A large group of heroes entered the Static. Two sides that had been at each others’ throats mere moments before limped back to the ‘unsafe’ world as one – Corona and Eve leading, leaning on each other. Most of them had injuries that, under normal conditions, wouldn’t mean anything, but in a mundane universe had brought about great pain and disability.
The first thing Eve and Corona did when they entered the Static was heal each other. Then they healed everyone else – physically. Emotionally, there were those who clearly weren’t coping. Flutterfree’s face was stained with tears. Pidge couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Nae was staring at her gun like it was some kind of monster.
“…You let her do it,” Nova said, eventually.
Eve had enough strength to look Nova in the eyes. “Yes. …You see why?”
“I… I think so.” She had nothing else to say.
Nobody did. The only sound was that of magic keeping air around the group.
“I need to return to the TSAB,” Nanoha said. “They’re going to be in a panic.” She looked at Corona with sad eyes. “…I don’t agree with what you did. But I can’t find fault in it.”
Corona nodded, a grimace on her face. “I understand. More tha-”
“I know exactly how you feel,” Nanoha said. “There are times when there is no right decision.”
Corona stared at her blankly. She opened her mouth to say something – but Nanoha had translated away.
“…I suppose we should convene the Overheads,” O’Neill said.
“Why? It’s not like we’re going to be able to do anything,” Sugarcoat said. “We’re just the messengers here. We don’t have any of the big guns or power.”
“The population is still going to be confused and demand an answer,” Corona asserted. “They’ll need an official opinion. O’Neill’s right, it needs to be done.”
Sugarcoat shrugged, saying nothing.
There was a somber silence once again.
“Okay! All of you snap out of it!” Pinkie shouted.
Everyone turned to stare at the blind earth pony.
“This is hard to think about. It really is. The message in our heads is making us think things we never thought we were capable of thinking. It’s making us question the very foundation of our lives! But I want you all to remember something. Just a few minutes ago, we were fighting – but now we’re not. We’re together.” She grimaced for a moment – if she could have cried, she would have. “Let’s stay together. We’re friends even if we disagree.” She turned to Pidge and Nae. “No matter how much we disagree.”
“Um, we’re still traitors, and we aren’t apologizing,” Pidge said, nervously adjusting her glasses. “No offense Pinkie, but you don’t have the authority to pardon high treason. And neither does Eve.”
“I can do something,” O’Neill said. “Legal won’t like it, but I can postpone trial until a certain event takes place. I’m thinking ‘until a decision about the message is reached’ works nicely.”
Eve nodded. “I’ll second that. We’re not prosecuting anyone until Merodi Universalis makes a decision on what to do.”
“…Which means we need to let the prisoners out,” Nova said, frowning.
O’Neill nodded. “Right… Ahem, Austraeoh? Get the prisoners out of the brig and down here.”
In an instant Mage Rarity, Gilgamesh, and the Doctor appeared… alongside myself. Mage Rarity and Gilgamesh decided now was not a good time to make a fuss. I simply looked at everyone with more judgment in my gaze than I’d like to admit.
The Doctor…
“What in the name of the Tower did you do!?” He shouted at Corona, livid.
Corona opened her mouth to defend herself – but Vriska ended up being the one to retort. “Look at that! The first sentence out of his mouth is so high and mighty. I bet it’s nice up there on that moral pinnacle, Doctor!”
“Vriska, my quarrel isn’t with you i-”
“Fuck that, you don’t get to play the ‘I know what’s best’ card on anyone. I, frankly, am having a little difficulty just dismissing what Corona’s done because, hey, it makes more than a little sense. She even had the balls to admit she didn’t have the authority to make a decision! I’ve never seen that in you!”
“Mad, everyone’s gone mad!” the Doctor shouted. “How can any of you think death of that magnitude could be acceptable under any circumstances!? Since when can that be right!?”
“The Flood,” Flutterfree muttered under her breath. Nobody paid her any mind.
“Because we’re in a book,” Sugarcoat said. “That doesn’t provide meaning. It takes it away.”
“That’s just what you think!” Nae shouted.
“See? We all think differently!” the Doctor said, flailing his arms wildly.
“That’s the whole point,” Corona said. “We think differently. So none of us can have the authority to say we’re right. So I let everyone make the decision.”
“People don’t have the strength to make that decision!”
“You mean make the decision correctly!?” Vriska blurted. “Because, hey, newsflash, I think most random farmers in random universes will probably want to keep their homes! They’ll be on the side of ‘keep things the same’!”
“They aren’t the ones in power!”
Eve cleared her throat. “Chancellor Fluttershy of Equis Concrete told me something, once. ‘We’re all wrong. And that’s a good thing’. None of us can assume we know what’s right by principle – we can only make our best guess.” She pointed a hoof at the Doctor. “I agree that the multiverse needs to stay. But you can’t say that has to be the right answer. For all you know, you’ve made a horribly wrong assumption. All of us are the same way.”
“You’re defending her.”
“She’s attacking you,” Vriska corrected. “About gogdamn time too.”
Corona sighed. “Look, Doctor. You have power in the multiverse. You shouldn’t be wasting your time on us – you should be out there fighting for what you believe. That’s why I made the message.”
The Doctor looked at her with mild confusion.
“This is it,” I said, punctuating the silence. I looked to the Doctor and answered his unspoken question. “Finally, someone with a pure heart has dared to ask the question.”
The Doctor looked at me in mild horror. He knew exactly what that meant. Without another word, he pulled out a small device that went ding, locating his TARDIS. He walked away.
Vriska, despite herself, managed not to jeer at him as he left. She just muttered “self-righteous asshole” under her breath.
“Ahem,” Mage Rarity said. “May we return to our Void?”
Eve glanced at O’Neill – it was his call. He nodded slowly.
Gilgamesh clapped his hands together. “Sweet! I wa-”
“Not the time,” Mage Rarity cut him off. The two of them left, returning to their nation.
“Beam us up,” O’Neill ordered the Austraeoh. “Take us to the Hub.”
~~~
“Not two hours ago local time, Second Corona Shimmer of Research released The Message to the minds of everyone in the multiverse. This was accomplished through the use of a Wishing World. Details of the incident are scant and all Divisions of Merodi Universalis have been completely silent on the matter aside from the Research Overhead’s adamant insistence he had nothing to do with The Message.
“Already, mobs are starting to form around government buildings, demanding answers. The Hub and Celestia City are getting hit the hardest, though Canterlot, Vein Homeworld Central, and the Concretion have reported damage from the crowds. As of yet, the mobs are simply angry, not excessively violent, though this is expected to change if no word comes from the Overheads soon.
“Despite the message’s demands that the Seats convene to discuss this, there has been no sign such a thing has happened…”
Nae didn’t know why she was listening to the transmission. She didn’t know why she was walking around the streets of the Hub aimlessly.
She didn’t know anything anymore.
Besides the fact that she had shot Corona.
The sound of the gun firing, the sight of the blood, and the crunch as she hit the ground.
Nae didn’t even remember making the decision to hit Corona’s wing. As far as she could tell, she pulled the trigger without thinking. It was just as likely she could have hit Corona in the brain, killing her on the spot.
It was simple luck that she hadn’t.
…Maybe it wasn’t luck. Maybe everyone would be better off if Corona hadn’t sent The Message.
“That Dark Tower…” she growled under her breath. “Asinine.”
“The Tower isn’t capable of being stupid. If you had to assign it an intelligence, the processing power required to monitor the entire multiverse makes it a genius beyond our comprehension.”
“Go away, Sugarcoat.”
Sugarcoat didn’t go away. She stood next to Nae and looked at the screen, silent.
“I said go away.”
“I heard you.”
“Why aren’t you going away then?”
“Because if I go away you’re just going to make things worse for yourself. And I, a concerned friend, would rather you didn’t do that.”
Nae blinked. “Ha. Friend. You barely know me.”
“Corona knows you. So shut up and deal with it.”
“…Right, fine, I see where this is going. I say ‘but I betrayed you’ and you say ‘that doesn’t matter, we’re still friends’ and I say ‘that’s BS!’ and then you comfort me with your unusually blunt way of putting things.”
“Since you’ve said it like that we can skip the back and forth argument.”
“Huh?”
“You already admitted we could still be friends after a betrayal.”
“I did not!”
Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow.
“Look, betrayal of this magnitude i-”
“Flutterfree and Eve.”
“Outlier.”
“Corona’s the one who sent me to talk to you.”
Nae blinked. “...What is wrong with her?”
“She’s exactly the person for the job.”
“This isn’t a job. It’s the end of the world.”
“Worlds.”
“Stop being nitpicky.”
“No,” Sugarcoat deadpanned.
“This is a good way to get punched.”
“A punch is a good price to pay if it makes you get a handle on yourself.”
Nae pointed a finger and opened her mouth – then quickly shut it. “You’re impossible.”
Sugarcoat let the smallest hint of a smile come to her face. “And my work here is done.” She turned and walked away.
“…What!?”
“You know you’re forgiven, and now you’re more angry at me than you are guilty. Signs of success.”
“Don’t you think this is a little abrupt!?”
“Yes,” Sugarcoat agreed.
~~~
Pidge sat alone in one of the Hub’s food halls. She was poking a vaguely meat-like brick with a plastic fork, the glare on her glasses hiding her eyes from view.
“Heya!”
Pinkie was suddenly there, sitting on the other side of the table.
Pidge tensed up. This was going to go one of two ways. She wasn’t going to like either.
“Actually, how about we take the third option and talk about something completely random? Liiiiiike – oh, eggs.”
Pidge stared at her. “…What?”
“Eggs. You know, the things a lot of animals lay? Some of them are delicious. You can cook them in any number of ways and get a slightly different feel every time? C’mon Pidge, I thought you were smart. But hahahaa, you know!”
Pidge looked at her. “Pinkie, you okay?”
“Not at all!” Pinkie said in a sing-song voice. “But this isn’t about me, it’s about you.”
“There’s not really much to say,” Pidge muttered. “I’m a traitor. Opened up my eyes and saw why Corona and Twilence were fighting. I had the chance to do something, so I did.”
“Well, those are the facts. There’s more to it. Like the fact that you’re sitting over here all alone instead of eating with your friends.”
“No offense Pinkie, but I kinda want to be alone right now.”
“Don’t preface something with no offense if you don’t mean it.”
Pidge looked down, ashamed. “…Sorry.”
Pinkie nodded in acceptance. “I’m also going to apologize for not respecting your wishes in the slightest. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Figures.”
“Instead, I’m going to let our resident traitor in on a secret. Your friends don’t hate you.”
“Of course not, everyone’s so forgiving and attached to personal bonds they wouldn’t let it go unless they had to or it drove a spike into their personal beliefs. If Rainbow Dash were here, she’d be screaming bloody murder.”
Pinkie twitched.
“That’s why she’s gone, isn’t it?” Pidge asked.
“Let’s not talk about that.”
Pidge folded her arms. “Hypocrite.”
“Okay, fine,” Pinkie mutter, smile dropping. “Yes, that’s probably one of the reasons she’s gone. The main Element of Loyalty, purged from the system so nobody has to worry about it now that there’s a brutal dichotomy. Without her, Loyalty becomes fluid. There was also the fact that she wasn’t a main character, was kind of putting herself in danger, and was exactly the type to get herself stupidly killed!”
Pidge stared at her, expression blank.
“You don’t want to play hardball with me,” Pinkie breathed.
“…Seems unfair.”
“I’m not fair.”
Pidge shook her head, saying nothing.
Pinkie allowed herself to smile again. “So, back to you, c’mon, why don’t you want us back?”
“Because it’s stupid, that’s why. Everyone’s so attached to personal bonds here it’s become a weakness.”
“But didn’t you make the decision to turncoat because you had personal bonds that were broken?”
Pidge grimaced. “Pinkie…”
Pinkie raised an incredulous eyebrow.
Pidge nodded slowly. “Look, it’s not exactly a logical feeling, okay? But I know what I have to do, and I know it’s not with you.”
“I reject that assertion and substitute my own,” Pinkie said. “I say you’re one of us. And you can do nothing to change that. Nothing at all.”
“Pretty sure you’d kick me out if I started killing people.”
Pinkie looked deep into Pidge’s eyes. “Not necessarily.”
Pidge stared at Pinkie. “…You’re terrifying.”
“Yes I am.”
“Just how far are you willing to go for the sake of Laughter?”
Pinkie’s thoughts moved to that of many, many psychotic Pinkie Pies she had met on her journey. “I don’t think there’s much of a limit at all. I just have to keep myself under control.”
“…And are you?”
Pinkie’s only response to this was a demented laugh. “Take a wild guess.”
“You probably shouldn’t be trying to reassure me right now.”
“Pffft, I’m not going to stop. Because you need it and I’m Pinkie Pie. I’ll find a way to survive. I always do.”
Pidge’s face became sad. “Pinkie…”
Pinkie waved a hoof, dismissing Pidge’s thought before it fully formed. “Don’t worry about that. Just know that you’re fine, Pidge. I know I can’t stop you from beating yourself up – but I can let you know there are people out there who’ll care about you regardless.”
“Pinkie, I get what you’re trying to say. I get it, okay? But you really aren’t okay.”
Pinkie pursed her lips. “Well… Yeah. …If you really think you can handle it…” She pulled an envelope out of her mane and handed it to her. “An invitation.”
“To what?”
“Pinkie’s Party.”
Then she was gone.
~~~
“MOTION CARRIED: ATTENTION! THE SEATS HAVE DECIDED TO OFFICIALLY CONVENE AT NEUTRAL TERRITORY TO COME TO A VERDICT CONCERNING THE MESSAGE. WITNESSES WILL BE CALLED IF REQUIRED. SEAT REGULATIONS CONCERNING MULTIVERSAL TRANSMISSION ARE BEING SUSPENDED DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE MESSAGE. THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONVENTION ARE AVAILABLE TO THOSE WITH ADVANCED ENOUGH TECHNOLOGY OR MAGIC TO DECODE THE FEED. THE REQUEST TO INCLUDE LESSER CIVILIZATIONS IN THE CONVENTION HAVE BEEN DENIED PENDING FURTHER DISCUSSION.
In an effective instant, the Seats had convened at their neutral territory. It was the same place they had convened last time in the aftermath of the Green Sun’s return – gigantic seats, round room, an instance of the Dark Tower in the center. All ten - Xeelee, Them, the Great Will, Abstracts, Beyonders, Horrorterrors, and Celestialsapiens with the lesser Gallifreyans, TSAB, and Flowers – looked larger than life.
The Flowers decided to go first – represented by the Sunflower Official. It needs to be known that we have determined Corona’s beliefs are correct. The Tower is indeed offering a choice. Both the collapse and eternity paths are equally valid from a ka standpoint. Because of this, we regret to inform you that our nation will abstain from pursuing either option.
“The Coward’s way out,” the Beyonder said. “Make a decision and fight for it! We declare our support for an eternal multiverse and any who disagree will meet our might!”
“We are not here to make instant decisions,” the Living Tribunal pointed out. “As the Seats, we must debate the fate of the multiverse. Do not come here with a predisposition about what must happen. Listen to all sides.”
Nanoha nodded. “Seconded. The TSAB has not made an official statement yet. I do not believe any of you have either. Or am I mistaken?”
Our standpoint is known, the Sunflower Official said.
“Would it be difficult to convince them you changed your mind?”
Not as much as other civilizations.
“Then I see no problem.”
>:< It is impossible to hide the primary thoughts and motions of our higher processes from the Xeelee Entirety. They know our stance. Defense of the multiverse.
“I thought you hated magic and cheating? Sounds like you’d be all for the destruction of the Tower.” the Beyonder jabbed.
>:< There is no guarantee magic would be lost, and furthermore we are not so selfish to think our distaste for esoteric abilities gives us the right to change everything.
“Drat, and here I was with a bet that you were fixing to be Downstreamers II: the Return,” a Them said.
The Celestialsapien spoke up. “QUERY: DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF THIS DISCUSSION?”
“Au contraire, I understand it fully, my sparkling friend. See, unlike the rest of you, I understand that humor can defuse a situation and get us to arrive at a decision without unleashing the piano wire death machine.”
>:< Specific example.
“Shush, you’re the only ones with a specific technological device designed to do what that does.”
>:< We don’t call it a death machine.
“Oh for the – my point-”
“That’s a laugh,” a Time Lord said.
The Them ignored her. “My point is that, for once in Them’s existence, we actually have reason to care about something. An actual chance to end the monotony in a truly interesting way. Or to defend our current existence. Not this many Them have been active in anything since the beginning of our race! So put on the surprised googly eyes, we actually have thoughts to bring to the table today. Try not to cover us in exploded brain matter or whatever your equivalent is.”
“IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU FINALLY HAVE ACHIEVED A MODICUM OF MATURITY,” a greenish aspect of the Great Will stated. “PERHAPS YOU SHOULD SUGGEST A COURSE OF DISCUSSION, AT LAST REVEAL WHAT YOU, AS A RACE, TRULY VALUE.”
“Oh, psh, it’s obvious what we value. Not dying of boredom. Thought that was obvious …Right, fine, I get it. Look, here’s the thing. There are three outcomes to this discussion. We agree to slap some glue on the Dark Tower and keep the universes from ever collapsing. We can destroy everything and do what we can to survive the process, entering a new world where we aren’t just plot devices. Or, the third option.”
“There isn’t really a third option,” Nanoha said. “Nobody’s going to just leave it be.”
The Them laughed. “Ah, my naive little human. The third option isn’t just leaving it. The third option is that we can’t put aside our differences and everything devolves into a true multiversal war.”
There was silence among the Seats.
“Xeelee carrot-colon-carrot, would you mind telling us the danger of such a war?”
>:< On the order of magnitude of the destruction of the Downstreamers. Tribunal, care to testify?
The Living Tribunal narrowed his eyes. “If precautions weren’t taken, it would be possible to destroy everything. Force the multiverse back to the dark ages.”
“We wouldn’t be that stupid,” the Beyonders said. “When we were at war with the Abstracts the external damage was minimal!”
“Yes, brag, why don’t you, you lost that war,” the Them muttered. “The One Above All rarely does anything. But He certainly would if war broke out over this.”
“I make no claims regarding my Master,” the Living Tribunal reminded them.
The Them grunted. “Fine, fine. Look, we all absolutely hate each other. And if we don’t learn to make like ponies and be friends despite our differences, things are going to go to places much, much worse than any Hell.”
~~~
Vivian rushed into Blumiere’s office and fell to his feet, startling both him and Timpani. “Thank you!”
Blumiere looked at her, blinking. “I didn’t do anything.”
“…But, they let me leave the Hub wh-”
“Vivian, they would have let you leave regardless as long as you told them what you were doing.” Blumiere adjusted his monocle. “I just asked you here for a talk.”
“Oh. …In that case, thanks for letting me realize I could come back here. Even though…” She looked at the ground. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”
Timpani pursed her lips. “In a way.”
“Vivian, I want you to answer this question honestly,” Blumiere said. “Why did you join Corona?”
Vivian paused for a moment, thinking. “…Because I trust her.”
“Trust only goes so far,” Blumiere said.
Vivian shook her head. “I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for her.”
“You must have, on some level, realized that she might be right.”
Vivian adjusted her hat. “I mean… Yeah? I don’t think I’m really… thoughtful enough to answer something that deep myself.”
“But y-”
“Dear,” Timpani said. “Give her a moment, okay?”
Blumiere listened to his wife, sitting back in his chair. He said nothing.
“Blumiere?” Vivian asked. “What do you think?”
“Hold my opinion in more regard than Corona’s, hm?”
“I… have been working closely with you for a long time. And… I think you’d be the person to know. Considering...”
“My past. I know.” Blumiere put a hand to his chin. “It’s part of why I called you here.”
Vivian looked up at him. “What do you think about The Message?”
Blumiere sat back. “I don’t know.”
“Dear…” Timpani said.
Blumiere put a hand to the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I’m not lying, I don’t know what I think. I want to think she was just like me, but she’s not seeking complete destruction. What she’s doing is the cover story I gave my old friends… That we were creating a new world, a better world. None of them truly understood what that meant – except Nastasia.” Blumiere looked down. “And she knew that we were fighting for absolute destruction.”
Timpani put her arms around Blumiere and held him.
“When Timpani came back to me, I saw no more reason to fight against existence. The worlds had given her back to me. When we sacrificed ourselves to defeat Dimentio, we were sent to a place we could live our lives together. As long as we wanted.”
“But then we came back,” Timpani said.
“We came back. Back from our little cottage in the middle of the forest. Back to the full multiverse. And nothing had changed. We had gotten a ‘happy ending’, but so many others didn’t. Nastasia was left alone. Civilizations continued to decay. The Tribe of Darkness and all other universes I destroyed personally are still gone. I fixed what I could, I became part of a society that sought the betterment of all. I led this city to the best of my ability.” He shook his head. “And yet… It’s still failing. I have love, I have friends, I even have some extent of family in the form of you, Vivian.”
Vivian blushed. “I-I’m just an offshoot…”
“You’re hope,” Blumiere said. “Hope that the tribe isn’t lost.”
“…But…” Timpani encouraged.
“But it’s still missing something. Or perhaps there’s something here that shouldn’t be. A wholly mortal attempt to fill the voids in our hearts, replacing it with something artificial. Mechanical. Something of one’s wildest, fanciful dreams.” He clenched one of his fists. “It gives so many happy endings… But kills others like nothing. There are the select few who get to be the heroes, to experience the fullness of ‘meaning’. And then there are the citizens I watch over every day who are brushed to the side like dust.”
Vivian looked at him with a sad expression. “I think I understand.”
“Do you know what the worst part is?”
Vivian cocked her head.
“Corona didn’t realize it, but the plans she gave me in my mind? I am perhaps one of the best-suited individuals in the multiverse to use them. I can already see how to enhance the design, to build the Tower Ring even with our supposedly ‘lower than required’ technology base. I know the secret! Unlike most everyone, I could actually make a difference! I could do something!”
“And you want me to talk you out of it…?” Vivian cocked her head. “But I was with Corona.”
“We are not logical creatures,” Blumiere said, taking off his monocle to clean it. “We are… impulsive. …I just wanted you here so I had someone else to talk to about it, I believe.”
“I may have agreed with him too quickly,” Timpani admitted.
“I… am a little surprised you did,” Vivian said.
“I’ve been with my husband a long, long time. I understand in a way you cannot why he did what he did. I understand why he’s thinking of trying it again, now that a choice has been shoved upon us.”
Vivian smiled warmly. “That’s so romantic!”
Timpani giggled and Blumiere facepalmed. “You’re such an innocent woman, Vivian.”
Vivian gave a nervous thumbs up. “Yay…?”
Blumiere stood up dramatically. “…Let’s get the Prognostici.”
“…The what?”
“The books that hold the power.” Blumiere snapped his fingers, taking them to the basement. “The books of Light and Dark. We’ll have more than nothing to say in this fight.” He laid his hands on the chest, opening it up. Two books floated into the air – a light gray one with a star imprint on it, and a dark one with a set of round blue crystals on it.
“These are what you used last time?” Vivian asked.
“Just the Dark one,” Blumiere said. “I still do not know why the Light Prognosticus was allowed to find me in the Nexus, but find me it did. Together, they can be used to destroy worlds. Or change them all, as I now understand. They’ll make a collapse much easier to initiate.”
Vivian forced a smile. “O… Okay. I’m wi-”
At this moment, the Prognostici were surrounded in a thick, dark dimensional energy.
“I knew I needed to watch you.”
Timpani, Blumiere, and Vivian turned to see Allure walk out from behind a box, about a dozen agents from the League of Sweetie Belles filing out behind her – including Thrackerzod, Squeaky, Burgerbelle, Suzie, and Bot.
Blumiere narrowed his eyes. “Allure, how di-”
“Time loop,” Allure said. “In fact, your precious books were instrumental in helping me get out of it. You were the problem, willing to kill to keep them a secret. And now, suddenly, you’re willing to use them?”
Blumiere nodded. “There was a reason I was allowed to keep them. This is it.”
“Screw the Tower,” Allure muttered. “Nobody is ever going to use those books to initiate the collapse.”
“Or save the multiverse,” Timpani said.
“No, not that either,” Allure said. “Because I’m not going to let this tear us apart! I’m not going to let the Merodi have anything to do with this decision! Because it does something to your heads!” She tapped her artificial horn. “It makes you think that, somehow, killing quintillions upon quintillions of people is okay in any circumstance!”
“Allure, cal-”
“You’re all under arrest. Thrackerzod, seal those books away and don’t tell the Overheads we have them.”
Thrackerzod nodded.
“How are you going to explain why you arrested us without them?” Blumiere asked. “I am the mayor of this city. A well-loved one at that.”
Allure looked at Blumiere, her angry eyes softening for a moment. “You’ve been mayor on and off for a long, long time, and I’ve been here for most of that. There’s any number of things you’ve done I could blow out of proportion. Sure, you might end up walking, but by that point the Class 1s should have decided our fate and it won’t freaking matter.”
“You think they can decide?”
“I don’t like to think about what’ll happen if they don’t,” Allure said. “Just like I don’t like seeing my friends turn evil.”
Blumiere was visibly shocked by that.
Allure’s scowl deepened. “Take them away. I need time to think.”
~~~
“Allure just arrested Blumiere,” Corona said, looking up from the news feed on her phone.
She and Eve were sitting in a Hub waiting room, sitting patiently while the rest of the Overheads and Seconds arrived for the meeting to decide Merodi’s stance on The Message. It wouldn’t be that much longer before they began, but it was enough that they were a little bored.
Eve looked up from her phone. “…Did you say something?”
“Allure arrested Blumiere,” Corona repeated, scrolling through the phone. “Apparently for illegal dealings with the Melnorme that have gone back a long, long time. Dealings that have been beneficial for Celestia City almost overwhelmingly…”
“She’s got some other reason,” Eve said without hesitation. “She just doesn’t want people to know about it.”
“It’s not making the League popular with the people… And it’d probably be ticking the Melnorme off if they weren’t just as busy dealing with my message as we were.”
“The Seats are still going at it,” Eve said. “They really don’t want a war. A few of them seem to have flipped sides occasionally, but every time a vote is about to be called someone explodes and they get set back.” She shook her head. “It’s confusing to watch with all the temporal aids they’re using.”
“I’m surprised they’re broadcasting it.”
“Yeah…” Eve sighed. “Corona?”
“What is it?”
“When we go in there, we’re going to be enemies.”
“We’ve disagreed before, Eve. This isn’t the first time we’ll be yelling at each other from across a debate table.”
“It’s more than that, Corona. It’s more and you know it. I’m going to have to paint you in the worst light possible, and you me, if we want to come out of this debate ahead in any way. We’ll have to be angry.”
“I won’t have any problem with getting angry,” Corona pointed out. “You’re the one who’s going to struggle with that.”
Eve nodded slowly. “I know. …After this, you know what happens right?”
“I convince everyone to join me on my crusade, or I’m locked up for eternity.”
“Corona, they might execute you.”
Corona raised an eyebrow. “They wouldn’t.”
“Some people would try. You… You’ve committed a crime against the multiverse.”
“How is it a crime to tell people things?”
“It…” Eve bit her lip. “Okay, since it wasn’t actually classified as far as you knew, I don’t think it is. I think you did the right thing with your Wish. I think we all need to decide. But because you did it, I think you’re going to go down.”
“I’m perfectly fine going down, Eve,” Corona said. “I probably wouldn’t live even if I won, you know.” She leaned back in her chair, looking at the ceiling. “Chances of anyone we know surviving…”
“The Void is talking about ‘bunkers’.”
“You can make bunkers,” Corona said. “I can’t stop you. I’m not going to make one for myself. It wouldn’t be fair.”
There were tears in Eve’s eyes. “Why would you do that?”
“Because if I’m going to doom the multiverse, I have to be willing to go with it.”
“Corona, I know you. This is a bigger deal than you’re making it out to be!”
“I’m terrified, okay!?” Corona snapped. “I’m absolutely terrified. I’ve been terrified ever since I found the recipe for the collapse at the Dark Tower! Terrified that I had the power. Terrified that maybe I shouldn’t give up the power. Terrified of what’ll happen to me no matter what’s decided. I’m freaking out in here and I have been ever since this whole fiasco started!”
Eve wiped her eyes. “…There’s the Corona I know.”
This comment tore at her. “Eve…”
“I wish you would stop,” Eve said. “I wish you would drop your weapon and say the multiverse deserves to exist.”
“Eve, don’t…”
“I wish you would do that. Appreciate the lives you fought so hard for.”
“What is this? Are you trying to guilt-trip me?”
“YES I AM!” Eve shouted. “I see the real you in there, and I know why you’re doing this, and I’m trying to get you to stop!”
“I’m not going to!” Corona shouted. “I’ve made up my mind!”
“You can change it!”
“So can you!” Corona said, holding out her hand. “Eve, come on! Let’s actually make a real difference!”
“You said yourself we’re just a pale blue dot on a map.”
Both of their heightened emotions tapered off at that comment. Corona sat down and slouched. “Yeah… It is out of our hands.”
“…That’s probably best,” Eve said. “…If we could actually do something, we’d actually have to fight each other.”
“Sometimes it's good to be cosmically insignificant,” Corona said with a smile.
There was a moment of silence. Eve pulled Corona into a hug. “Whatever happens, I forgive you. And I’ll always be your friend.”
Corona accepted the embrace. “Thank you. I hope you understand that applies to you, too.”
Eve couldn’t see her mouth – but she knew what she said.
~~~
“Is everyone present?” Ava Jandice, Overhead of Labor, asked.
Thirteen Overheads and thirteen Seconds raised their hands, hooves, or other limbs.
“Very well. I will try to state the topic of discussion as objectively as possible, even though we all know that is essentially impossible.”
There were a couple nods and snorts from the Division leaders.
“With The Message given to the entire multiverse by Second Corona Shimmer of Research, we have been given a choice. We can either support the multiverse as it is now, ensuring that it continues the way it does for eternity, or we can collapse the multiverse into one point on the Sea of Infinite Possibility. There are reasons to seek both options.”
“Really!?” Overhead Jingle of Aid, a Luna, shouted. “You can say that, Ava?”
“Objectivity,” Ava reminded her through clenched teeth. “As the current speaker it is not my place to push one idea or the other. Let me finish.”
Eve nodded to Jingle, telling her to calm down.
Ava continued. “On one side, there is the ‘Preservation’ option. We agree that the Tower Ring ingrained in all our minds should be used to alter the way multiversal connections are made, making it impossible to initiate a full collapse of the multiverse. This would allow the Dark Tower to exert its control of ka over us for the rest of our lives and the lives of all our children. Time travel would keep killing every time it is used. The grimdark would remain. We also have no way of knowing the consequences of what ‘changing the connections’ will actually be for the multiverse as a whole.”
“It’d be better than destroying everything,” the Cultural Second, the Flat Aiskera, said.
Ava ignored her comment. “On the other side, there is the ‘Collapse’ option. We agree that the evil of the Dark Tower is worth risking everything and using the Tower Ring to force all universes into one. The act of doing this will kill the vast majority of the multiverse’s population, no matter how many ‘bunkers’ we manage to create before we do it – if such things will even be effective against such an immense cosmic event. But those who do survive will have a world without ka, a world without constant temporal rewriting, and a world where things will be much more balanced.”
Ava folded her hands and furrowed her eyebrows. “The difficulty here is that we have to choose one or the other. Sure, there is some variety within the two options for how we follow it through. For Preservation, we could decide we needed to preserve it now, we could wait a time, or we could try to alter the connections in some other specific way. For Collapse, we could bring it about completely randomly, or we could attempt to build bunkers for a select few.”
“You’re forgetting the obvious fact that we do not have the capability to make a Tower Ring,” a Gem – the Commerce Second – said.
The Research Overhead beeped. “Incorrect. We do not have the capability to make a Tower Ring quickly. It can be done over an extended period of time. But your point still stands – as a nation, we can do nothing more than support the cause of a society higher than us. They will be the constructors.”
“If we can’t do anything, why are we even arguing?” the Education Second blurted. “Who the hell cares? Let them sort it out.”
“It’s the principle of the thing,” the Cultural Overhead, Enna, said. She was a relic from the stagnant universe, Elemental Four. “We need to define who we are in this fight. It’s important to us and our people, regardless of what actually happens.” She glanced from Eve to Corona. “We have two people who have been in the thick of this debate. I motion that we let the two of them make their case.”
Eve and Corona stood up tall, fixing each other with a glare.
“Agreed,” Ava said. “Objections?”
Daniel made a motion to object, but Renee shushed him.
“Very well.” Ava pulled out a coin and flipped it. “Corona, you’re first.”
Corona spread her wings and held out her hand before beginning to speak…
~~~
I was under close observation.
I wasn’t under arrest or confined in any way – they were still the Merodi, after all – I was just being constantly watched by Clandestine. She only had one job: make sure I didn’t write anything down.
It wouldn’t have been that hard to write something despite her watchful gaze, but I decided to treat what she was doing with respect.
I wasn’t to influence anyone’s decisions. It was best that way, to be frank.
I had been quite surprised Corona had pulled the ‘I have no right to decide’ card – I had been expecting the collapse to initiate then and there. It was what I had wanted.
It was still what I wanted.
You may think me evil – I did just sing a reprise of Tempest’s song, after all. Not exactly the most ‘heroic’ of melodies. But I’m no more evil than Corona or Allure are – I’m just a mare who made a decision.
How can I put this in a way you’ll understand? You don’t understand ka. It’s not a strong presence in your worlds. You can’t understand what it’s like to live under it unless you are a creator of some kind.
Those of you who create… You know what you put to the page. You should be horrified that every word you scrawl could exist somewhere. But for the rest of you…
…Try thinking about it this way. Imagine that, at any moment, any moment, whatever your mind thinks it wants most will come true. Sure, sometimes this will give you things like a better life, peace on earth, or just money. But then there are those moments where there’s murder in your hearts and lust in your eyes. Imagine what would happen if the wish came true at those moments. Now imagine if a wish snapshot was taken of every single person on your planet, and used to change the world.
There would be good things that appeared. But then there would be the desires of everyone. The horrible, disgusting, ugly desires that everyone has. Even me.
My ‘purpose’ given through the Tower was to understand ka. I see what it truly is – a curse. I don’t just say that because knowing so much is a burden – though that is a major aspect of my thought process – I say it’s a curse because it allows the darkest thoughts to come to reality. Prophets could be anyone. And since no one is perfect… no world will be perfect. And, more likely, it’ll be worse than the reality they live in. Sure, they may make life great for the hero, but what about all the others? They don’t matter.
There can be a great tragedy… and the story will continue.
There are some ways that the Dark Tower has really succeeded in bringing true meaning to the multiverse. It has given those like me, Eve, Corona, and the great civilizations the chances to be heroes. But it comes at the expense of making the citizens utterly meaningless. The Tower only provides meaning to a select few. The rest are left to fend for themselves like flounders.
…There’s also more. Corona’s right about the time travel horrors, and there’s the wish-fulfillments, the Sues, the ‘glitches’, the perverse fantasies… This story has kept a lot of the truly disgusting stuff out of the way for the sake of its plot.
I’m glad you haven’t seen everything. Maybe there are some of you who have truly seen the depths of the depravity humanity can write. I feel sorry for you – simply reading those things is punishment enough.
The Merodi were always lucky in that regard. They encountered so few of those. They could deal with grimdark universes better than those… But I was not spared that. I see that. I see it all the time.
It’s maddening. It makes me furious. I can’t be mad at the Prophets, they don’t know what they’re doing – they’re just trying to find their way in life or express themselves. I don’t have to agree with their methods to know they’re not evil.
But I have a chance to stop all of it. I’ve seen everything. And it didn’t take me long to realize what the right decision was.
“…What are you doing?” Clandestine asked me.
“Talking to the audience,” I said with a curious smile. “Explaining myself. Not sure if it was classified as a ‘hero’s aside’ or ‘villain speech’.”
Clandestine narrowed her eyes.
“It doesn’t change anything. Not about me, you, or this world. They’re just observers, Clandestine. They can’t change anything.” I paused, thinking of my past. “No matter how much they may want to.”
“…Huh. Well I-”
Monika appeared in front of us. “There you are.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Took you a while to follow that plot thread.”
“Shut up. Explain, Twilence.”
“I just did. Read up a bit.”
Monika took a moment to absorb the current scene. “And I thought I was crazy. I’ve seen those things too and I don’t want to destroy everything! I’d be the perfect person to do it, too.”
“You’re a result of those crazy things. You are a deconstruction of many different tropes and ideas, a character written to know about your medium. You came predisposed to accept things the way they were.”
Monika glared at me. Then she sighed. “Twilence, you know that’s not true.”
“Do I?” I said, cocking my head. “I’m pretty sure that’s how it is. You wouldn’t have been able to have your unique life without the multiverse. You owe the Tower for making you the way you are.”
“So do you.”
“…In a different way. I was once just a pony. Maybe ponies wouldn’t exist without the Tower, but maybe they would. But there would never be a video game universe where one of the characters could see through the fourth wall for real.”
Monika nodded slowly. “That’s a good point. But isn’t that beautiful?”
“You tell me. How many boyfriends did you kill?”
“I stopped doing that.”
“You had to be taken off your path.”
“Ka chooses every path.”
“Not this one. There’s a choice here. Maybe the only real choice any of us have ever had.”
“Questioning free will?”
“That’s kind of my job description.”
Monika folded her arms. “You contemplate. My job is to do.”
“Yes. Specifically, it looks as if you’re going to be an antagonizing presence to me.”
“You’re under surveillance,” Monika said, smirking. “I’m free to do what I want.”
“I could shake her easily,” I said.
Clandestine blinked. “…I’m going to make a call.”
“I’m not leaving,” I told her. “I’m just telling Monika I could be doing things right now if I wanted. I’m not because it doesn’t matter. It’s the Seats who hold the cards right now, and me writing for them? That’d be a death sentence.”
Monika blinked.
I smirked slightly. “Processing that you can’t really do much either?”
“I’ll be watching, waiting. There’ll be a time.” Monika declared. She glitched out of existence.
I nodded slowly, turning to Clandestine. “And now we can get back to what we were doing.”
“We weren’t doing anything.”
“Oh, sorry, hadn’t noticed,” I chuckled. “Maybe we should get lunch.”
I am slightly ashamed to admit I found her appalled expression more than a little amusing. She was right in thinking now wasn’t really the time for lighthearted jokes… but what else could I do?
~~~
Pidge walked into the room Pinkie had rented. The instant she pushed the doors open to behold the small dining room, Jotaro picked her up and put her on his back.
“JOTARO! Put me down!”
Jotaro did no such thing. He kept her up there, walking to the table. He refused to sit. Around the table were Flutterfree, Nova, and Vriska. Pinkie herself was lying on the table, face angled toward the ceiling.
“Anyone else coming?” Vriska asked.
Flutterfree shook her head. “Renee’s busy, and all the other people who have been part of the Primary Team were… elsewhere.” She smiled at Pidge. “Hello. Glad you could make it.”
“Tell Jotaro to put me down.”
“It’ll make you feel like part of the group instead of some Sixth Ranger,” Nova said.
“She is the Sixth Ranger,” Vriska said.
Jotaro looked down at Pinkie. “Why are we here?”
“Because I’m actually getting existential,” Pinkie said. “That never happens! I’m falling apart inside my little pink-a-brain here and can’t put it back together!”
“That’s why we’re here,” Flutterfree said, laying a hoof on Pinkie. “We’ll help you work through it.”
“Yep. I know that. I’m smart enough to have that figured out.” Pinkie shot bolt upright onto her four hooves. “I also know we’re being watched! And I knew we were going to be watched the moment I planned this thing! Because this conversation is going to be important! Why? I dunno. Nobody knows at this point. Not me, not Twilence, not even the Seats. It’s all just… unknown.”
“That doesn’t sound like it’d be a problem for you,” Nova pointed out.
“Yeah, I am dancing around the issue, thanks for pointing that out!” Pinkie giggled. “So, hey, we could play twenty questions a-”
“Get to the point, Pinkie,” Jotaro interjected.
Pinkie stared at him. “Well allllll-right then! You all know how I dealt with being Aware, right?”
Flutterfree nodded. “You didn’t let it bother you. It was a fact of life, might as well make the best of it.”
“And that worked real great until right now.” Pinkie flopped onto her back again. “Cause guess what? Apparently there might be a way to do something about it. So I’m thinking about something I never really needed to think about. Is it bad?”
“…I don’t think it could be bad enough to warrant as much destruction as Corona wants,” Flutterfree said.
“Ashushashoosh-” Pinkie said, putting a hoof to Flutterfree. “We don’t need to talk about the collapse. We can’t decide if it’s good or bad at all. If there was a magic switch to shut ka off without killing anyone, would you shut it off?”
“It’d kill some people,” Pidge pointed out.
“You know what I’m saying,” Pinkie muttered. “If it could be done without the collapse, would you do it?”
There was silence for a few seconds.
“…I would,” Flutterfree admitted, looking down at her Rage robes with a conflicted expression. “I think all of us would.”
Jotaro shook his head. “No. Existence needs heroes and those who can fight.”
Flutterfree looked at him with mild surprise. “You’re sure?”
Jotaro nodded. “There’s suffering without ka. Who cares if it’s destined or not? But if there is no ka, there are no heroes to destroy the evil.”
“Evil wouldn’t be as extreme,” Flutterfree pointed out.
“You want to help Corona then?”
Flutterfree looked at Jotaro with a disappointed expression – one that made him melt in an instant. “No, I do not. I’m just following Pinkie’s thought experiment. I’m not going to endorse that much death.”
“Just afraid of having blood on your hands,” Vriska said, leaning back.
“So you’d join her?” Jotaro asked.
“I haven’t decided a fuckin’ thing,” Vriska commented, shrugging. “I’m tempted to do it just because the Doctor’s on the other side, but that’s just my old self talking. I really don’t know.”
“Same,” Nova admitted. “The more I think about it, and the whole time travel thing… The less I’m sure.”
“See? There it is,” Pinkie said. “We’re starting to see it. The fact the question is impossible. That there can’t be a right answer. Usually that means there’s a gray area or a third option, but I don’t see one. Does anybody?”
“…Don’t fight at all and let God sort it out,” Flutterfree said.
“That’s nice, doesn’t help the rest of us,” Pidge muttered.
Nova turned to Flutterfree. “You’re in a position of power, Flutterfree. You’re exempt from the whole ‘live a quiet life’ doctrine. Make the most of your position.”
Flutterfree looked down. “I know. But I don’t know what to decide.”
“What did Rev have to say?”
“Last I knew she was in deep meditative prayer and looked about ready to snap. She’s struggling with The Message just like the rest of us.”
“It’s just a toilet bowl of a mess, that’s what it is,” Pinkie said, standing on her hind hooves. “Behold, the Question! The Question asked by one ‘pure of heart’. Is the Tower good or bad? Clearly it’s both, but which one is it more? Which way does the pendulum turn!?”
There was silence again.
“It’s a lot harder to talk about it when you feel the outcome actually matters, huh?”
“Yare yare daze…” Jotaro muttered, pulling his hat down.
“It’s all fun and games until all of existence is at stake,” Nova muttered.
“…Wasn’t it always?” Flutterfree asked. “We always talked about the nature of fate and existence like it mattered. Like the truth of the multiverse depended on the ‘good’ or ‘evil’ of it. The Question was always this important. We just didn’t take it to the end because we were worried about the here and now.”
“The big picture is a bitch,” Vriska added.
“Yes. It is.”
Once again an awkward silence fell over the room.
“…So, what now?” Pidge asked after a minute. “We threw out a bunch of thoughts and nothing really changed. I’m still sure, Pinkie’s still existential, and all-in-all we’re all pretty conflicted.”
“We’re talking about it,” Pinkie said. “We’re talking, disagreeing, and not trying to kill each other on a staircase. That’s what matters.” She turned her face toward Pidge. “That’s why I went out of my way to make sure you were here. Not so you could make a point, but so you could represent an extreme with your presence. So we could all be here and understand. Or, well, get more confused, but you know what I mean.”
Pinkie looked at her friends one by one and smiled. “I still have no idea what any of this means, if it can really mean anything. But I do know I feel a lot better because we can talk like this.”
Flutterfree smiled warmly. “We all do.”
“Friends…” Nova said wistfully.
~~~
“Every last one of us has suffered,” Corona started. “We wouldn’t have the power we do if we hadn’t. I fought in the frontline of a war. A war that killed so many of our people, a war that came with a heavy cost on all our hearts and minds. And yet, we were willing to pay that cost in order to keep more deaths from happening. Skarn was an enemy we saw, decided was evil, and took out.
“This is no different. I want you all to look at the Tower – and realize what it is. It’s a computer that controls every aspect of our lives. On the large scale, it brings multiversal societies together only to inevitably bring about their collapse through some contrived means. It allows impossible things to exist. The delightfully fantastical alongside the powers that kill everything – time travel included.
“But if that’s too abstract, think about things on a more personal level. Because of the Tower, I can say I am more important than you and be perfectly right. I have more meaning, more power, more impact; I’m considered a hero. As much as I hate it, you are all below me – with the possible exception of Eve. We could measure our respective ka levels right now to see who has more importance if we wanted – a defining trait of who’s better.
“I know all of you know that’s wrong. Your conscience squirms at the idea of me being better than you. Of anyone being better than you. We’re all equal, right? All made with the same soul? Well, maybe we were intended to be that way, but the Tower sure doesn’t think so. There are special people, and then there are redshirts. But then there are also the background citizens. Have you noticed how, as we’ve climbed the ranks, we think less and less about the average citizen?
“Some of you haven’t been here long enough to see that. But Eve, Jingle, O’Neill – remember the old days? When we had to worry about public opinion all the time? Where the people of one world really mattered to us? Where one angry mob could easily upset us? We were smaller then – we were closer to their level of importance. But as we’ve grown, grown, and grown into this ‘protagonist’ role, we’ve forgotten them. I can’t bring myself to care as much about them anymore! They’re just the background of what really matters – multiversal policy, grand scoping science, and now the fate of existence. I tried to give them a choice with my Message, I tried to give them a say, but look at us and all the high societies! We’re making the decisions for them! Because we are more important. And the fact that we are should be sickening.
“The collapse will end that. We won’t be more important – we’ll become equal again. We’ll be able to connect. And do you know the best part? We won’t have to worry about the needless hairpin dramas! Our lives won’t have to be constant peaks and valleys of excitement and endless adventure! Being the heroes isn’t all it’s cracked up to be! We’ve lost friends, family, and in many cases suffered permanent damage! The flip side of the coin is that while the citizens become our equals, we no longer have to suffer what is essentially a fake life.
“We don’t really live our lives. Our lives are lived for us. Or, perhaps it’s more accurate to say we don’t live, we die. Over and over again. I could give you the numbers but I’m sure you already know the scale of death that exists because of the Tower. Because we ‘important’ people need motivation to do things.
“I say there’s plenty of motivation for us to go to the Tower, surround it in a Ring, and take it down. Permanently. I want all of you to think about what ka actually does. And I want you to help me end it.”
She sat down, using a spell to keep herself from breaking down – if she had gone on much longer, she might have flown off the handle. Getting riled up could only help so much.
Eve didn’t waste time starting her speech. “I’m not going to be as eloquent or as passionate as Corona here – because I don’t need to sell something that goes against our very nature as Merodi Universalis. She’s asking us to kill over ninety-nine percent of the multiverse, including most of ourselves, for the sake of future freedom and equality. But those aren’t the ideals of Harmony, Friendship, Progress, or most of all Assistance.
“Unleashing the collapse would bring about chaos. It would tear friendships apart as so many die. It would end progress, setting every multiversal civilization back untold eons. And it definitely doesn’t assist anyone. It destroys everyone. It may have the appearance of pure motives but all it does is fly in the face of what we stand for.
“Everyone, we are Merodi Universalis. We are the music of the multiverse. What are we if there is no multiverse? What will this century of work amount to if we do this? Is our Song a tragedy, doomed to die with all the others? I don’t think so. There’s been too much we worked for, too many lives lost already, too much effort. We are a Class 2 society – and our purpose is not to destroy the multiverse. Our purpose is to protect it and change it. We can use this Tower Ring to do that – to finally change something. Who said that change had to be the collapse? We could protect the multiverse. Maybe we could change it in other ways as well, if we were inclined to think about it.
“We’ve spent our entire time as a nation believing we were nothing more than a pale blue dot. But I think many of us know better – we are part of a great song, and our story isn’t even close to done. We’ll keep progressing until we’re up where we need to be to really change things. We don’t have to destroy the multiverse in a vain attempt at finding meaning that’s already here.”
She sat down, and there was silence in the meeting hall.
“Eloquent speeches,” Ava admitted. “And a vote will be taken concerning them after deliberation. But you both speak as if we have a real say in the matter. Eve, we are still but a dot on the multiversal scale. We can’t do anything.”
“…You all keep saying that,” Roxy Lalonde, Intelligence Second, Rogue of Void said. “But have you all forgotten what we have!?”
Everyone stared at her.
“John!”
That was when the shouting started.
~~~
“I like to think of it as the end of monotony,” the Them observed.
“AGREED,” a Horrorterror stated. “BUT THAT IS NOT THE PRIMARY ALLURE OF THE COLLAPSE. IT-”
“Will allow the goal of your stupid experiment to be realized,” a Beyonder interrupted. “I bet it’s so tantalizing for you, a universe that creates itself and brings about a new world. Bet that’s exactly what you want.”
“THAT IS NOT THE PRIMARY ALLURE EITHER. THE ALLURE IS THAT, IN SUCH AN EXISTENCE, THE MULTIVERSAL THREATS COULD NO LONGER EXIST. THE NEW UNIVERSE WOULD CONVERT EVERYTHING, CREATING A WORLD WHERE REALITY ANCHORS AND ALIEN PHYSICS ARE NO LONGER VIABLE. THERE WILL BE NO MORE UNIVERSAL DESTRUCTION BOMBS.”
“How can you know this?” the Living Tribunal questioned.
Our simulations have determined that is the end of that path, the Sunflower Official said.
>:< Ours agree.
“Why would you tell them that!?” the Beyonder protested. “That gives them more reason to collapse everything!”
>:< We need to have all our cards on the table and for once in our existences try not to cut each others’ throats.
Nanoha nodded. “I thank the Xeelee for being open enough to share information that was perhaps not in their best interests, but rather was in the spirit of honesty.”
“Are you suddenly for the destruction of everything?” a Gallifreyan asked.
“No,” Nanoha asserted. “But this decision is so monumental it needs all the information available.”
“LET IT BE CLEAR,” the Great Will’s emissary boomed. “THERE IS NO WAY A WORLD IN WHICH THE GREAT WILL OF THE MULTIVERSE CANNOT EXIST IS GOOD.”
The Living Tribunal shifted in his seat. “I beg to differ. We are all results of the Dark Tower’s influence. Our existence may not be what’s best.”
“Suicidal are we?” the Beyonder asked.
A Celestialsapien spoke up. “POSTULATE: IT IS POSSIBLE TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF SOME OF OUR RACES. IT NEED NOT BE A SUICIDE.”
“It’s a sacrifice,” Nanoha said, looking at the Celestialsapien.
“WE HAVE NOT MADE ANY DECISION ON OUR STANDPOINT. WE WERE JUST OFFERING INFORMATION.”
“And you won’t for the next eternity,” the Time Lord muttered.
The Celestialsapien had nothing to say to this.
“IT SEEMS AS IF WE NEED TO GET WHAT POSITIONS EXIST ON THE TABLE FOR ALL TO SEE,” the Horrorterror stated. “THE HORRORTERRORS BELIEVE IN THE COLLAPSE AS A WAY TO PROTECT THE MULTIVERSE FROM ITSELF. TO GIVE A NEW FUTURE.”
The Time Lord slammed his fist into the table. “Time cannot be allowed to return to a single path! The limitations on our societies would be too much! The multiverse must stand!”
“Arrogant…” the Beyonder muttered. “We care not for time – it would be preferable it remained consistent – but we care for our empire. An empire that would not exist in this new world!”
>:< Most progress would be lost in collapse. That is not acceptable.
“The collapse will provide something new to existence!” the Them declared. “The end of monotony, yes, but also the end of pointless games. A real game could begin! A new one!”
The Sunflower Official went next. We abstain from action. Let ka decide on its own.
“ANNOUNCEMENT: NOT ENOUGH DEBATE TO DECIDE AT THIS JUNCTURE. OFFICIAL STATEMENT PENDING.”
“I’m afraid I will have to join the Celestialsapiens, the discussion has not yet reached a head. The Abstracts have not decided.”
“YOU HAVE YOUR ONE, WHY DO YOU NOT ASK HIS COUNSEL?”
“He has not made it known to us.”
“ONE ABOVE ALL, THIS IS A REQUEST DIRECTLY FROM THE GREAT WILL. GRANT US YOUR PRESENCE AND LET YOUR DESIRES BE KNOWN! THE GREAT WILL WISHES TO PREVENT THE COLLAPSE AND ALLOW TRUE BELIEF TO SPREAD. WHAT SAY YOU!?”
“…He will no-”
“Never say I won’t do something,” the One Above All said, walking into the room. He looked like a man to normal eyes – though anyone with higher senses could see His holy glow. “I rarely let myself fall into a pattern, Tribunal.”
“Forgive me, I made an assumption.”
“It is forgiven,” the One Above All said. He looked directly at the Great Will’s emissary. “I believe the answer depends entirely on if the Seats can agree or not.”
“We’re trying to agree on an answer!” the Time Lord said – taking up the role of the Beyonder who was quaking in his boots at the One Above All’s presence.
The One Above All looked right at the Time Lord with sad eyes. “My omniscience may be shrouded by the Tower, but I know you’re aware of the undercurrent of that statement. The high disbelief that it can even happen.”
The Gallifreyan was silent.
“The Abstracts, under my authority, agree to do whatever the rest of the Seats agree, in hope that we can actually reach an answer. We will do either. But rest assured, if you can’t agree – we will take a specific side.”
“Which one?” the Them asked.
“That would interfere with the choice,” the One Above All said. “I am willing to compromise to either side, so the transition to either may be peaceful. But if there is war, there will be war.”
Everyone got the implication. If they couldn’t agree… well, they didn’t want to find out what the One Above All was truly capable of.
Then He was gone, having said His piece.
“…I’m disappointed,” Nanoha said, breaking the silence.
“ABOUT WHAT?” the Horrorterror asked.
“None of you are asking what the rest of the multiverse thinks. The lowly farmers, the family people, the lesser entities. You’re ignoring them for the sake of time, empire, new ideas, safety, fate, philosophy, progress, and self-preservation. The Message was given to us with the intent of letting the entire multiverse make the decision! Look at us, making it for them, not even factoring them into our decisions!” She slammed her scepter on the ground. “The Time Space Administration Bureau listens to those people as much as we can. And because of that, we agree to preserve the multiverse, because that is what most of them want.”
>:< No offense to your ideals, Nanoha, but most of them have sub-standard intelligence and information.
Nanoha raised an eyebrow. “So?”
>:< Corona could only give them so much with The Message. They know what the struggle is but they do not know the nuances of the multiverse, what the horrors actually are, and many of them cannot comprehend even the most basic idea of what’s going on. There’s a reason people need leaders – they can’t make their own decisions. Tell me, is the TSAB a true democracy? Or even a republic?
“No, it’s a republic-military-state hybrid.”
>:< And why is that? Why don’t you use your magic to give all your citizens the information they need to make a decision, and let them all help decide?
Nanoha narrowed her eyes. “That’s different. Nobody wants to be involved in every decision.”
“It’s the same thing,” the Them said. “Nobody wants to be given this burden. So they’re going to try to ignore it or take the easy way out – and the easy way out is ‘well, looks like I’ll survive this one!’ so they choose it. Of course the majority of the multiverse will choose preservation, the self-preservation instinct is one of the strongest among all races! It’s an unfair balance!”
“This is why we must make the decisions for them,” the Living Tribunal agreed. “They do not have the right. Corona was close when she gave out The Message – she knew she didn’t have the right. But she thought the right was everyone’s. That was wrong. The right goes to those who know. Those who can understand. Us.”
“And are we really sure it’s us!?” Nanoha said. “The rest of the multiverse, all the lesser or unexplored universes – they are worth something! And nobody’s thinking about them!”
“You are wrong to say nobody is. At least the Abstracts are – and by nature the Great Will has to. We just think through it differently than you do.”
“NANOHA, YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY ONE OF THEM. YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN AN UPLIFTED HUMAN. YOU REPRESENT THE LESSER, BUT ALSO THE MOST PREVALENT. YOU ARE THE VOICE OF THE LOWER ENTITIES. THAT IS YOUR PURPOSE HERE – AND AN IMPORTANT PURPOSE IT IS.”
“But we are not those voices. We are the voices of deities.”
“All of us have a special voice here, a view,” the Them said. “We’re the childish immature ones who could care less about serious thoughtful topics and are more about just making life worth living. Beyonders? Military. Horrorterrors? The eldritch life. Celestialsapiens? True thinkers. Xeelee? The voice of progress and complexity. Heh, isn’t it something? Imagine if this had come up during the time of the Downstreamers, wouldn’t have been anywhere near as much of a ‘balance’ up here.”
“But we need to break that balance,” Nanoha said, looking at the Living Tribunal. “Or we’re never going to get anywhere.”