rocky surface to pull out a skinless equine creature, whose cycloptic eye fixated on Beatrix and Lady Ewe. Releasing a horrible neigh, he pulled the rest of his body from the infernal pit. The rider with elongated arms and claws protruding atop his back came into view, a crown of fire engulfing his head.

The dreaded Burning King glared down at the two heroes with vicious glee, a rictus grin spreading his skeletal visage as he declared,

“T̶̛ͨͮ̃̀̓͊̒ͭh̢ͩ͌͐͠e̵͆̿ͥ ̇ͥẻ̉̈́͘n̸ͪ̀ͧͫ͆ͣ̎d͆̓͗̋…̸̸͋́ͦ̑̍͋ ͗̀i̷̢̽̈͊̇͊̅̐́̐ŝ̓̂ͪ͋ ̅ͤ̓̌̕h̶͐̌ͯͩͯ͂̉̂͜͜ē̶̃̾̄r̃ͭ̄ȩ̓ͬ͒͝!̡̡ͥ͋͗̀̚”