//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Flaws and Keys 
// Story: Vexes of the Multiverse 
// by Crowborn 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: Flaws and Keys


As Verse moved on ahead, Twilight kept close by, not wanting to get lost in this 'Worldscape'. "Wait!" She called, "I have so many questions!" 
Verse did not pause or even look in her direction. "Oh do you now?" He asked in an emotionless flat tone. Like before, Twilight could feel the questions in her mind slip away before she could ask them, confirming her theory that he was indeed using some kind of magic to silence her. 

"Please," she pleaded, "don't I deserve even just a few answers?" Verse flicked his tail in slight annoyance, before giving out a long sigh, "Fine. It seems you have figured out my little spell..."
Much to her relief, whatever magic that was keeping her from asking questions faded away. 

"So that was a spell..." She stared at him, slightly irritated that he had been using such magic on her. "Why are you afraid of me asking questions?" She demanded.

Verse was a lot more compliant than she was expecting, "Ponies always like to pester me with countless questions. It is....distracting," he said with a hint of tiredness. 

"But using magic to silence ponies who ask you questions, isn't that a bit extreme, and cruel?" Twilight asked, making Verse pause momentarily. 

"If it will appease you, I give you my word that I will not use such magic on you ever again." Verse said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He then continued his stride.

"Thank you" the Changeling Queen replied, though she didn't quite fully trust the stallion, but she decided to move on to the next one of her questions. "If you are an Earth Pony, how are you able to use magic, and also, if you are as powerful as you claim, then shouldn't you be a unicorn or an Alicorn or something? Or perhaps, are you a Changeling like me?" She asked, staring at the mysterious stallion expectantly.

Verse sighed, and took a long moment before replying, "I am not a Changeling. Technically, I am not even a pony. The closest thing in your world that you could compare me to is that friend of yours, Discord."

Twilight frown, "So you are saying that your a Draconequus, like Discord?"

Verse turned and looked at her suddenly, "What? No. He is the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. I am the Spirit of Time, Space and Multiversal Balance." He said as if it were something obvious, which in hindsight, maybe it was. However, Twilight had more questions still.

She took a deep breath before asking, "Why did you pick me? If there is indeed infinite worlds, and infinite Twilights, what made me so special?" She asked.

Verse was quiet once more before replying, "No more questions. We are here."

Twilight was about to rebuke his words, but stopped, noticing that the Stallion was pointing something rather peculiar. Before then was a star, except much larger than any of the ones she had seen before. "What is it?" She asked inquisitively.

"This is the Prime Universe, the place where all worlds, timelines, and universes derive from. This is admittably not the original Prime Universe, but it's reincarnation."

Twilight gazes at it curiously, her eyes mesmerized by it's otherworldly beauty. "Then what is wrong? Why have you brought me here?"

Verse turned to face her once more, "It has been corrupted, flaw built upon flaw. However, I cannot enter in to fix it, only merely peer into it." He demonstrated by pushing his hoof towards the star, an invisible wall ripples, and pushes his hoof back. "That is where you come in, while you alone also cannot enter this world, you are one of the Keys to unlocking it."

Twilight frowned, "First i am a Tool, now I am a Key?" 

Verse nodded, "A key is a tool. Used for unlocking. But one key is not enough, I will require five more keys to unlock the wall that keeps me from fixing the Prime Universe. Finding the right key is not an easy task. You are not the first Twilight I have tested, but you are the only that has passed so far. I need your help to find the five other Keys, scattered all across the Multiverse. And we will have to test each and every one to make sure we find the right ones." He said solemnly.

"These other Keys, are they ponies and changelings like me?" Twilight asked. Verse shrugged, "Perhaps."

Twilight was silent for a moment, "And if I do this, you will bring my mother back? Like you promised?" 

Verse nodded, "As I have promised you. I will return you to your world and revive your mother once you have finished the task that is required of you."

Twilight nodded in understanding.

"Now come, you will need rest before the next task at hand. After you are rested, we shall begin our search for the other Keys..."

Verse lead her away from rather large star, and they walked for a long while before another pop happened, and Twilight once again found herself in the Empty Whiteness once more. 

Verse began walking on ahead. "Here, let me get you accommodated."

Twilight watched in surprise as finely furnished walls sprouted from all around her. Before her eyes a rather large mansion built itself around them, adding doors, windows, furniture, a pool and spa, all of which just seemed to come out of nowhere. 

After a moment, all the movement stopped, and she and Verse stood in the mainhall of an elegant mansion. The tables were lined with food, and there seemed to be an endless number of rooms and doors to travel and explore.

Twilight's stomach growled as she looked at the food on the table. She then frowned.

"Oh yes, a Changeling feeds on love, correct?" Suddenly a very strong wave of love energy began to emit from Verse, even though he himself kept his eyes and face emotionless. She hesitated, cautiously staring at the mysterious stallion, before finally letting hunger get the better of her, and absorbed the the love energy he emitted.

It tasted almost exactly like that drink that the other changelings had shown her, the one that was imbued with love energy.

She also ate some of the food presented on the tables and enjoyed the taste of it as well. However she noticed that Verse did not touch any of it. "Are you not hungry?" She asked.

Verse merely blinked and replied, "I do not hunger or tire. Food and sleep are meaningless to me."

He then began to walk away, "Just pick a room and rest in it. There is much work to be done later..."

She wanted to ask him more questions, but he was gone before she could ask. "Darn it..." She mumbled to herself. She sighed, she would have to ask him tomorrow. For now, she could feel the tiredness washing over her. After she finished eating, she found a rather large bedroom with a rather large and comfy looking bed not far from the mainhall. She then collapsed on to the bed, and promptly fell asleep, pondering all the strange events that had occurred since meeting Verse....