Nabu sighed as he released his true power, returning to his normal form. His helm was cracked and blackened, his outfit was mere tatters and his power was far less than he thought it would be. The Maestro was gone, though. Not the true Maestro, Nabu knew that much, but he had hurt the Maestro today. He had decimated his bodies and his chance to interfere with all of reality. He would need time. As would Nabu. But as he looked around at the white void that surrounded him, he knew that he was not finished. Not yet.
There was nothing left of this reality now. His fight with the Maestro had ensured that. Galaxies and cosmos. Rules and natural law. All of it was gone. Not a single spec of the universe was left. All aside from a tiny, shrunken down Equis that Nabu had managed to save. Nabu held out his hand and the tiny world appeared in it. He could hear the thoughts of most of the beings on the world. Why was the sky suddenly white? What had been that explosion that had rocked their existence to the core? And what was that being staring down at them?
But there were only two minds he was searching for. The two Pie's. The two that had believed in him and Pinkie the entire time. He found them with ease. Their thoughts were relieved to see him staring down at them. They weren't questioning how he was suddenly so massive. Nor the destruction of time and space. The only thing that the two Pie family members were thinking was where was Pinkie? And when would she be home?
What could he tell them? That she had given up her entire existence, everything she was or will be to save them? That she was so far gone that her body, soul and existence was in a place that even Nabu couldn't reach? Even if she had done it to save them, the revelation would devastate the family, to a point that they would never be able to come back from. He did not need to see the future to know that.
They had already suffered so much. They had their original home stripped from them, their lives as they knew it ended, forced to live under a tyrant who subjugated them to prevent an even worse fate from befalling them...and they survived all that. Only to lose the pony who had allowed them to survive. The pony who had allowed them to laugh. It didn't matter what Nabu told them. To them, a world without Pinkie in it...would be a world not worth living in.
And then he remembered his promise. His promise to Pinkie. About making sure her family made it to that better world. A world of laughter and love. Friendship and Harmony. A world where they would never have to live in fear and poverty. The last favor she had asked of him.
His body glowed golden once as he summoned his power forth once more, illuminating the white void as he did so. He knew what he had to do. To fix what had been broken, to restore order to the chaos...and to fulfill his promise to Pinkie...even if it meant that no pony would ever remember her.
"Forgive me, my friend. But it is the only way," Nabu whispered. "This will be...their fate."
Then Nabu unleashed his power and everything went golden.
†
"Come on daddy! We're almost there!"
Cheese Sandwich let out a small laugh as his son raced through the streets ahead of him, heading for the Sugarcube Corners. Ponies waved to him as he walked by and he waved back as best as he could. He wasn't surprised in the slightest that his son was so excited. It had been ages since Lil' Cheese had last seen his aunt. He reached Sugarcube Corners and pushed open the door, finding everypony inside.
The place was mostly empty, aside from six ponies who sat at a table in the back. The Elements of Harmony. The Ambassadors of Friendship. The six, greatest heroes that Equestria had ever known. Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship. Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier. Applejack, the immovable truth. Fluttershy, the golden heart. Rarity, the brilliant creator. And finally Cheesybread, his sister, the boundless joy. Lil' Cheese was already in his sisters lap, helping himself to the candy that was on the table.
"Hey bro! Over here!" Cheesybread waved to him. Cheese Sandwich walked over, hugging his sister before sitting down next to her.
"Sorry to call you out here on such short notice," Cheese said, before casting a glance at the other Elements. "Though I'm a little surprised that you brought your friends here as well."
"You know we couldn't skip on a chance to see our favorite foal," Fluttershy said. Lil' Cheese ran over to her and gave her puppy dog eyes. Fluttershy giggled before handing Lil' Cheese a bit of the cake she had been eating.
"It has been a while since we've been in Ponyville," Twilight said. "Between dealing with Sombra's return, Flurryheart's graduation and Tirek's rise in the west...we figured we could all use a break."
"Well know that I appreciate it," Cheese said with a smile. "Did you also tell them why I asked you to come here?" he asked his sister.
"Yeah, you wanted me to look after Lil' Cheese for a while," Cheesybread replied. She then gave her brother a soft look and gently hugged him. "And I can guess why. It's been eight years since...well...she passed. I figured you'd need a day to yourself."
Eight years since she passed. She. That had always bothered Cheese. He could remember a lot about his wife. Her joyous laugh, her ability to bring smiles to anyponies face, and her unyielding love. He could remember all of that. But never her name. For the longest time he had convinced himself that he couldn't remember it because it was too painful. But now he knew better.
"Yeah, that's part of it," Cheese whispered. The other mares gave him sympathetic looks. "But there's another reason.There's somepony that I need to go have a talk with and I don't want Lil' Cheese there for that."
"Really? Who is that?" Twilight asked.
"God," Cheese replied. All of the ponies at the table went silent and looked at Cheese for a moment.
"Nabu? You're going to see Nabu?" Twilight asked.
"Yes. There is something I need to speak with him about," Cheese replied. "That's why I need Cheesy to look after Lil' Cheese. You don't mind, do you?"
"Not at all. But bro...be careful," Cheesy warned. "Nabu may be our god, but he's always been a distant one. Nopony knows what to make of him. So just...be careful."
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Cheese said, before he backed up slightly and looked up. "I'm ready."
And then Cheese was gone in a flash of light.
†
The Tower of Fate stood alone in the farthest point north in all of Equis. Bottomless cliffs, frozen tundras and monsters so dangerous and powerful that not even the princesses wished to deal with them. This is where Nabu resided. Where he had resided ever since he restored reality and created this world. A world of friendship and harmony. Love and laughter. A world that Pinkie would have always wanted.
The god stood in his tower, staring into a mirror. There was no reflection in the mirror. Instead, there was only a complete, white void on the other side. A place that no being dared to go. No being that valued their existence. He had spent years preparing himself for this. But, as a cheese colored pony with a brown mane appeared in his tower, he would have to wait a bit longer.
"Cheese Sandwich. What brings you to my tower?" Nabu asked the pony.
"Because I finally remembered," Cheese replied.
"Remembered what?"
"What was taken from us. What you made me forget. Pinkie...and the Maestro."
Nabu slowly looked over his shoulder at Cheese Sandwich, who was glaring at Nabu with a look of hate that Nabu didn't know the pony was capable of making. "Why? Why did you make all of us forget her? Why did you make me forget about the kindest, most loving mare that I have ever known?"
"I would be surprised that you remembered, but your family has always been able to find ways around my magic," Nabu replied. "Yes, I took your memories of her. Or rather, it is fair to say, I gave you just enough so that you would remember your wife without actually remembering why she was gone."
"And the reason is?"
"Because she gave up everything to save your family," Nabu said. "A foe rewrote your world, created an Equis far different from this one. She and I fought together to defeat him. And she gave her very existence so that I could have the power to best that foe and recreate the world you are in now. It was what she wanted for all of you. A world of love and friendship. It was her last request."
"So the fact that we could never really remember her..."
"While your memories might have been gone, I knew that the feelings would remain. So I made sure you remembered just enough so not to question those feelings. But once again, you Pie's have found a way to impress me," Nabu stated. "I am sorry for the sorrow it caused you, but it was better than you knowing the full truth. The truth of how much she sacrificed to save you. That she was gone and would never be able to come back, even with my power. She wouldn't want you to be upset."
"Upset? I would rather have known that she sacrificed herself to save us all! That way I could at least tell my son proudly that she died to save us all, to...to give us this world of harmony! I could live with that!"
"No. You wouldn't be able to. Not with the other memories that would have to come with it," Nabu stated. "That is why I did it. That...and because her story may not yet be done."
"Then why...?" Cheese began. But then he too noticed the mirror and every single one of his instincts, as well as his Cheesy Sense, screamed at him to run. That whatever was on the other side of that mirror was something that he did not want to be anywhere near. "What is that?"
"That?" Nabu asked. He motioned an arm to the void within the mirror. "That is the Overvoid. A place of absolute nothingness. A place where no being, be it mortal or god, can go to. For it is nothingness and all that is within it is nothingness."
"And if somepony was to be reduced to nothingness, to be completely erased..." Cheese caught on.
"Then this is where they would go," Nabu said. "I may not have been able to save Pinkie from sacrificing herself...but do not think I have given up. So long as there is a chance...then I will take it. The world needs laughter. The world needs it true Element of Harmony. And I need my friend back."
"I see...so when do we go?" Cheese asked Nabu.
"We? Do you not understand? That is infinite nothing. It takes anything and turns it into nothing. Even I am not sure how long I would last in there. If you were to go in..."
"She gave everything to save us. What right do I have, as her husband, to do anything less?" Cheese asked. "Besides, it's not like I'm going in there alone. God is on my side. And if we don't find her I will guilt trip that god until the end of everything."
"Hmm...you truly are incredibly stubborn when it comes to that mare," Nabu said. Then the god nodded. "Very well. You may come with. Understand that was is in there is beyond anything you could hope to understand."
"It's nothing. I understand nothing. It's how I feel without her," Cheese smirked back.
"A good answer," Nabu said. He cloaked Cheese in a golden barrier before the two of them turned towards the Overvoid.
"Come then. Let us find her."
"And we will find her," Cheese vowed with determination.
"It will be our fate."