Realms of Existence

by GMBlackjack

XII - Doubting Minds

Shifting...

Gurgling...

Adjusting...

Cranking...

Shaking...

Bending...

...

...Giggling?

"Pinkie," Twilight said, looking up from the reality bubble, "please stop making the mobius strip laugh at us."

"Aw...." Pinkie said, releasing her hold on the mobius strip that lay just outside the bubble. It floated away, exploded, grew eyes, and vanished to the sound of tap dancing. In that order.

"This place is just weird..." Fluttershy said, backing as far away as she could from the edges of the bubble.

"It's a Realm of Chaos," Discord chuckled. "Honestly, what did you expect?"

"Realm of Distortion," Pinkie emphasized. "Terms, Discord, terms."

"Since when do you care about accurate terminology?"

"2 periods ago."

There was silence in the bubble. Twilight coughed. "So... Are we just going to wait here or are we going to explore this place?"

Discord facepalmed. "Does it look like this place is going to have any locations at all?"

"Well..." Twilight frowned. "I'd at least like to see if it acts differently in different locations."

"Twilight, do you remember how it felt outside?" Discord asked. "The only reason you even perceive an up, down, left, or right is because this bubble forces it to be true! In the 'reality' out there, that mobius strip that no longer exists is actually wrapped around us and that eyeball over there exists only within a subdimensional pocket in the shape of a sardine!"

"Mackerel, actually," Pinkie said. "I should know. I made it."

Fluttershy looked at Pinkie. "How... are you able to just... accept this part of yourself?"

"It just feels natural! Like this was what I was meant to be! Which it was. At least this time around. Don't worry, every pony acclimates to inflections differently."

"How do you-" Twilight began, but stopped herself. "...Nevermind."

"Yay! Twilight! You're learning!"

Twilight facehooved. "Ugh... Pinkie, stop bending my brain..."

Discord grabbed Twilight's ears and extended her face to double its normal width. As he was rolling in the air, literally laughing his face off his body, Pinkie returned Twilight's face to its normal dimensions. Twilight glared at the draconequus.

"...I still want to explore," she said.

"Fine," Discord said, "which 'direction' do you want to go, fair princess?"

Pinkie answered. "That way! we'll find something interesting, I'm sure of it!"

Discord blinked. "...You do realize space might just fold in on itself and move us effectively backwards?"

"Oh, yeah, it's totally going to do that. Doesn't change anything though. Away!"

Discord looked ready to object, but thought better of it. He clapped his hands and the reality bubble began to move in the general direction of forward, though in the 'reality' of the Realm the path was tesseract-like.

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "W-why is everything spinning?!"

"I don't thing straight exists here," Twilight said, examining the kaleidoscope of red and black colors swirling around them, with other colors splattered around in random locations. A few of those colors hurt to look at. Fractals bristled over the bubble's surface, making dull grating noises as they hit. Twilight was eagerly searching for anything new outside - but it just seemed to be endless repeating randomness... She realized how paradoxical that thought was, but it was true. Things just appeared and left - nothing could truly form.

Twilight sighed. Despite himself, Discord also shook his head in disappointment. He halted the bubble, prompting Fluttershy to let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Celestia that's over..."

Twilight put a hoof on Fluttershy. "I... I know it's hard, and I'm sorry I had us move. We'll stay here until Sperion can take us out."

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, next cha-" she stopped herself short, pointing a hoof out of the sphere. "...What's that?"

Everyone tried to look, seeing something in the 'distance' that wasn't changing with the Realm. The form was a bright nine-pointed blue star, floating amongst the reddish world, swirling incoming distortions around it.

Discord blinked. "That's not normal."

"Let's go say hi," Pinkie said.

"I think it's coming to say hi for us..." Fluttershy said, trying to back away. The bright thing did appear to be moving closer to them, in a zig zag, haphazard, jumpy fashion.

"Probably just an illusion," Twilight said. She immediately ate her words. The star was suddenly directly adjacent to the bubble, poking it with one of its nine spikes.

"You are not from here.... Heh..." The voice that filled the bubble was old, male, and strained. "So... So long..."

Discord snapped his fingers and they were somewhere else. "Nope!" he said. "Not him!"

"Who?" Twilight asked. "...You know him?"

"Yes," Discord said, "you've heard of him too. Twilight, listen to me-"

"YOU CAN'T HIDE!" The star was there again, poking the bubble. "Discord! My... Oh what even are you? Magnum opus? Embarrassment? My... My..."

Discord moved them again. "This is bad. He recognized me. Why is he even here...?"

"Discord!" Twilight yelled, "Who is he!?"

Discord looked back at her, a pained expression plastered on his features.

Fluttershy let out a small 'eep.' "...it's Starswirl isn't it?"

Discord sagged. "...Yes."

Twilight gawked. "Starswirl!? As in, Starswirl the Bearded!? WHAT THE-"

Starswirl appeared next to them again, demanding their attention with his presence. "Diiiiscord! You're in my chaos now!"

"Heck no!" Discord shouted, backing the bubble up. "I'm the manifestation of Chaos! You said so yourself!"

"I said a lot of things back in Central!" Starswirl laughed. "But then I left! Best decision ever!" He drove on of his spikes through the bubble, allowing some of the distortion to flood in. Pinkie pushed it back just before it grabbed ahold of Fluttershy.

"Hm?" Starswirl said, leaning in. "Where did you find this one? An inflection of Distortion - and a strong one at that!"

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Please stop trying to hurt my friends!"

"Hurt? Oh my little pony, hurting is relative. Heh. Nothing means anything here! I'm a freaking star! You're all in a bubble amongst beauty! Ha ha ha!"

"You... You're mad!" Twilight managed to eek out.

"And you're Celestia's newest pupil. Wonder what you did to get ascended."

"I... I completed your spell!"

Starlight went silent for a moment. "Y... You what?"

"You needed to factor friendship and connections into the equation."

Discord shook his head violently in Twilight's direction. She shut up.

"Friendship... Connection... Ha... Ha ha ha... Look at me! Silly old fool! Stupid! Seven!" He roared, and the Realm of Distortion went blue around them. "If you're so great at my spells, what's the completion for this one!?"

Twilight paled. "A... Annihilation."

"Maybe you are worth something." He flashed, and the world crushed them... and bounced back from the pink rubber encasing them.

"Woo!" Pinkie shouted. "That was fun!"

Starswirl paused. Then he shook. "Bu.. Wh... I am the strongest here!" He made a whimpering noise. "I... I am here..." The Realm became its standard red once more, and Starswirl drew back. "Why did I follow her..."

Discord raised an eyebrow. "...Who?"

"Before your time, smush. heh. Ol' Meadowbrook... Stupid Meadowbrook..." He started crying - despite having no eyes.

Pinkie left the bubble and drifted over to him. "There there... It's okay..."

"Pudding... What are - Ah." he stopped, as if he understood. "Was she right? Was it all a bad idea?"

"Shh..." Pinkie said, "you did fine."

"You're next, you know. The story walks on."

"Yeah, I know."

"You probably know more than I... Watch out for them. For her. They may be right... But it feels so wrong." He let out a sob. "Why did I come here... Why did I come here... Why? What is there? nothing!?" He turned to Discord. "Why did you come here? Was it your counterpart!?"

"My...What?" Discord blinked.

"Ahahaha.... Friends! I see! Oh how wrong I was.. By my beard they really messed it up..." He let out a sickening laugh. "NOTHING!"

And then he was gone. It was like he was never there.

Pinkie sighed. "Until next time..."

~~~

Implode walked across the green plane of the Realm of Truth, head down. She moved slowly, deliberately, without much energy. She sighed.

She felt... empty.

What was the point, exactly?

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Rainbow Dash asked from a nearby pyramid shape.

"Oh. Hi." She sighed. "I just... Starlight and Applejack have the archives, and you have those damn stunts. What do I have?"

"Gonna be honest here, those stunts don't really mean much without somepony to watch them. With Starlight and Applejack always busy, you're kinda the only one who does now."

"That's a crappy purpose," Implode muttered, flipping her tail. "I just... It feels empty. I built my life around being the best- and then revenge. Neither of those apply here. I'm starting to wonder if they ever did."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Implode? It's not like you to get this... existential."

Implode shrugged. "Eh, I'm not the same pony I was when I left home."

"Okay, now I know something's up. Even when you opened up last time you were still snarky miss bossypants!"

"...What?"

"My gosh," Rainbow Dash gaped, "you're just going to take that?"

"Why wouldn't I? ...You're being weird now."

Rainbow Dash facehooved. "I mean, just... Just yesterday, I think I called you 'featherbrain' and you launched into a tirade at me! I thought you were going to try to kill me!"

Implode let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah... That was silly. Sorry about that."

Rainbow Dash reeled. "Wh... Okay. Implode. Answer me this. How do you feel about your father?"

"I hate him," she said, level.

"Implode... You 'hate his very being with a fiery passion and want to drive his skull into his chest cavity.' That's you."

For the first time since the conversation started, Implode looked a little worried. "...That's right..."

"Implode, what happened?"

"I... I don't know!?" She racked her brain. "Nothing has changed for days! Just walking around, watching you, and answering Diamond's stupid questions!"

Rainbow clasped her hooves together. "Diamond! Maybe he knows!"

Implode shivered. "Y-you think so?"

"Celestia, something's really wrong with you." Rainbow Dash picked her up and carried her into the air. She zoomed back to the Nexus, blasting through the hallways. They landed right in front of Diamond.

"There's a problem," he observed.

"Implode's acting really weird!" Rainbow Dash said, pointing at the out of place fear and confusion on Implode's face. "Did you have anything to do with it?"

"No. She is just going through the change. She has proven not to be powerful enough to resist the Realm's natural degradation of the emotions. I was under the impression she already knew this."

"T-Terrifying," Implode said, gulping.

"Nothing to be concerned about. You'll be free and operate at a much more efficient set of parameters. Stop stressing over it, it'll only make it more painful."

"Are you nuts!?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We've gotta stop this!"

"I see no reason to. She was a menace before the Realm started acting on her. She would likely not have let you talk to her were her emotions full."

Rainbow Dash took a few steps back. "W-what?"

"The Implode you were getting to know wasn't her either."

Rainbow Dash was about to give Diamond an earful, but Implode spoke up. "Can you reverse it?"

"The Inflection of Truth does not allow me to, nor does the Inflection of Power. Perhaps the inflection of Echoes, if you could convince Starlight to give it a try." He shook his head slowly. "But why undo this? You like yourself better. You are more comfortable with yourself. Why not let it complete its course?"

Implode looked Diamond right in the eye... and smiled.

"Thank you very much, Diamond. You're right, I am more comfortable." The fear had vanished from her face, her words spoken with venom.

"See? You feel it. Let it take you fully."

Rainbow Dash leaned in. "Implode? You sure about this?"

"Oh yes." She looked Diamond right in the eye. "No emotions in the way anymore. I've... embraced it."

Diamond blinked. Then he turned and ran. Implode wordlessly stamped a hoof, conjuring a metal spike right through his brain. "Ah. No remorse. Useful, I must say. Still get some satisfaction though..."

"IMPLODE-"

Implode kicked Rainbow Dash in the face, drawing blood from her nose. "I'm going to kill them all. Then I'm going to kill myself. I don't want to kill you, so I guess I must have something left in me. Guess giving in doesn't make it happen all at once. You best stay out of my way before that vanishes too, for your own sake."

"I... I won't let you!"

Rainbow Dash was clocked in the head by an iron sphere, driving her into unconsciousness. Implode's face remained impassive - she felt more and more of herself slipping away. She stood up, glancing at Rainbow Dash for a second. She twitched slightly, then ran away as fast as her hooves would carry her.

Moments later, screams of pain and death filled the halls.

~~~

Luna went flying, tossed into the stump of one of the temple's columns, a sharp crack audible over her pained cry. Congeal leapt towards her, its hoof turning into a pointed drill. Luna stopped it with her telekinesis, ripping the limb straight off the machine. Luna spread her wings, launching herself off the pillar and crashing into Congeal's body. It was caught off guard and driven into the sand.

Two more Congeals appeared behind Luna, fully functional. "You can not be serious..." Luna muttered moments before the two pummeled her into the sand as well.

"Don't you dare!" Rarity yelled, launching her magic bolt at the two of them. The third Congeal erupted from the sand, stopping the two bolts with its hooves. Then two vanished, leaving a singular Congeal, fully repaired. It created a giant ball of fire, illuminating the area as if by day. It tossed the flaming globe right at Rarity, Spike, and Trixie.

Trixie screamed. Rarity tried to push the ball back with her magic - but it was a futile endeavor. She felt the heat start to singe her, smoke wafting off her coat.

Spike leapt into action, leaping onto Rarity's back and holding out his hands, pushing back the encroaching heat. He winced. "Gosh this thing is heavy..."

Rarity got an idea. "...Spike!"

"Huh?"

"HOARDE IT! It's yours!"

Congeal noticed at this point that the targets weren't dead, but it was a bit late. Spike acted quickly. He shoved the fireball into the ground and roared. "MINE!" He grew in stature slightly.

Rarity tossed him a piece of the ruins. "Yours!" Trixie threw some sand at him. "Uh... yours?"

Spike growled, now the size of a large carriage. He raised a claw, only to have Congeal lift him and toss him away. Congeal shook its head slightly, as if to say 'nice try.'

"YOURS!" Luna yelled in the Royal Canterlot voice, creating a pile of glittering treasures below her with a simple spell. "If you can take it."

Spike leapt up instantly at the words, growing twice as tall as he had been. He leapt into the pile of riches, tossing Luna off. She drifted away, watching with a smirk on her face as the purple dragon continued to grow in size.

Congeal raised its wings, teleporting the treasure to her, away from Spike. Spike, in turn, roared with an animalistic rage in his eyes, increasing in size even further. Trixie laughed. "That's our Spike!"

"Oh, woe is you!" Luna boomed. "Have you never studied the art of dragon greed? You took his treasure away. And with that enhancement spell I have on those treasures, well..."

Rarity blinked, looking up at the tremendous form of Spike. "My Stars, he's three times as big as last time. Luna! What did you put in that spell!?"

Luna pointed at the moon. "Lunar energy."

Spike crushed Congeal under his toe, repeating the stomping motion in blind rage. Several Congeals appeared - twelve of them, to be exact - surrounding Spike's neck. They embedded large knife-shaped objects into his skin. This only served to annoy him. He unleashed his green dragonfire upon them, attempting to burn them into nothing.

Trixie blinked. "...Things that big should not move that fast."

Congeal appeared a distance from Spike, readying a giant disintegration beam - only to find Luna next to its wing. "Hi." The princess enveloped the robot in a cloud of shadow, attempting to crush the machine with the power of the cosmos. Alas, Congeal broke free, and its first action was to toss Luna to the ground. Shortly thereafter, Spike bit off Congeal's leg, the same one Luna had removed a few minutes prior. Congeal flew back, regrowing the limb with a swift shaking motion. It then teleported right in front of Spike's head. It spread its wings, and Spike began to shrink. He was being rewound.

"Oh no you don't!" Luna yelled, using a spell of her own, a simple 'undo' spell. "You don't get to just bend this the way you want!"

In response, Congeal bent space around itself, adding a new direction to existence that drove the three-dimensional minds of those present to a pounding headache. She moved through the fourth dimension, tripping Luna and driving a knife into her side. Luna screamed out from the sudden and unexpected pain, her cry shaking the very ground.

Congeal generated a sphere of electric energy, ready to disintegrate the moon princess. A piece of the pillars hit Congeal's head, interrupting the process, and denting the metal in the machine's skull. The dimensional bending faded, reverting the world to normal.

Trixie laughed. "Ha! Saw through your higher dimensional structure! That is why you never try to fool the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!"

Congeal generated dozens of sharp objects around Trixie, pushing inward - only to be blocked by a shield spell cast by the injured Luna. Congeal was then promptly crushed by Spike's foot again.

Congeal appeared in the air, on Spike's head once more. This time, though, it didn't try to shrink him. Instead, it stomped its hoof, and Spike instantly stopped moving. It stomped its hoof again, and Spike turned around, robotic in his motion.

"No!" Luna yelled, blasting Congeal off Spike - but it was already too late. The dragon roared, charging Luna. Luna instantly undid the growth spell she had on Spike, and he reverted to carriage size, falling to the ground at a rapid speed. Luna let out a sigh of relief - but winced mid-breath when she the pain from her knife wound shot through her.

Congeal didn't move. It stood perfectly still.

"What are you doing?" Luna wondered aloud, scanning Congeal. Luna paled when she discovered what was happening. "Trixie!"

"Wha-" Congeal teleported next to Trixie, the tip of the metal wing lightly touching the mare's forhead. Trixie slumped to the ground, lifeless.

"TRIXIE!" Rarity yelled. "TRIXIE!"

Congeal appeared next to Rarity. The wing extended towards Rairty's head, touching it... Rarity gasped as her mind was flooded with words, images, thoughts... Rarity felt the image of an eye burn itself into the back of her mind... She could hear Congeal... The distorted voice of a mare...

Destroy those who know. Was foolish. Cannot...

N O The immense voice from Rarity's dreams flooded both of their minds, shaking Congeal and Rarity to their core.

No, I will not destroy...

U N D O T H E N L E A V E

Congeal removed its wing from Rarity and teleported over to Trixie. It tapped the unicorn, and she suddenly started breathing again, panicked. "W-wha?"

Then Congeal was gone.

The eye left the back of Rarity's mind.

"The buck!?" Trixie said. "The buck!?"

"I... Have no idea," Rarity said.

Spike decided to use that moment to rush out of the sand and attack Rarity. Luna grabbed the carriage sized dragon with her magic and froze him. "His mind... it is still conditioned."

"Can you fix him?" Rarity pleaded.

"Mind spells are not my expertise. I am certain Starlight could. But that is for later. We must make use of this opportunity and return to Equestria. We can figure out what helped us later." She looked closely at Rarity, eyes narrow. "Tread carefully, Rarity."

"I will."

Luna took a few more moments to heal herself and prepare the long distance teleport, but they were off in less than a minute. They appeared in the main hall of Canterlot, at the foot of Celestia's throne, the regal alicorn herself sitting there. It was day on this part of the planet, and the sunlight felt warm and welcoming to them. It would have been perfect, had it not been for the presence of a few familiar faces.

"Ahuizotl!?" Rarity yelled.

"Overglobe!?" Trixie followed up.

Ahuizotl smirked. "Ah, fair Rarity, I see you've returned. We have much to discuss..."

Trekker let out an annoyed grunt.

Comments

[ferret]

Discord looked ready to objet,
Why didI come here...
Iinflection of Power

He shook his head slowly. "But why undo this? You like yourself better. You are more comfortable with yourself. Why not let it complete its course?"

Because you turned her into her father you absolute total freaking ass—

...because if your food cooked too fast, the solution isn't to stop using the stove. It's to turn the heat down lower.