The Vlerryn shot into the air. “Prepare for rapid descent!” Twilight yelled.
“NOT AGAIN!!!!” Rarity wailed.
The Vlerryn peaked, eclipsing the sun. It directed its nose downwards, fired its engines, and hurtled towards the deep blue ocean. The ship’s nose plowed through the water with ease, hardly slowing down as it entered the waves. Steam bubbled off the back of the ship, the water unable to handle the direct heat of the engines.
The water swirled around the body of the ship, getting darker and darker the deeper the Vlerryn went. Then they saw a light ahead…
“Unusual magic readings!” Twilight said. “That’s probably it!”
The Vlerryn lurched as it entered a strangely glowing trench in the bottom of the ocean. The unnatural light overwhelmed many of the Vlerryn’s sensors, making it hard to pilot. Twilight let out a yell as the consoles started displaying impossible numbers. “The heck?”
Rarity wailed. “That’s it! We’re finally going to die by crashing! I love you all!”
Then the ship stopped moving entirely. All was calm.
“…Was that a proposal?” Discord asked, smirking.
“Shut your trap or I purge you with holy light.” Rarity muttered. “I CAN DO THAT NOW.”
“The threat is real.” Rainbow Dash confirmed.
Discord rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
The hatch of the Vlerryn popped open. Twilight raised her wings. “I didn’t open the door!”
The crew of the Vlerryn stuck their heads out into the open. The air was breathable, at least. There was no water, though they could hear the sound of a waterfall behind them. The place they found themselves in was a cave, shifting and glowing with an unusual white color. At the far end of the cavern was a single ornate door made of a silvery-black material.
And there were three crystal shards sitting at the foot of the door, sparkling with power.
Applejack smiled. “Looks like you two get some presents.” She shoved Fluttershy and Twilight forward.
“Um… I already got one…” Fluttershy said.
“Well then Twi gets two and you get the one.” Applejack smiled.
Fluttershy nervously walked up to the three crystals and picked up the one she thought was the least imposing. It absorbed into her body, and her eyes went white. “I see all that has been, is, and will be!” She shouted. Then she shook her head. “Ow… that was painful…”
Discord blinked. “Future sight? That could be useful…”
“Of course.” Twilight said, picking up the two crystals and absorbing them into herself. Two things happened. First she spread her wings and two gigantic magical cannons appeared under them, launching a torrent of fire at the door in front. The explosion blew the others back a ways.
Secondarily, her horn became encased in a strange glowing purple magic that just screamed dangerous.
Fluttershy reacted - mimicking Twilight’s horn spell, giving herself a strange yellow magic horn for a minute. “Woah…” She said. “I’m an alicorn…”
“Not really.” Twilight said, looking closely at her horn. “It’s a construct of some kind… A powerful weapon…” She dispelled it, returning her horn to normal.
Rainbow Dash grinned. “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s try these new powers out! You two! Take point!”
Fluttershy sat back. “Oh no… I wouldn’t-“
“I’ll protect you.” Twilight said, smiling. “Don’t you worry.”
Discord put on some sunglasses and began to eat some popcorn. “Let’s see what’ll show up in here shall we?”
Twilight tapped the door and it vanished, revealing a long stone walkway leading to… nothing. There was just the path and utter complete blackness. They walked in, cautiously, looking out for anything that tried to attack them. The moment they all stepped through, the door slammed shut behind them - and then vanished, leaving them on the infinite walkway in nothingness.
Fluttershy shrunk back. “I don’t like this…”
Twilight frowned. “This seems.. empty. Guess we just walk.”
Rarity made everyone faster and they continued onward, covering miles and miles in a manner of minutes. But nothing changed.
“We’re getting nowhere fast.” Discord observed.
Twilight whirled around to look at him. “Do you have a better idea-“ She blinked. “Woah.”
“Woah what?” Applejack asked.
Twilight pointed behind them. They turned - and they saw a temple made out of marble, sitting on a green hill. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, and the path was gone completely. They were now standing upon a lush green plain.
Rarity twitched. “But…. I… Sense?”
Discord laughed. “This is deliciously chaotic! I love it! Kudos to the architect!”
At that moment, the very grass around them began to move. Several dozen grassy figures - some pony, some humanoid, some completely alien - rose out of the ground and charged.
Twilight wasted no time - she spread her wings, summoning the dual cannons. Intense magical beams shot out of them this time, incinerating a hole right into the hill. Fluttershy winced, doing the exact same, just with yellow colored cannons. Then her eyes went white. “Twilight! Under you!”
Twilight flew into the air, narrowly avoiding a creature’s sharp arm jutting out of the ground. She focused the energy into her horn and drove the power into the being underneath. It took the hit, made a noise, and just fell apart before her.
“This power…” She said. “It is… A powerful one…” She focused once more. Her horn powered up, but she tried something new as well - she spread her wings, and they became enveloped in sharp magic constructs. She roared and flew into several of the creatures at once, each one dying form a single hit.
Rarity gaped. “…That’s quite the finishing move darling…”
Twilight stood up and dispelled what she now considered the Finisher. She smiled. “More power to defeat Exdeath with. I feel like I haven’t figured out how to use it fully though…”
“Definitely not.” Discord said, drinking out of his glass and smirking.
They walked into the temple…
—
Lyra winced. The representatives of the various armies were not getting along very well.
“Changelings!?” Limestone yelled. “You’ve got Changelings!? Soul stealing bugs!?”
Minuette glared. “Hey! They’re nice people and you have no right to fault them for their biology! Besides, you have griffons! No amount of biology makes them grumpy, they just are! And you work with them just fine!”
“Did you just insult half my army, toothpaste?”
“Yep.” Ember, the blue representative of the dragons, responded. “Totally insulted.”
“Why I never…” Minuette blinked, then looked ashamed. “Oi I guess I did… If you accept the Changelings I will-“
“Stop trying to turn this around!” Limestone yelled. “Your soldiers are not only Changelings, but also starving Changelings willing to do anything to save their own hides!”
Amethyst raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was a good thing in this case?”
“Stay out of this pirate.”
Ember blinked. “I think the pirate might have a bit of a unique opinion on this whole matter. Amethyst, continue.”
Limestone roared. “Why do I have to work with you idiots?”
Amethyst ignored her. “The changelings, even if you believe they are bad people, which I don’t, are desperate. This is their one chance at getting the love they need. Lyra’s people - and my association of outlaws - have agreed to give it to them. That its the only reason they are here.”
Minuette nodded. “See?”
Ember frowned. “Yeah, we shouldn’t be worried about the Changelings. We should be worried about your band of outlaws.” She leaned in. “Pirates, thieves, and assassins right? Gathered through the undergrounds and black markets of the world.”
Amethyst glared. “Yeah. So? We all want to have a world to keep operating in.”
“Hm… But you’re likely to just cut and run with what you can if given an opportunity.”
Amethyst bristled. “My old captain has instructed me to fight with you, and I will fight with you till the end.”
“Your crew makes up only around five percent of the forces you have gathered. How can we trust them?”
“We can’t.” Minuette said. “But do we really have a choice?”
Limestone bristled. “Oh we have a choice allright-”
<Children!> The Earth Crystal’s voice boomed over the system, a hologram of it appearing in the center of the table. <We do not have time for endless bickering and fighting! We need to adapt to our situation as it is. Not all of us are trustworthy. Not all of us are safe. In the end, that does not matter. We are fighting for our very existence - if we lose because we didn’t let some fight, there will be no aftermath to regret! We go with all we have, deal with the aftermath later.>
Amethyst and Minuette nodded. “Of course. We are sorry.”
Ember frowned. “...Sounds like a bad plan. I’m in.”
Limestone growled. “...Fine.”
Lyra let out a breath of relief. Now they could actually start some training…
---
Twilight blinked. “Discord?”
“Yes?”
“Are you warping reality around you?”
“Well, yes, all the time, but that’s not why you’re on the ceiling and I’m on the floor.”
Fluttershy yelled. “I don’t know which way is up!” She flapped her wings, flailing, unable to direct herself to any sort of ground at all. “Where am I going!?”
“Left.” Discord said.
“Pretty sure that’s right.” Rarity countered.
“...Up?” Applejack volunteered
Rainbow Dash groaned as she slammed into the ground (or perhaps ceiling) again. “What is this place’s deal?! We can’t go anywhere like this-”
Suddenly they were standing on a small version of the City of Man. All of them were standing on the floor, looking at the green sky above them.
“-the fudge?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, blinking rapidly. “The fudge!?”
Twilight sighed. “This is the fifth time this has happened… An instant change in scenery. This place’s reality is unstable - it can’t decide what it wants to be. Reality is uncertain.”
Discord shrugged. “You talk like that’s now how things normally are.”
“Ugh…” Applejack moaned. “You’re annoying.”
“But powerful.” Discord remarked. He looked up. “Oh. Incoming.”
Six crystalline ponies fell from the sky, each the color of one of the six Crystals themselves. Red, orange, blue, green, yellow, and purple. Each one targeted one of the Warriors of Light, with the green one going after Discord. Discord chuckled. “I guess I’m the extra party member today… Time for a series of one on one fights! This’ll be fun!”
The Warriors of Light rolled their eyes. “Fine by us…” Rainbow Dash muttered, glaring at the red crystal pony before her. It was a unicorn - and it was blasting a torrent of fire from its horn. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, capturing the fire with her wings and flinging it back. The red unicorn was unharmed but it quickly found that the explosive energy of Flare was too much for it to handle. “Done!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“Good for you!” Applejack yelled, facing off against an orange crystal pegasus wielding two swords in their wings. She bucked and kicked the crystal enemy to no avail, annoyed by its speed and durability. “Break already!”
Then she remembered her new sword. She drew it, the blade glinting in light that didn’t exist. She drove it deep into the orange one, and it exploded. “Ha! My blade is too much for you!”
Rarity took one look at the blue crystal earth pony before her, surrounded by glowing blue orbs and decided one thing - time to smite. “Dear, catch.” She said, shattering the crystal into hundreds of pieces with a single use of the Holy spell. She flung her hair around and smirked. “We are good.”
“You are good. But I am excellent!” Discord said, having defeated the crystal green pegasus with several million pies. “I can defeat enemies in the most creative ways.”
“Um…” Fluttershy said, looking at the yellow earth pony in front of her. Who was also shattering because of too many pies. “Does it still count as creative if I did the same thing?”
Discord facepalmed. “Mimics ruin my flair. Oh woe is me!”
Twilight fell from the ground, screaming in agony as the purple alicorn encased her in an explosion. She retaliated with the cannons, spraying the crystal enemy with flak. The crystal pony cared not, attacking with a powerful spell that blew Twilight aside.
Twilight grunted, spreading her wings and summoning the Finisher. Her horn extended and her wings sharpened, and she glared at her enemy. Then she smirked. “I just got an idea…” She focused more, extending the Finisher beyond just her horn and wings - but over her whole body. She became encased in magic armor, her hooves became sharp, and her joints angular. She rushed the crystal pony with impressive speed, driving her horn right through its skull and following up with a clap from her hooves.
It shattered with little effort.
Twilight turned to her friends and grinned, dispelling the Finisher. “I think I figured it out!”
Fluttershy sighed. “Yay… Now I’m the only one who has a mysterious power they don’t know how to use-” Her eyes went white again. “We’re about to be teleported again.” She said.
She was right. The arena changed to a spherical room made entirely of blue crystal. In the center of the room, floating in the air, was a nice round table with a board game set up on it. Sitting at the floating table was a greyish-blue unicorn with a large beard.
“Ah. Guests. I rarely get any these days.” He said, summoning six chairs specifically suited for the forms of each guest. “Welcome to my Temple.”
---
Trixie yelled from the City of Man’s primary prison. “I demand to be released! The Great and Powerful Trixie does not allow herself to be toyed with in this manner!”
There was silence.
“Come on! I can offer you magic! Knowledge! Power! Favors?”
There was still silence.
“I’ll help you with whatever you want just let me out of this filthy hole!”
Still silence.
“AUGH!” Trixie yelled. “This. Is. The. WORST!” She continued pacing around the small cell, easily the most annoyed unicorn on the planet in that moment.
---
Twilight blinked. “Are you Starswirl?”
“Ah, so you did your research before coming here. Impressive.” He said, taking a sip of some tea that wasn’t there before. “Or maybe you managed to convince this snake to actually tell you something.”
Discord frowned. “I told them nothing. Plus, I had no idea this place existed. I thought you were dead.”
“I am, in a way.” Starswirl said, shrugging. “This is what happens to those who mess with the status quo. An eternal prison.”
Fluttershy spoke up. “That sounds horrible! Can we help you mister Starswirl?”
“Afraid not, I’m bound to this place. My soul would be torn from my body were I to leave, and that would result in instant death.”
Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry. “That’s so sad-”
“Oh don’t be, this place gives me everything I want. I think of it, and it arrives.” A chipmunk appeared out of nowhere. “Now this means the outer edges of the Temple can get a little wonky - I’m sure you’re well aware of that if you got here - but my central room is mine to use however I wish.”
“Seems lonely.” Rarity said.
“Well… It is, I suppose. But I’ve been here for so long I guess I’m used to it at this point.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “You didn’t like people to begin with.”
“True enough.” Starswirl shrugged. “Now… Why are you here? There has to be some reason, powerful beings such as yourself never do things such as this without a purpose in mind.”
Twilight cleared her throat. “A being by the name of Exdeath has destroyed the Crystals and taken control of the Void.”
“Oh.” Starswirl said. He frowned. “And you’ll need the spells to control the Void on your own.”
“Precisely. Without the Crystals, we cannot take control of the Void even if we kill Exdeath.”
Starswirl nodded. “So, naturally, and logically, I should give them to you so you may reverse the damage once it is done.”
“Yeah.” Twilight frowned. “Well, apparently either Discord or I could take it, I’d let you choose.”
“No.”
Twilight blinked. “...What?”
Starswirl smirked. “I said no.”
“...Why not?”
“Did you ever wonder why I created the Void?”
Rainbow Dash bristled. “That’s not an answer-”
“Of course you did. The answer is simple - because I wanted to overthrow the Crystals and their dominion over our world. They were gods to us, gods that thought they were above us. That cared not for us. They cared only for themselves and preserving this world of theirs - and they had the power to alter the very foundations of our world. I would not stand for this. So I created the void.”
He paused. “Only… I didn’t create it. I just found it. The power was already there, just outside our reality. Already it had been filled with horrors and images of other worlds. All I did was bring forth the natural state of existence.” His grin grew. “I introduced the true nature to the suffocating order of the Crystals.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “So… You brought nature?”
“Yes. And it backfired on me horribly of course, the first moments of the Void were chaotic and I was sealed here by my own creation. Pure Entropy was unleashed, and I hated myself for it for the longest time… Until a visitor dropped by I thought I had destroyed the world. But… When I was told the world still existed, I found myself mildly disappointed. Yes I had limited the Crystals’ power, and yes I had changed everything, but…” He grinned. “I realized that the natural Entropy was what I wanted to begin with. The Crystals are an abomination against nature - the Void is what truly belongs. What truly means. So no, I will not give you the keys, for my creation is being fully realized after all these years.” He chuckled. “Though you are welcome to stay here and have some tea while the world burns.”
“You’re crazy!” Applejack yelled.
“So? I’ve been alone in here for tens of thousands of years. I hear that’ll do something to your head. Crumpet?”
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
“This is why I didn’t want to come.” Discord muttered. “Lunatic central.”
“You’re hardly a sane piece of work yourself. Suppose it runs in the family.” Starswril said, munching on a piece of pizza.
Rainbow Dash blinked. “What?”
“Discord here was one of my earlier experiments. Not as successful as the Void, but interesting nonetheless.” Starswirl shrugged.
Twilight spread her wings and slammed her hoof down on the table. “I am sorry Starswirl, but we need those spells.”
“I suppose you can rip them from my dead body…” Starswirl said, twirling his hoof. “But bah, that’d be hard to do. I am a literal god here, able to bend this place to my very will. Such an attack would be folly.”
Twilight smirked. “I guess we’re just stupid that way.”
“Really? You’re really going to-”
Twilight put on the Finisher and barreled into Starswirl, driving her various points through his body with tremendous force. Starswirl was torn apart bit by bit - only to reform behind her. “Foolish alicorn-”
The Holy and Flare spells hit him simultaneously, blasting him into the room’s ceiling. He had no time to recover, for Applejack drove Excalibur right into his chest, and Discord tossed a pie into his face.
“You have certainly prepared yourselves well-” Phoenix came out of nowhere and went inside of him, attempting to rip apart his very soul. It didn’t work, but it was certainly painful to have a Phoenix inside his body.
Starswirl coughed, and hundreds of bombs appeared in the room. Rarity raised her horn, stopping time for all the bombs so they wouldn't explode. Then Discord and Twilight teleported them all right next to Starswirl.
“...Bugger.” He muttered. He was engulfed in a giant explosion. He was still fine when the dust cleared however. “Well, that was interesting. Bravo. Bravo. Now if only you-”
There was another barrage of ultimate spells and attacks that sent him flying. Fluttershy’s eyes went white and she covered her mouth. She carefully flew into the air and delicately positioned herself behind Starswirl...
“ENOUGH!” Starswirl yelled, lighting his horn. “DIE!” A wave of energy shot forth from his horn, touching Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Their eyes rolled back into their skulls and they flopped to the ground, dead.
Starswirl shrugged. “Now will you consider not…” He blinked, realizing fluttershy was behind him just a little too late. She mimicked his spell. Starswirl’s very life was torn asunder from his body… ...One for it to be brought back with a mere thought.
“That… Was a clever ploy little pegasus.” Starswirl admitted. “But sadly not enough. Your friends are dead-”
Fluttershy summoned Phoenix, and life was breathed into Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. They stood back up and laughed at Starswirl.
Starswirl’s eye twitched. “I need to invent a spell that prevents raising. I really do. It’s next on my list.”
Discord hit Starswirl on the head with a rubber mallet. “Oh is it? Perhaps you should think about head protection spells first?”
“Do you not understand? Anything you do to me here is meaningless! I can undo whatever you do with a thought! This is my realm!”
This gave Twilight an Idea. She focused hard within her mind, sending Fluttershy a mental message. Not if you can hear me.
Fluttershy nodded.
I’m going to see if I can get him to produce a spell that removes powers. Mimic it back at him once I do.
Fluttershy nodded again.
Rainbow Dash and Rarity hit him once more with their impressive spells. “Why must you keep fighting? Can you not see how pointless it is?”
Twilight laughed. “We still have powers bestowed upon us by the Crystals! We will keep fighting as long as we can!”
Starswirl’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, there’s an idea.” He lit his horn, and Twilight felt the magic seep out of her. Her wings remained, but her eyes went dull, and she slumped to the ground. “Ow... “ She said.
Starswirl chuckled. “Now to move onto-” Then he blinked. “Oh no.”
Fluttershy spread her wings, and focused on Starswirl. Starswirl yelled in rage, but there was nothing he could do - she was using his wish against him, and the room obeyed. “No!” He fent his control over the Temple slip away. “No! NO NO NO!”
Fluttershy began to shake. “Too… Much… Power…” She said, her eyes glowing and her wings spastically twitching. Twilight rushed to her and put her horn to Fluttershy’s head - absorbing the magic through her. She let out a gasp - the feeling of the magic rushing into her was euphoric. Her eyes flashed black for a moment - her horn extended, and her height increased slightly. Her mane began to Sparkle, and she felt the magic enter her.
She stood tall, feeling the power of Starswirl enter her. A power similar to that of the Crystals - but also completely opposite. A fragment of the Void, as it were. She had the keys to his creation.
She turned to Starswirl, smiling. “Thank you for your assistance.”
“What? No! No! My creation shall not be stopped! It shall not!”
Twilight shrugged. “I think we’ll stop it, and you’ll be stuck in here with no power to do anything about it.” She wished for a doorway back to the Vlerryn, and the Temple complied. “Your magic draining ‘wish’ will wear off eventually and you can get back to your alone time. We won’t be back.”
Discord clapped profusely. “Well I say gang, well done! WELL done!”
“You didn’t do anything.” Rainbow Dash grunted.
“I threw a pie.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“Well if you must know he knows my weaknesses and could easily have just turned me against you had I proved to be too much.” Discord shrugged. “Also, it we didn’t kill him! Isn’t that great!?”
Fluttershy smiled. “Yes. Yes it is.” She looked behind her, at the sorrowful form of Starswirl. “...I might come back. Help him find out how to escape.”
“...I’d say no, but you never no.” Twilight said. “Right now we have a mission to complete.”
They boarded the Vlerryn and left, returning to the world where physics made sense.
Starswirl wept.