//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: My World Is Empty Without You // by McPoodle //------------------------------// My World Is Empty Without You Chapter 7 The dreaming world was a distinctly different experience than being awake. In the dreaming world, you walked into a room, and that room was precisely defined. The four walls were exactly square, and they had a known composition. None of the floorboards creaked, because the floor was a single solid substance that only looked like individual planks of wood. Similarly, if you met somepony new in a dream, that pony was exactly who they appeared to be. They didn’t come off as two-dimensional because you had only known them for a few minutes; they were in fact two-dimensional characters, with no complexity beyond what you picked up on a first impression. And then, out of nowhere, anything or everything could change. The square room was now round. And the new character was not discovered to be more complex; he or she now had a completely new personality. And might have suddenly changed from a filly into an old mare. But after that change, everything was simple again. It was so simple, in fact, that it was incredibly fragile—a simple touch could destroy everything, or end the dream altogether. The waking world was different, so very different, although it appeared to be similar. The closer you examined it, the more detail you would discover. That was especially true for the ponies you met—they were never as simple as you thought they were when you met them. These were the thoughts that raced through Vinyl Scratch’s head as she found herself in a location she had no memory of ever visiting before. She was in a crystalline casket, in a rough-hewn stone cavern. Oh, and the cavern was collapsing, threatening to bury her alive. Climbing out of the casket, Vinyl made her way to the grunts of unicorns trying to hold up a great weight. She reached out a hoof and contacted a unicorn’s coat, then volunteered her magic to strengthen their own. “This way!” Rarity called out, from somewhere outside the cavern. She heard two other ponies, presumably Applejack and Pinkamena, run past her. Vinyl could only assume that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had already escaped. “On three,” the voice of Twilight Sparkle addressed her. “One, two, three!” The two unicorns ran for the exit, angling their magic to hold up the collapsing rocks behind them until they were safely free from danger. “He went through that portal,” Rarity told the others. “Here are your saddlebags.” Each of the ponies received magical saddlebags, enchanted to reveal a secret compartment that could hold much more than the compartment appeared on the outside, but only when activated by the pony’s personal magic. “I’ve got my Gift,” Rainbow announced after checking. “Same here,” announced Applejack. “I have mine,” Twilight said. “Oh, Ryooki, I hope you weren’t scared waiting for me,” Fluttershy said, addressing her particular Gift of the Ancients. “What was Pinkie Pie’s Gift again?” Pinkamena asked. “All I’ve got are pies. Lots and lots of pies.” She laughed in shocked surprise as the situation suddenly sank in. “I’m awake, aren’t I? Awake and in full hero mode. What has happened to me?” “Pinkie Pie gave me Pinkie’s Gift, Pinkamena,” Vinyl told her. “And I’ve got it.” “Yes, and I have the jewel,” Rarity said with growing impatience. “Come on!” Twilight made sounds of concentrated study. “Yes, I think I can reactivate Oars' portal,” she said at last. There was a burst of powerful magic, which suddenly bloomed into a field that leaked massive amounts of it into the air. “Alright, Spike, get on my back.” Silence. “Right. No Spike. Everypony else, follow me!” And with blind trust, the group of six ponies stepped one by one through the portal to an unknown destination. & & & A few seconds later, a closet door opened up into the destroyed remnants of the Dream Emperor’s Control Room. “Hello?” the dragon lackey asked the rubble. “Anybody there?” The portal dropped them outside a forest. The normal sounds of this forest were being drowned out by what sounded like a never-ending explosion. Vinyl covered her over-sensitive ears with her hooves. “It’s the Ancient rocket!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. From this, Vinyl was able to conclude that they were outside the Everfree. The sound of what must have been the rocket began to move upwards. “My magic bounces right off of it!” Twilight exclaimed. “I...might be able to catch it,” Rainbow said with very uncharacteristic hesitation. “I know what to do!” Fluttershy said sharply. “Give me some space!” Vinyl could just make out the sound of Fluttershy running away from them. This was followed a few moments later by Fluttershy running back towards them, accompanied by a hard to identify organic sound that suddenly became crystalline. There was a moment of silence, which Vinyl assumed to be caused by seeing whatever strange thing she had just heard. “Well...that just happened,” Applejack commented. “There’s no time! Everypony get inside!” Twilight commanded. Vinyl allowed herself to be herded inside whatever thing Fluttershy had summoned into existence. The interior was like one giant crystal. Vinyl found a corner to sit down. There was a change in atmospheric pressure, as the doorway that Vinyl had passed through closed itself. “Follow that spaceship!” Rainbow ordered. “That awful Oars pony is up to no good,” Fluttershy quietly explained to somepony. (Although Vinyl had no idea who was left who wasn’t aware of that fact.) “Do you think you can chase after him?” There was a complex sort of mewing sound, accompanied by a mechanical click. “I think she’s saying that she needs Rarity’s Gift as a power source. If…if you don’t mind giving it up forever and being the only one of us without her present from that nice Ancient Jeff.” Fluttershy’s voice had descended into a pathetic whimper by the end of that sentence. “Oh Fluttershy, Darling, I don’t need a mere physical object to remember our time with that gracious alien. Here you are.” Less than five seconds later, Vinyl suddenly felt herself squished into the floor. “Alright, let me get this straight,” Pinkamena said a few moments later. “The super power of your Gift of the Ancients—who just so happens to be a living animal—is the ability to turn itself into a spaceship?!” “Yes,” Fluttershy told the others. “Do you remember that time that my chicken coup got flattened? That was Ryooki. I didn’t tell you before because she was too scared to do it again, and I didn’t think you’d believe me without proof.” “We’re inside a rabbit,” Pinkamena said in realization. “She’s a cabbit,” Fluttershy clarified. “Now Ryooki, this looks like a screen. Is there any way you can show us the rocket? ...Yes, just like that. Thank you.” “Gather around, everypony,” Twilight announced. “I have a plan.” The other ponies surrounded Twilight. Vinyl didn’t hear anypony beckoning her, so she stayed put. & & & As the others planned, Vinyl found herself with time to reflect. “What am I doing here?” she muttered. “Inside the dream I could do anything with a song, but out here what am I next to the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony? We’ve just walked onto the set of a Smash Fortune serial, and they don’t even bat an eye!” “Well, I’m normal, too,” Pinkamana said, sitting down next to her. “And I don’t exactly know how to fly a spaceship. Besides, aren’t you a secret agent?” “I was a glorified paper-pusher,” Vinyl told her. “You saved Twilight and the Princess from the original dream trap,” Pinkamena countered. “I just knew the right dragon to throw at the problem,” Vinyl said. “Well, that’s pretty much what they do 80% of the time. The times when they pull out the magic jewelry is more the exception than the rule. Besides, you’ve been in all of their dreams. And mine. And what does that tell you?” “...That you’re all just as crazy as I am,” Vinyl said with a grin. “So why don’t you go and contribute something,” Pinkamena said, pushing Vinyl to her hooves. “...And that’s why we have to concentrate all of our friendship into Rainbow Dash,” Twilight concluded. “It’s just too bad there’s no way we can try to talk Mr. Wells into giving up,” said Fluttershy. “Um...Twilight?” “Yes, Vinyl?” “If you cast the Etheric spell, you should be able to communicate with Oars.” “That’s right!” Twilight exclaimed. After a magical “poof”, a sphere of static appeared in the center of the room they were in. (Was this the whole spaceship? Vinyl asked herself. Or is this more like the bridge?) “Oars in Wells, this is madness!” Twilight declared. “You need to surrender! I’m sure we can come to some sort of lenient arrangement.” “Never!” replied the voice of Oars in Wells from the center of the Etheric sphere. “We’re nearly at the Sphere of Stars, the barrier that separates the Equestrian realm from the wider universe, a place where magic is completely unknown.” As Oars was talking, Rainbow Dash walked quietly over to Fluttershy. “How close are we right now?” she asked quietly. “We’re nearly caught up,” Fluttershy replied. Vinyl heard Rainbow tap something with a hoof, and this was followed by the sound of a panel sliding aside. This in turn made the sound of rushing air that had accompanied the entire trip much louder. Editor’s Note: The outer space of the Equus system differs from regular space in that it contains a breathable atmosphere. “Once I pass through that Sphere,” Oars continued, “I will absorb all of the magic contained in this universe, transforming me into a god among gods!” There was a flap of Rainbow’s wings, and then she was gone. “That will kill all of the ponies!” Twilight exclaimed in horror. “And most of the animals!” Fluttershy added. “And the dragons, the zebra, the griffons...in fact, it would be easier to just list the survivors, of which there would be very few!” & & & Rainbow Dash tried to catch up with the rocket using her usual Sonic Rainboom technique, but was hampered by having a recently-crushed wing. With a sigh, she removed the comically-long Javelin from her tiny saddlebags, tucking the sharpened stick under that same lame wing. She then launched into a technique her overbearing mother Firefly had taught her: twirling around her barrel like a ballerina, only much much faster. This caused her to shoot forward like a skyrocket. She was greatly helped by the gross inefficiency of the rocket. It had been designed on a computer by Ancients that only had remote readings of the ways that magic affected various materials. In fact, if there had been a road stretching from the surface of Equestria to the Sphere of Stars, even Applejack could have outraced that rocket. Of course her technique is better than mine, Rainbow grumbled to herself. Mother will never let me hear the end of it if she ever finds out. & & & “I am the sum total of Pony History!” Oars declared madly. “I will avenge the crime the Ancients committed by abandoning us so long ago! Once I’ve laid low Pinkie Pie’s arrogant clan, there will be none who will dare oppose me! Everything that lives will exist purely to serve my whims.” “Please stop…” Fluttershy whimpered. “You are striving to rule an uncaring universe, for your own ego, when you could find love here just by stopping—” “Entire galaxies—is that the right term...yes—entire galaxies will be obliterated, just to teach the survivors a lesson.” & & & Having passed Oar’s rocket, Rainbow stopped her rotation, faced the rocket, and flung the javelin, all in one fluid motion—in that moment she remembered a photograph framed on the wall of the Sports Wing of the Equestrian Museum, showing a pegasus throwing a discus, immortalized for all posterity. For a moment, she wished she had read one of those old history books, because she felt like she was going to end up in one. The silver end of the stick embedded itself in the nosecone of the rocket, leaving the gold end exposed. Rainbow allowed the adrenaline to drain out of her as she surveyed her work. And that’s when she realized that being this close to the Sphere of Stars, there was no ambient magic left. She had used up her entire personal store to get here. And so Rainbow stopped fighting the feeling of emptiness that was crawling through her muscles and mind. The limpness came first, her vision clouding at the edges as she rotated through the air in zero gravity, the rocket roaring past her and further up into the sky, but even turning her head to follow it would be too much effort. She was a creature of magic and energy, and without both she was a feather on the breeze, as gravity finally reclaimed her and she began to fall towards her home, Equestria, waiting with open arms as she closed her eyes and was no longer aware. “Hope there are some butterflies waiting for me down there, Shy,” were her last thoughts. & & & “...I will devour the multiverse!” Oars concluded his diatribe, wherein he somehow managed to connect being denied his rightful noble title at birth with the right to kill billions. “Shut it off, Twilight,” Applejack said sternly. “He’s about to get what’s coming to him.” Twilight saw the edge of the universe rapidly approaching. “Cut the engines,” she ordered in a panic. “Pull back! Pull back!” & & & In the mundane universe, Rainbow’s javelin was a thick round pole made of cedar wood, sharpened to a point at both ends. One end was covered with a gold alloy cap, and the other was covered with a silver alloy cap. Within the magical pocket universe that contained Equestria, that object gained additional abilities. The gold cap had an affinity for magic, and the silver cap had an affinity for science, the science of the outer universe. If the silver end was ever allowed to strike the surface of Equestria, it would convert an area about the size of Ponyville into antimatter, with the effect you might expect of such a reaction. In this case, the surface of the rocket was designed scientifically, but covered with a micro-thin coating that allowed it to exist in a magical environment. The silver end had punctured that coating, and when the rocket reached the Sphere, the magic-loving gold end pushed through just enough to contact the edge of the mundane universe. The result could be described as a “short circuit”, but Rainbow would have found that severely lacking in awesomeness. Oars and his rocket were obliterated by an explosion big enough that had it been on the surface, the griffons and dragons would have found the whole of Equestria only a smoking crater on the sunrise. & & & Ryooki was in full retreat at the time of the explosion, protected by a powerful shield generated by Twilight and re-enforced by Rarity. “Vinyl, help me!” Twilight urged. “No!” Vinyl cried, rising to her hooves and pointing her head in the direction of the explosion. “Drop your shield and give me your magic! The Sphere of Stars has ruptured!” “How do you—?” “My eyes!” Vinyl exclaimed. “Or what I have instead of them. Anything smaller than a grain of sand or larger than a city! I can see this, Twilight. And if you give me your magic, I can fix it!” Wordlessly, Twilight and Rarity gave their magic over to Vinyl Scratch. The ship shook violently as the shield disappeared, and then it screamed, in that deeply disturbing way that cats scream. Vinyl built her spell, the macro version of the same spell that she had used to grab the spirit that had been hiding inside Celestia’s brain, the spirit that later became Waking Terror. She used blocks of magic shaped into hooves the size of cities to pull the frayed edges of the broken barrier together. And then she felt something else, coming not just from her fellow unicorns but instead from every pony in the ship, causing her magical levels to leap up by orders of magnitude. It could be nothing other than the literal Magic of Friendship, being used to save the entire universe. The edges of the tear sealed together, and the invading forces that threatened to disintegrate anything they touched faded into nothingness. Vinyl collapsed. “Are you done?!” Fluttershy demanded. “Yes…” Vinyl breathed, her ears ringing. She’d barely heard the question, but she knew it had to be answered, even though she was so focused on the incredible mental image of what she’d just done. The fabric of her reality had briefly been held together only by her mind. So once she’d answered, there was nothing else to do but succumb to the blissful exhaustion. Fluttershy jumped out of the ship. It was instantly too fast but not fast enough. Every time she’d practiced with Rainbow to increase her flight speed, every time they’d done snap-stops has been unknowingly in preparation for this moment as the high-altitude winds tore her away from the ship. I’m in the upper edge of the Southbound Jetstream, she thought to herself, desperate to keep herself calm as she turned against the current and accelerated to keep her place, pumping her wings in broad firm strokes. You’d be so proud of me right now, remembering our training sessions. But what if you were too close to the explosion? she asked herself as panic started to crawl into her mind. What if you were blown outside? “Rainbow Dash!” she screamed, as loud as she had ever screamed before. I’m not loud enough. I’m not strong enough. But I have to try. She kept screaming. “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” She suddenly felt a force within her, guiding her. The force made her think of Ryooki. She allowed it to take control, and guide her eyes through the black until she saw a limp blue form in the darkness. Like Rainbow Dash, she found that she no longer had the internal magic necessary to move herself in the void. Growing numb, her wings beat slower and slower. But she knew she was never truly alone, not with her friends. Help me! she thought, pushing that thought out through the same mental tether that had linked her with the living starship. And from that source she took the same power that she had earlier leant to Vinyl Scratch. Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened weakly, to reveal a vision of a godly being approaching, surrounded by a sun-colored halo. The image resolved itself into Fluttershy, grabbing her gently in her arms and wings and carrying her back to safety. Sorry Pinkie, Rainbow thought as she slipped in and out of consciousness. But I’ve found a new goddess to worship.