//------------------------------// // Book One Part Three // Story: Miracle Worker // by Dragonfire2lm //------------------------------// The Palace was a flurry of activity as ponies scrambled to prepare for the up coming wedding, their coats almost sparkled with their newfound hope that the bride-to-be had restored over the last few months. The hope of being free, the hope of living happily, they had morphed into the hope of finally returning to something that resembled normal and with Healer to temper the King's harshness the crystal ponies had every right to embrace that hope. The future Queen of the Empire waited nervously on a balcony overlooking the Empire, a security matrix had triggered with two ponies flying swiftly towards the Empire. She still remembered the earth rumbling shout of their voices that blasted it's way over from the frozen wastes. "KING SOMBRA THE CROWN OF EQUESTRIA DEMANDS YOU'RE SURRENDER FOR THE MURDER OF QUEEN AMORE!" She'd been terrified and all the King had done was ask her to oversee the rest of the wedding preparations while he went to negotiate with ponies he called "The Princesses of Equestria." That had been two hours ago, she started pacing as she kept watch for his return, Fable was handling things and given that the young mare had insisted Healer leave things to her, the Valkyrie was left to wait and wonder as fear and worry clouded her thoughts. Romantic love wasn't a driving factor in her panic or at least not in the sense most understood, it wasn't a physical attraction to King Sombra it was much more simple, less primal and more beautiful. She cared for his well-being, she respected him and all she wanted was for him to live happily, to be safe, to find peace and she didn't care if that was something that she was a part of not. She felt he deserved that after everything that he'd been through and she'd be she was lying if the thought of leaving him hurt a bit but if it was for his sake, she would. Which was why she waited, right now he needed her, right now she had a place in his life and as much as the idea of marriage terrified and excited her, she would get past whatever fate through her way. Fate decided to throw her a curveball. There was once a maiden who traveled to a festival that celebrated stories and the games people created around them. She like many others was dressed in an elaborate and intricate costume as they browsed the stalls selling all kinds of wares and shared their love of certain stories with one another. The maiden did not join the revelry and chose to enjoy the festival by quietly observing others, she had travelled from far away to join in the festival and saw no reason to talk to people she might never see again for despite her love for many stories she was a bit shy. Just as she took in many colourful artworks of a nearby stall she was blinded by a bright flash of light- And the maiden found herself in a far off kingdom of another world. Fear quickly dug its way into her heart as she realised she had no way to return home! The maiden stumbled through the unfamiliar streets as a new horror made itself known, not only was the maiden stranded in this new world but she had been transformed into the character her costume was based on. She walked around a city made of black, shiny crystal in a haze of despair as the maiden lost hope and direction in this strange new land. Only to stumble upon one of city's inhabitants. The creatures that walked, talked and lived in the city were not people, but ponies of many colours. As the maiden watched the ponies from the shadows she noticed many were sick or injured and thanks to her new form being gifted with the magic to heal the ponies, she knew she could be of use and sought to seek an audience with their king. The Unicorn King of the Crystal Empire was a strict ruler who kept his subjects bound to his laws with dark magic and forced them to follow a schedule for almost every aspect of their lives. So when he laid eyes on the maiden, the selfish king saw only a tool that would increase the efficiency of his workers and the maiden, alone and afraid was all too eager to find a new purpose. The king was wary of the maiden, although he could he see the potential in having her work for him he knew her magic could be used to bring harm to his empire just as much as it could help it and so he issued a challenge to the maiden. "You have seen the state of my subjects, fragile things that they are and if you can restore the health of all my subjects, you win," the king declared and grinned wickedly. "You have one week. This should be a simple task, if your skill is as great as you claim it to be." And so the maiden worked tirelessly as she discovered the usefulness of her new magic but soon realized that trying to heal everypony alone would not work. With an idea in mind the maiden sought help from a young mare and together they cooked up a feast of magical food for the entire empire and the maiden found her place in the king's court. The months flew by and the maiden's willingness to adapt to her new situation puzzled the king to no end but it also drew him to her like a moth to a flame. Week after week the king demanded more of her to test the limits of her resourcefulness and perseverance until one day, she began to assist him with his daily duties of her own free will and the king released he truly cared for her. The maiden had learnt to see past the king's serious and gruff nature and truly both understood and appreciated the sheer amount of work he did to run the empire. Through that end she grew to care for the unicorn king and when the king asked her to marry him, she agreed as it would bring joy to both them and the empire. But alas all was not well, the king had ascended to the throne by murdering the Crystal Queen and the two princesses of the neighboring kingdom sought to avenge her death. The king received word of the princesses coming to overthrow him the night before the wedding and left to confront the two princesses in a duel. For all his power the king was defeated, turned to shadow and banished to an empty, magic less realm known as The Void. Upon his defeat the empire he ruled and the maiden he loved were banished with him. She found herself in a bleak space where the only colour that existed was shades of grey and though there was light, she couldn't pinpoint its source for the sky above and world in front of her was heavily obscured by a dense, white fog. The Maiden called for help as she wandered and to her horror, found the subjects of the empire all of which had been turned to stone. The Empire she had started to call home, if only until she could find a way to return to her world of origin was as grey and empty as The Void around her. In a desperate search for answers she wandered the streets and soon a gold speck in the distance caught her eye and she followed it. The speck turned out to be a magnificent golden phoenix that roosted atop the library it looked down at her from the roof and much to her surprise, began to speak. "You re lost too, Young One?" it asked and not trusting her words, the Maiden nodded. The golden bird flew down to perch upon her left shoulder as it spoke. It told her of this empty place, a space between worlds that only the divine or the dead could safely inhabit. It spoke of being a lore keeper and one who watched over time itself, one of a pantheon of nomadic gods that traveled across stars and countless worlds to give their boons to many a young developing society. It called itself Sage. In return the maiden spoke of her home, of being torn away from all she knew and her studies into magic in the hope of one day returning home. The old bird felt pity for her plight and offered to help. The pair traveled cross the grey expanse until they found a large, foreboding tower alight with glowing runes. Within this tower was a library the likes of which the maiden had never seen and with Sage's instructions and guidance began to expand her knowledge of magic even more. For countless moons teacher and student studied, practiced and expanded their skills. The Void hindered their magic and made casting difficult but that only spurred them on to overcome the challenge to continue their research. As time wore on the maiden asked the bird how much time had passed since arriving in the tower. "You're magic shields you now, you have grown powerful enough to no longer worry about the passage of time, return to your books and scrolls my student, we have time a plenty." He replied and with trust in her friend, the maiden returned to her work. More time had passed and the question lingered in her mind, so yet again she asked and again her friend told her not to worry and with each time her question was answered the same way, her irritation grew until finally she demanded Sage tell her, that she needed to know. With a heavy heart, Sage relented. "A hundred years have passed since you stepped foot into the tower..." The maiden fled. Horror flooded Healer's mind as she ran, her situation, the supposed "truth" Sage had told couldn't be right! How could a hundred years without her knowing, she didn't-they weren't- She lost steam and slowed until she stood in the middle of nowhere, the mist and endless grey expanse did nothing but enhance her sense of grief and guilt. Denial waged war with reason as her emotions flared and she just didn't know what to do anymore! With an anguished cry she fell to her knees, sobbing and spitting curses at Sage, at herself, at anyone. "You poor thing, being left out here like this. I shudder to imagine what kind of horrors would try to harm you in this state." a new voice, male and suave said as Healer caught movement in the corner of her now blurry vision. She looked up nd saw a small, black fox with almost mesmerizing red eyes looking at her in sympathy. "My name is Fox," the canine said. "Why don't you tell me what happened hm? There's no need to rush." The Maiden was charmed, enamored even with the mysterious black fox as she told him of her situation. To ease her pain, he showed her a window that was but a glimpse of the world the Empire once resided in. She watched the world continue on without her, a land ruled by two princesses who held dominion over night and day. The Maiden was enraged, here were the two that had cost her everything, her home, her loved ones and the continued safety of an entire kingdom! She seethed in rage as she ranted and raved, had they realized the prices she was now paying for their actions? Fox was happy to aid her, he encouraged her, trained her and instilled her with knowledge of spells to tear the mind and rend the soul of any foe. With her new power, she watched, waited and clung to her rage and grief. But as she watched, the rage diminished as she grew to understand the princesses and as she saw the youngest succumb to darkness and the eldest's reluctance to stop her the Maiden saw the weight, the price of her eventual revenge. As Nightmare Moon was banished Fox tried to spur her on wards to revenge to right some perceived wrong but the Maiden refused. There was no point to vengeance, to bring harm to others when countless more would be affected, when innocents would be the ones to pay the price. Hollow and empty the Maiden left Fox to his own devices and wandered the void. For her there was no purpose, for her there was no point and for she had nothing to cling to, nothing to strive for, no one to help or to help her. After many weeks of aimless walking, the Maiden reached the edge of a cliff. Healer had bound her wings with black chains and peered over the edge of the cliff. She wobbled slightly, her footing unsure as she stepped towards the plummet that awaited and she stopped at the very edge, the last vestiges of her true self screaming at her to stop. She paused, she could hear the hollow hum of the Void, what passed as air stifled everything from her magic to her very sense of self. her memory of who she was all but gone in the haze of hopelessness. The words she vaguely remembered as flavor text danced across her vision. * 1/200 HP * Are you really going to give up? The question gave her pause as the metaphorical gears in her mind creaked to life for the first time in what felt like eternity. Is that what I'm doing? I'm not, I don't know...Maybe this would be better? Why should I care? * You've done nothing but care for your whole life, why stop now? The fuck?! Who the hell-? * Behind you. Healer stumbled back away from the cliff and turned around to find, of all things, a plushie sitting on the ground. It was a winged unicorn toy the size of a house cat with small cherub style wings, a blue mane and a matching tuft of blue hair on the end of its lion like tail and cloven hooves. To her surprise, the toy stood up, tail wagging madly like a dog's and the black, shiny beads for its eyes seemed to glint with barely contained joy. Something about it seemed familiar and the doll appeared to have sensed that as it "spoke" using the flavor text. * Finally! I was so tired of being unable to help you! * [REDACTED] are you ok? Do you remember me? * It's me, your imaginary friend! * Arbiter. She had a feeling of vague recognition, like this small, talking toy was important, necessary even. Healer walked forward and sat down near the doll, it climbed up into her lap and gently, she hugged it. For the first time in over a century, she felt safe. She didn't remember everything about this strange creature but she knew his words rang true, she knew it was someone she could trust, an undying link of years spent warding against nightmares, of bringing peace, of joy and hope. She had a feeling she had a long way to go, but at least she wouldn't be alone, not anymore. * Despite everything, it's still you. * 50/200 HP * FILE SAVED! The Maiden, with hope in her heart once more set off with her new companion in search of a way home. "So what are you exactly?" Healer asked as she held the toy in her arms while she walked. * I'm a wandering god, it's kind of a long story. "I have time." * There were once four of us Wisdom, Adversity, Death and...Fate. * We all traveled from world to world bringing about new eras both good and bad. For Eons we all had our place and our way of interacting with mortals and immortals alike. * For Wisdom, they were his students. * For Adversity they were his allies or respected rivals. * For me they were lost souls in need of guidance, or a friend. * For Fate they were her kin, her family, her love. * Fate grew tired of the cycle, of death and violence but she understood it's necessity. unwilling to take part in the cycle she split her soul, her very essence into three pieces and we gods left behind did our best to honor her demise and fill the role she left us. * We saw this world and we thought we saw... a piece of Fate and once we saw what was going on with other people being pulled here for something, the others got curious. * I warned them that this world wasn't able to sustain our true forms but we all missed our friend... * When they tried to enter the world, they were broken into fragments, Wisdom was shattered into seven pieces and Adversity split into eight and both were scattered cross every realm connected to the Void. "Uh...What's the Void, is that this place?" Healer asked. * Did you red the scroll? "What scroll?" * I keep telling her she needs to put a bell on them. Ok here's a spare I have. The doll puled a rolled up scroll out of his tail and handed it to her. Welcome To The Void! - By Ammy (Pronounced Am-me or Ah-me either works.) If you're reading this then through some stroke of bad luck, you wound up in The Void! Who'd you piss off to get sent to this dump, I wonder? The Void is a realm between Equestria and any other universes linked or close to Equestria. Within The Void are smaller pocket dimensions that function as either 'sealed evil in a can', like the pocket that housed The Pony of Shadows or The Umbrum or King Sombra upon the banishment of the crystal empire. Some of these pockets are gateways to other worlds, a back door so to speak. However these back doors are One Way Only. The Void itself is a grey, lifeless expanse constantly shrouded in mist, magic is heavily suppressed, mortal creatures are turned to stone because of this. The Displaced, the dead/undead and the divine are resistant to the magic suppression, it takes more magic to use spells and abilities. Overexposure to the Void can impact the soul, erasing one's identity and resulting in mental illness or complete loss of sanity. There is only one creature native to the Void, referred to as The Arbiter, please be mindful of any plush toy resembling a winged unicorn with cloven hooves and a lions tail, The Arbiter consciousness spans multiple forms and realities and though it is a benevolent creature it is advised to keep your distance. Note: prior research on the Void indicates the figure of a white wolf guiding individuals back to their world of origin, others report of bribing her with food to be a success. "Oh that explains alot- wait the king's in here, is he ok?" * He's been sealed away elsewhere, you can't save him yet. * Do you understand what I am now? "A fragment of a god of death stranded here because his friends made a mistake?" * For the most part, I was born with an ability to naturally separate my soul so this is just par for the course. * But Sage and Fox, they don't know and please don't tell them, Void Overexposure has been enough for them to go through anyway. "Alright..But you said you were my imaginary friend back there, you look like him sure but..." * I was watching you, you reminded me so much of Fate that I thought maybe you had one of her fragments but then, something pulled you into that Empire, I wanted to help you, as she would have. so I gave you one of my fragments and left this one here in the Void waiting for you, that's how I'm able to talk to you and as long you have a fragment of me with you, I can talk to others as well. "So you're my guardian angel in a sense?" * I guess I am. "So what do we do now?" * You wanted to learn how to cook right? * I need to go and check on Sage, he's been gone for a while. Healer looked down at the familiar plush toy sitting her lap as the dense fog of The Void swirled around them. "You won't be gone long and Fox is still here so I'll be fine," she reassuring replied as the toy got up to leave the simple picnic the small group was enjoying. Fox halfheartedly grunted a reply, too focused on a strange piece of technology he had scavenged. Healer smiled as Arbiter sighed and set off to look for their wayward friend. The medic returned to her plate of food happily listening to Fox mutter in the background. It was only when he fell silent that she turned around to ask if he'd learned anything that she began to grow nervous. Fox and his trinket were gone with the quickly vanishing red wisps of a teleport spell to indicate he'd even been there in the first place. Healer quietly and carefully looked around as if expecting her friends to reappear at any given moment and the longer she waited the more frantic she grew. Calling for help revealed nothing and her magic spiked alongside her emotions. She feel The Void chipping away at her as her sense of time, even her sense of self became lost in the sea of fog, the hum of the Void's essence blending with the heartbeat that roared in her ears and her rattled breathes. Healer felt heavy, trapped in a daze as visions of death and phantom pains assaulted her mind a body. The fog shifted into mist as it pressed down on her, the deaths of all she knew danced within her head until she didn't remember where she was. Her emotions shut down as her body severed the link between her emotions and her magic to prevent her power from escalating further, despair and confusion gave way to curiousity and logic as she studied what she was seeing. These are other worlds connected to The Void, no it's more than that these...are other versions of the world I was sent to. Is this what my future holds? Wait what's-? Why? Why must everything I care about die? There was nothing but death. All she had was death, as The Void surrounded her she saw nothing but The End. The End of wars, The End of lives and The End of good and evil alike. "I need to do something," she muttered. "Need to heal, need to save...Need to-to." Something licked her cheek and the sensation broke her hazy state of mind as something within the medic snapped back into place. Everything felt lighter even as her wings and head throbbed with pain and despite the tears she hadn't noticed before were blurring her vision Healer could make out the form of some kind of animal staring at her curiously. She wiped away her tears and blinked in confusion at the white wolf that was in front of her, the ornate crimson markings adorning its body seemed familiar and Healer had a strong feeling of deja-vu, as if she had seen- or rather had met this wolf before. The wolf was calm, yet appeared as it walked up to her and whined sadly. "I'm ok, really. I uh, I guess you're stuck here too?" The wolf nodded and tilted its head side as if it wanted to ask a question. "Do I remember you? I'm... not sure," Healer admitted. "My mind's a bit of a mess right now and as you saw I don't exactly do well when left alone." "Oh God," she groaned. "I'm getting worse!" The wolf nuzzled her and barked, tail wagging madly as if the beast was trying to cheer her up. "Thanks but if I don't have more than just a bad case of separation anxiety when i get out of here then I'll be happy," she stated. "Say, what's you're name anyway?" The wolf whined uncertainly and Healer quickly shook her head. "No, you don't need to tell me your true name! I'm the one indebted to you!" The wolf grinned, nuzzled her again and the medic laughed as the creature growled playfully. "A-alright! You can tell me jeez!" she relented. "For a goddess, you sure are pushy when it comes to helping people huh?" The wolf barked as it draped itself over her lap. "Huh, I know that name that's-Holy shit I remember!" Healer laughed. "You're me and I'm you!" Healer exclaimed. "We have the same family but we're from different versions of Earth!" "Wait...How'd you end up here though? Why do I even know you?" Healer asked. The wolf huffed softly, she looked tired, sad even. "You were turned into a wolf god and you were summoned here by a prayer so you're trying to prevent something bad from happening...You could go into more detail you know." Healer stated and the white wolf whined in frustration. "The Void Queen? Never heard of her and I know about everything in this place." The wolf barked. "You're looking for her? So she's in trouble then, sorry I can't help but hey, if I ever get outta here I'll see if I can learn anything about her." Another sad whine from the wolf removed her good mood. "Yeah, assuming I remember this conversation when I get out I'll help but you are right, with how things work here I doubt I'll remember this, most days I don't even remember who I used to be before all this," the medic replied. "That's why I keep busy in here, you know. I'm well aware that one of the symptoms of Void Overexposure is an unhealthy fixation on something but as long as I have someone or something to care for or something to work towards then things are bit easier to handle." "Besides," she added as she watched Arbiter drag Sage and Fox back to her in his light blue magic. "I suppose caring a bit too much about others is better than going completely nuts huh?" "So why are you teaching me about souls again?" Healer asked as she sat down across from Arbiter. "I'm sure Sage has a relevant book for me to learn the same thing." * Come on now, you can't learn everything from books. The plush toy chided. "I can try..." * Ha, I know you will. * But anyway, what am I? If you can answer that you should be able to understand why I'm teaching you today. "Well... you're an entity that inhabits several bodies all controlled by the same mind over different worlds and timelines. You can literally be anywhere and any when and due to your ties to the cycle of life and death you're too powerful to interact with worlds directly but you also have more than enough wriggle room to nudge events in your favor. Um is that right?" * Correct! so can you tell why that qualifies me to teach you about souls? "Uh, you interact with them a lot and... oh, I'm an idiot. Your job is to judge souls." Healer replied. * Pretty much, as The Grand Judge of souls and former God of Death I know first hand what makes a soul so important. * Souls house the self, everything that makes up a single living thing is encased in the soul and linked to the body its a part of. When you tap into your magic you are tapping into the well of power within your soul, just as non magical creatures tap into their will to live or prior experiences when faced with danger. "But my magic has a limit, wouldn't a soul have limitless energy due to the fact that there are limitless possibilities across all timelines?" she asked. "Assuming of course that every soul is bound to their other selves in other worlds or timelines right?" * A soul does have infinite energy but since it does house the ego and everything else that makes up a living thing, that energy is tempered or limited by the physical limitations of the body and the limits imposed upon the self through societal norms, upbringing and so on, a psychological barrier so to speak. * And where exactly did you hear about other timelines? The doll's face shifted to a stern expression and Healer shrugged. "I got bored, read a lot of the more complicated spell book Sage keeps." Arbiter facehoofed. * Time manipulation, really? * I suppose it can't be helped, Sage encourages learning for the greater good after all and I guess this would be a good time to teach you of the dangers of powerful souls and time travel. "It's not like I'm going to use the spells!" she protested. * I know but.... Imagine this universe is a giant spider web and every living thing is a spider weaving their own web within that web. * Most of the time strands will cross over one another with little consequence, others will only affect the web some time later and you have small groups of spiders working together on the same section. * Then you have some that choose to work alone, either by finding their own corner or destroying the work of others to leave their mark on the web. * Finally imagine that web being repeated and altered by the placement of the strands at different intervals or some strands being cut off. those copies are other timelines, other instances of the same world but... different. * What do you think would happen if you could observe the web in it's entirety? "You could see how everything works and use that knowledge for your own means right?" * Yet doing so is dangerous, say one spider used all that knowledge to get all the other spiders to follow their pattern and ignoring the rest, that's not how the web is supposed to work as it relies on the multiple, smaller webs for structure, eventually either the web will collapse or the other spiders will rebel and try to return things to normal. * Plus, if one pattern is repeated on other webs enough times, it will ripple across the strands to affect webs that have yet to form. "So you're saying that every timeline is unique and shouldn't be messed with for the sake of keeping reality in perfect harmony or something?" * Pretty much. "And you exist in every time and place to keep that balance in check?" * Yup. "What does that have to do with souls?" * A person can exist in multiple worlds or timelines, so too can their soul. * If multiple versions of the same soul went through the exact same thing, it could have an effect of versions of that soul that were supposed to live differently, like deja-vu or very rarely, they remember what happens in those other timelines. * Domino affect basically, that's why time travel has a whole bunch of laws that only allow you to travel forward and backward your own timeline and not jump to another one. "But that is possible right?" * Well, if you're dumb enough to drastically change history, if a higher power picks you as a solution that can't be fixed by those native to the timeline- like Ammy or if you were born with that ability- like myself then yes, you can timeline hop. "So you can't acquire the ability to timeline hop?" * You can gain memories from other versions of yourself but no, unless you could break the limitation of how much magic you can tap into, then timeline hopping is all but impossible. * And to clarify, parallel worlds are a different matter entirely. "Well no kidding, timelines are multiple instances of the same world but parallel worlds are worlds that share similar building blocks or events with one another yet occupy a different space, though it can be tricky to differentiate the two." * Well portals between worlds can naturally form, for one but you'd need to rip a hole in space-time to make a connection to another timeline. The two sat silently for a while, moving and fidgeting every few moments to create some kind of noise that wasn't the endless hum of The Void. "Hey um, I was just wondering...." * What is it? "What am I like in other timelines? Are there other Healer's stuck in here too?" * Yes... "Did you help them like you did with me?" * Their fates were already sealed by the time I noticed them I'm afraid. "What happened?" she asked quietly. * Those girls, lost everything and were preyed upon by a dark entity that corrupted them. * That's all I'm allowed to say, sorry. "So is that why you helped me? Just to, I dunno, get a "happy ending" or check another saved timeline off your list?" * There's something you need to understand, this isn't the first time this version of you has been sent to The Void and this isn't the first time we've had this conversation. * I've stood by your side for thousands of years and at first, I was just doing my job. * At first I never bound a piece of myself to your soul to help you.. * But I grew to understand you, to care about you and after failing so many times, I understood what I was missing. * I didn't need to save you, I wanted to. * And here we are. "Is that why I felt like I've met you before and not just because you look like something I used to own?" * Yeah but don't worry, I'm not doing all of this just because I can or because I have to. * I want to see you happy, so to that end I'll be whatever you need me to be and I'll do everything I can to help out! * Just don't ask me about the future, I don't want to spoil it for you! Despite being a stuffed toy, Arbiter looked to be smiling as his tail waged happily. Healer stared at him as she processed the information, she practically feel his compassion and loyalty. She looked back at what little she could remember about her time before and after being banished to The Void and smiled nervously as she fiddled with the hem of her robe. "Can, um... Can I call you dad?" For centuries she learnt, played and bonded with her new friend, even going as far to find the two that deceived her and forgive them, together they were trapped but the Maiden understood they needed companionship as much as any mortal. Finally she had her friends, she had hope and the promise of saving her King for his safety and his happiness were all she wished for. For centuries she clung to memories of her time in the Crystal Empire until it nearly consumed her. For centuries her friends pulled her back from the brink of madness. As sunlight shone through the Void, she knew the wait was finally over. The Maiden was filled with determination.