I find myself floating in what seems like infinite space. Globes of what look like liquid in a spherical form gently Bob throughout this place.
"Beautiful, isn't it? I remember when Princess Aku saw this for the first time. She was just as stunned as you," said the voice of the pony I had met. However, when I looked for her, she was nowhere to be seen.
I attempted to speak but found I could not. As I tried, I heard a soft laugh, though not as grinding as before. It was almost... Divine.
"Relax. You're currently sharing a memory in my mind. You won't be able to move or speak due to that," she said, her voice noticeably less snarly as well.
I mentally huffed and simply stopped trying to move and speak.
"Much better," she said.
I stared at the orbs, trying to devise an explanation in my mind for what they were, with no success.
"I see you're interested in what those are, hm? Allow me to explain."
She brought my vision close to one of them.
"This is what you know as a universe. There are millions of them in this multiverse you stand in at the moment," she said, allowing my vision to go back to its' previous position.
"This multiverse is also my home," she said, seeming to appear in front of my very eyes. But... Something was different. She glowed with a radiant aura I had never seen before.
Suddenly, I recognized her. She was depicted in many different ways in the religious books I had read. This dragon pony... Was the beautiful goddess Valencia Natuura, known as the Queen of Life, Light, and Spirit. But she rarely made an appearance to mortals like myself... Usually preferring to guide us from a distance. So why was she here now?
She smiled gently and spoke.
"I may not have been entirely truthful with you. My apologies. But I had to know you were an agent of light, not darkness. My fears were negated, however, when you stood upon the crystals of truth," she said quietly.
"Princess Aku, as you know her, is one of my multiple lieges that have sworn to protect the light at all costs. She was not, in fact, the one whom fought against Viros, the Lady of Darkness I had spoken to you about. No, I was the one who fought, managing only to stifle her powers somewhat."
"As a result, my spirit and essence was forced into a mortal body, unable to escape its' prison. Thankfully, this body can withstand death several times over," she said, giving me a sad smile.
"But the light, I fear, is being threatened by darkness once more."
With a wave of a wing, a sudden gust of wind blew us to a different part of this multiverse, to a place where the universes were dark, a sense of dread emanating from them. Upon the other side, glowed radiant universes, their auras emanating calm and peace.
In the middle, however, lay a terrifying sight. What had seemed to be a line of clouds turned out to be a massive, raging storm, the lightning red and black, the clouds dark. Within this storm, lay a few universes, seeming to be thrown around in the tempest. Radiance and Darkness frothed in those universes, fighting one another for dominance. As I watched, a single universe crumbled in on itself, turning completely dark and emanating the same aura as the others. It seemed the amount of radiant galaxies were dwindling.
"You see it too, do you not? The pain, the destruction of the light, swept away forever by the darkness," she said with a sad tone to her voice, stroking the darkened universe in what seemed like an apology. She turned back to me.
"You wish to know who Viros is and what is occurring here, I am sure. My apologies. I can feel the death of each universe quite viciously. They are like children to me. Nonetheless," she said, giving a defeated sigh and walking towards me.
Placing a single hoof on my head, she brought me to a different memory. One I found... Almost familiar.
"Yes, you know what this is, don't you? I was watching over you even then. He would not have laid a single hand on you, Pinkamena," she stated.
I stated at the scene, my eyes tearing up angrily as I watched. It reminded me of what I had lost. What I had almost been submitted to.
"I understand your pain. It's not easy when somepony you love is turned against you. Let this give you comfort: You can still save her. She is not gone. She was simply transported into a dark galaxy, having fallen to the darkness already," she said, stroking my mane with a hoof as I cried.
My sister... Poor, poor Pinkie... I should never have hurt you like I did.
"It is not your fault. Though you feel as if you must atone, it was simply the darkness taking a new host. Grieve as you must, but remember: It was never your fault."
She stopped stroking my mane, walking away and simply watching me.
"You and Pinkie are both more important than you realize. Your fate's have been written in the script of time for eons. For you, the destiny of being the starlit goddess. Or rather, the Angel of Life. For her... The destiny of the Angel of Darkness," she says quietly.
She turns and stares into the distance, watching as the battle between Silence and the Crimson King commenced.
"He did not survive. He gave his life so that you could escape. He was one of my most loyal angels."
What...
No...
Silence couldn't have...
I...
I suddenly felt weak. My sister and the one I loved, both gone. One to the dark, one to death. I had nopony left.
I watched as a battle that I would forever remember continued. I knew Silence was giving his all in this fight. I could practically see reality distort as he fought. He always did enjoy glitching everything.
It was his specialty. Ever since I met him, he'd always use glitches to fight.
What was he thinking...
I saw the Crimson King smile. He was enjoying that battle. He had finally met somepony that could stand up to him.
Silence was using everything he had, every trick up his sleeve, every ace in the deck, every trap card he owned. But it still wasn't enough.
The King caught him unawares, thrusting a hidden dagger into his neck.
Silence fell, but managed to get back up. Then he did what he had told me he would never unless he had to. He used his own life force to glitch reality into collapsing.
"A move he had to make. The Crimson King was a danger. He had to be eliminated. So Silence did the unthinkable: He destroyed that universe, using the divine trump card I gave him - a spell he learned from me, meant to coalesce energy and collapse it all on himself. He died a hero, Pinkamena," she said, waving a hoof and dismissing that memory.
I stared at the goddess accusingly. She saw it happen, why couldn't she do anything? She's supposed to be all-powerful or something, so she should have BUCKING USED HER POWER.
"Calm yourself, Pinkamena. I am not your enemy. I cannot be everywhere at once. I have a single mortal body. Do not let Darkness take you as well," she said sternly.
She was right. I can't let my anger control me. I need to keep it together. For them.
I breathe, shoving my anger back down to manageable levels.
Valencia, who had been noticeably tense, breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.
"Now. To understand the darkness, you must understand her. The Lady of the Darkness, Viros Exeat," she said, an image of somepony... Who looked exactly alike to her...?
She sighed sadly and simply stated "I am both. I am neither. I am a battle in itself."
"I am Dark. I am Light. I am the middle ground, the gray area. Yes, Pinkamena...
I am waging war with myself."