Chapter 10: Time and Chaos
Twilight and Rainbow Dash weren't sure what to make of Discord's visit. It was Rainbow Dash that broke the silence, "So...what was that about?"
"I wish I knew..." Twilight replied, a hint of worry in her voice. She pondered it for a moment, then asked, "Why don't we go find out..." With that, she turned and headed towards the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" Rainbow Dash asked, hurrying to Twilight's side.
"To ask Verse a few questions," she replied, determined to finally get some answers from that damn stallion.
"But Discord said not to tell him about the...whatever that thing is..." Rainbow Dash protested. Twilight nodded, "Don't worry, we aren't going to tell him about that. We may not know what it is, but something tells me we should trust Discord on this..."
Rainbow Dash blinked gave a uncertain glance, "I don't really know this 'Verse' guy as well you seem to, but if you are sure about questioning him, then i support ya all the way!"
Twilight smiled, happy with her friend's response, "Now, it's about damn time Verse gave us some clear answers."
With that, the two girls went to find wherever the secretive stallion had gone off to.
The Mansion turned out to be a lot bigger than Twilight had originally thought. The two wondered countless hallways and corridors. It wasn't until they came across a door made completely out of solid diamond that did they stop. Twilight felt an odd feeling tug on her mind, telling her that this was the right door. How she knew this, she did not know.
"Here..." she said, slowly pushing open the door. Rainbow Dash gave her an unsure glance before following her in.
What the two girls saw inside took their breath away.
Inside the room was an infinite library, far too large to have possibly fit in the mansion. There were shelves upon shelves of countless books that stretched far past the door way they just entered. It was like a library universe, if there ever was such a thing. There was so much knowledge here that Twilight couldn't help but geek out. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Rainbow Dash by the cheeks. "Do you realize just how much knowledge is in this room?!" she squealed in excitement. "It just goes on forever and ever!!"
Rainbow Dash, whom had yet to discover the Daring Do series in her world, sighed. "That's great Twilight, but shouldn't we be focusing on finding that 'Verse' guy we are looking for?"
Twilight released her friend and quickly gathered her composure. "Oh, um, y-yeah..." She quickly pushed down her bookworm thoughts, letting the queen side of her mind take control once more.
It was only then that she noticed the center if the room. About twenty meters in sat a clear bubble. Inside, she could clearly see the dark grey earth pony, whom had yet to seem to have noticed them. Several screen-sized images floated around him, and he appeared to be watching several different ones at once. Some of these screens contained familiar faces, others did not.
She took a deep breath before moving on forward, Rainbow Dash not far behind. With yet another disorienting pop, they were in the bubble.
Twilight paused. The inside of the bubble was much bigger than it had looked outside, a concept she was starting to get used to. The inside reminded her of the Worldscape, but not quite as big. The reason why it reminded her so much of it clicked rather quickly in her mind: it was laid out like a three dimensional map of the Worldscape, in fact, she was quite certain that what it was. Above the map hovered the various images and pictures of what she could only guess were people and events that were happening across many universes.
For a moment, Twilight thought that Verse still hadn't noticed them, but that illusion was shattered when he spoke. "Welcome, girls, to my Study. Come to read from the Library?" Verse asked in a cold and logical tone, though there was no hostility in his voice.
"Actually, as much as I would love to, we are here to ask you a few questions," Twilight spoke in the most diplomatic voice she could muster. As much as she didn't like the spirit in front of her, it wouldn't help to provoke him. Not when she needed answers.
Verse twitched his tail in annoyance. "Fine. Go ahead,"
Before Twilight could ask her first question, Rainbow Dash spoke up, "If you are an earth pony, how are you using magic? Do have a secret horn hidden somewhere or--?"
Verse made a gesture that suggested that he had rolled his eyes, but she couldn't actually tell considering how strange his starry night eyes were. "See, I hate repeating myself," he grumbled. "I am not an earth pony I am a spirit. Spiiirrriiiit. A spirit, like Discord."
Rainbow Dash frowned, "Well, you look like an earth pony to me," she said dejectedly.
Verse gave another Hester implying the rolling of his eyes.
"Speaking of Discord," Twilight interjected, "What was up with that? Why were you so eager to kick him out, and why was he scared of you?"
Verse sighed and pinched the top of his muzzle with his hoof. "Geez, not these questions again...they always ask the same questions," he muttered, more towards himself than to them.
Verse finally looked up with a frown, "It is....complicated. Let me ask you this, what do you think is the nature of Discord?"
"Chaos and Disharmony?" came her reply.
Verse nodded, "And what is my nature?"
"Being a jerk?" came Rainbow Dash's reply. As much as Twilight agreed with that sentiment, she could tell that it wasn't the answer he was looking for.
She thought about what he had told her, about how he was the Spirit of Time, Space, and Multiversal---
"Balance? And...Order?" she guessed as the gears in her brain began to click a few things into place.
Verse nodded, "You are partially correct. Balance and the eternal maintenance of Time and Space are ingrained into the very fabric of my nature, just as Chaos and Disharmony are ingrained into Discord's. While it is true that I advocate for the natural order of the Multiverse, I am not the Spirit of Order itself. However, because my sphere aligns with the natural order of things, Discord and I often do not get along. We have warred several times in the past, much to the dismay of the Multiverse. He is afraid of me because I am on a different tier than him. There are an infinite number of Discords in the Multiverse. There is only one me. However, while it may be true that he cannot destroy me, I cannot completely destroy him either. I am limited to only being able to erase a few versions of him at a time."
"You have warred?" Twilight asked with a concerned look upon her face.
"Yes. Several times. But worry not, as we haven't had a war against one another in a hundred million years. Probably will be another few hundred million years before we have another. But don't think that we haven't or cannot get along, we have and we can. It just isn't uncommon for Spirits like ourselves to find conflict with one another. With some more than others, depending on who you ask."
Twilight blinked in confusion, "Wait, there are more spirits out there?" she asked. Verse smiled, "Indeed. There are 87 of us total, not counting alternate or parallel versions, of course."
Twilight took a minute to process that information before deciding to move on to the other, more pressing questions she had.
"Tell me about these Keys you keep talking about. What are they? Who are they? And what are these traits that they supposedly have?" She then took a deep breath, "And why did you choose me?!'