I awoke to the sound of birds as the sun peeked through the curtains. In my groggy state, I stumbled out of bed and ran into my dresser a few feet away. I let the change in posture wake me up some before heading to the nearby window to my left. When I pulled the drapes to the side, sunlight blinded me through my eyelids for a few moments. I opened my eyes to see the same morning ponies I had watched every time I woke up.
The light and sounds of the early day completed my little wake up ritual, but I continued to stand there and take in what I had lost. As much as I’d love to stay here after I destroy the worm, even I know it would be wrong. As soon as I’ve assured my existence, I will return to my normal time.
I closed my eyes and breathed calmly, checking over the power that was restored to me over the night. I nodded as I felt the Chaotic and Harmonic energies swirl within me equally. Good enough for now, but hopefully I’ve left enough time to recharge completely before that worm arrives. First, breakfast.
At that thought, my stomach woke up and growled. With a snap of my fingers, I conjured up some eggs on toast. I ate in silence as I thought up my plan. Avoid Celestia until I need to, meet with Pan and fix her future, meet with Riches and tell her I’m fine, and finally deal with the worm. Priorities, I am bad at them. I chuckled for a moment at the thought. You’d think I’d take care of the worm first.
I finished my small meal and thought over how best to go about completing my list. Thinking Pan would be on her way to work, but not wanting to cause a panic, I warped into her house first. I didn’t find her there, but did find that she had left her nurse’s outfit. Then it hit me, she was always at my statue. With another snap, I appeared in the gardens.
I was standing few yards away from myself as a statue. Panacea was there, sitting and looking up towards my stone face, as an autumn wind blew and stirred a few leaves into the air. I took in the sight for a moment before starting towards her, but Riches walked up to her and caught her attention. What is Riches doing here? I couldn’t hear them too well, so I heightened my senses.
“-just found out. Mail takes a long time to reach Slade,” Riches said, looking forlorn.
“You’re his sister, right? Riches, was it?” Pan said in return as she turned to give her full attention.
The young golden mare sat herself upon the grass. “Yeah, that’s what Numbers called me.”
I couldn’t wait a moment longer and took another step towards them, only to be stopped once more when Celestia walked over to them. Oh, come on! Now I have to deal with Celestia, too? You know what? Screw it. Through some unexplainable luck, they all turned to look at the statue as I stepped up. This... is just... yeah... I’m going for it.
“-was a good knight,” Celestia said
“Was?” I said and watched the three mares reactions. I smiled as Celestia jumped slightly, Pan spun in mid-air as she jumped, and Riches jumped forward before turning around slowly. The two younger ponies paled when they saw me, but Celestia just turned around slowly and narrowed her eyes.
“Dex, why are you here?” the princess said, visibly irritated. Pan and Riches looked to her in confusion as they continued to be shocked silent.
“ 'Why'? Do you not want to know how, first?”
“I know how and I know my future self would have stopped you from breaking yet another law.”
“Loophole,” I said simply and paused to think on how best to sum up my mission. “Time worm is eating my existence, so I came back to destroy it.”
“What?!” Celestia paused to collect herself. “If that is true, there is nothing you can do. Go back to your own time before your loophole backfires.”
I glared at her. “I am not leaving until I talk to the two most important mares in my life, and I will destroy the time worm.”
“The time worm does not have a physical form on this plane. There is nothing you, or I, can do to stop it. If you do not return to your own time soon, there will be disastrous consequences, just as there were when Sinis attempted to revive Stone.”
“Dex?” Pan said as she stepped forward. “Is what the princess said, true? Are you really going to disappear?”
I sighed sadly and turned to the two. “Yes. If I don’t stop the worm, my time will be eaten and you will forget I ever existed.”
“Can you stop it?”
“I will.”
Pan and Riches looked at each other before nodding and turning to Celestia. “Princess, I don’t want to forget Dex. Give him a chance,” Pan said.
The princess faced them and said, “My little ponies, it is not up to me. The powers beyond will stop him and our world will be destroyed if he does not accept his fate.”
A rumbling sound shook the gardens and I could see darkness approaching from all angles, but the ponies in front of me seemed to be unaware. Is this the worm already, or the world breaking? I couldn’t be sure of anything. “Celestia, do you see this?” I said quietly as the void continued stretching towards us.
She looked around for a moment. “What is it, Dex? Nothing is out of the ordinary.”
“A dark, void-like emptiness is coming towards us.”
“If the world was being removed from existence, I would see it. I imagine what you are seeing is the time worm’s presence,” the princess said all too calmly.
I grew irritated at her actions. “Why are you so calm about this?! I’m about to cease to exist and you’re not even concerned!”
“She knows the truth.” A deep, reverberating voice echoed within my mind. I looked around, puzzled for a moment, before scowling, the darkness had ceased its approach.
“The time worm can talk?” I asked Celestia, but she had stopped moving, along with Panacea and Riches.
“You are the one this one was sent to remove, and yet you have crossed through time to reach this one. Why?”
“You should know why! I’m going to destroy you to preserve my existence!” I did not care to know who sent it or why it was curious.
“This one does not understand why you came to this time.”
“To save my memory in others!” I created a sword and took a ready stance.
“This one is amused at your actions. This one is indestructible in the third dimension.”
Right, what to do? Go back into the time dimension? But I can’t see there and it takes too much energy.
“This one will complete its task.” The darkness started to creep forward once more. I was running out of time and I had no plan. I cursed my luck, I was sure I could have planned something before it arrived. In a desperate move, I gave my sword the power to reverse time and swung it at the void.
A hiss resounded in my mind and I hoped it was because of me, as I had very little strength left after creating the weapon. The darkness continued, however, and I was forced back until there was only a twenty foot wide circle around me and the frozen mares.
“Dex, there’s nothing you can do.” Okay, not frozen. Regardless, Celestia’s statement only made me try harder as I continued to slash at the air. The occasional hiss would assault my mind, but nothing seemed to truly affect it.
The area got smaller and smaller as I kept up my futile struggle. Since the ponies could not see what I did, they knew not where to stand. Celestia was swallowed by the darkness first, face in calm acceptance and knowledge. Then, Riches faded out, confused and worried at my movements. Finally, Panacea was taken, watching me fight for my very existence with sadness in her eyes.
I stood in a small, four-foot wide perimeter of light. The void took everything and then stopped just before it reached me. “Why do you struggle?” the worm said in my mind.
“You already know why!”
“This one knows why you came, but not why you struggle against futility.”
“It’s the same answer as why I came!” I tried cutting at the darkness again, but it proved just as useless as before.
“This one does not understand.”
I changed tactics at that. If I couldn’t beat it, maybe I could convince it to leave. “Have you erased others?”
“Yes. The others did not struggle against this one.”
“Could they see you like I can?”
“No.”
“If they could, they would have fought for everything. I am not an anomaly.”
“This one will still complete its task. This one feels content with this new knowledge and thanks you.”
Well, that was a bust, was all I could think of as the darkness engulfed me. There was no feeling of pain or anguish when I fell into the void. I thought I would lose myself when it happened, but I was floating in nothingness, completely whole.