CHAPTER 1: THE END
Obsidian's eyes flickered open. Something had changed.
The burly earth pony rose from the stone floor where he had been sitting for an unknowable amount of time and pricked up his ears. There was nothing to hear but the wind, as usual. The ruined tower stood empty, the ever-shifting sky above it filling the dusty floors with soft light, the winds around it blowing white dust against the crumbling stone walls.
The earth pony walked towards a window, shaking his head to get his greasy, black mane out of his eyes. Outside the white desert melted away into swirling nothingness. As always, there was nothing there. Nothing ever changed in the tower, not day and night, not the crumbling walls and old shelves. Everything was endlessly worn away, but never ready to collapse.
A moment passed, or perhaps an age. There was nothing to measure the time by and it wouldn’t matter even if there was. Obsidian turned around and stomped his hoof. With a swish, a length of carved wood flew from the far corner of the chamber, coming to a stop at the pony’s side; a long staff covered with intricate patterns, its dark wood matching the stallion’s coat. It hovered by his side as he left the chamber, trotting down the staircase, then another, picking his path through the maze of stairs that had overgrown the uninhabited parts of the building. There was precious little light there, but the stallion didn’t bother to conjure a light source. He knew every step of these paths by heart. Deeper and deeper he went, until finally the bizarre laws that defined the geometry of the tower had to relent; he reached the bottom level and came to a stop in front of a solid, wooden door. As his staff flew forward, tapping on the wood, there was a spark of magic and the chamber opened. Obsidian walked down the last few steps and finally reached his destination.
The chamber was round, its walls lined from floor to ceiling with curved bookshelves, their contents long since fused into a solid mass by the press of ages. Unlike the other chambers in the tower, this one had a source of light: on a round table in the middle of the room there stood a stone pot, a large red flower growing from it. Obsidian cautiously approached the plant, the red glow of its petals casting long shadows across his features. Frowning, he put his muzzle closer and concentrated. The flower would serve him in return for sustenance, but it wasn’t water or sunlight that it required.
Gradually, the glow started to intensify. The air around Obsidian’s muzzle distorted, as if his face was melting away. He shuddered as his essence was pulled out in long wisps, gravitating toward the center of the flower. The petals grew darker, from rosy to deep, blood red.
Finally, the growing nimbus parted, the red giving way to stark white. There was now a large sphere of light above the flower, and as the afterimages of the initial flash began to fade, moving shapes appeared within. They shifted and changed as the earth pony focused on what he was looking for. The swirling void outside the tower appeared first, then visions of ponies, a kaleidoscope of snippets, events both mundane and completely impossible. Finally, Obsidian’s mouth twisted into a smirk. He found what he was looking for. Looking aside, he tapped the staff on the floor. Immediately, there was a jingling sound, as if someone bumped into a crystal chandelier. The marks upon the wooden shaft came to life, growing and expanding in the air, changing colors until a cloud of glowing runes surrounded Obsidian. They then hung there motionless, waiting for the earth pony to speak. He drew breath, a pointless reflex since the air there was no more real than anything else.
“You know what to do,” he said in harsh whisper, pointing at the last vision the flower had shown. “Go and get them.”
***
Twilight Sparkle tapped on her alarm clock, and groggily opened her eyes. The morning sky outside promised a sunny day. Ponyville’s resident librarian sat up in her bed, trying to wake up enough to remember what she was supposed to do next. Her mind was still half-asleep, lost in the rapidly fading details of her dreams. All the important points had slipped her memory already but she could feel it had not been a good dream. The lingering emotions weighed heavy on her, she couldn’t shake the feeling something was very wrong.
Climbing out of her bed, she reached for her night table, the scroll she had left there the previous evening unrolling in her telekinetic grip. She glanced at the top points of the list and trudged towards the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, Twilight Sparkle entered the kitchen. Despite being fully awake now, she still couldn’t shake the feeling something was missing. Levitating the kitchen utensils and food products to start making breakfast, she pondered the problem. Had she forgotten something? She reached for the list again. Everything seemed to be in order.
Washing up, breakfast, wake up Spike... ah, yes. Do some shopping. I have a tight schedule for today. That’s why I woke up so early. I’ll better hurry then...
She left the kitchen, several small sandwiches following her like a school of fish. She swallowed one in a single bite, then walked towards the basket where her dragon assistant was still snoring softly. She nudged him through the blanket he was wrapped in.
“Shh... hey, Spike. Time to wake up.”
There was a sound of whispered grumbling and a single eye opened to look up at her.
Twilight looked down with a sigh. “I know it’s early. It’s just that I need to go already and I wanted to make sure you don’t oversleep.” She chomped at another sandwich and turned towards the door, picking up her saddlebags as she went. “I’ll be back for lunch. Your list of things to do is in the kitchen.”
Quickly finishing the rest of her breakfast, she walked out and closed the door. It was then that she froze mid-step, something clicking in her mind. This has happened before. Of course Twilight knew the feeling of deja vu and where it came from. She also knew that her daily routines were in fact quite repetitive.
No, that’s not it, she thought. Perhaps I haven’t had enough sleep? She strained her memory trying to remember what time she went to sleep the previous day. There was nothing. Worse, the deja vu returned.
Wait, have I ever had memory problems before?
No, she decided. I just have too much on my head. I have to take care of the shopping and the rest of my list. Then when I have a clear head, I can figure this out.
***
The shopping trip was completed without incident. Twilight triple-checked her list and saw that everything was in perfect order, from groceries to writing implements.
Apples, eggs, bread, milk, quills... Why am I buying quills again? I’d swear I bought some last time. Do I really write that much?
Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by a familiar face approaching her through the marketplace. Rarity walked up to the librarian to greet her.
“Oh, hello Twilight. An early shopping trip I see?”
“Oh, I have a busy day ahead of me, so I’ve decided to do the shopping early,” answered Twilight. She looked at Rarity and noticed that the fashionista was not wearing any saddlebags. “And what brings you here so early?” It wasn’t usual for Rarity to get up in the morning, on the contrary, she would usually sleep very late, to recover from whatever burst of creativity she went through the previous night. Taking a closer look, Twilight saw tiny imperfections in Rarity’s looks, signs of stress and tiredness that even the meticulously applied makeup couldn’t quite hide.
“Oh, I’m just taking a walk to get some fresh air and perhaps find some inspiration,” responded Rarity “I... it’s so dreadful actually. I got up at dawn because I had a dream of a tuxedo design and wanted to get it drawn before it slipped my mind. But when I finished, I realised that I had already made this design. I can’t find it in my notes, but I clearly remember drawing it before. Imagine my disappointment. Obviously I am now too agitated to go back to sleep and I am going to get bags under my eyes from not getting enough rest. You know how important appearances are in my line of work...”
Rarity stopped talking and gave Twilight a quizzical look. The librarian was standing quite still, staring at her in surprise. “Are you ok, darling?” asked the white unicorn, waving a hoof in front of her friend’s face.
The gesture seemed to succeed in bringing Twilight back to reality. She gave Rarity a serious look. “I remember you telling me that already. It was in my dream, I think... And there have been lots of things like this happening to me all morning, same things on my shopping list, same things I ate for breakfast... something suspicious is going on here. Do you know if Applejack is at the market today? I think we need to get everypony together...”
Just then a pink blur zipped between the stalls and came to a halt right in front of Twilight. Pinkie Pie nearly pounced at the unicorn, grabbing her with her front hooves.
“Twilightyou’vegottohelpmeIwaspreparingforNoteworthy’ssurprisebirthdaypartytodayandthenmyearsstartedflappingandmytonguetingledandthatmeansI’veforgottensomethingimportantandIrealisedIhadalreadypreparedthepartyforNoteworthyandthatmeanstodayisnothisbirthdayanditisnotthedaywethinkitisandthatmeansIamlateandIhavemissedsomebirthdaysalready...
Gasp!...
AndthenIthoughtifsomethingweirdisgoingonIshouldaskTwilightcauseshealwaysknowseverythingsocanyouhelpmeI’veneverforgottenanypony’sbirthdaybeforeexceptmyownbutIdon’tmakesurprisepartiesformyself...”
Twilight put a hoof on Pinkie’s mouth to stop the torrent of speech. “I know something is wrong Pinkie. I don’t know what is going on yet, but we’ll find out. Could you help us look for Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash? We need to meet and discuss this. I’m sure together we will find some answers.”
***
Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs, looking down at her gathered friends.
“So, you’re telling me there is something wrong with time?”
They were in the library, Twilight already busy digging through her books with Spike offering what help he could.
“Think of it, Rainbow,” said Rarity. “There is not a single cloud today. Do you remember the last time it rained?”
“Of course, it was...” Rainbow Dash paused, her eyes widening in surprise. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but at this moment her mind went blank...
***
Twilight Sparkle tapped on her alarm clock and groggily opened her eyes. The morning sky outside promised a sunny day. Ponyville’s resident librarian sat up in her bed, trying to wake up enough to remember what she was supposed to do next. Her mind was still half-asleep, lost in the rapidly fading details of her dreams. All the important points had slipped her memory already but she could feel it had not been a good dream. The lingering emotions weighed heavy on her, she couldn’t shake the feeling something was very wrong.
Climbing out of her bed, she reached for her night table, the scroll she had left there the previous evening unrolling in her telekinetic grip. She glanced at the top points of the list and trudged towards the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, Twilight Sparkle entered the kitchen. Despite being fully awake now, she still couldn’t shake the feeling something was missing. Levitating the kitchen utensils and food products to start making breakfast, she pondered the problem. Had she forgotten something? She reached for the list again. Everything seemed to be in order.
Washing up, breakfast, wake up Spike... ah, yes. Do some shopping. I have a tight schedule for today. That’s why I woke up so early. I’ll better hurry then...
She left the kitchen, several small sandwiches following her like a school of fish. She swallowed one in a single bite, then walked towards the basket where her dragon assistant was still snoring softly. She nudged him through the blanket he was wrapped in.
“Shh... hey, Spike. Time to wake up.”
Twilight Sparkle froze, almost dropping the sandwitches. Ignoring the grumbling of the half-awake dragon, she ran to check her list again. Sure enough, there were quills in it. There were always quills. She quickly swallowed the sandwitches one by one and then ran out of the house. She needed to confirm her suspicions.
***
Twilight walked through the marketplace, picking her way among the other early customers. She was looking for a particular pony, Sure enough, a white unicorn with a purple mane soon appeared between the stalls. Twilight ran towards her.
“Rarity, I need you to answer a question. Did you wake up early today to try and design a tuxedo?”
The fashionista gave her a surprised look. “Why yes... and you can’t imagine how dreadfully it turned out...”
“I know how it turned out,” interrupted Twilight. “Something is wrong with the town. I need you to help me gather everypony else. Could you go look for Applejack? I will go to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie...” she extended a hoof, blocking the mouth of Pinkie Pie just as she came to a stop right next to her. “Go and get Fluttershy, Pinkie. There is trouble.”
***
Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs, looking down at her gathered friends.
“So, you’re telling me there’s something wrong with time?”
They were in the library, Twilight already busy digging through her books with Spike offering what help he could.
“Think of it Rainbow,” said Rarity. “There is not a single cloud today. Do you remember the last time it rained?”
“Of course, it was...” Rainbow Dash paused, her eyes widening in surprise.
“I have asked around the marketplace,” interrupted Twilight. “We were the only ones to notice anything. And the others started behaving very strangely when I asked them.” She looked towards the clock.
We’ve met earlier and I managed to tell them more... so I was right.
“So, what’s going on here?” asked Applejack, looking around the room. “Ya think it’s Discord again?”
“I don’t think so,” answered Twilight. “If it was him, he would have already shown up to gloat. I have cast some protective magic on myself already and it doesn’t seem like I’m under any spell at the moment. So that means it must be Ponyville itself that is under a spell.”
“So, how do we find out who’s behind this?” asked Rainbow Dash. She was clearly uncomfortable with being played with by a villain she couldn’t find and try to kick.
Then everything went blank
***
Twilight Sparkle tapped on her alarm clock and groggily opened her eyes. The morning sky outside promised a sunny day. Ponyville’s resident librarian sat up in her bed, trying to wake up enough to remember what she was supposed to do next. Her mind was still half-asleep, lost in the rapidly fading details of her dreams. Then the memory spell she had cast jolted her brain awake. Twilight jumped out of her bed, got tangled in the sheets and faceplanted onto the floor. She quickly picked herself up, rushing down and towards the door.
I remember. The spell I cast on myself the previous morning is still working. That means it’s not a time loop. Somepony is playing with our minds...
As she was running through the streets to find her friends, Twilight realised one more thing.
I got some extra time from meeting my friends earlier, but not as much as I thought. It’s like each day is ending a bit sooner... How long has it been going on before I noticed?
***
“So, what’s going on here?” asked Applejack, looking around the room. “Ya think it’s Discord again?”
“I don’t think so,” answered Twilight. “If it was him, he would have already shown up to gloat. But it must have been somepony very powerful. The whole town is under a spell and we are the only ones to notice.”
“So, how do we find out who’s behind this?” asked Rainbow Dash. She was clearly uncomfortable with being played with by a villain she couldn’t find and try to kick.
“Umm... girls?” It was Pinkie Pie. Something in her voice made her friends halt their discussion. Five pairs of eyes turned towards her. The pink pony was trembling slightly, her eyes widening. “My knee is pinchy... it’s never been that pinchy before.”
Suddenly everything started shaking. A loud noise, like a giant explosion rolled over the town. Dash leapt outside through the window and the rest of the ponies quickly followed through the door to see what’s going on.
What they saw made them freeze on the spot, mouths half open in shock.
The sky over Ponyville was split open, like a ripped fabric. A starry void full of unknown constellations could be seen through the quickly spreading gash.
***
Twilight was the first to recover her senses. “I don’t know what it is... but we need to get everypony out of town! Follow me!” She started running towards the town center, her friends following close behind. Whatever this rift was, it opened right above the town and it seemed to be growing quickly. The wind started blowing and by the time the group got to their destination, it was blowing so strong that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy decided to land and continue on hoof rather than struggle against it. The air seemed to get thicker and then sparks of crackling energy started to shoot from any protruding objects. Twilight winced when one appeared on the tip of her horn.
When Twilight and her friends reached the town hall, the first roofs were already losing tiles. It was a full-blown supernatural disaster. A disaster to which nopony reacted.
“Eee... does anypony know what’s going on here?” said Pinky Pie to her friends.
The ponies in town walked their normal paths, not even lowering their heads better to push against the wind. There were no screams of panic or even dodging the flying debris. Twilight saw Roseluck, the earth pony florist get hit by a flower pot knocked off a first floor window and continue walking as if she didn’t register the impact.
“Hey, snap out of it!” shouted Applejack, grabbing the mare by the shoulders and shaking her violently.
Roseluck gave her a confused smile. “Oh, hello Applejack. What can I do for you?”
“Ya have ta get out of here, it’s dangerous!” Applejack pointed around with her hoof but the mare just kept smiling.
“You look stressed. You think a couple of my flowers could help?”
Twilight Sparkle looked around. The rest of her friends were trying to get attention of other ponies, with similarly poor, or in case of Fluttershy non-existent results. It seemed like everypony in town was determined to continue their day, utterly oblivious to what was happening around them. The librarian squinted as a cloud of dust was blown in her face. She looked in the direction it had come from and saw the wind blow the grass off the ground. And it wasn’t just the grass; the buildings, the trees, everything was falling apart, as if eroded by supernatural speed.
“What do we do? What do we do? We need to do something...” She thought of her failsafe spell, but what would she even aim it at? The giant hole in the sky was incomparable to anything she had seen in her life. Twilight looked up at it and then saw a spiralling trail of bright colors descending into town.
As it got closer, Twilight could see more details. The mysterious thing turned out to be a cloud composed of symbols, arcane runes floating in the air with a strange jingle audible even over the wind, constantly changing colors. It touched the ground and coalesced, taking a vaguely pony-like shape.
All of Twilight’s friends noticed the newcomer and momentarily abandoned their fruitless task. All were looking at it expectantly. The shape turned towards Applejack. A pair of runes disconnected from its outstretched hoof and floated through the air. One of them flew towards Applejack and landed on her chest. The other touched Roseluck’s side.
“Don’t touch it!” shouted Twilight, but it was too late. The runes flashed with multicolored light. Applejack disappeared with a surprised gasp. It was Roseluck’s fate however that truly horrified Twilight. Instead of disappearing like Applejack had, the mare was blown away, like a sand sculpture exposed to violent wind. She lost her shape and crumbled, instantly eroded just like everything else around her, just a smudge of color flying in the raging storm. The glowing runes returned to their master, who instantly turned them against the next closest ponies.
Pinkie Pie dodged aside as the rune flew towards her. It went past her and turned around to hit her in the back as she tried in vain to run against the wind. In a flash, she was gone. The earth pony stallion she had been trying to wake up, Sepia Toc was disintegrated just as Roseluck had been.
The rest of the girls scattered, their panicked cries lost in the blowing wind, which now resembled a sandstorm, the whole town rapidly crumbling to dust. Twilight was the last to start running, her instincts to examine the unknown costing her precious seconds. She saw Rarity disappear, then Fluttershy get caught as the mysterious attacker scattered into a cloud of runes and flew past her to cut off her escape route. The creature didn’t limit itself to Twilight’s friends, single runes leaving the cloud to catch the apathetic ponies walking around, each of them disintegrating from a single touch.
Then Rainbow Dash turned around to face the enemy. Unable to fly in such winds she just charged headlong, Twilight’s desperate warning shout lost in the wind as the rune pony dispersed and engulfed the attacking pegasus. Twilight Sparkle realised that she was alone.
The rune pony made a few steps towards her and extended its hoof. A rune flew forward, only to collide with a purple dome of force. Twilight’s horn was glowing bright, an expression of desperation on her face. “Don’t come any closer, monster!” she shouted, a flash of her horn turning the barrier into a blast of concussive force that pushed the rune back towards its owner. The rune pony stepped back, some of the symbols detaching to form a circle in front of it. In a split second, its own barrier sprung into existence, nullifying the attack.
Twilight shot a blast from her horn, then another. Both were harmlessly deflected. The third shot was reflected back, slipping past her ear and causing her to yelp in fear. She recast the barrier and stopped, instinctively pushing more power into protecting herself.
The rune pony looked at her for a moment and then shrugged. This was the first pony-like gesture Twilight had seen from it. A moment later the floating runes started to form in front of its face, where a unicorn’s horn would be, three rings of symbols setting one after another like a barrel of a cannon, spinning faster and faster as arcane energy focused inside them, forming a long shaft of lightning. Twilight felt the buildup of power and realised her shield wouldn’t hold.
The two spells collided, the force dome popping like a bubble as the unicorn released control rather than pooling all her energy into a lost cause. For a heartbeat the two ponies were standing there staring at each other, then Twilight disappeared in a flash, teleported by her own magic before the glowing rune could touch her hide.
She appeared at the door of the library. She ran inside, her mind overcome with panic.
“Spike! We need to run, now!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. Then she saw her dragon assistant sleeping soundly in his basket.
I didn’t wake him up before going to get the girls, but he was here when we talked. How did he manage to sleep through everything?
“Spike! Get up! We need to get out of here!” Twilight ran towards the basket and pulled at the blanket with her magic.
There was a sound of whispered grumbling and a single eye opened to look up at her.
Oh, no, please no! He’s just like the others!
Twilight’s eyes welled with tears of despair as she looked at her number one assistant looking at her with half-awake gaze, just like every morning, like a theatrical prop somepony forgot to pack away. Outside the wind had grown into a full blown hurricane, the landscape disintegrating as the tear spread all the way across the sky, filling it with unfamiliar stars. The tree started shaking and the floor tilted. A hint of opalescent colors flashed behind the window, the rune pony was there too.
Twilight turned her back on Spike, her eyes and horn blazing fierce white as she called upon all of her powers.
“You will not get him too! I won’t let you!”
The runes had already got in, disintegrating a part of the wall along with the window, but stopped without entering the room. They were coalescing back into a pony shape, seemingly unaffected by the wind. Twilight prepared to strike them with all her magic.
Then the floor cracked and a moment later everything broke apart - the books, the walls, the ground, everything went flying. The runes lashed towards Twilight one last time, but she pushed them away. Then she fell into the abyss that opened beneath her, a void filled with unfamiliar stars.
***
Rainbow Dash woke up to the feeling of cold stone against her face. Groaning, she opened her eyes and slowly got up to her hooves. In the dim illumination that seemed to emanate from the floor, she saw Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie also waking up, all as confused as she was.
“Where are we?” asked Applejack. She looked around and saw the others. “Where’s Twi?”
There was a moment of nervous shifting as everypony looked around. Applejack was the first to break the silence. “Yall don’t think she could...” she didn’t finish the sentence. Her body started trembling when her brain registered what she was about to say. “The whole town...”
“Sweetie... mom, dad...” Rarity was quick to catch on, her body going rigid with shock. Fluttershy just whimpered. Pinkie Pie stared in silence with her mouth half-open.
“No,” she whispered. “It’s not like that. I don’t believe it.” She stood up to attract her friends’ attention. “I don’t know what’s happened, girls, but... I can’t really explain it. It’s just I think I would have felt it with my Pinkie Sense. It’s been a little wonky lately, but...” she groaned in frustration and scratched her ear. “What I’m trying to say is...” She dug her hoof into her puffy mane and retrieved a small, round object. She set it on the stone floor for everypony to see.
It was a glass snow globe, with a perfect replica of the Ponyville town hall inside it.
“See what I mean?” said Pinkie Pie, looking at her friends hopefully.
Rainbow Dash touched the globe with her hoof, giving it a little shake. “You... might be right. I sure hope you are. We don’t know what exactly happened, but we are alive at least. We need to find out where we are and what’s going on here.”
She flew up, trying to get a better look. The stone floor she had woken up on turned out to be a flat rock, some 100 feet in diameter, surrounded by inky blackness. The sky above was dark, the light of the stars barely reaching the ground. Long, dark shapes wrapped around the whole sky, visible only as pure blackness against the dim light of the stars, as if the island was inside a gigantic sphere of overlapping bands.
“It looks like... one of those ancient astronomical thingies,” said Applejack, staring up at the sky.
Rarity lit up her horn and walked towards the edge of the rock. “We need to find a way out of here. And Twilight of course. It is quite clear that something horrible has happened, and if that’s so, Equestria needs us.”
Rainbow Dash landed next to the fashionista. “You’re right. We are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. We can’t leave Equestria hangin.”
Instinctively, the others closed in, forming a group even though they didn’t yet have any idea where to go. Pinkie Pie’s face took a determined expression, the corners of her mouth rising in a smirk that challenged the world. Applejack straightened the hat on her head and flexed the muscles of her shoulders. Fluttershy stopped shaking and rose from the ground, joining her friends at the edge.
‘Click’
The sound wasn’t loud by any means, but still it echoed across the void. Then there was a louder noise, a sound of something heavy moving all around. The huge bands forming the sphere started shifting, turning around like pieces of a giant machine, which they might well have been. At the same time the inky darkness parted right in front of the girls. There was a stone path leading forward from the edge of the rock. An unfamiliar landscape opened at the end of the path.
“What just happened?” asked Applejack with a confused look. Her mind was stuck trying to figure out how all she could see in front of her could fit inside the sphere. “How big is this thing?”
“Well, let us find out, shall we?” answered Rarity.
Rainbow Dash looked at the path with suspicion but then landed on it and led the way. “Come on, everypony. We need to find Twilight.”