If I owned my little pony, then I’d be too busy kidnapping the world’s leading scientists and forcing them to genetically engineer a Fluttershy to be writing.
Note that several shouts outs to television series, videogame series, books, and probably other things that I’ve forgotten spread about the latter half of this chapter. Consider yourself warned if you don’t like it.
The sky was not bright, for the light had been extinguished. The sky was not dark, for the darkness had been devoured. No star twinkled down on the torn land of Equestria, nor did the moon grace the night with its heavenly glow- Indeed, strictly speaking, there was no night, as every indication of the passage of days had disappeared in the same moment as the sun had guttered out, over a year before. In the sky, all was void. It did not roil and churn, as there was nothing to be whirled about in such chaos. It did not shake the world with its great power, nor did it give any other indication of the fear and despair it inspired as it approached. Yet, for all that, it was no less terrifying- a blank, colorless, thoroughly wrong force-or, rather, absence of force- that slowly yet surely advanced towards the center of the slowly dwindling pocket of existence that was all that was left, besides it, which didn’t exist, and therefore didn’t count.
If it were an entity, rather than the complete opposite, it might have felt a sense of satisfaction at the near-completion of it’s- for lack of a better term- goal. It would have lapped almost… hungrily at the last bastion of creation and destruction (It did not destroy- for destruction implied change, which it was incapable of). Its not-satisfaction turned into a not-roar of not-hatred when it collided with a perfect sphere, magenta in color, as large as what was left of Equestria- and utterly impenetrable.
Twilight stared out at the Void. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by It- where did it come from? Why was it there? And, most importantly, how could she stop it? She found her gaze drawn irresistibly towards a patch of mountainside, near the very edge of her shield spell. There- that was it, the jagged crag, a scar on the mountain’s face- there was where the end had begun- when word first came of a strange emptiness in the distance of space, it had been an idle curiosity, a single small detail in a sea of chaos, one swiftly forgotten as she struggled with the difficulties that came with being a newly-arisen Alicorn princess. A century later, when she and her fellow princesses scryed the blot In the sky, they inadvertently advanced its advance by countless millennia- stopping it from coming directly to their own little world only by the narrowest of margins- and showing, to their horror, that the blot had only been the inner-most extension of an impossibly huge un-thing that surrounded the entire galaxy (and, presumably, the universe) within its nonexistent reach.
The next two thousand years had been hectic, to say the least. At first it was just Twilight, her fellow Alicorns, and a few trusted Archmages and accomplished scientists. The energy in the team was one of the most exhilarating experiences in her entire life. Every day some of the most brilliant minds in equestrian history got together to discuss the most important issue of the day- the survival of existence itself, no idea was too large or unlikely, no plan dismissed out of hoof- impossibly high stakes, near-unlimited resources, and a blank check to discover and experiment, put together with the thinking equestrian’s dream team and the memories of several ancient immortal beings combined in an explosion of progress that could still be felt even millennia later- indeed, several of the ideas and inventions brought forth in those early years had worked together to delay the Void by centuries.
Alas, not even the most driven and exceptional of ponies could work at a fever-pitch for so long, not without any real sign of success. The team had, indeed, been on the very verge of disbandment when the other shoe dropped- the Void became public knowledge. There was panic, yes, and fear and desperation- but, in the end, Her little ponies(as she had come to think of them) had stopped, stood up, and- almost to a one- thrown themselves at the problem with a zeal that put the dream team to shame, and back to work they went.
If the dream team was exceptional, then she had come to think of that entire generation as heroes. The great work of existence moved forward at a breakneck speed, it seemed as though she could hardly absorb some new development or discovery then a new breakthrough would surface, as every discipline, no matter how seemingly distant from the problem of the Void, advanced in leaps and bounds. It was not long before knowledge of the void spread to the other specious that, seeing Equestria as the center of the effort to fight it, came in droves.
The great dragons shared their lore of fire and earth, and secret knowledge older even then Celestia herself, while griffons shared their aromancy and metallurgy, zebras came to offer their skills in alchemy, herbalism, and even spirit-magic (called necromancy by those who knew no better), and even a few changelings came out of the woodwork (some from very surprising places, such as the dream team) to offer their bits about empathy, illusion, and shape shifting.
It seemed as though no secret could weather such an attack for long- the philosoponie’s stone hadn’t even lasted until the end of the second century, causing a bit of an anticlimax when alchemists had had a brief celebration, then went on to other things- and, unlike the brilliant but relatively short-lived burst of the dream team, the enthusiasm of those early years resolved into a calm, quiet determination, no less impressive in its intensity, and yet still gave no sign of stopping, or even slowing down as the second millennium of the Void, and existence itself, drew to a close.
Yet, there had been still greater surprises in the last few centuries. Cadence, determined to find any sort of answer that there might be elsewhere in the galaxy, had set off on the first spaceship capable of reliable faster than light travel with an elite cadre of ponies and other creatures on the three-hundredth and fifth year of the Void, only to return a century later. She brought company. A dozen civilizations, spread out among the stars (Luna had been ecstatic) – the Time Lords, the Elvin empire, the space-dragons, the Torians, Arceans, Altarians, the humans (who always seemed to know too much) and more had quickly united against the common threat, and from then on she’d had to invent a minor time spell just to keep up with all the new breakthroughs.
But, she had trouble taking pride in all that, looking out at the scar in the mountain- that and a pile of rubble at the base of the mountain all that remained of Canterlot, all that marked the dying-place of the Sun itself. Celestia.
Twilight was shaken from her thoughts as the steady clip-clop of hooves ascending the stairs of what was now the central “building” of the Ponyville library, ancient even when Twilight was young, and now the oldest, largest tree in all of existence- not that that would matter for long. Even as Twilight started to muse on her recollection of her brief stay in the library (the few years as the librarian, no matter how cherished, paled in comparison the over two millennia mostly spent in Canterlot or traveling) her mind was yanked back to the present as a pinto stallion clad in dark blue robes and carrying a gnarled wooden staff in a similarly-colored telekinetic field (even in a time of clones, brain uploads, and antimatter generators, you can’t beat classics) stepped into view.
“Ah, Archmage Traven,” (the forth of his line to hold the title, he could trace his lineage back to a unicorn mare named Trixie, who had, through hard work and dedication, eventually earned herself the moniker of “The Great And Powerful” (an in-joke, considering that It was Twilight who had bestowed it, well-earned though it was) and a place on the original dream team) “come to watch the world’s end with me?”
“Actually, Twilight-princess, I have a bit of news for you- it appears as though a human spacecraft slipped through the shield just ahead of the Void, and the pilot insists that she speak to you.”
“Very well, send her in- I have nothing else to do, save die.”
The Archmage winced, seemed to consider a reply, but eventually bowed to her command.
The human (And calling her The human was quite appropriate, as she was very likely the last one left in the universe), as It happened, was a red-haired, somewhat paler-skinned example of the species, by the name of Lauren.
“Princess,” she spoke in a pleasant voice. “A friend of mine was working on an ancestral solution before the loss of Earth, and I came here to deliver his final results.”
Twilight took the small folio of notes reverently, despite its likely uselessness- Ancestral solutions were ideas for combating the Void passed down through generations, as each member of the family it originated in worked to advance the work further then the preceding generations- some had been in the works for well over two millennia, developed by distant alien kinship groups- considering that humans, living closer to the void then ponies, had known about the Void for far longer, the beginnings of the solution could very well outdate equestrian knowledge of the problem.
She read through the first page, stopped, read it again, and then tore through the rest of the folio at speeds faster than most pegasi could fly. Eventually she put it to her chest, cradling it like a small foal. The Alicorn’s Eyes blazed with fascination, determination, and, most strikingly- hope. “Sp- Traven, break out the StarSwirl collection, we have work to do!”
For the next week the assembled ponies, griffons, zebras, animals, giant purple dragon, and elemental spirit of chaos worked at frankly impossible speeds- the work of each generation teaching the next to build atop the findings and accomplishments of the one before, and to fight the Enemy to the dying breath finally told, by the greatest of the survivors that these lords of the last days, those who thought that they would die as the final sign of their ancestor’s- their civilization’s- failure, that they would be the ones to strike the penultimate blow.
Pegasi, griffons, and diamond dogs scoured the mountains and hillsides for gems and metals, earth ponies and Spike dug a giant series of trenches in an elaborate series of symbols arranged in a magic circle, while unicorns and changelings levitated giant lumps of metal into a giant foundry (courtesy of discord, who was transmuting anything they couldn’t otherwise get from common materials), where spike melted them down, only for a mixed team of whoever was available to drag the molten metal to the nearby magic circle site and pour it into the trenches, where griffons worked it with the utmost care and precision.
Every living thing played its part- the trees, made partially sapient and mobile by the sudden concentration of all the magic in the cosmos being squeezed into the relatively tiny space, leapt into the path of an axe or uprooted themselves and marched to the chaos-born lumber mills, sacrificing themselves for the merest chance at dealing the Void a blow- the ancient library even gave up five of its central limbs, to serve as the points on the pentagram, and the last ursa major gave up itself to form five stellar diamonds to top them.
Finally, on the Last Day, it was finished. That entire still lived in the universe stood still and those that had senses stretched them out to the lavender figure in the center of the formation.
It was odd, to say the least. Stretching out over four city blocks, its whirling lines, as well as unconnected symbols that dotted the landscape, were made entirely of silver, with runes of magical power engraved unto each one, with precious gems worked in at key points.
There were five concentric circles of wooden poles, each carved with symbols, which were chased with metals, and large, mostly diamond-dog provided gems topped each one: thirteen yew, symbols chased with bronze, and topped with topazes, eleven evergreens, chased with silver and topped with emeralds, nine ash, bronze and rubies, seven thorn, platinum and sapphire, five oak, inlaid with a single horizontal band of gold each, topped by diamonds that were the first stars seen in over a year.
In the center of the five oak branches was a space large enough for five elephants in a circle, with a sixth in between. Three silver columns, topped by giant pearls stood a meter high, arrayed in a triangle around a circle of the finest silver, large enough for that sixth elephant to stand on, and in the exact center of that whole array.
On the silver circle stood a princess and an Archmage. The two ponies shared a few last words, and then turned towards the bulk of the audience, who reclined exhaustedly on a sort of half- circle amphitheatre facing the circle, with Spike and Discord reclining past the opposite edge of the circle, facing the audience.
Finally, Twilight spoke.
“Hail, lords of the last days!”
The survivors let out a tired, but no less enthusiastic roar at the sound of the moniker that all wore with pride.
“For the last millennium and a half, a human family- Hawking- has studied our magic, in an ancestral solution- the last human, (strange, thought Twilight, she doesn’t seem to be here- well, she knows what’s coming, so I guess that she just wants some privacy) a friend of this family, escaped the lost of Earth, and brought it here, for it to be used to drive back the Void over two thousand years!”
The cheering could be measured on the Richter scale.
“There are four here strong enough to do this- Traven is too young, and Discord’s natural chaos magic could very well interfere with the spell- and Spike and I have decided that I am the better choice to go back- In time!”
There was a moment of utter silence, then an explosion cleverly disguised as cheering- she thought she even saw somepony fire off an orbital party cannon MK 20.
“HAIL, LORDS OF THE LAST DAY!” Twilight cried.
“HAIL LORDS OF THE LAST DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” came the LOUD answer.
Twilight dropped her shield and formed a magical sword, which swiftly eviscerated Traven, dropping his blood on the disk, which then glowed red.
The void, no longer impeded, rushed forward, devouring the mountains in seconds.
Twilight’s horn glowed as she caught the red glow in her own magic, throwing it at the tree pillars.
The void was pass what was once Foggy Bottom bog.
The pillars shot beams of vibrant crimson light at each other, forming a perfect ring, which then shot at the oak trees, which quickly formed a larger golden ring.
All of the everfree was now devoured.
Thorn, to Ash.
Less than a mile left.
Evergreen to yew.
It was getting rather tight.
The entire thing glowed brighter then the noonday sun.
It was almost touching the circle, now-
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Author's Note
Poor, poor Traven- why does he always have to be the one to sacrifice himself?
(answer: because I'm evil.)
There was nothing. No light nor noise nor scent, nor could Twilight feel a single sensation- If was as If she were floating in a void.
The void! she thought, stone cold certainty sending a chill down her-
“Can ponies in the Void even feel cold?” she spoke, and then gasped when she heard the sound of her own voice.
“Okay, not the Void then- I’m feeling too much sensation for this to be the complete absence of everything- what, then?”
There was silence.
“Am I… dead?”
There was no answer, for a time, until she felt a stiff breeze from the direction that she decided to call “down”, form simplicity’s sake.
“Wha-?”
She let out a sharp cry as she recognized the sensation not as a simple wind- but, rather as the very distinct feeling of falling at speeds she really didn’t want to guess at. Her wings snapped out and she tried desperately to slow her breakneck fall, certain that at any moment she would smash into the ground fast enough to spread her remains around a square mile area- which would no doubt be quite an interesting experience, whether she was dead or not.
Despite her efforts, however, the fall gave no sign of abating. Then it happened. Her shriek was ripped out of her throat by the sheer force of the wind as her eyes were gouged out by the sheer force of the light.
After a moment, the pain faded, and she was able to see again. Not that what she saw was all that reassuring. Stretching up to where she had presumably been moments ago, and down to a point too far down for her to see, (assuming that there was an end to it) was a strip of white light, still bright enough to hurt her eyes, about twice as wide as her full wingspan.
Well, at least I’ll be able to get a nice view of the ground just before I redecorate it.
Cynicism aside, she was actually beginning to get bored- the constant terror of creating a fine, red mist when she hit the ground, or falling for all eternity, was only enough distraction for so long. Ponies weren’t meant to be in constant fear of imminent death, and that was beginning to tell.
Perhaps I could use my magic to conjure up a-
She proved to herself that she still retained a Pegasus’s agility by facehoofing mid fall. Twilight’s horn was bathed in a familiar glow as she readied a simple featherfall spell, reaching out towards her natural pool of magical energy- which wasn’t there.
Suddenly, her now-familiar rate of descent went from break-neck speeds to burn-up-upon-reentry speed.
Calm down Twilight, It’s not like the end is about to come into view.
The end came into view.
Typical.
At the very edge of her vision, and quickly approaching, was an orb of white light, not unlike that of the strip that had been her only companion thus far.
Well, at least it’s not like I can’t alter my course of descent so that I miss it.
Twilight tried, but couldn’t adjust her course even the tiniest bit.
I really need to stop doing that was Twilight’s last thought before she collided with the bright white orb of certain doom.
Pain. That was the short description of the positively delightful sensations that ran through her body at that moment. The long version? First, she felt herself slamming against what felt remarkably like a spike-studded stone floor with enough force to leave a dent. This was swiftly followed by the pleasant feelings associated with being torn apart into individual molecules, having those torn apart into individual atoms, which were then shocked with lighting, dipped in acid, and put back together by a drunken gorilla with an oversized hammer. Meanwhile, her eyes were left behind in the orb of light.
Then she felt it, a gentle, warm and soft object lightly touching her back she spun around, trying to see past the bright light. Then, it faded, and she found herself staring at the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. A pair of purple orbs, seeming to hold kindness and wisdom unmatched, gazed out from a pure white face, crowned with a golden tiara that could not hope to match her multi-hued hair, blowing always in the solar wind. Princess Celestia.
“Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight just stared, her mind uncomprehending.
You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.
“Huh?” Twilight managed to choke out, her mind still back with the gorilla.
“But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.”
“Huh?!” She replied again, her mind now caught up, and trying desperately to make sense of her surroundings.
“Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to make you my own personal protégé here at the school.”
“Well?”
Not needing parental approval this time around, she leapt into action.
“YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!” Came the perfectly measured and reasonable response, which caused the other ponies and dragon in the room to wince.
The princess, however, was more concerned with the lavender missile, which had gone from standing to fast enough to make Rainbow Dash proud, impacted the white Alicorn with sufficient force to break an elephant’s neck, (she was, naturally, unharmed) and was now latched on to the elder pony’s neck with a death grip.
Celestia balked for a moment, then paused, smiled, and brought forward one wing to cradle her newest student.
