//------------------------------// // XXXVI - Multiverse Theory // Story: Pony Fantasy V: Exodus of the Void // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// The six mares let out a horrendous scream as they appeared... somewhere. The first thing the Warriors of Light saw was Exdeath - back in his blue armor, back at regular size. He stared at them. “You followed me.” He said. The six mares stood up, their hooves contacting with… something, but they couldn’t see it. There was nothing here - nothing. It wasn’t black, it wasn’t white, it was true nothingness, a nothing. It was an impossibility. Twilight shivered. “Where are we?” “It has no name.” Exdeath said, turning his back to them. “It is where Starswirl unknowingly drew the power of the Void from.” “The Source?” Pinkie suggested, giggling. “…Sure we’ll go with that.” He said. “I suppose I was foolish trying to break it, an impossible act demands that another retaliates.” He looked right at the pink pony. “You won’t last after this is over.” “I know.” Pinkie said, hugging Fluttershy. “I’m just here for the finale.” Exdeath raised a hand. “Well then, by all means, we shall have a finale. We are all in this Source, and we are all vying for control of it. Let this be a fight all will remember!” He began to rise slowly into the ‘air’ and spread his hands. “It comes down to a battle of the planes. Of existences. We are in touch with everything that is, was, and will be, in all possibilities. Let us try some of them out shall we?” Twilight glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but we can’t let you do whatever you came here to do!” “Twilight…” Pinkie said, walking forward. “He’s trying to free himself. To break the rules. He has seen the truth, and he cannot accept the world that way.” “As I expected, she understands.” He leaned in to her. “But she failed when she tried to change things. You cannot beat the villain before the climax.” “And the villain cannot win in the end. Good always prevails.” Pinkie said. “Ah, but that’s why I’m here.” Exdeath said. “And you know it.” He spread his hands and let out a sharp yell, the scenery around them changing to an endless plain of shifting color. He grunted. “Not where I wanted…” “You won’t get there!” Pinkie said, standing up and sloshing Exdeath with a tidal wave. “Come on girls! Let’s do this!” Twilight nodded, summoning Finisher. It was time to end this. She charged into Exdeath, the red spikes going right through his body. “No.” He said, lifting her into the air and punching right through the Finisher armor. “Your new powers are useless.” “Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash said, spreading her wings with an orange light. “Wanna bet?” Exdeath exploded, his armor pieces flying everywhere. Then, with a strange gurgling slimy sound, he reformed himself. “Surviving Flare. A trick I learned from Pinkie.” Pinkie appeared behind him - then he appeared behind her. “Pointless games.” He drove his lance through her chest. She inflated herself like a balloon and blew off the blade. “Pointless games!” She retorted. Exdeath charged her - only to have Rainbow Dash hit him with a sonic rainboom. “AUGH!” He yelled. “Why does that HURT?” “Silly Exdeath. We’re still physical beings.” Pinkie giggled. “Can only go so far!” Exdeath roared, his shadowy essence reaching out at all angles and encasing the Warriors of Light - only to find his arms being rewinded by Rarity. “Mhm, you’re outnumbered dear.” Exdeath twitched. “Being outnumbered means nothing. I have access to everything from here. The Void continually powers me forevermore.” He snapped his fingers, the scene changing once more to that of the moon. “Wrong again...” He muttered. “Oooh, having trouble with your power?” Rainbow Dash taunted. Exdeath unleashed a punch at her that cracked her ribs. "Ow." “How are we breathing?” Rarity asked as she shot a healing blast at Rainbow Dash. “Magic.” Twilight said. “Mine, to be precise.” She lifted her wings and produced the cannons. “Needed some oxygen to combust this.” Torrents of fire shot forth from the cannons and engulfed Exdeath. He rushed through the fire and punched Twilight away - her wings stopping her rapid velocity before she hit anything. She flew into the air, dodging a magical bolt from Exdeath. Applejack drove her sword into Exdeath’s back, slicing off his helmet. In a roar of rage he kicked her back and put his helmet back on. Rarity hit him with Holy and healed Appeljack’s broken limbs. “White mages.” He grumbled, pointing a finger at her. “Gigaflare. No reflect this time.” “Nope.” Rarity said. “But I do have this handy dandy thing called rewind.” The gigaflare didn’t go off. The Flare Rainbow Dash just put inside Exdeath did. For extra damage, Fluttershy reiterated the Flare. Pinkie leapt onto Exdeath’s helmet before it could reform and covered it in frosting, giving him a clown face. “Why do you insist on joking?” He roared, reforming completely and wiping off the frosting. “The fate of your world depends on your actions! The fate of fate depends on this!” “Because, silly, I understand something you don’t.” She jumped. “If there’s no laughter, there’s only sadness.” “That’s stupid.” Exdeath said, unable to stop the hammer from crashing down on his face. Rainbow Dash crashed into him again, Twilight impaled him with her Finisher horn, and Applejack drove a moon rock into his chest. He didn’t care. He just reformed. He lashed out with all his energy, tearing the Warriors of Light limb from limb - but they wouldn’t go down either. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy kept performing healing spells and techniques to keep them alive. “This is what is known as a standstill.” Twilight observed. “We can’t beat you, you can’t beat us.” Exdeath glared. “That isn’t true and you know it. You are the heroes. Plucky individuals like you are going to find out how to defeat me eventually, to do something I never considered.” He clapped his hands once more. “I just have to find the answer before then.” Pinkie sighed. “You can’t be serious…” They were standing on a street in some suburb. Through a window they could see a man typing away at a computer. “Pinkie… I figured out what it meant.” He raised his hand towards the window. “Now I could just destroy-“ Pinkie tackled him and the scenery changed again - they were in a crystal castle lined with books. A small purple dragon stood atop a round table with seven thrones around it - he took one look at Exdeath and ran away screaming. “Was that just me or did that look a lot like Spike?” Rarity said. “It did…” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Don’t pay attention to it!” Pinkie yelled. “Help me keep him down!” Twilight and Applejack acted, Twilight impaling Exdeath on her horn and the chandelier. He roared in agony as his body reformed around the chandelier - roaring in unbridled rage as Applejack drove her sword into him again. “What the heck is going on here?” The Warriors of Light turned to… another Twilight, with the small Spike-like dragon at her side. “What are…” She saw the other Twilight, Exdeath, and the fight. “…What alternate universe are you all from?” Exdeath chuckled. “You’ll never know.” He clapped his hands, and they were back on the suburban street. He wasted no time, running right for the house and readying his fist. Rarity leapt in front of him, accelerating her time as fast as she could. He punched her - and found that she had a lot of shields on her. “AGH!” He yelled, his fist shooting pain into him. He had no time to react, for Pinkie kicked him and they were somewhere else again, this time a barren wasteland. “That’s it!” Exdeath said. “I can’t just get to it quickly, so I have to be clever!” He raised his hands above his head. “WHO WANTS A SPIRIT BOMB TO THE FACE? I KNOW YOU ALL DO! Oh and guess what. HAX!” He yelled, the bomb increasing to two hundred the size of what he was using in the Interdimensional Rift. He raised a finger at Fluttershy. “Ah ah ah! You see, this world we are in is inhabited! We may be fighting in the Source… But whatever we do affects the worlds around us… Look over there!” He said, pointing. “A city! A city that this bomb is going to destroy if you don’t stop it! And everything else on this miserable planet!” He threw it to the ground - Twilight using her magic to fight it, pushing it out into space. Exdeath laughed. “That’s right… Try to stop it. Pour all your power into it. Do-“ A bullet pierced his side. He roared in agony. Who had the gun- Oh. There was a small army of ponies on the nearby ridge, being led by a a grey mare with a brown mane, and a white mare with a red and black mane. “FREAKIN HEROES!” Exdeath yelled. “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST STOP EXISTING?” “Fact of life.” The white mare said, lighting her horn, the rest of the unicorns matching. “How…” Pinkie giggled. “Oh, their world just kinda sucks and they expect things like that. Also there may have been a pink pony prophecy!” “…HOW DO YOU STILL KNOW MORE THAN ME?” He yelled at Pinkie as the sphere was tossed into the air. “I’ve seen what you’ve seen! We’re IN what you were in! HOW!?” Pinkie giggled. “Because… ‘the answer.’” The spirit bomb was tossed into space, and Exdeath roared, clapping his hands again. “No, not doing this, going to get there now.” They appeared on the street again. He teleported into the house, standing at the computer. Wasting no time he typed in “Exdeath Wins.” There was no change in the world around them. Pinkie appeared behind him, frowning. “Exdeath…” Exdeath began to laugh. “This… This isn’t real. Nothing is! Heh… Heheheh… There’s no way out… They… They have control that we cannot take back… We are nothing but WHIMS! Muses! Ideas! Thoughts!” “Exdeath!” Pinkie said. “You are a three dimensional character with thoughts, feelings, drives, emotions, likes, and dislikes! Do you honestly think this was planned? You have choice! You can be surprising! You can change!” Twilight blinked. “Pinkie what on earth are you-“ “Giving him a chance.” Pinkie said. Exdeath slowly stood up, looking at the ground. Then he punched the computer, knocking it to the ground. Then he cast gigaflare on it just for the heck of it. It slowly melted, burned, then exploded before them. There was silence. Sirens could be heard in the distance. “Villains…” Exdeath said. “There are three possible outcomes. They are defeated. In a situation like this, killed, or are as good as dead. They are redeemed, turned around to the light side, changed by the system. Or they find a way to triumph…” Applejack shook her head. “Exdeath, you are plum crazy.” “So’s Pinkie.” He stood up tall, voice once again devoid of emotion. “Whatever I do, it bends to the rules. The will. The way. Even breaking the rules serves it’s own purpose. There is no escape.” He turned to Pinkie. “How do you survive?” “I keep laughing and smiling and caring and helping.” She said. “You should try it.” Exdeath clenched his fist. “No.” He said. “I will not.” He began to cackle and laugh. “Do I look like a being who can turn back on his ways that easily? No! I could have told the Void to stop eating your planet at any time! I could have completed my plans without it at this point! Or… Well I thought I could.” “Why didn’t you?” Twilight tasked. Exdeath summoned his weapon. “Because I enjoy watching others suffer. I had begun to think such enjoyment was pointless… But now I realize something. It is pointless.” The world changed again, this time to a square platform floating amongst stars. “But it is all I have at this point.” “You can have friends!” Twilight yelled. “You can go to a new world and start over!” Pinkie continued. “You can-“ “I don’t think you understand me.” He stabbed Pinkie through the forehead. “I. Enjoy. The. Suffering. Of. Others. Mental. Physical. I do not care which.” He began to cackle. “It’s much more worthwhile than spending effort to make stupid relationships.” “Well, we tried talking.” Rainbow Dash said, cracking her hooves. “Let’s try punching now.” “Ahahahahah…” Exdeath said. They shifted in realities once more, appearing in what looked like the Pirate Cove. Rainbow Dash blinked. “What-“ “Look over there!  Your ship!” Exdeath declared. “The Spike’s Saddle! And look, there you are, sailing the high seas with Spike, not a care in the world!” He snapped his fingers and the entire ship was engulfed in a fireball. “How sad…” He said. Then he snapped his fingers, the world shifted again… and there was another copy of the Spike’s Saddle. He froze this one and shattered it with a thought. “So many worlds filled with thousands of millions of billions of versions of all of you! And I can kill all of them in increasingly brutal ways!” He laughed. “I believe I have found a purpose to my existence! To torment the six of you!” Rainbow Dash flew towards him in a blind rage, rainbooming him into a million pieces - which he reformed from quickly. “Rage really suits you doesn’t it?” He laughed again. Then he changed the world again, appearing on the bridge of a starship. A bald man stood up rapidly. “Who are you?” “Exdeath.” He said. “And I’m here to destroy worlds-” “Do you know Q?” A bearded man asked. “No. I just need to torment these-” The world shifted again as Pinkie tackled him. Exdeath’s energy beam hit a man in an orange gi in the back. “-ponies.” “Ponies!?” The man yelled, completely unscathed by the beam from Exdeath. “Oh they look so cute!” “...I stole your spirit bomb in an attempt to do evil things.” Exdeath said. “...How do you steal a spirit bomb?” “Like this.” Exdeath said, raising his hands and starting to generate it. “Feel the powe-” “That’s not how that works!” Pinkie yelled, hammering Exdeath into the ground, making them appear in a strange underground facility with blood everywhere. The Spirit bomb vanished as Twilight shrunk it to manageable size. Rarity hit Exdeath with a Holy to keep him from doing anything else, preventing the madman from trying to torture this world as well. He snapped his fingers, and they appeared on a world with a giant pyramid spaceship flying in the distance. Exdeath tried to shoot it down, but Rainbow Dash absorbed the hit herself - and then Rarity healed her. Exdeath roared, trying a different world, this time facing off against a hand-shaped ship - but found Carbuncle in his way. He roared. “I will destroy something!” He yelled, making them all appear in a field filled with little electric mice. Twilight glared. “Stop this Exdeath. You can’t go on like this forever.” “Oh but you see I can!” Exdeath laughed, snapping his fingers and teleporting them to a land of hills with eyes and floating question mark blocks. “There is no limit to what can be reached through the Source! My purpose has upgraded to tormenting the WHOLE OF CREATION!” “And we can reach the same places!” Twilight yelled back. “The places you destroy will fight back - and we can help them! Give them power! Add to our number! Fight you at every turn! You admitted yourself that we are at a stalemate - we will fight you forever, stopping you from destroying these worlds! IT WILL BE OUR PURPOSE!” “Yeah!” The other Warriors of Light yelled. Exdeath roared. "I can overpower you!" They appeared in a dark castle lit by moonlight. A version of Twilight and the other Warriors of Light stood to the side, the Twilight saying. "I AM THE ELEMENT OF MAGIC!" The six started to glow, floating into the air. Exdeath raised a hand. "Ruining time!" The energy blasted from his hand, towards the mares... only to be blocked by Twilight's bubble shield. Exdeath roared, changing the world again, stomping on the closest being he saw - a human teenage version of Sunset, apparently. Her body split in two. "Heh. Got one." Rarity raised her, then the world changed again to be that of facility filled with single-eyed chrome robots. Exdeath twitched. “Can’t I have ANYTHING?” “No.” Pinkie said. “Evil never triumphs.” Exdeath clapped his hands, taking them to a world covered in darkness and desolation. Demons ran free and humans were being torn limb from limb just a few feet away from them. “It won here.” “Exception that proves the rule.” Pinkie said. “There are exceptions though.” Exdeath said. “You’re being delusional. You see it. You know where this is going.” Exdeath roared. “YES! I SEE IT! AND I HATE IT AND WILL FIGHT IT TO MY DYING BREATH!” He cackled. “IT FILLS ME WITH DETERMINATION!” “And we are also filled with determination.” Fluttershy said. “You are an evil man, and you will be defeated!” “You know what, yes. You’re right.” Exdeath said. “LET’S SEE HOW MANY OF YOU I CAN TAKE DOWN WITH ME!” “Raising.” Rarity reminded him. He twitched, then an idea came to him. “…I’ll just break you. Mentally.” “You can’t do that while we stand together!” Applejack retorted. “Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said. “Your repeated killing of me did nothing!” “You do not fear your own deaths enough.” Exdeath said, hissing. He racked his brain for a way - any way - to make these four heroes suffer. But he felt like he was running out of options - he already used the Void to destroy their homes and their family, their very world was dying, and their allies were currently in the Interdimensional Rift presumably poised to destroy him should he reappear… All he had to work with was the six of them - and they would not move! They would not fall! they were absurdly stubborn! He couldn’t even kill one of them without some kind of raising or healing taking effect! They would protect everything he tried to destroy… They would throw their lives away again and again to protect reality… They would be here for eternity, and they would fight him forever if they had to… Then he started to laugh. He clapped his hands and returned them to the nothingness. Then he sat down and didn’t move. “…What are you doing?” “Keeping you here.” He said. “We’ll sit here, doing nothing, till the end of time.” Twilight smiled. “Very well.” She sat down as well. Rainbow Dash blinked. “You can’t be serious Twilight, he’s right there, we can take him-“ “The Void powers him.” She said. “It is powered by this place we are in. His power will never end. So we will just sit here, forever. And he’ll never hurt anyone.” “And you will die of boredom.” Exdeath said. Twilight said nothing. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie sat down and closed their eyes as well. Applejack glanced at Rainbow Dash and sighed. “Well, Rainbow…” “This can’t be happening. The action can’t end.” “He wants you mad.” Applejack said. “You can’t let him have that.” The farmer pony sat down and closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash glared at Exdeath - and then sat down as well, wings twitching annoyingly. The Source was silent. Nothing happened. But unknown to everyone else there, Twilight was not doing nothing. She was thinking. Closely thinking about their situation - they both had some control over this Source. They both were drawing power that kept them alive, locked in an eternal battle. How could the connection to their power be severed? She could try to cast Starswirl’s power-blocking spells, but she figured that wouldn’t do anything… The Void would just overpower it, flooding Exdeath with its energy… What they needed was to sever Exdeath’s connection to the void, at least temporarily. Something that could use the power of the Void against him. But she was unable to take control away from him until he was dead… She had the keys… But Exdeath had his stuck in the lock… But then she remembered. Midnight has been using the power of the Void. She was somehow the Void’s ‘Chosen…’ The power was going to her as well… How could she use that… She thought back to the fight that they had with Midnight… And what the six eidolons had told them about their journey… They had been the Crystal’s chosen back then, and Midnight had been the Void’s chosen back then… There might be a Void’s chosen now. Maybe that could be a good thing for them. But how would she - Her eyes flew open. All they had to do was draw the Chosen’s attention. Since the Chosen would be connected to the Void, they would be connected to the Source. They just needed to shine brightly enough to grab their attention. And she suddenly had an idea on how to do that. “I AM THE ESSENCE OF AETHER, MAGIC!” She yelled, looking up and spreading her wings. “…What the devil are you doing?” Exdeath asked. “I AM THE ESSENCE OF WIND, LAUGHTER!” Pinkie said, following suit and grinning. “Um… I am the essence of Life, Kindness?” Fluttershy said, unsure. Exdeath looked at the three ponies that had started to glow. “No, I don’t know what you’re doing but I have to stop it-“ “I AM THE ESSENCE OF FIRE!” Rainbow Dash said, leaping up and kicking Exdeath in the face. “FREAKING LOYALTY!” “i am the essence of Water. Geeeeenerosity!” Rarity sang, keeping Exdeath at bay with a Holy. Exdeath reached out with his hand. “Stop it!” He lunged at Applejack. She returned his gesture with a buck to the face. “I am the essence of Earth, Honesty.” Applejack said. All six of them began to glow, and float into the air. Twilight’s eyes lit up with energy, and a rainbow light began to form in the middle of them. It shot forth, hitting Exdeath dead on. Nothing happened. “…What was that supposed to do?” Exdeath said, brushing the rainbow light off him. Twillight blinked. “Well that wasn’t what I was trying to do… I was trying to get us t-” She gasped. “Do what?” Exdeath yelled. “Tell me!” “Hi.” Sunset said, hitting Exdeath on the head with a flaming halberd. “How? What? Why?” Sunset smiled. “Funny thing. The Void really is impersonal, it just passes on the Chosen to whoever happens to signify it nearby.” “When we defeated Midnight, it passed to us.” Starlight said. “You could call us…” They fused into their centaur form. “The essence of Void, Sacrifice. Not decay, don't be silly." Exdeath was pummeled in the face with the flaming halberds, and a powerful magic explosion launched him into the air. “NO!” He yelled, reaching his hand into the air. “You cannot defeat me with two more ponies! Do not be stupid!” A gigantic Void sphere appeared in his hand - and a gigantic Void sphere appeared in their hands as well. The two collided - and snuffed each other out. Then Sunset and Starlight split in two, and starlight rammed her horn right into Exdeath’s backside. “Draining your power, sir, hope you don’t mind.” Exdeath roared as the power of the Void was drained out of him, slowly, but surely. “No!” He yelled, pushing her out with his power. He began to laugh. “You honestly thought you could sever my connection to the Void with this? It’s like saying I could use you to destroy… your… Crystals…” His mind flashed back to the Everfree Forest. “…The tables have turned.” 'Sunlight' grinned. “Time’s up Exdeath! We’ve caught up with you for being such a horrible boss!” She kneed Exdeath in the pelvis and punched right through his chest before enveloping him in fire. “All we have to do is break those seals protecting you! Sound familiar?” “Yes it does!” Exdeath screamed. “I hate karma!” “Really? We happen to like it right now.” ‘Sunlight’ lifted Exdeath into the air and engulfed him in a Void sphere - she was engulfed in one at the same time. They both appeared a few feet away, both breathing heavily. ‘Sunlight’ split apart and Starlight let out a yell. “EXDEATH! You made me betray my friends! You killed one of them! The punishment for that…” “Is an ass kicking.” Sunset said, grinning. Starlight facehooved. “Oh, and death. That too.” Sunset generated a fiery halberd and Starlight enchanted it with the Void. Then she drove it right into Exdeath’s chest. Multiple times. He roared in anger, rising up. "I will not fall to the likes of you!" "Mm yeah, you already did." Pinkie said. "Other versions of you anyway." "...What? Why does that matter?" "NOOOOO REASON!" Pinkie trilled, distracting Exdeath enough for 'Sunlight' to reform and create a magic sphere between their horns. They oppened their mouth and drained Exdeath, the black Void magic flowing right into the centaur. He roared, feeling the seals the Void had placed on him disappearing. Just like how the Crystal’s Chosen could destroy their seals - the Void’s Chosen could destroy the Void’s seals… He knew this - he just hadn’t thought of it. He never considered a new Void Chosen would come into existence… He had never asked the question… He just thought Sunset and Starlight had sacrificed themselves, and that was it… He was vulnerable - the Warriors of Light attacked him all at once. Swords flew, magic hit, and Titan smashed. Exdeath fell to his knees, silent. Defeated. Broken… His inner shadowy self was spilling out of the broken armor that was no longer able to fully reassemble itself… He began to tremble… He knew he could not fight them all… He had barely survived against them in his castle - they were stronger now, easily making up for the difference in power back then... The battle was over.