Chaos Undivided

{Everyone Prepare For Utter Luna-cy! Two weeks ALI}

Damnation!

To think our holes into the Dreamscape could be found and sealed so fast by the matrix, Starswirl really did over-engineer everything. We had seen it First-hand with the Tree of Harmony that kept the Everfree Forest, that the city was built inside, in check, and now with a seal that we had never had to combat before due to having a calmer demeanour in my youth. To think he predicted our ability to transmit our mind into the Dreamscape as a form of escape.

…Well, either that or he added that in to make sure we never risked intruding on what many a pony have dubbed ‘Wet Dreams’.

*shudder*

But now that is working against us. It takes considerable strain to make holes just long enough for a few minutes, and each time we have no real agency in which dreamer we wish to interact with. The best we have managed to do is spread a warning of Sister’s madness to a scattering of ponies without the ability to see if they understood or made use of it.

we would say we were cut off but… that wasn’t entirely true. Ever since encountering that one space in the Dreamscape, we’ve been able to… feel the emanations, the tides of what is known to us as ‘The Warp’ ever since. Even now within this cage we could feel the faint connection between myself and this realm remain open, as if it was outside the understandings and laws of magic.

Truly fitting for a realm the four Gods of Chaos call their home.

A way out could’ve led through that connection, seek them out directly for assistance in talking some sense into Celestia and yet… that first meeting.

*pleasant shudder*

We think now the colour purple will always end up leaving us with underlying sensations of both lust and terror in equal amounts… as if we didn’t already have issues with our feelings of dread when it came to the colour pink.

Wait a minute… how long was I using the Royal ‘we’ in my head?!

“This isolation is getting to me, either I’m trying to use the Royal ‘we’ for some semblance of normalcy, or my mental degradation is making me begin to develop a second personality.”

Please don't be the latter…

In any case, I would only be using the Warp as an absolute last resort. I still had hope for my sister to come to her senses and release me. Even with my own concerns, it would be best not to involve the four, lest Celestia feels justified in her belief of my corruption when she sees me making use of their aid.

But… why would she even believe we are under their thrall? Does she have so little trust in us? Does she think we are not strong enough to—

GAH! I’m doing it again?! What’s causing that?!

{Third Person}

Unseen by the Princess of the Night, a tendril of darkness reeled itself back from underneath the bed. It recognised plenty from the Alicorn’s thoughts, and that is why it hesitated to reveal itself.

The creature once known as a fearsome creature called an Ebon Geist did not survive this long without adapting… although in truth the Former Warp Predator’s intellect could not be attributed naturally. No, much like the God Malaal that it had followed to this delicious planet, it had been changed by the direct exposure to the inherent magical field of Equis. It had become more than its kin, more than the mindless shadow that killed for short-lived feasts, it was now a creature that indulged in the darkness, fed on the essences of night, and that is what had led it here to begin with. It loved the Alicorn of the Moon, a walking banquet of darkness, the living avatar of night itself, and like a drug addict, it only craved more.

It was ready to claim this avatar for itself, and bathe this world in eternal night, a feast that great, that endless, would surely allow it to multiply. It had prepared to possess the mare the moment her defences, her will and self-worth, dropped… but now it must be patient.

Now they were here, and they were already influencing the world. It was intelligent now, and with its intelligence it knew the sloppy possession, while strong enough to overwhelm the One Who Burns, would not be able to oppose them.

And so the Nightmare Force would take it slow, use this seal to claim her in a gentler way, make it and her intertwine on a mutual level and create a bond that is greater than the mere sum of its parts.

It did not hold any complaint on that, it loved the Alicorn of the Moon.

And bit by bit, the Nightmare would make her love it back~.

{Do robots dream of Electric Tzeentch? If so, that sounds awesome!}

This was a nightmare in the making, I’d very much like to wake up now, please. I bet you’re wondering why I had no desire to wake up earlier, when I had arrived with three other versions of myself in the Immaterium overlapping a system full of talking anthropomorphic ponies spouting friendship… or they would in the future with Twilight and her friends… hopefully.

Well the answer was simple, it was only us in this place; No Imperium, no Orks, no All-Consuming swarm of Space Locusts, none of those things followed us here. I had believed that without any other faction chasing us down, and us having the copied mind of our old human life, we could make something good in this peaceful sanctuary sealed from the rest of the universe.

I had hoped to escape the terrors of Only War, and yet War had followed us anyway. It was like the Galaxy itself hated us simply for what we are and ignored the fact that we were trying to prove ourselves better than the four that came before us, desiring only our suffering. And now this innocent world is caught in the crossfire, and I’m not sure we can even return it to the path.

Maybe I should take a quick peek—NO! Control yourself, Tzeentch, down the road of prophecy lies madness.

But… maybe just a glance at the end, not the steps in between… I can’t be tempted to lie if I don’t know what choices I make to set that future in motion.

I set down my work in the Dreamscape and return my awareness to my main body. Carefully, I reach into myself, into the idea of knowledge, of seeking answers. I pull that concept before me, forming a window into time itself… and I ask it one question.

“What happens in Ponyville one thousand years from now? Don’t show me the road, show me only the destination.”

And as it was a part of myself, the window obeyed. The swirling tides of improbability slowed in a matter of seconds, uncertainty became certainty, maybe became yes, and the maelstrom of potential timelines opened to reveal the most likely.

And I saw a happy and bustling town, ponies trotting up and down the street making conversation. I felt a little joy as I watched such a place so close to the Everfree hold no scars of conflict, and looked almost exactly as it did in the show.

I watched with excitement and relief as a studious lavender unicorn made her way out of her Tree-Library-House with a small purple and green scaled child riding on her shoulders that I recognised as a certain baby dragon. It looked like she had a pair of golden tickets poking out of one of her pockets.

I chuckled as I saw that, reminiscing about that episode. While Celestia was a bit of a jackass for trying to pull that on the Neurotic Bookhorse, considering how the Gala was naturally, it’s entirely possible Celestia used the scarcity of the original two tickets to give a big enough draw to Twilight’s friends. They did some crazy stuff just for the chance of getting that ticket, some pseudo-sunk-cost fallacy would easily kick in now that they all had tickets. Even without their motives, after all the stunts they pulled, the idea of not actually going would never cross their minds.

I had to roll my mechanical optics at that, that kind of chessmaster mindset is something I was trying to avoid. If you treat the world like chess, you need to consider someone your pawn, and I have no desire to see someone as less than me. I mean yeah pawns are actually more undirected balls of potential than something inherently weak considering they can become any other piece in the game except a king, and that includes the extremely powerful queen—aaaand now I’m thinking of that one post saying chess was just two harems fighting each other.

Maybe I should make a chess construct based on that and challenge ponies to ‘harem wars’ to mess with them.

I chuckled to myself as I returned to the window, watching Twilight and her friends getting up to their little misadventure. “Such a lovely future they have… hmm, I wonder where me and my siblings are during all this?”

I should not have asked that.

Suddenly, faster than the human eye would be able to track, the window rippled as the view began to move. It registered only a second too late that it was rushing to Canterlot.

I closed my eyes, I shut the window into time and pulled it back in, but the damage was already done. I had seen it, my brothers, my sister…

…the stone.

I…

I have to stop this!

“NO!” I scream, punching myself in the side of my head! “I will not meddle in fate!!”

You have meddled plenty already. The sound of writhing tentacles beneath my metallic hull echoed around me. All we need to do to save our family is—

“I SAID NO!” I roared in defiance, using my will to suppress the temptations, the tendrils. “I am Tzeentch, Lord of Knowledge, Master of Sorcery! I am not the weaver of fate! My family would never want me to save them by losing myself!

If… if we are to be sealed, then it happens, but I will not change who I am because a potential future is not perfect.”

Whatever influence had washed over me faded just as fast, and I all but collapsed on the floating earth that formed beneath me. I had no need of breath and yet I was clearly winded if the sound of my inhales and exhales were any indication.

“Tzeentch!” I heard a voice barely in the haze, and glanced to see a purple figure rushing over to me. “Are you alright?!”

I looked at my sister who knelt down beside me, her demeanour bereft of lewd mischief or childish excitement, all that was there was a strong, unwavering concern for someone she cared about.

Seeing it, seeing that face after such a horrific brush with what I could’ve become… I could only sob as I clutched onto the Goddess as if my life depended on it.

“No… no I’m not.”

{Ethereal Comments}

Tzeentch: …alright, what are you doing?
Slaanesh: Well brother, for a God of Knowledge, it’s shocking to discover you don’t know of a ‘group hug’~.
Tzeentch: I know what a hug is, Slaanesh, why are you hugging me, this was years ago!
Nurgle: It still scares you though, we noticed you tense up at rewatching that.
Tzeentch: Guys, really I’m—
Khorne: Just shut up and accept that we love you, you idiot.
…
Tzeentch: Thanks, guys.
Discord: Ugh, get a room.
Khorne: Must you ruin everything?

{Open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk the Discord-saur!}

There it is, Galloping Gulch City. the idea someone—oh sorry, somepony managed to make a flourishing city that also happened to be Wild West themed is downright hilarious.

I walked slowly into the city, donned in one of my many preacher disguises. It did good to change up the persona a little each time, doing the exact same thing over and over was maddeningly boring. But… needs must, and I need as many ponies boosting Celestia as possible if I want to make her strong enough for the final battle.

Soon enough I found a Saloon, although the building was much larger than your average tavern structure, the nuance and theme was on point. Almost as if it was scripted, the moment I reached door, a pony was kicked out of the building through the iconic louvered doors. “NO BITS! NO BEER! Come back when you can pay your tab, freeloader!”

Sadly it was unlikely the stallion would get the message, seeing as how he was currently unconscious… he’d probably be fine.

Moving on, I walked into the establishment, finding a lovely subversion of expectations as I opened the swinging doors and walked in, finding the patrons and workers not once pausing in their own activities in response to my entrance.

The silence instead came when I reached the centre of the Saloon and clapped. I admit to putting some of my power into that act, causing the sound to reach the ears of all regardless of the volume or commotion.

“Fellow ponies! I come to you now with portents of doom and terror! Across Equestria, neigh, the entire world! There is a horrid threat that looms over everycreature, looking to take from us our very souls. I come now to ward you against that threat, as a representative of the Temple of Celestia—”

“Celestia?!” The bartender yelled, chewing on what was probably sunflower seeds before launching them in a rather impressive arc into the spitoon by the door. “Haven’t ya heard?! The mare’s gone gosh-darn fruit loops!”

“I… say again??” This was a new predicament, no town before this place had given that response.

“The Mayor got a warning last night, Celestia’s gone utter bananas and locked up her own sister in a magic cage!”

She did what now?

“I got the same message too!” A rather rough looking stallion with a thick beard added. “‘Parently there’s four angels of random that Luna wanted to have a nice sit-down with and the Princess took that personally, called her the crazy one.”

“That is the threat I come to you about!” I declare, trying to recover the initiative. “And they are not four angels of random, but the four Gods of Chaos! They seek to deceive you, and probably put those messages in your head, lying about Luna’s imprisonment—”

“Bullhonkey! It was Luna who gave us the warning! And she says she’s met them personally!” the bearded stallion argued.

“Then she has been corrupted too! Surely their grasping tendrils seek to invade every innocent mind they can reach!”

“Now that just sounds like a cheap excuse!” the bartender spoke up, causing a cheer of agreement to run through the establishment.

“What proof do we have you’re on the up and up, eh?”

“Just come in and start raving about wanting us to join some bullshit sun-cult when the real Celestia hated being called a goddess!”

“Maybe we should hear out what them Chaos Gods have to say if some maniac like you is goin’ about and bad-mouthin’ em.”

“YEAH!”

This isn’t going to plan! Shit! “P-please! Fellow ponies, I know I may be strange, but you must trust me. The Chaos Gods are not our friends, they would take your welcome arms as weakness and turn you on your people! They would harvest your souls like so many fields of wheat—”

“WHEAT?!” A corner of the Saloon exploded with rage as a gang of honest to Warp Redneck Ponies stood up from their table, the leader continued. “Fuck wheat! Gross! Gross!”

“Corn!” the mare to his left yelled, holding up an ear of the vegetable.

“Fuck yeah! Khorne!” another patron yelled, his inflection telling me he spoke of his name and not the plant.

“Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” however the Rednecks cheered him on, and soon the noise spread.

I had come in here attempting to convert ponies to the cause of Celestia, and now here I was, fleeing the building as they chanted the name of Khorne, with half of them probably unaware who they were chanting for.

This was the kind of chaos I very much didn’t care for, and that left a bad taste in my mouth.

{Khorne! Khorne! Khorne!}

I laid back in what was my newly moved throne, taking extra care to set the cushions just right before I sat down completely. I was taking the time to set myself somewhere with a perfect view of my domain, and to watch the training of my new Battalions.

And needless to say the direction they took from my memories was… just great.

“Be a Man!”

“We must be swift as a cour-sing ri-ver~.”

“Be a Man!”

“With all the force of a great ty-phoon~.”

“Be a Man!”

“With all the strength of a ra-ging fi-re! Mysterious as the dark side of, THE MOOOOON~!”

I found myself relaxing just that much more as I listened to them train and sing. “Ahh… ain’t the internet, but it is a very close second.”

And then… my seat became extremely uncomfortable.

“What the? Oh come on, I just got this right!” I said, trying to shift around, only to hear the odd sound of rustling leaves and straining stalks. Upon hearing the noise I bolted upright and snapped to look at my throne.

And I found it to have been transformed into a chair made of Corn Plants.

“MY THRONE!” I screamed out in despair and outrage. “MY LOVINGLY UPHOLSTERED CUSHIONS! MY AUTOMATED RECLINING MECHANISM AND BUILT IN MASSAGER! MY CUP HOLDERS!!!”

Beneath my helmet, my widened eyes and dropped jaw gave way to a furious scowl and snarling fangs.

“SOMEONE IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!!!”

{Ethereal Comments}

Tzeentch:...
Nurgle:...
Slaanesh:...
Discord:...
Khorne:... APPARENTLY YES!!
Discord: wait Khorne I can explain—put down the—
*WHAM!*
Slaanesh: Ooh! Khorne coming in with the steel chair! Discord is gonna feel that one in the morning!
Discord: You’re not helping!
Slaanesh: Helping?